#seriously i just saw the most deranged message

[christaline]

I could never ever be a popular online presence bc if some strangers were in my inbox dumping their shitty relationship woes on me and asking for advice I’d tell them to ************ and not even bat an eye.

[f0xgl0v3]

I need to rant about my favorite characters and how I’ve characterized them, and my Camp Jupiter/ PJO Romans are-Imagining-

*Correction; I just rant about Octavian from HoO the entire time; I’ll post an Luke one and a Jason one and some other characters maybe later. Along with those Camp Jupiter things.

Guys this is written stream of consciousness (I think); so sorry :[ (I also kind of project of these characters but that’s what happens with faves)

Octavian-

My boy- my darling little guy. I love this little deranged war criminal; uncle Rick did him dirty; he was used as the butt of the jokes (like many of the Romans, I’m doing an entire Camp Jupiter re-imagining that I’ll probably post here) but he was a plot device too- but I love my guy. He’s poorly written (in my unprofessional opinion) he doesn’t have any characterization other than “I don’t like the Greeks, they aren’t cool >:[“ and I’ll be honest; I like Rome better (I am biased) but after we get a character written like Luke Castellan (I know- I know we aren’t supposed to like him, but like- cmon, hear me out) where he’s written pretty well in my opinion, with a clear tragic story and motivation. Octavian feels like a very watered down more comedic Luke; in the worst way. But I; as someone who needs as much information on something as I can and I’m not satisfied with just that, have scanned through the wiki; looked at all of his scenes and giggled in his general direction, and this is my head-canons (and probably art too let’s be honest) on the little guy

Octavian Cesaer-

My boy is 100% mixed in my heart. In my brain his father is Black and his mother is white.

BIG family; my man’s is the 8th out of 9 children (Julia; THAT Julia is also his younger sister. I saw that head canon somewhere and snatched it)

He has a really good and close friendship with Michael Kahale; they are genuinely good friends, and Octavian enjoys his presence

(In my Camp Jupiter AU, re-imagining? Idk- but in the thing, I’m re-searching actual Roman legion structure and rankings, etc. because from characterization of the Romans they would not be up to change anything about the legion) but Octavian’s working to try and rise up to the most important role (Praetors aren’t the most important position in my brain for the re-imagined) and only supported Jason’s name change idea begrudgingly is because that would make him Primus Pilus; and he wanted the promotion. (This headcanon may change once I continue to fiddle with how I want to interpret C.J)

Cannot keep his hair legion-regulation, Octavian has a rough love-hate relationship with the hair. He *really* does not appreciate it at times. It’s overgrown and pushed to the left.

I like to think of my Octavian (Octavian 2: electric bogaloo) as being somewhere on the Autism spectrum. It’s another head-cannon I adopted somewhere and have just clung onto. It tickles the right part of my brain.

Knows everything about Rome; like actually. And Troy; he really liked the Aenead(?) when he was younger, if anyone asked his favorite Trojan was Hector (it was totally Andromache, he felt really bad for her. And sobbed during Hector’s farewell. Yes I am somewhat projecting).

His family pressured him a lot into his roles, he does genuinely like his Augur role.

This man lives and breathes the legion. Genuinely loves his home and wants to protect it; just ends up coming off as kind of paranoid.

He didn’t get much attention as a kid (with his 8 other siblings) so he tries really hard for his voice to be heard and over-explains and tries to be very clear when he’s wanting to get his message across. Most people interpret him (as said MANY times in the books) as kind of desperate to be listened to and a little whiny

Really takes his rules seriously and doesn’t like when people don’t follow him. There has been a many ‘but that’s not fair >:[‘ with my little guy.

Octavian is a REGULAR at the build-a-bear in Berkeley. He mostly uses them for Auguries when he needs something fresher. But he does sometimes keep them (he impulsive buys anytime they have a bird one, he also literally stayed up refreshing the website when he saw the, “Wolf Pup build-a-bear online exclusive” and was one of like the first people to buy it.

https://www.buildabear.com/wolf-pup/029368.html (the plush in question if anyone wants a visual)

He bleaches his hair. That’s it :] I’m un-equipped to try and talk about a hairstyle I think he has because I am not the person to talk about black hairstyles without making a fool of myself. Though he does really like Hair rings, he thinks their a cool way to have some nice casual looking added bling to his usual outfits

This man wears majority of Hand-me-downs. Those shirts SWAMP him because his older brothers just had to be good archers

On that note about Archery- Octavian sucks at archery but is pretty good with other long-ranged weapons. Any spear/javelin/pole arm and he’s got it (based off of him being able to spear Gwen, from what I think was a ways away) and I’d like to think if the situation is dire he can throw his dagger pretty well.

He’s currently got the strongest prophetic powers in his family; and his family (I think this is mentioned somewhere- I dunno it’s late) goes back to being related to Augustus Caesar (the guy)

Isn’t a good artist. He doesn’t like not being good at anything artistic when he has things he really does want to paint or draw that don’t come out how he wants them to.

Octavian has problems with anger, totally. Stabbing stuffed animals isn’t really a good method to let out anger

People don’t give him enough credit for his part on the raid of mount Tam; sure Jason did the whole ‘topple Kronos’s black throne’ (which is a genuine achievement that Jason deserves and I love him-) but he also led the first cohort to battle against majority of the monsters; the first cohort were the first ones to storm of course-

I love him he’s so silly and goofy <3 uhhhhh. He’s also a people pleaser

He has a disappointed-mother-resting face.

Does the thing with the nose bridge pinching way too much.

He tugs on his hair when frustrated or annoyed or anything.

That’s all for now :3, I just wanted to get some of that out there. If anyone does pay attention to this account my next posts are probably going to be either Octavian art, more Calliope design things, or more likely stuff on my Re-imaging of Camp Jupiter/New Rome as someone with Ancient Rome as a special interest I really want to make my version of Camp Jupiter

[teriyakichop]

You're seriously becoming unhinged. Reading your posts, even scanning through from the beginning when it all started shows a downward path and unraveling coming from you. In all seriousness, with no sarcasm or ill-will, get some help. You're putting on display someone in a downward spiral, holy fuck. It's not cute, you aren't getting any sort of clout or giving off any vibes other than: help me.

All seriousness? Ok. Let's be serious about this. Before I reply to you, I just want to say that the ONLY reason why I am replying to you is because you took the time to message me directly and speak to me like a human being, while also being stern. I can respect that. I don't know what your interpretation of what "unhinged" is, but I assure you that I am mentally stable, and sound. Do I get angry? Of course. It's human to get angry. But I don't stay angry. My anger rises and falls just like everyone else. What you're seeing from me is Exhaustion. I'm tired. I'm exhausted. Now, maintaining all of this while I am tired, THAT is unhealthy. I can definitely agree to that. Keep in mind also, that what you're seeing is a path of one person talking to a bunch of other people who are A, speaking about too many unnecessary subjects into the subject matter, B, twisting my words into statements that I never said, and C, demonizing me about a situation that they don't understand. People have the impression that I am not competent to handle the situation with Xyzis and the alleged pedophile accusations, while ALSO refusing to seek what it was that I've actually done in relation to the pedophile accusations. I am not a machine, and I am not sugar spice and everything nice. I understand that some people want me to be, but I'm not. At the same time, I'm fully capable of knowing right from wrong, justice from injustice. And I don't need anyone's opinions on whether or not I am "deranged" or "unhinged." All I asked was for people to approach me like a human being and ask questions, request information, things like that. INSTEAD, because Wyrmguard and other propaganda blogs SENSATIONALIZE situations and circumstances, people refuse to see the actual truth, and make their decision based on how hyped the situation has become. That's why I said, the fireworks happened, and the Wyrmguard people didn't see it. But it did happen, and the people that saw it, are VERY happy. Now I have people volunteering information to me to make even more fireworks, and some people want to make fireworks of their own.

This Pedophile situation caused an entire underground movement to form, and everyday I see people drawing their lines in the sand and picking a side. Hell, there are people who HATE me with a passion, and they're giving me information on the guilds with DNIs against my guild, just because they want the injustice to stop. This movement has been a long time coming, and the Pedophile accusations, and the demonizing of ME was the straw that broke the camel's back for A LOT of people. YOU may not see it, but behind the scenes, I've help a lot of people over the years. I funded hundreds of thousands of gold to struggling guilds. I've donated free WoW monthly gametime. I've arranged RP meet and greets in the most random of places and players enjoyed the RP events I've hosted. I geared myself for heroics just so that I can help other players get AotC achievements before the season ended. And I cannot even begin to tell you how many MOG runs I've done for players, especially where the weapon "Taeshalach" dropped for so many players, and even when it dropped for me, and even when I wanted it, I open trade and give it to someone else. I have a very solid and positive history with many players who are sick and tired of the Wyrmguard tumblr, SCA, SLP, Grand Alliance, Warcraft Conquest, and the other groups. And this pedophile situation, along with the accusation that I am "Defending" the accused pedophile, was the spark they needed to throw the gauntlet. Trust me. I'm not crazy, or deranged, or unhinged, or anything like that. I am a guild leader. And as a guild leader, I get attention from countless players. Those that love me, those that hate me, those that plot against me, those that want to plot with me...and it is all exhausting. Don't get me wrong. I can see from your perspective how things look, and how I appear to be deranged and unhinged. But again, keep in mind, there's only ONE of me, while there is a bunch of players speaking to me all at once, coming at me from different angles. I went on Wyrmguard and counted 11 posts about me alone in the week, 3 to 4 posts a day about me. I'm banned so I can't respond to all of that, and even if I wasn't banned, there's too many people to respond to. My perspective is WAY different from yours, and I just want you to keep that in mind. And for the last time, I'm mentally fine. Tired? yes. Exhausted? Absolutely. Unhinged and/or deranged? No. Now, with EVERYTHING I said, ask yourself this: Does Yuliyrel sound like an unhinged person, with a reply like this? I'd like to know your answer, as your answer will define everything. <3

[bitches-who-write]

patrick and a (preferably gender neutral) reader whose like.. more deranged than he is? like off the hinges, eats corpses kinda deranged. im brainrotting off this idea sjahsvevhshgggsvav

the reader being scared by him < him being scared by the reader

Oh my gosh, I fuckin love this request!! I tried my best to make this as gender neutral as possible!! ..I got a little carried away sorry!

warnings- Foul language, talks of killing animals and people

Deranged

Patrick really thought he was the most fucked up person..until he met you.

He was goin to his usual spot to kill some animals for his fridge when he saw you bashing something with a rock.

He crept over to get a better look at what it was and that's when he saw a squirrel.

He was immediately intrigued by you and walked over to introduce himself.

You casually looked up at him with blood on your face and hands.

‘Can I help you with something?’

Patrick looked you up and down with a smirk.

“I can think of a few ways for you to help me.”

He was about to touch your face when you swatted his hand out of the way.

‘Don’t touch me.’

Oh you’re playing hard to get. Patrick likes this game.

It's been a few weeks since your first meeting and Patrick has been monitoring? Stalking?...Yeah he’s stalking you.

This is when he started to notice some..unsettling things about you and your behavior ..

He was watching you in the woods when he noticed you pick up a dead rabbit and uh.. eat it..

Now usually this is what's considered a “red flag” for the majority of people..but remember this is Patrick.

As time went on he saw you eat a few more different animals..and like maybe a person?

He’s not entirely sure, it was dark. He just knows the difference between animal bones cracking and human bones cracking.

…It didn’t sound like animal bones.

You called him out a couple times to stop following you around or else.

But he didn’t take your little threats seriously.

He is the king of sneaking..breaking into people's houses. Not the other way around.

He didn’t like coming into his room with bloody handprints on his wall and some kind of fuckin message written in blood saying.

“I told you to stop following me but you didn’t listen.”

Kinda concerning right?

He went downstairs to get a rag to wipe all the blood off his walls when he smelled something..dead?

He walked into his bathroom and there it was.

All of his prizes from his fridge hanging from the ceiling.

He was actually starting to get a little worried about who he was dealing with.

He tried to call each of the guys but know one answered the phone.

“Fuck answer the fucking phone.”

-Ding Dong-

Patrick turned to the door and walked over with his lighter and hairspray in hand.

Without hesitation he opened the door ready to attack whoever was there.

But it was just a box..with what looked like blood dripping down the sides.

He opened the box and almost turned as white as a ghost.

Inside the box was the head of his little blonde friend Victor Criss and a note inside that read.

“Bet you can’t find the other two heads. I’ll give you a hint. They’re somewhere in your house. :)”

He spent an hour looking for his other friend's head and he finally found them.

He found Henry’s in the washing machine. It was almost unrecognizable.

Blood painted the inside of the machine.

He finally found belch’s head in the microwave..ever seen those movies of people putting animals or people in the microwave to watch them explode? Yeah well he’s definitely gonna need a new microwave.

Patrick Hockstetter was never afraid of anyone or anything..until he met you.

[luxwritesfanfic]

Right Where You Left Me

Reader gets déjà vu in a way she never expected. Or, the one where Sherlock is the gift that never stops giving. AU!Bucky because he always has your back. Enjoy!

Author’s Note: There is a lot of angst and multiple different aspects that could be very triggering for some within this work. Please be mindful of the trigger warning below and if you see something that you feel should be listed, message me and I will edit accordingly!

Trigger Warning: Severe depression, suicidal ideations, suicide attempt (overdose), forced vomiting, talk of death in general, angst with a happy ending

Sherlock Holmes/Reader

You couldn’t really tell how long you’d been lying in bed for. Time was such a foreign concept to you now. It was either before the fall, when you were happy and he was with you, or after the fall, where you were all alone. You weren’t alone physically because your friends would never allow for that. Since the fall, you’d been staying in Sherlock’s flat, and Mrs. Hudson would always bring you a plate of whatever she was cooking and put it in the fridge. And like clockwork, she’d come every Sunday and clean the fridge out from where you didn’t touch any of the plates. She never seemed to mind, though, and she never stopped bringing you food.  

Bucky would come by every day and check on you and help you do things around the house. And by help you, he did everything for you. Mrs. Hudson would let him stay in John’s old room whenever he needed, and he’d make sure you showered and that your laundry was done. He would tell you he does this because he loves you and that even though you weren’t born his sister, you would die that way.

John had moved on and moved out and you were happy for him. Mary was lovely, and you wished you could move on with your life, but you couldn’t. You knew he was taking it just as hard as you and that you both just had different ways of coping with the pain.  

When you had to quit your job, Mycroft was immediately there and offered to take care of you financially. “Please, allow me to do this for you. It’s what my brother would have wanted. He couldn’t stand me when he was ali—here, so the least I can do is make him happy where he is now,” he said quietly. Pigs must’ve been flying in the window behind you because when you reached to hug Mycroft, he met you halfway. You cried nonstop for days after that.

You had tried to be better after the scare, not for you, but for your family. You don’t remember much from it, but you do know that no one brings it up around you and you haven’t been left alone for longer than a few hours since.

You woke up with your face propped up against something cool, but you could barely open your eyes to see where you were. Your stomach was in the most pain it had ever been in and everything around you sounded so far away. You remember being yanked back and fingers were shoved down your throat and someone, Bucky, was standing over you and holding you up saying through tears, “I know it hurts and I’m sorry, but you have to throw it up, Y/N. You have to. I can’t lose you, too.”  

Everything hurt and in between gags you could hear Mrs. Hudson crying and begging whoever was on the phone to get there faster. You had never heard anyone scream like that and you were sorry you were the one who caused it.

Even though you’d promised Sherlock he would never lose you, Fate stepped in and you lost him. When you thought about the turn your life had taken, you just told everyone you were keeping your end of the deal.  

Bucky knocked on your door and stuck his head in. “Mornin’, Y/N. I’m gonna start some laundry and make us some coffee and then I’ll be back, okay?” You could tell he was worried by the tone of his voice, but he did a good job of hiding it. You didn’t say anything back to it and he didn’t expect you to.  

Bucky came in a little later with some towels in his hand and a coffee in the other. “I know you’re not feeling real good today, so I was thinking I could wash your hair for you? You can just bend over the tub and I’ll do all the work. I’ve even been watching some videos on how to braid and then you won’t have to worry it matting up either.” He set the coffee down on the nightstand and sat on the edge of the bed next to you.  

By this point you were already crying into the pillow because how could the people in your life love you this much when you had nothing to offer them anymore?

“I love you so much,” you cried, and Bucky’s heart broke at the sound, “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry and I love you.”

He brushed the hair away from your face. His hands were warm, and it made you feel human again. “You don’t have to be sorry. I love you and I will take care of you for however long you need me to. God knows you would-- and have, done the same for me. So, let me wash your hair for you and I can tell you all about how Lestrade constantly shits on Anderson now as an eternal tribute.”  

You smiled and although it wasn’t full of life, he was just as happy to see it. You ended up just getting a shower and Bucky rushed next door to get you a sandwich in hopes that you’d eat for him, too.  

As you were brushing your hair out, you heard multiple voices. You heard Bucky, and he sounded… shocked? And then there was John and then just as you were about to reach for the door you heard it. You would know that baritone voice anywhere. Barging out of the bathroom and almost tripping over your own two feet, you came to a full stop.

“Sherlock?”  

There he stood in the middle of the room with John a few feet behind him, and Bucky with his back to you, seemingly always ready to protect you. It looked like him and it sounded like him, and hell, it even smelled like him. You couldn’t believe it.

“Y/N.” He went to make a step towards you but seemed to have think better of it. It was better if he assessed your reaction to seeing him first. It had been so long since he had last seen you and while he silently fought the raw want he had to hold you, he knew you were seeing red.

