#i don't expect anyone to ever read this it just feels nice to shout in the void sometimes

[lesbianlaura]

if u notice that i've been online here all the time lately ur right 🫡

[lemotmo]

Okay 911 fandom...

I feel like I've been very nice about this before and I always figured it would all just disappear after a while, but this insane Ryan Guzman hatred is getting out of hand. And frankly? It is pissing me off!

So, let's get something very clear here:

This whole concept some people have in their head that Ryan is the reason why Buddie won't ever go canon? IT IS WRONG!

The man has screamed Buddie from the beginning. He came up with the name for Christ's sake. Just because some of you only joined the fandom after 7x04, doesn't mean you get to shit on this guy. You don't know the lore or the history. So shut up!

This idea that Ryan is a bad actor and he is botching up his scenes with Oliver, because Oliver clearly plays Buck as in love with Eddie?

Again... WROOOONG!

Buck is sooo much further on the Buddie path than Eddie is. All he has time for right now is his son! Ryan is NOT going to play Eddie smitten with Buck, because he isn't there yet in the narrative. He obviously cares deeply for Buck though and we see it in everything Ryan puts into his acting. He is obviously a talented actor and artist. So again... SHUT UP!

If I see any of you threaten the man over a fucking fictional ship on a TV-show? I will report you on whichever platform you are on and I'll make sure that everyone knows who you are so they can block you accordingly. Are you insane?! You cannot threaten people for doing their job.

And NO! Nobody is going to recast Eddie because you have it in your stupid little ignorant dumb minds that the man is a misogynist, a sexist, a racist, a terrible father (ARE YOU CRAZY! YOU CANNOT CALL A MAN YOU DO NOT KNOW A BAD FATHER! WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN SMOKING!?) and a whole other slew of things that are simply made up in your own head!

He made one single mistake a loooong time ago. He admitted that he was in a very dark place around that time. He even talked about trying to take his own life at a certain point. How much more honesty do you need?

After that mistake he apologised and he has obviously worked really hard to become a better guy. We can hear that in every interview he does. Stop spreading the narrative that people can't be forgiven after they apologise. What age are you? Four??? Of course people can be forgiven. It's called growth. This insane cancel-culture that has been growing rampant for the last couple of years has gone to all of your heads. Wake up and SHUT UP!

Stop these ridiculous claims and please do everyone a favour! Move on to another fandom where miserable people like you are welcome.

For years now this fandom has been a great place to be in. I love it here! But I've had it with the insane hate-campaigns against a guy just doing his job.

I won't even go into the insane Eddie hate I have seen lately.

This has got to stop!

I am still not a Ryan stan, but I am a decent human being and admirer of his work. So whatever has been going on lately? It is NOT right and we should all shout that from the top of our lungs.

If anyone is reading this and recognises themselves in what I have written here? Please step outside, touch grass, look at the sky and if you are following me? Kindly unfollow me. Thank you.

If anyone is reading this and feels the same way? Feel free to follow. I promise that I don't often make posts like this. I try to spread the fandom positivity as much as I can. So expect lots of that here.

Can we now just go back to enjoying what is really important here? Buddie is about to go canon. Let's celebrate and have fun! We've been waiting years for this. This is our time.

[dracrownian]

I'm going to be nice (for the first and last time in my life). Give us your thoughts on AkAm :)

wait what is this. coffee, are you okay?? (ship ask game here)

AkAm ✨

What made you ship it?

It started as a joke-

Okay, but it actually did, though. I was watching The Darkest Nightmare with some friends (years ago now) and we got to the ferris wheel fight and suddenly Akai and Rei stop fighting because Conan's shouting for them and I'm just like "those are Conan's divorced dads" and it stuck with me for years.

So I jokingly shipped them for years (I wasn't really involved in the fandom at that point, and wasn't going out of my way to look for content). And then early last year, I got dragged back into DetCo and have since fully embraced this pair. They have my whole heart.

Even if not for what happened in M20, we still have everything in canon (the whole Scar Akai thing, Rei deciding that Akai definitely isn't dead because how could Kir of all people get the better of him, he's too good for that, Rei's entire obsession, the Scarlet arc confrontation with "Okiya" that is so ridiculous on so many levels, etc). And then there's M26 and wow. Taking "Conan's divorced dads" to a whole new level. (And Rei needing Kazami to call to him twice to get his attention after that phone call, I see you Rei. I know what you are.)

They have so much chemistry, and their past is messy and complicated, but completely intertwined with one another due to their time together in the organization and the tragedy of Scotch's death. At this point, I don't think you can fully separate them, not without destroying part of what makes them them in the process.

Akai not telling the FBI about Bourbon (and I still stand by the fact that Gosho could've easily had James be like "oh yeah, Bourbon, Akai mentioned him" if he wanted me to believe that Akai wasn't protecting Bourbon), or the truth about Scotch. Rei single-mindedly focused on finding (and, yes, killing) Akai, but then deciding to at least temporarily be civil after the tea party (give us the tea party, Gosho!). Not to mention, all the times he brings up or thinks about Akai unprompted in ZTT, and the literal photo he has of Rye, stacked with Sherry and Conan. How, even though he hates Akai with every fiber of his being, he acknowledges that Akai should've been good enough to save Scotch.

They drive me absolutely insane. I love them. There's probably points that I've missed here, but we're already gonna have a novel with this one, so.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

They get each other. They've both been in the organization. They understand what it's like to do the dirty work, to have blood on their hands. They know how it feels to constantly wear a mask that you can't remove without risk of death.

They're both deeply traumatized individuals, and while that makes things complicated on the communication front, it also means that they can better support each other, because they understand trauma.

Rei's family has gone completely unmentioned, and Akai's is Complicated™ so neither of them likely would really have any expectation of a normal family. They can be each other's family now (well, post-canon).

When Rei's not trying to rip Akai to shreds, they work well together. They'd be a pretty unstoppable team if Gosho let them.

And the fact that Akai can see through Rei's masks even easier than Rei clocked Okiya being Akai without having ever met the man (even if he was tricked into believing otherwise at first) just makes me love them more.

I don't think there's anyone else in the entire series that can fully understand either of them the way they can each other. And even when they're not getting along (read: Rei's starting shit again), they still have a lot of respect for each other's skills.

Also the fact that Akai rarely uses any honorifics for anyone, but he uses -kun for Rei even from the Scarlet arc always gets me.

And how could I not love the "confrontation" in the Kudous' entryway, with both of them pointing guns at each other and Akai's fucking smiling like the idiot he is. That can't be healthy. They deserve each other.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I've struggled so much to come up with something for this question, and I think I've finally landed on something. I think my unpopular opinion is that I really didn't care for Akai before Rei showed up and we got their possibly onesided enemies-to-whatever-the-fuck-they-have-going-on. He just was not interesting to me. He was just standard "Wow Cool Awesome Man" character, even after his tragic backstory with Akemi.

And then Rei shows up and we get all of the mess and now he's my second favorite character and they belong together. (At least partially because nobody else deserves to be stuck with either of these two disaster men.)

[solaris-amethyst]

💫Just one more picture💫

✨Pairing: theater kid!Yeosang x theater kid!gn!reader ✨Prompt: You're not playing the romantic leads but everyone ships your characters together and they keep making you take pictures together in costumes. ✨Word count: 1.8k ✨Genre: fluff, slight romance ☀️Authors note: Let me know what you thought of this one shot❣️ The play I'm referencing in this one shot for anyone wondering is Shakespeares Twelfth Night🥰

Ever since the first read through of the play, everyone involved decided that your character and Yeosangs character were absolutely made for each other. You couldn't really wrap your head around why everyone was so adamantly shipping your two characters together, when there was barely any interactions between the two that indicated they were romantically interested in each other.

Sometimes during run throughs of scenes your fellow cast mates would be taking pictures and talking about how genuine the love between the two of your characters, Malvolio and Maria, are. Even if Malvolio spends a good time in the play talking about how he wants to marry Miss Olivia after your character Maria, Sir Toby and Sir Andrew trick him into thinking Miss Olivia is in love with him.

Despite that, your director decided that she wanted to go in a slightly different route for Maria and Malvolio stating that the two of them were in love but did not dare to confess and Malvolio especially tries to hide his love for Maria by acting as if hes actually in love with the misstress they both serve. With longing stares and some gentle hand holding here and there to a catch when your character trips as she's in a hurry.

All of this never failed to make you blush, Yeosang was a beautiful man who was kind and passionate in everything he did. Your favorite thing about him was when he smiled, especially if it was directed towards you. It made your heart flutter and your cheeks grow slightly hot.

"Okay everyone! Gather up please!! Today were gonna take some pictures of this run through which means that you'll be photographed, this is so we have some work in progress photos to post on social media and to find some really good moments we want to have pictures of when we do our dress rehearsal next week!" Your director, Annelise, shouted as everyone gathered closer. "I want you all to give it your all during this run as you would in the dress rehearsal and when we have an audience watching. Give me passion, comdey, betrayal and all of that."

You could already feel some of the eyes on you at the thought of having pictures taken. As you were wondering what Yeosang might think of it all you could suddenly feel his presence behind you, his hand landing on your shoulder gently turning you slightly towards him.

"Let's do our best so we get some nice photos okay?" His gentle smile aimed towards you made you nod.

"We should, but don't forget to have fun you know, that's when the magic happens on stage." Yeosang was about to respond to your comment when Annelise called for everyone in positions for the run through. As you had predicted there were a lot of pictures taken of you and Yeosang. And you had to admit, in some of them the two of you looked really good together.

"We look good together." Yeosang hummed as he looked at the photo of him holding you close so you did not trip in the scene. It made you look at him in surprise, you were going to ask him if he really meant that but he was already walking away to get his bottle of water and go home for the day.

-next week during dress rehearsal-

If people had gone wild about you and Yeosang during last week's rehearsal it was nothing compared to now when you both were in costume. Yeosang was in a nice costume, looking prim and proper and you were in an equally prim and proper costume. Yours were slightly more flowy than Yeosangs, the costume department wanted the distinction and said it would go nicely with when he catches you.

What you had not expected was everyone in the cast to come hounding you with their phones and cameras telling you two to pose as they took pictures. Yeosang for some reason seemed to really enjoy it as he posed with you, you thought it would be awkward and in a way it was awkward but the way Yeosang posed with you it helped ease your nerves.

"Come here, let's do one last pose to make them satisfied love." You looked at Yeosang in slight shock at his words as his arm came close around your waist bringing you in close as his other hand went up to caress your cheek as he leaned in closely. In surprise you had brought one hand up to his shoulder and the other gently gripping his bicep of the arm that were cradling your face oh so gently.

"Yeosang..."

"Yes?" He tilted his head slightly at your question as the rest of the cast fawned and squealed over Malvolio and Maria, talking about how they were such a great pair and the pose was just chefs kiss for those two characters. After a few more photos everyone were satisfied walking away leaving the two of you alone.

"You were going to ask me something weren't you y/n?" He asked you curiously.

"Well... It's just that... You know I can't help but wonder if it's just our characters they ship or if they're shipping us two as well. Especially with the way they're acting and taking pictures of us." You confessed feeling the heat return slightly to your face as you kept eye contact with Yeosang.

"Well I sure hope they do." He said it so casually you almost chocked on the water you were drinking to calm your nerves.

"W-what?!"

"Yeah I sure hope they ship us both together as well."

"Are you serious right now Yeosang?!" He let out a chuckle at the way your mouth was hanging open in slight shock at his confession.

"I am. I do really like you y/n." You couldn't believe your ears, here was the guy you had liked for a really long time confessing he liked you as well and hoped that the others shipped you two together as well.

"I really like you as well!" you blurted out before he could say anything else and the smile that blossomed even wider on his face was to die for.

"So would I be able to take you out for a date after our first show then?" He held your hand gently as he asked the question, his own cheeks flushing.

"I'd love that Yeosang."

-First show day-

"Y/n! Yeosang! Can you two come here for a second?" Annelise asked causing the two of you to break away from your conversation about where your first date should be at.

"Sure, what's up?" You asked looking at her curiously.

"I would like to add an extra scene in the end after everything where Malvolio and Maria confesses to each other and shares a kiss if that is okay with the two of you? I have an idea of how it would look if you are up for it? I know it's very last minute so it is totally okay if you say no." Annelise looked at you both with hopeful eyes and when you turned to look at Yeosang he was already looking at you.

