#if he didn't die so young he probably would have started taking better care of himself/his hair in adulthood

[foursaints]

hiii its freddie anon 💋

i have a question about evan! does he like to wear bandannas in his hair? or like does he care to wear a bonnet at night

that boy wears the same moth-eaten sweater & too-small trousers with dirt caked into the knees for days on end without changing because those are his Comfort Clothes and he's too engrossed in his experiments on the internal effects of curse damage to care. he barely remembers to feed himself or drink water, and skips meals while mindlessly going through packets of digestive biscuits, hunched over the copy of Magick Moste Evile he stole from the restricted section

there is NO WAY he has a curly girl routine. however, i think pandora taught him some haircare, and he really pays attention to the things she shows him. after he showers, he puts a little bit of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion in his palms and he scrunches :,-).

[whereserpentswalk]

You're so used to being near your vampire now. The way he pets your head, and the way he'll take your blood whenever he wants, how he trusts you to be able to show him your neck the moment that he wants you to. And you can start to tell yourself that it's better that way, that it's better that he takes your blood then that he hunts someone else's, if he didn't have you, he might really hurt someone. And when he says you can't do something, and you understand you have to obey, he makes sure to remind you that anything is worth keeping you safe.

And you hear him talk sometimes about evil human, monster hunters, extremists who want to destroy society, who slay werewolves who attack young women in the night, who break the contracts that fairies force mortals to sign, people who slay vampires like him. He speaks with such fear, as he says that some of them probably want humans to rule themselves, and the idea sounds so scary, so dangerous and impossible, like the world would be on fire, but it's so seductive. But you wouldn't want him to die, it wouldn't be right, he might be a bit controlling, a might not let you see some of your friends, but he's not a fully terrible person, you get the feeling he really cares for you, he's not so bad he deserves to die right? It's all to keep you safe.

And you're starting to feel drained, as he takes more and more blood. But you're not one to complain. Not when he talks about how great you taste, how great you feel. And not when he can give you so many little gifts, like a comfy bed, and all the clothes that he lets you wear. And if you left him, you don't know what other type of monster you could find to take care of you. Maybe it's normal to always feel a bit empty, and always have it hurt around your neck, and to always feel a bit sleepy. And maybe if things go really well, you'll be a vampire like him one day, you just have to give enough blood, maybe. You've stopped wearing clothes your vampire doesn't like, nothing that covers your neck, and you've stopped talking to people who aren't also vampire's subjects, he says it's to make sure you're safe.

You keep telling yourself you love your vampire, but you feel too clearly that he doesn't love you back. He trusts you so much to always be available for him, trusts he so much he doesn't bother with security, doesn't bother to notice the steak in your pocket. And you feel bad when you sneak up on him, when you don't even have to sneak because of how harmless he sees you as. And when you push the spike into his heart just like the monster hunters told you to, he doesn't even realize you could hurt him until it was too late. You're still not sure he was a bad person, but you were worried you weren't going to make it with how much blood he took, and you needed to do this for your safety.

[i-will-cry-you-a-river]

Like all things in Nie Huaisang's life, it started with Da-ge.

When killing Jin Guangyao and causing the heartbreak of Lan Xichen didn't help, didn't bring back his Da-ge nor gave him happiness or peace, at least - he tried something else.

The thing about sacrificing one, and alienating the other source of his to demonic cultivation was that it made everything way harder than it should have been - but he was always a resourceful little demon. Just as easily as he defeated the mastermind behind the murder of his Da-ge, he found himself back in time, when Jin Guangyao was still called Meng Yao and Da-ge was still a living, lovely little ball of rage and fierceness.

It was a strange experience, to be older than his brave and strong and talented Da-ge, but... he would always be his spoiled little didi. It wouldn't take long to get back to being the pampered little Second Master of Qinghe. Except...

He couldn't allow himself to be that lazy and shallow as he was. His Da-ge would. Not. Die. Not under his watch.

He was ready to kill Jin Guangyao, before the man could lay even a finger (or a faulty note) on his brother, but-

The man he met at the first time he opened his eyes in his past - in his new present -, was Meng Yao. His favorite non-Da-ge person, his friend, his first (second, if he wanted to be honest) crush. Da-ge's deputy, whose presence was essential in the daily lives of Qinghe. Nie Huaisang's plans changed in the minute he heard his A-Yao's soft words of concern.

"Is Second Master okay? Should I call for the healer?"

It was real.

Ever since he realized who killed his beloved brother, he questioned everything he knew about Meng Yao. He questioned his care, his love, his friendliness. But it was all real. His A-Yao really cared about him.

Maybe not Jin Guangyao. But Meng Yao did. And that care was what saved him.

"No, it's okay! It was just a quick dizziness, but everything is good now. And how many times more should I tell you that it's A-Sang?! A-Sang! A-Yao is so cruel to his A-Sang," he pouted, and the helpless adoration in the other man's eyes was so clear to him now that he didn't understand how past him had failed to notice it.

"Once more, probably," Meng Yao sassed, his tiny smile and cute little dimples hidden behind his sleeves.

"So cruel..." Nie Huaisang muttered, hiding his own smile behind a fan.

"Sect Leader sent me to tell you to get ready for the arrival of Young Master Lan," A-Yao said, taking Nie Huaisang's hairbrush in his hand to tame the unruly hair, and the younger boy allowed it, deep in his thoughts.

Meng Yao had to stay. Qinghe couldn't afford losing him right now, Jin Guangshan didn't deserve him, Nie Mingjue needed him at least until after the war, and Nie Huaisang... well, he wanted him. But in the past, as soon as Meng Yao had a better option, he took it, be it the adoration of Lan Xichen, the acceptance of Jin Guangshan or the opportunity to become Sect Leader. Meng Yao would do everything to be as close to power as he could, to be acknowledged and respected.

Nie Huaisang couldn't give that to him. He was just the heir, and saving Nie Mingjue was the whole reason for doing the whole time travel thing. He was not powerful enough. On the other hand, he would never allow Nie Mingjue to fall for Meng Yao, as his brother would never survive that relationship. Allowing Jin Guangshan to accept Meng Yao into the Jin Sect was absolutely out of the question. But-

But.

Hm.

That might work.

Lan Xichen had fallen for Meng Yao before. It was inevitable, but it was not enough. They would never do anything with their feelings; Xichen-ge was too Lan for anything, and Meng Yao would always feel inferior. And just the two of them... that would not guarantee Nie Mingjue's survival. (Hah! On the contrary, it would make the whole murder easier.) But!

But...

Lan Xichen always had a soft spot for Nie Huaisang. With some carefully timed helpless tears, some grateful hugs that last longer than appropriate, some flattering words and carefully cultivated image of being soft and sweet and just spicy enough to not be seen as a younger brother, it would be so easy to seduce the First Jade.

A-Yao already adored him, and if he had the means, the opportunity and the incentive to have Nie Huaisang as his, he would take it. Before, he never started anything with Huaisang because being the husband of the Second Young Master was not attractive enough. But being the spouse of the heir of Qinghe AND the heir - soon-to-be Sect Leader - of Lan was a completely different thing. Having connections to not one but two of the Big Sects, being Consort Lan, the husband of a man who would be indulgent to all of his manipulations and power games would be a temptation not even Meng Yao could resist.

Jing Guangshan had to die soon, though. It would be a shame to kill his not-yet-husband because he thought it was a good idea to suck up to his walking sexually transmitted disease of a father.

[cottoncandyafterdark]

Acting as a Big Sibling Figure to: Kyoka, Kenji, Q

Character(s): Kyoka Izumi; Kenji Miyazawa; Yumeno Kyuusaku/Q (Bungou Stray Dogs)

Tags: SFW, platonic, familial-ish, headcanons

Warnings: None

Notes: Originally posted on ao3 here; this is old and I'm not caught up with the manga now so sorry if anything seems strange

Kyoka (& Atsushi)

When Atsushi brought Kyoka to the Agency, your first thought, like everyone else's, was pretty much just that she was adorable. You didn't know much about what she had been through, but you were made vaguely aware that she had been an assassin for the Port Mafia, which you could hardly believe- she was just so young, and looked so cute and innocent.

You also soon realized that despite seeming distant and unemotional, she really is just a kid at heart- a kid who has already been through way too much in her life.

The first few times you tried to talk to her, she didn't exactly pull away or shut down or anything, but it was kind of hard to hold a conversation. She didn't do too well with small talk, and it was hard to figure out what to else to talk to her about.

