#consequences for attempted manslaughter

[lolathepeacocklord]

Me when I get LITERALLY KILLED‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

[i-like-her-like-that]

Hey remember when we didn't tell people to kill themselves

[selfproclaimedunicorn]

Very fun thinking about the 2 modern AUs of my HOTD OC fic, because I can say whatever I want that makes the Royce siblings sound cool, but it will never erase the fact they are the nepo babies to end all nepo babies. Their old money mom is the head of a company that she inherited from her dad, their dad is the family burnout from a long line of politicians & he keeps getting jobs because his brother is the president/king/whatever Westeros has in this modern AU. Only Yorick would naturally have an employable skillset, & they all get well paying jobs/success. It is infinitely funny to me when I think about it in terms of the mechanics of how they all get where they're going

[bagelbun333]

The death penalty in Ace Attorney | The fandom’s biggest misconception

Capital punishment is something we all know is a real consequence when it comes to murder in Ace Attorney, but do all culprits who commit these crimes actually get the death penalty? That’s what I’m going to go through in depth within this post!

CW and TW: mentions of death, execution, murder, suicide etc.

Also major spoilers for basically all the mainline ace attorney games!

To start off with, what exactly warrants a death penalty in Japanifornia? Murder has been referred to as a capital crime that deserves a capital punishment, which in turn led people to believe that all murder convicts get the death sentence. However, there is a slight mistranslation within that statement and it should say “murder is a charge that risks the death penalty.” “Risk” is the keyword here. While yes, it is possible murder charges can warrant the death penalty, that doesn’t mean every culprit will get executed. Like, this isn’t Danganronpa 😭 What people don’t think about is the different kinds of murder charges there are, and the differences in sentencing this can create.

Murder charges can go from:

1st Degree Murder - Premeditated/long time planning

2nd Degree Murder - Not premeditated but the intent is there within the moment/deliberate killing

3rd Degree Murder - Deliberate reckless behaviour resulting in death

Aggravated Murder - Murder when an aggravating circumstance is proven (such as kidnapping or torture)

Voluntary Manslaughter - Intention to kill but is not guilty of murder due to provocation or mental incapacity

Involuntary Manslaughter - Killing without intention within the heat of the moment

Self Defence - Killing for defence of oneself

Consensual Homicide - Assisting a suicide

Attempted Murder - Planning and failing to kill

In Japan (the country this series is initially based on) these charges have different kinds of sentences depending on circumstances. So naturally, Japanifornia must have punishments very similar to this. These are the sentences for these crimes in Japan according to my research:

1st Degree - 5 years to life imprisonment

2nd Degree - 5 years to life imprisonment

3rd Degree - 3 to 5 years imprisonment

Aggravated Murder - Death penalty or life imprisonment

Voluntary Manslaughter - 1 to 15 years imprisonment

Involuntary Manslaughter - 1 to 15 years imprisonment

Consensual Homicide - 6 months to 7 years imprisonment

Self Defence - No imprisonment

Attempted Murder - 5 years to life imprisonment

Death penalties are usually passed in cases of multiple murders, although there are exceptions where individuals have committed a single murder that have been executed because it involved torture, extreme brutality or kidnapping with a demand for ransom. It is punishable by five years to life in prison, and with the death penalty if aggravating circumstances are proven. The only exception is for juvenile offenders since the minimum age for capital punishment in Japan is 18.

With this, we can work out what kinds of charges each of the ace attorney culprits will be given. (Mostly for the Phoenix Wright trilogy since I can’t recall much beyond aa4.)

(For clarification’s sake: a “/” is used when a crime could be one or the other or both, while the “,” is used to separate different crimes.)

Frank Sahwit: 2nd Degree Murder

Redd White: 1st Degree Murder

April May: 1st Degree Murder (Accomplice)

Dee Vasquez: Self Defence/Voluntary Manslaughter

Yanni Yogi: 1st Degree Murder

Manfred von Karma: 2nd Degree Murder, 1st Degree Murder (accomplice, planned out)

Joe Darke: Serial Murders (technically spree murder, guilty on five counts)

Damon Gant: 1st Degree Murder, 2nd Degree Murder (Serial Murders)

Lana Skye: 1st Degree Murder, 2nd Degree Murder (Unwilling Accomplice in both)

Richard Wellington: 2nd Degree Murder/Involuntary Manslaughter

Mimi Miney: 1st Degree Murder

Morgan Fey: 1st Degree Murder, Attempted Murder (Accomplice in both, planned out the crime)

Acro: Attempted Murder, Involuntary Manslaughter

Matt Engarde: 1st Degree Murder (Hired a hitman), Consensual Homicide (driven a woman to unalive herself)

Dahlia Hawthorne: 1st Degree Murder, Consensual Homicide, 3 counts of Attempted Murder, and 2nd Degree Murder (Serial Murders)

Luke Atmey: 1st Degree Murder

Furio Tigre: Either 1st or 2nd Degree Murder

Godot: Voluntary Manslaughter/Self Defence (defending someone else)

Iris: Voluntary Manslaughter (accomplice)

Kristoph Gavin: 2 counts of 1st Degree Murder, Attempted Murder (Serial Murders)

Those who canonically got the death penalty:

- Joe Darke

- Dahlia Hawthorne

- Terry Fawles

- Simon Blackquill

Those who canonically got the death penalty but didn’t get executed:

- Terry Fawles (he died anyway rip)

- Simon Blackquill

Those who are most likely to get the death penalty but never canonically stated:

- Manfred von Karma (not explicitly stated but heavily implied)

- Damon Gant

- Matt Engarde

- Morgan Fey (vaguely implied)

- Kristoph Gavin

- The Phantom

Those who don’t get the death penalty:

- Frank Sahwit

- Redd White (he would if his blackmail victims got leaked)

- April May

- Dee Vasquez

- Yanni Yogi

- Lana Skye

- Richard Wellington (could be a chance that he would considering his victim was a police officer)

- Mimi Miney (unsure considering her accomplice is implied to be on death row)

- Acro

- Luke Atmey

- Furio Tigre

- Godot

- Iris

To recap, the death penalty in Japanifornia is reserved for the criminals with absolutely no hope for rehabilitation, and for those who have aggravated murder charges/serial murder charges. Even people like Redd White will not receive the death penalty.

After all, Redd White did plead guilty to Mia’s murder specifically because getting arrested for one murder would be safer than having his list of blackmail victims get leaked to the press. It would be strange to confess for his own safety if he was just going to get executed anyway.

In the later games it is shown that the law is changing, and the death penalty is even less involved when culprits are convicted of murder. (Not counting charges in Khura’in, that’s different.) So it is very possible that the punishments can change overtime for those who were already convicted; meaning there’s a chance that they can be given a lighter sentence later on. There’s even a culprit in aa5 who was planning a murder but ended up killing someone else accidentally, and they were released from prison mere months after the trial. If they can released for that then surely a lot of the other culprits deserve the same treatment.

Speaking of Khura’in, that is actually more of a parody of what the fandom thought Japanifornia’s death penalty worked like. Even then, after the ending aa6, it looks like that judicial system will change for the better too.

And that’s pretty much it! The reason I wanted to go through this topic is because the whole murder = death penalty ideology is taken way out of proportion, and has been treated as a fact for far too long when it’s actually not completely true. This is just what I’ve managed to research and you can feel free to believe it or not, but I really wanted to share a new perspective on this subject. I, for one, wanted to share some hope for people; especially because I know a lot of these culprits have a lot of fans, and they deserve to have a brighter perspective on these characters. I definitely want some of these characters to return and this research really helped me feel confident that some of them have the potential to make a comeback.

Plus with the HD release of, not only the Apollo trilogy, but the Edgeworth collection in the same year, it’s more than likely that aa7 will bring back old characters! The reason a lot of these old characters didn’t make a reappearance sooner is because Capcom stood by this “no spoiler” rule for the players who may have missed out on certain games in this series. But now that we have all the mainline games in the series getting a HD release on all modern platforms, this “no spoiler” rule will most likely not be necessary anymore!

No more of this “if they’re guilty they’re never coming back” bs, let’s be more hopeful! It’s actually less likely that all culprits would get executed than the majority not getting executed. Let’s bffr!

And even if they don’t come back in aa7, we now have a more clear understanding on this messy topic, and you can feel free to use my analysis as a way to explain ace attorney culprits being able to leave prison in fanfictions, roleplays, fanarts etc. Don’t let the fandom tell you what to do >:3

Unrelated but I think this has been my first analysis post I put on tumblr and it was very fun to delve into! I may make more if anyone is interested :3c

[princessleechan]

“Choi Seungcheol must die” Epilogue

Masterlist

📌chapter tags: SMAU, inspired by “John tucker must die”, John tucker!seungcheol, college au, revenge fic, written chapter (3.6k), utter fluff and surprises

taglist: @silvsie @christinewithluv @stayinhellevator @aiforyuu @2youngsworld @justcruisingalonguntilbamkpop @asyre @simpxxstan @anzellll @hipsdofangirl @plskillme22 @lirtha97 @lixiel0ver @notevenheretbh1 @leah-rose03 @woozarts @expensive-idiot @doveblackboat @the-boy-meets-evil @tamakis-bbyy @freshdetectivenight @mrsdacherry @smilechannie @alltheshineofthestars-blog @ocyeanicc @horanghaezone @wonuqrtz @leewonkyeom @horangboosadan @kkooongie @myghobi @wonunuwoo @wonwootakemyheart @shuasunshine @dinonuguaegi @ckline35 @miriamxsworld @itsokaytobedumb00 @seokgyuu @nishloves @bmkgemz @conwunder @kawaiimusiccollection @humankimbap @ashes23 @writingbarnes @strawberryya

A year later

The morning sun filters through the blinds, casting a warm glow that gently penetrates the small gaps in your closed eyes. With a sleepy squint, you flutter your lashes as you gradually emerge from a deep slumber. Shifting your head from the pillow, a hand extends out from the cozy depths of the blanket, wrapping around your frame.

“Stop it…” a groaning voice protests.

