#it would kill if it was what actually set things into motion (at least in one timeline)

[reikunrei]

it’s honestly so funny that s1 will is dressed up like marty mcfly, the one who goes back in time to meddle with his predecessors in order to right the timeline, and sometimes makes it worse by accident, but i’m not supposed to think will could wind up going back in time to try and fix things only to make things worse/set certain things in motion… sure lol

[and-claudia]

Yours Pt. 4 (Paddy x reader) (Speak No Evil)

Warnings: DDDNE (that is your warning that this is gonna get a little fucked up here), manipulation, controlling relatives, lying, p in v, infidelity, let me know if I missed any

Word count: 4355

Taglist (Read the rules, follow them or I will remove your response)

After we were shown around the house, we made our way back downstairs. Ant had to go finish his chores outside which included checking on the animals. Agnes wanted to go see them as well and so after getting approval from Paddy, she was allowed to go. Lousie being the overprotective mother she was of course had to follow her out, which prompted Ben to go as well. 

“Ciara, why don’t you join them? I am going to check on dinner.” He said, and she gave him a smile and nod before following them out. 

I had actually ran upstairs to use the bathroom and when I got back I was going to head out with the rest of them to not create any suspicions just yet, but Paddy stopped me. 

“Yn, wait, I need to talk to you.” He said, urgency in his voice. 

I walked over to where he stood in the kitchen with a confused look on my face. 

“Remember how I said that we are going to have to be very careful about what we say and do around Ciara… she may be a little jealous over what happened in Italy.” He said. 

I covered my mouth in shock, “I’m so sorry, Paddy… I thought she was okay with it… I- I had no idea… did she see the pictures too?” I asked nervously. 

He shook his head, “It’s okay, and she was for that one night… but after that…” He sighed heavily and shook his head, “And no, I hid the pictures, keeping those for my eyes only… and don’t get me wrong, I still want you more than anything… I just need some time to take care of some things first, okay?”  

I was a little skeptical, “Paddy, I have to ask… you told me I wasn’t going back with them… if that’s the case, what is happening with you and Ciara? I may be young and sweet, but I am not one for sharing, not long-term… so how does she fit into this?” I said, motioning between the two of us. 

Paddy flashed his charming smile and looked me in the eyes with his piercing blue ones, “You still trust me, don’t you?” 

His charm was like a spell. However, it was one that I not only didn’t mind being under, it was one I wanted to be put under. 

“Of course I do, Paddy.” I said, biting my lip slightly as I glanced down at his before focussing back on his eyes. 

“Ata, girl. Come here.” He said, pulling me to him and kissing me roughly. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything.” 

“Okay, … is there anything I can do to help?” I asked, genuinely wanting to help him with anything he needed me to. 

He smiled at my offer and used his hand to cup my cheek before giving me one last kiss, “Not yet, baby, soon, but not just yet.” 

I had no idea what he meant by that, but the way he said it sent a wave of excitement over me for some reason. And the smile he gave me made me melt. I knew that when it came down to it, I would help him with anything. 

Reluctantly I stepped away from him and went to join the others outside. We stayed out there until the sun began to set. Conversation mostly just included the two kids having their own while Ciara talked with Ben and Louise, leaving me to just sit and listen mostly. I was beyond relieved when Paddy opened the door and called out, letting us know dinner was ready. 

We all went inside and made our way to the kitchen. Sitting on the counter was a dish covered in tin foil. It smelt absolutely amazing. 

“Ta-da!” Paddy said as he grabbed the tin foil and ripped it off, revealing some type of roasted bird. 

“Wow, that looks amazing, Paddy.” Ben said. 

“Thank you. Was, Libby, our prized goose, out on the farm. Killed it and cooked it with my own hands.” Paddy said as he began to slice it. 

“Oh, you didn’t have to do all that.” Louise said from where she stood off to the side, clearly already uncomfortable. 

“You’re our VIP guests. It’s the least we could do.” Ciara insisted. 

I watched as Paddy sliced off a piece of meat and the turn to walk with it over towards my aunt. He approached her, holding out the fort ready for her to eat off of it, “Our gift to you, Louise, the best part of the roast.” He said, bringing it up to her. 

She tried and failed to deflect it to someone else as Paddy insisted further, “Come on, doctor’s orders.” He said and she finally gave in, taking the fork in her mouth. 

I had to hide my laugh behind a cough as I watched it all happen. To tell the truth, I couldn’t tell if he had purposely done it or not, considering she had told them she was a vegetarian in Italy. Either way, watching her struggle to chew it was satisfying. If it were anyone else, I probably would have spoken up on their behalf so they wouldn’t have to eat something they were against. But she was such a people pleaser it was satisfying to watch her reap the consequences of it. 

The rest of dinner went on fairly uneventfully. That was until Ciara turned her attention towards me. 

“So, Yn, why do you still live with your aunt and uncle? You’re old enough to move out by now, aren’t you?” She asked. 

Her question must have caught Paddy off guard as well because his eyebrows shot up as he looked over at her and then to me, waiting for an answer. 

“I’ve been trying to save up to move out, actually. But it can be hard, making a steady income doing what I do.” I said, causing Ben to scoff slightly. 

My uncle didn’t approve of my career choices, saying I would never make a living doing it, but it was my life. 

“Oh, what do you do?” Ciara asked. 

“I’m a photographer. I’ve done a few bigger jobs like weddings, but I mostly try to stick to private photoshoots.” I explained. 

Paddy nodded, “Yeah. I’ve seen her work. It’s stunning.” He said, giving me a subtle pointed look, and I knew what he was actually referring to, “She showed me some back in Italy.” 

“Ooh, I’d love to see them sometime.” Ciara said, and I nodded. 

“Of course. Maybe I can even take some for you while I’m here.” I said.

“That would be nice.” Paddy said with a smirk that only I seemed to catch. 

After dinner concluded, everyone began going their separate ways. Ciara and Louise went upstairs to put the kids to bed, leaving just Paddy, my uncle, and myself downstairs. 

“Are you sure you’ll be okay sleeping down here? You can always stay with Louise if you want to. I can stay down here. I won’t mind.” Ben offered to me out of nowhere. 

“What? Are you and here still having issues? If you don’t want to sleep with your wife, say so. I am fine sleeping down here.” I said, rolling my eyes. 

“It has nothing to do with that, and you know you’re not supposed to bring that up. I just wasn’t sure how you feel being so… exposed to an older man in his house.” He explained. 

“Oh, after Italy, I thought us two were just going to bring up things the other has explicitly told the other not to… and for the record, I feel perfectly safe around Paddy.” I said just as Paddy walked into the room. 

“The two of you have got to try this. Here.” He said, handing each of us a bottle. 

I eyed it suspiciously, waiting for him to explain.

“It’s hard cider, made it myself with our farm-grown apples.” He said, popping the lid off his and taking a swig. 

I followed his lead and did the same with Ben not too far behind me. It was unsurprisingly very good. After that dinner Paddy made, I had little doubts that there was anything he couldn’t do with his hands. 

“Damn, Paddy, this is really good.” I said, before taking another drink. 

“Slow down, killer,” He said, leaning forward as if to say something to just me, but he still said it loud enough, obviously, for Ben to hear it, “I don’t think your aunt and uncle would take too well to me getting you drunk again.” He joked. 

“Getting her drunk again? When was the first time you got her drunk?” Ben asked, clearly suspicious. 

“Okay, maybe not me directly, but when she, Ciara, and I went to the club in Italy, Yn did get quite drunk.” He explained, throwing Ben off his trail immediately. 

Ben nodded, “Oh, that’s right.” 

As the two other adults arrived back down stairs, Paddy was pulling out a hand-rolled cigarette. I eyed it, wondering if it was, in fact, what I thought it was. Neither Ben nor Lousie knew I had ever smoked weed before.

“Geez, it’s so quiet out here. Do you even have neighbors?” 

“Yeah, all the way across the valley, but you know we look after each other,” He paused, taking out his lighter,  “You don’t mind if I?” Paddy asked, hesitating before lighting it. 

When he was met with no pushback, he lit it up and took a long drag from it. 

Ben laughed to himself before responding to what Paddy had just said, “Ours are right across the hall, and I don’t think we’ve ever spoken.” He said. 

“Mr. and Mrs. Gibson. They’re a sweet old couple. Have cute Tabby cat that I’ve taken pictures of before.” I said. 

“Well, I guess Someone has spoken to them. When did you even meet them?” He asked, confused. 

“When we moved in.” 

“Louise, you have a bad neck?” Ciara asked suddenly, diffusing the tension building between Ben and me and drawing the attention to my aunt. 

“No, uh… it’s just something that flares up sometimes.” She said. 

I rolled my eyes. Yes, she had a fucked up neck. Has had it for as long as I could remember, honestly. But again, she’s a people pleaser and would never admit to anyone that she wasn’t 100% comfortable, nor would she ever let anyone know that she and her family were anything less than perfect. 

“Medicinal? It’s homegrown.” Paddy offered her his cigarette. 

“No, thank you. I took a pill.” She said. 

“Oh, modern medicine. It is amazing…” 

As Paddy spoke offered it over to Ben, and I was truly stunned when Ben took it and brought it up to his mouth. He passed it back to Paddy after taking a hit. Truth be told, I wasn’t listening too much to the conversation, too busy watching Paddy as he smoked. The thoughts running through my mind were filthy. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to kiss him right now and have him shotgunning it into my mouth. 

I snapped out of my trance as Paddy leaned forward once again to pass the blunt over to Ben. But before he could grab it, I leaned forward and snatched it. I settled back in my seat with my eyes closed as I took a long drag from it. I slowly exhaled. When I opened my eyes, everyone was looking at me. 

Ben looked just plain shocked, Lousie looked mortified, Ciara seemed slightly annoyed and Paddy looked like a mix between proud and turned on. 

“Yn, what are you doing?” Louise asked. 

“Enjoying myself.” I replied, taking another hit. 

“When did you start smoking pot?” Ben asked. 

“You make it sound like I do it all the time. I just do it when I feel like it. And for the record, like 4 years ago.” I said before finally passing it back to Paddy.

“Who would have thought this perfect, sweet girl would have such a wild streak in her?” Paddy said, leaning back in his chair before taking a long drag. 

“She does seem to be full of surprises.” Ciara agreed, sending a worried shiver down my spine. 

“You don’t even know the half of it.” I said, feeling a surge of confidence. 

I continued to sip my drink and just listened, I had closed my eyes, letting the weed in my system and the warmth spreading through me from the cider relax me. That was until I felt like someone was staring at me. I opened my eyes and scanned the room, expecting to be met with Louise’s unapproving sideways gaze, but she wasn’t looking over here. My eyes then landed on Ciara, and if looks could kill, I would be six feet under and then some. But the moment she saw me catch her eye, she averted her gaze to Paddy as she looked at him lovingly and reached over for his hand. I tried to ignore the pang of jealousy that hit me as I reminded myself that in a few days, somehow, he would be all mine. 

“Well, I think it’s about time we retire for the night. Let Yn get some sleep.” Paddy said. 

“I think that’s a good idea.” Louise said. 

There were plans to go out on a hike the next day so we really should be getting to bed soon. 

“Oh, Yn, just a heads up so I don’t scare you. I do get up quite early to do the rounds with the animals. I’ll do my best to be quiet, though, so I don’t wake you.” Paddy said, sending me a subtle look. 

“Oh, Paddy, I am sure it would be okay if you slept in for once. I mean, we do have guests. I don’t think the animals’ schedules will be thrown off that badly. Besides, you wouldn’t want to accidentally wake her. He’s never quiet in the mornings.” She said the last bit, turning to me. 

“It’s alright, Paddy, I am intruding on your home. Please do what you need to, and don’t worry if you wake me up. I really don’t mind.” I said sweetly enough to let him know I got his hint but not enough to cause suspicion… I hope. 

I was gathering up my PJs and facewash to go get changed and ready for bed in the bathroom when Paddy came back downstairs. At first he paid me no mind as he went to lock the front door. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I turned around and found him standing right behind me. 

“Shit, Paddy, don’t sneak up on me like that.” I said with a small laugh. 

“Sorry, just needed to see you before I go back up there.” He said, reaching a hand up to cup my cheek. I immediately leaned into it. 

We stayed like that for a moment, in a comfortable silence, just reveling in the fact that we were back together once again. Slowly, he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to my lips. When he pulled away, he rested his forehead against mine. 

“God, this may be worse than just having the pictures to look at. Knowing you’re down here, so close, yet not being able to have you is absolutely tortuous.” He whispered. 

“Soon.” I said, pressing a quick kiss to his lips, “That’s what you told me, right?” 

He nodded, straightening back up to his full height, and dropped his hand, “That’s right.” 

“What time do you get up in the morning?” I asked. 

“Early. 5:30.” 

“Mhm… out in the shed?” I asked. 

“Sometimes…” 

“Well… hopefully you are tomorrow, preferably with a blanket at… let's say 5:45? Because that’s where I’ll be at that time…” I said sweetly. 

“I think I can manage that. Just know what you agreed to. You sure you’re going to be able to go on the hike later tomorrow after I’m done with you?” He asked. 

“Hmmm, we’ll see I guess.” I said giving him one last kiss, “You should get back upstairs before she gets suspicious.” I said with a sigh. 

“After you.” He said, stepping to the side and nodding me past him to go up first. 

I laughed, knowing he was just letting me go first to stare at my ass, not that I was complaining. When we got to the bathroom, I stopped and faced him. “Good night, Paddy.” 

“Good night, Yn.” He leaned over and kissed my forehead before passing me and heading up to his and Ciara’s room. 

Once he was out of sight, the door to the guest room opened, and my aunt stepped out. 

“What was that about?” She asked, confused. 

“What?” 

“I thought I heard Paddy out here… telling you goodnight.” “He did, he came downstairs to lock up, I was heading up here to change and wash my face.” I said confused by here questing what was happening. 

“Did… Did he, um, kiss you goodnight?” She asked, eyebrows knitted. 

“It was a quick peck on the forehead, no more than the one he gave us when we left Italy. What’s the big deal?” I asked, getting annoyed. 

“Isn’t that still a little weird?” 

“No, I think he’s just friendly. It doesn’t really bother me… Look its late, we were in the car all day I really just want to get to bed.” I said before slipping into the bathroom, not giving her any room to say anything else. 

When I got downstairs I set an alarm on my phone just in case I didn’t wake up when Paddy came down in the morning. Luckily I fell asleep quickly with the anticipation of being with Paddy come moring. 

When my eyes peeked open again I found Paddy sitting at the other end on the couch. He was lacing up his boots seeming completely unaware that I had woken up. That was until he spoke up. 

“Sorry, did I wake you?” He asked with a smirk. 

I stretched some and sat up, “Hm… maybe.” I smiled. 

“Make sure you turn your alarm off, darling, don’t want to wake anyone else up.” He said, leaning over to kiss me. 

I smiled into the kiss, “Should I just come with you now?” I whispered. 

“I was hoping you would.” He said, pulling back and standing up. 

He offered me his hand and I took it. I was secretly hoping my hair wasn’t a complete mess as I slipped on my shoes and followed Paddy outside. The sun hadn’t even risen yet as he led me through the yard, to one of the doors of the shed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a leather cord that was attached to one of his belt loops on one end and had a set of keys on the other. He unlocked the door before gesturing me in. When he stepped in he shut the door before moving to lay down the blanket on top of the straw-covered floor. 

“Sorry, it’s not the fanciest.” He said, turning to look at me. 

“I don’t care.” I said, immediately closing the distance between us and kissing him. 

His response to the kiss was instantaneous as he took control and backed me up to the side wall. My back hit the rough bricks, but I couldn’t find it in me to care. 

“I’ve missed you darling… missed this with you.” He said between kisses. 

“Take me, Paddy, please.” I begged as he began working his way down my jawline to my neck. I had been dreaming of this moment ever since we left Italy. 

“So eager.” He mumbled against the hickey he was making on my collar bone. 

Part of me was worried it would be seen by the others, part of me didn’t care, but secretly the majority of me wanted them all to see it. I wanted them all to know I was his… especially Ciara. 

