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olivia-anderson-fanfic · 8 months

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Yuu can do it!

Part 36

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When Enma returned home later that day, excited to tell his friends about ‘Magift’ (which, from what he had gathered, seemed to be similar to American Football, but with magic), he experienced the ultimate betrayal: both of his friends had known about it, and hadn’t bothered to tell him.

“Oh, yeah, the tournament thing coming up?” Ito said, frowning to themself. “You’re interested?”

Kuroki was even worse, groaning and putting his head in his hands. “I thought we were going to get past the cutoff without you realizing. We were so close.”

“If he wants to participate in the – uh – Magift tournament, who cares?”

“He will. It’s a magical team sport, Ito. Between dorms.”

Ito gave a quiet hiss of sympathy. “Oh.”

And then Enma realized that, unfortunately, if Magift was a team game, his team would be the other Ramshackle residents. Which… listen, he liked Ito, Kuroki, and Grim, but he could not imagine being on a team with them and winning. Enma couldn’t ask Kuroki to play, not with his magical asthma or whatever it was that he had. Ito was fine, not particularly good or bad during their gym class. Still, neither of them had magic, which left them at a huge disadvantage. Grim was the only one of them who had magical capabilities, but they weren’t particularly advanced, and he couldn’t imagine the monster being a good team player.

And that wasn’t even taking into consideration that there definitely wasn’t enough of them to fill out a team.

He sunk to his knees, devastation washing over him.

Kuroki patted him on the shoulder. “I was going to wait until the deadline passed so you wouldn’t get your hopes up.”

“I appreciate it,” he sniffed.

“Deadl – oh!” Ito looked at Kuroki. “That reminds me. Crowley told me to remind you about a Housewarden meeting tomorrow.”

Kuroki joined Enma on the floor, curling up into a ball of pure depression. “I don’t waaaaannaaaaaa.”

Grim floated into the room, only to pause. He looked at Enma and Kuroki, who were both grieving, and then Ito, who had gone back to their economics homework. “What happened?”

“Human boys are weird,” Ito said, shrugging.

Grim nodded sagely. “Yeah, true.”

Ace looked at the Ramshackle residents as they all shuffled into class the next morning, and his eyebrows shot into his hairline, his grin freezing on his face.

Which was understandable. They must have been quite the sight. Enma had a plaster over his nose, and Ito and Kuroki were both clinging to him. This was not ideal, as his entire body hurt (yes, his nose hurt the most, but everything was just awful for one Enma Yuuken), and their too-tight grips on his arms were not helping at all, but whatever, he’d deal. Grim was floating along behind them, entirely unaffected outside of being mildly annoyed that Kuroki was shaking too badly for him to use the boy as his own personal transport system.

“What the fuck happened to you guys?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Enma muttered.

“The ghosts sabotaged our house again,” Grim said regardless. “Enma fell through the floor.”

“Ohhhhhhkaaaaayyyyy,” said Ace. “So, Ito is just worried for him?”

“Yeah. The way Enma fell was, apparently, super dangerous.”

Ito shivered. “If he had been looking any further down the cartilage in his nose would have shot right back into his brain and killed him.”

Ace looked mildly disturbed. Enma could appreciate this, he liked it when people weren’t entirely comfortable with the idea of him dying.

“I guess Kuroki is freaked out about that, too.”

“No, he’s scared of the freaky murder basement Enma fell into.”

“The fucking what now,” said Deuce, finally looking up from his textbook (apparently, in his eyes, seeing the Yuus cling to each other was normal enough that he didn’t care to pay attention to it, even if it was Enma in the middle instead of Kuroki this time, which was something Enma might put some thought to later).

Enma sighed. He wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose but, unfortunately, he wasn’t able to do that anymore without blinding pain. Also, he couldn’t currently move his arms with his friends dragging them down. The entire world is against him.

“Deuce. There are ghosts in our house. Consider why they are there.”

“... oh…”

At lunch that day, Enma was in too much pain from his sudden fall to even be able to dream of trying to carry their food like he always did. Truly, his life was terrible, and the only way he could ever be expected to recover was if he could go just a few days without straining his poor muscles.

Ito had thrown him a skeptical look at that, but they had agreed to hold everything, so who cares?

Now, you may be wondering, what about Kuroki or Grim? Didn’t they have their hands free? Shouldn’t they help, since Ito wasn’t as strong as Enma?

Well, yeah, but also… be for real.

Anyways.

They watched people bustle about, trying to shove their way to the front of the line.

To ‘improve student morale’, and also probably because the bakery paid him royalties to serve their food there, Crowley would allow them to drop in about once a month and sell their wares. Enma had heard the food was good, but the Ramshackle kids weren’t really in the place to splurge.

Hell, they were technically eating two meals between the four of them. Sure, their ‘abuse the buffet option’ thing had been said aloud to make Deuce feel bad, but they absolutely were that poor.

At least they got a bit of preferential treatment, since the ghosts liked them (wanted to kill them, Enma reminded himself, his nose twinging painfully, though he supposed that was just the downside of the ghosts liking them). They no longer bothered hiding the fact that they were all eating off of the two meal tickets they bought a day. The ghosts had heard them talk about it more than once, and if they were going to report them to Crowley then they would have done it already.

Things were better than they could have been.

Still, it was a little annoying to watch Ace hook his arm through Deuce’s and start trying to drag him away. “C’mon, let’s see if we can nab something before it all sells out.”

Deuce hesitated, though. “Hey, Enma, do you… want anything?”

The group of Ramshackle students gave each other wide-eyed looks. This had never happened before.

“Do you…” Enma frowned. “I don’t know – need homework answers or something?”

Deuce shook his head just slightly before, apparently, his brain caught up to his body, and he nodded fervently. “Yes! I need – uh – Personal Magical Ability answers! Personal Magical Ability answers for a snack.”

“Oh… okay,” said Enma.

Deuce nodded once, the deal made, and then finally allowed Ace to drag him off so they could both muscle their way further up the line.

The Ramshackle kids simply watched him go, still in shock.

“¿Entiendes?” Ito murmured, finally.

Admittedly, Enma and Kuroki didn’t know Spanish, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t picked up on anything over the time they’d been living with Ito. Mostly curse words, admittedly, but also the occasional slang term.

So, yes, they knew what Ito had just said.

Kuroki grinned. “Ito-chan, everyone here is en-tien-des.”

Ito snickered. “Well, no shit, it’s an all-boys school. I mean, like, specifically for Enma.”

Enma’s nose scrunched. He sure hoped not. That would be awkward. Besides… “I thought he and Ace had a thing going?”

“Do you think that Ace has enough self-awareness for that?” Kuroki asked rhetorically.

Enma had to give it to him. That was a fair point. He shrugged awkwardly. “It’s probably just because I’m injured, guys.”

“Oh. We should get injured more often, then,” Kuroki said.

“Please don’t,” Ito groaned.

Kuroki opened his mouth to joke back, only for his hand to shoot out and snatch up Grim, who had been trying to sneak away and cause mischief while they were distracted. “Absolutely not.”

Grim groaned and wiggled in the boy’s grip, even going so far as to bite him – or at least threaten it, his sharp teeth didn’t even break the skin – but Kuroki held fast. Apparently, it had been a good thing that he was refusing to carry anything. Who knows what would have happened if the ravenous beast were to escape.

Still, Grim whined on and on about how he wanted a grilled cheese sandwich. Enma was pretty sure that, if he kept going, Ito might just make one for him to shut him up. Maybe that was the monster’s intention.

He tuned it out, looking up at the menu, trying to decide what he wanted today. Couldn’t be anything too spicy, Kuroki was probably going to panic and get chicken tenders again, so he’d whine his way into eating off of his and Ito’s plates as well… maybe sushi…?

And then. Enma heard it. The spray bottle-like laugh that haunted his nightmares. He whirled around, panic gripping him. Nonono he wasn’t at work he was supposed to be safe –!

Ruggie was looking at someone else with that hungry gleam in his eyes. The person a few spaces in front of them in line, holding a sandwich, gave Ruggie a confused look. Enma wasn’t religious, but he was absolutely ready to start thanking God for his mercy.

“Heyyy, pal,” Ruggie said, in the kind of way you absolutely should not talk to someone you consider a ‘pal’. “I see you were able to get your hands on the highly-prized deluxe cheese sandwich. Incredible!”

The student’s expression shuttered closed, annoyance stealing its way across their face instead. “It’s my food. You got here late. Fuck off.”

“I did get here late, that’s true, that’s true. And you got it fair and square…” Ruggie agreed in that exact tone he used when he was about to make Enma’s life miserable. Enma was so glad that this wasn’t happening to him for once. Ruggie slid a hand into his pocket. He pulled out… a hot dog bun. It looked like it had lint on it. “How about a trade? Your deluxe grilled cheese for this very exciting hot dog bun?”

Enma thought he was going to slap it out of Ruggie’s hand just for that insult, that was certainly what it looked like the student was going to do, and Ruggie didn’t stop him so Enma figured that maybe he was going to go with the ‘break it you buy it’ approach to make him hand over his food…

But, at the last second, the student's hand closed around the bun.

Even the student looked surprised by this development, looking down at the piece of bread in his hand with wide eyes.

Ruggie used that moment to snatch the sandwich out of the boy’s other hand. “Thanks for trading with me! I do hope you find something to fill that bun with! But that’s not my problem, so, I’ll be off, thanks!”

“Hey, senpai,” Ito called after him. “What’s the economy like in the Savannah?”

“Shit!”

“Cool, thanks!”

“Mhmm! See you in class, comrade!”

Ito gave him a vaguely amused look, but they were more concerned with fishing their homework out of the bag on Enma’s back to mark down the answer.

Kuroki, however, grinned widely. And then he twisted his face into one of pure betrayal. “Ito? Are you a communist?”

“I hate you,” they decided.

“Dodging the question, I see.”

Enma grinned at their dumb little conversation, but his eyes found their way to the guy Ruggie had just scammed. It… didn’t make sense. Don’t get Enma wrong, Ruggie was pretty convincing, but his strategy usually relied on simply annoying Enma into giving him a discount just to get rid of him. This? Where he had… what? Vaguely offered a terrible trade? He wasn’t sure how the person had fallen for it. It wasn’t like Ruggie had shoved it into their hands and overwhelmed them or anything, they had grabbed the bun of their own accord…

The kid frowned down at his hotdog bun, dissatisfied for obvious reasons.

Enma shook his head to clear it, grinning at Ito. “How do you know Ruggie?”

“He’s in my Econ class. Not sure why, I’m pretty sure he hates it,” Ito said, shrugging nonchalantly.

“Is he… er… like that in there?”

Ito didn’t even have to ask Enma what he had meant. “Oh, yeah, definitely.”

Kuroki squinted at Enma. “Wait, wait, wait. Did you call him ‘Ruggie’? No ‘Bucchi-senpai’, or even just ‘senpai’? What the fuck? We almost died for the right to be called by our first names!”

“Oh, that. Yeah, no, I just don’t respect him.”

Kuroki nearly fell over laughing.

Enma and Ito walked along, a half-step behind Kuroki as the boy complained all the way to the meeting:

“— should be a torture method. I mean, going straight from a shift at the lounge to a meeting? Just kill me, seriously.”

Ito rolled their eyes. “Crowley said the meeting shouldn’t last longer than an hour.”

“It’s still a hate crime.”

“You know, I don’t think that’s true,” Enma said.

“It is, it is!” Kuroki pretended to wipe away a tear. “It’s because I’m so cool. They want to drag me down.”

“Who is ‘they’ in this scenario?” Ito asked, because they were an enabler.

“Kuroki, that’s definitely not what a hate crime is,” Enma sighed.

Grim looked at them all oddly. “What is a ‘hate crime’?”

“What Kuroki just described,” Ito said.

And, listen, misinformation is bad, actually.

However, Enma desperately wanted to see that blow up one day, he thought it would be funny, so he did not argue any further.

Oh. Oh no. They’ve been spending too much time with Ace.

… he didn’t want to think about that, actually.

Instead, he sighed and ruffled Kuroki’s hair. This only served to make Kuroki glare at him and quickly try to right it again (he was utterly unsuccessful, but that wasn’t all that shocking considering he didn’t have a mirror to look into), but at least he was no longer concentrating on how terrible his life was.

Or maybe he was. Kuroki opened his mouth again to complain once again:

“Seriously, though, the only other ‘non-threatening’ server fell down the stairs like a dumbass, so I had to cover his shift.”

“How dare that other guy get hurt. Doesn’t he know what inconveniences you?” Grim said. It was hard to tell whether he was joking or not.

Kuroki nodded along anyway. “You get me, Grim-chan.”

Grim gave a little huff at the -chan honorific, but when Kuroki turned his head to press a kiss to the top of the monster’s head, he leaned into it.

Enma absently thought about trying to convince Kuroki to wear lipstick, just because he was curious as to how hard it would be to get a kiss mark out of the monster’s fur, but then disregarded the thought. Not because he wasn’t still curious, but because he knew Kuroki would never do that to his, quote, ‘favorite little terrorist’.

Of course, if Enma was curious enough he could always try kissing Grim with lipstick on – ‘try’ being the keyword there, as he would probably get his nose bitten off before he could attempt it.

They finally reached the chamber where the meeting would be held and, though it annoyed him, Enma would be forced to wait outside. Maybe he would fight Kuroki for the Housewarden spot after all.

… no, he’d feel bad. It wouldn’t even be a fair fight. Kuroki was, like, 5 centimeters tall and built like a twig.

And Ito would probably be mad at him, too. Ugh.

He would have to settle for Kuroki’s too-brief recaps after the meeting.

Speaking of Kuroki and the meeting… Ito grabbed him by the hand, dragging him closer so they could fix his hair. Grim floated over to settle himself on one of Enma’s shoulders.

And then, the moment every hair was back in place, Enma pushed Kuroki into the room and shut the door behind him, because he knew that, if allowed to linger, Kuroki would absolutely wait out the entire meeting.

Which is what Enma, Ito, and Grim were supposed to do, not him. The group shuffled to half-hide in an alcove, pressing close to each other so they could read their Alchemy textbook (or, in Grim’s case, so he could be warm and comfortable while he slept… they’d catch him up on everything before the finals). Enma wasn’t quite as bad at Alchemy as Ito – which was understandable, given they weren’t reading in their first language and were, therefore, more prone to mistakes – but he was still… well, Enma always questioned why the ingredients and potions needed to be prepared in a specific way, and then he found out.

Finding out was both his favorite and least favorite part. He liked knowing things. He didn’t like things blowing up in his face (literally).

The textbook, sometimes, answered his questions, and the less almost-dying he did the better off he would be, he thought.

A person with a blue armband shuffled over, and Enma immediately snapped to attention. Blue armband students – Ignihyde students – were practically mythical creatures, almost never seen out and about, squeaking and running the moment anyone laid eyes on them, and all pictures that managed to be taken of them always ended up corrupted somehow.

Enma opened his mouth to say hi, but the Ignihyde student did as Ignihyde students do: yelping pitifully and rushing to the relative safety that was the meeting room.

He pouted. He hadn’t even gotten to ask a single question. “Life is pain and suffering.”

“We can try and ambush him when he leaves if you want.”

Enma pressed a hand to his chest. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

“Oh, hush. I just have free time, since I’ve finally gotten the library to something passable and all,” they joked.

“Mhmm mhmm,” he teased, wrapping an arm around their shoulders and dragging them closer to his side. “Totally. You definitely aren’t fond of me, or anything.”

“I would never,” Ito said, sticking their tongue out at him. “I think someone is projecting.”

“Yeah, you, obviously.”

“Ooooh, what a great comeback, how will I ever recover –?”

“I guess the rumors were true,” a voice drawled. Enma’s head shot up to look at… the person from the garden that he and Grim had run into during their first week. Grim made a quiet snuffling sound and shifted, lifting his head to bare his teeth at Leona. Leona didn’t even blink at the clear display of hostility. “You magicless students really don’t leave each other’s sides unless you have to.”

“You’re going to be late for the meeting,” Ito said.

Enma was kind of proud of them. Last month they probably would have told Leona to ‘fuck off’ outright. But they had held back. Progress.

Leona considered this statement for a moment. Or, maybe, he was considering them, green eyes narrowed as they scanned over the three of them. And then he snorted, spinning around smoothly. “I guess you’re right. And this is an important one…”

Enma sighed. He watched him disappear around the doorframe, the sound of Kalim’s cheery voice starting to greet Leona managing to slip through before it closed behind him.

And then… well, there wasn’t much else they could do besides wait.

Grim was fully awake now, grumbling and bunting his head against both Ito and Enma. Enma recalled that cats did that to ‘scent’ people and things, essentially marking their territory, and he snickered. There was no way that Kuroki was going to be able to befriend the mice in their house when Grim was around. He was surprised the poor things hadn’t keeled over in fear yet.

Ito was flipping through their textbook, and, vaguely, Enma thought that he should have been reading it with them…

But he couldn’t really bring himself to concentrate.

The conversation with Leona had reminded Enma of how Deuce hadn’t even blinked at the sight of them clinging to each other that morning.

He was aware enough of the fact that they were probably more ‘touchy’ than the average person here. Kuroki liked to hold onto at least one of them when he was anxious (which was pretty much all the time). They slept in the same bed, so it was no surprise that their boundaries for what they could touch would be lax. Besides, Enma and Kuorki both came from a culture where skinship wasn’t all that uncommon. Ito was the exception, and accordingly didn’t often initiate touch, but their experience having younger siblings did make them more used to random hugs or hand-holding.

However, they had been far more affectionate that morning, both of them practically glued to his arms, and Deuce hadn’t even batted an eye because he didn’t see it as ‘out of character’.

Which meant maybe they were a bit too close.

Then again, all of the people here refused to call those they cared about ‘friends’, instead insisting on calling them ‘business associates’ or things of the like. Ace and Deuce would talk about how they hated Riddle when pressed on how much time they spent at Ramshackle Dorm. Even Grim continued to insist on calling them his ‘henchmen’. So maybe they weren’t the best gauge of what a ‘healthy friendship’ was.

Besides, considering their circumstances, it really shouldn’t have been surprising that they were as close as they were. No one else here could really understand them. No one else had been abducted from their original world without warning. No one else was forced to live in a run-down house full of beings that would kill them if given the chance. Heck, no one else was magicless. Why wouldn’t they cling to each other a little bit more than was ‘normal’, when they were the only somewhat familiar things in a world that was so hopelessly strange?

Enma liked it there, don’t get him wrong, but that didn’t mean that he was unaware of the fact that he didn’t truly belong.

Not that he would ‘belong’ back home, anymore, either.

His eyes fell away from the textbook – he wasn’t really seeing the pages, anyway – and slid to a candle on the wall, the flame flickering.

He rested his chin atop Ito’s head, his eyes falling shut. He’d had a long day.

“‘M gonna take a nap,” he murmured.

Ito gave a small hum to say they had heard him, and he didn’t wait for much longer before letting himself drift off.

He awoke to a hand prodding him in the side, and sent Ito and Kuroki a tired grin. “So, what was the meeting about?”

Kuroki’s grin spread wider. “Ito, you owe me.”

They huffed, rolling their eyes, but dug a couple of Madol out of their pocket. Enma was beginning to suspect that they lost bets on purpose, because surely they should have won at least once by now, no one can be that unlucky…

Wait a minute.

Enma squinted. “What did you bet on?”

“What the first thing you said would be,” Grim said, pouting. “I thought you were going to curse. No extra tuna cans for me.”

“You thought I would – why?” said Enma. He didn’t even curse! He made a point not to!

“Waking up sucks,” Grim shrugged.

Enma sighed, and looked at Kuroki and Ito, who were both snickering at his offense. “What’d you think I’d say?”

Kuroki smirked. “I knew you’d ask about the meeting.”

“I thought it would be a greeting,” Ito shrugged. “Y’know, like… ‘hi’ or ‘good morning’ or some shit. I had faith in you.”

“Terrible decision.” Enma looked at Kuroki again. “So?”

“Uh… well, it was a reminder to get application forms in for the tournament before the deadline, and then they started talking about this… Draconia-senpai guy. Apparently, Crowley wanted to disqualify him from playing, ‘cause he’s OP, but everyone went ‘nooooo that is so unfair’ or whatever. So he’s still playing.”

Ah, Kuroki, your eloquent descriptions never fail to both amuse and annoy Enma.

Ito frowned. “Didn’t Crowley say that this was an important, mandatory meeting?”

“It’s Crowley,” Kuroki said, shrugging.

“Oh. Yeah.”

#apparently actually tagging things properly gets them more seen #too bad i dont care #twisted wonderland fanfic #twst fanfic #yuu twst #twst grim #kuroki yuuya #enma yuuken #ace trappola #deuce spade #leona kingscholar #idia shroud #for like half a second #i like to imagine ignihyde students are the equivalent of bigfoot sightings

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luvnami · 3 years

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𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 - happy birthday you sexy beast. inspired by that one chapter in horimiya where sengoku confesses to remi lol

𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 - @sugawaaras @dearkodzuken

𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞 - fluff/angst

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 - apocalypse au, death

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 - 1445

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 - matsukawa issei x reader

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 - the day on which the world is to end just happens to be matsukawa’s birthday

7.01am.

The sun burns through the morning mist, though the numbers in the sky above you do not disappear. 12 hours and 59 minutes left until the end of the world.

Despite this impending catastrophe, the world itself does not seem grieved. You still walk amongst the hundreds of students that head to school, employees board crowded buses as they are ferried to work, and housewives and husbands still vacuum the floor while a variety show plays in the background.

You would think that there would be something special about death, about the end.

Matsukawa Issei catches up to you. “Hey,” he greets, and nudges you in the side with his arm.

“Happy birthday,” you return. “Isn’t it weird to have your birthday before we all die?”

“Don’t think about it so depressingly,” he laughs, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s still a normal day.”

What defines normality? Everyone dies at some point. Shouldn’t it be a momentous occasion, however, that the entirety of humanity will be wiped out tonight? Some will be sleeping, some will be awake, watching the earth consumed by the great cosmos beyond.

You shelf the thoughts for another time. A minute, an hour later.

School goes by as normal. Lessons are conducted, albeit with the nagging feeling of this being the last class that one might teach or attend. You wonder if half the students are even paying attention. Your open notebook is filled with scribbles and doodles.

By the time lunch break rolls around, the pages are torn out and crumpled at the bottom of your bag. Matsukawa and Hanamaki come over to your table with bento boxes in hand.

“Octopus sausages still? What are you, 5?” you tease Hanamaki, who responds with a kick at your shin, leaving you to howl in pain.

“Not like you’re any better,” Matsukawa remarks at your store-bought onigiri and packet milk.

The three of you sit and eat, exchanging jokes and comments on the previous lessons. You’re surprised that Oikawa and Iwaizumi haven’t appeared from their classes just yet. Perhaps they’re still caught up with the brunette’s fangirls — that’s normal.

“Is there any place you want to head to, birthday boy?” Hanamaki asks.

Matsukawa swallows his mouthful of food before replying. “Not particularly.”

“Are you going to go for volleyball training?”

“Yeah, of course. Iwaizumi would kill me if I skipped, even if we can’t play for nationals now,” he laughs.

“I’ll meet you afterwards, then?” you say.

Matsukawa looks at you, his gaze softening. “Yeah.”

The bell rings. You return to class, tossing your empty milk packet and onigiri wrapper into the trash.

It’s evening by the time volleyball training ends. You wait for Matsukawa by the school gate. The weather is still a little chilly, and you shove your hands deeper into the pockets of your jacket.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Matsukawa’s low voice startles you, before he lets out an amused chuckle at your shocked face.

“Didn’t have to scare me like that,” you mutter.

He smiles and takes your hand in his. You let him pull your hand out of your jacket, before pushing your connected ones into his own pocket.

Dinner is fast, slurped ramen combined with antics from their last training session makes you choke on your hot tea a few times. Matsukawa almost pukes his food from laughing too hard. By the time you’re done, your belly is full and your cheeks ache from smiling so much.

The walk home is much quieter.

“Did you say bye to everyone?” you question.

“Yeah. Oikawa was crying like a baby,” Matsukawa says.

“I would’ve guessed that much.”

You reach out for his hand. He lets you take it, enveloping you in his warmth.

7.25pm. Two hours and thirty five minutes until the end of the world.

It’s already 8pm when you rush over to Matsukawa’s house, fresh out of the shower with a bundle of photo albums and games to spend the time. He pulls you into his arms when you step through the door.

He smells fresh, not like the horrible 3-in-1 soap that he uses when he’s rushed. You relax against his soft hoodie, letting him press you to his chest and kiss your forehead tenderly. It’s a minute worth of time that you wouldn’t ever give up.

Matsukawa leads you into his bedroom, where you open up scattered albums to revive forgotten memories. There are photos of you when you were a baby, chubby and waving fists around you. You giggle at a picture of toddler Matsukawa only in a diaper, and he cackles at you, aged five, dressed in the ugliest tutu he’s ever seen. There’s a photo of you both on your first date, awfully awkward, and another of Matsukawa trying to balance a pen on his nose.

Afterwards, you go through a few games of Stress and snack away, guessing what the other third years are doing right now.

Matsukawa lays on your thighs as you play with his hair, his eyes closed. The time is currently 9.50pm. Ten minutes left until the end of the world.

“Hey, Issei?”

He responds with a drawn out hum.

“Happy birthday.” “Why are you wishing me that again? Weirdo,” he jokes.

“You didn’t even get a birthday cake or something this year. No presents, no party, nothing at all. Don’t you feel a little sad about it?”

“It would all be gone the same day if anyone gave me something. That sounds like a waste of money.”

“Weirdo,” you tease back, and he opens his eyes just to roll them.

“Hey, Issei.”

“Yeah?”

“What would you do the day before you die?”

At this, he laughs and you can’t help but crack a smile as well. He stares off into the corner of his room.

“Well… I would celebrate my birthday. I would go to school and volleyball training as usual, and then spend the rest of the night with you.”

“Aw, how romantic.”

“What would you do?”

“I’d eat all the candy in the world.”

Matsukawa glares at you. “And not spend time with me?”

“I’ll share the candy with you.”

“That’d just give us stomach aches. I don’t want to die while shitting my guts out, you know.”

The room falls silent. Matsukawa glances at his clock on the wall, and the second hand ticks by, counting down to the very moment of his death. It’s strange, that he isn’t scared. What happens after death, why he’s never questioned the existence of the numbers in the sky, Matsukawa doesn’t really care.

He laces his fingers with yours. 9.57pm. Three more minutes.

You grip his hand tightly.

“What do you think will happen when it reaches 10pm? Will the earth blow up? Will we all just drop dead?” you whisper.

“I hope we turn into zombies. I’ll stagger over to Hanamaki’s place to freak him out and then eat his brains.”

“Ew, that’s so nasty, Issei. Even if I was a zombie, I wouldn’t eat any brains.”

“Not even mine?”

“Do zombies have brains?”

Matsukawa smiles fondly at you. He sits up and interlocks his arm with yours, before laying his head on your shoulder. The curls of his hair tickles your cheek.

9.58pm.

“What kind of sweets would you eat before you die?” Matsukawa asks.

“Strawberry shortcake. Cheesecake. Tiramisu. Creme Brulee. Macaron.”

“That’s a lot.”

“Well, it would be my last time eating them.”

“Should we have gotten sweets today, then? From that bakery near school, I heard they were having a sale today.”

“Maybe. But it’s too late to regret that now.”

9.59pm.

You close your eyes, tilting your head back so it rests against the wall. Your heart jumps in your chest and you will it to slow down, to fall behind the flow of time. As if it could do that.

