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mostlysignssomeportents · 2 months ago

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Predicting the present

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/12/09/radicalized/#deny-defend-depose

Back in 2018, around the time I emailed my immigration lawyer about applying for US citizenship, I started work on a short story called "Radicalized," which eventually became the title story of a collection that came out in 2019:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250228598/radicalized/

"Radicalized" is a story about America, and about guns, and about health care, and about violence. I live in Burbank, which is ranks second in gun-stores-per-capita in the USA, a dubious honor that represents a kind of regulatory arbitrage with our neighboring goliath, the City of Los Angeles, where gun store licensing is extremely tight. If you're an Angeleno in search of a firearm, you're almost certainly coming to Burbank to buy it.

Walking, cycling and driving past more gun stores than I'd ever seen in my Canadian life got me thinking about Americans and guns, a subject that many Canadians have passed comment upon. Americans kill each other, and especially themselves, at rates that baffle everyone else in the world, and they do it with guns. When we moved here, my UK born-and-raised daughter came home from her first elementary school lockdown drill perplexed and worried. Knowing what I did about US gun violence, I understood that while school shootings and other spree killings happened with dismal and terrifying regularity, they only accounted for a small percentage of the gun deaths here. If you die with a bullet in you, the chances are that the finger on the trigger was your own. The next most likely suspect is someone you know. After that, a cop. Getting shot by a stranger out of uniform is something of a rarity here – albeit a spectacular one that captures our imaginations in ways that deliberate or accidental self-slayings and related-party shootings do not.

So I told her, "Look, you can basically ignore everything they tell you during those lockdown drills, because they almost certainly have nothing to do with your future. But if a friend ever says to you, 'Hey, wanna see my dad's gun?' I want you to turn around and leave and get in touch with me right away, that instant."

Guns turn the murderous impulse – which, let's be honest, we've all felt at some time or another – into a murderous act. Same goes for suicide, which explains the high levels of non-accidental self-shootings in the USA: when you've got a gun, the distance between suicidal ideation and your death is the ten feet from the sofa to the gun in the closet.

Americans get angry at people and then, if they have a gun to hand, sometimes they shoot them. In a thread /r/Burbank about how people at our local cinemas are rude and use their phones in which someone posted, "Well, you should just ask them to stop." The reply: "That's a great way to get shot." No one chimed in to say, "Don't be ridiculous, no one would shoot you for asking them to put away their phone during a movie." Same goes for "road rage."

And while Americans shoot people they've only just gotten angry at, they also sometimes plan shooting sprees and kill a bunch of people because they're just generically angry. Being angry about the state of the world is a completely relatable emotion, of course, but the targets of these shootings are arbitrary. Sure sometimes these killings have clear, bigoted targets – mass shootings at Black supermarkets or mosques or synagogues or gay bars – more often the people who get sprayed with bullets (at country and western concerts or elementary schools or movie theaters) are almost certainly not the people the gunman (almost always a man) is angry at.

This line of thought kept surfacing as I went through the immigration process, but not just when I was dealing with immigration paperwork. I was also spending an incredible amount of time dealing with our health insurer, Cigna, who kept refusing treatments my pain doctor – one of the most-cited pain researchers in the country – thought I would benefit from. I've had chronic pain since I was a teenager, and it's only ever gotten worse. I've had decades of pain care in Canada and the UK, and while the treatments never worked for very long, it was never compounded by the kinds of bureaucratic stuff I went through with my US insurer.

The multi-hour phone calls with Cigna that went nowhere would often have me seeing red – literally, a red tinge closing in around my vision – and usually my hands would be shaking by the time I got off the call.

And I had it easy! I wasn't terminally ill, and I certainly wasn't calling in on behalf of a child or a spouse or parent who was seriously ill or dying, whose care was being denied by their insurer. Bernie's 2016 Medicare For All campaign promise had filled the air with statistics (Americans pay more for care and get worse outcomes than anyone else in the rich world), and stories. So many stories – stories that just tore your heart out, about parents who literally had to watch their children die because the insurance they paid for refused to treat their kids. As a dad, I literally couldn't imagine how I'd cope in that situation. Just thinking about it filled me with rage.

One day, as I was swimming in the community pool across the street – a critical part of my pain management strategy – I was struck with a thought: "Why don't these people murder health insurance executives?" Not that I wanted them to. I don't want anyone to kill anyone. But why do American men who murder their wives and the people who cut them off in traffic and random classrooms full of children leave the health insurance industry alone? This is an industry that is practically designed to fill the people who interact with it with uncontrollable rage. I mean, if you're watching your wife or your kid die before your eyes because some millionaire CEO decided to aim for a $10 billion stock buyback this year instead of his customary $9 billion target, wouldn't you feel that kind of murderous rage?

Around this time, my parents came out for a visit from Canada. It was a great trip, until one night, my mom woke me up after midnight: "We have to take your father to the ER. He's really sick." He was: shaking, nauseated, feverish. We raced down the street to the local hospital, part of a gigantic chain that has swallowed nearly all the doctors' practices, labs and hospitals within an hour's drive of here.

Dad had kidney stones, and they'd gone septic. When the ER docs removed the stones, all the septic gunk in his kidneys was flushed into his bloodstream, and he crashed. If he hadn't been in an ER recovery room at the time, he would have died. As it was, he was in a coma for three days and it was touch and go. My brother flew down from Toronto, not sure if this was his last chance to see our dad alive. The nurses and doctors took great care of my dad, though, and three days later, he emerged from his coma, and today, he's better than ever.

But on day two, when we thought he was probably at the end of his life, as my mother sat at his side, holding the hand of her husband of fifty years, someone from the hospital billing department came to her side and said, "Mrs Doctorow, I know this is a difficult time, but I'd like to discuss the matter of your husband's bill with you."

The bill was $176,000. Thankfully, the travel medical insurance plan offered by the Ontario Teachers' Union pension covered it all (I don't suppose anyone gets very angry with them).

How do people tolerate this? Again, not in the sense of "people should commit violent acts in the face of these provocations," but rather, "How is it that in a country filled with both assault rifles and unimaginable acts of murderous cruelty committed by fantastically wealthy corporations, people don't leap from their murderous impulses to their murderous weapons to commit murderous acts?

For me, writing fiction is an accretive process. I can tell that a story is brewing when thoughts start rattling around in my mind, resurfacing at odd times. I think of them as stray atoms, seeking molecules with available docking sites to glom onto. I process all my emotions – but especially my negative ones – through this process, by writing stories and novels. I could tell that something was cooking, but it was missing an ingredient.

Then I found it: an interview with the woman who coined the term "incel." It was on the Reply All podcast, and Alana, a queer Canadian woman explained that she had struggled all her life to find romantic and sexual partnership, and jokingly started referring to herself as "involuntarily celibate," and then, as an "incel":

https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/76h59o

Alana started a message board where other "incels" could offer each other support, and it was remarkably successful. The incels on Alana's message board helped each other work through the problems that stood between them and love, and when they did, they drifted away from the board to pursue a happier life.

That was the problem, Alana explained. If you're in a support group for people with a drinking problem, the group elders, the ones who've been around forever, are the people who've figured it out and gotten sober. When life seems impossible, those elders step in to tell you, I know it's terrible right now, but it'll get better. I was where you are and I got through it. You will, too. I'm here for you. We all are.

But on Alana's incel board, the old timers were the people who couldn't figure it out. They were the ones for whom mutual support and advice didn't help them figure out what they needed to do in order to find the love they sought. The longer the message board ran, the more it became dominated by people who were convinced that it was hopeless, that love was impossible for the likes of them. When newbies posted in rage and despair, these Great Old Ones were there to feed it: You're right. It will never get better. It only gets worse. There is no hope.

That was the missing piece. My short story Radicalized was born. It's a story about men on a message board called Fuck Cancer Right In the Fucking Face (FCKRFF, or "Fuckriff"), who are watching the people they love the most in the world be murdered by their insurance companies, who egg each other on to spectacular acts of mass violence against health insurance company employees, hospital billing offices, and other targets of their rage. As of today, anyone can read this story for free, courtesy of my publishers at Macmillan, who gave permission for the good folks at The American Prospect to post it:

https://prospect.org/culture/books/2024-12-09-radicalized-cory-doctorow-story-health-care/

I often hear from people about this story, even before an unknown (at the time of writing) man assassinated Brian Thompson, CEO of Unitedhealthcare, the murderous health insurance monopoly that is the largest medical insurer in the USA. Since then, hundreds of people have gotten in touch with me to ask me how I feel about this turn of events, how it feels to have "predicted" this.

I've been thinking about it for a few days now, and I gotta tell you, I have complicated feelings.

You've doubtless seen the outpourings of sarcastic graveyard humor about Thompson's murder. People hate Unitedhealthcare, for good reason, because he personally decided – or approved – countless policies that killed people by cheating them until they died.

Nurses and doctors hate Thompson and United. United kills people, for money. During the most acute phase of the pandemic, the company charged the US government $11,000 for each $8 covid test:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/06/137300-pct-markup/#137300-pct-markup

UHC leads the nation in claims denials, with a denial rate of 32% (!!). If you want to understand how the US can spend 20% of its GDP and get the worst health outcomes in the world, just connect the dots between those two facts: the largest health insurer in human history charges the government a 183,300% markup on covid tests and also denies a third of its claims.

UHC is a vertically integrated, murdering health profiteer. They bought Optum, the largest pharmacy benefit manager ("A spreadsheet with political power" -Matt Stoller) in the country. Then they starved Optum of IT investment in order to give more money to their shareholders. Then Optum was hacked by ransomware gang and no one could get their prescriptions for weeks. This killed people:

https://www.economicliberties.us/press-release/malicious-threat-actor-accesses-unitedhealth-groups-monopolistic-data-exchange-harming-patients-and-pharmacists/#

The irony is, Optum is terrible even when it's not hacked. The purpose of Optum is to make you pay more for pharmaceuticals. If that's more than you can afford, you die. Optum – that is, UHC – kills people:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/09/23/shield-of-boringness/#some-men-rob-you-with-a-fountain-pen

Optum isn't the only murderous UHC division. Take Navihealth, an algorithm that United uses to kick people out of their hospital beds even if they're so frail, sick or injured they can't stand or walk. Doctors and nurses routinely watch their gravely ill patients get thrown out of their hospitals. Many die. UHC kills them, for money:

https://prospect.org/health/2024-08-16-steward-bankruptcy-physicians-private-equity/

The patients murdered by Navihealth are on Medicare Advantage. Medicare is the public health care system the USA extends to old people. Medicare Advantage is a privatized system you can swap your Medicare coverage for, and UHC leads the country in Medicare Advantage, blitzing seniors with deceptive ads that trick them into signing up for UHC Medicare Advantage. Seniors who do this lose access to their doctors and specialists, have to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for their medication, and get hit with $400 surprise bills to use the "free" ambulance service:

https://prospect.org/health/2024-12-05-manhattan-medicare-murder-mystery/

No wonder the public spends 22% more subsidizing Medicare Advantage than they spend on the care for seniors who stick with actual Medicare:

https://theconversation.com/taxpayers-spend-22-more-per-patient-to-support-medicare-advantage-the-private-alternative-to-medicare-that-promised-to-cost-less-241997

It's not just the elderly, it's also the addicted and mentally ill. UHC illegally denies coverage for mental health and substance abuse treatment. Imagine watching a family member spiral out of control, ODing, or ending up on the streets with hallucinations, and knowing that the health insurance company that takes thousands of dollars out of your paycheck refused to treat them:

https://www.startribune.com/unitedhealthcare-will-pay-15-7m-in-settlement-of-denial-of-care-charges/600087607

Unsurprising, the internal culture at UHC is callous beyond belief. How could it not be? How could you go to work at UHC and know you were killing people and not dehumanize those victims? A lawsuit by chronically ill patient whom UHC had denied care for surfaced recorded phone calls in which UHC employees laughed long and hard about the denied claims, dismissing the patient's desperate, tearful pleas as "tantrums" :

https://www.propublica.org/article/unitedhealth-healthcare-insurance-denial-ulcerative-colitis

