#health department up

[charlesemersonwinchesteriii]

if Crozier had a nickel for every time someone close to him kept a mortal wound secret from him he'd have two nickels which isn't a lot but it's definitely enough to give him some very specific trauma for the rest of his life

[ratatatastic]

not to go into red alert but-

[analogwriting]

The Other Side of Paradise

Chapter 9: whatthehellishappening?

Killer x gn!reader word count: 2.6k a/n: cheat sheet for the group chat - giggles is Gigs; papas fritas is Papas; queen of munchkin land is Dive; emme fatale is emma; get rekt is Reck also i hope i do this right but taglist?: @tremendoushorsepatrolgoth, @h0n3y-l3m0n05

first|next

As you neared the building, you felt anxiety building up inside of you. You weren't exactly confrontational nor were you confident. Hell, you hated having attention on you. Unless it was your boyfriend but that was different. 

Well, depending on how the following events were going to happen, he might be your first, and only, ex. You knew that if Killer was going to do this to you and it was real, you'd never be able to trust anyone ever again let alone enough to be in a new relationship. You'd rather be single for the rest of your life. 

And it just might piss you off enough that you extract some kind of revenge. Who knows.

“Try to hope for the best.” Dive piped up from next to you and you looked at her, nodding. She was right. You couldn't flood your mind with what ifs right now. You had to hope this was all some insane misunderstanding or something.

However, you were expecting the worst. You weren't going to get your hopes up. 

When you walked in, a woman with long black hair was behind the desk . She didn’t even bother looking up. “Welcome in, do you have an appointment?” Her tone sounded bored.

Hop was the one to speak up, knowing you had serious anxiety when it came to confrontation. 

“We don't have an appointment, but we're here to talk to someone.”

“I can't let you in without an appointment.”

“C'mon. We just need to talk to Killer and his crew.”

The woman scoffed, rolling her eyes. “You and every other fan.”

“No. This is his partner.” She gestured to you.

You gave a sheepish wave and the woman looked you up and down before laughing. “Heard that one before.” She snorted, shaking her head. 

“Killer is dating a celebrity and you're obviously not her.”

You felt your soul crush in that moment and you regretted coming along. You regretted all of this. Sickness built up in the back of your throat.

Anger seeped from Hop. “That's because he was dating them when this happened. He cheated on them and we're here to get some goddamn answers.”

The woman seemed unphased like she'd truly seen it all. As if this was a normal thing. “Yeah. Sure. Well, either way. He's not dating them now. So leave before I call security.”

Panic was hitting you. Humiliation. You wanted nothing more than to crawl in a hole and die. 

“No, not until I speak with Killer!”

“He's not here anyway. He's at his current girlfriend's house. You know. The one he cares enough to flaunt about.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure if he actually cared about your little friend, we would’ve heard about them, hm? So you and his ‘ex’ get out of my damn lobby.”

You heard loud laughing from down the hallway and there came the boys. You immediately froze in place, you and your friends. They were laughing and pushing each other around - like they always had. Kid being absolutely loud, Killer and Wire quietly smiling, Heat cackling like no tomorrow. 

They stopped across the room from you, looking at the four of you. Killer paled as if he had seen a ghost - they all did. Before any of you could act, they hurried away. No. That wasn’t right. Something was wrong. They wouldn’t… You could feel the anger radiating off of Hop once more.

“See? They want nothing to do with you. Even if they were to know who you are. Now get out of my lobby.”

Hop stepped towards where the boys went but you grabbed her arm. Something inside of you snapped and numbness washed over your body. “Let’s just go.” Your voice was barely above a whisper. You wanted nothing more than to get out of here. You heard Dive sniffle next to you. You looked over, tears forming in her eyes too. You looked at Bubblegum, the hurt and anger showing on his face as well. 

“It’s best if we just go.” You looked at Hop. You saw the anger in her eyes dim a little and she sighed, nodding. “Fine.” 

The four of you left quietly. Not a word was spoken as you climbed into the car and headed home.

