#the hat flip killed me i had to include it

[deedah]

“Redemption..?”

[J]=True

[Idk if I’ll make more ‘chapters’, I think I’ll do it if y’all like this one, k? Thx!]=True]

⚠️⚠️!!WARNING!!⚠️⚠️

This fanfic includes 

-depression

-spoilers for Murder Drones finale

-talk about death

Word count- 1349

     J threw the drill down on the snow as she used her left claws to end down a piece of metal as she finally got it screwed in. She then spread her metal wings as she did a flip in the air and landed in front of the newly built landing pod that Cyn had destroyed during her final moments.

    J almost felt proud of herself as she kept inspecting the space pod, but it was short lived when she remembered everything that had happened in the last few months. Cyn being destroyed, the planet somehow getting itself back together.. and.. her exile.

    J slowly walked into the pod as she used her hand to activate the door. She even decorated it a little. There was now a mattress hanging from the ceiling and a body mirror on one side of the wall. And there were also coat and hat hangers up on another side of the wall. But there was only one ‘hat’ on the hangers.

    ‘Tessa’s’ spacesuit helmet and some bows from her hair that she used to wear.

    J slowly picked up ‘Tessa’s’ helmet as she slowly walked backwards to sit down in the chair in front of the control panel. 

    Even though Cyn had used the helmet to trick V and the others, it still felt special to J. J had freaked out when Cyn had revealed that she was the one to kill Tessa at the gala by being controlled by Cyn.. and she even fought Cyn when she realized that Cyn was wearing Tessa’s skin like a fricken cosplay.

    J looked at her reflection in the helmet, then in the mirror.

    She then stood up slowly as she put the helmet back on the hanger. Then she went to stand in front of the mirror as she looked at her hair. During the fight with V and the other two drones, Uzi shot her stupid railgun towards J. Thankfully she missed, but she did cut half of her left pigtail off.

    J then looked at her hand as she involuntarily switched her hand for a sword. She looked at her yellow, tired, and dreary eyes before she quickly grabbed her right pigtail and chopped half of it off.

    She shut her eyes tight until she felt all her hair get cut off. She then looked at her hand to see the remains of her hair as she threw it in a trash can.

    The lonely Disassembly drone then took out her pigtails and flipped her hair upside down before shooting her head back up to see her hair down. 

    The last time her hair was down was when Tessa first found her and they were trying to find a hairstyle for her. 

    J then took one of Tessa’s black bows and she pulled her hair into a half-up-half-down gig as she put the bow where the two parts of her hair met in the back.

    [Flashback sequence]=True]

    [Tessa]=True]

    Tessa started to comb out the saved workers new hair that she gave them as the worker looked in the mirror.

    “You haven’t told me your name yet buddy..” Tessa said sweetly as the worker stopped making eye contact with her through the mirror.

    “I..” they started, “I’m sorry, master.. I don’t remember..” they said as they hugged themselves.

    Poor thing.. Tessa thought as she continued to brush the silver hair she gave the worker.

    “Well..” Tessa started with a soft smile, “Father said I can’t name you drones human names.. but when I found you, I thought you looked like the name Jade!” She explained as she grabbed one of her favorite black blows and pulled the workers hair into a half-up-half-down. “So why not just.. J?” She said as she crouched beside the worker. “You like it..? It’s one of my favorite hairstyles to do” She asked as she meant the name and the hair style.

    “I-“ they started as they touched their hair. “I like the name J, but can we..maybe.. do pigtails..?” J asked as she lowered her shoulders like she was afraid of saying her opinion.

    “Of course! I don’t mind at all!” Tessa said as she took the bow out and brushed out her hair again and used a small comb to part it in the middle.

    Tessa started to hum softly as J slowly listened to her.

    “What are you singing master..?” J asked once Tessa had finished putting J’s pigtails in.

    “Oh my! J please don’t call me ‘master’, I’m not that type of person!” She exclaimed as J slowly nodded. “And I was humming one of my favorite songs named “Eternal Dream”. I hear it on the radio a lot of the time” Tessa said as she thought. Though I’m shocked we still have radio with all this ai going around. 

    “Can you sing it for me, boss..?” J slowly asked as Tessa rolled her eyes playfully.

    “Of course, J” Tessa said as she started to sing, “I and tired of this dream~~” 

[End of flashback]=True]

[J]=True]

    “I can’t end this dream~~” J sang quietly as she finished up her new hair style. She liked it on her. It made her look like she changed in some way. 

    J looked back at the helmet to see a sticky note above it that she wrote for herself after she got the interior of the pod shapened up. It read-

    ‘Poor J, alone is a cold, dark, world. And keep holding the helmet J, it’s the trophy of the “winning” team’

    J wrote that for herself to remind of of what deal she had made with Cyn.

    I just wanted to be protected from death.. Part of her mind begged.

    “And look where it’s got you…” she looked back in the mirror as she countered her own mind, “idiot.” Her fists clenched as she looked at her eyes before she went and sat down in the chair again.

    She turned the radio on as she scourged through the channels until she finally found one that wasn’t just static.

    There was a song playing.

    J recognized it..

    Eternal dream..

    J listened to the song until it got to the chorus when it got interrupted by static.

    J sat up and started to hit it with her fist as she mumbled “Oh come on, stupid thing”

    She did get it to go back to not being static anymore, but this time.. it was different.

    Instead of the soft soothing song, J heard screams of terror and cries for help by strangers through the radio.

    “Hello..?!” A voice came through the radio, “Please! If anyone is there! Please speak up!”

    J could help but to press the button for the microphone as fast as she could and start to talk.

    “H-hello?!” J said through the radio as she awaited for an answer.

    “Ohoho thank Robo-God!! Someone!!” The stranger yelled happily through the radio, “JC!! Someone came through! We will be ok!!” They told one of their friends as she seemed like they came back face to face with the radio.

    “Hello! If you can hear us please say ‘Roger’!” They commanded, and J did as they said.

    “R-roger!”

    “Please! Do you have a spaceship or a landing pod of some kind!?” They asked, “Me and my friends are stranded in space! I don’t know if you know who this is but a robot named Cyn destroyed our home planet named Broze-7!” They explained as J’s eyes hollowed.

    “We are near what used to be earth! Please! Come find us before we die out here!” They begged.

    T-this is it.. J thought as she simmered on the words of the stranger, “This is my redemption!” J accidentally said out loud. When she noticed she had her mic on, she immediately started to apologize. “Oh, I’m sorry.. And yes! I have a pod! I am coming as quickly as I can! Stay put!” J said as she started to fire up the space pod. The last thing she heard from the radio before she blasted off was,

    “Redemption..?”

[thedemises]

note!... reader has eaten the resu-resu no mi—meaning resurrection—the fruit can revive other people but there are two ways that the user can do to be able to revive that person. one, the user has to give away a few years off of their lifespan and, depending on the number of years, that'll be the amount of years that the revived person will live for god-knows-how-long until they decay and disappear. and the second option is that, the user has to collect some of the selected person's DNA in order to resurrect them. not sure if that's how it'll work in my opinion but let's just pretend that it makes sense 👍 ( 1,866 words!! woah!!! :O it isnt as much as the other one but still a lot! also reader is referred to as “[name]” once )

━━ .  A HEAVY WEIGHED HEART。corazón & law oneshot!!

he wouldn't believe it.

he couldn't, really. it's been too long, to count how many years it's been.

if some soul were to, he wouldn't accept it—that's impossible on his part. resurrection isn't possible at all and cannot happen. that's what he believed—everybody does.

and right here, right now, is where he stands; easily towering over you with his enormous form as his hands—worn off by years of marine training and stressing peeling, dry and cracked from endlessly stuffing them inside the pockets of his tight jeans—tremble and twitch in disbelief and shock.

donquixote rosinante, whom have been dead for the passing thirteen years from the cause of being shot two to three times by his own blood brother, was now alive and breathing like a living being than dead, had he not been revived by you.

he first examines his abnormally large hands, flipping them from one side to the other before having one of them touch his cheek—squishing it a little and then going up to his gold locks, interlocking them in between his slim fingers (and not caring if it messes up the hat he wore).

eventually, tears start to well up in the corners of his eyes and his lower lip tremble whilst his teeth clench together as he tried to keep his emotions in from pouring out aggressively—which he, of course, fails ultimately. happiness and relief registered on his face, he shuts his eyes closed for a second and rubs off the excess years with the sleeve of his shirt before opening them again and began to bawl his eyes out—running towards you with open arms while calling out your name loudly as he cries.

you didn't get a moment to process or open your own arms as you were scooped up and crushed into an almost threatening bone-crushing hug, arms squeezed at your sides with your legs dangling in the air from being picked up off the ground. hearing his loud sobbing and cries of your name as wet tears begin to soak your shoulder, you're not sure if you could comfort him because you can't since your lungs were on the brink of bursting and your arms weren't available to be moved—thanks to corazón hugging the soul out of you unintentionally, his extended arms wrapping around you; including your arms.

your name is continuously called by him alongside saying such as, “i missed you!!!”, “did you revive me?? thank you so much, [name]!!!”, or “do you know where law is??!”. he would've made you deaf in one ear with how loud he's being if it weren't muffled by your shoulder—still, his depressed-sounding voice quite audible nonetheless.

by the time he lessened his grasp (yet remained hugging you in his arms), your chest heaved deeply and took heavy amounts of air from not having the ability the breathe for seconds. corazón had an apologetic expression on his face before he smiled when you turned to him, very much happy to see you again.

you decide to take a few minutes to examine his whole figure, and you can tell clearly that he looked the exact same before the day he was killed—wearing the same heart-patterned shirt, the familiar dark red hood from which those two heart-like shapes hang, that dark feathered mantle hanging from his broad shoulders, his make-up left completely untouched, and the lit cigarette hanging from his painted red lips (thankfully nowhere near your hair or clothes)—except the two-to-three punctured holes were left in his shirt with dried blood seeped into its fabric. from you could see, the gunshot wounds were completely healed except the notable scars left behind.

other than that, he appeared fine—though it's noticeable to see the dried tear tracks traveling from his eyes to the end of his jaw.

“i'm so happy to see you again,” corazón said, voice hoarse from all the sobbing and brawling. he sniffles and hugs you again—this time it was more gentle and not so crushing as it was earlier. the large man rests his chin on your shoulder with closed eyes, he still couldn't believe that this is actually real.

“i do, too.” you pat his back with a hand before he settles you back down to the floor, being careful as he does. that was when you discovered someone else in the area, not just you and corazón alone. exactly just as you anticipated.

turning around in a random direction (ignoring the taller guy's confused and questioning gaze), you cupped one side of your mouth and called out to the figure behind the trees. “hey, law! no use in being part of the shadows, huh?”

corazón's eyes widen at the familiar name, past memories flood into his mind as his breath shakens in a sudden moment.

the unidentified person in question doesn't respond and is quiet—except they quietly step out, and there reveals a raven-haired man with a goatee, wearing a dark-spotted fur hat on his head and holds a sheathed sword over his shoulder. instead of the usual observant expression on his face, you can describe the shock and slight disbelief he shows in his wide eyes���even as he tried to put on a calm demeanour. to this, your own face softens as your lips widen and upturned.

meanwhile, corazón was frozen on his spot, seemingly in pure thunderstuck at the appearance of trafalgar d. water law—now grown up from a frail thirteen year old to an adult in his mid twenty's. nonetheless, the younger donquixote was glad that law was alive and well.

“c-” law tried to speak, but his words die in his throat as he is still in bewilderment on what he just witness earlier. corazón opens his mouth, on an attempt to speak, but his lips close shut like a fish.

“cora-san…?” out came a hoarse whisper from the dark-haired man, drenched in disbelief as his heart ached in his chest. law blinked and stared, terrified that if he moved this would all have been a dream, some twisted apparition due to being so close to his goal. As much as he wanted to run towards corazón, throw his arms around him and feel like the happy child reunited with a father he had once been...

yet, he didn’t dare to move—didn’t dare ruin this precious moment, even if it was fake; a cruel conjuring of his mind, and he still wanted to savor it with every fiber of his being.

“law,”

hearing the voice he heard in both his dreams of happier times and his nightmares of spirling loss, grief, and guilt—law couldn't take much no more. placing a step backwards and balling his hand into a firm fist, the surgeon of death braced himself for the vivid memory of cora-san to blow away like the smoke that danced from the older man's lit cigarette.

on one side, the sun's light shined down upon to reflect the blond's mildly wavy hair, akin to pure gold found in buried treasure. the smile on his own savior's face almost rivaled the brightness of the big star in the blue sky—whisps of white clouds in the distance sat high in the sky as it passed by slowly, almost like a backdrop that made cora-san look as if he had wings.

you decide to walk back a few steps—in case if law were to charge and crash into corazón's lean arms—not daring to say a thing about this whole exchange and let the two individuals have their first conversation without interruption in thirteen years.

law breaks the prologued silence before corazón could. “... you're alive, now.” he starts, in a voice barely above a whisper.

of course, he is. the bigger man glances at your direction, catching glimpse of the current look on your face— if it weren't for you, it would've never happened. —he stared before directing his eyes back to the former kid he took care of.

the blond nods, albeit slowly and hesitant about how the other would act afterwards. a shallow sigh escapes through his nose—he does nothing but lift up an arm to scratch the back of his head and offer (an attempt of) a smile, trying to put together a reason that would be good enough for law.

law forces his eyelids to shut his vision away—taking in everything, counting to ten, feeling his jaw sore from how hardly pressed he’s clenched his teeth to avoid insults spilling out. he firmly stood there, stiff, unmoving, confused, hurt, relieved, angry, and happy. law does know if he should direct that to cora-san or you.

it was a moment of silence in the atmosphere and it extended the longer no one said a thing; that wasn’t until the scent of cigarette smoke got stronger through the surgeon's nostrils and the feeling of arms enclosed around his body. he let out a choked sound—something between a sob and an agitated grunt—his now opened eyes that showed his yellow-colored irises start to shake a little. then, his tense body relaxes against cora-san’s chest and lifts his arms up to wrap them around those familiar shoulders, letting the emotions years in the making create a cascade down his cheeks. in silence, cora-san rested his chin on top of his furry hat, rubbing his back up and down and letting his unofficially adopted son feel everything all at once.

“i am back now, law, that’s all that matters to us. i won’t leave you again.” the blond reassures and felt law grasp at his feathered coat, holding tight in his palms. “c-... cora-san...” law utters through his choked sobs, trembling and shaking all the way.

“...” corazón didn't need any more words to speak as he embraces the surgeon of death in his arms, closing his eyes doing so.

you watch the scene and almost feel tears well up in your own eyes—wiping them away quickly before they fall—with a sad smile that dons your face. and you don't make a move to step away any further to leave the two reunited men alone.

corazón takes a peak at you, and then law, and again looks at you to give you the widest smile he could ever send someone—still hugging law nonetheless—though he shows a hand that is in the pose of a peace sign, which you smile happily.

law remained and didn't want to ever pull away from cora-san's embrace of comfort, as he felt for the first time in years of guilt... that he could live again without the burden cora-san never intended to settle on his shoulders.

and, he has never wanted to thank someone so much as he did now before.

