#We've been starved and we're just excited

[stardustedknuckles]

Okay but I need to know what the people who have only watched c3 think about Beau and Caleb because I've been rotating them in my head for three years too long to be objective anymore but like. Getting to see them through the eyes of a new party just reminded me that even though so much of our delight in C2 was focused around the constant indignity of the Nein, they are objectively a flickering metronome between "how the fuck are these people alive" and "this is the most hyper competent group of mercenaries I've ever seen" and I just. Do they know. Do they know that Beau is so fucking cool. Are there people who learned these two npcs have a whole campaign and want to learn more about them. I look at these two and see a montage of tiefling dicks and red eyes and promising to kill the other if something goes wrong. I see Caleb smearing mud and bat shit on Beau's face and Beau just resigned even as she makes the most aggrieved and annoyed sounds, Beau hauling Caleb's dissociated ass over her own skinny shoulder and walking him to safety. I look at them and see 500 hours and more of the empire siblings. The weeks and months they spent going from hating the parts of themselves they saw in each other to loving in the other what they still struggled with in themselves. I see chosen siblings, best friends. What do other people see?

[munsons-melody]

eddie’s girl

summary: you catch steve singing about you even though you’re dating eddie

pairing: boyfriend!eddie x female!henderson!reader, little bit steve x reader (?)

cw: implications of sex but that’s about it

recommended song: jessie’s girl by rick springfield

word count: 2.1k

a/n: been meaning to write this for a while and i finally got around to it :) not really proofread, and of course feedback is always welcome :)

masterlist

i do not consent to having any of my works republished, translated, or posted to any other site except here. if you see my works anywhere but tumblr, it has been republished without my knowledge, consent, or permission.

——

"tell me again why we need to drop by harrington's" eddie asked with a bit of annoyance

you chuckled at his attitude and continued to flip through the new magazine robin bought that you asked to borrow

"because i left my science textbook at school and was sick the day i needed to bring it home and steve has a copy i can borrow since we're in the same class" you explained nonchalantly

to be honest, you kinda liked the fact he was kinda jealous over you and steve's friendship, it meant he cared, not just about you but about your relationship

but you also knew that he was smart enough to know that you are his and no one else's

"can't you just miss one assignment? i'm sure miss whoever teacher is won't care" eddie said, crawling into your bed next to you and pulling you into his arms causing a giggle to emit from your lips and you held onto the magazine

"it's mr. peters, you know that, babe you had him last year" you squealed as you felt his hands move down your sides

"oh did i? i can't remember i was too busy watching your gym class outside" he said in a flirtatious tone, kissing your neck

"that sounds just a tad creepy" you told him and he laughed

"well i meant that it a bit distracting to pay attention to his boring lectures when you were outside on the track running in those shorts" he said again, and pressed a kiss to the side of your collarbone

"well i don't have the luxury of staring off while he's talking about gametes and zygotes" you laugh, pushing your self up and attempting to leave eddie's firm grasp

"oh honey you don't have to make up words to cover up the fact you're thinking about me in class" he said with a hint of surliness in his voice, propping himself up on one elbow as he watch you roll off the bed and start to slip on your pants

"eds cmon, seriously i need to get that textbook so i can pass this stupid assignment so i know the answers to the stupid quiz we have to take" you told him with a huff after you finished putting on your jeans and throwing your sweater over your t shirt

"okay babe, but we're stopping to get burgers on the way home since i'm starving" he said throwing his dio shirt over his very beautiful physique

"sounds like a perfect plan" you said with a smile as he walked over and kissed you before he grabbed his keys and started to walk to his shoes

"you know i had been craving a chocolate milkshake so i'm very excited" you told him as you put on your shoes

"wow it's like we've been together for almost a year and we know each other a little too well to the point where we can practically read each others minds" eddie said with a sarcastic smirk and you playfully rolled your eyes

"wow really i hadn't known" you replied back with a mocking tone

the two of you walked out to eddie's van parked in the drive way and got in, and he started the engine

the radio came on at full volume causing the two of you to jump as eddie quickly turned it down, forgetting that he left it on last night on his drive over to your house

"jesus sorry about that" eddie said with wide eyes as he started to drive

"it's okay" you giggled, your heart finally calming down

the two of you drove to steve's house which took at least a good 10 minutes

before you knew it, you were pulling into steve's driveway

the last time you and steve talked you told him you'd be over at 6 to get his spare copy of the textbook and you hoped he didn't forget, but seeing his car in the driveway put your worry at ease

eddie put the car in park and you looked at him with soft eyes, "thank you for driving" you said sweetly, as you put your hand on his cheek and it looked like he was going to melt under your touch

"always babe" he said with a soft smile back

he kissed you softly and slowly, leaving a permanent smile on your face as you exited his car and walked to steve's front door

you knocked a couple of times but had no answer, you looked back to see eddie fiddling with some magazine he had laying in the car and noticed steve's car was the only one in his driveway besides eddie's

you heard music coming from inside so you knew he was home and decided to head in, yelling a "hello!", hoping he would hear you over the music

you walked up the stairs and went down the hall to where steve's room was located

the familiar tune of 'jessie's girl' rang through his speakers and the shower running, with steve's voice coming through his bathroom door

you headed into his room, immediately seeing the book on his desk and you figured you'd leave him a quick note and take the book so you can get home and start studying as soon as possible

you started to turn down the speakers so you wouldn't go deaf when suddenly you heard steve belting out to the song but as you started to giggle you heard him change the original lyrics

"Cause she's watching him with those eyes

And she's loving him with that body, I just know it

And he's holding her in his arms late, late at night

You know, I wish that I had

Eddie's girl

I wish that I had Eddie's girl

Where can I find a woman like that?

Like Eddie's girl

I wish that I had Eddie's girl

Where can I find a woman-

Where can I find a woman like that?"

if it was any other song, hearing his voice crack while attempting to scream out the notes would've made you laugh and you definitely would've made fun of him with it but you stood there baffled

that was until the shower cut off and you heard movement on the other side of the door, and you quickly picked up one of his pens and started writing on a note pad

steve opened up the door to the bathroom and saw you standing at his desk, hunched over scribbling away

"oh shit hey" he said, padding over to his dresser to grab some clothes, his towel hanging low around his waist

you turned to steve, trying to keep your cool

"oh hey, sorry you didn't hear me knock so i let myself in and i was just going to leave you a note and take the book cause i really have to get to studying" you admitted, putting the pen down

he nodded and you picked up the book, folding yours arms around it and pressing it against your chest

"you know your speakers are very loud" you said in an effort to break the tension and steve chuckled

"yeah well i gotta hear it through the door" he smiled and you nodded

"well i better get going, eddie's waiting for me" you admitted and he nodded

"eddie's here?" he questioned

"yeah he drove me over, we're going to study tonight" you told him and you could see an expression in his eye shift, but you couldn't see to what

it was almost a mix of jealously and sadness but you didn't want to jump to conclusions

"oh well good luck with your studying, i don't want to keep you waiting too long" he said with a small smile and you nodded

"thank you again steve, you're the best" you told him with a small smile and headed out of his room, down the stairs and back to eddie's van

he noticed you walking and threw whatever magazine he had in his hand and tossed it behind him, starting the car back up as you hopped into the passenger seat

"got it?" he asked as he started to reverse

"yep!" you told him as you fixed your seatbelt

"good, now my smart babe can study to be even smarter" he said with a smile as he started back to your house

the drive was a little too quiet for eddie's liking but to be fair, you were thinking about steve and the fact he was singing about you?

you'd never thought of steve in that way and didn't know how to feel if it's true that he does like you

"everything okay pretty girl?" eddie asked, gently putting his hand on your thigh and you moved to look at him, nodding

"yeah just tired, maybe you and i can skip studying and just cuddle?" you asked and he smiled

"of course baby" he said, sliding his hand up your thigh a little higher

"your parents aren't home right?" he asked and you rolled your eyes, putting the pieces together

"eddie baby, does this have to do with the magazine you were looking at earlier?" you cocked an eyebrow

"uh no..." he trailed off as you leaned over the seat and picked up the magazine, looking at the cover

"really? a playboy?" you giggled and he sighed

"it was the only one within reach and you were up there for like ever and i was imagining you in the outfits they were wearing..." he said as his grip fasted around the wheel

"oh eddie! do you love me? do you need me? do you need to fuck me so badly" you moaned out, a giggle following as you were joking and eddie's eyes darkened

"really babe?" he said with a flat face, sending a quick glare to you as he pulled into your driveway

he turned off the ignition and noticed that your parents car was nowhere to be found, probably cause it was their designated date night leaving the house empty till midnight

"oh i'm sorry baby" you said, pulling him into a kiss which he delightfully responded to, kissing you back

he started kissing down your neck when you stopped him

"eds, let's go inside" you said with a small smile, tugging at his collar and he nodded

he grabbed this things and got out of the car, running quickly to your door and helping you out, shutting the door behind you

he laced your fingers with his, as you walked from the driveway up to your door where you quickly unlocked it and went inside

you shut the front door behind you and turned on some of the lights you had turned off on your way out and headed to your room

once in your room, you dumped your bag and the science book on the desk as you heard eddie yell a "i'm gonna use the bathroom" and you responded back a quick "okay”

you changed into your pajamas, just a shirt and some comfy pants and sat against your headboard on your bed

you allowed yourself to think about steve, what happened, and how it made sense in your brain- everything he did before you and eddie started dating

he was never your boyfriend but you did almost everything together, mostly thanks to dustin, but were you sending him mixed signals you didn't even know you were?

eddie arrived at your door a few minutes later, and shut it behind him

his shoes were off, along with his vest and leather jacket and he shimmed off his jeans and immediately jumped into bed with you, pulling you into his arms and snapping you out of your thoughts

"y/n are you okay? seriously you've been weirdly quiet ever since steve's house" he said and you laid on your side, looking at him as he laid an arm around your torso

you sighed, not wanting to start drama but knowing eddie should know about it

"okay, when i went up to steve's room i heard him singing in the shower and he changed the lyrics to jessie's girl to sing about 'eddie's girl' and he seemed upset you were waiting for me downstairs" you admitted, fiddling with the hem of his shirt

“oh” was all he said, causing your heart to sink

“ed’s i know that you know that im all yours, no matter what right? i don’t want this to be a problem” you said nervously

“i know babygirl, you’re all mine and i trust you” he said with a small smile, kissing you lightly

you felt at ease with eddie as you nuzzled your face into his chest but there was a little bit of steve still lingering on your mind

fin.

[argisthebulwark]

TES Summer Fest Day Three: Ghost/Hungry

summary: Vilkas swears that he's just being a good friend - you're stuck far from home and he can't let you starve. gn vampire reader/Vilkas, no gendered pronouns or y/n used. warnings: blood obv, fangs in skin, description of biting/feeding. sexually suggestive, minors should not read or interact with this post. @tes-summer-fest TES Summerfest Masterlist

"Just do it already."

"No. I told you I'm not doin' that." Vilkas rolls his eyes and bites back whatever insult his tongue has lined up next. Your crossed arms, the guarded way you're standing a few steps away from him, the way you won't meet his eyes - it's unlike you. Usually he's begging for an inch of personal space yet he quickly decides that this distance is far worse.

"We don't have an option."

"Of course we do. I can wait."

"You plannin' to starve?" He barks, stomping closer. He notices the nervous flush in your gaunt cheeks and can hear the way your heart kicks up when he grows near but your glare is gone. He's heard your stomach growling and seen the way you struggle to eat the salted meats he's offered - it's not enough.

"I'll be fine -"

"We've been snowed in here for days. We're out of options." Grinding his teeth together, Vilkas swallows back against his temper. He sees the fear in your eyes as they stare up at him, hands nervously playing in front of your chest.

"I can't ask this of you." Your voice wobbles, tears gathering in the corners of your eyes and his rage fizzles out. He's choking on words he can't bear to say aloud, choosing instead to grab your wrist and tug you toward the bed.

The blizzard began five days ago. If the mission had gone as intended, a branch of the Silver Hand would be extinguished without issue and you'd both be warming up in the grand hall of Jorrvaskr. Vilkas snorts at the mental image of your nose pressed to a frosted window demanding that he, your 'very best friend', play in the snow with you.

Instead, you'd taken an arrow to the gut and Vilkas' pack was abandoned in favor of speed. He'd carried your broken body to the nearest village and pleaded with the one healer to patch you up enough to get home. He didn't give a shit about the villagers glowering from their porches, he knew how terrifying he'd appeared; a bloodied stranger limping in to town and begging for help fixing some half dead vampire didn't inspire much warmth from the locals.

Vilkas is relieved that you fall to the rickety bed at his side. This abandoned cabin doesn't offer much but coverage as you wait for the storm to pass, expired rations enough to keep Vilkas alive and a couple blankets to stop your shivering. Your fingers are chilly when he feels them on his chest and he stomps down on the fucking ramming behind his ribs.

"What if I hurt you?" You whisper, big eyes staring down at his face. Vilkas fights to convince himself that his heart is hammering because he's about to let a vampire feed on him, that it has absolutely nothing to do with the idea that your lips will be on his skin. He forces his gaze to remain locked in yours, staunchly refusing to look at your uneasy grimace.

"Just stop before I'm dead." He grunts, squeezing his eyes shut. It has to be because he's looking at you that he's so flustered; your wide, worried eyes and the way you bite so nervously at your lower lip. It'll be over in a moment and he can forget everything.

Fuck, he's wrong.

Your lips sear into his skin when they press to his throat. Your hands are pressed to his chest and he knows you feel the breath he sucks in, praying that you interpret it as mere nerves. His skin is tingling when you lean in closer, lips lingering over his throat just close enough to tantalize him.

"You sure?" Your breath ghosts over his skin and fuck, all those walls he's built up are crumbling. Vilkas spirals from the threat of your mouth on his skin, entire body suddenly alive.

"Get it over with." His words are missing their usual venom. Excitement colors his cheeks as anticipation chokes out whatever quip he tries to make, mind going blank when you bite him.

Sharp and quick, Vilkas feels your fangs sink into the sensitive skin of his throat. He'd worried about the pain or discomfort but he hadn't prepared for this - the shameful, all consuming arousal flooding his brain. Fists clenched at his sides he swears to withstand this without making a scene.

Vilkas fights to tame his mind, though each slight shift of your body against him leaves him wishing once more. The feeling of you relaxing into him, fingers curling into his shirt and lips resting easily against his throat, it takes time to curb the need to touch you. This is a necessity, an offer to keep you alive. Nothing more.

He will get through this. He repeats those words to himself over and over, gritting his teeth and forcing his body to remain rigid against the bed. It is for survival. It means nothing. He will remain calm. He will not make a fool of himself.

It takes all of his willpower to disregard the little fucking noise you make as his blood flows over your tongue - the soft sigh of contentment. His jaw aches from holding back the filthy sounds your touch summons, even the hint of pain feels good because it's you.

Vilkas isn't ready for your tongue to run over his throat. It's quick - the sensation of your fangs slipping from his skin and tongue skimming over the little marks but it's enough to wreck his self control. Some needy little sound rumbles through his chest and he's grabbing for you, dizzy from the loss of blood and drunk on your touch.

"Sorry, did I hurt you?"

Vilkas gazes up at you, completely speechless at how beautiful you look. Loose hair falls in pretty strands over your worried eyes, cheeks fuller and more flushed after feeding on him. And oh, the way your parted lips are smeared with the bright red of his blood - he can't look away. Vilkas watches numbly as his hand raises to your cheek, thumb swiping at the stain on your soft lips.

"No." He mumbles, distracted only by a tickling on his neck. He watches your eyes dart to where you'd bitten him and instinctively Vilkas arches his chin back, pleading with you for one more touch.

Fuck, your tongue traces up his throat once more and Vilkas sees stars. His need for you consumes every thought, each nerve in his body alight in a way he'd never felt before when you press a little kiss to his wound. Some desperate sound claws up his throat and Vilkas can't clamp down on it anymore. He needs you.

"You should rest." You instruct, tugging a blanket around his body. Vilkas wants to thank you or curse you for breaking down his walls but his mind is shamefully empty. He gazes up at you, one hand closing around your hip in a silent request for you to stay.

Thankfully, you remain at his side. Vilkas' eyes drift closed once he feels you curl into his chest, whispered thanks and apologies occasionally floating to his ears. He doesn't say a word, too focused on the feeling of your finger tracing little circles around the mark you've left on his throat.

He hopes it leaves a scar.

[thezombieprostitute]

The Arrangement - Part 9

Summary: Jake's done a lot of things to keep his sister, and then his niece, safe from his parent's influence and manipulation. If he wants to keep them safe, he has to marry you.

