#that's rich coming from you Nathaniel

[mhedusard]

Translation-> "Kim is so susceptible, I have to be careful to what I Say, if I want to keep going with her"

WELL THAT REMIND ME OF SOMEONE

[jenneyquinn]

𝐢 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞

in which the pine tree and llama are the epitome of soulmates w/c: 11.2k words (not proofread) masterpost

“in case if you have forgotten, pacifica northwest is the worst.”

well, near the end of their first summer in gravity falls, worst would be the cumulative word to describe pacifica—in the view of dipper pines, that is. and how could he not? so far, all he’s seen of her was a spoiled, rich, mean girl who was nothing but awful to his sister. a product of a family consistent with fraudulence and an unwavering desire to be at the top—

“pacifica’s rich, she’s cheating at life”

“nathaniel northwest didn’t found gravity falls and your whole family’s a sham”

—dipper could describe pacifica in many words that would paint her in a negative light, but there could be only much to say about her that is justified by his character. he doesn’t hold a lot of money to his name, or his family for that matter, but he lived life honestly. to find the truth in all things.

and considering pacifica northwest was cruel enough to make his sister feel bad about herself? what more truth was there in calling her the worst?

amongst the roars and cheers of the audience in the telepathy tent, there was a pair of starry eyes that were completely struck in awe, and maybe... admiration?

but how could she not? from the flashing lights to the glowing cerulean bolo ties that match their eyes (which also managed to glow?)—pacifica southeast was hooked on the gleeful twins, especially the male counterpart of the pair; as revealed by the faint blush on her cheeks.

her cousin, gideon pines, begged to differ. though knowing him, pacifica knew that the chubby little nerd is hard to impress—hard enough that he might as well be dubbed the "fun police".

gideon just doesn't get it, she thought, if those dreamy blue eyes were in front of him, alluring as he is mysterious...

she then gets lost in the image that occurred just a moment ago: the gentle look of dipper gleeful's eyes boring right into hers, taking her warm hand in his cold one as he brings it to his lips, barely grazing the surface; all the while looking directly at her, the smallest hint of a grin gracing his face right after.

despite how cold he felt, how cold his aura was—pacifica couldn't have felt any hotter that summer night.

“i went from undergrad to phd three years ahead of schedule, wrote a thesis that was nationally ranked and was awarded an enormous grant for my own scientific research! but what to study…?”

after being rejected from his dream school, dipper pines worked twice as hard from his time at backupsmore uni to reap success similar to what he would’ve achieved had he made it into west coast tech.

one day, dipper pushes his hair back when he looks at himself in the mirror, pondering over his constellation-looking birthmark…

then suddenly, click!

in the blink of an eye, he finds himself in the middle of nowhere in gravity falls, oregon, obviously needing a place to stay.

that's when dipper goes to northwest realty, where he meets up-and-coming realtor, pacifica northwest.

"so, you wanna buy this lot?" she asks, unclear if she heard the guy right. "are you sure you wouldn't like to reconsider and opt for an alternative location? i mean—given this lot has been a preserved environmental space, and you'll be ways away from the town—you'd be funneling a lot of money just to get this lot and build a home here."

"oh, it's alright, miss—"

"just call me pacifica." she interrupts, but smiles.

"sorry—pacifica, i can assure you that money is no issue to me. i've recently received quite the grant to pursue an independent study, and this would be the perfect location to conduct my research."

"i see, but mister pines—"

"it's dipper," he cuts off, returning her smile from a moment ago.

she chuckles before continuing: "if it's researching your business here, i can gladly show you a place close to the local library—or the museum? our town archives?? surely this would be a more efficient use of your money."

"heh, you're not like the other northwests," dipper replies, reflecting on his own knowledge of the northwest family, "aren't you supposed to be like, bleeding me dry? i'm practically helping you more than myself here."

pacifica gasps, looking offended: "excuse me?"

suddenly, dipper realizes he's messed up. sometimes that mouth of his is too smart for his own good. he didn't mean to insult her, it was meant to be playful teasing that's all!

so he stammers, trying to undo the damage.

"i-i'm so sorry! i didn't mean it—to be insulting, that is! i s-swear it was only meant to be a lighthearted joke! you smell r-really pretty—"

amidst his ramblings, pacifica breaks into a fit of laughter.

"you're something, dipper pines. you know what, let me sell you the lot, and i'll pay a lumberjack to build your new home for you. don't worry, you seem to know a thing or two about my family anyways, so it's no big deal."

"really?" he asks, dumbfounded. "you'd do that? but why?? surely i have some money to spare after getting the lot—"

"i do have one condition, though."

dipper breaks into a sweat—though, he thought he's already gotten past that phase from his adolescent years.

pacifica takes out a small, square pad of yellow sticky notes from the front pocket of her orchid-purple blazer, puts it on her clipboard, taking a pen and writes on the pad. when she finishes, pacifica peels the sticky note from its pad and promptly hands it to the brunette.

"when that house of yours is built, how about i drop by for dinner? that better be some study if it's taking you away from civilization."

“call me crazy, but maybe she’s not so bad after all…”

dipper thinks aloud, surprised by the sudden change in his opinion. besides, how does one go from being the worst to not so bad?

perhaps he was crazy, or maybe it was the faint smell of champagne and flowers in those probably-fake blonde locks of hers... could there be something more to pacifica northwest that goes deeper than the surface? or something deeper between them??

impossible! come on, this is pacifica he's talking about. pacifica northwest! the greatest link in the world's worst chain—but that's like picking out a fresh apple from a basket filled with mouldy fruit.

so, as soon as he let his vulnerability scrawl across the journal page through his pen, dipper just as quickly crosses it out.

the picture can stay, though. after all, his artistic ability does a great job capturing the likeness of her beauty—

okay, i've got to stop that!

pacifica, on the other hand, could not have slept any better.

sure, she had to endure a grounding by her parents and a nightmare traumatizing enough to keep a tapestry of a one-eyed triangle demon locked in her closet so it would no longer bore through her eyes and into her soul.

but she also couldn't deny that it was a humbling experience for herself. pacifica had to face the music and realize that the pines twins were far from her problems... in fact, they might have been the first real friends she has ever had in gravity falls—and she's lived here forever.

the pines twins were the first to show pacifica northwest the truth—about her heritage, about what her family has really done to others, about the kind of person she's come from and whether she wants to maintain that legacy or not.

when she refused to shake that stony, moss-riddled hand, something clicked in pacifica. something that said her integrity was worth more than a dollar sign, that the price of morality could actually mean more than money; and she would have never come to that epiphany if it weren't for dipper and mabel.

after all, them being here has to mean something, knowing that she could sleep in peace, with dipper pines only a call away.

as the morning newspaper plopped on their doorstep, gideon was the resident of the mystery shack who picked it up off the planked stoop. what once was a facial expression of exhaustion immediately turned to one of shock and possibly disgust?

of course, when you read a headline talking about gravity falls’ most dangerous guy dating your cousin, those sort of things will do that to you…

GLEEFUL’S NEW GIRLFRIEND? LADIES STEP ASIDE!

gideon doesn’t bother reading the article himself, but he could tell from the pictures of his mortal enemy and his best friend-slash-cousin being dangerously close to each other—there is something calculated about gleeful’s smile… it’s clearly there for the paps, cameras and flashing lights and all, but there’s something more sinister to that small, suble, charismatic grin.

and that something sinister says: screw you, gideon pines.

“PACIFICAAA!”

despite the local news jolting him wide awake, nothing could’ve prepared gideon for the wolf-pitched squeals filling the shack, all coming from the small southeast.

“no! there is no EEE-ing about this, pazzy!” he bursts, all red in the face and pouty, to which pacifica couldn’t help but laugh to; it was a sight for sure.

it doesn’t take long for them to have yet another conversation about dipper gleeful being too dangeous for pacifica to date—let alone be in close proximity with—but she knows, deeper than the dark side dipper does have, that he is a good person.

but when you see the good in everything, rationality and skepticism won’t budge—which exactly is making the subject between the pines-southeast duo a million times rockier than it needs to be.

i should really get that mirror dusted… dipper thinks to himself as he adjusts his tie using his apparently dusty reflection in the mirror.

embarrassing. the man is already in his twenties, and you think that growing up properly-dressed, the least he could do is put on a tie correctly…

a ding-dong from the front of the shack pulls him out of his concentration, causing dipper to groan and throw his hands up in frustration. he was so sure he was going to get it right this time.

but a final tired, defeated glance at his reflection said otherwise.

nevertheless, dipper goes to answer the front door, where he sees his date looking… why is she wearing sunglasses, a shapeless trenchcoat, and a big hat? is she wearing a disguise??

is she embarrassed to come out here to see me?

letting herself in, pacifica removes the big hat and sunglasses, her platinum blonde hair cascading on her shoulders and down her coat, diamond eyes and strawberry-pink lips giggling at her dorky-looking date.

she approaches him already, which makes dipper more red-faced and sweaty. they couldn’t have their first kiss already?! not when their first date barely began!

he’s all the more ashamed when he puckers his lips only to meet air—cracking one eye open to look down at the woman adjusting his tie, smiling fondly.

when she finishes, she tip-toes to meet his height, giving a single peck on his red-hot cheek and chuckles.

“glad to see you, too.”

if there was anything that mabel has brought to the people of gravity falls, it would be her natural talent for matchmaking.

it’s already one thing that your enemy has stopped being your enemy, and another thing that your twin brother is finally starting to get over his one-sided crush, but for both your ex-enemy and twin brother to have a spark and potentially experience an epic enemies-to-lovers romance?!

it wasn’t the match she ask for, but love works in mysterious ways…

and if this match needs to be made, it shall be made!

it all started with the party at northwest manor…

while mabel had made up with candy and grenda, done with eye candy for the night, she just wanted to have fun and appreciate her girlfriends for a night—after all, it was their dream to party inside of northwest manor than camping out by the main gates like the rest of the townsfolk…

but then… from the corner of her eye, had she spotted her brother… smiling? and having fun?? with another girl???

if mabel has to be honest, she wasn’t exactly thrilled to find out said girl was pacifica northwest, but hey—if dip had to get over wendy, he had to start somewhere…

it didn’t help that she was laying in bed, wide awake in the dead of night, trying to figure out what was going on between the unlikely pair. it got more frustratingly confusing the more mabel paid mind to it, and can someone stuff a sock in her snoring brother’s mouth’s already!

but for a guy who rarely gets any sleep, mabel’s grateful that pacifica was able to entertain dipper enough that he practically went out like a light as soon as his body hit the mattress…

‘though not before sneaking in another quick entry in his journal,’ mabel notes in her head as her tired eyes spot the open journal laying atop dipper’s chest; rising and falling with it.

her eyes squint, trying to make out the drawing of the creature in his journal (not to mention, she’s trying to figure that image out in the dark)

when she catches a glance of the side profile, puffed dress sleeves, and voluminous hair, mabel’s hands join together as her eyes sparkle and a smile spreads across her face.

a scheming smile, that is.

roses are red, pacifica's blood is blue i read what you crossed out i'm onto you!

then, before she signs off her short, yet beautiful poem, mabel takes a final look at dipper's sleeping state; squinting her eyes and chewing the tip of her gel pen.

"start combing your hair, bro-bro..."

although pacifica southeast has barely cried in her lifetime, given that seldom events and things have caused her to be in such a miserable state, nothing could have possibly prepared her for the worst forms of sadness.

betrayal, deceit, heartbreak.

she knew she should've seen it coming, deep down in her heart she knew the true nature of the boy who instantly caught her eye... but it didn't stop pacifica from ignoring all of her cousin's warnings and looking on the bright side, as she typically did.

but maybe this time, there was no silver lining.

she looks back at the polaroid pictures in her summer memories scrapbook, a memorabilia she compiled of her first vacation in gravity falls and the first moments she would share with her family and new friends.

thinking that she would look back at these times in the future and see heartfelt memories, pacifica could only see the polaroid picture where she looked her happiest with dipper gleeful, as a tear drops between where the pair are shown.

he broke her heart, made her cry, but after some tears were shed and noses were blown, pacifica southeast was left with a heart done wrong and justice to be served.

if the gleefuls thought they would get away with this, they were dead wrong.

walking up to the doorstep of her boyfriend’s place, pacifica holds a small gift bag on one hand as she uses her free one to knock on the front door.

excitement is spread throughout her face as she smiles from cheek to cheek, unable to maintain her patience with each passing moment.

though, she wasn’t prepared for her smile to drop the instant when another woman opens the door, greeting pacifica with a single smile before swiftly exiting dipper’s home.

“oh, hey paz!” he greets his girlfriend, smiling. as if some other woman didn’t just leave his place—a woman pacifica clearly had no idea about.

she looks indifferent, refusing to give the guy any sort of response as she enters the shack, bumping her shoulder against his as she walks in.

noticing her sour mood, dipper tries to sweeten it up by using up his nerd charm. i mean, it was how he got to date her from the start.

“c’mon, northwest, no ‘hey four-eyes’?” he asks playfully, dropping his arms to her waist, “no ‘hi dip-head’?”

pacifica pulls away from his arms before he got the chance to pull her in any closer, turning her nose up and away from him as she closes her eyes and huffs.

“hey…” hurt starts to rise in dipper’s voice as she pushes him away, “are you okay? if i did something wrong, you need to tell me. you know i’d never hurt you, right? paz…”

“do i, pines?” she retorts, sounding frustrated. “do i know anything about you? because i know nothing about that girl who just left your house in a good mood, i know nothing about your family, i don’t even know what the heck you research or why you’re in gravity falls!”

“pacifica…”

she sobs as more tears stream down her face: “is it because you don’t think i’m smart enough for you? that i’m nothing more than a pretty face and sort of walking, breathing trust fund you hold onto so when you’re short on money, i’ll be the one saving your butt??”

the blonde turns away from him, not wanting him to see her so vulnerable. dipper, on the other hand, refuses to take this. was this what his girlfriend really thought of their relationship… of herself?

in that moment, dipper curses preston and priscilla northwest for causing their daughter to possibly think so low of herself.

“pacifica,” he speaks up, bringing a hand to her chin and getting her to face him, “the reason why we’re dating isn’t only because of your looks… surely, you must know that?”

he looks into his girlfriend’s tear-filled eyes, his heart breaking at the sight of her miserable state: “you’re so much more that what your parents make you out to be. i date you because i have fun whenever we’re together… you absolutely destroy me in fight fighters and show me that there are other ways to have a good time than books…”

he blushes, internally recalling their shared moments, “the truth is, i get scared. a gorgeous woman like you, inside and out, going out with a nerd like me? it’s like a dream i don’t want us to wake up from… but what if one day, you do wake up? i have nothing much to give to you, pacifica. i don’t have much money to my name, and my research is… laughable to a lot. what if you laughed at me too? you’d think i’m just some loser that’s wasting his time and grant money on weird stuff…”

“dipper pines…” she looks into his eyes intently “do you trust me?”

a silence fills the room for a moment, until he replies.

“of course i trust you, pacifica.”

taking a deep breath before she continues, pacifica continues to look into his eyes through those big glasses of his: “maybe i don’t understand what you research… maybe i never will… but, your work makes you happy."

she smiles at him, her diamond-blue eyes still hot with tears: "i like when i see you happy, dipper. it's... cute? i never felt this way about anybody else before, but i like feeling like this. i like when you geek out about weird stuff—it's when you're really yourself, and i like that you don't let what other people think change that about you."

now, dipper begins to tear up, but trying his best to compose himself—wondering how he got so lucky to be dating such a person.

finally back in her good mood, pacifica hands the gift bag to her boyfriend.

"i got this for our one-month anniversary, it's not much, but i thought i'd get you some more 'thinking pens' for your research... and a pack of chewing gum because i don't want to date someone with braces... or worse—toothless."

after sharing a laugh together, dipper takes pacifica by the hand, leading her to his lab.