Next thing I knew, he was moving us away from the wall and over to where he had laid out the blanket. I kneeled down, bringing Paddy down with me. 

“Wait, what the fuck?” I asked, feeling something weird under my ass. 

I grabbed it through the blanket and found it was a lock. 

“What’s this for? Is it like some secret sex dungeon? Or are you secretly like a serial killer or something?” I teased. 

He let out a small laugh, “It’s nothing. Promise. And do you really think I could be a serial killer?” 

“I don’t know, you may look cute, all covered in blood, chasing me down…” I said, only half joking. 

“What is wrong with you?” Paddy asked in amusement as he shook his head, smiling. 

“Okay… one of my biggest crushes is Billy from Scream, okay? Just something about fucking with their victims before killing them, it’s kinda hot. I know that’s like so fucked up, but I can’t help it! Ever since I watched the movie at like 15, I was hooked, and it never went away…” I admitted. 

“That’s so fucked up, Yn. He killed people…tsk tsk.” He said, shaking his head but still smiling. 

“I know! I know, I can’t help it though.” I said blushing slightly. 

“Hmmm… so you like serial killers then?” He teased. “I mean, I guess in theory.” I said. 

“And in practice.” He said, tone suddenly changing to be much more serious.

On the surface I was confused but something deep down in me understood. 

“Paddy… what do you mean?” 

“I think you’ve already connected the dots… I told you, you wouldn’t be leaving… and I meant it. Your aunt and uncle won’t be either… I want you to be by my side when it happens… you can even help if you want to. Or, you can let me take care of it, let me free you from them… you said you were mine, didn’t you?” He asked, gently caressing my cheek. 

I nodded immediately, “I’m yours Paddy. Please, free me.” 

I pulled him back down to kiss me. He groaned into the kiss, gripping the back of my head to pull me closer. Then in one swift motion he flipped us so that I was straddling his waist. I could feel his hard cock, begging to be freed from his jeans underneath me. I grinded my hips down onto it and let out a soft moan as his bulge bumped up against my clit. 

His hands went to my hips, slipping up under my sleep shirt. It raised up exposing the fact that I hadn’t worn any bottoms. 

“No panties, sleeping on my couch? You trying to drive me crazy?” He asked. 

“Hm… maybe.” I said, pulling away and reaching down to undo his belt.  

I unzipped his pants and he helped me pull them down along with his underwear just enough to free his cock. 

I lifted myself up on my knees and reached down to line him up with my entrance, but he stopped me. 

“Wait, darling.” He said, reaching down into his pocket that had been shoved down. He pulled out a condom and used his teeth to open it before quickly putting it on. 

“There we go, don’t want to risk anything, do we?” He said, grabbing my hips once again. 

He guided me down onto his cock slowly. I let out a loud moan as he stretched me open slowly. Once he bottomed out I sat there for a moment to get reacquainted with the size of him. 

“As much as I love the pretty sounds you make, love, I’m going to need you to keep it down. Okay? Don’t want the wife hearing you now, do we?” He asked. 

I shook my head. Then he gave my hips a gentle squeeze before guiding me to move up and down on his cock. I had to bite my lip to keep from moaning. One of my hands stayed on his chest to steady myself, and the other went down to my clit. 

My pace was matching his pace, slow circles just enough to drive me crazy as the pressure slowly began to build. 

“You’re getting close, aren’t you, darling?” He said. 

“Yeah,” I sighed out, subconsciously speeding up my pace on my clit. Paddy picked up his pace as well, sending me even faster to my climax. 

“Fuck, darling… you look so good, so fucking good, on my cock like that.” He said, and I knew by the way his cock twitched inside of me he was getting close as well. 

“Paddy, shit. I’m…” Before I could finish my sentence, my walls were clutching onto him as I came. 

“Damn it, love…” Paddy groaned as he came as well. 

Honestly, I was cursing that condom from preventing me from feeling him shoot his cum deep inside of me. But I knew it was for the better. We were already taking so many risks together we couldn’t afford to be that risky… not right now at least. 

We both caught our breaths and after a moment I went to lift myself up, but Paddy stopped me. 

“Not yet, just come here, darling.” He said pulling me down to lay on top of him. 

I laid down gently, resting my head as best I could onto his chest. 

“I fucking missed you, darling, and your perfect pussy… it truly was made for me, wasn’t it? All of you was made for me.” He said, rubbing his hand up and down my back. 

“Only you, Paddy. I want to help kill them. All of them… I just have two conditions.” I said. 

“What are they?” 

“I get Anges and… I get to kill Ciara.” I said, turning my head to look at him. 

“Who said anything about killing her?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“I did. I said I am yours, if that’s true, then you don’t need her anymore. She needs to go too.” I said simply. 

He smiled evilly, “I like your logic, dear… you have yourself a deal.” 

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[aprocessionofthoughts]

A Wayne or not a Wayne

whumptober24 day 24- radiation poisoning fandom- dp x dc tw- none summary- time to tour Wayne enterprises

masterlist ao3 part 3 of APvG

Danny sighed as they entered the last big business they’d be touring for the week. After this, it was a few more museums and landmarks and free time which they’d already decided was going to be spent exploring the major villains’ big bad hideouts like the Iceberg Lounge, Toxic Acres, and Ivy’s current hideout at the Botanical Gardens. 

But first they had to make it through a boring building tour. Well, Tucker and Wes were excited, though for different reasons. Tucker thought he might want to work here since it was one of the places with the best tech and was also one of the more ethical big corporations. Wes was excited because he wanted to see if he could spot more proof about the connection between the Waynes and the Bats.

But everyone else was bored. Well, at least they were until they got to one of the upper floors where a bunch of people were working at desks, and the employees stared at Danny.

Danny fidgeted uncomfortably.

“Do I have something on my face?” He whispered to Sam.

“Just your usual dorkish expression.”

Danny pouted. The employees started whispering amongst themselves.

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it, Danny could hear them clearly.

“They think I’m a new Wayne kid.” Danny muttered. Stupid, smelly henchman thinking he was a Wayne was one thing, but wasn’t everyone here supposed to be really smart? Not to say henchmen weren’t smart, Danny didn’t judge people’s intelligence by their job unless they were stupid Fruitloops (cough cough Vlad cough), but still. He thought the people working at Wayne enterprises were supposed to be geniuses. And they should know the Waynes! Why would they think Danny was one?

His classmates started snickering as the ones with enhanced hearing whispered to the others about what the employees were saying. Sometimes the fact that most Amity Parkers were liminal made Danny’s life much more miserable. 

“Didn’t know you had a second secret identity, Mr. Wayne.” Wes whispered to him.

Danny scowled and subtly froze Wes’s sneakers to the ground.

He yelped as he fell forward and scowled at Danny who smirked back.

The tour guide continued on completely ignoring the class who had stopped to laugh and whisper amongst themselves. To be fair, they were completely ignoring the tour guide too. 

“If you’ll follow me this way,” the guide said motioning to a set of elevators, “we’ve got one more stop to make before the end of the tour. And we’ve got a big surprise for you.” (This last part was said with all the enthusiasm one might show at their friend’s ant farm’s funeral when you were the one who accidentally knocked the thing over and then promptly accused the cat who’d been licking its own booty at the time. That is to say, the tour guide was not very excited and spoke in such a deadpan way that would make dead guys jealous.)

Before they could click the button to summon the elevator, the doors opened and out walked a sleep deprived, black haired individual holding a large ceramic coffee mug that looked like it could hold a gallon of the precious life juice.

“That’s Timothy Jackson Drake Wayne!” Tucker hissed excitedly, his inner tech geek coming through at the sight of his idol and secret rival. (Tucker prided himself in making all of Amity’s tech, since most normal technology wouldn’t work in Amity due to the ectoradiation, but a boy could still admire a fellow tech genius.)

“Wow. Danny really does look like a Wayne.” Paulina whispered to Star.

“Are you sure Danny’s not actually related?” Sam asked. “They both look like they get no sleep and drink enough coffee to kill a small country.”

“Sleep’s for–” Danny started.

“The dead.” the class chorused with an abundance of over exaggerated eye rolls.

Danny pouted.

In front of them, Tim Drake was staring at Danny. He squinted his eyes. Danny squinted back. Tim tilted his head to the side. Danny mirrored him at the exact same time. Tim blinked, so did Danny. Tim took a sip of his coffee. Danny took a sip of his pretend coffee. (He wished it was real but he wasn’t stupid enough to actually make a wish even this far from Amity. You never knew where Desiree was.)

Tim shook his head, muttering under his breath about needing more espresso shots before he walked away.

The class had frozen at the strange exchange, but promptly burst into laughter as the older teen left.

—

On one of the top floors, in a recently vacated office, an alert sounded on the computer.

RADIATION DETECTED

[thought--bubble]

In Need of an Heir Pt 6

Canon Aemond X (Baratheon! Reader)

Warnings Below

Word Count: 1,778

In Need of an Heir Masterlist

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Banners by @arcielee

Warnings:: Alcohol consumption, a lot of Dialogue.

You hesitate for a moment, trying to decide whether or not it was smart to dull your senses with wine when you were in such a precarious position.

"The wine is safe." He takes a sip and raises his eyebrow.

"Do you have parchment?" you ignore the wine cup he is extending toward you.

He furrows his brows. "I do"

"A quill? Ink?" You pass by him as he is still holding out the wine to you, moving toward the desk tucked in the corner of the room.

"Yes.....?" He watches your movements tipping his head to the side.

"We should start on that list we discussed before......." You start digging around the desk. "Before anything should happen...." You look toward the bedchamber "here. "

Aemond sighs. "We don't have to actually write anything down at the moment." he walks over to the chair before the fireplace, motioning for you to sit in the adjacent chair. "Let us discuss"

You huff briefly and then concede, plopping yourself into the chair and looking at him wearily.

"So list some things...." he waves his hand, trying to think of what to say next. "That will bring you joy"

This isn't going exactly how you pictured it. You were thinking this list would be more like a set of rules, while he seems to think this list is more of a shopping list.

"Honesty." You look him dead in the eye. "I do not wish to be lied to or made a fool of."

He clicks his tongue and nods his head. "I see"

"Is that something you can manage?" You tap your foot impatiently.

"Of course it is. Are you entirely sure that is what you want? The truth can be..... unpleasant. " he crosses his legs.

"Yes, well.... at least it's real, " You shift uncomfortably in your seat.

"Is there a specific event you are looking for clarification on? Or is this a general request?" He clenches his jaw tightly in annoyance.

"It is a general request. Although...... there are a few things that could use clarification" You look up toward the ceiling of the room, avoiding his gaze.

He clicks his tongue and grips the arms of the chair tightly. "Is that so? If there are things you wish to ask me, then ask. I shall be honest, though, I warn you that my answers may not please your delicate disposition"

You breathe deeply and bite your bottom lip. You have a feeling this won't end well, though you feel a gnawing need to know the truth on a selection of matters.

"Did you kill your nephew on purpose?" You pick at your fingernail beds and look down at your hands in your lap awaiting his response.

His tone is cold and lacking any empathy. "I did not. Although I did not regret it nor did I feel any remorse. I only felt regret for events that took place due to his death. Not his death itself"

"It wasn't regrettable to you that your nephew fell to your hand?" You look at him with disbelief. He couldn't possibly be this cold? Surely, he felt something for the death of his nephew. "You felt no emotions at all?"

"Relief, mayhaps surprise, but regret and remorse were not felt and still are not felt." He sips his wine nonchalantly as if this topic simply bored him.

You bite your cheek. This was not the answer you had hoped for. You thought if he felt regret that he would have a heart, a soul, instead he is cold and cruel. Just as you have imagined.

"Did you marry? That.... woman? Am I a second wife?"

His head snaps toward you as his voice darkens, "There is no shame in being a second wife" His words come out like venom, making you recoil slightly

"I did not say that there was, I just wish to know if I am"

"No. You are not. I did not marry her. " Now it is him who looks off to the side, avoiding eye contact.

"Yet you did bed her," you try to make sure you say this gently. Using an accusatory tone could close him off, and you were happy that he was actually speaking.

He sighs and clicks his tongue again, and nods. "Yes"

"Why? If you were already betrothed. Why embarrass me publicly with such shameful behavior?" You truly didn't care that he slept with this woman, you were not in love with him, neither him with you, yet he flaunted it about embarrassing you and your house and for that, you felt at the very least you deserved an explanation.

"Because I wanted to," He states this with conviction yet keeps his face angled from you. "I apologize that I do not have a better reason to offer you. You require honesty and that you shall receive. I was not thinking of the embarrassment you would suffer."

You swallow and scrunch your nose, fighting the look of anger that threatens to take over your face. "Did you love this woman?" You thought maybe if he loved her, then your embarrassment and shame would have been in the name of love, and that would perhaps be easier to forgive.

" I can not be sure. I cared for her, yes, yet I am not entirely sure if love in the sense of which you are questioning is something I am truly capable of" he swirls the wine in his cup around In a circular motion.

You feel a pang in your chest. How could he not know if he is capable of love?

"Did she love you?" Your voice is more gentle and soft, and this catches Aemond's attention as he turns his head to you, and his features soften minimally.

He answers with sadness. "She said she did. But it can't be disputed that she was under diress. When fighting to stay alive, one might say and do anything."

You sit in your chair and lean forward on your elbows, contemplating his words. The pain in his voice confused and surprised you, yet his answer frustrated you.

"So you are telling me that you will never love me? You will not love our children?" Your foot is tapping again. The thought of being stuck married to a man who couldn't even learn to love you eventually felt like a fate worse than death.

"I am telling you that I do not know. I hope to. That is the best I can offer. " He turns his head from you again.

" I would like some of that wine now." You look towards him a look of frustration on your face. You had gotten the truth, but it somehow made you feel worse. You had suspected he was cold and cruel yet it was an entirely different feeling to have him confirm it.

He gets up from his chair and brings you the cup of wine he had poured for you earlier. "I will remain loyal to you, and our children. That is something I can promise, I will protect you against all others. A courtesy my own father did not extend to me"

You take the cup from his hands and start to drink it quickly. After you finish the cup you stand up. "I wish to retire to my chambers" As you go to walk past him to exit the room he quickly wraps his hand around your wrist.

"Not yet." He keeps his head turned from you and his eye trained on the floor. "We have not performed our duty yet."

You cringe "Is that entirely necessary? Does it truly matter if it is done today or tomorrow?"

"My family is in need of an heir. That was the entire purpose of this rushed wedding, and the future of my house, our house, depends on this." He tugs you close to him by your wrist pulling you up against his chest.

You look up at his cold, stoic expression and directly into that lavender eye. You see his expression soften as he gazes down at you.

"I will be kind, I will be gentle, I will not harm you nor will I let others harm you." He pushes a lock of hair from your face and tucks it behind your ear. "You need not fear me, we alone, you and I, are responsible for the fate of House Targaryen"

He leans down and places a very gentle kiss on your lips, and your heart jumps. He brushes his thumb across your cheekbone and cradles your face in his hand.

"Come, let me show you I can be trusted." he takes your hand, leading you toward the bed chamber. Your feet seemed to float when earlier they felt like you were wearing iron shoes.

He sits on the edge of the bed and motions for you to sit beside him. You slowly lower yourself to sit beside him. Your back is rigid as you pick at your fingernails. He places his hand over yours.

"Don't do that."

You huff annoyed trying to pull your hands out from underneath his.

"I told you, I won't let anyone harm you. That includes yourself. " he gently rubs the tips of your fingers.

You both sit in silence, before he sighs loudly.

"I truly thought I was going to die"

You raise your eyebrows as he says this.

"What?"

He runs a hand down his face. "During the war, house Targaryen, we were dying one by one, i thought I would meet my end and would never have to stand in judgment for my sins." He lays back on the bed flat.

You turn to look at him lying down and then a small smile creeps onto your face as you lay back next to him, the two of you just staring up at the canopy above you.

"Me too"

He turns on his side and looks at you. "You thought you wouldn't survive the war?"