“I don’t even—I can’t-- can’t even comprehend this. Where do I start? Where the fuck have you been? You were dead, Sherlock! I watched you…” You squeezed your eyes shut, steeling yourself the best you could. You weren’t going to cry. You had too much to say. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw John and Bucky slip through the front door. You were sure that was their best bet.

Sherlock said nothing as you went off because there was really nothing for him to say. He understood why you were so mad with him, even if he wasn’t generally self-aware when it came to his own feelings, he wasn’t that daft. He had come prepared for this and he was going to make it right.

“No, you know what? Don’t say anything. I don’t even want to hear it. I have been fucking rotting in this flat while everyone else was able to move on with their lives. I was here, because I couldn’t live without you. My world stopped. I do nothing, Sherlock, nothing but sit and lay in your bed and cry into your old shirts!” You were yelling now, hands running through your hair as you tried to make sense of it all. Somewhere in the back of your mind you made a mental note to thank Bucky for making you get up and shower this morning.

“I quit my job, Sherlock. Mycroft has been paying to keep me alive and Mrs. Hudson and Bucky take turns to make sure I’m still breathing every other hour because they’re scared that if I’m left alone for too long, I won’t be. And poor John, I see him and start fucking bawling because then all I see is you. I stopped caring about everything, and everyone else, because the only person I cared about looked me in the eyes and walked off a fucking building!”

Sherlock opened his mouth to say something, but you quickly cut him off.  

“Seriously, don’t speak. You don’t get to just waltz in with John after all this time—you know what? There’s the million-dollar question. Was I the only one who didn’t know you were alive? Because so help me God, Sherlock, I’m this close to losing it.”

He didn’t know whether or not he should actually speak, but he took the cue after he started to physically feel the heat from the deathly glare you were giving him. You quite literally looked deranged but that didn’t stop him from taking a step towards you. He always seemed to chase danger, and you were no exception.

“No… you weren’t the only one. John only just found out a few weeks ago, and only a few select people knew the whole time.” Sherlock was careful with his words. He knew he was walking on thin ice.

You didn’t say anything to that, and Sherlock found that even scarier than when you were yelling.

“Hah, select people, huh? I like that one. So, where were you staying? Were you in London this whole time? Shit, you could’ve been downstairs for all I know. I guess I wouldn’t be a select person to know that, though, would I?”

Sherlock grimaced. Things were going worse than he imagined, and he already figured it would be pretty bad. That was an understatement. “I had to jump around often for everyone’s safety, but I stayed in London for the most part. I stayed with Molly when I could.”

You laughed in his face at that, and you clamped your hand over your mouth, turning your back on him lest you start laughing again. He watched you with furrowed brows and you knew he wanted to speak but you couldn’t do it right now.  You took a few steps towards the kitchen window and looked out at the bustling London streets beneath you. For months your world stopped, and it seemed so real when in reality nothing stopped at all.  

“Great, great. That’s so great. Splendid, really.” You murmured to yourself and perched your free hand on your hip. Drumming your fingers against your lips, you began again.  

“Bucky had to glue the windows down because he thought I was going to jump, and you were staying with Molly.” The tone of your voice was venomous and if looks could kill, Sherlock Holmes would be dead for real this time.

Sherlock winced. “Y/N, please, let me—” You cut him off, speaking louder this time. Your face was void of emotion, but your eyes betrayed you as the tears started to fall freely and your voice cracked under the weight of everything that was being said.

“Bucky had to glue the windows down because I thought I was going to jump, and you were staying with Molly! Damn you, Sherlock Holmes! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!” You grasped at the kitchen counter to steady yourself as you gasped for air between the sobs that you couldn’t contain anymore. Your heart ached so badly that you actually clutched your chest, afraid that it was going to break through your ribcage and abandon ship. You could barely register Sherlock coming up behind you through your tears and as he willed you to face him, you noticed that his eyes were brimmed red and glossy. Even sad, Sherlock looked as beautiful as a doll.

“I always come when you call, why didn’t you come for me?” You cried, fisting your hands in his shirt so tightly that you thought heard buttons pop. Your head was swimming and you had never felt more betrayed in your life. How could Sherlock turn to anyone but you? Had you not made it clear that you would do anything for him?  

“I called for you every single night, Sherlock! Begged for you, mourned you, I—” The tears wouldn’t stop flowing and your voice was starting to crack from its sudden and harsh overuse.

It was then that Sherlock wedged himself so close to you that you didn’t even have the space to move your head and look up at him. A pair of strong arms wrapped around your back and you were being squeezed so hard to him that you thought you’d either die from a heart attack or suffocation. And even now at the hands of Sherlock, neither seemed that bad. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He whispered against your forehead again and again as if he was repeating a chant he had been practicing for some time.

“I love you so much and you didn’t even call! Why didn’t you call?” Your words were lost to the both of you now, spoken into his shirt and distorted by your sobs. Sherlock held you as you cried and tried to contain your shaking body against his as you let out months of sadness and pain and despair. You were so overwhelmed that you couldn’t think straight.  

“I know, I know you do, and that’s why I couldn’t call. I couldn’t call for you.” He held onto you as he spoke like you would disappear. Sherlock had decided before he even stepped foot into the flat that he would not lose you again. In his time away from you, he was subjected to feelings he could only describe as both love and heartbreak in equal measure. Being apart from you had left him feeling a void that nothing could fill, but it was his love for you that he relied on to keep you safe and away from him.  

Sherlock pulled back from you and while it was only by a few inches, you suddenly felt worlds away. You go to pull him back to you when he gathers your hands in his and leaves a trail of ghostly kisses along the spread of your knuckles.  

“I have never begged for mercy in my life…” He murmurs, eyes never leaving yours. He was determined; that much you could tell. Your eyes widened as he lowered himself to one knee, and then two. “Until now. I have hurt you in ways that are beyond comprehensible. Please, grant me the mercy I do not deserve to explain myself. I am willing to bare myself before you if you’ll have me.”

You were in shock at the sight of Sherlock on his knees before you. You had heard him apologize maybe twice in your time of knowing him and here he was, begging for you to hear him out. All you could do is nod.

You expected him to stand up again, but he sat in place and looked up at you with so much love in his eyes that felt all the anger you were harboring dissipate under his gaze. He took a deep breath and prepared himself. If you were ever going to forgive him, he knew that he would have to be honest. And he knew that if he was going to be honest, he would have to admit the feelings he had for you and hope that he could express them in a way that you could understand.

“There were constantly people watching you, and John, and pretty much everyone else who held any value in my life,” he explained, rubbing his thumbs over your fingers as he spoke absentmindedly, “they knew you would be suffering, they counted on that. And if you weren’t, they’d know something was going on. Your suffering had to be real, or else it wouldn’t have been believable. I didn’t want to keep you in the dark. But I had no choice. When I faked my death, I had some help. I stayed with Molly here and there because she already knew, and my relationship with her is is…different for ours.” He paused.  

You were hanging on every word he said. You could tell he was being sincere, and even though you were upset, you understood. If leaving Sherlock meant protecting him, you would do it too.  

He cleared his throat and started again. “Molly was a safer option. They would have expected less of a reaction from her. And if things were to go wrong…” Trailing off, Sherlock squeezed your hands. You knew what he was trying to say, and you didn’t dare breathe. “You were not someone I could lose. It couldn’t have been you. So yes, I stayed with Molly, but I worked constantly to make it so that I could come home to you.”

You couldn’t take it anymore. “Sherlock,” you whimpered, pulling him to his feet by his collar and back to you where he belonged. He followed suit quickly like he was reading your mind.  

For what seemed like the first time today, you were truly taking him in. He was just as beautiful as he was the day he left you. You reached up to brush away a stray curl from his eyes and smiled at the way he seemed to try and follow your touch.  

There were so many things that you couldn’t be sure of, but this is something you’d always know to be true. You loved Sherlock, terribly, terribly, so. If loving him was the only purpose you ever found in this lifetime, you would be sure not to fail him.

You were lost in other when the sound of footsteps climbing up the stairs drew your attention. Sherlock followed your gaze as you watched John enter the flat from the living room.

“Is everyone okay up here? There was a lot of yelling and then it got pretty quiet…” As he rounded the corner to the kitchen, he stopped in his tracks at the sight of you braced against the counter with a small amount of space between you and Sherlock that he must’ve recently graced you with because you could barely move before. His hands rested on your hips and your hands had found solace on his shoulders. John looked like a deer caught in headlights before he covered his eyes with his hands and made to walk back out, determined not to ruin the moment that all of London was waiting on.

“Fuck, I’m sorry! Don’t mind me, pretend I was never here!” He called out as he dashed back down the stairs so quickly you thought he had fallen and you were sure you heard him say to someone, “I told you so!”

You couldn’t help but laugh at the whole situation and when you looked back at Sherlock, you realized he was already looking at you. Even after everything today, you still caught yourself feeling nervous under his heavy gaze.  

“So, it’s okay when you stare but not when I do?” You teased, hoping that he couldn’t see the blush you could surely feel. Sherlock squinted his eyes at your comment as if he didn’t understand what you meant but gave you a devilish smile all the same.  

“I’m sorry.” He wasn’t. “But you are confirming that you do stare at me, right?”  

You were torn between smacking the smirk off his face or kissing it, whatever compelled you the most and right now it was a tie. Rolling your eyes, you brought your hands down to his arms and gave them a squeeze. Not even realizing you were thinking out loud, you whispered something about having déjà vu. This caught Sherlock’s attention, and he moved tiniest bit closer to you. “Déjà vu? How so?”

Cursing yourself under your breath, you laughed and dipped your head down between the two of you, laughing at how ridiculous all of this was. “Jeez, it’s been years now. I had the most realistic dream that’s stuck with me all this time.”

Sherlock tsked at you and moved to bring your head back up so that he could properly see your face. He cupped your cheeks and in the most familiar way and just like in the dream, you were breathless.  

“Go on,” he urged, voice like velvet, “tell me what happened in your dream.”

You all but melted under his gaze. Sherlock, in any form, would always have this effect on you it seemed. His thumb brushed along your lower lip as his own parted. Physically he was with you, but mentally he was far away committing this memory to only a place he could see.

“Use your words. I’m paying raft attention, aren’t I?” Once again you thanked Mrs. Hudson and her choice in countertops because if it was any less sturdy you were sure you would collapse and bring him down with you. On second thought—

Any coherent thought was lost to you when Sherlock nosed your cheek, and you couldn’t help the gasp that left your lips or the words after.

“I told you I loved you, Sherlock. That’s what happened in the dream.” Your words were spoken so quickly in the effort to chase after his lips but he held you still, waiting and wanting in front of him.  

You whined like a child. None of anything that happened today was fair to you, but one kiss and you would forgive all of London for keeping your detective’s secret.

“Well, I guess the only proper response to that is for me to tell you that I’ve loved you for ages, my dear girl.” He smiled against your skin and you thought that this was it. You had officially lost your last marble, and this was the delirium finally setting in. You welcomed the insanity happily.

“Say it again, please. I need to hear you say it again.” You begged, everything hitting you at all at once.

“I love you,” he murmured, his eyes never leaving yours. “I love you, and it’s only ever been you. It couldn’t be anyone else but you. You…didn’t you know that?” His eyebrows rose up and you stopped him in his tracks. That was Sherlock for “are you dumb?”

It was then that you decided you were done with talking before he had the chance to say anything smart. You pulled him down to you so quickly that you missed the shock that flashed in his eyes when your lips finally met. After years of yearning and pining for the man in front of you, you finally had him right where you wanted him. There were so many things you wanted to say to him, but no words would express how you truly felt about him and lucky for you, Sherlock was more of a hands-on learner.  

When you finally broke apart, you got to admire the man of your every hour in all his glory. The mussed hair and kiss swollen lips really added to his already suave look and you couldn’t help but smile like an idiot. “You’re handsome. So handsome, seriously, it should really be a crime. I can finally tell you that without any shame.”

He returned your smile tenfold, and you thought if you could make his eyes crinkle like that just one more time in your life that it would be a life well lived. He acted as if he was mulling your statement over, rolling his bottom lip between teeth. “You could’ve mentioned it before. It might’ve helped me make my deductions much sooner.”

You slapped him on the shoulder but then worked on smoothing his shirt out while he watched you with a gentle fondness that he reserved just for you. You still had so many questions that you wanted answered but you knew those could wait. Something had been generous enough to answer your most asked prayer and you weren’t about to be ungrateful for even a second.  

Placing one last (for now) kiss on his cheek, you led him to the door to the flat and swung it open. “Hey, has Mrs. Hudson seen you—”

As if on perfect cue, Mrs. Hudson shrieks so loudly that any bad memory you have of her yelling is now a good one.

“Sherlock!”

[ouyangzizhensdad]

The Mo Village arc and establishing the MC

MDZS is a sprawling book with many characters, but it seems that it was clearly important to MXTX to establish her MC’s characterisation very strongly from the start. Although the novel in its entirety leans toward providing a strong characterisation for WWX, I thought it’d be fun to look back at how it is conveyed to the readers in the first few chapters before the inciting incident at Dafan Mountain

(N.B. I’m using a composite translation made of different translations so the wording/format might be slightly different than the version you are using)

Framing

The prologue starts with a conversation between unnamed characters in an inn, discussing the news of WWX’s death. While it was a clever way to already introduce an important theme of the novel (the effects of public opinion and how easy it is to make someone into a irredeemable villain) and get the exposition out of the way, it also frames WWX as a character: as readers, we are introduced first to perceptions of him, a characterisation-from-hearsay we’ll be able to compare to his characterisation in the novel. WWX is a “scourge” whose death is celebrated, who “defected” and bit the hand that fed him, a “deranged” killer who took thousands of lives. But before he went on the crooked path, he was a promising youth--although others seem to think he was corrupted from the start.

“But it can’t all be blamed on the path he cultivated. Ultimately, it was still because this Wei Wuxian’s moral character was too flawed, angering the Heavens and man alike! By the heavenly law, everyone answers for their deeds in the end, good and evil……”

The rumours also suggest that if WWX comes back to the world of the living he will enact his revenge upon them all, and his unimaginable powers would allow him to rain fury upon both Heaven and Earth. We get told: this guys is an incredibly powerful villain, reviled and feared by many. 

But the Yiling Laozu had enough power to overturn the Heavens and smother the Earth, move mountains and drain seas—at least, that was the way the rumors went. If he wanted to resist the summoning of his soul, it wouldn’t exactly be outside of his abilities. If in coming days his spirit were restored, if he forcibly possessed a body and were thus reborn, then not only the cultivation world, but all of humanity would inevitably meet with an even greater frenzy of vengeance and curses, sinking into a chaotic age of foul winds and bloody rains.

Establishing WWX and how he reacts when he’s thrown into an unpleasant situation

When WWX is brought back by MXY, we already have something to contrast him against thanks to the hearsay and rumours, and from the get-go we get a sense that WWX is not this fearsome figure that people made him out to be.

I’ll never get over the fact that our first introduction to WWX’s is the equivalent of the “the audacity of this bitch”.

Hazily, he thought: that’s quite a lot of courage you must have to kick this Laozu. 

Our MC and POV character is thrown into a situation, and from his reactions we can rapidly tell that he is someone who is observant, resourceful, good at deductive reasoning and thereby apt at solving mysteries. This is something that is reinforced at many, many points in the first few chapters and helps us buy in into what happens later in the novel when they uncover many other mysteries. WWX is a guy who figures shit out.

When WWX figures out he was summoned as a “an unforgivably evil malicious spirit“, we  get his take on his public perception.  

Wei Wuxian reeled at the implications. How had he been classified as “an irredeemly evil, malicious spirit”?

Yes, his reputation was rather poor and his final moments, horrifying tragic—but he had neither haunted nor had he seeked revenge on the living since becoming a spirit. He would dare to swear upon the Heavens and the Earth that you would never find a more peaceful and well-behaved lonely soul of a wild ghost!

At the same time, readers get a sense that even when he’s dealt a bad hand, WWX does not wait in despair for his luck to turn. Even though WWX describes his situation as “hopeless” and keeps “repeating over and over How could this be! in his heart “, he immediately goes into problem-solving mode, trying to figure out the situation and the wishes MXY forgot to share. This also happens  later. 

There was not a single thing to help him find some joy in being reborn! He might as well sit and meditate for a time, and adjust to the new body.

That same passage gives us a sense that WWX is not rushing into situations without taking the time to take it in, make up his mind and prepare as much as he can: the fact that we see him do meditation twice during that day (before he goes to the East Hall and after he checks on the Lan juniors) also contributes to that idea.

The chapters convey as well that WWX is sympathetic to MXY’s situation and does not resent him even though he forced WWX to enact revenge in his stead. As readers, we thus receive the following message: WWX is not prone to being resentful, to hold grudges.

He had originally wanted to wash his face and pay a few respects to the owner of this body, but there was no water in the shack—neither for drinking nor for washing. 

WWX is also, for a lack of a better word, sassy. It’s clear that he has a flair for the dramatics and lots of attitude. Look at that dramatic entrance.... he just.... yeets the bowl he was holding....

He pondered for a moment. Then, rising to his feet, he kicked the door open.

The two servants, in the midst of making eyes at each other, screamed in horror as the double doors of the shack suddenly burst open. Wei Wuxian threw aside his bowl and chopsticks and walked outside without anyone’s leave [...]

We are also introduced to the fact that WWX does not seem to take himself seriously and loves to shock people. 

When it came to wild displays of misbehavior, Wei Wuxian was a master. In the past when he ran wild, he still had to mind appearances lest others accuse him of having not been raised right. But now that he was a lunatic anyways, what face did he need! He could go straight to making a scene, acting however it pleased him.

