#if you think quiet kids are weird and you don't understand them maybe try being their friend???

[strangersteddierthings]

What's Eight Plus Seven?

Part One🦇Part Two🦇Part Three🦇Part Four🦇Part Five

Alright y'all. We had the hurt, let's get some comfort started.

-

Steve leans against his door, expecting Eddie to follow him upstairs to continue their argument because Eddie's never been one to back down from an argument as far as Steve can tell, so he's using his weight to keep the door shut. It takes about five minutes of just leaning against the door before he hears a few light knocks on the door. He pretends he didn't hear them and soon starts to hear Eddie monologue-ing on the other side. He thinks he hears a 'sorry' and an 'I fucked up' but he doesn't really tune in until Eddie says something about cancelling Hellfire.

Spinning quickly, he yanks the door open and says, "You better not fucking cancel!"

"What? Don't you, like, want me out of your house?" Eddie looks startled and sounds confused.

"What I want is for the kids to get to play Dungeons and Dorks for an afternoon, just getting to be kids and fight against monsters that can't actually kill them," Steve says as he goes to put his hands on his hips (a move that Robin calls his Bitch Stance) but realizes he can't while still holding a book, so instead he folds his arms across his chest, cradling the book to his body.

He waits for Eddie to call him out for saying dorks instead of dragons, but Eddie just blinks at him, quiet for a moment before he says, "Oh. Uh, okay then. I'll just, uhh, I'll be back closer to noon, then. For the game."

"Don't you have prep to do?" Steve knows he's trying to pick a fight now but he's angry, and sad, and hurt underneath it all. Also, he doesn't understand the change in Eddie suddenly. Ten-ish minutes ago Eddie had shouted back I wasn’t exactly wrong, was I? You were a jock, a bully even! Where is that anger now?

"No. Not, uh, not really," Eddie says, avoiding meeting Steve's gaze, face turning a very light pink. "I was- I mean, yes, there was prep, but I did a majority of that already and what's left will take maybe three minutes so..."

Steve's confused now, still trying to cling to his anger. "But you called and asked if it was okay to come early specifically for that reason."

Eddie doesn't respond right away. He turns around to walk to the wall opposite Steve's door and thump his forehead against it. Steve is perplexed by the behavior (but he's been perplexed by Eddie since finding him at Reefer Rick's) so he just watches in silence as Eddie heaves a sigh and turns around to slump against the wall, facing Steve once again. He runs a hand through his hair, then drags that hand back forward and down his face. "Yeah. I did do that."

"So, what, you lied? Why?"

"I just wanted to hang out," Eddie whispers, like it almost hurts him to say out loud, which is such a weird thing to hear because it makes Eddie seem small in a way Steve's never seen him. Even during spring break Eddie was never small or quiet; his fear manifested as shouting, for fuck's sake. It chips away at the last of Steve's anger. He's long past the days of kicking someone when they're down.

"You... wanted to hang out," Steve repeats before heaving a sigh of his own, long-suffering man that he is. Maybe it is time to bury the hatchet and actual deal with this. If nothing else, it'll result in Steve being less defensive around Eddie when everyone hangs out, like for movie night or BBQs. Also, he knows that Dustin will never let him know another day of peace once he learns that Eddie and Steve don't get along as well as he wants them to so he says, "Listen, I think we've got some shit to hash out, or whatever, so that should probably be done or, like, things are going to be weird when we all hang out, but I can't do that right now, man. So, stay or go, just make that game happen at noon. I'm going to stay up here."

Eddie nods, weirdly sullen and quiet again, as he says, "Yeah. Umm, maybe after the game? If you're feeling up to it."

"Sure. After."

Eddie raps his knuckles against the wall behind him twice before pushing off and heading back towards the stairs. He pauses to look over his shoulder and say, "If you wanna watch, or listen in, or something, I don't think anyone will mind." And then he's heading down the stairs.

Retreating back to his room, Steve tosses the book onto his bed before flopping face first next to it. He groans into his comforter before reaching for the book. He props himself up on his elbows and stares down at the cover before opening it to see Christopher's handwriting on the inside cover.

It's been years since he thought about Christopher and even longer since he's laid eyes on the books. He was so sure his mom had just gotten rid of them. All this time, they'd been right where he left them, shoved just far enough back to be out of sight on the shelf. His last link to Christopher.

That's not true, Steve scolds himself. His cousins, Amber and Robert, are still alive and in Washington. His grandparents still live on that farm in Michigan. Steve just hasn't seen them since the funeral.

He hadn't gone back to the farm the summer after freshman year, or any year since. His parents thought he was old enough to stay home for a whole month in the summer alone now, instead of paying to ship him off to his grandparents. Steve's old enough now to know that was why he'd spent a month every year out on the farm; so his parents could go off on longer work trips. Once they'd decided Steve was old enough to stay alone for the summer, that quickly reached other seasons and by the time Steve was a junior, the were gone more than they were home.

He doesn't even remember when he last spoke to them in person. He thinks the last phone call was right after Starcourt. It was just to make sure Steve got to job hunting, since his place of employment had burned down and the bills wouldn't pay themselves. Which is true. He doesn't have to pay rent, but all the utilities are in his name now.

Jesus, he doesn't want to be thinking about them.

He goes back to the book, flipping through the pages absently. Halfway through the book he finds a couple folded pieces of paper tucked close to the spine. He doesn't have to open them to know exactly what they are.

It's the character sheets he'd made.

He closes the book back atop them and rolls over to face his ceiling. He wants to call Robin, but the phones are downstairs and he doesn't want to go down there just yet. He also kinda wants to cry. To get rid of all these emotions about Christopher, and Freshman First Day, and Eddie.

Fucking Eddie. Who haunts Steve's thoughts more than he'd like because despite the grudge Steve has been holding, Eddie has been fun to be around and so good with the kids, especially Dustin. Fuck, after having watched Dustin break down when they thought he was dead- but he'd had a pulse. It was weak but it was there.

After Eddie'd been cleared of the charges and the months rolled on into summer, they'd spent lots of time together as a group. Steve will admit he tried to avoid Eddie as best he could (he knows he's petty, okay) but could still see how he blended smoothly into their group.

If this Eddie had been the one he met on Freshman First Day, instead of the dick that mocked him, they might very well be friends now.

That's the crux of it all, Steve thinks. That he wouldn't mind being friends with Eddie if not for that bottled up grudge he'd been holding onto. He can't bring himself to let it go and Steve's not even sure why. Thoughts and feelings aren't something Steve processes quickly, and it usually helps to talk it out with Robin. She lets him stumble through his thoughts, and doesn't mock him for messing up, or mixing up, words.

Goddammit, if he's really going to try talking this out with Eddie, he's going to have be open and honest and maybe a little vulnerable and he doesn't know if he can do that.

But he'll have to. For better or worse, he can't just keep Eddie at arms length. They need to either come to the conclusion that they can be friends, or not, and then go from there. (Also, he knows that Dustin will never let him know another day of peace once he learns that Eddie and Steve don't get along as well as he wants them to.)

In the end, Steve's not sure how long he just stares up at the ceiling but a sudden shout breaks him from his trance. It sounded like Dustin. Hellfire must have started.

Steve leaves his room to go lean against the half wall of the hallway, so he could look down to the dining table where everyone has gathered to play. No one notices him, so Steve sinks to the floor and turns, so he can lean against the wall, closes his eyes, and listens in.

The room below is filled with noise. Shouts of excitement, and groans of pain, and sighs of relief. Dustin yells at his dice when it rolls a Nat 1. Mike curses up a storm over a barely missed perception check that makes the party fall into a surprise round. He hears Lucas whoop happily and then what sounds like him taking several victory laps around the table.

He used to be an imaginative kid, able to easily conjure castle, and knights, and dragons in his mind's eye. Listening to Eddie describe a new location, or NPC, or monster makes it easy to bring that part of himself back. Eddie is descriptive and uses so many voices that Steve would be embarrassed to even attempt. But because Eddie is being descriptive, so is everyone else at the table. Erica has adopted an accent of some sort for her character. Dustin and Will go into great detail describing what they want their character to do. The older members of Hellfire do the same, and one of them is using an Irish accent that if he used while talking to Steve, he'd would think it was his first language.

Steve's not sure how long he sat there, long enough that they've taken a snack break and are back at it again, before he decides he might as well watch, too. He gets up and goes downstairs. There's a pause at the table when he wonders in and plops down on the couch. He makes eye contact with Eddie and offers a small half smile. Eddie grins back, and starts back into the game, pulling everyone's focus.

Watching is interesting. He gets to see the Party jab at each other, or lean over and whisper about something. It's nice, to see them being kids. Having fun.

They end around five and Steve is surprised at how quickly five hours had passed.

"So, Steve, how was watching your first DnD game?" Dustin asks, pausing on his way to the door to do so.

Steve considers teasing him, but he goes for honesty instead. "Pretty interesting. It might not be my last time observing. I gotta see you get killed sometime, right?"

"Rude, Steve. Rude," Dustin is grinning though.

"Tell your mom hi for me, and let me know when she's making pork chops again. I'd like to crash that dinner."

Dustin rolls his eyes and shakes his head but he hugs Steve before leaving. Between all the older Hellfire members, they all have rides home that aren't Steve or Eddie.

Speaking of the latter, he's slowly packing things away at the table. Clearly killing time so it won't look like he's intentionally staying after everyone's gone.

Soon, the house is empty again.

"So, I'm not sure... how to start this conversation," Eddie admits to the silence. He's still at the table, standing behind where he was previously sitting, fiddling with a die. "But, I'm sorry. For that day. You were right, you know? When you said I was lashing out at you first."

"Thanks. For the apology," Steve stands from the couch and moves to the table, toying with the tablecloth instead of looking at Eddie. "I, uhh, I'm not sure where to go from here, either? I spent such a long time angry at you. For pointing out all the things I'm bad at in front of everyone there. For making me feel like an idiot."

"I know. I'm sorry."

Now Steve looks up at Eddie. "You say that, but like, why? Are you sorry because what you did was shitty, or because you want to be my friend now?"

Eddie blinks, apparently thrown by Steve's question.

"Because, like, you were pretty dismissive of Lucas before Spring Break and he helped save your life. So, it's like, are you okay with being shitty if the people you hurt aren't people you like? 'Cause I used to be that way, and I'm not going to be friends with someone who is."

"Yeah, no, you're right," Eddie nods. "For all that I scream about conformity, and how stupid it is, I've been rather quick to dismiss everyone outside my own... group. I held rather close to that nerds verses jocks crap for too long. Lucas is a jock, but he's also a nerd, and so very loyal to his friends. And you- you're really fucking awesome."

"I am," Steve interrupts with a cheeky grin.

"Ass. But yeah, you're pretty awesome, and I've been feeling all fucked up today because, we could have been friends, couldn't we? In high school. If I'd just let you take the damn flier and kept my mouth shut."

"Hey, that's not all on you," Steve says. "I would have still joined the basketball team, and the swim team. And, like, I was so desperate for any shred of attention from my parents that I would never have picked Hellfire over sports meetups. I could have joined and still ended up a bully by sophomore year."

"Well, I didn't help-"

"I made those choices, Eddie. And it doesn't matter because it's in the past. So, like, we can just move forward. Start over, or whatever."

Eddie looks him up and down before giving one sharp nod, then breaking out into a wide grin, sticking his hand out for a handshake. "Hi. Name's Eddie Munson."

Steve laughs, reaching out to shake Eddie's hand. "Steve Harrington."

"Great, pleasure to meet you. Do you wanna hang out? We can play 20 questions. Get to know each other."

"Sure," Steve chuckles, extracting his hand from Eddie's. "Let me order some pizza first."

First time hanging out with Eddie alone. Guess they'll find out if they can be friends after all.

#steddie #my fic #what's eight plus seven? #just one more part #not fully edited because im at work so apologies for that

[findafight]

Okay but Joyce doesn't like Steve au that's juxtaposed by Hopper having accidentally adopted Steve but neither of them know the other's strong feelings towards Steve.