"maybe now would be the perfect time to show you what i've been studying since i've moved to gravity falls."

mabel knew that summer's end was fast approaching, but it doesn't mean that there would be no time for romance!

besides, she knew that the plan she was about to concoct wasn't something to be done overnight... sure, making a match for robbie stacy valentino took a couple days to work out—along with the consequences of her social circle—but this project? compared to robbie, he was a piece of cake!

this was her brother. and her former enemy.

the seeds still needed to be sown.

it wasn't completely hopeless though. at least, after the events of the northwest's party and dipper's journal entry, there was potential to be explored. and if dipper pines singlehandedly had the ability to spark a change of heart in pacifica...

if only mabel knew how pacifica northwest felt for her brother...

then, just like a prayer answered, a 'ping' goes off on mabel's phone, revealing a text from an unknown number...

hey, dipper... so about that hug...

hug?! what hug?! she had all wendy's, candy's, and grenda's numbers in her contacts, so who could've possibly wanted to text her brother about some hug that they wanted to forget—

suddenly, as mabel gasped, it was totally clear who it was.

now, there was many ways she could approach this. so many possibilities. does she pretend to be dipper and try to hook him up? does she try to be a supportive friend and be honest with pacifica??

actually, come to think of it... after all the times she's been embarrassed by the hands of that northwest, she's been overdue for a bit of humiliation herself.

a mischievous smile spreads across mabel's face. matchmaking can wait, anyways.

“it’s over, southeast!”

cornerned by the two terrorizing twin-bots, pacifica is left out of options as the gleeful twins have captured gideon, his tiny body restrained by the big metal grip of the mabel-bot.

“you’ve been had,” mabel continues, “the only way for boys to be interested in you was by pretending—which is exactly what my dear brother had just done."

as pacifica turns from mabel to dipper, he turns his head; refusing to look back at her. whether he actually felt a twinge of guilt or didn't care enough to return her gaze was irrelevant—pacifica's heart broke all the same.

"now, we’ve won! with gideon possessing the first and third journals, the gleefuls can finally take over gravity falls… heck—we can take over the galaxy!”

as she laughs maniacally, the turns to gideon, still in her steel grip: “with you as my lil’ king!”

“a-hem,” dipper calls from behind—his robotic hips on one side, metallic arms folded over each other, and a foot tapping against the forest floor; probably scarring away any woodlen creatures nearby.

“you heard me, diphead. there’s only room for one pair of rulers here—but hey! you and will have made decent sidekicks in the past. if all goes well, i’ll make sure there’s room for the both of you in my court—ha!”

with that, mabel’s robot violently shoves dipper’s with one hand as she keeps gideon the other; her grip still tight on the poor child.

“AHH!”

dipper screams as he falls out from the robot’s head, his eyes shut as he braces his demise… if only he still had his amulet.

pacifica gasps, watching dipper in the sky.

“dipper!”

pulling out her grappling hook, she shoots it without a second thought, praying to whatever force out there that it latches onto some sort of strong branch, and leaps forward; the recoil pulling her towards the endangered gleeful twin.

then, before he had any idea, dipper doesn’t feel the weight of the wind and gravity pushing him down anymore. instead, he feels the warmth of something… or rather yet, someone, holding onto him.

he cracks one eye open to see that, pacifica southeast, the girl he’s been deceiving for the past month, glaring at the mabel-bot.

“pacifica?”

“shut up, gleeful. the only reason you’re alive is because you’re helping me get gideon back.”

TACK!—TACK!—TACK!

the stones that hit against the glass of pacifica's bedroom window were enough to annoy her awake. she hoped that her parents weren't bothered by the sound as well, despite her doubts.

"chiu?!" she exclaimed in a hush voice, "the heck are you doing out here? it's three in the morning!"

"pacifica!" the ravenette in the lab coat calls out to the northwest, fiddling with her hands, jerking her head from side to side; as if somebody was watching her. "y-you need to talk to dipper! he doesn't g-get it! wh-what's coming—"

"whoa, candy, hold on," pacifica interrupts, rubbing her temples, "chill. breathe. slow down. what doesn't dipper get? what do you mean 'what's coming'?"

"i'm not crazy, pacifica!" candy panics. "something's coming. something bad. but dipper's too stubborn to stop his work! if you don't stop him, this could be the end of gravity falls!"

"c'mon, talk sense. this is dipper, we're talking about. he wouldn't hurt a fly."

"i don't think we're talking about the same dipper."

with that, candy makes a hasty leave from the grounds of northwest manor, leaving pacifica in a mixed state of exhaustion and confusion.

candy doesn't know what she's talking about, the blonde tries to convince herself, dipper's stubborn, but not stupid.

she sleeps with some difficulty that night, but come morning, she goes to her boyfriend's place to visit; clearly concerned about candy's warning from the night before.

when the door opens, pacifica greets dipper with a big smile, to which he reciprocates, but then asks about the reason of her visit.

"can't i just visit my boyfriend? c'mon, let's go to the lake—your skin's getting pale, dip."

"look, pacifica," dipper speaks as he takes her hand, leading her down to his lab, "i need your help. you've got to take this journal, get as far away as you can from me, and bury it where nobody can ever hope to find it."

as he gives his instructions, dipper shoves a journal into his girlfriend's hands; on the cover is a blue pine tree with the number '2' printed on it.

candy was right. why would dipper need her to go away from him? what did that dummy do??

"wait, you can't just tell me to do whatever you want—especially getting away from you. why do you need me to do this?"

he opens his mouth, but pauses before answering: "i don't think i can tell you that."

she scoffs, "you're kidding. you can't tell me or you won't?"

"i'm serious, i'm not going to risk you knowing too much."

"that's a whole load and you know it. what about candy?" she asks, pointing a finger at him, "she's clearly capable of knowing more than me."

dipper sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, "don't make this a whole ego thing, pacifica—"

"an ego thing?! i thought we were a team, dipper. i thought you trusted me! or was that nothing more than a bunch of words filled with empty promises?"

she angrily waves the journal, now pointing to it accusingly: "recently, you've been doing nothing but coop yourself down here and write in these dumb books of yours! i swear, these journals have probably gotten more action with your face than i have for the past few weeks. and after finally getting to see you in person for so long—you want to tell me to get away from you? sending me off like some sort of blind dog?!"

"it's not dumb, pacifica—it's dangerous!" dipper exclaims, losing patience with the blonde, "don't ever talk down on my research—"

"well, it must be so lame if you never want it to be seen again. in fact, i'm going to walk to the city dump right now—"

"pacifica, don't!"

as she walks away, dipper goes up to her, trying to tear the book from her hands.

"my life's work!"

as he hastily snatches the book from her grip, dipper gives her a single push of his hand while protecting the journal with the other.

pacifica yelps, losing her balance as she is forced backwards. the side of her head makes an impact with one of dipper's many machines, cutting into her skin before meeting the ground.

"oh my god, pacifica! i'm so sorry, i didn't mean—"

"stuff it, pines." she spats back, dismissing him with her hand. pacifica tries to recollect herself by getting herself off the ground and dusts her clothes.

she then looks directly into his eyes with pure disgust.

"if your work matters more than our relationship, if you don't even trust me enough to let me help you or even tell me what's going on, i'm done."

pacifica turns away from him again, but dipper calls out to her.

"pacifica, wait."

she only turns her head: "do you trust me, dipper?"

just like before, the room is filled with silence. only this time, pacifica doesn't get any reply.

so, she leaves his house for the final time, leaving dipper by himself.

hey mabel, um... is it okay if i could text dipper for a bit? need to ask him something real quick

summer is almost over, her thirteenth birthday is fast approaching, but it already seems like mabel pines' wishes are already coming true.

"DIPPER! PACIFICA'S ASKING FOR YOU! I THINK SHE WANTS TO GO ON A DATE!"

"WHAT?!"

dipper didn't find mabel's exaggeration amusing in the slightest. "it's not a date mabel, she just wants to hang at the lake—as friends."

"okay, so maybe i should join you guys. after all, we're all friends, right?" she shoots back, taunting him.

"no!" dipper objects, his voice squeaking; to which mabel smirk grows. going red in the face, he clears his throat before continuing: "i mean, since paz only asked for me—"

"i'm gonna ignore the fact that you're on pet-name terms now, but you do realize she only asked for you because she—i don't know—might be totally into you!"

his blush deepens at his sister’s accusation.

“c-c’mon! this is pacifica we’re talking about! she only just stopped hating our guts like, less than a couple weeks ago?”

“fine, but you’re still gonna hang with her today, right? she still needs a friend, bro-bro.”

dipper knew mabel was right, and even if she wasn’t as encouraging, a part of him deep down was genuinely looking forward to hang with pacifica one more time before his birthday and leaving gravity falls.

before summer ended and heading back into the unknown.

“help us, will! don’t forget i’m still your master!”

“don’t listen to him, you moldy nacho! i’m your master, not dipstick’s! obey me!”

“ENOUGH!”

the sound of will’s voice booms throughout the forest, bringing the town of gravity falls to a standstill. apart from the triangular demon, only the gleeful twins, pacifica, and gideon remained unfrozen

"i've had just enough of you two brats! generations of torment... well i'm sick of it. no longer is will cipher going to be a slave to the gleeful family! from now on—you guys are on your own! good luck taking over gravity falls without me, you weak flesh-sacks!"

the four children gasp, in shock at the enslaved demon's outrage. with a single snap, the mabel-bot goes powerless, causing it to go limp and tip over.

dipper and mabel clutch onto pacifica for dear life as the latter panics; trying to find a way to get to gideon as he is loosened from the metal grip, freefalling to his demise.

BOOM!

an electric, smoky bubble of blue bursts upon the mabel-bot’s impact on the ground, a ripple spreads throughout the town; bringing a gust of wind to the to the townsfolk.

because of the robot’s explosion, the people of gravity falls gather towards the source of the damage, where they don’t find bodies.

instead, they spot pacifica, mid-air, her hold on the grappling hook breaking her fall. dipper and gideon cling on to each of the blonde’s sides, with mabel’s arms wrapped over her brother’s shoulders from behind; nearly choking the gleeful twin.

as officers powers and trigger catch sight of the gleeful twins, they rush even closer to their aid.

"mabel! dipper! what happened?" trigger cries.

already pulling out the waterworks, mabel puts on her mask again: "it was southeast and pines! they tried to attack us and blew up our statues with dynamite! arrest them!"

dipper simply rolls his eyes as powers gets the handcuffs ready; gideon and pacifica gasp.

"officers, she's lying!" gideon exclaims.

"sorry kids," powers apologizes, "but we trust the gleefuls. and there's nothing short of a miracle that could ever—"

"okay, i'm getting tired of this," dipper deadpans, cutting off the officers. "pacifica southeast and the pines kid are innocent. we were the ones responsible behind the—"

"mason pines you shut your mouth right now!" mabel snaps, momentarily breaking through her façade, before realizing her slight error and giggles it off.

"heh, what i mean to say officers, is that my poor brother must be concussed and clearly has no idea what he's saying—heh—right, dipper?"

"hmm..." he hums, tapping his chin in thought, "i don't think so, i remember someone shoving me... causing me to fall from seventy feet high..."

staring at mabel, dipper gives a smirk her way before swiftly referring to the hand in his front pocket, revealing only a sliver of a small, black, flash drive.

then he leans close, whispering to his sister: "now wouldn't exactly be the best time to put our enemies incarcerated, mabel. don't forget who saved your butt from meeting death just a moment ago."

mabel growls for a moment, then takes a deep breath before she speaks again.

"as a matter of fact... it was all a misunderstanding, officers. gideon and pacifica were saving us," mabel explains, pulling gideon close to her for a peck on the cheek: "my heroes!"

it has been weeks since pacifica had left dipper's place for the last time, and obviously, the heartbroken blonde hadn't heard from the four-eyed dork.

good riddance, she thought bitterly. as if it was any surprise.

but as the days turn from weeks to months, pacifica knew she needed to leave the house. the fluorescent lights and chandeliers in her family mansion wasn't doing much to help her tan... but what to do...

she starts by walking to dusk2dawn, the same darn convenience store where she met her ex-boyfriend.

yeah, smart move there, northwest.

as pacifica reaches for the smile dip, mainly to take a closer look at it, she can't help but to overhear some commotion going on by the register.

"i've heard some strange stories about that old shack, strange and spooky experiments..."

"gosh, i'd pay anything to see what sort of shenanigans you've got going down in there."

no... could it be?

when the curious blonde sets down the smile dip and heads to the front, she couldn't believe her eyes on what's happening before her.

it was a woman. she looked like her ex-boyfriend. similar build, similar facial features. her appearance could easily mistake anybody for dipper, but the fact that this was clearly a woman kept pacifica's mind focused.

what is this lady doing here in gravity falls? why does she look like dipper pines?? and why is she claiming to live where he lives???

"what is your name, you madam of mystery?"

"uh ma—" the woman takes a brief pause, "mason pines. parents thought i would come out a boy, so you can call me dipper."

pacifica gasps, but covers her mouth to avoid drawing attention. she stumbles back, then rushes out of the store.

dipper, where are you?

"when are you going to start opening your gifts? i broke a nail wrapping mine."

as pacifica holds up her taped-up hands with an amused smirk, the pines twins laugh along, picking up their gifts—though none of them were from pacifica.

not that she minded. in fact, she hoped that no one else would watch as dipper got to opening her present. she didn't think it was much special, so it must've been embarrassing in comparison to the other gifts the twins will receive, especially after losing northwest manor to preserve their fortune—but she did put a lot of thought into them.

after selling her parents' yacht and her last pony, she hoped that the presents she prepared for both dipper and mabel would be enough. more than enough, ideally.

"oh, pacifica! i think this one is from you!"

dipper's voice pulls her out from her thoughts. he gives her a big smile as he holds up the gift box, which is evidently, poorly wrapped. everyone else sees this, all of them giving her looks.

unable to take all this attention, pacifica's cheeks flush red, rushing towards dipper before pulling him over to the side of the mystery shack.

"whoa, sorry! i didn't mean to make you feel embarrassed," he immediately apologizes to her, reassuring her that it was never his intention, "if it makes you feel any better, i did so much worse my very first time gift-wrapping."

the two share a laugh, followed by a single nudge from pacifica.

"just open it, dork."

"you don't have to tell me twice."

so, dipper rips his gift open, revealing a book with a written note placed on top of the cover.

something to go with that new journal mabel got for you - paz :)

"you got me a revised, updated copy of anomalous phenomena!? anomalous phenomena was one of the books grunkle ford studied after university! how did you get a hold of one of these?!"

"i'd be lying if i said i didn't ask around for help," pacifica answers, looking a bit bashful, "mabel suggested i talk to ford, and he told me about the book. apparently, fewer and fewer copies of the book get made with every revised edition, so i called in some favours. it did cost me my last pony and my parents' yacht, but after everything you've done for me—i mean, the town—it's worth it."

"pacifica..."

she really has changed, he thought. and to think, this was the same girl who bought her way to keep up her family's fraudulent past, who actively tried to humiliate his sister every chance she got.

it can't be, not since he can't see her that way anymore.

so, dropping the gifts to the ground, pacifica lets out a small yelp as she is caught off guard by dipper's arms wrapping around her; pulling her in for an embrace.

"thanks, paz. i couldn't have asked for a better birthday gift."

returning the hug, she rests her head on his shoulder. "don't mention it, dork."

i'm watching you

at the gleeful manor, dipper and mabel haven't been getting any sleep. not since they've brought will to the edge and emancipated himself from their family.

where will has been tortured day-by-day, he has generously returned the favour to the gleeful twins nightly.

but today, mabel isn't having it.

"ugh! how the hack can we defend ourselves against will if we only have the second journal?! everything we know, will has a way to counter-act it!"

"you know, if you keep pacing like that, you're going to burn a hole into the ground."

mabel stops pacing at her brother's words, noticing how much she actually had been pacing. she groans in frustration, all while dipper smiles into his phone.

