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erekiosuncreativeideas · 4 years ago

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Being Human - Chapter 24 (END)

<= Chapter 23

Summary : Snatcher meets familiar people again Also available on AO3 : https://archiveofourown.org/works/24826561/chapters/75085263

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(TW injury)

New chapter today, and it's actually the 24th and the 25th combined. It's 15 pages long, now.

I could only draw a picture for them both, so I supposed it was useless to keep you waiting for nothing. So, yeah, here's the ending of "Being Human". I hope you'll like it !

The “Oh The Humanity” AU belongs to @doodledrawsthings !

Uh if you’re interested, I post my progress on my chapters on Hatty Fan Time (the AHIT Discord server I’m moderating with two friends), so if you wanna join, go ahead !

Happy reading !

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Chapter 24 : “ Is… Is it over? ”

Snatcher was doing his best to walk down the hallways as quietly as he could. His ankle, while not broken anymore, was still giving him quite a lot of pain, so much that he was wincing at each new step. But he knew this was just temporary and that he needed to ignore the suffering for now: Vanessa was busy, sure, but for how long? She had said she would be baking cookies for him, and he knew very well that this wouldn’t last forever. This was his first and last chance of escaping: if she spotted him trying to leave, the child had no doubt she would lock him up again, perhaps in the cellar once more…- The young Prince shook his head and gulped down with difficulty. This definitely wasn’t something he wanted to think about.

Snatcher could feel and hear the floor creaking under his feet, forcing him to stop several times and listen closely. But thankfully, there was no sound indicating the Queen had heard him. Thank God. The child stopped in front of the door leading to the first floor- oh, he was not reassured, not in the slightest, he had the feeling this would not go well… As he was going to open the door, however, a light sound caught his attention, making him look at the window. A look of confusion crossed the young man’s features: there was nothing there, so what could have made such a nois- but then, his eyes spotted something: a little rock had been thrown onto the glass, making a small sound because of the impact. Detaching himself from the door, Snatcher made a few silent steps to the window… And his face lightened up with shock and surprise as he noticed a form floating above the window- no, two forms, actually.

Moonjumper and the hatted brat !

A feeling of hope grew inside of him, just as a wave of relief washed over him: they were alive! He had saved them! He really had managed to help them!

The child stepped closer to the window and reached for it, trying to open it- but in vain. The frame was deeply frozen, preventing anyone to open it, especially not a kid like him. He quickly stopped, as his attempts at opening it were quite… Noisy. It was getting really dangerous, and if he kept on trying, he was eventually going to alert Vanessa, which was definitely not what he wanted.

Moonjumper and the kid floated closer, a clear look of worry and confusion on their faces. The hatted girl gestured to the lock on the window, but Snatcher replied by shaking his head. It wasn’t locked, just… Frozen. He gave a concerned shrug, indicating he didn’t really know how to help them enter the manor. And, of course, they couldn’t really communicate vocally through the glass, as it was sure to be noticed by his ex. So that wasn’t a solution- until one hit him, making his eyes widen.

The attic.

Driven by a new motivation, the child pointed up, trying to make them understand his idea. The hatted brat seemed rather confused and frowned in reaction, trying to look up without understanding. However, the corpse seemed to get it and explained it to her- or so Snatcher believed. He couldn’t really hear them, so all he could do was to guess. In any case, his counterpart nodded to him, as a way to show him they had understood what he had meant to them. Not long after that, they started to float higher, indeed reaching the attic.

There was his escape plan !

Fueled by a new motivation, especially now that he knew his friends were alive, the former ghost turned away from the window, a new objective in mind. Still doing his best to remain discreet, Snatcher walked the other way, making his way to the attic rather than to the first floor. He was particularly on edge, especially when it came to his own footsteps on the floor, and to the creaking of the parquet floor under his weight. When he reached the door leading upstairs, he kept praying for it to be unlocked, oh, he prayed so much- and when the doorknob actually let itself be lowered, thus opening the door… A huge feeling of relief hit the young Prince one more time.

Oh, thank God…

Looking behind him, just to make sure the Queen hadn’t come upstairs to see if he was still in the nursery… He eventually climbed up the stairs, not forgetting to close the door slowly in his back. This was it, there was no turning back now.

Snatcher soon reached the attic door and opened it, his vision greeted by the sight of an old, forgotten room. But the former ghost didn’t lose any time in looking around- there was no time for that. All he needed to do now, was to find a way to let the other two-

Speaking of the devil, Snatcher spotted their floating silhouette right in front of the central window. However, it was safe to assume than opening any of the window here would be complicated. After all, none of them had locks to begin with, so even if they weren’t as frozen, they couldn’t be opened either way.

That… He hadn’t thought of that, exactly. All he had thought about was to get farther away from Vanessa, which worked in that case. But he still couldn’t leave like this… As for Moonjumper and the hatted brat, the two were inspecting each window, trying to find one that could be opened easily, in vain. Snatcher stepped closer to the central window, the gears in his mind turning to find a solution. This was… Not going the way he wanted to, he had to admit that much. His eyes met the others’, and they both came to the same conclusion.

Leaving the manor this way wouldn’t-

Snatcher’s thoughts were instantly interrupted as a tremor shook him and the room, making him stumble to the wooden floor. He cried in pain as it only hurt his already injured ankle, but before he was even able to realize what was going on, a loud, piercing scream echoed in the whole manor. Immediately, the young Prince’s expression fell, only to be replaced with panic.

Vanessa.

As on cue, the former ghost heard her muffling yelling in the floor below- oh God, she had heard him!

-“Where are you?!” shouted the Queen, her tone clearly showing how livid she was, and the sound of her voice making the house shake even more. Oh no, no, no, no, no! Behind the window, Moonjumper and the brat’s face paled up just like his did, and it was obvious they had heard her too. Oh, crap, no, he needed to be out of here!

Not thinking anymore, the child ran to the window, pounding on it as hard he could, feeling dread spreading inside of him as he could hear Vanessa’s furious steps coming closer and closer.

-“Get me out of here!” he yelled through the glass, to his friends on the other side, fear more and more audible in his voice than ever: “Help me!” Tears started to fill his eyes, and he couldn’t tell if it was because he was in a child’s body or if it was because he was genuinely terrified.

Behind the glass, Moonjumper seemed to be just as scared as him, and was scratching at the glass, even pounding on it all while still holding the hatted kid. The latter seemed to be more than nervous, looking for a solution too, until… Her face lit up, as if she just had had an epiphany. The young Prince saw her shouting something at the corpse, pointing at the window at the same time. What was she suggesting? But as he was asking himself that question, Snatcher saw the two of them floating away from the window- no, no, no! They weren’t leaving him here, weren’t they ?! They couldn’t do that, they couldn’t abandon him!

-“Come back!!” he yelled, and now tears were rolling down his cheeks, sobs cutting his breathing short: “Don’t leave me here!” He pounded on the glass harder, despair filling him whole. No, this couldn’t be happening, this couldn’t be happening!

His cries intensified as Vanessa’s steps could be heard just behind the door, and suddenly, he froze. The footsteps had stopped. He looked back at the door in utter terror and saw the door slowly opening, a claw being the first thing he saw coming out of it.

-“I told you…” her tone was low and threatening, and the child span around, horrified. Oh no, no, no- : “… That there would be consequences…” And little by little, the old Queen’s body appeared in the room, her dark aura even more visible than ever, her claws sharper, and her eyes murderous.

Oh no, he was going to die, he was so going to die, he-

-“Snatcher!” The former ghost’s terrified inner-rambling was put to an end as he heard his name being called out behind him, and he glanced back, recognizing the brat’s voice- didn’t they leave, though…? However, his eyes widened as he saw the hat-wearing child being carried by Moonjumper on his shoulders, both at a distance from the window, and what caught his attention was… That she was not wearing her usual hat.

She was wearing another one, one that was familiar because he had seen her wearing in his forest, when she was ransacking the tombs in Subcon For- and before his mind had the time to finish that sentence, a glowing potion materialized in the kid’s hand, and she shook it while urging him to move with the other.

The young Prince didn’t waste any more time and ran to the side, hiding behind a nearby crate not to feel the explosion, and he covered his ears. But just before he was able to, the Queen’s voice echoed in the room, giving him chills.

-“I saw you!” she yelled at him, as if she hadn’t noticed the two outside- but it was most likely the case, as her mind seemed to be only focused on him, and only him… Which was not reassuring in the slightest, obviously.

-“Come here this instan-” And then, her shout was cut short by an explosion, and Snatcher just curled up more, crying out in fear as the whole floor shook again and as he heard the loud and deafening sound of the detonation. Glass and wood flew everywhere, shattering and breaking at their impact to the floor. Panicked, the former ghost glanced back at the window that had just been exploded- and his eyes widened as he saw his two friends entering the room through the large hole caused by the explosion.

Another wave of relief hit him once more, contrasting greatly with the spike of fear he had felt earlier- Snatcher felt like his heart was riding a very, very intense roller-coaster. As soon as the hatted child spot him, hidden behind the crate, her expression instantly turned into worry, and she dashed to him, soon placing herself in a position to defend him should Vanessa decide to attack them first. She had taken out her umbrella, ready to fight with all of her might, determination visible on her face. As for Moonjumper, the corpse was summoning countless strings, preparing himself for an imminent fight. His face looked nothing like what Snatcher had seen before, it was full of anger, of bravery, of courage… But also full of fear. His hands were trembling, his eyes were fixed on the Queen, while many memories of Snatcher’s past life seemed to be blinding him, forcing him to relive past moments that weren’t even his in the first place.

And yet Moonjumper was still ready to fight despite this.

-“You…” The Queen’s voice was full of hatred as she recognized the duo she had frozen earlier. Her intonation definitely had an impact on them, as they both faltered for a few moments- and he couldn’t blame them for it.

He knew what it was like to be frozen to death.

-“You… You will not hurt anyone else,” Moonjumper trembling voice echoed in the room, and it was now clear that he was scared to no end, though he was still trying to appear brave. Whether it was bluff or not, Snatcher couldn’t tell… But he really hoped it wasn’t.

-“Yeah, back off!” added the brat, lifting her umbrella as a way to show she was not kidding. Then again, the former spirit couldn’t help but wonder if they really had a chance against someone who had already frozen them all at least once.

Vanessa glared at them, her eyes glancing to each other, as if she were trying to determine who, out of the trio, was the biggest threat to her. And, unsurprisingly… Her survival instincts told her to attack Moonjumper first. Screaming in absolute anger, she stomped her feet on the wooden floor, summoning ice all around her and, more precisely, a series of ice stalagmites which she quickly sent to her enemy’s direction.

-“Moonjumper!” yelled Snatcher, extending his hand to the corpse, only to be held back by the hatted brat, preventing him from getting himself hurt. Fortunately, the body-stealing spirit had been expecting her to target him first, and dodged her attack, though one of the stalagmites nearly touched him. Thank God it hadn’t. The corpse was quick to react though and counter-attacked, throwing all of the strings he had prepared to her. Taken aback by his sudden retaliation, the Queen was too slow to move before the strings actually caught her, Moonjumper quickly tightening the grip around them.

But this couldn’t be so simple.

Another scream left Vanessa’s mouth and soon enough, she turned the strings into ice, her magic rapidly going up the corpse’s strings and thus soon reaching him- until the hat-wearing brat intervened, hitting the strings with her umbrella, deflecting the spell to her umbrella instead, which she immediately let go of with a surprised cry.

Now that the trio was distracted with the current turn of event, the Queen broke free of the strings holding her, the ice having made them easy to break. No, this was not good, they had to find a solution… But Moonjumper’s strings were their best bet! Fighting hand-to-hand was not possible, all they could do was fighting her from afar, if they didn’t want to end up frozen to death. His eyes looked around, trying to find an idea, something they would be able to use to gain an advantage against that monster. The crates, no, the chandelier, no, too heavy to make it fall down and too large to be useful… And his eyes fell onto the huge gap in the floor and the wall, caused by the previous explosion. His eyes widened, an idea growing in his mind.

Maybe… Maybe they could be able to use that!

In the meantime, the fight had continued, and the corpse was still trying to immobilize her with his strings- but this wasn’t the right option, this wouldn’t work like this! The woman was always managing to break free. And so, as soon as Vanessa’s attention was at the lowest, the young Prince took this as an opportunity to call out to Moonjumper without putting him too much at risk:

-“The- the hole, lead her to the hole!” he shouted, using both of his hands as a way to make his voice louder. The corpse gave him a quick and confused glance, as if he were trying to understand what Snatcher had in mind- until his eyes widened, realization crossing his features. He had gotten the message.

Not wasting any more time, the corpse changed his tactic and instead of trying to keep her trapped and motionless… He tried to pull her closer to the window, floating back more and more. Of course, the Queen was always managing to get free with her powers, but she was still being slowly led to the huge gap in the floor. The corpse was immensely focused on the fight, doing everything he could to avoid her stalagmites- but his focus and his unbelievable calm was winning over Vanessa’s screaming and aggressive attitude- her attacks were having the same patterns, she was not thinking strategically when trying to hit Moonjumper… On the contrary, Snatcher had to admit she was being predictable, and while she couldn’t be kept trapped in the other’s strings for too long, Snatcher’s strategy was working little by little.

When she reached the gap, her eyes had widened, as if she was only understanding now what the trio had in mind. With another deafening scream, Vanessa created an ice path under her feet, like a bridge above everything, above… Nothing, above the void under her feet. No matter how hard Moonjumper was pulling on her, she was not loosing her balance and she kept on creating ice under her feet, although… Now she was looking to escape much more than actually attacking any of them. Her expression was not just livid anymore- no, there were some worry and fear in it too, now.

They had to take the matter in their own hand, now! Moonjumper had already done much more than Snatcher would have asked of him considering his same fear of her- and now it was his time to help.

Ignoring the pain in his ankle, the child dashed to the frozen umbrella the hatted brat had abandoned on the floor, and picked it up, not caring about the ice partially trapping it- no, this didn’t matter. What he was about to do, however… Mattered much, much more.

-“Snatcher!” he heard the little girl calling him out- but he didn’t stop.

No, this had to stop. Now.

Fueled by a new energy and by adrenaline, the former ghost ran onto the ice platform Vanessa had created… And he charged at his ex-lover, holding the umbrella before him and using him as a spear. He felt his borrowed weapon hit something, and he knew it was her- and almost instantly, a cry of fear and surprise left the Queen’s mouth… And the impact made her lose her balance, her body falling backward as she tried to turn back… But it was too late.

He had done it, he had managed to-

But things never, ever were that easy, were they?

-“Snatcher !!” His friends’ voice echoed behind him, panic clearly audible as the woman made a last movement as an attempt to save herself from her fall- she had grabbed Snatcher’s arm and was now taking him with her, bringing him with her for what was going to be her death… And the young Prince’s.

And now, they were both falling.

Snatcher had thought about dying again, multiple times, actually. Being stuck in his this human body definitely had him wonder a lot of things such as “if I die, would I become a ghost again? Would I just go to wherever souls go when no one eats them?” There had been no way to know, and still wasn’t. The doubt actually prevented him from trying to put an end to his human life and see what happened afterwards. However, now… It wasn’t doubt that was making Snatcher fear death. No…

That was the fear of actually dying, mixed with the fear of losing all the sensations he had become accustomed to, even though it took him so long. Sure, there were plenty of unwanted senses he disliked, but… Was it really worth losing all of it? Even the good ones? Like the feeling of a warm shower, the feeling of lying down on a pile of soft pillows, the feeling of tasting things, even bad things…

Did he really want to just not feel anything at all? It had felt so overwhelming when he had recovered all of his senses, but now, the thought of losing everything was… Just as crushing.

And so… That was why Snatcher was terrified, terrified as his body was falling to his demise, taken with Vanessa. Her claws were gripping at his arm tightly, freezing his clothes and skin, making him cry out in pain. His breath quickened while he felt the cold air outside scratching his cheeks from how fast they were falling.

He didn’t want to die…!

The young Prince started to kick her, trying everything he could to do get away from her- but what was the point if they were both going to die by crashing themselves to the ground?

-“Let me go!” he shouted, his voice hysterical and his expression both panicked and livid: “Let-let go of me!”

-“N-no!” retorted the Queen, and the child could see frozen tears leaving her eyes as well as a despaired expression on her face: “I don’t want to!!”

She tried to hold him tighter in her arms, bringing him for a hug- No, no, no, he didn’t want this, he didn’t want this! The kid kept trying to hit her, his fear growing more and more as they both got closer and closer to the ground- he didn’t want to die! Not like this, not anymore!

Snatcher shut his eyes hard, readying himself for the impact, for the death he had wanted so much and yet didn’t want anymore, for the confirmation of whether he’d come back as a ghost or not, this was not fair, this was not fair…!

The young Prince let out a startled scream when he felt something slipped under his arms, pulling him up and abruptly stopping his fall. Snatcher reopened his eyes instantly- Moonjumper! The corpse had hurled himself towards his small counterpart, barely saving him from his death and quickly trying to float back up again or, at the very least, slow down his dangerous fall.

Vanessa, on the other hand, was not being held by anyone and, thus, her claws severely scratching the child’s arms as she attempted to save herself, but her own weight dragged her down. A loud, painful scream left Snatcher lips as he felt his skin being torn open by her long, sharp claws… But soon enough, his eyes saw her falling down, falling to her death, while Moonjumper was now holding him still in the air, floating. And soon enough… A muffled sound echoed up to them, with the Queen crashed into the snow, creating a flurry of snow around her.