Joyce is eyeballing him all suspicious and the like. She doesn't trust him around the kids, is wary when Will talks about how he's actually pretty cool, and that Dustin is totally obsessed with him now. She greatful for his help with...whatever he did with the Upside Down stuff, but still. She knows his reputation. And her opinion doesn't change until post season 4 (despite a very frosty exchange she had with Claudia Henderson about maybe...being careful about letting Steve hang around Dustin pre S3) because suddenly Steve is like. Always at the house she shares with Hopper. She's ticked at first, because why is this random boy in her house? Hanging out and watching baseball with her daughter? And when she mentions why Steve is there all the time, at one of the seemingly rare times Steve isn't eating dinner with them (she thinks a date was mentioned, and she refrained from scoffing at how typical it was for Steve to have a date and probably not call back) El and Hop look at her like she's crazy.

Because Hopper is no longer afraid to admit his fondness for Steve. So much so that Joyce's distain for the kid throws him way off base. The whole time Joyce has been side eying Steve Hopper was sitting there smiling like Steve :) good kid :) he helped El with her hair after Kali. :') Talked about how to accept things you've done that make you feel guilty while working to make up for them and grow to be a better person :) always putting himself on the line to protect those kids :) wrote to El all the time while she was in California so she knew he was still her friend :) glad they have him. Glad El has him :)he called her Ellie last week that's cute :) unfortunate taste in men but apparently that's a family trait so I will deal with it :/ my son :')

So they're both going "why wouldn't he be?"

And Joyce barrels on like "well, he's always here and he and Jon are barely speaking-"

"Woah that not exactly...Steve's fault..."

"and he's closest to Dustin of the kids, not Will."

"not my fault I was dealing with possession when Dustin, Lucas, and Max had their special Steve adventure" (El pats his shoulder in sympathy)

"and now he's missing dinner for a date. just don't get no one else thinks it's weird!"

El frowns "it's their two-month anniversary."

"huh?"

"him and--his date. They have been dating for two months. It's special."

"El, you don't even know her name...I don't think it's that-"

"yes I do! He told me. But asked me not to tell. Right Will?"

Will nods. "They want to keep it quiet. Not ready for everyone to know? I don't know who it is but that's what Steve said when we asked. Robin definitely knows too."

"so why'd he tell El?"

"and me. He told us together."

El rolls her eyes "because he is my brother?"

Hopper's face scrunches in a smile, proud and warm.

"El, we aren't his family..."Joyce is trying, she is! But she isn't fully understanding exactly what's happening or everything in winter/spring 1985.

El looks mortally offended by this. "yes we are. Steve was my brother first."

And Joyce has to reckon with the fact that maybe she's misjudged Steve a little, if El and Hop are getting so defensive over him....

Part 2 part 3

#steve harrington #el hopper #joyce byers #jim hopper #steve and el #el and hopper #jopper #steddie #not explicitly there but also. yes it is. #stranger things #stranger things au #finda's rambles #finda writes stuff #steve and hopper #i LOVE steve and hopper fatherly relationship. hop realizing somewhere in spring 85 his got 5wo #hes got two kids now. haha #joyce doesn't like steve au

[driaswrld]

(ii) the unconscious consciousness.

— satoru gojo and suguru geto. a tsr interlude.

Satoru sits at the foot of the couch, cross-legged and nursing a ceramic mug in cupped palms.

From across the way, he sees you.

Having just sent the kids to bed, your eyes hung low with that thin lipped smile that falls when you finally shut the door and can truly feel the weight.

The weight of nothing, the weight of empty.

Satoru's tea is cold.

"Toru?" You whisper, fingers fiddling with the frayed ends of the t-shirt you're wearing, some idol group plastered at the front and the colors faded. His shirt.

"M' okay, don't worry about it." He mumbles, a lanky arm outstretched to receive you when you bend your knees to join him on the floor, his grip tightening just a bit when he inhales your entire being — but you don't smell like you anymore.

It's funny, that now he thinks about that thing Tsumiki said she had to write for school earlier.

"It's an interpretation thing," Tsumiki had explained, clutching her notebook close and pointing a guiding finger to Satoru, who didn't really understand a word of what the assignment was about. "An essay about what love is — like explaining what sunshine feels like."

( to someone who's never felt it. )

"And you picked that prompt willingly?" Suguru chuckled, hunched over the kitchen counter, half asleep and preparing tea for when you finally woke up, Megumi's head stuffed into the fridge, the twins trying to climb over the small boy's shoulders to get a look too.

Sundays were always slow like this.

Soft conversations in the kitchen, helping the kids with whatever homework was left, maybe having sweets for dinner. . .

"It's romantic!" Tsumiki defended.

She never ended up writing the essay though.

Satoru and Suguru never got the chance to help her explain on paper what love feels like.

That same afternoon, Suguru had been called in for a mission. A simple one, not too far in the city.

You and Satoru bundled all the kids into their jackets to go get udon while you waited for Suguru to meet up with you, hoping to get some time to drop by that bakery down the street together. As a family.

Even after so much time it felt weird to say it in his head. Family.

Yet, most of tonight remains a blur in Satoru's mind.

What came back that night wasn't Suguru. You and Satoru knew the moment you looked at each other, in the middle of the crosswalk.

The air was thick, the energy was different.

They say the eyes are the window to the soul, the dead giveaway of any hidden emotion, but that thing looked like Suguru down to the flecks of gold in his irises, the twitch of his eyelids in the night air, the curl of each lash.

Often, eyes deceive.

Souls don't.

"Satoru, you need to sleep." It comes hushed, your hand under his shirt, palm to rib, pulse to flesh, flesh to bone, bone to exhaustion. "Please."

Satoru thinks about what he would've told Tsumiki.

What even is love?

He thinks about you, wearing his shirt and your hair tied up — smelling like incense and some french cologne. Nothing like you, but everything like them.

He thinks about the way he stays up, cerulean in his gaze pooled into a flood — it's already past midnight — his cursed energy burns, his veins have been throbbing ever since that thing wormed it's way into your lives and stole Suguru from you while he was right there.

Right in front of the kids.

Is love that fear pulling taut at his gut when a gust of wind wisps through the curtains ever so often?

Is love the tightness in his shoulders and the burn in his eyes when he looks at you, at what he has and what he's lost and what he failed to protect?

Is history repeating itself?

"I can't— I need. . ." He needs to stay awake. He needs to be right here, eyes wide open and waiting for whatever else will come because he knows it will. "I'm not tired, I swear."

Will it come for you next? Megumi? The girls?

Satoru's tea is cold.

The house is quiet.

He was just here. Just a few hours ago, wiping down the counter and sticking his tongue out at you, cheeks plastered with sanrio stickers and doodles in sharpie, scolding you and Satoru about what sweets not to buy.

Satoru's breaths can't keep up, your hair is falling loose and Suguru's not here to tie it.

Love is the awareness of all those gaps, the cracks in the spaces that were so full of him.

"Then I'm not tired either." You affirm, tucked into Satoru's side, the soft tick of the clock above the mantle echoes in the dim room, your heartbeat slows. "I'm staying with you."

Do you notice those gaps in between your consciousness, Suguru?

Do you feel the emptiness of a soul without a body?

Do you carry us in those threads of awareness, all the strands of us that fill you?

Will you fight that thing until we come for you?

"He's ours." It's never been a question. From limb to organ. "He's ours, and we'll get him back."

Love is the unconscious state we reside in, where it's only you, him and me.

i had thoughts and this is purely stream of consciousness from my notes app ngl, but this is part of the “oh no kenny takes sugu’s body” canon event that’ll be expanded on

for now i leave tsr babes with this drabble <33

#tsr ⭐️ #jujutsu kaisen #satosugu x reader #gojo satoru x reader #geto suguru x reader #satoru x reader #suguru x reader #gojo x reader x geto #gojo x geto x reader #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jjk drabbles #gojo x reader #geto x reader

[fuckingmilkovich]

Can I please request a gallagher sister reader where the reader is the gallaghers younger sister and they are very protectjve of her and they all find out her boyfriend abuses her and is mean and they try to help her get out , she makes excuses for all the bruises and broken bones and eventually they find out its him and they protect her thanks

Please can ian, mickey (she's like a younger sister to him and is dead protective) fiona, lip, carl and debbie be in it thanks

MY BOY by BILLIE EILISH

gallagher family x sister! reader | angst | fluff

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

❛he was really sweet in the beginning. . .but then. . .❜

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

ETHAN was the sweetest guy you have met in your entire life. you were going to school with him, but he was always this strange, quiet kid in class. he was that person that nobody wanted to talk to because everyone thought that he was a creep. but you wanted to get to know him and see if the gossip was true. you kept your relationship with ethan in secret because you knew your siblings and how protective they were; you just wanted to enjoy a new relationship alone. first two months were great; you felt like you had found a good partner; you felt like home when you were with him; he was your safe place. . .

but suddenly everything changed; ethan stopped being this cute guy you described as your soulmate. at first, he just made comments about your look that were meant to make you hate yourself, making you more traceable to his manipulations. you were in love with him; that’s why you didn’t think straight about what was going on. you excused him because he was your lovely boyfriend, and of course he wouldn’t hurt you. how stupid you were.

the verbal abuse was painful, but you didn’t want to be alone again, so you decided to ignore it. maybe he was having a bad time; you needed to understand that as his girlfriend. . . but then he started practicing violence against you. at first, he just slapped you from time to time, and again, you thought it was not that big deal.

right now, you're just scared to leave him or to tell someone about ethan. so you just accepted your fate, letting him destroy yourself.

·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ ⸻⸻⸻ ❝ they start to notice ❞ ⸻⸻⸻ ✯

it started at every friday movie night. it was a tradition between you and mickey. you’ve always waited until the end of the school week to just chill with milkovich and forget about the world. but this time you wanted to postpone this. it was weird, but you were just hoping that he wouldn’t care about it. unfortunately, he started to ask questions: why? ; what happened? ; can i help you? etc., to avoid the rest of the questions, you said yes to the movie night. but it wasn’t the same as always. you weren’t watching a movie; you were just looking blindly at the wall and anxiously biting your lips. he was suspicious about your behavior, but he also knew that you weren’t going to answer his questions, so he decided to leave you alone and ignore all of this. maybe you just had a bad day, and all you wanted was to sit quietly. he hoped that it was just a bad day.

❛tell them, tell ‘em, tell them the truth❜

next was fiona, she found you in the bathroom when you forgot to lock the door. she was looking at you crying, almost having a panic attack. you were mumbling something to yourself, but even you don't understand what you're saying. fiona was your comfort person, but you didn’t want her to look at you in this situation. after realizing that you were being watched by someone, you looked at the door and saw your older sister. your heart started to hurt, but you just whispered that everything is okay and closed the door without explanation.

❛tell them, tell ‘em, tell them the truth❜

your little sister, debbie was the third person to see something strange about your behavior and your appearance. while playing with franny she saw the scar on your cheek when she asked you about it. you just shrugged your shoulders, saying it was nothing, and you just hurt yourself while playing with a stray dog a few days ago. she didn’t believe you, of course; what a stupid excuse that was. you changed the topic, scared of telling the truth about the scars on your body. your siblings don’t know about your relationship with ethan miller. and you didn’t want them to know about this boy.

❛tell them, tell ‘em, tell them the truth❜

you started to run off excuses for things like changes in your humor, the scars on your body, etc. you didn’t want your family to worry about you because there was nothing to worry about. you were always a strong person in front of your family; you never cried or complained about your life. you have always been this funny and always smiling person in the group. you are always saying that you are great, even if it isn’t the truth. you just wanted to be a good example to your younger siblings, and ethan’s behavior towards you cannot change that.

one day, when you were back from school, you saw all of your family members (plus mickey) sitting on the couch and looking at you. you were confused about this situation, so you just sat down on the chair next to the couch and waited until someone was going to say something.

“why are you looking at me like that, guys?” you laughed nervously, being scared that they found out about your relationship.

“who did this to you?” ian pointed out your bruised face with a concerned look. you rolled your eyes, thinking about another excuse, knowing that you were exposed and nothing would work, but you needed to try.

“oh. . . you know, it’s nothing. i just tipped over and lost my balance, and that’s it.” you said, faking a smile. all you want at this moment is to go to the bedroom, fall asleep, and never wake up again. you hate situations like this, when all attention is focused on you. you hated being put on the spot.

“that’s bullshit. who the fuck did this to you, y/n!” milkovich shouted, but not with bad intention. he was just worried about his, maybe not biological, but younger sister. he doesn’t recognize you anymore, and neither do you nor your whole family.

