#others are things I genuinely want but with a worst scenario twist

[kingabezka]

I wanted to do one too

For context, Cookie Clicker's farming is mostly AFK and RNG based.

Feel free to pick the least bad one in the tags

[sentientgolfball]

i love soft phantom but how about a scenario of a new ghoul or some other demon species acting predatory towards reader and phantom being all protecting and aggressive!!! 🤭

When I saw this one I knew I had to save it :> consider this Golfball's Halloween special

Tags: nothing too overtly gory, but there's some description of injury, demon Phantom, blood drinking, extremely brief mention of suicide

My requests are open !

Phantom has always been a cheerful ghoul, ever since the day he was summoned. He was always willing to help where it was needed and eager to learn about the strange world of humanity. He was talkative and affectionate, kind and curious. He’s someone you considered a friend with how often he’d swing by to help you where he could. But something has been off lately. 

It started with snide comments and jokes that were a bit too personal. That quickly turned into stealing your things and hiding them where you’d never find them. Bleeding into the shadows just to pop out when you thought you were alone. The worst part was nobody else seemed to notice his change. You tried venting to your friends one night and all you received were confused looks and questions. He only seemed to be treating you like this. You felt crazy. And now here he was sitting on your desk. 

“Come on, is it really that important?” He snatches the paper you were looking over from your hand. His eyes roam over it quickly before a sick grin crosses his face as he tears it up. 

“Phantom what the fuck!” You feel your gut twist at the sight of the contract now in tiny pieces all across the desk. 

His once sickeningly sweet laugh sounds grating to your ears. You look at him only to be met with a horrible Cheshire grin full of fang. 

“What? You said it yourself we couldn’t hang today cause you were busy. Now you’re not busy.” 

You stare incredulously at him, mouth slightly agape “Get out.” 

“Excuse me?” 

“Get the fuck out!”

“Aww come on you’ve got nothing to do now.” He purrs 

“No. Now I have more to do! Leave!” 

He shrugs with a chuckle before hopping off your desk and out the door, tail flicking happily as he goes. You dig the heel of your palm into your eyes and let out a frustrated groan. What the hell was up with him? You felt crazy. He’s been like this for weeks. What’s even worse there would be days that he seemed completely normal and you could almost forget how much of a pain in the ass he’s become. He’d flip so often you were beginning to wonder if he needed to go see Omega. You started to loathe seeing him, it was getting exhausting dealing with the whiplash of demeanor. 

A soft knock on the door interrupts your thoughts. Whoever is there waits only a few seconds before slowly opening the creaky door. 

“Hey” a smooth voice calls out “you missed lunch so I thought I’d bring you something small.” 

Your irritation spikes. You actually couldn’t believe him. The audacity of this ghoul. 

“Phantom do you really fucking think a little sandwich is going make me forgive you?” 

You remove your hands from your eyes and glare at him. 

“What?” He asks with genuine confusion, ears drooping. 

You huff and stand, shoving your chair in with a shrill scrape against the floor. You gather the rest of the papers before Phantom has a chance to shred them. You shoulder past him and out the door. You couldn’t be near him anymore. You went to go find somewhere to finish your work without a little demon bothering you. 

You had spent the rest of your day fixing the mess Phantom caused and catching up on what you had to put on pause. You were now alone in your room trying to alleviate the headache that had plagued you for the last few hours. You were laying in bed staring off when you heard a knock at your door. You didn’t answer. You really didn’t care who was on the other side, you didn’t want to deal with it. 

“Please let me in.” A soft whine came as you stayed quiet. 

“Go away Phantom.” 

It was quiet for a long time. You started to settle believing that he actually listened and left you alone. Until you heard a whisper you would’ve missed if it hadn’t been dead quiet. 

“I’m sorry.” 

You rolled over and looked at the door, weighing your options. You had been sick of the way he was acting towards you, but he was your friend. He had been so kind to you much longer than this new asshole side of his. Maybe he was going through something ghoulish that you couldn’t understand? You sigh. If he was coming here to apologize then he at least realized he did something wrong. You’d be willing to forgive if he could mend the tears in your relationship. 

You push yourself out of bed and open the door. You stand in the doorframe eyeing his downtrodden posture. He was slouching, ears drooped and eyes wide with his tail wrapped around his leg. Little pricks of guilt began to soften the anger steaming in your mind. 

“I’m sorry” He squeaks again “for everything.” 

“Phantom” you sigh and cross your arms “I don’t know what’s up with you, but it’s really hurt.” 

“I know, I know I’m sorry I just need to exp—“

“I really don’t want an excuse just…fuck.”

“Please let me make it up to you.” 

You consider him for a moment. You really hated the way he’s been acting, but you had a fondness for the sweet little ghoul you once knew. You wanted to believe he could make it up to you. You wanted to have the Phantom you knew back. Maybe you would regret it. Maybe you would come to realize he’s a demon no matter how soft his smile is. Maybe you were just stupid and naive for thinking it could change. But if he’s willing to apologize, willing to admit how fucked he’s been maybe he deserves a second chance. 

“Okay.” 

His ears perk up. 

“Not tonight. I’m still pissed about the paperwork, but if you haven’t flipped out again overnight then maybe we can work something out.” 

“Yes it’ll be different I promise, no more bad Phantom. I’ll make sure he’s gone.” 

“Goodnight Phantom. I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“Tomorrow.”

He stays and watches you close the door before departing. You sigh heavily, shoulder slumping before crawling back into your bed. You were exhausted. Everything’s been so exhausting lately. Though, on the bright side it seemed like your headache finally went away.  

After Phantom’s apology everything seemed to go back to normal. Well almost normal. He refused to leave you alone now. Granted he was always a little clingy, but this was a whole new level. He was always hanging around the same area as you even if he wasn’t directly interacting. You honestly didn’t care at this point, you were just glad he seemed like his sweet self again. He even kept his promise. He had begun getting you small little gifts of crystals and flowers and helping you with your tasks around the Ministry. It was nice. About a week of this passed and you felt good, great even. You wanted to do something with him, show him you’re no longer mad at him. With Samhain right around the corner you both decided on having a gigantic movie marathon.

You were waiting for him in your room, everything needed for the night already set up. You were just waiting for him to get out of rehearsal. A knock at your door startled you. You furrow your brow opening it to see who was there. 

“Phantom?” 

“Hey hey we were let out early. Come on, let's get this party started.” He shoulders past you into your room. 

You shrug it off and close the door behind you. He flops onto your bed as you start the first movie. You offer up the snacks you gathered but he declines scrunching his nose in disgust. You get a weird feeling. You try to ignore it though as the movie begins. You settle next to him on your bed, eating since he won’t. Another sinking feeling creeps in when he doesn’t move closer. He’s always been physically affectionate, but now he stays leaning against the wall with a rigid posture. You try to focus on the movie. 

Your phone buzzes after about thirty minutes into the movie. You check it. A text from Phantom. 

I’m on my way! Copia just let us out….please tell me you remembered my candy 

What…? 

You stare at it. The sinking feeling in your stomach twists. You feel nauseous. You try to sneak a glance at the Phantom sitting next to you. He’s staring right at you with a sick grin. You jump out of the bed away from him. 

“Something wrong?” He asks nonchalantly. 

“Who the fuck are you?” 

“That’s a stupid question. I’m Phantom, your favorite ghoul.” That Cheshire grin splits his face. 

“No you’re not. You’re not him. Who are—“ 

“Oh ouch guess my time is up. Or no that’s not right. Your time.” 

The thing wearing Phantom’s face stands from the bed, eyes rolling back joints popping sickeningly. You don’t waste another second. You run out of your room determined to make it to the practice room. Find Phantom. Find Papa and the other ghouls. Find anyone before this thing turned you into prey. As you ran you heard its wicked laugh bounce through the halls, the scraping of claws against polished floor. You didn’t dare spare a glance behind you. You needed to get away from it. You turn sharply at the next corner hoping to either lose it or find somewhere to hide until it was safe to run. 

You dipped into an alcove throwing a hand over your mouth to stifle your breathing, praying to whoever was listening that you'd be safe. Your eyes widen as the creature stalks forward. It still wears the appearance of Phantom but there’s something so unsettlingly wrong about it. He looks thin, too thin. Bones clearly visible through skin that was drawn too tight. Its hair was long, greasy like an oil spill. Everytime it moved you could hear its tendons snap and pop. You could see black ichor under its skin where its veins popped on its neck. 

“Where are you?” Its cracked, layered voice sang out as it stalked down the hall. 

Lucky, it passes right by your hiding spot. You wait just a bit longer for safe measure before ducking out. It’s gone. You move at a brisk pace towards where you knew a pack of ghouls was hanging. You end up slowing down after a while. It still hasn’t caught up to you. Maybe it lost you? Or maybe one of the sentry ghouls caught it? Either way, you felt safe enough to slow. It hadn’t appeared and you were almost to the practice rooms. You were so close. 

You were so close. 

You stop dead in your tracks when you feel a thick substance drip onto your face. You swipe it, seeing a black ichor coating your fingers. 

“Hello” that voice laughs. 

You try to run but it’s faster. It grabs you, claws digging deep into your skin. You feel the blood flow before you see it, but when you do see it you’re suddenly snapped into the reality of the situation. You panic. You freeze. You don’t know what to do. All you can think about is the gory demise that surely awaits you. It drags you forwards and you stumble. When you fall to the floor the thing pounces. You stare in horror at its gaping maw, filled with hundreds of needle-thin teeth. Spit dripped from his mouth coating your face as it leaned in. You flinch when it springs forward and it latches onto your arm biting down hard and sucking the blood from the wound. It burns. It feels like fire is coursing through your veins as its saliva infects you. The imposter Phantom rips its teeth from your arm and grins, licking the excess blood from its mouth with a sick tongue. 

“You know…I was not going to hunt you” it’s cracked voice says “you were feeding me so well. I would have taken from you until you ended your own life, but that vermin that horrid guard dog pushed me away. Starved me.” 

It brings its mouth close to your throat, jaw cracking and popping as flesh rips so it can open its mouth wider than should be possible. You make one last attempt to push it away, but the burning all but consumed your mind. You couldn’t move, couldn’t think, could barely feel. All you could do is watch in paralyzed horror as the beast that wore Phantom’s face prepared to end your life. 

You hear a sharp trill and you close your eyes waiting for the final blow. But it never came. The force of the beast is suddenly knocked off you. You blink your eyes open and you see Phantom. The real Phantom crouched between your broken body and the creature. He growls low in his throat at the thing, tail lashing dangerously. The Phantom you see before you is not one you’ve seen before. It’s definitely him, but something is different. He looks bigger, taller. His horns are long, more sharp. His quintessence pops and cracks haphazardly over his body. His claws look sharper. His eyes are gone, completely black and hollow, swallowed by the void within his very core. His physical form is barely contained as wisps of smoke and stardust curl around him. 

The creature screeches and jumps up, form twisting as it does so. Its joints pop as it grows, thin limbs becoming thinner. It’s leathery skin is stretched so thin you can practically see every ichor filled vein. It still wears Phantom’s face but it looks half melted as it struggles to maintain the appearance. It’s sharp, every ridge and bone visible. It lunges at Phantom. 

He growls and disappears in a puff of smoke before reappearing behind the beast. He rakes his claws down its back, black ichor spilling onto the pristine floors. He warps away again when it turns, landing another blow to its side. He does this again and again, but the beast catches on. The minute he puffs away it spins and catches him when he reappears. It throws Phantom against the wall with horrible force. He lets out a pained wheeze, rolling over trying to gather himself before it’s too late. He’s not fast enough though. The creature sinks its teeth deep into his shoulder and Phantom wails. Its teeth dig in. 

Phantom screams and digs his claws into its head. He sets his jaw and unleashes so much raw quintessence from his body that the hallway is filled with a purple glow. The beast falls limp, sparks jumping from its body. Phantom doesn’t hesitate. He sinks his fangs deep into its throat and pulls and pulls until it’s ripped from its neck. He spits it onto the floor and bends back down, drinking the ichor like blood that pours from the wound of the dead creature. He pulls back when he’s satisfied, swiping his forked tongue over his mouth collecting the remnants. He growls at the body of the beast. 

You scream at the scene, or at least you try to. It comes out more as a whimper as the venom works its way through your system. The moment you do, though, Phantom’s head snaps to your body laying on the floor. Immediately everything about him changes. The quintessence stops rippling over his body, he goes back to his normal size, his form becomes solid again, his eyes return to their normal purple. You see his mouth move but you can’t hear it over the ringing in your ears. You see him run to you before your eyes fall shut. 

When you finally blink open your eyes, you're met with the sterile white of an infirmary room. Everything hurts. You felt slick with sweat and cold. Your head was absolutely pounding as you looked around trying to get your bearings. That’s when you notice a little ball of purple curled up at the foot of your bed. 

“He’s been there all night you know.” 

You whip your head around at the voice before you can stop yourself. You groan feeling like someone took a hammer to the side of your skull. 

“Don’t move so quickly. Your body is still recovering from the venom. You’re lucky I was able to make an antidote.” 

“Thanks Omega.” You wince both from the pain and how that came out a lot more sarcastic than genuine. 

He chuffs “Don’t mention it Sibling, however next time a trickster spirit is within these halls please alert me before another scene is caused.” 

And with that, he walks out. You lay back in the bed and close your eyes against the annoying fluorescent. You replay the night's memories over and over again until you feel a weight shift as Phantom moves from his spot at the foot. A smile ghosts your face as he curls closer to you and mumbles a sleepy “You’re thinking too loud” before he falls back asleep with a purr in his chest. 

[minminyoonjii]

Hey, Can you make little reader x caregiver skz scene or whole oneshot when Skz bring little reader to shopping mall or somewhere but suddenly reader gone missing and Skz panicked

❤️Ultimate Masterlist

💜Rules and Guidelines

🧡Stray Kids Scenarios Masterlist

🌹CW

Gender Neutral Little! Reader|Panic Attacks|Dissociation|Genuine Toddler Babbles|Surprise Cameo|Don't Worry You're Okay Throughout The Fic|Happy Ending|Emotional Hurt/Comfort|Samchon Is Uncle

💌 This is a work of fiction, I by all means don't force ship anyone. They have the right to love whomever they want.

🍄Wordcount: 1.8K

"Angel, hold my hand," Jeongin said, pulling you close. You rolled your eyes, "I'll be fine, Innie," you smiled, taking his hand nonetheless. Jeongin ruffled your hair, "You will be, as long as you stay close," he said, intertwining your fingers. "This place is bigger than I thought," you said, looking around. Jeongin nodded, "The stalls look packed too," he said, walking within the crowd. "Is anyone hungry?" Jisung asked, holding out his wallet. Felix rubbed his stomach, "I could go for something," he said, making a beeline toward Jisung.

Jeongin nodded, "Same here," he said, following behind his lovers. The crowd began to pile in, making it harder to stay together. You winced, bumping into someone. "Sorry," they mumbled, before walking between your intertwined hands. Jeongin felt the bump but thought you held on. You stood in the middle of the crowd, trying to take control of the situation "This is fine," you mumbled, moving between the public until you reached a clearing.

"Do I have anything on me?" you whispered, patting yourself down. Nothing, none of your stuff was on you. Fear began to creep up, headspace tethering between each other. "Breath, you can't slip now," you reminded yourself, digging your nails into your palm. Anxiety lurked within your throat, making you feel sick. You looked up, and something sparkly flew past your sight, "A butterfly," you whispered. Your feet moved independently, following the butterfly to wherever it would lead you.

