#Rambles from the morgue

[mortuarywriting]

Something something when u sass johnny

[mortuarywriting]

I mean. Damn I'm always a slut for worldbuilding ">>

And only if y'all wanna!! @pfhwrittes @sentientcave @stuffireadandenjoy @secretsynthetic @syoddeye @writeforfandoms @charliemwrites

WHICH FANFIC TROPE ARE YOU?

[mortuarywriting]

Falling into Place

Ao3 Link - [First] - [Next Chapter ->]

All things considered this isn't what you were expecting to wake up to when you went to bed. One minute you're on your phone, trying to pass out, and the next? You're here. You've had some interesting greetings in your life, but dropping about six feet and having twelve guns leveled at your face? That takes the cake

Warnings:

Reader Insert, Plus-Size Reader, The Author Regrets Everything, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Isekai, canon divergence Look we're gonna dig into the implications of omegasverse changing bits and pieces of history as well as addressing whatever the FUCK is happening as CoD's history. Idk man Godzilla is canon and nobody bats an eye at that fact and you think I'm gonna be normal about that? No

You could be having a worse day, you think, as you stare at the interrogation table you're cuffed to. They could've shot you the second you fell the six feet from the sky into a random army base. That's a very real thing that could've happened.

But no, you just had a dozen guns pointed at you in one moment and a slew of questions you didn't have satisfying answers for.

No, you had no idea how you got there. You'd been in bed tooling around on your phone and then you were falling.

They asked who you worked for, and were not impressed by your mundane answer. You didn't work for some pmc or intelligence organization. You asked them to their faces if they thought you could pass a PT test if you tried. Not that they answered or appreciated your point, mind.

It was only after you gave them whatever identifying information you had that things got… spicy.

"I would love to tell you what this designation of yours is if you tell me what you mean. Is it like a classification of civilian versus enlisted? Is it physical? Is it your horoscope? I don't know what I don't know," you explain again for the Nth time. You didn't wanna play twenty questions but here you fuckin were, captive audience and all.

The man asking you questions had lost his charming good cop look. He was getting more and more annoyed on this one, "your designation," a demand, not a question and sure as shit not an answer.

"Again, would love to tell you! I don't know what you mean! Feels like some kinda Star Wars thing," you grumble the last bit to yourself but the man cocks his head.

His eyes narrow, "what are… Star Wars, you said?"

You blink owlishly, "beg pardon?"

"Star War. Clarify."

It's your turn for your brow to furrow, and furrow it does, "Star Wars? As in the multi-billion dollar franchise created by George Lucas and eventually sold to Disney," your tone is questioning, just shy of asking if the guy lived under a rock but his expression didn't let up and the last thing you needed was bad cop, so you continued, "the story of what happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away? The political space series of movies versus Star Trek's more scientific and discovery based longstanding TV show? Nine major movies and the Clone Wars before Disney sunk their talons in. Like yeah we got more shows and movies that expanded the universe but they also cut out decades of book contributions in their acquisition and that kinda sucked. But yeah, that Star Wars?"

"Nine movies," his tone is disbelieving, and now it's your turn for your eyebrows to raise, "can you name them?"

You nod, "well yeah. Do you want them in episode order or release?"

His brows furrow, "did they not release in order?"

"In a sense? Three trilogies, 4-5-6 back in the late 70s early 80s, then 1-2-3 in the late 90s early 00s, and 7-8-9 through the teens. So order, yes, just… not a cohesive one."

"Release, then," he leaned back and crossed his arms, a position you'd love to mimic if you weren't cuffed to the table for… an indeterminate period of time now, actually.

"A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi-"

"Woah now, empire? What's a jeddy?"

You give him a blank look, trying very hard to mask your disbelief as you look between him and the mirror behind him. You look at your reflection, take a deep breath, and- "sir would it be easier for you to maybe check the internet?"

He seemed to bristle, nose flaring and looking at you expectantly.

You just… kinda sat there. You tapped your fingers together on the desk and kept the eye contact he was intent on. It took a good minute and him getting progressively pissier before you simply ask, "would you like the other movies now?"

You didn't expect an explosion of movement from the man. He downright snarled and slammed his hands on the table as he burst to his feet, the sudden change sending his chair screeching back before falling with a clatter. You leaned as far back as your cuffed hands would allow, eyes wide and a panic rising.

Both of you turned to look at the door when it slammed open with a barked, "Williams!" 

The man who opened it reared back a bit, "Christ, layin' it on a bit thick," he groused, his tone sounding more like someone chastising a teenager for using too much Axe body spray. He smoothed his posture back into something casual as he fanned the air dismissively with a hand, "cap wants you to take a walk."

Your interrogator- Williams, apparently- stares at the man in the door, the two locking eyes before the one in the door straightens from his purposely relaxed posture. You watch the both of them, noting the shoulders tensing as the two just. Staring at each other? Eventually the guy who'd been grilling you looked away and stormed out, the man in the doorway letting him slip out easily enough before turning a charming look back to you.

He took a minute to fan the door a few times to get newer, blissfully cool air in before he entered the room, "sorry 'bout him. He really did a number in here," the new guy tsked before closing the door quietly behind himself.

Your brow furrowed even as you slowly relaxed a bit, had this Williams guy like… farted or something? A nice quirk of ventilation keeping you from smelling something abhorrent? Either way you simply shrug as he walks in and tips the chair back up, sitting and giving another reassuring smile, "how you doing, love?"

You opened and closed your mouth a few times before simply settling on, "I'm a bit… whelmed? This has been," you give as vague a rolling gesture as you can without your cuffs rattling too badly, "a lot? And I have no idea what just set him off either?"

It's the man before you's turn to quirk a brow, "no idea?"

"If I knew the answers to his questions I'd've given 'em by now. I don't, though, and then he just started staring? And hell I just thought it was some kinda macho 'I can stare the truth out of you,'" you pitched your voice lower and pushed your shoulders out for a second to mimic the douchebag behavior before settling, "so I kept eye contact because I'm so out of my depth I have no reason to lie at all and now…" you trail off, gesturing around the room, "all that."

The man nods slowly, "alright love, could you tell me about the last five years?"

Your brows furrow, "oh fuck, 2019 was five years ago wasn't it. God, time is an illusion. Anyway, you want what I was doing leading up to and through the pandemic?"

You think he might've startled for a second but he simply moved to scratch his chin, "mhmm. Just your thoughts on the last five years is all."

So… you ramble. Because he was nice and not prodding or asking weird questions. You talk to him about your job before the pandemic, how people thought covid was just a flu until the death tolls kept climbing, how tons of governments dropped the ball on a local or country-wide level and how that kicked back onto your life, and then the absolute crapshoot of the last election cycle, the shitty 'oh no this is the new normal everything is fine' behavior that has lead to surges and cycles of a fucking plague and so on. He simply nodded, gave some sympathetic hums and winces appropriately at your experiences.