❛tell ‘em, tell ‘em, tell ‘em, tell ‘em,

tell ‘em your-❜

“my boyfriend. my boyfriend did this to me.” after a few minutes of sitting quietly, you finally spoke the truth.

“you have a boyfriend? how long?” lip asked, shocked. you never had any secrets with your siblings; you always told them everything about your private things, just to listen to their point of view or advice.

your heart cracked when you heard the disappointment in his voice. this was another thing you were afraid of: that the most important people, in your life would think that you didn’t trust them.

“almost a year,” you said, and your eyes started to water because you were scared that ethan would find out that you betrayed him.

“why didn't you tell us?” fiona asked while hugging a crying debby.

“because i’m scared of him and i didn’t want to be weak in front of you guys,” you said with a tired voice. “i’m abused for eight months now; i think it’s endless. every time i thought it was over, he came back. i just i can't get out." you said, almost whispering. the silence was loud this time, and you felt powerless. you were just tired at this moment.

you felt debbie’s arms wrapping along your body, hugging you and crying into your chest. “don’t cry, princess; i’m okay.” you smiled softly at her, unable to watch her cry.

“y/n, where does that bastard live?” carl was also angry, knowing that his sister was abused by some loser, and he didn’t know about it.

“i need to be alone now.” i really need to cry you thought, going back to your room.

“we will help her,” ian said, smiling lightly at everyone in the room, knowing that he needed to rescue his sister.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

i can do a part two if you guys want to!

hope that’s what you wanted, again sorry for any mistakes!!

#lip gallagher #shameless #imagines #angst #sadnees #fiona gallagher #carl gallagher #debbie gallagher #mickey milkovich #toxic love #emotional abuse

[max-nico]

Sonic noticed Tails glaring at him a few minutes ago. He hasn't called it out or said anything, after about a year of being with the kid he's learned it's better to let Tails come to him first. Though he will say his patience has been wearing thin, it's been a week of nonstop staring and cutting eyes.

Sonic glances at Tails with an eyebrow raise making the fox flush in embarrassment. For another few minutes Tails sits with his namesakes on his lap and his head buried in their fluff. Sonic gives him privacy and looks the other way, hoping not to embarrass him any further, he'd really prefer not to prompt the kid more than he has to.

"I uhm- I have a question. If that's okay." Sonic shrugs, reaching down to dig in his bag, but he's not reallt looking for anything. "Oh, if you're looking for the cans of chili we put them in my bag, remember?"

Sonic plays it off as if that's what he was looking for, it's basically dinner time anyway so it's not a waste to start cooking.

"Right uhm- anyway, what makes you different?" Tails asks.

Sonic raises an eyebrow again, asking him to elaborate.

"I just... We're friends right-" Sonic nods without hesitation- "okay good. It's just that the people back at Westside didn't like me much, so... So why do you?"

Sonic gives another shrug. Is he supposed to have a reason for liking him? It just came naturally. He had a good heart, big ambitions, and an even bigger brain. Is there a reason he shouldn't like the fox?

"Is there a reason I shouldn't like you?" Sonic signs.

Tails' snout wrinkles a little, "Obviously."

The hedgehog gestures for Tails to keep talking.

"I'm weird, and I can't brush my fur by myself yet, I talk too much, I take half a portion of your food, I slow you down I-"

"It's our food, and you don't slow me down," Sonic huffs. "Those things don't matter. Why would they make me not like you?"

Tails frowns, gripping his Tails between his fingers, seeming unsure of the answer himself. His mouth opens and closes as he tries to gather his thoughts into a neat sentence, and Sonic continues food prep. An anticipatory silence sits between them.

It's not until Sonic's almost done with the first chilidog that Tails speaks again. His voice is a quiet murmur under cracking fire and a few distant flickies, but Sonic still catches his voice and it's little sniffles in the wind.

"I can't understand how someone so cool can like something that wasn't even tolerated by its parents..."

And isn't that heartbreaking? Sonic could join Tails crying after hearing that. What's he even supposed to say? Is there anything he can say?

Sonic places a hand on Tails' shoulder to get his attention, making the fox wipe his tears away.

"Your parents were dumb."

"But they were the smartest people in the village! My dad was the head research-"

Sonic places a hand over Tails' muzzle to quiet him.

"Being the smartest dumb person in a room full of dumb people isn't the win you think it is."

Tails looks away from Sonic with a sniffle and huff, wiping his eyes again.

If Sonic could take it all away he would. Unfortunately, he doesn't have memory altering magic, at least as far as he knows.

"How about I become your new family. I can be your brother or something." He says on a whim, looking for something to make the kid feel better. Maybe offering a replacement family would be better than claiming the old one.

And for just a moment Tails looks starstruck. His already teary eyes grow large and seem to well up even more before he tilts his face down, his eyes glistening in the ever brighter glow of the campfire.

Sonic swears he didn't do anything wrong, but those tears make him feel like the scum of the earth.

"You're just trying to make me feel better... You wouldn't actually want that. No one in their right mind would."

Sonic crouches down in front of Tails, waiting for him to turn and look him in the eyes. It feels like an eternity before the fox actually looks at him, and Sonic grasps desperately at the patience he's never had, but is determined to find.

Tails' face fur is wet and sticks up awkwardly, and the eye contact he gives is minimal at best but Sonic will take that over nothing.

Gently, Sonic bumps his fist to Tails chest, right above where his heart is. "We're brothers!" He says, in a voice that's just as foreign to the fox as it is to him. The re in the word we're doesn't quite come across, neither does the br in brothers making the word sound like buzzers, but Tails seems to understand him anyway.

Sonic can't tell if the fox is surprised by him standing his ground or by him talking, but it's probably a healthy mix of both. He repeats himself, pushing just a little harder on Tails chest to get the point across.

Tightly, Tails squeezes his eyes shut. Heaving out a sob, dropping his head down to stare at the log he's sitting on.

"Okay." The fox mumbles, "Let's be brothers."

Yooooo guess who finally wrote something !!! (Hint, it's me !!!) After receiving some of the most devastating news of my life, I decided to write some hurt comfort !!! Welcome back unbreakable bond fans, I'm glad I could keep us all fed this winter's night !!! I have so many unfinished drafts but take this, and thanks for reading !!!

This is NOT ship content. I am under the same name on AO3, and will post this there soon ! Come hit up my DMs or my askbox for now !! Toodles !!

#sth #sonic the hedgehog #miles tails prower #i have the mic #sonic fanfiction #sonic headcanons #sonic and tails #tails and sonic #tails the fox #unbreakable bond #the brothers #sonic #this entire fic was me projecting onto tails i fear #but what else is new #youll reblog instead of just liking it if you love me #THIS IS COMPLETELY UNEDITED LMAO #that was an accident #expect to see the cleaned up version on ao3 tomorrow

[honey-minded-hivemind]

Yandere Brotherhood (X men Evolution) and preteen fem reader who has Prehensile Hair and can talk to animals and is being fostered by Mystic.

Oooo, yes, more Brotherhood! I can do that, but I keep the Reader gender-neutral, or as the Reader's gender (which means for each Reader, it is whatever they are). Cool mutation idea! Let's try this out:

Your new guardian was pretty weird.

Not just because she was a mutant and a principal (and maybe evil?).

She had other kids at the Brotherhood home, and so far-

There wasn't anyone your age.

Your powers were pretty cool, with prehensile hair, in the shape of tentacles, that curled and grew long, wriggling when you were uncomfortable or curious. Your other power was even cooler, being able to talk with animals, and have them understand you.

It meant you made a lot of friends amongst the natural world...

But it also meant you earned quite the interest from the older teens.

You're looking at a little frog, who's wandered close by after the rain, and are approached by Toad, or Todd, as you try to call him.

"Yo, little teen, what's up?" he asks, squatting next to you in the grass. His tongue flicks out for a second, snatching a mosquito.

"Nothing much. Ribbit-Croak-Plip-The-Third here says he's never seen an amphibian as big as you. Yeah, I know, little guy, he pretty cool. Did ya want to say hi?" You pick the frog up, gently holding it so it can look at Todd. "See? He's kinda like you!"

"It- he... can understand you? And you understand him?" Toad asks, scratching at his hair.

"Yep! And he says he would like to be your friend!"

"That's... That's pretty cool. You're cool, little frog man," he replies, and taps his knuckle against the frog.

"He said you're cool... Okay! Ribbit-Croak-Plip says you're cool, too, and that he knows where some good worms are. If you want, he can show you," you translate.

And that's how you helped Toad and your frog friend make a new friend.

Lance and Fred learn you can lift things with your hair- tentacles- hair-tacles, when you're trying to cook dinner one night.

Two thick strands hold up the mixing bowl as three thinner ones add in herbs, milk, and creamy chicken soup. A few longer pieces are setting up the pan with rice, while the rest dice up the chicken meat. It's busy, enough so that you don't notice them come in right away.

"And that's what Toad said he heard from- Woah! Your hair's moving!" Fred exclaims, and you turn to look at him, as well as Lance, who'd he been talking with. You wave at them, as well as one your hair-tacles.

Lance's face turns pale, then a little green. "I... um. I think I might need to sit down a minute," he mumbles, plopping down into a chair by the chipped table. Fred only comes closer, looking at them and the ingredients.

"Whatcha cooking?"

"Chicken and rice casserole."

"Does it taste good?"

"Mhm..."

"... May I touch one of your... thing-a-ma-jigs?"

"Sure," you say, turning back to the bowl, now being filled with the diced chicken, the now-free strands opening up the oven as you pour the mixture into the pan. You feel a light touch on one of the tentacles, gentle and shaking. With a quick curl, it bumps the hand. "Boom, hair bump," you chirp, adding in some rice and stirring it into the mix, and once it's settled in the pan, you pop it into the oven.

"So... it's not snakes?" Lance asks weakly.

"No... It's like a little octopus," Fred says in quiet awe, bopping another one with a finger, earning a small bop back.

"Oh... So... An Ursula version of Medusa?" Lance says, then looks at the nearest tentacle. It boops him on the nose, then ruffles his hair. "Hey, leave the hair alone!" That only gets a giggle out of you as you wait for the casserole to cook.

Pietro isn't much issue, and neither is Wanda, both accepting g it without much problem, especially once you gift them a kitten, one who happily purrs the moment you plop it into their hands.

"This is Potter, they love people, they're an orphan, and they saw you, Wanda, and wanted to know if she needed a mouse catcher and loyal guardian. They also saw Pietro and said he'd like to nap on him, that he vibrated and so he must purr so much and be happy," you babble, stroking its small head with slow ministrations.

"... I will guard them with my life," Wanda says firmly, petting the kitten as it only purrs louder.

"... And I guess we could use a mouser. But it's not sleeping with me!" Pietro mutters.

(The kitten ended up sleeping with him, and would do so every night after, never being kicked out no matter how much Pietro acted mad) (He wasn't, the kitten, Potter, said it was cooed over and cuddled and given so many kisses that they couldn't help but give the purring mutant and the powerful guardian all the kisses it could give)

Mystique didn't cause as much mischief when you were part of a mission, but that didn't stop her from setting you up in odd situations.

"Why do I have to pretend to be your child?" you asked, looking up at the currently-disguised mutant.

"Because, my dear, it is imperative we catch Xavier while his guard is down," she practically purrs, then pulls you into a hug. "Now, let's try to get closer; I think I see our opening."

The two of you walked around the park, enjoying the pond and nature around you, even getting ice cream together. It was the perfect act, enough to let you two spy on the X-Men's older leader/guardian (it wasn't an act for Mystique, she just wanted to spend time with you and show you off to Charles).

It was pretty nice, overall, being with the Brotherhood.

You just had to keep away from the X-Teens, or otherwise you ended up grounded.