Soft meows rubbed against your legs "Kitty," you whispered, running your fingers through their fur. You giggled, dissociating from your current situation. The cats nuzzled into your palm, purring against your gentle strokes. It didn't take long for you to slip and zone in your focus on the kitty cats giving you attention.

Chan held a tray of fries, "Is everyone here?" he asked, doing a headcount. "Eight," he counted, furrowing his eyebrows. "Why are there only eight?" he questioned, looking back at the members. Jeongin pulled his arm out of the crowd, only to see a bag instead of a person "Oh no," he whispered under his breath. Chan's eyes wavered, "Innie, what do you mean 'Oh no' ? What happened?" he asked, taking your bag from Jeongin's hand.

"All their things are here," he said, finding your phone, wallet and other essentials. "I didn't realise they let go. I thought I was clenching their hand," Jeongin stuttered, his breathing getting raggedy. Felix wrapped his arms around Jeongin, "Breath, Innie. Breath," he said, tucking Jeongin's face against the crook of his neck. Chan rubbed Jeongin's back, "They'll be fine, I'll bring Minho and Binnie with me. They'll be alright, Jeongin-ah. I promise," he said, smiling down at Jeongin's grieve-stricken expression.

Jeongin nodded, holding Felix closer. Chan gulped, his heart twisting with worry "Dinner time is almost over, the crowd will die down soon. I can't risk losing any one of you, so find a place to sit, and send me the location," he said, pulling his boys for a big hug. "We'll find them. If the worst-case scenario does happen, Minnie phone the security. No one goes in or out until they are found," Chan said, clenching his jaw. Seungmin nodded, "Will do, hyung," he said, gripping the hem of Chan's shirt.

"Eat up. Hopefully, we'll be back in less than an hour or so," he sighed, giving them one last squeeze. Soon the group split. "Jinnie, do you think they're alright?" Seungmin whispered, hugging Hyunjin's arm. "They have to be," Hyunjin reassured, rubbing Seungmin's back. Jeongin curled up on Felix's lap "Have a bite, Innie," he said, holding up a sugar-covered strawberry. Jeongin chewed on this sweet fruit, melting into the warmth.

A shiver ran down your spine when soft footsteps came up to your figure. You turned around, seeing a man standing right above you. The man noticed the glint in your eyes, "Oh a little, what are you doing here, honey?" he asked with a worried look. You blinked, taking in your surroundings, the previously bright alleyway suddenly dark as you broke out of your disassociation. Panic boiled at a rapid pace, unable to be suppressed.

The man noticed, squatting down to your height "Hey, hey, hey. You're okay. Deep breaths, yeah?" he said, taking slow breaths for you to mimic. You followed his hand gestures, breathing in slowly and deeply. "That's it. You're doing great, honey," he praised, making sure your panic settled before he asked more questions. Your breath stuttered a few times but you managed to calm down enough to gain your vision. The man smiled, "Now, why is a little like you lost in a place like this?" he asked, keeping his hands on his knees.

"Wots of people and, and hold Ninnin's hand but the people bump into hand then Ninnin has gone," you babbled, tears brimming your eyes. The man frowned, "Someone bumped into your caregiver's hand and you got lost?" he asked, clarifying the situation. "Ah huh, then saw a butterfly so follow butterfly," you said, staring up at the man with sparkling eyes. The man cooed, "Oh, you saw a butterfly and decided to follow it?" he asked.

You nodded, "Then, then kitties come to rub my leg so play wif kitties," you explained, gesturing to the cats surrounding your body. The man chuckled, "Sounds like you had quite the adventure, honey. How about we go find your caregiver, hm? They must be so worried right now," he said, reaching out his hand for you to take. You flinched back, "Mama said not to follow strangers 'cause they bad bad," you mumbled, furrowing your eyebrows.

The man raised his hands in surrender, "I genuinely want to help you out, honey. Your caregivers can't find you in the dark like this," he explained. You whined, moving back "Nu, nu. Is scary," you said, curling into yourself. "I know you're scared honey but I need you to trust me for a bit," he said, trying to reassure you. You raised your head, "You not bad?" you whispered, looking into the man's eyes. "I'm not bad enough to hurt you, I just want to help you find your caregivers," he said, smiling softly at you.

"You promise?" you asked, sticking out your pinky finger. The man hooked his finger with yours, "I promise," he smiled, standing up. "What's your name?" you asked, tilting your head. The man chuckled, "Wooyoung," he said, carrying you up. "Woongie?" you repeated, furrowing your eyebrows. Wooyoung smiled, "You can just call me Wooyoungie Samchon," he said, holding you in place. "Woongie samchon?" you questioned, poking his cheek.

He chuckled, "You said it right, good job," he praised, finding your mispronunciation adorable. You giggled, "Woongie Samchon," you said, playfully calling his name. "Yes, Wooyoungie Samchon," he said, carrying you around the stalls. "Woongie Samchon, how we going to find my Daddy?" you asked, looking around. Wooyoung hummed, "Do you know your Daddy's name?" he asked, looking up at you. You thought for a bit, "Banchan," you said, looking back.

Wooyoung laughed, "Banchan? Are you sure, honey?" he asked, wondering if he misheard. You puffed your cheeks when he laughed, "Baba always call him Banchan hyung or Channie hyung," you frowned, crossing your arms. Wooyoung raised an eyebrow, "Honey, how many caregivers do you have?" he asked as he started to connect the pieces. You looked at your fingers and covered two, "This many," you said, showing them to Wooyoung.

"I think I know who your caregivers are, honey," he said, taking out his phone. Your eyes widened, "Woongie Samchon, know?" you asked, watching as Wooyoung scrolled through his contacts. The phone rang for a bit before the other person picked up, "Jagiya, where are you?" Wooyoung asked, pressing his phone against his shoulder. "At the food market, why?" the voice panted. Wooyoung hummed, "You sound breathless. Are you okay?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

The voice sighed, "We lost our little in the crowd and we can't find them," they explained. Wooyoung smiled, knowing his guess was correct "I'm going to pass my phone to someone," he said, giving you the phone without any explanation. You took it, holding it up to your ear "Hello?" you asked. Changbin's eyes widened, "Agi-ah, is that you?" he asked, holding his phone tight. A smile etched on your lips, "Baba?" you questioned back.

A sigh of relief puffed through the phone speaker "Thank god, you're okay," he whispered, tears brimming his eyes. You jutted your bottom lip, "Want Baba," you whimpered, hands trembling around the phone. Changbin sniffled, "I know, agi. Could you pass back the phone to Wooyoung?" he asked, voice shaking. You nodded, "Woongie Samchon," you said, handing him the phone. Wooyoung pressed the phone back against his shoulder, "Jagi, they're okay. Not a single scratch or bruise. Where can I find you?" he asked, walking down the stalls.

"Take a left turn and then right. Okay, we're almost there," Wooyoung said, following Changbin's directions. You rested your head on Wooyoung's shoulder, eyes drooping from today's events. "Don't sleep yet, honey," Wooyoung cooed, looking around the area. You yawned, keeping your eyes open. A faint shout caused you and Wooyoung to turn around. Changbin run up to you both, he cupped your face "My sweet agi. You're okay," he said, taking you from Wooyoung's arms.

You nuzzled into Changbin's hold, melting into the familiarity. "No hug for me, Jagi?" Wooyoung sulked playfully, huffing his cheeks. Changbin chuckled, hugging Wooyoung tight "Thank you for finding them," he whispered, hands trembling slightly. Wooyoung smiled, "My pleasure. I think I have to get going, Sannie might call the security on me if I'm gone for too long," he said, patting Changbin's cheek. "Buhbye, Woongie Samchon," you said, waving at him. Changbin snorted, "Woongie Samchon?" he questioned, smirking at Wooyoung's tinted ears.

Wooyoung groaned, "Just go back to your lovers, Binnie," he said, walking away. Changbin laughed, "Come on, agi. Let's find the rest of the family," he said, holding you tight. Chan was the first one to squeeze you in a big hug, "You're safe. Thank goodness, you're safe," he mumbled, planting kisses all over your face. Jeongin pulled you onto his lap, eyes red from crying "I was so worried, angel," he sniffled, stroking your hair. "Ninnin don't cry," you whimpered, tears brimming your own eyes.

Jeongin smiled with glossy eyes, "I'm so sorry, angel. Don't ever get lost from us again, okay?" he whispered, holding you against his chest. You cried into his shirt, fear, guilt and anxiety fading away the moment he held you in his arms. Jeongin rocked you, rubbing your back "It's okay, Ninnin's here," he sniffled, burying his face into your hair. Minho brought the car to the entrance, "It's been a long day, I think it's time to head home," he said, stroking your tear-stained cheeks. Your caregivers looked at your half-lidded eyes, "Yeah, let's go home," they agreed, packed up their things and drove back to the comforts of their home.

[bunnysnuff]

Camouflage.

Pairing: Nick Nelson x M!Army!reader.

Trigger warning: none.

Request.

Nick sat on the edge of his bed, fingers twisting the corner of his pillow, lost in thought. His phone buzzed beside him, and he glanced at the screen to see a message notification from you. The guy who had turned his life upside down in just a few short months. He hadn’t expected to fall for someone so quickly, but from the moment you two met during an end-of-summer football game at the park, there was a connection—a spark that felt inevitable. You were smart, kind, and a year older than Nick, and being around you made everything feel brighter.

But then you dropped the news that changed everything: you had enlisted in the army and would be leaving for basic training in a few weeks. Nick could still remember how his stomach twisted when he heard you say it. He admired your bravery, but the idea of you being away—potentially in danger—felt like a weight pressing on his chest.

He unlocked his phone, the notification still lighting up the screen: Hey, I’ve only got a few minutes. Call me?

Without a second thought, Nick hit the call button, his heart pounding as the phone rang in his ear. It barely rang twice before you answered.

“Hey, Nick,” you said, your voice soft, quieter than usual but still carrying that calm steadiness Nick had come to love.

“Hey,” Nick replied, trying to keep his voice steady despite the emotions swirling inside him. “How are you? You doing okay?”

There was a pause on the other end, and Nick could hear the faint background noise of the barracks—a world he was still struggling to understand. “I’m alright,” you replied, though there was a weight behind the words. “It’s just... a lot. But I’m managing.”

Nick bit his lip, trying to hold back the questions, the worry. He knew you were strong, that you could handle whatever was thrown your way, but that didn’t stop him from imagining every worst-case scenario. “I miss you,” he said softly, the words slipping out before he could stop them.

“I miss you too,” you admitted, your voice warm and genuine, but tinged with the same sadness Nick felt. “I think about you all the time, especially when things get tough. It keeps me going.”

Nick smiled despite the ache in his chest. “I wish I could be there with you, or that you were here with me.” He paused, running a hand through his hair. “I hate this, you know? I hate that you’re so far away.”

“I know,” you said, your voice gentle. “But it won’t be forever. Basic training is only a few months, and then I’ll get leave. We’ll figure it out, Nick. We’ll make it work.”

Nick nodded, even though you couldn’t see him. He believed you because he had to. “What’s it like there? Are the other guys okay?”

“It’s intense,” you said with a small laugh, but Nick could hear the exhaustion in your voice. “The training’s tough, and there’s not much downtime. But the guys are decent. A lot of them are going through the same thing, you know? Missing people back home.”

Nick exhaled, wishing more than anything that he could be there to help somehow, to support you through all of this. “I wish I could do more for you,” he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.

“You’re doing more than you know,” you reassured him. “Just hearing your voice... it makes everything a little easier. I know it’s hard, but I’m going to be okay, Nick. I promise.”

There was a beat of silence, the weight of your words hanging between you both. Nick wanted to believe it—needed to believe it—but the distance felt unbearable some days. “Just… take care of yourself, alright? I’m not there to kick your ass if you don’t.”

You chuckled, a sound that made Nick’s heart skip a beat. “I’ll be fine. Besides, I’ve got your voice in my head constantly reminding me to be careful.”

Nick grinned, despite the knot in his chest. “Good. Don’t forget it.”

“I won’t,” you said, your voice softening. “I’ve got to go soon, but I’ll text you when I can, okay?”

“Okay,” Nick whispered, not wanting the call to end. “Stay safe, alright?”

“You too, Nick. I’ll talk to you soon.”

The call ended, and Nick stared at the screen for a moment, the silence of his room rushing back in around him. He placed his phone beside him, lying back on his bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling. The ache in his chest hadn’t lessened, but hearing your voice gave him hope. Even though the distance was hard, Nick knew one thing for certain—he’d wait as long as it took. You were worth it.

[another-lost-mc]

The House Always Wins — Post-Mortem

I don't normally post stuff like this but this fic was a RIDE. I realized halfway through writing (and later during editing) that a Kinktober prompt fic probably wasn't the right time or place for me to deep-dive into Mammon's relationship with Lucifer and how that would influence them during this type of scenario. I blame the fact that I don't write these characters very often so when I had to sit down and do it, I was bombarded with concepts to explore. When I started writing this, I knew I didn't want this fic be mean-spirited in the way that dominant Lucifer & subservient Mammon scenes often play out.

Anyway, here's what I tried to include, some of my headcanons/ideas to explain why certain things happened the way they did, and how the final fic was changed from the original draft.

Writing from Mammon's POV

I didn't want to write this from Reader's perspective because my interest in this scenario was Mammon's feelings/experience (and to a lesser extent, Lucifer's involvement). The Reader probably would've missed the subtle dynamics at play between the other two participants in the room. It was less interesting (to me) to write about Reader's blissed out state of mind, than it was to focus on Mammon's inner monologue while doing those things to Reader as Lucifer watched.

Mammon as an unreliable narrator

We see the scenario from the very start - Lucifer's invitation, Mammon's brief consideration before accepting- and the dramatic shift in Mammon's emotions as the scenario plays out later. He has random spikes of jealousy and bitterness towards his older brother that may or may not be warranted. We don't know what Lucifer said when he invited Mammon to join him and Reader but Mammon's already on the defensive and expects the worst. Between him and Lucifer, Mammon is the one in control of the scenario physically, but he seems to think he's just a puppet dancing along for his brother's amusement.

Mammon makes a lot of assumptions about Lucifer as this unfolds, but we have no reason to really believe what Mammon thinks is true. Throughout the entire scene, Lucifer doesn't say a word. He fades into the background easily enough that Mammon only has a vague awareness he's still in the room. (Does Lucifer do that intentionally because he wants Mammon to forget he's there? Perhaps.) Mammon completely glosses over the positive, encouraging signs that the power dynamic between him and Lucifer in this situation is more evenly-matched than he realizes. He ignores (or doesn't realize) the implications of their sins literally feeding off each other because they're both powerful in their own right, and there is harmony between them that might not exist if it were anyone else except him. Mammon struggles with awkwardness and the idea that Lucifer might do this out of pity but we have no idea how it started or what, if anything, they discussed beforehand in terms of boundaries or expectations.

In the end, Lucifer lets him leave quietly, despite his obvious hesitation to say something. (Would Mammon like to stay?) But he doesn't, perhaps because he assumes Mammon won't out of stubbornness or embarrassment. There's a very real possibility that Mammon might interpret the gesture as Lucifer pitying him or some other negative slight, rather than something genuine that the three of them would likely enjoy, and feed that cycle of strange hostility that seems very one-sided on Mammon's part.

