#so. my mom is under a lot of debt like A Lot of debt right.
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musicalhell · 2 days ago
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Checking in. I know you're planning on getting the fuck of out dodge, and I don't blame you. Unfortunately, I don't have that option. My mom keeps saying that we'll get through it. I don't quite believe it, but I get so mad at all the social media people shitting on Biden, Harris, Walz, and the Obamas for trying to reassure people that it'll be okay and not to give up. Like what do you want them to say, "You're all screwed, goodbye"? They're better people than that.
Thanks! I'm doing all right, or at least as well as can be considered under the circumstances, and hope you are as well.
I should clarify that this is not a snap decision; we have discussed the possibility of emigrating since at least 2020 and knew this election outcome would be our trigger moment. I'm well aware that I'm privileged for even being able to seriously consider this possibility, and there are a lot of people who have no option but to stay and fight it out here. And it's not that I think that fight is pointless or unwinnable--it's important, as is the hope necessary to motivate it. But for us, this begins and ends with one thing: our kids.
When my kids go to school, a voice in the back of my mind reminds me to hug them and tell them I love them, just in case someone takes a gun and opens fire on their class. My older son has already talked about studying abroad and finding a job in another country, because he doesn't want to be burdened with inescapable debt for wanting a higher education or treating an illness or accident he has no control over. My younger son would be angry if you told him that his Muslim best friend didn't have as much right to be in this country as he does. I want what every parent wants for their children--to have a good life, an even better life than mine if possible--and in the near future, that's not going to happen in the United States.
So I'm not giving up hope. I'm doing what every migrant and immigrant has done since human history began: I'm planting my hope in a new garden.
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sleepintro · 6 months ago
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oh god everything is going So Wrong in my family this is going to blow up so bad
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raelle-writing · 10 months ago
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DFF Theory: Non's brother is White
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Warning that this post will contain spoilers for episode 6 of DFF, spoilers under the break
One of my biggest unanswered questions about DFF right now is: Who is New? And will he play a role in the series in the future?
We don't KNOW that New will have a role in the series, of course, but he's talked about a lot. he could just be there to identify Non as the lesser child while New is the golden child, and show why Non feels like he can't talk to his parent about his problems...
So, what do we know about New?
1. Based on the family photos shown in episode 5, we can see that New is EITHER a couple of years older or a couple of years younger than Non. Non is in 11th grade, so that would make New either around 19 or 15.
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2. We know he's studying abroad and his family is sending him money. We don't know where, or what age he is. It's implied that he's older by the comparison, but it's never said specifically (unless there's an honorific that isn't being translated into English). We also know that New needs a lot of monetary support wherever he is abroad, since Non's mom talks about taking out an emergency loan to send him more money.
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So then, IF we assume New is part of the show, who is he? I'm going to go ahead and say he's not Phee because we know Phee is the ❤️, wants to be Non's BF, and he's not abroad.
So who does that leave?
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The three people I can think of are Tan, Perth, and White.
Perth might be the most likely because we haven't seen much of him yet, but he IS in the background of some of the casino scenes. And maybe it's possible that Perth plays New, and New is actually not a good kid and is in with a gang but has his whole family fooled, and the reason he keeps having to ask for money is because he's in debt or keeps losing it...
But I don't think that's likely, so that rules out Perth.
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Next is Tan, who is probably the most obvious choice. But I don't think the timeline makes sense, considering New would be older or younger than Non and Tan is in the same grade as the other main characters. So unless he was able to fake his name, age, and schooling records it would've been impossible for him to transfer into their school in the same year as the rest. It is possible that he could pull that off, but Non's family is shown to not have money, so I don't know how he could've pulled off faking those records. So IMO, Tan is out.
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The last option is White, which I will say, DOES fit the timeline. If Non's brother New is actually younger than him and brilliant, he could be studying abroad in an advanced program, and it might also explain why his family keeps needing to send him money since he wouldn't be able to get a job if he was that young.
White is the youngest of the group since he calls everyone there "Phi" and at the beginning, the friend group teases Tee about "tricking kids." White also shows a lot of capability in tense moments, and is the one who is the best with technology.
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White acts scared and cries a lot when the others are around, but when left to his own devices he steals the tape, watches it, finds a gun and steals it. He's also the one who is good with technology. He mentions in the first episode that he'll work on boosting the signal of their walkie talkie, which isn't a simple thing to do. He's good with computers, probably too good for his age.
I think that of all the people who we've seen so far in the show, White is the most likely to be Non's brother. The comparisons are a misdirect, so we wouldn't suspect him. White has Tee (who is the person who has screwed Non over the most so far) wrapped around his little finger from the beginning. He plays up being cute and helpless until the exact moment he needs to be capable, then he's capable as hell.
I'm not sure that New is going to play a part in this series, honestly. But if he shows up, I think White is the person who fits the bill best.
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a-dauntless-daffodil · 8 months ago
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Lute: “Wait- your new name Vesper isn’t in DEFIANCE of your Morningstar hell family, but a MIRROR of it???”
Vesper Bill: (cocking the gun full of heavenly bullets that their uncle Pentious made for them)
Vesper Bill: “Always was.”
Vesper Bill: (shoots Lute’s halo off her head instead of killing her) (like mother like child)
XD this is so dumb i love
behold my version of the chaggie spear baby's full character profile!
NAME: (redacted)bil(redacted)s Morningstar -> Vesper Bill, one word, not ‘Vesper’ or ‘Bill, always ‘Vesper Bill’.
NATURE: Weapon-born demonic Exorcist angel. Mortal. Slow aging.
OCCUPATION: Overlord, supplier for Rosie’s Emporium and Carmilla Carmine’s weapons business, Exorcist slayer and rehabilitator, cowboy grim reaper cosplayer, garden weeder.     
TERRITORY: Hell’s first community garden.
THEIR “THING”: Soul savings accounts and debt forgiveness programs. Killing murderous Exorcists.   - Entrust your soul to them so you can’t be tempted / pressured into selling it to anyone else. They’ll give it back if you ask, but you do have to ask first, and they’re usually good at figuring out some other way of getting what you want.  - Checks in with other overlords to see which sinners owe stuff and pays the debt / kills / scares off the overlord if they can. Then gives an accidentally terrifying visit to the former indebted sinner so they can say their favorite line of: “I’m Vesper Bill, and yours is due…. Never. It’s been paid off. Congrats.” (hands over a flyer about their moms' Hazbin Hotel)   - Their less favorite line is when they only say the first part of the above, right before killing an Exorcist. All resulting bodies are sold to Rosie, the weapons to Carmilla, and the funds go towards the community garden.
RELATIONS: Their moms run a struggling hotel business, all the live-guests of which are their uncles/aunts/grandpa.
ENEMIES: Most of heaven and a good part of hell. Their full birth name. Flower pollen. Mint.
STRUGGLES: - “It’s not a phase, moms.” (about their goth cowboy theme) – (tips hat at a lady) (walks into car bc they weren’t watching where they were going) – (coughing and sneezing and voice often sounds rough and terrifying bc they have allergies but won’t stop weeding in the garden) - Having tiny stubby demon horns that won’t grow bigger (covers with hat) (hat was a gift and orinially came from Earth) – keeping their demon tail under control (hides it under their coat).
LOVES: - Their moms, the princess of hell and her former Exorcist angel girlfriend. - The hazbin hotel family crew. - Gardening. - Cowboy stuff. - Being annoying to heaven. - Women who could vaporize them physically or emotionally with a smile or a knife either way.
PROUDEST MOMENT: Successfully infiltrating heaven, tricking Lute with a pretend hatred of their moms, wrecking shit, getting a weapon’s upgrade from their uncle, and leading a handful of now former Exorcists back down to hell with them on the way out.
POWERS: - Angelic resilience. - Demonic strength. - Summoning or banishing anyone who’s soul they have in trust, from or to the place of their choice (within the Pride Ring) (mostly used as taxi service). - Skilled at cutting weeds and brush with a scythe. - Good dancer. - Responsible gun owner and operator. - Kids love them.    
Trivia: Got into their cowboy phase after a brief one-time visit to Earth where they played guardian angel for an actual cowgirl for a day. Thinks about her a lot. Ready to go be a nuisance to Heaven again if she ends up there and wants company- is also trying to grow her favorite flowers down here in Hell, just in case. (also puts on red cheek spots makeup everyday, bc they are Charlie's kid too and PROUD of it)
and that's it, that's my take on the chaggie spear baby idea thing, all grown up!
it's ridiculous. i had so much FUN with it
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wheresmymilliondollarman · 2 years ago
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reader x xander Hawthorne please 🥺
xander hawthorne x fem!reader
hcs about meeting & dating xander hawthorne
a/n: HI IM BACK! & tysm for the request!! xander is so underrated 👎 thats my bae fr🫶 currently working on other stuff but wanted to do this request bc i immediately had ideas for this!! i still don't completely get how school worked in the books, so if there's any wrong info please bare w me. if this wasn't what you had in mind feel free to send a specific request! again, this is kinda fic like but still calling it hcs.
word count: 7.3k
warnings: long backstory again, mentions of death, sexual themes. (pls lmk if you see anything else that should be labeled as a warning)
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you’ve always lived on the middle side class of things. you were, thankfully, never poor, but also never rich enough where you could afford the more luxurious things in life.
your mother owned a small bakery 3 blocks away from your home, while your father worked for an electrician company. both jobs were stable enough to provide for necessities and both your parents enjoyed their occupations.
your parents always told you to never worry about money, but it still made you reluctant to ask them for things you wanted in fear they couldn't afford it. which is why you always tried to fix your problems yourself.
if you ever needed money, you would work for your mother at her bakery in exchange. while it was still your mom giving you the money, it made you feel better that you earned the cash. 
you later found yourself working at the bakery even without needing money. you liked working with your mom, and it was fun to learn how to make different types of sweets. 
at school, you were always a studious person. you worked hard to get a's and never anything below. you wanted to make your parents proud and feel as if their hard work toward the family wasn't for nothing. 
you knew it would be practically impossible for your family to afford your college career without going into debt. so you always looked at scholarships and what they looked for in students, so you tried to make yourself appear well-rounded. 
you joined student council, mathletes (although math wasn't your forte),library club, chess club,art club, film club, yearbook, culinary club, asl club, and a few others over the years. to say your schedule after school was always booked was a major understatement.
although your favorite was always the art club. you never even knew you had an artistic side until you joined. you explored it more with your membership and soon became quite good. 
during your freshman year you took your first art class. you were excited to learn under a professional for the first time. 
after a few lessons, your first major assignment was realism project; draw somebody in your everyday life. 
you were both excited and a bit nervous. you had drawn people before, but never someone you knew, and you wanted to make a great first impression on your teacher. 
you ended up choosing your mother as your muse; your father could never stay still enough to be drawn. it took a lot of long nights when your mother wasn't working to finish your drawing. you could've just taken a photo of her and drawn that, but you pushed for the extra mile of drawing her from real life.
you were satisfied when you finished, and your parents were in awe by your work - telling you over and over how talented you were and your teacher would surely be impressed. still, you were anxious about turning it in the next day in class. 
your assignment was a big hit with your teacher, you got a perfect A+. she commented on your beautiful handiwork, noting that your drew from real life. she also advised how you should consider switching to an advanced class since it was obvious you were already beyond a beginner course. 
you wanted to decline at first, being intimidated by the thought of being in a class with others who were just as good or better than you - but your gut instinct told you it was the right choice to make. 
it proved to be right because by the spring you were already one of the best in your art class. you expanded into all types of art: abstract, realism, expressionism, digital, etc. your favorite and most notable works tended to be the realistic ones of people, place, and objects. art had become a part of your life in the best way. 
you entered a numerous amount of competitions and always come back on top; it got to the paint your shelfs had all been filled to the brim. you parents of course were elated with your success and were never prouder. 
you soon were able to make some money with your art skills as well. you got commissioned for mainly portraits of family and friends, mostly to give as gifts or to have in their household. it made you feel proud someone out there had a piece of your art and that people loved your work enough to want you to paint their family. 
the biggest commission you've ever taken was a 40x30 portrait of an older man. the request was anonymous, so you weren't sure who the man was or if the request was for himself or another person. 
the project took a few weeks due to your work load and having to paint such fine details on a huge canvas. you were happy with the outcome and were astonished to find out the anonymous buyer had given you 10k for your work. it was way over your normal pay grade.
your success didn't end there. in the summer before your sophomore year, you received a fancy envelope in the mail. it was addressed to you and sent from heights country day school. 
at first, you were confused as to why they would send you anything. everyone in texas knew of heights country day, it was one of the best private schools in the state. almost all parents want their kids to be a student there, but the tuition was awfully expensive, so if you weren't rich you were most likely not getting in. 
you didn't wait to tell your parents before your ripped open the envelop in anticipation. you unfolded the letter inside and skimmed over the introductions.
you were shocked to find out you were being awarded a full paid scholarship to attend heights country day school for the rest of highschool. 
your first thought was to assume it was a prank, or a scammer trying to get your info. but you examined the letter further; the seal of the school and the dean signature did look quite authentic. then you noticed the number listed on the bottom of the page. 
you figured you should just call and check for confirmation. you told yourself the worst case scenario would be they laugh at your face and tell you the letter isn't real. 
you definitely did not want to inform your parents until you made the call, that way if it wasn't real, their hopes wouldn't be crushed and they would never even know about it. 
it took an hour of pacing in your room to finally work up the courage to make the call. you kept tour expectations low to avoid disappointment. 
the secretary of the school was quick to pick up after two rings, and you briefly explained the letter you received. you held your breath for a second until she told you to "please hold for a moment." 
when she returned she informed you you were being transferred to the dean's phone. your nerves were through the roof at this point. you wanted to believe it was a good sign the dean wanted to talk to you, but maybe he wanted to tell you himself the letter was unfortunately a phony and they do not give scholarships to art students.
the dean finally picked up the call and you both exchanged greetings. from there he explained how the letter was, in fact, very real.
the school had seen a work of yours and dug deeper into your portfolio and academic career. they were very impressed with your achievement, especially given your age. the board was all unanimous in agreeing to offer you the scholarship because of your artistic talents and would love for you to become a part of their school. 
the rest of the call was a blur to you. when the call ended you stood stunned in your room for a minute. you had to pinch yourself to remind yourself this was real and happening. 
once you snapped out of it, you were jumping up and down in joy. you truly were elated to possibly be a student at one of the top private schools in texas or even the country. 
you wasted no more time informing your parents when they arrived home. they also thought you were just pulling their leg, but after you told them you had confirmation - you swear their jaws hit the floor. 
your parents were just as excited for you. your mother took the liberty of baking all your favorites in celebration, even lemon scones, which were your favorite.
before you knew it, summer was over, and it was time to get back into school. you spent the rest of your break prepping to attend heights - gathering books, supplies, and a uniform (which was mostly paid by the school). 
this was your first time wearing a uniform, and you were a bit delighted to wear it. it was a burgundy blazer with a navy crest embossed, with the school motto in latin, a white dress shirt, and a pleated plaid skirt. 
it screamed, "i go to a really expensive private school."
it was nerve-wracking that you were now going to school with some of the richest and elite children in america. you'd hope it wouldn't be obvious where your social class stood, or if it was, they wouldn't think of you any less for it.
you did your best to stray from stereotypical assumptions, but then again you've never interacted with people of a such higher social class - you really had no idea what to expect. 
nonetheless, you wanted to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, so you held your head up high when the first day came around. 
the school in no way looked like a regular public school, it shared way more similar qualities with college campuses. it was beautifully constructed, and you had a feeling the inside was even more stunning.
your parents dropped you off in front of the twin archways of the school, wishing you a good first day, and they were only a call away if you needed anything. you responded with your goodbyes and now stood on the pavement of heights day.
a part of you was glad your parents left so soon; you loved them to death, but their older modeled car stood out amongst the other deluxe cars parked and driving into school grounds. the last thing you wanted on your first day was to stick out like a sore thumb.
you took a deep breath before you took your strides through the front door.
you were happy to see no one gave you obvious looks and stares when you walked through, like those of a movie. everyone seemed preoccupied with their own things. you were silently thankful for that.
you made your way to the office on your own; luckily it was very near the front entrance with a big sign that said 'office of registrar'. making it very easy for you to find it without having to awkwardly ask another peer.
you walked to a desk of who you assumed was a secretary and gave her your name and stated your business. she instantly recognized your name and made a swift move to hand you your schedule.
the secretary informed you about the school's modular scheduling, which means they operate on a six-day cycle, and classes meet anywhere from three to five times a cycle. you were free to fit in lunch where you saw fit. you honestly didn't quite grasp it, but you figured you'd just learn along the way.
she also let you know another student had been assigned to show you around school. that's how you ended up meeting rebecca laughlin.
rebecca was a shy and a bit nervous girl, but seemed sweet nonetheless. you briefly got to know her as she showed you the different rooms; the archive room, the reflector (basically the cafeteria you realized), gym, the art center etc.
she was in the same grade as you, and had a twin sister named emily also in the school. from the small mention of her sister you sensed it was likely a sore subject. you took over from there talking a bit about yourself and your interests.
rebecca mentioned she was also new this year, having moved to texas just recently with her family but frequently visiting before that. she was able to go on a private tour with her sister over the summer, which is why she knew the place quite well already.
you two chatted a bit more until the tour ended. the last stop was the art center, and you were more than thrilled to go inside and check it out. rebecca was about to enter along with you before she saw her twin sister and people who you assume were her friends , a boy and a girl.
you turned around to glance at them and saw they were waving her over. you could tell rebecca was hesitant to just leave you for them, but you reassured her she provided an excellent tour. she reluctantly went off toward her friends, not before giving you her number and letting you know if you had any questions you could reach her.
you took a peak back at where rebecca and her friends were walking away. they all look straight out of a teen vogue catalog. emily was identical to rebecca, same red hair, eyes, and face. you could tell emily was more confident than rebecca however. there was another girl, dark eyes and even darker brown wavy hair - she was so beautiful it felt unreal. and lastly with them was a boy, he was quite tall, dark-skinned with light honey brown eyes, and a head full of curly hair. he was handsome and easily fit in with the rest of the model-looking girls.
you must've looked a second too long because he turned his head in your direction and you both made eye contact.
you quickly snapped your head away,not waiting for his reaction, and made your way to the arts center. you cursed yourself for being caught looking a bit, and now you were slightly embarrassed.
when you reached the arts center, you were amazed. it was a big building with different rooms, it was decorated as if was a museum, marble floors and pillars, archways, etc. and everything about it was engaging.
you took the time to explore the whole place; you found several different art rooms you assumed were open to students, different supply closest, classrooms for teaching, and even a few soundproof rooms. at some point you ran into a few teachers and got to know them and what they taught. you had a few of them in your schedule, so it was great to know where their classes were.
before you knew it, it was time for your first class and then eventually to your last of the day. for lunch you had opted to eat what you brought from home in the archive because you didn't feel like going through the anxiety of finding somewhere alone to sit in the refectory.
it ended up being ironic because you made a friend in there who was also eating lunch. you were sitting alone at small table when a blonde haired girl with her lunch approached you.
her name was mia, and you both instantly clicked. mia had noticed you eating at the table alone and thought she'd introduce herself since she hadn't since you on campus before. she was also a sophomore, seventeen, and she was part of height country day dance team.
she has almost always eaten in the archive since her freshman year; she enjoyed the quiet and privacy since few students ever ate or hung out there too long - you both had that in common.
after that great first meeting, the two of you became best friends. you would occasionally have a class or two with her depending on the schedule, but you both always made time to see each other throughout the day and eat lunch in the archive room.
she later on introduced you to a few of her other friends, that were now your friends as well. they were all pretty wealthy, but it didn't change the fact they were all genuine and friendly people. the fear of making friends at your new school was gone by the end of your first week.
that's set up the rest of your fantastic first year at heights country day school.
you fit in immediately with the art center and other art peers. you all carried the same passions, and it was very fun to learn from others. of course, you all intimidated to be around people so advanced and mostly rich, but it only pushed you to work even harder.
your teachers were all so great. they were also tough critiques, being professionals and all, but you took any critique you got with stride- making you a better artist.
your non-art-related classes were more difficult and work-loaded than you were use to, but you were quick to catch up with the rest of the class.
a few kids at school were stuck up and pretentious, but mostly the students weren't too far off from normal teenagers. and like high school there were cliques and popular people. you never bothered yourself with any of that, yet you always heard three reoccurring last names - hawthorne, laughlin, and calligaris.
you knew laughlin meant rebecca and emily, and it didn't take you long to figure out the other last names must belong to the other two people she was with during your first day. it made sense to you they were well-known, just their looks alone made you feel like they're superior to you.
you could've asked mia or literally paid attention to gossip around you if you wanted to know the first names of the boy & girl with the laughlins, but it honestly slipped your mind. frankly, you were too occupied with navigating your new school life to really care too much about it.
the most shocking event to happen that year was the dead of emily laughlin.
you weren't close friends with rebecca - you two did have a few chats and texts here and there; she once or twice joined mia and you in the archive. but you still felt horrible her sister died and felt the need to reach out.
you gave her your condolences when you saw her back at school, and let her know you were there for anything. she thanked you, but you could tell she needed space to grieve.
you still felt the need to do something, so you came up with the idea to make her a portrait and gifted it to her wrapped. you didn't see her reaction to it (she opened it when she got home), but she let you know she deeply appreciated it.
after that the rest of your year was quick to come and go. and before you knew it, it was summer again.
your summer stayed uneventful, but fun. you worked almost full-time with your mom in her bakery and spent time with your friends.
one afternoon, you were working the counter and you saw a familiar face walk in - a certain handsome, honey-eyed, curly-haired guy.
you greeted him as you normally did customers and asked for his order. he replied, asking for blueberry scones.
you nodded and went to get the scones from your display. that's when he spoke up again, commenting on how he'd seen you from school.
you were taken aback he’d remembered you but you nodded agreeing and replied you were new sophomore year.