#honeycomb thoughts #platonic yandere marvel #yandere platonic marvel #platonic yandere xmen #yandere x-men #platonic yandere #platonic yandere x reader #platonic yandere marvel x reader #platonic yandere mystique #platonic yandere lance alvers #platonic yandere blob #platonic yandere pietro maximoff #platonic yandere wanda maximoff #platonic yandere toad #platonic yandere fred dukes #platonic yandere quicksilver #platonic yandere scarlet witch #platonic yandere avalanche #platonic yandere Brotherhood

[witchering10123]

is this ooc for kya and hakoda? yes but HEAR ME OUT neglected sokka

sokka seeing katara waterbend for the first time. sokka dragging katara back into their igloo like "mum! dad! look at this look at this!!!" and being so excited because his little sister is a waterbender, that's so cool, and his parents are making a really big deal about it and hurrying katara out to see the elders and sokkas falling a little bit behind but that's ok, because katara's a waterbender and they need to tell the elders

and so they host this celebration - nothing big because they may still get traders but they don't want this to go out to the fire nation - and hakoda and kya are doting over katara and making sure she's had enough to eat and everything and sokka... feels a little weird. he knows its kataras special day but he just feels a little lonely, but when he goes up to his parents they tell him they're busy, so he tells himself that he'll talk to them tomorrow.

but then the next day, his dad is in meetings all day - that are about katara, he gleans from gilak and bato, who look a little confused as to why sokka's alone - and when he goes to find his mum, she's with katara and she's watching her shakily try to bend on command, instead of by accident. so he goes up to her to say hi but she tells him that she's busy and not to distract her. sokka frowns because it doesn't look like she's doing anything and can't he say hi? but then katara loses concentration to say hi to sokka, and though his mum smiles at katara, she doesn't spare another glance at sokka.

which. is fine. he thinks. obviously life is different now that his little sister is a waterbender and he had sooo many adults tell him as such when their village celebrated it, so... it's fine. maybe it's just because his parents look a little worried, he thinks, as they sit down to eat before bed. they do look worried.

and then katara says that she's tired, and his parents wish her good night and their mum goes to tell her a bedtime story and it's exactly as it should be. except that sokkas still eating and they usually wait til both of them are in their cots before the story happens. so he tells her to wait while he quickly shovels his food into his mouth, and he thinks it's fine but then once he's eaten and moving towards his cot, he hears the end of the story

he pouts, saying that he wanted to hear it too, but his mum tells him not now, sokka. she sounds tired. he doesn't care, he wanted to hear it too. she sounds a little angry when she tells him to be quiet, because kataras sleeping, but he doesn't care, he wanted to hear the story and why didn't she wait? it's his dad that scolds him this time, telling him that katara needs her rest. sokka goes to say that he was only a few extra minutes, but he's shut down. his parents tell him that they won't be speaking to him when he's being so rude, and sokka doesn't understand but hes too tired so he cries in his cot before falling asleep.

the next morning, his dad isn't there and neither are katara and his mum. and he learns. he learns through his parents ignoring him when he asks a question and scolding him when he wants something that he's selfish. what else could he be, trying to put himself above his sister, who could be targeted by the fire nation (which he didn't originally know, he finds that out when his dad yells at him one day and, oh ok maybe he is being a bit selfish) and katara needs her parents more anyway because shes the only waterbender, she needs guidance in connecting to her culture and her history. he wonders whether it's technically his history too, but he doesn't ask. he stopped asking a while ago, stopped talking a while ago.

he thinks he hates katara a little. bato tilts his head and asks him why, when he tentatively tells him after the man prods and prods because "I haven't heard you speak for ages kid, you ok?", and sokka doesn't have an answer for him because he doesn't know why he hates katara but he doesn't want to hate her, it's just that his parents like her more cause she's a waterbender. bato tells him thats silly, of course his parents like him, and he ducks his head and mumbles an apology and doesn't notice the way bato frowns and glances over to gilak, who sports an equally worried frown.

the next day his dad takes him fishing. he's so excited but he's nervous too, he doesn't want to upset his dad and his dad is already looking at him weirdly that morning so he answers the questions his dad awkwardly pushes towards him and doesn't ask for help even when he can't get the bait on his hook, and eventually his dad takes the rod from him and does it for him, and he apologises but his dad looks at him weirdly again and so he doesn't speak again on the trip. but... it's nice. his dad claps him on the back everytime he catches a fish and he proudly displays his three fish to him at the end and gets a laugh for his efforts. so. it's nice.

the following week, there's a raid on their tribe. sokka runs towards their igloo, having lost katara in all the chaos. he pulls to a stop by the entrance, hearing his mum talking to some guy about the waterbender and... what is she doing?

he freezes. the man stomps out of their home, sees sokka and throws him aside. sokka doesn't feel the bruises til the next day, and when he does he doesn't care.

there's no point. he's got to take care of katara. that's his job now

#neglected sokka #inspired by the idea that sokka doesnt remember his mum and yeah that could be trauma blocking (which is valid if it is) but #consider #katara obvi thinks shes a good mum but we never get sokkas pov unless its his own guilt #again #i dont think this is actually the case #but its fun to think about #sokka #kya #hakoda #katara #bato and gilak being the mvps in this #gilak is innocent free my man he did nothing wrong #atla #BTW its important to me that you know #that kya was gonna take a step back and consider her actions too #but life got in the way #well #death in her case #but anyhoo #the issue ofc is that sokka doesnt know that kya wanted to apologise too #so #more trauma for him ig

[numbuh]

Do you think the decommissioning squad has a way to make sure people don’t just. Write down somewhere that they were in the KND

great question! i think, even if an operative did that, they wouldn't understand it? like, if you just wrote "you were in the knd. you were numbuh [#]" it would read like gibberish. in operation end, the way post-decom numbuhs 2 to 5 reacted to nigel claiming they were kids next door was disastrous. even if you wrote a long, elaborate explanation of what the knd is/does and claimed they wiped your memories... would you believe it? would you leave some kind of evidence to convince yourself?

if yes, what would you do with that information? the memories aren't coming back. you can't interact with your old sector/knd friends because it's not allowed. if there's no other evidence, you'd have to rely on what little your parents and other friends knew to confirm you were really an operative. you don't even remember how to fight (sure, maybe some reflex stuff or only if provoked a certain way, ie. numbuh 4 punching chad right in the face) so it'd be setting yourself up for failure/missing a life you can't get back to. snooping around for secrets or trying to play rogue tnd (without even knowing about it) will only put you and other operatives at risk.

on the other hand, it could backfire from the very start: you believe it, but you don't care. you're a teenager now. why should you care? those little kids fighting supervillains aren't your problem. the squad may consider that outcome more often than not because that's how it's supposed to be. being indifferent or cynical about kids and just living your life as if nothing happened. you also might join the evil teens despite any indifference. that, and you betrayed the knd by purposely writing down all that info for your post-decom self to begin with. what if someone else finds it? if you're quiet about it, no one has to find out. good or bad.

regardless, i feel there would be some sort of effort to get rid of knd stuff at home before getting decommissioned. maybe it's another honesty/loyalty thing and you would hand over all your 2x4 tech and such to your sector leader the night before (if you're not the leader, that is)... traitors would hide things and lie that they've given everything they've got. majority of stuff should be in the treehouse anyway. or maybe the squad checks the house when they bring the operative back (or while someone else brings them back, like 5 did for maurice,) which is really jarring if they're aware of it. these weird kids are going through their stuff LOL. most parents would be oblivious. the squad could miss anything hidden super well like a paper. they're not there to waste time looking through every nook and cranny of your home unless it's urgent, if they go through it at all. certain things can stay. anything with your numbuh on it that's not gear will just look like a random favorite number after decom. really depends on what you think: would they even bother to check houses for things like that? is it the standard or is it just something they do at random/when an operative is suspicious or important?

i have the belief that it's surprisingly easy to become a fugitive and stay one for a short while— as long as you know what you're doing. most kids wouldn't have the idea to pull wires out of a g.o.g.e.t.t.e.r. (in space no less??) or chad's idea to attach his mp3 player to the speaker in one to cause a crash, even if those were both arguably reckless examples (nigel was 100% correct that he and chad could've died.) i would imagine that mayyybe some things get overlooked by 86 and the squad and, in retrospect, really shouldn't have been. things that might get them an earful from their supreme leader later.

#anon #asks #knd #codename kids next door #kids next door #transmission.txt #decom talk #long post #queue #i'm aware any incompetence or general oversight we see from the squad is mostly due to like #when it's relevant to sector v and their experiences cuz that's what the show focuses on. meanwhile #operation forget gave us a number of over 175 traitors that got captured by the now former squad lieutenant within the span of 3 years #it's unknown how many fugitives were still on the run after 3 years but the number has to be incredibly small i would think. on average #most runners do not have that much luck and most operatives are so loyal that the possibility of fugitives is pretty low

[obitv]

@ghostknifeweek day 2: heart

read it on ao3 here

It's only a few days after the Prime Defenders are officially formed that Vyncent notices the... tattoo? that Dakota has on his bicep. From what he can tell so far, tattoos are pretty common in this world, but it's William who draws his attention to it. Indirectly, of course, but he keeps glancing at it when he thinks nobody is noticing and getting this... complicated look on his face. Human faces are harder to read, especially since he don't know either of these two yet. So, he asks.

"Hey, Dakota? What's with that tattoo on your arm?"

Dakota looks over at Vyncent, surprised, and he notices that William's head also snaps over to him at the same time. It makes him slightly jumpy, having both of them staring so blatantly, but clearly it means something. It's a small heart, fully black, on the outside of his upper arm, only visible because Dakota had taken his usual flannel off and had a vest on underneath.

Dakota doesn't let up on the staring, and Vyncent starts to wonder if he'd accidentally violated ANOTHER unspoken taboo because neither of them are saying anything. Dakota shakes it off eventually, but what he says doesn't make much sense to Vyncent.

"It's my soul mark? Y'know, the way to know you met your soulmate?! Dude, I'm starting to think you really are from another world. You don't- Don't you have one?" He sounds distressed at the end, like not having a 'soul mark' is some horrible fate.

Soulmates. Seriously? That's- fairy tale bullshit, as far as Vyncent's concerned. Stories of powerful magic meant to entertain children, not actual things. Then again, as far as William and Dakota are concerned, dragons are made up to entertain kids. Supposedly. Vyncent's pretty sure every world has dragons. But- off topic.

"I- No? Dakota, I told you- No, how do they even work? We definitely don't have those back on- back home," Vyncent answers, brushing off how Dakota still doesn't believe he's not from here, despite being a different species.

"Well, wayyyy back, like, FOREVER ago, the first time heroes existed, everyone had a soulmark! And then the heroes disappeared and they did too, but then the PRIME FORCE did their cool shit and everyone has one again! They're black until you meet your soulmate, then it gets colours!"

Vyncent narrows his eyes at Dakota. He... seems genuine? This doesn't seem like something Dakota would joke about. Just to be sure though, Vyncent turns to look at William-

Who isn't there. Shouldn't one of them have heard the door open if William had left? Maybe Dakota had noticed and not said anything?

Whatever. That's just proof he's letting himself get distracted by trivial things. If he's so out of it he can't even hear footsteps and a door... Dakota, thankfully, is already back to his own exercise. More training is clearly what he needs.

-

Eventually, a pattern forms. Without fail, every single time soulmates get brought up, William finds a way to leave without answering any questions about it. Going invisible, falling through the floor... On more memorable occasions, even going intangible to walk straight through a door, or pretending to answer a call and walking off.

It's weird, is what it is. Vyncent doesn't like talking with Tide, but he'd had to once they'd started going to school and Vyncent found out Dakota really wasn't lying. Tide told him what he wanted to know about soulmarks at least, but still! William's way more interesting when he talks about things, and is less likely to somehow manage to go off on a lecture. But even when it got brought up in school William was never there...

In a quiet moment after meeting Ashe, Vyncent decides to ask her if she'd noticed William's behaviour too. He knows she has one, even though he's never seen it, so he reasons that she might understand. And unlike Dakota, she won't immediately run off to find William and try ask him herself.

"I mean... maybe he's just private? Could just be a taboo where he's from, I've heard of that. Like, some people think its bad luck or whatever? My- uh. My mom was like that, before she met Mark." She leans back against the couch and seems to consider it more, and a complicated look crosses her face. Fucking humans and their lack of ears and tails...

He stares at her in hopes she'll.. say something that makes sense instead of making minute facial expressions. When she does speak again, it's more halting than before, like she doesn't want to say it. "Or... maybe he doesn't have a soulmark?"

"Is that possible?" Vyncent frowns. As far as he'd been told, the only reason he doesn't have a soulmate is because he wasn't born on Prime. Nobody has ever said it was possible for people to just... be born here without one.

