#but he gets so scared in trials he forgets for a minute

[britishneonjello]

David has not felt a gentle touch in a long while :*)

[fuckmymunson]

eddie who has a reputation to uphold, the weird and scary freak who wears chains and big metal rings and always goes on tangents about his hatred for the popular kids, not a sliver of fear or weakness in his eyes. eddie who at the same time never leaves his house without the light yellow scrunchy with daisies on it that you gave him, always on his wrist or wrapped in his hair.

eddie who’s sweet n soft on you in a way he never is with anyone else 🥹

💌 a/n: Oh god, this, this, this, this. Please, I don’t ask for much. I’m so happy to get back to writing! Hope you like it!

🪷 Check my recent poll ¡! 📌

“I lost it” His voice sounded almost defeated, and quite inopportune.

“Eddie!” You jolted in your place, closing the light green locker door. Behind it, there he was, the big, scary, mean freak of Hawkins High. Covered from head to toe in chains, leather, ripped jeans, black, black, all black. With dark, unruly hair and a chunky rings.

But also, with puppy eyes, and a quivering lip.

“You scared the shit out of me, Eds” The frown on your pretty face made his heart jump inside his chest. You were an angel, a sight for sore eyes.

“I lost it” He repeated.

“You lost what?”

“I’m sorry” Eddie looked down, apparently now his Reeboks were the most interesting thing.

“Care to explain what is missing and why are you apologizing?” Crossing your arms over your chest, you waited, for almost three minutes.

“I lost the scrunchy you gave me” He finally admitted, like a criminal at trial.

Eddie heard you sigh, to his ears, was a sigh of disappointment. In reality, it was a sigh of relief. Only Edward Munson knew how to make a simple thing as a scrunchy into a faithful message.

“That’s it? Eddie, it’s just a hair tie” You shook your head, still not comprehending the dimensions of his problem.

“It’s not just a hair tie!” He exclaimed, now almost offended, of course only he could switch mood that easily. A few curious students looked at your way, still wondering how did an adorable piece of cotton and sunshine like you, was dating the metalhead, three-times senior freak of not only high school, but of the whole town.

“Yes it is, love. I can just give you another one, don’t worry— Look, I can give you the one I’m wearing…”

“I don’t want that one” He said, his words sounding almost like a tantrum. “I want the one you gave me on our first date, the yellow one with little sunflowers”

“Daisies, Eddie” You corrected him with a smile. Only Eddie was able to remember such a tiny detail and forget a crucial detail.

Only Eddie was able to make you feel loved, cherished and appreciated. He was so different from every other person you have dated before. He snatched your heart from the very first day and it’s been a daily occurrence for almost a year. The scary, weird freak, the person considered a devil worshipper, the mean senior who had the admirable (or idiotic) courage to stand out against others who felt like they had the right to humiliate and ridicule those who weren’t like them. Your Eddie, the one who broke a jock’s nose one time for slapping your ass walking through the halls. Your Eddie, who waited patiently until every extracurricular activities you were into were over, so he could drive you home and hold your thigh and listen to you throughout the whole ride. Your Eddie, who loved Saturday night because it meant movie night, cuddles and kisses. The mean freak who let you braid his hair, paint his nails, sew his old t-shirts.

The Eddie Munson who was scared of spiders but wasn’t scared of a hundred people crowd. The boy who initiated a food fight at the cafeteria and had to go to the nurses office because an orange hit his eye and he realized he was allergic to them. The man who every Friday made fairy tales, knight stories and evil monsters come true and walk this very earth with just his voice and his imagination at his D&D club. Your Eddie, who on your first date, dropped a chocolate milkshake on top of your white dress, forgot to fill his fuel tank, and had to push his van all the way to the nearest gas station.

That’s how the bright scrunchy ended up in his hair, in a makeshift ponytail that you made by running your delicate fingers through his tangled hair.

That was your Eddie.

Your Eddie. Yours. Yours.

“Fine, let’s go find it” You said, grabbing his hand and kissing his knuckles. “Tell me what you did today…”

Sorry for any mistakes! English is not my first language. Thank you for reading!˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

[hectorthedoggo]

I will put this in ao3 and edit when i have the means to. but. @kani-miso it's 0009 sibs i thought of you and decided to make this 🎀🎀

UPDATE I ACIDENTALLY DELETED THE TAB WITH MY EDITS AO3 is going to kill me

“Alright. Milgram's up.” The creature stayed. Es stayed frozen from where they were sitting on the couch. Oh God. What's the consequences of my verdicts?

Wait. Up? This is Trial 2?

They disregarded that. It must be a mistake.

If these verdicts even are mine, I can’t tell. I've been dreading this. I'm scared. They clutched their arms, trying to gain some warmth, some friction, for what was to happen next.

Jackalope narrowed his eyes at them. “A nervous one, aren't you now. Anyways, so since the administrators decided that you were too unstable, you'll go free. Congrats.

Oh yeah, and the verdicts didn't really have consequences, it was just a little social experiment. It doesn't matter. Good luck surviving in the real world!”

What. What the heck is he talking about? “Wha- What do you mean- Who's the admin- wah!”

They felt a pulling sensation, and suddenly, they were standing in a Walmart™ parking lot. The only other person nearby was Mikoto Kayano.

But, nobody was dead. He was in his original clothes, but. Wait, where are we? What's this big sign that says ‘Walmart’?

What is a Walmart, and where the hell did Milgram go?

They also had a little pack with them, and upon opening it, there was a little message printed out. Nothing else.

‘mikoto is your legal sibling btw. gl lmao be glad I even gave you this note ur probably my favorite warden - Jackalope (professional child neglecter)’

At least the pack looked cool looked cool…

Es was about to have a mental breakdown. Why did Milgram leave me like this? Is this what I am to them?

“Woah, what happened?” Mikoto wondered, “Hey, Es. Did you do this? Is Milgram over? Did they identify it to be a mistake?”

They started shaking. They threw me out like garbage. I…

“Es?”

They sniffled at the situation. I’m… garbage. Because, as my usual logic says, I am what Milgram deems me to be.

“I- I have no idea…” they extended the last vowel to emphasize how little idea they had.

They threw the note on the ground --- or at least tried to, it just flew away, right into Mikoto’s hands ---, and started to sob.

The tables had turned. Mikoto looked like he knew why he was here, Es didn’t (nande boku ga koko ni iruyo). It was genetic.

Meanwhile, Mikoto had gotten the note, and he read it. “Wh- huh?”

He stared over at Es. “Es, this is a mistake, right?”

“That is the least of my worries right now, pudding boy!” they snapped at him, instead channeling their sadness into aggression.

He completely disregarded their feelings, to the point where he might not have even heard them. “Right… my mom did mention that our father got remarried. Wah, Suu! You’re my little sib!”

He went up to their grieving form, and gave them a little fistbump, lifting up their unwilling arm to do so. Why did he do that? Last time we touched, John was beating the shit out of me.

A random car pulled up into the Walmart™ parking lot, and the window unrolled. 

It was a woman with brownish hair, who looked like Mikoto. “Oh, you’re the other sibling that your father was talking about. You two can just get in the back in the car, your sister’s taking shotgun. Nice to meet you!”

Why the fuck does Mikoto’s sister have a shotgun? Are they all like this?

Mikoto followed in with them, and buckled in. Es had no idea what was going on.

They could not find the seatbelt, too busy processing the upheaval of their life in the past 5 minutes.

“Yo, sib. The seatbelt’s over there.” Mikoto smiled and gave a thumbs up, like a reliable older brother. “I saw it.” I did not see it.

They touched it, and got stung by the heat. Their, wait, no, Mikoto’s sister turned back at their sound of pain, turning off her phone. “Ah, yeah. It’s summer, don’t touch it.”

They scowled, forgetting their dread in the face of the overheated car seatbelt.

The car chimed, and the keys jingled. “Alright, folks! You two seem pretty tired from wherever the heck you disappeared to. Would you wanna go home, or get some ice cream?”

The sister turned around, and smiled a little wide. “My dear siblings, do you know the answer? There is a correct one.”

Es scowled. “What the fuck is an ice cream. Why is the cream ice?”

“Are you serious?” She scrutinized their face, finding the truth, “Step on it, Ma.” She went back to her phone, probably texting her friends about this weird kid in a warden outfit that was apparently her sibling now.

Mikoto looked over at Es and shrugged, like a comical cartoon character. Like a ‘what can you do?’.

I won’t allow these insolent- wait, these aren’t prisoners. Unless the sister girl did something with that shotgun of hers. It would run in the family, I guess.

Wait, that would mean that I’m also violent. Nevermind.

The 11th cell came to mind, and they dismissed it. Wrong kinda fic, buddy. We staying fluff here.

“So, Mikoto. And, what’s your name?”

“Es. I think?”

The woman put on her strict mother voice. “... okay. Mikoto and Es. What was so important that you had to completely disappear for like a years. No note! Job gone! You could’ve died, for all I knew! Es, sweetie, I’m sure it was Mikoto’s fault. He’s such a bad influence.”

Es raised their hand to ask a question, slightly flustered from the pet name. She indicated that they could speak.

They decided to just reveal it all. “Um, Mikoto committed murder… eh, Mikoto, he has DID and was stressed from his job, hence the murder. And I was the warden of the prison that held him and 9 others.”

Mikoto lost all of his composure at all of his darkest secrets being revealed, the dramatic guy he was. “What… Es, don’t… I… that’s not… I don’t have DID? I was doing… I was doing just…”

He seemed a little overwhelmed at the prospect of having to unpack all of the luggage that Es laid out, so another guy came out. “I am not straight. Oh- sorry, hi, I’m John. I’m the guy who totally committed the murder 100% trust guys c’mon vote mikoto innocent 2024-”

I already had to deal with that yapping last interrogation. Es shut him up with their hand. He waved it away. “If you’re gonna say that shit about Mikoto, Es hasn’t been going to bed at a healthy time or eating healthy.”

They were betrayed at his reveal. “I can’t believe you.”

“We’re going to fix that, Es. You’re going to get the regular kid treatment.” The mother nodded, eyes steeling. Oh no, not the normal teen treatment!

John had some other stuff going on behind there. Maybe Mikoto’s cheesiness had rubbed off on him. “As soon as we get out of this car I’m giving you a hug.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Yes.”

Speaking of unwarranted physical contact. “Oh yeah, mo- Mikoto’s mother, um… John beat me up in Trial 1.”

“SNITCH?!”

“What’cha gonna do about it?”

“Give you another hug.” He deviously grinned, knowing that wasn’t the answer they expected or an answer they liked.

“I won’t allow it.” But, they weren’t the warden anymore. They couldn’t deflect affection as well as they used to.

The sister was unbothered by this discourse. Perhaps it hasn’t quite set in. “I guess I got two extra surprise siblings. Cool.”

-

When they got to the ice cream store after a prolonged amount of awkward silence, the moment the car doors opened, the chase was on.

Es nearly ran into oncoming traffic to escape any chance at being loved, as one does, but John grabbed them and lifted them up by their elbows, giving them a hug once they were out of the street.

“Jeez, you’re light. C’mon, we’re getting ice cream and you aren’t gonna kill yourself.”

“‘M not!” They kicked their legs to try and get the man off of them. But, they had about the strength of a 5 week old kitten compared to him, without the claws.

He plopped them down, Es seething about their lack of power they had here.

The sister turned off her phone, finally, and turned to Es. “Okay, I just wanna make sure. Were you joking earlier about not having ice cream before?”

“I’m the prison warden of Milgram, I don’t need-”

She interrupted them before they could start monologuing and crying about how Milgram didn’t exist anymore. “You’re getting Birthday Bash.”

“What- but it’s not my birthday?” It could be, for all I know, but she’s doesn’t have to know that.

“Ok, what is your birthday?” Dammit.

“Great question!” Es stared into space, tone full of sarcasm. Milgram never tells me shit.

“Mikoto or whoever the hell you are, do you know their birthday?”

“Nah.” John responded. “By the way, um, this kid was the one who named me John, because they thought it would be funny to be a know-it-all and reference some English name.”

She looked over at Es. “No offense, but you suck at naming. I think we were all thinking that.” We…

Es tried to defend their horrible naming skills. “What?! Who else was gonna name him?”

Mikoto’s mother decided to join in the conversation, but left after putting her two cents in. “Me. Or Mikoto, since he’s where John came from.”

John smirked. “See, Es! But the name has stuck, so you owe me.”

Es crossed their arms, huffing. “I don’t owe you anything. You beat me up that one time, so if anything, you owe me!”

He couldn’t exactly find a defense for that, so he took their hat off their head and held it as high as he could reach, exposing their hat hair. “Hey!”

They jumped to get it, but to no avail. They looked pathetic.

Meanwhile, Mikoto’s mother and sister had already gone in to order. Order, like what a judge says?

It’s all a law reference.

John grinned. “You're a silly little creature, Suu.”

“You're not Mikoto, stop that.” I do not like that weird ass nickname.

He put on an innocent face. “What do you mean? I'm Mikoto, and I love my company so much! Hahaha, I would never commit murder. This must be a mistake!”

Es was somewhat surprised. “That's stuff he actually said in his first trial, how did you get it so accurately?”

“I hear this guy's internal monologue.”

That’ll do it. “Ah.”

 He threw their hat into the air while they were distracted, and they stepped back in surprise. He caught it. “Nice hat.”

“Get away from-”

The rest of the family brought over ice cream, and Es was handed a mash of colors in theirs that seemed unnatural.

“Is this food?”

“Eat it.” John asserted.

They shrugged. If this is poison, at least I don't have to worry about Milgram and all that stuff.

Worst case scenario, it doesn't kill me and it tastes bad. I'm not sure what my best case scenario is. Dying? It tasting good? We’ll see.

They bit down on the food with aggression, and it tasted… amazing, other than the fact that it was cold.

“What the heck is this? In a good way?” They temporarily forgot about their slight suicidal ideation.

“Bro has never heard of the wonders of overly processed foods…” the sister commented, smirking.

Why is she calling me bro? Huh? If I question her, will she bring out the shotgun? I'm scared of her. She’s my older sister now, isn’t she…

To be honest, Kotoko was scarier. I’ll be fine.

She wasn’t addicted to her phone, though… wait, right. Kotoko kinda was.

They grinned, and momentarily forgot their troubles in the face of their action. I’m so much better than these people. This tastes good. Mmm… ice cream… I like it…

They did get a brain freeze, and brought their hand up to their forehead in pain.

They got their head patted by John, who had somehow consumed his (larger serving of) ice cream. “Do you want the rest of that?”

“Yes?” They answered.

He grabbed a spoon, and took a bite of their ice cream. “Wow, this tastes nice.”

Es disliked the younger sibling experience. “Give me my hat back. I didn’t forget about that.”