Those UHC workers are just trying to get by, of course, and the callouses they develop so they can bear to go to work were ripped off by last week's murder. UHC's executive team knows this, and has gone on a rampage to stop employees from leaking their own horror stories, or even mentioning that the internal company announcement of Thompson's death was seen by 16,000 employees, of whom only 28 left a comment:

https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/unitedhealthcare-tells-employees

Doctors and nurses hate UHC on behalf of their patients, but it's also personal. UHC screws doctor's practices by refusing to pay them, making them chase payments for months or even years, and then it offers them a payday lending service that helps them keep the lights on while they wait to get paid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frr4wuvAB6U

Is it any surprise that Reddit's nursing forums are full of nurses making grim, satisfied jokes about the assassination of the $10m/year CEO who ran the $400b/year corporation that does all this?

https://www.thedailybeast.com/leading-medical-subreddit-deletes-thread-on-unitedhealthcare-ceos-murder-after-users-slam-his-record/

We're not supposed to experience – much less express – schadenfreude when someone is murdered in the street, no matter who they are. We're meant to express horror at the idea of political violence, even when that violence only claims a single life, a fraction of the body count UCH produced under Thompson's direction. As Malcolm Harris put it, "'Every life is precious' stuff about a healthcare CEO whose company is noted for denying coverage is pretty silly":

https://twitter.com/BigMeanInternet/status/1864471932386623753

As Woody Guthrie wrote, "Some will rob you with a six-gun/And some with a fountain pen." The weapon is lethal when it's a pistol and when it's an insurance company. The insurance company merely serves as an accountability sink, a layer of indirection that lets a murder happen without any person being the technical murderer:

https://profilebooks.com/work/the-unaccountability-machine/

I don't want people to kill insurance executives, and I don't want insurance executives to kill people. But I am unsurprised that this happened. Indeed, I'm surprised that it took so long. It should not be controversial to note that if you run an institution that makes people furious, they will eventually become furious with you. This is the entire pitch of Thomas Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century: that wealth concentration leads to corruption, which is destabilizing, and in the long run it's cheaper to run a fair society than it is to pay for the guards you'll need to keep the guillotines off your lawn:

https://memex.craphound.com/2014/06/24/thomas-pikettys-capital-in-the-21st-century/

But we've spent the past 40 years running in the other direction, maximizing monopolies, inequality and corruption, and gaslighting the public when they insist that this is monstrous and unfair. Back in 2022, when UHC was buying Change Healthcare – the dominant payment network for hospitals, which would allow UHC to surveil all its competitors' payments – the DOJ sued to block the merger. The Trump-appointed judge in the case, Carl Nichols – who owned tens of thousands of dollars in UHC bonds – ruled against the DOJ, saying that it would all be fine thanks to United's "culture of trust and integrity":

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/the-antitrust-shooting-war-has-started

We don't know much about Thompson's killer yet, but he's already becoming a folk hero, with lookalike contests in NYC:

https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1865472577478553976

And gigantic graffiti murals praising him and reproducing the words he wrote on the shell casings of the bullets he used to kill Thompson, "delay, deny, depose":

https://www.tumblr.com/radicalgraff/769193188403675136/killin-fuckin-ceos-freight-graff-in-the-bay

I get why this is distasteful. Thompson is said to have been a "family man" who loved his kids, and I have no reason to disbelieve this. I can only imagine that his wife and kids are shattered by this. Every living person is the apex of a massive project involving dozens, hundreds of people who personally worked to raise, nurture and love them. I wrote about this in my novel Walkaway, as the characters consider whether to execute a mercenary sent to kill them, whom they have taken hostage:

She had parents. People who loved her. Every human was a hyper-dense node of intense emotional and material investment. Speaking meant someone had spent thousands of hours cooing to you. Those lean muscles, the ringing tone of command — their inputs were from all over the world, carefully administered. The merc was more than a person: like a spaceship launch, her existence implied thousands of skilled people, generations of experts, wars, treaties, scholarship and supply-chain management. Every one of them was all that.

But so often, the formula for "folk hero" is "killing + time." The person who terrorizes the people who terrorize you is your hero, and eventually we sanitize the deaths, and just remember them as fighters for justice. If you doubt it, consider the legend of Robin Hood:

https://twitter.com/mcmansionhell/status/1865554985842352501

The health industry is trying to put a lid on this, palpably afraid that – as in my story "Radicalized" – this one murderer will become a folk hero who inspires others to acts of spectacular violence. They're insisting that it's unseemly to gloat about Thompson's death. They're right, but this is an obvious loser strategy. The health industry is full of people whose deaths would be deplorable, but not unsurprising. As Clarence Darrow had it:

I’ve never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.

Murder is never the answer. Murder is not a healthy response to corruption. But it is healthy for people to fear that if they kill people for greed, they will be unsafe. On December 5 – the day after Thompson's killing – the health insurer Anthem announced that it would not pay for anesthesia for medical procedures that ran long. The next day, they retracted the policy, citing "outrage":

https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/05/health/anthem-blue-cross-blue-shield-anesthesia-claim-limits/index.html

Sure, maybe it was their fear of reputation damage that got them to decide to reverse this inhumane, disgusting, murderous policy. But maybe it was also someone in the C-suite thinking about what share of the profits from this policy would have to be spent on additional bodyguards for every Anthem exec if it went into effect, and decided that it was a money-loser after all.

Think about hospital exec Ralph de la Torre, who cheerfully testified to Congress that he'd killed patients in pursuit of profit. De la Torre clearly doesn't fear any kind of consequences for his actions. He owns hospitals that are filled with tens of thousands of bats (he stiffed the exterminators), where none of the elevators work (he stiffed the repair techs), where there's no medicine or blood (he stiffed the suppliers) and where the doctors and nurses can't make rent (he stiffed them too). De La Torre doesn't just own hospitals – he also owns a pair of superyachts:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/28/5000-bats/#charnel-house

It is a miracle that so many people have lost their mothers, sons, wives and husbands so Ralph de la Torre could buy himself another superyacht, and that those people live in a country where you can buy an assault rifle, and that Ralph de la Torre isn't forced to live in a bunker and travel in a tank.

It's a rather beautiful sort of miracle, to be honest. I like to think that it comes from a widespread belief by the people of this country I have since become a citizen of, that we should solve our problems politically, rather than with bullets.

But the assassination of Brian Thompson is a wake-up call, a warning that if we don't solve this problem politically, we may not have a choice about whether it's solved with violence. As a character in "Radicalized" says, "They say violence never solves anything, but to quote The Onion: that's only true so long as you ignore all of human history":

https://prospect.org/culture/books/2024-12-09-radicalized-cory-doctorow-story-health-care/

#pluralistic #unitedhealthcare #assassination #execution #violence #murder #science fiction #radicalized #health insurance #m4a #medicare for all #Brian Thompson #guns #cancer #corruption #usausausa #torment nexus

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starsasunder · 2 years ago

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h3artsablaze -> starsasunder

#((I'm going to move the anime muses to their own blog and I'll use my thread tracker to keep up with it))#((going forward this blog will be strictly for ffxiv muses))#((musing elidibus hythlodaeus inanna and her azem for now))#ooc.#(( I'll also go through and simplify my tags before things get out of hand. ))#(( I work on my blog a lot at work on a little personal chromebook so it might be a while before I can make nice graphics ;^; ))

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kiame-sama · 4 months ago

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Humans Are Extinct- (Yandere!TWST x Fem!Reader) Monster AU pt 11

(Lilia can hear extremely well and can be rather sensitive to loud noises. He often covers his ears or magically deafens himself if Malleus' temper ever causes thunder.)