"what happens to be your name, baker girl?"
"y/n. and what happens to be yours, new customer?"
he gave a dramatic offended look, hand over his heart - "you mean your telling me you don't know the name of the most dashing man at heights country day school?"
you shrugged, "i suppose not."
"when then i ought to fix that, the name is xander, milady," bowing down to give a kiss on the dorsal side of your hand.
oh he was charming alright. 
to hide your blushing face you busied yourself with packing his scones into a paper bag and rang him up to the register. 
"very serious question...how do you feel about blueberry scones?"
"they're good, but i think the lemon ones are better." 
you've never seen someone look so taken aback as xander did in that moment. he looked as if he'd just got the news his favorite boy band broke up. 
"are you alright-"
"what do you mean you prefer the lemon ones!"
xander then went into a tagent on blueberry scones stomp the lemon ones any day, and only psychos favored the lemons. you countered his claims, defending your favorite treat. you both were going back and forth until a bell rang throughout the bakery, signaling a customer has entered. 
"i suppose that's my sign to take my leave, but trust this debate is not over."
you rolled your eyes playfully, but you fought back a smile at the implication you two would speak again. 
he handed his black card to pay, and you tried not to look astonished at his casual display of the card. as you were swiping his card, he pulled a scone out of his brown bag and laid it on the counter in front of you. 
"here, it's my treat. this is the start of my fool-proof plan to convince you blueberry scones are far more superior." 
you tried to decline or offer him a refund for that scone, but ever the gentleman, he wouldn't allow it. he was out the door before you could protest anymore. leaving with a, "until we meet again," and a wink. 
you hated yourself for liking his annoying handsome beautiful smirk. 
as he requested, you did eat the scone. you admit blueberry is delicious, but nothing compared to the citrus of your lemon ones. plus, you found a new motivation to keep favoring them. 
that was the first of xander's many visits to the bakery that summer. always the same order, and always leaving one for you to eat. he really was on a mission to change your mind. 
sometimes out of spite you'd slip in a lemon scone into his bag to rile him up when he opened it. it always resulted in xander coming back the next day throwing a dramatic hissy fit. you kinda found it cute. 
you two continued your light banter about scones, but ventured into different topics such as school, hobbies, and exploding robots (his favorite topic). even as you worked behind the counter aiding customers, he was there talking your ear off. not that you minded at all, it was nice to have someone other than your mom to talk to. 
you found out xander was very smart; he builds replicas of star wars droids and was a three-time world champion at building machines. you'd never known someone with such intellect. whenever you brought it up, however, he'd brush it off saying it's a family thing and his brothers are much wiser. 
you briefly got a synopsis of his family, and it was quite intriguing. he had four half-brother; nash, grayson, and jameson - all sharing the same mother, but none of the boys' fathers seemed to be in the picture. all of them were basically raised by their grandfather, tobias hawthorne, who was obsessed with riddles and games. he sounded like an interesting man to say the least. 
you opened up to him a bit about your family and getting a scholarship into the school. which now looked not as impressive talking to a genius yet, xander was amazed at this, asking to see some of your work. 
you were suddenly self-conscious about your art. you thought a rich guy like himself probably had seen hundreds of artworks better than yours and done by people younger than your age. 
so, you lied and said you didn't have any pictures, and that you'll show him another time. you're gonna stall that as much as possible.
you guys later exchanged numbers, now being able to communicate outside your bakery hours during the week.
xander favorite thing was to spam you with pictures of himself eating blueberry scones, and you swore you were gonna block him everytime.
summer went by in a flash, and the school went back into session; you were entering your junior year. 
xander and you continued to hang out all the time, even more than you did with your own friends. he was always the one to find you around school, no matter the schedule you had that day.
he loved to sneak up on you and jump scare you, making your heart leap out your chest everytime. you would hit his arm in retaliation everytime and swore you were gonna unfriend him if he didn’t stop. you never actually did though.
xander made sure to pull you out your comfort zone. he sometimes dragged you (sometimes physically) to the refectory to go and eat with him. occasionally, his friends would join as well. rebecca was easy to talk to since you already knew her, and thea was…. complicated, but she had her good parts once she warmed up to you. 
you then demanded xander eat lunch with you and mia to compensate for eating at the refectory every now and then.
he obliged, but you told him it was better if he didn’t after he got kicked out the archive for talking loudly. he swore the archive keeper had it out for him.
he continued the ritual of giving you a blueberry muffin made by the chefs of his home. sometimes you'd bring your own lemon scone and give it to him, negotiating that you'll eat your scone if he eats his.
he'd always agree, but eat it begrudgingly. you swore he was warming up to the scone.
you two took your hangouts to after school. if you worked, it'd be at the bakery and if not, you'd go to the park and just walk.
you invited him over to your house one day after school, xander excitedly accepted. you were a bit nervous he'd think poorly of your home since you were sure he lived in a glorious mansion.
you introduced him to both of your parents, and they greeted him kindly, but your mom embarrassingly asked if he was your boyfriend.
you were quick to make a joke to cover your pink cheeks, "mom, we'd never work out we have complete different tastes in scones."
xander cut in, "well, you know what they say, opposites do attract."
was he flirting with you, or were you reading into it? and why did you like it.
xander ended up really enjoying your house; he even once said he found it more peaceful than his own. so, you guys now frequently hung out at your house after school to talk, banter, study, and or even help each other with projects.
even though you tried to avoid it, xander ending up seeing your art.
it was unintentional; you were seated at a table in an art space working on a sketch, of whatever came to mind, with your earphones in. you didn't hear xander walk in and call your name.
you noticed his presence when he swiped your drawing book. you quickly took out your earphones and tried to reach for it back, but he'd already seen your drawing. and to make matters worse it was a sketch of him.
you were mortified, but he just looked at it in admiration.
he asked if you made it, and you shyly said you had.
"can't believe you were trying to hide your talent from me. now, as an apology ur going to let me keep this."
you immediately said no, and went to take it out of his hand. but xander was quicker and took the page from the journal and held it above his head, out of reach.
after a lot of jumping to reach it, which was required because he's very tall, you gave up and let him have it. xander was pleased with that, and has carried it everywhere in his wallet since then.
he now always pestered you about your art, wanting to see it or wanting you to make a piece for him. you had to admit, you found it flattering.
to make it fair, you wanted to see him in action working on something. he was delighted to show you his robots, and some of his process making them.
you were amazed at his talent, but he could be careless at times.
for instance, you two were in the lab room and you were watching him working on a new formula to fuel his robots. he turned on bunsen burner and before you knew it, it exploded.
he ended up with a missing eyebrow, and you were laughing hysterically. you still have pictures of him without it much to xander's dismay.
you knew you'd grown a crush on the charismatic guy, but you were too scared to admit it.
you weren't sure if he felt the same way, and a part of you felt silly for even thinking he would.
you confided in mia about it, and she was convinced xander was head over heels for you. but you still weren't quite sure, and you didn't want to damage a really good friendship.
in middle of october, xander's grandfather, tobias hawthorne passed away.
he wasn't at school that day, but you assumed he was out sick or doing something important. it wasn't until you heard the news from peers talking about it did you put it together.
you immediately sent him a text sending your condolences and asked if he needed anything.
you didn't hear from him for the rest of the week, which worried you - but you knew, like rebecca, people tend to want their space when loved ones pass.
it was a friday night, you were studying for an upcoming test in your world history class on monday, when you hear a sound from your window.
you ignored it at first thinking it was a wondering animal or just trees against each other. but then you heard it repeatedly, and you realized it was sounding more like a tap against the glass.
you carefully slid your curtains from the window and took a peak outside. you then came face to face with the boy you hadn't seen all week.
it took you a moment to register it was him, you yelped at the first sight of someone outside. but then he started motioning for you to open the window and then you noticed it was xander hawthorne.
you unlatched the lock on your window and slide it open enough he could fit through. but it didn't stop him from tripping on your window still and falling onto the ground with a 'thud'.
"shh! my parents might've heard that!"
"wow, instead of helping a poor fallen man up, you scold him. what ever happened to warm hospitality?"
you ignored him and held your hand out to help him up. once he was stood up, you waited for him to explain why he was here.
he went on to say he didn't have a specific reason, he just needed to get out of his mansion home. "the first place i thought of to go was here, with you."
you swore your heart leaped when he said that. you were praying to whoever was listening that your face wasn't a tomato. how do you even respond to such a heartfelt statement?
luckily, you didn't need to respond to that because he was quick to follow up his words.
"actually, you seem to be the first person i think about every day. no matter what i'm doing, I'll start to think of what'd you be saying if you were there. anytime i see the sunset, my thought shifts to what it look like if you painted it. hell, i've even found myself eating, yes eating, lemons scones because they bring me reminiscence of you."
xander crept closer as his words flowed out. and you were frozen to your spot. heart pounding louder as he took another step closer to you - leaving less than a foot of space between the two of you.
unsure of how to react you said the first thing that came to mind.
"well, uh, maybe you should think about inflation that usually keeps my mind busy." idiot. why do you open your big mouth.
xander gives you a grin, obviously amused at your nervous rambling like the little jerk he is. he was so close to you, you were embarrassed at the possibility he could he your heart pounding.
he moves his right hand to the side of your face, brushing his thumb over your cheek - eyes never leaving yours. you didn't have the strength to look away or even move, as if he was a vampire who compelled you to stay still.
"i've never known someone to get red so easily as you."
you then realized how much of your face was burning, and then after that statement it heated up even further. stupid nervous system.
"i didn't think your face could get a deeper scarlet than it was a moment ago," he laughs, "it's quite adorable honestly."
oh, god. this guy had your heart fluttering at after calling you adorable.
"i wonder how red you'll get when i kiss you."
you did not have a moment to process what xander utter because at the next second his collided his lips upon yours.
nothing prepared you for how exhilarating kissing him felt. your knees gave out a little, and xander was quick to keep you steady. you weren't even ashamed, stuck in a trance by the kiss. it was as if a scene from a jane austen novel had come to life.
boy, was he a good kisser. it was unfair really, how perfect he could he at anything he wants.
when the two of you pulled away, he was the first to speak up.
"you're about as red as crayon right now."
that was enough to bring you back to reality and shove him.
immediately after that night, the two of you began dating.
at first you thought it was unsaid that the both of you were now dating, but you should've known better than to believe xander hawthorne would take the subtle way.
the following monday you were in the refectory waiting on xander, who'd ask you to meet him there. however, you hadn't seen him yet, so you just sat down at an open table.
suddenly, you hear some sort of a mechanical noises coming from behind you. you turned you heard toward it and nothing could have prepared you to see a life sized R2-D2 robot gliding straight towards you - holding flowers in its utility arm.
what the hell was in your breakfast that morning?
when it made it way in front of you, you were completely stunned. you could feel the gazes of people in the room also witnessing this. the robot look scarily realistic to the ones in the star wars movies, xander really was a genius.
the robot extended another arm to reveal a small envelope. you took it in your own hand, along with the flowers.
WILL YOU BE MY GIRLFRIEND?
a. yes
b. a
c. kiss me
you rolled your eyes at his antics, maybe genius was an overstatement. then you noticed some scribble at the bottom.
p.s. NUTR NUAORD
at first sight of the words - you thought you were having a stroke, but then you figured out you had to unscrambled it to reveal the words 'TURN AROUND'.
of course, xander was always one for puzzles.
you follow the directions of the note and saw the man himself standing before you with a basket full of both lemon and blueberry scones.
"a tough choice, i know. personally, option c is the most appealing."
you wanted to smack the smugness of out him, but instead you opted to answer with letter c.
dating xander was chaotic to say the least, but you wouldn't have it any other way.
you two were never allowed to go on ordinary dates, xander always made sure they were memorable.
for your first date he took you to an escape room, but reserved the whole thing just for the two of you. xander was obviously a pro at the game, but you were quick to figure things out as well. the two of you got the quickest escape time.
at the end of it, he gifted you gold chained necklace with an 'x' and a golden key. you wore it all the time after.
another time you were taken to a amusement park, also reserved for the two of you. you clung on to xander on the scariest rides, much to his enjoyment. it wasn't until the end you saw how there had been pictures taken of you both while on the rides - your expression being fear on almost all of them while your arm was tight grabbing xander's. of course his face was just his charming giant grin of excitement.
he made sure to keep them all and put it as had lock screen despite how much you told him not to.
xander was now way more lenient about the lemon scone thing, and you can proudly say he even enjoys them now. nonetheless, the tradition at lunch is still on-going.
the most nerve wracking part of your relationship was meeting his family.
you learned just how rich xander and his family are. you knew he came from a lot of money, but you were never informed he was related to a billionaire. you couldn't comprehend how having that much money was possible, but xander, of course, acted nonchalant about the whole thing. rich people.
his brothers were all pleasant to meet. nash was the nicest, similar to his brother, he was a charmer with a country accent. grayson was more closed off, and didn't say a lot, but greeted you nicely. jameson, was a wild card, he was a bit drunk, but everyone collectively chose to remain obvious to it. he was also very flirty with you, but you knew it was mainly to annoy xander.
apparently it worked because the following day jameson was found with green hair.
you were introduced to his aunt and mother. his aunt was also pleasant, keeping greeting formal. his mother was.... interesting... the interaction was small, but based on some remarks and backhanded compliments; she looked down on your lower status. xander was quick to defend you and apologize after.
you later were asked to open the front door with a jumble of keys that all looked the same. you assumed this was suppose to be a test of some sort, but you weren't a mastermind at puzzles games like the other hawthornes.
instead, you found a big rock near the front entrance and smashed it against the door locks until they broke.
the brothers looked all bewildered at your action. xander was the first to burst out laughing, come around you to wrap and arm on your shoulder and kiss your forehead.
"that's my girl. who needs logic when you have big rocks."
xander was your biggest supporter in everything. he loved every piece of art you made, and never let you scrap or throw any of it anyway. anything you ever drew or painted him, he would keep it framed and hung in a section of his room dedicated to your work.
he shows up to every art show you have, bragging to people around how his amazing girlfriend painted the work. you always blush in embarrassment, but it never failed to make you happy.
you showed the same support for his activities as well. you cheered him on at my robotic competitions and you were his assistant in helping with small tasks during his building and experiments.
xander made robots were mainly made for doing simple things in overly complicated ways. he also occasionally gifted you robots for small annoying tasks you would offhandedly mention to him.
for instance, xander was walking you to your next class, carrying your backpack as he always insisted it was his job to do. you joked about how you wished he was always around to carry your stuff so your arms wouldn't be so tired.
a few weeks later he gave you a small robot designed to carrying items such as a backup and books. he even gave it wheels so it could follow you around the school like a puppy.
with xanders extroverted personality, it shouldn't surprised you he is not opposed to any PDA. which thea always gags to in the background if she's there to witness it.
he always has his arm around you, preferably your waist, or interlocks your hands together. he loves to gives you random kisses on the forehead or cheek. xander's favorite thing is to surprise you with a kiss on the lips in public, just so he can see you blush.
your first time with xander was very romantic and he made sure it would be. there were candles all over his bedroom and rose petals scattered on the ground. 
although xander was known for being a bit cocky, he was just as nervous as you that night, wanting to make everything special just for you. 
once he made sure you were comfortable - it was like a switch flipped - his cocky persona was back ten fold. 
let’s just say the next day you couldn’t feel your legs, nor could you hide the multiple purple marks left on you. 
of course, ever the gentlemen he was - he made you breakfast in bed the next morning. 
you were even more shocked to find out that was his first time. why is he miraculously good at everything?  
you hung out a lot more at the hawthorne mansion, xander showed you different passages around it. the house was so huge it felt like you've only ever seen 50% of it.
you grew closer to the other hawthorne brothers, taking part in family game night. you after a game of their version of chutes and ladders, you were quick to turn down some offers to play a game.
you also became good friends with avery grambs, you had first met her at the will reading, xander inviting you for moral support. you related to how out of place her and her sister felt around highly rich people.
the events of the will were shocking, but you were happy to find out she'd be sticking around. her moving into the mansion made it easier to hang out with her. you helped her adjust to heights country day and became close.
you and xander both helped avery with what you could in solving the clues his grandather left behind for avery and the hawthornes. although, you kept quiet about the fact xander knew a lot more than he was telling.
however, xander was reluctant to let you join them on anymore research after almost getting shot at when you went along with avery and jameson.
you’d never seen him so mad at his brother, cursing him up and down for putting you in that situation.
xander was insistent for you to stay behind from then on, but you relented and kept tagging along with the others on their little scavenger hunts. xander realized he couldn’t stop you, so he forbid you from going on any clue hunts without him by your side.
it was cute how protective he was, but a little annoying too.
one day you were walking around the mansion with xander looking for jameson, who had wondered off to who knew where. you came across an unfamiliar office. you had asked xander who it belonged to and he informed you it was his grandfathers, now technically avery's.
the two of you entered the office space, you figured xander was curious if anything had changed since his grandfather's passing or if he had maybe left another clue behind.
you were looking around until you eyes came across something behind his desk - a large portrait of who you assumed was tobias hawthorne. upon further inspection, you came to realize another thing.
you painted this portrait.
"holy shit."
even beyond the grave tobias hawthorne keeps on spurring surprises.
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romana-after-dark · 1 year ago
Text
The Wrong Way: Chapter 6
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Dark!Joel Miller x Fem!Reader Tommy Miller x reader (secondary)
Masterlist
Spotify playlist
Summery: You are sold to Joel to clear up some of your fathers' debts, and he takes you back to his house where him, Tommy, and high ranking members of his raiding trope stay. Joel is mean, cruel, and hash, but had small moments of softness that confuse you in your venerable state. Over time, you get to know him and Tommy, and see different sides of each, an both are hiding secrets. Was it possible to fall in love under these circumstances? Or was that just another way Joel was fucking with you?
Aka: my mom sold me to One Direction
WARNINGS FOR FULL FIC, NOT CHAPTER BY CHAPTER UNLESS SOMETHING NEW IS ADDED AFTER MASTER WARNING LIST: DEAD DOVE DO NOT EAT!!!! Fic contains graphic depictions of sexual assault, rape, molestation, dubcon/non con. Blow Jobs, PIV sex, lose of virginity, sex trafficking, past incest, death/people dying everywhere, Stockholm syndrome, falling for your rapist, victim blaming, torcher, branding, physical abuse, rape (not Joel), somno, dub con on tommy? idk he's not really into it but feels like he has to, self-harm/depression/suicidal thoughts (not a lot) but fair warning, major age gaps, love triangle, pregnancy/birth, threats of abortion, major character death, mentions of potential csa/child abuse but does not even come close to happening, forced pregnancy, forced housewife shit, breeding, breeding kink?!?!