“No.” However, he made a mistake: it happened to be in grabbing range. They quickly snatched it, and grinned in pride.

But, while they were distracted with John, they forgot about their other older sibling, who took a sizable amount of their precious ice cream.

I just discovered ice cream. Will they stop stealing it?

-

They were next in a car, making sure to avoid the seatbelt this time. About ⅓ of their ice cream had been usurped, and they didn't have the strength to defend it.

But, it wasn’t that bad. These people are nice…

I… I guess this is my life now? It’s not that bad.

Finally, there were no catches to this fact.

They would have to buy new clothes, the warden outfit was scratchy.

[soobnny]

to be human — han jisung. roommate au. friends to lovers. kind of comfort fic. supernatural au.

your shapeshifter friend forgets how to turn back into a human and has a crisis. inspired by this artwork. (~1k words)

“Jisung?”

It’s quiet in your apartment where Jisung would usually blast music. It’s strange to be greeted by silence instead, a little concerning even.

“Ji?” You try calling out again, stepping cautiously inside as you briefly draw your eyes to each room in search of your roommate.

“I’m in here.” Jisung’s voice has a tone of dejection to it as he replies to you from the bathroom. Grogginess indicative of exhaustion and resignation.

You know something’s wrong.

When he hears your footsteps padding towards where he is, his tone shifts to one of panic. “Please don’t come in.”

You already know why.

“Jisung, I’m not scared of you.” The door creeks open when you enter, and Jisung is still hidden in the bathtub behind drawn out shower curtains.

He doesn’t want you to see him like this.

You know he startles easily in this state, so you do your best to keep your footsteps light, actions gentle as you peel back the shower curtain and step into the tub with him. One leg after the other. It’s small, doesn’t really fit the two of you — you press your knees to your chest in trial of a solution so you can give him more space in the tub.

A minute goes by.

“How many eyes do I have?” He squeaks, not being able to take the silence, and it’s a sign that it’s okay for you to look at him. Locking eyes with his form, you briefly scan his features, not dwelling too hard on anything. You know he wouldn’t want that.

You count in your head. One. Two. Three… “Uh, seven?”

“Just pick one to focus on.” You listen to him, eyes focused on the one of his eyes. He looks so small like this, despite doubling in his usual size, and you know cogs are turning in his brain (if he even had one). It’s been a while since he’s been stuck outside of his human form.

“How are you feeling?”

“Okay.”

“Are you in pain?”

“A bit.” The pained way he speaks is so close to human emotion that it shatters you. “I’m sorry you have to see me this way.”

“You are still my friend, you know?” You try to speak with comfort. You know he needs it the most. You hope to cement in him that what he looked like didn’t matter to you — just that, at the end of the day, it was still him behind all the masks he puts on.

He scoffs. “Not looking like… this.”

“That doesn’t matter. It’s still you, isn’t it?”

A heartbeat passes. Yours. He simply sits in silence to process your words. You wonder what he’s thinking of.

“I guess.” You smile at his response. It visibly calms him down. “Oh, by the way, I got you something.”

You grab the backpack you had dropped just beside the tub. It’s his, had given it to you months ago, and there’s a picture of the two of you in the form of a keychain hanging by the zipper.

“I know you technically don’t need to eat anything but… I remember you said you really liked this when you were still human.”

It’s cheesecake wrapped in plastic, and if Jisung had a heart, he’s convinced it would be beating twice the normal rate.

You’re right, he doesn’t need to eat, but he will save it as something to remember this moment by.

“I hope it helps you remember being… you.” You place it on the space between the two of you in the tub. He’ll grab it later. There’s something else in his mind.

“Where did you get that?” Jisung questions, eyes fixated on something else entirely.

“Oh, just the bakery I pass on the way to uni.”

“No, the picture.”

“The picture?” You look down at where he’s looking. Your keychain.

“This? I always carry it on me.” You show it to him proudly. A memory passes in his head. He doesn’t remember much, but he does remember being happy the day that picture was taken.

“You do…?” You hum to confirm his inquiry. Silence washes over, and just as quick as it comes, it’s ripped away by sniffling coming from Jisung’s end.

He doesn’t cry, but it looks like he’s about to.

“Give me your hand.” You demand, though tone gentle in case he didn’t wanna be touched.

“What? No.” He’s still sniffling.

“I want to hold it.”

This time, he blinks. All seven of his eyes. Flashes of him attempting to hold your hand before, all in vain.

“Since when do you like holding hands?”

“Since now.” You mumble. Your hand is outstretched, just waiting for him to take it if he wanted.

Long sharp nails greet you, and you have to use both of your hands to hold his one properly. For a second, you feel a spark of life when your hands meet.

He feels it too.

“We’ll get through this together, okay?” Jisung lets you hold his hand. He’s looking at you now, less afraid of himself and how he looks. It’s quiet here with you, isn’t so loud. He could get used to this.

His fingers curl around your hand, completely swallowing it by the sheer size of his. Your whole hand fits in his. It feels nice. Warm in comparison to the cold he feels in this state.

“Okay.” Jisung’s tone is softer now.

It’s easier to remember what feeling human is like with you. He wonders if the unidentifiable feeling he gets when you’re with him is something he had felt back when he had a beating heart.

Wonders if the way he felt when he saw the picture you keep of the two of you mean anything to his humanness. Does it count for something if he wants to keep holding your hand every day after today?

Jisung doesn’t breathe, doesn’t bleed, doesn’t need to consume anything to survive — but he’s capable of loving, and that makes him human enough.

[little-guy-little-mouse]

" Uh...How do I do this again..? "

"Uh...Hi! I'm Ryunosuke Naruhodo, but you can call me Ryuno, Ryu, or...um...anything basically!..as long as it isn't mean.

I'm a defense attorney, and my duty is to free the falsely accused and seek the truth."

OOC: welcome to my silly ryunosuke blog!!!!!

Info about Ryuno:

he/him (subject to change if i feel like it)

timeline tbd, but asoryuu will be the main ship here as my partner has a kazuma blog!! @guy-with-a-red-headband

mod has not seen tgaa yet (sorry :c)!! i've seen like a couple minutes of the first trial but that's it! i've been spoiled a fair bit so i know some big plot points tho

i will be basing my knowledge off the wiki and the game as i play/watch it, but i can't guarantee a full in-character response (especially regarding other characters) D:

list of hcs are at the end!

this will be mainly an ask blog for now, but i might poke in the rp blog territory if i feel like it.

also yesss i knowww its late 19th century japan they didnt have tumblr let me dreammm

Info about meeee:3

main account is @bitesizedgummie (i mainly post aa stuffs :p)

he/they

I AM A MINOR!!!! this is different for others, but please don't direct NSFW towards me OR character blogs. >:(

call me pickle, gummie, astro, apollo, or wtv floats ur boat!!! :3

non-weird interactions are always welcome, even with non-fandom characters!!

Headcanons (actively working on any that are inaccurate due to mentioned canon info, pls lmk if there are any!)

transmasc!! (top surgery but no bottom surgery, don’t ask me how that works in their time period)

doesn’t like telling ppl he’s trans bc he’s usually met with transphobia

hasn’t told kazuma he’s trans bc of the thing listed above!

actively trying to try new food/cuisine

also actively trying to listen to new music!

tends to snort while laughing

scared of the dark, as well as thunder

VERY ticklish

sometimes (a lot of times) misses jokes

modern slang of any kind confuses the living shit out of him

he does archery as a hobby in his free time

can get thrown off track real easy if u try hard enough

tends to forget/mishear words in english

if u give him food he'll either scarf it down within 5 minutes or eat it over the span of an hour but if he likes it he will eat it just give him a minute

needs glasses but prefers either not to wear them or wears contacts instead (yes contacts were invented in their time period i checked) bc he always breaks them

tends to sing/hum to himself when listening to music? idk how that works considering their time period tho oops

has rlly bad stage fright, especially in front of a bunch of ppl he doesn’t know

[homestuckreplay]

miscellaneous thoughts!

No update today :( but I have some miscellaneous thoughts bouncing around in my head, so here they are.

I rewatched the end of act 1 flash animation (p.246) and was hit for the first time with how terrifying this must be for John. I think on first watch I was scared from an external perspective (is he gonna be ok?) but wasn't in his head. This time I was in his head. John's life isn't good or happy right now but there's no indication that he's suffered violent or sudden trauma before. This is probably the single scariest event that's happened to John. His whole life was destroyed in less than five minutes. When I look at this with analytical brain it's so easy to forget that but... no wonder he hesitated. No wonder he was paralyzed with fear for a few seconds before taking that bite. It's such a trial by fire and so much responsibility to just throw at somebody who's been pretty sheltered and not at all prepared for this by their upbringing. I want to highlight this because I want to keep it in mind to understand his character going forward.

Back with the recent Rose update. I think the plastic letters on Rose's fridge are the secret to her modus. The command 'Captchalogue W' for an alphabetical modus really hit me, and the way everything auto-balanced could definitely be utilized, potentially even weaponized, by simply grabbing the right letters to push the necessary card to the root. This would be perfect for someone as wordy as she is, and it's a fun contrast to Dave - her alphabetical modus vs his numerical one.

'But it's hard to resist getting a little silly sometimes. Especially when you are absolutely positive no one is watching.'

With Rose's writing journals (p.220) she seemed to have some awareness of the Homestuck player watching her. Now that's gone, with no difference in command style, and I'm kind of mystified. Is it an occasional prickle at the back of her head that happens randomly? Is she more ashamed of her creative writing than of her silly behavior, and will we understand why if we ever get to peek in those journals? Is this location based - Rose is aware of being watched in her room but by leaving it, the threat of her mom looms so large in her mind that she forgets about the player?

Finally, something more serious. There have been a few instances of the r-slur in this comic already. Everyone gets one - John (p.154), Rose (p.249), Dave (p.333) and the narrator (p.387). I think this is realistic dialog for all these characters (but fwiw I do not think GG would say it). I also think that just because something is realistic doesn't make it ok to uncritically write. Anyone could be reading this who has had this word used against them, and could get hurt again by its being casually tossed around by characters who otherwise mean something to them.

Homestuck is a fairly popular webcomic, and making something on the internet - especially as a full time job - is kind of a legacy. People could read this thing 10 or 50 or 100 years in the future, and using language that, while normalized, is known to be offensive, could keep it in the lexicon and continue to normalize it in future. Maybe this is harsh. But it's everyone's responsibility to be a little kinder in how we talk about vulnerable people. And this is an example of somebody not doing that for the sake of teh jokez. I'm not gonna laugh at that or let it slide without saying something.

[noteoftheturnabout]

piss-eater

ranking doubts and diatribes cases in chronological order! (+ some hot takes from my beautiful mind)

1) note of the turnabout

I don't actually have to say much about this one. kudos for not teaching us stuff we already know, but it suffers from severe first-case-mediogrity that only the lost turnabout ever really escaped... it was fun having gumshoe as our defendant and the hookup of the note as the only unused piece of evidence that everyone else fails to acknowledge was interesting, the case itself wasn't outright bad and fullfilled its role, which is why it gets a solid 5/10

2) arrival on a turnabout

LARRY BUTZ I FUCKING HATE YOU THANKS FOR GETTING US IN TROUBLE AGAIN!

also hiiii hiiiiiiii viola hi~ <3

this case immediately picked up my interest in a way that note of the turnabout unfortunately didn't. I mean, viola contacting us again?? tender lender comeback and development!! someone murdering a fucking cadaverini??? this has got to be something serious. instant intrigue!

I really appreciate using the tender lender and cadaverini to start tying into all that's going to be revealed. I mean yes! they are the small glimpse we got earlier into the same dark side this case is beginning to unravel! viola fits the vibe, makes sense to be used, is underappeciated in the fandom and I'm glad to see more of her!

viola fanboying aside, I was kinda overwhelmed by the intensity of it all at one point, when the logic thread lead us to Larry was getting accused. that's not neccessarily really a bad thing, or a flaw, but the stress did damage my enjoyment. the prosecutor was just relentless and we could make very little counterargument because of the severe lack of information, and because we were meant to lose, but I think it wasn't really Bad per se. that's when the fact that its a story first and a trial simulator second really begins to shine. I haven't decided how I feel about the fact we're actually meant to lose sometimes, it is very interesting and innovative, but sometimes it made me outright desperate.

and how could I forget! the wet kitten supreme umaru keigo and his tragic reveal! I liked that I think. despite him being a bitch as a prosecutor in this case

anyway the general score is probably gonna be... like 7/10 or 8/10, points taken off mostly for Larry and for stress.

3) turnabout judgement

HOO BOY. OH MY FUCKING GOD.

I'm gonna shove my "the judge actually IS corrupt" agenda in the closet for now because in this case he's not guilty. AND GOD DAMN IT WAS SCARY FINDING OUT THE PERSON I NEED TO GET MY FRIEND OUT OF TROUBLE, THE PERSON WHO WAS RELIABLY ALWAYS THERE, THE PERSON WHO YOU THOUGHT IS GLUED TO HIS JUDGE CHAIR IS BEING DETAINED AND INVESTIGATED RIGHT NOW. remember how I praised arrival on the turnabout for being gripping? forget that! turnabout judgement scared me shitless within the first few minutes. it's getting at least five points for that instantly.

I don't really understand people who say that hanma is supposed to be innocent, sweet and umsuspectable, like dahlia. because.... no she's not. she's scary, shady and an asshole right from the start, – then we just get to learn more and more and more about her motivation and about her doings. which I enjoy very much! I think she's a great character. at least two points to this case for having her in it.

BUT MY FAVORITE PART ABOUT THIS CASE ISN'T HER! its her sus as fuck pet judge, aka the specialest most unique judge ever, aka my perfect man yasuhiro tomioka!!!! omfg can we get a shoutout for yasuhiro tomioka I barely ever even see fanart of him Please. this case gets three points on the spot for having this man in it.

but here comes the final evaluation time, and just when it seemed like this case has effortlessly reached victory....

I fucking hate the evidence in this case and the case itself. the evidence is so flimsy and hard to work with I barely pulled myself to the end of the trial, constantly making mistakes because I was just trying to be logical, and lost a couple times which in other cases never happens to me.

(and yes there is a variant of loss that's not meant to happen, not the guilty verdict which is.) oh my fucking god I wish I could score it higher but beating the case shaved at least a few years off my lifespan, so I'm shaving off four points off this case. 6/10

(upd I realized that only started doing points math in this part of the ranking but its too late to go back and edit the rest now isn't it) (it isn't I just dont want to)

4) turnabout chase

9/10, 0.8 points taken off for pressure and loss stress, good god there's a lot of stress in this, 0.2 points off for lang's brother because I didn't case about him.

otherwise... no words.