© thedemises 2024. all rights reserved. ━━  remembered “i'll never smile again” by tommy dorsey and now i'm sad. :(

[sleekervae]

Clamshell [0.1]

Masterlist

A/N: Hello, I'm back. Still working on some old drafts and had some requests for some new ideas. I'll get to them for sure! I thought up a cute little backstory for how Remington met Vera -- back before she had any idea of this robbing business. And this chapter includes an actual bank robbery now. Happy reading!

--

Las Vegas, 2017

Remington had smoked the same brand of cigarettes from the time he was thirteen, and he hated the way they had been reformatted and manufactured. The taste and zing had been dulled down in order to meet the standard regulations of whatever federal ball-busting association had these cigarette companies bent over a desk. Perhaps he could still enjoy them the same way if he found the same thrill at thirteen, rifling through his older brother's things one day to knocking some off to seem cool to his friends.

The cigarette flew from his fingertips and was lost in the blustering wind, try as it might it could not tousle through the layers of hairspray he had sprayed on his spikes that morning. Down the freeway he and his brothers drove, feeling as free as the birds that migrated above their heads, unaware and uncaring for the chaos and treachery they may find in the big city. Sebastian had to go to work, because of course someone had to pay their bills legitimately; though Emerson and Remington were off to pull some work of their own.

Their long time confidant and friend, Andrew was driving upfront in their beaten up, unassuming mini van, his shaggy mullet was cloistered under a straw hat. Emerson wasn't much of a fan of said hat.

"You look like a farmer," he pointed out for perhaps the fifth time that morning.

Andrew scoffed, glaring at him through the rearview mirror, "Because you look so much less unassuming in yours," he was referring to Emerson's floppy, wide brimmed slouch hat.

"Well, I'm not gonna' be wearing it for the job," he replied.

"Just leave him alone, he likes it," Remington cut in, trying to sprawl his long legs out in the back seat.

Sebastian was sat shot gun, dressed in his jacket for his line cook's job. He kept glancing back at his younger brothers, seemingly uneasy.

"Are you sure you guys wanna' do this without me?" he asked, perhaps for the third time that morning. His brothers had been planning this job for months, a smaller heist in comparison to others they've pulled, but the diner Sebastian worked for was severely short staffed and he was being scheduled more and more until more bodies could be hired. Of course, neither of them could afford to lose their jobs, so Sebastian had to put his heist planning to a pause while he covered as many shifts as he could.

While they figured they could wait this out, Remington and Emerson were eager for another job soon enough. And so, they had spent some time drawing up plans for a smaller bak heist. After all, living in Vegas was no cheap and easy feat for anyone.

"Of course we are, we've planned this perfectly," Emerson assured, turning to his brother, "Right?"

"Right," Remington sat up and reached over to grab Sebastian's shoulders, "We got it all under control, you just do your thing; flip your burgers, dress your salads, pour in half a bag of sugar into your hollandaise sauce,"

"I wouldn't if I didn't have to," Sebastian grumbled back, looking forward as Andrew pulled over to the cafe he worked at. Sebastian turned in his seat again, "You guys be careful, and don't do anything foolish for the love of God,"

Remington put his hand over his heart, "Swear on mom and dad's graves, we'll be good,"

"Better than that, we'll be slick," Emerson grinned.

Still unconvinced, Sebastian turned to Andrew with grim reprieve, "Make sure they don't get themselves killed,"

"You got it," Andrew gave him a high-five, "I'll come pick you up later,"

Sebastian hopped out and hadn't even shut the door before the minivan pulled out again. They travelled through the smaller outskirt suburb of Vegas, where the main strip was still within clear view. Remington and Emerson were getting their gear together in the meantime, guns, duffels, and of course, their balaclavas.

The Lieseil Funds Bank was a smaller bank chain, handling business ventures from blue-collar start ups to college-fund investment plans. It was a more obscure target that wouldn't be a considered target for crimes such as this, and it sat right across from Bobbie Trap's Pub. It was there one would find a raucous commotion emanating from the back of house, a young waitress being scolded by her manager.

Of course, it wasn't initially the waitress' fault, a customer, still drunk from the night previous, decided to try and take a handful of her behind. But of course, when she turned to defend herself, one thing led to another and she tossed a glass of water over his head. Despite how she tried to explain her case, her boss rattled on about how irresponsible and hysterical she was, so he took her by the arm and practically dragged her out of the establishment and threw her out onto the street, tossing her ratty apron after her.

"Go be somebody else's problem, Vera!" and he slammed the door in her face.

That was how Vera found herself sitting on the sidewalk outside of the bank with said ratty apron and her scuffed up converse kicking at the pavement. This was the third job she had lost in four months and she was cussing herself out for being so reactive and explosive. Just her luck anyhow, the volunteer at the women's shelter had lobbied hard for her to get that stupid waitressing job. Never the less, seeing the inevitable disappointment on the volunteer's face when she came crawling back would be absolutely gruelling.

She ran a hand through her tangled, dry hair, her brain racing for some sort of answer to her predicament, she hadn't paid any mind to the minivan that had pulled up in front of Bobie's.

Remington glared through hooded eyes at the bank, mentally flashing through the blueprints that Emerson had drawn up of the building, running through the response time it would take for police. He looked to Emerson, his face covered in his own lint-littered balaclava, then to Andrew, his head down and his straw hat pulled just over his eyes. Morning rush hour was over and the street was relatively quiet, perfect for their quick getaway.

They were just about to hop out when a man suddenly emerged from the local bar, his head down as he counted the stack of money bills in his hand, clearly out for a deposit. He didn't even give the random girl on the corner a second glance. Remington licked his lips hungrily as he watched the man cross the street and head into the bank. Sebastian was going to be so proud of their score.

With one final bow of confidence, Remington and Emerson jumped out of the minivan and hustled across the street, slipping into the bank. The few people within the bank paid no mind until Remington held up his automatic weapon and fired a few rounds into the ceiling. There were screams of terror, plaguing confusion as bank tellers and bystanders ducked for cover. And of course, the one security guard they had proved to me less than efficient as Emerson knocked him out with one swift blow from his gun.

Remington, ever one for great theatrics, leapt onto one of his desks, brandishing his weapon and tossing the duffel at the bank teller, "Ladies and gentlemen! I beg you all to remain calm, you are not in immediate danger! However, if it wasn't obvious: this is a robbery!"

Vera had her head in her hands, none the wiser to the chaos within the bank until she heard the first gunshots. The windows were dusty but when she turned around she could make out some of the pandemonium from inside, and her heart began to race as she realized she was witnessing a full scale bank robbery. It was so close, all playing out in front of her and yet she felt like she was watching some sort of scene from a movie.

"Holy shit," what should she do, call the police? Maybe somebody already had? All banks had those little panic buttons, right? There was more yelling, some banging, and Vera watched in disbelief as one of the robbers leapt onto the desk, almost performative in his clear threat to the public. She was frozen, out of fear or fascination she wasn't sure, but all Vera could bring herself to do was watch.

Remington and Emerson had gathered what money they could, as well as other valuable personal pieces and spare cash the customers had on them. The man from the street had a cool five hundred dollars he had a hard time letting go off, but Remington shoved him down and cleared up as much of it as he could before he and Emerson took off.

Not even five minutes passed before sirens could be heard in the distance, and the robbers were making out with their loot: two big duffels full of cash. The time had come for Vera, she started crossing the street to get herself away from the chaos. The first one raced clumsily towards the idling minivan and the second was close on his heels, or he would've been if one of the bank bystanders hadn't chased after him.

"You get back here! Vera! Stop him!" Vera was shocked to find her boss coming after the second robber with a clenched fist. He was closing in on him, and Vera wasn't sure what had come over her, glancing between the robber and the minivan his partners were waiting in, and then she glanced at her former boss. Her petty anger riled up within in, and as quickly as she could, she put out her foot and watched with with subtle glee as he face planted into the road.

Remington stopped short when he heard the thud, staring in disbelief as he saw the large man trying to gather his wits. His gaze then shifted to the girl who had clearly tripped him, their eyes locked. She was a young, unassuming type, slender and yet she had a mousy attractiveness.

"Move, man!" Emerson called from the van. Remington only had time to throw one callous wink at the girl before he leapt into the van, the dark ink of an X on his right knuckle fleeting as the van door closed behind him. About a minute later two police cruisers arrived, one of them taking off in the van's general direction.

When he had recovered, Vera's former boss dusted himself off, his mean gaze narrowing on the young girl. He stomped up to her, seething like a bull in Pamplona.

"What is the matter with you!" he shoved her, "You let them get away with my money! Are you just that stupid?!"

Vera, playing up her nonchalance, simply shrugged and smiled politely, "I don't know what you're talking about. Maybe you should go be someone else's problem?" and with that, she turned on her heel and walked in the general direction of the women's shelter.

The Bastards crew had made a hasty, but clean getaway from the cops, and Sebastian couldn't deny how impressed he was with his brothers' spoils. They celebrated greatly with some cheap bottles of gin and pizza, though Remington found himself too preoccupied for celebrating. That girl had intercepted and nested in his brain, he had laid eyes upon her just for a moment yet he could see her so clearly. She was reminiscent of a manic pixie dream girl from a Bertolucci film, yet her dim confidence and outlandish pulse reactions were outstanding.

He sat on the porch of the bungalow they shared, a shabby little place in a run down lower-middle class neighbourhood. The air was dry, the heat unbearably humid, though it didn't stop Remington from enjoying his beer as he looked out into the saturated sunset. He had never found himself so curious over someone, especially over a girl. Why had she decided to help him, who was she? And of course, what bone did she have to pick with that bar man?

Out of all the chaos from the day and the questions spinning in his brain, he at least had one answer: Vera. It was a pretty name for a pretty girl, and as he lay in bed that night, tossing the sheets on and off because it was just too damn hot, Remington decided that he wanted to try and find her, to thank her at least. Would she react badly? Maybe. Would Sebastian absolutely end him if he found out? For sure. Never the less, Remington liked risks, and he certainly hadn't met a challenge he wasn't willing to take on.

And as he showered off the night time sweat in lukewarm water, he had successfully made up his mind.

Vera had crawled back to the women's shelter with her tail between her legs, having to sheepishly explain to the volunteers how she'd lost yet another job. Despite their clear frustration with her, they promised they were going to help find her something that would stick.

Empty promises, empty promises.

All night she couldn't sleep, tossing and turning in her brick-hard bed as sleep eluded her. Every time she closed her eyes she kept reliving the chaos from the morning. She hadn't told the volunteers about it, they would panic and worry about Vera being a witness and wonder if she was a liability to the rest of the girls in the shelter. She had seen it before with girls who had witnessed things they shouldn't have, and of course in Las Vegas, there were a plethora of things you would often wish you never had to see.

However, Vera found she wasn't traumatized so much as she was fascinated by it all. It all happened so fast and yet she could remember every detail so clearly, how sharp the gunshots were, how the clear leader of the two was so ostentatious in his crime, how he even took the time to stop and wink her, almost as a thank-you for letting them get away. She couldn't see his face of course, but she could remember those eyes so well; chilling, almond in shape and dark to the point where his eyes almost appeared to be blacked out entirely. Nevertheless, Vera found she wasn't afraid; perhaps she had become so numb to the tumultuous ongoings within the city? Or deep down she was content with the fact that the balaclava-clad stranger wasn't going to hurt her. Not like she would know him if she passed him on the street.

In the sizzling afternoon heat, Vera was wandering an outlet market, a pretty inconspicuous cover as she read her magazine from the news stand. Every time she turned the page she found an ad for some luxury perfume, designer bag or exquisite jewelry piece. She ran her fingers over a bejewelled necklace that Lily Collins was wearing for Cartier, wondering how it must've felt to be and live so rich. All Vera had ever known was cold floors to sleep on and living paycheque-to-menial-paycheque.

This part of Vegas was a bit quieter than the strip, nonetheless bustling with professionals and cars would line up and funnel out to make their way to their destinations. Vera took a deep breath of cigarette smoke, dust, and exhaust, the white noise somewhat calming her. She was none the wiser to the young man standing at the street corner, his hands tucked into the pockets of his denim jeans, seeking refuge in the heat under a shaded tree, his dark eyes locked on her while his cigarette sizzled between his fingers.

"Hey! You gonna' pay for that?" the clerk at the newsstand barked at Vera. She refrained from rolling her eyes as she placed the mag back on the rack with a polite, sickening grin. The clerk came around, grumbling to himself as he had to reorganize his selection of reading material, none the wiser to Vera plucking a candy bar from the opposing display while his back was turned. But Remington found himself impressed as he followed just a few feet behind her.

Vera ate her candy bar without much thought as she skimmed the display tables of shirts and knock off hand bags. Nobody paid her a second thought, she seemed practically invisible as she was bumped and knocked aside by the bustling crowds. She flinched as an associate from the church of scientology tried to shove a pamphlet into her face, ducking swiftly towards the other end of the market. She suddenly found herself in front of a jewelry table, it was nothing too opulent, but the pieces were beautiful and Vera couldn't resist.

She picked up a simple gold necklace, the chain was delicate and in the middle hung a beautiful, pearly clamshell charm. The clerk was too busy bartering with another customer while Vera plucked the clasp apart and slipped the necklace onto herself. It was absolutely gorgeous, the cold complimented her complexion exquisitely and the clamshell glistened in the sun's reflection. Nevertheless, the price swayed Vera much more than the look could; it was forty-five dollars and Lord knew she couldn't afford anything more than a happy meal at this rate.

Remington had broke through the crowd, dodging the scientologist and finding Vera at the stand on the other side. She was twisting from side to side in the mirror, her chucks strained in the soles as she stood on her toes, she seemed almost childlike. Remington couldn't help the curious grin on his face as he debated to himself, how should he approach her? And hell, would she even bother to give him the time of day. He was a relatively good looking boy, though the city was filled with fast-talking leeches and he wouldn't blame her if she told him to buzz off.

However, Remington's opportunity hit sooner than he'd prepared for, whisked out of his head as he heard someone shout.

"Take that off!" the clerk at the jewelry display scolded Vera, making her and the few immediate customers in the vicinity jump. The slender Filipino woman charged over to her, a deep scowl carved into her face as she waved her finger at her, "You can't just take from my table and try the stuff on!"

Vera cocked a brow, "Then what's the mirror for, then?" she asked simply.

"Didn't you read the sign?" the older woman pointed her bony finger to the sign by her register: please ask before trying on jewelry was scrawled out in just legible handwriting, "You want to try? You ask me first! You could be stealing for all I know!"

