#im gonna move outta texas maybe

[gifti3]

okay i need work to be over now and not in 4 hours

[meowdy-all]

i hope he goes and stays in texas. the toxic behavior of buddie standom has taken a character i used to like and made me hate his guts. well done! this will definitely get you your fetish ship!

they never do anything with his character anyway get rid of the racist piece of shit who plays him

Im sorry, im gonna guess by the vitrol and literal shit your spewing that you're a bummy fan? And if your not i actually still dont give a fuck. Im using you as an example.

People like you always come and come on anon and say disgusting shit like this. Because you can't do it face-to-face. You're a prime example as to why this fandom is toxic. Because why are you coming into someone's ask box and leaving this negative ass shit? Genuinely, it's a genuine question. Like, what do you gain from this? I'm using you as an example. Every single time I've gotten hate messages, i delete them, but this shit is genuinely starting to piss me off.

If a fandom can ruin a character for you maybe you need to take a step back and find what made you love the character jn the first place, because if its THAT easy that headcanons and fandom can make you hate a character, then maybe you never loved the character?

Yall are so fuckin ready to pull the 'RG is racist, you support a racist!' Card and never bother to fuckin fact check.

The man fucked up, severely, and he shouldnt have defended her. but when you're raised surrounded by machismo and told the things rg was NO DOUBT told, of fuckin course he defended his wife. I'd be more shocked if he didnt. But guess what? He divorced her, and he apologized. He's grown as a person. Do you know what happens when a racist works with the cast? Look at LFJR. The motherfucker is a tr*mp supporter, racist, misogynistic peice of shit and the crew iced him the fuck out. Oliver, who takes so many pictures, took not ONE single photo of him.

And RG did get iced out. They had beef for a good two years. Ryan has apologized. He has grown as a person, and the cast has forgiven him and moved on. Does he still act a little weird? Yeah but we're people, were all weird, look at you leaving hate in a random fuckin strangers ask box. Thats weird.

Im so TIRED of people in this fandom rushing to condem POC characters and actors because of their mistakes, but when a white character does the same, or even WORSE its all praises or 'taken out of context' or 'he didnt mean it like that'. Get the fuck outta here with that. Dont play w me rn.

[sleepdeprivedsimp234]

I was watching a video to get a screenshot and I had a thought.

Massachusetts acts all tough on purpose. He's convinced himself that he has to in order to be what the other states need. He's all smiles and brags about having started a war because that's what people expect from him, right?

Then someone sneaks up on him on accident, and he snaps because he thought of the other state as a threat at first. Though he feels bad about it. And that's when another state realizes that maybe he's not actually how he presents himself all the time. And Mass finally admits to it, so long as the other state doesn't tell anyone else about it, and doesn't worry too much about him.

Aw poor Mass 🥺 a little fic idea for the Doctor Duo (Mass and Texas) before they were GOOD friends just popped into my brain so here it is:

Texas walked into the kitchen to get some water when he noticed Massachusetts standing over the counter with his head down. He was a little confused, seeing as Massachusetts was usually standing tall and proud and loud and uncaring of what people thought of him. And tbh, Texas sorta idolized him to an extent. So seeing him of all people hunched over the counter looking like a kicked puppy was weird. He decided to the big grown up thing and go check on the Northeasterner.

He walked over and placed a gentle hand on Massachusetts' shoulder. He did not, however expect to be swung around and thrown at the kitchen island and pinned there with a knife to his neck. Once he regained his composure to some extent, he opened his eyes to see Mass staring back at him with wild green eyes that were filled with fear and unshed tears and he was panting a little bit.

"Mass?? The hell's wrong with ya?!" Texas exclaimed. Tho he was a bit impressed at the fact that Mass was able to throw him that easily, despite him being a foot taller.

Mass's eyes flashed back to their usual brown color, and he seemed to snap out of something. He noticed that he currently had Texas pinned to the kitchen island with a knife.

"Oh sh*t- uh- s-sorry about that Texas...." Mass muttered, just barely loud enough for the younger to hear. He moved the knife and pulled the taller state into a standing position. He walked to the counter and put the knife back into its drawer.

Texas brought his hand up to his neck and wiped some of the blood off from where the knife had grazed his skin. "I-its fine I guess... Are ya alright tho?"

"Huh? Oh- uh- yea ya just scared the sh*t outta me is all." Was Mass's response. Texas was calling bullsh*t tho, there was clearly something else that was wrong.

"Are ya sure? Ya looked a wet kicked puppy when I walked in ere'."

"I said I'm fine okay?!" Massachusetts snapped, turning around and glaring at the taller. His face softened a little bit when he saw the momentary hurt look on the younger state's face. "S-sorry I shouldn't have yelled."

"It's fine...."

"No it's really not, you're just trying to help and I'm being an asshole." Mass said.

"....Are you sure yer alright? Yer actin' weird Mass, and not a good weird. Ya dont normally apologize for... Anythin'." asked the Lone Star State once again.

"I already told ya, I'm fi-...." Mass started to say before trailing off. Was he really gonna lie again? I mean- how much longer could he lie? How much longer could he keep up his strong, stoic stature? He continued thinking for a while before a Texan accent broke him out of his thoughts.

"Massachusetts?"

"Im just- tired." Mass said with a defeated sigh.

"Of what? Didja not sleep last night?" Texas asked, visibly confused.

"No no- I slept fine.... I meant mentally."

"Okay.... Can ya elaborate a little bit?" asked the younger, taking a seat at the kitchen island.

Mass also walked over and took a seat. "Of pretending. Like im something I'm not... Everybody thinks im this strong stoic 'i-dont-give-a-f*ck' type'a guy. Thats not at all who i am.... Im just some jumpy nerd/coward that threw some British sh*t over the harbour and started a war cuz we didn't like how we were being treated...."

"Oh.... I kinda get that..." said the taller.