Warnings; yandere, Yandere behavior, platonic and romantic yanderes, multiple yanderes, threats, blood, injury, poachers, drama, talk of eating Humans, attempts made, near-death experiences, violence, a few time skips, Shinigami, Vampire Bat, Dragon, Cervitaur, Raiju, Kelpie, Unicorn, Drider, Harpy, Genie, Naga, Merfolk, Cecilia, Nemean Lion, Werewolves, implied unnamed character death,

~~~~~~~~

Everyone moved quickly through the forest, eyes keenly searching every tree for any signs that could lead them to their quarry. Not just Housewardens were looking, a veritable army of students all searching high and low for their lost treasure. The staff were also keenly looking, the last location having been searched with a fine-toothed comb. When they found the Human's bloodied and broken collar next to Grim's ripped collar, it was not a good sign.

To think, one of Night Raven College's own students would commit such a crime. The crime of harming and stealing away such a precious creature was nigh unforgivable. The student accused of such a crime was equally unforgivable.

Many had seen him slip away into the forests shortly before the attack, all recounting the way his eyes glowed with danger as he slid from view into the underbrush. At the time, no one had known what he was planning to do and so many had even begun to believe he was harmless. Looks like they were wrong.

Ortho scanned frantically, wanting to find the Human he had befriended and hoping the terrible Beast had not harmed her. Lilia's words echoing in his mind after the chilling analysis of the blood left behind.

"It's (Y/n)'s blood. This... This is too much blood for someone of her size to loose and be able to recover from without aid. If we don't find her soon, she will die from blood-loss."

Malleus was raching through the trees, leading his Hoard in their search for the soft Human that had been attacked. He knew he couldn't trust the other Housewardens with his treasure, and all this did was prove him right. There was no pride in the realization that he had been correct, there was only white-hot fear that he was possibly too late.

Riddle and Trey galloped through the paths, leaping over fallen logs and searching the riverbanks for any sign. Riddle was beside himself with worry as he knew he couldn't trust that Beast that called himself a student. Trey was worried to be the one to find the Human's broken body and what that would do to his friend whose sanity hung by a thread. Riddle already overblotted once, who knew what finding the Human dead would do to the still recovering Unicorn. Who knew what it would do to any of them.

Rook carried his poisonous Harpy over and through the woods, both keenly looking for any sign of the lost treasure. As a hunter and a skilled tracker, Rook was the best bet Vil had to find the Human and hopefully find her alive. Should they stumble across the monster that committed such violence first, well, Vil was of the mind to attack first and question later.

Kalim soared above the trees on his magic carpet, watching his faithful Naga Jamil weave through the trunks and search from below as he searched from above. The Naga keenly followed the scent trail left behind, as faint and muddled by other scents as it was, his tongue tasting the air for any sign of the soft Human or the Beast that took her. Kalim wished he could use his own wishes to find the Human, but had to trust that himself and the others would find her in time.

Jade and Floyd searched the streams and rivers, following the waters into the depths of the forest and swimming at incredible speeds. If the Human were taken through the water, they would know about it and be ready to fight for her return. Jade was furious with himself for ever suggesting he take the Human along on a foraging trip. If he had only kept his mouth shut and never asked her to accompany him, maybe she would still be safe. He would never forgive himself for the tragedy that took place, or for leaving her and that cat of hers unprotected in that clearing while he ventured into the cave. He thought he was keeping her safe by preventing her from joining him in the underwater channels of the cave. He was wrong.

The Beast's own dorm had been placed on lockdown and none were allowed to leave through the mirror. It was a precaution given the fact their own Housewarden had been the offending party. Though many wanted to aid in the search, they were under scrutiny due to the actions of their leader and to many, that meant they were all guilty.

It was Malleus who came upon the scene first, smoke billowing from his mouth as he saw that wretched Beast's golden hide gleaming in the sun. The blood that flecked his fur only angering the Dragon further. What pushed him past his sanity was the way the Beast was positioned above his precious Hoard member.

The Beast was straddling the limp body of the little Human and looked over at the Dragon in surprise as he came thundering through the trees. Every scrap of evidence Malleus could see was more than damming and the Dragon was not keen to ask questions. This Beast had obviously killed Malleus' precious Human, and for that, could not be redeemed.

"For the crime of harming my Hoard and killing my Human, I- Malleus Draconia, Prince of Briar Valley- hereby sign the death warrant of Leona Kingscholar and consign his soul to oblivion."

~•§•~

Earlier that day.

You were slowly becoming more and more excited as each class passed, eager to get back to your dorm and play the promised Videogames you missed so much. Even if it was not the games you were used to, they were still games and should still prove to be a good mental distraction. Hopefully Malleus wouldn't be too upset that he was no longer your guard, the Dragon occasionally peaking into the classes you attended in a not so stealthy attempt to keep track of you.

Every time the Dragon appeared in the doorway, he would leave as soon as he caught sight of you smiling in amusement at his clear protective behavior. Even Silver appeared in the halls as you changed classes, walking with you and glaring at those who got too close to you. Grim was happy to have an extra set of legs to carry him around, hoping up onto the Deer-man's back and lounging between classes.

Perhaps you would invite one of your four Diasomnia guards to spend the night. All it could do was make them feel better about the situation and let them see you were safe. The question was who you were going to invite as one showing up typically meant the others would show as well.

All sorts of things fought for attention in your mind, but you were unable to give them much focus. Though you and Grim weren't really students or held to the same standard the other students were, you did want to know what you could about this world. You weren't native to Twisted Wonderland and so the many classes actually gave you a good look into the world you found yourself in and allowed you to learn.

Grim saw himself as a fully fledged student and was eager to remind others of that fact whenever they gave him odd looks in class. Despite how some of these other students seemed annoyed with the feisty cat-beast, most refused to upset or refute his claims as that meant upsetting you. Most students knew better than to mess with you by now and simply avoided conflict all together, as not even the dumbest among them were willing to anger Malleus.

It was during one of these passing periods between class that a familiar tall figure approached you. Silver rest his hand on his sword as the merman walked up, watching with untrusting eyes and a wary gaze. Jade politely approached, nodding his head in greeting as he held his hands in front of him to show he was not armed or seeking to attack.

"Hello, (Y/n), good to see you again."

"Hey, Jade! Haven't seen you since you and Floyd last came over for some dinner. How have you been?"

"Very well, thank you. I had a question for you- more of a proposition- since you are quite new to the campus. Would you like to come foraging with me today after classes? I don't expect this trip to take long as there is a nearby cave I was hoping to gather mushrooms from."

"Sure! I would like to know where you find a lot of the mushrooms you gather, so it would be helpful to have someone experienced guiding me along."

Your words and praise made a deep blue blush fan over the Merman's cheeks, dusting the blue-tinted flesh with a deep color. Jade was quite taken with your culinary skill and was keen to learn from you, so he saw this trade of information as a good way to gain your trust. Perhaps he could show you some gathering spots and you could teach him to make your fantastic meals. It certainly seemed like a fair trade to him.

"Wait, is that okay for us to go though? Crowley doesn't want me going into the forest, but if I'm with you, it should be alright, right?"

"Perhaps we should ask the Headmage just in case your collar prevents you from entering the woods? It should be safe enough during the day to forage without trouble."

"Well, I do have time until my next class, why don't we go ask him now?"

"If you're sure? Nothing would make my heart happier than the chance to forage with you."

"Yeah, may as well!"

You reach out and grabbed the Merman's hand, not seeing the way his blush darkened at the physical contact or how he seemed to cherish the feeling of your hand in his. Silver was less than pleased, but he was also not about to dampen your happiness and excitement, even for his own sake.

"Hooman, does that mean I'm coming with?"

"Of course it does. I'm your Hooman, and you're my Grim! We have to go together, or not at all. Right?"

"Yeah! No one can take my Hooman anywhere without me coming too!"

Grim leaped from Silver's back and onto your shoulder, snuggling close to you happily. The soft purr coming from the little beast made a smile pull at your lips as you chuckled and kissed his soft forehead, happy Grim was so sweet to you. It would be a lot harder for you to navigate the school and the students without your fluffy companion by your side.

"I'll check in with you after lunch, okay, (Y/n)?"

"Alright! See you soon, Silver."

~•§•~

"Absolutely not."

"But-"

"No. The forest is far too dangerous for a soft Human to be roaming around. My answer is 'no'."

"Jade and Grim will both be with me! And it isn't like I don't have a collar on that tracks my location. Even if my collar stopped working, Grim has one too. We won't even be going far from campus!"

Crowley frowned at your insistent begging, not keen to let you go anywhere with anyone, let alone the woods around campus. It was still daytime so there weren't too many threats so long as Jade stayed by you, but there was still danger in the form of poachers. Could he really trust this merman student with your safety?

"What if something happens?"

"It won't!"

"But what if it does? You are Human, (Y/n), and that means-"

"I'm sick of being reminded of that fact every damn day!"

Crowley was surprised by your outburst, not expecting you to be so upset by his casually stated fact.

"Every day it's 'you're Human, you're too fragile' 'you are the only Human left' 'you aren't strong enough to protect yourself' and I am so tired of it! I'm not a child to protect, I'm not an idiot that can't recognize danger, and I am not a pet to keep indoors! You said yourself that almost everyone at this school is willing to keep me safe, so why is it such a problem that I want to see what lies beyond the campus? I refuse to spend the remainder of my life in one place, never allowed to leave and never allowed to experience something new. How am I supposed to be happy or find my own purpose in life if I am kept locked away like some glass figurine?"

He sighed and looked away from your intense gaze and the heated argument. You were right of course, and he was terrified of that fact. The last Human in his care had been taken from him because he just couldn't let her be free and he kept her away from everyone except himself. He saw firsthand how devastating isolation is on the Human mind, to the point that Hades himself had arrived to take the Human away from the unfair treatment at the hands of Crowley.

He couldn't let you be taken from him too, not when you were his precious chick just fledged and seeking to see beyond the fence of Night Raven College. Crowley couldn't blame you for being frustrated with him either as he knew you would get restless being cooped up on campus. The college was large and held many secrets to discover, but it felt so very small when compared with the rest of the world. Surely he could allow one measly venture off of school grounds?

"Mr. Leech, will you be with her the entire time?"

"Yes. I swear it."

"And you'll protect her should any danger present itself?"

"With my life."

"... Fine. Don't go too far and make sure you have your phone and Grim with you. I will make sure the Housewardens and the rest of the staff are on standby. If anything seems amiss, come straight back, understood?"

Your frustration melted away at Crowley's eventual acquiescence to your request, happy to be leaving the campus even if for only a little bit. There was still your displeasure at the overall dehumanizing treatment, but this was a step in the right direction. Hopefully this would prove to the Crow that letting you explore- albeit with a guard- was something that could be good for you.

"Thank you!"

You hugged the surprised Crow as he finally agreed to allow you to go foraging with Jade. The Crow was stiff for a few moments before melting into the hug and returning it in kind. He really did struggle saying 'no' to you and it only made it more difficult for him when you responded to his agreement with such affection. Truly, the Crow saw you more and more as his own young with every day that passed. It was hard not to.

"I'll make sure the others are aware. But I am being quite serious, (Y/n), there has been an exponential rise in visitors to our little island here and it would be foolish to assume they are not here for you. Promise me you will be careful."

"I promise."

"Alright. Don't hesitate to return or call at even the slightest worry that something is wrong."

~•§•~

The forest during the day was vastly different from the forest at night and you couldn't be more thrilled. At night it seemed like every shadow was alive and looking hungrily towards your direction. During the day those shadows were driven back to their dens and bird-song could be heard through the trees. Sunlight streamed through the branches and gave the forest an almost fairytale feeling as crickets and grasshoppers chirped pleasantly around you.

It was less of a foraging venture for you than it was an educational lesson on mushrooms from Jade, who happily pointed out every fungi and plant species he knew. Luckily, Jade had the foresight to bring a second foraging bag with him for you to use and even seemed bashful when gifting it to you. Maybe mermen just had a shyness about giving gifts to others? Regardless of what it was, you were thrilled with the venture and Jade was happy to split the spoils with you.

"So where is this cave you were talking about? Looks like we have most mushroom types I'm familiar with already."

"Not too far now. It is the only cave I have found Agaricus Bisporus, which you really seemed to like in the soup you made for Azul, Floyd, and I that day."

"Oh, so this cave is where the Button Mushrooms grow?"

Jade chuckled slightly at the cute name you gifted to the mushrooms he enjoyed on a regular basis. They were certainly useful and clearly edible to you, so he just found it all the sweeter that you named them after buttons. Such odd creatures Humans were, but he was certainly not complaining as he found himself quite endeared by the uniqueness of the soft individual before him.

"Yes. It can be a little tricky to get where they are growing tough, so I think it would be best for you to wait at the mouth of the cave for me."

"Why is it tricky?"

"It requires some swimming to get to where they grow, and I am fairly sure you cannot hold your breath for that long. But there are still some Pleurotus Ostreatus mushrooms on the felled trees around the cave you could gather."

"Okay. So long as you're quick, I'm sure we both can gather up enough of both mushrooms and trade when you come back out of the cave."

Jade smiled at this, happy to see you seemed to be enjoying the little jaunt through the woods and keen to gather enough mushrooms for the both of you. Maybe after your joint venture he could even help you set up terrariums to grow some of the rarer mushrooms he has found deeper in the woods.