"I am fine with it if y/n is comfortable with it." He nodded confirming he was okay with an additional scene and a kiss between the two of you.

"So am I."

"Great! So, I was thinking the two of you..." As the two of you quickly rehearsed what Annelise had envisioned to get the blocking down it was soon time for the premier. You could all hear the audience bustling behind the curtains and the nerves were starting to kick in. You could feel the butterflies in your stomach as the lights turned down and the audience went silent as the drapes opened up allowing the show to start.

The audience were amazing, they were laughing, making comments and going wild during certain scenes, you and Yeosang got quiet a few cheers and whoops and someone even calling for Yeosangs character to kiss yours when he caught you from tripping. It was nearing the end. Soon time for you and Yeosang to go up one last time.

"Are you nervous?" You glanced as Yeosang who was next to you waiting for his own cue.

"A little bit. Are you?" He took your hand in his and squeezed it. If it were to calm you or him down you didn't know.

"I've been calm since after our first scene but now the nerves are kicking in again." You admitted and he nodded at your words.

"Let's just go in there and pretend it's just you and me. No one else."

You were about to respond but the moment you heard your cue you walked in on stage, looking around almost worried you had missed him. As you sat down dejectedly on a chair Yeosang ran in breathing heavily looking like he had ran around the entire palace in search for something, or someone.

"Maria."

You looked up in shock and stood up in surprise.

"Malvolio!"

Yeosang ran up to you bringing you in for a hug, hands trembling slightly and you hugged him as if he were going to disappear. You swore you could hear someone in the audience saying quietly "they better kiss now." as Yeosang brought his trembling hands up to hold your face oh so gently, caressing your cheeks as his once stoic character looked at you with love and kindness.

"I am so sorry for the way I've treated you my love. I was afraid you did not feel the same way. My heart beats only for you. I feel weak in the knees when you are not near me, I feel jealousy beating in my heart and clouding my mind when you laugh around Sir Toby and Sir Andrew. I was foolish to hide what I felt for you. I love you Maria, more than anything in this whole wide world." Yeosang was looking at you so intently and so loving you had to break eye contact with him.

"Oh I am so glad you found me my dear. I love you Malvolio, there is no one else I'd want to spend the rest of my life with than you." you confessed with a sweet smile and that's when Yeosang dove in kissing you passionately as the crowd erupted in cheers with someone shouting "finally!!" as the curtains closed on the two of you.

"I love you y/n." He whispered quietly into the kiss.

"I love you too Yeosang." You replied before giving him one last kiss as the rest of the cast joined up with you to take your bows as the curtains opened once again to the cheering audience.

[mitchhbitch]

The Unknown: The Strangers!Nick Folio

Pairings: Nick Folio x OC

Warnings: Angst. It contains language. Blood/Violence. Dark themes. If this makes you uncomfortable or you are under 18, please do not read! Thank you.

Summary: A weekend getaway turns into a nightmare when Nick and Michelle's vacation is disrupted by three masked intruders, one least expected.

Authors Note: First off, I want to say that this is the first fic I have ever written. It is something that I enjoyed writing, so I hope you enjoy it just as much. I am sorry that it took me this long to finish it. This is based on one of my all time favorite horror movies The Strangers. Thank you for reading it! I hope you all love it. Also, shout out to my bestie @thescarlettvvitch for helping me with this and for showing amazing support and love.

TAGS: @thescarlettvvitch @thefallennightmare @spicywhenspeaking @cookiesupplier @dsireland86

As I get out of my car, I see nothing but darkness. It was late by the time I pulled in. All I can hear are the animals being vocal. My boyfriend Nick invited me to his family’s cabin. It was an exhausting three hour long trip. 

Nick came bounding down the stairs with a big smile on his face, “Hey babe. Glad you made it here safe. I’m sorry I wasn't able to drive up here with you. There was a problem with the shower so I had to come and fix it up.” He greets me with a kiss. 

I smile excitedly and kiss him back “Hi baby. I’m glad I finally made it. No worries. Were you able to fix the issue?”

He grabbed both of my bags with one hand. How he managed the strength? I couldn’t say. 

“Oh yeah. It took about half of the day but I got it all fixed up. Plus I needed everything to be perfect for when you got here” he winked at me as he went inside the cabin.

I blushed. My cheeks turned a vibrant red in hue as I followed him, “It’s going to be perfect because we are going to be together.” Closing  the door and walking into the living room, “wow this place is nice. Feels very homey.” My eyes gleamed with warmth. 

“Are you ready to just relax this weekend?” Nick said softly, grazing my cheek with this thumb as he passed by me walking into the living room.

Sitting on the green sofa, he looked so content. I turn to look at him with a big smile, getting up from my spot on the lounge chair to go sit next to him.

“Yes. School has me wanting to rip out my hair. It's just been so hectic with studying for finals. It has me on the verge of a breakdown. But I am so glad to be here with you. With that, that also means no school and work talk anymore.”

Gently  putting  his arm around me, I nestled under the crook of his arm. I looked up at him longingly, he placed a  kiss on my forehead, “Sounds like a plan babe. I forgot to mention that being up here, we don't get very good or any signal and the wifi has been out for a couple of days. I got an email about that before I came up here. I have been trying to get someone up here but it's been difficult.”

Leaning into his arm, I joked, “well that sucks. How am I supposed to let my family and friends know that I haven't been kidnapped or killed?” 

Nick throws his head back and lets out a loud laugh, “Don't worry. I’ll protect you from anything Michelle.”

—------------------Line Break—------------------------------------------------------

While cooking dinner, I pour myself a glass of whiskey. Whiskey was my weakness. Hennessy and a lot of bad decisions. 

 Nick shouted from the living room “I'm going to go take a shower. I'll be back.” He left for the bathroom. Once I hear the shower start, I put my phone on the speaker and play some music.

There was a knock at the door. It was loud and echoed through the house. I was Confused. We weren’t expecting anyone. I went and opened it half way, peeking my head out. “Hello. Can I help you?”

A woman with long black hair, yellow beanie snug on her head. She was short in stature and whispered low while looking down at her shoes. “I'm looking for Jamie.” 

I couldn't see her face because of the porch light. It was too bright, I responded with a scowl. “I'm sorry there is no Jamie here.”

She asked me again, more demanding while keeping her head down  “Is Jamie here?”  

I sighed, already fed up. “There's no Jamie here. I already told you.”

The woman brought her head up to look me in the eyes, her gaze penetrating. “Okay. Whatever you say.” Slowly began walking away from the door. 

I closed and locked it shut. Walking towards the kitchen. Another knock is heard from the door. 

Frustrated, I turn back over towards it, peeking through the peephole. 

Christ, these people. Slowly reopening it, I was greeted with a different female this time. I couldn't make out her features but was only able to see her short and crimson locks. 

She quietly says as she looks down to the heels of my feet.  “Is Jamie here?”

I look at her, irritation steering through my veins. “Look I told your friend that there is no Jamie here. So leave before I call the police.”

The girl replies “okay.” She slowly looks up at me for a couple seconds and walks off. 

Closing and locking the door with a sigh, Nick asked from behind me “who was that?” 

I  jumped and turned to face him, “You almost gave me a heart attack. I don't know who that was. It was a strange chick looking for someone named Jamie. It was weird.” Shaking my head at the thought. Maybe I was losing it.  “Anyways, dinner is ready. Let's go eat.”

As we eat our dinner, Nick looks up from his plate, placing his fork on mine, fiddling with my carrots.  “How was the drive up here?” Did you enjoy it or was it too much for you?” He was never one for a quiet dinner, rambunctious by nature. 

I look at him with a bright smile, all teeth.  “The drive was okay. I'm not a fan of long drives but this one was manageable. It was peaceful.” 

Nick gave me a goofy grin. I melted internally as he grabbed my hand and placed to his lips leaving me a tender kiss, “You know i wouldn’t torture you with a very long trip.”

 I chuckled, taking his hand in return. “How very thoughtful of you, baby.”

I start gathering the dishes and take them to the kitchen. I place them on the sink looking out the kitchen window, I see a person standing near the trees. Confused, I called out for Nick “hey babe! Come here please”

Nick walks into the kitchen “what's up?” he goes over to me and puts his arm around my waist. 

“There is someone out there. I saw someone standing near that tree” I turn to look at him

Nick turns to look out the window “I don't see anyone out there babe. Maybe it's just the drink getting to you.” He looks at me and smirks 

I roll my eyes and move away from him “I only had half a cup. I swear to you I saw someone out there.”

As soon as he opened his mouth to reply to me there was a loud bang coming from the front door. 

Nick goes to the front door and opens it only to be greeted by no one there. Confused, he looks around and goes back inside “that was weird. There was no one there.”

I shrug and go back to the kitchen. I see that my phone isn't on the counter, confused. I start looking around for it “babe have you seen my phone? I left it near the counter when I was cooking and it's not there.” 

Nick leans against the door frame “no i haven't seen it. Are you sure you left it there? Maybe you just misplaced it.”

Looking at him annoyed, I answer “No Nicholas. I didn't misplace it. I know where I left it at. It couldn't just get up and walk away from me.”

Nick “I'll help you look for it. I'm sure it's around here. Like you said I don't think it got up and just left.” he looks around the living room.

I walk into the bedroom and look around for it. I get on the floor to look under the bed when I see a pair of feet on the other side of the bed. I see the person wearing black dress pants and black boots. Confusion running through my head, I sit up and look up to find no one there. 

“Nick come here please” I say from the bedroom while getting up. Nick walks into the bedroom “yes Michelle?” I look down to his pants and his shoes and see that he is wearing black levis and all black nike air max 90s. 

Nick smirks at me “baby if you want something you just gotta say it, you don't have to be a tease about it” he sits on the edge of the bed close to me. 

I roll my eyes “have you always been wearing those shoes or did you just change them?” 

Nick replies “I have always been wearing these shoes. Why?” I look at him horror flashing through me making me get goosebumps “I I think someone is in here. When I was looking for my phone under the bed, I looked across and I saw a pair of legs. The person was wearing boots”

“Are you sure? The only people here are us. I would think we would have been able to hear if someone came in here. Again, you need to stop watching horror movies” Nick says as looks at me 

Frustrated I responded “I swear on anything I saw someone standing on the other side of the bed. Stop gaslighting me Nicholas. I'm so close to leaving you here. I still can't find my phone.” 

Nick sighs “I'm sorry. Please forgive  me?” he pouts and brings me close to him.

I smile and kiss him “I guess I can accept your apology Folio. You are going to have to make it up” I put my hands on his shoulders as I stood between his legs.

Nick looks up at me and smirks “you don't have to tell me. I have thought of every way I am going to make it up to you baby.” 

Just as I was about to lean down to kiss him, the lights were cut off. I gasped in horror not knowing what could have caused this. 

Nick looks at me “well that's strange. I'm going to go to the garage to get some flashlights. I’ll be back babe.” He says as he makes his way out of the room to the garage.

I make my way to the living room to see if I can find some candles. I hear a tapping sound coming from the back door. Confused, I make my way to the back door, pull open the curtain when I'm greeted by a girl in a mask holding a knife. I scream and back up.

 As I'm running to the bedroom, I see a shadow down the hall. I gasp and run into the bathroom and lock the door. I go inside the bathtub and sit. I bring my knees up to my chest. Crying and shaking out of fear, I look at the door. I see it being shaked and pulled. I cry even more. 

The door gets kicked open and the shadow gets close to me. “Michelle, what are you doing here?”

 Nick asked me while standing near the bathtub. When I hear his voice, I get up and encircle his waist.  “Oh Nick. I saw someone outside holding a knife and I don't know if it was the same person b b but I saw someone in the hallway. I want to leave. Please, I want to go home.” I plead.

 Nick sighs and holds me tightly in muscular arms, “Alright, Alright. Let's go back home. Let's start packing” He goes to the bedroom.

“No! I don't care about my stuff. I just want to get out of here!” I get out of the bathroom and go to the living room. Nick follows me “What is going on with you? There is no one else besides us here” I turn to look at him and see someone standing a few feet away from him. I scream. 

