#My father called me the dead dog's name before he called me my name | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gallusrostromegalus · 11 months

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the 'Kon :)' in the list of things you're pleased about in aeiwam has be EXCITED please tell us more (if you want to)!

Soon after Masaki died, Isshin Kurosaki moved his family. It's mostly because the original clinic didn't feel haunted- if Masaki's spirit were still here, Isshin would know what to do, but instead he felt like his heels were dogged by the hole where she used to be.

It didn't hurt that the new place was larger, in a better school district, and closer to his friend Ryukken. He's almost feeling cheerful about the new place when Ichigo runs up the stairs and from room to room before calling dibs on one, because he's a big kid now and doesn't want to sleep where he has to listen to his dad snoring all night >:(.

Isshin felt slightly less cheerful when he looked out the big window in Ichigo's room to determine if he needs to put up some child safety grates, and realized their new neighbor was a taxidermist.

"I feel like it gives them a sort of dignity- A Life After Life, if you will." she said when he went by to make sure his neighbor was only eccentric and not something out of a horror movie. He wasn't entirely sure which, actually- Ms. Tanaka was an octogenarian with skin like tissue paper and a back like a question mark, but her living room was a veritable zoo of reconstituted animals, many of them former pets, if the number of domestic cats was anything to go by.

"Oh. Yeah!" Isshin grinned, terrified, and was struck by the idea of some goon in the 12th division slavering in the afterlife, desperate for her to shuffle off the mortal coil and bring her undoubted skills with dead bodies to R&D. "We've always been very spiritual people."

(Continued under the readmore)

"Oh, just like the nice young man who used to live in your house!" said Ms. Tanaka, sitting down in her armchair that was adorned by an ostentatious past-tense peacock perched on the back. "Odd fellow. Worked nights, spoke like he was born in the Sengoku Era or something, but very nice."

"He's BEAUTIFUL!" said Ichigo, staring in awe at an enormous Ginger Tabby Cat by the window, mounted in repose on a emerald velvet cat bed. Ms. Tanaka had done an excellent job conveying a sense of benevolent egotism on his whiskered face, but Ichigo's growing fascination with the Macabre was beginning to worry his father- Ichigo had seen the taxidermy stoat in the back window and INSISTED on coming along.

"Isn't he?" beamed Ms. Tanaka. "His name is Bostov! He was my very best friend for many years."

"Wow! Can I pet him?" Ichigo asked, eyes wide with delight.

"Ichigo, that's uh- that's not a real kitty-" Isshin began to sputter.

"Of course he's a real kitty!" Ms. Tanaka laughed, a noise like an ungreased gate. "You can pet him if you're very gentle." Ichigo stroked the deceased animal with exceptional delicacy for an overexcited Kindergartner. "He's so soft!" he gasped.

"Do you like him?" asked Ms. Tanaka.

"I LOVE HIM!" Said Ichigo, cheeks flushed and eyes bright for the first time in months now. Perhaps having a distant relative of the Addams family for a neighbor isn't so bad, if her creepy hobby cheers Ichigo up... Isshin sighed.

"In that case, why don't you take him home with you?" Smiled Ms. Tanaka. "I'm sure he'll be a good friend to you too."

"UH." Isshin blurted out, nearly spilling his tea on a flock of quail under the side-table.

"I have SO MANY friends in my home with me- it's bordering on a fire hazard!" Ms. Tanaka chuckled. "I'd be delighted to send him to a home where he'll be loved. Please- consider him my housewarming present!"

"CAN WE? CAN WE TAKE HIM HOME? PLEASE DAD??PLEEEEEEEASE-!!" Ichigo asked, stars in his eyes.

Isshin froze, horrified at the prospect of having... That. In his house. Watching him. ...and at the same time, completely unwilling to dash his little boy's dreams.

"yEaH oKaY." Isshin grimaced, soaked in a cold sweat.

*****

Bostov The Former Cat was bad enough, but at least the taxidermy beast 'lived' on Ichigo's bedroom dresser and not down in the living room where Isshin would have to look at it's green glass eyes, which seemed to follow him around the room. It wasn't right having a hollow thing in the house like that- any wandering spirit could decide to climb in there! He resolved to have it warded, but Kisuke said he was on a trip to the Caribbean for "Botanical Research" , and wouldn't be back until "After the Big Holiday on the 20th". Isshin hung up the phone, groaned and rubbed his face. It was fairly late, and he was still at the kitchen table, going through all of the licensing paperwork to get the clinic up and running.

"Hey Dad?" Ichigo asked, holding up a small plastic toy. "What's 'Soul Candy'?"

"Soul Cand-?" Isshin frowned, turned to look at the toy and nearly jumped out of his skin, swiping it away from the boy. "WHERE DID YOU FIND THIS? DID YOU EAT ANY??"

"...it was upstairs, in the back of my closet." Ichigo pouted. "-and no, I didn't eat any strange closet candy. I'm not stupid."

"Oh thank the Gods..." Isshin sighed, sitting back down at the table and shaking the small, duck-headed pill dispenser. Empty. "-I'm sorry I yelled Ichigo, but this is Very Dangerous stuff."

Ichigo arched an incredulous Eyebrow at him. "Really? Is this the same kind of dangerous that the half my Halloween candy you confiscated and ate was?"

"Ah- well. No. That was Dad Tax. This is actually dangerous. Here, come sit with me a minute." he pulled out the other chair at the kitchen table. "Remember how I told you about the ghost that lived in my attic when I was your age?"

"The Shinigami?" Ichigo asked.

Isshin did not *enjoy* lying to his children, but a little knowledge was a dangerous thing, and not enough even more so, so he'd concocted a little fantasy to explain why he knew all about ghosts and why the children never saw their grandparents, so he could tell them about the dangers of this world without telling them too much.

"That's right- His name was Kaien Shiba, and he was a Soul Reaper. At night, he'd turn into a ghost and leave his body behind, and go escort spirits to the afterlife or fight hollows." Isshin said. he'd named the fictional soul reaper after his favorite nephew in a fit of inspiration- he'd started telling Ichigo a tale from his days as a Shinigami one night after slightly too many drinks and had to convince Ichigo that that was only a distant acquaintance.

"...Like what killed Mom." Ichigo muttered.

"Um. Yeah." Isshin nodded.

They were silent for a moment.

"-Anyway, the way he turned into a ghost was that he'd swallow one of these little candies that would come in these tubes-" Isshin pulled the duck's head back to show Ichigo the mechanism. "-and Poof! he'd jump out of his body as a ghost so he could use magic to save people! But-there was a little soul inside the candy that would come out and take care of his body while he was away! Like a babysitter, but for his own butt! After a few hours, the little soul would stop working, and Kain would be home to climb back in."

Ichigo blinked at the mechanism, thinking. "So. There's a little person in these candies?"

"If there were any in here, yeah." Said Isshin. "They're not like. Whole people. Just little collages of behaviors and phrases. You know, like the fake voice that talks on the phone when you call to refill a prescription!" Ichigo frowned, considering something. "...There weren't any candies in this thing, were there?" Isshin asked, suspicious.

"No." Said Ichigo, frowning at him. "It'd be really lonely, being just a little soul, stuck in a candy, wouldn't it?" he asked.

"I suppose so, but I don't think the little souls are aware while they're in there. It's like being asleep for them." Isshin shrugged, lying to himself as much as his son about that.

Ichigo still frowned. "...What happens if the candy goes into a body without a soul in it? Like a dead body?" "Huh." Isshin frowned. "I dunno, actually. I guess the little soul would run around and operate it for a while, until it faded out, like it did with a normal body?"

Ichigo nodded, still preoccupied.

"Why?" Isshin tried.

"...No reason." Ichigo muttered, kicking his little feet. "Just thinking."

"Alright. Promise me if you find anything else weird or see any random candies to not touch them and tell me right away, okay?"

"Yeah okay." Ichigo nodded, only sort of paying attention. "I'm gonna go to bed. G'night dad." he muttered, getting up from the table and handing the dispenser to Isshin before giving him a quick hug and stomping up the stairs.

Isshin watched him go, aching a bit. I wondered how old he was gonna be when he started keeping secrets from me. He sighed, looking down at the Soul Candy Dispenser. Not that I'm being a Paragon of Honesty for him to follow...

---

"GIRLS? ICHIGO? HAVE ANY OF YOU SEEN MY STETHOSCOPE?" Isshin hollered, searching fruitlessly under the couch cushions.

"NO!" Hollered Karin from where she and Yuzu were playing in the small front yard.

"TRY ICHIGO'S ROOM, HE TOOK A BUNCH OF LAUNDRY UP TO SORT." called Yuzu.

"THANKS GIRLS!" he called back stomping up the stairs. Ichigo was at karate- he'd finally returned to classes, or at least, Tatsuki had finally physically dragged him back into the Dojo. "Man I hope I didn't put it through the washing machine-" he muttered, opening the door to the boy's room and started searching through the basket of laundry on his bed.

Isshin stopped, and stood up, frowning around the room. Something was off.

Ichigo was a tidy boy, somehow, and his room was usually in order save for whatever video game he had out to play and the bed he never made but... Isshin turned fully around trying to figure out what was off before his eyes finally landed on the top of the Dresser.

The Emerald Green Velvet Cat bed, home of Bostov The Cat, was empty.

"Did he take the cat out of the bed to play with?" Isshin wondered aloud, hoping that that, and not several other horrible scenarios, was what was happening. He could hear Karin and Yuzu giggling through the window, and he peeked down at them- they appeared to be having a tea party on the thin strip of grass, and the guest of honor amongst the dolls and stuffed animals was a familiar-looking ginger tabby. "Oh! The GIRLS took him out to play with." he sighed with relief, leaning against the window to watch them.

...and watch a strange man approaching down the street, who stopped at the garden fence. Isshin frowned- maybe he was just watching the girls play, in a normal, wholesome way like he was doing right now. ...or he could be taking candy out of his pocket and waving the girls to come through the gate.

Isshin jumped on the bed, tore open the window with such force it jumoed out of it's track and was halfway out to jump down at the man from the second floor when the most EXTRAORDINARY thing happened.

Bostov, Who by all accounts had been deceased for the better part of a decade and was made of little more than a skin and some glass stretched over a wood-and-cotton frame, Suddenly leapt up from his chair, claws and teeth drawn like swords and leapt upon the man, battering him visciously with a stream of einvective so foul it made Isshin's barrack-hardened linguistic sensibilities blush, before chasing him back down the street like a short, furious, ass-seeking missile.

"GIRLS!" he shouted, jumping down anyway. "-ARE YOU OKAY?"

"DON'T GET MAD AT ICHIGO OR KON!!" Shouted Yuzu, tears in her eyes.

"...ichigo or who?" Isshin blinked.

"Way to spill the beans, Yuzu." Karin groaned. "Yeah Dad, we're FINE- Kon was here, he'll beat the crap out of anything."

"Who's Kon?" Isshin repeated.

"HEY DAD." Shouted Ichigo, skidding into the garden in his karate gi, and out of breath, clutching an unconvincingly stiff Mr. Bostov under his arm. "SO. UH- WELL MR. BOSTOV CAN MOVE NOW. FOR SOME REASON."

"Uh-huh?" Isshin glared at the cat, who glanced away nervously. "Why do you think that is?"

"...it's a Christmas Miracle?" Tried Ichigo.

"Ichigo, it's fucking April." groaned Karin.

"...Passover?" tried Ichigo.

"-This wouldn't have anything to do with that Soul Candy Dispenser you found, would it?"

"uhhhhhhh..." said Ichigo. Honesty might not have been one of the boy's virtues, but at least he was a terrible liar.

"PLEASE DADDY DON'T GET ANGRY!!" Sobbed Yuzu, throwing herself around his calf and wailing. "MR. KON IS THE MOST NICEST KITTY IN THE WHOLE WORLD! HE PLAYS TEA TIME AND DRESS-UP WITH US AND TELLS JOKES AND CHASES AWAY DOGS AND SCARY MEN AND HE ALWAYS WAKES UP ICHIGO WHEN HE'S HAVING A NIGHTMARE-!"

"Yeah, actually, Kon's like. the first thing to make me laugh since. Well." Mumbled Karin, plodding over to Isshin's other leg and leaning heavily on him. "Please? he's weird, but he's a good guy."

Isshin sighed, then glared back down at the cat. "Alright. Who are you?" he demanded.

Ichigo and the formerly immobile cat glanced at each other and the feline unfolded as Ichigo set him down, shaking himself out and sitting on the walkway.

"So, uh- Hi. My name's Kon. Kon Bostov, if you wanna be formal, in honor of the beast whose body I currently inhabit." He nodded, waving a paw evocatively. "-And, uh. Well, how much do you know about the afterlife?"

"-Being from a long line of psychic mediums and prone to hauntings, my parents rented out our attic to a Shinigami when I was a child, and he told me pretty much everything." Said Isshin, and Kon winced. "So. Is 'Kon' short for 'Mod Konpaku'?"

"Ehh... well, Yeah." Kon winced. "-But hey! It wasn't my idea to be cooked up in a lab by some maniac and then put to death minutes later for something I didn't even do!" he snarled, fur bristling.

"What?" asked Karin.

"Kids I- Look, I didn't mean to lie, there just wasn't a good time to bring it up but. Technically, I'm wanted by the law. I'm an artificial soul created for battle to be put into dead bodies, but literally four and a half minutes after I woke up, the soul society- where all the Shinigami are from- condemned me to die, because they didn't like how strong some of the other Mod Souls were. I managed to roll myself off of the table and into a box of normal bodyminders to hide, Got put in a dispenser and then the shinigami that had been here accidentally left me behind." Kon explained.

"COOL!" Shouted Karin.

"NOT COOL. BAD!" Shouted Isshin. "Okay, okay I- I mean you're right, I never- I mean, the way Kaien told it, the whole Mod Soul program was pretty shady and it sounded really unfair. But why would a Shinigami just leave an important and dangerous tool lying around?"

"...I don't know how much spiritual sense you have my guy, but this town doesn't have a Hollow problem so much as the Hollowpocalylse goin' on." Kon grimaced. "-I really hope that guy's okay, he seemed pretty cool from what I could tell. I don't actually remember hearing him get called back to soul society." Kon muttered. "-Anyway, about three weeks ago, your brother found me in the dispenser in the back of his closet and put my candy body into this taxidermy cat, and I've been hanging out with the kids since then! You know, like a cat is supposed to do!"

Isshin stared blankly at Kon. The girls hugged his legs, lips wobbling, but he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, firming up his resolve- no matter how nice he seemed, a Mod Soul was a dangerous thing- and one crafty enough to live right under his nose for the better part of a month? No, absolutely n-

Isshin opened his eyes to see Ichigo had picked up Kon, cradling the cat to his tiny body, eyes wide and beginning to glisten with tears.