Grim didn't seem half as enthused as you and Jade were, laying across your shoulder as he watched the birds in the trees. He grew up in this forest and suffered at the claws of the other beasts that called the woods home, so he wasn't really interested in the things you and the merman gathered. That certainly didn't mean he was opposed to snacking on several of the edible plants, however.

"Didn't the big Crow say you couldn't be left alone though? Kinda seems like this Eel-guy is fixing to leave us alone."

"Well, I'm not alone because you will be with me, and you won't let anything happen to me."

"Of course I won't! I'm the Great and Powerful Grim! I'll always protect my Hooman."

"Exactly, so there's nothing to worry about, right?"

"Right!"

Despite the way Grim now seemed alright with the situation, you also vaguely hoped that nothing bad happened while Jade was in the cave. You trusted Grim to watch your back, but he wasn't the best mage and you knew there were likely poachers who could overpower your little friend. Naturally, you still intended to be on guard in case anyone tried to approach while you were waiting for Jade.

The three of you came up to what seemed to be a large hole in the side of a large hill, hearing the sound of rushing water from deep within. Jade paused at the cave entrance, removing his phone to give to you for safekeeping as the item did not work beneath the water.

"Alright, I will be back in a few moments and then we can head back to campus."

"Okay. Don't take too long," you gently teased the merman, "or I might have to come in looking for you."

"I'm sure you would."

The merman gave you a final smile of reassurance before heading into the cave, quickly swallowed up by the darkness. A faint sound of splashing met your ears before going quiet and you figured you could look for those other mushrooms Jade mentioned. Grim hopping off your shoulder to go bother some birds that were chirping rather loudly nearby.

Along the many fallen trees, you could see several mushrooms growing from the rotting trunks. They looked like oyster mushrooms to you, which meant they were likely the ones Jade had been talking about. Though you weren't overly familiar with the names Jade used for them, you did recognize several by their appearance.

As you crouched down to start picking the mushrooms, something odd occurred to you. The forest was silent.

Moments ago there had been birdsong and the sounds of bugs going about their little lives, now there was nothing. The only sound that met your ears was the wind in the trees. Something about the sudden quiet made a long forgotten instinct within you stir as the hairs on the back of your neck stood on end.

Where was Grim?

It was as you stood up to look around that a sudden force slammed into your side, throwing you to the ground beneath a much larger figure. You didn't recognize the beast man above you though they seemed to be some kind of heavily scarred wolf man with grey and black fur. His short whiskers were broken and his teeth were the same as he sneered down at you like a predator taunting his prey. The man on top of you was quick to slice the collar from your neck, nicking you in the process as he threw it away and to the side.

"Those fools just let this juicy treat walk right through their fingers. Idiots, the lot of them."

"Ow! Alpha, this stupid cat is more a nuisance than he is worth!"

You looked towards the second voice and felt your heart jump into your throat as you saw an unfamiliar Wolf-man with brown fur was holding Grim by the neck. Your devoted friend was struggling valiantly against the Gnoll but even you could see he was quickly running out of air and energy. Even as you tried to struggle to help Grim, a sudden stabbing pain forced you instead to return your attention to the one on top of you.

He had sunk a rather large hunting knife into your leg to hold you still and the pain made a harsh cry escape your lips. You couldn't reach your phone or Jade's phone as the bag you carried had been knocked out of your hands before you could react. With a quick motion the man ripped the knife from your leg and positioned it over your throat as if he intended to gut you with it.

"Quit your bitching! Break the damn thing's neck if it is that difficult to hold onto. I'll slice the Human up and we can scram before those students even realize-"

A sudden knobbed club seemed to fly from the forest, cracking against the lead wolf's skull with a sickening smack. The force of the club knocked the wolf off of you and for a moment you tried to get yourself to your feet, only to find your leg struggling to support your weight. In your dazed and panicked stupor, you barely realized there was a familiar golden Lion wrenching Grim out of the second wolf's grasp, throwing the wolf back into a tree. That same Lion was quick to hoist you up over his shoulder, breaking into a dash away from the wolves who were still reeling in pain and surprise.

"Damn it, hold on, Mousey!"

The gruff voice of Leona was a surprising comfort to you as the Lion swiftly ran opposite of the wolves. There must have been more wolves you didn't see as it sounded like an entire pack was chasing after the three of you. From your position over Leona's shoulder, you saw several wolf-men running on all fours after the Nemean Lion that had wisked you away. Despite how fast they seemed, Leona was faster and wasn't even slowed by your added weight.

Over felled trees and through the whipping underbrush, Leona was heading through the forest with far more grace than you expected from the temperamental and lazy Lion. Though it did seem like the school was getting further and not closer, he was still taking you away from the wolves and that was good enough for you. The pain in your leg sent shooting agony up from the wound and only hurt worse with every jostle or sharp turn the Lion had to make. Despite the fact that he was helping you escape, you still wanted to scream out to beg Leona to stop and give you a moment to address your wound.

You felt the trails of blood that ran down your soft flesh and you started to worry about how much you were losing as your leg was already fairly soaked. Only when you began to become lightheaded and started to lose track of the forest did Leona stop his sprint. The howling and barking of the wolves had faded away into the forest which meant Leona had a chance to slowdown and assess what kind of state you were in.

With a surprising gentleness you didn't expect from the Lion, he maneuvered you off of his shoulder and onto the grass. Judging from his grim expression, you were more injured than even you realized. The slight sound of ripping met your ears and you vaguely realized he had torn the leg of your pants to access your injury easier.

"Gotta stop the bleeding..."

Leona muttered as he worked, removing his belt and securing it above your wound. A loud cry left your lips as he tightened the belt and he visibly winced in response. Both Lion ears were angled back on his head as he used the torn fabric of your pants to apply pressure to the wound.

"Don't let my Hooman die, Lion-guy. Please- please, help her."

"I'm trying, you damned overgrown cub! How about you be useful and use your wings to go get help?"

"I can't use them to fly anymore!"

"Then run or something! We won't stay ahead of them for long, so use your collar to call the others before they catch up."

"That wolf-guy tore it off when he grabbed me, I don't have it anymore!"

"Fuck..."

Leona cursed angrily as he continued holding your wound. He could theoretically outrun them, but a lone Lion, even a Nemean Lion, was at a disadvantage when running from a pack. He had the element of surprise but had to throw his Knobkerrie to get the first wolf off of you. That meant he was without his Magestone, his phone- which he had left in his room that morning- and to top it off the one thing that was supposed to keep track of you and your cub had been removed.

The distant sound of howls made Leona's decision for him as he picked you back up, scooping up Grim and taking you both deeper into the woods. He couldn't make a wide circle to get you back to the school, he had no idea how many wolves there were in the pack and they could have spread out to cut him off if he tried. Staying still was not an option with the wolves already on your trail. Trying to signal to the others of Night Raven would also expose your position to the poachers. Leona would have to take you to the town in the valley beyond and hope you didn't lose too much blood in between or the wolves didn't catch you first.

~•§•~

Leona was getting tired. He couldn't keep up the pace forever and eventually he had to stop just to take a breath. Though he no longer heard the wolves, that didn't mean much as they were likely still in hot pursuit. No hunter would give up their greatest quarry that easily, and the soft Human was certainly a prize to obtain.

The problem was that your breathing had gotten shallower and you had fallen unconscious despite his best attempts to keep you awake. Your heartbeat was faint even to his ears and it was clearly upsetting your cub as Grim began to cry.

"No! Wake up, Hooman. Please... Please wake up, (Y/n)! We gotta go home..!"

"She can't. She can't wake up. She's lost too much blood to stay conscious."

"Help her!"

"I'm trying!"

"Try harder!"

"I am! I am trying to keep you and her alive! What do you think I was running for? Maybe shut up and let me think, damn it!"

Grim's ears went flat, the tears only falling faster now as Leona immediately realized his mistake, trying to reach out to the cat who only sobbed and fled into the trees. He couldn't pursue the little cub as he had to make sure you were safe, but it was beginning to seem like you weren't going to survive the trip. Feeling helpless and angry with himself, Leona tried to at least keep you warm and perhaps stave off the cold approach of death. If the wolves came, he would fight until you both no longer drew breath as he refused to leave even your body for the scavengers.

He was ready to fight to his last when he heard the forest rustling with the sound of approaching footsteps, what he wasn't ready for was Malleus Draconia to erupt from the woods. A fair bit behind him rushed in his usual lackeys who also seemed to be out for blood, but none moreso than the Dragon. Smoke billowed from deep within the enraged Dragon as a heavy magical pressure slammed into Leona.

"For the crime of harming my Hoard and killing my Human, I- Malleus Draconia, Prince of Briar Valley- hereby sign the death warrant of Leona Kingscholar and consign his soul to oblivion."

"Wait!"

The loud yowl that interrupted from the woods distracted the Dragon just enough that the bolt of lighting crackling from his form barely missed Leona's left ear by a hair. Grim, with tears streaking down his little face, ran out in front of Malleus to put himself between the Dragon and Leona. His little ruined wings flapped frantically despite giving him no lift or speed.

"Wait..! He didn't- he didn't hurt her! He helped us, but she isn't okay. Please, help her!"

"If it wasn't Leona, then who-"

"It doesn't matter who did it if she dies! Help her now! She's dying!"

The pleas of the little cat moved the Dragon, agreeing to solve blame later and solve the problem at hand. Malleus couldn't hear your heartbeat and that was concerning as he rushed forward to render aid. Lilia was quick to join his draconic lord as his sensitive hearing picked up on the faint sound of your heart.

"She is alive, but she has lost a lot of blood and is going into a coma," he removed his jacket and pulled up his sleeves, "Malleus, use your magic to pull the blood soaked from the wrap, it will have to be enough for now."

The Dragon took orders easily and Leona vaguely wondered who the true leader of their group was as Lilia directed the great mage. They only really took a quick breath of relief when your heartbeat had returned to a steady rhythm in your chest. It was still weak, but not nearly as quiet as it had been. Lilia had done enough triage to know what spells would work best and by directing Malleus he allowed the Dragon to be the primary instrument in saving your life. He had his own reasons to encourage the bond between you and Malleus to flourish, but mostly the Dragon needed to be the one to help you and Lilia knew it.

"Explain quickly what took place. I am ready to listen and deliver punishment to the offending party-"

The howling on the wind was loud and almost sudden, as if intended to startle as the pack of wolves emerged from the trees all around the group. It was clearly a pack of poachers as they all eyed the prize laying between the men. The alpha, clearly bloodied and angry, wielded Leona's Knobkerrie like a sword, threatening the group that dare get between his pack and their feast.

"Hand over the meat-sack. My pack has rights to that kill and I'll fight every one of you prissy ass mages who gets in my-"

The sky went black in seconds, as if night had suddenly fallen over the woods, but instead of stars only rolling storm clouds could be seen. Lighting leaping between the masses of black oily cotton in a sickening green that churned the stomach of the foolish wolves. Hunters now turned hunted as power electrified the very air and stones began to quake in the very presence of rage defined.

Words were not needed, not anymore. They would only be wasted on fools such as this. Filth that sought to take what was not theirs and dare call Malleus' beloved (Y/n) something as demeaning as a 'meat-sack' and a 'kill' as if they had rights to feast upon you like savage Ferals.

No.

No, Malleus would not stand for such blatant disrespect to his Hoard and himself. Punishment would be delivered and it would be by Malleus' hands. They were going to wish he had used his magic.

"Wha-"

"You will not speak. We are leaving the area immediately. Walking, not running. We don't need to draw his attention."

Leona was silenced by a hand over his mouth as Lilia gathered up Grim with his wings, covering him with his jacket and handing the little cub into Silver's arms. Sebek was quick to get the wounded Human up onto Silver's back, climbing on himself to keep her secure on the Reindeer. Lilia spoke in a hushed tone to the Lion as his fellow dorm members worked as quietly as possible to not earn the ire of the beast before them.

Leona found himself unable to disobey the enigmatic old Fae and knew he must have used some kind of magic to hold the Lion to his commands. The ground rumbled as the sound of a true terror escaping their secondary skin to show the beast that lurked beneath. Many of Malleus' features hinted at his true Draconic form, from his long tail to his twin horns and wings, the full Dragon was still a very different beast.

The pure magic in the air was almost as difficult to breathe in as smoke. Once confident snarls turning to yelps and whines of genuine terror as the foolish wolves realized just how outclassed they were.

Lilia stayed alongside Silver as Leona took up the other side, moving with them even as he craned his neck to stare behind him at the Dragon in the flesh. Black scales glinted in the light, green lightning spewing from the sky as the elongated fang filled maw of the beast snapped around the fleeing figures. Maybe he was considered one of the most powerful mages in the world for a reason, and he wasn't even using magic at that moment.

"Lilia, what if his majesty needs us-?"

"We need to get her back to Night Raven, then we can work on calming Malleus if his temper tantrum doesn't burn him out before she wakes. She still isn't okay and we need to let the others know what happened. All we can do now is leave for our own safety and hers."

#kiame-sama #yandere #x reader #yandere x reader #reader insert #tw yandere #Humans Are Extinct TWST AU

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dvilsdesire · 5 days ago

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// I forgot that when I moved blogs it didn't just fuck up my own thread tracker but YOURS as well... And I likely have just lost a LOT of threads 😭

If there was anything you wanted to continue, please let me know if you have it stored somewhere? If not, we can always start new things ❤️

#ooc #tbd #// I have a few i stores away in my likes that i owed but everything that someone else owed has poofed now

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shunin-gumis · 1 month ago

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Temptation Towards Apoptosis - Track 10

L4mps 1st Feature Event

This chapter was translated by Aca!

Location: Toi’s inner world

Toi: A-chama…

Astaroth: What’s wrong? Why do you persist so?

Astaroth: Did you not want to put an end to this? Were you not the one who wished to end your hideous transformation with your very own hands?

Toi: Mhm… I thought about it.

