#(for me. and for no one else. everyone else is just living normally)

[inbabylontheywept]

Memories of Grandpa Hank

I'm eating a bag of mormon gorp that tastes like gasoline while watching the rain run down the mountain. The taste doesn't even bother me anymore - all homemade gorp tastes like this. It's just a natural consequence of everyone keeping their prepper shit in their garages. 

My dad's out in the clearing, wandering around with his GPS. He's got some pieces of wire out on top of it to try and make the effective antennae bigger, but it just makes it look like he's dowsing. Another mormon tradition. I ask him if he's close to find water yet, and he looks up at me, little rivers flowing off him, and says yeah - he can feel it. 

I'm sure he can. I settle under my tree and watch the droplets roll down the needles. Awaiting the final judgement of Judge GPS. 

A few minutes later, it provides: 

Turns out my dad forgot to record the location of the car this morning. The GPS remembers where we parked yesterday, but by luck my dad knows how to get from there to our car. Downside is that it's a nine mile walk just to get to yesterday's position, then another five miles to backtrack. That's fourteen miles total. 

I'm only thirteen. 

Think you can make it? my dad asks. And it's a kindness that he's worried, but it's not like there's an alternative. What else would I do, sit down in the murk and cross my fingers he finds me again? Ask him to carry me 14 miles? 

I'll be pretty jelly legged, I say. But yeah. I'll make it. 

Attaboy, he says. He fishes a bag of poptarts out and offers me one as - I think - a peace offering. A, sorry you're gonna have to walk 14 miles in the rain because I goofed kind of gift. 

I take a bite and, despite being individually wrapped, it still manages to taste like diesel fumes. We start hiking our incredibly long distance in terrible weather for foolish reasons, and I joke to my dad that the only way to make this day any more mormon would be by pushing handcarts. 

He laughs. Neither of us laugh again until 11 pm, when we stumble like drunkards into camp. My grandpa has stayed up late to make sure we weren’t lost, but he only stays up long enough to see us arrive. We try to eat a dinner of sweet potato stew, but after falling asleep in the middle twice, we agree to just go to bed. 

I sleep in well past nine and wake up to nobody in camp but my grandpa. My dad left with my sister to keep hunting around 5 am. I know that everyone assumes that their dad is invincible when they're 13, but I'm 28 now and part of me still thinks he's gonna live forever. That God made exactly one perpetual motion machine, and it raised me in the desert. 

---

Around noon my grandpa suggests hunting again. If it was my dad, I'd probably tune him out, but I like my grandpa's style of hunting. My dad hikes and hikes and hikes until the elk get tired and just let him shoot them. My grandpa finds the sleepiest, sunniest, coziest field and takes a nap there, figuring if the elk have any decent taste they'll come there at some point.

Man's got a knack for knowing what elk like - he's right more often than not. I think he might've been an elk in a previous life. 

I go with him, and much as I hate to admit it, the hike is good for me. I start off walking like a pirate on two peg legs, so stiff I might as well not have knees, but by the end of the mile and a half walk I'm almost normal. We make it to the edge of the clearing, and my grandpa finds a patch of grass taller and softer than the beds inside the trailer, and he curls up to sleep there. I look across the grass and I watch the comings of goings of critters through the field. Sometimes I use the scope to get a magnified view, but I never do so with my hand on the trigger. The thought of accidentally looking a person through that glass is something that sends a chill up my spine. 

Some deer wander through the glen, but it'd take a fool to mistake one of them for an elk. A few hours later, my grandpa wakes up and asks if I want to wander around a little. It's a lovely day. Rain comes in bursts in Arizona, and the day after is almost always clear as can be. And for a short while, all the desert browns turn green and lush. Hard mosses turn squishy and cacti swell up like fresh baked muffins and for a while you can get why people settled in these god forsaken wastes. 

So I go with him, and we walk on, me with my gun, him just taking in the forest. He looks so peaceful that I get a little jealous, but it's not until my grandpa stops and looks at me that I even notice it myself. Takes a mirror, sometimes, to know yourself.

Being near my grandpa is always a strange thing for me. He's quiet, and he doesn't talk much, and I don't ever get the feeling that he's particularly emotionally intelligent - but it's like he's interacting with a reality more raw and real than mine. Like I'm watching symbols on a screen and he's counting atoms. And sometimes, just being near him gives me access to that raw matter. Just something about how he is breaks the illusions of the world.

He looks at the gun like a foreign object, like he doesn't recognize it, then he looks at me. He speaks and he doesn't mince words. 

What would you do if an elk came across the path and you shot it right now? he asks. 

Well, I'd start cleaning it, I say, and he waves the words away like cobwebs in his face. 

But would you celebrate? he presses.

And I look at him, and I don't actually see any judgement staring back. He knows the answer, and he's at peace with it. He’s asking so I can see it too. He’s being a mirror so I can see my own face.

I think I might actually cry, I admit. And he nods along in agreement before reaching forward to take the gun off my shoulder. 

Lets just walk today, he says. No chance of killing anything. No worrying about that. 

Right, I say. 

He pops the chamber open and tosses me back my bullet. I catch it, and the relief I feel is palpable. 

Can I change my mind? I ask, and he shrugs.

Whenever you want. Hunt or don’t. It’s not the hunting that I’m worried about. It’s seeing you ignore your conscience.

And for a moment, I'm there in the real world with him, and my gloves are off, and reality is a metal cube in my hand: Sharp and cold and heavy.

Or maybe that’s just the bullet.

---

We make it back to camp a bit later than my dad. We get there and he’s waiting for us. If he's tired, he doesn't show it. 

How'd it go? he asks. My grandpa looks at me, and I don't know how to respond. I don't know how to explain it, and I am scared. 

Great, he replies. It's a shame Babs only has a doe tag. We saw a five-point out there. Close enough to hit with a football. 

No, my dad says. If his grin was a half inch wider, both ends of his mouth would meet in the back of his head and everything above his tongue would slide off.

Tell him Babs, grandpa says. And, not for the first time, and especially not the last, I try my hand at spinning a yarn. 

It's pretty good. But at 13, I still have a lot to learn.

[human-monokuma]

"Hear it form him you shall." *With a playful tap on the nose, Mikado started seeing and hearing things from Celestia's perspective. it was her memory of her conversation with Monokuma.*

Monokuma: "So what did you want to talk about?"

Celestia: "Your rewards for your selflessness and bravery in the face of despair and disaster. Such as this." *She covers Monokuma Ina bright light, changing his form into living human form.* "With this, you shall be able to traverse the living realm as anyone else that is alive."

"Traverse? Ma'am, in case you haven't noticed, I'm already dead and I'm sort of tied to Hell. Because sinner, you know?"

Celestia: "Fufufufu~. Atomata of Despair, I bestow upon you a special gift." *A small light hovers over to Monokuma's hand, attaching itself to the back of his hand.*

Celestia: "This is a Warp Crystal, which will allow you to teleport between realms and teleport to any location you desire. From Earth, to Heaven, to any ring in Hell without any kind of restriction. With this, you will be able to return home and live out the rest of your days with your family until it is their time as well."

"........Why would you do this for me?"

Celestia: "You've fought hard for your happiness and for the happiness and well-being of others. I say it's only fair to reward you properly with something that will please you and your loved ones. Is that not it?"

"it's not that. It's just...I don't know. Doesn't feel right. Like, I've done so many bad things to other people. No way I can just return to a normal life after everything."

Celestia: "You know Makoto will tell them everything."

"That's not going to change anything. The people up there won't ever forgive me. Not after after Future foundation and hope's peak. Worse case scenario, they'll accuse Makoto as a fraud and start treating him like an enemy too. or worse. Don't get me wrong. I do want to be with everyone again. With my friends. my family. Mikado and Lucky, my brothers. But...what if I land them in trouble again? I....I don't know."