Ashe winces a little and shrugs. "I've seen it mentioned online, but it's... really rare. Absurdly." She reaches up to tug on her hair a little, sighing. "It's probably just personal. But- keep it in mind, yeah? I'll try to get Dakota to stop talking about it so much."

And then the world ends.

The sky rains blood, Mark drags them out to some cabin in the middle of nowhere, Dakota and Vyncent wrestle in the mud, William makes a rocket, you know the story.

In the non-stop chaos that follows, nobody really has time to bring up soulmates. Ashe follows through and elbows Dakota in the side when he tries to bring it up at the cabin, and again at Richie's when they're being fitted for their suits. Richie gives confused looks to both Vyncent and William, but thankfully Dakota immediately bounds up when they're all finished in the weird machine and starts whispering his ideas to the designer before things could get more awkward.

Small blessings.

-

Then William dies. Ashe can't do anything and Vyncent is suddenly deeply, deeply regretful that he never bothered to learn from a cleric.

To say things work out would be a gross simplification. They lug William's body around, first without guidance and then with it once Ashe realises she can talk to his ghost. Vyncent begins to wonder if maybe he should try asking what the Prime equivalent of a cleric is, just in case, but then they're chasing after Wavelength and he's preoccupied with the mental battle of trying not to let Alphonse kill the asshole and fuck everything up more.

But William ends up alright again, at least. Alphonse... isn't happy about the situation, so Vyncent resolves to keep some distance until he calms down. Just- to be safe. If he were to dwell on it,he'd know that he really, really doesn't want to see William that hurt, ever again.

Maybe it's because of all the stress and chaos that Vyncent doesn't notice anything for... however long it takes. But the day they get their hero suits, he takes a moment in the changing room to check on his bruises from Alphonse's fight.

He doesn't just find bruises. It's hard to see, resting on a dip in his spine right between his shoulder blades, but as he contorts in the mirror he sees it - a small black heart. One that by all rights he shouldn't have.

Vyncent Sol does not want to think about soulmates. So he doesn't. He stares at the mark, forces his breathing to steady, and pulls the rest of his outfit back on. Breathes some more - even if none of the others can read elf body language, he's better safe than sorry.

He walks back out, strikes a few poses in his new gear, and forces the topic from his mind.

-

William Wisp does not have a soulmate.

For years, he had hoped that it was a fluke, some anomaly in the magic, and as soon as he met his soulmate his soulmark would finally appear and people would stop glancing at him whenever the topic was brought up.

Then he died. Nobody really knows how soulmate magic works, but people who died before the marks came back didn't have any marks on their corpses. So he... just wouldn't ever have a soulmate.

He'd hoped to all fucking hell that he could avoid the topic with his new group. Luckily, the wisps gave him the perfect powers for avoiding awkward conversations! It's just his luck to get teamed with a guy who doesn't know anything about soulmates and a guy who's obsessed with them, but there's always the classic "fall through the floor" trick.

Which he does. A lot. Vyncent is fucking relentless after Dakota talks to him, and William has to pull out every strategy and even invent some new ones to get away from it.

Vyncent... intrigues him. Once he lets up on the soulmate questions, they actually start to get pretty close, and William lets himself fantasize.

They're nice fantasies. Ones where William tells Vyncent he can't have a soulmate because he's dead, and Vyncent says it doesn't matter and picks him up (which Vyncent can do, and finding that out was when William became incredibly grateful his blush isn't as strong anymore) and kisses him and fireworks go off and they hold hands and skip away into the sunset. Or something.

William is infinitely glad he doesn't dream anymore, too.

The daydreaming picks up when William finds out that since Vyncent isn't from Prime, he also doesn't have a soulmate! Dakota's upset enough for the two of them, right? Maybe- Maybe one day, when William builds up the courage, they can be, like... chosen soulmates.

When those thoughts start to come up, William works harder to push them out. He has far more important shit to think about these days than hanging on to his childhood dream of finding a soulmate. He doesn't have one.

-

A couple weeks after Dakota leaves, Vyncent and Will settle into something like a routine. They train, they eat, they watch movies, they do a little vigilante work, they ignore WATCH's calls... almost all normal teenager things.

They both realise pretty fast William doesn't actually have good clothes for exercising in, but after raiding Dakota's closet they find he has shirts in... way more sizes than he'd ever need? Which is weird, but he's not fucking here to ask about it, is he? So William takes some of the tank tops.

Which is a wonderful time for him to forget that Vyncent, being the adorably oblivious guy he is (as much as William resents it - both the adorable and oblivious parts), is the kind of guy who occasionally forgets to knock when he opens door. To be fair, normally William hears him walking and makes sure he's presentable, but he's tired and angry and might be muttering to himself so much that he doesn't have time to pull the top on when Vyncent opens the door.

Small mercy: he has his back to the door. Big problem: Vyncent does not immediately turn and walk back out, but instead pauses and asks, "When did you get that tattoo?"

This is a problem, because William does not have any tattoos on his back. He whips around to look at Vyncent, trying to see if he's fucking around, but- He looks shaken. Like William's supposed tattoo is something that's freaking both of them out.

"Wh-what tattoo?" He asks, near frantic. His heart never quite races anymore but he still feels himself flush, feels if speed up just a little. He can't let himself get his hopes up jumping to conclusions, but he can't help but mentally cross his fingers while he waits for Vyncent to answer.

"It's... a heart. Right," he gestures to his chest, below his collarbones, "here. On your back. Not- not a black one. It's... indigo, I think? Is it- not a tattoo?" His voice is almost as unsteady as William feels, which doesn't make any sense, right? Right? Because why would Vyncent care if William has a soulmark or not, why would Vyncent immediately be able to place it on himself?

His mind is racing in place of his heart beat. He looks Vyncent in the eyes, just for a moment, and then runs through him to reach the bathroom and its much bigger mirror as fast as he can. He can faintly hear Vyncent running through the halls, but it takes longer when you have to go around the walls and not through them.

Small perks of not being able to control his powers well when his emotions spike.

He can't help but freeze up once he's standing there. Gripping the sink, staring into his own eyes... the dread, the excitement, the curiosity, it's all building up inside him and it's near paralysing. But he's William Wisp, and he can't resist the pull of a new mystery.

He turns around. It's hard to see, because he really isn't that flexible, but he sees it. A small indigo heart, sitting on his spine between his shoulder blades. A real, tangible soul mark. And- indigo, not black.

He doesn't cry. He can't, but his vision blurs anyway and he has to face the sink again to grab hold of something to keep himself upright.

It's like deja-vu, then. He doesn't hear Vyncent coming, just sees him in the reflection, appearing behind him in the doorway. Their eyes meet, and William doesn't fucking know what to say. How do you- how do you ask someone that? How do you ask, "Hey, I know we took comfort in both not having soulmates, but- are we?"

Vyncent doesn't make him ask. His eyes flicker between William's face in the mirror and the soul mark, and instead of saying anything he turns around and pulls the hem of his shirt up to his neck.

"What colour is it?"

Reading people has never been William's best skill. Reading Vyncent is even harder, given the cultural differences. So he doesn't try to decipher how Vyncent feels based on his voice, he just stares at the heart on Vyncent's back, in the exact same place as his own. And he answers, voice softer than he expected, "Indigo."

There's a long beat where neither of them move. Then William turns to face him right as Vyncent drops his shirt back down and turns at the same time. And William is made acutely aware of many things - how he's still shirtless, the coolness of the sink at his back, the fact he's been dreaming about this moment since he was 13 years old, that Vyncent can move incredibly fast when he wants to...

And how it feels to finally kiss Vyncent Sol. He barely processes it as Vyncent moves closer to him, stays standing where he was even as Vyncent reaches out and rests his hands on William's shoulder and hip. He's so warm, skin to skin, and Will thinks he could hear Vyncent's heart pounding as they draw closer and then lean in as one.

There aren't fireworks, but they don't need them. It's a little awkward, because clearly neither of them are used to this, but William tilts his head just right and suddenly the cold doesn't matter, the fact he never believed this could ever happen for him doesn't matter. He can feel Vyncent's heart, his breath, and his hands feel like they're burning him in a way he could get addicted to.

He doesn't want it to end, but he knows they definitely have to talk and maybe let him put a shirt on, so he pulls back first. He's never been this close to Vyncent's face before, and he wants to memorise it instantly. He's so gorgeous it's- distracting, right, because he wanted to talk.

"So -"

"Oh, I -"

They both stop and have to hold back laughter. Vyncent rests his forehead against William's and Will has to seriously focus to stop himself from falling through the floor at the gesture.

"I- Was that OK? Sorry, I-"

"No, hey, it was- more than OK, Vynce, really." He moves his hands up from where they'd settled on Vyncent's sides and holds his face and his hands. "It was perfect. I l- We're soulmates!" He laughs, more than he has in weeks, a full laugh that shakes him and then shakes Vyncent as he joins in. "We're rucking soulmates, Vynce! The real thing!"

Vyncent stops laughing before him. It takes Will a minute to get himself under control again, and when he looks up he can see Vyncent watching him with pure fondness in his eyes and thinks, maybe, if he hadn't been in love already then he definitely is now.

Later on, there will be time for more kisses. There will be time for talking, and cuddling, and memorising every line of Vyncent's face, learning exactly where their soulmarks are and knowing it's a part of them. For now, though, William is perfectly content to stay right where he is and let himself be stupidly, hopelessly, happily in love.

#ghostknifeweek2023 #jrwi #prime defenders #william wisp #vyncent sol #ghostknife #primedefenders #myfic #hi :) shoutout to oli for helping me so fucking much with this fic!! it cwouldnt exist without them

[blazehedgehog]

hey! regarding people who are politely declining to comment their opinions on your Frontiers video, i don't think it's anything personal – i think some people just find engaging with the greater Sonic discourse to be exhausting (myself included!) and would rather respect the opinions and personal space of others than engage in debate.

which brings me to my question: how do you handle it? you've been fielding comments and asks from rabid Sonic fans for so long, you seem to have it down to a science!

I can understand being exhausted with discourse, yeah. There are some things I'm like that with. But... I dunno, the response to the Sonic Frontiers in general is also a little weird and I'm starting to think I made a bad first impression with some of what I had to say. Some people are taking it personally in a way that it's not directed at them.

But -- and I do not say this disparagingly -- that's Sonic fans. I get it. It's not true so much these days, but ten years ago, twenty years ago, this industry loved to beat up on Sonic and especially Sonic fans, eventually. Some people don't see that I'm one of them too, which is also understandable, because not everybody knows me.

I'm weighing options on how to deal with that. I've said it before but doing follow-up "correction/comment response" videos seem to be a good idea, but I don't know if I should wait until the final DLC is out or try and get it released sometime next week.

As for how I handle it... I don't know. Maybe it just comes naturally. I remember way back when I first got on the internet, when I was on AOL, the big thing everybody was doing back then before blogs was Mailing Lists. "MLs" for short. People would send you a message like "I would like to subscribe to your ML," so you'd write down their email address, and once a week or so you'd send out this gigantic email that was practically its own whole website.

And I juggled two or three MLs, for Sonic, for Pokemon, for Sailor Moon. I'd attach files for MP3s, I'd do Q&A sections, the whole nine yards, and I was like... 15. And I'd get comments (email replies) from people telling me that they loved how natural I sounded. Apparently people running other MLs were pretty wooden and robotic with their writing style, but I was always very conversational and approachable. And the numbers bore that out; I remember having several mailing lists crest 100+ subscribers, which felt like a huge deal.

And it's weird, because if you met me in real life, I'm maybe the most quiet, reserved person on earth. I have to force myself to speak out. I live in a house with five other people and I will go days where the only thing I say to anyone is telling my nephews good night. I feel like I can't talk. Like I don't know how. Which is a whole other kettle of fish, especially when it comes to recording voice over for a video.

But you sit me down in front of a keyboard, or even maybe a phone to some degree, where I can type out my thoughts? I used to be able to type as fast as some people could speak. And literally as I write this right now, I am more or less mouthing the words, either physically or in my head, as I type them. Like I am saying them. It's all a stream of consciousness. That goes for things I write here on this blog and it goes for video scripts, too. It's always flowed as naturally as running water (maybe too naturally, for how rambly I can get).

I would love to have the confidence to speak in the same way I type, and I know I have the capacity for it. I just get too nervous in the moment.

And as for how I handle people who are rude or don't understand me or whatever, I mean I have theories, but ultimately I don't know.