Matsukawa readjusts your hands so that your fingers are intertwined. He’s silent, stroking your knuckles with his free hand.

Each second passes like a grain of sand falling through an hourglass’ waist, landing on an uncountable bed of other seconds that have passed. There’s thirty left, now twenty nine, now twenty eight. It’s an undeniable fact that you’ll be unable to turn time back.

“Issei,” you whisper so softly, Matsukawa has to strain to hear you.

You lean down, tilting your chin to press your lips against his. His eyes flutter shut. His lips are chapped, rough against your soft ones as you kiss.

Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen.

You don’t separate.

Eight, seven, six.

Matsukawa pulls away briefly. “I love you,” he breathes.

Four, three, two.

“I love you too.”

Zero.

#matsukawa issei #matsukawa issei x reader #matsukawa issei angst #matsukawa issei fluff #matsukawa x reader #matsukawa fluff #matsukawa angst #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu angst #hq fluff #hq x reader #hq angst #hqradiostation

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arashikitten · 4 years

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Monkie Kid Soulmate Au

Thank you, MKD, for helping me create this monstrosity.

I noticed there weren’t any soulmate au’s for Monkie Kid yet so I decided to make one Myself!

In this au, there are three types of soulmate a person can have: the typical romantic soulmate, platonic soulmate (i.e. best friends, family, things of that nature), and enemy soulmates (rivals, nemesis, mortal enemies, things along that line). People can have multiple soulmates, and in fact it is very common for people to have three or more at any given point! It is also possible for someone to have only one or two types of soulmate: for example, someone who is asexual might only have platonic soulmates and/or enemy soulmates.

As for how one identifies their soulmate, a small mark/symbol will appear on the wrist, palm, or back of the person a year before they meet their soulmate in person, at which point the mark will take on color. The placement of the marks often determines the type of bond: a mark on the palm indicates a romantic bond, on the wrist indicates a platonic bond, and on the back indicates an enemy bond (that being said, there have been instances where this rule does not apply).

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get into the meat of this au!

Red Son is born with two soulmarks: A stylized, cartoon bull head, and a large, red and gold fan. They both appear on his back, and from a young age, he tries to ignore the possibility that his own parents may one day become his worst enemies. He grows up very close to DBK and Iron fan: he wants desperately to maintain a good relationship with them, and he ends up cutting off any sort of interaction with anyone else.

DBK gets sealed under the mountain, and Red’s world shatters. Both he and Iron fan grieve for a long time, and Red Son now feels even more alone.

So, he starts attempting to free his father from his prison under the mountain.

Fast forward about 300 years, to when MK is born without a single mark. He grows up and for ten years, his palms, wrists and back remain blank.

Then, about a month after his tenth birthday, a small, grey dragon appears, wrapped around his wrist, along with a grey cartoon pig wearing a chef’s hat (Pigsy) and a small cicada (Mr. Tang).

Six months later, MK gets kicked out of his home, living on the streets for five months until, late one night, Pigsy finds him in the alleyway next to the noodle shop (The small stylized monkey face on Pigsy’s wrist glows with color. He and Tang adopt Mk two weeks later.).

Mei walks into the shop about a month later, while Tang is telling MK a story from Journey to the West. All three of the soul marks on her wrist light up, and she and Mk become best friends over a game of Monkey mech.

Six years later, Red Son wakes up with a grey, stylized Monkey face on his palm, and a small dragon wrapped around his left wrist. He despises them both; he begins wearing finger-less gloves, if only so that he doesn’t have to see the grinning face of the Demon who sealed his father away staring up at him every day. Besides, he doesn’t need other soul mates: Once his father is free, Red Son’s family will be whole again, and they will rule the world with an iron fist (Note that at this point, Red is in complete denial that DBK and Iron fan could be his enemies: the fact that their marks showed up on his back indicates that they will become his worst enemies, so Red has spent his entire life trying desperately to ensure that doesn’t happen.). (He still fails in the end)

Mei and Mk both wake up that same morning with a new soulmark: A small, stylized flame that appears on Mk’s palm and on Mei’s wrist. They both gush to each other about it over a bowl of noodles, Mei is excited to get a new bestie while Mk is freaking out over the fact that he may have a boyfriend/girlfriend in a years time (Note: I 100% headcanon Mk as both gay and trans: but I like to think he struggled a bit more with his sexuality. At this point, Mk is still questioning it a bit, but by the time the events of episode one roll around, he’s pretty sure of his identity. Mei is ace, Red Son is Bi, Pigsy is Pan, and Mr. Tang is gay.). Mk also gains a small peach on his right wrist, and he and Mei speculate as to why only Mk got a second mark (Way up on Flower Fruit Mountain, Sun Wukong gains a new soul mark for the first time in 400 years. This prompts him to begin looking into possibly getting a successor).

Mei, Mk, Pigsy, and Mr. Tang also get two marks on their backs: a demon head and an iron fan. Mk and Mr. Tang, upon seeing what exactly the marks are, absolutely freak out. They both firmly believe that the marks represent DBK and Princess Iron fan, and the implication that two very powerful demons might be going after them in a year’s time is more than enough to scare the two. Pigsy and Mei are a bit more skeptical, citing that DBK and Iron fan are just myths, and even if they weren’t, DBK would still be trapped under the mountain by the Monkey King’s staff.

This only freaks the other two out more, as that carries the implication that DBK will be free to wreak havoc on the world in a year’s time. So, MK and Mr. Tang begin to delve even deeper into the lore surrounding DBK and Sun Wukong, desperately trying to prepare just in case (Sun Wukong actually happens to overhear one of these study sessions while he’s out searching for a successor, and is impressed by Mk’s knowledge of him. He decides to keep an eye on the kid, and eventually makes the choice to make him his successor.).

As the year progresses, MK gets three new enemy marks:a dark grey spider on his shoulder (It scares the hell out of MK the first time he sees it, and he smacks it multiple times before realizing that it’s not an actual spider. He then proceeds to panic even more when he realizes it’s a soulmark.), a more menacing version of Mk’s own soul mark that appears on his lower back (three guesses as to who that one belongs to), and finally, a pale grey skull right in the middle of Mk’s shoulder blades, larger than any other soulmark so far. With each new enemy mark, Mk becomes more and more nervous: Just what will happen to give him so many enemies?

Meanwhile, Red Son gains only one new mark: the same pale grey skull, right in between the fan and the bull head. This one worries Red Son the most: while he has never actually seen the white bone spirit, he’s heard several disturbing horror stories over the years, and the idea of becoming allies or gods forbid, enemies with the cruel creature makes the fire demon nervous.

Then, we get to the pilot. Red frees his father, MK gets the staff, and the chase across the city ensues. Red returns to the lair empty handed and bruised. He heads to his room to patch up, when he notices a small flare of bright, emerald green on his wrist. Pulling off the finger-less gloves, Red Son sees that the dragon is now a bright, glowing green. The mark on his palm has also taken on a color, bright reds mixing with vibrant golds as the colored monkey mark on his palm smiles up at him.

That’s when it clicks: The only two people he’d encountered today, aside from his mother and father, are the Noodle Boy and the mysterious person on the bike.

Red Son furiously vows that he will never, ever side with the Noodle boy, even if it kills him, and he will remain steadfastly loyal to his mother and father (From then on, he takes extra care to hide his palms and wrists from his parents, out of the intense fear that they will cast him out if they learn of who exactly the marks represent.) (it doesn’t work).

Meanwhile, Mk is freaking the fuck out. He can wield the Monkey King’s staff, he just saw one of the most powerful demons get freed from a 300+ year prison, confirming his theory that DBK and Iron fan are the two marks on his shoulder blades (Both of which, Mk notes, gained color that day, further confirming that they relate to DBK and Iron fan.), he got chased all over town by Red Son (who Mk recognizes from the myths), and to top it all off, the flame mark on his palm turned a bright, royal blue sometime between him leaving to deliver noodles, and him getting back to the shop, and the only other person that Mk encountered during that time that even remotely fits the mark is, you guessed it, Red Son.

Mk relays all of this to the gang, at which point Mei notices that the flame on her wrist has also turned bright blue, providing even further confirmation. Mk is very much bummed out by this, because out of all the people that could’ve been the fire on his palm, of course it had to be the demon who attempted to kill him.

Still, Mk pushes that to the side in favor of focusing on finding the Monkey King.

The pilot continues much in the same way as in canon, with one notable exception: When Iron Fan shows up on the gang’s way to Flower Fruit mountain, she sees the small blue flame on MK’s palm. Putting two and two together, she realizes that her son is soulbound to MK, and that this bond may eventually cause Red to turn on his parents, which is why Iron Fan and DBK begin to push him away in later episodes.

After that, things resume canon again: MK survives and gets to Flower Fruit Mountain, Wukong tells him that he chose Mk to be his successor (Which is when the peach mark on MK wrist gains color, and Mk proceeds to lose his entire shit over the fact that holy fuck, he’s soul bonded to Sun freaking Wukong. Wukong finds this both utterly hilarious and a little bit adorable.), the big fight between DBK and Mk happens, yada yada yada. The day is saved, and Mk goes home with his newfound powers.

Episode one is where we begin to see more long-term changes. By this point, both DBK and Iron fan know that their son is bound to the little thief, most likely romantically, and that their own blue flame mark is located on their backs, implying that Red Son will most likely turn against them in the near future. So, they start to distance themselves from him.

They send Red to take control of the weather station and defeat MK, something that both of them know will end in failure. Red Son is oblivious to this (not really) and gladly takes on the task, desperate to prove himself. And t first, it seems that Red is actually successful!

...Before Mk comes back with a new grip on his powers and absolutely destroys Red Son.

Red Son goes back to the lair, sparks still flying off of him, and on his way to his room, he overhears quiet conversation between his parents.

Curious, he quietly listens in, and finds out that not only do his parents know about the mark on his palm (How??? How did they find out???), but they are also planning on a way to get him “out of the picture”.

Red Son absolutely panics at this revelation, and begins to spiral into waves of self-loathing and intense anxiety. Now he is desperate to remain on his parent’s good side by any means necessary, and so he buries himself in plans and research on powerful artifacts that he can steal for his father.

While that’s going on, Mk meets the spider queen (The Spider on his shoulder becomes purple and green, and Mk spends three hours scrubbing at it in the shower that night), the whole clone thing happens, Mei gets her sword, and the calabash incident goes down (the main difference here is that when Mk hears that Red Son was also sealed away with his parents, Mk feels inexplicably upset about it: as much as he dislikes the fire demon, there’s still a small part of him that desperately wants them to be friends.). At this point, both Mk and Mei have kinda just accepted that the blue flame mark exists, and they don’t pay it too much attention, even if Mk kinda wants to know more about the hotheaded fire demon.

Then the race rolls around. At this point, Red is a nervous, paranoid wreck, his self esteem (which really wasn’t all that great to begin with) is deteriorating at a frightening speed, and he is desperate for a chance to prove to his parents that he is loyal, that he’s not worthless.

So when he hears that the winner of this year’s great wall race will receive a peach of immortality, he rushes to apply for it. He excitedly tells Iron Fan, fervently hoping that she’ll at least listen to him, only to be crushed when she dismisses him out of hand, saying that even if the peaches could do anything for them, it wouldn’t change all of Red Son’s failures in the past. Red Son, disheartened, still joins the race, and is absolutely furious when he sees that both Mk and Mei (When Red found out that she’s a descendant of one of the great dragons, he started calling her “Horse Girl” under the assumption that the dragon she is descended from was the dragon horse from Journey to the West) also entered. He starts arguing and bantering with them, and for just a moment, Red feels... content. Not happy, per se, but the constant anxiety and paranoia begins to lessen for a moment.

Then DBK and Iron fan show up, and Red Son goes silent. His back goes rigid, and his eyes glaze over a bit. Mei and Mk both take notice of the Fire demon’s sudden change in demeanor, and even though they still both think he’s a bit of a prick, they can’t help but be a bit concerned.

Mk is actually about to say something to Red when Jin and Yin hijack the commentator’s box, and the race starts.

The race goes mostly the same as in canon, with the main exeptions being that Red is far quieter and more focused, and Iron Fan’s taunts are much crueller and more demeaning.

Mei and Mk win, with Red Son getting second place. Instead of attempting to steal the peach trophy, Red Son just... watches them, looking almost broken as he watches the two celebrate. Mk, noticing the strange behavior, reaches out to ask if Red is ok (The reaction the fire demon had to his parents showing up set off all sorts of alarms in Mk’s head, because that had been exactly how he reacted back when he still lived with his parents.), only to be interrupted by DBK’s reemergence from the mountain.

Iron fan tells Red Son that they are leaving, and Mk immediately picks up on what’s going on. He calls out to Red just before Iron Fan’s winds whisk him away, and terrified look that the fire demon sends him confirms Mk’s suspicions.

That night, Mk comes up with a plan: He’s gonna get Red Son away from his parents, or die trying. The only other person who knows at first, is Mei: She also has Red Son’s soul mark, and while she’s not as keen on the fire demon as Mk is, she still doesn’t want him to have to deal with abusive parents.

While Mk is doing that, DBK and Iron Fan have fully leaned into the enemy role, disowning Red Son and keeping him locked away in the lair. Red just breaks down at this, and begins refusing to eat or move. All that time that he’d spent, desperately trying to maintain some sort of good relationship with his parents, for nothing. The only people that he could count on turned against him, and that loneliness hits him like a freight train.

The only thing that brings him comfort, oddly enough, are the soul marks on his left palm and wrist: he takes to rubbing them whenever he feels particularly bad. By now, his feelings toward Mk and Mei are much closer to something positive: they both seemed concerned about him after the race, and where that might’ve pissed him off a few months earlier, now it comforts him with the knowledge that at least someone out there gives a damn.

We get to episode 8, when Mk gets the skeleton key. Instead of Red Son being the one to steal the key, Iron fan is the one to do it, and she reveals her master plan:

She and DBK plan on releasing the White Bone Spirit from it’s prison, in order for it to possess Red Son so that both will be fully under their control.

Iron Fan gets away with the key, the White Bone Spirit possesses Red Son, and DBK and Iron Fan use him to wreck the entire city.

Mei and Mk do their best to avoid fighting Red Son: it feels so wrong every time they do clash, because they both know it’s not Red Son, they know he’s not the one in control, but it still hurts that they couldn’t get him out in time, that one of their soulmates is suffering like this.

The final straw comes a week after the initial possession.

Mk is forced to fight a possessed Red son to protect a badly injured Pigsy. Mk begs for Red to fight back, to break free, knowing that the continued possession is taking a toll on the demon’s body. Mei joins him, insisting that Red is stronger than this, that he needs to think about the people that care about him.

That is enough to allow Red to break through, just for a moment.

He steps back, tears streaming from his eyes as he brokenly whispers that if even his own parents can’t be bothered to care about someone as weak, as broken as he is, then who the hell would? Mei and Mk hate him, his parents disowned him, and it’s not like he really interacts with anyone else.

He is immediately taken by surprise when the two teens blurt out that even though they might’ve started out on opposite sides, that they never fully hated him. Mk in particular says that they were actually worried about Red Son after the race, that they were planning on getting him out before Iron fan stole the skeleton key, that they were still planning on helping him escape, that they really, actually care.

Red Son finally breaks free, and Mk seals the White Bone spirit away again. Mei and Mk beat the absolute crap out of DBK and Iron Fan, who end up escaping again.

They take Red to one of the few remaining hospitals, so he can recover from his possession, and they make sure to get him some serious therapy while they’re at it.

Red Son wakes up two days later to see Mei and Mk sitting by his hospital bed on either side of him, and they give him a warm smile when they see that he’s awake.

He cries for a bit as he realizes that it’s over. He’s free now, even if he doesn’t have anywhere to go anymore, and there are two people in the world who keep that blue flame close to their chest instead of turning their backs.

For the first time in over a year, Red doesn’t hide the marks on his wrist and palms.

After all, why should he from the ones who care for him the most?

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jess-rewatches-prodigalson · 3 years

Text

Head Case (S2, E6)

My time-stamped thoughts for this episode. As always I reference Malcolm’s mental health. A lot. So if that’s going to be a trigger for you, don’t keep reading.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

0:03 - This clip of Malcolm in the car is from the pilot episode. I was so betrayed by this clip. Full disclosure - I’ve always had a thing for Malcolm’s jacket from the pilot episode. I just love it and I think Tom Payne looks cute in it. BUT - I was betrayed because Malcolm isn’t wearing my favourite jacket in the next scene (I was disappointed but not surprised). Rant about wardrobe over.

0:20 - This is weird to me. In the clip right before this, when Malcolm was coming to Claremont (wearing the awesome jacket) - Malcolm is clearly in emotional distress. He’s not in a good mood. BUT right here, when Malcolm is chatting with Mr. David he seems like he’s in a good mood. Not one of his manic good moods - just a regular good one.

0:32 - Anyone else notice how visibly uncomfortable Jessica AND Malcolm are? This whole Ainsley situation is literally going to destroy them both. :(

0:34 - sooooo Mr. David knows by now right? He has to? ALSO when the European FBI guy shows up in a few episodes this is going to be bad for Malcolm and Jessica right? The FBI guy will probs talk to Mr. David who will be like - oh yeah, they’ve had more ‘family meetings’ in the past 6 months than in the past 20 years.

1:22 - Sooooo this whole family honestly thinks Ainsley’s going to become a serial killer. From the tidbits of her childhood that we’ve seen, the way she treated Malcolm in Q&A, and generally how she acts when she wants to get a story - I’m not surprised. Read my thoughts on older episodes (1x7, 1x20, 2x5), I’ve always thought Ainsley was a sociopath or psychopath. The girl doesn’t show a lot of moral backbone or sympathy for anyone.

1:33 - Wait. Does this montage of Malcolm’s erratic behaviour mean that Malcolm killed someone as a kid? And doesn’t know it? Or is this just a reference to the whole ‘girl in the box’ trauma arc from last season?

1:44 - “I wish I didn’t know that you were a killer.” Anyone else get major flashbacks to the movie Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause? “I wish I had never become Santa at all” then we get an AU for 40 mins? Just me? Cool - excuse my bad taste in Christmas movies.

1:50 - hahaha Martin is so bitter.

2:25 - You know, as much as I love to hate Martin - he has a point. Malcolm loved his Dad (still does whether he wants to admit it or not) in 98′ - why is Malcolm chill with Ainsley killing but not Martin? Is it because with Martin, he found a poor girl tortured in a box but with Ainsley he saw her kill a man that was threatening their family? Or was it because Martin tried to kill Malcolm but Ainsley hasn’t (yet?) **honestly - that would be such an interesting episode - if Ainsley tries to kill Malcolm**

2:33 - THANK YOU. Someone finally thanks Malcolm for trying to protect Ainsley (and in extension Jessica) from the emotional trauma he’s been dealing with since the age of 10. EVEN THOUGH PROTECTING THEM IS MAKING HIS MENTAL STATE WORSE. Seriously - Malcolm is going to snap soon I honestly won’t be surprised if we get some suicidal ideation from him this season (especially if things don’t improve). Look at those big sad puppy dog eyes when Jess thanks him.

2:38 - hahahaha that side-eyed glare directed at Martin.

2:53 - I know Jessica had good intentions here - she’s trying to protect both of her children but honestly, this whole interaction was probably super upsetting for Malcolm. Think about it - BOTH of his parents haven’t tried to have a serious discussion with him at the same time since he was at 10 years old or younger. This interaction is probably bringing up some memories for Malcolm and making him grieve for the childhood he lost all over again.

3:06 - “You’re gross.” followed by a very regal wave at Mr. David. YES. Queen Jessica. <3

3:25 - Malcolm startling JT is pretty freaking cute. Look at how JT’s expression immediately changes from startled to concerned. I don’t blame him. Malcolm gives off major manic energy in this scene. The visit with the parents did not leave him in a good place. Also - Malcolm straight up admitted that he’s had a ‘rough morning’ this boy almost never tells the truth when he’s struggling. He’s fine. He’s always fine.

3:30 - “Rough month.” IS THIS IT? IS THIS ALL I’M GOING TO GET? JT had a baby THREE EPISODES AGO. ‘rough month’ is a reference to the fact that he’s a new dad and he’s struggling with lack of sleep, leaving Tally alone with the baby while he’s a work, being a good husband, adjusting to dad life, ect. RIGHT?!? We’ve literally had no mention of the baby since 2x3 and I’m losing my mind. I just want someone to say, “Hey JT, how’s the baby?” that’s it. I want 5 seconds of dialogue. Just an acknowledgment that the child exists.

3:54 - “Sooo bring me up to speed.” OMG. That smile is both extremely manic and completely adorable. Seriously - why is no one on the team more concerned about Malcolm during this episode? AND WHERE THE EFF IS EDRISA IN THIS SCENE?!? We’ve been robbed.

4:21 - “What? I liked math class.” OMG. JT is a closet math nerd. You can’t take this headcanon away from me.

4:24 - hahahaha look at Malcolm absorbing the new information about JT. He’s like.....yes. I will keep that information for later. Very good. Will pry further.

5:04 - I love Dani. She’s perfect. She can see that Malcolm just checked out into his own horror of a memory. So she gently teases him to bring him back to reality. <3 This is true friendship. <3

6:00 - Was I the only one who thought it was weird that Gil asked Malcolm to help with the canvasing? Like - doesn’t Malcolm always help? Isn’t that part of what he does to build his profile?

6:12 - “KGB agent” Yes. Malcolm is still annoyed that Ainsley was so competitive about a literal murder last episode. I promise you. Ainsley’s probably still annoyed too.

6:26 - This is why Malcolm is considering telling Ainsley the truth. He’s already losing her. May as well rip off the band-aid. She might not react as badly finding out from him as she would finding out by herself.

6:51 - “That is my vagina.” hahahahaha OMG. As a woman I must say: HOW?!?! As someone who adores JT: hahahahahahahaha OMG.

7:23 - “You’re getting a lot of mileage out of that tidbit”. lol. JT gently teasing Malcolm is one of my favourite things. Hands down. Especially since they’ve reached a point in their friendship where Malcolm doesn’t seem scared or offended when JT makes fun of him. They’re acting like brothers and I LOVE IT. <3

7:25 - “That’s the tip of the iceberg my man.” I have no idea why I am so amused by someone calling Malcolm “my man” but I am.

7:36 - “The Bowery Ripper” hahaha the look that JT and Dani exchange when Malcolm starts nerding out.

8:00 - Wendell is kind of creepy. But like a weird, non-threatening creepy?

8:22 - OMG. JT let the vagina sculpture go. hahaha Look at how grossed out Dani is hahahaha she’s like, “Ugh. Men are gross.”

8:30 - This is why I love JT. He knows that that elevator is sketchy as hell. Plus it’s some (less than subtle) foreshadowing for what’s to come in this episode.

8:41 - How did Dani find out he was at Claremont?! Does Mr. David call Gil every time Malcolm visits?!? ......this is my new headcanon. You will have to pry it from my cold dead hands.

9:00 - This is a really cute moment between Dani and Malcolm. Regardless of whether or not you ship Brightwell - it’s really sweet to see Malcolm interacting so honestly with someone. He’s telling Dani the truth about something and she’s not making him feel bad about how messed up his family is or how weird his situation is. She just listens and teases him to make him smile. That is a good friend. IDC how you feel about Brightwell - right now - this is a GOOD FRIEND moment and Malcolm deserves more of them.

9:10 - Annnnnnndddd this is why Brightwell shouldn’t happen (right now). Dani is still hurt that Malcolm doesn’t trust her enough to tell her everything. She still doesn’t completely trust him after what happened last season. A romantic relationship without 100% trust will fail. End of story. They’re great friends but right now they can’t be in a romantic relationship. It’ll end poorly. (Damn, I hope Brightwell is endgame though).

9:38 - hahaha Greta Swan is a perfect comedic relief for the Dani/Malcolm tension we just witnessed. This girl is a little nuts and a lot funny.

10:00 - “Dad’s lived here his whole life” - wow. The writers really left us some big bread crumbs. We go from the scene where someone mentions a serial killer who killed someone (who was abducted from this hotel) in 1963. THEN we find a strange, gossipy woman and her grumpy father who has lived there his whole life. Coincidence? Nah.

10:17 - SERIOUSLY?!? The Whitly home is ENORMOUS. WHY IS JESSICA LETTING AINSLEY WORK IN THE MURDER BASEMENT?!?!?! We literally just found out that Jessica has a SOLARIUM somewhere in this house.

10:40 - “The guy definitely seems like he kills people.” Oh the irony here.

10:55 - “Are you upset with me?” This is soft and I love it. Malcolm is being vulnerable with his little sister and it warms my heart.

11:07 - “Insomnia sucks.” “Who knew?” Again. Irony.

11:18 - “Anything you want to talk about?” This is precious. Malcolm loves Ainsley SO FREAKING MUCH. He has major Dad/Big brother/concerned school counsellor energy here and I’m here for it.

11:38 - Malcolm’s soooo going to replay this conversation in his head about a million times. He’s going to blame himself for Ainsley’s murder victim of this episode. He’s going to play the “what-if” game. What if - he told her the truth here? Would she still have killed someone tonight?

11:52 - Look at Ainsley’s face here. She seems sort of confused and comforted? Like maybe the fractions of memories that she’s admitting to having are making her believe that she killed Endicott and it scares her. Malcolm telling her otherwise is probably comforting on some level. It’s helping her convince herself that she’s done nothing wrong.

12:25 - According to IMDB - this isn’t the episode LDP directed SO WHY IS THERE SO LITTLE GIL CONTENT IN THIS EPISODE?!?!?!

12:27 - What the hell is the puddle on the floor btw? Is it paint? Tar? Blood? I thought construction hadn’t started on the hotel yet?

14:14 - Malcolm. You. Are. A. Moron. Why go towards the creepy elevator that opened by itself? Why did you think that was a good idea?

14:29 - The Bowery Ripper is pretty strong for an old guy. I mean, Malcolm isn’t that big and he was caught off guard but still.

14:38 - I wanted this scene to be reality SO SO BADLY. I don’t even care about the Brightwell interaction in this scene. Malcolm is on a hospital bed. With an ice pack. I could’ve watched 45 minutes of “Malcolm in the hospital” content. The fact that this boy didn’t spend longer than a 30 second scene in the hospital is a CRIME. Why does Fedak hate giving us the whump aftercare?!? WHY?!?! Doesn’t he know like half the fandom LIVES FOR IT?!?

14:40 - You know how I knew this was the start of Malcolm’s AU dream? 2 reasons: 1) Dani has her hand on the ice pack on Malcolm’s head, even though he totally doesn’t need her help to hold the ice pack to his head. 2) GIL ISN”T HERE. .....although this episode did us dirty with the lack of Gil content (I miss Papa!Gil so much)

14:46 - There’s something about dream JT. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Real and dream JT are almost identical. But dream JT seems to be more open with Malcolm? IDK - he’s more relaxed around Malcolm? I can’t quite describe it. Did anyone else notice that there was just something a little bit different about dream JT? Not even in a bad way. Just different.

15:15 - “Noooo she said it could’ve been worse. Not the same.” hahaha YES DANI. Good looking out. Call out this boy for neglecting his health.

15:24 - This whole scene where Dani and Malcolm do a joint interrogation was awesome. They were talking pretty fast which I found a little distracting but JT said it best, “They were on FIRE”. One thing I REALLY liked about the scene was the dynamic between Dani and Malcolm. Neither one of them was really taking a lead in the interrogation. They were equal partners and I think that says a lot about Malcolm’s romantic desires. He doesn’t want to dominate anyone. He doesn’t want to be taken advantage of. He just wants someone he can trust and respect. Someone who will trust and respect him. He wants a partner. An equal partner. I think that’s a really healthy desire for anyone in search of a relationship.

