#sort of a follow-up to yesterday's entry | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

home-sweet-hive · 1 month ago

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ALTERNATE HUMANITY

A Field Guide to "Humanity Removal Therapy"

Part 2: Facade (ft. @dawning-mars )

This is a complimentary series to this system's other Animal HRT series; Black Arms HRT

Letter from your "Penpal":

Hey, very sorry about this part taking a while to come out. It's one thing for a comic to take a while, but I feel a little pathetic that it took me over a month to write this part out. Yeah yeah, "self deprecation isn't gonna get you anywhere", I know. Let me do things wrong sometimes. But hey, I did get it complete in time for the big Dragon HRT send off, so that's something I guess. Aik did a lot of being poetic and stuff yesterday with his Fish HRT fanart, I don't wanna bore you by doing the same. (Not like I have anything of the sort to say, anyways.)

Let's get on with the show. Thanks for reading and making the community what it is or whatever, I like writing about y'all.

WARNING: This part still has the Swearing, Mentions of Death, and the Untrustworthy Narrator/Main Character from last time, but also there are now Mentions of Cults and Violent Threats. Also just a general horror vibe, especially towards the end. Reader Beware.

Prev | Next (COMING SOON. HOPEFULLY.)

8:00am, February 9th, 2025

The following is an audio recording from Doctor Theodore H. Erian, transcripted into text;

“Eight in the morning, February the 9th. … Is that necessary? I’ll admit, I’ve never done something like this. I’ve had some patients of mine send in audio tapes for their transition journals before, for one reason or another, sure, but I’ve never made one myself. I… I just want to be vigilant.”

“That journal that I read a week ago… It still haunts me a little. I know, I know, I contort human bodies into resembling animals for a living, and a simple PDF sent to me via email is what keeps me up at night.”

“But in the days that have passed since I conversed with Doctor Fortune, I’ve been rereading those journal entries in between working with patients. I’ve been picking up on… Details. Unsettling details. The one that gets at me the worst is when the author mentions how the technology behind Animal HRT would ‘go to a much more important use’ if in their hands… Just what do they even mean by that? Furthermore, the author seems to work for a news station, but their descriptions in certain places throughout their entries suggests their workplace has responsibilities far beyond the scope of such a profession. They also seem rather close with and even have some authority over a pair of researchers from a laboratory, as if the two businesses are subsidiaries of another organization. The greater organization both the station and laboratory are under is probably the one Doctor Fortune mentioned in her emails, come to think of it.”

“But back to the point. The reason why I’m recording myself right now. The day that the journal suggested its author would come for me has arrived, and I indeed have several appointments on my schedule today. One of them being for a L. Black. I… feel like it’d be a breach of privacy to give their full name in this recording. But that patient does have the same first initial as the author of the journal, which is arguably the most important detail. I do have the full first name now, mind you, though I’m sure you’re not surprised to hear that the name was generic enough for me to get flooded with results from all sorts of different dimensions when I tried to look them up. In the end, I wasn’t able to get much information on them.”

“The surname suggests a possible connection to the Black Arms, at least in my opinion. Soon before Doctor Fortune had approached me, I had been given a ‘notice of investigation’ by the Guardian Units of Nations. They’re trying to deter me from ever making or distributing an HRT for the Black Arms, and it honestly does seem similar to what Doctor Fortune is doing. In fact, I did try asking her a few days ago if she was affiliated with G.U.N.”

“She seemed rather offended by the question, chastising me for ‘comparing this situation to a video game plot’... Can she blame me? I work in and for a land between dimensions, for fucks sake…”

“But aside from that, I suppose all I can do now is… wait. Wait and see what Mr. Black does. What they… want.”

9:20am, February 9th, 2025

>Real time transcription from audio recording.

>Any typos or mistakes made are either L████’s or another ████████████████████████████████’s responsibility to detect and correct.

>Reminder: I am not a grammar checker, and my knowledge unfortunately relies on what is given to me.

[sound description: door opening, followed by a bell ringing, and the door then closing]

“Welcome to the TOHC Primary Care Center. Let me guess, you’re here for Doctor Erian?”

“Yep. I have an appointment.”

“Do you now? Heh, most just waltz in here without so much as a 15 minute notice call…” “What’s your name?”

“L████ ████.’

“Thank you.”

[sound description: Tapping of keyboard keys]

“I see. You do indeed have an appointment with Doctor Erian, but you’re quite early, don’t you think?”

“Am I now?”

“Yes. Your appointment is at noon. Did you mean to schedule it earlier in the day or…?”

“Noon is fine.”

“Good, ‘cause you wouldn’t be able to reschedule your appointment unless you changed the day outright.”

“Tch. Of course not.”

“You can go sit down in the waiting area now.”

9:30-10:30am, February 9th, 2025

Removed the recording of this section of time and the subsequent transcript made for it. Nothing of importance really occurred during this time, just people coming in and out of the building without much coming from that. Keeping it around was just unnecessary in my opinion.

10:40am, February 9th, 2025

Okay, here’s where things get interesting again~

[sound description: door opening, followed by a bell ringing, and the door then closing]

[sound description: distant talking, sound too far for accurate transcription]

[sound description: someone sitting down in a chair nearby]

“Oh, hello.”

“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t notice you there, hun!”

“Don’t sweat it, I don’t mind having someone to talk to while I wait.”

“Ah, alright…” “So… What is it that you’re waiting for?”

“I have an appointment with Doctor Erian at noon.”

“Really? I have an appointment with him too!”

“Heh. Doesn’t sound much like ‘waltzing in here with no notice’ to me.”

“Huh?”

“Oh right, sorry. When I got here the receptionist made a remark about most people treating the place like a walk-in and I found it funny how you’re proving her wrong.” “But it didn’t quite click in time that you wouldn’t have been able to know that context.”

“I see!” “That’s… comforting? Maybe?”

“Hmm?”

“It seems like Erian isn’t the only one around here that’s got a sharp tongue…”

“Is he… known for being harsh?”

“From what I’ve heard, yeah…”

“That explains some things, then.”

“But anyways, what kind of Animal HRT are you hoping to get on?”

“Oh, I’m not here to get myself a prescription.” “My friend tried to get on Cat HRT through him but was denied. I’m trying to find out why.”

“Oh…”

“... Sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I-”

“No, you’re fine, hun.”

“... If you insist.” “Can I assume you ARE looking to get a prescription, then?”

“Yeah.”

“May I ask for what?”

“A-ah, well… I know it sounds crazy, but-”

“No judgement from me, you’re in crazed company.”

“... I want to go on Eldritch HRT.”

“Eldritch?”

“Y-Yeah. That’s… That’s what I want!”

“How interesting! Do you have a specific entity you want to be like? A cult you want to curate or join? Just how many so-called ‘eldritch entities’ across the realms are you aware of? Are… Are you-”

“I… Haven’t given it all that much thought, to be honest…”

“That’s fine! That just means you’re up for anything, right?”

“U-Uhm… I guess so?” “You seem… really excited by all this. Are you a fan of eldritch horror too?”

“I guess you could say that~” “Oh-! Where have my manners been? I don’t think I got your name!”

“Did I not give it? Sorry about that, hun!” “Mars ████.”

“Nice to meet you, Mars! My name’s L████. L████ ████.”

“Nice to meet you too, L████!”

“But back to the Eldritch HRT thing of yours – how many entities are you aware of?”

“Well, I do know a good bit of the writings of HP Lovecraft…”

“Is that it?”

“Is there more I should know?”

“Yes! But that’s alright, I can teach you everything you need to know. Let me just-”

“Mars?”

“That’s me!”

“Shit, is it time for your appointment already? Well maybe we can keep talking after you-”

[sound description: Mars walks off with Doctor Erian to his office]

–

She didn’t come back to talk to me after her appointment. It seemed that she was pretty upset as she left the building. Did she get rejected too?

I hope to meet up with Mars again soon.

I sensed some hesitation in her voice as we talked, but I just know she’d be a perfect fit for us once she learns about us and what we are.

But anyways, nothing of interest occurred in the hour after my conversation with Mars, so I deleted that section of recording as well.

Which takes us right to my meeting with Doctor Erian.

What a mess that was…

12:00pm, February 9th, 2025

The following is a written recounting by Doctor Theodore H. Erian.

I had originally intended to audio record my meeting with Mr. Black, just like the recording I had made this morning.

However, the moment I saw him, I knew that I would have to get on his level, so to speak. Audio wasn’t going to cut it when it came to conveying the full picture of my experience.

So here we are.

As I mentioned in my emails to Doctor Fortune, I had gotten many, many results when I looked his name up, but despite all that, he managed to look nothing like any of them in person.

I could sense I was being deceived, or perhaps even toyed with in some way. But I wasn’t sure in what way it was.

After having noticed that, I then took notice of a rather large bag they had slung around their shoulders. Looked to be a laptop bag, by my best guess. I of course remembered what Doctor Fortune had said to me about not allowing him to show me anything on his laptop if they offer, and so I readied myself to refuse anything of that sort.

But to my surprise, he didn’t even do so much as open the bag.

Instead, when he entered my office, he just… stood there, looking around at the place. This went on for about a minute or two – I wasn’t keeping exact notice of the time.

At first, I had thought that they were eyeing the various types of medication I had stored. But once he opened his mouth, it became apparent that it was something else entirely that had caught their eye…

“Is that an RCA RP3503 shoebox cassette recorder and player you have back there?”

My recorder, the one I had used to record my personal record from this morning, the one that I had intended to use to document this meeting… That had been what he noticed first.

It's a bit impressive that they identified the exact model, I must admit. Didn’t help with how much they intimidated me in the slightest, though.

“... Yes? Why do you ask?”

I had responded. I didn’t want to come off as suspicious to him, but rather, just genuinely interested in the conversation. I couldn’t let them know I had seen their journal.

“It’s not often I see a cassette player in the wild these days. Damn shame, I know that phones and mp3 players are more modern and in ways more convenient, and the typical ‘retro throwback’ audio playing format of choice is vinyl, but I really do have such a soft spot for cassettes.”

Really, I was surprised with just how normal this starting conversation was. If I was to be conspiratory, I could even say that it was too normal, as if he was luring me into some sort of false sense of security with this mundane discussion.

“Do you now?”

I replied, allowing the conversation to carry on.

“Yes! Though, I’d rather not get too sidetracked with all that!”