Heavy on the warning for guns
**************************
Waking up with Joel meant morning sex, and now that he was recovered from food poisoning after a whole day of no sex, he was rock hard by the time you were up, rocking his hips in the curve of your ass. Not long later, he was fucking you on your sides, arms wrapped tightly around. You avoided his kiss; his breath smelled gross due to the puking, and he was courteous enough to keep his face buried in your hair. You were starting to find you really liked when he took you from behind, it hit something delicious inside you, bringing you close with every pump; how did he have this much energy so early?
“Uh, uh, uh” The sounds come out your mouth in rhythm to his thrusts, warmth covering your body, the pleasure building as you clung to Joel’s strong arm wrapped your middle, holding on for dear life. “Joel, Joel I’m close, please touch me? Gonna cum again”
“You wanna cum again, little one?” He panted, hot breath in your neck, arms moving up to grope your breasts. “Not every day I get two out of yuh”
“Yes sir, please” You whimper for him, even as his hand crept further up your body, away from where you need him, but you trusted Joel. “Wanna cum again, wanna cum with you.”
Suddenly, his large gruff hand clamped around your throat your breathing laboured and raspy as you lurch, and his face was right next to your, beard scratching your skin. “You gonna tell me why your fuck’n brother was here last night?”
All the blood in your body drained out of your body, a million questions in your head as you wrapped your hands around his large one trying to pull him off of you. How did he know? How much did he hear? Did your refusal to go with Zach seal not only your fate, but Zach’s Lorenzo’s, fuck… would Tommy be punished for this? “Joel, please.”
His hand tightened. “Answer me” He was inside you still, the reminisce of your ruined orgasm leaving you shaking
“H-he wanted to rescue me” you rasp out, wriggling against his body with your hand on him, trying to get out. 
“Then why the fuck are you still here?” His breath smelled like puke and morning breath, overpowering the smell of sex and adding to your heightened terror. Would Joel actually kill you for not going? 
“I din wa’a,” You cough, your throat hurting as your breathing is restricted. “Joel, ca- breath.” dark spots came around your eyes
He lessened his grip and you gasp, deep sputtering breathes filling your lungs again. “How the fuck did he get in? Where was Lorenzo?” You decide to let Lorenzo live, he knew too much about your brother, and you could still save Zach if you played your cards right. Besides, he was no Nick, you didn’t enjoy getting people hurt.
“Lorenzo was in the bathroom, I don’t know how he got in! Please,” You continued writhing as Joel was still inside you, and he began fucking you again but did not let go of your throat. “I didn’t wanna go, I wanted to stay with you.”
Joel’s speed was slow and steady, pulling all the way back and slamming in, making breathing even harder. “Do I need to kill your fucking brother?”
“No! No, Joel, please, I stayed, didn’t I? Please don’t.”
He stopped choking you, his neck around your throat suddenly so soft, his lips kissing your bruised neck and he changed positions; you on your back, Joel knelt before you as he fucked into you faster. “I won’t for now, little one, but just know if you leave, he’s the first place I’m going to and I’m making his death as slow as Nicks, understood?”
Looking up at him, still holding his hand around your neck, you nod frantically. “I won’t, I won’t Joel, I swear!” You cry; you want Tommy, but after last night you weren’t sure he’d come to your rescue anymore… and calling for him would solidify his death and yours, either way.
Sitting back and finally letting go of your throat and you get a full breath in, Joel pulls out and jacks off on you're body before collapsing back onto you, his heavy and ever-oddly comforting weight on you, despite the fact bruised your neck, you were so happy to have him with you, warm and gentle, you wrap your arms around his middle. 
Joel kisses you, and you aren’t even bothered by the smell anymore, just so happy for the affection. “Good, because if you ever try to fucking leave again I will tie you to the bed and set this fucking house on fire.”
You didn’t even have it in you to be scared, or hurt, or sad… you just swore up and down between kisses that you were his, and you never wanted to leave. When things calmed down, you were in his arms again, resting as he kissed your bruising neck.
“You play guitar?” You ask softly, looking at the 6 string all dusty resting up against his dresser.
“Use-tah. Long time ago.”
“Oh…” You couldn’t help the disappointment in your voice. “Okay”
Joel turned to you, his mouth leaving your neck. “Why?”
You kept looking away, embarrassed you got your hopes up. “Nothin”
Joel took your face in his jaw, turning you, forcing you to look at him. “Tell me, little one”
“I just… I was kinda hoping to hear something… that’s all, not a big deal”
His eyes darted between yours, you could practically hear him thinking, before he let go and abruptly stood up. “Don’t work, anyway. Needs strings. Besides, I havn’t played in years.”
“It’s okay” You smile up at him. Music would be nice… Zach played a little bit of piano, your mom had taught him some. He could play Red River Valley, singing it for you sometimes until Joel’s men destroyed the piano… that a few years ago, long before you every met Joel, or Tommy. You did recognize one of the men, one who lives here now. His name was Aiden. He was an asshole like Nick, but after Nick was skinned alive, he didn’t dare look at you. 
After a bath, (which you made Joel brush his teeth beforehand) you were back in your room as he left for ‘business’, and as expected, the door opened around noon, with a nervous looking Tommy entering carrying a tray with bread and the leftover soup from last night. “Hey honey- What the fuck!?” Tommy about dropped the food as he set it down and rushed over to you, hand on your neck. “Fucking hell, what did he do? When was this?” The frantic worry in his eyes was evident as he tilted your head with a soft, gentle grip on your chin, a contrast to Joel’s harsh one earlier this morning. 
But you pulled back, and Tommy let go of you. “It’s nothing, Tommy.”
His face dropped. “Hey… hey whats wrong?” He noticed your change in demeanor.
You glare at him, but without much power behind it. “I didn’t forget last night” I whisper.
Sighing, Tommy gets up to close the door and brings you your food. “I’m sorry, I really am.”
“You’re just sorry you got caught in a lie!”
“Yeah, yeah I am.” Tommy deadpans. “I never wanted you to find out, is that you want you here? But not because I want you here. I want you far, far away from Joel, as far away as you can, but not… not now…” He speaks in earnest, you want to believe him…
“I don’t want to leave, Tommy. That’s why I didn’t go with Zach while everyone was sick, I don’t wanna go. Joel… it’s better here”
Tommy’s fast twists into concern. “What do you… what does that mean?”
“I’m safe here. I’m safe from everything going on out there… Joel protects me.”
His face was unreadable. “Honey, no, no that’s…” Shaking his head, he tries to find the right words. “Joel’s not safe either, you know that right? He branded you, he raped you, he did that-” He references your bruised neck “To you!”
“Don’t yell at-”
“Joel is the bad guy! He is the one you need protection from!”
“He’s the one that killed Nick, Tommy!” You shout at him, angered. “Not you! You let Joel brand me, you let Joel rape in front of everyone, you LET HIM!” You stand up on your shitty mattress and Tommy stands with you. He is much taller but you do not waver as you point at him. “So don’t act like you are my savior, when you just have a savior complex! The only person who can protect me from Joel is Joel!” You don’t know why you are suddenly so angry… but god, everything from the last few months… you were locked up in your little room, the anger had to go somewhere… “Those men out there” You point outside “I could walk out here naked, and none of them would touch me, not because of you, but because of Joel! He only did this to my neck because Zach came and tried to take me when he couldn’t keep me safe from dad, he branded me because I tried to run, he raped me because I put up a fight, he hurts me when I or someone else does something and as long as no one interferes, that includes you, Tommy, everything is fine!” 
Tommy let you, he let you scream and yell because in the end, you were right. He could tell you that he was the one that made sure you ate every day, that stop the others when Joel left you to be gang raped, that he was the only patching up your wounds… but you were right, Joel still did every he wanted to you, and Tommy couldn’t stop him. Tommy knew what you meant by interfer… it had become clear how touchy he was, how he held you and cared for you… and he was putting you in danger as he did that.
“Okay” He whispers, eyes closed. “I get it. Joel is the one who protects you… not me…” He opens them, and you swear you saw his eyes glistening. “Can I still be your friend?” 
He looked so young all of a sudden, despite his mustache and the lies around his eyes… You calm down from your outburst, and you feel bad… feel bad for how much you yelled at someone who had only tried to help you… but you needed to be safe with Joel. “With the door open” You couldn’t leave room for suspicion.
Things with Tommy were different, after that. You withdrew from him, no longer spending hours playing card games and talking… but he still came and kept you company, as long as you’d allow him. But as soon as Joel was home, you belonged to the older brother. I wasn’t fair to Tommy, you knew… but neither Joel nor Tommy had been through what you had, were living through what you were, and you were just trying to survive. Tommy was no longer your refuge. You slept in Joel’s bed every night, you spent more time with Joel than Tommy… and Tommy began spending more time working… He’d go away over nights more and more, sometimes a few days at a time… you couldn’t help but miss him, but this was your bed to lay in. You did have more freedom, however. Since you had an opportunity to leave and didn’t Joel trusted you more. You cooked sometimes, began cleaning a bit… it was something to do, and you began to enjoy it. Plus, the men were a lot less cold to you when you’re the one providing real home cooked food; a few thank you’d had been mumbled here and there, mostly from Jack who was the more polite of the group.
You had gone to bed in Joel's arms, fell asleep in his tight grasp, safe and warm, Tommy was out on some overnight trip when you woke up to commotion in the living area, shouts of the men, Joel screaming about something, clearly on a rager and you were going to stay in bed until Joel settled it and inevitable came back to the room wanting to use your sleeping body to blow off steam… when you heard it. Tommy yelling in pain. Instantly, you forgot about every you had been angry about, and rushed out the door in time to see Joel pistol whip Tommy in front of a crowd of the men. You vaguely register Jack telling you to stay out of it and Aziz saying ‘don’t’, but it didn’t matter; Joel was hurting Tommy.
“Joel stop!” You scream and run to Joel, but stop dead in your track as Joel turned the gun on you, and you find yourself wide-eyed and back into the wall, staring at the barrel of a gun as Tommy trying to tell Joel to stop from where he lay on the ground.
Joel wasn’t listening, his voice smooth and calm despite the shaking rage behind them. “How long you been sleep’n with my brother, little one?” 
You were frozen in place, unable to speak, but Tommy was trying to get up, still reeling from the pistol whip that had his head bleeding. “Joel, no, we never did anything, I was just keeping her company-”
He lowers the gun temporarily. “No way you put yourself between me and a man unless he’s fucked your stupid little pussy.” He tapped your cunt with the gun before bringing it back up.
"Joel, no-" You whisper, terrified
“Close your eyes” He said to you, his voice a deadly calm, before shouting. “CLOSE YOUR EYES!” 
In the background, you can hear vaguely as Tommy tries to reason with Joel, stumbling to get up; he is on one knee, his hand reaching out using his signature ‘calm down, Joel’ voice, but right now, you are looking into Joel’s eyes, so often filled with affection for you, but now dead and cold. You do as you are told, closing your eyes, your knees about to buckle in fear of Joel painting the wall with your brain matter. “I didn’t-” You try to say, but stop as Joel caresses your face with the barrel of the gun, gently shushing you.
“Here's what we’re doing sweetheart” If you weren’t away of the situation, his tone wasn’t unlike how he’d gentle coax you into whatever position he wanted you in. “When you open your eyes,you’re gonna tell me ‘No Joel, I never slept with with your goddamn pathetic stupid dumbass pussy of a brother’ in more or less words and if I don’t believe you…” He tapped your cheek twice making little gun shots sounds. “No more pretty little girl, okay?”
It takes everything in you to not cry, merely whimpering as you feel the cool metal on your cheek, and you nod. You were almost certain you couldn’t do this. You had never been a good liar, only held on this long because Joel seemed to trust you… seemed to think you were in a relationship early on when all he did was hurt you. But now, now you’d have to look him in the eyes and lie, and almost certainly you’d be dead moments later.
“Okay” You whisper, voice quite.
“Joel, c’mon, leave her out of this”
Joel didn’t look at him. “Not helping her case, Tom” He nudges you with the gun. “Times up, open your eyes.”
You take a deep, steadying breath and open them, you are ready to try and lie, to save yourself, to save Tommy… you open your mouth. “I n-”
“I made her do it” Tommy’s voice broke out from behind Joel, causing him to turn around, and your knees gave out in relief. You only stop from hitting the floor because Lorenzo catches you, setting you down, and stepping away lest he get caught up in all this.
“Bullshit” Joel said, but you could see the gears turning.
“I did! It was her first time, and, I wanted it, that’s why I wanted you to wait” Tommy wasn’t the best liar, but he was trying to deflected it away from you.
“No,” Joel shook his head. “No, she bled when I took’er, I remember her bleed’n”
“Because you RAPED HER DRY, JOEL!” Tommy’s frustration with his brother boiled over. 
“Shut up!” Joel screamed, defensive. “I did no such thing!”
Tommy’s laugh was dry, sardonic. “You’re playing house with her, but you forget you kidnapped her! She’s not your wife, she’s a victim of your rape and abuse!”
“Shut! Up!” 
“Jesus CHRIST, Joel, she’s younger than Sarah would’ve been!”
“Don’t you fucking talk about her” Joel’s deadly calm was back. “You don’t fucking do that”
Tommy wouldn’t stop. “If Sarah were alive, she’d be disgusted with you, she’d never fucking talk to you-” 
The gun blast made you scream and cover your face, you aguely here Lorenzo, Jack, and a few others shout something.... you couldn’t look, knowing you’d see Tommy dead. All the times he had tried to help you, tried to ease things, and you had gotten him killed for taking your virginity. You sat back against the wall crying… you had gotten Tommy killed, Tommy died because of you… your fault, your fault, your fault... Suddenly, you are being dragged to stand up. “Get up!” Joel bellows, his strong arms dragging you to Tommy’s dead body and all you can do is scream hysterics. “Stand! Up!”
When you finally do stand, you open your eyes only to find Tommy still alive and kneeling before you, a gunshot in the wall above him. 
Joel pulls motions for another gun from Diego, and puts it in your hands, holding it still as he pulls his own gun back on your forehead. “Liste up, little one” His voice is soft, a feather light breath against your cheek as he leans close. He aims the gun at Tommy, the barrel between his eyes. “Tommy’s been running around behind my back with that cunt in Jackson, fucking her and telling her god knows what about me and my business”
“Joel, I swear, I never told her anything!” Tommy pleads.
You blink, and you can’t feel a little… betrayed… He was sleeping with someone?
Joel noticed.
“Awwww, did Tommy make you feel special?" He mocked you. "Tommy make you feel like you were the only one he was fucking, the only one he treated all nice. Guess what, little one, you're not special t him. I get he's got loads of other whores he fucked, you're just the little kept girl when he wants some naive pussy" Joel kisses your neck "But... You are special to me, you are the only one I’m fucking, you are the only women in my life, and yet… you still fuck around with Tommy." He sounds almost... hurt... "But I’m gracious, I’ve forgiving.” He forced you too look directly at him, and his eyes… they were soft again, the softness you couldn’t help fall for. “I love you, he doesn’t. Now.” Joel straightened up and stepped back, but the gun never left your head. “I’m gonna count down from ten, and if you shoot him, you proved yourself to me, and we can go on being happy, being together.” He kisses your cheek, smelling your hair as he pulled away. “If you don’t… and I reach 0, I blow your fucking brains out, okay?”
You begin crying.
“Joel, don’t do this to her”
“10… 9…”
“I can’t! Joel I’m sorry, Joel, I love you, I can’t kill him!”
“8… 7…”
“Honey look at me” Tommy’s desperate voice calls you, and you turn to him, his beautiful brown eyes looking up at your where he is kneeling, his dark, long hair tousled. He schooled his expressions, peace on his face for your sake. “It’s okay. Do it.”
“6… 5…”
“Tommy no, I can’t hurt you.” There's gotta be another way…
“It’s okay” He nods. “I’m ready. Right through the head, it’ll be quick.”
“4… 3..”
“I can’t” You sob.
“Yes, yes you can, it’s okay. Just do it, stay alive, and Joel will keep you safe.”
Tommy, sweet, kind Tommy… He would not die at your hands, and you would not die at Joels
“No.” You drop your gun to your side and turn to Joel; you can see the confusion in his eyes. “No, you won’t do it.”
“2… yes I will”
“Honey, it’s okay, I promise you-” But you weren’t listening to Tommy.
“No, you won’t hurt me. You love me too much”
“I will, 1”
You don’t blink. You keep your eyes locked on Joels, his deep brown eyes swimming with confliction and hurt… betrayal from both you and Tommy. 
But he doesn’t shoot you. Ever so slowly, you take the gun in your hand and put it back in his. You could’ve used it to shoot him… but it would’ve been useless and probably ended with a bullet in your head for real this time. Instead, Joel looks at you with nothing short of aw as he lowers his gun. You trusted him. You refuse a rescue, you knew he wouldn’t shoot you, and you give up your weapon to him… He owned you, completely.
“You won’t kill me. And you wont kill Tommy either, because you love both of us. You are going to let Tommy go, run off to Jackson, and Tommy is never going to divulge any of your secrets.” You turn to Tommy, who has sat back on his hunches, looking at you with confusion. “Because if he does, you’ll know who betrayed him” You tell Tommy with your eyes not to fuck this up. Then, back to Joel. “And then you and I can live here happily ever after, without anyone interfering.”
Joel stirred at you for a long while, considering his options… but he knew, deep down, he couldn’t kill either of you. He was furious at Tommy for his betrayal, for fucking that bitch Maria, for lying to him, for taking your virginity when that was suppossed to be his… but Tommy was his little brother. Long before Sarah died in his arms, long before this virus, long before the empire that he built that began as just trying to keep Tommy alive… it was him and Tommy, their whole lives. He was his brother, Joel had saved his skin again and again and Tommy had Joel’s back when Joel’s wife left him, and helped raise Sarah… Sarah… Tommy’s words stuck in his head, what would Sarah think of him? He wasn’t a rapist, despite what Tommy said, he wasn’t that kind of man… but he could be softer, he could’ve been better to the girl he kept locked up… Sarah, if she was watching somewhere, could never forgive him if Joel killed her uncle she adored so much…
“Lorenzo” Joel called, and the short hair man stepped up. “Get him the fuck outta here, dump him once he’s off my fucking property. And if anyone sees him here again, or if anyone sees her-” Joel points to you “Outside without anyone, shoot them.”
Lorenzo nodded, and began pulling Tommy away. Tommy gave one desperate look back at you, and was out the door before you could blink. 
You don’t have a second to process that your best friend just left you before Joel is pulling you into the bedroom, pushing you against the wall and shoving your pants down. He thrusts into you with no preparation and you stifle a whimper on your hand, but Joel pulls it down.
“Wanna here you cry, little one. That pain? The pain is mine. Your cries are mine, your cunt is mine. And if you bleed?” Just then, his face is right next to yours, his beard wiping the tears that rolled down your cheeks. “Your blood is mine. Got it?”
“Yes sir” You moaned out the way he likes to hear. You were growing wet embarrassingly fast, his cock hitting that lovely, lovely spot you loved so much and suddenly, you had forgotten about how he had almost killed you, the slap of skin and his arm groping your breasts, fingers playing with your nipples as he fucked into you drawing you closer. Joel came inside you, something he had only done after Nick, it was as if he was laying his claim, possessing you as his hot cum and some of your blood trickle down your leg. Joel had a new surprise for you.
He lifted you over his shoulder and tossed you onto the bed and you watched him crawl up to you, his eyes hungry and you had no idea what was possibly coming… when Joel began to lick your cunt, you were shocked, hips bucking up but Joel was quick to pin you down; he laid down in front of you on his stomach with his arms wrapped around your legs and christ, it was like he was trying to devour you. You felt his tongue reaching up inside you, his fingers playing with your clit the way only he knew how and the sensation was so new, so unreal, you weren’t sure how to take it. 