"you know, instead of being completely useless, you could help me—considering will's going to be after you, too?"

"i could..." dipper chimes back, "but where's the fun in that?"

"are you implying that staring at those not-so-secret creepy photos you take of the southeast girl is more fun than helping me? your own sister??"

"pacifica saved our lives, mabel."

"you heard her—she's done with you. why don’t you just move on like the rest of the human race?"

but if there is anything to know about the gleefuls, it's that they are indeed stubborn.

“how could i have moved on when i’ve never been infatuated at all?”

as if the timing couldn't have been any more perfect, mabel's phone buzzes.

"besides, i suppose your recovery in getting over gideon has been going spendidly, is that correct?"

“you better watch that mouth of yours since will’s not around to protect it anymore,” mabel threatens, turning away from her twin and picks up her phone.

“looks like my widdle giddy-widdy’s going golfing with—” she shivers before finishing, “pacifica.”

dipper sighs, putting his phone down.

“i’ll call soos to bring the car up front.”

"thanks for visiting the mystery shack! come back soon!"

as dipper waves off the last customer of the day, she goes back inside to close the front door; turning the sign from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED'.

what she didn't notice, however, was that there was a stranger out in the woods nearby... hiding in the bushes...

wait, it was not just any stranger...

"alright, you con-artist..."

pacifica mumbles to herself as she observes the shop owner as closely as she can, though the windows prove themselves a difficult task for the blonde.

"i don't know what you've done with my—i mean—the real dipper pines..."

the merchant remains on the sales floor, adjusting, tidying, and restocking product. it looks like... she has even more knick-knacks to display, and...

oh god, that does not look fashionable at all...

pacifica shakes her head, getting her focus back.

"i don't even know who you are... but i know you're not good news..."

she looks down at the notebook before her, filled with notes and sketches of some sort...

maybe you're not such a dummy after all... she thinks to herself, reminiscing her former partner, hopefully these parts of your research will be enough to find you...

pacifica reflects on one of her many dates with dipper, this one taking place in her room at northwest manor...

"whatcha working on there, dummy?"

pacifica's question pulls dipper out of his thoughts, turning away from the open notebook before him to face her. he chuckles before answering her.

"you'll see..." he replies as he concludes his notes, "... and there!"

upon finishing, dipper tucks his pen back in his pocket, closes the notebook shut, before handing it to his girlfriend.

"what... is this? you know i can't understand all this anomaly junk like you do..." she says, chuckling afterwards.

"you're selling yourself short, paz," he speaks as he places a hand on top of hers; which is on the notebook. "you're smarter than you realize. when you put your mind into things, you excel at them..."

he then looks back at her, making direct eye contact with his partner.

"... this isn't to say that i want you to get into this life with me... i could never force you to do what you are not interested in... but i have a feeling, paz. a gut feeling... that i may be getting in too deep, that i'm about to discover some truths that will come with dark consequences..."

"dipper... don't scare me like this..."

"sorry, pacifica. i didn't mean to... but it's the truth. this research of mine—i have a feeling that someday, i won't be as careful as i usually am... so when that happens..."

he looks back down at the notebook, causing pacifica to look down as well.

"let this notebook help you. it may not be as detailed as the journals—but this information is still important. i'm going to need someone that i can trust and count on to help me if i get myself in trouble."

she's silent for a moment, taking in her boyfriend's words: "... but you're gonna be safe, right? if this is very serious, maybe candy would be a better—"

"it has to be you, pacifica. i trust you."

as she finished her reminiscence, she looks back up from the notebook to the newly-opened 'mystery shack'—catching the right moment that dipper inputs some sort of code into the vending machine, creating a secret passage for her to enter through.

"i'm going to save you, dipper. i promise."

"so this is it... you're really leaving, huh?"

dipper is in shock to see pacifica northwest standing at the front door of the mystery shack as he is about to leave it for the final time this summer.

she looks at his bags, then back at him as she makes her comment: "i guess gravity falls is about to have two less dorks once again... heh, g-good riddance."

her voice trembles a bit toward the end of her words, clearly saddened by the twins' upcoming departure.

yet, dipper gives pacifica a soft smile in reassurance.

"it was bound to happen sooner or later... but you did it. you finally got rid of us, right?"

she sniffles, but gives a chuckle, "right."

"hey... it's not like we'll never talk again. we have each others' numbers—well, you have mabel's and we have yours. we'll always be a call away from each other."

pacifica's eyes begin to water, trying to keep up her act up: "ha! l-like i'd ever miss you or your weird sister..."

she crosses her arms, turning her head away, but he sees right through her.

pulling her in for a hug, he whispers in her ear.

"i'll miss you too, pacifica."

as a crowd gathers around pacifica, at the final hole, she gets her golf club ready; a determined look written across her face.

from afar, the gleeful twins and observe with two wildly different facial reactions: mabel's being of digust and unimpressed, while dipper looks rather bemused and intrigued.

as the golf ball makes it way through the final hole, it becomes merely inches away from a hole-in-one, which draws further attention from the gleefuls.

so close... so, so close... is it going to—

but right as dipper thinks about it, the ball misses the hole by some centimetres, swerving around it and landing in a muddy puddle.

"pathetic, isn't it, diphead?" mabel taunts, "anyways, it's about time to show that loser how a real golfer plays, right?"

dipper scoffs, "whatever."

with that, the gleeful twins make their appearance known to gideon and pacifica: mabel sucks up to gideon as usual, but he rejects her advances and reacts uncomfortably.

dipper goes back to his antics, as well. he steps closer to pacifica, taking a bow, as well as her hand. however, this time, she quickly pulls her hand back and gives him the cold shoulder.

"what gives, sunshine? c'mon, let me see that contagious, cute smile of yours, huh?"

pacifica doesn't say anything back, but only frowns deeper.

"can't you guys just leave us alone?" gideon asks, breaking the silence, "you two have been enough trouble for us this summer!"

then pacifica finally speaks up, only looking back at mabel: "and apparently now we can't even play golf without you two stereotypical horror-movie murderous magical twins lurking over us!"

mabel gasps in disgust, but dipper is dumbfounded... maybe even impressed?

"oh, it's so on."

oh, dipper... what have you done?

as he wakes up, dipper finds himself in... he can't even begin to describe his surroundings. though, to sum it all up in one word: unnatural. yeah, that's the word.

even though he could try to pin all the blame on her, deep down, dipper knew he had no one else to blame but himself for putting himself where he is right now.

"bill! you lied to me! where does that portal really lead?!"

"oh-ho! looks like mister brainiac finally got smart! let's just say, when that portal's complete—your dimension's gonna know how to party!"

"no, i'll stop you! i'll shut it down!"

"a deal's a deal, pine tree! you can't stop the bridge between our world from coming, but it would be fun to watch you try! cute even!"

good going, dipper! he berates himself in thought, internally facepalming, if you didn't build that dumb portal, you wouldn't even be in this mess!

after lamenting his current situation, dipper thinks of his loved ones, those that he's come to realize—he's just left behind.

pacifica... oh, god—pacifica...and █████... take care of yourselves, please.

in the first month since they've returned home in piedmont, dipper and mabel were stuck in a loop between sleeping and hour-long calls to friends back in gravity falls while bringing their parents into the loop of their family lore as well as going back to school.

sadly, they couldn't make time to talk to their grunkles as much as the likes of wendy and soos, but, given that the stan brothers needed time for themselves to catch up with each other, the mystery twins weren't bothered in the slightest.

in fact, there was so much that was happening—with melody permanently moving in with soos and his abuela to assist her boyfriend's new promotion in the mystery shack, wendy working less hours as she faces another year of hell— high school along with the rest of the group, and the friends of the twins who were closer in age also preparing their return to school.

"so..."

"you can stop smirking, dipstick, we both know i'm not enjoying this."

pacifica orders as she looks at her phone screen, currently on a video call with dipper... on mabel's phone, that is.

"c'mon, public school isn't as gross as you think it is, paz..."

"it's not just that... i just— i don't know how people will treat me... after, yunno..."

"hey," dipper smiles empathetically, trying to reassure her, "we've been over this. candy and grenda promised they'd take care of you and have your back."

"i know, i know..." she waves it off, knowing all that worry to be a waste of energy, "it's all too surreal though... like i'm trying to wrap my head around it. after all, a lot has changed for the northwests since we've had to sell the mansion."

"well, at least you can take this fresh start with a sense of pride, right? you could change what it means to be a northwest. make something honest of yourself and bring truth to your heritage. you were the chosen one!"

pacifica giggles at dipper's clichéd humour, "speaking of... lazy suzan said she'd be glad to take me in. something about needing an extra set of hands at the diner—another pretty girl to reel in some empty stomachs with full wallets."

"she's not getting any younger, right?" he asks.

"more like, she could only handle so many customers at a time."

"you'd make a pretty cute waitress, greasy's won't know what hit 'em."

heat instantly rises in pacifica's cheeks at dipper's sudden comment, immediately taken aback by his words.

although it looks as if dipper didn't fully register what he was saying either, as his facial reaction practically mirrored pacifica's as soon as the words left his mouth.

"you're getting too clever at sucking up for your own good... before you know it, i'll be hearing about a new girlfriend by the time you come back to gravity falls, huh?"

pacifica tucks a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear, revealing more of her face along with her signature purple hoop earring; to which dipper's blush intensifies.

"maybe... it's not a bad thing, right?"

"i will sue you! i will sue you and i will own you!"

gideon, pacifica, and dipper share a victorious look as mabel threatens the lilliputtians from the outside of the gold course. though, those looks were wiped off their faces as soon as the latter turns back to look at them.

"look, i don't have any idea what just happened right now," mabel speaks, pointing a finger at pacifica, "but if you think—"

the guilt-ridden blonde cuts off the angry mage, handing her a turquoise-colored sticker with bubbly text which reads 'i a-paw-logize', featuring a mini illustration of a small—yet adorable—puppy.

"i'm sorry mabel," pacifica apologizes, rubbing her arm in shame, "i should've let you beat me fair-and-square."

mabel looks down at the sticker in her hand, inspecting it with a look of indifference as she raises her eyebrow. then, after a small moment, she looks back up at her arch-rival; reverting back to her casual behaviour, but visibly calmer.

she replies as she pats the sticker on her teal polo, "you're just lucky this sticker looks good on me."

pacifica smiles, a sense of hope and the idea of finally leaving this feud between them in the past. although mabel isn't as joyous, a hint of a grin graces her face, showing that the feeling is mutual.

then, a tap on the former's shoulder along with the sound of someone clearing their throat causes pacifica to turn around, finding the other gleeful twin holding a rose, looking more shy and sympathetic than he's ever been in his life.

"i believe i owe you an apology as well, sunshine," dipper says nervously, "it wasn't right to toy with someone's feelings, especially somebody who's kindhearted as you—"

"can it, gleeful." pacifica cuts off coldly, which is rather out of character for the bubbly blonde.

"you've got to try harder if you think i'm trusting you again."

twenty years have passed...

twenty years since dipper had mysteriously disappeared... the real dipper pines, that is...

and as much as pacifica hated to admit it... the search for her former partner is getting more and more difficult with each passing day.

when she looks at herself in the mirror first thing in the morning, she doesn't even recognize herself anymore, but it wasn't her looks she was thinking about... in fact, she aged gracefully and managed to stay as radiant as ever.

though, as someone who's been self-absorbed in their personal vanity throughout their whole life, pacifica doesn't see the point anymore. what's a couple wrinkles compared to losing someone who actually meant something to her?

so instead of the natural blonde that remains in her hair, or her designer top, pacifica looks into her eyes and sees someone who's stopped living twenty years ago.

in her reflection, pacifica sees nothing more than a shell of who she used to be.

however, today, she decides to try something different. since she's heard word of the new twins that have come to town, descendants of 'dipper' that are staying in gravity falls for the summer.

especially the six-fingered child. something about him reminds pacifica of the man she once dated—but she can't put her finger on it...

she goes to her walk-in closet, rummaging through the deepest corners to pull out... a-ha!

it wasn't anything special, no name to it, unlike her designer top, but the worn-out, slightly oversized cotton orange shirt brought some warmth to pacifica's cheeks as well as a heartfelt smile.

so, she replaces her slim-fitting lavender top with the worn-out shirt. seriously, it's a miracle how this shirt hasn't managed to get any moth holes in it or gradually fall apart after multiple washes...

then again, as long as that shirt's in pacifica's care, she can take care of that shirt for as long as she's willing to.

she has to—because it means that one day, he'll come back, and who knows if he needs something decent to wear.

after a few more months pass since the young pines twins have returned home, christmas has come to both piedmont and gravity falls—and though the feeling is supposed to be merry all around, it's not exactly the case for either dipper and mabel this holiday season.

with the possibility of their parents' separation being more and more of a reality each day, it's also becoming more and more difficult to keep spirits up—even for the shooting star.

but not all hope is lost—because today, the pines family has gone out to do their christmas shopping, and mabel was obviously looking forward to restocking on yarn for more sweaters to knit for her friends and family back in oregon.

dipper on the other hand, was stuck. not only did he not have the slightest clue on what to get for the others, but his mind was simply too pre-occupied with his parents' situation to even distract himself by consumerist indulgence.

"hel-lo! earth to dipper!"

the sound of mabel's voice was enough to pull her brother from his thoughts.

"c'mon bro-bro, i'm all stocked on yarn but you haven't touched anything yet... what gives?"

he sighs, clearly not interested in talking about their current familial situation, "i just... don't know what to get anyone. stan and ford are practically neck-deep with treasure, soos and melody are more interested in raising funds to improve the shack, wendy and her family are visiting relatives out-of-town, and pacifica—"

"ooh, pacifica~" mabel teases in a singsongy tone, smirking.

dipper blushes, but continues: "pacifica has everything. well, she lost all her ponies and the yacht after weirdmaggedon, but what do you get someone who has the money to get anything?"

as he crosses his arms, dipper leans back against a nearby wall and sinks down to the ground; bowing his head into his arms as if suggesting defeat.

so, mabel sits down as well, placing a hand on his shoulder: "dipper, you're the smart one here. if i was the one upset about being unable to find the right gift, what would you say?"

he raises his head slightly, giving only a peek at his sister: "i dunno, something about how christmas shouldn't be about gifts, but the people you care about?"

"ding-ding-ding!" she cheers, smiling proudly.

"okay, but it doesn't change anything. stan and ford are probably still out in the middle of the atlantic or pacific ocean or whatever, wendy's not even in town, and everyone else is with their own families. so what does that solve?"

the once bright, encouraging grin on mabel's face begins to falter, disheartened by dipper's sadness.

however, he catches sight of this, beginning to feel worse by his own actions. after all, his sister was only trying to lift his spirits and make him feel better. he told her what had been going on between their parents before they left for gravity falls in the beginning of the summer, and she's been trying to look at the bright side even more than usual.

this christmas might've not been perfect, but mabel was trying to make the most of it... maybe dipper should as well.

"i'm sorry, mabel. i've been too much of a buzzkill. the holidays have just been sucky this year... we've never known our family outside of california, but now that we do, i guess i wish we could've gotten together this year. things haven't been great since mom and dad... yunno... and things aren't getting better..."

"i know, dipper." mabel says, a mix of bitterness and disappointment in her voice.

"—but we have each other. we've had each other our whole lives, so at least there's one thing that can save this christmas from completely being the worst."

mabel sniffles, holding back her tears as she smiles at her brother.

"let's go home, bro-bro... i have a feeling that it'll feel better being there than at the mall."

so, the pines family leave the mall, returning home to rest before dinner. while mabel is beginning to knit sweaters for candy and grenda with the help of waddles, dipper plays dungeons, dungeons, and more dungeons with their father; leaving their mother to cook dinner for the family.

however, beknownst to her children, mrs. pines prepares a dinner that is definitely much more than four stomachs to fill.

as the family is occupied with their own activities, the ring of the doorbell along with a knock at the front door gets the attention of everyone in the household.