-“Are… Are you okay ?!” the corpse managed to say, panic clearly audible in his tone of voice, his eyes inspecting the young prince, and widening when he noticed the gaping wound on the other’s arm: “O-oh, Goodness, we better… Oh, my God…”

Snatcher only replied by a long hiss, feeling the snowflakes falling onto his injury- oh, that hurt so much…! Tears came back in his eyes, stinging the skin in the corners from how cold it was. Blood was leaking from his arm, falling down near where Vanessa’s body lied down. With a very concerned expression, Moonjumper quickly floated lower and lower, in order to bring them back to the ground. A movement in Snatcher’s vision caught the latter’s attention, and he glanced in that direction, his mind clearly in a state of shock, ready to react to the littlest threat- but what he saw was the hat-wearing brat, watching them from the attic. It was a bit hard to see her clearly because of the distance and the blizzard, but the former ghost was almost sure he saw her putting her hand where her heart was, seemingly sighing in relief.

Yeah… Yeah, he could definitely relate to that…

The young Prince jumped when he finally felt the ground under his feet, letting out a startled cry from how shocked he was. Slowly, ever so slowly, Moonjumper loosened his grip on him, only for Snatcher to fall to his knees, unable to stand up in his state. Around him, the snow was starting to get a reddish hue due to the blood falling and leaking on it, staining it.

-“H-hey…!” The corpse tried to help him get back to his feet, in vain. He had just experienced a near-death experience, how could he stand up again so easily?! His eyes looked around and… Noticed a dark spot in the snow.

Vanessa.

The child stared at her, afraid she’d get up again, ready to attack them again, ready to kill them all- But she wasn’t moving.

-“Is… Is it over?” he breathed out, unable to look away from the old Queen, his fear preventing from doing so.

-“I… I think so, yes,” Moonjumper floated lower, down to his level, his voice calmer and yet his nervousness was still very much there.

A loud noise suddenly caught the duo’s attention, making them lift their head to see what it was- and as much as Snatcher had expected quite a lot of things… Seeing the spaceship flying above their head was not one of these things. That… That was where the bow-wearing kid was! She hadn’t been there in the group’s rescue mission, and it made sense that at least someone had to stay in the ship in case things turned sour.

Not so long after that, the front door of the manor opened abruptly, revealing the hatted brat, soon dashing in their direction.

-“Snatcher!” she called out to him, stopping in front of him and almost slipping from how fast she was running. Her eyes noticed his injury and instant worry appeared on her features: “Oh, peck, are you okay?!”

The child took a moment to pull himself together- this was a lot to take in after all.

-“I… I don’t know,” he gasped, and now that the adrenaline was slowly dying down, the pain was getting much, much stronger. Wincing, Snatcher tried to move his arm, only to whine at the sensation. Yeah, that was not happening… And he was bleeding quite a lot too- oh, no, no, this was not good, was it…?

Another weird, high pitched sound caught their attention, this time behind them. The former ghost turned his head back, not knowing what it was- until he saw a beam of light coming from the spaceship to the ground, a silhouette quickly appearing where the light was touching the snow. The other kid! Even though he knew she had to be safe, considering Vanessa had forgotten about her when she brought the young Prince home, he was… Really happy to see her safe, now. However, something else caught his attention.

She was holding the Time Piece again.

Not wasting any more time, the other joined the trio, reacting the exact same way as the rest of the group did at the sight of Snatcher’s injury. Then again… He had no idea how bad it was, but from the look of everyone else, he could guess that it was… Not good.

-“Is… Is she…?” the bow-wearing child pointed to the Queen’s body, still not moving, except for her shadows, carried away by the wind.

-“I… I’m not sure,” Snatcher confessed, still very much afraid to see her getting up- but she wasn’t.

The group remained silent for a moment, staring at what now seemed to be a corpse- And Snatcher couldn’t help but stand up, his stance unstable and his legs trembling both from the blood loss and from how shaken he still was.

-“W-wait, what are you doing?” called out the hatted brat behind him. Moonjumper also tried to get his attention, his tone much more nervous than the little girl’s. The bow-wearing kid, however, remained silent, paralyzed by the fear of what he was trying to do.

Not listening to the group’s advice to sit back down, not to approach Vanessa, as they didn’t know if she was still alive yet- but he didn’t care. And so, silently if not for the sound of his boots in the snow, the young Prince stopped in front of his ex, looking at her with a deep expression of regret on his face. So this was the end of the story, then? The end of a tale that had lasted for many centuries, of a horrifying nightmare that had caused the death of so many people?

Was that it?

The young Prince jumped a bit when the Queen slowly opened her eyes, afraid she would be ready to fight again- but she didn’t move. Instead… She merely smiled at him, that same smile he had loved for years, that same smile from the person he wanted to marry so many years ago- and before he could realize it, his heart started to ache, his mind filled with bitterness.

-“Oh… Hello,” she greeted him, with a tone that was so familiar, much too familiar- and Snatcher’s face hardened, countless of memories blinding him as they came back to him, almost hitting him like a wave.

This was… Not a good ending for him- a good ending would have been to solve their problems before she caused the freezing, would have been to prevent the deaths of everyone- but this? This was a bittersweet ending.

This wasn’t the ending Snatcher wanted, but in the end… This was the only one he could get.

The light in Vanessa’s eyes became dimmer and dimmer as seconds passed and, soon, the former ghost just knew she had passed away, taking with her the threat she had always represented to Subcon Forest. Now… Now, the forest would be safe again.

-“Sna… Snatcher?” the bow wearing child called out to him again, and when he turned back to her… His cheeks started to sting- he was crying now. Tears, countless of them, were rolling down his cheeks and he couldn’t stop, the emotions flooding his mind, so much that it needed to get out somehow- Sobs started to leave his mouth… Before his legs gave up from the blood loss. Before anyone was able to react, the young Prince fell into the snow, mentally and physically exhausted. The group gathered around him, worry and fear visible on their features. Oh.

Was… Was this going to be it? Was this… The end? His end?

His thoughts were cut short when the bow-wearing kid lifted his hand, putting inside it a cold yet familiar object- the Time Piece.

-“Qu-quick!” she urged him, her face deadly pale: “I… I fixed it while you were fighting her! It’ll save you, but you need to break it and wish to become a ghost again!”

-“Hurry!” the hatted brat insisted, trying to hide her worry behind a mask of determination.

Was… Was it really what he wanted? To come back as a ghost, unable to feel a single thing, good or bad? To remain here for eternity and see the world change without him? To take care of a Forest that no longer needed protection? Was this really what he truly, truly wanted? To live in the past forever?

Snatcher winced at the thought.

He… Wasn’t so sure about becoming a ghost again. He had wanted this so much before, but now… Now, something didn’t feel right about this. Was Vanessa’s death the reason for that? Or had he thought this way for a while, just… Being in denial about all of this?

How could he know? What should he do?

-“Wh-what are you waiting for!” urged Moonjumper, and soon, the kids started to shake him lightly, fearing he would lose consciousness from his injuries, if not worse.

All he wanted… All he wanted was…

Slowly, much too slowly for the taste of the group… The former shade lifted the hand holding the Time Piece, ready to smash it to the ground.

-“I wish to be happy,” he murmured, before finally smashing the hourglass down.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-______________________________-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

-“And then, add a bit of salt- yes, just like that!”

The voice of Cooking Cat could be heard in the kitchen of the spaceship, alongside sounds of something cooking in the background, sizzling on a frying pan. Next to her, a young man was standing up, his right hand holding the tool and the left one putting down a cup of salt. Once done, he grabbed the spatula on the nearby counter and started to move the ingredients around inside of the pan, intensifying all the crackling caused by their cooking.

-“Am… Am I doing fine?” he asked, wincing as he was receiving a few splashes, to the point he was tempted to step back- but he knew better than to do that. Cooking Cat seemed to notice his discomfort and came to her friend’s rescue, covering the frying pan with its lid and then lowering the temperature of the gas stove.

The young man couldn’t help but give an awkward and frustrated smile- well, at least, the food wasn’t burnt -yet-, so there was that!

-“You’re improving day after day,” assured the bipedal cat with a warm expression: “You’ll see, someday you won’t even need me anymore to cook for the girls!” she gave him a friendly tap on the back, though perhaps a bit too strong for the thin man, who stumbled a bit.

-“I doubt that,” he answered, before using an familiar sarcastic tone: “I mean, unless you all want me to burn the ship down, of course. That, I can do!”

The Cat snorted and shook her head, though not out of disapproval.

-“You’re underestimating yourself, you know?” she retorted, a bit amused by his previous words: “It’s only been a few months and you’ve made quite a lot of progress. You might not be the best cook in the world right now, but credit where it’s due, now you can make things that are edible!”

-“Oh man, what an improvement! ‘Poisonous’ to ‘barely digestible’! When do I open a restaurant?” he mocked her, but there wasn’t any real animosity, just friendly teasing… To which he received a light punch on the arm:

-“Oh, hush, you,” she snickered: “You know what I mean!”

The two laughed for a bit, and eventually washed their hands, waiting for the food to finish cooking. They kept doing some small talk as they tidied the kitchen a little bit, cleaning and putting back in cupboards all the tools they had needed to prepare the next meal, which smell was slowly invading the room.

Yeah, he had to admit that at least… Well, the smell was good enough to make him hungry, something that hadn’t been possible a few months back.

The duo’s attention was caught by the door opening, revealing the hatted brat, the bow-wearing kid, and Moonjumper, who had started to wear new clothes, clothes that fitted him and his personality much better.

-“Hey, the food’s not ready yet,” the young man taunted them, giving them a shooing gesture: “Come on, away with you!”

-“Can’t we have at a least a bit?” tried to bargain the bow-wearing girl, putting her hands on her stomach as if she hadn’t eaten anything for the past two weeks- and of course, she was imitated by her older friend: “We’re starving!”

-“Yeah, Snatcher, don’t be such a peck-ne-”

-“Language!” the word came from both Cooking Cat and Moonjumper, who floated closer to Snatcher- although it was clear that from the two of them, the bipedal Cat was the one having the more authority. Perhaps she was kind of like a mother-figure, or at least, that’s what the young man couldn’t help but think of her and what her aura seemed like.

-“Fiiine,” grunted the hatted brat, sighing with exaggeration, before giving the cook the look of a nice and innocent kid in dire need of something: “We’re super hungry though,” she repeated and, as on cue, a gurgling sound echoed in the room, causing everyone to stop talking. Eventually, the bow-wearing child giggled with embarrassment and looked away.

-“Y-yeah, we are,” she confirmed, and Cooking Cat just snorted in response. She moved to one of the cupboards and grabbed three plates and silverware, soon handing them to the little, impatient girls.

-“Listen, let’s set the table, and then we’ll eat, alright?” she told them, and it barely took the kids a couple of seconds to grab all of it and running away with it to the living room.

-“Hey, no running with the knifes!” Snatcher called them out, but all he heard were carefree giggles. Ugh. Kids. And yet, he was smiling.

Cooking Cat snorted again, shaking her head with a warm grin, before glancing at the other two :

-“I better go and help them,” she told Snatcher and Moonjumper: “I mean, not that they’re unable to set the table, but. You know.”

-“Yeah, we don’t want any injury, I got it. I’ll take care of the food in the meantime,” he assured, returning her smile with his own, and leaning against one of the kitchen counters. The Cat thanked him and left the room, leaving the young man and the corpse alone. Snatcher soon got back to work and prepared a few crudités for the first course. Somehow, there was some kind of tension in the room, and that was probably due to the fact that Moonjumper hadn’t followed their friend to help the kids. The silence went on for a few more seconds, and… Yeah, there was definitely something.

-“Anything on your mind?” asked the young man casually, glancing at him briefly while he was cutting the vegetables, doing his best to remain focused on the task at hand- not wanting any injury also applied to him. There were quite a few scars on the former Prince’s fingers, due to him not being careful enough while cutting food. After all, not only had he never cooked for a few centuries as a ghost, but he had never really cooked anything while being alive either… Being part of a royal family had its pros and cons after all.

The corpse seemed to be lost in thought, only to jump slightly at Snatcher’s voice, coming back to reality. Moonjumper looked away, scratching his arm in embarrassment:

-“Am I that obvious?” he asked, an awkward smile on his face.

-“Frankly?” the man raised his eyebrow, before giving the other a smug grin: “You have no idea.”

The two snorted, and it did indeed make the tension go away, if only a little. Snatcher knew something was up, and he waited for his friend to make the first step, not wanting to rush anything. If there was anything being human taught him again, it was being patient. Well… Among a lot of other things, of course. And soon enough… This proved to be the right choice, as Moonjumper spoke once more, giving the former Prince a more serious look:

-“Are you… Are you okay?” was his question, and Snatcher was quite taken aback by it, not really expecting something like this. To be fair, he had thought this would be about Subcon, who was now primarily handled by the corpse, though Snatcher did visit quite a lot. This could have also been about the girls or anything like that, really… But him?

Now that was something he hadn’t seen coming.

The young man’s face showed his surprise and confusion, and he quickly put his attention back on his cutting work. No need to cut a finger because he wasn’t attentive enough… Still:

-“Wh- Yeah, I am?” he replied, puzzled by this sudden question: “Why?”

Moonjumper remained silent for a moment, to the point Snatcher thought this conversation would end here- but the other proved him wrong:

-“It’s just that… You wanted to become a ghost again so much, a few months back,” admitted his counterpart with a wince: “And yet, while you had the opportunity to make this happen, you… Didn’t.”

He paused for a few seconds, as if he were looking for the right words, as if he were walking on eggshells- well, it was a figure of speech, given his lack of legs. In any case…

-“I guess, I just… I just wanted to know if you were fine with it.”

Snatcher stopped his cutting work, his stare lost into space. Yeah, he could see where that was coming from… To be fair, his old self would have probably screamed at him, not understanding why he was still a human despite getting the opportunity to change that, despite getting the chance he had waited for since the moment he woke up in that body.

In that body which reminded him of so many things, some good and some… Bad, very bad. And so, he wasn’t really surprised to see this question coming, especially from Moonjumper, who, well… Shared quite a lot of memories with him, even if they still weren’t the same person. If there was anyone in the world knowing him the best, it was the corpse, no doubt about that.

… Which meant quite a lot, being asked this question by his counterpart.

-“You know… If I had gotten the possibility to turn back into what I used to be when it happened…” started Snatcher, referring to the moment he had been turned into a human, months ago: “… Then I’m pretty sure I’d have taken that opportunity without hesitation.”

-“… So what changed?” retorted the other, though there was no judgment in his tone of voice- just pure curiosity and a lot of concerns.

-“I guess…” the man stopped to think, sighing again, before continuing, his face full of regret: “You know, back there, when I… When I almost died,” he managed to say, his body starting to shake from the emotion and from the memories. Snatcher was… Still trying to ignore them, but despite this, he remained haunted by them, haunted by what had happened, by what could have happened to him and to his friends.

The corpse nodded, silently and gently nudging him into talking once more.

-“I… I realized that I… Didn’t really want to die?” he wondered to himself, having done his best not to think about that whole thing until now, and he shrugged, though it was visible that this was clearly upsetting him: “I just… Understood that if I were to die again, even if I came back as a ghost I would just… Not be able to feel anything at all, you know?”

He glanced back to Moonjumper, and he mindlessly started to rub the counter with his hands, as if he were enjoying the sense of touch for the last time, contemplating what could have been if he had indeed died again that day.

-“That kinda scared me,” he admitted, this time with a frown, because being afraid was still something he didn’t like saying: “And after Vanessa’s death, I guess that I felt… Guilty, but also better? As if, there wasn’t that weight on my shoulder anymore, right? And so… So when Bow gave me the Time Piece, I… Hesitated.”

He couldn’t help but scoff at the idea, now.

-“That’s stupid, right?”

Moonjumper seemed surprised by his words, and he titled his head to the side, confused and a little worried:

-“What do you mean?” asked the other, frowning too.

-“That… That I basically let that hourglass decide.”

-“Oh.”

Realization crossed the corpse’s features and he looked away, maybe feeling foolish for that dumb question. But to Snatcher, it wasn’t one, really. A few minutes passed in pure silence, and Snatcher got back to his cutting work. It took a little while before Moonjumper gathered the courage to speak again, visibly concerned for his friend:

-“And so… Are you happy?” he asked, making a reference to the wish Snatcher had made back then, when he was dying. The memory made the young man wince, and he couldn’t help but clench his fists, doing his best not to let his mind getting overwhelmed at the traumatizing recollection.

But this was a good question. Was he happy? Was he, really? It was quite hard to answer… How could he know? His old lives, as a Prince and as a soul-stealing ghost, were so different than this one that it was barely comparable. However… However, he couldn’t deny how miserable he had felt sometimes, as a spirit guarding Subcon Forest. But now…? While he still had nightmares, and while sensations were still a bit strong… Vanessa wasn’t a threat to Subcon and its inhabitants anymore, he felt free for the first time in centuries, not shackled to a place in order to protect it, no- he was really, truly free. Furthermore…

Snatcher had two people to care about now.

-“You know, it’s not so bad,” he eventually replied, a smile starting to appear on the corner of his lips.

-“What is?”

The young man turned his head to his friend, his smile widening, even though his expression still showed some regrets:

-“Being Human.”

The corpse fell silent, but eventually returned his smile, visibly satisfied with the answer. The duo’s attention were brought back to reality as a smell of something burning started to float in the room-

-“Oh fu- peck!” the former prince cursed as he turned off the gas stove, quickly removing the frying pan and putting it on the kitchen counter. His face fell when he noticed the meal had burnt- again. Next to him, Moonjumper was trying his best not to laugh, leading the young man to glare at him. Instantly, the corpse looked away innocently, whistling- ugh, that guy.

Snatcher looked at the burnt meal with frustration, and he rubbed his eyes- Yeah, he was getting tired of himself quite a lot, when it came to cooking. Nonetheless, he took a deep breath, and picked the frying pan again, while Moonjumper, still giggling, grabbed the plates of crudités. Both left the kitchen, and Snatcher lifted the pan for everyone to see, announcing loudly and comically:

-“Soooo, who wants some burnt food?”

A loud series of boo welcomes him, as well as some “again??”s, making him snicker in reaction… But yeah.

Being Human wasn’t so bad.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Thank you for following me this far, I hope you liked this story ! My next fanfiction, still on AHIT, is a WIP for now. I hope you'll like it too. See you soon !