--

The car ride home was silent aside from the music playing quietly just to fill the silence. Hop was stewing, Dive was crying on and off, Bubblegum was brooding, and you were…you weren’t sure. You didn’t feel like this was real. Nothing felt real. How could they throw away two decades worth of relationships down the drain? 

You’d known them the longest, obviously. But they still knew everyone else for quite a while. Hop, Bubblegum, and Dive being the oldest friendships they had outside of you. It wasn’t like they were tossing away a couple months worth of friendships.

When you arrived at the trio’s house, you immediately beelined to the room you had been crashing in while Killer was gone. You locked yourself in there, everything finally pouring out of you. 

You weren’t sure how long your emotional breakdown lasted or when exactly you passed out from it, but you woke up to knocking on your door. “Y/n?” It was Hop. 

You slowly sat up, realizing you never made it to the bed, you had just been curled up on the floor. You looked around; several things had been broken, pictures had been ripped apart. It seemed you just had a crashout. You could only imagine now the others were feeling.

As you moved, your body felt like it was full of sand. You moved slow, your movements stiff. Everything hurt, your head was pounding. Hell, even your vision was a little blurry. 

Another knock, a little more concern behind it.

“I’m coming,” you mumbled. “Just…trying to move.”

“Take your time.” Hop’s voice was soft.

Eventually, you made it to your feet and to the door. You opened it, revealing not just Hop, but the other two as well. “How was feelin’, bud?” Bubblegum was the one that spoke. Concern stretched across their faces. 

You sighed, nodding. “I’m…alive. I guess.” You put your hands on your hips.

“Well, Bubblegum updated everyone in the group chat. Everyone’s pissed and distraught. Naturally so,” Hop said, her eye twitching. You knew she wanted to tear them apart limb from limb. 

“I made some cookies if you want some!” Dive piped up, smiling up at you. You smiled weakly back at her. “Thank you. That sounds wonderful actually.” 

From the look of Hop and Bubblegum, however, it seemed that wasn’t the move. Then you remembered the last time she made cookies and they turned out to be hockey pucks. You began to backpedal real fast. “I should probably eat some actual food first.”

Dive seemed satisfied with that answer. “True. I can make-”

“No!” The three of you suddenly exclaimed all at once. You went for a not-so-smooth recovery. “Ah, why don’t we go out to eat something? I’m sure we’re all exhausted and honestly something incredibly unhealthy and disgusting sounds fantastic.”

Dive rolled her eyes. “If you don’t want me to cook, just say it.” She shook her head, turning to head down the hallway.

The three of you sighed in relief. Sometimes she took that well, sometimes she didn’t. The last time the three of you said you didn’t want her to cook, you all woke up with some crazy contraption that set off when you woke up and doused you in water and feathers.

It took forever to clean up. The three of you treaded lightly ever since. Maybe she decided to have mercy in light of recent events. Either way, the three of you hoped she wasn’t going to do anything. She always liked to wait until you least expected it.

--

The four of you chose to go to the new diner that had popped up in town within the last couple of months. You had hoped to bring Killer here but now that was never happening and you couldn’t bring yourself to go to the usual diner. Too many memories and everything still hurts.

The three of them talking about nothing while you racked your head trying to make sense of things. Why was this happening? Did their heads really get that big? Did they really go the cliche route of forgetting their friends when they finally made it? Something felt wrong. The looks on their faces when they say you - like they had seen a ghost.

Well, you supposed the four of you probably were ghosts of their pasts now. Nothing more than memories. Did they even think about you guys? Did they really just put all those years of struggling and support down the drain? Anger began to fill you. No more sadness, no numbness. Just pure, unadulterated rage. Now, more than ever, you wanted fucking answers. Did they really not have the balls to tell you to your face? To face any of you?

“Y/n?” 

You were yanked out of your thoughts and brought back to reality. You looked down to see you had completely bent your fork out of the anger you were feeling. 

“Oh. Sorry.” You worked on trying to straighten it back out.

“What are you thinking about?” Hop’s words were slow, careful. 