You giggle. "No. I thought YOU wouldn't survive the war"

He chuckles and lies on his back again. "My apologies"

You take his hand that is lying limply by his side and slide your fingers into his palm. He turns his head to the side, confused at this show of kindness. You just continue holding his hand and staring up at the canopy above you.

You giggle and turn your head so both of you are looking directly at each other.

"So we have to save house Targaryen, huh? Dragon needs a doe. " You smile to yourself.

He sighs and chuckles. "Dragon needs a doe"

Part 7

To be added to taglist click here

[zutarasbuff]

I watched the Netflix adaptation of ATLA today and being a hardcore fan of the OG series who knows every nook and cranny of the ATLA world, here’s my unbiased and truly honest review (It contains both the negatives and positives of the series, so dear reader please enter to read at your own risk).

Firstly, let’s talk about the wonderful additions to the already magical world of ATLA.

1. The depth of the genocide

Well, I always wanted to know how the air nomads were suddenly wiped out and how it would have been for them? Why didn’t they resist? I got my answers in the first episode where we explore how the unhinged power of the comet was “actually” used to create a genocide on a massive level. Before that, I had only heard about it in the OG series. Those few scenes were so powerful that they had left me sobbing uncontrollably and Gyatso’s concern regarding Aang had me bawling.

2. Suki’s Characterization

In the OG series, we do find our Suki the fiercest warrior, but here in the live action, she’s an absolute goddess. She is perfect in every sense. She understands the responsibilities she has being a non-bender and is fearless. Her character is what I believe to be was the strongest one of all.

3. Graphics & Music

We never talk about a film by M.Night (that didn’t happen), but this one is really a visual treat for you can readily set yourself up for some mind-blowing bending scenes, plus the fight scenes are quite impressive. It seems that the VFX team had really done their homework this time. Plus, both Momo and Appa are so freaking cute. I loved the fluffy Appa. Good work over there. The revival of the OG theme is also a highlight plus the sun warriors’ chanting in the end is given a new but intriguing twist. The background music especially in scenes where Aang unravels his Avatar powers is mystical in every aspect.

4. Life in motion

I don’t know about others, but I have always been a sucker for animation as well as live-action where characters are operating even in the direst of the circumstances. Life is there and even after they know what happened a hundred years ago, they are still trying to believe and regain their past confidence. This is beautifully portrayed and I was very much impressed by the way people are continuing their day-to-day activities even in the middle of a crisis.

Overall, the series serves the purpose of an adaptation carrying its unique colors (at least better than the previous live-action disaster that didn’t happen).

Now let’s move to the bad side, and when I say it’s honestly what I felt, you need to take my word on it being a hardcore Atla fan.

1. Weak writing & lots of exposition

ATLA remains at a 9.2 IMDB rating even after years because of its writing, strong plot, and very few plot holes. This time, the writers are the real amateur ones. Despite adding more to the already flourishing universe of ATLA, sadly, they killed the quest of the viewer to find answers. There is too much exposition. It seems that every character just wants to see the end of the war and keeps on revealing things after things. Plus, some of the OG moments that were the soul of the series are not even included. The way Aang finds Momo and then decides to keep it with him as a last remnant of their bygone air nomad civilization is nowhere to be found. In fact, the replacement of Roku with Kyoshi is the biggest disappointment. I love Kyoshi like no one else but that was unnecessary as per the cycle.

2. Bland acting

Even the worst writing shots can be digested only if the acting appears real good. Sadly, this is another issue that I found with the NETFLIXED version. No doubt the characters must have done a lot of hard work for this, yet, they lack the expressive power. Gordon as Aang is super cute but the goofiness is not even there. Katara seems a nerd who doesn’t like to talk much even when it’s necessary and Sokka’s jokes are forced. Meanwhile, Dallas seems to save the day at one point, but again his over-the-top angry young man attitude ruins it for me. Maybe the actors will learn from the criticism in the upcoming season (if Netflix plans to go with it).

3. Major changes

Yes, it’s okay to change the narrative while you are working on an adaptation, but targeting the loyal viewers who are OG fans of ATLA means that you have to be very careful when you are trying to implement your changes in scenes that are the real soul of the OG. You can’t change the Omashu myth as if it’s nothing when we actually see even the cute animated version of the folklore. You cannot portray Roku more as a perpetrator of the genocide and Bumi as the evil king when in truth he’s the mad king who’s known for his genius ways of teaching. I hated that. Plus, reducing Zhao’s authority and taking Uncle Iroh’s sarcastic attitude is just meh. Mai again doesn’t even seem perfect as a cast. Jet is good as far as the aesthetics are concerned but Jet being in Omashu doesn’t even sit right with me. The amalgamation of multiple storylines creates so much confusion and this persists till the end.

4. Bending at convenience

We all know how Katara’s bending progressed throughout the first season and it’s little effort each day. However, in series, one day she’s unable to bend even a droplet of water and the next day she is capable of producing ice crystals. This was unacceptable for me because I was anticipating her learning strategies. Besides, Aang doesn’t learn much water bending throughout this season and in the end, it’s him being the savior in Avatar state. Thoughtless bending sucks despite the great VFX and that’s one thing at which you can’t convince me otherwise.

5. Forced friendships

We all know how it took some time for Sokka to embrace Aang as a chum. However, here Sokka keeps on calling him “the kid” and remains mostly alienated from Aang. Talking to Katara, then she also seems more interested in helping Avatar fulfill his goal than being with a friend. I hated the scene where Aang comes into the Avatar state and instead of hugging him just like in the OG series, Katara runs along Sokka and keeps on calling his name. How is that going to build any organic friendship? I think the first mistake began right from the very moment when Aang was taken back to Wolf Cove on a boat in his unconscious state. Upon opening his eyes, the first person he finds near him is neither Katara nor Sokka but a tribesman who’s playing guessing games. Writers were really high when they wrote that.

6. Lack of the four nations’ biodiversity

Maybe in live action, it’s difficult to create all the marvels of the four nations when we talk about their natural biodiversity. In the OG series, it is indicated by Aang that even after 112 years, he has still not forgotten the animals that define different regions in the four kingdoms and that’s exactly why he wants to finish those “important tasks” alongside saving the world. His important tasks included keeping a check on the natural biodiversity of the lands and exploring whether the Hundred Years’ War had not damaged the majestic animals. Actually, his first dialogue right after regaining consciousness is to go for an otter penguin’s ride with Katara. When I thought about that I felt that somewhere in Aang’s mind he was always connected to nature and that’s why he wanted to regain that connection by being an avatar. Sadly we never see much of the biodiversity but I hoped that maybe they will.

Also, how come Aang had that silent whistle for one hundred years when in the series he only discovers that accidentally? I missed the OG Yip Yip for our Appa. There are lots and lots of problems with the Netflix version, and no I am not being a nitpicker. I appreciate how the current creators credited the original ones, but now I know why Bryan and Michael bade farewell to this project. On a scale of 10, it’s a 4 for me or 4.5 if I am being too generous.

If I am asked to review the live action in a single line, I would only say this:

“The Netflixed ATLA makes you go back to the OG series and you end up watching the animation to give your mind a much-needed respite from a carefully crafted artistic disaster aimed at the sensationalized generation.”

[gyusfavlibra]

DON’T CALL ME THAT | JOHNNY SUH IMAGINE

PAIRINGS: female YouTuber! x Johnny suh!

Warnings: slight angst, fluff

"What's up yall, welcome back to my channel. If you're new here, my name is Y/n. And welcome to my YouTube.

So the idea for today is to pull a prank. If you're on my channel a lot, you know I pull tons of pranks on my boyfriend and family.

We're both really big joksters so I really like to just take every opportunity possible to get him before he gets me.

So as of now, Johnny is playing video games with a few of his best friends online. I wanted something that would lower his mood for a better reaction but something he wouldn’t take as serious after I reveal that it’s a prank.

Now, if you follow Johnny and his group, NCT, then you know they all love to call each other "bro". Johnny and I don't really have big pet names besides our nicknames and "babe". I just think they're weird, but I have never once called him bro so he'll definitely notice right away.

At least I'd hope so. I'm gonna just try an play it like like normal. Act like I did nothing wrong and go from there. I think we'll get a very good reaction which will be great, because that's what we want.

So before we start, like and subscribe. And leave prank ideas down below for next time.

*transition😐🖕*

Setting up a camera, Y/n made sure it could record the part of the room they both sat on. It captured a wide view of the area. Pleasing the wanted expectation.

Giving the camera a thumbs up, Y/n sat on the bed, placed behind Johnny's small gaming set up with his PS5 and computer he used quite a bit. Whether it was work or just free time fun.

Minutes had passed before Y/n decided to actually start anything. Giving the mood a moment to chill before it got tense.

She sat in a laying down position so her side was aligned with the camera sat on the dresser. Tapping the busy guy on the games' shoulder, she pointed to her blue transparent water bottle on the desk. Johnny uncovered one ear.

"Can you please hand me that?"

Obeying her question, Johnny picked up the closed item and handed it over. "Thanks bro."

The words kind of echoed in his ear. Causing his eyes to linger on hers for a second before ignoring it and turning back to the game. Y/n looked over to the camera and snickered. She didn’t think she’d have this much excitement jolting through her body so fast. But she was definitely wrong.

She motioned a shushing action to the device before pretending to act serious once again. Y/n scrolled through a couple things on her Instagram discovery page before calling out.

"Hey bro, do we have any ramyeon left? I’m so hungry.”

Johnny stated a hold response to the online gamers he played with, and turned around. He pulled a headphone piece off one hear and looked dead at Y/n looking at him with raised eyebrows.

"What?"

He decided to chuckle. "What'd you say?"

"I asked if there was leftovers? I’m hungry.”

He didn't reply instead glared at her with the fake smile he tried his best to keep plastered so Y/n didn't think there was something wrong. "Bro, what?"

"Y/n, don't do that," he dryly laughed again.

It took everything in her to not laugh herself. Which the need successfully passed but who knew how long before it does a 180 and comes back.

"Do we have ramyeon or not?" the individual asked, pulling at her bottom lip.

Johnny puts the ear piece back on and waved his hand at Y/n. "In the fridge."

"Thanks, bro."

The boyfriend sighed. Rubbing his hair through his dark brown hair. The fake smile was now far gone. Not liking the friendly pet name. Y/n climbed off the bed and quietly grabbed the camera. Running off to the kitchen, sure to shut the door behind her.

"Alright, so far so good guys. He's just laughing it off for now, which most of you guys know that Johnny will fake laugh when he’s uncomfortable. Or kill you with his sharp look. And the laughs he was doing were definitely fake. Like he was upset and wanted to say something more serious, but didn't wanna start a mess or create tension. So we're good so far."

Even though grabbing food wasn't apart of the plan, Y/n grabbed some actual food anyway. Also noting that if she didn't, he'd question it.

Y/n was sure to hide the camera in the kitchen just in case he came out or the scenes moved to another area since the view in the kitchen overlooked their whole shared apartment. That included, dining area living room, and the hallway which led to their bedroom and bathroom.

Minutes had passed of Y/n preparing food, Johnny had noticed her timed disappearance and came out into the food area to view her hungry progress.

"You want some?"

He shook his head. Instead grabbing a soda out their cooled containment. "Okay, bro."

Y/n sat in a chair at the dining table. Beginning to chew away at her food. Johnny clapped his hand down on the counter with a huff before joining her.

"Damn, brooo, this is so good, bro."

He stared at his phone blankly, wanting so desperately to address his issue, though he held it back for a second. But only for so long.

Y/n, stared at something random before giggling then placing a fist over her lips. "BROOOOO, LOOK AT THIS!"

She turned their phone to Johnny, showing a fanart piece of one of his bandmates. He nodded to the art piece and flicker his orbs to his lover. "Damn, bro, that was so cool."

He tossed his phone down onto the glass table.

"Y/n."

"Hm."

"Why do you keep doing that?"

She stared at his blankly. Mouth full of chewed food. "Doin’ what?"

"Don't act clueless. You know what you're doing?"

"Do I? I thought I was just enjoying my food and looking at art. Bro, like, what's the problem?"

"Y/n, stop fuc- stop doing that."

"Bro," she set her chopsticks down into the bowl of noodles. "Seriously, Johnny, what am I doing?"

"Don't call me that."

"What? Johnny?"

"No. The other thing?"

She looked around, pretending to not know exactly what he was talking about which made this even funnier. She almost laughed but pulled it off by clearing her throat then drinking water from the glass beside her.

"Bro, I don't get it-"

"Y/n, don't call me that. I'm not kidding."

"Call you what-"

"Bro," he exclaimed. "Don't call me bro. Seriously don't do that."

"Bro? Why not?"

He shook his head. Pulling her bowl of food into his direction. "You don't get to call me bro.

"Why?"

He stole a bite. Passing it back. Johnny swallowed the food and waved his finger side to side. "Only friends call people bro. We're not friends."

"Uh-," she hiccups. Holding a hand over her heart. "We aren't friends?"

"No. We are dating. Boyfriend and girlfriend. Lover and lover. You're not suppose to call each other "bro"."

"But I like it."

"I do not care. Don't do it again."

"Bro, wh-"

"Y/N! STOP!”

She giggled. Holding her hands out with a shrug. "WHAT? There's nothing wrong with it!"

"There's everything wrong with it! If you don't wanna call me babe, love, or whatever then call me by my name or anything, but do not call me bro. I hate it."

"Mark does it?"

"Mark is my friend."

She sat back, a good tiny idea popping in her head. "Wait, so If I break up with you, I can call you bro?"

Johnny went into full blank space mode. Absolutely shocked by her question, even more shocked that she would even have the guts to ask him that, let alone think of it.

"Stop. It's not funny.”

"Bro, I'm just-“

Johnny arose from the table, grabbing his phone to shove it into his pocket. He exited the room which caused Y/n to laughed out loud. Finally not able to hold her laugh in no more.

"Wait! Bro, Johnny!"

Grabbing the camera, she ran into the bedroom where he had previously gone. Sitting back in his gaming chair. She came up behind him and wrapped an arm around him from behind, placing a kiss on his cheek. Which he seemed numb towards. "B-"

"Don't-“

"I'm not. I was gonna say babe. Look, it's just a prank. Look-"

"Stop," he nudged his head to the side. Y/n laughed again, peppering kisses on his cheek. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Forgive me!"

"No."

"Awe man, guess I'll give my love to someone else.”

"You gonna call them bro too?" he asked, followed by a chuckle.

"Please forgive me!" she yelled in tiny. Nuzzling her nose on his cheek. Johnny turned to look at her. Noticing her beautiful giggly side that he couldn't lie, he did love it very much.

"Tell me you love me."

"I love you."

His cheeks began turning a bright pink. "Again."

"I love you."

"Okay, you're forgiven."

Johnny grabs the camera holding it outward so they could film the outro together. But his idea of that scene was different than a usual one.

"Okay, she got me yall. I was mad. Like and subscribe. Comment team Johnny because I will get her back later on. Just saying."

"You're mean.'

Johnny smiled and pecked her lips. "And that's the outro. Bye bye."

[fantastic-nonsense]

Wasn’t it Alfred who’d made Damian Robin in Battle for the Cowl? Dick must have agreed after the fact, but Alfred was the one who set it in motion.

Nominally yes, in the sense that Alfred is the person who first put the cape in Damian's hands:

"You can't keep me here." "I'll do no such thing. But understand that you've been injured. Severely so." ......."What the hell are you pulling here, Al?" "It's time to earn your keep. If you're up for it." "So long as I'm not wasting any more time in here, whatever." -Battle for the Cowl #3

However, the reality is "not really." Three things to note about this:

One: no one in the story who actually knows what Damian's gotten up to while Dick was tracking down Tim and fighting Jason actually treats Damian as Robin. For the purposes of the narrative and everyone in it, Tim is still Robin, as Squire points out:

"I'm sure Nightwing could use a hand finding Robin. This way, then." -Battle for the Cowl #3

We don't really see anyone else's reaction to Damian wearing the cape in BftC. Even when Damian saves Tim while wearing the symbol, Tim has no actual reaction besides a single exclamation of Damian's name, and he seems more bewildered that Damian is there at all than he is about Damian wearing the Robin tunic. But the people we do see? Don't treat him as Robin. They treat him as an ally who happens to be wearing the Robin tunic for convenience.