Warnings: Bad parents, Body shaming, Implied abuse. Let me know if I missed any!

Part 8 -- Part 10

Series Masterlist

Jake had his calendar open on his phone, putting in all of the events the two of you had been volun-told to attend. His heart sank as he realized just about every weekend would be taken up with something. He was going to have to work with you to coordinate calendars, clothes, and everything else.

"And don't forget to show up at the office first thing Monday morning," Montgomery tells him. "We've got an entire new employee orientation set up just for you."

"Thanks," Jake nods, exhaustion heavy in his voice. "8 AM, right?"

Montgomery laughs. "That's the arrival time for the drones and minions," he jabs. "But I suppose it would work to help endear you to them. Just don't expect anyone but your secretary to be there until at least 10."

"Right," Jake says through gritted teeth. "And do we need to get fitted for clothes or anything?"

"You saw the ones we got for you in the closet, yes?" Cordelia says with a raised eyebrow.

You try to hide your wince. If the parents knew you weren't actually sharing a bed you'd be in even more trouble.

"Yes, mother," Jake lies. "I just...didn't know if...if we'd need something special or tailored for the events."

The parents seem to buy his explanation and you breathe a little easier. Feeling full of nervous energy you keep yourself busy by refilling drinks and gently ask if anyone needs anything else.

Your mother snorts, "it's such a small wonder you haven't been able to lose weight, thinking people need more than that feast of a breakfast."

Jake's mother, Cordelia, laughs in agreement. "Seriously, girls these days are just too lacking in self control to starve themselves like we had to."

"It's such a shame," Carol shakes her head. Jake bites back a comment, reminding himself of what happened just an hour before when he tried to defend you. "I swear, the 'body positive' trend is undermining the strength of will of the younger generations. Who needs to eat to be healthy? Just take a few multivitamins a day."

Cordelia nods, "and you know they're not going to be able to make it through a pregnancy, either. The babies are going to be so fat!"

Your mother's follow up comment gets cut off by her phone ringing. You recognize the ringtone as the one she uses for when Travis calls her. "Travis!" Carol cheerily cries as she answers. You shouldn't be affected, but it still hurts that she never answers your calls with such excitement.

Everyone pauses when her smile drops. A hand covers her mouth and she starts shaking. "What hospital," she gasps, getting everyone's attention. "We'll be right there!" She hangs up and turns to your father, "Travis was in a car accident! We have to go!"

Your parents step away from the table, followed by Jake's parents.

"Should we go with you?" Jake offers, standing from the table.

"No," Montgomery shoots him down. "Only so many people allowed and we don't want to cause a scene by bringing a crowd."

Your mother starts sobbing and you go to comfort her but she smacks your hands away. "If we hadn't been visiting you he'd be okay," she snaps at you. You lower your head in shame. "You just had to keep us here, didn't you? I know you've always hated Travis. You know he needs more attention than you. And now he's in the hospital!"

"Let's go, Carol," your father intones. "Our son needs us more than she needs to be yelled at."

Carol huffs and storms out, followed by your father. You want to cry but Jake's parents are still here and you need to be a good hostess.

You turn to them to ask if they need anything but Cordelia sees your face and immediately scoffs. "Don't bother trying to keep us here. We're not that interested in you and now that your parents are gone, so are we."

William grabs his coat and tells Jake, "make sure not to screw things up worse. Anything happens to ruin this arrangement and your niece is up for grabs."

Jake's parents head out, leaving the two of you. That's when you start sobbing.

Jake's immediate thought is to comfort you, but he also knows he shouldn't touch you without permission. But would it be weird to ask when you're clearly already upset? Do you need words instead of hugs? Do you need water? Food? Blankets? Something else? He stands, torn with indecision, for several moments before moving close, but not too close, and asking, "what do you need?"

Caught off guard by the question you shake your head, "I don't know."

"Okay...let's start simple," Jake's voice wavers as he tries to keep himself calm. "Do you want a hug?"

You sob for a few more seconds before silently nodding. A hug does sound nice. You're not used to them, but they can feel good, right?

Taking your nod as permission Jake gently wraps his arms around you and you lean into him. When he helped you with the spilled coffee you got a sense of how much muscle his arms had but the hug solidified it. More importantly, he was so gentle with you, despite being so strong. You cry even harder at the realization of how much you've needed such a gentle touch in your life. You push a little harder into Jake's chest and he doesn't move. He doesn't say anything, doesn't do anything other than just hold you and let you cry.

Part 8 -- Part 10

Series Masterlist

Tagging: @alicedopey; @ashdoctor; @delicatebarness; @ellethespaceunicorn; @irishhappiness

@jaqui-has-a-conspiracy-theory; @icefrozendeadlyqueen; @lokislady82; @ronearoundblindly

[dessertpanda]

Goku x Vegetas Daughter

"Y/N" Trunks called out into the forest where his elder sister was busy training. "You sure she's here Trunks?" Goten asked also in search of his sister figure "KAHMEHAMEHAAA" there was a yell off in the distance and a large blast followed "FOUND HER" both boys perked up at the sound. They where quick to take off into the air following the destruction that was left behind. "Okay that was awesome, but you have to make sure you use you hips more when you send it" The boys landed next to her and Goten's father. "Ah dad, what are you guys doing?" Goten asked with Goku standing there with his hands on Y/N's hips showing her the movement he wanted her to do. "Oh Goten, Trunks Hey guys" Goku smiled brightly and released Y/N hips. "I was showing Y/N how to get more power behind her Kahmehamha" Y/N stood straight and looked up at Goku. "Thanks for the training session, Dad refuses to help me with my form" She said bowing in thanks. "It's not a problem at all, always a pleasure when it's just the two of us" Goku brought her into a side hug, his arm slung over her shoulder.  "Oh yeah, Mom said the feast is ready, she said we're just waiting on you Goku" Trunks remembering as to why they where there. "OH YEAH, I'm starving, come on Y/N we better not keep them waiting" Goku was already in the air the two youngsters following suit. "Oh um a-actually, Mom said she doesn't want to see Y/N right now" Trunks frowned as he told his sister what their mother had said "WHAT but Y/N had a full day of training and she's hungryyyyy" Goku wined at the information. "Dad maybe it's best if we leave her, m-mom not happy you've been spending so much time with her either" Goten said. He was trying to keep his farther out of the dog house. "but, Y/N, are you?" Goku was so sad, Him and Y/N where like best friends, they battled, hangout, and even took the boys training together all the time "Oh it's okay Goku, go eat I'm sure you're hungry. Plus I'm um mm Fasting thats right, a cleanse" She lied, she knew he would offer to stay or bring her food but that would only get him in trouble with his Wife. "You sure, I could" "No no go enjoy, I'll be here like always" she smiled and ushered them to leave. "Well okay, I guess we better go then" and with that the boys took off heading towards Collapse corp.  "Dad you have to stop running off with Y/N" Goten complained " Yeah Goku, Mrs.ChiChi thinks you're cheating with my sister" Trunks complainant as he circled to the other side of Goten. "WHAT, that's insane, sure Y/N is sweet and really pretty and a great fighter but I love ChiChi, it's just nice having someone to hang with that can match my energy" Goku confessed while looking back "She makes me feel normal, you know?" He look back forward. "I get it dad we love Y/N too but nobody else does" Goten felt so sad whenever discussing her. "But i just don't understand, She kind, smart, powerful, and just perfect" Trunks defended his sister. "I agree Trunks, there has to be more to her and Vegeta's history then what we have been told" Goku face changed to one of determination "and I think we need to find out" "Yeah, lets do it" the boys where more than excited to find out why their beloved sister was hated so much. "I thinks we've been left out of the loop and I want in" Goku said "ALRIGHT OPERATION UNCOVER IS A GO" Trunks cheered before they began their decent to the ground. 

"GOKU WERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" Goku was already saddened by his wife's voice. "AHAH ChiChi hey, I've just been training with Y/N" Goku said a light sweat forming. "WHAT HAVE I SAID ABOUT THAT BITCH" Chichi ignited with straight furry. "She's a whore who just wants in your pants" she glared at Goku, If only looks could kill. "HEY, DON'T SAY THAT ABOUT MY SISTER" Trunks desperately wanted to defend his sister but he was never allowed to. "TRUNKS" Bulma holler walking in with Vegeta "What have I said about calling that THING you sister" Vegeta scolded him. "I,- DAD SHE'S YOUR KID" Trunks was almost in tears "He's right Mr.Vegeta" Goten intervened "Goten, shush" ChiChi was quick to silence him. The boys always argurded about Y/N especially Trunks, He loved her deeply but today a new voice intervened.  "You know Vegeta, I've always wondered how Y/N came to be" Goku pushed the conversation on. "I've already told ya, She was a Fling back when I was working with Frieza" "Right but that doesn't explain why you hate her" Gohan was now involved. He had always been fawn of the girl, but his mother had forbidden him from talking with her as they grew up. "I never asked for her, she nothing but a burden that is utterly useless to me" Vegeta set the cup he was holding down. "Plus she's far to weak to actually be my child" he had a smug look on his face. "Naw I don't think so Vegeta, She's really strong. I've seen it myself" Goku was determined to defend her as much as he could "ARE YOU CALLING ME A LIAR KAKAROT?" Now Vegeta was enraged. So Bulma stepped in "Now boys please, Goku you know we don't accept Y/N because she is nothing but a danger, and Vegeta said her mother was rather hot headed meaning she could explode at any minute" "But Vegeta's hot headed, why is Y/N any different?" Gohan asked. He has never truly accepted their reasons but he had always respected them being thats how he was raised. "BECAUSE Y/N'S MOTHER WAS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS" Bulma yelled in anger her veins showing and pulsing. "Damn Bulma cool your tits" Goku was surprised by her sudden outburst. "Kakarot just drop it" Vegeta warned. "No" for once Goku was taking his stand. Y/N is very dear to him and He wants to know why they should hate her. "GOKU" ChiChi was surprised by her husbands serious tone. "Kakarot" "Y/N is very dear to me, she's one of my best friends and both her and I deserve an explanation as to why she's hated" Goku was stern with his voice "So do they because they love her" He said pointing to Trunks and Goten. "Kakarot" Vegeta interrupted in a much softer tone. "ARE YOU CHEATING ON CHICHI?" Bulma threw out a rather large accusation "WHAT" "I KNEW IT GOKU, YOU'RE ALWAYS OFF WITH HER" Tears where running down her face it's like the women could cry on command. "TELL ME DO YOU FUCK HER? HUH YOUR BEST FRIENDS KID? DISGUSTING MAN, SHE'S LIKE A CHILD!!" Chichi was balling and hyperventilating. She was angry one second and now shes this. Goku was so confused "WHY WOULD YOU ASSUME THAT?" then it clicked,  Goku was suddenly very aware of what was going on. Bulma and ChiChi were hiding something and they created a scene to cover it up pinning him as the villain. "THAT'S NOT FAIR, ACCUSING ME OF SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" Goku tried to defend himself but as he looked at his friends for support, all eyes where on him with nothing but hate. "I think, I thinks you've done enough damage" 18 said coming to hold ChiChi.

"What, I-I didn't do" Goku was cut off by a swift punch from Krillin. "Goku, I thought you where better than that". The emotion that Goku felt was so unreal, How could they not even let him defend himself, and even worse think so little of Y/N. "Fine, I'll leave, But don't come calling for me to save you" Goku hovered above the ground doing one last look through the group. He saw a distraught Vegeta, as is he was regretting something. He didn't stick around to listen tho, a quiet goodbye and with that Goku left, flying back to the only comfort he was guaranteed to always have . Y/N. "DAD/GOKU WAIT" the young boys got ready to follow before they where intercepted by their mothers. ChiChi held Goten close crying about how she was betrayed and heart broken and how she needed comfort from her son, her child who she knew loved her. "M-Mom let go, HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT" the sudden energy spike from Goten surprised her and she released. She was expecting him to listen like he always did but he retaliated.  " Y/N is very kind and Dad loves you, H-how could you" Goten had tears in his eyes now, "Come on Trunks let's go" Goten pulled Trunks out of Bulma's grasp. "Trunks you leave, you'll be in deep shit" Vegeta threatened. Trunks looked at his parents right in the eyes and said, "Makes sure it's so deep I'm at the same level as you" They then took off to the sky in pursuit of Goku. 

As Goku landed in the forest, he was quick to start his search. "Y/N" He yelled. He walked aimlessly for a good minute till "You won't find her like that" a voice spoke from behind him "Boys!?" He was surprised to see both Trunks and Goten. "You boys should go home, They hate me, no need for them to hate you too" Goku had a look of utter defeat, like his whole world just came crashing down. Which is kinda did in a sense, Lost his Wife, Home, his friends and all because their was a damn secret that 'had' to be kept. "Dad, w-what happened back their wasn't your fault for once, t-that was just scary" Goten admitted beneath his breath. "Yeah Goku, that wasn't right" For the first time in forever Goku felt like crying. He was genuinely heartbroken. Sure he married ChiChi because she tricked him at first but he came to tolerate her enough to considerate love and he loves their two wonderful kids. Then his best friend that he grew up with, was the one that accused Him of being the cheater. She's known him the longest and to think she thought so little of him "Trunks, d-do you know where Y/N is, I really need her" Goku was so defeated that he was admittedly asking for help, he was on the verge of begging for it. "Y-yeah" Trunks began to lead them. It genuinely scared the boys to see Goku, the worlds savior like that, hollow almost life less. He was stripped of almost all his will to fight, he even left without eating. "She has a house she built, it's huge too" Trunks was almost bragging about it. Making an attempt to brighten the mood "But you need to have a secret code to find it" he walked right up to the mountain wall and began to feel around.

"Trunks?" "FOUND IT" Trunks interrupted Goten. "Dear the gods" he began. "My family is not always my blood," Trunks took a breath "bless the all father, This mask has seen life through death, this is a honor" as he finished the wall began to shake, splitting in the middle and forming into the shape of a door. "Come on, there's not long till it closes" Trunks rushed the other two in after him. "TRUNKS IS THAT YOU?" Y/N voice came from somewhere within the house. "YEAH AND GOTEN AND GOKU" He hollered informing his sis of the extra guests " Ah Goku, Goten, I just finished Dinner" Y/N had came from the stairway down the hall. She was dressed for bed in her Bowser P.J pants and a black tank-top. "Welcome, I could sense you guys, sorry I just got out the shower" She apologized while trying to dry her dripping hair. "Ah it's no problem Y/N, just glad you could have us" Goku smile was back but it wasn't as bright as it usually was. Y/N was quick to notice, and seeing his slight red eyes told her everything she needed to know. "Hey boys, why don't you go set up the guest room, I'm assuming your staying the night?" Y/N knew the answer but she just want confirmation. "Yep, is that okay?" Goten asked while Trunks was already up the stairs. Y/N bent down to Goten height, "Of course baby, go help Trunks tho, sleep over" she did little jazz hands to emphasize her excitement. "THANKS Y/N, I LOVE YOU" Goten was quick to hug her then sprint up the stair in tow of Trunks. Y/N smiled but it faded as she adjusted her view onto the man who had settled in on the couch. "Goku, you okay?" Y/N was caution, this was new territory for her. "Have you ever fucked up so bad that your life fell apart?" Goku voice was nothing more than a whimper. Goku cursing surprised her slightly. "You know I'm a fuck up" Y/N sat next to Goku, opening her arms for him. He was quick to fall into them. "Y/N, tell me, why are you hated?" "I-uh, I really shouldn't say m-my farther will be mad" Y/N had made a promise to keep their history private. Even though he hated her, she still respected him. "Y/N, I-I lost everything..." Goku took a shaky breath in.  Wide eyed Y/n ran her finger through his spiky hair. "Goku, what happened?" her whispered voice sent a calming chill down his spine. "ChiChi and Bulma accused me of cheating with you, and then everyone turned against me. my friends, my wife, my best friend, everyone" Goku finished with a hiccup. He adjusted so he was now laying on her lap "But, why, you do so much for them" She felt tears, did this really happen and why would they turn so fast? "They where mad I was with you, then they stared saying bad things about you, a-and I wanted to defend you but then I asked what happened in your past, that's when it all went down hill" small tears striped down her face. 'did he really risk everything for me?' she thought to herself. She felt horrid, she would hate to lose Goku but if it was his happiness or hers "Goku, I'm not worth your happy life, just apologize and then promise to never see me again, that should fix it" She wanted him to be happy, the people who love her where always suffering because of her. She didn't want that. "Goku you have a wonderful family, wife, friends, if they don't want anything to do with me then leave me, I'm not worth all your happiness" Y/N grew up being told she was worthless, she didn't want Goku to waste his life on her. "You know Y/N thats really selfish of you" He was now staring right at her, feeling her tears drip onto his cheeks fusing with his own, "My life is amazing because you're in it, You're my best friend Y/N, life without you this wouldn't be as fun" He smiled up at her, a real smile. "Oh Goku, you are my best friend too, and I" She was interrupted by the pitter patter of feet running down the stairs. "Y/N, WE FINISHED" Trunks yelled, in search of her, " Yeah can we eat now?" Goten asked finding them sitting on the couch.