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hermitcraftheadcanons · 5 years ago

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Apartment AU Masterpost:

-Everyone lives in an apartment complex.

-Xisuma as landlord? Or just a really well looked up to person in the complex. Whichever works for you!

-Pranks all the time. Everyone's constantly pranking each other.

-Everyone has 'normal people jobs.' Perhaps Joe is an English teacher? (Cleo's also a teacher. (Irl.) Omg, what if they teach at the same school?) Maybe Bdubs is a professional interior designer? Maybe Cub builds computers? Go nuts, get creative.

-Actually, screw it. Bdubs works at IKEA.

-Everyone meets up every Friday night to go to the pub or go bowling or just do something together.

-They have a discord server because of course they do.

-European Hermits are early-birds, American hermits are night-owls. (This is the only way I can think to portray timezones and waking hours when everyone's living in the same building.)

-They all still love minecraft, don't worry.

-Keralis has so many books his flat is basically a library. He lets people come in and borrow books for a small fee.

-Tinfoilchef is a bit of a shut in but everyone makes an effort to include him.

-Etho would also be a cryptid like Xisuma. Like, we've seen Xisuma's whole body other than his face but the best we know about Etho is that: 1. He exists and 2. From the, like, one single real life photo he's shared, he broke a headset. Also, 3. Allegedly, he's buff. Otherwise; Beef and Etho invite Pause (who lives elsewhere,) over at random intervals to [play ctm maps] and do god knows what. Bdoubs works at IKEA but is the person to make the room displays, y'know.

-Scar sells dice and other tabletop rpg supplies that he designs. His shop is magiccrystals. com

-Cub and Scar made business with the guy who runs the fight club. They get half of the profits and everyone’s always wondering how those two can always afford the most expensive Christmas gifts for everyone.

-Mumbo could be an engineer or work on a STEM field, and he works on some really important and impressive projects and that would explain his polish person, Exept, when it comes to helping another hermit to change a lightbulb or fix a microwave he is an absolute disaster.

-Grian owns a parrot that knows everyones' names and faces and greets them when they come in.

-Scar's apartment has a balcony filled with plants and he has to bring them inside for the winter. (I'm assuming that all 4 seasons happen) Even without the balcony plants, his place is still full of indoor plants including his favorite venus flytrap. There is always a plant knocked over from Jellie's shenanigans. Jellie is supposed to stay in his apartment, however she keeps on getting out somehow, even getting to Xisuma's apartment occasionally.

-There's a grassy patch out back that acts as a backyard, but Stress has effectively taken it over. Perfect for flowers of all colors in the spring and summer, and during the winter you KNOW she’s building an ice castle from which to throw snowball at all her friends.

-Beef and, when he’s visiting, Pause get a lot of questions about Etho (since unlike X who gets one tightlipped visitor in shape of his brother Etho gets two that are willing to be vague) however they charge a fee for people to guess. They’d never actually sell him out but the guesses are always something technical related so there’s not much of a risk, he actually works as a botanist/gardener.

-Iskall is extremely good at ice hockey and, as resident Canadians, Etho and Beef have played with him. However Iskall only knows that he’s played with Beef because both beef and etho refuse to tell him who in the rink was Etho when they played.

-The only person who’s seen Xisuma's face is Keralis.

-Nobody knows what Grian does for a job. Like, when they think they've figured it out what he does, they're thrown through a loop again because he does a lot of odd jobs. Need help with a pet? Grian can help! Rip on your clothes? Don't worry, Grian knows how to fix it! Ect.

-Grian's an assassin. Iskall will make assassin jokes and Grian, without looking up from his coffee will go: "that's not how that works!" And then go back to being quiet. Everyone's like ????

-I love the idea of Grian knowing all these cool facts and when anyone acts he says 'it's because of his job,' and they still can't figure out what he does. He keeps correcting Iskall on assassin facts but they're all just like 'oh Grian sure must love those types of movies, huh.'

-Cleo teaches Joe's kid. (That means she teaches either year 2 or year 3? // 1st grade or 2nd grade?)

-Grian's family is in the mafia but he mostly just vibes. Sure, he works with the mafia, but he keeps his regular life away from work and none of the hermits (besides False because she saved the Mafia boss) know. Imagine boss looking at False and going, 'oh hey, you're already protected.' False is confused and says 'what?' But the Mafia Boss has already left.

-Etho is always in full kakashi cosplay.

-Honorary hermits apartment au: zloy and pixl have a radio show but also act as private investigators. Falsie hires them to investigate how she got the protection of the mafia. On their investigation they start asking Elybeat (that lives on a building right next to the hermits) about weird behaviors that he might have seen. Ely just goes ‘all of what they do is weird. I’ve recorded weird stuff they say and remixed it. They though it was funny and put the remixes as their elevator music.'

-Everyone thinks Etho is an assassin, but really, he's a horticulturist/botanist. He doesn't bother to correct them cause it means he doesn't get pranked, (or, as often.) Maybe someone finds out eventually? I don't know who. Maybe Doc and they keep it hush hush cause they think it's funny or something. || Maybe Bdubs finds out, (because I think he's seen Naruto?? Swear I saw a Twitter post where he recognized a Naruto joke) and he's the only one that recognizes that Etho's dressed like Kakashi and NOT an assassin. (That's lowkey a joke though.)

-Someone warns Grian against parking euro because they think Etho's an assassin and Grian just kinda goes: "alright then." Knowing that there's no way Etho is an assassin, but also realising how the hermits view that profession, he most likely starts feeling kinda bad.

-Beef used to be a car photographer and Mumbo takes photographs as a sideline when he was in college. They would occasionally chat about their past experience in the photography field and sometimes gush about cars.

-Hermit Challenges was actually a truth or dare game among the hermits. Mumbo was basically delirious from lack of sleep to explain his absolute gremlin energy. Mumbo dares Grian to steal front doors before passing out and everyone decided that was the end of that game. No one thought Grian would do the dare. A week later, everyone but Etho and Xisuma were missing their front doors (including Grian.) He stuck them in his bathroom so no one immediately saw the doors.

-As already established, Joe constantly hangs at Keralis's library. Let's say he also has a hobby for writing, and one time he was asking to himself how *insert really specific murder scene* would work in real life. Grian or Doc then overheard him and answers him in a also very specific way, he thanks them with 0 concerns and continues with his writing.

-Etho has been an assassin but it was many years ago, and retired to care for plants. (As you do.) He got hired by The Goatfather but intentionally botched the killings because, 'hey now those two are friends >:(' He and Bdubs still have the endrod game but it involves the whole apartment building and several discord messages going "located" or "flashlight on the move.'

-Stress paints all the hermit's door and puts their names on them. (-🌿)

-The organisization Grian works for is called "The Watchers!" They text him in riddles of what his missions are. This is so that if anyone peaks at his phone, they don't understand immediately!

-What if in YHS happen because of grian family and Sam is from an other family who does not support the grain family. So grian will not bring up high school and school and when joe and Cleo talk about there student grian sometimes cringes remember what happened in high school. (-🌿)

-Grian and Mumbo's hobbits holes were two cupboards they found on their respective apartments and decided to make a room out of them and named them their hobbit holes after they found out they both had them (-🐿️)

-What if it's a really old apartment and the 'hobbit holes' actually connect to each others apartment. (-🐺)

-Mumbo has these periods when he overworks like crazy and when they're over - he sleeps for like 24-36 hours straight. Everybody knows about this and help him if he falls asleep in random plaxes around the apartment. Mumbo once fell asleep right before his door and Grian tried to help him get inside while mumbling. Guess which remix were aded to the elevator music next week.

-Whenever anyone is annoyed or upset, grian sometimes pops his head up from his book and goes "who do I need to kill?" No one takes him seriously though he *would* kill for any of his friends.

-People who have left the server work nearby but have moved to new apartments. (For example, Welsknight works at a nearby food truck) (-☘️)

-With the Grian being a spy you get several oints where he thinks he's been found out but no one puts the and two together. They're all like: "Grian just likes action movies I guess."

-Scar's "wizard robe" is a bathrobe he owns. One day he forgets to change and just walks out in a bathrobe and no pants.

-Since Cleo teaches Joe's kid, maybe that extends to all the hermits' kids? Like the ones that have them, like not at the same time but at some point you know?

-I don't think I saw any regarding headgames, but I could've missed it. Anyways, what if Cleo wanted to make a big Scrapbook in her free time of all her friends, so she asks everybody to try and get pictures. So the PVP heads are candid photos, and the tradeable one are like selfies or group pictures. The other heads could just be a requirement for the picture like have a sheep in the picture. And maybe she gives the winners dinner payed by her or something.

-On the head cannon that hermits that aren’t on the server work nearby, Biffa is the actual mayor.

-Are mobs (and half mobs by extension) still a thing in apartment au? Cause if not I propose that Jevin just has cloob blue dyed hair and a bunch of blue tattoos.

-XB bakes a lot and always shares the food he makes with the others. They adore his cookies. Scar really wants to make some cookies in the shapes of disney characters with him, but he's too shy to ask. (-nameless anon)

-Perhaps Mumbo and Iskall are also protected by the mafia because of grian (perhaps scar is too) They and False have a 'we are protected and have no idea why' group (-Frost Anon)

-Imagine the hermits want to throw a nice party but X and Etho were kinda like “yeah no i’ll pass” so they make it a masquerade so that they can come- and then the whole night no one knows who anyone really is, but still has a really good time.

-Grian wanted a pet parrot, but felt like he would be terrible at taking care of one so he has toy parrots instead, those that have pre made phrases and such, and he is proud of his toy parrot pets. (-🐿️)

-Xisuma hosts a podcast! That's where all of his Xisuma speaks content ends up coming from. (-🇵🇭)

-Etho has a secret food blog called "Cooking With Etho" (based on the actual cooking with Etho segment in usually his modded stuff.) He also knows that there's hermits that either: have no idea how to cook properly or can't cook real meals due to their work. To help with this, sometimes he leaves finished meals or recipes with them (outside their doors or somehow in their fridge) and no one knows who does it prompting the theory of a self care ghost haunting the building.

(All of those in red were from Anons!)

-Joe works as a LAMP Developer.

-False has an assortment of swords, knives, etc. She even had a bow! She also has a dummy to practice fighting on.

(-@unpredictable-pancake.)

-Stress is a wedding designer. (-@the-angry-numel.)

-Iskall also works at IKEA with Bdubs. (-@mandatedempathy.)

-There's a local club that's basically fight club a few people are in. False, Iskall and a couple others are in.

-Hypno is kind of a bit of a loner. Everyone on the floor considers him a friend but he doesn't really have a best friend. He just does his own thing and people usually let him do that. He's fine with it.

-XB and Joe spend a lot of time at Keralis' library house just reading the books. Keralis usually charges every except those two because 1. They're there so often and 2. They're basically his room mates at this point. (-@tomcatacaphe.)

-Ren works at a bar as a bartender or musician. (-@friendlyneighbourhoodpieceoftrash.)

-Building on the last thing with Ren as a musician or working at a bar, he works at a bar as a server but does live music on weekends. It's the bar/pub/restaurant that the hermits sometimes hang out at together.

-I can see Grian working at a pet shop but also on the side of the mafia because of YHS. Or at least he used to be involved with the mafia.

-Beef once had to cart Etho off to the hospital for a chemical burn and explain to the other tenants that the explosion heard suspiciously close by wasn’t mafia activity. Etho is just an idiot with a hobby of making homemade fireworks.

-(-@limelocked.)

-False is the chief of police for the town they live in. Iskall is a hired assassin who normally gets employed by the mysterious figure GOATfather. Doc is the GOATfather, head of the mafia. Falsie is trying to hunt down these two as well as any others associated with them. The nHo is part of the mafia. Falsie has no idea any of them are in the mafia and they refuse to kill her because she has become such a close friend to them.

-Maybe Grian is a spy instead of an assassin? The group the Watchers is a government policing organization bent on trying to crack down on mob activity in the area.

(-@creator0fchaos.)

-The elevator music is hermitgang and remixes. -(@lookitsspacekween.)

-Zedaph is a game show host. Tango makes cartoons. (-@aphion-and-on.)

-Come on, let Iskall play ice hockey! Maybe not professionally if it doesn't work for the AU but he's v good at least. (-@automnalsaffron.)

-Grian maybe works at an animal shelter or an animal rehabilitation center. So everyone who has a pet usually comes to him for help if their pet is sick or injured. (-@vahco.)

-Grian has a safe full of guns, all the Hermits know about it but think they're fake. (-@xxpzmistxx)

-X never comes out of his room so no one’s seen his face. The only way he communicates is via text, Discord, and an intercom right by his door. He almost always gets groceries whenever the hermits are busy and therefore have no time to go out- but the hermits know he’s a real person because sometimes they hear guitar solos coming from his room.

-Hypno is a voice actor!

-Joe and Cleo often go home at the same time, and all the way it's almost always Cleo complaining about her students being bratty and the likes (Bonus points if Joe carpools with Cleo, who owns a car.)

-False unknowingly helps the boss of the mafia after seeing him wounded on a street one day, earning her their protection.

-As a callback to Season 6, Stress became a cat lady for a bit while False became a dog lady. As an added bonus: Cleo became nuts when Cub decided to gift her with spiders for her birthday or some other event.

-Mumbo still sidelines as a cameraman/film director for short documentaries and comedy sketches where he often invites Zed and his buddy Jack to act maybe?

-The first time X was proven to be an actual person was when the girls temporarily kicked the boys out to have the apartment all to themselves for a girls’ night which prompted the boys to have their own boys’ night. X was wearing his grey helmet that night so his face was still obscured tho, and from that day forward they always had a weekly girls’ night and boys’ night alternating on which group gets to have the apartment to themselves.

-False may seem like she can take a shot or two, but in reality she’s very lightweight and easily drunk, and is always the first one wasted. She becomes a flirty drunk who flirts with everyone and everything when she’s tipsy, an angry drunk the more she drinks and eventually a sad drunk before passing out. Cleo and Stress, her drinking buddies, always find amusement in this.

-As a callback to Xb living a thousand blocks away from society in s7, maybe he lives at the highest floor where not many (if not no one) occupies?

(-@heyitsroby.)

-Civil War started because they used to get groceries delivered to their doors and Grian started stealing them when they were left in the doorstep. Everyone stole each others groceries until one day they went into teamss of one side vs the other side of the corridor to the other until Grian stole so many groceries Dic was like 'Dammit!' He started going to the store to get groceries instead of getting them delivered to his door after that. (-@sayeshaa1108.)

-Regarding apartment au: Zedaph is similar to miu iruma from danganronpa: making the weirdest inventions and coaxing the other hermits into doing weird things for science. (-@oh-hecc-im-stupid.)

-Idk if Doc has a profession yet in the apartment au, but it just struck me- what if he owned a private casino?? Cause of s7? Just a thought! (-@853dragons.)

-Cleo really enjoys doing miniature diorama scenes. Like the tiny dudes from "Night at The Museum". She's like crazy good at it, and Joe will sometimes base his poems and stories off of her dioramas. Also maybe Joe has published a book of poems and short stories? (-@lynxes15.)

-Doc works as a social engineer and part time mafia boss. He rarely shows up for game nights. However, when he does, nobody else stands a chance.

-Tango, Impulse and Zedaph go over to each other's rooms so often they practically live together in an apartment room 3X bigger than everyone else.

(-@trashedeggnog.)

LINK TO NEXT POST: https://hermitcraftheadcanons.tumblr.com/post/617640752709861376/apartmentau-masterpost-2-link-to-previous-the

Posts with TW:

Guns, Gangs, Getting Shot. Don't read if you can't handle this topics.

-Everyone finds out Grian is an assassin/mafia boss because someone from a different gang (*cough cough* sam gladiator *cough cough*) found out where he lives and tried to murder him. Queue epic gun fight scene. If you want some angst, Grian gets shot a couple of times in the fight but didn’t realize it because of the adrenaline and passes out. (-Anon.)

-Imagine someone like, finding Grian's guns and weapons and just being :0 and Grian is a little nervous. But then the other hermit just think the guns are cool (it's probably either etho or doc) and they're just gushing over how cool the guns are. Grian is relieved. (-Anon.)

-iJevin owns at least one gun. He's not in the mafia or a cop or anything, it's just cool and legal so he as one. He's the constant counter for the other gun owning hermits who have them for more mafia related purposes (context: jevin owns at least one gun irl) (-Anon.)

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tinysatansierra-blog · 4 years ago

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Markiplier manor is toxic here’s why

So Markiplier manor (Markipliers official discord server) has gotten a surplus of new people in it, this happened a few weeks ago the manor itself though has been up for awhile. originally a members only server it was eventually opened up for everyone and yes there are alot of genuinely good people and the mods are alright but unfortunately its becoming a toxic environment.