(please read the additional materials, THERE ARE LANGWORTH LETTERS YOU GUYS and the cooking competetion was cute and really helped take off the tension!)

5) turnabout obsession

is it fine that I was actually thinking edgeworth did it..?

that's mostly because I was concerned about his moral compass tilt during "revengeworth" arc and I genuinely didn't know what to expect of him next.

the evidence pointing towards him was flimsy and I didn't have that much of a hard time poking holes in it, but I was still doubting edgeworth the whole time.

which I shouldn't have because that's exactly what that detective bitch wanted.

I didn't really care about basil bonerat until this case but after playing this one... I love him actually! yes I obviously hate him for what he did but hes so fucked in the head its incredibly interesting. luke atmey type of shit except arguably worse. also very revolutionary of him to be the first detective culprit!

8/10 with 1 point off for killing off hanma and 1 point off for a couple of things here and there that didn't really make sense, which im usually able to ignore with ace attorney, but wasn't able this time because of the grip the story had on me. gripping concepts is what the developers really poored their heartussy into and it shows.

and a bonus ranking of a case I was on the fence about including because its unclear whether it belongs with everything else or not (and also because I dont like it that much):

6) turnabout by the shore

kudos for sebastian and the lesbianism, but the culprit was very obvious the whole time and unfortunately I really fail to believe in sean and hanma's relationship. if they were given more time or moments or anything I probably would've cared way more than I did but unfortunately. still dont get this part of the fandom that writes 120k fics about sea sapphics and meta posts about how they both know so little about each other (duh that's the problem), but im built different I guess. unfortunately this gets 4/10 or even 3/10. probably 4 though out of respect for nonbinary lesbians

[quitepossiblybamboozled]

do y'all ever think about how Bev saved the Green Teens from being ritualistically sacrificed, received a very middling letter from his father about his Junior Green Knight graduation that said his efforts were "extremely satisfactory" or some shit like that, then spent like. idk a few weeks on the way to Galaderon, took down a drug boss in Ezry, almost got fucking killed by a literal god with Tonathan after finding out that his hero betrayed their shared faith, finally made it home with two shattered legs, saw his parents again for the first time in like a month—a long fucking time for a fifteen-year-old boy—then his dad was IMMEDIATELY cursed with blindness and framed for murder, Bev V fought in Bev IV's place in a trial by combat, nearly died AGAIN, uncovered the level of corruption in the Chosen, fought a fucking dragon, broke his father out of prison, watched his other childhood hero get beheaded in front of him, escaped the castle, saw his home destroyed, teleported his dad and the other Green Knights and Green Teens to the faewild with a fucking magical kiss with his boyfriend that he somehow had time to get, went on another quest to Frostwind, was almost killed again in a near Total-Party-Kill at Smuggler's Bounty, fought and took down a fucking dragon after seeing it down all of his friends, went to the faewild and learned that 25 years had passed, had to come to grips with the fact that he, Derlin, and Cran would no longer be able to share the same bond, kissed one boy in the faewild, watched Hardwon die (for real), fought a queen with mind powers who fucking tortured him over the kiss with the rando faewild boy, found out his father had gone mostly insane and still didn't fucking have enough faith in him to trust his son's abilities so he made a fucking deal with Akarot through that same queen on his fucking 16TH BIRTHDAY, then had to watch Hardwon die (again), dive into Shadowfell, watch Hardwon die a-fucking-gain and come back as a vampire, literally fucking fight Hardwon, take down the Montgomerys, watch Deadshot die, watch Jvelin die, then went and fought a Kraken, took down Galad (again), saw Hardwon reincarnated as a half-elf, reunited with Erlin and immediately confessed about the kiss (as he should have), got to speak with Martha for like 5 minutes, found a book from Bev IV that instructed him on how to take him down, then had to leave immediately to go to Gladehome to fight in a wizard tournament where he was nearly killed by yet another fucking dragon

AND SOMEWHERE IN ALL OF THIS HE GOT BALNOR (love u Balnor I didn't forget you I just didn't know where to fit you in. you keep enjoying that Bud Heavy; it's a walking day)

I'm only on episode 72, and I am SO scared to find out what the next 28 episodes hold for this boy

[the-white-soul]

I'm apologizing because it feels like I can't do enough to him for you. I could kill him- I really want to- but even then I wouldn't be satisfied. I can't reverse what happened and that thought tortures me. He gloated about what he did to you. I couldn't stop daydreaming up more ways to hurt him the whole time John was talking.

I picked apart the bodies of all his backup in front of him, I cut his face, I threatened him with a vivid death, I belittled him, I stabbed him over and over in the pants until he was dysfunctional, I tied him to a raft so he was helpless, I threatened him again to toss him into the sea if he didn't shout sorries and beg to be let go, I nearly drowned him, scraped his face on the rocks and sand under the water, and I slammed him back onto land.

And yet it wasn't enough.

We can kill him still! Just like you said, we have to ruin his reputation first and get everyone to despise him as he deserves. The next time I have a word with him, I’ll prompt and record him talk about what he did. Then we'll play the recording everywhere we can. Especially for the other cops. We don't even have to be seen to do it. Just play it outside of sight like a prank. Then we watch as they break up and start to realize just how disgusting the person is who they consider a leader.

Once all the people who once trusted him throw him away, you can kill Jackby your own “hand.” I'll just watch by the side. *He then smiles gently, a rather mismatched expression for the topic.* The floor will be yours!

(Chara) "Flowey, that sound fucking awesome! Aim for the dick. Why didn't I think of that? Guess that doesn't matter as much as getting him to justice. Honestly, what I'd want more than anything is to see all of his followers turn their backs on him. That's all I've ever wanted. For people to see him as the jackass he is. I actually had a scar from one of his abuses. Right in my privates as well he had to get me to the hospital. If I could ask my past self one thing, I would walk up to them and beg them to tell the nurse what happened. I forget what story I made up but I believe it was about splits. It doesn't matter. I could've found so many outs. I don't want him to die a hero. If he does, I'll turn into more of a maniac than ever before. Consider yourself lucky Flowey. Of course, I wouldn't blame you for killing him. I'd be more mad at myself. I ran away so many times. He made me scared. He could pinch me down there, he could punch me in the face, he could even choke me a bit. All with the power of fear. He uses fear to get what he wants. Fear makes people powerful but the second they can't use fear they'll be destroyed. It happened with France and Russia, and I hope it'll happen with Jack. The bloody tyrant. *Looked at their blade.* Will live long enough to see himself become the villain. Come on Flowey, let's leave before people get suspicious. *They both start to leave the bathroom* One last thing I must say. If you have the power to do all of that, I'm in good hands! *They both walk out."

(Kara) "What have you two been doing? It's already almost time to go back into trial."

(Noelle) "We still have 20 minutes left."

(Kara) "We can never be late with this important of a case."

(Noelle) "What should we do to pass the time?"

(Kara) "IDK, Flowey please help! You know how to get everyone entertained."

(Noelle) "For better or for worse."

(Kara) "Dess, you and I both want this case to succeed. I want you to please get off his back."

(Noelle) "Fine, yeesh. Calm down a bit."

(Kara) "I'm sorry Dess. This is important."

(Noelle) "It's okay. You being on the brink of burnout aside, yeah Flowey probably knows what we can do."

[all-pacas]

aside from his malpractice blunders being the most public, do you think the fact that foreman is quick to call out other’s unethical behaviors/complain about the team doing malpractice when he was literally assistant manager of the malpractice department contributes to his reputation of being a bit fake or disingenuous?

That's actually an interesting point! Foreman definitely… one of my favorite jokes at his expense is in Two Stories, when we see him through House's point of view:

Masters : We need to get a chest C.T. Foreman : Excuse me, I'm the senior team member, which means we don't need anything unless I say we need it. […] Foreman : We need a chest C.T.

Which is a joke, obviously. But, you know. Foreman is ambitious, but he always wants the credit. He is dismissive and petty and always thinks he's right (just like House!). We see repeatedly (Histories, Deception, House Training) that when he doesn't like a patient he dismisses all their symptoms and tries to push them out the door. He's not at all good at pretending he cares when he doesn't. (And hilariously complains that Chase is too good at pretending to care when he doesn't.) But when it's something he believes in or cares about, he goes completely the opposite direction: he ruins the Huntington's trial for, as Thirteen points out, someone he's dated for two weeks. He steals bone marrow to save a life.

He's… kind of a pure example of a hypocrite. He complains about Cameron being biased and unethical, and then breaks laws for the people he cares about. He complains about Chase not liking patients, and even Cameron describes his bedside manner as bad. He is the first team member in the series to tattle to Cuddy, but he thinks Chase is a huge rat. He wants to be in charge, and consistently kind of struggles with being a good boss, earning respect, getting people to listen to him. He clings to the idea of being Senior Fellow, uses it as an excuse to tell people what to do, is pretty consistently open with how little he respects Cameron and Chase… and then gets mad at them in S2 when they have no interest in listening to him when he's in charge.

(Tangent: this is why Taubman is so good. Because Taub genuinely doesn't give a shit. He's not threatened by Foreman. Foreman can't boss him around unless Taub lets him.)

Another of my favorite little exchanges is in Deception, the first episode Foreman is in charge of the team post-The Mistake:

FOREMAN: And I expect you [House] here for grand rounds at nine. By the way, I like sugar in my coffee. [He's grinning. Joking but enjoying himself.] CUDDY: [To Foreman, sharply] If there’s a screw-up, it’s your screw-up. You won’t have Dr. House to fall back on. [Foreman's face falls.]

He wants the power. He wants the responsibility. He loves the idea of House having to do what he says. And the idea of actually having to deal with consequences of messing up scares him. He gets so into the idea of fucking with House that he loses sight of the actual job. And through the S2 Foreman arc, he… is cautious. He stops coming up with ideas, he struggles mightily with getting Cameron and Chase to do anything he wants, he doesn't really do much. He wants so badly to be in charge, to be important, and then he drops the ball when he has it.

I think this is all pretty obvious from the outside! It turns into a joke, that's how obvious it is. Foreman struts into a room (Kids has another great example) assuming he has all the power and authority in the world, and then goes blank when no one listens. He's constantly pushing to be in charge and struggles when he gets it. And it goes into a whole other thing.

Foreman has massive imposter syndrome. He has incredible issues with his worth and sense of belonging and struggles to connect with people and be vulnerable. He doesn't think he belongs, he thinks at any minute people will notice and catch on and throw him out. He's the poor Black kid from a bad neighborhood and no one lets him forget it. He doesn't let himself forget it. He's always trying so damn hard to prove himself, to be the best in the room, that he ends up coming off as wildly hypocritical: he puts down others to make himself look good, he pushes to be best but has no end goal, no win state, no moment that he does feel like he belongs. He doesn't want to be like House, correctly identifying that House is miserable. But he admires House. But in other ways, he wishes he could be like House. House doesn't give a shit what people think of him. Foreman spends every day looking over his shoulder.

[ninjagirlstar5]

Protag Teruya AU - Prologue Part 2 - The Fake Trial

TWs: Discussions of a Murder Case

Body Discovery & Investigation | Post-Fake Trial

Prologue Part 1 Beginning

Disclaimer: While Sannotori is problematic, it’s a thing in this AU/fic and the dynamic is not the same as it is in canon.

The Protag Teruya AU was inspired by @/anotherprofessional’s post! Beware of Void spoilers though!

“Since you are merely solving how the murder took place in the past, there will be no voting involved in this class trial.”

“Uhh…voting?” Kanade spoke up, her voice a bit more firmer than before. “Why would there be voting?”

“Using evidence you gathered during the investigation, you will argue what you believe happened to the victim. If you all manage to come to an agreement on the explanation, then you’ve succeeded in solving this murder. But if none of you are able to solve this murder…well, I’ll leave that as a surprise. That’s all there is to it. Good luck.”

“...Sounds like our kidnapper isn’t interested in answering any of our questions, Kanna.” Setsuka said, crossing her arms in displeasure. Kanade frowns in response but says nothing else. Kokoro taps away on her tablet before speaking up.

“Well, we should at least start somewhere. I have a good topic we can discuss if no one else has any ideas.” The psychologist props her tablet up on her podium, presumably for easier access.

“If leaving this damn courtyard was an option, I’d be turning on my heel and walking on out of here in a heartbeat!” Nikei yelled out, being only a few spots away from Kokoro. His shouting probably would’ve been an issue for anyone that was standing between them, but the podium was empty. Afterall, a sixteenth student was pretty much nonexistent in this class. “But no, as if getting kidnapped wasn’t bad enough, we’re all stuck on an island with a cruise ship we’re completely locked out of!”

“It’s not like any of us would know how to steer the ship anyways.” Mikado buds in. Nikei brings his glare towards the wizard, who was completely unperturbed by it. “But that’s besides the point. Back to what you were saying, Ms. Mitsume?”

“Thank you, Mikado.” Kokoro said, grateful that the topic was being shifted back on course. Her head faces straight ahead but her gaze shifts towards Nikei as she speaks. “Since the culprit of the case is…irrelevant to this trial, we should be figuring out how the victim was murdered.”

“Didn’t the tablet explain that already? Why should we spend time on something we already know?” Hibiki was quick to reply, her rash and irritable voice adding to the tense atmosphere. Mikado blinks his eyes. Or rather, his mask blinked.

“What tablet?” He asked and it was only then that the amnesiac remembered that Mikado never got the final clue. Feeling a little bit embarrassed for forgetting, he speaks.

“Oh, uh…there was a box of tablets called the…’Monocrow File’ that explained the…state of the victim. But it vanished along with the fountain. So, um, here. You can borrow mine.” He takes his backpack off and pulls out the tablet. Mikado thanks him and takes it from his hand, turning it on to read.

“While the tablet listed her wounds, it didn’t explain how she got them. It may be best if we start there before we can discuss anything else.” Kokoro moves the conversation along, even though Mikado probably still needs a few minutes to read the Monocrow File.

“If you ask me, it seems kinda obvious.” Emma said with a hand on her hip, her eyes to the floor as if she had figured something out. Kokoro actually raises an eyebrow at her before nodding her head. A silent ‘go on’ if he ever saw one.

“Oh y-yeah? Was there something we missed?” Shinji asked, stuttering through his words while facing the actress but genuinely curious as he had been guarding the crime scene the entire time.

“Well, there’s a knife, isn’t there?” Emma crosses her arms as she faces everyone’s gaze.

“There was an actual knife at the scene?!” Yoruko flinches at the information, genuinely scared of the thought of a weapon. Of course it would make sense that a weapon was found at the crime scene. But he can feel confusion settle into his brain with those words as something didn’t make sense in his head.

