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#for it not only to trip over the corpse but for people to be like IT'S GOOD BC AT LEAST IT'S NOT THAT GUY!
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M. Night Shyamalan's ATLA adaptation died so Netflix's ATLA adaptation could trip over its fucking corpse.
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neckromantics · 5 months
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Has anyone thought about how good Astarion would be at playing dead? Imagine the untapped potential?? The opportunities to just absolutely fuck with people?
No one would even need to expend a spell slot on feign death or anything. He could just lie down, hold his breath, and wait for a target to walk by and wonder "wait, what's this dead guy doing here?" and then WHAM! DAGGER TO YOUR ARTERY, LOSER.
The way you'd have to do your best to keep it together when he's lying there in the most dramatic of fashions. I just know if you ask this man to play dead (and he's in the rare mood to say yes) he is going to COMMIT. Limbs unnaturally askew like a ragdoll. Vacant staring (how does he get his pupils to dilate like that?). Maybe a bit of tongue hanging out if the mood strikes. It'd be a little eerie to see him like that if it also wasn't so damn funny.
The last time he went along with your silly little plans, it almost went terribly wrong.
In a rather strange turn of events, a small group of children find him before the target can. You take a chance and stay in your hiding place, silently willing these poor kids to go back to wherever they came from before your vampire loses his patience and does something rash...
The way one of the children immediately grabs the nearest stick and starts poking at Astarion. Vigorously. They're not even gentle, either. It's almost like they're hoping candy will spill out somewhere if they're aggressive enough. You can only watch as this goes on for a good minute or two (i mean you could have stopped them in hindsight, but part of you really wanted to see what would happen if you didn't.) before he finally snaps.
The vampire sits up quick as a wink, lips pulled back to expose his bloodied fangs (that absolute jerk bit the inside of his cheek till it bled just to appear more frightening), hands more like claws as he feigns swiping at one of their ankles. The snarl he lets out is so devious it makes the hairs on your arm stand on end. The kids all turn tail, wails high-pitched to an earsplitting degree as they trip over each other in their scramble to get away.
The smug grin on Astarion's handsome face should not be as endearing as it is as he watches them leave. After a moment, he straightens out his clothes a bit and readjusts his position on the ground, then proceeds to get right back to playing the part of a perfect, pretty corpse.
Not before he chucks that stick the kids were using to torment him in the direction of your stifled laughter as a clear "fuck you" for not helping him, though.
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alwaysshallow · 1 month
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Price would not let people disrespecting his wife slide. Like you think hes gonna let the asshole get away with harassing reader? NO. MF better watch his front, back, sides, 360 all around because hes coming👹.
Simon can and WILL casually take a skillet from the kitchen section and bonk the fucker’s head. Is he dead? Who knows. Don’t question🤫. That skillet produces 3 Cs: cheese steak, concussions, and corpses.
Gaz is ARTISTIC in his approach. He tripped them on the curb so not only did they fall into the mud, they broke their arm and chipped their teeth. Earned them a trip to the ER and dentists💕
Imagine a Scottish drill sergeant yelling at you and you cant understand his Scottish. 💀.
-💸
dare i say, every man of tf141 will kill you if you'd disrespect THE wife, lmao. they're more or less obvious about it, but the scary dog privilege is alive and breathing.
i think the most dramatic yet calm is ghost; because he'd really kill someone just for one comment, no matter how it hurt you. if you're feeling unwell just because of one man, he doesn't deserve to be out here.
gaz? pretty much theartening the guy, making his life living hell lmao. small things, like being the worst customer he can be or sending the guys over to be like this for him. whatever works
soap pretty much gets the guy beat up, forces him to leave work/area where the guy lives. a bit of stalking behavior too if i may
price pretty much gaz+ghost behavior, depending on your opinion, though. he'll straight up ask you what do you prefer, killing or just making his life miserable:) he listens to his wife!!
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xxgoblin-dumplingxx · 12 days
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so glad jason is getting out in his place for the reverse, no one gets to treat baby poorly
Dick shouldered your bedroom door open and exhaled slowly. You hated having other people in your room. "Just lay her on the bed," he said, putting your bag down and putting the lunch box of snacks on the desk. "She'll be okay."
"She's really still," Jason said frowning as he laid you down. Taking half a second to unfold your arms from across your chest- just to make you look less dead.
"Happens," Dick said, pulling a clean blanket from the chest at the foot of your bed and throwing it over you quickly. You had half a dozen extra blankets. Throw pillows. Plushes. At some point in the intervening years, you'd gone from a full-sized bed to a queen just to accommodate it all. "She gets tired out after all that." He paused for a second and checked the temperature in the room before jerking his head towards the door.
It was better to leave you alone and let you rest. And once they ere outside, he shut the door and lead Jason down the hall. Going to find Alfred and let him know that you're safely in your room.
"What did she do to her hands?" Jason asked?
Dick shrugged, "Punching the shit out of the trees, tearing out brambles... The clearing is bigger than it used to be. I know she's hurled rocks around before. But. I only know that because I check up on it every so often."
"But-"
"Otherwise," Dick sighed. "It's a lot of crying, blood-curdling muffled screaming, and emotional turmoil that would make Bruce crack... It all has to go somewhere."
"Just out in the woods recreating a horror movie?"
"Nowhere else to do it," he said practically. "It could potentially fuck up the whole manor if she just flipped shit in her room. She can't just run screaming down a street. And unless she wants to live isolated in the middle of nowhere- which might be okay for a while- she'd probably just go crazy and either join a cult or start a cult."
"She's terrified of people-"
"Terrified of hurting people," Dick corrected, "and of being hurt. there's a difference. It's like befriending a feral cat. You get pretty far with snacks- it takes a while to get her to warm up to you. Alfred won her over with Homemade Cinnamon rolls."
"What'd you do?" Jason snorted.
"Snuck her into the zoo early one day," he said smiling at the memory. After a disastrous family trip that had you whimpering in pain, watching you zip down the walkways beaming... It was worth bribing a few people.
"What'd everyone else-"
"Little wing, look," Dick sigh. "I get it. She's a cutie. She's got an air of mystery about her but-"
"I don't-"
"It's just a little crush. If you just relax a little when you talk to her she'll stick around. She doesn't really hang around any of us-"
"I don't like her like that," Jason murmured," cheeks heating. "She's just weird."
"She's weird and you're a reheated corpse," Dick snorted at his retreating back. He'd HAVE to tell Stephanie. She liked knowing when her hunches were right.
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Yandere AIB Boys seeing their S/O being kissed by another person
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Summary: Someone is dying today~
Notes: Takes place in the Borderlands - Canon violence - NSFW - Abuse - Yandere - Blood - MDI - +18 -
♤ Chishiya
No one will notice his mood change when he sees how someone dares to kiss you. He is well collected and has to pretend to not be obssesed with you so people wont use you against him. However he is beyond mad.
Feels like he needs to remind you who you belong to (you are not sleeping tonight) and also find a way to get ride of that person but in a way no one connects their death to him.
Will probably betray them in a game or poison them at the beach.
♤ Arisu
Its going over you the moment he sees it happen. Pushing the other person away from you then making sure you are alright. He is so caring and soft with you!! No one will think that same night he decides to pay a visit to said player and kill them while they sleep. He will chock them with their pillow.
You dont need to know you soft and caring boyfriend can be a maniac sometimes.
♤ Banda Sunato
The one who kisses you was asking for their death and Banda its more than happy to provide it!!
You are his, and only his. He wont wait to kill this person, this person dies in front of you in the most brutal and sadistic way you can imagine.
As crazy as he is its not a suprise Banda insist on having sex besides the corpse, the lifeless eyes looking at both of you as Banda grunts and repeats how he is the only one who can kiss you.
♤ Tatta
Baby boy its insecure and asks you why you let them kiss you. He guilt trips you and makes you question your love for him (one that was fabricated and manipulated by him). Tatta does not like fights but he can let this pass.
Will ask them to help them with the cars and then whoops!! An accident just happened and they died.
♤ Karube
Goes to the scene, separates both of you and then punches the other person. Its goig to beat them up till someone drags him away. He later asks if you are alright and decides you need more marks on your body to show others who you belong to.
♤ Aguni
Takes the person by their neck and throws them away. No one dares to do something. Soon that person is being taken by the other militars to never been seen again.
Dont worry he will cuddle you and say he is sorry for not being there.
♤ Kuzuryu
Probably happened when he was not around and overhear it as gossip. Its a hit at his ego since he has power at the beach and people knows you are his.
Once he finds out who was it he wont kill them but make their life at the beach terrible. Giving them more tasks, making them the target of others, and just...ends beimg seen as an object.
You may ask him to tone it down but he wont do it, will kiss you and ask you if their kiss was better (please be a brat he will have so much fun with you at night).
♤ Niragi
He did not shot them on the spot because you were in the middle. Once you are apart he is beating them up and no one dares to grab him. Once there is a pull of blood under them its when he stops and tells the rest to fuck off and to not help them (if they are not dead by now).
Ends taking you back to his room and asking if you are fine then rambling about who they thought they were to kiss you.
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johnkahner · 6 months
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Curious question, can you write a scenario where the reader goes on a mission to find Smoke and finds the Dark Smoke who wants to claim the reader as his own?
AN: I think this one is my longest story yet. My second time writing for Smoke, and it was fun. I hope you all enjoy it. Not proof read.
Notes: Gender-Neutral Reader and Dark!Smoke
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Kuai Liang had requested you to join him for some tea. His facial expression was making you feel uneasy. You accepted the offer wondering what was bothering him. You knew Smoke went off on a mission to find some new recruits for the Shirai Ryu. 
Both being seated at a table with some oolong tea and a variety of berries in a small bowl as the refreshments. A few minutes of silence goes by, and Kuai Liang looks a bit uncomfortable. You began to nibble at a strawberry not sure what to say to the fiery man.  
He calmly says your name, “There’s been no word from my brother. I’m not sure what happened to him nor where he is exactly.” Your eyes go wide, but he continues to speak. “I cannot afford to leave right now. We never know when an attack from the Lin Kuei may occur.” He places his tea cup on the table. “Is there anything I can do to help find Tomas?” You ask in a voice full of worry. 
He nods, “Yes, I was about to ask if you could go on a mission to find him. I’ll send a small group of people with you to aid in your search.” 
“I’ll do whatever I can to help you Kuai Liang.” 
“Thank you. He’s the only family I have left. Well, besides you of course.”
“I could say the same about you two as well.” 
The two of you share a smile. He stands up, and offers you a hand to help you stand as well. “I’ll get everything prepared and set off as soon as I can tomorrow.” 
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
The small search party split up at one of the last known locations of Smoke. You walk towards a dark cave. It was currently dark out, and you thought this would be an alright spot to set up camp for the night. 
After getting the area set up you sit next to the fire. Eyes closed. You begin to feel the presence of another living being in this cave. You thought it may be a bear or something, and right now you don’t really feel like investigating. 
Footsteps approach you from behind. You feel tense. Slowly turning around your eyes widen to see the ninja you were looking for. You quickly stand up, and rush over to him. “Tomas,” You pull him into a quick hug, “We were worried about you!” His arms pull you closer to his chest. 
Something feels wrong. You realize that there’s the smell of blood on him. He seems to notice this. “Don’t worry. It’s not mine.” He says with a dark chuckle. You froze. He was acting differently from what you were used to. 
He pulls away to look at you. His eyes are dark. You back away from him slowly. He steps closer to you with each step. You run away from him. In the direction from where he came. You were running as fast as you could. Panting. Exhausted. This wasn’t the Smoke you knew. This has to be someone else. 
The smell of blood gets stronger. And stronger. You don’t know what’s happening. All you could think about is getting away from this monster, and telling Kuai Liang what’s happened. As you continue to run, you trip over something. You fall to the ground with your eyes closed. 
When you open them you are greeted by the face of a corpse. It’s not just any corpse either. It’s one of the people that joined you to help find Tomas. You place your hand over your mouth to hide any scream or shriek that would escape from your lips. 
He walks up to you. “Darling. Why are you running from me?” He bends down to pick you up, and get you away from the corpse. “I’m only doing this for you. I love you. I love you so much” He practically growls at you. 
“You belong to me and only me. I will get rid of anyone that gets in my way, or tries to take you away from me.”
You’re scared. You miss the old Tomas you grew up with, and right now you are only thinking about Kuai Liang. He’s going to worry about you both now. Not only is his brother nowhere to be found, but so is a close friend.
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keikikait · 3 months
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ʙᴜᴛᴄʜᴇʀ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ (ɢᴏᴊᴏ x ꜰ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ)
this is the final part. part one, part two, part three
pairing: gojo x f!reader (not au, gojo is 29, reader is early-mid 20’s), some nanami x reader
word count: 3.2k
summary: you hang on to gojo's words for too long, and find yourself in the presence of another
warnings: (FOR THIS LAST PART) no outright smut but it can get suggestive so 18+, ANGST, kinda mean gojo, kinda mean nanami, light violence (pushing), my wolf motif from part 3, nickname use [baby, sweetheart], death implications, mention of blood, no use of y/n
a note: this is the final part.
please reblog and like, it means a lot! let me know what you think!
*:・゚✧*:・゚✧*:・゚✧*:・゚✧*:・゚✧*:・゚✧*:・゚✧*:・゚✧*:・゚✧*:・゚✧*:・゚✧*:・゚*:・゚✧
"How close is soon?"
"Close enough."
It’s been almost three months, and here you are, your routine unchanged. You’re starting to wonder if this was ever really worth it. If Satoru Gojo is worth all of this effort. You feel yourself travelling further and further into the wolf’s den, your protective light slowly flickering out. Soon you’ll be left in total darkness, with only the wolves to comfort you. You wonder how long you’ll be able to get by, feeling the damp walls, etched with his poison, with your fingertips before you trip over the corpse of someone else who came before you.
Within the depths of your being, a conflict raged. One part of you yearned to continue, to press forward despite the darkness and uncertainty of a life with Gojo. The other part, weary and wounded, longed for escape, for a way to retreat from the perilous path you had set foot upon. You had ventured into the unknown, leaving behind the familiar and safe, all for a glimmer of hope. But as time passed, the shine of that hope seemed to diminish, replaced by an encroaching sense of despair. The wolves followed you all this way…you couldn’t let them down, could you?
The bell rings.
You’re snapped out of your thoughts, blinking a couple of times to stabilise yourself. Right. You were at work. You clear your throat and start packing up, preparing for the lunch break. The students quickly file out of the class, eager to enjoy the sunlight that just started peaking out from behind the grey clouds.
Gojo sits on the edge of your desk, smirking down at you. “Hey.”
You smile softly. “Hey.”
He glances back at the door before looking at you. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
Fuck. Your eye twitches a little. You had a sneaking suspicion. “What are you thinking about?”
Gojo smirks, reaching out to stroke your cheek. “You bent over the desk, spread out all pretty for me…maybe I’ll gag you so no one interrupts us.” Your eye twitches again. You didn’t want to fuck Gojo right now, but you know you can’t just tell him ‘no’ without him trying to fight you. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad. Maybe he would cum quickly and not even worry about your orgasm. You sigh, shutting your eyes for a second, and before you can speak there’s a soft knock on the classroom door. He immediately jumps away from you, returning to his desk before mumbling, “Come in.”
The door opens and Shoko peeks her head in her eyes immediately fixing on Gojo before speaking, “Hey. Are you still coming out with me and Akari tonight?”
What? You look between the two of them, confused. Gojo was supposed to be going out with you tonight, and even though both of you would have to leave the city and travel separately to avoid suspicion, you had been looking forward to your weekend away with him.
Gojo smirks, adjusting his blindfold. “Of course. Same place?”
“Yeah, same place.” Shoko looks at you, and her eyes widen as if she’s suddenly remembering that you exist. “Oh, sorry! We meant to invite you but…Akari’s car can only fit three.”
That’s the biggest fucking lie you’ve ever heard. What car can only fit three people? You smile as genuinely as you can. “No worries. I’m busy tonight anyways.” Shoko seems to brush off your response, saying a quick goodbye to Gojo before exiting the room.
Gojo turns to you as soon as he hears Shoko’s feet shuffling away. “Sorry, I didn’t tell you. I know you wanted to go out tonight but…I can’t say no to her. She’ll get suspicious if she sees me with you.”
You feel like the capillaries in your eyes are about to burst. “You promised we would go out tonight, Gojo. I was looking forward to this.”
Gojo sighs. “I know, baby. It’s just that she asked me to go with her, and I knew that if I said no she would ask about my previous plans, and I can’t just lie to Shoko.”
"But you can lie to me?" you ask, your voice tinged with both disbelief and a hint of hurt.
Gojo groans, running a hand through his hair. "Don't say it like that. It's not like that at all. I'm just...protecting my reputation."
You raise an eyebrow, unconvinced. "Your reputation? Being the strongest jujutsu sorcerer in the world? The unbeatable Gojo Satoru?"
Gojo sighs, a sheepish grin tugging at the corners of his lips. "Well, yeah. But there's more to me than just that, you know. I have a carefully crafted image to uphold."
You scowl. "Right. Because being the most powerful sorcerer in the world isn't enough. You also have to be an unattainable bachelor."
Gojo chuckles, reaching out to gently cup your cheek. "It's not about being enough. It's about maintaining a certain mystique. It's part of the job."
Even though you know his act is purely for show, you find yourself believing it anyway. “You don’t have to lie to me to keep your reputation, Gojo.”
He nods, his expression serious. “I know, it’s just…it's not just about me. It's about the jujutsu world, about maintaining the balance. You know how important appearances can be."
You push his hand off. “Whatever. I hope you have fun.”
He scowls. “Don’t push me away. You know I don’t like that.”
You laugh, standing up and grabbing your bag. “I don’t like being played with.”
Gojo reaches out and grabs your arm. “I can play with you however I like. You’re mine. Don’t forget that.”