I remember it felt like a pit had dropped into my stomach when they said that. Here I was thinking I could give myself some time to formulate how I was going to respond to him trying to get answers out of me by fueling this clear interest of his. But it seems that they had caught on to that plan of mine.

“The real reason I pointed it out was to ask… You’re not going to use it to record this meeting of ours… are you?”

He then asked me.

I wish I had been able to somehow record this meeting on video, because I don’t know if words alone can describe the bone chilling aura that the look Mr. Black had given me as they said those words carried. Somehow, his face managed to darken in real time, a shadow cast over the top half of it that made it look as if his eyes were glowing at that very moment. They had tilted their head ever so slightly as they spoke, their face adorned with a subtle, yet noticeable grin, despite the seeming worry that the question carried with it.

Considering my line of work, I’m quite familiar with the inhuman, and let me tell you – I saw that inhumanness in this man in that fleeting moment.

Despite wearing what looked to be colored contacts of some kind, I could see in his eyes a wildness that was inherently animalistic.

I know what Mr. Black is here for, and I know it isn’t treatment. But if I hadn’t known better, I may just have been convinced to hand him a prescription right then and there.

Or maybe he is already something other than human.

I said no, of course not.

“Good, good.”

I don’t know what came over me, but I responded to that remark by asking him if he didn’t like his life being documented.

“What an odd question…”

As if I hadn’t already regretted my words the moment they came out of my mouth, I certainly would have after that reaction from him.

I was like Icarus in that moment, my wings equipped as I set myself straight towards the sun. I had pushed my luck too far, and they were catching on that I knew more than I should. Surely.

“But to answer it, I do actually like to document my life. But I much prefer it when I’m the one doing the documentation. I’m sure you wouldn’t be too fond of me if I took your chair right there and started giving people prescriptions and check ups, would you?”

I’ll admit, I’m not entirely sure what they meant by that comparison. He’s a news reporter, isn’t he? I do suppose in a way that is documenting lives, but that’s much more about others’ lives rather than their own, no?

Either way, I shook my head no.

“That’s what I thought.”

I really can’t tell why he was so surprised that “B” kiddo and Serena were intimidated by him. He has to be doing this shit on purpose to get a rise out of people.

“Can we get to the point of this meeting, please?”

I requested. Maybe if I act just as intimidating, I’ll manage to evade ending up in whatever position he wants me to be in.

“Hmph. We may.”

He seemed unimpressed by my shift in attitude, his grin folding into something of a snarl. But he did oblige.

“It is to my knowledge that a friend of mine, Serena Holmes, came by your office a little bit under a month ago seeking a Cat HRT prescription from you. You rejected her. Why so?”

Perhaps it was the frown they already had from their reaction to me making demands at him, but I could both see and hear the anger coming off of him that I had seen before in that journal of his as they spoke.

No matter his motives, it does seem he cares about their friend.

“I had gotten a questionable result when I had run a-”

I answered. I knew it wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear, but I couldn’t let them know I knew that.

As expected, they cut me off mid-sentence.

“No. I want the real reason.”

Despite my patience being worn quite thin by this point, I took a deep breath in and began to formulate a response to Mr. Black.

My goal, at least at first, had not been to actually tell him the truth. Rather, it was to make up a lie that was believable enough for them to take it as if it was the truth.

As I did such, they spoke again, unknowingly giving me a hint as to what route I could go down with this lie of mine.

“And if you are telling the truth, what was the ‘questionable result' you speak of?”

Looking back, I should have made use of that hint in my response.

“Okay, fine! You want the real reason? I’ll give you the real reason! I turned Serena away because it was clear to me that she didn’t truly know what it was that she wanted!”

He had raised an eyebrow at my response, clearly skeptical.

“How… interesting. She seemed pretty dead set on being a cat to me.”

I honestly couldn’t tell if they believed me or not, but they did act as if they did.

“But I suppose my perspective was skewed.”

In a way, that did give me relief.

Even if it was a ruse on his end, I could also go along with it and feel confident in my responses, at least for a little while.

“But tell me, Doctor Erian… If that is the true reason you turned Serena away… Then why did you tell her it was due to a background check?”

It was a valid question, honestly, and a hole in the plot I was constructing. Hence why I had said earlier that I wished I had just gone down that background check route he had given me.

“I… I didn’t want her to believe I did not believe she was truly therian.”

With a bit of hesitation, I sputtered out that excuse.

He wasn’t buying it. I could tell by the glare he had given me.

“Then why not be honest with her? You could have explained that they had simply seemed too unsure of kitself to go through with the procedure. You could have given it advice as to how to do some soul searching so that she could come to find her true self. All these things you didn’t do… Why is that, Doctor Erian?”

Their eyes almost seemed to lock onto me as they questioned me. I was a target for them, lined up for slaughter.

Before I could even try to plead my case, he continued.

“To me, there are only two explanations for this. Either you are bad at your job, or…

You’re lying to me.”

With that final explanation – or rather, accusation, he stood up from where I had him sit and slammed his hands on my desk. To be honest, it shook me quite badly. It wasn’t just the delivery, either, the words cut terribly deep as well.

“So, which is it?”

Deep enough to cause me to make perhaps the stupidest decision I’ve ever made in my entire life.

For I had let my ego and reputation get the best of me.

“... I lied to you.”

I so stupidly confessed.

Mr. Black grinned, grinning wider than he ever had by that point of the appointment, as he let out a truly evil cackle.

“I knew it.”

And with that remark, they pushed aside the chair that was behind them, and walked over to behind my desk.

I yelled out to him that he’s not supposed to be back there, but he completely ignored me as he rummaged through my personal cabinets.

They quickly found exactly what I was hoping they wouldn’t.

“How curious…!”

He exclaimed, holding the note Doctor Fortune had given me during my first ever encounter with her in his hands.

I felt like I could have died right then and there.

“Looks to me you know a bit too much for your own good, eh, Erian?”

He then turned to me, a sinister grin still stretched wide across their face while they held up the note, turned over to the backside where she had drawn that blasted symbol.

I wanted to say something at the time, I really did. But I must admit, I was petrified. It really is embarrassing to look back on.

“Hmmm… one could argue that I should kill you right about now, make sure you don’t go spreading the good word unmanaged.”

They continued to speak as they crept up behind me.

“I don’t even know what that symbol IS!! All she told me was that it was the symbol of your organization!! She didn’t even tell me what it’s called!!”

I cried out in desperation. As most people do, I didn’t want to die.

Mr. Black paused. His face softened, somewhat.

He seemed to have realized that I, for once, was being honest with him.

“Who’s ‘she’?”

He asked me quite plainly.

“D-Doctor Mirai Fortune… She had come into my office a couple months ago and left this warning for me… We’ve… We’ve been talking over email ever since, but she’s very vague about a lot of things…!”

I confessed. I confessed all of it. I was convinced that I needed to do so in order to live.

“Is she the reason why you turned Serena away?”

They looked at me with a look of certainty in what he expected the answer to be. But I answered anyway.

“Yes.”

Mr. Black finally sat back down in the chair across from my desk.

“See, was that really so hard?”

I did not respond. Really, I am terribly repulsed by his sarcastic demeanor. It tends to come off more as patronizing than anything else.

“I’d love to see those emails, if you’d be so kind.”

I wordlessly turned around my computer monitor for him to look through. I had the thought to warn them not to go into any patient files, but I didn’t act upon it.

“Hah! She really was as vague as you said, huh?”

He remarked as he read through the emails. I did not react.

“Though, I do see that she let you get a sneak peek at my notes, hmm?”

An arrow of fear shot through my chest, making me worry that they would be angered by this. But much to my surprise, they had simply laughed it off.

“Hey, how about we make a deal, old man?”

He offered.

I looked at them, cueing them to continue.

“I can give you not just these notes of mine, but ALL of my notes, completely uncensored. Any information on that symbol and what it represents you could possibly desire. A brand new market for your Humanity Removal Therapy… All of it, for one simple little price…~”

I was skeptical. That was a big claim, a big offer. But I pressed further.

“What’s the price?”

I asked him.

“Yes, yes… All you need to do to start this new chapter in your life… Is to give Serena her Cat HRT prescription.”

That… couldn’t possibly be all there was to it.

That was the singular thought in my mind.

It was too simple. There had to be more to it.

He mentioned “a new market for Humanity Removal Therapy” – for all I could know, that could mean that they would steal my formula right from under me.

It would put me out of a job!

And I can only imagine what Iris would think…

“No. I’m sorry Mr. Black, but I just can’t do that.”

I responded to him, knowing fully that it could get me killed.

I couldn’t betray my patients like that, though.

I can’t betray Iris like that.

Sure, we butt heads many times, but I would be nothing without any of them.

And above all, I want to see each and every one of them live their happiest lives.

I saw Mr. Black frown in response to my answer. It was surprisingly genuine. He looked… disappointed.

But as he prepared to talk to me, he smiled ever so slightly.

“So that’s why so many read you as a hardass… You’re a stubborn bastard.”

He remarked.

Again, without waiting for a response from me, they continued.

“I know the feeling.”

After that, he stood back up, grabbed his things, and left.

February 18th, 2025

The following is an email.

To: Doctor Theodore H. Erian

From: Doctor Mirai Fortune

Subject: Final Email

Hello, Doctor Erian.

I have both listened to the early morning recording of yourself and the journal entry of later in the day that you provided in your previous email.

I am deeply disappointed in how you have handled the situation.

For your trouble in dealing with them and with me, I have provided you with the documentation our adversary made on that day. Consider it a sense of closure, as this is the last time I will ever be contacting you.

While I am glad you resisted the offer to join them, I cannot afford to have cowardice such as yours weighing me down in my fight against them.

I hope you understand.

Mirai

#hive writing #animal hrt #therian hrt #otherkin hrt #alternate humanity: a field guide to humanity removal therapy #alternate humanity #🖋️

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basu-shokikita · 5 months ago

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Kloktober 2024 Day 17

Use the ghost of a dead character

This was actually the first entry I wrote for the event. It was like I got possessed by something. You could even say I was possessed by the ghost of someone. Just kidding.

Anyway, for day 17 you get more Toki trauma. Can be sort of read as a follow-up of yesterday's entry though it's not necessary to read that one beforehand.