So, it took a while, but with enough time and effort, Kyoka will start to open up to you a little, and you'll start to see her emotions shining through when she talks to you. She'll smile, just a tiny bit and for a few seconds at most, and it will feel like the greatest success of your life.

At that point, the hard part is basically over: once you've started connecting with her, it'll only get easier to get to know her properly from there.

You start taking her out to try doing some regular kid/teen stuff she hadn't gotten the chance to do in a long, long time, and maybe not ever for some of them- go to an arcade, see a movie, little things like that. She doesn't end up liking everything you two do, but she she still appreciates it every time.

Basically: relationship ended with Kouyou, now you are Kyoka's stand-in older sibling

Atsushi often joins you on these adventures if he isn't busy, since he's friends with Kyoka. You're happy to have him along; not only does he make Kyoka feel more comfortable, he probably hasn't gotten to do lots of those things either, so it's a good opportunity for both of them.

You can take them out to lunch if you want to, but you might end up having to put some limits on how much they can order because Kyoka will happily eat enough boiled tofu to bankrupt you.

You make sure that Kyoka and Atsushi both know that people care about them very deeply (it's you, you're people), and that they have inherent worth as humans and deserve to live a happy life. And the people in their pasts who hurt and traumatized them, and made them believe otherwise, better hope to never meet you because if you ever run into them those people will die by your hands.

Kenji

As soon as Kenji joined the Agency, not too long after you did, you knew he had to be protected. With that sunshine-y smile, those cute lil freckles, and that simplistic, some might say naive outlook on the world, how could you not? He's babey!

You might think that opinion would change a little the first time you were sent on a mission with him and you saw him toss a car around like it weighed nothing, but if anything, you were just more convinced afterwards. It was incredibly clear by then that he had no clue how cruel the world could be, and you didn't want him to learn that the hard way.

When you started hanging around him more, Kenji was, of course, immediately friendly and welcoming. You had no real trouble making friends with him, and over the next few weeks, the two of you quickly bonded.

You would show him around the city, helping him learn the layout so he wouldn't get lost, and introducing him to any "city things" he didn't know about yet.

"Money can be exchanged for goods and services" was surprisingly difficult to explain to him. Trying to explain why currency has value to someone who's not familiar with the concept is a nightmare.

Sometimes you would take him on little field trips on your days off. Museums, aquariums, parks- anything the city had to offer that he wouldn't have gotten to see back home.

His favorite place was the zoo. There were so many animals that he'd only heard about in stories, and some he'd never heard of at all before!

He also liked all the different kinds of food that were available in the city. Really liked them. You pretty quickly learned to only take him to cheap restaurants, otherwise he would empty your whole wallet in one meal.

This whole time, you were also trying to gently introduce him to the idea that maybe he shouldn't automatically trust every stranger he sees. You didn't think this would be a difficult concept to grasp, but he just didn't quite seem to get it. He knows there's bad people in the world, he isn't stupid, but he doesn't see why he should ever assume that someone is bad.

So, faced with that stubbornness, you just had to resolve to keep him safe by personally trying to make sure he didn't get too close to anyone who would use his kindness against him… and occasionally beating the crap out of anyone who would do anything to hurt him.

With how protective you are and how the two of you always seemed to be together, you started to occasionally be mistaken for his actual older sibling, and the other members of the Agency started jokingly calling you such as well. Kenji, for his part, quickly accepted this, and even started calling you nii/nee-chan.

Q

Obviously, you already knew it wouldn't be all sunshine and roses when you joined the Port Mafia. But even after everything you'd seen in the mafia, you couldn't help but feel a little sick to your stomach when you found out about Q.

A kid being locked up all the time, no family, no friends, no one looking out for them? No matter what they did, no one that young deserves to be treated like that. So, you decided to ignore your colleagues' warnings, and whenever you had some spare time, you started trying to talk to Q.

At first, they were mostly just confused, and maybe a little suspicious, as to why you were being so nice to them. No one spoke to them so kindly, so they figured you must have an ulterior motive, and they resisted your attempts to befriend them.

If you managed to keep at it for long enough without being invasive or pushy, though, eventually, little by little, the walls would start to come down. The suspicion and confusion slowly become curiosity, first. Q just wants to figure out why you're so insistent on being their friend. By the time they fully realize you really so just want to help them, they've already gotten attached to you.

They start to really look forward to your visits, and get upset if you can't come see them for more than a few days in a row.

When you do come see them after a long gap, they'll be mad at first, so it's recommended you bring them some snacks as a peace offering. They otherwise never get to have sweets, so their anger pretty much fades immediately as soon as they get their hands on some candy. After you've calmed them down, they'll want to hear all about whatever adventure you went on that kept you from them. Don't spare the violence if it was a mafia mission- that's their favorite part to hear about.

Eventually, the other members of the Mafia take notice that Q really likes you. They all know you're making regular visits to talk to the kid the whole time, but it takes a while before anyone sees you two hanging out and realizes that Q looks genuinely happy- and that Q is now even less happy than they were before whenever you aren't around.

It took some work convincing the higher-ups, but they eventually decided that just letting Q tag along with you around headquarters would keep the kid happy enough to prevent any unfortunate incidents. (You certainly still won't be allowed to take them anywhere outside headquarters without a damned good reason, sadly.)

The two of you quickly become a well-known duo, and people quickly learn that if they mess with one of you, they'll have to face the other's wrath. There's plenty of people in the mafia who lost friends, even family because of Q's ability, who are still holding a grudge, but God help them if they try to actually do something about it, because you will not let anyone harm this kid.

And if somebody, for whatever reason, tried to hurt you, Q would absolutely lose it. Considering the whole point of letting them hang around you was to keep them from hurting any other members of the mafia, this would ultimately be a situation you'd just have to defuse one way or another before it really broke bad, but it's at least nice to know that they care.

If Q ever was sent on another mission, you would be sent right along with them, to make sure they stay in line and it doesn't end up as a repeat of last time. If the two of you do a good enough job, you could get sent on more missions together- and if you keep succeeding, and Q behaves in general, you might even eventually be able to convince Mori to give them a little more freedom. After all, from the beginning, all you really wanted was to make their life a little better.

[deadprompts]

𝙸𝚃'𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙴𝙽𝙳 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙻𝙳 𝙿𝚃.𝙸𝙸 (𝙰𝙿𝙾𝙲𝙰𝙻𝚈𝙿𝚃𝙸𝙲 - 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙼𝙴𝙳 𝙻𝚈𝚁𝙸𝙲𝚂).

content warning applies. change any pronouns / wording if necessary.

i’d like to think that you knew me better than anybody else.

what if i give up too soon?

i don't know what i heard.

there is a crow that i can see on my street almost every day.

what's a word for lonely that doesn't mean alone?

you're all that i've got to lose.

i saw the end of the world last night.

you were mad at the whole world.

you think you look older, i think you look alive.

i don't wanna need anything.

it didn't save me like i thought it would.

if i loved you at the start then i would love you at the end.

i don't wanna die anymore.

am i brave if the noise doesn't scare me?

i’d stay but i don't wanna bore you.

i have more than enough

i can't fix all the things that you couldn't.

and it's a damn shame you're good at winning.

bury me under gravel just deep enough so nobody finds me.

mark my words, there's a thousand things that don't wash out with anything.

i have to find it and cut it out.

now you're taller than you've ever been.

your costume's in the basement at the bottom of a shelf.

and just like that, we’re starting over.

well i have more than enough for the both of us.

i keep you clean.

was it just like you had before?

there isn't really much to say.

i know it's not what you thought i'd say.

i love you carefully.

i know you're probably standing there wishing that i wasn't here.

i'm sure that someone will draw a new one and cover it before they leave.

i know you don't like the sound.

i can still hear the sound of you laughing all the way down.

does it get too hard being a good person every day of your life?

sometimes i'm scared that i'll only ever feel everything once.

you were angry it didn't stop when you did.

i can't handle when the fight runs out.

i'd do anything but ask for your help.

living takes more than to just survive.

it's gonna rain soon.

i can never feel the same thing cause i change too much.

would i have to forgive you still?

some part of me had to care for you.

pretty soon i'm gonna say something that i’ll eventually regret.

will you still walk me home?

just because she told you so it doesn't mеan that she's right.

you still have more fight in you than you ever really did when you were young.

what would it take for me to be cared for, too?

look at us, carefree.

i'm hardly brave, i know.

did you want to be something more?

i act like i'm dumb for my age.

what you tell her, she will take to her grave.

there is no reason to be someone else.

do you still want me here?

don't worry now, it's already dead.

i would've died for it.

i can hear her disappointment from here.

there's a mark on the wall, you see.

you wouldn't talk even when somebody was listening.

i'll show you how.

something is rotten inside of me.

aren't you tired?

he lets me watch him there as long as i stand far away and as long as i am quiet.

