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world-of-horrors-au · 2 years

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Horrors AU - Caretaking

Requested by a compassionate friend who asked to remain anonymous.

After being attacked unexpectedly by humans in an already weakened state, Jeff finds himself being saved not by one of his mates, but by the kindest of the Slendergods

Jeff x Hedonist [Offenderman]

===

When it ended, Jeff didn't open his eyes. He let himself breathe first, sucking in deep breaths of the Deep's sweet, cool air. His bloody fingers relaxed and unclenched on the dirty concrete.

Somehow, he was safe. And it wasn't thanks to one of his mates.

The large shadow cast over him shifted, and a man's voice let out a light laugh.

"Afternoon, General," the Hedonist said. "What a pleasant surprise meeting you here."

His face wrinkling with effort, Jeff pushed his body with his arms. He rolled over onto his back. He hissed in pain. Bad idea - even his blurry eyes could see the way the Hedonist's head snapped towards him.

"You alright?" The Hedonist said, voice now tense.

"Why did you do that?" Jeff asked instead.

A pause. "What, those bastards?" The Hedonist jabbed a thumb over his shoulder towards the corpses. "I felt you running into the Deep. You never do that, so I figured something was up. Would've let the dumbasses survive, but turns out I banned their little group last week for kidnapping. Traffickers never learn."

Jeff closed his eyes and laughed. "Traffickers," he said, the word cold on his tongue. "Of course they were."

A long pause.

"You're hurt," the Hedonist said, and Jeff had never heard that kind of alarm in it before.

Grimacing, Jeff moved his reluctant body, to push himself to a sitting position. He couldn't do it.

The Hedonist was there, crouching over him.

"Jeff, what the hell happened? You're not healing!"

Jeff hissed. The god was right. Even now, his muscles cried out with pain, and his cut open skin wept fresh blood.

"The bastard that's stalking Briar," Jeff said, and sucked in another breath. "He's some kind of scientist. I caught him trying to break into her house again and he stabbed me with some kind of syringe. He thought I was her - fucker ran away when he realized I was a guy. He didn't -" Jeff took another breath. Breathing wasn't easy, it hurt. "Didn't recognize me somehow."

The Hedonist said three sharp syllables, something in his native tongue. He shook his head.

"I'm taking you to Doc," he said. "I'll carry you, you ready?"

Jeff didn't even bother to protest. He nodded, and bit his tongue. At first, as the large arms wrapped around him, his vision spun and terror pushed into his throat like bile. His mind flashed the image of another god, a black suit with a red tie, a hand larger than his head reaching out…

Roses, though. Sweet roses, dozens of types, all embedded in the Hedonist's skin and cocky looking clothes. The fear melted and the pain did too. Jeff pressed his cheek against the cool bare chest the Hedonist held him against, and purred.

From within that chest, a deep rumbling, a purr returned. Jeff smiled.

A door opened.

"Smiley!" The Hedonist shouted.

Jeff raised his head. The light burned and buzzed, he clenched his eyes shut. Now he could smell it, metal and sanitizer and weird chemicals. It made his head throb. Definitely Dr Smiley's lab.

"Smiley!" The Hedonist shouted again.

"Did I pass out?" Jeff asked.

"No, I just know some tricks. Smi-"

"Chill, Heds, I'm right here."

Her steps were quiet as cat's feet, which matched the biomechanical tail that swung calm from side to side. Dr. Smiley was, of course, smiling when she emerged from the void of her back rooms. It didn't last long.

"Jane's grace, what happened?!" She yelped.

"People actually say that?" Jeff said, voice weak.

"Lay him down over here," Smiley said, gesturing to a berth. She moved the box on it to a table as the Hedonist strode towards it.

"One of your brothers in science got him with a syringe," the Hedonist said. Jeff hissed in a breath as he was lowered down. "Was going after Jeff's - Jeff? You need to let go."

"Huh?" Jeff blinked. His eyes refocused, and looked at the hand still gripping the Hedonist's coat. "Oh, right."

He exhaled. His hand didn't let go. His fingers twitched, and didn't release.

"Can you let go?" The Hedonist looked at Jeff, in obvious concern.

"Shock, I bet." Smiley pressed a spot on Jeff's arm. His fingers snapped open. "The body does weird shit when it's in pain, and you're not healing right."

"At all," Jeff said, and watched as the Hedonist lay the shaking arm down onto the been berth.

Smiley cursed under her breath, her expression twisting into anger.

"I'll get you a sedative," she said. "It'll knock you out-"

"Do those work on us?" Jeff said. "Eyeless Jack said-"

"Your whole body is screwy right now," Smiley said. "Even if you only stay under for ten minutes, it'll give your body a chance to relax and me time to see what the fuck that bastard put in your system."

Jeff thought about what that meant - needles, for sure - and cringed.

"Thanks, doc," he said. He smiled at her and she grinned back.

"Anything for our General," she said.

The Hedonist nodded. "Anything for you, Jeff," he said.

Jeff laid his head back down and closed his eyes. He was safe here, he thought, closing his eyes. He could rest.

---

"He went under quick," Smiley said. "Faster than I thought. He must be in a lot of pain."

The Hedonist pulled away the scraps of cloth as Smiley snipped them away from the injuries with her scissors.

"He's not an ordinary guy," the Hedonist said. He looked at Jeff's face. "Never really had the chance to be."

"Thirteen years old," Smiley said, shaking her head. "I think that's the youngest of all the Horrors born in the First Wave. And he led us in a war."

"After he got away," the Hedonist said, in a dark voice.

Neither of them spoke. Fabric snipped into pieces, Smiley hummed.

"Good news is, he stopped bleeding a while ago. Bad news is, the wounds aren't closing like they normally would be." She clicked her tongue. "I gotta act fast or he's gonna have some new scars and a lot of vacation time."

"I wouldn't mind giving him a vacation," the Hedonist joked.

Smiley looked up at him, a knowing light in her eyes. The Hedonist pulled back, blushing, and cleared his throat.

"Do you know what might've done this?" He asked.

Her expression darkened.

"I don't have a clue. This should be impossible. At least, I would've thought it was impossible. I never really considered how it would be done, just what I would do if it happened."

"But," she said, "it's still in his system. That means I should be able to find it. And once I do…"

Smiley hesitated. The Hedonist waited.

"Doc…?"

"This isn't my subject," she said at last. "I've earned my mad scientist cred through different strains of biology. I may not be able to find this on my own."

"So you're gonna need help?" The Hedonist straightened.

"You don't need to kidnap anyone," Smiley said. He relaxed.

"I'm gonna call in a favor," she said, and he tensed again.

"I hate that guy," the Hedonist half whined, no actual hate in his voice.

"You hate who he works for," Smiley said. "If he were working for you, you'd probably adore him."

The Hedonist huffed.

"Tell him to take a shower before he comes here," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't want a guy smelling like bad booze wandering around my personal areas."

"You say that like that would stop you from- never mind," Smiley said. "Yeah, I'll find a way to tell him. Now are you going to help me, or just hover over your crush like a worried mama bird?"

The Hedonist blushed a deep shade. "I'll help," he said.

"That's what I thought."

It did make her nervous to think about contacting the other scientist, but Smiley would never tell the Hedonist that. There was a kinship between her and the human man, one born from being separated from their homelands, not just being siblings in mad science. Rico McMallory was the only human Smiley would ever trust. If he couldn't figure out what happened to Jeff, no one could.

#creepypasta #creepypasta au #horrors au #creepypasta offenderman #jeff the killer #creepypasta jeff the killer #creepypasta fanfiction #tw human trafficking #injury

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bnhaficsforthesoul · 3 years

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Shiggy headcanons because he <3

warning: some nsfw and I say when it starts

okay first off, yes please help him take care of his skin but be nice about it, he is self conscious about his skin and will think you think hes ugly if you dont bring it up right- best way to go about it is say that you know it bothers him and makes him uncomfortable physically and mentally and you want to help him and you think that these products could help

cause he appreciates you looking out for him a lot

it also helps if you do a skin care routine with him! he thinks of it as a fun bonding time for the both of you and you being there in the habit of doing it everyday helps to remind him to do it everyday

at the beginning he could be very selfish and demanding of you (mainly of your attention and time) while also not giving you much in return- he didnt mean to, he legitimately has no idea what a healthy relationship looks like, all he knows is that he craves your attention and love but doesnt know how to give it back and is scared to anyways

you're really gonna have to be patient with him, help him to understand that you need to be given affection as well and that relationships require work from both sides - hell take everything you say very seriously because he doesnt want to disappoint you

he opens up in odd increments, hell go from you cannot know anything about me to heres my life story in 10 minutes, leaves out details here and there that hell save for another time, but hes not trying to trauma dump or anything its just so healing for him to be able to get it out to a positive outlet that sometimes he can give you a bit much without warning, but of course you want to help him so you comfort him as best you can

so scared of touching you, at first hes wary even with wearing gloves because just what if - what if something goes wrong and suddenly you're gone, he cant handle that

but he slowly gets there, first getting more comfortable with just you touching him and then hell carefully link his pinky with yours or press your foreheads together, small things that you learn to love

when he learns to control his quirk to the point of not having to worry about this anymore, he excitedly runs up to you hands out and just grabs you, let's his hands run all over your body in the most innocent way possible, for the first time he can actually feel you fully and hes so in love

if anyone even dared to hurt you he would kill them without a second thought, you are without question the most important thing on this planet, nothing else matters

he can be extremely possessive, but it's mainly because hes terrified you'll leave. he doesnt think hes attractive or has a good personality or any good redeeming qualities, he has no idea why someone as perfect as you would even consider looking in his direction, but he never wants you to leave

god he loves kisses. so much. could kiss you for the rest of eternity and would never get bored. when you pull away he will chase your lips and pull you in again

tell him hes gorgeous please. he needs to hear it, he has no idea how genuinely beautiful he is :(

he loves when you wear his clothes. they're more than likely all very dirty, especially if you wear them long enough to get them to smell like you because he wont wash them just to keep the smell (so you're probably gonna have to wash his clothes and help him to get into the habit of doing so), but he thinks you're so gorgeous in his clothes. its probably another aspect of him being possessive and liking things that make it obvious that you're with him, but he wouldnt mind if you stole everything in his closet

loves having you seated on his lap, especially during important meetings. yeah, hes got the hottest s/o on the planet, no one else can have them, cope.

seriously he loves showing off that you're with him he will brag endlessly if the situation allows it

loves playing video games with you of course, at first you were lucky to be able to be seated at his side and watch as he played, but now he got you your own special controller and cant wait to continue playing whatever 2 player game he can find

he gets you really cute gifts, probably stolen or things he found laying around, but they're always so soft - the sweetest gift he ever gave you was one of his old plushies that he keeps in his room, he washed it and everything for you and gave it to you so that even when hes not there you have something of him

loves when you play with his hair, it's probably tangled 90% of the time because he cant be bothered to even think about brushing his hair but will let you brush it for him and run your fingers through it and everything

though he does whine when you accidentally brush too hard and pull on his hair harshly, but his hair is seriously tangled and the brush might get stuck in it unless you're brushing it often

wants to protect you from the world. hes so worried about you constantly, he doesnt know what hed do if something happened to you, but if you're out hes always got an eye on you if hes not physically holding onto you

not a relationship thing but I just gotta throw in my nonbinary he/they Shiggy headcanon :)

I was trying to keep this mainly sfw but I just gotta include some nsfw, poor baby is extremely horny. mega horny 24/7. he probably wants to fuck you as soon as you start dating

whether you do or not is up to you, but just know he is not experienced at all. hes watched insane amounts of porn but quickly realizes that he cant use that as a basis for what to actually do with you, so you're gonna have to teach him a lot. even if you're inexperienced as well, you'll probably have a better idea generally than he does

after a lot of practice and semi embarassing moments, he gets pretty good at sex honestly. he genuinely wants to make you feel good and will listen to everything you say. hes very open to everything you want to try too

hes got some more extreme kinks that many people wouldnt be willing to even try, and he respects if you dont want to go into them because again he wants you to enjoy yourself

hell sub a lot at the beginning of your sex life because hes confused and you're probably taking the lead on things, but as he gets more confident that he actually knows what hes doing he goes more and more into being a dom - can and will still sub if you want him to, but generally ends up domming

#i would give anything to be with this man #hes so perfect and i am so in love #shigaraki be real challenge haha :(#i want him to be happy is that too much to ask #shigaraki #shigaraki tomura #shigaraki x reader #shigaraki imagine #shigaraki fluff #shigaraki headcanons

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em0avacado · 3 years

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They say

( Coco Cruz x Reader )

a/n : this is how i cope, don’t mind me, i’m just breaking my own heart.

trigger warnings : none i don’t think? except heart break, sadness. ends happy tho. i think. maybe.

word count : 2.4k

They say that, if you love something, let it go. If it comes back, it was meant to be, if it doesn’t? well you just couldn’t accept that. You’d poured every ounce of yourself into him, you’d told him all your fears, all your pet peeves, all your insecurities, because you trusted him. You’d accepted all his weird quirks, all the strange habits he had that you looked past, youd accepted him for who he was, as you do when you love someone as much as you loved him. You supported him, mentally and physically, from up close and from far away. You encouraged him, reminded him of little things he easily forgot, you told him every day how proud you were of him, how loved and appreciated he was.