But you did. you took every single bit he gave you as he cleaned you up of his own spent, his tongue licking and sucking and slurping you up eagerly, plush lips devouring you whole as if he could eat you alive, keeping you with him forever and becoming a part of him like an unholy communion. His tongue laved out as he brought his mouth up and over your clit, making you shutter...
And when his mouth sloppily latched onto your clit and two thick fingers were fucking into you? You came in under a minute after that. 
“Fuuuuuuuck!”  You cry out as if all of today's events never happened. “Joel!” You scream out as you cum, not caring that Lorenzo might hear you, that he probably thinks you're pathetic for getting such pleasure from the man whose gun had kissed your forehead the way his lips kissed your cheek now as you reveled in the afterglow of your orgasm. You expected Joel to threaten you about what happened with Tommy, to wrap his fingers around your throat or grip your face harshly… but he just kissed you as he pulled you close, covering the two of you up. Still, you new he was references sleeping with Tommy, when his last words before bed were-
“Please don’t do that to me again.”
You cupped his face and assured him you’d never leave, that you are his.
You are his.
*******************
bye bye tommy : (
out of curiousity, i have a lil pole
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lost-act · 1 month ago
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An Informal Analysis of Metamorphosis That I Need for School but I Can't Write Anything so I Decided to do The Old Fashion Way of Writing It By Using Tumblr and Now I Hope Turnitin Doesn't Detect My Paper Being Plagiarized or Else I Have to Archive This Post or Something...Also Using ザムザ by Teniwoha as a Basis for Deeper Understanding and Analysis of the Story
Ok so we all know Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis, right? It's a pretty surreal story of Gregor Samsa turning into an insect (no, not a roach. You're being overrated at this point). What kind of insect? Varies from telling to telling and I'd rather imagine him being a beetle of sorts rather than a roach because dear god I am traumatized of roaches.
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Well, in fairness the entire ordeal of "Samsa turned into a bug" is just surface level knowledge of WHAT Metamorphosis is. The bigger picture is beyond "turning into a bug" but rather the "isolation and alienation" from the "turning into a bug". Why did Gregor turn into a bug? Beats me. That's why I'm writing this, and why you're reading this.
Basic rundown is that, obviously, Gregor turned into a bug, his entire family tried to cope with it until his father started throwing apples at him, everyone started to ignore him, Insect!Gregor dies to starvation, and everyone has started to plan on moving on.
Easy right?
WELL THAT'S WHERE WE'RE WRONG!
You see, despite the glaring lack of sources because this is just my rambles for a more professional paper, we can dig a bit deeper to this analysis of what Metamorphosis really means because so far...I'm literally on the idea of "ah yes...this could definitely mean the sense of alienation and isolation coming from a change no one asked for".
And yes I am basing this off of Samsa by Teniwoha. Yes this falls under pop culture reference for Metamorphosis.
youtube
(This is the OG Vocaloid ver.)
youtube
(And this is the PJSK ver.)
youtube
(Here's one with an EN Fanlation of the lyrics)
Yes it's very obvious as to WHY I picked this story for my analysis in college. ALL IN THE NAME OF VOCALOID- anyways.
I'll be sticking with the theme of "alienation and isolation from an abrupt change no one saw coming or asked for". Can I expound on this? I don't know because I am lowkey also basing this off of the Vocaloid song as well. Not gonna lie...this analysis might be heavily influenced by the song Samsa and the event that it was made for. Ifg the name of the event but it also references towards Metamorphosis in a way that Mafuyu's mom hates how Mafuyu changed from being an "ideal daughter" to a "delinquent child" (sounding familiar now?).
"I beg you, please don't throw those apples at me" (EN Fanlation of ザムザ)
So...where should we begin?
Right...The Author himself: Franz Kafka.
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So Franz Kafka is an Austrian-Czech novelist famous for his novel "The Metamorphosis". Kafka has a strained relationship with his father, which is pretty evident as he referred to him as being "authoritarian and demanding" (Wikepedia, though this is a direct reference to Letter To His Father as well). On a professional standpoint, he worked in insurance companies which he dreaded because it took the time away from his writing (I don't blame him). It's also here that his father only sees Franz's job as a "bread job" (Wikepedia...again...trust me I'll get better sources guys) where it's basically all just for the bills. His personal life is interesting, to say the least, as it mirrors some characteristics seen in the story.
On another note, The Metamorphosis was published in 1915. What was going on in 1915? World War 1, obviously, fellow history nerds. Well...to be honest there's not a lot of context behind this because The Metamorphosis has heavy references that point towards Franz Kafka's personal life. The pressure of his father to how Gregor's job was basically to pay the debt of his father and the bills (aka being the breadwinner) mirrors to him having a "bread job". I'd like to confess I'm just reading stuff off the internet and Kafka writing The Metamorphosis in three weeks after writing The Judgement. (Sparknotes my beloved thank you). Metamorphosis took like- three years of persuasion for Kafka to get it published out and about.
Another note to take up on is Marx's theory of alienation which is basically more or less about estrangement of people from their human nature. How so? well it's a consequence due to labor division and social class...
So time for a deep dive towards Marx’s theory of alienation because this is something we need to understand rq.
Ok so basically, Marx’s theory of alienation is under ✨Marxism✨ (that’s not exaggeration because this is Karl Marx we’re talking about). The theory of alienation covers different forms of alienation (derived from this guy called Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel) which is objective, subjective, and complete.
Objective: the social world they inhabit is not a home. Could be experienced as a metaphysical fact (extentialism)
Subjective: a) world they inhabit IS a home but they FAIL to understand it, and; b) world they inhabit is NOT a home, yet they BELIEVE it is.
Complete: basically both, seen in the condition of the contemporary world
By the way I just pulled all of this out of Wikipedia so feel free to do a deeper dive because that’s what I’ll do later.
So with this out of the way, how the fuck does Marx see this? Let’s just first off say CAPITALISM right off the bat and then things will start getting obvious.
It’s here that Marx distinguishes alienated labour, specifically the alienation of the worker because of alienated labour. It’s here that it’s identified into four dimensions of alienated labor:
From product of his labour
From worker’s own activity
From species-being
From other human beings
I know I should be explaining what each of these mean, but I’m on my wits end but yeah.
(Yes I’m still referencing Wikipedia)
But overall, Marx’s alienation theory (derived from Hegel and Feuerbach) primarily takes a jab towards the capitalistic cycle that everyone’s stuck in and that those who fall deeper into it slowly get consumed by it and suffer the consequences of alienation.
[Someone remind me to write on this later or maybe organize this cuz holy shit man…talking with someone rn and like- talked about a person’s value…which is pretty interesting and something I might talk on as well because that made me realize it as well which can tie with in the new theme that my group decided on]
So
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It's time for us to confront the elephant in the room:
What could The Metamorphosis be possibly about?
I would like to give a nod to the vocaloid songs mentioned above for being a ground base that I started building this idea from (Yes, the vocaloid songs play heavy reference towards the story to the point it had taken lines that reference events in the book).
"The abrupt change Gregor Samsa underwent caused dissatisfaction within his family, leading towards a slow descent of alienation and soon...his isolation over his surreal metamorphosis."
[I apologize for the shitty thesis statement, these things are the death of me, ngl.]
[Update: my group changed the main theme again so now we have “questioning social constructs/roles and status quo regarding labor” or something…which can also tie in to what i discussed with someone because holy fuck how did i not see that now….]
Then again…it could also be something along the lines of:
“The “metamorphosis” of Gregor Samsa resulted into a slow descent of alienation and isolation, which itself brings out the questions of a person’s “value” as a “human being” and if they have any “value” as the persistence of such alienation deprives someone of their human nature.”
(Okay, looking at it now, I think that’s way better to look at but then again I feel like we’re still not hitting any points…EH THIS IS A RANDOM RAMBLE DRAFT FOR A REASON)
Samsa's abrupt change brought about...a mix of feelings within the family. His father's disdain on him, because Gregor was basically the source of income for the house hold. His mother crying because he's turned into a bug. And his sister, Grete, who still tries to help him in some way (spoiler: she got tired of Gregor’s bullshit towards the end).
I think the fact that it's just out of nowhere and out right supernatural for Gregor to turn into a giant insect. Why is there this transformation and whatnot. Why Gregor out of all unfortunate souls???
Yet I think the reason as to why could also be a mirror to the author's own feeling of alienation.
I'm not sure if it's of any importance but Gregor does have some hobbies (woodworking) that he does on the side. Then again it's too small of a pin to try and hook something to it.
Thing is...Gregor has not broken his routine in the 5-ish years of his job so it's pretty difficult to get a pinpoint somewhere to frame on. Then looking back again to what his “value” is to his family being the sole income earner…it could be inferred that this abrupt “uselessness” in Gregor’s value after transforming has been a form of possible alienation that stemmed from the capitalistic cycle he’s stuck in (this is a very big stretch because I have yet to fully analyze the theory of alienation).
Maybe breaking it down in three parts can help our scatter brain selves cuz holy fuck we got a lot to unpack here and I have no idea if anything I'll write will make any sense because this thing is due at 5pm on a weekend.
I would also like to note that I will be doing a LOT of cross-referencing here and there
Part 1
Gregor turns into a bug
Everyone is mortified
Accidentally hurts himself in trying to run away from his now furious father
This entire "turning into a bug" ordeal is a slap on the face on the symbolism and overall theme of "turning into something else abruptly". Gregor's now a "vermin" of sorts; not just a bug, but someone despicable. He's now a "problem" for the household to deal with (though it's still unknown to WHY he suddenly turned to being a "problem" when in fact he's been doing everything to bring food to the table...I'll probs write further on this because it's very interesting).
[WHY DID GREGOR TURN INTO A "VERMIN" WHEN HE'S BEEN WITHERING AWAY???]
I find the way Mr. Samsa acted to be somewhat a mirror to the strictness of Kafka's own father towards him.
(Ok I’m awake now do yeah)
How does this relate to the theory of alienation, you ask? Well…not entirely to be honest because I said that up there for reference if I do end up saying it here but I think it can connect in a way that it isolates him from his family. Now what I’m saying is pretty much a stretch to what it originally means of “alienated labor alienates the labor from other humans” (which is more or less alienating workers from one another in means of competitive socio-economic activity). Though Gregor’s transformation does bring this thought of the discussion of human worth while they are still considered “human”.
(Actually maybe if i just remember to reiterate my points then maybe I can be more consistent)
Gregor’s worth in his family here is being the main source of income. But when he became a bug, that worth is now at a loss and that coincides with the consideration if he’s still really “human”. Going back to my previous 3 am thought of Gregor “withering away”, Gregor WAS indeed withering away because of how cyclical his life has become. His days have become rather redundant that it could be seen to suck the human-ess out of him. I guess that’s where the other part, the humanity, that Gregor has that disappeared in an instant. I find that the metamorphosis that happened here, despite its absurdity, is the most evident form of metamorphosis that happened to Gregor. What it might possibly be is still vague so I’m probably gonna try to shoot some darts in the dark here.
The alienation that occurred to Gregor is the change of his “value” in “society” (in this case, his family). This alienation led to the perception of his family towards him as “less than human” now that he’s a bug (even though it can be of literal here). Then it leads to his “isolation” where they lock him away in his room.
Part 2
Everyone locked Gregor in his room
His sister, Grete, tries to tend to him
Gregor gives everyone a heart attack
Mr. Samsa starts throwing apples at Gregor for the mishap
Ok so this is where the "alienation" and "isolation" starts to come into play, chat. First the isolation...which already started in part 1 of The Metamorphosis by locking Gregor away in his room because of his...unsightly appearance (LOOK- HE'S A LARGE BUG ALRIGHT?!). So this is where the sense of alienation starts to settle in slowly.
Grete, Gregor’s sister, tries her best to tend to him by feeding him every now and then. This then went on to her moving his stuff in his room out after seeing that Gregor has decided on roaming around as a past time as a bug. His mother also comes in the picture, though with wishing to see Gregor again. This didn’t really end well especially when they were moving Gregor’s stuff out of his room. To Gregor, he refuses to have what reminded him of his “humanity” away. He then proceeded to cling on to the framed portrait, in hopes that his mother and sister doesn’t move it away from his room. From here, Mrs. Samsa gets shocked and faints which made Grete go out to get the smelling salts. Gregor goes down from where he was to see what happened but was met with his now furious father. Mr. Samsa started to hurl apples at him, one of which landed a hit on him and injured him.
With that summary out, this slow descent into Gregor’s further alienation is starting to stem from any hopes that Gregor is still with them even if he’s stuck as being an insect. Grete’s actions lean towards some hope in Gregor’s “humanness” is still there. Arguably so, her actions are perceived as seeing the loss of “human” of Gregor since he’s handicapped.
Mr. Samsa’s response, however, is the sealing point of this alienation. He has visible frustrations in having to go back to work to provide after 5 years of being retired because Gregor took upon the role of being the income source.
Ah…I should’ve mentioned the role of Gregor playing a role towards the slow demise…
Gregor’s role as the main income source meant all expectations being placed on him to be able to pay off the debts and keep the family afloat. His “value” in his family is placed high because he’s the one bringing in the money. Though ironically, his “value” in his company is “replaceable” (yippie, capitalism) as he’s literally at the brink due to his performance. And if not his performance, he is at most replaceable.
Now that he’s basically a handicapped (BUG), his value is literally gone. I mean— what can a bug even do?
I find it here that the role his sister had of being carefree is slowly being stripped away. Gregor had plans in helping her and enrolling her into a conservatory. But now that he’s nothing but a useless bug that everyone is disgusted at, Grete has no choice but to step up.
Part 3
Everyone started ignoring Gregor cuz they’re all working
Eventually they forgot about Gregor
The Charwoman they hired is the one who still recognizes Gregor to some extent
Grete’s violin playing leading to Gregor offending the hell out of the tenants
Family discussion on getting rid of him
Gregor just dying off to starvation instead
The Samsas moving on in a way (notably speaking on the ending as well)
This is the part where the alienation, isolation, and the decline of human value really shines. Why? Because it’s the third part and holy fuck this is where we get existential (not really).
So a lot is going on in the third part unlike the previous two parts.
Gregor’s isolation here is growing more and more since everyone started working to stay afloat. With that, they turned his room into a storage closet, which defeated the original purpose of Grete’s first initiative of giving her brother more space to roam around. It’s here as well that Gregor doesn’t eat all that much, either because everyone slowly forgot about him or him going on a hunger strike. I find it ironic that among everyone who remains in the household, the Charwoman (a widowed old lady who comes by every now and then to help with he chores) is the only one who still acknowledges Gregor (though as a silly little dung beetle) .
Actually I still wonder why the Charwoman is the one that still has some acknowledgement towards Gregor when everyone just slowly moved away from him. (Hmm maybe I should dissect that idea later.)
It’s in this chapter that Grete turns against Gregor after the mishap that happened after him making appearance in front of the tenants that rented a room in the apartment. She was the first one who offered on the idea of getting rid of that “vermin”.
Gregor’s value is literally gone at this point, not only just that but he’s completely alienated and seen as “inhuman” (in a way that is no longer human). His family no longer sees the human nature that he once had when he was human and had some use. It’s at this point where they see him as nothing more than a vermin and that itself led to him just proceeding to die off alone. (Update: I had a double check and apparently Gregor died because of the injury from the apple being yeeted at him... So his dad was the one who killed him ultimately... W H O O P S)
It’s with that the burden is released from the family after hearing word from the Charwoman that “it” has died and she is off to dispose of the corpse. The story closes off with the Samsas going to the countryside and planning on moving to a smaller place. Here, Mr. And Mrs. Samsa realized Grete’s growth to being a fine young woman.
So…
That’s that I guess…
Really this part confuses me a lot because I don’t really know what to say. On one hand this could be beyond just alienation and isolation stemming from the loss of value of one’s human nature. On the other, this is a cycle that continues to persist. The deprecating nature of what is considered valuable in a human is what can lead towards the alienation and soon, isolation, of a person. Mostly seen in the fourth dimension of Marx’s alienated labor is alienation from other humans which more or less describes alienating workers from one another through socio-economic means (think of pay difference or something similar to prevent them from banding together and whatnot). Though in this case, the alienation is more evident in the measure of the person’s worth. Since Gregor isn’t a person anymore, his worth is basically useless and thus he’s slowly being alienated.
Man…I think that’s as straightforward as it seems now…
“Gregor Samsa was alienated due to his lack of worth in his family’s eyes.”
Then again it can’t be THAT easy.
Can it?
To close things off because I ran out of ideas to write, I’d like to say that I might make a follow up analysis that’s more…formal to say the least. As well as an analysis that tackles both the vocaloid song and the novel. For now…my ideas have ran their run and it’s time for me to write my formal essay.
The Metamorphosis stands to me as an enigma as to what it truly means. A short three chaptered story that could cover topics such as the actual metamorphosis of certain characters to the alienation that is discussed here. Marx’s theory of alienation has heavy influence on many of Kafka’s works with The Metamorphosis being one of them. I was challenged at some point by another friend of mine to figure out why The Metamorphosis is considered “non-fiction”. I am not sure if I’ll ever get a proper answer for it.
The story of The Metamorphosis could also be some sentiment Kafka had as well in his actual life, especially with his relationship with his father. Having preference to write while being pressured to be more rational by one’s father could bring forth that feeling of alienation of not being understood. Just like how no one understood what Gregor said when he was turned into a bug. To be alienated is to also be isolated from society. Hegel’s identification of the different forms of alienation can be referenced by identifying that the form of alienation being seen here as the complete form of alienation.
Why haven’t I discussed this earlier? Well because I was too busy trying to figure shit out.
But yes…the complete form of alienation is both on the subjective and objective kind. The world Gregor is placed in (in a social context) is a repetitive cycle that eats itself over and over again. It’s the kind that is self-sabotaging in a way that either you leave it or it eats you alive. As for Gregor’s own home, at some point he failed to make sense of the home his family is trying to make way for him. But in part 3, the home Gregor once knew is no longer a home that welcomed him, it is one that saw him as a “vermin” that needed to be rid of.
All in all, it’s difficult to make sense of the weight of human value and any remnants of Gregor’s human nature post-transformation. His sister’s growing frustration against him bears this lack of empathy to understand Gregor anymore. Imagine that…being backstabbed by someone who first tried to be kind for you. Oh what alienation does to people… as well as the fact that the shift in the value their parents now hold for Greta seeing that she also metamorphosed into a young woman of “value” (married off). I think it’s here as well in seeing this shift in value fitting Marx’s forms of alienation aka “from humans”.
[Look, I’m lowkey rambling here and sound like I don’t know what I’m saying but that’s because I don’t know what I’m saying]
That’s all…I’ll also be archiving this tomorrow but I’ll put it back up in a few days after my essays’ been graded.
Wish me luck on my madness.
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srarlight · 2 months ago
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Just a little status update that mentions some medical stuff under the cut.
This gauntlet of sick dad and emergencies expenses is still ongoing since last year, but I’m happy to say the house is almost sold so they can have that money vs the bank taking it. Now they can settle into a RV or the likes. That’s a small blessing as my dad goes into his surgery today. Probably not going to have a foot when he comes out the other end but I really hope this signals the uptick in healing and not him just perpetually hurt and in the ER off and on forever. Been a wild one! Just felt like checking in again with this space since a lot of the folks who reached out to help by buying art came from tumblr. I’m nearing the end of the commission Que I took on to help off set the costs of the emergency but it all got done at a much slower rate then I liked but it’s been an interesting balancing act of making sure I take the time for thing important to me in this haze of- least you lose the ability to do so forever- vibe. And then also truth be told got a lot of grieving done in there for my folks and their situation which made focusing on art hard.
But I feel like in my bones they might finally catch a break even if they have to live without a proper home to get it. They’ll have shelter and it’ll be a frugal situation but it’s not one where my dad is forced to keep working while severely hurt just because if he stopped they’d immediately get steam rolled by debt and bills. He just got full disability which means he can finally drop 2 out of his three jobs. He’ll probably still do small time freelance stuff but I really just wanted him to not be an absurdly on point metaphor for the working class being grinded to dust despite doing everything right outside of not being born rich, having a human body, and having family with medical needs. It’s crazy how if I had my dads job as a young person with no kids and limited bills I’d be doing phenomenally well, but despite my dad grinding his way into a union electrician job- by the time he got it the family had already dealt with one to many surgeries and near death medical bills for it to help. It’s wild and I hate it. You do everything right and break your body for the companies and your still left with a missing foot and a life where your gonna move in with your elderly mom with your family until you can secure a RV. Bah I could go on forever upset about it but the long and short of it is that I want my parents to get the means to just sit on a porch of some kind and REST. Get a dang break. Maybe that’ll happen soon. Dad says they’ll visit me immediately once he’s better and the thought makes me very weepy in a good way. 🥹
At any rate I’m going to do my darnedest to finish my commission que and then get RGs update out the door which I’ve been chipping away at anyways for a for me mental break. Got like 20 pages sketched and postable if in the end I decide to not color them at all. We shall see I’m still excited for that project so I want to do some lighting at the very least but in the end if I need to post just to get the story out I will!
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mageofseven · 1 year ago
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The Brothers & Dia Walk in After a Fight
This is based off of this song, which I've been listening to a lot these last few days. This was a very random bit of writing I did. I had urge to write it so I did. I meant to write for all of the Boys, but then I got really emotionally exhausted so I stopped at Dia.
Scenario: MC and their boyfriend get into a fight, ending with the human breaking up with them and abruptly leaving the room and the man utterly confused and in pain.
He eventually goed looking for MC and finds them playing the piano and singing this song. He waits for the song to end before talking about things with them.
TW: child abuse, neglect, and a gore-y description in Satan's section.
•▪︎▪︎◇°●♡●°◇▪︎▪︎•
Lucifer:
"Love..." The pride demon watched them from entrance of the music room.
The human's hands were still floating over the piano keys. Their head hung low and their eyes stayed glued to the instrument.
"It's not you..." MC said softly. "I thought...I thought you were like him. And that was comforting for a while...and scary."
Lucifer pursed his lips and listened. He knew who they were talking about: their father, a man with an high and mighty opinion of himself, who always put himself first, but in truth was a man broken by life.
MC has told him about their father before. Lucifer had pledged to treat them better than he ever did, but no matter what he did, the past had its claws dug deep into his love.
"I'm sorry..." A tear slid down on onto a white key. "The problem isn't you; it's me. It'll always me."
The pride demon strode over and leaned down before hugging them from behind.
"Love, you aren't a problem--"
"Lucifer--" MC turned around to meet his eyes. "I'm...I'm broken. You know this."
The human put a hand on one of his arms and squeezed it.
"I don't know how to have a healthy relationship. I-I just see my parents in my head...see how he treated her. I don't know else to be than how I've seen."
"You can still heal from it all." Luce told them. "Your childhood is not a death sentence. You can be different than your parents; we can be different from them."
MC shook their head.
"I don't know..." They whispered. "Lucifer...I need time."
The demon watched his love for a moment longer before kissing their head.
"Understood, Love."
Mammon:
The second brother just stood awkwardly in the doorway. After he got his head screwed back on right, he ran after them, but didn't expect...this.
"Mammon...just go." MC kept their eyes down at the piano as they shooed him away.
"Hell no!" The demon rushed over to them them and leaned in to try to meet their eyes. "Babe, we aren't ending things like this."
MC closed their eyes, refusing to meet his gaze.
"You're just like him and I can't keep doing this to myself..."
Mammon has been trying to handle his debt situation, mostly due to MC's encouragement. They even started working part to help him clear it, despite his protests
And Mammon went and fucked it up by charging another 5k to his card and hid the invoices under his mattress, as if the human couldn't see the corner of the papers stick out.
Not only did he rack his debt up higher, he tried to hide it from his partner.
This set MC off and scared them into thinking he's just like their father.
Mammon knew about that scumbag. He chose to spend his money on alcohol and expensive watches while his wife worried how she was gonna get food on the table for three kids and wore raggedy, holey clothes.
But Mammon wasn't like that! Yeah, he has his issues, but if actually had a wife and kids depending on his income, he'd be way better with his finances!
"Babe..." He stared at them. "I'm not like that scumbag. I would never let you starve like he did."
Tears fell down their cheeks as MC had a flashback from their childhood. They probably weren't even in kindergarten yet or maybe they had only started it, when MC looked up at their mom and told her they were hungry, only for the woman to scream at them, saying 'What do you want me to do? We have no food!'.
"Babe. Babe!" Mammon had both hands on the sides of their head and leaned in close to meet their eyes. "It's okay. C'mon, you're not there, Babe. You're here with me. Everything's gonna be fine."
MC stared up into to their boyfriend's blue eyes before jumping from their seat and throwing their arms around him.
"Promise me." They said softly in his ear. "Promise me you won't turn out like him."
Mammon squeezed them tight.
"'Course not." He told them. "Imma put you first. Always."
Leviathan:
The envy demon was frozen in the door way. He didn't know why he ran here; he should have just ran to his room like always. The fear of losing MC took over his body though and he found himself following the music.
If MC knew he was there, the human showed no signs of such. Even when the song ended, they just hung their head and occasionally shook it.
Finding the courage within himself, Levi stepped forward.
"Henry..."
"You know..." The human began. "He wasn't always who is now...he just let his insecurities corrupt him till...till my mother didn't know who he was anymore."
Levi winced. He knew what they were implying. The envy demon's jealousy and insecurities have been pretty bad lately. The man just couldn't help it though. He still couldn't believe that out of all his brothers that MC chose him and as much as that made him happy, it also felt like bad judgement on the human's part.
After the childhood they've had...Levi couldn't blame them for comparing him to their father. Maybe he really is as bad as that bastard or maybe he's sliding in that direction with no brakes in sight.
Because of these thoughts, the man couldn't bring himself to say a single thing for the longest minute of his life.
MC sighed.
"Go back to your room, Levi." They told him, fingers back on the piano keys. "I don't think we have anything to talk about right now."
Satan:
The wrath demon was sitting on the bench next to the human. When he enter the room and saw them playing this song, he felt no need to hand around the edges of the room. His place was right next to his Kitten after all.
When the song ended, MC neither spoke nor looked at the man next to them despite his eyes on them.
"I know what's going through your head, Kitten." He said softly. "I scared you and now you are comparing me to...that man."
Devil, he hated that man. If Satan was allowed to, he would hunt his Kitten's father down, rip his spine from his body and shove it down his throat.
MC's father was a drunk and an angry one at that. Anything had the potential to set him off and send him on a rampage. Punch holes in the wall, dent appliances, throw the computer around till I was a just a broken box of loose pieces. His destruction was mostly to his environment, but occasionally he would actually dare to hit MC and their siblings, just to randomly calm down and suddenly to hug and kiss them on the couch, like none of it ever happened.
Satan's...lost of control had scared MC and reminded them of their childhood. By the time he cooled down, he saw the look in their eyes. His Kitten was no longer there. They were relieving the past, a memory too traumatic for them to function with. When they came back to, they screamed at him to stop, that they were over, and ran away.
"I-I had a flashback." MC said in a shaky voice. "We...were in my mom's room watching TV. We heard the front door of the apartment open and a bunch of crashing, slamming, screaming, cussing..."
MC started crying and the blonde rubbed their back in comfort, causing them to lean into him.
"We all jumped out of bed, even Mom." The human sniffled. "The three of us hugged Mom's leg and cried. Eventually, she left us alone in her room so she could go out and try to calm him. The screaming got worse. He threw a chair against the wall...I thought he was gonna hurt Mama."
Satan lifted the human up and sat them on his lap, holding them tightly.
"I know it was very scary for you, Kitten." He kissed the side of their head and rubbed their arm. "But I'll never hurt you like that, you know this."
MC sniffled.
"I don't like seeing you angry."
"I know. I'm working on it though. For myself and you."
His Kitten was delicate. He always had to keep this in mind.
Asmodeus:
"Dolly!!!"
After the final note of the song, Asmo launched himself at the human, hugging them close.
The man didn't realize just how bad of a headspace they were stuck in today. He didn't know and continued to talk about himself all day and it triggered so much pain within them.
"Doll, I am so, so sorry!" He squeezed them.
MC didn't even have to say it; the lust demon remembered just how self-centered their father was. He knew how sensitive they could be about this sort of thing and he didn't blame them at all for their outburst.
"Azzy..." Tears poured down their cheeks. "Don't leave me. I'm sorry..."
"Doll..." The demon started peppering kisses all over their face. "I could never, ever leave you so don't go thinking such bad thoughts."
The couple obviously had a lot to work through. Asmo was willing to help his Dolly work through all of it though.
Beelzebub:
Beel stood right behind the human as they played their song. When the music ended, the big guy slowly and gently reach out to the human, laying his hand on their shoulder.
"Muffin?"
"I'm sorry." MC whispered before sniffling. "I'm so sorry..."
Beel bent down and picked up his human from the bench. He held them close, even rocked them gently.
"You don't need to apologize."
"I shouldn't have talked to you like that..." MC said softly. "It just hurts too much. You're too good for me, I-I..."
"Shh." He continued to rock them. "It's okay."
The demon has heard this all before. With how they grew up...well, the human wasn't used to having a healthy relationship, to say the least. They've seen so many awful things...but never again.
Beel was here for his Muffin. Trauma isn't something easy to recover from, but he'll be here for them every step of the way.
Belphegor:
Belphie laid on the ground behind the human, arms outstretched and staring up at the ceiling. He listened to the whole song like this.
Once the last key was hit, MC lowered their hands and let silence hang between them. Slowly, the human slid off the bench and joined him on the ground. The demon wrapped his arm around them and let them lay their head on his chest.
And still, the two said nothing because what was there left to say? The couple has been stuck in this cycle for so long at this point. They're good then suddenly they're not, MC lashes out and cries else where, Belphie comforts them and then the're good again.
It was an exhausting cycle...but that's how it went. It wasn't MC's fault they went through what they did as a child. It wasn't their fault that they felt it's affects to this day.
All the seventh brother could do is be there for them each time. After all, he loved his Human more than anything. Plus...he owes them. Majorly. After all, he added to their trauma the night he killed them and he can never take it back.
Belphie was gonna take care of them. No matter what.
Diavolo:
Dia only recently bought his Queen the piano and had not heard them play it till now.
And what a way to hear them play. After a fight, as they sing about their deep seated trauma that plagues them to this day.
He knew about his Queen's parents, how they fought their whole marriage, how their father would talk down to and emotionally abuse their mother, how their mother would take out all of her pain on her children...
Both of their parents grew up in abusive households and let that abuse trickle down into how they treated their kids. Human life...it sounded so complicated to the prince.
Because of all of this, Dia knew the human only lashed out because they were in pain.
Before MC even finished the song, their boyfriend came up behind them and set both hands on their shoulders. The human just kept playing.
When the song ended, Dia gave their shoulders a gentle squeeze before sitting next to them on the bench.
"Do you feel any better?"
The human shook their head and avoided his gaze.
The pince reached out and took their hand in his and gave it a soft squeeze.
"Take all the time you need. I'm right here."
The human looked over and gave him a small, sad smile.
MC hoped a day would come when they wouldn't be so afraid. What they had with Diavolo though...it felt like a dream. So they were waiting to wake up, to have their heart crushed, to discover that things were not as they seemed.
MC was used to heartbreak. What they weren't used to was love.
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hypnotic-delusion · 5 months ago
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☀️Heeeyy☀️ can we have a bit of infos about your OC Callie and Sercrit please ??🥰🥰
YES OF COURSE THANK YOU FOR ASKING
for starters I'm doing sercrits story first because she's newer and has less about her like a LOT less. Like a LO
Sercrit is the first sphinx to live, nicknamed the Mother Sphinx. Shes a bit older than the Gorosei [not by much, btw in my headcanons they are just yokai] and she's actually fairly well acquainted with them, mostly because she's SO FUCKING ANNOYING. She traveled around a LOT before the void century and would run into them constantly and would bother them before they were found by Imu, and she took a liking to Nusjuro because, to her, he was the most amusing and actually got a lot of her riddles right. After imu she didn't see them for a while and during the Void century she toppled a country and became its ruler, finally staying in a single place instead of causing chaos everywhere. At the end she was imprisoned in a "rock shell" [she was actively turned into rock but was still sentient] for up until about 20, 30 ish years before the main story and the city was defeated and toppled, left to rot. She was freed under a contract by, guess who, the gorosei!! [under orders of Imu] so she just hangs around with them mostly. She can't actively hurt any of them or anyone affiliated with them [for example, other Celestial dragons] due to her contract else she would be turned to stone again!! she's had a bit of a character development and became less immature during her imprisonment and would much rather spend her days lounging around in Pangea Castle with Nusjuro rather then forcefully rule over any kingdoms
Callie stuff under the cut because it's a LOT.
Callie is a! Special case! For starters, she was born as a slave to a Celesital dragon and so were her parents. Her dad was killed 5 years after she was born [they werent always slaves but callie was born into slavery] so it was her and her mother up till she was around 12, then her mom was taken away and then she was alone for another 2 years. So she was 14 when she ate the Flesh flesh fruit [Summary: the flesh flesh fruit allows the user to manipulate their body with no boundaries, turning into incomprehensible horrifying things with the price of excruciating pain and everlasting hunger: basically, body horror shape-shifting. Once you eat the fruit no wounds or scars remain unless they were there before you ate it, so Callie still has her Celestial Hoof scar. This ability also comes with near instant regernation which makes this fruit powerful and dangerous, which plays a part in the story] and when she overheard her captor talking about selling her off just like her mother. After so many years of torment she completely snapped, and due to the fruits affects not only did she break out and kill her captor and several other slaves but she also ate them due to being so damn hungry. She got out the place and figured out she wasn't even in Mary geoise, but rather some old run down shack with a GIANT basement in the middle of a snowy island, with townsfolk nearby. Here's her actual BACKSTORY backstory because I'm not typing the rest of this out I'm ngl BT THE WAY the ages in the backstory are the old ages, rhe ones I say now are the new ages
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Callie was born as a slave. From birth, she was exposed to horrid sights no person should have seen nor experienced. Every day was a new struggle- lack of food, water, the filthy conditions, being overworked by the age of 5, and many others. She witnesses people be shot and killed for speaking too loudly, dropping dead from any number of diseases or from the conditions. But, her light in the darkness was her parents.
Her mother and father weren't always slaves. They spoke of the days before their debt landed them in a never ending rabbit hole, when life was happy and joyful. She would listen to the stories with a smile, resting in her mother's lap as they kept quiet so her Celestial Dragon captor wouldn't hear. She felt happy, despite her conditions.
Until, one day, her parents were disposed of. Her father was tortured and killed after defending a child who was going to be whipped for disobeying, and her mother was sold off to another celestial dragon. She was now left, alone. But, on the day of her mother being sold, hearing the screams of her being dragged off and begging for her child, a fruit dropped into her cell.
It was round, tan, red and purple. It almost looked like meat, but Callie didn't care. She was so, so hungry- any fruit would suffice. Despite it being disgusting, she kept eating. She was so hungry, having been starved for nearly a week straight by now. So...hungry...
Callie lost herself. The fruit was, indeed, a Devil-fruit, the Flesh-Flesh fruit. Insatiable hunger filled her body, her very soul, and paired with the trauma she had endured and the thought of her parents being gone, she went berserk. She stood and broke out of her cell, before tackling her captor- who was extremely confused and threatening her with a gun out of fear. (1/3)
(2/3) She satisfied her urge by devouring the man infront of her, brutally, where the slaves could see through their cells. She continued to rip him, flesh from bone, until nothing but his arm in her mouth was left. She stood and walked directly out of the building- which, was not in Mary Geoise- rather a shack with a basement kept in a snowy island. She tracked blood through the soft snow, dripping it and knawing on the bone hanging from her mouth, slowly forgetting the stories her parents told her and the happiness they brought- and ultimately, them entirely.
After several months of tormenting, torturing and cannibalizing the citizens in the island, the World Goverment was notified. Hearing the descriptor of this woman, what she can do, this brought the attention of none other than the Gorosei. Only a few flesh-flesh fruit users existed before, as the fruit was rare due to its power. But, now they had their chance to study it.
They went to the island and successfully captured her, taking her back to the castle where they put her in the basement, restrained. Their "experiments" and "tests" were nothing more than torture to satisfy their curiosity and amusement, wanting to see how much she could handle. It got to the point where she stopped caring about the debilitating pain, both afflicted and in her stomach. The first time she was brought there, she was starved for almost 4 years straight. Keep in mind, she was only about 10 at the time.
She slowly got used to everything over the years, numbing herself to it. She remembered nothing from her childhood besides a few blurry faces and getting her brand on her back. Due to the brand being before she ate the fruit, it was still there. Over the next 19 years, she was used as nothing more than a weapon- or, when the Gorosei got hungry, a source of food to tear and sink their teeth into. She grew indifferent, relishing in the slaughtering of those she thought of, to an extent, as animals to hunt. (2/3)
Over time, she was transported to different facilities via the Navy. Only the higher ups and a few mid-ranking marines actually *knew* of Callies existence, as the Gorosei wanted to keep it mostly private. While she was being held in Marineford at certain periods, she grew fond of the Admirals, Fleet Admirals (both former and new) and the two Vice Admirals, since they treated her with decency and respect, something she nearly never experienced before. She grew attached, then obsessed, often breaking out just to see them. She was upset when she was taken away, but quickly regained herself as a trauma response. Bottling up everything to the point all she knew was what she was told and ordered, she was a nearly perfect weapon of war. To be starved over and over, tortured, maimed, transported and treated like an item instead of a being broke her entirely. She knows nothing but to eat, to consume, to devour-
-But deep down, she still did have a longing. A longing to escape one way or the other, wether it meant death or not. A longing to be as normal as she could be. A longing that came from her childhood, a longing her parents gave to her. Yes, she wanted to be free. But she couldn't be, not yet and maybe not ever. Hunger still bubbled in her gut and she wondered if she would ever be normal. Someone like her did not deserve to be seen or heard by anyone. She was a danger to people and she didn't know how to cope. And that was what she would believe, for then up until now. (3/3)
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ro-valerius · 2 months ago
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A Mother's Debts
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The two of them really share a taste for seclusion, as much as Moxxie would rather not have anything in common with him.
Collab write with @ffxiv-f13ndish [Moxxie and Virgil]
Tofu sat leaned against the wall, one hand pressed to his side where the void creature from the library had sliced him with its claws and broken his ribs, though he didn’t realize that he was doing so or register the dull pain that throbbed under his hand.
Most of the Flowers were home for the day, and it was so very noisy in the house. He had wandered over to where he had taken Moxxie the first time she had found him after the pirate incident, propped up almost carelessly under the red canopy as he stared out into the mountains surrounding the Goblet.
He had a lot to sort through, a lot of thoughts that needed to be considered carefully before he did anything stupid. 
The sound of footsteps from the direction of the house brought him out of his reverie and he got to his feet quickly, turning his attention towards the sound, body tensed and ready in the event that it was an enemy.
When he realized it was just Moxxie, his shoulders dropped as he flopped back against the wall, nearly regretting the careless action as the almost healed wound on his back reminded him that it wasn’t quite done healing yet.
As his eyelids drooped slightly, he slid down the wall back to a sitting position, once more neglecting to realize that he had pressed his hand to his side again.
Much as she was haunted by the events that came about to introduce her to this secluded spot, Moxxie had taken a liking to hiding out there in spare moments where she could get some time to herself. She was especially in need of some time for herself following a recent interaction with a proposition from a malevolent lalafell.
Unfortunately, it seemed the space was already occupied. 
Moxxie froze upon seeing Tofu. For a moment, a shocked concern broke through her expression. It was quickly brushed away as she recalled a prior conversation – one which regarded Tofu.
Her jaw tightened, a fire in her eyes, though uncertainty remained in the depths of her gaze. Tofu’s eyes drifted over to her briefly, though his head remained turned straight ahead of him. After a moment, he turned his eyes back to the sky in front of him, having noted the fire in her eyes.
“Finally come to take care of your monster?” he said, his voice laden with weariness. 
Moxxie’s expression didn’t change, but her eyes lowered.
“Can’t do that without a weapon, hm?” she said, reluctantly stepping closer. She stood before him, staring down at Tofu, but not quite meeting his gaze.
“It seems like you’ll get that chance before I do,” Moxxie mumbled, referring to Tofu’s way of hardly ever coming back unscathed. A humourless chuckle escaped him, but it was quickly replaced by a wince as his ribs flared. His hand tightened against his side briefly.
“Can’t die until I get rid of that rat, first. After that… doesn’t matter, I guess,” he murmured. Softly, almost inaudibly, he repeated what he had said to Dolly at the library.
“If I get hurt, it’s recompense for every sin I have committed…” He sighed heavily. 
Moxxie’s expression darkened as she recalled her conversation with Tuturoko. Her hands balled into tight fists at her side… until one left her side and swung right at Tofu’s face. He let her fist connect, staring down at the cobblestones with narrowed eyes.
“Don’t be a coward. There’s no fixing anything you’ve done. No amount of bruising is going to bring back any of the lives you’ve taken. Stop wallowing. If you really have some kind of honor, quit being pathetic,” Moxxie snapped. She shut her eyes tight for a moment as they burned, fighting back the wet heat that threatened to spill out.
“I know you hated my mom, but at least-” 
“I didn’t hate her,” he cut in quickly. 
“Then have some dignity!” Moxxie shot back. “It won’t make up for anything. But at least show my mom and myself the honor of not acting like a sad sack of popotoes because I know someone like my mom wasn’t killed by some kind of… pathetic clown.” 
“You think that your situation is the only thing on my mind right this moment? The only thing that weighs on my chest?” Tofu snapped in return before taking in a deep breath to reset. He was quiet for a moment as he centered himself.
“Sorry. Lotta… unpleasant memories have come up lately. You caught me at a bad time.”
“I know,” Moxxie flatly remarked. She swallowed hard as she continued to fight back tears. Her clenched fists shook, and one hand raised.
And then it fell at her side.
“I just… wish you let me die on that ship.” Moxxie turned away, intending to disengage and walk away. Tofu scoffed.
“And that’s any braver?” he grumbled. He sighed, looking up at her. “Your mother loved you more than anything. You were the only thing she cared about as I held her, as she took her last breaths. I swore to protect you, to honor her. And now… it’s less out of obligation and more out of desire to see the woman you grow into. You’re strong.”
His ear twitched. “Honor? That’s such shit-” she began, only to pause upon noticing a shift in Tofu’s attention. 
“...You didn’t bring Nerida, did you?” he asked, making his way to his feet and looking around. He had finally learned the woman’s name and intended to use it.
Moxxie went still, listening closely. She said nothing, but gave a shake of her head. Her posture straightened as she stayed alert of her surroundings. Friends of Tofu, she presumed.
Tofu heard something coming from behind and grabbed Moxxie, pulling her to his chest as he pressed both of them against the wall to avoid the lance that had been thrown at them as it embedded into the ground where she had been standing. Before she could protest, he was away from her and throwing a knife towards the source of the lance.
Footsteps from the other direction caught his attention and he pulled Moxxie behind him protectively, narrowing his eyes at the man that approached.
“Step away from her, rabbit, she has a lot to answer for since that mum of ‘ers is dead and gone,” the man said. Tofu’s eyes narrowed further.
“Like Hells I will,” he growled. 
Moxxie didn’t have much time to react, between being pulled out of the way by Tofu from another flying weapon, to the revelation that it was her being hunted this time. 
Ah yes, she had nearly forgotten of the long list of enemies that her mom had gathered. She pushed back from Tofu and reached over to grab the lance that had been flung her way.
“Piss off! I got nothin’ to do with you!” she snarled, holding up the lance as she squared her feet. 
“Oh, but we got everythin’ ta do with ya, little miss,” another voice said as a woman strode towards them from the other side. Seemed these people had half a mind to surround them. 
“Good for fucking you, you’re not going to touch her,” Tofu said as he drew his knife, darting towards the man that had approached first. 
Moxxie gave a faint scoff under her breath. Even with her mother’s death, she’s left to deal with the burden of her mother’s actions. With her siblings gone, it’s left on her to clean up. She hurled dead ahead towards the woman that approached.  
The au ra just barely had a second to duck as the woman swung a great sword over her head. The point of her lance only left a minuscule scratch at the swordbearer's side. She quickly jumped back to put more space between her and the length of the sword. 
As Tofu swiped at the man, the man leaned back, raising a revolver and aiming it at Tofu. Tofu didn’t have time to think about the consequences, he just grabbed the barrel in the brief second before the trigger was pulled and pressed it to his shoulder - nothing vital on himself, and no chance of hitting Moxxie behind him.
He remembered the look on Miyu’s face as the bullet hit them.
Before the man could reload the gun, Tofu twisted it out of his hand and did as he usually did to disarm his enemies in the Goblet; he threw the gun into the ravine that ran under. 
He swiped at the man again, catching the highlander across the ribs as he jumped back out of range. Tofu followed with another swing, and once more, the man dodged, this time without a scratch.
Before Tofu could take another swing, his chest flared, and though the pain was brief and less intense than some of his other attacks, something about this one left him dizzy. He stumbled slightly as the world spun around him and he dropped to one knee, clutching his chest. What a terrible time for this shit…
“What is your deal?!” Moxxie yelled, once more dodging the swipe of a blade. She growled as she gave another thrust of the lance. This time, there was contact with flesh – the end delving between the woman’s ribs. She twisted the lance as she dug it in.
The action was a short lived and ill advised maneuver. With her attention on the swordswoman, she didn’t have time to move out of the way of a throwing knife, which embedded itself into her knee. 
Moxxie stumbled back in her shock, pulling the lance back with her. Just as she steadied on her feet, the swordswoman swung down.
“The beast took my girl, I’m just repaying the favor, kid.” 
There was a clang! of metal as the sword was met with a knife, and though the force brought Tofu back to one knee in his unsteady state, he was able to redirect the blade harmlessly to the ground beside them. 
“The one with whom you have issue is no longer around to be hurt by your actions. What is the point of murdering a child when your grudge is not with her?” He did not await an answer, knocking the woman back with a surprisingly steady kick.
"Fuck off,” he grumbled. With a groan, he heard more footsteps approaching.
There was no response to be given to Tofu before Moxxie darted forward. She let out a yell as she jumped and drove the lance through the woman’s neck as she landed, gritting her teeth at the pain that shot up her leg with the weight she put on her injured knee. She cursed under her breath as she took the small blade and pulled it out of the soft tissue it had embedded into. 
Under the light of the sun, she noticed what looked to be a strange, murky gleam of an oily substance along the blade, just barely noticeable with the blood which covered it. She huffed through her nose and hurled it back towards the approaching members. No time to examine.
She stood tall, stepping closer to Tofu as she readied her stance. 
Tofu had noted the knife she had removed from her knee, reaching out as she stepped closer and lending a small healing spell to close the wound for now - he had snuck his stone back from Ro finally and was full glad for it. With a frown, he could sense the poison that had begun to make its way through her veins. Another light spell, to start the process of neutralizing the poison. 
As he worked, he had drawn two throwing knives from his pouch, sending them at the two individuals that were closest, catching one in the throat fatally and the other only catching the second in the shoulder.
He could feel himself breathing heavier, but ignored it and launched back towards the man he had disengaged with to protect Moxxie, his speed throwing the highlander off guard as, in a blink, he was on him, knife to its hilt in the man’s chest.
Tofu’s work to neutralize the poison kept Moxxie up on her feet. A heated, nauseating pain still crept through her veins, but began to slow. 
Moxxie, however, did not slow down. She leaned close to the ground as she sped forward. When one of the attackers collapsed to the ground, she jumped off of his back to give herself more distance from the ground as she flung the lance. It flew from her grasp and sunk into the eye of an axe wielding opponent.
She staggered as her feet made contact with the ground again. Her expression tensed, but she nevertheless continued forward to retrieve the lance. She put one foot down on his head as she started to pull out the lance.
A masked figure darted forward and tackled her down just before she could get the weapon out. She started to fight back, until she felt a cold blade against her neck. 
As the highlander fell from Tofu’s blade, he cast a look around, noting one woman with a dagger hanging back from the fight and- His vision ran red as he caught sight of Moxxie. Flashes of the past crossed his mind, and before he could register what was happening, his body acted. 
One moment, he was beside the man he had slain, and in the next instant, his hand was around the blade to Moxxie’s throat, unconcerned with whatever damage it would do to him, as he pulled it away from her. His other hand grabbed the masked figure’s face and forced them off of the child he would do whatever it took to protect.
With a sickening crack, he slammed their head against the cobblestone. Bits of skull protruded as blood pooled beneath the figure. Tofu stood and faced the final attacker, his eyes still holding a dangerous darkness as he stared her down, daring her to try anything.
The woman ran.
Moxxie stared up with a stunned expression. Someone that looked to be in his injured condition wouldn’t be capable of such a blow – shouldn’t be capable. There was a creeping unease as she thought back to her mother.
How did she go? How did everyone that bled at his hands meet their end? 
Perhaps it was remnants of the poison, but Moxxie suddenly felt very, very sick. 
Tofu could ignore the blood dripping from his fingertips, an injury reminiscent of the distant past that danced across his mind. He shook it from his mind, turning to face Moxxie. Instead, his mind focused on her, and the promise he made to her mother to keep her safe.
He had closed her injury, but only just, and the spell to neutralize the poison wasn’t as potent as Ro’s would have been, if he could cast it again, perhaps it would work more quickly- 
Such thoughts ground to a halt as his chest flared again, more aggressively with his own usage of magic compounding with the effects of his endeavors in the Library. Pain flashed through his nerves, and the world spun once more. Blood dripped from his mouth as he dropped to his hands and knees with a barely stifled cry, the effort to keep the ground stable beneath him overriding the usual attempts to alleviate the pain by applying pressure. 
Regardless of her conflicting thoughts regarding Tofu, when he fell to his knees, she rushed to his side. At the end of the day, she was still just a child who wanted to do something right – even though she didn’t know what was right anymore. A reluctant hand reached out to his uninjured shoulder.
No injury from poison or blades could compare to the pain of seeing the life fade from her mother’s eyes in the arms of the man who had just saved her life.
Whatever tears Moxxie had been holding back all this time broke through as a sob ripped through her. The passing of the memory was brief, but it burned into her. She, too, fell to her knees as she wept. 
Through his haze, he could guess as to what happened; another memory shared without consent from either of them. And while he didn’t know for certain what she had seen, the anguish that radiated from her told him with certainty that it was one of two memories, two memories she should never have to witness. 
He wanted to reach out, to apologize, to try and offer some measure of comfort - not that he would be able to do any good at it - but his chest felt as though it were being crushed, his lungs unable to get enough air no matter how he gasped for it through the blood that dripped heavily from his mouth. His vision could not still, and his ears rang harshly until he could hear naught else. Something was wrong, no attack had been like this before. 
As he collapsed to his side, he noticed a heavy presence in the air that suddenly dissipated, and though the effects of his episode faded slightly with it, even if the effects were gone entirely, he had been injured. Not to mention that his previous injuries had reopened in his efforts. Weakly, he managed to lift his hand, stretching towards her, but unable to make contact before it fell limp, dropping back to the ground as he struggled to breathe through the blood.
Whatever that presence had been, it had done a number on him... 
“What a mess. Really, making children cry now, Tofu? I didn’t know if you had it in you.” 
Moxxie stilled at the sound of a familiar voice. She looked up and squinted as she struggled to focus – partly due to the pounding migraine that had begun to creep in, as well as the tears that veiled her vision –  on the figure that suddenly towered nearby.
“You! It’s…”
“Exchanging greetings and pleasantries is unnecessary at the moment – are you to assist in bringing him inside?” Virgil said, leaning down on one knee as he looked Tofu over. 
Moxxie stared down at Tofu for a moment in contemplation. She shook her head and stood.
“Run along, then. Don’t get in the way.” His voice was by no means cold, the elezen merely being direct with the child.
“Now. Shall I spare you your dignity, or do you need the assistance to be carried back?” Virgil addressed Tofu now. 
Tofu watched as Moxxie walked away, reaching out feebly with his torn and bloody hand before it dropped back to the ground again. Virgil had spoken, but Tofu couldn't hear him over the ringing. But the last thing he wanted was to be coddled by Virgil of all people.
He tried to push himself to his feet, making it to his hands and knees before coughing blood harshly onto the ground. He pressed a hand to his chest as he toppled back over the other direction. He turned narrowed eyes to Virgil as he struggled to breathe.
“There was…something here…that made it worse. I don't know what, or how,” he started, pausing to cough once more, before continuing. “It felt like, whatever it was, it was crushing me. The degree has lessened now that it's gone. I just need a moment.” 
Virgil’s head tilted to the side in a quick, bird-like motion.
“And you are certain it is not the burden of the crushing guilt you choose to carry?” Virgil dryly remarked. “That is a joke.” It didn’t seem so funny, however, as he watched Tofu cough up blood and collapse to the ground.
“Ha, funny,” Tofu grumbled.
“It could be your condition taking a turn with the increased intake of magic… or perhaps, the ward could be saturated with a magic energy to weaken you steadily. Nevertheless, peculiar. The latter would be more intriguing… though that isn’t to say that your affliction is not an enticing area of research,” Virgil said, seeming to speak aloud to himself now.
Despite the detached and unnerving statements, he showed some level of care when he leaned down and abruptly scooped Tofu up to carry back to the house.
Tofu’s eyes widened as he tried to wriggle out of the elezen’s grip.
“H-hey I just need-! I’m fine, you don’t need to-” he started to protest, but paused as he noted silver hairs peeking through the blond. Wasn’t Virgil younger than Blomma? He shouldn’t be going gray already…
“...Been using too much aether?” he commented, though he did once more try to get himself back to the ground.
With Tofu’s current condition, Virgil didn’t relent and continued to carry Tofu back towards the house. Though, arguably, it could be said it was partially due to amusement. Might as well find the fun in some things when you are actively deteriorating. There was no overt change in Virgil’s expression following Tofu’s question, though he did seem to hesitate in his response.
“Luluci has informed me that the deterioration continues. The potions and healing spells have reduced in efficacy with the continued use of them. I suspect that I’ve been building a resistance, so to speak. Nevertheless, the treatment is by no means useless presently,” he explained, his steps slowing as he approached the house.
“Then you should be the last person to be trying to carry my ass home, let me down,” Tofu grumbled, finally gathering the strength to make his way out of Virgil’s grasp, though he landed with a heavy thump on the ground before he made his way to his feet with a muttered ‘ow…’. He brushed himself off and gave Virgil a look. 
“Shouldn’t you be under house arrest? Won’t Lament get upset with you?” he asked, holding a hand to his ribs again before quickly dropping his hand to his side - not that he didn’t think Virgil had noticed, but even so, Virgil was the last person he wanted to appear weak in front of. 
“Two things. I wasn’t trying – I was actively doing so – and it wouldn’t have been a very difficult task if it weren’t for you writhing like a toddler. Follow up, Lament is not my keeper. I can very well get around on my own,” Virgil corrected, crossing his arms over his chest and giving a slight tilt of his head while he watched Tofu closely. 
“I could ask you the same question, seeing you are hardly recovered from recent incidents. And it appears you are even further from recovery now, given what had just occurred with your adversary’s band of imbeciles,” he remarked, assuming that the attack had been intended for Tofu. 
”Wouldn’t have resisted so much if you weren’t carrying me like some kind of princess…” Tofu grumbled under his breath. He shrugged. “And to the surprise of everyone, these particular imbeciles weren’t meant for me. What brought you here, Virgil?” 
He was deliberately ignoring the commentary of his own condition. He had actually been nearly recovered before the Library incident, the injury across his back was more of a nuisance than an active pain.
“Very well. I’ll make note to carry you over my shoulder like-”
“Do not carry me at all.”
A faint chuckle escaped Virgil, the corners of his lips forming into a momentary curl of amusement. Virgil decided not to make note of that statement and continued.
“Really? For the child, then? Not surprising at all, given the nature of her mother’s work. The length of the list might as well cover the surface of the seas. She’ll be cleaning up that mess for a long while,” Virgil said, eyes roaming down the road as he recalled where Moxxie ran off to. “If need be, I can attend to finding out who – of considerable concern – could be on said list. However, I’ve come here for matters regarding the mage which hunts you.”
His gaze turned back to Tofu.
“Though it seems I have arrived at ill timing. Shall we go inside before you collapse again? I’ll take care to drag you in by your feet, rather than carry you, this time around.” 
“I said I’m fine,” Tofu growled. “The heavy presence has been gone long enough for the effects to go back to their normal, only mildly annoying state. And I’m used to blood los- I can still stand. You should consider not spreading your own investigations too thin. Drop the beast mage, focus on the child, if you must. I can handle Nhagi on my own.” 
He, too, turned his gaze towards where Moxxie had gone. He hoped she was alright… He squared his shoulders and turned back towards the house, pausing to wait for Virgil with a raised brow. 
“Shall I call for your wardens to confirm the state of your condition – which you insist is fine? I’m certain it would be no trouble to seek out Kore and Miyu right now. I know for certain one of them is sleeping, but it wouldn’t be hard to wake them,” Virgil hummed as he began to speed walk towards the door. “Certainly, you are handling things well!” 
“I do not have ‘wardens’ the way you do, and don’t bother any of my family, I’m walking, aren’t I?” Tofu said with narrowed eyes as he followed the… weirdly speedy Virgil. He must be enjoying tormenting Tofu… This was not a common side of Virgil. Truly, it seemed Tofu brought out a rather strange side to Virgil.
“Certainly. If they were truly wardens, they’d do a better job at keeping you locked up while you’re injured,” Virgil said with a barely audible chuckle. “Now then, come along inside. I have much to suggest in regards to dealing with that mage.”
Virgil gave Tofu little to no time to respond before he disappeared inside. It seems he already made up his mind. With a roll of his eyes, Tofu followed him inside.
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potionsprefect · 2 years ago
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Hidden Memories
Pairings: Ethan Ramsey x Victoria Clarke
Word Count: 572
Summary: Whilst unpacking boxes, Ethan discovers more about Victoria’s past
Rating: General Audiences
Category: Fluff
For @choiceschallenge-may2023 “stuffed animals”
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Ethan didn’t know Victoria could have so much stuff. Nevertheless, he was excited she was finally moving in with him.
Belongings of Victoria’s had already made their way into their apartment. Various pieces of clothing and a toothbrush were already there, now Victoria had everything she needed, ready to start a new life with Ethan.
“I’m sorry I have so much stuff.” Victoria laughed as she unpacked a box labelled ‘bedroom’.
“If I didn’t love you so much I would complain.” Ethan replied.
“I know you’re complaining internally.” Victoria giggled placing stuff in the wardrobe.
“Whatever gave that away?” Ethan laughed.
“I do have too many clothes. They’re not all going to fit in your wardrobe.” Victoria huffed, hands on hips.
“Our wardrobe. Don’t forget that.” Ethan smiled wrapping his arms around Victoria. “There’s enough space under the bed for now. I’ll make sure you have enough space one day.”
Victoria smiled up at him. “One day. And what will that consist of Mr Ramsey?” She said.
“When we have a place that we can both call home then I will make sure you have a space for all your clothes with a walk in wardrobe.” Ethan replied.
He would be lying if he said he wasn’t thinking towards the future. For the time being, they would live in his apartment, Ethan was adamant he would pay the rent. He remembered what it was like having a Med school debt. Victoria insisted she contributed somehow so they went half and half on the bills.
But one day, they would have a place of their own. A home for the rest of their lives.
“That sounds amazing.” Victoria smiled pressing a kiss to his cheek. She went back to unpacking the bedroom box. “Oh I put this in the wrong box.” Victoria laughed, pulling out some cutlery. “That must’ve been one of the gang. I’ll go put it in the kitchen.” She headed out the bedroom.