[buckysmith]

You always meet twice in life

Recom Miles Quaritch × fem. Human. reader (Story not one shot)

„You always meet twice in life" but how could you meet someone who was already dead?

Well, let's see...

Part 1

.

.

.

Sometimes life doesn't play out the way you want.

Sometimes you have everything one day and nothing the next.

Life doesn't ask how you are, if you like it or how you want it, life tests you, life tests you every single day until the day you die….

And sometimes something so big comes from one decision....

Your gaze settles on the sleeping baby in your arms, his eyes are closed and you can still see this lightly glistening of his tears on his cheeks.

You hug the baby in your arms a bit tighter while you close your eyes.

You can dully hear the screams and arguments from the next room.

You can't really hear what it's about, but you can guess. It is probably about yourself and the baby in my arms, both of you are too young to be sent off from pandora, but already old enough to be blamed for the sins of your species….

....

A warm hand rests on your cheek as you look up "I know Miles will be safe with you (y/n), promise me that no matter what happens to me you will take care of him, promise me that even if I don't come back he will be safe, that he won't have to pay for the actions of his father or his mother. Promise me that you will never leave him alone, please, promise me that you will love him like a mother loves her child" You look into the brown eyes of Paz, Miles' mother, who is standing in front of you with tears streaming down her face. Her voice is brittle, rough and quiet.

In the background the sirens can already be heard, signaling that in a few minutes the battleships will fly out to destroy the holiest of all Na'vi.

"I promise"

Her eyes soften for a breath of a moment before she pulls you to her, kissing your forehead only to press a kiss Miles' forehead as well.

"I love you my son.... I hope we see each other again....."

Her voice still echoes in your mind and the image of her moving away from you, turning to you and miles one last time before disappearing into the crowd of soldiers plays over and over in your mind.

You knew that she would not come back, you knew that she had died in battle, as had your parents and many others, be it humans or Na’vi.

You can feel your heart tighten painfully, while your stomach drops and your eyes start to burn.

You can't show any weakness now, you can't let anyone see how scared you are, how painful the loss of your parents is, the loss of the people you thought were friends.

You have to be strong for the baby, you have to be strong for miles.

Your thoughts are interrupted when you hear the door of the room you’re in opens. You open your eyes, only to look at the person who has entered the room. You know him, or better you know his face. He is one of the scientists who work- no, who worked with your mother.

His eyes are filled with many emotions, just like yours are.

His gaze turns to you before he kneels in front of you and almost nervously rubs his hands together.

"We can't send you away from here, just like we can't send the little man y‘know..." his gaze breaks from your eyes to look at Miles after more attempts to get you to speak have failed.

"His mother trusted you with him before she left, didn't she?" You nod as he sighs and sits himself down on the floor in front of you. He takes off his glasses, puts them in his coat pocket, before looking in your eyes again. "I know you don't want to talk to me, you're scared and maybe you don't quite understand what's happening right now but I want to tell you that you're safe, both of you are safe. No one is going to hurt you." His voice is calm while he keeps eye contact to make you believe he's not lying.

"You don't have to talk to me either if you don't want to, I just want you to listen to me. " He averts his eyes from you for a moment to get something out of his pocket. "We have found two families who would take you both in, separately, they are also scientists and have worked closely with your mother we think they’re gre -."

"I'm not going to separate from Miles, I'm not going to any people either, I'm old enough to take care of myself and Miles." You interrupt him almost harshly and hug Miles a little closer. "I understand that you-." He starts to speak, but you interrupt him again before standing up, lightly holding Miles' ears shut, giving the Scientists a dirty look from above. "His mother has given me the task to take care of him like a mother, I will keep my promise to her. I know I'm very young, I know you think I'm a stupid child who doesn't understand the situation I’m- we’re in, but I understand it well enough!" You feel the lump in your throat slowly dissolve while you keep eye contact with him. "I lost my family just like he has, I don’t want to play family with someone so mercifully sacrificing to take me or Miles in, that's pathetic and I don't want that. I also made a promise to his mother to take her place in case she died, and we both know she did.... I'm not asking for much, I just want to keep my promise...I'm begging you, give me a chance to prove myself. Please give me one chance." His gaze softens before he opens his mouth and ......

Like I said, a single decision can change a lot in your life. Sometimes that decision ends in defeat, but sometimes it opens a door to a new horizon.

Sometimes you have nothing one day and everything the next.

[tumblingghosts]

How about a time traveling Livia where she stops Facet from running to the exit before the peacekeepers shot him , maybe velvreene is still shot and that breaks Facet and he yells at Livia for being insensitive to velvreene 's death and it starts an argument between them that he refuses to cooperate with her even when the interviews come and when he's in the games she is shocked that he can't fight or bring himself to kill someone and can't use weapons and if he sees another tribute he avoid them or leave them alone until the pack corners him and kill him. I personally feel like velvreene and facet didn't really stand much of a chance the only advantage they might have is that they aren't as malnourished as some of the other tributes but they are experiencing malnourishment for what could possibly be the first time in their lives and district 1 isn't involved in physically demanding labour the way other districts are so I feel like before the carrers became a thing they were harmless due to not having any skills with weapons and experiencing malnourishment for the first time

oooo i have a couple different ideas for this depending on how far in the future livia is coming from-

one scenario...

if she’s from way far in the future (e.g. married and probably poisoned by snow), i could see her being a bit more empathetic to facet just because after living so much, seeing facet again makes him look so young. too young. and she doesn’t quite believe this is real at first since time travel isn’t a thing.

and because she’s pretty sure she just died, and she’s lived long enough to not care as much about her social image as she did before, she’s a bit more willing to take some risks, bend some rules. facet is still mad at her because she hasn’t exactly been treating him well before this, and he’s not going to suddenly warm up to her just because she’s a bit nicer. it’s too little, too late, and velvereen is dead. they weren’t really friends, but she was the only piece of home he had. he’s not hopeful enough to believe he’s going to win by fighting. 

livia might be a bit nicer having grown with age, but she’s still lived with a lot of privilege. she can’t quite conceptualize the hardships that facet has had to live with, and even her attempts to help come off as condescending. facet probably refuses to do the interview, even if it hurts his chances at sponsors, just because he doesn’t want to work with livia. maybe livia sponsors some of her own money. 

facet survives for a while just on the things he’s sent, even through his reluctance to accept anything from her, especially since he’s a bit better fed than the others. but i do agree that his chances aren’t good going up in an actual fight, and he likely gets taken out by the snakes with no way to climb quickly enough.

this livia might do some work to undermine coriolanus, given that she’s lived through his ascension and just generally doesn’t like him. even if she can’t save facet or the classmates she lost in the bombing, she is far more willing to throw her money and influence around, especially now knowing that the snows don’t have anything.

alternatively…

if she’s from just after the hunger games end, that’s a whole different story. she’s mostly bitter that facet had the “audacity” to die in the arena bombing, “ruining her chances of winning the plinth prize”. she’s incredibly spoiled, but without any of the age or time to temper that, and when she stops facet from running away, she’s very upset by his reaction.

facet properly loses it at her when she yells at him that he “should be grateful to her” because “she saved his life”, and starts going on a rant about how if he’d tried to run, he would have gotten shot just like his district partner. facet does not take to livia talking about velvereen that way, and definitely isn’t taking well to livia speaking to him that way either. 

he starts shouting back, and doesn’t stop when the peacekeepers are raising their guns. he’s behind the bars of the cage and can’t physically attack her if he wanted to (and he does), but he can shout, and he can make her listen. he goes off on how spoiled she is, how entitled, how she’s been treating him terribly, yet expects him to perform for her. she hasn’t brought any food, yet expects him to still roll over to her like an obedient dog.

at that point, livia starts shouting back about how uncivilized he and the rest of the tributes are, about how they’ll be killing each other in a few days anyway, so why can’t he just do this for her? how she saved him, how arachne’s tribute murdered her, and blah blah blah. facet is not having this, and points out that her ‘rescue’ landed him back in a cage, and set to be slaughtered anyway, so what does she mean “saved”? and then points out that she only cares when her classmates die, but velvereen is dead, and why did she not matter?