SO EDIT i have discussed with the mods that being said ... im keeping this up as a reminder of we can do better we can help people who are struggling through something instead of shutting them down we can listen to people who are being oppressed and bravely point out new media that only worsens that oppression and stigmatization and not just the mods who i was kind of harsh towards but who are human everyone as a community can do better and this is a large community think of the work we can do just doing the basics like boycotting problematic content and helping those who cry out for it who need it (and noticing and shutting down manipulative/toxic behaviors) ... i dont know if im going to go back to the manor yet tho im going to let this sit give it a week yall can agree or disagree but know that if you try to be an ass your going to get shut down and your feelings are going to get hurt

lets start with the basics “triggering topics” triggering topics can be anything in particular but it generally means a topic that relates to another persons trauma. Now while it is important to acknowledge a persons trigger words and try to keep the conversation respectable ive also noticed people use it to shut down people who come on freaking out because their dealing with a stressful situation/something traumatic just happened. This has happened to me personally and to a friend with me it was about being pro choice and having to in short make that actual choice. i was discussing this in the bathroom because i (like anyone else who comes in with baggage) did not know about any pro choice discords at that moment and was afraid of being stigmatized or going onto a discord that says its a safe space only for it to be filled with trolls. Mark manor is labeled as a safe space and many people come on there looking for support with me no one told me that the topic was triggering to them (which apparently it was because a friend of theirs had to make the choice not her herself think what you will) they just went to a mod early on when i just found the server as a member a friend (who i wont name) had gotten.... assaulted majority of her werent online and as someone who has been there and yes when she told me it did trigger my own trauma she needed moral support... the mod shut her down and deleted her comments and didnt give her a pointer to any other discord where she could discuss the topic openly and get moral support and be pointed to resources (it actually took me ten minutes to find and confirm a lgbtq therapy chat earlier this year for another individual discussing mental health) this was before i had gotten on for that day but i noticed those messages and i contacted her when she told me what was up yea it triggered my memories and its not fun but I FUCKING HELPED HER i made sure she went to the police to atleast file a statement (while the police dont always help it is good to have it on file) i even made her a plush and shipped it out to her and i would do it again and again because its not good to basically tell another person to shut up because it triggers others not without atleast trying to help them find another fucking place and making sure their actually ok and in a physical safe place next is them claiming the manor is a “safe space” a safe space is by definition “ a place or environment in which a person or category of people can feel confident that they will not be exposed to discrimination, criticism, harassment, or any other emotional or physical harm.” you would also think that the manor would be a safe space in the fact that marginalized and oppressed groups of people would be able to point out problematic content and have an open and free discussion about it and how it makes them uncomfortable. especially people of lgbtq community which alot of people in that chat are. yesterday (and this was what caused me to officially turn away from the server) in the patio (which is the members only chat) a Transgender individual pointed out the problematic content that is huniepop and how it fetishizes trans people as well as other minorities now this game i hear tries to make itself out as a “parody” .... its not its a sexual dating sim what would make it a parody is if sex noises were replaced with donkey sounds and the lewd pictures were replaced with poorly drawn doodles of tits or what have you its a game for incels marks hilarious when he plays it because he doesnt take the game seriously my issue isnt with him its with the developer. and if you did not know (which apparently people dont) the character poli is described as “a girl with a dick” the individual pointed this out because they felt like it dehumanizes them and paints them as nothing more than a fetish... and also apparently you can “choose” is poli is trans which kind of gives off the message that people can ignore trans peoples identity if it makes them uncomfortable... or if they dont sexualize them. and the muslim community is more or less in the same boat i come from the bible belt in usa im not muslim i am not trans but i do have a reason for standing with both and i will get to that in a bit so i was raised in a christian household in a christian setting like muslim women were basically told we cannot have sex and any sexual thought is sinful and we will be punished blah blah blah your even more closeted if your gay or bi because then you can face ... violence that being said to make the woman from the middle east hyper sexual like they did is kind of shitty even for a incel pleasing sex game. the individual who thought it would be ok to discuss this in the server because its labeled as a safe space and is generally “lgbtq” friendly thus believing he would have people agree and discuss ... was unceremoniously shut down by their peers and a mod was notified this person was not hostile maybe a bit frustrated because he wanted to talk about it and thought he would have this genuinely helpful conversation and people would listen and spread the word because to have problematic content be popular can isolate the oppressed group even more so WHEN NO ONE WANTS TO LISTEN TO THEM. if a group of marginalized people notice something problematic with content and you claim to be an ally of said group then you need to acknowledge and support what they say. they told him to go to twitter where he could potentially be bullied and written off ... because again its an INCEL PLEASING SEX GAME.(which means incels if you ever dealt with them will go and say anything to justify the game even using slurs and bullying) and to put the icing on the cake to change the topic they brought up robin ... i actually dont know who robin is as i dont really focus much on youtube creators personal stuff (it feels off for me to not personally know an individual but know their personal stuff without having actually talking to them its weird i know its a thing i have in my head) but apparently they recently came out as female and good for them im super proud of him and the patio members were discussing how they were proud of him as well for beginning to wear makeup and making themselves more feminine which would be great if they werent trying so hard to shut down the trans male who was trying to spread awareness on problematic stuff .... something he pointed out ... and something they gaslighted and said he was being hostile. really its almost as if they only care about trans issues when its someone famous discussing them so what can we possibly do about huniepop being transphobic and the answer is very easy BOYCOTT IT like... yall were up in arms and boycotted jk rowling with snap and a turn do we only cancel the old and ugly? do we only cancel those who we dont think is funny? mark is not at fault he probably doesnt realize it and any comments made on the issue are talked down upon or drowned amongst other comments im not saying to cancel him im saying to cancel the game HARD. ignore the posts bitch at the dev demand refunds for your game. like consumers have infinitely more power than corps want to admit. so you basically have a community that claims to be a safe space but only if you want to talk about sunshine and rainbows and its highly hypocritical of them to claim safety. another thing is emotionally abusive/manipulative people hide in the server and the mods dont ever seem to acknowledge it. i cannot tell you how many times ive gotten into arguments with people who seems nice then turn into assholes then claim to be the victim when i or others go off on them. if you recognize my name you know i dont stand down when it comes to having a snarky or rude comment thrown at me if your going to be an ass were fighting i dont care how nice you seemed beforehand and you dont get to call a mod just because i actually stood up for myself or others sorry not sorry dont be a bitch nuff said. now why would i care so much about problematic content? why would i care and stand by the transgender and muslim people (aside from being ya know... an actual ally and not someone who claims it for sympathy and brownie points?) its because i am autistic i am also able to function well on my own but there is a movie created by the famous singer sia it is called music it is a movie frowned upon by the autisitic community because infantizes and dehumanizes non verbal autistic people i am fortunate and unfortunate in not having to deal with much stigma unfortunate because i wasnt diagnosed until i was 17 alot of answers about my behavior could have been answered if i had been diagnosed earlier but considering society loves the quiet timid female and i functioned “well” for neurotypicals i was ignored. so yea you bet your ass im standing with them and raising awareness about huniepop and their was this one person when i mentioned this point i cant remember there name nor to do i give a shit about them because when i mentioned how autistic people ... how i was in the same boat with music by sia (again i advise that no one target the actress who was under contract target sia and please boycott her so she knows she cant get brownie points or money for a movie that stigmatizes who she claims she wants to “help” (*cough* profit off of *cough cough*) and only serves as a feel good movie for neurotypicals and ignorant people) they said “i heard people who hated the movie i heard people who found it alright people are ALLOWED to like problematic content” ... and like ... does anyone else see the problem here? its not hard at all to boycott celebrities for making content and im going to repeat this point IF A GROUP OF MARGINALIZED, STIGMITIZED AND OPPRESSED PEOPLE CALL OUT SOMETHING FOR BEING PROBLEMATIC AND YOU CLAIM TO BE AN ALLY YOU FUCKING LISTEN TO THEM AND DONT SHUT THEM DOWN I DONT GIVE A SHIT YOU DONT HAVE A FUCKING EXCUSE. if you cant bring yourself to boycott a piece of media and replace it with the infinitely more suitable forms that supports the group you claim to be for your not an ally your a fucking hypocrite and that is why i left markiplier manor i am still a youtube special ... thingy member and i will continue to be a member to support mark i want people to overall listen to those who speak up against a creator and a piece of media and listen to us all no matter how “good” something seems. .. also there is a video called listen it was created by nonverbal autistic people and communicationFIRST a group that sia apparently communicated with for her movie... and then ignored https://youtu.be/H7dca7U7GI8

#markiplier #transphobia #trans pride #lgbtq #muslim #huniepop #markiplier manor #pro choice #toxic groups #toxic fanbase #sia #music the movie #problematic content #huniepop2 #albeism #hypocrisy #hypocrites #discord

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vindicatedvirgil · 4 years ago

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what are you, a middle school librarian?

me: actually studying to be a librarian roman: accuses janus of being a middle school librarian me: i can fix this just gimme a blank document and some lofi and a cup of warm tea and a few hours

anyways in a discord server i’m in we were coming up with kahoot questions and i see the words middle school librarian and janus and i thought: i could make a fic out of this.

...so here ya go. a roceit fic. uber romantic. enjoy. also a very small mention of intrulogical (so small that you might miss it tbh).

TW: mentions of chronic illness (i think that’s it)

[masterlist]

---

Being a middle school librarian was, frankly, exhausting. Janus shooed the final kid out the door and locked it behind them, wanting to slump against the door and shut off all of the lights so that his migraine had a chance of escaping. Except he had to meet with the English faculty soon. He swore there wasn’t enough tea in the world for dealing with Roman Prince, the cockiest of the bunch.

It wasn’t that Roman was a bad teacher. Janus actually held him in the highest regards in that manner; he was excellent at promoting diverse, new materials and he kept his students engaged through acting exercises and relevant references. No, it was just that Roman was insufferably handsome and was absolutely aware of it. And Roman knew that Janus felt this way and preyed upon the librarian every single time they were in the same room.

The other faculty were none the wiser as Roman slid his hand along Janus’ bicep, the cardigan doing nothing to hide the grip of the English teacher. Janus wanted to smack him or kiss him (or maybe both), but instead he opted to sit at the head of the table, chin in his hand as he eyed the packet of materials he wanted to share with the faculty about new books and research strategies.

As far as meetings go, it was a short one, and the other teachers filed out quickly as it was, indeed, a Friday afternoon and they likely all had better things to do. Janus packed up his things quickly, ready to go home and make a fresh pot of tea and curl up with the mystery he had started at lunch time, his cat at his feet. When he looked up from one of his many book bags, Roman prince was leaning over the counter, a smirk on his face.

“Mr. Prince, if you don’t mind, I need to get going now,” he said, trying not to seem too frazzled about the fact that they were alone together in an empty library. Roman pursed his lips in thought and reached his hand out to take one of Janus’, before pressing his lips to the knuckles.

“Would you like to go to dinner with me tonight, Janus?” His voice was smooth and it reverberated throughout Janus’ whole body, and he tried to not appear flustered or blush at the interaction but it had been so long since anyone had openly flirted with the librarian that he was definitely aching for attention. “No strings. I just want to get to know you a bit better. Outside of the library and school, that is.”

“Roman,” Janus tried to keep the tone of his voice level as he pulled his hand away from Roman’s lips, instantly missing the feeling of having them on his skin. “You know the rules as well as I do, that the faculty of this school are not meant to have… extraneous relationships.”

“Relationships, no. But a friendship, yes. That is not frowned upon,” Roman said thoughtfully, as though he had refreshed his memory by reading the employee handbook earlier that day (he definitely had). “Unless you’re concerned that we wouldn't be able to remain just friends.”

Janus stammered over his thoughts. “I- No, that’s…” he trailed off, then finally nodded in agreement. “Alright, Roman. One dinner. And then I’ll decide if we can be friends.”

Janus was thankful that Roman didn’t choose some fancy, expensive restaurant for their night out. Not that two men who worked for a middle school could afford it anyways, but he didn’t think that his yellow cardigan, black button-up, and black slacks would cut it in a fancy setting. Except Roman… Janus’ eyes swept over the man. The teacher somehow always looked elegant, even in white jeans and a red shirt. Maybe it was the way that his curly hair swept over his forehead or the thin veneer of makeup that was always perfectly present on his face, but… Roman was always extra. And it was aggravating.

The librarian leaned his hand on his chin once he had settled into the booth. The diner was near the school and was a favorite stop of many students and faculty, and given that it was a Friday evening, it was rather busy. Several students that Janus recognized stared at the pair when they walked in, and Roman waved them off fancifully (leaving Janus to wonder if Roman ever did anything without that hint of theatricality).

An awkward silence had settled over the pair as they pored over their menus. Janus ran a hand through his hair almost fitfully before deciding it would be in his way and he threw it into a messy bun off the back of his head. When he glanced up, Roman’s eyes were fixed upon his hair, his face, and Janus wanted to run. He was always self-conscious working around kids who were brutally honest; but he could accept their blatancy when they pointed out the scars on the left side of his body. Adults were more sneaky about their glances, and he could always tell that they were feeling sympathy for him.

“Please do not stare at me,” Janus mumbled, meeting Roman’s eyes. The teacher stammered, looking back down at his menu, but not before Janus noticed a faint blush covering his counterpart’s cheeks.

“Sorry, I just… you put your hair up in that bun so effortlessly and it turned out beautiful,” Roman explained, and now Janus was the one who had to hide his blush. He said nothing though, and soon the waiter came over to take their drink orders.

“Can I get a cup of coffee, please? Bring over some milk and sugar with it, please,” Roman said, flashing a dazzling smile at them. “And a glass of water, if you don’t mind.” The waiter nodded at this, then looked over at Janus, who was thrown off by how polite Roman was to them.

“Uh, just water with lemon, please. Thank you,” Janus said, and the waiter walked off, leaving the two in quiet again. Janus glanced up at Roman, though, then decided to start up a conversation. “What did you do before you were an English teacher?”

“Well…” Roman set down his menu, resting his chin on his hand. “I went to school for theater, and did a lot of community theater while working in diners and at coffee shops. It was great, but… I couldn’t bear the hours of those jobs anymore. So… I went back to school to become a teacher. And during the summer I run a theater camp. Sometimes I’ll still do community shows.” Janus nodded at this, pursing his lips in thought.

“I was a theater major for my undergraduate,” he said, and Roman raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Yeah, I know. Surprising, right?” He sighed, “I was really focused on musical theory and directing. And then… I realized it wouldn’t be enough to support me. So I started working in a local library to help pay the bills, and from there I decided to go on to get a degree in library science so I could become a librarian. I shadowed a librarian at a middle school in my old town for a bit and decided that was my path forward,” he explained, and Roman nodded. “I miss theater, though. I miss the nerves before a show and the costumes. I miss a lot of it.”

“You could help out with theater camp next summer,” Roman suggested. Janus wanted to shake his head but he nodded instead, smiling faintly. It wasn’t a commitment, anyways. It was just a nod. “I wanted to be on Broadway someday, you know? See my name in the lights. Instead, I just see my name under students’ names on their properly formatted papers.”

“It’s not too late for you,” Janus’ words fell out before he could stop them, and he resisted the urge to reach out and take Roman’s hand in comfort. “What’s stopping you from flying off to New York right this second?”

“I…” Roman started, but faded away as the waiter brought back their drinks. The waiter asked for their meal orders. “Can I get the chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and green beans? Thanks.” Janus watched as Roman’s demeanor shifted from open and kind to more closed off, and tried to fight off the frown that he knew was trying to press through to his lips.

“I’ll have the soup and salad combo, with the broccoli cheddar soup and a cobb salad. Thank you,” he said, and the pair handed their menus off, then sat in silence once again. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that.”

“I was about to leave for New York, once,” Roman said quietly, and Janus watched him intently. “I had a flight booked and a place to stay. But then… my brother got sick. He needed someone to take care of him so I… dropped everything. Picked up a second job so he didn’t need to work and I resigned myself to community theater.” Roman sighed, carding a hand through his curls. “He got better, thankfully, and now he’s married to this astronomer and they’re about to adopt a kid, and I’m so happy for him, but…”

“But you skipped out on your dreams for him,” Janus finished the sentence, knowing that Roman couldn’t, and the teacher nodded. “You deserve to have your dreams come true, Roman. I see you with those kids, you instill hope and passion in them. More than anyone else, you deserve to see your name in the lights.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Roman said thoughtfully, glancing out the window at the setting sun. “But I don’t know if that’s my dream anymore. I think… I would rather see one of those kids’ names up there and know that I’m the one that pushed them to reach for the sky.”

“That’s… incredibly selfless of you, Roman,” Janus said, and he was surprised at the truth of that sentence. Roman was a selfless man, risking his potential career as a Broadway star to take care of his brother, giving his all to make sure his students understand and are successful. It startled Janus, the depth that was behind Roman’s brown eyes, and he felt bad for resigning the man to his appearances.

The rest of the evening passed without much excitement, and as Janus drove away from the diner and towards his small apartment filled with books and cat hair and tea, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he would be unable to simply maintain a friendship with Roman Prince.

“So I was thinking brunch,” Roman had stepped into the library soon after the final child had left for the day, startling Janus out of his alphabetization of books to reshelve. He glanced up at the teacher, a bewildered look probably masking his joy at seeing Roman.

“What?” He asked incredulously, not understanding what the other was getting at.

“For our next friendship outing. I know this great place that serves delicious crepes and they have a plethora of tea options, you’d love it,” Roman was babbling and Janus couldn’t help but stare at his glossed lips. He shook his head, trying to regain his sense of reality.

“Uh, Roman, I don’t know…” It wasn’t that Janus didn’t want to spend more time with Roman. He did. Desperately. It was all he could think about at night, in the shower, on his drive to work. Roman filled his every available moment of peace and it was too much because Janus couldn’t bear to just be friends with him.

“Not a fan of crepes? They have other stuff, too,” Roman started, not realizing what Janus was unsure of. “Or we could go to see a movie—”

“It’s not that. I just…” Janus took a deep breath, lifting his eyes to meet Roman’s. “I don’t know if I can be friends with you, Roman.” He watched as the teacher visibly deflated, as if all of the oxygen from his lungs had been forced out by that one sentence. “I like you a lot. Too much, I think. And I don’t think I could bear to just be coworkers and friends. I’d always… want more.”

“Oh,” Roman didn’t look up from staring at his hands. He appeared physically upset, and Janus just wanted to get up and hug him and comfort him but… it would be too much and not enough all at once. “You’re right. I just… you’re the first person I’ve known in a long time that I’ve connected with on a level this magnitude and… it sucks that we can’t explore that more.”

Janus glanced at the sentence he had just written down on a sticky note in front of him as he was going through his emails. A job opening at the public library. It paid better, had better benefits, and he was considering it greatly. He brushed his fingers against the bright yellow paper and then smiled, looking up at Roman.

“We may not be coworkers for much longer, though,” he said, watching as Roman’s eyes snapped up again to meet his. “There’s a job opening at the public library and I’ve been thinking about applying for it.”

“You should,” Roman breathed out, and Janus worried that he had instilled hope in the other; what if he didn’t get the job, and they would remain coworkers and remain unable to move forward from this? It was worth a shot, though, if they wanted to see what happiness could lay ahead of them.

