#Asylum AU

[thorns-and-rosewings]

(Behold what happens when I have ideas that far surpass my skill level... ^^; Here we have tall-ish Lunar, roughly Bloodmoon height, only taller if his hat gets counted. And this universes versions of the Gemini twins)

Okay so this needs some explaining; this here is Asylum AU's version of Lunar and the Gemini twins. I didn't put their information on my last post about this AU because:

A. I genuinely enjoy these guys little side tale so much I wanted to attempt to give a good visual to go along with their bit.

B. I thought it was long enough already.

So I'm gonna write their whole little bit below, as with everything I write it's gonna be LONG, but hopefully a fun read.

Enjoy ^_^

.

Lunar: As with all this universe's characters, he started off life built by Eclipse to assist him... But the main difference was that this Lunar was treated infinitely better than our Canon Lunar was right from the get go. Not to mention that he had his Star Power right from the beginning as well...

How did he have that you may ask?

Simple... Doc Eclipse acquired some meteorites that contained an unknown alloy. And he genuinely went 'What the hell, why not?' and used it to build Lunar's body. Which apparently contained some residual Star Power and thus, this Lunar has his powers.

Right from the beginning, Lunar didn't want to fight with Sun and Moon and he began trying desperately to get everyone to stop fighting. So to make a very long story short, eventually, he was successful in getting the fighting to actually stop because Sun and Moon grew to care about Lunar like a brother. Although the fighting didn't stop until there was significant damage done to the motor control of Eclipse's left leg... There's an uneasy peace between the two halves of Lunar's family as the result of this.

Free to choose what he wanted to do with his life, Lunar took his love for games to the next level and started a gaming company. (But also made Beanbag chairs as well) Lunar's commitment and genuine love of the games that the company made reflected in their products and it didn't take long before Lunar's company not only became successful, but a MAJOR name in gaming.

By the time Asylum AU starts, Lunar's gaming company, Starfall Games, (The logo being the blue star emblem Lunar is creating and has on his clothes) is considered the number one gaming company in the world. Their claim to fame is their games quality. As they have never once released a game with any major bugs. Lunar is a very good boss and although he demands a great deal from his employees, but he is never unreasonable. And he regularly rewards his staff who go above and beyond.

He's a tough, but fair boss.

Lunar owns a huge tower in the middle of the city, which he lives in. It's so advanced it would make Tony Stark jealous. He lives in the penthouse on the upper stories while the lower stories contain the main headquarters for his gaming company. His tower is seemingly crafted from obsidian, with neon blue lights running throughout it. The dress code for the staff actually follows a similar theme, with everyone wearing bright seemingly neon colors. Or have some sort of celestial, space or star theming.

Lunar's powers in this area also 98% mastered, with the problem 2% to be addressed in a bit. Like Canon Lunar, he has electricity. But this version, rather than weather powers, his focuses on electricity, lightning and electro plasma. He actually powers his entire tower with his abilities and is in negotiations with the city to possibly power the entirety of that as well in the near future. His lightning powers are incredibly deadly if used in combat, but fortunately he next to never needs to use them offensively. In the rare instances he does need to fight, he is skilled enough to actually manipulate the electrical currents in a human body and essentially short-circuit a human temporarily. It's even more potent against animatronics.

But it's his plasma powers that he is actually the most fond of, as he's so skilled with wielding them that he can literally craft various things out of the plasma and then dissolve them on a whim. He can literally create tiles or stairs that allow him to walk in the sky. It's not uncommon to see him stroll across the sky near his tower at any given time...

But his favorite thing by far to create is his Plasma Cycle. Essentially a futuristic Tron-esque motorcycle that can reach nearly unfathomable speeds and drive over every type of terrain and even drive in the sky with him creating a plasma road below and in front of the bike to drive on.

(Essentially like this but in a brilliant blue)

Ultimately this Lunar has a very good grasp on things, but there are still some... Drawbacks...

Lunar didn't get to where he is in life without having to deal with A LOT of shit. With the one thing he has grown to value THE MOST in people is loyalty and honesty. He has endured many betrayals and been in the midst of liars and he finds people who partake in these negative things to be the lowest of the low.

He's not crazy and understands small lies and fibs can be understandable, even necessary. As he regularly lies about how good his Suns homemade 'Mint Sugar Cookies' are... They're damn near inedible, have the texture of a mix of toothpaste and sand, but nobody has the heart to tell Sun.

Aaaand then there's his family and that often deeply uncomfortable situation...

The thing Lunar loves the most, more than his company or anything else, is his family. His deepest wish and desire is for them all to stop hating each other and get along. Which is the one thing he wishes for every year on his birthday, when he invites everyone to either his home, or another location to spend the day together...

And every year without fail...

It's a total disaster...

It would seem Moon and Eclipse, in spite of their love of Lunar... They can't not fight for even a single frickin hour. They will fight, Sun will cry, Solar Flare will try to make peace, Bloodmoon stays the hell out of it, aaaand things proceed to fall apart before they can even have dinner. Let alone cake...

Every year Lunar just endures this. His heart breaking a little more each time... A tiny part of him wondering if he means so little to his siblings that they can't just get along for him for just a few hours. But, he just buries it and smiles and says that next year will be different. The stress of his family fighting is the only thing that can cause him to lose a grip on his powers. Sometimes leading him to short out an area and have to pay a hefty bill to repair the place he accidentally wrecks.

...fortunately he has his best friends, Castor and Pollux, by his side whenever these nightmares happen...

...the two people he trusts most of all...

...yeaaaah...

.

Castor and Pollux: In this dimension, the Gemini twins were drawn to the bizarre Star Power usage on this planet, eventually tracking it to Lunar when he was at his company. And they came with literal perfect timing, as Lunar had just started wandering through some of the floors of his company and they just appeared there.

One thing about this Lunar is that he is more than a little... Oblivious...

So oblivious in fact that he didn't notice the two clearly inhuman beings in his presence. But, to be fair, his companies dress code could have allowed a normal person to make such a mistake for maybe the first time... Not consistently every day for several years.

Now Lunar was in work mode, so he was wandering through the halls and checking in while being flanked by these two who were trying to talk to him. All while he initially thought they were just trying to pitch an idea to him, something that happens a lot. But as they continued to dog him, (And growing more frustrated at Lunar brushing them off) It finally occurred to Lunar that their behavior wasn't like someone trying to pitch a game idea... And then it dawned on him...

They had to be the new assistant the agency sent over...

Although why would the agency send two people and not just one?

Castor, decently annoyed by everything going on and seeing the opportunity to at least get the information that they need, doesn't exactly lie pre say... he merely says that they are there to 'Observe and offer help as need be.' And how they were a two-for-one deal.

Lunar just shrugged and went with it...

So over the course of the next few years, Castor and Pollux are by Lunar's side nearly constantly. They had to learn a fair bit about games and paperwork, but fortunately they are incredibly fast at learning and adapting. So they went from just being the assistants that Lunar admittedly went through fairly quickly... As a lot of them got too comfortable and got a bit powermad having access to the bosses attention. The two Astrals not only became invaluable in helping Lunar with his day to day responsibilities, but also became his closest companions and friends. To the point that they literally moved into his penthouse with him, updated their respective wardrobes with more human-esque clothes (Lunar actually crocheted them their scarves and added the star logos) and they are even so joined at the hip to him that he now instinctively manifests a pair of sidecars onto his Plasma Cycle which allows his companions to join him on his fun high speed insanity.