~~~(flashback)

Yodaka: Toi, have you given thought to what you might do after you’ve changed?

Toi: After I’ve… changed?

Yodaka: If changing is not something you can avoid, then perhaps it would help if you thought of what lies beyond that change.

Yodaka: More often than not, I’ve recently come to think that perhaps… Time moving forward is actually a good thing.

Location: Toi’s inner world

Toi: I’ve always been terrified of changing, because I don’t know what lies ahead of that change.

Toi: But, I still want to stay by his side.

Toi: I know now that it’s okay for me to want that. He made me realize that.

Toi: So, A-chama. Stop our assimilation, please.

Astaroth: Kukuku…. HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Toi: ……

Astaroth: And after you cease the transformation, what then? It is only a matter of time before you and your precious brother freeze to death here!

Toi: That’s fine. Ani-sama will somehow pull through.

Asaroth: That’s–

Toi: I know. After all, we’re twins who are two halves of a whole.

Location: Hotel - Room

Nagi: Heeeey, Netaro, wake up. Daniel: Thanks to those crazy ass trackers you put on the twins, we can see where they are.

Netaro: Googa~ Snork, snork, snork mimimimimi.

Yodaka: Quite a picturesque way of sleeping. Did anyone manage to get through to them?

Chief: No. I’ve been trying to get a hold of them for a while now…!

Nagi: Seems like I can’t reach them either.

Daniel: Well, maybe they’ll come back soon, y’know.

Chief: But, the weather has become extremely harsh, we would’ve probably heard from them by now.

Yodaka: That’s true… we should probably try contacting Morozumi-san—

Chief: ! It’s Ryui…! Hello?

Ryui: “… H… pl…”

Nagi: The signal…

Ryui: “Toi’s… a… th…”

Chief: Sorry Ryui-kun, but I can’t hear you…!

Daniel: Are they deep in the mountains right now…?

Netaro: Tuah! I sense something exciting happening!

Yodaka: Are you awake now, Netaro?

Netaro: Thaaat said, I have made a “Signal Beep Beep Enhancement Antenna” within the 18 seconds after waking up and attached it to Doudou’s phone.

Ryui: “Shit… Hey, Chief. Can you hear me?”

Chief: Ryui-kun! I can hear you just fine now!

Daniel: Woah, sounds pretty bad over there. Where are you guys now—

Ryui: “We’re near Oirase Gorge. But there’s a heavy blizzard…”

Yodaka: Are the two of you alright?

Ryui: ”We’re fine. I don’t have time to explain but can you come over now…!”

Chief: Got it! We’ll come as quickly as possible, so send us your location!

Nagi: This would be a good time to use the studless snow tires the other customers from the Kamakura bar recommended us.

Location: Aomori - Oirase Gorge

Ryui: *panting*

Ryui: Toi, just wait a little longer. We’re going back home soon.

Ryui: Fuck, I can’t see shit…!

Ryui: (I’ve got a bad footing here. We’ll both fall if I’m careless, but if I don’t hurry…!)

Spirit A: iIiiiiIi SmmEEllllLL SouUummEeThinngg.

Ryui: Fucking hell…!

Spirit B: SomMmmeThinnGn SmeElllAlelL sNiiccceEE.

Spirit C: WhEiiirreeEEee iSZzz It? WheeeRreee wHeReeeeE.

Ryui: (There’s too many of them…!)

Ryui: …? What was that…

Ryui: …!

Ryui: (What, the…! These white threads around Toi… a cocoon?!)

Ryui: Toi, Toi!

Ryui: …

Ryui: Tch! Is this that shitty demon’s doing?!

Ryui: (I’m not strong enough to do this alone. I’ll have to seek Morozumi-san for help, but in order to do that–)

Spirits: IIiiIIII SeeeEeeEE YouuuUUuuu!

Ryui: Hah… try me if you dare.

Ryui: I have to go back with Toi. Even if it kills me.

Location: Toi’s inner world

Astaroth: Is that fine to you? Without my powers, you wouldn’t be able to see the future.

Astaroth: The Shiramitsu Family will fall to ruin, and you will be cast aside.

Toi: That’s not it. I’m not trying to get rid of you.

Astaroth: What…?

Toi: I’m going to keep A-chama residing in me. However, I’m done being afraid of you taking over and transforming my body.

Toi: (Now that I think about it, I’m always letting others decide and do things for me)

Toi: (But it’ll be different from now on.)

Toi: I want to be equals with A-chama…!

Astaroth: You think yourself capable?

Toi: Mhm.

Astaroth: Oh? And, pray tell, how do you plan to accomplish that?

Toi: …

Astaroth: Mankind oh so favors stealing from trampling down on, and subordinating others.

Astaroth: Or perhaps you, in your spineless cowardice, believe that you can solve this with a conversation—

Toi: I know. Let’s do a trial of strength.

Toi: If this trial is something I must do to stay by Ani-sama’s side, then I’m willing to do anything!!

Astaroth: Hahaha…! Very well, let me witness your pitiful struggle!

Location: Aomori - Snowy path

Ryui: Good, I see the road…! Where are those spirits at…?!

???: Crunch… Crunch… Chomp… Chomp…

Ryui: (That huge ass spirit… just ate the rest of them…!)

Spirit: …Ke…Ke.

Ryui: (For fucks sake… please don’t notice us.)

Strong Spirit: …Ke… YoooouUUuuouOOuuu.

Ryui: …! Shit…!

Strong Spirit: GrAhHHHH!!

Ryui: H-Huh…?

???: …

Ryui: (That shining… animal…? Did it fend off that spirit..?)

Ryui: Uwah?!

Ryui: (It disappeared…? I thought it was coming towards me… Wait, more importantly…!) Strong Spirit: ooOooooOooooo…me…

Ryui: How persistent…!

Strong Spirit: ggGGiiIVeeEEE mmMEEee itTTttT!!!

Ryui: (This is it, but as long as Toi’s safe—)

*car crashing*

Location: Company Van Interior

Nagi: …Oh no, I think I just ran over something.

Yodaka: Oh my.

Netaro: Driving license revoked, Driving license revoked~!

Event Masterpost

Next Track

#18trip #18tlip #18trip translation #nagi hachinoya #hachinoya nagi #toi shiramitsu #ryui shiramitsu #netaro yowa #yodaka natsume #hiroshi daniel iwabuchi #l4mps #momiji hamasaki #kaede hamasaki #l4mps feature event #temptation towards apoptosis

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merrock · 23 days ago

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Good morning, Merrockites! Today was our last holiday activity check, meaning that moving forward, the following standards are expected to be met by all writers in the group:

each character must reply to two threads every week.

those two threads must be to two different characters.

& it would be great if those two characters were written by two different writers.

The activity check schedule will always be posted here to this page. Checks are done Friday mornings, although they are put together on Thursdays. Therefore, if you are only active in the last 24 hours before check, you may get a notification that you were tagged -- if you do not see your name on check, please ignore this! it's a 'ghost tag.' Unfollows are done Monday evenings at 11PM (ish). If you are unfollowed, you have 48 hours to reclaim your role, which can be done up to 3 times before you are asked to reapply.

Some things that we want you guys to keep in mind in regards to activity and checks and what we are looking for:

only activity counts as activity. Social media posts, gifts, tasks, photo sets, etc. do not count towards activity, only interactions.

creating an open starter no longer counts as activity.

creating closed threads does (as we are assuming you've plotted with someone!), and replying to opens does as long as it is not your only activity (meaning you continue on the thread!)

You are responsible for your own activity. Some people find it helpful to use a tracker, others are just very diligent with checking activity notifications or keeping an eye on dash: find what works for you. Avoid bubbling, if you need more threads on someone, reach out to another writer and say hey, let's plot. Be mindful that people rely on you, so it's important to not drop or ignore threads (it's okay if you need to work on something for a plot, or have a lot of muse, as long as you're still doing your other threads). The way that you treat other players & your threads is going to determine how they respond to you, remember that.

Hopefully, this serves as a little refresher heading out of the holiday and into the rest of the year! If you ever have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me. xx

#merrockadmin

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spiritsintertwined · 2 months ago

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World RP Discord server Domino City welcomes you!

Streaks of color spread across the sky. Branches of the multiverse, twisting and colliding, brought new visitors to Domino City…

Are you looking for a relaxing multifandom roleplay? Tired of muses already claimed? Want a mix of the familiar and unfamiliar?

This invite is a 10-use ticket. Tickets refresh every few months. Follow @spiritsintertwined to stay up to date on new ticket giveaways!

(Must be 18 or older to enter)

The Yugioh-focused Discord World RP, Domino City, is now opening the doors for more members! The community is inclusive to other fandoms and OCs, for a refreshing variety of personalities and crossovers. The server offers many neutral locations and Alternate Universes for those unfamiliar with Yugioh, allowing for grand adventures and smaller slice-of-life interactions.

Upon joining only the Welcome and Rules channels are visible. After verification, all other channels can be seen. It may take a moment to be verified as it is done by hand!

World RP: plot threads in style.

Our World RP server is structured where each category is a zone/world, each channel a location and each thread a sub location or private story. Characters move about in these locations and writing in them is usually a slow to steady pace. Quick-paced RP channels, like the Public Zones, are for those who desire lighter forms of roleplaying. It is also possible to start private RPs.

What our server offers:

🤝A small, friendly, inclusive and tight-knit community. Needs are respected and no one gets left behind. There is always some activity to be found in the variety of channels!

😎 Freedom to reply at your own pace. There is also 0 pressure to match writing length or quality.

👥 A duplicate canon muse system. This feature that aims to resolve the issue of fandom characters being taken, using an identifier of nicknames and mun names to tell each other apart. Additonally, the existence of duplicates is explained in-lore with the multiverse! We believe every roleplayer should be able to play any character, any way they like.

🤖 The Tupperbox bot which allows you to use your characters on the fly! This bot works in conjunction with the duplicate muse system.

🔎 The RP Bulletin Board with thread tracker, starter calls and mun status updates. Plot your RPs in a concentrated place!

Settings and Alternate Universes:

🏙️ Domino City: The perfect place for more slice-of-life RPs, dates or semi-fantasy stories with a more realistic backdrop. Shop at the mall, visit a restaurant, or enjoy the comfort of your own house channel.

🐉 Domino World: A high fantasy AU setting, including a world map! There is also an optional roleplay mode in the form of DND campaigns and hybrid systems using the bot Avrae.

☀️ Season of the Light Spirit: This category features locations that are Spring and Summer-themed, but are open all year. Wander into the Spring forest, or sail to the adventurous Summer islands. Port Crookhook is the place for Lovecraftian mysteries. And last but not least, the Sunflower Festival is the slice-of-life hub with picnics and markets!

🌙 Season of the Dark Spirit: This category features locations that are Autumn and Winter-themed, but are open all year. The autumn forest of Leafdrop, swaying between cozy and spooky, leads to Blackrock mountain featuring winter sports. Halloween-themed content such as the Moonlight Mansion can be enjoyed off-season as well. Snowflower Harfest is the slice-of-life hub for harvest festivals, winter markets, galas and more!

🪐 Travels through Time and Space: From the distant past of Ancient Egypt, to the futuristic sci-fi in outer space. Certain planets even host content of other fandoms!

And even more features!

Will your character solve the mystery of the colliding multiverse? Become the greatest duelist? Cause some chaos? Or simply find a place called home, with friends or a loved one? Everything is possible in Domino City!

#discord rp #yugioh rp #yugioh #multifandom rp #multifandom roleplay #discord roleplay #yugioh roleplay #roleplay #discord #roleplay community #world rp #world roleplay #yugioh rp discord #yugioh roleplay discord #yugioh rp server #yugioh roleplay server #roleplay server #discord roleplay server #multifandom roleplay server

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crownmemes · 9 months ago

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I've been running this blog for a year now, with 400+ memes posted, so I thought I'd just share my meme making process for anyone that may be interested!

I watch a lot of media. My current job works with television, so it pays to familiarise myself with as much content as possible. Plus, I'm a sucker for detective shows, especially older ones. So, I watch a lot of media, and while I watch, I note down any interesting sentences that I think could work well as a rp meme. Everything goes into a google sheets tracker I made.

My requirements for taking lines from sources are that they must be lines I can imagine starting and interesting thread, and they mustn't be overly genetic (e.g. "Hi, how are you?"). Generic is fine as long as it provides some kind of direction still (e.g. "This isn't a game" could be an argument, a warning, concern, etc). Sometimes I'll also tweak lines to work better for rp - e.g. "He's going to need to rest for a few days" -> "You're going to need to rest for a few days."

Once I've got a lot of lines, I go through them all again to double check for ones that don't work, then I move them to my theme tracker.

I tick boxes for what themes the lines can work for. For less common themes (e.g. aliens), I have a section at the end of the tracker where I can manually add extra themes, then a count of them on another page.