"Oh, I'm guessing you told her?" Goten asked seeing both of them crying, he was scared but he did what he felt was right, however "D-Dad, where are we going to live?" Goten had come to that realization while setting up the bed, He didn't want to go back home and he knew they where searching for them. "Umm I'm not sure yet buddy but we'll figure it out" Goku only hoped to calm his poor son who was trapped in the middle of this whole mess. "What do you mean figure it out? The answer seem pretty clear to me" Y/N said removing Goku from her lap and standing to comfort the boy. "Here obviously, I have enough room as long as Trunks is okay with bunking?" She looked over at her brother for approval. "HELL YEAH, I GET AN ACTUAL SIBLING" Trunk would be more than happy to share, especially with Goten. "Goku, you can take my bed tonight since the other room isn't ready yet" Y/N picked both Trunks and Goten up and made her way to the kitchen "No no I'll take the couch, really" Goku was not usually one to give up a good sleep but at the moment he felt like he should. "Goku, my wonderful monkey alien, you have had a long night, please take the bed and rest up" She set the boys down and began to plate their dinner. "Y/N you are to good to us, also I thought you where fasting?" Goku only now realized that she had made a feast. "I uh  Iliedbecuaseiknewyouwouldinsiteonstayingwithme" She said really fast, Goku only being able to catch lie. "really, Y/N?" He had a fake pout. "Oh shush, eat up and then go shower and off to bed" She set the plates on the table and allowed the boy to got to work. "THANKS FOR THE FOOD" they said before digging in.

"Y/N, the waters getting cold" Goten complained from the tub he was sitting in. "That means baths over boys, time to get out" Y/N unplugged the drain and set two towel for the boy on the toilet sink. "okay, dry up, P.J's on then we'll hang and then bed. Deal?" She question while heading out the door. "DEAL" both yelled as the door shut behind her. "Okay boys bathed, me bathed, now to check in on Goku" she made her way towards her bedroom which was currently the temporary home for the hero. "GOKU" she knocked on the door, waiting for a response. "Yeah, come on in" once she got her reply she enterned, and found the man snuggled up in her bed, tucked in nice and cozy. "I see you're comfy" she laughed a little. "Very," he said with a smile " alright get some sleep, I'm gonna put the boys to bed, if you need me I'll be on the couch" She left him quietly and shut the door behind her.

Not to long after that the boys where tucked in their bunks and sound asleep. Y/N settled herself on the couch with a blanket and pillow, slowly drifting into sleep. Being tired from the training and emotional stress. That is until heavy foot steps echoed. Y/N could only guess who's steps those could be, not even asking question she called out to him. "Goku, everything okay?" She look towards the hall to see the man rubbing his eyes, standing only in sweatpants. The site made Y/N blush slightly but she quickly got rid of it after looking at his face. "Hey um, c-can you sleep next to me?" He sounded almost scared. "I-it's weird not feeling energy next to me a-and yeah" He sounded so shy but Y/n didn't hesitate, in all honestly she had always loved Goku but she didn't want to fuck up his wonderful relationship, so she kept all emotions at bay. "you sure?" she was willing of course, however not wanting to take advantage of him in anyway. "Yeah, that would help" He grabbed her hand and began to walk with her back up to the bedroom. As they passed the many room, a soft but shaken voice rang through the silence, "Y-Y/N?" Both looked back to see Goten holding the hand of Trunks who was half asleep peeking out from behind a door. " I uh I kinda had a nightmare, c-can we sleep with you guys?" He whispered cautious of the half asleep boy beside him.  "Oh Goten come on not bud, you're to old for this" Goku knew ChiChi would always comfort Goten, allowing him to sleep with them. But he did not want to cause anymore trouble than he already was. "Oh Hush Goku, Of course Goten my bed is big enough for the 4 of us" Y/N was quick to pick both boys up and carry them to the bedroom with Goku in close tow. As they all cuddled down together, for the first time all day, Goten and Goku felt comfort and safety. "Good night boys sweet dreams" Y/N gave each a kiss on their head. "Good night Y/N, we love you" Goten said slowly drifting to sleep.  "Y/N, thank you for everything" Goku said bringing her closer "Of course Goku" "I love you Y/N" He said also drifting. "I-good night Goku" Y/N knew she couldn't say it back because she would not mean it in the same way he did. 

After that night the boys moved in with Y/N. ChiChi and Goku got divorce a few months later after trying to work things out. With Y/N'S help Goku won custody over Goten, which he was thankful for but it was messy.  They agreeded that Goten was free to visit when ever he wanted, which was very little. Bulma was still mad at Trunks so Vegeta allowed him to stay with Y/N already annoyed with Bulmas increase in bitchy attitude. Some things went back to normal, Goku and Vegeta began to train together again, making sure to avoid Bulma. But other than that everything changed. Everyone basically Blacklisted Goku, Goten, and Trunks. ChiChi and Bulma continue to spread lies about Y/N and Goku's affairs. However The 4 accused where living rather peacefully, Y/N was going to college, taking some advice from Gohan and started studying Law, she also took on a part time job to help with food and everything. Goten and Trunks mostly stayed home and were doing online school. Even Goku got a part time job, he worked at a meat factory, perfect for him with all the heavy lifting and 'punching bag' as he had called the hanging meat. He was happy that he got to pick the job he wanted. However, all the peacefulness went out the door when an invitation was deliver to Goku by Gohan to a certain women's birthday part. (TO BE CONTIUNED)

DAMN THIS TOOK FOREVER BUT WORTH IT I THINK, HOPE YOU LIKE IT, :) HAVE A GREAT DAY AND REMEMBER TO EAT,DRINK, AND LOVE YOURSELF BYEEEEEE

[storiesbyjes2g]

3.127 Blessing in the storm

Back outside, I found a remnant of our party crew. Maira and her family held down the dance floor while Mama and Chi Chi yammered on about who knows. Hopefully they got all my embarrassing childhood stories out of their systems. Sophia sat at a table, probably nursing her back. I asked if she wanted to go home, but she said she was okay. It began to rain, so Maira, Chi Chi, and the Ricketts family went home, and me, Sophia, and Mama went inside. I was starving and realized I hadn't eaten since breakfast, so I grabbed a plate of ribs and ate in the dining room. Sophia followed me, and so did Mama. I guess it was story time.

I began by apologizing for not doing what I promised to do. It wasn't my intention, but it just happened that way.

"We've been trying to get pregnant ever since we got engaged," I said.

I watched Mama's face and saw the exact moment she realized where the story was heading. Nothing I said came close to being her fault, but I could see the mommy guilt oozing from her eyes, and I knew exactly what she was saying to herself in that moment. My son needed me, and I wasn't there. I failed my child. I'm a bad mother. I had lived long enough to understand there was nothing I could do or say to ease those kinds of thoughts, but I still wanted to.

Sophia jumped in and talked about her first suspicions of a problem, getting tested, and doing treatment. I explained we didn't say anything then because we thought the treatments would work quickly and we'd be pregnant any day. We thought telling everyone would cause unnecessary alarm, but as the days went on, it got harder and harder to reach out because we were so devastated. We used every ounce of remaining energy to keep our minds off it because we were emotionally spent.

Finding out about Alessia's pregnancy was hard. Really, really hard. I was angry at her because I wanted what she had, and she didn't even appreciate it. On top of that, I found out I also had low fertility which pretty much eliminated our odds of getting pregnant.

"Your granddaughter was conceived through the miracle of IVF," I said.

"Oh, my sweet boy! I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that! I wish I could have known so I could comfort you, but I understand why you didn't reach out. I know all too well what it's like to feel you need to suffer alone."

"IVF is really expensive, though," she continued. "Are you okay? Do you need help? I could-"

"We're fine, Mama. But, thank you."

"Okay. I'm glad. Wow... I don't know how to feel. Like, my heart is broken for you, but I'm extra excited about your future now. I always thought you'd be amazing parents, but I know you'll be even more so now and will spoil this baby rotten. I'm so proud of how you two support each other. You've got the real thing, and it makes me so happy."

"When I learned about you," she said to Sophia, "I dreamed about this time. I looked forward to staying with you for a few days while you found your wings and make sure you two got enough rest. Things won't be quite like that now, but I'm still here for you guys. I'm not sure when I'll be able to get away and meet your sweetheart, but if you need anything at all, call me. I'll find a way to help."

"That's really sweet, Emmy. Thank you!"

I had to be the most blessed man in all the world. My parents loved and supported every move I made; They loved my wife; I was going to be a father; My best friend was moving to town. What more could I ask for?

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

wibta if I started a different discord chat for my friend group just to exclude one person

I know it sounds bad and that I'm just starting shit but we've all been friends for 10+ years now so it's not something I'm considering lightly. We currently have a private discord server of just the 4 of us that we switched to as opposed to a traditional gc since we all have different phones and its good for having multiple conversations, quality photos and videos, and keeping a clear record of when and where plans are made

Anyway, this isn't a recent problem but the friend (A) has always had a tardiness problem it started with her not being able to wake up early in the morning but even if we have late night/afternoon plans she still can't get dressed and/or finish her makeup on time and causes us to be consistently at least 1 hour late which I was hoping she'd start growing out of after highschool but this isn't the case (we're now all 22+) and is especially frustrating when going out to eat bc by the time we leave all of us are hangry and expected to eat hours earlier. Recently A has started prioritizing other friends of hers which is nbd she can have other friends we all do except she'll drop plans last min with us to go with them which is also annoying bc it's disrespectful for the rest of us to be blown off like that. We're clearly not her priority anymore but she always expects to be ours, plans have to be on her work schedule, on her timeframe, on if she will be tired etc. plus being an afterthought leaves out a friend in the group (B) who had to move out of state with family and now he can't tell if we're making plans behind *his* back and he feels left in the dark when in truth he knows as much as I and the other local friend (C) do

It's to the point we've stopped doing any plans that start before like 2pm because we can't rely on her to be ready but she'll be upset if we don't wait for her while she's still getting ready, esp cuz we usually carpool, which already limits what we want to do together in the first place

However, it was my birthday recently and I'm currently ~2hr drive (no more than 3 with heavy traffic) from A and C, who doesn't have a car and needs to be picked up by A. I really wanted to go to my fav breakfast place and had some other plans for after and I kept emphasizing what time A needed to get here because the place closes early (they only serve breakfast). And at this point no one should be surprised she didn't arrive until after 1pm, after the place was closed, and at that point no one had eaten all day so we had to rush and find somewhere else that'd be open and nearby bc we were all starving and half my plans for the day were gone bc they were based on places we'd go after breakfast that also close in the afternoon (2-5 depending on the place) and since they are my closest friends and dont know my other friends who live closer and I've only known for less than 2 yrs (who I wasn't comfortable to ask for bday presents from yet still) (still got one from 1 even tho I insisted they didn't have to tho lol) they were the only people I made solid birthday plans with this year so it was really heartbreaking to deal with and have everything I was excited for be cancelled since it's hard for me to go out like this on my own w anxiety and busy work schedule too but I scheduled the day off. I was hoping that she would try even just a little bit because it was my birthday the one day I ask for literally anything and we rarely see each other now bc of conflicting work schedules and I DID plan for her to be semi late in secret but I didn't expect her to arrive for breakfast after 12

Anyway that's the whole backstory plus the recent straw on the camel's back but I just want to make a new chat between me, B, and C, to plan virtual movie and game nights bc she never reads the events chat anyway and all our online call plans grind to a halt for hours or days waiting for an answer bc at least C still wants to try and include A even tho her schedule is so busy or she's tired or will prob be late to the call and make us wait for her or cancel or leave early or we debate what game/movie A wants but she doesn't even NEED to be there it's just like.. Minecraft. Or a pirated 90s movie we're streaming or wtvr

I've tried saying like "hey I'm gonna be playing x on Saturday if anyone's free come and join me" but that usually just ends in me gaming alone bc it's so noncommittal the others will catch up on other work they have but really I'm just trying to hang with any of them even if 1 person can't make it at the time we don't always have to only call in a group yk?

A is nice otherwise like she's still my friend just planning anything with her is starting to be like pulling teeth and I still want to keep in touch with her and hear how she's doing from our discord server but stuff like that I just want to start separating her from weekly calls (which are currently more like monthly) bc she's so flakey but I know it's kinda shitty to purposefully leave her out and she'd be upset if she ever found out I was doing that.

I'm also open to advice on how to deal with this situation in general, thus the detail, without causing a huge fight or make anyone pick sides +her tardiness won't be something we can talk through it's something we've worked on for years and recently have just given up and accepted since she's late even to things that are important to her

What are these acronyms?

[walkingstackofbooks]

DS9 4x23 The Quickening thoughts (I’m re-watching, so beware spoilers for future episodes!) [8 Sept ‘23]

How does this episode start with something as silly as Quark's stupid advertising stunt?! XD

"And believe me, I will have fun." Yeah, Kira is scary. I love it.

I actually adore that shot of Julian and Jadzia transporting down, and the panoramic view.

"I slept in a bed for the first time on my life." That is devastating

"I'm sorry I don't understand. I- I thought you said you could help her." Juliaaaan <3 <3 <3

I love that both Julian and Jadzia have discarded the Prime Directive straight away, with their "we've got sophisticated equipment, we can help!" mindset!

"I thought you l this was a hospital. That you were a healer?" "I am. I take away pain." I have so much respect for Trevean, honestly.

"Well, there's nothing for us to do here. We should go." That's so unlike Julian. Gosh. He's so frustrated by this all!

"Come back for us within a week. With any luck we should have a cure by then." So optimistic! I can see why people would say he's arrogant, and he's definitely naive... but if they have cured a plague in three days it's also not baseless?? And the other two aren;t exactly saying "hah, that's impossible/unlikely, Julian".

Ekoria is so cute. "How would you like to see a picture of your baby?" Her smile!!! :3

Julian's excitement and inability to not use medical words XD

"Ekoria, where did you get all this food?" Jadzia being the gentle emotionally intelligent one next to Julian's unthinking "starving" <3

"I was saving it for my death, but something tells me I'm not going to need it anymore." Her faith from the outset makes this all so more devastating.

Julian doesn't have a problem with people not liking him -- but when people say they don't need a doctor? He needs them to need him -- and he needs to be allowed to help.

"What if I told you there was a chance you didn't have to die. I'm a doctor." It is SO much of his identity. (Feeling some DBIP feels for when he thinks he's gonna be stripped of that part of him.)

"Fixing a broken bone and curing the blight are two different things." "I know that." 💔💔💔

"Others have come here with promises of a cure, and stirred up hope, took food and clothing in exchange for their elixirs." I'm so curious about this, were they actually trying to help and failed and gave up, or were they scammers - in which case, I guess it's an easy planet to scam but for what, really? You do definitely understand Trevean's point of view though.

"I'm not making any promises." At least you know that much, Julian.

"Maybe my people don't deserve your help." "Oh they've just been suffering for so long they've lost hope that things can be better." Now that's the Julian I know and adore -- I love how these two together build up each other's hope and faith in other people 😭😭😭

"I suppose you're gonna wanna bleed me?" "Oh, um, a little." Welp XD I assumed the answer was going to be no 😂

"I cancelled my death for you. I was really looking forward to it." Oh no. I know what's coming. He gets a worse death. Oh, this is all so sad

"Think of it. She may well be holding the cure in her hands. Do you think we should tell her what she's giving them?" "She's nervous enough about using the hypo. It's better we wait till we're positive." He's too eager, just can't wait - I get that Julian, but good work on listening to Dax even if you're disappointed, because she's right.

It's the Kukulaka conversation!

"Trust me." "I do." Ohhh 💔💔

"I was watching you. You're very good with patients." HE'S SO SWEET

"But death comes to everyone in the end." "Except Kukalaka." How did that come to your mind as the next thing to say?! This is the most ADHD, such a random thing XD I'd forgotten how he'd brough Kukalaka up 😂

"Help me, Bashir!" fuuuuuuck

"Come on, breathe. Breathe. Breathe." "Julian..." "Breathe." This scene is everything. All the feels. This is my favourite sort of emotion.