Two: within the bounds of BftC, Damian is explicitly framed as being "Dick's responsibility" with Bruce gone. After Jason shoots Damian, Dick has the same conversation with Alfred that Bruce often did whenever one of his Robins was hurt, framed in a way that made it obvious where things were heading:

"Damian...this child...I could have gotten him killed tonight. I have a responsibility to him now. I let him down, Alfred." "Bruce also said the same of you...and Master Timothy, many times over the years." "And of Jason Todd." "Him as well." -Battle for the Cowl #2

Dick has already implicitly accepted Damian as his Robin at this point. And though Dick and Tim have not explicitly discussed it (as we see via their argument in Red Robin #1), it was also fairly clear that Tim would not be Dick's Robin based on how Dick thought of Tim by that point (as his brother, as his equal, as someone who should not be taking orders from him full-time). Tim had already spent time as the Robin to Dick's Batman back in Prodigal, and both boys had come a long way since then. Once Dick decided to take up the cowl at the end of BftC #2, it was inevitable that Damian would be his Robin rather than Tim (for a whole host of reasons I won't get into here). Alfred just hastened that inevitability.

Three: simply wearing the cape does not make you Robin. You are Robin if and only if two things happen: you have been explicitly accepted by Batman as his partner and Dick Grayson has given his blessing. You are a potential Robin. You are an ally wearing a Robin costume. But you are not Robin until those things happen.

Tim was not Robin in A Lonely Place of Dying even though he stole the costume with Alfred's help to save Bruce and Dick. Tim did not become Robin until after both Bruce and Dick had accepted him as such and he went through a training period (he was known as "Little Bat" until then, btw). The same is true of Damian, who wore the Robin tunic at least three times prior to actually becoming Robin (Bruce briefly took him out while wearing it in Batman and Son and he famously wore it during the events of Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul); he was no more Robin then than he was in BtfC.

The costume isn't what makes you Robin. Batman saying you're Robin and Dick giving the blessing of his parents' legacy to you makes you Robin (which. I will freely admit that's a loaded, complicated topic given the history of how the Robin mantle has been passed down over the years. but it generally holds true). Damian properly becoming Robin after BftC was clearly Dick's choice; Alfred can't "make" anyone Robin if Batman doesn't agree.

The core conceptual problem with Battle for the Cowl (well. there's about 5000 problems with BtfC. but you know what I mean) is that it tries to deal with about fifty different things at once, most of which all ordinarily would have gotten their own dedicated space across multiple books or tie-in comics to deal with. Instead, all of these things are smushed into a single massive threeshot event comic with awful characterization and a near-incomprehensible chain of events. In a perfect world, we would have gotten the same kind of build-up and transition between Tim and Damian that we did in the 90s when Tim became Robin after Jason's death. Unfortunately that's not what we got, so we're left to fill in the gaps ourselves.

But textually, Alfred did not make Damian Robin. Alfred handed an ally to the cause a Robin tunic during a crisis specifically for the purpose of rescuing Robin. After that crisis was over, Batman chose to make that same ally his Robin for reasons entirely unrelated to his wearing the symbol during that specific crisis. Dick chose Damian to be his Robin, and that choice should not be looked over just because removing it conveniently lifts some of the hurt feelings and messiness of that transition off of Dick's shoulders.

Dick handled his own legacy, as he should have. And while he did not handle it with as much communication and grace as he should have or probably would have liked to, it was his mantle and legacy to handle at the end of the day. For once, he had complete agency over choosing a successor to his heroing legacy (and his parents' legacy), not Bruce or Alfred or anyone who self-appointed themselves as a successor, and we should acknowledge and respect that.

He didn't pick Damian because Alfred unilaterally gave him a battlefield promotion; he picked Damian because he thought Tim was grown and independent enough to thrive without taking his orders every day and believed Damian needed his direct oversight and the growth opportunity being Robin would provide more than Tim did. Allow Dick the dignity of his choices instead of acting like he had no input or say in the matter of who his Robin was going to be.

[punchitmrsulu]

So, here's all the conjectures on Jim's fate in 28 Years Later.

Many of us are choosing to believe the zombie showed in the trailer, despite looking like Cillian Murphy, is not Jim because they most likely wouldn't reveal something like that in the trailer. And maybe that's exactly what they want, to drive people crazy thinking it's him but in the end it won't be.

Also the set pictures of him that have come out so far suggest he's alive and kicking. Those don't confirm the zombie is not Jim for sure because they could still be of flashbacks showing how Jim became the zombie but there's room for hope.

There's also all the references to a "Jimmy" in the trailer, which could be referring to Jim but we don't know in what capacity.

28 Years Later is going to be one of 3 movies, the second of which was shot at the same time as this one, btw. So, many are theorizing Cillian has a supporting role in this one, and will quite possibly just show up at the very end but will be the main character or one of the main characters in the sequel.

When asked if Cillian would return for 28 Years Later, Tom Rothman (Sony Motion Pictures Group chairman) said, "Yes, but in a surprising way and in a way that grows, let me put it that way," which makes the theory above seem even more plausible.

In addition, my sister suggested that Erin Kellyman's character could very well be Jim and Selena's daughter. Which also doesn't confirm Jim is not dead but, at the very least, it would mean they were able to be together for quite a while before shit hit the fan again.

Which brings me to Selena and Hannah's fate. I'm also very worried about what happened to them and there's been absolutely no word about either character being in these movies. They could just be hiding the reveal, which would make total sense, or one or both of them are dead. I'm really hoping that's not the case because the 3 of them were THE found family and it would be very sad for them to have overcome all they did in the first movie just for it all to have amounted to nothing.

Having said that, if any or all 3 of them are indeed dead in these new movies, I just hope it's handled well. If you're going to kill beloved characters it needs to be done the right way and have the proper weight in the story. I hope it's not meaningless and just for shock value.

I trust Danny Boyle and Alex Garland when it comes to storytelling, and Cilian Murphy is executive producing this thing, so I don't think that'll be the case, I think they all care about this story and these characters, but you never know.

It looks like it's going to be an amazing movie regardless of the OGs' actual fate. It seems like it can stand on its own and I'm ridiculously excited for it, I've lost count of how many times I've watched the trailer. But let's pray our babies are handled with the care and love they deserve.

[iamzer0]

ƝЄƔЄƦ ƛԼƠƝЄ

𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝟹

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: 𝙺𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚊, 𝙶𝚘𝚗, 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙿𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚘𝚗 𝚃𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚙𝚎 (𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍)

The phantom troupe is certainly an interesting mix of crazed individuals. All insane in their own way. The guy named Nobunaga wanted y’all to join them, honestly you were just happy you weren’t going to die.

Gon and Killua were pissed at not only the phantom troupe but also themselves, how could they be so stupid and get caught like that.

Meanwhile you met most of the group minus their boss. You thought Shalnark was kinda scary not only with the whole killing your aunt thing, but also because you felt this underlining malice in his voice when he spoke. You thought Machi was chill, she was cool and was against Feitan when he suggested killing y’all.

You thought Pakunoda was low key really cool in your eyes she seemed badass. You thought Phinks was annoying he kept trying to talk to you. You thought that Feitan, well is Feitan he is cold to you. He acts like you are a nuisance but he keeps staring at you it’s weird.

Shinzuku and Franklin were alright they didn’t really talk to you but they kinda seemed nice.

Let’s fast forward a little bit, Nobunaga had you and the boys in a room in their hideout. He was waiting for his boss to get back so he could approach the idea of adding y’all to the group.

Don’t think that your plan to escape them still isn’t happening, the phantom troupe kidnapping y’all was a momentary set back. Your plan was still in motion. So there you were clinging to Killua curled to his side, for the first time this was your choice.

To escape you needed to play into their delusions that you are their helpless little sibling. So you tried your best to seem like you actually tolerated them.

Gon and Killua eventually started arguing, they made up and with you on Gons back they charged at Nobunaga. Last second they turned and broke down the walls, escaping. Smart you would give them that. (This is where I change the original plot a little)

As they were running also happened to be the time Chrollo, Shalnark, Machi, Phinks, and Feitan happens to be coming back. Y’all ran right past them as they turned the corner.

Y’all were close to the fence that fenced of their hideout from the rest of the world. Panic overcame you if the boys successfully escaped which they were you. Would be trapped yet again, screw my plan you thought you were going to escape NOW.

So you started to thrash around on Gons back he tried to hold on to you. As he jumped up to hop the fence you jumped back pushing his back with your feet hard. You flipped off his back and instead of landing over the fence like you hoped, you landed right into Shalnark.

“FUCK”, you said angrily. In your rashness you had forgotten that the frickin phantom troupe was right behind you.

He caught you hoisting you up by your armpits like you were a cat. When you finally got your since back you started thrashing. “NO NO THIS ISNT WHAT I WAS TRYING TO DO” you yelled, but he just held you tighter.

The boys were frozen, what do they do? Should they try and save you? I mean the ficken phantom troupe had you literally in their arms. They were too powerful for the boys to beat. So they ran, they would save you. What kind of big brothers would they be if they didn’t?

They walked you back to their hideout, except they wouldn’t let you walk you were held rather tightly by Shalnark to prevent you from moving.

You thought about activating your nen but you had heard from a friend of a friend that their boss Chrollo could steal Nen abilities and you didn’t want to find out if those were just rumors or not.

Honestly you were so fucking tired why was life doing this to you?

You officially believed you were cursed, you wanna know why. Because the fucking phantom troupe were becoming like Killua and Gon sorta at least that’s one of your theories, or they’re just lunatics.

You talked with their boss Chrollo he was actually kind of nice to you. Although he treated you like you were younger it was refreshing to not be treated like you weren’t made of porcelain.

It was the rest of the troupe that were starting to treat you like the boys did and you had no idea why. It was mainly Shalnark and Phinks.

“So what do you want from me?” You asked putting your head in your hand, despite your situation you were insanely bored.

“To talk, you know the chain user don’t you?” He asked speaking slowing as if to make sure you heard and understood every word. “For the last time no I don’t know who you’re talking about. I know your goonies went through Killuas brain but I am not Killua. I don’t know who you are talking about” you said making sure to say Goonies extra loud so the whole troupe heard you. At this point you didn’t care if you made enemies.

Chrollo looked at your eyes intensely as if to catch you in a lie. You stared back equally as intense, no longer caring what happens to you.

You and Chrollo talked more, eventually you were in the center of the whole troupe they were conversing with their boss. You occasionally butted in when it was relevant to you.

Pakunoda was ordered to make sure you really didn’t know the chain user. She walked over and put a hand one your head, looking through your memories. She stopped took her hand off your head and just stared at you with wide eyes like she say something she wasn’t supposed to.

You didn’t understand, did you live through something that involved them. You couldn’t have the only on you have history which is Shalnark.

She paused before turning to look at her boss saying that you didn’t know the chain user. She followed up with saying “this child is….. i-important” she said stuttering. The troupe looked at her strangely

“Their memories, were run of the mill but it’s just that there’s something up with her something strange she isn’t telling us she knows something” Pakunoda said sounding unsure.

“What could I possibly be hiding?” You asked now angry. “I just wanna go home can I please just leave?” You said tired.

They didn’t let you leave instead they held you there because you were “suspicious” or whatever you didn’t care you were so tired of everyone.

They started acting weird like the boys, ‘fuck fuck fuck’ you thought when you realized that they were becoming scarily attached to you.

They smothered you with affection (mostly Shalnark) and talking. They became weirdly protective even Feitan was becoming possessive. It was like a virus spreading to the people you talked to.

Machi was more protective towards you. When she had to watch you see kept you close tho her side, when you strayed she would literally pull you too her and pushed you against her side.

Shalnark was always with you talking he even started talking and acting like you were his fricken child!

Hisoka just sorta stared at you but his eyes spoke a thousand words.

Phinks on the other hand was trying to get you to warm up to him. News flash it didn’t work. Feitan surprisingly became a sort of breath of fresh air. Whenever you were with him he didn’t talk just stared. It was scary but at least he wasn’t being clingy like the rest of them.

They were soft with you it felt weird and out of character for them. But seeing how the boys suddenly started acting with you nothing was impossible.

That’s all for today Part 4 tomorrow! Love u all drink lots of water! Bye bye! (All parts are on my page)༼ つ ◕◡◕ ༽つ

[clean-bands-dirty-stories]

Beauty and the Beast (part 5)

A/n: Watched a foreign film about another take on BatB and thought about this fic the whole time so. Im back by unholy inspiration lets go

Word Count: 5,000+

MASTERLIST

The Exchange

The first thought that came to him, despite all the ones that should have, was disbelief. Awe even. Volcra didn't talk, and they weren't intelligent. They were beasts; mindless killing machines. They weren't even animals, they were living nightmares. All they wanted was to kill. Not to eat, not for enjoyment - just because that's what their purpose was. They were tools to divide one side of the country from the other. They were a warning: Don't play with the things you do not understand. They made the shadow summoner that made it a heretic. They made every person nearby twisted, destroyed by real magic. By darkness that expanded and ripped the land in  half.

This volcra was nothing like that. 

It was a shadow summoner. How was a volcra a shadow summoner?

How was one talking to him? Why wasn't it trying to kill him?

This was impossible.

A horrible feeling curled through Y/n's chest as something horrifying settled into him. Had his scrolls been as lie? A dramatization? Surely most volcra were one way, but were there an entire breed of the creatures that were more human than monster? There were so many possibilities. So many questions. All of it leading down a very dangerous path.

Silence stretched a little too long, and the volcra seemed to tilt its head. It seemed it had expected panic or screaming. Maybe for Y/n to take off running, or melt in place without a shred of hope. It did not expect this mere mortal, grisha or not, to stand in place and gawk - wonder coloring his eyes.

The volcra seemed to consider that. "Your curiosity is stronger than your fear." As its mouth moved, a shiver ran down Y/n's spine. It was so human, a movement set into a face so alien that it almost looked like art. A cartoon, but in jarringly realistic style.

"You're a volcra," Y/n whispered. Perhaps it was shock or denial that had his mind seeking answers instead of any other rational action of self preservation. He was exposed like this. He would have been easy to kill any other way... suppose it was that which kept him in place. Why run? Why scream? Why beg? That was pointless. Perhaps he could ask some things before it killed him. He wouldn't be able to share it with anyone outside of this place but... he would know. At the very least. And suddenly he very much had to know. "I've heard stories of volcra. Are all of you so-" He fought for a word to describe the creature in front of him. 

"Intelligent?" The volcra offered, and Y/n dared to smile. It made the creature of darkness and nightmare glare, eyes narrowed and lips pulled back. The creature seemed halfway between a bat and a man, and the features weren't quite right for human expressions, but it had been a volcra for a long time, hadn't it? It had learned how to communicate just fine. He motioned to Y/n's father, who Y/n was ashamed to realize he had completely forgotten in this moment. "Do you want to free him?"

This seemed to be going wrong. Like when someone scripts an interaction in their head and banks on it, only for the actual thing to go completely differently. Or perhaps it was that after so many hundreds of years, this creature had come to expect a specific exchange. Y/n's reaction was not one he had expected, or had come used to seeing in the least. That filled Y/n with a little bit of pride.

He focused on the older man still on the ground, frozen in terror as his eyes locked on the volcra. There was nothing but horror in his eyes. Like he was already seeing the thing that came after death taking him away forever. This man couldn't last in conditions like this for much longer. How long had he been here already? Oh god. "Yes," Y/n replied, his voice breaking for his father. He looked back to the volcra, desperate. "Do you have mercy?"

That seemed to make the volcra even angrier. "Not for humans."

Y/n's eyes widened. "He's not a human! He's a durast."