"I'm not stealing it, I'm trying it on!" she snapped back.

"Are you going to buy it?" the clerk asked.

"No,"

"Then take it off!" she waved her hand at her to hurry along, "Go shop at Value Village or something, you probably can't afford this anyway!"

Vera did her best to bite her tongue as she reached for the clasp, not wanting to give in to the woman's very clear opinions of her, "Okay! Okay! Here!" she barely had a handle on the latch of the clasp before a sudden, sharp odour of cologne filled her nose, and she was surprised to see a young man taking step beside her.

"Hold on a sec, there's no need to be nasty about it," the boy told the clerk, trying to de-escalate the tension between the ladies.

"Who's being nasty! She can't buy anything so she's wasting my time!" the clerk cried, drawing a few side-glances from passer bys.

"Who said she can't buy anything?" he popped a brow, then turning to Vera, "You like the necklace?" he asked.

Vera wasn't sure as to whether she was embarrassed, scared, or relieved, seemingly having this stranger on her side. He seemed harmless enough, smiling gently and persuasive in her mannerisms. She never broke eye contact with his dark eyes, nodding slowly.

"Yeah,"

Remington's smile got wider as she nodded and he pulled out his wallet, flipping through the bills. The clerk had certainly stopped talking once she saw the wad of cash he had on him. Remington pulled out forty-five dollars and handed it to the clerk, plus a five dollar tip.

"There you go, forty-five bucks. Plus a little something for the misunderstanding," he assured her. The clerk glanced at the money, dumbfounded at first. When her train of thought finally caught up with her tongue, she placed the money into her pouch and reached for her register.

"I -- I... thank you. Uh -- here. Let me print you a receipt --"

"Don't worry about it," Remington nodded politely, subtly knocking his elbow with Vera's, "You have a good day,"

For the second day in a row, Vera felt as though she had been stuck in a hallucinatory dream. She nearly tripped over her feet as Remington nudged her to start walking, following in quick step with saucer eyes as she watched him in utter disbelief.

"You good?" was all he said, not bothering to make eye contact.

"Yeah, I guess," Vera huffed, her voice bordering on a gasp and a chuckle, "You didn't have to -- I mean -- I would've put it back no problem --"

"Don't worry, she had it coming," Remington assured her, "Besides, the pendant looks good on you,"

Vera denied the urge to reach up to clutch the clamshell, becoming frustrated at this stranger's nonchalance. Annoyed because he had been so vague and so smug, rebelliously handsome, "Okay then,"

Remington sensed her agitation and capitalized on it, "You could say 'thank you'," he said.

Vera stopped walking then, staying put on the burning cement as she glowered, "Well, who exactly am I supposed to be thanking?"

Remington turned back and extended his hand to her, smiling warmly, "I'm Remington,"

She was tentative at first, her fight, flight, or flee modes were snapping through her brain like the slides on a slot machine. Despite everything though, he did buy her an expensive necklace and so far was asking for nothing in returned. 'So far' being the optimal phrase.

So she shook his hand, "Vera. Thank you for the necklace, Remington,"

The flush in his face he blamed on the heat, but hearing his name roll off her tongue had bells going off in his ears, "You're welcome, Vera,"

They kept walking together, his hands deep in his back pockets while she fiddled with the strap on her bag.

"... So, what's the catch?"

"What catch?"

"The part where I dubiously repay you for buying me a fifty-dollar necklace,"

"You don't have to give me anything," he assured her.

Vera scoffed, "Right, you just did it out of the kindness of your heart, right?"

"You don't believe so?" he asked.

"Nobody ever does anything for free. Especially not in this city," she kicked a loose pebble across the cement.

Remington nodded, "Fair enough. How about a coffee, then?"

"That's it?"

"That's it,"

Vera shook her head, "So you're offering to buy me a coffee to in debt myself to you even more?"

"No, you can repay your debt by spending forty five minutes having coffee with me. One minute for every dollar,"

She exhaled softly, looking briefly around the market as nobody was paying them any mind. If she needed to she could slip into the crowd and disappear so easily. However, he seemed harmless for the most part, he held the aura of a curious, twenty-something young boy who was probably just out to show off and nab himself a piece of tail. Forty five minutes was nothing, after all.

"Forty five minutes, that's it?"

"That's it,"

"Swear on the bible?"

Remington simpered as he raised his left hand and placed his right hand over his chest, "Hand of God, Mary, and Joseph," he promised.

Vera's gaze flickered to the X tattoo on his knuckle, a sharp chill running up her spine. Nevertheless, the chill wasn't fear; it was a gnawing curiosity in her gut as she realized who this man actually was. Her poker face never slipped, however.

She smiled politely, "Okay. Let's go,"

[wall-legion]

The Space Between

It had been a long day at the soap shop, and everyone was exhausted by the time the sign was flipped to "closed". So many people had stopped in to pick up last minute gifts, and many were not as patient as they could have been about the shop being low or out of products at that point in the day. "Does anyone want to actually go out and celebrate tonight?" Leyya asked as she watched Odetta come into the back and slouch into a chair. "Sheesh, kill the vibe more." This came from the meerkat perched in a tube near the ceiling. "No one asked you, Cepir. And you lost your stupid hat." "Ah! My fez!" From the other end of the table, Zojja shook her head and laughed. "Don't let him wind you up like that. Besides, there's still time to freshen up. Soon as Sheridan's done, one of us can." "Don't worry about me." Odetta finally looked up from where she had collapsed onto the table, head on her folded arms. "I'm not going anywhere but to bed with the leftover scones and tea." Zojja glanced from Odetta to Leyya, as the other asura shrugged. "But what about Zio and Iialli..?" "He's new, so of course he got assigned duty tonight. And Iialli is busy at Pheazza's because a ship came in with new inventory." "I see..." Leyya looked up as Mabon drifted in from the kitchen, sporting an apron that read "Mursaat do it Unseen". "Mabon, what are your and Sheridan's plans?" "Oh, nothing complicated. I plan on enchanting myself to look like a sylvari so we draw less attention, then wine and sweets on the beach. Why?" He looked at Odetta as she groaned softly. "...have I said something to offend?" "No, because that sounds wonderful!" Odetta sat up. "What about you two?" she asked while gesturing at the two asura. "Oh, we'll be heading to the Grand Piazza for an event! A combination fig tasting from an orchard in Cantha and lecture about mutualism!" "Don't think about it," Leyya muttered. "Why?" Odetta just stared at Leyya, face full of confusion. "You don't... oh. You don't know. Never mind. We'll bring you back some figs if we can." Odetta frowned, both at Leyya and at Zojja as she muffled a snort of laughter. "Okay. Thank you. I think." At that point, Sheridan came all but tumbling down the stairs and beamed as they caught sight of Mabon. "I'm ready!" "I should say," Mabon replied with a chuckle. "You're certainly eager." "You two have a good time," Odetta said as she made herself smile. "It sounds like you're in for a lovely night." "Thank you Odetta." Sheridan stopped briefly to give the woman a hug, as Mabon worked his magic to transfigure himself into a tall male sylvari with silvery birch skin. "We'll see you later!" "We should be off as well." Zojja got up from her seat. "Don't want to be late, after all." Leyya reached out to pat Odetta's hand. "I'm sure you'll have a nice evening in spite of everything," she said. "Chin up." Odetta watched them depart, locked the door behind them, and then set herself to cleaning the shop. Once that was done, she retreated into the kitchen to finally make herself tea, only to hear someone knocking. "You gonna get it?" She sighed before looking up at Cepir, who was lounging in his 'kitchen globe', an orb that Mabon had crafted and added to the pipe network so he could be included when everyone gathered in there. "I am considering it." "Well consider faster. They're knocking hard enough to rattle the walls." She rolled her eyes, but went to the door. She unlocked it and pulled it open hard, eyes shut while raising her voice. "We are closed-" "Even for Valentine's gifts?" She finally opened her eyes. Iialli was smirking and holding a box of chocolates, while Zio was standing over her and grinning as well, a bouquet held in his hands. "I... I thought you two had work," she finally managed. "Phee said she would manage without me. Can't speak for him." "I let the Zio charm do the work for me." Odetta folded her arms across her chest. "So you're in trouble." "Probably." He started to turn away. "Do you want the flowers or not, princess?" She grinned for the first time in hours. "Get in here, you two."

[avatar0ftheeye]

helllooo!!!!! Welcome to part 6!! It might be a bit shorter than the rest because this session was mostly story building, but I hope you enjoy anyway!

here’s part 6 of Dungeons and Teenagers!

the teens stand, dumbfounded at what they had just done.

“who was that?” Asked Damien to Maisie

“that was my therapist Darlene. Really sweet country woman, best therapist I’ve ever had :]” Maisie replies. Nobody seems to question how Goose pulled a broken landline phone out of his hat and the fact that it still worked (he’s a sentient goose with a magic Mary Poppins hat, why are they going to question him?)

“Hate to interrupt,” says a voice behind them, “but I have to fight the duck.” The players turn around to see the cloaked figure of Death still standing there.

“why?” Asks damien

Me: DONT YOU DARE DO THIS AGAIN

Damien: I DO WHAT I WANT

Me: fine, Roll persuasion but you need to get really high-

Damien: ANOTHER NAT 20

me: IM GOING HOME

Damien: WE’RE IN YOUR HOUSE

so by some MIRACLE from the DND GODS Damien rolled ANOTHER NATURAL 20 on PERSUASION on ANOTHER BOSS

Death stands there, perplexed. “Because it’s my job? That’s what you summoned me here for.”

“well who’s your boss?” Asked damien, stepping in front of Goose

“I am, technically, my own boss. I mean, I’m death.”

“So who wrote the rules?”

“I did?”

“Do you want to follow the rules?”

death shuffled in place, slightly embarrassed. “Not really. I don’t really like the whole reaping thing anymore.”

damien smiled a small smile. “Then quit. You don’t have to do this.”

Death pondered this. “You’re right! I don’t have to do this, I can do what I want to do!” Death ripped off his cloak. Now, in front of the teens, did not stand a menacing man in a cloak. There stood a floating skull in a 3 piece suit. “I’m gonna be an accountant! Thanks kids!” Death smiled and strutted out of the castle, on his way to fulfill his accountant dream.

the kids, once again, stand dumbfounded staring at Damien who fully thwarted the DM’s BBEG plans by sending one to therapy to get better and the other to accounting.

Damien walked over to a passed out Jim on the floor and kicked him awake. “Hey bitchboy wake up.”

Jim stirred from the kick to the gut. He sat up quickly and gasped. “Did we win? Is he dead?”

“no, but he’s getting help!” Called Maisie. Jim sat up slowly as Damien returned to the group. They circled him, menacingly.

“you were working with the devil the whole time?” Asked Alex, “why?”

Jim smiled, a smile that none of them were used too. He was…happy? “The blood pact is broken, I can finally explain!” He said happily. “Okay, so when I found out your parents were back in the realms, I knew I had to send them back home. I had helped them before when they were here before, about 14 years ago when I was 2. I knew I couldn’t do it alone, so I went to the only person I knew would want them out as well…” he side eyed Maisie, “your mom kinda…reallllyyy liked him when she was here…” Maisie gagged. Jim laughed anxiously. “So I went to him and asked for help. He said that he would, but I would have to make a deal. The blood pact made it so I could send them home when I wanted to but I couldn’t tell you. The thought was that you’d kill me because I couldn’t explain. If I tried to explain, I’d flip inside out. I hoped that you wouldn’t…” he trailed off. Everyone, including Jim, knew that they would have. They would have killed him if this hadn’t happened. The players stopped circling and stood, silent.

“do you know where the rest of the parents are? Specifically my mom?” Thomas asked. Jim nodded slowly.

“I just know where your mom is. Cambria chase? Tall, hijab, anxious all the time?” Jim asked. Thomas smiled wide.

“YEAH! Where is she??” Thomas asked excitedly. Jim begun to answer before Damien interrupted.

“Slow down, how can we trust you? You had a pact with the devil himself, we have no reason to trust anything you say.” Damien said menacingly. Jim solemnly nodded. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife. The party members jumped back quickly, but jim didn’t charge at any of them.

instead, he cut off his own thumb.

the players gagged in horror.

Jim walked slowly over to Damien and handed it to him. “A token to prove my loyalty. If I help you, you give it back, if I betray you, you destroy it.”

Damien smirked. “I won’t four-get this.” He teased. Jim’s face fell at this mockery. He sighed and begun walking toward the door.

“Let’s go find Cambria.”

[nationmckinleyscorset]

Ok I need to start organising my thoughts on every possibly paranormal thing that's happened in this house because whenever people say "well how do you know it's haunted" I keep blanking on how to answer so here's a list I can reference:

(notes with a 🖤 next to them mean they could be mental health related instead)

Both my friend and I who have lived here have had constant nightmares and (tw) suicidal thoughts ONLY when in the house and they only started after we moved in 🖤 what's not so easily explainable is that we have both seen shadows in the mirrors and had nightmares about a woman in the bathroom (tw) killing herself in different ways.

Had my foot grabbed while getting into bed, since there's no gap between my bed and the floor I got grabbed from behind and dragged backwards to the point where I hit my knee against my bed frame

Heard walking around downstairs so clearly that I almost called the police

Heard something punch my bedroom wall while I was in bed then run out of the room and down the stairs (I heard every footstep no word of a lie)

Had coat hangers fly out of the wardrobe at me 2 minutes after opening the door (I don't mean fall because they didn't fall down into the wardrobe they feel horizontally out then down)

Seen a face peeking around the bannister at me while I was leaving for school last year, it stayed there even when I was looking directly at it, I turned around to pick up a bag, looked back and it had disappeared

Had lights flickering intensely as though someone was physically flipping the switch, said "STOP IT" because this had been going on for almost a full 20 minutes and it stopped immediately

This one happened less than half an hour ago, I put a towel in a crate on the windowsill in the bathroom, turned around for no more than 2 minutes and when I looked back it had somehow removed itself from the crate and was in the bathtub directly over the plughole (approx. 3 metres away from the crate nit including the drop down). I tried to debunk this by putting it in the crate at different angles to see if it could fall down to that position but half the time it didn't move and the other half it only feel directly onto the floor.

Sometimes when I'm not home mum hears me speaking in my room, a similar thing happened when I went out with my dad and left 2 friends on a video hat and they both heard me say "right! I'm back!" so distinctly that they were genuinely confused when I didn't appear on screen until an hour later

I've had my leg scratched before from the back of my knee down to my ankle despite not having left my bed all day

I used to see shadows so often I had to get counselling because I suspected they might be hallucinations, still unsure if I imagine these or no 🖤

The same thing that happened with the coat hangers happened with a painting on my wall

Recently heard something scratching the wall when I was downstairs alone, this happened 3 times before I freaked tf out and ran upstairs

I frequently hear someone walking around on the landing when I'm the only one in the house, I once had a friend on the phone who actually stopped me talking to ask if there was someone in the house with me

Heard glass breaking downstairs but not finding any broken glass when I went to check it out

Had a friend leave my house midway through a sleepover saying "I can't sleep here there's something watching me" not someone SOMETHING

Had a full jar of crochet hooks knocked off of my bookshelf in the middle of the night even though they're wedged in by two other jars and other random things on that shelf

These are only the ones I can remember rn, I will keep adding to this list cos shit keeps on happening.