"These people believed in me and look where that got them." 😭😭

"You know what worries me Julian, is that without me you won't have anyone to translate for you." Oh that was so soft :3 just a quiet lil joke. I adore Dax ❤❤

Him just carrying all that equipment by himself! :o

"Oh not a task. A privilege. Can you show me how to make it?" "I was hoping you'd ask that." Not me crying. 😭😭😭💔💔💔

"Good work." "Thank you, sir." He just shuts down with Sisko's praise. My HEART. Oh, Julian.

"But their children won't." "That's what I keep telling myself, sir." He says that so quickly, you can tell he doesn't believe it. That whole scene is just... I think it tells us so much about Julian. Yes, he's too brash and loud and naive sometimes, but everything comes from a place of caring so, so much about everyone... I love him, you know?

[huffle-dork]

Swap into the CrystalVerse Chapter 25: Inverted

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix 

Read Swapboys | Read Inverted | Read The InvertedSwap Crossover |AO3 Link

Prologue | Switch | Stitched | PNPT | Septicheroes | Fantasy Masks | Horror | Inverted

Taglist: @brokentimewatch @di-diwata  

"Are you holding up?" Anti asks. They've officially reached Mirygale by now, though they're just on the edge of the surrounding suburbs and not into the proper urban area. "Need anything?" Anti looks Alt up and down, assessing his condition after so much glitching.

Alt has slumped against the nearest building he can, blinking colored spots out of his eyes. He giggles a bit breathlessly as his vision dips and sways. “ha ha… m’fineee~! J’st dizzy…!”

"...that's not fine," Anti states. "I don't know if your glitching has changed in the past eleven months, but you're not supposed to be dizzy after it." He shakes his head. "Okay. We're here. We've arrived in the city. I can start looking at the CCTV cameras for signs of your Chase. While I do that, we can sit down and take a break." He glances around. "I'm pretty sure this is a safe area. And if it's not, we can handle it."

“S’fine-“ Alt mumbles, not wanting to look too weak in front of Anti. However, when he tries to glitch to be back by Anti, his vision tunnels for a second and his knees buckle. His eyes roll for just a second as he attempts to catch himself back on the side of the building.

"Whoa!" Anti glitches forward and grabs Alt. He doesn't keep hold of him for long, just long enough to right him. Then he steps back. "Like I said, that's not fine." He glances around. "Look. Bus stop. Has a bench. We'll sit down there. I promised I'd explain things, anyway, this is just giving me an opportunity to."

Alt leans against Anti for the second he’s righted and then he nods slowly, shaking out the spots again. “M’kay-“ He slurs, trying to keep his eyes open. “Sorry-“ Ugh he wished he had Chase’s backpack- he always had some kind of snacks on him. He starts to stumble towards the bus stop.

Anti walks next to Alt for a little bit, then sighs and reaches out to help support him. The poor guy is clearly having trouble on his own. They reach the bus stop together and sit down.

Alt doesn’t protest to being helped- even though he normally would. He slumps against the bench and shakes out his head again.

"Right, you need energy, don't you?" Anti mutters. "Food. Um..." He thinks about it, then reaches to the side. His hand disappears into an invisible pocket for a second, then returns holding a handful of chocolate bars. "There. If you... need anything more specific, uh, tell me, I guess? I'm getting these from a petrol station store that won't notice snacks going missing so keep to stuff that'd be found in there."

Alt blinks up at Anti reaching- and then his eyes widen and shine with hungry excitement at the sight of the chocolate bars. He quickly starts to tear into them, hardly chewing but he nods to Anti. “These are great but- anything with protein can help- something that’ll keep me energized for a long time- maybe an energy drink?“ He stuffs another chocolate bar into his mouth as he mutters, “I was also just like- tortured in a lab for a day and all it gave me was water so I’m starving-“ He says casually, now properly distracted by actually being able to eat.

Anti nods along, sealing this to memory, and then stops. "Wait what the fuck?"

Alt blinks at him, pausing in his chewing. “…what?” His eyes then widen and he quickly looks away, “Uh f-forget about that for now! I can.. e-explain later… probably-“

"What fucking universes did you go to?! Gods." Anti shakes his head. "Okay, fine. You don't have to explain now. Protein and energy. Okay." He does the same thing, now pulling back a bag of beef jerky and an energy drink. "Here. Gods. Fucking hell."

“Too many…” Alt mutters as he takes the food from Anti and doesn’t look at him. “We’ve been… jumping for a while.” He cracks open the energy drink and takes a long swig.

Anti sighs. "Can't imagine... I know they're out there, but I can't go to other worlds on my own. The most I can manage is the Space In-Between. And my home of course, but that's a pocket dimension, not a universe, it's different. It must've been just one thing after another, huh?"

Alt nods, taking another bite of his chocolate bar. Though he laughs slightly. “that’s funny… you seem so powerful… I always thought you could go to other places.” He takes a drink. “to be fair we had help- a device we got from a place called IRIS.”

He fishes out of his pocket and shows it to Anti. “It was broken in the world we found it in… but all it needs is some of my magic and… then we can go anywhere… anywhere but Home though, it seems.” He laughs bitterly. “…it’s been like.., 5 days? A week? Honestly I’ve… lost track of time…” He grabs some of the jerky and eats some before pointing a finger at Anti. “Tell you what- catch me up on all the shit going on here… and I’ll tell you about what we’ve seen. Equal information exchange~!” He smirks.

Anti stiffens slightly at the mention of IRIS. But then he nods and moves on. "Yeah. I said I'd do that, didn't I?" He takes a deep breath. He doesn't need to, but it's steadying.

"After you guys left, Marvin started looking into other worlds. I don't think he found much, but hit led to him diving even deeper into his fucking... black magic studies. And I guess he decided he had enough of most of the others.

"He and Jameson teamed up against the rest of them. Jameson got Schneep on their side with that watch of his and... You saw Jackie's scars. Those were from Marvin. He... The two of them always hated each other. It's just that Marvin made the first move. The three of them got the jump on him and... captured him, I suppose. Moved their base from the house to this hotel area. Kept Jackie in the basement there for Marvin to fuck with for fun. He got out eventually, as you can see, but... the other two weren't so lucky.

"Jameson used his powers on Chase and Jack. Put them both deep under, deeper than he did with Schneep. Chase is providing them with money and victims by..." Anti laughs. "...by pretending to be Jack on his YouTube channel. But Jack is... He's... H-he's..." Another breath. "He's not dead, cause I'm still here. A-and I think that must've been on purpose. I think... Jameson wanted me to... I-I don't know. Realize I'm... not powerful? Jack is... You know about him, from the time we shared memories. He's... very important to me. And they turned him into a fucking doll." Anti curls up a little bit. "Just... a blank, empty shell. Something you can display. I-I don't know what they did but I can't... reach him. And then they moved him away. Somewhere with no cameras or anything, because I have no idea... where he is." Anti's voice broke. "Sam misses him, too, a lot. They don't... leave home much nowadays. They rarely did, but even less now." Another breath. "But... I'm going to find him. I'm going to fix him."

Alt listens closely, politely staying quiet. But, it all hits him like a truck. He gapes at Anti, especially when his voice breaks. He never even thought Anti could cry- He swallow thickly and looks down, “…a hotel? …my friend- she mentioned once… that her friend got dragged into this world… and was hurt in a hotel. By your guys.” He shudders, remembering things Huffle had told him.

"Yeah... I think I know what you're talking about. I was there for that. Maybe I met your friend, there were a few people there."

“That’s… thats fucked up. Massively fucked up… I’m so sorry Anti…”

Anti is quiet for a moment. Then he nods. "Thanks," he whispers. He reaches up and adjusts his scarf, briefly showing the bloodstained bandages underneath. "I'm not going to give up. Ever. I can be very patient, especially against people who deserve it." Wrath flashes in his visible eye, darkening its sclera to black for a split second. "But... that hotel. If we can't find your brother outside, we need to check there."

Alt shudders more at this and grips at his arm. “…knowing our luck lately? ….I wouldn’t doubt that he’s there…” He swallows shakily and reaches to slow pick a bit more at his snacks.

“Yeah… How bad has your luck been?” Anti asks, looking at Alt. “It looks pretty bad. You mentioned… a lab? And… IRIS.”

Alt takes a shaky breath and laughs, “Right.” He grips the energy drink can in his hands as he starts. “It all started when Mag took me into a secret room under our own freaky organization’s headquarters- they’re called SCLERA but I think they’re like IRIS. Anyways- he took me and Chase managed to glitch with us- and he found… an archway. Just like the one in the museum that brought us here the first time. He figured out it just needed black magic and my glitches to work. So he.. corrupted me- made me activate it. Chase luckily managed to come with us…

“Then we ended up in- in a universe we hadn’t been to. But with versions of us we met before- oh yeah it’s… it’s the guys I tried to call you about… they have a freaky version of Chase called Distorter.” He shudders and digs his nails into the can.

“… long story short there- Distorter led all of us to an old Iris facility- where we found the device we’ve been using. The TRVLR. The only problem is- we cant tell which universe is which. They’re all just labeled by jumbled up numbers and letters. So we’ve been just… picking one and hoping it leads back home.

“Obviously- none of them have been home yet. The second one we went to… had some really messed up guys. Their chase had… strings in his skin- and their Anti. They were… they were literally two people stitched together by black magic.” He laughs a bit more, but it sounds scared. “…you mentioned Amp earlier… Something like Amp happened to me there too.. I.. I glitched- and I.. I merged with them.” Instinctual tears fall down his face as he chuckles hollowly. “It was… it was awful.”

Anti's eye widens. "What?" he breathes. "You... you got stuck with some... being made of black magic?" He pauses. "...Stitches. I know of him. That world is close to this one. Gods, Alt. I'm... I'm so sorry. If it was like Amp... gods." Their thoughts had merged together. The pain and hatred that Alt must have endured in that fusion...

Alt laughs, sounding a little unhinged. “That’s what he’s called? Ha… how fitting…” He grips at the can more, denting it and feeling the metal poke into his skin. “…I could feel them- Marvin and Jackie… they were tearing apart- they were… it was horrible. To see their- pain and hate combining to make… that world’s version of me.”

He blinks more tears out of his eyes and tries to hide his shaking. “Of course it didn’t end there… but Um… we did manage to find a kinda nice universe after that? They had um… kid versions of us. Met a sweet teenaged Jackie and… a little budding magician Marvin.” He smiles at the memory, touching the trans pin on his jacket. “The magic there was… strange though. They called it greenlight. But- we even managed to help out a younger Anti… I felt so bad for him… he just- didn’t understand. How humans worked but… I think he just wanted to play.”

"...wait a... greenlight?" Anti blinks. "I--huh. I wonder..." He shakes his head. "Nevermind. This isn't the time. Well, that sounded alright. Some risk, I'm assuming with Magnificent tagging along, but not as bad as Stitches' world. "

Alt shakes his head with a smile. “No it was… it was nice. I… I adored that Marvin kid.”

He then sighs and tries to remember what came next. “Then… oh! Chase loved the next one- it was full of supers. Like- all of us had superpowers. There was a league and Jackie was the main hero there- like Bro is ours. We had to save their chase and… oh yeah there was… a really freaky Anti there too. He… he knew about me and chase just from our phones but- he didn’t actually wanna hurt us. Said he just wanted to observe. He was a freaky bastard.”

“Oh but then! The next one was wild! We ended up in a like- fantasy world- I think they called it Glasuil- Mag got captured by their king who was… also freaky. He like- actually controlled Mag. But I~ kicked his ass~!” He grins, pointing to himself with his thumb before focusing back on his retelling.

“But… I think being away from tech messed with the TRVLR… so it must have clicked on the wrong universe because that’s… that’s where the.. freaky doctor thing found me. Called itself Notarzt…”

"You ended up in THAT fucking world?!" Anti shouts. What follows is a series of curses in Irish and Gaelic. "Gods, Alt! Holy shit. Again, never been there, but I definitely know of that one. No wonder you're so fucking hurt. Gods. Fuck." He shakes his head. "I'm glad you got out of there. I thought things were bad here, but it must seem like a picnic after that."

Alt flinches at Anti’s shout and grips at his bandaged arm, shaking slightly. He swallows thickly. “Yeah I-it really sucked… met another freaky Anti there too. … it took us a long time to realize that those… things were more versions of us…”

He then sighs and gestures at the space around them. “And now! We’re here~” He ends his recap by taking another bite of a chocolate bar with a loud crack.

Anti can probably see how exhausted Alt looks by his posture alone. “…but we keep going. That’s what Chase always says… we keep going.”

Anti nods. "We keep going," he repeats in a quiet voice, scanning the city skyline as if it holds the solution to all his problems.

"If it helps, Alt... I might be able to help you figure out which world is yours. I know a lot about universes... and about how IRIS would number things. Maybe I could identify what they called yours."

Alt looks back at Anti with wide eyes. “R-Really?” He then laughs quietly and looks relieved. “That… that would be amazing. I wanna go home so. bad.” He starts to finish up his snacks and ball up the trash, feeling his energy coming back. “…we just gotta find my brother first. Anddd also unfortunately Mag…”

"Right. Him." Alt can practically hear Anti's teeth grinding in anger. "I guess he needs to go back to your universe. To preserve your stories, or whatever the fuck They said."

“Unless you wanna take him- but I think you have enough problems,” Alt chuckles bitterly.

Anti forces himself to calm down--god he wants to kill Magnificent, even more after hearing he started Alt and Bro's journey of suffering. But he'll restrain himself.

"Well... I've been running a background process to check the camera footage, and either your brother is somewhere without cameras... or he's in the hotel. They put up wards to block external eyes so I'm blocked off from there. Not blocked off from going in, though."

Alt listens and then gets up, throwing away all the wrappers and stuff from his snacks then shaking himself out, body shuddering with glitches. His eyes glow with renewed power as he looks back at Anti. “well… guess we got a hotel to check into then-“

Anti laughs. “Yeah. I guess we do. Come on.” He stands up and glitches farther down the street, waiting on a corner for Alt to join.

Alt smirks and then glitches right after Anti.

——————

It’s completely dark in the room, which is really disconcerting. Marvin had dragged him down the stairs with complete confidence. And while Bro was still recovering from the pain that his magic was causing, he locked a pair of chains around each wrist, binding him to the wall. And after a slight pause, he locked one around his neck too. A collar with a very short leash.

Bro struggles against the chains and then chokes in surprise at the collar being put around his neck. “Uh… this seems kinda kinky-“ He mumbles.

Marvin pauses. “Oh, you’re a talker.” He doesn’t sound particularly happy about that. “Fine. I can work with that.” Another pause. “I have no interest in that stuff by the way.” The defensiveness in his voice would’ve been funny if it didn’t have that uncanny echo.

“Oh yeah of course not-“ Bro mutters. “That’s why you do it without a second thought-“

Bro can see Marvin’s eyes glowing in the darkness. He can hear him walking across the concrete floor of the room but he can’t see what he’s doing. “Hmmm…” Marvin hums. A bit of bright violet magic gathers in his hand and splatters to the ground, where it clusters together and forms the shape of a translucent glowing cat. The cat construct shakes itself and walks closer to Bro.

Bro looks down at the cat with confusion and then tries to push himself back. “Uhhhh n-nice kitty…?”

The cat walks closer. It tilts its head to the side, looking at him. Well it doesn’t have eyes, but it feels like it’s looking at him. Then it places one front paw on Bro’s leg. Followed by another. Alt has a cat so Bro is probably used to this behavior. He is not used to the burning feeling that pops up where the cat construct’s paws touch him.

Bro blinks at the cat and then yells out as it climbs onto him. He kicks out his legs to try to get it off.

The cat digs its claws in but a couple tries knocks it off. “Thaaaaat’s not very nice, Chase,” Marvin says. “I didn’t know you were ailurophobic. Don’t worry! It just wants to check you out.”

“That’s a big word!” Chase comments with rising panic. “But if it means what I think it means no! I’m not scared of cats! I’m wary of freaky ones that burn me though!”

The cat recovers and approaches Bro again. A normal cat would be cautious of someone who just kicked it away, but this is not a normal cat. It hops right onto Bro’s lap, the burning sensation coming with it as it sits and curls its tail around it.

Bro yells out as the cat sits on him and grits his teeth, trying to figure out how to get it off.

“Well you better get used to it,” Marvin says bluntly. “If you can’t handle this you’re not going to last very long.”

As Marvin talks, the cat gets up on its hind legs and presses its front paws against Bro’s chest. Its head moves closer to his face like it’s sniffing him, though it doesn’t have a nose. Then it lies down, resting its whole body across his chest. There’s a slight hissing sound coming from it. Not like how cats actually hiss. Like the sound of water hitting hot metal.