“You're the one who wanted to share my bed,” you mumble, nuzzling into their chest. “Face the consequences.”

They respond by pulling you into a tighter embrace, their arms enveloping you, and their chin finds a comfortable perch on the crown of your head. “Fine,” they mutter, the warmth of their breath brushing against your hair.

As the two of you engage in this intimate morning ritual, another head pops into view. With a bemused expression, she scrutinizes the scene, her presence intruding on the moment that might seem suspicious to any outside observer. Her eyes, filled with curiosity, take in the details of the shared embrace, brimming in a playful curiosity.

"Minji, you're suffocating her.”

“I'm not…” Minji growls, her voice weak and sluggish.

“Maybe a little,” you manage to squeak, though the amusement in your tone is evident.

Finally, Minji releases you, her fingers gently loosening their grip, and she chooses to bury herself underneath the covers in a futile attempt to shield herself from the intrusion of the morning light. The soft rustling of blankets marks the end of the embrace, and you feel the lingering warmth on your skin as she seeks refuge from the brightness. Turning your attention to your savior, Gyuri, you find her already poised and ready to embrace the day. She stands with a graceful confidence, her attire impeccable and thoughtfully chosen for the day ahead. The morning sunlight catches the subtle details of her outfit, casting a gentle glow on her figure.

“Thank you.” You said with a voice devoid of consciousness.

“We can’t begin our morning with manslaughter,” Gyuri responds with a chuckle, her tone retaining its bubbly and inviting quality.

Sweeping the room with a more deliberate scrutiny, your discerning gaze catches a subtle irregularity. "We're short one."

“Breakfast served for my lovely ladies.”

Haru makes her presence known along a tray full of breakfast painted in shades of red and pink. From eggs to ham, and scones to her specialty pancakes, glistening in the honey gloss of the syrup and valentine sprinkles topping it all off. A grin stretches across your face as you're drawn in by the irresistible aroma, prompting you to join in and assist your friend in the pleasant surprise.

“Haru, you shouldn’t have,” you gush.

“Can't have our Galentine weekend without heart-shaped pancakes. Or bacon.”

“I’m up,” Minji stirs from her slumber, immediately alert at the mention of her favorite morning food.

A burst of excitement surged through the group as you and your friends hurriedly converged, exchanging laughter and animated banter. The anticipation of the upcoming meal heightened as each of you took turns crafting plates, carefully selecting and arranging a delectable array of food to share in bed. The air buzzed with a vibrant energy, a communal spirit filling the space as the aroma of the feast enveloped everyone. It starts your morning off right.

Since the fiasco that was ‘Choi Seungcheol must die,’ your public persona has evolved significantly from being labeled as the girl who supposedly shattered the campus heartthrob's—well—heart to normal girl once again. While a handful may still harbor disdain, you've garnered admiration from many others, including the lovely ladies seated around you sharing a meal. Despite have all dated the same man at least once, you've managed to forge genuine connections, finding common ground and shared interests that transcend your ex.

Basking in the sisterhood of this unique friend group proved to be a breath of fresh air. The unwavering support from these like-minded women has become a source of comfort, and you find yourself smiling at the regularity with which their presence graces your life.

"Oh," Gyuri polishes off the last bite of her syrup-soaked pancake and casually drops the bomb, "We should go to the Valentine fair in town. It’ll be cute and fun. All of the guys would be there too.”

“Will Mingyu be there?” Minji muses, a sly grin curling her lips.

“Minji, really?”

Minji playfully waves her fingers over her face, emphasizing the importance of facial features. “I’m just saying, good looks run in your family. Didn’t stop at you or your fine ass brother.”

Gyuri rolls her eyes. “Gross.”

“Come on, I deserve a chance. Y/n did.”

“Pardon,” you ask with a mouthful of eggs. You swallow the remaining food, thanking Gyuri, who wipes food from the corner of your lips.

"Yeah, the gorgeous guy you rejected, who's still holding onto feelings for you, along with my little brother, by the way. It’s about time he has someone new to look at and I can be that someone. If only his thoughtful little sister would steer him my way."

Gyuri lightly nudges the girl, nearly knocking off her glasses before he regains her posture. “I am not setting you two up. You both annoy me enough as is. I can’t imagine what’d happen if you were together.”

“You hate me. Just say that.”

“Minji…” Gyuri warns. “You know that’s not true.”

“Gyuri hates me,” Minji whines shedding fake tears. “She despises the potential of me being a sister-in-law.”

The youngest in the group, Gyuri sighs, shaking her head as though unimpressed by the antics of her older friend who lacks the mental maturity expected of her age. Her expression hints at a weariness, a silent playful disapproval of Minji’s snarky attitude, exhibiting a wisdom that belies her youth.

The collective smiles from you and the rest of the women in the room signal another good day, and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

The air carries a crispness that beckons to be inhaled, immersing you in the delightful blend of the sweetest aroma from freshly baked goods and the rich fragrance of the hottest, freshly brewed espresso. You're glad to have join in on the festivities, rest assured that you’d have company, even if that company included a couple.

Minji playfully feigns distaste. "Come on, Haru, it's Galentine's, and you bring your fiancé?"

Haru casually strolls alongside your group of friends, hand in hand with Junhui, who recently earned himself and Haru a newly coined label. She grips his hand just a little tight as her other arms clasped over his bicep. “But he’s such cute eye candy, plus I know he's been dying to come to this festival too.”

The fact that they got together no longer bothers you; in fact, you've come to realize it's for the better that they did. They couldn't be more perfect for each other, and the warmth of their connection is evident. As you reflect on the realization that a romantic relationship with Junhui was never in the cards for you, you find yourself smiling now. Despite your initial feelings, you're genuinely happy he found someone who loves him enough to commit to marriage. You weren’t so sure if you could’ve filled such shoes had it been you.

The grown man sticks out his tongue and Minji returns the gestures, tugging you and Gyuri by her side just as tight. “You two would never betray me for a man.”

"No, but you'd make an exception for a Mingyu," Gyuri points out, a fact made evident from this morning. "Speaking of which…"

Your attention is drawn to the lanky figure making his way toward you. His face lights up with a warm smile, and his arms open wide and inviting. "Guys!" he calls out enthusiastically, his expression and body language eager to greet his dearest friends.

"Mingyu!" Minji exclaims, wasting no time as she runs into his arms, momentarily startling him before he warmly reciprocates her embrace. "It’s nice to see you, Minji. I’m sure Seokmin is here somewhere."

She scoffs, clutching tighter. "I didn’t ask."

He chuckles, gently patting her on the back until she releases him. "You all look beautiful today, especially my darling sister," he says, pulling Gyuri into the tightest of embraces.

"Stop," Gyuri protests, pushing him away. "You'll ruin the hair."

“Spoiled as ever. So what do you guys wanna do first?”

The question appears to be a general inquiry, but you can't help but notice the glance thrown in your direction, almost as if he's anticipating your response. You simply shrug, mumbling a "not sure" under your breath. He hums, conjuring an idea while everyone else discusses possible plans.

"Well, if it helps, maybe there are a couple of things I thought we could consider doing."

“A haunted house? On Valentine’s day?”

“Don’t you know couples love scary movies?” Mingyu responds to Haru's question with a playful counter.  “You and Jun can go, and then–”

“Me and Mingyu!” Minji chimes in, taking his arm.

Mingyu politely smiles. “We could do that, or,” he takes you with his other arm, “We can come as a party. Use it as a test of courage.”

“A test?” Gyuri inquires with a taunting grin. “A test where you scream like a little girl and you get hurt because it’s too dark inside?”

Mingyu shoots a momentary glare at his sister, the edges softened by a hint of amusement, before his eyes shift into a silent plea. "Who knows? Perhaps amidst the chills of the show, you might accidentally find a guy you're meant to be with," he suggests, a playful yet hopeful undertone in his words.

“I’ve already met my guy,” Minji says. “But if it’s what Mingyu wants, we should go.” Her gaze shifts to the already-established couple. “Mom and dad first.”

“Minji, you’re older than me,” Haru states matter of fact.

“Until you break the engagement, you’re mom and dad.”

You proceed in the designated order, walking behind the couple as they lead the way into the haunted house. The remaining four of you huddle closely, a tightly-knit. You find yourself positioned at the edge, where the suspenseful anticipation of what lies ahead intensifies as you step into the dimly lit entrance of the eerie attraction. The air is thick with harmonious trepidation and the fear of unknowing, anticipating every possible jumpscare.

Mingyu, the largest of the group, ironically turns out to be the biggest scaredy-cat among you. Just as his sister predicted.

“What’s that?” he would shout. “He’s gonna jump out—damn, why did that look so real? OK—WHO OR WHAT TOUCHED ME?”

Before long, he starts darting off on his own, but Minji makes sure to hastily follow behind. Meanwhile, Gyuri vanishes amid her brother's episode, somehow amplifying the fear as he frantically searches for her. You attempt to keep up as best as you can, but your best falls short when you find yourself alone, struggling to locate even the exit.

"Uh, guys?"

You don’t know how you managed to do it, but there you were, standing frozen in the dimly lit corridors of the poorly made haunted house, a chill creeping down your spine. The creaking wooden floorboards and flickering lights creates an eerie enough atmosphere to make you wish you hadn’t made fun of it earlier. The playful screams and laughter of your friends now feels distant as an unfamiliar unease settles over you, turning what was supposed to be a casual haunt into a genuinely unsettling experience.

A split second later, a masked volunteer leaps out, causing you to stumble backward and collide with the person who materializes behind you—a solid, firm chest greeting you. Swiftly apologizing, you turn your head, locking eyes with the unexpected stranger. It takes a moment to register, but disbelief gives way to recognition as he smiles. His complexion, illuminated by the inconsistent lighting, exudes a radiance that you find oddly captivating.

Impulsively, you clutch at the fabric of his clothes, pulling yourself closer. "How are you here right now? You're supposed to be studying Europe."

Chan, a welcome sight, continues to smile warmly as he assists in guiding you out of the haunted house, his presence a comforting contrast to the lingering shadows and cheap Halloween supplies.