Like, something I learned early on was to distinguish the difference between people who are actually angry and people who are just trying to hurt you for laughs. I remember, all the way back when I was in Kindergarten or First Grade, some kids on the school bus were trying to get a rise out of me and in my head I kept thinking "They're just trying to make me mad, so I won't give them the satisfaction." And I just went totally stonefaced. When I objectively refused to react, they left me alone.

A few years later, I had friends who turned out to be bitter enemies that may or may not have ruined my life, and again, I learned new skills to deal with baseless people who were just trying to make me angry. I learned how to cope with or avoid some of that.

(Until eventually the bomb went off, I beat a kid black and blue, and was nearly charged with assault at 13 years old.)

And then a few of my first internet friends were deeply stubborn people who reveled in their ability to be rude, frustrating assholes. And, again, I learned ways to avoid, cope with, or defuse those people.

(Until I got tired of dealing with them and cut them out of my life entirely.)

Like, compared to some of the things I've had to endure, some of the things "friends" have said or done to me, an angry internet comment feels like a stiff breeze.

And I also just love putting myself in someone else's shoes. Thinking about how they came to a different conclusion than I have. Ask people who knew me 20 years ago and they'll tell you I used to (and still sort of do) live by a mantra that all arguments start as misunderstandings. If two people come to terms with their differences in perspective then all problems can be solved.

So I learned that when someone has a problem with me or something I've said, I just need to explain it better, or explain it more. If the scope of what I said is too small, then I need to provide a bigger picture view of where I'm coming from. And 90% of the time that is a great way to solve a problem, to come to terms and say "Tell me where you're coming from and I'll tell you where I'm coming from and we can meet in the middle." You're being heard, they're being heard, everybody (usually) wins.

I always try to come at everything in good faith like that. Even anger comes from somewhere. Understanding that helps everyone.

(Now, I don't always have the energy for that. There was a twitter thread last week where I incited quite a bit of Discourse™ and I eventually became exhausted by the endless supply of people who were looking for cheap dunks, or were being weirdly rude, plus I was deep into deadline stress... I ended up getting kind of punchy in a way I'm not super proud of)

And I guess just... all of this stuff, it all just combines into my ability to mostly handle it.

Which is why it can feel so weird when people don't want to engage me.

#questions #skysometric #sonic the hedgehog #sega #sonic team

[linagram]

[ meet the prisoners! (t2 edition) ] prisoner 002: hanasaki aimi

it's the second prisoner's turn! thankfully, she's doing much better now.. though it's hard to explain what's going on with her personality.

(Warnings: Akio's injuries and overall condition is mentioned again and it's also implied that whatever Riku does to make people pay attention to him is most likely painful and harmful)

General info.

T1 Verdict: Aimi was voted innocent, so now she's doing better than she was before arriving here. She has a different hairstyle now, her cuts, scratches and bruises have healed, so she doesn't need any bandages or bandaids anymore. Her outfit is still the same though, since it's impossible to see it under her prison uniform, so she thought it would be weird to ask for something new. She's wearing a different hairclip now, an ice cream-shaped one instead of the candy-shaped one. She has more freedom now and she mainly uses it to request things for Akio. She says that she doesn't need much, but he does. 

T2 Personality: Aimi is still a ray of sunshine in this prison, but she's definitely more quiet now and not as talkative and sociable. She actually prefers to avoid most prisoners now and whenever they ask if she wants to spend some time with them, she just smiles and says she's a bit too busy for that at the moment. She doesn't really try to make friends in this place anymore and she doesn't talk to anyone except Akio and talks to others only if she needs their help to take care of him. She's still very nice to Miki though and openly says she likes her and wants to become closer with her. Some prisoners say that they can't help but feel like Aimi is looking down on them and not because of her verdict, but because of something else. The way she talks sounds more cold and sarcastic sometimes, especially when she's around Eiji or prisoners like Asahi or Riku. But again, if she still likes someone, she will show her usual soft and caring side to them. The guards feel like she's acting like that because she wanted to be voted guilty, but they're not so sure about it. Or maybe this is actually her real personality or at least, Aimi is slowly starting to act like her real self. Is this what she's like when she's not being bullied by everyone around her? But again, she's still (mostly) nice, so.. It's hard to say anything bad about the way she acts. Though Eiji is sure that she's just using Akio to feel better about herself and she refuses to talk to the other prisoners because they're not giving her as much attention as she expected from them.

T2 Relationship dynamics:

Aimi and Akio are very close now. It looks like she cares about him a lot and she was genuinely worried about him when she saw him trying to commit suicide or at least injure himself. Aimi makes sure he gets enough rest, but sadly, no matter how much time she spends with him, she can't be there for Akio when he feels like he's getting choked by that mysterious person he sees in his cell when he's trying to fall asleep. Other prisoners have mixed feelings about Aimi and Akio becoming so friendly and some of them (like Asahi and Yurika) think Eiji is right and she's just using him, meanwhile others are happy for them (like Naomi and Reina). Eiko often teases Aimi about making Akio fall in love with her, but she finds those jokes annoying and says that they're just friends and they don't need more than that. Eiko swears there was a time when Aimi looked right at her and said "Hey, Yoshioka-san, maybe you should shut up and stop assuming that literally everyone is just as obsessed with romance as you?" before smiling and leaving.

Naomi is one of the prisoners Aimi still kind of talks to, though she mostly just asks her for help with taking care of Akio and some other things. It's nice to have an older prisoner to rely on and Aimi can also feel that she's most likely Naomi's favorite kid here. Haha, that's understandable, she never causes any problems after all. Naomi also doesn't judge her for spending less time with other prisoners and says that she understands why Aimi is acting like that, but refuses to talk about it because she knows Aimi wouldn't be comfortable with it.

Aimi and Riku don't have the best relationship right now. Riku has tried to talk to her multiple times, but she just either ignored him or even told him to leave her alone every time. Riku thinks she avoids him because he reminds her of her bullies, though there's actually more to that. Aimi has also said that "he never actually enjoyed hanging out with her, so why is he so worried about her not being friends with him now?". She also finds him trying to make other prisoners look at him and give him more attention embarrassing and annoying. Of course, she doesn't want anything bad to happen to him. But also can he come up with something else already? She thinks that trying to make others feel sorry for you is pathetic actually. 

Aimi is grateful to Eiji for forgiving him, but she also knows that if it wasn't for Miki, he would have definitely voted her guilty. So she is still nice to him, but she also keeps saying things that are a little bit rude about him. She keeps pointing out how weak he actually is and Eiji thinks she's trying to make him mad on purpose. She also likes to make fun of how bad his anger issues are (while still sounding polite) and whenever Eiji calls her out for it, she just says that it's his fault for being so emotional. How can he act like this if he's the guard? A person like him won't be able to judge them properly. 

On the other hand, she really likes Miki and makes sure to say hi to her every time she sees her. She has even asked Miki to wear that candy-shaped hairclip she gave her last time, even if it doesn't really fit the whole "guard vibe". She often thanks Miki for her kindness and says how much she likes her and how much she wants to be friends with her. It's weird for someone who "probably wanted to be voted guilty" to like Miki so much.. unless she acts like this because she wants Miki to forgive Akio this time? Or maybe she actually does like Miki. Who knows.

Music info.

Milgram cover: Well. We all knew this is going to happen sooner or later. Yes, she's the one who gets After Pain this time! I actually like how she gets this song only now, because it feels like she's finally admitting that she was a victim of bullying and that her classmates never were her friends. I feel like her cover would sound really soft at first, but then it would start sounding more and more angry (which basically turns into screaming closer to the end) because this girl has so much anger and pain inside, it's not even funny. I also like the idea of, like, T1 Kei and T2 Aimi singing it together as a mash-up, because these two are more similar than they seem, though they never really interact.

DECO*27 cover: Nani Nani, it sounds like a very soft and cute song, but the lyrics are so sad and they fit Aimi so well! ("People's fake smiles are so good", "My delusions speed up and reality runs late", "It's something you want to hide so much it hurts", "Difficult days will continue, but I hope that things will go well this time" in particular)

Different Vocaloid Producer cover: Failure Girl by Kairiki Bear. All Aimi's "themes" are there, the lyrics describe her past well and I think her cover would sound great :] And again, I like how she's getting a song that describes her problems better this time, it's like she's finally ready to talk about it.

Her T2 Trailer Voicelines:

"Oh? Guard 001-san and Guard 002-san? Are you checking up on us? How kind of you.. Ah, by the way, I know I've already said this before, but I'm just so happy.. Thank you for forgiving me. Thank you for accepting me. You two, yes, even you, Guard 001-san, you two really are.. like best friends to me. Hehe, well, this is just what you've expected to hear from me, right?"

".. Did they.. really deserve to die?.. T-their blood is on my hands now.. Ahaha.. AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!"

Her T2 Song Trailer Voiceline:

"It's only natural for me to avoid them, right?"

Trivia:

Hm? Does she want to be voted innocent or guilty this time? Well, again, she doesn't care about her verdict that much, but she is sure worried about Akio. She doesn't want to lose him right after they have finally became friends.

Miki was the one who braided her hair for her and that made Aimi like her even more. Eiji got mad at Miki for spending time with the prisoner like this, but Miki said that it was Aimi's request and Miki couldn't say no to that. (It actually wasn't her request at all and Miki just wanted to braid her hair)

A light shade of blue was chosen as her second image color because of her eyes. And again, it's kinda like a hint to her being connected to Kei because of his image color also being a shade of blue, but a darker one.

She has even more similarities with Yuno now because of her album cover and Yuno's T1 MV. Aimi's T2 MV will show a lot of balloons too and they will also play an important role there. 

She's not as clumsy as she was and she's trying to be more careful now. If she gets hurt, who will take care of Akio then? 

#i love her t2 design a lot honestly she looks really cute #HER VD. HER VD WILL END WITH A CLIFFHANGER AGAIN THIS TIME I AM SO SORRY #but don't worry there will be a lot of new info about her crime. maybe her victim(s) too :) #milgram #milgram oc #milgram project #ocgram #🌸prisoner 002: hanasaki aimi🌸

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

...Well...

Nimona made me cry. Real actual tears.

(Spoilers. Spoilers, and emotions.)

I don't know how much I have the heart, clarity, or energy to tell about Why.

But that line... Two lines in that scene, actually.

(I can't rewatch it to transcribe the precise words because yt has that artificial slowdown on Firefox, I'm trying to capture this emotion, not wait an eternity for yt to load. So, may be paraphrasing, unsure of Exact Words.)

So, that part about... "Little kids. They grow up thinking they can become a hero if they kill something different."

And... "I don't know what's scarier. The fact that they want to run a sword through my heart... or the fact that, sometimes, I want to let them."

It's both personal reasons and topical. I think the personal reasons made me sensitive to the topical.

I grew up bullied and ostracized because I was different. To this day, I'm not entirely sure Why. Logically, I know it's all power dynamics, them not understanding, not wanting to understand. For some reason, people fear what they don't know. They fear what they can't put in a box. They fear those who disagree, who don't WANT to be put in the box.

I've never understood it. Maybe that's why, a month away from turning 31, these things still bring me to tears.

Maybe I don't actually have that fear because it's like Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, suffering made me human. Maybe I don't have that fear because there's something Weird in my brain chemistry, the same reason I'm not given to anxiety, the same reason I'm so eerily calm when the situation turns Genuinely Dire.

Maybe I just don't understand Them, either.

But what really breaks my heart, as an adult, is the fact that the elders TEACH this fear, this hatred, this ostracization. They teach children it's okay to be mean if you disagree. They teach children that The Others deserve to be hurt and broken and killed.

They teach children that what happened to Nex is okay.

This senseless fear and hatred hurts so many of us. Even if you weren't bullied as a kid, if your hair is too neon green, or if you wear pajama pants to Walmart, or if you love someone whose gender isn't perfectly heteronormative, they think you deserve to be executed.

For no other crime than being yourself.

I can bear my own suffering with grace and strength, but it SHATTERS me to see others so undeserving being criminalized and punished because people don't understand their choices, their actions, their way of love.

Transphobia. Homophobia. Skin color. Nationalism of all stripes. It's not just high school cliques, this stuff has real actual consequences that hurt real, living, breathing, dreaming people.