The original angst ending

The first version of this story had more angst throughout and ended on a note that was bittersweet at best. There was a lot more emphasis on Mammon's insecurities and doubts and hostility towards Lucifer, with the implication that some of their long-term issues stemming from their days in the Celestial Realm that he internalized and uses as a demon to question his brother's motives. Mammon worries about which of their brothers know about what goes on between them and it twists his involvement from something joyful into something laced with shame. Which of his brothers knew, what did they think about him if they did, why does it matter either way? Mammon also reacted with a bit more force when he felt a spike of jealousy that Reader reminded him of Lucifer's presence (that he had mostly tried to ignore) by flipping them over and forcing their head to look away from the corner of the room where his older brother watched from. The original version also ended with Lucifer inviting Mammon to stay the night which he refused for all the wrong reasons. (This led to Mammon wallowing in his own confused emotions on his own, denying himself the comfort he wanted and unintentionally feeding that unnecessary tension that he thinks exists between them.) While it's obvious there's still some issues to resolve at some point in the future, the finalized ending is more content and lacks the self-deprecation and resignation found in the original.

[cherubchoirs]

so if v1 never attacked the prime sanctums... how would F! Gabriel approach Minos and Sisyphus? Would he feel any regret for his actions and try to make up for them? Possibly more folks for this newfound family????

(see this!)

i think gabriel would CONSTANTLY have the sanctums in the back of his mind, stuck on what he should do about them because he sees no good outcome and yet to leave them as they are would the pinnacle of cruel cowardice. his words cannot restore their lives, their people's lives, nor do anything for all the machines have killed with his failure to stop them, but to not say anything, to let them remain imprisoned, is far worse. he wants to find the best apology he can offer before releasing them, yet it's complicated by the fact that he could be killed if they're unwilling to listen...and he wouldn't blame them for it. but his hand is forced either way really - with v1's curious nature, he's on a time limit knowing it will discover them sooner or later (and he believes v1 is also in great danger of dying that way)

all that is rendered moot though as sisyphus destroys his own prison and of course follows up with the same for minos, which is a worst case scenario for gabriel who is genuinely still far too accustomed to things happening on his timetable lol and minos is quite literally hellbent on finding gabriel, no longer the fair philosopher king that had been executed so long ago - his torture inside the flesh prison has twisted him nearly beyond recognition, yet sisyphus sees no other recourse for them. his grudges had never been so personal and gabriel was a cog in the machine to him, yet all that is left of him wants nothing more than to struggle until he is killed again. they are both ghosts, caught in the emotions of their deaths, and that is the trade-off of being a prime soul - no longer fully realized, they are just what they were when they died and so contain only echoes of who they once were. minos, defined by his grief and his betrayal, sisyphus by meaningless war he knows will end in tragedy. and so all that is left for them is to survey the ruins of their fallen kingdoms and confront gabriel - the latter far more important to minos, but sisyphus accepts it despite gabriel no longer being an agent of heaven. it's still pretty worth it to take out at least one archangel regardless of his current status

so when they meet each other once more, gabriel's not only caught off-guard but he's also woefully ill-prepared for a minos that is just as unwilling to listen as he once was. after the initial shock, gabriel's heart breaks to see what he did to a man he had only ever known to be gentle and wise, his spirit now consumed by a violence so antithetical to his true nature. he did this, he knows. this is what he has sown, not just in minos but in so many before him too, yet now gabriel is unwilling to fight to the death...at least, not to minos's. he will not plead forgiveness, but he will confess his wrongs, he will denounce god's will in all of this, he will condemn his weakness for betraying minos. see him now, a demon of treachery fully revealed as minos always knew him to be - because gabriel acted against his own morals, he acted against a friend he cared for...against all the people in hell he loved. he was weak, he was spineless, and they all paid for his conscious betrayal. he can change nothing now, yet he can....leave what is left. there are still husks, still human souls trapped here in a hell worse than they have ever felt. and they need someone. they still need a king.

and i think this is the only thing that could stop minos. to know there are still "living" husks, and for gabriel to make a treaty with him. that he and v1 will leave any husks left, slaying both demons and machines that threaten them, so they may go to minos to live under his care. orphans. it's uh. not the easiest sell to v1, yet its protests must also contend with the fact that it and gabriel were struggling terribly in their fight against minos and sisyphus. but importantly too, v1 recognizes on some level this is deeply painful for gabriel, that this is someone he wants to do anything he can to reach and if no comfort is found, something in him is never going to heal. so. while i don't see minos as being particularly on good terms with gabriel, i do like the idea that they come to an agreement that sees gabe protecting the remaining husks so they can find safety with minos. it will never be as lust once was, but they could have a little community fully under the protection of a prime soul who can (and WILL) easily crush the stray angel/demon/machine that tries to interfere. a haven for those left. this puts his spirit to rest so to speak, and he accepts gabriel's terms as providing the humans left with happiness is his primary concern beneath his revenge. this is far more important, and it revives something in minos that he thought he lost in all the years trapped in the flesh prison.

sisyphus, however, doesn't hold the same values, yet his fight is not necessarily with gabriel at this point since he's now fallen. he wishes to, at the very least, rid the angelic presence in hell, and i absolutely love his biggest target being michael when he shows back up. of course sisyphus is fighting until his death to collapse what he can of heaven's structure, but michael is the archangel that binds hell as well as the one now most concerned with returning god's order in hell, so if sisyphus can kill one guy at the top, it's him. this proves far more complicated for gabriel, because sisyphus is honestly right in his stance yet gabe is personally connected to the very people he wants dead - both his virtues and the other archangels as his family. i haven't fully worked out how i want this to end, but i do know this is one of the biggest nightmares for gabriel being so stuck in the middle, especially as he is meant to help protect the people minos is now watching over...and michael would see them all bound back to their "proper" places.

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

"He has never done anything wrong" is simply false. Just because his actions have reasonings and actually understandable intentions along with more personal and evil ones doesn't absolve him of his actions. The whole thing with that darkling guy was that he had no intentions except evil ones and that is the guy with more nuance? don't make me laugh. its not just about morality, even the worst to worst characters need to have more motivations than power and revenge on repeat.

I think you might want to reread what I said and try again:

I really wouldn’t call Grim (lame ass name ugh) a villain in like how the plot trajectory goes. Like Aster kept calling him a villain in her promo stuff but he… doesn’t do anything to narratively justify that. There’s a big third act betrayal (that makes ZERO SENSE) so he is like objectively fucking awful but he’s also not really framed as such. Like I’m fully waiting for Nightbane to be like “no actually he’s never done anything wrong in his life, in fact he single handedly invented feminism” à la ACOMAF

Anyway, I really should not indulge this anon further, as hilarious as this is. But for general context, one big twist in Lightlark is that pre canon Grim (the Rhysand/obligatory morally grey love interest with the exact same description in every romantasy ever) was convinced that the only way to win their stupid ass tournament thing is for the protagonist Isla to fall in love with Oro (Tamlin). But oh teh noes Isla already loved him! So his plan, framed as a huge sacrifice, was to… wipe all of her memories of him and their relationship without consulting her about it… so that uh.. hopefully? maybe? she’ll fall in love with Oro when the tournament begins. It’s just so precarious and flimsy to begin with!

Meanwhile he completely undercuts his own goals by showing up and immediately diving into terrible banter with her. And taking her out on a date through not!Velaris and randomly… hand feeding her chocolate. The entire book is just cartoonish but he basically takes every single opportunity to flirt with her and there’s at least one make out scene randomly set in an abbey (there is zero established religion in this book!!!!!) that I am glad to have mostly blocked out of my memory. Like he is NOT doing anything to further his own goals of pushing Isla towards Oro.

Isla ends the first book (lmao understandably) furious with Grim and randomly deciding she’s in love with Oro. But the narrative framing is obviously one where Grim made a tragic mistake and/or that his actions are justified if misguided. He’s just so blatantly a Rhysand! I haven’t read the sequel yet but just from the sheer ACOTAR of it all, I’m certain the second book is going to be speedrunning the ACOMAF trajectory where the narrative justifies all of his actions and conveniently forgets anything wrong he may have done.

He’s frankly barely a character, he’s just speedrunning Rhysand tropes. His motivations make no sense and his reasoning is so bizarre! The reason I was saying making him more evil could be more interesting is that, in the completely alien other world where Lightlark is remotely competently written, a scenario that acknowledges what an insane violation it is to like unilaterally decide all this for someone he supposedly loves could be genuinely compelling. If it’s acknowledged as cruelty and having no consideration for the protagonist’s desires and ability to make choices for herself. Also like damn literally all his screen time is just shitty banter and embarrassing angsting about being a monster like please just give me some variety— let alone actual genuine character work.

I don’t even like Rhysand. But his trajectory from ACOTAR to ACOMAF is at least appropriately drawn out. He’s actually framed as genuinely antagonistic and dangerous on introduction, and the points where he does help Feyre in the first book do a good job of very gradually shifting her perspective on him. And when she hates him the narrative at least mostly tries to lean into it. I already felt like ACOMAF was too annoying with its banter and the obvious foregone conclusion of their romance from very early on, where the reader isn’t allowed to come to their own opinions about him. But it’s way more competently done than anything in Lightlark. The relationship has way more time to breathe.

The Darkling meanwhile is a traditional villain who masquerades as the morally ambiguous sad boy love interest for like half of the first book. (But his fandom has never been able to let go of that initial framing rip). His motivations are pretty simple— at the heart of it, he just wants control. There’s depth to how he tries to achieve it. How he tries to present his motivations as much more reasonable and just than they are. He often undercuts himself too, but it comes from a point of deliberate characterization. His arc is one where he’s spiraling due to his waning control of the situation— and the protagonist— and becoming far more volatile and vicious for it. He’s horrible, but like that’s the point lmao

[ryuichirou]

Oh tell me more about this Jamil x Kalim ship please.

Hi Anon~ I’m not sure if you are unfamiliar with these two or just want me to share my personal thoughts and feelings about them, so uhh, my reply is a little bit of both! I hope that’s ok.

Kalim and Jamil are the housewarden and the vice housewarden of Scarabia, one of the dorms from the game Twisted Wonderland. These two are the central characters of the book/chapter 4 of the main story.

Their dynamic is quite interesting: they are childhood friends, but at the same time they kind of aren’t, because Kalim is the first-born son of an extremely wealthy family, and Jamil is a son of a family that serves them. Which means that, on the one hand, they’ve been together their entire lives and are quite close? But on the other hand, despite Kalim treating Jamil as his dearest and closes friend, they’ve never been truly equal. And while Kalim is quite naïve and oblivious when it comes to this inequality between them, Jamil has always been painfully aware of it, because well, he is a servant in this relationship. And he has to do everything for Kalim: take care of him, prepare meals for him, help him with his homework, protect him from occasional murder attempts, etc. While Kalim absolutely adores Jamil and always praises his cooking skills, his intellect and everything else about him, Jamil holds a very deep grudge towards Kalim. And it’s very understandable, because Jamil had to make himself basically invisible his entire life, he couldn’t have better grades than Kalim, he couldn’t realise his potential in any way because of Kalim. And the worst thing is, this is the way things are going to be forever, because Kalim isn’t just going to disappear one day (well, unless you kill him... but I’m afraid Jamil’s going to be stuck with the rest of Al Asim family then, and there’re lots of them).

I really love their dynamic, because of how real Jamil’s pain is and how genuinely loving Kalim is. The boy really is very oblivious to Jamil’s feelings and, as he learns about them, he is heartbroken. Kalim is very eager to fix this problem of Jamil hating him as fast as possible, because the realization that Jamil is miserable with him and hates him feels like the worst thing ever. But it’s not that easy, because Kalim himself doesn’t realise how dependant he is on Jamil’s help, and that them “becoming equals, just being friends” definitely wouldn’t happen overnight + wouldn’t be the way he pictures it. At least because Jamil wouldn’t really want to stay with Kalim in that scenario: he is tired of him, he feels like Kalim is a burden and his existence reminds him of how unfair Jamil’s whole life’s been up to this point.

As you can see, this is, well, a mess lol But this is what makes them so interesting. They do have a bond, it’s undeniable. There is no one in the world for both of them who are closer to them. But at the same time, it’s easy to see why staying with Kalim would be unbearable for Jamil. And the worst thing is? Be mad at him all you want, but Kalim is very difficult to genuinely hate because of how sweet and naïve he is. Even if these qualities get on Jamil’s nerves, there’s no denying that Kalim is very likable and charismatic and genuine.  

There are a lot of potential scenarios this ship could have… like Kalim being forced to have children so his family’s main branch could have an heir, but realising that all these years he’s been desperately in love with Jamil 👀 You know. Just an example.

[yes-these-obsessions-are-healthy]

Same, same same same. I played the trilogy in 2018. I was 22. I’m almost 29. I almost immediately fell in love with this man, obsessed in the way that a hyperfixation and a genuine fictional crush can only be.

Back then I made up a Lavellan that was all my worst pitiful qualities and made the dolls smash. Angst upon angst upon angst. In many ways my Solavellan was running in the background as a weird panacea and repository for my terrible feelings in my early-to-mid 20s. My Lavellan is anxious, socially inept, naive, easily folds at the slightest push-back, horribly codependent, and self-effacing, the epitome of ‘Wrong Person for Any Leadership Job’.. a slight exaggeration of the issues I struggled with irl. Huge imposter syndrome and fears of intimacy and rejection, in other words.

Solas was that “Aloof Older Man Whose Approval You Wish For More Than Anything” for me (daddy issues, hoooooo!!), and my Lavellan was in lock-step beside me with a similar but more desperate attraction. She was then made to act out a twisted story in which the person who encouraged and uplifted her during the most chaotic and difficult time of her life turned out to have lied about his identity, and what then were his kind words worth if he had hidden who he was from someone he claimed to love?

In the pure meta real life sense, I love Solas for being a seamless blend of philosophical, spiritual, and historical as both a companion and a love interest. The way he speaks of time, history, experience, empires, societies, systems, free will, knowledge, ethics, intent versus outcome, cause and effect, and human nature are the conversations and theories that have been discussed, debated, and argued at length by sociologists, historians, anthropologists, physicists, and philosophers for centuries. Solas is a one of a kind character in that those musings are a core functioning part of his being. You have to be predisposed or “built” a certain way for such things to preoccupy your time to the extent it does for him. You can argue it is due to his being an ancient elf, a man desperate to relay What Once Was to a deaf and blind world that has forgotten, or some offshoot of Wisdom that makes him this way, but it doesn’t change the fact that the game devs chose to create a character that is really up my fucking alley.

As a real human being, I waver between love, lust, frustration, grief, sympathy, and anger at the man for his ideas, plans, and actions lol. My younger self that was studying for a history degree was simply ecstatic there was a character who was speaking my language of academics and historicism. My current post-grad self would like a few words about certain ideas of human nature and the function of history, as well as Why Lying Is Bad When You’re Lying to Me You Asshole. I still want to redeem Solas, but I have now developed a place in my heart that is ready to sacrifice him if need be, and definitely ready to yell at him for his dumb ass decisions.

As for my Lavellan, she hasn’t really developed for the better in what threadbare canon I have given her, but in the meta sense I have allowed myself to write my Lavellan in (AU) scenarios where she is granted opportunities for tentative personal growth and self-advocacy, where asking for things from someone aren’t met with outright rejection, where accommodations and mental illness issues aren’t the source of eye rolls and frustration.