16:12 - an affair? Did we know that Lyle and/or Katrina were married?!? If they weren’t married it would just be a relationship. Not an affair.

17:01 - Is this honestly the first time Dani has called Malcolm by his first name? In 26 episodes? It must be right? Because I swear I was so shocked my heart skipped a beat (also my Brightwell heart melted but that’s a whole different thing).

17:06 - .....so in Malcolm’s dream does he still work for Major Crimes? Is JT running the department? I need some more details here.

17:12 - Soft!JT <3 <3 <3 How cute is it that in Malcolm’s AU dream, JT (and Dani) don’t actually change (in terms of personality). Their roles in his life just intensify. Dani becomes his significant other and JT becomes a much closer friend/brother. It’s precious. <3 <3 <3

17:52 - Something about the fact that Jessica isn’t drinking liquor in the AU is hilarious and depressing to me. It’s funny because, well, it just tickles me. It’s depressing because Malcolm understands that Jessica drinks to dull the pain. In this AU, she isn’t in pain. She’s happy. Therefore, she doesn’t need alcohol. I don’t know about you but the fact that Malcolm’s subconscious wanted his mom to be happy so badly that she became (more or less) sober - is heartbreaking and heartwarming all at the same time.

18:11 - “No one in this family is scared of a little blood right?” The irony here is THICK.

19:23 - The fact that Ainsley is a doctor just like Martin in Malcolm’s AU is terrifying and hilarious. This whole “I watched Ainsley kill a man” thing is really destabilizing Malcolm’s questionable mental health.

19:27 - “Please Ainsley is the talented one. I’m a distance second.” ....does this mean that Endicott isn’t the first person Ainsley has killed? Does this mean subconsciously Malcolm somehow thinks that Ainsley is a better serial killer than Martin?

19:56 - “No phones at dinner okay?” Something about the way Martin is looking at Malcolm at this moment and Martin’s tone of voice made me think - “Shit. Martin’s still a serial killer in Malcolm’s AU.” Especially since they Ainsley literally just announced to the room that he’s getting a from Claremont.

20:06 - Yep. That’s a nightmare. From the back, Claremont!Gil probably looked like Martin circa mid-2010s for Malcolm.

20:09 - Look idc who you ship on this show. But I will fight you if you don’t think that Malcolm being comforted after a nightmare by someone he loves is the sweetest thing ever. Look at how Dani gently rubs his arm and back. Ugh. This is the kind of safety Malcolm DESERVES.

20:43 - Dani lying on Malcolm’s chest. <3 It just makes me so happy. Not even necessarily because it’s Dani (although I do ship Brightwell as end game) but because Malcolm’s subconscious is showing us his ideal relationship and we don’t see anything wild or questionable - we just see G-rated cuddling. And damn if that doesn’t say a lot about how much Malcolm just wants to be loved.

20:53 - .......Can we have a full episode’s worth of footage where Malcolm is unconscious on the floor? I know I’m a basket case but it would make my whump heart so happy.....even happier if that footage was immediately followed by 40 mins of hospital care/comfort footage.

20:59 - I know that time has sort of slowed down for the purpose of plot in this episode but ngl - every time we saw the elevator approaching passed out Malcolm all I could think was “this is the slowest elevator in the world.”

21:26 - Malcolm is so so relaxed and comfortable in this scene. I want him to be this happy forever.

22:07 - “You deserve all of it.” Malcolm subconsciously just wants permission to be happy. He doesn’t think he deserves to be happy (especially after Endicott). That little revelation broke my heart. Also the Brightwell kiss was adorable. Dani takes control because, Malcolm wants to feel wanted and this is how his subconscious is manifesting that desire. I will argue that Malcolm doesn’t necessarily want a relationship where his partner takes charge or dominates him. He made coffee of both of them. They’re living in his apartment. They’re having calm, mature, adult conversations. They are both equal partners in his dream relationship.

22:45 - Dani isn’t scared of Malcolm when his hand starts shaking. She isn’t judging him. She’s just concerned. <3

22:47 - “Existential ennui”? Soooo much french in this episode. Damn. “Jamais vu”, “Quelle suprise”. Now “ennui”.

23:35 - “I don’t fit your profile.” ....am I expected to believe that Malcolm didn’t realize this was a dream until this moment? Dani calling him “Malcolm Whitly” in the last scene wasn’t a red flag? Or the fact that Ainsley is a doctor. Or that Martin isn’t in Claremont? Or that Jessica isn’t drinking booze by the bucket? I mean, I know he has a head injury but these are big red flags.

24:15 - Sooooo is Wendell dead irl? Because this is technically a dream.

25:02 - “I thought we were looking for an inexperienced psychopath. A first time killer.”......this is him projecting about Ainsley right? Am I overthinking this? And now he says, “I was wrong”. Is that supposed to suggest that Malcolm thinks Ainsley has killed someone before Endicott?

25:07 - “The blows are confident. They were having fun.”.....couldn’t the same be said about how Ainsley stabbed Endicott? They were definitely confident stabs (plus a confident throat slitting).

25:14 - “We’re looking for a serial killer.” Istg the writers are hinting that Ainsley is a serial killer (or will become one soon).

25:27 - Mr. David appears in the AU but Edrisa doesn’t. We were ROBBED.

26:07 - I’m not the only one who thinks that beard makes Gil look like a werewolf right?

26:33 - Claremont!Gil is creepy. LDP’s performance here is really really good. Also - I hate it. Because serial killer Gil is just not my Gil and it upsets me to see Gil chained to a wall.

26:56 - Sooooo in the AU “The Surgeon” is still at large right? ....you’d think Malcolm would be trying to solve that case with Dani and JT. You know, an active prolific serial killer in New York?

27:34 - The way that Martin, Gil, and Malcolm interact in this scene is really interesting to me. In a lot of ways, this isn’t an AU. Think about it.

In the dream: Gil is frantically trying to convince Malcolm that Martin is a serial killer. In a way, Gil is trying to protect Malcolm from Martin.

In reality: Gil just shoots Malcolm disapproving looks when he mentions seeing Martin. Gil desperately tries to protect Malcolm from Martin.

In the dream: Martin is trying to convince Malcolm that Gil is a monster. He’s trying to convince Malcolm that he’s a Good father. That he would never hurt Malcolm. That he loves Malcolm.

In reality - Martin is the same.

The only main difference between AU!Martin, AU!Gil, and their real counterparts is their temperaments. AU!Martin has Gil’s calm, comforting, and rational temperament while AU!Gil has Martin’s angry, manic, and controlling temperament.

What is the same between the AU characters and their real counterparts?

Martin is still a manipulative killer.

Gil still shoots Malcolm looks of concern (27:45).

Gil and Martin still hate each other.

28:30 - Even dream Martin tries to gaslight Malcolm.

28:56 - “You can always count on Dad.” ....is this how Malcolm really feels about Martin subconsciously? It kind of makes sense? Who did Malcolm turn to when Ainsley did the unthinkable? Not Gil or Jessica. Malcolm said it in 1x12 - (I’m paraphrasing) “The child in me thought he cared. Loved me even.” I think there’s still a part of Malcolm that believes that. Or at least a part of Malcolm that desperately wants to believe that.

29:17 - “I’ve never been to a crime scene before.” That’s because you create the crime scene, Martin. In all versions of reality.

29:20 - annnnnnd AU Martin shares regular Martin’s weird fascination with Dani.

31:00 - JT being buddy-buddy with Martin is hands down the most horrifying part of the AU.

31:10 - “I think he’s having a psychotic break.” ......I want this to be foreshadowing so so so badly. I think it would be so interesting to see how the team, Jessica, Ainsley, and even Martin deal with Malcolm just having a total breakdown. Maybe not a full psychotic break. Maybe a nervous breakdown? Or he succumbs to his suicidal ideation? Probably a little too dark for network TV though.

31:34 - “I’m very protective of her and her boots.” Does Malcolm see himself as the Bowery Ripper, trying to protect Ainsley as opposed to his daughter? Or is the Bowery Ripper supposed to be a metaphor for Martin protecting Ainsley? Is Malcolm going to take the fall for Ainsley and all her murders?!?

32:45 - “Why did you kill again? After all these years.” istg this is hinting that Ainsley killed someone as a kid and Martin knows about it.

33:00 - “I can’t let my daughter know what I was.” .....is the Bowery Ripper supposed to be Ainsley? Is Ainsley killing people to try and protect Malcolm? Ugh. I’m totally overthinking this.

33:02 - Even in his dream, Malcolm can’t bring himself to kill his father. Wether that is by cutting off contact with Martin irl or letting the Bowery Ripper kill him in the AU.

33:07 - Actually though - why doesn’t Malcolm carry a gun IRL? We know he’s trained to use one. We saw him use one in the pilot on a case for the FBI. Is there some sort of NYPD rule about consultants carrying weapons? Is it a rule that Gil has imposed on Malcolm? Is it a rule that Malcolm has imposed on himself? A mixture? I want to know.

33:38 - OMG. Is Malcolm going to try and kill Ainsley?!?! What a twist that would be. AU Malcolm just killed a killer. He doesn’t seem to feel bad about it and he agrees with Martin that “everything is okay now”.

33:55 - This hug deeply moved me. Malcolm is fully aware that this hug isn’t real but he looks so content to be hugged by his father. Malcolm is finally getting a proper hug. <3 It honestly makes me wonder what Malcolm would do IRL for his father’s approval though. He’s clearly sooo desperate for Martin to love him. Who knows what Martin will be able to convince Malcolm to do in this season? Malcolm’s not all that mentally stable right now and he’s really vulnerable emotionally. I’m worried.

34:26 - “Not that it’s a competition.” ....yep. Ainsley wants to be better than Malcolm even in Malcolm’s own subconscious.

35:00 - Heart. Breaking. Watching Ainsley, Martin, and Jessica tell Malcolm how good they think Dani is for him breaks my heart. Look at how happy Malcolm looks. Look at how desperately Malcolm wants this to be real. Ugh. My heart is shattered.

35:20 - “You’re the best, big brother.” Even Malcolm’s subconsious knows that he’s an excellent big brother. Seriously, I love my younger brother but I don’t think I could ever cover up a murder for him. Never mind dispose of the body. Maybe I would? IDK the situation has never come up (thankfully).

35:25 - .....aaannnnnndd we’re back to the Girl in the Box.

35:58 - “Why would you ever want to leave?” “Because it’s all a lie.” Isn’t Malcolm living a lie IRL too? He’s pretending that Ainsley is a law-abiding citizen. He’s pretending that he isn’t an accomplice in a murder. He’s living in constant fear because of his secrets. They’re going to destroy him. This is why I think a suicide attempt is a possibility for this season. This trauma is a lot bigger (in some ways) than last season’s. Plus - Malcolm has a lot of pre-existing trauma. This could be the metaphoric straw that breaks the camel’s back.

36:45 - “Even in my wildest dream. I’m still a detective. I need to seek the truth. No matter how painful.” That’s it. That’s Malcolm’s character in a nutshell. “Traumatized boy who intentionally puts himself through more trauma for the sake of seeking the truth.”

37:01 - “You’re right. I need to work on that.”.......if Malcolm tells Gil and/or the team about Ainsley next episode I will lose my mind.

37:15 - TOM PAYNE. YOU ABSOLUTE TREASURE. THIS IS SUCH A GREAT PERFORMANCE. THOSE UNSHED TEARS. THAT DESPERATE ANGER. THAT HOPELESSNESS AND DESPAIR. <3 <3 <3 <3

38:21 - Look, I’m a mechanical engineering student (not an expert) but if that was a wooden stick like I think it is - that would’ve NEVER stopped an elevator (at least, not long enough for Malcolm to escape). But I’ll overlook it for whump. Because Malcolm has a head wound and I’m loving it.

38:33 - I’ve rewatched this clip of Malcolm with a bloody face meeting JT and Dani about 50 times (wish I was exaggerating that number). There is something so gorgeous about this scene. I mean - the fact that Malcolm is clearly in physical and emotional pain is enough to make my whump heart sing but it’s more than that. Listen to the genuine concern in JT’s voice when he says, “You okay?”. Look at Dani’s concerned face. Listen to how soft and desperate Malcolm’s voice is when he says, “When was the last time I talked to you?” Look at how concerned and confused JT and Dani are when Malcolm says, “I know who the killer is.” They’re not scared of Malcolm. They’re scared for Malcolm. Malcolm just showed up covered in blood, he can’t walk straight, he’s clearly confused, and now he’s claiming that he’s solved the case. They’re worried about him and they have every right to be. Listen to how broken Malcolm sounds when he says, “Long story.” <3 <3 <3 I’m in love with this scene.

39:19 - “Are you sure about this?” “I have no idea.” This. Is. Important. JT and Dani have every reason to believe that this old man isn’t a killer but Malcolm’s head injury is making him confused. BUT they choose to trust Malcolm (or at the very least, humour him). They trust him enough to take a risk on him and I think that’s beautiful. I think that’s exactly what Malcolm needed after his nightmare of an AU dream. He needed to know that they care about him IRL. I hope he notices their behaviour despite the head injury.

39:35 - Malcolm puts the skull down with his ungloved hand. I’m blaming the head injury.

39:55 - Look this was a really moving scene. The parallel of Malcolm arresting a serial killer in front of the serial killer’s child and Martin being arrested in front of Malcolm is haunting. HOWEVER, when that old man stood up from the wheelchair my stupid brain went “THAT ASSHOLE NEVER EVEN NEEDED THE WHEELCHAIR?!?”.....even though he literally wasn’t in a wheelchair in Malcolm’s dream.

40:40 - WE WERE ROBBED. I want to see the scene where Malcolm explains his dream to the team. I want to see GIL. WHERE THE EFF IS GIL IN THIS EPISODE?!?! FURTHERMORE - I WANT THE IRL VERSION OF “MALCOLM GOES TO THE HOSPITAL FOR A HEAD INJURY” SCENE. WTF FEDAK. GIVE ME THE AFTERCARE.

40:47 - “That man will be buried in a turtleneck.” hahahahahaha OMG. Iconic.

41:27 - “Goodnight Malcolm.” <3 <3 <3 She called him Malcolm IRL. Excuse me while I go and stoke my slow burn Brightwell fire.

41:36 - “Goodnight.” This is the face of a man who just accepted the fact that he will never be happy. Malcolm honestly doesn’t think he deserves to be in a relationship. Especially with someone as beautiful, kind, and talented as Dani.

41:40 - THAT HAT. Was this really in Season 1?!?! I don’t remember it? But holy hell - I want to see Malcolm wear it. Like now. It’s going to make me laugh. I can feel it.

41:53 - Immediately you can hear that something is wrong in Ainsley’s voice. She sounds distracted, dissociated, and scared.

42:14 - Give. Tom. Payne. An. Emmy. Listen to his voice breaking here. He’s so close to tears and it’s genuinely beautiful. Such an astounding performance.

42:51 - I honestly think Ainsley is shaking her head because she realizes that she made a mistake. She came to Malcolm because she thought he killed Endicott. She thought that he’d be able to understand. That he’d be able to help her because he had committed the same crime she just committed. She was wrong. He can help her - but legally, he really shouldn’t.

43:08 - Look. A new scene for Malcolm’s night terrors.

43:15 - Yep. This is going to drive Malcolm into a mental breakdown. This is bad.

43:20 - There’s a part of me that wants Malcolm to tattle on Ainsley. Just so he doesn’t have to keep the secret any longer. The secret is killing him. Telling won’t make the situation any better though. Gil and the team will react horribly and it’ll make Malcolm feel like garbage. Plus I can only imagine how the press would scrutinize the Whitly’s again. It won’t be good any way you slice it.

I have a love/hate relationship with this episode. On one hand - it’s the cannon AU episode that every fanfiction lover dreams of. It’s also a really compelling episode complete with some excellent acting and great insight into Malcolm’s psyche. HOWEVER: 1) not enough Gil, 2) WHERE IS MY WHUMP AFTERCARE?, and 3) I wanted to see Malcolm at the base of that elevator for longer. The whump wasn’t prolonged enough for my sick soul.

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nalyria · 3 years

Text

God Michael! 🤣🤣 I finished playing Shadows of Saintsfour about two days ago during the Freeplay event and my LI was Michael.

I played SOS awhile ago but didn't get pass season 1 because I thought the series was super predictable which made it boring, but WOW DID IT PICK UP IN SEASON 2, esp 3!!! I can't believe it got better within those 2 seasons. I thought the story would be dragging on for no reason, but was pleasantly surprised that season 3 and season 2 were tied together with 1. And they existed in one cohesive story! I can't believe that I would have never, and I mean NEVER, would have touched this story again if it wasn't for the Freeplay event. I completely underestimated this story... I would have missed out this gem. Now I see why this is one of the more well-liked and popular book of the app now.

That being said, I love Michael. No not love, I ADORE him. Seriously.

I never screencap game moments but I had to for Michael. I never felt so much adoration for a character that made me want to do this 🤣🤣. I love the romantic scenes between MC and Michael and the conflict that was presented in season 2. And his asshole-douchery flaw....

In his next line, he says he's worried about you. He's just worried, but still Michael, no need to bring your girlfriend's friend down. ESPECIALLY WHEN THAT FRIEND HAS BEEN WITH HER THROUGH THE THICK AND THIN THAN YOU DID IN SEASON 2 and 1!!! (ofc Michael saved MC's life in season 1, but Derek has been sticking with MC when Michael hasn't, which is alot)

However, his sweetness towards MC is altogether too much. I wish he had more interaction with her friends tbh. But now I present the last line (I think) and perhaps the best from Michael...

So sweet 💕. Gosh he is still fallen head over heels for us 😳😭 like the first time. The sex scene with him was also so sweet... the line said everytging about him is familiar, yet there is something new to discover. 🥺I love how protective he is of MC and how absolutely loyal he is to her. He runs away with her FFS!!!! He leaves a gang and family with an equally traumatized brother just to be with her. He leaves everything for MC and if that doesn't scream Bae material, I don't know what else. He is the epitome of a ride or die partner and I cannot, I don't think, can feel the same attachment to the other LI's in this book. Probably John though lol.

I was super anxious during the train station scene because I thought I didn't have enough points with Michael for him to run away with me and the writers made it seem so, so I tapped pretty fast, half reading the lines in trepidation. When I read that he actually came and then we held hands as the train departed... my heart... 😭💔💔💔💔 RC don't play with my heart like that 🤣🤣🤣

That aside, I wish Michael had a bigger role in season 1, 2, and 3. He did in season 1, but he stopped appearing frequently, esp in 2 and 3. I thought he would appear more often because he's MC's bf. And it would make more sense for both of them to search together. Even unromanced, it would still make sense for Michael to hang with MC's group because they're the only ones who are really actively looking for Bobby. This would have led to more dynamics and interest in MC's friend group..alas, this didn't happen. A missed opportunity IMO but I suppose his absence could be explained by this: he has his own life. Lol. Or a different way of doing things. Still doesn't really make sense to me, but oh well. I still very enjoy his route and his development nonetheless.

I also wish other LI's had more moments with MC. I heard Stephanie was sidelined, not sure though because it was as though the main love interests would only appear around the time our chosen love interest appears. Not sure how much that is true since in season 1 I didn't romance her. Strange how she barely appeared in my route though. I thought she would help us more or become part of the gang, but she didn't. Disappointed because I would have def liked another best friend besides Candy and again, more layer to the friend group. Her interaction with Michael would have def be interesting.

I also wish that non-romanced main love interests appeared more than the Black dragons. To me, I don't think their role fit with the story very well if you think about it. Luke and Stephanie def would. Stephanie's grandma is acquainted with Mrs. Hill and is a witch; Luke's family's hold over the cursed painting. I wish the black dragons' appearances were at least shared with the non-romanced ones. Like I wish I knew what Luke and Stephanie were up to in detail. It was seriously strange for Luke to not be around when Bobby was missing and that he never tried contacting us. In both seasons 2 and 3, I couldn't stop wondering what they were up to and missed them (although Luke drugged us lol).

So imo, the black dragons' role should def be less than Luke and Stephanie. Definitely weird, but it is what it is.

Speaking of the Black Dragon's, Aaron is a hot daddy. Like GOD DAMN. I couldn't help but flirt and kiss with him although I was scared that it might ruin my relationship with Michael 🤣🤣🤣. Cherry.. i would like cherry if he was drawn better. At first, I couldn't like him because of his sprite but his personality is ahh, so mischievous, I love it. I would have picked Aaron over cherry though LOL.

I would replay season 3 to romance them again, but the scenes are very few and I already played most of them. I'm just missing their final sex scenes really, so it's not really worth it to replay the entire season just to get their ending and final sex scene lol.

I can't bear to cheat on Michael with Aaron or cherry, I can't do him dirty like that. Like for FFS, Aaron married Luke's sister and we never, at least imo, build the same heart wrenching connection we do with Michael compared to them. And the fact that he freaking left everything in his life for 10 years to be with us!! Like nooo I can't!! 🤣🤣 there aren't enough scenes with the side characters to justify the cheating 🤣🤣 Michael is too gentle and sweet for the hurt.... but i did cheat on him with Derek HAHHAHA mostly because 1996 Michael wasn't available so I thought something happened so I was like ALRIGHT GUESS WE FUCKIN'. I was tempted to choose Derek over Michael because Derek has been with us more than Michael has. Not to mention, he really cares for MC. Wish there was a 3p ending with both of them 😭😭 they're both super loyal to MC and would lay their life down for her.

The same thing with John too. I can't bear to see Michael grieving over MC and MC picking John over him... can you imagine Michael dying and finally seeing his dearly desired dead gf in DreamWorld but only to see her gettin' it down with some guy who tried to kill everyone in the past? 🤣🤣🤣 nah man I can't do him dirty, especially when Michael saved us from the Faun. Speaking of that event, it was weird that there wasn't a conversation/consequence from Michael who saw John kiss us LOL. And he definitely heard us talking about the intimate moments we shared HAHAHAHA. Though, John's short route is terribly cute. I really enjoyed it tbh. Surprised that we didn't have any repercussions for cheating on Michael with him. Moving on, I watched his ending on YouTube and it was super bittersweet.😭

I honestly like his route a bit more than Aaron's. Or equally. Can't decide! Aaron's route is basically MC still in love with her old crush who used to intimidate her and was exciting since he's someone you wouldn't acquaint yourself with, especially as a young, inexperienced student. And then coming back as a mature woman, and still knowing that you're in love with him and he is still too, ah so cute. That moment you share with him in the snow on the swings 💕💕. Honestly I feel like that moment MC needed a proper adult figure to comfort her so that scene was a bit weird and made me think, hm, MC is probably crushing on him because he is older, hot, and is sort of providing a parental comfort to her lol. In my HC universe, MC crushes on him, but it quickly dies because she was vulnerable in the moment. I'm happy that that moment didn't escalate any further and that Aaron didn't chase MC unless MC did in the end. It would have been very weird because it would have been a moment where he, as an adult figure, take advantage of MC. Then again, it's fantasy/fiction. To each to their own eh? I still enjoyed it. I honestly could personally relate to the line where Mc says that the experience and age (something like this) provided comfort to her, so that moment felt awfully sweet to me.

In the end, there could only be so much you can push in in a story game app.

I still really enjoyed this story. Despite the flaws I pointed out, I love this story to every bits. I find this much more entertaining than SOTF, so I'm glad that it is written the way it is. Perhaps I should write a post about SOTF in the future since I'm close to finishing it, but I don't think I will since I don't like it much.

#romance club #shadows of saintfour #the shadows of saintfour #SOS

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gustafsnightangel · 3 years

Text

Shattered Lives Ch 40 Pt 2

They all woke late the next morning, no one in a rush to get to school or work, no mad scramble to court, no phone calls to answer, it felt, wrong, she thought. It felt like she should be doing something other than snuggled up in Gustaf’s arms, in a cabin in the snow, without a care in the world.

“Stopthinking.” Gustaf mumbled and tucked her in closer, her giggle making him crack an eye open.

“It just feels wrong not to be up rushing around.” She said quietly.

“That’s why they call it a vacation love, it’s what you’re supposed to do, or in this case, not do.” He kissed her to stop her from talking, from thinking. Lips seductively devouring hers. “Even Lily got the memo.” He purred, the cabin was silent.

“I guess I’m still learning not to be a control freak.” She scoffed.

“It’ll get better. In a week or so you’ll be dragging your feet not wanting to leave.” He chuckled. Pressing her body against him she kissed that clever mouth, relaxing into it. “Fuck I love it when you kiss me like that.” He growled, lips teasing hers to deepen it.

“Breakfast.” She said when he let her up for air. “I need food.” Her stomach groaned in protest to make her point heard loud and clear.

“I’ll get the kids up.” He kissed her again, that relaxed smile splitting his face.

“Are you ok?” She asked him, trailing a finger down his jaw.

“I am. I can’t change what’s happened, I can’t control what she does. I’ll keep us safe, that’s my job, and that’s what I need to focus on, us, this, the kids. That’s what’s important.” He kissed her tenderly. “Are you ok?” She nodded.

“I let it get the better of me yesterday, but I’m ok. She doesn’t get to ruin this, what we have, our family.” Her hand splayed out over his chest. “I promised I’d fight for you Gustaf, for us.” He hooked a finger under her chin and tipped it up so she had no choice but to look at him.

“You do fight for us love, quite viciously.” He kissed her. “And you fight for my family, protect them as well.”

“Sometimes I feel like it’s not enough, that I can’t do enough to protect those that I love.” Her voice was quiet.

“It’s more than enough.” He smiled kindly at her. “You are enough love.” He said gently, echoing her words she’d said to him a million times. “You are enough for me.” He smiled at her soft chuckle.

“I’ve been thinking.” She blurted out.

“When are you not.” He cut in with a smirk.

“True. I’ve been thinking about making partner.” She started, and chewed on her bottom lip. He didn’t growl, just pried it from between her teeth with his thumb and kissed her slowly. It wasn’t the right time for that game.

“And?” He asked, that low tone seductive.

“I want to give it a try, I want to do it.” The hesitation in her voice gutted him, the unsureity.

“Then do it.” He said honestly.

“It’s just... it’s taking a lot on, and it’ll mean changing a few things with the kids and then you’re awa...” He kissed her, deepening it when she went to speak again.

“Do it love, take partner when they offer it to you and we’ll make the rest work. You don’t need my permission.” He tangled his fingers in her hair and watched it fall through his fingers.

“I know I don’t, but it’s a lot and I don’t think I can do it without you.” His eyes snapped to hers, his eyebrow raising slowly.

“You could, and you know you could.” He growled, and flicked her nose.

“It would kill me in the end.” She said seriously. “I’d run myself into the ground and the kids wouldn’t be as happy as they are now.”

“Probably.” He kissed her sweetly. “It worries you, the kids?”

She nodded. “I don’t want to throw more at them to adjust to. This past year has been difficult enough.”

“Take partner love, it’s what you’ve worked your ass off for. We’ll figure out a nanny and housekeeper to lighten the load, a cleaner, even when I’m home. That way we can spend more time with the kids. Whatever you need love. We’ll help them adjust, just like we’re doing now.” He would give her anything if it meant she was doing what she needed to do. He knew how important her independence was, her career, no way was he letting anything or anyone stand in her way.

“You’re sure?” She asked.

“Positive. You’re not on your own anymore and you have nothing to prove to me or anyone love. If it’s what you want to do, then do it, we’ll figure the rest out together as we go.” Her nod told him she wasn’t quite convinced. That would change with time, he’d see to it.

“Do you think Alice would come work for us full time?” She asked softly. “The kids already know her, we know her.”