Toki opened his eyes and he was in that goddamn basement again. He couldn’t count the days he had been stuck in there. At some point, they had started merging into each other. It was like it was one, huge, never-ending day.

And he was chained, and he was bleeding. And his whole body hurt so much but Magnus’ words hurt even more.

“Nobody is coming for you. Nobody cares about you, Toki.”

“Dat amsnt true!” Toki protested and the glint of Magnus’ eyes was so scary that he could only look down.

“Dethklok isn’t coming because they don’t love you, they never did. They just used you because it was convenient. You’re just like me, Toki.”

“No, dey ams my brothers! Dey loves me!”

“That’s what you’ve been telling yourself this whole time. That’s what you wanted to believe. But they’re selfish assholes that only think about themselves.”

“Noes!”

“Accept it, Toki! Nobody has ever wanted you, not even your parents! You’re gonna die alone…” Suddenly, the skin of Magnus’ face melted away, revealing the bones of his rotting skull. “You’re gonna die like me!”

“Noes! Noes!” Toki shut his eyes…

And opened them in his room. “Noes!” He screamed again, struggling with a chain that wasn’t there anymore.

“Toki!” Skwisgaar’s voice came into his auditory field and he was wrapped between slim yet firm arms. “Ams you okeys?”

He was gasping for air and he could feel his heart pounding on his ear. “It ams…he says…”

“Shhh…” Skwisgaar rubbed the side of his face against the top of Toki’s head. “It amsn’t real. Just a dumb, dildoes, nights mairs.”

Toki’s eyes welled with tears, well-aware that was only half of the truth. “He says dats to me…all de times…” He sniffed softly. “Whens I…”

“...Ja?”

“He says dats…nobodies loves me…” As he talked, the sob was creeping up his throat. “Dats I…woulds dies alones…dats you didnts…”

The grasp Skwisgaar had on him suddenly released and Toki looked up in fear, only to be faced with Skwisgaar’s deep blue eyes. “You ams not deres anymores. You ams here.” After a pause, he added. “Wif mes.”

Toki’s breath hitched, fighting the urge not to sob, but when Skwisgaar’s arms wrapped around his waist, his soft golden mane nuzzling against Toki’s jaw so gently, the tears started to flow. He gazed at his warmly-lit room, the plane model that he had been teaching Skwisgaar to build earlier, the guitar resting against his night stand. And the sob inside him started to soothe.

Skwisgaar pulled back a little and watched his face. He had that severe look in his face, the same one he directed to him when he didn’t practice, but instead he leaned in and kissed Toki’s forehead. So sweetly, that Toki could’ve started crying again.

Or, he could cup Skwisgaar’s face and kiss him on the lips. So, that’s what he did. And when Skwisgaar kissed him back, he couldn’t help shedding one last tear.

Except this one was of happiness.

“Thank yous.” He whispered against Skwisgaar’s mouth.

“Pfft, this amsn’t no charities.” Skwisgaar said, with his usual arrogant tone, though when their eyes met, he smiled. “Feels bettors now?”

Toki nodded and nestled against him on the bed. They just stared at each other for a really long time.

It was hard to believe sometimes. Even though it’s what he had always wanted. Growing up in a loveless family made him feel like maybe he didn’t deserve any type of love. That even though he had done nothing wrong, maybe he shouldn’t have been born. That he’d die as lonely as he felt every single day he spent in that cold and cruel house. And so many things that happened to him after he escaped did nothing but reconfirm that fear.

If he were to be honest, Toki wasn’t even sure anymore if Magnus had actually told him those things, or if it was just his deepest fears talking back to him while he was on the brink of death.

He stretched his hand to stroke Skwisgaar’s cheek. And Skwisgaar leaned into the touch, like a cat welcoming his owner back home. “Whats you thinkingks?” He asked.

Toki smiled. “Nothings.”

It was really hard to believe sometimes.

That he wasn’t alone anymore.

#kloktober2024 #kloktober #metalocalypse #toki wartooth #magnus hammersmith #skwisgaar skwigelf #my writing #tw pstd #skwistok

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squarebracketsmileyface · 2 months ago

Note

What kind of relationship would Masky have with Jay in your au's?

Oo okay so I've had a couple thoughts about that honestly but I just can't make up my mind. I can't decide if I wanna just be like "yeah their relationship is basically just like it is in canon, Masky's just like, doing his thing trying to stop the operator with hoody and he and Jay do interact but not much".

Or if I wanna be like "Jay and Masky's relationship is mostly like it is in canon with like, except that Jay's interacted with Masky way more, he just doesn't KNOW it was Masky." I think there was one idea where he and Masky have ended up in sexual situations before like just a couple times, and Masky's way more willing to be rough with Jay than Tim is, so Jay's got a massive confusion of "well you were fine doing that yesterday!?" About Tim's refusal to be rough with him in bed, y'know? I think there was also a very tentative idea that maybe something could happen like Masky switches out in the middle of something and Tim has to handle suddenly finding himself in a sexual situation he isn't really comfortable with.

None of those second plans have really been thought much about especially since I have a very specific headcanon for Masky that absolutely doesn't mesh well with him and Jay ever having sex. And I don't exactly have a place within the S,IL timeline that I've left for them, y'know? It'd obviously have to take place somewhere within the timeframe of My Girl, My Girl, My Girl, from August to the end of November.

In PGPau though? Oh I've thought about it so much and I love it. So. Backstory for my idea with this (you'll see why it completely doesn't mesh with the idea of him and Jay ever having sex, why if I had THAT happen I couldn't use THIS head canon) is that I really like the idea that when Tim and Masky are parts of a system, that Masky is a little. I like the idea that Masky's a little who was a protector for them when they were a kid, specifically one who formed to deal with the Operator, and who has just never been able to let go of that job or grow up because they never stopped needing him for that job. I like to think he slides between sort of 7 and 12 ish years old?

He still doesn't talk, like in MH, he does it mostly because their voice sounds wrong for him, and people tend to notice him when he speaks because he talks "wrong" and makes their voice sound different. And he absolutely doesn't want anyone to know he's around and isn't Tim. So he's completely silent most of the time, as much as he can. And he's fucking terrified. Because he's a little kid, doing his best to protect himself and his system, and he's going through everything like canon. That entry where Alex breaks his leg? Yeah, that but it happens to a 9 year old.

Allllll that horrible stuff. He never got to be a kid, he never got to be a child and play with toys the way a kid is meant to, he was constantly on high alert looking out for the operator and people who wanted to hurt them.

Within PGPau, Masky becomes absolutely fascinated with Birdie. He adores her. When she's a baby, if he switches in with her in his arms, it completely derails his panic, stops him from wanting to run off and find his mask so he can vanish into the nearest woods for hours, instead he'll find the nearest place to sit down and he'll just hold her and stare at her for hours. However long it is that he's out, it's difficult to get him to do much else, he doesn't want to let her out of his sight. He wants to hold her and rock her and play with her and the first time she starts crying he doesn't know what to do and it terrifies him. Jay walks into the room and Masky stares at him with wide eyes, absolutely horrified that nothing he's doing can stop her from crying, and he refuses to give her to Jay so it's a whole palava.

Eventually Jay convinces him to let him hold Birdie and he checks her nappy and says he needs to change her, so Masky just follows him silently out of the room to watch because he has to make sure he can protect her if Jay tries to hurt or steal her. Jay is obviously not going to hurt or steal her, he changes her nappy and lets Masky take her back, and then he just goes back to sitting on the sofa with her in his arms, silently staring at her and rocking her.

And that's mostly how it goes for the first few times he interacts with her. Her presence calms him and eventually when he fronts if he ISNT holding her he'll go find her. His first thought isn't to find somewhere to hide from the operator (aka the woods) it's to find Birdie.

When Birdie's a toddler and a little kid (at this point Tim knows he's a system and that Masky is a little and a protector who now isn't needed for what he used to be, so has switched to protecting Birdie) Masky adores getting to actually play with her. She never questions why he's talking weird, she's just over the moon that he's gotten SO into their make believe game. Because that's the thing, he's AMAZING at playing pretend. He gets so into it, because, well, he's a kid himself and he never got to do this, was never safe to, so over time, as he realises he IS safe to now (through Tim and their therapist working to make sure he knows that) he becomes better and better at letting himself let go and just PLAY.

Birdie adores him. She doesn't know he isn't Tim, but that doesn't matter. She loves the version of her dad who plays pretend like this, who throws himself into the game and puts on a silly voice.

The stuff with Birdie is pretty much the same in 'canon' S,IL after MH is over, except that Tim is a single dad so Masky doesn't have anyone to come in when she starts crying and won't stop who he can look to for help figuring out how to get her to stop. Instead he has to try and figure it out himself. He manages though, he gets there, but he does stop fronting as much purely because he gets so stressed out by it that he just switches out again and a Tim fronts to handle it instead (I HC that in Tim's system there's a whole bunch of alters who are kinda clones of each other, Tim but sliiiiiiightly different. Tim but a cis woman, Tim but 45 years old, tim but half a year older, Tim but non-binary etc etc etc because we have that and I wanna put it onto a character because I've never seen anyone talk about having so many of the same guy unless it's like, an introject of someone, y'know?) anyway yeah.

They fumble through. Everything's mostly the same as in PGPau. By the time Brian comes on the scene, Masky's got looking after Birdie down perfectly. He still doesn't talk much when there's other people around to hear, but when it's just him and Birdie? He'll chatter on and on while they play, or while he cooks or while he's helping her with homework. He's still a kid himself, but he's never been a very kiddy kid, y'know? He's always been older than he feels, he has knowledge a kid wouldn't, he knows how to drive, all that stuff.

Then Brian comes on the scene and things just get way easier. Brian's known about Tim being a system for years (though he didn't know what it was, he just knew Tim acted weird sometimes, and sometimes he didn't talk, stuff like that, he just assumed it was how Tim was) and now he uses the knowledge he picked up years ago, back in highschool and uni to make life just that little bit easier. And life goes on, life goes on well and their little family is strange, but it works.

I think in 'canon' S,IL Brian's the one who convinces Tim to go back to therapy. When he was a single dad he just didn't really have the time, he was using every spare moment to either work or spend the time with Birdie, y'know? But once Brian's properly established as part of their lives, he thinks "you know what, yeah, maybe I should. I'm still losing time, and sure I'm not waking up in the woods or with a poorly healed broken leg anymore, but I COULD and I should get that sorted out" so he finds out he's a system with Brian there to help him, Brian there who already knows at least something about it because of how close their friendship was when they were younger... And Brian who knows about it because he spends months at a time with Masky during MH. And sure his own memories of that time are hazy, but at least he remembers it, unlike Tim.