livia is starting to repeat the same arguments over and over now in frustration, and facet just stonewalls her. he just entirely refuses to talk to her anymore- not for the interviews, not for strategy, not for anything. livia is getting progressively angrier because this is her second change, and her tribute won’t cooperate. why is he being so stubborn? she doesn’t get it.

then, they’re all being sent into the arena.

facet doesn’t bother for a weapon. he knows he won’t be able to use one. instead, he finds a place to hide in the tunnels. when he eventually comes out later, livia debates heavily on using the limited funds she has to send him something or not. she doesn’t think he’s done anything to ‘deserve’ being sent anything. but she also wants to win, so she does.

facet sticks to the sidelines, and livia starts to see that he isn’t the winning force she’d hoped him to be. he’s just a boy that she hasn’t been giving nearly enough food to. he’s starving and he’s not going to be fighting for her. more than that, it doesn’t seem like he can fight. and she slowly, barely, starts to shift in her views.

he can’t fight- and she remembers the little he told her about how they needed to work to produce jewelry for the capitol. there was no time to ‘train for the hunger games.’ this wasn’t some competition they were raring to go. it was just bad luck, and most likely a death sentence. livia resigns herself to not winning the plinth prize. 

i want to say that livia has this ✨big realization✨ and changes her ways, but i honestly doubt it. she probably feels bad, but for all the wrong reasons. like “i should have visited facet more for food” but because she thinks prepping him better would have given him a better shot at winning, not because he’s a person deserving of basic necessities. 

i feel like it would take more than just a single chance sent back - maybe a time loop where she keeps having to do it over until she learns a lesson. at first, her goal is to get facet to win. why else would she be given another chance? clearly, she’s special and even the universe itself wants her to win, right? (🙄🙄)

so that's what she does- it takes a bunch of loops of trial and error, but eventually, facet wins! she did it!

hooray for her!

except…facet isn’t happy to see her when he wins, even when she tells him that the win is all thanks to her and her strategy to keep him alive. he snaps at her that she wasn’t the one in the arena, he was. that his survival wasn’t because of her at all. livia tries to argue back (because he’s did in so many loops, how could this win be anything but hers?) but facet cuts her off, curses her out, and is promptly taken away by the peacekeepers to be sent home.

the loop still restarts.

livia is bitter after getting chewed out like that and decides the next loop that she’s not going to focus on facet at all. wouldn’t it hurt him if his mentor ignored him entirely? she tries to get close to velvereen instead (who isn’t too keen on her either, but that’s not stopping livia). the bombing happens and this time she makes sure both facet and velvereen are alive. she can’t get closer to velvereen if she’s dead, and livia can’t rub it in facet’s face if he’s dead. 

(yeah…character development is a slow process :/)

what this spiteful loop teaches her is that velvereen is a person too. facet has never gotten along with livia, but after so many loops, livia knows he’s not an uneducated barbarian, even if she still thinks he’s lacking in manners. but the rest of the tributes? they’re just background presences, as ‘savage’ as the rest of the districts. but velvereen- well, she’s alright too, livia decides. 

neither facet or velvereen make it to the end, but they do stick together in the arena. they split supplies, they even go grab some weapons. but when they’re cornered by the pack, it quickly becomes evident that neither of them know how to use them. livia decides that must be the problem - clearly the pair from four and ten are the problem. after all, the tributes from four are brutal, and she knows the girl from ten is perfectly capable of killing an innocent capitol citizen (blatantly ignoring that arachne was provoking her).

if livia wants them to make it further, she has to get them to ally with that pack. it takes several more loops with facet and velvereen extremely reluctant. if they join, it’s going to be obvious real fast that they don’t have fighting skills, and if/when the pack turns on them, it’s going to be bad. livia isn’t giving up on that though, and decides if she can’t convince the d1 tributes to ally with the pack, then she has to convince the pack to ally with them.

so, she starts to interact. she offers food, and the promise of sending more in the arena as long as they ally with velvereen and facet. she talks with them over this loop and the next and the next until she finally figures out a series of events that gets them to agree. except- now she’s talked to them, with them, plenty. and she finds that coral and mizzen and tanner and even brandy - they’re all normal. they’re not very cooperative (especially at the start), but they can talk with her just fine, and she thought that the districts were all uneducated.

this is when doubts properly start setting in. facet is a person, not just her tribute. velvereen is a person, not just facet’s district partner who died. every tribute in the pack is a person, not just a means to get facet and velevereen to last longer. she’s spoken with them, she’s had to get to know them to figure out the right ways to convince them, most importantly, she’s had to sympathize with them. and sympathy is just a hop away from empathy.

livia watches facet and velvereen and coral and mizzen and tanner and brandy die in the arena, and it’s getting more difficult to do. she has another chance, she always does, but she doesn’t know who she wants the victor to be anymore. it can only be one of them. but if facet wins, then velvereen and coral and (etc.) don’t. if velvereen wins, then facet doesn’t. if coral wins, then mizzen doesn’t.

...and so on.

she’s starting to see that more than one of them “deserve” to go home, and she doesn’t know who the “right” person is supposed to be. it can’t be lucy gray, she decides, because lucy gray has won plenty, and the loop still restarts. but facet didn’t end it either. so who?

livia spends even more loops trying to figure that out, fixing scenarios so different tributes win, talking with other mentors, other tributes- she speaks with them, she learns from them, she gains new perspectives without really realizing it. not until many, many, many loops later when she has her epiphany. 

she doesn’t want any of them to die.

no, not just that. none of them deserve to die.

but the hunger games only has one victor. livia decides that’s no longer good enough. everyone is going home. she has decided it, and she’s going to make it happen. she’s the heiress to the capitol banks, and everyone will be going home.

boom! character arc + a new goal :D

of course, change doesn’t happen easily, but she’s got as many chances as she needs. so she can do this over and over and over until something gives, and it won’t be her. it takes a lot- getting the rest of her classmates to connect with their tributes, to get them to see what took her dozens upon hundreds of loops to get, in just a week before the games. 

but eventually, it works! 

one voice of protest might not do much, especially coming from someone already marginalized. but sejanus’s arguments hold more weight when livia - born and raised in the capitol - is backing him. and from there, with the rest of their classmates, this isn’t something that can be silenced. they’re the children to the most important families in the capitol, and banded together, they cannot be ignored. not all of them.

the hunger games end.

livia understands now, why that was so important.

the loop ends.

---

anyway, thanks for the ask!

i love rambling about time travel, as i’m sure you could tell, considering how long this got - 2k+ words! that’s basically oneshot length. i might just clean this up and post it on ao3 later...

feel free to send more time travel thoughts! :D

[crumbleclub]

for your family business au: i think you said at one point that William uses remnant to stop the kids from aging, so they'll always be at ages where he can easily manipulate them? logically speaking i know it probably works where William has to keep injecting them with remnant to keep them young, so they would probably start aging as normal again once/if William dies, but it would be so funny if they were stuck as kids for the rest of their lives. for mike especially. imagine being 12-14 for the rest of your life, could not be me 😬

Oh yea no, they're actually stuck. I set it up that way for a few reasons:

1. William's experimentation on his kids was way more reckless than his self-experimentation. He tried to keep them alive, loyal, and somewhat functional, but, beyond that, he didn't account much for their wellbeing at all. The idea that they might have a problem with this not only didn't bother him— it didn't even occur to him.

2. I thought it would be interesting to parallel the ghost kids from canon and various AUs. They don't die, but they don't get to grow up, either.

3. I thought that William actually having some success in capping his children's independence would make a compelling trauma metaphor. The Afton kids can keep learning new things and bettering themselves and becoming more independent than they were, but their brains never get the chance to fully develop. They can go on to live happy lives, but they'll never be what they would have been without William doing this to them. Since trauma can physically damage the brain's development, which sometimes manifests as an apparent "freezing" of certain traits or skills, I figured I could just make it literal here, kind of like in Fox and Kit.