"And did you go back and watch Star Wars through that? Or other things Disney owned?"

And, well, that was a weird way to phrase it but you shrugged, "the mouse is just shy of a monopoly and not one that anybody can take that down so… yeah, I guess? They kept putting shows out and expanding their Star Wars universe so that's been kinda neat to watch but not just them, no. Couple other games and stuff like that to keep me busy, too," you kinda handwave and shut up because panic rambling to MILITARY PERSONNEL is probably not your smartest move in hindsight. Especially when you don't know his name. A+, self.

You tap your fingers against the metal table as he looks at you, "and you said covid has a long term effect of ruining people's senses of smell and taste?"

You nod slowly, "yeah, dude? It's one of the biggest warning signs for most people? Like if everything starts tasting like it was made by a middle class white mom who keeps shoving random letters in her kids names you should swab? That kinda shit?"

What rock has this guy been living under? You were pretty sure the military were supposed to be way more familiar with this shit all things considered, but you've been wrong before.

It was his turn to give you a bit of a wide eyed look before he poorly covers a laugh, "alright, that's fair. I need to go talk with my captain," he hooks a thumb over his shoulder to the window, which didn't surprise you that there had been people back there. He offers a reassuring smile as he stands, humming idly as he pushes the chair back in. He pauses mid-step, "you mentioned that there were cards…?"

You find yourself nodding slowly, "yeah it was important and you couldn't fly or go to certain places if you didn't have one for a while. Should still have a picture of mine buried on my phone," you really didn't wanna get another first-round of covid shots, you REALLY didn't wanna repeat the 24 hours of suck for no reason.

"Cool, thanks," he flashes another charming grin before he slides out of the room.

You lean back in your chair, what an odd guy. Nice though.

-------

"Right," Gaz says as he opens the door to Price and Ghost, "either our mystery guest is off her nut or she's legitimately from somewhere and somewhen else."

Ghost and Price look at each other before turning back to Gaz, this… complicated matters.

Well, it's not like you hadn't given them information to identify yourself. They'd dig up who you were one way or another.

-------

You stare blankly as the nice man from before gives you a sympathetic look, "what do you mean I'm dead?"

Behind him is a guy you're not sure if he's just fuckoff huge or if he's just moderately huge and it's forced perspective.

You don't think it's forced perspective.

You are absolutely trying not to panic spiral.

You are absolutely doing a horrible job at that.

"Well," he opens the file before him and there's a news article, proudly proclaiming "Locals Die in Horrible Freak Accident" like that's not some form of you that was looking like some smear on the pavement, "there's this. Fingerprints match up. Can check for dental if you're really curious."

"Were there even any teeth left after that," you mumble as you take and read the offered article. Seven people were involved, the pictures used are mostly flattering. Hell, you almost don't mind what pic they used for an alternate you but… "that's certainly not the pic I would've wanted. Maybe this me had different tastes?"

You take the time to actually read through the article. It's not helping because for as much as you stare at the page you're not absorbing any information. Some form of detachment, if this was really you? You'd died. A different you but a you nonetheless. You died and you're reading how it happened. There was a lot to unpack in all this and you just needed to put the suitcase away for now. You'd much rather throw it away at this rate.

You were rapidly coming to the understanding that you and Toto were not in Kansas anymore, and there wasn't a convenient yellow brick road to get yourself back home. No easy way to get the hell out of Dodge either. Was it Dodge or the O.K. Corral that was in Kansas? No the O.K. Corral wasn't in Kansas- Dodge was though, that's right. 

This analogy was getting away from you and some part of you figured this was just your brain trying to protect yourself but… wait, wasn't this a metaphor? There wasn't 'like' or 'as' or goddammit not again.

You recognize some names here and there but largely everyone involved were perfect strangers. The article doesn't cover if it would've been slow or quick. You hope for the smear that it was quick. Smears like that don't happen slowly, right? Well, not unless it's like a dramatic slide down a window, but not usually across pavement like that.

Still not sure how you feel about all of it. Bit morbid being confronted with your mortality like that.

Certainly answered a lot of questions about your theoretical passing you never thought about. Like if the obituary for you in what you know to be your own home and world is just as… really kinda just mediocre as this. Have you really done nothing of note for an obituary? Damn.

You kept pouring over the article, each pass bringing new words into focus that help connect the picture a little bit, but… Something repeated in the article made you pause, "two alphas, four betas, and an omega?" 

There was no decent way to ask about that. Any questions invoked from here would border into dangerous territory better kept between yourself and a private browser history. You knew what you were about but there was no fucking way.

"Their designations," the nice man whose name you still hadn't caught explains, "mostly explaining their secondary gender."

You look at him owlishly. You pray to whatever God might be listening that you wake up shortly. Or that the earth below your feet opens up and swallows you. Whichever comes first, the mortification will snipe you otherwise.

"Please tell me this is an elaborate joke at my expense," you are very quiet as you are trying to get really cool with a lot of things really quickly.

"Negative," the big fucker in the back practically growled and you knew that voice would do things to you if you weren't half stepped out of your own body. 

You missed whatever his followup was but your brow furrowed when you checked the date on the article, "I've been dead for months? That…" you let the paper fall from your hands. Everything about this is wild at best and very overwhelming at worst. 

A lot of this qualified as worst.

You look up at the two, missing the odd look they shot at each other as you try to pull yourself back together, "so now what? You've got a not-a-smear of me that fell from the sky onto a secure military base, and where I'm from we didn't have," you paused to gesture between the paper and the two soldiers, "dynamics was it? That was just a fanfiction special."

"Fanfiction."

The way he said it was so carefully neutral you paused, "oh my god without Star Trek to popularize fanfiction and the fan community, how has fandom evolved? Is fanfiction a thing- well, yes, it does fanfics have been a thing since Dante Alighieri wrote the Divine Comedy and even before- well, the question is more if it's still popularized? Are there still the wattpad fics of- I am getting so off track. What exactly is the next step?"

You look from the nice man to the big fucker and back, neither saying anything but looking at you with careful blankness.

You felt like you were being weighed and measured in their eyes.

You hoped to anyone listening that you weren't found wanting at least. Not when you're in the shit situation it looks like you ever so increasingly fell into.

"Considering I'm. Not smear. And very much not from here? Are blanks a thing? Or is that what a beta is I'm," you trail off, brow furrowing, "fuzzy. On the whole thing. The flavor of understanding, dynamics, and population skew tended to be dependant on the author's level of horny."