Celestia: "Your loved ones are willing to carry you along with your sins. Surely you're not going to disregard their feelings, are you?"

"You're not helping, you know. Like, what am I supposed to do? I'm already dead and me going back to Earth isn't going to make life easier for anyone. As long as they know that I'm still alive, then they're just going to keep bothering me and my friends just to get to me." *...........DING*

"wait a minute. 'As long as they know'? Or rather....It's 'if they know'. If they know that I'm back on Earth alive......But if they think I'm permanently dead....Yeah. Yeah, that can work. Maybe I can make this work. As long as the world thinks I'm dead, then they won't come after my family nor my friends. That way, even if I do return to earth, it should be fine if I'm hidden well enough. Yeah."

"Yeah! Hahahaha! Maybe I'll be able to return home after all! Hey, mind if I stay here a bit longer to work out the finer details?"

Celestia: "Of course. be my guess." *Monokuma its there and starts thinking things over. After a while, he nods to himself.*

"Ok. I think I got a decent idea of what to do now. First, I need to make sure that Makoto informs the world of my death and my involvement with the demon tree. I'm sure Monodam, a witness, will be able to make the story more convincing. or maybe I should ask one of the reapers. or that weird Sparkle chick. And now for Mikado....Hmm...."

Celestia: "While you're thinking about this I should inform you that you are not allow to tell anyone I granted you these rewards. They could try to take advantage of you in some ways."

"Well I am in Hell and this place is fully of scumbags, for the most part. Sooooooooo.....Yeah. Can't really tell anyone out in the open. Though, I don't want to leave Mikado in the dark. But I also can't tell him about my plan out of fear of being leaked. if that happens, I don't think I can return to Earth period and then there's what could happen to my family and friends....Yeah. I'm going to have to talk to Mikado about me staying in Hell for the long term. I just hope I can get through to him and make him understand. I would ask him to stay, but I don't want him to waste his life like that. Maybe I can ask Makoto to hire Mikado to give him proper protection from those Kisaragi jerks. Knowing him, he probably could allow Mikado a way in. The last thing I want to happen is for anyone I care about fighting or killing on my behalf. I want them to live their lives happy and free of worry and stress if possible. No more need to spilling the blood of innocence and junk like that....Sigh. This is going to be tough." *The memory comes to an end as Celestia takes her finger off Mikado's forehead.*

"I hope that cleared things up for you, Mikado. I understand your worries and concerns for your friend, which are indeed valid and he understands it too. He just needs to make sure that things will be alright enough for him to return so that no more tragedy comes your way."

*Achlys knocks on Husk's tent, trying to get his attention.*

"Hey. Husk, was it? I need you help with something. Something that's really important." @nastrond-and-valhalla

Husk looked to see Achlys. "Oh, hey Achlys. Sup? How can i help?"

[doromoni]

Was it all a dream? | CL16

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁༉‧₊˚. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁༉‧₊˚.

Ships : Charles Leclerc x Reader

Genre : Fluff

Summary : You’ve found your soul inside Alex’s body and Charles believes that you are his girlfriend. You're living the dream, but for how long?

Masterlist | Soul Switch Series

< Previous | Charles’ Arc | Next >

A month had passed and you still hadn’t figured out how your soul managed to get into Alex’s body and how you’d taken her place beside Charles. What weirded you out the most is that everything seemed normal and everyone was not questioning anything at all! It was like everything was supposed to be like you are supposed to be in Alex’s body.

Every time you pass a mirror you startle a little because you expect your face … but No. You see Alex, no you are “Alex” now. No one even remembers the art graduate Alex. They see you Y/N L/N.

Weird as it may be you tried going along with everything shoved on you. Gone was the Y/N L/N engineering student because apparently you’ve already graduated engineering and are now working for Red Bull Racing.

Even with your “boyfriend” Charles Leclerc, Ferrari’s golden boy, it’s been a month and you still gasp every time he leans near and kisses your lips. You still couldn’t fathom that you slept in his bed with him spooning you every chance he got.

Ironically, you’ve dreamt of being Charles Leclerc’s girlfriend that one time you were dozing off in Physics class but you didn’t expect to come true! Heck, that dream was so strange to begin with! I mean Leo was horse-sized, Ferrari’s car was actually a bike with 7 wheels and they won the championship with it. Oh! And you dreamt of actually birthing Oscar Piastri and being a family with him and Charles. Weird… it’s so weird.

Everything was just so loopy for you. You expect yourself to wake up and actually be in your body inside your dorm room with a monstrous stiff neck or something. But each time you wake up and open your eyes, you face to see the gorgeous male brunette with dazzling green eyes.

“Good morning, Mon Amore. How was your sleep? Did you dream of your ‘other’ life again?” Charles teased you as he kissed your forehead.

Your first week in this body, you tried to tell Charles the truth. About how you shouldn’t be here and that the real Alex should be. Charles only looked at you as if you were crazy and suggested that he’ll take to you go see a doctor.

The more you pressed on that what you were saying was true and that you’re not crazy, the more Charles wanted to drag your ass to get your brain checked. So you just told Charles that it was just a weird dream you’ve gotten. And now your reality was a running joke for him.

“No~ I dreamt of you switching to become a Red Bull driver and Leo is your engineer” You joked back, poking his bare chest. Wow, Charles and his damn muscles! The times you’ve laid your hands on him for the entire week are criminal at this point.

“Oi, my eyes are up here Y/Niee! I swear you just love me for my body” Charles pouted, a glint of mischief in his eyes— almost daring you to deny it.

“ What?? No! I’m also dating you for your money” You teased back, pecking a soft kiss to his lips before removing the blanket off you and jumping off the bed.

Is it wrong to kiss someone else’s boyfriend when your soul is in that someone else’s body?? Oh, the mental and ethical gymnastics you’re experiencing is taxing.

“Y/Nieee~ come back to bed! Just 10 more minutes please” Charles whined as he stared up at you with the same puppy eyes Leo looks at you when he wants treats.

“No no no~ monsieur! We have a plane to catch remember? You’re racing in Austin and your body needs to regulate and shake off the jet lag” You explained as you went to his side of the bed to try and pull Charles out of the freakishly comfy bed.

“Fineee~ give me a kiss first.”

“I just gave you one!”

“Another one!”

“Oh you needy, needy, needy man,” You said as you gave in to the request of your boyfriend, crashing your lips to his one more time.

“Now let’s get ready and catch our flight~” You muttered as you tried to pry yourself away from Charles.

“Mh, can you prepare Leo’s travel bag, please? Max’s jet isn’t really dog friendly” Charles asked as he stretched his arms above his head. Wow, this man is too hot for his own good.

“Whatever you say handsome” You replied stealing one more peck from the Ferrari driver before zooming out your his bedroom.

“Y/N! Take a shower with me, let’s save water and Mother Earth together~” You hear Charles shout from the room.

“Will you let me drive your car to the airport?” You shouted back

“Over my cute ass, you will!” You couldn’t help but laugh at Charles’ antics.

After a few more shenanigans involving Charles and Leo, all three of you were finally inside one of Charles’ road-safe Ferraris— you being passenger princess of course with Leo on your lap because Charles refuses to be chauffeured around.

He said “Driving is what I’m made for. So let me do my magic, Mon Bebe”

“You park like a blind person though” You replied Which he took offense to a loud gasp as you laughed. Now your boyfriend is pouting as you boarded Max’s jet.

“What’s wrong with Him?” Max being the frank person that he is said the minute you and Charles stepped foot on the plane.

“ Many things are wrong with him, like his undying love for Ferrari” You jokingly said as you squeezed your boyfriend’s forearm before you took a seat with Leo.

“She called my parking shitty” Charles exclaimed to Max

“No, I said you parked like a blind person” You defended, holding back a snicker.

“She’s not wrong, Mate. I’ve seen your parking and wow” Max winced as if imagining Charles’ parking during races.