He used to do the same for you, used to. But at some point, he began holding back, he stopped doing things he started doing to win you over. You used to have a list of pet names hed call you when he babied you, now it was just ‘baby’ if he was in a good mood, or [Y/N]. You noticed it as soon as it started, you noticed everything. You knew he was stressed so you didn’t want to push it, but you also know that “stressed” was a norm for Coco, so you couldn’t wrap your head around it entirely. He started coming home later, crashing on the couch in hopes of “not disturbing your sleep.” it sounded like an excuse to you, and it hurt. it really fucking hurt you.

At some point, you’d had enough of your boyfriend distancing himself like that, ignoring your feelings, ditching you when you needed him, you couldn’t live that way, you wouldn’t. So, when he came home, you’d waited up for him, sitting at the small kitchen table you both used to enjoy your breakfast on every Sunday, now it stood empty, with nothing but a stack of newspapers from the passing weeks piled on it. With a bit of liquid courage crashing against the rocks of ice as you swirled the brown liquid around in the cup, your eyes felt red with fire, and your cheeks were stained with few dried tears that rolled down your face as your mind came up with the worst possible results you could imagine, all to which, came true. With a jingle of his keys in the lock, you straightened your posture, looking at him.

“What’re you doing up?” he asked her, that same vacant look on his face.

“I wanted to talk”

“it can wait till morning.”

“it really can’t.” with that, she was met with utter annoyance, and an obnoxious scoff that made her blood boil.

“go on then.”

“you’ve distanced yourself, so hard. I barely see you. We don’t sleep in the same bed, I can’t remember the last time you touched me, hell, even looked at me like you used to. What’d I do?” that was your go to, blaming yourself. It’s how you dealt with the unexplained.

“Get off my ass, [Y/N].” He dismissed you, you watched as he pulled off his kutte, and settled into the couch. You kept your eyes on him, murder on your mind. God he irritated you, you wanted to take his neck between your hands and wring it. Maybe that’d breathe some sense into him, if you deprived him of oxygen a little. But you didn’t need another felony charge, you inhaled deeply, balling your fists, the sting of your nails digging into the palm of your hand bringing you back from picturing all the ways you’d brutally murder him, out of love, of course.

If you loved someone... you’d refrain from strangling them, you turned from the spot you stood, and headed into the bedroom. You did the breathing exercises your therapist had taught you, but they worked only slightly. You grabbed a duffel bag, and started shoving clothing into it, as much as you could, you pushed all the belongings you’d need the next few days, and zipped it up. Pulling on a hoodie, you tossed the bag over your shoulder, and headed out. You walked passed him without a word, when you went to grab your car keys, you did the only petty thing you’d let yourself, trying to be the better person, you hid every single key to everything you had, knowing how easily he lost keys, you’d help him, in your own favour, however.

You left, and you didn’t look back. You couldn’t. The mere thought of Coco made you tear up, and it didn’t help that every tiny thing made you think about the lost love that still caused your chest to feel like it was about to concave. This wasn’t natural, you hadn’t felt like this, you were the queen of bottling up emotions, and ignoring them so you didn’t feel the pain of anything. But as you lived and breathed, everything reminded you of him.

You were in the middle of a girls lunch date, it’d been weeks since your seen your girlfriends since you’ve been trying to isolate yourself trying to get over this man, in the midst of drinking mimosas on the balcony of one of those entirely too fancy restaurants, you were laughing at highschool memories of your best friend who would start fights in the halls because she was bored, it was then, when a roar of motorcycles sped past where you were sitting, and it threw you into a whirl wind of emotions.

“make sure you hold on tight, mamas. Wouldnt want you to fall off.” the smirk heard in Coco’s voice sent a chill down your spine, being too intimidated by any sort of physical contact, usually, you usually ease yourself into it, but with Coco? It was brash and sudden, he started the bike, and gave you maybe a millisecond to grab a hold on him.

A little squeal forced its way out of your mouth as you quickly grabbed onto him, gripping onto your own hands, clinging to him. You buried your face in his shoulder. You felt him chuckle, and wanted to knock him out right then and there, but perhaps that wasn’t the best idea. It took you a moment, but once you opened your eyes, and watched as buildings, cars, people, hills and piles of dirt passed you by, trees whipping by. You felt yourself calm, you felt at peace. The wind flipped through your locks of hair, his scent filling your senses.

“This isn’t that bad.” you heard yourself admit in a soft mumble, you shut your eyes and felt the wind attack your face, balancing your inner battles with yourself. You felt peace in Coco, he tamed your chaos, and you his. God, what you’d give to feel like this all the time, but you only felt it with him.

You felt your throat burn, your bottom lip lodged itself between your teeth, and you did your best to fight the rage that tinged your eyes with tears. Your friends saw this, noticing immediately, the emotion that washed over your face, paling your features and dimming a smile that brought them laughter that lasted for days. You’d always been the group clown, with the loudest laugh, the brightest smiles, you were the one they’d all turn to when they couldn’t hold themselves up. You were a force to be reckoned with, you fought their battles when they couldn’t even hold themselves up. You never failed to show up with booze and ice cream to heal broken hearts. You brought things that made you think of friends, you remembered the finest details and came through every time. You listened to the quietest ones, heard every story, laughed at the lamest jokes. Seeing you with tears streaming involuntarily down your face as you tried to hide it, wiping them as fast as they came, it broke their collective hearts. They looked at one another, an unspoken question “how do you skip to the part of the storm that sprouts the flowers when the rain stops?”

Your relationship with sleep was toxic, it came and went as it pleased, your eyes were sunken, it was three A.M. and you felt your thoughts running through your mind a million miles a minute. Your head in your hands as another memory floated to the surface.

Panic overwhelmed you, hearing something, or someone, rustling around the kitchen, you grabbed the gun you kept tucked under your mattress. You cocked it, and took the safety off, holding it out in front of you in a defensive position. You opened your creaking door, the noise working at your nerves as you creeped into the kitchen where the only thing that illuminated the dark room was the bulb from the old white fridge. You watched silently as the head ducked from inside the fridge, you found it peculiar, but all you saw was a figure in your home you didn’t know. Getting closer, you held the barrel of the gun to the head of the man that stood in your kitchen.

“Hands up, Foo. Before I blow your brains all over my backsplash.” You threatened, your voice tense, and you were met with laughter that was all too familiar. Furrowing your brows, you were still panicked, not thinking straight. You shifted the gun so the bullet that was about to fly, only ripped through his hair. The shot rang loud, causing Coco, who you didn’t know was Coco, to crash to the ground.

“Crazy bitch!” he shouted, you flicked on the light, still having the gun pointed at him. Your eyes widened quickly, the man on your floor was Coco, and now there was a bullet lodged into your ceiling. You could kiss your security deposit goodbye, fuck, and you just shot at Coco. You put the safety back on, and set it on your counter before going to help him. A few minutes passed before both of you sat in fits of laughter, him mocking your voice, your words.

Coco told you so many times that the night you nearly shot him in the head, was the night he fell for you entirely. Sure, he’d known you were the one way before that. That night, though, he knew he was in love with you. That night he swore he’d break past your barriers, he’d demolish how you saw yourself, he taught you to love you, he made you promises to show you love like no other, and to show you that you didn’t have to be afraid of either physical and emotional aspects of love. He did do exactly that, but then ripped it away from her. Leaving her heart with him, and her chest feeling heavy with nothing. Once again tears were brought to your eyes, you were thankful for his love, but without it? you wished you’d never had experienced it in the first place. Maybe you wouldn’t be hurting now.

You were brought out of your train of thought by the knocking on your door, furrowing your brows, you got up from your spot on the counter, where you were thinking of better times, you looked through the peephole and it felt like someone took a vacuum to your weak lungs. Coco. Struggling to breathe proper, you just intended on ignoring him, it was the first time in months youd seen him and you didn’t know if you could handle it. Your heart screamed at you to let him in, he looked beat up, tired, and one of his eyes was bandaged up, he looked broken. you wanted to embrace him, forget the distance, but your mind scolded you, reminding you of the progress youd made, bouncing back from the pain oh so slowly. This could set it all back. So you decided, you wouldn’t open the door. He’s a big boy. You silently turn on your heel, away from the door.

“I’m sorry.” you heard him rasp, and you froze in your spot, a deer caught in headlights. You couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. “I know you’re there, I know you’re awake and I know you know it’s me. You have your kitchen light on, so I saw you stand on your toes to look through the peephole because you’re too short.” you cursed his observant ways, how well he knew you, like he had quirk notes tattooed on the back of his hand and read them like a bible. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice when you left, that I was too deep in my own world to see how me fading away for my own selfish needs was hurting you. I’m sorry I made it seem like I didn’t care, that it hurt you, I’m sorry that I made promises and broke them. I started thinking about things I never knew I wanted until you marched your stubborn self in my life and gave me a taste of a love that changed me. It scared the fuck out of me.”

That familiar burn of emotion lit up your head, and singed your chest. You let his words sink in, you couldn’t speak, not yet. Squeezing shut your eyes, you turned back to the door, setting your hand on the knob. You felt the door shift, like he’d gotten up from leaning his head against the poorly tinted wood. He got it, you could feel him prepare to walk away. If you love something, let it go. But Coco came back. He came back. You unlocked it, and turned the knob. Looking at him through sore eyes. “Running when you’re scared isn’t an option for me.” you said, defeat obvious in your voice. He stopped, turned to you and closed in quick. You pushed his hands away. “You can’t - You can’t just show me, tell me, and hold it to me that i shouldn’t shut you out, and i should trust you, and i should turn to you before anyone and anything else only to turn around and do that to me. You can’t do that and come running back.” you practically yelled at him, your voice shaking and raw.

“I know, I know I’m sorry.” he said, his hands dropping to his sides when you reached forward and yanked him in with all your might. The gesture was aggressive, sure. But pure.

“i’m sorry too.” you muttered, embracing him tightly.

—

tag list :

@queenbeered

@mayans-sauce

#coco x reader #coco cruz #mayans fanfic #mayans mc #fanfic #richard cabral

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dreamhot · 3 years

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i feel like my main gripe with a c!dream redemption plot is that the redemption would stem fro torture which is just rly weird 😭 on top of this c!dream would have to realize hes done something wrong/hed have to feel bad for what hes done which he has shown zero signs of. hes shown that he feels bad for himself obviously, but not that he feels bad for anything hes put others through. not saying he doesnt have nuance, but redemption just doesnt seem possible. especially since redemption often goes alongside victims forgiving and i dont think considering everything c!tommy should ever forgive c!dream. it also just wouldnt be satisfying tbh. from a narrative pov, it would just feel off to see the villain/abuser in the scenario get to heal before any of his victims, that he himself never let heal.

okay hello anon since you clarified your tack, i'm gonna respond to this piece by piece to explain my opinions here

1) first i want to address the concept of redemption as it pertains to c!dream. i know i used that term a couple of times in my other post, but i did try to make clear that i feel his likely post-prison arc would be one of healing rather than redemption (if he wants to change, anyway). the semantic difference here is just to indicate it would be more about him experiencing constructive character development rather than expecting him to be wholly redeemed in the eyes of those he hurt. healing means the character has a chance to grow from their mistakes and personal trauma, but it doesn't necessitate forgiveness. the linked essay in the previous post goes into that in more detail

2) 'redemption would stem from torture' - i disagree here, as torture isn't a driving force for a person to change. it's just pain and suffering that leads to trauma. he would need to heal from it, but it wouldn't inherently lead to him being a better person. that would need to come from within

3) on the topic his own sense of accountability, i discussed in the previous post that we don't actually have insight into how he feels about what he's done, and that's why the upcoming lore could be instrumental in determining his self perception and whether or not he's currently experiencing guilt. i didn't claim that he does feel bad right now - i merely stated that we don't actually know, and he would need to acknowledge his wrongdoings in order to experience that healing arc. just making it clear that i basically raised the same concerns you did regarding what we'll need to see from his character before we could even entertain the thought of him changing in a positive fashion

4) again, not calling for redemption here, but i also don't believe that redemption necessarily requires forgiveness from victims. you could turn yourself around and became a paragon of society, but that wouldn't mean that the people you've hurt would ever need to forgive you. c!tommy is under no obligation to ever forgive c!dream, but that doesn't mean c!dream couldn't still having a healing arc

5) i never said that c!dream should get to heal before anyone he's hurt, just that i hope he has the opportunity to do so if that's the direction they choose to take the character

6) 'victims that he himself never let heal' - i'm a bit confused on this point, because he's been locked up for the better part of a year and hasn't been preventing anybody from doing anything. whatever healing the other characters are (or aren't) experiencing wouldn't be in any way affected by c!dream, presumably, unless they make the deliberate choice to interact with him. /nm, i just think his potential healing and that of the victims are mutually exclusive subjects

i hope this cleared some things up!