"dipper, mabel, could one of you please get the door?" their mother asks, remaining at the stove.

"not it!"

"not it—augh."

mr. pines smiles at his son amusedly, nudging his head towards the door.

"maybe next time, dip."

getting up from the floor, dipper walks towards the front door.

who could it be? he asks in thought, it wouldn't make sense if it was a food delivery, especially when's mom's already cooking.

nevertheless, dipper turns the doorknob, to which he's met with—

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

he couldn't believe it.

"grunkle stan?! grunkle ford?! soos?! melody?!"

as their names take mabel away from her knitting, she dashes towards the front; squealing and jumping into the arms of her grunkles.

"you've made it! you really made it!"

dipper, taken aback by his sister's words, asks, "mabel, what are you talking about? they never told us they were coming."

"correction, bro-bro: they never told you they were coming," mabel says, "but actually, they didn't tell me they were coming—not if i was the one to invite them over!"

"what?! what about mom and dad?"

"why do you think mom's been cooking a lot since we got back home?"

the sound of their dad's voice causes dipper to turn around. jaw dropping, his shock intensifies as he realizes that their parents were in it too.

"we totally got you dude!" soos exclaims, laughing with melody, "just look at the look on your face!"

"what about candy? grenda?? wendy???" mabel asks excitedly, tugging on stan's dress-shirt.

"sorry, pumpkin," stan apologies nervously, rubbing the back of his neck, "of course they wanted to come over, but they have their own families to spend the holidays with. i hope you're not too upset, honey."

"besides, you still have one friend who'd rather drop dead than spend christmas with her own family, anyways."

as the four visitors step aside, another familiar face is revealed to be in their company.

same old blonde bangs and bouffant, same atlantic eyes, but in place of her signature purple eyeshadow, she wears silver with a subtle red to frame her eyelids paired with a slightly-muted matte red lipstick. instead of her diamond-shaped earrings, are diamond-encrusted snowflakes, her classic purple outfit replaced with a lake foam green chiffon dress stopping at the knee with a fur wrap that is white as snow, finally completing the look with a pair of pumped-up silver louboutins (remember, pacifica is less rich, not flat-out broke).

"pacifica?" dipper says, his cheeks turning into a very faint pink.

"lied to my parents that i was going to the bahamas with tiffany, alexis, and tiffany's parents—thank god they make good alibis."

mabel's squeals cut off the blonde as she rushes over to her old enemy-turned-frenemy-turned-friend; the former pulling the latter into a crushing hug.

"AHH! PACIFICA!!" mabel screams in excitement. "i'm so glad you're here with us for christmas!"

"so, you must be the pacifica our mabel and dipper have been telling us about," mrs. pines approaches, rubbing her hands off on a kitchen towel, "i've heard a lot of things about you."

the child's eyes widen, immediately turning bashful: "um, more good things than bad, right?"

"of course," mr. pines answers, "we knew mabel would take a liking to you, but dipper? well, i—"

"okay!" dipper intervenes, laughing rather too loudly for comfort. he takes pacifica's hand, leading her into their home. "i think that's enough of that! everyone, come in!"

pacifica giggles at the boy's awkwardness, her cheeks growing a tad warm.

"glad to see you too, nerd."

"my wittle giddy-widdy! i need your help—"

"you're the worst."

and with that, gideon shuts the door, already heading back to the armchair before he hears the same pounding on the front door a second time.

"mabel?! let me answer!" pacifica beams in excitement, causing gideon to shrug and continue to make his way back to the television.

"go nuts," he deadpans.

"hey, mabel!" pacifica waves, smiling brightly, "what brings you here?"

"oh, hey pacifica," mabel replies, instantly losing her enthusiasm, "there's something haunting gleeful manor—"

"it's true, sunshine," dipper says, smiling at her, "if your cousin can't help us, our party could be ruined."

"okay, first of all, you're the worst." pacifica narrows her eyes, glaring daggers at the gleeful brother before turning back to his twin, "the party? you mean the same party your family throws at gleeful manor every year?!"

"yes, this party," mabel answers indifferently.

"hmm..." the blonde hums, tapping her chin in false thought, "i suppose i can convince gideon to help you guys."

"really?!" mabel asks, suddenly beaming.

"i guess..." pacifica draws out in response, "but in exchange, he's going to need three extra tickets to the party."

"what?!"

gideon's attention breaks away from the television once more, returning to the front door to clarify what he just heard. he tugs his cousin's arm, pulling her aside to speak to her in private.

"pazzy, these are the gleefuls! the same pair of twins who tried to kill us earlier this summer?!" he says in a hushed voice.

"but it's tiffany and alexis' dream!" she explains.

the two then turn to pacifica's friends, still by the television.

"DREAM~"

gideon then sighs in defeat, turning back to dipper and mabel.

"you heard her, it's three tickets or nothing."

"aah! i don't understand—what could i have possibly done to warrant this much arrest?!"

today's the day. after twenty years, pacifica had finally done it. she had caught that imposter; resolving the last piece in the puzzle to bring back dipper pines.

stepping outside of the government-owned vehicle, she joins agents lee rianda and nate menville, smiling victoriously as an officer pins the person identifying as 'dipper pines' onto the hood of the car, placing handcuffs onto her wrists.

agent menville takes out a tablet, displaying it in front of the felon, revealing footage of a government waste facility.

"at 0400 hours last night, we've noticed footage of an unknown party stealing three hundred gallons of hazardous waste."

"that's not me!"

pacifica, having just about enough of this con-artist's cover-up, steps up, raising a finger, pushing dipper's chin up.

"don't play dumb, pines. we all know it's you. you're as guilty as stealing that nuclear waste just as much as you're guilty for committing identity theft and causing a disappearance!"

the northwest was by no means, as smart as her ex-partner, but she used her strengths where they were needed.

she had connections. people she knew who specialized in genealogy, the kind of people who could scientifically prove that the apprehended woman before everyone wasn't really the person she claimed to be.

because of this, the evidence made the poor woman all the more incriminating to the government agents; fueling the grounds on which she were to be arrested for.

"miss northwest, you're making a mistake! sure, grauntie dipper might shoplift the occasional sticker sheet here and there, but she wouldn't make herself a threat to national security."

feeling guilty for the confusion and childlike naïvety that the young stanley pines was experiencing, she walks over to him, squatting down to his level and placing a empathetic hand on his shoulder.

"look, hon, these guys may have been watching your grauntie all summer—but i've known about her ever since i've moved here. i know i've been nothing but civil to you ever since you boys have come to town, but what you need to know is that your grauntie is not what she seems."

"you're lying!" stan accuses, pointing a finger up at her. "a-are you?"

"i wish i was... but the truth is... uglier than i'd like to talk about."

A/N: that's the end of the first part! if you want more, don't worry! i have a lot more coming! unfortunately, i reached the limit of 30 photos per post, so i'm going to have to make this a two-parter! basically, what i wanted to do here is work on three arcs in one! the thing that i really love about gravity falls, really comes down the endless possibilities! i've heard so much about the reverse falls au, but the relativity falls au is also brand-new to me. also, when it comes down to it, i really am just a sucker for multiverses (one of my first gravity falls fanfics was a crossover between this show and rick and morty—it was for a creative writing class in high school). i'm not sure if i'm 100% certain if i'm going to post the second part, because if anything, this was mainly me yapping about how i see dipcifica becoming official in not just the canon universe, but also the other au's i've included here. but if this turns out to be interesting for you guys, i might as well try to finish it.

in the meantime—please please please tell me what you think of this! i wanna know about your guys' interpretations of dipcifica in both canon+other au's! or maybe just other au's in general, since there are slightly different interpretations in both relative and relativity falls... i noticed that i've had more fun writing relativity falls, probably because that au is more new to me than reverse falls...

now that i'm yapping here, i gotta cut this short and get into the next part of this... fic?

and if you actually read through all this and got to this part—thank you so much :') it's been fun writing this so far, especially since this has heavily distracted me from the pain of my wisdom teeth extractions.

[sweetheartsaku]

(HQ) i'll do the dishes we'll carry the load

𝜗𝜚 HAIKYUU!! VARIOUS: 𝓛ANTANA.

a/n: [fem!reader] i have 3 wips in my drafts but i chose to start a whole new one 😎

— characters : atsumu, iwaizumi, sakusa, osamu

atsumu miya ; dance with you tonight - laufey

ATSUMU MIYA GET BEHIND ME to all the people who say atsumu treats all girls like trash, (LOUD BUZZER NOISE) it is such a common headcannon he's a mommy's boy?? such a common headcannon that the twins grew up with their mother?? hello?? would most definitely treat you beyond well ⁽⁽(੭ꐦ •̀Д•́ )੭*⁾⁾ !!

bites his straw omg. samu HATES it, especially when they’re sharing drinks then he finds his fresh beverages straw on its last thread. does the same with you unintentionally, making it literally impossible to drink from LMAO. its atsumu so i let it pass

has a dimple on his left cheek, matching with his twin brother whose dimple is on the right!!! he loves when you kiss and poke it. whenever he's focused, he bites his cheek, and you can see the little dimple there too.

gets you so many little trinkets and souvenirs from when he goes to away-games, always thinking of you!! sends you pictures of sunsets he sees, gets you seashell necklaces and ones with your initials except you get his and he gets yours ♡ bokuto and hinata also try help him, but the best they could pick up was a pebble the same colour as your eyes.

"you wanna kiss me soooo bad"

hajime iwaizumi ; super rich kids - frank ocean

put his hands on your head or waist when your close or about to hit something.. like you could be getting something from under the table and his hand would protect the spot where you could hit your head on 😖💞 same thing with your waist, always holding it close so you don’t bump into strangers on the road

strong believer of sidewalk rule. will switch your places EVER so gently (IWAIZUMI HAJIME THE MAN YOU ARE). loooooves slithering his hands around your waist and adooooores the pudgy stuff under your shirt. he just finds every inch of you beautiful from the bottom to the top!!! (he js like me frfr u is gorjus bae)

would carry you when your feet/heels hurt. the INSTANT he hears a slight groan of pain he will actually already be down there unbuckling the clip of the heel LMAO. props you up on his back and holds you up with so much pride.. his favourite heels to unbuckle are valentino’s and ysl. got the valentino’s for you on your 3rd year anniversary and the ysl on your 4th. maybe he’s gonna get on one knee while he’s down there too

smells like an insane amount of axe body spray unfortunately.. sorry iwa enthusiasts

kiyoomi sakusa ; coming home - beabadoobee

really loves claw clips. whether it be on you, or on himself and literally just in general. really loves when you wear the pearlier colours, especially teal and lime mixed with yellows etc... he also likes the clips on himself when he's cleaning

haircare routine goes HARD!! always having 2 lathers of shampoo, 1 layer of conditioner then another layer of leave-in conditioner, protection products and after allat he has curl serum (he does it with a scalp massager too btw)

keeping the kita shinsuke + sakusa kiyoomi crocheting agendas up rn. as a kid his family was always prioritised with work at the hospital so he'd always just sit in the corner of the waiting room with his thoughts, till one day this elderly lady who always had weekly checkups would teach him how to crochet. he made things for his family, but they never accepted/used it, so he just stopped after elementary school. but ever since he met you, he suddenly felt his hands tug towards the hooks a little harder

favourite scents are lime and herbs, but not together. likes lemon and lime sprays, window cleaner and wipes. secondly, loves herbs because it reminds him of the grandma that taught him to crochet 🥹(screaming, crying, wailing, throwing up, bashing head on wall.)

would peel your pomegranates (he hates messes)

osamu miya ; a piece of you - nathaniel constantin

found you watching those wax slime/asmr/clay cracking/mini foods/recipes on tiktok/mukbangs ONCE, and ever since then he's been a tad more dedicated to making special sweet treats for you after closing at onigiri miya ♡

this is like on the verge of ick and cute, but he likes to boop your nose with flour or your hand while you're baking. ya'll could be kneading impossibly close, and he'll sprinkle a bit of flour on you or randomly boop your nose 😭

always carries hair ties for you. in the kitchen he can’t have them on, but anywhere else he has one on him. since he basically lives in the kitchen, he’d prefer you to just stay there with him instead LMAO. the “anywhere else” in question is wherever you desire... but adores trying new cuisines with you. the hair tie helps tie your hair back while you eat btw <3

his hands smell like dishwashing liquid, even after the endless lathers of strong candy apple hand-soap, the scent of the liquid still lingers on his hand! you can smell it when you hold it on movie nights, or kiss it goodnight hehe

has a dimple on his right cheek, except his dimple is way deeper than atsumu's. you can see it when he chews

would peel your oranges

[imsparky2002]

Miraculous Animal AU

Hey everyone! Just thought I'd introduce an AU that will feature for JuleRose July. It's an AU where everyone is an ordinary animal on a special farm. Today we'll look at the Akuma Class (along with some extras)

Marinette the Ladybug - A lively yet clumsy lil ladybug who doesn't let her small stature prevent her in helping her friends. She's needed for making sure the farm's crops are healthy and loves munching on aphids and nectar. She's always flitting around, looking for inspiration for her designs, even if they are incredibly tiny.

Adrien the Cat - A kind and curious cat with golden fur. A total cinnamon roll, Adrien's always there to lend a paw. He can be a bit naive about the world at times, which can get him into trouble. He absolutely adores Marinette, as well as his fellow mates Kagami and Luka. Give him some catnip, and he shows a more wild side!

Alya the Fox - Alya is a crafty and corageous fox who's always yipping about news she heard from the other farms nearby. Farmer Caline even set up a little blog for her to report her findings. Unfortunately, humans can't understand her yet. She often finds herself debunking her fellow fox Lila's fibs. She also cares deeply for her turntable-loving turtle Nino.

Nino the Turtle - Slow and steady is Nino's motto. He's as chillaxed as they come and doesn't mind taking his time. The turtle thinks of himself as a DJ, which really means he likes climbing onto the record player and spinning on it. If he needs to unwind, he'll often pop into his shell.

Chloe the Bee - Chloe is always buzzing around flaunting her status as a queen bee, even if she's a a lowly worker. She can be full of herself and snobby at times, but get to know her and you'll see she can be sweet as the honey she produces. Her mates Lila and Sabrina know this firsthand. When she's not flying around with her sister Zoe or racing for pollen and nectar with Marinette, she likes to fly into rich human's parties.

Max the Horse - Only a tad larger than a pony, Max is more of a nerdhorse than a workhorse. You'll often find him trotting around, either trying to make an invention or nudging his special ball while neighing about something dorky. He's not too much of a fan of people riding him, but he won't buck you off unless you harm him. Otherwise you'll just get an annoyed snort. The only creatures he lets ride him are his two mates, Kim and Ondine.

Alix the Bunny - Easly the fastest in the farm, Alix is a cocky and energetic rabbit who's tasked with the job of keeping track of time. She makes sure everybody's present for a meeting or for bedtime. Despite being pint-sized, she packs a mean kick and will school her friends in parkour.

Kim the Monkey - A mischevious and cheeky simian, Kim often sneaks out of the farm for some monkey business. He loves playing pranks on his friends, usually escaping by swinging on special bars and vines created by Farmer Caline. He's also quite athletic, meaning he and Ivan often build up their strength together. He happens to love and cherish not just Max, but also a heron by the name of Ondine, who flies in every now and again.

Mylene the Mouse - A timid and talented little mouse, Mylene often scurries aroud the farm, observing things that her bigger friends may have missed. She loves vegan cheese and the stage, and puts on little shows for the others. It's here where she stops being so shy and stands out from the crowd. Juleka and Adrien care for the mouse, but also love chasing her. She finds it fun, knowing they wouldn't harm her, and even pops in their mouth so that they can carry her when she's tired.