While WWX is clearly not the one-dimensional evil monster depicted in rumours, we do see that he can be cunning: he lies easily if he feels it motivated, he is very good at talking people into a corner, apt at making them do incriminating things by leading them on, which he does by humiliating the Mo family for their mistreatment of MXY in front of a crowd. But in a way, that is also a quality of his: he is not just silver-tongued; he’s good at assessing a situation and people’s characters, able to figure out what will set them off.

We further get proof that he is not a blood-thirsty monster who disregards others when he tries to figure out if he can satisfy MXY’s spirit without having to wipe out the Mo family (although it is clearly the obvious solution) and when he is shown to care for the well-being of others. This is illustrated by the way he double-checks (through ruse) that the zhaoyin flags are properly set up and will be used safely by the Lan juniors. 

During the conversation, Wei Wuxian had already finished making a rapid examination of the Yin Summoning Flag in his hand. It had been painted in the correct manner, and there were no missing sigils either. There was not a single error or omission, so they should worked as intended. That being said, the person who had painted the flag lacked experience, and the painted sigils could only attract the evil spirits and walking corpses within at most five li. That should however prove to be enough. (chapter 2)

[...]

Wei Wuxian’s first thought was that something had gone wrong with the flag arraw the youth had set up. His inventions needed to be used with extreme caution, or else risk disaster. This was also why he had gone to check earlier if there were anything wrong with the array. (Chapter 3)

As our POV character, WWX comes across as endearing through little details: it’s in the way he calls LSZ a “good little seedling (好苗子)” and calls the Lan juniors a group of “小朋友“ in his inner monologue, or when he defends the Lan juniors from Mo-furen’s accusations. Or the way he likes Xiao Pingguo because it looks at him with contempt:

A donkey was tied to the handle, chewing on it. When it saw Wei Wuxian run over rashly, it seemed like it was surprised, and eyed him sideways as if it were a real person. Wei Wuxian made eye contact with him for one second and was immediately touched by the minuscule amount of contempt in its eyes.

Establishing how WWX acts in high-pressure situations

Things escalate quite quickly into accusations of murder and death and resentful corpses. This first sequence is thus our introduction to how WWX acts under pressure and in high-risk situations (which will continue to happen to our MC until the end of the novel). 

WWX is shown to be cool under pressure and quick to think on his feet, constantly re-assessing the situation and the risks. He is also seen as expecting people to arrive to conclusions without him needing to explain them out loud, like when he takes out the zhaoyin flag that MZY stole from his corpse, letting the Lan juniors understand on their own what happened. When he needs to explain, he will not do it in a straight-forward manner, giving small hints first (this preludes many of WWX and LWJ interaction when they understand each other’s thought process with only one sentence being said, and preludes how WWX will continue to act with the Juniors later on, making them think through the situations instead of feeding them the answers).

We also get the proof that WWX does not privilege self-preservation over the fate of others.

If he wanted to avoid having the situation get out of hand, Wei Wuxian should retreat. If they people who came did not know him, then all would be well—but if they happened to be someone who had dealt with him or fought against him in the past, it would be hard to guess what would happen next.

But the curse meant he could not leave Mo Village yet. As well, the spirit that had been summoned had taken two lives in quick succession, meaning it was extremely vicious. If Wei Wuxian left now, once the reinforcement arrived, the streets of Mo Village might already be packed with corpses missing their left arm, of which some would be blood relations of the GusuLanShi. 

After a short deliberation, Wei Wuxian thought, fight a quick battle to force a swift resolution (速战速决). (Chapter 3)

[...]

Wei Wuxian was watching the battle attentively. His tongue was slightly curled, suppressing a sharp whistle inside of his lips, preparing it to be let out. The whistle would be able to evoke even more hostility in the cruel corpses, which might turn the tables. Then, however, it would be difficult to ensure that nobody knew that it was his doing. 

In the blink of an eye, the hand moved like lightning, ruthlessly and precisely breaking Madame Mo’s neck. Watching as the Mo family grew closer to defeat, Wei Wuxian prepared to blow the whistle that he suppressed under his tongue. At the same time, the echoes of two strums on a stringed instrument came from far away. (chapter 4)

As well, we are told something about WWX when he only leaves once LWJ arrives: certainly because he’s afraid that LWJ might recognize him but mostly because (as it will become clear later on) he trusts that LWJ will be able to handle the situation in his stead. In order words, although WWX is willing to risk himself to help others, he is not careless with his life and safety (for instance he makes sure to destroy the proof of the Offering ritual before fleeing to make sure no one can figure out the fact that he is back from the dead).

WWX will not hesitate to fool people or pretend in order to help his goals. In this case, he is trying to help and fight without appearing like a powerful cultivator who can do modao, balancing self-preservation with the incentive to protect the people present. This is why he pushes LJY in front of LSZ at one point in the battle, instead of blocking it himself, while pretending to just be a lunatic doing lunatic things.

Inside of the Lan clan’s uniform jacket, there were compact stitchings of incantations using thin threads of the same color, included for protection. However, against strong ones like this, it could only be used once before it became invalid. During the emergency, he could only kick Lan Jingyi and use his body to protect Lan Sizhui’s neck.

This sequence also allows the reader to know more about modao and WWX’s skills, and how he can control corpses, as well as how WWX perceives his own abilities. 

TLDR:

The Mo Village arc, in conjunction with the prologue, competently sets up a lot of the moving pieces for the novel. It also leans heavily toward establishing a strong sense of characterisation for our MC and POV character, which is neat! 

NB: I think it’s also very telling that the next chapter after the Mo Mansion arc begins with us learning that WWX has been, in the past few days since his retreat, lorded over by a capricious donkey. WWX is clearly not someone who takes himself very seriously (often mocking himself):

The donkey ran over there and nothing could make it leave. Wei Wuxian hopped down and slapped its honoured buttocks. “You’re definitely destined for wealth, even harder to please than I am.” The donkey spat at him.

[stvpidinlove]

[ OLIVIA HOLT, SHE/HER, CIS WOMAN ]  —  [ REGAN MORGAN ]  is a child of  [ MORPHEUS ]  with the power of  [ PRECOGNITIVE DREAMING ] .  they were born in  [ 1995 ]  and have been in nemean lion since  [ 2019 ] .  with the change, they  [ ARE TRAINING IN ]  the  [ AMBASSADOR ]  role which makes sense since they’re usually  [ SCROLLING HER CURSED TIKTOK FYP & CONFUSING HER FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER ] .  if you’d like to meet them try the  [ MOON ]  building .

tl;dr she’s a deranged menace to society

BASICS

hometown: milford, pennsylvania

eye color: brown

hair color:  blonde

height: 5′3

sexuality: bisexual

birthday: january 19, 1995 ( capricorn )

BIO

regan’s mother was never the type to settle down. before meeting morpheus, her longest relationship had been three months. so when the guy seemed commitment-phobic, that was perfect for her. until, of course, she found out she was pregnant. she didn’t want to get married but she was at an age where the idea of motherhood...didn’t repulse her. so she wanted to keep the baby, at which point the father of her child didn’t get down on one knee, he started to explain the kinds of responsibilities she’d face as the mother of his child.

having the child of a god in her womb inflated her ego, which was pretty impressive considering how big it already was. see, regan’s mother was a southern belle without any of the class or manners. she’d breezed through the pageant circuit as a teen, winning a number of titles with minimal effort. her talent was essentially crying on demand and looking pretty while doing it. knowing she’d slept with a god, like an honest to...god felt sort of fitting. like, duh, who else would she have her first child with?

this also led to a brief but intense fixation with shakespeare, who name dropped gods like it was his job, which led to her choosing the name regan from king lear.

she moved to pennsylvania with regan when her daughter was only four years old, because some guy practically begged her to let him take care of her, and she had nowhere better to go. until, eventually, she did, thanks to the world of avon. her mother started selling out of boredom but then it turned out she was good at it, so good that she could easily buy a place once she got bored of her rich boyfriend, and move out with regan.

thankfully, her mother got out of the pyramid scheme before she got in too deep. she was hired by an actual, reputable cosmetics company and given a desk job to work in sales, which she was still a natural at. because she had a full time job now, regan spent a lot of time with nannies...and that’s nannies plural because regan was one of those kids who drove her caretakers to quit on a regular basis.

but not because she was a handful. she was pretty self-sufficient, actually, and totally well-behaved, she was just kind of...weird. she’d leave her room for dinner with all of her clothes suddenly on backwards and say nothing as if it was normal and act confused when her nanny asked about it. she’d stare at the tv when it was off, she’d spend one day only speaking in whispers, she’d write vaguely threatening messages on the mirror with her mother’s red lipstick.

all of this was because regan knew it was scary to adults, which made it fun for her. she wasn’t, like, actually disturbed. well, aside from the dreams she had sometimes. she’d have a dream about a baby bird falling from a nest, she’d watch its chest move for minutes before it died, then she’d wake up the next day and find a dead bird outside the sliding glass doors to the backyard.

for a while she thought they were coincidences. then she thought she was making things happen in her sleep, and that it was her job to stop bad things from happening, to save every baby bird that asked for help in her dreams. it took her a few years to accept that just because she sometimes saw the future didn’t mean she had any power to change it. she was warned so she could prepare herself, which only made her feel more powerless.

but being regan, she chose to cope with this aspect of her life with avoidance and humor. she doesn’t want to pick and choose what she worries about and what she doesn’t, so she decided a long time ago not to take anything seriously.

for reasons unknown, regan’s mother actually decided to have another child after regan. but she was unconventional, too, hence regan being...the way she is, so she never actually married the father of regan’s half-brother, but they have been together for the past 15 years, so.

her brother is eleven years younger than she is, so in regan’s mind, a baby. whenever left with the task of babysitting him while the two were growing up, it would be regan who suggested ice cream for breakfast and sock sliding around the living room at dangerous speeds.

RANDOM FACTS

i want to v*mit saying this but.....she’s kind of like........the female version of stevesuptic. except for she’s cute <3

her entire twitch account is kind of satirical, like it’s very hard to gauge what her actual personality is. i don’t think her viewers bully her the way they bully steve bc she would bully them back LMAO but they ask her a lot of random ass super weird sometimes borderline disturbing questions and she answers them like it’s normal

she def has weird/creepy drawings whenever playing gartic phone tho /:

ig you could say her channel is like shit posting but make it a streamer. she has a really nice set up and she always looks made up in her streams but then the content is her playing like a cat dating sim for four hours

she’s actually pretty shit at most games that require any level of skill and her following comes entirely from her personality and her Brand ig, she’s just entertaining to watch bc she says and does the most ??? things. like she’s not a gamer girl and doesn’t say she is she just has a twitch and plays games for the attention

also she has a cat named muffintop (best part of the muffin, not the offensive term for a woman’s stomach, though she will say that’s what it means if someone asks) who she regularly posts memes of and like most of her twitch emotes are her cat. you can find examples on her pinterest board lmao

i think it’s pretty hard to get an actual vision out of regan? she mostly keeps those to herself and just lies about her dreams. she’ll just be like, “yeah actually i had a dream you were gonna choke on some oatmeal so stay safe out there.” she’s also only partially sure when a dream is actually about the future.

her like <3 symbol that represents her is butterflies, she has a ton of butterfly shit

POSSIBLE CONNECTIONS

idk if i am requesting a roommate for once, idk if i wanna subject anyone to that

someone naive who believes her any time she says something is Going To Happen, no matter how stupid it is and no matter how many times things simply do not happen??

a bestie because...............................i just feel like she wormed her way into someone’s inner circle and they’re just stuck with her now

[rexcoatlarchive]

Come back to me

A very interesting idea I had, inspired by a horror game somewhat.

After the lostbelts were over with Mash went on to live a mostly normal life in Japan with her other senpais. She had lost her servant powers but was still a relatively skilled fighter. She kept contact with her oldest senpai Rex too. But recently for some reason no one had been able to contact him. No phone calls or texts or emails or anything.

Eventually Mash did receive a text, it was from his number but she could tell it wasn't his words.

Text: help your senpai... come to Mexico. Please. Come alone

Mash knew something was wrong so she decided to go see what happened.

When she arrived at Rex and Quetz's home , during a storm, it was a wreck. Windows shattered, roof partially missing. Something went wrong.

Mash, busting open the door: senpai! Are you in here?!

She didn't hear anything.

Mash: where are you? Senpai!

Eventually a voice was heard from another room

???: Mash?! What are you doing here?

Mash: senpai, I got a message from your phone.

Rex: what?! How the hell?

Eventually Rex came out to meet Mash. He was a wreck. His clothes torn, his face had a long unkempt beard. He looked like he gone crazy

Mash: senpai? What happened to you?

Rex: ...I lost her

Mash: Quetzalcoatl? What happened? How?

Rex: I-I rather not talk about it. I've been trying to get her back for so long now.

Mash: ...how? Without Chaldea or a grail you can't summon a servant so easily.

Rex: ...come with me, I'll show you.

They went upstairs to the attic, passing by a broken door. What Mash saw was a horrid sight. Skeletons all over the place. Pictures of the couple all over, tho most were damaged. And in the center was a bloody magic circle with an altar nearby and Rex's catalyst. Along with the dress Quetz wore on their wedding day.

Mash: ...senpai... what have you been doing?

Mash was horrified by what she saw. What happened to her senpai? Did losing the love of his life damage him so much? Could this also have come from the stress of having to protect the world from before?

Rex: I NEED her Mash. There's been foolish mages snooping about lately. No doubt because the bounded field went down after I lost her.

The former master talked like he was deranged but also in a very sad manner aswell. It was clear he had gone off the deep end.

Rex: mages are a very good source of mana. So I've been using them to slowly collect enough to get her back again.

Mash: senpai this isn't right! You can't do this just because she's gone. I'm sorry for your loss but you can't go around d killing people.

Rex: I don't care! I NEED her! She was my everything! My entire world! Now she's gone!

Rex: ...you know. I even contemplated ending me myself to maybe get back to her. The only reason I don't is because it would break her heart.

Mash: senpai what you're doing now would break her heart! You really think she wants to see you in this state?

Rex got a funny look in his eye, as if he just realized something. Something he shouldn't have.

Rex: ...y'know. You must have a decent amount of mana yourself.

Mash: ...what are you saying?

Rex: you were made to hold a servant, you had one in you for the longest time. You even became your own servant essentially later on. I'm sure the amount of mana you hold would be more then enough to finally help get her back.

Mash: senpai! Stop! You don't know what you're saying

Rex: I know exactly what I'm saying. Won't you help your sen-

But before he could finish, Mash knocked him down with the broken door from earlier. He was unconscious.

Mash: I'm sorry senpai. But you're not thinking straight.

Then out of nowhere she heard a sound from her phone

Mash: huh? *looking at her phone*

???: hello? Is this working?

Mash: BB?

BB: hello Mash. Long time no see.

Mash: what are you doing in my phone?

BB: I put myself in from Senpai's devices.

Mash: huh? You were with him?

BB: kind of, after everything ended I decided to follow him. Make his life easier while still being able to bully him a bit. He never knew it was me tho. I just pretended to be Siri or Alexa or whatever.

Mash: so you essentially reincared but as a simple ai?

BB: basically. But now I need your help to help our senpai.

Mash: did you send me that message?

BB: yup. It took forever since most devices have been damaged by lightning. For some reason it's been storming way more often lately.

Mash: what do you want me to do?

BB: first off, you need to put senpai away for the time being. He'll only make things more difficult.

After Mash tied him up she locked him into his room.

Mash: now what's the plan?

BB: what he intended to do but in a not so bloody fashion.

Mash: how exactly?

BB: I actually had something we could use hidden a bit away from the house.

Mash: really?!

BB: yeah, but thanks to same damage I couldn't tell senpai. And even now, he's so far gone I don't know how helpful he'll be to himself.

Mash: what do you have that can help?

BB: the last grail from our time at Chaldea.

Mash: seriously?! How the hell?

BB: it pays to think things ahead. I intended to use it to help get back to the mooncell when Senpai passed but this is an emergency.

Mash: what about when that does happen?

BB: we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Mash; why help anyways?

BB: silly Mash, the same reason you're helping. I care about Senpai. I just show it differently. But now's not the time for these things.

Eventually Mash was outside digging up the hidden grail. It was locked in a box with a code.

Mash: it's locked.

BB: to keep it safe from mages. If they got their hands on it who know what would happen.

Mash: what's the code?

BB: 1231

Mash, trying it out: got it! There's the grail.

BB: great! Now to get back to the circle

Then the earth shakes

Mash: what the hell?

???: MASH!!!!

Mash: senpai?!

Rex?: get back here! I still need your mana!

BB: oh no! I didn't think he'd go that far.

Mash: what do you mean?

BB: senpai never fully got rid of his pseudo-servant powers. He and Quetz just locked them away. But he unlocked them again ever since he lost her.

Mash: really?!

BB: yeah, it's how he's been killing the magi in the first place

Cipatli Rex: MASH!!!

Mash: we gotta get back before he finds us

BB: cut through the forest. It's thick enough he might not see you so easily.

Mash: ok!

Mash ran through the nearby forest in an attempt to get to the house without getting caught by the monster that was her senpai.

Cipatli Rex: get over here! Why won't you help me!?

Mash eventually made it to the house, it seemed the storm was raging even more all of a sudden.

Finally she made it to the attic, tho it seemed Rex figured out where she was.

Cipatli Rex: I'll get her back! No matter who I have to sacrifice!

BB: hurry! Start the ritual before he gets here!

Mash: on it!

Mash was ready to start the ritual, only for some bad luck to appear. Lightning struck and ended up destroying the catalyst and starting a small fire.

Mash: NO! The catalyst!

As she says this she stomps out the flames.

BB: now how do we summon her?!

Mash: there's still a chance she could come!