Bro squirms under the cat and bites back any yells or whimpers that want to escape him. He can’t let Marvin think he’s already winning- he’s stronger than this… this is nothing!

The cat stays there for maybe a minute, the burning just feeling worse the longer it goes on. Then it abruptly dissolves into violet magic, which drips down Bro's chest before fading away.

Bro gasps quietly as the cat leaves, taking in careful breaths to try to work through the pain.

"Interesting," Marvin says. There's the clink of glass, and then Marvin approaches Bro, crouching down next to him. "Did you know you have a very unique soul?" The light from Marvin's glowing eyes makes his grinning face into a ghoulish mask.

Bro flinches as Marvin crouches next to him and tries to move away. “Ha- well, my aunts did always tell me I was special~” He tries to joke.

"So sorry for you," Marvin says insincerely. Before Bro can wonder what that means, Marvin takes out a long needle--and pricks him with it. And 'prick' really is the right word. Despite the length of the needle it barely goes into Bro's skin before Marvin withdraws it. He puts the needle in a glass tube filled with some sort of clear liquid, then caps the tube, stands up, and walks away.

Bro yelps out in surprise and blinks at Marvin in confusion. “..the hell does that mean? Is that a comment about my soul or my aunts? are you being homophobic right now? Or ableist cuz that’s not what I meant by ‘special’!”

Chase can see Marvin's eyes rolling perfectly well because of their glow. "The fact that you think I would be either of those things when my only friend is Jameson is insulting," he says, mostly to himself.

“To be honest- don’t know much about the guy besides the fact that he hypnotized my brother and my friends- but good for him being gay I guess? Does that give him a ‘not-as-much-of-an-asshole-as-you-could-have-been award’?” Bro says dryly.

Marvin’s voice drops into a deeper mutter that Bro can barely hear with his super hearing. "This is what happens when I try to be sympathetic, why did I even try..." Then he turns back to him. "You know, I waaaas going to just leave you here while we wait for the taglock to settle, but I guessss you'd rather stay and chat some more."

Bro’s eyes furrow as he hears Marvin mutter. “I mean- I like talking but you clearly don’t. But, at least I can ask some questions. …why were you trying to be sympathetic? What’s a tag lock? The fuck are you planning to do to me?”

"Heh." Marvin grins. "I didn't mean it literally, but sure. Why not." He walks up to Bro and crouches down again. Nothing in his hands this time. "For the first one. IIII know what it's like to be called that. It's not pleasant. IIII thought we might have something in common. Guess I was wrong. And a taglock is the process one uses to extract a tiiiny portion of your soul power and distill it into essence. Don't worry. Your soul recharges most power over time, such a small amount won't make a difference. As for the last question... I think it's more fun if it's a surprise. Fun for me, of course."

Bro frowns and looks at Marvin with a mixed look. ….he didn’t really feel like he was seen too different until he got his powers. And even then- his powers were a good thing. It was hard to deal with at first but… he’s glad he has them. He did get made fun of for being ADHD but- that didn’t really bother him much. “Hm- I guess our definitions of ‘special’ are different. I don’t think I was ever at your level.” He spits darkly. But then he blinks and furrows his eyebrows together, “Soul power? The fuck is that??”

Marvin's expression darkens as Bro speaks. "Don't worry about it," he says. "Just know you'll get it back. You probably already have it back. Now." Suddenly, his hand shoots out and grabs Bro by the hair, slamming his head back against the wall. "I want to try something out."

Bro yells out as his vision flashes white for a second- his head hitting the wall with a loud thud. But, he bares his teeth at Marvin and he lets power shine in his eyes. "Whatcha gonna do? Burn me with more cats?"

Marvin grins. "That was just a probe. Not really an actual spell." He adjusts his grip, now holding Bro's head in both hands, forcing him to look him in the eyes. "Not like this." Marvin's eyes glow brighter.

Bro writhes and tries to push out of Marvin's grip, a mounting fear weighing down his chest. He doesn't like the look in Marvin's eyes so he closes his, trying to shrink away.

"Scared?" Marvin adjusts his grip, prying Bro's eyelids open again with his thumbs. "You should be."

Bro's vision starts to swim. Fuzzy shapes start to form, repeating fractals, looping like a kaleidoscope, like seeing the angles of a room degrade and then rebuild and then degrade again. He couldn't put a color to the shapes if he wanted to, nor a type, but they're undeniably there. His head starts to hurt.

Bro swallows shakily as his vision swims with confusing patterns. He blinks rapidly, trying to make sense of it. "W-What are you doing?"

Marvin lets go of Bro's head. It's too late now. The spell is already in motion, even if he closes his eyes he'll see the patterns.

"Have you ever had a geometric nightmare?" Marvin asks. "That's not what they're called officially, but you'd know if you had one. This is it. But worse."

The patterns are repeating, growing. They're getting closer--no, Bro is getting closer, he's falling, falling, falling but he can't get his body to respond in time to fly. The shapes fracture, a swirl of swooping hills and broken glass. The rest of the room is wavering. To an outside observer, it looks like Bro's eyes are filled with concentric purple circles. To him, he feels sick. His ears are ringing. His head is aching, a sharp pain like the world's worst migraine.

Bro slumps against the wall, his eyes wide as he tries to blink past the patterns. He can't tell what's up and what's down. He tries to push himself up but that only makes him feel sicker. He shuts his eyes to try to get rid of it but it only makes it worse. "h-hngh-!" His head is killing him- what is this??

Smiling, Marvin stands up. "Have fun with that. I'll be back in... thirty minutes or so to dispel that." And he turns and leaves the room. Bro can hear him go up the stairs but with the darkness and the spiraling fractal patterns he can't see anything.

Bro shakily tries to push up after him. "W-Wait-!" He then crashes to the floor, his chains going taut and his collar choking him. He whimpers and curls up, alleviating some pressure and trying to breathe through the pain. He's a hero- he's strong-! He can handle this.. right?

The patterns show no sign of stopping their dizzying display.

-----------

Being a cat wandering the city at night is very different than wandering it as a person. For one, it's slower. Mag feels like he's been walking forever and he's still in this run-down part of town filled with condemned, vandalized buildings. Or maybe the urban maintenance of this city is just that bad.

Mag growls to himself. It was also slow because he was stabbed multiple times. Just his fucking luck. He tries his best to get around though- looking for a source of magic. Though... hm. If he's back in the universe with that goody two-shoes Anti- then his friends were... a problem. Sure, he got the upper hand on their Marvin and almost won. But, he had been defeated. And trying to steal from those idiots again might get him killed... So- guess the main focus was to try to find his cub. Again... this was starting to get old. He missed having the upper hand.

As he turns the corner, he feels... something. Something familiar. Not a magician, but... some sort of talisman. There's a small alleyway in between two buildings with a large dumpster. A man is shoving garbage bags into it while a second man watches.

Magnificent pauses at the feeling. Huh... he knows that feeling. He slinks into the alley's shadows and prowls closer, trying to get a better look.

The man moving the garbage bags is a stranger, but the other is very familiar. Wearing a red vest and black tie, looking very out of place in this environment, is this world's Jameson Jackson. He must be supervising the disposal of... what is in those bags? Magnificent's enhanced cat nose detects blood and something that smells like death.

Magnificent can't help but hiss at both the sight of Jameson and the smell. He knew the Jackson here was fucked up like all the others- but what the hell was he doing?

Jameson tilts his head... and looks over, right at Magnificent. {That is not the mind of an animal.} The voice says in Magnificent's mind.

Magnificent stiffens and tries his best to keep his mind blank as he backs up and hisses more at Jameson.

Jameson narrows his eyes at the cat... then sighs and turns away. This isn't the time to focus on that. Someone could come across at any minute. He'll keep an eye on that probably-magician and address it after they're done.

  {Hurry up, please,} he tells... ah, he can never remember their names when they're new. But whoever it is, he does speed up on command.

Magnificent blinks almost comically. ... he did not expect that to work. But soon he curls up on the ground, watching with narrowed eyes, his tail flicking. ...if Jackson is up to something- maybe it'll lead him to wherever Alt would be. Plus... he can't help but be curious. This was the magic that held his own fools- he never really got to observe how to worked closely. He can't deny its fascinating.

It's not long before the man finishes putting the bags in the dumpster. Jameson nods, satisfied. Schneep used to be better at disposal, but now he can hardly remember to. A distasteful side effect of the control but one Jameson would have to live with.

{Follow,} he says to his man, and he two of them start walking down the alleyway towards Magnificent. Time to check that out.

Magnificent freezes and backs up more into the shadows- trying to keep his mind blank again. Act like a cat... he's surprisingly good at that. He hisses as they approach then tries to dart past them-

{Grab it,} Jameson commands, and the man scoops up the cat as it runs past, holding it up for Jameson to see. {I thought you might be that man who took Mr. Parker away, but I don't think he would find hypnotism fascinating. And yet there's something familiar about you...} Jameson narrows his eyes.

Magnificent yowls and tries to scratch at the man grabbing him. He hisses and narrows his eyes at Jameson- and as soon as they make eye contact Magnificent tries to send a flood of hypnotic power into him.

The man doesn't let go, seemingly unfazed by the cat scratching. But then Jameson makes eye contact. He staggers backwards from the force of the power. {Oh--I remember you now--} He shudders, closing his eyes, but it's too late. Magnificent has control... but it's not as complete as he would have wanted. Or as it was last time. It's like there's some sort of... slippery coating around Jameson's mind this time, letting him struggle against Mag's power.

Magnificent grins and shifts back into his human form to prowl around Jameson. “Well~! Jameson Jackson… we meet again~! How good it is to see you again, pet~” He hums in amusement. He goes to grab Jameson by the chin then slams him against the alley wall, baring his fangs. “Feels like you have some new tricks up your sleeves… perhaps you can enlighten me to what all you and your devious friends have been up to, hm?” While he still has control- he tries to pry and pick apart Jameson’s memories, seeing what he can learn.

Jameson gasps, a voiceless cry. He tries to hide his memories at first, and then suddenly stops resisting, as if letting Magnificent take them.

What follows is a rapid slideshow of a descent into madness. Marvin's descent into madness, to be specific. Studying with a fervor, taking people to try spells on, stealing and killing and doing anything to get more spells. Mag sees Marvin approach Jameson about controlling the others, something he easily agrees to. First, the spell on Schneep, twisting his mind's tendency for delusions inward. Then, the capture of Jackie, who isn't expecting Schneep's betrayal. The moving to the hotel. The screams from the basement. Chase and Jack's hypnotism, making one the other and forcing the other to listless life. Marvin's continued descent. There's an incident in there with a handful of teens and young adults, that's strange--but even stranger is the more recent memory of just a couple weeks ago. When a ripple of magic spread out from Marvin's apartment in the hotel. Jameson rushed over... and saw Marvin grinning at him with glowing purple eyes, hands full of black violet magic that, even in a memory, gives off this feeling of wrongness that makes the hair on Mag's neck stand up. "I've done it," the memory says. "This is it. This power... I can do anything."

Magnificent breaks the connection and staggers back a bit, processing the information. Then, he throws his head back and laughs, grinning at Jameson. “I see… my stupid doppelgänger has let himself be consumed, hm? How amusing… fascinating to see really~! Maybe I should observe up close…” He muses.

Jameson shudders. {Is it "letting" it happen if one jumps in headfirst...?} The thought drifts into Mag's head, then fades away as his control tightens again.

Magnificent chuckles, “Those of us with stronger will power know how to reach the edge but not fall in~” He sings with confidence. He turns to Jameson and smiles, “Jackson- would you be a dear and lead me to your base of operations?”

He resists for a moment before nodding jerkily. {We... walked here. It's not... too far.} He continues down the alleyway towards the street. The man he had hypnotized just stands there.

Magnificent hums with a smirk and then glances at the man. He makes a shooing motion at him. “We have no more use for you- get lost.” He then follows after Jameson.

Jameson nods, unwillingly agreeing with Magnificent. The hypnotized man wanders off. The other two head down the street, walking to the hotel.

-----------

Anti suddenly stops. "Wait. I forgot." They've reached a part of town surrounded by restaurants and short hotels. They all look fairly old, overtaken by urban decay. The hotel where the others are staying can't be too far now.

Alt pauses and turns to look at Anti, raising an eyebrow, “Forgot what?”

"Marvin." Anti looks at Alt with a serious expression. "Do you know what a Void is? Do they exist in your world? Well, the name might be different..."

Alt furrows his eyebrows and tries to think, “mmm… I feel like my mentor has mentioned something like that… something- consumed completely by black magic? If I had to guess-“

"Yes, that's it exactly." Anti nods. "A couple weeks ago I ran into Marvin while he was out looking for more magic. Or... what used to be Marvin. He's become a Void now. Which means that not only is he much, much more powerful, but he has even less impulse control than he used to and is pretty much running on straight emotion, not logic."

Alt shudders at the description of Marvin and swallows thickly. “Okay… sounds horrifying-“ He does hum in thought though, “…running on emotions- we can work with that though.”

Anti nods. He keeps walking as he talks--more proof that they're close. "We could. I'm sure he's just as easy to distract as he used to be, if not more so. But remember to be careful. That Void magic of his burns like acid."

Alt walks after Anti and shudders again at the mention of his magic. He grips at his bandages and nods. “noted… I would very much like to avoid that-“

"Oh shit, wait, something else." Anti's visible eye widens. "They have the whole place rigged up with a... what's the word? It disperses gas throughout the building. I forgot you breathe. We need a solution for if they decide to use that..."

“They fucking rigged the place with gas?!” Alt gasps. Then he curses and throws up his hands, “Of all the times it would have been nice to have my mask! But nooo Mag had to kidnap me from the comfort of my home where I don’t wear it! Fucking asshole-!” He grumbles.

Anti blinks. "It's like a bandanna, right? Here." He takes his scarf off and passes it over. "That should work."

Alt blinks in surprise and holds up his hands. “hey I can’t just… take your scarf- don’t you need it?”

Anti smiles sadly. "No, not really. Just to hide this." He gestures at the bandages around his neck. "People find it disturbing usually. I do like my scarf, so I'd like it back, but I think having you not pass out if they flood the halls with sedative is a higher priority."

“….I guess I can’t argue with that…” Alt mumbles. He looks at the scarf and then loops it around his neck. He’s not one of scarves usually but- it almost feels like his mask and it helps bring him a bit of comfort. “Heh- wonder if they’ll get us confused easier now.” He laughs.

"Heh. Probably." Anti smiles. "Now come on. We're almost there."

-----------

Bro lost track of time a while ago. The fractal shapes covering his vision haven't wavered once, nor has the pattern repeated. Or... has it? Maybe? The pain hasn't wavered either.

Bro is curled up as much as he can while being restrained. He gasps for breath, grunts in pain and is genuinely just trying to keep going. Keep going- keep going. He’s never felt so fucking sick and dizzy though- it’s like a screw is being drilled into his skull. Part of him is hoping he’ll pass out- but some part of him also whispers that he won’t be that lucky.

He's in too much pain to hear the footsteps coming down the concrete stairs. But he does notice the purple glow that cuts through the shapes, increasing until they burn away. The pain is gone, but its shadow remains.

Marvin is holding his head again, the same way he did to cast the spell in the first place. His eyes fade back to their faint glow as he smiles. "You don't look so good."

Bro cries out as he’s grabbed and then pants in Marvin’s grip. He glares at him and snorts. “J-Jeez- wonder what that is…? Not like I just had my head fucked up by s-shapes or anything-“

Marvin grins. "Noooo, of course not." He's being a little shit and he knows it. "Do you need a moment? Hmmm?" He conjures a handful of black-violet magic, casting a purple glow around the scene. He's holding something else in his other hand but Bro can't quite see it.

“Oh no by all means keep it coming, cat bitch.” Bro drawls out sarcastically. “Why even ask? I know you’re not going to-“

"Correct." Marvin holds up the item in his other hand. It's the glass tube from earlier, but now the liquid inside has turned from clear to opaque. It's hard to tell in the purple lighting, but it's a pastel orange color. "Can you guess what this is?"

Bro leans against the wall and raises an eyebrow at the tube. “Some magic bullshit- if I had to guess.” He snarks tiredly.

"Oh come ooooon, I told you about it earlier," Marvin goads. "Did you forget? I guess your memory isn't that great right now."

“No, I just don’t care-“ Bro tries to quip.