“Whatever, Gojo.” You say, pulling your arm away and leaving the classroom, harshly closing the screen door behind you.
During your lunch break, you find an unexpected sense of tranquility. In the past, the mere thought of eating alone elicited feelings of isolation and longing, you yearned to sit next to Gojo. However, lately, you've discovered a newfound appreciation for this solitary time away from him. The absence of Gojo's magnetic pull allows you to explore different facets of yourself without the influence of his opinions or expectations of you. You can finally think, and you find yourself again wondering if this is all worth it. If Gojo Satoru is worth all of this trouble. You don’t want to hang onto him, letting him drag you along and fill your ears with false whispers and forgotten promises, but you can’t help yourself. You love him. Or, at least, you love the version of him in your head.
He doesn’t speak to you for the rest of the day, rushing out after class to head into town with Shoko and Akari. You ride the train alone back to your apartment, the wolves stalking you and hiding in bushes when you turn to face them. You reach your apartment and change into something comfortable. Maybe a long walk along the river will help clear your mind. Maybe Gojo will feel guilty and call you, begging on his knees for your forgiveness.
You walk along the river, admiring the reflection of the streetlights in the inky dark water. Your mind wanders, and you wonder what it would feel like to jump in, to feel your lungs fill with water as you sink into the abyss. You wonder what it would be like to choke on the salt, reaching for the surface, your hand outstretched, hoping Gojo’s own would reach in and pull you out.
As you sit on the bench along the water, lost in thought, someone sits next to you. Turning your head, your eyes widen in surprise as you recognise the person—Kento Nanami. It has been weeks since the festival, where you profusely apologized for Gojo's behavior after he dragged you to that isolated classroom. The memory of that day still makes your cheeks flush with embarrassment, and you can't help but feel nervous as you face Nanami again.
"Hey," you manage to say, your voice slightly higher than usual. "It's been a while."
Nanami nods, his expression unreadable. "Yes, it has." An awkward silence settles between you, and you fidget with your hands, unsure of what to say next. You want to make a good impression, but the weight of your past interaction with Gojo hangs heavily in the air. 
Finally, you speak up, your voice calm and measured. "I wanted to apologise for what happened at the festival. I know Gojo's behavior was inexcusable, and I should have done more to stop him." Nanami’s face shows slight surprise but you continue anyway, "I understand if you don't want to forgive me. But I wanted to take responsibility for my actions and let you know that I regret what happened."
He shakes his head, waving your concerns away. "It's not your fault. Gojo is the one who should apologize."
You smile faintly. "Thank you for saying that." The tension between you begins to ease, and you find yourself relaxing in Nanami's presence. You can't help but admire his calm demeanor, and as you talk, you realise that there is more to Nanami than you initially thought. He is intelligent, thoughtful, and possesses a quiet strength that draws you in. The more you speak, the more you find yourself enjoying his company. Maybe a little bit too much.
He suddenly stands, stretching a little. “I’m hungry. Have you eaten dinner yet?”
You shake your head. Eating was the last thing on your mind. “No. I could eat, though.”
He sticks his hand out in your direction. “Sweet. I know this great takoyaki stand nearby. Wanna come?”
You nod, smiling. “Sure.” You reach out and grab his hand, and you feel warmth pool in your stomach as your hand fits perfectly in his. His hands are so big, rough, and warm and your mind starts swirling as you imagine what they would feel like on your body.
You walk hand in hand toward the takoyaki stand, the warmth spreading all over your body. Your cheeks flush as you find yourself thinking, is this a date? Gojo has never taken you out on a date, not even once. It would be, as he always said, suspicious. You’ve eaten takeout with him in your apartment while watching TV plenty of times, but that isn’t really a date. Yet here Nanami is, taking you on a date.
As you stand in front of the takoyaki stand, waiting for your order, you can't shake the feeling that something special is happening. The air is filled with anticipation, and your heart races with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. He doesn’t let you pay, another stark difference from Gojo. You barely eat, just admiring him as he talks through another corporate world story. You feel something in your gut, and you can’t help the fact that you’re falling for Nanami, and he seems interested in you too. At least you think he is.
You both finish your food and he walks you back in the direction of your apartment. He continues to talk about himself and his corporate job, and even though you find it incredibly boring, you listen anyway. He’s done so much for you just this night alone, it’s the least you could do to repay him. You make it to your apartment door, and in the heat of the moment you invite him in, and the smirk on his face as he accepts causes your thighs to squeeze together.
Sex with Nanami is different. He’s much more caring, more loving than Gojo. He doesn’t slap you, choke you, or hurt you. He’s gentle, gentle with his movements, and gentle with his kisses. You clean yourself up and return to the bed, already thinking about a movie you two could watch while you cuddle, to find Nanami gone. You text him, asking if he’s okay, and his response is plain. “Had to head out. I had fun.” You try not to overthink, you’ve done enough of that with Gojo. You set your phone aside and watch the movie alone, fantasising about your possible future with Nanami.
After two weeks, you finally say what you’ve always wanted to say to Gojo; “I want to break up.”
He laughs at you, leaning his elbows on your kitchen counter. “Funny joke, sweetheart.”
You stand your ground, your arms crossed. “I’m serious, Gojo.”
Gojo's laughter fades, and he looks at you with a more serious expression. "You can't be serious," His voice is laced with disbelief. "We're perfect for each other."
"I don't think so," you reply, your voice shaking slightly. "Things have been...difficult between us lately, and I don't see a way to fix them."
Gojo's face hardens, and he takes a step towards you. "You're making a mistake."
You start to shake. “No, I’m not.”
Gojo laughs again. “This is because of Nanami, isn’t it?”
You hesitate. “It doesn’t matter, Gojo. I want to break up.”
Gojo reaches out and grabs your shoulders. “Quit being a dumbass, sweetheart.”
Your eyebrows furrow. “Don’t call me a dumbass—”
“I can call you whatever I want,” Gojo says. “You’re mine. You’re not dumping me for Nanami. You’re not dumping me for anyone.”
You try to push him away. “I’m tired of waiting around for you, Gojo.”
Gojo pulls you to his chest, squeezing you tight. “Maybe if you weren’t such a bitch I would fall in love with you faster. Have you ever thought about that? No, you haven’t. You only think about yourself.”
Your words die in your throat, and you can feel the familiar presence of the wolves at your ankles. Nanami had come to your rescue, brandishing a torch to scare away the wolves that Gojo had left you surrounded by. You haven’t felt their presence in so long, you thought you had finally gotten away, but Gojo picked you right back up and threw you back in the den.
He shoves you against the wall. “Fine. Go with him. See if I fucking care. You’ll come crawling back to me after you realise he isn’t any different.” Gojo leaves in a huff, slamming the door of your apartment behind him. You did it. You got away. You escaped Gojo Satoru’s clutches.
Your heart sinks as you soon realise the harsh truth in Gojo's words. Nanami, the person you've been cautiously and gradually getting close to, is no different from the rest, you've been merely a casual fling, an object of desire providing temporary pleasure and companionship. That’s all you were to him, an object, and the bitter realisation leaves you feeling betrayed and dejected.
Weeks have passed since you first embarked on this uncertain journey with Nanami. You've shared meals, conversations, and even some tender moments late at night when the lights go out. During one of your late-night trips to the takoyaki stand, you ask him the age-old question What are we? With food still in his mouth, he looks at you, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion as if trying to understand your reaction. His blunt words hit you like a ton of bricks: "Oh, I wasn’t looking for anything serious with you."
The pain is palpable as your heart shatters into a million pieces. The chopsticks in your hand tremble with the force of your grip, threatening to snap in two. A mix of disbelief and anguish floods your being, leaving you struggling to process the situation. A simple "huh?" escapes your lips, a feeble attempt to seek clarification or perhaps a desperate plea for him to reconsider. But the damage has been done, and the truth is laid bare before you.
He swallows, setting his food down. He pauses, gathering his thoughts, he speaks slowly, trying to choose his words carefully. "Listen," he began, his voice tinged with a mix of regret and awkwardness, "I want to be honest with you. You're an amazing person, a great girl in every way. But I have to confess, my feelings for you aren't romantic. As much as I value your body, I can't see us in a dating relationship. You aren’t exactly dating material. I don't want to lead you on or anything, but I just don’t want to date you."
You swallow hard, looking down at your lap. Maybe this was your destiny. Maybe you were supposed to be stuck in situationships, always being the one wanting more, always being someone’s but never being theirs. You mutter an apology to Nanami before standing up and quickly walking away, back towards your apartment. You expect, you hope, that Nanami will chase after you, but he doesn’t. He just goes back to eating, as if you were never even there.
You make it into your apartment, collapsing to the floor and sobbing. Was this your fate? Was this a punishment for your hubris, a long-term karma? Gojo had devoured you. Gojo had butchered your world, leaving only scraps of you. Scraps no one wanted, scraps not worthy of use. 
You’re back in the den again, surrounded by the corpses of those who loved before you. You were just another person in Gojo’s book, another person in the walls that surrounded the den.
You hear them.
You feel them.
The wolves. They’re coming for you.
Run.
You try to run, but you can’t. You keep tripping, and tripping, and tripping, unable to escape, unable to climb over the bodies of those who loved him first. 
You see the light on the other side, the exit to the den, and you get so close, and you’re almost out —
You trip again. Your body hits the cold, hard cave floor with a thud, the impact knocking the wind out of you. Your heart pounds against your chest, adrenaline coursing through your veins, as you scramble to your feet. But it's no use. The wolves have caught up to you, their relentless pursuit echoing off the stone walls. Time has run out.
You turn instinctively, desperation fueling your movements, trying to crawl away on trembling limbs. But your feeble attempt is met with a chilling realisation – they are already there. Towering over you, their hulking forms block out the dim light, casting eerie shadows. Their menacing growls reverberate in the air, sending shivers down your spine. Their muscular bodies tense and coiled, poised to pounce.
Their muzzles are contorted, revealing rows of sharp, glistening fangs, dripping with saliva. A feral hunger burns in their bloodshot eyes, as red as fresh blood. You can almost taste the metallic tang in the air, a grim reminder of the fate that awaits you. Paralysed by fear, you brace yourself for the inevitable, as the wolves close in, their ravenous jaws inching closer. The darkness of the cave closes in, consuming you whole.
You succumb to the wolves and their sharp teeth as they tear you apart. The way they bite and gnaw at you is almost comforting. Beside you is a puddle, and you watch your reflection as they butcher you. They tear out your heart, the one that once belonged to the strongest, and the one you thought would belong to a businessman. Your last thoughts are of Gojo, and you spend your last waking moments wondering if he’ll walk all over you, even in death.
*:・゚✧*:・゚✧*:・゚✧*:・゚✧*:・゚✧*:・゚✧*:・゚✧*:・゚✧*:・゚✧*:・゚✧*:・゚✧*:・゚*:・゚✧
epilogue is here
★taglist: @heijihattorisgf, @strxxberries, @sadmonke, @mo0nforme, @whereflowerswenttodie, @mwtsxri, @tuliptoot, @certainduckanchor, @softhrted, @mystarlightswiftt, @kaizestar (italics mean i couldn't tag you)
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stealingyourbones · 2 years
Text
Danny Phantom meets Superman. More accurately I should say that Danny Fenton meets Clark Kent.
Let me make this clear cause people seem to forget this: superman is smart. Clark kent is a very intelligent guy. Hes an INVESTIGATIVE journalist. He works with Lois Lane whos a multiple Pultizer prize winner and you know damn well that Lois wouldn’t work with anyone that cant keep up with her in both wits and smarts. He’s good at his job and in some comics he gets Pulitzer Prizes from some of his articles as well. Dude is dumb but he’s smart if you get what I’m saying. High Int. Low Wis.
With that in mind, During an assignment by Perry White, Lois and Clark meet the Fentons in their Amnesty residence to get some quotes on an article that discusses “Everything we thought didn’t exist is now real. Superheroes, Aliens, even Vampires, so why do we not Believe in Ghosts?”
Clark Kent spots Danny and notices instantly that MANY things are wrong with this child. His shoulders are hunched in a way that is intentional and tensed. Like he doesn’t know if he should fight or flee. His eyes are darting around and constantly taking in their surroundings like he’s waiting for something to barge in. His heart is beating far slower than it should. The kid intentionally makes his chest rise and fall but he’s not breathing in any oxygen. All of those are concerning but they can happen in metas. The thing that isn’t normal is that Clark can’t hear any of Danny’s other organs working. Like the kid is a revitalized corpse and his body only thought to bring back half of its needed functions.
So Clark does some digging. He doesn’t want to tell any of the Justice League because this isn’t a Superman job, this is a job for Clark Kent. He gets some help from Oracle and with her word that she won’t say anything to batman, He agrees to update her regularly about the kids situation.
Oracle sends over some VERY concerning documents from an organization called “The Ghost Investigation Ward”. Oracle tells Clark that she’s working on tipping off the Bats and Birds so they can help dismantle the organization.
While sifting through the documents Clark comes across a profile of a “Danny Phantom”. As I said, Clark isn’t stupid. There is definitely a profile of Danny Fenton as well since he’s the son of two world renown ghost hunters. He puts the two and two together and uncovers just the horrible treatment that Phantom has been receiving from his parents, the government, and his peers. Clark is outraged and can’t just stand aside and let this kid suffer. So he makes another trip to the Fenton residence under the guise of needing another quote and sits Danny and Jazz down and tells him that he knows of the terrible lab safety, the immoral experiments his parents do on the regular, the neglect of the kids in pursuit of scientific discovery. He knows and he wants to help. Clark tells Danny and Jazz that there is an apartment available right nextdoor from his and that he can help them get to a safer location and apply for emancipation.
The Fenton kids are shocked at this guy and his immensely kind heart. Danny knows something is up though. Something is up with Clark Kent. He looks like all his life would be spent in the gym when he isn’t at work and yet Danny can’t find a thing on Clarks interest in working out. His baggy clothes somewhat cover up his muscles but his frame is far too wide to be hidden. Clarks heartbeat is slightly faster than the average persons. No human eyes could be that startlingly sky blue. And Danny knows that he has seen Clarks face somewhere but he cant put a pin on it.
The Fenton kids agree and they get brought to metropolis and the emancipation case is no problem with the evidence Clark managed to collect. The kids get the apartment next to Clarks and Clark helps them grow and get better mentally and situationally. Clark knows that in a way he’s trying to make up for his neglect on Connor but he still knows that helping these kids is the right decision.
After a month or so, Clark and the Fenton kids have a rhythm of meeting at each others apartments, getting doted over to make sure that the fentons are well fed and have everything they need and are getting settled into their new life.
Clark hasn’t told the league. Oracle keeps her promise to keep the Fentons out of Batman and the Justice League’s radar. Clark knows that he will have to tell them soon eventually. He knows that things like this wont last. He tries his best to keep these kids happy and support them how an actual caring parent should act.
A few months into the Fentons stay in Metropolis on a cool autumn afternoon, Danny is sitting on a beanbag chair reading a ratty old book that Clark lent him as Clark is typing away on his computer writing up an article for the Daily Planet when Danny looks over to Clark and says,
“I’m Phantom.”
Clark pauses typing and shoots a small smile towards danny, “I know.”
Danny nods in relieved acceptance as Clark straightens up from his hunced over position on his computer.
He pulls back his shirt collar slightly to show the blue suit and red cape. “I’m Superman.”
Danny looks at him and smiles, “I know.”
They both just sit and continue reading and writing with soft smiles on their faces. Comforted at the exchange and that it’s finally out there and eachother knew.
After a while Danny’s obsession gets to be too much. He tells Clark about it and that he has to find a way to sate his obsession of protecting and Clark accepts that it was only a matter of time and invites him to meet the League.
When Superman brings Danny to the Watchtower, saying that the rest of his fellow superheroes were shocked would be an understatement. The Man of Steel and this ghost kid are talking like a father and son.
To say that Batman was pissed that he wasn’t informed of this child is also an understatement. But there is also some amusement and respect under that frustration. Superman managed to keep this kid under wraps and didn’t even alert Batman. Superman smirking and saying under his breath to him “Looks like the World's Greatest Detective isn’t so great huh?” Makes Batman respect the man even more.
In the Watchtower, Danny meets up with Teen Titans/The Team/Whatever They’re Called Now, and meets Conner. Conner is understandably pissed and spiteful that Danny got to have Superman as a father figure.
Conner knows that Superman treating Danny this way is definitely a way of him trying to make up for the faults and breaks he had with his parental relationship with Conner. he agrees with himself that he shouldn’t hate Danny for having Superman as a Dad and the two get along like tinder and matches. Connor still has a grudge against Superman don’t get me wrong, just not as much as before.
Sometimes while the League is in battle, Superman likes to just look for Danny and watch him hold his own against world ending threats. Danny is now truly confident and it’s no longer a facade. He’s no longer hunching into himself to look smaller. He laughs more often now and seems to be genuinely happy. Superman fondly looks at his son as his kids eyes flicker with green fire as he says a shitty ice pun and freezes Metallo in his tracks with ghostly ice.
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ramblingoak · 4 months
Text
Building A Family
Another peek into the steampunk Copia fic I'm working on because I can't help myself. Check out the previous story here: Clockwork Friends.
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A young Copia (probably about 5 or 6 years old) trying to settle in at his new home.
Warnings: angst, sfw, 1k words (thank you to @gothdaddyissues for the dividers!)
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Copia’s oldest clockwork rat is Aldo and he made him when he was just a young boy, barely able to read and write.
After being dropped off to live with his apparent father Nihil, Copia was mostly left to his own devices.  His brothers were busy with their own lives and didn’t want to deal with the burden of another Emeritus heir.  The sprawling estate they lived on was closed off from the rest of the city by high walls that were patrolled by mechanical golems.  Not to mention the reputation of the Emeritus family itself.  Most of the city was convinced they were more machine than human these days.  