...at first they were just doing their jobs, observing Lunar and assessing if he was a threat or not...

But after a while things drastically began to change...

Lunar had a very good handle on his abilities. Had the good sense of when to use them. But more than that... He was giving, kind and just overall a nice guy who did everything he could to bring joy and happiness to the people around him.

And he succeeded in ways he couldn't imagine...

Lunar had somehow, made Castor and Pollux feel overwhelming joy and happiness. Given that Astrals don't feel emotions like mere mortals can... It was a jarring experience when Lunar somehow brought these emotions out in them and it made them realize that they actually, genuinely, cared about Lunar. A LOT...

But given everything...

They were now stuck in a bad spot...

While they never 'technically' lied to Lunar, they sure as hell know that they haven't been honest. Telling him the truth about themselves, about the Astrals in general, star power, his powers, everything... Given how Lunar values honesty and loyalty...

Oh yeah, they know they are in deep shit...

Not just with Lunar either. As they have been deliberately misleading what involvement is required of them to the other Astrals. While stating the situation is under control, but being extremely vague about what it even is. Aaaand even doing a few things to keep their fellow Astrals distracted from asking too many questions...

...like sending Scorpio an entire industrial roll of bubble wrap for them to stab with their tail...

...Giving Aries multiple wool pillows for them to rest comfortably on while meditating and using their dream powers...

...and last but certainly not least, sending Leo a beanbag chair completely packed full of catnip...

Courtesy of these little distractions, they have managed to avert deeper questions regarding what they have been up too. Except for Taurus who is getting suspicious about what exactly is going on down on earth. The only thing that has prevented him from heading down there to see for himself is with how busy he's been trying to track Rez.

But back to things on earth; given the closeness that the siblings have with Lunar it is now understood that in the company, they now wield as much power as Lunar himself. Referred to as Lunar's right and left hands respectively. They do, subtly, lead Lunar to occasionally have days where he takes some time off to just trains his powers. Pointing out one can never have too much control over such powerful abilities... They usually convince him to do this with the promise of having a picnic and just having a day to chill and unplug from everything. They have made an effort to do this every few months ever since they witnessed one of the hellish fiascos that Lunar's birthday turned into...

That was a horror show...

Made worse by how having his whole family together for a day was the only thing Lunar could talk about for a whole week...

Pollux: (Her hands clamped over her mouth as everything just spiraled out of control. So completely stunned still)

Castor: (In disbelief and his eye twitching) What is happening here?

Bloodmoon: (Surprisingly staying out of it) Not sure. But we're about a minute away from stuffing our pockets full of shrimp and getting the hell outta here...

Everything was over in under an hour, leaving Lunar heartbroken and usually a venue wrecked. The Bloodtwins at least making sure that Lunar got home alright, to which the Gemini twins then took it upon themselves to cheer Lunar up, always being sure to have a little 'Backup Party' ready to cheer him up.

And this has just become a solemn tradition...

Lunar gets his hopes up for a happy time with all the people he loves the most, it gets ruined, the twins take him back home. They handle the incoming apologetic phone calls that follow, Castor swears at them... a lot... Then they watch movies, play games and have some ice cream cake.

And Lunar asks how he got so lucky to have them in his life...

And they feel that knife of deception twist in their proverbial hearts...

[dissemmiart]

Bsd Asylum AU - Fyodor, Dazai and Nikolai

[masasiblingnaruto]

Also made them into stickers

[radiopixelctive]

Guys check out my new silly art-style

Also i decided to draw some Peppinos

@bobmirum @frostinepac3 @peppizza-au @viki-arts @xbeih @sillykimiko @ali-flaion @nomorething1

man, i think I'm too generous sometimes.......

[vincess-princess]

we, the psychos: masterpost

this fic is growing so fast it warrants its own masterpost now

Fandom: Motley Crue, Guns n’ Roses (secondary), Kiss (secondary), the list may be updated

Summary:

The Feelgood Asylum, home to the sickest and the maddest, welcomes a new resident. That’s Tommy Lee, once a heir to a noble family, and now disowned and sent away for seeing what no one else sees and laughing when no one else laughs. At first horrified by the living conditions and the labor that patients have to perform, he then quickly finds new friends… and enemies.

Nikki Sixx, Frank Feranna for others, constantly loses battles with his own demons. And it’s not helping that the worst patient in the asylum, sex-addicted maniac Vince Wharton is sparing him too much - and at the same time not nearly enough - of his attention. And the new patient disturbs their already turbulent relationship even more.

And Mick Mars, who keeps quiet during the day and screams at night, never wanted any of this.

Warnings: mental illness (duh) and everything that it entails, self-harm, sexual assault, unethical medical treatment, period-accurate homophobia. The list may be updated

This fic was inspired by this post by amazing @smokeandmirrorz

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

AO3

Last updated 21.05.2024

[arsonlookers]

My sweet College Best Friend

Yandere! Psychiatrist Lumine x Reader

You actually coincidentally met with Lumine one of the doctors in the asylum. And she was your best friend in college before she transferred to another college across the country.

The only reason she tells you about her transfer is because of a family matter needs to be resolved immediately. She has also already been accepted to the best medical college near their homeland.

After all, we are talking about Lumine, the greatest and top college medical student in your college she already stands out by her beauty add it to her brain and sweetness, and then you will meet the perfect girl in the world ever.

Though you will never know how this perfect girl has secrets she hides from you and will never let you know about it. ever.

since all of us has secrets we needs to hide.

Yandere College Lumine! Actually had a hidden big crush obsession on you since that day you offered your lunch to her in the garden. She just found you so Cute, so Pure, so angelically Adorable, and sexy at times, she just wants you to be all Her. She doesn't like sharing, so there is no room for other people, except a certain someone.

Yandere College Lumine! Who you have been best friends with for two years never tells you about her personal life, except about her younger twin brother whom she loves so much!

Yandere College Lumine! is so mysterious to you that sometimes you question yourself if you really her best friend? Or even consider you as her friend? But over time you just didn't care anymore since it was her private life and you respected her decision.

Yandere College Lumine! Who never tells you that since the day you met her, she has been sharing all your information with her twin brother from all across the globe.

Yandere College Lumine! who kind of looks exhausted like didn't get a wink of sleep on certain days and you just put it as her studying all night long.

when in reality she has actually been stalking you all night listening to your snores and sleep-talking. Or worse she broke into your apartment just to watch you sleep take some pictures of you and smell your used clothes. Sometimes even gather your hair strands and use your body brands in the house.

You will never even suspect anything since she is very detail-oriented, knows where she moves, and hides the evidence of her breaking in.

Yandere College Lumine! Who casually hugs you as if she is not going crazy inside because you are so close to her that she can smell Everything! She knows when you change your shampoo or if you cut your hair or use a different lotion she knows. it. all.