"Ya do??" Mass asked, a little surprised.

"Yea.... Y'know how scared I was when I was a little girl being mistreated by her father and then she decided to start a war all on her own?" Texas asked quietly with a small chuckle.

"No?"

"I was terrified, and I was worried that maybe that wasn't the right decision, and that maybe all of my people wouldve died for nothin'. I'm still terrified to this day, but I'm not gonna let any of those motherf*ckers know cuz I know that I would never live it down." sighed Texas.

"Yea I get what ya mean kid..."

"Mhm..." The two were silent for a while before Texas spoke up again. "Mass?"

"Yeah kid?"

"Now I'm not all too good at that sappy compliment stuff.... But I want you to know that you are strong and stoic and all that razzle dazzle. Maybe not in the way that you make yourself to be, but you are strong, and you are brave. And you are smart as well, I'm not gonna deny that part. But you're not just some jumpy coward. A coward wouldn't take that big of a stand to the world's strongest empire, let alone their asshole father."

"You know about that?"

"Yea. York has told me about y'all's asshat of a father."

"Oh..."

The two states were once again silent for a while. Mass sighed out of nowhere and stood up, breaking the silence.

"Well this was... Nice i guess. I think im gonna go do whatever work my government decided to give me."

"Okay then. I'm gonna go check on Ranger before closin' up the barn for the night." Texas said, getting up as well, and the leaning back slightly and allowing his back to pop several times. And of course leaving the Bay State in genuine fear that Texas had broken his back.

"Holy crap didja just break yer damn spine or somethin'?!"

"Uh nope I don't think so hehe. My spine is just crunchy as hell" Texas said, grinning slightly.

"Okay then..." Mass said, breathing a sigh of relief. He watched Texas walked away before starting his way up to his room. When he walked into to hallway, he felt two arms grab him and wrap him in a hug. He was about to punch them, but he quickly and luckily recognized the slight scent of apples, coffee, and roses and just hugged back with a sigh of contentment.

"Hey Masshole."

"Hey Yorkie..." Mass answered, burying his face in York's chest (not a ship lol). Once again, silence befell their existences as they hugged each other tightly.

"If ya ever tell anybody im huggin' ya, I will kill ya in yer sleep. Cuz I will never hear the end of it." York said, burying his face in Mass's hair.

"Don't worry, I won't gigglebug." Mass said with a small snort.

"I'm not a damn gigglebug."

"But you are tho." Mass said before standing on his tippy-toes and blowing a gentle raspberry on York's neck, making younger shriek a little and move away whilst giggling like a child. "See? Gigglebug."

"F*ck you."

"Love ya too Yorkie."

"I'm goin' back to my hobbit hole- try to get some sleep tonight so I don't have to deal with your b*tching about how tired you are." York said, before walking away.

"Pfft- okay then. You try to get some sleep too for once!" Mass whisper-shouted.

"Yea yea whatever..."

Mass laughed to himself a little bit. "Lil idiot...."

[jonghogf]

hi idk uhhhhh dk what to call this?? mayb get to kno me tag idk anyways i was tagged by @joohoneybunch <3

APPEARANCE: I’m over 5’5” // I wear glasses/contacts (my left contact straight peaced tf outta my eye in the middle of a lab 2 hours ago tho :/) // I have blonde hair // I prefer loose clothing to tight clothing // I have one or more piercings // I have at least one tattoo // I have blue eyes // I have dyed or highlighted my hair // I have gotten plastic surgery // I have or had braces // I sunburn easily // I have freckles // I paint my nails (only black or nude) // I typically wear makeup // I don’t often smile // I am pleased with how I look // I prefer Nike to Adidas // I wear baseball hats backwards (i uh like girls so)

HOBBIES AND TALENTS: I play a sport (i have a black belt in taekwondo?) // I can play an instrument (trumpet) // I am artistic // I know more than one language // I have won a trophy in some sort of competition // I can cook or bake without a recipe // I know how to swim// I enjoy writing // I can do origami // I prefer movies to tv shows // I can execute a perfect somersault // I enjoy singing // I could survive in the wild on my own// I have read a new book series this year // I enjoy spending time with friends // I travel during school or work breaks // I can do a handstand (bro i WISH)

RELATIONSHIPS: I am in a relationship // I have been single for over a year // I have a crush (had a moment there this week when i thought i was in love with my best friend but i think im over it now) // I have a best friend I have known for ten years // my parents are together // I have dated my best friend // I am adopted // my crush has confessed to me // I have a long distance relationship // I am an only child// I give advice to my friends (do ppl ?? not do this ??) // I have made an online friend (hi alex) // I met up with someone I have met online

AESTHETIC: I have heard the ocean in a conch shell // I have watched the sunrise // I ENJOY RAINY DAYS (i had to put that shit in all caps noah fence but if i never saw the sun again like ok w me ill just take some vitamin d pills easy) // I have slept under the stars // I meditate outside // the sound of chirping calms me // I enjoy the smell of the beach //I know what snow tastes like (bitch i live in texas it doesn’t even snow here shit just freezes for half a day) // I listen to music to fall asleep // I ENJOY THUNDERSTORMS (again uhhhh @ mother nature : rock my world, mama) // I enjoy cloud watching // I have attended a bonfire // I pay close attention to colors // I find mystery in the ocean // I enjoy hiking on nature paths // autumn is my favorite season

MISC: I can fall asleep in a moving vehicle // I am the mom friend // I live by a certain quote // I like the smell of sharpies // I am involved in extracurricular activities // I enjoy Mexican food (i’m mexican-american lmao) // I can drive a stick-shift // I believe in true love // I make up scenarios to fall asleep // I sing in the shower // I wish I lived in a video game // I have a canopy above my bed // I am multiracial // I am a redhead // I own at least three dogs

i’m gonna tag @yyxyamilikethis @dramxrama @dreamboyunho @doux-joon and @jongholover but also like if u wanna do it and i forgot to tag u pls do so i can seeeeeeee i like us guys lol let me Get To Know U

[idreamofhazeleyes]

Ties in Blood -- Chapter 21

Here’s chapter 21, which wraps up season 2 and maybe tying into one of my early drabbles.

