#They've changed a lot since then.

[vincentmatthews]

3 for the micro stories💖

I trusted you. {🔗}

{Tw: Mentions of Physical Abuse, Yelling, Ptsd, Language}

Apologies for how long it took, I was at a family reunion. Also Hi and thank you for leaving this x3💕

~♡

Silent tears cascaded down her face. Her red mohawk was deflated, her eyes were blacked with bruises, her nose was bloody and crooked, and her lip was split. Red hand marks around her pale neck. Her collar and the ends of her shirt were torn. She had bloody bite marks on the side of her neck. She was leaning against the bathroom door, it was locked, yet she still had to lean her whole body weight against it.

"LET ME THE FUCK IN!!" The door knob jiggled, followed by heavy pounding on the door. This only caused her to cry hysterically.

"LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!" She screamed, slipping down door. She held her knees to her chest, her hands shaking.

She heard heavy footsteps retreat from the door. Next thing she knew he threw his whole body against the door, trying to break it down.

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" He beat on the door again.

"HAVE TO FUCKING REACH ME FIRST!" She yelled back. The footsteps retreated once more, followed by another slam on the door, this one shook her. "LEAVE ME ALONE!! please.." She cried, hearing him snarl at her through the door. He drug his nails down the wood, splintering the wood.

He huffed, stomping around the room, grabbing the nearest thing to him, and throwing it as hard as he could against the door.

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU, YOU FUCKING BITCH!"

She ran a hand through her hair, crying hysterically, her chest got heavy, feeling like she was suffocating.

"Leave me ALONE!!"

~

"Vine?" A soft voice brought her back to reality. She was sitting in a diner, staring down at her pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream. She still looked terrible, but now in fresh clothes, and having showered before breakfast. V stared at her with his big green eyes. Her nose has been reset, and her bruises were slightly faded.

"Hm?" Her green eyes looked up at V's, their eyes and hair color mirrored flawlessly.

"I asked if you're okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking.." She absent-mindedly stabbed a fork into a strawberry. "Thanks for lending me your clothes." The oversized pink and blue ombre US Cracks shirt, and a pair of simple black shorts.

"No problem!" He smiled at her, which devolved into a frown as he saw her start to space off again. He smiled again, trying to lighten the mood, hoping his smile would really sell the deal. "Hey! I heard they're reshowing that vintage action movie you like! We should go see it! What's it called again? Oh, yeah. John Wick??" She didn't even look up, which wasn't like her. He sighed, placing his hand on Vinessa's wrist, which she instinctively ripped out of his grip. "You know you can talk to me."

"Were you there?" She hissed at him, her voice was sharp and venomous.

"No, but-"

"Then you don't fucking know what it was like." She scraped the strawberry off of her fork, moving to carve away at her fluffy buttermilk pancakes.

"I have more fucking experience than you think I do. I may not know what exactly it was like, but I can understand."

"Oh, boo-hoo. I had a dead Rockstar in my head for 6 months, then hooked up with world-renowned Kerry Eurodyne. Yeah, Vince, your life was so fucking hard." She scoffed at him, shoving a forkful of pancakes in her mouth; at least she was eating. V fell silent, looking down at his lukewarm cup of coffee in his hands.

"It wasn't all puppies and happiness-"

"No, you were shitting rainbows-" She interjected, making V shrink in on himself. He took a deep breath, gathering his bearings enough so his voice didn't break.

"All I'm saying is maybe talking about it could help."

"Yeah-" She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Like you'd fucking care." V leaned back in the booth seat, rubbing a hand through his scruff.

"I do."

"Look, Vince. I appreciate it. But now isn't a good time." Vinessa let out a heavy exhale.

V stood up, which made Vinessa furrow her eyebrows at him.

"Tell Tom to put it on my tab. I'll call you a Del for a ride back to my apartment."

Vinny was either hurt or confused that their breakfast date was cut short.

"You're not staying?"

"No."

"Oh."

"I'll just meet you back at the apartment."

"Okay." She spoke awkwardly, her eyes looking down at her plate before back up at him.

"You'll be fine. Call me if you need me or start to feel panicked. And when we get back to the apartment, we'll talk about this." He pointed at her, up and down. He turned on his heel, walking out.

Vinessa looked down at her half-eaten, sad excuse for a breakfast. She didn't want to admit it, but she'd been suffering from nightmares every night since she'd left him. She'd have panic attacks where she'd see his face in the corner of her eye, in the sea of pedestrians. Someone would talk behind her on the street and she'd swear it was him. A hand on her shoulder from V would almost make her piss herself. It was only a month since she'd been free from him. 4 weeks since she'd called Vince, a complete mess of herself. Thankfully he was understanding enough to take her; he was her brother, it was his duty to take care of her. Despite her daily breakdowns, her night terrors where she'd wake up screaming and crying, and those nights where she just wanted to end it all.