#smile.ask #anon #smp crit #long post #some of this might sound curt but that's not my intention #i just feel like some of the points you raised weren't actually in contention to what i said #so hopefully this makes my stance a bit clearer on the matter :]

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planetjisungie · 4 years

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misconceptions- l.jn

characters; gryffindor! jeno, slytherin! reader ft, gryffindor! mark

an; im making mark debut in every house, its what that man deserves 😔✋🏻 also marks kinda a bitch in this but like we still love him. this is part 2 of the nct dream hogwarts series

jeno sat in the grand hall, watching you walk in alone. your hair was so silky, and you looked so delicate and soft. but that, apparently, was the complete opposite of who you were.

"bro i heard she like, hexed a bunch of first years and made them look stupid in the hallway. poor kids" mark uttered. the topic of conversation was conveniently you, and jeno was slightly confused about where this was all coming from. "and it’s definitely true?" he asked, turning to his blonde friend. mark shrugged. "its y/n, so i wouldnt put it past her. last year she got into a fist fight with kang miyoung"

mark was always gossiping, he knew all the rumours in the school, if you wanted to find anything out all you had to do was ask mark. he knew everything and it was sometimes scary. but it wasnt always true, like the time he spread the rumour that choi san had cheated on his girlfriend when it actually had turned out to be his sister. that was an awkward one. turning back to you, jeno tuned out the sound of mark droning on and on about the things you had apparently done. he watched you sit down away from the other slytherins, grab some pasta onto your plate before silently eating. he watched you drink your cup of water slowly, before going back to eating your food. he also saw how the other slytherins would glare at you, or point at you while laughing. something didnt add up. why would slytherins, known causing petty issues, mock someone who supposedly did just that? it really didnt make sense to him.

so the next day, jeno had heard crying down the hallways. being a gryffindor, he ran towards the sound, wand in hand in case anyone was in danger. what he wasn’t prepared to see, however, was a first year on the ground, holding his ankle while crying in pain. but that in itself wasnt shocking, what was, was you sat next to him, a gentle smile on your face while your wand had a green glow to it, seeingly calming the boy down. he had then noticed that you were using a pretty advanced healing spell, which was odd for a slytherin to know in the first place, especially someone like you. in fear of being caught staring, jeno just swiftly turned around, brows furrowed from the thoughts in his brain.

the next time jeno had seen you, he was playing hide and seek with the gryffindor boys in the forest. he was hiding behind a fallen tree, when he noticed a familiar head of hair, and the black and green robe flowing around you. getting up, he silently walked closer towards you, trying to see what you were doing. seeing a creature next to you, he squinted his eyes. you were knelt next to a unicorn, a large gash on its right side, your wand with the same green glow as when you were healing the first year. you seemed to be at peace here, just helping out. not noticing the small smile on his face, jeno turned and walked away before again, you could notice him.

the third time he had seen you, was not as pleasant as the last two. you were sat on the floor of an empty hallway, a white cat in your lap as silent tears fell down your face. jeno felt his heart break for you, he could practically feel the emotional pain radiating off of you. deciding to actually talk to you, jeno made his presence known, walking closer before sliding down the opposite wall to face you. looking up, your eyes widened noticing the infamous gryffindor heartthrob, the crush of all the younger girls. clearing your throat, you wiped your eyes of the tears, pulling your cat, mr snuggles (the return of mr snuggles) closer to you unknowingly. jeno flashed you a small smile, which you returned. clearing his throat, he moved his gaze from the oddly adorable sight of you cuddled up to a cat to the cold wooden floor. "im jeno" he introduced, causing you to scoff lightly. "im y/n, but you probably already know that" you said softly. surprised to actually hear your voice, it wasnt at all what jeno was expecting, causing his head to whip towards yours. he was expecting an arrogant, cold, high pitched bitchy voice, but was met with a quiet, gentle and melodic voice. by now he was almost certain that you had definitely been misunderstood.

"uh- okay wow i wasn’t expecting-" jenos rambling was cut off with your soft laughter, watching your head lean against the wall slightly and your eyes close, shoulders moving up and down in response to the sound coming from your chest. "i know i know, you were expecting me to be some cold, brutal and violent bitch, right?" you said, a smile now on your face which was a nice contrast to your earlier face of sadness and utter despair. "i mean kind of i guess" jeno shrugged and chuckled awkwardly. you let out a sigh before extending your legs from the crossed position, letting them stretch in front of you. "its fine, everyone just blindly believes any rumours that are spread. youre not at fault, the slytherins are" jeno looked up in confusion after you said this, evidently showing on his face, adding onto that the noise he lets out which couldnt be described other than ‘a jeno noise’. noticing his obvious inquiry, you layed back and closed your eyes.

"i dont exactly fit in with the slytherins. my focus has always been to help others, to share what i have to those who dont. the slytherins obviously didnt like that, and i quickly became a misfit, so they started spreading awful rumours about me. no one usually bothers to check if they’re true or not, so that resulted in me not having any friends" you sigh after explaining practically the whole reason of your mental torture at hogwarts to the gryffindor across from you. jeno once again felt his heart break, and a small pout formed on his lips. "how comes you were put in slytherin then?" he asked. you groaned and opened your eyes. "stupid slytherin parents. i didnt get sorted, they work for the ministry so i was basically forced into slytherin to carry on shitty family tradition bullshit" you snorted, head lolling onto your right shoulder. jenos eyebrows raised. so you were basically not a slytherin yet put in slytherin and people practically bullied you for it. sounds pretty tough to him. "and you couldnt speak to dumbledore about it? im sure hed do something" he said, now genuinely concerned about you. shrugging, you reopened your eyes. "i dont realy care anymore, let the people think what they want"

after that day, jeno watched you a lot more closely. he would see how your nose scrunched up when you saw something you didnt like, or when your tongue poked out when you were focused. he sat across the room from you in potions, so when slughorn announced that you two were going to be partners for the Amortentia potion, he couldnt exactly say he was disappointed. despite the obviously sympathetic looks from people around him, he smiled as you pulled the chair next to him, sitting down carefully.

the lesson began, and you and jeno quickly started working on making the potion, working together efficiently and getting it done to the T whilst also having a little bit of fun. leaning towards the pot, jeno moved at the same time as you to smell what was supposed to be the scent of your crush. immediately catching a strong whiff of jenos apparently overpowering cologne, you leaned back, coughing and covering your nose. "jeno, stop wearing so much cologne" you choked out, trying to inhale fresh air. meanwhile, jeno smelt the scent of lavender and cotton, turning to you in disgust, not at the smell itself but the pure strength of it. "unlike you, i dont douse my clothes in lavender essential oil, jesus christ woman" he lifted his hand whilst staring into the pinkish liquid. "i dont think we did this right" you said, before slughorn came up to you with a delighted look on his face. "oh well done, this is perfect!"

that day lead to a lot of confusion between you and jeno. opting not to ask him about it seeing as he never questioned you, you just sat in silence out on the grass, staring up at the stars. you had snuck out of the castle to sit on the land around it, seeking some sort of relaxation. what you hadn’t expected, was for the black haired boy to somehow find you, sitting down quietly on the grass next to you. "so..." he started, before sighing and looking down. he knew he liked you, how could he not? the way you were completely different to how you were said to be, how you didnt blame others but the slytherins for being mean towards you, and just how kind you were in general. whilst most people would veer away from you, he was the complete opposite, finding himself attracted to you like a magnet. smiling slightly, you turned to face him. just like him, you had found it hard not to fall for him. in the times where people would doubt you, or just be plain rude, he actually came and spoke to you. jeno was the first one who cared about you, and not just the rumours that drifted around, he talked to you when no one else would.

that night, you two had a whole sobbing session, confessing to eachother and apologising for things you didnt even need to apologise for. needless to say, when you walked into the hall hand in hand the next morning, with grins that hurt your cheeks, it definitely put people in a daze.

#nct hogwarts au #nct #nct dream #jeno #lee jeno #mark #mark lee #hogwarts #slytherin #gryffindor #jeno angsty fluff

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stargazing-dreamer-girl · 4 years

Text

Nothing Breaks Like a Heart

Fandom: Riverdale

Pairing: Jughead Jones x reader

Word Count: ~1.6k

Warnings: This is angsty, people. Heartbreak ahead.

Requested: Yes - Prompt 23, 18, 6, and 4? For Jughead? He joins the serpents and doesn't want you to get involved or hurt so he foes the only thing he could so to protect you. He makes you hate him. All in all he still loves you just has to end the relationship because if he lost you...he wouldnt know what hed do. - by @megafandomsxassemble

Part 2

Gif’s not mine

It was the fifth day you hadn’t heard anything from Jughead. Your calls were left unanswered, your texts left on read. And you were starting to get worried.

You had never known Jughead to ignore you like that. Sometimes a day went by when he didn’t reply to your texts. Those were usually days when he was so focused on his writing that everything around him was fading out. Then you would get a call from him in the middle of the night when he had snapped out of it and noticed how late it had gotten already. He would apologize and tell you he loved you and you would say it back because you loved his quirky side and his writing and his ambitions. You had never worried on those days.

But now, as the sun went down on the fifth day without hearing anything from him, your mind was filled with worry like it had never before. Once again you picked up your phone and dialed his number, the familiar ringing sound filling your head as you brought your hand up to anxiously bite your nails. It was a bad habit, you knew, but you couldn’t help it in this situation.

You had already asked Archie, if he knew where you could find Jughead. You had even approached Betty whose obvious crush on Jughead always made you squirmy, but neither of them knew anything either.

Your relationship had changed ever since he started attending South Side High. Whenever you asked him about the new school and his South Side life he avoided your questions. You didn’t want to pry and make him talk about something he was uncomfortable with sharing, but now you wished you had because maybe it would explain why your boyfriend of over a year seemed to avoid you.

Tonight was supposed to be your date night and you didn’t even know if he’d show up, so you didn’t bother getting ready. Instead you opted for sweatpants and a shirt that was too big on you. You tried your hardest to get comfortable on the couch in your living room but kept glancing at your phone not being able to stop worrying about him.

Of course, he was his own person and could do what he wanted, but you loved him and as far as you knew he loved you too, so he should talk to you if anything was bothering him, right?

You turned on the TV and put the first thing on you saw, but you couldn’t focus on it. It slipped into the background as your mind kept circling around Jughead. Maybe you should go to the police and file a missing person’s report. You had no idea where exactly he was living at the moment. He never wanted you to come to the South Side. Otherwise you would’ve checked there. Not knowing anything made you crazy.

You jolted up when there was a knock on the front door. You didn’t want to get your hopes up. It could be anyone, but a little voice in your head whispered to you that it was the person you had been waiting for all this time there in front of your door. Quickly, you made your way over to the door and opened it.

When you saw your beanie-wearing idiot of a boyfriend standing there you rushed forward to put your arms around him.

“I was so worried about you,” you mumbled into his shirt, all the built-up tension leaving your body.

He put his arms around you in a sense of urgency and pressed your body closer against his. His nose buried itself into your hair, inhaling your familiar scent.

When you pulled away to look at him he wanted to protest, he wanted this moment to last longer, last forever, but he let it happen because he also wanted to look at your face once more and remember all its small details.