Nick turns around and backs up to me “who are you!” he calls out. The masked person walked to us slowly. It was the same girl that was tapping the window. 

Nick holds my hand and runs out the front door to the car. I held and ran with him. As we got to the car there was a masked man standing near it. He had a ski mask and was fairly tall. He was holding a lighter in his hand. As fast as we saw the lighter in his hand was just as fast as he threw it to the car making it light up. 

Nick looks at the car “fuck. We ran back inside. As soon as Nick closed the door an ax came down on it. Screaming, I backed away from the door. Nick ran to me and turned to look at me. With his hands, he grabbed my face looking at me.

 “I need you to go hide for me, okay? I have a weapon in the garage and I need to go get it. I'm going to come right back for you. I love you” he kisses me softly and lets go of me and makes his way out of the room.

 I grab his hand to stop him “Nick I want to go with you please. I don't want to be left alone here.” Nick looks at me “it will be okay. I promise you. Everything will be fine Michelle.” I let go of his arm “please be careful Nick.” I say to him as he walks out of the backdoor. I follow behind him slowly watching him till he gets to the garage. Suddenly I hear a noise near the garage thinking that Nick could have gotten hurt, I go out and start walking towards it. 

Once I get close to it I see that there is a girl standing there in a pin up mask. I look at her out of fear and start walking backwards. As I take my steps she starts walking towards me. I turn to run and she walks behind me. 

I ran into the house and hid in a closet. I cover my mouth to keep any noises from coming out of me. I suddenly see a silhouette standing across the closet door. 

Suddenly the door gets pulled open and there is a girl wearing a doll mask standing in front of me. I let out a horrified scream.

 Trying to run past her, she slices my arm with her knife. I ran to the living room. As soon as I got to it, I saw a man in a mask dragging Nick by the shirt and tossing him into the middle of the living room. Nick is beaten and bloody.

 I gasp and go to kneel beside him and hold him. I cry and look at him. The three masked strangers stand in front of us next to each other. The masked man squats down to look at us.

 I look at him and say “Why are you doing this? Why us?” He looks at me with a smile and says “because you are here and you answered the door.” He stands up and stands next to the other two girls.

The masked man looks at both of the girls and says “It's time”. He takes out a knife and looks at Nick and I. The room is silent except for the sobs that are leaving my mouth. 

“Please don't do this. Please. You can take whatever you want. I-I promise I won't say anything to anyone.” I plead to them. 

The girl in the pin up mask takes it off and throws it on the ground. Next to take off their mask is the girl wearing the doll mask. 

The last one to take off their mask is the guy in the ski mask. He stands out to me the most because he looks familiar. 

Nick looks at me and says “I'm sorry this had to be done.” 

He gets up and stands next to the girl with the long black hair. He wipes the blood from his lip with the back of his hand and takes the knife that the guy gives to him. I look at him shocked and confused and angry not knowing what to do. 

“I I don't understand. Why?- Wait- you’re apart of this? Why did you do this?” 

Nick looks at me expressionless. “Because you were so different from the rest, don't you get it? You sweet, sweet dumb girl. You were a mere ploy, a means to an end.”

 I look at him shocked. “You don't mean that, I don't believe you!” 

Nick goes to me and squats in front of me “you don't have to” He traces the knife along my jawline. 

I look at him with a terrified expression and whisper “Nicholas, don't do this please.” I beg him crying on my knees. He leaned so close to me, his lip grazing my ear and whispered,  “Nicholas isn't here right now, please leave a message after the beep.” 

Three long beats go by and he leans back to look at me. I look at him and see his pupils are dilated.His eyes are no longer the light brown that I know, all I see is darkness showing no emotion. No love. No worries. Nothing. 

Nick looks at me with an evil smirk and grabs my jaw, squeezing it hard, he licks his lips and said;  

“You look so delicious like this, so weak and defenseless. Makes me want to put on a show before you lose.” 

I look at him angry and spit at him “Fuck you Nick! I hate you!” Nick laughs and wipes the spit from his face with the back of his hand, “those are some nice last words you have to say baby.” I try to move his hand from my jawline but he's stronger than me.

 He lets go and pushes me back, making me fall back onto the floor. I turn to see that one by one the strangers are leaving the cabin. Nick stands over me and knees down to straddle me. 

His knees are on either side of my hips. Eyes locked on mine as he spoke harshly,  “You know, I wasn't lying when I said that you were different from the rest. You were my favorite one.”

 I look up at him screaming, a guttural and loud growl erupts. “Please! Nick please! Don't do this! I-I promise I won't say anything to anyone!” I kicked my legs and hit him on the chest. 

Nick takes one last look at me and pushes the knife right above my right breast. I scream in horror and try to fight him off of me. 

Nick pushes it deeper and takes it out. As he takes the knife out,  blood starts seeping out and spilling on my shirt and on the floor. 

Specks of blood land on his arms. He stabs me a couple more times and gets up to look down at me. I open my mouth to scream but nothing comes out. I roll over onto my stomach and cry. 

Trying to crawl away from him, he grabs me by the foot pulling me back. I turn to him to look at him, still on my stomach as tears fall down my face, I whisper “I love you Nick”. As those words leave my mouth, no emotion is being shown by him. 

I close my eyes to not look at him. Remembering all the happy memories we shared together. He brings down the knife stabbing me on the back. 

Nick takes out the knife, setting it on the kitchen counter. He takes one last look at me before walking out of the cabin. He gets into a car with the three strangers. 

Taking off. I open my eyes and look around to make sure he isn't around anymore. I get up slowly and make my way to the kitchen, seeing my phone on the counter as if it was never missing. 

My hands shake as I pick it up making a phone call. Hearing the dial tone on the other side, I take a deep breath.

911 what's your emergency?....

[genevievefangirl]

2024 WRITING REVIEW

tagged by @ahyperactivehero (thanks friend!)

stress free tags!: @flowerbritts, @zmorak, @paraphwrites and anyone else who wants to do this!

number of stories posted to ao3: 2

word count posted for last year: 72,414

fandoms i wrote for: Dead Boy Detectives

pairings: Payneland with some background Palasaki

stories with the most kudos, bookmarks and comment threads:

Considering I only have 2 to pick from and one of them is monstrously long, the fic with the most kudos, bookmarks, and comment threads is My Life Ended When They Called Your Name - the Hunger Games AU for DBDA that no one asked for, but I decided to make my entire personality!

work i’m most proud of (and why):

My Life Ended When They Called Your Name and not solely because it is the long one!

Firstly, it is my first fanfic ever and it got me to start writing in the first place so it holds a special place in my heart. Secondly, when I started posting it, I never expected the response it has gotten. It just broke 400 kudos last week and I am blown away! People are leaving such nice comments all the time and I love each and every person who is reading it with all my heart ❤️

work i’m least proud of (and why):

Considering I only have 2, this spot has to be taken by Don't Leave Me which feels unfair to me so I will talk about why I also love it lol

Don't Leave Me was first drafted around 2:30 in the morning when I was feeling super down about myself. I just felt so lonely and like everything was awful. So, for some reason, I decided to pull out my laptop and start writing about it in fic form and this fic was the result (after some editing lol). It honestly helped me a lot that night.

share or describe a favorite review you received: I had to pick one from my very good friend @thepopsicle cause their comments always make me laugh

Charles is obviously a guard dog - we all know it's true!

a time when writing was really, really hard: November. I think I was pushing myself to write too hard to the point that it stopped being fun for a bit and felt more like a chore. Once I loosened up about my upload schedule and gave myself more space to breathe it became easier.

a scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

Niko. When I started trying to write her she was really challenging, but as I kept going with the story she got easier and easier.

a favorite excerpt of your writing:

It is very hard for me to remember specific lines except for when I am actively editing a chapter, but this section sticks out for me since it is where the title of My Life Ended When They Called Your Name comes from and I am particularly proud of it.

Charles looks like he has been slapped, “Duty? Is that the reason you think I’m here?” He walks closer to Edwin and puts his hands on his shoulders, “I am here because I care about you, Edwin! You’re my best mate, I don’t want to see you hurt either. I couldn’t just stay at home and watch, not when I could do something about it. You are the most important person in the world to me, there is nothing I won’t do for you. I’m not here because of some fucked up obligation or whatever reason you’ve got in your head.” Pausing, Charles takes a breath, and his voice eases as he continues, “I don’t think you understand. My life ended when they called your name. There is nothing left for me back home without you. I am here because I want to be here.”

how did you grow as a writer last year:

Considering I wasn't a writer before this year, I grew quite a bit! 😂

I honestly never thought I would write and was content to stay a reader forever, but then I joined the DBDA fandom and an idea hit me and refused to leave!

who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer, beta, cheerleader, etc.)

Everyone in the DBDA Haunt server. You guys are all amazing people and I wouldn't have gotten this far without you. Particular shout-outs must go to @thepopsicle for encouraging me from the beginning that my writing was worthy of going on AO3 and @flowerbritts for listening to me for HOURS on voice calls. But truly the entire server is full of wonderful people and I thank you all:

@ahyperactivehero, @dead-but-still-sarcastic, @zmorak, @makemeimmortalwithahug, @moonikabear

@dreamers-and-magicians, @steampunk-dandy, @tiny-caffeinated-panda and anyone else I forgot! (and I'm sorry if I did)

anything from your real life show up in your writing last year:

Many of my real emotions get incorporated into my writing that I won't go into specifics for. I feel like drawing on real life experience is necessary while writing and gives projects depth.

any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

Sorry to be boring in this advice, but just START! The hardest part of any project is deciding to begin (and pulling yourself back to work on it repeatedly). So just start. Decide you are going to write today and DO IT.

any projects you’re looking to starting (or finishing) this year?

I really want to finish My Life Ended When They Called Your Name (and its sequel which I am planning), but to be honest I'm not sure that is realistic since both of those will be crazy long, but I will certainly try! I also want to publish some other fics that I have in the works!

[graylinesspam]

Okay, there's been a lot of hot topic discussions about participating in fandom and the rules and expectations there in. Great discussions, I am loving the active shift to move back to a more traditional fandom etiquette. Being kinder, more supportive, more encouraging, ect, of creators is great. BUT lets be honest. It's not always easy. One of the biggest challenges we are facing right now is an environmental one. The worlds on fucking fire, we're all exhausted and scared and using our fandoms as escapism from everything else. That still doesn't give anyone the right to become entitled to fandom made media or to behave poorly in those spaces. But the tired and well meaning consumers of fandom who are just too burnt out to do much more than doomscroll are probably wondering how they can help to create a better environment without putting themselves out. I say this as someone who has been there, is there, and will be there again.

Structuring your fandom engagement can be immensely helpful for the fandom and your enjoyment of it. If you are suffering in any way and are just too exhausted to even think enough words to leave a comment on a fic. If your running on fumes and using a constant flow of fics, edits, ect to keep going. But you genuinely don't have the time to stop and engage with the media. If you are suffering from social anxiety and it's just too much to even try to shout into the void. Then this is my advice for you. Put it off.

Seriously.

As a fic writer myself I know how much writers sit on ao3 refreshing and waiting for hits and comments. I know how much I love receiving notifs on here for headcannon posts. And it is absolutely fact that creators must be interacted with and encouraged to make more content. But it is equally true that the media they make is meant to be enjoyed for the long term, not just the moment it comes out. And there are ways you can accommodate yourself.

starting with the things it doesn't actually take effort to do. The things you really should be doing right away. Like posts. leave kudos. use repost and reblog features of whatever platform you are using.

I know that in the past I have been held back from reblogging a post because I know that I will have thoughts on it. So I want to put it off until i have the time to get to it. But the truth of it is that there is no actual reason not to give the creator an empty reblog once or even more than once. Notifications feel good. The only thing that's discouraging you is that little social anxiety voice. I promise you it isn't embarrassing to reblog something more than once.

Creators won't think anything negative about you for doing so. If it's as easy as pushing a button. DO IT. Push the damn button.