"...Ah. What the hell. You make the kids laugh." Isshin sighed, and all four cheered, thanking him profusely and promising to be extra-good and take good care of Kon- "But you put so much as a Whisker out of line and you're in deep trouble, got it?" Isshin leaned into the cat's face, scowling menacingly and shaking his finger at Kon.

"Understood sir!" Kon Saluted. "So when's dinner? Ichigo's been sneaking me scraps but I could really go for some chicken, or maybe ham-" he asked, tail thrashing excitedly.

"You can eat?" Isshin asked. "I thought you were all... Whatever they stuff taxidermy animals with?"

"-Might've been, but I'm all complete now? Fluff, guts, claws-the works!" Kon shrugged, hopping up on Isshin's shoulder. "-Between you an' me, I ain't even neutered! But that ain't a problem- Plenty of hot pussy around, if you know what I mean, especially that sweet little tuxedo bobtail just up the street- Me-YOW, huh?"

"Oh gods." Groaned Isshin, covering his face. "What am I letting into my house?"

"An intact male cat is called a 'Tom' Dad." Karin called over her shoulder.

"Alright Kon, a few rules- No more swearing in front of the kids, no bringing ladies around the house and for goodness sake DON'T TELL ANYONE YOU'RE HERE!" Isshin snarled at him.

"Alright, alright!" Kon sighed, rolling his eyes. "Out of curiosity though- What rank was your guy Kaien?"

"Hm?" Isshin asked.

"Only that I thought only the captains and a few lieutenants ever knew about project Spearhead." Kon glanced at Isshin, arching an orange-striped brow at him. "-funny thing, having a seated officer doing routine patrols, isn't it?"

"I dunno?" Shrugged Isshin, trying to keep his shoulders from tensing up, "-He didn't actually tell me all that much about how the soul society is governed."

"Huh." Kon nodded, smirking just a bit. "Interestin' guy, this Kaien. You should tell me about him sometime!"

"KOOOOONN!" Yuzu called. "My Dollie's shoe got under the fridge!"

"Coming Sweetie!" Kon called, jumping off Isshin's shoulder to reach his skinny little cat arm under the fridge and swat the missing accessory out from under the appliance. Yuzu applauded with delight and hugged him, laughing for the first time in ages.

Isshin watched them play for a bit and sighed. He not a bad guy, this Kon. All the same- Isshin took out his phone and dialed a number.

"~Urahara Shoten, home of Karkura Town's finest Candies, Cell Phones and Card Games! I'm on sabbatical 'til the end of the month or so, so if it's an emergency, hang up and call the Kurosaki Clinic! Or die! If it's not an emergency, leave me a message with what you need and I'll hook you up when I get back! Bye!~" Urahara's voicemail recording sing-sang over the line.

"Kisuke. It's me, Isshin. You will not fucking believe what my kids found in the new house. Call me as soon as you get back."

#AEIWAM #an elephant is warm and mushy #Bleach #Bleach fanfic #Isshin Kurosaki #Ichigo Kurosaki #Kisuke Urahara #Kon

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brummiereader · 4 months

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No Son Of Mine (One Shot)

Summary: Justice had finally been served in the wake of John's death. But with all acts of violence comes consequences, one Tommy must face when his trusted friend Johnny dogs stumbles upon the now orphaned baby of the traitor and his wife he and Arthur had both murdered in cold blood all in the name or revenge. With no child of their own and Graces refusal to send him to the orphanage, Tommy begrudgingly takes the child into his care. Will Tommy ever show young Oliver the love of a father he deserves? Or will he continue to see him as nothing but a burden the heavens had cruelly punished him with?

Warnings: Language, mentions of murder, mentions of blood, angst, fluff

Authors note: A lovely reader of mine popped into my messages and kindly asked me if I could write this story for them. I'm sorry for the long delay hun, I can only blame my procrastinating brain for my tardiness. Anyway, I hope i did your prompt justice. Enjoy!

"Right, we done?" Tommy said raising a brow as he wiped the blood that had splattered onto to his crisp white evening shirt looking to his brother Arthur nodding his head in response, his chest heaving up and down as he brushed his bloody hands through his hair, both having been sidetracked from the nights festivities.

" Fucking scum" Arthur sniffed wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he gave one last kick to the lifeless body at his feet. A cascade of events since John's death had led up to this very day, and Tommy and Arthur both simultaneously agreed without the need of words that justice had finally been served. Luca Changretta had been dead for almost a fortnight, the vendetta was over for all but the two surviving older brothers. That was until tonight when both Arthur and Tommy were unexpectedly called away to the news that Johnny dogs had found exactly who they'd been looking for. The traitor, the informer, the bastard that had given John's address to the Italians. A Peaky Blinder, one of their very own men.

" What about her?" Arthur spat a splutter of saliva laced with blood to the ground, the result of one lucky punch from the chancer that had tried his luck with the towering gangster. He'd put up a decent fight, one Arthur enjoyed watching before his patience grew thin and he pummeled his fist into him, each snap and break of his bloody face crumbling into something unrecognizable before being shot point-blank in the head. No one wanting or willing to hold him back. Not even Tommy. No forgiveness was given that dark night, only the sweet mercy met at the end of the barrel of a gun.

" Collateral" Tommy replied as he rubbed a cigarette across his lips not giving the nights events one ounce of remorse. This was for John after all.

" Collateral?" Arthur sniffed feeling a pang of guilt hit his stomach. Women and children were not to be harmed, an unspoken agreement before time in all dealings in war between men.

" Yes Arthur, fucking collateral alright?" Tommy snapped as he marched over to his brother whose eyes hadn't left those of the lifeless woman laid on the muddied ground below him " She ran into the line of fire brother. She all but killed herself" Tommy finished growing impatient with Arthur's weighing guilt. The last thing he needed was his number one soldier to be hit with a moral compass.

" Lads, we've got ourselves a wee problem" Johnny rushed over breathless as he loosened the neckerchief from the vein pumping angrily on the side of his neck. Fuck sake, Tommy thought to himself as he threw his cigarette to the ground. Things could never go smoothly, as smoothly as murder could go that was.

" What kinda problem?" Tommy replied as he and Arthur followed him into the small bedsit from the courtyard that two dead bodies had yet to be disposed of. The commotion resulting in the curiosity and twitching of the neighbours curtains, not one of them daring to or even contemplating in the slightest to inform any person of authority. Who would they go to? The police? The mere thought was laughable.

"Just a small one" Johnny replied taking two steps at a time up the rickety wooden stairs elaborating no further on what exactly had thrown a spanner into the works.

"A small problem Johnny eh? That's a big fucking problem!" Tommy ranted shaking his head as the three men entered the flat met with the sound of a newborn baby wailing in his woven bassinet, his bottom lip wobbling with each cry that furiously left his little lungs.

"Well he's small ain't he?" Johnny replied as he tilted his head looking down at the baby boy bundled in a white knitted blanket. You'd think with the the small army of children Johnny had fathered he'd be in his element. But that couldn't be further from the truth. Johnny was a natural with children, but a natural with children that had been weened, potty trained, and able enough to drive a four wheeled vehicle and shoe a horse. In basic terms, teenagers. But nonetheless wee babbies in his eyes. Newborns were all but a loud messy mystery to him.

" Jesus fucking Christ..." Tommy huffed pinching his brow as his mind frantically tried to come up with a solution as to what in the hell he was going to do now.

" Bloody hell, bloody fucking hell!" Arthur bellowed as he kicked the chair beside him, the gravity of what they had just gone hitting him far more than any sin from the long list he had committed in the past. They had made a child an orphan, and Arthur's regret and new-found faith in the almighty was about to turn into a furious rage of self-inflicted guilt.

" Hey, hey!" Tommy said cupping Arthur's head in his hands in a vice grip, trying to snap him from the pit he was intent on falling in. " Johnny take the child and go start the car" Tommy said loosening his hands as Arthur's head cast down with shame at his sudden outburst. No reading of scriptures would ever be able to tame the raging fury from igniting within him at any given moment, no matter how hard he tried. " And Johnny, light a fire. Just as we did for John" Tommy finished reminding Arthur who this was for, who they were avenging.

" He won't quit!" Arthur panicked as he held the baby in the back seat of the car, fumbling with the hand stitched blanket as Tommy drove full speed down the country lane back to Arrow house were the night of meeting with dignitaries was surely over.

" He ain't a bloody chicken is he?" Johnny said as he reached over from the passengers seat taking the bundled up child into his arms. " Like this, look" Johnny added resting the baby's head on his shoulder as he silently prayed to every ancestor to take pity on him, promising them that the next child to be birthed with his last name he'd be the epitome of a modern father to.

" Shut him up Johnny!" Tommy shouted, his jaw clenched at the increased wailing in his ear, his nerves on edge by the constant reminder of the nights events he now had to deal with as he slammed his foot down on the pedal with Arrow house in sight.

"Grace!" Tommy's voice bellowed through the walls of the their house. Every guest had already left, the grand entrance cleared of tables of the most prestigious of all champagnes imported from France mere hours ago. A night of free food, free booze and music in return for them delving into their pockets. But with the host having been otherwise occupied for most of the evening it was a night wasted, one he would begrudgingly have to endure for a second time.

" Tommy..." Grace said as she hurried down the stairs pulling her ivory night gown around her as she watched Tommy pace back and forth with a cigarette hanging from his lips in the grand hallway.

" Here. You wanted a baby, now you have one" Tommy said as he took the child from Johnny's arms placing him into hers before storming off to his office and slamming the door shut, leaving his wife wide-eyed in confusion as Johnny and Arthur stood there sheepishly without a word.

" Frances, some warm cows milk and another blanket please. That will have to do until the morning" she said softly not wanting to startle the child anymore as she gently hushed his sobs away into small whimpers and sniffles. " One of you going to tell me what happened?"

It had been an hour, three whiskys, a packet of cigarettes and the rubbing of one's brow back and forth as a pounding headache settled onto his forehead since Tommy had shut himself away in his office, shutting himself away from the consequences of the night.

" Tommy?" Graces voice quietly announced as she entered the room with the newborn bundled in her arms soundly asleep as a flash of love at seeing his wife in her element softened her husband's face. Her motherly instincts that had been waiting to be freed finally being put to use after the longing for her own child.

" I've rung the orphanage" Tommy bluntly replied, the sweet moment that had captured him bitterly snatched away by no one else but himself as he stubbed out his cigarette. " They're coming first thing tomorrow to..."

" The orphanage. Tommy..." Grace interrupted him, her angered voice raising just above a whisper in response before being cut off herself.

" I won't hear anymore on it Grace. He can't stay here, that's the end of it" Tommy stood up throwing his lighter on a stack of paperwork as he rested his hands on the mahogany desk in front of him, looming over the list of numbers he had been calling as he huffed out a cloud of smoke.

" The end of it is it Thomas?" Grace scoffed as she walked forward, her eyes narrowing in on her husband with every step she took. " You made this child an orphan, he is your responsibility now. That's the end of it" she said coming to a stop in front of his desk as her husbands jaw tightened at her words.

" What about John's kids eh? They've been made orphans, hm? Grace? " He said as his wife turned her back on him as she headed for the door, Tommy's raised voice enough to startle a small whimper of cries from the baby boy now waking up from a deep slumber.

" When will it end Tommy?" Grace said as she came to a stop at the door. Tommy's relentless need for revenge against anyone who had dared to cross him leaving a string of orphans, elderly burying their own children and children burying their own parents. " A son Tommy, isn't that what you've wanted? What we've wanted?" she sighed, a deep wave of sorrow filling her heart as she looked down at the sweet child in her arms, a child she had yearned for during the unforgiving nights she had held onto her husband as tears streamed her face. Loss after loss breaking her already shattered heart.

" He'll be no son of mine"

Six years later...

" Elbows off Oliver" Grace reprimanded with a small smile of affection at the breakfast table to the child who had grown into a dimpled cheeked young boy as she rubbed her swollen stomach.

" Yes mummy" he replied kicking his legs back and forth as he wiped his cheeks from the egg soldiers he had just enjoyed as Tommy eyed him over the newspaper in his hand, reaching to caress his wife's stomach.

" He'll be here soon" Grace smiled to her husband lacing her fingers between his as she glanced over at her son that had no knowledge of who his birth parents were or the night that had brought him into their life, never wanting to or willing to send him into turmoil with the truth at such a young age "A baby brother for you Oliver " she winked to him as he grinned from ear to ear at the idea of having a sibling all whilst trying to stack the remaining pieces of toast into a strong hold that would keep the soldiers from the fiery dragon his imagination had conjured up. His attempts rendered futile when his tower of toast came crashing down onto the recently polished floors.

" Grace..." Tommy huffed folding his newspaper in half throwing it on the table in front of him, his patience easily tested with anything the small boy did that caused the slightest of inconvenience.

" Don't play with your food darling" she corrected him as Oliver's eyes darted to his father and the irritation clearly expressed in the creases of his furrowed brow. "Go clean up those buttery cheeks before I leave ok?" She smiled as the boy nodded in response while sliding off his seat only to stand on the scattered toast below him, causing a mountain of crumbs and further mess.

" You heard your mother" Tommy huffed lighting a cigarette as he looked down at the waste of food and the disorder that came with the child that had created it. " Oliver" Tommy pinched his brow as the little boy stood there doe eyed looking up at him nervously through his lashes.

" Go on" Grace smiled reassuring him as he ran to the door. " You're to harsh with him, he's scared of you" Grace said snapping her head to Tommy as he left the room.

" He doesn't listen" Tommy stated as he stood up taking a drag of his cigarette as he watched the boy through the crack of the door running up the stairs. " Stands there looking gormless whenever I tell him to do something, just like his traitor father"

" Tommy!" Grace said as she put the breakfast dishware down, crashing them onto the table in one loud clatter of knives, forks and spoons as she hurried to shut the door. " Don't ever let him hear you talk like that!"

" Well maybe he should know, eh Grace ?" Tommy said coldly stubbing his cigarette out, the pain from his brothers death never fully grieved, only ever making itself clear through the unfair coldness he showed to the child his wife had lovingly taken in all those years ago, raising him solely on her own over the watchful eye of him always standing from afar.

" You'd like that wouldn't you Tommy? Wouldn't have to keep up your facade anymore" Grace replied as she walked around the table. " Your his father, he knows no different. Just like this one" she said resting her hand on her stomach. " You're breaking his heart Tommy" she said taking his hand trying to reason with his stubbornness and the relentless friction he had undoubtedly created in the house the three of them shared. "I'm going to miss my train" she sighed as she closed her hand around his placing a tender kiss to his lips before turning to leave as Tommy followed behind her, watching from the door as she knelt down to Oliver in the entryway.