The volcra scoffed. "He has not displayed any signs of being a grisha. This is not a place for humans, it is a place for-"

Y/n's feet spread apart as he took a sturdier stance, his hands moving through the air to call upon his small science. His fingers laced together and brushed past each other several times, shapes being made and then unmade just as quickly. His father, on the ground, seemed to immediately improve. Color came back into his face and all the little scrapes and wounds on him closed and healed, as if they'd never been there. There was some kind of mark on one of his hands - an infection - that faded and healed. There was a slight redness about his face, maybe a fever or from crying, that went away. His breathing evened, even his anxiety resting as his heart was healed and his body began to hurt less. The relief was, for a moment, even greater than the fear.

Looking up at the volcra, Y/n's shoulders squared. "I am a healer. I am a grisha. This is my father, and he is a durast. My mother was a tailor."

For a second, the volcra paused, eyeing Y/n. It was impossible to tell exactly what he was thinking, but it didn’t seem to matter. His voice had not changed when he spoke again. “You being a grisha is not proof that he is," The volcra simplified. "And you saying he is isn’t proof either. Why won't he do it himself?"

It was immediately obvious this volcra hated humans more than he loved grisha, which he seemed to. Which made no sense, as a grisha had created him. Right? Hm. "My mother got caught in a machine he made and it killed her. He swore off his abilities ever since, and has been on the run from those who would persecute him." 

The volcra nodded, satisfied with this answer. "He won't be persecuted here."

Y/n pursed his lips, looking down at his father. The man's eyes were wide at the conversation happening in front of him. Stunned by Y/n's willing showing of power. No. He didn't hate Y/n, but he did fear the grisha power. He would never open himself up to his abilities again. Like Alina, his father was lost in fear and self rejection. He could have never even accessed it if he tried. This power was not possible if you did not accept it as part of yourself. "I cannot prove that he's a grisha," Y/n sighed. He looked back toward the volcra. "But I will vouch for him. Let him free, and I will take his place."

"No!" His father screamed.

For a moment, the volcra seemed stunned. "You would stay here in his place?"

Y/n nodded without hesitation. "I am younger, more flexible. I can handle these intense conditions, both mentally and physically. I can heal myself. You can keep me as a healer. Even if he was a durast, he's useless to you. There's no industry here, just ruins. But a healer? That's useful no matter who you are or why."

"No," this time his father begged. He reached through the bar, taking Y/n's hand. Y/n turned to the older man who looked at him with the most unhinged desperation. "Please don't do that Y/n. Not for me. Not ever. Please don't make me leave my child in this place. I beg of you."

This would take a different approach.

As if crumbling finally under the pressure of the moment, Y/n fell to his knees. It was easy to summon the heartbreak. The fear of losing his father. The hopelessness of never seeing him again. "You expect me to do it instead? To leave you?"

"I'm an old man, I've lived a long life. And I won't live much longer. You have your whole life ahead of you. You still have so much to experience. A father should never live past his own children." He squeezed his son's hands. "Please understand."

Y/n nodded, internally mourning his poor father. Not because he would lose him, but because god forbid this man ever understand how truly lost his son was. It would break him. Y/n would never marry, and that freed him more than it terrified him. If he left this palace now he would go back to the village, bound by duty, and he would stay there forever. Maybe it wouldn't have been too late to marry Makya... No. That life was not for him. He had felt more alive in the moments with the volcra now behind him than he had in his entire life combined. Even if this was the last time he saw another living face. Even if the volcra left him in the cell to rot after Y/n's father was gone. Even then, this actual cage would be better than the one he was currently in. 

Turning to the volcra, Y/n looked for that mercy he had searched for before, but for him this time. Not his father. "May I say goodbye to him? Hug him, one last time?"

Something unreadable played in the volcra's gaze, but he nodded. "Once it is closed again, it will not open a second time." As if by magic the door popped open and Y/n pulled it out of the way, moving into the cell before his father could get out, and held him desperately. The hug was tight and full and both of them shook with the weight of the knowledge they'd never see each other again after this. His father kept thanking him, kept telling him he was loved and that every one of his last days he would hold onto his most beloved son.

Y/n smiled. "I know." And then he pushed his father outside of the cell, the older man stumbling - too slow to stop as Y/n slammed the cell shut. He closed his eyes, hanging his head. "I came with another man, Philip. He'll be upstairs, hiding from you or perhaps looking for me if I lost him. Make sure he gets home with my father. He'll need help with the farm."

The old man panicked. "NO!" As the word tore through him as he reached for his son. But it was too late. Darkness wrapped around him and he was torn from the room. The volcra didn't even move as Y/n's father was swallowed and dragged down the hall and away from the cells. Y/n turned sharply as he heard his father's screams fade and then return, this time from a window that opened above him to the outside of the castle. Y/n watched in silence as his father and Phillip, now both bound together in darkness, were sent even further from the castle and out toward the opening of the Fold itself.

Y/n prayed they would quiet before they got out. That they'd realized if they came in they'd be killed immediately and it wouldn't save Y/n anyway. He prayed that they weren't found coming from the Fold, and that they'd get away before anyone had the chance to recognize his father. He hoped Alina forgave him for never returning. He hoped...

And then suddenly he stopped hoping. He had hoped for all the things that were possible, and now all he had were the things that would never happen. He'd never be free again, he'd never see the sun again. He'd never see his father or his friends again. he would never travel again. He would never even see the rest of the castle - he was stuck here forever. In this cell, where he would die.

This time when he fell to his knees he stayed there, head low and arms limp at his sides even as he yearned to hold himself. "I should have told him the truth." And he knew that was a lie but it tore through him anyway. "I didn't get a proper goodbye." A sob tore through him as the shock wore off and the wonder faded and all he was left with was a dull, throbbing hopelessness that shattered him completely. From his periphery he saw the volcra fade into darkness and disappear.

Now he was truly alone. He had never been so alone before. It was horrible, he decided. He lay on his side in the dirty cell and closed his eyes, the tears falling silently as his body shook. This was all he had now... he didn't realize how much he'd been blessed with until it was gone. But I suppose that's how it always goes, doesn't it?

-

Time passed. He wasn't sure how long. Then he noticed movement from the corner of his eyes and looked up, surprised. He was still a bit numb. The single blue fire was not as powerful as it might have been in this room where the only feeling he was allowed was despair. He had leaned against the wall, knees curled up to his chest, arms on top and chin resting on arms as he stared at the fire move back and forth. Perhaps that was why he spotted the deeper darkness.

The volcra had returned.

"You..." It stopped, and Y/n looked up with knitted eyebrows, confused. It seemed to be trying to be... cordial? "I assume you do not like it in here."

What a stupid question. "Why would I like it in here?"

The volcra bristled. Y/n probably shouldn't be trying to piss the thing off but he was too lost of hope to care what happened to him now. "Well - that's why I'm here. To offer you a proper room. If you want."

Y/n narrowed his eyes. "Am I not a prisoner? And therefore belong in the dungeon?"

The volcra nodded. "This has always been a place that is safe for grisha. I... have not had guests in a very long time." He paused. "Do you want the room or not? Choose  your own place here, and if you choose this room I will not return."

For a second, he almost said something snarky. However, whatever the reason why, he was being offered a boon. So he stood carefully, his body aching and sore. "I don't want to be in here anymore."

"Right. Follow me then." It turned and raised a hand before it began moving down the hall. The cell door swung again, and Y/n hesitated before following. It was so normal. So human. So weirdly nonviolent. 

"I probably shouldn't push my luck," Y/n began without meaning to start at all. "But... you seem not quite as monstrous as the stories would suggest."

A hum from the creature leading ahead of him. It was hard to decipher without facial expression or body language, but Y/n thought it might have been something bitter. "They've always seen grisha as monsters." When he stopped there Y/n thought he was done, but then he spoke again after a minute. "The magic rebounded when it was cast. Volcra were born of people. Non-grisha, nearby. But there are things here that were grisha. Because of what happened, grisha got punished more harshly."

Y/n started, eyes widening. "More harshly than being a mindless killer?"

All The volcra did was nod. "When you're told you're a monster your whole life and then you actually become one that is a different story. Especially when the people who called you monsters actually are one now, and you're indiscriminately associated with them. I look like them, so I am one of them, and their acts are mine. It's not even human versus grisha anymore. It's everyone versus volcra." He swallowed. "And grisha are still the most hated. Not only can we not help them, they are being rid of one by one. If not eradicated completely, too scared to be who they are. Like your father."

A horrible feeling settled into Y/n's gut. "Small science is so connected to one's being. If you were truly afraid of your power, or hated it-"

"You could not use it." The volcra turned to look at Y/n, a darkness there even deeper than just the color. Something haunted was in his gaze. "There is no difference between non-grisha and those who could be grisha but choose not to be. They all hurt grisha kind equally."

Y/n's gaze went a little blurry. "That's why you didn't kill my father, but still had no mercy for him."

"Yes." He turned back, but did not keep walking, instead motioning to a door in front of him. "This is your room." He opened it, turning the knob with clawed hands that were so large and so sharp that it made Y/n's breath catch in his throat. "You will stay here. Do not leave the castle itself - there are volcra out there and they will not spare even a proud grisha."

Y/n almost went into the room in silence. But then he turned in the doorway, looking up at the volcra. "You're from when the Fold was formed, then." The volcra only nodded. "But you're a shadow summoner."

There was a long pause. "Yes, I knew the Black Heretic."

Immediately Y/n's eyes widened. "What was he like?"

The volcra looked down at Y/n with narrowed eyes. "As mad as they say he is."

Ah. That made sense at least. Of course grisha hated him, and of course non-grisha hated him too. Of course the very first victims of the Fold would hate him above all. "Right." He turned, going further into the room, and the door snapped shut. Not slammed, not aggressive, but that was even worse. There was a finality to that door being closed. Like it would never open again.

Y/n took in the room in front of him. It was simple in decoration, but the architecture was beautiful. There was a window that stretched into eternal darkness that Y/n thought had once shown a gorgeous view. Now there was only the glass between Y/n and the things out there that would kill him in a heartbeat.

The room was light by the blue light, more than anywhere else in the palace had been thus far. There was a four poster bed, and a desk to write upon, a nightstand by the bed. There was also a chest to hold clothes that Y/n opened, surprised to see clothes in it. They weren't covered in dust. That didn't surprise Y/n much. What dust would have entered the Fold where not even light went? Where only air was brave enough to exist.

There was also a small bookshelf that reached Y/n's hip. He reached to them, his broken heart forgotten for a moment at the prospect of new books. Ancient books that may hold secrets of the past. That most certainly would hold secrets of the past, actually. Y/n opened one and realized it was in old Ravkan. He wasn't fluent, but... It seemed to be a storybook. A tale of real magic - not just small science. As he looked through the shelf, most of the books seemed to be on those subjects. The second shelf underneath was full of notebooks. Designs, which were easier to navigate than words. There were some notes. It seemed to be notes from a durast. The bottom shelf was full of stories of grisha. Some of them were familiar - stories of darkness and ruin. Of madness and danger and warning. The grisha had gone insane with power and consumed a village in fire or stolen a young girl or something along those lines.

Most of the stories though were regular tales of different kinds of grisha, though. Y/n soon realized that every single book was dedicated to a different kind of grisha. A sailing story about tidemakers. A story of people with mechanical wings who were squallers. A survival story in the cold with inferni. A race to the finish with daring escapades done by a healer. A battle to protect the innocent starring heartrenders. A world of royalty and drama featuring a poor boy who was helped by a tailor to escape his abusive family. A world of the future, powered by industry, with a bunch of durasts fighting for the heart of power that drove the city. One story of an alkemi who created life one fateful night. A sun summoner who brings the dawn every morning, and lets the moon have the sky every night. A shadow summoner who protects those who run and hide from dangerous things and seek to find refuge and safety.

Y/n was entranced. he had never seen stories where people like him got to be the good guys - even if they weren't the main characters. It was stunning.

"Those used to be from a man I liked."

Nearly jumping out of his skin, Y/n swiveled around and looked for a source of the voice. No one else was in the room. He sunk into the wall a little bit, eyes wide with worry. "Oh no. I'm already going insane."

A chuckle caught him off guard. It seemed to be coming from the wardrobe he hadn't paid much mind to when he'd come into the room initially. Was there someone inside?

"I knew that it would be difficult to introduce you to the concept of sentient objects so I thought it best to rip the bandaid off and start from there." Y/n's jaw dropped as at the top of the wardrobe, where two designs whirled, moved as if blinking, the two sides of the oval coming together and then moving apart. Between them, further down, just above the two doors that would have opened to reveal clothes, was a small arch that rose from the top of the opening. When the wardrobe spoke, that little opening moved like a mouth.

"How-" He couldn't form a thought enough to ask a proper question. There were too many, too suddenly; he was immediately overwhelmed.

The wardrobe chuckled and Y/n took some quick steps to move closer, inspecting it from a better angle. "I believe the Darkling mentioned that non-grisha were turned into volcra, and grisha did not?"

Y/n sputtered for a few seconds. "But! He's a volcra!" It had clicked that this darkling must have been the volcra who had lead him here, and the wardrobe didn't argue. "I thought all of you would be like him."

The wardrobe hummed in understanding. "Yes I thought I would put an ending to that as soon as possible. My name is Genya, and I am one of many grisha whose consciousness was put into an inanimate object. And here I've been since the Fold was created."

Y/n blinked a few times. "How is it that a magic born of darkness made something... cartoonish happen?"

Genya smiled warmly. She seemed amused by this whole ordeal. “It does not matter who cast it - it was magic. Chaos, corrupting. It changed things; as an attack on humans, but as a protection in grisha. So here I am, not a monster, but not a human either. I cannot be harmed… so I suppose the magic did its trick.”

“I suppose.” He sounded half horrified, half curious. That seemed to amuse her too. He suddenly snapped out of it though. “Didn’t you say you were grisha?” She hummed in confirmation. “Which one? Please, I beg of you.”

Genya considered him a moment, and then answered him, watching closely. “A tailor.”

Whatever reaction she’d been expecting, she seemed to be surprised by his shining eyes and wide smile. “Amazing,” he breathed. His words were too thick with awe to be doubted. He didn’t pause to think about it - he had more questions. “May I meet more grisha? I have so many questions - I’m desperate to know everything. Perhaps you can tell me about them? Or perhaps just yourself, and I can pester them another time. Since…” suddenly his light died. “Since I’ll be here now.”

It was hard to read Genya’s subtle expressions on the strange face but she seemed to grow sad, maybe piteous. “I can give you a rundown, and then you might have some starting idea as you slowly meet everyone.”

Y/n hummed mindlessly, suddenly distracted. “Yes, tell me.” He needed a distraction. Genya seemed to see that and indulged him, even if all she might accomplish is to give him an alternative thing to focus on.

-

The knock came quite some time after Genya finished, which is how Y/n knew he had been in this room for quite some time. He didn’t feel tired yet so he slipped out of bed and opened the door, part of him expecting the Darkling.

When he saw no one act first, he once again wondered distantly if he was going insane. Then he heard a voice. “Uh, down here.” His eyes fell to the floor at his feet, and there was a candelabra and a clock. Like Genya, their builds and designs made humanoid shapes and even little faces that allowed them to emote. The one who had spoken, the candelabra, waved with a soft smile. He flipped back through the names and descriptions he’d gotten from Genya.

“You’re Fedyor, aren’t you?”

The candelabra grinned. “Ah you’ve been briefed.” He spoke gentle and smoothly; it was incredibly soothing.

“Partly,” Y/n offered. “I asked Genya and she was kind enough to give me the beginners guide.” He tried to mimic the soothing nature and simply fell short. His eyes flickered to the clock. “So that makes you Ivan, then?” The clock simply nodded, and Y/n returned the gesture. These two worked directly with the Darkling. “Why… are you here?” Had he decided to change his mind? Were they here to escort Y/n to his death?

“Dinner,” Fedyor answered. “We’d like to encourage you to take more freedom around the castle, perhaps give you a tour. After dinner. I’m sure you’re hungry.”

Y/n shifted awkwardly. He honestly didn’t feel hungry at all… probably a bad sign. “I wouldn’t want to be a bother.”

Only then did Ivan speak. “Be our guest. We want you to be comfortable here. We don’t often get guests, it’s an honor to have you. Especially someone so proud of your abilities. Seeing a proper grisha again, it’s special to us.”