She pushed her plate away, just as a middle-aged waitress trudged on by. She was a short and stout woman with thin, hay blonde hair pulled back into a messy bun. She didn't know what gave her more of an off-feeling; the deep facial lines and wrinkles she had, the white chin hairs, or the peacock green dramatic eyeshadow that went to her black penciled-in eyebrows. Maybe it was the faded pink waitress uniform that looked older than Vinessa, herself; stained from countless years worth of coffee, ketchup, and bacon grease.

"What else can I getcha, sweetie pie?" She held onto an off-yellow notepad and a click pen, more for aesthetics than it was for practicality. Along with it selling the "vintage" feeling.

"No, I'm good. Put it on Vincent Dean Matthe-I mean, Vincent Dean Eurodyne's tab." She corrected herself as she slipped outta the booth. The waitress scribbled the note on the tab.

"Perfect." She simply said before walking to the next table.

Vinessa sighed, quickly walking to the exit, her optics scanning the diner customers before walking out.

She swore she could see her ex's face morphed onto a passerby. She brushed it off as her eyes once again playing tricks on her. She took a deep breath as she stood on the curb, waiting for her cab. She felt herself start slip, her mind wandering once more.

~

"GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!!" Her hands pushed against his chest, hating how he easily overpowered her. His hands easily pinning down her wrists. "JAXX, GET THE FUCK OFF!" She threw her head back, then forward, ramming her skull into his. He jolted back, and faultered his grip just enough for her to pull loose.

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" He reached for her neck, gripping it. She took this time to punch him as hard as she could on his groin. That was just enough to knock the wind out of him.

"FUCKING TRY ME, BITCH!"

~

Her train of thought was cut off as her optics lit up a red, along with the familiar sound of her ringtone playing in her ear. She felt her stomach churn upon seeing the contact name. Her ride had just pulled around the corner, which elected a sigh of relief. She rejected the call, her eyes dimming, just as the door of the cab opened for her.

"I trusted you, but now I'm free." She whispered to herself, as she crawled in the back seat.

"Evening Ms, where to?" The engram greeted her cheerfully.

"Take me to the Glen Apartments." She smiled to self.

"Right away."

"Thanks." She leaned back in her seat, she reached in her pocket, retreaving a vintage pink ipod. She untangled the knot of white wired headphones. She pushed them into each ear, turning on the screen. After a minute of browsing, she selected a song.

Leaning her head against the window, Vinessa watched the city lights flash by. Periodically, her green eyes would catch a neon advertisement or a hologram. Then there it was, the Corpo Plaza. The large Holofish always brought a childish grin to her face. Her eyes would light up every time she saw them. Some days she'd just go and sit on the glass, watching the fish swim around in a circle. It was peaceful and oddly comforting in this hellscape of a city. The only thing that killed the vibe was that black, ominous, Arasaka building that loomed over the Plaza like a dark shadow.

It didn't take long for the cab to pull up to the apartment building. She didn't hear what he said due to her headphones, but she didn't have to. It was the same old script they're fed at the beginning of every ride.

'Where to Ms. Or Mr?'

'You have arrived at your destination'

Or if things get dicey and exciting.

'Combat Mode Activated'.

But those are only on rare occasions.

She remained plugged into her headphones as she walked past the receptionist counter, and into the elevator. She pressed the button, pulling out her headphones. Her optics lit up red again; the call was declined as soon as she saw the name.

V was sitting on the couch, eating a bowl of cookie dough ice cream, watching some trash television show where they meet someone and in 90 days, they have to decide if they want to marry them or not. She'd watched a few episodes with him, but quickly lost interest, except for when there was drama. Plus, it was more of a show he and Ker would watch.

"Hey-" She reached over, playing with his red short spiked hair.

"Hmm?"

"I think I wanna talk."

He flicked off the TV.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure Vine? You don't have to if you feel-"

"I want to." She smiled softly. "And like you said, it could help if someone knew. Plus, it could help to just get if off my chest."

[egophiliac]

Hi it's just to let you know that the official romanization of Revaan's name is Raverne ! Also they have romanized Baul's name to Baur !

Twst coming back at us again with the least expected romanization! thank you everybody (oh god my inbox) (no it's great, I literally asked for this and the reactions have been INCREDIBLE, thank you all!)