Ivan the Ox - A burly ox with a gentle soul. Ivan's the main bodyguard of the farm and is always practicing his headbutting. He loves to graze and listens to heavy metal music through the record player. Ivan and Mylene are mates, always taking time to snuggle or nudge eachother. He's very protective of his friends as well, especially Nathaniel, as a fellow horned mammal.

Sabrina the Dog - A loyal dog and a faithful assistant, Sabrina's always got a watchful eye on the farm. She and the felines love to chase eachother, and Sabrina often works with Max on keeping track of the farm's resources. She's always there to be Chloe and Lila's right-hand girl, as they are her loving mates. Still, she can't resist when one of her friends throws a stick or tells her to roll over.

Juleka the Tiger - A majestic purple tiger with a love for darkness, goth stuff and meat. She's quite timid, and it takes a lot for her to let out more than a quiet growl. Still she can't help but roar with joy whenever her favorite pig waddles into her arms. Her and Rose are mates and she often protects the little oinker from harm. She also likes to model tiny hats from Marinette, and going for a swim in the water.

Rose the Pig - A perky perfume-loving pig. For Rose, an awesome day is when she gets to roll in mud, smell Farmer Caline's perfume, and dig into a nice bowl of slop. She also loves Juleka and they'll often sing songs together, even if it comes out in the form of squeals and roars. It's very hard to put a frown on her face. She also sneaks out to go to fast food chains, oinking at them to stop eating her species.

Nathaniel the Goat - Nathaniel is a goat with a love for art and those funny books that Farmer Caline leaves out. He's more keen to munch on a tin can and lovingly headbutt Marc than take part in the farm's more wacky adventures. Often the snarker of the group, Nathaniel's always there to clean the land in the farm and bump people to show affection. He's also a huge fan of art, and bleats with joy whenever he sees a painting, inspired to make one himself.

Marc the Rooster - Marc's crows wake everyone up in the morning, but he's not usually a screamer. An anxious and skittish rooster, Marc's always staying close to someone. He's always watching for potential predators or if other birds from Farmer Olga, Farmer Alonzo and Farmer Dahlia's groups come by. He loves to write, and is always clucking and flicking a book. He and Nathaniel have a comic together, which is really just Nathaniel's hoofprints from dipped paint, and Marc pecking little rips into the paper. The others love it and think it's a masterpiece.

Luka the Snake - A relaxed and musical viper, Luka loves to slither around the farm, usually resolving conflicts or sharing his songs with others. He and Juleka see eachother as twins, since they were born in the very same barnstall. He often hisses words of wisdom to his sister and loves to coil around Marinette, Adrien and Kagami, his mates. He, Ivan, Juleka and Rose have a "band", but really it's just the group of them making noise with their mouths and bodies.

Kagami the Komodo Dragon - Though she may be cold-blooded like Luka, they both share a warm heart for their mates and friends. Kagami often crawls around the farm, practicing her fencing skills with a small stick in her mouth. A stoic, she feels as though it is more important to keep calm and carry on. Though she does get a bit competitive and will easily agree to dares put on by Kim and Alix.

Lila the Fox - The other fox in the group, Lila likes to tell tall-tales when she feels insecure about herself. She also has an adorable rivalry with Alya, which to humans, just looks like the two of them hissing and yipping at eachother, while their mates nudge at them to stop. She likes messing with Marinette, since her reactions make the fox giggle. Still, she cares deeply for her friends and especially her two mates.

This took some time to think of, but I'm happy with the result! Stay tuned for Ondine and the other Science Kids, then the Recess Kids and finally the Theatre Kids! Make sure to comment, reblog and like for more! @artzychic27 @msweebyness @nerd-chocolate

[ifitmeanslosingyouthenno]

au in which nathaniel is married to riko part 2 (part 1)

(like 2 people asked for this but lmao thats good enough for me)

i had to think hard about this ngl, i kinda just like leaving my thoughts open ended like that, and i had a choice, to like, be nice to neil

here is the opposite of that <3

tw for domestic abuse, manipulation, suicide attempt

neil doesn't truly remember what happens next, he just knows he's in a hotel room and he's in pain and he can barely open his eyes and he can see riko is right there in the room and neil just wants to cry and scream and go back and he doesn't want to be here

and riko is right fucking there and he's threatening neil and he's just going on and on about how much trouble he's been, and how much trouble he's going to be when they get back to new york and how riko wont ever let him slip away like that again

and then riko just fucking... stops, stops shouting, stops pacing, stops spitting things at neil, and he just cries and tells neil how much he has missed him all these years and he apologizes and he holds neil close despite the pain, despite the wounds, and he promises to be better, he promises he will take care of neil

no, not of neil

of nathaniel

and nathaniel, exhausted and terrified and hopeless and in agony, can do nothing but whisper to riko to take him home, even if the words taste like venom, even if there's nothing he wants to do more than throw up, even if there are tears rolling down his cheeks and blood covering his skin

because this is all there is for him right? neil josten wasn't real, his hopes and his friends and his family and his- no, andrew is not his anymore, none of the foxes are

neil josten's life isn't nathaniels

it never was

bc neil josten didn't exist in the first place and he never should have existed

meanwhile back in seattle (and what neil doesn't know), andrew felt guilt of all things, at seeing the look of heartbreak in neils face, of hope and despair and loss, so he forces himself to stop off the road not even a kilometer later (don't ask me about miles i have no idea how those work) and he kinda just hits his steering wheel in a sprout of anger but he cant make himself to go back just yet, so he calls aaron

aaron kinda just yells at him lol, bc he's been worried about neil himself all morning and him and kate are dying bc they are scared and they just want to know how neil is doing, and like aaron just makes andrew go back for neil while aaron gets there

except neil is gone

obviously, bc wtf andrew its been like half an hour where you expecting him to be waiting for you?

and when he asks around well, the cashier just knows, ah yes the fidgety redhead kid? oh yeah some rich asian guy in a mercedes picked him up, yeah they looked close, the asian guy even hugged him and basically left clinging off the readhead, yeah sorry buddy, they left like half an hour ago, why tho? is he in some kind of trouble?

and andrew just, loses it

the next few days are a blur for andrew, he knows wymack pulls some strings and with the help of the foxes and his own money they manage to get the recorded tapes from the security camera at the gas station and its grainy as shit and

and why the fuck is riko moriyama hugging neil?

how does riko even know him?

it doesn't make any sense, why is riko kissing neil, andrew’s neil, like there's no tomorrow??

why is neil leaving with him??

and why the fuck is riko posting a picture on instagram, ready to fucking come out and announce that he has a husband??

and why is that husband neil??

except its not neil, except riko says his husband is nathaniel, and well would you look at that?? nathaniel is nothing but a fucking liar, who didnt tell him that he's with someone else, who didn't even tell him his fucking name

andrew loses himself a little after that, even if he convinces himself that he's fine, that he even ended things with him, that neil is living the happy rich life with the richest and most popular man in exy, good riddance

(but andrew can never forget, not only the good things about the relationship, no, what he can never forget is neil- nathaniel's flinches, the way he would curl up into himself when someone spoke too loud, the fear in his eyes whenever he messed up at something, the quiet sadness when they- when they started being something, andrew and neil, and he confessed that he was scared of things changing, and he confessed that it was scary to open up to someone, the again implicit in his shaky voice)

(andrew can never forget the rage when neil confessed he wasn't in the mood for sex most times, and the confusion when andrew said they didn't have to have sex when it was a no, the rage at neil's soft whispered "i can say no?")

andrew can never shake off the feeling that something is so fucking wrong, but he convinces himself to stay the fuck out of it, that its none of his fucking business, that nathaniel can live his life however he fucking wants to, andrew doesn't need him, he never has (he's always been a good liar)

months go by, in which riko posts pictures of his perfect life with his perfect husband, who doesn't have social media accounts of his own bc he likes his privacy (then why is riko sharing his pictures-)

months go by where andrew gets drunk beyond relief, but he needs to keep his pro career to pay aarons tuition so he sucks it up and does the bare fucking minimum while making sure he doesn't get fired

aaron can never truly shake off the worry, he and katelyn were the ones who saw him when he arrived, beat up and terrified and so dangerously hurt, and how hard it was for him to open up and start to accept good things, kind things

so he keeps up with them, with rikos pictures and videos and stories, trying to find proof that there's nothing wrong there, trying to find a way to convince himself that no, he's making it all up bc he himself was abused by somone he loved and trusted, and he's just proyecting

but neil is too quiet, all respectful smiles and wrapping arms around himself, always wearing baggy clothing and turtleneck shirts

the smile never reaches his eye

aaron just cant help but worry for him, bc he cant worry for andrew anymore, not he doesn't want to worry about himself, not when he's ready to pretend nothing happened and wants to keep going like neil didn't even exist

its aarons day off, and it's been 8 months since he's seen neil when he gets a call from an unknown number and he answers expecting to hear from a colleague or a resident or a med student on shift at the hospital

what he doesn't expect is ragged breathing from the other line

"hello? who is this?" he almost hangs up when all he gets is silence and that faint sound of breathing for a full minute, but before he can he hears a sob

"im so sorry, i didn't- i didn't know who to call"

aarons heart stops, bc its neil, holy shit its neil and he asks if neil is okay, he asks if neil is safe, he asks what's going on

neil remains silent again for too long, and his voice is barely a whisper "i will be soon"

his heart drops to his stomach, fear, no, absolute terror, engulfing him, "neil what did you do"

silence and then "he got me prescribed valium"

his heart is beating too fast too fast he's going to have a heart attack, "neil, neil i need you to tell me how many pills you took"

that for some reason brings out a small giggle, "i dont, i didn't count, i just, I just swallowed them all"

"neil i need you to call 911"

"i dont want to do that"

"neil, please please call 911"

"i just, im sorry i called you, i just didn't want to be alone, i- andrew didn't pick up the phone"

aaron can feel the tears on his face, "neil please, just call 911, I'll, tell me where you are and i can come get you okay? you dont, you dont have to do this"

he takes a beat too long to answer, and he does with a sob "i cant take this anymore aaron, i can't- i can't stand living with him anymore, he won't let me go any other way"

"neil i promise I can get you help, legal help, we can get you away from him, you would never have to see him again, you would be safe"

neil is still crying, "it didn't work before, it, nothing works, nothing- this will make it better"

aaron is starting to hyperventilate, "neil, please just..."

"can you, can you tell andrew i didn't mean to fuck it up? i couldn't- i couldn't marry him without getting a divorce and I couldn't- i didn't want himto find me"

"neil you can tell him yourself, lets just call 911"

his words are slurring, he sounds so tired, "thank you for being such a, such a good friend aaron"

he's too quiet on the other line, aaron is fucking terrified, god he's crying and panicking, god what does he do what does he do

he puts the phone on speaker and texts kate who's just out getting takeout and god he really needs her right fucking now

thankfully, he hears the car come in the driveway and he runs down the stairs to meet her

the call is still going, but neil hasn't said anything

"neil?? are you still there?? NEIL??"

by the time kate opens the door, he's telling her to call 911, they're able to locate calls right?? even if neil hasn't answered, the call is active, thats enough right??

"i have someone on the line who i think is attempting suicide, i- i dont know where he is, and he isn't answering, but the call is still going"

its enough

"an ambulance is on its way, do you have any idea of what happened?"

"i think he overdosed on diazepam"

"you did great by calling us"

they can do nothing but sit in silence, call ongoing in aaron's phone, holding each other as they both cry and pray to a god aaron barely believes in that the ambulance gets there in time

he can't even read how much time has passed on the phone, when he's suddenly aware of noise on the other end of the line, what sounds like a door breaking, and then chaos

he can't distinguish what's happening, he doesn't know if they got there in time or not

"hello?? is someone there??"

"YES, yes is he alive? is he...?"

"he's alive, just barely, we gave him an antidote to reverse the effects and he's breathing, you did a great job sir"

"can you tell me where you're taking him? im in seattle but i will book a flight as soon as i can"

they tell him the name of the hospital, they tell him he will probably be there for a few days under suicide watch

before the paramedic ends the call he makes himself say, "can you make sure his husband doesn't see him? he's, he abuses my friend, he's the reason he took those pills"

the paramedic takes a deep breath, "can you tell me his name? the husband's?"

his voice trembles, "riko moriyama"

"i will personally make sure he doesn't have access to him"

"thank you"

the phone disconnects at last and through the tears, the first thing aaron does is book two flights for new york

one for him and one for katelyn

he hesitates, before rubbing his eyes free of tears and realizing andrew is in a game

he books a third ticket leaving a few hours later than his and kate's, grabs a bag and they're out the door in less than 5 minutes

he can do nothing to leave a voicemail for Andrew's phone, that he knows will destroy him and give kevin a headsup too, bc he might not be much, but he's all the support andrew is gonna have at the time

he prays to the god he's believing in a little bit more than he did an hour ago, and asks nothing more than for neil to be okay when they get to new york

did not mean for this to become longer than 2 parts oop

[artzychic27]

Nathaniel and Marc date night in the DC AU!

It’s a quiet, peaceful noon in Paris… Or it would be if Marinette weren’t behind the wheel of a sports car she managed to hotwire. Civilians jump out of the way as the car races through the streets, the howling laughter of the five villain kids making chills go down their spines

Juleka: Can’t this go any faster? She points to the two police cars tailing them

Marinette: Relax, kitty, I happen to be an excellent driver. She drives through three red lights and nearly runs over a crossing guard Fuck! I missed! Alix, light my fireworks cannon, would ya? It’s under my seat.

Alix: FUCK YEAH! She grabs a handheld cannon and lights the wick. In a few seconds the firework shoots out of the cannon and hurdles for the police cars. Before they veer out of the way, the firework is suddenly stopped mid-air in a floating sphere of water Fun’s over.

Rose looks in the rear view mirror and sees the Hero class after them

Rose: Ugh! We didn’t get to rob the jewelry store yet! She summons several vines that spurt from the ground and grab hold of Aurore and Mireille. A few try to ensnare Simon, but he manages to outrun them and get them tangled

Jean: Serit rieht nettalf!

When the purple aura of Jean’s magic encases the tires of the sports car, they quickly flatten and the car stops in the middle of the road

Marinette: FUCK! Do you know how hard it was to make Juleka sneak into that rich dick’s mansion, then mess up the security system and then let us in?! She pulls out a tank of laughing gas and sprays it toward the heroes

Reshma rapidly flaps her wings to fans the laughing gas away, and Lacey, in the form of an octopus is thrown by Denise at Marinette

Marinette: Trying to pry Lacey off of her face GET THIS CTHULU MOTHERFUCKER OFF OF ME!

Ismael zaps the vines with his laser eyes while Denise fends off against Alix, blocking her scratches with their bracelets. Juleka repeatedly avoids Zoé’s bird-a-rangs.

Noticing Ismael coming up behind her about to use his ice breath, Juleka leaps into the air, and Ismael ends up freezing Mireille instead from the neck-down.

Ismael: Sorry, ‘Reille!

Mireille: Shivering I-I’m good. I’m good.

Aurore summons a geyser of water from a fire hydrant and morphs it into an arm to fight Rose’s carnivorous plants. When the water arm doesn’t seem to have an effect, Cosette electrifies the water and the plants are soon incapacitated

Meanwhile, Marc and Simon are getting civilians to safety, however, Marc finds himself unexpectedly trapped in Nathaniel’s massive fist. Unable to free himself, he resorts to a different tactic

Marc: Nathaniel, let me go, or else!

Nathaniel: Smirks Or else, what?

Marc: Or else, I’m canceling date night!

This declaration catches everyone listening off-guard. The villains and heroes even pause mid-fight

Marinette: With Lacey still on her face Wait, what’s happening?

Nathaniel’s eyes widen in alarm at Marc’s threat, and in not time, he releases the Tamaranean, not wanting to risk a nice evening with his boyfriend. He even gives Marc the puppy eyes for good measure

Marc: Aaw. He kisses him on the cheek Okay, I won’t cancel our date. You’re lucky you’re so cute.

Ismael: Wait… You two are dating?! Since when?!