“I hate both of you! I park fine” Charles took the seat next to you still glaring. Trying to soothe him, you reached up and kissed his cheek.

“Agree to disagree there— but I like you either way. By the way, where is Kel- OW!” You were in the middle of asking Max about Kelly when a sharp pain ran through your spine and up your head.

Warning: Reality Expiration 90%

Where did that come from? Reality Expiration?? What does this mean? Was it all a dream?

“Hey, hey. Y/N? are you ok?” The pain gradually diminished and you saw Charles and Max both worriedly hunched over you.

“I- yeah. Just a sudden headache I guess. I’m ok! No need to worry” You smiled at them, trying to ebb their worry. Charles wasn’t easy to convince though.

“Mon Amore, seriously are you ok?? We can catch another flight if you want to rest first” He asked reaching for your hand.

“Love, I’m fine! I swear, no need to worry~” You explained to Charles trying to convince him that everything was ok— even tho you were panicking so much inside.

What does it mean Reality Expiration? Are you going to die?? What will happen to you when the time expires? The mystery of your future made you fear for your life.

Warning: Reality Expiration 98%

“Y/N… I know you’re not telling me the truth. Mon Amore, what’s happening?” Charles held both your hands, slightly shaking — as if he knew deep inside something huge was about to change.

“Uhm, you know my other life? I think I’m going back there” You said to Charles, your voice quivering. Nevertheless, you tried to smile and look at Charles one more time.

Reality Expiration 100%

Prepare for Soul Regression ...

Your soul has successfully regressed

Dear Y/N, thank you for participating in this reality. You are now in control of your own fate ...

Here you can control whats next : What's your next reality?