" Can't i come?" the young boy sobbed as she brushed his tears from his rosy cheeks. " Please?" he sniffed turning to see Tommy leaning against the door frame watching from afar, always from afar.

" I'm sorry darling, not this time" she replied a look of concern in her eyes about leaving him alone with Tommy, silently wishing this one time he would push his unenthusiastic demeanor aside and at least try if not for her then the little boy who thought the world of him. The same little boy with a determination that matched the very man who would brush off any attempts he made to impress him. Tommy's hate for the man that had fathered him clouding every parental instinct in his body. " I'll bring you something back" she winked giving him a hug before she fixed her hat and hesitantly turned to the door, leaving the young boy standing in the hallway sobbing as Tommy cruelly turned his back on his tears and shut the dinning room door behind him.

" Dad, Johnny, watch me!" Oliver shouted as he precariously placed one foot in front of the other climbing the large oak tree shading the evening sun on the grounds of Arrow house as Tommy and Johnny dogs watched on from the patio door. The young boy hell-bent on getting to the very top after seeing his uncle Arthur climb the very same tree two weeks earlier as he watched on in awe.

"That 'a boy!" Johnny shouted back pulling his cigarette from his mouth as he waved back. " Found 'em Tom" he turned to Tommy in a hushed voice as he leaned in. "They live up north in Yorkshire, factory workers in the local pressing center. Dirt poor, drunk ol' man that beats his wife within an inch of her life and too many mouths to feed" Johnny added as he watched Tommy's eyes following Oliver's every move.

" He's gonna fucking fall" Tommy huffed under his breath as he stood up straight, already on guard for the inevitable. He never fucking listens, why would he never listen to him?

" Tom, you listening ?" Johnny said as he pulled the address of Oliver's uncle from his pocket. " Grace will never forgive you Tom, he's her whole world" Johnny added as Tommy took the piece of crumpled paper from him, the decision to send Oliver to his family having been made after the unexpected news of Grace's pregnancy, a decision made solely by him without her knowledge. It's better she didn't know, better for him that was. And when the day did come, he'd tell her his family claimed him back. What grounds would she have to fight them? She'd be distracted with the birth of their son, she'd forget...wouldn't she?

"Dad look!" Oliver shouted trying to get his attention, determined to show him how far he could climb, how he was as fearless as any other Shelby before he misplaced his foot and came tumbling down to the ground.

"Oliver!" Tommy shouted throwing his cigarette into the grass as he and Johnny ran over in a panic. " What did I tell you eh?! What did I fucking tell you?!" Tommy shouted, all words of expected comfort and love absent from his voice as anger and frustration took over.

"I'm sorry..." he sobbed looking up to his dad as Tommy removed his cap from his head, running his hands through his hair as he looked down at the bloody cut on his hand, every ounce of his being telling him to cradle the boy in his arms that knew nothing but him as his father.

" Ay, up you get" Johnny said helping him as he gave him a pat to his back. " Just a scratch Oliver ay? No broken bones. Nout to worry on. Ain't that right Tommy?" Johnny said in attempts to reassure the sobbing boy and Tommy who was about ready to snap again, his jaw tightened at the sight of Oliver's cheeks streamed with tears, muddy and red from the blow of the fall.

"Get inside" Tommy said placing his cap back on as he started marching back to the house, ignoring the pit of fear in his stomach at how things could have taken a turn for the worse under his watch of the boy Grace had entrusted him with. " Boys don't cry Oliver. Soldier up and wipe those tears" Tommy harshly stated as he left him and Johnny by themselves as he made his way to his office, shutting himself once again away from any more responsibility, anymore damage his presence caused.

" Come on lad" Johnny said putting his arm around him as Oliver sniffed back his tears feeling foolish that he had not only fallen but cried In front of his father, the man that never cried.

Sitting back in his leather chair Tommy rubbed the weight of the guilt that had settled on his forehead with the tips of his fingers as the night drew in, the soft hue from the crackling fire the only source of light in the blackened room he had locked himself in for the remainder of the evening. The impending birth of his child had unexpectedly thrown Tommy's thoughts into an uncomfortable disarray. Out of sight out of mind had been Tommy's only solution to the feelings that had started to arise in him that fatherhood had threatened, that fatherhood had been threatening him with for six years. Oliver was more like him than Tommy dared to admit. The child's strong will and refusal to listen one of his own cruel making. Why couldn't he love him like he already loved his unborn child? How long could he keep this up? Would he be that man, unashamedly favoring one child in front of the other? With too many questions dominating his thoughts and his wife's gentle voice absent to soothe the demons he had created for himself, Tommy did what he only knew how to do. Drink himself to the bottom of a whisky bottle. Heading up to the second floor of Arrow house with the finest bottle of Irish whisky in his hand he stopped at the top of the stairs, small whimpers and cries coming from the room at the end of the hallway capturing his attention. Oliver's room.

" Frances!" Tommy called out as he waited for the the housekeeper to deal with what he knew he couldn't. "Fuck sake" he huffed under his breath after waiting in place for someone to come before he found himself walking down the hallway to Oliver's room. There, with his knees curled up to his chest Tommy watched though the crack of the door as Oliver rubbed his hand back and forth over the bandage wrapped tightly around his injured wrist, his small frame illuminated by the cast of the gentle moonlight shining through his bedroom window. Running his hand down his face Tommy opened the door as Oliver quickly turned around pulling the blankets up to his chin.

"Oliver?" Tommy questioned placing the bottle of whisky on the side cabinet as he walked over. " Why aren't you asleep?" Tommy said more bluntly than he intended to as he stood by the bed, feeling a wave of unease wash over him as he noted the small blanket Oliver was clutching onto. The very same blanket he was wrapped in the night they had found him. Grace had kept it, something he would have known if he had ever sat and read him a bedtime story, if he had ever woke in the night to hush the nightmares away from his worried mind, if he had ever even entered his room in all of the six years he had lived under his roof." Let me see" Tommy said in a gentler tone as he sat beside him on the bed. " Oliver let me see" he said when no response came from the whimpers the small child was trying to stifle. Boys don't cry. " Please?" Tommy sighed resting his hand on the child's back as his head fell into his other, the guilt of six year of taking the life of his parents settling on his shoulders pushing him further into his elbow digging into his leg as his head grew heavy with regret. Sniffling, Oliver turned around with his hand out as Tommy cradled it gently in his own, the difference in size causing Tommy's throat to go dry. The hate for his father's betrayal that of a grown mans doing, not this young boys that Tommy had cruelly burdened him with for six years " First of many battle wounds eh?" Tommy smiled to the young boy as Oliver's face stayed unchanged, unresponsive to Tommy trying to ease his worry. Had he done this? Made the child is his care so frightened of him he couldn't even a coax a smile from him?

" Soldiers don't cry" Oliver said pulling his hand away, his bottom lip turning down at the thought he wasn't as strong as his father, a soldier like him.

" They do Oliver" Tommy said as his brows knitted together at the thought that young Oliver had taken his words to heart. What else had Tommy said in the past six years, what else had he unknowingly taught him?

" You said boys..."

" And I shouldn't have " Tommy answered before he could finish as the boy wiped his tears from his youthful cheeks whilst a small silence filled the room, the strain from their relationship left empty with nothing further to say as Tommy desperately tried to search for the comforting words he knew Oliver needed to hear. " You want your mum don't you?" Tommy said swallowing harshly as he turned his head to the rays of moonlight cast on the wooden floor " I'm sorry Oliver, I'm..." Tommy huffed pinching his brow as he clasped his hand around the child's shoulder. "... I'm not very good at this. You gotta help me out here. Will you help me?" he said as he gently squeezed his shoulder, rubbing his thumb back and forth as the barriers Tommy had kept up started to fall around him as he desperately scrambled to gain back the wasted years he had been adored, loved unconditionally, a love he had never once reciprocated . " Get some rest" Tommy sighed patting Oliver's shoulder, his plea for help left unanswered as he stood up when a small hand grabbed hold of him.

" Tell me a story, please?" Oliver asked as he sat up in his bed looking up to the man he had always looked up to, always waiting for an ounce of affection.

" That what your mum does eh?" Tommy replied as he sat back down, adjusting the covers lovingly around the boy, if not a little overly enthusiastically as Oliver was now in a tight cocoon of covers and blankets with his arms securely fastened by his sides. " A story..." Tommy mused aloud, his eyes looking up at the ceiling as his brain mulled over all the potential tales that could see him sleeping in the guest room for an undefined amount of time if Grace ever found out, when the corners of his mouth turned up into a smile you would think had never seen the light of day let alone witnessed by anyone but himself. Arthur had made him swear in blood to never mention the day his gangly legs had gotten in his way causing him to fall from would could have been the very same tree Oliver had fell from earlier that day in attempts impress a girl three decades ago. " Arthur made me swear never to tell anyone, but you won't tell him I told you, right? Tommy said as the boy nodded his head, understanding the severity of pinky swears and the fate of death if you ever spilled.

" Cross my heart" he nodded with all the seriousness he could muster as his little face twisted into a stern expression, a worthy match to Tommy's own infamous pout. He was a Shelby after all, Tommy thought to himself as his heart suddenly filled with pride.

" That's my boy" Tommy said as he turned to sit beside him, wrapping his arm around his shoulder as Oliver nestled into his side " My son eh? Tommy nudged him into his body as the boys eyes beamed up at his father's loving gaze. "My son..."

#tommy shelby #thomas shelby #tommy shelby fanfic #tommy shelby imagine #tommy shelby x son #peaky blinders #peaky blinders fanfic #peaky blinders imagine #tommy shelby one shot #cillian murphy

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lady-arc-art · 2 months

Text

THEORY: “Welcome Home, my son…”

For a while I wondered why puppets are used specifically to help tell the story of this ARG? Then it was brought to my attention from another Welcome Home fan that maybe there are some parallels to the story of Pinocchio. In versions of the story, Geppetto had a real son that passed away and from his grief he created a wooden puppet that looked like his son, who would later become Pinocchio.

I also think it kind of is that way because there’s a big emphasis on family and children/babies in this update. With Howdy’s family coming over for the Homewarming, Julie and Frank trying to get everyone to be quiet so they don’t wake up the flowers and bugs that are hibernating (which is something parents do when they don’t want any loud noises that could wake up a sleeping baby), and the commercials targeted towards children, also Frank singing a lullaby and Wally singing a song about children going to a place called Toy Land and never leaving.

Then it hit me, sorry if any of this sounds fanfic-y or if I’m reaching a bit, but this is what think could be going on.

In the early-mid 60s, Ronald Dorelaine was a children’s entertainer, specializing in puppetry. He ran a troupe with some of his other puppeteer friends called “The Playfellow Puppets” and they would put on little puppet shows as part of the children’s theater slot at the local community centers.

The cast of characters included (and in order of creation): Julie Joyful (she was the first created since she’s a simple hand rod puppet), Frank Frankly, Eddie Dear, Sally Starlight, Howdy Pillar, and Poppy Partridge.

Since a part of me feels like almost everyone else was created before Wally and Home also it would make sense if Poppy was kind of “new” since she’s the most complex puppet to operate.

Ronald Dorelaine had a young son who would often tag along during his father’s performances, and his son’s named was Walliford, but sometimes his dad would call him “Wally.” Walliford was very fascinated with his father’s work and the characters he created, and one of his favorite things to do was draw and paint, hoping that someday he would create something when he grows up just like his father. Walliford even helped Ronald come up with a new character for “The Playfellow Puppets.” Barnaby B. Beagle. A blue dog that was inspired by one of his son’s drawings.

Which would explain this.

Ronald’s puppet shows started becoming so popular that it even started gaining attention from producers of a local tv station (sort of similar to PBS) where they offered Ronald the idea to turn his puppet show into a television series. Ronald took up on the offer, and the show began to develop. However a tragedy would soon happen….

Ronald was a heavy smoker (hence why there is a a big emphasis on cigarette ads in the recent update):

One day when trying to discard a cigarette before Ronald had to leave the house (possibly to go to a last minute meeting with the producers that would be helping him develop his new tv show). However he was unaware that the cigarette was still lit, and it set a fire to his home. Ronald was safe because he wasn’t in the house at the time of the fire, but his son Walliford was nowhere to be found and his body was never recovered so he’s presumed dead.

(Probably hinted at when Home’s eyes turned red in the commercial compilations)

I also think maybe Eddie’s puppeteer was a witness or somehow involved with this incident (possibly because he agreed to watch Walliford while his dad went out) since I noticed during his breakdown, everything turned bright red and Eddie looks like he feels guilty about something, hence why he’s sweating and Home appears to be starring him down as if he did something.

From his grief and in order to cope with the loss of his son, Ronald created a new character as a tribute to him. Wally Darling, and from there the plot of the show changed. The show would now be about a neighborhood, all of the previous characters would be neighbors with Wally Darling, who would now be the lead of the show. Ronald also added some traits that were present in Walliford, such as his love for art and his friendship with Barnaby (who was Walliford’s favorite of the group) for the new Wally character.

Then for a last minute edition, Ronald included a sentient home for Wally to live in. The Home was meant to keep Wally the puppet safe and to watch out for him, which was something he wasn’t able to do for his son.

Hence why the title of the show changed to “Welcome Home,” since to him he wanted it to feel like his son now has a second chance at life and he’s finally back home where he belongs. Almost like saying “Welcome home, my son.”

However none of this was enough for Ronald, even though he created a new character to keep Walliford’s memory alive, it was hard for him to find a puppeteer to play Wally because it wasn’t the same. All he really wanted was his son back and he would go to whatever means necessary even if it means going to the extreme. He later came across “the entity” and made a wish for Wally Darling to become real (like how Geppetto wished for Pinocchio to be real and The Blue Fairy brought him to life). And with that his wish came true. Wally was now sentient without the use of puppeteer.

I kind of believe this to be the case because Wally to me feels like the odd man out, everyone else feels lively and zany since they’re real people, while Wally just feels like a blank slate, with the way he speaks sounding very monotone. Here there was a bit of an innocence to Wally since he’s always learning things for the first time and asking questions about certain concepts and feelings, since he was literally a puppet brought to life and “the baby” of the group. However the producers, and parents watching the show didn’t think it was odd since they thought Wally was like this since he was meant to be a character that children can project themselves onto.

However what everyone didn’t know is that the entity that helped bring Wally to life manifested it’s way into the show possessing The Home puppet, and since Wally had no one attached to a real person playing him, the entity used Wally as a vessel to carry out their agenda. Day after day, the show started to go more and more off the rails, but what was really happening was through Wally the entity started to brainwash each of the puppeteers into believing that they were the actual characters, possibly by using the sleeping pills advertised in the commercials, or there was foul play on Ronald’s end and he gave all his puppeteers the sleeping pills to “put them out of their misery.”