The did get a bit of a snort from the pretty one before you, the one in the back tilting his head just so as the pretty one spurred you on, "okay please don't take this the wrong way, you have given me nothing to go on but A/B/O and-" a finger was raised in question to that, you quickly explaining, "the fanfic shorthand for the universe without being a mouthful. Anyway- I've seen population numbers being roughly the same across the board, I've seen alphas and omegas at roughly 1% of the population of society on either end, I've seen alphas at about 5% and omegas at 1%- those ones are usually the most horny I swear.

"And it's all over the board, no consistency- sometimes it's betas are infertile, sometimes they're the straightman to the comedy that's an alpha and omega trying to woo each other without being too horny to function. Sometimes it's a sliding scale where being beta just means you're more the more middle-ground regulated hormonally with alphas and omegas being the opposing ends of a spectrum. Can you please say something and give me a fucking break because my panic rambles are probably like. Some kinda prejudiced. I'm still not over the 'I'm supposed to be a smear on the ground we don't even have dental images of to confirm who it is anymore' nugget you dropped on me. I think I'm doing well for this"

You would rather not tell them that as soon as you're out of this box of a room you were gonna be curled up in a ball and unabashedly weeping. That was none of their business.

The pretty one gave you what you're sure was supposed to be a reassuring smile but the quiet stretched just a bit too long. You looked from one to the other before leaning forward, "is this supposed to be soothing in some way? Because it's just a bit of an extended awkward silence and that's uh-"

It was the big one in the back's turn to give an amused snort, the pretty one looking bashful, "right, sorry, we uh-"

You jerk a bit, "wait, was that supposed to be some scent thing," you really didn't wanna say pheromones and potentially dig yourself into a deeper, more awkward hole based on Horny Pseudoscience.

Pretty rubbed the back of his neck, "something like that. You really couldn't smell anything?"

You know the exact Face you're making. It's very much your 'I have told you this and I'm getting tired of having to repeat it' face. You can tell he clocks it but for the record, because to your mortification this has to be recorded, you simply give a succinct, "no, I haven't smelled anything. Not from you, not from him," you jerk your head towards the big fucker, "and not from douchebag from be- Williams! His name was Williams. Nothing. Really had no clue why you were fanning the door when you came in."

You sigh, rubbing the heels of your palms into your eyes, "okay. Assuming I'm not about to be put into past tense a second time. Do we have any idea what popped me out here?"

The sentences are stilted, you know you're getting more rattled the longer you're here but sue you alright it's been the worst six hours of your life here.

They just continue to look at you, pretty keeping a polite almost customer service look as big one just stares unceasingly.

"Right. Okay. Am I going to be reintegrated to society or is this," you gesture around the little room as much as you can, "looking like my home for the foreseeable future."

No change in what you can see of either's expression, and you just sag. Deep breath in, deep breath out, "cool. Alright. Well. I know nothing of how biology is altered here, I'm not sure how that has impacted changes throughout history, and frankly I don't know what your pop culture has done. I'm assuming math and written languages are largely the same but in all fairness I don't know what I don't know."

You just stare quietly at the table for a bit longer before looking back at the two of them, "is there anything else you need because I can feel the freakout creeping up and while I know there's no real privacy, uh…"

The pretty one looked back to the big one, at some point you're sure you'll get some sort of names but for now? Now you watch the big one nod, the pretty one give you a polite smile and some vaguely polite bullshit your brain is swiftly going too far out to hear.

You only hope that whoever is behind the mirror is polite enough to look away as you put your head down on the table and give yourself the opportunity to, just this once, cry. As a treat.

[Next Chapter -> ]

[myuminji]

Undead AU

Wolfwood who died in the midst of their journey, and Vash who, in his panic, tried to save him with the combination of the vials he'd forced him to drink and the plant energy unconsciously coming out of him.

Vash, who succeeded in reviving Wolfwood—only for the body he cradles to deteriorate as quick as it regenerates to become shapeless. Vash who, in his panic, binds a collapsing corpse with whatever he finds within his proximity.

(the punisher remains unwrapped that day)

Vash who reassures everyone it's still the Wolfwood everyone knows—just a bit sluggish and not talkative, if not, at all. He insists on taking care of him. (no one dares to tell him otherwise)

Vash who re-wraps the bandage everyday to prevent Wolfwood from falling apart. Vash adding new bandages on top of the decaying ones, layers upon layers. Wolfwood who writes on the bandages 'you have to be healthy', 'don't cause trouble', 'idiot needle-noggin'

Wolfwood who dreams of nightmares, suffocated by the bandages wrapping him, unable to breathe he thinks he's dying (but he's dead, isn't he? he's living on borrowed time isn't he?)

Wolfwood who wakes up and tries to rip off all his bandages and Vash who runs and tries to stop him. Vash pinning him down into a hug to stop him from struggling and Wolfwood discovering he very much like the warmth and suffocating feeling of a hug against his cold body better than the binds of the bandages

Vash hugging (out of fear of his body collapsing and losing him) and Wolfwood hugging (out of the feeling of comfort in his arms). Vash shaking Wolfwood in the middle of the night because he can't tell if he's asleep... or not. Wolfwood who hasn't slept since he's died but pretends to be asleep for him (the two can play pretend)

Wolfwood who knows he's living through bought time and tried to escape from Vash, to end both his and his own sufferings (he failed, and Vash hadn't let him out of his sight ever since)

[raspberryjellybrains]

I may have lost my carefully rendered and cut out sexy lucifer for my art project and I am devastated because that took days to make but the image of Super Extra Hot MLM Besties Shout-out Feet Censored Lucifer hanging out somewhere is a balm upon deep wounds

[mortuarywriting]

I had not

Tolkien started rewriting the Hobbit in the style of LotR, but what I really want is the Silmarillion in the style of the Hobbit. 

[blackvahana]

Anyway. I love that sometimes signs are just ridiculous. Completely had to double take at my pronouns being listed as she/they and Lev just put on the Dark Mother by Atrium Carceri so I guess there's connections to be made with Red Sky tonight. Actually. It's not even about that. It's about equalising. "I walk where she walks" comes out of my mouth before I can even process the thought

[ace-rapunzel]

The version of the Re-Animator novelization I read didn't have the part where Herbert's POV narration speculated about what a good husband Dan would make

I feel cheated. Robbed, even.

[zickmonkey]

I should probably write that scene I've been daydreaming for like literally a week shouldn't I

[mortuarywriting]

We discussed my tagging methods in another server. Please understand

[evilminji]

You know what seriously doesn't get played with enough?

In the grand, shared, doll set of Danny Phantom?

The cultural alienation.

Is Danny up to date on Human Memes? Did he see that movie? Hear about that celebrity drama? He lives here, amongst us, WITH us. But? Feels... half out of the loop.

And? He can't SHARE his passions with us.