@mrswhozeewhatsis @percussiongirl2017 @winchestergirl-13 @impala-dreamer @squirrelnotsam @optimisticpeacecollector5

Chapter 21

Aaliyah stepped out of the bathroom, feeling a little better after washing off some of the mud. Bobby offered Dean some chicken, which was refused. The fried food had some appeal to her, but even she passed up on it. She shifted her eyes between the two as Bobby suggested first burying Sam, then giving him a Hunter’s Funeral.

“Something big’s going down,” Bobby said, finally getting Aaliyah’s attention. “End of the world big.”

“Then let it end,” Dean shouted.

“You don’t mean that,” Bobby replied.

“You don’t think so? Huh?” Dean pushed himself from sitting on the bed to his feet. “You don’t think I’ve paid enough? Given enough? I’m done with it. All of it. And if you know what’s good for you, turn around and get the hell outta here.”

Aaliyah looked over to Bobby and took his lead. She grabbed her bag and headed for the door while giving Dean a small smile. “Keep my number.” Aaliyah knew better than to argue with Dean. She stepped out of the motel room and closed the door behind her. “I’m worried about him, Bobby.”

“I am too, kid,” Bobby said. “You get ahold of any hunters you know. We’re gonna need all the help we can get. Come on back to my place. We’ll figure something out.”

***

“Yeah, I know it’s late, Xander,” Aaliyah countered. “Things are …. Getting messy here and we’re gonna need help.”

“So you expect me to dump the vamp case and come help … with what exactly?”

Aaliyah glanced over to Bobby who was prepping something. “The Yellow Eyed Demon. We’re so close, Xander.”

“I’ll be that way when I get the vamp,” he told her. “I should be that way come dawn.”

Aaliyah made a noise before ending the call. She squeezed her hand around it while contemplating the thought of throwing it across the room.

“Not so good?”

Aaliyah sighed. “Amanda’s busy dealing with demons in New York. Nissa and Leo are off dealing with a pack of werewolves in Texas. I half expect those to be Chupacabras. And Xander’s got a vamp to deal with. He claims to be on his way when dawn comes around.” She walked into the kitchen, putting the phone on the table, and went to pull a beer from the fridge.

“Go get a shower first,” Bobby told her. “And some shut eye.”

“I’m fine on sleep.” Aaliyah closed the fridge without grabbing a beer. “But a shower sounds nice.” She found her clothes bag and pulled out some clean clothes before dumping the rest into the washer.

Alone in the bathroom, Aaliyah double checked to make sure the door was closed and locked. With the water running, she stripped off the clothes she had worn since the Michigan asylum and dumped each piece in a pile. Something caught her eye in the mirror. Her eyes narrowed as her eyes shifted their focus as if they were glazed over. In her sleep deprived state, Aaliyah swore it was a trick of the light. The light reflected in the mirror showed a shadow on the wall behind her. The shadow didn’t match the outline of her pale body. It seemed to be more like angel wings.

Shaking her head, Aaliyah rubbed her eyes and stepped into the shower. The dirt and dried caked mud washed off her body and down the drain. She worked the shampoo and conditioner through her hair, keeping the conditioner in while she worked through the grim on her body. Finally free of the dirt from the past few days, Aaliyah washed off the conditioner and soap. Drying off and dressing, she headed downstairs to see Sam and Dean were in the main room talking with Bobby. Stopped in confusion, Aaliyah attempted to mentally trace back the past several hours to figure out how Sam was walking and talking.

“Wyoming?” Dean questioned, his voice breaking into Aaliyah’s thought process.

“Yeah,” Bobby answered. “That one area’s clean – spotless. Almost as if…”

Aaliyah crossed over and looked at the spot on the map Bobby pointed out.

“What?” Sam asked.

“Demons are surrounding it,” Bobby said.

“But you don’t know why?” Dean asked.

“No, but my eyes are swimming,” Bobby said. “Sam, would you take a look at it? Maybe you could catch something.”

“Yeah, sure,” Sam said.

“Come on, Dean, Aaliyah,” Bobby said. “I got some books out in the truck.”

“Sure,” Aaliyah said. “Give me a sec for shoes.” She went and dug out a pair of socks and tossed them and her boots on before ducking outside.

Even before she could reach Dean and Bobby, Aaliyah heard the latter yelling at the former. Dean’s voice was low when he answered with one year.

“Are you crazy?” Aaliyah asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

“Damn it, Dean,” Bobby cursed.

“Which is why we gotta get this yellow eyed son of a bitch,” Dean said. “That’s why I’m gonna kill him myself. I got nothing to lose.”

Bobby grabbed hold of Dean’s jacket near his throat before Aaliyah could jump in between them. “I could throttle you.”

“And send me down a head of schedule?” Dean countered.

Bobby let go of Dean. “What’s with you Winchesters, huh? You and your dad. Both itching to toss yourselves into the pit.”

“That’s the thing, Bobby. I’m not even meant to be here,” Dean said. “At least this way something good will come of it. Like my life could have some meaning.”

“And it didn’t before?” Bobby asked. “Have you got that low of opinion of yourself? Are you that screwed in the head?” He grabbed Dean again.

Aaliyah glanced around, thinking she heard a noise from nearby. She moved away from the two men toward the area the noise came from. Ignoring their voices, Aaliyah came up along a car and hunched down to stay out of view. Footsteps crunched on the dirt behind her even as Aaliyah moved around the car and grabbed hold of the other person. The other person fought against Aaliyah’s hold even as she pinned them against the car.

“Ellen?” Dean’s voice called out.