“We finished early about a week ago. I wanted to be a surprise.”

While you spent the remainder of your college years at the local university, Chan chose to venture abroad, a decision made in the aftermath of the Seungcheol incident. A clear sense of satisfaction is evident on his face as you take your time retracing the features of his face that have now matured in your time apart. 

“Oh my god, how are you? How was Italy? You look… amazing.”

He chuckles at your ceaseless chatter, intertwining arms with you along the entire path. “I'm well, still adjusting to the time difference. Italy was filled with great food, great wine, but, sadly, no you. I made do, though.”

You playfully elbow him, unable to contain the smile spreading across your face. “You never stop. God, the others will be so happy to see you!”

Upon reaching the exit, Chan, with a playful glint in his eye, deftly guides you around a concealed corner. The mischievous grin on his face deepens, and he suggests, "I have a better idea: we meet them later after you and I have a chance to catch up.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST Y/N?” Seokmin's voice echoes through the chaotic atmosphere, laced with a touch of frustration.

"Go, go, go." Chan, immediately recognizing the urgency, deftly propels you forward, skillfully navigating through the crowd. With a sense of urgency, he guides you towards more private quarters.  

“I can't believe Seungcheol's a dad now. A lot happens in a year,” you remark, savoring the indulgence of your double scoop brownie delight, the rich chocolate flavors mingling with the conversation, as you relaxed by the campus’s lake side.

Chan kitten licks his mint chocolate cone, savoring a sweet taste that he misses so much.“Yeah. I’m an actual uncle. It’s weird, but parenthood has done him a lot of good. He’s a lot different than he was back then.”

“How's he managing it all? Girlfriend in the picture, I'm guessing?”

He shrugs. “They're giving it a shot. Seems like she'll stick around, and Cheol might too. I've never seen him look at a girl the way he looks at his own daughter. They all look happy together. She’ll keep him grounded.”

“Now he’ll start defending his daughter from guys like him when she gets to his age one day. Cosmic Karma.”

Chan chuckles. “He better or I'm stealing her away and raising her myself.”

“So, how’s it been for you? What’s Italian Chan like?” you inquire humorously, reaching the sweet waffle cone.

“Still Chan. Just know the difference in wine now and why pasta should never be broken in half.”

You take a deep breath, mustering the strength to voice the question that has been swirling in your mind. The weight of the inquiry presses against your chest, and you can't help but wonder how much this very question has occupied your thoughts. Finally, you manage to ask, "Anyone special to you?"

He glances at you thoughtfully, smiling as he let out small bittersweet sigh. “There was...but I let her go. I tried dating while I was in Italy, no one right for me though.”

“Hmm.”

As you mull over his words, Chan's eyes drift into the realms of distant memories, a wistful gaze reflecting the moments he reluctantly left behind, “What about you? I can’t help but overhear you tried it out with Seungkwan while I was gone.”

You chuckle, the memory painting a genuine smile across your face. “And boy, was that awkward. We only stood a chance as friends. My dating life hadn’t been much of anything these days.”

A familiar glint dances in his eyes as he indulges in his ice cream. “I see.”

“Don’t go looking too happy.”

“What? I’m devastated. My OTP.”

You laugh, lightly shoving him, remembering how much he really did make you laugh. There wasn’t a person that made laugh the way he did. “Shut up.”

“So…no one special for you either, hmm?”

You meet his gaze, a flicker of earnest crossing your expression before you shake your head. “No.”

Silence settles between you, a moment pregnant with unspoken thoughts and emotions. When your ice cream is gone, your hand itches for something else to hold. The air becomes charged with a quiet wonder, both of you reminiscing in the shared moments—the sleepovers, the messages between lines that you told one another. There’s peace in this space you share, as well as bitterness in the possibility that has yet to arise.

“Do you remember what we said, after that third night straight you slept over at my place?”

Your mind drifts back to that moment. The air was filled with the aroma of fried chicken for dinner, and Chan had effortlessly polished off five beers. It was one of those nights you wished could last forever, where the outside world faded into the background, leaving only Chan in its wake. “Not sure,” you respond.

“Right people, wrong time,” he repeats. “That we would’ve probably gotten along a lot better if we met under different circumstances. If it wasn't for what I was going through or what you were going through, we might’ve been right together.”

Your cheeks flush, and you internally curse yourself for momentarily forgetting. It was one of the most intimate moments you've ever shared, and surprisingly, sex wasn't even involved. Despite all the heartfelt words exchanged in that moment of vulnerability, you had half-expected him to have forgotten about it by now. “What about it?” you inquire, trying to keep your composure amidst the resurfacing emotions.

He leans in, licking evidence of dessert off his fingers. “I thought about that a lot when I was away. How we worked together was great. How you made hours pass by like minutes, minutes like seconds.” 

“You thought about me, hmm?” You tease.

“I was in the most romantic city in the world and all I could think about was how you’d love it here, so yeah. I thought about how better it would’ve been with you even if I knew you’d wretch at the smell of squid form the squid ink pasta.”

As Chan speaks, you notice the subtle shifts in his expression, the glimmers of nostalgia and contemplation in his eyes. A moment of quiet lingers between you, the unspoken acknowledgment of what could have been. The weight of untold emotions hangs in the air, and you attempt to break that down.

“...You would’ve tried forcing that into me.”

His laughter feels like medicine for longing. “Maybe I would’ve.”

“Why are you bringing all this up to me? Professing your love, huh, Lee Chan?” you challenge.

“And if I am?”

“Chan…we shouldn’t.”

His eyes dim, appearing as if he expected this response yet still disappointed. “Why not…”

“We said why–”

“Because we were both vulnerable? Fragile? Susceptible to hurting each other because we were interested in other people. Y/n, I haven't thought about Haru since I saw her here at this festival because all I could think about is you.” As the words linger in the air, Chan's admission leaves a charged energy between you. The festival surroundings seem to fade into the background as the unspoken tension and emotions build.

Your hands bunch up your pants at the knees, and you pull yourself up from the grass. “Chan…”

He follows, determined to stay by you. “We’re not who we were a year ago. There’s nothing else holding us back. Not our friends. Not my brother. Not any unrequited feelings. Just me and you.”

You've pondered this ever since you realized your feelings, sometime after he left. How you'd long at him, how he looked at you. Whether he still had feelings for Haru or if he somehow harbored interest in you. Or course, you wanted this but was any time the right time? “...Right people.”

“Wrong time, but that’s not the case anymore,” he steps closer, his presence enveloping you, and he cups your face in his hands. The warmth of his touch is both comforting and electrifying. “I want to try it with you because, knowing you, we work damn well together. We deserve that. We deserve this more than anyone.”

You shake your head, recognizing the stolen quote. Lips stretched over your face, and you take half a step closer. “Screw you.”

Not giving him the chance to react, you capture his lips instead, savoring the familiarity. The the soft rustle of the wintertime breeze and the distant of other people only served itself as background that becomes te white space on now your vividly painted canvas. In that stolen moment, the world narrows down to the warmth of the kiss, an electric charge passing between you and Chan, and longing grip of his hands claiming your body. Each second is written meticulously into a story that you both finally decide to explore, the delay only proving that all had been worth the wait.

[fourteentrout]

Oklahoma! is genuinely such an insane musical I can't get over it. It takes place in like a day until basically the last number. It's got a main love triangle and then like a B plot love triangle and the two girls in both love triangles have drastically different views on love and men that affect their decisions and how they view each other and themselves. The antagonist is part of the main love triangle and his biggest issue with life is that he gets no bitches and also is possibly a murderer. He's the loneliest man you've ever met. The main love interest tries to convince the antagonist to kill himself because they're going after the same girl, and he actually considers it for a second. There are insanely obvious opportunities for gay tension. It's about cowboys and farmers. The first act ends with an instrumental ballet dream sequence that the main character has during a literal drug trip. It's almost a romance comedy. There is at least one murder attempt and at least one character death that can either be murder or manslaughter depending on the production. It's a musical based on a play based on a book and it was adapted into a play to cheer up Americans during the Great Depression and it was adapted into a musical to cheer up Americans during World War Two. It's about everything and nothing at all. It's about love and choice and desire and consequences. It's kind of racist if you're not very careful about casting and character choices. Every song fucks severely but also kind of lasts longer than you expect it to. It's bizarre. There's nothing really quite like it. It's The Cowboy Musical of all time. I can't stop thinking about it.

[sapphic-agent]

I'll rank these from least to greatest. The Snowball/Hairpiece moment: Disqualified for being an attempt at "humor." We can't really take the universe seriously if literally no one cares about the main character getting stabbed in the brain. WTF even is Bakugo's character if he's actually the one to have injured Izuku the worst in his life? It's not AFO or Tomura who put Izuku closest to death, it's apparently Bakugo for no reason other than jealousy. Apparently we're supposed to see this as Tsundere slapstick humor. Confronting The LOV: This is a continuation of the finals against All Might and another reason this guy isn't smart. He learned nothing since then. Bakugo is simply a moron who, despite being able to fly under his own power, couldn't be bothered to use this to save himself even when he knew they were after him. They were aware at this point what Nomu were and how they were made from people. While AFO didn't do this, he could have given one of Tomura's minions an ability that specifically countered Bakugo's and made it impossible for him to fight back. This wasn't required at all since Bakugo let himself get yoinked by Compress, but it's another reason he's a bonehead. Way to put everyone in danger saving your useless ass, you liability. I like the irony of Bakugo being exactly what Aizawa called Izuku on the first day of school. Battle Trials: This is the first moment of the universe bending over backwards to shield this guy from consequences and also twist the characters present to talk about how awesome he is. The writing was on the wall here that you can do everything he did and not get in trouble or reprimanded at all. That the number 1 hero can watch you nearly manslaughter someone and he doesn't give a shit. Witch Hunt And Apology: This one is also bad, but again because of the Bakugo aura that needs to bend other characters to make him look good. Hawks, All Might and Endeavor were aware Izuku was their last hope. Which is why Hawks and Endeavor are not constantly at Izuku's side and instead have time to be at UA while he's running on no sleep. Despite also being targets of the League who certain members will never rest until they've killed them, they let the savior child wander around by himself until he eventually loses to Dictator. Yes, Izuku was beaten. He lost. The story needed to make everyone involved an idiot so Class A can show up and rescue him. Actually, I'd say everything about this was the huge failure of the writing in general. The author doesn't give a shit about most of these worthless fodder children. So he needs a fight scene to show them doing SOMETHING while also attempting to call back to a bond he hadn't built. And then Bakugo gives a ridiculously half assed, victim blaming apology that wasn't needed at all, which Izuku doesn't respond to.