CHOOSE NOW or the system will choose FOR you.

~~~

a/n : Answer the poll!! I'm trying something hereee ahe. Hope you find this series intriguing. Tell me your thoughts my luvs

Series Taglist: @simpacholic @stereading @lol6sposts : Open for request!

Maintaglist : @myescapefromthislife @peterholland04 @charlottef1 @fangirl125reader @mel164 @gnarlycore @chloelovesln4 @vickykazuya @merchelsea @ln4author @qzmef @nxk1309 @styl1shl1v @lottalove4evelyn @gr3yhues : open for request!

[noihavenosanitythanksforasking]

i cannot express how much i adore the dinner scene in 1x01. i think about it constantly. theres so much covert queercoding for mike that it literally drives me crazy.

the fact that just a bit before this we have the scene with joyce and hop where they imply that they are scared that will has been a victim of a gay hate crime. and throughout the season its implied over and over and no one really seems to give a shit. not even lucas and dustin. they care about will DEEPLY ofc but the fact that most ppl are expecting him to be dead and killed bc hes gay doesnt seem to bother them? the scene where troy is bullshitting about will in the gym they both just stand there, they dont make any move to stop him or call him out. no one does (this isnt me calling lucas and dustin bad ppl or not allys or wtv but u get the point).

mike however does give a shit. he gives QUITE A FEW shits.

in the dinner scene mike is clearly distressed about his friend. which is a perfectly heterosexual thing to do. in general. however hes not straight so its gay when he does it. ANYWAYS. he is clearly distressed about it but his entire family is completely unconcerned. nancy is preoccupied and doesnt give a shit. hollys a baby. ted is well ted. and karen. i need to talk about karen for a sec.

karen ADRESSES that she thinks something bad happened to will by telling nancy she cant go to barbs house until will is found. however she acts very dismissive of wills situation in general. im sure she was worried for him but she does it (or at least expresses it) is a very passive way. she is not focused on will being missing or what may have happened to him, just the fact that something bad happened in general to a person in hawkins.

the fact is, besides mike, karen is the only one worried at all. and shes not even close to matching mikes energy in the slightest.

when mike mentions steve, the conversation is totally derailed from will. as if it wasnt an important conversation in the first place.

nancy storms off. and ted. oh ted you son of a bitch. ted says the classic

"you see what happens"

line. and what a line it is. due to all of the references prior to this and the fact that most ppl believe that somehting bad happened to will. its not hard to see that ted is once again referring to will being hate crimed.

you see what happens when youre gay? bad things happen to you. and then everyone you care about is just inconvenienced. theyre lives are disrupted.

karen glances at ted, clearly understanding what he means. and mike does too.

"what happens when what"

hes not asking. hes angry. and you can just see the exasperation on mikes face the whole scene

why is it not weird for will to go missing. why is no one surprised that something mad happened to him. why is no one else frantic to get him back. why is no one else worried about will. why is it considered normal for this to happen. why arent ppl upset like he is. just bc ppl think will is gay? that makes it all make sense? bullshit.

mike storms downstairs and calls lucas. when trying to convince him to come look for will his argument is the fact that will took a risk to help the party when he could have protected himself. but he didnt.

mike knows what ppl think happened to will. if he just thought will was lost or something looking for him wouldnt be a risk. it would just be an opportunity to find him. but he calls it a risk. will sacrificed something to protect the party (mike) when he could have saved himself from all that suffering. but he didnt. and now mike will do the same for him.

[boypussylegendary]

I NEED TO TALK ABOUT HYUN JU (player 120) FROM SQUID GAME!!!

I don't mean to project onto her but oh my lord the trans experience that I see portrayed through her hits so hard. Every behavior she does I can recognize because I feel the same damn thing. Spoilers ahead!!!

Talking about mirrors first, every time we see her in a mirror she's fixing her hair, like in the scene where everyone's taking pictures, plays with her hair to make it frame her face in a way she deems more feminine. She does the same thing in the bathroom scene, she messes with her bangs while she stares at the mirror with a defeated expression on her face. Her obsession with her appearance is subtle but so relatable especially in a trans context, she probably doesn't mean to hyperfocus on it but she can't help it!! When you're trans your outer appearance is the quickest way to convey your identity to this world and when it doesn't align with who you are inside, people start to assign an identity to you that is innacurate and uncomfortable. I'm on episode five and so far they've managed to convey that without saying it which I find very impressive. Though that detail probably requires context and lived experience.

The next thing is the hackey sack game, it was the kicking one in the rainbow race room or whatever, episode five. She explains it later but when she asked everyone to look away, it wasn't just performance anxiety, it was a fear of being percieved. I know from experience that it's almost impossible to do anything in front of a crowd when you're visibly trans because all you can focus on is what everyone else is thinking. Using myself as an example, I can hardly sing in front of a crowd, I'm a theatre kid, I've been to karaoke nights, I love to sing but despite that it's terrifying to do for me because all I can think about is other people's thoughts, "Isn't that the trans kid? They look like shit, why do they dress like that? They're hair looks awful, why can't they just be normal?" It paralyzing sometimes. Back to Hyun ju, she literally has everyone turn away because she can't focus on a life threatening game if she's percieved like that, and she explains that in the episode!! And she's not totally wrong either!! The older woman literally says she's unsightly in the previously mentioned camera scene, and she is turned away by groups of men in the rainbow race game because of how she looks!! Good god I've felt that in my elective PE class in my senior year. It's exhausting and I'm so glad it's touched on because I feel like that topic is never mentioned in trans media. It's always, 'I have to make a name for myself to prove to other trans people that we can do it,' and while that's not a terrible narative, it's very noble, but it's hardly relatable and that's why I love Hyun ju. Yes she is a very noble character, she helps save a man's life in the first game, but it isn't 'in the name of young trans kids everywhere,' she can convey the trans experience without being famous.

[sykesandskittles]

CHAPTER 6

Noah

SHE’S HERE. I know she is.

I have spies all over this campus, and three of them reported seeing Harlow arrive at the party a half hour ago. The rest of my guys were already planning to attend, so I just tagged along. Normally, I wouldn’t fucking bother. All these sorority parties are the same–cheap booze, and beer pong. But there’s something brewing on campus, and until I know what it is, I’m keeping Harlow in my sight. She’s a means to an end that I can’t afford to lose.

We’re welcomed to the party with a roar of excitement, like always, but I don’t even hear it. The second I step over the threshold, I’m looking for Harlow , my gaze darting from face to face. But I don’t see her.

As my crew disburses, I reach out and stop a passing chick. “Hey, where’s Harlow Anderson?”

She’s only been on campus a few days, but most people already know who she is. She can thank me for that— though her gratitude needs a little work. I get the feeling she’d rather curse me than thank me.

But even without my help, she stands out. Harlow is one of those naturally beautiful girls—the kind that doesn’t wear makeup, doesn't make an effort,

and doesn’t know they’re pretty. She’s curvy, and I’m sure she thinks that makes her lesser than—but it couldn’t be farther from the truth. She‘s curved in all the right places, and seeing her in person fills in a lot of blanks. It helps me understand why what happened a year ago happened.

The chick blanches a little. “Uh, yeah, I think she’s somewhere over by the kitchen.”

With a nod, I wend through the crowd, shrugging people off as they slap me on the shoulder in greeting. I’m pissed. Harlow said she wasn’t going out, and yet, she’s here, at this fucking party.

She’s not by the kitchen, though, and I curse under my breath. This isn’t fucking cool. I can’t be seen wandering around this house like a sick puppy, looking for a chick. Women come to me. That’s how this usually works. But I’m learning Harlow isn’t a typical chick. And I don’t really know how to deal with that.

I finally find her outside, sitting on the beach with some other dude. I know everyone on this campus, but it’s dark, and I can’t see his face. Just the fact that she’s out here with a guy is so fucking disrespectful, I want to shove my fist through his face.

Everyone knows Harlow is mine.

But if this guy has been living under a rock somewhere, then he’ll find out soon enough what’s what.

Harlow and the guy are facing away, toward the ocean, when I walk up. “Harlow ,” I say, and they both turn their heads toward me. Now that I can

see his face, I recognize the guy. His name is Nathan, and he’s a new member of the Burning Crown. He was friends with my brother before he moved up north, and he’s a bit nerdy, but whatever, he’s chill.

“Noah,” Nathan says, hopping up onto his feet. He brushes the sand off his ass. “I was uh, just watching her for you. Making sure no one else approaches her.”

“Watching me? What the fuck?” Harlow pops up onto her feet as well, disgust flashing in her moss-green eyes. Then she turns that disgust in my direction. “You have people babysitting me?”

I cuff Nathan on the shoulder. I have no doubt he spotted her here at the party and decided to keep her occupied until I arrived. He’s been trying to curry favor with me since freshman year when my brother left.

“I’ll take it from here,” I tell Nathan.

With one last look at Harlow , Nathan scurries off. I turn back to Harlow and notice she’s a little unsteady on her feet. I snatch the red solo cup out of her hand and smell the contents.

Cheap whiskey.

“Hey!” she squeaks, lunging for the cup. I pull it out of the way, and she misses by a mile. “That’s mine. Get your own.”

I pour the contents of the cup onto the sand. “I think you’ve had enough. You’re already wasted.”

She stares down at the sand, where I just dumped her drink. “What the fuck? I wasn’t done with that!”

I toss the cup aside. It’s a private beach, and someone will come around in the morning to pick it up. “I told you to text me if you were coming to the party.”

“And? Just because you said it, doesn’t mean I have to do it,” she scoffs, swaying slightly. “You have some serious control issues, you know that?”

She doesn’t know the fucking half of it. I learned from a very young age that control is power, and power is a certainty. You can make things happen when you have power. You can make your reality whatever the fuck you want it to be—almost. There are a few painful exceptions to the rule, one of which I’m in the process of correcting as we speak.

I raise a brow. “After last night, I’d think you’d be a little more careful about where you go, and who you hang out with.”

She pinches her brows together. “I am being careful. I came with my roommate, and Talia is here…somewhere. I’m fine. I didn’t need you to swoop in and save me.” She says the last with a flourish of her arms.

I gather her against me, her soft curves forming into my body. I capture her chin between my thumb and the crook of my forefinger. “You do need me,” I say, my mouth just inches from hers. I’ve never taken a woman while she’s intoxicated, but I’m tempted to now. Just to show her who is in control. “And you will listen to me, even when your stubborn-as-fuck-brain tells you not to.”

This girl is the reason my entire world fell apart. I should be disgusted by the air she breathes. I should recoil at the thought of touching her. But fuck, these curves–they’re meant to tempt, to lure, to fucking entrap. And they do exactly that. She feels so good when she’s pressed up against me that I can almost forget what a horrible person she is.

Almost.

She shakes her head, the movement over-exaggerated. “Nope. I’ve never been a good listener. ”

I release her chin and smooth my hand over the tight globe of her ass, squeezing. My cock immediately stirs to life. “I’m going to change that.”

She laughs, like what I said was funny. “Yeah, I bet you’d like someone completely submissive to you. I’d put money on the fact that total control turns you on. You seem twisted like that.”

I clench my jaw, a tic pulsing in my cheek. She has no fucking idea how much I want to break her. To make her completely submissive to me. To make her pay for what she’s done.