“I-If there was a knife, it’d make sense that it’d be the weapon, right?” Iroha stutters out, lifting her sketchbook up as she tilts her head. His eyebrows scrunches up tightly as he frowns.

“Uhh…I don’t think that’s right.” He said, hoping to catch their attention. He does, but Emma was frowning in his direction now.

“And why is that?” Emma calls out, putting her hands on her hips. “You can’t just say that without explaining.”

“That’s, uh, I mean…” He stumbles over his words, trying to find a way to explain himself. However, the fog in his brain refuses to lift like he was unable to connect the dots together. He knows something isn’t right but he struggles to find the reason why.

He scrambles his brain to say something, anything.

But everyone’s gazes were on him now, pressurizing like a tank that was being overwhelmed with too much air.

His throat tightens as sounds that are barely strung together like words escape his mouth. He knew he couldn’t leave everyone hanging like this so he forced himself to say anything that came to mind. No matter if it was an excuse or not.

And then someone steps in before he could.

“Because the knife was clean of blood.”

It was Mikado who spoke up, his voice clear and strong with confidence.

The amnesiac turns his gaze towards the wizard beside him. He had lifted his gaze from the tablet, facing his classmates’ stares head on. Emma blinks her eyes.

“What…?” She said, as it was apparently her turn to be confused now. Mikado goes on.

“If it was the murder weapon, it would’ve had the victim’s blood all over it.” He raises his hand as he shrugs. “Can you explain why that would be, Ms. Ma - I’m sorry, Ms. Emma.”

“That’s, uh…” Emma’s eyes shrink a little as she holds her hand against the collar of her school uniform. “Perhaps the culprit just cleaned it off?”

“Except there was dirt and debris on it. If the culprit cleaned it off, it would’ve been spotless. But it’s not.” Mikado lifts his finger up to his mouth, his mask shifting into one that was both smug and self-assured.

He couldn’t help but admire him for his intelligence.

And yet, he also felt a bit of shame for being unable to reason out his answer on his own. Especially with how obvious it was now that Mikado spelled it out.

“To add to that, if the culprit had the time and energy to clean the knife, why didn’t they just take it with them? They’d have to be a dumbass to leave it at the crime scene.” Nikei buds in with a tsk. Emma cringes but doesn’t refute him.

“I-I see…” Emma closes her eyes, dropping her hand. “When you put it like that, it’d make sense that it wasn’t the knife.”

“...It’s not?” Iroha says, almost a bit dumbly admittedly. But he didn’t have the heart to criticize her for it. He couldn’t even figure out how to explain himself when he tried to oppose Emma’s words.

“No, Iroha. It isn’t.” Kokoro said with a flat stare in her direction. Iroha yelps before hiding behind her sketchbook. The psychologist relaxes her eyebrows and curls her hand over her chest. “Why did you assume it was the knife, Emma?”

“Well, uh…When we found the body and you told me to go find the others, I think I kicked the knife while I was running. But even when I took a glimpse at it, I guess I was in too much of a shock to realize the details on the knife. Or lack thereof.” She laughs a little, albeit awkwardly as she rubs her cheek. “This is a bit embarrassing, not gonna lie.”

“I-It’s okay, Emma!” Yuki starts to speak, his voice almost steady enough to calm the tension in the air. “This is a debate, after all. It’s only natural that some of us would get things wrong as we talk through the trial.”

“But, if the knife wasn’t the murder weapon…Why was it there?” Hajime asked, crossing his arms with a raised eyebrow. “And where’s the actual murder weapon?”

“That…is a good question. I didn’t see the crime scene but the…victim wouldn’t have turned out the way she did without something sharp, um, cutting her, right?” Yuki raised his fist to his chin, looking like he was thinking hard about the case. He seems to be a little calmer now. The amnesiac glances at Mikado and the object on the podium. The wizard notices and nods. He took that permission to speak up.

“Actually, Mikado found something by the cliffside. It might be relevant.” He said, gesturing to the object wrapped in his cape. Everyone turns their gaze towards him and Mikado’s mask grins.

“It’s certainly more than relevant. Let me show you.” He then takes his cape and carefully unwraps it from the object. His jaw drops upon seeing it.

It was a weapon, shaped like a sword and its length gave it a long reach. It was still obviously sharp despite its cracks and would explain why Mikado wrapped it up in his cape to protect himself while handling it. And, more importantly, there was still some blood on it, even though some of it seemed to have been washed away.

“...Is that a sword? Where did you get that?” It was Yuri that spoke up, his voice tinged with annoyance. Mikado only nods his head in confirmation, barely acknowledging the astronaut’s presence.

“I found it by the cliffside near the ocean. It was stuck between some rocks but I managed to get it out with my magic.” Mikado carefully traces his fingers along the blade. “I believe a blade like this could easily cut someone-”

“Wait a fucking minute.” Nikei stops him, tilting his hat down as he stares at the floor. Mikado glares at the journalist but he meets it head on. “How is this blade relevant to this case? If it was by the cliff, that would make it so far away from the crime scene.”

“Maybe it’s because the culprit tried to hide it?” Kanade said, lifting her hands up with confidence.

“There were footprints leading towards the cliff.” Kokoro said, backing it up with her own observations. He tried to keep up but the conversation kept moving along without pause. “As long as these pieces of evidence are accurate to the crime scene in the past-”

“And what if it isn’t?” Nikei spat out. Kokoro blinks but doesn't turn him down, allowing him to keep talking. “What if the evidence is fake? What if the announcer is just leaving this shit around to confuse us? Why should we trust that the scene was accurate down to the smallest pieces of dirt?”

“In any other circumstance, I do think you’d have the right to be suspicious, Nik.” Setsuka said, curling her eyebrows as she crossed her arms. “But with how things are right now, all we can do is have faith that the announcer wouldn’t do such a thing.”

“Except we don’t have evidence to back that up!” Nikei scowled. “If we get this wrong, something is going to happen to us and I’d rather not find out!”

“Well, according to this Monocrow File, the wounds seem to be pretty accurate.” Mikado rebutted, calm if a bit wary of the journalist’s temper.

“Keywords seem to be. Anyone can see that the girl died due to being almost cut in half, in Utsuroshima Park. But did anyone even check that she had bruises underneath her clothes? Is there even a way to verify that she died at 11:45PM-”

“Wait, wait, wait!” The moment those words left Nikei’s mouth, he immediately knew he had to speak up. “I-I think I have the answer to that and I, uh, have evidence to prove it!”

“Oh yeah? What is it?” Nikei asked, raising his hand with a flat stare. He clearly didn’t think he’d have anything good to say. He didn’t blame him since he needed Mikado to step in and explain his thoughts for him earlier. But this time, he was certain he could explain himself on his own.

“The victim’s watch. It read 11:45 but-” He starts but Nikei turns his nose up at it.

“Ah, yes. A watch that can keep ticking on and on as long as it has power. Come on, how can a watch prove that the announcer ain’t bullshitting us with that file?” Nikei said, barely even looking his way. The amnesiac flattens his stare.

“Because it’s broken.” He said, flat and straight to the point.

“...What?” Nikei drops his hand with wide eyes, completely taken off guard.

“Once a watch is broken, it won’t be able to move its hand.” He explains pretty matter of factly. He was pretty confident in his words too and it showed with how strong his voice was. “And while it was an old fashioned watch that doesn’t tell you if it’s AM or PM, if we, uh…what’s the word…cross-reference, that’s it. If we cross-reference that with the Monocrow File, I think it’d line up pretty well, don’t you think?”

“That, uh…makes sense. But the wounds-” Nikei tries to fight back, only for someone else to step in.

“Sorry, Nik. But I can at least tell you in this case, the file is telling the truth.” Setsuka said, awkwardly smiling as she shrugs her shoulders. “I saw a pretty deep cut on the girl’s left leg and had our big buddy here verify that with Shin. Right?”

“...Wait, are you talking to me?” He points to himself. Setsuka snorts.

“Who else could I be talking to?” She seems to be winking at him but with her right eye constantly closed, it looks like she’s blinking instead. Yoruko frowns as she leans over the podium with her hands on her hips.

“Wait, wouldn’t your podium have given you your name? The screen had mine typed in it so it must’ve had yours, right?” The hostess asked and he immediately winced at her question. She notices his response and pulls back with her mouth agape. “Unless it didn’t have it?!”

His silence was enough of an answer.

“Are you…saying that the kidnapper doesn’t even know your name??” Hibiki was shocked at the news, raising her hands but unsure of what to do with that. Almost everyone was staring at him with sympathy and he couldn't help but feel like he was being put on the spot.

“That’s…a sad revelation.” Yuki said, gripping his tie. The amnesiac could only hang his head in disappointment, Mikado reaching over to pat his shoulder to comfort him.

“Maybe we should put the topic of our friend’s name to the side for now.” Shinji was the one to speak up, shooting a concerned glance his way. He seems to have noticed his discomfort and he appreciated the change in subject. “Back to what S-Setsuka said, I did find the cut on her leg. In fact, it’s so deep that she might not have been able to walk. And even if she forced herself to by using the trees as support, I…don’t think she was able to escape.” The amnesiac nods his head as he was there to witness his examination. Nikei stares at them, processing their reasoning and probably trying to come up with a comeback.

Evidently, he couldn���t, as he backs down as soon as he lowers his hat over his eyes.

“...Oh.” Nikei’s voice was smaller than usual, like all the yelling he did earlier has become nothing more than an embarrassment for him. He can even see the blush on his cheeks from where he was standing. “I…guess that means the file is reliable then.”

“It’s okay, Nikei. Some of us are bound to get things wrong.” Emma said with a light tease, tossing Yuki’s words back his way. The student gaped at her but it was already too late to stop Nikei’s sputtering.

“Y-You don’t have to rub it in, okay?!” He let’s go of his hat, putting his fists against his chest. “I just…I had to make sure our source was accurate, so cut me some slack.”

“Fufufufu, and yet, for an Ultimate Journalist, you tend to jump the gun, don’t you?” Mikado took the opportunity to take a jab at him. Nikei immediately sends a glare the wizard’s way.

“Don’t make me leave my podium just to hit you.” He warns. Mikado just shrugs but the mask’s expression only gets cheerier.

“Back to the blade, I believe it’s safe to assume that this is the murder weapon. Are we all in agreement on that?” Mikado looked around the trial and he did the same. Most of them looked convinced but some weren’t. Yuki, especially, was tugging on his tie and furrowing his brow.

“...I know it’s probably redundant to ask this since it seems to be the only weapon that makes sense. But, are we sure it’s sharp enough to cut someone like…like how the Monocrow File described?” Yuki asked, swallowing his words.

“Are you asking if it’s possible for the culprit to wield the sword in a way that would cut someone nearly in half?” Mikado clarified the question and Yuki grimaces but nods. The wizard hums. “While the results are clear as day, I don’t think there’s anything wrong in double checking our work. In that case, I believe a demonstration would answer this question best.”

“A demonstration?” The amnesiac raised his eyebrows. Mikado’s mask smiles at him and with a wave of his glowing hand, something flies out of the forest in a bright red light before he catches it with ease. The moment the glow fades, the object reveals itself to be a small log that can be carried with one hand. Albeit awkwardly. “Imagine that this is the victim. It’s not the perfect substitution as it’s not the same size as a human, however it’s thick enough but not by too much like most of the trees that surround us. So it’ll make due for a human’s fragile but sometimes durable body, yes?”

“Make sense to me.” Hajime nods his head. Shinji just shrugs. Yuri frowns alongside Kokoro, but neither of them object. Probably because due to their limited resources, this may as well be the best object to use an example of a human.

“Good. Then, the people beside me, please take a few steps back. This will be a bit dangerous.” The moment Mikado puts the log on top of his podium, he understands what he had meant and immediately starts taking a few steps back. Setsuka and Iroha does the same, although the painter goes much further than she needs to. Syobai barely moves. Mikado picks up the handle with both hands and huffs. “As you can see…I am not well-versed with a sword. In fact, it is quite heavy for me and I am probably not holding it correctly. However…”

Mikado raises the sword, swings as hard as he can in an arc…

…and the log splits nearly in half upon being cut, falling off of the podium.

They all gape at the sight while Mikado puffs his chest with what seems to be pride.

“...it doesn’t take much to do it’s deed.” The smile on his mask turns sharp and pointy.

“Holy shit, that’s one hell of a sword!” Nikei raises his fists and starts backing away from his podium. There was no need as Mikado was already putting the sword back down on his cape but it didn’t convince him to come back to his spot.

“Yeah…yeah, that’s definitely the murder weapon.” Emma looks pale.

“You don’t even need to be an Ultimate Swordsman. Just one good swing and that’s all it’ll take.” Hajime’s sunglasses slid down his nose slightly, making it more obvious that his eyes had gone wide.

“Auuugh…I guess that solidifies our answer then.” Yuki curls his hands over his stomach. He seemed ready to hurl.

“Just in case, does anyone else have any more questions to verify this?” Mikado asked. No one had any more rebuttals and the demonstration alongside the blood on the blade was enough to convince them. Once they all settled back into their podiums, Mikado finished speaking. “Then I believe it’s time to move on.”

“Alright, how about this one: why are there two weapons at the scene? It wouldn’t make sense for the culprit to carry two, right?” Yoruko asked, shifting onto the next topic. Almost immediately, his brain goes blank. Why would there be two weapons? If the culprit already had the blade, that would definitely be the superior weapon compared to the knife thanks to its reach.

“...Oh.” Hajime suddenly speaks up. He seems to be sweating a little bit. “I think I have an idea of why there’s two weapons. But it’s mostly just a shot in the dark.”

“W-Well…speak up. Whether or not it’s a good deduction depends on our debate, after all.” Kanade encouraged, gently smiling Hajime’s way.

“Yeah! Tell us, Hajime!” Iroha jumps in, urging him to continue. He can’t tell if she was excited or desperate. Honestly, it’d make more sense if it was the latter. The boxer sighs.

“Well…I’ll admit, it’ll paint the victim in a bad light.” Hajime said, rubbing his head. “But, uh, maybe the victim had some bad blood with the culprit…and tried to kill them?”

“K-Kill them?” He said it without thinking, gaping at his fellow classmate. “Why would they do that?”

“Don’t ask questions we wouldn’t be able to answer without evidence.” Yuri, who had been mostly quiet, finally started to participate more. Although he clearly wasn’t happy to be responding to him. “We don't know why the victim would bring it and we wouldn’t be able to figure that out with what we have right now. All we know is the facts: the knife was at the crime scene, which means someone had to carry it there. Right now, it makes sense that the victim was the one with the knife, not the culprit.”

“...I’m surprised you actually agreed with me.” Hajime said, raising an eyebrow.