Canon-wise it’s complicated because Solas’s departure in Trespasser left her as he had met her: Her self-worth compromised, her doubts screaming in her ears, the past several years rendered worthless death and suffering since the man she ended up loving was, in effect, using her naivetè and goodness to fix his mistakes so he could then go on to destroy her world. She would have rather never gotten stronger, never have loved to begin with. I’ve spent six years ruminating over the angst of a lovesick liar and a misled codependent crybaby that I haven’t progressed her story beyond vague tendrils of Trespasser, but honestly? She’d be back with her clan or in the woods somewhere quietly living out her life before the world ended, still searching for Solas in the Fade, still regretting letting that man fool her, and still, to her shame, secretly hoping he’ll appear before her and tell her that her world is worth mending, or that he wishes for her to join him in his revolution. Anything to be with him again. It’s stupid and foolhardy, but she’s not the most realistic or rational.

Am I the only one who’s going insane about how the time difference between Inquisition and Veilguard is (roughly) 10 years which is the same difference whether you’re talking about the actual world or the time in Thedas

Which makes the question of ‘do you think Lavellan would still love Solas as strongly as she did 10 years later’ really easy to answer because I have, in fact, loved Solas just as strongly if not more throughout the last 10 years nonstop. I’ve also gone through all the stages of grief multiple times in a row because of him

[dwter]

hey everyone, so ive had a lot of time at this point to ruminate and have had conversation after conversation about everything going on and i truly and genuinely mean this when i say i think so much of my thinking and immediate reactions were entirely based in fear, anxiety and grief that i didn't give myself the ability to view the situation as it is.

ill say from the beginning ive always chosen to view this in a worst case scenario perspective. not just for myself, but also i think dismissing the victim ESPECIALLY those using anything to dismiss her literally instantly is really icky and so ive always looked at this with the perspective of everything (more or less) being true. now with that in mind--i dont think this entire thing was nearly as black and white as i initially thought it was. im saying it straight to save everyone the time to try and figure out my perspective, but after talking with people and thinking about real life, how people irl would view this and DO view it and other instances of this exact scenario happening both online and in real life: this is truly just not the horrible morally bankrupt incident i thought it was.

i thought a lot about how i wanted to go about explaining my perspective or if i even wanted to bc i really didnt want this to he seen as "dream defense" or align myself with the people who have had that stance since the absolute beginning bc they are srsly insane, but this is more for myself and for anyone who felt like they didnt have a perspective they resonated with throughout all of this. this is one of the first instances where i felt a genuine dissonance between my thoughts and feelings and my friends in the community whose thoughts i have always always valued above anything else, often even my own, especially when i was struggling with feeling conflicted out of fear and grief. i always clung to the people whose opinions i trusted (and still do trust dont get me wrong) because it felt easier than having to sort my guilty and scared conscience into rationality that could possibly oppose the people ive always looked to for guidance in discourse. just that fear on being on the wrong side of history and such. but like i said, this long winded and horribly overserious essay is for me more than anyone else--if not for people who have struggled with the exact same shitty time.

ill say the absolute first thing: it was not grooming. i held this opinion literally the entire time and people calling it grooming are not only using the term wrong but genuinely causing harm to such a serious topic. we are talking about two adults in a relationship with an age difference of four years like holy shit. when the first girl dropped her story, almost everyone came to the conclusion that it just wasnt that serious because he thought she was 18. with the second girl, she was one month from 18 and the dms from before turning such were genuinely the driest conversations in the world that he never initiated or made any notion of pursuing. this isnt to say you cant be icked out--the point of me talking about this isnt to make you suddenly change your views on anything but to try and claim that it was grooming or a crime took place is just wrong and dishonest of everyone. this is such a large part of where my personal dissonance with everyone's takes came from bc the way people were trying to claim that liking an 18 year old as a 22 year old was something akin to literal pedophilia (<- bc people WERE genuinely saying this) made me feel confused but also deeply guilty because i really just did not understand. and now that im less miserable, i can recognize that that confusion wasnt just linked to parasocialism or whatever deep twisted thing i thought was in my soul, it was literally just not the big insane evil everyone made it out to be. again, this isnt to try and say you individually cant be like "i dont like this" or "this is icky to me" or "this was bad judgement on his part" (<- which is my personal view btw) but to pretend it is some strange insane act of an active predator genuinely boggles my mind. i dont want to chalk everything up to being covidbrained but i think its a huge part of where this dissonance to real life comes from because i really do think if most of you sit down with genuinely and utterly normal people, they will not give a fuck about this. ive SEEN people have conversations about this with noemal people irl and have them literally laugh in their face bc of how deeply unserious it is. and again, i want to reenforce that doesnt mean YOU dont have to care, but to act as if this isnt an objectively undeep incident between two people is odd, especially to the degree ive seen.

now i cant just say this and be done so lets talk about the next part that people had an issue with: fan and creator power dynamic. ill also say this very straight: when the stuff came out with both girls i had a much larger issue with the "age gaps" than i did this for so many reasons. ive always, even before all of this, had my own opinions and such about ccs and fans ever having relationships and it usually along the basis of "as long as there is consent and mutuality, i have no real issue." its not strange to me that people want to be with people they like and idealize and vice versa. to keep this as objective as i can with this perspective, i wont get into thoughts that for dream specifically it especially doesnt surprise me in the sense that his past relationship + facing vitriol from every corner of the internet but fans + overall paranoia could have absolutely reenforced the normalcy and reasoning in this judgement call but i digress. i mean just obvious examples of people wanting to get with celebrities, or groupies or even in platonic ways where fans become genuine and actual friends of creators--ccs having relationships with fans was never a big deal to me personally. and since its relevant to mention in this case, ESPECIALLY online ones. im not saying there cant be power imbalances among a fan and a cc/celebrity, but to get like theyre all inherently like that again just makes zero sense to me and never has even before dream. this applies especially online where power dynamics are significantly dampened from what they can be and just i mean logically, dream has been a full blown cc for like a little less than 3 years and only at this level for maybe 1 or 2 without experiencing it in real life too. the idea that he himself would not see an issue with this, especially because it was a mutual exchange of company, is so completely unsurprising. and at its core, there really is no real issue in it of itself. a bad judgement call from dream? yes and ill stand by that since he shouldve been better safe than sorry. morally bankrupt and manipulative? 😭 no, not after really assessing shit rationally. i also want to add that it was a mutual thing. i know people are really trying to tear everything amanda says apart (<- which is incredibly strange btw, especially if that was your instant reaction and you were doing it publicly too), but taking everything shes saying as true, we know that there was a MUTUAL exchange of things of a sexual nature and this wasnt some manipulative one-sided exchange where dream controlled everything and gave nothing in return. this isnt to say that amandas feelings are entirely invalid or anything along those lines, but those feelings stem from miscommunication and not morally bankrupt predatory behaviours. like seeing all of the info and looking at the situation as it is, its very clear dream saw and believed this to be a mutual relationship. i was so confused and scared and panicked seeing words like "groomer", "innocent", "guilty", "predator" and others being thrown around i didnt even want to try viewing it for myself. but now that i have and now that ive talked to others, this entire situation reads as a bad break up more than anything else, not a strange manipulative abuse of power where mutuality is nonexistent.

overall this entire situation was framed so horrifically and i was tearing myself apart so much about feeling confused, it genuinely did not hit me the extent of just how deeply unserious it was until a friend of mine told me how they went out with their normal, most unchronically online friend, told the situation in the most objective way possible, and they literally laughed in their fucking face 😭 i also started thinking about real life instances of this happening like if it was another cc, a random tiktoker, an actor and realizing i literally would not care--and significantly less people who are as up in arms as they are would care too. and that ignores the fact that it was ONLINE, compared to in-person where whatever power dynamic could exist would be amplified by a thousand.

this entire thing is just so entirely subjective and if your personal opinions and values find this all shitty, absolutely no one is going to try and say to feel otherwise, at least not me. but to completely ignore that its just that--personal--values and opinions that determine how you view this, and act as though it is objectively some morally bankrupt, impossible to understand, predatory situation just feels reactionary and disconnected from real life at best and just shitty and even virtue signalling at worst. and also dont get me started on what some of you twisted that charity event in technos memory into because fucking shame on you, but ill make a separate post on that later maybe.

this really isnt meant to be a form of "dream defense" because if i was taught anything this past week it was that the way i connected so much of my own conscience to my ability to defend dream and his pr was and is entirely unhealthy, and it was all a wake up call--just not towards dream. the level of miserable agony i experienced, not even mostly because of what dream did, but because i felt like i couldnt DEFEND it, was dangerously all consuming and i dont want that anymore. its just not a healthy way to engage with any media, the need to constantly justify it in every single instance, and especially not with a cc. i want to be able to just see drama and controversy ride out and not have it feel so utterly all consuming, even if i do choose to comment on it. im making this statement bc like i said, it really sucked to feel like there was no public voice i completely agreed with and i realized that i could do that role if i wanted. and honestly, its just been very cathartic for me to write all of this out after feeling like an echo chamber of other peoples thoughts and my own grief the last week.

this community disappointed me in many ways, both the freaks who jumped on any baseless thread disproving amandas claims, dissected her behaviour, was very strangely dream defensive and chose to do all that shit PUBLICLY too. but also the people who chose to use this as an opportunity to act in the most reactionary strange ways that felt so virtue signal-y it was nauseating. i know the people who held/hold the views i did also dealt with the guilt and fear i did too, and thus no one was willing to so deal with the mortifying ordeal of a) sorting through these thoughts and b) saying them in any kind of public space even with just close friends, but ESP on a public blog. i mean, that was literally me. but it really fucking sucked to have just these two extremely polarizing and extremely isolating opinions be the only available voices 😭 my thoughts are getting very rambley now and i apologize, but i hope my points are getting across.

this is already insanely long, but ill start wrapping up. if you disagree with me, obviously thats fine. like i said, this was never made with the objective to change peoples minds which arguably was what my usual dream discourse essays was meant for sometimes. this was made for me and for this specific perspective to have light for anyone who wants or needs it. all i hope is that if you do come out of this with anything, is some form of awareness. of either real life, your opinions or even just yourself i dont know.

i really did love my time on tumblr so so fucking much. and i loved the people here even more so. i think i owe it all to you guys and just my blog itself to say my thoughts on shit, no matter if any of you agree or not. plus i mean if this flops i surely never have to face the consequences if im leaving anyways so peepoClap. thank you all so much for everything, and if you made it this far, thank you so much for taking the time to read my bullshit. i dont know if after this ill still leave, but regardless, it feels wrong to not make some homage to such an impactful place in my life. impactful people too :)

thank u all for reading again, and good fucking night !

[peonierose]

Once (2/5)

Book: The Nanny Affair & Open Heart Crossover / AU

**This story takes place before it was revealed that Addison would come back/is alive **

Part II of IV / Miniseries

Pairing: Sam Dalton (M!MC) x Addison Dalton (F!MC)

Words: 600+

TW: Illness, cancer, mental health

Rating: Angst

Summary: Addison has stage four ovarian cancer. So Sam and Addi seek a consultation with Dr. Ethan Ramsey at Edenbrook. Will they make it in time?

A/N: I wrote this story in October 2021 and I haven’t even realized my anger, grief and all my sad emotions made it into this mini series. This is for a good friend of mine her name was Mira. She was a bright star that unfortunately lost her fight against ovarian cancer on Dec, 19th. 2019. She was a true fighter, a genuinely nice person. We love you Mira. And you will always stay with us. No matter what happens. Mira this is for you. Because you deserve everything good in this world. Because you went away too soon. In honor and in memory for our dear friend Mira 💚

P.S. Here’s a list of songs I was inspired by give it a listen it you want 😊

———————————————————

'Cause you brought out the best of me

A part of me I'd never seen

You took my soul wiped it clean

Our love was made for movie screens

Kodaline - All I want

———————————————————

Part II

Addison should be home by now. How long does it take you to use the subway to get home? I’m impatiently tapping my foot against the carpeted floor, as if that would make her appear faster.

I’m chewing on my bottom lip and start pacing from one end of the of the room to another wearing a path in the carpet. Wanting my phone to signal me there’s a new message or that I missed a call.

I tried calling her, but figured she had bad service.

Tried again.

Nothing. Straight to voicemail.

No new text messages and no calls either.

Worry is settling in. Twisting my stomach in knots.

Making me imagine the worst-case scenarios in my head. My mind spinning with things that could’ve happened. I let out a long breath. So consumed with my thoughts I almost didn’t hear my phone ring. It takes a second to register.

“Addi? Where are you. Look I…“ I get interrupted by a female voice that I don’t recognize on the other end.

“Mr. Dalton?“ the female voice asks.

“Speaking.“ I swear to god, if this is one of Robins pranks again, I’m going to give him a piece of my mind.

“I’m Dr. Delarosa you had an appointment scheduled for a consultation today.“

“Of course. Sorry for not connecting the dots immediately. What can I do for you.“ I exhale on a nervous breath waiting for her reply.

“Your consultation is not the reason I’m calling Mr. Dalton.“

My stomach plummets to my feet, my hearts racing and my palms start to get sweaty. Making it difficult to hold the phone in my hand.

“Please tell me, what’s going on?“ I say while goosebumps break out all over my skin.

She sighs on the other end. All thoughts coming to a standstill. All I can think about is Addison. I can’t lose her. Please not like this.

“There’s been a subway accident. Your wife was rushed to the ER….“ she keeps on talking, it’s as if I haven’t even heard her.

My blood runs cold. All I can hear is the word accident. My knees almost give out under me. My pulse is hammering in my chest, and all I can think is I need to get to her right now.

“How severe are her injuries?“ I ask. While there’s a storm of raging emotions swirling inside of me.

I hear some rustling of papers then Dr. Delarosa is on the line again.

“According to her chart, she sustained severe head trauma and internal bleeding, and lost a lot of blood. She’s already in the OR.“

I’m putting on shoes not even bothering to take a jacket with me. Already getting out the door. Not caring about anything. I just want to be there, before it’s too late.

“You already started? But…“

Dr. Delarosa speaks in a gentle voice which I recognize is used to soothe someones nerves. As a doctor she’s probably had to do that many times. But it never gets easier.

“We didn’t have the luxury of time Mr. Dalton. We had to start immediately. Otherwise..“

Otherwise she would already be dead. I close my eyes for a second, letting out a ragged breath. I cannot lose it right now. It’s not an option. Get your shit together Sam. You can break down and cry later. Now you’ve got to be strong for Addi.

“Thank you Dr. Delarosa. I’m on my way,“ I say.

“We’re doing everything we can. She’s in very good hands.“

Meaning they don’t know if she’s going to make it or not. Not wanting to take away hope. Still doing their best.

With those final words she hangs up. I stare at the phone. Speechless.

I order an uber and tell the guy to step on it. I arrive at the hospital and get out.

I try to move but it’s like my feet are frozen to the ground. Thinking about what to do. While a million memories are going through my head in warp speed. I start running towards the hospital.

I swallow down. I have to be strong for her now. Everything else can wait.

Perma tags:

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The Nanny Affair:

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[stomp-that-ho-regard]

Yeah, they do this all the time. They cherry-pick certain sentences and twist words around, then boldly claim that you were implying something you weren’t. And they miss the point entirely.

I'm convinced they do it deliberately. They know what they're doing, but at that point, they're so desperate to argue, that they'll start grasping at anything they think they can use to try to make you look stupid or weird.

The argument was that people say 'BY is heteronormative'. No one has EVER said that. It reminded me of this:

'BY is heteronormative' is entirely it's own phrase. Something I never said or even implied.