And if I’m being honest, her submission will end up being easier for us both, because the truth is, I’m going to get my fucking way no matter the cost. That’s just how I roll.

To her credit, she doesn’t back down. “You may have this entire campus wrapped around your finger, Noah Rush, but I’m not so easily impressed.” A hiccup jolts her entire body. “And I won’t be owned by you.”

I narrow my eyes at her. I can tell she means what she says, and it rocks me a little. Because of my family, and the power we have on this campus, I’m not used to getting pushback from anyone–let alone a chick. They’re usually falling at my feet, poised and ready to make me happy. This resistance I’m getting from Harlow is foreign as fuck, and I’m not sure what to do with it—except do what I’ve always done.

Dominate.

I brush my lips over hers. “It’s far too late for that, Little Rabbit,” I say. “You’re already mine, and I’m going to make you feel it in every-fucking- way possible.”

If she thinks I’m walking away from this, just because she’s being difficult, then she’s got another thing coming.

----

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your incredible support and patience with my latest chapter. Writing Noah's POV was a real challenge for me. It was tough to truly capture his thoughts and emotions in a way that felt authentic and compelling. But your encouragement kept me going, and I’m so grateful for each and every one of you.

Your love and feedback mean the world to me. I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you for being such an amazing community. I love you all.

-----

@collisionofyourkissmakesitsohard

[asarigg]

Inside the Character's Mind: Part 3

AOBA'S JEALOUSY

To be honest, I find it difficult to decide in what order to look at the different scenes in their lives. I don’t know whether to do it chronologically, thematically, or as they appear in the game, and that’s without having in mind that I lose track of what I write easily.

Before continuing, I would like to comment on one aspect that never convinced me about how NC wrote this character, as I mentioned with other aspects above. It is probably what I like the least, I think it is very poorly used and lays a questionable foundation for the character that in my opinion does not do him justice.

The first thing we see of him is him throwing one of his client’s boyfriend to the ground for causing trouble, and a bunch of women wetting their panties around him. Again, I don’t mean to get into the sexism issue right now, but it’s inevitable to mention it. Having a fan club isn’t a bad idea, but of course the only thing they could ever do was to make a bunch of annoying, yelling, toxic and childish women behaving like they’re 15 and had never spoken to a man before. They’ve worked on it in the most superficial and stereotypical way possible that the only thing it leads to is discomfort and rejection of the idea of meeting him again. And the worst thing is that it’s not just you, it’s also Aoba, so they don’t help much. Luckily it doesn’t last too long.

Obviously you can’t just lay it all out right from the start, it’s normal that you’re shown the most superficial side and as you progress you get to know him in depth, like everyone else. But it’s extremely superficial. I personally wouldn’t change that much, and maybe my biggest problem (besides the representation of women) might be just a translation problem, but hey, I work with what I have. They’re just a few small details that make it seem like a textbook white knight copy and paste. If his relationship with women was just as superficial, maybe it wouldn’t be so disappointing, but the thing is that it isn’t, so it doesn’t feel completely right with his character.

Anyway, back to what I wanted to get to. The way Aoba talks about Koujaku is quite stiff, distant, even though we learn a little later that Koujaku has been his friend since childhood. It’s true that he left the island for many years, but then he says that Koujaku came back three years ago and that he hadn’t changed at all since they were children except for his appearance, he was still just as friendly, kind and smiling. So why this coldness?

Aoba practically talks about him like he’s some guy he met a few months ago and occasionally runs into and that’s it, despite what we’ve already mentioned. Not only that, but it turns out that Koujaku drops by his house quite often, staying for lunch and overnight, sleeping in his room. What kind of stranger would you do that with, especially someone like Aoba?

Even Tae herself, famously known for always grumbling and acting a bit surly, is fond of him. She is precisely the one who would be the least hesitant to kick him out of her house if she didn’t want him there, however Aoba points out that he knows that his grandmother considers him a second grandson. After all, she has known him since he was a kid. I'm sure that she’s very grateful to Koujaku for having been there with her grandson when no one else was, not even her, even if she wanted to be.

I talked about this topic a while ago with another tumblr user, who basically attributed Aoba’s behavior to pure discomfort and displeasure when seeing Koujaku’s fans interacting with him, due to having been distant for so long, so it seemed important to mention those three years. I’m not saying Aoba should not be uncomfortable in this situation, seeing your bestie flirting with a group of women jumping around him is definitely not the most fun thing to do. Also, he wants to avoid the gaze of the whole group because they would eat him alive, something he doesn’t achieve because Koujaku notices him anyway. But he seems very distant, he is not only showing discomfort or just wishes to disappear, he is excessively rough with the words he uses, saying that all that charisma he has is an act, false. Like I said before, this is because Aoba knows better, sure, but the way he says it gives it a pretty negative tone.

It seems to me that NC simply wants to introduce the character to you, as the reader, rather than introducing him as Aoba’s bestie, hence the coldness, it’s not Aoba, it’s you. They still joke around all the time and the complicity between them is quite clear, so it’s not like it’s entirely wrong or weird or distant, it’s just those details of Aoba’s thoughts that seemed somewhat dissonant to me.

In any case, there are behaviors that resonate with another idea that is very true and it’s Aoba being jealous. As we have already mentioned before, there are subtleties that make his attraction to Koujaku obvious from the beginning. In the Drama CD and the SSS we see that Aoba is quite insecure, undervaluing himself mostly for being in a homosexual relationship. Seeing that women continue to go after Koujaku makes him feel bad, although there is not much to do, he cannot lock Koujaku up so that he doesn’t talk to anyone ever again and that’s it. He is very troubled by this, and even wonders if Koujaku wouldn’t have preferred to be with a woman at the end of the day, as if he was less, as if Koujaku should be in a straight relationship.

Most notably in the Valentine’s Day story Aoba wants to be able to do what all those girls can do openly without having to worry about prejudice or stares. He wants to be able to kiss him, hold his hand, go on dates, and make him chocolates, normal couple things. Those reactions he had when seeing those women holding onto Koujaku’s arm or having his attention were nothing less than jealousy, because Aoba wanted him to give that attention to him.

This not being possible, since he doesn’t even realize what he feels to start with, makes Koujaku sharing other kinds of things with him that he doesn’t share with anyone else extremely valuable, like the balcony scene, or Koujaku holding his hand when they make love, even if he doesn’t like to admit it. That's why he loves to keep learning new things about Koujaku as their relationship progresses, even the silliest ones. The unknown is not a source of uncertainty or shock anymore, but one of curiosity, a way of loving.

Please Koujaku quit smoking I don’t want you die you're too sexy. haha

That’s why when he discovers that there are things about Koujaku that he doesn’t know, that Koujaku isn’t willing to share with him, among other things, it affects him in this way, like he’s not as special as he thought for knowing a side of Koujaku that most didn’t, because that is no longer a reality for him.

[barrenclan]

I've been off anon once before, but I guess I thought with the comic finishing up (not counting epilogues) I'd do this officially finally! So...Hi! I just wanted to say this has been an absolutely incredible journey from start to finish. The art, the symbolism, the mystery all throughout, the CHARACTERS, it's all been absolutely breathtaking (Ranger and Hacksaw are still my favorites! Ranger and Hacksaw #1!!!) I've been here since the first issue, and you really did just wrap everything up perfectly (particularly thematically!) This last issue in particular I think is the only time I've teared up reading this comic? For very personal reasons, Slugpelt's "you should just leave me to die, I have nothing left and I can't bear this pain, don't make me continue" hit...really really home for me, haha. The following moments of Pinewing's "Can't you live for me? Can't your trust we'll have a million more moments that will make it equally worth living? Can I be enough for you, just for right now?" Because...Fuck, man! I've been there! I feel that!!! And I'm just so...immensely and insanely glad that Slugpelt did accept the tentative promise of a future, even if everything in that moment seemed so bleak for her. I dunno. It just means a whole lot to me, I guess. I also teared up around Corm and Pine's "can we just start over?" Not for any personal reasons, just because it's just SO sentimental and SO sincere, like fuck. "Hi I'm Pinewing, and I think I'm in love with you" "I'm Cormorantleaf and I think I'm in love with you too" gets me right in the chest! It's difficult to put into words how much love, trust, and absolute fucking earnestness is in that exchange but I just! Feel it! The weight and oozing fondness in those words!!! I feel it physically!!! Augh!!! That's all I wanted to say. Just, thank you for reading (if you did read it! Busy schedule, real life, I get it,) and thank you so much for making this. It's been a hell of a ride, and I've enjoyed every moment so so much. P.S. one time this comic activated my autism so bad I made a point of trying to remember the names of every issue (up to 14 or 15, I think) in order while I was out in the middle of the woods and no computer access. I never got around to saying that at the time but the point is PATFW good and I like it a very normal amount lol

Thank you so much for your kind words!! I'm so happy you've enjoyed reading the comic for this long and that it could mean that much to you. I've really loved working on it.

I'm a writer who loves tragedy and horror and things like that, but at the end of the day I am also a pretty sentimental and earnest person and I like having characters who get to experience happiness and get to live their lives how they want. Maybe I'm a sap.

P.S. That really makes me laugh, I love it. How'd it make you feel if I said I could commiserate - there have been plenty of times when I've been at work when it's slow or otherwise bored and I'll just start listing the names of every single issue in order, over and over, for fun? Haha, I love this comic just as much as everyone else.

[shatcey]

Wreck the halls (Victor)

A few screenshots with my thoughts on this. Both endings and an epilogue.

But first... non related to Vivi.

I just realized… If he helped Victor last year… this means that she and Jude joined the Crown at least a year ago…

It's even more cute than I understood in Japanese. Sweet, teasing, and a little reproachful. "Alfons, you're such a naughty boy!" Don't flirt in front of me! I'm jealous… I haven't decided which part though…

And one joke about Vivi

We're not so sure about that, honey… Maybe he is…

And now about Vivi… a lot of speculations.

Are you teasing or expressing a suppressed desire?

Even in his thoughts, he referred to himself in quotation marks. It's like Victor is a role, not a real person.

And the feeling that Victor isn't his real name is becoming more and more obvious.

So… Has he made a deal with Death and won't be released until Death decides he's no longer needed? But the latter indicates that he is actually Death itself. I… remember only one mention of Death as a real person. In Terry Pratchett's Discworld. In fact, I love Death in these stories. But it's a pretty new story even so Sir Terry is also based on fairy tales…

And this part from BE is actually a very strong one. Do not forget… Kate is very good at understanding people and situations. She… another girl with an innate talent for psychology (Mai the first).

Again… God. The God of death. But the contract and be binded to it… suggests that he wasn't like that from the beginning…

In the same scene from the his POV (PE)

I LOVE how complicated and beautiful his thinking is. It's not as lacy as Ally's way of talking, but it's a different type of complexity. AND I ADORE IT!

But back to the meaning…