It doesn't matter if Bakugo apologizes to Izuku because we KNOW he's already forgiven him. We've known that since the summer camp arc. Izuku would not have screamed like that for someone he resented at all. He wouldn't have gone to save him if he still harbored negative feelings for him. Izuku has saint like patience (and the author doesn't allow him to be mad at Bakugo) so his only interest is them being friends again. Their entire relationship is Izuku trying his hardest to connect to this empty, spoiled brat and getting punished for it. This "apology" is another box checked on the list. An event that had to happen because the story built up to it, but the animosity between them is completely one sided. I rank this higher than the battle trials for how it degrades everyone's characters that this had to happen. Izuku became pants on the head stupid specifically so he could be saved by these fodder kids, because he's so powerful that he could casually clown them all if he wasn't exhausted to the point of passing out. Literally all of his support evaporates because we need him to be isolated. God, imagine if AFO wasn't equally stupid and he bothered to send some buddies with Dictator so he wasn't acting alone. Imagine if he bothered to recruit Muscular and had them working as a team. RIP Class A. But AFO is allergic to victory. Swan Dive: This moment escalated him from a typical high school bully to a vile little brat. The story could have gone some interesting places with this. A problem MHA has is that the author doesn't want the heroes to be bad people. So we have Endeavor pointed at as being the one bad hero. Bakugo is the one bad hero student. Endeavor doesn't have an entire building of side kicks who are just as bad as he is. Bakugo's friends at UA aren't also entitled, ruthless brats who accept him as one of their own. None of the UA kids are bitchy, catty, backstabbing, conniving, or really have any negative traits. Even if Mineta and Kaminari are perverts, they step up when the chips are down and their bad traits aren't treated with any real seriousness. They're all infinitely forgiving, positive people who are super nice. So if we looked at this as part of seeing how privileged kids in this world behave and there were more of them once Izuku got into UA, but he doesn't get bullied because he's powerful, then it works as a part of the world building. Instead, we see now that this is a Bakugo problem. He was a rotten little brat who bullied and hurt kids for years for....no reason. We see LOADS of other kids with powerful quirks who would have had legions of dick riders hyping them up, and yet it's only Bakugo who acts like this. So it's one of the worst things he's done, in retrospect, because he's apparently always been what the author calls an "Abusive Egotist" and only stopped because Izuku got a power.

Deku Vs Kacchan 2: This is another example of Bakugo's incredible self centered nature. His "friend" is riding a high and of course Bakugo has to make everything about himself. Fuck Izuku for saving this little bitch boy's life, am I right? Fuck him for never telling anyone about his previous abuse and ruining his career before it started. Honestly, Izuku had All Might in his corner and could have dropped the hammer on Bakugo any time he felt like it, but he instead decided to show mercy. His reward is this horse shit. Now he has to emotionally validate this narcissist. Sure, you did end All Might. In retrospect, you should be thankful the League had such piss poor operational security and AFO decided to stay and fight. You should also be thankful AFO didn't chain you to his body as meat armor while he fought All Might, guaranteeing you and All Might would die. In all the permutations of ways this could have turned out if the villains didn't act like they huff glue every day, this is the best outcome. But of course, the fact that he and his friends got out of that with no one dead is irrelevant to him. It's all about his feelings. I'd hate this kid even if he never bullied anyone a day in his life. He's fucking disgusting to me. We're wasting screen time on this flat, empty character who doesn't even get his own villains. So much of this series has been spent on this dickhead and his garbage "redemption." Fuck. The payoff isn't worth it! He's intolerable even when he's trying to be nice! Bakugo pisses all over All Might and the OFA users: Fuck All Might, am I right? Fuck the people who fought for justice and freedom from the ancient Japanese Boogeyman. Fuck the only reason we don't live in a mafia state where he controls all resources. I can guarantee in such a world, Bakugo would be one of AFO's enforcers, not a resistance fighter. Because he only joins the winning teams.

If Bakugo was Yoichi, he'd have never complained about his brother killing people and would have raised both middle fingers to the air when he became co-emperor of the world.

I rank this the highest because this completes All Might's humiliation, and he's not even allowed to slap this little bitch across the face for mocking people who died to ensure everyone else could survive.

Interesting ranking. I didn't think anyone would actually put insulting the past OFA users at first. But it makes sense considering how he bitched and whined and threw a fit over not being chosen, then insulted the predecessors. All Might should have told him to stfu about his mother figure

[lapetitechatonne]

Day Four: There’s something off about them. . .

okay, so if you thought the other day was a stretch, this one most certainly is. It was originally my idea for Mistaken Identity, but i had to switch it around some. the idea is original from this post by @hidden-under-lock-and-key. it’s a nice break from the angst i’ve been posting. enjoy!!! <3

ao3 link!

Kate’s Masterlist here!

When in doubt: Manslaughter fixes everything - 2.1k words

In life, sometimes you here confronted with two options. The longer, hard road of being truthful with those around you and dealing with the consequence of your actions.

Or gaslight, gatekeep, and girlboss.

As Danny stared at the heroes that cornered him in the alley behind Nasty Burger, he was feeling like the former.

“It’s okay son,” fucking Superman stepped forward trying to make himself look as soft as the man of steel could, “we understand the need for a secret identity.”

Danny suppressed a snort. Right. That’s why they were cornering him behind a fast-food joint at eight pm. Real subtle.

“That’s um, great sir,” Danny had no idea where this sentence was going, “but umm. . . yeah, Phantom’s not a meta-human. He’s a ghost,” gaslight it was, he guessed, “and as you can see, I’m not dead. So . . .”

Danny just shrugged. He was used to Wes Weston running his mouth, but this was a whole other ball game. People would actually believe the Justice League if they decided to go public.

But he’d already dug his grave—hehe good one—he might as well keep digging.

“There’s no such thing as ghosts,” the Flash rolled his eyes and gave him a very disappointed look. If he wasn’t very used to them by now, it might have done something.

“Yeah,” Danny smirked looking the Flash dead in the eyes, “prove it.”

“This isn’t a game,” Batman growled and stepped closer to him, obviously in an attempt to intimidate him.

“No, it’s not,” Danny frowned crossing his arms, “this is my life. Not yours, mine. And you’re endangering it just by throwing around accusations like this.”

Judging from the looks on their faces they didn’t understand the weight of the accusations they were placing on him. Great. Just great.

“Metas and aliens are protected,” Superman started, but Danny just shook his head.

“Anyone or anything contaminated with ectoplasm—like Phantom, the dead guy—isn’t considered a sentient being under the Anti-Ecto acts,” they all looked at him with varying degrees of confusion. Dear ancients, they actually didn’t know, “Look it up. Anyways, I’m late for dinner with my friends so I’m just gonna. . .”

Danny gestured over his shoulder and slipped out of the alley, leaving the heroes in various degrees of confusion and concern.

Whatever. Not his problem.

---

Turns out it was, indeed, his problem.

The stared, dead-eyed at the three heroes on his doorstep contemplating all his life decisions. Because what deity did he piss off to deserve this?

“May we come in?” Superman asked.

Probably Clockwork. This would be his idea of a joke.

Danny sighed and stepped aside. Better to let them in than have the whole neighborhood see them.

He glared at the heroes as they filed in, the Flash and Superman looking uncomfortable while Batman simply stared in silence. Danny gave the door a good slam and walked back into the kitchen. Just because they were there didn’t mean he had to play nice.

“Who was that dear?” his mom looked up from her tablet as he entered the room.

He didn’t answer. He just grabbed his coffee and glared at the heroes standing awkwardly in the kitchen archway.

“Um, hi ma’am,” Superman said, tentatively taking a step into the room like she was going to hit him with a wooden spoon or something, “we came to talk about your son’s, um. Extracurriculars.”

His mom just frowned, setting the tablet down on the table in front of her, “Danny isn’t in any extracurriculars.”

Danny snorted into his coffee. This was going real smooth.

“Well, not really extracurriculars,” the Flash flashed—ha—a smile at her, “the other things he does. Outside of school. Ya know?”

His mom stood up from the table and walked in front of him, blocking the heroes' paths to him, “No, I do not know. What exactly are you accusing my son of? He’s a good boy, granted he doesn’t get out much—”

“Mom!” Danny could feel his face turn red.

“Well honey, it’s true. Anyways, he’s a good, upstanding citizen. Certainly, he’d done nothing to require this response.” His mom placed her hands on her hips and Danny fought the urge to actually cackle.

Tucker and Sam would never believe him.

“Ma’am,” Batman stepped forward from his place behind his colleagues, “we’re here because your son is Phantom, and—”

Whatever batman was going to say was completely lost in his mother's very loud and colorful disapproval.

“Excuse you!” she pointed in Batman’s face, “You do not get to come into my home and accuse my baby boy of being that—that menace! You are severally mistaken, and you can see my some is alive and well, thank you very much.”

He watched over his mom’s shoulder as she quickly pushed them out the door, ignoring the Flash's protests.

“But there’s something off about him!”

“Never,” she grabbed the Flash by the front of his suit, and for a second Danny thought she was actually going to deck him, “talk about my son like that again. Or I will make you regret ever setting foot in Amity.”

She slammed the door in their faces and Danny just grinned.

“I’m so sorry you had to hear all that sweetie,” she walked over to him and kissed the top of his head, “You know I love you. I’d love you even if you were a ghost.”

He smiled at her. He knew.

But this just made things easier.

“I know mom. I really thought you were gonna punch him for a minute there.”