Yandere College Lumine! Who is so creepy that if you ever know what type of messages she sends to her brother you will immediately need to call the police to arrest her because of how detailed and creepy it is, as if she knows what you are thinking that time or what you are doing in that specific time and how she knows everywhere you are as if she has eyes and ears everywhere. Even you forget this tiny little detail you said or done. Though SHE remembers it all and even lovingly writes it to her brother. you are like an open book to her.

Yandere College Lumine! Who is so saddened by the thought that she needs to leave you behind that she has dreams and a plan to just kidnap you and bring you with her to her homeland and meet her brother!

Yandere College Lumine! who you rarely keep in contact with after she left for her home country to study. except with emails, she keeps sending you for Christmas, thanksgiving, new year, and your birthday. She never forgets a day may it be send late or too early.

Yandere College Lumine! Who you lost contact with for like another 2 years. You have been so extremely worried for her but at the same time saddened to the thought that she has forgotten you as her friend.

Yandere College Lumine! NEVER forgets about you in those 2 years she lost contact with you. [she keeps updates to your social media but didn't approach you directly]

Yandere Psychiatrist Lumine! You met her again in the asylum as one of the Psychiatrist and were so shocked about her past relationship with Case 01 [childe]

Yandere Psychiatrist Lumine! is so happy to meet you again [physically] after all these years. Though, if only childe wasn't sent in this same asylum Yan! Lumine would have been so happy to keep that relationship with Childe a secret to you forever. She is not proud of that one. if only she could make him shut up by silencing him for good.

Yandere Psychiatrist Lumine! Who is Sooo Good at playing mind games with you, she just keeps lowkey manipulating you to believe her about all this warning on a certain patient or doctor in the field. That you should look at for.

Yandere Psychiatrist Lumine! OF COURSE, you can TRUST her. She is your best friend from college Believe her. trust nobody but her. be with her. Don't be scared to LOVE her.

Yandere Psychiatrist Lumine! She is a loyal, lovely, psycho, your trustworthy best friend, Stalker, girl boss, Obsessed, possessive, would kill for you, manipulates very sweet to you to no end.

Yandere Psychiatrist Lumine! Never in her life considered you as a Friend. No. no. no. no. SHE considered, you from the day the two of you met in that little garden, a LOVER that is already meant to be hers. and hers to be OWNED.

Sure she did tell her twin brother about you, but... that doesn't mean that HER twin brother Aether Can have you...

No, you are hers and hers alone, NO ONE can have the privilege to chat with you, to be close to you, to eat with you, to even dream about you. You are hers and hers alone.

Yandere Psychiatrist Lumine! Did I mention, that she is a convincing actress? OH, honey~ she is good at playing mind games with you and it also applies to others as well. She has a reputation and everyone knows that she is a very good girl incapable of even killing, everyone believes her, and her every word is also like a law. She has everyone's side and manipulates it to her liking, that is why she is very good at using people to her daily life.

Just like for EXAMPLE, how she USES Childe and his affection for her to kill that one bastard who follows you on your social media, one day and starts to harass you anonymously. She manipulates everything and tell CHILDE about the guy who is Harassing her [when in reality it is you he harassed] and made up a whole bunch of stories [a lie] a reason for an obsessed Childe to be pissed off and off to kill that Guy. FOR YOU.

Not even childe doubts her, no one doubts her, and if you discovered every dirty thing she has done for you, believe me when I say. NO ONE. I mean NO ONE will believe you if you tell everyone about her dirty act. those accusations of yours will only put you inside the asylum you are already working for. And when that happens then you will be of no escape. She will love to have you as her patient ♥

There will be plenty of things she will love to do to you, bending you down, exposing you to her heart's content, and she can strip you bare in front of her eyes only, as her patient. And NO one will even believe you if you tell them about how she loves to just fucks you inside. ♥

Oh as for your other obsessive admirers inside the asylum, don't worry they won't be dead for a while, after all, she cant take them all. she will be needing a backup. for that. so for now she will just OBSERVE. everything you do and everything they do.

JUST TRUST YOUR SWEET BEST FRIEND, OK? AFTER ALL, SHE IS PERFECT AND ONLY KNOWS AND LOVES WHAT IS BEST FOR YOU ~

A/n : Heyoo, MY FIRST YANDERE FEMALE!! I dont really know what to put anymore:(

Just a reminder LUMINE as a yandere would be a scary admirer, she knows how to manipulate people's feelings and even take advantage of people's feelings to her liking. SHE sees them like a tool of some sort but not you. Of course, you are different. and hint: her brother is very different from her, if she is the dominant not sharing type just imagine a similar but kind of different Aether. Unlike other male admirers, Lumine tends to not get attracted by you because of lust but more on feelings and your innocence and how you make her feel something, not really driven by lust type of admirer. She loves you for your kindness and how warm you are, she may tend to be creepy in a way but her love for you is eternal, possessive, and obsessive. She calls it PURE love but it's not.

Be careful though she is very observant so whatever changes you or other people around you, she will take it in mind and do something about it later on down the road, she is one of the most dangerous admirers... so watch out.

[junocornkiwi]

"... Glad to see you again, Gale. Still think I'm a huge white lizard, i suppose?.." "... Doctor's pet. He was allowed to keep his hair long because doc finds him pretty." "...he would behave normal if it weren't for those pills..." "... Keeps imagining things. Flying cat, God's Chosen? Is he living in a fairy tale?.."

'm so sorry gale i really do

shouldn't have played Alice while being obsessed with him

+ implied durge\gale

[wendigoruble]

I need more ideas to fill the page with but here's my Eddie/Franco asylum au

[saiyanjeku]

New crack ship unlocked! R.M. Renfield x Edward Hyde!!!

Also changed Hyde's fit to get a bit more different to tgs hyde.

Oh and yeah in my au Renfield survives Draculas attack but loses a leg and arm if anyone wonders

Two gay gremlins kissing ✨🎶 :3

[hatelangdon]

Omg just read your fav genre is whump and i literally never seen any whump blog for American Horror Story, lol...

As someone who is also obsessed with AHS and whump myself, can i possibly request a whump story for Kit Walker inside Briarcliff pls? That poor babe just suffered so much in there, but i gotta say i just love the dramatics 🤭

Tysm, I'd really appreciate that!

Fragile

Kit Walker x Fem!reader ✩ 1.2K words

Summary: Dr Arden was never a merciful man, Kit soon became an interest of his. Someone needs to extend him some kindness and nurse him back to health.

Angst, Hurt-comfort, semi-fluff

**Not proofread and probably an insane amount of commas and other errors but it'll be aight.

Warnings: (🚨 Talks about infected wounds, fever, bruising, medical abuse, Mental abuse, physical abuse, asylums, bleeding, and time period inaccuracies probably 🚨)

(A/n: Kitson, my angel, my beloved. I hate hurting him but I love the angst. Thanks for the request I didn't know what kind of whump you were interested in so I tried to combine all aspects 🤭 I was gonna k!ll him but I was feeling nice)

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆

You and Kit weren't too different from each other, both convicted on crimes you did not commit.

Female hysteria. That's what they call it when a woman was too smart, so a man locks her up to keep her quiet.