He feels that Kate is enchanted by the darkness, but he wants her not to follow this desire. Where was it? I think on Willy's route, he mentioned that Kate has always been fascinated by the darkness. Maybe she did. It really feels like fate.

And the second part already looks like a puzzle. First he talks like he's death itself, and now he's darkness itself. It's not the same thing. In Sir Terry's books, Death has a pretty ordinary job. He didn't judge, he didn't change anything. Each person had an hourglass that showed when they were supposed to die. And he came and took their souls. Nothing else. In my opinion, it's a pretty boring job, everything is so predictable. If he wouldn't meet Rincewind… But… This is a completely different story.

So… Darkness suggests that there is light. The light in this game is usually associated with pure souls who don't do evil. Most of the ordinary residents of London.

And darkness is someone who commits evil deeds, regardless of the reason. And this means that they live in completely different worlds that cannot be mixed. So he thought he didn't want to stain her… This means that he was afraid that he would affect her pure white soul so much that she would become as black as his.

And in the epilogue…

So… on Vivi's route, we should expect something like a confrontation between our sweet straightforward (and, in my opinion, extremely white) fox and Vivi. And the last line already sounds like a love rivalry. After Dark IF event, it is quite difficult not to see this in Harry… And I was hoping for Willy's help… I still hopping. And now I'm almost sure that Harry will interfere… So much drama! Ally, prepare jokes!

Besides, Vivi thinks this dark part of his…

And again… He used death and darkness side by side. But, in my opinion, death is either just a stage of life, or a job, an absolutely normal job. How it became bad or dark… beyond my comprehension.

And here he hints that his real personality is not what everyone used to think. I like his real personality! Greedy, manipulative, calculating, controlling, and… absolutely overwhelming. What's not to like?

But like I said when I was thinking out loud about Jude's story in the Dark IF event. That story was written a year ago, and Vivi's route was just a draft back then. But judging by how many hints they've given us, they already have pretty clear ideas about who he is and how they plan to use that information.

In addition… I LOVE this snow animation! It's so simple, but so beautiful. And it has two layers… in front of and behind the character. Such a nice touch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

🔝 𝕊𝕋𝔸ℝ𝕋 ℙ𝔸𝔾𝔼 🔝

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[alevolpe]

Could I bother you to do a dump of your thoughts on everyone's favorite undercooked and over-punctured hero, Chiba Mamoru?

Hmm, thoughts, i have a lot of thoughts about Mamo, but at the same time, not as many as others would think.

I like him, i think most people who follow my blog know this. He’s a very nice addition to the cast despite his many.. problems.

I’ll first address the elephant in the room.. he should not be a part of the main cast fighting along the girls.

Sorry, I know some people love that for him, but for me it just doesn’t work and he doesn’t organically fit in the story after season 1. He’s basically stringed along to be just the damsel in destress to motivate Usagi in most cases and that’s not compelling for me or is a good turn for his character.(there’s nothing there, there’s no character for me to care about. Just pretty guy looks pretty, wow, I’m compelled)

He should’ve been mostly done after season 1. After that he should’ve been a supporting character helping Usagi as a regular guy trying to go back to his regular life while being a loving and supportive boyfriend to Usagi. (It’s also such a missed opportunity with this dynamic that you NEVER see. A female superhero and his bf being the normal guy trying his best to keep up with wtf is going on with his gf and magic beings while also studying for his diploma, living the life of a regular guy trying to make it through school and his job and trying his best to also be a nice and helpful person to his gf’s team/best friends. Most of whom don’t have the highest opinion of him lol).

It’s genuinely what he deserves, he doesn’t need to be stringed along this journey as a puppy for Usagi to be chase after. LET THE MAN GET HIS HUMAN LIFE BACK TOGETHER!! (And maybe some therapy) His whole existence is not just Usagi/moon romance/future bullshit, he’s his own person ffs.

Sigh.. ok with that out the way I’ve already talked about my problems with the “miracle romance” here (tldr, I wanna keep it I like it, just workshopping needed).

Now, is there a way I could possibly organically integrate him into the story as an equal and distinct identity to Usagi.. yes.. do I want to? Not really.

In short I don’t really have a ton of interest in exploring that outside of the first season. That’s where his character gets introduced, where he has the most connections, with Serenity and with the 4 kings and Beryl, that’s where his character peaks and where he deserves to have his “happy ending”. My story is mostly centered around the bond around the girls and the world around them, not romance (even tho there are moments of it, yes, it’s not mainly a romance unlike the manga). Also trying to fit him without having the girls take an active step back is really difficult and has never been executed right.

In the manga him and Usagi are the main characters and in the anime everyone is written to be useless til he shows up. You basically have to scale down everyone else for him to shine and I don’t vibe with that.

Also also, in my version he has no Crystal. People have no Crystals, just the senshi. having a Crystal in you is a strictly senshi thing, him having one never made sense to me (if you like it, good for u, I don’t care for it, idc if it’s explained in canon). So he’s just a regular guy, he’s a smart reincarnated regular guy who committed a bunch of heists and some breaking and entering, but like.. tf he gonna do against a senshi.

TLDR: I like Mamo. Mamo is good, good character, but scale him down to supporting cast and make him a more supportive boyfriend to Usagi and honestly give him more of his own person outside of his reincarnation or future self.

ALSO SMALL THING BUT actually have him interact with the girls in some way, with different and fun levels of chemistry. Like him being awkward cause he knows both him and them want the best for Usagi, but like Rei.. is Rei, Mako’s pissed at him for being a dirty thief, Mina just fucks with him 24/7 and Ami, idk I guess Ami does kind of vibe with him, but like, they are both awkward nerds. I wanna see that!

[mutable-manifestation]

Ghost Chirps AU Part 5

Part 1 & 2

Part 3

Part 4

***

While “Jason” (i.e. Alfred with an empty jet that Jason will meet up with later in order to “arrive” in Amity) hops a private jet, Red Hood is busy searching the Fenton home from top to bottom.

The local police move slowly, and by the time they arrive Jack and Maddie Fenton are both tied up and disarmed in their living room under heavy guard.

They hadn’t been restrained immediately, Batman talking him into giving them a chance to implicate themselves first.

Hood let him take the lead, but he didn’t even get a chance to ask a question, being cut off at the first indication he might want to talk about their “work.” Less than 60 seconds in, and the pair had outright confessed to violating the meta protection acts - and in tedious detail.

The questioning didn’t suffer any from them being tied up.

Far from the mulish silence or crocodile-tear laden denial of most criminals, they instead doubled down, insisting that nothing they had done was illegal, then jumping to the assumption that they were “possessed” - and boy had it been a nasty surprise when the whole house came alive trying to attack them with a quick verbal command.

Well, trying to attack Hood. And only him, for some reason.

One laser also freed the Fentons, who turned out to have even more weapons built into their suits. 

Somehow. 

Despite them being skintight.

That had been a pain, but Red Robin was able to hack the system using one of the couples’ own devices while Hood dodged - and kept the stray fire away from the others - leaving everyone else to recapture the pair. A blessedly simple task once they found out the lasers would splash harmlessly off of their armor (save for a gross film of green goop left wherever they grazed).

They take turns knocking each unconscious to change them in order to properly disarm them - Batman and Nightwing taking Jack first, followed by Orphan and Spoiler dealing with Maddie. 

The only non-weapon laden clothing they own turns out to be pajamas. 

This is around when the police show up, looking hesitant.

They, too, cite the “Anti-Ecto Acts.”

Oracle had debriefed them on the supposed Acts and “Ghost Investigation Ward” on their short drive over. Both were utterly bogus - the Acts had never even been proposed, let alone been approved as law, and the so-called “GIW” had no ties to the government.

The Fentons had been furious and denied the information intensely when told, but the cops mostly just looked relieved.

Apparently there’d been a lot of property damage by the GIW and Fentons both that had supposedly been dismissed under the Acts as “necessary in the pursuit of ecto-scum.”

For the Fentons, half of this damage was in the form of broken fire hydrants, cracked sidewalks, and totaled cars - they’d never been good drivers, before, the cops disclosed, but they’d become even more negligent since the ghosts began appearing, to the point they had to have a news segment warning when they would be on the road.

The lack of fatalities thus far had been nothing short of a miracle, they claimed.

“Of course there haven’t been any fatalities!” Mrs Fenton defends. “Our work is to protect people from those things, not make more! Officers, listen to reason-” Hood snorts disdainfully -”The Red Hood is clearly a ghost! All our systems targeted him the moment they came online - and they only target ecto-entities. He’s clearly taken these heroes under his sway - why else would they be working with a murderer!? You have to do something before he starts up his killing here in Amity!”

The officers look at him a bit hesitantly, but Batman is unmoved and gives the cover story Hood had outlined back in the alley.

Any concerns the locals have are quickly assuaged.

But for the whole explanation, Jason is trying not to shake even as he falls apart in place.

Their little website called them ghost-hunters, making it pretty clear what “ecto-entities” meant. 

Their system supposedly only targets ecto-entities.

The system had only targeted him.

The system only targets ghosts.

Jason had died.

A lot of his family members had died, too, granted. 

But Jason was the only one who seemed to come back wrong - anger sticking in his throat and never quite fading, an inclination towards violence even when he wasn’t angry well beyond what he’d ever felt before, and a sea of other emotions (that he would never acknowledge aloud) and triggers for those emotions that he always struggled to make heads or tails of.

He doesn’t have the meta gene. He knows that. He knew that.

He just assumed that the test missed it, because he knows he doesn’t know magic - the All Blades being the only exception - and he couldn’t think of another explanation at the time.

But he came back wrong.

And as he stands there, he wonders if he came back at all, mind on Solomon Grundy.

Wonders if he isn’t just some ghost, wandering around possessing his own corpse.

He jolts, as the thought strikes him: what about Danny?

If he’s a ghost and chirping is a ghost thing then what about his KID!?

Absently, he notes that Bruce has started interrogating the cops on what they meant by “ghost attacks.” 

He ignores the discussion, hustling for the door in the kitchen down to the lab.

He slams and locks the door behind him - in Red Robin’s face - as he descends, making a b-line for the computer he’d seen when the Fentons had dragged them all down there to start bragging about their crimes.

The only thing Oracle could get out of the whole building was things that were openly available online; direct connections were impossible.

Opening up the screen, he gets to cracking.

Going for the surface level files first, it turns out he doesn’t even need so much as a password to find what he wants.

One of the video game sub-files has an unrelated file in it: ghost notes.

There are plenty of other notes, of course, but he’d only been skimming to start, looking for anything hidden.

The Fenton parents were too open to bother, of course, with plenty of more obvious files strewn haphazardly across the home screen, but it’s always better to check. That there is a hidden file means it was likely made by either Danny or Jazz.

And it’s a treasure trove.

Sub-files for rogues, allies, conditional allies, and “halfas” were what greeted him.

The last being the only term he didn’t recognize, he clicked.

6 files: Clones, Danny, Dani, Dan, Vlad, and Red Hood.

He clicks his own file.

What greets him is a picture of himself 4 days ago, looking just to the left of the lens in an alley that he distinctly remembers searching for the kid in.

Just below is text.