“Mind calling your guard bitch off?” she requested.

Aaliyah reacted out of pure instinct by punching the car. “Wanna try again?”

“Liyra,” Bobby cautioned.

“I didn’t haul ass from Michigan dealing with ghosts to come here and be called a …”

“You’re a hunter?” Ellen asked.

“One of the best,” Bobby complimented. “Though she’s taken on the mentality of the boys at times.”

“One of the best?” Ellen echoed.

“Been hunting for … about four years now,” Aaliyah said, letting Ellen go.

“Oh God,” she said.

Aaliyah trailed after them back to the house where she grabbed a beer and leaned in the threshold between the kitchen and living room. There she listened as Ellen told how she survived the fire that took out the roadhouse by running to the store for pretzels.

“Ellen,” Bobby chimed in. “You mentioned a safe.”

“Hidden in the basement.”

“Demons get what was in it?”

“No.” Ellen pulled a folded piece of paper and unfolded it on the table.

Aaliyah stepped in and looked at the map that had X marks drawn on it.

“Wyoming?” Dean said. “What does it mean?”

Aaliyah tilted her head for a minute before going on a search for a marker while Bobby got up and went into the living room. He returned with a book when Aaliyah gave a small ‘ah-ha’ on finding a marker.

“Each of these X’s mark an abandoned frontier church, all mid 19th century,” Bobby said. “All built by Samuel Colt.”

Aaliyah returned to the table. “As in the demon killing, gun making, Samuel Colt?” She leaned on the table with one hand after uncapping the marker.

“Yep,” Bobby answered. “And he also built railroad tracks connecting the …”

Aaliyah heard him trail off when she started connecting the X marks into a pentagram.

“Tell me that’s now what I think it is,” Dean requested.

“It’s a Devil’s Trap,” Aaliyah said, straightening and admiring her work. “A hundred square foot Devil’s Trap.”

“That’s brilliant,” Dean said. “Iron lines demons can’t cross.”

“I’ve never heard of anything so big,” Ellen said.

“No one has,” Bobby said.

“And after all these years, it still works,” Aaliyah said.

“How’d you know?” Ellen asked, shooting her a look.

Aaliyah flicked her gaze over to the older woman and swore the look on her face screamed she doubted Aaliyah and her hunting ability. “All those omens that’s been popping up,” Aaliyah said. “The demons must be circling looking for a way in.”

“They’re trying alright,” Bobby chimed in.

“What’s so important that Colt’s trying to protect?” Sam asked.

“Unless…” Dean said. “He’s not trying to keep the demons out, but something in.”

“That’s a comforting thought,” Ellen said.

“Is it possible, Bobby?” Aaliyah asked, looking up at him. “Could they get inside?”

“This thing’s so powerful you need an A bomb to destroy it,” he answered. “No way a full blood demon can cross it.”

“No,” Sam said. “But I know who can.”

**

Aaliyah stepped off into the house while the others went through what might be needed for the trip. She dialed Xander’s number and started pacing when the ringing went past thirty seconds. The call finally went to voicemail. Confused, Aaliyah hung up and redialed the number. It went to voicemail again.

“Guys, something’s wrong,” she called out before she walked back into the room. “I can’t get ahold of Xander.”

“Vamp coulda gotten him,” Bobby suggested.

Aaliyah looked between the others while she attempted to grab hold of the several different thoughts that ran through her head. “I gotta go find him.” She started for the door even as a couple of them called after her. She pivoted, her body flared a little in the sudden movement, and went over to where her bag of clothes had been dumped. With the bag in hand, Aaliyah turned back for the door. She ignored the sound of the door opening and closing behind her as she headed for her car.

“Aaliyah, wait,” Dean called after her.

“Why? You all got a handle on it.” Aaliyah opened the back seat and tossed in her duffel and closed the door. “Besides, I’m just gonna have to prove myself to another hunter.” She turned around and found Dean a foot away from her. “You can’t do this without Sam; yeah I heard that. I can’t do this without knowing what happened to Xander. I know where to go after dealing with Xander.” She closed the distance between her and Dean. “Just … be careful, huh?” Aaliyah flashed him a smile before climbing into the car and driving off.

***

Aaliyah killed her headlights well before she turned down the drive. Something didn’t sit right. That feeling didn’t go away when she pulled up to the dark cabin. She climbed out of the car after getting it into position for a possible quick getaway. She armed herself with her preferred handgun with a couple back up clips and a machete before starting for the cabin. The front door was closed most of the way as she approached; like someone could pull it open without fighting against the knob.

With gun at the ready, Aaliyah eased the door open and scanned the dark room. There was a faint smell of blood in the air. She fought against the panic that rose up as she cleared each room one by one. In one room was a decapitated vampire. So where was Xander? Aaliyah moved for the kitchen just as a scuffle like noise stopped her on a dime.

“Who’s there?” a voice called out.

It was low, almost too low, for Aaliyah to hear. Her eyes narrowed and her head tilted in a way of trying to figure out the voice.

“I’ll shoot,” the voice called out again.

“Xander?” Aaliyah gasped.

“Aaliyah. Oh, God. I almost shot you.”

Aaliyah lowered her gun in her move over to her brother. The gun and machete hit the floor even as she reached out to Xander. “What the hell happened you couldn’t answer the damn phone?”

“That was you? I musta been outta it for a minute.”

Aaliyah moved her hands over Xander, feeling for any obvious wounds that needed to be dealt with. “Think you can move? The sooner we get outta here, the better. Shit’s about to hit the fan out in Wyoming.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Xander said, waving her off. “You go save the world.”

“Xander, what’s gotten over you?”

“I can’t move my legs.” His voice rose above a hush. “I don’t know how it happened, or what I hit during the fight, but … I can’t …”

“That’s bull.” Aaliyah put the gun in her pants waist band and put the machete where she could grab it. She pushed herself to her feet and offered a hand to Xander. “Come on. I’ll get you outta here and to help.”