Marvin shakes the tube. "This is your soul essence, Chase." He popped the cap off. "Let's see..." He tilted the tube, sending a drop of the essence into the magic he's holding. Bro feels a sudden sharp pain in his chest. Right in the center.

Bro yells and doubles over, clawing at his chest with a choked gasp of pain.

"You should care," Marvin says. "I wiiiiill admit that the reaction you just had? Very strange. I've never done this before, but I'm sure the spells would list that." He pours a couple more droplets into the magic, Bro feeling the pain again every time, and then caps it. The color of his magic is different now. Very slightly, but it's a bit more red, a bit lighter in tone.

Bro screams out and braces his arm against the floor, bending on his elbow. The other hand clutches at his chest as he heaves through the pain. Bro struggles to lift up his head and then looks at Marvin’s magic with wide eyes. “Wha… what did you do?!”

"I've just infused my magic with your essence," Marvin says, grinning like a madman. "Normally this could mean I could heal you better, or find you easily with a tracking spell. But I want to see what else I can do." He puts the glass vial away and presses his handful of magic against Bro's chest.

“T-That’s insane why would you want to do-?” Bro protests before the magic gets put on his chest. During the awkward moment of silence Bro finally laughs nervously. “…can you not like- try to magic my tit…?”

Nothing happens. Marvin tilts his head, looking thoughtful. Then he stands up, slowly pulling his hand away. The magic stretches into a rope. As Marvin steps backwards away from Bro, he feels a strange pulling sensation in his chest, right where that pain was.

Bro regrets trying to joke as the strange pull makes him let out another choked gasp. He squirms and tries to back up. “Ew ew stop!! That feels fucking freaky!”

Marvin grins. "Does it?" He gives the magic rope a tug. The pulling increases to the point of near-pain.

Bro cries out as he's pulled. He tries not to show how much this is freaking him out. He knows next to nothing about magic- no matter how much Alt explains it to him it just doesn't click. So he's confused beyond all belief right now.

"I wonder... If I remember, your Anti can use electricity, right?" Marvin's free hand lights up with purple electricity. "Has he ever shocked you? Does it feel like this?" He grabs the magic rope with both hands. Violet magic races down it and into Bro.

Bro doesn't even get a chance to answer Marvin's questions before his body is flooded with electricity from the rope. He screams and spasms, crashing into the wall and craning his neck as his body writhes out of his control.

Marvin laughs. His grip on the rope slackens but he doesn't let go. He tilts his head, teeth bared in a smile, eyes alight. "What about this?" One hand crackles with icy power. Before Bro can recover, he sends that down the rope as well.

Bro yells again, now curling up and trying to claw at the burning cold invading his chest.

And he laughs again. "Oooone last try." The final magic is flame, burning violet. It races down the rope.

Bro crashes to the floor, screaming out in agony as he writhes on the ground, straining to try to get away from the burning pain.

Marvin drops the rope, waiting for Bro to calm down, watching with a smile.

Bro blinks pained tears out of his eyes as he heaves and tries to get his senses back. The room tilts and sways and he can hardly make Marvin out through the dizzying vision. "y-you... you bitch...!" He tries to snarl, but he's too wracked with pain to make it sound threatening.

"Not very creative, aaare yoouu?" Marvin says. "Just... impulsive. Like another do-gooder I knew." His face curls in disgust. "I hope the wounds killed him." He leans back against the wall. "Well, let me ask you a question, Chase. What would you prefer? To keep going like this? Or... I could hand you over to Schneep. He was really excited about this. Or maybe I could even hand you to Jameson. Now that I have your soul essence, he could put you under really... really... deep. In all honesty, that one's probably the least painful option for you. Dolls don't feel pain."

Chase struggles to push himself up on shaking arms. He bares his teeth at Marvin, blue trying to light up in his eyes. "Y-You don't s-scare me... W-Whatever you bastards do to me- it won't fucking stick. I won't become some doll or plaything or whatever you sick freaks have planned! Heroes don't get taken down- we keep going." He then laughs, sounding a bit unhinged. "And I know Alt is gonna find me. He probably will find your Anti too- and I know you fucks are scared of him. They'll kick your sorry asses!"

Marvin's eyes briefly flash brighter. "AFRAID of Anti? No, no. Never afraid. And even if we were, that was before. This is now. I've fought him with this new power and he ran like a bitch." He bares his teeth in a sharp grin. "As for your Anti, I'm sure Schneep will be excited for that, too."

Bro's eyes flash bright with blue power and he pushes himself up more, yelling in rage. "If you let that doctor bitch anywhere near Alt I swear to fuck I'll-!"

He stands up straight, moving around in the darkness. "Well, I offered you a choice and you threw it away. Though to be honest, I probably wouldn't have done what you asked anyway. So you're stuck here. With me. And with them."

He gathers magic in his hands and drops it to the ground--once, twice, three times. Each one splashes and forms another cat. Similar to the other one... but bigger. And these ones have claws and mouths with sharp, sharp teeth.

The hero cuts himself off as the new cats form and he slowly tries to back up. He growls and then tries to see if he can shoot Marvin with a concentrated electric blast.

Marvin sidesteps the blast, which cracks against the concrete wall, briefly illuminating the room. The walls are blackened and pitted like they were splashed with acid. Runes are drawn on the floor.

"Oh... I see then." His voice drips with venom. "Have the runes on those shackles worn off? Or does it simply not work on you? Either way, you've fucked yourself, Chase Brody."

And the three cat constructs pounce.

Bro yells out in rage- trying to pull against the shackles to go after Marvin. But, then, the cats pounce. And Chase screams, trying to pull them off or kick them or just- anything! But, soon enough he's back in a heap on the ground, crying out and curling up to try to protect himself.

Marvin leans back against the wall, watching with grim satisfaction.

-----------

The outside of the hotel blends in with the surrounding environment perfectly, not standing out at all. But Jameson walks up to it with certainty, stopping outside the front doors. {This is it,} he says reluctantly.

Magnificent smirks and then gestures towards the door, "Well, Jackson? Are you not going to show me around? I am a guest after all~" He grins.

Jameson grits his teeth and tries to resist, but doesn't quite manage to. He pulls a set of keys out of his pocket and unlocks the door, holding it open for Magnificent to walk inside.

Magnificent giggles and bows a bit to Jameson before striding in. He takes in the look of the lobby and whistles. "My! What a fancy place you all have found~!"

The lobby is empty. Schneep was in here earlier when Bro popped in, but not anymore. Jameson walks in behind Magnificent. {Where... do you want to see?} It's like the question is dragged out of him.

Magnificent hums and then grins at Jameson, “Why don’t you show me where Marvin learned all those interesting things, hm? Perhaps it can help me as well~”

Jameson nods jerkily. He heads around the long desk in the lobby towards a door behind it.

Then, suddenly, lunges for it, reaching under the desk for something--

But shortly after he grabs it he freezes again. A small knife clatters to the floor.

Magnificent yells and tries to stop Jameson- then he growls as he sees the knife fall. He throws out strings to wrap about Jameson as he walks towards him, tsking softly. "Jackson, Jackson, Jackson... must we play these games?"

Jameson stiffens as the strings wrap around him. He tries to struggle against them but Magnificent's power is still too strong. {Yes,} he says, giving him as much of a glare as he can muster. {I've lived too long to fall to an arrogant child like you without a token of resistance.}

Magnificent laughs and then kneels down by Jameson, pulling him up by his hair to grin wide in his face. "And yet, my age hasn't stopped me from overpowering you once again~ How is all that experience aiding you right now, old-timer?" He then throws Jameson's head down to the ground and whips out some magic to keep Jameson pinned. "If you're going to be so difficult- then I'll find all your secrets on my own. You can sit here and writhe for all I care." Mag snorts and then in a flicker of static he disappears behind the door Jameson was heading towards.

As he disappears, he doesn't see a small smile flicker across Jameson's face. He also doesn't notice the small button on the underside of the desk, right where Jameson pulled the knife from.

Behind the door are stacks and stacks of books, paper, manuscripts, and all sorts of writing. It's not very organized, but the sheer amount of knowledge is impressive.

Magnificent laughs quietly and starts to prowl through the stacks, looking for anything interesting.

The variety of these books and texts is also impressive. All very dark magic, of course, but it covers just about any subject. There is a particular emphasis on the body, mind, and soul of a person, and how to use it all to your advantage, how to manipulate it, causing pain. There are also a smattering of texts about other worlds. There is a diagram of the doorway that was used to take them here the first time.

This immediately peaks his interest and he heads over to the diagram- trying to see what Marvin has learned about the doorway... maybe it could help his future plans.

Not much, apparently. This diagram, handwritten in writing that is not Marvin's, talks about how the doorway is something that naturally appears in remote areas around the world. The runes on the stone side are in various runic languages, and some of them are unknown. The only one repeated is an angled spiral in the two top corners. All other known runes mean either "travel" or "world." The magicians have found that they cannot destroy the doorway with magic or conventional means, though there has been debate about doing something so drastic as dropping it in a volcano or putting it in the path of a powerful bomb.

Magnificent does find this interesting though- good to know they're naturally occurring... He could use that to his advantage some day. And them being hard to destroy is a good thing too. Satisfied with this he looks around to see what more there is about the other worlds-

Most of the materials about that are sparse, about theories on why there are other worlds and how to reach them. But there is a book--thin but there--that lists magicians' attempts to reach other worlds.

There is a faint hiss coming from somewhere in the room. But Magnificent is too engrossed in his search and studies to pay it much mind.

Magnificent hums slightly and leafs through the book, reading through the attempts. He doesn't suspect anything is wrong- the pull of knowledge got its hold on him.

Most of the attempts are nothing interesting, more listing what doesn't work than what does. Most often, people disappear in their attempts and never return. But there are a handful of methods that work. It's most reliable to scry into other nearby universes--though which universes are nearby will change, as it seems they tend to move around while still staying in the same general position. Interestingly, the stone doorway is listed as having the potential to send others to new worlds, but it activates rarely, seemingly on its own.

Magnificent finds this fascinating. And can't help but chuckle that he has found a way to power the doorway when whoever wrote this can't. It feels him with a sense of twisted pride. He only needs to learn to control it- or gain control of the device from Alt...

There is a white mist spreading across the floor.

The mad magician blinks and sees the mist spreading across the floor. He stumbles back, "What the?!" He tries to look for an exit.

The door behind him has closed. There is a sweet smell in the air that makes his head spin.

Magnificent staggers and fumbles to hold himself up against one of the stacks. He curses in Gaelic and tries to see if he can teleport out of here.

Can he concentrate enough to do that? Can he muster up the focus? Whatever this is, it's taking effect fast.

He can't concentrate enough- trying to teleport out of the room has him knocking into the wall on the other side of the room. He curses and then feels so dizzy, he crashes down to his knees. "Fucking Jackson-! I should have known...!" He growls angrily, trying to focus on staying awake.

The room continues to fill with sweet fog. Magnificent's head swims and concentrating becomes even more difficult, disconnected thoughts in a darkening mind.

It's not long before the fog overtakes the dark magician and he sinks heavily to the ground, passing out in the fog.

It takes a couple minutes for the fog to disperse. Then the door opens. Schneep leans in, pressing some cloth to his face just in case. Jameson is behind him, doing the same.

"Aha!" Schneep says. "I honestly was not sure that would work."

{He asked for knowledge, and his desire for it overtook him,} Jameson says. {Now then. What shall we do?}

"Marvin is using the practice for the other-universe Chase," Schneep says.

{Oh? He's here too?}

"Yes. I thought he was our Chase before and I was very concerned because he wanted to go outside. So I pressed the button."

{Good job.} Jameson reaches into his vest and touches his watch. {Chase is too sick to go outside.}

"He is," Schneep repeats dully. Then he blinks and is back to normal. "Well we will have to get Marvin for some magic restraints, but we can put him in the operating room for now. And switch out him for the other Chase when it is time."

{That's a great idea.} Jameson nods. {Let's do this now.}

[haterishated]

♡ << HEKET X OC >> ♡

trade with @creeperchild

( go check him out he has really good art! )^^ )

Heket adjusted her robes, flattening out any wrinkles there were and readied herself to exit her private chambers. Today marks the day where the bishop of hunger would ask her boyfriend, Freddy, out on a walk through Anura. It had felt like forever since she'd have any sort of quality time with him, as it had been a very busy month for Heket.

Followers whom were starving, questions regarding the fairly recent harvest festival, dissenters causing havoc, and a severe lack of food. These were all were things Heket had to deal with in limited time. It was not a fun experience.

But the bishop hoped that in her free time, she'd make it up to her beloved by taking them to see the sights of Anura. Her domain is known for having the most glorious sculptures, beautiful mushrooms, and gorgeous fields... And Heket wished to bestow the wondrous views upon her love.

Heket fidgeted with the rim of her neck's bandages for the final time before descending down into a red pentagram below her, warping her boyfriend's shelter.

When the bishop arrived at her Freddy's little mushroom house, and just as she bent down to knock on the door, a fluffy, pink and white, polar bear opened the door and looked up to meet Heket's eyes with a wide, cheerful, grin on his face.

"Heket!" Freddy exclaimed, waving his left arm enthusiastically. "What brings you here?"

Heket gave him a short — yet sweet — smile in response. "It's been a while since we've last spent our time together, so I've been planning to go on a small walk with you, if you're up for it." She offered a hand and the bear took it without hesitation.

"Sounds fun!” Freddy replied excitedly and shook from excitement.

Heket laughed softly, guiding him toward the vast mushroom forest, hand in hand. Heket would occasionally point out a type of mushroom and a few fun facts. Other times, she'll talk about the history of Anura to the polar bear.

"We're going to arrive over to the canyon soon, so make sure not to fall into any of them." Heket warned. Freddy nodded his head vigorously and the two made their way through the vast prairie field. "Here is where the crops grow."

Large farming plots were growing phenomenally well, and all the crops looked plump and delicious. Followers would kill to have even as much as a small nibble on one of the pumpkins grown there. Sweet, tasty, pumpkins! Who could resist?

“The crops here were blessed by me to grow well for the harvest festival this month." She raised a hand to point toward the farm plots, then set it back down to look at Freddy. "Just a few more days of preparation, and the festival will begin."

Freddy turned his head to look at some of the sights nearby as they continued their walk through Anura. A ravine sliced through the ground, flowers, mushrooms, and vines sprouting from the cracks in the ground and along the edges of said ravine. Large mushroom trees decorated the sides, and moss covered the ground near it like a blanket.

Heket stopped in her tracks to see what Freddy was so interested in. "At the bottom of that ravine lies the Silk Cradle. It's a very large cave system under the lands of the Old Faith." Freddy looked back up at Heket. "Looks beautiful!"

After wandering deeper into Anura, Freddy caught sight of a colossal mushroom that peaks from the ground, around it, smaller mushrooms sprouted and moss blanketed the massive mushroom and hung off it. "When I was just barely a million years old, I tested my powers to see if I could grow a small, tiny, mushroom into something meaningful and large."

"It grew at a rapid rate and grew way bigger then it was supposed to be." Heket spoke, and tugged on his hand. "Come along now, there are a few more sights left to see."

During their walk, Freddy encountered little mushroom followers, a grand waterfall tearing through a canyon, and a large mushroom forest. The sights were indeed, just as great as Heket described them to be.

Heket held Freddy's hand as she went through a portal of ichor and warped back to his house. She released the polar bear's hand gently and look down at him with a sincere smile on her face. "How was it?"

"I've never even seen more then half of the things you showed me!" Freddy said happily. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"How about we take a walk tomorrow and explore the rest of Anura?"

Freddy gasped. "There's more!?"

"We've only seen a quarter of what Anura has to offer, little one."

"Well then, it's a deal!"

"I'll see you then."