~~~

??? Name: Red Hood

Species: probably a halfa

Status: Nnnneutral? I think? I know, I know, heads in bags. But Valerie tries to kill me all the time! And we’re allies sometimes! Hood- uh- looked for me? Okay I guess I can’t really judge this yet but please read the first met section before you judge please you guys?

First met: Aug 17, 2005, was in Gotham to bother Batman, stopped to think a bit on some fire escape - decide on the first prank yknow - but then my ghost sense went off. It felt like a halfa so I thought “oh cool, must be Dani” so I chirped, but then Red Hood - who was chasing some guy down an alley at the time - froze and looked around. I dropped visibility and chirped again and yeah, he definitely heard it. Humans can’t so he’s definitely a halfa - no glow so he can’t be a full ghost and it felt nothing like an overshadowing. 

Ended up following Hood around the rest of week - forgot to prank Batman, damn - and playing hide-and-seek with the chirps. It was really funny. But he very obviously doesn’t know he’s a halfa. But the guy is, like, scary levels of smart, so I’m sure he’ll figure it out on his own now that the chirp thing made it clear that something is up. Hopefully.

I figure I can go back in winter break - he should have it figured out and let his emotions process enough by then to at least hear me out when I explain the AEA and GIW and everything, then it won’t matter so much if he can, like, track me by voice or something if I talk since we’ll have MAD by then.

Despite his reputation, the people living in his haunt seem to love the guy. I can see why. On top of the whole smart he’s actually really nice to people he’s not shooting in the knees (which only even happened one time in the week I was there? It was actually pretty relaxing - most quiet week I’ve had since the portal opened THANK YOU TUCKER for hacking the portal hatch to be inoperable for a week). 

Where was I? Oh yeah, he’s actually surprisingly nice to people? So like, I think he’ll probably hear me out if I go back and be polite? I hope. Hate to leave the guy in the dark and him end up on the GIWs dissection table for “lots and lots of painful experiments.”

Not that those guys could even catch the Box Ghost. But uh, Hood doesn’t seem to have powers either? Or if he does he doesn’t know about them I don’t think - he only used the chirp the whole time I was their - not even to cheat with moving around.

Seriously. That guy's acrobatics could make Freakshow’s contortionist green - er, red??? - with envy. Actually wait, aren’t contortionists and acrobats different things?

SAM NOTE: help^?

Powers: 

?

~~~

Jason leans back, breathing deeply.

“Not a full ghost,” “not 'overshadowed'” - a term that sounds likke some kind of cousin to possesision - “definitely a halfa,” “humans can’t hear chirps.”

Halfa. 

Half. 

Ghost. 

Half Ghost.

It should sound absurd - you can’t be half alive and half dead.

But Jason has seen the Lazarus pits, has met Solomon Grundy, has met aliens and bullshit magic and can pull magical swords out of his own damn chest.

Half alive. Half dead.

Hopefully not just a fancy way to say possessing his own corpse.

He doesn’t have time to deal with every file - he’ll “confiscate” one of their USBs with a copy of everything for himself before leaving the rest to Batman & co, of course, minus the halfa files (a small part of him wants to shove his condition in Bruce’s face and demand he kill the clown again even though he knows it’s a futile hope, but the rest - the same part that snapped and denied and refused to say he was a meta less that a day ago now - cannot stomach the thought of even more rejection. Of a Bruce that believes he’s a monster. Of a Bruce that mourns him even while he’s right there. Or at least, more than he already does.) - but while the files copy he take the time to look at Danny’s.

The image has two people, Danny Fenton on one side and a version of the kid in a black hazmat suit with white hair, tanned skin, and painfully familiar green eyes. And floating.

~~~

Human Name: Danny Fenton

Ghost Name: Danny Phantom

Species: Halfa (half-human, half ghost)

~~~

It’s the section after that that makes Jason’s breath catch in his throat.

~~~

Death: The Portal Accident

So like, there was no audio (thank GOD I do not want to hear myself screaming) so. Details: When the portal didn’t work when they plugged it in mom and dad left for fudge, Jazz went to try and talk them into a more realistic career choice than ghosts. Sam and Tucker came over and Sam dared me to climb in and check it out - it was broken anyway so no harm. Except it wasn’t broken, just that my parents put the on button inside. Which I caught myself on when I tripped on a wire.