Is he REALLY gonna show his new lecture buddy that hot new Kryptonian Sci-fi series he picked up from the Zone's nearest mega market bookstore? Invite a neighbor over for some sparkling ectoplasm laced soda and a binge of this cool Alien animated film from a long dead planet's artist guild? They're trying new mediums, apparently! Danny thinks it's pretty cool, he hopes they make more.

Oh, but maybe he can talk about games!

Except he switched to the technologically far more advanced Z-Held, years ago. They have literally billions of billions of options, since every game maker in their region of the Zone designs for it. Has for millennia.

....music?

Ghost speak either creeps people out or actually hurts to hear, if they listen too long. And "normal" music... feels so FLAT. Emotionless. Yeah, he'll LISTEN... smile and agree it sound nice. But it's... it's so bland? Less then bland.

He can't even share his food! It's a one way trip to ER! If not the morgue. Half his spices are FROM the Zone now. And Zone plants? Heeeeeella poisonous to humans. Tasty af to HIM, but... yeah. No sharing.

So like... what does that LEAVE him? Dance? Hobbies? Sam n Tucker he can share his REAL interests with, but... they went to different colleges. And protecting people isn't a hobby. It's more of a Gotta, you know? He ALSO can't join any space related clubs because now he knows WAY too much about Space.

Like "above civilian clearance, no one on this planet should know that" a lot.

He gets distracted. Too excited. He KNOWS himself.

He would totally ramble on about Space.

He's a Fenton, man. It's genetic.

So... he's lonely. Adrift. A sad, sad, semi-feral noodle of a man. And you know who would never let that stand? Who also wants to know what THE FUCK he's listen too, because it's both giving him a headache and creeping him out? Kon.

This dude reminds him of Tim. Complete with the feral energy and fluffy hair. *snaps pick* lol, bro, is you. ANYWAY, this guy? Apparently the source of the Kent family splitting migraines. That sound has been KILLING them. They need to get this guy better headphones. Aliens gotta stick together, you know? Time to go make friends.

*floats over in his shades n leather jacket* Sup~!

[especially-obsessed]

#icanteven

pt. 1

#icanteven - The Neighbourhood

"I can't even, I can't even believe what you did to me You can't even, you can't even say I'm overreacting I can't even, can't even hear your side Shame on me, you fooled me twice"

Summary: series; Sam cheats on you.

Pairing: Sam Winchester x reader, Dean Winchester x reader

Warnings: descriptions of depression, guilt, anger, infidelity, fluff

Word count: 1.1k

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

The Night

The morgue. Your favorite place! Not. Dean had convinced you to go to the morgue with him (after hours) because of a hunch he had. Something wasn’t sitting right about the bodies that had turned up. Sam stayed back at the motel to do some research. And you thought nothing of it.

Dean pulled into the motel parking lot, rambling on about some Led Zepplin album you asked about. The Impala came to a halt at the curb, right outside your bedrooms. The weight of the days work suddenly wore down on your body, and you could physically feel your shoulders slouch. And then you heard it. The long and low bellow, deep from the pit of your stomach. You looked over at Dean, food in hand, and burst into laughter. 

“Did that sound really just come from your stomach?” Dean joked, opening the driver side door. You balanced the food in one hand and you used the other to open your door. Dean walked around his car and held open the car door for you. 

“I don’t wanna talk about it. I just want to eat real food,” you said, handing the drink carrier off to Dean. 

“Yeah, who orders health food from a place like that?” Dean said, genuine disgust painted on his face. “Imagine the chemicals they put on that stuff!” 

“Like the saturated fats in the rest of their food is so much better,” you countered. Dean was ready for a full argument about this, even though you agreed with him. Before he could get any more worked up, you turned to him. “You eating with us?” you asked him, waiting outside of your motel door. You were eager to see Sam, even though you’d only been gone for three hours. Dean nodded and waited for you to open your door. You quickly fumbled with your key, clutching the bags of food tightly. You couldn’t bear another car ride with Dean after a food mishap. 

The lock on your door beeped, and you pushed open the motel room door. Instantly, you noticed something was off. Sam was in bed. He wasn’t clothed, and you could clearly see where the thin motel sheet met his hip bone. 

And he wasn’t alone. 

You could see blonde hair sprawled out on the pillows. The outline of her feet entangled with Sam’s outlined by the sheets. Sam was hovering over her body, his toned biceps on either side of her head. He slowly knelt down, bringing his face to hers. They were completely ignorant of the company they now had. They were still going…

Everything around you faded. 

Except for them.

You stood in the doorway, shell-shocked. Stuck in place. The soles of your shoes super glued to the floor. Dean pulled you from the doorway, pulling your line of vision away from the bed you had just slept in last night. He quickly opened the door to his room next to yours and let you in. He closed it gently behind him as he left again. But you were unaware of what was happening. You drifted into the room, letting your feet carry you aimlessly. You ended up at the edge of one of the beds in the room. You couldn’t feel anything anymore. A shadow of who you were moments ago. You felt numb. There was commotion next door. Someone was shouting. Someone else responded. The door slammed, and then the lock clicked and Dean walked back through the door, your duffle bag in hand. You couldn’t even lift your head to look at him, staring blankly at the pale-colored wall in front of you.

“You’re gonna stay the night in here with me sweetheart. We’ll deal with this in the morning,” he spoke softly. You were completely still, tears threatening to fall from your eyes. Your chest barely moved as you breathed shallow breaths. 

Dean was angry, but knew now wasn’t the time to show it. His chest ached with the pain he knew you were feeling. He gently guided you up and to the head of the bed. He knelt and helped you take your boots off, then your socks. He gently pushed on your shoulder, helping you lay back. You rolled away from him, not wanting to see his face. His pity. He pulled the bed covers to your shoulders, and rubbed your back softly, before settling in for the night himself. 

You could hear Sam talking through the paper-thin walls, worry seeping out of every word. You could tell by his rushed tone. He was talking to whoever she was. And you didn’t even want to know. All you wanted to do was leave. You couldn’t face Dean in the morning, feeling his pitying glance every time you made a move. And you couldn’t face Sam. He would just make the situation worse. 

 Soon the voices faded and you were left alone with your thoughts. Warm tears trickled over the bridge of your nose and down the side of your cheek. 

You needed to get out. You needed to leave.

Hours later, once you heard Dean’s heavy breaths from the bed next to yours, you knew it was time. You sat up slowly, glancing over to make sure that he was asleep. He was belly down, head tilted to the side with one arm resting under his pillow. Surely, he had a pistol of some sort tucked under his head, hand on the trigger. Any sudden sounds triggering his fight or flight reflections, and he would have that gun pulled on you. 