“Where have you been? Why haven’t you answered any of my calls and texts?” You bombarded him with your questions as you pulled him inside the house and had him sit down in the living room. “Nobody knew anything about your whereabouts? Do you know how many times I imagined your body lying dead in the woods somewhere?”

He was quiet while you paced back and forth questions still spilling from your mouth.

When you finally got it all out you looked at him expectantly with your hands on your hips. “So?”

“Maybe you should sit down, Y/N.” It was the first thing he said to you to which your eyes got wide, but you complied and sat back down on the couch you had already occupied all evening. You moved aside the blanket you had carelessly thrown down when you went to answer the door.

Jughead pulled the beanie off his head and ran his fingers through his hair. This was harder than he had hoped. He couldn’t even get himself to look at you anymore, but he knew exactly what he would see. You would be sitting cross-legged on the couch, your hands in your lap and you would stare at him with big, curious eyes. And he couldn’t look at that, at you, while saying what he did next.

“I think we need to break up.”

You were quiet, didn’t move, so he finally looked up to see if you had heard him.

You didn’t say a sword as you stared at your intertwined hands. From his spot on the chair he could see that they were shaking. Your whole body was as you were trying not to spill the tears that were forming in your eyes.

“Y/N, I-“ He didn’t know what to say next, might have even backed out if you hadn’t interrupted him. “So, that’s it? It’s over?” Your voice was shaky. It was hard to say anything since your throat felt like it was closing off.

“It’s not you, Y/N! It’s-“ “Don’t finish that sentence!” You lost the fight of holding your tears in, so they started to roll down your face, but it barely bothered you. “We used to make fun of people who said that, called it uncreative and insincere. You never struck me as that kind of person, so why, Jug? I thought you loved me. Why are you breaking up with me?” You grew desperate.

He hated it when you cried. All he wanted to do was pull you into a hug and whisper into your ear that everything would be alright, but he couldn’t do that now. He had to repeat it in his head again and again. He did this to protect you. He could not give in.

“I don’t love you anymore. I’m with somebody else.”

That statement was like a punch to the gut. It stole all the air from your lungs, made it hard to breath. It left a bad feeling in your stomach and you felt like you were about to throw up.

“Please, don’t hurt me like this,” you begged as you looked up into his face, but he was stern. His eyes looked straight into yours when he repeated himself.

“I love her. More than I have ever loved you. You cannot compare.”

Jughead’s heart broke as he uttered those sentences and saw you like that. He heard you wince which tore at his heart even more, but he had to do that. You weren’t safe by his side. He was a Serpent now and he needed to protect you from that life. It was dangerous and he could never live with himself if he were the one who put you in a position where any harm might befall you.

“Leave my house, Jughead!” You ordered in the calmest voice you could muster. Not just were you broken, sad and hurting. You were angry, furious. With him, with yourself, with the world.

You got up when he didn’t move and just stared at you.

“Go! Leave my fucking house!” You stood pointing at the door for a moment, but all the composure left you as you broke down right then and there. You were lying on the floor, curled up, staring straight ahead at the couch. The tears were still streaming from your eyes. They fell onto the carpet where a dark spot began to form.

After a few seconds you heard him get up and take a few steps, before he hesitated, but then made his way over to the door and left your house, left your life. The screams you let out were agonizing. Jughead who was stopped right after closing the door behind him could still hear them.

And he finally didn’t have to hide his emotions anymore as he slid to the ground against your front door and let the tears fall. You would be safe and didn’t have to worry about him anymore. He tried to convince himself that he had made the right decision but feeling that ache in his heart and hearing your pitiful cries made him not so sure of it.

But he couldn’t go back. You would probably never take him back even if he wanted to. Which was his plan, but he couldn’t help the regret nagging at him.

He couldn’t stay at your house any longer, so after a deep breath and one last look back he left. He left you behind heart-broken, but he hoped you wouldn’t be for too long. He hoped you would get over him quickly, that he made you hate him strong enough and you could just move on with your life. You could find somebody new who could give you a better life than he ever could and he hoped that his heart would heal from this, too. He would never forget you, his first love.

#jughead jones x reader #jughead x reader #riverdale #oneshot #imagine #jughead jones #riverdale imagine #x reader #x you #fanfiction

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the-wayward-arc · 6 years

Text

The sacrifice

"As the relic of creation, it can create or recreate anything but at a cost." Ozpin explained, having taken control of Oscar's body for a while.

"Wait, so it can create anything? Like another person?" Ruby asked, excited at the power the relic holds.

"Yes, but again it will have a heavy cost. The relic will ask for something in equal to what you want to create." He explained to both teams. Having made their way to atlas and recovered it. They had returned to the Atlas base General Ironwood gave them to use for temporary refuge. "It can create anything, which helped humanity combat the grimm more effectively. From this humanity learned to create better ways to protect themselves. From more defensive walls to machines of war. But each creation needed something in return." He continued, the others leaning as he talked. "For weapons, it wanted only materials. For homes, it wanted trees and dirt. Each creation was given an equal value." He finished.

"So if you wish to create a life, you would need to give something of same value?" Blake asked, sitting on the couch as she gazed up from her book.

"Precisely Miss Belladonna. Though no one has tried it. They were afraid of what it would want." He answered, drinking some tea that Ren had brewed. Jaune looked at it, thinking about something when suddenly the relic began to glow, giving off a gold light as it hovered above them. Everyone was caught off guard by this, too stunned to stop the relic from flying to a Jaune as he sat in a chair across the room. He closed his eyes and pulled his hands up in an attempt to protect himself but when he felt no pressure or pain from it ramming into him, he opened his eyes and looked at it.

"Jaune are you okay?" Ruby asked worryingly. Crescent rose at the ready, the others having weapons ready as well incase something happens.

"Y-yeah I'm fine." He answered, looking at the relic as it hovered in front of him, the golden light dimmed slightly.

"What will you give?" A deep voice boomed in the room. Everyone looked around, wondering where the voice was coming from

"Head master?" Asked Ren, storm flower aimed at the relic.

"Its the relic." He answered, looking at it and Jaune with a slight worried expression. "Mister Arc, please back away from it. Don't let it tempt you."

"What will you give in return?" It asked again, Jaune gulped as he gazed into it. He wanted to move but his body wouldnt let him. Instead his arm reach out to it.

"Mister Arc! Don-" but before he could continue, a blinding light erupted from it as Jaune touched it. They all closed their eyes to protect themselves from it. When the light disappeared, the relic was still hovering but Jaune was gone. "Oh no."

"Jaune!?" Yelled Ruby as she frantically looked all over the room for her friend. Everyone was panicking at this time, the relic of creation just flew by itself to their friend and now hes gone because of it.

"Headmaster wheres Jaune?" Asked Weiss, worried for the knight. Her hands steady as she looked at Ozpin. But he stayed quiet, gripping his cane as he looked at the relic.

"The relic has him." He finally said, stunning the others.

"What do you mean? Where did it take him?" She angrily demanded, wanting to know where it took her leader.

"The relic sensed something in the young Arc. It called out to him and he answered. We cant do anything for him now, itll be up to him if he comes back." He answered, the others looking at him then at the relic.

-elsewhere-

Jaune slowly opened his eyes, adjusting to his surroundings. Once he could see properly, he noticed that he wasnt in the room anymore. Instead everything was white and no noticeable structures he could see. He reached for his weapon but realized it was gone.

"Ruby? Ren? Yang?" He yelled, his voice echoing as he looked around. His voice echoed. He began to panic. "Okay okay, calm down Jaune. Gotta keep a clear head if you want to get out of here." He thought to himself. Before he could do anything, a golden light erupted in front of him. When it dimmed, he noticed a figure of gold light stood in front of him. This figure had no noticeable facial features but did stand a good two feet higher than him. Jaune backed up a bit, this thing had a powerful pressure to it and even though it had no eyes, he felt like it was glaring at him.

"What will you give in return?" It asked him, in the same powerful voice from before.

"W-what do you mean? He asked it, trembling a bit. The figure approached him.

"I sense in you a desire. A desire that flared up when you heard my story. A desire to bring life." It said, crossing its arms across its chest. Jaune eyes widened. He lowered his head.

"I'm in the relic." He thought, still looking at his feet.

"Yes. I brought you in here so that you may tell me your desire and what you will give in return Jaune Arc." It said, Jaune looked up at it, surprised.

"H-how di-"

"I read your thoughts. Nothing can be kept from me." It said. Its voice sounded annoyed at this point. "I know of your family. Your ancestors have played important roles in the world's history, being saviors and changing history itself." Jaune was stunned at this, his ancestors were really something then if even this powerful figure spoke of them highly. "Arcs have long since brought forth generations of heroes. One even kept me from being used for evil purposes but at the cost of their life. I will never forget that." It continued. "Now another Arc is in the process of adding another chapter in history, fighting alongside a silver warrior and other brave warriors. Much like before." It finished. Jaune was stunned, no shocked. He had no words. Nothing to say. "But now you desire something of me, and I know what it is. You wish to bring someone back." Jaune looked away when it said this.

Yes, when he heard its story, he thought there was a chance to bring her back. She was wrongly taken from this world by someone who doesn't deserve to live. He looked at the figure, he was here. It heard him. Maybe it would do it and he would pay any price to bring her back.

"Yes. Someone who didn't deserve to die. Someone who was thrust into a position they shouldn't have been in. She deserves to live her life to the fullest." He said looking at the figure, tears forming in his eyes. "She was my partner. She helped me when others wouldn't. She saw potential and strength when others saw weakness. If it wasnt for her, then I'd probably be dead, but she shouldn't have been ripped from her family, her friends and her team. She had Hope's and dreams." He approached it, the gold figure firmly stood as he did. "If you can bring Pyrrha back, then I will give you anything you ask." His voice filled with determination.

The figure looked at him, its arms still crossed. It then chuckled as it looked at the young Arc. "Just like she was." It said. Jaune was about to ask before it raised its hand to silence him. "I was created by the deity brothers, I have this power. I can bring her back to the world of living, with the memories leading up to her death but it will come at a cost." It paused, looking at the boy. "A life for a life. Give me yours for hers." He said, Jaune was stunned. He knew it would want something and he had a feeling it would be something like this. "I will allow you to th-"

"I agree." It stopped spending and looked at the boy, he looked into his eyes. He saw pure determination. This boy was adamant on bringing her back and he was ready to pay the price. "My life for hers. But please allow me time to say bye to my friends and her." He said. The figure looked at him and laughed. "What's so funny? Is this not the price?" He asked, confused.

"You Arcs are always ready to lay down your life for another. You were ready to offer your life as soon as I said it was the price. No thinking. No hesitation. No hint of fear. You were ready to go if it meant she would live. I saw you ready to give your life to save your friends when you fought against the false maiden." He said. "You Arcs never cease to amaze me. I will bring her back, but in honor of your ancestor who laid her life to protect me, I will not take your life. You are needed at the silver warrior's side when the final battle comes. But a price must still be paid." It said, the boy had a small smile on his face. She could be brought back, he would be able to see her again. She could see her friends again. He was still curious about what meant by silver warrior. Did he mean ruby? He shook his head, hed have to ask about that later, right now he had a more pressing matter.

"What do you want instead?" He asked. The figure looked at him a bit.

"Your aura, you possess an incredible amount of it, more than I've ever seen from anyone in the history of this world." It said, looking at Jaune. "Know that if you accept it, you will no longer be able to use your semblance. You will on longer be able to heal your wounds, even ones that could prove fatal. You would no longer be able to be the hero you dreamed of." It continued, looking at Jaune for any sight of hesitation or regret. But he saw none, Jaune didn't waver. "You would no longer be able to protect the innocent like a hunter should. The fight against the grimm would prove much harder for you. You would become a liability to your friends." It finished. Jaune still glared at it. He took the words it said to heart but still he would not waiver.

"Then I'll just need to get stronger." He finally spoke up, the figure would be smiling if it could. "You are right, without Aura I would be much more vulnerable and not much use in a fight. I could hide behind the safety of the kingdom walls for the rest of my life, but I could never forgive myself if I did that. I used to think I wasn't fit to lead my team. I was afraid I was holding them down and might get them all killed one day. But you know what?" He exclaimed. "They never saw me as a hindrance or a liability. They saw me as a friend, a leader, and a brother. They helped me get strong and supported me. As long as I can stand. As long as I can hold my shield and sword, then I will fight. I will never abandon my friends or ever become a liability to them. I will continue to fight by their side until the day die! An Arc never gives up!" He finished. The entity laughed. Laughed as hard as it could.