BB: but we could end up with someone else! Maybe even someone who would make things worse. We need another catalyst!

Mash: wait a minute! The wedding dress!

BB: oh yeah! That'll do it!

Mash: this probably has even stronger attachment to her then the feathe ever did.

Mash placed the dress at the center of the circle. Starting up the ritual. As the circle starts up Rex finally busts in

Cipatli Rex: there we are!! Wait, you started it up! How?

Mash: that's not important right now!

The summoning ritual starts up, the pillar of light forming, showing the rider class card.

Rex reverted back to his normal self. With the hope of finally seeing his wife again

The light subsided and there she was.

Quetz: mi amor? What happened to you?

Rex broke down, hugging her the tightest he possibly could.

Rex: you're here! You're finally here! It's been so painful without you!

Quetz: it's ok, everything's going to be ok.

Eventually, Rex was taken to therapy. His mental state was still shattered and he needed time to recover. But with Quetz back, he could start the path to recovery.

Rex: ...I did terrible things. I felt empty without her. I was so desperate to be with her again, no sacrifice was too much.

Kiara: hmmm, it seems that maybe losing her was the breaking point after having to endure the trauma you faced while saving the world.

Rex: you think so?

Kiara: she had always been your biggest comfort, so her loss must've been too much and without help you snapped. But don't worry, we'll work to get you in a better place.

A/N: so like I said at the beginning this was inspired partly by a horror game. This story is a kind of what if scenario, this isn't canon with the main events of the RexCoatl timelines. But it was still very interesting to explore.

Nonfunctional tags

@hasereshdoneanythingwrong @hasishtardoneanythingwrong @haspaulbunyandoneanythingwrong @hasspartacusdoneanythingwrong @hasabbydoneanythingwrong @hasastolfodoneanythingwrong @castlecsejtespeakertechnician @panyum @grievouslyxorvia @valiantstrawberrymilk @hassanofthefrostedmuffins @exmeowstic

[feeling-uncomfy]

The final part of Mafia AU! Let's hope our bird boy gets out of this alive ;)

Fair warning, there is blood, fighting, torture (also referenced) and panic attacks mentioned in this part, so be cautious!

Hope you enjoy!

He lost him.

He lost his little brother– he was gonna kill someone. Hawks sat up and stared after them with wide eyes. Endeavor came by his side and said something to him. Hawks didnt care. "...where the hell is Dabi?" He looked up at Endeavor, who looked around the room. "....He's not here."

Hawks called it. He knew this was coming– "Fucking asshole!" He screamed and stood up. Where was this adrenaline two minutes ago?! "Fucking bitch! I'll kill him– I'm gonna murder him—" Endeavor put a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down–"

Hawks slapped his hand away. "Calm down?! You want me to calm down?" Endeavor didn't understand, this was his little brother at stake—

Fumikage-

All at once his anger left him, being replaced with a dark question. What were they going to do to him? Why did they want him-? Were they going to kill him?

What if they did? Hawks froze at the thought. If they did- what then? His little brother- his reason to live wouldn't be there anymore- what would he do? He couldn't protect him- he couldn't keep him safe and—

"Hawks." Endeavor was back, his hand on Hawks's shoulder. Hawks turned to him and glared. Endeavor didn't pause. "Hawks we have to go. This place isn't safe." Hawks hated that he agreed and left with him, thinking of only one thing.

He was going to kill Shigaraki, and every last one of the assholes that took his brother.

When Tokoyami came to, he was alone.

His vision was swimming and he couldn't lift his head up. What was *in* that stuff? He managed to sit himself up and he heard it. A scream.

He tensed. Who was that-? What was happening to them? Was he next-? The door opened and the screams bounced off the walls, making Tokoyami cringe. He glared at the person at the door, willing them to just leave him alone. Unfortunately, they didn't get the message and walked in. Grabbing him roughly by the arm, Tokoyami was dragged out and brought him down the hall.

Tokoyami was shoved into a room, and he tried to take in the details. Damn his blurry vision. He was sat down on a chair and he vaguely remembered what Hawks had said about this, and he strained his arms against the restraints as best he could while he was strapped in.

Tokoyami felt a hand grab his chin and his head was lifted up, and he was met face-to-face with someone... kinda crusty. Tokoyami glared up at them, not wanting to seem weak. The man just laughed and said something to the man tieing him down. They nodded and walked away to another table.

The man was speaking to him, but Tokoyami couldn't make it out, his ears just didn't want to cooperate. So in a blind panic, he blurted out: "If it's information you want, you won't get it from me." and he immediately regretted it, judging by the reaction of the adult above him.

The man laughed and turned to his companion, and Tokoyami's ears *finally* decided to work, and he heard a drill starting up. He froze, what the fuck had he gotten himself into-?

"If you had cooperated, we wouldn't have to do this." The stranger stood over him, and Tokoyami shivered. It was like his eyes stared into his soul- wait...

Tokoyami knew this man- he was... Shigaraki? Yeah- that was it, Hawks had told him about this man. The words he used specifically were "Deranged madman" aand said to avoid him at all costs. Well- guess that was off the table.

Shigaraki addressed him again. "So, you gonna give me what I want?" Tokoyami looked up at the man, and then to the drill by his arm, twirling at an inhuman speed and shook his head. "I won't do it." Tokoyami spat at him. He refused to tell this sphyco anything. Shigaraki clicked his tongue and turned away. "Fine then. Have it your way."

The drill dug into his arm, and Tokoyami screamed. Shigaraki just leaned on the door frame and laughed as the screams grew progressively louder. Tokoyami didn't know how long that drill was stuck in his arm, but he didn't care- he wanted it out and Shigaraki didn't seem to care. Shigaraki's companion drilled nails into Tokoyami's arm like he was a board of wood.

This continued for hours and Shigaraki had finally grew bored. "That's enough. For now anyways." He sighed and walked off, leaving Tokoyami alone with the crazy bastard. Tokoyami was dragged back to his room, tired and in pain.

He was dumped on the ground and the door slammed shut, leaving him alone in the dark. Tokoyami grabbed his bleeding arm and dragged himself over to the bed he woke up on and flopped onto it, wanting nothing more than to sleep. But his brain kicked into overdrive and thought of every bad outcome. Which unfortunately- there were a lot of.

Tokoyami didn't sleep well for the next few days. In fact, he lost track after day three when his counting was interrupted when he was given a roommate. Todoroki was thrown in, unconscious and clearly beaten up. Tokoyami panic levels went above and beyond. The normal anxiety attack was nothing compared to the panic attack he had that night.

Todoroki was awake and seemed fine, but Tokoyami couldn't relax. Not here. Todoroki found himself angry at nothing, which didn't help. They were a mess- trying to keep each other calm while trying not to freak out themselves.

When Dabi showed up- it was a train wreak. He walked in slowly, cautiously. Todoroki noticed him first and stood in front of Tokoyami and crossed his arms. Tokoyami noticed next and panicked slightly. Why was he here-? They weren't supposed to go through that for another hour–

Dabi tried to speak. "Hey- m'not here to-" Todoroki interrupted. "Get out. No one wants to see you right now." Todoroki was not in the mood to talk to someone who sold them out. Dabi faltered. "I know- but listen–" Todoroki cut in. "No! Get out!"

Tokoyami watched them dissolve into yelling and panicked more. They're voices started fading out and he stepped back. Dabi noticed. "Birdie-? You good?" Todoroki glared daggers at him. "Don't talk to him." Todoroki turned to Tokoyami. "Toko-?"

Tokoyami's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed to the ground. He didn't even hear Todoroki's question as he dropped. Todoroki caught him, and layed him down. "Tokoyami-?! Tokoyami wake up!" Dabi ran forward and moved Todoroki out of the way.

Todoroki glared and tried to push him away. Dabi didnt budge and looked down at Tokoyami. "...kid-? Tokoyami." He shook him slightly. Nothing. "Come on birdie don't drop yet..." Dabi muttered and shook him again. Todoroki looked at the door and gasped quietly.

Dabi froze. He turned slowly to see—

"Hawks!" Todoroki stood shakily and walked over. Hawks wasn't paying attention to him, his attention was on his little brother unconscious on the floor. "Move." Hawks said, sounding perfectly calm. Dabi tensed and stepped back, away from Tokoyami, who stayed limp.

Hawks kept a gun trained on Dabi and kneels down by Tokoyami. "Fumikage...?" Hawks shook him gently, only to get no reaction. He turned to Dabi. "What did you do to him?" Dabi backed away. "No- no I didn't do anything—" Hawks glared more. Todoroki looked between them and then down the hall, and had to dodge a bullet. "They know we're out-!"

Hawks cursed. "Alright." Hawks picked Tokoyami up gently and put the gun against Dabi's head. "Lead us out fucker or I'll blow your head off." Dabi nodded and started walking. Todoroki followed close behind, amazed that Hawks was taking this so seriously. Hawks kept a relentless pace, and moved his gun only to shoot people who get too close.

So at least twenty people.

They got upstairs, where most if not all the actual fighting was happening and it went to hell. Dabi was shoved aside and Hawks was tackled to the ground, sending Tokoyami into Todoroki. Tokoyami groaned and opened his eyes, waking up to blinding lights, yelling, and pain.

He was picked up effortlessly and carried off before he could even think about where the hell he was. Tokoyami squirmed and struggled as he was brought up a flight of stairs. The door to the roof was opened and the rain poured down. Shigaraki stood proud and grinned at him. Tokoyami struggled more and tried not panic.

The rain hammered down mercilessly as Shigaraki's face dropped. Hawks shoved the stranger over and Tokoyami was sent straight into Shigaraki and they fell down, next to a helicopter. Hawks and the stranger fought and Tokoyami was grabbed. He spotted a gun by his feet and for once, his head was empty. No extra thoughts to distract him.

He turned and shoves Shigaraki back with as much force as he can, but he's already fading out again. He lands hard and wheezes slightly, grabbing the gun next to him, and took aim. He froze when he saw Shigaraki stood over him, reaching out. He stared up and in his blind panic, all he could think of was "I'm not ready to kill this man" he was distracted. Again.

But when the hand grabbed his shoulder, he was startled out if his spiral and shot once. Blood splattered over Tokoyami's face, and Shigaraki gasped quietly before going still. He stared wide-eyed at Tokoyami, who stared back with a similar expression.

Hawks had the guy on the ground when a gunshot made him jump. "Fumi–!" Hawks turned and froze. Shigaraki had been shot through the head, dead centre. He dropped down on top of Tokoyami, who stared up, completely frozen. Shigaraki's head was resting just above Tokoyami's shoulder.

Shigaraki didn't even twitch. Hawks ran over and shoves the body off of Tokoyami. "Fumi-! Oh thank god- are you–?" Hawks got a good look at his brother's face. Tokoyami was staring blankly at his hands. Hawks understood immediately, and took the gun from him. "Fumi- it's-...." how could he explain this?

Tokoyami couldn't get it out of his mind, he just killed that man. He was a murderer- what was gonna happen-? Now what? He killed–

"...kage? Fumi you still there-?" Tokoyami jumped and looked at Hawks. Wait- Hawks? When did he get here? "...Keigo..?" Tokoyami looked up to see his brother standing over him. He nodded and smiles softly at him. He was here- he was here, which meant—

"Let's go home buddy- okay?" Hawks picked Tokoyami up again and walked away from the two bodies. Tokoyami could only nod and cling to him, blood sticking and drying uncomfortably on his face.

Later on, back at the apartment not even Endeavor knew about, Tokoyami was desperately trying to scrub the blood off of his hands while Hawks showered first. It wasn't coming off- it kept coming back and there was more now- why wouldn't it go away—

"Fumikage- Fumikage stop-" hands came and took his, and Tokoyami flinched harshly. Hawks gently turned him away from the boiling water he was using and made him look at him. "That blood isn't his, it's yours." Tokoyami paused and looked down at his hands, and saw that Hawks was right. His hands were bleeding.

Why were his hands bleeding? He was just washing them, right? Tokoyami stared at his hands and tried to figure out when this happened while Hawks cleaned the blood off gently. "Take a shower okay?" Hawks gently pat his head and Tokoyami nodded.

Tokoyami took his time in the shower this time around. He washed a good few days- maybe more than a weeks worth of being in that room down the drain. He wore something comfortable- well it was one of Hawks's hoodies so it was large on him and Tokoyami found it comfortable.

Tokoyami walked out and sat on the couch, feeling comfortable for the first time in almost two weeks. Hawks sat next to him and hugged him, holding him as close as he possible could. Tokoyami didn't mind, curling up and yawning.

Hawks had made sure all the doors and windows had been locked before sitting down, so he was happy to let his brother sleep on him. Tokoyami drifted off, and Hawks sighed softly and finally relaxed.

Who cares if they didn't leave the apartment for three days after that? Hawks definitely didn't, they had more than enough food for that, and besides, Tokoyami's comfort was his top priority, so if he didn't want to leave, they didn't. Hawks spent his time making Tokoyami as happy and as safe as he could, and Tokoyami let his older brother take care of him.

Things were finally 'normal' again.

The boy lives! With a lot of trauma but hey we're all like that-

Again- I'm so sorry that this took so long to write- I'll try not to disappoint you again!

[travllingbunny]

The 100: 7x02 The Garden

I love this episode. Mostly for the beautiful and emotionally complex Octavia-centric flashback story, for all the exciting revelations about the nature of the Anomaly and time dilation and the overall story of this season (all the exposition was done in a surprisingly natural way and never bothered me), and the way the two timelines were interwoven. It says a lot that I wasn’t even bothered by the lack of Clarke or Bellamy  - or the fact that this episode featured only 6 characters (plus some extras in suits), one of which was a deranged minor character we’ve never seen before. Episodes focused on a small number of characters and plots often feel more coherent. 

Comparisons between The Garden and Eden are obvious, the two even have basically the same title, and many similarities and contrasts, so I rewatched Eden yesterday, and I’ll be writing a post about that episode soon, too. I rewatched the entire show just before season 7 started, but season 5 is the only one I’ve never written reviews of, so this seems like the right occasion. it will also be interesting to rewatch Red Queen after this.

One of the things that I noticed rewatching season 5 is how well the cinematography has been used in seasons 5, 6 and 7 and how it differentiates different worlds. The ruined Earth in season 5 was mostly in sepia, yellow and grey tones, looking like a gloomy desert - except for Eden, which had normal colors. Sanctum has bright colors - it’s beautiful, but a little too colorful, almost psychedelic, dangerous. Skyring in this episode mostly seen in soft light and blueish-green colors - a peaceful paradise. 

Or is that a prison? A solitary/house arrest? I love this duality - it can be both. The most beautiful place can be a prison that drives you insane, if you’re all alone.

One garden, two serpents

Isolation is a theme we’ve seen on The 100 with many characters: Clarke was in a solitary for a year, distracting herself with drawings, then alone roaming around for 3 months, then forced to spend 6 years on a deserted planet, but she was only completely alone for the first 2 months, when she was fighting with nature and lack of food and water as much as with loneliness, and she was talking to Bellamy every day - who couldn’t even hear her - and hoping to see him again. Murphy was alone for 3 months in a fully stacked bunker on Becca’s island, but comfort is no help when you’re all alone, only have one and the same videos to watch and music to listen to, and you don’t know if you’re getting out. Octavia was the Girl Under the Floor for 16 years, and she had her mother and brother, but no one else; then she was locked up for a year; and after all the fighting, including the 6 years in the bunker with 1200 people she ruled over (which was maybe the time when she was more lonely than ever!), she ended up spending 10 years of her life on a planet with a family of two people - again - and no one else, and - just as when she was a child - with little hope that she will ever have a chance to meet anyone else. And here we see the effects of a  prolonged isolation from everyone else, with poor Orlando (that’s what he’s called in the end credits), the prisoner who dug out dead bodies and used a creepy doll just to have an illusion of friends. 

Unlike Clarke in 5x01, Octavia did not have to struggle with loneliness or fight to survive, but the paradise in which she had accidentally ended up in was also a prison of sorts, since she could not get out of it and was likely to spend all her life there, without ever seeing her brother or any other people, except for Diyoza and Hope. Like Clarke, Octavia found a family, and a child to take care of, but unlike Clarke, Octavia did not become a little girl’s adoptive or substitute mother.

The title evokes Diyoza’s line from 5x13: “One garden, two serpents. Eden never stood a chance.” Instead, they got to have their paradise here, until Octavia’s attempt to send her brother a message brought the Disciples from Bardo there to capture them. I’m not sure if that was a bad or a good thing - since that was probably their only way out of Skyring. 

(There’s also a literal garden in the episode, and  this was the first time we saw Octavia farm the land since 4x09, when she learned how to do it on Ilian’s farm. That was the last time Octavia tried to escape her darkness by having an idyllic farm life and a relationship, at least for a few days before the end of the world comes, but her past came back in the form of those people who recognized and attacked her - and she realized she wasn’t cut out for peace and rode into Polis looking for a war. She wasn’t ready at the time to give up violence. In season 5, she insisted that “Farmers won’t save the world, warriors will” - which Monty proved wrong. And now, Octavia has become a farmer.)