I still think the 1950's thing is an apt comparison though, because it was very specifically based on what I was told about the M/9 reunion. This is copy and pasted from the anon message: Yasha is not really a distinct character anymore. Beau works for the Cobalt Soul, while Yasha housekeeps and cooks roadkill for dinner. Beau, sitcom dad that she has become in these last six months, appears to expect an empty chair and a full plate when she gets home. Yasha obliges. She’s subservient to Beau’s wishes. The second I read that, I went, "This sounds like the 1950's.", because it fucking does. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less.

But you also can't help but wonder why Marisha and Ashley thought this was the ideal scenario. It could very much be, as you've pointed out, that they are two cishet women viewing this through a very specific lens, that for them, makes this the ideal. Which is honestly kind of disheartening.

Because I don't vibe with this dynamic at all, in general. And the genders of the people involved do not change my feelings on it. It's not suddenly 'better' because it's two women. The whole housewife/breadwinner thing feels boring, bland, and archaic.

I genuinely believe that if these two players were actually queer, this would not have been the scenario they chose. I don't know what they would've went with, but for sure, it would not have been this.

Theirs is a very straight take on how a lesbian relationship should function. (Straight people love to put queer things in boxes because it makes it easier for them to understand. They have a fairly narrow and limited view on relationships in general, and because of that, this fictional pairing that they're acting out ends up feeling narrow and limited too.)

This brings me to my next point. You're right when you say that the fandom doesn't want to hear that the cast is straight/majority straight. They lose their fucking minds. And I've brought this up before, in this post, and included a collection of tweets.

But this tweet was by far the worst one...

I mean, this shit is fucking bonkers.

And every single one of these people base their beliefs off of hearsay. They take other fans' claims at face value. They believe them wholeheartedly, and don't bother trying to verify any of it. And that's why when you ask these people "can you give me a link to something?" they have nothing to give you. They're simply making inferences based on casual comments, random quips, and 'body language'. Sorry, not sorry, but that is true delusion. There is no other word for it.

To bring this back around to the main point.. I still think the 1950's comparison works. I'm not backing down from it, and I'm not correcting it, because it doesn't need correcting. This person says that "media literacy is dead" while at the same time having zero reading comprehension skills. They want to be edgy and clever so badly, and want to clapback so badly, but they just end up coming to the most brain dead conclusion over a point that's pretty straightforward and easy to understand for people who are not deliberately trying to twist it.

So, I was doing my once-in-a-blue-moon 'beaujester' twitter search, and usually expect to find some nonsense. And I found this tweet...

(Well, I've definitely blocked you now, RON. What is it with the MEN in this fandom constantly commenting on/trying to police wlw ships/shippers?) Anyway, I found it in reply to THIS:

Look at the amount of likes on the first tweet. Jesus... (update: I just checked again and the likes are over 600.)

Here's the LINK to the tweet, so you can go read all the infuriating replies. Free block list, ya'll!

And I also had to wonder, if that second tweet was possibly referring to me. And holy shit, I was actually right. Did a little digging and bingo...

It's THIS post, that I made on November 20. For some reason it took her 8 days to find it/comment on it. All I tagged it with was 'op' 'ask' and '2 asks 1 post'. This person wouldn't have even been able to find that post unless they were following me or already stalking my blog.

And then brought me up NINE MONTHS LATER.

And all while sporting that handle lol

Wild.

[husky-twst-and-obeyme]

Anon Asked : "You know how some twst fan artists like to draw Yuu with their face blocked out, usually by Grim? I have this headcanon that in the Twisted Wonderland universe, it’s impossible to get a picture of Yuu, there’s always someone standing in front of them, a piece of paper floating by, or they’re just out of frame, but no one noticed until after the picture was taken. No one knows why, Rook even tried to draw them once but a Pomefiore first year spilled nail polish on the picture when he finished. " I do like that idea! I did see one artist who just had a mickey shaped head with blank eyes and it really looked cool! Now as for the scenario or story i will only do Dorm leaders for this situation, if anyone wishes for more i will provide ! BUT i have a small twist :) Warnings: Cursing Riddle

Riddle wasn't sure why but he it really irritated him how whenever they did civil group pictures, you always end up blocked or something happens to you in your part of the picture

It's not your fault really but it bugs him

he made it a goal to get a perfect picture , such as asking for a selfie

He actually wasn't a fan of it but he wanted at least ONE good picture of you because he cherishes his friends

but EVERY. SINGLE . TIME . IT'S THE SAME-

He's frustrated to no end

He eventually gave up and just accepted fate

he even tried to draw you and it somehow got ruined which made his mood worst

At one point , you came to him with a strawberry tart to cheer him up but he was really pouty

You asked if he wanted to try the selfie again but you hold the phone , which he reluctantly agreed to

afterwards when you left , he went to see the picture and he couldn't believe his damn eyes

a perfect picture of you and him

" i don't know if i want to cry of joy or behead them . "

He stilled loved the photo and refused to show anyone else in case it somehow got ruined or deleted

Leona

He wasn't too interested in photos but in your case it caught his interest slightly

he noticed from school activity photos that your face was always somehow ruined.

he thought it was funny but rare

so he tasked ruggie to take a picture for a small amount , mainly because he thought it would be easy

plus it's not like he wants a photo of you for anything psssshh

but when ruggie returned , he was frustrated and tired

confused leona questioned him

"Leona san. i loved getting money from you but i might just not even try anymore ..."

he got baffled that Ruggie had given up money for any easy task. or so he thought was easy

So thinking ruggie was being lazy , he went to do it himself

as a predator, he knows how to be sneaky and hide well , so once he locked you in , he took a snap

he looks ats the photo completely ruined

he took another , ruined. once again , it was ruined

he repeats many tries after and it all ends the same

" ahh fuck it ... " and went for a nap

later on you wanted a selfie with leona

being smug he said " would you even get the picture right ?~"

with a pout " of course i can!" you posed for the picture and snapped

he took a glance and he'll be damned ,, it was perfect

" don't talk to me for the next few day, herbivore."

"huh-"

Azul

azul didn't like photos , much at least because of certain ones of his past

though he took note of a particular incident

(Event after chapter 3) when you all took a picture at the museum , he noticed that your part of the picture , floyd's arm covered your face

He thought nothing of it until he noticed it often

Ace took a photo of you and deuce and somehow grim flew in front of your face

Cater took a selfie but it ended up blurred

it was pointless but hard to ignore so he assigned Jade and floyd into getting the perfect picture of you

after a couple hours, jade and floyd came back frustrated

even jade looked visibly irritated which was VERY rare to the point it scared Azul

they showed him nothing but blurry pics, he knew something was up because even jade wouldn't fail this bad

He knew he couldn't stand the chance if the tweels failed

but later on , you wanted to take a selfie with him

he refused immediately but you promised to keep the photo private , then he did agree , reculantantly

His immediate thought was that the picture would of been ruined anyways but was shocked to see a cute selfie of him and you

"....send me that picture . " you turned to him "what???" "SEN ME THAT PICTURE"

Kalim

We all know this absolute dork would love to take pictures , possibly from Cater's influence , because he sees it as a fun thing to do

So you , being one of his favorite people, he obviously wants a good photo of you

but to his disappointment, when he wanted to take a pic of you while you were at the gardens, it turned out super blurry

he thought nothing of it , just might of moved a bit , until the next one came blurry

he was getting semi frustrated and you had already left , so for once, he was actually grumpy to the point where he just asked Jamil to take a good picture for him

he felt lowkey bad of course but he was a tiny bit frustrated

Jamil didn't care until he had the same issue

Jamil tried a it but gave up when he kept getting the same result

then kalim was just sad , he just wanted a cute picture of you

you visited one day and he was his usual self but you here reminded him of the picture incident

you offered to try again , he was hard for him to say no to you

but after looking..you took a perfect photo

he wanted to cry and you were just so confused

hug him he needs it

Vil

Vil is a perfectionist of course, which includes photos too

you , him and a few others went on a small trip , you wanting to take a photo to remember the trip

you're one of the only people he's allowed for a picture minus fans because he's aware you just want a genuine picture and knows you won't share/ brag about it

Rook offered to take the photo

you two posed and rook took the shot but Vil automatically saw Rook's confused face

"Rook?.. is there a problem?" "non non roi du poison! I must of moved a little fast, part of it came blurry

he didn't think on it , just a small mistake no biggy

that was until the problem kept repeating itself

Irrigated , he took the camera and looked at the photos , each and every one of them was blurred of were you were at while vil looked completely fine

he slowly looked at you while you just stood there worried that we weren't going to get a picture

"Vil senpai? maybe i can just take a selfie? Rook's camera's probably broken"

sighing in defeat , he agreed ,after getting in a cute pose , you snapped a photo

he took a look and he was legit about to burst

It was an absolute beautiful picture

He was stunned that you did an even better job then rook

might make you his photographer

Idia

we all know for a fact, he hates pictures , at least mainly of himself

though he doesn't mind pictures of you

of course , he doesn't take pics of you willy nilly , he asks you first because he'd be hypocrite to take a picture of someone who didn't want a photo

You often cosplayed as some of his favorite characters and of course he'd want a picture of it but he was in for a surprise

The first time you cosplayed in front of him , he asked and you agreed

he snapped the photo , it blurred

he got irritated but thought nothing of it and tried again

still failed

he has plenty of cameras ( I dunno it's for the story make up your own reason XD ) and used a different one to get a photo

it failed and he tried many times , it was too a point he built up the courage *cough*two hours*cough to ask rook to help

he was dumbfounded when rook couldn't do well

you later went home , while idia was sad , he really wnated to take a good pic

soon after, you sent him a text

"I'm sorry you couldn't get a cute picture earlier, so i took a shot at it with a selfie!"

and there he saw the perfect picture

"...what the f**k is this voodoo magic- "

he of course loved it but he was so confused

Malleus

oh boy here we go-

he was still confused on the idea of photos

but he thought it was similar to a painting but it's instant

so of course he wants one with you

he attempts to use an old style camera (hey be lucky he made it this far)

he sets it up to where it takes a picture with a timer and you both pose

After it was done, he looked at the photo and somehow it blurred

he just thought it was a small mistake and tried again

second time, same result

this is where his temper slowly rises and it's shown every time it fails

and after about the 20th time , he smashes the camera

you attempt to calm him down and offered to use your phone

he agrees because he trusts you more than a dumb camera

after you took the photo, he was very happy , it looked wonderful

he didn't care about the camera anymore, he just cared that he got a good photo

I hope you enjoyed!

[dreamkidddream]

I’d like to request hc’s of the Brothers and Diavolo reacting to an MC that’s so cute, she could pass off as a doll. If she stands perfectly still, she could pass off as a full sized doll until she moves again. She has adorable doe eyes, wears cute clothes (Lolita fashion or just has an anime girl style), and even makes cute desserts. If the usual MC was weak and frail to them already, Doll!MC seems so dainty, precious, and fragile; these guys would ban paper if she ever got a paper cut.

Oooooo this is really interesting! I can just imagine Doll!MC just making everyone so scared every time she moves because they could probably hurt themselves just bumping into a wall because they look so fragile lol. These were short, so hope you enjoy!

Update: here’s part 2 with the other Undateables!

The Brothers and Diavolo Reacting to Doll!MC

Lucifer

...maybe he made a mistake in picking you for the exchange program after all

You just look so delicate, and just so pure. 

You have definitely made cute little snacks and brought it to him while he locked himself in the office with paperwork

He lowkey highkey likes it no matter how he brushes it off with the usual thanks. Keep doing it, MC, he really appreciates it

When you get in trouble and he gives you the usual lectures, he can’t look into your eyes for long

Geez, he already can’t stay mad at you for long but now he can just feel his resolve cracking

If you get hurt oh Diavolo prepare for helicopter parent Lucifer

As soon as you accidently cut yourself in the kitchen (it would be the tiniest cut, barely noticeable),  you’re no longer allowed in the kitchen unsupervised and can’t handle anything with a sharp end (whether its a butter knife or kid proof scissors that would be safe for Luke to use unsupervised)

“Let me do it for you, I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Lucifer, thank you but I’ll be okay. It’s just a frosting spatula it’s not sharp-”

Will punish his brothers 10x worse and demons 100x more if he finds out you got hurt (doesn’t matter what the injury is, could be so much as a paper cut there will be hell to pay)

Constantly checks on you when he can’t see you in person

Handles you so lightly that you barely feel his touch

Move over Belphie, you’re the baby of the house now 

Mammon

Protective x100000

Is still tsudere around you, but doesn’t insult you as much

Who are you kidding as soon as he looks into your cute doe eyes, he forgets what he’s saying 

Complains about having to do stuff for you but doesn’t mind at all really. He loves it because it feels like you’re depending on him, and that makes him feel worth something.

“C’mon human, let the Great Mammon carry your books! You’re gonna hurt yourself and I don’t feel like hearing Lucifer’s mouth today!”

It was just your planner and a small recipe book that Luke gave you, and it weighed less than 10 pounds but okay. You don’t complain either when you see that he genuinely wants to help and do these things

Basically your loud guard dog and secret service agent rolled into one

He’s gotten into trouble more than once for “protecting you”. A student barely bumped your shoulder and Mammon already tackled him. Lucifer was not pleased (but he secretly understood)

He can’t help it that you’re weak and surrounded by hungry demons! It’s a pain to go through this much effort to just protect you, since you look so helpless

MC he’s just worried that you easily break if a demon so much as breathes on you but he likes that he can protect you because he knows that he can keep you safe. You’re just too cute and sweet okay??

Also stand in his room after watching a horror movie to freak him out and he’ll be sounding like Mariah Carey lmao

Leviathan

RURI-CHAN IS THAT YOU??!

Is for sure having an otaku/weaboo freakout moment

You blend in with figurines so well, every time you come into his room he asks you to stand next to them so he can feel that his collection is complete 

He does it sometimes when he streams so people can think he has a rare limited-edition life sized doll that they can’t get. Makes him feel superior 

DRESSING YOU UP IN COSPLAY 100%

You’re like an anime character but in real life and he does not know how to handle it 

Can’t stare into your eyes, it makes them too flustered because he’s used to seeing it in his otome games and not from an actual person that he likes

Who needs maid cafes when he has you? You even dress and make anime themed desserts (once he built up the courage to ask you to make it for him)

Has to calm his beating heart every time he talks to you, you’re too precious for him MC! 

Your like his very own idol, minus the singing and dancing. However, if you can sing and dance....

Levi.exe has stopped working 

Satan

Thought you were a real doll until you introduced yourself

He really thought that someone brought you to life Pinocchio style

You looked like a princess from the many stories that he read, and he was smitten

Treated you so graceful and elegant like until he had his rage moments, which he told you to stay far, far, far away from him until he calmed down completely

Secretly placed a hex on you to where if someone tried to attack you or touch you with harmful intentions, they would be somehow be subjected to looking at their worst fear

You were wondering why that random stranger was just staring wide at you with extensive terror, but then you saw Satan grinning, so you left it alone. You thought it was just some weird demon thing

Loved when you made him cat-themed desserts

If you wore cat ears while doing it, he will turn extremely red

If you meow for him, he won’t know how to handle himself 

Asmodeus

You are just the cutest thing he has ever laid his eyes on!!

Besides from himself of course, don’t get it twisted he’s still #1

He has most definitely had more than one photoshoot done with you both. And you guys have been trending on the Devilgram a couple of times already

Really you guys trend at least twice a month, and his fans love you!

They always ask where he got the doll from but he always laughs and says that “it’s a secret”

Imagine their shock when they see you walking and talking at RAD, some are amazed and some are downright scared

Fashion shows! 