Xander batted the hand away. “No, just let me die here.”

Aaliyah adjusted her footing and hunched down before grabbing hold of his shirt and brought him within inches of her face. “I’m not leaving you here to die. Not with that vamp out there. Now, you can feel sorry for yourself later.” She pulled herself back enough to have room to pull Xander up. There wasn’t much fight in him as she looped one of his arms around her shoulders. Aaliyah grabbed the machete before half dragging him from the house.

***

“Bobby, I promise I’ll be there,” Aaliyah kept her voice low, signing the last piece of paper. “Xander had a nasty fight with a vamp and I had to get him to a hospital.”

“We’ve got a serious problem and you’re worried …”

“Xander wanted to die there at the house when I found him,” Aaliyah cut in. “I wasn’t gonna let him do that. I’ve already called Nissa and Leo and they’re on their way in.” She adjusted the phone away and looked to the nurse. “What do I have to fill out for a seventy two hour psych hold on him?” She pulled the papers the nurse offered up and signed away. “Is there anything else?”

“No, ma’am.”

Aaliyah gave a brief nod before she turned away and saw herself from the hospital. “Bobby, I promise I’ll be there.”

“You better be here,” Dean answered.

“God, Dean. I swear I’ll kick your ass when this is through.”

“Like you’d be able …”

Aaliyah slammed the car door behind her. “I swear Dean, you’re making it difficult for me to wanna help.” She started the car and headed out for the highway. “Now, I can go off and do my own thing or I can see this hunt through along with you guys. I know what’s at stake here.” She hung up when no answer came from Dean.

***

Aaliyah pushed herself. She had parked next to the Impala and found the immediate area deserted. A note had been left on the windshield of the Impala in Bobby’s handwriting telling her where to go. That note had been dropped and forgotten when Aaliyah realized shit was going down. At one point gunshots had echoed in the air, spurring her on. A foot hit a broken headstone in mid stride, sending her flying. It took Aaliyah a few minutes to catch her breath from the fall before she picked herself up. The foot that hit the stone throbbed a little, either bruised or pulled muscle somewhere. She could put weight on it, which was good. Something glowed some feet away from her, grabbing her attention. She closed the distance to recognize the building as a crypt.

“Guys,” Aaliyah called out, her eyes focused on the crypt doors.

“Aaliyah,” someone shouted in surprise.

A hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her down behind the tombstone with them. It had to be perfect timing since Aaliyah heard the doors burst open and the sound of who knew how many demons escaping. She pressed her body against theirs in the attempt to have some sort of protection from the demons.

“What the hell just happened?” Aaliyah shouted.

“It’s a devil’s gate,” Ellen’s voice called out in reply. “A damn door to hell.”

“We gotta shut it up,” Aaliyah called out. She pried herself off her tombstone partner and started for the open doors. The heat from beyond the doors was blazing, still Aaliyah fought against it. She struggled against one of the doors even as Bobby came up behind her. A quick glance over to the other showed her Ellen and Sam in the same struggle.

“Dean,” Sam yelled, leaving the door.

“Sam,” Aaliyah called after him even as she looked back over a shoulder.

Dean was slumped against a tombstone and Sam was pinned against a tree. In between them was the person the yellow eyed demon used as a vessel.

Aaliyah looked between Bobby and Ellen in a silent debate between leaving them to deal with the door or to help the boys with the demon. She pushed herself off the door and darted for the demon. There was a small piece of hope that she’d reach it before getting noticed. That hope went out the window when Aaliyah hit an invisible wall and was lifted two feet off the ground.

“I’m surprised you’re still around,” the demon said to Aaliyah. “I mean, after all the mess you’ve gone through just to get here. And the way the other hunters look at you, like you don’t measure up to something.”

Her eyes flicked between Sam and Dean. Was the demon right about how she didn’t measure up against. She stared down the demon.

“You and your pathetic self worth,” the demon continued. “Trying to prove that you can make it in the wide world of hunting. Tell me, kid, how’s your brother doing?”

Aaliyah caught movement just beyond the demon and swore it looked like … She dropped to the ground and gasped for breath. She got a better look at the ghost struggling with the demon and smiled. Even dead John came back to fight. Shifting around, a hand brushed against something hard. It was the Colt. Picking it up, Aaliyah glanced over to the boys even as the thought of shooting the demon herself passed through her mind. It wasn’t right. She crawled over to Dean and held up the Colt in front of him.

He glared at her.

“Hey, I coulda shot it myself,” Aaliyah argued. She nodded when Dean accepted the gun before standing. “Oi, Yellow Eyes,” she called out when the demon regained its vessel. “Over here.”

It turned toward her and started toward her. Aaliyah rooted herself where she stood and froze when a gunshot went off beside her. The body lit up before dropping backward to the ground. Aaliyah heard the sound of Sam hitting the ground as she started off in the direction she came in. She got a few feet from where Dean picked himself up.

“Wait,” Sam called after her.

She turned around to see John approaching her from where Sam and Dean stood. John smiled and nodded before disappearing. Aaliyah half shrugged, dismissing what happened before she turned and left the cemetery.

She could hear three different voices call after her. No, now wasn’t the time for them to assure her that she was doing right by hunting. If she hadn’t gotten involved back in college, Xander wouldn’t be held up at a hospital in the same situation she was a year ago.

“Aaliyah, wait up,” Sam’s voice called, closer than the others. “Don’t let what the demon said get to you.”

“But he’s right,” Aaliyah shouted, spinning around to face him. “Every hunter I meet will have the same barely hidden judgmental look Ellen had. I had to race here from the hospital I left Xander at because he got fucked up going up against a vamp. But, yeah, you’re right, the demon didn’t mean what it said.” She turned back around and started for her car as Dean and Sam started talking. Her paced slowed before she stopped completely and turned to watch the brothers. Daring to get close, Aaliyah heard Sam ask if Dean sold his soul and how much time he had.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Sam said.