“Don’t misunderstand, you despicable male! I agree with your reasoning but not the motive, for it paints the poor lady in a horrid light!” Yuri scowls at him with a dark glare. “For all we know, Lady Kasumi was fighting in self-defense!”

“With a kitchen knife that she couldn’t hide on her person?” Yoruko questioned with a frown, playing with her scarf. “It’d be one thing if it was a pocket knife, but a knife that big would be difficult to hide. If anything, I think the girl made it pretty clear of her ill intentions.”

“And you’d be right, Lady Yoruko!” At the drop of a dime, Yuri changed his tune once a girl started speaking to him. The hostess narrowed her eyes at him while Hajime looked like he was going to pop a vein.

“Oh, you little-”

“Enough.”

Kokoro, for as soft as her voice was, was still strong in her tone. With just one word, the class goes quiet. Yuri was pleased to have Kokoro’s attention while Hajime stepped down with a huff and crossed his arms. Once everyone’s attention was on her, she continued.

“Let’s not get distracted by arguing. We must focus on the trial and if everything calms down, we can sort out our issues afterwards.” Kokoro said, managing to put the trial back on track with just a few words. Already he can feel himself admiring her for her calmness and ability to unite the group with just a few words. “Besides, we do have evidence that a fight broke out. A tree has two cuts from a sharp object, there are footprints that made skid marks all over each other, and there were threads in a bush. If we put this all together, we get this: someone was already crouching down in the bushes, preparing for an attack. While we don’t know the details of how the fight went down, we can assume that they tried to ambush their target but it didn’t go well, which resulted in two cuts in the tree. Most likely from both the knife and the blade. The footprints represent them trying to get the upper hand on each other. But eventually, the victim, Kasumi Hayashi, decides that she wouldn’t be able to win and must have tried to run away.”

“And, um, that was probably when she got cut on her leg.” Shinji speaks up, almost nervous in the way he tried to take part without rudely interrupting Kokoro. The psychologist nods her head at him and he continues. “S-Since the cut was probably deep enough to damage her ability to walk, she wouldn’t have been able to escape the culprit.”

“And that’s when she got killed.” Nikei finished, holding onto his hat again. They all grow quiet, processing the information that’s been laid out for them. He looks around the trial, taking in everyone’s despondent expressions…

Only to stop and do a double take.

“Is he…?” He couldn’t help but point. Yuri furrows his brows and actually turns his head to see where he was pointing at.

And from what he can tell, the astronaut proceeded to swear in Russian.

“ARE YOU ASLEEP?!” Yuri yelled out, raising his hands as a dark expression fell over his face. The guy, Syobai, was taking a goddamn nap in the middle of the trial. His head was heavily leaning downward with drool dripping down to his chin and even has a snot bubble forming from his nose. The astronaut slams his fists on his podium but the noise didn’t wake him. It wasn’t until he tried to hit Syobai that he reacted and fast, his eyes opening in a flash as the bubble pops and he dodges the attack.

“Don’t hit me.” He said, glaring down at Yuri. Syobai then yawns and wipes the drool from his mouth. “It’s not like I’m interrupting anything special.”

“Excuse me, but this is a trial to find out how this poor maiden died!” Yuri scoffs, crossing his arms. “But who am I kidding, it’s not like a despicable male like you would try and solve this case. I bet you don’t even have any clues, do you?”

“...Clues like the broken lamp that caused a fire?” Syobai deadpanned.

The amnesiac does a double take. And so does Yuri, who stares at him with shock.

Shock that quickly morphs into anger.

“Did you just steal my thunder?! How dare you!” Yuri hisses but the guy merely cleans out his ear with a roll of his eyes.

“Oh please. If you were waiting to reveal those clues just to impress the women here, you’re only going to be met with disappointment.” Syobai said, pulling his finger out and flicking off any earwax he had picked from his ear. Naturally, all the girls were displeased by this news. And the guys, but he doubts Yuri would care about their opinions at all. Syobai then shrugs. “Back to the lamp, if the victim and the culprit were fighting each other, then it’s likely that the lamp broke during the struggle. Even if it didn’t, the culprit might’ve thought that a fire would get rid of any evidence left behind and chose to break it on purpose.”

“Wow, you put that together pretty fast.” Iroha said, impressed by Syobai’s intelligence. A sentiment he shared pretty well. The guy, however, merely scoffed at the praise.

“Please. As if a case like this can be considered complex at all. In fact, it’s child’s play.” He snorts and the amnesiac feels himself bristle at his words. But he couldn’t think of a rebuttal to say as he pressed his finger against his head, almost like it was a gun. “Now, are we done here? There’s nothing else to discuss and everything should be explained now.”

“Wait, really?” Iroha blinks her wide eyes. She scrunches up her eyebrows like she was in deep thought before her eyes start to swirl. “Uhhhhh, I mean, it all makes sense but I, um, don't know.” Syobai groans, facepalming the minute those words left the painter’s mouth.

“Hey, don’t act like that!” He instinctively called out on him, even as Syobai’s eyes glazed over in disinterest. He feels himself falter a little but he still stands his ground to defend Iroha. “She’s just confused! And besides, we should all make sure we’re in agreement on how the events played out before finishing the trial.”

“I agree.” It was Yuki who spoke, still holding onto his tie. He seemed to have recovered from his distress. Syobai simply shrugs in response before stepping back, like he was physically saying that he won’t be taking part in the trial any more. Despite everyone’s annoyed glares his way, no one bothers to call him out on this. Yuki continues. “There’s still some unanswered questions but…if we put everything in order when it all happened, I think we can answer them as we go along.” He pauses before lifting his fist up to his mouth. “I think it’d make sense to start at the beginning, before the fight broke out. The victim, Kasumi Hayashi, the Ultimate Personal Trainer, was in the forest, probably searching for the culprit…with a knife. We don’t know which one of them was holding the lantern…but I don’t think it was whoever was setting up the ambush. They wouldn’t risk having a light source with them in case they were spotted by their target.”

“I agree.” Kanade jumps in before he could process the information. “Whoever was planning for the ambush would want to minimize any chance of getting seen. They even crouched low in the bushes to hide. H-However, it seems their ambush didn’t go well, since their target still saw them and attacked first. Probably because the glow of their lantern revealed where they were hiding.”

“As a result, a fight broke out. The cuts on the trees and the footprints skidding across each other all points to a struggle.” Kokoro pulls her gaze away from her tablet. “Until, eventually, Kasumi Hayashi decided it was best to run away.”

“And if she were the one to bring the knife, it would make sense why she would.” Hajime crossed his arms. He was catching on to how things had played out, much sooner than he could keep up. “The blade has a far longer reach than the knife, putting her at a disadvantage. So she turned to run.”

“But unfortunately, Lady Kasumi’s luck didn’t pan out so well.” Yuri interjected with a sigh. Hajime just lets him speak. “Due to the length of the blade, the despicable culprit managed to make a cut on her leg, forcing her to fall over, or at least stumble into a tree, as it was so deep that it affected her ability to even walk.”

“Can confirm. It’s-” Shinji starts, only for Yuri to glare at him.

“Did I ask you to interrupt me, you putrid scum?” He said with a harsh tone. Shinji, who was usually friendly if a bit loud, started narrowing his eyes like he was losing his patience with him. But thankfully, someone stepped in before it could escalate.

“Don’t fight. We’re nearly to the end here.” Setsuka called out, and the both of them backed off instantly. Shinji blushing in embarrassment while Yuri…just smiles her way. “Back on topic, while she did get cut, she still tried to keep running. However, that was when the killer delivered the final blow.”

“Cutting her almost in half and then breaking the lamp to start a fire. All to get rid of the evidence.” Emma closes her eyes and hunches over. “At least, that’s what we’re assuming here.”

“Don’t forget the watch. It broke during her fall, which is what allowed us to verify the Monocrow file’s information.” Nikei said, beating him to the punch even though he was the one that brought it up in the first place. Against the journalist himself, no less. “She died at 11:45PM, which is why one of them brought the lantern with them in the first place. It would be way too dark to see without it.”

“And yet, they chose to destroy it instead of taking it with them. Just for a fire that didn’t even do its job, apparently.” Hibiki points out, crossing her arms with a huff.

“I suppose they decided that the potential of a fire getting rid of all the evidence in one go was more appealing than simply escaping the crime scene. And that’s not all.” Mikado picks up from where the vocalist left off. “The fire would’ve created a decent amount of light, so the culprit would’ve at least had something to go back to. Especially with the final thing they must do.”

“Final thing…?” Iroha spoke up, paying close attention to everyone’s explanation. He was similarly confused as he stared at Mikado. But it wasn’t him that clarified.

“Was it…to get rid of it? It is the murder weapon…” Yoruko asked, her eyebrows scrunching together. Mikado snaps his fingers in the hostess’s direction.

“Correct!” He cheerfully says. Yoruko grimaces at the inappropriate glee. His mask quickly goes back to normal. “There would be no other reason why the blade can be found so close to the ocean, after all.”

“So the culprit tried to get rid of the murder weapon. Makes sense, since even a blade wouldn’t have been destroyed in a fire. Damaged, definitely, but otherwise intact.” Kokoro said, and everyone went quiet. There was nothing else to add, after all. “...Currently, we aren't given information on who the past culprit was or the motives for why the culprit and the victim went out of their ways to attack each other. But I believe this is as close to the truth as we can get.”

“...Unless anyone else has any last minute evidence to add?” Yuki asked, which caused the shy and sweet Kanade to actually scoff.

“If they did, then we’d have to start this all over again.” She then sniffles, wiping a tear away from her eye. “Please don’t make us go through all that again.”

“Yeah!! As much as I hate agreeing with my sister, it’d be downright stupid if anyone was hiding anything at this point!” Hibiki jumps in with a hiss, leaning forward with tightly grasped fists. Frankly, he would be more willing to agree with her if she hadn’t tack on the bit about her sister.

“Yes…It seems we’re all in agreement with the explanation then.” Mikado carefully takes the blade off of his cape and sets it aside so he can clasp it back around his shoulders. No one denies his statement.

“Great! Now can we leave these damn podiums?! The trial is over, announcer!” Nikei yelled out, pointing to the sky. There wasn’t even a second to spare when the speakers came on.

“So I see! And your explanation is quite sound, with a few unknowns. But I suppose it’s only natural with the lack of equipment you can use…Not that any of you would know how to use it anyways. But nevermind that. You’re allowed to leave your podiums now. You won’t be using this trial set anymore now that it’s over.”

And just like that, the trial was over.

They don’t have to do this anymore. They’re still in this scary situation, but it is over. They can put this exhausting day behind them.

So why?

Why was he still anxious?

Why was he holding his breath?

Why did he…feel so damn useless?

“Ah, but before you go…There is another announcement I must make.”

The announcer’s voice pulls him from his despair and he absently stares up into the sky. Nikei swore under breath but he went completely ignored.

“This entire time, I’ve been talking to you all through these speakers hidden throughout the island. And such, I’ve hidden my face from you all…Please forgive me for that, my comrades. But I can assure you, I’ve been here this whole time. Watching you become acquainted with everyone, frolicking about on the beach, investigating the crime…Everything. And I think it’s about time…that we properly meet.”

Meet…?

They were going to meet the announcer?

Right now?

Dread seeped into his bones and it was heavy like lead. He barely recognized the podiums shaking and going down if it weren’t for Mikado and Kokoro grabbing him. Shaken out of his daze, he steps away as the podiums sink underground again, being sealed up but the fountain doesn’t come back up. Instead, he hears something flap in the wind.

“Wh-What was that?” Yoruko said, sticking close to Kanade. The guitarist frowns as her sister clings to her tightly.

“I don’t see anything – huh?!” Nikei starts but quickly gets interrupted by something passing by.

No, not passing by. Flying by.

Just the sight alone made everything and anything in his heart and brain grind to a halt. He processes the black and white feathers falling from the sky, that person – no, that thing circling around the group once before disappearing behind the clock tower. And then, it flies above the top and curls its wings as it lands on the roof.

It…was a bird.

A weird, black and white bird with a strange red symbol for an eye on its darker half was standing on top of the tower.

In any other circumstances, the sight could’ve been funny.

It could’ve destroyed the tension that has risen in the group.

It could’ve made him laugh, whether it’s out of disbelief or because it was hysterical.

And yet, seeing that bird, that design, made every alarm in his brain go off and his body freezing.

All he knew was that if there were any doubts left of a normal scenario, they were completely crushed with this thing’s appearance.

[lyon-amore]

Time Trial Chapter 14-Brothers

Chapter 13

    We bought bags of chips, cheese balls, jelly beans before going to the abandoned hospital. It reminded Albert of when we were teenagers and we bought it to go to the skate park. For me, going to that place was getting away from a house where I felt overwhelmed and of course, because of Alice, harassed. There were people of all ages doing tricks, competitions, and well, maybe I practiced jumping in the air a little while the skaters came towards me. It was a time when bad moments were forgotten with the adrenaline, seeing the world upside down when jumping made me see everything differently.      Thinking about it now, it seemed a little ridiculous how that excited me. Now I miss those moments when I did not have so much pressure on me, forgetting my problems for a moment.

     We arrived at the building, full of graffiti on the outside and the entrance doors broken. The land is overgrown, full of tall grass and wildflowers.      We took the bag out of the glove compartment and put the helmets away, also leaving the backpacks on the floor. The place looked deserted, it does not seem like anyone comes here. At least that is lucky.

   "Yes, a perfect place for you to kill me." Albert puts the bag on his shoulder. "Can you let me write one last letter to my parents?"

   "Stop talking nonsense and come in now." I give him a little push to avoid knocking him to the ground.

    He laughs and starts walking to the door.     The interior was full of dust and again, painted over. They all looked old due to the wear and tear on the wall, even the cans on the floor and food papers that I had not seen in years. And is this place where Sally came? Maybe it is because I do not know her well, but it is strange to imagine a girl here with the dirt here.

   "Tell me, who told you about this place?" Albert asks me, illuminating the dark areas with his cell phone “I never heard you talk about this sinister place.”

   “Sally told me she was coming to this place with her friend.”

   “Yeah, with her friend.” he lets out a laugh after dragging out the word ‘friend’. “Our little sister has a boyfriend.”

   "I do not know, I am not going to ask her about her private life like that either." I answer, looking for the sign that indicates going up to the roof. "It would be strange if I asked her if she has a boyfriend, do not you think?"

   "True, we don't want to scare her either, it's enough that she's involved in all this." he stands at my level and I look at him. "Do you think this will affect her? I mean, how do she handle researching everything you do?”

   "At first she was scared about the doll, but she is relieved to be away," I answer, also calm that she is not in the city. I finally manage to see the door and I make a sign to him. “Come on, it is time to go up.”

   "Ugh, but have you seen that there are five floors?"

   "Do not complain and let us go."