Janus was pacing in front of the checkout counter. The last kid had left for the day and tomorrow was the last day before summer vacation. It had been a few weeks since his interview, and he just heard back.

Roman came in, his messenger bag in tow. The two had been avoiding each other in person so as to not risk anything but were texting constantly, and Janus had messaged him to come into the library after he had finished in his classroom for the day. Janus wanted to fling himself into Roman’s arms but he held himself back, instead waiting to watch as he sat on top of one of the tables.

“What’s up, Janus?” He asked calmly, though Janus noticed the twitch in the teacher’s fingers as he sat there. “Did you hear back from the job?”

“Uh, yeah, I did,” he responded, not meeting Roman’s eyes. “They offered me the job.”

And then it was as if the world froze in time, Roman’s face was lit up with joy and admiration as he scooped Janus up into a warm hug, their embrace filling almost every need they’d both had for the past few weeks.

“I need to put in my notice, but… after that, um, do you want to go on a date with me, Roman?” Janus asked, stepping back because the touch was too much and if they stood that close any longer he’d be unable to resist the urge to connect their lips. And not that he didn’t think the middle school library wasn’t romantic, but… he wanted their first kiss to be more special than this. Roman nodded emphatically, then left as quickly as he came, allowing Janus to finish packing his bag for the day.

One week later, the pair sat on Janus’ couch after he made Roman dinner, their heads leaning against each other as a movie played on the television. But neither of them were paying it any attention, instead their eyes were locked on the way their fingers were intertwined between their laps, on the slow breathing of the other.

“Janus, I’d really love to kiss you, now,” Roman said quietly, and Janus hesitated. He had wished they had done something more romantic for their first date and now his cat was twining itself between their legs but Roman’s hand was at the base of his neck and then lips were on his and it was magical and wonderful and worth the wait. They’d have the chance for a million more romantic kisses and brunches and outings, and in that moment, Janus knew that this was something that would span his entire lifetime.

#amanda writes sanders sides fic #ts roceit #roceit #sanders sides fanfiction #sanders sides #ts fanfiction #ts roman #roman sanders #ts janus #janus sanders #library au #school au #sanders sides au #roman x janus #janus x roman

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thestarssystem · 4 years ago

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hello! same anon who asked the last question about being able to send an ask! i've been having questions about whether or not i could be an osdd system (1b to be specific) but i can't find answers to sone questions so i was hoping you could help me out? it's really long, sorry:(

1. the thing i have the most issues with is alters fronting. i don't exactly know how it feels to have another alter fronting and taking control of the body. there's only been a few times where i've genuinely felt like i wasn't in control of my body & felt trapped in it but other than that, whenever all my other alters(?) fronted i would still generally be able to control the body. i don't know how to explain it. for example, an alter who i think is a protector was fronting last night but besides the name and some traits, everything was pretty much still the same, like as if i was the protector? and i'm not the most knowledgeable on how osdd works, but should i be feeling atleast somewhat out of my control ?? it's happened pretty much every time an alter(?) has fronted(?) and i ended up in a really bad mood after trying to validate the possibility i might have osdd because i didn't know if this was real or if i was just being delusional. and this is kinda a silly question but when another alter fronts, thinking is still the same, right? like they can still talk in their head like a singlet would and such

2. 'voices' in your head - a lot of systems i've come across generally have the voices. i don't, atleast i don't think i do. again, i don't know how it would be if i experienced it. is it like how someone would talk to you irl? or is it more vague? or is it like, more of a feeling that you can't really 'hear' but yk it's saying that?

3. i can't exactly communicate with my alters, if i have any. i don't know how to and even then it feels really odd trying to talk to myself and again, i start to feel dumb/delusional again because osdd may not even be the case.

4. similar to the last thing, is it normal to 'talk' to your system? like last night for example, it's a blurry memory now but i remember 'we're going to bed now' 'we're gonna do this and then sleep' and such, despite the fact i know we can't really communicate. i think another alter was fronting then

4. i have trouble recognizing my alters as seperate identities and people, and rather tend to think they're pieces of me. so like, if another alter were to do something, and later i fronted, and if i would talk about what the other alter did i would still use "i did" rather than "(other alter) did". i'd just like some advice on this part

5. i have no idea whether or not systems i've met have 'different talents' but i've seen it going around a lot. to be more specific, my 'talents' or other stuff has never really changed. i usually still have social anxiety, my triggers are usually still the same, i've never suddenly gotten good at anything, and so on. is it a normal/common thing for systems for that not to happen?

6. memory. i have really bad memory, which actually led me to did/osdd (+ 8/9 year old me going "why do i feel like two people" and googling it years ago), and i always have trouble recalling what happened. after i do anything and i try to think back to it - it's just foggy. i can sometimes remember a bit of what happened, but generally i'll have to think for a bit and the visual memory of it will just be really really blurry. this happens pretty much every day but i have no idea if it does the same with important events because nothing important has really happened. and another thing - when you switch, do you still remember friends/online friends/family? i've had times where they've seemed odd(?) and somewhat unrecognizable but i've always known it's them, same with trauma and other stuff. i've always kinda known about it.

7. i've tested some things multiple times. for example, a few days or weeks ago, i was doing and typing stuff on discord in a server just for me, for fun. when i went away and checked back later, i know that it was me who did it, just not,, me, yk? like it happened with my own fingers and hands, i didn't have exact visual memories that i did it, but i had memory of doing it, so like, i knew, despite the fact another alter could've been the one doing it. same thing happened last night - now that i look back at the account i, or my alter, created, i can tell it wasn't exactly 'me', but i still had memory doing it. and it's never been like "what is this? i have zero memory of doing this" or something like that

8. i don't really have roles for my alters. well, some do. for example i think a protector (and maybe caretaker as well) was fronting last night. i just have trouble with the roles? if that makes sense. unless it comes naturally, like the protector for example, it's just kinda really hard for me to make stuff out. i also have dpdr & i dissociate and i believe that influences on how i view my identity and how i can't really make out stuff, even stuff like emotions, my opinion on something, who's fronting, etc.

9. as far as i know, systems have an 'inner world', right? i know some systems that don't, but i'm not sure if i have it and i dont know how to find out if i do

to add on, i'm kinda worried i might just be thinking i have osdd because i've been exposed(?) to it and that i might just be delusional and that i'm just making people up

lastly, would it be a good idea to try to reach out to alters? and if i should, how would i do so? thank you :D !! again, i'm really really sorry this was so long! don't stress yourself out on this please:]

- fox

DISCLAIMER: We are not trained mental health professionals! All of the information we give is coming from our own experience as a system, or from research we have done! We always recommend that, if at all possible, you speak to a therapist about OSDD/DID!

hello! thanks for you questions! i’ll do my best to answer everything haha. I’m going to section everything off in the same way you did, but there may be some overlap between questions!

1.)I’m gonna start my answer to this by saying that switching feels and looks different for every system. There is no one way to switch. What happens for us when we fully switch is the obvious dissociative feeling, and then it feels like we’re “falling” almost and then after that falling feeling, we’ve switched. With your experience you’re describing, though, it seems more like co-conscious or co-fronting. Co-conscious is typically a feeling like you’re still in full control of the body, but another alter is in the ‘passenger seat of the car’ and is giving their thoughts on what’s happening on the outside. Co-fronting is more of a feeling where you feeling like you’re half in control of your body, and another alter has half control of your body. This can be a moment (that i’ve vaguely described on my tumblr actually) of feeling like “this isn’t my hand. I’m not controlling that arm.” However, that feeling can also happen with depersonalization. To help you tell the difference, i think it could be helpful to journal when/if you get those feelings and if you “feel” different, like you could actually be another alter. —/ part b.) for my system at least, thinking is still the same, regardless of who’s fronting. I’m not sure if that’s the same for other systems, but i’ve never heard or seen anyone talking about thinking being any different, but i have heard systems discussing something i’ll address in #2

2.) so, in my experience, my system does not audibly hear each other’s voices. Some systems do, and some systems have a different form of communication. Since i can’t talk about audible voices, i’ll only talk about ‘intrusive thought’ communication, which is what we experience. For my system, we get an intrusive thought of sorts. It’s just a thought, but we can tell who it’s coming from (honestly not really sure how, it’s just a feeling. I can always tell who is telling me something) That thought is different from normal thinking though, because it doesn’t feel like it’s coming from us and it has a different... vibe?? idk i honestly can’t really think of how to explain it lmaoo. To continue my answer from part 1, alters can use something called “passive influence” which is where they ‘control’ your thoughts to get what they want. An easy example is if someone asks what you (the fronting alter) want to drink and you want to answer water, but another alter wants sprite, they can use passive influence to say that YOU want sprite, when really you don’t. That’s the only way I can really think of the act of thinking being different though haha.

3.) my system doesn’t really have the best internal communication, but that’s the case for a lot of systems, especially new ones. It takes time and determination. One of the ways i’ve seen suggested to help with internal communication is before you go to sleep, when you’re in the calm and peaceful state, just ask into your head if anyone is there and wants to talk to you. Let them knower they’re safe and that you want to talk. Keep the convo friendly and ask them about themselves (i.e their name, age, role {if they have one}, favorite color, etc)

4.) to be completely honest, it’ll just take practice to change your habit of using “i did.” I don’t know how old you are, but you went your entire life up until this point believing you were a singlet. Using “i did” is still natural for you to use as a default. Try to catch yourself as (or after) you say “i did” and try to correct yourself and overtime that habit will hopefully be broken. The same goes for not really recognizing your alters. You went your whole life thinking everything was just ‘you’ (the host) so now, when discussing OSDD, it might be hard to really pinpoint who is who. That’ll just take time though. But don’t force your alters to fit a specific mold you made for them. Everything with figure itself out eventually

5.) what you described (with different talents and different mental health issues) doesn’t happen to my system and i believe it doesn’t happen to a good portion of systems, especially OSDD systems. The only thing that really changes for my system from alter to alter is preferences, such as food, instruments (my system knows how to play 8 instruments and each alter prefers one over the other lmao), and hobbies (like reading, painting, and writing) HOWEVER, we all still can paint and play all 8 of our instruments with the same skill. Our skill level doesn’t change between alter, just our desire to do that activity (if that makes any sense lmao)

6.) problems with memory and forgetting things is not a sign of OSDD-1b. Dissociative amnesia is only a sign of OSDD-1a and DID. I think it might be helpful to keep track of your switches and see if your memory “fog” overlaps with it. If yes, then you should probably consider check out OSDD-1a or DID. If it doesn’t, my honest suggestion is to consider talking to a doctor/therapist about memory problems and short term memory loss. (also to answer your question asking if we remember online friends: yes, we always remember other people, regardless of who’s fronting)

7.) this relates back to the memory question. OSDD-1b is not characterized by forgetfulness or memory problems. With OSDD-1b, you will never have that moment of “I don’t remember doing this” unless there is a VERY specific reason (i.e. a traumatic event that needs to be hidden) It is normal, on the other hand, to know that another alter did something, rather than you, and still have memory of it.

8.) i think roles are difficult for a lot of systems. I know my system had (and still has) a little bit of trouble with roles. My biggest advice is actually something i’m following rn and that’s to not force roles. Let alters naturally choose their roles. It may take a really long time though, but that’s okay. It might help to do some research as well. Google all the different alter types and see if you can pinpoint some that fit your system (like i said though, don’t forget those roles! let them have the ultimate decision)

9.) My system doesn’t have an inner world. We have something called Aphantasia which makes it impossible to see images in our head. There are systems who don’t have an inner world, however i don’t know if there is a specific reason or not. Ive heard that meditating can help you access the inner world, as well as, once again, trying to access it before you fall asleep. However, because I can’t have an inner world, i haven’t done much research on the topic and I suggest that you try and find a method that works for you :)

closing points: When considering any type of mental health problem/ mental disorder, make sure you’re not bending the diagnostic criteria to fit you. With OSDD, there are slight differences between every system, but nothing major that would require serious bending of the criteria. At the very end, you asked if you should try and reach out to your alters. You DEFINITELY should. They’re scared and confused, just like you. I think my answer for 3.) gives a good, easy starting point for alter communication c:

I hope these answers helped, at least a little. Good luck and stay safe xx

-the stars system (written by multiple alters all at different times)

~sorry if there’s any typos~

#osdd protector #osdd positivity #did osdd #osdd problems #osdd alter #osdd community #actually osdd #osdd support #osdd system #osdd #osdd 1b #dissociative system #dissociative alters #other specified dissociative disorder

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soyforramen · 4 years ago

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BHDC Day 2

Day 1 Here

Graduation

It didn’t really matter, he reminded himself. It was just college graduation. And it wasn’t as if he’d be able to use the degree, being a vampire and, oh, right, majoring in Victorian Lit. Not much of a market for vampires who fit the Byronic tropes, after all.

Jughead waited in the arena lobby, hoping to see a hint of flaming red hair or over worn flannel. Happy families swarmed around him, their emotions palpable and overwhelming. Any other time he’d have been bowled over by the sheer force of emotions surrounding him, the smell of life thick on his tongue. Instead he was focused more on his own dreary thoughts.

He’d finally graduated after six long years of late nights, early mornings, and a lot of odd jobs to pull together the money for the ridiculously priced classes. And he was alone again without anyone there to cheer him on. It was something he’d grown accustomed to - first his parents, then his sister, then Toni. But it still stung when the two people who’d always been there for him, no matter the circumstances, were missing.

Besides, it wasn’t as if he could have done this himself. Not without -

His junky old phone chimed and he answered, turning into an alcove to block some of the noise.

“Jug.”

Fred’s familiar voice was soothing, enough to quell Jughead’s morose thoughts. That was dashed quickly when Fred continued, his voice tight with worry.

“You haven’t seen Archie, have you?”

Worry grew, its small, biting teeth cutting through Jughead’s stomach.

“No, I thought he was with you guys. He hasn’t responded to any of my texts.”

“Mine either.”

Jughead could imagine Fred pacing the floor and rubbing at his forehead. A single father, he’d never been comfortable without hearing from Archie. And when Jughead unofficially joined the fold, Fred had worried just as much, if not more, about him.

“He’s done this before,” Fred continued. “But never for this long.”

“He texted me a few nights ago. He’d mentioned a club, but -“

“Did he mention the name?”

Jughead shook his head, guilt over not getting more information. “No, just that he’d met someone.”

“Thanks, Jug. And I’m sorry we missed it.”

“I would have missed it too if I’d known -“

“No, I didn’t want you missing your big day. I’m sure I’m just being a worry wart and Archie’s off somewhere chasing some girl …” Fred trailed off.

The silence between them stretched on as families posed for pictures and made plans for lunch. In any other reality that could have been him. His parents, smiling and proud, JB teasing him. But in this one he only had himself, and the Andrews to rely on.

“What can I do?”

“Not much right now. Archie will call,” Fred said with a certainty that felt forced. “Rain check on the celebration?”

Jughead agreed, and they hung up, each promising to let the other know when - if - they heard from him. He wandered around after that, lost in his thoughts. Archie was a rover, sure. But he’d never leave like that, not without letting Fred or Jughead know where he was going. Werewolves were pack animals and they were always in constant communication with the other. If one went silent, something had to be wrong.

It occurred to him, as he wandered through the arena, that there was one person who could track Archie down. Someone who owed him, majorly. The same person he’d sworn never to talk to for the rest of his life.

With nothing else to go one, and trusting that Fred had tracked down every lead, it was a sacrifice Jughead had to make.

His phone rang through to voicemail and he cringed at the sugary sweet message. Everything about it made him want to hang up. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t do this alone; if anyone could find Archie, it was Jughead. They’d grown up together and knew each other better than their own self.

It was a self-soothing lie and he knew it.

The message cut off and he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Veronica. It’s Jughead. I’m calling in that favor. Meet me at the diner off East Riverdale, at sun down.”

Now all he had left to do was wait.

Two Truths and a Lie

“Well?”

The fae grinned, smug in its little game.

Betty scowled at it and shifted against her bonds. There was little worse than fae - self-assured tricksters, liars, and thieves - and yet she’d had to deal with far too many of them to get to this point. If this is what it took to find Polly, she’d damn well better get more at Christmas than a hand-made scarf and a store bought card.

“Just tell me where my sister is, you weirdo.”

Reggie chuckled and leaned forward in his seat. He curled a lock of her ponytail around his finger, and Betty almost fell over trying to jerk away from him.

“Oh come on, Betts. I thought you enjoyed our tete-a-tetes.”

“I don’t have time for this Reggie. Polly is missing.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Did you check with her new beau?”

Betty narrowed her eyes. “Polly hasn’t dated anyone since -“

He hummed. “I thought you two told each other everything.”

Reggie examined his fingernails as the realization hit her. The late nights, sneaking out, hiding her phone, clandestine calls. It all made sense now why Polly had gone distant the month before her disappearance.

“That bitch,” she muttered, pained by her sister’s betrayal. Betty had done all this, asked favors from all her contacts, joined up with a vampire for Gaia’s sake, and all because Polly decided to go on a mini-honeymoon with some man!

They told each other everything, and Polly didn’t even hint that she was seeing someone. Secrets, lies, hopes, fears; nothing was unknown between them. Polly even knew about her unintelligible crush on Mary Shelley!

With one single, huge, looming, omission, Polly had broken ties with her, casting her on the same level as their mother. They were sisters, in blood and magic. The whole coven was in uproar over her disappearance and yet -

Reggie snapped to bring her attention back to him. He preened when he saw her turn towards him.

“You can stew later, Betty. I’m right in front of you, and I’d hate for you to lose this visual opportunity.”

She rolled her eyes but forced her indignation to the back of her mind. Reggie might be a swell enough guy, for a faery, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t the most narcissistic man she’d ever met.

“Fine. What else do you know about my sister.” She cut him off before he could be coy about fae rules. “And what do you want in return?”