And this goes well beyond just posted works too. If there's a discord chat you don't have the energy to way in on but your enjoying reading. Hit them with a reaction. If there's a post in the making with multiple creators discussing something, reblog it. Engage, hit that button baby

Now for the less demanding tasks, You feeling demand avoidant to engagement. You feeling nonverbal to a mental degree. Head empty no words? BUT your absolutely digging the content your consuming? Great. You can literally save it for later. Your allowed. If you need some kind of authoritative permission to be late to things, This is me granting it to you. There is no such equivalent to liking an old Instagram post (or whatever it is the youths stress about socially). You want to say something in the notes of a post you liked? there's a fun feature of this here blog site that lets you save posts as drafts. You would not believe the amount of drafts that I have saved. Some are years old. Some are kept as permanent references for other works that I come back to.

Your ever find yourself adding to a post just to lose steam half way through? don't delete that response. Save to draft.

You want to leave something nice in the notes of some fan art but can't for the life of you think any words? (There's always emojis) save to drafts. Come back to it later when you feel more up to it.

You're allowed to put thing off. You are not obligated to jump at all fandom engagement as tax for being in the fandom.

Now, that being said, you should still actually come back to that saved content. You want to know a secret about me? I am terrible at leaving comments.

I know as a fic write, I should be better at it, but I'm just not. I came to conclusion very quickly that feeling guilty about that only made me do it less. Less engagement is not the answer. So here are some easily employable tips for being better at leaving comments.

#1 don't...I mean, don't worry about it right away. You just finished a fic, you feel like you should leave a comment in appreciation. You are allowed to wait.

Personally I use my reading history on ao3 to keep track of my reading. I rarely leave a comment after having just finished a fic. Usually I wait for a good mental health day, (or a day where I have to urge to write but my brain won't let me actually work on a fic) and I go through my history and leave comments on all the fics I've read since the last time I did this. I usually do this between every month and every other month.

I gave this advice to a friend of mine a couple years ago and she has decided to make a personal tag in her bookmarks that she uses to keep track of fics she plans on commenting on later.

I have also personally used the PRIVATE bookmark feature as a way to take notes on fics while reading them so I remember what I wanted to comment on later. Since these notes are nearly ineligible to anyone but me. And since they're invisable to the author, this feels private and organized enough for my brain to handle.

I find that this method not only make me feel good for spreading joy across the fandom in bursts but also sometimes lets me make more well thought out and articulate comments. It also allows me to go back and leave a comment on each chapter of a long fic with my thoughts, without disrupting my rhythm during reading. Which we know authors love getting a stream of new comments, so there's no need to feel bad about it.

#2 But wait, maybe you do want to leave a comment right away but don't have the words. Then you can leave an emoji or keyboard smash and just come back later to leave a better comment. Fun fact, you can, should, and are encouraged to leave multiple comments on the same fic/post. You are more than welcome to leave a string of emojis now and come back later. I personally just went back to a fic I read almost seven years ago just to leave a better comment. And while it's awesome to reread fics when you do this. You don't have to. I didn't this time. I just found myself thinking about the fic in question and wanted to say something that, at the time of reading, i just wasn't mature or educated enough to have put into words.

#3 Or maybe you just won't ever have the words to say exactly what you want. That's okay too. Sometimes concepts are just too big to get from you brain to your mouth. I hate it when it happens to me. And in the past it has felt very discouraging. But I promise you it's okay. There are about a million posts on this site giving you advice on how to word your comments so I won't use too much space up on that, but i will say, It's okay if all you can manage is an ok comment. Fanfiction comments are not something you need to have a good grade in. You are allowed to be dry. You are allowed to just say "I liked__ and __ and the way that you___", without elaborating. You do not have to explain yourself and all your thoughts in a comment. A compliment as simple as "I love the way you write." Is perfectly fine.

#4 Head empty, only blorbo? telling people you love the trope they're writing, or a headcannon you like about the character that they included is great to. Or something included in a drawing. As fun as it is to receive an annotated analysis on something, it's actually not mandatory for you to talk to someone about their actual writing or drawing skills. Sometimes all your brain wants is to think about the character or the headcannon or the scenario. And that's ok. Clearly the creator wants to as well, if they wrote about it.

The core of all of this advice is not to put too much pressure on yourself. Fandom is being consumed too fast and left behind to quickly. It's okay to take your time with things, Yes even if you also find yourself chasing the dopamine. You can like the latest trendy fandom, and also use any of the above methods to keep track of the whirlwind of content your eating through, and come back to it later. You can also use que features to space out your reblogs of some fandom content to spread out the appreciation.

If you are for some reason embarrassed to blow through someone's blog or fics, use the que feature. Making comments in a private bookmark and then add them to the fic later.

You are allowed to take things at your own pace. Fandom isn't just for right now. It's for the long term, but only if you continue to engage with it.

[itsbrittanybiitch]

not really a question per se or maybe it will be when I finally get all my thoughts out but throughout the hole and fake I was ruining for Eleanor like so much like I honestly feel bad for her the most out of everyone besides Simon and whatever stuff is going on right now. But now I don’t think I could sympathize with her more as I did in the beginning because like she is getting more un rational to me? like odk how to explain it 😭 but like her are always budging on britney and Alvin for good reason, but then they never make an effort to let them see their wrong ways. They can’t just really say something to somebody and expect them to change. You could yell at somebody all you want, but actions speak louder than words also in like the newest chapter, she was kind of a hypocrite.  like she didn’t like Alvin and britt for talking about those kids from the debate team but yet when she went to her friends, she literally let her friends start talking about Alvin and britney even if she did say it was fine for them to talk and even if she knew some of the stuff they were saying is true that’s kind of hypocritical. 

also, I really like how y’all do both the britney and Eleanor seen where like Eleanor is is having a nice moment with Jeanette and then britney sees it cause I don’t know this whole fanfic I’ve just felt bad for britt. maybe it’s cause I like the color pink but every time I just see something bad happened to her. I just wanna be there to hug her. 😭

i’m like really sad for her too because when the more I think about this whole fan as a whole, I realize how she really doesn’t have that big of a friend group people to influence her well because she was first friends and popular and she’s not like her regular friends I want her to get some friends of her own. 

(IM SORRY FOR THE RANTING IM JUST TOO PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS FIC🧍‍♀️)

but yeah, I feel like I’m like misunderstanding at these character on a whole different side like cause she’s such a good character. I love her and I’d like room for her and theater so bad but I don’t know I feel like her and bringing stuff another shout out like they did before

and I really want her to get like out of the drama that she’s in with like all of them popular girls (I forgot there names sorry😭)

but I also want her to stop treating britt as if she can’t handle herself like YEAH I know britt wasn’t OK after the whole thing with Jessica and whatever but still I feel like telling her what help better because it’s technically britt’s fault like as much as I hate to say that, and I don’t think anyone’s really at fault it’s her fault that Eleanor has to be through fear, but like it would help bonding cause y’all both have something to bond over?

But yeah😭 i talk too much and im probably gonna send another ask but I also just wanna see how much I love y’all fanfic It’s like my favorite ever like if I’m not gonna lie like every time I read it just get like the sudden urge to listen to Alvin and the chipmunks songs and watched movies over and over again and watch the shows so I love you all for that



I think you need to try and see the story from Eleanor's perspective. Imagine your entire life has revolved around your sister, and despite going through your own struggles, hers always come at first priority? That would be frustrating, and as a 15 yo girl, Eleanor isn't going to handle all of that (ON TOP of the current threats she just got btw) in a completely mature and rational way. Sure, she is usually the more level-headed of the chipettes, but she is still a child. She doesn't HAVE to be rational 24/7, and she shouldn't have to be! She is also going to make mistakes and say things she doesn't mean. Hell, she was mean to Brittany in the pie chapter, but immediately apologized. There is only so much one person can take before they reach their breaking point.

I don't think she's a hypocrite for letting Dom's friends talk about Alvin and Brittany. They were talking about things the two have done in the past, and Eleanor knows the two very well. She wouldn't let anyone say things about them that weren't true. Little Jimmy and Abigail were talking about individuals that they didn't know very well. THAT was what frustrated Eleanor.

I think you can feel bad for Brittany and root for Eleanor at the same time. Yes, Brittany is going through a LOT, and her realization that her relationship with Eleanor and Jeanette isn't as strong as she'd like it to be is going to contribute to that pain, but it's not necessarily Eleanor or Jeanette's fault either. They are not obligated to make sure that she feels secure all the time. Imagine that one of your siblings is much better at recognizing your feelings and understanding what you need. You too would go to them more often than the other, even if it was unintentional. This is going to contribute to Brittany's arc later, trust.

Don't apologize for sending long asks! If I didn't answer everything it's bc I missed it or misread it but I hope this clears things up! Sometimes things can get misinterpreted which is part of why I opened this up! It's better to see where the creators are coming from. Ask away! I eagerly await your other asks! :)

[practically-an-x-man]

Person A has a nightmare and snaps at person B afterwards. It turns into a big fight. They feel bad about it but are unsure about how to apologize.

Ooooh this definitely reads as Eris not quite understanding humanity....

____ Dead of Night

Word Count: 2.4k Content Warnings: swearing, heavy verbal argument, angst with a happy ending

____

He felt Rick shift in the middle of the night.

All at once she was startled awake. She'd always been a light sleeper - a habit built from a lifetime of battle. It was rare that they slept at all, at least before they met Rick. Perhaps living with him had made them soft. He'd never have imagined taking so much time, every single night, just for rest he didn't need.

But it felt nice. Most of the time.

They sat up, blinking in the darkness, to find Rick tossing and turning on his sleep. Once, his breath hitched unpleasantly, and a low groan escaped his lips. Eris frowned.

"Rick?" they muttered, "Rick- hey, wake up! What's going on? What's wrong?"

She put a hand on his shoulder, and he jolted upright all at once. For the briefest instant, the sudden motion sent Eris' heart thundering in his chest. Then it passed, and he squinted at Rick's hunched, guarded form.

"What the hell happened?" His words came out too sharp, thick with emotions they didn't want to acknowledge. Hell- she hardly wanted to acknowledge that she was sharing a bed with him at all, or all the strange feelings that stirred up. "Are you... sick? Did something happen out in the field today?"

"It's called a nightmare," Rick huffed, running a hand over his face with a grimace, "Normal people have them sometimes."

"I know what a fucking nightmare i-" Eris started, but froze as they finally processed his words, "Normal people?"

He expected Rick to wince, to take back the words, to reach out and set his hand on their arm or their back in one of his tactile comforts. But Rick didn't move. He didn't even meet Eris' eyes.

"Yeah. Normal people. Because normal people don't get to sleep peacefully when they do the things you do." His voice was nearly a growl when he started, but the longer he spoke, the more it turned into a shout, "Normal people don't fucking laugh when they cut off a person's head! Normal people definitely don't count the number of people they kill- or turn it into some kind of goddamn competition!"

Eris flinched at the words. Conflict roiled within her, along with... something else. Something that didn't want to fight, and instead wanted to find a dark hole to crawl into and hibernate for the next hundred years. He didn't know what that was. He didn't like it. So he chose conflict instead.

"Is that all I am, then? A way to make you feel better about your own violence?" they hissed, sliding out of the bed. They needed distance. She wasn't sure why she'd ever agreed to share a bed with him- or with anyone.

Eris bared his teeth, glaring at Rick in the darkness, "Because no matter what you do, I've done worse, is that it? No matter how many people you shoot, no matter how many times you step into that field, I've killed more people, stepped onto more battlegrounds. You justify your kills in the name of Uncle Sam, and you justify your guilt in the name of Eris. I see."

"What you do gives me nightmares." Rick snapped, finally meeting her eyes. His were tired, bloodshot, rimmed with red. "And if you had any shred of morality, it would give you nightmares too."

That made Eris recoil. He'd never claimed to have upstanding morals. He'd never really claimed to have morals at all. Once in a while she tried, just for the hell of it, but it never really stuck.

But somehow it was different to hear it from Rick.

"Fine." they hissed, "Go ahead. Put it all on me. As if you've lived some perfect life. As if you don't deserve to remember the violence you've caused. As if I'm the only one in this room that has blood on their hands. Go on."

Her fingers were twitching for a weapon. Her body thrummed like a freshly plucked bowstring. Conflict danced through him, sharpened his senses, made his posture tighten and his muscles tense.

And Eris grimaced.

They wanted a fight- but not that kind of fight. There was only so much damage one could do with words. But the physical? That was worse. Worlds worse. If he let himself start there... he wasn't sure where he'd stop.

And he couldn't stand the thought.