But Octavia’s paradise was forced on her, and it was clear that she and Diyoza didn’t really feel the same about living the rest of their lives on Skyring. The difference is, Diyoza doesn’t have anyone else in the world she cares about - everyone she once cared about has been dead for centuries. and she has given up on trying to change the world. She obviously wanted to do it once, when she was fighting “the fascist government who tried to take my home” and blowing up buildings, but she’s now tired of the violence, after being a terrorist/rebel, then a prisoner of a big corporation, again a rebel fighting against that corporation to save prisoners from being left to die just because they were deemed expendable, then she led another war - which ended with her baby-daddy destroying the Earth, and now she’s tired of the violence and wants to have a different life in peace with her daughter, who she didn’t even want to teach fighting of any kind. She’s also content to live without ever reuniting with the rest of the human race. Maybe partly because she was quite hurt to learn that she was supposedly in history books as one of the worst people ever. (Which she really shouldn’t have taken seriously - since it was Russell who said it, so these “history books” can only be Sanctum history books, written by Russell or his family members or other Primes. They left Earth around the time when Diyoza was just arrested, so it’s unlikely they even knew what history books said about her in the next few years - and even if those history books said so, they would be history books written under the same government Diyoza was fighting against.)

Octavia, on the other hand, still has other people she cares about in the world, most of all her brother. Not only did she leave a time when she knew Bellamy and others are likely to be in danger from the Primes - and she had no way of knowing they had learned the truth about the Primes by themselves - but they parted on bad terms and with unresolved issues and with no catharsis, and Bellamy would probably be left thinking she really died when he left her on Alpha - instead of learning that she did resolve her issues and find peace.  She didn’t know that her attempts to get back the way she came, through the lake, would never work - if she had succeeded, she would have probably ended up on Bardo instead. Ironically, only when she made peace with the fact she couldn’t go back and sent a letter in a bottle, it ended up alerting the Disciples - but it all eventually resulted in Octavia ending up back on Sanctum in the same place she left (whether she escaped and came back from Bardo or through some other planet?), and got the chance to tell Bellamy in person that she understands him now. 

There’s some ambiguity about Octavia’s relationships with Diyoza and Hope - at times it seems that Octavia is Hope’s co-parent: she lives with them and is closely involved in raising Hope, after all - not exactly like an aunt who just occasionally visits and plays with the kid. All three of them are shown as a close family unit. However, Octavia does not see herself as Hope’s mother - nor does Hope see her that way. She is “Aunty O”. Hope has a mother, and not an absent or inattentive one, but someone like Diyoza, fully focused on raising her daughter. Octavia and Diyoza may be seen as sisters - with “Aunty O” and Octavia telling Bellamy in the letter that she loves her like she loves him even though she’s a ‘pain in the ass’. Or they could look like “an old married couple”, as Diyoza called them back in season 6 when they were finishing each other sentences.

(But if we’re supposed to think that Octavia’s and Diyoza’s close relationship never got sexual in any way, in spite of the fact they lived together for 10 years without any other adults around and with almost no hope they would ever see another adult, then I guess one or both of them is really extremely heterosexual, real 0 on Kinsey’s scale. If we’re supposed to think that. Technically, we don’t know for sure.)

Anyway, this ambiguity of whether Octavia was a co-parent to Hope or not has caused some debate on Twitter about what degree of responsibility Octavia exactly had towards Hope and whether she was allowed to leave her. But even if Octavia is seen as a co-parent, I don’t subscribe to the idea that every adult, especially a woman, who comes into the situation of taking care of a child must immediately forget about all other relationships, concerns and desire and subjugate their entire life to taking care of that child. Especially when it also means that the child will be isolated from the world at large. I didn’t think it was healthy when Bellamy’s whole life revolved around protecting Octavia, either, or when Clarke, after escaping Polis in season 5, thought for a moment that her and Madi living all alone, as they did during those 6 years, would be an OK future for either of them.

Octavia may not have thought the whole time dilation through (yes, it’s quite likely Hope would be old or die before she returned from Sanctum with the other people, since she’d need time to find Bellamy and others, explain things to them and back them go back, but she still had hope (no pun intended) that both she and Hope could have more of life than and was still fighting to make contact with her people on the other side. Diyoza may have been right about the time dilation, but how did she imagine Hope’s life was going to be in the future? Yes, if Octavia left, Hope would end up alone after Diyoza died. But if Octavia stayed, Hope would still be left all alone after Diyoza and Octavia died, and never got a chance to meet anyone else, have any other kind of life, be a part of the human race.

One may argue Diyoza was being selfish, trying to keep Octavia there, and she certainly did take away Octavia’s choice and forced her to stay. Though, in her defense, she thought she was saving her life - but it was still was one of those “I’m making choices for you because I know what’s best for you”. And it wasn’t her whole motivation - it was mostly about wanting to keep Octavia there as a part of their family unit. Octavia called her out on the fact that it wasn’t all about Hope, it was about their relationship, too. Which certainly seemed emotionally intense, with Diyoza being hurt and sort of jealous at the thought that Octavia would leave her and Hope and that she may love her less than she loves her brother. 

The episode played a lot with the parallels between Octavia and Bellamy, with O using what she had learned from Bellamy to take care of young Hope the same way. And the parallel between Octavia and Hope as “Girls Under the Floor” were even more obvious, even before Hope literally had to go under the floor to hide from the Disciples. That would put Diyoza in Aurora’s role and Octavia in Bellamy’s. It’s not a perfect parallel, as Bellamy didn’t  have any other strong attachments to anyone or any other family while Aurora was alive. But, while Aurora seemed to have no other vision for the future except focusing fully on hiding Octavia, Bellamy tried to give his sister an opportunity to meet other people and live a life - by taking her to the dance - and Octavia was similarly the one who wished to bring other people to Skyring and was giving Hope the hope (!) she would meet them.   

The Three Stooges and the Anomaly

(Thanks @jeanie205​ for that moniker LOL) The one thing that brings down this episode (I’m taking away half the point from it) is the very unlikely degree of plot-induced incompetence that the trio of Hope, Echo and Gabriel displayed throughout this episode - so they could get stuck on Skyring, maybe for 5 years:

Hope knew the bridge was under the lake - she should have known the note could get washed up!

How come Hope didn’t know there was more than one door to the cabin? Or if Orlando built the other door, or someone else who was there while she was away, how come none of the trio noticed that other door?

Even the windows looked big enough for someone to come in. Why didn’t at least one of them stand guard in the cabin? Or at least somewhere close where they could see what’s happening in the cabin? Why were they both sitting somewhere outside? They weren’t even close to the door. Did they think Orlando could only come into the cabin from one direction?

Why didn’t Gabriel take the memory viewer with him when he ran out? Come on, dude, that’s one of the most important things you have there, and you know there is a deranged guy outside, and you just leave it there?

Still, I enjoyed this part of the story, too, especially with all the new info we got - which got me speculating the whole week - see my theories  here.

Gabriel is so adorable as an old man scientist in a young body and even the fact he is more interested in the Anomaly than in any living human is kind of endearing. We also got a glimpse of the nerdy young doctor who was once crushing on Becca before going to the mission and meeting Josephine.

Echo is finally starting to justify her main character billing this season, getting an actual storyline rather than tagging along around Bellamy, and she is already a much more enjoyable character. She hasn’t actually changed much yet - but she’s now put in the position as an audience surrogate, wondering what the heck is going and asking question like “Where is Bellamy?” while Hope and Gabriel spout exposition (they do it so well though that you don’t even mind it).  It helps a lot that she’s not around any of the Spacekru, so we don’t have to deal with the forced “we’re all close family due to the 6 years off-screen, which we spent in utter boredom and without any actual dangers we’d have to deal with” dynamic. Instead, now a character she’s interacting with (Hope) and Echo’s own hallucinations are constantly calling her out on her past actions, which helps fix the issue that season 5 created - the impression that Echo is the one character who doesn’t have to deal with the consequences of her past actions, with her past being simply waved away with “they spent 6 years with her and she’s now one of the good guys” (Although, while I like Hope calling Echo out, Hope got it wrong - Echo didn’t kick Octavia over the cliff after stabbing her, Octavia tripped and fell. But that’s not the first time in the show the writers Octavia has misremembered an event.)

This will be the second time Echo is stuck somewhere in a peaceful place with just a few people for 6 5 years. How much of this will be off-screen? It certainly helps that we’ve already seen her interact with Hope and Gabriel in two episodes, and the dynamic between Hope and Echo is developing, with Echo starting to comfort Hope when Hope showed vulnerability behind her fast-talking snarky exterior. 

Echo still doesn’t seem ready to “face her demons”, since her reaction to her own hallucination telling her she’s still just a killer and asking her who she is if she doesn’t have someone (Bellamy) to follow, was to ignore it and try to kill people and now swear she’ll kill everyone she needs to in order to get to Bellamy. But I assume this is just the beginning of her long overdue character development.

Was there significance to Echo plucking the flower and then looking at the sky? Was it simply her starting to appreciate the beauty of the planet? t It reminds me of how Clarke was  touching the flowers in Eden in 5x01.

Other observations:

Technically, I guess this episode was really Hope-centric, since she was the only character in both timelines. 

I’m not sure what exactly the scientific explanation is for Octavia’s arm healing the moment she got to Skyring. How does the whole temporal flare thing work? 

"What is it about Bellamy that makes otherwise sensible women willing to die for him?” - I see what they did there. I bet this is a hint about what the focus of a lot of this season is. Hope meant Echo and Octavia, but we know that Clarke’s storyline will also soon become about looking for Bellamy “her missing people”, “her family”, “people she loves”. On the other hand, I’m not sure how much it makes sense for Hope to ask that - she must have heard Octavia’s stories about Bellamy, so she’d know what it is about him that’s so special - his devotion to those he loves and how ready he is to do anything for them. But maybe Hope felt some of that same jealousy Diyoza did, or her mom’s jealousy rubbed off on her, because Octavia kept trying to get back to her brother.

It’s interesting that Octavia named “Bellamy, Clarke and Madi” as the main people she wanted to bring here. She didn’t mention Raven or Miller (as she would if she was talking about the Delinquents as a family going back to season 1, or even her mentor Indra, or friend Niylah. Just Bellamy and Clarke and Madi - as a part of her family she wants to bring. There’s no reason why she’d see Madi as her family but not Indra, so this definitely seems like Clarke and Madi are seen as Bellamy’s family and a package deal in Octavia’s eyes. (And that’s before she even witnessed what happened in 6x10.) Not that surprising considering Octavia’s “another traitor who you love” comment from 5x08 and her dislike of Echo. Ironically, almost killed all three of them as Blodreina, which is maybe also a sign of how much she’s disconnecting from that role - even though she hasn’t gone through her 6x09 Face Your Demons hallucination yet.

It turns out Octavia was older than Bellamy in 6x09-6x13. The green box was probably her peaceful life on Skyring that she did not remember. But the red box was the unfinished business with her past. It seems that she was changed psychologically by her time on Skyring even without remembering it.

Hope is now the third child raised on stories about the Delinquents. Little Hope liked Murphy, just like Jordan did  during his “rebellious phase”. Madi, however, was an Octavia fan.

I guess Orlando saw Hope’s name written on the door, since it doesn’t seem they ever met before. But where did the creepy doll come from? 

If prisoners all end up insane as he did - and they probably do, after such long periods of complete isolation - that’s a really messed up way of making people into “true believers”, by breaking them completely. A solitary confinement that’s years long? Cruel.

The Bardo symbol (Phoenix) was seen in the bucket and bottle Octavia was using, which proves that the Bardo people had already been on the planet before Octavia and Diyoza ended up on it.

If Orlando had no one else to dig out, I guess they always make sure to bring the prisoners back after they’ve served their sentence. But they probably killed Dev.  I hope we get the story about Dev and Hope in flashbacks. Seeing what his facial expression was at the time of death, that guy certainly didn’t die a natural death.

The Becca cameo was cool, and this was a whole new face of Becca, kind of cheeky and funny. But her comment that time dilation is “sexy as hell”... um, OK, Yeah, how lucky you get to “get to the future faster” and possibly die before getting a chance to ever reunite with anyone else you know? To be fair, she did not expect all the others in the mission to die and leave poor Colin on his own.

Gabriel “had to be sure she (Josephine) was really gone”. But maybe a part of him deep inside hoped she wasn’t..

So the Anomaly was already there when Colin Benson crashed on the planet. Hmm... that seems to go against my theory that the Anomaly Stones were made by humans at some point during the previous 230 years, but I’m still not giving up on it. Eligius 3 must have travelled longer to Skyring, if it is so far away from Earth and Sanctum,  I don’t think that “Beta” meant that Skyring was the second stop of Eligius 3 - maybe the planets were graded by how good conditions they had for human life. Which would put Sanctum and Skyring at the top, but Sanctum was closer. And with all sorts of time shenanigans going around, maybe there’s some way that the Anomaly Stones could have been placed there by humans. I just can’t believe that it was really some alien race millions of years ago, especially with the Anomaly symbols looking like Greek letters, many of those used in physics or math,  the gender symbols, and the infinity symbol is there, too. 

This was one of the rare episodes of The 100 where no one died. Though we did learn about some people’s past deaths.

Rating: 9/10

[flightfoot]

Commodury

So this sprang from a conversation I’ve been having with @naehja about some possibilities for the Hermes-is-captured theory. Hope you like this take on it! I dunno whether I’ll continue it or not. Depends on whether I have ideas.

___________________________________________________________

We were cornered. Again.

I was getting REALLY tired of this. 

Seriously, I know Commodus hates me and is bent on destroying me in the most excruciating way possible, but does he HAVE to do the stadium thing again? 

At least this time it’s not just me and Meg.

Reyna and Hazel stood ready, glaring at Commodus. 

Meg looked vaguely bored, as unafraid as ever.

I raised my bow, attempting not to let it shake too much.

I wasn’t sure how much help I’d be - I’d practiced a lot at Camp Jupiter, but I doubted my archery skill would ever be up to my godly standards, no matter how much I tried - but at least I could contribute SOMETHING.

Commodus merely smirked. It seemed that my little stunt back in Indianapolis hadn’t managed to blind him - not completely. Though I DID notice that the stadium this time was a LOT brighter than the one he’d used before.

“You going to fight yourself, Commodus?” I yelled up at him. “Or are you going to hide behind your minions?”

He smiled wider.

My blood ran cold.

Commodus HATED being taunted, being thought of as weak. For him to not only NOT take the bait, but to seem to enjoy it, to have been waiting for it...

“Oh no, I’m not going to fight you personally this time,” he purred. It sent shivers down my spine. I remembered how he used to talk to me in that tone of voice, how he used to whisper sweet nothings into my ears. Hearing him use it now, in these circumstances, was infinitely scary than his loudest, most deranged screaming.

“Oh Commodury~ be a dear and kill these four. As painfully as possible.”

Commodury? I felt sorry for whatever creature he’d named that... that monstrosity. 

Almost, except for the fact that whatever it was would be trying to kill us in a few moments. 

I tensed. I could handle this. I COULD. Whatever Commodus pitted at us, it couldn’t be worse than what I’d faced so far... right?

A person flew in.

But not a human.

Nor a demigod.

No, this person was nearly twenty feet tall.

He exuded an aura of power - one I knew well.

My bow clattered to the floor.

I barely noticed.

“Mercury...?” 

Commodus laughed, an ugly, raucous noise that tore at my ears.

“Oh no. Not anymore. He’s MINE now. He won’t respond to that name anymore. He is - and as far as he knows - as far as he’s aware of ANYTHING - he always was, and always will be, nothing but Commodury. Isn’t that right, dear?”

He directed that last comment at Mercury.

“That is correct, Master,” my little brother replied tonelessly.

I searched his eyes, looking for any hint of recognition, of his trademark mischief. Surely... surely at any moment his mouth would twist into a smirk. He’d turn to Commodus and blast him, taunting him for thinking he could contain a god. He’d laugh at how he’d actually believed that the God of Trickery could REALLY be controlled so easily.

But as I watched him, I grew more and more convinced that this was no trick. 

My little brother was Commodus’s slave.

No... it was worse than that.

At least slaves had freedom of thought.

I wasn’t sure whether my little brother was even still conscious.

Could he even be CALLED my little brother, with everything that made him... well, HIM, stripped from him?

No, no, I COULDN’T think like that. I WOULD save him. I had to.

I’d failed one brother. I wouldn’t fail another.

“How perfect,” Commodus hissed. “Do you know what it feels like to be killed by someone you loved? To be killed by someone you thought would never harm you. Do you know how it FEELS?!”

He screamed the last sentence, veins bulging as his composure finally broke.

He sat back, panting. He plastered a grin back on his face. “Oh, and if he ever DOES manage to get free, he’ll have to live with the knowledge that he killed you himself. And YOU’LL... well I guess you won’t really be around anymore, now will you?”

I just continued staring at Mercury. Or... what was left of him, at least.

Names have power. That’s especially true for a god.

For him to respond to Commodury, but not to Mercury...

Bile rose up in my throat. 

Commodus wasn’t just calling him ‘Commodury’ to get a rise out of me. 

He had CLAIMED him. Branded him. Stripped my brother of his own identity and substituted it with his own. 

Even his ESSENCE would have to be under his control...

Wait.

His essence was under Commodus’s control.

My brother was the god of Communication. He kept everything running smoothly.

But he could also BLOCK communications.

Emails, phone calls, texts, Iris messages, none of them had been able to get through between people on the Greco-roman demigod side for MONTHS.

But the Emperors and their forces could communicate perfectly well.

“So that’s why...” I murmured, my eyes wide.

My little brother had been captive for MONTHS, going through whatever the Emperors had used to do... THIS to him.

And I hadn’t known. I hadn’t had a clue.

Of COURSE my brother would never let communications be disrupted like this under normal circumstances. Of COURSE not.

But I hadn’t figured it out. I’d been so caught up in my own misery, I hadn’t thought for a second that one of my divine siblings could be going through something worse.

GOD I was an idiot.

Commodus frowned. “Commodury. Kill them. NOW.”

I jolted. He’d ordered my brother (I REFUSED to refer to him as Commodury) to kill us nearly a full minute ago.

Yet he hadn’t moved.

Maybe there was some hope after all.