Later that day

Lacey: You’re absolutely sure you want to go on a date with Nathaniel?

Marc: Brushing his hair It’s not like this is the first time we’ve gone out. Now you all just know about it.

Ismael: Yeah, but… It’s Nathaniel, you know… A VILLAIN!

Marc: I’m aware he’s a villain, Ismael. Puts on his boots

Zoé: Yeah, a villain who can crush a sixteen-wheeler with his bare hands.

Cosette: And makes Godzilla look like a whiny little bitch.

Ismael: And who made me have to twist and bend twenty lampposts in order to make handcuffs big enough for him

Jean: And… Oh, shoot, what’s one?… Gimme a minute.

Denise: Leave him alone, guys. Nathaniel obviously loves Marc, and Marc loves him. And there is nothing we can do about it.

Marc: Thank you, Denise.

Denise: Yeah, and if Nathaniel breaks his heart, I’ll break his titan-sized kneecaps.

Marc: … Thank you?

Reshma: … Alright, I’ll ask him. Do you have any industrial-sized pepper spray? Scarab wants to know before you leave.

Meanwhile

Marinette: So, what’s the plan? Make him feel all loved and vulnerable, and then POW! She shoots one of her ‘POW!’ guns That’s when you ambush him! One less crazy-strong alien for us to deal with!

Nathaniel: No, there’s not gonna be any ambushing.

Kim: Ah, I see. There “isn’t” gonna be an ambush.

Nathaniel: There definitely isn’t.

Nino: I hear you, bro. Wink.

Lila: You clever bitch.

Nathaniel: I’m not gonna ambush my boyfriend.

Chloé: But here’s a hero! It’s what we do!

Nathaniel: If it were any of his other classmates, then yes, I’d gladly ambush them, but not Marc. Also, one of you is gonna have to fight him during our weekly battles.

Adrien: We can’t fight him! He has laser eyes!

Juleka: Are you asking us to choose death?

Ivan: We can’t all be immortal like Denise is, I assume.

Max: We need your freakishly strong hands to hold him and Ismael hostage!

Nathaniel: And that comment earns you a time out. Picks Max up and holds him captive in his fist

Max: Muffled I’ve gotta learn to shut my mouth.

[jtl-fics]

Do you have some background to spare for the Andrew First AU?

Andrew First

Background info in general because this one is a little bit more nebulous than the Math Nerd AU but this is ANOTHER one of those time travel AUs that I've mentioned live rent free in my head.

In this one, Andrew regains his memories FIRST. It's while he's still in high school that he remembers his other life. He realizes that Neil is still ALIVE right now and he wants to find him. He also realizes that well...why not get filthy rich off of his memory? Like lotto numbers, the rise and fall of companies, and what remains of his share of Tilda's insurance money is all right there.

Besides, he has NO idea where Neil is right now. He knows where Neil will be in like half a year though. So he makes a shitload of money, gets Aaron into rehab, pays for Nicky to go visit Erik, and he contacts the Moriyamas to buy the right to Nathaniel Wesninski. It's heinously expensive but of course it is, it's Neil, he's worth every penny.

Then Andrew sets out to find whoever Neil Josten is right now.

It's not his Neil but it's Neil and Andrew will never love him the way he had loved his Neil but he loves Neil no matter what. He's made plans y'see? He wrote 'em down because even if his memory is perfect sometimes it's easier to plan when it's solid and in front of you.

Except when he finds this Neil, scared bleeding and trying to get away from Mary and Nathan, it's his Neil. They reunite and Andrew lets Neil know that the Moriyamas don't own him anymore, no one does.

Andrew brings Neil home to Columbia and Nicky and Aaron are confused by it when they get back but eventually are fine with the new housemate. It's all okay, good even, and then Neil sees the 'plans' and realizes that Andrew hasn't done any of them with him. The thought hits him that Andrew maybe...wanted the not quite so fucked up Neil Josten.

Neil runs because he really can't handle Andrew being disappointed that it's him. (This is the furthest thing from the truth but y'know what this is my quasi-angst fic so I get to make the misunderstandings).

Andrew is despondent but Andrew gets an offer from Wymack.

Neil will never give up Exy right? Neil's a fox. He'll come back home for Exy. Then Andrew can fix this.

Andrew is even surlier his freshman year because he wants Neil back, he's unmedicated, and he has to deal with these fifth year assholes again.

Then Kevin Day is there and it's slightly better to have something to focus on. There's a difference this time though and the USC offers Kevin a chance for some spring training for his hand. Andrew figures it's butterfly effect. Kevin goes for 2 weeks and comes back for a bit to rest his hand. Kevin is floating, he's elated, he just had the time of his LIFE.

He mentions that the USC has signed a striker for next season.

It's Neil.

Thus begins Andrew's courtship of one Neil Abram Josten of the USC Trojans.

[patheticrafeenjoyer]

rafe cameron middle name polling

okay so sooooo much of this is based on my own personal headcanons of the cameron family dynamics, but just walk with me here.

feel free to answer w/out reading the stuff i'm about to say, but it'll be under the cut and i think it'll help contextualize some of the options lol.

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD REPLY WITH SOME SUGGESTIONS!!!!!!!

so, ward's middle name begins with "r" (seen on his arrest/search warrant as "ward r. cameron") but rafe's is literally just "rafe cameron". i'm not normal so i need to know what it is. of course, i have Thoughts about this topic.

so here's the potential options for me + some reasoning

"Ward" -> Named after his father, self explanatory.

After Ward's father -> This is dependent on how you view Ward's relationship with his own father. I don't think it was very close at all, but jury's out on if he'd give his son his father's name. [Additionally, for this one, I think it would begin with the letter "R", because that's what Ward's is. I suppose the "R" in Ward's name could be his grandfather, but I see it like it's been a name passed down a whole bunch. Also, based on the fact that I'm like 99% sure Ward's family is from The Cut, so I think the name would be a more working-class name. By this I just mean, that since names have a long history of being indicative of class status, with longer, "fancier" names belonging to upper-class individuals. (More on this later)]. Also, keep in mind that we have to consider the era that Ward's father would've been born in. Ward himself is in his 50's, so born somewhere between 1970-1961. Therefore, presumably his father would've been born around twenty years beforehand. Some examples of names fitting the criteria here might be something like: Rhett, Reed, Richard, Raymond, Randall. If we're forgoing the "R" names, we could open this up to something like: James, David, Wyatt, Elliot.

After Unnamed Mama Cameron's father -> Okay, so again we are going off of my own headcanon about Rafe's mother, and this one is also dependent on how you view her relationship to her family. To me she comes from a rich family (I see the legacy of the Cameron family being at Chapel Hill is not actually the Cameron's at all, but their mother's paternal side of the family). Some things very common in upper-class naming conventions is last names as first names, or something to signify the status of the family, or something that leans more traditional. So, names like: Montgomery, Hastings, Remington, Stetson, Clifford, Kenneth.

Something Bibical -> These names are verrrrrrrrry common. Everyone wants to make nice with the guy upstairs I guess. For Rafe, this would depend on how religious you view Ward/Unnamed Mama Cameron and their families before them. Also, take into consideration the different types of Biblical names; you have the more common/everyday names, like: Isaac, Andrew, Noah, Lucas, Michael, Barnabus, Abraham, Nathaniel, Elijah.

Some things to keep in mind, I've read that keeping a family connection is very important in southern naming conventions. Another common feature is a double name (though this would apply to a first name/set of names rather than middle, but also something to consider).

Honestly, there's just simply so many options. I tried to cover as many bases as I could think of, but I'm certain I've missed some.

My own personal bias leads me to believe Rafe's middle name is something from his maternal family. I don't view Ward as being particularly close to his own father/family (at least by the time Rafe was born), and I don't think he would've named Rafe his own name either. I don't have any real reasoning for either of these, I just sorta have a feeling. Therefore, I lean toward Unnamed Mama Cameron's father. Since, to me she is from an upper-class family, I think it would be one of those longer, fancy-sounding ones (Remington, Hastings, etc., but none of the ones I listed sound right). Actually, come to think of it, none of the names I listed from any of the categories sound right. So, if you have any suggestions, please comment.

Also if you even care I think he's a "Rafael" btw. Sarah is just "Sarah" after one of the parents' mothers, either Ward or Unnamed Mama Cameron's. Wheezie is either "Louisa" or "Ouisa", and based on Ward or Unnamed Mama Cameron's grandmothers. Watch me explain this all:

Ward is not close with his family, so "Cameron" is the only name his children carry from them.

Unnamed Mama Cameron was close with her parents (she was an only child); this way, both her own mother's name (Sarah -- but I'd go further to be a double name like "Sarah Elizabeth [middle name] [maiden name]") and her grandmother's names (Louisa/Ouisa) are honored through her children.

Rafe, short for Raphael/Rafael is a Bibical name (archangel), so you have your religious tie. I lean Rafael because Raphael is/was a Ninja Turtle, which was very popular especially in the 90s and early 2000s, so, they go with the alternative spelling so it's not like "oh, your son is Raphael like the Ninja Turtle?"

wanna hear something crazy? some alternative suggestions with the "Rafe" that i could believe are: Rafferty, Radcliffe, and i even saw a suggestion of it being a first-and-middle name mix (like "Ramsay Felix; ra + fe = rafe. though i think that one is unlikely given the fact that his arrest warrant does just say "rafe" which is more plausible as being a nickname of his legal first name rather than listing a name that is a mash of his first and middle). I'm still firmly team "Rafael" but the others are fun too.

also, "Rafe" is just a name in and of itself, but that's no fun to speculate aimlessly about.

[bashvaughn]

a few months prior…

A few months prior, Sebastian and Jocalyn as a collective, had been nothing but distant, childhood memories of the past. Sweet and innocent, the budding friendship had come to a sudden and abrupt end when Josie and her family had travelled to Europe and further for some few years whilst her father and his band had completed successful tours after tours. And what was left behind was a particularly gutted 10 year-old Sebastian, having lost his best friend, and though today he didn’t grow so upset when he thought about Jo as he had done in his younger youth, his thoughts often crossed back to those times. He wondered how she was, what she looked like, and where she even was. Had she kept the necklace he’d gotten her? Did she even remember him?

He wasn’t entirely the same as he had been as a child. He was a sweet boy growing up, polite and kind, but after all these years, there wasn’t really much left of Seb Vaughn from 1988. He’d sort of just, well, vanished, one day, faded into the background. His older brother Nathaniel’s death had left a deep and empty wound in the bottom of his heart, still raw and unhealed seven years on. It had left him angry at the world and unable to express his emotions, when really, inside, there was still just that little boy who’d never really grown up, a little boy who just needed some assertion that whatever was going on inside his brain was okay. He didn’t spend much time at home, any opportunity to be out the house, he took; his relationship with his parents wasn’t exactly the best, not since Nate had died. It was hard watching your mother often breakdown once the working day finished.

Out the house. Yes. Being out the house was good. A party! He loved parties, rich kid parties were the best. They had the best sound systems, the most liquor, the biggest pools. The angry teenage boy wasn’t very popular amongst the younger students, amongst those that 1995 would class as “uncool”, as over time had turned himself into quite a bit of a bully, a thug or sorts who enjoyed taunting those less fortunate or lucky as him. But to the majority? He was rather sort after, envied in ways. Guys wanted to be him: he was the tallest kid in school, built strong and toned at 6’5” with a sharp jaw, played quarterback on the school football team, always had his brown curtained locks of hair perfectly swept back at all times. The girls wanted to be with him for all those very reasons. But sure, despite having a fling or two over the years, a couple of nights tangled in bedsheets, he strangely paid them little mind. He paid very few people any mind these days. Or anything.

He arrived as the sun had just set. A final all-out party in the school holiday before they returned back for the new academic year. One last send off. Some kid who lived just outside the city in some sprawling mansion. He walked up the steps of the house entrance with a bounce almost, pack of beer in his hand, his good friend since childhood, Brian, walking beside him. He wore a pair of blue denim jeans, a black belt secured around them, a red plaid shirt tucker inside, sleeves rolled up, top buttons undone, a tiny, silver hoop in his ear, cigarette packet in the pocket. The door wide open, he stepped inside to a house almost bursting full of students. It was loud and chaotic, full of booming music and disorganisation. The perfect party.

He was a presence amongst his peers, that could be said. Idolised in many ways despite the element of fear from some. You had to be when you’d just been made football captain for the new year after the previous one had graduated. He had a pretty intense reputation. Walking inside, he was greeted with happy cheers and welcomes from the students, the owner of the house walking over to him with a wide grin. “Vaughn, you made it!” Sebastian’s smile was never as big as anyone else, it was more of a just an upwards turn. Nodding, he greeted his friend, shoulder tapping him as a hello. “Sup, man.” He responded, ignoring the way people turned their heads a little. Turning to some of the partygoers, the house owner clapped his hands, “New captain himself, ladies and gents!” The teens nearby cheered, some downing their drinks as a toast of sorts.

Laughing quietly, he shook his head, “Touching — lemme get a drink, man.” He beckoned towards the large, open kitchen ahead, beginning to hear over in search of a clean red cup.

Sebastian was, however, obliviously unaware that there was also another big revelation in attendance tonight. A unexpected storm that arrived back with an awestruck greeting from students all around.

[theno1joelhater]

hi I am asking for details on the cgcu danganronpa fic /nf!!

ahahahaah i love this question!!!

so first. cast. it includes: chase, caleb, emily, justin (of course), richard, anita, eve, al, max, chad, ashley, sharon tumuch, nathaniel, phil, rich, and wayne! also, im sure you might already know this but monokuma has been changed to mononeko, based of a cameron fan page, inquisitivefeline.

protagonist is chase, while caleb is the support. also justin gets antag powers. good for him! all his preparation will definitely come in handy! (no seriously it will)

basically the prologue is this: chase wakes up in a house that looks like the one the house parties happen in. he meets up with caleb and then the others, then mononeko shows up to do the intro to danganronpa stuff. that’s all the stuff i can tell you without venturing off into spoiler territory

i’m not super far into it—just started planning the first trial. it’s going great so far! i’ve gotten like 2 people from the cgcu discord to help me with stuff so it should be fairly easier than that one justin case fic i wrote ^^ (no help whatsoever. was still a banger though. ik you read it and i’d love to hear your thoughts on it)

ah! speaking of the discord: would you be interested in joining? i can get you an invite link if you want! we have snacks (sometimes)

[dandelion-network]

Early birthday gifts to myself.

Top row, all new books. Kinda crazy how much money only 3 books cost but they are worth the purchase. Mural by Mahmoud Darwish is a collection of poetry, You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat is a fiction novel, Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire is an anthology.

Middle and bottom rows are used and the nonprofit I get them from has an annual membership where you get 20% off the books. So I can tell yall that those 7 books cost a lot less than the new ones.

The second row: Palestinian Walks by Raja Shehadeh (memoir), Our Women on the Ground (essays), Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer (weird fiction), If They Come For Us by Fatimah Asghar (poetry collection).

The third row: The Dark Tower by Stephen King (fantasy horror?), Odds Against Tomorrow by Nathaniel Rich (fiction), Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation (science fiction anthology)

The only one I've read in this picture is the final book in the Dark Tower series. I've been on a mission to get the series in this specific edition for literal years and I finally only need one more, the 5th book.

[the-delta-42]

Stuck on Repeat

Stuck on Repeat

Lila’s day started normally enough. Wake up, get out of bed, perform the usual hygiene routine, have breakfast and walk to school. She spent most of her walk fuming about Marinette, Adrien and their oh-so subtle needling of her stories.

She couldn’t see what the fuss was about, it not like their other classmates were telling the truth. Come on, a sentient AI and a rising DJ and Director? Alya was mediocre at best, Nathaniel’s comics were predictable and linear, and it’s not like Myléne or Kitty Section were going anywhere. To Lila, the only ones who were the rich kids, Adrien and Chloé, and an already recognised designer, Marinette.