She smirked at him and ruffled his hair, “Don’t be silly, I would have gone for the legs.”

Gods he loved his mom.

---

Danny flinched as the cold night air rushed over his skin. Ugh. Fucking Illinois and its fucking weather. It was seventy earlier, there was no reason for it to be so cold now.

Whatever.

Danny lugged the heavy trash bag out to the dumpster in the alley behind their house. He let the lid clatter down, taking a moment to catch his breath. It was a nice night if those fucking losers weren’t around he’d go for a short flight—

Batman clattered down on the lid of the trashcan, sending Danny flinching back into the rough brick wall.

“Jesus fuck dude! What the hell!” Danny yelled trying to catch his breath.

Batman jumped down onto the concrete in front of him, using his height to loom over Danny.

“We need to talk,” he growled.

“No, actually, we don’t,” Danny huffed, trying to push past him.

Batman caught his arm and twisted it behind his back and—ouch!

“What the fuck! Let go of me!” Danny struggled as much as he could without being suspicious but Batman knew what he was doing and Danny had the arms of a toothpick.

“Not until you answer my question,” Batman growled in his ear.

“Frist of all, get a fucking breath mint,” Danny snarked, call it a defense mechanism, “and second of all, it’s this against the law? You can’t just torture me like this is some bad cop movie.”

Batman threw him around so his back hit the brick wall again, and before he would move his forearm was pressed against Danny’s neck.

“I know you’re Phantom. You know it,” his voice lowered, and honestly, it was terrifying, “you’re either an asset or a liability Phantom.”

Danny gasped for breath, wiggling under Batman’s tight hold. Gods, how much did this man weigh?

“Danny!”

They both turned to see Jazz standing at the mouth of the alley, phone in hand.

“I’d like to report an assault,” she spoke into the phone, looking increasingly worried.

Batman growled and was gone as quickly as he came. Danny felt his legs buckle underneath him as Jazz rushed to his side, still on the phone with the nine-one-one operator.

This just kept getting better and better, he thought humorlessly.

---

Clark watched Bruce glare at the tv, making a displeased grunt under his breath.

“The victim's name will not be released, as it was a minor, but that still begs the question: what was Batman doing assaulting a high school? This has been Harriet Chen—”

Clark clicked off the tv, there was no point in watching. He couldn’t believe there were cameras that Bruce couldn’t find—Bruce was even less happy about it. Barry hadn’t even dared ask him if he wanted a donut this morning.

He sighed, sitting down on the motel bed. He just stared at Bruce, who stared at the blank tv.

Riveting.

Clark wasn’t sure exactly how long they sat there before Bruce’s phone lit up.

“Speak,” he said in probably the most unfriendly tone known to man. That was okay, they knew he was working on his people skills.

Slowly. Very, very slowly.

“I found Phantom,” Clark meet Bruce’s eyes as Barry rattled off the location.

They’d get him this time

---

Danny watched as the heroes tried to hide in the bushes to his left. But that was kind of hard to do in bright red.

He just rolled his eyes and continued playing fetch with Cujo. Maybe if he just continued to ignore them they’d go away.

About twenty minutes later when Cujo got tired of fetch and decided he wanted to dig around in the dirt was when they made their move.

“Cute dog,” the Flash leaned against a tree, watching the hole three times Cujo’s size get larger and larger, “he yours?”

“Nope,” Danny popped his ‘p,’ casually floating into a laying position, “Cujo’s his own dog. He just likes me is all.”

They were silent for a few more minutes, long enough for Cujo to get started on another hole.

“You,” a deep growl was the only warning Danny got before Batman jumped on him. Luckily that warning was enough for him to go intangible and for Batman to seamlessly go through him.

Batman stood looking almost disgruntled as Danny continued to float. Danny raised his eyebrows at the man as he growled at him.

“You know, it’s rude to jump through people,” Danny told him flatly.

“Give it up kid,” Superman sighed as he landed next to his boy band, “we know it’s you. Please.”

Superman and the Flash shot him almost desperate looks. Huh.

Well, he was too deep now.

“I usually don’t have fans so old,” Danny smirked a little and Batman growled again, “but if you want an autograph or something—”

The words froze in Danny’s throat as Batman pulled up his holograph wrist computer—which was so fucking cool—and opened two pictures. One of Fenton and one of Phantom.

Uh oh.

He didn’t know if he could mansplain, manipulate, malewife himself out of this one.

“Your faces are a 99.8% match,” Batman smirked as much as a stoic rock could, and Danny just couldn’t let him have the last word. He just couldn’t.

Manslaughter it was.

“Right, right, that’s really dope and all,” Danny let himself float till he was eye height with Batman, “but like, also rude as hell.” He crossed his arms and stared down the heroes, letting his eyes burn brighter. “That kid is a fucking nerd for one thing. And also, I’m dead. Like, dead dead.”

The heroes just stared at him like they didn’t believe a word he was saying. Fine. Time to take it up a notch.

“Like, I would honestly love to be that kid, because at least he’s alive, even if he’s a fucking dweeb,” Jazz would be so mad if she heard all this negative self-talk, but it was for the bit, “What do you want from me? My death certificate? My fucking bones?” He let his form grow brighter and the ends of his hair flicker into flames. “Or would you like to hear in excruciating detail how I was frozen alive in an avalanche?”

He raised an eyebrow at the heroes and they backed off. The Flash looked a little woozy at the idea while Batman went back to his neutral state.

“We didn’t mean to—” Superman started but Danny didn’t let him finish. Time for the big finale.

“Didn’t mean to what? Huh? Stick your nose in shit that you know nothing about?” Danny shook his head and tried his best to imitate Jazz’s ‘I’m just disappointed’ look, “And here I would have thought that heroes would know how dangerous it is to insinuate innocent civilians are super-powered. You should be ashamed.”

“We—” Danny interrupted whatever the flash was going to say for dramatic effect.

“Ashamed! Cujo has more manners than you.” He picked up Cujo’s wiggling, dirt-covered form and glared at the heroes one last time. “I am rolling in my grave. I hope you know that.”

Danny flew off, Cujo licking his face as he smirked. Once they got far enough away he looked down at the dog, “Pretty good, huh?”

Cujo just barked and licked his nose. Hopefully that would be the last he saw of the Justice League.

Manslaughter always worked.

[bimbocoreblonde]

S = Security for The Fall Guy I am bEGGING!!! Any character 💜

Why limit it to just one? Let's do Security for all five of my favourite Fall Guy chacters: Colt, Tom, Jody, Gail, and Dan!

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

Colt:

Colt isn't super protective; not because he doesn't love you, but because he thinks you're the most competant person in the world. Just because he isn't protective generally, though, doesn't mean he's not paying attention. He'll send you questioning looks, and the moment it looks like you want help getting rid of someone, or some back up in an argument, he is there.

Also, if anyone upsets you, he is instantly ready (and extremely willing) to beat the shit out of them.

Tom:

Tom can't even look after himself, let alone you. The best he can do is make it clear to his security team that you are their first priority, then him.

That being said, he loves it when you're protective of him. When you're shooing away paparazzi, defending him on social media, or shutting down invasive questions from his 'friends', it makes him feel way more secure in your affection, knowing that you care enough for look out for him.

Jody:

Jody's protectiveness is a quiet thing - she's never open about it, but it's always really clear that no-one on set should ever even think about fucking with you now she's the director. It's never discussed, and actually you're kind of oblivious to it, but no-one ever gets a chance to upset you twice.

Also, Jody never forgets. That guy who stole the last sandwich from catering just as you were reaching for it? He applied for a job on Metalstorm. He didn't get it.

Gail:

Once you're one of Gail's people, there is no ends to what she'll do to protect you, even from the consequences of your own actions. Attempted murder? Cool. Actual manslaughter? No problem, here's a ten-step plan on how you can get away with it.

Luckily, you don't really need protecting from anything major. But that journalist who asked you a way-to-personal question at the last interview you did? Gail will ruin his career, and he'll probably never even know why.

Dan:

Dan is super protective. He's a stunt co-ordinator, he knows exactly what can go wrong in any situation, and he's always worried when you're on set that you're going to be involved in some kind of accident.

That being said, he'd never try to stop you from doing what you do. You're damned good at it, and he'd never want you to feel like he didn't believe in you. But if he watches your stunts with a closer eye, and has a fire extinguisher, first aid kit, and neck brace all close to hand...well, it's just in case.

[morbidology]

On April 17, 1994, Mika Kalevi Muranen, a 23-year-old conscript in the Finnish army, returned to the Hamina barracks following a brief holiday. Instead of resuming his regular duties, he absconded with an assault rifle from the barracks and journeyed to his hometown of Kota.

Upon arriving, he proceeded to his family's home, where he retrieved his crossbow and tragically ended the lives of his two neighbors, 53-year-old Reino Vulkko and his 54-year-old wife, Sirkka Vulkko. On April 19, he fatally shot 45-year-old mailman Matti Olli. Subsequently, he fled into the nearby woods, accompanied by his family dog, as the police initiated a relentless pursuit.

A harrowing firefight ensued between Muranen and the pursuing law enforcement officers. In the midst of the confrontation, the police, armed with submachine guns, shot Muranen's dog. Ultimately, Muranen was apprehended after sustaining a gunshot wound to the shoulder. He faced a litany of charges, including three counts of murder, eight counts of attempted murder, and three counts of attempted manslaughter. Consequently, he received a life imprisonment sentence.

In Finland, individuals sentenced to life imprisonment become eligible for parole consideration after serving 12 years. In September 2014, after spending two decades behind bars, Mika Muranen was released from prison. During his incarceration, he underwent training to become a lumberjack and expressed his earnest desire to reintegrate into society and lead a semblance of a normal life.

[bracketsoffear]

The Beast (Over the Garden Wall) "he was competing in the dark polls, but went out during the 3rd round. i think he suits the lonely better because he is an actually malevolent being who willingly inflicts suffering on others and doesnt get better in the end (unlike wirt, who almost won the previous poll for the lonely). the beast specifically torments the woodsman, lying to him about the function of the lantern and keeping him from returning home to his daughter, subjecting him to the existence of isolation and loneliness. the beast's life is supported by oil from edelwood trees, which only grow when a child gets lost and dies in the woods. he drains their hope, until they surrender and succumb to his will."