Eris took a step back. The one saving grace was that Rick hadn't spoken - he seemed to have finally recognized his words, and had begun to flounder in a half-asleep scramble for vocabulary. If he'd said anything else, just one more taunt, their control might have snapped. The promise of a fight already swirled in her chest, sour and caustic like her heart was pumping bleach instead of blood.

"I think I should go." she managed, her voice coming out rougher and quieter than she meant it, "Before things get worse."

"Fine. Go." Rick muttered, waving a careless hand in her direction. He opened his mouth to say more, but paused. He must have seen something on their face.

Eris slipped out the door and disappeared into the night.

____

He wandered for a while. He wasn't entirely sure where - just walking the city, putting ground under his feet, breathing in the cool night air. She avoided the local pubs and bars, anywhere that was still active this time of the night. There was bound to be conflict there. And Eris didn't want to do anything he'd regret.

Wow. Regret. That one was new for him.

No. Not quite. She didn't regret anything she'd done. She didn't regret the blood on her hands, the life that had faded under her fingertips. They couldn't say they didn't care, because that wasn't quite true, but they didn't regret it. It was over so quickly... and why waste so much emotion on things that couldn't be taken back?

He was wandering a park on the far side of the city when he was bathed in the yellow glow of headlights. He expected the car to pass in a moment, but the headlights only grew brighter as it neared. Finally they died - not because the car had passed them, but because the driver had parked it at the sidewalk and killed the engine.

"Eris!"

Rick. Of course. He sounded more alert then before, and looked a little more put-together - he'd clearly thrown an outfit together in the dark and half-asleep, but at least he was dressed - and he held up his hands as he approached. His truck pinged as the engine began to cool.

"How did you know I was here?" They weren't quite the words she expected to cross her lips. He'd definitely softened her. Anyone else would've been killed, or at least abandoned where they stood. But... not Rick.

He wordlessly lifted a hand, gesturing at something above her head. Eris twisted around, finally noticing the bronze soldier on horseback above their head. Of course. He'd found his way to a war monument - an echo of past conflict, familiar comfort, where else?

Eris just sighed, wandering back towards the statue and hopping up onto its tall concrete base. They sat there, feet dangling over the sidewalk. The stone was cold underneath her, and Eris realized he was still in his nightclothes. She quickly found herself shivering. She was built for much warmer climates than this.

"Did you fight in this one?" Rick asked, gesturing again at the statue over her head. Eris shrugged.

"The battle or the war?"

"Either."

"Not this one. But I fought up north. Pennsylvania." he answered, "We won."

"So you fought for the Union. The North. That's good." Rick said, "For a second I was worried you were fightin' for the wrong side."

Eris scoffed.

"Nobody ever thinks their side is the wrong side," they pointed out, "Everyone's got justification for what they do. And I'm sure I've fought for more 'wrong' sides than right ones."

"Alright," Rick agreed, taking long strides to join her at the base of the statue. He slid onto the concrete pedestal, sitting beside her and fixing her with his eyes. "So why this one?"

He was using it as an in. He was using it as an excuse to sit down, to get closer, to keep Eris from shoving him aside and running off again. They could see that, clear as day. But... they decided to let it slide.

"Humans have this... bad habit of assigning this completely unjustified value to each others' lives." Eris said with a low grimace, "I can't stand it. No life is more valuable than another."

Rick opened his mouth to speak, then reconsidered it. Eris could see the gears turning in his mind, trying to find the right words for his thoughts.

"No life is more valuable." he echoed after a few long moments, "That sounds... pacifistic to me. It sounds very..."

"Anti-conflict? Anti-Eris?" she finished for him, then shook her head, "You misunderstand. People deserve to die. Some more than others. But they deserve to die for their actions, not for their life alone. That's not pacifism, and it's not morality. It's just... fairness."

"What do you mean?"

He still didn't get it. Of course he didn't. Life and morality were intertwined to him. And that placed so-called "good morals" and violence innately at odds, at least without justification. And everybody had justification.

Eris sighed, rubbing at his scar-crossed knuckles. He hoped he could explain his thoughts.

"Baby Rick Flag and baby Hitler and baby.... um- who's, like, a good person? Like a really good person?"

"...Malala?" Rick offered.

"Alright." Eris said, splaying their hands out in front of them, "Baby Rick Flag and baby Hitler and baby Malala all deserve the chance to grow up. Regardless of who they'll become. Because nobody knows who they'll become. I've killed people who didn't deserve it. I've spared people who didn't deserve it. And if I'd been there, if I'd had the chance, I'd have cut off Adolf Hitler's head and mounted it on a pike like the old kings. But not for the weight of his life. For the weight of his actions. For the blood on his hands. That's the distinction."

Rick thought about this for a moment.

"You know that makes you-"

"A hypocrite? Sure." Eris agreed with a shrug, "Everyone's a hypocrite. By my own logic, my actions state that I deserve to die. There's more blood on my hands than I'm due. I know that. I won't shy away from it. I'm sure there are plenty of people that want to cut off my head for all that I've done. And I would deserve it. But that doesn't mean I'll lay down and accept the guillotine when one of them comes for me."

Rick was silent for a long time. Eris found themself anxious for the next words out of his mouth, whatever they would be.

"So that's how you pick your sides." he finally said, "You won't fight for any side that's slaughtering people for existing."

"Yeah." Eris sighed, "Slaughtering, enslaving... it doesn't matter. Everyone deserves the chance to exist on their own terms. Regardless of what they do with it."

"Hm." Rick sighed, but turned his head to offer her a crooked smile, "There's a few world leaders who could take a note from you."

"I've got a list. They'll be taken care of."

"I'm sure they will."

He didn't even sound surprised. Let alone disgusted. It was certainly an upgrade from his words earlier in the night... though those still echoed painfully in Eris' head. When had she started caring so much about what Rick thought? And why? Any human was a blink against her lifespan, and Rick especially dove into battle like he thought he was immortal. As much as that endeared him to Eris... it scared them just as much. How many years did he get before he was gone?

Or had things already fallen apart?

Eris was speaking before she realized it.

"Do I really give you nightmares?"

"Yes," Rick admitted, and she found herself vaguely surprised when he didn't move away. Rick stared at his hands, refusing to meet their eyes. Finally he shrugged. "But what I do gives me nightmares too. Taxes give me nightmares. Jurassic Park used to give me nightmares. It's irrational. Happens to everyone once in a while. I shouldn't have... shouldn't have pushed that all on you."

"I'm sure I made it worse, though."

That brought Rick's eyes to hers, and his brow crinkled.

"You didn't. It's just-"

"I did." Eris insisted, "It's... what I am. Conflict gets worse around me. Battles grow bloodier, arguments turn into fistfights. Bad dreams become nightmares. Maybe I made a mistake in living with you. If you can't sleep when you share your space with me..."

"No. Eris- I want you to stay."

For another person, that wouldn't have been enough. It wasn't an apology. He didn't take back what he'd said before. It... wasn't quite right.

But neither was Eris. And an invitation to stay, despite the turmoil their very presence would cause- did cause- was as good as an apology anyway. Words alone felt hollow, and Eris didn't deal in regret; he dealt in action. This was action.

In the silence that stretched between them, Rick stripped off his jacket and tucked it around Eris' shoulders. It was only that motion that made them realize they were still shivering.

"That wasn't an invitation to get all soft on me, Flag." she muttered, though she had to bite the inside of her cheek to stifle the smile that threatened to creep free. Up until they'd met Rick, they'd thought chivalry had died decades before. It was painfully charming to see him made the exception.

Rick scoffed, though Eris could see amusement glimmering deep in his eyes. This was familiar. They both recognized that.

"Fine. Give me my jacket back, then."

"No," he countered, selfishly burrowing deeper into the fabric. He stayed rooted their for a moment, savoring the warmth and the faint smell of Rick's cologne, then finally sighed and slid off the pedestal. She took quick steps towards Rick's truck, his jacket still tucked tight around her shoulders. "Let's go."

He heard Rick chuckle behind him, accompanied soon by the jingle of keys.

"Sure thing, doll. Homeward bound?"

"If by home you mean your apartment... yes." Eris obliged him, tracing their fingers idly along the worn lining of his jacket. They wondered how long he'd had it. "And turn the heater up."

"As you wish."

[drowninginredink]

Okay rant time. Because if you're following me, you at least tolerate my aro bullshit. I'm going to say things I really shouldn't say, at all, ever, because I am just done. You have been warned. If you're offended by it, that is your fault. I am going to mention specifics and let me be clear. No one has done anything wrong. But people do hurt me without meaning to and without doing anything that's objectively bad and I'm just tired of biting my tongue. I don't feel seen or heard, and I'm feeling like maybe if I just shout a little louder that will change. I'm probably wrong, but ignoring these feelings hasn't worked, so I've got to try something else.

I just. I'm sick of it. Sick of always starting out loving fics in the beginning, when we're in the friends portion of friends-to-lovers, and then inevitably, no matter how much I'm in love with the whole fic, it always turns romantic eventually and my affection diminishes. And sure, that doesn't make me not like it, or hate it, but now I'm looking at all these feelings I don't experience and feeling like an alien. Again. For the millionth time.

I'm sick of every fic that I see people cooing over being romantic. Especially when it's too romantic for me to even do my usual thing of reading it anyway and just trying to enjoy what I can. I'm just so sick of seeing everyone worship one particular person on here (and this is not to call them out. They have done nothing wrong. And if you're mutuals with me, I can promise you it isn't you) when they write stuff that's so romantic it sent me into a crisis because normally I do not think about how everyone else thinks so fundamentally differently to me. But I could not even comprehend these feelings they had a character experience and had to ask a friend if allos actually feel that way. It was a good fic, and it wasn't their fault because everyone has a right to write whatever they want, but it wrecked my shit and not in the good way. And just, seeing everyone talk about how that fic was great murders me because it is just proof that the entire world is not like me and does not understand me.

I'm tired of people telling me that they would never write the relationships that are the ones I want. I shouldn't say that, because everyone has a right to write whatever they want, and you all are perfectly nice people who I don't want to piss off and who are my mutuals and are my friends even, but goddamn I'm sick of pretending that it doesn't absolutely fucking kill me that you all look at the kind of relationships I want to have, and the kind of life I want to live, and you cannot put yourself in my shoes for even a thousand words. You can't comprehend living like me. Do you know how much of a slap in the face that is? That you can't even try it once? Do you know how many times I've written romantic shit? But you can't even think about living like I intend to live. For my entire fucking life. I know I shouldn't feel entitled to anyone writing anything but goddamn I'm sick of swallowing my feelings when I'm expected to empathize with romance all the time, but people can say "yeah I'd never ever write that" to my face as if that's a decent thing to say and they don't expect me to be hurt and offended. And I know I'm a dick for that because it is awful to expect anyone to write anything but... The fact that people can say that to my face and expect me to be perfectly understanding. No. Actually. It hurts.

AND THEN SOMEONE DOES SOMETHING I SHOULD LIKE, SHOULD LOVE, IS EXACTLY THE THING I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR PEOPLE BESIDES JUST ME TO DO... AND THEY DO AN AROMANTIC ERASURE. BECAUSE ONLY ASEXUALS EVER EXIST. GOD FORBID. DIDN'T YOU KNOW THAT ACES EXCLUSIVELY INVENTED AND POPULARIZED QPRS? WELL OF COURSE THEY DID, BECAUSE EVEN IF AROMANTICS LIKE THEM TOO, THE ONLY AROMANTICS THAT EXIST ARE AROMANTIC ASEXUALS, OBVIOUSLY.

I just. I'm not going to stop doing any of what I'm doing. I still will be out here writing and reading and pushing my aro agenda. I probably should pull away from fandom if it's causing me this much grief... But to do what? Take in normal media that's also allo as fuck? Listen to all my music that's also about romance? Watch movies and TV shows with romantic subplots to ignore? Stop writing things that make me genuinely happy? Expect people to read my fics but not read anyone else's? Stick to the same 3 podcasts that used to be pretty much the only media I was taking in and maybe now I'm realizing that's because they are all very platonic in vibe?