By 1974, Ronald tried to put a stop to the entity, and he had no other choice but to end the show and destroy all the evidence that it ever happened. Ronald himself also began to slowly disappear from the public eye and he hasn’t been seen since then.

For years “Welcome Home” has gone on being a lost media, until now.

That’s not the end of story, because it turns out the real Wally Darling, Walliford Dorelaine, is actually still alive, but he has amenesia from the incident and he was no memories of his previous life. Doesn’t know what his real name is (it probably started with a W) or who his parents were, which is why he was never brought back to Ronald. By the time Walliford grew up, his friends started talking about this mysterious puppet show that was on TV years ago called “Welcome Home” which was kind of like Sesame Street, but they all thought it was some kind of urban legend. Then suddenly Walliford started getting all these tattered artwork and pictures of merchandise from the show they were talking about, and he showed it to his friends and together they formed The Welcome Home Restoration Group to try and uncover the mysterious Welcome Home show.

Walliford however started experiencing strange feelings both physically and mentally. There were times when he doubted if the show was even real, but whenever he did have any doubt, he had dreams and hallucinations of Wally Darling trying to communicate with him through the phone and he also starts seeing all these strange video clips from the show itself sprinkled throughout the website that he and the team built. The team however started growing concerned for Walliford thinking that he “lost his mind” so they kindly tried to distance themselves from him while they are trying to rebrand the site after seeing that Walliford was trying to communicate with what he believed to be Wally Darling haunting the site, before they shut it down.

This only caused Walliford to create his own website with his own evidence, since it seems like his own restoration team is starting to mistrust him, and now he’s going to get to the bottom of this all by himself.

But what they all don’t know is that Walliford’s connection to “Welcome Home” goes much deeper than that, as it’s in his blood.

#welcome home #welcome home arg #wally darling #barnaby b beagle #julie joyful #frank frankly #eddie dear #sally starlight #howdy pillar #poppy partridge #welcome home theory #welcome home puppet show

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am-i-the-asshole-official · 5 months

Note

AITA for defending my friend lying about his dog dying?

Cw for animal abuse and Is ableist language (using sociopath as synonym for bad person)

I was in a friend group of three. Me (24f) my best friend since age 7 (24m) and we have a mutual friend he met in college when he moved away and has known for a little over a year (23f). Callin' them Liam and Rory for ease. Liam had an Esa (not a service dog, an esa). His whole life has revolved around this dog since we were 16 and he moved away. He keeps a very strict schedule with this dog. We are all aware of it because he will leave group chats mid conversation to make sure "Buddy" gets walked or fed or whatever time it is. He takes really good care of this dog and hand-makes its meals and takes it to the vet every 2 months.

Few weeks ago he was acting weird but trying to cover it up. I had been meaning to ask what was going on more privately but I kinda dropped the ball because my aunt died suddenly.

Flash to a week ago Rory sent a huge wall of text to our group chat calling Liam a barrage of names like "sociopath". It turns out that his dog died but he'd been acting like everything was the same which is why he seemed off. She found out when she came onto his property to check on him and he had to "confess."

Shes upset at him for lying but I knew there was more going on. So I talked to him about it privately over the phone and he just shattered. He had no idea what to do or say because he thinks his dad killed Buddy but he doesn't have direct proof. I had never heard him cry before this, because he was raised to really keep that stuff close to his chest. He's tried to open up to me over the years but it's visibly difficult for him especially with how his father still treats him. I believe him because if he truly wanted to manipulate me I still do not think he would have let me see that. He kept apologizing and sounding really lost and ashamed so I really don't think it was an act, you can't fake that kind of helpless abused kid feeling.

I forgave him for keeping it from me because it was obvious he was going to tell us once he processed the situation because that's a lot to say the least. I explained what happened to Rory and said sure maybe it wasn't 100% in the right but he was obviously expiercing trauma and him acting like everything was fine wasn't about hurting us, and we knew something was wrong but didn't ask, she thinks he's trolling for sympathy and that if I forgive him it tells her everything she needs to know about what kind of person I am. And says if he really thinks he dad killed his dog he would have called the police.

There are several reasons he shouldn't call the police one being that his dad has always treated Laim really badly but we never thought he would kill a dog and my friend has to live with him because he's a broke college student. She said he should have figured that out on his own but instead he manipulated us and is now trying to make us feel bad that he got caught.

I also feel like he was in danger from his dad and if he told us Buddy was gone he'd have to say why and then he'd be lying to us anyway until he figured out what the hell happened or if it was safe to tell us. We don't have enough information so I just don't think it's fair to totally write him off as a bad person over what is obviously and extremely traumatic situation? Without even talking to him? She found out Buddy was dead, left and refused to speak to him before announcing her departure from the group and blocked him on everything and basically made me choose between her or him.

I told her that was a really heartless take and that she's over reacting and she told me if I wanted to be best friends with a sociopath that was none of her buisness but she wanted nothing to do with either us because I'm just as bad as him if I don't agree with her so she doesnt loose anything by cutting me off.

She really made me feel like I was helping Liam hide a body. So I'm wondering if she's right. I don't think I'll change my mind, I won't abandon him but I am willing to admit I was wrong if I am.

Am I the assshole for sticking by him?

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

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merowkittie · 1 year

Text

My mind is literally.. everywhere rn. Here’s what I was listening to while writing this >

My baby — Carl Grimes

Warnings: Major Character death / parents death / talk about corpses / Lori. / Spoilers for season 7 or 8 I forgot / Kind of Proof read

Summary: You reminisce about the boy you once loved.

He smelled of wood and the pages of a new book, your baby. He was the prettiest boy you’ve ever met in your life. The last boy you’d ever even think of loving. He had you wrapped around his finger tips, ready to use and be for his disposal.

Carl was your light. Overused yea but he got you through the darkness of the undead. He was the reason you were still were alive and not a mindless creature in the shell of who you once were. You wouldn’t be here without him. You wouldn’t be, it’s true.

He found you in a ditch laying with parents corpses. Just laying there buried in your daddy’s arms and your mothers head supported by your shoulder. You were softly crying, praying to a god you knew would not answer.

He was walking with his own mother and father, until he looked into the ditch and saw you. You two made eye contact and he pulled his mother to show her the once small girl in the ditch with her dead parents.

“Oh my god, Rick!” The lady called out to who she could only believe was the father.. Rick.

“What’s wrong Lori? Talk to me.” Lori.. that was her name.

She pointed to your still body in the ditch, keeping your breath steady. Maybe if they thought you were dead they’d leave you alone.

Nope.

Carl wanted you out of there. “Mom, what if she’s still alive?! She doesn’t look like one of those things! Look at her dad!” He tugged harder onto his fathers sleeve.

Your once soft silent cries only got louder as you finally given up on trying to stay quiet. Your emotions were everywhere. You did not know what to do. Who are these people? Why is this boy so persistent on saving you?

The ditch wasn’t too deep. Rick jumped into it finally giving In to the Pleas of his son. He slowly walked over to you, reaching out a hand. You were hesitant, with every right to be.

This man whom you did not know could easily be here to hurt you or do even worse.

“Hey.. it’s alright honey.. we ain’ here to hurt you. I wanna help you. You just gotta take my hand now, yea?” He spoke in such a gentle tone. Far different than the other men you met whilst this war of humans against undead started.

Your eyes stayed on his eyes as you placed your much smaller hands on his and he slowly pulled you up from underneath your mothers corpse. He checked you over for bite marks before boosting you up out of the ditch and jumping out himself.

The boy who’s name you did not know yet just stared at you with wonder. With curiosity. Who knew you’d eventually also be the last thing he looked at like that huh?

Years pass and you two were still as close as ever.

“My baby..” is what you whispered to each other every night as the sky grew darker and the nights got cold.

Huddled in each others arms and kissing skin that was visible for your lips and your lips only. The difference between your chapped and his soft sent shivers down your spine sometimes. His hands and his eyes.

His eyes.

They were so.. cold when you looked into them. Life less. Your baby.. buried now along side your other family.

His eyes used to shine so bright and had such a pretty blue. The way they looked at you with every emotion known to man. You knew just by making eye contact with him what he’d be feeling in that very moment.

He was your everything. Your fucking everything. You wanted nothing more than to be with him. To proclaim your love to him once again. To look into his eyes filled with so much love and life. To hold him. To hear him call you his. To call you baby.

“NO! NO! HE- HES ALIVE RICK! PLEASE!” Your voice felt like it’d give out at any moment. You were distraught.

Daryl was holding you back from trying to attack Rick. You didn’t mean to hit him, you don’t mean to scream at him. It’s just.. what’s a world without Carl Grimes? I mean what’s the point of waking up the next day without his warmth or the sheriff hat that hides his beautiful cerulean irises from you.

“He’s- He’s gone Y/n.. He’s gone.” Rick cried softly. His own eyes filled with the same sorrow as yours.

“Oh.. no no no no!” A hoarse scream left your throat as Daryl pulled you closer to his chest trying to console you.

He wasn’t any good at it but it felt nice. Your sobs only got louder as the sheriff hat was handed to you by Rick and a little Judith. You took it and pulled it to your chest. Holding it as tight has possible.

Carl didn’t get a proper funeral, there were no last words exchanged between you two besides an I love you but his letter sufficed.

Y/n

I’m sorry I’m breaking my promise to you. I know we said we’d love and live with each other forever even though we both knew how foolish that was. There’s no marriage in the apocalypse. No proper future. Baby, the only future I want is where your safe. Where Judith is safe. Where everyone is safe. We’ve already lost so much and here I am writing this letter to you with a nasty bite on my side. I want this war over. Now. I want my dad and Negan to stop fighting. It’ll only hurt them both more. Maybe my death would stop that. Im not sure. I should’ve told you, but I knew how you’d react. I didn’t want you panicking, didn’t want you crying. I bet you are now though yea? You were always a cry baby.. but you were my cry baby. I’m gonna give you all the affection I can while I’m still here. We can cuddle and talk about crappy movies you remember when you were younger. Kiss and make a mess in the kitchen since Dad and Michonne ain’t here. I just want to see you smile. I love you so much, and I only hope you still feel the same too. All I can think about is you right now. Stay strong for me ok? You stay here for me. You’ll love me forever like we promised right? I know you will. Take care of Judith and my dad for me.

- Love Carl

Carl.. Carl Carl Carl. The only thing going on In your mind right now was him. You held the Polaroid of you two together close and never let go. You wished that you could’ve said it back. That you left hilltop and went back to Carl before all of this shit went down. You were there to help care for Maggie and her baby with Enid but fuck!

Carl was gone and you couldn’t prevent that.

You lost the only thing that mattered to you. Everything was gone now. Everything.

#the walking dead #the walking dead x reader #carl grimes #carl twd #carl grimes x reader #Carl grimes x black reader #x black reader #reader insert #comfort #Spotify #angst no comfort #twd angst

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smutinlove · 9 months

Text

You were my light (Part 2)

Carl Grimes x Reader

Warnings: A bit angsty, tiny bit of fighting, arguing, carl being a jackass, panic attack, description of panic attack

☽ Author's note☾ Yay! Part 2 is here bitches! And surprisingly it didn't take ten years lmao. Omg. So like this is very depressing. Read at your own risk. Take a damn look at the warnings. ESPECIALLY THE ONES IN ITALICS. DO NOT STEAL, COPY, OR TRANSLATE MY WORK.

Thank you for reading! Reblogs, likes, and comments are very much appreciated!

Part 1

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

≿━━༺❀༻━━≾

Summary - The daughter of the now dead Negan Smith is walking in the woods. She thought she was alone. But she wasn't.

❝ The jokes weren't funny, I took the money My friends from home don't know what to say I looked around in a blood-soaked gown And I saw something they can't take away ❞

≿━━༺❀༻━━≾

You hated that motherless son of a bitch. He was so annoying, smug, and just an asshole in general. Which made you want to kill Carl even more.

Every day, at six in the morning, he'd storm inside your prison and throw a plate of expired food at you, punch you in the face, and then lock you inside. Every. Fucking. Day.

Oh, and that was just the beginning, sometimes he'd feed you dog food.

You were sitting in the same chair, but this time there was a table in front of you. Cause, "Carl is so... nice." You heard the door unlock, expecting it to be Carl.

You said, "Come to feed me more dog food, Carl?" You laughed.

But you were surprisingly wrong. It was a man who looked a lot like Carl. And you most definitely knew this man. "Rick?" You questioned.

"He's been feeding you dog food?!" He asked furiously. You nodded.

He let out a breathy laugh. "I told him not to do that."

"So, you're Negan's daughter. I remember you. I remember that day."

'Negan's daughter.' God, it hurt so fucking bad. Everyone called you 'Negan's daughter.' Of course, sure, the Alexandrians probably didn't even know who you were, but it was the fact that most of your father's minions called you 'The boss' daughter' or 'Negan's daughter.'

"Yeah, I remember you too, Rick. I saw it. How scared you all were. And when my dad killed that Chinaman and that red-headed fool, I felt nothing. So, if that's what you wanna talk about, then done." You said bitterly.

Rick stared at you with a blank expression before moving closer to you. "He's Korean! And his name was Glenn, Glenn Rhee. And that red-headed fool's name was Abraham Ford! And YOU don't get to talk about them like that," he yelled.

He crossed his arms and leaned back against a dirty wall.

"We'll let you stay here. In Alexandria. Just listen to us. Answer what we want you to." You frowned. "Why should I? Huh?"

"You won't survive another minute out there. Carl saved you! We saved you," he shouted. "No! He kidnapped me. He didn't save me at all. And neither did you."

You sighed, "So stop. Just stop, Rick Grimes. You're not helping. I don't wanna stay in this garbage community. It's repulsing!"

"Tell me if you change your mind. Until then, we won't let you out. Not today, not tomorrow."

"How about the day after tomorrow?"

He chuckled but didn't speak any further. He left, locking the door after.

≿━━༺❀༻━━≾

You were getting bored of staring at the same grey walls. "Fuck!" You shouted.

You grabbed your chair and threw it at the wall, which did not make a difference as the chair instead broke.

You laughed and threw your head back. Of course, it had to break.

And now your back was against the cold floor, you brought your knees up to your chest. "Happy, happy, happy..." You whispered to yourself.

"Daddy loves you, Y/N."

"No, no. Stop..." You cried out.

Blood, sweat, tears, starve.

Jokes, money, friends, gone. Dead.

Around, soaked gown, cry, scream.

You're on your own, kid.

You always have been.

Face it. Face it. Tell them. Tell them you're—

"Stop! No. Stop, I can't—" You're heart was racing, and sweat dripped down your forehead, maybe you were dying, you were too young, your hands were trembling, "No, no—" You couldn't breathe, it only meant one thing.