You swung your feet over the edge of the bed and placed them on the carpeted floor. As quietly as possible, you put on your socks and your boots, feeling like you were banging on pots and pans with every lace you looped. It took only a few seconds for you to compose yourself and grab your duffle bag. Your heart ached. This didn’t feel right. Not like this. But you needed to be as far away from the Winchesters as possible. 

You quickly scribbled Dean a note on the stained notepad and placed it carefully on the table by the window. You slipped out the door without a word or so much as a glance back at the motel. 

And you disappeared into the night.

Series Masterlist

A/N: <3

Likes, reblogs, and follows are never expected but greatly appreciated! These let me know I should keep on doing what I’m doing! (:

[mortuarywriting]

I've been all over the past few days but!!!

Oh my god!!!! Thank you!!!

High praise indeed, I'm just goofing off ;v;

Its lovely to be counted among such excellent fics!!! Thank you, Sy ,;v;,

more reading recs

because one post isn't enough. we are hashtag blessed with fic.

as requested, i've highlighted fics with noncon and/or dubcon elements in orange. beyond that, you are responsible for reading tags, warnings, and summaries.

pairings are indicated, although these may change or may not be established yet.

there is no method to this madness, no specific order. these are listed here as my brain remembered them.

i've checked all the links maybe three times, if they're broken, i blame tumblr's formatting.

without further ado...

Slasher Handler by @dragonnarrative-writes - Ghost x Reader

"Simon does serial killer things. What a rascal!" Another fantastically written Simon, with wonderful dashes of Gaz and Price. It's put the term 'romance knives' in my vocabulary. There are many quotable bits and moments that made my blood run cold with how normal the ~situation~ feels, but everything has to be experienced firsthand.

The Far Shore by @deadbranch - Soap x Reader

DB's fic collection is rich, and The Far Shore is no different. I fucking loved Pacific Rim, so when I saw her first mention a PR AU, I did imaginary backflips. DB's Readers are some of my favorites because of how complex and realistic they feel, and when combined with the visceral depth of the neural handshake AND Soap? Compelling. The dynamic between them is fascinating. I almost can't wait for it to be finished so I can go back and dissect it.

Falling into Place by @mortuarywriting

Morg's brought the first COD Isekai AU I've read, like a little treat, with A/B/O to boot. The first chapter hooked me and cracked me up. Their dialogue reads so well, it truly feels like I got sucked into the universe. The panicked ramblings, the over-explanation, the 'oh shit, we don't even have a shared cultural touchstone' moments. I cannot wait for more.

Carvings by @femalefemur - Price x Reader

Cyn's got this amazing thing going on called 'Top Quality Worms' where she takes me by the hand and leads me down a rabbit hole I didn't know I'd find so cozy. Carvings is one piece from her incredible list, featuring a bloody, possessive Captain Price. Somehow, out of this entire piece, Price snapping a pen really did it for me. Did someone say loss of control? Oh no, not my kryptonite!

Under Your Spell by @groguspicklejar - Gaz x Reader x Soap

This fic had me at the pairing tag. Lured me right in. No hope for me, and I'm not mad about it. The way Gaz and Soap play off of each other in Under Your Spell is spine-tingling in more ways than one. The definition of scaroused. Kelsi writes a wonderful Gaz. The first two paragraphs in part two, Split My Skin, describe him perfectly to me.

Chokehold by @ccrites - Soap x Reader

Chokehold is a chef's kiss read. Starts off as a cute and sweet gym read, and uh, well, it does get sweeter, in a way. Without spoiling anything, there is a brief cab ride that made me take a lap before things got really going for Reader. CC's Soap is a delightful tease that is tender all at the same time. I'd join his gym in a heartbeat.

Knight/Princess AU by @a-small-writer-in-a-big-world - Price x Reader

I've read and re-read this AU series a dozen times. It's so gd cute, I might need to see the dentist about how it's rotting my teeth. Seriously, it makes ME want to be a princess. Specifically Price's princess. Bear writes such a sweet and gruff Price, catch me holding a hand over my heart and just sighing. I'm also a big fan of multiple POVs and the insight into each character.

Martyr in the Making by @eilidh-eternal - Ghost x Reader

I had a tattoo touch-up the other day, and while waiting, I thought about this fic: the dream and nightmare of being tattooed by Simon and the rest of the 141. It's a dream for obvious reasons (probably unhealthy for me) and a nightmare because of, well, you'll have to read the story. Getting a tattoo can be such an intimate experience. You put yourself into someone's care and get something permanently etched onto your body. When Reader sits for Simon, you're right there with her, the two of you on an altar.

Liquid Smooth by @cordeliawhohung - Gaz x Reader

Bodyguard!Gaz save me, save me, bodyguard!Gaz. Ugh, Gaz is fucking incredible in every flavor, but there is something that hits different about the guy when he's flexing those 'VIP protection' skills. There are several tiny moments in Liquid Smooth that made me audibly whisper, "God, I wish that were me." If you have a conifer tree allergy, you might not be able to handle the god-tier pining. (I'll see myself out.)

pornstar!Gaz by @cordeliawhohung - Gaz x Reader

Gotta include the series that I drop everything for whenever I see an update. Another fantastic depiction of best man Kyle Gaz Garrick. The charm, the jealousy, the care...My personal favorite installments are Whispers and Threesomes.

plus size puppygirl!reader / Simon & Reader / Punishment by @secretsynthetic - Price x Reader x Ghost

Ghost gets his Captain a puppy, and Synth gives us a tasty Price x Reader x Ghost story. I've linked the intro and a Simon x Reader snippet, but my personal favorite is Punishment. Punishment is a deeper dive into Price the disciplinarian: "how the hell do i get a mutt like you to fuckin’ listen?" I'd gush about it, but again, this is another one to read and experience firsthand. One of my favorite recent explorations of a PriceGhost dynamic.

~~

i'll probably cobble another one of these together in may 2024. my fic backlog is something else. i blame it on all the massive talent. mwah.