Y/n was honestly touched. The man spoke in a flatter voice than Fedyor, but had its own smoothness and calmness. Like he was firm, dependable. Like you could fail and it would be okay because he had your back.

“Okay. Lead the way.”

Ivan and Fedyor brought Y/n through the castle and into a large dining room with a long table full of food. They stayed nearby when Y/n sat down and began eating, keeping him company. At first. Their casual back and forth came to a grinding halt when Y/n looked up and the Darkling was at the other end of the table, watching Y/n eat.

The man paused, swallowing his bite. “It’s rude to sneak up on someone. You could have announced your entry at least.”

The Darkling raised an eyebrow. “I do not answer to you.”

“I didn’t give you an order, I made observations.” Then he caught himself, looking down at the table. “My apologies. I have always… had problems keeping my temper.” As much as he was losing his need to hide, he had not yet lost his will to survive entirely.

The Darkling seemed to mind less than Y/n thought he would though. “Don’t apologize. All grisha should have as much bite as you; it’s admirable to see. Encouraging.”

When he continued simply watching Y/n eat, the man paused. “Are you not going to eat yourself?”

“Not in front of you,” the Darkling answered. Y/n hesitated, but then nodded. The Darkling leaned forward. “You had questions about grisha. I can answer them, if you’d like me to.”

At first Y/n was hesitant. It was still scary to speak about all of this openly, and he was very unsure about all these people and their exact intentions and character. But he was getting answers, and for the moment it distracted him just enough to really launch into his most thorough attempts at getting answers.

He wanted to know everything, and the Darkling was more than happy to fulfill that desire with every bit he knew.

Be the time dinner ended, Y/n was buzzing with information. He asked for an empty notebook he might be able to write this all down in, and was provided with one. He left dinner and raced his room without even thinking, and thought for just a moment he caught the Darkling smiling out of the corner of his eye.

Impossible of course.

Volcra didn’t smile.

It did convince him that this place might not be so bad after all, though. He would never see his family again and his dreams were crushed… but he was free, in a way. He was a grisha here, not a farmer’s son. Not a weirdo. Not a nuisance or good for looks and nothing else. He mattered here; he was part of something.

Even if his friends were household objects, he enjoyed them. The duster named Zoya, and the piano, David. The oven, Fruszi, and even the kettle. Baghra kept glaring at him, but even she seemed to respect him for his control over his abilities despite being self taught.

Maybe there was hope for a life here yet.

-

Male readers: @sortzz @gardening-guy-round-2

Story: @cleverzonkwombatsludge

[starlitiris]

“Lilacs” ~ Painter x Reader (Part 1)

Part 2

warnings: angst, character death, mildly descriptive graphic imagery, grief, panic attacks(?)

beginning notes: thank you to cavern-creature for giving me the idea to write this! i’m not too happy with the pacing, but oh well. more notes will be at the end of the story.

word count: ~2.1k

~ 🪻 ~

It’s a beautiful spring day. The sun is high and shining bright, nary a cloud in the sky. The weather was perfect! Or so Painter had been told. He couldn’t feel the temperature himself, of course. He couldn’t feel the soft, gentle breeze brushing over his monitor, either. Or smell the floral aroma coming from the field of flowers him and his friends were in. A beautiful shade of purple surrounded the three on each side. Painter, his creator, and you.

He watched you run out into the field, his creator electing to stay behind so he could set Painter up on the crate they always bring. You came to halt, turning to face the wind, and held out your arms to feel it. The breeze, the sun, the flowers grazing your calves. It was bliss.

You looked amazing. The sunlight shone on your face, highlighting all of your beautiful features. Your clothes, moving with every gust of wind that rushed by, framed you perfectly. Your smile was as bright as always. You looked perfect. You are perfect. Painter was sure of that.

“Hey, stand still!” The AI called out to you. “I wanna capture you just like that!”

You giggled. “Just like this? Are you sure?”

“Exactly like that,” he reinforced, the sweetest smile painted on his screen.

“Okay, but try not to take too long! My arms are gonna start hurting if I have to stand here for hours.”

“I won’t take THAT long! Just hold still, I’ll paint you first,” Painter responded, wiping his page clean to start sketching you.

“He has been getting faster at this lately,” his creator adds, resting his elbow atop the computer.

“Yeah, yeah,” you roll your eyes, even though you’re still smiling. “Let’s just hope he’s fast enough,” you tease.

“Hey, you can’t rush perfection!” He tells you.

You laugh. Banter with Painter is always light and fun. You’re impressed that he already has a really good outline of you done. You’ve seen him paint a hundred times over at this point, but watching his process never ceases to amaze you. It’s kind of mesmerizing. You love it.

You love him. And he loves you all the same.

One of the cameras Painter is connected to picks up on motion somewhere in the blacksite, pulling him out of his daydream. He groans and sets his unfinished drawing of you aside as a draft. Back to work.

Urbanshade just sent down a few more teams of expendables, it would seem. What a drag. At least Painter could try to have some fun while he stalls them.

He doesn’t bother with actually watching them – it serves him no real purpose to do so. He just goes off of motion sensors and does what he can do in any given room the suckers wander into. Luring Z-96 around with the PA system, activating turrets, pissing off Eyefestation when it’s near enough. Fun stuff.

He giggles to himself knowing one of the active teams was just fooled by a false door.

“Moronsss,” he says to nobody.

Things continue this way for a while, like they always do. As the night progresses, all the EXR-P teams are gradually killed off. All but one, that is. That’s all thanks to him, as well as the many other dangers this place has to offer. The motion sensors indicate that the remaining team is down to two expendables. They won’t last long. Painter is certain.

Only one expendable enters the next room.

See? He knew it.

And, would you look at that. This room has turrets in it! Might as well put this poor sap out of their misery. He activates the weapons.

It’s one of the long rooms that has a large window peering out into the ocean, equipt with three turrets to cover nearly every inch of the area. Well, they used to cover every inch. But that was before panicked Urbanshade employees set up tables and lockers for protection. Now they could only scan most of the room. Oh well. The tables and lockers didn’t save those workers, and it certainly won’t save this prisoner.

He takes note that the expendable made it to a safe spot in the center of the room. Barely, though. A laser on one of the turrets grazed their ankle before they made it to safety. The weapon was alerted for a brief moment, then went back to rotating around the room when the person was out of sight.

“Ugghhh,” Painter dramatically groaned in his cage. How annoying. At least this idiot still has the other half of the room to get through.

The expendable warily leaves the comfort of their safe spot to move forward. They only make it a quarter of the way to where they’re aiming to go, though, before being harshly informed by a loud beeping that they didn’t time this correctly. They take a few bullets to their right arm and leg while hurrying back to where they had just been hiding.

“Ngh, dammit! F-Fuck, fuck, fuck…” they curse.

Huh. That voice sounds… kind of familiar to Painter. Weird.

He decides not to waste much time on that thought. There’s no way he could possibly know this person, and he needs to focus.

He has a job to do.

Kill the expendables. Stall for time.

He waits while the bleeding criminal braces themself to make another run for it. They certainly don’t seem to be in a rush.

“Cooome ooon, stop wasting time! You’re just gonna die anyway!” Painter complains, once again to nobody but himself. He hasn’t been talking to these losers as much as he normally would today. He didn’t even feel like taunting them. He was in a sour mood. They interrupted his daydream.

“God, how am I going to do this…?” He hears the person ask themself.

They sound familiar. So familiar. It’s bothering him now. He can’t hear them all that well because of the audio quality and their quiet volume, but there’s something about that voice…

Whatever. It doesn’t matter. Get rid of them.

The expendable is on their feet again. They steady themself against the locker they’ve been tucked behind, and take a deep, shaky breath.

They hold.

They wait.

And they run as fast as their aching, wounded body will let them.

They shout when a bullet pierces their shoulder, and drop dead in front of the unopened door as they’re shot down.

And that’s the last of the EXR-P teams until Urbanshade sends more down in a pathetic attempt to retrieve their precious crystal.

Suckers.

Finding himself with nothing to do again, Painter tries to go back to his daydreaming. That wonderfully beautiful face, amongst that beautiful purple field, underneath the beautiful beating sun. But he finds himself distracted by that voice again. He tries to brush it off and forget about it, but it’s bothering him. Like an itch that won’t go away. Now that he thinks about it, it sort of sounded like…

No. That’s impossible. You were on the surface somewhere, safe and sound. Blissfully unaware of the horrors taking place at the bottom of the ocean. Unaware of the horrible things Painter is doing for the sake of freedom.

You are safe.

Hell, you might even be in that field at this very moment. It may be cold out this time of year, but you three used to agree that it was gorgeous there year-round. That’s why you all would visit it all the time.

That’s probably where you are. Yeah. In the field. Waiting for purple to blanket the ground once again.

… But even knowing that, he can’t shake the anxiety building within him. Just the thought of you ending up here somehow, let alone being killed- by him.

But it’s not you. He knows that. And just to prove to himself that it isn’t you, he’ll go look at the corpse through a camera near the door so he can see that it’s clearly… not…

…

He has to stare for a while to fully grasp what he’s seeing. He shows up on the sign next to the door.

That wonderfully beautiful face.

You’re paler than he remembers. Likely due to the fact that all of the blood that should be swimming through your veins is now a massive puddle on the floor. Your eyes, once bright and warm, now look dull and lifeless. Your face holds no emotion. Blood has seeped out of your nose and the corner of your mouth, contributing to the pool of crimson surrounding you.

You’re surrounded in red.

You should be surrounded in purple, but all he sees is red.

“... No…”

Painter doesn’t want to believe what he’s seeing is real.

“No… no no no.”

All of his anxiety is replaced with panic.

“Y/N! Y/N, wake up!”

He can’t accept that you’re dead. He won’t.

“Y/N, please! I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to! Please!”

He can’t lose you too.

“Please!!”

His voice cracks as if he’s crying.

And he is.

That’s not something he wanted to know he could do.

He starts to desperately alert to Sebastian that something is wrong. Painter can’t do anything for you himself, but his friend can. He can help. He can fix you.

Painter keeps begging for you to wake up, telling you help is on the way. Minutes feel like hours while he waits for Sebastian to arrive at the scene.

When he does arrive, he bursts through the only door in the room not marked by the navi-path.

“What, what?! I’m here, what happened?!” The man shouts, looking around to try to see what the fuss was about.

“Sebastian! Help them, please! You have to help them!” Painter pleads.

“Help who??” Sebastian asked before noticing your corpse on the floor in front of his friend. “Uh…”

“Hurry!! What are you waiting for?!”

Sebastian slithers over to you, a look of uncertainty plastered on his face. He barely recognizes you as one of the expendables that was in his shop not that long ago.

“Uh… Paint? I don’t really know what you want me to do here,” he admits.

“Help them! You have medkits, don’t you?! Use them! Use anything!! Just save them, please!!” Painter cries.

“Why, though? It’s just an expendable, you’ve done this plenty of times-”

“They’re not just an expendable, they’re my friend! I knew them before I was brought here- just, please!! We don’t have time for this!!” He shouts, frustrated that Sebastian isn’t doing anything to help yet.

“You… knew them?” Sebastian asks, now with a look of concern.

“Yes, why aren’t you doing anything?!”

“... Paint…”

“Do something!!”

“Paint.”

“They’re dying!! I can’t-”

“Painter.”

“I can’t lose them, too! I can’t! I can’t- I can’t be the reason- please!”

Sebastian frowns. It hurts seeing his friend in such a state.

“Why are you looking at me like that?! Please…!”

“Painter.”

“Stop saying my name! Why- why aren’t you doing anything?!” Painter sobs.

“They’re gone. There’s nothing we can do for them.”

“No- you’re not even trying! How do you know that if you haven’t even tried?!”

“Look at them, Paint. They’ve lost way too much blood to be saved.”

“That’s not true!! It’s not true! It’s not…” he trails off.

Sebastian remains silent. He patiently waits for his friend to process that you won’t be waking up.

It takes him a while, but eventually Painter is able to speak up again.

“Oh god…” his voice shakes. “Oh god… I killed them.”

Sebastian sighs.

“I killed them. Sebastian, I killed them. I killed my best friend. Oh, god.”

Sebastian carefully makes his way around your body to gently pat Painter’s screen while he continues to weep. He repeats over and over to himself that he killed the first person he ever loved, as if saying it enough times would somehow make it hurt less.

He did this to you.

He couldn’t bear it.

Painter was an inconsolable mess. But even still, Sebastian would stay with him for as long as he needed. He doesn’t mind putting off whatever he was doing before this to be there for his only friend.

Expendable or not, he sincerely wishes he could bring you back for Painter.

He doesn’t believe he and his AI companion can afford to lose anymore than what they have.

Reality was cruel. It proved itself to be, every goddamn day.

What Painter wouldn’t give to see you in that field again. The sunlight shining on your face, highlighting all of your beautiful features. Your clothes, moving with every gust of wind that rushed by, framing you perfectly. Your smile, as bright as always.

Surrounded in purple.

Lilacs were always your favorite.

~ 🪻 ~

ending notes: according to multiple sources, lilacs often symbolize joy, youth, the impermanence of youth, and first love. though, one source also says that lilacs can symbolize old love, stating that victorian widows would often wear them as a sign of remembrance.

Since this didn’t follow the suggested prompt exactly, I’ll likely write a less-sad part 2 for this. Let me know if you would like to see it! (It’s actually out rn if you wanna go read it, it’s linked at the top of the post! <3)

Thank you for reading.

[piratefishmama]

Beware The Thorns | Part 8

It wasn’t dark, it wasn’t dank, and it wasn’t dimly lit. Steve didn’t like stereotypes, or cliches. He didn’t like the idea of doing his business in a dark warehouse, or a basement with leaky pipes, he liked adequate lighting and things to be at least slightly sanitary. Robin knew these things, his previous ‘meeting’ had been thrown together by someone else, but Robin knew how to set up a damn fine line up.

Four men, and one woman, sat in chairs lined up next to each other, in the living room space of a currently under-development block of apartments. The one they were in was finished as were a few others, but the rest were still being built, workmen having been sent home for the day with a full days wage for their discretion.

All blindfolded, all tied up, Robin stood behind them alongside two men, back facing a wall, never a window, always with her eye on the door. The door where Steve stood, eyes on the four in front of him as he rolled the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows, hands already covered by gloves.

“What shook loose?”

“These four have talked to Eddie in the past few months. Cant tell you what they said to him, but all four have had direct verbal contact with him in some way shape or form.” Their involvement in what’d happened wasn’t likely, Robin would have bet a good chunk of whatever Steve would pay her for her work, but Steve needed it.

Steve needed to be sure.

“Just these four?” He loosened his tie before easing it away from his neck and hanging it up onto the rack where his coat and suit jacket rested.

“Mmmhm.” Most steered clear of Eddie, Eddie wasn’t to be spoken to, only Steve could talk to Eddie, and if you had to talk to Eddie, it was short, and sweet, and never about anything involving what Steve did for work.

Robin wouldn’t voice her doubts though, that wasn’t her job. Not in this environment anyway. It was her job to deliver these people, and allow Steve to do the rest. Had they been in his office, or in his living room, had he asked her outside of that room if she actually suspected these people, then perhaps it’d be her role to tell him no.

No Steve, your theories are straight up kookie-dook, Eddie just left because that’s what Eddie had to do.

That was not her role in that room. Her role was to stand there, and be quiet until excused.

“You can leave.” He didn’t look at her as he said that. He didn’t watch her as she nodded once and made for the door. She wasn’t a fan of interrogations. He got it, he understood, she’d been in a few herself over the years, the worst one involving Russians. They both had scars from that one. She’d never stayed in on his interrogations for that very reason. It made her uncomfortable knowing he was capable of that.

She liked the chase, liked the hunt, she didn’t like the kill.

He waited for the door to close behind her, to approach the four in front of him. He was grateful for two things, one… efficiency. Robin had conjured these four up within a week. And two, timesaving. She’d put them all together to save time. Amazing.

He motioned for the two extras to come forward and remove the blindfolds. He recognised all four of them.