4. Them remaining kids adds a continued conflict after William's death: they can take care of their own basic needs– William sure as hell wasn't doing it for them– but should they be? It's an interesting thing to consider, because I don't think they'd end up killing Will until at least the nineties. Michael has been alive for, what, twenty-something years? He has that much life experience, but he has the impulse control of a 14 year old, the emotional intelligence of a 14 year old, and everything else that isn't just a learned skill of a 14 year old. This becomes even more drastic when looking at the younger two siblings: 10 and 7 or 8 (undecided on Evan still lmao)? That's a big gap in the functional ability of a brain.

5. In that case, who takes care of them? Henry? What about after he dies? Would they want that? Do they even have any other options?

[lablim64]

Another of that I made base of people I met in irl

This crusty dusty divot MOTHERFUCKING DEMON LIKE F@G-

I won't even gonna made a name I will tell what she did to me in irl for no damn reason after the story-

Name:kanya/karma (her nickname was karma)

Age: idk (can be 16-15 by now, she were like 14 when I met her)

Gender: a total bitch (ehem female-)

Ok now the story, and keep reading after the story because I'm not afraid to expose what she did that destroyed me for years-

Warning: mention of suicide

Story:

A bitch, by the name calling you probably guess how she were, she used to be lim's best friend at the time when he were adopted by dragon (his missing step dad) and behind lim's death happened, they were met on the playground, she were crying and he were so kind to help, kanya were had a horrible household, her parents were not believing her and her brother were abusive, there was the point where she wanted to commit suicide but luckily lim saved her from it, he always met her there and help her, telling her one day everything will be ok and always gave her spare food and heals her bruises till one day her life became better, her brother left the house and her parents got divorced and now she's living in a good family, lim were happy to help her and keep on helping her, bit something start to felt off, kanya start becoming so odd, she start getting too personal and jealous when lim mentions someone else as a friend, start to ignore and being narcissistic to lim's vents and always blaming herself for everything to get his attention, lim being too young and not so educated enough though maybe it was because of her past until one day lim got into an accident and had to stay in the hospital for weeks, he were almost died on that accident but there were no words from anyone about it, after lim got out from the hospital and met up with kanya, she tolded him that he missed her birthday and that made lim sad, he apologize and explain the situation he was as on, and that mf start arguing with lim, calling him a pick-me, an egoist, a liar, she literally yelled at him and call him names for being in the hospital during her birthday, that broke lim a lot, they were friends for way way long, he saved her life, helped her and this is the thank he gets? No way..after that day they never seen each other again, lim become so indoors and depressed about what happened, keep on blaming himself for helping her and saving her life, and the worst part is he never able to forget about that memory, keep on saying "I wish I let you committed.." Everytime he remembers her words, tbh he's right tho, what an asshole, and you know a worst part, that girl is now knowing where lim currently is and doesn't seem to have any regrets from the past.

That's all

now you might be wondering "but hey, boy, what did that girl did to you in the past that you hate her that much?" Well here's what he did:

WARNING: mention of suicide and life baiting

Almostly same with the story, she we're nicknamed karma, we met and I helped her the most, she were my best friend, save her from suicide multiple times, yet me being an idiot and a human pleaser stuck with her narcissistic ass for 3 years, and one day at the covid times I got my second flu shot and it side effected, I were burning and so dizzy that my parents take me to the hospital even the doctors told me that if I were not make it there, I might die, anyway when I get back home that asshole texted me saying that I forgot her birthday and I apologize for it and explain what happened, like I thought she would care ugh..she called me names and stuff I still cannot forgot, literally make me wanna commit suicide for stopping her from committing suicide, she ruined my life that I didn't get myself together and still are, she were my everything, I saved her life and this is the thanks I get? I wish she were committed, don't even come to me saying "but boy, life baiting is horrible!" I KNOW BUT DUDE! she really were a waste of life...you know how much I wanted to commit after what she did? I also don't like life baiting but this feeling won't leaving me alone!

Important note: don't life bait people, I also don't wanted to but I'm just so angry at her..

Anyway see you on another post,sorry for what you had to hear-

[rararazaquato]

chapter 2 is coming. here's makoto and kurumi.

a lot of design notes under the cut, both about these guys and the nda detectives

yuma was specifically given a little facial hair because, in the canon of the fic, he's been too busy to actually shave. however, the out-of-canon reason is that my art style is so chibi cutesit that it makes everyone look a bajillion years younger than they actually are. yuma's design is already a little young-looking despite most evidence in-canon pointing to him being an adult, so i wanted to give him that extra signifier of being a grown ass man.

the longer hair is also there for the same reasons - he hasn't gotten it cut for a while, and the bowl cut made him look childish.

because i have chronic same-face-syndrome, i put yuma and makoto in the same pose to emphasize that they are, genetically, the same person.

honestly, makoto's design versus yuma's in-game really makes it clear just how much a haircut and outfit change can make a character look older. with makoto wearing a suit and having hair that isn't in the perfect shape of a bowling ball, he looks a lot more like a young adult with a babyface. because i feel like he doesn't need the extra age signifiers (and because i feel like he'd want to differentiate himself from yuma more), i didn't give him the facial hair.

the "looking less like yuma" angle is also why he still bleaches and grows out his hair.

i like to think makoto starts taking better care of himself postgame, so i made his hair a bit fluffier and softer-looking to show he's actually been brushing and washing it. i mean, come on. canon makoto ily but you look like a greased-up yorkshire terrier.

i also gave makoto curtain bangs because girl... you have a forehead the size of the moon. i'm also a member of large forehead gang so i understand you pain but still.

makoto's outfit is actually loosely based on an outfit i own irl! i have a hawaiian shirt with similar colors (albeit a different pattern) and blue swim trunks with red lobsters on them.

makoto probably sunburns really easily, both as a result of being pale as fuck (yuma also has this issue) and being a homunculus (he won't die in the sun, but it does result in a mild allergy). so just imagine he's always lathered in sunscreen.\

mentally, makoto is the same age as yuma (so 20 when this fic takes place) and kurumi is 19 (i headcanon she's only a year younger than yuma). chronologically, they are both about four years old. #justhomunculusthings

i changed kurumi's hairstyle because her canon one is stupid. like why does she have two skinny ass braids hidden in her coat. give her those long luscious locks.

she's wearing disposable gloves to protect her hands, and almost all of her clothing is specifically designed to reflect uv rays.

you'll notice the inside of kurumi's mouth is actually a different color than any of the master detectives. that's the homunculus baby!!!

i gave her an ahoge because i hope she gets the protag treatment for the next game. also i hope she and shinigami become girlbesties and also that shinigami gets the fuck over herself. um ok now time for design notes abt the other people. artwork here if u didn't see the og one.

desuhiko actually does turn 20 in the timeframe of the fic. his birthday party is a future chapter.

he gets knockoff heelys in the upcoming chapter bcuz i think he'd enjoy them. but he got them flippy floppys in the meantime.

fubuki got a new hairstyle because i think she would be a bit more loose and silly as she starts going on more adventures.

her and vivia actually have two birthdays between the time i headcanon raincode to take place (march 2XXX) and the fic (july 2XXX+1). so while yuma is 19 in mdarc and 20 in usf, fubuki is 21 in mdarc and 23 in usf (and vivia is 25-27)

yes, that is ibuki mioda on her shirt.

i'm actually scared of needles so halara's earrings get a redesign. they get new ones in the upcoming chapter as well.

their outfit might be mostly long sleeves, but the jacket is lightweight and breezy and the jeans have wide legs, so it's actually nice and cool.

just realized this outfit is primarily yellow with some red and blue acccents. i can't believe i reinvented sollux homestuck. i'm sorry halara baby i didn't mean to compare you to an ugly bitch like that (this is a joke i actually like sollux)

vivia's outfit is inspired by the stupid shit i would make in the sims before i discovered custom content. i feel like he'd be a sims girly.

your guess for why yuma got facial hair due to never shaving while vivia, who is infamously too executive-dysfunction-riddled to leave the fireplace much less shave, has the skin of a newborn baby is up to you to interpret. possible options include (un)fortunate genetics on either/both of them, he is trans and hasn't started/doesn't intend to start t, or he just pays halara to do it for him.

actually i do think he pays halara to help him out with things when the chronic fatigue/executive dysfunction gets too much to deal with. fubuki will do it for free but also she is kind of bad at being helpful as a result of being fubuki.

aaand time for the general headcanons section

every single one of these characters is some flavor of neurodivergent. halara and kurumi are autistic, desuhiko has adhd, and yuma, makoto, fubuki, and vivia have both. i'm sure some of them also have other neurodivergencies but those are the two i'm most familiar with so those are the two that worm their way into my headcanons.

not a single one of these characters doesn't have ptsd. like i'm sorry but you cannot live through chapters 4 and 5 of rain code and not be mentally ill afterwards. most of em also have a few other mental illnesses because i love projecting on fictional characters <3

vivia's also got some sort of chronic physical illness (my personal headcanon is pots), and makoto sometimes uses a cane. yuma should sometimes use a cane but he has the bodily awareness of a fucking peanut and thinks it hurts everyone to walk.

yuma's gonna realize he's any pronouns nonbinary someday, but that won't be for a hot minute. makoto is the same, but he's a lot closer to that realization than yuma is. both are also bi, as is kurumi.

desuhiko is the resident kodakaverse problematic bicon. there's always one of em!

fubuki is a lesbian. "oh but she confesses to yuma in her final gumshoe gab!" well as i said before yuma isn't a man. it's a bit confusing to her because she doesn't know that yet but turns out she's just got that Sense where she can tell that yuma isn't exactly cis.

halara is nonbinary (obviously, that's basically canon) and pan

vivia is somewhere on the aroace spectrum (both out of general lack of interest and because sex and romance are physically/mentally straining) but he's generally gay-aligned.