I do like Raverne though, I think it's got a nice fancy sound to it! (I had kinda suspected it was going to be an R instead of an L, so the fact that it's SO close to Laverne except for that is hilarious to me personally.) and Dragoneye Duke is honestly probably the best translation for his title, I wasn't envying the localizers that one. :') Baur instead of Baul I was NOT expecting, but in retrospect I think his name's supposed to be a reference to the Bauru crocodile, so that actually makes way more sense!

someone else also said Meleanor has become Maleanor, which is the REALLY weird one to me, because I was so surprised it was written as Mel instead of Mal in the first place?! oh god no I can't decide which one I like better. 😭 (I wonder if they might change it to Mal...they have made romanization changes before) (like I remember House of Distraction being corrected to House of Destruction in Playful Land) (I did check and she's still Mel for now, but I dunno, they might Mal her up and some point and save me from having to make a decision about which one to use) (HECK I CAN'T DECIDE)

uhhhh thank you for letting me ramble about anime names, let's just say MONOGRAMMED SWEATERS FOR EVERYONE

[isthatacalzone]

me: *seeing people yell about how they did Glintshore & Percy's death in the show*

also me: ..................anyway

[ultrainfinitepit]

Day 5: Shroud for Sancta’s Angeltober 2023 (by @sancta-seraphina)

[angeart]

My brain keeps going back to the hhau rambles and Grian asking Scar about taking his wings off and just...how incredibly short-sighted that "fix" would be. Because like, even if he lost one/both his wings and lived through it....he'd still have his instincts. He'd still chirp...he'd still wanna be high up in nests but he'd have to climb now. He'd never be able to wrap himself in wings again... depending on when that earring of Scar's might be the last of his feathers... and oh gosh post rescue? The hermits seeing him without wings and all the questions and looks of pity. Some well meaning hermit maybe brings him an elytra which he's never needed before and oh that could cause a spiral

-🎀

oh gosh. oh okay. i see you're bringing angst to my doorstep.

grian definitely wasn't thinking clearly in that moment. he simply reached a point where he can't see any other solution. so much of his anguish is tied to his wings. he's in pain and scared and he desperately wants it to stop.

he's learned to despise his wings. they cause him so much turmoil and everything that was ever good about them—everything he loved—has been meticulously erased. they're not pretty. they are dirty and grimy and itchy. heavy, unwieldy, muscles locked up, clumsy and aching from disuse. they no longer feel like a proper part of him. he's not using them, he's just constantly fighting to tuck them away. to make the world believe they're not there.

well then... wouldn't it be easier? if that was the reality?

to him, it sounds like a long-term solution to an otherwise never-ending problem.

his wings are a beacon, and wouldn't him and scar be so much safer without them? if he didn't have them, there'd be no reason for people to madly hunt him. maybe then they could stop running and catch their breath. maybe then scar wouldn't be in constant danger just from being near him. maybe then the fear lodged into grian's spine and the endless string of triggered panic attacks would finally go away.

yes, he'd still have his instincts. but he's already grounded. he's already not using his wings for any sort of comfort at this point, and flight is not an option. he's craving nests and high places, but that doesn't mean he can get them, wings or no wings, and— he was fine without that on hermitcraft! surely if the pain and fear stop, his instincts will calm down? surely, he can get at least a semblance of control back?

and you need to realise. there was no thought spared to the hermits. at this point, scar and grian have given up and no longer expect or even hope to ever be rescued. in their minds, there's no one coming to save them. there's no home to go back to. it's just this.

it will always be this.

and this is painful, and grian is clawing at ideas of making it better somehow—anyhow—no matter how drastic or gruesome that option might seem.

that all being said... man. that big what if. what if he really lost them? what if, one way or another, he managed to get rid of his wings? what if that happened and he survived?

your point about how scar's earring would be the last of grian's feathers is so heartrending. that'd be so tragic and sad.

and then post-rescue, the hermits would have even more proof of the damage. even more questions, too. even more helplessness as how to help, when the damage done is long since unfixable </3

grian, having to wrangle with having a safe environment to fly again, but having no wings to fly with... especially if that was his own choice. if it was preventable. ouch.

[icewindandboringhorror]

I got these shoes from someone recently but thought they were way too plain looking, so I set out on a quest to customize them with some sharpies and charms and miscellaneous ribbon I had in my craft drawers. Mostly sky themed (clouds, rainbows, rain, stars, etc.) because that's my favorite aesthetic, but I had to include some cat imagery as well, of course lol.