[onlyhereforangst]

Who fucked the fandom I'm confused? The person who wrote the article?

oh absolutely not, from what i can tell @shelbbswrites is a lovely person & writes about some of my favorite ships & i'd like her to keep writing so i can spiral about jiara in the near future.

as for who fucked the fandom, well. girl. the blog whose gif was linked, @/opponentsheir, is the one who knowingly, willfully fucked the fandom last summer.

it was circa mid-late May 2022 and here was the jiara tumblr fandom, struggling to get through the drought by the scraps of bts we'd scrounge up from filming. blurry ass photos that make you concerned for a tourist's ability to hold their water as they drink, random selfies that tell you next to nothing, and then the occasional "omg this is BIG how does this make sense how does it fit in but omg it's BIG" crumb.

times were rough, bts were tight, and the unsuspecting jiara tumblr fandom was hungry. unbeknownst to us in comes OH who decides. let's have some "fun" let's liven up the jiara fandom because it's clearly dead (false) and idk im bored besties let's play a hehe silly joke! at first, a few handpicked jiara blogs get random anonymous post submissions and each blog has like 2-3 different posts that are all supposed bts leaks. it's never-before-seen photos of what we can only presume are s3 bts. almost all of these blogs were in a jiara discord server together so the photos weren't shared because wtf who is trusting us with these clear leaks we don't want them to stop though. so we sit on these, we get excited, we spiral, all that fandom stuff that we had already. been. doing. but yeah here's a few more bts crumbs to have fun with. then a few weeks later when, to OH's surprise, the fandom hasn't reacted like she wanted, freaked out over her "leaks," hasn't posted them on every platform ever to give her the attention she feels she deserves, she decides oooh let's send more! this isn't sociopathic at all!! and then bam there's a second round of anonymous post submissions followed up by an anon ask sent to one of the blogs saying "you can post them, this is the last you'll get because i've reached my max photoshopping ability do not contact again" (also pardon but how tf are we supposed to contact you if you're anonymous).

ANYWAYS the leaks: we're talking blurry, random characters - sarah, pope, rose, jj and pope, kie, a random dude by a fire, and then jj having his beat-up face held by hands that look just like kie's hands.

and sure enough, we spiral! an actual face hold??? on our screens??? fuck yeah! cannot wait for s3!!! jokes on us we're getting so much more but yeah!!! we're theorizing we're writing whole ass fics we're speculating we've got a discord emoji we've got everything. a few hours later the leaks make it to jiara twt and THEY go wild too. i mean who tf wouldn't? you're starving for content and some mysterious source decides to drop you leaks. like yeah hindsight is 20:20 and who was going to potentially violate an NDA for this, but still.

fastforward several months and now OH is back because i guess she got desperate for attention again and feeling "important" or whatever. she goes on anon and says hey btw those leaks were fake ha ha isn't that funny, here's the photos i used linked here and here and omg isn't this just hilarious bestie such a good time man i love the jiara fandom being active again because god i was so BORED and man i just wanted more fics and edits and omg look it worked i mean i've done it before and i'd do it again (or some shit like that idk i dont have the wherewithal to go look it up and get it 100% correct but yeah, she admitted to doing it for funsies)

rightfully so, the fandom is fucking pissed. it isn't *fun* to get manipulated, it isn't *fun* to get manipulated into making new content???? that we don't get fucking paid to make???????? fuck you?????? you don't manipulate an entire group of people for SHITS AND GIGGLES that's literally sociopathic shit babe, go get help please. so yeah she fucked the entire fandom over Summer 2022 and did it because "i'm bored i want content" like fuck all the way off.

oh and side note: another anonymous poster tried to say oh i know who it is, but also i'm not going to tell you because you guys are clearly mad at her and i don't want you to take it out on her, i know her and it's ok she's ok. like i'm sorry. the fuck? don't insert yourself into this stupid sociopath's deranged manipulative plan. because guess what bitch, we've got detectives in this fandom and while OH never came off anon like the coward she is, the fandom was able to put it together & not only determine her tumblr but also her twt so when she tried a fucking round three several months later with "oh i found these on reddit but the post disappeared hehe" we all saw through that shit a mile away.

in a nutshell, @/opponentsheir fucked the fandom over with her manipulative bullshit & does not deserve a fucking drop of attention from anyone in this fandom.

[creelsclocks]

CREEL'S CLOCKS CHAPTER 5.

Summary: Halloween is a month-long affair, 001. We've been over this. Warnings: Mentions of child abuse, mentions of animal cruelty, mild gore.

Eddie rests his chin atop the fence's wooden post. "Look at all those pumpkins, man."

001 looks at them. Pumpkins are strange round orange things that he's never seen before, and this field is further out than either of them have thought to go together. Behind the trailers and through the woods, rolling pastures and farmlands lay, a winding dirt road leading straight through the middle and, presumably, out of Hawkins. Sometimes, the boy thinks to slip out of whatever house he's hiding in for the night and follow that dizzy bend into the great unknown. He has no home, not really. He'd be leaving little behind.

"I am seeing them," he replies belatedly, voice flat while Eddie's trembles with tangible excitement. "You really want to take one?"

"We gotta." That's all Eddie says as he hoists himself up and over the tall wooden gate, a wide grin on his face as his sneakers hit the dirt on the other side. “C’mon. Now you.”

001 stares at him through a gap in the fence before his eyes flit to the side. There’s a moment of silence, and then the gate’s latch unfastens, opening with a slowly rising creak.

Eddie deadpans. “Showoff.”

Shoes are things that 001 is still adjusting to. The slip-ons at Hawkins Lab were more like socks, and the moment he’d touched ground that wasn’t pristine linoleum, he’d realised that they were about as thin as a sheet of paper. Much like his caretakers in that place, they’d shielded him from nothing. Conversely, Gareth’s old trainers that he’d dug out of his closet for him are thick and roomy, and the rubbery soles that protect his feet also threaten to trip him up as they traverse through the field. The uneven terrain annoys him

“Remind me why we are doing this,” 001 mutters, trying not to sound too rueful. It's only grass.

"Halloween."

"It is October 10th."

"Halloween is a month-long affair, my friend. We've been over this."

Eddie had spared him no detail when it came to coercing him into coming along to steal a pumpkin to serve as this year's jack-o-lantern. Just two hours ago, 001 hadn't even known there was a holiday this month; now he knows about scary movies and trick-or-treating and jack-o-lanterns — all things that Eddie has promised him hands-on experience with. He'd even said he felt he'd be 'good' at trick-or-treating, for he could use his powers to play tricks on people that were stingy with candy.

They walk into the main field, garish orange blinding their vision. Fall is a wonderful season, ripe with colour and temperatures that please 001 greatly, but this is a different kind of bright. A visual overstimulation that is most unpleasant.

"Why must you steal it?"

"We don't have the money," Eddie replies, his eyes scanning the field eagerly, intent on picking out the best one. "Or rather, we can afford a pumpkin, but I don't want Uncle Wayne to shell out to buy one that we're not gonna eat." He levels the other with a dubious look, eyebrow raised in silent challenge. "You care about stealing?"

"Not particularly. I have stolen a lot of food and water just to survive. But I thought it would be easier just to buy one from the store."

"Sure, it's easier. But it's more fun this way."

001 can't argue with that. He'd had little choice in the matter– before he found Eddie, he'd raided several convenience stores and supermarket aisles just to keep from starving, though he'd only taken things he recognised– but he'll concede that it tops standing in a queue and handing over what little pocket change Eddie has. As if they're not poor enough without capitalism draining the boy's pathetic four-dollar savings.

Their journey takes longer than 001 anticipated, and now they're in the centre of this field that seems to stretch on forever. In the distance, to his left, he notices a little house. It's a single story cottage-looking deal, with what looks to be a wooden fence surrounding the property.

"Somebody lives here?" He doesn't often get nervous, but the idea of crossing paths with another adult has apprehension curdling in his gut. More people to see him. More chances to identify him.

"Farmer Callahagn," Eddie replies with a nod. "I mean, somebody's gotta grow this shit, right? You thought it'd be empty?"

001's mouth presses into a thin line, gaze lingering on the house before Eddie's hand resting on his forearm realigns his focus. By now, he's learned not to flinch in the wake of his touchy nature. It's harmless. His skin still crawls, though.

"It'll be fine, dude. We'll be in and out, like an uncle at Thanksgiving."

001 makes a face. Given Eddie's uncouth nature, he can't make heads or tails of whether that was a very inappropriate joke or not. This only serves to amuse the other, a wicked grin on his face as he waltzes further into the pumpkin patch.

Eddie takes his time examining them, as if he's a connoisseur in all things fruit, before he spots one that makes him gasp and point. It's considerably larger than most they've seen, fat and ridged in a manner that's so aesthetically pleasing that even 001 feels slightly mystified. He never knew things that came from the soil could grow this large.

"Holy shit!" he exclaims through a laugh, his fingers curling in the back of 001's shirt. "This is it, man. This is the winner."

The boy watches resolutely as Eddie squares his feet, rocking back and forth on his heels before locking his hands around the desired pumpkin. With a strained sound, he tries to pick it up — and then quickly gives up.

“Damn, this thing’s heavy.”

“What did you expect? It’s huge. And you haven’t even freed it from its vine yet.”

001 squats, hands feeling along the pumpkin’s outer shell before he secures the vine in his fist. It’s thicker than he anticipated it being, vaguely rubbery in texture, and he doubts he can tear it with his strength alone. It's a job for shears — or a psychically gifted child. With a look of concentration, he stares at the thick green rope, envisioning it splitting, and it gives way with a sharp qwick!

“Try now.”

He backs up as Eddie takes centre stage once more. With planted feet and squared shoulders, he just about manages to lift it from the floor. Just about.

“You might have to help me with this one, man.” The strain in his voice is tangible, as is his smile.

001 sighs. “You’re quite foolish. You know that, yes?”

“Yeah.” Eddie beams as if a pretty girl has just called him cute. “Now let’s get outta here, before Old Macdonald shows up.”

“I thought his name was Callahagn?”

“Figure of speech.”

With 001 beside him to lessen the load, the comically large pumpkin becomes less of a burden. As they trudge slowly through the thick mud, they talk about what they can carve into it. 001 seems to think a typical face will do just fine, though naturally Eddie wants to go all out. A goat, he yells, impervious to his friend’s cringe. A goat DEMON!

The suggestion speaks to him in a way he doesn’t entirely like. He wonders if it’s because a handful of the orderlies at Hawkins Lab described him as such an entity. ‘Demon’ and ‘psycho’ had been their favourite descriptors — and after the things he’s done, he doesn’t know if he can say that they’re all that unfair.

[ “Let go, you little psycho!” The taste of copper in his mouth, a chunk of worthless meat sitting heavily atop his tongue. He spits it out before he can think to swallow it. It lands by Papa’s perfectly polished shoe. ]

001 shakes his head, and the memory dissipates like smoke.

“What do you think, One?”

“Huh?”

“About a—”

“HEY!”

Both boys halt, the harsh, unfamiliar voice prompting them to slowly turn around. On the porch of the little house stands an old man with a scraggly beard and a dishevelled head of greying hair. He’s clad in unfastened overalls and a stained white shirt, only one boot pulled on. A rifle is clutched tight in his right hand. A jolt of adrenaline passes through 001 at the sight of the weapon, brow furrowing as he looks hurriedly at Eddie.

He’s grinning like a maniac, arm reeling as he thrusts his middle finger up at the farmer.

“Finders keepers!” he hollers, tongue stuck out with an audible BLEH.

Some of that confidence wears off when the man descends his steps in a flurry of motion, gun aimed in their vague direction. It doesn’t occur to 001 that he’d never actually fire it at a couple of kids; he’s already turned tail, begun running, the pumpkin in Eddie’s arms becoming all the lighter as he hones his powers in order to make a quick getaway.

Why wouldn’t he shoot them? The fact that he’s a child has never mattered to anyone before.

A deafening crack sounds to their distant left, and though the bullet flies wide, nowhere close, all 001 can think about is how he feels as if he’s about to be shot. He may not feel much of a desire to live, but he doesn’t want to bleed out in a nobody’s mud, alone and in pain. It takes him back to how he’d breached the main door of the lab upon his escape— and how he’d barely had time to take a gulp of fresh, outdoor air before beginning his mad dash to the grounds’ main gate, bullets and darts tipped with god only knows what sedatives sailing over his head. That’s the fastest he’s ever run in his life, but he feels as if there’s time for that to change. He’s young, and he lives in a world that wants to eat him alive.

Impossibly, he runs faster, Eddie’s excited whooping adding to the ache blooming between his eyes. Blood drips from his nose, eyes deadset on the quickly approaching fence. Don’t lose focus, he tells himself sternly. If you lose focus, all will be lost. You’ll trip. You’ll drop the pumpkin. You’ll get a bullet in your spine. Uncle Wayne will lose a child.

“Get back here!”

“Shit!” Eddie exclaims, hands naturally scrabbling for purchase when the pumpkin suddenly flies out of his grip, launched up and over the fence by an invisible force. It lands with a dull thud several feet away, both boys scrambling up and over the gate before charging into the woods, prize in tow.

Surrounded by trees and pine needles, 001 finally feels the exhaustion take over. All at once, he staggers to a stop, then drops to his hands and knees, and the pumpkin in Eddie’s arms becomes too heavy to carry, bringing him to a halt too. Gulps of air are taken in greedily, crimson dripping steadily onto the dirt. He’s tired. His limbs ache. His chest is tight. Using his powers is one thing, but running for his life on top of that? There’s only so far adrenaline stretches before it becomes terror.

“Shit, dude—” Eddie’s hand settles on his back as he watches 001 pant through the heavy flow. He reaches into his back pocket, a black bandana decorated with skulls withdrawn before he begins to mop him up. The blood soaks through. “I didn’t know this’d screw you up this bad.”

“I am just tired—” He pauses to spit blood into the grass, the glob thick and red, and is wholly unsure how to explain himself. “I’m okay.”

How many times had he assured Papa of the same thing, even when he was completely exhausted?

The way Eddie rubs his back gently is soothing, even if it makes his skin prickle. As his heartbeat slows and his world comes back into focus, he finds the strength to stand up on his knees. He glances at his worried friend, then the comically large pumpkin. Then, he chuckles. It feels distinctly as if he’s cheated death, and the high that comes with doing so was simply late, not missing. Eddie’s eyebrows shoot upwards with evident surprise, though it doesn’t take long for him to join in. He has a stitch in his right side. The laughter isn’t helping.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised you can run like that, given your circumstances, but I am. I really am. You and your fuckin’— noodle limbs.” More laughter, breathless and silly. “You were like a rocket on steroids, man.”

“Rockets don’t have limbs,” 001 replies pointedly, head tipped back towards the sky, his breathing now level. The taste of metal lingers in the back of his throat. He’s not even going to ask what ‘steroids’ are. In this moment, he cares about nothing but the feeling of triumph.

“Whatever.” He reaches out to drag the pumpkin into his lap. He expected there to be some damage post-launch, but it doesn’t look any worse for wear. 001 must have used his wizardry to keep it from impacting the ground with too much force. “You were awesome. That guy must’ve been shitting his pants.”

001 glances at him, brow furrowed. He’s never really been praised for his abilities before. Despite them being coveted, he was reminded time and time again that they didn’t make him special, or above the rules. As if he misheard: “I was awesome…?”

Eddie grins wide, leaning back on his hands. “Truly metal, man.”

He pauses a moment, as if unsure what to make of the praise, before he mimics the gesture Eddie had performed in the field.

"What is this?" he asks, eyes drawing focus to his middle finger.

"You're telling me to fuck off, man."

Immediately, 001 stops doing it, fingers curled into a fist that he then holds protectively to his chest. Oops.

In the end, they're able to lug the pumpkin back to the Munson trailer. It currently sits on the table, just waiting to be gutted and carved into. However, before Eddie sinks his blade in, he wants a good idea of the design. That sees them at his desk in the bedroom, flipping through one of Eddie's sketchbooks together.

"You're good at art," 001 says, his stoic tone not lending itself well to the compliment.

"Thanks. I draw a lot for DnD." And during lessons. He'd often rather die than actually do any sort of maths. "I'm telling you, man, you should join in some time. I think you'd be good at it."

They've spoken briefly about DnD, given that it's such a big part of Eddie's life, but 001 doesn't know the first thing about it, and he's slightly intimidated by the sheer amount of rules. He tends to be good at guideline-heavy games— chess being a key example of this— but he's not sure if he can manage both the terms of service and high fantasy improv. He should probably learn the contents of the real world before attempting to commit a fictional one to memory.

"Maybe," he replies, his voice toneless, noncommittal. His finger points at one of the drawings that catches his eye. It's a cluster of bats flying in a downward arch. They're emerging from fork lightning. "I like that."

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

"I love bats," Eddie says with a grin. "They're so cool."

001 thinks about this for a moment. His relationship with animals in general is poor, given some of the things he'd been forced to do while being trained.

[ There is nothing to be nervous about, 001. Animals don't feel pain. Not like humans do. How can that be, Papa? They are not sentient in the same way that we are. They don't have the same capacity to hurt. ]

It had made so much sense to him when he was seven.

Hissing cats and skittering rats flash in his mind's eye, and it takes him screwing his eyes shut to have the images disperse. He doesn't want to think of all the poor creatures that he harmed under the guise of it being harmless. Psycho.

"I like spiders," he replies belatedly, voice slightly tighter than before. "I draw them a lot, too."