Every few months, I go through and make memes out of anything with ~30+ lines. I aim to keep them all ~30 in length, ideally no shorter than 25, no longer than ~40. The only exception is the Questioning memes, which are made from any lines that are question, thus fill up quickly. I go up to 50 for those.

I then use a formula to add speech marks to the lines I'm using, throw them into a list randomiser, and then separate them out into multiple memes if needed. Back in my tracker, I change their ticks to grey so they aren't included in the active count anymore, but I can still find them if I need to see what I've used in the past.

Shows with 25+ lines get their own meme too, and if it needs to be split into multiple memes, they also get a Condensed version at the end. This is where I've pulled out the best/most relevant lines for the show into one, shorter meme.

If they don't have 25+ lines, they get ticked as Assorted, and they go to an Assorted Media meme.

Originals are ticked as Original. I only add them to the theme tracker if they can be used for other themes too.

As of writing this, there are 6.4k lines in my tracker, and 185 waiting to be added.

It isn't a short process, but it's not the worse either. I spend about two evenings every other month caterogrising lines and creating memes. This usually results in 40-60 posts for the queue.

Things I wish I'd done differently:

Adding more robust tracking for smaller themes (currently I don't have a way of tracking which I've historically used once their meme is made)

Things I would like to do, but would take too much effort for the amount they'd be used:

A fliterable list of every show/film with a specific meme

A meme randomiser where you can tick which themes/genres you want memes from, and then it shows you a random one

A meme randomiser where it has all my theme tracking data, and then makes you a unique meme. E.g. you ask for an angry meme, so it randomly gives you 30 lines from the 700+ angry ones I have in my tracker

If you read all this, I hope it was interesting! 😅

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davidkarofskyindie · 2 years ago

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galahadsboy (Buck/Eddie)

@galahadsboy continued from (x)

galahadsboy:

Eddie realised almost as soon as he said it. The bottom of the stairs and the high ceiling. So he groaned closing his eyes & putting his hands over them. “On a scale of one to ten… It’s a I’m never drinking again in my life” he said. Honestly he didn’t mind being undressed like this & he trusted Buck. Other people maybe not but Buck was Buck. “Tell me I didn’t do anything too stupid” he said hopefully. He tended to be too honest when he was drunk.

Buck casually leaned back in his seat as he sipped his coffee, watching as Eddie slowly started to move. He was surprisingly used to seeing Eddie like this, mostly because he just turned up to Eddie’s house unannounced so often that walking in when the man was about to shower wasn’t unusual for him so sitting there with Eddie in nothing but his underwear was just normal “Oh nothing stupider than usual... though the midnight table dance was definitely fascinating to watch, I hope Hen got video of that” he said with a little smile, looking to Eddie and thinking for a moment “But no, you were pretty much just a fun goofy drunk... and very talkative, especially on the ride home. Drunk talky Eddie is a fascinating side of you, gotta admit I never knew you could talk like that”

#galahadsboy #queueded #moved to it's own thread for the tracker

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fantasywritten · 1 year ago

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So, it’s pretty obvious to everyone that I haven’t really been here lately. Life happens, and things changed, and I have had to come to the difficult conclusion that… my interests have changed.

Up until now, I have spent my time on this blog using icons, writing extensively, using the queue system, using a complicated tagging system, using a thread tracker, and trying desperately to keep up with every single one of my interactions. And although the writing and creating stories alongside you all has been an amazing experience, I have to take a step back, at least from the way I was doing things before.

Let me make one thing clear: I am not leaving Tumblr. I may or may not move blogs, but at this point, I’m not leaving.

However, I have decided to become a low activity, iconless, casual roleplayer. What does this mean? Well, I’m not going to have a thread tracker anymore, nor am I going to use icons. I’m not going to write in small text — or do any formatting at all, really. I’m going to start and drop threads as I wish. I’m going to answer memes at my own discretion. I’m going to only answer IMs if they don’t make me anxious. I’m going to use muses that I want to use, when I want to use them. I’m going to write with the people that I want to write with, and the people that want to write with me. I’m finally going to prioritize my own needs.

I understand that this may sound harsh. I understand that this may sound selfish. But one thing that I’ve had to learn and accept lately is that there’s a fine line between selfishness and self-care. Putting yourself first is not selfish; it’s necessary.

And if people don’t want to write with me because of this, that’s okay. And that’s something that I have to accept.

My muse list is going to become fluid, meaning that I will have a list of muses that I will write, but I will focus on the muses that I want to focus on at any given period in time. My tagging system will change; I will start to tag things much more simply. OOC posts will simply be tagged “ooc.” IC posts will simply be tagged with the muse’s name; for example, if I was writing a reply from John Kramer, it would be tagged as “john kramer,” and so on and so forth.

I hope these changes aren’t too drastic. If they are and you no longer wish to write with me, I wish you the absolute best, and I completely understand. I truly do love each and every one of you, and I’d like to personally thank you all for being a part of this amazing journey so far. And although my interests have changed, as of right now, I will still be here. You know where to find me! ❤️

#ooc #psa

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fragmented-tales · 6 months ago

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RULE ONE.

Mun is 18. This blog will contain Suggestive content, minors will be hard blocked!

RULE TWO.

I reply at my own pace!! This means that while I will try to reply to you as soon as possible, it may take months for the muse to return to me for that specific thread. If you see me answering memes or other threads, I promise didn't forget about you and am not ignoring you! DO NOT include me in any public thread tracker of whose turn it is, or remind me more than twice every month, as it puts pressure on me and causes more delay.

RULE THREE.

I believe in reblog karma but don't require you to partake in it. I'll still try to send you things from memes I reblog from you if I think any of our muses could interact, though!

RULE FOUR.

Personals are not allowed to reblog, but are welcome to like any posts. This is due to some rp blogs being side blogs. As anyone might expect, do not reblog threads you are not part of without explicit permission from all parties. You will be hard blocked.

RULE FIVE.

Less of a rule, more of just a general note but doubles are okay! Responses of any length are fine, as long as we both have fun and keep the story moving. English is my first language but grammar is not my strong suit and some responses may be written with 20+ hours of being awake.

#Author's notes (OOC) ;;#Rules

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hellworm-fr · 1 month ago

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[off-site question] 'what is your system for tracking Flight Rising info?' (asking in reference to notn prep convo)

saw something about keeping all fr tracking info in their phone's notes app...got me thinking about my system for info tracking for fr + the evolution of it. I used to use my mobile phone notes but then moved to google docs pretty quickly and adapting to sometimes use discord. My current system is a chaotic mess due to my hiatus/return, new things/events I missed, and only recently getting my first very own computer, when everything before was phone or laptop.

My system can be primarily summarized by the following breakdown:

-> s p r e a d s h e e t s - I got back into fr after a long ass hiatus and immediately decided that my lifelong aversion to spreadsheets was over and I locked in to teach myself how to use them in the way that I want to, to replace my 'everything in google docs' trash...

I currently have sheets for: notn prep, hibden tasks, and project tracking (especially) I also use sheets other people have made for FR closest in-game color calculator and other stuff, as well though mostly I make my own so I can go crazy with formatting only I like.

I also use google docs still, such as my recent quick little reference for the multiple secret santa events I am participating in this year. I use it a lot less than I used to, especially as I try to/considering switching from google drive to a different file/bookmark collection platform.

-> private/personal server channel - minimal-info stuff that needs quick access

Not a lot of people, afaik, use the ability to create a discord server for just themselves to their advantage. I throw things from my clipboard to here to grab later/move to other places, keep things super easy to find in-house to share later in a dm/server. I also have a specific thread of name ideas and what I have and haven't used, though it isn't efficient and may be moved somewhere else for formatting. But for (temp) hosting, easy access between devices, easy sharing w others and organization within my most used site/app, it's good.

-> forum threads on flight rising - available to reference by others and share easily

trying to make and use more forum threads since I realized how much I like looking at other people's (lore/dump/journal/tracker, etc) threads as reference/inspo and for fun. It is cool to see how others interact with the game, with it having such diverse options for engaging with it. Especially older threads, like woah!! Time capsule of old fr!! I am interested in internet/media archiving,,,

-> dragon bios - tracker dragons specifically, of which I have a couple

they hold more than they should rn lol...ideally and hopefully in the future, they will just be overviews of the specific dragon's lore, with more fleshed out stuff other places + all related links and art! :) currently my main focus for tracking in dragon bios is tracking each dragon and its associated projects or pairs, and tracking purchase, gening and some outfit plan stuff. Its a good basis for my other, more in-depth trackers to have an easy way to reference on the individual dragon scale (ahhah accidental pun). I reference them a lot.

-> profile/clan bio - I do not put much tracking info in my clan/profile bio, mostly to keep it simple and not overwhelming but also because I find it a little bit more annoying to update and can be confusing when people come across my page for the first time...Currently pending a big old profile bio revamp, trying to come up with formatting ideas and looking for profile bio templates (is it just me or are there so little of them floating around..?) I definitely want to include a selection of specific things,,, I try to prioritize links and commonly referenced info and then general being friendly/intro stuff. also aesthetics....I will be, and others even more, looking at it a lot... I am slowwlyyyy getting to my bigger to-do items I swear, I just procrastinate with making new projects and scrolling aimlessly on forums....

#sorry about wall of text #worm rambles #ignore tags #archived #fr asks #fr share #flight rising #fr trackers #this was rescued from being a discord chat rant so thank god for that person #who inspired this #I am gonna get banned from everywhere for spam I am so annoying online please spare me #no clutter in MY lair.. <- insane & monstrously inaccurate lie #off-platform archive

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silknoise · 1 year ago

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x. dossier. / x. wanted plots. x. pinterest. / x. thread tracker.

hi there friendos!!! i am thrilled to be joining you since i've been wanting something simple on tumblr for awhile now!! also so happy to be bringing my underappreciated queen umji to the party! the muse she's the face for is one of my faves to write; lee seonah, aka ramona lee is a new york born saxophonist with a cool demeanor and a love for cucumber melon. more info is listed below the cut, so if you're interested in any of her plots or would like me to swing by your ims to say hello or to plot something, you're invited to leave a like on this post!

trigger warnings: m*rder, robbery, implied g*n v*olence, grief

BACKSTORY

as briefly mentioned above, seonah was born in staten island, new york on august 7th, 1998.

her parents, originally from daegu, built a life stateside in the early '90s, so they were already pretty blended into the american routine by the time they had seonah.

in new york, seonah often went by her english name ramona, often shortened to mona. the name was derived from an old jazz singer and pianist her mother loved.

one of the main reasons seonah's parents even moved from south korea was so that her mother could try her luck at the new york jazz scene. she was a gifted pianist with quick hands who had always ensured seonah's life was filled with music.

those very sessions with fellow musicians she worked with were the catalyst for seonah's obsession with the saxophone. a musician seonah would always call uncle franklin would come and play the sax at their south shore townhome, while the small child watched and danced along.

he was actually the one to gift seonah her very own saxophone at age ten, by which her younger sister seoyeol had been born and was clinging to seonah's legs while she struggled to play the instrument.

the characteristics of her music were very much shaped by the staten island jazz scene, and the city's famous festival was a tradition for the whole family.

from her father did seonah inherit a love of gardening, building terrariums and making sure a healthy amount of green was present in all her decorating. she and her father would spend hours carefully placing moss, stones, grass and water in small glass containers until they resembled miniature nature scenes.

she spent a good amount of time in her dad's store as well, helping him stock and clean up throughout her childhood. the value of hard work was an early lesson for seonah and it would likely stick with her permanently.

that store, however, would come to be the site of a horrible tragedy that would uproot many lives.

TRIGGER WARNING AHEAD

her mother and father were working the late shift at the store one night when a masked gunman entered, demanding cash. her parents were both killed during the exchange, leaving seonah and her sister to grieve them at far too young an age.

as the two had no other blood relatives in the area, their parents' friends franklin and his wife delisle were named in a will to take the children in and raise them as their own.

it was an extremely tough transition, but the pair, along with another of their parents' closest friends adam made sure the sisters never went without love and encouragement. they refused to let the children's view of the world become twisted due to what they had gone through, and they were a huge part of why the two made it through that period of their lives.

END TRIGGER WARNING

now being raised by franklin, seonah was kept occupied by saxophone lessons, camping trips, walks through the city — any and everything she loved simply to keep her mind off the tragedy her family had faced.

despite her new guardians' best efforts to make her childhood fulfilling, seonah couldn't help but feel somewhat aimless after the passing of both her parents, and even a bit disconnected from them. she developed a fairly unbothered demeanor that some would even mistake for just not caring, though that was the furthest thing from the truth.

as she finished out her primary schooling and prepared to apply to the manhattan school of music, she floated the idea of possibly traveling to her parents' home city of daegu after graduating college to franklin and delisle. they met the idea with approval, thinking it was an excellent chance to reconnect with a past she'd never really gotten to discover.

after training up her musical talents to her instructors' satisfaction, it was finally time to say farewell to her family. she couldn't have said thank you to franklin, delisle and adam more times if she'd tried. seonah looked upon her now teenaged sister with slight guilt, feeling as though she were abandoning her for her own selfish reasons. seoyeol simply threw her arms around seonah and promised her she'd seek out universities in daegu so they could see each other soon.

and that was it, she was off to daegu with a graduation present of a one way flight and some won to run on until she found work. thankfully, that didn't take too long, as she found a pretty fancy restaurant looking for jazz musicians of her caliber.

seonah made a vow to herself that she would only speak in korean and only use her korean name until she felt that familiar connection to her parents once more.

she soon found a home in the confines of sueunju sharehouse, and though it's filled with strangers, it reminds her of the blended household she lived in back in staten island and even makes her oft expressionless visage falter into a smile. though she is still very much getting used to living in daegu two years on, her life is in a place of contentment for the time being. she continues to chase memories that have long since passed her by, barely conscious of all the new ones she is making in the process.

PERSONALITY

some would call her an ice queen, but she's more like a snow angel. like she's definitely composed, doesn't like to argue and sometimes comes off as though she's silently plotting your demise in a corner, but there is a warmth to seonah that is unmistakable. she can be so cold to the touch but also reach directly into your heart and make you melt. she is a mess of contradicting thoughts and feelings and words, but she could be ur mess of contradicting thoughts and feelings and words, u know???

only really loses her cool when it comes to music she's excited about, if her heart's a little bit broken or if she's lost something near and dear to her (her saxophone goes missing, one of her terrariums get broken, etc) and it's sad, but also kind of funny cmvnbvncb!

she's very inquisitive, especially about the daily routine in daegu. she desperately wants to know more about the lives her parents lived before they moved to america, and being that she's only been in south korea for two years, she isn't as in touch with things as she feels like she should be. stop her if she's asking too many questions — she just gets into a flow of seeking information and doesn't realize it sometimes!

a girl of many hobbies: gardening, camping, building terrariums, hitting up the thrift store, smoking on roofs, seeing performances at masquerade, noraebang, etc. and she loves doing these things with friends! partake in any of these activities with her, and you'll earn a special place in her heart and the slightest aura of a smile just for you.

sometimes she just??? disappears. sometimes her social energy simply runs out and she needs some time to recharge it. she's not trying to ghost, she promises! she just needs a couple days of mirror glaring and deep rumination before she's ready to have company again.

a wanted plot of mine (!!!!!!) but i also hc her as recently single with a lot of regretful and reluctant pining for her ex lol. she's in her slightly reckless era in an attempt to forget them, so pls forgive her for any messy moments 😘

#midnightintro #´ ❇ 𝐈 𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐎𝐍 𝐆𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨 .#/don't mind me breaking the ice 🤭

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gcldfanged · 1 year ago

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-Independent Fandomless Original Character. Crossover Verses in Final Fantasy, various animanga series, other video games, and graphic novel lore-

This blog will be dealing with themes such as: the creation of 'monsters', a nuanced look at Asian organized crime, death and rebirth of the self, man-made Gods, pack mentality, tearing and clawing out meaning for oneself in an unkind world ruled by wealth.

-Kkeungi, 30+ (He/Him, They/Them), PST-

est. 07/28/2022.

Multi-para, long term plotting preferred. Crossover & Multimuse friendly. ◈ MOBILE/CARRD. ◈ HEADCANON. ◈ META. ◈ WRITING. ◈ ARTWORK. ◈ THREAD TRACKER. (Updated: 9/19/24) ◈ RP WISHLIST ◈ INTEREST CHECKER (Updated: 12/08/24)

-MORE INFORMATION BENEATH THE CUT-

[MUN]

King Kkeungi /King K/Kkeungi (he/him & they/them), 30+, Pacific Standard Timezone (UTC -8).

Please do not follow/interact if you are under 21+: I am Olde™ and perpetually exhausted.

I go through cyclical periods of being very chatty and active, then straight up nonexistent for awhile due to personal life and work stress.

[DISCLAIMER]

I do make serious effort to tag anything sensitive/heavy in terms of content and am completely open to adding tags for my mutuals, if needed.

However, always take tags literally- Like as in Dead Dove: Do Not Eat. If the tags say 'organ harvesting', expect literal organ harvesting. I don't usually use 'DD:DNE' since a lot of chronically online people assume it means I write 'problematic content' for sexual self-gratification. Please do not insult me like that or attempt to shame me for what I write, I will block you without hesitation.

[TRIGGERS]

Mutual respect is necessary if we're going to write together.

I personally have very specific triggers, so they don't even come up in writing at all (they've proven to be visual/auditory).

I always write trigger tags as 'trigger tw or 'trigger cw' since that is the easiest way Tumblr Savior can accurately recognize them.

[ACTIVITY]

I'll post my schedule once it becomes more regular (just got a new job), but in general I'll probably have more time to write at night. I initially send requests to plot over DMs in Tumblr since I personally don't like giving out my Discord handle to someone completely new and feel like other writers do the same. If we seem to connect easily, I generally give it out anyway.

Discord RP is totally fine. If we're already threading on Tumblr, moving them to Discord is also fine.

If I follow you, I want to write with you.

Constructive criticism is always welcome when I ask for it (i.e., post OOC asking for it or reblog a concrit meme). I heavily dislike Love Bombing as a practice and I also do my best to offer objective and constructive advice to my close friends who ask for it from me. I want to eventually publish my own fictional works, so improving upon my style and understanding of writing is something that I actively work very hard on.

Hate will always be erased and you will be hardblocked.

Tracking the tag: #gcldfanged

I take awhile to respond. You may remind me every now and then to check in, but I don't really work well within specific time limits to follow back or even interact once we're mutuals. I have limited spoons and personal time, so I will actively distance myself from Muns who display entitlement over my attention.

[GENERAL]

Power Gaming is super boring to me. I prefer doing a 'Blow by Blow' where we leave each response open to the mutual as to what their muse acts upon and is affected by. I also don't mind plotting it out beforehand.

I do not do 'Follow for Follow'. Sometimes my mouse also misclicks on the Dashboard and it'll make me randomly Follow a blog I'm only checking out or Like a post TWICE in succession- This is NOT an attempt to get your attention if we're not mutuals. I will always reach out to apologize in DMs and explain so there's not any misunderstandings.

My Ask Box, Discord IMs, and Tumblr DMs are always open for clarifications, questions, and requests to edit my posts.

I love plotting. It's not necessary all the time, but even a few basic details generally help me get a better idea of what to lead with. I will offer ideas and expect the same, I dislike feeling as though the effort is one-sided.

[SHIPS & NSFW] I always tag with #◈ NSFW and employ cuts/'read more's. I'm Multiship 100%, unless all mutuals involved in the thread discuss that our muses can recognize established relationships in the RP.

[FORMAT]

You never have to match length or speed of replies.

My only thing I expect to match is providing content we both can work off of- If the vibes aren't there, I'll reach out about it OOC. If nothing changes, I will more than likely drop the thread.

I can write long replies and forget to use cuts, just message me if it's making your Dash awful.

I use icons when I even remember to use them, they're honestly just for fun- Never required.

Small Text is fine, but whenever I seem to reblog and edit to reply on Tumblr- small text format will break in the draft, randomly? So I probably won't be using it at all.

#fandomless roleplay #fandomless oc #fandomless muse #final fantasy rp #animanga rp #animanga roleplay #◈ SELF PROMO

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underforeversgrace · 2 years ago

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broken trust and the wounds hidden behind - 7

title: broken trust and the wounds hidden behind

words: 3064

Chapter 7 of 7

Story Summary: Jack wasn't meaning to snoop in his son's room when he found a box of medical supplies and a USB with a tag that said IF I DON'T COME HOME. Danny’s secrets revealed, Jack is desperate to earn his son’s trust, to earn the right to this secret he stumbled across. After almost two years of unknowingly hunting his son, is Danny's trust too broken to heal? NO ONE KNOWS AU

@astatia-ghast

AO3

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Danny POV One-shot

It was a week later and more treated daily injuries than Jack cared to think of when his phone beeped late at night. It had to be well past midnight as he groggily slapped his hand around on his bedside table until he clumsily managed to grip his phone, yawning. He blinked blearily at the bright light as he opened it, though his exhaustion quickly cleared away as soon as he actually read the message.

From: Phantom

Can you meet me at the clearing?

He shot from the bed, stumbling towards his closet as he responded.

On my way. What's wrong? He sent as he hurriedly pulled on clothes and shoes, running a mental check of what all he had ready in the GAV. It was surprising, how often he’d needed to refill it after only three weeks of this. He’d wondered how Danny kept his first aid kit so well-stocked, though he’d quickly pushed the wonder away.

He had no doubt Danny had been using his own allowance to do it - using money from his parents to buy the thread for the stitches he needed for the wounds also given to him by his parents. Some things were still just easier to not think about.

Jack didn’t bother to check Danny’s room on the way out. He knew it would be empty.

The drive to the park was again short, though he didn’t bother with the sirens this late at night. Ghost activity spiked the later it got, so many people stayed home once the sun set. The only souls he passed on the way there were some police and ambulance on standby, and a few blob ghosts.

Jack’s anxiety, however, grew as he got closer to the park. Danny hadn’t messaged him back, normally he told Jack at least what kind of injury he had - burn or laceration, typically - so Jack could be prepared. But now there was nothing, no information, and it made Jack’s heart twist in fear.

As he made the now familiar trek to the clearing, first aid kit in hand, thoughts and images flew through his mind so fast his head began to ache. He was terrified he was about to find his son - human or ghost - unconscious and bleeding out into the ground. The mental image constantly flickered between red blood and green ectoplasm staining the grass - neither options were good.

Jackno longer needed the tracker, at least, as often as he’d come here recently, though his stomach seemed to sink lower as he got closer, as he didn't see the brilliant, bright white of his son’s aura as he normally should with it so dark.

“Phantom?” He called in a panic as he pushed through the branches, immediately sweeping the ground for his fallen child, who he quickly saw flat on his back in the center of the clearing, one arm reaching up towards the sky, a dark rainbow engulfing him.

“I’m over here.” Phantom called back as his arm moved in a pattern Jack couldn’t identify.

“What’s wrong?” Jack asked, looking for the green glow of ectoplasm but coming up empty.

“Nothing’s wrong, Jack.” He responded softly, lowering his hand to rest on his stomach.

Jack had never been called out here for any reason other than first aid, so he was still on alert despite the assurance. He did settle down on the warm ground next to his son, though, finally realizing why he hadn’t seen the white glow of Danny’s aura.

Instead, Phantom’s aura breathed and swirled like a nebula, constellations again dancing and fading across his cheeks, along his nose. He’d been tracing the stars with his hand when Jack had arrived, he realized.

Silence stretched between them, though not an uncomfortable one. A companionable one, a safe one. Jack mimicked his son, leaning until his back pressed against the ground, staring up at the stars glittering so beautifully against the darkness of night.

“Are you okay, Phantom?” Jack asked after several minutes. As wonderful as this moment was, he wanted to make sure Danny was alright. Once he knew that, he would be more than happy to spend the rest of the night stargazing with his son, as they had done so many times before, from the top of the ops center, though it had been many years since they'd actually done so.

“Do you want to know what I wanted to be?” Phantom asked, eyes still on the night sky, completely disregarding Jack’s actual question.

“What you wanted to be?” Jack repeated, confused.

“Before I died. What I wanted to be when I grew up.”

Something was different tonight and Jack couldn’t help the way his heart began to race. Despite the lack of blood, of injury, the air felt heavy, it spoke of impending change. Anticipation curled into Jack’s chest.

“What did you want to be, Phantom?”

“I wanted to be an astronaut. I wanted to join NASA and fly. Get closer to the stars. I think about it, sometimes. It hurts to think about too much, to remember I’m dead and this is all I’ll ever be, when all I ever wanted was the stars.”

Jack’s heart rate rapidly accelerated, though he just reached out and laid one of his hands on Phantom’s shoulder, long since used to the chill of his son’s body. “Don’t give up, Phantom. I have faith in you.”

Phantom’s eyes finally left the sky, turning to Jack, a burning green boring directly into the older man's soul. “Do you? Have faith in me?”

“More than you know.” Jack answered, gently squeezing his son’s shoulder.

Phantom pushed himself up into a sitting position, scooching away from Jack’s reach. Jack followed, bringing himself up to a sitting position, though he didn’t move closer as Danny pulled away.

“You’ve said your son was really into space, wanted to work with NASA. Do you have faith in him too?” Phantom asked softly, plucking at the grass beneath him.

If Jack’s heart did any more leaps or acceleration, he was going to need to see a doctor, but it was beating a rapid staccato within him. Was this it? Was Danny finally admitting it, letting Jack in?

Was Danny finally about to trust his father?

“I do. I have full faith in whatever he does.” Jack answered.

“Do you know where your son is?” Phantom asked, plucking a single piece of grass from the ground and beginning to methodically rip it into shreds.

“I do.”

“Is he safe?” He questioned, dropping the decimated bits of grass to the ground and pulling his knees to himself, curling up slightly. The colors of the sky faded, brightening again to Phantom's usual pure white.

“Absolutely and undeniably.”

Phantom laughed slightly and seemed to pull away. “Dumb question, right? It’s like 1am. Of course he’s safe, asleep at home.”

Jack slid closer to Phantom, placing a hand on the ghost’s knee, though unsure what to say. Did he admit to knowing his son wasn’t at home? Did he just continue playing along with his son’s secret?

Instead, Jack elected to slightly change the topic. “Are you safe, Phantom? Here, with me, do you feel safe?”

“Do you?” His son responded, looking at his hands. “Everything I can do, have done. Do you feel safe around me?”

Jack didn’t answer verbally, instead choosing to move closer to Phantom, until they were sat side by side, and he threw his arm around Danny’s shoulders. Danny immediately leaned into his side, accepting his father’s embrace.

“I don’t feel safe around myself,” Danny admitted. “I’m scared. I’m dangerous.”

“What do you mean, kiddo?” Jack asked, rubbing small circles on Danny’s shoulder.

“I… Jack, you don’t understand what I am, the things I can do. I’m not safe.”

“I don’t need to know what you are or the full scope of your abilities to know that isn’t true. You’re good, Phantom. Hell, you’re probably safer than my driving at the very least!”

That pulled a small chuckle from Danny. “That isn’t a very high bar to pass.”

“Would you call me dangerous, though? In an overall sense, like the way you’re calling yourself?”

Phantom relaxed slightly. “I… I guess not. I just… I’ve hurt people, Jack.”

“Phantom, I can say with absolute confidence you have never hurt anyone beyond maybe minor bruising, and even that has never been intentional. It was one of the things we monitored back when I still thought you were bad.” Jack admitted.

“Not… not in this timeline. It wasn't in this timeline that I did awful things.”

“Uh. Huh?”

“There was… I’ve mentioned the time ghost, right?”

“Yes?” Jack said, loosening his grip on Danny. This seemed like something that was making Danny uncomfortable and he didn’t want Danny to feel trapped. Apparently this was the correct decision, as he relaxed further against Jack, actually burrowing in closer.

“His name is Clockwork and he can see other timelines. And he showed me one where… where I lost everything. Everyone. And then I lost my mind. And Earth paid for it.” Danny turned slightly, burying his face into the rubber of Jack’s hazmat and breathing raggedly. “I enjoyed it! That part of me enjoyed it and I don’t want to be like that.”

Well. That at least explained Danny’s insistence to never stop seeing Phantom as a threat, he supposed.

“Then it sounds like we need to make sure you’re never in a place to lose everything,” Jack determined. “Because all I’m hearing is a good kid terrified of loneliness and in possession of a good conscience with incredible power who never wants to hurt anyone.”

“That’s easy for you to say, now… but I’m not sure of that. You didn’t see what I did. How many I hurt… I killed.”

“I am, Phantom. I am entirely sure. Anything you have done, anything you fear I’ll damn you for, any secrets you keep from me? I will always support you and try to lift you out of the darkness. It sounds like that’s what you needed - that lonely version of you needed. Humans need help when the darkness is at its worst, Phantom. What you’re describing is just humanity. What’s bringing this up, kiddo?”

Phantom turned slightly, resting his cheek against the orange suit, head tilted up towards the stairs. “Today’s… well, today’s the anniversary of the event that caused the other me to lose everything he - I - we loved. It’s just… brought back some unpleasant memories.” Jack racked his brain to try to remember any significant event roughly a year ago that could've yielded the kind of tragedy Danny was describing, but he came up empty.

Jack squeezed Danny to him briefly. “Thank you for reaching out to me.”

“Of all the things I expected to come out of your mouth, that was not one of them.”

He chuckled. “You did what I asked - you didn’t suffer alone and you didn’t pretend to be perfect. Thank you for letting me in. If you didn’t expect me to thank you, maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do.” Jack teased.

“Actually, I think I know you better than I thought.” Phantom said, hesitating then pulling away from Jack. “But…don't freak out, but I don’t think you know where your son is.”

A repeating mantra of don’t miss this up, Jack, don’t miss this up began to play in his head. “What makes you say that?”

“Because…” Danny gulped, hovering up and settling down a few paces away. “Because, I’m right here, dad.” Jack watched the transformation sweep across his son, the first time he’d ever seen it in person. Watched the glow fall away, watched the jumpsuit change to familiar clothes, watched eyes and hair that he knew so well reappear in front of him. Until all that remained was his black haired, blue eyed son, wearing clothes that were too baggy for him, nervously wringing his hands as he watched Jack in apprehension.

Apprehension, but not fear.

“Then he’s right where I thought he was, kiddo.” Jack said, standing up and smiling. “I’ve known for a little while, Danny.”

Danny’s mouth dropped, blue eyes wide. “You knew? How? Wait. That’s why you’ve been so nice to Phantom lately?”

“I… I’m sorry.” Jack said, nervously pulling at his fingers as well. “I found out on accident. I found the first aid kit in your room and saw the USB. When I saw all that gauze and a drive that said to watch if you didn’t come home…” Jack gulped. “I panicked, I was worried about you and I watched it… I saw the video. I saw how scared of me you were. I wanted to earn your trust, prove you were safe.”

“So you decided to go through my things and then lie to me more?” Danny asked.

“Wait, no, that - it isn’t what I -“ Jack stuttered but he was cut off when Danny rapidly approached, throwing his arms around his father. Jack immediately wrapped his own around his son, significantly warmer in this form yet still with a slight chill about him. “I needed to earn it, son. I didn’t know how broken your trust in me was.”

“I didn’t either,” Danny confessed. “But you listened. That’s all I’ve ever wanted from you or mom.” Danny suddenly tensed. “Oh God, mom. What do we do about her? She isn’t home for another month. Do we tell her? Will she take it as well as you did? Oh Ancients, what if she doesn-“

“Shh,” Jack said gently. “We’ll figure it out together, son. She will accept you just like I did. I know it.”

“Are you sure? She’s a little more, uh…”

Jack ruffled his son’s black hair. “I know what you mean. But I promise. We’ll get through all of it. Together, okay?”

“Okay.” Danny said, finally pulling away from his father. “Want to watch the stars for a little longer?”

“There’s nothing else I’d rather do right now, son.” Jack responded and they both settled back to the ground, each of them practically inhaling the serenity of the night under the sky’s diamonds.

“Dad?”

“Hm?”

“I trust you.”

~~~~~~

“You defy us yet again for the half breed.” The cloaked ghost said, the scowl audible in his voice.

“I have done no such thing,” the accused responded smoothly, not even deigning the other important enough to stop watching the show before him.

“You were told explicitly to not directly interfere in Daniel Fenton’s life. His choices and his consequences are his own.” A second cloaked ghost said, voice much more nasally than the first despite lacking a nose.

“And I have not directly interfered, you will find.” The purple clad ghost said with a smile, red eyes fixed on the orb in front of him, where time yielded to him like a puppet to its strings.

“Clockwork, we saw what you did. You set Jack Fenton on a path that changes the most likely timelines drastically.” The first, elder Observer said, throwing his hand forward so the time looking glass began to shift.

Clockwork watched with boredom on his face as the Observer played their so-called proof before him.

“Time out,” came Clockwork’s voice. An intradimensional clock appeared, swirling away the time until it settled as a portal. Jack Fenton stood in his son’s room, duct tape gripped tightly in his right hand, a longing look in his eyes as he took one last glance at the rockets along the shelved blue wall.

In the past, Clockwork stepped from the portal, staff clutched securely to him. He floated towards the orange clad man, a thoughtful look on his timeless face. The gentle ticking of his internal clock was the only sound in the frozen time.

He reached forward and placed a single finger against the inconspicuous roll of sticky silver. The tape turned intangible and immediately fell from Jack Fenton’s grasp, though it too returned to suspended animation as soon as Clockwork withdrew his touch, ready to fall and roll under the bed as soon as the clock began to March forward again.

Satisfied with the new direction of time, Clockwork smiled.

“Time in.”

“What have you to say for yourself, Time Master?” The more nasally Observant asked.

“I see only that you prove my point for me, Observant. I did not directly interact with Daniel Fenton nor his ghost form at all within that scene.”

The older Observant scoffed. “You interacted with his father, Jack Fenton, specifically in order to avoid that future.” He said, again waving his hand.

Clockwork really did loathe it when they took control of his viewpoints. They always changed the settings.

Still, he watched with bored disinterest as the scene changed, a future of a timeline now never to pass. A future where, in only seven months, Danny Phantom dies violently by his own government after being recaptured, his family and friends too late to save him, none knowing he was their son and friend.

“I have still yet to see proof of my direct interference with the child’s life.” He said. “I interacted with the father, which I was not forbidden to do. I do not control Jack Fenton nor how he responded to the information he stumbled upon.”

Both Observants seemed stunned into angry silence as they processed his words - his loophole. Clockwork continued to watch them with expressionless eyes.

“Is there anything else you will be needing?” He asked, motioning his staff to the door. “Otherwise, do see yourselves out. I dare say you know where my door is by now.”

“This isn’t over, Clockwork.” The first Observant growled, turning and dramatically spinning his cloak as he stormed from the room, his young charge following behind.

Sealing the door behind his employers, he returned his focus to the view screen, pressing a hand against the smooth, glass-like surface, an actual smile gracing his aged face as the scene shifted again, to show the new future he had nudged the timeline towards.

A tearful apology from a father, a beloved acceptance from a mother, a fierce protectiveness of a sister, and a bond stronger than life or death itself between a trio of friends.

Clockwork nodded to himself the dismissed the image, a swirl of green and purple dancing idly on the screen instead.

“All is as it should be.”

#Grace writes #danny fenton #danny phantom #jack fenton #phic phight 2023 #Phic phight

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