He lives for dressing you up in cute clothes. Your style already suited you and he had great tastes so the new outfits he got you were just *chef’s kiss*

The cute little desserts that you made for him, he always posted it on the Devilgram before he ate it. They were just so cute MC and he couldn’t not show his fans!

Is the most careful brother when it comes to keeping you out of danger. He refused to let his body or skin damaged, and he wasn’t about to let it happen to you either! You are both way too dainty and fragile to let anything happen

Also spa days and self-care nights weekly!

You’re the perfect match made just for him MC

He finally has someone that can understand his struggle of being beautiful, bless you MC

Beelzebub

Soft boy is scared of touching you :(

He towers over you, and he’s scared to even be near you

It takes some time, but he starts to warm up to you

Is always gentle with you, no matter the scenario

Holding hands? He is hardly gripping your hand, said hand fitting loosely in his

Getting hugs? He’s meagerly holding you, not wanting to crush you

You once complained to Beel that it wasn’t fair to get half done hugs (if you were hugging, you were getting a real hug, not a scared one). 

He made you swear that if he was hurting you to let him know, so now you have your very own signal to use for him just in case

He was very tempted to wrap you in bubble wrap and just carry you around like that

He LOVES your sweets, even more than Luke’s and Barbatos’

No matter the size, he loves them, mainly because you made them and it was made with love, just for him

It always makes him feel so warm inside, and he doesn’t feel his appetite gnawing at him like usual

No one is dumb enough to try anything with you both in his presence and not, unless they want to end up either a: deep into the ground or b: into his stomach

You just make him feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and he just loves everything about you. He just loves you

Belphegor

Hm, you look cute 

For a human

Acts like he doesn’t care, but you’ve caught him blushing before (he still does it too)

Won’t outright admit that you’re charming in your own little way, but he does in his sarcastic way like usual

“MC, you’re such a half-pint. You’re like my personal sized teddy bear.”

Has cuddled with you like you were his personal teddy bear (and still does, but you don’t complain at all)

Has a secret sweet tooth and eat your desserts whenever you make it just for him (and he doesn’t even share it with Beel, that monster)

Demons just have to look Belphie in the eyes, watch him flex his claws, and they all of a sudden forget about whatever they were planning. Good

He hates that you look so fragile, but at the same time he kinda likes it

You just look so soft, and you’re just so kind

It makes him feel like he’s protecting and caring for you, and that makes him feel calm and peaceful 

Please make sure that he’s okay MC, he’s scared that he’s gonna mess up again

Diavolo

The Prince of Hell is both surprised and pleased at your appearance

Do all humans look this charming or is it just you??

If someone as soft as you can survive living and going to school with demons, then this is great

Knew that you weren’t a doll, but still liked to admire you like one

Has asked more than once for pictures, you are just too enchanting!

Wants to have a portrait painted of you so he can hang it up in the castle

LOVES you baking for him! Loves when Barbatos does it too (even though it is kinda part of his job), but it feels different with you. It feels...domestic in a sense. Makes him feel like Diavolo, your friend and very interested in being your boyfriend, instead of Lord Diavolo, the prince that will be residing over Hell in the future

No one would be foolish enough to hurt you. If someone was, they wouldn’t even get the chance to lift a finger before they were directly dealing with him. Don’t take his kindness for weakness, he still is a demon after all, the future King of Hell to be exact

Was scared of touching you at first, but quickly grew out of it! He can handle his own strength, and you guys also have a signal to use just in case he does squeeze a little too tight

Will want to dress you up in royal clothes (if you were okay with it). Nothing is wrong with your current style, as a matter of fact it suits you! He basically just wants to play a fancy game of dress up/have a fashion show with royal clothing

Will take 100s of photos, no exaggeration

Asmo will be jealous, so be warned

Plus, he wants to know how his future lover/ruler would look in a crown so he can start taking measurements. You can never be too ready, right MC?

[dancingamongstdust]

Creepypasta Scenarios - First Meeting (Part 1)

Ben Drowned

You had promised, sworn on your very life, that you wouldn’t laugh. It was an oath. One to be taken very seriously.

“Using your hand to muffle the sound still counts as laughing.”

Part of you felt really bad but that made you snicker even harder. Your best friend, at the very least, did appear extremely shaken about the entire thing. She sat on the edge of the couch with her arms crossed. Dark bags had formed beneath her eyes and her attention seemed unable to stray from the Nintendo 64 that sat between you.

“I’m sorry,” you said. “But you have to understand how this sounds. You’re telling me that you’re being haunted by a literal video game.”

She pulled her legs to her chest. The amount of weight that she had lost recently couldn’t possibly be healthy. “I knew you wouldn’t believe me.”

“Have you considered talking to a psychiatrist?” you offered. “Or perhaps selling this game?”

“He would kill me.”

You picked up the Nintendo 64 and stared at the main menu of the game. It looked pretty normal to you. You fiddled around with the settings to turn the music down. “I really think that talking to somebody about this would help.”

“That’s what you don’t understand,” she said. “I want to stop playing. I want to speak to people but all that he wants is for me to continue trying to beat the game. There’s no way to win! The entire thing is rigged!”

“Have you looked up a guide?”

She groaned. “Nobody’s going to listen to me.”

An awkward silence fell over the room and you shifted around in your seat before offering some coffee. She accepted but the kettle had barely been boiling for a few seconds when her phone chimed happily.

“Oh look, he wants to play now,” she muttered. She thrust the device to you. “Take a look for yourself.”

The notification had come through an app called CleverBot. It was a very simple ‘hi’ message that didn’t really seem all too haunting. You opened it up and clicked around the app for a little. “Looks like just a chatroom,” you said. “Why’d you download this?”

“I didn’t. I just woke up the one day and it was on my phone.”

You closed the app and returned to the home screen. It immediately reopened and the same message popped up again. An identical thing happened the second time. And then again.

“This looks like a virus,” you said. “It’s probably best to uninstall.”

Clicking on the button made the icon disappear for a short while but it was quick to reappear. This time, when the chatroom opened itself, the message had changed to simply say ‘rude’.

You pursed your lips. That was suspicious enough for you to understand her potential worries. “I don’t think that it’s haunted but you should probably take it to a professional to have it wiped or something. And maybe consider less porn in the future?”

Your joke fell flat but it died when the chatbot began typing. Not too long after, another message had come through.

‘I don’t hang out in such places.’

“Can…” you trailed off. “No, there’s no way that they’ve hacked the microphone, right?”

‘Don’t need to hack in to hear what you’re saying.’

The colour drained from your face and you quickly glanced towards your friend. She didn’t seem panicked, even when you showed her the message. If anything, her expression was resigned as though this was a regular occurrence.

You didn’t get too much time to respond when a horrible static sound came through her phone. The screen began flashing and blurry images raced across it. A distorted version of the Majora’s Mask theme song started playing. It felt like your ears were bleeding. Scared, you threw the phone to the floor and, with a shattering crack, everything stopped.

For a while, you stared at it but then she said, “He’s going to be pissed with that.”

There was a chime from somewhere on your right. Your own phone’s screen lit up. Nervously, you reached over to check on it.

A single notification stood there, from an app called CleverBot.

‘You Shouldn’t Have Done That.”

Bloody Painter

The park was busy this time of day and filled with an awaiting audience – whether they were interested in watching the performance or not. Many seemed to appreciate it though, taking the flyers handed out by your group.

It was nearing midday when you ran out of pamphlets. You stretched and pushed your hair away from your face, relishing in the feeling of sun against skin.

Your gaze drifted across the park’s patrons before settling on one that you had been watching since the beginning of your performance. He didn’t look up much. A sketchpad sat on his lap and tousled brown hair hung over his face. You hadn’t caught his attention once but he had certainly kept yours.

“Can you hand me another lot of flyers?” you asked one of the other girls with her.

She handed them over and you put on your best grin before making your way to the tree he was sitting under.

He looked up when your shadow fell over his sketchbook. His work was considerably abstract and nothing that you could identify with ease. There weren’t too many colors though.

“Hello!” you greeted cheerily. “I don’t mean to bother but what did you think of the show?”

He blinked up at you. “I didn’t see it.”

The man was a master of deadpan but you didn’t allow your smile to drop. You lowered the flyer and sighed, “That’s a shame. It’s so rare that we have attractive people at our shows… you should consider coming to our actual performances sometime. Everybody loves musicals.”

He didn’t even react to the compliment. No smirk or even a blush. It was as though you hadn’t spoken one word.

“I’ve seen your face before,” he said. “You do this kind of thing quite often. Don’t you get tired of people staring at you?”

You chuckled. “I wouldn’t be in this line of business if I was too self-conscious. When they stare for too long, I like to imagine that it’s because I’m the most beautiful person they’ve ever seen.” Running your fingers through your hair, you offered him your most dazzling smile. “And if you remember me, that’s a certain compliment.”

“You can take it whatever way you want but it doesn’t mean anything.”

It was tempting to give up. Flirting with cute boys was only entertaining when they responded with… something. This boy just stared.

“So you’re an artist, right? You’d have a good point of view on whether or not I’m actually pretty.”

“My opinions on people are rarely accurate.”

His response made you uncomfortable, though you couldn’t quite put your finger on why. Something of a warning twisted in your stomach. A light had lit behind his eyes but it didn’t seem like something you wanted to tie yourself to.

It appeared it was time to give up your pursuit. “Well, I really should get going. Perhaps I’ll see you at the next performance.”

His eyes drifted to the pamphlet that you held. “Were you planning on giving me that?”

“Offering it but you don’t have to –“

“I’ll take it,” he said, putting down his pencil and holding out his hand. “Your show wasn’t too entertaining but I enjoyed watching the performance you just put on. Rather like a peacock strutting its feathers.”

So he wasn’t oblivious then… just teasing. You had no idea if it showed his genuine interest or if he was merely taunting now.

With a slight scowl, you passed it over. He tucked it into his sketchbook and then closed it, standing up. He was scrawnier than you had anticipated but he still had a considerable height – holding at least a few inches over you.

“Thank you,” you said.

He left without another word. You rolled your eyes and made a point to ignore any thoughts about him for the rest of the day. Perhaps you shouldn’t have given him your information… after all, that flyer had your full name and everything.

And you knew absolutely nothing about him.

Candy Pop

Hospitals were the worst places in the world.

They smelled too clean and looked too false. You generally avoided them as much as possible unless it was absolutely necessary. When a close family member found themselves locked within the walls, unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to stay away.

You wrinkled your nose as you walked into the room. The sterilized smell burnt you.

Most of it was what you had expected but the young, child-like scream made you jump and nearly drop every gift you were holding.

Your aunt jumped up from her chair beside the hospital bed. “What’s wrong?!” she asked, fussing over your cousin.

She was barely over eleven and had badly injured her leg during a biking competition. Your mom had told you that everybody in the family was going to visit her, encouraging you to go together in order to drop off some gifts.

“I’m sorry,” the little girl said quickly. “I don’t like balloons and I thought… it doesn’t matter. Sorry.”

You moved them behind you a little, trying to block her line of sight. “No, no, I should have asked first. You could have been allergic to latex or something and then I’d be feeling really bad about it.”

“She’s been particularly on edge thanks to these awful nightmares,” your aunt explained.

“Nightmares?” you asked.

The little girl seemed pale at its mention, pulling her blanket up to her nose and watching everybody wearily. “They’re just bad dreams,” she said. “You said that they couldn’t hurt me.”

Her mother hurriedly rubbed her shoulder and offered a warm smile. “They definitely can’t,” she reassured.

“Are they about the fall?” you asked.

“Sometimes.”

You settled down in one of the chairs as your own mother began speaking to her sister. They were able to discuss everything from the colour of grass to what they thought would be the best country to live in. You weren’t particularly interested in what they were saying and, after a while of trying to chirp in, you just let the lack of sleep catch up to you.

Your dreams came to you quickly, faster than usual and sharp in an uncomfortable sort of way.

You found yourself standing in a large field. The sky was grey and the grass tall enough to reach your knees. Everything felt bright. It hurt your eyes to stare at anything for too long.

Normally, dreams didn’t feel as such, but you were certain that this was one. There was no purpose to where you were. No inclination to walk in a specific direction or try to understand what was happening.

Just confusion.

You took a step forward and a soft wind wrapped around you. It brushed through the grass, dancing around the trees. Something was watching.

You turned and two, glowing lights floated above the ground.

Slowly, mist gathered around the two spots. As you stepped back, it began to solidify – quickly forming a more recognisable shape. The figure tilted its head to the side and a slight jingling sound filled the air. It stepped forward then and the glow faded from its eyes, revealing just what stood before you.

He was a jester, though certainly more modern than the old king’s versions. Blue hair hung around his shoulders and his entire outfit jingled with hundreds of bells. A smile graced his face and he stepped forward.

You moved away.

His smile disappeared and his eyes narrowed. The mist appeared again and he vanished into it.

You looked around frantically. He was gone. The wind picked up unexpectedly, howling in your ears. You raised your hands to shield your face and something grabbed your wrist. Before you could turn to see, you hurdled away from the meadow and awoke spluttering for air.

“Are you alright?” your aunt asked.

In the corner of your eye, you swore you saw a blue jester but, when you turned to look, he was gone. “Yeah,” you said, rubbing your chest. “Yeah, I’m good.”

Your made eye contact with your cousin and swallowed thickly. The look on her face said it all.

Clockwork

Every night, without fail, you saw her sitting there when you arrived home from work.

She always wore the same thing and, initially, you had thought that she would play on her phone for hours at a time. It didn’t appear that she had a phone, however, as you came to realise. Whatever she was holding was circular and fit perfectly within the palm of her hand.

You mentioned it to the building manager the second time she was there until like two in the morning. He had said that they thought she was homeless but, as far as they could tell, she wasn’t dangerous. You reassured him that your worries weren’t about her presence due to any perceived problem but he had just nodded.

She never moved while she was waiting. Not even to adjust her weight or brush the hair from her face.

A few of your neighbours used the very eloquent reasoning that she was merely crazy.

Occasionally, you heard children from the area parroting their parents. Rumours abound that she was a ghost who would attack anybody if they spoke to her. You scoffed each time it was said but many believed the stories.

You were arriving home late one night when you spotted her sitting in the usual spot. It was strange for you to feel anything beyond exhaustion on the nights when hospital jobs ran too long but this time, a strange anticipation settled itself in your stomach.

“I’m sorry,” you said. “Are you okay?”

Her hair was dirty and her coat looked as though it hadn’t been washed for years. Now that you were close, you could make out what appeared to be dried blood on her shirt.

“Go away,” she said, shaking her head from side to side.

“I have medical experience,” you responded. “And I know some good places to stay in the area. I can –“

“Good for you,” she sneered. “Leave me alone. You’re going to make me miss it.”

The object she was holding was an old pocket watch. It looked like something you would find in an antique store and pay insane amounts of money for. Though, it didn’t appear to be working. The clock hands sat at a set time and didn’t move in the slightest.

“I want to help you if that’s okay,” you said.

She forced out a laugh that sounded as though it physically pained her. “You want to help me?!” she cackled, throwing her hair over her shoulder. “Isn’t that sweet.”

You stumbled away from her and clasped a hand over your mouth. Her face…

Her mouth was torn to pieces, jagged cuts that ripped through the skin there and had been crudely stitched back together. But that wasn’t the worst. No, the worst part of it was her left eye that had a pocket watch shoved into the socket and forcefully stitched there. The injury flared red with infection and pain.

“What’s wrong little doctor?!” she cawed. “No longer feeling like saving the poor girl you found on the side of the road?”