     I hear him complain again and our footsteps echo down the stairs. I try to be careful to avoid tripping over all the dirt on the floor. I would not dare run up the stairs in this place.

     Several minutes later, we reached the top floor. I check the door and it opens easily. It does not even make a rusty hinge noise or get stuck. It opens completely.      I squint a little as the afternoon sun's rays hit my face. I am trying to get used to it after being in the dark for a couple of seconds.      I can see the city from afar and the cars pass by on the road. It is not that it is taller than the building I climbed, but it is perfect for a good view.

   “Well, the place isn't bad.” Albert comments, with a surprised voice.

   “Let us sit.”

   “Where? Do you mean the edge?” I make a nodding sound and hear him sigh. “Sometimes your bravery scares me.”

   “It is not as scary as it seems.” I comment without much importance.

   “Of course, because you're used to climbing all over the city.”

   “And you could do it too if you had not given it up for skateboarding.”

   “Hey, I also have my risk when riding a skateboard, I have to be careful.”

    “And without protection.”

    “That’s how I learn.”

     I laugh and sit on the edge of the ledge. Albert sits next to me, leaving the bag in the middle. He takes out a drink and throws it to me. I catch him in the air and look at him reluctantly, I am sure he did it to make it fall into the void, but he does not know that I have good reflexes.

    As I open one of the small bags, the smell of potato chips forcibly penetrates my nostrils, bringing back those memories of my adolescence because of the familiar environment we are in.

   “The only thing missing is people screaming and laughing, rap music in the background and it would be like the old days” Albert sounds like an old man saying those words, which makes me laugh “But I do not think you brought me here to remember old times.” he says with his mouth full.

   "We both need to get away from everything that is happening," I answer before eating a potato as well “And after today, you almost gave us away with what we are doing, investigating that website.”

    Albert sighs, leaving the bag next to him. He leans back a little, looking ahead.

   “They fired me from work when they started accusing me that I could have been Bianca's murderer.” His voice sounds hoarse, like he is about to cry. I stare at him surprised, given that he had always told me that he went to work many times “I tried to find a new job, but everyone rejected me because of those damn accusations. So, most of the time I was late because I was at the skate park after those shitty interviews.” As he speaks, he picks up a small stone and throws it on the ground, in anger “There is also the harassment of my parents by journalists because of me. Everything has been going like shit since Bianca turned up dead... But I don't blame her, but me. Because I am ultimately too trusting with people.”

   “Why you did not tell me anything?” I also put the bag aside and rested my arm on one knee, looking at him worried.

   “Because you were suffering from Katherine being kidnapped—”

   "But you are my best friend, Al." He looks at my face after saying those words “You cannot keep these things to yourself just because you think I am having a bad time. I also suffered from the false accusations they made against you, but knowing that they fired you...”

   "It doesn't matter, I'll find something better." he shrugs and drinks his drink. "Look at us, talking about our feelings—”

   “Do not try to divert the topic.”

    He lets out a weak laugh, turning the can.

    Maybe it should not mean anything to him, but my point of view is totally different. Replacing your sister with a copy just because you are no longer lonely is not something I am proud of. But it is true, I am glad to have someone I can call “little sister” again, but that does not fill the void of knowing that I am alone again and without family.

    I should finally put these thoughts aside once all this is over. There is no point in licking the wounds of something that is not my fault. And no one can replace my sister.

   “We have known each other for years, Albert, if you think I do not care what happens to you, you're wrong.” I reply angrily, squeezing my hand tightly “You were my first real friend and you are also like a brother, although I do not always admit it, you and your family have made me feel a little less alone. So do not think that just because I am fine does not mean I do not worry about everything that is happening around me.”

    I see his jaw tighten, looking at me firmly. I do not think I have ever seen him look at me like that.

    “Did you know that I was actually jealous of you in high school?” He admits, loosening his gaze a little “Everyone was talking about you even though you weren't paying attention to the rest of the people at school, even the girls couldn't stop talking about you and how ''mysterious'' you were” He laughs, then takes a bit of his drink “At that time, I only wanted attention because it was impossible to live at home, with parents always arguing, I only had to draw attention so that for a moment they would stop arguing or simply so that my father would be less absent.” He looks at me and shrugs his shoulders, indifferent “But you didn't do anything, you had everyone's attention and you didn't realize it because you were stuck in computers all day and I wanted to break that Jake and let everyone see his true nature, which wasn't as cool as everyone thought.”

   “So, the day we met you deliberately got me into trouble because you actually hated me, right?” I arch an eyebrow, surprised at his confession.

   "Yes, well," he scratches the back of his neck nervously "the truth is, a little, but in the end I never imagined having a brother in the midst of all the chaos that was happening in my life." He gives me a gentle punch on the shoulder, in a friendly way. We both laugh and in the end he ends up sighing “I'm glad to have you as a friend, you always know how to stay calm and what to say at any time, just like before. You end up silencing everyone every time you speak. Yours is a gift.”

   “That is what happens when—‘

     I close my mouth, then remembering the reason why everything seems so unfair to me.      I remain silent, looking at the ground. I do not have vertigo or fear when I see the height we are at, but I know that if I fell I might not survive, even so the intrusive thoughts exist and it is a 'What would happen if I do it?' 

   &lt;<I have realized that this is how I felt when my mother died...>>

   "Okay, now it's my turn to ask," Albert clears his throat and I look at him, waking up from my thoughts "what's going on?"

     I look away, thoughtful. Should I tell him? Will you care? Maybe I should not at least name Hannah.      I let out a sigh, quite overwhelmed. I have my problems too, I just keep them to myself because I do not think anyone cares. But it is not like that. Albert, my best friend and the person I consider like a brother, is interested. 

   “All my life I have been called many things,” I answer a little under my breath, feeling a pain in my chest "It may not be like what is happening to you, but when they point at you and talk bad about you, I can understand it." I notice how my voice shakes a little, it is hard for me to talk about this “When I see someone being treated unfairly, hurt or accused, I just cannot sit still, I have to do something.”

   “Really?” I nod with a sound “Damn… I didn't know… Why have you never told me?”

    I look at him and take a deep breath.

   “My mother taught me to ignore people, even though I also hated how they did the same to her,” I respond, a little lost in my thoughts, remembering her words “She did not want me to get into trouble, but when I no longer had family to stay with, I think I decided not to pay attention to those words because I knew that it was not worth it to sit back and do something good.”

   "And with all this Katherine stuff, it's happening again, right?"

   “Not just with Katherine, but also with Sally.”

   “Don’t tell me that…”

    I see how he makes a disgusted face and grunts.

   “Do you remember Charlotte? The teenager who sometimes helped her do her homework?”

   “Yes, she is the girl who ran away from home, right?”

    I nod slowly. I cannot talk to him about Hannah, but I can talk about another similar issue that I did not like either. I had completely forgotten that moment, because I did not want to have it in my head. I was disgusted and afraid of that accusation.

   "She confessed to me that she was in love with me and of course, I rejected her, I am not that kind of guy." I take a sip of the drink, my throat feeling dry from talking so much. The scene comes to mind “And since I have been talking to Sally about this, I hate that it is added another word to the list of things I have been called out for.”

   "Hey, if you think we can finish this investigation without Sally, we can do it." His words sound totally sincere “Explain it to her and why you don't want to continue collaborating, she will understand. At least, she doesn't seem like the type to want to get you into trouble.”

   "No, she is not one of those girls, luckily, but I do not think she will be happy if I tell her now that I do not want her to help me; she does not seem like someone who gives up so easily."

   “As someone I know,” I smile knowing he means me “What if you are siblings? Imagine that you have a missing sister out there.” I get nervous because I know that is not the case, but I do hide what Hannah is "Well, after all, you always talk about your mother, but never about your father—"

   "He died and that is it." I answer quickly, not wanting to bring up the subject of my father now. I know Albert would not judge my mother or me, but this is something I cannot tell. If it gets to Duskwood that Nathan Donfort has a bastard son, that would ruin his family. I would ruin my sisters' lives. And they are what matters most to me.

    &lt;<I hope one day to meet Lilly too. From what Hannah told me, she is eight going on nine. It is a shame to miss their lives like this, not being able to be with them..>>

   “Sorry, I did not want to make you remember that.” his voice now saddens “I am glad you are finally talking about your life with me, even though it's taken you years.”

    I bite my tongue knowing I am lying to my best friend. But it is better this way. It is not that much of reality changes, my father has never been in my life to say that I have a father.

   “Speaking of parents,” I look at him a little tired from talking so much, but I have to tell you this. At least only part of it “I went to breakfast with Katherine's father.”

   “What?! And you're telling me now?!” makes me jump in place because of his loud question, not expecting that reaction “And? What happened? Is everything okay with your future father-in-law?”

   “To be honest, it put more pressure on me than I thought,” I respond as I lie down on the ground, looking at the sky. Little by little it is getting darker “he wants me to take care of his daughter when we find her.”

   "Come on, he has offered you her hand, so to speak."

   “What if it does not work?” I ask, now doubting a relationship that we had not even started “What do I do? I could not say no. And more so because his daughter is missing.”

   "How many times am I going to tell you that nothing's wrong, Jake?" I look at him and see that he shakes his head "Don't worry about that now, okay?  Yes, okay, the guy has put pressure on you because you are both worried about the person you love, But if you are now going to think about what you will do in the future with her when you are not even sure, you are only going to end up badly. Find Katherine and help her recover and see what moments you will have with her.”

   "I do not know if giving me romance advice is good...’’

   “Well, as your adopted brother and mother,” I roll my eyes, with a laugh “it will be his fault because he forces you. The relationship is yours alone, not anyone else's” I nod at his words and sit up “And if it doesn't work, then don't worry, there's surely another girl out there waiting to meet you who really is your destiny.” He extends his arms and makes a theatrical gesture separating them.

   "I do not think there is anyone capable of surpassing Katherine," I say with a bit of anger "because well... She is perfect."

   “That's the spirit! The girl you like is perfect, there is no other.” he points his finger at me, almost accusatory “Let that stay in your mind. None of them are going to surpass her and you are crazy about her, what more proof do you want? The universe is not going to send a signal to you, only you have your choice.”

     I am going to tell him that it is the cheesiest thing I have ever heard from him, but I get a message that makes me stop raising my hand.      I am surprised to see the message Sally passed me. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sally It’s important, I’ll explain it to you when we can talk We have to talk to Paul immediately Whenever you can Or I do not know! When can he? Damn, why can’t I do it now? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    She disconnected after that last message. What do we have to talk to Paul about? Is he serious? I do not know what she has found, but surely after Albert's accusation before the director, he is not going to be happy.

   "Sally?" he asks me nervously “Did she find something?”

   "I think so, but she says we have to talk to Paul." I reply annoyed, rereading the message "Probabilities that he will beat us up after saying he is a criminal?"

   "One hundred percent, for sure."

     I put my cell phone away and we hear a scream from below calling us.      A man was looking up, although we could hardly see him well.

   “You two! Get down from there right now!”

   “They caught us.” Albert stands up, grabbing the bag.

    With ease, I push myself off the edge and follow him toward the door.

    Once downstairs, the police officer—since he was wearing the uniform—approaches us as we leave through the door, breathing heavily. He must be only about forty years old, but he almost looks younger.

   "Guys..." he tells us between each labored breath "What... What are you doing here? This area is dangerous and also private.”

   “I am sorry, we did not know.” I reply worried.

     Sally did not tell me anything about this area being private. Did she forget or she just did not want to tell me?      I look at the name on the plate. Peter Hammer. It does not look like it is fake, so I think he is a real police.

   "Look, if you want to be in an intimate place, I understand," Albert and I looked at each other with a shck look and then back at the police officer “but we have already had problems in the past with other teenagers who sneaked in here to make trouble and set up rituals of those satanists, we do not want strange things to be done around here, do you understand?”

   “We understand perfectly, agent.” Albert nods and gives me a light tap on the shoulder “Let's go Jake.”

    I nod and we start walking towards the entrance.

   “Wait!” We stop and turn again to look at the policeman “Your face sounds familiar to me.” He points to Albert, narrowing his eyes “Aren't you that boy who is being accused of murder?”

    I see how Albert squeezes his hands. It is my turn to interact again before he says anything.

   “My friend is innocent until proven guilty, Mr. Hammer,” I say quickly and calmly, like other times I have done it “but we trust that the police will manage to catch Katherine's kidnapper and Bianca's murderer.”

    The man smiles proudly, as if he had said it exclusively to him.

   “We will not be back.” I respond a little coldly.

    "Good, good. well, goodbye guys." he passes by us, looking at us badly. Better not to anger him so he takes out the gun. 

    I take the helmets out of the motorcycle and give his to Albert, who is watching the policeman walk away.

    “I bet he was referring to Sally when he mentioned the teenagers.” he finishes putting away the bag of food and gets on the motorcycle, holding his hands behind him “How come he didn't tell you?”

   “I do not know, I will have to ask her after reading the information she found.” I get on the motorcycle and put on my helmet “If I had known we could not come here.”

    “Well yes, because now they could notify the police that we were here, we have to be careful and not return to this place so that they don't suspect us anymore.”

   &lt;<No more problems, please, I do not want to have to end up in jail again for just coming here to eat some chips.>>

     I start the motorcycle and we leave the place. I hope Sally will be available when she arrives and we can talk about what she has found.

     I turn on the computer and connect the laptop, moving the program back to the main one.      Albert has gone to shower, leaving me alone to fix the program. I am glad to have seen him with a good face, since we started university and the topic of murder, I do not think we had really had time among real friends, like we did before.      I log on to Facebook in case Sally does too.      So far, they have not managed to disrupt my arrangement on the show, which is a relief that they have left me alone and do not know what I am doing. They will think they scared me, but they did not. This only made me want to continue researching with all my might.

   "Hey, shall we order pizza?" Albert asks me, looking out the door “I don't feel like making dinner.”

   “Alright…”

    He enters the room and sits on the bed. As long as you don't turn around, then the better.

   “I've tried to contact Alice, but she's not answering.” I make a sound of agreement, not paying much attention “Do you think I'm bothered with something?” I make a negative sound now “Jake!”

   “What?” I turn as I continue writing.

   "Stop doing that, I hate it." I raise my hands, stopping writing for a moment. I know that writing without looking bothers him because he cannot do it “I have had to listen to your love problems, now it's mine.”

   “Love problems? I thought you were not interested in Alice.”

   "That's not the point." I see how he blushes, I've never seen him like that “The truth is that she's cool once you get to know her well...”

   “Aaalright…” I drawl the words, not knowing much what to say.

   "But I don't like her." I let out a laugh and he gave a small grunt “Surely she is still in love with you.”

   "No, I do not think so," I continue writing again "she is not interested in me anymore."