And it also doesn't help that according to that poll this fandom is apparently 50% arospec and yet I see no one else complaining. Ever. And to be fair, I guess I didn't either before this post. I guess you all must just be biting your tongues like me. Well. For the moment I'm done. And if anyone actually read this and heard me and can relate, please do feel free to let me know I'm not alone, because I sure fucking feel it. I shouldn't feel it. I've seen the kudos numbers on my aro fics. Kudos numbers that high should prove something. But they don't apparently. Apparently I just think every one of them is an alloromantic who is glad to read about my experience for one story, but then goes back to their little lives of only thinking about romance.

I just. I'm tired of writing my own representation. I want someone else to do it too. Someone who I didn't have to ask to do it. I appreciate everyone who does encourage me or take my prompts or enthuse over my headcanons and fics but I am still very aware that I had to be the person to think of it first.

I like writing. I can't stop. I don't know what I'd do with myself if I stopped. Well, I do know. I'd go back to what I was doing before, which was mostly spending too much time playing video games on my phone. I like being creative with my time instead. I just wish I didn't feel like an outsider in my own community. I wish I didn't have to start a whole project to make space for myself. I wish I didn't feel obnoxious for talking about being aro every other word because hey, this fandom is apparently 50% aro, and all of the rest of them can shut up about it and enjoy fics like a normal person.

But how can I shut up and enjoy fics like a normal person when no matter what fandom I venture into, it's all romance and I'm not a normal person about romance at all? Some aros fucking love shipping! And I'm not even fucking romance repulsed, so I should have a better tolerance! I can deal with romance! I even like it sometimes, even if truthfully what I probably really like is the sexual and emotional connections between the characters. But it just... I guess I'm tired of tolerating it when it would be nicer if I could either like it or never read it again.

And then my friends say things like "just so you know, this fic might be too romantic for you" and I get annoyed by that, too, because I don't want to be seen as someone who can't tolerate romance like a normal adult, and because I do like a lot of things in romantic fics. They often have really good connection and sexual dynamics and emotional dynamics, even if I can't get behind the sappy stuff and that does taint it for me. I'm not just going to avoid them because then I'm missing a whole lot of good shit and there's not exactly much left when you take it all out. But then I bitch and react badly when stuff is romantic. Because apparently I can't just be fucking happy.

I don't know. We live in an alloromantic world. And I had been doing a fantastic job of really enjoying life because I just wasn't noticing that. But now I do see it. And I can't unsee it. And I wish I could. And I've been trying to vent to people, and they're nice... But I just get the feeling that none of them really feel the way I do, even when they're aro or arospec too. So I guess I decided maybe I should try shouting into tumblr instead.

And I know this post is going to bite me in the ass really hard when the people I'm ranting about read it, and I should just talk to them like an adult, but I just can't ever see those conversations ending in any way that I'm satisfied with. They end with me just having to say that I'm an asshole for being insulted by the fact that they won't write what I'd like to see. So instead I'm doing this and hoping they don't click read more. Stop being my friend for it. I don't blame you.

[luveline]

okok if you'd be into it, maybe Roan seeing reader in the supermarket and slipping away from Eddie to go and say hi? like he looks down from where he was reading the label on something and just panics 'cause wheredidshegoohmygod

you are the GOAT babe! absolutely best idea ever ever I owe u my life. kind of single dad Eddie losing his mind while u and his kid bond <3 | fem!reader

Eddie's completely unaware that you're even at Bradley's Big Buy. Him and Roan have only stopped by for some princess bandaids to cover her skimmed knees. She's calmer now she knows the princess bandaids are an inevitability, but she'd been near inconsolable on the drive here.

"You feeling better?" he asks hopefully, swinging her small hand gently as he walks.

He's taking slow steps to match her. They've made a one minute walk to the toiletries into five minutes and counting.

"Maybe," she says.

He almost regrets teaching her the word 'maybe'. Everything is maybe these days.

"What can I do to get a 'yes', huh?"

She wriggles her fingers in his. He gives her a nice squeeze and waits hopefully, pulling her past the aisle of shampoos and then the aisle of deodorants to the one beside it, first aid and ointments and things.

"Y/N," she says with surety.

"She's coming over again next week, babe."

"Now?" she says, or asks.

He stops in front of the plasters. "I wish, sweetheart. Alright, here's the bandaids... But where..." He frowns at the lack of pink bandaids and kneels down to search for them. There's puppies and sharks and fall leaves, but no princesses. He drops Roan's hand to push a box of plain bandaids aside. "You got along so well, I know she's excited to see you too, but I can't just ask her to come over. Well, maybe I can. How many dates do you go on before you..." He peers behind the boxes. Not a princess in sight.

He pulls away. "Baby, I don't think they have any-" Eddie stops short, a placating speech caught in his throat when he realises his daughter is nowhere to be seen.

"Roan?" he asks. With no time for her to answer, he repeats, "Roan?" loudly, loud enough to draw stares.

He swings his gaze one way and then the other, praying for a hint of her. The bounce of her little dark bunches or the flare of her dress dungarees.

Roan can hear her dad calling her, she just doesn't care. She'd seen you standing in the shampoo aisle debating between bottles and needed to come and see you.

You shrug and drop a blue bottle that brags moisture and definition into the basket and go to move to the deodorants in the next aisle when you feel something tug your skirt.

You look down and see a little kid.

"Hi, baby, are you lo- Roan?"

Hard to confuse her honey brown eyes for anyone else, you stop short when you realise it's Eddie's baby.

Roan finally has confirmation that it's you and shouts exuberantly, "Y/N!"

Your heart melts. Capital M, melts. You're putty in her tiny hands. "Well hi, princess."

She beams wide as she can and holds up her arms. It's a struggle to pull her into your chest — you're not as adept as juggling her with one full hand as Eddie is and you doubt you ever will be — but you make up for your clumsiness with pure adoration. She's just as pretty as her dad and twice as charming, wrapping her arms around your neck and ducking her forehead to your collar in a hug.

"Aw," you croon, patting her back. "Hi, baby. How are you?"

"I got an owie," she says very quietly. There's a soft whine to her voice like she might cry.

You encourage her head back to look at her. "Yeah? What have you hurt, sweetheart? And where's your daddy?"

You look over her head suddenly, half-expecting Eddie to be standing there watching. He's not. The aisle is completely empty. You walk to the end of the aisle in hopes that he's gonna be coming around the corner. No dice.

"Roan, where's daddy?" you ask seriously.

She looks as pensive as a three year old can. "I want the princess ones."

"Princess what?" you ask distractedly, eyes searching the store for Eddie.

Music plays loudly over the speakers, an old Bowie song. You can barely hear her answer. "For the owies."

You make a decision without thinking. Yes, Eddie's probably very worried that Roan isn't with him, but she keeps talking about a mysterious owie and you'd found her by herself, so you prioritise her hurting over his.

Sorry, Eddie, you think.

"What did you hurt? D'you wanna show me?"

She points down.

You hold her away from you (kind of, this carrying thing is hard) and find the rips in her thick wool tights edged in red.

"Oh no! You poor girl, I know that must've hurt. Did daddy kiss them better?" you ask sympathetically, wincing as you assess the surface scrapes on her knees. Bloody, but with no deep cuts you think she'll be okay.

"Yeah," she says tearfully. To your horror, her eyes start to well up. You've reminded her that she's hurting. It's not a good move.

"Oh no," you repeat, rubbing up and down the breadth of her back.

She's heavier than she looks and your basket makes your wrist ache but you refuse to put her down. Her crumpled face strikes a fear like God and you reckon putting her down will make it a whole lot worse.

You've yet to see her tantrum as Eddie promises she does. This feels awful enough, you decide, to see her actually upset about something. You flail to make her feel better.

"What can I do, sweetheart? Shall we go find you some bandaids?" you ask softly. She nod slow and rubs her eyes with her fists.

You hike her up your chest and move out of the aisle. As soon as you do you're almost knocked over, a fast-moving body smashing into your basket and tugging your arm. You shriek and Roan shrieks and Eddie stops in front of you, dark curls framing a frantic face, and says, "Thank fuck."

"Don't repeat that," you tell Roan.

"Y/N," Eddie says. Your name is sweet on his lips, affection and relief and gratitude. "Oh my god."

He laughs and then keels over.

"Eddie!" You drop your basket and it slams to the floor, reaching for his back.

"I'm okay!" he says, equally abrupt and stressed. He scratches two hands through his hair before he emerges and scrapes it all away from his cheeks, eyes bright.

He takes a deep breath. His chest rises.

His laugh is nice. You've heard it before. This one is sunshine in sound.

"I think I just had a heart attack."

"Oh my god."

"You're in my bad books," he says to Roan pointedly, glaring.

She glares back. It's amazing to you how they mimic each other, intentionally or otherwise. Twin scrunched noses, twin sloped eyebrows.

Then he dips forward and kisses her sloppy on the cheek. His smell washes over you, the unmistakable stick of engine oil hidden by too much laundry detergent. It's endearing. It makes you want a kiss on the cheek too.

"Baby," he says, voice all drama. It takes you a while to realise he's speaking to you. "I owe you my life."

"Well... actually, I think it might've been my fault. She knew it was me and-" Your eyes blow wide. "Eddie, she skimmed her knees."

"I know," he says, reaching out to squeeze your shoulder. You can feel the clear indent of every finger pressing into your skin. "That's why we're here, for princess bandaids."

He rolls his eyes as if to say, what can you do? Though his voice had been so soft when he'd reassured you, like he'd understood the stress. Well, of course he had. He knows it better than you ever could.

"Princess bandaids," you repeat, stroking a rogue curl out of Roan's eyes. She shys at your tone, fondness for her doubled now you have some context. Princess ones, princess bandaids.

"You heard about 'em?" Eddie asks knowingly.

"All about 'em." You remember yourself and move your hands to under her armpits. "Speaking of..."

Eddie holds his hands out and takes her. Upset in remembering her injured knees she goes without a fuss, clearly craving her dad's comfort. She tucks her face into his neck and all but disappears into his hair. Eddie wraps her up tight, the last bit of nervous tension he'd been holding slipping away.

"We should go get some," he finishes.

You shift onto the side of your foot. "Maybe I can help look?" you ask.

Eddie grins at you. It's a cheeky kind of smile.

I see through you, it says.

"What do you think, baby? Think Y/N can come help us find some bandaids for your owie?" he murmurs.

She mutters something into his neck. He whispers something back, pats the top of her shoulders, and kisses her head.

"What'd she say?" you ask apprehensively.

Your awkward smile must amuse him, must endear him, something, because he smiles at you with his lashes kissing in the corners and elbows you with a great laugh.

"She asked if you'd kiss her owies too."

Oh my god. "Of course I will."

"That's what I told her," he says.

You pick up your basket and trip over yourself as you follow him into the first aid aisle. You're frenetic and awkward under Eddie's steady gaze, a bumbling mess of nerves and shakey giggles, but when it's your turn to kiss Roan's scraped knees, you're perfect.

-

more eddie n roan

[kimbap-r0ll]

Hello! Hope you are taking care of yourself.

If it is okay, and hasn’t been done before, may I ask you a twisted wonderland scenario. I would like to read one involving the Octotrio (separately) and a half merperson s/o. I was thinking the s/o is fully human without a merform,but is perfectly fine breathing underwater without a potion.

Sorry if this has been done before.

Hi, thank you for the ask! This is really interesting, hope you like it!

Azul, Jade, Floyd x half-merperson!reader

Azul

He wouldn't have guessed you could breathe underwater without magic until you showed him one day. You also suggested visiting his home during the break, which he would've wholeheartedly supported had it not been for his self-esteem issues

He thinks he looks hideous in his merform, but that insecurity was something you could relate to. Whenever you visited your mother, who was a mermaid, you could feel the stares of other merfolk and the whispers about your identity from your classmates. You didn't feel like you belonged on land nor under the sea. That was why when you met Azul, you understood his position and if anything helped him heal from his old scars. He also made a promise to help you in your journey of self-healing as well

The two of you probably don't go underwater often because of schoolwork but also because you two don't really like going back home. However, it is a bit fun to race from time to time (though he always loses)

I feel like he would be really chill with your status as a half merperson. He thinks it's something you should be proud of and not ashamed of at all. If anything, he loves you for who you are. Besides, you're the best of both worlds!