And then, when I realized, minutes before the reveal, that the little golden-haired girl in the flashback was probably Gloreth, I crumpled again. I desperately hoped I was wrong, but.... no.

It's not even the betrayal that hurt me. It was the reflection of all those children in the world who were told, "Yes, they deserve to be beaten because they're different."

We shouldn't be extinguishing compassion, and yet there are so many people in the world who will side with hatred and blind rage and fear and disgust and take the side of evil, because they understand fear. They don't understand gay love. And thus, gay love has to die.

Because they dared to be independent, to be unique, to be who they are: They all deserve to die alone.

So naturally, I broke again at the climax when he said, "I see you. And you are not alone."

That sentiment has never-- and probably WILL never-- be something I can submerge, make quiet, erase. How it saves lives. How it saved my life. How there are always people who are willing to see you, to be with you, to remind you that you are loved.

Even when everyone else in the world wants to sacrifice your life in the name of Their Ideals: You Are Loved.

That message is so goddamn fucking important.

And then... She was saved, and so she saved everyone else. That doesn't resonate with me emotionally, to the bullied little child deep in my core, but dear gods, does it speak to the power of compassion and what it can do to STAND UP AGAINST cruelty and bias!

So naturally, I cried again.

In closing, these quotes have better words than I right now:

"You think you're alone, Raven. But you're not." - Spellbound, a Teen Titans episode that made me cry twice for all the same reasons.

"Blind belief: are you afraid to see that our fathers were wrong?" - Evanescence. The song (Blind Belief) also calls to "Push through the pain, unbreak the system."

And as Delain wrote in a song called We Are the Others, inspired by the murder of a girl named Sophie whose death was caused by a beating inspired by her alternative fashion choices:

As simple as air in your lungs, as simple as words on your lips No one can take that away. No one should argue this! Now with our heads up high, we'll carry on, and carry out that we won't let them get us down, or wear us out, 'cuz we are not alone. We are the others, we are the cast-outs We're the outsiders, but you can't hide us! We are the others, black-eyed and battered You're not out there on your own! If you feel mistreated, torn and cheated: You are not alone! We are the others.

#rhs nimona #rhs movies #digital mirrorbooking #rhs personal posts #I'm making it un-rebloggable because I don't want to start discourse and I don't want this to be a post about Making A Public Statement^tm #but you're welcome to talk about it otherwise if you'd like.

[sokkas-first-fangirl]

How do think the Canon Madrigals would get along with their counterparts in the Constellations Shift AU?

Putting it under the cut, because this got long!

Canon-Julieta would slap Constellations-Julieta around the head with her slipper, then make her sit down and share cups of coffee as she coaxes her to open up about her problems. Constellations-Julieta would envy her so much. They're both stressed, albeit in different ways; they're constantly worrying and for quite similar reasons at the heart of it all. And they both have been pressured to be perfect (albeit one much more than the other). And with Canon-Julieta being the Group Mom, she's the perfect person to help her counterpart work through her anxieties. Yes, she knows she's looking at a mirror version of herself, but she can't help but feel maternal. Speaking with Constellations-Julieta would also kickstart Canon-Julieta into wondering how much of Isabela's persona is an act too...

Canon-Alma would side-eye Constellations-Alma once she realises how much of an iron grip Constellations-Alma has on the family and just how harsh she is; she's harsher than Canon-Alma and has a meaner streak. The slightly different Miracle would probably intrigue her (and confuse her). More than anything, I think the completely different family dynamics would shock them both...And maybe the fact that Bruno is missing in canon would be a harsh wake-up call for Constellations-Alma... There'd be respect there but I don't think they'd necessarily like each other at first.

Canon-Antonio and Constellations-Antonio would get along swimmingly (and Constellations-Antonio would wish he could talk to animals!)

Canon-Camilo would quickly figure out that Constellations-Camilo needs some human friends and that he's not exactly the happiest kid right now, so he'd do what he does best: do everything in his power to make him smile. Constellations-Camilo would be curious about what his alternate-self does with shapeshifting powers and he'd be happy to introduce all his animals. They'd get along pretty well and chaos is inevitable

Canon-Mirabel would be so envious of Constellations-Mirabel. I feel like there'd be one-sided tension for a while. Constellations-Mirabel would have so many questions (and be anxious as hell, because hello confirmation of her worst fears about her usefulness and her family's love and approval! Time for an anxiety attack!) but Canon-Mirabel would be so tense and try to avoid her at first. But they're both Mirabel: stubborn and optimistic at heart. They'll eventually open up to each other. Canon-Mirabel would do her best to reassure Constellations-Mirabel that she doesn't need to be perfect. It's okay to be clumsy and boisterous. You don't need to wear outfits everyone else wants you in, you don't have to have long hair if you don't want to. She'd encourage her counterpart to wear those embroidered outfits that she hides and just let go and be herself. Constellations-Mirabel, in turn, would tell Canon-Mirabel that she's amazing. She'd admire her dedication, her boundless and open love for everyone. She'd sincerely think Canon-Mirabel is great, that she's incredibly strong and brave, and she'd make sure she knows it!

Canon-Pepa and Constellations-Pepa both need a break. Like, right now. They need to relax and vent. Their struggles are similar, but of course there's differences too; they'd understand each other and try to reassure each other too

Canon-Isabela would be a weird mix of horrified and awed by her counterpart. Constellations-Isabela would hate her on sight (I may or may not have a little something planned for these two down the line 👀👀)

Canon-Dolores and Constellations-Dolores...Well, they're both incredibly quiet, that much hasn't changed, but they have different insecurities now (even if they're both still pining after the same boy). Canon-Dolores, however, is more confident than Constellations-Dolores, so she'd want to help her counterpart work up some self-esteem

Constellations-Bruno: "Aren't you tired of being nice? Don't you just wanna go apeshit?" Canon-Bruno: "...Not really???" In all seriousness, the fact that Canon-Bruno is missing would give Constellations-Bruno a lot to think about...

Canon-Agustín would be so baffled by his counterpart, but once he sees just how hard Constellations-Agustín is trying to hide his natural clumsiness and nerdiness from Alma and the alternate village, he'd jump right into trying to help him relax. Constellations-Agustín would really envy him, especially his close relationship with his daughters

Canon-Luisa: "Constellations-Luisa is mine now and if anyone disturbs her nap I will rain down hell on you all." Constellations-Luisa: "My clone is now my best friend and if anyone ruins her day off, I will flood the village." She didn't think it was possible to be more stressed than she already is, but here's her counterpart proving her wrong! Constellations-Luisa's sadness would break her heart. Being Luisa, they'd both try to shoulder each other's burdens.

Canon-Félix and Constellations-Félix are honestly not that different at all. I think they'd spend their time gushing about their wives and brainstorming ways to help their family relax

#answers #asks #la familia madrigal #the constellations shift #power swap au #role swap au #the madrigal family #madrigal family shenanigans #abuela alma madrigal #julieta madrigal #bruno madrigal #pepa madrigal #mirabel madrigal #isabela madrigal #luisa madrigal #dolores madrigal #camilo madrigal #antonio madrigal #agustin madrigal #felix madrigal

[tellmeayarn]

I would hazard the blanket statement that every ND person has some amount of trauma related to their speaking volume.

Mine is smaller than many, but I very distinctly remember my 2nd grade teacher ascribing malevolence to my inability to project my voice when we read aloud in class. And teasing me about it, because I could get loud when I was excited about something, or at recess. Like she was gathering evidence against me for court. "see??? you can do it now, so obviously in this other situation, you're not doing well because you're trying to make me mad at you."

(A lot of my moments realizing I'm different are from that year, which is probably due to a 60/40 split of timing and that awful woman lol. Typically my flavor of autism didn't draw people's ire much, because I was quiet and polite. And the ADHD kids have it way worse.)

This isn't the shit that keeps us up at night, it just makes our lives overcomplicated.

ND people are drawn to each other because... why wouldn't you want to make friends with people who see the world similar? And that shared history of no one understanding you is a powerful flavor enhancer. But it gathers together people with overactive senses into rooms full of people who shout when they're excited.

So now as an adult I sit there, blasted by my gf's shouted infodumping, not processing it because it's twisting all my nerves upside down and it feels like I am sitting inside a tornado siren or being beaten by ocean waves. But usually I am not willing to say anything, because I know they've spent their life being shut down and told they're too loud, and not hurting them is more important than not being fried to a crisp by the noises they're making.

(Don't worry, there are other situations where it's the opposite situation, where they ignore their needs because they're afraid to hurt me -- I am not complaining about Ivy, keep reading.)

It's just all very very unnecessary! and can be solved pretty simply, by realizing that 7-year-olds aren't fucking with you on purpose. Just to... make you mad at them? Think about that for one second and realize how wrong-footed it is.

In fact, maybe if a kid gets loud when they're excited about dinosaurs, and quiet when they're nervous about public speaking, that's not even that weird??

(Maybe it's even a part of your job to help them become more confident about public speaking, rather than shaming them for being bad at a new skill? Nay, nay, that's probably taking it a step too far. right? lol. lmao.)

[cycle-verse]

Sometime, later that day, Killer finally decided to take a shower, and afterward, he went downstairs to the living room.

Horror was in the living room eating. Since Malevolence wasn’t there, he was working on something for his boys.

Killer moved to sit on the couch with a sigh.

Horror looked at him with a soft smile

Killer glanced at Horror, "Eat enough...?"

“Physically or mentally? Physically yes, but it never feels like enough,” Horror shrugged. The joys of being starved most of his life. “Did you get a good cry in?”

"As much of one as I can for now... gonna need to chug some water if I want to cry anymore."

“I think you should probably drink some water either way… hey, I know I gave you my burner but do you think I could call them a second? I haven’t since the whole, Malevolence got tied up by Error for attacking Dream thing,”

Killer nodded, taking out the phone to give Horror, "Go ahead..."

Horror smiled and pulled up his phone, sending a text before promptly getting a call.

Killer was quiet, leaning back into the couch.

“Hi- hi De! How are you, sweetheart? Yea? You start preschool tomorrow? No no, that must be too soon,” Horror sounded pained as he spoke but he was trying to mask it. He’d missed most of his kids' lives, he’d never even met his youngest.

“I know, I can’t talk long… oh yea?” He looked at Killer and smiled. The call only lasted a couple of minutes. “Yea? Thank you Lust… give the boys a big hug from me…”

Horror then hung up and sighed. “When we get Night back, I want him to meet the boys,”

"He'll love them, I'm sure..." Killer wrapped his jacket more around himself, sinking down a bit into the couch.

“Yea… hey Killer… I hate to ask but is it Nights? Or…”

"It's... a little complicated..."

“That’s understandable…” Horror seemed worried and sighed.

"I mean... technically... they are the same person... sharing the same soul... and I really do want it to be Night's... but it wasn't *with* Night, because of my stupid emotion thing..."

“Killer…” Horror whispered, cautiously.

"It's... weird... none of it was non-consensual... but I'm more in tune with emotions than other Sanses... if Malevolence fakes it enough, I'll think he's Night, usually until the next morning..."

“That’s…” Horror seemed a bit confused but it wasn’t meant to be harmful, it was just… confusion

"See...? Confusing..." Killer sighed softly. "And I'm afraid that that could also ruin hiding it... what if I think he's Night and I tell him...? But I don't want to leave Night..."

“Isn’t he hooked on the whole heir thing again? Like he was when Stain was born? When Cross was taken he decided he needed an heir again so I mean… he might not take it violently…” Horror was trying to find a solution where Killer would be at least slightly safe AND stay.

"Maybe... but he also might not find me suitable... he's a little strange like that..."

“That he is… but Night loves you and he’s broken out to protect people before…@

"I know... but still... if Night *does* appear... it could only be temporary, or he might not appear at all..."

“I know… I know… I’m just trying to think,”

Killer moved to lay on his side, "Thinking is hard... maybe I'll go steal an old sweatshirt that smells like Night and hide in it instead..."

“That sounds like a good idea,” Horror joked, although he was also serious

"It really does..." Killer got up and headed upstairs to steal a sweatshirt from Malevolence's room.

Horror just sighed and began to watch TV.

Killer came back down after a few minutes and sat with Horror, "I found one..."

“I’m glad,” Horror said, honestly. “I made some extra lunch if you want any.”

Killer shook his head, now wrapped in both Nightmare's and his own sweatshirt, "I'm alright..."

