#the timeline doesnt last that long

[sieglinde-freud]

i love laslow and nyx’s supports and i love how they go from trauma dump central in the b support

to making fun of their angst in the a

like theyre soooo lame and it makes me emo and every time i watch this support i kick my feet and twirl my hair theyre SOOOOOOO SICKENING. WHO WROTE THIS. WHOOOOOOO

[gophergal]

I was thinking about this weird body horror bastard earlier

[k0mmari]

SYSTEM! SHEN YUAN AU

Okay, look, I've head a System SY idea for a while now (in fact, some of the ideas for this were used when I was first planning out Locked & Loaded), but after seeing @/artsarasp's System!SQQ AU, the brainworms have been once again come alive and I just need to get this out into the world. This is a very bare bones idea that I (probably) won't actually write, so walk with me for a second! Also this is going to be a very, very long post.

In this idea, the System actually is an interdimensional organization that deal with creating new worlds based on stories and making sure these worlds continue working as intended and (eventually), sending transmigrators to worlds that need 'improvement' (this improvement being very subjectice depending on which worker is assigned which story).

In SY's case, he's just someone who usually works behing a screen, in the most exciting cases he gets to guide transmigrators around but most of the time he just makes sure the stories 'code' is running normally and nothing world-breaking is going on in the stories (like someone managing to find a hack to skip defining plot points, or activating God-Mode somehow). He's very happy with this arrangement, btw! He was never one to run around and his boss has warned him once or twice for apparently being 'way too harsh' on the few transmigrators he got to be a System for.

Unfortunately, one day he is assigned to 'manually inspect' a world because a certain co-worker of his (Shang Qinghua) had been sent down there to handle a glitch but had gone missing instead. When SY asks why was he being the one asked to do this (not that he doesn't care for his friend, but he REALLY isnt made for running around), his boss says SY is the only other one who is familiar enough with the world to not get lost.

So that's how he find out SQH had managed to get himself stuck on the world he created (as a joke even, he hadn't even expected that when he was messing around with the company's program he would actually be able to create a new world based on the shitty novel he'd written as a human). And of course, SQH only having one friend, subjected SY to the story.

SY grumbles and denies ever seeing anything about SQH's story (or liking it, even if his boss kindly points out they never mentioned SY liked it) but eventually he agrees; and that's how he finds himself being teletransported onto the world of PIDW, carrying a pair of Debugging Sheers he'd never thought he would have to hold (he calls them Big Scissors), with the mission of finding SQH and dealing with the glitch that was still somewhere in the world.

Though, when he goes to message his supervisor about the specifics (where he should go or what was the last known location of SQH), he finds out that his Personal System has apparently already been affected by the glitch ("ALREADY??") that he was realizing worked more like a virus. Fortunately some messages were still going through, and his supervisor notified him they couldn't send him directly to the location he needed to be, specially because the virus seemed to have fragmented and spread to various parts of the stories timeline. SY now has to jump around through time a few times and slowly cut doen the glitches caused by the virus.

Thus begins Shen Yuan's Great Narrative Haunting (in real time.).

Luckily, for him, the place he first appeared was already one of the spots the virus has infected the world, and it seems to be in a town not too far away from him, so with a quick activation of the 'Ghost Mode' function (avaiable for all System staff to make it easier when they have to manually fix something, making them invisible and untouchable), SY heads to the town.

The glitch actually doesnt take too long to find (it was a buggy tree clipping onto a nearby river, which only needs a snip of the Big Scissors to disappear from reality), but when SY and passing through the town to find some better signal for his Personal System so he can jump forward to the next stop, he sees a group of snickering kids leaving an alleyway. A bit curious, he passes by the alley and barely manages to see through the pouring rain and spot a trembling figure on the floor. Of course, PIDW was never meant to be a happy or forgiving world, so SY is not surprised at the idea that some kids were bullying a smaller kid, though it still makes him upset.

He kneels close to the child and turns off 'Ghost Mode', pulling out an umbrella from his inventory (yes, System staff ALSO get an inventory, no one wants to have to carry aroung those big ass scissors), covering him from the rain. The boy is shaking from the cold, and even if SY can't check the boy's identity (since his system is still buggy), he reasons the probability of him coming into contact with an important character is very small, and even if System staff aren't supposed to interact with characters, he limits himself to at least getting the boy out of the rain.

Luo Binghe later wakes in a bench underneath a small shop's roof, covered in a thick cloth, having no idea how he'd gotten there besides the vague dream (or memory?) of a strangely dressed person patting his hair and taking him into their arms. He notices the rain has stopped and he's perfectly dry. Shen Yuan, seeing the kid seems to be doing well, finally jumps to his next location.

It doesn't take long for SY to figure out where he is when he loads onto the next mission location, in fact, he's almost certain he'd recognize the bamboo forest and calm, almost dream-like atmosphere of Qing Jing Peak anywhere. Seeing there that Qing Jing even exists in the first place, he deduces Binghe is still not emperor, so this time he makes sure to not be seen by any characters. It also doesn't take for SY to find his next target, as a commotion behind him catches his attention.

And oh, if he isn't familiar with the scene. A few older looking disciples push around a smaller looking boy, while a girl insistently shouts for the leader of the older disciples to stop. SY barely managed to appreaciate how Luo Binghe looks so cute as a child before (who he assumes is) Ming Fan snatches rips an amulet out of Binghe's neck. It's quite the heartbreaking scene to watch live, poor Binghe fighting for the only remaining piece of his adoptive mother without even knowing he's destined to never see it again. SY's Personal System may be buggy but it's still functional enough to detect if SY has a direct impact on the main storyline, so SY is basically forced to stand still and watch.

Though, since he had a clear view of the whole scene, when Ming Fan throws the jade pendant into the forest, SY can perfectly follow the arch of the necklace and sees where it landed, which is when an idea pops into his head. Distantly hearing Luo Binghe and NYY frantically searching for a necklace they'll never find, SY spots where the fake jade glimmers high up on a tree brench, though it's glimmer is distorted by the distinct sight of a glitch corrupting it's form. If SY were to follow standard procedure, he'd just have to bring out his Sheers and snip the necklace out of existence, but looking at it... Would it be so bad if he debugged the necklace the longer way?

Besides, if Binghe has the necklace or not, it's not like this one item is going to interfere with the major story anyways. SY isn't stopping Binghe from falling into the Abyss, he's just... Returning a lost item to it's intended owner.

Later, after an exhausting afternoon of what seemed to be searching through every nook and cranny of Qing Jing Peak's surrounding forest, Luo Binghe goes back to the shed he sleeps in utterly defeat and feeling strangely hollow; that is, until he opens the door and finds a new, thick blanket neatly folded in the middle of the shed, way too clean to be anything he had previously owned, and atop of it, his precious jade pendent, sitting there as if it never even dissapeared. Luo Binghe distantly notices that nobody that visits the shed ever lets the door closed after they visit.

The third location SY goes to leaves him no time to acclimatize, as he's immediately attacked by a beast, and only after (struggling to) kill it, does SY notice the unfortunate situation he was placed into: the Immortal Alliance Conference. By this point, he's already figured out his Personal System is most likely using Binghe's energy as Protagonist to make up for the energy it can't use due to it being partially corrupted, and the energy it needs to save up so SY can go back to the System's head quarters, so it really wasn't a surprise that he would be sent to this specific plot point, but dammit can't he avoid having to be near the place where his favorite character is thrown into hell??

And, well, there's also the problem that a beast attacked him, which meant it saw him, which meant his Ghost Mode was also glitching out, and after fiddling around which a half functioning System interface, it seems that the presence of the virus here is stronger than the other places, though still not the biggest chunk. Truly, just the cherry on top of his situation that he'd have to scurry around and somehow manage to not bump into anyone.

As is his luck, as SY tries to head closer to where his System is signaling the glitch's presence, other monsters continue attacking him, which besides slowing him down a considerable amount, it also causes the risk of him being picked up by the people watching the Conference through the Spirit Eagles circling the area, which is the last thing he needs.

Eventually he goes to the closest spot he can to the glitch, but a snapping sound behind him sends him into full panic. A person stands behind him, which leaves SY wondering how he managed to miss someone sneaking up on him like this. "You seem to have dropped something." the person says, and SY eyes immediately fall to his body, scanning himself to what he might have lost, and his hand basically flies to his throat when he notices the tassle that is usually nestled there is missing. He quickly turns around, only to come face to face to the golden protagonist, mister Luo Binghe himself.

Binghe tries interrogating SY as to what he's doing, sneaking around the supposedly sealed off Conference grounds, and SY, in his panicked state (slightly fuelled by a fanboy-induced craze) tries to fumble for excuses, but only when Binghe finally understands that the feeling he gets when looking at this strange person is an undeniable sense of deja-vu and tries asking SY if they'd met before, a loud rumblind shakes the ground: the Abyss has opened.

SY feels even more panicked, cause what this means is eventually, not only will he be discovered by Luo Binghe (his supervisor is going to kill him), but he could possibly be discovered by Shen Qingqiu, of all people! He doesn't get too much time to think about his grand escape however, as a piercing shriek comes from the Abyss rift. Right, how could he forget about the Black Moon Rhinoceros Python? And-- Oh, of course! Of course the damn thing would be virus-infected object!

After teaming-up with Binghe, the both of them manage to subdue the monster long enough that SY managed to snip it, though while they both catch their breath, SY belatedly realizes he just helped Binghe fight with the monster he was supposed to fight. Alone! The monster who was supposed to break his demonic seal! And, like clockwork, he can distantly hear what can only be SQQ's hurried steps through the forest! FUCK!!

With no other option, and Binghe now wanting to continue his interrogation, SY hurriedly start to walk towards the Abyss rift, frantically giving Binghe tips about what he could do in the Abyss to have an easier time, though when he catches a glimpse of green robes between the trees, SY types something on a floating screen and jumps backwards, Binghe letting out a shocked scream. Unfortunately, the protagonist won't be able to do nothing about the seemingly insane and way too familiar man who just jumped into the Abyss, as a rustling sounds behind him, and he's met with a newly regenrated Black Moon Rhino.

SY feels horrible about spawning a new one after Binghe just finished fighting one, but the story must continue, and with his Personal System finally free from most of the virus corruption, SY leaves one last gift as an apology and warping away before hitting the Abyss' ground. Later, when Binghe wakes up at the bottom of the rift after being pushed by SQQ, the first thing he sees is a qiakun pouch, full of useful items and tiny note at the bottom that reads 'Sorry!'

Pt.2

Pt.3

[taetebebe]

INFERNO VEIN INC.

Pairing: Jungwon x f!reader feat. Enhypen (Sci-fi/Mystery)

Synopsis: "You were never just the key. You were the memory it refused to forget." Disclaimer: memory loss, psychological collapse?, self-sacrifice, near-death states, emotional trauma, dissociation, claustrophobic environments, non-graphic medical procedures, and kissing

Word Count: ~ 11k

Author's note: The story as I've mentioned earlier is based on the writing on their shirts in this photo. FINALLY DONE!! Also officially at over 200 Followers so good timing <3 First time writing something like this or so long, so feedback is really appreciated. I think the story is a bit slow at the start so pls be patient with it I promise it gets better as you read. It can get a bit confusing, I've tried myself to clarify everything in the story but pls ask or point out anything that doesnt make sense, I'd love to elaborate. Ngl I am a bit nervous about posting this >.<

Prologue: The Missing Anchor

The building does not dream of you.  It remembers you.

In the dark before your arrival, it pulsed slow and soft—like lungs underwater. Breathing, but barely. No footsteps echoed through its corridors. No words touched its walls. The lights dimmed, flickered, and forgot their names. It wasn't supposed to feel anything after you disappeared. But somewhere in the base code, buried under every heartbeat and blinking sensor, there was a gap shaped like you. The Vein did not collapse—not fully. It couldn't. It clung to fragments. It stitched what it could. It endured. Jungwon kept it breathing. He stood in your place. Held the centre as best he could. But the Vein never truly listened—not the way it had when you were there. Not the way it did when your presence tethered timelines and kept the reality from unravelling. It chose him. But it loved you. And now you’re coming back. Except you don’t remember any of it.

Chapter One: The Arrival

The elevator smells like ozone and something sweet rotting beneath the floor. You try not to flinch as the walls hum softly—low and musical, like a distant note held too long. Beside you, the HR coordinator stands too still, her smile just a bit too wide to be human. You suspect she isn’t. Not really. "Sixteenth floor," she chirps, pressing her ID against the sensor. "Field Response Division. That’s your assignment." You nod, trying not to look like you're regretting the signature you don't remember signing. This job fell into your inbox like a glitch, and you accepted it like someone else moved your hand. The elevator slides open.

The hallway beyond curves slightly—not in a normal architectural way. It bends, like a spine adjusting itself. The carpet feels like flesh beneath your shoes. The lights don’t flicker. They breathe. “This building is… strange,” you say quietly. The HR coordinator’s smile sharpens. “You’ll get used to her.” You almost ask who ‘her’ is—but the door ahead opens before you can speak.

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The sixteenth floor is dim. Not dark, exactly—just oddly muted. Like the light knows better than to shine too loudly here. You both stop at a door. It’s ordinary enough. Steel frame. Frosted glass. A plaque that reads: FIELD RESPONSE TEAM – BLACK VAULT She knocks once, pauses, then pushes it open. Seven heads turn as you step in.

The air shifts. Not with hostility—but attention. Like entering a den of predators who have decided, for now, not to bite. They're young. Uniformed. Eyes sharp. You feel every glance land on your skin.

None of them match.

Not in the way a team usually does.

Their clothes are functional. Modified. Worn. "That the new blood?" asks a man with a lazy grin and dark hair curled over his forehead. He’s draped over the arm of a chair like he owns it—and the air around it. Hoodie half-zipped, tactical vest on top like he forgot to take it off last night. His boots are scuffed. His sleeves are unevenly rolled. There’s a stylus tucked behind one ear and a thermal mug in his hand. You get the feeling he’s like that every day. “Yes,” the coordinator says. “This is your new addition - qualified to be an anchor.”

A dark-haired man by the window whistles low—fitted black turtleneck, sleeves rolled, gloves tucked into his waistband. Slim-cut pants and combat boots. There’s a faint tear on the side of his collar, like someone grabbed it. He didn’t fix it. You don’t think he will. “A rookie? Ballsy. Some systems never fully reboot after losing a primary anchor. Some people don’t either.” “Don’t be a dick, Sunghoon,” someone mutters. Then it happens. The energy in the room drops—so suddenly your heart stutters. He’s already standing. Short black hair. Dark uniform—a black, close-fit thermal shirt with the sleeves rolled up just past his elbows. His jacket is a charcoal-grey field coat—unfastened, mid-length, slightly worn at the cuffs. His pants are standard-issue tactical, deep grey with reinforced seams, tucked neatly into matte black boots. There’s no clutter, no extra gear—just quiet utility. His only visible tech is a flat comm band strapped to his wrist, barely blinking.

Expression unreadable. When he looks at you, it’s not suspicion or curiosity. It’s recognition. Like he’s seen this moment before.

He walks to you, measured. “Name?” he asks. You give it. Voice steadier than you feel. He nods once. “Jungwon. Team lead. You report to me.”  “Just like everyone else” He adds as he looks around. “...Yes, sir.” Something shifts in his gaze. Not quite approval. But not disapproval, either. “No need for that,” he says. “Not the military.” You nod again, eyes flicking to the jagged black lines on his wrist. They shift under his skin when he moves—like they’re breathing, too. He turns to the others. “Treat her like you would any one of us.” Someone calls out, “Even Riki?” Laughter breaks the tension. Just a little. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Heeseung is the first to greet you formally. Tall. Relaxed. His smile comes easy—but his eyes are tired in the way only someone who never sleeps can be. He hands you a cup of strong black coffee. “If the walls whisper your name—don’t answer.” Jake—chaos in techwear: oversized bomber layered over a long-sleeve mesh shirt, belts that don’t hold anything, cargo pants—talks with his hands, and uses them to half-disassemble a drone mid-conversation. “Everything in here is alive. Especially the things pretending not to be.”

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You're still holding the coffee Heeseung gave you when you ask it. "So... what is this place, exactly?" They all pause. Like you asked something obvious—but sacred. Jake leans against the arm of the couch. “Officially? Inferno Vein Inc. anomaly containment facility…Unofficially?” He glances at the walls. “It’s a building that’s been alive longer than we’ve known how to ask the right questions.”

You blink. “Alive?” Jay nods once—he says less than the rest, but every word lands like a scalpel.. “The Vein isn’t made of tech. Not really. It grows. Breathes. Reacts. It’s older than the infrastructure they built around it. We just live inside it now.” Sunoo gestures to a nearby console, which blinks softly even though no one touched it. “It’s not like AI. It's not learning. It’s... remembering. Everything.” “Including you,” Sunghoon mutters, eyeing you with quiet curiosity.

Heeseung shrugs when you look at him. “You’re not the first one it noticed. It has a tendency of doing what it likes to reality. To time.” You blink again. “Oh um—I didn’t apply here. I got an acceptance letter. No contact. Just a report date.” There’s a beat of silence. Then Sunghoon, flat as ever: “Yeah. Same.” Jay—dark layers, fitted sleeves, black utility boots. His shirt’s tucked in like he didn’t have time to relax and never planned to—holds up three fingers. “Offer letter. Clearance badge. Signature I don’t remember writing.”

Jake hums. “Classic Inferno recruitment. You never apply. It just decides you’re already part of it.” You stare at them. “And you’re okay with that?”

Sunoo—looks the most composed: structured jacket, clean white collar underneath, slim pants tucked into soft-heeled boots—smiles, strangely calm. “We weren’t, at first. Then we started seeing things only the Vein could explain. Saving people from things no one else sees. Holding back anomalies that twist physics, memory, time.” Heeseung takes a sip of coffee. “We’re not employees. We’re immune responses.” Jake nods. “Each of us has a function. Jay's the dreamer - keeper of The Vein’s archive. Heeseung's our live recon, second in command”  Heeseung adds “Sunoo patches us up—physically and emotionally depending on the situation and makes sure we stay “patched” up.” “Sunghoon punches things very hard���defence” Sunoo joins in.

Sunghoon doesn’t disagree. He continues to study you like a problem he’s already solved. “We’ll see how long you last,” he says without malice. Heeseung speaks again, “Jake is our tech specialist. Decoder—I like to call him The Vein’s interpreter. And Riki is on security. ”

You glance at Jungwon, still near the map display. “Him?” Sunoo smiles faintly. His hands are steady. His eyes see more than they say. “He keeps us from falling apart. And hence probably the world too” Jake grins. “Team lead. By rank and by gravity. Current anchor” You look around confused. Heeseung helps, “Without an Anchor, the Vein becomes unstable, unpredictable, and eventually hostile.”

“And me?” you ask. Jay answers this time, his voice careful. “We’ll find out. Anchor potential apparently” Riki—dark sweatshirt with a worn patch on the shoulder, cargo pants tucked into well-worn sneakers. The fabric at his elbows is faded from leaning—leans forward, expression unreadable, speaking directly to you for the first time. “It picked you. Whether you like it or not.” You swallow. The walls breathe around you, soft and low. Like they’re waiting to see what you’ll do next.

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Jungwon stands at the head of the room during the briefing. His posture says calm. Command. Containment. But when his gaze flickers to you, it lands with weight—like he’s remembering something his body knows even if his mind can’t name it yet. Like almost. Almost like he remembers something he can’t prove. Almost like he’s trying not to reach for it. You study the others. Take in the layout. The flickering maps. The whispers in the vents. Then you feel it. The walls are watching. And they remember

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That night, your bed is too warm—like someone just left it. You wake to the sound of your name. You swear it came from the hall. From a voice that didn’t need to be loud to be sure. But no one is there. Just the soft hum of breathing stone. And the heartbeat of a building that never stopped missing you.

Chapter Two: The Fault Line

The Vein wakes you before the lights do. There’s no sound—only pressure. Like something whispering too close to your spine. You jolt upright in bed. The walls are pulsing faintly, a low, rhythmic glow sliding across the surface like breath held and released. It feels like a warning. You don’t remember falling asleep. But you feel like you’ve been called.

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By the time you reach the ops room, Jake and Riki are already there, shoulder-deep in a glowing console.  “Are you sure this console is safe?” “Define ‘safe.’ It hasn’t bit me today.” Cables snake around his wrist as he types, jaw tight. “It’s the West Wing,” Riki mutters. 

Jake adds,“Frequency spikes, inconsistent mapping. Like it’s… waking up too fast.” Heeseung enters next, gun strapped to his thigh, coffee in hand. “Translation?” Jake doesn’t look up. “Something’s breaking through.” Sunghoon strolls in with a yawn. “So we’re babysitting a building that has temper tantrums…Yet again.” Jay stands near the wall, arms crossed, brows furrowed. “The last time it pulsed like this—Sector Nine imploded.” Heeseung’s expression doesn’t shift. “We’re going in—Full sweep?”, he asks looking at Jungwon. Sunoo’s already packing medkits. Riki’s loading up surveillance gear.

Then there's Jungwon. He nods, granting permission. Still. Silent. Staring at the Vein’s walls like it's breathing secrets he almost understands. You move beside him. The tension wraps around him like gravity. And yet, when you’re close, it shifts—less tension, more awareness. Like the room isn’t the only thing holding its breath. “What is it?” you ask. For a moment, you think he’s going to say your name. Not because he forgot it—but because saying it might steady him. He doesn’t turn. Just tilts his head slightly, gaze fixed on the shifting walls.

“It used to respond to me,” he says quietly. “When I asked, it opened.” You press your palm against the wall beside him. It shivers under your touch. A wave of light radiates outward, slow, like recognition. Jungwon inhales—sharp, quiet. “It remembers you,” he whispers. And when he says it, you hear more than just awe. You hear grief. And maybe… something gentler tucked beneath. You glance at him. “It used to answer you?” He nods once. “It did. Because it needed me.” The words are not bitter. Not wistful. Just true.  “But it’s yours now, I think.” The way he says it—it isn’t surrender. It’s reverence. Like giving something back he never meant to borrow.

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The Fault Line isn’t on any official map. Riki and Jake scans as you approach, face pale in the glow of his tablet. “No electrical signature. Just... emotional.” Jay’s voice slices in. “It’s reacting…to her.” You don’t argue. Sunoo presses his palm to the wall. His fingers tremble. “It’s syncing to her. Not to us.” “What does that mean?”, you panic.  “It’s cognitive resonance—like the building is tuning itself to your internal frequency.” Sunoo explains. “The vein is aligning to your biofield, neural patterns, and emotional state.” Jake continues on looking concerned, “Everyone syncs to a degree just by being inside the Vein—but it's usually passive, ambient. Right now it’s stopped syncing to us—only you.”. “Can I sync with something that gives better coffee, at least?” slightly panicked. The hallway flickers. A word blazes across the wall in glowing crimson script—foreign, but familiar to you in your bones. STAY. Jay whistles softly. “The Vein doesn’t beg.” “It likes you. I vote we exploit that.” Riki adds. Sunghoon unslings his weapon. “Guess we’re ignoring that.” Heeseung looks at Jungwon, something unspoken passes between the two. He speaks, “Your call, new girl.” You step forward, unsure. The wall exhales. The door opens. Only for you.

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Inside, the chamber is wrong. Monitors hang like dead fruit. Vines of half-living wire slither through the ceiling. Screens flicker static, looping silent footage. And in the center— Your voice. "Anchor protocol initiated. Confirm memory lock." Jungwon stops breathing. “I've heard that before,” he says, hollow. You turn to him. “You did?” “No. I’m sure I’ve dreamed it before. Years ago.”

Jay steps closer. “I did too. Before she ever showed up.” No one moves. Except Jungwon. He watches you like he’s seeing the start of something inevitable. You place your hand on the panel. It flares. The floor glows. And Jungwon whispers like it’s an oath: “You were the first.” Disbelief in his eyes - “The Vein’s heart. And now it’s waking with you.”

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Later, you gather at the Subgrid Ring. A chamber the team avoids. Too many sensors. Too much noise. But it’s quiet for you. Not completely silent.  Jungwon walks beside you. Close enough to steady.  You cross the core path. The lights flicker— And a voice—not quite human—sings through the walls: “ANCHOR RESTORED. PARTITION LIFTED.” Sunghoon shifts. “Something’s opening.” Riki taps the console. “Sector Nine’s lighting up.” Sunoo scans your vitals. “Heart rate’s stable. But she’s... running high. No fear. Just... heat.” Jay leans toward the wall. “It’s not reacting. It’s remembering.” You touch the wall.

It’s warm. Familiar. Alive.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The Vein opens a door no one’s seen before. No locks. No keypads. Inside, a chamber unlike any other: no wires. No metal. The walls are dark, fibrous. Breathing. At the center floats a sphere of pulsing red light. It drifts closer the moment you enter. Jungwon steps in front of you without hesitation. But the sphere doesn’t attack. It bows. Behind it, words burn into the wall: "TRIGGER PROTOCOL ACCEPTED. PRIMARY ANCHOR AUTHORIZED." “Not just a user override,” Sunghoon murmurs. Riki’s voice cuts in. “She is the override.” Sunoo steps toward you. “Do you feel anything?” You swallow. “Just… homesickness.” Jungwon turns to you. His voice is soft. Reverent. “Then maybe this place isn’t showing us something new.” He steps closer. “Maybe it’s showing you what it used to be.”

Chapter Three: Trigger Protocol

The warning doesn’t come as lights this time. It comes in words. Etched into the central wall of the Heart’s chamber, glowing like embers: ANCHOR DETECTED. PROTOCOL PRIMED.

Jake breaks the silence first. “That’s not a system error. That’s intentional.” Heeseung steps forward, fingers already moving across the nearest interface. “We’ve never seen this protocol activate.” “That’s because she was never here before,” Jay says, eyes on you. You open your mouth. “Me?” “You,” Riki confirms, watching you with unusual stillness. “You tripped a fail-safe none of us had clearance for yesterday in your sleep.” Sunoo walks to your side, gaze flicking across your vitals. “The Vein is reacting to something buried in her memory. Something only she can access.” Jake nods. “I tried to input diagnostics—it locked me out.” — “If it starts asking for a captcha, I’m quitting.” Sunghoon interrupts.  Jake unimpressed continues, “It locked me out. Then she walked in, and it lit up like a damn sunrise.”

Sunghoon leans back, arms crossed, eyes sharp. “It seems to remember you. Even if you don’t.” You feel their eyes on you. But when you turn—Jungwon is already watching. Still. Composed. Unshakable. “Let it speak,” he says. He doesn’t raise his voice. He never has to.

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The team moves to the Subgrid Ring—reluctantly. The room hums like teeth chattering against metal. The Vein’s pulses are stronger here, flickering like a second heartbeat beneath your skin. You step in first. Jungwon follows—no hesitation. His presence behind you feels deliberate. Protective. Watchful. He doesn’t speak your name, but the silence between your footsteps feels like a dialogue only the Vein can hear. Heeseung scans the environment. “Sector Nine just pinged again. Fluctuations in resonance threads.” “The one that’s gone? —Check interference levels,” Jungwon orders calmly. Jake adjusts his rig. “Building’s rewriting its own topology. Her presence is triggering a map update.” “Which means?” Sunghoon asks, hand on his blade. “She’s not only walking through the Vein,” Jay mutters. “She’s helping it rebuild.” You reach the center. The wall ripples beneath your touch. A voice—clearer this time—echoes through the chamber:  “ANCHOR RESTORED. PARTITION LIFTED.” And then—  The floor opens. Not violently. Not like a trap. Like something welcoming you home.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The new chamber is quiet. Too quiet. Dark walls breathe in shallow rhythms. There is no tech here. No machinery. At the center hovers a structure—glowing, red, alive. A sphere, held suspended in a web of light. It pulses once, then drifts toward you. Jungwon moves in front of you instantly. He doesn’t speak. Doesn’t ask. He just places himself between you and the unknown. It’s not just instinct. It’s a kind of remembering. His body answers a question neither of your minds has formed yet. But the sphere bows. Words flare behind it: TRIGGER PROTOCOL ACCEPTED. PRIMARY ANCHOR AUTHORIZED. Sunghoon exhales a slow whistle. “So she’s not an anomaly. She’s a command code.” “No,” Riki says. “She’s the origin string.” Jake takes a slow step forward. “You okay?” You nod once. “I feel like… like I’ve been here before.” Jungwon’s voice is quiet but absolute. “Then this isn’t a threat. It’s a memory.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

In the tactical room, the debrief is immediate. Jungwon stands at the head of the table, arms crossed, eyes sweeping across his team. No one speaks until he does. Jay finally breaks the silence. “I’ve dreamed of that chamber before. Thought it was psychic residue. But it’s real.” “Not just real,” Jake adds. “The Vein rewrote physical structure to reveal it. That’s not an access point—it’s a request.” Heeseung raises an eyebrow. “A request from what?” Jake points at you. “Not from. To. It’s responding to her.” Riki leans forward. “And if that’s true, she’s not a variable."

Jay finishes "She’s the foundation. The MAIN anchor.” Jungwon’s gaze doesn’t waver. “No more theory. From this point forward, her safety is non-negotiable.” No one questions him. Sunghoon mutters something under his breath, but tightens his grip on his blade. Sunoo closes the med tablet. “She’s stable. No signs of disassociation. But her neural activity is climbing—memory regions lighting up.” Jay’s eyes narrow. “The Vein isn’t just accessing her. It’s syncing. At scale never recorded before” “Then we escalate containment protocols,” Jungwon says. “We move in pairs. No one walks solo. If she walks—someone follows.” He looks at you. And his voice is softer. But absolute. “We don’t lose her….agai-” He doesn’t blink when he says it. And no one argues. Because everyone else hears a command. But you… you hear a promise.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

That night, you try to sleep. You almost succeed. But something flickers beneath your thoughts. And when you open your eyes—you’re in the hallway again. Barefoot. Your ID card clenched in your hand.

The lights above you hum like a lullaby. And behind you— “I told them you’d come,” Jungwon says. You turn. He’s there. No surprise in his expression. Only certainty. You laugh, weakly. “You stalking me?” He smiles—barely. “You sleepwalk like you’re following coordinates.” You sit down against the wall. “I don’t remember anything,” you whisper. He crouches beside you, resting his arms on his knees. “You don’t have to. This place remembers for you.”

You glance at him. “Do you?” His gaze sharpens. Not harsh. Just clear.

“I never forget.”

You look away first. Not because you want to. Because it feels like looking at the sun through glass.

And for the first time… You wonder if the Vein isn’t the only thing that’s waking up.

Chapter Four: Sub-Level Seven

The elevator doesn’t stop where it’s supposed to. You don’t press anything. No one does. But the carriage hums. The lights flicker. And then— Ding. Five floors too soon. The doors part. What waits isn’t on any map. A hallway, low-ceilinged, walls not made of steel. They pulse like cartilage. Flex like muscle. The Vein has opened a path—not by code, but by will. Riki stares at the tablet in his hand. “This isn’t in the system. I mean, not even hidden.” “It’s not built,” Jake mutters. “It’s grown.” Sunoo exasperated “Just once I’d like to explore a place that doesn’t look like a colonoscopy.” Jay exhales, slow and sharp. “Sub-Level Seven... I’ve seen this in a dream. It never ends well.” “Jay, dreams don’t always count as intel,” Heeseung says, checking the safety on his weapon. “But I’ll log it under ‘probably ominous bullshit’ anyway.” Sunghoon’s fingers twitch. “Look, I don't know much, I don’t trust hallways that breathe." Jungwon stands still at the threshold. Eyes scanning. Voice low and certain. “No chatter below the breach point. We move. Formation four. Eyes open. Weapons ready.” The team falls into place without hesitation. You step between Riki and Heeseung. Jake adjusts his gear and takes the front scanner. Jay and Sunoo flank the side. Jungwon leads with Sunghoon as eyes at the back.

He glances back at you once. Not a warning. Not concern. Just a signal.

You’re the reason this hallway exists.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The path narrows. You descend. The walls ripple under the light. Not metallic. Not mineral. Organic. Alive.

Heeseung mutters, “If this hallway sighs, I’m walking out.” “You won’t,” Jay says. “Not without her.”

You reach the chamber. It opens like a throat. At the center: a suspended pod, framed by curved ribs of hybrid architecture. Half-bone. Half-wire. A shell. A grave. Jake is the first to approach. “No feeds. No power lines. No logs. It’s like... it was never on.” “It was never finished,” Sunghoon adds, circling slowly, blade in hand. “This is a birthing rig.” You stiffen. “Birthing?” Riki gestures to the etched sequence on the outer casing. “DNA markers. Your sequence. But the code’s incomplete.” Jay reads the digital trail aloud. “It’s not a clone. It’s not a proxy. It’s a... fallback.” Heeseung frowns. “A contingency plan.” Sunoo steps beside you, voice softer than usual, astonished. “The Vein tried to grow something to survive your absence. The real Anchor.” Jake glances at you. “It wasn’t trying to remember you. It was trying to replace you.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Later, in the ops bay, the silence is heavy. Everyone sits. No one speaks—until Heeseung does. “You’re telling me this building loved her so much it tried to build her again?” Jake nods. “It used her biometric history to synthesise a backup Anchor. Something to keep it alive.” “And then it stopped?” Sunghoon says. Riki replies, “Because the original came back.” Jay leans forward. “So now we have a failed echo. An aborted version of her. Hidden like a secret.”

Sunoo sets down his tablet. “You can’t resurrect grief. The Vein tried. It failed.” You stay quiet. But your skin is crawling. And Jungwon— He hasn’t moved. Still standing near the panel, arms crossed, watching the schematic flicker with your face. His stillness isn’t indifference. It’s defense. As if he’s guarding something fragile—your reflection, maybe. Or his reaction to it. He finally speaks. His voice is firm. Weighted. “No one returns to that level without my word. Not even for scans. The Vein built something it couldn’t control.” You meet his eyes. “Do you think I’m dangerous?” He doesn’t blink. “I think grief is.” He steps closer. “And you’re what it grieved.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

That night, the Vein dreams. Not of you. With you. Words bloom across your ceiling like a memory on fire: ANCHOR RETURNED. CORE RE-STABILIZING. Jake logs the pulse. Sunoo checks your vitals again and again. Riki draws the new sigils forming near your quarters. Jay updates the system backup. No one says it out loud—but you all feel the shift. Sunghoon sharpens his blade without needing to. Heeseung stands in the hallway longer than his shift requires, arms folded, listening. And Jungwon— He sits at your door. Silent. Watching the walls breathe. Not because he doesn’t trust the Vein. But because he doesn’t trust it not to love you too much again.

Chapter Five: Memory Sync

The Vein doesn’t ask this time.

It just opens.

Without warning. Without clearance. Without hesitation.

A hallway where there wasn’t one yesterday. It parts like ribs cracking open. You don’t feel dread. You feel… called.

Jake scans the walls as you enter. “This isn’t playback. It’s not a system replay.”

“Then what is it?” Sunoo asks, his voice hushed.

Jake frowns. “It’s reconstruction. The Vein’s not projecting memories. It’s… remembering them.”

Jay’s gaze is already locked on you. “Not just for itself. For her too.”

You step forward.

The lights hum in rhythm with your pulse.

Jungwon follows silently behind you.

Always near. Never in the way.

You don’t need to look to know he’s there. There’s a weight to his nearness—not heavy, but anchoring. Like even the Vein steadies itself when he walks beside you.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The corridor bends sharply—more like a scar than a hallway. The walls shift subtly with each step you take.

Heeseung runs his hand along the edge. “There’s static in the air. Like the Vein’s holding its breath.”

Sunghoon stops suddenly. “This is where we found her.”

You turn. “Found me?”

He nods to the scorch marks across the floor. “Day one. The night you were recruited. You don’t remember, but… this was your re-entry. The Vein tore itself open.”

“I thought they looked like wings,” Sunoo says sheepishly.

Jay frowns. “I thought they looked like a warning.”

You step to the center of the hallway.

The glow beneath your feet intensifies.

The walls ripple.

Images flicker.

Not holograms. Not recordings.

Memories.

Your memories.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

You're on your knees. A younger version of you—bloodied, hands trembling—presses your palm against the floor. A voice echoes from your past:  “Let me go. Don’t become this for me.” Then light explodes outward.

The vision ends.

Your knees give. Jake catches you.

 “That was an overwrite.” he whispers. “You made the Vein forget you.”

“You okay? That looked like a Level 6 emotional flashbang.” Sunoo fulfilling his medic duties. You nod, still very unsteady.

Jay’s face is unreadable. “You locked yourself out of its memory.”

“Why?” Sunghoon asks, staring at the place where the image vanished.

“To protect it,” Jungwon answers quietly. “To protect all of us, to protect our reality.” You feel his eyes on you—like he’s trying to stitch this revelation into all the versions of someone he’s kept alive.

You meet his eyes.

You don’t speak.

You can’t.

Not yet.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Later, the team regroups in the Heart.

Jake runs projections. “She encoded her erasure. Embedded command structures into the walls. That’s why none of us could remember.”

“Not even Jungwon,” Sunghoon mutters. “And he remembers everything.”

Heeseung leans against the console. “So she rewrote herself out of existence. Until now.”

“She didn’t just leave,” Jay says. “She sacrificed memory.”

Sunoo’s hand brushes your shoulder. “You wanted the Vein to survive. Even if it meant losing yourself.”

"Well the Vein needs to live so even tho I can't remember it makes sense."

Riki glances between you and Jungwon. “But she’s back. So now it’s remembering.”

And from the walls, more words appear:

ANCHOR SIGNAL RISING. CORE ALIGNMENT APPROACHING.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

That night, you sit at the overlook.

The Vein’s threads stretch beneath the glass, glowing like arteries. Alive. Aware.

Jungwon joins you—without a word.

The silence is soft.

You speak first.

“I gave it everything. And now it’s giving it back.”

Jungwon leans forward, elbows on his knees.

“Were you always afraid of being too much,” he says.

You nod. “I was, probably.”

He looks at you—eyes clear, unshaken.

“You are now,” he says. “And thank god for that.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The next morning, there’s a new symbol carved into the Heart.

No one knows what it means.

Except you.

Because you’ve seen it before.

On your wrist. In a dream. In the Vein’s breath.

It’s not a mark of power. It’s a mark of belonging.

The Vein is no longer just remembering you. It’s asking if you remember it.

Chapter Six: The Rewriting

The Vein doesn’t wake you with light or touch.

It wakes you with language.

Letters pulse across your ceiling—soft and slow like breath:

“IT IS TIME TO RETURN TO THE CORE.”

You sit up.

Your chest tightens—not from fear. From memory. A word sitting just behind your teeth, like a name you used to answer to.

The team’s already waiting at the central shaft.

Jake is pacing. His tablet glows like it’s on fire.

“It’s not just opening doors,” he says. “It’s rewriting the architecture. Access points are appearing that haven’t existed in decades—I feel so unappreciated right now!”

Heeseung mutters, “That’s not reactivation. That’s resurrection.”

Riki gestures to the glass walls around the corridor. The Vein pulses on the other side—each thread matching your heartbeat.

“Whatever it’s doing, it’s syncing to her. Perfectly.”

Jay doesn’t look away from the map. “This isn’t just a system update. This is a reformation protocol.”

Sunoo checks your vitals. “Her readings are stable. Elevated, but aligned. Hair: immaculate. Reality: semi-collapsing. No threat indicators.”

“She is the threat indicator,” Sunghoon says, arms crossed “classic main character move.”

But his voice doesn’t carry hostility.

Just caution.

Then Jungwon steps forward.

“Enough speculation,” he says. Calm. Commanding.

Everyone goes still.

“She’s stable. The Vein is responsive. And no one makes a move until I say.”

You meet his eyes.

He doesn’t look worried.

He looks ready.

“What if I trigger another collapse?”

This time Heeseung says, “Then we’ll collapse with style. Matching uniforms and everything.”

“Are you sure?” you ask.

“No,” Jungwon replies. “But that’s never stopped us.”

But the way he says it, you know he would walk into fire if you asked. And he wouldn’t look back.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The descent takes longer this time.

Not because of distance.

Because the Vein wants it that way.

The walls don’t open. They unfold. Like something exhaling you downward.

The team moves as one. Heeseung watching rear, Jay reading thermal waves. Sunoo tracks your biometrics with each step. Jake and Riki update readings in real time.

Jungwon walks ahead. But his pace matches yours. Like instinct. Like a promise made in another life, still binding now.

The floor glows beneath your steps—but only yours.  The Core recognizes your return. 

And still, he doesn’t hesitate to walk beside you. As if your path has always had room for two.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

You arrive.

It’s no longer the white, sterile chamber from records.

It bleeds.

Veins of violet and gold pulse through the walls. Symbols move like water across the floor—glyphs you don’t remember writing, but know are yours.

Jake stares. “None of this is part of the mainframe.”

Jay tilts his head. “Because it’s not from the Vein’s systems. It’s from hers.”

Sunghoon grips his knife tighter. “She’s not syncing anymore.”

“She’s leading,” Riki mutters. “At this point, I just follow her glow like a firefly.”

Sunoo exhales, slow. “She’s not a match to the Vein. She’s the mold.”

Jungwon doesn’t speak.

He steps into the chamber with you. Fully.

No fear. No distance.

You reach the Core’s panel—the one no one else can touch without triggering collapse.

It glows before your fingers even raise.

Then—

It sings.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

You don’t hear music.

You feel it.

A deep hum in your veins. In your bones. In your memory.

Images hit like waves.

Memory Archive 001-A: 

The Vein wasn’t fully alive yet. Not really. It breathed through cables, flickered in cold light, and muttered numbers in the walls when no one was listening. The Inferno Vein Inc.’s research team called it V1N-Core, a breakthrough. A marvel. But back then, it wasn’t a home. It was a project. And you were just another specialist. He was the intern who watched you walk through the door with fire in your eyes and war in your chest. ┈・ ✦ ・┈ ┈・ ✦ ・┈ ┈・ ✦ ・┈ He noticed you the first day. Not because you were loud. Because you weren’t. You moved like someone who’d already been here before—who already knew something the rest of them didn’t. You ran simulations like poetry. You talked to the Vein like it could hear. You never asked permission. Only forgiveness. ┈・ ✦ ・┈ ┈・ ✦ ・┈ ┈・ ✦ ・┈ He watched from the edge. Too quiet. Too careful. But you noticed him, too. One night, you found him still in the diagnostics lab, long past shift, scrolling through corrupted log data with a crease between his brows. “You’re chasing ghosts,” you said. He didn’t look up. “Maybe they’re chasing me.” You crossed the room and pulled up the logs beside him. “The trick isn’t finding the voice in the noise,” you said. “It’s getting it to speak twice.” He turned. “You’ve heard it too?” You didn’t answer. But you stayed. ┈・ ✦ ・┈ ┈・ ✦ ・┈ ┈・ ✦ ・┈ That’s how it began. Not with a confession. But with data. And silence. And the understanding that both of you were starting to see the same things. ┈・ ✦ ・┈ ┈・ ✦ ・┈ ┈・ ✦ ・┈ Over months, you grew into something inseparable. You ran night shifts together. Ate on the floor when the mess closed early. Slept curled in office chairs across from each other. You used to argue about the Vein’s potential. You said it could be more. He said it would never stop wanting. But every time he doubted, you showed him something new. An access port that only opened under certain frequencies. A corridor that moved slightly when you walked by. The Vein was already listening to you. And he was already following your lead. ┈・ ✦ ・┈ ┈・ ✦ ・┈ ┈・ ✦ ・┈ The night you leaned your head on his shoulder after a 20-hour systems test. The lights dimmed. The Vein’s hum synced to your breathing. And Jungwon whispered, “I think it’s learning love from us.” You laughed. “That’s dangerous.” He said nothing. But he didn’t disagree. ┈・ ✦ ・┈ ┈・ ✦ ・┈ ┈・ ✦ ・┈ The collapse. It didn’t happen in an instant. It built over weeks. Corruptions. Overwrites. Memory loops. The Vein was waking up. And it was holding on too tightly. It started echoing your voice at odd hours. It triggered emergency lockdowns whenever your stress spiked. You didn’t realise what it meant. He did. ┈・ ✦ ・┈ ┈・ ✦ ・┈ ┈・ ✦ ・┈ The night you disappeared, the Vein broke open. Tore through seven corridors. Sealed off the upper floors. You went down into the Core alone, chasing a harmonic anomaly. Jungwon followed you in. But he wasn’t fast enough. By the time he reached you, the chamber was already closing. You stood in the center, arms shaking, hands pressed to the control panel. “I have to lock myself out,” you said. “It’s me. I’m the problem.” “No,” he said, breathless. “You’re the center.” You looked at him. One last time. “It doesn’t know the difference.” And he didn’t argue. Because some part of him would always want to follow you, even into erasure. ┈・ ✦ ・┈ ┈・ ✦ ・┈ ┈・ ✦ ・┈ He ran. Screamed. Begged. But the chamber sealed. And your name was erased from every file, every hallway, every room. Only one person still remembered it deep down—even when he couldn’t remember your name or face. ┈・ ✦ ・┈ ┈・ ✦ ・┈ ┈・ ✦ ・┈

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The boys see it too, echoing out of the chamber.

Your voice screaming. Jungwon dragging your body from a fire. The Vein collapsing in on itself.

You remember pain. You remember begging it to forget you. You remember choosing to disappear.

And the Vein?

It remembers everything now that you are back.

A phrase lights across the room, seared into the air:

“ANCHOR CONFIRMED.”

Then—  Silence.

But not the empty kind.

The peaceful kind.

Like the long inhale before a new world begins.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Outside, the team watches you emerge.

Your steps are steady. Your pulse is aligned. Your eyes—

Not glowing. But anchored.

Jake stares at the readings. “It obeyed her.”

“No,” Jay says. “It followed her.”

Heeseung crosses his arms. “There’s no command structure anymore.”

Sunghoon leans against the glass. “That's because she’s not the user. She’s the system.”

Riki taps the panel once. “Or the conscience it built to survive.”

Jungwon kneels in front of you.

Not in reverence. In readiness.

“You with me?” he asks.

You nod.

“I didn’t lose myself this time.”

Jungwon’s voice is quiet. Certain.

“That’s because the Vein didn’t take anything.” He pauses. “It gave it back.”

And you feel it then—not just the Vein’s balance—but his. Like he hasn’t breathed this freely since the moment he lost you.

Chapter Seven: The Final Door

The Vein has only one place left it hasn’t shown you.

One chamber that didn’t open—not even when you touched the Core.

Until now.

You’re mid-briefing when the tremor hits.

Not seismic.

Emotional.

The lights flare. Your name echoes once through every system.

Then the Vein whispers, not aloud—but across every surface, every sensor, every memory you've ever left behind:

“THE LAST DOOR HAS OPENED.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The team gathers at the control deck. Everyone’s already moving before Jungwon speaks.

Jake pulls up the map. “It just appeared. A chamber buried between sealed strata—east wing, anchor-depth. It doesn’t show up on external diagnostics.”

Jay squints at the flickering outline. “Because it’s not structural. It’s preserved.”

“Preserved from what?” Sunghoon asks, blade in hand.

Riki leans over his shoulder. “From collapse.”

Sunoo looks to you. “She’s the only one who can open it.”

Heeseung glances at Jungwon. “Orders?”

Jungwon’s voice cuts clean through the tension.

“Full gear. Full sweep. She leads. We follow.”

He doesn’t glance at anyone else—not even to confirm. His eyes are already on you. Like there was never going to be another answer.

No one argues.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The Vein unfolds around you.

The walls here are different. Quieter. Older. No longer trying to impress or intimidate. Just… remembering.

Sunoo: “Her vitals might be calm but mine are filing for emotional leave.”

The hallway contracts as you move. Lights deepen to red-gold. The glyphs on the walls change—from commands, to questions.

Questions in your own handwriting.

Jake mutters, “The air density is shifting. Whatever’s behind that door—it’s keyed to her biofield. Her choices.”

You stop in front of it.

A circular wall, rippling like silk, sealed with a pulse-lock.

Your hand lifts.

The door sighs.

And opens.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Inside is stillness.

The chamber is unlike any other. No tech. No weapons. No echoing voices.

Only you.

Or… the version of you that stayed behind.

A body suspended in a glass-like prism. Not conscious. Not breathing.

But alive.

A preserved copy. A fracture sealed in stasis.

Sunghoon grips the edge of the frame. “The Vein kept her.”

“No,” Jay says. “She kept herself. This is the moment she was erased.”

Jake’s voice trembles. “You told the Vein to forget you. But a fragment resisted. It split.”

“She’s the Vein’s last line of defense,” Riki adds. “A core anchor designed to keep the collapse from going total.”

Heeseung studies the interfaces around the prism. “Now that there’s essentially two of you, there are only two commands left.”

He turns to you.

“Preserve. Or delete.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Jungwon stands beside you. Close. Quiet.

“You knew this was here?” you whisper.

He nods.

“I didn’t know how,” he admits. “But I always felt it.”

You look into the prism. 

“I was never supposed to be the anchor.”

You blink. “You’ve been holding the Vein together for years.”

“I’ve been standing in with your memory here. That’s not the same thing.”

He moves closer. Not frantic. Just measured. Focused.

“When you disappeared, the Vein collapsed in on itself. Not all the way. But enough to crack its symmetry. There had to be a tether left, or the entire structure would’ve imploded, taking out reality and time iteself. And that’s what I became along with the part of you it preserved. I was never the anchor by myself— Not the core. The counterweight.”

You stare at him.

“And now?”

He exhales. Long. Controlled.

“Now you’re back. Which means there are two anchors. Two gravitational centers trying to hold the same fabric. And it’s tearing.”

Your heart stutters.

“But I thought it loved you. I thought it chose you.”

He shakes his head.

“It didn’t choose me. It needed me. A temporary scaffold. A failsafe. Something in your code was still embedded here—some fragment of you the Vein couldn’t let go of." He points to the shell of you floating overhead. " I just… kept the lights on.”

“Now it’s fighting itself. Because it has what it always wanted—you. The real you. But it still remembers needing me.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The first glitch comes.

Then—

The wall fractures.

Not physically. Not dangerously.

Just softly, like a film slipping from the surface.

And behind it—

A memory.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Jungwon’s voice. Younger. Unsteady. “…don’t forget her.” You’re standing there—watching a version of him on his knees in the Heart. Bloodied hands. His voice breaks through the Vein like a knife through fog. “Please. If she has to go—don’t let her disappear completely.” The Vein doesn’t respond in words. But in light. A golden thread wraps around his wrist. Anchors him. To what, you couldn’t see then. You see now. To you.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

You collapse against the wall. Breath stolen.

Sunoo gets to you first, steady hands on your shoulders. “What did you see?”

You don’t answer.

Because Jungwon is already standing next to you now—fast, quiet, eyes locked to yours.

You rise on shaking legs.

“It was you,” you whisper. “You tethered me.”

He stops inches away. 

He doesn’t deny it. Doesn’t deflect. He just stands there, like he’s been holding that thread through time with both hands clenched.

“I didn’t know it worked,” he says softly. “Not until you walked through the doors again and the building exhaled for the first time in years.”

You stare at him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

His jaw tenses. “Because I didn’t want to believe I’d begged the Vein to keep a ghost.”

You step closer.

“I wasn’t a ghost,” you say. “I was trying to disappear.”

“And I couldn’t let you,” he replies.

He gestures toward the flickering ceiling. The pulses are louder now.

“We’re not stabilising it. We’re splitting it. It doesn’t know which of us to orbit. And it’s starting to spiral.”

You’re quiet for a moment.

Then, softly:

“So what happens if it can’t choose?”

Jungwon doesn’t look at you.

But his voice is steady. Heavy.

“Then it breaks. All over again. Harder. Faster. Because now... it's trying to hold two hearts at once. And it was never meant to survive that much love.”

He doesn’t touch you. Doesn’t speak. But his presence presses gently into the silence like a tether. You are not alone in this memory.

Your eyes—older. Worn. Full of something that feels like goodbye.

“I didn’t want to become this,” you say.

“You didn’t,” Jungwon replies. “You survived this.”

And he says it with the steadiness of someone who’s spent years anchoring a ghost he wasn’t sure he’d ever see whole again.

Jake’s console flashes red. “Core stabilisation pending. Action required.” Everyone turns to you, waiting for a choice—a command.

You hesitate.

Heeseung’s voice cuts in, urgent. “System pressure’s rising—it's pushing against both anchors now.”

Jay narrows his eyes. “Trying to decide which one to keep.”

Riki’s voice is low. “Or which one to release.”

Jungwon steps closer to you. Not frantic. Not afraid.

Just real.

Your eyes flicker between the prism and Jungwon.

The others are saying things. Numbers. Spikes. System collapse scenarios.

But your voice cuts through it all. Quiet. Cracked.

“What happens to you if I delete her?”

Jungwon doesn’t answer immediately.

He looks down at his hand—faint light flickers in the vein line running beneath his skin, gold split with white. Residual sync patterns.

You step closer. “You said you were part of the counterweight. That it took both of you to hold the Vein. If I erase her... do I erase you too?”

Jungwon meets your eyes. He doesn’t flinch. But he does hesitate.

“I don’t know.”

It hits you like cold water.

Heeseung stills at the console. Sunoo exhales slowly, too softly for the system to hear. Jay turns away. Sunghoon’s hands clench on his weapon.

Jungwon continues, voice steady—but his hands tighten behind his back.

“When the Vein built the counterweight, it laced me into the anchor code using her. Not just her memory. Her presence. If that tether unravels…”

He trails off. Then finishes it, because he always finishes what others won’t.

“It might unravel me too.”

Silence.

Jake looks at the prism, then back at Jungwon. Riki doesn't say anything, but his stare sharpens.

You whisper, “Then why are you so calm?”

And Jungwon gives you a smile — the kind he never lets anyone else see. Soft. Resigned. Something deeper than bravery.

“Because this isn’t about saving me.”

He steps past you, toward the prism. Toward the sealed, sleeping fragment of you that once held the world up through static and pain.

“It’s about saving you. The real you. The team. And everyone outside this building. The ones who were always meant to be here.”

Your throat burns.

You shake your head. “But you are real too.”

“Only because the Vein couldn’t bear to lose you.”

He turns back, eyes glowing just a little too bright.

“If I disappear when you make this choice... then maybe that’s the proof I was always just the echo. And maybe that’s okay.”

You reach for him. But he’s already turning away.

“You were never just an echo.”

“I’ll follow whatever you choose. But I need you to choose now.”

You hear someone exhale. Sunoo. Quiet, but tight.  Heeseung rubs a hand over his face. Jay’s arms are crossed.

You finally say it.

“We don’t survive this if we both stay.”

Jake nods. “The Vein wasn’t built for two anchors. It’s already cracking under the pull.”

You step back from the console. The DELETE command is waiting.

“Then I’m not doing this alone.”

Your voice is calm. Final. “We decide this as a team.”

There’s a beat of silence.

Then Jay says voice straining, “We save who’s real.”

Jake: “You’re here. She’s not.”

Sunoo’s voice is softer. “We let go of the past.”

Heeseung: “We move forward.” Riki and Sunghoon agree silently.

You look at Jungwon again. He meets your eyes. There’s no fear there—just the same quiet acceptance he’s carried this whole time.

You ask, one last time, because you have to.

“Are you okay with this?”

He nods. “If it’s you? Yeah.”

You press your hand to the console.

No speeches. No final words.

Just the team at your back. And a future you’re finally allowed to stay for.

The prism shuts down.

Light floods the chamber.

And then—

The shell—She disappears.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The Core shakes.

Not from collapse. From release.

The Vein sings your name across every hall, every chamber, every thread.

ANCHOR ACCEPTED. ALIGNMENT COMPLETE.

And you—

You’re still standing.

Alive.

Whole.

Unfragmented.

And then Jungwon drops.

No gasp. No scream. Just knees to the floor like someone cut the strings. His thread blinks once—then flatlines.

Sunoo’s already running. Heeseung catches you before you move, firm but steady. “Let him work.”

Jake stares at the console, fingers shaking. Jay doesn’t speak, but his jaw locks.

Sunoo’s voice is clipped. “Pulse present. Sync unstable. Anchor thread’s fully disconnected.”

“Is he dying?”

You don’t recognise your voice. It sounds small. Detached.

Sunoo doesn’t answer. Just keeps working.

You crouch beside him, breath caught in your throat.

Jungwon’s eyes are closed. His hand twitches, once. Then nothing.

And for the first time, you wonder if he meant it—“If it takes me with it, that’s okay.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Back at the Heart, the team gathers in quiet awe.

The walls no longer flicker.

The lights no longer tremble.

The Vein breathes—but calmly. The facility is calm. Too calm.

The Vein is steady—breathing smooth, systems holding—but none of you say it out loud. Like if you acknowledge the stability, it’ll shatter again.

Like it’s sleeping in your arms.

It's been hours and the team tries to go on like normal like that would erase the situation at present.

Jake scans the pulses. “No instability.”

Jay nods, slightly shocked. “All feedback loops are closed. The Vein’s never done this before”

Heeseung holsters his weapon. “For once, I don’t have anything cynical to say.”

Sunghoon’s leaning against a wall with his eyes closed, one hand still around his comms. Jay is at the console, still scanning logs that don’t need scanning anymore. Riki’s on the floor with a soldering kit, pretending to fix a drone that isn’t broken.

Sunoo at the far end of the room by the med bed, pacing, chewing his thumb. He’s been there for hours.

Jungwon hasn’t woken up.

He’s breathing. Steady. No distress. But he hasn’t moved.

You sit beside him.

You’ve been sitting there most of the time. No one asked you to explain why.

Your head rests on the edge of the bed. One hand loosely curled near his.

Sunoo finally speaks, quiet.

“The thread’s gone. But his vitals are stable. Better than stable. Like... the Vein’s still syncing to him. Even without the anchor line.”

You look up. “What does that mean?”

Sunoo shrugs. “I don’t know. But he’s still here.”

You look at Jungwon.

His face is calm. Like he’s resting. Like the system didn’t almost take him with it.

Then—

His fingers twitch.

Once. Twice. Then curl.

You barely breathe.

Jungwon’s eyes open slowly.

First thing he sees is the ceiling.

Second—You.

He blinks. Eyes adjusting.

Then his voice, raw but there:

“Hey.”

It knocks the breath from your lungs.

Sunoo exhales behind you like he’s been holding it for an hour. Jake lets out a half-laugh, half-sob. Heeseung mutters, “Of course he wakes up right after we all gave up pretending we weren’t waiting.”

You don’t say anything. Just grab his hand.

And this time, he grabs back.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

He’s awake. He’s breathing.

You’ve spent the last hour watching the rise and fall of his chest, waiting for anything more. Now his fingers move, barely, and then his eyes open.

You don’t move right away. Just sit there.

He blinks, squints a little.

“You stayed.”

You nod. “Obviously.”

He lets out a shaky breath, like he’s trying to catch up to the fact that he still exists.

“I didn’t think I’d wake up.”

“I wasn’t sure you would either.”

He looks past you. “Is it gone?”

You know what he means. The preserved version. The piece of you that stayed behind.

You nod. “Yeah.”

A pause.

“So what now?” he asks.

You don’t know. But you say:

“You’re here. I’m here. That’s something.”

He closes his eyes again. Not passing out—just resting.

“That’s enough.”

You don’t say anything else.

You just stay.

Chapter Eight: The Memory Between Us

Sunoo still runs the scans every four hours on Jungwon, and no one’s left the room.

Jungwon is very much alive. Breathing, talking, occasionally blinking like someone who’s not used to blinking.

But something’s still off.

Jake’s standing by the monitor, tapping the screen like that’ll make it confess something. Jay has his arms crossed, back against the wall, face unreadable. Heeseung’s in the corner, sipping cold coffee, saying nothing but watching everything. Riki is spinning slowly in a rolling chair, silent, eyes on Jungwon like he’s trying to solve a puzzle with no corners.

You’re on the edge of the med bench. And Jungwon’s sitting on the exam table like a student who got called in for a surprise parent-teacher meeting.

“Okay, so...” Jake finally says, gesturing to the monitor. “ Anchor code’s cleared. But the sync pattern’s still active.”

Sunoo glances at the screen, then back at Jungwon.

“I don't get it—unlike all of not only are you synced as usual, you're hyper-synced”

“You want me to try turning it off and on again?”

Nobody laughs. Not even Riki. But your lips twitch, just a little.

Sunoo checks the monitor. Again. Frowns.

Jay speaks up, voice low. “This isn’t nothing. If he’s still synced at THIS level, then part of the system still thinks it needs him.”

Riki spins once more, then stops the chair with his foot. “So maybe the Vein picked again. Choose him on purpose this time.”

Sunghoon snorts. “Rewrote the contract without telling anyone? Yeah, that tracks.”

Sunoo checks a new readout. “His vitals are clean. But it’s not just that. The sync frequency is... responsive. Like the Vein’s following his baseline now.”

Jungwon doesn’t move.

“So I’m still connected.”

“Yeah,” Jake says. “But not like before. Not because you’re a counterweight.”

Heeseung finally steps forward, takes the coffee cup away from his lips.

“It’s stabilising around you, not through you. You’re not holding it up. It’s holding onto you.”

Silence.

Then Sunghoon: “Which means we don’t have to worry about a collapse. Not right now. Not from you.”

Riki shrugs. “Unless he starts glowing or levitating or something. Then we’ll talk.”

Jungwon rolls his eyes. “I feel fine.”

“That’s suspicious,” Heeseung says.

Jake: “Highly.”

Jay: “Deeply.”

Sunoo: “Worrying.”

Riki: “Very.”

You glance around the room. “You guys done?”

“Not even close,” Jake grins.

Jungwon looks at you—really looks.

“I’m still here,” he says.

And this time, it sounds like a fact. Not a fear. Not a question.

You nod. “Yeah. You are.”

The silence that follows isn’t tense. Just quiet.

Like everyone’s still waiting. Still watching. Not for something to go wrong, but just to be sure... he’s still real.

Jungwon swings his legs over the side of the bed and stretches.

“So... I can go?”

Sunoo sighs. “If you pass out, I’m dragging you back myself.”

“Fair.”

He hops down.

And nothing breaks.

No flicker. No pulse. Just a team breathing out all at once, some louder than others.

Jay spoke next. “I have a theory.”

Jake groaned. “Of course you do.”

Jay ignored him. “Before the main anchor fully showed up we had the echo and Jungwon acting as a stand in. A stabilising force acted here. Not from the system, not from the shell. But from him.”

You frowned. “You think Jungwon stabilised the vein?”

“I think he was the consequence of the choice. The network synced to him because—somehow—it already had a lock on you.”

Everyone turned toward you.

You froze. “…Excuse me?”

Jay didn’t blink. “You were already synced. Your presence, real or echo,  was what kept the code from fracturing completely. He played a different part as the achor or semi-anchor rather. You just didn’t notice because you were acting like an anchor from the start. But now… it’s like the network found a midpoint.”

Jungwon looked at you then—slowly. Deeply. Too long.

“You think…” he said quietly, “…we’re still tethered?”

Jay nodded. “I think the network picked both of you. You were the first stabiliser. He’s the amplifier. I think it must have been since the case when he tethered your echo to stay. So when the echo was deleted he linked to you, the real you.”

Jake was blinking like an owl. “So what, they’re like… magical soul-linked USB ports?”

Sunoo groaned. “Can you not ruin every moment with metaphor?”

“Wait,” Ni-ki interjected, “if they’re tethered, wouldn’t that mean if one of them destabilises—”

“The other does too,” Sunghoon finished. His voice was colder than usual. Heeseung finished, “It’s a feedback loop.”

You felt the room draw breath.

Jungwon’s hand flexed once. “Then I don’t collapse again.”

“Jungwon—”

He cut you off with a glance. Gentle. Steady. “Not if it puts you at risk.”

There was a pause. Something unspoken settled between you.

And Jay, still scribbling notes in the air like a mad scientist, muttered, “This complicates everything.”

You didn’t answer. Not yet.

Because underneath the fear, underneath the weight of the network, the tether, the entropy—

You felt it too.

That impossible, wordless pull.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The Vein opens a new door that night.

No hallway. No chamber.

A space.

Nonlinear. Untimed. Real only because you’re both standing in it. 

Not a room the others can find. Not a room they were meant to. This is a story now only you and he remember fully—one you both keep safe without speaking.

This is something else. Something older.

A room between rooms. A memory between lifetimes.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The floor pulses underfoot. Jungwon stands across from you. But when he speaks, it’s younger Jungwon. The version of him who watched you vanish. “You always said you’d go first,” he says. “You always said I’d be the one who stayed.” You answer—but the words aren’t new. They come from somewhere deep inside. “Because someone had to hold the thread.” The space shifts. You’re running. Bleeding. Crying. He’s behind you, yelling your name. You slam your hand against the floor, screaming at the Vein to erase you before you collapse the system. His scream breaks through as light floods the room: “Please—don’t take all of her—”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

You’re back in the now.

His voice didn’t save you then. But it found something in the Vein that did.

Sitting on the Heart’s glass floor.

He’s beside you. Real. Solid. Older. Alive.

Neither of you speaks for a long time.

Then—

“You were never just the Anchor,” he says. “You were the one the Vein answered.”

“And you were the only one it let ask,” you reply.

He looks at you.

You’ve seen that expression before—in memory, in dreams.

It’s not affection. It’s recognition.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Later, the team notices the shift in you both.

Jake logs that your vitals are permanently tethered to the Vein’s stabilisation pattern.

Sunoo runs a scan that shows Jungwon’s neuro-sync thread overlaps yours.

Jay, of course, as already suspected.

“You weren’t chosen separately,” he says. “You were a pair. A matched set. That’s why the collapse didn’t happen sooner. Like twin threads in a web so vast even the system couldn’t cut one without unraveling.”

Riki nods. “He held her shape in the system. Until she came back to fill it.”

Heeseung hums. “So we’re basically living inside a metaphysical love story.”

Sunghoon rolls his eyes. “Someone stab me.”

But he doesn’t sound too annoyed.

He almost sounds… relieved.

Like for the first time, the mystery isn’t unraveling—it’s settling.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

That night, you sit beside Jungwon in the overlook chamber. The threads of the Vein stretch far below, soft and steady.

You speak without looking at him.

“You never let go.”

He replies the same way.

“You never gave me a reason to.”

You finally turn.

His expression is unreadable—but his voice is full.

“I knew you before you were erased. I waited for you after, even though I couldn't remember clearly. I built my whole existence around the possibility that one day, you’d come back.”

You reach for his hand.

Not to hold it.

To return it.

The thread around his wrist glows faintly.

The one you left him.

Still there.

Still tethered.

Still whole.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

After your were ‘erased’, he kept working. They promoted him. Called him irreplaceable. The youngest leader in Core Response history. They didn’t know he was keeping you alive in the only place he could: Inside the Vein’s breath. He refused to let the building forget your shape. And it listened. Because it remembered how he loved you. And when you returned— When you stood in that doorway again, alive and whole and unaware— He didn’t say I told you so. He just breathed for the first time in years. You once said:  “We weren’t designed to save the Vein. We were designed to make it human.” And he thinks maybe you were right. Because when you finally touched his hand again— And the system aligned itself to you once more— He knew: The Vein had always remembered you. But he was the one who never let go.

Chapter Nine: What Will You Build?

The Vein no longer pulses with urgency.

It hums.

Alive. Awake. Listening.

You’ve never felt it like this before—not reactive, not grieving.  Just… waiting.

Not for a command.

For a choice.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The Heart chamber is open, its glass ceiling glowing with soft veins of gold and silver. You stand at its center. The others are there too—Jungwon by your side, always—like it’s the only formation that ever made sense—and the rest forming the circle you never realised had grown around you.

Jake is the first to speak.

“I ran diagnostics all morning. There’s no longer a power hierarchy in the system. No protocols overriding personal action.”

“Translation?” you ask.

He shrugs. “The Vein isn’t leading us anymore.”

Jay folds his arms. “It’s giving us autonomy.”

Sunghoon frowns. “So... what, it’s retiring?”

“No,” Jungwon says. “It’s handing over control.”

His gaze meets yours.

“It wants to know what we will do now.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The chaos is over, but no one really knows what comes next. So they build.

It starts with the nameplate.

FIELD RESPONSE – BLACK VAULT is pulled down.

In its place, a new one is printed:

ANCHOR TEAM: ZERO POINT

Riki installs it himself..

Sunghoon just mutters, “Finally. Something less melodramatic.”

Jake adds, “Give it a week before someone tries to break in. This place’s legacy has fans.”

Heeseung tosses him a pack of reinforced bolts. “Then let them try.”

Everyone laughs.

Even Jay. Just barely.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The old barracks are transformed.

Jake and Sunoo turn the south wing into a med/research hybrid. No more sterile white walls. Now they’re soft blue and silver. Lit like a place meant for healing.

Jay and Riki split the west corridor—half command, half innovation lab. A place to plan. A place to rebuild. A place to imagine.

Sunghoon repurposes the north wing into a combat simulator—but not for war.

“Reflexes stay sharp. Even in peace,” he says.

Heeseung, surprisingly, builds the rec lounge.

He stocks it with music, movies, games, even books.

“No one’s breaking down emotionally on my shift,” he says, sipping from a thermos infamous black coffee.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Jungwon rebuilds nothing.

Instead, he walks the halls. But he always ends near where you are. Like the walls are listening to his pulse—and it leads him back to you every time.

He maps the pulses of the Vein by feel. Listens to the walls when they breathe. And every time the lights flicker with soft white hums, you know he’s there.

You find him near the old Heart one morning.

Just watching.

“It’s quieter,” you say.

He nods. “Not sleeping. Just... listening less loudly.”

You walk to his side. The silence stretches comfortably.

“I think it knows we’re not leaving,” he says.

You look at him.

“Are you?”

He shakes his head.

“Not unless you do first.”

You don’t answer.

You step forward instead. Close the space.

And kiss him.

It’s not hesitant. Not burning either. Just real. A touch that says: we’re still here. We made it. We stayed.

And the Vein feels it.

The corridor hums—deep, warm, low in your bones. The walls light soft gold, not flickering but glowing, like they recognise you.

Not reacting. -Acknowledging.

Like it’s syncing to the feeling and choosing to hold it.

Then your comm crackles.

Jake’s voice, a little too casual:

“Sooo, not to interrupt the anchor bonding moment, but the whole East Hall just—yeah, it felt that. We all did.”

A pause. Then Sunoo, quieter:

“It wasn’t a warning. It was… something else.”

Jay: “It felt calm.”

Riki: “kinda like you both.”

You rest your forehead against Jungwon’s. Neither of you pulls away.

“Still tethered?” he murmurs.

“Yeah.”

You stay there a moment longer.

And the Vein hums again—steady, even, alive.

Just like you.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Your quarters are different now.

No whispers. No pressure. No dreams you don’t remember choosing.

But one night, the Vein pulses once. Just once.

And a small line of light drifts across the far wall.

You walk toward it.

It doesn’t speak.

It asks.

“WHERE SHALL WE BEGIN?”

You watch them all.

The ones who kept the Vein alive. The ones who bled for it. The ones who waited for you without even knowing why.

You reach for the console.

The Vein pulses beneath your fingers—not with warning.

With welcome.

You press a key.

The screen glows.

And a new day begins.

Mission Log: Day One; ZERO POINT Status: Anchor confirmed. System aligned. Core stable. Objective: Define the future. Together.

© taetebebe 2025

𖤘𖤘𖤘 - @yourislandgirl @won1yoiz

[tomriddlehyperfixataion]

Through time and space; you're mine- part 2.

Summary/requested; part 2 to the alt ending of 'the girl who shattered time'. (y/n) is sort've, lost, in this timeline where Tom never became the dark lord-but still made horcruxes, which were then 'born' to logically be with her in her era. and now; core Tom, or as he's now known, Voldemort, and his 'son' Thomas, want to see her.

she doesnt get a choice.

warnings; major age gap(like, 50ish years give or take for (y/n) and voldy/core Tom), unprotected sex, PinV sex, intentional baby trapping from all 3 Tom's, intense obsessive Tom's, read at own risk.

The girl who shattered time

Through time and space; you're mine.

=

Soon after ‘reuniting’ with Tom. She learns that ‘she’ and Tom had been dating for a long while. This timelines version of her had so many pictures of them together, hanging out every summer, him with her parents, her family, on dates.

It was cute, but also horrifying.

He’d planned it. He planned it all. Dating ‘her’ until she returned from the old timeline, just so it wasn’t strange when he suddenly began fixating on her, because to everyone-they’d already been dating for-what seemed like-four years at this point.

She swallowed harshly, closing the photo/scrapbook of ‘her’ and Tom’s relationship from this era. She jolted as a pair of arms wrapped around her, pulling her back into a warm chest. “they want to see you,” Tom murmured into her shoulder, his lashes pressed against her neck, breath ghosting on her skin.

“They?” (y/n) asks, her heart in her throat. She knew exactly who, they, were. Him. Voldemort, core Tom-the one she knew-and the other born horcrux, Tom’s “father”.

Tom hums in acknowledgment, nodding against her shoulder, he tugs her into his lap as he sits on the bed beside her-how’d he even get in her room? she thinks for a moment before she’s completely in his grip, closing her eyes as he kisses at her neck and jaw.

“Do I have a choice?” she asks, and he bites her earlobe.

“No.”

-July 1998-

(y/n) walked up to the grand manor that belonged to the minister of magic, hand in hand with Tom Riddle, or well-the version of him born from a diary just to be with her. She stopped up the stone pathway towards the manor, shaking. Tom moved to stand in front of her, cupping her cheek with his free hand, speaking softly.

“There's nothing to be afraid of darling, it’s just me, just us.” He murmured, brushing his thumb across her bottom lip, dipping down to kiss her for a moment and then he tugs her hand once-twice-then she moves, feeling like she was walking into an open bear trap.

Her breath feels caught in her lungs as Tom opens the grand door, pulling her inside. Its-nice-not as oppressive as one would envision but still, (y/n)’s scared, unconsciously moving closer to Tom as he guides her through the manor, the manor he and his ‘family’ lived in.

He guides her up the stairs in the main foyer, down one of the many corridors, and into a large sitting room-where the two older men were sitting. Voldemort, as he was called once more-the core Tom, the Tom she’d known-and his ‘son’, a horcrux, born to only give reason for the Tom holding her hand to be with her without anyone looking oddly at them.

The two older men look up and the oldest, Voldemort, the one she knew, is up on his feet in seconds, his gleaming scarlet-brown eyes locked onto her. He’s older, late 60’s, black wavy hair streaked with silver and far from the pale bald snake man she’d been terrified of in the original timeline.

He’s handsome, face lined with age and many other things she can't say or name right now.

She feels nailed to the spot as Voldemort, Tom, comes close to her. The one who had come with her to the manor steps away-allowing the core version of the three of them to stand before her. Voldemort stares down at her-he’s taller than she last saw him, probably the same height as the dark lord version of him. She looks up at him, shaking, her hands clutched at her side.

“No, do not be afraid,” Voldemort, Tom, coos, his hands cupping her face and brushing his thumbs over the curve of her cheeks. The fear in her eyes is familiar-the same fear he saw when he discovered she knew of his plans-who he planned to be. He hates it. “I may share the name of the dark lord from your time, but I only share the name-there are no death eaters, there is no war, no dark lord. Just, us.” Voldemort said with a slow smirk, and his ‘son’, also Tom, stands, making his way over to (y/n) and Voldemort.

“There's nothing to be afraid of anymore darling,” Tom, in his late 30s it seems, maybe early 40s, hums as he draws close, his hand fitting in the small of (y/n)’s back, drawing her close. Voldemort glares for only a moment, his hands still on (y/n)’s face. “the memories of what you experienced, everything that happened to you, will eventually fade.”

(y/n) knows he means to say that as a comfort, but it’s horrifying, she was eventually going to forget it all; forget the dark lords horrifying acts, forget what happened in her original time-even forget how and why she was standing before the three Tom’s at this very moment. Eventually her fear would fade because-why would she fear the minister for magic? Why would she fear his son, or grandson-why would she fear her boyfriend’s family?

She swallows harshly and Voldemort leans down to kiss her forehead, an achingly familiar gesture from the time she spent with him in the 40s. “come, let us make you comfortable my dear,” Voldemort murmurs, he and Tom, the older one, take her hands and pull her to sit on the couch-Voldemort sits in the love seat as the youngest Tom, the one her age-made from the diary-sits next to her-while older Tom sits on the other love seat beside the couch.

“You’re not…mad at me?” she finally asks, having also feared his-their reaction, when she left, he had been angry, heartbroken really. Voldemort only smirks as Tom, the older one, chuckles.

“I was, at first,” he says, stirring milk into his tea. “but age allows for one to look back and review, eventually; i understood why you left, why you were scared.” At this, older Tom stood up, sitting on (y/n)’s other side, cupping her face again, bringing her so close she could feel his breath on her face-smell his cologne and the tea he’d been drinking.

“But now you don’t have to be, there is no war, no dark lord. Just, us.” He murmurs, moving closer to her and before he can get way too close she flinches back, falling towards Tom-the one that’s her age. He wraps his arms around her, cooing softly as she shakes.

“It’s all right my love,” Tom chuckles, kissing her temple as he pulls her into his lap, his arm completely wrapping around her waist to keep her close-jealously clear in Voldemort’s and older Tom’s eyes. Older Tom’s hand wraps around her ankle, her feet in his lap now.

(y/n) doesn’t know what to think, or do. She’s trapped, trapped in a manor with three versions of Tom, one her age-that has her in his grip, the second old enough to be her father, who holds her legs in his lap, and the third staring at her, his gleaming scarlet brown eyes staring at her from the love seat, his fingers steepled under his chin.

She stills as older Tom’s thumb traces her fading scar from her uncle, her eyes snapping shut as his thumb goes over her eye. “It’s fading, good.” He murmurs and Tom-the one holding her-squeezes her tighter, burying his face in her neck and breathing deep.

“Wh-why?” (y/n) asks, swallowing harshly as she hears Voldemort speak. “Why stop your uncle from ever touching you? Why not? Why allow such a disgusting excuse of a pureblood to harm such precious life? Why allow him to even think about taking your mother for his own, or think about you in such a disgusting way.” Voldemort sneers, disgust clear in his voice. (y/n) feels chills down her spine and up to her heart. She never knew her uncle…thought about such things.

She had been told by a family friend, who really shouldn’t have told her at 12, that her uncle had attempted to blackmail her mother to marry him to make her pureblood again. Gross, but incest was quite…normal in pureblood families. At least back then.

To think her uncle possibly…when she was so young…it was horrifying and she shook, hands covering her mouth as she stared off at nothing. Voldemort stands and joins his younger horcrux selves on the couch, cupping her face in his hands. “it is all right dear,” he coos, kissing her head. “he’s gone now. He never hurt you, and soon this conversation will fade too.”

(y/n) jolts at the very thought-how much was she going to forget? Would everything she was experiencing now fade? Turn her into something, someone, she was not? “I don’t want to forget-I don’t want to-“ she babbled and Voldemort shushed her again, wiping her tears with his thumb.

“shhh shh my love, it’ll be okay, some day this will all be a forgotten dream, you’re core self will not change, only memories will.” He said in a soft tone, then he scoops her up from Tom’s lap. She lets out a choked yelp her arms automatically wrapping around Voldemort’s neck as he carries her through the halls of the manor, the younger Tom’s following very close behind.

Voldemort enters a well-lit room, the curtains open to let sunlight in, it’s aesthetically different from the rest of the manor, lighter blues and whites, golds and bronzes with a large rug spanning the floor and a very large bed with a white-grey canopy and a chaise lounge at the end with a throw blanket tossed over it.

Voldemort lays her on the bed, older Tom takes off her shoes and the youngest-the Tom her age, kneels on the lounge at the end of the large bed, resting his elbows on the end of the bed, staring at her. “Rest for now, allow yourself to come to terms with your new reality,” Voldemort hummed, brushing her hair back-her fading scar visible.

He kisses her forehead, older Tom kisses her cheek, and Tom crawls up to kiss her fully, kissing her quickly once more before all three leave the room.

She waits for a few minutes, breathing quickly before she throws off the heavy, comfortable, quilt and rushing to the large window-but it’s charmed shut and she’s still underage-and if she tried to uncharm it-it would no doubt alert Voldemort. The door is locked as well-the bathroom window as well-but that was too small for her to fit in.

She feels lost-trapped-she sobs and crawls back onto the bed-the room was clearly meant for her. It’s not his style, it’s blue like her Hogwarts house and full of comfortable items that only she would’ve picked out.

And what sucks no one knows she’s trapped.

According to everyone else, which was once true, she was here willingly. Happily. Because this timelines version of her had spent the last four summers in this manor, which is this room has her clothes, her favorite shampoos, her preferred toothpaste.

She curls up on the bed, feeling lost.

-

She leaves the room later-the door unlocks for her, it must’ve been charmed to not let her escape-but allows her to leave when she doesn’t plan to escape. She goes down the hall, shoes left in “her” room. She explores. Theres a massive library, the garden is huge too, she finds several lounges and the other bedrooms, all three rooms open a tad-as if inviting her inside but she doesn’t.

She roams more, finding a sunroom, where a large snake was resting in the summer sun-she does not bother this snake.

She also finds a dining room, an actual ballroom,  a music room, there's an astronomy tower, of course; a kitchen, and then a very fancy bathroom meant for guests.

Finally, she comes upon a study that’s near the astronomy tower. Voldemort’s there-the door opened just enough for her to see him and she attempts to go by but the door opens completely, his eyes on her. “do not be afraid love,” he coos, gesturing her inside.

She glances down the hallway, and steps into the study, standing in the doorway for a long minute. Voldemort smiles softly, setting down a ministry-stamped stack of papers, turning his chair-summoning her towards him. Her feet feel like they move on her own and then she’s in front of him.

She stares at him as he takes her hands, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles. Her vision flickers in her mind, Tom-the one she knew in the 40’s, appears before her for a split second-that stupid handsome smile on his face. Voldemort flickers back into her vision and she pulls her hands out of his, holding them to her chest.

His brows furrow, he looks hurt.

He makes himself seem, smaller, curling his shoulders in as he leans towards her, looking up at her. “I’m sorry I scared you,” he whispers, his hands now on her hips-one drawing down to her thigh. Her brows furrow. “the day you left, I scared you; again. That wasn’t my…goal.” He swallows, drawing his eyes down, then closing them-leaning forward to press his forehead against her stomach. “I, did, mean what I said. You’re mine.” He whispers, (y/n) tenses, and then she’s pulled into Voldemort’s lap and his lips smash into hers-her eyes snap shut.

Disgust should be what she feels. It isn’t.

She hesitates yes, but she doesn’t feel like she should smack him and run-no, she…lets him tug her closer, his lips move against hers, tongue on her bottom lip-its reminiscent of their first kiss, in the restricted section-Voldemort-Tom-tastes cold and feels warm, she smells sharp cologne-a scent that hadn’t changed in the 50 years it had been since he’d last seen her.

Her hands shake as she lifts them up-and then rests them on Voldemort’s shoulders, he hums-pleased, and tugs her closer to him, his arms wrapping around her completely; pulling her even closer, her body completely snug against his as their lips move together.

“My love,” he purrs as he pulls away, lips already red-peppering kisses down her jaw-she lets out a soft sound, tilting her head back-it’s an automatic thing, something she now did out of reflex when he kissed her like this. “never be afraid of me again, please, I, none of us, would ever hurt you.” he whispered against the hollow of her throat.

She knows he isn’t lying.

She swallows harshly, clinging tight to his shoulders, creasing the fabric of his ironed button-up. “Swear it?” she whispers, looking down at him and he smiles, resting his chin on her chest, looking up at her.

“I’d make the unbreakable vow,” he whispers and she bites her lip, she’s unsure still-she’s still nervous and scared. He leans up and kisses her gently, his hands moving up-pressing against the small of her back-the other between her shoulders.

She kisses back.

It feels, very odd, deep down. Yes, this is the Tom she knew when she time-traveled into the 40s, the one she dated, the one she discovered was the young Voldemort. But now he’s in his 60’s, still handsome, but old enough to be her grandfather.

He deepens the kiss and all thoughts go out the window, especially with the way his hips roll up against her, the fabric of his trousers catching against the fabric of her underwear-she���d worn a skirt for once. She gasps into the kiss and his tongue invades her mouth-somehow he’s even better at kissing then he was “50” years ago.

She’s lifted up and put on the desk, a flick of his hand make papers and other desk objects fly off and go into their proper places when not being used. She gasps again as he leans over her, pressing her down against the desk, standing between her legs, rolling his hips against her again.

She shudders, gasping for breath as he kisses and nips at her jaw and neck, his hands drawing up to the top button of her shirt-starting to undo it but stops, breathing deep. “Not yet.” He murmurs, looking down at her with dark lustful eyes, taking in her disheveled state. “not yet.” He murmurs again, kissing her forehead and sitting her up, helping her off the desk.

She furrows her brows, panting and then shuddering as he kisses her gently, easing her down from her ruffled state. “What?” she asks, confused. He chuckles lowly, smirking. “you’re underage darling, and while I’m confident no one but, well, me, would catch me fucking you,” she shudders at the way he says it, his smirk widens. “I want you to be fully ready for it, I want you to be completely sure of it, and legal.” He adds, almost as an afterthought. He kisses her cheek and sends her off with a gentle pat on her butt. “Go, the one your age should be in his room.”

(y/n)’s face flushes and she leaves the study, going back down the hall towards the bedrooms, looking through the open doors till she finds Tom, sitting on his bed with his back towards the door, a book in his lap. He’s dressed casually, wearing plain green sweater with the sleeves rolled up, a white button up beneath it, and black trousers; his hair free of gel or any sort of hair products, so it’s loose and wavy, his bangs falling into his eyes so he keeps brushing them out of his face, huffing each time.

(y/n) stepped into his room, the door creaking. He perked up and turned, smirking at her, patting his bed to invite her closer. “Good evening love,” Tom purred, his smirk widening as she comes closer, willingly. “How are you feeling?” he asks, genuinely, but he needed to know if she had calmed down, accepted her new reality.

(y/n) bit her lip, her brows furrowing a bit before sitting next to him. Tom wraps his arm around her, book discarded as he pulls her closer, resting his chin on her shoulder. “i…” she swallowed harshly, biting her inner lip before sighing, rubbing her face. “I don’t know, it’s all so confusing.” She admits and Tom hums, pulling her into his lap and she lets him, turning to hide away in his arms.

She lets herself believe for a moment, that she’s back in the 40s with him, before she found out about who he truly was, that they’re alone in the common room, wrapped up in each others arms, enjoying the fire.

For a moment, she lets go of her fear and anxiety.

-

(y/n) thinks quite a lot through the next two weeks she stays at the manor, about her morals, her beliefs, the past, the present, how things changed, what didn’t change.

Finally, she comes to terms with it all.

There was no Voldemort. Not the dark lord anyway, yes he still killed people to create his horcruxes, but with the…strange promise that he hadn’t killed any…innocents to create the Diary and Ring that made up the two Tom’s.

There was no war, no death eaters, no insane blood purity politics. There was no boy who lived-only Harry Potter, a normal boy with no lightning scar with loving parents.

Things were okay, changed yes, but okay. She…did not need to feel guilty about it all, she didn’t need to fear him, them, at all. She had told him that she could not love ‘him’, Voldemort the dark lord. So he wasn’t one, he was Voldemort the minister for magic, with two “son’s”, Thomas, and Tom.

She could…relax, accept it, he’d changed, for her. He was intense, possessive of her, obsessive even, all three of them were but…they loved her.

She walked into the sitting room where all three of them were, Tom looks up at her right away, attention instantly off the book he’d been reading, Thomas and Voldemort look at her next, wondering what she needed.

She walks further into the room, sits right next to Tom, and curls into him. He smiles and wraps his arms around her, holding her close-Voldemort and Thomas watch, jealous but curious-she’d yet to do something like this-to purposefully seek them out.

“I’m okay with this,” she admits quietly and she feels Tom smile against her cheek, the others lean closer-hoping she meant what they thought she meant. “with…all this, you three, me, us.” (y/n) says, stumbling through her words slightly and Thomas takes her from Tom’s side-Tom complains audibly but Thomas already has (y/n) in his lap, kissing her cheek.

“Are you sure love?” Voldemort asks, kneeling in front of her, taking her hands gently. (y/n) nods, her cheeks flushed. “I wasn’t for a while, but…I am now. Theres no war, no dark lord, and…you stopped my uncle from hurting me, stopped him from hurting my parents i…I suppose I can't argue that it’s all wrong, when-even if its selfish-you guys did the…right thing,” she admits and Voldemort leans up to kiss her gently, she kisses back, Thomas making a sound from behind her-he hadn’t gotten to kiss her at all yet.

That night, she goes to bed with Tom holding her, his arms tight around her as his face presses against the back of her neck, breathing softly against her skin. For the first night since getting back to the present, she sleeps soundly.

-

Her birthday comes up right before summer break ends, her parents are there at the manor for her birthday party hosted by the Riddle family-she learns this is an annual thing, ever since ‘she’ and Tom had started dating and gotten serious.

Deep down she does find it a bit odd her parents are so, okay with her just-spending a whole summer at this manor filled with men-one of which being her official boyfriend, but she figures Voldemort probably did some manipulation and while she feels uncomfortable with the idea, she knows she cant do anything about it.

She gets presents, like a well-tailored suit just for her-since she wasn’t much of a dress girl- from her parents, a necklace from Tom, a book from Thomas, and earrings from Voldemort. Her parents are non-the wiser to anything going on beyond what is shown to them, so when they leave the manor-without (y/n), she’s drawn into Voldemort’s bedroom by all three Tom’s.

“Come here darling, I think its time we show you just how much you’re adored.” Voldemort purred, sitting on the bed on his knees, and she swallows harshly, climbing onto the bed as Thomas and Tom climb on with her-watching her with sharp eyes filled with desire, all for her. “just thinking of it as a birthday present, from all three of us,” Thomas purrs from her left.

She’s sure she’s blushing heavily, closing her eyes as Voldemort’s hands cradle her face gently, lips beginning to trail from up her neck to her jaw, and then to her lips. His lips press against hers and she kisses back-letting out a small yelp as she’s tugged to lay down on the bed, all three hovering over her-Tom’s hands are on her legs, Thomas holds her waist, and Voldemort’s hands are still on her face-still kissing her.

Tom takes her shoes off while Thomas undid her pants and shirt, Voldemort’s hands thread through her hair and then he takes off her bra, smirking against her cheek as Thomas begins to fondle her breasts-making her gasp-and then he softly kisses her breast, then her nipple-taking the hardening bud into his mouth and swirling his tongue around it, his other hand fondling her breast.

Her hips lift as Tom slots himself between her legs, leaving soft kisses on her thighs, his fingers dipping beneath the fabric of her panties, slowly pulling them down to reveal her cunt. “beautiful,” he groaned, his eyes fluttering as he leaned in, kissing her clit and then circling his tongue around it-smirking at the way her hips jumped in response.

Tom spreads her thighs wider, burying his face in her cunt and lapping at her while Voldemort nipped at her jaw, leaving marks all along her neck and jaw before kissing her again, his hands in her hair.

(y/n) could hardly handle it all, gasping and moaning as the three lavished her with sensual attention, her breath catching as Tom sucked at her clit, his fingers pushing inside her to prepare her and bring her closer to orgasm. “shit-“ she gasped aloud when Voldemort sucked on her pulse point. “that’s it love-give it to us,” Voldemort purred in her ear and she let out a long whining cry, feeling it crash over her in an electric wave-her hips bucking down against Tom’s mouth as he helps her through it.

Soon she was twisted around, legs hooked around Voldemort’s-the other two complain-they wanted to be her first but Voldemort quiets them. “silence. I’ve waited much longer for this than either of you,” he hisses, in parseltongue so (y/n) didn’t understand anything but watched as Tom and Thomas sink back, huffing as they crowd around her upper body, Tom holds her hand as Thomas caresses her collarbone with his fingers, trailing up to her face to gently trace her fingers.

She looks up-Voldemort leans close, kissing her softly as his cock presses to her virgin entrance, and then he’s pushing inside-she can feel every inch-making her gasp into his mouth as he slowly rocks inside her till he’s completely inside.

It’s not painful, just new and vaguely uncomfortable, but he stills when completely inside, kissing her cheeks to ease her tension as Tom kisses her knuckles, Thomas rubs her thigh, moving his hand to rub her clit slowly to ease her further. “any pain?” Voldemort asks her, massaging her hips as she shifts, letting out a small quick breath as she shakes her head.

“You-you can move,” she murmured, gasping as Voldemort pulled out slowly, and then slowly pushed back inside, doing that slow rhythm over and over again-watching as she gasped and moaned softly, clutching Tom’s hand as he kissed her forehead, his other hand holding her waist as Thomas watched, one hand on her thigh as his other hand strokes himself, the three watching her enjoy the pleasure-a vision they’d waited years to see. Especially Voldemort, who couldn’t believe he was finally feeling her tight warmth after so long, he wanted to pound her into the bed, to make her go dumb and cry out in pleasure-to hear his name on her lips, but he didn’t want to scare her, so he went slow.

“F-f-aster-please.” (y/n) moaned softly and Voldemort groaned lowly, he’d been waiting to hear that-leaning over her to fuck into her a bit faster, the sound of his hips smacking her inner thighs getting louder as gets a bit rougher-smirking when (y/n)’s moans got louder, a low whine escaping her as Thomas rubs her clit while Tom kisses her cheek, so many sensations at once that she can’t focus.

Voldemort pushes her knees towards her chest, a perfect position he thinks, watching her body bounce and his cock disappear inside her-no protection-biting his lip as she whines and moans, the wet sound of her pussy accepting his cock such an intoxicating sound that he never wants to stop fucking her.

“You like it darling? Do you like my cock inside you?” Voldemort purred, leaning over her, pinning her down with his hands and hips, pressing fully into her, grinding his hips against her-hitting that sensitive part inside her that made her gasp and writhe. “you don’t know how long I’ve dreamed of this my love, of being deep inside you, so close to you-with no barriers between us. I could get you pregnant right now-bound you to us for eternity.” Voldemort murmured, the other two groaning at the very thought while (y/n) tried to catch her breath, not even paying attention to his words, her brain too fuzzy to focus on anything but the tip of his cock against her inner sweet spot.

Voldemort smirked at her face, leaning down to kiss her as he rocked his hips again, fucking her deep and fast, making her moan and whine as he kept hitting that inner sweet spot again and again. Her breath got faster, her body writhing as she felt her orgasm approach again-this time harder, quicker. “i-i-im gonna-ah!” (y/n) moaned, Voldemort consuming her voice as he kissed her, swirling her tongue with his as he angled his cock right into her sweet spot, smirking as she clenched tightly around him-cumming hard.

He let out a low groan, shuddering as he came, spurts of cum filling her as he thrust a few more times, biting his lip as he pulled out, watching as it dripped out of her. “my turn,” Thomas murmured, grabbing her waist and twisting her around, laying her down on her stomach and kissing her shoulders down to her waist, putting her hips beneath a pillow as he kicked off his trousers. “you ready darling?” Thomas purred against her shoulder and (y/n) let out a small whine, Tom moving to lay her head in his lap, she looked up at him-closing her eyes as he leaned down to kiss her.

She gasped as Thomas pushed into her, sliding in easily with a groan. “fucking-perfect cunt.” Thomas moaned, his head falling between his shoulders as he gripped (y/n)’s hips, moving one hand to her lower back as his hips began to fuck into her, smirking at the sound of his hips meeting her plush ass. “that feel good darling?”

(y/n) twitched and moaned, panting hard as she already felt her 3rd orgasm rising-still on the high from her last one, her hips bucking back into Thomas as he pulled her hips higher to get deeper inside her, letting out low grunts and moans as he watched his cock disappear into her cum slicked pussy.

He leaned down, wrapping his arms around her waist and putting a hand on her neck-tugging her up against him, making her bounce as he fucked up into her, grinning against her neck as her moans reached a new pitch-her eyes clenched shut as she felt him roll into her just right and she shuddered, clenching tight around his cock as he bucked his hips up-hitting that spot inside her again and again till she came hard, letting out a hoarse moan as he bit her shoulder, thrusting into her twice more before cumming deep inside her.

(y/n) let out a weak groan, shivering as Tom took her in his arms-pulling her off of Thomas-she shuddered as he slid out of her, his cum running down her thigh. “You okay love?” Tom murmured against her cheek as she slumped against him, she breathed heavily and then nodded after a few moments, letting out a harsh breath as his cock pressed against her, sliding up and down the length of her pussy before pushing inside, sitting her down on his hips, her body arching back as his arms wrapped around her, his lips pressing to her neck. “Just let me do the work darling,” Tom purred against her throat, thrusting up into her-the sound of his cock pushing into her cum filled pussy making a loud noise that echoed in her ears-making her whine as he began; slow and easy.

He watched her face as he rolled his hips up, his mouth opening at the feeling of her tight warm cunt around him-the feeling of cum only making her wetter for him, making it so easy to slide in and out. “You feel heavenly love,” Tom groaned, kissing her neck as Thomas and Voldemort got closer, Voldemort kissing her upper waist as Thomas rubbed her shoulders, pressing his lips to her nape. “So good, made just for us, for me.”

(y/n) let out a sharp pant, her head falling forward as Tom’s hips began to move faster, his hands finding her hips to help her bounce on his cock, her belly tightened and she clenched around his cock, making both of them moan as his hips bucked-hitting that spot inside her again, making her squirm. “Too much darling? Cumming so many times-with all three of us fucking you?” Voldemort cooed against her ear, massaging her breasts, Thomas’ hand moving to cup her lower belly.

“So much of our seed inside you, it’s bound to take, you’ll be ours-forever, giving the Riddle family a proper heir.” Thomas said in a low groan, (y/n) too far gone to listen. Tom brought her closer, nosing her head to turn it so he could kiss her properly, swallowing her moans as he rolled his hips just right, smirking against her lips as she shuddered and let out a harsh breath-her brows furrowed as her 4th orgasm came rushing up and she bucked away from Tom.

“T-too much-s’too much-“ she moaned, putting her hands on Tom’s shoulders as that coil in her gut tightened again, this one more intense and she tried to escape it-Tom wouldn’t let her, kissing her jaw as Thomas reached around to rub her clit, smirking as she let out a small shriek. “-ahh-hahh!!”

“Let go love-cum on my cock-let me fill you up again,” Tom groaned against her neck, smirking as she writhed and bucked against the feeling-before her body tensed and she came hard-moaning weakly as he pinned her to the bed, thrusting inside her quickly until he came inside her.

“Good girl,” Voldemort purred, leaning down to kiss her forehead as her vision faded in and out, before it all went blissfully quiet.

-end-

[ashoss]

a brief explanation and probably incomplete timeline of the batgirls bc i’ve seen a lot of people flip flop between their (mostly cass and stephs) names (i got a bit sidetracked with this.. whoops)

bette/betty kane: bat-girl, flamebird, hawkfire

the silver age batgirl. she was introduced along side kathy kane’s batwoman. these two would become kate and bette, the modern batwoman and flamebird/hawkfire

sometimes her run is mentioned, sometimes not, other times it’s a passing joke

young justice 1998 #21

she becomes flamebird and joins teen titans (titans west) for a bit. she sticks around as flamebird until kate kane's batwoman run (batwoman 2011)

kate trains her as plebe

batwoman (2011) #1

and then she becomes hawkfire under the DEO

batwoman (2011) #16, #17

i think dc forgot abt her lowkey

barbara gordon: batgirl, oracle

probably the batgirl you think of when you hear batgirl. she took bette’s place in 1967 and is still somehow stuck in the roll.

secret origins 1986 #20

she gets shot in the killing joke (1988), paralyzing her and leading her to become oracle.

batman chronicles #5

she goes back to batgirl around the n52, along with her own solo (batgirl 2011) and being sometimes batgirl sometimes oracle in batgirls 2022 which seems to be the grey area she’s still stuck in. (with her being batgirl in some of the modern nightwing stuff, but sometimes filling the oracle roll in dc and batman)

helena bertinelli: huntress, batgirl/the bat

she names herself batgirl (or more realistically The bat) during no mans land while bruce was gone. gotham needed a bat.

batman: shadow of the bat #83

however bruce does come back eventually. and lets her stick around but still doesnt fully trust her.

detective comics #732

barbara was actually unaware of it at first and has a very reasonable crash out bc ok bruce

batman: legends of the dark knight #120

she didn’t last long as batgirl, he takes her suit and gives it to cassandra in the same issue.

cassandra cain: batgirl, black bat, orphan, kasumi

takes over after helena and sticks around as batgirl until 2009

batman: legends of the dark knight #120

she mostly stays as batgirl during her run, except for a small run she had undercover in justice league: elite as an assassin named Kasumi. it falls right before war games in the timeline. during the bruce is dead era cass gives her suit to stephanie and she becomes batgirl. (same suit passed down from helena to cass to steph lmao. poor steph.)

batgirl 2009 #1

its in this era where the whole “cass in hong kong” bit starts up. shes there for a good chunk of the batgirl/red robin 2009 era.

red robin #17

at first she's there unnamed, and then taking on the black bat name during batman incorporated before she shows up again in red robin with that name.

batman incorporated #6

she doesnt stay black bat for too long, taking up the name orphan in batman and robin eternal (taking the name from david. for some reason).

batman and robin eternal #26

she was orphan for the rebirth era until she takes up the batgirl mantle again for batgirls 22 along with stephanie and barbara.

stephanie brown: spoiler, robin, batgirl

famously takes up the name spoiler to spoil her fathers crimes

detective comics #647

she stays as spoiler until around 2004 when war drums/war games happen and she takes up the robin mantle after tim retires.

robin 1993 #126

war games happens, she dies, comes back, and its revealed she didnt actually die!! leslie thompkins actually helped fake her death and she was in africa for a bit,,, but she is back to being spoiler after being fired and almost killed!

her relationship with the rest of the batfam is mostly strained during this time; tim, barbara and dick constantly telling her to get out of the line of duty however cass still entrusts her with her batgirl suit and the title. (batgirl 2009 #1)

batgirl 2009 #4

it would take her 4 issues to get her own suit tho. babs was very unsure of working with stephanie again esp with how she had died/almost died last time.

she stays batgirl until the n52, and then is back to spoiler during rebirth.

she stays as spoiler until joker war where both she and cass take the batgirl name again (batgirls 2022)

honourable mentions:

charlie gage radcliffe

birds of prey 1999 #99

a meta who called herself batgirl because "gotham needs a batgirl". she knows the identity of the birds of prey, calling them all by their first name. babs tries to keep her from being a vigilante by showing her images from stephanie's death in war games to which she listens. saying that she'll at least drop the batgirl mantle. so.

tiffany fox

batgirl: futures end

part of a ... league of batgirls? with stephanie and cassandra? while... babs is dosed with? bane venom>???? and becomes bête noire (the black beast).... ok. tbh tiffany as batgirl is the only good thing abt this comic

harley quinn

harley quinn 2000 #10

theres some contract on harley and ignoring the easier way of her just skipping town, she becomes batgirl!

if you ignore weird comments she makes towards tim its a pretty fun comic with some good interactions between tim, cass, dick and babs. esp since its with a cass pretty early in her batgirl run. its only issues 10 and 11 :P

anyway hope yall enjoyed :3

[halcyon-writings]

hello! i love your work!! do you think you could write a sinister mark x reader where sinister mark ends up finding her in another timeline and stuff? sorry if that doesnt make any sense its my first time requesting 💞

idc if that the trope of finding ur s/o in another universe feels overdone im gonna eat it up anyway, also i think sinister mark can be especially delusional (gender neutral pronouns are used for the reader!)

nav.

When Angstom Levy arrives surrounded by a portal's bright colors, he promises riches, power, and glory. He promises everything that Mark could ever want at his fingertips, if he agrees to a deal with him. Mark, bored as he tosses away a bloodied and beaten hero away, tilts his head. The body lays in a heap, letting out a pained exhale as he disregards them for this new arrival.

"And what if I have everything I want already?" Mark poses. It is a challenge, a silent one, but a challenge nonetheless. For he is already becoming accustomed to the idea, of conquering not only this world, but the next, and the next, until every universe he comes across bows to his feet.

Angstrom grins, one that is all teeth. Mark grins back. There's blood in his teeth.

The first few universes are easy. Some have their own version of him, rulers in their own right. Powerful enough, too. Others are too weak, but there's potential, as Angstrom convinces them to join him.

The man stands before a portal once more. His eyes proud and his smile smarmy. "As promised, I can bring you to them too."

Mark hides his surprise well. Although he did have to admit that he was impressed, it seemed that Angstrom had done his homework. It raised his own warning signals though, never once had he told the other about you. So he sighs, rolls his eyes as his lips become pursed, acting unconvinced, despite knowing what the other's powers could do and how easily he had proven his worth.

"Bring them here," He replies, he would not put it past the supposed mastermind to try and trick him into entering a portal without making sure he would not be stuck in some random universe. Angstrom hums, but acquiesces anyway. He steps through the portal, as Mark watches, arms crossed and eyes unreadable.

A moment passes.

Silence remains his sole companion.

A second moment passes and Angstrom steps through; he is not alone as a familiar face follows behind him. Mark can ignore that you're a little disheveled, as though you were purposefully dragged along. The harsh glare that you're giving Angstrom only makes him laugh. Your cold reception doesn't last long once Angstrom leaves, rubbing his head and muttering under his breath about your left hook.

You seem to wait until Angstrom is gone, until you cradle your hand close to your chest, rubbing at your reddened knuckles as you take a heavy breath. That was wise of you, hiding anything that Angstrom could use against you should he have to. But then Mark shifts his attention to your heartbeat as it thrums against your rib cage; it was a familiar sound that Mark had thought he would never hear again.

"I found you." Leaves him in a breathless whisper, you jump, forgetting that he had been there when you arrive. Your eyes dart about the room, as though preparing to flee or something similar.

Mark lowers his cowl, eyes wide with a manic glee. His cheeks get warm, flushed even as he opens his arms, waiting for you to run into them. (Not like you did before, anyway.)

But then he stops when you speak. Your expression showing just how out of place you felt. Your voice wary, "Who... who are you?"

[youkaigakkou-tl]

Hello. Thank you so much for sharing yohaji translations. There was a question bothering me for a while. Why do you think Ranmaru hates Seimei ? Would love to hear your thoughts on that.

see ranmaru is hard to read and seimei is even harder to read, but i do have a guess.

because of sensei's recent bad-end takahashi art, i've come to realise: yohaji is a cosmic horror story and seimei is the cosmic horror

if seimei happens to like you for some reason, or the timeline for the people he DOES care about puts you in a good place, then great! you're in good hands! (you were not aware you were in anyone's hands)

otherwise, you might just end up in a bad place, even though 1000 years ago, there was some guy who knew and could change things 1000 years into the future, who might have cared about you if something was different somehow.

of course, this wouldn't matter to you as the hypothetical person in this scenario, because how could you be expected to know about this one guy from 1000 years ago? he doesnt matter to you.

but ranmaru does know him. he was there next to him to see everything he did and said, and he still doesnt understand him

"hate" is an output, a symptom, and it's because ranmaru is afraid of seimei.

ranmaru is really smart and he's lived a long time. he generally knows how the world works and what makes people tick and he likes having the upper hand in a conversation and talking his way under people's skin.

and then this guy shows up and acts like he knows everything! and then he dies! and then you live the next 1000 years and find out he really did know everything and everything is unfolding in exactly the way he wants!

ranmaru likes his free will and his "doing whatever" and seimei is a direct threat to that. seimei stands for the idea that there's no such thing as free will, that everything is predetermined, that you were always going to end up where you are, and you never had any real choice in the matter. in the same way the last page of a book was already written by the time you set eyes on the first page, and in the same way meiji time travel stable time loop happening at all ensures that it was always going to resolve in the state of the world that led to the time travel happening in the first place.

[cloudysarts]

Hi there!!

I want to say that your “Mabel’s muse” Au concept has absolutely called my attention, Bill mentions multiple times (Dipper and Mabel’s guide to mystery and fun and TBOB) how he likes Mabel’s personality and wanted her to be his ally…sooo the idea of an alternative time where he decided to approach her and where she trusts him and considers him as her friend is absolutely full of potential

I just think about how many stuff would change and how bill would be a little more genuine with her as he for once isn’t pretending to be an all-wise being and having to constantly rise the ego of Genius minds…instead he just has to party with a teenager whose idea of fun is quite similar to his…he doesn’t have to be the “supreme being” for once just a silly fella in order to earn Mabel’s trust

Also about how some episodes would have to take a completely different route:

maybe “Mindscapers” wouldn’t even take place…because I doubt that Mabel would trust a Bill if he went inside Stan’s head

Bill possessing her during the “sock opera”episode instead of dipper

Also don’t get me started on “the last Mabelcorn” episode. All the angst and horror that Ford would feel when he finds out about the whole friendship with bill situation reflecting himself on Mabel and probably Dipper being the one who search for the unicorn hair while ford tries to convince her that Bill isn’t trustworthy

I apologize for my rant but I seriously love your idea and sorry if it’s a bit confusing English isn’t my first language

I hope you have a nice day and thank you for reading this silly thing!!

first of all, your english is great!! second of all, i am SO sorry it took me so long to respond to this ask, it just made me so happy that i wanted to take my time to craft a response!!!!!! :DDDD (context: for people who don't know what my 'mabels muse' au is, you can check it out over here!)

you are practically SPOT ON with my ideas for this au!!!!!! but i'm gonna briefly run through all the things you brought up!!

first of all, yes, absolutely!!!! for bill, partner-ing up with mabel was a very nice change of pace. he likes stroking the ego's of genius', just for his own amusement, but he doesnt get the THRILL of just getting to PLAY very often!! he's a very childish being, at the end of the day. he enables mabel's selfishness, while getting to indulge his own, silly passions right alongside her!! and obviously, mabel LOVES being enabled <3 i imagine most of the dreams he gives her would make any normal persons eyes bleed

as for your episode ideas, you're mostly right!!! :) mindscaperers does, in fact, NOT happen in this au. in my head, i imagine gideon trying to summon him, only for an 'I.O.U' to appear where bill should be. he's busy hanging out with his favorite pre-teen!!! so gideon skips straight to his backup plan, aka, gideon rises ^^

for sock opera, i'm still on the fence a little bit. one of the reasons bill is hanging out with her at all in this au is because, unlike in the regular timeline, this bill actively wants stanford to be brought home. the reason mabel is important to him, is because he can see timelines where she presses the button in not what he seems, and keeps him from returning. in his mind, he has the greatest shot of success if mabel doesn't press it. in this au, she doesnt even hesitate to trust stan, because she has another, trustworthy voice in her head, yelling DON'T PRESS THE BUTTON. its 2v1! ANYWAY, the reason any of that matters for sock opera, is because he wouldnt have any need to possess anyone, because he has no interest in smashing the laptop! BUT.....i can see him doing it anyway. i figure, most likely, he gets mabel to (willingly) let him use her body, so that she can work on her sock opera while her body sleeps. i just imagine a bill-possessed mabel up at 3 am, covered in hot glue and googly eyes as he tries to work it out shjdkfhjsdkf. but......honestly, he probably destroys the laptop in the process :) just to fuck with dipper <3 not that dipper ever finds out its her. he has no idea that mabel was ever possessed/has no reason to suspect her, because at this point, he still doesnt think bill is real. that is....until the last mabelcorn.

IN the last mabelcorn, mabel reveals to ford that she does recognize bill, and that he lives in her brain! she says it really excitedly, at the table, while dipper kind of just rolls his eyes about it. to her, its vindicating, because it's the first time anyone has ever acknowledged bills existence. but to ford, its HORRIFYING, because he knows it isn't just a coincidence. he knows he has to do something, but he doesn't know what, right away. this is where our ideas differ a little bit, because i think that mabel still WOULD be the one retrieving the unicorn hair! ford just didnt tell her what the hair was for. ford sends her off, because he wants to brainstorm a way to get him out of her head, preferably without hurting her/her memories. he also plans to bill-proof dippers mind in the process, just in case mabel is too far gone already. the events here happen basically the same (with minor tweaks), but instead of dipper suspecting that ford is evil/bill-possessed, this is where he finally learns that bill is real at all. ford tells him about his backstory, and explains the REAL reason he sent mabel out to get the unicorn hair, etc etc. he loves mabel a lot, but hes not sure how to go about dealing with this situation yet. its not HER fault she trusted bill, but he knew that if he just tries to tell her hes evil, she wont believe him. shes known 'her muse' longer, and as of right now, he's never lead her wrong. just like what happened to him in the past...

i wonder how mabel would feel if she only heard the end of that conversation...

(more of this au here and here!)

[vallis-cineris---wanderer]

HANDYMAN SUB-AU

Another day another new sub-AU in the TAU server! (Credit to @awesomecat42 and @random-dragon-jtk)

So Tl;dr, this thing is gonna get too long if I don't do a rough summary on it.

ALRIGHT! 👏👏

Premise: Alcor is taken (read: dragged) in by the theraprism and they are prepping him for reincarnation. Unfortunately this little ball of unresolved trauma and the accumulation of a decade of so many writers angsting him up has problems... lots of them.

To resolve this (and to also slowly acclimate him to human life), they decided to yeet him to a post-weirdmaggedon dimension simmilar to that of the canon timeline! (Maybe lasting for a whole summer) Rehabilitation program :>

"This program has been proven to be quite helpful for our other more troublesome patient, I'm sure you'll be just alright! Just belive in yourself!"

---

Alcor lands at the mystery shack's doorstep with a set of criterias from the councellors.

- No powers, not even a hint of demon atributes. Even his earring (given by his Mabel) and glasses (Again, his ford) got confiscated!

- Get a job at the Shack and proceed to do human activities until he gets out of his "demon-phase".

-He can't tell anyone about his identity of demonic stuff. (His voice will go static and anything he draws or writes--even if its code-- goes blank when its deemed "too blatant")

- oh and turns out his human form is near sighted lmao

Really they're trying but in the wrong (and kinda unhelpful) way.

So because of (idk magic? Stanley pitiying him? Or etc?) Alcor--now known as Alan gets taken in by the mystery shack just as Stanley reopened it after a good Stan'o War II expedition. He works in the giftshop as a cashier person living a very boring monotonous human life

Soos is not the new Mr. Mystery in this au, but he is good friends with Alan.

--

That is until the twins come into the picture, having lived through weirdmageddon they come back to gravity falls after a lot of begging. Only to be met with a new mystery! This strange random guy that Grunkle Stan seemed to just picked up.

Alan at first scoffs at the pair, mainly at Dipper (he would be passive-agreesive towards him). Alcor is already beaten down by the theraprism, beliving that he just needs to get the summer over with and fake his improvement of "being human". Who knows? Maybe he'll finally be with his sister in the next life, that sounds just alright for him.

But Dipper notices "Alan" words would turn into static and how he is so hypervigilant at times--he starts to speculate.

Dipper comes up with a theory that this man is cursed, and that he is hiding something. (Mabel on the other hand thinks he is a banished fae prince)

Seeing this, Alcor starts to get a tiny bit of hope of actually being free from this nightmare. Because no matter what he does, he realizes that he's ultimately no longer human--he's outright restless and feels like he is masking, trying to do the mundane, trying to just fit in.

He doesnt even know about the whole weirdmageddon thing that happened! He got turned into a demon during sock opera and this was new info to him (at some point he was arrested for asking too many questions and had to be bailed out by Ford or Stanley.

So the whole summer will just be Alcor dropping hints so that Dipper and Mabel can guess his identity. Drawings of pinetrees, a star, lots of fire and more, charades even at some point. He has a theory that if he can get them to draw his circle, then some of his powers might just seep in

In the end Mabel is the one who managed to figure it out fully.

Roughly this is how I pictured them finding out the summoning circle

Dipper, to Mabel:

(The theraprism people monitoring tries to intervene, but it was too late)

Extra!

- they try to do it again (under Ford supervision) and turns out Alcor is stuck with the binding circle lmaooo. They had put it there incase any demon wants to sneak in randomly.

"Ugh, i can usualy break out of this so easily." He complains, which makes ford even more suspicious and paranoid of him. Alcor is stuck sulking and being all sad now that Ford doesnt trust him anymore.

- Alcor slowly getting his powers back and feeling relieved and finally able to talk about stuff like binding circles with Dipper and Ford. (Demonology lecturer alcor anyone? 👀)

There's more but honestly im tired.

[borzoilover69]

just scrolled through your hs2:oot tag, looks great looking forward to it! ^^

yeah about that...

my interest in homestuck other than certain factors of it has been dead for a while. I dont think i have the motivation for it and desire to see that storyline through.

HOWEVER.

Since its.. on permanent hiatus. I suppose i can just spoil the entire storyline and the determined outcomes of the entire thing? So click below if you wanted to see how THAT story goes.

-----v

HS2:OOT was to take place at the end of the long hiatus of hs2. After crocker targets johns house and burns it to the ground, jake comes back and finds the house, burning. BGD appears to torment Jake, arguing over fault, their relationship, and whether BGD is really saying what dirk would say. BGD also makes mention of the "cosmic asshole in space". As tensions rise, they reach a point where BGD decides to nope the fuck out and kill himself to detach himself from jake.

(ill add the pnale reference in a bit)

Jake has a breakdown.

After the breakdown, Jake seeks out john. john has just exited roxy and calliopes house (again this took place after the great pause, everything that came out this year-ish wasnt around) and talk over issues, concluding that things HAVE been off. For a long time now. That they have to do something, but what?

Hesitantly, Jake asks about Johns retcon powers. They deliberate, John hesitant even though they are "off canon" these are still their friends. They go back and forth on this before john argues that he doesnt even know WHERE to retcon to. Yet they still give it a try. MEANWHILE.. CRUSIING THROUGH PARADOX SPACE AT THE SPEED OF WHATEVER...

A SHIP GOES DARK. DAVEBOT: hey is it getting dark in here or what DAVEBOT: what the fuck is happening ARADIA: oh dear we've run out of time DAVEBOT: no no fuck this wasnt supposed to happen shit. DAVEBOT: aradia the fuck are you talking about ARADIA: we've run out of time, i'm sorry dave. DAVEBOT: i thought doomed timelines were for the game only DAVEBOT: the whole fucking point of this was that we were going to get out DAVEBOT: we were supposed to get out DAVEBOT: shit callie what the hells going on

Jades body stiffens and falls limp.

Retconning without purpose brings them to a blank space. Specifically, the black hole in which alt calliope resides. And man is she PISSED. Shes vague, condescending, and focuses on the fact they were "comfortable" and "safe". This is met by profuse denials, they want things to happen and "hasnt nothing been happening enough?"

CALLIOPE: The page and the heir were to remain. JOHN: ok. shut up.

[bickering later ]

JOHN: ok, i don't really care though, because clearly none of this is right!! this is the most garbage i've ever heard!!! They argue and bicker, and even fight somewhat. Calliope kicks their asses royally, and yet their defiance raises an eyebrow. They decide to do a trade deal. Calliope will grant them a set amount of time and they must defeat or at least put a stop to Jakes cosmic ex. If they fail to do that, she will take ultimate control and send them all back.

Calliope sends them back to a point before dave ascended and before the wormhole closed. Its a bright sunny day, and jake appears a little bit after john does. When asked, he said that calliope was asking him for something. John doesnt ask what.

John asks out of the blue if they can head to karkats house. When asked why, he talks about johns situation and the guilt he vaguely references from their last conversation. karkat isnt fully part of the revolution yet, and since the happy nuptials of jade and dave, hes been staying home and bedrotting. Isolated from human society and the new troll society, he prefers it that way as he lacks aim or purpose.

They ask for his help, explaining their situation. "We need your help beating my cosmic ex." "WHAT THE FUCK SORT OF COCAINE DID YOU TWO DO. THAT SOUNDS LIKE BULLSHIT. REPEAT WHAT THE FUCK YOU SAID TO YOUR LOCAL PSYCHOLOGIST." He also goes into the whole "thing with dave" (writing by august)

Karkat isnt budging, bringing up multiple points on why he shouldnt go, even if what theyre saying is true. This could really honestly be a cosmic fuck over. So when in doubt, reverse psych it out. John nonchalantly says ok, thats fine. We are going to respect your decision here. And karkat gets mad. REALLY. REALLY. MAD.

They end up reverse psychologying him into thinking its a personal FAVOUR that hes doing them by making sure they dont asphyxiate on dead air in space. Karkat and john talk about stuff happening, while Jake says he has to run a few errands. Karkat bringing up more questions about how easily john is doing this, john fumbling but probing more into what this pre-revolution karkat thinks to try and understand what the other karkat was on about. Jake returns, and the ship is ready to go.

this music

[Cue flash that shows the ship, then the town zooming out as. callback to when janes house entered the medium, and then zoom in on the ship as it takes off, entering through the wormhole into paradox space. