#look listen i just want them both to a) know the other is alive b) stick together and wreck some shit and c) live long happy lives thank u

[coryndoll]

routledge!reader x rafe, after big john comes back and finds out that both of his kids are dating the camerons, he gets mad, especially at his daughter, cause he thought that she wasn't thinking straight. After a few days, he throws a stupid comment about rafe when they were with the rest of the pogues and reader just snaps at him. pure angst now 🥰 she realises that he's never been a good father, only caring about treasures and yells that she wishes he never came back. Then goes to rafe, crying, for comfort 💕 (i love angst im sorry.)

hold me close

rafe cameron x routledge!reader

warnings: angst, swearing, a kiss, pretty safe !!

authors note: OKAY ik thats trevor n not rafe but erm, we’ll pretend bc that pic is what gives the energy for this oneshot. anyway hii, hope u guys enjoy this one. feel free to send any requests guys! n thank u for 1k followers yesterday. ilyasm <33

you sit in the backyard, the soft hum of cicadas filling the warm night air. the pogues are just behind you, laughing and talking in a huddle. it feels good to see them like this again—normal, for once, after everything.

after the chaos of the last year, of treasure hunts, betrayals, and close calls. you’ve always tried to stay out of it, letting john b and the others chase after the gold while you lived your life. but eventually, you couldn’t stay on the sidelines, not when rafe got involved, not when it became a matter of life and death.

it’s been hard, being stuck between two sides, torn between your brother and your boyfriend. but tonight, you just want peace.

you glance over at your dad, sitting a little ways away from the group, leaning back in his chair with a satisfied grin on his face. big john routledge—alive, after these three years. you still can’t believe it sometimes.

he looks different, a little more worn, a little rougher around the edges, but the way he carries himself hasn’t changed. he’s still larger than life, still full of stories, still your dad. and god, you missed him.

he catches your eye, and for a moment, it’s like nothing has changed. like you’re just a kid again, sitting with your dad, listening to him talk about his crazy ideas, his wild adventures.

“you know,” he starts, leaning forward, “i remember that time you and john b tried to catch that fish out by the dock, and you both fell in. i swear, i thought i was gonna have to drag you two out myself,” he says, chuckling to himself, shaking his head like the memory is some long-lost treasure of its own.

you smile, even though it feels a little bittersweet. “yeah,” you murmur under your breath.

you pull at a piece of grass by your feet, your fingers absentmindedly tearing at it. you’ve waited so long for this moment—for him to come back, for your family to feel whole again.

but now that he’s here, you don’t know what to do with it. you can’t shake the feeling that something’s changed, that he’s not just the dad you remember, but something else entirely. still, you can’t help but feel like the little girl who always looked up to him, who wanted nothing more than to make him proud.

“i never thought we’d see you again,” you mumble, your voice low, barely above a whisper. you don’t look up from the grass, your fingers still picking at the blades, but you can feel his gaze on you.

“i never thought i’d be back either,” he admits quietly. “but i couldn’t stop thinking about you two. every day out there . . . i thought about coming home.”

you scoff softly, a bitter smile pulling at your lips, even though you don’t mean for it to. “but you didn’t,” you say, barely above a whisper. “you didn’t come back for three years.”

he shifts in his seat, his fingers tapping against the arm of the chair. “it wasn’t that simple, y/n,” he says. “i was trying to protect you. there are dangerous people out there, people who want what we’re after. i couldn’t come back until i knew it was safe.”

you nod, but it’s a hollow gesture. you’ve heard it all before from other people—the excuses, the treasure, the danger. it always comes back to that.

you glance at your friends, laughing and sharing stories with each other. you’ve spent so long trying to push this life aside, to live outside of the mess of treasure hunts and betrayals. but it always pulls you back in.

“yeah, you always did put the treasure first,” you murmur as you face forward again. you’re not even sure if you mean to say it out loud. it’s more to yourself, just a thought that’s been living in the back of your mind for too long.

“don’t do that.” he leans forward, his voice soft, almost pleading. “i did it for you and john b,” he says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “for our family. i wanted us to have something—something big, something that would change everything.”

“yeah, but we didn’t need that,” you say, your voice small, but firm. you’re still pulling at the grass, twisting it around your fingers. “we just needed you.”

he doesn’t say anything for a moment. it’s like he’s trying to figure out what to say, but there’s nothing that can fix the years of distance. nothing that can make up for what you lost when he left.

there’s a long silence, and for a moment, you think maybe this is as close as you’ll ever get to understanding each other. you don’t want to fight tonight. you just want to sit with him, to pretend that things could go back to how they were before.

“so,” he starts again, his tone shifting back to playful, like he’s trying to lighten the mood, “you and john b teaming up with the others to chase down treasure? guess it runs in the family.”

you laugh, but it’s a little forced. “yeah, well, i tried to stay out of it. but . . .”

“but what?” he presses, leaning forward with a smirk. “got a little taste of adventure, didn’t you?”

you glance up at the marsh, a faint smile on your lips. “something like that,” you mutter.

but you don’t mention rafe, don’t mention how he’s become a part of this tangled mess, how hard it’s been being caught between him and your family. you’ve already told your dad the day you reunited a few days ago in barbados. didn’t end well that time either. you don’t want to ruin the moment, don’t want to start another fight.

but, as if the universe is reading your mind, your dad shifts the conversation in a way that makes your stomach drop. “just promise me,” he says, suddenly serious, “you won’t let that rafe cameron kid get too close. he’s no good, y/n.”

the words hit you like a slap, and for a moment, you just sit there, staring at him. it takes you a second to process what he’s said, to even understand the casual way he’s dismissed rafe, like it’s nothing. like he’s nothing.

“and i hear john b’s with sarah now, too?” his tone shifts, bitter and disapproving. “so now both of my kids are wrapped up with the camerons. hell of a choice you both made.”

you freeze, your stomach tightening. there it is. you knew it was coming, but it still hits you like a punch to the gut. it’s not the first time he’s made a comment about rafe, and you thought you were doing the right thing confessing what’s changed since you last saw him, but now he’s dragging john b into it, and that makes it worse. so much worse.

“dad,” you start, trying to keep your voice steady, but there’s an edge to it, a warning. “don’t.”

he shakes his head like you’ve said something ridiculous. “no, i am gonna say something. sarah, rafe, they’re cameron’s kids. ward cameron’s kids. you’re smart enough to know better than to get mixed up with people like him. they’re bad news. always have been.”

“yeah, but they’re not like him,” you snap, your voice sharper than you intended. “sarah’s not ward. rafe’s not ward. they’re not their father.”

he just laughs, but there’s no humor in it. it’s harsh. “you really believe that?” he asks, shaking his head again. “they’re camerons. it’s in their blood. you think you’re any safer with rafe than you were without me here? because i’m telling you right now, you’re not.”

you stand up, your hands balled into fists at your sides. you’ve heard enough. for days now, you’ve listened to him make little digs about rafe, about the camerons, and you’ve kept your mouth shut. but tonight, it’s too much. you can’t keep it in anymore.

“three years, dad. three years you were gone, chasing your stupid treasure, while we were stuck here. john b and i had to figure it out on our own. so don’t stand there and act like you have any right to tell me who i should or shouldn’t be with.”

big john looks at you, stunned, like he’s seeing you for the first time. but you’re not done. there’s too much you’ve kept bottled up, and now it’s all spilling out.

“you care more about that gold than you ever did about us,” you say. “you care more about treasure than you do about being a father. you don’t know anything.”

big john’s face hardens, his jaw clenching as he stares at you. “i know enough,” he says, his voice cold. “i know who the camerons are.”

“yeah?” you snap, your voice breaking. “well, maybe if you’d been here, you’d actually know something about me too.”

you turn on your heel, ready to storm off, but the moment you move, you notice it.

the pogues are silent now, all of them watching. sarah, jj, pope, kie—they’re still, their conversations dropped as they stand there, wide-eyed and uneasy. john b, though, he’s just sitting there with his can of beer held low in his hands, lips pressed together. you can tell he’s heard it all before. he’s not going to step in because he knows you need to let it out.

you’re just done with it. you take a step forward, ready to leave this backyard and the suffocating tension behind. but something stops you, a feeling gnawing at your chest, pulling you back. you hesitate, turning just enough to glance at your dad over your shoulder.

he’s still staring at you, his expression set like stone, as if he’s waiting for you to say more, to take it all back, maybe. but you won’t. not now.

your voice wavers, but it’s steady enough. “i wish you never came back.”

his face doesn’t move, but something flickers in his eyes. you don’t wait for him to respond. you turn away for good this time and walk out, leaving the backyard behind.

before you know it, you’re at rafe’s house, your knuckles rapping against the door almost frantically. you pace, glancing down at your phone, watching as the notifications keep coming—texts from john b, a few from kie, and even jj. they're all asking the same thing: ‘ where are you? ’ or ‘ are you okay? ’

you drag your hand down your face, trying to ignore the tightness in your chest. before you can get lost in your thoughts, the door swings open, and there he is.

rafe stands in the doorway, his expression unreadable. he leans against the doorframe for a second, his lips slightly parted, taking you in. you know he’s already pieced together what’s happened from the voice messages you left on the way over. not that he’s the type to acknowledge it with some grand gesture or comforting words.

he doesn’t say anything, but he steps aside without much ceremony. you slip past him and leave your phone in the foyer, tossing it carelessly on the side table as you pass, the pinging of messages finally fading into the background.

you make your way down the hallway, not even sure where you’re going, but your feet carry you to the living room. rafe follows close behind, his presence looming, but not overbearing. his eyes are trained on you, watching as you take in the dimly lit room. there’s a bottle of whiskey sitting on the coffee table, a glass next to it, already finished. it’s so rafe—quiet, controlled chaos.

you stop, your breath shaky, your chest tight, and before you can hold it back, everything comes spilling out.

“he doesn’t get it, rafe. he just doesn’t fucking get anything,” you start, your voice louder than you intend. you turn to face him, your hands gesturing wildly as you try to make sense of the mess of emotions coursing through you. “i mean, he’s been gone for years, and he comes back, and suddenly he thinks he can just . . . control everything? like he gets to have an opinion about my life after everything he’s done. he doesn't even know me anymore.”

rafes eyes are fixed on you, and he’s listening, letting you get it out. his jaw twitches slightly, but he stays silent, just watching as you unravel in front of him.

“and it’s like . . . it’s like no matter what i do, no matter how hard i try, it’s never enough! not for him, not for john b, not for anyone!” your voice cracks, and you press your palms against your temples, trying to hold yourself together, but the tears are already brimming, threatening to spill over. “i didn’t ask for any of this. i didn’t ask to be stuck in the middle of all this shit with my family and you and . . . god, it’s too much.”

you turn away from him, your breath coming out in shallow gasps now as you try to steady yourself. but it’s no use. you’re falling apart, and it feels like the weight of everything is finally crushing you.

before you can say another word, rafe steps forward, his arms sliding around you in one swift motion. “alright, alright, c’mere,” he murmurs, his voice soft but firm. “c’mon.”

you collapse into him, burying your face into his chest, the tears coming freely now. he holds you tight, his chin resting lightly against the top of your head as his hand rubs slow circles on your back.

rafe’s not one for words, and you don’t expect him to be, but this—this is enough. the steady rise and fall of his chest, the way his arms keep you grounded, it’s enough to make the world stop spinning for just a moment.

you don’t say anything else. neither does he. the silence stretches on, but it’s not uncomfortable. for once, you feel like you can breathe.

even though he’s holding you, his mind seems elsewhere—his jaw clenched, muscles rigid beneath the surface. it’s not hard to guess where his thoughts have drifted, especially after everything you told him in those voice messages.

you can tell he’s upset. not just because you’re upset, but because of what your dad said—about him, about his family. his body is stiff as he holds you, and you know him well enough to see the silent anger simmering just beneath the surface. his eyes aren’t on you; they’re somewhere distant, staring past you as if he’s imagining your father’s words in his head.

“i’m sorry about what he said, rafe,” you whisper into his chest, feeling the way his breathing shifts, more shallow now, controlled. “he said something about sarah and john b, too.”

he doesn’t respond right away, but you feel his hand pause against your back, fingers pressing a little harder. for a moment, it feels like he might pull away, but instead, he just tightens his grip on you. his silence speaks volumes. rafe is the type to internalize everything, to let it fester until it boils over, but you can feel it now—the tension thrumming through his entire body.

“doesn’t matter,” he finally mutters, though you can tell by the way his voice is low, that it does. “it’s nothing i haven’t heard before.”

you pull back slightly, just enough to look up at him, and his eyes flick down to meet yours. they’re darker than usual, clouded with frustration, but he still tries to soften his expression for you.

“he doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” you say quietly. “he doesn’t know you.”

for a moment, neither of you speaks. rafe’s hand resumes its slow, steady motion against your back, though the tension hasn’t fully left his body. you can feel the war going on inside him—the part of him that’s angry, defensive, but also the part that’s trying to be here for you, to let go of his own frustration long enough to comfort you.

“fuck him,” rafe mutters after a long silence, his voice barely above a whisper. “he doesn’t get to talk about you like that. or me.”

there’s a dangerous edge to his voice now, but you know it’s not directed at you. he’s angry, not just at your dad, but at the situation—the impossible mess you’ve both found yourselves in, caught between your family and his.

“i don’t care what he thinks,” you murmur, holding onto him tighter. “i’m here with you. that’s all that matters.”

he doesn’t respond, but his hand moves to the back of your neck, his fingers curling gently into your hair as he exhales, long and slow, like he’s finally letting go of whatever was eating at him.

for the first time tonight, the room feels quiet as the two of you stand there, wrapped in each other’s arms.

you’re gazing up into his eyes, searching for something—comfort, understanding, maybe a little reassurance. your hands find their way up his shoulders, one resting gently on his collarbone while the other slides higher, rubbing the area around his ear and jaw.

“you know that i love you,” you murmur, your voice soft but steady, as if the confession can dissolve the tension still hanging in the air.

rafe stares down at you, and in that moment, you can see everything in his eyes. he’s never loved anyone more than he loves you—the way you stood your ground against your own dad tonight, defending yourself and defending him and his family. it’s a vulnerable space, one he doesn’t often let himself occupy, but with you, it feels different.

he nods, pressing his lips together as if trying to hold back a flood of emotion. then, with a sudden urgency, he leans down and kisses you deeply. the taste of whiskey lingers on his lips. it’s a kiss that speaks of everything unspoken.

but just as quickly as it begins, he pulls away and presses a soft kiss to your cheek. you close your eyes into the gesture, feeling the warmth of his lips linger against your skin.

rafe goes back to resting his chin on your head, his breath steady as he holds you close again. you breathe in his familiar scent, a mix of sea salt and something distinctly rafe, and let the silence wrap around you like a comforting blanket.

in this moment, nothing else matters. not the fights, not your dad’s harsh words, not the stupid tangled web of family and expectations.

just you and him, together, holding onto each other for as long as you can.

[angelbarelywrites]

♡ good one | thomas hewitt x reader

♡ fandoms; Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 + 2006)

♡ characters; Thomas Brown Hewitt

♡ reader; gender neutral

♡ cw; references to extreme violence, stockholm syndrome i suppose?, kidnapping

♡ notes; this was literally supposed to be porn but instead here’s some weird sappy stuff lol

anyways hopefully more fics soon, writers block and rehearsals have been a bitch and a half

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

It was a wonder you were still alive. That’s what you thought about, sitting and fidgeting in the strange bedroom with your ankle shackled. Was shackled the right word if it was tied with rope? Whatever. It didn’t matter. You were fairly certain you’d fall prey to the crazy folks running around the place soon enough. The group you’d hitched a ride with was already long gone- one you’d watched get shot point blank by the bullshit sheriff. The others….well, you heard the chainsaw and the screaming. It was an easy conclusion to come to, especially after you saw the bloody smears on the hardwood downstairs.

You weren’t sure why you hadn’t been hacked into bits yet. You’d been indistinguishable from the others- just another wandering twenty-something with tight clothes and next to no money. The only thing you could think of was that gas station. Your companions had been such dicks to the lady at the counter- of course you apologized to her. She’d been just as kind in return, she even snuck a candy into your bag of sodas and snacks. She was the one who’d sent you that way, towards the farm house.

You stilled, train of thought lost as you heard footsteps. Heavy and slow- they were somehow more intimidating than any angry stomping could have been. You curled your legs up defensively, eyes trained on the door. The person stood there more than a second, silent and just as still as you were holding. If you hadn’t been listening so intently, you would have thought they turned and walked away. But then there was some quiet mumbling- a woman’s voice, maybe?- and the door creaked open.

“Go on Tommy dear- I found a good one for you.”

You’d never seen a man so tall- with shoulders so broad or arms and torso so solid. He was massive. He was terrifying. And he was attractive. Once your eyes unglued themselves from his figure you finally took in the rest. Dark, thick shoulder-length waves. A mask that seemed useless as any sort of medical device thanks to the open mouth. Eyes that were dark but not brown. Maybe blue, maybe gray..maybe just pure black. Like a shark’s. In other circumstances you'd be reduced to a puddle on floor over him. But the bloodstains on his shirt didn’t go unnoticed.

You watched him closely, and he watched you just as alertly, stalking forward like some jungle cat…No. Wait. That wasn’t right. He didn’t look scared, but he was cautious, keeping some distance. Maybe a better allegory would be he looked like he was trying to corner a feral kitten- not wanting you to swipe or dart away. As if doing either was possible. You were frozen with fear, though found the courage to lean back a bit as he stepped forward. He grunted softly and persisted, nearly trembling as he brushed a strand of hair from your face.

Love at first sight was a stupid fucking concept. That you’d always believe. Maybe something in you just broke that same moment, maybe you were just too exhausted to think even close to straight. Maybe both. But when you and this massive man locked eyes, there was an instant understanding. He was already yours- and more importantly, you’d be his. He just had to stake his claim.

“…you’re Tommy?” You practically whispered. He nodded quickly. You got a sense he didn’t speak much, but you told him your name in return and tried to think of anything to talk about to stall the inevitable. “…you killed those people?” You blurted for some godforsaken reason. He tensed, still hovering over you. “It’s okay.” You added quickly “I didn’t actually know them. They were kinda mean.”

He furrowed his brow just a bit and searched your face, for any signs that you were lying. Before he came to a conclusion, you gave a soft sigh, instinctively leaning into the hand that had raised your face to him. Something immediately softened about him, and he rubbed your cheek in awe. The sleepy giggle it caused seemed almost to startle him. It was like no one had ever been that soft with him. Maybe they hadn’t. “….this is your room right? Can we sleep?”

Tommy still seemed in shock but carefully nodded, undoing his apron and seeming at a loss of what to do next. He frowned a bit as he noticed your bindings and quickly undid the knot that kept you stuck there. His guard was down- you could try to run. But you didn’t want to. Doing so would only be tiring. You wanted to let go. So instead you smiled softly and simply opened your arms, letting him cuddle up with you. It took him a minute to get settled, and all the while treating you so delicately… like you were made of glass. He looked up at you, again searching your face in near confusion. He grunted in surprise as you pecked his forehead. His mama really did find him a good one.

[reirasheadcanons]

UPPER MOONS X READER (ONESHOT)

Featuring: Akaza, Douma, Kokushibo

Cw: none, just some cute headcanons, English isn't my first language, so I apologise if I make any mistakes.

Hope you enjoy!!

note: mention of having a family, kinks and alone time.

Akaza:

He is awkward towards any women expect you. He believes you both get along very well which is the only thing that matters to him. He have never told you that, but sometimes he is dreaming of you both having a family.

He enjoys giving you gifts of any kind. "Hey doll, do you want me to bring you anything when I get back?" "A-akaza you don't hav-" "I'll bring you something, see you later."

He has a lot of trust issues that's why he ALWAYS gets you together in missions (even if a hashira is around).

It may sound stupid, but he truly believes in love at first sight. So basically when you first caught his attention, he wanted you. "Do you love me?" "Of course I do! Are you dumb?" "Looks who's talking, you are really getting ahead of yourself, aren't you love?"

Once you told him Douma scares you, it was the last time Douma has heard of you. (Akaza was really proud of himself for that).

Even though he is a demon, he doesn't want to give you the impression that he ACTUALLY eats humans. (he starves himself when you are around).

Douma:

He is a psychopath and you know it. "When I get back from my temple, want to go outside and haunt people?!?" "Douma I don't want to." "B-but I-" "No." Your answer was clear. "Fineee only because it's you 😊"

"Hey, hey y/n! Lord Kibutsuji told me I did good!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??" One answer, you couldn't. He always gets excited when he gets praised. "Good job Douma, good job." You pat his head sweetly. From now on, he is the happiest demon alive.

He hated when you talked about other upper moons in front of him. "Douma, isn't lord Kokushibo so cool?" Silence. "Aren't I cool enough for you y/n?" You knew that attitude. He was being jealous. And you knew that Douma being jealous isn't the best thing.

Other than that, your boyfriend had a very weird and unusual kink. He loved painting your nails for you. Red, blue, yellow, it doesn't matter. As long as his darling is satisfied.

In your alone time, he enjoys hugging you. You can't say no to him. You know he won't listen. He wants for himself. He is the only one who can claim you. What a man huh.

Once, he saw you hanging out with Akaza and he quickly joined. Sometimes you say to yourself that it's better without him.

Kokushibo:

Something about this man drives you crazy. His eyes, his scent, his aura.. and yeah. You eventually found out that he accepted Douma's offer and he stared wearing perfume. You teased him A LOT when you found out.

As lord Muzan's favourite upper moon, he has to stay in missions more than usual. He always knew how to pay back for that. Gifts, dresses, food. Everything to satisfy your needs and to win your heart. "Moonlight, I brought you this dress do you like it?" Of course you did.

He had a really ward time to talk/communicate with the other upper moons, which really caused you anxiety. "'Shibo, do you get along with the others?" Silence. "I do." "No you don't", "I do.", "No.", 'Yes." That kept going for a while.. You knew he was trying really hard to talk with them. You also knew he hated it when they stared at you.

When the other upper moons found out about your relationship with Kokushibo, you were in serious danger. Although lord Kibutsuji didn't even paid attention to it, the others did. You decided to stay away from them and only wait in Kokushibo's temple. As it's normal for a human, the infinity caste scared you a lot.

It is believed that Kokushibo is a really tough demon. When it comes to his nightmares he isn't the same. He once saw his twin brother on his sleep, something that caused tears in his eyes. You didn't know much. You only knew his name was Yorrichi. After all, you weren't even allowed to call out that name. You stayed close to him, hugging him, telling his it's going to be alright. He was so glad to have you.

He was really insecure of his looks. And that's the main reason why he didn't want to be seen with you. A goddess like you, with a monster.. what could the world think? It didn't matter to you. He was yours and you accepted him.

HOPE YALL ENJOYED IT! I APOLOGISE IF IT'S TOO SHORT!! SEE YOU NEXT TIME<3

[lunaralight09]

Hey! based on the recent 096 thing,, what if you were immortal/immune to abnormal affects/effects? How would SCPs (such as 096, 106, 173, 049, and 035) react?

035

They both like and hate it. I mean if something happens to the host when they're near you, you'll just straight up put them on your face which WILL(probably) result to your death. And they do not want that to happen. And the bad thing... they can't read your mind properly(I mean they're probably interested and invested about what's happening in others life. It's the only good entertainment they can get in here).

Other than that, it's going to just adore you and your immunity to it. Like there weren't anyone who could look at it and not fall for their charm(manipulations), but look at you. Standing there alive and it's not even mad at you! Because it cares about you.

049

Oh it's not really a surprise to him, since there were and are some people that aren't afflicted with the pestilence(aren't dead from his touch). And he doesn't even need to lecture his cured patients about hurting you. They are always so docile with you, not getting rowdy. How convenient.

Before anything he does NOT want you to interact with many people(at all), since... what if they infect you? He won't like to see that, knowing that you're suffering from that wretched disease. But he can't exactly make you stay with him forever. He will hint and/or outright say that you need to stay away from certain people, however it's you decision to listen or not listen. You can make your own decisions. Even if that makes Doctor uncomfortable... with those 'intrusive' thoughts.

096

They are the calmest they have been in their entire existence, while someone looks at their face that is. And that does bring them some sort of comfort knowing that YOU of all creatures aren't going to die from their hands(unless some sort of accident happenS- WHO SAID THAT). The hands that killed too many.

And from those thoughts, the clinging begins. Knowing that you're 100% safe from being mutilated and turned into chunks of meat, they would want to spend a bit more time with you. Following, sitting or laying near you, anything. They are going to love it. The idea of listening to your heartbeat as a comfort thing is perfect for them. Whether they lay on you or you lay or rest on them(just don't forget to breathe).

106

Well That's not interesting(for him). His sadistic side fucking hates it. On one hand he can just grab you and squeeze your neck until you stop moving. But on other hand he (likes)tolerates you enough to not do it. Even if everything in his body tells him to fucking do it. Watch as your little life is slowly taken away from your desperate hands.

He'll more often than not will mostly ignore your presence. Especially if in a room/hallway there's a person(really hurt, showing it or 10-25 year old) and YOU, he'll always choose to go after the first option. And there's a possibility that he bumps into you, it's probably not intentional(i mean do you expect this corpse to walk straight and not bump and hit into things/people?)

173

(173 doesn't really have anomalous effects somewhat similar to other 4. But the best i can go is this):

Having 173 practically ignoring your existence and still moving while you look is.. good? Well for you, that is. You can't help anyone else, it's just a cold lie that you can look while they try to get away or clean the cell.

If you want to know it's thoughts about it. Well I mean it's not often that it has any thoughts(Literally head empty). Thoughts that usually appear are how it's next target's face going to look like as they're getting closer and closer. Oh and how their 'resting' face is going to look like.

Going back to your immunity, it knows, kinda acknowledge your existence in it's own weird way. Like it won't push you and just go a different path if you're blocking- let's say a door way. Or if you want to help some poor soul from dying, by just standing in the corner and that person being behind you. And surprise, surprise 173 looses it's interest entirely. How thoughtful of it.

[morwap]

𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐆𝐈𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐍?

micheal afton x fem!reader

sfw wishing it was halloween so this could be halloween themed but oh well,

nav • m.a m.list • series master list

swearing, a kiss, in the same timeline as my other fic, evan and elizabeth are very much alive, readers in a band, micheal has a nose piercing, micheal afton with a mullet, b/n = brothers name, sneaking into the pizzeria. drinking, stealing, playboy magazine, random names

───────✧ 𓆩♡𓆪 ✧───────

Michaels's fingers drummed on the steering wheel, the music flowing from the speakers quietly but loud enough that he could enjoy it. the lights from the convenience store lit up his facial features as he waited on his friends. the summer heat was giving him a reminder of how hot it would be in his father's pizzaria, just the thought or mention of it made him groan and this constant reminder was not helping him in the slightest.

Michaels's eyes drifted around his truck, locking his eyes on the cd of your own music you had given him when you both were walking home from the two nice ladies' diner. lips turning up slowly into a soft smile, tempted to put it and listen but knowing his friends would be back any minute and he washed the thought out of his head, he could listen after dropping them off later.

laugher broke out into the summer air causing Michael to look up, watching his friends walk out with smiles. sighed as he could already pinpoint almost everything they had stolen—honestly shocked that no one called them out for it because they were awful at hiding it, you could practically see a bottle of alcohol in the front of Steven’s pants.

“Mikey I got your favorite” Jeremy snickered as he got into the small back seat, Steven got in after with the same smirk that Jeremy had. Michael shook his head but smiled as he started to pull out. Michael had gotten in trouble last time for coming home drunk by his mom, he could barely remember anything from that except the “you’re 18 and live under my roof and you will not be coming home drunk” lecture and he really didn't want to hear it again.

“Oh! I got you this, thought it looked like your girl” steven said, smacking the gum in his mouth as he pulled the dirty magazine from where he tucked it in the waistband of his pants and handed it to Michael.

“Shut the fuck up, she’s not my girl” Michael scoffed, glancing at the magazine, yes it did look like you but it was not you. steven mumbled a jokey “whatever” while Jeremy threw his hands up with a shrug when michael looked back at him. Michael tossed the magazine to the floor on the passenger side, but it took every ounce of self-control he had to not keep glancing at it.

“Mikey- man- we should drink at Freddy's,” Steven said, he looked back at Jeremy and the boy nodded, Michael sighed and let his head roll back onto the headrest.

“You know my dad would kill me if he found out,” Michael said, stopping at a red light.

“Cmon mike, we’re going away for college after this summer, let’s have fun and I know there's no alarm, just mega fuckin’ locks,” Steven said, taking the alcohol out of his pants and passing them back to Jeremy.

“Mira’s at the mall with y/n and kim, let’s invite them” Jeremy suggested, sitting the alcohol in the seat next to him carefully. Michael thought it over in his head, it wasn’t a bad idea but if William found out he would probably rip the piercing right out of his nose, if it didn’t he would have a great time and he knew of a way to get in without a key but this could be the last time to do this till his dad hired the security guard that he was talking about at dinner.

“Okay, okay” Michael gave in, putting his blinker on.

“maybe Kim will have weed” steven mentioned, lifting his brows.

“Probably not, her mom caught her with it right after graduation. I’ve heard her moms checking everything when she gets home and saying she won’t stop till she moves out” Jeremy sighed.

-

mira was digging through her bag as you sat on the concrete. a bubble gum sucker in your mouth, kim sat next to you and counted the money that was in her wallet.

“wow kim you really cut down on your shopping addiction” you joked and nudged her arm. kim laughed softly.

“saving up to move out” kim said, zipping up her wallet and tossing it into her small bag.

“no college?” you asked, tossing the lollipop stick onto the ground.

“don’t think it’s for me if I'm being honest, I like it here and the only college I would want to go to is out of state,” she confessed. you nodded as if you understood, but you didn’t, you wanted out of this shitty small town in the most shitty state. you wanted to get far far away and sometimes you hoped some magical person would come sweep you off your feet and save you.

“you look at any apartments?” you asked, you looked behind you at mira and she was still looking for something then you looked at kim.

“yeah, a few, there's this really cute one i looked at but it's a bit pricey” she answered with a shrug.

it was getting dark, you all came to the mall after the rush hour, not wanting to wait in lines and since it was summer everyone was there, it was the only thing to do in a town in the middle of nowhere and this was the only thing for everyone to enjoy.

music blared and you could see the signature red truck coming your way. Michael Afton and his friends, you knew Ben wasn’t with them since he was at your grandma's house three hours away helping your other aunt to move in and take care of her.

mira walked over to you and kim after finally finding her keys and wallet, she laughed as they pulled up.

it was weird how you all were connected, you all gravitated towards each other without even knowing people you all were close to had some type of connection with the other, until you all finally made the connections, jeremy was dating mira’s step brother and kim was in a relationship with michaels cousin macy while ben was on and off with steven’s sister.

michael rolled down his window and jeremy popped his head out from between the seats.

mira rolled her eyes playfully. “knew I shouldn't have told you where we were going” she laughed.

“what’s wrong with wanting to see my best friends in the world?” Jeremy acted offended. “we’re here to give you something fun to do in the town of hurricane, i think you should be begging to come with us” he added.

you laughed and looked up at mira.

“why not” you said, getting up of the concrete then helping kim up.

“meet us at freddys” steven yelled as michael started to roll his window up, mira shouted an okay before hitting the unlock button on her keys.

“that freaky animatronic place?” kim asked as you three started walking to miras car.

“maybe it will be spooky” you said, moving your fingers and making ghost sounds before getting into the car. kim laughed and rolled her eyes.

driving there didn’t take too long, the mall was a bit away from it since they wanted to put it somewhere that made it accessible for most of the town. it was fully dark out and street lights were already on.

mira parked where michael's truck was, a little ways from the pizzeria.

“about time you guys showed up” steven said as you three walked to them.

“don’t they have cameras here” you asked, the breeze gave you a chill.

“My dad took the old ones out since they kept messing up and ordered new ones so we’re good with cameras,” Michael said, easing your nerves.

“okay then why’d we have to park in the mud, its caked on my shoes, '' Kim complained.

“because my dad drives by here on his way home from my uncles” michael huffed, and walked to a spot where he could pull off the vent cover with ease.

“wait we have to crawl through that?” mira asked in disgust, jeremy rolled his eyes. “there's probably bugs in there” she added.

“is a little bug gonna stop you from a date with mr.vodka and ms.beer?” jeremy asked in a baby voice, taking out the alcohol out from the bag that sat on the ground beside him.

thankfully michael had the rest of the cups he bought for jeremy's birthday party in march in his truck, and they had stolen some pineapple juice earlier.

“well i didn’t know alcohol was involved” Mira said and got closer to the vent.

“of course alcohol was involved, we said something fun to do, not that a miracle would happen” Michael said with a breathy laugh. mira laughed and mumbled something about him being right.

“alright, this leads to parts and service and nothing blocks this duct so we should be able to get in and out easily, plus it’s not very long and it’s pretty big so no one has to worry about claustrophobia” Michael informed everyone.

you all stood in silence and looked around at each other. Michael huffed, “okay i’ll go first” he said before getting on his knees and crawled into the vent.

Michael made it inside and turned on the light before yelling for the next person.

Michael yelled out again to bring the alcohol so the last person didn’t have to worry about it.

“y/n do it with me” Mira begged, her hands clasped together.

“okay” you said, dragging out the ‘ay’ as you grabbed the bag and slid it into the vent then go in after.

you pushed the bag as you crawled, mira knew you were safe to go in with since she knew jeremy or kim would joke and say something about a bug and freak her out.

Michael helped you up then took the alcohol, you helped mira and she brushed off her clothes.

“see no bugs” Michael said with a sly smile.

“yeah see mira, Michael was the only bug you had to worry about” you quipped and shrugged your shoulders.

Michael booed you as he left the room.

-

soon you all gathered in a private party room so no one would see the lights, you all took your pick on what alcohol you wanted.

“y/n come take a shot with me” steven said loudly.

you were two shots in and took three tiny sips of mira’s vodka and pineapple drink, you guys worked with what you had and you all were lucky Michael was able to get some sodas from the vending machine.

steven poured the shots and opened a coke for a chaser. He handed it to you and started to count. your face scrunched as you swallowed and he took a sip of the coke then handed it to you.

“that was foul” you groaned and shook your head. steven nodded then took another sip from the coke.

you migrated back to mira, she was on her first beer after he vodka drink, you noted that kim took minimal sips of the one beer she had carried around the entire time, you also decided to only sip on a beer and you were barely buzzed.

-

you didn’t know how you and Michael had gotten away from everyone else but you did.

“not drinking much today mikey?” you asked, leaning on a wall next to where he was standing. you knew Michael liked to drink, you even saw him shitfaced at stevens little get together in october. you remembered how you two bickered even when he was drunk.

“someones gotta drive you know” he said, you nodded and took another sip.

“kims also holding back drinking for the same reason then?” you asked, you looked at him, his blue eyes returned the gaze.

“yeah we talked about it while i got the soda” he confirmed.

you smiled before leaning off the wall and starting to walk down the hall.

Michael followed you, “where you going rockstar?” he asked and tilted his head.

you smiled, “giving myself a tour since the heir of this pizzeria won’t” you said and shrugged, tilting your head like his.

Michael laughed, you didn't know if it was because he knew his dad would rather die than let this whole franchise be ran by someone who is not him personally or that you wanted a tour of the place.

“if you wanted to see animatronics that can sing and play instruments better than you, you should’ve just said that” Michael responded, he crossed his arms and walked to you.

you rolled your eyes, “that’s exactly why i invited you to that diner, since you’re always around great entertainment i thought you would enjoy my mediocre singing” you laughed and took a drink.

“yes i just love terrible singing and when sage knocked over those couples drinks with their guitar,” Michael said and nodded his head. you giggled and nodded.

“that was pretty funny tho” you admitted and smacked his shoulder lightly.

you walked into the pirates cove section, Michael turned on the light since there was no window in there. you moved the curtain even though it said ‘out of order’.

Michael leaned against the wall, you inhaled sharply as the fox animatronic stared back at you, your eyes wide, the stance the animatronic was in was terrifying, it looked like it could run straight out of the curtain or like it was waiting for someone to open the curtain and be right in their face.

“holy shit” you mumbled and took a step back and bumped into Michael.

“that's foxy” he said, his hand coming to your shoulder.

“no, that is freaky as fuck” you responded, looking at it made you get goosebumps.

Michael moved from behind you and closed the curtain. “Here I'll show you the old ones” he said and grabbed your hand and turned the light off before leading you out of the room.

you could hear jeremy and mira laughing and singing while kim tried to get jeremy off of the table.

he took you to the storage room, the room was filled with labeled boxes, he guided you past the shelves.

“my dad doesn’t want to retire them but uncle henry said that they need to be more ahead of their times for business plus he doesn’t think they’re safe” he said.

you stood there looking at the old bunny suit, the old yellowing suit with a bowtie, the texture looked almost like real fur and you reached your hand out to touch it.

Michael reached his hand out to stop yours.

“i wouldn’t touch it” he said, bringing your hand back but not letting go. you looked at him, he was so close to you and you honestly don't think he’s ever been this close to you during the entire frenemies relationship you have. Michael’s cologne engulfed you and it was weirdly comforting.

you furrowed your brows and he could tell you were silently asking why.

“it has springlocks in it and its probably been ready to pop since its been a while, they made it so someone could wear it or it be an animatronic on its own, they had a problem with it and moisture. i don’t want you to get hurt” michael informed you and only one sentence stood out. his hand still holding yours.

your eyes went from his to his lips then back up, was it bad that you wanted to kiss him? did he look at you like this all the time?

maybe this was what mira and kim was talking about when they would bring up yours and michaels relationship, the soft bickering and stubbornness from both parties was what you two liked to put out, it made things fun and when asked about there being more the “no michael’s a fucking dick” and “she’s a bitch” was the common response, even when you both knew that was not the case.

you sat your drink on the shelf behind you and Michael got closer, you don’t know what made you so confident, you closed the small gap and connected your lips to his.

Michaels hand moved to your waist and pushed you back softly against the shelf, he didn’t push you away which was relieving and instead welcomed it with open arms like he had been waiting, and maybe he was waiting.

your hand moved to his neck and welcomed that the kiss was getting rougher.

you were about to move your fingers into his hair, the hair he took so much pride in and messed with all the time, the same stupid mullet you gave him so much shit for and said how bad it looked when in reality it just made him look good.

a loud sound, like something heavy running made you two jump away from each other but still keep your hands on each other.

“did you hear that?” you asked and tried to look around. your heart was beating fast.

“yeah” Michael breathed out, his heart beating just as fast as yours. He pulled away from you but took ahold of your hand, you quickly grabbed your drink as you were being pulled by him.

you both looked around, you didn’t know what to look for but michael knew. he could see from the corner of his eye he could see that chica had moved and now stood in a dark corner.

“did you guys hear that?” kim asked, which made you both jump again. you both pulled your hands away from each other.

you smiled at her, “told you it would be spooky” you giggled and she rolled her eyes.

“its getting really late, we should get ready to leave.” Michael said, walking towards the private party room.

you and Michael cleaned up the room while kim got mira, jeremy and steven collected and ready to leave.

kim went out first then mira, jeremy and steven and you followed behind to make sure they got through safely. Michael did a mental check of everything before crawling out himself.

you carried the bag that had empty cups, bottles and cans and some full ones.

“im just gonna take them to mira’s house” kim said, mira gave her the keys earlier.

“i’ll take y/n” Michael yawned and ran his hands through his hair which just made it fluffier.

“i think this is the only time you two have gotten along” kim laughed, you rolled your eyes and Michael mumbled “shut up”

once you helped get mira and steven in the car kim was saying her goodbyes.

“call me when you get home” you said as you hopped into Michael's truck and put the bag in the back.

“i will, get home safe” kim said and backed out.

a few minutes into the drive you spotted the cd you gave him. you leaned over and grabbed it.

“my singing is shit but you keep my cd in your truck?” you asked with a sly smirk, you watched Michael smile and shake his head.

“there's a reason it was on the floor” he quipped and leaned back in his seat.

“oh yeah, on the floor next to your playboy” you said and held up the magazine, Michael inhaled sharply and snatched the magazine from you and tossed it into the back.

“i have no idea what you’re talking about,” Michael responded and looked over at you.

you laughed and smacked his shoulder. “you can admit that you love my band, i won't tell anyone” you said.

Michael pulled into his driveway, his fathers car not there which did make him worry.

“there’s nothing to admit” he sighed, turning off the ignition.

“sure” you said, dragging it out as you undid your seatbelt.

you and michael got closer, you leaned against the center console and just when you were about to close the gap, you leaned back, smirked and shook your head.

“punishment for saying my singing is shit” you said and got out of the truck.

[robinsegghead]

Danny's Daycare Part 15

Masterpost

Jason didn’t enjoy killing per se. It wasn’t like, a favorite hobby of his or an addiction and he had to get his fix, but every once in a while there would be an asshole so completely deserving of a bullet to the brain that Jason couldn’t help but feel a bit of peace the moment they stopped breathing. Had he been a bit worried that Miguel and Santiago would hate him for killing their dad? Yes. But was ridding Gotham of one more child molester worth it? Yes.

After he’d pried Danny off of the body of someone he’d never seen before, he’d held the man close until his rage died down. He thought- well he thought he and Danny were different. Danny had some kind of explanation for how he’d come back to life and he seemed at peace with the whole kinda-sorta-ghost-thing but when Jason had first found Danny beating the shit out of another person, his eyes had looked… Lazarus green.

Jason knew for a fact that Danny’s eyes were blue (how many times had he gotten lost staring into them while the man raved about space or Gotham or some other special interest of his?). So despite not knowing the situation, Jason had fought Danny away from the man and held him close until what he assumed was pit rage went away.

He knew it was confusing, disorienting, to come out of an episode and instead of getting answers to the questions he so desperately wanted to ask (What happened? Do I need to kill this guy? Are you hurt? Are the boys hurt? Why are your eyes Lazarus green? Was the Pit Rage? Do you know who the league of Assassins are? What is your relation to them? how-), he told Danny to get cleaned up and checked on the boys.

It was both surprising and completely unsurprising that he found Santiago locked in a closet with Miguel crying in front of the door. He got the younger boy out in seconds and immediately had an armful of angry and scared thirteen year old boy. They only spoke for a few minutes before Danny had come back and he decided to give the family some time to talk.

But his eyes were BRIGHT green and he couldn’t shake the feeling that- was it just a dead person thing? That would make sense, right? His eyes glowed green but they’d always thought that was the Pit’s influence. But that guy- Phantom- his eyes had been green too. So three dead guys walk into a daycare with glowing green eyes- it was like the setup of a really bad joke.

No one asked him what happened to the kid’s bio dad which was good because while Jason was glad he’d stopped Danny from fully killing the bastard (Danny didn’t need to have another murder on his conscience, even if both would have been justified in his and most people’s books), he had no intention of letting the bastard get away alive. He’d looked into Miguel and Santiago when he’d first learned of their existence and the only reason he hadn’t killed their sperm donor then was because he was behind bars.

So he’d placed the man’s unconscious body on the fire escape outside the hallway and grabbed it on his way out. Once he was far enough away that the boys and Danny wouldn’t hear the gunshot and connect it to him, he put a bullet in the man’s head. He dropped the body in an alley near a police station and intended to call it a night before remembering he had to debrief with the bats.

Maybe it was his disappearing act or his short responses or something in the way he held himself, but for once B seemed to listen when Jason told him off.

No he wasn’t going to give B the card Phantom had given him- “Did he ask YOU to coffee? Didn’t think so, fuck off.”, no he wasn’t going to explain why he’d been trying to get a moment alone with Danny after the fight- “My personal life is none of your business, fuck off.”, and he definitely wasn’t going to explain why he’d left the daycare and come back to the cave covered in blood- “My personal business is none of yours, fuck off!”.

And after it all B had just let him. He pushed less than usual and not in the ‘afraid you’ll go into a pit rage if I push’ way but in a ‘you’re clearly not going to tell me so why bother’ way. (Maybe even a ‘you’re my son and I trust you to make the right decision’ way? Was that too much to hope for?) 

He’d definitely confused the hell out of Duke with his questions but he just- he needed to get answers and he couldn’t rationalize getting them from Danny at the moment. He’d call Phantom tomorrow, tonight seemed too… forward. Especially since the ghost (King wtf) had essentially asked him on a date (that’s what was implied with the flirting and mention of coffee, right?!). 

So if he had green eyes sometimes, and Danny had green eyes sometimes, and Phantom had green eyes, and they also were all dead at some point, then maybe there was a connection? And Duke understood that kind of thing way better than he did because the kid could see auras and shit so maybe he could tell Jason something useful. And he did. 

Useful and entirely meaningless at the same time because what the fuck did it mean that they all had toxic green auras?!

He’d patrolled for a few more hours, contemplating what it really meant, what he should do, if he should ask Danny, and so on and so forth, until he felt out of his mind with questions. At some point he decided to call it a night and head back to his apartment to sleep. But he had so much energy still- nervous energy too- he hated nervous energy. 

When he was feeling… feeling too much, he baked. Or cooked. Usually he made more than he could ever eat and brought the leftovers to the safe houses he’d let homeless kids live in or down to a shelter or something else like that. Tonight he had one goal in mind with the food he made.

So he baked. He made a pan of brownies, a tray of cookies, three dozen muffins, a pie of all things, and he cooked. He made a pot of stew, a lasagna, two different soups, vindaloo, and a breakfast casserole, and when he was done he packed up as much as he could carry and took it to Danny’s. 

Sneaking into the apartment was easy, he’d done it often enough for the last couple of months and despite warning Danny that he needed to get better security, the man never did. He probably forgot honestly, Jason didn’t think he’d ever met a man quite as busy as Danny. Whether that was because Danny was actually busy or because he didn’t know how to delegate, he wasn’t sure, but he always seemed like- well like Bruce levels of busy. Like he had a job and a secret other job and also he took in random kids and helped everyone he could as much as he could and gave away every part of himself without a second thought.

So. No security system. 

Jason put the food away, some went into the fridge while others went into the freezer, and noticed the apartment felt empty. It would be weird to check if he was in his room but he had a feeling he knew where the man was if not his own home.

Keeping the breakfast casserole and a plate of cookies, Jason swung around the building and landed carefully on the boys’ fire escape. Sure enough, when he peered through the window he found Danny being absolutely drowned in cuddles from Miguel, Santiago, and their cat, Curiosity.

(He’d never admit it but every time he stopped by to drop food off or check in, Jason pet the cats. What? They looked lonely and he wasn’t heartless. He’d been confused and worried out of his mind when he visited for the first time unable to find Curiosity- that cat always came running first so where the ever-loving fuck was he?! But he’d had to leave before finding the orange cat and vowed to find him the next time he visited.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t find Curiosity the next time either. He’d come so close to asking Danny where his fucking cat went ((Curiosity was the one who’d been sick when he first found them what if he’d died?!))- should he leave a post-it note asking about the kitten? But again, he’d gotten pulled away by vigilante stuff and had to leave without an answer.

It was only when he’d come over as Jason the tutor that he figured out Danny had given Curiosity to Miguel and Santiago and the cat was over in their apartment most of the time. He was relieved that the cat hadn’t gone missing or died, but now he’d need to stop by and find that cat in their apartment and how had he not noticed the boys had a cat he literally visited their apartment more than Danny’s at this point!)

He slid the window open easily and slipped into the apartment stealthily. None of the boys stirred as Jason quietly put the casserole in the fridge, with a quickly scribbled note on top, and the plate of cookies on the counter. After he finished he moved back towards the window but paused as he sat on the window sill. 

Miguel mumbled something and pushed his face further into Danny’s shoulder and all three of them shifted slightly until their limbs were more entangled than they’d been a moment before and it was hard to tell where one of them started and the others ended. He didn’t know how they didn’t see it- that they were a family- he really didn’t. Danny corrected anyone who called him their dad, they corrected anyone who called them his sons, and yet here they were, cuddling after a traumatic incident where Danny protected them with everything he had.

(He didn’t think about how he and Bruce fit into the exact category he was placing Danny and the boys, he DIDN’T.)

Curiosity chirped and looked around suddenly, seeing Jason and offering him a yawn. That was his cue to leave. He… he didn’t want to, not really. Something about Danny had made him feel safer than anything else had in- in years. The twink he found standing over the body of his murderer, the guy who’d taken on twenty-five goons without a weapon because they’d dared to hurt Miguel, the man he’d pried away from a child molester only hours prior- this was a man anyone would feel safe with.

But Jason wasn’t used to feeling safe and slipping out of the window and grappling back to his own empty and suddenly very lonely apartment was familiar enough. He didn’t feel as safe here as he had in the run down apartment of a practical stranger, but he should. It was his home. He should.

He didn’t sleep.

~~~~~~~~~

“I don’t know how to tell him!” She shouted, hands gripping her hair tightly.

“Just tell him. It will all work out.” He responded calmly.

Scoffing and rolling her eyes, she shouted back. “Easy for you to say! If things are going to turn out so well, why don’t YOU tell him? It was your idea after all!”

“It would not do well if I told him, he’d only be angry at me. He has a difficult time being mad at you.” Again, with a calm response.

“He’s not going to take it well- I wouldn’t and I’m literally him!” Dani reasoned.

Clockwork huffed. “You are not ‘literally him’, you are your own person and you have been for years. Do not diminish all of the hard work the two of you have put into being your own people. Tell him.” 

“He’s gonna kill me! It’s not just him anymore- he’s got the boys to worry about you know this!”

“Tell him.” CW responded idly.

Face palming, Dani groaned. “I’m so dead.”

~~~~~~~~~

Shortly after Miguel’s explanation and panic attack, Danny convinced him to take a nap and spent the next few hours cleaning the apartment and putting things in order. He sent out another message saying the daycare would actually be closed for the rest of the week and he’d update the parents as soon as the building was safe enough to open back up. They were surprisingly understanding for people who were being inconvenienced in a big way.

After that he checked his email and reached out to three people who’d applied to the daycare to set up interviews. If all of them worked out he’d have three more full time employees, one who was old enough and experienced enough that he might be able to leave her in charge sometimes. 

By one thirty he realized he didn’t know where his phone was and should really message Jazz and Dani about what had happened. Searching the couch cushions, he found his phone buried under where he’d slept the night before.

(17) Missed Calls

(38) Messages

(5) Voicemails

Well. Shit. Danny started with the voicemails, the first being from Jazz.

“Danny? I saw the news- are you okay? Are the kids okay? It’s all over the news- apparently some kids were out nearby and recorded what happened through the window? Oh my Ancients- call me back Danny!”

She sounded more worried than mad, that was good, he could work with a worried Jazz- and angry one? Not so much. An angry Jazz would tear him apart molecule by molecule until he was nothing but a puddle of separated atoms.

The next one was from Sam.

“Danny Nightingale what the actual FUCK-”

Tucker cut in. “Holy shit dude! Did you actually fucking TACKLE the Scarecrow?”

“Tucker! More importantly- did your clone tackle Scarecrow? Cause the recording got fuzzy after that but not so fuzzy we didn’t notice the GLOWING FUCKING PHANTOM!”

“Sam’s right dude, the cameras caught more than usual- maybe it was because they were farther away? Or just because your energy was being expended keeping a clone around? Not sure, but the videos show a vaguely humanoid vigilante flying around and kicking ass.”

“Call us back Invisio-Bill.”

Okay, so people being able to see Phantom wasn’t great, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. It wasn’t like he planned on going out as Phantom again- he hadn’t come to Gotham to be a vigilante and team up with the birds and bats. Valerie and Wes left similar voicemails to Jazz.

“Can’t even keep off the news as Danny, eh Nightingale? Let me know if you’re okay.”

At least Valerie’s message was teasing and not angry. Seriously, why were all of the women in his life so terrifying when they were angry?

“Dude! So Phantom’s back, huh? And you got to meet Batman, Robin, Red Robin, and Red Hood? Seriously man- that’s- that’s wild! You know it’s pretty funny that that guy -Duke Thomas- works for you and was there that night because-” There was a loud honking sound cutting him off. “Oh shit, I’ve gotta go, I’ve got a hot date. Let me know you’re okay! Bye Danny!”

The last voicemail was from a number he didn’t recognize but with a Wisconsin area code. 

He deleted it without listening.

The messages were similar to the voicemails, Jazz, Sam, Tucker, Valerie, Wes, Tim, Damian, Jesse, and a few others just checking in. Jason had messaged to cancel their tutoring last minute citing a family emergency- thank Ancients he’d canceled because Danny had completely forgot they’d had an appointment. 

He deleted the text messages from the Wisconsin number he didn’t recognize.

He didn’t care to read them.

At some point people from Amity Park and his past life were going to find out he’d moved to Gotham and set up shop so to speak, but he’d hoped it wouldn’t be so soon. Maybe after he’d been here for a full year, with an established ‘business’ and connections and friends and whatnot, but not earlier. Even then, he’d hoped the only people who would really notice were peopel who didn’t care that much.

Flash, Pualina, Kwan, people who would go ‘did you hear Danny’s in Gotham now?�� and then have a laugh and move on without reaching out.

He didn’t want to hear from Vlad.

He didn’t want to think about what it meant that Vlad was reaching out.

If Vlad knew where he was then they knew where he was ant that meant he wasn’t safe. Worse- it meant the boys weren’t safe around him. Danny had grown accustomed to his life being in danger at all times a long time ago. He’d grown used to it when lab equipment malfunctioned throughout his childhood, when he’d died, when his parents' security system started targeting him, he’d always known he was in danger at all times. But he was supposed to be the one stable and safe thing about the boys’ lives and he couldn’t be that if he had the GIW and the Fenton’s breathing down his neck.

So, knowing it was something he should have done a long time ago instead of banning ghosts from coming into Amity, Danny sent a text to the group chat.

Crime-Fighting, Night-Stalking Vigilantes

The-Next-Bruce-Wayne: Get in losers we’re going to take down the GIW

The-Next-Bruce-Wayne changed the group chat name from ‘Crime-Fighting, Night-stalking Vigilantes’ to ‘Operation Take Down the Plastics’

Chaos is typing…

TooFine is typing…

Cassandra is typing…

The-Next-Gotham-Rogue is typing…

The Midwest Princess is typing…

And with that taken care of, Danny shot quick responses to his Gotham friends before turning off his phone. He told Tim, Damian, Jesse, and any parents who’d privately messaged him, that he was all right and would be getting the daycare in order as quickly as possible. He messaged Duke to check in and let him know that therapy was included in all of his employees’ benefits and that the teenager should take full advantage of it. 

Jason had first messaged to cancel their scheduled tutoring session and later (much later he noticed) messaged to ask if he was all right and if there was anything he could do to help him or the boys out. Danny apologized for not getting back to him sooner, thanked him for the offer, and returned it due to his own family emergency.

Setting his phone down he started planning how they’d do it. He’d need to talk to Clockwork and the rest of his council about how to go about getting the Justice League on their side. He could do it without them probably, but Danny had a strong suspicion that if he brought the Anti-Ecto-Acts to the JL’s attention, they’d get them abolished faster than any other route they took.

Except for war, maybe.

But Danny had overruled that suggestion years ago and instead banned Ghosts from Amity Park. He couldn’t stop them from coming through altogether or he’d be preventing many of them from their obsessions which was dangerous. It also wouldn’t really be fair to ban them from a place that might have once been their home.

He’d instead cracked down on their behavior. Any ghost who wanted to come to Earth needed to be approved by someone Danny had selected for that exact purpose. They needed to know enough about human culture to not cause chaos everywhere they went. Of course some of them *cough* Skulker *cough* didn’t listen to these rules and still caused chaos on some scale.

It wasn’t a perfect system but it was the best Danny had been able to do while also recovering from severe injuries and learning to be the King of the Infinite Realms. It had been a lot and he could admit that not all of his decisions had been winners.

“Danny?” A voice cut through his thoughts and he realized he’d been sneaked up on.

Offering Santi a smile, Danny moved his feet and offered the spot to the boy. “What’s up Santi?”

“Miguel’s bein’ weird.” He made a face. “What’d you two talk about after I left?”

Licking his lips, Danny tried to decide how much he should share. He didn’t want to break Miguel’s trust by revealing too much, but Santiao deserved to know that Danny knew certain things about their dad and oh god- was this what it was like to be a parent?! “We talked a bit about… about your dad and his feelings. Is he all right?”

Santi nodded slowly. “He’s… fine. Kinda… clingy. Din’t want me ta leave the room but not-” He considered his next words carefully. “Not for the usual reasons.”

Ah, yes. Danny remembered Miguel admitting to never leaving Santiago alone with Danny intentionally and why he did it. A part of him melted to know that Miguel wasn’t worried about that anymore. “Sometimes people need comfort but don’t know how to ask for it. Miguel seems like he might be one of those people.” Danny whispered conspiratorially. “I was like that when I was his age.”

“Danny?” Santiago started hesitantly.

“What’s up kiddo?” 

The boy shifted uncomfortably. “Did Hood… Is- Is my…” He inhaled sharply. “Is my dad dead?”

There was something about the way he asked it that Danny couldn’t put his finger on. His voice was fearful, afraid, worried, and it was also hopeful, anticipating, relaxed and it seemed like he couldn’t figure out which set of emotions were his true feelings.

“Honestly, Santi?” Danny filled his lungs and let out a deep breath. “I don’t know.” He looked the boy in the eyes when he answered, unwilling to miss even a single microexpression. “Hood said he took care of him and I don’t know exactly what that means.”

The boy looked at his hands. “Red Hood kills.”

“Sure, but he doesn’t always kill.” Danny tagged on. 

Santi squirmed as if deciding whether or not to say what he was thinking. Deciding to share his thoughts, the boy looked away from Danny. “He kills people who hurt kids,” Before Danny could respond, he whispered, “an’ rapists.”

Closing his eyes tightly, Danny pushed back the red that threatened to overtake his vision like it had the night before. He wouldn’t go there- couldn’t go there- not again. Hopefully they’d never have to see that piece of shit again. Ancients he hoped Hood had killed him.

“Yeah.” Danny felt his throat drying out by the second.

“Good fuckin’ riddance.” Miguel said from the hallway that led to their rooms.

Santi’s head whipped up to see his brother and they studied each other for a moment before Santi nodded once. “Good fuckin’ riddance.” He decided.

Danny wanted to sit in this moment, bask in the fact that these boys who’d been through hell and back were finally rid of their tormentor emotionally and physically and would be able to heal and move on eventually. But it would seem Hood had other plans for him as he felt the tug in his gut of a personal summoning.

“Shit.” He cursed. The boys looked at him, confused. “Sorry, sorry to ruin the moment.” Danny stood up, slipping his phone into his pocket. “I want to tell you boys something but I don’t really have a lot of time so I promise I’ll explain everything when I get back, okay?”

“What?” Miguel frowned.

The tug in his gut was getting stronger and Danny wished he could ignore it but a personal summoning was pretty difficult to refuse. “Listen, I’m- well- I’m not a meta exactly, but that’s the quickest way to explain it right now and I have to transform and go meet someone who’s calling me right now. Don’t do anything crazy, stay in the apartment please, I should be back in a couple of hours tops, okay?”

“Uh…. Okay…?” Miguel shrugged, looking between his brother and his guardian.

With a nod Danny let the summoning pull him away and transformed before arriving in a shabby alley. 

“I thought we were going to get coffee, eh sugar?”

Prev. Next

[littlebitshylittlebitangry]

Hi, hi it’s me again… your writing was very good, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Now you must be responsible for the consequences…. Which is listening to me ramble. 

Anyways, first off small doodle!

This is what I imagine bound arcane egg looks like, and something I didn't explain, my b. Is when arcane egg gets taken to be the “heart” of the hungry ones, it’s basically an in between plane of existence. It’s between the normal world and where the hungry ones reside.

Secondly this is one of two times arcane egg goes to this inbetween, and that second time is more triumphant and it’s where her light of defiance reignites!

Anyways no more exposition, time to talk about some new stuff mainly the aftermath after arcane eggs desperate pleas for death!

Note I do imagine her pleas at that moment go from sad and desperate to manic and desperate, since at this point of the story it’s a nice contrast to how well and collected they’ve appeared so far.

But yeah when they wake up… boi it’s so sad. When they awake their very comatose and quite, very similar to how they were when they came back to life after their death by the hungry ones. I imagine that shadow milk and golden butter are waiting her them to wake up, which arcane egg can’t fathom why but, what ever. 

If you haven’t noticed arcane eggs response to their own emotions and emotional problems is to ignore, belittle, or don’t think about it. Which is in sharp contrast on who they USED to be, which was open and tbh the therapist / listener friend. But also they were honest about their feelings, so arcane egg after that display of pure raw emotion acting so… empty greatly upsets her friends.

They’ll try to get an answer but they’ll just get a chill and numb cookie in response, I do imagine they get her to talk at some point after pleading and asking persistently for a while. And it would most likely begin with arcane egg breaking down sobbing and they’ll also shake like a leaf.

Than afterwards if the two ask questions and prod for specifics, she start answering and probably tell the, how she got to this point / her history thus far. She’ll tell them that they’ve died before, that their now both alive but technically an undead thing,… that they thought about taking their own life during the dark flour war.

They wont tell about their complicated feelings about the two of them yet, no not yet. But she will spill how she feels about themselves which is again bad!

How would the two react, o honest don’t know I’ll need to think about it more. Do you have any ideas? You did a good job last time so. Anyways thanks for listening have a good day :D.

(Also tell me if you want me to post ideas to you here or on your side blog!)

Took me awhile to get back to this post-

Anyways, had to do some searching (thanks for the notes.) Ended up being four pages long-

Honestly for some reason this gives me ‘nowhere king’ vibes.

Now, Warnings; implied masscure, war crimes, sucidial thoughts, dissacation.

She blinks awake- her body is heavy and it's hard to move. She feels a hand carding through her hair, for a moment she struggles to move her head, but she does. She mentally feels the want for her shoulders to tense up- but they don’t. Yet Mystic Flour doesn’t stop carding her hands through her hair. For a minute they could almost swear her eyes opened, but she didn't say a word. Carefully moving their head around, she blinks yet again.

The room wasn’t overly big by any means, but it was a decent size. Arcane could spot Silent salt staring out the window, Burning spice was oddly calm as he rubbed his axe. Shifting her focus to the other half- she found Eternal sugar half sitting on a chair, half resting her head in her arms on the bed. Its then she spotted by a table that looked like it was dragged over that Shadow Milk was writing something onto the desk- he looked oddly frustrated. It was… It was an old memory. He’d often be over desks like that when he hit a wall with whatever he was researching or when he was lacking the creativity on his newest project. 

For a moment she puzzled over where Golden Butter was, until the door opened. The very person who they thought about walked in with a bag over to Shadow Milk, They closed their eyes as they felt Golden Butters gaze on them. The other sighs, “...Shadow… how is progress?” Shadow Milk seems to growl, “It's honestly worse than I thought! Those Damn witches that sealed us are the reason those fucking thing even exist! And that means they are the main issue on why Arcane is like this!” They can hear a fist slam onto the table, its silent for a moment, before Silent salts' rarely heard voice comes through, “....The witches did this? To her?” They don’t know what Shadow does but they hear the screeching of the chair and his words, “YES! They did! They fucked up Arcane so badly that I’m not even completely sure there is a way to undo it!” 

Mystic Flours hand pauses, she hears the other speaks, “.... Shadow Milk….are you… are you sure?” They don’t exactly hear much other then shuffling for the next few moments before an audible sigh, “..I can’t be completely sure at least now.” His tone turns resigned, slightly saddened with a hint of frustration, “If only I had my labs, the tower and…” Her heart drops, she knows just who he was going to say.

Fortune Cookie, his closest pupil. 

Fortune Cookie had a bright future ahead of them. At Least until Shadow Milk destroyed his own tower. It was of very little doubt that Fortune cookie was a casualty in that event. Fortune Cookie, she thinks, had a brain even Shadow Milk sometimes struggled with. ‘Boundless creativity filled with sky high genius’ Shadow Milk once put it as. Fortune Cookie who he likely killed. 

This hadn’t been the first time he’d regretted it.

She allows her eyes to open, everyone is still in the room just different. Eternal sugar, for once, is awake, and is blankly staring at them, Silent Salt has moved away from his window position, Burning spice had set his axe down and was gripping onto his hair with a fierce look on his face. She couldn’t see Mystic Flour from this view, but she could see Shadow Milk back as Golden Butter looked over him.

He was half hunched over and he was shaking. 

Part of them wanted to reassure him it would all work out, but wasn’t that hopeless? 

There wasn’t a cure and one person who had the most research on the hungry ones is dead, anything she did note was likely destroyed. It was hopeless. 

It threw everyone off the moment they spoke, “It's been a hopeless situation from the start. It would do you all better to just kill me now.” The air in the room became strained just at her words. Shadow Milk straightens up, brushes off Golden Butters Hand and immediately turns around and walks over very calmly. He pushes his hands on the side of the bed and looks directly at her, “We won’t, we’ll find a cure. There isn’t another option.” 

She blinks at him, “..You just said it yourself...you don’t know if there is a way to undo it… There isn’t a cure coming.” She shakes her head, “It would be the best choice- the hungry ones would be gone.” Shadow Milk shakes- not in a silent fear or overwhelming sorrow, but in a very poorly suppressed rage. “It doesn’t matter what I just said, I will find a cure.” 

Arcane egg stares at him as she speaks, “....Fortune cookie was the only one who had-” He slams his hands on the bed as he shouts, “I’ll bring back the fucking dead if I have to! I’ll face whatever goddamn consequences that come my way!” He sags, “I’ll face Fortune cookie if it means I can help you.” He looks resigned, “I’ll search every single book the witches saved, I’ll tear down kingdom after kingdom and build them back up, If I need to I’ll start a new a tower just to figure out a fucking cure, I’ll let that stupid half-a-cookie replacement of mine keep my damn soul Jam!” The rage slowly wears off, replaced by desperation, “Please- just don’t- never ask me- never ask any of us- I don’t think.” Tears well and fall off his face like the sword of damocles falling, “I don’t think we could take it.”

Something in them hurts, so very deeply hurts in a twisted sense that its like having a vine shoved right into your heart before twisting and growing. Something grabs their left hand, looking over Silent Salt, it seemed he was the one who grabbed it. Burning spice had dragged a chair over and was sitting with the backside facing her as he sat facing her. Eternal Sugar has shifted from her place and is now sitting at the edge of the bed as Shadow Milk and Golden Butter stick to her right. She can spot Mystic Flours dress off the side- likely sitting by the pillows on their left side. 

They had all moved to gather closer than previously. The next words flowed out her to easily as she looked at them. She- she doesn’t know what to think.

(She lost count after thousands of years, after watching hundreds of cookies crumble from age. Yet things linger in her memories.)

(Afterall the hungry ones have been with her for almost the same amount-- and it hurts holding them- it hurts in a sense that she can’t quite let go.)

(Everyone left in one way or another and she was left behind, Fortune died, her friends left her behind- and even when she grew close to people they disappeared. She doesn’t have anything- her friends are here now, yes. But they left so long ago- they told her not to come looking for them and-)

(- and they fell.)

Everything- Just feels so overwhelming. This isn’t the first time- something just- they feel so wrong today. They woken up for days with the group here for a number of days- some of them are normally out.

(Burning spice came back once with strawberry jam covering him, Mystic flour and Eternal Sugar just stared him down until he left. They don’t remember much of the few days after that- their head was just buzzing. She noticed the more… careful and hesitant natures when they wake up. All weapons, she noted, were always kept out of sight most times. No one ever came in the room without knocking unless they were ‘cleaned’ as Mystic Flour put it.)

Part of them just- there wasn’t an exact way to put it into words. 

(“We have been silent for so long, haven’t we?”)

(“How long must you remain to let your defiance be stamped out?”)

(“Listen to me- to yourself. Defy this fate- fight against it, do not let yourself fall.”)

(“Please- just fight off for a little more. To defy in this moment, allow yourself to be helped.”)

Its quite- a mere echo in her head- but something. Something in her breaks. 

Tears, she notes almost mutely, she’s crying. 

Someone- she's guessing Mystic Flour sits her up as Shadow Milk crawls his way onto the bed by her sides. Golden Butter sticks to the side but sits on the bed as the rest stay close. She lets it spill out.

She talks about the isolation that happened after Golden Butters sleep, she speaks of the horrors of the experiments of the witches and the hungry ones who were sealed inside her- the war she fought to save cookies who either died or forgot about her actions, she brings up letters she sent- only to learn they never received a single one of hers. She whispers of the dark flour war, the endless death, the chaos that reigned and even traced over scars left from those dark years. Of the violence that she faced in the line of cruelty of Dark Enchantress Cookie. 

The room is silent for the longest period, and then she admits the most damning thing.

She admits her death- and coming back different.

The silence is different, its stiff, its twisted and she can see something is off. Shadow Milk is the one who prodes her further with his face towards the ground. She tells the rest what they wanted to hear, she admits everything slowly hesitantly, as tears fall down, as she cries, screams, and breaks down. There are several times someone in the group leaves for a few minutes before coming back in- but Shadow Milk stays the entire time, just staying by her side. 

Somehow, she ends up asleep as the rest of the group lingers within the world. 

Shadow Milk is frowning as he takes Mystic Flours combing through Arcane Eggs hair, Golden Butter stays by his side as the rest of the group lingers around. Golden slowly speaks, “..I should’ve focused on her- I was so- I was so caught up in my own misery that I…” Golden Butter looks down. Shadow Milk sighs, laying a head on her shoulder. Its silent before he speaks, “We’ve been dealt a shitty hand- just-” He looks frustrated before looking at Arcane egg and his face softens in sad way, “...We just been playthings for the witches- they’ve- They’ve been treating us like that for so long.. I just-” Burning Spice speaks up, “They will pay.”

His words are followed by nods as Shadow Milk echos his friends words, “They will pay.” He pets Arcanes Hair, “But not now. For now, we tend to our wounds and we focus on finding a cure.” Its an unsaid agreemnt by the others.

Right now, tending in their own in the focus.

Vengeance upon The witches, Dark Enchantress cookie and any other cookie else can wait until they’ve recovered.

Then, all cards were off.

[jjxkiaraxpopexcleoxjohnbxsarah]

Every detail of JB and JJ's friendship(not in order):

JB being the one to follow JJ in Barry's house in s1-the way after Kiara said someone should go and John B was like I know

JJ got the gun out to save JB from stupid topper-he did not hesitate and he had NO REGRETS 😭😭

THE WAY BOTH OF THEM WERE HOLDING IN THEIR SMILES WHEN JJ WENT TO VISIT JB IN JAIL AHDKFLGL BEFORE JUST LOSING IT

JJ reacted first when Shoupe said they lost JB and Sarah-Poor jjs life practically ended that night😭😭

JJ just walking up and hugging jb in midsummers-JB's little "fire, there's a fire" abdkfkf

JJ saying love you to John B before he leaves-THE CASUALNESS OF IT😭😭😭 it kills me

Them sitting near each other in class-they know the teacher hates it but they did it every time

John B texts the GC that he's alive and he says is JJ there-AHDJFKGLLGLGLGLG HIM ASKING FOR JJ!!! BC HE JUST KNOWS😭😭😭

JJ walking over to the tree when he sees jb looking at it, and trying to crack a joke before just hugging him so tight🥺🥺🥺

John B wrapping jjs arm over his shoulders in Poguelandia

JB and JJ saying the same exact thing about their fathers to each others face, the one about "you're gonna end up just like your father" -Those two scenes were sad but I feel like it hurt more for JJ because JJ always wants to believe that he's not like Luke and cos he trusts JB + when he said that I'm pretty sure it hurt

Okay S3 when the pogues have to leave JB behind and JJ says to Pope they can't split up again and they won't leave JB

Them hiding under the table like they're still kids😂😂

Their childish fight before Shoupe came-I strongly believe they both made a pact to never swing with the intention to actually hurt each other, especially JB since he knows what JJ goes through😔

JB casually pulling JJ in for a side hug in s2 when they were exchanging the key with limbrey-and jj does that nose scrunch

JJ says that he and John B have nothing to lose but Kie and Pope do-they are so intricately woven into each other's lives and their understanding of each other is insane

JJ slapping the step for jb to come and sit, and reassuring him they'll figure it out, and pulling him into his side😭😭-AND then JB rests his head on JJ's shoulder

The chateau burnt down and JJ places a hand on John Bs shoulder-The Chateau was JJ's home too

Jb being grossed out by the food in his fridge and then watching jj snack away ajfkfk

JJ and JB were with professor sowell I think that's the dudes name and John B pushes JJ down to protect him from the bullets/darts-Love a protective JB

JJ protecting jb from the cops in s1, lying to peterkin about them finding the boat

John B touching JJ's cheek and saying it's okay to stop JJ from making a stand

JJ being hellbent on getting JB outta jail, arguing with kie and pope on the porch before going off on his own to see JB and tell him his plan😭

JJ telling John B in court that he'll save him and being the first to say your honour he's seventeen

JJ listening to JB talk about stupid Topper as JB angstily rides his skateboard across the porch

JJ helping JB in midsummers it was so cute how John B was helping JJ wear his waiter uniform🥰🥰

JJ is the first to say to John B after they finish making the headstone on the tree-I would bet money the headstone was jjs idea😭😭😭

John B going to JJ first at the end of S2 to ask about surfing the waves in POGUELANDIA- And then he helps JJ walk

I'm sure there are even more out there but for now this is all I got.

Do comment what you think or if there's anything to add on

[iris-the-illustrator]

A long Lore ramble

When making my Listener Netty AU animation I became really attached to the Headcannon that because Mumbo and Grian share a soul Mumbo was dragged into double life and limited life as a spectator.

Then I thought about what dynamic these two would have if they ever met in this situation, I feel like at first Netty would be quite weary of him because she would sense the Watchers Devine magic in his soul and probably try to avoid him at first thinking the Watchers were catching onto the fact she was meddling in their game and sent him in to track her down.

Through out most of double life Netty’s attention was mostly on Pearl and she doesn’t meet Mumbo properly till at least half way through the game. When they finally do meet she recognises him from Last life and eventually figures out the situation (she’s likely still terrified at the fact this guy shares a soul with a Watcher but she needs the company after being almost completely isolated from everyone and not having any social interactions for years so beggars can’t be choosers)

Netty dose end up enjoying Mumbos company but feels a bit on edge due to the fact this is the first times she’s had anyone to talk to aside from the Listeners and isn’t used to socialising anymore. She try’s to keep herself together but eventually she lets slip how she really feels, about how she misses her friends and has been feeling unbearably lonely for ages.

Mumbo then offers to tell Pearl and Grian about her when the game ends, to send a message and let them known that she is alive and has been looking out for them this whole time.

Of course she is beyond happy with this idea and extremely grateful to finally get the chance to talk to her friends again even if just indirectly.

However, there is an issue with this, Mumbos situation works similarly to the body swap incident from limited life, by that I mean after it’s over Mumbo will either not remember anything about his time as a spectator or be sworn to secrecy by the Listeners. I’m not sure which I prefer but both out comes are pretty sad because either

A.

Netty tells Mumbo everything she’s been wanting to say to her friends and is over the moon with the fact she can finally let her friends know that someone is looking out for them and they aren’t as alone as they think. Then limited life starts and she notices her friends don’t seem to know about her, understandably disappointed and upset she confronts Mumbo who is trapped as a spectator again but when she sees him again he has no clue who she is. Then Netty realises he doesn’t remember her, all the memories they had together and the one hope she had of letting her friends know she’s alive and fighting to save them is gone.

Or

B.

Netty is again extremely happy with this idea but then a realisation hits her, if Mumbo tells Grian and Pearl then they will eventually tell the others which on the surface seems great but if they know then eventually the Watchers will know. If the Watchers know she’s there it will make saving her friends near impossible, would she really be willing to throw the entire plan away just to talk to her friends again? How could she think so selfishly!? After internally screaming at herself for almost dooming everyone she turns back to Mumbo and begs him to keep quiet about this, every that has happened in this world stays in this world and he has to swear he will never tell anyone anything, he is understandably confused but Netty lets her emotions slip again and lets her desperation show, eventually he stops asking questions and swears to keep quiet.

Either way their dynamic eventually becomes a relatively one sided friendship not because one of them doesn’t like the other, they get along decently but Mumbo can only have so many memories of Netty at a time so while Netty has known Mumbo for at least a few months by the time secret life starts Mumbo doesn’t even remember she exists. It’s either that or being sworn to be secrecy about something most would consider very important information makes spending time with his friend really awkward, (seriously imagine you knew someone who your friends thought had been dead for years, you know they’re alive but you can’t tell them that, so you just let them believe their friend is dead or potentially something worse).

What option do you prefer? Mumbo not remembering Netty or being forced to not tell anyone about her?

Tldr: Netty finally makes a friend and gets to be happy, I decide that’s not allowed.

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for deciding to stop pressing buttons?

My hands are still shaking, and I don’t know what to do. So I took to this human site. Whatever you say, I still don’t regret it. I think.

How to explain? I (17M) am a member of one of the most prestigious families in our society. I have a sister, B (15F), and a brother, A (25M). A couple of years ago, I got entangled in this whole conspiracy within our world by rescuing a girl from the human world - S (15F). S turned out to be a genetic experiment, which is a whole other thing, but the point is that I and my sister and my friends are part of the rebel group that created her (apparently to “better our world). We’re also fighting another rebel group that basically wants to burn everything to the ground (as well as humankind, they hate those people) as well as rebelling against our own government.

Point is, we were on a mission a while ago finding the cure to a plague that was being used as biological warfare. When we found out that the “cure” was just releasing the plague even more, it was revealed that my brother, A, was a member of the rebel group ours was against. According to him, our family had some sort of “legacy” that stained us. I still think he was jealous of me for succeeding more even though I’m younger than him. He called me the “golden child a lot.”

It completely broke my family for a while after that, and I’ll never forgive him.

We never planned on seeing him again unless we were to fight him, but while on another mission to a facility (that was a copy of another, both were used for human experimentation - basically torture) we found him. He’d been sedated by an incredibly intense drug used by the rebels, and he’d been cut up by an ogre blade (the ogres had rebelled against our government and unleashed the plague, and a small group were still rebelling when the king agreed to cut ties with the rebel group).

It turned out he’d lost his memory. S has incredibly powerful mental abilities, and even she couldn’t see anything in there. A had a trial, and it was concluded that he would stay in temporary captivity in our family home, since it appeared the rebel group had punished him for letting us escape on an earlier mission. It was a stupid idea, and I made my thoughts known very clearly, but they didn’t listen.

Guess what ended up happening?

That’s right. The rebels infiltrated our home - on a holiday celebrated in our world, no less! - and unlocked A’s memories. They then broadcast to the rest of our world a secret hidden in our home. It turns out one of our elders had allied with the troll queen to create experimental troll babies (trolls age in reverse, so troll babies are large and vicious. They wanted to make them even more so). There was an experimental troll hive hidden on our house’s grounds.

We fought, and eventually my sister and I cornered A in the hive. We trapped him in one of the hive’s cells, and it closed up on him, filling with some sort of gel. I’d been pressing buttons to close it in on him, but when it started filling up and I realized he would drown…what if I told you I stopped pressing buttons?