On a particularly lonely day Copia found himself near tears as he wandered the halls. He spent the beginning of his life in an orphanage surrounded by other children.  An endless amount of people to play with and talk to.  Here it was just him.  It was bad enough his own family didn’t seem to want anything to do with him but even the ghouls avoided him.  
Copia finally stopped when he walked by a strangely silent grandfather clock.  It loomed over him much like Nihil had done the day he was picked up from the orphanage.  The hands of the clock were still and Copia’s fingers started twitching, the urge to fix it growing stronger by the second.  It wasn’t until he had dragged a nearby chair over and started taking the clock face apart that he had an idea for another purpose for it.
“Can you hear me?”
It was hours later, the grandfather clock now just a corpse of its former self.  Copia had brought all the parts he needed into his room and spread them out on the floor.  A ghoul had come by when it had gotten dark, dropping off a plate of food and getting a fire going.  He had lingered for some time after, seemingly content to silently watch Copia work.  They had only left when Copia found himself getting frustrated when the tiny creature in front of him remained silent.
Tears began to prick at his eyes again and he struggled to keep them from falling down his cheeks.  He was just so lonely, all he wanted was something to keep him company.  It didn’t matter to him whether it was a machine or not.  Right now he had no one.  No friends…no family…just an empty house full of memories he wasn’t a part of.  With a whimper he dropped his head into his hands, his small shoulders starting to shake as the tears started to come in earnest. 
“Try this.”  Copia’s head shot up, his eyes meeting that of the ghoul that had managed to sneak back in.  The firelight danced across his silver mask and Copia shivered when it made it seem like his eyes were on fire as well.  He finally looked down to see a small metal object in its hand, the gold contrasting with the black metal of his fingers.  “This will bring it to life.”
After a few more trips to the destroyed grandfather clock Copia had re-worked his little creation to utilize what the ghoul had brought him.  Copia’s hand shook as he inserted the gold key into its back.  He could hear the gears turn as he twisted it, over and over again until he felt confident it was enough.  As delicately as possible he lowered it back to the ground, afraid to let go in case it didn’t work.  
In case his new friend remained silent.
“It’s ok.”  
Copia looked up at the ghoul, forgetting he had stuck around to watch.  It was impossible to know what the ghoul was thinking but Copia saw something in his eyes that he had only seen a few other times in his young life.  Kindness and understanding shone there, emotions so strong that Copia had to look away quickly lest he got upset again.  He took a deep breath and slowly pulled his hands away, trembling as he waited for something to happen.
It was slow at first, timid as it began to move around the rug Copia was sitting on.  After a few unsure first steps it gained confidence and crept closer to him on shaky legs.  Copia was afraid to touch it, afraid he’d break the spell the small thing might be under.  When a tiny metal paw touched his leg Copia finally smiled and reached down to scoop it up in his hands.
“Hello.”  The small metal rat twitched its nose, as if it could smell whether Copia was a friend or not.  “H-how do you feel?”
The door to his room opening and closing made him look up briefly but Copia didn’t give the ghoul leaving another thought.  He was too enamored by what he had created.  The clockwork rat was busy looking around the room, his limbs still shaky against Copia’s hands.  He was already thinking of ways to improve the design, of how he could make his new friend stronger.  
After a few moments its small body started to stop, the key moving slower and slower on its back.  Copia set it back down on the rug and ran a finger up and down its head.  It was a comforting gesture for both of them and neither one looked away from each other until the key had completely stopped.  
Copia sat back on his heels, his eyes quickly looking around the room as he thought of what he would need.  He had a responsibility now to his new friend.  He needed to take care of it, to make it healthy and happy.  Copia was prepared to do whatever he could to make sure that happened.  With a grunt he stretched out on his stomach in front of the rat, reaching out and winding the key up again.  When it came to life once more it immediately walked forward and bumped noses with him.
“I’m going to name you Aldo, ok?”  The rat's nose moved across his face, the small whiskers he had given him tickling his cheek.  “Welcome home.”
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Some more baby steampunk Copia here 💙
If you'd like to be added/removed from the tag list (or if I accidentally left your name off) of this fic or any of my others please leave a comment or send me a dm! Thank you 💙
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space--daemon · 10 months
Note
Would it be possible to hear more of your thoughts about the 5th absorbs the ninth au?
oh my god YES
i'm so deep in my tlt bre fic or i would already be writing this because i LOVE this au and will soon be reading EVERY fic with this concept (some of which are linked in the notes of the original post)
so i imagine this taking place a short while after harrow opens the tomb, a year or two at most
harrow is equal parts devastated w grief and fanatic with adoration for the body in the tomb
she is also NOT in the mood for the ninth to be absorbed by the fifth and is ready to fuckin throw down
of course by throw down, harrow means "glare at them until they go away and also bones" bc she's twelve and that's really all she can do
fifth's first trip to the ninth:
abigail: hel- those people are dead
harrow, currently manipulating the corpses of her parents: (drops from the ceiling like batman) begone, invaders, you are not- griddle!
gideon, who Should Not be there but saw a sword and thought "fuck it": (walks up to magnus) fight me old man
magnus and abigail immediately decide to adopt these children
magnus starts sparring with gideon and getting his ass handed to him, much to aiglamene's delight
abigail begins the daunting task of Earning Harrowhark Nonagesimus' Trust
she explains she doesn't actually want to take over the ninth and harrow can have it once she's eighteen
this inadvertently offends harrow and sets them back a month
the fifth quickly pick up that ortus is Not Into this whole cav business and make the pretty obvious connection that gideon should be harrow's cav and the equally obvious connection that both girls would Rather Die
cut to quinn and pent's epic quest to trick two preteens into accepting the fifth as their caregivers and becoming cav and necromancer
they also become the world's most awkward wingmen
magnus, during a sparring session: say, the reverend daughter looked very regal this morning, didn't she?
gideon, who has already adopted this man as a father figure: what the fuck mags how could you betray me like this
ortus is either besties with the fifth or actually fucking them like abigail pent would one hundred percent take one look at this chubby eloquent caring inept motherfucker and be like I Want That Bear Obliterated
at some point they get it into their heads that the girls need peer engagement so they bring jeanne and isaac to visit
harrowhark nonagesimus, who has never met a person younger than her, watching a nine-year-old jeannemary chatur vibrate with excitement: what the FUCK is That
gideon nav, whose only experience with people younger than her is harrow: what the FUCK is That
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caligvlasaqvarivm · 18 days
Note
ik you mentioned interest in writing out how you'd prefer homestuck ended (though obviously time and money makes that impossible lol), and you touched on it in your big eridan essay at the end, but would you ever consider maybe a more detailed outline? i really enjoy your thoughts on the characters and the abandoned plotlines, i'd love to get a little more of an in depth look at how you wish it went down.
Yeah sure!
For those who aren't sure what the hell I'm talking 'bout, please check out my blog and the various essays I've been writing.
Some of it is contingent on stuff I kind of still need to reread so I'm really sorry to the alpha kid likers but I'm still not totally 100% sure where I want to take them. I'm also going to include quite a few personal preference ships; I'm not interested in arguing what other people should ship or about arguing about the course of action for my dumb fanfic in general. I also tend to discover the plot I want while I'm writing it, which I don't have the luxury of here, so... some of it is going to be kind of sloppy. I'm also a big troll stan so unfortunately the kids are a little bit neglected (sorry!!!!). That said.
So the changes would take place directly after GAME OVER, which is personally the point at which I think the truncation/turning on the fanbase really starts - ships start to get turbo-sped at that point. I'm not even saying I dislike JohnRoxy or JohnRezi, but they just feel oddly rushed the way they're handled in the comic itself. IMO, anyway.
There's not too much I would rearrange during this interstitial segment; I think it's important for Jade to have the experience of loneliness, for Terezi to kick off the retcons by only feeling comfortable fixing her own mistakes. Moreover, there's no reason why other characters can't use her mind beacon abilities to ask John to rearrange the timeline, though their attempts, because they aren't backed by Seer of Mind abilities, are a lot sloppier and come with a lot more unforseen consequences.
But something I would change is that Roxy's deal with Nyx is not to just kind of... sit back and chill in non-space while John does all the work; instead, like Rose in Davesprite's timeline, Nyx puts her to sleep, and when the timeline ceases to be, GameOver!Roxy's memories get transferred to Past!Roxy via her dreamself (which wakes up early), fulfilling a "stealing from void for others" aspect of her abilities, and leads to some important interactions later on down the line.
Also, this timeline's ARquiussprite and Gamzee's corpse (heretofore referred to as (ARquiussprite) and (Gamzee)) need to come along for the ride somehow. Maybe they fall through the sky after LOLAR crashes into LOFAF.
This kicks off a series of retcons, as each troll that gets brought back successively asks for another troll/set of trolls to be brought back. This absolutely RIDDLES Act 5 with password pages, can't go two steps without running into a password page, there are password pages within password pages (which IMO is very funny and very Homestuck).
Meanwhile, a couple other plots are running concurrently - the GameOver!crew (heretofore referred to as (Name)) are now in the dream bubbles, completing their character arcs and preparing to defeat LE. Because time and space are weird in the Furthest Ring, every successive meteor trip that occurs as a result of John's retcons is the first time from the point of view of the meteor, but is a repeating event from the point of view of the people in the bubbles - eg those dead god tier Eridan and Feferi wind up healing the Mayor like seven times from their perspective.
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(Aradia) is fluttering her ASS off to make sure everyone is in the right "place" at the right "time" for this, lmfao.
Roxy gaining future memories also means that the Alpha kids get to complete their arcs in a way they weren't able to prior to Game Over. Because what John's retcons are doing are functionally whiting out and redrawing the past, the Alpha kids are also only seeing a single linear timeline.
One last arc, which is running concurrent to the retconned!trolls and their new meteor trips, is that bringing back each successive character allows them ALL to grow a little more. So it is NOT like they bring back Vriska, and now everyone's problem are fixed and everything is fine; Vriska's still kind of awful, but she gets better after Tavros gets brought back and they have to character develop alongside each other, and same when Aradia and Sollux get brought back, so on and so on. Because it's about BEING FRIENDS and BEING A TEAM. They're all still having interpersonal problems right up until ALL of them get brought back.
But as a side effect of this and the questing done by the GameOver!crew, the Dancestors get more fully utilized as foils, and get their problems addressed. As the retcon!team goes through their character development, they start to tear the Dancestors apart, because the Dancestors represent shitty parents who force their kids to clean up after their messes, and refuting them works both literally and symbolically as rejecting their irresponsible way of being in lieu of responsibility, accountability, empathy, and compassion.
So here's the series of retcons, and the absolute bullshit that accompanies each decision:
Terezi asks John to save Vriska, and prevent herself from getting too spades with Gamzee, as these are her two greatest regrets.
Pretty much just what her canon iteration asked for; I don't see any problems with the actions she asks John to do for her.
HOWEVER, we'd get more than just a montage of Vriska's time on the meteor, because in this version of events, we're taking our time and letting plot points breathe. Neither does she magically fix everything just by being around when she's very much herself still going thru it by the time the Meteor trip pops off. In any case, she brings with her some new complications:
Karkat still winds up having to play moirail and keep Gamzee calm. This still ends up breaking down by the halfway point of the comic, because they're kind of just not good for each other, but Karkat's personal shitty relationships are going to become A Theme, so it's important to make note of it here.
Vriska and Terezi don't fully make up on this iteration of the trip, since from Terezi's point of view, she was still actively about to kill Vriska before John intervened; however, we get more hints, now that they have to spend three years together, that not only does Vriska really miss Terezi (which is pretty well-established, given how she can't seem to leave Terezi alone), but Terezi actually misses Vriska, too - she's just really bad at separating her own feelings and desires from her instinctive grasp of karma and justice, a very Mind player-type problem to have.
At least with Vriska around, Terezi's able to nip her Gamzee habit in the bud, but this kind of leads to Gamzee feeling worse and more alone.
Something Really Messy happens between Vriska, Rose, and Kanaya when Rose starts her drinking habit, and it's pretty toxic for all involved, and Karkat is kind of stuck playing auspice. Vriska already expresses not liking Rose much and develops some flushed feelings for Kanaya after being watching her murder Eridan, so "It's Really Messy" is kind of all I can say on the matter. The girls are fightiiinnnnggggg
Dave and Terezi get close again, but given the weirdo vibes he notices between her and Vriska, and the fact that he's really not down with quadrants (YET.), means they still end up not getting together.
Sorry DaveKat likers but I am not one. They do not ever get together, so if you are hoping for that, I am sorry and you don't have to keep reading if you don't want to, it's OK.
On a note about Vriska and Terezi - personally, I do think their moirallegiance is endgame; Vriska clearly misses her terribly, constantly trying to bug her into making the Scourge Sisters a Thing again, and she even expresses feeling really bad about the Team Charge Debacle to Terezi explicitly, before directly foreshadowing how awful Terezi will feel after killing Vriska:
AG: Cause even though you got all these highfalutin morals and fancy reserv8tions, you know as well as me that a killer is a killer is a killer! AG: There 8n't no ch8nging your ways for good, and one d8y you're going to flail that silly l8ttle cane of yours and not find n8thin to 8ump into, and fall f8ce first into the shit ag8in. AG: And you're going to do something t8rri8le to some8ody and wish you could t8ke it 8ack 8ut you c8n't!!!!!!!! AG: And then you'll work hard to win 8ack their trust, and you'll try and try and tr8, and you'll see how hard it is! AG: You'll seeeeeeee!
We know that she starts using 8's where they don't make sense phonetically when she gets really agitated, so it's pretty safe to say that she's displaying genuine emotional distress here. When combined with the way she tells John about feeling absolutely horri8le about killing Tavros, it's pretty clear she's genuine about feeling really bad about the Team Charge debacle, and sincere about wanting to somehow make amends and get back into Terezi's good graces, at times trying rivalry, at times trying to prove that she's trying to fix her mistakes.
Terezi also vehemently denies them having a kismesistude and directly mirrors Vriska's hesitance about all the murder:
GC: W3 4R3 SUPPOS3D TO R3V3L 1N BLOODSH3D 4S W3 GROW UP GC: 4ND SH3 S33MS TO B3 3MBR4C1NG H3R R1T3 OF P4SS4G3 W1TH R3CKL3SS 4B4NDON, 4S 1 WOULD 3XP3CT GC: GR4BB1NG TH3 BULL BY TH3 HORNS, SO TO SP34K GC: 1TS 4 L1TTL3 1NT1M1D4T1NG GC: B3C4US3 1M NOT SUR3 1F 1M R34DY FOR TH4T
AG: On my world, I would 8e completely vindic8ed for killing him! He is far lower on the hemospectrum than me. He managed to disrespect me time and time again, 8ut I kept letting him live! In fact, the amount of slack I cut him would 8e considered scandalous 8y those in my class. AG: I had every reason to kill him. And yet... AG: I feel 8ad a8out it like a lame weak fudge8lood, just like he was. AG: And the fact that I feel 8ad is why I'm sort of freaking out right now!
They're basically two toxic girls who CANNOT be honest with their real feelings, and wind up hurting each other. They need therapy badly, but given the fact that they also mirror each other positively - Terezi feels grateful to Vriska for blinding her, and Vriska mentions she ought to thank Terezi for killing her, which set her up on a date with the dead John Terezi also killed - I think they have a lot of potential to be genuinely kind to each other once they work through their individual issues.
Anyway. We're keeping the Roxy stuff under wraps for now - last we saw of her, she went to go see her denizen, and her planet exploded, and John was really bummed about it. HOWEVER, we are going to check in with our GameOver!crew, although only lightly for now:
Meenah and (Vriska) have fully disappeared, and (Tavros), (Nepeta), and (Feferi) are looking for them because they've got the FUCKING TREASURE???
Everyone else from the Game Over timeline has landed in the afterlife, to varying degrees.
Shortly after entering the afterlife, (Eridan) fucked off somewhere to be alone. Last anyone heard from him was (ghost!Sollux) and him being Erisolsprite, but neither (ghost!Sollux) nor (alive!Sollux) have seen him since Erisolsprite died in Game Over.
(Karkat) is also brooding off on his own, feeling really shitty and sorry for himself. He's always felt personally responsible for everything going wrong for his team, and now that his team is basically entirely dead, he feels extra shitty.
Mostly just setting up that these guys are still relevant to the story, despite now being (irrelevant).
That brings us to the second retcon. Vriska obviously had great regrets about killing Tavros, both pre- and post-retcon, so she asks for his death to be prevented.
Tavros is back.
Vriska's requested fix is a very simple one - after all, Karkat makes mention about how Vriska's always had a competitive streak with Terezi, admiring/being jealous of her ability to manipul8 people; I think an ultimate culmination of that is her insisting that insisting to John that he do a retcon to stop her from killing Tavros - which, as covered above, she regrets greatly - but to do a much sloppier job of it, simply having John pop into [S] Wake and knock Tavros the fuck out.
Vriska herself doesn't believe this will have any unintended side effects, because her opinion of Tavros is still really low despite her genuine desire to make amends, and she's wrong.
Tavros's stay on the meteor has a major effect on Gamzee. I'm not entirely sure how it would pan out exactly, but I think Gamzee would step in between Dave and Tavros, into a situation none of them are happy with. This starts Tavros on a path of realizing that his inability to stand up for himself not only hurts him, but people he cares about (Gamzee, whom he ghosted).
Vriska is mostly uninterested in Tavros now, as the moment has kind of passed, and Terezi keeps getting on her ass about going after him (which brings the two of them closer).
Previous Messy romantic situations are still active. Karkat is going thru it.
Dave feels bad about tormenting Tavros but he kind of can't help himself, especially because Tavros keeps going up to him for some reason. The fact that he gets trapped in an auspice with Tavros and Gamzee kind of reinforces that he does NOT vibe with troll quadrants. Dave becomes MORE xenophobic.