Before you suggest it, I can't sage the house because my mum is religious and wouldn't approve and I've tried the bible-under-the-bed method and that failing (that was when I got scratched)

[kiss-my-freckle]

"THE MAN IN THE HAT"

“When Red is identified as a possible hostage during a deli robbery in Philadelphia, Dembe and Ressler take action. Back in D.C., Senator Panabaker evaluates the task force's dealings with Red while Siya digs deeper into her mother's past.”

Highly possible Red gets taken hostage. Last night, I made mention to the risks he's been taking. His modes of travel, his walking around without bodyguards, his switch to a new cell phone rather than keeping his flip phone, leaving his bath house unlocked so that anyone could barge in at any time. It's like he's daring someone to take a shot. What makes it less likely, is the fact that he's always armed and always paying attention to his surroundings. 

While I do think Red has plans for The Freelancer other than killing him, I think he's saving him for something special. I think we're gonna get a bearded Red from 10x1, but I think he's gonna have flashbacks while being taken hostage. Perhaps this is what Red needs to feel alive.  

Let's not forget this episode leads into Dr. Michael's episode.

Panabaker is another matter altogether. She could very well pull an Esteban with Red, fully intent on killing him because he’s of no further value. It’s also possible she agrees to the plan Red just mentioned to Cooper... unless that plan goes sideways, and I do think it will. There’s also the matter of that audio recording blackmail Red has on Panabaker, so the outcome of that is a tough call. 

I definitely think Siya will drop my Fowler domino by the midseason. If she does, it’s my theory that the fingerprint on the record brush will connect to two other murders... to the shell casing in Victor Fokin's murder, and to the remaining bullets in the gun used to kill Tom Connolly. The beautiful thing about Siya being an agent and a spy. She’d think like an agent and a spy. She just has to consider the fact that Liz had her service weapon taken when she was interrogated. I always believed Diane Fowler would be the first domino, as she’d connect in both directions, and Dembe dropped her for me. She connects backward to 1x6 and forward to 2x22... which includes Liz’s second memory wipe and the flag Ressler put on Tom’s aliases. 

It’s an easy assumption to make. Tom put Meera Malik on a kill list. This would make him a likely suspect for Diane Fowler’s murder, since Diane Fowler was not only Meera Malik’s boss, Tom was targeting Red... and she gave him an immunity agreement. Tom Connolly replaced Diane Fowler, who was the one responsible for releasing Tom from federal custody in 2x16. This then ties Tom to the Cabal. In turn, it’s an easy assumption to make that he wanted to cover his tracks by having Liz kill Tom Connolly. Insert Peter’s inside man - who helped put a bullet in Red in 2x18. Add in Liz’s second memory wipe to cover his role in Red’s shooting. 

Dominoes. 

[becauseplot]

Thanks for eating the brainfog it has abated for now 👍Crazy how like, sleeping and eating food will improve your mental state people should do this more often /sarc. Also yeah oof. At least have groceries now? Groceries in fridge yippee?

Yeah, if stainless steel could love you back sure is a. It sure is. I've only heard good things about it. A rare rated-E-for-goreviolence-and-nothing-else fic set after the regret arc with a hearty helping of paranoia, medical trauma, and insaneduo being, well, them.

Ohhhh that is so much actually. Love me a good fate-worse-than-death, and how time-travel means saving some but potentially losing others. And the fact that you can go back in time and see that he was a good, decent person all of this (because of COURSE he was, of course the writers decided to go for the gut-punch, ow ow ow.) The second-person fic sounds so interesting. I feel like a lot of people sleep on second-person---myself included. I just haven't had a reason to use second-person. It's very immersive, needless to say. If you're cool w it, and you don't think it would be utterly lost on me---someone who knows nothing about ffxiv (Final Fantasy 14 I'm assuming?)---I'd love to read it. (And yeah I know the feeling. It's why I suppose writing fic for yourself first and others second is so important, otherwise when you write something and the validation doesn't come it's ouch. I still get that feel tho, I've got some fics floating around that I wish got more attention but it's whatev we keep ballin.)

Gel pens my beloved holy shit. And yeah writing on paper helps so much, I still whip out a notebook on occasion when I'm struggling on a scene. Last time I did it was for *flips through current notebook* a scene in Prime Meridian, actually! It was over a month ago tho and just a few pages. Also godDAMN your sister is insane /pos that's like hardcore writing. Hats off to her jfc I'm scared of her now lmao.

Gently holding ghost child you deserved better :( <3 go home be safe.

Yeah I know what you're saying about qForever and being "tainted". Personally I'm fine reading fics with him but writing him is...like in theory I'm okay with it? Idk if I'd be ok writing his POV (tbf that might just be that I'm not comfortable in his POV bc I've never written it idk) but I'd definitely be hesitant to upload it. Maybe one day, if have qForever brainworms.

*deep breath* ARCHIVISTS ARCHIVISTS ARCHIVISTS RAHHHHH. Been a minute since I've done that. One of these days I will write for them unfortunately *rattles brain* HELLOOOOOOO?????

Fucking felt. That sounds really nice king, I'm glad. I'm currently holding out for the next few weeks until spring break comes and I get to travel home and see my family, as well as my friends who are also off at university. My spring break actually lines up with theirs this year so we can actually have a chance to hang out. God I miss them. Also I might land an internship at my cousin's work this summer so that would be Epic.

Cellbit is cracked beyond belief holy shit. Mans did two six hour (SIX HOUR) sessions in his second language and absolutely killed it, both literally and metaphorically. The way he says "I'm so sorry," is like driving a stake through my chest every single time I rewatch that clip. In that moment, he---the creator and orchestrator of this world---is directly apologizing to the characters because he knows what is going to happen, and he knows they cannot escape it, and he knows that it will fucking hurt in a way that the characters could never even begin to understand until it happens; and when he says it, you can tell that he, the narrator, is truthfully, genuinely sorry for them. Like dude that is so fucked up. That is so so so fucked up and it makes me want to throw up oh so violently 10/10.

Cannot wait to finish this series if not for the ending but for all the shit we can scream at each other about when I'm no longer in a spoiler danger zone. I'm making my way through ep 11 right now but haven't gotten very far (they're at the tavern and the townspeople are Not happy with them because they're suspicious but things seem to have been settled for now, and now the group is just discussing. And man the way that Joui's new form is starting to drive a wedge between them surely this won't escalate surely surely <-SCARED)

The membrane and the Order takes and takes and takes and takes. And Liz and Joui and Thiago make me insane and Ceasar and Arthur are so so much and if anything happens to them,,,, hhhorugh. Tengo miedo tengo miedo.

Sounds like a good time dude, have fun pulling the rug out from under your players :D Lots of working parts which are cool but also *work* I get it, I get it. Corpse expert Factorial on the case o7.

Man that professor was like, one of the best profs I've ever had. Never seen someone so outright passionate about what they were teaching, and he always took suggestions and feedback from the students. Every week we'd do reading and have a question prompt and just have a full class discussion. Genuinely one of the most eye-opening classes I've ever taken fr.

Yeah, Mysticism sure is. It's a lot! Interesting, but a lot to think about. The More is supposed to be part wonderful part terrifying part a billion other confusing things. Whole lotta Shit(tm), I get it. Life be Life-ing and sometimes it's great and sometimes it hates you and sometimes you just sit on the couch with a friend and laugh at shitty reality TV and breathe.

Make another au do it I dare you <-demons on your shoulders ignore them (or dont)

Ohhhhh more music!! Fucking love music oohohohoh. I'll check them out. I've got a lecture starting in like 60 seconds so I gotta run but I'm adding them to the list later rest-assured!! :D

finished ep 10 of osnf (long post under the cut oh lord)

crying sobbing kicking over chairs screaming CELLBIT IS AN EVIL EVIL MAN WHY WOULD HE DO THAT. FOR WHAT REASON. POR CUAL RAZÓN. LO ODIO. <-said with the utmost adoration and respect of a writer but the fury of a fan who just had to endure all of that my hearttttt 0(-(

god fuck i have thoughts and feelings regarding episode 10 of osnf. obviously. i don't even know how to start.

okay. first of all the way that he was able to orchestrate the like 57839 different POVs of the nightmare happening at the same time was actually pretty smooth, all things considered. being able to forcibly mute/deafen the others is a good thing to be able to do yesyes.

second, im losing my mind over how he hides the fact that "it's all a dream" WITHIN the "it's all a dream" trope by having the creatures be manifestations of dreams/guilt in "reality" themselves. idk if i'm making any sense, but like, you get it, right? like, it's the fact that we thought we had already discovered the dream-based deceit in the segment because of what the "Hotelier" told Joui at the start of it, but it turns out that THAT was a red-herring of sorts for the TRUE dream-based deceit, that EVERYTHING was a dream, not just the creatures. god there are fucking layers to this im foaming at the mouth that's soooo good.

i guess that's what makes the "it's all a dream"-style trope present here feel less cliche. because, you know, it is a trope, and it's not really a trope that i'm fond of, but because there's actually more going on, it feels less cheap. what certainly helps is that the fact that it's roleplay, so the reactions from the characters are so much more raw, and there are some irl stakes (character dead = out of the series = can't play anymore). that definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat.

edit: something i forgot to mention—what i dislike abt the “it’s all a dream” trope the most is that it is very easily something that can be so, so cheap. all angst, no stakes or consequences, no lasting impact on the plot on the characters. however, not only is there a “physical” impact via several characters losing SHITLOADS of sanity (something not easily recovered) but we get to see a little more into the psyche of the characters. which i suppose is often the point of the “it’s all a dream” segments, but this dream—one with a lot of references to past major character death and itself contains major character death—rings especially true for the themes of the series: the world they live in is dangerous, and the work they do is lethal. people have and will die. and they do and will feel guilty, reguardless if they are at fault. it’s not a horrifying death dream just for the sake of being a death dream, it feels grounded in their reality, and i love that.

third, man he did not hold back. when Arthur was being beaten to a pulp by not!Brúlio, i was actually in shock, i was screaming. plus, i think the fact that Cellbit rolled a 001 when not!Brúlio attacked actually helped to hide the fact that this was a dream. it made it look like it was bad luck rather than the segment was designed to kill the characters (well, at least until he revealed that the damage was 1d4+1d6, but i'll get to that later).

gosh the narration of how not!Brúlio killed Arthur. holy shit. i don't. i don't even have words, that is DEVASTATING. that is probably one of the worst ways for a person to go. i know it's a dream but if i were Arthur i would be emotionally fucked up beyond belief. beaten to a bloody pulp by the father who once loved you so much, screaming at you for abandoning him and that it's your fault he died a horrible death. and then he drops your body on the ground like you're nothing but a pile of useless meat. god. damn.

and then Liz. ohhhh Liz. i just. i was devastated. her whole struggle with Alex, the man she treated so horribly. yes it's true the real Alex never would have said these things to you, but how do you know he wasn't thinking it? that he didn't want to? that what not!Alex says doesn't hold some truth? christttt. and of course the way she dies: in complete agony. and did she forgive herself? because, unlike with not!Brúlio, the creature turned into that weird wispy black thing just as she died, and i would assume that means she forgave herself (if those rules even apply considering this was all a result of the parasite's deceit (holy hell my brain is melting i am the man with the hand on the conspiracy board)).

fourth: the 1d4+1d6 thing! when he read that out, i was stunned. that is a LOT of damage considering all of the characters have ~10 HP. with an extreme roll, that's basically an insta-kill, or it's easily a two-hit-kill. i thought Arthur was unlucky, but when Liz also went down, i was---well, devastated, at first, because that's Liz, she's my absolute favorite and i love her, but i started going through all five stages of grief at once, and at some point i arrived at "no that can't be right" because Cellbit is a good writer. and to deliberately construct a scenario where it would be VERY hard for a character to survive while still in the middle of the story? yeah. and yknow the fact that there's still 6 other episodes fhdsjk. (then again the series continues regardless if a character dies and i haven't looked at other episodes' thumbnails or anything like that for this exact reason. so. i was going in as blind as i could reasonably be.)

in any case, realizing and connecting all of this and then hearing the "Hotelier" start yelling at Joui right after Liz died explicitly blaming him for it sealed it for me: this is a trick of some sort. this is a dream sequence of some sort. these aren't real deaths. (a smaller part of me was still scared that they were real because i know that Cellbit does not shy away from killing off his players' characters, if op and opq are anything to go by. but i digress.)

and then the characters turned to black goo. and i just about threw my computer. rip Luba who got absolutely targeted by the GM lmfao.

anyway uhhh that's about it regarding the dream sequence! loving luzidius!joui and how he just keeps switching back and forth. ((and it further supports my little side-theory that the mysterious blond woman last seen with Team Kelvin was a luzidious we win these.)) i was surprised to see Liz thinking it was so cool when she's been so suspicious of everything in Santo Berco since she got here, but i think she could definitely be using it as a distraction from what she just went through, and honestly she's just happy to see Joui is okay. (the way she gave on up words and just hugged him, the way she held his face in her hands, the way she dragged him down the hall to show Thiago and Thiago was just telling her to fuck off (/aff) because he was getting dressed, my heartttt i love these three, mentor-mentee dynamics my fucking beloved)

also new outfits! sweet! istg the new outfits are so Cellbit's way of apologizing for putting his friends through that. "hey sorry i killed your character in the most emotionally devastating way possible it will happen again wOAH LOOK AT THESE NEW CLOTHES AREN'T THEY SO COOL YOU SHOULD TRY THEM ON!!!"

i've been having mixed feelings about the sudden setting/genre change since the group arrived in Santo Berco. i really, really loved the urban horror-fantasy vibe that they had going on in op and the first 8 eps of osnf, but evidently, this is good as well. the genre is most definitely still horror yippee. i definitely miss the urban-modern setting, but i think i can get adjusted to this. (i'm just,,, not the biggest fan of the auto-heal crystals im sorry i had to say it they feel too op i know their use is limited to visiting the doctor but knowing they exist lowers the in-world stakes for me im sorry---)

anyway, ep 10! you beautiful monster! i have been typing for an hour! i need to go eat food! k bye!

[solasgf]

Tom Sturridge as Will Donner Waiting For Forever (2010) dir. James Keach

[youalmostcapturedjacksparrow]

𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕊𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕨'𝕤 ℝ𝕠𝕤𝕖 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟙

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16

Chapter 1: The ceromony

Elizabeth’s POV.