"You can draw?" Eddie is clearly intrigued by that. Every day, he learns something new about this strange boy. The more pieces of the puzzle that he's given, the more that he genuinely likes him. He can be odd at times, certainly, but hell— they're all freaks here. "Show me."

"Okay." Without much hesitation, 001 plucks a pencil from the desk and begins to draw a Black Widow spider in a free space on the page. He takes his time, each stroke methodical, until he’s left a fairly detailed depiction in the corner.

Eddie gawks at it for a moment before looking up at him with a grin. “Whoa! You’re good, too.”

He adds a single string, giving it the illusion that it’s hanging from the top of the page, and 001’s mouth twitches in the form of a slight smile.

Then, he's struck by an idea.

“Oh… what about…” Quickly, he draws a crude sketch of the spider he’d drawn before, then Eddie’s bats below them. The fork lightning crawls upwards until it connects with the spider web he’s drawn, successfully combining the two images together. “What about this, for the jack-o-lantern?”

Eddie stares at the image in silence for several seconds before slamming his hands on the desk. 

“That’s the winner,” he declares with a bright grin. In truth, he probably shouldn’t be this excited to do it. It’s full of jagged edges and sharp corners, hell to navigate with a blunt kitchen knife, and yet all he can focus on is the fact that they did it together. “It’s gonna look awesome.”

“Metal,” 001 ‘corrects’, his plain tone oddly endearing — so much so that Eddie is left beaming.

“Yeah. Metal.”

[rhannettejoy]

"The Fated Vestiges"

Chapter 1: Job

"Selene, hurry up! We're going to be late!" my friend Mae called out.

I’m in my second year of college, but I've been trying to find work as an artist, anything that involves drawing. Mae and I have been going back and forth applying to various publishing companies. Ever since high school, there’s been one particular publishing company I dreamed of working for, and today might finally be the day. As I looked up at the tall building in front of us, I was awestruck by its beauty. If it’s this impressive from the outside, what must it be like inside? I couldn’t contain my excitement.

"This is it! Out of all the companies we've applied to, I really hope this one takes us," I said with a mix of hope and determination.

"Let's go! I'm more excited for you than for myself," Mae laughed, pulling me inside.

The application process was much slower than at other companies. We submitted all our requirements, and they asked us plenty of questions—as if we were already hired. Although I felt nervous, I also couldn’t help feeling optimistic.

“I’d bet my life just to get in here!” I joked, making Mae laugh.

“You're just starving! Let’s grab something to eat; look at the time!” Mae suggested, and I agreed immediately since I was starving.

Chapter 2: Resemblance

While waiting for our food, I checked my phone to see if my idol, Aiden, a famous writer, had posted any updates. I was disappointed to see none. His stories have become my comfort and inspiration; some of my artworks are even based on his stories.

"Your idol is trending on Twitter!" Mae announced, shocking me.

"Why? Did they finally discover our secret relationship?" I teased.

"Crazy! But seriously, there’s a famous artwork circulating online that looks exactly like Aiden!" Mae said, scrolling through her phone.

I wanted to brush it off as a prank, but what Mae said next caught my attention.

“I might be hallucinating, but the girl in the artwork looks just like you!” Mae exclaimed, showing me her phone. I didn’t want to believe her, but looking at the photo felt like staring into a mirror.

"Did you make this?" she asked, suspiciously.

"What? I’ve never drawn myself with Aiden in one frame. I tried sketching his face once, but I stopped because I couldn’t do it justice," I said earnestly.

"Then who is this girl? She really looks like you! This is so weird." Mae couldn’t take her eyes off the screen.

Chapter 3: Letters

I tried to ignore the situation, but more and more artwork featuring Aiden and the girl resembling me kept surfacing online. Even stranger, some of the artworks included love letters on the back.

"Why did Solana leave?" I muttered to myself. Scrolling through the comments, I saw many people condemning Solana, saying she didn’t deserve Apollo. But I disagreed. I felt compelled to write a post, defending Solana, saying maybe she had her reasons.

“Selene! Wake up!” Mae shook me awake.

“What? What are you doing here?” I mumbled, still half-asleep.

“You’re famous! Check your social media!” she said excitedly.

Skeptical, I opened my phone, expecting another prank. But to my shock, my notifications were exploding.

“Why are they tagging me with my idol? Do they think I’d be a good match for Aiden?” I asked, amused.

“You’re being crazy again! They’re tagging you because you and Aiden look just like an old painting found near Intramuros!” Mae explained.

Chapter 4: Last

I was about to brush it off when I saw a new post—a love letter from Apollo written on the back of a painting of him and Solana.

The letter left me speechless. How could Solana abandon Apollo without a word? Driven by curiosity, I decided to go to Intramuros. Rumor had it that Solana’s final letter to Apollo was hidden there.

“I’m so tired,” I sighed, sitting under a tree after three hours of searching. While resting, I found a letter. It was Apollo’s last message to Solana.

Reading this letter, I finally understood Apollo and Solana’s tragic love story. Yet, I felt an inexplicable sadness and heartbreak as if their story was mine.

Chapter 5: Fate

I was busy scrolling through social media, looking for any updates about whether they'd found a letter from Solana, when my phone rang. I answered it immediately, seeing it was the publishing company I’d been hoping to join.

"Good day, is this Ms. Selene? We just wanted to inform you that you’ve been hired to become part of our publishing company. Please make sure to come in tomorrow. We look forward to working with you," the woman on the phone said.

"Thank you so much! I’m really looking forward to working with all of you!" I replied sincerely.

I’m finally hired! I’ll be closer to my idol! There’s a real possibility of working with him since we’re in the same company. I’ll do my best to get assigned to his newest book for the cover design.

Everything went well, and I got busy balancing school and work. The best part is that I’m with Mae; we’re always together, even on the same team. I almost bowed to thank God when Aiden’s book was assigned to us. Miracles do happen!

"You look familiar," a man’s voice said.

I was startled, busy tying my shoelaces, and looked up to see it was Aiden—the one and only Aiden! He looked unreal in person! I wished I could see him every day. This was a blessing!

"Hi! I’m Selene, your number one fan since your first story!" I mustered up the courage to introduce myself and extended my hand. I couldn’t miss this chance.

"Oh, thank you… Solana," he said, looking at my face intently, making me self-conscious. Did I have something on my face? But wait—did he just call me Solana?

"It’s Selene," I said shyly.

"Sorry! You just look exactly like Solana," Aiden replied. "But, again, thank you for your support, Selene."

I wanted to ask him more about Solana because it seemed like he knew something, but my boss called me, so I had to leave despite wanting to talk to him more. He really looked like a character from a book, and the rumors were true—he did look like Apollo, Solana’s lover.

It was a regular day at lunchtime, though Mae wasn’t with me because she was sick, so I was eating alone. I thought it would be a quiet lunch until…

"Hey, Sel! Can I join you?" My idol—Aiden—asked.

"Of course!" I answered.

I thought it might be awkward, but we ended up talking about his books, his inspiration for writing, hobbies, and even Apollo and Solana’s love story. People kept saying we looked exactly like them. Talking with him felt natural, as if I’d known him for a long time. Everything about him felt familiar, even his presence.

Is reincarnation really possible?

Aiden and I grew close quickly; it was like we’d clicked right from the start, and everything felt so comfortable. I started drafting his stories, and it felt right, like we’d been doing this forever.

"I finally found you," Aiden suddenly said one day while we were working.

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked, looking at him expectantly. But he didn’t answer; he just smiled at me.

Everything was going well. Aiden became my suitor, and on the 18th day, I said yes because it didn’t need to be long—I’d already loved him long before he knew me or before we even met.

Chapter 6: History

I thought things would stay happy, but then I received a message from my father. He wanted me to quit my job and study abroad to become a lawyer. To him, being an artist was meaningless, and now that he knew I was following my dream and in a relationship with a writer, he intervened. He didn’t want me with Aiden, thinking he was the reason I didn’t pursue law school.

"Law school was never my dream! Becoming a famous artist is my only dream!" I said, unable to hold back my feelings.

"How dare you speak to me like that! Your mother needs you—she’s dying, while you’re here, lying to us about law school and being happy! How could you?! You ungrateful child! Worthless!" he yelled, furious, and I was shocked by his words.

"Mom…" I said weakly.

"You heard me right! So pack all your things—we’re leaving the country today," he ordered.

I couldn’t think straight. I felt numb, barely able to function. I just did as he said, moving like a robot. My mind was still reeling. I thought Mom was doing fine—how could she be suffering? How did I not know about this? Am I a terrible daughter?

“Selene, make it fast!” my father’s voice broke through my thoughts as he urged me to board the plane. We were moving abroad, as he wanted me to pursue law—a path I never wanted. But as I stood there, I couldn’t ignore the familiar feeling in my chest, like an echo from the past.

“Would you leave me again?” Aiden’s voice suddenly pulled me back to reality. He was there, looking at me.

“I don’t want to, but I have to,” I said, helplessly.

“So history really does repeat itself,” he murmured, handing me an envelope before my father dragged me away.

Chapter 7: Destiny

On the plane, I opened Aiden’s letter:

I felt tears slip down my face. Had Solana and Apollo’s story become mine?

My father’s voice jolted me from my thoughts, but I made a decision. I would not be the Solana of my own story, leaving my Apollo behind. I will not let history repeat itself. I don't want to be the Sol in everyone's life without being the sunlight for the person I truly love, because how can I be a sunshine when I'm not even genuinely happy? Maybe Apollo and Solana were not meant to be together in their lifetime, but after 18 years, just like a solar eclipse, Aiden and I have collided. I will leave the past where it belongs and let the moon and sun could, at last, shine together, even if it’s just for this lifetime.

Written by: Rhannette Joy Tolentino.

[hospitalterrorizer]

diary371

9/26-27/24

thursday - friday

tomorrow my gf leaves ... for la...

i'm sure she will be fine, her friend + new friend who is friend to her friend are nice (one confirmed by me and other confirmed by her) but i do keep worrying irrationally that out of nowhere they might be mean to my gf. i think i'm just crazy, i just get images in my head of her in emotional pain or feeling alienated like i've seen in the past, like when we went to chicago and she felt judged by my friend and it was difficult to navigate because he didn't mean anything, he's just one way, and she is another, i worry about her but i think other people will pay much more attention, and notice that kind of thing and know some people won't self-advocate in certain situations out of anxiety. i imagine these women do, or i know one does. i just worry.

i am sure it will be fun, and normal, and nice.

today, what else... the guy is gonna send tapes to me i sent him my address finally i am so dumb and forgetful. i did some more drums, or one track has drums now and i also added some bass and messed with the guitar sound, i think it's much better now.

listening to this right now. it's good. freaky soundz.

it's hard to remember where my head went today... sucks, my gf made some 2x spicy buldak ramen noodles and they are tasty but it hurts too much for her and i... we're too weak, my tongue was really... it felt like it was gonna explode or like i was sucking off a cactus, my whole mouth throbbing in a weird way. super freaky, i'm glad the pain went away rather quickly though. still...

i played more fear and hunger, i got the girl and i got a save, i have the necronomicon, lol. or a necronomicon? do you get multiple? can you?

i also vced today with friends, which was good, really good ppl to talk to, just about whatever, it's been a while since i've talked to my friend matt in vc, and cleo as well, though this is the most we've ever talked generally, it was just chill but i didn't have a lot of energy cuz of my fasting in the mornings/when i wake up so i was just kinda starving towards the end. it's kind of nice how exciting it makes food. i always look forward to eating my oatmeal...

i need to sleep now, tomorrow we aren't walking to the store... my gf just decided we shouldn't basically, she was like, i'll just order something, and that's that . i hope i can make it last... i am scared of not making it last...

time for bed...

so,

byebye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[shockingdread]

big reflection on our job and how much we've gained from it. which is to say we lost so much our health has been destroyed and we have no money to show for it

part of the reason this is being typed is because we havent smoked in a while but for real we have sacrificed everything for this job and gained nothing from it except guaranteeing our parent's roof over our head. except they still constantly threaten us and disrespect us. we're at this fork in the road where we have to decide if we're actually doing what we want with our life and if this job is helping us do that. what we want in life is to transition, a shitty car, an apartment with a friend or two, and a job in game development. we threw our transition into the trash to avoid getting hatecrimed by our coworkers, and health wise we're at our lowest. we're starving ourselves, we're not cleaning our room of food trash and we're getting repetitive infections from unwashed sheets and clothes. we have zero savings after eight months here making 19.50 because we're too paranoid to stay in a grocery store for more than ten minutes without supervision. our only irl friend moved so we cant ask her for help anymore, our family knows that we struggle with paranoid schizophrenia and they think it is funny and do not help. doordash and the local restaurants have scraped like 15k off of us since we got this job. we picked up smoking to try and reclaim some sort of control over our body, as a weird "fuck you" to our parents and anyone who tells us how to live our life, and its ended with us getting thru a pack every other day. thats like, 40 dollars a week of nj taxed marlboro menthols. we have so little energy at all times, even with our on/off schedule (two days on, two days off, three days on, two days off, two days on, three days off. repeat every two weeks) we cant do anything on our days off because our whole body aches. we cant think through the pain, so we cant even work on our game or do shit other than play tf2 and shoot shit on calls with friends. we're so miserable, we're filling the gaps with cigs and ice cream and excessive amounts of chinese takeout because we're a huge stress eater (but still losing a surprising amount of weight). now that my coworker tore the ligaments in her knee, she's got priority in orion instead of us. so every night has been in blow mold, where we spend so much more energy than we actually have. we're in debt to our own body, and the new girl is fucking everything up and blaming it on everyone around her, and the company's in a hiring freeze right now so if she leaves no one's taking her spot, and its still summer so just going to work burns and the car's AC is fucked so there's no relief from 12 hr nights in the steamy 80 degree factory. when we started working at our other factory job, we said to everyone, "this has to be temporary, i am not gonna last here, i am going to burn out and start making awful decisions and undo what good this is" and not only did that come to pass but it happened significantly sooner than i expected. this job has truly taken everything from us and left us in the negative and im starting to think keeping it thus far has just been like.. sunk cost fallacy. whatever the case is, it's time to start looking for something new asap. im probably putting my two weeks in soon. our sister is trying to help us get groceries now, we're trying to pick up the pieces this weekend. we'll feel it out but get excited for our unemployment

[withleeknow]

spring day and epiphany (my personal fave) are on today's microwave rotation 🌸 that translation- STOB IT ARE YOU TRYING TO HURT ME this is president jin running for his people HE'S TRULY THE BEST 🥺🥺

I'm so ready for yoonjin crumbs we've been STARVED I'll be waiting not-so-patiently like this: https://we.tl/t-osUYNLIg72

jimin really had the designated cuddly kitten agenda https://tinyurl.com/4t62xxub - doesn't it look like he gives the best hugs 🥺

lmao I'm WFH rn and the W in WFH is just a side thing today - I'm juggling bangtan reunion and enha's d2 in japan - in our drought of WWH-flying kisses, we'll just have to make do with some from our little rockstar ˙ᵕ˙ https://tinyurl.com/2s4t7bnm also if this ain't me every time we spam each other dopamine sources <3

P.S. I hopped over to your other blog THE OT7 HEADER PHOTO you work so fast it's so pretty:'))

P.P.S. your hinting at the defrosting of bangtan writings *cue: onigiri finding another rabbithole to leap into*

P.P.P.S. on the same wavelength - if you were to so kindly grace this blog with obs-esque mimo writing I would scream. then die. then scream some more. with love.

i know jin will just bother yoongi so much i hope we'll at least be fed with yoonjin selcas to sustain us until hobi comes home 😭

mimi is my healing angel, i just know a mimi hug will cure me 😭

man if i had known today was gonna be like this i would've booked today as my wfh day. but alas we're working from home tomorrow so at least i won't have to suffer the seokjin hug fest in the office 🫡

ohhh :((( our little rockstar indeed. he's adorable :((( and is it just me or does that angle make him look so much like mimo in that clip :o i love ping ponging dopamine with you onigiri it's the highlight of my day :(((

the ot7 pic is so precious to me i had to !!! my previous header i made after last year's festa so it felt like it was time for a change :') that is, until another ot7 pic drops when hobi comes back. i am so pumped to slowly make my way back to writing for the tannies again !!! i would be absolutely thrilled if you were to indulge my bangtan stuff too 🥹

i would be pretty excited to do an obs-esque thing for mimo over here 🥹 there is actually a mimo in obs (not really, i'm lying lol. there's a minho mention in one of the obs drabbles but i wasn't a skz stan then so i just picked a random name but look at the cosmic coincidence it turned out to be <3) so imagine if i wrote a spinoff for him 🤣