[hisokas-toybox]

Headcanons series: The Zoldyck children and their sibling dynamics. Part 3 Killua

Killua

Illumi - I could easily write a whole essay on this, so I'll try to keep it short. We know that Illumi was responsible for raising and training Killua when he was younger. I think as a kid Killua found this annoying and probably rebelled/didn't listen. I think that maybe one day he took it too far though, maybe putting himself in danger? And so Illumi punished him. Hard. (I imagine Illumi would delegate most of Killua's punishments to Milluki, since he was too fond of Killua to hurt him, but when he did punish him himself he was always careful to hold back). I think that once Illumi did snap and punish Killua severely, Killua realised how truly strong his eldest brother was and how terrifying he could be. The sass stopped. Killua became afraid of Illumi, more than anyone else he'd ever faced. Even now, having learned nen and without Illumi manipulating him with a needle, Killua still fears Illumi. He resents him for the way he treats Alluka and for all the controlling BS he says/does. But when it comes to facing him Killua would rather run away than fight. I doubt Killua would ever try to defeat Illumi, partly out of fear, but also because he knows his family's rules. If he killed Illumi his family would ALL turn against him and want him dead. In some ways he also knows that he is protected from Illumi by the same rules. If Illumi were to be killed by someone outside the family though? (Hisoka maybe?) I'm not sure how Killua would feel. Relieved? Grief? It would be very complicated.

Milluki - Even though I headcanon Milluki as being the one to punish Killua most often, I actually don't think Killua feels any worse towards Milluki for it. I think Killua feels pretty ambivalent towards Milluki overall. Killua knows they're maybe about equal in strength right now, and that he has a lot more potential than Milluki in the long term. I think Killua finds Milluki a little pathetic. He can see that Milluki is jealous of him and that Milluki overestimates himself, so I think Killua enjoys winding him up and rubbing his own "favourite child" status in Milluki's face. However, he is careful not to overdo it, because ultimately he has a give/take relationship with Milluki, and if they were to ever seriously fall out he'd lose some pretty sweet benefits. E.g. occasionally if Milluki gets bored of a game/console/really cool weapon he'll pass it down to Killua. In return, Killua acts as a lookout/covers up for Milluki when their parents start snooping (sending him discreet warnings if he sees/hears any signs of a room sweep/hiding things Milluki doesn't want their parents to know about and providing distractions etc)

Alluka - Adores her. Would die for her in a heartbeat and spoils her rotten! She was his first younger sibling, and so the first taste of responsibility for another person he got was having her around (he was too young to be responsible for her the way Illumi was with him, but damn if he didn't try to be the best big brother ever!) Because she's younger too, she was the first one who he could actually be a child around, getting some freedom to play with her like a regular child. Those are some of his fondest memories. He's so protective of her, there is a slight chance he could accidentally end up becoming toxic with his efforts to keep her safe as she gets older and more independent (he did learn mostly from Illumi and they are related so it's not too much of a stretch) but hopefully he'll know better than to go too far. He's the only Zoldyck who sees Alluka as not just a girl, or sister, but as a person and it makes him SO MAD when any of the other Zoldycks refer to her as "it" or as their "brother." Kalluto - Like Milluki, Killua doesn't really trust Kalluto. He doesn't find him "creepy" the way Milluki does but he's aware of how close to their mother Kalluto is and seeing as he really doesn't like his mother, he also tries to avoid Kalluto as he seems to just be her little pet. Killua was a little older when Kalluto was born. Killua was starting to question his loyalty and interest in his family's business so he was cautious not to get too attached to the new arrival in case his parents tried to use it to control him and force him into being a babysitter. Plus, with how badly his family treated Alluka to that point he was afraid that if he got too attached to this kid, he might "lose" him too. I really hope that as he gets older, Killua will realise that Kalluto is just as much a child and a victim of his parents (and Illumi's) influence as both he and Alluka were, and I hope he'll make some kind of effort to "save" and protect Kalluto the same way he is with Alluka. He'd have a lot of work to do to gain Kalluto's trust and establish a relationship with him though, but I really hope to see it happen because Kalluto is just too precious!

[jamethinks]

"And so Miss Martha came up to us and she saw Mr Henderson and his daughter and she was like "Henry looks so sharp today. I guess he got all dolled up for his daughter, she looks so much like her mother now" " Ever since their conversation regarding her powers, Anya and Handle have been spending lots of time together. For Handler it's just to monitor her and gain a better understanding outside of the more formal tests performed by WISE. Furthermore, forging a personal bond between the two of them has been proven to be beneficial when conducting tests and getting Twilight to trust her with Anya alone. Of course now that meant Anya had a new friend, but not any kind of friend. An adult friend she can talk to about her powers. Handler was only really interested in how they were affecting her but it seems Anya has more important information to share.

"...and then Mr. Henderson was like "Martha looks so elegant today. The way she walks his so graceful and poised. Ah I have these tickets I should invite her but what would Tori think..."- oh Tori is his daughter." It was good that Anya had someone she can vent to. Having all this information running through her constantly really made her feel tense and she's been a lot more relaxed now that she can let it all out on someone. Granted, Handler could care less about any of it but she had to stay engaged. Kids this age may understand boredom but haven't considered others can feel it independent of their opinion.

" Her full name is History-Ann like historian because her mom's favourtie subject history. Well was. She's dead. She died a like 15 years ago because had breast cancer and so now Mr. Henderson is really worries because he has five daughters and any one of them can inherit the trait and die and-" But this was an issue. Her mind reading was uncontrollable. Any thought she heard she could repeat back with ease. This will severely impact her social skills and emotional development. It's clear she feels burdened by the information she gets and tends to respond to that more than the actual situation. She also seems to gather personal and traumatic information but doesn't register it as that and repeat just as casually. Then there is the main issue, privacy.

"Anya." Handler finally spoke up, groaning and cutting the rambling rambling off. "We talked about this before. You have to stop reading people's minds."

"I'm sorry. I thought that was ok to share." Anya mumbled with a pout.

"You're not supposed to be sharing any of it. You're not even supposed to focus on their thoughts in the first place. People have a right to private thoughts." Anya frowned deeper and slouched back in the chair. "Come on, babushka. It's not your fault you have these powers but..."

"It's your job to use them responsibly." She grumbled along. Handler sighed, it was clear Anya didn't get the memo very well. She needed to try a different approach. She was young and probably doesn't fully understand privacy so maybe she should make reference to something Anya can relate to.

"Think of it like this. How would you feel if every time you're in your room someone just barges in and looks at what you're doing?"

"Baba does that to check if I'm doing my homework."

"What if it wasn't your papa? What if it was a complete stranger who just ran in without warning and started taking your stuff?"

"If someone broke into the house mama was kick them so har they'll go flying through the window like fwooooossshhh."

"Stay focused." The little girl returned to her sulking position when she realised she was acting too happy. "When your parents enter your room, do they knock?"

"Unless I'm supposed to be asleep. Then they open the door a little to check on me so I cover myself with my blanket like this and they think I'm still asleep."

"Why do you think they do that?"

"So they can know if I'm inside?"

"No, they do it so you know they're about to enter. That way, you can say don't come in or wait or just know that they're coming in. Your room is your personal private space. That's where you go when you're scared, it's where you sleep, it has all of your belongings. It's your space. How would you feel if any point in time a stranger can just enter your house. Go in you're room and start touching everything an looking at everything and just digging into your space?"