 Elisabeth woke up from a long sleep. She had that one dream again.

The last couple of months its haunting her.

Its always the same one. When her father Rosemary and herself crossed the sea towards Port Royal.

And they saved William Turner.

 Elizabeth stood up and walked over to her cabinet, she opened a top drawer and clicked open the bottom of the drawer. To reveal an double bottom. There was an old dusty necklace. And she picked it up.

Elizabeth put it around her neck and took it in her hand to look at it closely.

 ‘LIZZY! ARE YOU DECENT?’  An loud voice sounded at the other side of the door.

‘I GOT YOU SOMETHING GREAT!’  The same voice sounded and before Elizabeth could answer the door. The owner of that voice was inside her room.

  General pov

 ‘Lizzy, I swear to god look at this! I worked my ass of it all night ! but I think you’ll love it! And so will Captain Norrington or should I say Commadore Norrington.’ Rosemary winked at Elizabeth.

Rosemary was a strawberry blonde 20 year old girl with green eyes. Her father was once commadore of the fleet the fleet in command of Weatherby Swann. Elizabeth’s father.

Sadly on his last voyage he got caught in an pirate attack and his whole crew was killed by an fast ship with black sails.

Her mother couldn’t live with the loss of her father and killed herself.

Weatherby couldn’t live by his mistake to send the commadore to that island and took Rosemary in as his own.

By then he was about to be governor of Port Royal a new British colony in the Caribbean sea.

So he took everything including Elizabeth and Rosemary and they went to Port Royal.

Everyone has been good to Rosemary and she actually turned out to be a wonderful tailor.

So she started learning from Port Royal’s tailor and eventually she was happy there and made all of Elizabeth and her own dresses. So for the ceremony it was no different.

 Rosemary’s POV.

 I was already wearing my dress. And Golden yellow dress with an with a tight top. To make my front look slightly bigger. And a wavy skirt.

For Elizabeth I made a beautiful paper yellow/white dress with a lace top and sleeves. I also made a cute hat to match it perfectly.

‘Comeon Lizzy ! let me help you into this dress!’

She pushed her best friend behind the blinds and flipped out a corset.

‘This will be a bit of a struggle but it will look great! Everyone wears one at the place I get my fabrics’

She pulled at Elizabeth her corset and she took a sharp breath.

 General POV

 Mr swann came knocking on the door.

‘Elizabeth are you decent?’

‘Its okay Mr swann im already here!’ Rosemary said back and he came into the room.

‘im wondering what kind of gown you have made for Elizabeth this time Rosemary’ he smiled at the blinds proudly. Even though Rosemary wasn’t his daughter he was so happy he took her in.

Elizabeth had never been alone in her live, she always had a big sister to look up to in Rosemary.

And Rosemary always acted nicely and behaved. She understood her place and was working in the working class now. But she was Elizabeth’s first hand tailor and she still attended all the party’s , funerals and ceremony’s with the Weatherby and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth let out a sharp breath and Weatherby asked if she was okay.

 ‘That’s difficult to say’ Elizabeth replied plainly

‘Lizzy are you really telling me how to dress you for the ceremony. Be a good girl and put up with my skills!!’ Rosemary complained back to her.

 Weatherby chuckled at the two girls bickering at eachother, when he got called by one of his servants that he had a visitor.

  Rosemary’s POV.

 I finally got done dressing Elizabeth and she looked stunning as always.

‘ You look amazing Lizzy! Here let me help you with your hat. ‘ I put Elizabeth’s hair up with a few pins and then place the hat on her head.

‘Okay you’re all done now Liz’ I said with a huge smirk.

Word had spread around town that Captain Norrington was going to ask for Elizabeth’s hand. And for the both of them that was an amazing choice.

‘ Let me just touch up myself and then we can go’ I said while looking in Elizabeth’s mirror. I had let my hair half down half up. My ends were curled and wavy and I had a tight braid in the middle of my head going down in the middle. I had two small pieces of hair on the sides of my face so it still looked a bit playfull. And took my umbrella with me.

‘ Lets go Liz’ I said with a smirk its gonna be a big day for you.

 When we walked down the stairs we saw mr Swann talk with Will. One of my best friends and Elizabeth her first crush which she still had I’m sure.

‘ WILL’ I schreeched and flew down the stairs pulling him in for a hug.

‘Oh it has been so long’ He smiled at me and said he had missed me to. But I could see he couldn’t keep his eyes of Elizabeth. I started smirking but didn’t say anything.  ‘ Lets go mr Swann.’ I said with a soft smile and walked outside with him towards the carriage.

Elizabeth closely followed and when her father didn’t look at me I wiggled my eyebrows at her.

She turned as red as a beet and looked away from me.

[griffintail]

The Lost Ones

Summary: Several of the SMP members find an infant in a place they didn’t expect and decide to care for them.

Pairings: Platonic! Parental! Tommy, Wilbur, Philza, Technoblade, Eret, and Dream x F! Child! Reader

Next

Warnings! : Swearing, Village Raid, Minor Violence, Minor Deaths (Mostly mobs), mentions of blood

A/N : I’m the biggest sap for child readers. Dating back to 2014. I literally couldn’t help myself. Just so everyone knows, I suck at writing in gender neutral terms, that’s why the reader is specifically female in all of these (Including Tommy’s, Minor Spoiler, Tommy’s just an idiot and doesn’t look). So, sorry about that.

I’ll most certainly will make more of these. I won’t always have it just like this, I might write a certain character individually in a scenario. It’s all dependent on my mood. I might add more characters! This is just basically the introduction. So yeah...ENOUGH RAMBLING! Hope you enjoy :)

       Tommy (Before the First Disc War)

        Tommy smirked proudly to himself as he tucked his new disc safely into his inventory bag before starting the walk back to his home. His adventure was successful, he managed to get a rare disc and it was now all his. Walking through the small bit of woods, he rested his hand on his sword handle. It was still night time after all and the monsters were out to play.

        As he could see the lights from the small town of the Dream SMP, he heard a cry. Looking back into the woods, he frowned before grinning.

        Someone is in trouble! He’d save them and get a payment—er— “willing reward” from them. Pulling his sword, he ran over towards the sound of another cry, this time the sound being continued. He rolled his eyes, someone was crying, what a pussy. As the crying was practically on top of him, he frowned in confusion as he only found a skeleton, which was trying to shoot at a basket hanging in a tree. There was no one there to be crying.

        He shrugged regardless, taking his shield off before going for the skeleton. It only managed one arrow before Tommy killed the mob. Looking at the basket, Tommy hummed before putting his weapon and shield away to climb up. As he got to a safe place to reach the basket, the crying now made sense as his eyes went wide.

        “You’re a fucking baby!” He shouted in surprise.

        Said infant noticed the new face and their wails quieted, but small cries still came out.

        “Quiet down. You’re going to bring monsters!” He hushed, moving carefully, getting the basket off, and brought it to himself. “How the hell did you get up here? Who just leaves a baby?”

        He looked down at the baby as he sat back in the tree. He couldn’t help but think how small she was, had he been that small when he was this young?

        “Guess you got nowhere to go huh?” He asked as the child looked up, their cries having gone silent seeing the boy much closer.

        They played with their blanket and he hummed as he held the basket close, making his way down the tree.

        “You’re lucky, a big man saved you! I don’t live far, so you’ll come with me. Of course, I wouldn’t just leave you here again.” Tommy rambled, despite knowing the infant couldn’t respond back. “I’m not some kind of monster!”

        He made it back to his home, putting the basket on his bed, and looked down at the baby with his hands on his hips.

        “If you were left out there like that, you’re alone.” This time, the baby gave a small babble and he couldn’t help the small smile that came on his face. “Well, then I’ll take care of you! I’m a big man and can do it easy! Phil took care of my brothers and me after all and he’s old and stupid. I’m young and very wise, so I can do it. I suppose you’ll need a name now.”

        If anyone had been in the room with Tommy, they’d be surprised how gentle he picked up the small human. Carefully, he held them properly, only knowing how as Phil had once shown him when they were helping a village out after a raid when he had taken the younger boy to trade.

        “Hmm, I’ll call you (Y/N)!” He decided. “And I will be the greatest father ever! And I know the perfect way to celebrate today!”

        Going into his bag, he grinned as he pulled out his new music disc. Putting it on the jukebox, he sat on his bed as the infant looked over at the object making the beautiful sound. His grin went into a gentle smile as he watched (Y/N) listen to the music. They’d both be happy; he’d make sure of it.

        Twenty Minutes Later…

        Tubbo sprinted down the stairs of his house as he heard frantic knocking on his door and the sound of crying. Swinging the door open, he let out a startled noise seeing a distressed Tommy holding a wailing baby.

        Of course, he’d need some help since there was just a little bit of a learning curve.

          Wilbur (Right after Declaration of War)

        Times were hard. Wilbur had just started a new nation to free himself, his friends, and his family from the iron grip of Dream and his friends, but they did not like the loss of power and declared war on him. As well as the war, Fundy had become a rather rebellious teenager and Wilbur wasn’t sure how to handle all of it. He didn’t let it show to the others though. He’d be a strong leader for them.

        He looked over his map of L’Manberg. They needed better defensive points…they fought with their words but Dream fought with weapons of destruction. They needed safe spaces to protect themselves…

        Wilbur jumped, knocking over an ink bottle over on the table when there was pounding on the van door.

        “Damn it.” He grumbled, quickly flipping the bottle back up and moved the map out of the way before going to the door.

        He opened the door to see Eret standing there, making Wilbur raise an eyebrow as Eret was on guard duty at the moment but looked shocked seeing what the other man was holding.

        “Hello, sir. They were just outside the gate. I didn’t see anyone else around.” Eret rapidly explained to his leader, the small infant wiggling in his hold. “I brought them here because they were cold.”

        “Get inside,” Wilbur instructed, going into the back of the van again quickly.

        He heard the door close as he grabbed his spare coat.

        “Hand them over,” Wilbur muttered, Eret carefully transferring his hold to the other man.

        Wilbur saw they had a blanket but it was thin and the child was cold to the touch. Wrapping his coat around them, he instructed Eret to light a furnace, which he did post haste.

        “Hello there, love.” He whispered quietly to the infant, rocking them lightly. “We’re going to get you warmed up and something to fill your stomach, how does that sound?”

        The baby didn’t fuss, too tired and cold to even thinking about making one. Wilbur stood next to the now lit furnace and looked up at Eret.

        “Is anyone out there?” He asked, his proud leader voice coming out.

        “No sir, I was worried about the child.”

        Wilbur nodded. “I commend you for saving their life, but I have it from here. Send someone to fetch milk and then please stand guard again.”

        Eret nodded before leaving the van.

        Once the two were alone, Wilbur sighed heavily as he sat on the floor, still close to the furnace. He felt the child’s forehead, feeling them warm up to his relief.

        “You gave us a scare little one.” He chuckled quietly. “But don’t worry, you’re in a safe place. L’Manberg will care for you. I suppose it was lucky you were left here rather than the Dream SMP.”

        He hummed quietly as he gently rocking the child, their eyes closing as they relaxed in his hold. As they relaxed, he gave a quick check for their gender.

        “Welcome little one. You’re the first woman of L’Manberg.” He smiled lightly.

        For a short while, he was able to forget about everything outside the van. He could relax himself and let his mind clear as he watched the little girl in his arms. They were both at peace.

        After a few minutes, he looked up as he heard the van door open. As he was standing up carefully, his own son Fundy came in holding a bucket.

        “Hey, Eret said you needed…What the hell is that?!” Fundy exclaimed in surprise, startling the girl in his arms, tears appearing in her eyes.

        “Shh, it’s alright,” Wilbur whispered to her as he rocked her again and he wiped her tears away with one hand.

        Fundy cautiously came over, raising an eyebrow. “Who are they?”

        Wilbur paused thinking for a moment, before smiling. “Meet your new little sister my son. (Y/N), the newest member of our great nation.”

          Philza (Right before Wilbur’s Betrayal)

        Phil shook out his wings as he landed in a village. He needed to rest them for a bit before continuing on his journey to L’Manberg. He had gotten word of how the tides had turned badly for his sons in the new nation they made to try and live peacefully. Originally, they hadn’t asked for his aid as Tommy and Wilbur had made contact with Techno and they believed with their older brother, they could surely turn it back. Yet, Tommy had sent him a letter with worry for Wilbur’s state of mind and Phil decided he needed to be there for his sons.

        Yes, he wanted them to learn the world on their own but there were some times when Phil needed to be there to help them.

        Looking at the sky, the night was fast approaching so he managed to get a house in the village for the night. Keeping his sword by his bedside, he went to sleep for the night…

        Startling awake, Phil heard the sounds of the village bell.

        “God damn it,” Phil mumbled, scooping his sword and bag before putting his hat on his head.

        Running out, he saw the cause of the panicked ringing. A pillager raid, and it was already out of control. Fires were crackling madly and blood littered the paths.

        “Shit.” He swore as a pillager spotted him and he dodged the arrow before running them through with his sword.

        The few surviving villagers ran from their homes and Phil went to follow when he heard a wail, the wail of a child. His throat tightened as he looked back to the burning buildings, his fatherly instinct along with his good nature kicked in.

        “God…” He muttered before spreading his wings.

        With ease, he was able to dodge between pillagers and ravagers alike as he followed the sound. Landing at the house that was most certainly ablaze, Phil kicked in the door. Holding his arm to his mouth and nose, he rushed in and found a small nursery, the flames engulfing the walls and ceiling. Rushing to the crib, he found the small child and quickly picked them up.

        “Let’s go kiddo.” He said as he rushed back out.

        Once he was outside, he took flight again and flew high enough to be out of arrow range, and flew far from the village. As he did, he looked the small child, of which he found out was female, over for injures as she screamed and cried. She had no visible injuries but Phil knew she had to have inhaled smoke. So, after a handful of minutes flying, he landed and shushed her quietly.

        “It’s alright kiddo, hang on,” Phil told her quietly as he went into his bag taking out a health potion. “I got something that can help you.”

        Being gentle, he gave them a few drops of the potion to hopefully clear out any smoke and heal the damage it might have done. The little girl gave hiccups and small cries.

        “It’s alright. You’re safe now.” He bounced her lightly, slowing down her cries to nothing. “There we go. We’re ok. Once morning comes, we’ll find the others of the rest of your village and see if we can’t find your parents.”

        The little girl’s eyes merely drooped and he gave smile before he frowned as he looked up to see the fires in the distance. They were a human child and he didn’t remember seeing any humans running away with the survivors but he’d try. And if not…

        “Don’t you worry, I’ll take care of you,” Phil assured the now sleeping infant.

        Technoblade (Start of Retirement)

        Techno shouldered the bag of wood he had gathered over his shoulder, his axe on his belt as he made his way home through the snow. The voices were relatively calm, not hungry for blood at the moment, and Techno was able to have a peaceful moment. As he trudged closer to his house, he slowed to a stop seeing footprints by the stairs and the voices kicked up as his thoughts went wild.