She hated to admit it, but Marinette was talented, if she hadn’t seen through her lies, Lila would’ve made sure to reel Marinette in. Lila stopped across the road from the school and Marinette’s parent’s Bakery. Marinette was just leaving, a box of Macarons in her hands.

Lila frowned and glared at Marinette’s back, silently wishing harm on her.

Lila was shocked when a car came bombing down the road and hit Marinette with enough force to send her flying over the roof and land with a sickening crunch. There was silence, before the door to the bakery swung open and Marinette’s mother ran out.

A crowd surrounded Marinette’s prone form, with someone calling for an ambulance and Marinette’s mother wailing. Lila didn’t know why she just didn’t walk into school and ignore the crowd.

The ambulance arrived, and a few minutes later, Marinette was pronounced dead. Only then, did Lila move. The school day was downtrodden, Adrien kept casting dark looked at her, as if she was responsible for Marinette being hit by that car.

The day passed quickly and, soon, Lila found herself getting into bed. On one hand, she was down a nuisance, but on the other hand, she was down a distraction. Lila shook her head, before pulling the covers up to her chest and going to sleep.

SOR

Lila woke to her alarm clock going off, which was odd, since she didn’t set her alarm the night before. She shrugged, got out of bed, performed her usual hygiene routine, had breakfast and walked to school.

She stopped across the road from the school and the bakery with… Marinette leaving? Marinette held the same macaron box from the day before, looked both ways and started to cross the road, when a car came bombing down the road, hit Marinette with enough force to send her flying over the cars roof and land with a sickening crunch.

Lila stared at the scene, before pulling her phone out and looked at the date. It was the day before. Lila stared at her phone screen, before hastily putting it away, she looked around and hurried into the school.

The day passed and ended the same way.

‘Maybe this is just one bizarre dream?’ Thought Lila, before she went to sleep.

SOR

Three weeks. Three weeks. Three. Fucking. Weeks.

Lila seethed as she stalked towards the school and the bakery, she’d been stuck in this loop for three weeks. Glancing around, Lila quickly crossed the road and stopped outside the bakery. Marinette stepped out and rushed toward the road, looked both ways, started to cross and was tackled by Lila as a car came bombing down the road.

“What the hell?!” Demanded Marinette, glaring at Lila.

Lila huffed, her eyes dark, “I’ve been stuck living the same fucking day for three weeks. Three! Weeks!”

“What are you talking about?” Asked Marinette, the rage subsiding.

“The same day, for three weeks, I’ve been living this exact day,” Snarled Lila, “I wake up, I get dressed, I eat, I wash, I walk to school and I see you get hit by that fucking car!”

Marinette stared up at Lila, before frowning, “So, you got tired of seeing me die and decided to save me?”

“Don’t say it like that.” Scoffed Lila, “I don’t want to keep listening to your friends crying and bitching about you dying.”

Marinette gave Lila a dead pan expression, “And there goes my hopes of you turning over a new leaf.”

Marinette turned around and walked up the schools steps, “Thank for saving my lif-”

Marinette was cut off by Kim flinging the door open, hitting her in the face and sending her tumbling down the steps and landing on her neck with a sick crack. Lila stared down at Marinette, whose head was jutting out at an unnatural angle.

“You just killed Marinette.” Said Lila, as she looked up at Kim.

SOR

Lila grabbed Marinette’s arm and marched her up to the steps.

“Okay, why are you doing this?” Asked Marinette, as Lila looked at her, “Kim’ll push the door open, hit you in the face and making you fall down the stairs and break your neck.”

As if on que, Kim pushed the door open and bounded down the stairs. Marinette stared at him, before looking at Lila, “How long has this been going on again?”

“I stopped counting on day 578.” Said Lila, guiding Marinette through the school, “You’ve been hit by cars, pushed down stairs, stabbed, shot, beheaded, set on fire, torn apart, had your head crushed and being turned into a hand puppet.”

Marinette stared at Lila, before straightening up, “Okay, anything else?”

“Monarch got your miraculous.” Stated Lila, making Marinette freeze, “I don’t care about his problems, or yours, I just want to eat something for breakfast that isn’t stale cereal.”

Marinette blinked, before swallowing, “Okay.”

SOR

Lila banged her head against the table, Marinette and Alya staring at her, “Why do you keep dying?”

“Akuma?” Suggested Alya, frowning.

“I still think this is some elaborate lie,” Said Alya and Lila together, “Lucky guess. Random Akuma. Stop that. Lila. Lila, Stop. Lila Rossi has a big forehead. Lila Rossi wets the bed. Lila Rossi sleeps with a horses head and every morning when she wakes up-”

“Okay, okay, stop!” Interrupted Marinette, grabbing their shoulders, “I believe you.”

Lila didn’t say anything, reaching out and grabbing the front of Marinette’s shirt and yanked her forwards.

A circular saw blade embedded itself into the wall where Marinette’s head had been.

“Okay,” Said Marinette, looking at Lila, “anything else that I should know about?”

Lila stared at Chloe, “She’d holding a different book.”

“What?”

“Chloe’s holding a different book, she’s supposed to be holding Great Expectations, not Wind in the Willows.” Said Lila, getting up and stomping over to Chloe.

Marinette looked around, before she and Alya hastily followed her.

“Why are you holding the wrong book?!” Demanded Lila, glaring at Chloe.

“What?”

“You’re supposed to be holding Great Expectations!”

“What’s going on?” Asked Ms. Mendeleiev, storming over, just as Marinette tripped over Chloe’s discarded bag, falling over and narrowly avoiding a large arrow.

“What the fuck?!” Screamed Chloe, pulling her legs up as if to avoid something.

“It’s a long-” Started Lila, just as Marinette’s head exploded, “Oh, for fucks-”

SOR

Marinette jerked as Lila jammed a helmet on her head as soon as she tripped over Chloe’s bag.

Moments later, Mendeleiev dragged the four girls out of the library and into her classroom.

“What’s going on?” She demanded, glaring at them.

“Lila says she keeps watching Marinette die.” Said Alya, pointing at the Italian, “Then she started going on about how Chloe was reading the wrong book.”

“I think there might be an Akuma.” Said Marinette, her voice slightly muffled.

“Right.” Said Mendeleiev, before pinching the bridge of her nose, “What else could it be?”

SOR

Chat stared at Marinette, surrounded by Alya, Chloe and Lila.

“You…think there’s an Akuma trying to kill Marinette?”

“There’s an Akuma who’s successfully killing Marinette.” Corrected Lila, “I’ve been living the same day for…” Lila trailed off, before she looked at her hand, “6,498 days.”

“I thought you stopped counting after day 578.” Said Alya, frowning at her.

“I started counting again after Marinette had her head explode.” Said Lila, frowning, “I just want to wake up and not worry about seeing a dead body today.”

Lila then pushed Marinette into Alya, as the ground where Marinette had been standing exploded. Chat zeroed onto the source of the shot, and launched himself towards the Akuma, landing a solid punch on the Akuma’s face. There was a cracking sound, as the porcelain mask broke, the Akuma flew away.

Marinette froze, before running off. A flash of light later, Ladybug caught the Akuma, purified it and looked at the former Akuma. It was a blond-haired, blue eyed man glaring at her and snarling.

“Let go of me, that mongrel doesn’t deserve to live!” Ladybug stared at him, before kicking him in the face.

SOR

Marinette watched her father spit his coffee out as the mug shot of the killer akuma appeared on screen, “That’s Joseph!”

“Who?” Asked Marinette looking up at Tom.

“He used to work for us, before he was arrested for some serious…charges.” Said Tom, “He’s supposed to be in prison.”

Marinette frowned, before looking at the screen, as the man, Joseph, screamed about purity and white superiority.

“What a dick.”

SOR

Lila dropped down into her seat and stared a head of her, both she and Chloe had taken to using the Akuma charms they had to ward off any future Akumatisations. Strangely, Lila felt happier not constantly talking about herself or making grandiose lies to make herself seem better.

She doesn’t dwell on what could’ve been, only that she was glad she didn’t have to eat stale cornflakes again.

[envihellbender]

Teen Hezekiah killing his monster in the final boy support group AU

Rating: Mature

Fandom: The Magnus Archives

Characters: Hezekiah Wakeley, Nathaniel Beale

Content: Murder, serial killer, sexual assault mention, addiction, abuse, age difference, gore, buried alive

Summary: A letter Hezekiah wrote to Nathaniel about his experience with a serial killer.

—

Found within patient Hezekiah Wakeley’s belongings: a letter, never sent.

Dearest Nathaniel,

I have wanted to discuss this in person but it seems you have been reluctant to come visit me in the hospital. I suppose it would make things difficult for you if the lecherous journalists and photographers gathering outside were to spot you. I have decided you are owed an explanation, despite the fact I think it must be rather obvious given recent events. Since no individual from our St Columba’s Church has been to visit me, despite me attending since I was a babe, I assume their rhetoric on the subject differs from my account. I think it is only fair I give you both sides of the tale and I leave the matter of your own morality and allegiance to you.

You are aware of the story up until we left the aptly named “St Columba’s Rehabilitation for Wayward Teens” I am sure, or rather the story you prefer to tell yourself. I do not intend to list the ways in which you and the others failed us. As you also know, it turned out that the forest retreat was nothing but a well crafted lie, in reality the Monsignor took us to a house instead of a camp site, we were kept in a cellar with several mattresses. The cold stone did not have the same heart and life to it that I craved from the ground, we were allowed books to read I suppose, the others did have mobile devices that did not have any ‘signal’ or enough ‘battery life’. Junia was taken first, she was the loudest, she screamed when the Monsignor would check on us and fornicated with Zion when she thought we were asleep. Zion was next. The both of them were just like us in a way, following the rules of the rehabilitation centre only to have someone visit to rip the sacraments to shreds. Junia had a friend who brought in water bottles filled with vodka, Zion had a boyfriend who injected him with varying substances, and I had you slipping me red wine in a flask. I think that was why it was so difficult for us three, the cellar quickly became filled with the stench of vomit, it was not cleaned up as much as it should have been.

I cannot tell you what they went through. I can tell you Bridget’s abduction hurt the most. Back at the chapel we were almost perhaps friends. We would swap books, I would never be able to return her copy of Turning of the Screw. I still have it. I cannot bare to be rid of the thing. She used to help run the garden with me. I do hope someone is still taking care of the plants there. Whilst I am glad I am alive, seeing all of them be taken past me was quite horrific. I would not trade it for anything. Whilst Junia and Zion were loud in their removal, Bridget went quietly, she simply nodded and got to her feet. All I could think about were if you took my warnings seriously, we would have been safe - but I suppose there is little to be done now. Judah, Naomi, and Claudia. They were next. Would hearing of the descriptions of those you helped doom to the earth truly help? I know not.

When it was simply I left in the cellar, that is when I can regale to you the entire truth. I am unsure how long I was there for. I slept, vomited, and hallucinated much of the time I was there up until I was brought up to his small cabin, he had me bathed by some nurses who were too thorough, he had me an intravenous drip, and made me a rather delicious meal with a glass of rich expensive red. Of course I was suspicious of the entire display but I was too starved and desperate not to play along with the charade. From this entire story, I expect this next part will be the elements you dispute and argue against, as if being a pederast is anything compared to serial murder. After I finished eating the old man came up behind me, pulled me up by the hair, slammed my face into the table, and decided to use my weak body however he saw fit. It was not long, but it was not quick, it was painful and repulsive. He would use me in various ways six more times from either my behind or mouth depending on his fancy. I did tell you he had wandering hands, did I not, Nathaniel? I told you of his fingers brushing my thigh, of him slipping his hand into my trousers during confession, and you had told me I misunderstood. Will the church look upon his deeds in the same way?

It is most odd, for when he brought me to my feet I had no strength to fight back. He began to beat me, he punched, kicked and slapped me. He pulled my hair and forced my face into the table again and again. He had a cane he used to whip my thighs and between my legs. Eventually I was a whimpering, crying dog on the floor, curled up and desperate for mercy. He picked me up into his arms, he carried me into the forest like a babe, he kissed my forehead and after a few minutes in the cold and dark he dropped me. The fall was quick yet slow, numb yet overwhelming. My head was particularly loud upon hitting the earth, my cranium bled internally as it felt as if it had split in two. My body felt so angry, weak, and sore that I was pleased to be against the earth. I felt the mud around me and my eyes closed. I felt a smile spread across my face. Can you believe it Nathaniel? A smile! A smile for heaven’s sake! I felt as if I was returning to the earth, and I was at peace. That was until I felt the dirt be shovelled onto my body, a strength I did not know I had filled my body. I may be one with the earth, a peace I will never part from, but I knew I shall not return to it by the hands of this evil, sinful, rotten man.

I waited for the shovelling to pause before I made my escape. The Monsignor had not been wise enough to pack the soil in tightly. The loose dirt was easy to displace in a way, the hard part was pulling myself out. I was buried around four feet downwards, a pathetic attempt I agree. I was able to aid myself and this is when God I am certain must have been with me. For he sat on a lawn chair facing away from me looking upon a bare patch of ground between the trees. I noticed that there were six rocks in the ground two feet apart from each other and realised this is where they had been buried. I picked up the shovel that had been leaning on a nearby tree, and without a moment’s hesitation I began to beat the devil’s cranium. I hit him again, and again, and again. I did so until his head was concave into his body. It feels so small now I write it down, perhaps that is why it was so easy for you to dismiss my fears.

When I called the police, I anticipated an arrest, not a mug of tea. Not a safe house with a comfortable bed and a garden. I did not anticipate the kindness, the understanding. To be admitted into a secular hospital with a secular rehabilitation facility and psychiatric ward. I know I am one of the lucky ones, but I cannot say I was lucky when the only person I had to aid me was you.

I will forever be yours. I do love you. But I must beg of you: Please do not contact me again.

Hezekiah Wakeley

[lootsofathousandsworld]

Do you think you could do a oneshot where Flint is raiding a ship and he comes across the reader; the reader is a servant on the ship, (maybe working for a wealthy noble), and got caught trying to escape the crossfire?

Ahh i see what I can do with this! :D

Hope you enjoy it and sorry if the gammers are wonky.

Flint X Reader: Servant and a Pirate.

You were caught in the middle of the crossfire between the navy and pirate that were raiding the ship you were on.

It all happened so fast. One minute you were out to fetch something for your master and all of sudden, as if you were in an unexpected war, a cannon start shooting at the merchant ship.

And your instinct now is to stay alive much as you can.

Many pirates begin invading the deck and the soldiers use all they’re strength to push them back. Straight ahead you saw a door that leads to down below deck where the longboats are at.

You took a deep breath and splint across while avoiding on getting shot. But you bumped into someone since you were too focus on the door you barely known your surrounding.

You perk up to see who it was and your face grew pale. The person who you crash into was no other than Captain Nathaniel Flint, the leader of his pirate crew. You heard stories about him. About how he was cruel and bloodthristy towards his victims and the last thing you want to do is to meet with this monster.

Shaking off your frozen with fear, you pass him and ran towards your only escape. Running down the stairs towards the hallway you make your way towards the longboat room and saw people up ahead running to that room.

But you felt a sudden chill making you stop. You feel as if someone was watching you. Your head made a slight turn and you let out a fright scream to see the Captain staring down at you. Before you can make a run, he snatch your arm and you scream more and struggle to break his grip.

"Let go of me!" You cried and pray someone hears you. "Help somebody! Help me!"

"Shut up," He sneered which made you stop in fright. "I only want your gold."

You breathed heavily and shook your head. "But I don't have any.." He silence you by pointing your free wrist, which has two golden bracelets. "Those. now."

At this point it was your wise chose on giving them to him so he can let you go. But you cant right now, you needed them for purpose. With much courage you refused.

"I..I'm sorry I cant give them to you,"

You watch him roll all his eyes," Save your pathetic excuse about it belongs to your family members."

"No its not that!" You cut him. "I need to sell them for good money."