“About how those fucking cowards didn’t even have the fucking guts to face us. Who the fuck does that? Years of nothing but support from us and this is how they react? We even go as far as to go and see them and they can’t even nut up and face us? Oh my god I’m fucking pissed.” You let out a laugh of disbelief.

Hop looked relieved to see you like this. You were sure she was unsure what you’d do in your saddened state.

It was all coming to you at once. If they wanted to do that, then you could do the same.

“I’m going to sell the house. I’m going to donate all of their shit.” You were fuming as everything hit you. The anger stage of grief. “If they want us out of their lives then fucking fine. I’m not going to waste my time crying about it. I’m almost done with college. I’ll fuck off and do something better.” Sure, it was going to suck not having the one you loved most next to you.

“But I want him to know that this won’t break me. Maybe it’s some weird fuckin’ fantasy. I don’t want to just mope around.” You clenched your jaw as you felt your anger settle in and plant a seed. “I want revenge.”

Bubblegum spoke up, snorting. “Alright. I’m all for the villain arc. But, how the hell are we going to do that? We couldn't even see them and I’m sure they’re gonna have people keeping an eye out for us.”

You deflated a little. You hadn’t thought that far. “I’m not sure yet, but I’m sure it’ll come to me,” you grumbled as you stuck another bite of food in your mouth with your mangled fork.

“Well, when you figure it out, let us know. We’re in,” Hop said. The other two nodded. You looked at them all for a moment. You were so lucky to have them. The others too. Without them, you weren’t sure you would’ve made it through this. You were going to make sure you turn the boys’ world upside down. For all of you.

--

That night, you surprisingly slept like a rock. You were determined and full of hatred but the pure emotion was making you exhausted. You slept so hard your dreams were filled with nothingness. Not a single dream to be had.

You woke up relatively early the next morning, filled with determination and vigor. It was time to pack up your house. You teetered back and forth from selling everything or just donating it. You didn’t want to bother with all of this more than you had to.

You texted the group chat. 

You rolled your eyes and smiled as the phone popped off for a little bit. You moved to get ready. You showered before checking your phone again, finally saying something else after thumbing through what was said before you left.

You once again shoved your phone in your pocket as you went to eat some breakfast. You were the only one awake or here. Hop went back to work, Bubblegum was still asleep.

“Makin’ breakfast?” Dive shuffled into the kitchen, stretching and groaning. “What are we gonna eat?”

“Well, I was just gonna make some loaded hash browns.”

“Load me up.”

You snorted at her dumb joke as she sat at the kitchen island, waiting for you to cook. You decided to open up your phone again and respond one more time before locking in to breakfast.

You snorted at Dive’s shitty joke as you started on making breakfast. You looked in the fridge, making a mental note to go shopping later. You forgot that the lot of you had just been on vacation but everything was mostly empty. Someone must’ve gotten the most basic supplies yesterday or while you were in breakdown mode. 

You scrounge up what you could, beginning with breakfast. 

--

After breakfast, you set out to the house. Dive asked if you wanted her to go, but you wanted to face it by yourself for now. You weren’t sure how you were going to take being in there. You wanted to face it alone before you dragged everyone else with you.

As you arrived at the house, you heard a car skrrt in behind you. You turned around as you reached for the handle.

“Y/N, IF YOU SO MUCH AS TOUCH THAT HANDLE WITHOUT US I’M GOING TO CRASH OUT.”

You jump, turning around to see Hop climbing out of her car with Dive and Bubblegum. Ah, Dive must’ve sent an SOS. You should’ve guessed. 

“What the hell are you thinking? Doing this without us? Fuckin’ please.” Hop rolled her eyes.

“Well, I wasn’t sure how-”

“Doesn’t matter. We’re in this together now. Plus, it’ll be faster if we’re all here, yeah?”

Then you saw a few more cars pull in and around the house. You blink, confused. You watched as all your friends began to pile out of the cars. 

“Figured it’d be faster if we were all here than you posting pictures of shit to have people claim it.” Hop grinned at you. 