[pasdasin]

Wicked Game

wolverine x vampire!reader

an: omg sorry for such a long break 😭 a lot has happened over this past weekend. I literary moved home from my college apartment and everything! Also I couldn't walk??? but im okay now lol. I made this chapter longer but it might be a lil shitty, also i know yall dont care for the fight so next chapter will be smut focused!

ch 5

warnings: cussing, violence, mentions of seizures, saliva, foam in mouth, drinking blood, murder, inappropriate use of a dead body erm, u know what mdni this is kinda fucked up

previous -- next

~~~~~

Everything felt wrong. Holding Alex’s hand was wrong. Your dress was wrong. The restaurant was wrong. London wasn’t like anything you remembered. It made sense, given that you weren’t in the city for at least century, but everything was wrong.

Maybe the mission was going too well? No that couldn’t be it. 

You shifted in your seat, tugging at the part of your dress that laid over your thighs. Alex was rambling over something that he watched recently, trying to keep appearances. You nodded everything once in a while, sipping some wine. 

Thump…. Thump…… thump

Your eyes zeroed in on his neck. Oh. That’s what it was. The sound of Alex’s blood pumping through his body, no the sound of all the blood in the restaurant. Ever since you tasted it, you craved more. Whatever Alex was saying was lost on your ears. 

You scanned the faces of everyone in the restaurant, feeling your mouth salivate. Each person had a unique rhythm. Alex was spaced, he was always calm, cool headed. Logan was faster, like he was stuck in a state of fear.

Your eyes landed on a man in the middle of the restaurant, standing to excuse himself from the dinner. No beat.

“Bingo”

“What you got sugar?” Alex asked, taking a bite of his dinner roll. 

“Morgue to your right, heading to the kitchen”

“Morgue? Who is that?”

“Alex stay here okay? I’ll be right back” You stood, brushing off your dress and started your pursuit. Following his path, you entered the kitchen, ignoring the cooks trying to escort you out. You walked down a back staircase, careful to stay out of sight. 

You were pressed to a wall, listening for the trail of footsteps, when a hand wrapped around your neck and pushed you into the wall. 

“I knew it was you, darling” You peered up into his eyes. “You’re rusty, I thought you’d never show up in our city again.”

“Fuck you” You spat in his face. He blinked at you in shock, then used his other hand to wipe his face.

“Never play nice, do you?” He muttered, tightening his grip on your neck, tearing skin slightly. Your nails extended into claws, tearing into his hand. He hissed in pain, dropping you, allowing for you to jump on him and pin him to the floor, kneeing him in the groin as you moved. 

Quickly, you pressed your hands down on his neck, your fangs flaring. You pushed your claws deeper into his neck causing blood to seep out of him, starting to feel his neck tear.

You were so close. Feeling his vocal cords start to snap under the force of your hands.

The only known way to kill a vampire, decapitation. His hands frantically clawed at your back, trying to distract you. You were close, hearing bones snap, when a beam of energy started hurling towards the two of you. Startling you, you loosened your grip on his neck, causing Morgue to push himself up and bring you to his chest. 

Morgue in an instant pressed his finger to your forehead, pushing your skull.

“You’ve been a bad girl. Don’t you remember what you did?” Your eyes rolled into the back of your head as you seized on the ground. You heard Alex call out your name and then your whole world went black. 

----

Logan wished he payed attention to you when you were showing him ‘find my’ on his own. Kurt dropped him off at the location Charles provided him, promising to flash back once he was done. 

Logan was just trying to follow your scent, but it had changed. Something had tainted it, he had realized halfway through his walk that the smell was himself, more specifically, his blood. He felt hopeless as he aimlessly wandered around the city. 

Rolling his eyes when people stopped him for whatever reason this time. Night fell and he was still walking. He saw the flash before he smelt you. 

Running over, he saw Alex hurl another energy blast at the strange guy in the trench coat. The trench coat guy was bleeding badly, but he was still standing. Logan felt his claws unsheathed themselves, before he ran over to assist Alex with the fight. 

Stabbing the dude in the back, he ran his claws up and down his body, hoping to cause some more damage. He growled as he threw him towards Alex who shot him with another blast. 

Logan turned his head to your body, unconscious and foaming at the mouth. It finally struck him, who this man was.

Morgue, your ex boyfriend. A man who manipulated you into saving his life with his dying wish. A man who forced you to kill three young mutants in a burning orphanage, forcing you to drain them dry as they cried for help. 

“Alex! His head!” Logan shouted to him as he started to try to bring you back from the memory wave. 

“C’mon sweet thing. Come back to me” He muttered softly, placing his hands on your forehead and chest. He listened to the sound of his own blood mix around in your body, the irregular pace worrying him. 

Morgue had only one trick that transferred over from his human life. His mutation of making people relive their worst nightmares. It was clear to Logan that you were trapped in this state, and if he didn’t act fast, you’d be dead. 

Another energy blast was hurled, causing a fire to catch on some back alley trashcan. The sounds of fighting filled the air, but Logan persisted on trying to focus on you. 

Logan didn’t remember a lot of the bullshit you told him about Morgue. He didn’t care for the guy back then and he definitely didn’t care for him now. 

“It works in fairytales, so maybe it’ll work now” Logan muttered to himself. He wiped your mouth of any saliva that was building up and pressed his lips to yours. It wasn’t your first kiss and when you finally was snapped back to reality, Logan was reassured it wouldn’t be your last. 

You pressed your hand to the side of his face and slowly pulled away. Looking up at Logan, you weakly smiled. 

“I knew you would save the day”

“When have I not?” He smiled softly down at you. Helping you to your feet, you turned to face the fight, noticing Alex was on his last stand. You turned to face Logan and smiled, your fangs baring. 

“Just like the last time we were here” You joked, starting to sprint down toward Morgue. Jumping up you wrapped your legs around his waist and bit down into his neck. He yelled back in surprise, allowing Logan to get to Alex and move him out of the way.

You managed to repin him to the ground, pounding both of your fists into his chest. He wheezed out and you smiled wildly, losing yourself in his pain. You pushed his neck down again and twisted. 

Finally, you leaned down into his neck, the blood oozing out of his neck. Licking the blood, you giggled in his ear.

“Remember when we first met and you asked me what I was?” You leaned upwards, your eyes now staring into his.

Fear flooded his vision. You had created him, the blood oozing from his neck was a result of his murderers.

“I’m a vampire. I’ll see you in hell” You twisted his neck and off came his head. You threw it up and Logan quickly stabbed it with his claws, ensuring the end. 

You looked down at the headless body and blinked back tears. A puddle of blood surrounded the two of you. Your hands covered in it. Your clothes were stained in it. You had no more restraint. 

You leaned down, licking the blood seeping out of him. Your eyes rolled back into your head, feeling satisfied with the amount you were consuming. You were so, so hungry. 

You felt two hand wrap around your torso and pull you up from the body. You thrashed around, kicking whoever dared to separate you from the meal at your disposal.

“You need to calm down. Alex is hurt. You can eat later” Logan’s grip tightened around your waist and you cried out. Turning your head, you looked at the body of Alex Summers and gasped.

Alex was on the verge of death, and only you could save him.