Jade

He thought you were completely human because of your vast knowledge in above-the-sea nature. However, you surprised him when you chased him underwater when trying to get Ace and Deuce's contracts removed haha

He doesn't have any issues with you being half-human, he's just a very curious person and will ask a lot of questions. How is it like being able to breathe underwater but not having the form of a merperson? How did your parents meet? Things like that. Let him know if the questions are awkward though since he doesn't want to seem insincere

The two of you probably spend more time above water because he likes the land more than the sea. He'll often take you on walks and you two probably go mushroom hunting together. It's a lot of just calm fun. However, if you ever decide to visit him back in your hometown he'll gladly accept

Similar to Azul he loves you for who you are. Whoever tries to hurt you for your identity will end up getting scared off by Jade (or worse they could get beat up). He's a bit protective of you, so expect an arm around your waist during most walks

Floyd

Pushed you into a lake for fun but realized you weren't coming out of the water after a long time. He started to get worried but when he dived in he saw you just sitting in there and like waiting to scare him back. "YOU CAN BREATHE?!" he probably shouts and you laugh while nodding

He thinks it's really cool that you can be both human and merperson at the same time, though he would've thought it would be cool to see you in a merform. However he still loves you for who you are, and if you can breathe underwater that means you two can race in the sea as well

Floyd is more of a water person than his brother, so you two might have swim dates a lot. The school isn't that far from a seashore so you two might hang out around there a lot. He likes to take you on fast swims or just sit in the water with you while talking. It's a nice calm feeling. However, the two of you might also enjoy playing basketball together, which he always gets competitive about and you two usually bet buying each other dinner haha

Similar to Jade he's a bit protective. Anyone who tries to make fun of you for being half merperson will likely get squeezed :/. Just know that he truly loves you for who you are and thinks you're amazing. Who knows, he'll probably invite you over to his place over the break!

[blzzrdstryr]

I'd love to see a darling escaping fatui edition, good luck ever getting away.

I am not going to do all of the Harbingers bc there's not enough leaks for me to create a solid idea of them. ALSO LEAKS, IF YOU WANT TO AVOID THEM DON'T READ THIS POST.

CW: Yandere themes, non consensual body modification(Sandrone), physical, verbal and emotional abuse, confinement, drugging

Characters: Tartaglia, Sandrone, Columbina, Pantalone, Arlecchino, Il Dottore

The success of your escape depends mostly on the Harbinger, some of them will even let you flee. There are yans who like playing cat and mouse with their beloved like Sandrone and Childe, but while the latter does it for the pure thrill of a chase, Marionette lets you escape with more sadistic intentions in her mind. She will use your "insolence" as she likes to call it to punish you - first by whipping you and then by taking your bodily autonomy away. She will feel a sort of perverse pleasure slowly turning you into very pretty very cute doll, as tears escape your eyes, whispering how now you'll finally be nice, obedient and docile as she always wanted you to be.

Pantalone, Arlecchino and Columbina are on the opposite end of the spectrum - there are guards and chains and locked rooms and threats about what will happen if you manage to escape. Once they hear about it they will send most of their underlings to your search, so you better be invisible if you hope you can make it. The punishments from these three vary - Pantalone takes it in a very cold and inpersonal way - your escape was expected, he isn't surprised in the slightest - he will strip you of your privileges( if you had any) and double the security. Arlecchino on the other hand will be furious, there will be a lot of yelling, beating and shouted out threatsto kill anyone who aided you in your escape. This is the most livid you will see her. She will calm down after a while, apologize for the unnecessary outburst, yet she won't take her promise of violence back. Columbina is the most creative in her punishment - it may be a whispered threat, or it may be a full body mutilation, you never know what she'll pick.

Il Dottore is odd one - on one hand he would like you to stay in your room and make no trouble, on the other hand he's rather forgetful. The man is very busy and relies on his clones in this matter - if they see you escaping they will catch you and lead you back to your room, if they don't - well, time for some new clones. He views your escapes as antics of the stupid animal - it just happens sometimes and he, as an owner should prevent it from derailing further. If you successfully escaped the fault lies on his clones and his own negligence. He won't punish you much when you are caught again, but he will triple your security and introduce some light sedatives into your diet, if he won't forget about that.

[barbiewritesstuff]

Five years

-- The film doesn’t release until next week in France but that doesn’t appear to stop my Jake thoughts, so, enjoy!

Taglist: @unsurebuttrying, @dempy, @peaches-1999 -- 

Jake has resigned himself that no one will come. No one ever comes. If he's lucky, he might get a text when he gets off the carrier, but it certainly wouldn't be more than that. It's not that they don't care, Jake knows, they are just busy. Mom and Dad are working, his sister is at college doing her phd and his brothers, okay, maybe his brothers don't care. 

He hangs back with Rooster and Maverick making awkward small talk for a while until Admiral Simpson mercifully interrupts. 

"Seresin, you're not going to see your family?" He asks

"There's no one waiting for me, Sir"

The Admiral raises an eyebrow, nodding towards the tarmac where all other families are waiting, "She's not with you?"

Jake looks out. He sees a woman about his little sister's age and height. Her long blonde hair hangs in loose waves on her shoulders, and her bangs covering the top of her glasses. Hangman has never been so happy to see you. 

A large smile threatens to appear on his face, he tries to keep a straight face as he jogs over to you. He even tries to look annoyed. He can't let you know he's happy you're there, you're his annoying little sister's best friend, he'd never hear the end of it if someone finds out he likes you. 

But then again, you'd be subjected to the same treatment if anyone knew you were here. 

Jake slows down as he gets closer to you, his poker face straining now, especially when he takes a proper look at you. You look nice. Your dress fits you well, it's short and flattering, and he'd happily keep staring at your legs for the rest of his life. Only one thing worries him when he looks at you. You look pissed.

"This book sucks ass!" You shout as soon as he arrives within speaking distance. You're holding up a book he told you about months ago, not expecting you to read it. He's touched by the gesture really, even if you hate the book.

"You drove the 16 hours from Texas to tell me that?" He asks, trying his hardest to sound annoyed

"Yes Jake! 'Oh he's a genius', 'A wordsmith like I ain't ever seen before' Bullshit! This man has the gift of gab, Jacob! He sure knows a lot of words and concise is not one of them!"

"You want to read a good book? Try this. Read it and weep, bitch." you say, slapping a book against his chest, your hand holding it there a moment too long, giving his heart time to override his brain and cover it with his own hand. You both blush as the contact. 

"I've already read it." he says, fairly certain his face twitched slightly in disappointment when you removed your hand. You shake your head slightly as if to chase a thought away.

"Cried like a baby?" you ask

"Oh yeah. I cried like a baby" he confirms, looking at his shoes. He’s not embarrassed by the fact that his team mates are watching now. It’s the intensity of whatever he’s feeling that makes him look away. 

"There's hope for you yet" you say. Jake looks at you again, directly in the eyes this time. You’re still frowning but whatever anger you had has disappeared now, or maybe it was never there and you just needed an excuse to come. No, there was definitely some type of anger, at what you’re not sure, but you’ve just realised what you’ve done. You are standing in front of Jake Seresin, in his tight fitting uniform. He's trying to hold in a smile.

"Look at me, I'm so angry I'm shaking" You breathe out, holding your hand in front of you and looking at it. Jake grabs it with his own. His hand is soft and warm. You’ve held it before, it never used to make you feel this way, it never used to make your breath hitch.

"That's withdrawal, sweetheart. From that ridiculous caffeine addiction you have" he eventually says, taking both of the books you’re holding and nodding towards the parking lot. 

"Don't call me sweetheart" you say, swallowing the rest of your sentence: because it makes my heart beat faster with yearning for something you will never give me, “I brought you pizza" you add

You walk to his truck where you’ve unceremoniously dumped the pizza boxes in your haste to make it inside the base to see him. You’re a little scared that the cheese might have shifted when you threw the boxes but it appears to be fine. 

You’ve picked up his favourite pizza. It shouldn’t feel so funny, because of course you’d pick up his favourite pizza, you’re nice like that, it’s the fact that he never told you what his order was. It’s the fact that you had paid enough attention to him to figure it out by yourself. He looks at you as you take a bite out of your own pizza.

"Stop staring" you tell him

You turn away to grab another slice of pizza from the box behind you.

"What are you thinking?" you ask. He’s trying to talk himself out of doing it, out of just turning around and kissing you. 

"I'm thinking you like me" he says instead, giving you a chance to reject him. Because he cannot do this. You are younger, you are cute and most of all, you are his little sister’s best friend. Doing anything, even just talking and eating pizza, would be the death of your friendship with her and punishable by death for him. You know this, so why did you do it anyway?

"You're full of shit, Jake Seresin" you snap back. 

He’s seen you with other people. With other guys. You’re not usually this abrasive, you’re usually nice, mild-mannered and polite. But with him, you’re always acting like he’s getting on your nerves, even when he knows he’s not. 

Like that time before your exams a few months ago, he’d spent the night explaining the same psychological school of thought to you for the fourth year in a row (even though he had plans, plans he cancelled almost immediately because pathetically, sitting next to you trying to explain Gestalt psychology seemed like a better way to spend an evening), and by four in the morning, you had gotten it enough that you’d be able to pass the exam without worrying too much. There had been a second there, in the silence of the house, after he had made you both drinks. There had been a second where he thought he might have a chance with you. You had leaned close, your lips almost touching and then, in the blink of an eye, you had played it off like you had meant to stand up all along, bringing your cup with you to the kitchen. You’d slammed a cupboard closed, “Would it kill you to close the cabinets when you’re done?” you had spat at him.

He didn’t know why he held onto that moment so hard. Maybe it was because he felt angry when he was with you. Not at you, he could never. But at the fact that he had never, in his life, wanted to kiss someone so badly. 

"Oh am I? So you usually drive 16 hours for random guys" he snapped back with no real bite in his voice.

"On the daily" You sass, then, in a softer and quieter voice you add, "You're not random, you're my best friend's brother."

There is a pause as you both bite down on your pizza slices. 

It’s a damn shame he is too, you think, because if he wasn’t you might have kissed him. You would have kissed him. Despite the fact that this freak of nature liked anchovies on his damn pizza. 

"What are you thinking?" he asks. When you reply, he thinks he might have died and gone to heaven

"I'm thinking I want you to kiss me" your mouth says before you can stop it. 

"My sister will kill you" he breathes out, putting his slice of pizza back in the box and staring at the tarmac in front of him. A jet is gearing up for take off. Jake wipes his fingers clean, and then that gorgeous fucking mouth of his and then he turns towards you, gently taking your slice and throwing it to the side before grabbing the hem of your shirt and pulling you a little closer.

You shrug, trying to stay calm and keep your heart from leaping out of your chest, "She'll kill me just for coming" you say, your voice low. Forget keeping your heart from beating through your chest, he’s standing so close to you he can probably feel it and for every thud your heart makes, you swear you can feel an echo.

"Ah. 'Go big or go home', then?" he jokes, both of his hands snaking up to cup your face;

"Yeah. Make the trip really worth the ass kicking I'm going to receive" you release a breathy laugh

He hummed, "It would be mean of me to refuse, wouldn't it?" 

Jake doesn’t know why he’s stalling now. You want to kiss him, you told him as much. But you’re so close and he can’t concentrate. Why is he stalling? He knows how to kiss. He just has to bend down and do it. Three… Two… One…

"And rude, don't forget r--." you start but you never finish, because in a second, Jake’s lips are against yours in a bruising kiss. You don’t know yet, but he’s putting five years of pining, crushing and being head-over-heels in love with you into that kiss. He can’t find the words to tell you, but he’s damn well going to try and make you feel it. 

He doesn’t want to come back up for air, he’s happy to die here, actually. Forever stuck in your embrace, your arms thrown around his neck so comfortably that he wonders if they’re not made to be there. But you have to break the kiss at some point, and when you do, you rest your forehead against Jake’s while you catch your breath.

"How long are you here for?" he breathes out between pants

"Six hours. I have work tomorrow." you reply, disappointed that you didn’t take the day off, but then again, you didn’t think your five years of wishing Jake would kiss you would end today.

"Lots we can do in six hours" he says

Even though you don’t mean it, because you’ve certainly thought about Jake that way, you say, "You're a pig, Jacob" gently bumping his head with your hand.