A driver he fired two months ago for buying questionable things on his company provided credit card that was solely to be used for food and gas while working.

A secretary who still worked for him.

One of the security guards he’d hired on a temporary basis for a charity thing he’d thrown a month ago.

And a dealer from the nearby college. Not employed by him, but surely recognised him, would know who Steve was, would know of his many lucrative side businesses. Steve was instantly suspicious of two of them. The other two not so much.

All four appeared scared, there was no defiance, no faux confidence, or self-satisfaction in any of their expressions. Just fear. “You all recognise me, don’t you?” He didn’t need their answers, he knew they did. “You’re here… because you maybe broke a rule. I don’t want to hurt any of you, that’s not what I want to do. I would very much prefer it if these gloves stayed clean.” He lifted his hands, wiggling the clear gloves he wore on his hands. “Cleaners cost a fair bit, it’s always more for viscera removal.” A sob had him snap his gaze to the woman, stare thunderous, not an ounce of empathy in it. “Stop that. Tears won’t help you.”

She bit her bottom lip, nodded, and fell silent once more.

“The reason I’m beginning with a verbal interrogation, is because I have no real proof that any of you actually broke this rule. So let’s keep this violence free, shall we? I ask you a question, and you answer, I’ll decide if you’re telling the truth or not, sound fair?” Lie detectors didn’t do shit with his employees. They were all trained on them, even the damn secretaries could pass a lie detector test.

He didn’t employ useless people. He didn’t employ liabilities.

He continued when he was met by silence, not one of them wanting to argue less violence should suddenly appear on the menu. “Great! My partner, Eddie Munson… you’ve all met him.” He eyed the dealer, he had no idea that Eddie was taking something, it didn’t change how he saw the man, but… he wished he’d have known, he could have gotten Eddie better than whatever he was getting from elsewhere. “He… left. Me. Usually I’m aware this sort of thing wouldn’t really warrant a line up like this, definitely not an interrogation, but… his leaving doesn’t quite make sense.” He couldn’t make it make sense. Maybe he was just paranoid.

Steve began to pace in front of them, back and forth as he continued on “We were having such a nice night, everything seemed fine, and then… the morning after, out of nowhere, he ended things. Now, trust me, I know sometimes I can get a little in my own head, I can often think everything is fine but be missing glaringly obvious cues to things hurtling toward relationship disaster, but… there were no cues. Gone over it a bunch of times, not a single cue.” He stopped in front of the dealer.

The woman who’d tried tears to lessen whatever blow she was potentially about to receive from the big dangerous man.

“All of you, every single one of you, have spoken to him at least once in the past few months and you all know who I am. What I do. What we don’t know, is what you spoke about, so… one by one, why don’t you tell me?” Steve lowered down to a crouch in front of her, arms resting on his knees, she looked so well put together, but he knew she also worked as a TA at the college. “Stacey, right? Stacey Gingham, twelve Cornwallis, married to… Thomas Gingham, two children, Matthew, and Penelope?” He didn’t need to threaten them, just his knowledge of them was the threat, he watched the realisation of that fact dawn on her face in real time. “Hi… you’re the only one here who’s never worked for me, and so shouldn’t know about the rule. So tell me, how do you know Eddie?”

“I—I work for—”

“It doesn’t matter who you work for, Stacey, it doesn’t, your connections are useless here. I’m not scared of them. Just tell me how you know Eddie and we can get out of this unscathed, okay?” Violence wasn’t the goal here, he didn’t want to hurt them, but he would if necessary.

Innocent or not if they pushed their luck he’d respond as needed.

“He… he buys from me sometimes. His—His brother, Dustin Henderson? He goes to the college, real smart kid, highschooler but he won a place to attend the science classes for free twice a week. Eddie buys weed from me on the days he meets Dustin at the college, that’s all, he only ever buys weed. We talk about his brother, how he’s doing in the class, uh—if he needs any support, I don’t—I didn’t even know he was connected to you, Mr. Harrington, I swear.”

Eddie had a brother? Right… one of the many things he didn’t know about Eddie.

He nodded his head, silent in his processing. Then he stood up, and took one large step to the left of her, stopping at Charlie. His driver. He saw no lie in what she’d said, no break in eye contact, no pupil dilation, just standard stress indicators. She was scared, she wasn’t lying. “Charlie. You spoke to Eddie when you drove him around the city, didn’t you? Did you talk about me?”

“N-Not about you. He didn’t even ask about you Mr. Harrington an—an I know I fucked up with the card, I know I did that an I can’t take that back but—but I know the rule sir, I know it. Even if he’d have asked, sir I wouldn’t have—I wouldn’t have I swear!”

The secretary was next, he was cute, young, bit of a party guy, used to flirt with the sandwich girl at the office whenever she made her way up with Steve’s regular PB&J until she shut him down with a polite ‘you’re not my type’. She had a huge crush on Robin, it was adorable.

It was the same, Eddie had only spoken to him once, and it was about directions to the closest not Starbucks coffee place.

The security guard apologized for any confusion, and told him Eddie had only asked about his job, about other places he’d worked at cause he recognised him from a bar he’d bounced across town. Dead end, after dead end, after dead end.

Not a single viable suspect, not a single liar in the bunch.

He knew many in his position would push harder. Many would resort to violence in a bid to force out another answer, even if another answer didn’t exist. He knew many would kill, pushing it too far only to receive the same answer over and over again until the victim stopped talking. He knew what these people expected to happen to them.

Steve wasn’t that kind of person.

He walked out of that room after giving his two men the instruction to release them, turned to Robin who still stood outside the door, a knowing expression on her face, and simply asked “can you find him for me?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Part 10

[ethansluvbot]

hi maylee! could you do something based on this dialogue from euphoria where ethan unmasks and the reader says this and it's just super heart breaky?

love you! <3

RIGHT WHERE YOU LEFT ME | E. LANDRY

warnings: gf!ethan, MAJOR SPOILERS!!!, mentions of blood and knives.

an: hey, yes of course i will do this. i actually love this idea and would cry if this was ever in the scream movies. inspired by “right where you left me” because i’ve been listening to it on repeat. this is lowkey shitty so like yeah!

❛YOU LEFT ME NO CHOICE,

it was crazy to think that two hours ago you and ethan were hand and hand walking to your dorm. now, you couldn't find him anywhere. you began to worry about him greatly, even with sam, tara and chad reassuring you.

the images that were in your head didn't help one bit. it’s not that you didn’t trust ethan to protect himself, it’s just the ghost face now even more brutal. after what happened to anika you didn’t know what to believe anymore.

now you were standing there watching chad brutally be stabbed. blood gushed out of his mouth as he told you guys to go. you couldn’t believe this was happening to him it might’ve even happened to ethan already.

you felt a hand grab onto your arm as you stared blankly at chads body. hearing sam screaming snapped you back to reality as you smacked the ghost face with your bag. (yes we must keep this bag)

your legs quickly matched the pace of the two girls in front of you. since you were last it was pretty fair to believe that you were next. there’s a sudden stop causing you to collide into sam’s back.

“shit,” you look up to see a detective bailey. tarah was inches away from his chest as she let out a muffled scream.

“you have to help us! there almost here, please!”

to say you were terrified was a understatement. he motioned for you guys to get behind him, raising the gun the way they were running.

you were still worried for chad and ethan. yes, you saw chas had been stabbed multiple times, but he never died. you were only hoping that they both still lived, that you would live to see them again.

bailey stood up in front of the three of you with his gun aimed at their head. he began to lower his gun with a short laughter. he walked closer to then standing in the middle.

“great job both of you,” he chuckles pointing the gun in your face. closing your eyes you felt him still staring at you.

“look at me!”

you automatically flinched as you heard him yell at you. what did he want from you? you sure as hell didn’t want to die tonight, but if it was for your friends at least you would feel good about it.

“who are they?” you heard sam ask. bailey just cocked his head to the side waiting for one of them to unmask. you watched as one of them began to take their mask off.

“no don’t do this to me,” you feel a tear crawl down your face. it was ethan, he was the killer, he might’ve even killed your best friend. reaching up he wiped your tear. even after seeing you cry he was still smiling.

“mindy was right, it was really easy duking the roommate lottery, all i had to do to meet you was room with a conceited condescending alpha literally named chad. fuck, it felt good to kill him!the best part, my name’s not even ethan landry, isn’t that right dad?”

you couldn’t even recognize the “ethan” you were looking at right now. after months of dating this boy you would never expect him to behave like this. you almost felt like the whole thing was a big joke.

you look into his eyes to see nothing, he wasn’t the boy that you truly loved. no matter how much. you cared for him you didn’t want to talk to this monster.

“so that leaves one more…” you hear tara mutter.

“mindy?” sam ask, petrified that one of her best friends would ever do that. mindy was the one always trying to help the group. no one ever believed she could set us up for failure.

“hi roomies, didn’t see that coming did you?”

“yeah because you died,” you didn’t know quinn very well so seeing her there didn’t shock you much. the thing that shocked you was she never talked to ethan before.

“i kind of didn’t, needed to get myself off the suspect list, stabbing gale and mindy was kind of fun,” she giggled to herself jumping forward with the knife.

you flinched back in shock bumping into the two girls. after a while of them yelling at you, you began to zone out. you still couldn’t process that ethan would ever hurt you like this.

you could feel him staring at you almost like he felt bad. you felt a cold metal slide up your arm making you focus again. you knew better than to turn around and look at them.

you stared into ethan’s eyes with a great frown. there was still active tears forming and falling down your face. you feel the sharp object shove inside your stomach. 

screaming out in pain you fall to the floor. quinn pulls it out and shoves it back it, except this time she doesn’t pull it back out.

“quinn!” you hear ethan voice yell at her.

“you ruin all the fun.” she rolls her eyes at ethan, she always believed he was the weakest link. he was always the fool who got his heart broken, the one that didn’t want to hurt anymore, yet his dad still convinced him.

maybe he only did it because his dad forced him into it, but either way it was fucked up. killing people and lying about it was horrible. so why did you feel bad when you heard bailey talking about richie. you could see the tears forming in ethan’s eyes as he realized he wasn’t the priority.

you almost feel like they weren’t even there, most of the sound was drowned out and your eyes were blurry from crying. you watch as quinn, bailey and ethan all stand back together.

“go!” you yell to the two of them, if you died tonight you just wanted them to make it out alive. you watched as tara’s mascara smears around her eyes.

“i love you,” all she wants to think about is the group all surviving tonight, “we’ll come back for you!!”

you feel the knife stolen from your body as quinn runs after them, bailey runs the other way and ethan stands over you.

“i’m sorry.”

“no you’re not,” you couldn’t believe those words after you knew what he was capable of. he was a good liar you would give him that. you felt a year but your face but this time it wasn’t yours.

you felt a ripped piece of his cloth tie around your waist. you groaned in pain as he began to sit you up.

“get away from me you crazy bitch.”

he couldn’t lie and say those words didn’t hurt him. he deserved it and he knew that, but when he saw how terrified you were he couldn’t help but tear up.

“goodbye y/n,” you watch as he almost stands up, but you stop him. you play with the piece of glass in your hands, about to do something that ethan would’ve done.

“hey, ethan?”

he turns back at you, “yeah?”

“fuck you,” you lunge the piece of glass into his mouth. falling to the ground you watch as blood spills out of his mouth.

BUT TO STAY HERE FOREVER ❜



[five-rivers]

Pretty in Pink Chapter 2

@jadenoryuu

:)

.

“Just go ask,” said Star.  “He's totally into you.  He'd probably streak through the cafeteria if you asked.”

“Shut up,” said Paulina.  

Valerie looked between Star and Paulina, eyebrows raised.  “Is there something I'm missing here?  You guys have been acting… off… this whole month.  You two and Dash.”

“It's nothing,” said Paulina.  “Star's hallucinating.”  

Star scoffed and crossed her arms.  “Pauli's got a crush.”

Paulina had picked up some freak ghost disease from the Fentons’ stupid underground tunnel, so maybe if she thought hard enough about it, she could set Star on fire with her mind.  Why would she pick that as her cover story?  What the freak?  She had enough trouble holding onto her reputation while falling through walls and getting into fights with dead lunch ladies without people thinking she was crushing on Fenton, who looked even worse than he usually did today.  What if people started to think her type was ‘drowned rat charity case reject?’

Plus, his stupid tunnel had sort of technically killed her.  Wasn't she supposed to hold a grudge about that?

“Glare at me all you want, but it's the only way you'll be getting any sleep.”

“Oooh,” said Valerie.  “You've got it that bad, huh?  What's stopping you?”

“Well,” said Star, the traitor, “she's worried that he's not exactly A-list material, you know?”

“Girl, seriously?” said Valerie, and Paulina could practically feel her popularity points drop.  “You make things A-list.  Anything in your orbit catches some of that glow.  Anyone you like is cool by association.  You could make anyone cool.  Except Nathan Lester.  He must have been cursed by some ancient northern European god in a past life, because yikes.”

“See, I told you so,” said Star.  

“I bet,” said Valerie, “that you could even make Danny Fenton cool.”

Valerie Gray was a literal gift from God.  But Paulina couldn't run with that too quickly.  

“You think so?” she asked.  “Him?  Cool?”

“Only through your powers,” said Valerie.  She sipped at her soda.  “But as far as raw materials go…  He's got good bone structure, at least, underneath all that greasy middle-schooler hair, and he’s scrawny, but with the right outfit you can play that off as slender, he looks like Dash’s been beating the crap out of him, so you’d have to get him to quit that, but that’s the easiest part, probably.  Yeah, you could do it, Paulina.”

“And you can always dump him after, if he doesn’t pan out or is a creep,” said Star.  “We can even plan it out beforehand, so it'll be funny.”

“Well, yeah, of course you're going to dump him for whoever you're actually interested in.  This is just a trial run.”  She popped a chocolate-covered pretzel into her mouth.  “Who are you interested in, by the way?  Weston?  He's pasty, but at least he's good at basketball.”

Disgusting.  It was true Weston wasn't a complete troll, but she had it on good authority that he was a total conspiracy nut, and her papa said conspiracy theories always somehow led back to literal nazis, and that wasn't a good look on someone as pale as Weston.  

“Ew, no.”

“Who, then?  Come on, spill.”

“It's a secret,” said Paulina, winking.  She'd have to make something up eventually, though.  Maybe one of the upperclassmen would do the trick.  Or maybe she could pretend she lost interest.  “But a trial run…  I'll try it out.  But the minute I'm not having fun…”

“We'll be ready with the tar and feathers,” said Valerie, “just like in history class.  Go on.”  She made a shooing motion.  “Work your magic.  Entertain us.”

Paulina stood up and cocked her hips to one side, like a movie star.  “Watch me.”

She walked over to Fenton's table and sat down.  One of his eyes went wide and round.  The other remained a blue and purple slit.  Wow.  Maybe she'd have to ask Dash to ease up, anyway.  

“Hi, Danny,” she said, with her friendliest smile.  

“H-h-hi Pauli–”

“What do you want?” demanded Samantha Manson, hypocrite extraordinaire, looking down her unnaturally pale nose.  Honestly, anyone who caked that much makeup on had to be at least as self-centered as she said Paulina was.  

Paulina sighed heavily.  “Wow, rude, much?”

“Says the girl who bribed the school board to go back to the old, unbalanced, unhealthy, cheap as dirt menu when she brings lunch from home or orders out.”

Well, yeah, she got her dad to lean on the school board a bit.  It was the only way to keep the lunch lady ghost from coming back again.  She’d just kept attacking the school, over and over again, screaming about the stupid menu change.  Manson should be grateful, honestly.  It was her the ghost had it out for.  

But, yeah, the best way to keep the ghost away or not, she wasn’t eating the slop the school served if she had any other choice.  

“Says the girl who is so conceited she made the whole school eat her special menu.”

“Oh, snap,” said Tucker.  Was that drool on his lip?  

Men were dogs.  Seriously.  Ick.  

“Anyway,” she said, turning back to her target.  “Danny.  I can call you Danny, right?”

“Um, it is my name?”