~~~~~

Tag list: @captain039 @twinky-wink @fuckmachine42069 @honeybeedrabble @reidsworld @clairealeehelsing @bontensbabygirl @policedeer

an: the fight was so rushed but idc lol. planning on writing a cowboypool smut and a cowboy clark kent smut soon too, lmk if yall r interested lol

[8-dermestid]

Hello, I hope you are well! Recently I read a fanfic of yours on Ao3 about Ticci Toby and I fell in love with your writing!! I loved the way you develop the characters and their feelings!! 🤧💕✨

I would like to know if you write for Creepypasta X Virus, it is one of my favorites but there is almost no content online about it 🥹👉🏻👈🏻

Anyway, I saw your requests are open! If the idea pleases you, I would like to ask for headcanons of X Virus and Toby (or just Toby) with a reader who practices magic and has somewhat "dark" tastes (interest in poisonous animals/plants and the supernatural as a whole, in short, just a scary and adorable nerd at the same time!)

Thanks!! 💚

ahh! hello-hello!! i read x-virus' story and took notes for these, i really enjoyed writing Cody, so thank you very much for the request :-]

i rlly liked this request, and this is actually the first time i've ever done headcanon-ish things, i hope you enjoy these (bc i enjoyed writing them a lot)

x-virus & ticci toby: reader with macabre interests

relationships: ticci toby x reader, x-virus x reader

word count: 1.5k

links: available on ao3

x-virus warnings: animal death (off-screen, animal body shown) animal dissection, taxidermy, canon-typical violence

ticci toby warnings: canon-typical violence

☣︎ X-Virus | Cody _____ ☣︎

You let it slip one day that you wanted to try taxidermy, an embarrassing guilty pleasure you were confident you could keep under wraps, but Cody’s just been so nice about your eccentricities and you couldn’t help yourself.

“They use bugs in the process, lots of museums have them to clean the bones because they’re better than the best person with the best tools—” You pace back and forth as Cody watches you from your bed, “—Because that’s all they do, all they do is eat rotting flesh off the bone. The bones last much longer when cleaned by any Dermes—”

You stop yourself from mentioning the insects by their scientific name, embarrassed that you let your ramblings slip away like that.

Cody leaves the next day and you’re left alone with your thoughts. Maybe there’s another mansion full of serial killers so you can start fresh, your ears burn recalling how excited you got talking about flesh-eating bugs.

A few days later, Cody returns to the mansion with a limp raccoon and some things it stole from the local morgue.

You spend the entire night together trying to preserve this creature’s hide, you take it apart with precise motions, expertly moving the scalpel along the skin and parting flesh and sinew. You soak the skin in salts, rubbing it into the bloody underside until you smell like copper and the salt mines.

The whole room smells like formaldehyde, too.

✸ ☣︎ ​​✸

Cody is so excited to share its books with you, all of them. You spend long evenings together curled over a battery-powered lantern and ten-pound textbooks, occasionally mentioning an interesting tidbit when you come across one. Your books are filled with flattened foliage from the surrounding woods, poisonous plants and flowers, plastic baggies filled with poison ivy leaves, and hand-drawn diagrams of each plant’s internal structures in a ballpoint pen. It flips through each page carefully, examining each specimen, complimenting each note and observation.

“You should open a museum,” It says, running a finger over a pressed Conium maculatum. That snaps you out of your science headspace.

You should, but you can’t. “Besides, who would enjoy a museum like that?” You argue.

“Think about the Mütter Museum,” It quips back, “If people frequent a museum full of pickled people-guts and spines, I’m sure people would go to yours. People like flowers.”

In another universe where violence wasn’t at the forefront of your mind, maybe you’d be the curator of a weird little museum full of oddities.

​​✸ ☣︎ ​​✸

“Toby comes here all the time to burn CDs, don’t worry, the cameras stopped working years ago and they never bothered to fix them,” Cody pushes open a window and climbs into the air-conditioned computer lab of the local library, “Just don’t knock anything over, I guess.” It jokes.

You drop through the window and feel goosebumps form on your arms, you haven’t felt air conditioning in years.

Cody unlocks the door leading to the rest of the facility, you walk side-by-side, dragging your fingers over the spines of dozens of books.

“You know the Dewey Decimal System, right?” Cody asks, there’s a thrill with breaking in, especially for pleasure (rather than worrying about killing every occupant in a house, you both can focus on finding a specific edition of a book you were dying to read).

“By heart.” You joke, guiding it to the 500s: Natural Sciences.

You spend five hours squished up together reading from the same book. It points to a diagram and you explain every minute detail, Cody listens eagerly to your explanations, wanting to ingrain every word that comes out of your brilliant, perfect brain, and memorize the way you describe the venom sacs of the Hydrophis schistosus.

 The way it rolls off your tongue—Hydrophis schistosus—Cody wants that to be the last sound it ever hears, the sound echoing forever in its brain until the heat death of the universe.

You creep down to the 200s and find a few textbooks about niche religious practices. You tell Cody about the rarity of cannibalistic religious practices, and the prevalence of cannibalism in some movies ticks you off.

“Cannibalism isn’t that common,” You scoff, “It’s more than socially taboo, it’s biologically taboo. Ever heard of Kuru?”

“Tell me.” It begs.

✸ ☣︎ ​​✸

⦻ Ticci Toby | Tobias Erin Rogers ⦻

Every word that comes out of you flies over his head. Even though he doesn't know a thing about what you’re telling him about, he’s completely and utterly enamored. Toby never graduated high school, and—for the most part—he’s glad he didn’t have to spend any more time around high-school people. 

He misses learning. Sometimes Toby thinks he’s stupid, Tim and Brian went to university, and they have high school diplomas with their names on them somewhere, Toby has nothing except an honor roll card from the eighth grade. You’re so brilliant, maybe part of him thinks he’s weighing you down by stopping your ramblings to ask for clarification. He’s so deep in thought he hasn't been paying attention to your talks about the Ghent Altarpiece’s connection to ancient practices of animal sacrifice.

“Does it bother you when I do that—when I don’t know things a-and you gotta explain it to me?”

You’re sitting on the porch together looking out over the rolling fog, he sucks in a breath, the tip of a Marlboro lighting up orange-hot.

“I like it, actually.” You say matter-of-factly

Toby’s diaphragm sputters as smoke spills from his nose, and he coughs hard into his elbow. “...Doesn’t it—But I’m interrupting you because I’m too stupid to get it the first time—”

That word gives you pause, and Toby tosses away the cigarette butt and curls into himself, shame burning hot on his face.

“I don’t think—”

“E-Everyone does,” He cries, “I-I can’t help it, I couldn’t even finish high school. Tim and Brian made it to college, at least.”

You push yourself into his personal space, knocking your knee into his as you lean over to share a secret.

“I can teach you if you’d like.”

Toby’s red-hot shame melts into a giddy flush as your warm breath lands on his ear.

✸ ⦻ ​​✸

The next victim that comes Toby’s way—a family of three with a prying-eyed teenager getting too close to discovering the mansion—grants you both access to the internet for a time.