But for now, I needed to RUN.

Because while he hadn’t moved before, he was certainly moving now.

Though not as fast as I knew he could...

“Meg! Try to slow him down!” Reyna ordered. “Hazel, try to misdirect him! Apollo...”

She looked over at me. I’d foregone my bow and taken out my ukulele instead.

She seemed a little puzzled, but didn’t waste time trying to figure out what I was doing.

Reyna parried Hermes’s sword strikes, buying the rest of us time. I only prayed that this didn’t turn out like the last time a demigod had tried to buy time so we could get away.

I strummed my ukulele and started to sing.

I sang of the mischievous Hermes, how he’d snuck out within hours of being born to steal cattle. How he’d defied authority and broken the rules.

His attacks faltered slightly as I saw a faint glimmer of awareness appear in his eyes. 

“YOU USELESS IDIOT! YOU INCOMPETENT EXCUSE FOR A GOD! KILL THEM!” Commodus screamed. It had no effect.

I sang of Hermes’s cleverness, of him having my cattle walk BACKWARDS to lead me astray. I sang of his inventiveness when he found a tortoise, hollowed out the shell and stretched cow sinew across it, making the first lyre. I sang of our friendship, as he exchanged his lyre for my caduceus.

My brother’s attacks stopped. Commodus continued screaming but none of us cared.

“Apollo...?” he whispered. “You’re here...”

“Mercury! Hermes!” I shouted.

He stared at me a moment. 

Commodus snarled. 

“YOU. ARE. MINE.”

My brother doubled over, clutching his head.

I started running towards him. Reyna caught my arm.

“Leave...” my brother forced out. “Leave... please. I... can’t.... hold him off... much longer....”

“Brother...” 

“GO!” he screamed.

Reyna pulled on my arm, tugging me to the stadium wall.

A wall of trees exploded from the ground, destroying the wall.

Meg had used her time well.

I glanced back at my brother. His headache seemed to be gone. Normally I’d be happy he wasn’t in pain anymore, but with how his expression had gone blank... well, he wasn’t really my brother right now.

“Won’t he just follow us?” I asked Reyna. He might not be up to full speed right now, but Mercury was still QUITE fast.

She smirked. “Oh, sure. But which ‘us’?”

I glanced around. Dozens of groups of myself, Meg, Reyna, and Hazel ran off in different directions.

I whistled. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think Hazel was Hecate’s daughter, instead of just one of her practitioners.”

Reyna smiled. “She’s been practicing.”

We met up with the real Meg and Hazel moments later, all of us running as fast as our legs could take us.

After a few minutes we managed to get back to the car. I hopped into the driver’s seat and floored it, heading back to camp as quickly as I could take us, relying on Hazel’s mist abilities to keep any cops from going after us for breaking the speed limit.

We walked into camp. I found a corner and sank down.

My little brother was Commodus’s mind-controlled slave. He’d been through worse horrors than I had these past few months. 

And I hadn’t been able to save him.

“Hey.”

I looked up.

Meg stood in front of me, presenting me with a plate of bacon. “Here.”

I broke into laughter.

It was just so... domestic. So normal. 

I took a strip.

She sat down next to me. “We’ll save him, you know.”

“How can you believe that?” I asked her. “We have no idea how they enslaved him. We barely managed to get away with our lives.”

“He didn’t want to fight. I know he didn’t. You got through to him.”

I gave a quick bark of laughter. “Oh sure, but it didn’t last.”

Meg shook her head. “I think it did. Not all the way, but...”

She stood up, staring into the distance. 

“I... I didn’t turn against Nero immediately, either. I went back to him. But I couldn’t stop thinking about you. About what we’d experienced together. And I broke free.”

She looked me in the eyes. “If you could help me break free, then you’l be able to help your brother too.”

I stared at her, stunned. She hardly EVER talked about her past if she could avoid it. And her...betrayal? Never.

But here she was, talking about her past. Talking about it for me.

I pulled her into a hug.

She seemed startled, but then relaxed.

I sobbed into her shoulder, letting it all out. Sobbing for my brother.

Then I wiped my tears and stood up.

“Let’s go save my brother,” I declared.

She nodded, a fire in her eyes. 

Together we walked to Reyna’s tent to make a plan.

Next Chapter

[thisguyatthemovies]

It’s no joke

Title: “Joker”

Release date: Oct. 3, 2019

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Bill Camp, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Douglas Hodge, Marc Maron, Josh Paris, Shea Whigham, Bryan Callen, Sharon Washington, Leigh Gill

Directed by: Todd Phillips

Run time: 2 hours, 2 minutes

Rated: R

What it’s about: In this origin story of “Batman” supervillain The Joker, Arthur Fleck, a middle-aged Gotham City resident with a plethora of mental health issues, becomes increasingly unstable and violent while unwittingly become a symbol for anarchists.  

How I saw it: So many adjectives, so many questions.

Let’s start with the descriptors. “Joker” is bleak, unsettling, troubling, violent, depressing, edgy, gritty, enigmatic and entertaining, though in an uncomfortable way. Todd Phillips’ origin story of Batman’s most notable villain is, in short, not exactly a super happy fun time. It also is a bit of a mess of troubling images and mixed messages, which means you’ll likely be regurgitating it in your brain for days to come. It begs many questions, not the least of which is, “Is this a movie I should like?”

The much hyped and criticized “Joker” is the story of Arthur Fleck, played by Joaquin Phoenix, who somehow has raised his game to another level. Fleck is a middle-aged man who lives with his ailing mother in early 1980s Gotham City (New York). Fleck works for a clown service and aspires to be a stand-up comedian. He also has serious mental health issues, including a condition that makes him uncontrollably laugh out loud.

The setting is important here. It is modeled after – in scenery, lighting, color – the New York in two Martin Scorsese films “Joker” has been most frequently compared to, “Taxi Driver” and “The King of Comedy.” Both star Robert De Niro, who has a key role here as TV talk show host Murray Franklin. Gotham City is enduring a garbage collectors’ strike and being overrun by rats. Millionaire Thomas Wayne, who we all know as the father of Bruce Wayne/Batman, is running for mayor. The city is struggling financially, and Fleck’s therapy and medications are the victims of budget cuts.

It’s all downhill from here for Fleck, who was starting in a pretty low place anyway. He is beaten in streets while working and eventually loses his job for having a handgun while performing for kids. While riding a subway dressed as a clown, he laughs uncontrollably as three young businessmen harass a young woman. They confront him, and Fleck shoots them to death. The crime makes headlines (media reports are prevalent throughout the film), but Fleck is not captured. And though it was not his intention, the crime makes him an anti-hero among Gotham City’s working class, who participate in protests while dressed as clowns. Fleck’s mental state continues to deteriorate, and he becomes more and more violent as he endures one setback after another. Eventually he embraces his status as a symbol for the angry and oppressed, and The Joker is born.

Phoenix’s performance is remarkable even by his standards. He is almost unrecognizably emaciated here, all arms and legs as he runs through the streets and occasionally performs odd dance moves. The weight loss shows most in his face, which just sort of hangs there waiting to be contorted depending on Fleck’s mood, and when he is shirtless, he doesn’t have enough meat on him to cover his ribs. Phoenix is wonderfully uneasy to watch. He is playing a man who knows he has issues and is looking for something, anything to turn out right but seems to resign himself to remaining in a downward spiral. Phoenix is flat out scary, especially during tight shots, even when he isn’t being a psychopathic killer. He is clearly the best thing about “Joker,” and the rest of the cast, except De Niro, largely gets left behind through no fault of their own.

“Joker” has its share of memorable scenes, the best of which is its most violent and darkly funny. Two of his former co-workers stop by his apartment after the death of Fleck’s mother, and Fleck has a bone to pick with one of them, a fellow clown who convinced him he needed a gun. After much blood is shed, his other former co-worker, Gary (Leigh Gill), who oversees the clowns and is a man with dwarfism, apologetically tries to leave the apartment but needs Fleck’s help to do so. Perhaps disturbingly, this provides the most laugh-out-loud moment of a film that contains few funny moments.

While Phoenix lives up to the pre-release hype, it’s not clear if the rest of the film does. Except Gary and a neighbor of Fleck, no one – not random people on the bus, not Fleck’s mother, not even his state-assigned therapist – is a nice person. “Joker” lacks the moral compass of, say, Frances McDormand’s Marge Gunderson in “Fargo.” Its most pleasant scenes, as it turns out, are strictly a figment of Fleck’s psychosis. When Fleck appears on Franklin’s talk show, confesses to the shootings and then makes a speech about how he was driven to violence because everyone in the world is terrible, Franklin reminds him that not all people are bad. But those words are hollow coming from Franklin, who invited Fleck to his show just to mock him.

Part of the confusion, at least after one viewing (this seems like the kind of film that might get better with multiple viewings), is what “Joker” is supposed to be. It presents a familiar comic book character, and though a mostly original story meant to be a standalone, it links itself to the Batman universe, including in a delicious twist that seems to resolve itself but leaves enough ambiguity to produce some doubt. Viewed strictly as a comic book origin story, it is great.

But Phillips has stated that the intent was for “Joker” to be a serious movie, one with Oscar aspirations (and one that was screened at many of the big festivals), and the gritty, realistic setting (no capes, magic sledgehammers or CGI cityscapes here), ties to real-life events and Phoenix’s performance help him accomplish that. However, Phillips has been outspoken about the backlash against the film, most notably those who see it as glamorizing violence (including gun violence) and having the potential to inspire copycats among “incels” in the real world. Movies aren’t released in a vacuum, and “Joker” was hitting the festival circuit about the time of several mass shootings. Much of the criticism against “Joker” is politically motivated in nature, but Phillips’ film, because of its tone and subject matter, can be interpreted as highly political. Thomas Wayne is a wealthy, powerful and crass man not unlike a certain president, but when he calls Gotham City’s ordinary people “clowns” and then talks about how they need him to help them, it sounds a lot like Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables” episode. “Joker” doesn’t exactly glorify Fleck’s rise to public anarchist, but it does not condemn it, either. If “Joker” is being criticized on political grounds, the fact that it is tied to a comic book character is not a viable defense against that criticism. Serious criticism goes with the territory of a film that aims to be taken seriously.

About those questions. Among them: What was the point here? Comic book origin story or statement about an uncaring real-life society? That everyone is terrible, and that could drive someone to insanity and violence? That a more caring (and better funded) government could prevent people with mental health issues from someday trying to overthrow that same government? That the human psyche can withstand only so many setbacks before a beast is unleashed? That it is OK to fight back against the right people? That a terrible world creates terrible people? Or is the world terrible because people are terrible? That our society and the media are fascinated by deranged killers? That everyone is perverse at the core, and that perversion is why we like watching someone go way off the rails?

“Joker” is an enigmatic, chaotic, twisted movie. Perhaps that is the entire point.

My score: 80 out of 100

Should you see it? Yes, if you like being made to feel uncomfortable in a theater but see a great actor at the top of his game.

[baconsoupforthesoul]

The Ink Demonth- Day 3- Stuck

Stuck Here Without You

A/N: I’m not exactly satisified with this one but I was a little stuck (heh) on what to write about for this day. So have some Henry contemplating I guess. Regardless, I still hope you enjoy~

“If anyone finds this, my name’s Henry. And I’ve been trapped far below Joey Drew Studios, a man I used to work for. There are crazy things after me down here. Monsters. Demons. Angels. And right now two of them are holding me prisoner. I don’t know how to get out of here, but there’s more. There’s a hidden secret hiding in the shadows. I just felt like I’m being watched. There’s something more in here. If anyone finds this, you must not-Hold on…They’re coming back.”

Henry quickly slide the tape recorder under his cot as his captors came in. Luckily they didn’t pay him any attention, both the angel and the Boris with the mechanical arm looking exhausted as they dragged themselves into their safehouse. Henry laid back down and closed his eyes, feigning sleep but keeping his ears open.

“It just… it just all leads in circles Tom.” The Angel sighed as Henry heard the sound of a chair scraping against the floor. “All we got for our troubles were a couple cans of soup. I’m really starting to think that there really is no way-” The Angel stopped mid sentence and Henry risked opening one eye to see what was going on. Through the metal grate he could see the Angel sitting in a chair with the one she called Tom resting a hand on her shoulder. The cartoon wolf gave her a reassuring squeeze and she smiled up at him.

“Oh Tom,” The Angel got up and pulled him into a hug. The wolf wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Suddenly, his ears perked up and he turned his head to look over at Henry. Seeing the animator watching them, he glared at him and Henry quickly shut his eyes although he knew it was pointless to fake sleeping at this point. He still couldn’t quite figure his captors out. He was wary to trust them, considering both his past experiences with “angels” and with Tom’s less than friendly demeanor. However, they both seemed like good people from the way they interacted with one another. They both seemed just as lost and stuck as he was. There was nothing he could do right now though, as he tried to will himself to sleep.

“It’s me, it’s Henry. It’s been a while since I last recorded. Mostly I’ve been spending my days doodling, passing the times the best I can. I heard my captors arguing today. It seems that they still don’t know what to make me. I guess that makes sense. Because I do not know what to make of them either. Times like this I wish Boris was still with me… He doesn’t say much Boris but, he was a good friend to have. I miss him. I just couldn’t save him… But I promise… I will get out of the studio… if it’s the last thing I do…”

The pencil that Alice had managed to find for him was a godsend. After being stuck with nothing to do in his cell for days the angel finally took pity on him and found him some drawing supplies. Having something to do made his time here less boring but Henry was still fed up with this place. He sighed as he twirled his pencil in his hand, unsure what he wanted to draw next. He looked over to see Tom tinkering with something on his workbench, the cartoon wolf occasionally lifting his head to glare at Henry. The animator turned back to his page as he remembered Tom’s friendlier look alike. He idly started sketching out Boris, the one he had befriended not that long ago. Henry smiled softly as he remembered his time in Boris’s safe house. While that had been pretty boring too, Boris had been much better company and he really enjoyed playing cards with him.

The more he sketched though, the more he thought of what became of his friend. Henry frowned as he remembered what that deranged “Alice” had done to his poor friend. He wonders if there had even been a chance that he could have saved him, or if by the time he had woken up in that wrecked elevator that it was already too late. “Alice” had probably just been toying with him from the start, probably having already taken what she wanted from the wolf toon and turning him into what Henry was forced to put down. Henry blinked and looked down at his drawing. He realized as he had been spacing out that he had Xed out Boris’s eyes. Hand shaking, Henry put down his pencil and held his head in his hands. His only friend in this damn place, and he had been forced to kill him. Henry took a deep breath as he tried to keep his emotions in check. That fight with Boris had kept him up most nights while he had been stuck here in this safehouse. He’d wake up in a sweat, images of Boris’s prone body melting away still on the back of his eyelids. He’s sure if he ever escapes this place that it will continue to haunt him for a long time. Boris had done nothing but help him since they met. He gave him a safe place to rest, offered him food, stuck by him as they tried to navigate out of this studio. And Henry… he hadn’t even been able to keep his friend safe from that damn angel. Some friend he had been. Henry’s breath shuddered in his chest as a few stray tears coursed down his checks. As Henry wiped the moisture from his face, he noticed that he was being watched.

Henry turned to see Tom was looking at him again, and for once the cartoon wolf wasn’t glaring at him. His expression seemed curious, like this small display of emotion from Henry had him deep in thought, as if he didn’t know what to make of it. When he noticed Henry staring back though, the wolf let out a huff and turned back to whatever he was tinkering with. While the look he had given Henry wasn’t exactly sympathetic, it wasn’t hostile either. Not sure if it was too optimistic if him to consider that progress, Henry picked up his pencil and kept drawing.

“This may be my last chance to record a message, I’m pretty sure he saw me talking into this thing, He probably won’t let me keep it. Not much left to say except… Linda, I miss you and I love you so much. Coming back to this old place well… it kind of reminds me of how much I’ve gained. I feel like there are so many questions that need answering, so many things that don’t make any sense. If anyone hears this, if you make it out, don’t ever return, because the Ink Demon will find you.”

“Seriously? What danger is a damn tape recorder?” Henry complained as Tom walked off with said tape recorder. “What did ya think I was gonna do with it? Plan my daring escape on it?” The wolf just huffed as he placed it in one of the drawers in his work bench. Alice turned her head away from the drawing she was doing on the wall and bite her lip. From the look on her face it seemed she thought that what Tom was doing was a bit much but she didn’t want to fight him on it.  Henry sighed as he flopped back onto his cot, rubbing a hand over his tired face. He was getting real sick of this place. He had been stuck in this damn cell for weeks now and the homesickness was worse than ever. He wanted to yell, hit something, break something, anything to relieve him of all this pent up energy and aggression that was building up from being trapped here. Not just in this cramped cell but this whole demented studio. He knew that his captors would never let him out if he did something like that though, so he was stuck biding his time until they felt comfortable enough to trust him, whenever that would be.

Oh god, what did Linda think even happened to him? He’s been gone for several weeks now, has she called the cops maybe? He really hopes the authorities don’t end up at this place, he can’t even begin to imagine what would happen. Linda must be worried sick though. Henry hated to think of what she was feeling right now. He wanted nothing more than to get out of this godforsaken place and just hold his wife in his arms. He physically ached from missing her so much, like someone had reached into his chest and was squeezing his heart. He missed her smile, her laugh, her hair, her voice, her everything. Henry didn’t try to fight the silent tears that ran down his face. He was too tired to care about showing weakness at this point.

“Who is Linda?” Henry startled when he suddenly heard Alice next to him.“Huh?” Henry rubbed the tears off his checks as he gave Alice a confused look. “How do you know about-”

“I overheard you, when you were recording that last tape.” Alice pulled up a chair that had been sitting in the corner. She sat in the chair backwards with her arms and head resting on the back of it as she looked at Henry. “You said you loved her, and that you missed her. She’s someone from outside of this place, right?”