"Sometimes mama comes in my room for my dirty clothes and I'm afraid to give her some because they have stains on it but one day she went in and took them out when i wasn't there and that was embarrassing."

[naehja]

Some times ago i spoke with @fullscoreshenanigans about the idea of Norman being so sick that he would be send to the Headquarter.

I wanted to re-work it.

So the idea "Norman was so sick this day that Isabella had to send him to the headquarter" it's a divergeance of what happen in the novel, where Norman is VERY sick and that Emma wants to find a flower to help him. Except the kids are 7 or 8. I don't know how old they are in the novel but i think they're still young.

Let's say they're seven.

Imagine if his serious flu turned into a pneumonia, he is having trouble breathing, he is coughing, he has a high fever and is barely conscious. He suffers and when he's barely awake, he says "mum it hurts!"

Isabella has not the sutff to help him and wouldn't have other choice that calling the headquarters because of of the best kid, the one with the most hopes, was seriously ill. Nobody want to lose Norman before he's 12. He's too smart and so too precious. He's destined to their god. He's the finest of the finests.

Even the Queen orders that he have the best care: he MUST survive until to have 12 years old.

Isabella receives the orders andgive sedative to Norman, so he'll sleep until to be at the headquarter and will not awake before being in his room there. She wraps him in the blanket, and takes him in her arms.

Isabella, with a sleeping boy in her arms, tells the other kids that Norman has been sent to the hospital because his flu was too serious. And probably very contagious. "his flu turned into a pneumonia, it's too serious to stay here!"

She promise that he'll get better and will not die if he goes to the hospital. Because Emma is in tear, panicked and she is sobbing and Isabella wants to reassure her.

Ray does not believe it, he's sure that Norman will not return, will be eaten as soon he'll be healed. He follows here until the door, with a begging look. "please don't! not him!" he begs for Norman's life after have following her outside, when nobody else can hear him.

Isabella tells him, "Listen Ray, i can't heal him by myself, it's too serious. I sent him to doctors

'but he'll not come back right? He's going to..."

"He'll come back"

But he doesnt' believe her.

He returns in his room and starts to cry. He couldn't help Norman, and now Norman has been shipped. He can't even blame Isabella since it's even not her fault if Norman was sick!! So sick that she couldn't help him.

Ray's scores fall up. Emma is less good than usual too.

Isabella is worried that the two could be shipped (who know with the demons?), so she tells the headquarters that the kids are just upset and very worried because of Norman's absence, because they are very close. And that they'll got better soon. So the two kids have a free pass because "they" have a lot oh hopes for them so they'll not ask them to be shipped sooner than planned because they are just upset but they better to have good results when Norman will come back or else...

Sarah trusts Isabella's judgement about it. She has raised kids too, she know how a kid can turn if they're trully upset. She speaks with demons and tell them that the kids will have better scores as soon the sick one will be back "they're just worried, don't worry, their scores will be good again very soon!"

Ray is into a depression state, he doesn't care about anything anymore. A part of him even wonder why his mother doesn't ship him since he doesn't even try to have good results anymore. She could get rid of him and of what he represents so why? And she tells him that she'll not ship him sooner just because he fall the tests because of his worries for Norman while also tell him "and what about Emma? Didn't you want to make sure she lives until 12?". And after that Ray's scores aren't bad anymore but he's away of his usual good results. "Norman will come back Ray, trust me. We can heal from a pneumonia, don't worry! He just need of more care than he would have here!"

Meanwhile Emma is almost like she always is but she is still worried, and asks about Norman everyday to Isabella. Her results are so a little less good than usual but unlike Ray, she thinks that Norman will return as soon he'll get better so she is not into a kind of depression.

Meanwhile Norman is keep into a comfy room in the headquarter, no demon come close of him (of course), only humans. He's the most often sedated, but there are moments where he has to not be under it (also because they don't want him to become dependant of it?) and must do some exercices, so only Sisters and Doctors come close of him.

They give him treats, books and are so nice with him. He receives even a book and a toy. He doesn't see anything weird. He asks about his friends and they told him "don't worry you'll see them again soon!'". Healing from pneumonia take time so they even make him do more some physical exercices in his room. The door is always closed, they told him that it's because he's contagious. He has a fever for the most of his time there, so he believe it. His room is even soundproof, like all the rooms that they use to the kids who come to the headquarters to be healed. (they don't want kids to hear something they shouldn't).

Norman may have some suspicions at a point, like he thinks that something may be weird but with his fever, it's hard to stay concentrated. So he stops wondering things. He's just a seven years old sick kid after all.

So at a point, Norman is healed. He lost some weight, and his body is very weak, but he's almost totally healed. So they give him a warm milk at a point, one day at the beginning of the night, and there are sedatives into it. He fall asleep, without any suspicions that something is in his milk, and they took him back to Grace Field house three.

Isabella is called at the door, so she ask the oldest kids to watch everyone for few minutes. Ray is still depressed, he lost weight, not eat a lot, and barely speaks since Norman's departure. He's lucky that Isabella has make compromise to not shipp him with the headquaters because of that and his bad results during this period. A part of him has give up but another part doesn't want to give up because of Emma. But at this point, he's in grief because he thinks Norman is dead.

He still wonder why Isabella doesn't ship him. Does she care? Does she refuses to ship him sooner then planned by pure pride? He HATES that he part of him hopes she CARES and wants him to live as long that possible. It would mean she kinda loves him. Then WHY?

He barely notices that she go to the door.

And of course, every kid wonder what Isabella is doing to do at the "door" and some make theories about "a new kid come" and stuff like that. And Isabella returns with a sleepy Norman in her arms and everyone is overjoyed. She gently asks them to not wake him and says that they will be able to visit him the next day, if they promise to be gentle and not too loud. "It was a serious sickness, he's still very weak. He needs to rest. But you can see him, not all in the the same time, and not for too long, but you'll be able to speak with him"

And then, she looks at her son, who is almost in tears and gently says "finish your plate Ray" before going to the infirmary, leaving the kids overjoyed.

At night, Ray going to see her and she told him "i sent him to the headquarters to be healed, not shipped. It's your problem if you didn't believe me when i said you that he would come back" before patting his head and said "I hope you'll stop moping now Ray. And that you'll remember our deal!" because she knows that the Headquarters will not take any excuses anymore if his scores continue to be bad.

Hey @officersnickers i don' know why but i love creating drama for the full scores trio, and give anxiety to baby Ray. XD

I shared this idea but i don't plan to write it. So if you are inspired...feel free to take it =)

[x-authorship-x]

"I'll die on the hill that Anakin should have been punted into the creche for a few years"

Yes! I'm so glad you agree, I wish more fics had him interacting with his agemates and being in the creche would have been good for him I think. Perhaps I'm giving him too much credit, and I've only watched those movies once and base the rest of what I know on what I get from fanfics so I could be wrong, but my read of that meeting was that Qui-Gon had intended that? He said he'll train Anakin, but 1. he had a padawan still, and 2. Anakin was 9?? That seems super, super young to be a padawan. I always found it really weird in fics that he had wanted to take Anakin on so young, and then I watched the movie and ended up finding it really weird that the council and Obi-Wan just assumed Qui-Gon meant he'd start training Anakin right then and there and toss out Obi-Wan. Why would he, that makes no sense and he never said he'd take Anakin as a padawan right then like I thought he had from fics. It seemed more to me like it was a promise or vow type thing, like he'd train Anakin when the time came so they didn't have to worry about trying to find someone who would train an unorthodox padawan. And then everyone immediately thought the worst of him so he stupidly doubled down and did not make any attempt to correct their miscommunication. From what little I know about Qui-Gon and his relationship with Obi-Wan there seemed to be a good amount of miscommunication, so this made the most sense to me that he'd be stubborn and double down when arguing with the council rather than explaining what he meant. So when he died Obi-Wan had no idea what he meant and went with what he though Qui-Gon meant and insisted Anakin be placed with him right then and there. Nevermind that he was grieving and Anakin was super baby for a padawan, honestly I'm going to blame the council here for not stepping in and saying Anakin would go to the creche for a few years, then Obi-Wan could have him. Idk I'm not even a huge fan of Qui-Gon and honestly don't know much about him, but in this case this is what seemed most likely to me when I watched it.