Jay Gatsby (The Great Gatsby) "An enigmatic nouveau riche millionaire who lives in a luxurious mansion where he often hosts extravagant parties and who allegedly gained his vast fortune by illicit bootlegging. He fell in love with Daisy Fay while he was in the military, but she married the wealthy businessman Tom Buchanan, so he came back to the States to become a man of wealth and influence in order to win Daisy's affections. Gatsby purchased an estate on the opposite side of Manhattan Bay from where Daisy lived and hosted elaborate soirées in an attempt to attract Daisy as a guest, but he can’t even meet her in person without Nick to arrange it. When Tom confronts Daisy about her affair with Gatsby, she insists she loves both men (upsetting Gatsby) and ends up choosing Tom when he accuses Gatsby of bootlegging. When Daisy accidentally kills Tom’s mistress, Gatsby takes the fall for the woman he loves and is consequently murdered in revenge. He surrounds himself with people at his parties but only talks to Daisy or those close to her, and only three people bother to attend his funeral. Several details about Gatsby’s background hint that Gatsby's socio-economic ascent is deemed a threat not only due to his status as nouveau riche, but because he is perceived as an ethnic and societal outsider since his family are German immigrants. Everything Gatsby did to raise and spend his ill-gotten money was to capture Daisy's heart, and he idealizes her to the extent that he's willing to take a manslaughter rap for her; but tragically enough, Gatsby never would have been happy, for he expected too much from Daisy, wanting (and in the infamous confrontation scene, forcing) her to be the perfect memory he obsessed over."

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Martin Daubney

Published: Mar 15, 2016

It’s time for us to face up to an ugly truth: it’s not just men who can be murderers and violent, abusive attackers of the opposite sex.

This was brought into grim focus last week with the horrific case of Sharon Edwards, 42, who brutally murdered her husband, David, 51, by stabbing a 13-inch carving knife through his heart.

A serial man-abuser, Mrs Edwards inflicted 60 stabbing and prodding wounds to her husband. While in court, Sharon brazenly lied that David “walked into” the knife. She is currently serving at least 20 years in jail for murder.

[ Sharon Edwards on her wedding day ]

You could argue, or pray, that Sharon Edwards is a monstrous one-off. Yet cases of female brutality against men – and other women – seem to be becoming more prevalent.

Women murdering men is still mercifully rare. In 2014/15, 19 men died at the hands of their partner or ex-partner, compared with 81 women. However, the number of women convicted of perpetrating domestic abuse has more than quadrupled in the past ten years, from 806 in 2004/05 to 4,866  in 2014/15.

Male domestic violence charity The ManKind Initiative say that for every three victims of partner abuse, two will be female and one will be male. According to the Office for National Statistics, 2.8 per cent of men – 500,000 individuals – suffered partner abuse in 2014/15.

While it's important to state that more women than men suffer domestic abuse in Britain (4.5m women versus 2.2m men over the age of 16, according to the ONS), there remains a theory that men under report their experiences due to a culture of masculine expectations. 

Staggeringly, a recent report from liberal Canada, where men are encouraged to talk about their feelings, showed that men are more likely to suffer spousal violence, with 342,000 women and 418,000 men suffering abuse in the preceding five years to 2014.

Could the same be true in other countries – like the UK? It’s possible: the ManKind Initiative say only 10 per cent of male victims will tell the police, as opposed to 26 per cent of women.

What's more, violence against men by women isn’t limited to partner abuse.

Last September, Sarah Sands stabbed her neighbour, Michael Pleasted, 77, to death after learning he had 24 previous convictions for sex offences against minors. Despite committing a "frenzied attack", she was sentenced to only three and a half years for manslaughter. 

Last July, Tom Borwick, 27, the son of a Tory MP, was viciously beaten and left unconscious by a “girl gang” in a Leicester Square KFC. Then, to add insult to his serious injuries, he was ejected by security who refused to help him.

In January, Shadiya Omar was given a suspended prison sentence after she stabbed Justin Lloyd, also 22, in the eye with her stiletto shoe after a bust-up in a Manchester taxi queue. Hundreds blasted the lenient sentence as “a joke,” pointing out Omar would surely have been jailed if she were a man.

Such stories shatter the false narratives that only women get battered, that men are never victims, and that women never attack.

But politically the system is stacked against men. While ending violence against women and girls (VAWG) has rightly been a governmental priority, there is not only no specific strategy to end violence against men. Attempts to modify the VAWG strategy to include male victims have been actively resisted.

As a direct consequence, while last week Nicky Morgan pledged another £80 million to end VAWG, the ManKind Initiative – one of only two UK charities that specifically helps male victims of domestic violence – will close its helpline in May as it couldn’t raise a comparatively modest £45,000.

By so clearly intimating that victims don’t matter if they are men, it can only further add to male victims’ reluctance to come forward.

We should unite in condemning all perpetrators of partner abuse, men and women, and treat all victims, men and women, with equal compassion.

Mark Brooks, Chairman of the ManKind Initiative, says: “Domestic abuse is a crime against an individual, not a crime against a gender. Those that hold that view are clinging to an old-fashioned, politically correct view of the world that has no place in the 21st century when equality for all victims solely based on need has to be the answer.

"Taking a gendered approach to domestic abuse is only acceptable when both genders are included”.

We desperately need to de-gender the domestic violence debate to help smash society’s last great taboo: female violence against men.

[ Via: https://archive.today/PBHRk ]

[goodluckclove]

“[suicide bait], you [negative adjective] [slur]” is still an extremely common ask template, yes. You just madlibs it. Examples that I can reclaim so I don’t feel too gross while writing this, with obvious content warning for slurs:

“Go jump off a bridge, you filthy queer”

“Kys, you fucking retard”

And so on and so forth, you get the point

Okay, so this is very interesting to me for a lot of reasons. I mean I can speak on the internet's influence in circumventing human instinct and providing a fairly safe outlet to say the worst possible thing, usually consequence-free, but I feel like lots of people have done that and it hasn't accomplished much.

What I'm really interested in is the methodology behind telling someone on the internet to KYS. Other than as a joke, I mean. As a joke I think the situations in which it actually works are so rare I just wouldn't bother.

But as a serious hate thing, I have to assume most of these people don't seriously want the person they say it to to kill themselves. I don't think most of them are able to actually process the aftermath of a single human suicide and scope of how much it effects the community around them. I also don't think they realize that in many states in the United States, promoting a suicide attempt can be used as grounds for legal action. In one extreme case, Michelle Carter got imprisoned for involuntary manslaughter.

It's possible that there are some people that genuinely hate an internet presence so much that they want to ruin their lives and haunt the lives of everyone associated forever. Someone who, upon learning they convinced someone to end their life, would genuinely say "good" and move on unaffected. I don't want to meet that person.

What feels more accurate to me is that people are drawn to the emotional and social implications of telling someone to kill themselves. In as little as three letters you can speak on behalf of the world itself and tell a person that they are unwanted in the most fundamental sense possible. It's like being outcast in the middle school lunchroom, but on the same of the whole of humanity. It's a deeply powerful effect when done right and it's accessible to virtually anyone. It allows the speaker, someone who may have less societal power in the physical world, the chance to make the ultimate choice of deciding who gets to be alive.

It's a fascinating and deeply troubling phenomena that ultimately accomplishes nothing but making the person who said it feels cool and right. But, then again, I feel like that applies to a lot of online communication in this era.

[sweetcloverheart]

Clover Rants Miraculously (Warnings for Bible/Script spoilers)

Chloe: *Generally an asshole who uses either money or her father’s title to get what she wants. Mistreats her “friend” Sabrina despite seeming to be unable to get on without her. Harasses Marinette to impede her attempts to get with Adrien while trying to woo him herself (both having little to no success). Mostly gets away with things because the adults on the show are either lazy or afraid of dad, while the kids just treat her as a minor annoyance (despite being such an apparent huge bully that everyone threw a huge party when they thought she was leaving). Gets a character arc that, while not the best written, showed hints of potential character depth and the possibility she might start branching out of her minor antagonist role (be it as a ally to the heroes or a new villain). If actually made to face consequences for her actions (and i mean actual ones, not just “no more Queen Bee for you”) and choosing to reflect, she might possibly have the chance to turn around or develop into a proper major antagonist.*

MLB crew: “Depth? What are you talking about? Chloe’s just evil! Look at how evil she is, with all her evil evilness? That’s why she’s constantly doing evil things. Because evil! Did I mention she’s evil? She can never be good because evil evil evil. She’s evil to the evil and so so evil. Why, she’s even more evil than our main villain!”

Gabriel, aforementioned villain: *Is consistently an incompetent villain (and not even in the fun “Poor little meow meow” way). Shown to revel in his cruelty. Claims to be doing this for his wife yet is inconsistent with his motives. Constantly emotionally abusing and gaslighting his son (who he magical made with the concept of perfect obedience in mind). Has threatened the safety of the city multiple times over jewelry and a manslaughter charge. Uses the magic wish (and cajoling the teenager he’s been harassing and fighting the better part of the year into secrecy) to make it so his son will “remember him fondly” and avoid any consequence to his villainy. Literally requires his assistant, his nephew, and the aforementioned “evil girl” to even succeed in some of his bigger plans. Willingly chooses to continue being a villain even when the chance to complete his goal appeared, and then chose death via magical corruption over facing judgement for his crimes*

MLB crew, wiping tears from their eyes: “Oh that poor poor man. Look at how he struggles with his clearly morally grey choices. Can’t you see how broken up he is as he cackles evilly over our distraught heroine? How could you possibly expect us to punish this amazing, upstanding hero when he’s sacrificed so much so he can continue controlling his son’s life and bring back his wife who he’s obsessing over. Why can no one understand that he’s simply a desperate man who just loves his family!”