"No! Stop, no. No! Stop it!" You screamed over and over.

"Daddy loves you, Y/N."

"No, you don't!" You yelled repeatedly.

You blinked rapidly, but you felt like giving in. Sleep, die. Sleep, die. Sleep, die.

You heard the door open, or maybe it was your imagination. Yeah, that's it. Right? Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing special.

You were a fucked up little girl.

≿━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

"She's waking up! Doc," You tried sitting up, but someone stopped you. "Hey, take it easy, sweetheart."

What even happened? I don't know...

What?

You looked around the room. You were in a rather uncomfortable bed. The walls were painted a disgusting shade of green.

"No," you groaned. Your eyes were met with another. A singular blue eye. Fuck, it's him. "Damnit, it's—"

"—Me. Surprised, Y/N?" He chuckled.

≿━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

So, you had a panic attack. It was not much of a surprise to you, but it was to Carl. "Wow, I knew you were fucked up in the head, but panic attacks too?"

You felt a bit ashamed. So much was done for you, and you didn't even deserve all this 'protection and care.' "Just cause you're a total mess doesn't mean I immediately care about you. I hate you." He confessed. You smiled.

"Why are you smiling?" He asked curiously.

You grabbed the glass vase. It was to your right. You jammed it in Carl's arm, making him scream in pain and fall back. "You fucking bitch!"

...

Part 3?

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cross-word · 6 months

Text

I hate you.

Ethan Landry x male reader

After Ethan gets out of prison he goes straight to the person he needs to apologize to.

Word count: 1.2K

You were awoken by your alarm clock, it displayed the time 7am when you got up getting ready for work you walk in your living room turning on the tv before making your cup of coffee when a name caught your attention.

“One of the Three ghostface killers from the New York massacre Ethan Kirsch is going to be released today, having his 15 year sentence cut short to 8 on counts of being manipulated by his father to kill” the news reporter said.

Before you could breathe you see your phone on the coffee table buzzing uncontrollable, picking it up you see text message over text message from your friends. “There’s no way” Mindy said “what if he tries to kill us again” sam said “no, there’s no way look at his eyes he doesn’t even look like he wants to live” chad replied “chad, how could you defend him, HE STABBED YOU MULTIPLE TIMES AND KILLED ANIKA” mindy explained “what if he goes after Y/N” tara texted your heart raced.

Thinking of how he betrayed you, he dated you for 3 years just to tell you it was all fake and a part of the plan, before stabbing you fifteen times in under 5 seconds. Leaving you for dead on the theater’s floor.

Your hand subconsciously reached for the stab wounds on your side with your hands and caressed it. You cringe remembering how it felt feeling the knife go in and out of your stomach, it disgusted you.

One ding took you out of focus “holy shit.” Chad texted “He’s at my apartment” he said before going silent, the chat was filled with concerns “Y/N…” chad type “what did he say” you texted back for the first time “he wants to see you, his asking where you live” chad texted “Oh my god, tara was right he’s going after his ex boyfriend” mindy said “do you want me to tell him” chad texted back “what kinda question is that” mindy said not before seeing your “tell him” text.

For eight years you’ve built your company, you're a successful businessman with multiple chains and investments, you’ve become a CEO, you called your assistant telling her you’ll be taking a day off, telling her about your situation.

You spent the next 3 hours waiting for Ethan to knock at your door waiting on your couch in your New York penthouse you held onto the gun you bought after experiencing Ghostface. That’s when you heard it. The knock, the same knock Ethan would do when coming into your room, your eyes filled with tears remembering how much you loved Ethan before he tried to kill you.

You stood up opening the door, having the chain link stop it from opening fully. “What do you want, Chad told me you wanted to see me?” You asked him having the gun behind you just in case he tries something.

“Can I come in?” he said, taking in a breath. “Please,” he pleaded, you closed the door, taking the chain link off and letting him in, not before backing up six feet to create distance.

“Now, what do you want” gripping onto the gun as you spoke. “Nothing, i just want to apologize, and hope to have your forgiveness before the end of the day” he told you “why do you have a time schedule for it” you questioned “I’m going to kill myself later” your heart sunk, even though you shouldn’t care your heart sunk Ethan looks different now, his curls grown out and he has a beard, no doubt only to look tough but he was still Ethan, your Ethan he was the same person who would refused you refusing his cuddles when you were sick, who would look at dogs, cats and babies with the most love filled eyes.

This was the man you thought you would spend the rest of your life with. He sat down on the chair across from your seat “why, are you going to do that” you asked him sitting down on your couch slowly revealing the gun you hid from him.

“I have nothing. Nothing to live for, my family's dead, it’s not like I'm a normal criminal, I'm a murderer, my trial was broadcasted all over the world, no one is going to hire me to get my life around, about three people spat at me trying to walk here. You don't trust me” he explained.

“Why does me not trusting you matter” you questioned “because i still love you Y/N, i never meant what i said in that theatre, all of those 8 years in prison the only thing i wanted to do before dying was telling you how much you matter to me” he told you holding down his trembling arm.

“I'll trust you again” you told him, he looked at you in shock “why, why would you do that” he asked tears starting to form “i’ll trust you, just please don’t kill yourself” you told him “i’’ll let you sleep here, i’ll let you work at my company just please i can’t lose again” you spoke already drenching your face.

“You still love me” he smiled “of course i do, you were the best thing that happened to me” you told him he tried to hug you but stopped when you pointed the gun at him “i love you, but you are not touching me for a while” you said watching him back up.

“I have a spare bedroom down the hall,” you told him.

You laid down on your bed looking at the clock seeing 7pm you spent the whole day with ethan. When you heard a knock “come in” you told him “can we talk” he said with his face freshly shaved and hair freshly cut.

“Sure whats up” you asked him “how come you only live here, like no one else lives here?” he asked sitting next to you “well considering that my last boyfriend was a murderer, i kind of got trust issues” you explained “right” he said awkwardly.

“I saw your phone earlier, i saw all the text saying you were an idiot for letting me stay here” ethan said “they hate me, why don’t you?” he asked “i do, i hate you so much, i hate you because if someone else did this i wouldn’t hesitate to get rid of them from my life, i hate the fact that even 8 years later i cant move on, you’re still my ethan, i hate the fact that i can't hate you no matter how much you wrong me i will always love you Ethan Kirsch” you told him.

You didn’t see how tears ran down his face, he wiped the snot from his nose holding onto your hand “Landry, i want to switch my name, into Landry, I want to be rid of everything that reminds me of my family” he said laying down his head onto yours.

You turn to his head kissing it “ok Ethan Landry” you said before laying down with him you never could stop Ethan from cuddling up to you, not bothering forcing him to go back to the guest room.

You got it, you got the life you wanted, for eight years you’ve built your company, you're a successful businessman with multiple chains and investments, you’ve become a CEO but now you have it with the love of your life.

#ethan landry #scream 6 #x male reader #jack champion #ethan landry fluff #x male reader fluff #fluff #ethan x male reader #ethan landry angst #slight angst

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jungle-angel · 6 months

Text

Seeing Spots: Part 1 (Rhett Abbott x Reader)

Summary: You and Rhett are surprised beyond words when Royal brings home an early Christmas present for the two of you

Tagging: @desert-fern Fern my friend, I made good on my promise last night and here it is (lol).

You and Rhett were all too happy to be walking around the ranch on such a crisp day. The snow had begun to fall, almost completely blanketing the land in its frosty, wintery glory. You weren't too huge of a fan of having the cattle out in the field all day, but they desperately needed to graze before the hands took them all in for the night while the same went for the horses.

"Gonna be a Vikings' winter darlin," Rhett remarked feeding one of the mares a carrot from the kitchen fridge.

"Ugh," you groaned. "Don't remind me."

"Cows ain't gonna be the issue either it's the damn horses," Rhett added. "Can't get'em in the barn all at once, they spook during snowstorms..."

"You know what we need?" you asked.

"A fuckin drink," Rhett chuckled.

"No," you laughed. "We need a horse dog."

"We've got Diesel though," Rhett said.

"Rottweilers are cattle dogs Rhett."

"And Ruby."

"Rhett," you said giving him the side eye look. "Ruby's practically a lapdog."

"Hey I once saw said lapdog come runnin back with a dead bird in her mouth and drop it at Dad's feet," Rhett pointed out. "Cockers are bird dogs, fight me on it."

You laughed and shook your head. You couldn't remember how many times Cecelia's little squish nosed cocker spaniel had come running back to the house with a bird to drop on the front porch, annoying the hell out of Royal who thought it was the cats.

You heard the crunch and snap of frozen gravel a minute later and saw Royal pulling the truck up the driveway and Ruby barking in the upstairs window. Rhett noticed the sneaky grin on his father's face and the laugh that followed, knowing instantly that Royal was up to something.

"Dad what'd you do?" Rhett questioned.

"Nothin son, nothin," Royal insisted.

"Don't gimme that look Dad," Rhett told him. "Either ya'll did something to piss Ma off or ya'll beat the shit outta Perry again."

"Nah Perry's still in jail, he ain't gettin out Amy's twenty one," Royal chuckled. "I was gonna save it for Christmas but I figured I'd better not."

You and Rhett looked at each other, scrunching your eyebrows with curiosity at what your father-in-law could have possibly gotten you.

Royal opened the back door to the truck and to your astonishment, out jumped two Dalmatians, a male and a female with the most gorgeous black and white coats you had ever seen. Your jaws dropped when they came running right to you, putting their paws up and licking your faces as you and Rhett scritched their ears.

"Dad where the hell did you find these two?" Rhett asked, giving the male his full share of ear scritches.

"Found'em downtown at the shelter," Royal answered. "Billy said he went up to the res to go see Shania's family and they were just wanderin around."

"Lemme guess," Rhett said. "Mrs. Burch made a big stink about'em?"

"Fuckin bitch threatened to have'em put down if she found'em in her yard," Royal spat. "She called and complained to Joy about it, but ya'll know her."

Rhett chuckled a little as the male let out a high pitched whine, giving Rhett his paw. "Well," he said. "They'll have a good home here."

"That's exactly why I got'em," Royal explained. "It's you and (y/n) in dog form."

Rhett laughed again and hugged his father. "Thanks Dad," he said.

"Not a worry son," Royal told him. "They're gonna need names, just so you know."

Rhett instantly began to remember the days when he was a small child, the tough days when Cecelia would have to go to Casper to take care of her mother, leaving Rhett to stay home with Royal. Royal had unfortunately not been the most attentive, having to deal with Perry's behavioral problems both at home and at school, leaving Rhett in the care of Grandpa River and Oma Heidi, his grandparents. Rhett remembered those cold winter days when Oma Heidi would make him a cozy spot in her basement and let him watch movies on the weekends, the woodstove going while he was snuggled amongst all the blankets and pillows she had made and some she had brought with her from Switzerland. Suddenly, the memory of one of his favorite films sprang into his mind and so too did the perfect names for your new companions.

"Remember when I was real little and Oma Heidi would let me watch all those Disney movies in her basement?" Rhett asked him.

"Yeah ya'll watched A Hundred And One Dalmatians until the damn tape broke," Royal laughed.

Rhett smiled and bit his lip.

"The hell's that look for?" Royal asked him.

"I've got the perfect names for'em," Rhett chuckled.

You cast that same look at your husband, knowing that Amy would love them too. And so it was, your newfound friends were named Pongo and Perdita by Rhett, their names springing from the childhood memories he held near and dear to him.

Very quickly the two had proved their worth on the ranch, guiding the horses back into the barn at night amidst the howling wind and snow, calming them too when they would get spooked by the loud winds or the snapping of the timbers in the cold. At night, you and Rhett were all too glad to have them with you, Royal, Cecelia, Amy, Hannah and your twin boys.

Those nights were spent by the fireplace in your living room, the fire crackling away while Rhett, Royal, Rip Wheeler, Kayce and John Dutton and two of your friends from the res, Wes Redwood and his father Russel and their families, gathered in your home to banish the winter blues. One night while you and Cecelia were clearing away the dishes, the boys had all begun to sing around the fire while Pongo and Perdy jumped in with them, their howls throwing everyone into a fit of laughter. Some mornings you would awake to find your two spotted friends either in Amy's room, Hannah's room or in the boys' nursery, safely protecting them while they slept.

And you couldn't have asked for a better pair than that.

#outer range #rhett abbott #rhett abbott x reader #royal abbott #cecelia abbott #amy abbott #royal x cecelia

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arece · 1 year

Note

Okay maybe despite John’s sacrifices reader has become violent because of the grief. Caine said he would watch over her. Caine probably realize she got back into the business. It doesn’t have to be a physical fight but maybe some sort of verbal thing reader just reader yelling how much she misses John and how Caine killed him or something. What would Caine do? Would reader allow Caine to comfort her? Make that shit angstyyyy

Francis Forever

♤ Summary: It's easier to stick to what you've learned instead of moving on. The series

♤ Warnings: John Wick violence, swears, alcohol, reader avoiding therapy and choosing murder (like father like daughter).

♤ a/n: It has been so long and I'm so very sorry!!! On a brighter note, the lovely Mallorie has made a playlist for our favourite duo! (It had me sobbing, the title and slogan made my heart melt). Check it out, cry over it and lets all thank Mal for the inspo! Love you Mal! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2PNWum0VLYV9k8VYJu5ZRc?si=7uTnEbr0R3CV1TxWXr1Svg

Without further ado... enjoy some angst!

⋯♤⋯♧⋯♢⋯

The first time you broke the sacrifice John made for you was the first time he was mentioned. You had become a shell of the little girl you both used to know, an angry violent woman who couldn’t help but to blame everyone.

You avoided Winston as his new hotel was being built, the hotel that was only being built thanks to John’s death. Dog became your sole companion, joining you the few times you dared to venture out. John had left you all that was his, you had scoffed to avoid crying - he really did plan on dying since the very start.

You didn’t work, you didn’t know what to do with yourself. How cruel you thought it was, for John to teach you the only thing you were good at just to rip it all away from you in the name of protecting you.

You drank. A lot. Not too much to raise enough concern for Winston to come drag you back to wherever he was, but enough for one to consider it a minor hobby. Your chosen bar was one frequented by those of the underworld.

It was comforting in a way, a reminder of home. You were nursing your first drink of the night, drowning in self-pity when you overheard a conversation from two Russian men sitting beside you.

“Baba Yaga is gone, the Ruska Roma is a threat no more.” The burlier one smirked, chugging down the rest of his beer.

“Don’t be a fool. They did not rely on him and what of the child? Just because the Table forgets her does not mean she isn’t a threat.”

“The Likho? He failed and she will meet his end.”