"Amazing! You are just like her, your ancestor, down to that fighting spirit. Jaune arc! I will grant your desire and bring back Pyrrha Nikos. You may keep your Aura until the final confrontation against Salem is decided. Your friends will needed it for that battle. But win or lose, I will take your aura. Do you understand?" It asked. It was surprised when jaune got on one knee and bowed his head. "Know that even if Salem is defeated, while it will weaken the Grimm hordes immensely, it will not stop some from being created. The world will still need hunters, be it against Grimm or Human. You will not have the strength of your aura to aid you in the battles after the confrontation. Do you truly understand this?" It asked, looking at the boy

"By my word as an Arc, no matter the outcome, my aura is yours to take. An Arc never goes back on their word!" He exclaimed, his head still bowed. "I understand what will happen but I don't care. I will still stand by their side and I will still lend them my strength. I will still protect those that can't protect themselves." He proclaimed, his hand clenched into a fist. "Now please," he looked up at the golden entity, "bring her back." The entity slapped its hands together in an instant, a bright flash of light blinded Jaune. As the light dimmed and his eyes refocused, Jaune saw orange petals float around him. The figure was gone. Soon the petals rapidly came together, beginning to take form. Slowly but surely, they formed into a person. A woman to be precise. Jaune saw her red flowing hair take color as the form descended towards him. Jaune put his arms to catch her as the last of petals disappeared into her body, her skin was warm to the touch and her eyes closed. Tears fell down his face as he smiled, he knelt down with her in arms. He moved some of her hair off her face.

"I'll be seeing you soon young Arc." The voice said, slowly fading as white sheet covered the naked girl. She slowly opened her eyes, adjusting to the white room and the blur of a figure looking down at her. She felt small droplets hit her face. When her eyes adjusted, she realized it was Jaune holding her.

"J-jaune?" She said weakly, slowly regaining the feelings in her arms and legs. He cried as he looked at her, hoping this wasnt a dream. But when she placed a hand on his cheek, wiping away a tear, he knew this was reality.

"H-h-hello Pyrrha." He choked as he hugged her close. "I-i-its good to s-s-see you again." She was a bit surprised, her last memory still a blur but right now, she hugged him back. While curious as to what he meant, she felt it's best to ask when things were calm.

"Jaune? Where are we?" She asked, letting go of the hug so she looked around. Jaune stood up, holding her bridal style. He knew she was still weak and best not let her walk until she regained her strength. She blushed a bit but turned red when she realized she was naked, with only a white sheet covering her. "And why am I naked?!" She exclaimed, covering up as much as she could. He smiled at her.

"Its a long story, it said you would get your memories back after a while but maybe me and the others explaining will help." He said looking at her. "But first," he leaned in and kissed her on the lips, surprising her. Her faced went full red and hot. "Now you know how I felt when you did that." He chuckled as she hid her face in her hands. "Also, you may want to be prepared, the others will be excited to see you again but I'm sure you're gonna get some scolding from them. Especially from Nora and Ruby." He explained, she sighed some memories began to come to light. She rested her head on his chest armor as the were enveloped by light and right back in the room, everyone staring at them in shock. The relic slowly descending as she looked at everyone.

"P-pyrrha?" Ruby managed to say, dropping crescent rose as Nora covered her mouth, tears rushing down her face. Ren fell to a knee, looking at his thought to be dead teammate. He rubbed his eyes as Nora knelt down with him. Weiss dropped her weapon, too stunned to say anything. Blake and Yang leaned onto each other, keeping the other from fainting but tests running down their faces. Ozpin was quiet, his stoic as he looked at the two before him. While happy she was alive again, he looked at Jaune with worry. "What did you give up Mister Arc?" He thought to himself.

"H-Hello everyo-" but she didnt get to finish as everyone ran to them, hugging the two as they fell to the ground.

"Hey guys! Be careful, she still kinda weak!" Jaune exclaimed as he made sure Pyrrha wasnt hurt. He wasn't mad at them, not in the slightest. He watched as Pyrrha was hugged in his arms and questions asked to her. She smiled awkwardly but warmly as she wiped tears from Nora's face. Jaune smiled as everyone came together in a group hug, Pyrrha smiling as he nuzzled her. "Welcome home Pyrrha." He said to her, giving her a quick peck on her forehead.

(Woo this was long! I hope you all enjoy! Now to the next prompt!)

#jaune arc #pyrrha nikos #jaune x pyrrha #arkos #rwby #snippet #snippets

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writeanapocalae · 5 years

Text

A Detective in Junction

Read it on Ao3 | Chapter 1: Diving Back In

Warning: This is a Sequel to A Doctor in Union and may not make sense out of order

Sebastian groaned, glaring at his phone where it sat on the bedside table, lit up and buzzing and waking him. He slept lightly, napped through parts of the day, and there were many nights in which he didn’t sleep at all. He’d only barely fallen asleep. He should have ignored it, wrapped an arm around Stefano’s shoulders and gone back to sleep. No one ever texted him though, there had to be a reason for it.

He picked it up, the air chilly against his arm. Stefano grumbled in his sleep, if he was asleep, as the cold traveled down his back from the shift in blankets. The phone didn’t tell him much when he answered it.

‘Located JO. -JK’

His glare deepened, not understanding the code. The phone number wasn’t one that he recognized. For a moment he considered it a joke, especially because of the JK, but then his brain turned on fully and he bolted up out of bed, and there was no way that Stefano wasn’t awake after that.

He had to go. He had to go now.

He called the number back, even as Stefano groggily pulled himself up into a sitting position, a hot hand soft on his back.

“Where is he?” Sebastian gritted out, the sleepiness still in his voice, making it play-doh and slow.

“I don’t know if I should say it over the phone, otherwise I would have texted the coordinates,” Kidman sounded tired but in the way that she hadn’t slept yet. Sebastian could hear people in the background, lots of people.

“I thought you said Mobius was gone.”

“It is, but that still leaves a lot of other people out there wanting the technology. I haven’t even made it to the facility yet; I’m just hoping that I’ll be the first one to enter it.”

A panic was starting to grow in Sebastian’s chest, his heart pounding. Stefano was rubbing circles against his shoulder blade, trying to calm him. Joseph, found and possibly alive. He’d been hoping, he wasn’t a praying man but he’d considered it a few times, for Joseph to be alright. He definitely wasn’t alright but he was, possibly, salvageable. This was the first he’d heard anything about Joseph since finding out he was even alive.

“Where are you?” he switched tactics.

“I’m at the airport in Chattanooga, Tenessee.”

Sebastian pulled out of Stefano’s hold and out of the bed, dragging his jeans on from where he’d dropped them the night before. Stefano was shadowing him, which he did so well now that he was healthy enough to move on his own, silent in the darkness. If he hadn’t been there when Stefano got better, he would have been terrified of the change.

“I’m on my way.”

“We’re on our way,” Stefano corrected. Sebastian looked at him, seeing only the light of his phone reflecting in Stefano’s eye and nothing more.

“Text me when you get here,” Kidman hung up.

“So, where are we off to in the middle of the night?” Stefano asked, scooting past Sebastian for his cane and then over to the light switch, making them both half blind with light.

“You don’t have to go anywhere,” Sebastian grabbed a shirt and threw it on, not even looking at what it was. “And I need you here, to watch over Lily.”

Stefano opened a drawer in his dresser, pulling out a pair of dark olive slacks. “You sound as if it’s some sort of emergency and you should know by now that I don’t intend to make you go through something like that on your own. We can get a sitter for Lily.”

Sebastian paused a moment, uncertain. He was fairly certain that he’d never mentioned Joseph to Stefano. He couldn’t believe that he hadn’t. Joseph had been such a huge part of his life and when he was gone, Sebastian had fallen into the worst depression of his life, not that he could claim all of that was on Joseph’s apparent death.

“It’s two in the morning,” Sebastian grumbled.

“Well, can it wait until an actually humane time of day then?” Stefano slipped into a pale yellow dress shirt, “You’re going to have to explain to both of us what’s going on, after all.”

“Yeah, yeah, shit, I’m sorry,” Sebastian rubbed at his face. “Yeah, I’ll tell you in the morning. I’m just, I’m going to get ready in the mean time. I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep.”

Stefano nodded but didn’t get undressed. He moved with Sebastian in silence, packing along with him. He noted the low amount of clothing that Sebastian was packing and followed suit, as if he knew that there wouldn’t be much need for a change of clothes in whatever adventure Sebastian was going on. Sebastian wanted to give in, to tell him right then what was happening. He didn’t want to go over it twice though. He didn’t want to argue with Stefano right yet, even though he knew that this would lead to that. He didn��t want Stefano going with him, didn’t want him ever falling into STEM again.

By the time morning came and Lily was awake he was a jumbled pile of nerves, no matter how softly Stefano touched him, pressing kisses to his temple and sliding his hand along his back whenever he could. The moment that Stefano left him to go downstairs, to prepare breakfast and get coffee going Sebastian sat down on the edge of the bed, trying to breathe, trying to think. He’d been thinking all night but he still didn’t have any idea what he was going to say, how he was going to say it.

He went downstairs a few minutes later, finding Lily and Stefano at the dining room table talking about something in hushed tones. Lily looked nervous and he couldn’t read Stefano at all, even though he could see much more of his face than he used to, Stefano getting more comfortable with his hair being a bit shorter on the right side of his face.

“There you are,” Stefano gave him a soft smile and Sebastian’s chest tightened, the anxiety swelling. He couldn’t do this to them, not when they’d all gotten settled in. He didn’t want to do this at all, but he owed it to Joseph, didn’t trust anyone to go in there in his stead. “Would you mind alluding us on what had you so worried last night?”

Sebastian sat in his seat, a cup of coffee and a plate of toast and eggs already waiting for him. He sighed. They were so good to him, too good. They didn’t deserve any of this.

“Kidman texted me last night,” he said, not lifting his head to make eye contact. “She found my old partner, back from KCPD, in an abandoned Mobius facility. He’s over in Tennessee and I-

“And you intend to go there and fish him out, is that it?” Stefano interrupted, his cup hiding his face. “This would be Joseph, correct?”

Sebastian balked.

“I told him about Uncle Joseph,” Lily raised a hand meekly. “You went into the bad place with him the first time, right? You think he’s still in there or do you think he’s a bad guy now?”

Sebastian looked from Lily to Stefano, his mouth still open. “You knew about him?”

“Lily used him as an excellent teaching tool to explain your sexuality to me,” Stefano waved the question off. “You do realize that there is no way that you’re going alone, correct?”

“You’re not coming with, neither of you,” Sebastian glared, trying not to let any real anger shine through, “Kidman will be there, I’m not going to be alone. And no, I don’t think he’s Mobius. He’s probably still in STEM.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Stefano placed his coffee on the table, crossing his arms. “I am going with you.”

“You lost enough to STEM,” Sebastian shook his head, “and to Mobius. When I said you’re never going back there, I meant it.”

“And miss your reunion with your boyfriend? I think not. Sebastian, you lost far more to Mobius then I did; I lost most of what I had before I ever went to them. I do not intend to lose you to them as well! Do not forget, as well, that I had a great deal of power in Union, that I understood how to bend through the logic of that place. I would be irreplaceable to you.”

“I’m eleven years old!” Lily added, “I don’t want to come with but I’m old enough to watch out for myself! I think you’ll do way better together than you would alone! Buddy systems and all that!”

They were teaming up on him and not in the way that he’d expected. He’d thought that they’d both be against him going at all. They must have both known how much Joseph meant to him, which didn’t make any sense to him, Stefano didn’t seem like the kind of person who would be willing to share him, especially not in a romantic sense. He found himself smiling, the anxiety not gone but the anxiety for their responses at least drowned out.

---

The airport was busy and it was hard to get through the crowds with their suitcases and the cane that Stefano hated so much. He pretended he didn’t rely on it as much as he really did but, after a few hours on a cramped airplane his legs felt weak and stiff. He wanted to hold Sebastian’s hand, not the cane, but he rested against it with each step.

He could feel anxiety prick at him, a thick buzzing in his veins, an urge to stop and breathe at the same time that it was propelling him forward. He swallowed it down. He didn’t need it. It wasn’t helpful. Sebastian needed him to be strong right then. He didn’t know if he could be. He kept thinking about going back down, wondering if he would wake up this time, since he’d barely been able to last time. He’d been lucky last time and he’d been lucky every day for the past year; that luck would run out eventually.