[asirensrage]

Consequences

Title: Consequences Fandom: Shadow and Bone Rating: M Pairing: Slight Aleksander x unnamed OC Word count: 3420 Warnings: dark!fic, grey!oc, threats, coersion, being offered as a sacrifice, swearing, use of a knife, attempted murder, actual murder (or would it be manslaughter?), blood consumption, violence, demon!aleksander

Summary: Based on the scary story prompts from @darkpromptsyouneveraskedfor. Prompts include: 15) "I made my sacrifice, now it's your turn." and 8) You're hired to house sit one of the heritage homes in town but realize you're not alone.

Horror prompts masterlist

Notes: This is a dark fic. Heed the warnings. There is attempted murder, friendships breaking and more. Shout out to @vixenofcourse who helped me with this. Enjoy!

“You just have to come, water the plants, hang out. It’s easy money.”

“Then why aren’t you doing it?”

“Because I have plans.” 

“Whose house is it again?”

“No one’s. It’s empty right now. The sellers are locked in some battle with buyers who want the rights to update it.”

“But isn’t it a…”

“Yeah. The fancy plaque on the wall says they’re not allowed to change a thing. That’s not stopping them from trying though. Just do me this favour. Please.”

“Ugh, fine. But you owe me.” 

“Sure, whatever you say.” 

She hangs up the phone and sighs. It’s not the best gig but at least it’ll be easy. All she needs to do is pick up the keys and check the place out. With her luck, it’ll be haunted but no one said she had to stay the night. 

🏠

Her friend isn’t around when she goes to pick up the keys but it’s fine. There’s a coded safety case that realtors use and she knows the combination. The house is eerie. She hasn’t even gone inside yet but the exterior is all Victorian trim and dark colours. It looks like it belongs to the Addams Family. The plaque next to the door declares it a historical site. She stares at it for a moment. It’s the cause of all her problems, at least right now. 

She gets the key from the box. It looks new, as though the locks have been changed but the door still looks like it belongs in the 1800s. She’s not entirely sure it’ll fit, and if she has to call her friend because someone left the wrong key, she’s going to be pissed. It’ll just add to this waste of time. 

The key fits. 

The door creaks open. An ominous warning to the dark that lies ahead. It’s a little impressive actually. They must have blocked the windows. That was creepy. Now that she thought about it, who were the original owners? Or the current ones. Jen never said. 

She walks in. She had to water plants? In this place? The only thing that was going to grow here was mold. The door closes behind her. She turns as she’s shrouded in darkness. She left it open so she could find a light. 

“Must have been the wind,” she says. “Closing…a very heavy door…” She rolls her eyes. It was just her luck acting up again. She never had much of it. It was the same reason she couldn’t hold down a proper job. Things just happened. Weird shit seemed to follow her and everything got blamed on her.

She digs out her phone and turns on the flashlight. That made it creepier. There was something about not being able to see everything around you. It made her feel like there was something behind her. She shudders. 

“Alright, let’s just look around, turn on some lights and get out of here.” 

Finding a light switch was harder than she expected. Original switches from the last time the house was renovated, before it was considered historical, look nothing like the ones she’s used to. 

She finally finds the toggle switch but it doesn’t work. At least, nothing happens. “Of course, the place can’t even work…” She turns, looking around for another, when something touches the back of her neck. She jumps. 

A quick turn, flashing the light around her, reveals…nothing. Despite the fact that something just touched her, she knows something touched her, nothing is there. She’s still in the silent, creepy house. 

“And we’re done,” she says out loud. She’ll stand watch outside if she has to, but she’s leaving. 

Wind blows past her as she leaves the room. She stops. Where did that come from? 

“Nope. No, no, no,” she tells the house before heading to the door. 

“Leaving so soon?” 

She jumps again, turning towards the voice. She pushes her back against the wall, right by the door. “Who’s there?” 

“We haven’t even introduced ourselves yet.” 

She moves the flashlight around until she finds him. The man is standing on the stairs facing her. She can’t make out his features very well, it’s too dark and he’s too far away. “You’re not supposed to be here,” she says, sounding far more confident than she feels. Cold creeps up her spine. 

“Trust me, we’re exactly where we are both meant to be.” 

She grabs the door handle, keeping herself facing the man. She’s not about to turn her back on a stranger, not in this creepy house and not when she was told no one is supposed to be here. “I’m going to go,” she says. “You look like you have this in hand.”

“I regret that you will not.” He seemed to disappear from her view and she turns, trying to find him again. 

His face appears in front of hers. She jolts back, hitting the door hard. “I made my sacrifice,” he says softly. “Now it’s your turn.” 

He leans forward, mouth parting and displaying rows of teeth that glisten in the little light there is. His eyes are black. 

“I don’t think so!” She shoves him back. To her surprise, he actually stumbles. He looks at her confused. “I’m no one’s sacrifice!” 

He stares at her for a moment, head tilted. “No,” he says softly. “I don’t believe you are.” 

Her heart pounds in her chest, feeling as though it is either about to burst or stop completely. She can see him clearly now. He looks human but there is something off about him. It’s not only the black eyes and too many teeth. There is something that sets everything in her on edge. 

He moves faster than she sees, gripping her jaw. It’s gentle and yet inescapable. Even trying to pull back slightly fails. He turns her face, examining her from all sides. “What a curious thing you are,” he says quietly. “She must not have known.” 

“Who?” She can’t help but ask. 

“The one who sent you here. She requested a boon, but they are not to be given without sacrifice. I would have escaped this prison with your death but now…” 

“Hold on, my death?” She glares at him. “You’re telling me Jen sent me here purposefully to die?” 

“Are you surprised?”

“You think?!” She scowls at the man in the dark. “Let me out. I’m going to kill her.” 

His eyes seem to gleam in the light. “Are you?” He reaches out again, touching her face softly. There are claws on his fingertips. “Perhaps we could make a deal?”

“I’m not into deals,” she tells him, unimpressed at what he’s already suggesting. 

He grins. It’s wide enough that it looks as though it will swallow his face. “Nothing like you’re thinking. Call her here. I was promised a human soul, not one like you. Bring her and I’ll tell you the truth of what you are.” 

“Do you think I’m stupid?” She asks, staring at him. “You want me to call her, get her to come over here so what? You can kill us both?”

“Do you know what the boon she asked for was?”

“Obviously not.”

He smirks, amused by her sharp edges. “She sold your life away for wealth and the love of a man named John.”

“Oh for the–” She cuts herself off. “John?! Really? That asshole?” She can’t help herself. “She’s been obsessed with him for years and he knows it! He’s played her like a fiddle. Calling her when he wants sex and dropping her as soon as she presses for more and she still goes back for more!” 

“Humans are frivolous with their affections,” he says mildly. 

“She’d kill me to win that asshole? Fuck it.” She lifts her phone, shutting off the flashlight that was eating at her battery and succumbing to the dark and the thing in it. She’s pissed off now. It was one thing to set her up, to send her on this stupid task and try to sacrifice her. Hell, the economy was hard, she could understand it really, but for John? Hell no. 

Her friend is in her recently contacted section. It goes to voicemail. Of course, it does. If she was setting her up to die, she probably didn’t want to hear her screaming. Well, two could play this game.

“Hey Jen,” she says in as light-hearted a tone as she can maintain once the voicemail beeps. “I’m trying the code you gave me but it’s not working. I can’t get into the house. Are you sure it’s the right one?”  

She hangs up. “And now we wait.” 

“Clever,” he praises. 

She ignores it and turns her flashlight back on. She isn’t ready to wait in the dark with…whatever it is. 

It takes about a minute for her so-called friend to call her back. Maybe it’s guilt? Maybe it’s a warning and she didn’t listen to the message.

She answers. “Hey.” 

“You can’t get in?” There’s a trace of panic there. She wonders if she should be insulted at how fast Jen responded to that. How fast they listened for proof of her demise. 

The thing in front of her is grinning again. She ignores it, stomach curdling in disappointment. “No, the code doesn’t work.”

“Are you sure? It’s 5935.” 

She waits for a moment before she responds. “That’s what I tried. I just did it again, and got nothing. I’m just going to go home, okay?”

“No!” Jen nearly shouts it before trying to recover. “I mean, just wait. I can stop by quickly and check it. I have the override.”

“Then why am I here? You said you were busy.” She can’t help but dig into the lie now. She wants to see what the excuse is. 

“I am. I just have a few minutes, like I said, but I can pass by. Just wait for me, okay?” 

“Fine.” She hangs up. Was this really worth it? Could she send someone to their death?

“Tell me about this John.”

She scowls at the thing wearing a man’s face. “Can you read minds?”

“I don’t have to. It’s in your expression.”

“I told you everything you need to know.” 

“Then tell me about you. Your parents, your life.”

She looks at him, at the eager twitch to his smile, and ignores the demand. She owes him nothing, even if the thing has offered to take Jen’s life instead. Anger sits in the base of her throat. A sacrifice. Things like that shouldn’t be real, they shouldn’t exist, but neither should the thing that looks like a man but has too many teeth. It’s better to be angry instead of hurt. It’s not the first time someone has tried to take something from her, or used her, but it stings every time and it has yet to get easier. Especially when she thought they were friends. Good friends. 

“I’m not telling you anything about my family.”

“Well then I’ll guess, shall I?  You’re the odd one out for no reason you can see or they can name?  They forget about you frequently and with alarming ease and seem relieved at your absence?  They meet your basic needs but take no joy in it, just performing an obligation and no effort is made to bond further?” 

She bares her teeth at him. She doesn’t agree or disagree. It’s true that her family wasn’t the warmest or most supportive, but it didn’t matter. Her luck always ran in the worst ways and the people around her sometimes got caught up in it. That often included her parents. 

He looks up, past her and towards the door. “She’s here,” he tells her. 

“That was quick.” Another nail in the coffin. Another shred of proof at how much her ex-friend wanted the boon she was willing to trade another’s life for. 

They fall quiet and she can hear her friend now, coming up the steps and calling her name. She doesn’t respond. She can’t. Not yet. She doesn’t know what to say and there is no real way to explain why she is inside. Especially after the call.  