This was a cruelty that was extended to you by your own husband.

Kit was thrown in on convictions of murder, bloody face is what they called him. People wanted someone to pin a string of murders on, it was a convincing smear campaign that even you believed at first.

 But as you got to know kit as a person, as you got to know his heart, you realized he could never be capable of inflicting so much pain, especially on a woman. His character proved his innocence.

A friendship blossomed quickly between the two of you, and a delicate love that remained unspoken. It communicated itself through stolen glances and kind words

It was something just for you two to understand.

Kit was always a gentle and kind man. He always stood up for what he believed was right which is what often got him in trouble, he was too headstrong.

It had been three days since the last time you saw him, he had been dragged away by the guards for “inciting a fight” after some pervert had tried to grope one of the newer patients without her consent, you were hoping that he had just been bent over sister Jude’s knee and caned a few times, although she was harsh she sometimes had an understanding side to her

but alas, Kit hadn't returned.

That was until today, when kit was dropped off in the community room completely unraveled from his usual charming self. His eyes were glassy and seemed to stare into a void, and his body was scuffed, scraped, and bruised all over.

“Maybe that fried some sense into you walker” The guard chuckled as he dropped kit’s limp body onto the floor right in front of the couch where you sat.

You felt your throat tighten as the tears welled up in your eyes. You kneeled down to comfort him.

Immediately you pushed his hair back, your hands gentle and forgiving against his damaged skin, you could see where the metal from the shock therapy had burned him, he must've been under it for a while. His cheeks were flushed and feverish, his breaths shallow, you could tell it was hard for him to breathe from the way he winced as his chest rose and fell, the bruises on his back made you wince, the purple wounds spread across the sides like an angel that had its wings clipped.

He leaned into your touch, scanning your face like he was trying to remember who you were, if you were kind or if you would also cause him pain. His eyes were empty and lacked their usual warmth he tried to speak to you, his attempted words becoming sobs when he noticed how you were looking at him. How you pitied him.

"y/n-" he started, his voice hoarse.

“You’re gonna be okay kit, you gotta be okay. Can you walk? I can help you, but I need to get you out of here," You shushed him

He nodded, holding onto your shoulders.

You wrapped your arms around his waist, feeling a wet spot as you pressed your abdomens together.

You looked down...Kit was bleeding, a lot.

",we're going to our special place, okay? I stored some of my things in there"

There was a small storage closet hidden away in the corner that was accessible just down the hall, it was empty except for a couple of desks and chairs from when Briarcliff used to be a school. You and Kit would usually sneak off to smoke together and talk about what you would do when you finally got out of this hellhole.

Since you were technically a non-violent case you weren't searched as thoroughly when you arrived, In school you had received a bit of nursing training, you knew Briarcliff could be rough, you heard the stories and rumours, so you brought a first aid kit in your bags and stored it away the first day you were allowed in the common room.

You two took small unsuspecting steps towards the room making sure that the guards were not looking, as you slipped into the closet, closing the door behind you. 

“Kitson, I'm going to put you down OK?” you warned him

He nodded as you gently lowered him onto the cold ground. He winced feeling the pressure against his bruised back. 

You pulled the first aid kit from its hiding place in one of the desks. It was complete with some gauze pads, rubbing alcohol, a spray disinfectant, rags, medical grade needle and thread, and and a roll of bandages.

 You rolled up his shirt to examine the site of the bleeding, he had been practically cut in half and badly stitched up. The wound was jagged and puffy, it was definitely infected or on its way to being.

"It was Arden," Kit managed to speak up, tears falling from his eyes as he tried to catch his breath "If this takes me, you gotta tell 'em it was Arden." He cried out

"I won't let you die Kit, i'm going to save you," you tried to sound confident, for both of your sakes. You pulled one of the rags out and folded it into a thick square, placing it in between his teeth "This is going to hurt angel, you're gonna want something to bite down on."

He obliged, fully trusting you and biting down.

"Just keep breathing, it'll be over before you know it."

He looked up at you wide eyed as you shook the can of wound wash.

"3....2...1" with that, you sprayed the wound down.

Kit struggled against it, immediately crying out, his face turning bright red as the stinging engulfed his body in what felt like the fires of hell, pure agony.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It's to stop the infection. The hard part is over!" You graced him with a kiss to the forehead, as he sobbed.

You covered it in some gauze, applying slight pressure to soak up the fluids of the wound, before gently wrapping his abdomen in bandages to keep it safe from further harm.

"We'll have to change this out in a couple of days instead of everyday. We don't want to run out" you sighed, removing the rag from kit's teeth.

He was still in massive amounts of pain from all of his injuries, the road to recovery would be difficult.

After laying there for a couple of minutes, while you cupped his face, gently rubbing his tears away with your thumb and cooing to him, he spoke up.

"...Arden says I got two days to recover. Then he's gonna continue his research." He swallowed, his tears falling rapidly.

"That's not going to happen, my love," You pressed his hand to your lips ever so gently "save your strength, the rumours of a tunnel to the outside are true, and I know exactly how we can get through them."

Kit looked into your eyes, a glimmer of hope shining. He even managed a small smile.

"I believe in you doll, I always have. I always will."

[radicalrainbow]

Bishops of the Old Faith Asylum

Here they all are! Sorry it took so long, but finally we got all the bishops done✨

[thorns-and-rosewings]

I promised to write some more, well here it is...

Characters for Asylum AU...

I'm going to write this similar to how I originally wrote out points for Reaper King AU and the Home Sweet Bar AU. So while not in fanfic form, I might write out some one shots for it if people enjoy it. Unlike Reaper King, which has its own fic now.

So here's gonna be the first round of the characters for this, then there's going to be story plot points in future posts. (Will warn you all now, this got quite LONG, hence why it took me a few days to finish and upload ^^;)

Hope y'all enjoy! ^_^

Setting: Silver Horizons Hospital and Asylum - In this universe this place is considered the best of the best. One of the finest hospitals and mental institutions that has ever been founded. The place is huge, consisting of a normal hospital that actually goes by the name of 'Silver Hospital' as the founders last name was Silver. The Asylum is actually called 'Horizons Asylum.' The two originally separate buildings are now connected in a fairly recent merger. With the Asylum now being considered a new wing of the hospital, but was important enough that the name was kept for publicity sake. The facility treats both humans and animatronics, which are a fairly common part of the general population at this point.

-

Nurse Ruin - In this AU, after stealing several pieces of equipment from Dark Sun; rather than end up in the shows Puppet and Eclipse dimension, Ruin found a new home in this universe. He started out employed as a nurse. But his multitasking skills, fast pace, good attitude and overall abilities made him rapidly rise through the ranks until he became one of the head nurses. Ruins the boss of select areas of his own choosing. His areas are the Asylum, the hospitals general floor and the children's wing.

It would seem that Nexus's tormenting of Ruin has made something inside of him snap (Well, snapped more anyway.) He takes his overseeing the children's wing of the hospital extremely seriously. As in nobody better upset the kids there...

...or else...