Sebastian raised an arm and Stefano jumped, not expecting it. Sebastian was on his bad side, which he did when he was nervous, thinking that Stefano didn’t recognize it. Usually it made him feel safe, having someone he trusted protecting that side, but he couldn’t feel safe now, he couldn’t feel much aside from dread.

Sebastian was waving to a woman, to Juli, who was waiting for them at one of the little cafes that cost a fortune. Stefano had only met her a few times, when he was healing, and he knew that he had made a terrible series of impressions in such a weak and meager state. He held his head higher, tried to be more imposing. He’d come a long way.

She didn’t smile when she approached them, just clutched the briefcase at her side and made sure there was no one watching her. She’d told Sebastian that Mobius was done for, but she was far too paranoid for such a response. He’d say that it made him uneasy, but he was already uneasy.

“I rented a car, come on,” she said, in place of a greeting. They followed her in silence, out of the air conditioning and out into the heat, to a small black car that was so uncharacteristic that it had to be on purpose. She opened the trunk and they both put their bags inside before climbing into the back, Juli driving.

Once they were belted in, Stefano’s cane over his lap, Juli opened the briefcase, pulling out some files and passing them back. Stefano took one while Sebastian had the other two and the car was started and out of the parking lot before they even had them open.

The file that Stefano had was on the Core, a ten year old boy named Jonathon. His last name was a large black stripe. Stefano’s hands started to shake as he read about the boy, about his high scores in standardized tests, about his wealth of empathy, about his love of art. He was just like Lily, even the terminology was the same as what Sebastian had quoted from Mobius. Lily had been taken away in the falsified fire though and, for Jonathon, the opposite was true, the fire had claimed his parents. There was no one to care that he was gone.

Jonathon was written as being clever and artistic, showing great promise but with obsessive traits. Stefano wasn’t reading in too much depth, he didn’t want to know all of the details. This all felt too familiar. He glanced over at Sebastian’s file instead, where he was reading on a young woman, Amber Fairen. She was a romance writer, 25, but none of her stories had ever been published. At the top of the page was the same terminology that was on Jonathon’s, just with a different number: Core Candidate #9.

“Are there multiple Cores?” Stefano asked, reaching out for the other file in Sebastian’s lap.

“Yeah, this is the most experimental version of STEM I’ve ever heard of,” Juli explained. “There’s no people involved, so you aren’t going to have to deal with civilians, aside from the Cores. I guess they saw that there were too many issues with just having a single Core in place and decided to try with three.”

“And the reasoning for there being a child?” Stefano continued. Sebastian was only half listening but he perked up at that, anger flashing over his features.

“Same reason as with Lily. There’s a level of innocence in children that haven’t been exposed to trauma and they are impressionable. They’re easy to control and manipulate.”

Stefano reached out to put his hand on Sebastian’s shoulder. He could see the tension growing in his brow.

“No people though, that’s good, that means that there wont be any monsters, nothing like the Lost.”

Sebastian glanced at him. He swallowed. He’d never seen Sebastian so angry and he couldn’t help but feel like it was directed at him. He was just trying to get some answers though, know as much as he could before they went in.

“There’s another major difference, they implied a Lucid Unit for Cerebral Integration,” Juli explained. There was no answer from the two men and she paused, her eyes trained on the road before she went into it, collecting her thoughts, “I saw a little bit of the planning for the Luci, but I never saw it used, I didn’t know it was completed. It’s a sort of artificial intelligence that was put in place for ease of cataloging and mapping STEM, since the map could be changed by the Cores at any time. They’re also used to report any errors to the Mobius members who would enter for testing purposes.”

An artificial intelligence? Stefano had heard that such things were in development but he didn’t think anything like that would be usable so early. Mobius acted as if they were gods though, it was completely possible that they had surpassed the rest of the world by bypassing ethics and other pesky laws.

“You think the Luci could be dangerous?” Sebastian finally spoke up, handing Amber’s file over to Stefano. He didn’t open the next one. Stefano was certain it was Joseph’s.

“I’m not going to say they wouldn’t be. With the way the Cores and the other test subjects have altered the surroundings in the past, I wouldn’t trust anything to be safe really. Just take it slow.”

---

He didn’t think there was a chance, not really. He hadn’t imagined that Joseph could be alive, not after he saw Kidman shoot him, but then he’d gone back in after Lily and Kidman had told him that Joseph was alive. He’d been so distracted though, with rescuing Lily, with getting Stefano out of STEM and then back on his feet, that he hadn’t had time to really think about Joseph. Joseph, who had been in STEM this whole time, had been living in one of these nightmare worlds, with only two other people, who could have been allies or enemies.

He should have tried harder. He should have tried earlier. He shouldn’t have left Kidman to hunt for him on her own.

She pulled up to the facility, which looked like an old water purification building, with mildew growing up the walls and the grass overgrown and a few creeping vines climbing up the sides. Stefano gave him a small smile, a squeeze to the shoulder, before he unbuckled and climbed out of the car. Sebastian sighed, following his lead.

It reeked. It smelled like Beacon, like the sewers underneath it, where the water was a dark and deep red from all of the blood and viscera that was mixed in with the water. It smelled like rotten meat and cold bile and mildew and the sickeningly sweet scent of garbage on a hot day. As they drew closer to the door, which sat open with a chair shoved against it to keep it from closing. There was a pile of limbs and flies and mistakes, of the bodies that Juli must have dragged out of the building all on her own. She wasn’t looking at them, she was unreadable, her face blank as she went into the building.

It looked like a Mobius building on the inside, all white tile and cement, cold and barren and clean, aside from the swivel chair that was at the end of a long smear of blood. He squeezed Stefano’s hand. He shouldn’t have been here. This wasn’t Stefano’s job. Stefano gave him a small smile and a squeeze of the hand back, as if there was nothing wrong. Everything was wrong.

Kidman hadn’t been overly talkative before this, had always given more questions than she answered, but now she led them past offices and labs and examination rooms without a word. She was pale, a sheen of sweat on her brow. She looked like she was coming down with something. She may have been, just from touching all of those corpses.

The STEM room was more complicated than the one for Union, which was more complicated than the one for Beacon. There were three of those metal cylinders, the same kind that Lily had been in, in a cluster in the center, the wires and tubes coming from them bound in different colored transparent tubing to keep them separate and recognizable as they led to monitors. There were eight tubs around the tubes and they were ergonomic, actually built for comfort and short time use. The people who went in weren’t supposed to stay in, the trips were meant to be shorter.

There were blood stains everywhere.

“You should get dressed, do whatever you need to do before getting in,” Kidman explained. “I can give you a moment if you want.”

There were security cameras in the corners of the room. Those made him feel a lot less private than Kidman not being there would. He didn’t care if Kidman saw him naked, he didn’t have much shame in those regards, she’d seen him much worse than just naked. Stefano looked uncomfortable though and his eye was trained directly at one of the tubs as if it were something much more than it was. He was looking at it because he knew what it actually was.

“Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good,” he shooed her away, letting go of Stefano’s hand to stroke up his arm. He didn’t even turn to watch her leave, had his attention on the man before him, who was pale and still intent on that tub. “Hey, you okay?”

Stefano bit his lip and nodded. “We’ll be in contact, won’t we? She can extract us whenever we need to be?”

“I have no intention of letting you out of my sight,” Sebastian promised, wished that his older promises were still holding up. “But yeah, we’ll both have communicators, remember? If we get separated, we’ll be able to find each other. And we can talk to Kidman whenever we need to.”

Stefano set his cane down, resting it against the tub. He drew closer to Sebastian, his hands finding Sebastian’s waist and stroking along it to wrap around him.

“You’re scared.”

“Of course I am,” Stefano admitted, laying his head against Sebastian’s chest. “You heard what she said. There won’t be any people in there, aside from the five of us.”

Sebastian hugged Stefano back. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

Stefano shook his head against him. “It means there will be less obstacles, I’m sure, less monsters, less casualties if we fail, but it also means less distractions.”

Sebastian pulled away from him a bit, “Less distractions? Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Before, when there were more minds connected, their obsession with normality, their ideas of what Union was supposed to be, made it harder to be manipulated for those of us who knew we were within a dream. I could create, of course, but when I did so in someplace other than my own space there was a chance that it would revert to how it had been. There will be less distractions in this STEM, which means that we’ll be able to change it without trying.”

“You think you’ll revert,” Sebastian sighed, realizing what Stefano was dancing around. He closed his eyes. “Stefano, that’s not going to happen. You were changed by Theodore, by Paolo, to become that killer. It’s up to you what you’ll become now. And I’ll be at your side all the while. If you think you’re going to falter, you can lean on me.”

“And if I hurt you?” Stefano asked.

“That’s not going to happen.” Sebastian kissed him, long and slow, reminding him that there was more to him than words. He was a man of action and that wasn’t always a good thing, but Stefano melted against his touch.

---

He had never expected to come back here. He had never wanted to. Juli had told them what to expect and it was so different from Union, but he still didn’t think that he was ready. He lay down in the tub, letting the fluids wash over him. His hands were on the sides of the tub though, knuckles white, and he turned to Sebastian, hoping for just one more argument, one more excuse as to why he shouldn’t come. He had been brave before, had acted like this wasn’t a compounding of trauma, but now it was happening, now it was real, and he wanted escape. Sebastian’s eyes were closed, his brows furrowed in concentration. They were going to do this.

“Don’t worry,” Juli put her hand on his shoulder, plugging him into the machine. “I’ll be out here for you. If it ever gets to be too much, you let me know. I’ll extract you as fast as I can.”

He nodded. That helped a little, even though he knew that if they came out they’d have to start over from the initial insertion point. He let go of the edges and let himself slide further under the liquid, taking one last look at the metal tanks that held the Cores.

This wasn’t like Union. In Union there had been only Lily and he hadn’t seen how they’d kept her in a metal chamber. There had been hundreds of tubs, like the ones that they were in, all of them citizens of that imaginary world.

He wasn’t ready for this. He’d ever be ready.

He closed his eye, following Sebastian’s lead, and suddenly he was falling back into the fluid, falling and plummeting, eye flying open to watch as so much of that white liquid fell away from him. He was unable to breathe, unable to fight against his drop into the depths. He felt himself start to choke on the nothing, reaching at nothing, wondering why Juli wasn’t pulling him up, wasn’t pulling him out. The liquid wasn’t that deep but he was miles down, the lights from outside a soft glow in the distance. He was struggling, trying to shove his way upward, but he felt a weight on his chest, a weight that was pulling him down. He opened his mouth but all that came out were the air bubbles that he so desperately needed.

He was dying. He had been a fool to agree to this. He’d known it at the time, too. But now he was drowning. Now he was suffocating. He was dying and it was pain and it was hands on his throat, in his lungs, shoving liquid into him.

And then it stopped and he was floating and there was no liquid around him. Either that or he didn’t need to breathe. He wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t suffering any more. He was slowly sliding down towards a field of pale blue grass, all of it reaching up for him, looking as if it would catch him and cradle him and pull him down into comfort. He looked around but he didn’t see Sebastian anywhere in this space. He wondered if Sebastian was in a place quite this beautiful or as terrifying.

He drew towards the bottom and he realized that there was no grass beneath him. The gentle swaying beneath him was not soft stocks but drowned fingers pale and blue from lack of air. They were attached to reaching arms, ready to grab him and keep him, to drag him down and make him one of them. He threw out his arms, trying to slow his decent, looking around for anything that he could grab onto. There was nothing but that field. He had no choice.

He kicked out, trying to keep the hands away. They did not care about broken or bloody fingers. The trailed their fingers over his socks, clung to his lounge wear, and held him tightly. He considered kicking off his pants in order to escape them but they were already holding him by the ankles, their skin so cold that it chilled him. It was elegant, in a way, the way that the hands all moved together, the field a garden of expression. It looked like an art piece that he would have made in a different life. Where he was now though, on this side of the exhibit, he was not so much an audience member as he was an unwilling participant.

The hands were heavier than the weight on his chest had been and when they grabbed they pulled, arms sliding into the field as if they were nothing more than tube worms. They were forced to release him as their fingers were separated by unadulterated earth. He stood among them, more tall ones waving at him, beckoning him closer, others trying to shove behind him. They were pointing him in a direction, towards a slanted building that kept flickering and flashing, glitching out into squares before scrambling into a different building altogether. There were five of them, if he had to guess, though it was confusing as some of them stole parts of others and they didn’t cycle in an order. The shorter ones were stretched out to match the heights of the taller ones, adding to the confusion. He did recognize the apartment building he had grown up in though and seeing it filled him with a dread that he had not allowed himself to feel while with Sebastian, ignoring his own painful childhood memories while recounting what good ones he still remembered.