He held up two fingers. “Two truths,” he paused to hold up one more finger on his other hand, “and a lie. I get to determine which is the lie. If I’m right, you stay here and entertain me for a while. If I’m wrong, I’ll tell you everything I know.”

Betty huffed, ready for this to be over with. She’d spent far too long here trying to assuage Reggie’s vanity and Jughead had probably gotten bored and wandered off by now.

“Fine.”

“What’s your relationship with the odd-ball outside?”

“Business.”

Reggie raised an eyebrow and Betty fought back a groan. Of course that wouldn’t be enough. Fae were the biggest gossips in the underground that the appearance of anyone outside of their regular patterns drew the curiosity of all.

“His best friend went missing at the same time and same place my sister did, The Woods two weeks ago, and we’re trying to find them.”

Reggie seemed to accept that answer, mulling it over in his mind. “Truth. Question number two. How far have you two gone?”

Flashes of crimson light, teeth grazing her neck, early morning sunlight in an unfamiliar bed…

“We can’t stand each other to be in the same room. He’s almost bit me twice -“

“Kinky.”

“- and I tried to catch him on fire.”

Well, she didn’t try to catch him on fire. Not entirely. She’d warned Jughead three times not to cross the lines.

Reggie mulled her answer over like a fine wine. Betty hadn’t quite followed the rules of the game; her answer wasn’t quite a lie, but it also wasn’t entirely the truth.

“I’ll decide that one in a minute. Question three: When was the last time you thought of me naked?”

Betty’s cheeks flushed and she cursed herself for not seeing this coming. Her ex always had been fond of riling her up, but she didn’t think Reggie would take the opportunity to do so now.

“Before we came to see you,” she blurted out, knowing it was a lie.

She hadn’t thought about Reggie in any way other than an information source, not since her excursion into the Vixen’s Den. Whatever spell they’d put on her there, she hadn’t thought about Reggie until this morning. Even then he was just a means to an end. Any lurid thoughts she might have had ran towards the darker, colder side of the world.

Still, Reggie seemed pleased with her answer. Ego stroked, he couldn’t help but smirk. “That’s the truth,” he said confidently.

The bindings around her fell away, and his face turned into the true mask of the fae. Elongated and wrinkled, it looked more like an old wooden mask than a creature claiming humanity. At the fear in her eyes he took a deep breath, his face returning to its normal handsome countenance.

“All right. A deal’s a deal. I’ll tell you what I know about your sister,” Reggie promised.

Betty breathed a sigh of relief. As annoying, frustrating, and untruthful as the fae were, at least he was bearable.

Chatroom/Discord Server

“They responded.”

Betty surged forward, the coffee in her hand barely surviving the movement. She crowded next to him on the couch their knees knocking together. Jughead instinctively moved away and rebalanced the distance between them. There were rules about these things. Rules that polite society dictated, and vampires were sticklers for polite society. Something to do with longevity, he supposed.

This witch seemed to throw all those rules out the window. Perhaps the covens had different rules, but regardless. There were rules.

She ignored, or perhaps didn’t even recognize, his distaste, her eyes fixed on the screen.

“Tell them I’m Polly’s sister,” she ordered in response to the on screen question.

Jughead rolled his eyes but did as told. Bossy as she was, her ideas had worked so far. Well, all except the one with the ice cream and motor oil. He’d never get that stain out of his hat.

A thinking bubble came up on screen, then disappeared, as the person on the other end wrote and deleted their message. For a long time the screen was blank and he let out a heavy sigh. Betty stared at the screen and worried at her bottom lip.

She smelled like coffee now, the lavender and rosemary long gone. Cheap, burnt coffee from an overpriced cafe. Nothing like what he’d drunk when he was alive. It had been one of his vices, the one thing he was willing to pay far too much of his precious earnings for. He wondered what it would taste like now, whether it would be as bitter as it smelled, or whether the taste of her lips -

The computer dinged and he shook himself out of it. These strange feelings bothered him; the sooner they figured this out the quicker he could go back to his mostly solitary life and away from this witch trying to draw him under her spell.

She glanced at him, waiting for his reaction. “Well?”

He shrugged and leaned back against the couch trying to discreetly read the screen.

“Anyplace we suggest they’ll likely turn down unless it’s clandestine. If this is who really is behind the disappearances they’re not going to want to take the chance of getting caught.”

Betty’s face fell and she pulled at the sleeves of her sweater. It stung to see her like that, and he reminded himself he was here for Archie, not some strange puppy crush.

Wait.

“The South Side park, just off of West 9.”

She glanced up at him, a moue on her face that made him want -

“Isn’t that were territory?”

He nodded.

“And you’re …?”

He nodded again. “It’s … complicated.” She gave him a look, one he was quickly learning she was filing information away for later, but thankfully didn’t ask anything else.

“Noon, tomorrow at the abandoned parking structure,” she said.

Jughead’s fingers flew over the keyboard and, with a final glance at Betty, the message was sent. This time, the answer came right away.

They both breathed a sigh of relief at the response. For the first time in a month, the tension eased from Jughead’s body and he allowed himself a moment of relaxation.

“So, you and werewolves?”

He rolled his eyes and stood. “Noon, tomorrow,” he reminded her before walking out of the cafe.

#bughead drabble challenge #not a drabble!#boom up before noon #yay me #now to draft day 3

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nobodywritesthings · 5 years ago

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Some random bits of trivia about With Great Power

Now with a Part 2.

It seems one or two people are interested in this. I’ve mentioned a few of these points on my favorite Discord server, but I might as well put them all together here. Spoilers for the fic below!

Why didn’t All for One squish Aizawa like a bug when he should have been perfectly capable of it, right after taking the poor man’s quirk? It’s because All for One was planning for the future. He knew that Izuku (as Supreme Overlord) would need capable underlings, preferably ones with Izuku’s best interests in mind. Of the people close to Izuku, Aizawa was the closest to meeting All for One’s approval in both respects. In his stalking observation of Izuku over the past few years, he developed just a bit of a grudging respect for the man and his dedication to attempting to keep Izuku from charging headlong into every dangerous situation Izuku was within a 100 km radius of. While Aizawa decided to assume that All for One was too busy fending off other heroes to actually bother squishing him, this was an entirely deliberate choice on All for One’s part.

On the subject of Aizawa, the cat cafe he stayed at is the cat cafe from the Vigilantes manga. It made a truly fantastic retirement home, as well as a safe place to keep track of the criminal underworld on the sly.

We know that Shouto Todoroki had time to talk to Dabi/Touya before the interviews, because they came with a hero reform plan. This definitely happened because Shouto marched up to the National Diet Building, and calmly told a very nervous Kurogiri that he was there to see Dabi. When Dabi appeared, he half-dragged the supervillain brother home for a proper family dinner. It was a bit awkward but Fuyumi was happy to have all the siblings together. Between that and Shouto’s determination to hammer out a plan for hero reform, the ice was broken surprisingly quickly (pun intended).

Why didn’t Izuku notice All for One being Hisashi sooner? Well, denial is definitely a thing. There’s also the dissonance between linking a parental figure with the world’s most feared supervillain, absentee or not - that’s a pretty difficult conclusion to come to, normally. There’s even the fact that Izuku saw All for One in person all of twice - once at Kamino, and then again in the first chapter of this fic - and both times were very emotionally charged, with an impression skewed by the view that he was seeing a Terrible Monster, which makes All for One hard to recognize out of the literal and metaphorical mask. But the biggest reason? Long-term sleep deprivation and stress. It was pretty bad before he was suddenly pushed into being the Supreme Overlord of Japan, and it got much worse after. If Izuku had more sleep, he’d probably have figured out Hisashi’s identity much sooner, denial or not; Hisashi wasn’t being subtle (see below).

Hisashi looked so selfless when he left even the clothes on his back to Izuku. Don’t fall for it; he left all legal assets to Izuku. He has plenty that aren’t legal. All this was part of his preparation for a plan that didn’t happen...

Because Hisashi planned to disappear again, permanently. He expected the jig to be up as soon as Izuku heard Hisashi speak once (a bit egotistic of him). His original plan was to spend as much time with Inko as he could while offering a bit of behind-the-scenes support of Izuku’s rule, and then when Izuku inevitably came home and recognized him, he’d properly disappear to a nice sheep farm somewhere remote (he had a few prospects already picked out). He’d hoped that Izuku wouldn’t be interested enough in the returned Hisashi Midoriya to actively track him down, but it was a risk he had to take to turn things over to Izuku properly. After he heard Izuku ranting to his friends that he was getting ready to stake out his own home (through those convenient bugs left in the National Diet Building), he decided to at least make sure the reveal was on his own terms, somewhere relatively private and secure. Then Izuku didn’t recognize him and even tried to hire him, and Hisashi quickly rearranged his plans to account for the delayed recognition. He knew it was inevitable; Hisashi couldn’t clean up all the clues, so he ended half-assing any attempts at hiding his identity in order to at least keep control of the timeline for the reveal. As long as it happened while Izuku was still in government, he could head for the hills (literally and metaphorically) and Izuku would be too busy to pursue him. He couldn’t bring himself to actually sit down and tell Izuku personally, but he didn’t expect to keep things a secret permanently. And then Izuku smashed all his expectations and offered a chance to not lose his family again. A lot of plans got ditched. Basically, All for One was never as on top of things in this fic as he makes himself out to be.

Speaking of hiding his identity, why did he keep his real name? Hisashi didn’t see the point for the vast majority of his life, barring times he specifically went incognito for this or that venture. The government wanted to cover up his existence anyway; why not let them do the hard work? He didn’t need to make things easier for them, and it’s not like they could really do anything effectively to him; he really was that powerful. He did keep his businesses anonymous for the most part, but it was a private joke to him that they were still all perfectly legal, up to and including no false names being involved. It was only when All Might showed up and proved to be an actual threat that Hisashi realized his mistake and took his own steps to conceal his identity - which were surprisingly effective, as the government had done too good of a job already, and All for One just had to clear out a few old compromising records to avoid All Might accessing them and finding his real name, which would have been a massive pain. He had several close calls, but his panicky attempts at hiding his identity actually paid off. The government fire is part of that - definitely All for One’s work, but done a bit hastily, and as a result, sloppily.

Remember how All for One didn’t talk to Izuku much after the UN speech? Remember how he mentioned that Izuku should get a new phone? He was sulking for that entire trip because he heard Izuku call Yagi “Dad”, thanks to his stalking keeping an ear on Izuku’s conversations.

On a different note, Izuku, throughout this fic, has adapted All for One’s own strategies for his own purposes. Of special note, though, is Izuku’s speech at the end of Chapter 10, beginning with “I don’t think you understand, Hisashi.” It’s deliberately meant to mirror All for One’s speech in Chapter 1, that starts with “I don’t think you understand, Izuku.” Instead of physical threats, Izuku uses emotional threats against All for One to go for the jugular - which is also something All for One presented as a strategy (see Chapter 7, the UN chapter). If Izuku’s threat is more effective, it’s because Izuku is proving All for One’s own point about taking the effective parts of others’ strategies and adapting them for his own use.

Why was Yagi so accepting of All for One prospectively walking free? It’s because he’d already seen it work with Tenko Shimura. He saw Tenko as lost forever, as an irredeemable villain. While I don’t mean to say that any of the villains are redeemed, Yagi has had a front-row seat to witness Tenko taking up legitimate work, making decent friends, and generally leaving behind his destructive impulses, something Yagi thought was completely impossible and had given up on long ago as a futile and unrealistic dream. He’s started to believe in the power of second chances.

The Second Chance foundation was, in part, inspired by @redrobin-detective‘s fic, “rise up and hear the bells”, and Izuku’s All for One foundation. I might’ve come up with the idea on my own, but reading that fic ensured the idea came quicker. I think I can safely say I took the concept in my own direction, but it definitely came from somewhere!

There’s a number of nods in WGP to various fics by AMournfulHowlInTheNight. The biggest is Rick, who several people noted bore a passing resemblance to Zach from the CWAC series (I couldn’t resist; Australia just seemed right for the role I needed there, and a character like Zach seemed like the right Australian). The astute reader might also have noted several mentions to offering a “helping hand”, a phrasing which was an entirely deliberate reference to A Helping Hand in the Dark. Chapter 7 even has the sentence, “I want to offer a helping hand to those lost in the darkness.”

I already gave an answer key for who the All for One sockpuppets are in Chapter 6, but here are the usernames of the other canon characters: pikapika579 : Kaminari. GoGoGadgeteer : Hatsume, of course. Explosion King @lordexplosionmurder : Three guesses, first two don’t count. I hear the sins of humanity @theultimateearbud : Jirou. And finally... that dude with the eyes @eyescream : This guy from Izuku’s middle school (apologies for the poor quality).

If I remember any more tidbits I wanted to share, I might post more later, but hope you enjoy these!

#wgp #bnha fic #my fic

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lettersnorth · 5 years ago

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Aislinn North

Name: Aislinn North

Race: Hyur

Gender: Female

Age: 32

Sexuality: Demisexual

Server: Balmung

Residence: She has a small apartment in Limsa Lominsa and is employed by a Free Company based out of Gridania.

Birthplace: Ala Mhigo

Religion: Adheres to the Eorzean religion of the Twelve.

Patron Deity: Nymeia, goddess of Fate. Her life, being as filled with chaos as it has, has taught her that the individual has very little control over what happens to them in life. All a person can do is control themselves and their reactions. “I’ve done all the preparation I can. Once the arrow leaves the bow, I have no control over whether it hits the target.“

Occupation: Takes on various odd jobs mostly related to engineering and aetherological research. Works for a mercenary company based in Gridania.

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Proficiencies: Sharpshooting, Aether manipulation through arcane maths, Engineering

Interests: Tinkering, Philosophy, Travel, Aetherlogical Studies

Relationships:

SPOUSE: None.

CHILDREN: None.

PARENTS: Deceased

SIBLINGS: None.

OTHER RELATIVES: None.

Likes: Learning new things, reading, travel, people watching, letting her mind wander, triple triad, fixing broken things.

Dislikes: Large crowds, bullies, pushy men, being touched, Ul'dah, wordplay

Fears:

Abandonment - For one reason or another Aislin has lost everyone important to her over the years; childhood friends, mentors, family. She doesn’t realize how much of an impact this has had on her over time, slowly chipping away at her willingness to open herself to new people. As a result, she tends to keep her distance, using her work as an excuse to maintain space.

The Dark - She had an unfortunate experience as a child at the hands of her bullies. To this day she can’t sleep without the glow of a lantern or candle nearby.

Black Magic - She once found herself on a mage’s bad side. The harrowing experience left her convinced there is some knowledge no one is meant to possess.

Being Dependent - Spending years as a refugee in Ul'dah, Aislinn and her father were constantly reminded of how much their survival depended on those with the coin and the power. Ever since then, Aislinn has worked hard to make sure she’s never at the whim or mercy of someone else ever again.

Personality: Generally even-keeled with a steady hand. Aislinn is easily overlooked, she’s never the loudest or the most flamboyant one in the room, but loyal and steadfast to those she’s close to. More often than not, she will put the needs of others above her own, even to her detriment. She gives off a quiet and calm energy but does light up when she gets a chance to nerd out about one of her interests. Some see her quiet disposition as aloof but Aislinn was raised not to use seven words when three will do. As a child she spoke so infrequently that some thought her mute. And while she is well past that, rhetoric is better left to someone more eloquent than she. She still trips over her words or speaks in broken sentences when she gets flustered. In combat she is often underestimated due to her diminutive stature. But what she lacks in brute strength she’s learned to make up for in speed, being quick and light on her feet has saved her many a time. She’s also a crack shot with a variety of ranged weapons. An avid student of philosophy, she prefers to retreat to quiet nature spaces for reading and reflection when she finds herself with free time. Analytical and logical, Aislinn relates best to a person when they are frank and forthright. Her weakness lies in her inability to discern subtlety and innuendo or to read between the lines.

Traits –––

* Bold your character’s answer.

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between / Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard-working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal

Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful

Love and Romance:

Turn-Ons: Strength, protectiveness, kindness, warmth, confidence, tenderness, a sense of safety

Turn-Offs: Loudness, Yelling, Mercurial personalities, pushiness, arrogance, cruelty, inexperience, alpha males, roughness

Relationship Tendencies: Aislinn has built quite a shell around her due to the hardships and abuse she’s experienced in life. She doesn’t trust easy and has a tendency to withdraw. If she ever reaches out or touches someone of her own volition, it’s a pretty clear indicator that she cares deeply for that person. She’s absolutely monogamous and has no interest in playing games or competing with rivals, she will cut and run and she senses this is the case. After all she’s been through she has trouble believing anyone could see her in a romantic light and subtlety is lost on her so the other person would have to make their interest abundantly clear. Any romance with her would take time and care to build.

Physical Description: Aislinn is on the shorter side though she’s slender and fit from a life lived outdoors. Her most distinctive features are her red hair, which is usually pinned back just enough to keep it out of her eyes, and a scar across her face, just under her eyes. She carries herself with the quiet, earthy confidence of someone who is comfortable in her own skin and knows what it’s capable of. Her attire tends towards the simple and understated as if she’s trying not to attract attention. She eschews bright and garish colors in favor of subtle, muted tones. Instead of a distinct style, she will readily wear whatever is best suited for the city or destination in which she finds herself. She prefers to blend in whenever possible. Her expressions are subtle, a twitch of an eyebrow or slip of a smile is usually as animated as she gets. She’s soft-spoken, with a husky quality to her voice.

History: A general background and more in depth stories can be found here

RP Hooks:

Tinkering - Have some piece of machinery on the fritz? A clockwork that’s gone haywire? Or maybe that gunblade of yours just isn’t shooting straight. Aislinn knows her way around a variety of magitek and only too happy to get her hands dirty repairing old pieces of machinery or devising new ones.

Ul'Dah’s Seedy Underbelly - Aislinn is no stranger to the street gangs of Ul'dah. She used to be a runner for a cartel during her time in the city. Though she’s left that life behind it’s possible she would be recognized by someone who traveled in the same circles.