“Yeah. Linda is… she’s my wife.” Henry’s voice quivered, overcome with his memories as he twisted the ring on his finger.

“I see.” Alice replied softly. The two of them sat in silence for a moment, punctured only by Henry’s hitched breaths as he tried to cry as quietly as possible. “What was she like?” Henry looked over at Alice again. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Alice assured him. “I know it hurts to be away from her but… I thought maybe you might want to talk about her. She means so much to you and your memories of her… that’s all you have of her with you right now, isn’t it?”

“I suppose… you have a point.” Henry conceded. “Well, if you’re interested…” Alice scooted her chair up and Henry finally cracked a small smile. “How do I even begin to start describing Linda? She’s a wonderful woman and I am a very lucky man to be married to her. I remember when we first met she-”

And Henry went on for hours as Alice happily listened to him ramble on about his wife. At one point they took a break for her to make them some food and Henry kept on talking between mouthfuls of soup. Alice even burst out laughing when, in his haste to tell her about the time Linda threatened to come into the studio and beat Joey with her frying pan, he dribbled soup down his chin. Eventually, Tom returned and his conversation with Alice ended, but Henry felt the best he’d ever felt since he had been stuck here in this cell. Talking about Linda reignited his motivation to escape from this awful place. He would see her again, he refused to accept anything less.

[yandere-daydreams]

Could you write yandere relationship headcanons for Villain!Izuku and Villain!Todoroki with a s/o who was a normal citizen? (Thus constantly in danger of being targeted by their enemies?)

I’ve been thinking about these two a lot lately, so thank you for this conveniently timed, not-at-all cherry picked request.

Midoriya Izuku:

~Things start out similarly to his heroic counterpart. You two were childhood friends, until he stopped attending a few months before high school. He just… fell off the face of the Earth. Years passed, and you moved on from you missing friend. But Izuku never managed to get over you.

~When All Might rejected him, Izuku went to Stain as an apprentice, and quickly surpassed his mentor. He stopped coming to school, cutting off ties with family, friends, everyone. It hurt to stop talking to you, but he never really forgot about you. So, when you reappeared in his life, he couldn’t just let the opportunity pass. Your friendship was rekindled quickly, and Izuku’s abandoned tendencies came back in full force.

~An unknown number will message you pictures of yourself, all captioned you with graphic fantasies, listing all the things he’d like to do to you. Packages will be left on your doorstep, all things that you’ve wanted for weeks but never mentioned. It’s constant and relentless, leading to more than a little paranoia on your part. You’ll have to come to Izuku, now a close friend, for help.

~He won’t force you into a relationship, not at first. In exchange for protection from other villains (ones that he sent after you), he’ll ask that you spend the night at his place or let him buy you a meal. It’s small harmless stuff, but he soon demands more. Passionate kisses, moving in with him, not talking to your family. When you realize how badly things have escalated, you’ll already be completely reliant on him.

~Izuku doesn’t consider his enemies a real threat. Protectiveness isn’t an instinctual reaction for him. But after you get hurt in an attempted kidnapping… Let’s just say he can be a little overbearing. You won’t be allowed to do anything for yourself if there’s a small chance of injury. If you try to disobey this ‘little rule’, then you’ll be locked up for days on end. And if he has to go on a mission, you’ll be guarded by the most loyal of his henchmen.

~Believe it or not, he’s slightly sweeter than he would normally be. Izuku wants your old relationship back, when you supported him without a second thought. So, all of your punishments will be followed by visits from the best doctors, your favorite meal, and Izuku sobbing into your chest. Somehow, the guilt of seeing a former friend cry will be worse than the punishment itself.

~He loves it when others know you belong to him. He’ll make you sit on his lap during meetings, making a point of kissing your neck while people are watching. You’ll have countless hickeys, ranging from small marks to harsh, bloody love-bites. There’s no hiding that you’re his, regardless of how hard you try.

~Even if he goes about it sloppily, he really just doesn’t want to be without you. Izuku has been rejected by everyone he admired, I don’t think he would be able to stand it if you left him too.

Todoroki Shoto:

~Honestly, if you though Shoto was bad before…

~There was no special treatment or reason for him to fall for you as hard as he did. You were simply a stranger, just a semi-familiar face, until he saw you get cornered by some street punks. Hell, he didn’t even mean to save you. The assault was just getting in his way. But seeing you act so vulnerable, so ready to do anything for the person who just ‘saved’ you… it triggered something inside of him.

~He waits until you’re alone. You feel indebted to him, so he’s able to convince you to do something casual with him, like get coffee. From there, you two hit it off spectacularly! Plans are made for another meeting, and with a little time, that urge he has to see you turns into a full-blown possessive obsession.

~At first, he doesn’t even realize how badly he’s fallen. When you two are together, he might threaten the person who’s been bothering you or insist on walking you home, but that’s just what friends do for each other, right? Even after he starts acting protective, it might take a few weeks from him to discover that he’s in love with you. It distracts him, and he doesn’t like it.

~Shoto tries to stop seeing you, to stop thinking about you all together, but this only makes it worse. Every minute of his existence is plagued by thoughts of you getting hurt, or worse, being with someone else. So, he kidnaps you, keeping you locked-up in his personal hideout. None of his underlings will be involved, not even the ones he trusts most. No one else will be able to see you.

~That first night will be the worst. You’ll be helpless, subjected to all the deranged, disgusting thoughts he had to suppress. He might not act on these urges right away, but having him pin you down while listening to everything he wants to do to you… it’s not much better. From then on, you’re his outlet. Every wrathful thought or dark fantasy he conjures up will now be your problem, even if all you have to do is sit quietly an listen. It’ll be hard to look him in the eye after these ‘ranting sessions’.

~While you’re in his care, every single mistake will result in a punishment. It can be something as small as an absent-minded hateful comment, and he’ll take it as seriously as a threat to his life. Most of his punishments will be quick, clean, and painful. Like a broken finger, and if you’re lucky, severe frostbite! He gets a sick satisfaction out of seeing you squirm, so don’t expect him to be kind.

~Although he might act rather tough, he loves it when you dote on him. It can be something as small as brushing your fingers through his hair while he clings to you, but Shoto will adore you for it. If you act a little sweeter than usual, he might ignore some of your smaller slip-ups. It’s a good way to earn some freedom, but you’ll have to be careful. He’ll take any sign of tolerance as a ‘confession of love’, leading to a more affectionate Shoto.

~You make Shoto vulnerable, and he has to do everything in his power to limit this. It would be nice if you felt the same way, but he’s confident that you can learn to.

[canyouevencauseicant]

Truly Good At Heart (Pavel Chekov Imagine)

Author’s note: Hey guys, so this is my first imagine in a very long time. I’m hoping to write more from now on, so please don’t hesitate to request imagines and give some constructive criticism! Enjoy!

You sat in the prison bay on board the U.S.S. Enterprise, glaring at the three men standing on the other side of the glass looking in at you. One of them, who you had heard referred to as ‘Captain’, was watching you with severity and an almost scolding look, while the other two, both in blue shirts and one of which was a Vulcan, simply watched you with curiosity and slight confusion. 

“Captain, are you certain that she is what you stated earlier?” The Vulcan inquired, turning to look at the man in the yellow command shirt, whose gaze didn’t shift from you for a second. ‘It’s not like I’m going anywhere. What’s this guy’s problem?’ You thought to yourself, a scowl (somewhat matching the other man in a blue shirt’s one) appearing on your face.

At this, you stood up and matched the Captain’s gaze with equal ferocity, “A mercenary, you mean? Yeah. That’s me. Now, can I get the hell out of here and back to what I need to do?” At this, all three men stared at you before the other man in blue spoke up, “How can I put this in a way you’ll understand? You’re a damned professional murderer, kid. So you’re under arrest until we get back to Earth.” At this, you simply walked up to the glass barrier and snapped, “I’m getting arrested for going after one of the most dangerous fugitives on the loose? A fugitive who was on death row for the murder of hundreds of innocent civilians, men, women and children alike? Please, I’m doing the Federation a favor. That is, if you morons have the sense to let me get back to my job. I almost had him when you idiots beamed down and arrested me. ME! Instead of that criminal!”

“Don’t you get it kid? You’re a criminal too! You’ve killed people too!” The Captain snapped back venomously, and you would’ve recoiled had that been the first time you heard that. But, luckily, you had heard that multiple times. You told yourself that many times a day. So, you just rolled your eyes and said, “I didn’t kill people. I DON’T kill people. I kill monsters. Horrible, deranged monsters who have lost every last ounce of their humanity, or any sense of right and wrong. Besides, wasn’t it your beloved Starfleet that ordered his capture? “Dead or alive”, I believe the arrest said?” “How the hell did you know that?” The other man in blue said, his eyes narrowing in suspicion as he watched you. You just smiled before cocking your head to the side, your tone dripping with false sweetness and innocence, “I’m not just a pretty face. I’ve picked up a few skills along the way.” At that, all three men fell silent, watching you incredulously. Then, the Vulcan suddenly spoke up, his tone calm, “What is your name and age?”

You rolled your eyes before leaning against the wall, “Don’t you know it’s rude to ask a lady her age, Pointy?” The Vulcan cocked his head to the side, “’Pointy’? Is that a derogatory reference to-?” “Spock, we’ve already been through this. Just forget it,” The Captain cut him off, before turning back to you, “By Starfleet regulations, any and all persons under arrest are required to answer such questions. So, kid, who are you?” 

You glared at him for a moment before sighing and standing up straight. However, just as you were about to explain who you were, the doors to the prison bay opened and in ran a young man with curly hair who couldn’t be that much older than yourself. You couldn’t help but notice how cute the young man was, but you quickly shook the thought out of your mind. “Keptin! Keptin! Ve haf just received a message from Starfleet! Zhey haf ordered all wessels to go after zis fugitive, sir!” The young man exclaimed as he handed the Captain his PADD. You cocked your eyebrow in interest as you watched the Captain go through the information on the PADD, and as his face paled and he looked up at you.

The young, curly-haired man looked at you for the first time, and when he saw you, he did a bit of a double-take; what was a pretty, young lady like yourself doing in the prison bay? Meanwhile, the Captain held up the PADD to face you, a picture of the wanted fugitive you had been so close to getting, “Is this the man you were after?” You just nodded your head, “Yeah, that’s him alright.” The Captain turned to the three other men, and after a little while of the three of them conversing quietly, they turned back to you and the Captain spoke up, “Since our introductions were interrupted, I believe we should take a moment now. My name is Captain Kirk, and before we decide anything, we need to know more about you. So, once again, who are you, kid?”

“My name is (Y/L/N). (Y/N) (Y/L/N). I’m 17 years old, and I have 23 kills to my name,” you stated simply, watching their faces intently. You felt slightly smug as you watched all their eyes widen when you stated your age. However, none of them flinched when you listed your kills except for the young Russian, who looked startled and even a bit afraid. But now, he was watching you intently, his big blue-green eyes focusing on you with curiosity. You decided to continue, sighing quietly as you told your story, “I never really had a proper family, but in the end I found one. It wasn’t perfect, but they took care of me and taught me to take care of myself. Now, here I am.” When nobody commented on that, you decided to drop your guard just a bit and be honest, “Look, I know I’m not a good person. I’ve killed people, yeah, but I did it because they posed a threat to others. I guess.....in some strange way.....I felt like I was doing something good. But now........guess that’s over. So, what’s the deal?”

That truly took Kirk, Spock, Bones and Chekov off-guard, You had gone from cold-hearted mercenary to a small, young, vulnerable girl in a matter of moments. Kirk, Spock and Bones began to talk quietly once more, but Chekov simply watched you for a few more seconds. The more he looked at you, the more he got the feeling that you weren’t truly as bad as maybe your profession made it seem. You looked up at the Russian, and you couldn’t help but smile a bit at him. This small smile solidified Chekov’s gut feeling, and he turned to the group and quickly interjected, “Excuze me, Keptin, but I think ve should let Miss (Y/L/N) help us.”

Kirk, Spock and Bones all shut up for a few seconds before turning to look at the young ensign. “Oh yeah? And why’s that, Mr. Chekov?” Kirk asked, genuinely intrigued to hear what his navigator had to say on the subject. Chekov cleared his throat before beginning his explanation, “I have no concrete vay of proving zat my opinion iz correct, but I have a gut feeling zat Miss (Y/L/N) izn’t az bad az ve think she is, sir. And zere might be a chance zat ve can convince Miss (Y/L/N) to change professions, and if she proves useful enough, to even perhaps join ze crew.” 

The three senior officers stayed silent as they processed what Chekov had said, but then Kirk had a bit of a smile on his face as he said, “I think Chekov might have a point here.” “Jim, you’re not seriously considering-” Bones began, but Kirk immediately cut him off, “Of course I am. Bones, this girl might be our key to catching this guy. So I think Chekov’s got a point.” And with that, Kirk spun around before addressing you once more, “Well, Miss (Y/L/N), I think there’s a chance of us letting you go, but in exchange, you need to help us catch that fugitive. However, if you try to escape, you’re coming straight back in here with no second chance for release. If you try to turn on us, same thing. If you try to attack anyone, I’ll have Bones sedate you and drag you back here. Understood?” 

You looked at him, taking everything he said into account before nodding your head, “Alright, Captain Kirk. You’ve got yourself a deal.” After a pause, you continued, “Thank you for giving me a second chance. I know I probably don’t deserve it.” “Don’t thank me,” Kirk replied, a small smile on his face as he patted the young Russian on the back, “Thank Mr. Chekov and his gut feeling, here.” You turned to face the young man, before smiling at him and bowing your head gratefully, “Thank you, Russian. I owe you one. Big time.” At that, Chekov blushed a bright pink before smiling at you and replying, “It iz no problem, Miss (Y/L/N). I juzt hope you prove me right.” “I’ll try my best,” you replied, being more honest than you had in your entire life.

*TIME SKIP*

“Quick! If we split up, we’ll have a better chance of getting him!” You shouted to Kirk over your shoulder as you fired your phaser. 

You were caught in a shootout with the fugitive in an abandoned building, and you knew there were only a couple ways this could end; either he would kill the whole lot of you, as he had done countless times before, and get away, or you would manage to run the bastard down, corner him and bring his destruction to an end. 

“Captain, the statistical probability that this is simply a ruse to escape is extremely-”

“Shut it, Pointy! This is a matter of life and death!” You shouted immediately, shutting Spock up as you continued to fire, trying your best to hit your current target. You weren’t certain, but you thought you heard a slight snort come from Kirk as watched your back. 

“Miss (Y/L/N) juzt might have a point, Keptin. Zis iz getting us novhere!” Chekov shouted from his position, just across the corridor. You took a second to shoot him a small smile, and you could’ve sworn that a pinkish glow appeared on the Russian’s face. Kirk grabbed your shoulder and quickly yanked you back into the small alcove where you were hiding, narrowly saving you from a blast to the face.

“Now’s not the time to flirt, (Y/L/N)!” Kirk scolded you, although the look on his face gave away that his scolding was less serious than you believed it to be, “I think you’re right. We’re gonna have to split up. I’ll stay behind with Spock, distract our target. I’ll let you and Chekov find your way over to him and get the bastard at last. Be careful, (Y/L/N), you’ll only have one chance. Don’t blow it.”

“Me? Blow it?” You scoffed, withdrawing a second phaser and setting it to ‘Kill’, “Never.”

Kirk looked as though he wanted to retort snappily, but before he could, you shouted “Cover me!” and dashed out into the open corridor, once again narrowly avoiding several shots as you made it to where Chekov was standing. “Come on, Russian. Let’s go!” You muttered as you grabbed him by the sleeve and tugged him after you. 

You could feel your heart pounding violently as you sprinted from corridor to corridor, weaving your way closer and closer to your target. Your blood was rushing in your ears and it drowned out the sound of phaser blasts, your footsteps, everything. Even Chekov seemed to fade away as you got closer and closer to the target, to the monster who had killed so many people, torn apart so many families, ruined so many lives... 

‘This is your chance, (Y/N)! This is your chance to end the bastard! This is your chance for justice!’

You felt the anger and the pure, unadulterated rage coursing through your veins. This was it. This was going to be the moment you had been waiting for, the moment you had been hunting down and chasing for so long. This was it.

As you and Chekov rounded a corner, you caught sight of your target. Thankfully, Kirk and Spock were doing a grade-A job of keeping him engaged and distracted that he didn’t notice your and Chekov’s sudden appearance. Your heart was frantic now, beating so hard that your chest physically hurt from anticipation. Your breathing was shaky and you could feel sweat breaking out as you approached the fugitive. 

“(Y/N), are you alright?”

Chekov’s voice startled you out of your daze, and you quickly shrugged him off with a mumbled, “I’m fine. Got this.” You could pretty much feel Chekov’s worried gaze piercing your back, but you couldn’t allow him to get in the way. Not now. Not when you were so close.

You felt a piece of you shut down. You were going into killing mode. You were taking the most vulnerable, softest, most innocent piece of yourself and locking it away. You didn’t want this to cost you more than it already did every time you had made a kill. This was it. 

Suddenly, everything was going in slow motion. The world around you moved ten times slower than you. Everything was silent. There was just you and the fugitive, this monster you had been hunting for so long, this bastard who had to pay for the things he had done. 

You found yourself sprinting towards him.

His back was facing you.

He was turning.

Suddenly, he was face to face with you. 

You felt yourself raising your phaser. 

You felt your phaser firing, you had taken the shot.  

You watched his body drop to the ground.