[alexcabotgf]

not to be true crime posting on main but i think i'm falling down the wm3 rabbit hole again

[viviennevincent2]

In 2022 I based my whole identity off these movies... ESPECIALLY ENCANTO. It was really bad. 😭

[nofacednerd]

honestly after stewing on it all day, I think at this point my biggest hope is that the writers see the dozens of people calling out what's been happening to Hughie this season for what it is (sexual assault) and take a step back to realize that, yeah, it is and it's shitty to pretend it isn't. Obviously it won't be properly acknowledged this season, but hopefully they'll address it respectfully and handle it better in season 5

[ruvviks]

Okay so I love zombie stuff, I love seeing how they affect the world and how people respond to them, and your premise sounds fascinating.

Did the government do much to try getting the zombies under control after the safe zones were made, or did they think that would be good enough? How much of the population was left after the initial outbreak and how is that affecting things in the current setting?

I have more I could ask but I'll save it for later 🤣 also if these are things talked about in the story feel free to keep your answer here vague

HIII THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS <33 most of it is indeed gonna be mentioned in the book as well as the story unfolds but since it will be very long until i actually finish anything i'll go over most of it here, keeping only a few things vague for bigger plot twists but also i try to not use shock value in this story so you can probably already figure out what's really going on but that just makes the story more fun >:^)

so as a bit of background information: the virus starts off as a virus that pretty easily spreads from human to human and then as soon as people start turning to zombies it basically turns into a different mutation that kills the host a LOT faster than the original strain does, the original strain is still out there during the initial outbreak which happens in europe but eventually fades out the more prominent the zombie version of the virus becomes because victims of the original strain end up getting bitten before the virus kills and turns them so they die before they can spread it. i hope that makes sense. i feel like it does

ANYWAY since it's a regular virus at first and just starts turning people at some point seemingly randomly (but in reality it's not as randomly as what humanity thinks), the first wave of zombies is HUGE in like. west/central europe. because everyone who's infected just becomes a zombie and especially in city areas they then turn 1-3 people before they get killed since these zombies are FAST especially in the early stages. it does take a while for it to spread beyond europe but generally speaking the initial outbreaks in countries cause a large chunk of mainly city populations to get wiped out pretty fast, which leaves most of specifically europe and city areas in asia in ruins. other continents have more time to prepare which causes the lethality rate to be a little less high but for some reason still not by much... INTERESTING...

so the initial outbreak is in europe and then starts spreading rapidly over land to other countries and then continents as well. it differs from country to country what kind of measures are taken to try and control it but for Some reason it seems like no matter what they do the virus just. keeps spreading... INTERESTING... it does take a good few years before it's spread all across the globe which is a fascinating phenomenon to think about. imagine having to continue your life as normal while there's ZOMBIES running around on another continent. i'd cry myself to sleep every night

the united states specifically uses an advisory body made of several external organizations (both irl and fictional, so for example the world health organization would be part of it but also just a bunch of fictional organizations that are kind of like that) which helps determining what the best course of action is. they came up with the blueprint for the network of safe zones and tunnels connecting them together and since the story takes place 30 years after the initial outbreak, other countries are now also using that strategy to at least get people to safer areas while they work on trying to manage the wasteland

one of the fictional organizations here is matrix corp, which started as an independent medical research organization back in the 1980s and has since then grown to hold the monopoly over most of the medical research of the western world. next to research they also focus on developing rapid research methods to speed up testing and trials for creating vaccines and such, which is why they end up gaining popularity so quickly over the years with all the diseases the world has to deal with leading up to the zombie apocalypse

in the story itself, matrix is still in charge of a lot of decisions in the world when it comes to "the safety of humanity" since governments have put so much of their trust in them already during other outbreaks, which were all controlled by matrix pretty easily. this arguably gives matrix more power in the world than the actual governments themselves have which is also an interesting dynamic and it's explored more in the story itself, especially with some very interesting things the main characters learn on their journey back to los angeles >:^)

as for the wasteland surrounding the safe zones, in the united states specifically there's not much being done about it surprisingly but at the same time it's not really clear for both the reader and the characters as to why. as also mentioned in the summary, while the main characters are traveling they learn that there is SO much more life left in the wasteland than what the government wants them to believe which adds to what i said earlier about the discoveries they make on their journey. there's many things going on that will change their view on their own "safe" lives within the walls of los angeles forever

[boymounter]

i got sent a 60-page pdf for doctors with trans patients, and the opening page just

this got me ok

(GAHT: gender-affirming hormone treatment)

[risari]

The other day I started thinking about my Love Live oc's after not thinking about them for months and now instead of sleeping I think I'm gonna make a new google doc and rework them a bit :3

[biblically-accurate-dca]

I thought the books said that Sun and Moon used to be theatre animatronics repurposed for the daycare?