Limsa Lominsa - Though the nature of her work has her frequently traveling, she currently calls Limsa Lominsa home. When she’s in town, she can usually be found in the Missing Member tavern, or lounging in the sun, her nose in a book.

Aetherlogical Research - Aislinn is always up for talking about the finer points of aetherlogical study and loves to collaborate on experiments or research.

OOC:

I’m 30+ and prefer to RP with fellow adults. Pretty chill and patient, I’ll roll with most things though I would like the people I play with to be emotionally mature. I don’t have time for toxic behavior, people who can’t keep IC and OOC separate, tantrums or guilt trips.

I’m in the EST time zone. My weekdays are pretty busy between a full-time job and a side job that takes up a significant amount of time. I’m usually around a couple of weeknights long enough to run some roulettes or do some light RP but lengthy RP scenes would probably need to happen on the weekends or in Discord.

I’m interested in plots and long story arcs, relationships that take time to build. I don’t really do tavern RP as my RP time is limited and I’d rather spend it building depth in story and character. Aislinn has a lot of walls and while the potential for romance is there, she’s not going to jump right in off the bat.

I’m absolutely up for plotting a variety of previously established relationships or how our characters might know each other.

I do love running all sorts of content and am happy to have people to run with. So if you’re looking for company for roulettes, maps, raids, etc. I’m there.

#ffxiv rp #balmung #crystal lfrp

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raywritesthings · 5 years ago

Text

A Little More Love

My Writing Fandom: Harry Potter Characters: Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger Pairing: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, R/Hr (implied) Summary: When Harry, Ron and Hermione happen upon someone unexpected during their camping out, their fortunes in the Horcrux hunt turn out for the better. Notes: This is yet another canon AU for HP, this time set in Deathly Hallows. It diverges with the chapter "The Goblin's Revenge" when Harry, Ron and Hermione overhear a conversation between Griphook, Gornuk, Ted Tonks, Dirk Cresswell, and Dean Thomas. In my version, I've added another character as well as changed some key events. Simply put, I always felt JKR cheated us of a truly awesome Ginny moment in DH, so I decided to try my hand at writing my own take. I hope you enjoy it! Title is borrowed from a line McGonagall has in Half-Blood Prince, and several lines from "The Goblin's Revenge" in Deathly Hallows have been either used or paraphrased. None of that is my own. Additionally, for anyone who might have a discord, I made a Hinny server for sharing fic/art recs, talking about the characters and pairing, and just chatting in general. Feel free to join! Here's the link: https://discord.gg/SSpsYcP *Can also be read on AO3*

Harry sat with Ron and Hermione in the tent, listening with the Extendable Ears Hermione had packed as the unknown men and goblins settled into their impromptu dinner twenty feet away or so. They each exchanged some of their stories of why and how they’d ended up on the run. Harry recognized Ted Tonks, the goblin Griphook, and all three of them were pleased to hear their old classmate Dean Thomas’ voice.

Judging by the shadows being cast over the tent from the travelers’ fire, there was perhaps one other witch or wizard present who’d yet to be named.

“And what about you, little lady?” The man named Dirk asked. “Arthur’s aren’t you?”

“Guilty,” said a voice that went straight to Harry’s heart, seizing it in a vice grip. Ginny. He and Ron both started up at once, and Hermione had to reach out and pull them both down.

She was right there, not a stone’s throw away. Sitting out in the cold with strangers. With Dean, Harry couldn’t help noticing with a twinge of pain.

“I’d wondered what had happened after — well, is it true what you did?”

“It is, yeah.”

“Sorry, what’s this?” Ted asked. “You never did get round to explaining why you’re out here, you being pureblood and all.”

“Yeah, you just told me Snape chased you off the grounds,” Dean added.

“That he did.”

There was a snort, which turned out to be Dirk’s. “After she tried stealing the sword of Gryffindor from his office.”

There were a few exclamations of astonishment that Harry couldn’t bother to parse out, too surprised himself. He could see Ron and Hermione exchanging wide-eyed looks, and it was taking everything for all of them to remain quiet in order to hear. He stood and went to the mouth of the tent, not stepping out but hovering just on the edge.

“Wasn’t successful, was it? I never heard anything in the Prophet, ” said Ted.

“Well you wouldn’t even if we had been, would you?” Ginny countered in her easy way. She sounded just like she always had, and yet it was music to Harry’s ears. Like her voice carried the power of phoenix song.

“True,” Ted remarked.

“Well go on, Ginny, what happened?” Asked Dean.

“I heard you got the case smashed open but Snape caught the other two on the stairs,” said Dirk.

“He was coming up just as we got it out, yeah. So I figured that about did me in what with my family being blood traitors and all. I smashed a window and took off on my broom.”

“Your broom?” Ted asked with a laugh. “What did you have it on you for?”

“Everyone on the Gryffindor Quidditch team’s taken to carrying theirs around. There were rumors the Slytherins were planning to jinx them.”

“And you were able to get off the grounds that way?” Asked Dirk.

“I was flying high enough that most of the Death Eater’s spells went wide,” Ginny answered. “That was after they even realized someone was making a break for it. Had a time of it getting past some Dementors down by the gates. They flew up to meet me. If Harry hadn’t taught us Patronuses in the D.A., I don’t think I’d be here.”

“I’ll say,” Dean agreed. “You haven’t...heard from him, have you?”

“Not a thing,” said Ginny on an unhappy sigh. Harry felt it like a physical weight on him. He longed to just step out of the tent and run to her, but even he knew how foolish it would be to show up in front of that many people, most of whom he didn’t know very well.

“You should not have troubled yourself,” Griphook spoke up. Then he laughed. “The sword was a fake.”

“Was it?” Ginny asked sharply.

“The sword of Gryffindor!” Ted shouted.

“Oh yes. It is a copy — an excellent copy, it is true — but it was Wizard-made. The original was forged centuries ago by goblins and had certain properties only goblin-made armor possesses.”

“Snape put the copy in Gringotts a few days after your attempt,” Dirk continued. “Suppose he’d gotten the say-so from You-Know-Who by then.”

“And you didn’t tell them it was a fake?” Ted asked.

“I saw no reason to trouble them with the information,” Griphook stated with a smug undertone. All the other men laughed. Harry couldn’t hear Ginny’s among it.

“What about my friends? Neville and Luna, did you hear anything about them? They say they’re alright, but…” she trailed off.

“They suffered no serious injury, so far as I am aware,” the goblin answered.

Harry looked back to Ron and Hermione and could tell they were both glad to hear that. Hermione still had a hand on Ron’s arm, ostensibly to keep him from rising and doing anything rash while wearing the locket; Harry didn’t miss how her thumb was rubbing circles over his wrist.

Ginny and the others were talking about Snape now, about whether or not he really had killed Dumbledore. Dirk seemed to be doubtful.

“You know, a lot of people haven’t believed Harry over the years,” Ginny remarked coolly. “And they’ve all pretty much been proven idiots. Were you interested in joining them?”

“Alright. I only mean to ask, if he is this Chosen One, or whatever you call it, where is he? Gone off to hiding. You’d think he’d be gathering a resistance or something.”

“There wouldn’t be many people resisting if he got killed while trying to organize it.”

They talked some more, and Dirk even floated the idea that Harry was in fact already dead and the Prophet was simply withholding that information, too. Eventually they all left the spontaneous campsite to sleep under the cover of the trees, and they footsteps and voices started to fade away.

The three of them pulled the Extendable Ears, Harry’s mind racing. “Ginny— the sword—”

“She’s there. She’s right there,” Ron practically moaned.

Harry reached into the mokeskin pouch Hagrid had given him for his birthday and dug around.

“Harry, what are you doing?” Hermione asked, her voice pitched high in worry.

His fingers finally closed around the slippery fabric of the Invisibility Cloak, and Harry hurriedly threw it around his shoulders. “I’m going to get her.”

“I’m coming with you,” Ron said immediately.

“We’d barely fit the two of us, and not at all with Ginny,” Harry argued. “Besides, you’re still wearing the locket.”

Ron looked down at the thing with a scowl.

“Look, you can help bring us back to the tent,” Harry said. “Once I leave the protections, I won’t be able to find the specific spot again. Just the general location. We’ll need you to bring us back in.”

“Oh, alright,” Ron agreed with a grumble.

“Harry, are you sure?” Hermione asked, and the two of them turned towards her in surprise. “I’d be happy to see Ginny, too, but how much can we really tell her? You did break up with her because we were going on this mission.”

“To keep her safe, and she’s not any safer out there,” Harry replied tersely. He did not want to think what would happen to Ginny if she was caught out there with rogue goblins and Muggleborn Dean Thomas and Dirk who’d been on his way to Azkaban before he’d escaped. Determined, he pushed back the flap of the tent and strode out into the dark, following the noises he could hear up ahead through the trees.

It didn’t look as though any of the wizards or goblins had a tent like the one they’d borrowed from Perkins. Harry slowed his pace as he came upon the first bedroll, and made his way around the perimeter of the spot they’d scoped out.

Ginny stood silhouetted by the tiny amount of moon visible through the foliage above. Her slight figure was only an arms’ length from him now. Whether she was not tired or merely waiting for the men to finish preparing their own sleeping arrangements before seeing to her own, he couldn’t tell.

“Mufflilatio," Harry whispered as he let the tip of his wand poke out of the cloak towards the others in the forest. Then, only slightly louder, he said, “Ginny.”

She whirled around, her hair fanning out as she did so, and her wand pointed just inches to the left of him. Harry carefully took the hood down part of the way, and he could tell the moment Ginny recognized him by the widening of her eyes.

He beckoned her to come with him through some more trees to better hide themselves. Even if the others couldn’t overhear them, they could still catch sight of him if he remained here.

“What’s your tattoo?” She asked him scarcely before he’d turned back around to face her again. Her wand was still raised.

“Er, I haven’t got one,” he answered. Then it hit him. “Oh, but Romilda Vane thinks I’ve got a Hungarian Horntail on my chest.” Harry held up a hand to stop her approach. “What did you give me when I fell off my broom in my third year?”

“A singing card.”

He hadn’t really been in doubt that it was her, but it was relieving to hear all the same. Ginny smiled, and it was radiant. Her hair was a barely combed mess and he doubted she’d had a wash in the last few days, but she was the most beautiful thing in the world. When she threw her arms around him in a hug, Harry was quick to return it. There was no flowery scent to her hair now, but it did not diminish in the least how fiercely Harry had missed her.

She was still wearing her broom strapped to her back with a bit of cord tied to each end, so it made it a bit awkward.

“I’m so glad you’re alive.”

“You thought I wasn’t?”

“No. But I couldn’t be sure. None of us could.” She pushed out of his hold. “Why didn’t you take your Galleon?”

“My what?”

“The D.A. Galleon, you prat. That’s how I was able to meet up with Dean once I got to the outside. Seamus wanted me to see if he was alright.”

A second wave of relief hit him upon hearing that Ginny was with Dean on behalf of someone else and not as her first choice. He thought she could tell what he was thinking judging by the shrewd look she was giving him.

Harry opened up the Invisibility Cloak for her to get under. “C’mon. Ron and Hermione are waiting.”

It was the most natural thing in the world to take her hand and lead her back the way he’d come. Harry told himself it wasn’t inappropriate; it was dark and the ground was uneven. They might trip or lose the other otherwise.

“We’re nearly there. Hermione’s got enchantments up, but Ron’s waiting,” Harry muttered under his breath.

“How’s he going to find us if we’re invisible?” Ginny muttered back.

Harry froze. “Er, right.”

A soft giggle left her as he took the cloak off both of them. Harry hoped he had stayed true in their course. He didn’t like standing out here without any sort of protection or disguise.

But an arm reached out and pulled both him and Ginny through an invisible barrier of sorts. Harry saw the tent and Ron embracing his sister hard enough to lift her off her feet.

“Careful!” Ginny yelped.

“Merlin, you wouldn’t believe how much I’ve missed you!” It was amazing to see the transformation that Ron had undergone. Even with the locket around his neck still, he was beaming from ear to ear, and some color had risen back into his cheeks if only for the moment. “Come on, we’ve got Perkins’ old tent. There’s not much in the way of food, mind.”

Harry followed the two Weasley’s in through the tent entrance.

“Oh, Ginny!” Hermione was standing just inside and quickly embraced the other girl as well. “I’m so glad you’re alright. What were you thinking?”

“Yeah, wouldn’t be Hermione if you didn’t start right in on the lecture,” Ginny remarked with a grin over her shoulder at Harry. “What are you three even doing here? How’d you know to be?”

“We didn’t,” Harry answered truthfully. “We’ve been moving locations every few days. Thought we’d been found when we heard you lot approaching.” He couldn’t seem to tear his eyes off her, real and standing in the tent with the three of them. They’d been so long without anyone else’s company that she seemed to brighten up the place just by being there. He wanted to hug her again, kiss her the way they had on his birthday. There was an ache in his jaw just standing there and holding himself back.

“Well, that’s luck for you.”

“You certainly did get lucky after trying to steal from Snape,” Hermione pointed out once again. “And all for a fake!”

“That’s the funny thing. I don’t know why Snape would’ve sent a fake sword to a vault in Gringotts,” said Ginny. “Because he’s got to know it’s a copy.”

“What d’you mean?” Asked Ron.

A sly grin played around the corners of Ginny’s lips as she reached around her back and under her robe. It turned out a broom wasn’t the only thing she was carrying on her back.

Hermione gasped. “You got it?”

For the first time in nearly five years, Harry was once again in awe as he stared at the ruby-encrusted sword of Gryffindor. It seemed to shimmer extra bright in the light cast by their lamps as Ginny held it out for their inspection. The sword, the real sword of Gryffindor, in their possession just as Dumbledore had wanted. Finally, something had gone right.

“Took it with me when I jumped. I wasn’t letting Snape have it. That was the whole point of the stunt. It’s Harry’s.” Her smile faded a little. “I heard from Fred and George that they’ve all gone on the run now. Mum and Dad are hiding out at Great Auntie Muriel’s.”

“But they’re okay?” Ron asked.

“Yeah, better than you. How come you’re so pale?”

“Ron got splinched a few weeks back,” Hermione explained to her own shoes. “It was my fault.”

“Alright, well have you been eating? Resting?” She sounded a little like her mother fussing that way, Harry privately noted.

“Not much eating around here,” Ron grumbled, closer to the moods he’d been exhibiting of late.

“Oh, really,” Hermione huffed, turning to busy herself with clearing away the tins of fish she had tried to cook.

Harry checked his watch. It wasn’t quite time to switch off yet, but he didn’t want to hear another row just as soon as Ginny had joined them. He didn’t want her thinking he was lost with no idea of what to do and little control over their group. “Alright, Ron, give me the locket.”

Ron pulled the chain from around his neck and rolled his shoulders, relaxing as he held it out to Harry.

Ginny raised an eyebrow. “Wasn’t that one of the things we threw out in Grimmauld Place that summer?”

Harry laughed humorlessly as he put it on. “Yeah.” He glanced at Ron and Hermione. There wasn’t much room for privacy in the tent to discuss, but how much were they going to tell Ginny? Dumbledore had only ever given him permission to speak to his two friends about it.

And that had gone well, hadn’t it? Asked a voice in Harry’s head. Ron and Hermione were close to their breaking points, they were no further to defeating Voldemort than they had been after their breakin at the Ministry, and even now that they had the sword, Harry still had no idea what he was supposed to do with it. Because Dumbledore had never told him.

“Look, it’s sort of complicated. But basically, this used to belong to Vol—”

“DON’T!” Ginny dropped the sword with a clang and lunged forward, pressing her palm flat over Harry’s mouth to stop the rest.

He ripped away from her. “What?” Sure, Ginny had never quite said the name herself, but she’d never objected to Harry saying it.

“There’s a taboo on his name,” she explained, still breathing harshly from the sudden movement. “Anyone who says it trips an alarm that sends Snatchers to their location. Kingsley almost got caught that way.”

“Snatchers?” Ron echoed.

“Death Eater wannabes. They get money from the Ministry for rounding up Muggleborns and blood traitors. Anyone against You-Know-Who.”

“Oh, of course,” said Hermione. “Because only the really brave witches and wizards use his name, and they’re the ones they want to catch. Did Kingsley get away?”

“Just barely, was what I heard. I don’t know what protections you’ve got, but best not to chance it out here.”

Harry swallowed down his irritation and nodded. He was suddenly quite glad that Ron often insisted he not say Voldemort’s name, as that had probably unknowingly kept them safe the last several weeks.

Ginny pushed some of her hair that had fallen in her face back from her forehead. “Anyway, go on. You were saying about the locket?”

“Right. Well it was- er, his, and if we destroy it we’re closer to stopping him.”

“How so? It’s not enchanted is it?”

“It is. Sort of like — well, the diary,” Harry realized. All at once he felt rather stupid for not wanting to tell Ginny; she had just as much experience with Horcruxes as any of them, even if she didn’t know it. “See, this thing and the diary, they’ve got bits of- of his soul in them—”

“What?” Ginny took a step back, clearly horrified.

Hermione gave him a reproachful look, and Ron didn’t seem very happy either.

“She had a right to know! Look, the point is until these are all taken care of he can’t be killed. Not fully. He’ll just be a shade, like last time.”

“So how many of these has he got? How many of them have you gotten?” She asked.

“Just this one,” he admitted. “There’s only three more, we think.”

“You think or you know?”

“Well it’s not as if he told us himself!” Harry snapped. It figured that as soon as someone else got here they would start interrogating his leadership and find it lacking. Ginny would probably take off on her broom with Ron and Hermione to have brilliant adventures where they pranked Snape and everything was fun, while he was left behind in the tent. “The whole point of this thing is he has secret safeguards in place to keep himself from dying!”

“Oi, lay off her,” Ron growled.

Ginny held out an arm as her brother stepped up next to her, keeping him from moving forward. “It’s fine, Ron. Harry, take that locket off.”