“I can ask.” And if he paid her enough she’d probably jump at the chance, he thought.

“I was also thinking about my apartment.” Once she started all her thought came flooding out.

“Do you ever stop thinking?” He joked and her laugh had him grinning.

“No, I really don’t.” She chuckled at herself.

“What about your apartment love?” His fingers toying with a stray wave of burnished copper.

“I’d like to knock the wall out and merge the two. Bigger space as the kids get older, a place for them to have friends stay for sleep overs.”

“I like that.” Additional room for kids of our own, he added silently. “You want me to look into it?”

She nodded. “Yes.” Blowing a breath out he realized she was nervous. “Yes I do.”

“These are some pretty big decisions love.” He was a little shell shocked at what she’d just put in motion.

“It’s a new year, I’m starting a new page, moving forward. I’m still grieving and it hurts, but I can’t keep shoving life to the side because of it.” Her voice quiet. He kissed her sweetly.

“That’s my girl.” He murmured against his lips. “So strong.”

“I want this with you, Gustaf.” She said softly. “I want it all with you, and I need to stop holding you and our future together at arms length because of the grief.” Her statement floored him, rocked him to his soul. “It’s not fair on either of us or the kids.”

“I love you Sildie, I want this with you too.” His kiss was nothing short of toe curling. “I want everything with you.”

“Does it scare you?” She asked hesitantly.

“Fucking terrifies me.” He smiled. “But it’s real, this, what we have, is real and it terrifies me because it’s something I can lose. It’s something I can fuck up if I don’t stay on top of my shit.” And he was heartbreakingly serious. He knew he’d lose her and the kids if he let Ana or his demons get the upper hand.

“Scares me too.” She smiled and kissed him sweetly.

“We’re making it work love, in our own way, together.” He kissed her tenderly. “I’ll fight for us too, for you, for the kids.”

“Sweet man I know you will, you have already.” And he had, he’d been protecting her, fighting for her. New Year’s Eve, Elias, the car. Her stomach growled again and she giggled.

“I think we need to feed that monster before it eats you from the inside out.” He chuckled.

“I love you Gustaf.” She said gently and kissed him so his mind blanked.

“And I adore you my love. Come on, up, food, and kids, and hiking.” He kissed her quickly before ripping the covers off, jumping out of bed, and pulling on some sweats. If he stayed another moment he’d be there all day making love to her. Which wouldn’t be a bad thing, but the kids would certainly get an education when they came looking for them.

She heard the soft sobs change to delighted squeals from Lily as her dad dad came and rescued her from her crib, the giggles from the boys as he roused them, he was so good for them. Sildie got breakfast started as the boys dressed, Gustaf entertaining Lily and making tea. She loved this, the mundane tasks with him beside her, they were the moments she cherished most, normal, home, a family unit. They ate together, their meal times becoming something Gustaf had grown fond of. It was the time to voice opinions, troubles, issues, work out how they were going to tackle something, or just strengthen the bond that they’d all been working hard on. Today it was all about where they were hiking to and what cookies were being packed for their picnic. Not a life or death situation, but it was all about the cookies, and to seven year old twins, that was about as life or death as it could get. Just before lunch they headed out, a short two mile hike to the lake where they could have their picnic. “We’re following the blue trail markers boys, keep the markers on your right hand side to stay on the trail.” Gustaf said as they took off at breakneck speed to explore. “They do realize there are things in these woods that will eat them.” He snarked and Sildie laughed. “They are snack size after all.”

“They make enough noise to scare anything away.” She smiled, fuck he loved that smile, carefree and happy.

“True.” He snorted. With Lily between them, a hand in each as she walked and giggled, they set off to follow the boys.

Sildie was right, they made enough noise to scare anything away and make it easier to keep track of their location. Every so often they would run back to Gustaf and tell him what they’d seen or found. Gustaf carried Lily when she started to fuss, the little lady enjoying herself perched up high in his arms pointing at everything and anything as she took in the big wide world. Her tiny hand tapping gustafs cheek as she pointed to things, chattering to him almost non stop. Sildie lagged behind to take some photos, her leggy man and Lily, the boys having an impromptu snowball fight, the vision before them as the lake came into view, family.

“Stay on the trail boys or we’ll lose you in a snow drift.” Gustaf said in that serious dad tone.

When they reached their destination they found a nice spot down by the water which was frozen solid. “Stay off the ice.” Gustaf growled as Liam went to explore. That lurch in the gut made Gustaf want to hurl, as he had a split second vision of the child falling through the ice and getting dragged under by the current. Liams foot stopped mid air with a jolt before joining its mate back on solid ground. “We’ll look at it in a bit to make sure we’re not going to fall through ok?” He softened his tone and Liam nodded coming back to their picnic blanket. Gustaf ruffled the his hair as he came to sit down beside him. “I’m not out to spoil your fun, but we don’t want you falling through the ice.” Liam nodded and hugged Gustaf.

“Sorry.” He mumbled. “I didn’t think of that.”

“It’s ok, I’m not angry, just don’t want you hurt. It would be very cold and the current would pull you under quickly.” He said gently. “We don’t want that.” Liam shook his head and hugged Gustaf tighter.

“Can we explore later?” He asked quietly, looking up at him, all wide eyed and hopeful.

“We can.” Gustaf smiled at the kid. He hadn’t meant to sound so gruff, but at least it got the kid to stop and think.

“Cool.” He chirped and hugged Gustaf tighter.

Sildie watched the interaction between them. And he says he’s not good at the dad thing, she chuckled internally. That was such a dad voice and dad thing to do, her heart swelled, that one thought circling.

“Maybe we can bring some skates next time.” Brendan said.

“There might be some in the closet back at the cabin, we can look later and come back in a few days if the weather is good.” Gustaf said taking Lily from Sildie while she got the picnic unpacked.

“I’ll look.” Brendan nodded and helped Sildie with the food.

It was one of those picture perfect days, snow and ice a blanket over the earth, blue skies and the sun smiling down, that breath of wind that kept things comfortable. After eating, trash stashed into the backpack, Sildie sat with Lily while the boys explored. She videoed them heading onto the ice, Gustaf with a twin in each hand, Brendan helping to test the ice with a stick. Gustaf had obviously done this sort of thing before and it was a good lesson for the boys. So good with them, she thought as she watched Finn slip a little and Gustaf stop him from going teeth first into the ice. That one question surfaced inside her again, did she want kids with him, did she want them at all? The panic hadn’t come with the thought this time, just a resounding calm as if she already knew the answer deep down. She smiled as her mind pictured him with their own kids, a future together where they raised a family with children that were the best parts of them. Turning the video off she blew out a breath. “I want kids with you.” She breathed, the barely there whisper screaming in her head. “A future together with a family of our own.” Looking down at Lily she smiled as the child chattered her usual mum mum mum. “God I’m such a hypocrite.” She snorted. “Before I met your dad dad I never wanted kids of my own, even taking you guys were a stretch. Now here I am sitting with my ass in the snow actually contemplating getting pregnant to a man I’ve known less than a year, but love so completely.” She lifted up a giggling Lily and kissed her neck loudly, blowing raspberries and making the the tiny girl squeal. “What’s another one huh? I’m already shackled to you four, what’s few more?” She grinned at her and snuggled her close as Lily hugged her. “I guess I need to talk to dad dad. I’m pretty sure he wants kids but we need to make sure first.” The vision of Gustaf sitting in front of the fire at their cabin, the tiny bootie in his fingers before he placed it in the flames flooded her mind. Ana and her lies aside, he’d wanted that child, devastated that it had been a fabrication. Focusing on the four figures in the distance she felt her heart explode with love. Was she seriously contemplating this? She blew out a steadying breath. “Yeah, I’m thinking it.” She muttered. “But what if he doesn’t want them, what then Lily bear? What if it causes him to spiral?” It was the one thing that shadowed her thoughts. After what Ana did to him she’d have to approach it carefully. It was a decision for them as a couple, not just her. “Dad dad dad.” She chattered. “Yeah, he makes a great dad dad doesn’t he?” She smiled. “I guess I’ll just have to ask him.” She watched as the boys started heading back toward her, those thoughts running through her mind as to how she was going to approach the subject. “Something to occupy my time over the next few days.” She snorted a sigh and grinned as the twins were slipping and sliding all over the place, their giggles echoing back to her.

Sitting with her on the blanket the boys told her about everything they saw, the pictures that Gustaf had taken, so much happiness, she thought. This was what she wanted for them. Stability, love, a man that could be there for them, family.

“Cookie time.” Gustaf said flopping down next to Sildie, those outrageously long legs folding up under him. He kissed her, that gorgeous smile plaster across his face, the calmness of a man at peace with the world around him.

“Keykey.” Lily chattered as she crawled to Gustaf, the little lady wanting her dad dad.

“Yes even for you little monster.” He chuckled and kissed her noisily. They devoured the two packets of fudge chocolate chip cookies, the hike back to the cabin would be enough to burn off the sugar high. Packing up, Gustaf pulled Sildie to him, a moment to just stop and take in the view with her. “See that little hill, all the way over the other side of the lake?” He murmured at her ear, pointing to where he was talking about.

“I see it.” She said, desire coiling in her belly at that lean body at her back.

“That’s the ridge we hiked to on our weekend away, our cabin is on the other side of it.” He kissed her temple and held her against him, breathing in her scent.

“Really?” She turned her head sharply and looked at him, surprise in her eyes.

“Really. Over there for adult time, over here for family time.” He kissed her tenderly.

“Oh I do like the sound of that.” She sighed as the residual tension in her body relaxed.

She heard the giggles a split second before Gustaf froze, his body going stiff as a board. “Excuse me a moment love, I have to go bury a few kids in a snow drift. Be right back.” He grinned against her neck, kissing her just below her ear before pulling away and chasing the boys. They’d thrown a snowball at him and it had gone down the inside of his jacket. She knew she should stop them for fear of them catching a chill, but she couldn’t, the laughter and smiles would be worth the head cold. He got them back in turn, his snowballs significantly larger than theirs, grins just as big. Even Lily got in on the action, running up to each of her brothers and tossing handfuls of snow at them, giggling and squealing as they tossed tiny bits of snow back at her. Setting out for the cabin he walked with the boys as Sildie walked with Lily, the bonding time important for them. Lily was determined to walk and Sildie felt like she was half dragging the poor child. Eventually she wanted up, her little legs all tuckered out and soon she was snuggled against Sildie’s shoulder half passed out, half chattering to her mum mum.

Gustaf took a deep breath as he walked with the boys, the ease of their conversation settling his nerves. There was a question he needed to ask them, one that had been circling his head for a while and he needed to know where he stood. “Hey boys can I ask you something? Get your thoughts?” He said softly, he didn’t want his voice to carry back to Sildie.

“Are we in trouble?” Finn asked as the twins looked at each other and then at Gustaf.

“No.” He chuckled, ruffling the kids hair. “You’re not in trouble, I just needed to ask you something that I’ve been thinking about. Get your input.” Damn he was so fucking nervous.

“Why?” Liam asked somewhat baffled that an adult would be asking for their opinion about anything important.

“Because we’re a family.” Brendan said softly, and Gustaf could see the touch of grief in his eyes as the teen looked at him.

“That’s exactly why.” Gustaf murmured. “We are a family, and good or bad, your thoughts and opinions matter to me. It’s important.” He took a steadying breath and continued. “You know that I love you guys, Lily too, like you were my own kids. And you know I love Sildie, that we’ve been working together to make us as close to a family unit as we can.” All three glanced at him slightly confused as they kept walking. “I love what we have, the family we have become, and I would like to take it a step further and ask Sildie to marry me, but I need to know how the three of you would feel about that?” He said carefully.

“Like our mum and dad were?” Liam asked and it broke Gustaf heart to hear that longing in the child’s tone.

“Yes, like your mum and dad were.” He said gently, his soul ached for them. This had to drag up the grief and he felt sick for asking, but he wasn’t going to be that guy, the one that just did whatever he wanted regardless of how the kids felt. They needed to have their voices heard, their emotions and feeling taken into consideration. Marrying Sildie meant marrying all five of them, this affected them too and they had to be ok with it.

“Does that mean you’d be our dad forever?” Finn asked tentatively.

Gustaf couldn’t help the smile, the way a child’s mind worked still amazed him. “If that’s what you want me to be, then yes. If you want it to stay as it is, that’s fine too.” He paused and looked at Brendan, the teen deep in thought. He knew where this conversation was going to go, something else Gustaf was nervous about. “You don’t have to give me an answer today, but I’d like you to think about it.”

“Would we have to change our last name?” Brendan asked quietly.

“No.” Gustaf said shaking his head. “Sildie doesn’t have to change her name if she chooses not to. That will be her decision.”

“But don’t we have to if you two get married?” He asked, brow creasing. “Mum and dad were married so we have their last name. If you marry aunt Sildie then we’d have to take your name right?”

“It wouldn’t work that way for us B. If Sildie and I were to get married she can choose to take my last name, hyphenate it, or keep it as O’Rourke. If we were to have children of our own they would have my last name or the hyphenated name on their birth certificate. The only way the four of you could take my last name or hyphenate it, is if you choose to legally change it when you turn eighteen.” He watched Brendan carefully as he spoke again. “Or I adopt you. And even then, it’s your choice.” These were tricky questions and he wasn’t sure if he was just shooting himself in the foot with it all. “A choice and decision I won’t force on any of you.”

“Do you want to adopt us?” Brendan asked, the words more a mumble as if he wasn’t sure if he wanted to ask or know the answer.

“Only if that’s something the four of you want. I won’t push B.” Gustaf said gently.

“But is that what you want?” He asked a little more forcefully. The kid had some balls when it mattered. He was thinking long term and how it would affect them all.

“The short answer, yes.” He wasn’t going to fuck around with this. Brendan needed a straight up answer to know where he stood. “Yes, I want to marry Sildie and adopt all four of you. But it’s not as cut and dry as all that. Legally, Sildie is your guardian and responsible for you until you’re eighteen. I’m not sure how it all works and it’s something we’d all have to discuss as a family before we started to actually do anything along those lines. Ultimately Brendan that decision is Sildie’s. Until you’re eighteen, what she says, goes, in the legal guardian department.” He let the quiet take them a few more steps before continuing. “Anyway, that’s what I’d like to do, but it’s not about what I want, you all have a say in this, Sildie too. Because I also understand that it might feel like you’re betraying your father, forgetting him, or replacing him. I love you guys and want to be as much of a dad like person to you as you’ll allow me to be. But if what we have now is the absolute limit, then I’m ok with that. If you’d like me to adopt you then I’m ok with that too.” Gustaf watched the teens shoulders relax. “Think about it, there’s no rush. Think about whether it’s something you’d want and would be comfortable with. I won’t push or force it and I won’t bring it up again unless you guys want to talk about it, ok?”

“I’d like it if you were to marry mum, she needs you, we need you.” Brendan nodded and glanced at Gustaf. “And you need her. You’re happier with her. But the whole adoption thing, I need to think about.” The teen said quietly, his thought process much like Sildie’s. Gustaf knew the kid was conflicted. “I just don’t know.”

“That’s all I’m asking B.” He smiled, gaze flicking to the kid.

“We want you to marry mum too.” Finn said in a hushed whisper.

“I don’t know if want to change my name.” Liam mumbled, he said it so quietly that Gustaf almost missed it.

“And that’s ok, Liam.” Gustaf said gently and saw the more outspoken twin relax.

“But I’ll think about it.” He added, jumping around kicking snow.

“When are you going to ask her?” Brendan asked.

“I don’t know yet, I wanted to be sure you boys were ok with the idea first.” Gustaf said quietly.

“Were ok with it.” Finn grinned.

“Then I guess I need to make proposal plans.” He chuckled.

“Can we help?” Liam asked.

“Sure, but we have to keep this strictly between us men.” Gustaf said seriously. “I may need you guys to run interference so she doesn’t figure it out. Keeping it from her won’t be easy.”

“You do know she hates surprises.” Brendan chuckled. “And keeping anything from her is a bad idea. You do know she’s a lawyer, she’ll sniff out anything not legit.”

“I know.” Gustaf grinned. “But it’ll be a fun ride.”

“You’re crazy.” The teen laughed.

“A little.” Gustaf smiled wide, this had gone much better than he could have ever hoped for.

By the time they arrived back at the cabin all four kids were ready for pajamas, food, and quiet time.

“Go be with the boys I’ll get Lily down.” Sildie said softly as Gustaf helped her get her boots off with an almost asleep Lily in her arms.

“Night Lily bear.” He said kissing her head, the stroke of her hair making her eyes droop even further. “I’ll get a bottle for her.”

It wasn’t late, but the fresh air and sunshine and the physical activity had wiped the kids out. Good, she thought as she sat Lily down and undressed her, they’d had such a good time and it was only day one.

“Dad dad dad.” She sobbed as Sildie snuggled her in all dry and warm.

“He’s coming sweet girl.” She soothed, rocking her from side to side to get her back into sleep mode. There were times where she would have freaked out at holding a child let alone sooth one to sleep, now it was just second nature. “Maybe I can do this.” She whispered, her lips against Lily’s head lightly kissing her. “You’ll have to help me Lily.” She smiled.

And then there he was, all 6’4” of him framed in the doorway like the Viking god he was, damn she was so gone over him. So deeply, so completely in love with him, with every fiber of her being.

His heart almost stopped at the sight of her soothing Lily, damn he wanted kids with her, their own kids. He loved the boys, adored Lily, but he craved children of their own, a part of him, a part of Sildie.

Moving to her quietly he brushed a finger down her cheek before kissing her sweetly, gently rocking with her so he could hold them both close to him. “My two best girls.” He murmured, the soft dad dad of a nearly asleep child making him smile. “Want me to take her?”

“I think she wants you anyway.” She chuckled as she handed Lily over, her tiny hand scrunching in Gustaf shirt. “She’s ruined you for all other women.” She snorted.

“No, you did that all on your own love.” He quipped and kissed her, the slow smoldering kiss that had her nearly begging for more. “You’re the only woman for me.” He growled, desire shooting straight to her core. “The only one I want.” He kissed her again and lingered, tongue teasing, his arousal spiking through his system.

“You’ll have to show me how much you want me later.” She purred, her lips ghosting his as Lily fussed wanting her bottle and her dad dads full attention.

“Count on it kitten.” He devoured her mouth before pulling back with a chuckle as she stared at him stunned.

“That’s illegal.” She breathed. “You can’t kiss me like that.”

“Can, and will do it again, repeatedly. I might show you a few other illegal things later.” He pecked her cheek. “Brendan’s starting dinner.”

“I’ll go supervise.” Walking out of the room she stopped at the doorway and watched him feed Lily her bottle, soothe her in that low timbre she adored. Yes, she thought with a little more conviction, I want kids with you.

She came into the kitchen to find the twins helping out by setting the table and Brendan stirring the pasta sauce. “That smells really good, as always. Need any help?”

“Nope I got it.” Brendan grinned, the kid was at home in the kitchen and happy, so very happy. She’d not seen that smile in over a year.

“You boys have fun today?” There was a chorus of yes.

“The lake was awesome, I hope we can go down and skate later.” The teen said as he put the water on for the pasta to boil.

“But I don’t know how to skate.” Finn said and Liam nodded.

“That’s ok I’ll teach you.” It was the nonchalant shrug of his shoulders that made Sildie tear up. He could have bitched and moaned about having to teach his younger brothers to skate, taking time away from his own ice time, but he didn’t. Such a sweet soul, she thought.

“Really?” Finns face lit up.

“Sure, be ready for a sore butt though. You’re gonna fall over more than skate until you get the hang of it.” Brendan chuckled at remembering his first time on a pair of skates.

“Can you skate mum?” Liam asked, the endearment catching her off guard for a split second. She still wasn’t used to it.

“I can, it’s been a long time though. My butt will probably be sore too.” She scoffed.

“That’s ok I’ll kiss it better.” Gustaf murmured at her ear as he wrapped an arm around her waist holding her close.

“I bet you will.” Her voice thick with sarcasm.

Brendan served dinner and they sat around the large dining table to eat, talking of the day and what they were going to do tomorrow. With the building of a snow fort decided, Gustaf found some ice cream and dished out three scoops each, watching the boys eyes go wide before they devoured it. It wasn’t long before the twins were yawning, Brendan a little beat too.

Gustaf read to them by the fire again, the sound of his voice soothing not only the kids, but Sildie as she took care of the dishes and secretly filmed their story time. He would need these moments to look back on when he was away. And that was something she was dreading, twelve lonely weeks without him beside her would feel like an eternity.

She’s been so wrapped up in her thoughts she only realized he was behind her when those talented hands found her hips, the tender kiss to her temple.

“Leave them.” He murmured. “And dance with me.”

As she dried her hands and turned she could hear the jazz whispering around the cabin. She’s been so zoned out in her own head she hadn’t heard him put it on. Stepping into him as his arms held her to him she saw the boys reading, content and happy. Swaying to the soft tune she lost herself in the moment of just the two of them. A moment where they were both at peace, no outside stressors, just the love between them.

“How did I get so lucky to be with you?” He asked, the tenderness in his voice soothing her soul.

“I think it’s us who are the lucky ones.” Her gaze met his, ocean blue looking back before she kissed him with a love so deep he thought he’d drown in it.

“I’m so in love with you Sildie.” He whispered.

They both stopped as a pair of arms circled around them, Brendan hugging them both. The grip the teen had on Gustaf told him the kid wasn’t doing ok. The soft sob a moment later confirmed it.

“I’m sorry.” He said quietly, trying to reign in his emotions.

“B, honey what’s wrong?” Sildie said gently. Gustaf went to pull away to give them room but she held him there. “Talk to me love.” She murmured and held him to her, an arm wrapped around both Gustaf and Brendan.

“I’m happy. You’re here with Gustaf, and we have a family and I’m happy but I’m sad too.” He sobbed. “It’s not fair because I want mum and dad, but if they were still here we wouldn’t be here with you. And then I feel bad because I’m happy with you and I shouldn’t be wanting mum and dad now. And then I’m angry because they left us. They didn’t fight to stay here. They just left.”

Gustaf wrapped both Brendan and Sildie up in his arms, effectively sandwiching the kid between them. He felt like an ass. Had this been because of their discussion earlier today? Had he set the kid up to spiral? His mind reeled as Sildie talked to Brendan. How did he make this better?

“You’re right B, they left, and you have every right to be angry at them for leaving. But they fought honey. They fought so hard to stay here.” She said as her fingers smoothed his hair. “Your mum fought to hold on so Lily could live.”

He heard Sildie’s voice break and that alone killed a piece of him inside.

“But sometimes the body is so damaged it can’t be fixed or fix itself love.” Gustaf heard the tears in her voice and kissed her temple, lingering, trying to offer any comfort to the two of them that he possessed.

“They loved you Brendan, so much, and you’re right it really isn’t fair.” Her heart was breaking for him.

“I just don’t know how to feel sometimes.” Brendan mumbled, tears streaking his cheeks.

“You’re torn between the love for your mum and dad, and the love for the family we are trying to become.” Gustaf said gently and Brendan nodded. “It’s ok not to know how to feel about it. It’s ok to miss them, to be angry at them, to want them here instead of us.” Brendan looked at Gustaf wide eyed. “It’s ok B. They were your parents, it’s normal to want them to be here over me and Sildie.”

“You’re not mad?” The teen asked in a whisper so soft Gustaf barely heard him, as if the teen didn’t want to voice the question.

“No B, I’m not mad. You’re always going to want them over us, it’s normal and I doubt it will change. We just want to give you the best and closest thing to a family as we can. The only thing that matters is that you’re all safe, happy, and loved. The rest of it we can figure out as we go along.”

“I’m sorry.” Brendan said again sniffing. “I kinda ruined tonight.”

“You ruined nothing love.” Sildie said softly, and kissed his forehead as he hugged her tighter. “We are a family and this is what a family does. We cry, we talk, we figure it out, together.”

“Love you.” He mumbled into her shoulder and Sildie felt him relax.

“I love you too. So much honey.” Sildie said and looked up at Gustaf, the overwhelming comfort she felt from him wrapping around them. His fingers drawing patterns on her lower back to ease the tension she felt, keeping her anxiety and panic leveled. The soft kiss to her forehead reassuring her that they were ok and to roll with it.

“Shall we make some hot chocolate? Pancakes? Because let’s face it, Gustaf’s pancakes make everything better.” She smiled at Brendan as wiped the tears away with her thumb before kissing his brow.

“Pancakes.” The kid nodded.

“Well I guess I’ve been voluntold.” Gustaf quipped and Brendan grinned swiping the tears away and pulling himself together.

“I’ll help.”

“Come on then.” He kissed Sildie’s cheek and lingered, gauging whether she needed a moment or not. “Breathe love.” He murmured and heard the shuddered breath out. “It’s all ok. Just breathe for me ok?”

Her kiss was chaste, the thank you evident in it’s harsh contact. Emphasized by her thumb brushing his crows feet. Lines she adored, that comforted her.

They ate pancakes in front of the fire, the twins curling up with Brendan sensing he needed his siblings. That familiarity of a family broken and long gone, yet a new one forging a closer bond with each day.

Finally with the kids in bed she took a shower, his hands finding her hips shortly after she’d stepped in. Strong fingers wandered the silky skin of her hips, up her torso to cup her breasts, mouth plundering the nape of her neck. He had a hunger for her tonight that needed to be fed. “My Sildie.” He sighed as her head rested back against his shoulder, she was wrung out from the emotional upheaval from earlier.

Her hands reached behind her for his hips, those thighs.

“I want you, every second of every day I want you around me.” He turned her gently before diving his hands into her hair and feasting on her mouth, passion and desire flooded her system as he took what he wanted and gave her everything of himself.

“The water’s not going to stay hot for long enough.” She breathed, slightly unsteady as he let her up for air. Not only would they run out of hot water, the shower was only just big enough for them to stand in and turn around, not really made with water sports in mind. With a silent gentle kiss he soaped the cloth and washed her, tended the body he was about to ravage. As she turned to rinse off he washed quickly, the water already starting to cool.

“Good call on the water.” He chuckled, bundling her into a fluffy towel and holding her to him, the soft kiss stealing her thoughts.

“Yeah I noticed yesterday when I took a bath. Got it about three quarters full and then it started to cool.” She stared up at those dusty blue eyes, the twinkle held such mischief.

“I’ve spoiled you at home.” He grinned, resting his forehead against hers.

“You have.” She snorted as she turned away to clean her teeth.

“Get into bed I’ll be there shortly.” Kissing the dip at her neck as she finished brushing. “This bathroom isn’t big enough for the two of us to be in at the same time.” He watched her go, the deliberate sway of those hips mesmerizing and making his cock twitch.

She was curled up in the middle of the bed by the time he’d finished in the bathroom and turned the lights off for the evening. Tossing another log on the fire he curled up spooned behind her.

That one finger hooked the sheet at her shoulder and tugged it down her body slowly, igniting an inferno along her skin where it touched. She felt him hard against her ass already, his thickness nestled between her cheeks. “There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t crave every inch of you.” He murmured. “To touch you, kiss you, claim you.” He knew what those words did to her, the way it made her wet, turned her on. “I daydream about tying you up and taking you how I want.” His teeth grazed the sensitive curve at her neck which sent a shiver down her spine. “Give yourself to me.” He whispered as he nipped her earlobe. “Let me have you, take you. Let me free you.” He knew what she needed tonight after what Brendan had said. That release he knew he could give her, mental, physical, and emotional freedom.

“Always.” She sighed as those magic hands of his seduced her. Shifting his arm around her he rolled so she was laying on top, her spine pressed against his chest. Large hands gripped her hips and positioned her where he wanted her. Those sinful hands coasted up her abdomen, over her breasts and along her arms to take a hold of her wrists. Bringing them up over her head, he bound them, the soft silk rope kissing her skin arousing her further.