On a note regarding Gamzee and Tavros: while I generally try to avoid relying on Hussie's commentary too much, as he likes to play his cards close to his chest, his note about Gamzee in the Act 5 book is actually significant enough to me to include:
The best explanation for why Gamzee says he's scared of Vriska, in my opinion, is this: he's flat-out lying. It's a good way for him to maintain his cover as 'Soft Gamzee.' It also provides some ammunition for those who, against all sense of good taste and judgment, want to continue to believe and assert that Gamzee is a decent guy with sensitive emotions and vulnerabilities before he undergoes his Muderstuck awakening. He was none of those things, ever.
Hussie likes to play coy, and you can't really trust anything he says after Act 6 because he's fed up with the fandom, but I think this comment comes early enough, and is made assertively enough, that it can be taken at face value. I know that "Soft Gamzee" is actually extremely popular in the fandom, so this may be controversial, but I do think there's more evidence for him being kind of nasty and manipulative than not, and having that always be a part of him brings more cohesiveness to his character. For example, he seems to have a pale crush on Karkat, trying to assert that Karkat is his best friend and changing the topic when Sollux gets brought up and he recognizes Karkat is closer to Sollux than him, and if you read his first log with Terezi as if he's hiding being nasty under a soft veneer, then his comments do read as pretty passive-aggressive.
TC: yOu KnOw HoW iT iS wItH fAmIlY. GC: NO, NOT R34LLY! GC: 4DURRRR DURR DURP TC: Oh YeAh... ... TC: I sPaCeD oUt, DiD yOu KnOw HoW bEaTuFuL tHe SoUnD oF tHe OcEaN iS? TC: hAvE yOu EvEr EvEn SeEn ThE oCeAn? TC: oR i MeAn SmElLeD iT... TC: SoRrY. GC: >:[
Maybe most damningly, his narration calls dealing with Eridan's genuine emotional distress "indulge emotional theatrics," an implication of his true feelings. Karkat and Eridan are heavily foreshadowed to be moirails, and Gamzee seems to have a pale crush on Karkat. What does Gamzee do in this conversation? He chases Eridan away from comforting Karkat - using the same excuse as he uses to avoid dealing with Vriska.
CA: put kar on TC: UuUuH, i cAn't rEaLlY ThInK AbOuT InTeRvEnInG, tHe bLaCk fRoWnInG MoThErFuCkEr kInDa sCaReS Me
Moreover, he does NOT seem to like Jack comforting Karkat instead, either.
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THIS IS NOT TO SAY I DON'T THINK GAMZEE ALSO DESERVES A SHOT AT KINDNESS AND REDEMPTION. Gamzee is clearly a very troubled youth, between his absentee lusus, his indoctrination into a fundie doomsday cult, and his sopor usage. The fact that having his faith shattered by Dave makes him snap implies that, one, he was already unstable and teetering on the edge, and having his faith fucked with was the last straw, and two, that until he lost that last shred of hope, he was still pretending to be nicer than he was for a reason, and given that his LE worship doesn't start up until after the snappage, I think it can be extrapolated that that reason is that he genuinely wants to get along with his friends.
Given that Gamzee's issues largely stem from his neglectful lusus, it's not a stretch to say that Gamzee does not take well to abandonment and isolation. So here's kind of where Tavros comes in:
Gamzee mentions that he feels "So aT ChIlL WiTh yOu" while talking to Tavros, and Tavros reciprocates the friendship and also - interestingly - acknowledges Gamzee's religion, calling it beautiful even if he doesn't necessarily believe in it. I call it interesting because Karkat's inability to do so is explicitly one of the reasons their moirallegiance broke down. Moreover, in their first conversation together, Gamzee explicitly praises Tavros for his "gumption" for stealing his clown nose, when Tavros's avoidance of his problems is one of his biggest personal issues. So yeah, personally, I'm all for moirallegiance.
But Tavros started ghosting him after Gamzee offered to make out a little, another symptom of his avoidance issues. I'm sure that, even in this meteor trip, the fact that Gamzee killed Equius and Nepeta really scares him. In his conversation with Terezi, Terezi outright says "NO WOND3R V4NT4S C4NT ST4ND YOU"; Equius is constantly yelling at him; lots of people on their team seem to genuinely just sort of dislike him.
CG: MIRACLES ARE LIKE POOP STAINS ON GOD'S UNDERWEAR. TA: eheheh makiing fun of people2 reliigiion2 i2 the be2t thiing two do.
So having one of the few people he does really like also ghost him probably did... bad things to his mental health. Especially so when said person wound up dead. But now that he isn't dead, I think they have a shot - they just need to address their personal problems. Tavros with his avoidance, and Gamzee with his resentment toward the world, and reliance on substances and religion to take the edge off. In this meteor iteration, that doesn't quite happen - their toxic auspicetism succeeds in letting them air out their dirty laundry to the audience, but doesn't bring full reconciliation.
In any case, this meteor trip is fairly short, and uneventful from the dream bubbles side, although I do think Tavros should get a talking-to from (Tavros) about real self-esteem and self-worth.
Still, being back in contact with Tavros again, even if in kind of a messed-up way, does make Gamzee start to reconsider some of his past actions. This brings us to:
Gamzee Asks for Equius and Nepeta back.
Gamzee's not as nice as he lets on, but he does genuinely care about his teammates, and for the people he really cares about, like Karkat or Tavros, I think he's willing to stick his neck out. Bringing back Nepeta and Equius is more for Tavros than himself, really, because Tavros is scared of him for doing that, and he motherfuckin' misses Tavros, okay? John mostly agrees because he's kind of scared of Gamzee.
Some really fun stuff starts happening this go around.
The Gamzee-Tavros situation becomes resolved because this time, Equius steps in as an auspice between Tavros and Dave, and this auspicetism is COMPLETELY HEALTHY (with the bonus of being extremely funny, and what is the point of a Homestuck ship if it is not deeply funny).
Gamzee and Tavros are able to enter into a totally healthy moirallegiance once the auspicetism builds up Tavros's self-confidence, much to Karkat's relief.
Being stuck in the auspicetism makes Dave go crawling back to Terezi on his hands and knees. I'm sorry, Terezi. I'll do anything if you take me back. Just don't let me die as the guy stuck in a threesome with the two worst trolls. Dave has overcome his xenophobia.
Dave and Terezi becoming official does make Karkat sad, however, so when Nepeta finally works up the courage to confess to him, he accepts the offer to date her, thus fulfilling Jaspersprite's musing that she might only be able to date him after she dies.
They also break up. We're keeping up this trend of Karkat and his disastrous relationships. He's still involved in the Rose/Kanaya/Vriska drama, too.
With GamTav and Dave/Tavros/Equius cinched, Tavros and Vriska reach a sort of truce with each other. Not really friends, since they kind of still dislike each other, but Vriska would genuinely be glad to see Tavros getting more actually confident, and muster up the energy to genuinely apologize for almost killing him, so there's a sort of mutual respect there now. Vriska and Terezi are even closer because of this, but still not fully over their problems.
On the topic of the Dave/Tavros/Equius auspicetism: Dave still can't stop bothering Tavros, but the lewdness of it sets Equius off, so he feels like he has to intervene. Dave also can't stop himself from bothering Equius, which ALWAYS BACKFIRES, and since Tavros has a weird fondness/rivalry with Dave, he'd find it within himself to ask Equius to back off (which would work, because of Equius's... Equius). And every time Equius gets too overbearing toward Tavros, Dave feels COMPELLED to intervene, because he's like, my fucking god, you are the two worst trolls, why must weirdos fight. Dave desperately wants out, but he can't stop staring at these two.
And weirdly enough, it's beneficial for all of them. With two people to yell at him for being weird, Equius becomes less weird. With a rival in Dave and more contact with Equius, Tavros becomes more confident. And Dave has two people to rap against and feel good about his art with, something he more or less had to deal with alone during previous trips.
On the topic of Karkat and Nepeta, there are quite a few implications that they wouldn't necessarily work out. For citations, let me just link my Nepeta essay, where I go over what the comic says about their relationship from a storytelling perspective; here, I'll talk about their relationship from a more interpersonal perspective.
Karkat's signals are mixed as fuuuuuuck. While I don't necessarily think this will be an issue for Nepeta, as - as a Heart player - she's preternatually gifted at understanding motivations, the thing is... I think Nepeta can do better, and deserves better, a sentiment echoed by Jasprosesprite^2. She certainly deserves better than being second to Terezi, at the very least, even if she states she likes his outbursts.
And the thing is, Karkat is pretty explicit about saying that he doesn't return her feelings; in a world where they date, there's always going to be a sense that she's his second choice. And, just... my girl deserves better, okay? Moreover, while he respects her personhood, he's also pretty nasty to her when he DOES talk to her, implying he doesn't necessarily respect her choices. And also, she's actually really bad at shipping, so there will be this extremely weird tension of like... a hobbyist vs. a professional. I don't think Karkat would be able to stop himself from mocking some of her shipping choices if she ever opened up to him about that.
But I think them getting together is important for Nepeta, developmentally - I talk about this in my essay for her, but shipping is something I think she does need to outgrow, since it's kind of a replacement she's using for her loneliness. Moreover, I say in that essay that the issues she has in her moirallegiance with Equius warrant relationship counselling - and that's what Karkat is uniquely qualified to dispense, as the team's Blood player. Although they end up not working out, Nepeta would take several valuable lessons from this relationship - that she's kind of bad at shipping, that Equius is being kind of a shithead to her, and that she needs to start making friends with other people.
Now then. We're finally getting into some drama in the bubbles.
Please imagine for me Equius and Horuss talking, and Equius being aghast at the way Horuss is so derisive towards his matesprit and moirail. Now imagine him pulling a mic out of nowhere and rapping at him about how his problem is that he does not respect his partners. Now imagine Tavros and Dave joining in, also out of nowhere, with Tavros adding bars about how the hemospectrum is, not a good thing, he thinks. And Dave adding bars about how he does not have a fucking dog in this race. He's not even a troll. He doesn't understand their hemospectrum. Let him out of here. The fine fucking art of Alternian slam poetry. I think Horuss would start crying. So would I if three people including my grandkid started rapping at me.
Nepeta's uncanny emotional acumen leads to her wanting to befriend Damara, but being unable to speak her language.
GameOver!crew is up to something, IDK, probably showing (Tavros) inspiring people and rebuilding the ghost army, to tell a parallel story to Tavros becoming more genuinely self-confident.
We check in with the Alpha kids, too, who have some group therapy sessions led by Roxy.
Vriska and Tavros confront Rufioh together, a final culmination of their no-longer-enemiesship, and together, they steal Rufioh's ones. Like, Tavros starts speak1ng w1th ones, something he always had in him, and they also roast Rufioh so badly that he stops speaking in ones. But the way it's presented to the audience, Vriska outright just says that Tavros should steal his ones. And Tavros does. This carries over to successive retcons, as it's implied that Tavros just kind of starts naturally being more confident as healthy relationships are established sooner and sooner.
Anyway, a final note about Equius - his problems are mostly due to being sheltered. Although he is probably the most casteist highblood, he's not really that casteist, as what's really going on is just that he's got a BDSM kink. But because he's sheltered, he does not realize that it's a kink. And a fetishist who does not realize that they're a fetishist has more power than God.
His protectiveness of Nepeta does come from a good place; preventing her from playing FLARP was actually in her best interest, given what happens to people who play FLARP. But he's very much going overboard with it, likely an extension of his own lack of understanding of how much sheltering is good and how much becomes detrimental. What he really needs is for someone to point it out to him, which I think he gets via Nepeta or via Karkat, and then have a reaaaaally long think about it. He's genuinely a polite and helpful soul, who doesn't WANT to make people uncomfortable. The auspicetism is very good for him in this regard, as is his moirallegiance once Karkat talks him and Nepeta through their issues.
The point is, once he's forced to reckon with the fact that the degeneracy is coming from inside the house, I think he'd have a LOT of regrets about the way he treated Aradia. Which leads us to:
Whoops That Robot Thing Was Really Inappropriate Huh
Equius approaches John to ask him to make Past!Equius reconsider the Aradiabot Thing. John's getting kind of impatient with all these trolls who keep asking him to go back through time, but given that everyone seems a little happier each time, he can't help but agree.
So he goes back to the past, before Equius can give Aradia her robot body with the love chip in it, and something really fun gets to happen here: first of all, Equius's Void status makes him really hard to place, so John winds up missing by a bit, time-wise, so Aradia's already in the body. This is the first time that retconning!John and Aradia have been in the same place together, and when she meets him and finds out that he can time travel without causing paradoxes, she demands (with her Aradiabot deathmurderkill intensity) to be taken back in time to before she died.
John's retcon powers explicitly ignore the usual rules of paradox space - he describes it as a "fresh start". Given that Breath is associated with choices and freedom, his retcon powers are kind of the ultimate culmination of his abilities as a breath player. Although doomed timelines can and will still result from paradoxes caused by players when John isn't there, anything he directly interferes with is totally a-okay.
So all Aradiabot asks him for is passage back in time, in order to sanction her interference in the past. After she dismisses him, she still more or less has to adhere to events in the original timeline, for two reasons - the first being that she doesn't want to risk a new doomed timeline, and the second so she can keep the timeline predictable.
So even though she's basically asked for passage to the time period before SGRUB, it's basically outright stated that the progression of events has to be more or less the same, up until the point where John's other retcons take place. So here are the cascading effects of Aradiabot preventing her own death:
Aradiabot takes Aradia's place in the Team Charge debacle, being blown up/"killed" (as a sprite) by Sollux's eye beams, so that she can take Aradia's place as Doc Scratch/the Handmaiden's servant and "carry out" their orders.
Meanwhile, Aradia seeks refuge with Equius, whose void powers keep her hidden from Doc Scratch's omnipotence.
Because Sollux never actually killed Aradia, and Aradia communicates with him via Equius's account, Sollux is less depressed and self-loathing. He no longer predicts a future where all of them die and he has to be blinded. It's left deliberately vague whether this future comes to pass because he's less pessimistic, so his Mage powers are calling a happier future into being, or if his future changed, so his Mage powers are prophesying something new.
Nepeta starts regaining memories of alternate timelines and past retcons, as an extension of her Rogue of Heart powers. This includes the relationship counselling she received from Karkat.
Between Nepeta and Aradia yelling at him, Equius's character development starts sooner, so he's squared away for future events, and ends up not making the creepy Aradiabot, making a non-creepy one instead.
Aradia and Equius do not strike up a relationship, and become uneasy enemies/friends.
Aradia secretly god tiers well in advance of Jack's arrival, and meets him at Derse rather than awakening on her crypt there.
Aradia and Sollux continue a loving matespritship, leading to Sollux settling into a moirallegiance with Feferi. He's devastated when she dies, which still happens along with the rest of Eridan's freakout; Aradiabot doesn't intervene because she's needed for:
Aradiabot winds up being the one to sacrifice herself piloting the meteor, allowing Sollux to stay with the rest of the team when he meets up with Aradia, (Aradia), and (Sollux) at the Green Sun. Aradiabot winds up with the GameOver!crew.
With the 1337 hackers back in commission, Sollux and Roxy are able to establish a server connection with each other, allowing them to communicate during the 3-year meteor trip.
Aradia involves herself in the Rose/Kanaya/Vriska Mess, and I kind of can't decide what I like better - a vascillatory pitch/flush threeway between Rose, Kanaya, and Vriska, now that Vriska's near the end of her character development, with Aradia serving as a stabilizing force as Kanaya's on-again off-again moirail, or Aradia stepping in as an auspice. Either way, it's out of Karkat's hands.
This has a knock-on effect of finally giving Vriska the chance to fully make amends with Aradia, which winds up cinching the Vriska/Terezi moirallegiance. The scourge sisters are back baybee. And between a healthy moirallegiance for Terezi and a healthy moirallegiance for Gamzee, I think pitch Terezi/Gamzee could work as a healthy ship this time around. I'm not married to it, but they did always seem to hate each other well before SGRUB.
Nepeta has LEARNED HER LESSON regarding dating Karkat, so that does not happen.
Karkat now has no quadrants. He winds up desperately throwing himself at Sadstuck Sollux to try and help him get over his breakup. It's not a good look. Sadkat. He also takes up talking to the alpha kids for emotional support, which puts them off, too. Still gives really good relationship advice. He's clearly one of the more unstable members of the retcon!crew at this point.
We're light on the dream bubble drama this time around because of how MUCH is happening for the retcon!crew, but there's going to be a reference in there of Nepeta learning East Beforan.
SO. NOTES TIME.
Aradia expresses outright that she hated the feeling that she was set up and that she wishes someone would have stopped her from being so reckless. And although she seems to find some satisfaction in being the stewardess of the afterlife, there's clearly some resentment there that she's been forced into that role, as she expresses that what she's really looking forward to is watching it all break apart. There's also kind of an orphaned plot thread where Aradia is spending a lot of time in the afterlife putting knowledge together, which never really directly pays off except to the audience, and I think a really good way to bring that back in would be for her to be communing with (Aradia) in the dream bubbles in order to make sure the timeline flows as smoothly as possible.
As for Aradia/Kanaya - they're actually really good friends, and Aradia expresses that she's flattered that Kanaya wants to talk to her so much. There is a tone here that matches the way Vriska thinks about Kanaya when Kanaya is still ostensibly Vriska's moirail, and Kanaya herself admits to being attracted to people who are reckless. In fact...
AA: i just wish AA: back when i was behaving recklessly AA: i had s0me0ne t0 tell me t0 st0p listening AA: even if i ended up ign0ring their advice AA: it w0uld have been nice
GA: It Must Be A Certain Madness Im Afflicted By GA: To Orbit Those More Reckless And Dangerous Than I And More Daring For It GA: I Guess I Want To Help Them But They Never Can Be Helped It Seems
So I'm just kind of saying... Aradia and Kanaya moirallegiance... is not entirely unfounded. And a moirail stabilizes a troll's other relationships; if we have a moirail for Kanaya and a moirail for Vriska, then the Mess that is whatever's going on with Kanaya, Vriska, and Rose would probably resolve itself, I think. Either way, Rose is surrounded by SUCH a girl's night of emotional support to help her with sobriety now.