“I’m fine,” he said stiffly. He’d only been wearing it a few minutes.

“You’ve been wearing a bit of his soul, and you really think that wouldn’t affect you?” She asked with one eyebrow arched. “Why would any of you wear it?”

“We don’t have a way to destroy it,” Hermione tried to explain. “We had to keep it safe.”

“And you couldn’t keep it in your bag? Wearing it’s probably what this thing wants you to do, just like writing in it’s what the diary wanted me to do.”

“It hasn’t talked or anything,” Harry protested.

She gave him a pitying look that made him feel rather thick. “Because you haven’t opened it, probably. It’s a locket.”

“But it doesn’t open,” said Ron. “We all tried that summer, remember?”

But Harry picked the locket up and stared at the snake on the lid. “Maybe because it only opens for some people,” he murmured. He stared at the snake, entranced by it.

“Harry.” Ginny’s hands were on either side of his face, wrenching his gaze up to meet her eyes. “Take it off. Please.”

Shakily, he did, holding it out to Ginny. She dropped it onto an empty chair, and suddenly it felt easier to breathe. He thought even Ron and Hermione both looked less tense

“Okay, so, destroying it. How do these things get destroyed?”

“There’s a few ways,” Hermione said, taking over and reverting to lecture mode. “Using the Killing Curse or Fiendfyre can work, but we’re not sure any of us could cast the first and the second is far too dangerous.”

“Tell that to Crabbe,” Ginny remarked with a shake of her head. “He’s been practicing it down in the dungeons supposedly.”

“So we’re dropping the locket off in the dungeons? Brilliant,” said Ron. Only when Harry looked and saw the twinkle in his friend’s eyes did he realize he was joking. It was a good thing he’d checked, because Harry had been about to snap again.

“Right, well the third way is with Basilisk venom,” Hermione continued. “But obviously, that’s very hard to get.”

Ginny blinked and straightened up slightly as she picked up the sword again. “Well then, here you go, then.”

Harry stared at it. “Er, not following.”

“Yeah, Ginny, that’s a sword, not a Basilisk fang,” Ron pointed out.

She rolled her eyes. “Well, you never had to listen to Great Auntie Muriel go on about her goblin-made tiara.” She cleared her throat and said, in rather good imitation of her great-aunt’s nasal voice, “Goblin silver never needs cleaned, dear. It repels all dust and dirt, only imbibing that which strengthens it. Not once in fifty years have I had need to polish it.”

“So?” Asked Ron.

But Harry got it. As did Hermione, with a shout of, “Harry!”

“I know!”

“Know what?” Ron asked with annoyance.

“Harry stabbed the Basilisk with the sword, which means it’s impregnated with Basilisk venom since that would make it stronger,” Hermione explained in a rush. “It can destroy Horcruxes!”

“That must have been how Dumbledore took care of the ring,” Harry realized. Finally the pieces were coming together, and his frustration with Dumbledore banked just as his gratitude and love for Ginny swelled. He took the sword by the hilt from her, then turned to face the locket.

“What are you waiting for, mate?” Ron was now just as invigorated as the rest of them, and Harry wondered if perhaps the worst of this quest was about to be behind them all.

Still, looking at the locket and thinking of Ginny’s words, he realized Voldemort probably had one last protection in place. “I have to open it.”

He looked up at Ginny, who was staring at the snake as well. She met his eyes after a moment, and Harry wondered if she had felt his gaze. “Parseltongue?”

He nodded.

Ginny blew out a breath. “Right.”

“I think the rest of us should all keep back,” Hermione suggested, moving over to both Weasleys and guiding them to the edge of the tent. “The less distractions the better.”

Harry turned back to the locket and placed it on the ground as he watched the snake on the front, willing it to seem real and alive. He thought of how cold and hungry and miserable he’d been the last several weeks, of his friends’ fraying tempers and all their anger at not knowing what Dumbledore had wanted them to do, at this first glimpse of hope they’d had since having to abandon Grimmauld Place.

The hope that Ginny had provided.

What was it that Dumbledore had once said? Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the hat.

“Hang on,” he said, facing them all again. “I think it has to be Ginny.”

“Sorry?”

She looked perhaps even more stunned than Ron or Hermione. Harry walked over and held the sword out. “You’re the one who risked going into Snape’s office to get it. Fleeing Hogwarts, making your way here. It will work best for you. At least this first go.” If Dumbledore were here right now, Harry was confident he would say the same, if in more eloquent terms than Harry had.

“Harry, I- I’m not good with these things.”

“No, but you learned from them. Better than any of us did. Ginny, you held Vol- Riddle off for a whole year, and you’re stronger now. I know you can do this. You’ve already beaten him.”

Ginny held his gaze for a long moment before stepping up to meet him, her hand closing around the hilt of the sword again. He let go and walked with her back over to the locket.

“I’m going to tell it to open, and then you stab it. Okay?”

Ginny nodded, expression grim as she raised the sword. “Do it.”

He looked back at the snake and tried to visualize it moving again. Then he hissed, “Open.”

The golden doors of the locket opened wide, revealing an eye — Tom Riddle’s eye, before it had turned red and slitted like a snake’s — behind the glass windows inside.

That was all Harry saw, for the sword crashed down into it a moment later. The hiss of Riddle’s voice that had only just started to emanate turned into a scream only matched by the clang of metal. The locket shattered and a bit of smoke rose from the inside. The Horcrux was no more.

He looked up at Ginny, who was breathing harshly, her eyes fixed on the shattered pieces. Then, slowly, her blazing eyes rose to his.

The sword fell with a thump, and Harry met her halfway, their lips melding together. Ginny’s hands were everywhere at once, while Harry found his buried in her hair. How could he have ever believed he could give this up? Wanted man or no, what was the point of living without this to live for?

“Oi,” Ron protested, far more weakly than he had on Harry’s birthday. They broke apart anyway. “You can’t keep doing that if you’re not dating her. It’s not right.”

Harry looked down at Ginny, still in the circle of his arms. Her gaze was softer now, but still held some of that fire from before. How could she be this utterly brilliant and still want to be here?

“I’m sorry,” he told her without a second thought. It was easy, effortless. “You were right, it was stupid.”

Her lips quirked upwards in a small smile. “Well, it is noble of you to say so.”

He felt his own smile return. “I guess we do still have some time.”

She nodded and lifted up onto her tip-toes to kiss him sweetly once more.

“And that’s it, then?” Hermione had her hands on her hips, and Harry thought she couldn’t decide between being cross or amused at the pair of them. “You’re just back together now? That’s all it takes?”

Harry and Ginny shared a look before saying at once, “Yeah.”

Hermione shook her head while Ron shrugged. “Who cares? We’ve gotten rid of one Horcrux, and now that Ginny’s here she can help with the food. Mum’s taught her loads.”

“Except I can’t use magic, prat. Still sixteen. The other reason traveling with someone else made sense.” She gave a start and reached into her pocket. “Speaking of, I’ll have to send Dean a message to let him know I haven’t been carted off in the night. I’ll leave your names out of it, shall I?”

“Yes, that would be best,” Hermione agreed. “And honestly, Ron, Ginny doesn’t automatically have to help with the cooking just because she’s the only other girl.”

“I only meant she knows more than all of us.”

As Ron and Hermione started up, Harry couldn’t find it in himself to get annoyed; their bickering was now far more reminiscent of their school days than the fraught arguments they’d been having only half an hour ago. The pall of Voldemort’s presence had momentarily been lifted from their tent.

Harry knew that could really only last so long. They still had three Horcruxes to go and no idea where two of them were, not to mention Voldemort himself. Dumbledore’s hints still only made a vague amount of sense. But as Ginny ducked under his arm to fit into his side while she worked on the message on her D.A. Galleon, he thought he could maybe start to see his own way through this.

#hinny #harry potter #ginny weasley #hp #ron weasley #hermione granger #my writing

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ariadnelives · 5 years ago

Text

Chapter 30 -- The Ride Home

[Missed earlier chapters? Go catch up here! Otherwise, welcome back! Oh, and make sure to join our discord server! Chapter can also be found @ ao3”]

Pilar and Sweettalk lay on parallel hospital beds, and Sasha stood between them.

“So,” she said to Pilar, “you’re going to need to eat a much larger than usual dinner when we get back tonight. The serum is medicine, it’s not a magic potion, and regenerating wounds that serious will have taken a lot out of you.”

“I’m sure I’ll be able to cope with having seconds at dinner,” Pilar said sarcastically.

“And thirds,” Sasha insisted, “and fourths. I don’t think you really understand just how shot you got.”

“You said I’d survived worse!”

“I lied! You were trying to get me to leave you on the floor of an exploding room, I would’ve said Jesus himself was waiting to heal you if it would’ve gotten you out of there in time.”

“Well, I’m glad I’m not dead,” Pilar conceded, “so, thanks, sis.”

“I’m glad you’re not dead too, although I’m sure you’re going to test me on that,” Sasha replied. “You know, you really should be thanking Sweettalk. Universal donor. If she hadn’t been here, even with the serum you’d be dead.”

“O Negative!” Sweettalk said cheerfully, “so, what do I get to eat? I mean, she’s got all my blood, do I get something good?”

Sasha reached into the pocket of her scrubs, took out a small pad of paper, wrote something down on it, tucked it into the front of Sweettalk’s shirt, and left the room.

Sweettalk excitedly read the note, secretly hoping for some kind of double entendre, although these hopes would be quickly dashed. “A note that says ‘I Gave Blood?’ That’s it?”

At this exact moment, Sasha returned and tossed Sweettalk a juicebox and cookie.

“YESSSSS,” Sweettalk smiled widely and began unwrapping her snack. “You know… I heard about all those nice things you said about me.”

“You know what?” Pilar said, “I changed my mind, put the bullet back in.”

“She can’t do that,” Sweettalk said, “Hypocritical oath.”

Sasha sighed deeply. “Am I going to regret making you two into friends?”

“Probably,” both Pilar and Sweettalk replied.

“Hey, uh,” Alicia poked her head in, “Are we almost ready to take off?”

“Should be soon. Uprising and the girls are outside loading the last of the stuff in the ship. Some museum is gonna be thrilled to have this stuff. And I think Ariadne is talking to Kay.”

“Cool cool,” Alicia replied. “You know, we really ought to take some shore leave after this. I got a couple of nieces back on Earth I feel compelled to spoil, and I’m sure they want to meet their Pirate Aunties too. Sweettalk, you ever been to Earth?”

“Never,” Sweettalk shrugged. “Is it nice?”

“I hated it growing up, but something about spending ten years away really makes you miss a place. You never know how much you want to go home until you can’t go back, you know?”

“I think I do,” Sweettalk replied wistfully.

“So it’s settled,” Alicia said, “Triple date, Ariadne and Spacebreather, Deathsbane and Sweettalk, my little sister and that goddess she somehow convinced to marry her, we’re taking a trip to earth to visit the babies, get some home cooking, and find your friend Alicia a date because she spends all her time in a floating high school.”

“That seems fair,” Spacebreather replied. “Is your sister a good cook? Mine says I have to eat four dinners tonight.”

“Flax will be cooking.”

“So we know it’ll be good,” Pilar shrugged.

“Who’s Flax?” Sweettalk asked.

“Someone whose first conversation with you I’ll be sure to record,” Sasha laughed.

“I’m glad you’ll be staying with us,” Ariadne said to Kay, whose synchronized movements across three bodies were still fairly unsettling, “I’m excited that I get to help you get to know yourself.”

“I’m glad Fate has delivered me to you.”

“Oh, here we go. After all of that?”

Kay gently smiled her triple-smile. “My father was a false prophet, and an evil man, and he is suffering for it in a hell of his own creation. But, our time together has given me… clarity, in a way that is somewhat… difficult to express to the single-minded.”

“So what, you’re going to tell me that you still believe there’s some all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect being that claims to love us but still puts us through all that shit?”

“Not at all. But, I believe in the inherent goodness of the universe. It delivered me to you. It delivered you to the love of your life, who is alive now because by pure random chance, her sister’s girlfriend happened to have a compatible blood type.”

“Yeah,” Ariadne replied, “the thing is, though, if any of this was by design, it’s also the one who put you with that monster in the first place. It threw me and my girl together by killing her parents and turning mine into monsters. It saved Spacebreather’s life, but didn’t it also shoot her?”

“And you wanted me dead, when you first saw me,” Kay replied. “Amazing how something so good can come out of such a terrible mistake.”

Ariadne was intensely uncomfortable. “Well, I’m glad we didn’t end up making that mistake. So are you… uh… like that forever now?”

Kay thought for a moment. “I think not. The entity called Kay has served its function for the time being. I think soon enough these three girls will each find their own identities, and I look forward to being those girls.”

Kay giggled, which was somewhat disconcerting coming from three glowing bodies in unison, but at the same time really made Ariadne suddenly remember the girls’ age.

“What’s funny?”

“I never had a childhood,” Kay laughed.

“Okay, we’re going to have to revisit your definition of ‘funny.’”

“No, I mean, my whole life I’ve been nothing but a tool. I’ve never gotten to just be a kid. Now I get to be three!”

Ariadne chuckled. “I guess that is kinda funny, isn’t it? I’m glad we got to meet, Kay.”

“Me too,” Kay replied, and gave Ariadne what would, under normal circumstances, be considered a group hug. By the time the hug was over, the glow in the three girls had subsided and they all came away looking like relatively normal teenage girls. By this point, their systems had integrated so well with the cybernetics that it would be pointless to try to tell which parts had been replaced.

“You girls are members of my crew now, and I already have my first orders for you as your captain. When we get home, you’re going to spend every day trying new things until you all know what you like and what you don’t.”

“We can handle that,” Cyan replied.

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Magenta said.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Yellow answered.

Ariadne gave them another hug and dismissed them. When she was sure they were gone, she settled into a large cushioned chair, took out one of the burner holo-phones from a compartment in the shuttle, and dialed up a number she’d called so often it had become second nature.

After two rings, the face of a striking but kind-looking black woman in her thirties, with her hair tied in two braids along the top of her head began flickering a few inches above the holo-phone.

“Sovereign Upendo,” Ariadne’s voice took on a much more serious tone, “It’s been a while.”

“Not long enough,” Upendo said nervously. “I can’t be seen talking to you. Make this quick.”

“Can’t be seen talking to me, can’t be seen publicly supporting me… You wound me, Peace!”

“I am the leader of a major government,” Upendo replied in what can only be described as a hushed scold, “you can not address me by my first name. What do you need?”

“I’m asking for a favor.”

“Absolutely not. Not again. It was bad enough the last time. I’ve never encountered darkness like that in a—”

“Relax, it’ll be nothing like the last time. You’re going to be getting briefed on the alleged mass-suicide of a far-right religious cult in a few minutes. I just need you to tell them that I contacted you, and share a little recording I’ve made to set the record straight. Maybe don’t tell them how often we help each other out behind the scenes. I mean, you and I have seen how much good a recorded confession can do firsthand, haven’t we?”

Upendo sighed loudly. “Fine. Send your recording, just, make it quick.”

“Sending it your way now.”

“Did you send it?” Spacebreather asked from her bed when Ariadne walked in the room.

“Yeah, it’ll be going out system-wide any minute now. Did Alicia suggest shore leave?”

“Vacation at Baltimore and Beam’s, eat Flaxy’s cooking, spoil the twins rotten, get Alicia laid.” Spacebreather replied.

“Sounds like a dream,” Ariadne said, hopping up onto the hospital bed and nestling comfortably into Spacebreather’s arms, “You know once this video goes out, I’m going to be law enforcement’s most wanted on Earth, right? Gonna be hard to take shore leave there with my face on every wanted poster.”

“Alicia’s very good at disguises,” Spacebreather replied, “she turned Sasha into me.”

“Yeah, like that’s a stretch,” Ariadne said, laughing.

“She’ll change your hair, give you a new set of glasses, nobody will recognize you. You’ll be like that guy from old myths.”

“Hercules…?”

“No, the guy Baltimore never shuts up about. The cape guy. Shield on his chest.”

This made Ariadne laugh, and she kissed Spacebreather on the lips. “Te amo.”

Spacebreather smiled. “Lo sé.”

Unbeknownst to Ariadne and Spacebreather, Sasha and Sweettalk were just outside the door, and witnessed that exchange.

“Promise me we’ll be like that someday?” Sasha asked, and Sweettalk hugged her tight.

“Absolutely not,” Sweettalk said. “We’re gonna be even better. We’re gonna kick their asses at love.”

Sasha smiled. “You always say the right thing.”

Sweettalk shrugged. “It’s what I do!”

They too kissed, although Sweettalk was slick enough to close the door to avoid being observed, leaving them alone in the dark hallway.

“You know,” Sweettalk said, “now that your sister knows and seems pretty unlikely to poison my food, we don’t really need to sneak around anymore.”

Sasha thought on this for about half a second. “I actually kinda like sneaking around.”

Sweettalk smiled wide. “That’s my girl. Movie night tonight?”

“You know it,” Sasha grinned.

The ship made its way back to their station. Ariadne, Spacebreather, Sweettalk, Deathsbane, and the triplets got off the ship first, followed by the crew. Cookie had a feast waiting for them when they got back, with a banner that read “CONGRATULATIONS,” but clearly also said “MY CONDOLENCES” on the opposite side, just in case the mission was not a success.

Pilar ate her medically mandated dinners, and after the crew had eaten their fill, everyone else retired to either the game room or their own quarters for the evening. Ariadne and Pilar resolved to get a proper night’s sleep for the first time in weeks before going on shore leave. The Triplets spent most of the evening in the game room, trying out different games. Sasha managed to sneak into Mingxia’s room in the middle of the night to watch a very old movie about a hitman with a heart of gold that really reminded them of someone they knew, and for the first time, Sasha didn’t feel the need to sneak back to her own quarters. They had fallen asleep watching the movie, which they agreed simply meant they’d have to try watching it again later. It was the first time in years that everyone on the station had fallen asleep happy, and it wouldn’t be the last.

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