“Right, so, I heard your parents are scientists.  Inventors.”

“Y-yeah.  They– Yeah.”

God.  And people like this wondered why they weren’t popular.  Try and string two words together.  Give her something to work with.  

“And they're investigating that meat monster that kept attacking the school.”

“They are!  They're really, I mean.  That whole thing was, it was pretty bizarre, wasn't it?”

“Yeah.  Sure.  So, I was wondering if you could maybe show me what they do sometime?  Their inventions and stuff?  Maybe this afternoon?”

“I– Well, I don't know, they've been really busy, this month, ever since the portal came on, and– Ow!  Sam!”

“Don't fall for it, Danny, she's just doing the ‘meet me behind the bleachers and then the whole cheer squad will be there to mock you when you show up’ thing, but with more steps.”

“Wow, suspicious much?”

And she might as well be.  April DeLongpre, who had been the middle school cheer captain two years ago, had done exactly that to her, and now the whole school knew Manson was a lesbian.  Except for maybe her two clueless friends.  

She turned her attention back to clueless one and batted her eyelashes.  “Please?  It would make me feel a lot better if I could see what they were doing.  That meat monster was super freaky.”

“I- I guess.  You might not be able to see their lab, though, they've been trying to, um, sort some things out down there.  It isn't really safe.”

Paulina already knew that.  As far as she was concerned, it was a death trap.  Literally.  But Star was right.  She needed something that could actually make ghosts go away, and the Fentons were the only game in town.  Despite what happened with her hands in ‘ghost form,’ her nails weren't made for fighting.  

Whatever.  Once she got there and got him alone, she could pressure him into basically whatever.  His interactions with Dash already showed that he had no spine. 

“Thanks.  I'll see you after school, then?  On the corner?”  That was far enough away from the school proper that at least the bus kids wouldn't see them.  “You have that scooter, right?”  She’d seen him on a skateboard too, but he’d been wiping out at the time, so she doubted it was his ride to school.

“Actually, Jazz has been driving me,” said Danny.  “She started worrying, after, well, you know.”  He shrugged with one shoulder.  “She should be okay with bringing you, too.”

Bleh.  Jazz Fenton.  The girl wasn’t as bad as Danny.  She was pretty, edging into beautiful, and Dash totally had a crush on her.  Still.  She was so preppy and peppy it even put Star off.  She was, like, an alien or something.  

“That’s… cool,” she said.  

“And, um, we carpool with Tucker, too.”

Great.  Well, she could cope with being drooled over for one car ride.  She’d take a cab home.  

“Sounds like a date,” she said, giving Fenton another winning smile.  

“Oh!  Um, yeah!  A- a date!  I’ll see you then, Paulina.”

Gag.  

“See you then.”

Paulina couldn’t scoot off the bench fast enough.  Hopefully Star and Valerie were letting everyone know about ‘the plan’ to seduce and dump Fenton, because, otherwise, her popularity would definitely take a hit.  

.

The car ride was just as agonizing as she’d imagined, with Foley’s staring, Danny’s downright painful, stuttering attempts at flirting, and Jazz trying to psychoanalyze all of them.  As if she could understand any of what Paulina was going through.  

But then Tucker was dropped off and Jazz disappeared into the house, leaving Paulina and Danny standing on the front lawn.  

“Yeah, so, it’s a bit much, but do you want to go in?” asked Danny.  

Paulina gave him a sharp look, and he looked away.  So what if she was a bit hesitant about going somewhere she’d been killed?  That was her business, wasn’t it?

“Yeah, let’s go,” she said. 

Danny nodded and dashed up the steps.  “The living room is just off of here.”

“What about the lab?” she asked.  

“Well, like I said, my parents are pretty busy…”

What, and he didn’t want her to see them?  The whole town knew what they were like.  Annoying.  “It’s just… after everything that happened the past month, I’d just really feel better if I knew there was someone working on things, you know?”

“I…”  Danny was visibly wavering.  

“Please?  Show me the lab?  I’ll be really careful and quiet.  They won’t even know I’m there.”

“I– Okay.  But it’s not their fault, really.  They didn’t mean to make it so things could pass through it.”

“What are you talking about?”

Danny made a face.  “It’s easier to show you.  But first…”  He reached into his pocket and pulled out… a tube of lipstick.  

Huh.  Dash always called Fenton girly, but she’d never seen him wear makeup.  

“This is just a precaution,” he said, holding it out in front of him like it was loaded.  

“The lipstick?” asked Paulina, skeptically.  

“The lipstick laser.  The lipstick tube is just the casing, so you can carry it around.”

Yeah, Paulina would believe that when she saw it.  

Fenton then turned into the kitchen and went straight to the big metal door.  He braced himself before opening it, as if he expected an explosion.  There wasn’t one.  The only noise coming from below was the buzzing hum of the thing.  

Not that Paulina was going to bring that up.  

“Huh,” said Danny.  “I guess they must be out.  Okay.  So, um, if I say to run, then you’ve got to run, okay?”

“What, are you expecting something to explode down there?”  It wasn’t an out-of-nowhere question, based on what she’d seen when they were down here before.  

“Not exactly,” he said.  

He went down the stairs.  Paulina followed.  

It was empty down there.  That’s all Paulina registered before her attention was grabbed by the thing.  It was just as sinister and gaudy as she remembered it.  A goth punk’s dream.  Her nightmare.  

“So, uh, this is the portal.”

“The portal,” she said.  “That’s what it was.”  

“Yeah.  The portal.  The, um, the ghost portal.  That spews ghosts.  Hence the lasers.  They didn’t mean to.  They wanted it to be a window, or something.  Like, they could look at ghosts through it, but they wouldn’t be able to come through?  But the thing turned on in the middle of the night all on its own, without any of their safeguards - not that there were all that many of those - so now it’s more of a door.  To hell, apparently.”

“Wait, wait, wait, you think that meat monster thing came through here?”

“Yeah, probably,” said Danny.  He sounded exhausted.  

“Then why don’t they turn it off?  Jesus.”

“They tried.  Like I said, no safeguards.  It sucks so much to sleep near this.  You wouldn’t believe it.”  He rubbed his eyes.  “I hate this, truly.”

“So, it could keep… doing this?  More could come through?  Have more come through?”  She didn’t have to feign fear at this.  She had plenty of it to spare.  

“Yeah, probably.”

“But your parents are doing something about it, right?  Finding a way to close it, building weapons, that kind of thing?”

“Yeah, they’re building weapons, capture devices, that kind of thing…”

“Do you think… are there any that I could… have?”

“I mean, they’ve got some things for sale… But those aren’t the ones that work, right now.  Some of their theories were off.  Don’t buy the ghost gabber, for all that’s holy.”

“But there are things that work?”

“Yeah, but they’re prototypes.  Design stage stuff.”

“Could I maybe take one of those?”

“One of the prototypes?  Um.  No.  That’s– Those aren’t mine to give away.  Those’re my parents’.”

“Oh, come on, they’re not going to notice!”

“Trust me, the lab might look like a mess, but they’d notice.”

“But what if one of these ghosts comes after me?  Like, your dad’s a big guy, and doesn’t your mom do martial arts?”  That was one of the things he’d mentioned on that car ride.

“I mean, yeah…  But they’ll be really upset if they notice something’s gone.  They work really, really hard on these things.”

“More upset than me, if I run into a ghost?  I’m just asking for something for self defense.”

“I– Okay.  But, um.  But.  I think.  Maybe.  Um.”  He turned bright pink.  “I’m taking a big risk, here.  So maybe.  Maybe you could come to the– the fall dance with me?”

“What.”

“Just the dance!  If you don’t like it, you don’t, um.  You don’t have to go out with me again.  It’s just the dance.  As, like, an exchange of favors.”

“Fine,” said Paulina.  Danny beamed.  “But you’d better give me something good.”  Or else she was doing the ditch at the dance.

“I will!  But self-defense only.  Small stuff.  The bigger guns can seriously hurt people, and can hurt you, too, if you don’t know how to use them.  And you have to practice with all of these.  They’re weapons, not toys.”

It was better than no stuff.  And she could work up to big stuff later.  

Danny pressed the ‘lipstick laser’ into Paulina’s hand.  “Don’t go showing this off.  My parents will kill me if they know I gave it away.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling.  Is there, like, anything else?”

“I…”

“Please, Danny, you’re my only hope here.”

“I… fine.  Fine.”  He looked around the room, hands on his hips.  “Okay.”  He strode over to the table and picked up something that looked more like a thermos than anything else.  “I’m only giving you this because they’ve already gotten the second one in production.  This is the Fenton Thermos.  And, yeah, I know, we slap our name on everything, I get it.”

“And it does… what?  Keep your coffee hot?”

“It traps ghosts.  It’s actually pretty cool.  Dad caught these octopus ghost guys with it last week.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah!  It was one of the coolest things I’ve seen my dad do, honestly.  So, um.  Practice!  Let me show you how to use a lipstick!  Not that you don’t– I mean, obviously– I mean, a laser.  And a thermos.  Ghost thermos.  You get what I mean.”

“Yeah,” said Paulina.  “Just show me, okay?”

[fancyfeathers]

lol it'd be funnier if author!darling ACTUALLY disappears for a few days after marrying william. like the whole incident lol. also i can always see him wanting her to put more romance in her books. she'll probably relent, making messed up lovers who don't end up together out of spite. what i'm thinking is in "and then there were none" darling would be writing, dropping clues, hoping a certain someone (*cough* sherlock *cough*) would be able to piece things together soon

(Again for some reason @istgtumlrifyoudothisonemoretime your question is not showing up in my inbox, huh)

(Anyway a continuation of William with an author!darling)

But I have an idea with these…

During the engagement she writes two books, both with hidden clues within them for hopefully Sherlock to find. One of them is similar to the story of Veronica and JD from Heathers, which if you don’t know is kinda like Bonnie and Clyde but Veronica is almost forced into killing these people with him. So the first book is trying to tell of her current situation, forced into all of this and people are dying because of this. Since Heathers is set in an 80s high school, it would change to England high society, the aristocracy, to hint at what the Lord of Crime is doing. Then Veronica’s faking of ending herself would not be fake, she actually does it, hitting at what she would do if she cannot get out of there. But in the epilogue she would have a detective finding her body in an investigation, the detective’s name being an anagram for the name of Sherlock Holmes, perhaps something like Mr Celle Oshkosh, but not abbreviating Mr to hint at the fact that it is an anagram for the detective to find.

The second book would be very similar to And Then There Were None, but a few details would change. The dolls would be replaced with books, books with titles of her books which would point to the murders that happen in the real world, the ones that are based on her books. Then the judge/killer would be replaced with a professor to hint at it being William.

Now some of these hints William would pick up on, namely the ending of oneself in the the first book but not the hint in the epilogue, then the second book would have nothing William would not pick up on, after all it’s about him. He’s not upset about it actually, he’s almost flattered even, to be portrayed in on of her masterpieces, one of the best of her works. He would wait to read it until it has gone through her editor and gets published, reading it with a smile on his face and he would buy two copies, one of them for his shelves and the other to mark up and to make notes of the clues within.

But that aside, her intentions do not go forgiven, especially the last one in the first of her works.

So with that said he keeps her under constant watch and Louis takes the initiative to practically baby proof the house. When she has to be left alone she is kept in her room, not even able to write because of the fear she would stab herself with the pen or pencil.

But that was not her plan, at least not the killing herself fault…

Her plan to get them thinking that she is wanting to die before the wedding and once the wedding comes and she shares a room with William that the threat of her death is gone.

After the honeymoon is when her actual plan is sent into motion. William is off on a mission with most of the others but Louis and she had formed a bit of a friendship with her brother in law, but not without her own motivation. When they were at the market, she snags a few flowers, daffodils, flowers that seem harmless but if ingested can cause nausea, vomiting, and can even knock someone unconscious.

In the evening the two having tea after dinner and Louis’ mistake is letting her brew the tea because then he didn’t notice is her slipping the flower within. Within the hour Louis is sick, and slipping into unconsciousness, hot able to stop her as she snags the keys off of him…

When the others return in the morning they find Louis unconscious on the drawing room floor and front door locked, just to catch them off guard. They search for her but to no avail, no one has seen her, not even Scotland Yard or the neighbors have spotted her.

She has disappeared.

William goes back to her books, looking for clues and then he finally pays attention to the epilogue, the detective’s name is an anagram.

By this, she is already sitting in the drawing room of 221B Baker Street, watching the detective finally piece together the clues she left within her books.

[basil-does-arttt]

hold on wait a second i had a thought

in the DLC prolouge cutscene for DMC 5, when Vergil is in that stone passageway area, he says "its nearly time" (in reference to him splitting himself in half).

We know what day it happens, april 30th. The date is shown in Nero's flashback scene. This is of course assuming Vergil did all that on the same day, which i think is what happened. (He could open a portal to his house to travel, and why would he wait any longer and risk dying first?)

Anyway. Thats not my point, my point is: did he choose to do it on this day on purpose? Is this date special?

Im overanalyzing here so this may be a stretch, but: Could that be the day Eva died? Think about it. Him splitting himself was a "rebirth" of sorts: discarding his humanity to become a full demon in search of ultimate power.

Vergil being stabbed by those demons the day Eva died could also be counted as a kind of rebirthing for him: In the span of a few hours, he lost everything. His family, his life. And maybe even, his full humanity, as he gained his DT form in that moment too (shown by him having the same triggered-style eyes Dante uses when threatening V toward the start, also (half)triggered.) No longer was he a mere human boy, but now half a devil - the things that killed his family - too.

Knowing Vergil, it could make sense. In DMC 3 he's quite proper and a bit sentimental, much more so than Dante and i can see him caring more for these kinds of niche details in his life a lot more than Dante too. I also think he may have still been in that mindset when coming out of the Nelo Angelo body (however that happened), in a way that he hasnt really grown or matured while he was Nelo Angelo due to all the mind-fuckery performed thanks to Mundus.

(Could also be clarification for the reason Vergil still looks so young, quote "because of how much time he's spent in the underworld compared to Dante". He didnt live there, certainly not by choice. But he was captured and tortured by Mundus for 10 years. My thoughts is that he's technically still in his teenage body, as becoming Nelo Angelo and being in the underworld for so long thanks to Mundus halted (or at least very significantly slowed) the aging process. Time could move slower in hell but thats a rant for another time, ive gone off track.)

As such, him choosing such a special (traumatic) date to essential commit suicide on doesnt seem like much of a reach to me. Vergil has always been methodic. He doesn't do things hap-hazardly and never has, even as Nelo Angelo when he invites Dante outside to set up a proper fight rather than just taking the opportunity and attacking in the bedroom.

Of course you can argue it was coincidence, and he just stumbled across Nero by chance and decided to do it right then and there. He had to have found Nero first of all, figured out his plan of attack (probably so he wouldnt draw unwanted attention and possibly be stopped), then actually put it into motion. He couldnt exactly control the date Nero happened to be in the right place at the right time and gave him an opening. Im not trying to convince or anything, just sharing ideas, But wouldn't it just be so in character for april 30th to be a special date for him??

Overall i at least think the reason he chose to do it at the house was intentional for reasons stated above. If it wasnt, then why didn't he just... idk, find an alleyway or something and split himself there?

Those are my thoughts. Id love to hear other people's theories and such on this too.

(EDIT: I REALIZED THE MOMENT HE SPLITS HIMSELF ALSO PROBABLY HAPPENS AT A SPECIFIC TIME AS WELL, NAMELY 6:00 PM.

It mustve taken him some time to get back to the house. Not hours, but not seconds. 15 minutes seems like a good amount of travel time for someone who can teleport using portals alongside a bit of walking. If he got there early he could've just waited too.

A specific date, april 30th, and at (likely) exactly 6:00pm. In VOV while it is black and white, i assume the attack happened late into the evening, since the sky is dark when he gets back to the house a bit later. Idk how he would've known that it was exactly 6:00 but... anyway, Mundus also seems like the type of guy to plan shit, especially an attack like he did to Eva and the twins, if that whole "eva died on april 30th" thing was true.)