“Don’t get mad at me,” Dean said. “Don’t you dare, I had to do it. I had to look out for you; it’s my job.”

“And what do you think my job is?” Sam countered, catching Dean off guard.

“What?”

“You saved my life over and over again,” Sam said. “You sacrificed everything for me. Don’t you think I’d do the same for you? You’re my big brother and I’d do anything for you. I don’t care what it takes, I’m gonna get you outta this. My turn to save your ass this time.”

Aaliyah barely shook her head when Dean glanced over at her. “He’s got a point.”

“Well, your yellow eyed demon might be dead,” Ellen cut in as she walked up. “But a whole lot more got through that gate.”

“How many do you think?” Dean asked.

“Hundred or two,” Sam said. “It’s an army he unleashed.”

“Hope you three are ready,” Bobby said. “Cause the war’s just begun.”

[blatherkatt]

Title: The Calm Is Terrifying When The Storm Is All You Know [Homestuck]

Chapter 14: Juxtaposition 

Summary: There were two kinds of trolls who went to Earth: rich shitheads with too much money and free time, and desperate assholes who couldn’t survive on Alternia, even with the best efforts of the young Condesce. Karkat hated the planet almost immediately, but with his home planet too dangerous for mutants, he really didn’t have any choice but to hide out on this weird little diurnal planet. At least he’d be safe. Or so he thought, right before blundering his way into an accidental friendship with the son of an anti-troll terrorist.

Rating: M

Chapter Warnings: Mentions of abuse and neglect, mentions of terrorist activities, one moment that looks like a tense shift from third to second but i promise isn’t trust me im doing a thing, portrayal of what is either a panic attack or the prelude to one; Illustrated

FIRST | PREVIOUS | NEXT

Terezi sniffed over the color-coded notes spread across her table, chewing ruefully at the spoonful of cereal in her mouth and scowling as if it would somehow make the evidence before her make more sense. She could hear Pyralspite happily shredding a toy somewhere else in her apartment, but she ignored the sound for now, too fixated on the work in front of her.

Anticipation and nerves were cutting into her sleep, at this point; she was turning into a workaholic over this mess. She couldn’t help it, though; it had been over two damn months, and Strider hadn’t done anything in response to the rescue of his son yet.

Granted, she had no real precedent to work off of to know how exactly he would react to a loss of this magnitude. In the time he’d been leading these terrorist activities, he’d never actually had any incidents which he could be described as having lost. He always swept in and seemingly accomplished his goals with alarming, brutal efficiency, leaving multiple civilian casualties and rarely leaving enough of a trace for him to be followed. Only a couple of his men were ever captured, and they had both refused to talk.

She did, however, have eyewitness accounts showing that during the invasion, he’d reacted to his brother’s death with what could only be described as cold, calculated fury. He’d gone from a fighter who was harsh, but allowed enemy survivors of engagements to crawl away and lick their wounds, and who had even on several occasions temporarily taken prisoners (usually to have the captured troll send a message of warning back to their commander) to someone utterly ruthless. In the final two years of the invasion, there’d been almost no Alternian survivors of fights involving Derek Strider. She’d therefore been expecting a harsh retaliation in response to Dave’s rescue, but so far, nothing had really changed. There’d been a few small strikes, sure, but nothing big, and certainly nothing that could be considered a direct response.

The best case scenario here, and the one that Terezi’s superiors seemed to believe, was that the man cared so little about his own son that he wasn’t bothered at all by his loss, but Terezi doubted that was the case. Whether he cared for the boy or not was not the real important information, here. What was important was the fact that Strider had lost. A man as fiercely proud as Derek Strider would not take his son’s arrest laying down. But he’d given absolutely no indication of what he’d been planning, and all reports she got from New York indicated that things there had been perfectly quiet.  

It didn’t add up. Not one bit, and Terezi didn’t like it at all.

She dumped her spoon halfheartedly into her bowl, and leaned her weight on her folded arms, drumming her fingers against the table.

“What are you planning, Strider?”

The more time ticked on in days and weeks, the more antsy Dave could feel himself getting. It was fine, everything would be fine, he just had to get through a little bit more of being here without getting too used to it, and then he’d be going back to Texas and everything could go back to normal. Just ignore that voice that kept whispering about how he maybe didn’t actually want to leave; it was bad enough he was too much of a coward to try and get back on his own, he couldn’t go and add on being selfish on top of that. The sooner he left, the better off everyone would be. Maybe some people’d be sad, but it’d be for the best. Karkat could get moved somewhere safer, and be left alone for good, and no one else’d have to deal with Dave’s fuckin’ bullshit.

Still, it was…hard not to want to hang around, a little bit. He’d apparently done pretty good of a job at not fucking anything up, and no one had made him fight or tried to hit him yet, and the initial fear he’d had that it was building up to be something awful had started to fade. That might’ve also just been because it was getting closer to time for him to leave, though, he supposed.

Not to mention that’d all change in a fuckin’ heartbeat if he were to tell them the truth. He’d be in so much fuckin’ trouble if they knew. Better to just go along with things.

Late in the evening of the eleventh of June, Rose tapped on Dave’s door.

“Sup?” Dave said, moving the chair and swinging the door open.

“I’m planning on doing a bit of stargazing tonight with the trolls in the observatory,” said Rose. “It’s fine if you don’t want to come, but I wanted to at least make sure you know you’re invited.”

“…We have an observatory?” said Dave.

Rose shrugged. “I don’t know the full details of why, something about Mother receiving this house as a gift from some affluent fellow, but it’s attached to the house and therefore you’re allowed in it. Didn’t you see it in your little misadventure on the roof?”