That warning is NOT overblown. As during a little show being put on by Jackie the Jack-in-the-box for the sick children of the wing, a Doctor by the name of Burke started making a scene and demanded Jackie leave as he found them disgusting and he was upsetting everyone, Jackie included...

...Ruin literally threw him out of the third story window...

He was fine, and he was unable to prove Ruin threw him out of the window. The story being that he fell out of the window while he was talking to Ruin. As all of the children who saw and Jackie backed Ruin up on his story... And Burke seethed at nobody believing him.

Ruins control over the asylum... Well... He chooses to oversee that specifically so he can keep a close eye on Nexus.

And he's only too happy to repay Nexus for some of the hell he put him through... Granted Ruin never PHYSICALLY hurts him, beyond making his straightjacket too tight. But he knows exactly how to push his buttons emotionally and mentally. Also pointing out how his family has given up on him and now just left him here to rot. He doesn't actually mean that, but he's deliberately being an asshole to him...

As for why he manages the general floor of the main hospital, well... That lets him help and be closer to Doctor Eclipse...

Who he is now in a serious relationship with...

-

Doctor Eclipse - This universes Eclipse, he started off in a similar manner to every other Eclipse, namely being a massive asshole to his Sun and Moon, creating a Bloodmoon, Solar Flare and Lunar to assist him, that goes sideways etc... The difference is that at some point, this universes Moon traps and tries to delete him, but only ended up deleting a portion of the motor control for his left leg, leaving him with a permanent limp and his needing to use a cane permanently. He was saved by his Lunar who finally managed to negotiate peace in his family. And they all essentially went their own ways. With Eclipse and Solar Flare becoming doctors.

Doctor Eclipse has a very grumpy personality. He is blunt and calls people who are his patients out on stupid shit that gets them to have to come to the hospital in the first place. He does not have a good bedside manner... He's a very good doctor... But he's the equivalent of an Eclipse being merged with Gregory House.

His level of assholeness is legendary.

That being said, his people skills aside, he genuinely DOES care about people and that shines through with certain individuals. Particularly with Lunar, who he is still close with and views as a brother... But also young kids if they end up brought to him as patients. He also is very close with one young nurse he met while she was new to working at this hospital and eventually he even became the godfather to her son Jake, whom he regularly babysits.

Then Ruin came to work at the hospital...

At first Ruin was kinda annoying and definitely got on his nerves. As he was jokingly flirting with him and being very playful overall... But as time went by, they became friends. As Ruin could actually make him laugh. Honestly Doctor Eclipse just enjoyed watching how good Ruin was with all the children and various patients under his care. Eclipse is a jerk, but he appreciates people who aren't. That was the start of the spark between them. Which has since grown into a surprisingly healthy relationship.

...and resulted in them lovemaking in several of the hospitals closets on their breaks...

That aside, the duo are actually pretty good for each other. As Ruin can act as a buffer between Eclipse and patients, let alone their families. It also helps that Ruin gets along very well with Lunar, Solar Flare and even Bloodmoon. With the latter even surprising him.

He even gets along with Eclipse's pet 'Anteater'...

It's not actually an anteater. Frankly nobody is exactly sure exactly WHAT it is. It came out of Eclipse's portal before he scrapped it. As he no longer had any desires to visit other dimensions. It looks like an anteater, but it's the size of a silverback gorilla.

It actually is pretty tame... Everyone thinks... It wanders around the hospital, low-key dealing with a slight termite and ant problem the place has. But it also tends to make its way into other wings of the hospital, seemingly disregarding space and physics as some people will swear they saw it walk down one hall in one moment, only to appear in another wing on the other side of the building a second later.

The children love it, it's a big critter that they can pet and it tickles them with its tongue. It's surprisingly gentle. But it's allowed to wander around the hospital for another reason...

Near as Eclipse can tell, it eats disease...

Not completely, but through Eclipse's observation, it is drawn to some patients with various illnesses. It visits and gets a few pets and it licks them. But almost always afterwards the patient will get good news in regards to whatever their health issues are and after a visit from the critter nearly all patients will enter remission.

Needless to say, Ruin tries to get the creature to visit most of the children in dire need. Eclipse guesses that it's some sort of mutant Baku. As he has observed it seemingly eating bad dreams from patients as well.

Some hospitals have cats, this one has a 500lb dimensionally displaced anteater...

Also, curiously it seems to avoid the asylum wing and cannot be made to go into it...

The final thing to be said about Doctor Eclipse is that when Sun and Moon brought Nexus in, they actually spoke with him and discussed everything with before they checked him into the asylum. And he became aware of Nexus's interdimensional nature. They left very specific contact information with Doc Eclipse in case of emergency.

At first Eclipse attempted to be Nexus's doctor himself. But it became very obvious he was far too hostile and angry towards him just for the fact he was an Eclipse model for him to ever actually help him, thus he became the patient of Dr. Burke...

And all the hell that is gonna unintentionally lead too...

-

Doctor Solar Flare - He began life much like Canon Solar Flare. But was treated a hell of a lot better. And once things were at least somewhat rectified, he joined Eclipse in becoming a doctor.

What he DID NOT expect was to become the cities Number 1 Bachelor and heartthrob...

He doesn't get it... He really doesn't understand how it happened. But somehow he's here. Solar Flare is the cities most eligible bachelor and he now has more suitors than he can count. It's... A little overwhelming for him honestly.

But putting that aside, he is a very good doctor who prides himself on helping his patients. He works in the same complex as Eclipse and the reputation and skills of these two brothers is half of the reason for the facilities nearly flawless reputation.

His professional prowess aside, when not doing his job, he likes nothing more than going to his favorite cafe and reading a good book with some tea and mochi. He loves mystery novels and lives in a very comfortable house with an expansive garden that he has cultivated himself. And while he's put off by the VAST number of individuals who are often throwing themselves at him, he actually wouldn't mind meeting someone to have a relationship with... He just thinks it's unlikely due to the insanity the #1 Bachelor status has brought him.

But the one thing that truly gives him trouble however, is whenever his 'family' gets together. Typically organized by Lunar... As Lunar is always trying to get the two factions of his family to come together and bury the hatchet and get along. Unfortunately this usually ends in disaster, with Eclipse and Moon nearly coming to blows. Solar Flare being grateful for Ruin now being a part of things...

As holding Eclipse and Moon apart is NOT an easy thing to do... Especially when Eclipse is really good at sneak attacking with his cane. Which has multiple weapons built into it...

The factions of their family are Sun and Moon on one side with all of the found/extended family there and the other side being Eclipse, Solar Flare and Bloodmoon and their found/extended families as well. Lunar is the only one two fit into both sides easily and while their Sun and Moon aren't hostile towards Solar Flare, it's just... Uncomfortable... For him.

He knows that Lunar only means well, but he has his severe doubts that this family is ever going to be able to get along in any capacity beyond staying far away from each other.

-

Security Guard Bloodmoon - Again, he started out as the standard Bloodmoon. Being a two-for-one murderer with an unquenchable bloodlust. Much of that took place, the difference was that eventually at some point, the blood twins ended up under the care of this universes Foxy.