“You like that kitten?” He growled before tucking her hands under his neck, forcing her chest forward.

“Yes.” Her breath hitched as she moved them.

“Too tight? Hurting your bruise?” He still felt that rage simmering deep inside him at the man that had put a mark on her.

She shook her head. “No.”

“Relax your shoulders.” He purred, his fingers easing along her arms, reassuring, guiding. “Better?”

“Yes.” She gasped as he pinched her nipples, gently at first, then a harder pinch and tug sending a shot of pleasure to her clit.

Trailing fingers down her ribs he raised his knees between her legs gently forcing them open. Gripping her thighs he pulled her legs up so her feet were flat on the mattress, hips splayed wide. “Shall I fuck you like this kitten?” He murmured, nipping her shoulder playfully, his fingers dancing along her inner thighs. “Bring your legs up and rest your feet on my thighs. I want you spread wide for me.” His growl was guttural as he gripped her behind the knees gently, guiding her to where he wanted her. “Relax them open.” He purred, hands pressing her inner thighs down, opening them as far as her body would allow. The soft whimper she made had his cock throbbing, those beautiful sounds stirring his arousal. From there she was at his mercy, his to pleasure, his to take what he wanted, when he wanted. “God you’re beautiful like this, all laid out for me.” He breathed as he looked down her body, poised for him to devour. Hands cupped her breasts roughly, skating that fine line between pleasure and actual pain as he pinched her nipples, toyed with her mercilessly. “You’ll have to be quiet kitten, there’s no soundproofing on this place.” She heard the smirk in his tone, felt the smile against her shoulder as he nipped and sucked.

He took his time building her pleasure, touching her everywhere except where she desperately needed. She was practically dripping for him when his hand gripped her throat to gently cradle it where he wanted it, his lips brushing a kiss to her temple. “So wet for me kitten.” He purred as he slipped a finger through her wet heat, that soft gasp making him growl and bite down on her shoulder. Circling her clit those sounds tumbled from her lips as she fought not to come, his fingers stopping as she peaked. That soft whimper making him rock hard. He brought her to the edge of release for what felt like hours, her body desperate to feel him take her. Flexing his hips he reached between their legs and slipped his engorged head over her silken folds, the mushroom tip resting at her entrance flaring it open ready for him. Running both hands up the backs of her thighs from ass to knee he gripped her behind the knees and pulled them up and out to the side. Bound open for him ready to take. “This is the best part about fucking you kitten, the first time I sink into you, the first time I feel you grip me.” He inched into her slowly as he spoke. “The way I fill you.” He groaned and bit her shoulder as he bottomed out. “The way you take all of me.” Her moan was nothing short of a sweet symphony as he stretched her.

Keeping her in that position he began to take her, slow deliberate thrusts in and out, her whimpers turning to quiet cries as she crested. “That’s it kitten, let it claim you.” He kissed her neck, nipping her ear lobe. “Come for me, let me feel you.” He growled as she tensed, the massive release about to tear her apart.

It ripped through her like wildfire, scorching every nerve ending, exploding every brain cell, the barely there cry of his endearment bringing a grin to his face. He didn’t wait for her to recover, placing her feet back on his thighs he widened his feet and pistoned his hips, driving into her deeply. With a hand gripping her throat and one poised at her mound he brought her undone.

Her orgasm was earth shattering, what he was doing to her now, mind blowing bordering on obliteration. Cock pounding into her, hitting all those secret places inside her only he could reach. Hand at her throat, the gentle squeeze heightening her pleasure, and that hand, she knew those clever fingers would dance over her clit at some point and completely destroy her. She gave herself to him, mind, body, and soul. His grunts as he pleasured her, the groans as he found his own, sweet music only for her. His finger slipped over her clit and circled slowly, her body arching at the sensation, muscles straining. Gripping her throat tightly he tipped her over the edge, her climax swamping her. He fucked her deeply as he rode her through it before slowing to a stop.

Guiding her feet to the mattress and bringing her hands down from their position above her head he massaged the stiffness from her shoulders. “On your knees kitten, grip the headboard. I want you hard.” He purred, tender hands guiding her to her knees. Turning her head to face him he kissed her tenderly, always assessing if she was up for it, never wanting to push her too far. She nibbled her bottom lip and he snarled before crushing her mouth with his. “That’s a dangerous game to play kitten when you’re all tied up.”

She hooked her bound hands over his head and pulled him closer for a kiss. “Then why don’t you punish me.” And she bit her lip again to emphasize the point. Fuck he’d put her in a mood and wanted him to spank her. But not here, no, he wanted her at home where she could scream.

Fingers found her chin, the grip firm as he devoured her mouth, gaze assessing, sensing. Gently fisting a hand in her hair he rose up on his knees, his presence dominating and powerful. “So beautiful kitten, but I’ll save the punishment until we get home to our bed.” He purred, lips ghosting hers. “I want you bound and screaming when I spank you.” That soft whimper made him smile. “Hands on the headboard.” He commanded softly, releasing her hair and helping her into the position he wanted her in. “Bend over.” He growled and pulled back, fingers guiding. Leaning over her he caged her in, his hands either side of hers on the headboard. “Love, your curves are something a man would die for.” He murmured, and sat back on his knees raking his fingers down her arms and along the length of her spine, the ripple of arousal at his words skittering over her skin. Her belly was fluttering with anticipation, pussy gushing. Pressing a kiss to each ass cheek he rose up on his knees, stroked a hand up her spine and fisted it in her hair, tugging back until he could see her face, then devoured her mouth thoroughly.

“Do you want to feel what your curves do to me kitten?” His cock was throbbing to be inside her. “How hard they makes me when you swing your hips.”

“Please daddy.” She whimpered, the thought of him taking her like this almost making her drool. She loved this position and when he took her hard.

Pressing his pelvis to her slick heat she whimpered at the contact. She was soaked, his cock sliding along her folds as he continued to erotically torture her. “Do you feel that kitten.” He growled. “Every curve, every look, every kiss, makes me hard, make me think of nothing else but fucking you.” As his mouth came in contact with hers he snapped his hips and filled her in one brutal thrust.

Her orgasm threatened to shatter her, hovering, waiting, and it wasn’t lost on Gustaf.

“That’s it kitten.” He purred. “You’re going to come so hard on my cock, feel every inch of me.” His knees urged her to widen hers as he adjusted his stance and plunged into her again, the fullness of him causing that beautiful whimper to fall from her mouth.

He wasn’t gentle, each thrust deep and powerful, filling her so completely, sending shockwave after shockwave of erotic pleasure through her. She was teetering on the edge, her system going into sensory overload as he thrust in deep. The pleasure was too great to hold back and she came hard, body writhing as he rode her. With a hand still fisted in her hair he slammed into her, hips pistoning. He let his own need come to the surface, to take what he wanted , give what she needed.

Her build to release was quicker this time, system already primed for whatever he was yet to give her. She was bordering on delirium as she peaked.

So beautiful as he fucked her, that gorgeous body all his to pleasure. He let the primal animal in him take over, the need to claim her, dominate her, possess her. She came hard, her pussy gripping him deliciously tight, and he lost himself to the feel of her. He took her roughly, sating his need to claim her. After another three orgasms he gripped her throat as he pounded into her, brutal thrusts deeply fucking her, those sweet sounds urging him to take more. He felt her release peak and drank in the sight before him. What a vision, he thought as he rode her. Hands bound, on her knees, hand fisted in her halo of molten copper, fingers around the column of her throat, riding her hard. A vision of erotic perfection. He tensed, felt them both teeter. Her scream was ragged, his roar much the same as their release consumed them both. “Fuck kitten.” He groaned and pistoned his hips faster, the extra friction prolonging their ecstasy. Spent and sated he stilled, leaning over her he gripped the headboard and nuzzled her neck, chest heaving as he forced oxygen into his lungs.

“Mine.” He growled, his possessive tone sending a warm fuzzy feeling through her. It was never possessive in the sense of actual ownership, she was his, by her own choice, as he was hers.

She couldn’t move for fear of disintegrating into nothing. Quick fingers untied the red silk cord from her wrists, the uncontrollable tremble shuddering through her body as he gathered her into his arms and sat back bringing her with him. Holding her gently he brought her wrists to his lips and kissed them tenderly, her brain trying to process what he’d just done to her.

“You ok love?” He asked, his voice a little distant. It took her a moment to decipher what he’d asked, was she ok? She felt fucking wonderful, body blissed out and lax, mind much the same. “I need to hear it kitten.” He said gently as she nodded.

“I’m ok. Can’t...” Words, he’d completely robbed her of the ability to think and speak.

“Can’t what kitten?” He smirked, kissing her neck as her head thudded back against his shoulder.

“Can’t think.” She mumbled, her breathing only now starting to level out, her mind already drifting into the realm of sleep.

“Good, you’re not supposed to.” His hands roamed, tender strokes to soothe her body, bring it back down from the high they were on. “Did I hurt you?” He asked gently.

“No.” Her voice still distant. “You haven’t asked that in a while.” She said softly.

“Sometimes I feel I need to, just to be sure.” He kissed her temple and helped her to stretch out, the slight hiss at stiff joints something he’d fix in a moment. “I’ll be right back ok?”

“Ok.” She sighed.

He grinned as he pulled on his sweats and went to the bathroom for the massage oil, she’d be asleep by the time he got back.

She’d never felt this good, this relaxed, this satisfied, this free, until she met Gustaf. He knew what she needed. “Thoroughly fucked.” She sighed to herself, and giggled.

Shucking the sweats and crawling in beside her, he started to work the muscles of her shoulder. First one then the other. “Better?”

“Much.” She sighed as his touch soothed her.

“That relaxed you.” His comment soft, lips ghosting hers.

“It did.” She nipped his bottom lip, fingers toying with his scruff. “It’s liberating.” Her simple statement had him looking at her. “I know I have the control to stop it if needed, but there’s something about relinquishing that control to you.” Her eyes searched his. “It’s like for one moment in time I don’t have to be responsible for anything, including myself.” Her kiss floored him as much as her words. “And I like it when you lose control too, take what you need, find the release, the peace it gives you.”

“I’ve only been able to do that with you love. You’re the only one I’ve felt comfortable enough with, knowing I can.”

“Same here. Mutually beneficial.” She smirked.

“Indeed.” His chuckle made her smile.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, and I love this, what we have.” He kissed her tenderly.

“So do I.”

He snuggled up with her, slender fingers drawing patterns on his chest as his played with her hair.

“Are you ok after what Brendan said?” She asked sleepily.

“More than ok. I’ve been waiting for him to implode for a while.” And he still felt gutted that his conversation earlier in the day may have brought it all to the surface.

“He loves you Gustaf, he’s just torn. I think we all are in our own way.”

“I know.” He kissed her hair and breathed her in, instant calm. He wished he could bottle it. “I know he does. My soul just, hurts for them. For you.”

She moved so she could look at that face carved by Viking gods, and kissed him tenderly. “My sweet man. You never ceases to amaze me.” If the man could blush he would have. “I know that embarrasses you, but you are one of a kind love, they broke the mold with you.”

“I’m only doing what I should be doing.” He mumbled.

“No love, you’re going well beyond that. It’s takes a certain kind of man to accept children that aren’t his flesh and blood as his own. There aren’t many like you left in the world.”

“You’re a package deal Sildie. All five of you or not at all. I’m all in love, have been from day one.”

“It’s why I love you.” She said smiling. “Well that and the mind blowing sex.”

“Added bonus.”

“Indeed.” She snorted. “I need to pee.” She yawned and he reluctantly let her go so she could take care of business.

With Sildie curled into him, he held onto her as she slept. The need to have her close overwhelming. His thoughts wandered to Brendan and he knew he’d need to talk with the kid some more over the next few days. He was glad the teen had finally opened up and hoped Brendan and the twins would come to him if they needed to talk.

“I’ll be asking you soon.” He whispered into her hair. “Before I go away.” He would not leave it fester this time, the words would come easily, because this time she knew he loved her. “Before I leave for Ireland, I’ll be asking you.”

Eventually he succumb to sleep, the activity of the night finally shedding the remaining stress of the past week. Their vacation had well and truly begun.

@hausofobsession @ill-skillsgard @grandpa-sweaters @authentic90skidd @tuckersgirl @fairlyfallacy @flowers-in-your-hayr @raewritesfiction @stinkerbelle007 @kamie-b @mrsaugustwalker @skrsgardspam @loliwrites @trippedmetaldetector @lihikainanea @fay-walden @nandadb

#gustaf skarsgard #shattered lives #gustaf skarsgard fanfiction

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pan0ramy · 3 years

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re8 thought dump because YE

i feel like this was almost inevitable but idk where else to talk about resident evil village so i’m just going to rant about it here!!! i have,,,, a lot of thoughts on this game after being so excited for it for so long

obviously, massive spoilers if you haven’t finished the game. i feel like i have thoughts on pretty much everything so please please please stay clear of this post if you’re trying to stay blind

otherwise, let me just rant about this game for a bit - mainly the story and characters - because i have Thoughts™

(also i feel like it goes without saying but this will be probably be quite long, so. strap in, ig)

okay SO. the whole intro was pretty interesting - even though we’d seen bits of it in trailers, it was still pretty unnerving and felt like it came out of nowhere. but the first thing that really stood out was the first village section with the hordes of lycans; i didn’t expect this game to start freaking me out so quickly but JESUS my blood pressure went up fast.

there’s so many of them coming at you at once, and not only have you just lost half your damn hand, you’re not really used to the gunplay at that point AND you don’t have that many weapons at your disposal. so it’s basically just “hey we’re throwing you into this ring of death, good luck surviving!” which... now that i think about it, that really sums up the whole game lol

but for the most part, the early parts of the game are what we saw in the demos, so there’s nothing too new - it was nice getting to see the scene with all four lords and mother miranda, though. i wasn’t sure how the whole chase scene with the lycans would work - i thought heisenberg’s area was going to be some sort of mine, and that the chase would take place there - but it didn’t, and it was interesting regardless of it being so short.

but the castle. THE CASTLE.

i would be lying through my teeth if i said i wasn’t excited for dimitrescu like everybody else; i’m firmly in the camp of people who both meme about how attractive she is, and then also the people who legitimately find her attractive, soooo i kinda had high expectations going in?

and sure, the castle section is only part of the game, but if there’s anything that makes me nervous most, it’s stalker enemies. resi 2 remake was actually pretty tough for me to get through because of how anxiety-inducing mr x was, and even though i don’t feel like she was as present as mr x was, lady d was still great! there were a good few times where you could hear her walking around and you just knew she was searching for you, which was really damn cool.

also, i know capcom had a lot of hype to live up to with lady dimitrescu, but goddamn they did such a great job with her. she’s so imposing but badass and just... really damn cool? like i honestly found myself being excited for her to show up rather than being scared. i just think she’s neat! I MEAN LOOK AT HER.

(also yes i know the whole internet has talked about how attractive she is, but can we just. appreciate that for a second???? she’s gorgeous and yall can’t tell me otherwise. like. bro ik the pronunciation is wrong but the way she says dimitrescu made me GASP i love this powerful vampire woman)

if anything, though, i... actually felt really bad that her story ended up the way it did. i mean, think about it: you break into her house, kill the three people she’s grown to consider her daughters, rob her shit, and then kill her? she technically goes through the same kind of parental grief that ethan does, in a way, which is a really interesting parallel. grief seems to be a theme that capcom really pushed for this game, and it works.

also, her boss fight design is badass. she’s literally a dragon, how is that not incredible

so the castle was great, where could the game go from here? oh, i don’t know, how about gOOD OLD FASIONED FUCKING TRAUMA.

jesus christ the dollhouse GOT TO ME.

i’m pretty used to horror in general; i love horror games, movies, books, you name it. i’ve gone to horror movies where people have ran out because of fear all while i’ve sat there giggling the whole time. but the dollhouse? that dollhouse is FUCKED. i can’t remember the last time i watched someone play through a horror game and was so... on edge the whole time. the fact that they keep you waiting for so long with nothing happening just... makes the atmosphere incredibly uncomfortable, and then when shit does start going down, it goes down fast. in other words, jesus fucking christ that baby will haunt my nightmares until the end of time

basically capcom managed to make the n*zi baby joke from south park: the stick of truth legitimately terrifying, and i was glad to see donna die. moving on.

moreau’s section is the one i... actually don’t have as many thoughts on. it’s cool, sure, and the whole idea of him turning into a fish when he hits water is neat - it’s definitely a good callback to re4 - but idk, it didn’t really scare me that much. i can see it scaring those with a fear of water or the ocean, for sure, but eh. i thought the designs were cool, but i kinda tuned out a little here.

heisenberg, though, was anything but. the entire time leading up to village’s release, this guy has fascinated me for some reason. i don’t know if it’s because he’s the most normal-looking of the four lords, or the fact that he has telekinesis, or his amazing voice acting (seriously i know some people have shit on his VA but oh my god i adore it) or what, but this guy stood out to me from day one. i even went into the game expecting him not to die tbh. but no, he does, and his fight is pretty damn cool all things considered. only in a resident evil game could you have a mech fight and have it not feel out of place lol

also this line ^^^ legitimately made me laugh so hard i almost choked on my water. THE FACT HE TURNS AROUND AND APOLOGISES SO MEEKLY its fucking hilarious to me

but anyway.

similar to alcina, though, i was left with one big question about heisenberg - what did mother miranda do to him to get him to join her impromptu familly? he said himself to ethan that he didn’t want to join, so what did miranda do that didn’t give him a choice? did he have a family at some point? is he grieving too? what did miranda take from him? i can only hope this gets answered in the dlc, because it’s by far one of my biggest questions surrounding all of this. i may very well have missed it somewhere, and at least we know he has his telekinesis abilities thanks to miranda, but it’s a question that’ll definitely be on my mind going forward.

at this point, though, the story REALLY gets insane. it’s really nice how village decided to just continue on straight from what 7 did, and i’m very glad that everyone’s theories about chris being a werewolf were wrong - it’s a really nice spanner to throw in the works. if anything, the whole revelation of mother miranda disguising herself as mia the whole time since rose’s birth was really cool, and ethan being Mold™ the entire time was pretty neat too - it made a lot of things both in 7 and village make more sense.

what i’m still digesting, though, is the ending.

...man, capcom, you put poor ethan through all of that and then you have the balls to actually kill him? i mean shit, you made us think he was dead for a whole 20 minutes but then nope! he’s alive! but then nope! he’s dead again! i did see someone point out that at least ethan got to go out on his own terms, but dammit i would’ve at least liked for him to get to see mia one last time. i think it would’ve softened the blow a little more. but i guess that ties into the whole grief theming this game has going for it, and like i said, i probably just need some more time to digest it.

i don’t dislike the ending, it’s just a very big culture shock - it’s definitely a ballsy move, and i really respect capcom for going all out the way they did. they really held back on nothing in terms of this game’s story and i absolutely love it. it was so, so worth the wait in that regard.

and tbh that’s kinda how i feel about the whole game in general; it was super super good, very much worth the wait, and i absolutely cannot wait to see where resident evil goes from here. i have a gut feeling this’ll end up being one of my absolute favourites in the series, which i know is very high praise, but i really do love it that much. i wasn’t disappointed with much in this game, if anything at all. it’s just a super fucking good video game man idk what else to say at this point

#resident evil #resident evil 8 #resident evil village #if you read through all of this: first of all i love you. second of all i am so sorry lol

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ninja-go-to-therapy · 4 years

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Whumptober 5: Where Do You Think You’re Going?

On the Run

I finally got around to writing something for my own damn AU, and it’s not even canon! I’m great at this.

Summary: Months after escaping from Prime Empire, Scott finds himself in Paris with none other than Unagami. It doesn’t go well. (This is of course part of the Miraculous crossover that I talk about sometimes on @blursed-ninjago-ideas)

Trigger Warnings: death threats, violence, panic attacks

4517 words

The years of his life Scott had lost to Prime Empire were hard to come to terms with. Every day he had been in there, he was well aware of the passage of time, but it was still the hardest thing he’d ever gone through.

Every day he had convinced himself that he would get out soon.

That first day, he was certain he’d be out by the end of the week. By the end of the week, he thought it couldn’t possibly be longer than a month.

It had gone on for years. Thirty, specifically.

Everyone he had ever known and loved had grieved and moved on. He had missed decades with them. His friends. His family. Everyone.

And it was all Unagami’s fault — right. Unagami was actually just a stupid little child who hadn’t really known what he was doing. He was supposed to be trying to get along with him, because he needed to be a role model or some shit.

Honestly, now that the kid wasn’t actively keeping him trapped inside a game for decades, he wasn’t all that bad. Sure, he could be a bit of a brat at times, but that was a phase that all children went through.

And apparently, he lowkey — that was the word Jay liked to use, right? He was so behind on the current slang — idolized Scott. Yeah, the child who’d been trying to turn him into a lifeless, numb, empty little energy cube for years and years and years, thought he was cool. That was… something, he supposed.

He was mostly doing this because Jay had all but begged him to. Said it made him a good person and he needed to let go of his anger.

Scott didn’t know if he would call it anger. He couldn’t bring himself to hate Unagami, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t a little… well… uncomfortable around him. Yeah, that was definitely the right word.

But that was dumb. That debacle was finally over, and even if the nightmares and trauma didn’t go away, it wasn’t like Unagami acted malicious anymore. He wasn’t trying to kill anyone anymore.

So what if every time Unagami did much of anything, Scott’s grip on whatever it may have been that he was holding tightened enough to break a bone? That wasn’t that concerning. Everybody did that. Probably.

And hey, he could have had worse problems than scratching up his hands when he was nervous or anxious or really freaked out or really scared or flashing back to that cramped dark horrible nothingness when he was just lines of code trapped in a little energy cube with no way to get in or out or anything — and, uh, everyone had a random bad dream once in awhile. Or every night.

But he could put that aside, because he was a mature adult.

So here he was, babysitting an arcade-game-turned-boy, who was surprisingly energetic and very bright-eyed.

“When are the ninja coming back?” Unagami asked, popping up from behind the couch.

Scott barely suppressed a surprised curse. This kid was way too light on his feet. “I don’t know,” he said, taking a deep breath to calm himself.

Unagami, unlike most kids would, actually accepted that as an answer and went back to his BorgPad, tapping away at the screen.

The thing was, nobody had seen the ninja in a few weeks, now. Scott was beginning to get concerned. After Lloyd had disappeared — which had been information divulged to Scott privately by Jay, because they didn’t want the general public to know — the next few days had been spent in a raw panic. And then, total radio silence.

He hadn’t heard from the ninja since.

He hoped they were okay. He was a little too familiar with people disappearing only to never be heard from again. Well, not until thirty years after the fact.

He wasn’t bitter, not at all.

“What are you doing, anyway?” Scott asked, trying to get his mind off the subject. He was supposed to be taking care of the kid for the day, he might as well have been trying to make some sort of connection.

“Hacking the Hexagon!” Unagami said, looking up from his screen with a big smile.

Oh, that was nice — wait, what?

“Excuse me?” Scott asked, jumping over the back of the couch and crouching on the floor, where Unagami was sitting criss-cross-apple-sauce. Scott peered over his shoulder at the screen.

“If they didn’t want it hacked they shouldn’t have made it so easy,” Unagami shrugged.

Was it… was it normal for a child to be hacking into government facilities from a BorgPad?

Scott was going to go out on a limb and say no. …It was probably just an AI thing? Yeah, it was probably fine.

He watched for a moment as Unagami’s fingers flew across the screen, lines in a language Scott didn’t understand everywhere. He’d never had the ambition to learn how to code.

But damn, back before Prime Empire, people had hardly even dreamed of tech like this.

It was kind of crazy.

Scott was going to be honest with himself. The BorgPad was cool. It had tons of features that were all put together onto one little device — texting and pictures and games and social media and more. It had everything.

But at the end of the day, it was just another reminder that Scott had missed out on so much while he’d been trapped inside the game.

Back in his day, people had been perfectly content with “low quality” arcade games and flip phones. But now… well, people like Cyrus Borg were completely changing the world.

It was cool. But it stung.

“As long as you don’t get like, in trouble with the law or something. I don’t want Dyer buggin’.”

Unagami gave him a weird look, but slowly lowered his gaze back to the screen.

Right. People didn’t say that anymore, did they? His vocabulary was really outdated. He was really outdated.

He sighed, standing up and heading to the kitchen so he could make some tea. Jay had given him some, claiming it was really calming.

Scott could use a little of that right now.

The label was faded enough that it was basically unreadable. Scratch that, it was completely unreadable. Did tea expire…? Nah, Jay wouldn’t have given it to him if it was bad.

As the tea was brewing, Scott leaned against the counter, fiddling with his phone. It had been brand new technology at the time, and had been pretty expensive.

Now, according to Jay, it was “mega-outdated”.

That hurt more than it should have. He remembered being so excited about this thing, but now it was nothing compared to the technology of today.

“You want some tea?” Scott asked when it was done, going for a mug.

“What does it taste like?” Unagami asked, setting aside his tablet and coming over to observe the tea with interest.

“Uhh… I dunno, haven’t tried it yet,” he shrugged.

“I think I would like some, please.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Scott went to pour it, but as he was doing so, he found his mind wandering to wondering where the ninja had disappeared to again. It was strange that they had just —

“Is that supposed to be happening?” Unagami asked.

Scott looked down at the tea, concerned to see a bright glow spilling from the kettle. “Uh…” before he could come up with a rational answer, it brightened, all but blinding the two as it took over the room.

When it faded, there was nothing left but a broken mug on the floor.

———

What the fuck?

What had just happened?

The last thing Scott remembered had been sitting in the kitchen making tea, but now… now he was outside, near some giant metal tower, in a place he absolutely did not recognize.

He didn’t recognize the place, but he did recognize the feeling.

He was in a new realm.

The first thing he could feel was the panic.

Not again. Fuck! Not again. He couldn’t go through this another time, he couldn’t lose more of his life to a monster, he couldn’t — he couldn’t — he couldn’t breathe. He gripped the grass he was sitting on, practically hyperventilating.

“Scott? Are you alright?”

Oh first master, Unagami was here too.

“Get away from me!” he yelled, though he made no move to put distance between them. Instead, the little brat only came closer.

“You need to breathe.”

“I said get away—” Scott’s words died in his throat. Something was different. Something was wrong.

“Captain Clockwork,” a voice said, booming throughout his head.

“What’s going on?” Scott demanded.

“I am Hawk Moth. I can feel your distress. The anger, the grief, all of it. You just want things to go back to the way they used to be, don’t you?”

“Yes…” he found himself agreeing, nodding along.

“I can help you with that. I can give you the power to take back your life. All I need in return is for you to retrieve two pieces of jewelry for me, called the Miraculous. Do we have a deal?”

Scott didn’t even have to think twice. “Yes, Hawk Moth.”

———

Unagami was concerned.

Scott was freaking out, clearly on the verge of a panic attack, and nothing he was doing seemed to help. And then, out of nowhere, it just stopped.

And then Scott started talking to nobody, and then his body, for the briefest of moments, was enveloped in a purple so dark it may as well have been black.

When it was gone, Scott looked different. He was wearing an outfit that could only be described as old-timey-steampunk.

It wasn’t that strange, considering that sort of stuff was perfectly normal in Prime Empire. Still, Unagami should probably make sure that Scott was okay.

“Scott?” he asked, stepping a little closer.

Scott glared at him dark enough to kill.

Wide-eyed, Unagami took a small step back. “Scott, what’s wrong? Who were you talking to? Is this a video game, like Prime Empire?”