#Tim & Tyler #Tyler is what ive decided to name Masky in SIL btw #marble hornets #jay merrick #tim wright #brian thomas #mh jam #mh brim #marble hornets fanfic #mh sorry its locked #fic/series rated e on ao3 #in case anyone would prefer not to read that

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evermourning · 1 year ago

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𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 - yang jeongin

pairing: yang jeongin x gn!reader, lovertober entry ii

genre: non!idol au, fluff, comfort, slice of life, childhood friends to lovers, boy next door

wc: 5.6k

warnings: language, making out, a lot of timeskips, willow symbolism, cheating, chaewon from lesserafim is a character in this?, attempted assault, mentions of alcohol, fighting, mentions of cuts/bruises/blood

you remember the day you met yang jeongin like it was yesterday.

you are eight years old, sitting at your kitchen table, intently coloring a picture of a cat with your brand-new markers. your mom is hard at work in the kitchen, the delicious smell wafting into your nostrils. you sigh, eliciting a giggle from your mother.

"are you sure i can't have any? that cake smells so good!" you whine, turning around to face her. she shakes her head, smiling gently.

"i'm sorry, honey. this cake is a present, so we can't have any." she explains, wiping her hands on the embroidered apron before placing them on your shoulders. "remember how the chois moved out of their house last month, because mrs. choi got a new job?"

you nod, a pout on your face. "i miss yeonjun."

"i know, but he was a little hard to play with sometimes, given he's eleven...and you're eight." she chuckles. "however, good news - our new neighbors, the yangs, moved in today. they have a son your age! isn't that lovely?"

"i guess..." you say, staring at your certainly...unique art. "i hope he's nice. all of the boys at my school are kinda mean."

"well, i met mrs. yang at the market today, and she was very kind. she seems like she'd raise her son to act that way, too." your mother reassures you. "how about when i finish frosting this cake, you come with me? you can meet the new boy."

so now, here you are: standing in front of the yangs' door alongside your mother, clinging tightly to the fabrics of her skirts. she holds a small pan in her hands, foil over the cake itself.

she rings the doorbell, waiting for a little bit before a small hand slowly slides the door open. you are met with a boy your age, looking at you with wide, curious eyes. he has dark hair sliced into a bowlcut, which you'll always tease him about when you are older. from behind him, his mother comes out, saying a warm hello to you before embracing your mom and letting her inside. you follow her, the little boy never taking his eyes off you.

"mrs. yang, this is yn. honey, say hi." your mother urges you. your small, pudgy hand waves. "yn, jeongin. jeongin, yn."

the two women start conversing about all sorts of things - farmers' markets, schools nearby, gardening and your mother's not-so-successful attempt at a vegetable garden - all kinds of topics that would bore a child to death. thankfully, mrs. yang notices this and kneels down next to her quiet son, whispering to him.

"jeongin," his mother says affably, "can you keep little yn company? i'm gonna talk to their mom." he nods, mouthing an "okay". he grabbed your hand and the two of you traverse outside to his backyard. you've been out here many times before, but the yangs have truly transformed it. they'd planted flowers, and put out furniture. you sit down into a wooden lawn chair, swinging your legs. jeongin stands beside you, before he finally speaks in a sweetly beautiful voice. you don't know it yet, but you'll live to hear that soft melody that floats from his lips.

"how long have you lived here?" he asks you.

"since i was...um...three?" you count on your fingers. you turn, pointing to the large willow tree in the back of his backyard. "you see that tree?"

"yeah," jeongin nods. he walks up to the green giant, running his small fingers along the smooth bark. "it's really pretty. how do you know it's a willow tree?"

"yeonjun told me." you reply. when jeongin tilts his head, you remember that the boy doesn’t exactly know your best friend. "he lived here before you. he taught me how to climb that tree." you stand beside him as the leaves that boast beautiful shades of verdant brush against your head.

"i like...climbing trees." jeongin says quietly, his cheeks flushed. you giggle. he points to the tree's branch, wide enough for two. "you wanna?"

this is how you come to sit upon the branch, your side pressed against jeongin's as he holds onto the trunk tightly.

"are you scared...what's your name? sorry, i'm not great with names..." you ask, puzzled. he uses a finger to mime drawing out his name onto the gnarled wood.

"yang jeongin." he spells out each consonant, vowel, and syllable. it takes that one time for the name to be forever etched into your memory.

"jeong...ugh." you sigh loudly, having trouble with his name. "can i just call you innie?"

"innie..." he trails off as he says it. "i like that. can we be friends?"

you nod eagerly.

"okay, but you gotta promise to be my best friend. forever. deal?" you extend your pinkie, your gaze hopeful.

this is the first time jeongin notices your aura. it is like the end of may, lush yet neither freezing cold or burning hot. it is warm and loving, graciously accepting any kindness it receives like spring rain to a garden, and giving that very kindness tenfold. he decides he'd quite like to stay basking in your radiance.

"deal."

now, you are thirteen years old, and jeongin is nothing short of your best friend. over the last five years, you have grown closer and closer until your mothers joke you are joined at the hip. you are lucky he's next door, so that after school you can just walk right into his house and upstairs into his room, if your mom isn't home. his parents love you to death.

you get home after a long day of school, and since you saw your mother's note saying she'd be working late, you immediately decide you'll make your way to jeongin's. but first, you throw your backpack to the floor, and excitedly run up to your bedroom to grab his present, wrapped in love and patterned paper. then, it is time to surprise your friend.

when you arrive, he is laying on his bed, earbuds in his ears. you can slightly hear his music when you sit down beside him, it sounds like some 90s rock song you can't quite make out. and then, you look at his face.

his eyes are shut almost daintily. they're not squeezed shut, as if he's trying to hide from reality, it's almost like he wants to dream. his lips are pursed, almost, and they look pillowy. you freak out once it hits you that you're not just thinking about a boy's lips, but the lips of your best friend. two hands are folded over the other, resting on his sternum. he opens his eyes and two dark pools of pure espresso filtered in a french café are gazing up at you.

"hi." he grins, his smile even cuter with his braces on. ew, no! what are you thinking?!

"hello," you begin, setting the present on his stomach. "happy birthday, innie! i know i've already told you, but i brought you a gift this time. therefore, i'm allowed to say it again!" in response to this, he sits up, eagerly staring at the mysterious box.

"therefore?" he raises an eyebrow at you. "what are you, a nerd? i've never heard that word in my life." you swat at his head, and he laughs loudly. he mutters something you don't catch under his breath, probably paired with a nasty nickname, but then he opens his gift, and he goes silent.

"these...are the shoes i really wanted. i never told you. how did you know?" he looks at you with wonder, inspecting them before realizing that they truly are the genuine article. his dream shoes were now his, and it was all because of you. "these are so expensive...did your mom pay for them?"

you shook your head, grinning.

"nope. i've been saving since november, because i remembered how longingly you'd stare at them in the window when we passed the shoe store. i've been babysitting to get extra money, that's why i haven't been coming around as often." he stares at you as if you are athena herself, equipped with endless novelty and wisdom. jeongin engulfs you in an enormous hug, squeezing you so impossibly tight it feels like the breath has been completely banished from your respiratory system.

"i love you, so, so much. you're the greatest friend i could ever ask for." the words ring in your head as you hug him back, a symphony of feelings and expressions energetically harmonizing to form a crescendo at complete fortissimo. your head is fucking pounding. your arms wrap around him tighter and tighter until he has to physically tap out, and you separate from him, a tad embarrassed. he's staring at your face rather oddly, so you quickly change the subject to avoid total humiliation.

"what song were you listening to? i could vaguely hear it when i came in." you say quickly, reveling in the way jeongin's eyes light up when you mention this. he takes out an earbud and places it in your ear.

"it's creep, by radiohead. it's really a beautiful song." he explains, grinning ear to ear as he presses play. the song that follows is a classic 90s rock song with haunting lyrics. but what startles you more is when jeongin sings along.

his voice is inexplicably alluring, soft and filled with emotion. the grief that hangs upon every syllable is beautifully gut-wrenching. you watch him, entranced by every moment of his lips and vocal cords. he sings the song like he has been personally wounded by the lyrics, and your eyes are opened. wide. jeongin never told you he could sing.

and suddenly...you feel a weird feeling in your stomach. it's warm and pools slightly, but it's so wonky that you feel sick. yang jeongin is like a spider, and he has officially caught you in his delicate web of silk.

one week later, it is valentine's day and you are sitting alongside jeongin beneath the graceful willow tree, now barren and cold as it boasts no leaves. you are too big to sit amongst its branches, but it does not mean your affections for the lovely piece of flora have faded one bit. you lean your head back until it hits the wide trunk and you sigh over-exaggeratedly, although you feel as if it gets all your emotions out.

"everybody was fawning all over you, innie. it was hilarious." you say quietly, and he nods, resting his head on your shoulder. "who did you choose to be your valentine? there were so many options."

he turns to look at you and it suddenly occurs to you the actual proximity between the two of you. he blinks, looking at you peculiarly.

"i thought we'd already established that we were each other's valentines. i even got you something?" your cheeks heat up at his words. when he thinks that you don't believe him, he pulls a satchel out of the pocket of his jacket. "here. look at them."

inside his fabric satchel are two rings, the insides inscribed with twisting silver tree branches.

"what are they, innie? oh my god…they're beautiful." you say with wonder, and he blushes sheepishly.