Ethan continued to unpack the boxes. There wasn’t much left. As he reached then bottom of the box he noticed some stuffed toys. He took them out, staring at them.
One was a brown teddy, the other was a pink one. Ethan figured these were Victoria’s stuffed childhood toys. He smiled at the thought of baby Victoria cuddling her childhood teddies.
“My cutlery has brightened up your kitchen! I knew I would add some- oh!” Victoria stopped in the doorway. “You’ve found my teddies!”
“They were right at the bottom. I didn’t know you had some.” Ethan replied.
Victoria smiled sheepishly. “Some may think it’s childish. But I don’t. It reminds me of New York. And I’ve had these two since I was a baby. Mom and Dad got them when they were expecting me.”
“That’s really sweet. Where are you going to put them?” Ethan asked.
Victoria looked around the room. “Normally I kept them on my bed but now I’m sharing a bed with someone I think they should be kept out of the way.”
Ethan placed the teddies on Victoria’s side of the bed. “That looks good. I’m fine with you having them. I think even as adults we can all take comfort in a childhood teddy.” He smiled.
Victoria pulled him into a hug. “Thank you. But warning now. We take up a lot of bed space.”
Ethan laughed. “I wouldn’t have you any other way. And that goes to the teddies too.”
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This was so much fun to write! Victoria loves her stuffed teddies and always took comfort in them when things were tough
Tagging in reblog
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poeticasoull · 2 years ago
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Taekook Fanfiction | Court of Nightmares.
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Summary: You've ever done something in a heat of the moment? Something that you will forever regret?
Jungkook studies in one of the most prestigious universities in South Korea with the help of a scholarship he got in Computer science. He is happy with how things have turned out for him and has great hopes for a bright future.
But everything crumbles down when he is taken by the biggest crime group in Japan because of a single damn debt his sister made.
Upon losing lots of money and not being able to pay her debt, she makes a deal with the ruthless and cruel boss of the group named Vante. What happens next?
Only God knows. Genres: BTS, Action, Drama, Thriller, Mafia.
Disclaimer: Drug usage, inappropriate language, sexual themes and explicit scenes of violence. You have been warned.
Additional disclaimer: Their appearances and their names are only included in this. Everything else is completely fictional and it's a fruit of my imagination. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all.
* * *
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CHAPTER OO:
My hands were shaking as if I was holding the deadliest weapon known to human kind. I could feel my head spinning and heart racing at a rapid pace. Pace I never thought my body would adjust to so fast even after years of intense football practices back at school.
My chest was raising at an alarming rate, my heart was thumping so fast I knew at some point it'd fly straight out of my ribcage.
Her words echoed in my mind over and over again like a broken record. I couldn't believe it.
I was staring at her, the person I've grown up with, the person I thought was my guardian angel after our parents tragic death, the person I have always trusted and leaned on. She was the only one that has remained in my life after everything that happened. But right there, deep in my mind I remembered how my mom always used to tell me not to trust anyone. Even the closest people could stab you in the back - and unfortunately, she was painfully right. Here I was, staring at my sister as we both of us were sinking in uncomfortable silence.
I felt bitter. 
I felt betrayed. 
 I wanted to shout at Suha, I wanted to blame her, curse her and say things I'd regret afterwards as the anger was getting the worst out in me. I was never a person to get angry that easily. Never.  How could she? How could she betray me like that? My own blood. 
 I felt my throat go dry and I couldn't say a word at this point. Suha was standing there, the mascara she wore was smudged under her eyes from all the crying and her head bowed down in pure shame. She knew she was guilty, she knew what she fucking did and yet she was the one who got out of this situation without a scratch. I ran my slim fingers through my damp hair, turning around with my back facing her. I reached over, moving the red curtain over as I stole a short glance through the window, noticing the black shiny jeep with tinted windows parked in front of the complex and the two men dressed in black suits.
 They were leaning on that car with guns hanging off their belts, looking all scary and intimidating. They were waiting. And I sure as hell knew that they wouldn't leave until they got what they were ordered to take. 
 "How could you do this to me... " I trailed off quietly before the anger got the best out of me. 
"I can't fucking believe it! " I shouted, not being able to hold off the pure animalistic rage that has been building up within my chest. 
Before I knew it, my body turned quickly toward my sister and I grabbed firmly her elbow, fingertips sinking in her skin harshly. I was seeing red. 
 "I am sorry. " she whispered weakly, her hair was a mess and I could visibly see the pain and regret within her eyes. She didn't squirm away from my brutish hold. Probably she knew she deserved it. 
 "Sorry isn't good enough! Sorry won't fix the shit you got me involved into, Suha!" I yelled and that made her flinch again. Honestly, I didn't care if I scared her or if I made her cry harder, I was pissed off. 
I had all the damn rights to be. Never had I imagined that I'd go through something like this. I thought that this was happening only in movies. 
 "How much..." I whispered after a few more minutes of me watching her weep. She sniffled quietly and slowly tried shake herself off my hold.
 "How much!" I yelled again, my voice raspy. I felt my nostrils flaring. 
 "Eighty grand." her voice was a whisper. That made her take a step backward, her frame was shaking uncontrollably. 
"You sold me. . . "I started quietly before my voice grew louder, "for eighty fucking grand!" New set of tears streamed down her red cheeks.  "T-they threatened to kill me, Kookie. I c-couldn't... " she stammered her words. "T-they promised that they w-won't harm you.. " 
 "I will be a fucking slave to those gorillas for life! I won't fucking live like this and you know it! They won't harm me? You serious? These men never tell the truth! They lie and murder for their own convenience." I whispered as if I was telling this to myself rather than to her. I though that today I'd do my physics lecture, go play some football with my friends and then meet up with my girlfriend. This day started normally, dammit! 
 "I will fix this, I promise! I will find the money and I will get you back. Please, don't cause any trouble. "
"You should've thought about that earlier!" I roared; my voice was loud enough to cause some of the neighbors to peek their heads through the windows to see what was happening. Then there was a silence. Suha kept sobbing helplessly. Short puffs of air came out from my lips. Soon enough two men burst through the door, guns pointed at me and my sister. I noticed that those tall bulky gorillas were the same damn men who were waiting by that shiny car downstairs.
 I froze immediately, my anger conversed into fear as I lifted my hands in surrender slowly. These men didn't react at all, they'd approach me and one of them spoke something in Japanese I didn't understood while the other one let out a low disgusting chuckle.
The panic slowly crept up in my heart. I turned to look at Suha who had stopped crying but her face remained twisted in pure horror. She was afraid of weapons but definitely not from the damn casino she went almost every night. She had gambled every single coin we had. 
Then I turned to look at those men. Their faces were unreadable yet covered in many battle scars that made their expressions more intimidating. If they reacted at all, of course.
I noticed how they held their weapons so damn confidently pointed directly at my head. It was a warning. They wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger. I didn't see myself jumping out of that window. It was two stories high and besides, I'd be dead before I even got to do that. For the first time in my life felt vulnerable and helpless. 
 "Times up, kiddo. Either move or I put a bullet in your head." one of the men grunted in annoyance. Fuck. I was slowly starting to realize the seriousness in this situation. Before my mind could react on whatever was happening, my body did it first and slowly, my legs dragged toward the door with my hands still raised in surrender. I didn't even turn to look back second time, I could hear her faint sobs and sniffling in the distance. 
The minute I walked out, I gasped when they tied my hands firmly and put a black cloth on my head. I tried to struggle, but one of them let out a low growl of a warning and I froze. 
Before I knew it, I was forcefully pushed on a leather surface, guessing it was the back seat of that jeep parked downstairs. Silence for a minute before the door got slammed shut and that alone made me jump a little. 
I started panting heavily in pure panic. Here I was, sitting at the back seat of a car with two dangerous men. What was going to happen to me from now on? I knew that the moment I stepped out of that building, everything has already changed for me.
I heard that those men were ruthless criminals. 
And I already had a taste of how ruthless they were at a dark alley a few weeks ago as I got ambushed and beaten up.  Of course, it was just a warning from whoever was in charge of these men to my foolish sister.  I had managed to do my research on internet a few nights after that event occurred, informing myself at the reason of their current whereabouts. 
They were the Yakuza clan called "Black Tigers" which came from Japan to Korea and settled in back in the 70's. Perhaps I'd find my death wherever they were going to take me? Those people were famous for gauging their enemies eyes out and cut their hands before burying them in tons and tons of cement ten feet underground.
As soon as I heard the low purring of the engine, I realized I couldn't run away. I had ruined every damn chance I had.
 So I had no where to run. 
 God help me. 
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macabremoons · 1 year ago
Note
Happy WBW! It's after midnight and my baby won't go to sleep. Please tell me whether you've ever invented a language for a story. Would you like to?
It's totally Wednesday!
Not only have I tried to make conlangs for my story before, I have WRITTEN A FANFICTION OF DAYCYCLE THAT WAS JUST A THINLY VEILED INFODUMP ABOUT THE CONLANG THAT I WAS MAKING AS THE FANFIC WAS GOING ALONG
Under the cut ill put the whole thing for anyone wondering. No it is not proofread and yes it is benodora
Menodora is sitting in the corner of her favorite cafe when Benjamin sits across from her one day. She’s not really that surprised. Everyone in the group chat knows her schedule. 
“I need your help,” he says. 
Menodora closes her laptop. “Alright.”
“My mother’s family is coming over in a couple of months. They are going to stay for the rest of the year. They do not speak Common nor do they speak fae.” Benjamin scowls at that last sentence, and Menodora takes in his annoyance. “They’re going to speak to me as if I know what they are saying even though it’s been years and they know I don’t.”
“I’d love to help you,” Menodora says, placing one of her hands on his, “However, I do not speak the northern vampire dialect.”
“I know, but most of them do know the common southern dialect. You’re fluent in that one, right?”
They must be some sort of passonist for all vampire culture then. Makes sense as to why they haven’t learned common or fae. They probably did, at one point, but let the language fade over the years.
Bonnie only learned enough to understand Menodora when she can’t be bitched to speak in common. Most of those moments are Menodora asking for water or to be taken to bed. It’d be nice to have someone to really talk to, though in a couple of months Menodora is unsure how much Benjamin could learn.
“Sure,” Menodora says. “Though give me a couple of days to organize a teaching method. And to take my test.”
Benjamin gives Menodora a smile that she swears means thank you, but he doesn’t get out of his seat to leave. “Did you already have coffee?”
“Oh, no.” Menodora holds up an old napkin. “I bought a pastry to sit here. You don’t have to buy me coffee to teach you anything, you know. I don’t mind.”
Benjamin waves a hand. “Despite what it may look like, not everything is about debts. Consider it a thing between friends.”
Friends, right. Menodora opens her laptop. “Well then, order me a black coffee.”
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They meet in the library five days later. Benjamin decides, for some reason, to dress up for this. Menodora isn’t complaining too much. He looks good in his sweater and dress shoes.
Right, focus. 
“I’m assuming you know the basics. Like ‘Hi, hello, how are you, my name is?’”
“Nope!” Benjamin leans back in his chair. “Not in the common southern dialect at least. I know it in the northern one. My mom knew this one nodical dialect, but she mostly just used it to talk shit about my family—the one coming over.”
Thankfully, Menodora planned for this. “Okay, so we will start with that. I’m not really going to be able to teach you everything. Every southern vampire dialect is needlessly complex, and there are words and rules even I don’t know about. I can teach you to speak formally and casually, and that should be enough to get you through some conversations.”
She scrolls on her laptop to where she has copy and pasted a grammar book and then takes out a binder full of papers for him to follow along on.
“Wow, you were not kidding about needing time to prepare,” Benjamin says. Suddenly he’s reading over her shoulder. “Now, tell me why there are so many rules again?”
“Because they could. I wish I was lying, but that’s it. If you—in theory—live forever, you—in theory—have all the time in the world to learn the irregular verbs and the genders of nouns being used in a certain context.”
Benjamin looks down at the papers with disgust. “If I didn’t need this, I would be reconsidering this very hard right now.”
Menodora waves her hand. “Don’t worry. I learned a lot of it easily, and I kept learning a bit after I got kicked out. You’ll do fine. Besides, you already know a vampiric dialect, even if it has a lot of influences.”
“Jorson is hello, so formal, and jlori is literally glory but also hi informally.”
“They both come from the word glory?” 
“Yeah. Back in the past vampires didn’t really interact that much, so wishing the other glory before they spoke was a good show of faith. Now it’s just a greeting.”
Benjamin takes out a loose piece of paper. “It’s similar in the northern dialect too. Though it’s spelled gloriee.”
“I swear I read a book about the
Anddd that's where it ends! im tagging my taglist so they can see this mess @lyra-brie, @squarebracket-trick, @immortaladrien, @serenanymph, @wrenofthewords, @kosmic-kore
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romana-after-dark · 1 year ago
Text
The Wrong Way: Chapter 9
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Dark!Joel Miller x Fem!Reader
Tommy Miller x reader (secondary)
Masterlist
Spotify playlist
Summery: You are sold to Joel to clear up some of your fathers' debts, and he takes you back to his house where him, Tommy, and high ranking members of his raiding trope stay. Joel is mean, cruel, and hash, but had small moments of softness that confuse you in your venerable state. Over time, you get to know him and Tommy, and see different sides of each, and both are hiding secrets. Was it possible to fall in love under these circumstances? Or was that just another way Joel was fucking with you?
Aka: my mom sold me to One Direction
WARNINGS FOR FULL FIC, NOT CHAPTER BY CHAPTER UNLESS SOMETHING NEW IS ADDED AFTER MASTER WARNING LIST: DEAD DOVE DO NOT EAT!!!! Fic contains graphic depictions of sexual assault, rape, molestation, dubcon/non con. Blow Jobs, PIV sex, lose of virginity, sex trafficking, past incest, death/people dying everywhere, Stockholm syndrome, falling for your rapist, victim blaming, torcher, branding, physical abuse, rape (not Joel), somno, dub con on tommy? idk he's not really into it but feels like he has to, self-harm/depression/suicidal thoughts (not a lot) but fair warning, major age gaps, love triangle, pregnancy/birth, threats of abortion, major character death, mentions of potential csa/child abuse but does not even come close to happening, forced pregnancy, forced housewife shit, breeding, breeding kink?!?!
Pacing is a bit off for reason's I'll explain at the end so uh have mercy. I shifted thing a bit but I think it'll make the last chapter better.
*********************
If we had a daughter I'd watch and could not save her The emotional torture From the head of your high table She'd do what you taught her She'd meet the same cruel fate So now I've gotta run So I can undo this mistake At least I've gotta try... -Labour, Paris Paloma
It was cool out, and the fall leaves crunched under Joel heavy footsteps, shuttering and flittering as he pulls you across the lawn, screaming his brother's name in vain, horse shouts. 
You were supposed to rake tomorrow. 
“TOMMY! TOMMY! TOMMY!” was all you could say, all sense having left you as soon as you were thrown around in the kitchen. It was another slap that brought you back to reality, opening your eyes to come face to face with the man who had beaten and loved you in such harsh contrast this last year, pulling you both to stand on top of a chair. Your shirt felt wet from how much you cried and were still sobbing, but you have enough thought, just barely, to stop screaming for Tommy… he let go, and you wanted to run, wanted to protect your baby… but you’d get nowhere. You look down at the crowd that gathered, all men you recognized, some you liked, some you knew were just waiting for Joel to relinquish you to them… and Lorenzo, his normally droopy bedroom eyes opened wide with fear.
This is how you’d die, isn’t it?
Joel yanked your face back to him. “They ain’t gonna save yuh, little one. Not even Tommy would save you, you know that, right, for all you cry for him, he still chose me over you. He chose Maria over you, because you are NOTHING! You were nothing but a pastime to him but me?” A rush of calm as he held your chin tightly, nails digging into the skin and clawing your face open. “I love you, princess, and all you do is hurt me.” His voice was soft, small, and for a foolish moment you think maybe he already peaked in his rage… until a strong, painful punch in your sternum knocked all breath out of you... and again. and again.
You hear Lorenzo call out your name, and through your sore throat and abused body, you manage to get out and small ‘don’t’. You hope Renzo knows that’s meant for him. Don’t do it. Don’t risk your life for me, I’m not worth it.
Joel throws the rope over the tree branch, and as you look at your surroundings, you are struck with horror at the realization that this is the tree in which Nick’s skeleton lay at the foot; an area you always intentionally avoided since Joel brought you out here so, so long ago. The rope that his hands hung from as Joel skinned him alive was across from you… was that your intended fate? Would he really do that to you, 8 months pregnant? Or would he kill you and preform some sick, botched c-section?
He fashioned a noose around your neck.
“Joel, Joel please, I’m sorry”
“I don’t fucking care!”
“THE BABY, JOEL!” You sob, pleading for your child's life. “Please, please just wait until I give birth, then you can do whatever you want but they shouldn’t be punished because of me!”
“You’re right, she shouldn’t” Joel always referred to the baby as ‘she’, despite no evidence. He pulled the rope tight, causing you to choke and stand on your toes to keep breathing. “This is your fault.” He slapped you, making your head swing wildly to the right. “It’s your fault I’m hurting you.” He slapped you again, and you felt blood leave your mouth. “You hurt me!” He screamed, and another slap. The ringing in your ear doesn’t prevent you from hearing him as he tells you that you are hurting the baby yourself before delivering his final blow. You can’t focus your eyes at all… but you can hear him, although you wish you couldn’t. From the loud voice and the feel of his breath, he’s right in front of you. “I should tie us both up, little one, and kick this chair out from under us, end it all, is that what you want?”
No, absolutely not. Even after everything, you didn’t want Joel dead, and it hurt you to hear the pain in his voice, just as it hurt to see the betrayal in his eyes as he learned of Tommy… You loved him, you loved him, you loved…
“N-o!” you choke out, the harsh rope burning on your throat.
“As much as I know you want me to,” Despite the fact you said no, he was so convinced you hated him. “You don’t get to win, cheating bitch.”
He hops down, rope in hand, tying it to the bar of the chair and leaving you gagging and rasping on your tippy toes for air on the chair. He mutters his usual threats to the men, that anyone who helps you or touches you is dead, and you watch him walk away towards the house. 
So you stand there for what feels like forever, attempting to pull the noose off but you can barely breath, can barely see, can barely hear… you can, however, feel your precious baby kicking.
One by one, the men get bored and wander off inside, until two bodies are left.
You register Lorenzo’s smell, alcohol and those strange gross cigarettes he smokes, hoping up on the chair and quickly taking you down. You can’t stand, and Lorenzo barely stops you from completely collapsing on the ground. He yells at Jack to help him carry you inside, but Jack hesitates, no doubt not wanting to die… but after back and forth, another arm is lifting you up, and your heavily pregnant form is stumbling back to your home.
“Hey, stay with me sweetheart, we’re gonna get you back, okay? But I need you to stay awake, I think you’re concussed”
You don’t answer; you can’t answer, really… even as you slowly start to gain a little focus. Lorenzo is talking you through it. ‘Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot.’ Although you’re certain Lorenzo could carry you on a normal day, 8 months pregnant was another story.
You weren’t sure what his plan was, but it didn't really matter as Joel was waiting inside for you.
“Jack, take the girl.”
Lorenzo spoke up. “Joel, calm down, I know damn well you didn’t want her dead-”
“Jack, take the girl, and cover her eyes.”
You try to say no, to tell Joel to stop, but words don’t form like they should… Joel wouldn’t listen anyway.
So, there you are, stuck in Jack’s arms which were oddly tight, protective and comforting as Lorenzo’s blood splattered on you both, Joel pistol whipping him hard before shooting.
Lorenzo’s body falls to the floor as a clump of deadweight, and as Joel grabs you, dragging you into the room, all you can glimpse is Jack frantically trying to stop Lorenzo’s bleeding as your only friend screamed in pain on the floor.