“I mean, I saw some bigass telescope, yeah, but I didn’t really think anything of it at the time, on account of your cat beating the shit outta my arms.”

“Fair enough,” Rose shrugged. “In any case, the invitation stands.”

“Uh…yeah, sure, why not,” said Dave. He might as well spend a bit more time hanging out, since it’d be about the last chance he got to do so. Maybe then he’d feel a bit less nervous about what was to come. That, and it might soften the blow for the others. Give everyone one last good night before…

Rose blinked. “Wait, really?” she said.

“Yeah,” he said. “I got nothin’ better to do, and it’s — uh, you know.”

He could’ve hit himself for that. Shit, he couldn’t just fuckin’ tell her it was his last night here.  Couldn’t let his fuckin’ nerves show, either. C’mon, Dave, it’s just a fun night lookin’ at stars and shit, he could handle this. Especially with how much his agreeing to it seemed to make Rose all kinds of fuckin’ happy; the slow smile that spread across her face made him all the more sure this was the right decision.

“I’ll show you the way, then,” she said, “Come on. The trolls are already there, I think.”

The observatory turned out to be accessed by an unwalled walkway, which was all kinds of weird and made Dave think maybe this was actually maybe possibly breaking his house arrest a little, but it was Rose’s idea, and it should be fine, right? And it wasn’t like he was gonna be getting into trouble for it now.

It wasn’t a fuckin’ huge observatory, or anything; pretty much just a round room with a big fuckin’ telescope. Right now, there was also one of those big camping-style lanterns set up in the center of the room, with a thick looking tome set next to it, and four sleeping bags set up around it. Proper fuckin’ sleepover, then. Damn. The trolls were seated on top of the sleeping bags, Kanaya looking excited if slightly bewildered, and Karkat just looking like his usual grumpy self. Rose pressed a button on the wall, and the fuckin’ roof slid right open, showing off a sky still a bit pink with sunset and yet already full of more stars than Dave had ever seen in his entire life.

“Holy shit,” he breathed, pushing his shades up into his hair for a better look.

“Bit of a better view than down in Texas, isn’t it?” said Rose, smug.

“I mean, maybe out in the cornfields somewhere I coulda seen somethin’ like this, but we were in towns and cities the whole time, so…Jesus fuck, there’s so many.” He took his shades off altogether, setting them down on the floor as he slumped down on the sleeping bag next to Karkat and opposite Kanaya.

“I don’t recognize any of them,” Karkat said, uncharacteristically quietly. “I never even paid that close attention to the stars back on Alternia, but I knew a few constellations, and these look completely different.” Kanaya rested a hand on his shoulder, and Dave nudged his arm with his elbow. Rose sat across from Karkat, picking up the thick book resting on the ground in front of her.

“Yes, well,” said Rose, “Hopefully, by the end of the night, I’ll have found at least one familiar star for you. But that won’t be visible for another hour or two, I’m afraid, so in the meantime…”

She launched off into what sounded like a fucking practiced spiel about some of the constellations already out, and holy fuck, the girl must’ve done her research. Every one, she had some trivia about the stars, oh look that pink one’s not actually a star its a whole fuckin’ nebula full of them, that one’s a fuckin’ supergiant, so on and so on; and beyond that she of course knew every fuckin’ old legend about them. Most of them involved Zeus being a jackass and wanting to get his dick wet, which amused Dave to no end, right up until he commented as such and Rose immediately pointed out that he would be the one to make it about dicks.

Dave insulted her right back, shifting into Spanish for what he thought was a really fuckin’ funny bilingual joke, and that ended up leading into explaining to the trolls how many fuckin’ languages Earth had, which they found to be really goddamn wild; apparently Alternia only had about three languages, and only one that people really used, with the other two slowly going extinct, and the idea that humans had as many fuckin’ languages as they did was super bizarre to them. Then Rose made a joke about how Dave could translate soap operas for Karkat, and that shut that conversation up right then and there.  

(“I’m surprised you still remember any Spanish, though,” Rose had said. “I didn’t think our father knew any.”

“Oh, yeah, and it was so hard to find someone to practice with in fuckin’ Texas, Rose,” Dave shot back. “Fuckin’ grew up surrounded by a bunch of god damn white guys, Sis, someone had to fuckin’ translate for ‘em. My Spanish is just fuckin’ fine, don’t worry.”)

A couple hours in, and Rose paused. “Alright, that’s enough time to have passed, it should be up by now…Ah, there he is! Cygnus, right there, see?” She reached out and pointed at a very bright star. “That’s Deneb, his tail, and down below we can trace along his neck, and to the sides, his wings.”

“That’s a fuckin’ cross, Sis,” said Dave.

“To the Greeks, he was a great swan,” she said. “There’s many legends about Cygnus the swan, and there’s been little in the way of historians agreeing on which one inspired the name of the constellation. One involves the son of one of the gods losing control of Helios’s chariot, there is of course your cursory ‘and then along came Zeus’ storyline which, as Dave so brightly noted, is so very common in Greek myth…but in this case, the legends are not why I wanted to draw your attention to this particular set of stars.”

“Oh, yeah?” said Karkat, resting his cheek in one hand.

“You see,” said Rose, grinning as she pointed again, “Unless Google has lied to me, that star right there, beneath Cygnus’s wing, is the Alternian solar system.” Karkat immediately perked up and followed her finger, eyes wide. “There’s a lot of star systems with planets within the swan, it seems, and your home planet is one of them. There’s also apparently a binary system of a supergiant and a black hole, which is intriguing, but I felt that being able to pick out Alternia in our night sky might be of more interest to you two.”

“That’s it?” said Karkat. “That’s…that’s home, then?”

“I believe so,  yes,” said Rose.

“It’s so small,” he said, his ears drooping a little. Rose sighed and frowned.