"these are promise rings. don't worry, they're not like coupley or anything, but they symbolize our friendship and how we'll be together until the end of time.. it'll be as if every single core memory of ours is one ring on the inside of a sequoia trunk. isn't that just lovely?" you nod eagerly, a little too excitedly, and he chuckles. "if it's not too much to ask - can i put it on for you? please?"

when you give your approval, the scene feels like something out of a fairytale. you are sitting beneath a huge piece of your childhood memories, fighting your own emotions as your best friend in the whole wide world looks up at you like you carry the universe on your back as he slips a silver promise ring onto your left hand. you admire it, your lips curling the slightest bit upwards as the sun's rays reflect off it. you can't fathom how happy you are. will things always stay this way, forever and ever?

spoiler alert: they won't, because now you are sixteen years old and jeongin has a girlfriend. this is his third one, to be exact.

and, for starters: you are hopelessly in love with him.

you feel really pissed whenever you see them together, his arm wrapped lazily around her waist, listening intently as she eagerly tells him about her day. but he seems so happy, you don’t want to ruin everything by confessing your feelings and making shit weird, so your mouth stays shut. you watch him laugh with her as they walk, hand in hand, and you don’t have the heart to point out that the silver accessory he wears on his ring finger is his promise ring to you. you can’t help but smile at the thought that it’s been three years and you haven’t seen him without it on once.

you sit beside him at lunch, and his girlfriend, chaewon, has an all of a sudden appearance that turns your longtime duo into a trio. you try to be nice to her, you don't want to lose your best friend of eight years just because you don't like the girl he's dating (and she's so sweet too), but there's this aching pang in your body as your heartstrings resonate with a melancholic concerto.

"yn," she says softly, her lips turned upwards as she smiles like a pageant queen. "do you wanna hang out after school? i wanna get to know you better, you're so nice!"

you're not sure what to say, so you nod. chaewon squeals excitedly and clasps her hands together. jeongin beams at the sight, and his infectious smile has you melting.

later, after your last class and a quick run home to change, you walk down the sidewalk to the local coffee shop, where you'll be meeting up with chaewon for your little hangout session. there she is when you walk in, in all her glory, her dark hair glossy and gorgeous as the waiter practically fawns over her. you feel a surge of jealousy, knowing people had never looked at you that way. hell, you've never even been in a relationship.

however, you can't help but feel a little flustered when she notices you, her eyes lighting up as she gets up to twirl you around excitedly, gushing about how stylish you are. her compassionate and bubbly personality makes you feel even worse. you feel like you're being so fake to her.

how would chaewon feel if you looked her dead in the eyes and told her you were madly in love and devoted to her boyfriend? would she stare at you in shock? would she rip her hand away from yours in disgust? or would she lean over the wooden table, a grin on her face as she crushed your hopes and dreams like a little bug beneath her heel?

however, your lips stay sealed and you shake the worry off as you converse with her, listening as she tells some story about her middle school days that you honestly couldn't care less about, and your mind trails off to the confusing math lesson you attempted to learn today. however, when her voice changes from it's usual high, cheery timbre to one that's softer and a bit nervous, you snap out of your thoughts.

"can i be honest about something?" she says, reaching over the table to take your hands in hers. you don't want to be a bitch, so you give her a warm smile and nod.

"of course, go ahead."

she launches into a rant about her relationship, but not in the way you expected.

"i'm so nervous. jeongin is like- the first guy i've actually had feelings for in a while and he's so kind and sweet and i love the physical touch aspect of our relationship. however...if we're gonna kiss i'm so scared, because i've never even had my first kiss. what if i'm not experienced enough and he dumps me? he's kissed people before. what if i suck compared to him?" your mouth drops open and chaewon looks at you weirdly. "is...everything okay?"

you nod quickly, a bit embarrassed you interrupted her train of thought. you were very confused. you and jeongin had reached that level of trust where you told each other everything...so why hadn't you heard about him having kissing experience? after you say goodbye to chaewon and exchange numbers, you march right over to jeongin's house. his mom opens the door, giving you a hug and letting you know that jeongin was studying upstairs. you throw his door open, and he jumps, startled. he's sitting at him desk, turned to stare at you with wide eyes.

"what was that for? if you make a dent in the wall, my mom's gonna be sooo mad." jeongin whines, and you sit down on his navy bedspread with a huff. "what's got you all riled up? did something go wrong with chae?"

that nickname makes your very blood boil. however, you remind yourself again and again that chaewon isn't the problem, it's who she's dating.

"no, no. it's fine, great, actually. chaewon is so sweet. i feel like we've hit it off. however, we were talking earlier and she said that...you told her you had experience with...kissing?" you stare at his suddenly very interesting ceiling to recollect yourself, before staring back at his face, which is redder than a tomato. "i, um, didn't know you'd been kissing people already. why didn't you tell me? i thought we didn't keep stuff from each other. unless you didn't think it was important or anything and i'm just making a big deal-"

"no, no you're not!" jeongin suddenly interrupts you, standing up out of his chair. you look at him, a bit frightened, and he walks over to his bed to sit alongside you. he hides his face in your shoulder, sighing loudly. "i didn't want chae to think i was some nerdy kid who was like innocent as hell...so i may have exaggerated some of my previous relationships? i have...never kissed anyone. and now, i'm gonna make a fool out of myself."

the words escape your lips before you can stop yourself. it's like you are tantalus, standing in the water, reaching desperately for those ripe, plum-colored grapes so horrendously out of reach. in the future, you'll look back and wonder if this was a good idea, knowing the consequences and rewards.

"you could, um, practice with me? just so you're ready for her. no strings attached or anything." you cover your mouth with your hands the minute you say it. what is he gonna think? he's gonna hate you...

but then you meet his gaze, and his cheeks are the color of pretty pink peonies. he's chewing on his lip nervously, twiddling his thumbs.

"okay." you never expected the words to escape his lips. so you inch closer, laughing off the nerves. "so...what do i do first?"

"so um...close your eyes?" you guess. jeongin lets out a laugh. "then how am i supposed to know where to kiss you?"

"then leave your eyes open!" you sigh, giggles coming from both of you. "let's just figure it out. i guess we have to like- feel it out?"

"you look really silly from this angle. it's like a fisheye lens."

"if you don't shut up i'll smack you, right here, right now." you reply teasingly, until he shuts you up with a kiss.

it is weird and unplanned, with neither of you really understanding how to do it, but after a little bit, you begin to simply feel the kiss out. jeongin's left hand goes to caress your cheek. it escalates and escalates until he pulled you down on top of him, and you snap back into reality, pushing yourself off him. you stand up, pacing, your face in your hands.

when jeongin tries to place a reassuring hand on your shoulder, you flinch.

"i'm so sorry, innie." you say, taking deep breaths. "i completely overstepped my boundaries. i go hang out with chaewon, and fuck, she thinks of me as a friend? and then the minute i arrive home i'm making out with her boyfriend. god, i'm a horrible person."

"hey, don't say that." jeongin says softly, pulling you into his arms and holding onto you tightly. "judging by the surprise and humiliation on your face after you suggested it, you obviously didn't mean what you said. it's my fault for making you go along with it. i'm so sorry."

"what are we gonna do about it?" you ask quietly, embarrassed. jeongin gives your hand a squeeze before replying.

"we won't bring it up. ever."

and so, again, you make a promise with jeongin, but this one is built off your undying loyalty to him. you pledge a promise of dishonesty and lying and infidelity. and just as you said, not a single word ever leaves your lips about it again.

this promise is broken when you are nineteen years old.

you, jeongin, and chaewon all ended up going to the same college. even though chaewon and jeongin's relationship did not last, your friendship with chaewon is nearing three years. you will not speak of your misdemeanor with her ex-boyfriend, though.

she's truly radiant now, with short black hair and a face sculpted like a pixie. and since she's been deemed the campus it-girl, being her best friend results in you going to a lot of parties. none of them are truly eventful until one cloudy night mid-september.

you're sitting on hyunjin's kitchen counter, a drink in your hand as you talk to the boy hosting the party. jeongin's here somewhere, you assume, and chaewon will be here any minute - she was at yunjin's getting ready. you've truly gotten accustomed to the ebb and flow of college life, which has been a lot easier with good friends. as this thought crosses your brain, the doorbell rings, loud and shrill, signaling your friends' arrival. you laugh to yourself, finishing your drink. you feel a bit tipsy, so you go out to the back porch to clear your head.

"aren't you cold? it's halfway through september, and you're wearing a tanktop. which is very flattering on you, might i add." the unfamiliar voice causes you to turn, and you fight back a grimace when you see who it is.

it's this guy who's been following you around non-stop since the start of your freshman year. you don't even know his name, but he's creepy as hell and winds up at every single party you go to. you never try and be alone at one of these parties because of him, but he caught you off guard this time. the douchebag leans against a support beam, beer in his hand, and a shit-eating grin upon his revolting features.

"oh, um, i left it at my dorm. i'll just grab one of hyunjin's before i leave so the walk home isn't freezing." you explain rapidly. as you go to slip back inside, he grabs your arm, his palms sweaty. you throw up a little in your mouth.

"you sure? i feel like we could get better acquainted. i could warm you up, i bet." he slurs his words, and you suddenly feel trapped like a caged animal. you try and slip out of his grip, but it's tighter than anything you've felt before.

"oh, no thank you. it's obvious you're under the influence-" you're cut off by the guy making an attempt to kiss you right on the lips, and you dodge him. "i told you to get off me, you dick!" you yell. your heart is pounding. it's like eleven at night, and music is blasting inside. what if nobody comes to help?

the man grunts, slamming you against the wall of the house. you let out a loud scream, praying somebody hears you. the man groans, muttering something about how women are so emotional, and puts a hand over your mouth. you're about to bite him, get him off you so you can run the fuck away, and then you watch as a fist connects with the man's cheek, knocking him to the ground. you look around frantically for your savior, and then you meet eyes with him.

yang jeongin has just saved your life. he's panting, his eyes wide and hair disheveled as he stares at his bloody fist.

"are you okay?" he practically yells, checking you for any signs of injury. "i was outside talking to chae, and then i heard you yell. i knew something was up when i heard a loud thump and a shriek. god, i was so worried that something happened to you." he wraps his arms around you, pulling you into a bone-crushing hug. however, you can see from behind him, the man is getting up, and he's holding his beer bottle about to hit jeongin. and since you're already indebted to jeongin, the action is like quick thinking for you.

you turn, and the brunt of the force from the glass hits your arm. you let out a yelp of pain as the shards dig into your skin, and you sink to your knees.

jeongin sees red.

you blink and he's got the guy on the ground, beating the shit out of him again and again until hyunjin and chae have to physically pull him off the guy.

"jeongin, get yn home. i'll deal with this." hyunjin says darkly. he's annoyed that the party was ruined, but you know that he'll be so proud of jeongin once he learns the entire story. jeongin takes your hand and leads you out of the yard and onto the road. you shiver as the cool winds hit your skin, goosebumps forming along your limbs. jeongin notices this and takes off his jacket, enveloping you in his warmth.