to my knowledge the story is that they used to work in the theater, with sun serving as the main act who would turn evil when the lights turned off (which is where moon came from). when they were moved into the daycare they were reprogrammed to remove all their performance functions, but that darkness trigger couldn't be removed. and that, combined with the daycare area being prone to blackouts, caused moon to be a thing?

i don't know if their past as a theater animatronic is actually elaborated on beyond that though.. we actually don't even know if they were supposed to be important to the story at all

[whatudottu]

Absolute theory/headcanon/analysis/general idea legend whatudottu character arc of slowly becoming one of the four (4) Cerebrocrustacean fans in the entire fandom (even if Petrosapiens will always be #1 in its heart, which, you know, completely understandable NGL) let’s gooooo!

Also I can’t believe I haven’t made this connection until now but:

Cerebrocrustacean: “My people have a rich and complex history and culture, but most of the galactic audience boils us down to being nothing but ‘the violently bigoted xenophobes who keep destroying their own planet’ and it frustrates me to no end.”

Gourmand who’s been forced to hear the same “I can excuse cannibalism but I draw the line at marrying outside of your own race” joke over and over again: “Yeah, welcome to the club, pal.”

Me and my homies (4) being cerebrocrustacean fans: If cerebrocrustaceans have 0 fans we are dead, haha- Would buy merchandise to convince CN that Brainstorm is a cool transformation *looks over my shoulder to see the playdough brainstorm with removable brain toy that either I or my sibling got millions of years ago*

ANYWAY!

It's very evident when I don't think about a particular species when I have to look something up like the gourmand cannibalism, but seeing as though they have a collective pocket dimension where their stomach goes (at least that's where the logic got them in the show instead of being consumed food expelled in energy reflux), if cannibalism didn't implode the two gourmands like how bag of holding inception works then I suppose it's far better than *shudders* perk murk relationships. Got a whole 'house divided' 'alike in dignity' situation over here, Perkulet and Murktague having asses-

...You know what if I get a chance to think about gourmands in more detail I might turn that pocket dimension into a magic thing instead of a xenobiology thing that's just overall bullshit- comes free with potentially real cannibalism but like they've eaten 11 planets I think cannibalism just in general pales in comparison to what they could do-

Well, whatever cannibalism gourmands excuse and all the jokes they have to deal with about perk murk relationships being somehow much much worse, at least they don't get shoveled with 'violent bigots' that 'aren't smart enough to support their lifestyle without destroying their own planet' which well- I don't have any present headcanons as to why Encephalonus is on it's 4th edition yet but let me tell you, when cerebrocrutaceans found out the galvans lost their planet (admittedly to the Highbreed Invasion) and then galvans WEREN'T immediately assumed to have fucked up somewhere, you can bet that Dr Psychobos was one in the crowd that went absolutely livid.

[cathymee]

maybe it's to maintain a sense of tension & turmoil that would eventually reach an explosive peak, a sense of tug-of-war, a back-and-forth to hammer home the ideals they want to deliver and for the viewers to chew on, but although these arguments regarding hiroshi & his stance as a man torn between his loyalty for his country & the loyalty for his Filipino friends and lover is of course important, how they write these scenes & the points they present from this week alone is getting too repetitive...? literally the argument scenes from last night & tonight between adelina & hiroshi is basically the same; the ideas were the same, the dynamics were the same: the aggressive, radical adelina, bristling rage and fear over the injustices she's seen thus far, and the cautious, inspiriting hiroshi, all hopefulness and reassurance one moment as a lover, defensiveness and sternness as a japanese soldier in another. this debate will be ever-present ofc, it is one of the series' biggest conflicts, but it is unfortunately so easy to tell when it is a.) being pulled up as a main topic to move the plot along / be a necessary conflict for character development/introspection / be the conflict to deliver the morals & messages the writers want to send to their viewers, or b.) when it is being pulled up only for the drama and filler to pass the time. like watching the characters sit down to argue for 10 minutes, do other things for the plot for 2 minutes, then sit down again to argue for the next 20 minutes. lol.

[echokelly]

it really is all about the little things.

i miss my bandmate a lot, and I keep thinking about how i mentioned that my favourite starbursts are the yellow and orange ones and now whenever they offer me some, they only give me that flavour. how I mentioned one time aside that I can't do orange juice with pulp because of sensory issues, and without asking, they memorized what breakfast places served orange juice with pulp, and warned me the next time we went. I don't even remember which breakfast places in our little hometown serve oj with pulp, but they do. and when I visited the restaurant they worked at, they'd make me shirley temples from their own carton of orange juice. love always comes back to oranges huh.