As for whatever's going on between her and Equius, I tend to believe the comic when it tells me relationships don't work out, and Aradia expresses regret for kissing him during the Ministrife. I think they could be good vitriolic frenemies, though.
Okay, onto Sollux.
In the same panel where Eridan and Karkat are implied to be "hatched for each other" pale-wise, Feferi and Sollux are foreshadowed in the same way:
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They also spend a LOT OF TIME curled up in a pile together talking about their feelings, which we don't see with matesprits, but we DO see with moirails. Nepeta and Equius do the same thing, and they are kind of THE moirails. So I think Sollux and Feferi were always meant to be pale, but because Aradia died, Sollux wound up taking Feferi on as a matesprit instead. Between EriFef, SolFef, and GamTav, people getting flushed and pale feelings entangled is like, a Running Thing, so it's not really surprising to me.
Now, here's the thing. We already know that Sollux likes to cope with a rebound, since he went flushed with Feferi after Aradiabot exploded and was presumed dead. And Karkat cares very fucking much about Sollux, to the point where Gamzee speculates that he's actually Karkat's best friend, and Karkat even calls him that (although Karkat also kind of just calls anyone his best friend, lol).
CG: GAMZEE WAS MY VERY GOOD FRIEND, WHO WAS THIS GOOFY LOVEABLE BULLSHIT CLOWN UNTIL HE WENT PSYCHO AND KILLED SOME PEOPLE. I LIKED HIM A LOT. CG: I DON'T KNOW, I GUESS MY BEST FRIEND IS REALLY JUST THE GUY WHO I HAPPEN TO BE FEELING MOST SENTIMENTAL TO AT THE MOMENT, IS THAT A FUCKING CRIME.
This crab's got so much love in him. In any case, I mostly just want to keep sticking Karkat in these extremely unhealthy relationships for a while. It makes it sweeter when he finally winds up with Eridan LIKE HE WAS ALWAYS MEANT TO... but yeah.
Cross-session communication is also entirely possible, as Sollux set up chat clients between the trolls and the kids in the first place, and even without that, Kanaya found Rose's old GameFAQs on a server in the Furthest Ring. With both Sollux and Roxy on the case, there's no way they can't somehow establish communications way sooner.
Regarding Nepeta regaining her memories, let me once more point you towards the Nepeta essay. She's on track to become the one who attains Ultimate Selfhood, and comforts people like Jade and John about not really knowing their friends or being lonely.
But yeah, obviously Sollux asks for Feferi to be brought back.
F-EF-ERI!!!! 38D
Mostly Sollux just asks to be prevented from provoking Eridan so harshly. Eridan still winds up blowing up the matriorb, and thus, still getting killed by Kanaya in retribution, but this means that Eridan is now the only member of the team left dead.
PITCH FEFNEP. PITCH FEFNEP. PITCH FEFNEP
Pitch FefNep leads to Feferi letting slip something casteist where Sollux can hear; he doesn't personally care because he's heard much worse, but puts them on a break while she sorts herself out. They get back together after that.
Karkat alone :'( he's mostly just talking to the alpha kids at this point, trying to hide from all the happy fucking relationships happening all around him.
If the last retcon was really heavy on the retcon!crew, then this one is much more about what's happening in the bubbles. We get most of our dancestor development this go around. Do not read if you like the dancestors! I go very in-depth about how most of them are horrible people on purpose here, so their arcs are mostly about them being pulled up on their abject awfulness.
Nepeta, who has learned East Beforan, is able to talk to Damara and have an earnest heart-to-heart with her about how awfully she was treated. They hug and cry. Damara, finally validated, gives everyone a big middle finger.
Feferi heals Mituna's brain injury, because literally why the FUCK has nobody else done that. Now once more in control of his faculties, he breaks up with Latula, pissed off that she took advantage of him all those eons to boost her own ego. He also gives everyone a big middle finger. Damara steals her skateboard and high fives Mituna.
Porrim's basically the only dancestor who grew as a person so I think she mostly escapes unscathed.
Latula gets chased around by Sollux and Aradia, who basically just bully her for being bad at games. This is a date to them.
Gamzee completely refutes Kurloz, with his newfound clarity about the real miracle being friendship and the real dark carnival being the world he and his friends will build, not that LE noise.
In a double team between Terezi and Rose, Meulin gets eviscerated for the way her own Issues have made her ships deliberately awful, that she could have simply Not, and she has a bit of a breakdown.
As Feferi is grappling with her privilege and internalized casteism, Cronus wanders up to try and hit on her, and she goes "oh my god... when people look at me, are you what they see? A friendless loser that nobody likes? A total waste of seawater who's only pretending to be cool with the lower castes? A totally fake poser? 38(" Cronus just goes "..." and starts crying and Feferi ends the convo oblivious to that, just going "wow... thanks for talking with me! really gave me a lot to think about" imagine how funny it would be -
Karkat finds and talks to (Eridan), where he fully admits to missing the guy. His mopiness is so extreme that (Eridan) takes issue with it and punches him, before basically yelling at him to get his shit together. Karkat then yells at HIM for him to get HIS shit together, and they both leave, intent on getting their shit together.
We also get an update on Vriska and Meenah at this point, where Meenah is starting to seem more into how they totally ditched their responsibilities than Vriska is.
So the thing with this update is that most of the trolls have sorted their shit out; even Karkat has had a lot of introspection about how he really just fucking loves his friends and should have been more honest about it, not worried so much about appearing weak or lame. With the double Aradias in play to kind of handwave that the timeline will be stable because they're ensuring all loops get completed and all necessary conversations happen, and with everyone's successful relationships on display, we can kind of truncate the next leg of the journey:
Karkat Fixes Everything
Karkat is the Friendship Troll. Karkat is the Romance Troll. Karkat is the Bonds troll. He is their team's Blood player, and as the Blood player, he's been shown to deeply love all of his fucking friends - yes, even the assholes. Maybe even especially them.
As such, it's vitally important for the last push - last leg of the journey - to belong to Karkat. Where would our Blood player be without his bonds? Well, we actually have the answer to that. It's knocked out and prevented from joining in any of the important boss battles. LAME!
So in the last retcon, Karkat hears from Nepeta about the retcons that have been happening, and he really starts digging through his own past. If every retcon so far has been each troll only feeling comfortable undoing their own personal mistakes, then what of the guy who feels personally responsible for everything, all the time, forever?
Look, I'm not saying that a shipping chart saves Homestuck, but... by the time this last retcon is through, every Alternian troll is alive and god tiered. And he is dating Eridan.
If you have any questions about him dating Eridan, please refer to the link above. That essay is nearly as long as this one. There's SO MUCH FUCKING FORESHADOWING.
I don't think the god tiering needs to be explained, because if we hear that Karkat basically made his past self a shipping chart, and we've seen everybody's character development as they've gone through this journey, and we have Aradias on timeline duty and Nepeta with memories of past retcons and her alternate selves, I think we can more or less gloss over exactly how they go about earning their wings while maintaining timeline integrity. The important thing is that Karkat is dating Eridan now.
Because that leads to the last few bits of dream bubble stuff, but before we get into that...
Miscellaneous Plot Things That Need To Happen But I Don't Know Where To Put Them
Yeah there's just some ideas that I have floating around that need to be placed somewhere but IDK exactly where, or exactly how they shake out.
Hal becomes a real boy. And by that I mean as part of their character development, Jake makes Hal "real" a la brain ghost Dirk, and then the rest of them have to scramble against the clock (Jake's ability to maintain Hal's realness) to god tier him and make his existence permanent. He's a Sylph of Mind, which allows him to negate Condy's mind control. And maybe a GCATboy?
(Tavros) becomes the new leader of the ghost army.
Davesprite winds up dead at some point in the bubbles and doesn't explain how he died, but he and (Dave) get to fight each other and hash out their Realness and Relevance issues, before facing their final boss fight as bros once more.
Jade and Nepeta get to talk, and Nepeta gives Jade the reassuring speech about Ultimate Selfhood and how she won't be lonely forever. Maybe it's flushed. Might leave it ambiguous.
Somebody needs to auspicetize Dirk and Jake holy shit. Dunno who. Maybe Karkat, but I kind of like him pitch with Dirk, so IDK really.
Dad needs to die. Sorry Dad. If I can find a way to kill off all of the sprites besides ARquiusprite, I will. It's explicitly stated that sprites are drawn to the battlefield during the Reckoning, presumably to die, as part of the coming-of-age themes - losing one's guardians. It's sad but it's gotta happen.
All the Godtier!Calliope stuff basically happens as-is.
Can you tell I need to do more research on the alpha kids...
Ok Back To Karkat And Eridan
I think I'm going to leave their moirallegiance fairly ambiguous, but when Eridan is brought back, he and Karkat are basically together all the time. Karkat's signals are mixed even on the best of days, so I don't know how easy it'll be to tell that these two assholes slinging death threats at each other are pale, but *I* will know, and that's what matters.
This leads to the last two dancestor takedowns:
Karkat and Eridan (mostly Eridan) round on Kankri. Eridan calls him SO MANY SLURS. The fact that Karkat not only condones this, but is DATING ERIDAN, kind of makes Kankri lose it a bit.
(Karkat) and (Eridan), who have reconciled in the bubbles, finally find (Vriska) and Meenah. (Karkat) gives the two of them the speech that retcon!Vriska gave (Vriska) in the comic's original ending, but this time around, (Vriska) actually agrees with him. This serves as a conclusion to (Karkat) and Meenah's arc, and causes Meenah to feel so bad that she walks back to the other dancestors in shame, as (Vriska) leaves with him with the treasure to finally fight LE.
When Meenah returns to the dancestors, the first one she finds is Aranea, who's really sad about her own little escapade, blaming herself for the way Game Over went. This prompts Meenah to go, no, it was probably my fault, shouldn't have let you run off like that. And this would, from all the sobbing dancestors, prompt a string of "no, I'm the reason we failed"s, eventually culminating in Meenah rallying them together to do one last good thing before everyone gets sucked into the black hole and go join the fight against LE. Everyone agrees.
(Gamzee) is revived by the life players and cursed with immortality, so he can go on to become LE and complete that time loop. He is immediately locked in the fridge. This is also why he can't fucking die no matter what you do to him.
This also leads us into the final boss fights.
VS. CONDY
The twelve trolls. The Condesce represents tyranny, the worst aspects of the trolls' old society, and as such, is most thematically taken down by them. While she did fuck up the alpha kids' lives, too, I just personally think it's so much more thematic and satisfying to watch her be beaten down by the trolls.
VS. THE THREE JACKS
The eight kids plus Hal plus Davesprite. With Bec Noir specifically, it's fucking PERSONAL, as this guy killed their parents. This is where Dave fulfils his destiny of killing an iteration of English with his sword, when he decapitates Jack English; the person in the middle of that sandwich is Davesprite, which is how he dies and winds up in the bubbles. The iteration of Jack that survives to date Ms. Paint is Spades Slick, as he's the most sympathetic out of all of them and didn't kill anybody's parents.
At some point during this fight, I like the idea that they get zapped away by Jack English, John zaps them to the Godtier!Caliborn fight where he gets sealed in the juju, and then we cut back to the fight with Jack English, where, inexplicably, they all zap right back in.
VS. THE FELT
The spares - ARquiussprite, (Gamzee) in the fridge (who has since been revived by the life players and blessed/cursed with eternal life so he can go on to fulfill his role in the timelines and become part of LE), Dad, and the other sprites (if any of them are left alive).
VS. LORD ENGLISH
The GameOver!crew, the ghost army, the dancestors (they have a Big Damn Heroes moment right near the end, buying Jake time to deploy the Weapon), Aradiabot, and Davesprite.
Jake fulfills his destiny to defeat the Lord of all Angels by being the one to deploy the weapon, which deposits the beta kids, who knock LE in to the black hole. They then zap out of there, collecting the alpha kids from after the Caliborn fight, and zap back to the fight with the Jacks.
This specific configuration of boss battles winds up leaving Lord English entirely up to dead characters, who are then implied to all eventually get sucked into the black hole - their memories to live on through the living characters via Ultimate Selfhood, which only Nepeta achieves on screen, but implies that they will all achieve eventually.
It's important to me that the GameOver!crew is the one leading the fight against Lord English, as they're the ones who were the most screwed over by LE and his machinations - manipulated into killing each other, used as servants of his will, dying ignobly in a doomed timeline filled with special stardust. Meanwhile, the retcon!kids and trolls prove what they've learned - about compassion, kindness, equality, and forgiveness - by beating the shit out of the Condesce, who represents the horrors of Alternia, and the Jacks, especially Bec Noir and Jack English - the latter of which is a shadow of what Lord English represents - immaturity, cruelty, hatred - and the former of which is a culmination of all the failures they committed to get to this point, a symptom of their universal cancer.
I wrote a little snippet of Aradia once, and I think I'll use that to end this essay:
(ARADIA): ok now that we are all done being stupid (ARADIA): im sure enough people here remember the plan that i dont need to explain it again (ARADIA): so instead i just wanted to say (ARADIA): leave your backs to us and face forward without fear (ARADIA): the dead and irrelevant will slay the demon of double death while you unmake the threats of the living (ARADIA): and personally i think it's very fitting that he will perish here as nothing more than a bad dream (ARADIA): this will be the last time we see each other (ARADIA): so on behalf of everyone that you are going to be leaving behind (ARADIA): live (ARADIA): and be happy!
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gatorbites-imagines · 2 years
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Kinktober day 8
Billy Loomis + Dacryphilia
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(this is fr one of my fave Billy Loomis gifs)
I struggled a lot with how to make Billy cry, and here’s my attempt. Reader is older than Billy in this.
Kinktober list
 Tw for slasher stuff, blood, murder, etc.
Billy Loomis had never been much of a crier, even as a kid when he fell out of a tree and broke his arm, not a single tear had been shed. Which is why the position he was in right now felt so otherworldly. He was laying on a cheap motel bed, the ghostface costume pushed all the way up under his armpits and the mask thrown off to the side who knows where. Fat tears rolled down his cheeks and blurred his vision as the strong blood covered hands groped his chest and stomach, Billy aching hard in his jeans.
Billy had been on a road trip with Stu for the past few weeks after the fires of the murders of the many teens quieted down in their hometown. They had gone around as Ghostface and had kept up their killing, going at it in less wild of extreme ways. It was on this trip they rolled into a town about twice as big as Woodsboro, where the people had looked scared and weary.
When they had booked into the motel the owner had told them to not stay long and to leave, as there was a murderer about. It took some searching around, but they found out about the murders and what they said about the suspect. A large man in dark clothes, dark baggy jeans, boots, a black shirt and jacket and a mask. They said his mask was completely blank, just a black smooth surface. This killer apparently had no apparent target group, murdering whoever they felt like and leaving their bodies strung out like butchered animals.
Billy would be lying if the thought didn’t send a shiver of excitement down his spine. He and Stu had gone out as Ghostface that night and had their own target, but Stu soon returned to the motel leaving Billy on his own. He decided to get just one more in for the night, and had quickly found his target in a lonesome man who appeared to be walking home from work, looking over his shoulder constantly out of fear.
That’s when Billy saw him, the other killer. He was large, like Michael Myers large, Billy thought to himself. And though he was large he moved as silently as a shadow, and before the poor victim could react, he struck, the killers powerful arms dragging the struggling man with him.
Billy stayed for a long time and watched this man kill the other, how he was so fast and efficient, like he had done it hundreds of times. When the slasher was done, he used a rope to hang the mangled corpse from a tree, and tucked his weapons away and got ready to leave. That’s when Billy stepped on a branch that cracked under his weight. He shivered as the heavy weight of the other mans attention fell on him, and with a shaky excited breath Billy turned and started running.
He could hear the other slasher behind him, charging through the wooded floor with almost inhuman speed. All the way back to the motel it went, and Billy made his way through the backdoor and up to his rooms, the footfalls of the slasher following him right on his tail. Billy could tell he was hard, the chase sending all kinds of shivers throughout his body.
Billy could tell the other man had entered the room as the door shut and the click of the lock was heard. Billy turned to look at the man, the blood splatters on his own mask making the larger man stop in confusion, tilting his head in the head tilt all slashers did. In the mild light of the room Billy could see the man more, his thick thighs and wide shoulders, and the heavy dark splotches of what he could only assume was blood all over him.
The Ghostface killer couldn’t tell you what happened, but soon he was on the bed, suit pushed up and those blood covered hands running all over his torso. Scratches ran up and down Billy’s chest and stomach where the man had dragged the tip of his weapon, pebbles of blood gathering and some running down Billy’s side. He could do nothing but flex his hips upwards in hopes of the silent man to take pity on him and touch him, but (Y/N) seemed to have no interest in that.
(Y/N) pushed his mask up but Billy couldn’t catch a glimpse of his face, the Ghostface killer jolting as he felt the sharp flash of pain that meant that the other man had bitten him. He whimpered softly as he felt him sucking at his skin, moving to pay attention to his chest. Billy could feel a beard, and with the mask pushed up he could see a few grey hairs amongst the man’s normal hair. Billy couldn’t tell you why he started crying, but he did, silent tears gathering in his eyes and running down his cheeks.
He sobbed as large hands now covered in dry blood grabbed his crotch, (Y/N) grinding his palm down against the hardness there. Billy thrust up into the hand, searching for stimulation as tears kept flowing, making it almost impossible to see. (Y/N) had stopped assaulting his chest, pushing his mask down and seemingly just staring at Billy’s face as he cried, the satisfied hum leaving him letting the younger man know he quite enjoyed it.
As (Y/N) kept palming at him, Billy threw his head side to side, feeling humiliation burning in his chest at how easily he had started crying. He wanted it to stop but also not, as his tears seemed to spur the other slasher on even more. Maybe it was the knowledge that he could easily be killed right here and right now by this much more experienced killer, but instead here they were, his hard cock in the man’s hands.