   “And why don't she answer me?”

   "Maybe she is busy or thinks it is better not to rush knowing that your date died, do not you think so?"

   "Mhm... Maybe that's it."

    Albert is good at giving romantic advice, but when it comes to looking at himself, he is not very smart at all. Even so, I have never seen him excited with a girl, it is the first time, with Bianca he did not come to my room when they had the first date or when I asked him. Maybe he has truly fallen in love.

   "Anyway, I'll order the pizza." I hear him get up and leave the room.

    &lt;<I can finally focus on the program. At least until dinner time.>>

     Just when I think too soon, Facebook chat appears with the notification sound.      I place the Facebook window on one side and the program on the other. I cannot stop for a second. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sally Well I’m here Alice was at my house She came to see me worried that I had been scared after the doll thing ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   "Al, Alice was with Sally—"

    “What?'' He quickly looks out the door “Has she told you? Have she checked my messages?”

   "I do not know, she just told me—"

    “Ask her if she had seen it and talked about me!”

   "I am NOT going to ask Sally about whether Alice has read your messages." I return to the conversation, ignoring him.

    “You are very cruel, you may have ruined a great couple.”

   “Yes, Al, yes…”

    The truth is that I am rather embarrassed to ask her. Of course it would help my friend, but I am not going to ask Sally if she and Alice have talked about boys, it is even weirder. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sally Jareth?

Jareth Sorry, Albert was asking me something.

Sally Tell your friend that his girl is fine 😛​ That we were just talking about everything that has happened so far She just left a minute ago, I'm sure she'll answer him

Jareth I was not going to ask you about that.

Sally But I'm sure you've talked about it

Jareth How can you know?

Sally Female intuition And you said Albert, which is very similar to what I’ve been seeing on Alice’s phone, hehe ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Albert will be more embarrassed knowing that a teenager has seen his messages than knowing that Alice saw them. He is not going to recover from this. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sally Tell him she thought the bear icon was adorable

JarethI will let he know :)

Sally 😊 Well, time to work!

Jareth What is happening with Paul now?

Sally You will not like it… What’s more, I didn’t like having to read it either… Wait, I'll send you by email what I've managed to read

Jareth Of course.

Sally I want you to know that I am only sending you this part because I still have a lot to read and it is what has caught my attention the most, but I will compile everything I have and we can do something with this

Jareth Sally, calm down. Do not worry, and send it to me. We will look at it together.

Sally Yes, Yes… Sorry… I'll send it to you ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   I do not know why, but her message seemed to convey her nerves. Or maybe it is my imagination. I do not think I have ever noticed her like that. What could she have read in that document?

     I enter the email and notice that they are screenshots with underlined areas in specific places. For example, important dates.      Apparently, Bianca had tried to help her friend get information from that page after receiving a video of him drugged. Apparently Paul did not remember it and confronted his family, which they did not know what he was talking about when he wanted to show them the video, it disappeared. It came to him like an email. An email that he simply used to write to his friends to talk to each other. He was quite small and that marked him. Nobody believed him, which affected him a lot.      After that, Paul had moments when he remembered blurry images, which scared him and caused him to seek help in drugs to calm down.      When he told Bianca, she was the only one who believed him, thus deciding to help him. But Paul's condition worsened with alcohol and drugs, leaving him devastated.      Bianca was sure that this video had to be from someone close to him and that it must have come because he thought it was fun to send it to him. The website was the name of…

    "'The corner of the poor souls'." I say, reading Bianca's words "Did it exist nine years ago? Who was capable of harming a child?'' 

    &lt;<Come on, after reading those comments, it is clear that they are capable of doing anything.>>

     A horrible shiver runs down my spine as I think about it. The sooner I had to find them and tear down that website, show the world that it exists. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sally You still there?

Jareth Yes. I am surprised that Paul experienced all of this.

Sally I didn’t have time to analyze it because I was angry at how he treated Jeremy If he hadn’t been a jerk, maybe I would have devoted myself to observing him better

Jareth It is not your fault.

Sally You have to talk to him He has to know what Bianca was doing Above all, what she was doing for him

Jareth He will not want to talk to us.

Sally We have to try And more for Katherine If he still care about her and Bianca, maybe we can get information Use that to our advantage, name them and name the video, but without many details And we will surely have him in our favor

Jareth Do you really want to make him remember all that? What happened to him as a child? It may affect him.

Sally He’s a victim, Jareth… He still hasn’t recovered until we put those bastards in jail. Sorry! I didn’t want to talk like that!

Jareth I am also angry, I understand. So… Paul hides what he suffers by making the world suffer.

Sally It is sometimes common I’d love to hear the conversation, but…

Jareth I know. And I would not let you come.

Sally How can we make it easy for you? Without you ending up being arrested again, of course

Jareth What if we use Alice’s cell phone? She calls you and puts it on hands-free so you can hear it.

Sally Yes, it’s a good idea I think we can do a lot with this And have you advanced?

Jareth Do you want the good or the bad?

Sally The good first

Jareth The good thing is that it seems that there are no problems changing the code.

Sally What's bad then?

Jareth I do not understand what I am doing wrong either.

Sally I know we’re in a hurry, but don’t worry… Rescuing your friend is important, but so is your health Don't stress too much, okay?

Jareth Easy to say.

Sally Jareth…

Jareth I will try.

Sally 🙂​

Jareth Another thing. Why did not you tell me that the abandoned hospital is a private area?

Sally Oh Did Peter show up?

Jareth Do you know him?

Sally He is a friend and co-worker of my father It’s not really a private place, my friend and I investigated it well He only says it to keep people out He just doesn't know that I know 😛

Jareth Then we can continue going without problems.

Sally Of course, dear friend! You like it?

Jareth It was not bad, very comfortable, if I can say.

Sally I know, naps in that place are great

Jareth Haha. Thank you. It was the perfect place to talk.

Sally You’e welcome I'm good at choosing places to spend a good afternoon with friends

Jareth Yes, next time I will ask you for another new location ;)

Sally Of course! Happy to tell you a few! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     They ring the doorbell a couple of times, but I do not hear Albert answer it.

    “Al! The pizza!”

    They continue calling. Maybe he is on the computer with the headphones. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jareth I have to go now.

Sally Of course I’ll keep reading and let Alice know about the new plan You try to reconcile with Paul, okay?

Jareth Yes.

Sally Be good

Jareth I will be :)

Sally I’m serious

Jareth I give you my word.

Sally Better Goodbye Jareth

Jareth Goodbye Sally. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     I get up from the chair and leave the room, finding Albert on the couch sleeping with his cell phone in his hand. Apparently today's talk has really worn him out.      I sigh and open the door, paying the pizza man. Great, he orders and I pay. Anyway... For this once and because of his situation I will let it pass.

     I put the pizza on the kitchen table and hear a noise like a window breaking, which makes me hear Albert scream.      I look out and see that he is trying to put out a fire with the curtain.

   “What happened?!” I ask nervously, approaching to help.

   “They threw it out the window!” He answers me nervously.

    I look out and see a guy in a gas mask, raising his hand and waving.

   “You bastard.” I say through clenched teeth, running out of the room.

   “Jake! Where are you going?!” I hear Albert calling me, but I ignore him going down the stairs.

    I can hear a car leaving quickly, so by the time I am on the street, I can only see the lights and the smoke it left behind.

   “Ja… Jake…” Al appears behind me, panting. “There was this in the bottle they threw away.” I grab the rag in his hand. There is a necklace wrapped in it. They were two stars united. And he has dry blood.

   “Whose is it?”

   "It's Bianca's," I look at him surprised, "I remember she was wearing it on the date."

     I look at him again with suspicion. I do not think they brought it with good intentions.      I look at the cameras on the street, their light appears instantly, as if they had been blocked. I do not know exactly what guys we are trying to stop, but whoever they are, we are going to take them down.      We could hear a police car approaching, a neighbor must have called for sure.      I look at the necklace again and understand what is happening. If they saw us now with this in our hands, we will be accused and the cameras... Shit, we cannot hide it now because Albert has been recorded.

   "Albert listen, do not worry," I place my hands on his shoulders, trying to stay calm, "no matter what happens, everything will be fine, alright?"

   "They have set a trap for you," I see how his face pales, scared, "and they are sure to arrest you after seeing the necklace."

Chapter 15

[waitingformyfavoritesongs]

6 March 2023 Monday 🌙 12:11 pmpdt

Bcz Nick didn’t plan anything with me for his birthday 🎉, no party 🎈 invitation & no date, to combat my disappointment I clicked into an aol chat 💬 room I think 💭 it was for teens. 12:13 pmpdt & I watched other people chat 💬 & then I received instant messages from 2 guys @ the same time but I think I remember one was on top of the other but I found it somehow maybe it was peaking from the corner? Or top? I forget. One from New York king long island 🏝 (autocorrect: head acid brain) 🧠 if he hits me again with acid in the brain 🧠 I will never forgive him it’s getting hot in my head left near front side 12:18 pmpdt long <- autocorrect changed to king 👑 many times. 5 minutes passed by fast 💨. I hope the incubus miñion is not staying in this hotel 🏨 . 12:21 pmpdt every time I doubt the incubus he cuts or tortured my vag. I figured (12:22 heart ♥️ stress 12:23 pmpdt throat acid pain heart ♥️ is beating a little fast 💨) I was going to write ✍️ things here but when I’m finally poised gum left hip bone 🦴 pain 12:24 pmpdt incubus made me afraid 😱 to write ✍️ it. Autocorrect I think said breathe me? Kill. Makes sense. 12:27 pmpdt

1:49 pmpdt incubus is attacking my anus area w/ acid I think. It hurts it’s hot & stings & burns. 1:50 pmpdt

3:04 pmpdt I don’t know 🤷🏻‍♀️ if the incubus is punishing me for saying that the futon frame & mattress I gave was nicer than the one my mom bought, the one I gave my ex boyfriend Bcz it I think 🤔 it had no sharp corners & maybe the mattress was thicker? Trying to remember... ours is substantially thick although I don’t know 🤷🏻‍♀️ how thick. Knowing the incubus I’m afraid 😱 he’s going to change things to double cross me. 3:08 3:09 pmpdt I think these acid attacks are double crossing me. Are guys like Nick carter really better than me Bcz he didn’t murder Shannon Ruth, so he’s allowed to commit crimes so the police 👮‍♂️ have their preys for the capitalist system to complete a cycle? Was that man 👨 who murdered a mother of 2 boys better than the woman he murdered & believes he’s better Bcz incubus probably told him so, so he can justify (he probably raped her, too? I should look for it Bcz the trial was recent I think) 3:13 pmpdt is it true? 3:14 pmpdt

3:55 3:56 pmpdt incubus has hurt me a lot. I guess it could have been worse. I didn’t enjoy being alone a lot in the first half of my life. I did have problems with my thoughts 💭 & words & I made excuses. Sometimes I tried to be honest w/ my feelings like not saying “I missed you,” w/ a coworker. I don’t think 🤔 I was disrespectful or unkind, I didn’t feel like saying it back to her after she said it to me, & then her facial expression turned angry, like w/ rage?, maybe even possessed by a demon. I was nice to her & she told me she missed me. But I was still having difficulty w/ my own feelings & my own ... personality? I think 🤔 there was a time I tried to change my personality in an effort to be more likable but I still wasn’t happy & feeling like I (acid like pain in lips 👄 4:06 pmpdt incubus is punishing me for writing ✍️ this) - this reminds me of the when they used to tell people if you smile or pretend to be happy you will become happy? Some happy go lucky 🍀 people surprise people with suicide probably Bcz it doesn’t really work like with my experience. Sometimes I said stuff that scared 😱 off people I shouldn’t have. & vag pain minutes ago head pain nausea 4:10 pmpdt. & then there’s the case w/ Scott biting me. Scott seemed to care too much about his own reputation I guess rather than owing up, that he felt it was right to shame/embarrass me in public & do something violent to me & he’s a very good actor he acted like he was sorry & he never took me to the hospital 🏥 to check the damage he did. 4:15 pmpdt back in 2017 online it said he was married but I didn’t find out who. Now it seems he’s not married. Some people will make you feel unsafe to express your real feelings & opinions. Unnecessarily critical am I? Maybe sometimes but all the time? 4:17 pmpdt incubus can put magic potion 🧪 in your mind to feel something such as love 💕, maybe 🤔 even other emotions. 4:19 pmpdt

4:28 pmpdt if you read all the posts in this tumblr, then you might see that I jump back & forth. (4:29 feeling something not sure if I can like it ok don’t like it cramps 4:30 🕟 pmpdt)

4:30 4:31 pmpdt woman 👩🏼 was beat up in jail? 44 year old woman 👵 tree 🌲 fell on her. I doubt she will be resurrected like Jesus. Mother of a Boy Scout. Head brain 🧠 pain 4:34 pmpdt makes me doubt incubus. 4:35 pmpdt

4:43 pmpdt I think I told a few people that me & Scott had s*x. I don’t remember describing the situation, what happened exactly, but I guess somehow he learned that I said something & he I guess did not like that. I think 🤔 he wrote without mentioning my name on his Facebook about me section that it’s not his fault he fell for an unethical whore. He NEVER said he loved 🥰 me to me. If he wants to do stuff right he should have bought a ring 💍 b4 doing that to me! 4:47 pmpdt

5:18 pmpdt I wish I could die a painless death ☠️ now. Incubus mislead me w/ signs 🪧 to interpret myself & random appearing thoughts 💭. I don’t believe in incubus anymore. He looks so happy & like he only cares about his own d*ck. 5:21 pmpdt

[eristic-kaleidoscope]

Skunked | Erik A | Trial 3.1 | Re: Arakiel, END, An | ATTN: Arakiel

Time for trial, once more… It was honestly pretty relieving to see Arakiel still alive and conscious, and he’d been greeted with a nod as Erik A entered the lobby. But now, back in the trial room, wearing a different shirt than usual and finally without that arm sling... Well. Sorry to his neighbors too, since he still smells lightly of skunk. Not as bad as it could have been, at least.

Ah. So that’s what had happened to the laptop, huh…? Despite the loss here, Erik A only sighs lightly, remaining casual and composed about it.

“Welp. Honestly, I figured you’d find that shit sooner than later, though I’ll be honest, it seems super fucking unlikely to me that you didn’t know it was there before this. You’d have to be Real fucking unobservant and forgetful to not realize, after all, huh? Not to mention, you conveniently left off any useful info for us in your personal files, and you don’t seem all that upset about it.”

He’d done what he felt he needed to already on that laptop, and he certainly wasn’t going to reveal anything more than what he needed. That implying tease about its contents was more than fine enough to get his thoughts across. 

And as for the trial at hand and testimony sharing… well. 