Flint gives you now a puzzle look. He slowly let your wrist free and asks,

"What?"

You quickly explained to him while rubbing your wrist. "I dont have enough money to buy more food. I barely have any even though I work for the wealthy family. After you were done he gives you a long look.

About a few second he forms a fang grin and starts to howl with laughter. You stood there, with much confusing on him sudden find this amusing.

He slowly ceased his laugh and spoke. "These rich pigs cant share they're riches with you? After you work with them so much?"

'They only give me a small payment," You answered almost wanting to defend them since they given you shelter and let you voyage with them.

"But its never enough to satisfy your need," He reminded you. This you cant find anything to defend with since he was mostly right. Then he got on his knee to look at you straight. You gulped to glance at his many pale yellow eyes and waited for him to say something.

"im offering you a choice lass," You almost gasp to hear this and let him finished.

"A choice if you join my crew, I can let you steal all riches from other wealthy where you'll never be worry about feeling hungry." His offering was tempting, even more with a thought on this act of revenge on these wealthy family you worked for many years.

But stealing wasn't your thing. You feel it was wrong to do since your life you were a good person. Before you can have a second thought Flint added with a dark tone.

"If not, you will die in flames like others boarded this ship," He held his hand out to you. "What is going to be?"

You stare at his hand as you in this situation of life and death. Thinking on if you join piracy maybe this was an easy way out of your stress on saving money. And thinking on how much food and other thing you can buy without worrying.

Finally decide on choosing, you nervously reach your hand out and took in his large bony hand. "As long as you let me steal riches, Captain.

Flint smiles at your decision holding your hand.

"Welcome to The Walrus lass,"

[duttonrem]

CHARACTER INFORMATION —

Faceclaim: Jesse Lee Soffer

Full name: Remington Dutton

DOB & age: August 11th & 36

Zodiac sign: Leo

Gender & pronouns: Cis Male & He/him

Occupation: Construction Manager

Neighborhood: Jackson Hill

Length of residency: 36 years

3 positive traits: Adaptable, Adventurous, Reliable

3 negative traits: Antsy, Stubborn, Headstrong

INTRODUCTION —

Trigger warnings: Abandonment

Parents always want their offspring to have the best: to be good. Something that when they’re out with their friends and co-workers, they can boast about their child’s accomplishments. At least that was what it was like in the Dutton household. This isn’t a story of a white picket fence or one that has a happy ending. Sure, Remington had the foundation of a good upbringing and foundation but sometimes that overbearing and pressure alter’s a man’s change of course. Acting as it’s own fork in the road. It definitely didn’t help when he had to compete with his older brother at everything. Nathaniel was the epitome of a golden child, one who wanted to be some world leader. Even in his early childhood days, the boy had ambition and when Remington was born - his parents expected that he too would follow in the footsteps. But Remington knew he would never be a replica. For he wanted to stand out even if that meant being looked at as the bad son. The young male never considered himself a rebel. The only people who ever called him that were people who wanted him to do what they wanted. It was safe to say that he would go against any expectations and hopes his adult parents had for him. Much to their dismay. When he was still growing, there was always that glint or relish of hope. But see hope was a bitter thing.  It means that you are not what you want to be. It means that part of you is dead, if not all of you. It means that you entertain illusions. Illusions that the Dutton’s were using to protect themselves from the real destruction that Remington was and who wanted to be with open arms.  Sometimes you need to start a fire to create everything but ruins and disasters. Destruction is its own form of beauty. At least to him anyways. And that only would escalate as he grew older.

What started as a slow taste of chaos stemming from a candy bar here or there stolen or scooped into his pocket and then walking out of the store like he was invisible fully escalated. That rush of his heart beat quickening in the few moments between the register and the door excited him. It was a thrill for the then young man. A taste he soon would crave over and over again. One that would fully come to surface in the years passing. If his parents thought they could change him then, they soon realized he was ultimately a lost cause once his freshmen year of high school started. He spent a few days here and there in juvenile detention for hot wiring cars (his parents refused to take him to get his permit so he found more creative ways of going about such act). Among many other brushes with the law. Remington was known as the disappointment. The one where at family dinners, he was never asked about his day or how his school week had been because they had already expected the answers to it. It was safe to say he was the black sheep of the family. A title surprisingly that he took in stride. They chose to ignore the male and not fuel the amusement in their ways of trying to redeem him. Though what almost came as a surprise for Remington was the ability to have his family fully desert him. He was off on a bender his junior year of high school - partying, stealing from rich out of townees and spending the loads of cash he collected with his friends, his peers who were like him was almost like a merry go round to the man. A never ending cycle. To say he was shocked, to come home the summer of his senior year with his childhood home laced with nothing but dust. With one hidden exception - a note stating that he was no son of theirs. That they couldn’t watch his own forthcoming death. At least the physical part anyways. In retrospect he was already dead to them and they had only one true son. Nonetheless, he was alone for the very first time it seemed. He didn’t have a fall back. The perks of at least a warm bed, one never truly knows the value until it’s completely gone.

For a good while, he lived on the street in some back alley. Just like in some movie, tent city you might call it. It was also safe to say he never got around to finishing up his senior year and graduating but what was the importance of a small piece of paper with his name on it anyways? It was all bullshit to him. But see, when you hit rock bottom the only way to go is up and he took full advantage. Having street smarts was way more life altering then knowing the value of pi or some other mathematical equation. Even Stoichiometry. Or literally anything chemistry related. Microsoft word and Google Chrome don’t even recognize that as a word. Why should he? Remington encountered a lot of hardships and he literally was trash (when you sleep behind a dumpster – it’s kind of difficult to come up with better verbiage) for a few years of hard learning. One night when he was 20, he tried to pick pocket some random guy or who he thought was of no importance. Well, like most things he turned out to be wrong and had to weasel his way out of it. That particular person was well known around town for having their own construction business and instead sending Remington to law enforcement, the man took pity to him and was amused at the balls that Remington himself seemed to have. As he didn’t cower and instead tried to played slick. Nonetheless, the story goes as any cliché might. Remington was taken under this elder’s wing. Of course, not without some blood, sweat and tears. He would soon turn into the man’s best employee. In the end, it’s not what you achieve but what you overcome.

[victorluvsalice]

Valicer In The Dark -- Meet Lord Nathaniel Rowan

Hello everyone -- today, I would like to introduce you to someone who has accidentally become important to my Valicer In The Dark verse: Lord Nathaniel Rowan! Now, I've mentioned this dude's name a couple of times in previous posts -- most notably my first in-depth post on scores and story ideas for the verse -- but as he's become an occasionally-recurring antagonist for my trio as I come up with more scores for them to pull and things for them to do in my version of Duskwall, I figured we might as well have a proper post telling you all about his deal. So here we go --

-->Lord Rowan technically comes straight from the Blades In The Dark book itself -- there's a couple of mentions of the family name in the text in various places. The most significant one, and one that grabbed my attention first and made me realize that I should include him as a character in the Valicer In The Dark series, is in the write-up for the Six Towers district near the end of the book. Not only is Rowan House mentioned as being one of only two of the original six towers still standing (the other being Bowmore House), Rowan House gets its own entry as a landmark in the district (page 276):

Rowan House. One of the last of the original six towers, this antique building resembles an ancient castle from history books, complete with moat, draw-bridge, and arrow-slit windows. The powerful Rowan family rules their holdings from within the fortress, rarely venturing beyond the security of its thick stone walls.

AKA, Rowan House is the "giant bloody castle" Alice mentions as making her think they'd gone the wrong way when the gang first entered Six Towers in Chapter 6 of "Start At The Beginning...Sort Of." XD Given that Six Towers's whole deal is that it's a formerly-fashionable district that fell into poverty and ruin once all the rich families left, leaving their homes to either rot abandoned or be converted into cheap tenement housing, I was rather intrigued by the fact that Rowan House was explicitly said to still be occupied by an actual lord (Scurlock Manor, in the same area, may have a tenant, but it's not Lord Scurlock himself, just some "nephew or cousin" who may not even have a proper title, and Bowmore House is only mentioned as being still standing, so...). I figured there must be a reason for the family to still be living there --

-->Cue me hitting upon the idea of making Lord Rowan the literal landlord of all of Six Towers! Somebody has to be in charge of all the apartments there, after all! Basically, once all the other lords in the area started abandoning Six Towers for the more fashionable Brightstone, the Rowan family sensed an opportunity and snapped up as many estates as they could get their hands on. They then converted these estates into cheap apartments and lured in as many of the poorest in the city as they could. The family has thus controlled pretty much all the real estate in the district ever since, with Nathaniel being the latest to take over the day-to-day duties.

-->As for other members of the family -- in the "Factions" section of the book, there is a mention of an "Elder Rowan" who is a leader in the Church Of The Ecstasy Of The Flesh (the "state religion," which venerates a healthy body and abhors the spirit; the higher-ups are secretly trying to find ways to turn themselves into soulless demons, who they consider to be the ideal life forms), and a member of the family also explicitly sits on the City Council (the group of elites who essentially run the government, along with the Lord Governor -- the other councilors include members of the Bowmore, Clelland, Dunvil, Penderyn, and Strangford families). As the City Council entry mentions that all the members are also high-ranking adepts in the Church Of The Ecstasy Of The Flesh, I'm thinking of making both Rowans the same guy -- Lord Gregorious Rowan, Nathaniel's father, who has given up his landlord duties to pursue ascension into demonhood all the faster and find a way to take down Lord Strangford, who he doesn't trust as far as he can throw him. I'm also thinking of giving Nathaniel an older brother, Graham, who fulfills the traditional "heir to the lineage" noble duty of captaining a leviathan ship (as being the source of the leviathan blood that helps power everything in the city is one of the major ways all the noble families keep their power). Neither of them would be anywhere near as important as Nathaniel to my stories, but it's good to know where the guy came from and where he sits in the family line.

-->As for Nathaniel himself -- well, dude's an asshole. XD Much like his father before him, Nathaniel does not care that his kingdom is one of rot and ruin, with crumbling roads, broken streetlamps, and hauntings everywhere. All that matters to him is that it is his kingdom, and the people there must do as he says. Accordingly, his apartments charge the most he can get away with, while providing only the barest minimum necessary to keep people alive. A lot of his buildings don't even have heat or working lights, and the porters he hires to watch the doors are little more than thugs, more concerned with shaking down the tenants for cash than actually helping them in any way. The residents of Six Towers are as a result a pretty hopeless lot, just doing their best to survive day to day. A lot of them would love to rebel against Nathaniel and his tyranny, but know there's no way they could successfully storm that fortress he calls a home, so they just carry on, relying on the charity from the Arms Of The Weeping Lady soup kitchen on the edge of the district and the Advocate bunk house set up right next to it to keep themselves going...

-->And then the Three Pillars show up on the scene. Nathaniel initially completely ignores them -- in fact, he doesn't even know they live in Six Towers, given they move into the one house he has no idea exists in the district, thanks to Elder Gutknecht's wards -- but then he hears tell that there's a trio of strangers fixing up one of the old conservatories into a public greenhouse, and that they intend to give away the food produced there for free. "Welp, that won't do," Nathaniel says to himself, and waits until they've pretty much finished the place before arriving on the scene and politely informing them that he owns this land, so the greenhouse is his, thanks. Though if they really want to use it, they could pay him rent -- say, ten Coin per month? (Which, for reference, is an ASTRONOMICAL amount to charge for rent -- it's more than your average small business is expected to take in in a month, and Duskwall months are twice as long as ours!) He expects this trio of losers to fold immediately --

But then Smiler points out that ten Coin would be enough to just buy the property and asks if it's for sale. And Nathaniel, amused and secure in his knowledge that his house is impenetrable, says no -- but if the trio can steal the deed out of the safe in his bedroom, he will let them have it, no strings attached. Smiler is like "I want that in writing," which Nathaniel is fine with, and they go to Barrister Alley in Charterhall University and have a contract drawn up, notarized by an Inspector. Nathaniel encourages the trio to try to get the deed before the week is out, and goes home content to wait until they get caught creeping around and have to give him the property --

Only for them to utterly humiliate him by successfully sneaking in and stealing the deed. I am picturing him spotting them escaping at the last minute, with Smiler cheekily telling him "thanks for the greenhouse!" Nathaniel, as you might imagine, is furious, but the Inspector insists he has to honor the agreement, causing him to start plotting revenge...

-->And from that moment on, the Three Pillars and Nathaniel are enemies! I haven't planned out many more specific clashes, but I know that the group humiliates him a second time by stealing a Dragon's Bane fruit he rented to show off at a party (for Chef Roselle, who needs one for a new dish -- I promise I will explain this further in an upcoming post), and when they team up with a group of Sparkwrights to test an alternative fuel source they're working on by getting the streetlights back on in Six Towers, he's one of the obstacles they have to overcome. (He might also be somehow involved when Dr. Kelman starts trying to track them down to "correct" them, but I haven't fully decided on that yet.) Nathaniel eventually gets so pissed off by their presence in Six Towers that he puts a bounty on their heads -- but by that point, not only are the trio able to fight off potential assassins (including most of the other gang bosses in the city at a certain infamous party hosted by Bazso Baz of the Lampblacks), they're so beloved by the citizens of Six Towers for all the help they've given the neighborhood that said citizens are more than willing to fight for them. Remember what happened to the potential assassin in the fourth entry in this Not-Incorrect Valicer Quotes collection for the verse? Yeah, it gets to the point where assassins hear what the job is and just go "sorry, no, I'm not about to get beat up by all of Six Towers, thanks." XD Leaving Nathaniel to fume impotently as his district slips further and further out of his grasp. I'm not entirely sure what the endgame for their rivalry is yet, but I very much doubt Nathaniel is going to come out on top.

-->And finally, since this guy has the potential to become a very important character in this verse, I figured I ought to know exactly what he looks like -- so I made him in Sims 4! So here are some pictures so you know what he looks like too:

Lord Nathaniel Rowan’s headshot! The haircut is from Get Together – I tried a couple of others, but this is the one that I felt worked the best with his face. Had a little trouble selecting his eye color, but I’m fairly satisfied with the gray-blue I settled on. And I couldn't resist giving him terrible muttonchops when I found the option under facial hair. Era-appropriate, admittedly, since the world of Duskwall is supposed to have Victorian vibes, but still terrible. XD

The full body shot! The suit is a Get Together “sack suit�� that I found on accident a while back, while messing around with formal wear options for Victor, Alice, and Smiler. As I didn’t have my CC in the game at the time I created this initial version of him (not long after the Life & Death patch), this was as close to an era-appropriate outfit as I could find for him that didn’t look just a tiny bit TOO fancy, like most of the Vampires suits (ended up choosing one of those for formalwear instead). He is wearing Vampires shoes, though (the black ones with white spats), and that double-ring designed by arathabee for Crystal Creations (since he’s supposed to be a lord, I figured maybe that was fancy family jewelry passed down through the lineage).

And finally, a shot of him looking dastardly, since he is supposed to be an asshole. XD Accordingly, I gave the Sim version of him the Aspiration of Mansion Baron (to reflect the fact that he lives in a freaking castle), and the traits Evil, Hot-Headed, and Materialistic (since he's a nasty bastard with a bad temper who likes the finer things in life). As for his Preferences, he Likes the color orange, compliments, malicious interactions, gossip, deception, polished fashion, egotistical Sims, argumentative Sims, Baroque music, and research and debate, and he Dislikes the color pink, pranks, potty humor, silly behavior, complaints, rocker fashion, funny Sims, spirited Sims, Pop music, and singing. Which, as you might guess, means he hates Smiler in particular among the three. XD Rather fun designing such a douchebag of a man – and now I have a face to go with the name in my imagination, so that’s good too. :)

And there we have it! So now you know who Lord Nathaniel Rowan is and why my trio will be having such trouble with him in the future. Always important to know your enemies as well as your friends! I hope you look forward to seeing him pop up in the verse as much as I am now. :p