Anyway, electrocution! 

(T - Danny for the love of god be more serious, the cheerful tone is creepy)

(D - Hey! I’m the one who died! Shouldn’t I at least get to write my own epitaph)

(S - …Danny this is not an epitaph. You don’t even HAVE a grave)

(D - wow way to rub it in Sam)

(T - yeah Sam)

(S - ugh! Whatever, just stop with the chatting in official files)

(T - “official”)

(S - Tucker.)

(T - shutting up now)

Electrocution! I got zapped to death, but the ectoplasm from the portal was also opening up on top of me and a lot got bonded to me I guess (S - probably because of the electricity with how you ended up with some of Vortex' powers for a little while) at the same time said electricity was reviving me? - probably getting my heart beating again or something, I was a little busy screaming to pay attention (T - yeah okay we're going to Nasty Burger after this. And playing Doomed) - not that it would’ve mattered without the ghostification preventing me from melting me all the way to death.

Status: Me!

Powers:

Chirps! (ghost echolocation of some kind! humans can't hear em - halfas can, of course, in either form)

Form Change (really Sam? This barely counts)

Human form

Ghost form (no need to breathe)

Flight (last clock speed 210mph) (T - and climbing. Dang dude)

Invisibility (S - don’t forget shareable.) (Shareable. sigh)

Intangibility (Shareable)

Ecto Rays (eyes & hands) (T - and butt) (D - dude! I’m deleting that. Tucker why can't I delete it. TUCKER) (T - bow down in awe of my ksill) (S - ksill) (D - ksill) (T - yeah okay it’s permanent now) (D - aw man!)

Ghost Sense (S - why do we never test your range?) (D - no need? They always make themselves obvious or are being sneaky specifically to annoy me so *shrug*) (S - I still think we should test it)

Power Absorption (that time with Vortex’s weather powers)

Cryokinesis (Wayyyyy to much ice. NOT testing max output on that) (T - yeah frozen city was enough, let’s not cause an ice age. Tech needs some cool but too much is still bad and I just upgraded Patricia)

Ghostly Wail (cone of destruction, very exhausting - always at max output. Not to be used)

GHOST FORM ONLY (but really just never)

Cartoon Body (D - what???) (S - Freakshow literally turned you into a puddle and you just turned back and were fine. I don’t know what else to call that) (D - okay fair. but:)

GHOST FORM ONLY

Physical Enhancement (better strength, speed, stamina, durability, reflexes, balance, etc much better than human) (T - why does this look like dnd knockoff stats haha)

GHOST FORM ONLY (S - obviously mr last place in PE)

Resistances (pretty solid on the overshadowing, avoided being taken in by Ember until targeted, didn’t get turned to stone during the Medusa thing) (S - which was pure luck! Be careful!)

Ecto Electricity (ghost stinger, but I really don’t think this counts Sam. I mean I just. Make my ecto zappy. But it’s still just ecto) (S - so is your ICE and you don’t just call that "just cold ecto") (D - fine, but it feels overly specific) (S - maybe writing it all down will make you stop. Forgetting. POWERS!) (D - come on Sam that was a lucky hit! I was distracted! And it turned out fine!) (S - Fenton…) (D - oop okay doing fire now)

Ecto Fire (made Dash’s shoes melty that one time by make the ecto hot) (T - really needs more testing)

Tech possession (chasing Technus into computers, not very tested)

Ghost form only, i guess?

Overshadowing (control people, copy their voice, invade dreams - the control one erases the person’s memory so they don’t know they were overshadowed just lost time. I hate Walker. SO much) (T - rip Danny’s reputation, you’ll be missed)

Probably ghost form only

Duplication (T - That’s optimistic) (D - I’M WORKING ON IT OKAY!?) (S - pretty sure it just falls under cartoon body until you can actually separate) (D - :( betrayal)

Probably ghost form only

More? (D - ugh I hope not) (T - hey don’t say that, maybe you’ll get a power to make the JL give a crap about Amity) (D - honestly I’m getting pretty close to letting Boxy loose in Gotham) (S - Danny, don’t stoop to their level!) (D - it's only box ghost!) (T - I mean he has a point)

~~~

Jason changes his mind, seeing the commentary, and deletes the entire hidden file from the computer as soon as his copy is made. He can go over everything and bring any important info to Bruce separately, the bat’s can just chew on the parents’ files for now.

Once the original files are thoroughly and irretrievably removed he pockets his shiny new USB, makes a second one with all the official files, and heads back up and out - carelessly brushing past a thoroughly irate Red Robin with a pair of firemen and broken jaws of life. And not a scratch on the door; impressive - just in time to get Oracle’s text that he’s got 2 hours and 16 minutes to be at the location on his HUD so he can “arrive” to Amity.

And a fresh set of civilian clothes will be waiting in the plane, Alfred as reliable as ever.

“Files,” he says, tossing the safe USB to Batman and interrupting his interrogation of the police officer.

He catches it effortlessly of course, but the officer stops paying attention to him to jolt at Hood’s reappearance - even outside of Gotham his reputation is fierce.

“I sent a copy to myself. I’ll review them and give you an overview, but other than that consider this the end of my involvement in this little shitshow,” he says, continuing smoothly to the door. “I’m heading back to Gotham.”

Now, he has a little over two hours before Jason Todd needs to arrive in Amity Park. He only needs to lay hands on a laptop that he can isolate from Babs’ influence and he should be able to review the Halfa files in full before he "lands" - after he figures out just why the kid has a grudge against the JL.

[butchviking]

i hate being a mentally ill adult actually. i hate that there’s always groceries to be bought and housekeeping to do and work in the morning i hate that we have no space to feel it all i hate that we walk around acting normal. there are so many people i know who are clearly deeply unhappy with their lives and we make silly little jokes that allude to it but sometimes i want to grab them by the shoulders and scream ‘i know you are miserable!! we can’t keep living like this!! this is why people break!!’ im sick of this drudgerous apathy i want us all to be dramatic like when we were teenagers i want us to sob together and scream bloody murder at each other and tell each other we want to kill ourselves not as a funny post-ironic joke but because we all feel like that sometimes!! i want us to get fucked up on god knows what til we can’t open our eyes i want us to take care of each other instead of always taking care of ourselves i want us to be vulnerable i want us to hold each others hands in the ambulance!!

[dykedvonte]

I think the most baffling thing about the Tulpar as a vessel to me is the fact that the ship really did only have a one way communication system.

I know it was cheap but even the most basic of vessels regarding major transport would have some way, shape or form for outside communication. Not only that but there was absolutely no form of innate emergency signal to show they may have been offline or in trouble despite clearly having a system to dock credits if they went off course. It's another factor that really shows that bad situations are made to get worse by design. One person who is required to relay all information to the crew and make all the choices without feedback. No way to update or call for help in case of a dire situation. No way to inform of inner personal conflicts and acquire procedures accordingly.

It really is like they are all in some sort of fucked up solitary confinement. They have their own world with strict roles that are meaningless in the end, as long as the cargo makes it, it doesn't matter what happens on that ship to the company. They don't want to hear anything and will come to conclusions on what happened based on how much pay they can withhold from the workers. Even what they do send is short, sterile and corporate to the extent it was likely written and sent out with a command by some random unmanned computer in an office.

There's something to be said about how unfair it is to force absolute power and control onto one person when you as an entity could do so much more to offload it but I've said it many times before so I won't again.

[idontmindifuforgetme]

.

[clownboybebop]

I wish I could survive without living with family rn. I love my family and they love me but that only really matters as long as im doing what they want with no complaint. im less than human here and I don’t have the ability to change that without upsetting or alienating my only current means of existence

[bredforloyalty]

logically or cognitively or w/e i know i'm not insane but then why do i get the sense that i am