“If we’re going over how our days were for alibi purposes, I should probably start with this morning. Got up at 8am for the announcement, obviously. Then Ae-ra said what she did on the group chat about her brother being one of the options, and after a while I decided to try looking for her a while after she stopped responding. I searched just about everywhere for a fair amount of time, but it seemed like she didn’t want to be found, and I never found her.”

Maybe he should have kept looking after all, and maybe that could have prevented her death.... But he knows that things aren’t that simple, either, and he’s hardly to say something like that out loud here anyways. Not to mention, if she didn’t want to see him, he can’t imagine even his presence would have helped in the end.

“So, anyways, at some point, I went back to my room to work on stuff on my laptop, and I didn’t really keep track of the time. I think it was about 5pm that I finally left again? I saw Erik leaving the eatery, and we decided to go together to the flower garden to relax for a bit. We passed by Erisu and Arakiel coming through the elevator as we entered the garden floor, I think, and then a couple minutes later I saw Eureka come outta the greenhouse, Adrik speedwalked out from the dorm side area and swap places with her into the greenhouse as she went into the dorms, then I saw Kenshin leave the sunroom and Byrne head out and the elevator to switch places with him like 10 minutes after that."

"The rain I remember starting RIGHT at 5:30, and Erik dragged me into the sunroom pretty soon after that to get out of it despite my wishes. I think I saw Eureka enter the floor again right after it started raining. Byrne was in the sunroom, and Erik and I tracked in mud cuzza the rain. Oh and I sent that group chat message too, around then. Then Byrne left just after 6pm I think a bit later, and Erik and I hung out alone for a while." Aka, they made out, but he has enough tact not to talk about that in the trial. "We only left the sunroom a bit after the rain stopped, where I saw a wet Byrne and dry Kenshin setting up camping stuff, then a wet Eureka with Seamus."

"Erik and I split off, he went to the fountain room and I went to the Petting Zoo where END already was, and then a bit over a half hour she left.Then a while later I sneezed and scared a skunk, so I got sprayed basically right before the 8pm announcement played, so I ran off fast to do something about it since that's pretty time sensitive, you know??? Went to the kitchen for baking soda, my room to shower and change, laundry room to wash shit, etc. Adrik’s fluffy outfit was already hanging the laundry room to dry by that point. I figured the hosts would just drag me out of the shower or shock me or something if they cared I was late to the motive, but nothing ever happened, so I just kept doing my thing. I guess that's because some people missing were actually dead, though. Also, if anything else got announced I might have missed it since I was in the shower." No hearing aids.

He frowns for a moment, before deciding to just move on. So he’d been willing to risk himself again, huh.

“Thanks, Arakiel, and glad to see you back with us now. Might have some more questions for you later on, but first, I guess… Did you get to see the letter that Erika Chen had, and the half-eaten ones from the petting zoo by the goats? It wasn’t in a handwriting I recognized, but they were written in Korean, and signed with your name, so if you have anything to share there just let us know I guess.”

[artemis32]

Fem!reader as dg sister?

Platonic Yandere DG I

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Hello

This contains spoilers for chapter 354 onwards

I'll put a spoiler warning in right before, so it'll be a separate section, and I'll put a warning for when it ends too, so you can skip that part if you're not caught up with the storyline yet.

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Lookism Masterlist

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DG is a bit of a strange brother.

On the one hand, he's protective and he seems a bit overbearing.

He definitely keeps you shielded from the media. In fact, they don't actually have any evidence of him having a sister. He doesn't want anyone knowing about you. Not because he's embarrassed, but to keep you safe.

A perfect example of why is the creepy stalker he had.

What would she have done, had she known about you? He doesn't want to know.

On the other hand, it almost seems like he hates you. To you at least. He critiques everything you do, everything you wear, everything you say. He keeps you at distance all the time, both physically and emotionally.

He does go out with you in public, and he barely bothers giving you any attention when you're talking to him.

So he has this weird spectrum of behaviour - at times he's super overbearing, controlling what you do and when you do it, and then he does a complete 180 and avoids you like the plague.

While it bothers you, you don't say anything. A part of you probably believes it's normal, seeing as you have nothing to compare his behaviour to. It's not like you have any other siblings.

It embarrasses you to hear people talk about how amazing he is. Of course, no one knows that he's your brother, and you don't ever mention it to anyone.

He's not a great brother, but he's good in the ways you'll never know or understand. He keeps you safe from threats you never knew existed.

****

In terms of being an idol, his life is pretty hectic.

He makes sure to try and spend time with you at least once a week, even if it's just a few minutes. His schedule is usually packed so he thinks it means a lot for him to spend a bit of time with you when he can.

If you have hopes of becoming an idol, he subtly tries to steer you in a different direction - any other profession really. He knows how difficult it is and he doesn't want you to go through the same trials many other trainees go though.

He knows that you'll be able to do it if you really wanted to. You've got both the looks and the talent to get far in the industry.

Another reason he doesn't want you anywhere near the idol industry is because you becoming popular or recognised would mean that other people would see you - it would mean that you might try to leave.

You know many people, yes - but that doesn't mean you have a lot of friends. Quite the contrary, people tend to maintain surface level relationships with you only.

Not that he'd ever tell you, but he tends to scare people off when he notices them getting too comfortable in your company. He doesn't want you getting any bright ideas and trying to run off with one of your "friends".

Are they really your friends if they try to take you away from your older brother? Trying to separate you from the only family you have left doesn't seem like something a true friend would do.

****

You're a few years younger than him, so you're still in school.

For the most part, you're pretty isolated - he pays for private tutors so that you don't have to leave to go to school. Any after school activities you want to do can be done at home too.

And you can't argue with him about anything because he pays for everything - everything.

Your house, your clothes, your food, your tutor, all of your hobbies and interests.

He isn't the type to hold it over you, but he will bring it up as a last resort in an argument. It always upsets you because you know that he's right - as much as you hate it, as much as you'd love to leave and live independently, you can't, and he knows that too.

Forget about trying to get something as silly as a part-time job. Why would you need one when you have a brother that loves you enough to pay for everything you need?

Clearly he isolated you from people at every turn. You are allowed to leave, but only with his permission. And you do like to push that boundary a lot - constantly finding excuses to leave the house.

He'll admit, you've come up with some creative reasons to leave the house - he actually finds it quite amusing.

****

In terms of personality, the two of you are surprisingly similar. Maybe it was a result of the isolated environment you grew up in. Maybe you picked up on his personality and took it on as your own. Or maybe it was just a funny coincidence that the two of you were so similar.

Regardless, it results in the two of you clashing quite often.

You challenge every decision he makes on your behalf - likewise, he criticises every action you make. Your arguments are constant back and forth jibes, each one nastier than the last.

Of course, since you're so similar to him, you're just as smart as he is. You're truly brilliant, and planning is one of your strong suits, at least it is when you put your mind to it.

****

DG keeps you far away from many of the people he works with - Gun, Goo, Crystal Choi - all of them.

He doesn't want you involved with any of the gangs or the issues they've had. He may be adamant about you not becoming an idol, but that's nothing compared to his mindset regarding the gangs.

Obviously Gun and Goo know that he has a younger sister. Goo in particular is quite interested in meeting you, always pestering DG for details about you - which pisses him off to no end.

He brushes off any questions about you, but in his mind he wants to strangle Goo for being so curious.

There are a small handful of people who know about you outside of those that DG works with, but they're smart enough to keep that knowledge to themselves and never act on it.

They'd end up in a shallow grave if DG were to catch wind of any plans regarding you.

****Spoilers for chapter 354 below

Those who know that DG is James Lee also know about you - and they're too terrified to try anything.

You don't know much about your brother's personal affairs, and you don't really care. All you know is that he was named James Lee, and a few years ago he suddenly changed both his name and appearance within the span of a few weeks - he'd become a completely different person.

You keep your nose out of his business, intent on getting on with your own life.

The fact that you're so unbothered by his secrecy is a huge relief for him - he's always scared that you might start asking questions he doesn't want to answer.

When it's just the two of you, you still refer to him as James, but he's made it clear that you should call him DG if you're ever in public together.

****Spoilers finished

Overall, he's not a great brother, but he does care about you and your safety.

He doesn't mind spending ridiculous amounts of money on you, in fact he insists on it at times. His protective nature seems borderline possessive, which angers you to no end, but there's nothing you can do about it.

Whenever he has any free time, he tends to monopolise your time and attention. His behaviour confuses you at times - he cages you in, locks you up in the house, often alone. He insists that it's for your safety and that he care about you.

Then he'll come back ten minutes later and give you the silent treatment for hours, sometimes days.

You tend to antagonise him a bit, but you do appreciate him and everything he does. You're also aware that he's your only family, so you should treat him well, but at times you have trouble showing him your appreciation.

Not that he cares a lot - you'll stay with him whether you want to or not.

And if you ever find out about the darker side of his life...

Well it's not like anyone would point at him if you suddenly disappeared - not many people knew you were related after all.

He'd go on with life as usual, and he'd have the peace of mind knowing exactly where you were at all times - at home, locked up in your room, somewhere only he knew to find you.

[ijwrsmff]

could i request for the dbd killers pig, huntress, death slinger and whoever else you see fit with the idea of reader suddenly disappearing in a trial? like one minute they’re fixing gens and running round the map then the next minute they somehow end up back at the campfire or something and the killers had no idea? mistakenly thinking the entity took them or something. thank you !!!

Woo! This one was really fun to do, I absolutely LOVE this idea, thank you for requesting!

The Pig (Amanda Young):

Something was wrong...you were here just a minute ago…

She saw it with her own eyes

She was stalking behind you, ready to grab and hook you but…

A dark mist encircled you and then you were just...gone

A feral yell made its way up her throat and she began stabbing into the air

Were you...gone forever?

Maybe the entity didn’t approve of her and your relationship...and took you away

She screamed into the sky, and the three remaining survivors feared for their wellbeing

The rest of the trial was...brutal

She may have mercy at some points...but not with you gone

She resigned herself into thinking you were gone for good, and took her sweet time torturing the other survivors

If you were gone...there would be no holding back

She injures the others, letting them get just far away to think they’re safe before she jumps out of the shadows and takes them

She put their torture devices on quickly, and soon all of the survivors were running on borrowed time

She began hooking the others as soon as she could, just wanting this nightmare to be over

If she would be stuck in this loop eternally...she didn’t want to do it without you

Upon returning to the campsite and seeing you sitting there talking to your other survivor friends...she began crying under her mask

You ran up to her, knowing how frightened she must be

“Hey...it’s okay Amanda, I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

Those words and your warm embrace were enough to soothe her aching heart

The Huntress (Anna):

She was right behind you and you knew it

She had been chasing you for what felt like forever, and you were wearing out

You turned the corner quickly and hid in a locker, hoping to throw her off your trail

But she could see the red scratches that indicated you had entered the locker

“Oh my sweet little rabbit, you didn’t think that would work, did you?”

She swung the doors of the locker open to find...nothing

She was certain you were there...there’s no way you could have left the locker without hearing or even seeing it

The rest of the trial she spent looking for you

Forget the rules, where were you?

She didn’t even care about the other survivors, you were her main priority

After a while, she pinned a survivor down

It wasn’t her fault...he got in the way

“Where is y/n”

He looked confused “what do you mean? We haven’t seen them for a while...we figured you already mori’d them…”

So not even the other survivors knew where you had went…

She sighed and let him get up, continuing her search for you

By now, all of the generators had been repaired and the countdown had begun

She didn’t care

Where had you gone…? The entity wouldn’t have taken you in the middle of a trial...right?

As soon as she was back to the killer’s campsite she ran for the survivor’s campsite hoping with all of her being that you were there

You were there

She rushed over to you and picked you up into an embrace

“Don’t you ever leave me like that again, understand?” Her words were meant to sound firm but it came across as...frail

She was so terrified of losing you it hurt

“I’m sorry I worried you...I wish I knew what happened myself but...all I know is one minute I was in the locker and the next I was back at the camp.”

She refused to let go of you, and pressed her lips softly to your forehead

“I need you...that...that scared me so much” she spoke quietly, not wanting the other survivors to think she was weak

“I need you too...we’re together forever. No matter what stunts the entity pulls.”

Death Slinger (Caleb Quinn):

When he found out the entity took you...he was livid

All of the survivors remaining were absolutely horrified

He seemed...more vicious than usual

And that’s saying something

He aimed to make quick work of the survivors, not wasting any time hooking each and every one of them

There was...a dangerous look in his eyes that made the remaining survivors terrified to the core

He didn’t see it happen, but he assumed. One minute you were there, the next you weren’t. He even tried asking the survivors he hooked where you were but...they had no idea either

He reeled the last survivor in, and made quick work of placing him on the hook

You better be at the campsite...if you weren’t...he’d attack anyone and everyone who even looked at him

He couldn’t help it...he was beyond pissed

He didn’t want to admit it...but if you were really gone for good...there’d be no point in continuing the entity’s game

He would play the game...but he would lose all will to continue if you were gone for too long

So when he had finished with the trial, he immediately sprinted to the edge of the survivors camp

To say he was relieved when he saw you would be an understatement

You looked up to him with the eyes he so deeply loved and ran up to him

He pulled you into a hug immediately

He wasn’t one to show physical affection where the others could see...but this was an exception

“Leave me like that again and I’ll be sure to kill you in the most painful way possible.”

How comforting

At least you know he cares

The Shape (Michael Myers):

You were his primary target

Often, you were

In his mind...he was sparing you from continuing the game the entity had set up

He was saving you

He made sure it was as painless as possible...unless he was mad

Either about how the game had gone so far, or something else

But this time...when he was about to pull you from the generator, a dark mist enveloped your form and you were simply...gone

He stood still a moment, processing what he had just witnessed before his eyes narrowed and he kicked the generator with all the strength he had

The rest of the trial was...absolutely brutal

He made things as painful as he possibly could

It made him feel...a little better

Not enough though

If he could scream out, he would have

Instead, he settled on making the survivors remainder of the trial complete and utter hell

By the time he had hooked the last survivor they had less than half of the generators complete

He wasn’t wasting any time, that was for sure

When he appeared back at the campsite he stalked off into the dark between the two camps

You were there waiting for him…

“Michael! I was so worried, are you okay?” You placed your hands on the sides of his mask, something you did when you were trying to comfort him

It worked, and his demeanor changed

A small noise left his throat, and to you it sounded almost like...a whine

“I’m so sorry I scared you...but I’m here now and that's what matters!”

He placed his hands on your cheeks, mirroring your actions

You smiled up at him, and leaned up to press a kiss to his mask

“I’m here now...you don’t have to worry about me leaving anytime soon...okay?”

He nodded and pulled you closer into a warm hug

“I won’t leave you...I promise.”