You steeled your resolve and straightened. “I’m still willing to offer help if you need it,” you said in your strongest voice. “That injury is severe and needs attending to if you want to save the eye.”

The eye was definitely gone and she knew it as well, scoffing at your offer. “No chance of that. Why do you people like pretending that you care?”

“I do care.”

She responded with a mocking expression and stood unexpectedly. “Sure you do.” She tapped the front of the pocket watch with her nail. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to get to work. I nearly missed it thanks to your nagging. I’ll see you tomorrow, doctor.”

And she marched off into the night.

Dark Link

The vase that you were holding was beautifully polished and almost brand new. As you lifted it, something rattled around within.

“Why are you selling this for such a low price?” you asked.

The woman was middle-aged with a falsely high voice and bright, darting eyes. “It was a gift,” she said. “But I decided against keeping it. I wasn’t sure how low the price should be but it’s not like I’m losing any money.”

You decided against buying it, thanking her and walking away quickly. While you were looking through a few pieces of jewelry, your arm was grabbed and a small object pushed into your chest.

“Here you go!” you friend chimed. “Consider it to be a late birthday present!”

You took the game cartridge and examined it closely. “Zelda, again?” you asked. “I’ve already tell you that –“

“Yes, yes, I know that they’re not your thing but if you haven’t tried all the games then how are you meant to know there isn’t just one that you like?”

Sighing, you took the game and dropped it into your purse. It was dirty and definitely well used. A bit of black paint flaked off on your fingers.

Another game for you to keep in your cupboard and not look at again until months later when you were asked about your opinion on it. It wasn’t your fault that you didn’t have the console you needed and the simple answer of ‘just buy one for cheap’ wasn’t always available.

But in the coming weeks, you quickly realised that this wasn’t just another game.

At first, the things that went wrong were too minor to even pay attention to. Electronics started breaking frequently until the point where you had replaced your stereo twice in a week and no longer had a television. After that, you started feeling sickly and uncomfortable whenever you were in the house. A feeling of imposing nature settled upon your shoulders.

You spent more time away from home, staying away for as long as you could. When you tried to dogsit for your brother, the pup wouldn’t even enter the house.

It was late at night when you woke up in a cold sweat. Nausea coiled in your stomach and your heart was beating at the speed of light.

At first, you had no idea what had woken you.

And then you heard the rattling.

It was coming from the next room over. As though somebody had taken hold of your desk and was shaking it as roughly as they could.

You scrambled for your phone but it wasn’t there. It was sitting in your office.

You took a deep breath and slowly stepped from your bed. Your head felt fuzzy, as though you weren’t able to wake up properly. Every step was slow and lethargic.

Stumbling toward the door, you gingerly grabbed the handle. As you opened it, your mind caught up with your body and you remembered that you shouldn’t just burst in on a potential invader.

But it was too late.

The person, for it had to be a person, stood in the middle of the room. Its body was so dark that it blended in with the shadows surrounding it. Two bright red eyes shone, illuminating enough that it showed some of the creatures ashen features. It had sharp features that were definitely human. Though as you stared at it, you knew that it was anything but.

It smiled and began turning into small squares, pixelating into the air and disappearing into something behind it.

You flicked on the light as fast as you could but it was gone. Sitting in the middle of the desk, the black cartridge seemed to emit its own darkness.

Dr. Smiley

The building was beyond restoration, crumbling and derelict. You were sure that it hadn’t been occupied for at least a decade. Perhaps even longer.

For months now, you had been going through the motions to have everything approved and organised. You had gotten clearance, hired the workers, discussed things with any neighbours, and even paid extra for the best machinery to get everything done quicker.

And now they were refusing to do anything.

“I’m sorry, and I will compensate for the time wasted, but my men are saying no,” the on-site manager said. “I know you’re not from these parts but we’ve always known there’s something wrong with this building. Rumours and superstitions abound and I wouldn’t blame my men for not wanting to anger a ghost.”

“They’ll be pissing off something far worse than a ‘ghost’ if they continue refusing to even go in there,” you snapped.

He glanced towards his workers and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Once he left, you turned your attention to the house. Why anybody would have wanted a house in this location was beyond you but now that you had inherited it, you could see potential.

Although the entire place was probably crawling with all manners of disgusting flora.

Perhaps you could use that to get the health counsel to do the job for you.

They will still talking and you could see the weariness on their faces. Sighing, you stalked your way to the front door and pushed it open with one hand. It creaked with the effort.

You stood with your hands out towards the men. “I’m going to walk this entire house!” you called. “And if your ghost doesn’t accost me while I’m there, then I’m going to be expecting you to all get on with it, alright?”

Nothing immediately jumped at you when you entered. The door struggled to open and it swung shut on its own accord. If that was the haunting that they were talking about…

A roach skittered along the floor in front of you, darting under a derelict sofa stained with an unknown substance. Several of the windows had been broken so it wasn’t surprising to find that graffiti and markers had been used to etch various names into the walls.

You walked through a destroyed kitchen, passed a bedroom with a smashed crib, and even kicked open a door that led to a filthy storage room.

No ghost jumped out at you.

Problems started presenting themselves when you walked down one of the hallways and pushed open a bedroom door. The entire room felt set apart from the rest of the place with almost-new curtains that had been drawn shut. Blankets covered the bed, dirty but still there. You immediately thought somebody may be squatting there but your concerns changed when you noticed the wall.

Black mold. It crawled its way up the side, covering most of what had once been white wallpaper. You brought one hand up to shield your mouth and stepped out, slamming the door closed.

If there was an infestation then you had to get the health department immediately. This was –

Your thoughts were interrupted by something grabbing you. Panic filled your mind as a sharp weapon was pressed against your throat.

“Well now, I just know that you don’t have an appointment,” a voice said close to your ear. “I don’t like trespassers.”

Thinking on instinct, you threw your head backwards as hard as you could. There was a satisfying impact followed by a loud yelp of pain. The weapon around your throat moved away so you kicked the guy in the shin and bolted for it.

The house felt bigger while you were running but nobody came after you. You didn’t hear any footsteps or other sounds of a chase.

Bursting through the front door, you winced at the bright light. The house hadn’t seemed nearly that dark until compared to the outside.

You collided with one of the workers in your rush and nearly knocked everybody to the ground.

“What’s happened?”

“It was that ghost, I’m telling you.”

“We warned her, boss.”

You cleared your throat and straightened up, making eye contact with each man individually. “There is no ghost,” you said. “Only a squatter who I shall deal with using police force if needed. However, I do believe any construction will have to wait because I saw an excessive spread of black mold within the house.”

They all spoke amongst themselves, discussing options. You glanced back to the house and allowed your attention to find its way to the bedroom window. Though fleeting, a masked face peered out at you from within.

Eyeless Jack

In many ways, what happened that night was your boss’ fault.

Having just finished working a double shift that ended at almost 1 in the morning, you were exhausted upon returning home. You walked past the neighbouring apartment with only one thought on your mind – sleep.

It was then that you heard a thump coming from within the house, followed shortly by a muffled scream.

Tired, you had to pause to register what was happening and, by the time your brain caught up, your heart was in full-on panic mode. You slowly reached into your pocket and dialed the emergency number as slowly as you dared, whispering into the phone and being reassured that a police presence would be arriving shortly.

Your neighbour was a young man though, just out of rehab and beginning to make his way through life. The longer you stood and waited for the police, the guiltier you felt.

So you reached into the pot plant and pulled out his spare key. After a short while of building yourself up, you unlocked the door and crept inside.

It was dark with the outside world shrouded via heavy curtains. You could barely make your way through the unfamiliar apartment and you didn’t dare turn on the light. Damn, you were extremely tired.

Part of your brain suggested that you had imagined the whole thing. It was a byproduct of a sleep-addled mind or something. That would be embarrassing to explain to the police and to your neighbour. Would you get charged for breaking and entering or could you blame it on your tiredness?

Your doubts didn’t get much further than that because somebody grabbed you from within the room.

A horrible iron-filled scent attacked your senses as you took in the bedroom. It looked like your neighbour was tied to the bed though he wasn’t moving. Somebody stood behind you, their breathing heavy and their grip strong.

They pushed your wrist closer to your back, preventing you from wriggling free of their grip. A blade, small and yet sharp, pressed against the side of your throat.

“Trying to play the hero, are we?” snarled a voice. “Have you called the cops?”

The blade pressed against your skin and you quickly spat out a yes.

“Probably right before you came in, if not earlier… I’d have enough time to kill you but then you’d be an absolute waste. Nowhere to stash a body around here and they’d comb the entire area if you were missing…”

“I didn’t mean –“

You were shoved forward before you had a chance to react. In the dark, you couldn’t make anything out and you hit the wall unexpectedly. Now, far enough away, you turned and tried to make out the face of your assailant. He melded in with the shadows and you ran your fingers along the wall until you found a light switch.

The lights flickered on and you gasped.

He wore a dark blue mask, a black ooze dripping from the eye sockets and onto his hoodie. There was no reaction to the lights. Not even a blink.

“Don’t you want to beg for your life?” he asked. “The other one pleaded nearly constantly until I shut him up.”

“You killed him…”

“He isn’t dead, just unconscious,” the man scoffed. “I try to avoid killing them, if I’m able to.”

“The police will be here soon,” you warned.

“Oh I know. That’s the only reason that I’m leaving this very minute.” He made his way over to the window, never turning to stop facing you. The bedroom window slipped open without a sound and he began climbing out. “I’d keep my doors locked if I was you. Plenty of unsavory characters live in these parts.”

And just like that, he was gone.

Glitchy Red

Your younger cousin squealed excitedly, holding the game to her chest in joy. “I love it so much!” she said. “I can’t believe I used to think Pokémon was for babies. At first when the music randomly cut out, I did think it was super weird but I’ve gotten used to it now.”

“I don’t think it’s meant to do that,” you chuckled. “But cheap versions, you know?”

It was good to see that your last-minute gift hadn’t gone to waste. You had been worried that the present’s fun would be lost on your video game-hating cousin but she had actually decided to give the game a shot. Now you had somebody in the family to speak to which was extraordinarily exciting.

“What are you meant to say to Red when he asks you whether or not he’s a joke?” she aske unexpectedly. “I know that if you say no, he goes away, and I’ve been too scared to try the other option.”

You frowned. “I don’t actually remember that part of the game.”

“Really? But it happens so often.”

When she realised that you really hadn’t encountered anything like that in the game before, she told you to wait a minute and came back with her game.

“There was one around here,” she said, loading in. “Just give me a second and I’ll find it.”

You stayed much later than you had originally intended to that night. The two of you played through a lot of the game, waiting for the moment when Red would break the fourth wall and demand to know about your opinions on him.

It never came.

The game ran incredibly smoothly. It was quite odd. There weren’t any hiccups along the way nor horror-style glitches. The music didn’t even cut off which was apparently rare accourding to your cousin.

After a while, she sighed and handed it to you. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why it’s not breaking. I’ll go make us some food.”

You continued playing while she was gone, enjoying the memories that came with the game. It was as fun as you remembered until about five minutes after she left. The music just shut off unexpectedly and, no matter what you did, it refused to come back at all. Any other sound effects worked fine though.

“So you’re just programed to break when only one person’s in the room?” you joked.

Perhaps that was a bad choice.

Unexpectedly, a loud static erupted from the console, so ear-aching that it felt like your ears began to bleed. The game took on a horrible red tint and Red appeared on the screen, a dialogue box appearing beneath his blackened form.

AM I A JOKE TO YOU?

Horrified, you immediately shut down the game and threw the cartridge as far away from you as possible. You raced at full speed into the kitchen, nearly knocking several things over along the way.

“You have got to throw that game,” you wheezed.

“What? Why?” she asked.

“There is something really fucked up with that game…” you said. “That thing with Red is absolutely not meant to happen. It felt like he was staring into my soul. You have to throw it out the moment you can. I will buy you another one but do not keep that.”

“Oh, alright,” she said, seemingly confused but nowhere as shaken as you were.

A faint static came from the living room, sending shivers down your spine.

Hobo Heart

Tears flowed down your face despite your best attempts to remain composed. “I’ve known for a while now,” you managed to say.

Your ex-boyfriend seemed shocked, though not entirely upset about your admission. “How long –“

“Since last week,” you said. “Though I’ve heard it’s been going on for considerably longer.”

He shifted his weight and took a deep breath. You recognised this behavior from the past, already hearing the words you knew were coming. The apologies and the false regret, the promises about not doing it again, and then the eventual guilt-tripping. If you heard the latter, you weren’t sure your resolve would hold.

“Goodbye,” you said firmly.

“Wait!”

You ignored the calls, making your way home at a steady place. A few people offered you concerned looks so you rubbed away the tears and took a few deep breaths.

Several months of your life had been completely wasted. You had put so much time and energy into a person who didn’t care one ounce about you.

Just great.

You turned onto your street and made your way to the house across from your own. The woman who lived there was always busy and she only came home to feed her dog before disappearing again. Thankfully, she trusted you to spend time with Bruno.

Bruno came racing over to the gate and jumped up for head scratches. He was a beautiful Afghan Hound with a dark coat and bright eyes.

“At least I know that you’ll always be by my side,” you said, running his fingers through the dog’s fur.

A tear slipped out and you quickly rubbed it away. You dug around in your bag and took out a couple treats, offering him.

A second bark brought your attention to the street.

Standing there, a small white dog with a scruffy coat stared up at you. It looked friendly enough and, after cautiously checking it out, you crouched down and gave it a treat.

“Hello,” you cooed. You gave the pup a few scratches and smiled. “How are you doing, hm? No collar? But you must have an owner because your coat is all groomed and soft. Did you get out or slip your leash?”

You looked around the streets to see if anybody. Nobody jumped out so you gave the dog another treat and brought it into the garden with Bruno to protect it from cars.

The two barked and played with little issue and you messages friends and family about the events of the day.

It was about half an hour later when the air was starting to get chilly. You stood and the small scruffy dog began barking excitedly. Its tail whipped through the air and it jumped up against the fence. A man wearing a white hoodie was standing down the street. You glanced at the dog, scooped it up and made your way to where he was.

“Excuse me,” you said. “I think that I found your dog.”

He turned to look at you and you startled slightly at his rather unusual face paint. A white skull was painted onto his face, similar to something you would see at a college convention.

He glanced down at the happy dog and sighed. “So that’s where he got to.”

“I’m sorry if you were looking for him. I took him off the street to protect him from any cars or anything.”

“It’s fine. He always shows up eventually,” the guy said. “You can just put him down. He’ll follow me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

Then he turned and started walking away. You hurriedly put the dog down and it immediately bounded after him, falling into step directly beside him. They disappeared around a corner and you returned to your own house.

The day had gotten much warmer suddenly.

[stressedoutcanary]

Do You Ever Feel Like A Misfit (Everything Inside You Is Dark & Twisted)

Dick Grayson x Reader

Word Count: 3.5K (I don't know how tf that happened)

Warnings: Explicit language, Blood and Violence, lots of angst, Hurt/Comfort ✌

A/N: Guess who's back! Just for some context the reader is a magic user and her style is similar to that of Zatanna <3

•°•°•°•°

She’d have reasoned with herself that stealing from one of the most secure and heavily guarded safe-houses of a deranged sociopath was probably not the brightest idea she’s had all day. It never even made it on her to-do-list for the weekend, but here she was, running across rooftops, holding on to the stolen totem like her life depended on it, it probably did. The three assassins sent after her were no Lady Shiva or Talia Al Ghul but they weren’t exactly amateurs either. The deep cuts and two broken ribs she got from their earlier encounter were proof of that.