“You would just love that, wouldn’t you?” Scott yelled. “You would just love to ruin even more people’s lives!”

“What?”

A ball of light burst into existence in Scott’s hand, which was closed tightly in a fist. He threw the light off to the side, launching at a huge television screen on the side of a building. Almost immediately, it turned into a box-style TV.

Scott smiled wickedly. “Oh, would you look at that? The power to downgrade tech. If I can do that to a TV, I wonder what will happen to a stupid. Little. Arcade game.”

Unagami narrowly dodged a blast from Scott following those words. “Scott, stop! You’re — you’re not in your right mind!”

“Oh, I’m in my right mind!” he screamed. “I’m finally free, and what am I met with but a world that moved on without me? You took away my life!”

“Scott, please, you are not thinking clearly!” Unagami said, desperate.

“Save it, you little brat! Now hold still so I can kill you!”

Unagami tripped, falling back into the grass. He scrambled back, doing his best to get to his feet, but regardless, Scott had the upper hand. He was done for.

He squeezed his eyes shut, accepting the inevitable.

Suddenly, he was being lifted, and then he was in the air. What?

He opened his eyes.

“I’ve got you!” a girl dressed in red spandex with black polka dots all over it said.

“What’s going on?” Unagami asked.

The girl looked confused. “Uh…” they came to a stop on a rooftop. It was then that a boy dressed in what looked like a leather catsuit joined them, vaulting up with an infinitely long pole.

“How do you do, M’lady?” he asked, smiling at the girl.

“Not now, Chat. I just saved this kid from the latest akuma, but I don’t think he’s speaking French.”

“Language barrier powers?” Chat asked. “That’s a new one.”

“I don’t know, from what I could tell, the akuma was speaking in the same language as him.”

“What’s going on?” Unagami demanded. “What happened to Scott?”

Chat frowned. “It sounds kind of like Japanese. But like, not quite? It sounds like Japanese on drugs.”

The girl sighed. “Wonderful description, Chat.”

“Thanks! I try.”

“Wait, I’ve heard this before! It sounds like that language the ninja speak!” The girl said.

“Oh yeah! Maybe they’re from the same place?”

Unagami tuned out their rambling, glancing over the edge of the roof to see if he could still see Scott. Luckily, he couldn’t.

Or was that unlucky?

Scott was the only person he knew here, but at the same time, he’d lost his mind out of nowhere. And now he was on some sort of evil… violent rampage… manhunt… chasing after him… well, that was uncomfortably familiar.

“Okay, well, our miraculous allows him to understand us, I wonder why it doesn’t work the other way?” Chat glanced at Unagami. “You can understand us, right?”

Unagami gave a frustrated nod.

“Okay, well, do you know why that guy got akumatized?”

Unagami had absolutely no idea what that was, but it was clearly in reference to what had happened to Scott.

“I don’t think he does. We have to get back to fighting before this guy destroys half of Paris,” Chat said, tapping his wrist as if there was a watch there.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Scott yelled from the streets below.

“Oh, hey, that was French!” Chat said. “Akuma powers are awesome.”

The girl gave him an unimpressed frown.

Various balls of light were transforming technology into older versions of themselves left and right as Scott rampaged.

“Shit, okay, Chat, can you drop him somewhere away from the akuma?”

“Sure thing Bugaboo!” Chat said with a wide grin. He held out a hand to Unagami. “Hold on tight, kid.”

———

Ladybug landed in front of the akuma gracefully, her yo-yo at her side.

“Ladybug, I presume,” the akuma said.

“That would be right.”

The akuma glared at her. “Look, I don’t particularly want to hurt you. Just hand over the earrings and the kid, and I’ll be on my way.”

“What do you want with him?” Ladybug asked, eyes narrowed. “What could he possibly have done?”

The akuma laughed, and it started low, but it quickly gained a touch of psycho, edging on hysteria. “What didn’t he do?” He yelled, his arms widely gesturing — though his right hand stayed tightly closed. That could be important. “He kept me trapped in a video game for decades. He made me live every day in fear that it would be my last! He ruined my life! He took everything from me!”

Well… fuck.

That was actually a pretty valid reason to be upset with somebody. But how on earth had that happened in the first place? Well, the details didn’t matter. She had an akuma to fight.

Against all reason, Ladybug decided to try getting through to the poor guy. “You don’t have to do this! Hawk Moth is manipulating you!”

“I don’t care!” He screamed. “He made me into Captain Clockwork! He gave me the power to take back my life!”

He threw a blast of energy at Ladybug, which she only barely managed to deflect with her yo-yo. It bounced back to what looked like a brand new car, which immediately turned into a station wagon.

Oh boy.

“Time has moved forward without me. I don’t fit into this world, so I’m gonna make this world fit me!”

She needed to figure out what to break. Whatever he was holding, that could be it.

Unceremoniously, Chat dropped from the sky, landing in a heap next to her.

“I did not get that right…” he muttered, getting to his feet with some difficulty. “What’s the plan, M’lady?”

“I don’t know, but I think the akuma is in whatever he’s holding. We need to get him to drop it.”

“May I offer a distraction in these trying times?”

Ladybug smiled.

“Hey, the future isn’t all that bad!” Chat exclaimed, dramatically vaulting himself to be behind the akuma so that he had to turn around and his attention was off of Ladybug, while she quietly summoned her lucky charm.

“We’ve got video games! And bullet trains, and iPhones, and — ooh, we’ve got anime! It still baffles me that people ever managed to live without anime. A tragedy, really.”

Captain Clockwork glared at him. “We had video games and anime back in my day. It was good enough, it didn’t have to change!”

“That’s sort of the way of life, buddy,” Chat shrugged, batting away a blast with his baton.

“It shouldn’t be! I shouldn’t have gotten left behind!” he screamed, sending blasts of energy one after the other at Chat.

“Left behind?” Chat asked, lowering his guard slightly when the akuma, breathing heavily, stopped firing.

“That boy you stole away just a few minutes ago,” Captain Clockwork said, laughing hysterically. “He kept me trapped inside a video game, for thirty years. Thirty years! It’s not fair! It’s not fair! I’ll kill him!”

“How did a little boy trap you in a video game?” Chat asked, legitimately curious.

“He is the game! He ruled Prime Empire! He ruined my life!”

Chat was regretting asking, because now the akuma was backing him into a corner, his fist glowing. He wasn’t sure he’d ever battled an akuma so full of pure rage before.

Chat extended his baton, sweeping it under the akuma’s feet and knocking him to the ground.

“This is so cool!” Alya shouted from across the street, filming with her iPhone.

“Alya,” Nino all but begged. “We gotta get to safety!”

“But I’m getting some great footage on this thing!”

Captain Clockwork growled, blasting violently at the pair. Alya’s brand new, expensive phone immediately reverted to a flip phone.

The way Alya screamed would have suggested someone had been murdered. “No!” she shrieked, being dragged away by Nino.

“Phones don’t need to be able to record! Just use a fucking video camera! They didn’t have to change it!” Captain Clockwork yelled, running after Alya.

That got the couple’s attention enough to start running.

Chat put himself between them, crying out when he intercepted a blast.

“Chat!” Ladybug yelled.

Chat grunted, rolling with great difficulty away from the akuma.

His baton immediately grew in length, turning into what looked like a perfectly regular, non-magical, old-fashioned baton.

“Oh fuck.”

“Hand over the ring and I won’t hurt you,” Captain Clockwork demanded.

“Sorry, I’ve got a contract,” Chat replied, using the baton as a sort of cane to help him get to his feet again.

He didn’t manage to dodge the next blast, which turned his magical very technologically advanced leather suit into a hoodie and a cheap pair of sweatpants.

Panic gripped him, and he quickly went to feel for his mask. Oh, thank god, it was still there.

Captain Clockwork charged up another blast, but before he could use it, Ladybug grabbed Chat and swung her yo-yo, getting them both away and into a back alley.

“Are you okay, Kitty?” she asked, setting him down gently.

“I’m alright,” he affirmed. “I need to detransform, make sure Plagg is alright. Maybe when I retransform it’ll go back to normal?”

Ladybug purposefully turned around.

“Claws in,” he said.

Immediately, Ladybug could hear a low groan from her partner’s kwami.

“Here,” Chat muttered, presumably offering him some food.

“Thanks. God that really hurt…” Plagg muttered.

“It did?” Chat cried, worry seeping into his voice. “Are you okay? How can I help?”

“I’ll be fine, Kitten,” Plagg said, laughing somewhat through the now very obvious pain. “Just defeat this guy and you can buy me some extra nice cheese to make up for it.”

Chat laughed. “Sure thing Plagg. Claws out!”

Ladybug waited a moment, then turned back around. Luckily, Chat had been right, and his suit was back to normal. “Okay, so we’ve got my lucky charm, but I still don’t know how to use it. Did you learn anything about the akuma?”

“Well, apparently the kid he was trying to obliterate trapped him in a game for thirty years,” Chat shrugged. “I dunno if that’s important though.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard. He keeps screaming about it every chance he gets. But as long as we free the akuma, he’ll be fine. Did you happen to see what he was holding?”

“It looked kind of like a phone, but like, one of those really old flippy ones. Like the ones they used in High School Musical!”

Ladybug sighed. “Well, that’s something. Actually, my lucky charm is a flip phone.”

“That’s weird… think he’d like that?”

“Wait! I have a plan.”

———

Meanwhile, Unagami was hiding behind a trashcan as Scott got closer and closer to his whereabouts. His heart was pounding loudly in his ears.

“Unagami,” Scott called out, his voice sickly sweet and too high in pitch. “Come out, come out wherever you are…”

Unagami held his breath, praying Scott didn’t find him.

“Isn’t it ironic?” Scott asked, something out of Unagmai’s sight crashing loudly. “The hunter becomes the prey. Bet you never thought you’d get retribution, huh?”

He hadn’t meant to ruin Scott’s life. He’d just been following his father’s instructions. He’d apologized. He thought Scott had forgiven him. He’d acted like he had.

Had he felt like this the whole time?

Angry and hurt and wanting to kill him?

And… was this how Scott had felt while trapped in Prime Empire?

Scared for his life, fearing every second that it could be his last? Keeping himself hidden away for years with the constant terror that he would be found?

The trashcan was thrown, and there was Scott.

“Found you.”

“I’m sorry—” Unagami said.

“Save it! Sorry doesn’t make up for the lost time! Sorry doesn’t make up for the fear I lived in! Sorry doesn’t fix things!”

He charged a blast.

Out of nowhere, a bright blue tornado threw Scott across the street.

It slowed to a stop, revealing none other than the blue ninja. “Unagami?” he said, bewildered. “How are you here?”

“Why are you defending him?” Scott screamed. “He trapped you too! He took all of your friends! He hunted you down like a wild animal! Aren’t you angry?”

“Scott? Jay cried, even more bewildered than before. “What the… wait, but Unagami is just a kid! Sure, he caused a lot of pain, but it wasn’t his fault! And he’s done all he can to make it right!” “That’s not good enough!”

“Ice to see you!” Zane yelled, dropping down from the rooftop.

Scott growled, charging a blast of energy. “Just let me kill the little brat! He’s not human! He’s not a person! What difference does it make?”

Unagami froze.

Scott… didn’t see him as a person? All this time?

He thought they had been bonding. He had thought… well, he hadn’t thought they were friends, exactly, but he had at least thought…

It was true that he wasn’t human, but Unagami had likened himself to Zane. They weren't human, but they were still people. But that wasn’t how Scott saw it at all. And he had never known.

Zane screamed out as he was hit with a blast. The light encompassed him, and suddenly he was left with rusty copper skin.

Unagami’s eyes widened in horror.

“I — I — I — do not feel — Jay — I cannot — what is happening?” Zane stammered, his voice box glitching heavily.

“I can downgrade tech,” Scott said, laughing darkly. “You’re tech.”

“Scott, this isn’t you!” Jay attempted. “You’re better than this!”

“I don’t want to be better than this!” he yelled. He threw Jay to the side, completely knocking the boy unconscious.

With Zane unable to even move, Unagami was about to die.

“I never meant to hurt you,” he said.

“Hurt doesn’t care about intention.”

In what was either the best or the worst timing ever, the boy from before — Chat — waltzed over to them casually. “You were right, Captain Clockwork!” he exclaimed loudly. “Old technology is better! I’m just surprised that you didn’t notice I took your phone!” he said, waving around an old flip phone.

“What?” Scott — Captain Clockwork? — gasped, opening his fist. “No you didn’t, it’s right here?”

But then it wasn’t. Ladybug’s yo-yo string wrapped around it, and yanked it hard.

“No!”

Ladybug snapped the phone in half easily. “No more evil-doing for you, little akuma. Time to de-evilize!” she declared, catching the butterfly — Unagami wasn’t even going to ask why a butterfly had come out of Scott’s phone — easily. “Gotcha!” she set the butterfly free, and in a stark contrast to the previous shade of sickly purple it had been, it was now a pure white. “Bye bye, little butterfly.”

Scott fell to the ground, his new avatar — or whatever it was — dropping.

“Miraculous ladybug!” Ladybug shouted, throwing the fake phone into the air. A swarm of butterflies took over, somehow undoing all the damages that Scott had caused.

Honestly, it was far from the strangest thing Unagami had experienced recently.

———

Scott came to on the sidewalk. Hadn’t he just been near some big metal tower thing? And how had he blacked out in the first place? What the hell?

“What… what happened?” he groaned, unable to get to his feet.

Zane — when had Zane gotten here? — said something in what sounded like another language.

“Everything’s alright now, sir!” a girl dressed as what looked something like a superhero said, smiling gently at him. “You don’t know what an akuma is, do you?”

Again, Zane repeated her question, this time looking at him. Ah, he was the translator.

“No…?”

Her and a boy in a leather catsuit shared a look.

“A bad man called Hawk Moth took advantage of you,” the boy explained, reaching out a hand and helping Scott to his feet. “You were feeling some kind of negative emotion, and he used that to turn you into a supervillain.”

A supervillain? What kind of negative emotion could he have been —

He spotted Unagami, who was staring at him in nothing short of terror from against the brick wall of a building. Oh yeah.

“What did I do?”

“Nothing that couldn’t be undone,” the girl assured. “All property damages have been magically repaired, so you don’t have to worry!”

“It’s not the property damages I’m worried about,” Scott muttered, looking at Unagami, guilty all but stabbing him through the heart. The kid looked traumatized.

Before anyone could say anything else, Unagami ran. Jay immediately went after him, but the others stayed behind.

Scott knew that if he went, he would only make things worse. “Please, just… what did I actually do?”

By the end of the recap, Scott had sunk back to the ground.

There wasn’t really a way to fix this, was there?

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just-things-things · 4 years

Note

Oh my gosh Assassin!Peter Parker GO! Also as a bonus question favorite and least favorite fanfiction tropes.

Ah, yes, I love me some assassin Peter Parker. Honestly, I just love the concept of evil Peter sooooo much, so thank you for the ask! I hope this is good for you!

Also, to answer your questions, I love all fanfiction tropes, but I'm probably going to have to go with "there's only one bed" and "slow burn fics" as my favorite tropes. I also love writing Alternative Universe Au's, but I'm not confident enough to post them. They're kind of really out there. :/ And the only trope I don't like that much/just haven't found a good story for is Peter teaching an older Morgan to become Iron Woman. I really like the concept, but just haven't found a good fic done for it. Someone should DEFINITELY leave suggestions in the comments :)

Lastly, I'm writing this at work, lol, so it's a bit rushed:

_____

He likes to think everything he's done is for a good cause. Really, if you only look at the minimal details, truly you'd see the nature behind his decisions. There's no point in watching how he kills people, or the satisfactory look he gets when collecting his prize.

At least, that's how Peter looks at it. Peter Parker - the more humane side of his alter ego. He remembers clearly when his job - his life - really started.

It was a cold September, the start of a freezing winter. He remembers being so scared for a moment before his insides were filled with pure rage and vengeance.

Looking back on it, his reaction might have been normalized for someone who had witnessed their Uncle's murder. And he was only thirteen at the time, young enough to substitute jail for juvenile detention.

After cradling Ben and listening to, "With great power, comes great responsibility," for the last time, he realized his responsibility. He was responsible for two things.

Ben's untimely death. And two:

For catching his Uncle's murderer.

Maybe his decision making was far fetched, maybe Ben never wanted this to happen, but in a panicked moment, Peter fled the seen for a man in a hooded jacket and 380 ACP.

He chased the guy five blocks to catch him. To tackle the man in an abandoned warehouse and when on top, he found a renowned strength. He had never throw a punch before. He never remembered being that strong.

While the punching continued, Peter wasn't planning on killing the criminal, but in their flurry of movement and the man reaching for his gun, he freaked out. It was either kill or be killed. He didn't want to join Ben yet, he couldn't leave May alone. He had a responsibility.

So, twisting the other's wrist and catching the gun mid-air, he aimed and shot two bullets. The man spasmed as Peter rolled over, taking two large breaths and throwing the weapon into a corner. He laid there for what seemed like hours, trying to find a way out.

In the end, the body ended up in the Hudson River. Peter returned home - bloody and bruised - to find May gone. A note was left to go to the local police station with twenty dollars on top.

He didn't go. Instead, he used his extra time to get the grime off himself in the shower. Afterwards, he called May to tell him he was home and would take a taxi as soon as he could. She yelled at him for ten minutes, wondering where he had been, why he didn't answer his phone or call earlier, in the end she broke down, apologizing and saying she'd be home in a few minutes.

By the time she returned, he had finished brewing some tea and cooking a couple of eggs. It was already four in the morning. Peter held his Aunt for the next three hours. Letting her grieve, letting himself listen to his own thoughts. He didn't cry, didn't feel bad about the man he killed - by now he was comfortably numb.

He knew he had to be more careful. He knew he had to figure out why he could punch so hard, what other things - powers - his body had obtained.

And when he found out his unnatural ability and crazy amouts of strength, Spider-Man would be born.

When he first took on the mantle and name of a "Superhero," that's all he intended it to be. To save people and help get other out of harm's way. To be the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

The first illegal thing he did in his beginner suit was break into Oscorp. After months of fighting crime in a ratty sweatshirt, he was sure need of an upgrade.

So, with Peter's high IQ he produced a flashdrive with Oscorp's codes and firewall breakthroughs. Everything about the company could be found on a tiny store-bought chip.

Sneaking into the place was harder, making sure to use the right codes and not set off any alarms was difficult, but once he was in and posing as an intern, things had ran smoothly. He worked diligently in a lab, constructing a functional suit with new designs and better usages.

Getting out was simpler, deciding to strut out the front entrance with his new suit in a backpack gave him an adrenaline rush, causing him to run to a bathroom to change for patrol. That would lead to his second illegal action in a suit.

Even though he was excited, the streets surely were not. About to finish his sandwich from Mr. Delmar (it was on the house) and return to the apartment, a lady yelled out from below his streetlamp, "Hey, you're that Spider-Guy, right?"

Startled, he nodded and hurriedly pulled his mask down, "Uh, yeah. Spider-Man, actually, but that's me, do you need help with anything, or something?"

"Yeah, I do. But we shouldn't really talk about it here. C'mon down, little spider." Peter gulped, conflicted on running or following the women. Looking up and down the street, he found it empty.

"Why can't we talk right here?" Realization dawned on him and he dropped his voice to a whisper, "Is someone following you."

The women nodded. Peter hopped down to her level, taking her arm in his, "Do you think we can pass as a couple. I mean - I'm wearing a suit."

"I noticed, it's new. I've been looking for you." Closer now, Peter could see the women's features more sharply. Hazel eyes shaped with cutting-edge cheekbones and wavy-ginger hair.

"Who's following you?" There was no point in beating around the bush.

"My husband, he's about two blocks behind with a pocket knife."

Peter glanced at the store they passed, "Do you want me to go take care of him. I can call the police and have him sent to jail, only if you have proof, though."

"Don't believe me?"

"I do, but I also know the cops won't do anything without evidence. It'll be a lost cause then."

She sighed, "I don't want to get the cops involved. I want you to kill him."

Spider-Man stopped, "What?"

The women pulled him into an alley way and oped her purse. She pushed a smaller bag into his hands, "I need you to kill him."

Peter was shaking, he didn't understand. He slowly opened the bag, it was full of wads of cash, "That's seven thousand dollars. Go kill him, call me when it's done." He watched as the women pulled out a paper and pen, scribbling down her phone number.

"I can't."

She stared at him, almost like she could see through the mask. Groaning, she replied, "Fine," she ripped the money out of his hands and began leaving the alley way.

Peter froze. Seven thousand dollars. That was alot of cash. And it was rent week, he knew May couldn't pay it. He also knew he needed a new computer. Decisions. It seemed that's all his life was right now. So many decisions.

May needed the money. It was his responsibility to help get it for her.

"Wait! I'll, I'll take the job." The women looked over her shoulder and grinned,

"I knew you would, I'll be waiting."

By the time he left the crevice between the buildings, the husband was already on their street.

Peter swung and landed in front of the man, startling him. The boy could already tell from his drunken-state that this would be easy.

"He has a pocket knife," the words rang in his head. Peter looked down and sure enough there was a bulge in his pants in the form of a small dagger.

"Is that a knife or are you just happy to see me?"

The man shoved him, "Beat it, Kid. I don't have time fore games."

"Yeah?" Peter cocked his head, "Neither do I." He shoved his knee in between the man's legs, watching him double over and then using his strength to throw him into a post.

With the other's uneasiness he webbed his chest and catapulted him into the air. Climbing in the apartment and swinging the man upwards to finish things on the roof.

He didn't feel bad when the guy crashed against the fire escape. He was unconscious when they reached the top, his breath evened out and forehead already swelling. Peter stared.

After a moment, he fished out the knife and undid it. This would be the easier part, he knew where to position the blade and where to put pressure against the man's skin.

He didn't take honors biology for nothing.

Finishing the job, he called the women after sending a picture of her husband. With the seven thousand dollars he should invest in a burner phone.

"Good work, Spider-Man. I have another job for you, but that can wait till later. Get rid of the body and the cash is yours. I'll leave it behind the dumpsters." She hung up before he could say anything. That left him with a dead man and a prize to collect.

He later found himself counting the cash and debating on when he should call the women back. He knew the answer, though. He shouldn't. You need the money, he reminded himself.

In good news, he received a new laptop and burner phone all while sneaking May money for rent at the end of the week. He still had a shit ton of good money left. Even treating May and him to dinner. She never questioned anything.

After Peter calling the mysterious alley way women back on his newer phone, things began to slowly progress.

It led to him taking on another case for her and her pointing him into the direction of others in need of his help. He started going for more and more people, getting more money, taking even more people, all while maintaining the name, "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man."

No one suspected a thing and his clients list kept growing. He didn't feel bad, hell, he only killed bad people. In his mindset, how could he be doing anything wrong?

Over the course of three years, his "buisness" grew and he upgraded his suits and weaponry. Most of the time, he preferred just his strength and webs, sometimes a knife if necessary, it was less of a mess, anyway. Of course, some jobs required the guns and larger daggers. They were easy enough to obtain, with his status between the dark web, anything was easy to obtain.

He never didn't take a job as long as the work could be done in New York, it was simpler that way.

There was one job he couldn't take, the one that frightened him the most and ironically had the largest bounty he'd seen. He was shocked when he pulled the invitation up. Two million dollars for the one and only May Parker.

_____

Ooh, a cliffhanger! I don't know if there will be a second part, sorry! Maybe if this gets enough love I'll consider! Speaking of, there will be an updated master list of things to drop in my ask box, hopefully tonight! Of course, if you have any other ideas or want me to do a second part of something, just ask! Thank you for the ask @etherithical

#assassin peter parker

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swanqueeneverafter · 4 years

Text

Sins of the Past Pt.4

Kingdom of Valencia. Main Square. Present. (Gareth and Catrina prepare for a ride.) Catrina: "What a charming idea this is, Gareth." Gareth: "Yes. A ride before breakfast always gives me a healthy appetite. I’ve had the kitchens prepare something special." (Catrina looks revolted when she sees the display of food, but puts on a smile.) Catrina: "Oh, how sweet of you." (Chef Vincenzo watches Catrina suspiciously as she and Gareth leave.) Dun Broch. Forest. (Merida and Mulan arrive to confront Anhora.) Merida: “Here. This is where the unicorn was slain.” Mulan: “So how do we contact this ‘keeper of the unicorns’?” Merida: “I don’t know, he just appeared. (Calling out:) Anhora! Show yourself! Anhora!” Anhora: (Appearing behind them:) “You wanted to talk with me?” Merida: “I’ve come to accept your challenge. My people are starving.” Anhora: “You must believe me when I say it gives me no pleasure to see your people suffering.” Mulan: “If it pains you, put an end to it.” Anhora: “It is not in my power to lift the curse.” Merida: “Then tell me what I must do. As Queen it is my responsibility, and I will prove myself worthy and lift the curse.” Anhora: “You must go to the Labyrinth of Gedref. There, you will face a final test. If you fail, there is no hope. The curse will destroy Dun Broch.” (Anhora begins to disappear.) Mulan: “Wait! What kind of test will she face?” Anhora: (Fading out of sight:) “That is for Merida alone to discover.”

Storybrooke. Granny's Diner. (Regina and Emma are finishing up breakfast at the diner when the Charmings arrive with baby Maria.) Snow White: (To Maria:) "And there they are, there are your mommies." (Emma smiles as Regina rolls her eyes.) Granny: (Walking towards Snow:) "It's about time you got here. (Holding out her arms:) Let me at her. (Everyone looks on bemusedly while Granny takes Maria into her arms and takes a deep breath:) Ah! That's the stuff. The fountain of youth. I just can't get enough of that newborn smell." Emma: "Kinda makes you wonder when we'll get a chance to hold her again, huh?" Regina: "Indeed. Still, it beats the alternative I suppose. Back when it was just Henry and I, there were times when I would've given anything for someone to take him for a few hours." Emma: "Now you've got more friends and family than you know what to do with." Snow White: "So, you guys ready to see some houses? You know if I had realised Henry would need a place of his own so soon, we could've kept the apartment for him." Regina: "Well thankfully for Alice and Robin, you didn't." Emma: "Yeah, besides I don't think Henry would want to go from his parents house to his grandparents house." David: "That's a fair point." Emma: "So, where to first? Mom, I'm sure you have some- (Sees Snow pull out a ring binder:) suggestions." Snow White: "Oh, just one or two." Regina: "Of course she'd bring a binder." Emma: "Just relax and think of Henry and Ella's happiness." Snow White: "And don't forget, it's the second Thursday of the month so you know what that means." Regina: "Oh no." Zelena: (Bursting through the diner door, proclaiming loudly:) "Game night!" Regina: (To Emma:) "Remind me again why I stopped being evil?" Camelot. Past. Lower Town, Market. (A young boy, Mordred, walks through the market with his father, Cerdan.) Cerdan: (To a vendor:) “Do you have my supplies ready? We must leave the city without delay.” Vendor: (Handing him a pouch:) “Everything you asked for, it’s all here. I’m sorry.” (Cerdan tenses and looks up at the vendor, as Mordred sees guards approach. Mordred and his father duck under the merchant’s table to run through the market.) Guard: “Seize him! Stop there!”