        Phil always gave him notice on his walkie if he was on the way and whoever had been there had gone up the stairs then walked away in a different direction from where they came.

        The voices were bringing up the question of if he was being scouted out. Who could have found his house? How did they find it? They started to demand blood.

        Technoblade took his axe off his belt while putting down the bag of wood. Going towards the porch carefully, he held it ready to expect the worse when he entered his house but he didn’t even go up the stairs to find something. On his doorstep, there sat a large huddle of blankets.

        Furrowing his eyebrows, he came up to the huddle carefully and slowly with his axe raised. Stopping when it was fully in view, he stared in even more confusion.

        “What the hell?” He questioned, lowering his axe slightly as he looked around the snowy tundra. “Who leaves a child on my doorstep!”

        In the middle of the huddle of blankets was a sleeping child, who wiggled slightly at the loudness of his voice.

        They’re an orphan now

        You know how you feel about orphans

        Blood for the Blood God

        Techno winced at the sounds of the voices as he looked at the child. They were right…they were an orphan now. Someone had left them on his doorstep and now they were abandoned. He gripped his axe tightly as he looked down at the infant.

        It’d be quick and easy…

        The small human opened their eyes slightly, squirming slightly as they saw him. Techno’s grip loosened, the voices screaming in protest. They were so small and so defenseless…he wasn’t calling for blood anymore.

        Grunting, he put the axe away, going back down the stairs to grab the bag as he clenched his jaw at the loud noises of the voices before going back and picking up the child with surprising gentleness as the child was startled slightly. He shouldered his door open, dropping the bag of wood next to the unlit fireplace before making his way upstairs to his bedroom. He put the child down, who watched him in silent curiosity as Techno took the walkie off his belt.

        “Phil, you there?” He questioned into it.

        It took a minute but the device crackled.

        “Yeah, what’s going on?”

        “I got a…issue. Come over as soon as you can.”

        “An issue? What kind of issue?” Phil asked in surprise as usually, Technoblade could handle most of his issues.

        “It’s hard to explain, just come over.” Techno rubbed his temple at the screams of the voices.

        “Alright, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

        He put the walkie down as he looked over at the child watching him.

        “What?” He huffed.

        Then the child gave a small giggle, trying to get their hands free to hold them out to him. The man stood there in shock as his heart melted. He had not felt something like that in a long time. Scrunching up his nose slightly before coming over and taking the infant out of the blankets and holding her as he used to with Tommy.

        “What the hell am I going to do with you?” He muttered and the small human held lightly onto his shirt, making even the voices slow down.

        He down a level in his home to wait for Phil, keeping the child in his hold as he just decided to do his normal routine. He started a fire and began to brew a few potions when the knock came on his door.

        “Come in.” He called.

        In stepped his father, who immediately dropped his bag in surprise seeing what Techno was holding as he added a new ingredient to his potion.

        “Hello.” He greeted the older man without looking at him.

        “What the hell did you have?” The older man questioned.

        Techno looked over at him confused. “Blaze powder.”

        Phil took his hat off as he ran a hand through his hair. “I meant the baby!”

        “Oh! Yeah, this.” Techno said casually, the older man freaking out. “Someone left them on my porch.”

        “Oh god…are they ok?” Phil asked, coming over.

        “Yeah, they’re fine. They were swallowed by blankets.”

        The child tried to take a bottle in their hands and Techno simply moved it from them and kept working like it was the most natural thing in the world. Phil stood in surprise at how casual Techno was, he knew about the orphan thing and how vicious the voices in his head could be.

        “What…what are you going to do with the child?”

        “That’s why I called you,” Techno said, before holding the child to the man. “You take it.”

        “What?! Techno, I can’t just take this child. I…” Phil’s hand shook slightly at the thought of Wilbur. “I can’t have another child right now. And L’Manberg will question where I even got them in the first place.”

        “Well then what do I do with it?!” Techno huffed as he was surprised by the quietness of the voices.

        “Well…you could take of them.”

        “I don’t know how to take care of a child. I don’t even like children, have you seen me with Tommy?” Techno rolled his eyes.

        “You seem to like this one.” Phil pointed out as Techno was holding them willingly and at the gentleness, he had with them.

        Techno frowned as he tried to think of a good reason. “That’s because they’re quiet.”

        “Look…I know you don’t want to hear this but maybe you should look after them, even just for a while. I can see if I can find someone who wants a child.”

        No, you found them.

        They’re rather cute…

        Keep them!

        The voices had done a full turn around from when they first saw the child. They were demanding Techno care for them and protect the fragile being. Techno couldn’t disagree with them because in his heart…he wanted to protect the child that had been left on his doorstep.

        “Fine, I’ll take care of them for a while but you need to help me, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.”

        Phil chuckled. “Of course, son. We should look them over first to make sure they’re alright.”

        Techno rolled his eyes but agreed, listening to Phil as he told him what to do. The father was smiling proudly as even though Techno was frustrated with the new task, he continued with it. Once she, as they discovered, was checked over, Phil put a hand on his son’s shoulder.

        “What do you want to call her?” Phil asked.

        He looked down at the child, who was giggling as Phil smiled at her.

        “Blood Child.”

        “Techno!”

        Later, Techno actually decided on (Y/N) and for once, the voices were on his side.

          Eret (Before the founding of L’Manberg)

        Eret chuckled to himself as he walked down the path back towards his castle. Tommy’s antics for the day had been particularly ridiculous that it still brought a chuckle to the older gentleman as he went back to his home. He knew the days around the Dream SMP certainly wouldn’t be boring.

        Walking to his castle, he stopped as he noticed a basket left in front of the door and peered inside.

        “Why hello there.” Eret smiled seeing a small face peering back up at him as they squirmed slightly in discomfort. “What are you doing here little one?”

        He carefully picked up the basket and went inside his castle. As he got to his bedroom, he carefully took the infant out struggling a bit but managed before searching a bit in the basket.

        “Hmm, no note or anything.” He muttered as he looked at the child squirming around. “Well, someone made a mistake leaving you behind. Let’s see if I can’t figure out what’s making you so fussy.”

        After a bit of trying, first checking to see if she needed a diaper, he figured she needed some food and managed to get milk, putting it in a clean potion bottle to help her drink it easier. That also took a few trials, but he managed to help her drink until she stopped fussing.

        “There we go, now I can see your lovely face better.” He smiled as he sat on his bed, wiggling his finger in front of her making her giggle.

        As he played with the small girl, he frowned slightly as he looked over the basket that she had been left in. Why would someone leave someone so precious on the doorstep of his castle? It was truly a shame for those that did leave the little girl as Eret couldn’t help but slowly smile again as the little girl grasped onto his finger.

        “You’re not going to have to worry little one. You can stay here with me and you can be the princess of this castle.” He promised her, hugging her lightly, making her giggle. “I’ll make sure you’re safe and happy. It will take me a little while to learn how to do it all properly but I’ll learn. How does that sound…(Y/N)?”

        He chuckled as he moved his head back as she reached for her glasses. Yeah, this sounded like a beautiful idea.

          Dream (The Very Start)

        Dream rolled his eyes behind his mask as he heard George screaming in the distance, Sapnap laughing wildly in return. Those two never know how to stop.

        “Come on you two! We need to build a house before the night comes.” Dream called to them. “Stop goofing off.”

        Yet, he could still hear George’s high-pitched scream and he just chuckled and shook his head at his friends’ behavior. They were the company he kept and he honestly wouldn’t trade them for anything.

        Eventually, they did stop screwing and they were able to get to work on building their first home of the new land they had. The three of them joked and there was some arguing still between Sapnap and George but it just made it peaceful for the three of them. It was how their lives were.

        Dream went to go look for some sheep to get wool for beds before night fully struck, leaving the two “children” at the house. As he went searching, he jumped when he heard the sound of screaming, but it wasn’t liking George’s scream. It was quieter but still a scream.

        “Hello?!” Dream called as he pulled out his stone sword.

        As he went towards the noise, he realized it wasn’t a scream of terror as he first thought it was. No, it was a screaming cry, the kind a child would make. He started sprinting at that thought and skidded to a stop as he found the infant that was making the sound laid on top of a rock, a group of three zombies trying to get it.

        Dream gripped onto his sword before shouting to get their attention and moved back, quickly taking care of the mobs. He pushed his smiley mask to the side of his face as he finished them off and rushed over to the baby.

        “Hey! Hey. It’s ok now.” He told them as he climbed up next to them, dropping his sword at the bottom. “All the bad things are gone.”

        He gently picked up the baby, shushing them as he put a hand on top of their head. Slowly, they quieted down and Dream smiled wiping their tears away.

        “Hey, there you go. See? There’s nothing to cry about.” He chuckled before screwing his face up to look funny.

        The child giggled and he grinned.

        “There we go. Now, let’s check you out.” He muttered, looking them over. “No injuries. That’s very good princess. Now, what are you doing out here?” He asked as he looked around, seeing no signs of human life other than the two of them.

        Dream’s blood boiled slightly. Someone would just leave a child out here? If it wasn’t for him, she would have died!

        “You got nowhere to go huh? Well, you don’t have to worry.” He said, carefully sliding down.

        He picked up his sword, putting it back in its sheath, before walking back towards his friends.

        “I’ll take care of you. You’ll be the princess of our new land! You, me, and your two idiot uncles.” He laughed, the tiny girl giggling at the sound. “And I’ll make sure you always have a reason to smile.”

[ravennm84]

Of Moldy Bread and Cockroaches

I’ve seen a few fics where Lila reports the bakery to the health department and then plants bad pastries and pests just as the inspector arrives and gets the bakery shut down. I started wondering, what would happen if she got caught doing that? Warm-Fuzzies and please enjoy!!

Lila kept watch as she waited for the health inspector to finally arrive. She had made multiple fake reports about the bakery over the past week to get someone to come out, but no one had come yet. And she had found the perfect spot to make sure she saw the man arrive, too! She was in disguise in the park, on a bench that had a clear view of the bakery entrance, the side entrance that went to the Dupain-Cheng home, and still let her stay hidden. She didn’t have to worry about school at the moment since her stupid class and teacher thought she was visiting the royal family in Spain, and her gullible mother thought school was out for another akuma attack. Both of which gave her an alibi so no one would suspect her when Maribrat and her goody-goody parents were humiliated and lose everything.

She was almost too distracted by her daydream of Marinette crying and homeless to see a very professional looking man step out of a taxi in front of the bakery. He looked at the display with a very critical eye before writing some things down on his tablet. That had to be the health inspector she had been waiting for. Once she saw him entering the front, Lila hot footed it to the side entrance to sneak in. 

The door was locked, but she had come prepared with a lockpick set she had gotten a couple years ago. It was really too easy to get inside. In fact, it had been much harder to get the fake evidence she would need to shut the place down. She discovered while going through the dumpster for old pastries that the bakery didn’t throw away much of anything. They sold out most of the time, and the things that didn’t were donated to a local homeless shelter. It took three days of dumpster diving to find anything, which ended up being a single batch of croissants that had burned in the oven. Heck, collecting some cockroaches from a restaurant dumpster down the street had been easier; albet, a lot more disgusting.

Once inside, Lila crept towards the door as she heard Mme. Cheng speaking to the man. He was, in fact, the health inspector. A malicious grin stretched across her face as she put the first moldy croissant on the counter next to the-

“What are you doing here?” A deep voice growled behind her.

Lila froze for a moment, suddenly realizing that she had heard Mme. Cheng speaking with the inspector, but not M. Dupain. She couldn’t let herself get caught! She was facing away from him and he hadn’t seen her face yet, so there was still a chance. Grabbing the first thing she could, she didn’t even look to see what it was, she swung it around at the towering man before trying to run past him. 

Despite hearing him curse in pain, Lila didn’t make it two steps before the man grabbed her by the collar of her jacket and lifted her off of the ground. She swung her object at him again, only for the enraged man to grab her wrist and twist, forcing her to drop it with a shout as it clanged to the floor. 

The noise drew Sabine and the inspector to the back where they say Tom holding Lila off the ground. Furious and still trying to escape, she tried kicking at him only for him to release her wrist, grab her ankle, and then release her jacket so she was hanging upside down. More items hit the floor as her hat fell off, a couple of croissants and the tupperware container of cockroaches fell from her pockets, and landed next to a bloody knife…

Uh-oh.

Looking up, she saw that his right arm was bleeding from where she had slashed him with the knife, which had her fingerprints all over it. She was going to be in so much trouble unless she could think of a way out of this!

“What happened, Tom?” Sabine asked, worried when she saw her husband’s bleeding arm and was slightly confused by the girl hanging upside-down in their kitchen. It took a moment before she seemed to recognize Lila as the girl that had gotten her daughter expelled a few weeks before.

“I was coming down to meet Inspector LaStare with you and caught this girl putting bad pastries with the others.” 

“That’s not it!” Lila yelled in a panic and she wiggled in his grip, resembling a fish on a hook. “I-I-I was- I was getting rid of them! I was taking them off the counter to throw them away!”

“And your container of cockroaches?” Asked Sabine, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring dubiously at the girl.

“Those aren’t mine! I swear! If you would just let me explain-”

“I’ve already heard enough to recognize your voice, young lady,” the inspector snapped as he stepped closer to glare at Lila. “I bet you weren’t paying attention when you called the health department all those times and the recording told you that your call would be monitored and recorded. And when a single business gets over twenty complaints in less than a week, it gets some attention. But when we listen to the recordings and hear the same voice for every message, we figure it’s someone with a vendetta against the establishment. Still, we do our do-diligence and inspect the establishment, but I had no idea how stupid a person would be to attempt to plant fake evidence while I was here, in full view of the security cameras.”

She couldn’t help her surprised gasp as she, while still hanging upside down in the hulking baker’s grip, looked around the kitchen ceiling until her eyes landed on the cameras. One pointed at the side door she had picked open and the other pointed at the counter where she had put the moldy pastry.

Sabine leaned in close, glaring straight into Lila’s upside-down eyes. “Young lady, what is your mother’s phone number?” It was clear that it was more of a demand than a question, but she was still trying to think of a way out of trouble before Sabine grabbed her face and forced Lila to look at her. “You can either tell me her number now, or you can tell the police so she can go pick you up at the station while they tell her all the crimes you’re being charged with.”

Angry at being caught and forced to call her mother, Lila thought of what she could do as she tried to look and sound pitiful as she recited her mother’s number. Not difficult since she was red-faced from hanging upside-down for so long. She might not be able to get out of trouble, but she’d be damned if they didn’t pay for humiliating her.

After Sabine stepped into the front of the bakery to make the call, Lila tearfully looked up at Tom. “Can you please put me down? I’m getting really dizzy.”