When the hive was investigated later, the cell he was trapped in was empty, but still. Am I the asshole?

EDIT: So, it turns out that A is still alive. S and her friend K (16M) found him. He was practically skin and bones, and he escaped before they could capture him. S told me that he looked like (and told her) that he was going to die, but I’m still mad that she didn’t tell me sooner.

[explaininghellaverse]

Angel Dust time!

Spider man, but ya know not that Spider-man.

So there have been several controversies with Angel and I’ll talk about the ones I’ve seen. Most of them boil down to being pretty nonsensical if you think for 10 seconds in all honesty.

And a general warning that this will get into triggering topics because Angel’s character revolves around some heavy stuff.

Trans Angel Dust Controversy

So first things first Angel is not trans as far anything been stated. If you want headcannon him as such go for it! And second if he was trans I don’t really see a problem with it. People’s biggest issue that I’ve seen is because of his chest fluff making him look busty, and it’s really a non-issue. No matter if you where the ‘Angel is a trans man’ or ‘Angel is a trans woman’ side of this argument.

Trans people are allowed to not look visibly cis, to say Angel is transphobic while thinking he’s trans because he’s got a ‘bust’ is more transphobic than anything else. People don’t need to pass or they can just be happy with that feature. Looking Cis shouldn’t be everyone’s goals.

He’s Feminine so he’a a gay stereotype.

Yes/no, if anything I see him as more androgynous personally. the most feminine thing about him is that he wears pink, but also being a feminine man isn’t a bad thing. It’s not bad to shine light on the more feminine men in our community, femme men exist.

I also think him being pink and more femme leaning has directly to do with his story don’t forget he died in the 1940s an era not to long ago where simply being gay could instantly be a death sentence. On top of that he’s the child of the Mafia who are also notoriously homophobic.

I think him being more femme in hell, and physically being pink is for to reasons. It’s A something he was probably deeply insecure about when he was alive and B in hell most people don’t care about that so he’s now gotten a chance to embrace his queerness.

I think that will end up tying into why the deal with Valentino even happened in the first place, the tough guy mafia kid embrace his sexuality he’s always had to suppress and thinks he can handle anything since he was mafia when alive. But I think he was fresh in in hell when it happened he didn’t understand yet how binding demon deals are.

The Poison controversy

So this one is complicated and people’s very varied response to it speaks volume. There is a bit where it’s just people not understanding how this sort of thing develops and other are just victims reactions to the same thing can be very different.

So I’m speaking on this in a weird tone I am not a direct victim of SA however my dad is a rapist and mother was his victim so I have trauma relating to SA and have seen an SA victim at her worst and getting better. Just to explain that I am not just pulling stuff out of my ass here. I have different but complex related trauma.

So do I think poison is bad SA rep, no I don’t. Do I think the song can be triggering absolutely, but the episode does come with a warning which is all someone should have to ask for when dealing with these topics.

The scenes actually showing SA in the song are very brief and they all cutoff before you can really see much happening and then switch to Angel dancing in his stage. The song itself despite the pop sound is very depressing if you really listen to it. Kind of in a way similar to “pumped up kicks” which if you don’t know is a popular very cheery sounding song about school shootings.

How I see the song the song and I think is the intended way for the song to be interrupted is that Angel is both spiraling and dissociating. Remember that night Valentino was being extra hard on Angel more than usual and I think that broke him. Dissociating is something the brain does to try and protect itself. Where your brain basically goes hey you’re in a bad situation let’s completely ignore that at any cost. I also think it’s directly referencing Angels mask because he does pretend to enjoy it all as for himself to not get hurt more than he already is. Which is a very realistic depiction.

There is also another disturbing way to interpret it, that I think is horrific and that is up until the end of the song where we see Angel really break down, what if the song isn’t just a song for the audience but one actually physically being performed as a in universe music video. What if Valentino as punishment to Angel is making him sing this song about how much this is hurting Angel to sell to his hungry fans. I wouldn’t put it past Valentino.

That also another thing at the end of the song Angel is going into a panic attack and you can hear his voice breaking and the music becoming more somber. The dissociation is broken the mask is falling and Angel is breaking down. Angel is honestly one of the best depictions of an SA victim I’ve ever seen. And yes some scenes with him made me uncomfortable, but that’s the point, that’s the horror of his situation that he can’t escape. And that’s also why he’s become such a comfort to so many people.

Which leads me to the next part.

Angel Dust’s flirty comment problem

A lot of people think Angel is bad rep because of his constant flirty comments, sex jokes, and literally throwing himself at people like Husk, but again this is a realistic depiction of how some people react to being SA’d especially in a long term situation.

Angel is Hypersexual his brain has been rewired where to protect itself it now has normalized that behavior. Does that mean it’s alright when he pushes peoples buttons in that way, absolutely not but it does make sense.

And it’s shown in show how uncomfortable it makes Husk, but Husk also recognizes that it is a mask something Angel is to afraid to admit. It also makes sense how Angel throws himself at people it’s a mix of trying to take back his power his sexuality and that ‘If he consents no matter what he can’t be hurt again’ mindset. He is a very realistic depiction of an SA victim.

Why do people think Angel is bad rep?

So for one everyone’s situation in what trauma does to the brain is different, someepeople become hypersexual, some people shut down, some people become violent to scare people off, some people become so scared that can’t leave there house. Trauma varies and I think part of why some victims see him as being bad rep is simply because that’s not how their trauma manifested, but I think he’s important we rarely see a victim shown like this and so many people who responded to their trauma in a similar way to him now have a character that they take comfort in.

There is also this thing in media that’s called ‘the perfect victim’ where in a lot of writing victims are written in a very specific very structured way that anything outside of that is considered a bad victim. This directly parallels real life where if you aren’t in tears every second, if you wore something that could be seen as provocative people will say you aren’t a real victim. And I’ve seen people say that exact thing with Angel, I’ve seen people say he’s not a victim because he signed the contract. It’s a mirror on how victims are treated.

There is also something to be said about Angel being a male victim. Male victims are rarely represented and rarely taken seriously. I think that’s also reflecting in how people are viewing Angel. I do think if Angel’s character was a woman he would be treated differently by people that are both fans and haters of the show.

What do I want to see from Angel in the future

This section is just stuff I really want to see from Angel in the future.

-I want more screen time of Angel and his pet pig, we barely see his pet until the end of the series and I think that’s a little weird.

-Now that Angels mask is falling a bit with Husk I want to see Angel open up more in a calmer less sexualized way

-I want to see Angels trauma get in the way of his relationship with Husk. I think a great way they could take this with Angel being scared of hurting Husk the same way he has been hurt. That’s personally something I struggle with and I think that would be amazing to see. Trauma does weird stuff to peoples brain.

-I want to a flashback where we get to see a human Angel and how he interacts with his mob family due to his sexuality being rejected.

In conclusion, does Angel’s representation make you feel uncomfortable does it make you feel gross? Good. That’s the point.

[thatartiststudios]

Another fic update

   Restless and unable to sleep, Callum ventured onto the deck, yearning for the crisp night air to quiet his thoughts. Leo was there, immersed in his control panel, a tune escaping his lips.

   Pausing his whistle as Callum approached, Leo greeted him with a wave, “Hey, man. Having trouble sleeping?”

   Callum offered a nonchalant shrug, “Something like that. What about you?”

   Leo grinned, his hands still navigating the controls, “Oh, you know, just playing around with stuff, tinkering. It’s what I do when I can’t rest, part of my demigod ADHD, you know.”

   As Callum leaned against the railing, watching the night sky, Leo glanced at him. 

   “So, Callum, you and Rayla seem pretty close. Almost like a married couple, you know?” Leo then winced. “Hope I didn’t overstep or anything.”

   Callum chuckled, “Nah, you’re not the first to make that observation. Back in Katolis, people in the castle expected me to be already engaged, if not married. You know, politics as a crown prince and all that.” 

   Leo’s eyes widened in surprise, “Wait, you’re a prince? Why didn’t you say anything?”

   Callum shrugged, “I’ve never been comfortable with the title. I just wanted to live as a mage, you know? Titles and politics never really suited me.”

   Leo nodded, “Fair.”

   “In all honesty,” Callum continued, “Ray and I probably would be engaged, if not for…” He trailed off, and Leo turned to him, curiosity evident, “If not for what?” Leo asked.

   Callum sighed, and his gaze shifted to the stars above as he began to recount a challenging chapter in their lives. He shared the story of their journey to the Moon Nexus after the Battle at the Storm Spire, Rayla’s struggle with Viren’s apparent survival, and the rift it created between them.

   “After the ritual at the Nexus, she was convinced Viren was alive. She wanted to go after him alone, and I insisted on going together. But she left in the middle of the night, leaving only a letter.” Callum’s voice carried a hint of sadness. Leo listened intently as Callum revealed the pain he felt during those two years of uncertainty and separation.

   “When she returned, it was a few days after my 17th birthday,” Callum continued. “She left on my 15th birthday, so until she came back, that day was just the day she left. In Moonshadow culture, going into dark places to protect others is an act of love, similar to what her parents did by joining the Dragonguard. I couldn’t expect her to act any differently.”

   Leo absorbed the revelation, gaining a deeper understanding of the complexities in Callum and Rayla’s relationship. “That’s a lot, man. But you forgave each other?”

   Callum nodded, a soft smile playing on his lips. “Yeah, after a cold welcome and another dangerous mission, we learned to forgive. It wasn’t easy, but we both had our reasons.”

   Leo nodded, now more aware of the layers beneath the surface of Callum and Rayla’s connection. 

   Callum stared out into the night, a thoughtful expression on his face. After a moment, he sighed, “You know, looking back, I wish I hadn’t been so cold to her in the first place. Rayla’s always struggled to believe she deserves good things, and now she questions it even more. Sometimes, when she laughs, it’s like she doesn’t believe she deserves to be happy.”

   Leo listened attentively, then leaned against the controls, crossing his arms. “Man, that’s heavy. But hey, you’re there for her now, right? That’s what matters.”

   “Yeah,” Callum nodded, “I’m trying my best. I just want her to know that she deserves all the happiness in the world.”

   Leo raised an eyebrow, “So, you’re like her knight in shining armor?”

   Callum chuckled, “More like a mage with a staff, but yeah, something like that. But I don’t think she’d ever admit to being a damsel in distress.”

   Leo grinned, “Well, she’s lucky to have you. But you’ve gotta tell her these things, not just me.”

   Callum nodded in agreement, “Yeah, and I do, and I’ll keep doing it until she believes me.”

   The two continued their conversation, discussing relationships, love, and the intricacies of navigating emotions. As the night progressed, Callum found solace in sharing his thoughts with Leo, and Leo gained a newfound appreciation for the complexities of the mage’s heart.

—

   As the Argo II glided over the ancient city of Rome, the team gathered on deck to plan their approach to The Colosseum. 

   Leo, his hands flying across the controls, looked up at Jason and Callum, “Hey, guys, how about we get a bird’s-eye view first? Callum, you’ve got those mage wings, right? And Jason, your flying skills are top-notch. Scout out The Colosseum from above, see if there’s anything unusual before you all head down.”

   Jason nodded, “Sounds like a plan. What do you think, Callum?”

   Callum considered for a moment before replying, “It might give us a strategic advantage and help us prepare for what lies ahead. Let’s do it.”

   Before Callum summoned his mage wings, Rayla offered a cautious plea, “Be safe, you two.”

   Assuring her with a smile, Callum replied, “We’ll be fine, A mhuirnín. We’ll be back before you know it.” He planted a quick kiss on her cheek before invoking his mage wings with a confident incantation, “Manus, Pluma, Volantus!” and soaring down to the Colosseum alongside Jason.

   Observing this, Piper remarked, “I don’t recognize that language.”

   Rayla chuckled, blushing slightly, “It’s Moonshadow Elf dialect; it means ‘darling.’” 

   Sadie couldn’t help but smile. “Smooth one you got there.”

   Rayla responded with a confident grin, “Oh, I know.”

   True to his promise, Callum and Jason returned, their expressions a mix of caution and concern. The team gathered around them, eager to hear their assessment.

   “It’s just like before,” Callum shared, his voice carrying an undertone of unease. He exchanged a glance with Rayla, who held his hand in silent support. “Eerily quiet and vacant. We didn’t see anyone or anything unusual, but it feels off.”

   Piper frowned, concern etched on her face. “Off how? Like Luxor off?”

   Jason chimed in, “Yeah, similar. It’s like the atmosphere itself is holding its breath, waiting for something. I couldn’t sense any imminent danger, but it’s unsettling.”

   Carter, now back in human form, shared a look with Sadie. “Well, we better be ready for anything. Luxor was just the beginning, and I doubt Rome will be any different.”

   Rayla nodded, her eyes flickering with determination. “Let’s stick together and stay sharp. We’ve got each other’s backs.”

   The group prepared to descend into the Colosseum, each hero taking their designated role. Carter and Sadie transformed into birds, wings spread wide. Rayla clasped onto Callum, his crimson mage wings formed. Jason readied himself to carry Piper.

   Leo offered a final word of encouragement, “Good luck, guys. Bring back some cool Roman souvenirs or something!” With a mix of determination and caution, they all took flight, descending toward the entrance of the Colosseum.