You start with Wikipedia, it’s good practice to get bare-bones information that starts the deep dive. Marine Biology is the starting topic because the random article Wikipedia spat out at you was about the bigfin squid.

Toby mumbles aloud as he scrolls through the article, the picture on the right left the hairs on his arms standing on end. Little is known about it because it dwells so deep, and scientists aren’t entirely sure why its distinct long arms are there.

“Nobody knows how it feeds?”

“We know more about space than our oceans,” You say, “We have pictures of the Big Bang.”

Toby rolls back on the wheeled chair and pushes the keyboard to you.

You open a new tab and open the search bar.

COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND.

He pulls back in, opening the third link that pops up. You sit quietly as he devours an entire article explaining the picture’s existence, he’s vibrating in his chair. Toby continues the search without your input, googling words and finding plenty of pictures of smattered space dust orbiting tiny, dense stars.

The pictures of the black hole shake him to his core, nebulae give him chills, beautiful planets and star systems and moons and—

Alpha Centauri grabs a hold of Toby’s body and keeps him there. He pushes the monitor towards you and you read along with him, he’s shaking with excitement, free hand flapping excitedly as he scrolls through the academic journal.

He prints out a few pictures before the police show up, the cosmic microwave background bathing the room in greens and blues and smatterings of yellows and reds.

✸ ⦻ ​​✸

He starts stealing books from the library, as do you. You take turns showing and telling. He shows you astronomy books and you show him textbooks about the history of taxonomy; you spend hours sitting across from each other on the floor exchanging knowledge.

“I’m—I’m glad we did this. Thanks for doing all of—of that.” 

You peek over an academic journal you’ve read at least seven times, smiling softly as Toby puts his new collection of literature into a box and pushes it into the closet. He piles a few flannels and shirts over the box to camouflage it amongst his dirt laundry.

“Why’re you doing that?”

Toby turns to you and turns away meekly, “...It’s our special thing, you get it? I don’t want anyone getting into our business. This is our thing. Our special thing.”

A warmth creeps up your neck as Toby holds your gaze. You close your journals.

“Babies have more bones than adults.” You whisper, your hand splayed over his shoulder blades, “About three hundred.”

Toby’s breath hitches as your hands warm the spot where his cervical vertebrae end and the thoracic meet.

“H-How many are—” He covers his mouth to cover a shaky breath, “—i-in the spine?”

“There are thirty-three vertebrae. Seven cervical,” You and trails down his back, “Twelve thoracic,” you creep further, “Five lumbar,” Lower and lower you go, “Five sacral,” You’re getting bold now, “...And four coccygeals.”

You hold your hands there, Toby enjoys the warmth radiating from your fingers, he wants to melt into you like watered-down clay (you would call it slip since you know everything). He wants to read books with you for the rest of his life and not do anything else.

He wants you to count every rib, every tooth in his mouth, every bone in his hands and feet—counting and counting and counting until he's dizzy.

✸ ⦻ ​​✸

[chaotikanvas]

AAAAAAAAA AFTER MONTHS THIS IS FINALLY DONE!!!!! Not gonna ramble too much and get right to it! This was inspired by Bloodstain Fool by @naffeclipse (wonderful original detective au by @/sunnys-aesthetic!), because I am very much not normal about this man! gonna have to be divided in two parts because of the image limit gfklhdsñjkh

Here is part one, plus a bit of an introduction! (edit: added the alt text!)

I hope you enjoy!! <3

(content warnings: uuuh nothing too out there that wouldn't be in the main fic. Mentions of blood and violence, and uuuh unsafe self-modification practices? That's the best way I can think to explain it gkjdhgsfkj, and that's all I think!)

------

The first spark feels familiar.

A sensation he last felt so long ago now.

(Not long enough. Never long enough)

It invades his systems in an instant, and yet it has always felt like an eternity. Joints locking up. Optics glitching out. Senses daring to escape his iron grip.

A spark is all he gets to hear before an array of errors and alarms and pain flood his mind.

(Pain always ovetakes it all in the end)

A spark is all it takes to start a fire.

A spark is what started the fire.

The burning within him. Overheating metal and wires and oil.

The internal inferno that took root in his head, as part of his very existence, consuming him alive.

Just a spark.

Enough to ignite the flames that he has been gradually (painstakingly, arduously, hopefully) smothering for some time now right back to being a raging hell that threatens to engulf him until there is nothing left.

Rage.

Rage is all he knows. What pushes him through the spasms.

Rage has him making sense of the glitches in his vision and set a target.

He is not the same as back then.

The target aims at him again. Presses down on the trigger.

His head twitches out of his control. He takes another step towards the target.

The target's smile falters and presses again. Again. Again.

Everything.

Turns.

Red.

-------

It's not uncommon for Eclipse to simply go off the radar and not reappear for a while. This you have learned from your dear detectives.

This time though? Your gut is yelling that there is something off.

For one, the day before he made his disappearance act, he had gone on one of his hunts. It was late at night, so it would be expected that he would arrive at the station to collect his pay the next day.

He did not.

For two...

The scene he left behind was a bloodbath.

A part of you wants to insist you are not surprised at all, aprehension about the tendencies of the violent animatronic, plus some lingering distrust, bubbling instinctually to the surface.

The rational part of you, that had seen and now accepted his genuine efforts to tear off the venom that he's been living off until recently from his system, tells you that there is a puzzle piece missing and you need to go and find it.

Detective Sun and detective Moon seem to agree with you. By the way detective Sun keeps glancing at the phone with increased frequency. By the way detective Moon arrives much later the night following the incident.

By the third morning, you decide enough is enough.

You know through the detectives that the only human survivor from the encounter was a recently joined member of the gang Eclipse stormed for his hunt. The kid was taken in and interrogated, but in his shaken state the only information they could get from him was that he was actually far from where the fight broke out, having heard a distant buzzing sound just before. Unlucky guy then stumbled on... well, Eclipse's handiwork.

(Or perhaps he was lucky. He was arrested, not taken to the morgue.)

The scene is very much still up to the brim with cops, not that you think you would get much from it if the detectives didn't share much else about the whole situation.

So that leaves you to hunt down the trail of the bounty hunter.

Under the harsh midday sunlight, after hours running around, you curse the sneaky bastard's ability to somehow go unnoticed if he so wishes while being as massive as he is.

Yet you catch wind of one or two people getting a glimpse of the robot, and that's enough to finally direct you to a general area where he might be. You suspect that you don't yet know all the locations of his safehouses, but at this section of the city at least, you are pretty certain there are no other places that could serve him well than those you have pinpointed.

Reaching the entrance of the most secluded one, you reach for your hair, and pull a pin secured by the ribbon that ties it up.

....

here's the link for part 2!