(Mordred and Cerdan are forced to run into the palace grounds. A guard jumps at them and slashes Mordred. The boy lets out a scream and Cerdan uses his magic on the guard. The spell throws the guard into the rampart wall. Mordred can’t run far, so he and his father are stuck on the drawbridge.) Cerdan: “Abannan átí. (The spell shuts the drawbridge gates:) Run! Run, run!” (Mordred runs through the gates before they close while Cerdan allows himself to be caught. Holding his wounded arm, Mordred continues running, into the castle and up the large stairway.) Guard: "In there. Quick, down there. We’ve got ‘im." Morgana's Chambers. (The boy bursts in while Morgana and Guinevere stand talking.) Guinevere: "You can't be in here." Mordred: (Telepathically to Morgana:) "Please. You have to help me. They’re going to kill me." Morgana: (Shocked at being able to hear him:) "It's alright Guin, he's scared." Guard: (Knocks:) "My Lady? (Knocks:) My Lady?" Morgana: "Take him in there." (Morgana waits until Guin and Mordred are behind the curtain to open the door.) Guard: "I’m sorry to disturb you, My Lady." (Mordred collapses into Guinevere's arms.) Guard: “We’re searching for a young Druid boy. We believe he came this way.” Morgana: “I haven’t seen anyone. It’s just me and my maid.” Guard: “Best keep the door locked till we find him.” Morgana: “Of course. Thank you.” (Morgana closes the door and runs to check on the boy. Guinevere’s hand is covered in Mordred’s blood.)

Wonderland. Present. (Having climbed the tree, Ella walks carefully along one of the large branches.) Ella: (Spotting the house in the distance:) "I can see it! The Hatter's place, it's not that far! Will? (Ella turns at the sound of purring and watches as the Cheshire cat materialises before her eyes:) Oh, you scared me." Cheshire Cat: "Yes, scary... and strange. Seems to sum this place up well doesn't it? Wonderland has grown stranger. I'm stranger, you're stranger. Together we are strangers." Ella: “Well, then how do you do? My name is Ella. Now that we're friends, you wouldn't want to eat a friend. Would you?” Cheshire Cat: “Mmm, certainly not without pepper. The pickings are slimmer these days. These woods used to be full of food, but now the only thing it's full of, is you. (The cat lunges at Ella who leaps out of the way, reaching for another branch but falling from the tree. Getting to her feet quickly as the cat lands beside her on the ground, Ella backs away. Taking a swipe at her with his claws:) You look like you’re going to be the sweetest meat I’ve ever tasted. Let’s see shall we?” (Before the cat can lunge at Ella again, Will appears and stamps on the Cheshire Cat’s tail.) Will: (Breaking off a piece of nearby mushroom:) “Oi! (Will hurls the mushroom at the cat just as he roars causing him to swallow it. Immediately the Cheshire Cat begins to shrink:) Now then, go pick on somebody your own size.” (The Cheshire Cat gives a meek meow before running away into the bushes.)

Ella: (Getting to her feet:) “Where were you?” Will: “Oh Will, thank you for being so brave! So daring! (Ella folds her arms:) Look can we focus on the part where I came back and saved your life?” Ella: “This place really freaks you out, doesn’t it?” Will: “I happen to be the consort to the Queen of Wonderland.” Ella: “But no one out here knows that, do they? The people around these parts still think that... what was it... the Red Queen is their ruler?” Will: “Wonderland is large and expansive, far larger than most people realise. So naturally there are areas where Tiana’s messages of peace and prosperity have yet to reach. It pays to keep on your toes out here so that’s where I was, checking our perimeter for any surprise attacks. It’s not my fault you got yourself into trouble without me. Now, did you find the Hatter’s place?” Ella: (Not believing a word of it:) “Yes.” Will: “Good, then let’s get going.” Labyrinth of Gedref. (Merida and Mulan arrive at the entrance to the labyrinth.) Mulan: “Let me come with you. You don’t know what form of test will take. I might be able to help.” Merida: “No, I can’t ask you to do that. Thank you for getting me this far, but this curse upon Dun Broch is my responsibility. I’m gonna be the one to lift it, or die trying.” Mulan: “Alright, how does you dying help anyone?” Merida: “I’ll die knowing I did everything I can.” (Merida enters the labyrinth. After waiting only a few moments, Mulan enters, taking a different path.) Storybrooke. Past. Granny's Diner. (On a dark, stormy night, the diner appears closed as Regina sits alone in one of the booths. It is a few days after Cora's death and Mayor Mills has been keeping a low profile. When the door behind her opens and closes, Regina doesn't need to turn around to know who's standing there.) Regina: "I reserved the diner for my mother's wake, Sheriff Swan. The very least you can do is respect my wishes." Emma: "That's what I came to do. Pay my respects, I mean." Regina: (Scoffs bitterly:) "Well I'd invite you in but as you can see, there's no room." (Glancing around the empty diner, Emma walks further inside, towards the seated woman.)

Emma: "I mean it, Regina, I'm sorry for your loss and I'm sorry things had to end the way they did." Regina: "Thank you. Now would you please let me grieve in peace?" Emma: "Actually I thought we could talk?" Regina: "Well, Miss Swan, as I've come to expect from the Sheriff's department these days, you thought wrong." Emma: "I'm not leaving until you talk to me." Regina: "Then you're in for a long wait." Emma: "That's fine, I've got time. (Swinging her arms around awkwardly for a moment, she heads towards the counter:) Do you like pie? (Silence:) Of course you do, you're always baking. Well I love pie. I've never made one myself but, I love all kinds. (Moves behind the counter:) Sometimes when I can't sleep, I take out a slice of pie from the fridge, warm it up in the microwave. That and a cold glass of milk? Beats counting sheep every time. (Regina continues her silence:) Now let's see, we've got apple pie. (Smirks:) Of course. Then there's strawberry rhubarb. Then, ooh, lemon chiffon, very nice. Ah, here we are, my favourite (Pulls out a plate:) cherry berry berry." (A thunderclap rumbles overheard and causes Regina to jump out of her chair.) Regina: "God dammit!" Emma: "Regina, relax, it's just a thunderstorm." Regina: "No, you relax! Lightning scares the hell out of me, alright?" Emma: (Standing, mouth agape:) "You're kidding?" Regina: "No. I mean yes, obviously it doesn't scare me... the storm's just another reminder of...” Emma: “Cora?” (Regina nods, then slowly moves over to the counter and takes a seat.) Regina: (Sighs:) “Growing up, my mother was never the warmest of people, but whenever there was a storm, she'd always let me cuddle up with her until it had passed." Emma: "That's sweet. (Moves to place her hand on Regina's but the Mayor pulls her hand away:) Well, I've never been afraid of lightning." Regina: (Scoffs:) "Does anything scare you?" Emma: (Walks around the counter:) "When I was little, sure, growing up there were plenty of things. (Takes a seat beside Regina:) Then I got older and the fear just sort of went away. But now that I have people in my life, a family, friends, people I care about? The thought of losing them scares me more than anything."

Regina: “I’m not going to kill Mary Margaret if that’s what you’re worried about.” Emma: “It’s not.” (They stare at each other for a long moment.) Regina: (Shaking her head:) "You know I was expecting you? Back when I first adopted Henry, I knew who his mother was and what that meant. That somehow you'd find your way here to Storybrooke, find a way to break my curse. I just didn't expect you to be so beautiful. But I knew, if I waited, that one day you'd show up in my life. Now here you are, the woman fated to end my evil schemes. (Reaches for Emma's hand and holds it:) Turns out she's the woman of my dreams." (Ever so slowly, the two women close the distance between them and share a soft, lingering kiss.) Emma: (Softly:) "So what now?" Regina: "Maybe you could keep me company, at least until the storm passes?" Emma: (Nods:) "Until the storm passes."

#sq #swanqueen #swan queen

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starwarsgraphictee · 4 years

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So I take it the haunted stuff is from personal experience???? Wtffffff do you still live there

So, my parents first apartment was haunted. My mom lived there and when they got married, my dad moved in with her, and I came along soon after. My mom had been there for years and knew it was haunted. She thought there were two spirits: one bad and one playful. The playful one would make noises (sounded like someone doing a raspberry while flying across the room) at night in her bedroom. My dad was usually asleep, but one night he was awake and heard it too. The playful spirit would also hide stuff and put it in weird places.

The dark spirit scared her. While living there she would hear growling and the room would get really cold (this is a cheap condo in Phoenix so imagine). My dad’s dog would growl every night down the hallway, and my mom say a dark shadow watching her almost every night. She would ask it what it wanted and it would disappear. Once, her friends were house-sitting and one of them heard the growling and saw the dark shadow walk past them. The next night, the friends slept in the same bed and the woman woke up to this feeling the something was holding her down, and the crucifix around her neck was floating in the air. She screamed and woke up the other friend who saw the floating necklace and when he sat up, it fell and she could move again.

When I was born, my dad’s dog would growl at nothing while sitting next to my crib. One day, my dad came home and found the dog dead in the nursery room (my mom had taken me to work or something). The vet said that the dog died of stress. He was healthy up to that point.

The final straw was when my mom was a year or so after I was born, taking care of me in the nursery. I was in a playpen on the floor and she stepped out to get formula or something. Then she heard a loud bang and ran back into the nursery. An old cabinet they were using to store baby stuff had been pushed over, and it was leaning over my playpen. If it had fallen completely, it would have killed me, but it was suspended in midfall. My mom grabbed the edge of the playpen and dragged it and me out of the way, and the cabinet fell onto the floor. She thinks that the dark spirit possibly pushed it over, because there’s no possible way the cabinet came down otherwise, but if it did somehow fall naturally, at the very least the playful spirit was keeping it from killing me. Either way, she decided it was time to move.

The next house was fine, but we moved to Texas when I was 8 and this is the house we lived in where a lot of weird shit happened to me.

Everything was normal when we first moved in and for years. I noticed shadow figures in the mornings sometimes while I ate breakfast, but my mom said that if I didn’t feel scared, it was nothing to worry about—possibly family members just “checking in on us”. Then one day when I was 11, I was rooting around my room on a boring day and I found a small grate in a built-in cabinet in my room. I managed to pry it open, and found a small space underneath the cabinet that went down into the crawlspace under the house. I couldn’t get down there through it, but I could reach my hand in, so I did. I found some odd stuff: one puzzle piece, some newspapers from the 60’s and 70’s, and some ribbons from a local high school’s homecoming from the 70’s.

The ribbons were odd...there was a yellow and a red one (presumably the school colors) and had homecoming game credo’s on them: “Annihalate the Indians” with an image of a cartoon Native American getting a touch down scored on them. Not very cool. But, it gets worse. Someone had crossed out the word Indian and written in the word Jew.

Now, the people who owned this house before us were the family that had actually built the property back in 1940-something. This neighborhood was actually developed around our house (which is why ours is on a hill) and most of the houses around here are designed by the same architect who designed this one...who happened to be the owner as well. He and his wife were Jewish and came from somewhere back east, moving to this Texas town after getting the architectural development job. They had two kids and one on the way, and he sort of built the house with them in mind. My bedroom had a shared, Jack and Jill style bathroom with a small second bedroom which would be the baby’s room, and my bedroom had a built-in vanity and a lot of extra space for the two kids to live in together. Well, the baby was born, and sometime during it’s beginning years on this earth, it got pneumonia and died in the very bedroom I’m typing this in. The other two kids grew up, and the boy inherited and continued to live in the house, having his own two kids, of which, the oldest son, due to bullying in high school because of being Jewish...killed himself in my bedroom.

Well, I showed my mother this stuff I had found and she told me to throw it all away, and I did. After that, things started to happen. The first weird thing (which I didn’t mention in my previous post) was when I was playing basketball outside. I missed the basket and the ball rolled into the lawn and stopped far away in the grass. I rolled my eyes and started to walk over to get it when it just, suddenly rolled back directly to my feet. The grass is thick and the ground was flat, there was no way that wind or anything else pushed that basketball to me. Plus, there’s a feeling you get when something supernatural happens—a feeling you can’t ignore. I told my mom and she dismissed it.

Well, then some of the other things started happening—and usually only when I was home alone. I felt targeted. Eventually my parents looked into the history of the house by calling the records office and the previous family. We discovered the death and suicide and things started to add up. For the first three winters we were there, every winter I got severe pneumonia. So bad that the bottom of my left lung is, to this day, scarred so bad I can only use 60% of it. When my mom learned about the pneumonia, she called in a Rabbi to do a blessing of the house and the room where the the kid had died. We even followed Jewish grieving traditions as suggested by the Rabbi. I never got sick again.

But other activity in the house continued, still targeted at me. A few times my parents witnessed something. One time, me and my dad were sitting in the kitchen talking and eating apple strudel (irrelevant, but a memory) and we suddenly felt like we weren’t alone. We looked at each other and then one of the kitchen chairs moved like someone was sitting down to join us. It freaked him out. By then, I was used to it.

Then, when I got into my junior year in high school, everything stopped. Just, gone. I had just turned 16 and school started and...nothing. No more shadows. No more lights going on or off or doors moving. The dogs were calm at night. No more whispers or strange feelings. I had almost forgotten the house was ever haunted. One day my mom packing for a business trip (with my dad because they worked for the same company) asked me, “Are you going to be okay alone? Has anything happened recently?” I realized it hadn’t and we felt compelled to look up the information we had collected on the house’s history. The boy had killed himself when he was 16, the end of his sophomore year.

I’ve never had any flat out haunted experiences in the house since then, and I’m currently staying here with my mom for the rest of this month. So, that’s my abridged haunted house story. (I have had many other paranormal experiences at different locations though)

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septic-skele · 3 years

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UT - Default

Summary: When had Sans realized it wasn’t worth it?

Not Papyrus himself. Pap was always worth it. He was worth every drop of sweat and blood, every speck of dust. But grief was too much work, and Sans could only put in so much overtime.

At what point had he stopped trying?

The first reset was so long ago that it could have been a dream. The kid had given them all a glimpse of happiness. The sun had seeped into his bones with a warmth that he had never felt before, soft and full, and he thought ever so briefly that he could never get enough of it.

The kid wouldn’t give him the chance. When he startled awake, tangled up in his ball of blankets, his first thought was that, vivid as it may be, all of it was a dream…No human who had gained that much love and shown that much mercy would truly lead them toward freedom and then tear it all away, would they? A child wouldn’t do that. A friend wouldn’t do that.

How could he reconcile that with the dust of his little brother as it painted the glittering snow gray?

He couldn’t remember how he’d reacted the first time they took Pap—or the second, or the third, or the 560th. Was it in the second run that he had screamed and cried himself to sleep in the snowdrift? That sounded like something he might do, back when anything still came as a shock.

Surely it was the…seventh that he had clawed at the ground, gathering dust and snow, snow and dust in his hands, until he couldn’t tell them apart anymore.

Had it been the twentieth that he grabbed Papyrus’ arm before he could make it out for work? “Let’s hang around here today. Practice, uh…our defense of the home base. Lock the doors.”

Could it have been the…eighty-second that he'd broken and explained everything to him? The one where he saw that precious innocence drain from Pap’s eyes?

It must have been the 115th that he put a wall of bones in his brother’s path and told him that he wasn’t asking him to stay.

Which run was it that Papyrus had whispered, “Brother, you’re scaring me”? That one had hurt more than most, but in the end his desperate betrayal didn’t even matter. It was equally worthless the next seventeen times he tried it.

Which run was it that they had fought the human together? That they had “won”? Papyrus had been ecstatic. Giddy, he had swept Sans up into his arms in celebration. All Sans could see in his peripheral vision was a flash of gold and then Pap was turning to dust around him. For a moment Sans choked as pieces of his brother clogged his eye sockets and his smiling teeth, but the human was polite enough to kill him before he could cough.

When had he realized it wasn’t worth it?

Not Papyrus himself. Pap was always worth it. He was a treasure worth every drop of sweat and blood, every speck of dust.

But…it. None of it was worth his endless stretch of time or his critically low energy. The crying, the screaming, the spreading of dust, the condolences, the pity…the whole grieving thing. The pain was always there, further than the distant sun’s warmth could ever reach, like a lump of gray, stained snow frozen into his lower ribcage—but why bother making a show of it? Grief was too much work, and he could only put in so much overtime.

Besides, who was left to share in his personal ache? Others were too busy mourning their own or scrambling to hoard away the loved ones they still had. If Sans couldn’t be lazy and despicable and pawn some of his burden off on anyone else, why carry it at all? It was just so heavy.

In his soul he knew with sickening clarity: If their roles were reversed, Papyrus would grieve for him every time, properly, to the very end. No matter what it took, he would muster tears to shed, track down Sans’ dust across the terrain, probably even seek out a meager group of survivors for some kind of memorial. No doubt he would give a tear-jerking, heartfelt speech that made the attendees glad that dear, departed Comic Sans was once in their lives.

Papyrus always had something to say. Sans ran out of eulogies several hundred loops ago. Pretty words were hollow and exhausting. Easier to just let the pain come and go as it may, festering and eventually numbing in silence.

It was easier to watch and wait as his brother’s head crumbled off his shoulders. It was easier to watch and wait as the human razed their way through people Sans should…probably still care about. It was easier to watch and wait, counting down the seconds until his break was over and he had to take a shortcut to the corridor.

He dozed sometimes as he idled there. Every so often he dreamt that they’d already reset, he was back at his post and Pap was storming over to berate him for his laziness. But the little freak’s soft, patient, predatory footsteps were nothing like his brother’s.

The surface wasn’t worth it anymore. Freedom wasn’t freedom, life wasn't life. Sans had his part to play, his lines laid out for him.

If we’re really friends, you won’t come back.

Anyone he ever cared about was dead, hundreds of times over, and sometimes, selfishly, he didn’t want them back either. He didn’t want that woman beyond the door back, forced to laugh at all of the same jokes, needling him for all the same promises. He didn’t want Papyrus back here, hoping all of his hopes and dreaming all of his dreams, loving and sweet and endlessly too good for them. He didn't want him being puppeted by a sick child in a sick game.

At this point he just wanted The End, no matter what it was.

If the kid was merciful enough not to come back though they always did, what would he do? Would he try out grieving again? It still didn’t sound appealing. Maybe he could just sit in that empty hallway in that empty world and waste away to the distant birdsong. He could just…let the dead lie.

Yeah. That sounded like a beautiful day.

#undertale #fanfiction #sans #sans undertale #papyrus #papyrus undertale #chara dreemurr #genocide route #angst #sans needs a hug #he just wants it to stop

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vaguely-concerned · 4 years

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Some Alec Ryder Meta

So since I couldn’t find the screenshots of Alec Ryder’s dying ‘thoughts’, I went and got them myself!* And I am uh way closer to crying than I thought I would be, Alec sort of surprised me here. Let’s go!

I was NOT prepared for his literal first thought to be of his children. And notice -- this is not his children being impressive or special or idk ordered/obedient. It’s them being happy and safe and playing and chaotic. I uh did not expect this, frankly.

I’m guessing this is where they used to live when the kids were small! (Would this be before or during their time on the Citadel? The timeline there is so hazy to me haha, I can never quite remember how that works)

Baby Scott on the swing ;______; I wonder if Alec is ‘there’ off screen in this scene, pushing him, since we start off with a shot looking over Scott’s shoulder like that

Can I just say how quietly charmed I am by the fact that in Alec’s memories Ellen isn’t captured when she was ~*young and beautiful*~ or whatever nonsense -- she’s a mature woman, the same age as himself. It feels like there is something sweet and telling in that, like they were partners/equals in his mind. (This also makes me very uncomfortable to think he didn’t ask her/didn’t get her consent at the last moment on her death bed to put her in stasis, after the twins left the room at least; he seems to have respected her so much, if he went against her wishes that’s... such a breach of everything she seems to have meant to him and really should have been addressed more because it would essentially be his big sin as a character. So I choose to believe for now that when the kids left he did one last ‘give it this one last shot and I promise that if I find nothing within a certain time I’ll let you go and grieve like a normal fucking person’ sales pitch, possibly with prepared Science to back him up because they were both kind of weird like that and I think that if anything could have worked that would. ‘But think of the scientific implications tho babe wouldn’t you want to be able to find out how worked?’ ‘...You’ve got me there’)

More confirmation that Ellen had probably come to terms with her death and Alec Really Hadn’t lol. (Ellen might have just been grateful she lost neither of her children to the eezo exposure, actually -- she would have understood intimately how phenomenally lucky they were that both the twins survived and were healthy to boot) If I were to hazard a guess I’d say that Alec probably was in pretty bad need of space therapy even before his wife got ill, she was just his emotional support and he was intelligent and driven enough to hide most of it until that stability came under threat

:( this is upsetting. It doesn’t come across as well without the movement but he’s bowing his head and putting his face in his hands. Either Ellen when she’s really sick or when she uh ‘died’

I’m fairly sure that’s Ellen’s eyes -- and crucially they’re opening again.

Mom and the twins :’) I think it’s pretty clear Alec did that thing some people (especially men) do where they sort of organize all their feelings through their partner -- “Your mother would have been proud of you, of both of you” JESUS CHRIST ALEC JUST TELL YOUR CHILDREN YOU’RE PROUD OF THEM LIKE YOU ACTUALLY MEANT TO SAY, THEY ALREADY KNOW THEIR MOM LOVED THEM FOR GOD’S SAKE YOU ARE THE UNCERTAIN ELEMENT HERE

ETA: actually this might also have something to do with how convinced he seems to be that the kids don’t need him -- that his love and attention and regard doesn’t matter or count, or would even be seen as an imposition (he consistently refers to himself pretty self-deprecatingly in connection to them, their ‘old man’ coming in and messing up their lives, like he considers his absence to probably be the best he can do for them? He certainly devalues his own impact massively, positive or negative). Meanwhile Ellen’s place in all their lives is a clear and uncontested positive so maybe that’s why he goes for her pride and her love like that. Again: who the fuck raised this weird dysfunctional man to be like this and how did he get away with it for so long haha

Alec and adult/at least teenaged twins! a) I suspect going to another galaxy with them to explore might honestly have been his idea of how bonding works, which... well and b) Sara is right behind him, leaning in like she’s listening and interested in what he’s saying and maybe even speaking too, and Scott looks to me like he’s sort of stranded on the side, looking in but not quite able to connect the same way. (This might be coloured by what I know about their respective relationships from the rest of the game, granted)

The same memory as before BUT interestingly --

the camera is turning around, like Alec is trying to get a look at his children’s faces and can’t :) this is fine and not at all illustrative of his entire deal *everything in my heart is on fire*

sOME observations:

- These flashes give you more emotional insight in him than all the unlockable memories put together, and you’ll literally never see most of them unless you’re a freak like me, painstakingly frame by framing your way through it. That... seems like a waste??

- Despite his numerous flaws and shortcomings as a parent and as a person, literally every single thought he has at the end is about his family -- and not only his wife, all of them. There’s no place for his work here at all. That doesn’t absolve him of anything, of course, but it makes me sad that he never found a better way to show it, or to emotionally connect with his children, which he seems to have a real wish to. (”Maybe six hundred years can change a man”) Bioware... Bioware sequel pls don’t leave it like this ;_________;

- He himself does not figure prominently in his memories, and when he does he is faceless and vague -- except for when he is completely alone with his grief and Ellen is gone. I think there is something to be said about the fact that he makes all these huge inspiring speeches about the unknown and exploration... and yet his actual motivation is so firmly rooted in this immense fear of the unknown and of himself, of not knowing who to be without his wife, of not knowing how to go on living, of being alone. I wonder to what degree he knows this himself. (From what I’ve read so far of Mass Effect Initiation he certainly isn’t as idealistic about the whole thing as even the game portrays him, where he’s show to be pretty clear-eyed about the Initiative already -- or maybe he sort of is an idealist, under the fear and the jaded exhaustion. Either he genuinely believes Andromeda will hold answers and that science can achieve the impossible or he’s just too scared to consider any other outcome. Oh Boy tm)

- Ellen’s illness is such a cataclysmic event for him that I really have to assume he was never that stable to begin with. And as we’ve seen: When a Ryder goes off the rails they do so in STYLE and drag thousands of people with them to an uncertain fate haha

- My personal headcanon is that Alec used to be a better dad before Ellen got ill and when the kids were still very young; when all they really needed was to be held and loved and made to feel safe, and then became more and more distant as his work with SAM progressed and the children’s emotional needs grew more complex and demanding. Sara remembers this part of their father better (or clings to it more desperately, depending on your point of view) and is also more like him in general, being driven, competitive and intensely intellectually engaged (no matter how you play her in-game, Sara is always presented as vastly more A Nerd than Scott is -- its own can of worms of course but it’s there in the text). Meanwhile Scott has reached a resigned sort of ‘It’s perfectly plausible my dad would not be able to pick me out from a crowd’ place about it and given up on expecting anything more a long time ago in self defense. I think they’ve both hit on different parts of the truth there lol

(Also Sara and Alec seem to have bonded over making fun of Scott a little bit and considering him the underachiever of the two and like Not Cool guys!!! :( )

- Anyway Alec Ryder is a very interesting and immensely flawed character and killing him off and never meaningfully engaging with him again seems like throwing away a golden opportunity. Sequel where ‘Ghost Riders’ takes on a new meaning when??? I just want the twins to be able to either yell at him or connect to him better, as appropriate to the feelings of the individual player (I totally get why people would want to give their Ryders a chance to straight up hate him)

I think where it really hurts for me is that he clearly has these feelings, the capacity for it. There’s a wealth of affection and... tenderness? reverence, nearly? in these memories. None of his outward hardass needs-everything-to-be-under-control persona. And yet he could find no way to express this or even really meaningfully stay with his own feelings and his children suffered for it. It’s just all so fucking sad

*Courtesy of DanaDuchy’s youtube channel, which is truly one of the marvels of the internet; please check it out if you have any interest at all in Bioware games or indeed RPGs/games in general, there’s SO much content and it’s all neatly organized! If like me you want to listen to all the banter of every game... this channel’s got you covered

#mass effect #mass effect andromeda #meta #alec ryder #is a real SOB but the more I learn about him the more grudging confused affection I have for him lol #this must be what it's like to be the ryder twins #today in the 'I know no one asked for this but my brain won't shut up about it' report lol

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i-can-get-extra-with-my-ships · 5 years

Text

Only Us

Ok, so more writing for the not bread shrine. (That’s the one-shot tag. The Not Bread Shrine.) The prompt for this one came from anon. I told them that I was writing both, and I am. It’s just that my Prinxietea fiend came out and wanted to write this one first. Also, to that anon, I switched it to songs from various musicals because yeah? (And I’ve only listened to musical theater songs for the past like 3 months. (When I have the choice and my taste in pop music is like earlier 2000s because that was good music that I remember from when I was like 3.) My life aside, serious talk time.

Songs Used: Meant To Be Yours (Heathers) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD7x_7tUFNI

Only Us (Dear Evan Hansen) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPvO1sZkOx0

(Crap tons of others are mentioned. The words of these two songs are used though)

Parings: Prinxietea (Prinxiety)

Tw: Cursing and the murderous kind of fluff

Word Count: 1985

----

“Hey Ro, how much longer till we get there?” Virgil asked not looking up from his phone.

They’d only been in the car for 2 of the 16 hours it takes to get from Florida to New York. 2 hours. This is going to be a long drive. Roman thought before answering his boyfriend’s question.

“14 more hours, love.”

Virgil set his phone down. “UGH!! THAT LONG!!!”

Roman laughed a little bit. “May I remind you that we’re driving from Florida to New York?”

“Well, whoever decided to drive is an idiot.”

Roman laughed again. “You decided to drive stormcloud.” Roman would’ve loved to see Virgil’s expression at that, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the road or Virgil would freak out.

Virgil tried to move on from the fact that he’d just called himself an idiot. “Well, if we’re stuck in this car for another 14 hours can we put on something other than this crap?” He gestured to the radio. Virgil was never one for pop music. Roman would much rather listen to musical theater soundtracks, and that’s what he put on.

It was a long playlist that Roman had put on shuffle. The first song that came up was Meant To Be Yours.