It doesn’t matter. A key scrapes against the lock and she moves back, behind the door so that she’ll be hidden when Jen enters. The thing looks amused but does not give her away. Instead, it seems to melt back into the shadows and she turns the flashlight off on her phone. 

The lock gives way and the door opens slowly. The light from the outside illuminates the front hall and even from behind the door, she catches sight of things she missed when she entered. The way the staircase was rotting. The dust on the broken frames that were somehow still on the wall. 

Jen calls her name. 

Her heart pounds in her chest, regret and hope churning her stomach. This could be a mistake. It could…

“Did you get her?” Nevermind. Jen’s voice is dispassionate and curious. “Did she get inside? Where’s my prize?”

Her lip curls in a snarl at that. Jen moves forward and she takes the chance to close the door behind her former friend. It seems darker than before now that the light is extinguished. 

“John?” she has to ask. “Really? That manwhore?” Jen turns to the sound of her voice but neither of them can see each other. She just knows that she’s still there. “That’s what my life is worth to you?  I die in some gruesome manner so you can live happily ever after with a fuckboy who drops you on the regular?!  You are some piece of work.”

“What are you talking about?” Jen gives a forced laugh. “It was just a joke.” 

“Sure it was.” 

“You honestly thought I’d sacrifice you?” she asks, peering into the shadows by the door.

“I think the thing that was ready to eat me is more believable than you are right now.” 

“Lying does not become you, Jennifer,” the voice of the thing echoes through the dark. “You offered her life in exchange for wealth and the devotion of an unworthy man.”

“I–”

“Just admit it,” she says. 

“It’s not like anyone was going to miss you!” Jen says it quickly, in one breath.

She swallows down the hurt at that. “That doesn’t excuse it!” she snapped back. 

“You know,” the thing calls out. “I should really thank you, for all that you are unaware of the treasure you’ve placed before me.” 

“I gave you a sacrifice,” Jen snaps towards the voice. “Where’s my gift?”

“There’s no sacrifice!” She snarls. “I am not fodder for your garbage happily ever after!”

“Take her!” Jen nearly screams. “You owe me!”

“I owe nothing,” the voice responds. “You, however, owe me a life.” 

“I gave you one!” 

“You owe a human life.” 

Jen screeches at that. 

She watches as Jen turns towards her, reaching out and leaping forwards. She jumps back but there’s nowhere to go, no space to lean out of Jen’s range trying to slash at her with what looks like a kitchen knife. She slams her hand forward, knocking Jen’s shoulder as she tries to shove her back. 

“If he won’t do it, I will! I’ll get what I deserve!” Jen snarls as her fingers grab her hair and she feels a sharp bite along her side and a tug at her shirt as the knife is drawn back to strike again. 

She tries to slam her elbow into Jen’s face but the positioning is awkward. As much trouble as she draws, she’s never really been in a fight before. She’s never had someone trying to kill her. One more shove and she hears the knife clunk onto the floor and skitter away in the dark as one of them kick it in the struggle.

“Help!” She calls out. She knows the thing is watching, can practically taste their eagerness for more bloodshed in the air. She’s not sure whose but she does not intend for it to be hers. 

“Gouge her eyes,” the voice calls out. “Use your teeth!”

That wasn’t a bad idea. She turns, wincing as Jen’s grip pulls her hair harder with the motion, and bites down on her arm. 

Jen screams and lets go. 

She grabs Jen’s hair, repayment of course, only this time she does her best to slam her former friend’s head into the wall. Jen tries to shove her off, but after the first successful hit, the woman is dazed and she does it again and again. 

The anger comes out then. The betrayal and fear and desire to survive all come out as she slams Jen’s head over and over. It’s only when she actually feels blood on her hands that she comes back to herself and let’s go. Jen crumples at her feet.

“Oh my god.” 

There is slow clapping and her attention returns to the figure who moves closer. She can make him out now in the dark. It’s almost as if a light has been turned on somewhere, just enough that she can start to make things out. Maybe it’s just that her eyes have adjusted to the darkness. 

“Beautifully done,” it says. 

“I didn’t–”

“You did.” It crouches down and she can see as it touches the blood that’s pooling around the head. It puts its finger in its mouth. “She’s not dead, yet. Thank you for that.” She’s not sure where he gets the knife from but she watches as he slams it down into Jen’s chest. He twists the blade and she looks away. 

She inhales sharply. “You have your life,” she says. “We’re done.”

“Not yet,” the figure stands up. The dark eyes somehow shine as he grins at her. “We haven’t been formally introduced.” 

“I’m not interested.”

“Not even to know the truth?”

“About what? Her?” She motions to the body on the floor. “I don’t care.” And she doesn’t. Not anymore. She regrets that friendship now. She regrets letting her in.

“About what you are,” it says. “Why you didn’t meet the criteria for the deal.”

She pauses. That’s true. “And what am I?”

“Not human. Not completely.”

“I’m not interested in your games,” she snaps. “Either tell me or open the door and let me leave.” 

“No games. Not with you.” It moves closer, a claw traces down her cheek and she tries not to flinch. “We could have a lot of fun. I could show you…many delights.”

“Are you going to tell me why you spared me or not?” 

“There’s demon in you,” it says. “A rare thing.” 

“Sure there is.” She rolls her eyes. “Can I go?”

It stares at her for a moment before it moves. Suddenly, the place is illuminated. The lights are lit and she is faced with what the thing actually looks like. It looks like a human man aside from the way his clothing seems to be made of the darkness. His hair is as dark as his sharklike eyes. “We can go wherever you want, but first.  Allow me.” He bites his thumb before he reaches down and she hisses as he presses his fingers against the cut on her side. He drags them across the entire cut.

It burns, sharp and cold. She tries to pull back and he releases her, once the pain finally stops. She glares at him. “I didn’t invite you.”

“And yet I have the answers I know you want.”

She stares at it, at him, for a moment. “A demon, huh?”

“You may call me Aleksander.” 

“That’s a human name.”

“Is it? Who knew.”

She snorts at that. “He’s funny too.”

“A good demon has all the best qualities,” he says. He bends down over the body again and inhales sharply. She almost thinks she sees something move, going from one to the other, but he simply licks his lips. He stands and motions towards the door which opens without a touch. “Shall we?” 

She ignores the arm he offers and walks out. He follows and walks next to her. 

“Your anger was wondrous to watch,” he tells her. “Sharp in the best way, but dangerously slow to rise in your own defence.”

She glances at him. Now that he’s out of the house, he looks more human. It’s some sort of disguise but he grins at her as he catches her looking.

“You’ve got a little demon in you,” he says.

“Okay?” It’s still a matter of opinion.

“Would you like a little more demon in you?” 

taglist: @raith-way @arrthurpendragon @zeleniafic @jvstjewels @veetlegeuse @chickensarentcheap @booty-boggins @residentdormouse @delicateblackrose @stanshollaand @wordspin-shares @chrissymunson

[asmrtist-brainrot]

*runs in*

V AND CHEEKY IN THE SPIDERVERSE-

*swings out*

fffUCK - OKAY, HERE WE GO -

I JUST REDESIGNED MY SPIDERSONA SO I'M IN THE MOOD FOR SOME SPIDER CONTENT.

Alright, so, V and Cheeky are the spider in their respective universe.

I'll put this under the cut because there will be Across the Spiderverse spoilers.

~ Dari

VeeVee was actually, shocker, a villain! At the time, he was fighting the Spiderperson of his current universe and like "Superior Spider-Man" became the new one after he'd killed them.

Who was under the mask was actually Lady Blade, who was the spouse of his late mentor Dark... Yeah.... V was pretty horrified. Especially because she went out of her way to be kind to him and he couldn't even do her the service of letting her know that he did it.

So was a mixture of guilt and resolution to make up for his wrongs; V went underground - only to debut as "Latrodectus". He got Blade's blood and so was able to use some connections in the black market to become the new Spiderperson.

Past his spider abilities; he can create dark blasts of energy and imbue his webs with something nasty - either way, touching it can burn or kill depending on its potency. He can also see in complete darkness.

He's still quite brutal though, still wants to crush the corrupt government and labs - kills a lot of the villains that can't be persuaded to change or gets in his way.

We know the Spider-Society ain't too picky and he's skilled so... He's on call a lot for the heavy shit. He really likes pissing off Miguel.

... Has an affection for Hobie and Gwen too.

Cheeky, on the other hand, was kind of drawn into the fold of a terrible love triangle. Like, they were in love with their best friend - Peter Parker, who was in love with their other friend Gwen Stacy. When they became "Jumper", they found out that Gwen had actually had a thing for them. It was just a cycle....

But to quote Spider-Gwen; "In every universe Gwen Stacy falls for Spider-Man and in every universe, it doesn’t end well..."

Peter knew Gwen liked Jumper and in an attempt to try and be more like them, essentially went along with an experimental program to try and become stronger... And it worked.... But it made him much crueler than before - though it gave him the ability to change his voice and appearance...

He pretended to be Jumper and started besmirching their name by committing criminal acts dressed as them(including manslaughter). Of course, they had to stop this imposter.

Neither of them meant for Gwen to get caught up in this; collateral from a scuffle that became way too large. It was actually also where he'd managed to unmask them, only to be shocked to see his best friend instead... Peter and Cheeky could only watch on in horror as the two of them were not fast enough to stop a falling billboard...

After seeing the consequences of his actions and how they've hurt the people he loves, Peter stood down and gave himself up quietly - even confessing that he'd framed Jumper... Cheeky promises to visit him in prison (read: life sentence) when they can.

But since being recruited by Miguel... They haven't really felt as if there was a good time to do so.

They can't always look Spider-Gwen in the eye - it hurts their heart... But they always let her know she's supported and cared for.

There is also a parental affection for Hobie and Peni.

Their favorite is Pav though, shhhh, don't tell the others

Oh! And past the climbing on walls and shooting webs; they can manipulate light - turning it into concentrated heat or snuffing it entirely. Using it to stun opponents is fun too, they actually have night vision visors in their mask that double as strong sunglasses.