There was no where else to go. He had to go towards the building. As he moved the arms shuffled and tightened, pulling down so he could cross, stepping on uncaring fingers as he went. Eventually the fingers ran out and the field looked like it was made out of black glass, only a few feet away from the entrance.

The building glitched, breaking into more pieces, breaking up further than it had any time before, and then shattering, colors and squares breaking apart and flying out, changing shape and color, forming a street that led to a town in the distance, wispy woods growing around it, trying to invade the cement past a weak wooden fence.

There was a fork and down the other side was Sebastian, who didn’t seem to be anywhere near as disoriented as he was. Sebastian was, however, smoking slightly and Stefano knew not to ask about whatever fire Sebastian had had to put out on his way here. He knew Sebastian’s past and he knew his nightmares. He didn’t need to bring them up.

He was glad to see that Sebastian was dressed like a normal person, no wandering around in the sweats that he had been in when they had stepped into the tubs just minutes before. He was wearing a brown, pinstriped vest and brown slacks that Stefano had never seen before, his white dress shirt unbuttoned a bit to reveal a hint of his chest, his neck unconstrained by a tie. Glancing down at himself he was glad to see that he was decently dressed as well, crimson slacks and a deep blue satin dress shirt, much more comfortable and much more him than the comfortable clothes he’d been told to wear. He recognized them as well, old clothes but feeling fresh and new, some of the first clothes he’d purchased once being released from the military’s care in America.

Stefano rushed over as best he could with the light limp that still threatened him so often, taking Sebastian’s hand in his own and drawing close. Sebastian gave his hand a light squeeze and offered a damaged smile, which Stefano would always take, even if it filled him with a concern he was still learning how to form.

“Regretting it yet?” Sebastian asked, trying to tease but there was no merriment in his voice.

Stefano tugged on his hand, making him stumble closer to him so he could press a kiss to his cheek, to pretend that what he had seen had not unsettled him and made his hands itch to create. “I would only regret it if I did not find you on the other side.”

Sebastian’s smile reached his eyes then, before they turned away, towards a lightly glowing figure down the road. Stefano turned his attention to her as well, although there was no where else he could look, eventually, as she was standing in front of a roundabout which held a large imposing tree. There was a wooden sign planted in the roundabout with a very familiar image of a tree that looked far more like a brain than could be coincidental.

“Hello,” the woman said as they drew near, her voice a perfect monotone. Stefano hated her immediately. Everything about her was flat and bland, even though she was glowing faintly, even through her bland gray pantsuit. “You may call me Luci. Welcome to Junction.”

Stefano was impressed. He wasn’t expecting the A.I. to look so human. It was accurate but uncanny, just slightly off in the motions.

She cocked her head, eyes looking them over in a mechanical manner and Stefano was brought to the conclusion that she was scanning thm. “I am an A.I., set in motion to accommodate and direct Mobius scientists through Junction. The fact that you do not recognize me give me cause to believe that you are an infiltration in the system. Name and registration, please.”

Sebastian looked at Stefano, but he had no registration here either.

“We were sent in for repairs,” Stefano explained, trying to come up with something believable, “and we are not altogether Mobius scientists. We were not given proper registration numbers as we were expected to meet other scientists here. Give us a moment to contact our superiors?”

She looked at him as blankly as before. “There have been no Mobius agents within STEM in 298 days. The Cores are out of alignment and need to be re-calibrated. There is a long list of repairs that need to be accomplished, but I cannot allow you entry until you have your registration.”

“Understood, my dear,” Stefano gave her a smile that would have charmed a real woman of her ilk. She did not respond to it. “We will return momentarily.”

He still had Sebastian’s hand in his own and he turned them to go back a few steps, pulling out the radio that was stuck on his belt, unnoticed until just then. Sebastian was looking at him quizzically but that was fine, there were many times in which Sebastian didn’t catch onto things as readily as he did.

“Juli? It seems we’ve run into a small hindrance.”

“Already? That’s impressive,” she sounded amused at least, if a little out of breath.

“We’ve met the illustrious Luci and she was hoping for our registration, could you make us some, right quick?”

He heard something drop heavily onto the floor, with a light squish that, paired with the lack of reality he was now in, reminded him greatly of his exhibit in City Hall. “Uh, yeah, give me a few seconds.”

He clipped the radio back onto his belt. Sebastian looked proud. He’d had people tell him that they were proud of him before, had people tell him how impressive his work was, but Sebastian was the first one who made him feel like it was true, that it wasn’t a stroke to his ego. He could still feel Luci’s cold eyes on them and, whatever mood that would swell in his heart was dashed before anything could come of it.

“Alright,” Juli sighed from her home on Stefano’s waist, “get the radio close up to it.”

Stefano returned to Luci and held out the radio, letting Juli state their names, falsified occupations, and a long list of numbers. Stefano tried to memorize his but it was too long and she only said it once before a small smile flitted onto Luci’s boring face.

“Welcome to Junction, might I point you in a direction of your choosing or shall I give you the list of malfunctions?”

“We’re heading for the Core, Joseph Cedric Oda,” Sebastian said, deliberate and to the point.

Luci seemed to think on that for a moment, getting confused more than a machine had any right to. “The Cores are not in proper alignment and may not be in the correct quadrants,” she explained. “Block 24A-31E is Core JO’s primary state of establishment, otherwise known as The Junction City Police Department.”

“Of course,” Sebastian gritted his teeth. Stefano didn’t understand why. They had both been detectives together, Sebastian had told him so on the flight over, so finding him in a place that he would find comfort and understanding in was not much of a surprise. “Thanks.”

“A pleasure to be of assistance,” Luci stilled, no longer active now that it was clear that Sebasastian was done speaking with her.

“Come on,” Sebastian squeezed his hand, “We’re going to need to get a move on, I don’t care if Juli said there are no monsters, this place gives me the creeps.”

Stefano nodded. Even with Luci offline he felt like he was being watched.

@chibi–raiden @detectivesebcas @angelicsociopath@sebcastellanyes @ruvikkin@lokis-queen-hepta-the-destroyer@samofgallifrey27 @supportivepsychopath @zellanoir

#the evil within 2 #joseph oda #sebastian castellanos #Stefano Valentini #fanfiction

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angelaiswriting · 7 years

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Horns (part 2 of 2) | Roan x Reader

READ PART ONE HERE

✎ Requested by anon: Hey, do you think you could write a Roan x Reader based on Bryce Fox’s song Horns please ? That’d be amazing ! :)

✎ A/N: here you go with part two! Hope you enjoy since it got weirder. (I must be crazy ‘cause I loooooved writing this) I considered retitling this into ‘Horny’, but then changed my mind haha Also this is the dirtiest thing I’ve ever written, but I enjoyed it so fucking much! Hope you like

✎ Fandom: The 1OO. Pairing: Roan x Reader

✎ Warnings: weird shit. Blood. Cutting. SMUT. Weird reader (ad weirder writer). Set in the period in which Roan is still prince but banned.

✎ Listen to ‘Horns’ here (x)

Word-count: 2390

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You have one cut – make it your best one, he had said.

Y/N smiled: she knew he’d surrender. He always did, and that night was no exception. Because that’s how they were: she ordered and he obeyed, she asked and he gave, she took and he let her take. She was poison and he was her favorite wine. She was evil and he was good and together they were something new.

Roan stared at her while she dragged her tongue along the blade of his dagger, his mind blank and his heart racing, his erection hurting, his skin tingling. She was something else, he thought. Something not human. Something that came out of the black depths of Earth. And he was not the hunter anymore when he was with her. He was his prey and he kept falling into her traps.

The light of the moon threw dangerous shadows on her face. Her skin looked paler than ever, her eyes darker, her core hotter.

She let the blade dance in the air, staring at it mesmerized. Then, suddenly, it flew down towards his chest: in a matter of second a long cut started just inches above his right nipple and crossed his chest to kiss his last rib on his left side.

They both stared, almost in awe, at the blood trickling out the wound. Roan could hardly feel the stinging pain coming from it.

“There,” Y/N smiled, satisfied. “Was it that bad, now?” she asked, a smirk deforming her lips.

She didn’t give him time to think: before he knew it her lips were on the cut she had created and were sucking. His breath choked in his throat, his eyes opened wide, his back involuntarily arched.

He grabbed at her hair and pulled, but she didn’t look fazed: she went on licking his cut, smearing his blood on his chest.

When she got up, her lips and chin were covered in red, drops trickled down her neck onto his abs. She looked like a demon, but Roan didn’t care: he pushed himself into a sitting position, groaning in the pain of the cut, and grabbed her face.

“You’re a monster,” he growled before he crashed their lips together.

She tasted like blood, she smelled like blood. It made his head feel dizzy, his core longing for more.

When she opened her mouth to kiss him back, her tongue was slicker than usual. It was a sticky, angry kiss, but none of them cared. They were each other’s poison and that was their way.

She rocked her hips against him and he moaned, breaking the kiss to catch his breath.

“I might be a monster,” she whispered in his ear, making goosebumps rise on his skin, “but you like it. You can’t deny it, Roan,” and she giggled, the cold skin of her breasts providing some relief to the cut he had on his chest.

He pulled her hair, arching her neck backward. He took his dagger from her hands and held it tight. But when he put it on her skin, he couldn’t get himself to do it, to cut her, to drink her blood like one of those monsters that haunted his childhood.

Y/N took advantage of his distraction and freed herself from her grip. Her hands trailed down his sides to join each other on his abdomen. She went further down but stopped just before touching him.

His eyes flickered in her direction.

“Are you scared?” she asked, nearing her face to his, kissing the corner of his mouth.

He tried to push her away, but he couldn’t get his hands to do it. He was paralyzed and there was nothing his brain could do to free him from the spell she must have cast upon him. “Is this what you let all your lovers do to you?” he wondered, brushing one of her scars with his nails.

“Are you talking about my scars?” she asked, backing a little to watch him in the eyes.

Roan tilted his head to the side, waiting for her answer.

“Punishment from home,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “A little present from you men.”

“No lover?” Roan insisted.

Y/N laughed. “Are we a little jealous?” She shook her head. “No lover,” she confirmed.

He would never admit it out loud, but the idea of another man’s hands on her skin angered him. “Good,” he said, circled her shoulders with his arm and in a swift movement she was laying on the furs and he was hovering over her. Before she knew it, he had repaid her by opening a cut on her chest: starting from her shoulder it ended on her sternum.

She laughed and reached her hands up to touch his face. She caressed his cheek, brushed the short beard darkening his skin and then traced his lips with her fingers.

Since he didn’t seem like he wanted to start anything, she moved her hand to the back of his head and pushed him towards her. She briefly kissed him. “You can taste it if you want,” she whispered. “And I know you want, Prince.”

Of course, he wanted it. Her body, her skin, her blood, the sex they had together… he wanted anything she had to offer and he’d always want it, crave for it, even.

It was his doom: to want something he could never have, to picture his future with someone who’d never want him back the way he wanted her.

He leaned down, licked her nipple until she couldn’t stand it anymore. He knew she hated it when he did it his way, but there were times when he couldn’t help it when all he could do was follow his instincts. Then, slowly, his tongue licked further up until he got to the cut, to the blood. She tasted bitter in his mouth, her blood prickled his tongue, but he licked her anyway.

Y/N wiggled weakly under him. She loved what she had turned him into, but part of her wasn’t, part of her only wanted to set him free. His heart was in her hands and she wasn’t sure she could hold it without killing it.

Suddenly, almost forcing herself, she stopped him and immediately missed his tongue licking her wound clean.

“Lay down,” she ordered.

And, as always, all Roan could do was obey. What would his Mother say if she saw him like that? Obey to someone like Y/N? To a cast out? But that’s what his heart was waiting for: to be hurt by that girl and to be healed by the same woman. Whatever she was, he was hers and nothing could ever change that – he was sure of this.

She straddled him, locked his hands above his head and smiled evilly. ‘Oh, the things I’m gonna do to you,’ her eyes said. And he was ready to let her do anything she wanted because that was the untold deal and truth between them: the Prince bowed and the subject girl rose upon him.

Her chest was smeared with blood, and his blood was there too, mixed with her own, confusing its edges into hers, marking her pale, frozen skin like fire.