You finished off the rest of your drink with a sigh, standing and smashing your glass off the side of the counter. The attention of the entire bar was brought to you, the shocked silence only being broken to react.

You threw the sharpened glass straight into the neck of the larger man. His hands flew to his neck, holding tightly as he gurgled on his own blood. The second guy looked to his friend before pouncing after you.

Expecting it, you ducked under his grip, turning to slam his head against the bar’s counter top. You didn’t want him dead, too many bodies trailing after all that happened would be too suspicious. Knocking him out will have to do.

You shoved him back against the bar, his neck at a weird angle as you held his head in a lock. Once he was unconscious you released his body to the floor, throwing a hundred dollar bill for the damages.

“What are you doing?” The bar owner called after you in indignation.

“Trying to meet his end.” You didn’t even bother to wipe the blood off of your hands, it no longer phased you. You’d have to get your knife back from John’s grave.

Since then the trail grew, nearly reaching double digits. Technically you weren’t doing any kind of job, purely from your own will. If you kept going at the rate you were, the Table would force you back in, erasing everything John did.

You almost couldn’t bring yourself to care.

Caine had settled down with his daughter, their reunion going better than he could’ve ever anticipated. He explained the few things he could to her, why he had to leave her and how he managed to come back.

It was a late afternoon when he first heard the rumors of the Likho being active for the first time since the death of the Baba Yaga. He knew what that meant and knew it was time for him to keep his word.

“I know I said I wouldn’t leave again-” He was cut off by his daughter kissing his cheek. A soft and understanding smile painted her face as she hugged him tightly. “I have my father, she doesn’t. She needs you, go.”

He was quick to travel to New York, ready to do anything to keep you safe. He found your place thanks to Winston, who was beyond worried. He had tried to reach out to you but was met with hostility.

“Who are you to say anything? You used his death to get a fucking hotel!” He left with you looking ready to stab him and Dog growling nearby.

He sat on your armchair, white cane leaning on the back. He heard you unlock your door and remove Dog’s leash. Dog was quick to sniff him out, standing defensively as she barked at him. You tensed, jaw clenching at the sight of him.

“Caine. Thought you’d be off with your daughter,” the last word sounded choked, like it was a struggle for you to even pronounce.

“I have some other obligations to attend to, she is aware.” He wouldn’t speak on his promise to John, something he was sure would turn you against him. Your current state reminded him of a lost puppy.

One that had been harmed too many times to function properly, to truly hold any trust in anyone. “I don’t see how that brings you to my place.”

You zero in on his hand, catching a glint from his palm, “give it back.” He opened his hand showing the gold coin. The gold coin that held all your worth, that John took you for, that you had to hunt The Doctor down to retrieve.

“So you can use it to get back in?” He scoffed, “after all that John gave up for you.” You flexed your hand before reaching to grab it back but he expertly dodged you.

“For me? He died for you,” you tried to hide your tears behind anger, choosing to act violently by shoving Caine out of your chair. He recovered easily, sliding away from you with the coin still in hand.

“You were his daughter, he’d do anything to protect you.” How dare he come here to lecture you about your choices, defending the man who made decisions that led you here. You faked lunging for him, swiftly kicking out his leg from underneath him.

He grabbed onto you, using the momentum to send you falling instead. “How could he have seen me as a daughter? He was willing to leave me behind so you could be with yours!” You desperately clawed at his hand as you began to cry.

You were conflicted, emotions contradicting and betraying you. You wanted to defend him, justify everything he’s ever done but at the same time you hate him for what he did. You missed him and would do anything to have him back.

Caine was confused as he listened to your sobs over the coin. He loosened his grip, letting it fall from his and into your hands. You held it to your chest tightly, curling in on yourself like the desperate child you still were.

“It’s mine. He only took me because of this.” Caine kneeled down to the ground next to you. He laid a hand on your shoulder, slowly pulling you into a side hug when you didn’t flinch away.

“No, the coin only brought you to him. I’d die in an instant to keep her safe. John was wrong in the way only a father could be, he was wrong for you.”

Those words stuck with you. Each time you felt yourself slipping you remind yourself of his faults and how he willingly did them for you. John Wick was never perfect and you couldn’t hold him to that standard.

He was a loving father who did all that he could to love and care for his daughter. Baba Yaga and Likho were a mask, an illusion for two lost people who managed to discover each other in a twisted painful time.

You loved him and freed him in a way he never thought would be possible for him to have. He wanted to return that for you. It was time to let go of that part others created and instead treasure the him that was solely for you. Your John Wick.

⋯♤⋯♧⋯♢⋯

taglist: @khaleesihavilliard @ihatemyselfmorethanmydepression @tamnight @hesvoid34 @scarletmeii @romanreignsluver1 @wi1steria @not-a-big-slay @howlerwolfmax @mizzy-pop @sarapaprikas-blog @angrykitsune01

#john wick 4 #john wick chapter 4 #john wick caine #john wick father figure #john wick x fem!reader #john wick x reader #john wick x you #john wick #platonic #keanu reeves x reader #fanfic #john wick imagine #john wick one shot #arece drabbles

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churchobones · 2 months

Text

DWC DAY 1: CASUALTY/FLIRT

|| NEXT>>

It was as Thil’s frosted glass emptied that he flirted with a ghost. “Well, ain’t you a shiny lookin’ coin! Last I saw you, you were an ad for dead! What happened?! ” "Like I said, I slipped the noose," Bruce mused as he ran a hand along his well-trimmed beard. Clearly, Kallarel wasn't the only one who took pride in her appearance; vanity ran deep in the glossy hair and nourished lips-- which turned up at the corners, despite his poorly feigned reluctance. "But if you're really curious...It weren't long after you got me in that I found 'im. Zelion Mournvalor. Does the name ring a bell?"

He was a slight thing; the enigmatic nature of elf age aside, he might have looked like a teenager who never had a growth spurt, stunted at five and a half feet tall. His features were pale and pretty, almost cherubic were it not for the deathly glow off his blue eyes. Shoulder length, jet black hair was neatly tied back in a tail, lest it get in his way.

It was as though he stepped out of the painting in that dilapidated estate; a cross between a proud father and a stern child.

“Mister Hawkins,” his voice was soft to match his size as he called the dog by the name the witch used. “So nice you could make it.”

"Picture this: Two men meet in an extravagant ballroom, with shiny floors and every footfall echoing off the thirty foot ceiling. Him: black void crystals swirling around his head and flanked by twelve guards. Me: well, I've always been a lone wolf, haven't I? Truth is, I wasn’t afraid to die. Never have been."

"Please, call me Bruce," he replied with a geniality befitting his working class accent. "I'm afraid Miss Mournin’vale didn't tell me your name," he went on, only for a haunting echo to finish the thought.

The stench of bloodstained stone walls and stale fear filled his nose once more. There's a lot of things Miss Mournin’vale didn't tell you, isn't there?

Bruce loosened his cuffs.

"But the nose don't lie. I could smell it on him the moment our eyes met: fear. Him an' all his men. They knew they were up against a thing of legends and nightmares.

“Bruce.” It slipped awkwardly off the elf’s tongue; a word too stupid and thick for his delicate vernacular, but he was paid the courtesy all the same. The little lord spread his hands in a gesture of momentary peace. “Zelion Mournvalor. Charmed, I’m sure.”

The Lord’s soldiers nickered and rumbled like stallions, the rattle of metal on metal as loud as their jangling nerves. The ballroom cleared, they formed a quivering line behind Zelion. The lord’s knights had grown fat and complacent, casualties waiting to happen.

"Let's talk," Bruce called across the room.

“But... it weren’t fear which plunged my heart like a knife. It was that this-- this pretty, petty asshole should know so much more about Kallarel than I ever would. And that I should be reduced to grovelin’ at his feet for answers.”

“Certainly… Bruce. And what is it you would care to talk about?”

He took a few steps forward.

“How Miss Mourningvale enabled the downfall of my family estate?” Zelion tipped his head towards his right shoulder. “How she stole and bastardized my family name?” And then to his left before straightening with a raising of his chin. “How she murdered my mother and father?”

"She did you a favor. They looked like a roight coupla pricks."

"S'alrigh," Bruce went on, stopping a conversational distance from the elf. "I come from pricks too. You knew her growin' up then? Did ya call 'er auntie Kallarel?"

Zelion’s chin tilted at the implication, upwards and defiant as this woeful creature dared to suggest a commonality between them. “No, though I suppose I might have called her girl in passing, once or twice… but father didn’t make a habit of introducing us to his whores.”

Bruce’s eyes narrowed. “If that’s all she is to you, why all the trouble? Why send assassins?”

“Assassins? Oh, no my hounds weren’t sent to kill, but to fetch. Well, her. Failing to kill you was an oversight already paid for.”

"You haven't paid for it yet," Bruce replied with some amusement. “I'm gonna break your pre'y lil nose for calling my girlfriend a whore."

Zelion batted his eyes. “Oh?”

“I know there's things Kallarel will never tell me. You showed me that when you opened the way to that damnable basement in her old shop.”

"Is that where she got a taste for huntin' men for sport?" the Gilnean guessed, unbuttoning his black embroidered vest.. "Your asshole dad?"

“Of course not,” the dainty elf answered, taking a keen interest in the infection bubbling around Bruce’s clumsily placed crystal as he continued to disrobe. In turn, Zelion removed his chain of state, taking time to ensure it was properly folded at each connecting point before dropping it into his coat pocket for safe keeping. “But even a filthy satyr in a dead slut’s skin needs to feed.”

@daily-writing-challenge

#dwc2024

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i-cant-sing · 2 years

Note

Thanatos guiding reader to the underworld only for both of them to witness a surprise party for the reader.

No no, lets continue down the fic where Platonic Yanderes Persephone and Hades murdered reader in real world so that she can come live in the Underworld with them. You can find part 1 here.

Like poor reader is traumatised from being stabbed in the heart out of nowhere, and then this dude with huge black wings tells you in that heavy voice "I'm here to take you to the Underworld. Be not afraid, Y/n." Yeah easy for you to say!

Anyways, reader is sniffling all the way through the ride because she doesn't understand where she is and she heard the screams of the dead and she doesn't know what's gonna happen next. She's carried inside this huge castle that was surrounded by big beautiful gardens. Thanatos takes her to the throne room and reader thinks that this is the moment where she's gonna be damned to Tartarus or something.

Only she didn't expect her murderers to be practically bouncing on the balls of their feet as they call her name.

"Y/n! Darling, you're finally here!"

Reader: 😟

"Come here!" Persephone says, patting her thigh as if calling for a dog.

You begin backing up, wanting to be as far away from them as possible. But when you turn around to run, you bump into the huge scary man Thanatos, who shakes his head at you.

"Running is futile."

Reader: 😰

Hades sneaks up behind reader and picks her up from her armpits like small kitten before walking (actually, he was skipping) towards Persephone. He sits on his throne with arms securely pulling you to his lap and Persephone pretty much crowds the space from your right. They don't mind that you're shaking like a leaf, they know the stabbing was scary for you.

"I'm Hades and that's Persephone, but you must call us mom and dad!" Hades said with a joyful smile, as if there was nothing wrong about you sitting in the lap of a god.

"I- what?"

Persephone carresed your cheek softly. "You're gonna be living here now, Y/n. For eternity! And we're gonn be your new family! Isn't that exciting?"

You pulled away from her touch, eyes wide with bewilderment. "You- you killed me! Stabbed me in the chest!"

"Yes... but that was necessary to bring you here! I know that must've hurt, but your father insisted that stabbing you would be better than slicing your head off. Even though the latter would've been less painful, he thought that you might not like that." Persephone rolled her eyes.

Your mouth fell open in shock. "You were gonna slice my head off?!"

"But we didn't! We stabbed you in the heart instead!" Hades said, rubbing your arm to soothe you.

"I DONT LIKE THAT EITHER!"

Persephone narrowed her eyes at you. "Hey. That is no way to talk to your father."

"He's not my father-"

"I am now." Hades tone dead serious, and you knew that if you argued any further on that, he'd be offended.

You cried, shaking your head. "Please.... I just wanna go home."

Persephone gave you a sympathetic smile. "But this is home, Y/n." She played with your hair. "You'll be really happy here. You'll have anything you want. And you'll never have to worry about anything!"

"But-"

"And if you miss Earth too much, you can always go back there on short visits. With us, not alone. Humans tend to be stupid and unpredictable." Hades said. "What do you say?"

You closed your eyes for a second before opening them. You're gonna have to answer in a way that you don't piss them off. "As much as I appreciate your very generous offer... I must decline. I am a human, and like you said, I am stupid and unpredictable. 2 gods like you deserve someone far better and far worthy of your love and generosity. Please, let me go back to Earth."

Persephone's face fell. "Do you really not see yourself ever living with us?"

"I'm positive."

Persephone looked like she wanted to argue further but then sighed. "Fine, we'll make arrangements for you to leave." She said before leaving the room.

Hades pulled you off his lap and casted a worries look at the door from where his wife left. "She's disappointed. We really did think youd agree to love with us." He then got up. "I'll have Thanatos bring back the ferry for you. Have dinner with us, will ya?" Hades pleaded with such sincerity, you couldn't refuse him. A part of you still felt that they just might curse you if you don't agree. Besides, they're already letting you go home, this is the least you could do.

Persephone toyed with her food while Hades kept casting her worried glances. There was a thick, uncomfortable silence and you were practically scarring down the food so that you could leave quickly. It helped that the food tasted so damn good.

The servants soon served the dessert and you didn't dare look up from your plate despite feeling their eyes on you.

When you'd finished every last bite, you finally looked up to find them staring at you, however they didn't look sad this time. If anything, they looked... satisfied.

You cleared your throat. "Um... thank you for the lovely meal. I should take my leave now. Thank you for being so kind and understanding."

Persephone finally giggled. "Leave where?"

"Here? Go back to Earth?"

Persephone snickered. "Oh sweetie, you can't leave the Underworld now!"

You furrowed your brows. "I- What?"

Hades smiled lazily before nodding towards your plate. "Didn't you enjoy your dessert? Your mother made it herself. What's it called again, sweetheart?"

"Oh! It's strawberry ice cream... with pomegranate seeds!"

Pomegranate seeds-

Oh shit! Your eyes widened. You never noticed the seeds! Your mind was too preoccupied with the thought of leaving, not to mention the seeds were practically crushed and undetectable!

"No..." you whispered before immediately lurching forward and shoving your fingers down your throat to induce vomiting.

However, you'd just started to initiate your gag reflex when your hands were being pulled away by Hades and Persephone.

"NO!" You began thrashing in their hold and Hades was quick to maneuver your back to his chest and pinned your hands to your stomach tightly, trapping your legs with his own.