She glanced back and even though there was no sign of her would-be-killers she knew better than to assume they’d just let her be. They were sticking to the shadows, exploiting her blind spots. The only thing she was sure of was that they were still hot on her trail and would happily plunge a dagger into her back given the opportunity.

She was right. As of this moment she hated being right.

She caught the glint of the two sharp objects slicing through the air, hurtling towards her at full speed. A slight shift of her upper body was all she could manage as one of the daggers got embedded right into her scapula while the other one, fortunately so, whirled past her, slightly grazing her left hip. The impact of the blade on her shoulder made her lose what little balance she had left. Despite her best efforts, when the wounded shoulder made contact with the hard concrete, a loud, ear-piercing cry ripped out from her throat before she could push it back down.

Cursing under her breath she knew, she knew all she had were those few seconds of numbness and disorientation to get a grip and figure out her exit strategy. However, all her hopes started to sink as she saw one of the assassins come closer, appearing more of a blur than a person. Then again that was probably because of the nice, little concussion she got from her fall. The assassin walked over to her, unsheathed their sword and placed it right on her neck, blocking any and every way out.

“You were warned. The Demon’s Head does not tolerate treachery. We are here under his orders to bring back the totem along with the witch’s head; your head”

If she could, she would’ve rolled her eyes at the classic villainous dialogues thrown at her.

“Witch? Who’re you calling a witch Snow White? I’m clearly a sorceress, don’t they teach you the difference between the two in assassin school or something? Hell, I’d even let you call me an enchantress, though that name’s already been taken but you get my poin-” 

The remaining words died in her throat as the sword on her neck shifted slightly. She knew she had extremely poor self preservation skills considering she’s clearly been instigating the very person sent to kill her, but even she wasn’t dumb enough to keep talking when the tiniest movement on either part could result in her having a severed jugular or carotid. 

‘This is a pretty shitty way to die’ 

She thought back to how she used the last of her mystic energy to hide the totem away before her fall and how stupid that decision really was because now she could actually feel the agonizing pain coming from her shoulder. It started to spread throughout her back like wildfire, eyelids grew heavy against her wishes. Suddenly she felt really tired and the idea to close her eyes just felt so goddamn appealing. 

‘No (Y/N) that’s the blood loss talking. Blood loss doesn’t get to make decisions’, she mentally scolded herself, still not breaking her eye contact with the person standing above her.

“Give us what you stole and we shall grant you the mercy of a quick death.”

That made her raise an eyebrow, “Ah, lemme think...the correct response here would be…”, she hummed, making a show of how hard she was thinking about the offer she was granted, “How about a fuck you? How would that do for you?”, she gave them a vicious grin, it was all teeth.  They probably weren’t impressed by her response and it showed.

She knew there was no way out but she had promised herself once that if she were to die, that if she ever goes out, she’d be anything but a whimpering and sobbing mess. She was scared shitless, more so than she’d ever been while fending off the league, she won’t deny that but she would rather die than let them know that.  ‘Well at least I got that ‘rather die’ part down to a T.’ she thought, eyeing the sharpness of the blade which was now raised up in the air

She felt bad for just giving up the way she did. Her whole life she was told to fight her way through the impossible, to attain the strength rivaling that of Zatanna Zatara, John Constantine and Doctor Fate himself. To be better than them, and there she was lying on the ground limp as a sword came down on her throat; all for a silly necklace. She would’ve huffed out a laugh if only her ribs weren’t broken, if only her body wasn’t screaming in pain, if only she had a way out. She didn’t. She was too tired, too drained, too numb to do anything else. Closing her eyes she stopped fighting, she let her growing unconsciousness claim her.

‘This is what you deserve anyway’, her barely there conscience remarked.

‘Fuck you too.’ she replied.

Everything went pitch black. The darkness encompassing her was peaceful, unlike the pain she had felt before. It was nice for a change. It sounded pathetic  but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

•°•°

 When she came to, the first thing she observed was the feeling of something soft against her back, next was a dull rhythmic sound which she realized was her own heartbeat. Though opening her eyes was a tiring task. It shouldn’t have been, but it was. She used all the energy she had into it and her eyelids fluttered open. She stared at the white ceiling and stayed like that for a few seconds; a few minutes? She couldn’t tell, but the pain was back now, not too much but enough to tell her it was there, to tell she was still alive.

She saw something shift in her peripheral vision and her body instinctively went stiff. Her mind which was blank before now ran in all directions.

‘Could be Ra’s Al Ghul… Could be worse’, she tried not to think about the worst case scenario, but she knew she had pissed off a lot of beings, beings far more powerful and far crueler than Ra’s himself. An involuntary shudder passed through her at the thought. That must’ve caught her captor’s attention as she felt the person move closer to her. Begrudgingly, she tore her gaze from the spot on the ceiling which she had been staring at this whole time and tilted her head. The man in black and blue who appeared, was probably the last person she had expected to see.

“Nightwing…”

Her voice was barely above a whisper and the hoarseness with which it came out it took her by surprise, but her body visibly relaxed at the sight of the familiar figure, at the sight of someone who would never hurt her.  

She watched him pull out a chair from the desk nearby. He sat next to the bed she was lying on and gave her a soft smile, a smile that spelled one word ‘relieve’. She remembered how when she first met him two years ago, she found that particular smile extremely annoying, she had no reason to, but she did. What she couldn’t remember was when she had grown so fond of it.

“How do you feel?”

“Like shit.”

He snorted a laugh which made her pout. She was planning to point out how he was being mean; laughing at her when her response truly defined the way she was feeling, but any words she thought of were cut off by the change in his expression. His smile faltered, lips were now pressed in a thin line, face contorted in a way which showed his genuine concern.

“This is the second time, this week.”

That you almost died, he didn’t say. That I had to save you and bring you back from the clutches of death, he didn’t say.

“I know.”

“That doesn’t make it better.”

“I know.”

The silence that settled, stretched far too long for comfort, but she wasn’t going to be the one to break it. She wanted to, but there was nothing she could say, that would make it better. Nightwing ran his fingers through the locks of hair, burying his face in his hands.

For the first time since she woke up, she took in his appearance, he looked disheveled,  his suit was torn in different places along visible faint cuts, most likely he got them when he rescued her. She felt a pang of guilt rising in her chest. He risked his life for her, she knew he had done it before, she didn’t get it then and she didn’t get it now. Why would someone do that? Why would he? She was pulled back from her spiraling thoughts when he spoke again, exhaustion evident in his voice.

“Why are you so reckless?”

“Excuse me?”

She looked at him like he had grown another head. She wasn’t ready for this conversation but by the looks of it they were gonna have it anyway.

“What if I hadn’t been there today? Or any of the other days you almost died. What then?”

“My best guess? I would’ve been dead.”

“And that fact doesn’t bother you at all?!”

She flinched at little when his voice rose, but she stood her ground, at least figuratively since she was still in bed.

“I don’t know, should it?” She didn’t try and tone down the venom dripping from her words. Her words cut deeper than the wounds he got from the assassins; she saw it clear as day on his face. She let out a deep sigh but continued. She had to get it out and he had to hear it, that’s the reason she gave herself for the confession that followed.

“I don’t need your help, Dick. I don’t know what gave you the impression that I did but I’ve never needed it.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. ‘Why was it getting harder to speak?’ “I don’t need you to save me every time. I don’t need you to risk your life for me and I definitely don’t…” She moved to sit up straight, her back resting on the headboard. She shifted her gaze on her open palms resting in her lap; palms covered in blood, in her blood, not very long ago.

“I don’t need you to care...”

The last part was a whisper and Dick was silent, so silent that for a brief moment she wondered if the man she’d come to care about even heard her, admitting something that was so painful for her to say out loud.

Dick moved to sit beside her, his shoulder bumping hers. He didn’t know where all this was coming from but he knew better to leave it unattended.

“(Y/N) I help you because I care about you. I always will, you know that.”

“Why? You have nothing to gain from it”, blinking back the unshed tears in her eyes, she looked at him with a hurt expression as if she couldn’t bring herself to understand.

“Why… as in why do I care?”, Dick tilted his head to look her in the eyes, trying to understand what she meant all the while making sure not to let his own surprise at her words show. She nodded not trusting her voice to not betray her anymore than it already had.

“I don’t care about you because I feel like you need it nor because I would gain something from it”, Dick knew he shouldn’t have to explain it to her. He briefly wondered what she had gone through to make her think that she needed to be useful to be cared for or that she had to need it to be cared for. He felt something pull at his heart at the thought; It was sorrow.

“I care about you because… well I do and there’s nothing you could or couldn’t do to change that. And it is because I care about you that I ask you to be better at taking care of yourself. Now I know for a fact that whatever you stole from The League’s safehouse definitely did not belong there, but I also know that whatever it was, it wasn’t worth your life (Y/N) It never will be.”

Dick grasped one of her hands, interlacing his gloved fingers with hers; she hadn’t even realized she was shaking until he did so. Closing her eyes, she forced herself to take a deep breath despite her protesting ribs. Opening the palm of her free hand she muttered an incantation with practiced ease

“Eveirter tahw saw neddih “, her hand glowed, the golden aura taking the shape of a object. When the light subsided, Dick saw the object in her palm as she rubbed her thumb across it, quietly leaning her head on his shoulder.

“It was this totem. It belongs to Madame Xanadu. Don’t know what Ra’s wanted it for though”, she shrugged as best as she could with an injured shoulder then continued, voice firmer than it had been the whole evening,“ She asked me to retrieve it in exchange for information on a girl I was looking for. The girl was somehow sucked into some other dimension, a mystic one and her mother was so desperate when she approached me that I just couldn’t say no. So when I say the Totem was important, then I want you to know that it really is.”

Dick shook his head at that. “Still not worth your life.”

“Dick…”, she sighed. It was all she could do at the moment because she was really getting tired from all the arguing.

“Do you remember the first time we met?”

“You mean the time I met the infamous vigilante Nightwing in a dumpster of all places.”

“In my defense I was badly injured”, she hummed in agreement.

“You smelled bad”

“You try smelling like flowers after falling from a building and into an open dumpster.”

His playful grumbling pulled a short laugh out of her. She was more than a little confused at the sudden trip into the past but happily accepted it as a change of topic. She should’ve know better than to think he’d have let the matter go.

“Anyway my point is when you saw me that day, you first instinct was to help me. You pulled me out and used your magic to heal my wounds. You didn’t have to. You could’ve dropped me at a hospital. You could’ve even walked away and pretended that you never saw me, but you didn’t. Why is that?”

“Because I thought you were handsome?”, she said trying to lighten this too-heavy-for-comfort conversation he was trying to have.

“Nice try. I know you. You saved me because you cared. You helped me and the Titans save the city more than once because you cared. It is who you are. I’ve seen you care about and worry over complete strangers without conditions. So why do you think that there has to be some kind of a barter system when it comes to you? Why think that I would want to gain something if I cared about you?”

“Because everyone else did.”

The words shot out from her mouth quicker than she realized. She had voiced her greatest insecurity to the one person who never had anything to add to it and Dick’s heart clenched at the implications of her words, ‘She has never been loved unconditionally before’ his brain provided.

The tears she blinked back earlier came back with full force. She felt two strong arms that wrapped around her, all the while being mindful of her injuries. Dick pulled her into a hug and that was it. She couldn’t control the sobs that tore through her throat, the pain in her body flared due her erratic movements. She knew once the tears started flowing they wouldn’t stop at least not for a while, but now that her façade had been broken she couldn’t bring herself to give it another thought.

He waited for her to let it out, let out all the pent up emotions she had. Now that he thought about it he had never seen her cry. He never questioned it, maybe he should’ve.

“I don’t know who’s responsible for hurting you (Y/N), God, how much I wish I did”, his arms slightly tighten around her at that. “I am so sorry that you have felt like you have to have your walls up all the time, even around me and I should’ve seen that, I should’ve realized that before but I didn’t and I am so sorry for that. I can’t undo the damage you’ve endured and I will not pretend that I can. What I can do is promise you that I’d never let you down like that, never.”

The words he spoke were clear. He didn’t try to tell her to put her walls down, to trust him when she had no reason to. He also didn’t need to justify himself or make such over the top promises but it felt nice to hear it. She had already stopped crying the moment he started speaking again but she still had her forehead pressed against his chest, listening to his heartbeat, it was calming in a way she couldn’t describe. She pulled her head back to look at him, and the honesty in his voice earlier matched the one in his eyes.

“Okay”

Hearing her response, he gave her his signature grin. It sent unexpected warmth through her, he always had that effect on her. She was sure she was just blushing at this point and was suddenly thankful for the dim lighting in the room. 

She ended up composing herself rather quickly, jabbing a finger at his armored chest with her usual smirk plastered on her face.

“Now that you’ve made that promise, know this, Dick Grayson, if you let me down I will drop a mountain on you.”

“You mean that figuratively?”

“No I mean that geologically”, he waited for her to say she was kidding. She didn’t.

“Alright, alright”, He held his hands out in mock surrender. After considering the look in her eyes, Dick refrained from questioning the feasibility of that action nor did he want to question her magical abilities or intent. Last he remembered, Wally did that and that conversation ended with him being teleported to Sahara and Dick would very much like to avoid the same fate as his best friend.

Deciding that was more than enough exhaustion for one night, he got up from the bed and kissed her goodnight, informing her that he’d be sleeping on the couch so that he wouldn’t accidently hit her injuries in his sleep. She agreed and watched him slip out of the room before falling into the blissful sleep she had been putting off since forever.

•°•°

She knew Dick Grayson was full of surprises but the next morning when he put forward the offer of become a full time Titan, in front of her, she wondered if she fell from the bed in her sleep and ended up  getting another concussion because he was so not making any sense.

“So let me get this straight, you want me to come live with you and your superhero friends, in the Titans freaking Tower?!”

“I was hoping for a little less yelling after an emotional evening but yes that is exactly what I’m asking.”

“Dick that’s just ridiculous!”

“Look, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

He looked like a kicked puppy which made her feel kinda guilty for all the yelling.

“It’s not that…It’s just there is still a lot about me I haven’t told them. There is still a lot I haven’t told you. I don’t see a reason why you all would want to trust a possible threat, let alone live with it”, she gestured to herself.

Dick felt like there was a deeper meaning behind her words, as if she was voicing her own fear rather than theirs but he trusted her enough to tell him about it when she was ready, on her own terms. He could wait till then but for now he crossed the short distance between them, going around the breakfast table till he stood in front of her. He grasped both of her hands in his and ran his thumb soothingly across her knuckles. He bent down to place a soft kiss on her forehead, and then moved to meet her gaze.

“(Y/N), I know you and I trust you and…It sounds silly considering I was raised by the worlds greatest detective but I believe that you don’t have to know every little detail about someone as long as you already know what’s in their heart.” Bruce probably would’ve disagreed but he wasn’t Bruce.

“And you know what’s in mine?”

“And I know what’s in yours.” His statement was firm and left no room for argument, not when it came to this.

“If you’re sure about this, then I guess...”

“Is that a yes I’m hearing?”, There was that smile again, seriously what was up with him and his smile that made her giddy inside.

In between thoughts she realized he was still waiting for a response so she nodded. Any underlying doubts she had about her answer vanished when she took in how happy it made him. As cheesy as it sounded seeing him happy made her happy. A part of her said it wouldn’t last long, but seeing her boyfriend hop onto the couch full of joy as he called his friends about the latest development in their lives, she wanted to believe otherwise.    

°•°•°•°•