Billy thrust his hips harder up into the man’s palms, sobbed moans growing higher pitched as he grew closer, warmth gathering in his belly as he threw his head back, his face growing wet from all his tears. The Ghostface killer let out a loud noise he would definitely be embarrassed about later, his hips grinding up one last time as he came, spraying white on the inside of his boxers.
Billy lay panting, his face still wet from his tears but not crying any more when (Y/N) let go of him, reaching up and pushing his mask up and grabbing Billy’s face. The younger man gasped softly as (Y/N) ran his hot tongue over his face, licking up the salty wetness of his tears. When he seemed to have licked it all up, he pulled away and got out of the bed, shoving his mask back into place. He stared at Billy In silence before leaving out through the window, leaving it open in his wake. Billy couldn’t do much more than just lay there and shiver at the suddenly cold room, his thoughts returning to the silent man who had made him cry and cum in his pants like some teenager.
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yandereunsolved · 1 month
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Dissect Me, Doctor - ,, yandere JPM with a psychologist reader
cw(s): yandere themes, dismemberment, suggestive themes, (James) necrophilia, noncon touching, cannibalism, mention of reader having breakdowns & panic attacks
✧ James found you by God's hand one fateful day. You could say it was more than a mere coincidence, eh? He had just finished killing one of the hotel guests. He was about to call Miss Evers in to clean up the mess when he spotted something sticking out of the dead gentleman's breast pocket. He plucked the card out of your pocket and read it allowed, 'Doctor...' His curiosity was the least bit piqued. Psychologists weren't exactly popular in the 1930s. The true study of the mind hadn't emerged, but James had always lived to study humans. To study their fight or flight instinct, how their bodies react to various torture methods, and how fear affects the human psyche. Perhaps he has found someone who shares his fondness for such things. It would be a great way to meet someone new. Considering Elizabeth refuses to speak with him, he has grown desperate. Not even defiling his killings tapered his already suppressed desires. 
✧ He got Sally to teach him how to use this magic witch named 'Wi-fi' who owns the internet—or something like that. Most new technology is just rubbish used to get people to make inauthentic connections. Although perhaps just this once, it can be used for the betterment of his temperament. He has Sally schedule an initial appointment at the hotel. Sally uses the excuse that James is bedridden and terribly ill (non-contagious), but he hates telehealth and just wants someone to talk to in person. You were skeptical because of the rumors surrounding The Cortez, but you were in desperate need of another client, and he was willing to pay extra—a lot extra.
✧ You had your first session in his room, and you immediately got strange vibes from him. He wasn't ill, that was for sure. Perhaps he was a little pale, but he probably hasn't gotten enough sun or vitamin D lately. He was even smoking! He was sitting all relaxed on a couch, dressed up in 1930s-esque attire, with a cane leaning against his lap. He introduced himself as James Patrick March, and you immediately understood why you were called. He either has a personality disorder or is a compulsive liar. Perhaps both. You asked him simple questions, such as his real name and when he was born. You were only getting nonsensical answers. He could not have been born in the late 1800's or early 1900's; that is ridiculous! 
James only felt himself grow hotter with each question you asked. It was like a fire had been lit beneath his skin, and he needed to put it out. Then you asked the question that really got him going.
"Since you refuse to use your real name, I'll just call you Mr. March. How is your personal life going? Are you currently sexually active?"
"I have peculiar interests and refined tastes. How do you modern people phrase it? 'Where there is a hole there is a goal'?"
✧ With that astounded expression on your face, he feels his urges compell him to end this lovely conversation early. That look would look perfect on your dead corpse. He takes the sabre out of his cane and tries to slit your throat; he narrowly misses. Somehow, you unlock his room door and bolt through the hallways. How promising. He walks through the winding hallways slowly. You scramble to find the exit, and he struggles with not just outright chasing you through the maze. No, he must preserve the hunt. After what feels like an eternity to you—only eleven minutes in real time—you finally trip over a stair and hit your head on the railing. Talented fox. You nearly escaped to the lobby. You are too much of a challenge to let go so easily. He's going to keep you to get his release. In more ways than one. 
✧ You wake up in the middle of the night in the same room as before. It's freezing, and your clothes are nowhere to be found. Your head is pounding, and you are barely able to breathe. James drugged you with some cocktail of drugs—some legal, most not. You feel blades ghosting your body. You feel them just barely slicing into your skin. It must be sleep paralysis, you rationalize. Something whispers sweet nothings into your ears. You are barely able to discern what those words are. 
"You taste... a dream."
"Never leave."
"The best prey— never leave me."
✧ You drift off once again before groggily waking up in a different room. You are still in the Cortez, now in room seventy-four. You feel much different today, weighed down and yet free. You don't have any marks on you that would indicate you were harmed last night. You feel the need to escape, but you are also incredibly confused. A maid is in your room, setting down a new set of clothes. She explains that you passed out after you tripped on a stair while leaving the session early. You accuse her of helping the strange man you interviewed who tried to kill you. She chuckles and says that you aren't his type. Her voice has a little bit of spite in it. That was the moment that you were introduced to Miss Evers. Quite possibly the only person who simultaneously envies you for getting all of James attention and pities you for your lack of self-awareness and intelligence in the situation.
✧ Before you are even able to shoo her off this JPM impersonator comes in your room and greets you. You are naturally apprehensive. He is naturally enthralled to see that his trophy prey has awoken. He cannot wait to just see how you react today. You try to leave and he explains that you never finished your session. You accuse him now of trying to murder you. He brushes it off and insists that you at least have breakfast with him before you leave. You are about to answer firmly when Miss Evers folding of a towel loudly snaps together. This 'James' scolds her and she gives him a doe-eyed look. Before you are even able to say no he is ushering you down the hallway in silken pajamas someone put on you while you were passed. The thought makes you shudder.
✧ You both were served a hearty and delicious breakfast. It isn't very filling to you, no matter how much you eat. It must be how queasy you are from yesterday. If it happened. Perhaps you had a mental break due to all the stress you have been through lately. You don't get a lot of time to think because you are snapped from your thoughts. This James speaks about your future together and how you will have a long and fufilling relationship. He asks you to give him a psyche evaluation. When you say no, he subtly threatens you with the thought of not paying because you didn't actually fill his full session. You reluctantly agree.
✧ He's both incredibly frustrated and intrigued by your persistence. How many times must he explain to you that he isn't a 'cosplayer' or someone with a personality disorder. He is simply the great James Patrick March. No matter. It will make you even more fun to play with.
"Your delusions, doctor, are clouding your mind. So I suppose I will have to make you see the truth—one way or another."
He sets up small 'challenges' to see if you can pass them. He wants to test how long your mental fortitude will hold up. 
✧ The first of those was dismembering himself in front of your very eyes. He does it multiple times, and they are all random. He will pluck his eye out and stir it in his tea. He will cut open his chest and stuff his organs into your suitcase. He will remove whatever is covering his neck and finger from his suicide wound. He asks if you would like to feel it, stroke it, touch it, or play with it.
"Doctor, I understand you only deal with the human mind, but would you like to feel this and assess if it is real? Do you believe me now?"
He will stab himself in the heart during one of your sessions and tell you that this is what you do to him. In the most extreme cases, if he isn't getting your coveted attention, he will take himself apart limb by limb and place them on your bed like a cross.
✧ You begin to come to terms with the fact that, at least, this man is psychotic. Perhaps not a ghost, but definitely a killer and wickedly sadistic. You try so many of the phones in the hotel, but so many seem not to work. You try to find your way out once again, but you seem to be trapped within these walls. Which comes to one of his many other tactics: trapping you in The Cortez's hallway maze. He is able to distort the minds of his guests and make sure that they never get out. Like a rat trying to find an escape from a box maze that has no exit. He enjoys just slowly walking behind you and taking in your panic and your quick breaths when your clothing rides up on you. He is able to take a respectful peek at what he will inevitably see time and time again.
✧ He keeps you trapped in the hotel. You never even have a chance to get to the lobby. He has a nice breakfast, lunch, and dinner with you. He has his daily sessions with you. Outside of that? His torture. All of his torture. All of it. He threatens you with it subtly if you do something that he is displeased with. He'll even lock you in that death closet of his and make you stand right near the spike. Sometimes you prefer to be in there because you can hide from him. He likes it when you hide in his death traps. So he totally leaves you alone and totally just doesn't sit right outside your ability to view him.
You are coming to the point where those times when he is cordial are the times you crave. All part of his plan, of course. Although—he hopes that you will keep up the chase, he likes that fiery spirit of yours.
✧ You often find him getting release from his dead victims. You know because your relentless cycle of agony and pleasure stops. At least he doesn't force himself on you when you are awake. You end up doing your best to stay as far away as possible from him during that time. Only you always end up stumbling into the same room as him. You avert your eyes, yet he always has something cheeky to say to you.
"Ngh—darling, darling, wait! This.... this could be us. This could be me. You and me. Nothing could be a replacement for how your flesh feels against mine."
He always turns around and gives you one of those godforsaken winks of his.
✧ That isn't the only time his victims come into play. You are always suspicious of the food he serves you. It's either drugged or the meat could be made from his victims. You first learned that the hard way. You were served meatloaf, and James called in manloaf. He stated that it was made in this very hotel by the very guest who was trying to help you leave. You wanted them so bad, you can have them—in your stomach.
✧ Not even the Countess is able to help. Not that she tries. She is too busy luring more men in. She's forgotten about James mostly, except for the betrayal. She gives you a few warnings and some caution when she can. You are almost like one of her children. Perhaps she would help you if you really were in need. Maybe.
✧ You still get those sensations in your sleep. The feeling of fingertips ghosting on your figure. How the sheets seem to slip off your body. A warm presence keeps you close throughout the night. It often manifests in such strange dreams. It feels like James's thoughts are being injected into your own mind. You dream of him against you—sometimes he is brutally murdering you, and in others he is sensually caressing you. He always seems to tease and taunt you with those tantalizing images in your mind.
✧ ⁿ⁰ ⁿ⁰ ⁿ⁰ ⁿ⁰ ⁿ⁰ ⁿ⁰ ⁿ⁰ ⁿ⁰ ⁿ⁰ ⁿ⁰ ⁿ⁰ — You often have panic attacks and breakdowns because of him. Your heart rate quickens as sweat rolls down your body. Your legs shake and give in. The entire hotel seems to spin around you. You have to seek him out for your own comfort. It's so twisted and vile. You can feel bile rising in the back of your throat when it happens. You almost have to crawl on your hands and knees to reach him. Yet, it feels like heaven. His skin is so soft and supple. His suit is always made of the most comfortable materials. His body is always so cool to the touch. In those moments, your body melts into his. That is, until your mind stops its dissociation long enough to realize the trauma you were going through. You are falling for him—a classic case of Stockholm syndrome. You couldn't stand for this. You need to fight against this, against him.
✧ Unfortunately, your non-belief in ghosts stops when you see multiple people you thought were dead trying to warn you. You see your patient, who was killed in this very hotel. They tell you that they're so happy to see you. They are so happy you are here with them. You have to put on your therapist hat again and calm them down. It all clicks. Other people you thought were guests here were warning you. You are being oddly welcomed into the space. The others are cautious of your presence and afraid to upset the owner, the one who holds so much power over them. That strange being that seemed to flicker in and out of your peripheral occasionally. You finally make peace with the fact that James Patrick March is indeed a ghost. You really do need to escape here.
✧ You steal the hotel's shipping schedule for their toiletries and linens. You make a plan to escape. You think you are so clever, and it really makes James hot under his white buttoned collar. He lets you think that you are so much more astute than him. It makes him a little desperate, but he won't show it. He needs your touch so badly. He needs you to love him so badly. He needs you to be his little trophy victim. He needs you to help him chase his highs. He needs you. He needs you. He needs you. You, only you.
✧ He confesses his undying adoration for you and clings to your waist as you try to walk out. He sighs and tries one more tactic before you step out the door. He promises to tell you the entire truth. You are caught off guard by this, and your hand slips off the door. He leads you to his trophy room and shows you his 10 Commandment killings. He directs you to the corner, where your body lies. You are covered in wounds that have long since dried out. Your eyes are lifeless. You have his name etched across your naked chest. You scream, shout, and sob. James gently holds you and soothes you even as you thrash, kick, and gnaw at him.
"You've been trapped here the entire time. Since that night."
As if that makes it any better. You aren't that stupid. You could connect the dots—lack of appetite, coldness, the odd sensations, everything. You are stuck with this monster for all eternity.
"Hmm, yes! I saw you and just knew that I had to have you. Have you gotten my diagnosis yet, my love? It's lovesickness, and your body is the cure."
.ೃ࿐ -ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ- .ೃ࿐
⟿ taglist: @coentinim @bluerthanvelvet444 @cxndiedvi0lets @doll3tt33 @lacucarachapisser @etheral-moon @fear-is-truth @marchsfreakshow @girlyfart @nahoyasboyfriend
.ೃ࿐ -ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ- .ೃ࿐
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cosmicluka · 11 months
Note
i know st patrick’s day is long gone but could you do a part 2 for pinch? like after the case where reader shows spencer her bra (maybe more)
Pinch (pt 2)
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Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader (Criminal Minds)
Summary: You finally have the chance to prove your Saint Patrick's Day protection weeks after the holiday. Spencer was only slightly more ready than the first time you brought it up (spoiler alert: that's still not a lot)
Genre: Fluff, friends to lovers
Warnings: Suggestive, AFAB reader, partial nudity, one? bad word, not proofread
Word Count: 1K
A/N: This is so late... Uni has been horrid lately. I wasn't sure how spicy you wanted, but if you want NSFW, I can do a part 3 to this!
Part 1
It was supposed to be a simple case. The bodies of two women had been found in an open lot almost an hour from headquarters and two more women had been reported missing a few days prior to the discovery of the corpses. In theory, it should not have been difficult. Talk to a few people, gather the evidence, arrest whatever twisted individual responsible, rush through some paperwork, and make it home in time to come up with a new Saint Patrick’s Day tradition with your favorite genius. Preferably one that involved a lot more time and a lot less clothes.
But your green bra didn’t carry enough luck in it. Within the hour, there had been reports of a double homicide just a few miles past the border of North Carolina that matched the M.O. your suspect perfectly, meaning the team had to split up in hopes of finding the one crucial piece of missing information that would bring this case to a close. That left you with Prentiss, Hotch, and Morgan on the jet while Reid stayed behind with J.J, Garcia, and Rossi to work the case where it had all originated. 
You had tried to convince Hotch to let you stay behind, but he was adamant that you go with them, which put you in the one situation that you were trying to avoid like your life depended on it. 
“So,” Prentiss slid into the seat next to you with a grin that promised no good. “You and the genius, huh?” 
“Yeah, I, for one, would love to hear more about that new development that you showed earlier today.” Morgan was quick to butt in from his spot on the couch. You couldn’t trust your tongue not to trip over any words that could come out of your mouth, so you just looked to Hotch to silently plea for his help. “It’s not against any guidelines to fraternize with coworkers, but you should still be careful. Don’t let it affect your work.” That was all he said as he looked away from you to thumb through the file he held. A groan escaped you as Morgan and Prentiss turned their attention back on you, impatiently waiting to respond to their interrogation. If you were the one who found the unsub after you landed, they probably would be going to jail with a few extra bruises than necessary as reprimands for putting you in this situation. 
-
It had been a little over two weeks since that particular suspect was apprehended and the case was closed. Since then, you and Spencer’s schedules just hadn’t cleared up. Case after case hit almost all at the same time, leaving you both exhausted even on the days that you didn’t have to take the jet anywhere. But that didn’t mean that you were waiting patiently and neither was he. It was obvious in the ways that you would let your hand linger on his arm when you walked past him or running your fingers through his hair under the guise of getting it out of his face when you were sure no one was around. It was obvious in the way that he would hover closer than necessary when he leaned over your shoulder to peak at the files you had in front of you or the way that he would sit next to you whenever he could and bump your knee with his. 
The others had noticed as well. It was no secret to you or Spencer when they had started placing bets as to when you two would finally get together. He had found it humorous while you were halfway to convincing yourself to place a bet of your own. Best outcome: you get extra money and a fantastic night with a fantastic man. Worst outcome: you lose some money, but you still get Spencer in your bed. Honestly, what could go wrong? 
You were ready to have Morgan deal you in that afternoon, but the case of the day had been resolved and you were free to leave and rest up before the next case inevitably slid across your desk to whisk you away to some other gory reality. By the time that you had packed all of your things up for the day, Morgan was nowhere to be found. A certain doctor was, however. He stood beside his desk as his slender hands shoved papers into the brown satchel that he always carried as his unruly hair flopped over in his face, making him look disheveled and much more casual than when he had come in the office that morning.
You started walking towards him with your own bag clutched in your hands to try and quell the anxiety that was slowly starting to build as you took in his lean frame. You knew your crush on the man was known to everyone, even him at this point, but that did nothing to stop the nervous onset of nausea that took over your stomach every time you stepped out of your comfort zone. “So, genius,” You had started when you got close enough to him. Spencer paused in his process of packing his things to stare at you with those big, brown eyes that drove you incredibly insane. “You have any plans for the day since we were set free early?” 
He shook his head in response. “No, not unless you count flipping through another book of Leo Tolstoy’s again.” He paused as he shoved the last paper in his bag before closing it and putting all of his attention on you. “Did you, I mean… would you…” He stumbled over his words, suddenly not having the courage to meet your eye. His question had come out in a whisper and if you hadn’t been straining not to miss a single word, you wouldn’t have heard it. 