Persephone began humming a lullaby. "Y/n, darling, please calm down. You're only gonna hurt yourself-"

"LET GO OF ME! LET GO! YOU SAID YOU'D LET ME GO!" You yelled, still struggling in Hades arms despite being pinned down.

Persephone sighed. "We all know you weren't leaving this place. Not now, not ever. Now, stop this madness and calm down. We can talk like cultured-"

But you began hysterically sobbing. "YOU TRICKED ME! YOU TRICKED ME NOW, JUST LIKE HOW YOU LURED ME INTO THE ALLEY AND THEN MURDERED ME!"

"But it was all so that you could be with your new family-"

"WHAT KIND OF FAMILY KILLS THEIR OWN CHILD?!"

Before Persephone could reply, Hades whispered his name.

"Hypnos."

And just like that, you were put to sleep by the actual god of sleep.

Tears streaked your cheeks and the two gods looked at each other with pity.

"She hates us already." Hades said, looking down at your passed out form with sorrow.

Persephone brushed the hair our of your face. "We both knew this wasn't going to be easy, Hades." She pecked his lips before kissing your cheek. "She's a human, doesn't know what's good for her. But in due time, she'll realise what a blessing this is. We must be patient."

Hades nodded, before gathering you in his arms and standing up. They both began walking towards your new room. "I suppose we must. I just hope this rebellious phase of hers ends soon and we'll finally get to see her for the angel she truly is." They tucked you in before watching over you by the door like normal parents.

"I don't want her to grow up too fast." Persephone said, tucking her head under Hades arm.

Hades hummed in agreement. "I'll have Hermes bring Ambrosia along when he delivers her tiara tomorrow." They began walking towards their own room.

Persephone smiled at the idea. "What powers do you think she'll get?"

Hades shrugged. "Maybe we can mix in our own blood in the Ambrosia. That way, she'll have a mix of our powers."

They both couldn't help but wonder what their little princess of the Underworld will become the god of.

#yandere hades #yandere persephone #yandere greek mythology #yandere greek goddesses #yandere greek gods

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mariana-oconnor · 4 months

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The Creeping Man pt 2

There was a lot going on last time. There was a dog behaving strangely. Its owner behaving even more strangely and at least two professors whose daughters were engaged. Although one of those engagements (the one to another professor) was broken off, I'm pretty sure. And people seem to think that the reason that professor is behaving strangely is because of the engagement? Just a lot going on. I went back to my post about it, but got stuck on that gif I posted of Oscar Isaac licking his fingers, which derailed me a bit.

I was thinking there might be something going on inheritance-wise. But honestly, I'm not sure I have enough information at the moment to judge.

Oh, yeah, and fiancee No. 2, who is the daughter of fiance No. 1, just walked in and is about to tell us a story.

“I was awakened in the night by the dog barking most furiously. Poor Roy, he is chained now near the stable."

Roy knows something, I'm telling you. If only we could cast Speak with Animals.

"...we all have a feeling of impending danger."

"My room is on the second floor. It happened that the blind was up in my window, and there was bright moonlight outside. As I lay with my eyes fixed upon the square of light, listening to the frenzied barkings of the dog, I was amazed to see my father's face looking in at me."

More evidence in favour of demonic possession, obviously. Or this is like that Green Wing episode where someone puts a picture of Jesus on the end of a stick and holds it up to windows.

Anyone else watch Green Wing here? Just me?

Coolcool.

Also, 2nd floor is one higher than you think if you're American. In the UK we have Ground floor, then first floor, then second floor.

"It was no delusion, Mr. Holmes."

Delusions, of course, being things that you definitely know if you're having or not. Traditionally.

“The date being September 5th,” said Holmes. “That certainly complicates matters.”

I do not remember anything about the date in part one. But I am assuming that this is important in some way because Holmes is drawing attention to it.

Birthdays? Something that happens on 6th September?

“Possibly you are thinking of the connection between insanity and phases of the moon?”

I know the etymology of the word lunatic, and yet still when people say things like this I have a moment of wtf.

I feel like it's not the 5th that's important, but the day before or the day after.

"We will therefore call upon him as if he had given us an appointment upon such a date. He will put it down to his own lack of memory."

I know this word gets thrown around a lot, but this is literally gaslighting. That's right, distort the man who is possibly mentally ill's sense of reality even further, Holmes. Go on. Do it.

“I warn you, however, that the professor is irascible and violent at times.”

Does he just have dementia? I mean there's nothing just about dementia, but it feels like maybe he's just... not well. Obviously that's not the case or else there wouldn't be a story and his name wouldn't need clearing or whatever it is. But still... missing time, behaving strangely, violent outbursts?

They might be lying about all of this, of course.

"There is, if I remember right, an inn called the Chequers where the port used to be above mediocrity and the linen was above reproach."

It's clean and the booze will get you drunk. The highest of praise.

"...an easy effort on the part of Holmes, who had no roots to pull up, but one which involved frantic planning and hurrying on my part, as my practice was by this time not inconsiderable."

Since when? For how? Last we knew Holmes had paid someone to buy your practice so you could move in with him. Then you got married again, and now you're a super successful doctor? When? Where is your wife, btw? Is she dead again?

“I presume that you do not go so far as to assert that I summoned you?” “I would rather answer no questions,” said Holmes.

So you're... not going to gaslight the man who is possibly mentally ill.

Good choice.

“That was my miscalculation. It is evident that his memory is much more reliable than I had thought."

But only because he's not as mentally ill as you thought he was.

"I have the address of the man in London to whom the professor writes. He seems to have written this morning, and I got it from his blotting-paper."

Oh yeah, he's also writing weird letters after having gone off to Europe for a while to nurse his broken heart. I forgot about that. There's a lot of stuff going on here.

So far he's done nothing but be kind of angry and aggressive.

“Mercer is since your time,” said Holmes.

I know that ACD did not keep track of the time line or give a fuck about continuity, but we haven't seen any real evidence of a gap in Watson hanging around with Holmes. But yay for introducing another random character whom we have never seen and whom we will never see again.

Technically we haven't see him this time, either.

Why would someone crawl down a passageway? Because they're looking for something on the ground? Did he drop something?

We were, I may say, seated in the old sitting-room of the ancient hotel, with a bottle of the famous vintage of which Holmes had spoken on the table between us.

Holmes said the port was 'above mediocrity', which is pretty far from a ringing endorsement. Now it's 'famous'? I bet it's no brandy, though.

“Let us, then, form the provisional theory that every nine days the professor takes some strong drug which has a passing but highly poisonous effect. His naturally violent nature is intensified by it. He learned to take this drug while he was in Prague, and is now supplied with it by a Bohemian intermediary in London. This all hangs together, Watson!”

And the reason for him taking it every 9 days, like clockwork?

Not sure that's how drugs work. I really feel like Holmes would know that.

“But the dog, the face at the window, the creeping man in the passage?”

I'm still not entirely put off the 'doppelganger' explanation for the dog. Then the other two can both be explained as him looking for something. What, I have no idea, but something small enough that he had to crawl around on his hands and knees to find it.

Diamonds?

"In the meantime we can only keep in touch with friend Bennett and enjoy the amenities of this charming town.”

And its famous, not-mediocre port, I guess.

#Letters from Watson #The Creeping Man #Sherlock Holmes #long post

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ae-azile · 22 days

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Azile's OC Round Up, Part 1 of ???

I have created a lot of OCs in my longer KP fics. I wanted to put a face to them. This is part one.

Let's start with the pets because that just seems fun!

From The Masks Series:

Name: Cecilia

Name Meaning: Blind or Hidden (Vegas put thought into it)

Owners: Vegas, Pete, and Macau

Who brought her in/named her? - Found by Pol, brought in and named by Vegas

Origin: A dumpster outside Vegas's apartment building

Qualities: Protective, loyal, but also independent. Likes dogs.

Age upon adoption: 4 months

Featured in: the end of Giant Dancing Hedgehogs are Nightmare Fuel and throughout its sequel.

Status: Alive

Name: Oran

Name meaning: little green one (Porsche doesn't care about name meanings)

Owners: Porsche and Kinn

Who found/named him: Pol found him, Porsche took him out of his hands and called dibs.

Origin: Found outside an abandoned train stop while his future fathers were committing mass murder in the tunnels to save two women being held captive by Korn

Qualities: Aloof, sassy, low key loving.

Age adopted: 2 months

Featured in: Weighted Blanket.

Status: Alive

Name: Lucy

Name Meaning: Light, Light Bringer

Owner: Fern (Vegas's grandmother)

Who found/named her: Vegas went with his grandmother to a shelter to help pick her out. Fern named and trained her to be a service animal to assist with deafness.

Origin: A shelter in Queens, New York

Qualities: loyal, helpful, friendly, obedient

Age adopted: 9 months

Featured in: Weighted Blanket

Status: Alive

Names: Ella and Wren

Name meanings: Ella means goddess or fairy maiden. Wren means small bird

Owner: Vegas.

Who found/named them: Gun bought them after getting input from Milan, and Vegas named them.

Origin: After his last hedgehog died, Vegas took it so hard that he and his mother had a funeral for him. Gun was annoyed by the bawling, then felt bad about being annoyed and got Vegas two more hedgehogs from a responsible breeder.

Qualities: Ella was sweet and kind, Wren was caring and nurturing.

Age adopted: 2 months

Featured in: Before We Forget

Status: Ella is dies in chapter 4, Wren is dead prior to canon. So...dead.

Names: Pete Junior, Kim Junior, and Arm Junior

Name Meanings: Vegas was high on pain meds and sedatives. The names only mean something to him.

Who found/named them: Kim went out with Pete and Arm to buy various things for Vegas right after he woke up from his coma. Pete had fish and a sensory friendly tank on the list, so Kim went and picked them out. Vegas named them.

Origin: Pet store next to Tesco

Qualities: Pete Junior is friendly and likes following Vegas's finger, Kim Junior is prickly, and Arm Junior is dramatic.

Featured in: Giant Dancing Hedgehogs are Nightmare Fuel and sequel.

Status: Alive, but Arm Junior faked his death once over some sort of fish politics.

Anyway, that is part 1! Since some of my OCs crossover when it comes to humans, I will probably combine the post that covers the humans of this series, Progression, Lay Me Down to Sleep, etc. The cats of Progression will also be shared!

#OC round up #masks series #kinnporsche ocs #OC pets edition #gdhanf #twbane

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totesnothere04 · 1 year

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The Harder They Fall

Colonel Quaritch x F!Reader

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the fanart, screenshots, or gifs used with my stories.

Warnings: Murder, angst, fluff, cursing.

The Bigger They Are Pt. 1 to this story.

You were sitting alone in Jake and Neytiri's hut, chopping up fruits for your family to snack on while you and Neytiri make dinner. Your earpiece crackled to life and you dropped the knife to listen.

"Mama Toruk, it's Arachnid." You hear Spider come through.

"What's wrong?" You ask when you hear the urgency in his voice.

"Lo'ak and I caught the trail of avatars. They're boot prints so it's not any of ours." Spider says in what sounds like a whisper.

"Where are you?" You ask.

"We're at the old battlefield, near the old shack." He says.

"Okay. Be honest with me. Who all is with you? Anywhere you go Kiri is always one step behind." You say.

"Me, Lo'ak, Kiri, and Tuk." He says and you groan.

"Fall back. Report it to Jake and fall back. I'm on my way." You say quickly as you wipe off your knife and sheath it. You run to the open area and call for your ikran. He screeches as he comes into view and you quickly jump onto his back. You press your neck com to call Jake.

"Devil Dog, it's Mama Toruk." You say and you instantly get a response.

"The kids are in trouble. I know." Jake says. "We're en route but we're still a good ways out." He says.

"I'm Oscar Mike. I should arrive quicker than you do." You say.

"Wait for us to engage." Jake says and you shake your head.

"No promises." You fire back before ending the connection. You land a little ways away from the shack and quickly and quietly move through the trees. As you neared the shack you noticed a group of avatars holding the children hostage. You saw your son at the forefront trying to protect his crush and his friends.

"You are supposed to be dead." Your son spoke to the tallest avatar.

"What's it to you?" A voice you hadn't heard since before your son was born, responded. "What's your name?" He asks and you mentally scream at your son not to tell him his actual name.

"Spider." You quietly exhale. "(L/n) Miles'itan." He finished and you wanted to bang your head on the tree you were standing in.

"Wait-" You heard Miles move closer to your son. "Is your mother (Y/n) (L/n)?"

"Yes." Your son answers shortly.

"And your father?" He asks.

"That man has been dead since before I was born." Your son spoke with authority and you were awestruck. Of any time to grow into his adult voice, it was now? "The Great Mother Eywa granted my mother a second chance at life. She was pregnant with me when her human body died."

Miles felt his blood run cold. You had died but came back as Na'vi, and had raised your son alone. He felt tears prick his eyes and he motioned for his group to lower their weapons.

"Colonel... Are you sure that's a good idea?" Lyle asked.

"If you remember anything about (Y/n), Lyle... What is it?" Miles asks and Lyle nearly threw his gun away from himself. He didn't want to be caught holding your children at gunpoint. You decide to let the kids know you're nearby. You made a rolling chirp multiple times and Spider looked up toward the sky.

"Colonel..." Lyle said and Miles put his hands in the air.

"Stand down. All of you." Miles says. Most of the avatars put down their guns, except for Walker. "Walker, be smart. Put the gun down." But she didn't listen and continued to aim her gun into the trees. You notched an arrow and let it fly into her neck. She dropped and you came out of the trees and stood protectively infront of your son.

"(Y/n)." Miles almost whispers your name but you raise your hand to silence him.

"You... You already took one life from me, and you seek to take another." You spoke in broken English after rarely using said language for 16 years.

"(Y/n) please." He says and reaches for you, but you back yourself and the children up.

"Kehe, vonvä.(Stop it, asshole)" You throw at him and he visibly cringes at your words.

"(Y/n)... I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to shoot you." He pleads and you scoffed gripping your bow tighter.

"This girl... This girl here will never be able to be held by her biological mother because you killed her." You hissed at him and his ears pinned back in shame. "I died... I died with our son in my body."

"Ma'am we were just following orders." Lyle tries to defend his friend only to be met with the most murderous glare.

"Orders are not final. Morals are where you are to draw the line. It is obvious to me now that none of you hold your own." You say and quickly cut your son free from his restraints. You give him your knife to do the same for the others. Miles finally steps up to you and cups your cheeks.

"I love you. I love you so much. I want a second chance." He pleads and you narrow your eyes at him.

"Why should I? You will just come to kill my people and the peace we worked so hard to build. Our home was burnt down last year... Again. Humans show no care for this world, and neither do you. Or have you forgotten that you were the one to give the all clear to destroy the original Hometree?" You asked maliciously.