You felt tears well in your eyes. “You all didn’t have to do this…”

“We used your house for yeeears as a hang out spot. The least we could do is help you out a lil bit,” Papas said as he came down the driveway. 

You sniffled, quickly wiping away your tears. “Well…then I guess we’ll do this together.” You turned back around, opening the house for the first time in months.

Naturally, everything looked the same. It still looked exactly how you left it. Since everyone had switched to going in and out of the other place, you had locked up your house. No one used it anymore, so a nice layer of dust covered everything.

Hop and Bubblegum began to go around, opening windows.

“Let’s get started then,” you said with a nod of determination.

[makenna-made-this]

I have one friend who is usually the only person who ever actually calls me around this time so i didn't bother checking caller id so i just answered an unknown number by reciting the opening narration of the bee movie. They hung up

[ghoul--doodle]

I love having chronic migraines it kills my work flow like ✨nothin else✨

[thepersonalwords]

It is clear that the protective functions of workplace health and safety have transferred to the workers through the process of corporate government deregulation and reduced funding of relevant government departments.

Steven Magee

[therulerofallpotatos]

Love when you are having a class discussion about resources available/unavailable on campus and what can be improved, spitballing ideas to make them more useful and accessible and then of course someone inevitably brings up campus email lists because that is the primary way the school tells students about things that are happening and multiple people are like "not a great idea. i never look at my email"

maybe you should be checking your email then

they give you an email address and 5 thousand different links to access it. it's the most convenient thing in the world. the app costs nothing to have on your phone too. some of the stuff we're literally talking about is emailed to you so you know it exists and often has links to the thing so you can conveniently go to it and y'all are acting like its worthless because you can't be bothered to glance at a notification on your phone. Or go to one of the many public computers on campus to skim your inbox once a week or even month.

[loverscrossmp3]

every time i open my phone and there’s a new trump appointee a canon goes off in my head like in the hunger games

[hesgomorrah]

thought too hard about costuming in tv shows and made myself sad i miss it so much

[baejax-the-great]

15. something you learned this year (while researching for a story)

Thank you!

So I opened Sunset to see when each chapter was posted because I did a ton of research for the earlier chapters, including watching all of Troy (2004) which I do not recommend under any circumstances, but this just ended up with me spending a good chunk of the day rereading Sunset and not answering your question at all.

Sadly, I didn't do much research for the chapters that were published this year. For Agua Caliente, I did look up the names of cactuses in Anza Borrego, and the names of the different camp grounds and various camping rules. I also looked up whether San Diego has eucalyptus trees (yes). I ended up on some incredibly unhinged smoothie sites and learned that smoothie people can be absolutely bonkers. Oh and I watched a bunch of videos about cat birth, ahahah.

[intersexprophet]

lots of carefully written fics of civilian touya building a relationship with shouto, not enough of civilian touya finding a path of healing and deciding not to pursue a bond with his youngest sibling. nowhere near enough touya todoroki in so many words saying what amounts to "i've reached a place where i recognize that the pain and rage that i felt growing up comes from how endeavor treated us, and you bear no responsibility for it, and are, in fact, another victim of our father. i know that none of it is your fault. but i also cannot deny that looking at you makes me feel sick to my stomach. through no fault of your own, you are a reminder of a past where i was constantly angry and helpless and in pain. i do not hate you, but i have no love for you either. i have no desire to be your brother at this point in my life. for my own well-being, i am leaving this house and i am never coming back and i will probably never see you again. i hope you find some sort of peace from all the abuse our father has put you through. goodbye."

[thevioletcaptain]

the next customer to ask me "what's wrong with your eye?" is getting thrown into the sea :)

[red-moon-at-night]

the rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated

*it's been 3 months since I last posted* FUCK HAS IT REALLY BEEN THAT LONG???

[aradiiaa]

Guess who just lost their job in a mass layoff and is now once again unemployed 👁👄👁

[opisasodomite]

Fairly certain HR fucked up and rounded down my voluntary life insurance from 100,000 to 10,000…….

[minmos]

now the bat does have cool little hands . But we need to make some calls in the morning