When the door closes, Joel is a new person, pulling you to him and onto the bed. He was sat up against the wall, holding your back to his chest as your body wracked in sobs. Lorenzo was dead, you were in pain, and you were so, so scared for your baby. Could they survive what Joel had just done to you? You were certain it was over for now, Joel was back to his lovey, post-violence state had already set in… but what about next time? Joel had been safe for months… months where you didn’t run, you cooked and cleaned and serviced him and fucking hell, you fell in love! You loved him! You were the best possible wife you could’ve been, all while carrying his child, and even the mere suggestion of waiting on having another instead of pumping them out like he wanted, and he nearly killed you.
Was he trying to kill you?
Lorenzo said he wasn’t.
But you weren’t sure…
Lorenzo…
Despite the protruding stomach, he began to massage your core, and you were too violently ill and dizzied to protest. You’d be too scared to even try, anyway. You weren’t sure how long he tried until he gave up, but it felt like forever, minute after minute of your shaking, aching body crying in his arms as he tried to bring you to orgasm with his hands before realizing you weren’t the slightest bit wet. Your body didn’t even have it in you to attempt to betray you this time.
So Joel just held you, and held you tight, so tight you couldn’t hardly breathe again and you had no choice but to try and relax yourself until the sobs bubbled down to gentle hiccups and a steady stream of tears.
“Why do you make me do this to you?” Joel spoke, his voice croaking and you suddenly notice tears on your neck. “Why do you make me hurt you?”
“I d- I don’t know.” You gasped and tried to answer through the shaking tears.
“I don’t want to do this, you know that right?”
“Uh-uh”
“You make me act like this. I’ve been good to you, haven't I?”
“Y-y-yeah-ah.”
You almost killed me and our baby.
“I feed you, I care for you.”
“Y-yeah”
Tommy fed me. I cook for you.
“I make love to you, I make you come, don’t I?”
“Yeah.”
You rape me.
“You’re my wife”
You kidnapped me.
“I gave you a child.”
You forced this on me.
“I gave you a life here, free from your father.”
You ripped me away from Zach and June, you sent Tommy away, you killed Lorenzo.
“But still, you treat me like dirt.”
I cared for you. I’ve been a nurse, a servant, a cook, a whore
“You cheated on me with my own brother”
I was terrified of losing my virginity, and Tommy was safer than you.
“You disrespect me”
I asked a question.
“You know why I do this, right? It’s for your own good. Our baby needs a good mother, she needs a mother who will love her unconditionally, who will always be there for her, to be a good example. I can’t have you running around making her feel unwanted, can I?”
“No.”
Joel buried his wet, crying face in your hair. “So it’s not really my fault, is it?” It was like he was begging for forgiveness, for absolution, justifying it to you, to himself, maybe even to Sarah…
You answer him, sleepy, head throbbing and you feel like you could throw up. “No, it’s my fault.” and it was. It was your fault for not leaving with Zach, for not taking him up on countless offers he made in letters Lorenzo passed between you, offering to run away with you and June and Lorenzo… even continuing to beg into the pregnancy, but you ignored him, causing many fights between you and Lorenzo. It was your fault, and now Lorenzo was dead or dying and you were trapped with no way to contact Zach, no way to get to him…
He caresses your head and body. “Yeah, it’s yours, but it’s okay, I forgive you. You’ll do better, I just know it.” Joel sounded like he was about to fall asleep too. “You’ll be good for her. You’ll be a good mom for Sarah.”
If you weren’t so fucking tired, the revelatin of the extent of Joel’s dellousions would be shocking to you, but you couldn’t find anything shocking anymore.
“I spoke to Tommy the other day.” He sat up, laying you down into bed and tucking you in. “He’s doing good.” A kiss on the cheek and he continued his talking. “I was think’n, maybe after she’s born, we could see Tommy a little bit? Not much” Joel was quick to warn. “Maybe just… once every month or two… so Dolly can know her uncle?” He was back to using Dolly… “Would you like that? See’n him a little bit here and there?” He was offering you an olive branch.
“Y-yes, I’d like that.” Tommy… seeing Tommy again… You wanted him so badly, you missed him so much it hurt… Lorenzo was a blessing, he was like a brother, but Tommy was someone special. A kind, soft heart in a world of monsters…
“Go to sleep, little one. Tomorrow’s a new day.”
You thought you shouldn’t sleep, given that you were clearly concussed, but Joel was so warm beside you, big and broad and protectively wrapping his arms around you… You allow yourself to drift off; there was no use fighting it anymore.
But tomorrow wouldn’t be a new day. Tomorrow would be the same thing. Cooking, cleaning, baby, sex… every day for the rest of your fucking life.
The next morning Joel brought you eggs and toast... Breakfast in bed like a good husband… You waited until it was safe to ask about Lorenzo.
Hesitantly, Joel let you go see him… he was alive, but barely. The gunshot went straight through, thank god, but the wound on his torso was already looking infected, and his face was deeply swollen and bruised; Jack was no nurse. 
But Lorenzo was still Lorenzo. “Hey sweetheart, you look like shit” 
You smile at him. “Yeah, you’re not exactly Han Solo yourself.”
“Now, how come you know who Han Solo is but you don’t know Fleetwood Mac?”
You go on to explain the comics and Joel telling you all about it while you care for his wounds, making little jabs at each other until you are done, and he grabs your hand; sincerity in his voice.
“What happened? After he shot me… what happened?” 
Lip quivering, you answer. “Nothing, really. He took me into our room and he-he held me and cried-”
He furrowed his brow at that. “He cried or you cried?”
“B-Both” You whimpered.
“Jesus”
“And he-he-he he told me I made him do it, that it’s my fault and I was a bad mom-”
Lorenzo groaned, and went to scrub his face, but yelped and winced in pain from his pistol whip. “Sweetheart, I need you to listen to me. I know I call you stupid and dumb and… I don’t understand why you stay, I really don’t… but…” He reached out and took your hand. “But this is not your fault. Even when you stay, even when you make him mad, it’s not your fault, and you are not a bad mom.”
You allow yourself to cry as he tells you, being perhaps the first person to say…
This isn’t your fault.
Two days later was when Joel left you next. You had sworn up and down you would forgive him so long as he got Lorenzo the medicine he needed, and tried your best to give him the best makeup ‘I’m sorry I hurt your feelings, Joel, I’ll do better next time, please don’t kill me’ sex you could give to smooth it all over.
The closet was locked; he kept your shoes in there, as he did any warm coats or gloves or anything that made aid in running away, but you didn’t care. You were going to the barn, you were taking a horse, and you were getting far, far away from here. You had a tinge of remorse for leaving Lorenzo; Joel will surely take it out on him, but you had gotten him his medicine and with it, a fighting chance. 
Right now, you have to run. Nothing mattered more than your baby’s life.
It was cold, crisp, but not unbearable in your sweats, socks, shirt and jacket. You had to find your way to your family farm, find Zach and go. Joel didn’t know June existed, so she was safe from his rampage… if you were lucky, your dad might be who Joel takes it out on. Joel had told you if you tried to run, Zach was the first person he’d go to… but you wondered if now that Tommy was gone, Joel might go to wherever the hell Tommy was first.
You loved Tommy, there were few people who you loved like Tommy… but you loved your child more, and you prayed that Joel would go to Tommy first, buying you and Zach some time.
As you ran through the woods, your thoughts were scurried, desperately trying to find the barn in the darkness; there were few stars and no moon, and you had never been taught a sense of direction… You weren’t sure how to get to your family farm, but Christ, you were running for your life right now. 
SMACK! You ran into a tree, no doubt adding to the horrific bruises on your face as is, but that's nothing compared to the horror of Nick’s skeleton under your body. You barely manage to cover your mouth from the scream as you fall backwards and scramble, trying desperately to get away.
As you run into a pair of legs, a hand covers your mouth this time and you scream, loud.
You are turned around and are suddenly face to face with Jack.
“Jesus fucking christ!” He whisper-shouts. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
You immediately begin begging. “Please! Please don’t tell Joel, I’ll go back! Please Jack he’ll fucking kill me, he’ll kill my baby please don’t tell-”
“Shut up!” He hisses, standing up from his crouched position to run his fingers through his hair. “Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuck FUCK!” Jack begins pacing, considering his course of action. “We’re going back to the house.”
You nod obediently.  You could figure out how to escape later, right now you needed Jack to keep a secret. You’d do whatever you needed to.
“Please don’t tell him, please” You sit up on your knees, wobbling with the belly but giving your best attempt to look pretty. “I’ll do whatever you want.” You’d suck him off, he could fuck your ass
“Jesus Christ, he’s got you fucked up.” Jack turns out, groaning, before helping you stand. “Get up, we gotta talk to Lorenzo, he’ll… fuck he’ll figure something out.”
Jack started walking, and you hesitated… you aren’t sure of you can trust him… but damn if you don’t have any other options. You look back and into the woods, debating your choices.. When you see a glint of silver in the grass near the skeleton.
A jackknife, the one Joel used to skin and castrate nick. You had no weapons… so you took it. It had a smooth wood handle with an ivory inlay, with a blunted out edge… the button struck a little as you practiced switching it in and out.
Not hearing your footsteps on the leaves, Jack turns around and urges you on.
He instructed you to stay put on the side of the house. He said Joel isn’t due back for a few hours, but just in case. Not long after, a stumbling and swearing Lorenzo is walking outside under Jack’s support.
“Of all the fucking times you wanna leave, you had to chose when I’m barely alive, huh?”
“I’m so-”
He holds up a hand. “Stahp.” His boston accent was thick with irritation and pain. “I’m just fucking with yuh, kid. Let’s get you to Tommy.” He began to walk, with Jack’s help, to the barn. 
“But Zach-”
“Tommy is closer. I know where Zach was gonna take you, I’ll give Tommy the instructions.” He turned to Jack. “You need to go. Joel is gonna kill you if she and I left on your patrol.”
Jack shakes his head. “No, I don’t think he’d”
You spoke up. “He would. He told me he… he knows you and Tommy still talk. He doesn’ trust you.”
Jack groans again, rubbing his face.
Lorenzo continues. “Swing by and get Maura, anyone in proximity to this is in danger.”
“Fine, fine. Meeting in Boston?”
“Rapid City, we’re not there in 4 days, keep going. You know the plan once you get to Boston.”
You turned to Lorenzo. “Zach, Joel said-”
“Relax, sweetheart. Jack and I’ve had an escape plan ready to go just in case, and that involves your brother.”
The plan was for Jack to go to the farm and get Zach… if all went well, you’d meet up in Boston. There they’d find a friend of one of Lorenzo’s sisters, Tess, and she’d help you… You weren’t entirely sure about all of this, but Renzo would bring you to Tommy… Tommy would keep you safe.
Lorenzo wasted no time. He saddled up quickly and he and Jack helped you on the horse. You thanked Jack as he and Lorenzo hugged goodbye, and Lorenzo took off galloping for as long as his wounded body could take. He slowed down after half an hour, his weakening body slumping up against yours, telling you how to get to Jackson and what to tell Tommy should he fall over… If Lorenzo passed out and off the horse, there was no way to get him up in your condition… 
Somewhere along the lines, you  found yourself apologizing, apologizing for causing so much trouble, uprooting his life, uprooting all their lives, Tommy’s happy life in Jackson…
“Sweetheart, knock it off, I mean it.” He said in that harsh but loving tone. “Joel… he said you were nothing, that you were nothing to Tommy but that’s not true. I love you, Zach loves you, and Tommy absolutely loves you. We are doing this to give you and that baby a chance at survival.”
You continued into the night, until a group of men on horses approached with dogs.
“Lorenzo Alverano!” He shouted, and the men looked at each other. Quickly, you and Lorenzo were sniffed out for infection and hurried off into the city limits and brought to where you sound found out was Maria and Tommy’s home, the men banging on the doors.
It was Tommy who answered. 
You didn’t look like yourself at all.
Even under the dim porchlight, Tommy could see the expanse of bruises and scratches on your face, your black eye, the hanging and strangulation marks and rope burn, the busted lip, the considerable amount of fat you’d lost… and of course, your 8 month round belly.
“Oh honey…” Tommy murmured before rushing to take you in his arms. “What did he do to you?”
You cried heavily in his arms as he guided you inside where another woman watched, questioning Lorenzo on the situation at hand. You were introduced to her, Maria, and although she was straight to business, you didn’t feel unwelcomed. Tommy would care for your emotional needs, Maria was planning your escape.
It was decided when she spoke. “Lorenzo, you’ll never make it to Casper the way you are, you’re staying here.” She turns to Tommy. “Take one of the travel bags and go.”
“Maria. ” You didn’t know if he was going to protest or what, but Maria stopped him short.
“Go. She needs you.” She looked… Sad, almost, as she turned to the men. “Get Lorenzo to a safehouse with a medic.” Back to Tommy. “You, get the horse and the bag and go. There isn't much time, Joel is gonna come barreling and we need to prove you’re gone.” 
Back and forth, Tommy looked at you, then Maria, then you, then Maria… before standing up. “Okay.” and he headed out the door in a hurry.
Maria looked at you sympathetically. “Do you remember me?”
You tried to think… she looked familiar but- oh. “The first day.”
She nodded. “Yeah. Joel… I wanted to stop him, but I was trying to broker a deal to keep Jackson out of his grasp and…” Maria shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m honestly amazed you lived, knowing Joel.”
“Yeah.” You huff out. “Me too.”
“Tommy’ll get you to Boston, get you safe, take care of you…” She looked sadder, the more she talked…
“I’m sorry.” You couldn’t help but over apologize, it was ingrained in you now. “But once my babies safe, I’ll leave you and Tommy alone. He’ll be back and you’ll never hear from me again.”
She didn’t look like she believed you. “Sure. He’ll be back…” did she believe herself?
Despite Maria and Tommy’s insistence to hurry, they took their time saying goodbye, Maria grasping tightly to his body.
“I’ll be back, Maria. I swear. Get through the winter and I’ll be back first thaw, okay?”
Maria didn’t sound like she believed Tommy either.
One hand was around you, holding you tightly to him while the other guided the horse, urging it on to run as much as it could… you needed distance, as Joel likely already returned to the house and discovered you were missing by now.
It was a long while before he spoke.
“What did he do to you, honey?” It was that soft, low, ever-calming tone he used on you that never failed to make you felt into him… “How did this happen…”
You couldn’t help but tell him the story of the last 8 months since he’s been gone. The pregnancy, Lorenzo, the freedom, and exhausting housekeeping with a giant belly… How Joel began to see you as his wife, his maid, a person to make babies and clean the house… not as a person like you had thought.
Finally, you told him how Joel beat the ever-living fuck out of you, how he hung you from the tree and left you for dead… and how you called for him in your hysteria. 
Tommy rested his head on yours, taking in the smell of your hair as he apologized for not being there for you.
When it was clear you weren’t getting much further, Tommy guided the horse to an old abandoned house he knew off in the woods. Tommy knew this area well, having made this trip many times throughout the years. The sleeping bag you were sent off with was intended to be shared between two people for body heat, but not necessarily a heavily pregnant person… the fit was tight, but nonetheless 
you were comfortable in his arms. You were always comfortable in his arms.
“I’m glad you’re here, Tommy.” You spoke softly, drifting off to sleep.
“I am too, honey.” Tommy kissed the side of your face, and as the tiniest peak of light shown through the horizon, Tommy and you drifted off to the small amount of sleep you could before continuing on your journey to Boston, to start a new life.
*************
CW For a bomb threat on kids between the *******'s
*********************I work at a day care, it's week 2, and between waking up from nap and snack time we received a bomb threat. Our building evacuated around 100 kids to a nearby church. People where there to set up a anniversary party and were incredibly kind. They set up a tv for the kids to watch a movie, brought out water and crackers for our poor kids who didn't get their snack, and tissues for the teachers who were crying. its me i was teachers. I did great getting the kids to safety butt as soon as the action ended i was a mess. not long after a bunch of people arrived. My day care does child care for workers at the nearby hospital we are a part of so pretty soon lots of people where there including the hospital president, HR, and on sight counseling which I took part in. Turns out it was a middle school pulling a "prank". Law enforcement said they have never seen a building full of children evacuated that quickly and safely. Several of us are new. **************
this being said... I am exhausted. I cried a lot and my anxiety drained me... but I wrote this chapter bc writing helps me cope. So.... it's not my best writing but that's okay.
chapter 10 will probably take a while to see, because I need it to be perfect, absolutely perfect for you guys because you all deserve it. You maaaaaayyy just a small drabble bc there was a scene i wanted to include but it just didn't fit!
I go on a trip next week where I'll finally get to see Matchbx 20 who ive had tickets for since 2020 but covid ruined it lol...
I'm also working on a joel one shot for ya'll
anyway thak you all so so so much for your continued support!!!!! I love you all very very much
Reblogs are the best way to spread and support, but comments mean the world. I know not everyone likes to share dark content on their blog, but even a kind anon is such support!
Anyone got any guesses for the grand finale? I would looooove to hear some theories!!!
@my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction @howaboutcastiel @tidlewav3 @bunnnyy-dummy @slutfortimotheechalamet @foggymoonbanana @dinsbaby @miraclesabound @jenna-ortega @primosworld @marclovers @threeheadedlamb @secretwriterpp @the-fox-den
@bitchyglitterfox @0bsessedwithfictionalcharacters @alloftheboysivelovedbefore @not-a-unique-snowflake-blog@lunar-ghoulie @pedritosdarling @dreamonseems @alwaysdjarin @amoramorquetepintas @milla-frenchy
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anthrofreshtodeath · 9 months ago
Note
Last I wrote I explained why I liked your story Pyrite so much. At the time, I wanted to join the conversation about top outfits/looks and moments for Jane and Maura but got busy and then forgot. Well, I finally remembered.
Here are my top Jane looks and moments. Maura will be next.
Jane's look:
It starts off good because I like every look in S1E1 - hair and clothes, Jane's visit to Hoyt in jail.
Overall, I love Jane's low smoky voice, hair, left handedness, watch on right wrist, standing with thumb hooked in kit belt and other hand on her hip showing her badge, wearing protective vest, wearing aviators, latex gloves on.
Anytime she is tall, dark and imposing - even better with her gun in her strong left hand. Anytime she is holding her gun going up or down stairs or checking out the area - long legs, badge, hair in pony tail - or running after a perp.
Anytime she is forcefully pointing her finger at people.
Anytime I can see the veins in her hands and arms.
My favs are Jane's button up shirts (basically S 1&2) with the sleeves rolled up and a few buttons undone showing the under shirt, especially the blue/black button up with white tank under and gray pants and blue one when she talks to Tommy in FBI custody.
I like a few of Jane's short sleeve work t-shirts usually tucked in just in front: light blue one in morgue when Frankie's shot, pale yellow t-shirt in episode she tells Maura she's a badass, and gray or slate blue with black pants in episode when Paddy kidnaps Maura.
Some random outfits:
Jane looks fab in LBD, yoga clothes that show her abs, in Evidence Dept khaki pants with blue polo with blue and blue windbreaker, and blue BPD coveralls working on car in Dance with the Devil S4E5.
Black suit with grey or slate blue shirt at end of She Works Hard for the Money
Jane's Moments:
Anytime she's touching Maura - physically and emotionally
Jane and Frankie (and all Rizzolis)
Jane and Frost and Korsak
She answers phone "Whatever you want I can get it" after Paddy takes Maura.
Jane (and Frost, Korsak) protective of Maura. Tommy O'Rourke with ice pick in his chest through pic of Maura with Doyle. Message is clear - don't mess with my family - you do what you need to do to protect family.
Protective Jane confronting Maura's moms, Hoyt, anyone who hurts Maura in jail, tells Maura "I'm your advocate"
Shooting herself to save Frankie and Maura
Doesn't let Hoyt intimidate her- visits Hoyt in prison, "I want to put my gun in your mouth and pull the trigger.", shoots Hoyt's hand "we match" and stabs Hoyt sending him to hell
Anytime Jane shows she "smarter" than you think - got into BCU, taught Tommy chess
In She Works Hard for the Money gets money for injured girl college debt (I really like the song toward the end of this episode, wish I could find it). As tough and prickly as she is, Jane has a lot of compassion for victims and survivors.
Jane saves Tasha and their relationship
This is an exhaustive portrait of Jane - thanks for sharing!
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