"I know. I know baby, and I hate myself for it because it drove you away from me. All I want is for us to move forward." He nearly begs and you tear away from his grip. A sob forces its way out of him and you turn to the children. All of them are watching with bated breath, and very confused. The man who had just been threatening them was now a sobbing mess at the mercy of their aunt. One of the kindest women they had known all of their lives. Kiri motions you toward her and you move to stand next to her.

"Aunt (Y/n)... I know what this man's human counterpart did, but they are not the same man. I say give him another chance." Kiri says and you think back to when you encountered Eywa. Your head flies up as you turn to look at Miles.

"Nothing trackable. Everything you have on you that the RDA can track take it off." You growl at him and he immediately tears off his neck com and earpiece. Every one of the others starts to remove their trackable gear as well. You hear two sets of approaching footsteps. Jake and Neytiri appear next to you and Jake gestures to Walker.

"You engaged." He stated.

"And you are getting slower with age." You reply.

"What are they doing?" Neytiri asks.

"They are removing anything that could be tracked by the RDA. I was going to leave them behind here, and take the kids home. But your daughter can be very persuasive about giving a second chance." You tell them and they look at Tuk. "Not Tuk, Kiri."

"Kiri... Do you know who that is?" Neytiri asks her daughter.

"Yes, and I am convinced they are not the same man. He begged and pleaded for Aunt (Y/n) to give him another chance. She did not want to, but I felt it right to give him a chance." Kiri said as she looked between her parents. At that time the avatars had thrown all of their gear into the old shack, and had regrouped infront of your family.

"If you think you know what it is like to live on Pandora... You are wrong. You will need to unlearn everything you have learned because you cannot fill a cup that is already full." You tell the group as you place a hand on Jake's shoulder. "This is my brother and Olo'eyktan Tsyeyk Sulí or as you know him, Jake. He gives you an order you follow it. If you stay here, your human leaders are not your leaders anymore."

"I'm okay with that. Ardmore is a bit of a cu-" Lyle starts but Jake cuts him off.

"Young children are present." Jake says as he cuts his eyes to Tuk.

"She's uh really mean? And weird?" Lyle tries to save it and Jake tries to suppress a laugh by covering it with a cough.

"Good save, Wainfleet." Z-Dog laughs. "So are we going or what? Standing here is kind of depressing." She says and you look over the group and look into Miles' pleading eyes.

"You will cut contact with your humans from this point if you join us." Jake warns them and they nod. "Then come on. Neytiri, Neteyam take the kids back. (Y/n), Spider, and I will take them back on foot."

"Ma Jake, that could lead into eclipse." Neytiri says.

"Then I guess we'll start teaching them on the way there." Jake says as he gestures for her to go. She leaves hesitantly but does as she's asked. You make sure Spider is infront of you and start the trek back to High Camp.

"Do you think he is being truthful about wanting to be a part of our lives?" Spider asks.

"I pray to Eywa that he is because unlike him I do not have the heart to kill him." You whisper back to him.

"Then lucky for you I have what it takes to kill him and so does Neytiri." Jake says and you frown. "We do need to teach them. They're bumbling about back there making all kinds of noise." You sigh and turn to them.

"Your shoes, remove them." You tell them and they look at you quizzically.

"To travel quietly and quickly your shoes need to be removed." You tell them and they take off their boots. "You must trust your body to move the way it must for you to survive." You say and Miles throws his boots off to the side. The others quickly follow and soon your group is moving through the trees. Barely any noise is being made between you, Spider, and Jake, but the others were struggling to trust their bodies and their instincts. You stopped abruptly and knelt as you sniffed the air. Jake and Spider knew to trust your instincts and stopped moving as well. Everyone else stopped and watched as you sniffed again then climbed up a tree.

"What's she doing?" Miles asked.

"She has particularly good instincts, a trait Spider inherited from her. She was scenting so it's either that eclipse is nearing, or there's danger nearby." Jake whispered as he gestured for them to all lower to the ground and they did as told. Jake and Spider's ears swiveled to listen to all the sounds around and near them. Spider leaned over and sniffed near the ground and set back on the balls of his feet.

"It's not danger from animals she's worried about." Spider told Jake who nodded.

"Night-time maybe?" Jake asked the young male.

"Maybe, but I'm not sure." Spider answered his superior. You slid back down the tree and stopped next to your son.

"Eclipse is approaching and it's about to rain." You tell them. Several of the avatars groaned in annoyance, while you waited for their griping to stop. "Are you done? Good because we will not be stopping. Living in a rainforest you must learn to travel on foot in the rain or on freshly wet ground." You say as you get back up and continue moving forward. Everyone is somewhat stunned by the way you spoke except for your son and Jake.

"She's gotten pretty intense." Mansk says as he gets up to catch up to you.

"Yeah. Tends to happen when you're a single parent." Spider spits out as he quickly chases after you with the others following close behind, except for Miles and Jake.

"You know... The science pukes told me that whatever our first memory was that came to us was the most important thing to us. The first thing I remembered was her." Miles' ears tilted downward as he thought and raindrops started to fall perfectly encapsulating Miles' mood. "I lied and told 'em that it was you betrayin' me. It seemed like the only answer that would satisfy whatever vulture was on top." Miles looked up at Jake making direct eye contact. "I was right. We're just expendable pawns in a war to eradicate a species that's been labeled as a nuisance on their own world. I didn't see it before because I was just me. A simple Kansas military man that couldn't see past the end of my nose. This body feels different. Acts different." Miles says as he gently plates his fingers through the dirt.

"Your first memory was her because in Na'vi terms she was your mate. You knew she was pregnant when the war started. I knew but never pressed her because she didn't notice. The Na'vi body is hardwired with primal urges to protect our mate and our children. As Marines, our minds and bodies were trained to know when something is off. She had very early pregnancy symptoms and if I saw it... I know for a fact you did." Jake tells Miles who looks away in shame.

"I did... But I still shot at her. I killed the woman I love." Miles said as he looks out over the landscape.

"I'm not going to tell you it's okay Miles, but I am gonna tell you that if you still want her there's still hope. She never mated with anyone in the clan. She said it's because her priority was Spider, but Spider has been a technical adult for a little over a year. So get your shit together, and stop throwing that pity party." Jake said as he stood up and so did Miles.

"Thanks, Jake. You're right. Feelin' bad for myself won't get me anywhere. So how do I get her back?" Miles asks Jake who smirks.

"In Na'vi standards none of you are adults yet. You'll need to pass your iknimaya, then you can court her... The traditional Na'vi way." Jake ends the conversation and the two take off to catch up with the group. When they caught up with the group both you and Spider had your bows drawn with an arrow notched. You both released at the same time and moved toward whatever the two of you just shot.

"What's goin' on?" Miles asked his friends.

"They just got our dinner. Told us we'll need to learn to hunt. (Y/n) said we aren't allowed to mooch off of other people's hunts." Lyle told Miles.

"Fine by me. Let's go see if we can help." Miles and Jake led the group to (Y/n) and Spider.

"Spider call your ikran and take these back. We won't be very far behind." Jake said.

"But Jake-" Spider said as he looked between you and his father.

"I've got her kid. You can trust me on that." Jake said but Spider didn't seem too comfortable. So Jake went closer to him and clasped his shoulder as he leaned in to whisper to him. "I refuse to watch her die in my arms again. I've got her, Spider." Spider reluctantly nodded his head and called for his ikran. She landed and chirped as she nudged Spider with her nose.

"Let's get these loaded and we can go home." Spider said to her and they set to work with Spider flying back with the hexapede's for the avatars.

After getting back to high camp and getting them settled into their temporary homes you and Jake sat down to talk to the 'recoms' as they called themselves.

"You know, when I woke up the first thing I remembered was fishing with my Mom." Mansk said as he continued to eat his meal.

"Mine was cake." Z-Dog said and everyone turned to look at her. "What? Cake is good you can't deny it."

"We don't have cake here... Sadly. But! We don't suffer for an entire week once a month." You say happily. "It's only for like 3-4 days once every 2-3 months."

"Wait... What?" Z-Dog asks.

"Na'vi women have a heat every 2 to 3 months, meanwhile Na'vi men go through a rut." You say and she seems to mull it over then she smiles.

"I can do that. It's nice to know I won't be the only one that'll have to suffer in this group." Z-Dog jokes and the men groan.

"Another thing to take into consideration is that you cannot get pregnant unless you make tsaheylu. Which none of you are allowed to make yet, because you haven't passed your iknimaya." Jake tells Z-Dog and Miles' head snaps up.

"How would you know?" Miles asks. "From what I have in my head you've been mated to Neytiri almost the entire time you've been here."

"We like to experiment every now and then." Jake says and Miles looks between you and Jake. "(Y/n) has never shown interest in joining us if that's your actual question." Miles seems pleased.

"Besides the only thing that matters to me is my son. He has been all I think of and all I care about for 16 years." You say and Jake rolls his eyes.

"You need a mate (Y/n). Someone to help you." He argues and you groan.

"Of course, mother, I'll find a mate the moment someone actually piques my interest." You tell him and he rubs his eyes tired of this argument.

"But noone here piques your interest." Jake nearly growls.

"Precisely. So I think we should finally stop having this argument. It's been on going for 14 years now Jake. Just because 'Olo'eyktan demands it' doesn't mean it'll happen." You say and he pinches your arm.

"Ha ha. I don't demand you to find a mate. I'm just worried about your well being." Jake says.

"I've been fine. Men are a distraction from my son." You tell him. "None have shown interest in me and that is fine."

"You've had so many suitors. Thats a weak excuse." Jake's jokes as he pokes you.

"None of interest. All of them just boys." You say as you start separating some twine and beads.

"Their mates don't say that." Jake teases and you cut your eyes over to him.

"Their mates were just girls when they mated. They've grown into men and women, but they were still young." You say and Jake shakes his head.

"I'm gonna drop this before it turns into a full argument... Again." Jake says and Lyle clears his throat.

"This a daily thing for you two?" Lyle asks and you hiss at Jake.

"Almost." Jake says in a nonchalant tone.

"He does not know when to drop it." You say and Ja laughs.

"I mean remember how long it took for the Colonel to finally get her to go on a date with him?" Ja asks his friends who all chuckle at the memory.

"6 months just to agree to a date." Lyle said through giggles.

"Now I have a son. It is different." You seethe but take a deep breath. "I am going to continue my work in my hut." You gather your things and leave.

"(Y/n)..." Jake calls but let's it fall. "She just needs some time alone. Maybe Spider can get her in a better mood."

"Well if she's happy being a single mom... Let her be." Zhang says. "My mom raised me alone, and I think I turned out okay."

"It's nothing to do with Spider. He's one of our best hunters and trackers, but he won't always be in her care." Jake mumbles. "He's already got his sights set on my oldest daughter."

"The older girl from the clearing?" Miles asks. "She looks familiar."

"We adopted her. Her mother's avatar went braindead after her human body died." Jake says. "But she'll always be my daughter."

"Augustine?" Miles asks and Jake freezes for a moment then nods.

"That day you got two of us. It took Grace 2 days to pass on." Jake says as he starts chopping up fruit.

"And (Y/n)?" Lyle asks.

"The moment we landed at site 36. She died in my arms." Jake tells them. "Bullet straight through the left side of her chest. It was a miracle that she lived long enough to get to the Hallelujah Mountains. But hey she's alive and well now, and one of the biggest pains in my ass next to my second son."

"The one that flipped the Colonel off?" Ja asked through giggles. Jake sighed and rubbed over the bridge of his nose.

"Yep. That's my son." Jake says. "I better get back home before Neytiri skins me alive." Jake bids them goodnight and goes home. They all decide to lay down to sleep as well.

Time flew as you, Spider, and Neteyam taught the recoms. Neteyam and Spider took great joy in watching the group fail at riding Pali. The only two who seemed to excel at it were Miles and Lyle. Though you knew they were good at it from riding horses back on Earth. The three of you teamed up to teach them to use a bow and arrow. This time Zhang surprised everyone by being near mastery of it. Apparently his Mom was an archer and took great pride in passing that skill on to her son. Teaching them to speak the language made you realize just how irked Neytiri must've been with Jake. You made a mental note to talk to her and tell her you empathize with her past efforts. You were overseeing Zhang, Miles, and Lyle's first hunt. What none of them realized was that the kill, the reciting of the prayer it's what decides when they're ready. To say the prayer and actually mean it. You were crouched behind them when Miles' ears twitched in the direction of beating hooves. He notched an arrow and zeroed in on the hexapede. He released it and ran into the clearing kneeling next to the poor creature. He spoke his thanks and the prayer and swiftly stabbed into its heart. Your ears perked when you heard Zhang closing in on his kill and you rushed to observe him as well. Lyle was right next to Zhang as they both completed their tests. You helped them put their hunts on their pali and you jumped onto yours. You turned to look at them as they mounted their pali.

"The three of you are ready." You say and lead them back to High Camp. The moment you dismounted Jake and Neytiri were next to you. "They are ready. What about the others?"

"Neteyam reported that Z-Dog is nervous and keeps fumbling. However, he also says that Prager and Fike are doing fine. She should be fine." Jake says.

"Spider told us that Ja has already completed his hunt. Brown, Lopez, and Mansk are still tracking. Though Mansk has a better sense of smell so he should find his kill sooner than the others." Neytiri tells you.

"Good. Here are their hunts. They recited the prayer and meant it." You say and Jake lets out a small smirk.

"Your squad is almost there Miles. Now your rite of passage can truly begin." Jake says and Miles waits for Jake to explain. "Now you will tame an ikran, participate in the dream hunt, and then the ceremony to celebrate your adulthood. The hexapede's you brought back will be used to feed the clan at your ceremony day after tomorrow." Miles' arms drop to his sides.

"You mean a banshee?" Lyle asks incredulously.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Miles asks.

"You will know tomorrow. My eldest son Neteyam, (Y/n), and Spider will escort your group to finish your iknimaya. (Y/n) will follow you up on her ikran to teach each of you to fly as you tame yours." Jake tells them. "For now prepare your hunt for you ceremony fay after tomorrow."

"What's the dream hunt?" Zhang asks and you wince.

"The dream hunt is a search for your spirit animal. You will be put in a chemically induced trance by being bitten by an arachnid and swallowing a glow worm. Very few Na'vi have failed their iknimaya." You tell them.

"And if we fail?" They ask.

"Then you have either died or you will forever be seen as a child. Unable to mate, or claim an ikran." You tell them and Miles gains a determined look. Zhang and Lyle seem a little perturbed by the dream hunt, but they seem fine. "I can help you braid your hair if you wish. It has grown out quite a bit."

"Sounds good to me." Miles says.

"Sure, as long as you don't yank my hair too hard." Lyle says. You roll your eyes and start helping them prepare for tomorrow.

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