Virgil’s face lit up. Heathers had always been his favorite musical. Virgil didn’t sing, Roman, however, being the extra bitch he was started singing at the top of his lungs. “You chucked me out like I was trash for that you should be dead. But! But! But! Then it hit me like a flash what if high school went away instead!” Virgil stared in awe at his boyfriend. Questioning how he was such a good singer.

Then came a mix of theater songs. However, the order that the shuffle put the songs in was so random. Virgil, being the conspiracy theorist that he was, kept trying to figure out “WHAT THE HELL IT WANTS FROM US!!” Every time another song would start playing Virgil would add on to the story that he’d come up with.

Roman was amused with every addition that each new song brought. After three hous the story went as follows:

(Cautionary Tale (Mean Girls) and Kindergarten Boyfriend (Heathers)) Be careful with love.

(You Will Be Found (DEH)) Even if you're not careful with love, and you get hurt, someone will see you and you'll be found.

(Be More Chill (Part 1.) (BMC)) Once found, be careful what you do and what friends you choose.

(Fight For Me (Heathers)) Also, you will meet someone who's beating the shit out of the people you hate.

(The Pants Song (BMC)) Also, in that moment please be wearing pants.

(Revenge Party (Mean Girls)) You then will invoke revenge on the people that were getting the shit beat out of them.

(I Love Play Rehearsal (BMC)) You will find this person to be incredibly adorable.

(Our Love Is God (Heathers)) You’ll then fall in love with this person and go commit murder with them.

(All You Wanna Do (Six)) This person will be sexually attracted to you.

(World Burn (Mean Girls)) This person wants to watch the world burn.

(Two-Player Game (BMC)) This person will become one of your best friends.

(The Squip Enters (BMC)) You will meet another person who will be similar to the Squip.

(Someone Gets Hurt (Mean Girls)) The Squip person will hurt you.

(Heart Of Stone (Six)) The other person will break your heart.

(Someone Gets Hurt (Reprise) (Mean Girls)) You will tell these two people off.

(Lifeboat (Heathers)) Then you will fall into a deep depression.

(Be More Chill (Part 2) (BMC)) Your self-deprecation will get bad and the voices in your head will be very persuasive.

(Sexy (Mean Girls)) Karen Smith will bring you joy during this dark time.

(So Big/So Small (DEH)) You will start to lose more people close to you.

(I’d Rather Be Me (Mean Girls)) But then you will realize you’d rather be yourself then be with those people.

(To Break In A Glove (DEH)) You will learn that the hard and right way is the way that you should use.

(Do You Wanna Hang? (BMC)) You will be put in an uncomfortable situation and not be able to do anything.

(Ex-Wives (Six)) You will get a chance to start again and rewrite your history.

(Fearless (Mean Girls)) You will become fearless. You will no longer fear death.

(Requiem (DEH)) One of the first 2 people mentioned will die. You will refuse to grieve.

(Me Inside Of Me (Heathers)) You will have killed them. You then need to cover up your mistakes.

(Stop (Mean Girls)) Your conscious will tell you to stop doing murders.

(The Squip Song (BMC)) You will be offered a Squip and be in denial because it’s BMC IRL. (Or you know, just like drugs.)

(Freeze Your Brain (Heathers)) You refuse the drugs and/or Squip and obtain a Slurpee addiction to combat your depression.

(Don’t Lose Ur Head (Six)) You will begin to be “Sorry not sorry for what I said”.

(Apex Predator (Mean Girls)) You will judge the most popular girl in school.

(Voices In My Head (BMC)) You will begin to accept the voices in your head and know that they are normal.

(Where Do You Belong (Mean Girls)) You will find a new home where you are accepted.

(No Way (Six)) You will refuse to be accepted by these people.

(Sincerely Me (DEH)) You will write emails to yourself and an imaginary pen pal.

(Get Down (Six)) You will be the “Queen” of your “Castle”

(What’s Wrong With Me (Reprise) (Mean Girls)) You will question what’s wrong with you.

Then it was time for a rest stop. A total of 3 hours had passed by that time. Both Roman and Virgil’s sides aked from laughing as much as they did. Once they got out of the car Roman intertwined their fingers and swung their arms as they walked into the rest stop.

There was a McDonalds inside. They ordered and stood by the counter so then they could grab their food and leave.

While they were waiting, Virgil asked Roman “Hey Ro, how much money do you have?” Roman wasn’t aware of where Virgil was going and said “I dunno. Like 10 bucks? Why?” Virgil was slightly offended by Roman not saying the line. I mean, you should only have to hear “Road work ahead? Uhh yeah. I sure hope it does.” like 10 times to know that this person is going to keep making Vine references.

Anyways, Virgil ignored Roman missing the reference and said “Oh! You know what that means!” Roman sighed before putting on a very dramatic face and said: “I don’t have enough money for chicken nugget.”

Virgil smiled and intertwined their fingers again. (I like the phrase “intertwined their fingers” idk why. I just do) “I knew you would get it at some point.” Roman smiled fondly at Virgil. “Why are you like this?”

Virgil leaned on Roman and told him “Oh come on!! You know you love me.” Virgil didn’t intend for it to be a Disney reference, but Roman took it that way.”Do I know that? Yes. Yes, I do.” They both laughed a little bit before they were interrupted by their order being called. They grabbed their food and went back to the car.

After they ate and threw out their trash, they began driving again. Virgil had forgotten the story that he’d come up with so he just moved on.

The song that came on first after they started driving again was More Than Survive from Be More Chill. Roman sang again (he sang just about every song that came on). Virgil smiled. He had always enjoyed Roman’s singing. This whole time he had wanted to sing, but he didn’t. He knew Roman wouldn’t mind. He’d enjoy having an extra person to sing with.

Especially for duets.

Virgil smiled even brighter at the thought of the two of them singing something sassy like Apex Predator or just fun like Two-Player Game. But he didn’t. He wasn’t planning on singing either.

Well, I guess the best way to put it is keyword: planning.

The first piano notes that were the opening to Only Us from Dear Evan Hansen began to play. There had been an hour or two’s worth of songs that came on between More Than Survive and Only Us. Roman had been wrapped up in his own world of miscellaneous theater songs. Virgil guessed that he was going to take both Zoe (That’s how it is spelled on the Wiki so that’s how I’m spelling it) and Evan’s parts, but he didn’t care. Once Laura Dreyfuss began singing he did as well.

However, Virgil was very quiet, his voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t need you to sell me on reasons to want you.”

The next line he sang a little louder. But not loud enough for Roman to hear him. “I don’t need you to search for the proof that I should.”

The next few lines were just barely audible. “You don’t have to convince me. You don’t have to be scared your not enough. ‘Cause what we got going, is good.”

The next set of lines were only slightly more audible. “I don’t need more reminders of all that’s been broken. I don’t need you to fix what I’d rather forget. Clear the slate and start over. Try to quiet the noises in your head. We can’t compete with all that.”

Virgil had a nice crescendo going and he didn’t even realize until he was singing the chorus very loudly. “So what if it’s us? What if it’s us, and only us? And what came before won’t count anymore or matter. Can we try that? What if it’s you? And what if it’s me? And what if that’s all that we need it to be? And the rest of the world falls away. What do you say?” Roman had stopped singing Zoe’s part once he heard Virgil.

He did come in with Evan’s part though.

“I never thought there’d be someone like you, who would want me.” Virgil smiled. “Well.” Roman looked at Virgil using his peripheral vision as to not get lectured for not keeping his eyes on the road and how they could’ve died. “So I give you ten-thousand reasons to not let me go. But if you really see me if you like me for me and nothing else, well that’s all that I’ve wanted for longer than you could possibly know.”

Roman braced himself. He knew what was coming next. He was scared that once he started singing with Virgil that he’d crash the car.

“So it can be us. It can be us, and only us. And what came before won’t count anymore or matter. We can try that.”

Virgil smiled at Roman before coming back in and having the two of them sing together.

“It’s not so impossible.” Roman was starting to get convinced that he was going to crash the car. Virgil’s voice was incredible. “Nobody else but the two of us here.”

Virgil noticed Roman tensing up and intertwined their fingers. “‘Cause you’re saying it’s possible.”

“We can just watch the whole world disappear.”

“Till you’re the only one I still know how to see.”

“It’s just you and me.”

“It’ll be us. It’ll be us and only us. And what came before won’t count anymore!”

“We can try that! You and me! That’s all that we need it to be! And the rest of the world falls away! And the rest of the world falls away. The world falls away. The world falls away.”

“And it’s only us.”

God. What Roman would’ve given to kiss Virgil in that moment.

However, he’d made up his mind.

Next rest stop…

He’d kiss the fuck out of his Emo Nightmare.

----

Taglist: @winterswishing @thetomorrowshow @an-existing-leah @iixclementine @elatedgiff

@rain-bound I was that anon who asked if you’d like to be tagged like 2 days ago.

@just-some-gt-trash I figured you’d love this.

@stop-it-anxiety I value your opinion greatly and I’d like to know what you think.

#Em's crappy attempts at writing #The Not Bread Shrine Writings #That tag is here to stay #Also this is my new favorite thing I've written.#Just ahh!!!#Too cute!!#prinxietea #prinxiety

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dat-town · 4 years

Text

CODE Z3RO | CODE 13

characters: BTS & Red Velvet genre: thriller, futuristic au warning: i guess a lot of depressive thoughts summary: The twelve most ambitious and promising university students are welcomed in Choego, the world’s first entirely artificial intelligence-driven city, to compete for five job contracts that could change their life. But what if something goes wrong? What if they get trapped? What if the city suddenly turns against them? Can they find a way out before the countdown reaches zero? words: 4k tagged: @philosopher-of-fandoms

➼ Chapter Index

Death.

Such a simple, trivial and lifeless word. And yet, it could bring empires to their knees. Finality had always scared human kind because it was something they couldn’t control, something out of their supervision. People managed to conquer nature, fight against wild animals, they could have diminished entire continents with the snap of their fingers but nobody had won over death before. Egyptian pharaohs had already intended to grant a fruitful afterlife to themselves as they built those huge monuments for themselves, piling gold over gold but it wasn’t a unique trait. Humans tended to wish to control as much as they could regarding their mortality: depending on their religion and beliefs they either wanted to ensure their afterlife or make sure to leave their trace on Earth. Nobody really wished to disappear without anything left behind. Be that fame, the knowledge or the love somebody held for them. But wasn’t loving the cruellest and most painful things to do after all? Because loving meant baring yourself to the possibility of losing something precious, something that leaves you hollow afterwards.

Jungkook remembered when he had encountered death for the first time. It had been almost fifteen years ago, near the hospital bed of his grandmother and he still felt his heart racing uncomfortable whenever he had smelled that typical clinic scent or saw those machines and canullas attached to people. He hated hospitals, he was sick just to the mentions of them, he felt like throwing up only by seeing the hospital bills pile up on his mother’s desk. The treatment had cost way too much for a mere secretary but in her desperate need, she hadn’t cared. But there she had been after: jobless and grieving with three children to feed and a huge debt weighing down on her shoulder. In his worst moments, Jungkook had often called his mother out on being so irresponsible to get them into this spiral downwards from which there was no way out because blaming her had been the easiest when things had been hard on him. He couldn’t have played around or had fun like kids his age. He had been working since he was fourteen, so he could contribute to the family budget. His mother had done everything she could to provide them what they needed but from such a small pay it wasn’t easy at all. Little Jungkook had been bullied for being poor, so growing up Jungkook swore he would have never let anyone look down on him once again. He had spent his afternoons in his middle school’s library to learn programming by himself and he had studied hard to get into a university because he had known how much information technicians earned with the right degrees. But now, he kind of wished he hadn’t been so ambitious, then this guilt wouldn’t have been eating him up like this.

Because death had never been the hardest on the deceased but on those who were left behind.

Yerim had lost a lot already despite being only eighteen. She had cried over dead pets, lost friendships, heartbreaks and now, she had lost her brother as well. Seeing another candidate die right in front of her eyes thanks to the artificial city’s ruthlessness seemed like nothing after that. It was almost as if she had become numb to process that. All she knew that it was not a game nor coincidence. They were going to die there in that terrifyingly beautiful town with a technology smarter than mankind. So once the hallucation fog cleared, she shakily pulled away from Jungkook’s shielding embrace and took a step back. She averted her eyes, so she wouldn’t see the hurt expression on the boy’s face. Because in that moment, it might have been him who needed support.

“Are we really safe here?” Yerim asked with trembling lips, turning towards the other two. Seulgi stood just behind the IT guy who quickly took a seat behind one of the dozens buzzing computers in the room and tried to hack himself into it just like he had done it in the hospital. This one had better security system, so he knew it was going to take a while.

“As safe as we can be. This is the last zone but we still need to stop the simulation or what the hell this is,” the guy murmured as his fingers ran as fast as lightning over the keyboard. Yerim understood nothing of the words written in white over the screen of black. At first look, they looked like English but despite her good language skills, she didn’t get any of it. But Yoongi seemed to know what he was doing and that made her feel hopeful. They had gotten here after all. At what price though?

“Jungkook, can you check the cables of those servers? We need to know the physical network connections as well because if there’s a hub, it might–”

“Be enough to shut it down,” the engineer boy finished his sentence right away, understanding what he intended to do and he got to work, walking behind those black boxes with tiny bright dots.

Just standing there, Yerim suddenly felt as useless as ever. Maybe Taehyung had been right: what was a journalist doing there in the first place? She couldn’t even help the others. She only survived so far thanks to others’ sacrifice. It would have been much better if Seokjin stayed alive instead of her. He could have helped. Like he always had done.

She was surprised when a gentle hand touched her shoulder and she looked up at the always doe-eyed Seulgi dumbfounded, not knowing what to do or what to say to the other girl. They had never talked before, at least not really if they didn’t count the time in the hospital when she had found her alone. Seulgi looked like a deer caught in headlights then but now there was something else in her eyes something akin to determination, a fire that couldn’t have been easily put out. It might have been fueled by desperation or anger, maybe both.

“You’re studying journalism, right?” The architecture girl asked her quietly and there was no mocking in her voice like it had been the case with the annoying Marketing guy. So Yerim didn’t felt ashamed of herself because of her major.

“I do, but… why does it matter?” she crooked a brow at the weird kind of question in such situation but it started to make sense as Seulgi kept going.

“If we get out… or at least you do, you should make sure that everybody knows about what happened here because we can’t let it happen again,” she shook her head and nibbling her lower lips she looked very confident in her statement. Opposite of how hopeful and uncertain that little if sounded, the rest was different. It was a side of Seulgi none of them had seemed before. She was like a girl who had had enough of letting others die around her and Yerim could resonate to that sentiment. It was the least they could have done, trying to save other innocent souls. So she didn’t even hesitate before she nodded firmly.

“Okay,” she murmured, hands in fists, already ready to post about it online, watching it go viral while penning dozens journals until one of them published their story. Their rival-like teammates who had all come for the same goal deserved at least that much. Hoseok’s girlfriend also deserved to know that he had missed her the most, or the Kim parents should have known that their son had saved them all with his sacrifice. People should have learnt not to trust a machine unconditionally because whether it be an error in the system or somebody’s doing in the back, an AI felt no remorse and knew no loyalty.

“Fuck,” Yoongi cursed suddenly and both girls turned their heads towards the IT guy sitting behind the computer screen. But the screen looked different this time, there were not only code lines there but lots of decrypted data as well.

“What? What did you find?” Yerim rushed to his side analysing what she saw from up-close. There were numbers and something that looked like a task manager on the black screen. It didn’t mean anything to her though, so she looked at Yoongi for help.

“I know why the city was killing us all. This is not a hacked simulation program,” he shook his head, lips almost bloodily chapped from the way he bit into them while breaking through the security system. His pupils were wide and scared, this was the first time the youngest member of this freaking experiment had ever seen him like this, so her throat closed up when he opened his mouth to elaborate. “The AI, the heart of this freaking city, is on its way to self-destruction.”

Yerim sucked in a breath understanding every word but not being able to process their meaning. Yoongi pointed to the progress bar on the screen saying how much time they had and above it, there was a list of all the sectors within Choego and the cursor flickering next to the number 24.

SECTOR 22 SHUT DOWN

SECTOR 23 SHUT DOWN

SECTOR 24 QUEUED

Execution 92% – 32 minutes left until total shut down

All three of them stared at the computer fearing the numbers would change because countdown was once again their lifeline, too.

“Self-destruction? But… why? The researchers wouldn’t have… they all died too, so who did it?” Seulgi spoke up, confused, voicing out all of their concerns.

Nobody knew how it happened and it was easy to make themselves believe it was just an error. Something had gone wrong and the security of Choego had started to act off. But this was different, this was something they couldn’t blame on the artificial intelligence only. A computer didn’t have free will, so there was somebody behind it. Somebody who wanted none of them to survive the night. If his plan worked out, all of them would have died about 18 hours before when the whole chaos had erupted. If Yerim had slept throughout the night, would have anyone noticed their approaching end? Maybe she had saved them then but only for a short while. But could it have been called such a righteous act even if they had ended up dying all sort of terrible deaths in the end instead of not waking up from their beds?

“It could have been only done from the inside. From this exact room to be precise because the program only let me in through IP address identification,” Yoongi explained which made the girls gulp in nervousness. That could have only meant one thing, they both knew: it could have only been an employee, one with permission to enter here.

“But everyone whom we met seemed so enthusiastic about Choego. Even if it was a revenge of some sort, why would anyone use such a brutal method?” Yerim gasped but none of them had an answer for that. There was no explanation to human savageness.

“I found it!” Jungkook hollered all of a sudden from behind the rack of computers, so they all three looked his way. “There’s only one connector to all, so I will–”

“Stop! Don’t touch it!” Yoongi yelled in panicked voice as if that single flick could have killed them all. But what couldn’t here for real?

Jungkook walked out from the cover of the shelves and stared at the other guy confused. Yoongi understood the sentiment because his earlier request could have been misleading. He didn’t want to force the computers to shut down just like that, at least not yet.

“Why?”

“Is it because of what happened when Namjoon managed to break into the researchers’ base? That the countdown quickened?” Seulgi asked in a small voice, uncertain as her caramel eyes were looking from one guy to another. The younger firmly shook his head to her question.

“But that was because the alarm system itself noticed the malfunction. But this is the main computer for god’s sake. Everything will shut down, that freaking killing program as well,” he argued and slight anger and hopelessness were mirrored in his eyes as he looked dead in Yoongi’s eyes.

“That’s right. Everything. That means no heating, no electricity, no water, nothing here if we’re lucky. But if we are not, then maybe those invisible killing walls around the sectors stay or there could be a backup generator somewhere that takes the place of the main computer. And knowing this freaking city, there must be not one but more, like the Internet: it’s a network where any hub can replace the other if done right.”

“Then why the hell did I need to check it if you had no plan on yanking it out of the wall?” the younger boy huffed out, disappointed but finally understanding why it would have been a risky decision to cut the electricity just in here. The backup must have been kept elsewhere and they would have never made it there in time.

“Because if my idea doesn’t work out, we need to leave our fate in the hands of goodwill and luck,” the IT specialist said dryly and as if on cue, two new lines appeared on the computer screen. Lines that contained their death sentence.

SECTOR 24 IN PROGRESS

Execution 94% – 24 minutes left until total shut down

Yoongi didn’t believe in life after death. He was a man of analytical thinking, therefore there was no heaven and hell according to him. It they were, Choego would have been hell for sure. He didn’t condemn those whose religion taught about Heaven or Valhalla, at least they had something to believe in, something that was waiting for them. Whether it really existed or not, in the moment of the end, it didn’t matter. But Yoongi didn’t fear death because he believed it would be the inevitable death from which there was no way back. He feared dying without being able to say goodbye or to kiss his mother’s cheek and tell her he loved her.

But in this moment, it was now or never. They were on their own, nobody could have helped them. Even the main computer was separated from Korea’s 3G and 4G networks, he couldn’t connect to any, so if they failed, they would have left without being able to tell anyone. Without anyone knowing about the struggles they had gone through in order to survive. People just over the other side of that bridge and all around the world had no idea what was going on with them: they had dinners usually, went to work like they always did and maybe not even their loved ones were worried because it hadn’t even passed a day since they last contacted them. And that, their death going unnoticed scared Yoongi the most.

“I found a hidden file. It has randomly serialized names changing every other second, so I almost missed it but it seems to be a key,” he spoke up as he typed something on a different computer than the one with the countdown.

“A key to what?” Seulgi whispered, voice strained with desperate hopefulness.

“To stop this program,” Yoongi answered as he hit Enter.

The computer beeped, then small dots appeared on the black background. Sixteen dots and then suddenly a text:

Face recognition done

“Hello, Min Yoongi, it has been a while. What can I help you with?” the lovely woman voice greeted him through the speakers and her too sweet, too artificial voice sent shivers down all of their spines. Oh, of course their last chat was stored in the central memory, Yoongi thought to himself while the others exchanged glances, not quite getting the friendly chit-chat.

“Hello,” the IT guy greeted the computer back coldly and went straight to the point. There was no use being sentimental with a software. “I want to stop the currently running program. How can I do that?”

“There are currently 486 programs running. Which one did you mean? Do you need me listing them all?” The AI’s nice voice echoed in the whole room, rebounding from all that metal and it even suppressed the constant low buzzing sound.

“No, I… I’m talking about the program that shuts down the sectors one by one.”

There was a pause, a deafening silence while the computer searched through its task manager to find the one. They were all waiting with their breaths held back.

“Do you mean Code Zero? It has been running for 1059 minutes, only 21 minutes left. Are you sure you want to stop it?”

“Yes!” Yoongi almost screamed at her, the words Code Zero tasting like metal in his mouth. So that was it. That was the source of it, the reason for this chaos. However, it wasn’t as easy to get rid of as he had thought so. Gosh, he was so naive to think, finding it was the hardest part.

“Permission denied,” the computer recited and he felt like a sulky child protesting:

“But I have the key.”

“Do you have the password?”

“Fuck,” he slapped on the desk frustrated that made the girls jump in surprise.

“Incorrect password. Please try again,” the voice told him ever so lovely, so he gave it another weak try:

“Choego.”

“Incorrect password. Please try again. You have three more tries.”

Oh, damn, so they even had a limit? The guy sucked in a breath, suddenly not knowing how to get that freaking password in time or how to get it right within three tries.

“Is there a way to retrieve the password?” Jungkook interrupted the conversation, even though he didn’t sit across a camera, the computer could tell the question didn’t come from Yoongi.

Voice recognition done

“Hello, Jeon Jungkook.” The AI greeted him as well and out of all the things that had happened to them, it was the least bizzare one. “Yes. You have to answer a question.”

“Why didn’t you say so before?” Yoongi let out a frustrated sigh and the robotic answer felt like a slap.

“Because you didn’t ask.”

Of course. A computer only does what it’s told.

“What’s the question we need to answer?” He asked then forcing himself not to get impatient even with the counter going down to 17 minutes since.

“You sit in a car. You are driving. You go with normal speed. Suddenly Person A runs onto the street right in front of you. Person A crosses the street with no pedestrian crossing and it’s too late to stop and avoid the crash. If you slow down as much as you could, Person A’s survival odds are 30%, your survival odds are 97%. If you turn towards the opposite lane, another car might come, so Person A’s survival odds are 80%, your survival odds are 50% depending on the type of cars involved. If you turn towards the sidewalk, you might hit another person and run into a wall. Person A’s survival odds are 70%, Person B’s survival odds are 35%, your survival odds are 70%. Would you hit the jaywalker?”

Once the robotic voice stopped, silence embraced the four of them. It sounded like a riddle. So their answer would have been the actual key? Yoongi looked up and exchange glances with the others. They all shook their heads, it was an unanimous decision.

“No,” he said out loud, heart throbbing in his throat as they were waiting for the system’s next step.

“I see. And taken you sit in a smart car that chooses to hit the jaywalker, would you feel guilty as if it was your own fault? Even if a truck crosses the other lane and a child runs on the sidewalk?”

“Yes, I would feel guilty,” Yoongi replied without hesitation.

The end does not justify the means, he believed.

“Here’s your answer, Min Yoongi.” The AI told him almost as if she was saying goodbye and the screen on the other monitor changed as well.

Execution 97% – 12 minutes left until total shut down

Command reset in progress. This might take a few minutes.

SECTOR 24 ON HOLD

Execution calculating…

A collective sigh was torn from the mere university students’ throats equally. The computer buzzing got stronger with each second but this time, Yoongi had a good hunch about it.

“And now?” Yerim spoke up, voice small and unsure. There was only one thing they could have done.

“Now we wait.”

Seulgi’s legs gave out in relief. She sank down to the floor, knees stretched from earlier but even the pain felt reassuring this time. They were going to live. They were going to get out. She felt it in her veins. It was finally the end of this manslaughter. She sat there, quiet, while Jungkook monitored the screen and Yerim scribbled something onto a piece of paper. She was trembling, sitting on the cold metal but didn’t even notice it up until Yoongi lowered himself down next to her. He stared ahead of himself, still breathing heavily and from the way his fingers twitched, Seulgi could tell how big of a pressure the boy faced. He saved them, he saved everyone he could and suddenly she wanted to tell him, to thank him, to take his hands and tell him that it was alright. But she didn’t find the right words and she couldn’t move. It was Yoongi who first broke the silence.

“What did you see?” he whispered and he didn’t need to elaborate, Seulgi knew immediately what he meant by it. She still remembered his whispered words of reassurance and gentle hands on her skin as he had brought her back to reality. Even sitting with shoulder to shoulder, suddenly she missed his closeness.

“My mother… telling me I could have saved them,” she croaked out in a broken voice. She should have but Namjoon might as well have been right about it, that she had been the one who led them into death. Even her silence had caused the end of some. So in a way she wasn’t better than the killing machine. However, the biggest difference was that she had regretted it, she was able to feel guilt. A program didn’t.

“Mine told me I am cruel,” Yoongi whispered and even though Seulgi didn’t agree with him being cruel, the boy didn’t seem like wanting to explain, so she didn’t ask him to. They all had their own little secrets. Their own cross to carry.

The lights flickered above them and the buzzing quieted down. A big red lettered message appeared on each screen in the room.

Self-destruction mode deactivated. You have 60 minutes to reboot the <CODE ZERO> command before the archives are deleted. Section borders are turning off. You are now set to normal mode.

It seemed too good to be true. But hadn’t they suffered enough to finally earn this?

“Is it… done? That was it?” Yerim asked almost as if she didn't dare to believe in it. After facing so many trials it was hard to. None of them had it in them to answer, to be the responsible for others to take the leap of faith. Not until Jungkook pointed at the again changing screen.

“I think so. Look! The zones are not shut down anymore.”

SECTOR 24 WORKING

SECTOR 23 WORKING

SECTOR 22 STARTING...

Seulgi felt tears pricking her eyes, tears of something akin to relief and joy but also sadness and the guilt of survivors.

She stumbled to her feet, heart hammering in her chest, ready to leave this Hell of island lied to be the Paradise behind just like a songbird anticipating to leave its cage. Her breath hitched when calloused fingers curled around her wrist so softly. She looked up at Yoongi and followed him without hesitation. Each of them did.

“Let’s get the hell out of here.”

And so they did but that was the thing about death: nobody could leave the guilt and grief behind entirely. It stayed; just like one could never get rid of the blood on their hands. This was the price to pay for the illusion of freedom. But whether it was a mere mirage or not, passing through sector after sector, Seulgi couldn’t help but wonder whether it was really the city that kept them there for so long.

Or was it something more?

#series: code zero #bts thriller #red velvet thriller #btsvelvet #bts x red velvet #stories

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