He chuckles, looking down at his shoes, "I was thinking of a date. But if you're offering…"

Go big or go home, right? His sister’s going to kill you anyway, “How about both?”

He freezes for a second, then he closes his eyes and lets out a shaky breath. His hands are still resting on your waist from the kiss and as he opens his eyes to reveal blown out pupils, you feel them gripping tighter til you’re sure there will be a bruise.

“How do you feel about a breakfast date?” he asks, letting go of you and unlocking his truck. 

Fuck work.

“Favourite way to end a night,” you reply, practically jogging into the passenger seat. The pizzas all but forgotten in the bed of the truck, Jake drives off towards his house, barely able to keep the hand that’s on his gear stick from sliding up your thigh. 

[imaeraser]

Hello!

I really love your headcannons about Strawhats with Teen reader, that's why...

If you don't mind - Can I ask for Platonic Strawhats with Female! Teen reader that tend to be the quietest in the crew because of her shyness?

I also had and the next idea after this one- but I don't want to overwhelm you with it. Take care of yourself!

Have a nice day!

Sorry for the wait, here you go!

Luffy

He was intrigued by you

That’s why he forced you onto his ship. And then he realized that instead of having a convoluted backstory, you were shy

And quite honestly it was refreshing

Even though he likes being around Chopper and Usopp and be loud as heck, he likes spending time with you

You balance him out

And even though you’re not an adult, he’ll go to you for advice. This makes the rest of the crew confused (and low-key mad) because he doesn't want their advice

But most of the time he doesn’t take your advice anyways

I think that you two are close, seeing as he is endlessly extroverted and will break through your walls no matter how hard you try

Most of the time he leaves you to your own devices, but he will drag you to large parties and make you feel as welcome as possible

He does the same on the ship, but that was never a problem anyways because everyone likes you

Feels the need to protect you, not only because you’re a member of the crew, but also because you’re the youngest

10/10 I can see him giving you some of his food (only some)

Zoro

Ultimate big brother vibes

Likes to go to you for a quiet space because the ship can be loud

So he spends a lot of time with you… sleeping

He also half-asks questions to fill up the space and gets to know you pretty well

He also feels a need to protect you since he sees you as kinda weak (but almost everyone is weaker compared to him)

He will also feel the need to shield you from the craziness of the ship

Like sir, it’s nice that you care, but they can take care of themselves too you know?

Doesn't incorporate you into the crew since… he’s mostly sleeping. But he would try, and he would fail because they already like you

Cue him being shocked that he wasn’t your only friend on board, but to be fair he is sleeping most of the time and not watching you

He likes the calmness you bring to the ship, good for his meditation sessions (but I don't think you want to just sit there why he meditates)

I can see you having fun with him and Chopper, maybe play a board game

8/10 calm down sir, they can take care of themselves

Nami

She’s like the cool and fun older sister

She likes to dress you up in her old clothes, and then gush about how cute you look (no, not her super tiny bikinis)

She takes it onto herself to guide you through… whatever I guess

Also feels the need to protect you from dudes

I think that she gives good advice, but when combined with Robin the two of them give life-altering wisdom

You can go to her for anything from how to sew to how to manipulate people

Always gives you juice when the crew starts drinking

If the ship starts to get too rowdy she will shout at everyone to keep it down, and then turn to smile at you as if her actions were for you

She will share her tangerines with you

I think that she wants to protect you, but is frustrated at the fact that she can’t be as strong as the Monster trio (but everything works out in the end)

If you borrow money from her, she will reduce the interest (only by a little)

9/10 only downside is the interest (if you ever borrow money)

Usopp

He was high-key suspicious of you

To be fair he is suspicious of anyone and everything, and seeing as you were quiet he was on the edge

But after you saved his life, he gets all buddy-buddy (really Usopp? You got saved by a teenager)

I think the two of you would get to know each other when he’s working on a new invention, and you guys are having idle chatter

Now he tried to act like a cool older brother. Always ready to swoop in and talk about his “accomplishments”

He will do just about anything to make you laugh

I can see some crazy (but fun) times with him, Chopper, and Luffy

He would give bad advice, but occasionally he does have some piece of wisdom

He would try to protect you, but… yeah

He ends up feeling bad, and incompetent. But tell him that he was amazing or something and he’ll be fine

I think he would get frustrated when you beat him at a game of cards

10/10 he is just so fun to be around

Sanji

Also acts like an older brother

He tries to protect you from guys, saying that they’re all dogs (but then you point out that he’s a guy)

This also means he tries to limit your time around Zoro, saying that he’s a bad influence

Then the two start to fight and right as they pull you into it, Nami hits both of them and carries you off to eat or something

Gives you more food because you’re still growing

He is a surprisingly good listener and when he chimes in his advice are always good

And like all of the crew, he will try to protect you from danger (ma’am you are still a teen, why are you on this ship? Oh wait, Luffy…)

I said he acts like your older brother, but he also acts like a proud dad sometimes

Like sir, why are you crying? All they did was perform twinkle twinkle little star on the piano (Brook taught you)

He also tries to restrain his pervert tendencies around you, but when they inevitably happen he can’t look you in the eyes for several days (he also smokes more. It gets to a point where you have to confront him)

He also teaches you how to cook

8/10 he can get a little extra sometimes

Chopper

If things get too crazy on the ship, he likes to go to you

I feel like he would try to act like a big brother, but you would just pet him (sorry Chopper)

I can see Chopper trying to get you to socialize more with the crew. Just drags you out with his tiny Reindeer paws

I can see you confiding in him a lot because it’s kinda like venting to a stuffed animal (again, sorry Chopper)

He gives (almost) child-like advice, but it’s so simple and it always works

I think you would beat both him and Usopp at games, and then they would proceed to chase you around

He would try to protect you, but he also knows that you need to push yourself to get stronger, so he lets you fight some of your fights

When you end up hurt, he always makes sure to be extra vigilant with your care

I believe that you would also try to protect him, but his pride would end up hurt

I think you two would spend a lot of time in his office for a quiet place to read (and for him to do work)

He makes you help him organize stuff

10/10 a great duo

Robin

She is the kind older sister

She is such a good listener, and her advice would solve all of the world's problems

If things get crazy on the ship, you go to her. She has the presence of calm around her that just soothes you

I think she would also like to participate in dressing you up with Nami. That means you get to wear Nami’s old clothes and Robin’s old clothes

Robin always has an extra book and cup of tea reserved for you. Tea times are when you two like to ramble about anything and everything. This is also the place where you can vent and the both of you talk about your past

She would like to teach you about world history, while you listen and ask questions

She would try to teach you how to read one glyph, but if it’s too hard she stops (and low-key gets sad)

Robin also lets you help her garden. She enjoys having a person keep her company while she does the things that make her happy

She thinks that you are too adorable, and that also makes her go into a momma bear mode when she thinks you are in danger

She will yell at crew members, and she will annihilate the enemies

Robin sees you in a similar way to Chopper, so if you say something dirty or cuss, her image of you will be ruined

10/10 she is perfection

Franky

I see him as a weird uncle figure

He mostly hides in his workshop and creates weird but cool inventions while you watch him and ask what he is doing

I don’t see you two talking about important things, just you two having fun and making jokes

He is fun to watch, but when he tries to get you to participate— it’s even more fun

I can see Robin trying to shield you from him (hey, he says he’s a pervert)

He would share his cola with you (I can see some very fun crew bonding time when everyone gets cola and huddles around Franky’s new invention)

Franky is the opposite of shy, so sometimes it gets to be a bit too much

Like sir, please leave them alone for one second

I think that Franky and Usopp would try to teach you how to make things

And if you like to prank people… they’ve created a monster

Expect all three of you to get yelled at

8/10 pretty good, but he does say some stuff that you don’t get sometimes

Brook

Another weird uncle

When he asked to see your panties, both Robin and Nami slapped him so hard, he had flown off

He never asked again

I can see him joining in on the Robin history over tea, and add things in he knows from living during the period (dang he’s old)

He occasionally makes the tea you three drink

I think he would try to teach you how to use a sword, and then get yelled at so he teaches you to play instruments instead

He’s a surprisingly easy-going teacher, if you don’t practice he’s not mad. He just assumes you don't want to learn. That means he won’t teach you, which leads you to practice

He would let you peek inside of his skull and then jumpscare you. It works every time

Brook would tell you about what he did during the two-year time skip, all while you’re laughing at the fact they called him Satan

I think that being around you and Luffy would make him remember his days as a teen

Starts to get all weary like a dad (and just like Sanji)

7/10 rough start, but good ending

Jinbei

He is the dad (not like, is)

He is always concerned for your health, and whether you should be fighting or not

He told Luffy that it was ridiculous to bring a teen on board, but then he realized Luffy is only 19…

Jinbei is always there to make sure you feel included, and will often leave the crew’s festivities just to hang out with you

Honestly, his old man self likes the quiet you bring

If you ask him, he’ll tell you about Fishman history (also over Robin History Tea Times)

100% tries to protect you. I think that can make you frustrated at times, but he has saved you so you can’t be too mad

So he teaches you Fishman Karate (it gets Robin’s stamp of approval because there are no sharp objects)

Jinbei gives the best advice, again dad and old man

He’s able to see different perspectives and tell you the best course of action (that gets annoying when you just want him to take your side, but you have Nami and Robin for that)

Also is proud of you when you achieve something (part of the tears dad group)

10/10 every group needs a parent figure

[hopes-peak-postal-company]

oya, mod tsumugi, can i get a confession letter from kokichi? 😳

yes, 'nonnie. anything for you and your anonymous clan. 💙

hope you enjoy!

(how long do you think i can keep up this game of making each letter description longer than the previous one? should i continue it for shits and giggles? do you think my experiment of writing past midnight turned me crazy? will i ever shut up? find out next time--)

smack! another paper airplane hits your cheek from above. you hear kokichi’s giggles from above. he looks down at you from a window, savoring your annoyed reaction with his signature shit-eating grin. it’s the 4th time something like this has happened today. every paper airplane contained the same thing, and you were immediately looking for the nearest trash bin to shove this new one into.

“don’t worry! there’s actually something for you to read there this time!” he shouts, knowing damn well what you were about to do. “or is it…? nishisishi-”

his voice fades as he disappears from his spot at the window.

curiosity got the better of you, and you started unfolding the paper airplane. you assume that he can still hear you, so you try to yell back at him, “i swear to god, oma, if this is just another nice cock poster i will snap you in ha-”

oh, wow. there really was something written on it. your name sits at the top of the wall of text.

kokichi gave you a letter?

not bothering to move someplace to sit down, you spare one last glance at the now-empty window above and read what lies inside...

Attempt #420

There’s no use for me to beat around the bush any longer. You probably already know too, huh? If not, then wow. You’re denser than I estimated you to be.

I don't really know when it started, now that I think about it. Of all the people I met, I never expected to get the closest to you. These past few days have been boring and while I know you're busy, I can literally feel my brain rot away with each passing hour (not a big fan of poetry, but I feel like I'm on the verge of writing some from insanity). I myself feel surprised that I can write this letter to you right now. Maybe it's because my good comrades at DICE urge me to do so, before I run away from the feelings I've wanted to say for quite a while now. I never open up to anyone for nothing, so you better be reading every next word carefully or all the effort I put will go down the drain.

Even through every lie I tell to myself, you still manage to make the beating in my chest race faster than a Mario Kart vehicle. You've held my dirtied hands in yours and told me every thing will be okay and that I don't need to keep distancing myself from you and the others. Worst (or is it best?) of all, you've taken my sick and twisted heart with you and made it ache. Boy, did you deliver that with perfection. Don't you have mercy for little old me? I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it, though.

I know I'm the best candidate to be anyone's boyfriend, yet whenever I think of you, I want to try my best to be. I can't guarantee a smooth start to whatever it is that we have going on, but if it's with you, I don't mind taking a hit or two. Then, my dear ____, treasure of my heart, won't you accept the honor of becoming my better half? It's a pretty good deal if you ask me, not that I've offered it to anyone else. And no refunds! So what do you say?

- Kokichi Oma

(P.S. If it isn't such a bother, can't you just tell me your reply now up here at the rooftop? I bet you've been reading down there for a terribly looong time now, and I feel like taking a nap here in my little hiding spot. Sorry in advance.)