She could tell that the man was tempted to drop her on her head, but he was too much of a goody-goody like his daughter and he eased her gently to the floor. As soon as he let go of her ankle, Lila’s uninjured hand snapped out and grabbed the tupperware of cockroaches, ripped off the lid, and flung the insects across the floor. 

Tom and Inspector LaStare yelled in surprise and disgust as Lila attempted to escape, this time running for the front of the bakery. She actually made it out of the kitchen, but ended up face to face with Sabine. Without a word, the woman grabbed Lila’s by the arm, flipped her over her shoulder to the floor, and twisted her arm to where she couldn’t move.

“Are you okay, Tom?” Sabine called, her voice eerily calm to Lila’s ears.

“She flung those cockroaches across the kitchen! They’re everywhere!” Tom yelled as he and the inspector scrambled to try and kill or capture the insects.

“I’ve already called her mother and the police, they’ll be here any minute.”

Lila’s struggles doubled when she heard that. “You said you wouldn’t call the police if I gave you my mom’s number!”

Sabine merely twisted the girl’s arm a little more, halting her struggles rather than letting her arm break. “I said no such thing. I only said you could choose whether to talk to your mother here or at the police station. And I promise you, young lady, your mother is going to hear everything you’ve been up to. Including what you’ve been doing Marinette.”

~oOo~

The fallout had been epic after the police and Lila’s mother arrived at the bakery. 

Greta Rossi had been in denial at first, not wanting to think that her daughter was capable of such terrible behavior. But it was hard to argue with the video evidence and eyewitness accounts of Lila attempting to plant moldy pastries, vindictively releasing the cockroaches in the kitchen, or attacking Tom Dupain with a knife, which would require stitches. 

It got even worse when school let out for lunch and the majority of Lila’s classmates came rushing over when they saw the police and ambulance at the bakery. Mme. Rossi had asked them why they were all out when there was an akuma on the loose. The class asked her why they were back in Paris since she was supposed to be in a meeting with the royal family of Spain. It became apparent after a few more minutes of back and forth that Lila had been lying for the entire time they’d been in France and Greta would have to meet with M. Damocles and Mme. Bustier soon about her daughter’s absences and failure to contact her.

When the police were placing handcuffs on Lila, she started shrieking. “You can’t do this to me! I have diplomatic immunity! Let me go or I’ll get you fired and Italy will invade France for what you’re doing to me!”

“Wrong!” Greta spoke over Lila as she approached her daughter. “I’m a secretary at the embassy, not a diplomat. Only I have immunity, you don’t. I was lucky to even be able to bring you on assignment rather than leave you with your Zio and Zia in Italy. But I see that was a mistake, and now both of us will have to pay for that mistake!”

Lila continued to shriek and curse as she was forced into the back of the police cruiser and taken to the police station. 

In the end; Lila was charged with corporate sabotage, breaking and entering, assault with a deadly weapon, and slander by Tom and Sabine. She was also charged for truancy, forgery, bullying, slander, and cyber bullying for what she’d done to Marinette at school. Lila’s mother was forced to pay for an exterminator to take care of the cockroaches, as well as all of the supplies and pastries that had been at the bakery and had to be thrown out due to the infestation that Lila had attempted to cause. But the worst was having to pay restitution for the time the bakery was closed. Turns out, Tom and Sabine’s bakery really was the top bakery in Paris and had the receipts to prove it.

There had been some worry that the temporary shutdown would hurt the bakery’s reputation, but Inspector LaStare, with the help of Nadja Chamack, had seen to it that none of the problems would blow back on the Dupain-Chengs. Inspector LaStare had gone on record stating that it was a rare occasion where an establishment was completely innocent of the accusations brought against it, but this was one of those times. He then showed footage of Lila planting the moldy pastry, assaulting Tom with the knife, and flinging the bugs into the kitchen before attempting to escape. He also stated that he was personally working with the Dupain-Chengs to make sure that the bakery was up to code and open as soon as possible so all of Paris could get back to enjoying their favorite pastries.

Viewers all over Paris were appalled at the actions of the teenage girl,discovering her vendetta was against Marinette since she knew about Lila’s lies. While laughing at her as they watched Tom hold her upside-down by her leg and Sabine flip the fleeing girl over her shoulder via security footage. The footage ended up being shared by people all over YouTube and gained millions of views, showing their support for the Dupain-Chengs and humiliating Lila on a now global level.

There was also sympathy towards Marinette and outrage towards the Francois Dupont administration when Nadja reported how Lila had also been bullying Marinette without receiving any help from the school. This would result in both Damocles and Bustier being suspended from their jobs until they completed training in regards to handling bullies.

With all the publicity against Lila Rossi, Gabriel Agreste had been left in a difficult position since Lila had only recently been named a new spokesmodel for his brand. Adrien, however, offered a solution to save face and help the brand in the future. So, when Nadja was doing a followup on the story the following week, Gabriel did a video interview where he very publicly announced Lila’s termination from the company for her actions and announced that he had offered Marinette an internship and a scholarship to the fashion university of her choice, so long as she was accepted. This caused a slew of universities to scout Marinette themselves, as it wasn’t every day a fashion mogul does a public shout out to a girl in college. And just like that, sales and public opinion of the Agreste brand went up.

Lila watched all of this unfold from her prison cell outside of Paris. She had been tried as an adult and was caught committing perjury during her trial, which prompted the judge to give her the maximum sentence for her crimes. She couldn’t even enjoy the pleasure of being akumatized anymore since she was so far out of the city. All she could do was sit in her cell eating moldy bread with cockroaches as her only friends as she sulked on the fact that she had failed, and the entire world was laughing at her.

Taglist:

@2confused-2doanything @7-sage-7 @aadnrsstar @abrx2002 @awkwardromances @bayball @babylovebug18 @botanicalfoxx @back-cats-and-broken-mirrors @caffeinetheory @cheshire5210 @chocolateherringtacofan @city-of-all-tunas @classycollectorreviewworld  @corabeth11 @chocolatechipcookiesandcamembert @darkened-flame @delightfulcookiesrecipespizza @fandom-trapped-03 @ghostmaster @iamblinkmarvelarmy @interobanginyourmom @izang @jesussavedevenme @kazedancer @kitten12113 @lady-phoenix-of-tardis @lilypotter2018 @lunataravler @ladylupuscrow @maskedpainter @miraculouslydumb @nerd-nowandforever @ola-is-dead @pandacatxd @plushbookworm @plz-excuse-my-inner-ravenclaw @pheonix-biach @pandora-fucking-box @raiderofthelostbooks @ramos123 @rowanrouge @rowanyx @ren121 @seesea22 @seraphichana @sashakoi @shypeacekitten @tazer6787 @that-girl-sakea @thecrazyfantrollshasmoved @the-smallest-kittenz @tishwinchesterannabethjackson @t1dwarrior-of-earth @ulmban @with-forward-motion @wonderbat91939 @zoiechance

[madmaddyenby]

/rp /dsmp

ok so- c!tommy. we are all aware he’s traumatized, and experiences ptsd from being in traumatic experiences, this is basically fact.  while i’d like to talk how c!tommy experiences ptsd, i’d like to bring up a thing i haven’t seen mentioned a lot when it comes to c!tommy and his trauma- c-ptsd.  also known as complex-ptsd.   it occurs when someone experiences something traumatizing for a period of time.

[image description: A screenshot of text with the words “CPTSD stands for Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is a mental health condition in which a person might experience intense PTSD symptoms that coincide with other mental issues. CPTSD occurs in people who have been subjected to on going traumatizing experiences”. end description]

which, as we know, the exile arc fits the description of “ongoing traumatizing experiences” pretty fucking well.  the exile was basically just two weeks of trauma.  for a lot of reasons too, there was dream abusing tommy, tommy being isolated, tommys own depression/suicidal thoughts/bad mindset in general.   this would all be considered a ongoing traumatizing experience(s).  

ptsd is very similar to c-ptsd in how it develops, but ptsd occurs after one singular traumatizing event . (by the way, the event doesnt have to be life or death, it could be something like witnessing or hearing about a shocking event!!!)

symptoms of c-ptsd overlap with ptsd a good lot of the time, due to them both being trauma disorders.  however, there are a few differences.  here r some symptoms of c-ptsd, alot of which are ptsd symptoms that alot ofpeople with c-ptsd experience as well

reliving the traumatic experience

avoiding certain situations 

changes in beliefs and feelings about yourself and others

hyperarousal (jitteriness, being on alert, etc)

somatic symptoms (physical symptoms with no underlying cause)

lack of emotional regulation 

change in consciousness

negative self-perception

difficulty with relationships

distorted reception of abuser

loss of system of meanings

now, i’ll go over which of these fit our boy c!tommy, and how they fit for some of them atleast.  i will only be talking about the things that are a result from c-ptsd, but also c-ptsd works where it coincides with other mental illnesses a person has so.  its also important to note that within a person these symptoms might not stay the same over time, and not everyone who has c-ptsd or ptsd is going to experience it the same.   (so not talking abt how pain affects him after dying in the prison, though that is a clear sign of ptsd) 

reliving the traumatic experience

tommy’s done this with exile a few times, when revisiting logstedshire, when he saw the craters in logstedshire, when visiting dream in prison, when during the disc finale dream dug the hole and told him to put his armour in, etc etc, he’s even described himself as being trembly in the fingers near plain biomes, while visting logsted he mentioned how shaky it made him to be there, and when he visited logsted one time he had an immediate reaction to seeing a hole in the ground that came off as him reliving it. flashbacks come in from sensations during a traumatic event, like sight, feeling, emotion, etc, etc.  it seems like with these he’s experiencing more of a reliving the emotions kind of thing. 

avoiding certain situations 

i was originally not gonna include this one, but thinking about it, he kind of does in a way.   this symptom also includes keeping yourself preoccupied to avoid thinking about it, which is something c!tommy seems to do alot.  with focusing on building the hotel, and doing tasks, or grinding for supplies instead of actually thinking about it.  

changes in beliefs and feelings about yourself and others

c!tommy uh. does this a lot.  a lot of it stems from how during exile tommy was isolated and made to believe no one cared for him, and even if that wasn’t true c!tommy never really got much closure on that.  hes not really trusting ppl that b4 were really close to him, tubbo n ranboo for example

lack of emotional regulation

this can also be described as uncontrollable feelings.  this is the one i’ve wanted to talk about the most i think- because this is really fits c!tommy.  he tends to lash out alot, for example burning the flower c!ranboo gave him, there are a bunch more examples of this that include him yelling at others, that one time when he spleefed c!jack 

negative self-perception

yeah.  theres a few examples of this one, the one that first comes to mind is that time during the green festival where he was talking about how he was worse than everyone he didn’t wanna be (including his abuser, c!dream...) .  theres now when he was building his tower by the prison when he was saying he couldn’t use the cobble because it was too him, and people didnt like the cobble. alot of this i think comes from c!dream making him feel basically worthless in exile :(

difficulty with relationships

  Yeah. um.  Alot for this one!!! The first to come to mind is c!tubbo.  c!tommy and c!tubbos relationship is very very wonky, especially considering recent events with tommy feeling like he is being replaced with c!ranboo.  (which he isnt by the way! he just feels as though, which is a valid feeling for him to have :]) .  another person that comes to mind is c!ranboo.  he’s even mentioned how his and ranboos relationship goes back and forth quite alot.  its not very surprising to see that he has difficulty with relationships especially considering a lot of the reason that the exile affected him so badly was because he felt so alone and was so isolated from his friends.  another thing that comes to mind, is when he made c!sam sign that contract promising hat he’d be his best friend and protect him.  theres most likely way more that can be said here, but this is the first stuff that comes to mind.  

distorted reception of abuser

um... yeah.  this one.  this can also be described as , “ becoming preoccupied with the relationship between you and your abuser. It can also include preoccupation with revenge or giving your abuser complete power over your life. “  which is um.  yeah.  c!tommy.  he’s mentioned how whenever he’s around c!dream he feels like hes conditioned to be his friend (which. yea . he was .).  right after he left logstedshire this was very very prominent, he was the biggest c!dream apologist around (/j), saying things like “dream didnt do anything wrong” and even explaining how he wasnt sure about things when it comes to c!dream, that his mind became flip floppy whenever he thought about him.   right now, hes focused on getting back at c!dream, not fully for revenge, mainly for his friends and how he doesnt want c!dream to go around killing and reviving everyone, but the point still stands.  (this all makes me extra sad because he had gone to the prison the second time in the first place to get closure :(( )

loss of system of meanings

Systems of meaning refer to your religion or beliefs about the world.  This can also refer to getting a strong sense of hopelessness or despair about the world, which as of late mainly c!tommy seems to have.  mainly referencing in his stream where he visited dreams bunker, he was asking what the point was of finding things that made him happy if dream was just going to get out the prison and destroy it.  theres also a few things that also go with this, in one stream while he burnt down ponks lemon tree for sam nook he said  "thats still decaying, but yknow, arent we all." and that one time when he gave that hotel invitation to c!techno he was like “ahahha we could die tomorrow anyway” 

-

its also important to note that, “Any type of long-term trauma, over several months or years, can lead to CPTSD. However, it seems to appear frequently in people who’ve been abused by someone who was supposed to be their caregiver or protector. “ Which is.. fairly accurate in c!tommy’s situation.  c!dream might’ve not been a caregiver or protector necessarily but he was still someone that was looking after him yknow? 

there are most likely more things than what i layed out that show that c!tommy most likely also has cptsd, however this is just the stuff that i thought up :] add to the post if you’d like to!

(also this isn’t saying that c!tommy doesnt have ptsd, he had both ptsd and c-ptsd. also i am not an expert about ptsd, cptsd, or mental health in general, if i got any information wrong let me know)

[poptimus-prime]

Uhhhh, cheesy double date material in which someone made a pie, and someone else doesn't understand why the word nutsack is hilarious out of his mouth.

June groaned as she stretched out her back and leaned against the tree, relieved that it blocked out just enough sun. Liv giggled and smirked behind her sun hat, shoving it into June’s face once she sufficiently had her guard down.

“Ack–!” She exclaimed, pulling the hat off of herself and throwing it at the other. Liv smacked it away, starting up her hissing laugh that finally caught Optimus’ attention.

“Are you both alright over there?” He asks, precariously balancing a cube on his knee.

“Liv just laughs like a goose because she is my silly goose.” June replies, gently grabbing Liv’s chin and kissing her forehead.

“You two are disgusting.” Ratchet groans as he puts copper into his own cube. Optimus maintains a quizzical expression, almost tilting his helm to one side.

“Is that not the sound geese make to warn you before they, quote, ‘bite your nutsack?’” He asks, making liberal use of finger quotes.

The humans both paused, turning to look at him with bewildered expressions before breaking down into an uproar of laughter that scared the birds away. Ratchet made an exasperated huff, disappointed that his birdwatching was cut short.

“You heard that line from one of the children, didn’t you?” He asks Optimus.