[url-is-url]

At this point this is barely more than a doodle but, alive!Ember headcanons

I hc that she had lots of curly blonde Disney princess hair and big brown eyes and she absolutely hated both of these traits. Her aesthetic would have been somewhere between goth and like, proto-grunge. She's not a fire-themed ghost because she died in a fire, though she did, she's a fire-themed ghost because her other hobby besides music was arson. I imagine her being in high school in the very late 70s to early 80s - she would have died when Jack and Maddie were in undergrad - because that's when Siouxsie and the Banshees were big and her eyeliner is very Siouxsie imo. I also hc that Ann Wilson of Heart was her bi awakening.

My Ember is very, very auDHD. Her special interest is music, but like me she has "hyperfixate on ALL the things!" disease so she's not just into the playing and listening to music, she's also a huge geek about the audio tech side of things, and music history, and she can't be left alone with an instrument or she will try to play it even if she doesn't know how, and she's probably experimented with building her own instruments and recording gear. With her sensory differences, she can hear all sorts of shit that nobody else hears, and depending on the fic I do take this in a supernatural direction; sometimes she hears ghosts and shit even before she becomes a ghost herself.

So we've got a socially awkward child who hears things other kids can't hear and likes to set things on fire because it looks pretty and the crackling sound is a good stim. In the late 70s and early 80s. AKA... right when the Satanic Panic kicks off! I hc that she grew up in one of those judgemental small towns where everybody is all up in everybody's business, and about 60% of the other people in her town were convinced that either A) she was possessed by a demon, B) she straight up was a demon, or C) she was gonna be a serial killer when she grew up.

Enter Ember's biggest defender, her mom, the weirdest church lady. Mama McLain is inspired by two things: my own family history of southern folk magic, and the line in Hadestown that says "you might say [Orpheus] was touched... because he was touched by the gods themselves!". Mama McLain acknowledges that her daughter is a bit touched in the head, but she insists she's touched in the head by God/Jesus/Saint Gabriel, so mind your own biscuits. This is the kind of woman who whips out a dowsing rod when the neighbors need to build a new well, so she never blinked an eye about Ember claiming to be able to hear the trees growing if she held her breath, and if she's still alive she's perfectly aware that Ember is a ghost and keeps in touch with her accordingly. My mental image of Ember's dad is less firm, I imagine he's a long-haul truck driver and also very, very autistic (hence why being alone on the road so much doesn't make him crazy), so he thinks his daughter's eccentricities are Just Fine, Thank You. Father-Daughter Bonding Time consisted of Papa McLain tinkering on his truck while Ember tinkered with her record player and neither of them spoke to each other.

I know that ghost!Ember canonically has green eyes, but for some reason whenever I draw her I want to give her lavender eyes, so I did.

[skania]

Why did Aqua and Ruby have white star eyes on one side ever since they were born? Is there something that triggers it? Is it because they reincarnated?

When Ai's death they still have eyes with one star but sometimes Aqua is seen with his black star eyes at certain times with something that triggers (but only at that moment/not for a long time, only at that second)

Aqua -> After he found out that his father (Seujuro) had died, the star's eyes completely disappeared. Aqua feels free in revenge and lives his life as Aqua without Goro's shadow (living in his past. He has received his second chance to live a normal and happy life.) However, it turns out that his real father (Kamiki) is still alive. However, that fact didn't make Aqua awaken both black star eyes or his one star eye, why? The black star's eyes appeared as Aqua monologued in his mind thinking about Akane who was in danger and also all Aqua's worries for Akane, he also ended his happy days with Akane and chose the wrong path. Isn't this the trigger? The biggest trigger was that he was forced to end his relationship with Akane?(When he called, Aqua said he didn't want to end his happy days with Akane, Aqua also said he wanted to live happily ever after like that with Akane), Aqua also realized that Akane was in danger when Akane said she actually felt like the person was deliberately pushing her to make her fall (Aqua looked really shocked at that time). This black star eye continues to exist until the newest chapter.

Ruby -> Same with Aqua, she was also born with one star eye. Ruby activates her black star eyes upon learning the fact that Goro is dead and someone is purposely killing him. Doesn't that mean Goro's death makes him even more sick, suffering and full of revenge? Later, after chapter 123 came out, Ruby found out that Aqua was Goro and it seems that made her black star eye (which was the trigger) disappear. Leaving one white star as before, why? Has she still not come to terms with avenging Ai's death? or she haven't accepted herself as Ruby? Is her past as Sarina still lingering?

I can conclude both of them were born with 1 white star eye, then Aqua and Ruby awakened the black star eye because it was triggered by two people who meant something to them. Aqua -> Ai and Akane Ruby -> Ai and Goro

What do u think about this theory? I'm not a big shippers A or B or C. I'm enjoying the story more and i love Himekawa and Frill lol. I found your account so famous in this fandom for making good theories and giving honest opinions! Nice dayand happy weekend, Kanae!

Hi anon! First of all, thank you so much for the kind words!! I don't consider myself a good theorizer, but I do love analyzing stuff so I'm really glad people have been giving my thoughts a shot and sharing their thoughts with me in turn!

Listen, here between us: I love that theory! In particular, something that has always stood out to me is that Aqua's black stars don't come from finding out that Kamiki is alive. They, just as you say, only appear once he has given up on Akane and thus, on the "naive thought of being happy". So I'm really glad to see you mention that, because I do think it's huge!

I had a similar conversation with an anon the other day, and my thoughts basically are: I think the black stars are brought out by despair and negative emotions. I think that for Ruby, assuming that Goro was still out there somewhere and that he may find her gave her hope. It kept her going when things got hard. Knowing that Goro died and that his and Ai's killer is still out there makes Ruby despair, so she throws her naivety to the side and chooses to devote herself to the lonely road of revenge. Something similar happens to Aqua when he has to give up on Akane: it represents the moment he loses all hope of being happy and goes back to being alone, this time devoting himself to revenge for real.

That's the unbiased side of my brain, the biased side is 100% rooting for your theory, specially because I believe that Akane was a light to Aqua in the same way Goro was a light to Sarina 😂 In both cases though, I do believe that Aqua getting his white star back should have a link to Akane—be it through something that Akane does, or simply through the fact that believing that he can be happy again will allow Aqua to let Akane back into his life.

I'm indifferent to Frill but I love Himekawa too! I'm eagerly waiting for him to show up again.

Happy day and nice week(end) to you too, anon!

[ur-local-demonlol]

IDKWTFIMDOING.WAV

[Begin Audio Recording.]

"So, I honestly don't know why or how I'm even supposed to help but... Well, I'm here now. Might as well try to convince him. Um... Zel, if I get out of here alive or you get out of here alive, you owe me. Big time. Okay... Time to talk to the big man."

[knocking.]

"Come in."

[door opening then closing.]

"Hey, king. So um... I heard you gave Zel-"

"Gave Zelda a deadline? Yes, I did. Tomorrow morning, on the dot."

"B-But why though? Shouldn't you give her a little more time?"

"I've already given her the time she needed. All she needs to do is finish the last contract."

"Hm... What if, in a hypothetical manner, she uhh... Doesn't want to?'

"Pfft. Don't be ridiculous, Asmo. She's done this multiple times now. She can handle it."

"Well, like, yeah sure. She's pretty cold when doing the contract thing but for the sake of her memories? And what's with that threat you gave her anyway? She dies? Where does she go, double Hell?"

"Asmo, I know you're not stupid. It means..."

[book closing.]

"She'll be erased via execution of Holy Water."

"... What?"

"She will be publicly executed and sent to limbo. No more Zelda Blight, no more Beverly Hills."

"That... that's insane."

"You've done worse. You have no room to object."

"Look, I'm just gonna break it to you because I'm trying to save her life here, she loves that guy. The last dude she's trying to get to sign."

"I see."

"She doesn't want to harm him. They put their trust in each other to make sure that they both get what they want without either of them getting harmed. They-."

"Remember the last time you let your heart decide your fate with that angel friend of yours?"

"... Yes?"

"You decided not to take the deal and gave his soul back to him. And look what happened to you now. Lonely, only watching over him like a fox hunting its prey. Does he even know who you are? He doesn't remember you."

"This is different. The contract can be signed by someone else. Look, I even have the paper!"

[...]

"You stole it from him?"

"No, he gave it to me. Willingly. I'm gonna make someone else sign it for Zelda. Just please, let her and that man live. They don't deserve it."

"... I'm afraid you still require her permission for this. In the manner of deal-making."

"I'll... I'll do it. Whatever it takes, I'll do it."

"Very well. I'll give you 3 days. If the deal isn't made and you don't have Zelda's 500th soul, she will be erased. Is that clear?"

"Ye- Yeah. Yeah, absolutely!"

"Good. You are dismissed."

"Thank you, your highness."

[door opening then closing.]

"HAHAHA! YES! YES! Fucking yes! HEY! IF SHE LISTENS TO THIS, YOU OWE ME A LOT, OKAY?!?! WOOO-!"

[End Of Recording.]

[earlgreytea68]

https://www.tumblr.com/andoutofharm/717858183790673920/souryogurt64-x?source=share

I just saw this gifset earlier today, and was thinking about the different, complimentary ways Pete and Patrick view their music. Pete is an excellent business man, and is good at picking the songs that will eventually become singles, and gain lots of attention on the radio. Patrick, however, tends to focus on the less traditionally radio-friendly tracks on the album, that we fans end up writing essays about later. And in the end, they're both right: You need the anthems to bring new fans in and get airplay, but you need the b-sides and more experimental tracks to keep people listening and interested, which is why I think is a big reason why FOB have lasted as long as they have!

YES. And also! In the end, they're both right in that they need both. Like, I think Patrick likes the songs where he completely indulges his own whims, like What a Time to Be Alive, but I also think he likes the challenge of writing the hit song that he knows Pete is looking for. And I think Pete likes finding that hit song and strategizing about it, but I also think he enjoys when Patrick turns up with utterly bonkers songs and he has to see the world a new way. If they each only worked to please themselves, they'd actually get bored. Having to think about someone who wants something the opposite of you makes you have to be really deliberate in what you're doing instead of just unthinking and automatic.

It's like when Pete says that what Fall Out Boy really needs is the push-and-pull of him and Patrick where their opposing desires balance each other out without one dominating the other. Yes, that's what Fall Out Boy needs, as you point out, it has enlivened their career and built their fanbase, but I think it's what both Pete and Patrick need for their creative process. You can hear it when Pete talks about it, that he wouldn't want to do it with anyone else, he needs Patrick with Patrick's particular and unique skill set that both is and isn't exactly like Pete all at the same time.

You know what? I went and transcribed these quotes from the Joel Madden interview so we can have them:

"[Patrick's] strengths are my weaknesses, that's totally true. But he only cares about certain things. Like, he really only cares about the music and the melody, and I really only care about, like, the visuals and the lyrics. And so they're at a constant -- They're constantly conflicting with each other. And so when we get it right, we get it really right. And when we get it wrong, I'm like, 'Yeah, it was a little -- one of us kind of outweighed the other one.' . . . We've never created without each other for Fall Out Boy. We've created without each other on, like, other stuff. There's lots of time when I'm, like, writing with somebody, and I'm like, 'Ah, we just don't think the same way.' . . . And it feels weird. . . . I know that I have, like -- Like, I must have eaten too many lead paint chips when I was little or something, because I, like, describe things a little weird, and he picks up on it and, like, he always gets what I'm putting down, and sometimes the producer or something is like, 'What are you talking about?' and I'm like, 'It's like if these two movies were combined--'" (and then Pete gets interrupted so we don't get the rest of that statement which was surely going to be about Patrick translating him for the producer so we can all just imagine it together)

And here's some more from later!

"The roles are so probably, like, not traditional and not -- that it's, like, odd when it's with anybody except Patrick most of the time. At least, songwriting. Because it's, like -- I feel like I could, like -- I have, like, a totally dope idea in my head and I, like, I don't know how to paint, or something. [JM: You need somebody to paint it for you.] Yeah. But I, like, know exactly . . . So it's, like, really, you know, a blessing -- It's, like -- It's like one in a million, like, serendipity or something, like, like, that you ran into somebody when you were, like, you know, I'm 20, he's 17, or I'm 21 and he's 17, whatever, it's kind of crazy."

Then Joel Madden asks a question that implies actually it wasn't that lucky to meet Patrick, whoever he'd met that young would have formed around him artistically and vice versa and they would have ended up at the same place, which, frankly, is an idea I reject lololol and I think Pete does, too (he says he never thought of it that way, but maybe there's a possibility hahahahaha I think he's being polite)

Then Pete moves into: "Now it's so fast. Now, when we're in the studio, like, we don't really -- Like, we can do it so quick with each other that, like, we -- It's like a shared language that is just -- It's the closest thing non-twins would have."

AND THEN COMES JOEL MADDEN'S MOST VALUABLE CONTRIBUTION TO THE INTERVIEW, BECAUSE HERE HE SAYS, "Yeah, it's like soulmates," and Pete goes, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." <3

Also, please enjoy this best bit:

Joel Madden: Are you guys best friends?

Pete (smiling hugely): Definitely.

Joel Madden: Cool. That's nice.

Pete: Yeah. It's also, like, one of those weird ones where, like, sometimes we can just be hanging out -- like, we can hang out and we don't have to be talking, I don't know, like, you know the kind of thing, like, where we don't actually have to have, like, a conversation or do anything.

There, those are the best bits, after that the interview goes off the rails a bit lololol