But this Foxy, who resembles more of a hippie, who wears a beaded vest and has a bit of a beard, was put in charge of Bloodmoon. Probably by Eclipse or Solar Flare, who managed to wrangle the twins and asked Foxy for his help with watching them temporarily...

This Foxy did the impossible...

He 'tamed' them...

Or at least made them tamer. This Bloodmoon has a very good relationship with Foxy. Openly referring to him as their father. They have stopped killing indiscriminately and now suffice on blood from blood banks or slaughterhouses. A lot of this was achieved because this Foxy is actually a retired therapist and always specialized in working with difficult cases.

...well, that's what Foxy and the others believe anyway...

The reality is that they never did stop killing. They just toned it down and became far sneakier at it. Truth is that they love the old fox, but their nature is that of a killer and they can't just... stop... Even if they wanted too.

However, while they became stealthier at their killing because of Foxy, the REAL change in their behavior came upon meeting Maddie Jenkins, who is the Coroner at the hospital...

They met while both hiding bodies...

Maddie isn't just the Coroner, she's a local serial killer as well. Only unlike Bloodmoon, she's extremely choosy about her targets. She only kills murderers, rapists, peds, abusers, etc. She openly describes herself as a 'Monster that preys on other monsters.' Which leads her to have a very impressive body count all on her own.

When these two met, it was something instantaneous... Like a lit match meeting gasoline. They just clicked. It didn't take Maddie much to bring Bloodmoon onto her side, getting his help with slaughtering their victims and disposing of the bodies. These two quickly become absolute besties.

Bloodmoon hears through Maddie about the opening for a security guard job at the hospital, which he applies for and uses Solar Flare and Eclipse as his references. Which leads them to be called in for statements on the Bloodtwins character.

Eclipse: Look I'm gonna be real with you here, that is probably the most dangerous bot on the planet with a body count in the thousands. He's turned over a new leaf, true, but do you want to be the one to tell him that he didn't get the job?

Hospital Director: D:

...Bloodmoon was told to start the next week...

-

Maddie Jenkins the Coroner - The coroner who works in the hospitals basement. She's a very skilled and professional. But has the side hobby of being a serial killer and romantic partner to Bloodmoon.

Sadly she has been through a lot in her life, being the middle child in a family of five. She was always the one who was mistreated or neglected. Often pointing out that if it was not for her elder sister, Harper, she would have been completely alone throughout the entirety of her early years. Her families golden child was her eldest brother, but Harper as the second daughter was also showered with love. Maddie as the middle child was ignored and with the birth of her fraternal twin younger siblings she might as well have been invisible to her family.

They don't even take her seriously in regards to her job and regularly put her down, in spite of her success. Needless to say she cut her family off a while ago, with the exception of Harper, who also cut contact with their toxic family. Although they do try to get in contact every now and again, but only to try and convince Maddie to get Harper to leave her 'Tinker Toy' of a husband...

As Harper is married to Killcode...

(Authors Note: Yes this is an alt. Version of Harper from the Reaper King AU.)

Maddie completely ignores them and still regularly interacts with her sister and brother in law. With this universe's KC being a cop, although he has no inkling of Maddie's murderous hobby.

Meanwhile outside of killing people, Maddie and Bloody are usually free to do their own thing. Generally just enjoying each other's company and doing things that they enjoy, like horror movies and hunting. The only thing that really regularly annoys Maddie now is occasionally her ex, Dr. Burke, getting angry at seeing her so happy while dating a frickin robot.

Maddie just points out that Bloody makes her happy, Burke makes her want to barf...

-

Dr. Roderick Burke - The biggest asshole in the hospital. This guy is virtually all of the worst characteristics of doctors all rolled into one extremely detestable human being. Burke is a good doctor, very intelligent... But he has a massive ego and an overdeveloped sense of entitlement.

Oh and this man HATES animatronics...

Absolutely hates them. All starting from a pivotal moment at 8 years old at a birthday party... Rather than it being the traditional FNAF route, the animatronic in question was Jackie the Jack-in-the-box, and they scared this boy so much he was mentally scarred for the rest of his life. But it was an honest mistake and Jackie felt horrible for scaring the poor boy...

But Burke didn't just develop a disliking, he developed a flat out hate. To give an example, there are people who are afraid of spiders... and if a young child has a pet tarantula, a normal individual will back away, not get close, etc.

Roderick Burke is the kinda guy to rip that spider away from the child and crush it, proclaiming that everyone should hate spiders and that he did the child a favor. While every sane individual looks on in horror...

An example of this occurred when that same animatronic from all those years ago, Jackie, came to perform for the sick children and Burke tried to ruin the show not caring he was making kids cry...

Until Ruin literally threw him out the window...

That stunt didn't earn him any favors from his colleagues. But he doesn't actually care, he is very self absorbed into his own self importance. But couple that with his hatred of bots makes him DESPISE the animatronic doctors he works with.

He hates Solar Flare most of all...

To him, Solar Flare is just the worst of the worst. The least 'alive' bot he's ever met and yet Flare has everything Burke believes is rightfully his. The status, the success and the cities Number 1 Bachelor spot. Oh... His hatred of Solar Flare is almost a physical thing. Yet Solar Flare has been nothing but nice to him. And Flare is admittedly oblivious to Burke's hate towards him. Eclipse can see it and just tells his brother to avoid Burke.

But the biggest enemy Burke has is actually himself. As he has authored papers and proposed studies on what he views as a revolutionary way to treat psychiatric patients, a treatment regimen that could potentially correct even the most damaged of minds... He calls it, 'Reverse Psychosis Induction Therapy'

The basic premise of it is that if various traumas, anxiety and fear inducing stimulants are sufficient enough to drive a sane person mad, then theoretically they can be used to drive a mad person sane... His proudly professing this theory has left a bad taste in the mouths of his peers, who rightly look at this and see it for what it is... Cruelty towards the mentally ill and suffering. Burke views this as nothing but another blow to his pride and he's vowed to prove everyone wrong... By performing a study using his treatment plan on multiple troublesome patients of the asylum.

And Nexus's name is on the top of his list...

[midnightfire830]

(( For the Asylum AU !! ))

Cuphead, whats the most diabolical thing you've done?? Within or Our of (( im assuming )) your room/cell???

Cuphead enjoys his little pranks…

Thanks for the ask!!!!

[masasiblingnaruto]

One of my hospital /asylum au as a gift to my sibling

[cardverseut]

(This is the only photo left of the Crayon's family, the bug always has it hidden in her inventory).

  Asshy and Crayon Queen met at a party that the kingdoms usually throw every year to meet.

It was like love at first sight, they knew that their relationship could never work like the others, so they decided to keep it a secret. After a while they "married", this wedding was secret and only the king of Assy and Crayon's husband were present.

Asshy began to have the queen's last name, since she had no last name or family.

She had a beautiful house near the Spade and Clover border and by the sea.

In that place they had her three children, Geno (the oldest), Error (the middle one) and Fresco (the youngest).

Everything seemed to be going well for the Crayon's family, sometimes they had to leave their children for a long period of time as they had an obligation to their kingdoms and could not stay away for long without raising suspicion, but unfortunately, a few months After Fresh's birth (who had been premature), Asshy was mysteriously killed along with his King and Queen. Crayon did everything she could to help her family cope with the loss, but then her king and her Jack died in an accident, leaving her alone with the work of a kingdom. She couldn't visit her children after that, so she sent babysitters to take care of her children.

[vincess-princess]

we, the psychos

ch. 5

Word count: 2724 Warnings: violence A/N: i really am spoiling you with all those updates. gene simmons fans, i'm sorry, i needed a bad guy

Vince was suffocating.

Water in his lungs, water in his eyes, water in his nose. He couldn’t see, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t even scream – no sound came out, only bubbling. The coldness burned his skin; he grasped the handles of the chair, but couldn’t feel its wooden texture. And it went on, and on, and on, and the world was just cold and water-

And then it ended. The water trickled down his body and pooled at his feet. Vince opened his eyes, but still couldn’t see anything and for a second panicked. Then he realised it was just his hair covering his eyes. He shook his head to get it out of sight.

His eyes were hurting as they do after you open them underwater, and his vision hadn’t returned to him completely, so he could only see a figure in white coming up to him. But the voice was unmistakable.

“Well, Wharton,” nurse Simmons said, “enjoyed the shower?”

“Screw you,” Vince coughed out.

“Well, you’re the only one screwed here,” nurse Simmons responded cheerily. “You might want to be more polite if you don’t want another shower. And you don’t, do you?”

Vince didn’t answer. Nurse Simmons came close to him and squatted down in front of him so that their faces were on the same level. He smiled. It was all fun and games to him.

“Well?”

“Yes,” Vince croaked. He wanted to spit in Simmons’s face so bad, but that would not help his situation.

“That’s a good boy. Now, I’ll untie you, and don’t you try to pull anything.” Simmons unfastened the belts first on Vince’s legs, then on his wrists.

Vince stood up, stretched his shoulders. And when nurse Simmons turned his back on him to fetch a towel, Vince launched at him.

He jumped on nurse Simmons’ back and clasped his arms around his neck. Simmons staggered back and clutched at Vince’s arms, but Vince clung to him like a tick. Simmons was like a head taller than him and twice as wide in the shoulders, so direct assault would have Vince on the ground the very next moment. This – this gave him a chance. Not to kill Simmons, no. That would be too much. To cause him at least a sliver of the pain and discomfort he just caused Vince.

“Let go,” Simmons croaked. He tried to poke at Vince’s eye with one hand, but missed. Vince bit his finger, and Simmons yelped in pain. “I’ll fucking kill you!”

Vince’s arms began to hurt, so he enclasped Simmons’ body with his legs to give himself some propping. Simmons finally realised trying to reach the parasite on his back was useless and backed into the wall with all the speed he was capable of.

Vince hit the wall with his back so hard all the air went out of his lungs. His grip weakened, and Simmons managed to shove his hand in between his arms. Now that he could breathe again, Simmons began slamming his back into the wall until Vince released his grip and slid to the floor.

Simmons began kicking him in the ribs vehemently, shouting curses along with it. Vince covered his head and lay onto the floor in the pose of an embryo – that minimized the damage to vital organs. And now just to wait, just to endure until Simmons runs out of steam. Blows rained down his back and legs, some even came at the arms covering his face – the nurses usually tried not to hit in the face, but Simmons must have got too carried away.

In a distance, as though through fog, Vince heard another voice – a different nurse. Wonder if he stops Simmons or joins him?..

Then blows stopped.

Stradlin stood over Vince, looking at him with his typical indifference. Nothing ever touched him. Vince wished he could go through life like that – with a glass shield separating him and the world, so that he could see everything but not care about it. Stradlin never got angry, even when a patient was smearing shit all over his face, and barely ever smiled.

But at least he stopped Simmons.

“What’s that again?” he asked Simmons tiredly.

“The motherfucker tried to choke me!” Simmons said, rubbing his neck.

“Why’d you do that?” Stradling now said to Vince, not a change in his tone.

Vince moved his arms away from his face. The back of his palm was bleeding from Simmons’s sharp heel. He licked the blood off and smiled.

“He’s a dick.”

”And what do we do with him now?” Stradlin asked Simmons, losing interest to Vince.

“I’ll go ask Dr. Duren. I don’t even know what else can be done.” Simmons spit on the floor. “Would you mind watching him while I am away?”

“Alright.”

Simmons sent Vince the last hateful look and left. Stradlin picked up the towel that Simmons dropped when Vince attacked him and threw it at Vince.

“Wipe yourself up and dress.”

***

The man Duff delegated Tommy too surely was… peculiar. Long black hair that almost reached his waist that was unusually well-kept for a psycho streamed down his shoulders. Clear blue eyes looked at the world with wariness so old it was almost ingrained in them. His hospital robe was well-worn but clean, without a single wrinkle. This man hardly looked insane, and at first Tommy even doubted Duff told him the truth: how can be this man a patient? But then he looked at his fingers, and they were covered in wounds and scabs; the man kept picking at them absent-mindedly even as he and Duff spoke. Blood was under one of his nails. The man seemed not to notice.

“Bob, this is Tommy Lee. He just arrived to our asylum, so make sure his first impression is good!” Duff said with a smile. “Tommy, this is Bob Deal. He’s one of the oldies. Knows everything around here. He’ll show you around.”

“Hello,” Tommy said carefully to the man, hesitating whether he should offer him his hand. Then he decided to go for it – and the man looked at it like it was smeared with crap.

“Bob doesn’t shake hands,” Duff said apologetically. “He’s very… hygienic. Our laundresses’ favorite patient!”

“Ah, alright.” Well, what else could I expect.

“People used to show their hands to each other to prove they had no weapons. This is where hand-shaking comes from. You both can agree this is not needed in our situation,” the man spoke with a low, slightly hoarse voice. He must be a smoker. Were cigarettes allowed here?

“Well, you know, with some patients you wish they got in the habit of showing you their hands,” Duff laughed. “Not needed with you two, though, that’s true. Alright, I’ll be on my way. Please be back in twenty minutes, gents, or I’ll get into a big trouble. And keep out of nurse Simmons’ sight!”

“Don’t worry, boss,” Bob Deal said, made Tommy a lazy gesture to follow him and turned around. They went up the pathway circling the asylum.

“Hey, Bob. What’s so bad about nurse Simmons?” Tommy asked. Bob kept silent so long Tommy thought he was ignoring him. What did he do to earn such unfriendliness?

Then he stopped and turned to Tommy. “Two things,” he said. “First: don’t call me Bob. My name is Mick Mars. Nurses mustn’t know.”

“Mick Mars?” The name was more fit for a practicing performer than for a psych patient. Though… these were not too far apart. People of the arts were all a bit cooky. “Alright… And why nurses mustn’t know?”

“They will tell them.” Mick highlighted the last word with his voice. He looked at Tommy with grave seriousness. To laugh now would be to lose his favor for good.

“Oh. Them. Alright. And who are they?”

Mick didn’t answer, just put his finger to his mouth.

Well, if that was the asylum’s most reasonable fellow, Tommy feared to imagine what their worst case looked like. The blonde guy from the canteen? Or something worse?

They stood in silence until Tommy lost his patience.