“I mean…yes, but I don’t understand why they are laughing. Being bitten by an animal is no laughing matter.”

“The delivery, my dear.” Ratchet sighed, gently kissing Optimus’ shoulder.

“You two…are disgusting.” Liv parroted with a smirk in between breaths as she calmed down from her laughing. Ratchet flipped the bird at her–another gesture that he had learned from the children–and she flipped one right back.

“Hey. Behave, this is supposed to be a nice lunch date, not a honky tonk simulator.” June scolds them both as she opens up the cooler and starts taking food out.

“I do not think it will remain peaceful for long, June. Ratchet knows how to get a party started.” Optimus gave a rare smirk from behind his cube as he brought it up to his mouth. The medic gave him an indignant glare and a pout, but said nothing in response.

He had no rebuttal, after all.

“Hey, Livvi, what’s this?” June pulled out a slightly rumpled pie tin, looking up as the other let out a gasp of dramatic horror.

“Nonono, you weren’t supposed to see that yet–ah jeez, it got all crushed…” 

“Well, yeah, you stuffed it underneath everything, including the icepacks.” A soft sigh. “I’ve already seen it, you may as well tell me.”

Liv blushed and tapped her index fingers together. “I dunno, you said you really liked smores the last time we went out on something like this…so I made you a smores pie? I, uh, I made sure not to put milk in it.”

June looked down at the pie and then back up at Liv before smiling one of her soft smiles. “I appreciate that, thank you.”

“Of course!” Liv nuzzled her gently and set the pie aside. “Anything for you.”

“Stop it, you’re gonna kill me.”

“No.”

Optimus chuckled a bit and leaned into Ratchet, who was watching with a somewhat perturbed expression. “This reminds me of when you brought me rust sticks every time you came to the Archives.”

“They’re still laying it on real thick.” He grumbled, turning a little blue.

“You’re just jealous because we have competition for ‘cutest couple’ now, aren’t you?” Optimus had a rather smug expression for someone typically opposed to such frivolous contests.

“I have no idea where you’d get an idea like that from.” The medic pouted, setting his cube on a nearby boulder and crossing his arms.

“Would you like the evidence in chronological order or alphabetical order?”

“GAH!”

[its-deputy-caleb]

does the vdl gang include sadie because 😢😢😢😢😢 my lesbian meow meow SKLSKDKSJS but if u do!!! i was wondering if you could write a post-game sadie (bounty hunting, gun-slinging, gaslight gatekeep girlboss)/female reader where sadie is being paid to bodyguard rich/high-profile reader thank u so much 😭

hell yess it does, now warning i've never written for sadie so this might be terrible but i gave it a go! i hope you enjoy this!! :))

----------------------------------

Gosh you absolutely hated your father sometimes. Not only had he ruined your plan for a relaxing weekend but he had dragged you off to one of his business parties again.

You had all these plans to get new dresses fitted at the tailor in Blackwater before heading home for a warm bath on your families Estate. You were so excited too, since the entire property would be yours for three days. Granted that didn’t include the array of maids, bodyguards and groundkeepers that worked on the Estate but for three peaceful days both your parents and siblings would be out of your hair.

That was until you received a letter from you father requesting you be dressed in your finest gown and make your way to Saint Denis immediately in order to arrive by sundown. Your family had been in the oil industry for many generations now and were extremely wealthy, even more so with the downfall of Leviticus Cornwall and these business parties were just one of the many responsibilities you had to attend to.

The whole point of the party is to make polite pleasantries with potential business partners and establish connections on to where your family’s company could grow. And it was so, so boring.

As you walk down the steps you see a young woman leaning against the carriage with a shotgun in hand. She’s dressed in slacks and a red waistcoat and a large leather jacket draped over her shoulders. Her beautiful golden hair is just peaking out from underneath her hat and her soft amber eyes match it perfectly. Wait a minute…beautiful??

“Who the hell are you?”

You hear her scoff before she rolls her eyes at your bluntness, some may call it rude but you’ve always preferred blunt or honest. Your father always told you that was more lady-like.

“Don’t get so upset Missy, I’m Sadie, your bodyguard until the regular guy comes back. I’m only here to take you to Saint Denis and I’ll be long gone.”

You huff angrily as you hold your hand out to her waiting for her to help you onto the carriage but she never does. Fine, you’ll do it yourself.

“It’s Madam to you and his name is Hamish.”

You hear her mumble a ‘whatever’ under your breath and get comfortable in the carriage. You signal to the driver up front to get the carriage moving as you watch Sadie mount her horse and ride up front. It was going to be a long ride to Saint Denis.

-

To say the ride was long was an understatement. You spent the first two hours staring at the seconds go by on your platinum gold pocket watch and twiddling with the ends of the ribbon in your hair. It was all rather boring until there was yelling from outside.

Fear wells in your stomach at the riders approaching, all heavily armed and with a murderous look in their eye. You anxiously grip the side of the carriage, looking out the window as Sadie and the two other guards aim their weapons high.

When the shooting starts, you hide between the lush velvet seats of the carriage, doing your best to avoid the gunfire. You’d never been one to defend yourself, its why your father had guards do it for you. You could’ve never matched to a woman like Sadie. So you’re complimenting her now? You’re in the middle of being shot at!

All your thoughts are interrupted by a scream, one you’ve now realised is your own as the carriage is flipped and sent you flying. Your back hits the door which barges open under the force of your body hitting it, leaving you lying in a puddle of mud.

You’re frozen for a moment, your body still trying to catch up with your adrenaline riddled mind. What the hell just happened?

Eventually the shooting stops and Sadie is running over to you in a panic to see if you’re okay. Her hair has fallen from her pony tail and strands of her blond hair blow over red cheeks from running.

“Are you alright?!”

“You ruined my dress, look at it! I can’t go to the party like this— and my hair! Oh my god my hair!”

Sadie stops dead in her tracks. Here she was worrying over your safety after not only saving your life but putting her own at risk and you’re more worried about your hair.

“Now listen here Missy, I did not put my ass on the line to save you just so you could whine about your— Oh jeez you’re bleeding.”

She rips her leather glove off with her teeth before bringing her surprisingly soft hand to your face. Its then you realise the cut on your cheek bone that must have come from the shattered glass of the window when you fell out.

You’re lost for words, mumbling incoherently under her touch as she takes the ribbon from your hair and begins to use it to stop the small trickle of blood there. She’s so concentrated and focused on your wound that you can’t help but blush under her intense gaze, feeling like the fool for speaking out.

“I’m sorry…”

She sighs, dropping the bloodied ribbon and puts her gloves back on.

“Ain’t nothing to be sorry for Missy, common now, let’s get you to the party.”

She takes your hand and leads you to her horse which is huge up close. Much larger than when you saw it back at the Estate. Her arm comes to wrap around your waist so she can hoist you up and sit you side saddle on her horse before hopping on herself.

When she starts riding you nearly fall of the large creature and wrap your arms around her waist out of fear of slipping. Sadie voiced that she didn’t mind you holding on and the rest of the ride was spent making pleasant small talk.

You learnt that Sadie’s horse was called Hera and that she was her pride and joy. She worked in all sorts of jobs as a gun for hire, working as a bounty hunter and personal body guard most of the time, she even told you of her most recent bounty of Shane Finley.

You were amazed at how brave and wild Sadie was. How she didn’t fear working on a job that could get her killed at any moment, no she didn’t shy away from it— instead she ran straight towards danger.

“I feel like such a bore compared to you, all I do is attend parties and lounge around the Estate all day. When I’m feeling extra adventurous its a trip to the store for some cakes and maybe a new dress not hunting and killing.”

You can hear her smile in front of you, a little laugh coming from under her nose.

“I’ve met plenty’a boring rich folk Missy, you are not one of them. For starters most of them don’t find themselves falling out of carriage windows on their way to dinner parties.”

The playful tone is enjoyable for you both and it continues through the rest of the ride. It seems like ‘Missy’ is a nickname that’ll be sticking with you for the meantime but you’d be lying if you said you didn’t like the way it made you smile and your heart skip a beat.

-

It was dark by the time Sadie pulled up to the party, hitching Hera and this time, taking your hand to help you down. Her hand didn’t leave yours until you were standing out the front gates where she dusted as much of the mud off your dress as she could muster. Her hand came to her neckerchief and untied it before ripping it in half.

You gasp at what she was doing to the fine fabric before she was tying it in your hair where the ribbon had sat, tucking the loose strand behind your ear.

“Now you’re looking like a real lady.”

She gives you a gentle nod before making her way back over to her horse.

“Wait! You’re not coming in? I thought you were gonna protect me?”

Sadie gives you a soft but broken smile, one that says she’s trying not to hurt your feelings.

“I handle outlaws and thieves not parties for the rich, you’ll handle yourself just fine Missy. Ain’t no more for me to do I’m afraid.”

You take her hand in yours squeezing it in a silent plea for her to stay. Despite the rough beginnings, you’re actually enjoying her company and would hate to see her leave.

“Will you wait for me…please?”

-

When the party ends you sigh defeatedly. You’re tired and worn out from today’s attempted robbery and excruciating party. You’re expecting to do home in one of your father’s carriages when you spot Sadie leaning against wall with a cigarette in her hand.

“Common Missy, It’s my job to see you home safe.”

That night as Sadie led you home on the back of Hera, your arms came to wrap around her as they had before. You cuddled up to her as you let out a soft yawn and slowly began to drift off to sleep. Your head rested on her shoulder as you slowly let sleep consume you, a large smile on your face.

Needless to say you now have a new personal body guard.

[moodymelanist]

If you’re taking nessian prompts they show up to the same halloween party accidentally wearing matching costumes so people think they’re a couple bonus points if cassian has the sluttier costume

OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS HAHAHAHA. also shoutout to @talkfantasytome for the funniest line in here. @nessianweek

Nesta and the girlies look something like this and Cassian looks something like this but with shorter shorts hahahah

“Are you almost ready to go?” Nesta called out to her friends while she adjusted her costume in front of her bedroom mirror. She was dressed as Hugh Hefner, complete with a silky, dark red robe, a lacy black corset, tiny matching shorts, and dark black tights. 

“Yeah, I just need to find my shoes!” Gwyn shouted back as she raced around their apartment. She, Nesta, and Emerie shared a three-bedroom apartment about five minutes from campus, and it had been one of the best decisions Nesta ever made to live with them.

Nesta pulled on her own heels and found the sailor’s hat to complete her costume before looking around for their other roommate. “Emerie? Status update?”

“I’m ready,” Emerie declared while walking into Nesta’s bedroom. Her friend looked absolutely stunning in her Playboy bunny costume, the tiny black bodysuit showing off Emerie’s toned figure wonderfully. Instead of white bunny accessories, Gwyn and Emerie had decided to wear black ones instead, and Nesta whistled lowly as Emerie turned around to show off her little tail.

“You look amazing,” Nesta complimented. Emerie twirled again, flipping her dark waves around while Nesta looked on appreciatively. “I think Mor will lose her mind.”

“She already has,” Emerie replied, smirking. “Who do you think came costume shopping with me?”

Nesta laughed as the two of them made their way to the living room to wait on Gwyn. Thankfully, their redheaded friend didn’t keep them waiting too long, emerging from her bedroom in a similar outfit to Emerie but slightly more conservative. 

Emerie whistled lowly under her breath. “Damn, Berdara. Are you trying to kill someone?”

“Just you two,” Gwyn said cheekily. She looked amazing in black, Nesta thought, the color contrasting nicely with Gwyn’s bright hair and pale skin. 

“I think Azriel will have thoughts about that,” Nesta teased as she grabbed her keys.

“Not as many as Cassian will have,” Gwyn fired back. Nesta rolled her eyes but couldn’t help but wonder what he’d have to say about her costume -- probably something incredibly inappropriate, knowing him. 

“Let’s just call this Uber,” Nesta muttered, ignoring Emerie and Gwyn’s snickers. “I don’t need to respond to that kind of allegation.”

“It’s not an allegation if it’s true,” Emerie taunted. “Let’s just see what happens when we get to the party, hmm?”

Twenty minutes later, Nesta, Emerie, and Gwyn found themselves outside Rhys’ townhouse in awe. He’d gone all out on decorations, including cobwebs, skeletons, fake gravestones, a smoke machine... whatever it was, he had it. There were a couple people milling around outside, but from the bass pounding so loud they could feel it, the party was clearly going strong.

The three friends were swarmed with people the second they stepped inside. Nesta spotted several people she knew dressed in great costumes -- Tarquin as Aquaman, Elain and Lucien as Sleeping Beauty and Prince Charming, Amren as Edna Mode from the Incredibles -- but nothing made her jaw drop like seeing Cassian dressed up as a playboy bunny.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” she yelled over the music. He somehow heard her and did a similar double take before a wide smile took over his handsome features. “Cassian, what the fuck!”

“Nes, this is too perfect,” Cassian shouted back. Unlike Emerie and Gwyn, Cassian had every bare inch of skin on display that he could get away with. He only had on a tiny pair of black underwear, a tiny collar around his neck, and a pair of white bunny ears on top of his hair. “We’re matching!”

“Who the fuck told you my costume?” Nesta fumed. She spun and glared at Gwyn and Emerie, both of whom shook their heads and shrugged. “Someone did this on purpose.”

“I lost a bet,” Cassian explained. “Azriel told me I had to wear this as punishment.”

“That motherfucker,” she muttered under her breath. She told herself she was mad that Cassian matched her costume and not because of the way several partygoers were eyeing him appreciatively. She didn’t care how good he looked and certainly wasn’t wondering what his skin would feel like under her hands.

“What do you think, though?” Cassian asked. He spun around and she pretended that she didn’t sneak a peek at his ass. “Impressive, huh?”

Nesta snorted. “You’re nowhere near as impressive as you think you are, sweetheart.”

“Why don’t you look down and see just how impressive I am?” he fired back cheekily.

“Oh, fuck off --” she started to say.

“You look great, though,” Cassian interrupted her, complimenting her before she could really work herself up. He raked his eyes over her, his eyes lingering over her breasts and legs far longer than it should have. “What’s under the robe, Nes?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she replied. “And I thought I told you not to call me that.”

His eyes gleamed with challenge. “Are you inviting me to undress you?”

“Absolutely not,” she snapped. She crossed her arms over her chest and quickly dropped them after she realized what it did to her breasts, his smirk only infuriating her more. “Stop looking at me like that!”

“Like what?” he asked, leaning forward so he didn’t have to yell so loudly. She held back a shudder as his lips barely touched the outside of her ear. “You look sexy as hell. How else am I supposed to look at you?”

Nesta was saved from having to come up with a witty response when Mor appeared, dressed in a cute Tinkerbell costume. “Picture time, my bunnies! Everybody act like they like each other!”

Nesta spent the rest of the night actively denying how it felt way too good to have Cassian’s body pressed against her during the photos.