She lowered towards him, licked the lobe of his right ear, biting it a little, before licking down towards his jaw. Her hands left his wrists to caress his still bleeding wound. Roan hissed in pain, but let her do for he couldn’t bring himself to stop her. He was at her mercy, whether he liked it or not, and denying it wouldn’t do any good.

Pulling back, she outlined her lips with the blood she had on her fingers.

“Take my blood,” she whispered, lowering her hips even more until their cores touched.

His fingers reached the wound he had opened on her body, they dipped in her blood, they smeared it on her breasts before they reached his own lips. Her blood was cold, a blessing as he felt like he was boiling.

Y/N smiled, staring down at him. She licked his lips with her tongue before kissing him, tasting both of them, pressing down onto his chest.

Roan grazed her back with his bloodied hands, leaving marks with his nails, cupping her butt and squeezing.

Then, almost suddenly, her lips slipped from his, her mouth sucked at his Adam’s apple, her teeth grazed his skin. She then proceeded with the licking, quickly reaching his cut and licking it again and again, driving him crazy, his eyes rolled back in his skull, his lips parted and his breathing ragged.

Y/N smiled against his skin, biting his abdomen.

When she took his erection in her mouth, Roan’s hips involuntarily snapped upwards. Y/N’s hands were quick to stop his movements, pushing down on his hip bones almost as if she had expected him to react that way. She pulled back and licked his cock to the base and then back up. It was a matter of seconds before it was smeared with blood, and Y/N couldn’t say that the view didn’t turn her on.

Roan was staring at her, urging her with his eyes to continue. His breathing was ragged with anticipation and he could feel his cock throb in her hand.

She smiled, looking up at him, and one of her hands reached down between her legs. She moaned when she touched her clit, rubbing circles around it, throwing her head back. With the corner of her eye, she could still see Roan, his frown for her not paying attention to his erection, and she smirked.

She penetrated herself with a finger, bluntly staring at him, her other hand gently stroking his cock. When she started to move her finger, adding a second one, Roan tried to get up, but she stopped him, squeezing his cock a little too hard.

“I didn’t say you could move,” she smiled, retrieved her fingers and licked them.

She then proceeded to please him some more, sucking a little the head of his penis. Roan’s moans filled her ears and made her smile: she liked the way she made him feel, the way she had him at her feet. She would get away with anything with him and he wouldn’t punish her – she didn’t know why, but at the moment it looked like it didn’t matter.

She took him in her mouth, and slowly pushed down and then back up again. Her eyes never left his face, the way his chest heaved with each breath.

He tried to plea, but couldn’t, because when it came to her he was always paralyzed. He could almost feel her presence in his head, numbing his senses.

When she dropped down on him and he filled her, she took him by surprise. His eyes were still closed, his mind focused on keeping breathing while she worked his erection. Then, all of a sudden, she was on top of him, grinning, body covered in blood.

Roan sighed, grazing her thighs and resting his hands on her hips.

“Oh, the things you do to me, Y/N,” he muttered and pushed her hips against hers. His head rolled back on the furs, his eyes closed.

She giggled, caressing his chest, avoiding the cut to not cause him pain. When she started moving and her breath got caught in her throat, she thought she saw Roan smiling while his hands grabbed her hips tighter.

Her moans were music to Roan’s ears because she was so cold that it almost looked impossible for her to feel anything at all. When she moved her hands from his chest to her breasts, squeezing them almost painfully, her head thrown back and her eyes rolled back, Roan took the freedom to invert their positions, laying her flat on her stomach on the furs and penetrating her from behind her, and to speed up the pace.

His chest grazed her back with every movement. When he angled her right leg so that it was forming a right angle, he pushed in deeper and for a moment he feared that Y/N had stopped breathing. But then her hand reached the hand holding her leg still and it grasped it, nails penetrating his skin while she couldn’t even moan his name anymore.

Roan’s breath got shorter rapidly, her walls clenched around him more and more, while his free hand pushed on her back to steady himself.

“Roan,” she whispered desperately, trying to push herself up to rest on her elbows, but the man stopped her.

He slowed down his pace, torturing her, pushing in and deep, almost making her scream in frustration. He leaned over to kiss her shoulder, skins grazing with each thrust. He bit her again, right in the crook of her neck this time and she moaned loudly. A few thrusts later he felt her clenching around his cock. He saw her closing her eyes tightly, clenching her jaw almost as if she didn’t want to scream his name, but he knew how to make her and that time was no exception.

When she came, he pulled out and she rolled on her back to welcome him again. He pushed in at the same time as his lips made contact with her skin covered in blood. Y/N was still moaning and sighing when he came with a loud grunt, biting down on her shoulder.

He kept still in that position for a while, his hips still thrusting into her sloppily for a while before he pulled out.

Roan stared down at her, hovering over her, and pulled strands of her hair away from her face.

“You were going to end this tonight, weren’t you?” he asked, fear, disappointment, pain clear in his sore voice.

She nodded. “This isn’t good for you.”

“But you’re not the one who decides what’s good for me or not.”

A giggle. “You’re right.”

“I don’t want this to end.”

“Then don’t.”

They stared at each other for what felt like ages before she kissed him, a chaste kiss compared to the ones she always gave him.

And he knew, in that moment, that his heart was not safe in her hands, but there was no other place where he’d rather have it.

TAG: @thesavagesones @selldraug @saibh29 (just in case)

#roan #roan imagine #king roan #king roan imagine #roan kom azgeda #king roan of azgeda #the 100 #the 100 imagine #roan imagines #king roan imagines #imagine #imagines #writeblr #writing #weird shit alert

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viralhottopics · 7 years

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Hemp: how one little plant could boost America’s economy

The plant is almost magical, advocates say, with a range of applications from paper to medicine. So why is it illegal to grow?

Imagine a plant that cuts cholesterol, reduces our exposure to toxins, can ease joint inflammation, proves more durable than concrete, and can provide the economy with much-needed jobs for farmers and manufacturers. This wonder of the world exists its hemp. But it is illegal to grow in America.

Hemp and marijuana both are cannabis plants in fact, both are cannabis sativa. Hemp, however, contains virtually no THC (the psychoactive ingredient in pot), so smoking it will not get you stoned. Yet industrial hemp has endured 80 years of purgatory and prohibition at the hands of the government.

Hemp has been hailed as the little plant that could for centuries for making fabric, rope, sails, paper and canvas. Hemp plants require less chemical spraying than cotton, soy, corn and wheat. It can help reduce soil degradation by faring better with less water and in drier climates. Paper made from hemp could help reduce deforestation, and requires fewer chemicals for processing than wood pulp. Hemp fabric has antibacterial qualities that can help it fight staph infections in hospitals.

Thats not all. Hemp seeds and oils offer more and better proteins than soy, along with the highest percentage of essential fatty acids and the lowest percentage of saturated fats compared with other oils. The cannabinoids (CBD) in hemp can reduce inflammation and may even protect against anxiety and depression, seizures and brain injuries, according to recent studies.

Former NFL quarterback Jake Plummer became a promoter of hemp in general after he discovered that CBD oil from hemp alleviated headaches and post-football aches. If he was still playing, however, hed be forbidden from using it. We need to change the perceptions about hemp, he says, adding that hed love to see the stodgy NFL lead that charge by funding research into the oils benefits. The NFL needs to help get players off prescription meds as much as possible, and hemp could help.

A political battle

America already safely consumes $580m worth of products made from imported hemp every year from milk to T-shirts to soaps. Yet because it has been illegal to import or cultivate seeds, the farming, processing and manufacturing jobs associated with hemp belong to the 30 countries growing it, from Canada to France to China.

We are the only industrialized nations not to allow it, says Joseph Yost, a Republican member of Virginias state legislature and hemp supporter, who points out that hemp could replace tobacco as a cash crop and bring back some of the manufacturing jobs that have left his state.

But after years of lobbying, Eric Steenstra, president of Vote Hemp and executive director of the Hemp Industries Association, says efforts to legalize it are having an impact. The first breakthrough came in 2014, when Congress allowed for hemp to be grown for research purposes in states that permitted it. In 2016, 9,649 acres of hemp were planted across 15 states, and 30 universities conducted research on the crop. It allowed skeptical legislators to see the plants potential up close, and helped demystify it for some, Steenstra says.

The next, more politically daunting, step is persuading Congress to remove hemp from Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act, where it was added by Richard Nixons administration.

Only kneejerk drug warriors are still against hemp and every month that becomes increasingly more absurd, says David Bronner, CEO of Dr Bronners, the popular health product company. Bronner positioned his company as an ardent backer of the cause. I never dreamed the process of making it legal to grow hemp would take this long, he said.

Growing and dissent

Alex White Plume, a former tribal president of the Oglala Sioux, began trying to grow hemp nearly two decades ago but was repeatedly persecuted by the federal government. He recently returned to South Dakota from the Standing Rock pipeline protests and equates the two struggles. They are exactly the same, he says. We need to heal the earth and hemp can be used to replace many of the things we use today that [are harmful].

In 1998, White Plume realized hemp could help break the Pine Ridge reservations cycle of deep poverty. He persuaded the tribe to legally adopt an ordinance differentiating between industrial hemp and marijuana, and thought tribal sovereignty would protect him from federal incursions.

His family researched the farming and business side he envisioned as many as a dozen different businesses arising from the different parts of the hemp plant and in 2000 they planted the crop not far from Wounded Knee Creek. The Bureau of Indian Affairs had long tried to turn us into farmers, and I thought hemp was the way to do it, White Plume says.

Then US officials showed up with guns, bulletproof vests and weed-whackers. They decimated his plants. White Plume tried again in 2001 and 2002, until the government got an injunction against him for growing hemp without DEA permission. Despite help from Vote Hemp, White Plume says he nearly went broke appealing and still lost the case.

It is awful and oppressive, White Plume says. The state wont do diddly squat for our people but the government comes in and takes away my plants.

Vote Hemp backed by money from Bronner recently hired a new lawyer and last year a federal judge finally lifted the federal court order. White Plume, 65, is still not allowed to grow hemp, but can now be paid to consult on hemp projects in other states.

The whole thing makes me angry, says White Plume, who adds that he no longer has the energy to become a hemp mogul but that his sister and daughter are developing business plans. The United States should honor the treaties and our sovereignty.

Ryan Loflin, a Colorado alfalfa and sorghum farmer, followed White Plumes footsteps. In 2013, he planted 60 acres of hemp without government permission as an activist statement. This is a political movement, he says.

Loflin got media coverage, successfully daring the government to step in. It was just time for this to happen, Loflin says. My community has been struggling for 30 years and lost a lot of farms but hemp can be beneficial to society and valuable to my community.

A long political battle

Hemps demise traces back to the 1937 Marihuana Act, which imposed taxes and bureaucratic burdens on farmers. The culprit was the First Federal Bureau of Narcotics commissioner, Harry Anslinger, whose department needed a worthy project when alcohol was legalized.

After Prohibition politicians needed their next new enemy to fight against, says Dan Ratner, co-founder of Healthy Brands Collective, which owns the Tempt line of hemp-based food products. Ratner believes that the DuPont company (which made nylon, a new rival for hemp) and newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst (who owned many paper and timber interests) slandered hemp by playing up its cannabis roots, but its also plausible that hemp got accidentally caught up due to indifference and misunderstanding.

During the second world war, with Filipino imports cut off by Japan and the war machine desperate for hemp products such as tow lines, parachutes and aviation lubricant, the government produced a short film called Hemp For Victory, encouraging farmers to return to the plant; with federal aid thousands of acres of hemp were grown. Afterward, hemp faded back into obscurity until 1970 when Nixon put marijuana on Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act and industrial hemp was again lumped in with it.

Yost, who sponsored a Virginia bill legalizing hemp, says years of educational efforts have made inroads. These days, both Steenstra and Bronner are optimistic about legalization, thanks to changing perceptions and the demand for farming and manufacturing jobs.

Outsourcing American jobs is not a popular concept right now, adds Polis. Theres so much potential for the economy it would be crazy not to move forward, Steenstra says, adding that it is also a states rights issue that should appeal to conservatives.

He says Iowa senator Charles Grassley, the judiciary committee chair, has repeatedly bottled up hemp bills to prevent a vote but Bronner says Republicans like Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky see the crops commercial potential and have been amazing champions who may finally liberate hemp.

Legalization is just the first step. We need infrastructure, Bronner says, so hemp can be processed and manufactured on a large scale. Legalization will attract investors and banks but supporters also hope for government grants and subsidies to create a market for hemp.

Loflin, the Colorado farmer, agrees: We need to build this industry from the ground up.