"aren't you going to be cold, innie?" you say, wincing with every step. he shakes his head. "we'll be inside soon enough. can you walk, or does it hurt too bad?"

"i don't know, it hurts a lot..." you say quietly, staring down at the blood oozing from your arm. when jeongin sees this, he stops in his tracks, lowering himself to let you get onto his back in a piggyback position. being the gentleman he is (even though your legs aren't even injured), he carries you home. you won't admit it, but a small smile has formed upon your face.

when you arrive at your dorm, jeongin basically sprints to grab a first aid kit. you sit on the bathroom counter, swinging your legs. he comes back, holding rubbing alcohol and a pair of tweezers.

"this might hurt a little. i'm so sorry." he murmurs gently in advance. with one hand, his fingers are intertwined with yours, so tightly you think if you squeeze any harder they'll pop off. the other one carefully removes the glass shards from your arm and applying bandages. when your arm is safely wrapped, his hands turn your face left and right to make sure there's no sign of injury. once he's sure that you're okay, he leads you into your bedroom, dutifully turning around so you can change. once you're comfortably in your bed, jeongin sits next to you. his thumb grazes over your hand idly. the moon casts pale rays the color of fresh snow onto your comforter. it is plush and navy blue, sort of like the one jeongin's childhood room had growing up.

"i'm so glad that's over." you sigh, resting against the pillows. jeongin looks at you, concern upon his beautiful features. the way he looks at you like you could sail the universe, collecting the stars and constellations is infuriating.

"me too. that awful guy is lucky hyune pulled me off of him before i could really get to punching. i think i was gonna kill that guy." he stares at you, holding your hand a little tighter. "nobody even tries to lay a hand on you without suffering the consequences."

and like a delicate string of spider's silk, you snap just as easily as the webbed solution is made.

"if you keep playing with my feelings like this, innie, i think i'm actually going to sob." you say quietly. he tilts his head at you imploringly. "where do we stand as best friends? because now you'd literally fucking kill someone for me and i've been in love with you since the 7th grade. it's completely irrational and i'm so fucking tired of having to hide it. you and your stupid smile, your stupid affection, and- ugh! look at me. i'm a total mess, just stumbling over my words the second i see you. no amount of words, whether they are found in the dictionary or the bible can possibly equate to this overwhelming tsunami of emotions i feel when i see your fucking handsome face."

his jaw is absolutely dropped, and blood rushes to your head.

oh shit. i just fucked up our whole friendship.

and then one large hand reaches around to the back of your neck to pull you into the most intensely passionate kiss you've ever experienced. the emotion pulsing through his cracked lips will bruise yours, you think. you wrap your arms around his neck as the kiss deepens.

when he finally pulls away, he blinks at you, breaking out into a grin. "i'm not good with my words, either. however, i feel like actions are much more direct." he climbs under the covers, hugging you tightly around your waist. you rest your head on his shoulder, and your head fits perfectly, like the crook of his neck was architecturally designed for your skull. he leans in closer to whisper softly into your ear.

"i win, by the way. i've been in love with you since we were eight."

the intricate string of spider's silk that held the two of you together grows, shades of deep burgundy and crimson staining it the color of passion and love. maybe it was the invisible string of fate all along.

...

jeongin sits at the kitchen counter, taking in the peeling paint upon the walls. this is a house that has been loved dearly. from the kitchen's hub wafts the smell of warm, freshly baked bread. he sighs as the familiar scent brings him to ease. your mother walks out of the kitchen, the sourdough bread sliced gently into bite-sized pieces. she is not the lady she used to be, as her hair now sports strands the colors of rare metal and she has wrinkles from her warm, inviting smile. however, she is just as beautiful as jeongin remembers her to be. you clearly get some of your out-of-this-world-beauty from your mother. the rest comes from aphrodite's endless blessings towards you.

"it's been so long, dear." she murmurs, spreading butter onto a piece of bread. "congratulations on your relationship with my little yn. it'll be one year next week, already?"

"although, if i'm being honest...your mother and i always knew you two had a bond that went far beyond friendship. we placed bets on when someone would man up and confess. i was closer." she laughs softly. "so, what do you need? a good meal? advice? ...or is it something about yn?"

he nods at her guess.

"it is. mother," he begins, and your mother gets all flustered when he refers to her so tenderly. "i would like to ask for your blessing, so that i may marry yn. i don't think it's possible for me to wait any longer."

she gasps loudly, taking his hands in her gnarled ones and cheering. it's almost as if she's the one possibly getting proposed to.

"i would love nothing more for you to be an official part of the family, jeongin. however, you must promise me this. you will wake up everyday with nothing but devout love for yn, and go to sleep with that love or more. marriage is a lifelong commitment. if anything happens, communicate."

"i will, mother. i swear on my life."

a person's character is built on external influences. how they are raised, who they associate themselves with, etc. determines how they act. in terms of romance, your previous partners shape you as you learn from your successes and mistakes. this wasn't true for you, having been in only one relationship.

but you have a best friend of thirteen years that you can rely on to build you into the person you desire to be.

the sun is shining at the peak of summer vacation. the bright warm of golden daylight is enough to scare away any threats of bad weather as you sit in your garden. you check your watch again, waiting and waiting and waiting.

like clockwork, jeongin enters from the back door of your quaint home, his arms leisurely wrapping around your waist as he pulls you in for a loving kiss.

"i missed you." he says softly, pressing a soft peck to your nose. his hands find their way to yours, his soft skin brushing against the platinum wedding ring on your finger. your promise ring, matching the one he always wears, is nestled comfortably next to it.

and behind you, growing daintily in the garden is the fresh sprout of a young willow tree, ready to grow big and tall, forever sheltering you in its emerald embrace.

taglist: @darkypooo , @hyunbae-35 , @elizaschuyler18 , @backintomykpopphaseagain , @imastraykidsfan , @mal-lunar-28 , @stateofdelicategrace , @lillithathecat

#ren writes!! <3 #evermourning #stray kids #skz #stray kids x reader #skz x reader #yang jeongin #i.n skz #i.n #jeongin skz #jeongin x reader #yang jeongin x reader #i.n x reader #in skz #in x reader #kpop #kpop bg #kpop x reader #lovertober <3

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spookypete-94 · 1 year ago

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Coveted

alright, gonna take a shot at this, branching out from just simon. going to be a soap ghost fic, no smut... in this one at least :) will be fem!reader finishing her day at work and leaving off base for a date and seen by ghost and soap.

In the woman's locker room, you adjusted your dress, tugging it down, feeling like it was too short. Nothing was showing. Your painted toenails peeking out of your black heeled booties. You just never got to do this often, and it felt so weird. It was strange to see yourself out of anything that wasn't tactical, OD green, or some sort of camo. Your makeup you had done, and even that felt foreign in the mirror. To feel and look feminine instead of covered in dirt and blood smelling of gunpowder. Still, unable to believe this was happening and the fact Brad from Infantry had asked you out for the evening. The first actual date you've been on for a while, let alone with a coworker.

Glancing at your watch, you noticed how close it was for you to be going to be there early like you preferred. Gathering your bag and locking your gear away, you headed out towards the main entry/exit door of the locker room. Stopping as you got closer to the door since you could hear voices just outside the metal barrier. It was a Scottish accent talking to a deep baritone. Soap and Ghost, you knew it almost immediately. They were talking post mission outside their locker room door... just off of the one you were in.

This made your stomach flip... the idea of members of Task Force 141 seeing you dolled up making you feel like you could throw up so hard, you'd see yesterday's breakfast. Maybe if you waited just a few minutes, they would go away.

But to no avail... they stood talking about minut details. Braving it, you pushed the door open slowly, hoping no sudden movement would leave you unseen. To wish in one hand and shit in another, though, right?

You could see Ghost's eyes locking on you, you refusing to make eye contact as he did. Soap noticing the shift in Ghost's eyes and stance turns around to see you trying to sneak past.

"Bonnie, look at you." His voice low as he whistled. "Where you going looking like that."

"Out."

"Out?" An arm of his now blocking your way.

"Have a date. Move, you're gonna make me late. " you said, trying to hold firm with confidence, even if it was quickly faltering.

"A date?" Soap's tone quickly shifting. He wasn't pleased.

"With who?" Ghost questioned, speaking up.

"Brad from infantry."

"Brad?" Soap said in a way like he was mocking you.

"Jesus Soap, are you parrot? Gonna repeat everything I say?" You were starting to get irritated.

Dropping his arm and moving out of your way just enough to let you slip by, they said no more. Instead they just watched as you walked away, rendered speechless about this turn of events.

"Not fucking happening," Soap said looking at Ghost heading to the locker room to drop his gear off.

"Absolutely not," Ghost agreed, turning to follow him in to do the same. It was unspoken, but they were going to follow you to this date.

If only you knew of the locker room talk that was said about you. The things Ghost and Soap heard and shut down of what the other men on base wanted to do to you. Serving alongside the Task Force meant that you were their's to protect, make sure you are safe from the Brad's and Chad's of this world. You were coveted, one of the few females in this male populated job and radius. The fact you could defend yourself made you even more wanted, a fillie to be tamed. And it sure wasn't going to be Brad from infantry. Not on this duos watch.

Entering the little pub not far from base, you saw Brad already sitting at a booth, beer in front of him, and cocktail on the other side for you. Joining him, you smiled, starting your night off brightly.

Ghost and Soap weren't too far off, choosing to sit at the bar opposite to better watch waiting for their opportunity.

They steamed and brewed at Brad, who was getting closer to you, his arm around your waist pulling you to him. Moving your hair out of the way of your ear so his lips could touch the shell of it while he said whatever it was to seduce you. Anger growing, seeing you give in to it. Was attention all that you really wanted? Or was this really how you behaved for any male?

Their opportunity finally struck. Brad excused himself from you to go to the bathroom. Both Soap and Ghost followed him. Ghost grabbed ahold of the back of Brad's shirt. Soap had already opened the back door of the pub, allowing Ghost to easily push Brad out into the alley.

" That's our girl," Ghost growled, hitting Brad in the eye, sending him to the ground. "You fuckin' know that."

"Gonna leave er alone, right?" Soap asked, being the barrier in between Brad and Ghost at the moment.