“I was…hoping that pointing it out to you might alleviate some of your, er, homesickness, but it seems I’ve only drawn attention to the distance instead. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s…I mean, yeah, it fucking hurts that it’s so far away,” Karkat grumbled, “But it’s…comforting to know it’s still there.” Dave saw him rub at his eyes, wiping away what might’ve been the hint of a tear. He remembered  that conversation he’d had with Karkat a while back, about the whole ‘it sucked but its home’ thing, and nudged Karkat’s arm with his elbow again in what he hoped was a sympathetic-ish gesture. Poor bastard, he didn’t even have the reassurance of being able to go back someday. (Which…admittedly, Dave found less and less reassuring, but…No, not now, couldn’t let that train of thought keep going.)

Rose smiled softly. “Cygnus, and therefore your home, should be visible through December, if you’d like to keep looking for him at night.”

Kanaya was fucking beaming at the sight of Rose and Karkat getting along for one goddamn minute, and Dave despite himself, couldn’t help but feel similarly happy. It was…weird. Peaceful? Yeah, that was the word for it. Peaceful as fuck.

Midnight was edging closer, and Kanaya and Rose had both long since drifted off. Even Karkat had fuckin’ dozed off, his head buried in his arms on top of Rose’s star book, which was unexpected as all hell. Things had to be hells of fuckin’ idyllic if even Karkat “Insomnia” Vantas was taking the train to snoozeville.

Dave was, to his own very contented surprise, pretty happy he’d gone along with this. He felt the most peaceful he could ever remember being. There was a lingering worry in the back of his mind, as always, that something bad would happen, some surprise attack or something, but it was, like, a really quiet worry, quiet enough that Rose’s really light snoring was enough to drown that shit right out.

Yeah, he’d made the right call going along with this —

It was certainly a real nice way to end his time here. One last bit of time to not be stressed before getting back to the ole’ grindstone, back to getting fuckin’ ambushed for the great crime of having to take a goddamned piss, back to getting his ass beat for accidentally putting one foot out of line, back to not getting so much as a smile, nevermind Mom’s hugs or this weird cuddly shit that was almost happening right now. Yep. Great vacation.

Shit.

What a fucking pain in the ass this whole getting-brought-home mess has been, huh? Nothing but getting people loving you and trying to make you feel welcome, just a whole lot of niceness and gentleness and all the shit you fucking spent your whole life wishing you had but never believed was an actual possibility. What a drag, right? Thank fuck it’s time to go back to your REAL home, huh?

That…no, he….

And what about Karkat? He’s gonna be fucking heartbroken if you leave after all those heart-to-heart chats and shit, just because you won’t be around to see it doesn’t mean it won’t be true. Rose’ll be upset, too, and fuck, poor Mom’s probably gonna hit the booze even harder! Such a fuckin’ shame, but it’s all for the best, right?

“Fuck,” Dave muttered. How the fuck was he supposed to leave now? This was — he couldn’t, but —

Stay.

He couldn’t —

Stay.

He had to —

He couldn’t leave. He — but if he told anyone, he’d get in so much fucking trouble, he’d get crucified for this. But if he didn’t tell them, and just tried to stay anyway, people were gonna get hurt — fuck, what was he supposed to do?!

Dirk sat back from his computer and tilted his head. Something was happening upstairs, it sounded like.  Someone was pacing back and forth, maybe? Why else would the creaking he could hear slightly be so consistent? It was getting louder, too; at first he’d barely noticed it, but now it was hard to miss.

He saved his current drawing and went upstairs to check. He’d been expecting Karkat, the most heavy walker of those currently at the house and the one who seemed most likely to do something like pacing in the middle of the night, or maybe Mom, who sometimes did so while she was thinking (and sober - an unlikely combination, sure, but Dirk was allowed to be hopeful).  He was not expecting it to be Dave. Not with how quietly Dave usually moved. But, there he was, pacing back and forth in the kitchen with increasing speed, occasionally rubbing at his arms or running a hand through his hair, almost trying to pull it out. Dave’s breathing sounded fast and erratic, and was interspersed with the occasional soft, fearful moan.

Dirk started toward him, paused, and took a few steps back into the shadows. He stepped forward again, this time purposefully walking with heavy steps, and was rewarded by the sight of Dave jerking to look up at him.

“Fuck, Dirk, I can, I—“ Dave’s breathing sped up even faster.

“Dave, easy, you’re not in trouble,” Dirk said, holding his hands up and trying to keep his voice gentle. “I need you to take deep breaths, okay? You sound like you’re gonna have a panic attack.”

“I — I,” said Dave, and then took a really hard, shaky breath. Dirk rested a hand gently on Dave’s shoulder. Dave wasn’t wearing his shades, surprisingly, and his eyes were wide, darting around rapidly.

“It’s alright,” Dirk said. “Just breathe.” It took several more shuddery breaths for Dave to at least sound like he wasn’t gonna pass out, but Dirk could still feel Dave shaking underneath his hand. “Better?” he asked.

Dave shrugged.

“Okay, why don’t you tell me what’s wrong?” Dirk said. “What’s got you so worked up? Maybe I can help.”

“I, I can’t,” Dave said, and forced himself to take another breath (this time it sounded painful, like he was trying to breathe through a windpipe full of gravel), “I can’t leave, I don’t, I can’t go back, Dirk, I don’t wanna leave, please.”

Dirk raised an eyebrow. “Uh, you’re…not leaving,” he said. “This was never going to be a temporary thing, Dave. This is your home. You’re not going anywhere, I promise. The old man’s never gonna lay a hand on you ever again, okay? You’re safe.”

“No, no no no, no, I’m — he’s, they’re gonna be here, and, and I’m — fuck,” Dave wheezed, shaking his head. Dirk’s eyebrows knitted into a concerned line. A slow dread built up in the pit of his stomach.

“…Dave,” he said, “What’s going on?”

Dave swallowed, and locked his terrified eyes with Dirk’s.

“I m-messed up,” he said.