Oh anon I totally agree

Tbh my mind went forwards and I was thinking more.... Anakin in the creche could've fixed a lot. Like... Anakin made his own (shit) decisions, I'm definitely not an Anakin-apologist, but I do think that no one is born a certain thing and that childhood has a big knock-on effect. Putting Anakin in the creche would make transitioning from life as a slave easier, for one??? Like let's not immediately call someone else 'master' and let's socialise the kid and let's get an actual childcare specialist - not a traumatized grieving ex-padawan-turned-Knight oh my God everyone needs therapy good intentions don't automatically guarantee good outcomes - involved.

I'm not saying Kelleran Beq looks like the kinda man to rehab hurt children on the daily basis but that's exactly what I'm saying. God I love that man and his Grogu chase scene. Is Grogu in the creche yet or am I too early??? Who cares, I think Grogu would be so good for Anakin because can you imagine being the so called Chosen One but shown up by a baby. You can't fight a baby, not even Anakin (not yet rip) so you gotta just take the ego trimming and cope.

Get Anakin to learn to read and write and acclimatize, let Obi-Wan have time to establish himself as an individual, let everyone take a chill pill, and maybe the whole cast will feel better in three or four years 🙃 also this helps solve Anakin's INTENSE only child energy because Chosen One shit doesn't mean crap in the creche, being a freed slave probably isn't uncommon when you look at how a lot of force sensitive kids end up at the temple (every Jedi comes with a built in troubling backstory as standard), Anakin has friends and peers to cut his teeth on and learn patience with and how to check boundaries with and you just KNOW that those creche kids have so many lessons on Stranger Danger-!

qui-gon the future we couldve had if you choked out a few more words lmao

Also I like to imagine that anakin's first language is Huttese and he only knows enough Basic to understand customers and Watto etc so in my mind the council meeting SHOULDVE derailed when Anakin can't understand a word they're saying and the whole timeline careens towards 'lets get this freed child slave his vaccines and a primary school teacher before deciding the words of destiny, yes?'

Qui-Gon: *finally asks something not related to customer service, basic conversational vocab, or mechanics*

Anakin: ....uhhhhhhh

Qui-Gon, off camera: I was so lost in the euphoria of finding the Chosen One that I temporarily forgot I existed in a world with slavery and other languages haha-

Obi-Wan: *face down in a dune in the BG*

The end :)

[hyperfixated-homo]

sanders sides as surf instructors hcs because surf lessons are the only good thing that has happened this year

patton is the one who picks up the kids and has to deal with the half hour drive to the beach

virgil just kind of showed up one day and did a bunch of tricks on a green wave, stopped two kids from getting hit by their boards and gave some great advice on how to pop up better

he's just been here ever since. i dont even think he gets paid

roman's the only actual surfer there. he's been to competitions and stuff. he would be their best instructor if he could actually explain what to do better and gave the kids more warning than "okay go"

remus loves messing with the little kiddies and the chaotic energy that comes with so many ten year olds in the same space at once

they love to hang out with him too because he's "a cool adult" and he's really fun in general

they've also nicknamed him stoner. he thinks it's hilarious

logan started a system where they brought rice and noodles for all the kids who didn't have any money to buy food after 2+ hours of surfing. now everyone eats it even though they have the money.

the food they don't eat goes to feeding the stray dogs in the area

there are a couple really young kids in the group (5 to 7). patton and remus takes care of them exclusively because they would probably fucking die in the others care. nobody knows how or why remus is capable of doing that but they aren't complaining

janus doesn't even know how to surf, but somehow he's literally the best instructor they have??

he can spot everything and anything you need to work on and explain it really well but he can't balance to save his life

also the waves highkey scare him but he keeps telling himself that if virgil can do it, he can too

virgil has a banana board. i will not eleborate.

janus doesn't even have a board

logan "borrowed" a bunch of boards from the kids that he "happened to forget to return" so now he just has like. twelve boards.

he asked janus to help him come up with new reasons he has so many everytime someone asks

"i bought them from a drug dealer", "they grow in my backyard", "i find a new one on my roof every other week"

the kids ask every lesson, and he gives them a new reason. virgil and remus have a bet for how long he's gonna keep going

janus and roman 100% gossip with the kiddies after the lesson during breaks. they know all the school drama, and both agree that chloe is The WorstTM. who's jared? no clue, but he broke up with selena last week so clearly he has no taste

a lot of them act like they hate each other once they get off the beach but in the water they're best friends. cheering each other on when they catch a good wave, laughing at some of the failed pop ups, helping the kids together, ect.

thats all i got rn, might add on some stuff for individual kids if yall want it (send an ask if ur interested, i dont wanna write for another fifteen minutes if nobody cares /nm)

[mintytealfox]

Hey! I was wondering how different do you think Norton would be from how he is now if he had financial stability and actually good people around him? Would he and Alice still cross paths with each other?

EEY YYY YYOOOOOOOOOOOO 👀👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

I think he would be so incredibly different like OH MY GOSH! Him being able to be more of his true selffff. His nature seems to be that of diligent, passionate, hard working, observant, and kind. The being poor and loosing his family at such a young age, and being bullied relentlessly likely caused him to be extremely quiet, shut off, and constantly on high alert and survival mode except for when he is around someone he trusts, like Benny. Anyway all of that leading to rage building and just waiting to pop. So take all that away then I think you get:

Parents still being alive, having enough money to have the health care needed to keep the parents from untimely deaths (if the mother did die from health problems). The dad not even needing to be in the mines so wouldn't have gotten black lung in the first place. If the mom didn't die and left cause life was too much to bare, well having money would have prevented her leaving, sadly, and easier to bare. Cause I think, Norton's dad was a genuine nice guy who kept his head down and works hard and that is where Norton learned that so I 100% doubt she left cause of poor treatment. So with money both parents would still be in the picture likely

Better schooling, boi is a SPONGE for knowledge. He would likely be caught reading at all times if he could. I think that passion for knowledge would still be there without the desperation for money fueling him. He would be able to get far in the working world and probably easily start his own company of some sort. This man is a work horse and if put in the right place with the right people he could do great things. If he survives the manor he could do the same I genuinely think so, as long as he finds good people to belong with and not just use, but actual camaraderie 🤌

There is the risk of him hanging out with the wrong people and being a prick though lol, but his dad seems like someone who with nip that right in the bud and he respects his dad so much, so he should be alright in the end lol

Probably extremely more relaxed, there are definitely different sorts of stresses that come when someone does have money and is well off, but I doubt they would effect him as much as his literally starving and dying in the mines desperation to get out of it all. So, more relaxed lol

His being personable 'facade' he uses, not being a facade! He would likely be quite fun to listen to and tell great stories and great at explaining things since he is so smart. Then likely singing at some parties cause people are egging him on to show off his singing voice and AH 👏👏 which leads to

HUMMING more OFTEN while he does things! Like it seems like he was already humming while he worked but it would be less strained and tired, it would be more at ease and light and extremely pleasant to hear 😭

He could have familial bipolar or some sort of familial mental illness, so he still might have that, maybe from his mother. Likely has a therapist he needs to go to and keeps it under wraps cause it is the late 1800's early 1900's and ooof but in 1890's-1900 psychoanalytical therapies ("talking cures") were kicking off, being looked into.

NNOW as for him and ALICE meeting, I say YES ABSOLUTLY! 🤣I am sure Norton would do SOMETHING that would lead to some sort of interview lol Likely something Alice initially thought would be a boring topic to cover but then being pleasantly surprised that the person she is interviewing is quite interesting lol but THEN if she finds out about him going to psychoanalytical therapies for himself she would definitely want an interview about that but him being like "😬 how about noooo" Alice: "but there are so many in the world who would needs something like this and you are so familiar with it, surely you'd want to information out for them" Norton: "......answer is still no" I don't think he would relent on it, not wanting any of this out to the public eye, but maybe one day he might just talk and keep that information just between him and her. But the point of all that was, there would be a reason for them to keep 'meeting' cause Alice is hunting him down wanting to get the scoop on the mental stuff lol and Norton constantly like 'no, but do you want a coffee or something since hunted me all the way here?'

And then him trying to get information out of her right back lol "so interested in me, how about I turn the table"

OH MY GOSH what if he helps her trying to find her childhood friend and then they both arrive at the GOSH DARN MASION NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO -shakes the bars of my brain- WHY MUST MY BRAIN DO THIS TO ME LOL