But though his eyes closed and his body went limp, you could see his chest rising and falling. He was still breathing. 

He was still alive.

‘What are you doing?!’ Your mind screamed, ‘Kill him! Kill this bastard! Make him pay!’

Some part of you registered Kirk, Spock, Chekov and the rest of the crew present joining you, binding the fugitive so he couldn’t escape and setting him up on his knees. Your blood was still rushing in your ears, louder now than before, and your heart pounding even more violently than ever. You could see Kirk and Spock talking to one another, as well as with other crew members, you could see their lips moving. But you couldn’t hear a sound. 

You turned to see Chekov watching you carefully, his lips also moving, but you could not bring yourself to read them. You could not hear him, either. 

‘Forget him! Kill the bastard! Kill him! He deserves to die for all he’s done! He deserves this! Kill him!’

You watched as the fugitive slowly regained consciousness from being stunned. You watched his eyes focus in on his surroundings, you watched him compute what was happening, what had happened to him. 

You watched his eyes widen and fill with fear, probably for the first time ever, as you found yourself pointing the phaser right between his eyes. 

“(Y/L/N)! What are you doing?! Put your phaser down!” Kirk shouted as he saw you do this. But you ignored him. You could hear Chekov shouting as well, but you didn’t care. You had to do this.

You looked this fugitive, this man, who had done so many bad things, who was up to his neck in other people’s blood, and watched the fear that was so foreign to him flash in his eyes as they flitted between you and your phaser. You knew he was at your mercy, and he knew it, too. And yet...

You don’t know what happened, but instead of your finger moving to pull the trigger, your mouth moved instead.

“You have no idea how long I’ve dreamed of killing you. I’ve pictured a thousand different ways of making you suffer before finally snuffing out your miserable, empty life. I want you to pay for what you’ve done. You have killed so many people, and hurt so many more in the wake of all your destruction. You deserve to pay. But I’m not going to kill you. Because killing you would be all too easy. You wouldn’t truly suffer. You wouldn’t pay for what you’ve done. You’d just get away with it all. So instead, I’m going to let you live. You’re going to have to live with the knowledge that you’ve killed innocent people, that you’ve destroyed and torn apart so many lives. And all for nothing.”

You took a deep breath after speaking, your voice quiet and even and borderline calm despite your pounding heart. After a couple moments of silence, you spoke one last time to this creature in front of you, “I’m not going to kill you. I’m not going to kill you because I’m better than you. I know better than you, and I will not let myself become like you. Not now, not ever.”

With that, you found yourself holstering your phaser and turning away as Starfleet crew members took the fugitive into custody and carried him away. You squeezed your eyes shut as you took a few calming, deep breaths, trying not to let yourself be overwhelmed by everything that had just happened. You didn’t know where your words had come from, you didn’t know why you had the sudden change of heart, but it happened regardless. 

“(Y/N)?”

Chekov’s voice was soft, but it still startled you slight. You must’ve flinched because Chekov quickly said, “Zorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.” 

After a moment, you opened your eyes and looked up at the Russian, who had a smile on his face and a look on his face that seemed nothing short of awed. 

“W-Why are you looking at me like that?’ You asked, your voice shaking as the courage from before seemed to fail you. Chekov gave a slight chuckle before nodding his head to something behind you. When you turned your head, you realized that most of the crew members, including Kirk, had the same expression on their face as Chekov had had on his. Spock was the only exception, but even he had raised his eyebrows, clearly more shocked than he’d expected to be.

“What are you all staring at?” You snapped, your usual demeanor returning; you hated feeling or being seen as vulnerable.

After a few moments of silence, Kirk stepped forward and began to speak, “(Y/N), in all my years of being a captain, I have never seen anyone been able to restrain themselves like that. Especially not in a moment like that. You’ve been chasing this guy for ages, and you easily could’ve killed him. And yet, you chose not to. I don’t know anyone who’s ever done that before. That was incredible.”

The rest of the crew nodded in agreement, many of them smiling at you as they did so. You felt the heat rising to your face as you shrugged and replied, “In all honesty, I don’t really know where that came from. It just... happened, I guess.”

“I zhink...” Chekov started softly, causing you to look at him, “...zat it’z becauze you are truly good at heart. Regardless of your past, you haf goodness in you, (Y/N). And you just uzed it. Zat iz vhat zat vas.” 

You watched the Russian’s face for a couple moments, and your heart gave a funny little lurch as you gave him a genuine smile, “I hope you’re right. Thanks, Pavel.”

Chekov’s eyes widened, “How do you know my name? I’ve never said it in front of you.”

At this, you just smiled cheekily and replied, “As I told Captain Kirk earlier, I’m not just a pretty face. I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.”

As Chekov just stood there, dumbfounded, Kirk burst into laughter. “Oh man, you’re quite a mischievous one, (Y/L/N)! Although, I’ve gotta say, Chekov’s right. Your heart seems to be in a better place than I thought it was. I think you’ve got the makings of a great officer in you, and Starfleet could always use someone as talented as you.”

You stood there for a moment, suddenly as dumbfounded as Chekov was as you sputtered, “B-But my criminal record! I’m a criminal, aren’t I? A mercenary. I can’t just apply for Starfleet. Plus, I’m still under arrest.”

Kirk bowed his head, “Yes, you are. For now. If we bring you in and credit you with the fugitive’s arrest, as well as vouch for your character... well, you’d be able to eventually become a part of Starfleet. But it will take some time. Promise to think about it?”

You stayed quiet for a moment, looking from Kirk to Spock, and then from Spock to Chekov. Chekov just smiled at you, making your heart jolt once more. You turned back to face Kirk and replied with utmost confidence, “Definitely. But for now, let’s get this villain back to Earth so he can stand trial for his crimes.”

“Indeed,” Spock chimed in, nodding his head and heading off with the crew, back towards the shuttle that had brought you all to this place. Kirk smiled at you and Chekov, said “Well done, both of you,” and then followed after Spock. This left just you and Chekov behind.

“Man, did that really just happen?” You breathed out, in complete disbelief. Chekov laughed softly before placing his hand on your back gently, “Yez, it did.” A shiver seemed to run down your spine at the contact, but it was a good kind of shiver. One you had never felt before. You felt warm and comforted for the first time in what felt like forever. 

“I hope you do enlist in Starfleet, (Y/N). Ze keptin iz right; you’d make a great officer.” Chekov spoke gently, causing you to grin back at him and reply, “I hope so, too. I guess we’ll just have to see what happens next.”

“Vell, I’m sure zat vhatever happens, you’ll be able to handle it.” Chekov said confidently before he headed off after the rest of the crew. 

You stood there for one last moment, watching Chekov’s retreating figure with a small, goofy smile on your face as you thought to yourself, ‘Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out.’ before setting off after him. 

[incorrectdeceptionquotes]

A Bundle of Secrets Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The mystery woman came back into the room with the vial in hand but something was off. She looked around the room but Kay wasn’t chained to the wall. In fact, the chain along with the board it was attached to was missing as well, “Kay?” She took a step inside the room, “Kay, I know you’re in here. There’s no use hiding.” When she closed the door, she didn’t notice Kay sneaking up behind her. The cuff was still attached to her arm but from the chain attached was dangling the wall board with its screws having been undone.

“Turn around.” Kay’s voice spoke. The mystery woman turned around as Kay swung the board, making it hit the mystery woman’s side. The woman let out a scream of pain as she dropped to the ground clutching her side and dropping the vial. Kay knelt down in front of her, “Now that’s going to leave a mark.”

The mystery woman tried to catch her breath but the metal board seriously hurt, “H-how-”

Kay smirked, “I know a few tricks too.” She held up a tiny little screwdriver, “I found this by the window. Not sure if it was meant to be some sort of test or if it was just left behind but... I think it got the job done.” She then took the serum from off the floor and stuck it in her pocket along with the screwdriver, “I’ll be holding on to this.” She smirked again, “Just for insurance.”

The mystery woman rolled her eyes as she continued to clutch her side in pain, “J-just know this Kay. You w-will be C-Cameron’s downfall.”  Kay didn’t respond as she closed the door behind her, locking the mystery woman in but those words stayed in the back of her mind as she tried to figure out how to get out of this maze of a basement.

Cameron, Jonathan along with Gunter and Mike drove up to the Blanc estate. Cameron spoke into his earpiece, “Ready?”

“As we’ll ever be. Are you?” Dina responded from the FBI building as she rocked the baby carrier with Farrah sitting inside of it making little baby sounds. Dina smiled at the little girl, “Yeah Farrah, we’re getting Auntie Kay back.”

“Hopefully in one piece.” Jordan remarked.

“Jordan!” Dina scolded.

“I’m being optimistic!” He defended, “It’s exhausting! Cam, how do you do it all the time?”

Cameron rolled his eyes, “We’re ready.”

Gunter nodded, “Alright, so there is an unguarded hidden back entrance of this estate that leads to its large tunnel filled basement.”

“Cameron, Gunter and I will enter and then split up to cover more ground” Jonathan said, “Now Mike, are you sure that the hit you got on Kay’s phone came from the estate itself?”

Mike nodded, “I bet my badge on it.”

Johnny nodded, “While we do that, Mike will interview Bennett and Vanessa once more about Van Wesel and see if they had anything to do with Kay’s disappearance which they obviously deny.”

“Then when whoever can find Kay will lead her through the front entrance and just so happen to pass by Mike which will give him more than enough reason to arrest them.” Cameron added.

Jonathan looked to his brother, “You sure about this?”

Cameron nodded with a serious expression, “Kay’s here... I can feel it.”

“Alright. Good luck boys.” Dina said through her headset.

With that they set they’re plan in motion. Gunter, Jonathan and Cameron headed around the back while Mike rang the gate bell and was let in. They walked along the back of the estate. Gunter kept his hand along the wall, “The entrance isn’t guarded because it’s hidden.”

“How are you going to find it?” Jonathan asked.

“Luck.”

“Very reassuring”

“But it would most likely be in the last place you’d expect.”

“Like a different brick pattern?” Cameron asked pointing out an area of the wall where the bricks seemed to be stacked differently.

“Atta boy.” Gunter smiled as he went over to the wall and pushed on it, revealing a hidden door. He pushed it open revealing the dark cold maze, “...Well this doesn’t scream evil dungeon at all.”

They entered the cavernous basement with their flashlights, “Seriously... when was this place built?” Jonathan asked.

“My guess, when they burned witches.” Gunter said, “This place is giving me chills.”

“Same here.” Cameron agreed. He then heard something.

Kay ran from the room and just turned wherever her gut told her to go. She was about to turn left when she saw the wall in front of her open up. She stayed behind the wall to catch her breath as three figures walked in, there was something about them but she couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. She suddenly heard footsteps coming towards her. She just reacted, taking the metal board and hitting whoever it was square in the chest, pushing them back. The flashlight they were hold hit the ground and shone its light on their face. Kay’s eyes widened, “Cameron?”

Cam’s expression of pain turned to a smile when he recognized the voice, “Kay?” Cameron clutched his chest and stood up as he stepped towards her. He gently placed on her bruised cheek, “It really is you.” Kay smiled as she placed a hand on the one he put on her cheek.

Jonathan cleared his throat from behind his brother as Gunter smirked at the pair. Kay then realized what had just happened, “Oh my God, I just hit you with this thing. Are you okay?”

Cameron waved his hand, “I’m fine. Really. I’m just a little hurt that you’ve just deprived me of a dashing rescue.” He joked.

She smirked as she lifted her right hand and placed it on his chest, “That’s what concerns you right now?”

Cameron smiled as he studied her face, seeing the bruises and cuts that had been left all over. Those pictures didn’t tell the half the story of how bad it was but he was just happy that they found her... or rather she found them. “Are you gonna kiss her?” Jonathan spoke up, “Or are we gonna have to wait a whole year again?”

Cameron very gently took Kay’s face in his hands and lightly pressed his lips against hers. She responded by kissing him back and lifting her arms to place on his shoulder when the metal board and chained clanked together. Cameron’s eyes shot open as he pulled back from the kiss, “What happened?” He studied her face, the bruise around her left eye which seemed to have darkened in colour and the dried bloodied cut on her bottom lip was very visible, “What did they do to you?”

“They... chained me to the wall.”

“Those bastards.” Gunter remarked.

Cameron gulped and took her hand, “Well, we’re getting you home but first...”

“We arrest Bennett Blanc.” Kay finished.

Jonathan smirked, “Do you guys always finish each other’s sentences?” They started to walk out as Johnny spoke into his earpiece, “We found Kay. She’s okay.” He heard Dina and Jordan both give a sigh of relief.

Mike heard the message as he gave the Blancs a forced smile, “Well, I believe those are all the questions and information I have for you.”

“So Roma Van Wesel killed my son?” Vanessa asked.

“I’m afraid so. I’m very sorry.”

“Thank you for letting us know.” Bennett said, “Let me walk you out.” The sooner Bennett Blanc got this agent out of his home, the better.

They walked out the door onto the driveway, “So you say you haven’t seen my partner, Agent Kay Daniels?”

“Not since she came with you last time. However if I do happen to see her, I will let you know.” Bennett replied, lying through his teeth.

Mike raised an eyebrow then turned to see Jonathan, Gunter and Cameron helping a battered Kay to the front door. “Agent Alvarez. Isn’t that your partner?” Vanessa asked.

“Why yes it is... and she was found in the basement of your property.”

“Bennett, what is he talking about?”

“Your husband had a woman we’ve been trying to chase down kidnap me.” Kay said, letting go of Cameron’s hand, “The only thing I’m not clear on is why?”

Vanessa looked to her husband in horror, “Yes Bennett. Why?”

“I just wanted to bring Shawn home.” He confessed, “I had no idea that Roma Van Wesel was going to kill him.”

“You sent her there to seduce him.” Jonathan said shaking his head, “When you knew he was happily married... with a child!”

“What about Fiona?” Cameron asked.

“She was in the way. If I wanted our son back, I needed her out of the way. She was the reason my son was dead so when I took the gun from the Van Wesel girl, I chased the homewrecker down and put her down.” Bennett replied.

Vanessa looked livid, “You knew that the Van Wesel girl killed our son!?”

“Of course I did.” He took a deep breath, “Then when I found out that my son had a child. I saw it as my chance to have a second chance. To raise Shawn’s child and have it end up the way that he should have been.”

“Why kidnap me?” Kay asked.

“You were my bargaining chip. However it seems you managed the impossible and escaped my... employees.”

“You should have known that the impossible is kind of what we do.” Cameron said, he would have had an arrogant tone if he wasn’t so angry with the insanely calm man.

Mike walked over to Bennett with cuffs at the ready, “Bennett Blanc, you are under arrest for the murder of Fiona Jonbroni and the kidnapping of FBI agent Kay Daniels. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”

As Mike took Bennett to his car and the others started to head out, Kay took Cameron by the hand, “Cameron... there’s something I need to tell you.”

Cameron turned and gave her a small smile, “Anything.”

“I know that the timing may not be ideal and that I’ve kept my walls up but...”

“But...” He smiled.

“I found the bracelet you snuck in my pocket.” Kay smiled, “It reminded me why I didn’t want to give up on you.” She was ready to let her walls come down, “Cameron I-I... I-” She suddenly saw Vanessa coming up behind Cameron with a deranged look in her eye than usual and no one other than Kay seemed to notice. The older woman pulled out a gun.

“You will be Cameron’s downfall.”

Kay pushed Cameron out of the way right at the moment a shot was fired, getting shot in the left arm. “Kay!” Exclaimed Cameron as he carefully caught her as she lost balance, gently placed her on the ground and took his jacket off to cover the wound to stop the bleeding.

“Gunter, call an ambulance!” Jonathan picked up a rock and threw it at the rich woman’s hand that was still holding the gun and it hit injured her hand making her drop the weapon.

Mike closed the car door on Bennett and ran over to cuff Vanessa as well, “Nice shot Jonathan!”

“I only miss when I intend to.” Jonathan said.

Cameron couldn’t focus on anything going on around him. All he could focus on was Kay who was bleeding out in his arms, “K-Kay.”

Kay gave a pained expression as breathing started becoming very difficult, “C-Cam... a-are you okay?”

Cameron let out a chuckle, “Physically, of course. Thanks to you.” Kay gave a pained smile as Cameron felt his heart split in two. She was hurt because of him, “Why did you do it?”

“I-I c-couldn’t let you get h-hurt.” She said through her gasping breaths.

“Kay, please hold on. Please.” He pleaded as he brushed her hair out of her face, “I can’t do it without you. I-I can’t raise Farrah in a world without you... God, I must sound so selfish right now.”

Kay looked at him with loving eyes, “C-Cameron I...”

“This is all my fault. Please stay with me. Help’s almost here. I know you’re in pain-”

“I love you.”

Cameron’s eyes widened, “W-what?” He placed a hand on her right cheek and Kay leaned ever so slightly into his touch.

Kay smiled, “I-I love you C-Cameron Black.”She said with a shaky voice.

Cameron let out a heart-broken chuckle, “I love you too Kay Daniels... and I’ll never stop.” Kay looked like she wanted to say something else but she couldn’t. The pain was becoming too much to handle, “Kay?” Cameron whispered as Mike walked over and told them that the ambulance was just moments away. She raised her right hand, placed it on the hand Cameron had on her cheek and gave it a light squeeze, trying to give him one more smile. Her eyes began to droop shut as Mike tried to help Cam stop the bleeding, “Kay? Kay? No, no, no, no. Come on Kay, please stay with me! Kay!” Her dark eyes were hidden from view as her breathing started to slow down and Cameron’s voice began to fade until... nothing.

...

...Well, that was cheerful! What will happen next? I wonder how long it will take to find out! [Evil Laugh]