“Sounds good…” Horror sighed and yawned, leaning his head back.  “Think he’ll actually be out all day?”

"Hopefully..." Killer moved to lie on his side again. "I might take a nap and I don't want him getting upset..."

“You have more leeway than us, you’d probably be able to get away with it,” technically Malevolence didn’t care how much Horror slept, he starved him instead. Horror could sleep all day but he could only eat once every few.

"Oh, but I'm supposed to be his ever-vigilant soldier..."

“And a vigilant soldier cannot be haunted by his demons and feeding the negativity pool if he doesn’t sleep,” Horror joked. “If Dust and Cross stay awake too long, they hallucinate their dead siblings again, and I go back to where I used to be when I’m hungry… but I only thought your nightmares are what he wanted from you…”

"My nightmares are basically everything under the sun... I lost *everyone* in my au, remember...?"

“Yes, but is that what he uses to build your negativity, or is it just… you looking at him and not being Night.”

"Both... he likes the look on my face, and he enjoys what I give off with my nightmares..."

“Well that’s fun for you,” Horror grumbled, crossing his arms

"Yup, real fun..." Killer pulled a hood over his head.

Horror sighed, “I know that if I eat too much more, I could make myself sick, but I feel like I NEED to…”

"Want to see if holding my hand would help at all...?"

“I… are you sure?”

"I'm sure... might even help me..." Killer offered Horror his hand.

Horror smiled and took his hand. It seemed to help him, ground him in the moment instead of his oast

Killer didn't mind, closing his eyes to try and rest while Malevolence was gone.

~~~~~

Malevolence didn’t return until it was dark out, and he looked pleased enough with himself that even if Killer had still been asleep, which he wasn’t, he would have let it pass.  Instead, Killer was awake and still wearing Nightmare’s sweatshirt.

“Nice sweatshirt,” Malevolence hummed as he spotted it.

“Horror, would you be a dear and make us dinner? I want to celebrate,” he hummed and Horror just looked at Killer

Killer didn't even pay attention to the sweatshirt comment, "Celebrate... what, exactly?"

“Oh, just my victory,” Malevolence hummed and Horror just gave Killer a look, refusing to move until Killer nodded or something, signaling that it was okay

Killer nodded slightly, a signal to Horror, but Malevolence likely thought it was some sort of curiosity, "Want to tell me more about said victory?"

Horror backed away and Malevolence grinned, wrapping his arms loosely around Killer. “I broke off Ink's wing, Killer. I got Error to fire his blaster at me and while he was tired from that, I got Ink’s wing!”

"That sounds impressive... still no sign of Cross?" Killer made sure to hide his negativity over Ink being hurt, waiting until he was told that Cross still wasn't back.

“No, no sign of Cross. Error was there though and he made a pretty smart defense. He used his strings to make a dome,” Smart? Malevolence didn’t say anything anyone did was smart…

“Oh, I’m glad you and the others won’t leave me. It’d be a shame to have to get a new crew. They wouldn’t be as fun as you.”

"I'm sure they wouldn't..." Killer went pretty quiet, letting the negativity flow a bit. It was about Ink getting hurt, but Malevolence could assume it to be about the loss of Cross.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get him back, I just know it,” Malevolence kissed the side of Killer's head before moving away. “In honor of my victory, Horror gets to eat dinner and everyone gets to sleep well. A victory is worth celebrating, no?”

"I suppose it is..." Killer watched Malevolence. After his nap, he'd chugged more water, and at this point, he felt like he could start crying again, for many reasons, most of them bad.

Malevolence smiled at Killer, warmly. “What would I do without you, Killer?”

"I'm not sure, probably the same thing, but without someone to celebrate with..."

“There’d be more I missed too,” Malevolence hummed.

Killer could only nod, unable to stop tears from beginning to fall.

“Hey… hey… what’s wrong?” Malevolence sounded so much like Night then as he reached to cup Killer's face and wipe his tears.

"I d-don't know..." Killer leaned his head into Malevolence's hands.

“Shhh… shhh… I’ve got you,” Malevolence pulled Killer into a gentle hug

Killer rested his head against him, more tears falling, "I-I'm w-warm..."

Malevolence raised a hand to feel Killer's head, worried

Killer was running a fever, and he moved to hold onto Malevolence, seeming weaker than usual.

“Oh no,” Malevolence whispered. “No, Killer you have a fever… come on, we have to get you resting,”

Killer made a slight noise, hiding his face against Malevolence's shoulder.

“Shhh… shhh,” With ease, Malevolence picked Killer up and carried him upstairs

Killer let out a slight noise, which seemed more out of stress, "N-Night...?"

Malevolence adjusted his hold on Killer, “Hmm?”

"I-I-m sorry..." Killer didn't exactly know what for, but he felt like he had to stay it.

“It’s okay…” Malevolence didn’t know either, just guessing that it was because he was sick. He laid killer down in his bed. “I want you to rest okay?”

Killer nodded a bit, curling up once he was laid down.

Malevolence tucked him in and kissed his head. “I’ll bring you up some dinner…”

"Th-Thank you..."

“Of course. Is there anything you need before I go back downstairs?”

Killer shook his head, grabbing a pillow to cry into since he couldn't seem to stop.

“Okay…” Malevolence kissed Killer’s head again before walking back downstairs

#cycleverse #killer sans #killer #cycle!killer #cycle!nightmare #cycle!horror #horror sans #horror #nightmare!sans #nightmare

[casspurrjoybell-25]

ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS - Chapter 20

*Warning: Adult Content*  

Jayce stared at the wall of his hotel room, sighing before he looked back at his laptop.

This would be the fifth job application he'd submitted today.

He hoped someone would call him back but he worried that because it was now December and the holidays were approaching, companies wouldn't be hiring until the new year.

He had enough savings to stay in this hotel for the rest of the month but after that, he'd have to start bringing in some money if he wanted to make sure he had enough to pay for the deposit and first month's rent for a new apartment.

To make things worse, most of the apartments he'd looked at wanted proof of employment and current pay stubs, so he couldn't even get an apartment until he got a job.

It was stressful but it wasn't what was bothering him most. 

Dylan was constantly on his mind.

He missed the quiet, gentle man.

He missed Dylan's huge arms wrapped around him, Dylan's warm lips against his and the way Dylan seemed to smell like Christmas.

He still didn't understand quite what had gone wrong.

Dylan seemed to like him and he'd told Jayce he could be himself.

But maybe what had happened was what always happened to him, as soon as he wasn't perfect, guys left him.

He'd challenged Dylan about going into town and brought up Dylan's flaws and a few hours later, Dylan had sent him back to Seattle.

The other possibility was that his helplessness and tendency to turn everything into a disaster had been too much for Dylan.

Because of his poor planning, he'd caused a missing persons fiasco, wasted everyone's time and caused the police to show up at Dylan's door.

Most people wouldn't be happy about that.

He hadn't known his brother was going to invite him for Thanksgiving this year or that both his brother and his parents would panic when they didn't hear back from him and couldn't get in touch with him.

It was nice to know his family actually did care.

Since he missed Thanksgiving with them, he had been invited to fly to his brother's house for Christmas.

Giving up on the job applications for now, he crawled onto the hotel bed and sank down with his face in the pillows.

He was upset about how things had turned out with Dylan and he'd spent more time moping around than he wanted to admit.

Every time he closed his eyes, he pictured Dylan's face.

He didn't know how things would have worked out between them, especially living several hours apart from each other but he'd at least wanted to try being in a relationship with Dylan.

Beside him on the bed, his phone started vibrating.

He picked it up quickly, hoping maybe it'd be someone from one of the jobs he'd applied to but he sighed when he saw it was just his brother calling him.

Again.

"Hey, Matt," he answered. "I'm still okay. Not lost anywhere. You don't need to keep checking up on me."

"I know but I want to. I feel bad for being too wrapped up in my own life to keep in touch on a consistent basis. That's going to change."

"You have a wife and kids. You should be focused on them."

"And I can focus on you too," Matt sighed. "I didn't know Dad and Mom were being so weird about you being gay. If I had known, I would have done a lot of things differently."

"It's not your problem."

"It is, especially when my little brother takes off into the mountains without telling anyone and almost dies."

"I'm fine," he insisted. "I promise. I won't ever do that again, trust me."

"You still owe me the detailed version of what happened. I mean, some guy who lived in the mountains found you? You can't just leave it at that."

"Okay," he sighed.

He started filling Matt in about Dylan and he couldn't help but tell him everything.

He needed to talk to someone about Dylan and about how he had messed it all up.

"That's quite a story," Matt said.

"Yeah. I just wish I hadn't screwed things up."

"Jayce, I don't think it's your fault. Based on everything you just told me about Dylan, he's had a rough life. This might be something you should talk to Heather about."

He had only spoken with Matt's wife Heather a few times but she had always been kind to him.

And she was a therapist, so it probably wouldn't hurt to get her perspective.

Heather's warm, upbeat voice filled his ear.

"Hey, Jayce. I'm glad you're okay and safely back in Seattle. You had us all worried."

"I'm fine," he assured her. "I didn't mean to cause all this trouble."

He gave her a brief recap of the past couple months but spent most of the time telling her about Dylan.

She listened carefully, taking a moment to think before giving her opinion.

"If you really like Dylan and want to have a relationship with him, the first thing both of you will have to do is communicate better. It sounds like you both have insecurities and you need to talk to each other about those. Second, you're going to have to take the lead on a lot of things. Dylan's had a sheltered life and it doesn't seem like he's had much opportunity for human interaction. He doesn't have the same social skills that you do. You're going to have to be patient with him. There may be days when he lashes out or doesn't know how to handle a situation. I suspect that's what happened when he sent you home."

"I didn't think about all of that," he admitted.

"If you want to talk to him again or see him again, you'll need to be the one to reach out. There could be any number of things Dylan is thinking but it's possible that after everything he's been through, he doesn't believe you actually want to be around him."

He listened carefully to everything Heather said, asking a few follow-up questions before they hung up.

He was grateful to have her advice and see the situation from someone else's perspective.

It gave him hope that things didn't have to be over with Dylan.

For days, Dylan had laid in his bed, barely eating and ignoring the world around him.

The silence he'd once loved was stifling now.

Jayce was gone and he'd give anything to hear Jayce's laugh again or listen to him ramble on, filling the room with the sound of his voice.

He pulled the blanket over his head and clutched the scarf he'd given to Jayce.

After Jayce had left, he'd found the scarf draped over a chair.

Apparently, Jayce didn't want to take it with him and didn't want any reason to remember him or his time in the cabin.

The rejection stung but he buried his face in the scarf and breathed deeply. It still smelled like Jayce.

He knew he needed to get up and move on with his life.

More snow had fallen and he needed to clear the driveway again and bring in more firewood.

And if he wanted fresh fruit and vegetables, he'd have to do what he dreaded most, go back into town to the grocery store.

A few hours later, he pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store.

He stared at the building in front of him, hoping there wouldn't be many people inside.

He hoped he could get in, get what he needed and get out before anyone noticed him.

Inside the store, a group of teenagers were in the bakery section looking at the desserts and an older woman was slowly pushing a cart down one of the aisles as she browsed.

He kept his head down and headed straight to the produce section.

He quickly picked out what he wanted before taking a detour to grab some fish fillets as well.

He was about to turn the corner into the next aisle when he heard the whispers of the teenagers he'd seen when he entered the store.

"Did you see that creepy guy is in here?" one of the girls said. "I heard that he kidnapped a hiker and kept him in some weird cabin up in the mountains."

One of the guys chimed in.

"My dad said the same thing and told me to stay away from him. Like I would ever go near him. Something's wrong with that guy."

His heart sank hearing their words.

He didn't know how the information about Jayce being at his cabin had gotten out but it shouldn't have surprised him that people were twisting the story to make him out to be a threat.

Now, people's stares were going to be even worse.

The teenagers laughed about something and he focused on their words again.

"That big scar on his face looks so bad," another girl whispered. "I don't know why he walks around like that instead of trying to cover it up."

He felt sick.

It was one thing for his mind to fill in the blanks about what people must be thinking as they stared at him but it was another thing entirely hearing their real thoughts.

He couldn't stand another second of being in public with everyone's watching eyes, so he dropped his basket of groceries and quickly fled from the store.