Brad nodded, scampering away, holding his already swollen and soon to be black eye. Soap turned up to look at Ghost, nodding to him telling him good job, and they both entered the pub. You still sat in the same place, hands holding your head stirring your drink. Just waiting for your date to come back. Little did you know, you would be having two join you, but not quite yet.

Ghost and Soap sat down at the bar watching you. They didn't want it to seem obvious that your date had disappeared for the evening at the hands of them. Waiting some more for your face to become somber, the thought of you being left wanting to cross your mind.

Sure enough, they could see your eyes become sad, glancing at your watch and phone, wanting something from Brad, but the reason would never come. Ghost ordered you a drink, going to play the card of 'Saw you looking sad, brought you this to make you feel better' and Soap would try to comfort you.

Seeing them both approach, you tried to look as though nothing was bothering you. Stubborn was just part of who you were as a person.

"Where's your date, Bonnie?" Soap asked, putting on the front.

"Went to the bathroom.." and meekly next while looking at your watch "about an hour ago."

Ghost then slid the drink over to you, Soap scooting in on one side and then Ghost took the other.

Soap clicks his tongue, acting like he felt bad for you. "Sorry Bonnie, such a shame because you look so stunning tonight, too," His voice low in your ear.

"Thought it was going well.." your voice quiet goosebumps raising on your skin from how close both men are.

Ghost had nonchalantly placed an arm around the back of you, manspreading while he did.

"Dumb on his part, love, you're a catch." You could feel his voice rumbling in his chest. The thought of Ghost caring your date left warming your aching heart.

But what really took your breath away was Soap's hand on your thigh, traveling slowly up towards the bottom of your dress. In fact, not only was your heart warming, but so were the pretty panties in between your legs you had worn.

"Want to show you how much of a catch ya are." Soap's breath was hot against the column of your neck, teeth just skimming the muscle, wanting to bite until you moan. Ghost had leaned forward, his arm now wrapped up underneath your arms, so you couldn't wiggle away, large hand placed against your abdomen.

"What do ya say, love? Wanna forget Brad?" Ghost asked lips against your other ear now.

"Brad who?" Your wit allowed you to answer earning chuckles from both men.

There will be a part 2 to this!

Simon Ghost Riley Masterlist

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mechanicalriddle · 5 months ago

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HAPPY OCTOBER! (prompts by @bweirdart) (x)

Today(yesterday)(thedaybeforeyesterday)'s theme is favorite oc. I think it is probably obvious who is getting featured here if you have been following me for the *checks calendar* past two years

Character intro/diary/colossal infodump under the cut because I have to explain Exalted to you first before anything else makes sense in context, i'll rehash some of this in further detail for entries later in the month

WHO IS SHE?

My tabletop character.

What system is she from?

Extremely complicated question. For the completely uninitiated she is from a system called Exalted (3rd Edition), which is about spirits, gods, and the deeply fallible humans that the gods uplift to become humanity's ultimate champions. (surely they would never be crushed under the weight of their own hubris! update: oops!)

The original Exalted is a sort of post-post-post apocalypse bronze age deal. everything is sort of made of and governed by magic and elemental principles, various gods, etc etc. In the original Exalted, the titans who created the world are overthrown by their 'offspring', gods known as the Incarnae, after the incarnae choose to vest their power into their human Champions (the Exalted).

Now, for the vaguely initiated...

There is a published setting for an AU version of Exalted spoken about in quiet whispers...

Basically the main differences are:

-The Titans won, and humanity fled aboard the vast mechanical world-body of the Titan's only defector, Autochthon. then they lobotomized him and turned him into a gigantic warship

-all of this is in space. Normal exalted takes place on a large flat disc of reality adrift in a sea of infinite probability. This version is kind of like that except its three dimensional and instead of a flat disc it is a sphere that you can leave. so like the real world pretty much

-Takes place at the height of magitech rather than when Exalted normally does which is 2000 years after all that shit fell apart

The setting is called GUNSTAR AUTOCHTHONIA. If you see me make any references to this understand that this is what it is. We do also just call the campaign itself Gunstar also though, since it's the only one in this modified setting any of us have played.

OK now in context. Who is she

There is an organization made up primarily of the demigods uplifted by the god Sol Invictus; this organization is known as the Solar Deliberative, and it is a senate of god-kings of various levels of experience and corruption who rule over the Gunstar and command its forces against the Titanics. (In the original setting, the Deliberative is the ancient empire on which the world is built. In Gunstar, it remains alive and 'well'.) The god Luna also has their own Chosen, the Lunars, who are also part of the Deliberative. Lunars generally operate as the strike force of and seconds-in-command to the Solars.

Solars and Lunars are elected... Basically by lottery, from exceptional mortals who the Gods take a shine to, usually via some act of act of incredible heroism or just sheer brazen-ness. Two and two together, she won the big stupid lottery, despite not being terribly kind or clever or good natured or generous or. Well. The most important part, ambitious.

(pictured: Luna taking pity on some idiot after an Osmosis Jones suicide mission deep into Autochthon's corpus)

But Luna likes a fixer upper. Siithi is quickly coming to realize that worthiness means very little in this business, and any moron with a mote pool can save the universe, granted they're being at least halfway sensible with it. You'd think that'd be a low bar and yet she knows at least a few people personally who regularly fail to clear it.

What's she like...

She's loud, and crass, and trashy, and a bit mean. Maybe a little stupid. But she's been around the block at least two or three times. She considers herself a simple sort (except when she's contorting herself into 4th-dimensional interpersonal complexes.) She likes to drink and toke and watch wresting and hang out and take a nap. Now a bunch of jerks want her to be the savior of the people of the Gunstar or some other dumb horseshit. Fine, she said. I guess if you want me to do that I guess I can do it. Maybe I'll even be good at it. But that's not going to stop me from complaining about it the entire time. If only she didn't have this big, dumb, stupid, perpetually bleeding heart.

She has powers? Tell me about the powers.

She is stronger and faster and generally cooler than most mortals... Though that's fairly standard among the Exalted. Because she's Luna's chosen she can, of course, shapeshift. Mostly she acquires alter egos via people gambling them away to her so she can stay on the down low (deliberative members are extremely public figures so a lot of people know her true face...) She can also shapeshift into a variety of garbage animals, including her true "spirit shape" form which happens to be a fat bloodsucking worm

Most of her charms (lunar magic) are devoted to stamina charms (letting her do things like breathe poison, slow her own heartrate to become imperceptible, etc.), dexterity combat charms (useful but boring), mysticism (communing with spirits, presumably so she can rip them off somehow) but she has some fun utility charms like the one she used to pocket the craft-forward Dawn's makeshift bomb into an extradimensional space and refuse to give it back.

(It's still in there.)

Oh, yeah, also she can raise the dead. Which is not that weird in the regular Exalted setting but isn't really in vogue in Gunstar. By which I mean even foremost occult experts like Deliberative Twilights have never heard of necromancy before. She tries to be chill about this but that can sometimes be difficult, because firstly, most people think it's pretty creepy, and secondly, in a wartime economy a lot of factions would take some pretty drastic action to have that power for their own.

Now if only she could harness it to its true potential.

Give me some numbers.

She is 5'6", and 32 years old. She's about to hit Essence (level) 3, and has been exalted for probably about 6 months by this point.

Her gender seems pretty swanky.

Thank you!

She is intersex (17 BHSD deficiency) and personally doesn't identify with being transgender, but would be very hard pressed to call herself cis either.

I have received mixed messages about whether or not I'm actually allowed to say the word she most closely identifies with so I'll say it starts with a D.

Why do you have some pictures of her all scrawny and sad lookin

That is either because the drawing is well over a year old and her design has since changed, or because I'm drawing what she looked like before she exalted. At the time she was slowly dying of an occupationally-acquired disease. So you can guess why she has a weird relationship with the whole 'death magic' thing. Now she is post-miraculous recovery and much fatter and happier for it.

(happiness relatively speaking...)

Who is the dinosaur?

The dinosaur you have seen her drawn with from time to time is my friend @heedra's PC. Their name is Meteor-Dream, or Meat for short, and they are a half-creature half-spirit sort of thing known as a Dragon King. Dragon Kings are sapient dinosaurs with humanoid intelligence who retain their memories & reincarnate into new bodies every time they die, so Meat is actually rather fucking old.

Meat and Siithi are bestfriends!!! Or at least they were. They were bickering for a while. Meat has been busy slowly merging themselves, mind-body-and-soul, with the maligned violence spirit known as the Viator of Nullspace in a bid to kill their errant & traitorous god (Sol Invictus, who we've mentioned before, is actually kind of a dick who eventually switched sides, but the power of his Chosen remains vested in the Deliberative).

The pair had sort of come to an agreement about the situation, but also Meat is just getting kind of weird and hard to talk to lately & also huge and glowing nuclear furnace chest cavity and covered in darksteel plates with scary eyes and Siithi is simply not sure what she thinks about that. (Truthfully she knows what she thinks about it, but speaking it out loud would only cause more trouble...)

Is this some kind of friend-to-enemies-to-lovers thing?

Siithi is very aromantic and Meat thinks humans are disgusting little pink flesh homunculi, so... Nope!

Not to say that Siithi does not actively want or seek tail. Just not this tail specifically... that would be weird!!!

Alright. So why is she your favorite? What is the source of your obsession??

I don't know!!! She's simply funny.

I think it has to be partially an investment thing, because I have spent an egregious amount of time on her characterization, backstory etc. So I feel like I know her very well compared to some of my other OCs. I also am a huge sucker for tropey loser scumbags with secret inner worlds where they actually care way too fucking much, & then are subjected to The Horrors. Its sooooo awesome when you subject them to the horrors.

I also always get a lot of positive feedback on her! Presumably because other people think shes very funny as well. I hope you do too! But probably, if you've made it this far!

Thank you for supporting my work, even if you are on the barest periphery of what actually happens with it. I will continue posting more about her this month, because God Won't Let Me Stop !!!

✌️

#oc: siithi tag #bweirdOCtober

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vickyvicarious · 2 years ago

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Okay, so this is one of several (I believe?) timeline errors in Seward's accounts. It happens in a few other places but I think nowhere so egregiously as here, with a week of time added in since yesterday's date. I recall that last year there were theories about Dracula affecting Seward's mind in some way, similar to how he affects Renfield and Lucy. While those can be fun to play around with, I'm certain the 'official' explanation is simply that Stoker got mixed up on his timeline and failed to notice that he'd added a week between the 19th and 20th.

All that's backstory though. Because it has only been a day for us, it's perhaps easier to miss, but if we assume the timeline mentioned in the actual text of the entry is what Stoker was envisioning, then... Renfield has seemingly been chained to a wall and in a straightjacket for a week straight:

For the first week after his attack he was perpetually violent. Then one night, just as the moon rose, he grew quiet, and kept murmuring to himself: "Now I can wait; now I can wait." The attendant came to tell me, so I ran down at once to have a look at him. He was still in the strait-waistcoat and in the padded room, but the suffused look had gone from his face, and his eyes had something of their old pleading—I might almost say, "cringing"—softness. I was satisfied with his present condition, and directed him to be relieved.

That's... I didn't really put it together last year, too caught up in the actual dates we're given, but. That's horrifying.

I love the delivery of Renfield's "now I can wait." But something about the amount of time it took makes it so creepy and so sad. He's been raging and fighting for a week, and it's only now when he can finally calm himself enough to go back to his more strategically placating approach towards his captors. (And it seems the moon has prompted this change within him... more thoughts on that later.) Indeed, only when he does so does he regain any semblance of his former freedom.

"They think I could hurt you! Fancy me hurting you! The fools!" It was soothing, somehow, to the feelings to find myself dissociated even in the mind of this poor madman from the others; but all the same I do not follow his thought. Am I to take it that I have anything in common with him, so that we are, as it were, to stand together; or has he to gain from me some good so stupendous that my well-being is needful to him? I must find out later on. To-night he will not speak.

I think this passage proves how Seward's view of Renfield is very tied to his own personal feelings, and is thus anything but professional and objective. In the past, he's been overly indulgent of Renfield when he wants to discover a new madness that he can put his name to, and has even been tempted to go further; in his previous entry he felt hurt by Renfield ignoring him and then escaping, and lashed out with dismissive assumptions of delusions he must be having, and locked him up/restrained him. Apparently, kept him restrained until he resumed his former more placating behavior. Seward is fascinated by Renfield partially out of ambition, and partially out of this idea that they have some kind of bond or he has some unique understanding of Renfield.

And yet that idea upsets him too. He knows that he himself is abnormal in some way, perhaps is very conscious of or worried about this fact, and kind of scoffs at/dismisses the idea that Renfield might view him as someone who is on the same 'side' or understands his perspective. It sort of feels like Seward wants Renfield to be open with him and confide in him but only in a respectful way that acknowledges him as mentally/status-wise superior. If Renfield treats him as equal to the attendants, that is failing to acknowledge his superior status and intellect and training. If Renfield treats him as an ally opposed to the attendants, then that implies the two of them are of equal status and that Seward's being viewed as mentally on a level (and thus mad at least to an extent) rather than superior. Even as it partially soothes his hurt feelings the idea kind of upsets him, and he kind of scoffs at it.

The last possibility he brings up is that Renfield is using him. But Seward tests that right away and it doesn't seem to go anywhere yet: the cats that previously were Renfield's greatest desire today do not interest him in the least. I keep feeling like there's a weird balance of Seward being very willing to see Renfield as very calculative and secretly harboring murderous plans, but at the same time not having much ability to recognize when he himself is being manipulated by Renfield. Like this pleading/cringing behavior. On the one hand he has definitely noticed it is a deliberate action in the past, but at the same time he seems to consider it an indication that Renfield can be 'managed' again and set loose from his padded cell/restraints. (Not that I think releasing him is a bad idea, but it is an interesting disconnect from how Seward has kind of looked at it in the past, I guess?) Seward often notices when Renfield is trying to get something from him but doesn't necessarily refuse it, or still lets his own emotions/ambitions influence his response. I feel like it comes down to a lot of ableism in his faith that he is smarter/more able to see through and manage Renfield, and thus can afford to sometimes indulge Renfield's efforts to use him. Meanwhile I feel like Renfield has deliberately played into that at least sometimes in order to get his own way, and Seward doesn't recognize how clever he actually is.

Happy thought! We shall to-night play sane wits against mad ones. He escaped before without our help; to-night he shall escape with it. We shall give him a chance, and have the men ready to follow in case they are required….

I love the way he pauses and then says "happy thought!" He truly is just having a sudden idea, and his curiosity is overwhelming his ethics/common sense here. Honestly, in this entry? It reminds me a lot of Dracula once again. I can easily see Dracula thinking this to himself with a few minor changes.

Perhaps on May 15th, before reminding/taunting Jonathan never to sleep outside his own rooms. Or even better, on June 29th when Jonathan asks to leave right then and he gets his wolf idea:

Happy thought! I shall to-night play predator nerves against prey ones. He tried to escape before without my help; to-night he shall have the chance to escape with it. I shall show him the door, and have the wolves ready outside in case they are required….

...look, I'm just saying, Seward is super creepy this entry.

#dracula daily #renfield #jack seward #count dracula #re: dracula #i don't think i'll be able to answer my asks/get any other thoughts out tonight #just been too busy today and no time

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edward-evans-blog · 11 months ago

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Edward Evans Blog, [Entry #1]

“The Flatmate…”

Hello, I am Edward Evans, The writer of this Blog. For my final assignment in one of my Courses In college I was given the task to document all the exciting things that happen to me over the course of three months. Sadly I’ve already wasted about three days trying to decide what exactly people might find exciting, I mean as far as exciting goes I’m really not sure my life fits the quota.. I’m a 19 year old English man who’s only friend is a bird who pop’s by my flat to eat from the bird feeder I installed outside my apartment window, so yeah.. not too exciting as you can see. well. At Least it wasn’t exciting until around breakfast time yesterday.

I was Just doing my regular every day routine. I got up at 5:36 and made myself a tea with avocado toast on the side and Refilled the bird feeder outside my flat and watched the birds eat while I ate, then at 6:47 I went outside and did a quick jog around the block once I came back to my flat around 7:40 I got a nice cold shower.. and after I got out and dressed that's when it happened. The thing that might just change my life forever…

I was sitting at my writing desk in my living room when suddenly I heard the strangest noise coming from my bedroom… I got up to investigate, holding a broom in my hands ready to hit anyone or anything that tried to jump out at me.. and that's when I quickly opened my room door just in time to see a strange looking man climb in through my window holding some sort of.. sack?? Well of course I wasted no time as I ran over and put my intruder into a choke hold, I guess those self defence classes I took over the summer did end up paying off… either way the intruder didn't seem to put up much of a fight.. He just kind of flailed around but I held my ground and kept a firm hold on him. At this point the man had dropped the sack he was carrying, this is around the time I started asking questions. I had asked him who he was and why he was breaking into my house though I didn’t get a very straight answer all he said was “get the bag” and “run” I started to get a bit confused by this so I dropped him from the choke hold and instead picked up the bag, but right as I was about to look into it I heard sirens and before I knew it the strange intruder had grabbed my hand and told me to follow him as he lead me out of the window in my living room!! (Fyi I live on the second story of a building.) we got lucky(?) however and landed in a dumpster full of soft discarded fabrics as I live right next to a fabric shop. The intruder still hadn’t let me go and now I was being dragged throughout the streets by some sort of crazy man?? Well not to my surprise the police soon caught up with us right as the intruder hailed a cab over and as the police were arresting him he yelled at me to “put the bagels in the back and run!” Still confused I opened the back of the cab door and opened the sack as I slowly realised the bag I had been carrying was filled with… Bangles..? 72 Bagels to be exact. I looked back at my intruder with confusion plastered to my face as he tried to fight off the cops. Yet he still yelled at me to put them in the cab and for some reason.. I did. Well.. after an hour or so we did get arrested. Apparently the stranger had robbed a bakery of 72 bagel’s .. not because he was poor and needed to… just because he was hungry and thought the price for a bagel was obscene.

I was arrested… over bagels… I didn’t even steal myself. “God this guy is inase.” Is all I could think as I sat in the holding cell. But then the most unexpected, unpredictable, surprising thing happened.. John Watson and Sherlock Holmes walked in! In the flesh!! I thought perhaps they were here to question someone for a case but instead they walked over to me and my intruders cell..

“Percy. What did you do?” Is the first thing I heard Sherlock say. I was confused and glanced over at the stranger in the cell with me.

“So your name's Percy?” I asked him, though he didn’t answer.

“Uncle Sherlock..John. Good to see you as well..” The stranger nodded up to the two celebrities nonchalantly.

“Percy, your father sent you here so you’d stay out of trouble not to get yourself and this poor boy arrested.”

John said, sounding more angry then I would imagine my first time meeting my idol would sound.. the bickering between them continued for a few minutes until suddenly Mr. Holmes had asked Percy, who I'm assuming is the man in the cell with me. “You can’t just run away Percy, where on earth would you go?”

And this was the moment that made me completely stunned.

Percy crossed his arms and looked up at Mr.Holmes.

“I could go to lots of places. In fact I might just move in with-“ he turned to look at me. “What's your name, tiny man?”

I looked at him confused and for the first time spoke with him. “Oh- uh- .. Edward? Edward Evans.”

I Answered the strange man a bit hesitant.

“Right. Well I might just move in with Eddie!”

He yelled, crossing his arms again.

“Oh- actually its Edward-“

I cut myself off quickly

“Wait- move in???? I don't even know you!!”

At this point John Watson, my Idol! Might I remind you, smiled

“Well. Fine. Move in with Eddie.”

I was shocked. Why on earth did they think That I would just let some random guy who broke into my house, made me a partner to his crime and got me arrested!!! Live! With! Me-

John spoke again. “It might be good for you. That’s actually how I met Sherlock. Moved in with him the second day I met him.”

…

It has now been a day since this happened and now I have a flatmate.

I've gotten to learn more about him thankfully. He is 19, just like me, but he’s not in school as he thinks he's too smart for it or something.. he likes bagels and solving crimes. And his uncle is the famous Sherlock Holmes.

He and I have come up with an agreement. He will help me with this assignment by letting me tag along with him on his cases and blog about them. And in return I let him live with me for a few months until his father “Mycroft” lets him move back in with him.

So.. This is the start of my blog.

The amazing adventures of Percy Holmes and Edward Evans.

Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more updates on our wonderfully unbelievable stories.

-Edward Evans.

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