“What’s the second thing?”

“Oh, yeah.” Mick’s tone switched to lazy casual so suddenly it gave Tommy a whiplash. “Nurse Simmons. Right. Well, he’s very good friends with Dr. Duren. And he tells him about everything he sees. And he usually sees things that we’d rather Dr. Duren didn’t know about.”

“A snitch,” Tommy concluded.

“You could say that.” Mick turned around and continued his path. He was surprisingly fast for a short man that he was - his head barely reached Tommy’s shoulder.

They went up the path and reached the asylum building.

“Alright. This,” Mick waved vaguely in the air, “is out beloved Feelgood Asylum. You feelin’ good here already?”

Tommy snorted. Mick clearly liked that.

“Our beloved asylum contains about seventy patients, give or take. About twenty nurses and then the director, Dr. Duren. He’s the one who’s gonna diagnose you and prescribe you stuff and all. Sometimes he requests help from other doctors when the case is tough, but usually he does it all himself.”

“And what kind of case is so tough Dr. Duren can’t crack it?” Tommy’s father spoke of him with much respect, even reverence. Dr. Duren also treated Tommy’s uncle, and, as far as he knew, successfully. Tommy never met him, but father said he was living peacefully in the Yorkshire countryside. If your treatment goes well, you can join him there, father used to say. That was before Tommy’s psychosis revealed itself, though.

“I think you’ve already met him,” Mick said, looking pointedly at Tommy’s cheek. Tommy couldn’t help but touch the bruise the blonde guy left him. It hurt a bit, and the cheekbone began to swell, but overall Tommy felt pretty good about the fight. He didn’t back off and stood up to himself.

“You saw the fight too?”

“No. But everyone had heard about that already. You did the right thing. Wharton had it coming.”

“He really is… something else.” Tommy recalled the inhuman shriek and shuddered. “Is he always like that?”

“Usually not. But he’s had a bad spell for a couple weeks. Spent almost all of them in a padded cell. Guess that makes a person a little bit… mad.”

Tommy snorted again. Well, at least this old man was fun.

“And what was the consensus on him?”

“I don’t know, but if I were those doctors, I’d say: pour more cold water on the bastard. He surely needs to cool down.” Mick started walking again, and Tommy followed him. “The problem is, he hurts other inmates. Some complain of sexual assault. Some… well, don’t react well to his antics. My advice is: keep away.”

“Alright,” Tommy said. What he saw and heard of Wharton convinced him this was rather sound advice. He only wished Wharton would also keep away from him. For some reason, Tommy doubted it. People like him tended to be pretty vindictive.

“Now, the asylum itself is Building A. Nurses live there – in Building B.” Mick waved at a smaller building a little bit farther away. It was connected with the asylum by a corridor. “We’re pretty far in the countryside, and they can’t commute here from London every day.”

“Looks much newer than the asylum.”

“Because it is. When asylum housed less people, nurses lived in the same building, just in a different wing. Good times those were. Peaceful.”

“You were there already?” Tommy stared at Mick. He didn’t look that old – in his forties, maybe. How long had he spent in the asylum?

“You heard Michael – I’m one of the oldies,” Mick huffed. He looked clearly displeased, and Tommy decided to drop the topic.

“And then the world went crazy, and people went crazy, and the asylum had to take in more and more patients. And now we’re all cramped in here, two, three in a ward… I heard you’ve got it rather fancy?”

“What, the ward?” Tommy clarified. “Fancy” was the last word he could come up with to describe it. But other patients probably didn’t have even that. “Well… the curtains are full of holes and the carpet needs washing, and I’m pretty sure someone bled on my mattress, but otherwise yeah, you could say it’s fancy.”

“Oh-oh, look at him, he’s got holes in his curtains!” Mick teased. “Spoiled little brat, you are. Why aren’t you wearing a robe like us peasants, anyway?”

“Du- Michael said there’s none in my size.”

“Well,” Mick looked him over critically, “your size is probably hard to match, that’s true. But don’t you worry – they’ll dress you up like the rest of us.”

“Oh no,” Tommy moaned. “These look just horrible.”

“You’re in an asylum,” Mick reminded sternly. ”It’s not a beauty pageant.”

“Maybe that’s why you all are crazy here,” Tommy grumbled. “Humans need beauty to live.”

“Humans need food, water and air to live. Everything else is secondary.” Mick waved his hand and headed up the path.

“Now, that’s the laundromat and that’s the kitchen. You might be assigned laundry or kitchen duty some time – if you’re normal around knives, of course.”

At home Tommy was forbidden from going to the kitchen after a maid discovered four knives under his pillow and two in the pockets of his coat. He decided not to tell Mick that, but the old man with his piercing gaze probably saw something anyway.

“So do the patients do all the work around here?”

“Well, not all. There are cooks and laundresses and cleaners. But there are too few of them to service all the patients, so yeah – we have to help ourselves.”

“And why don’t just hire more people?”

Mick stopped dead in his tracks, looked at Tommy, saw he was serious and erupted into laughter.

“Oh, sweet innocence! You do know that services cost money, right?”

“Of course,” Tommy pouted, crossing his arms on his chest in a defensive gesture. “It’s just… doesn’t the asylum have sponsors?”

“Sure it does. But sponsors are also not bottomless moneybags. And they, unlike patients, haven’t doubled in numbers in recent decades.”

“Oh.” Tommy’s father was one of the sponsors, and he never mentioned the asylum was underfunded. And Tommy’s father had no problem with money. Couldn’t he invest even a little in the place he sent his son to?

“Yeah. So that’s why we have to work. Dr. Duren says, of course, that labor humanizes and ennobles, but we all know that’s just an excuse.”

Tommy imagined himself mopping a bathroom floor and shuddered. Working like a servant, getting all sweaty and dirty, fumbling with psychos’ dirty underwear or washing the dishes – horrible, horrible! Maybe his privileged status would also absolve him of all this labor? He was already noble enough.

Duff would probably tell him to get off his high horse, and as much as Tommy liked him, that attitude irritated him. They all may be psychos here, but even among psychos there is variation. He needed to ask Dr. Duren about it. He was friends with Tommy’s father, surely he would cut Tommy some slack?

“And you sure need to learn what real labor is like. You look like you haven’t washed a dish in your life,” Mick added ruthlessly.

Well, he was not wrong. Tommy was used to considering that a reason for pride, but somehow the only thing he now felt was shame. And then – anger. How dares this lunatic shame him?

He just opened his mouth to express his resentment when Mick frowned, staring at the nurses’ dormitory, and then quietly cursed.

“Damn it. Nurse Simmons! He can’t see us!”

Tommy followed the path of his gaze and saw the nurse from the canteen. Even at this distance he instilled some primal fear in Tommy. Especially now, when he was walking in big strides, his hands were clenched into fists, and his coat half-soaked in water.

Mick dashed to the nearest tree and hid behind the trunk. From there he gestured to Tommy to hide behind another tree, which he did.

They watched the nurse enter the building, and even from their spots could hear the bang he slammed the door with.

“Hm. Someone got him real mad.” Mick scratched his stubbly chin. “We better go back to other patients.”