“Want to get dinner?” You should have felt bad, at least a tiny bit. The way his face grew bright red all the way to the tip of his ears and down his neck should have persuaded you against teasing him. But you wanted to see if you could bring out the same Spencer Reid that had so boldly asked to see you naked in front of your coworkers. “Dinner sounds lovely. After that, we can go back to my place. After all, I did promise to show you my Saint Patrick’s Day protection that I just so happen to be wearing again.” You felt your own face heat up a bit with the way his eyes flitted from your face to your chest as if he could confirm the bra you were wearing through the shirt you had on as his own blush seemed to deepen. 
“Yeah-” His voice broke in a high pitched squeak before he cleared his throat, hand coming up to his collar to pull the offensive fabric away from his neck as he looked away. “I mean, yes. If you’re comfortable with it, that is. I would be fine if you just wanted to get dinner, but if you really want to-” 
“Hey, pretty boy?” His wide eyes snapped to you as the words died on his lips, mouth opening and closing much like a fish. You had to stifle a giggle at how the pet name affected the man in front of you. “Just stop talking. How about we skip dinner and go straight to dessert?” Your gaze landed on the bobbing of Spencer’s adam’s apple as he swallowed nervously at your teasing and you shifted your feet as you became increasingly aware of the heat settling in your stomach.
You reached out for his hand but stopped just before you could make contact. “I know, I know. Shaking hands transfers more pathogens than kissing, but-” He interrupted your own ramble with a trembling voice. “It’ll be pointless to worry about that after tonight.” You nearly choked with the way your heart leapt up to your throat as Spencer met you halfway and grabbed your outstretched hand. His skin was warm and a bit clammy from the nerves, but electricity still shot up from where you were touching through your entire body. As he started walking to the exit, pulling you along with him, you couldn’t help but wonder if you’d be able to survive the rest of the night if this was the effect his simple touch had on you. 
-
Despite your teasing, you still ended up at a local diner for quick meal. It had felt like you were a teenager again. You shared nervous glances from over your plates and stole subtle touches as if it was against the rules with giggles each time you made contact. The nerves had visibly melted away from Spencer’s frame as he relaxed in your company again. But not even you could bat away the anxiety coming in waves when Spencer stood in the middle of your living room with his eyes combing every inch of the room except for the space you occupied. You couldn’t believe that you actually had him in your home. After months of pining after the genius and the last few weeks of torture and anticipation, he was so close to your reach. 
“Your walls are blue. Did you know that people with blue rooms are known to be more productive?” 
“I did not know that.” 
“Yeah, color theory actually stems back from the ancient Greeks, Egyptians, and Chinese. All of the colors have an affect that can be used for healing or-”
“What did they say about this color?” You took a deep breath to reassure yourself as you pulled your shirt over your head, leaving yourself bare in front of Spencer who finally turned around to face you right as the clothing hit the ground. You heard his breath hitch in his throat as he struggled and failed to keep his eyes off of your breasts that sat supported in your emerald green bra. You felt lightheaded under his gaze as he wet his lips with his tongue and took a step closer to you. “Well?” You found the courage to quip as you hid your shaking hands behind your back. “I- I don’t…Uh, I don’t know,” Spencer had started with his voice strained, eyes flitting from yours back down to your exposed chest. 
“I honestly don’t give a damn about them right now.” His whispered words were enough to have you abandoning any shame or embarrassment and you grabbed his face between his hands and pulled him closer. You gave him a moment to pull away if he wanted, but he just leaned closer to finally connect you with a passionate kiss. The way one of his hands found its way to your waist while the other tangled itself in your hair surprised you and as he began to guide you back to the open door of your bedroom without ever separating from you, you wondered what other surprises Spencer would show you tonight.
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heesdreamer · 1 year
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SILENCED (4)
MASTERLIST
GENRE ➩ enhypen zombie apocalypse au!
SUMMARY ➩ navigating life 1 year post end of the world was already difficult as you avoided rotting corpses with hefty appetites and groups with various bad intentions. things get harder when you run into a group of survivors, 7 boys who make it impossible to run away.
WC ➩ 6k
WARNINGS ➩ death gore blood um zombies and everything the apocalypse brings…
AUTHORS NOTE ➩ Hello, me again lol Sorry it’s been so long since the last update on this I’ve had other stuff I was prioritizing but thank you to the people following and enjoying this story! The updates are a lot smaller than my usual works and that bugs me a bit but I have a lot planned and it won’t be such a long gap between each chapter from now on lol. Reminder to check out the playlist for hints and general vibe! NOT PROOFREAD but u knew that
“What are you even talking about dude, I beat you five to one easy. It wasn’t even close.” Jake’s voice was laughing out as he rested back on the couch, swinging an arm forward in emphasis towards his friend.
“No you don’t get it, if we had a rematch I’d whoop you.” Jay was quick to respond, a gloomy look on his face from losing so terribly and the younger boys broke into a fit of giggles at his attitude.
The day had been quiet, picking up each other from school one by one and heading back to Jake’s place. His mom had been out of town for the month on a business trip and it’d become their official club house for the time being, messier than it should’ve been with blankets covering any surface that could serve as a temporary bed.
Heeseung was pushing through the front door with a strange expression on his face, glancing behind in the hallway before locking the deadbolt and peaking out of the peephole. Sweat was coating his face and the other boys stopped laughing as they looked at him.
“It’s that bad out there now?” Jungwon was asking in a soft voice and Heeseung jumped a bit before glancing at him and giving him a solid nod.
News stations had been buzzing for weeks but nobody paid too close of attention outside of the people with particularly raging anxiety. Reports of cannibalisms, first in America and then the neighboring countries.
The boys hadn’t thought much of it, some crazy new drug that would never make it this far or mass hysteria. Then it was announced that it was a disease, something that couldn’t be helped and borders could not stop and things started to get a bit more wary. Some stores were shutting down, families leaving to their summer houses out in the country and yesterday Jay had been cut from work early.
“I don’t know, I don’t think we can wait anymore.” Heeseung was muttering and Jake sat up on the couch, raising an eyebrow in bewilderment.
“You mean like leave? Where would we even go?” He was asking and his question made them all fall silent, knowing he was right and they didn’t have a safe haven to disappear to like others did. They all had families but they weren’t extremely close now that they were older, spending most of their time together and only coming home to get scolded for poor grades.
Heeseung was shaking his head and turning towards them fully to scan the room, freezing up slightly when his head count came up one short. “Where’s Riki?”
“He.. had that exam I think. Must’ve had to stay late.” Sunoo was saying it slowly to try and explain but a feeling of dread settled over everybody at the realization he was out there alone, not yet realizing how quickly things were falling apart.
“Is it really that bad Heeseung?” Jay was asking in confusion, just yesterday they all were walking around casually outside of the few religious nut jobs screaming about the end of days.
Heeseung didn’t say anything for a long time, like he couldn’t decide if he wanted to relay what he had saw or if he just wanted to let them think things were okay for a few minutes longer. He knew he had witnessed stuff that wasn’t going to be fixed anytime soon, stuff that would change how they lived from now on and he wasn’t sure he was ready to fully embrace that.
He was clearing his throat to speak but the words fell short and he made his way over to the kitchen counter instead, taking Jungwon’s moms keys and glancing at him for permission.
The younger boy looked confused but he gave him a small nod, eyes widening a touch when the oldest hesitated before going back into the kitchen and returning with the largest cooking knife available.
“Woah, you can’t go out there with that. You’ll get arrested dude.” Sunghoon was rushing out, suddenly paying attention and alert now as he sat up off the couch and raised his hands towards Heeseung.
“I don’t think there’s anybody left to arrest me.” He was spitting out but he wasn’t angry at his friends, just stricken with fear and anxiety at the thought of returning back outside but he couldn’t stand the idea of Riki being out there alone.
“Well I’ll come with you.” Jay was announcing and standing up, wiping off the chip crumbs from his sweater. Heeseung almost denied him and demanded he stayed here and kept the doors locked but he figured he might not be able to make it alone and Jay was definitely the most capable of the two of them, strong and sturdy despite his carefree personality.
“The rest of you need to stay put. I don’t care what you hear, or how long it takes for us to come back, you can’t open that door.” He was warning the group and they all paused in fearful hesitance before slowly nodding, the idea of not searching for their friends after a period of time leaving them unsettled.
The two eldest were making their way out of the apartment building, stopping at the entry door to push a vending machine in front of it. Jay looked confused when Heeseung asked him to do it but he followed suit anyways, not wanting to deny the orders considering the fear in his friends face.
Jungwon’s moms van was large and loud, rattling when you pressed too hard on the gas pedal and squealing every time it forced its large frame to a stop. They didn’t drive it often, outside of trips to the beach and going through drive thru’s, and Heeseung was grateful that the roads were uncharacteristically empty as he amateurly made his way through the city streets.
It was complete silent as they pulled up to their youngest friends school, both holding their breath as they leaned forward to see out of the driver side window and try to catch sight of any sign of life.
Heeseung’s heart was throbbing and he felt sick, almost too scared to go and find the boy in case he saw something he wasn’t able to ever forget, something he wouldn’t be able to move past. Jay’s hand was reaching forward to take his arm and he glanced at the other boy, seeing him give him a firm nod with a look of determination. Heeseung gave him a weary smile in return but it was the boost of strength he needed to open the door.
There was debris around the area from the days of mild chaos leading up to this and Jay bent down to grab a particularly long piece of metal, steadying it in front of him like a baseball bat as they got closer to the school doors.
They were unlocked and they quickly realized something was wrong judging by the papers scattered along the hallway, backpack’s abandoned in classrooms like they had to evacuate fast and Heeseung could smell something foul that caused his nose to turn up in disgust.
“Riki.” It was a yelled whisper echoing through the halls, carrying the noise all the way down the silent building until it was reaching the end and bouncing back towards them.
“Hyung? Is that you?” A scared voice was coming from the end of the hallway, shaky and muffled like he was hidden behind something and the two older boys let out a sigh of relief at the confirmation that he was at least okay enough to respond.
They were swift in their approach towards the room the voice had come from, forgetting to be cautious because of their relief and rush to get out of there but they quickly froze when a figure was coming out of one of the classrooms in the middle of the hallway.
Heeseung automatically recognized the signs of the creatures he had seen earlier, staring at the man who was staggering into the hall and turning towards them with his nose in the air. His eyes were yellow and vacant and he had dark liquid around his mouth, still moving his jaw like he was finishing a large meal. The man groaned loudly in their direction, bordering on a screech and the boys could do nothing but stare.
“What the fuck?” Jay was rushing out in an anxious tone, glancing over to his friend who was remaining still and watching it carefully. “Dude what’s wrong with him, what the fuck?”
“He’s got it.” Heeseung was stating matter of factly and Jay paled at the realization, shaking his head in disbelief and faltering backwards a few steps.
Heeseung was approaching the creature slowly and they both jumped when it reared its head and roared in agitation, sloppily approaching them and not faltering even when it almost slipped and crashed into the floor. They watched it approached speedily and when it got near they both circled around it’s back, confusing it momentarily but not long enough before it was attacking again.
The creature pinned Heeseung back against the wall, his hands flailing in front of him as he tried his hardest to shove it away with cries and groans of fear. It’s strength was double what a normal man’s would be and he was seconds from giving up when it was slumping to the ground.
Heeseung dropped off the wall and scrambled over to Jay who was panting with the piece of scrap metal in front of him, dripping thick syrupy blood now that he had smashed it into the figure.
They both watched in horror, attempting to catch their breath, as it begun to rise off the floor again. Shakily standing back to its full height and snarling again at them, seemingly angrier now.
“Oh you’ve gotta be shitting me.” Heeseung was panting out as he stared up at its cracked skull, half of its face sliding downwards and a bloodied mess from the force of Jay’s swing mixed with days of decay.
Both boys watched it as it started to approach again and then Jay was letting out a loud scream, taking a few steps forward and swinging the metal back down on its shoulder. They both froze in anticipation and then fear when the creature didn’t react to the hit at all.
“Oh what the fu-“ He was cut off as the creature swung at him and he dove out of the way with a grunt. “How do you kill this thing?”
“Why the fuck would I know?” Heeseung was screaming back in bewilderment, glancing around in confusion to try and find a way out of the situation but coming up with nothing as he turned back to keep his attention on the man who kept getting more and more unhinged the louder they avoided him and his gaping mouth.
The creature wasn’t getting winded whilst the boys were barely managing to swing their arms anymore, using this to its advantage and catching Jay off guard. Heeseung watched in horror as it pinned his friend to the hallway floor, listening to his screams of terror and gasp of air from under its heavy frame.
He didn’t think twice before he was rushing forward, and throwing the entirety of his weight into its body. He let out a guttural scream and pulled his arm back as far as it could go before driving the knife forward into its softened skull. Jay was, thankfully, getting the memo and rolling out of the way before the creature slammed onto the floor, now fully lifeless.
Both boys collapsed to the floor in fits of gasps and pants. Nobody spoke for a few minutes from shock and then Jay’s tired voice was ringing out. “Dude… you just totally saved my life.”
It was silent again for a few seconds before Heeseung was letting out a soft chuckle, launching the other into a fit of delirious laughter until they were both cracking up with the body in between them.
“Holy shit.” Both boys were pausing at the sound of Riki’s voice, a lot closer now as he pushed his way out of the classroom and was watching them from the end of the hallway. “You guys totally killed Mr. Kim.”
“And then what?” Your voice was completely enthralled as you spoke, leaning forward towards the campfire so your elbows were on your knees and you thought you saw Jake’s lips curl up from the corner of your eye.
“Well… we went back to get the others. We tried to get to family but..” Jay was trailing off but you nodded in understanding and he gave you a grateful look before sighing and continuing with his story. “Heeseung found a map in the pocket of a dead guy on the highway out of the city and he had circled the general area that you found us in, so we assumed it was safe.”
“And it was.” Jake was adding and it was some of his first words of the night, having remained mostly silent and to himself throughout your trip.
It had been two days since you left and you knew everybody was feeling unsettled by the fact you were heading back home now to the unknown. It was a mostly uneventful journey, not stopping much or sleeping more than a few hours with a shared determination to get there and back as soon as humanly possible.
You felt like the universe had cut you a break when you arrived to the veterinary hospital Jungwon had seen on the map, only encountering a handful of walkers and finding some medicine that should do the trick fairly quickly. But you knew the universe wasn’t kind nor was she fond of handing out breaks so your stomach clenched with the idea of what could be waiting for you back at the camp.
Sunghoon could’ve died from blood loss and infection and passed along the traumatizing act of putting him down before he turned, or he could’ve turned in the night and taken out a few of his brothers before anybody was awake enough to put a stop to it.
You knew the two boys with you were thinking similar things so you’d ask for a story to try and keep their minds off of it, listening to Jay carefully as he recounted the first time they’d killed a walker and how happy Riki was that it was his mean teacher that often stuck him in detention.
“Heeseung was our leader before he was ever our leader.” Jay was remarking as he finished his story, scooting down more into the dirt so his back was fully pressed against the rotted log he was resting on.
Jake hummed in agreement and you didn’t say anything, thinking about the statement and the conversation you’d had with the eldest boy about the weight of his responsibilities. You felt a longing for him suddenly, missing him and the others more than you thought you would and you could tell the two with you were thinking the same thing now that it was falling silent again.
You didn’t say anything as you were standing up to stomp out the fire, knowing it was already a risk to strike it up in the first place but especially to sleep with it roaring.
The three of you followed the same routine as the past two nights, stringing up cans in a circle around where you were sleeping so if anything, dead or alive, bumped into it you’d have some form of warning before it was coming down directly on top of you. You laid your head down in the pile of leaves and tried to ignore the sticks sitting uncomfortably under your shoulder blades, falling asleep to the sounds of the forest and the two boys breathing.
——
You’d been walking for a few hours before seeing anything familiar but your body was alert to the fact you were getting closer to the camp again, this time with a backpack full of supplies and a prayer in the back of your mind that things would be okay.
It didn’t take long for you to realize something was off about your surroundings, the woods unusually silent and resting like all the animals and trees were holding their breath. You raised your hand and folded it, a silent signal for the boys to stop walking and fall into a crouched position behind you.
Your eyes were hurriedly scanning over the forest floor and your heart sank when you noticed multiple pairs of tracks and footprints that wouldn’t have been from your group, having no reason to venture this far out. You waved Jake and Jay closer and they quickly shifted forward in their crouched position.
“Is it a hoard?” Jake was whispering to you when you pointed out the shoe prints in the mud, glancing at you with a worried expression. Jay’s eyes were dark with concern and his face was hard, glancing in the direction of the others and frowning.
“I don’t think so.” You were shaking your head and sighing softly as you trailed your finger around the indented mud to explain to them. “The steps are too direct and pointed, if it was walkers they’d be messy and all over the place.”
“So it’s people then.” Jay was saying matter of factly and you all feel into a heavy silence, knowing you had no choice but to continue on the path back home, regardless if there was anybody left waiting for you or not.
You didn’t bother wasting anytime, falling into fast and silent footsteps and you maneuvered your way through the woods, guns drawn and knives out of your holster in case any of the people were still around and surveilling the surrounding woods.
Jay caught sight of something long before you did and you were grateful for his hand that shot out to stop you from rushing right into the view of the man you could now see, pacing back and forth in the center of the little houses and keeping an eye out for anything out of place.
You lip curled up in a sneer but you weren’t exactly sure what to do. If it was up to you, you’d simply take him out from a distance but you didn’t know how many were inside with the boys and if any more were not here, not wanting to risk the safety of the others or the three of you by acting on impulse. Jake seemed to be thinking something similar considering he was tapping your shoulder to get your attention, indicating down to your knives after you looked at him.
You understood what he was implying but you stared at him for a few seconds to make sure he was certain, realizing you hadn’t yet discussed the groups morals when it came to the living.
His eyes were hard as he gave you a solid nod and he mouthed for Jay to have your back as you moved in silent towards the patrol. The man didn’t have time to react before you were behind him, listening to the sound of Jay whistle and bring his attention forward before you were wrapping your hand around his forehead and tilting his head back so his neck was fully exposed to you.
He let out a gurgled shout as you slid your knife across his throat, grunting softly under his weight as you tried to lower him to the ground as silently as possible.
You looked up at Jay after he was on the ground, watching him carefully as he gave you a small nod of acceptance and you sighed softly before returning it to him and waiting for Jake to come out of the woods and meet you. The three of you ducked against one of the houses, your backs pressed against the wood as you listened to try and get a guess of how many people were inside.
“I say we just kill him already.” It was a woman’s voice and she was speaking in a nasty rasp like she was a heavy smoker, your heart pounding at the sentence she spoke. “He’s half dead already, I’ll be pissed if he turns on us and takes a chunk out of my arm.”
You glanced at Jake after she was done speaking and he was already looking at you, both of you relieved to hear that she was talking about Sunghoon still being alive, immediately followed by the dread of what she was implying they should do.
“Touch him and you’ll have bigger problems than him turning.” Heeseung’s voice was speaking now and it was dropped to an octave you’d never heard it in before, cold and serious and he threatened her in a deadly tone.
You heard an annoyed scoff from a male voice before it was followed by the sound of low groans of pain that you made out to be Sunghoon’s, wincing slightly at the hurt in his cries.
“Do something then.” The males voice was speaking in a teasing manner and you heard Sunghoon groan again, likely being hit or kicked by somebody inside to prove a point towards the other boys helplessness. “Oh.. you can’t, that’s right. I forgot.”
There was more sounds after that but you couldn’t fully tell what they were, feeling sick and helpless where you were sitting until Jay was snapping his fingers and getting both of your attention back on him.
He was making signals with his hand and you swiftly understood that he was implying he wanted to rush inside and take them out before they had a chance to react or take any hostages, using the element of surprise to your advantage. Jake seemed more hesitant in the idea although you figured it was only the two of them inside the small house, seeing the car they had arrived it and doubting it could fit more than four people.
Your eyes wandered over to the body on the ground and you steadied your footing in the dirt before nodding softly to Jay and patting Jake on the back.
It went extremely fast, your mind on complete autopilot and devoid of any extreme emotion to help you get through the terrible act without hesitating or missing your shot. Jake was kicking the door open roughly and then stepping back to allow you and Jay to rush forward, relief rushing through you at the confirmation it was only two people and then followed by horror considering how easily you were able to sink your knife into the skull of the woman.
She’d barely had a second to process your arrival, eyes widening in fear and letting out a painful gasp of shock before her face was lifeless and she was crumbling to the floor.
You felt slightly sick that it had been so easy for you to kill two people in the span of minutes but you glanced up at the scared boys huddled around the house and you realized that you didn’t regret it, that you’d do it 100 times again if it was necessary.
Heeseung was tied to the radiator next to Sunghoon, clarifying the reason he hadn’t even able to stop their assault on the boy and you glanced at him to see him far paler and more lifeless than he had been when you’d seen him. He was still alive however and you were rushing to grab the supplies from your bag when you noticed the horror on the boys faces, eyes over your shoulder.
You froze up but before you could turn to see what they were seeing, a shot was ringing out close to your ear and you were completely disoriented for a few seconds.
It took awhile to process what had happened, turning your body in a panic to see a fourth man laying in the doorway of the house. His knife was still rattling against the floor from where he’d dropped it and you saw the exit wound coming out from the backside of his head. You spun back around and your heart crumbled when you saw who it was that had killed the man, saving your life by taking another’s.
Riki was holding the gun in shaky hands, barely able to keep it steady and his eyes were wide in shock and horror, keeping it pointed in your direction despite the threat being gone now.
“Riki.” You were saying softly, still frozen but raising your hands in surrender and taking a small step towards him. You didn’t necessarily think he would hurt you but he clearly wasn’t thinking straight and his fingers were still dangerously tight around the trigger. “Riki, it’s okay. You got him, he’s dead.”
His eyes shot to yours at the words and his face softened slightly, letting you approach and take the gun from his rigid hands.
He was dropping his shoulders in relief once the metal was out of his hands, shocking you by pulling you in for a tight hug that knocked the air out of your lungs. You returned it after a few seconds, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and squeezing him tightly with your eyes shut. You could hear the others moving around, untying Heeseung and greeting the others.
After Riki let you go and went to sit down in the corner and calm down, you quickly administered the medication into Sunghoon’s veins and sighed softly at the heavy breath he took at the feeling of it entering his system. You pushed his damp hair off his sweaty forehead and smiled softly at him even though he couldn’t see it, happy he had managed to fight for this long.
You were standing up again and immediately bumping into another frame, pausing until you realized it was Heeseung.
His hands were coming up to cup your face and you smiled at him in relief despite the cuts on his face and the noticeable black eye that you imagined had come from the struggle with the looters that had led to him being the only one tied up. “You gave them hell didn’t you.”
He laughed softly at your words and nodded his head, eyes gentle as he looked down at you and you felt your heart clench uncomfortably at both his expression and how much you had missed him.
You thought this about them all as the night continued on, telling them how your run had gone and listening to them laugh and tell funny stories that you didn’t fully understand but you still felt a lightness in your heart just from how excited they sounded about remembering the smallest details of things that had happened to them together in the old world.
Riki was still a but subdued after what had happened, not speaking much and staying in the corner as you all ate dinner and took sips from the liquor bottle the three of you had found on the trip. He seemed a bit out of it and your heart felt heavy after Jungwon had leaned in to whisper and explain to you that he had never killed somebody before.
You felt guilty that he had done something like that to save you, your own mistake for not assuming there was another person still outside or checking the tracks more carefully because you were too worried about them and too focus on getting inside as soon as possible. Your care was making you stupid and making you weak, leaving the youngest to lose a piece of himself to fix your mistake.
It was this that made up your mind for you, solidifying that you couldn’t stay here with them any longer or else things like this would keep happening. You’d have to continue to risk yourself for them and vice versa, you couldn’t take watching them hurt themselves in the name of saving you or each other and you knew now that they were always going to put the others and you over themselves individually.
You kept reminding yourself this as you silently packed your bag, waiting for the others to fall asleep and leave you on watch duty before you were preparing to slip out.
You’d stay in the woods outside the camp for the night and make sure nothing hurt them during your watch cycle and then you were going to disappear into the dark cover of the trees once the next person on the rotation woke up and found you missing. You left them all of the medication and food, taking nothing but your change of clothes and your knives.
The crickets were extra loud as you made your way outside, having carefully stepped over the sleeping boys and left a note with detailed instructions on which medications to give to Sunghoon and when. You included a small goodbye sentence just so they knew you hadn’t been taken and didn’t get hurt trying to find you, although you had a feeling they’d try anyways.
You were barely off the porch, your foot hitting the dirt softly and feeling the cold chill of the night when a voice behind you was causing you to jump and spin around.
“So that’s it then?” You whipped around with wide eyes but your face crumbled when you realized who it was, seeing Heeseung come out of the shadows with a hurt expression and hooded eyes. “You’re not even going to say goodbye?”
You froze as you looked at him, words falling short as your mouth open and closed in silence. He scoffed as he looked at you, turning his head away as his eyes teared up slightly but he shook his head in anger before taking a few steps in your direction with a raised accusatory finger.
“You’re just going to leave after all this?” He was spitting out at you and the tone of his voice, the disgust lacing his words, made your heart drop into your stomach with a crushing weight.
“I have to.” You replied back with desperation, your face curling up in anguish and you tried to get him to understand even slightly what your reasoning was. “Sunghoon almost died Heeseung, and Riki he… these things will keep happening.”
“He didn’t die.” He was almost yelling now and you flinched back at the volume of his voice, having half a mind to shush him softly and watching the way his face curled up in anger at the sound slipping through your lips. “He didn’t die Y/N, and you were the one who made sure of that. You care about us, I know you do.”
You didn’t know how to reply to that, not wanting to correct him especially when he wasn’t wrong.
You did care about them and it was making your skin crawl every time you found yourself smiling affectionately at one of their offhanded jokes or paying extra attention to their wounds and bruises. Even more so with the boy in front of you with the gentle way he touched you to make sure you weren’t injured, when his face was lit up by campfires or his determination to lead a group of boys through a world he himself didn’t understand.
“I can’t watch it happen.” Your voice was breaking and your shoulders sagged in upset, exhaustion wracking through you both emotionally and physically. “And it always happens, Hee.”
“It won’t happen this time.” He was taking more steps towards you and his hands were shakily coming up to hold your face, staring down at you with his own sense of determination to try and help you see his side of things. “Why didn’t you say bye to me?”
He was asking but you knew he already knew your answer and you tried to pull out of his touch to avoid answering, stopping when his thumb was gently rubbing your cheek and shaking his head to try and stop you.
“Because you wouldn’t be able to leave.” He was answering for you, filling in the blank and giving you a soft sad smile that made you break into a sob, your first time allowing yourself to cry for as long as you could remember. “Right? Tell me I’m right.”
You didn’t say anything but you didn’t need to, feeling him pull you in tightly against his chest as you fully let yourself feel the wave of your emotions, restricting them for so long in the name of survival and fighting to make it through the day.
Heeseung was keeping you in his embrace even when your legs were giving out and you were sinking to the floor in his arms, your hands hitting the dirt and feeling it mold between your fingers. You hooked your head over his shoulder and shut your eyes tight when your gaze fell on the body of the man you’d killed so easily earlier.
You let him hold you like that until your sobs were slowing down and the blood was drying in the grass.
You stayed like that far longer than you’d realized, sitting still and frozen until your cries slowed down and his blood had fully dried in the grass.
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ghostboneswrites2 · 2 months
Text
Sick of You pt.2
Second part to this request.
Summary: Reader saves Daryl's ass again and finally gets the respect she deserves.
18+ MDNI || Warnings: TWD Typical violence, profanity, over the counter drugs
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        Things have gotten better since your heated exchange with Daryl in the woods. You two haven't grown any closer, but you don't feel the need to avoid him anymore. The most you get is a curt nod when he passes you by. You're fine with that, though. 
        Today is your rest day, so aside from morning and afternoon inventory, you don't have any chores on your itinerary, which you are grateful for. Most people get rest days once a week, but you tend to be forgotten in that regard, so yours aren't nearly as frequent. Your only plans for the day are to sleep, eat, drink, and repeat. That is, of course, until;
        "Hey, (Y/N)? I hate to ask, but everyone else is swamped with work today. Daryl was supposed to be back hours ago. I'm worried something might've happened." Rick asks, leaning on the bars of your cell. You reluctantly uncrust your sleepy eyes and stare down at him. "It was supposed to be a quick in-and-out at the pharmacy just a few miles down the road due south. It's a small town, barely any walkers last I was there. Think you could go and see what you see?"
        You sigh and sit up. "Sure." You croak.
        "I really wouldn't ask if--"
        "It's okay. Really. I don't mind." You wave him off. You do mind, actually, quite a bit. However, it's only fair if you're the only one not working.
        "I'll load a car for you. Just get yourself ready. I'll have all the supplies you need in the car." He says. You nod and he walks away. With a groan, you yawn and stretch before quickly throwing on your cleanest jeans and least stained shirt. 
        "All loaded up." Rick informs you as you approach the vehicle. "Water, snacks, weapons, some tools if ya need 'em." 
        "Cool." You nod. "Thanks. I'll be back."
        "Be safe."
----
        The town was not clear of walkers. Not at all. There was a swarm of them around the little drug store where Daryl was supposed to be, and judging by how desperately the walkers clawed at the building, you could only assume he was trapped in there. God damn it.
        "Shit." You mumble as you slowly drive by the building. A few walkers turn their attention to you, but not enough. Then, you remember the Bon Jovi CD Rick had tucked away in the glove compartment. "Hell yeah." You smirk to yourself as you stop the car and slide the disc into the player. You crank the radio as loud as it'll go. The first song that plays feels ironic, as it's called Wanted Dead or Alive. You shrug it off and honk the horn, revving the engine, trying to gain as much undead attention as you can.
        "Come on you dead fucks!" You call out of your cracked window that you inched down for airflow. "Come and get me!"
        The dead begin to peel away from the building, inching toward your car in a swarm. Before you can get buried too deep in corpses, you press the gas, driving just fast enough that they couldn't catch up, but not so fast they'd lose interest.
        For the sake of spirit, you belt out the lyrics you know. Any extra noise to draw them after you.
        "I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride.. I'm wanted dead or alive.. Wanted dead or alive"
        You can't help but laugh at the stupidity of the situation. The song, the walkers, the way you're singing. It was like going on a road trip with a divorced dad or something. As you peek in the rearview mirror you realize just how many of them were after you now. At least twenty, maybe more. There was no way you'd be able to fight them all off, not even with Daryl's help. You resort to taking a turn down a random street, hoping it would circle back to the main road and you'd be able to lose them that way. 
        Luck is not on your side today, though. The road turns out to be a dead end. What are your options here? This puttering little car wouldn't survive a rogue assault if you tried to mow through the herd. No, you'd have to get clever, and fast, because your car is stopped and they're getting close.
        In a fit of quick thinking, you throw the bag Rick packed for you over your shoulder and make a run for it into the trees surrounding the street. You leave the car running with the music blaring. Hopefully that will keep the bulk of them focused on the car while you make a break for it.
        The plan works for the most part. Any of them that followed you into the trees are too far back to be an immediate concern, and the few stragglers in the woods that are being drawn to the sound of the radio are easy enough to take down if they get too close for comfort.
        You dodge branches and fallen logs as you bolt through the trees back toward the main road. When it's in sight, you're relieved to see only a small amount of walkers remained. You don't worry about them. Instead you backtrack to the pharmacy as fast as you can, hoping Daryl will still be there waiting for you so you don't have to try to get back to the prison on your own without wheels.
        Your chest is starting to feel tight and hot as the cardio catches up to you. As you slow to a slow jog, you peer over your shoulder. Five or so walkers are behind you, but you have enough distance on them to ignore them for the time being. You decide to keep your slow jogging pace. The pharmacy is in view now. All you have to do is keep going forward, so you do.
        When you make it, you're completely out of breath. The vehicle Daryl took that morning is still there, so you know he hasn't left, and if he did he's on foot, which wouldn't be smart. You tug at the doors but they don't budge. You look back down the road. The walkers are a bit closer now.
        "Daryl!" You call at the glass, hoping he hears you. "Daryl let me in!"
        You slap at the glass but there's no movement from inside. 
        "Shit!" You exclaim. The walkers seem to be moving faster now that you're beginning to panic. You run around the building to see if there's a back door you can slide in through. There is, but it's locked. "Damnit!" You shout, kicking at the metal door. You know it won't open,  but you figure maybe the banging of your boot against the metal will inspire Daryl to let you in. Speaking of, why isn't he letting you in? "Daryl! You okay in there?" You call for him. You don't have time to wait for a response. 
        Snarling bodies are creeping around the corner of the building. You pull your knife from your belt and ready it as you back away slowly. You can't decide if you should take them on or not. There are only a few, but there's still only one of you. "Fuck it." You mutter, lunging to stab one in the skull before backing away again. 
        You continue this maneuver as you circle the building. You keep your distance, lunge at one, then back away again. When you make it around the front again, you see movement from inside. "Daryl!" You call out. There are only two walkers left. You can take them, but you can't take the rest that are sure to find their way back to you.
        The door swings open, and a bolt flies into one of the walkers. With haste you take down the last one and retrieve the arrow before you run inside. Daryl slams the door behind you and locks it.
        "The hell you doin' out here, girl?" He hisses.
        "Saving your ass, Dixon." You cross your arms triumphantly. "Which, I did a pretty damn good job at."
        He ignores your gloating and drags you away from the glass, crouching with you behind the sales counter.
        "The herd. That was you?" He asks.
        "Yup. Bon Jovi came in clutch, if I do say so myself." You grin.
        "Huh." He nods. "Well, we still got another problem."
        "What is it?"
        "The car. Someone siphoned the gas out while I was in here grabbin' the meds.Didn't even hear 'em. Tried to start it up and it wouldn't crank, so I got out and saw the gas tank open."
        "Shit." You throw your head back. "I had to ditch the other car to evade the damn freaks."
        "Alright." He sighs. "We just need a plan, and fast. Before that herd circles back."
        "Okay." You take a breath. "So, no vehicle, herd incoming, need a plan... Why don't we just book it? Run as fast as we can through the trees before the walkers come back. The prison is only a few miles away. We can be back bye tonight."
        "Nah. No idea how many of 'em are out there, or who else is out there. Walkers don't get tired, we do." He shakes his head.
        "Well, do we really have another option?" 
        "Guess not." He nods. "Here." He holds out a packet of pills. You examine the label.
        "Caffeine pills?" You press your brows together.
        "Worth a shot. Might keep us goin' longer." He shrugs. You nod. 
        "Good idea." You say as you pop two pills out of the packet and swallow them. You pull a water bottle from your bag and chug it, offering it to him when you're done. He takes two pills for himself and takes a few swigs of water before you pack the bottle away and stand up. 
        "Ready?" He asks.
        "Yeah, but first I gotta ask. Why didn't you let me in the first time I tried?" You wonder.
        "Passed out. Walker was in here, caught me off guard. I hit my head. Stayed up long enough to lock the doors. Woke up to you bangin' in the back."
        "Oh." You nod. "I'll forgive you this time."
        With that. the two of you run out of the back and into the trees behind the parking lot. You follow him, assuming he knows where he's going, and don't stop until you can't run anymore.
        By that point its nightfall. 
        "Daryl." You pant. "I can't anymore."
        He slows down and leans on a tree, propping his hands on his knees while he catches his breath.
        "Okay. We walk from here." He agrees.
        "Here." You offer him some water, which he gladly takes. You drink some too before tucking it away again. You stumble behind him as the two of you walk, exhausted from sprinting and coming down from the caffeine rush.
        "So." You begin.
        "So?"
        "So... I showed you what I can do." You gloat.
        "Yeah." He sighs. "Ya did good, (Y/N)."
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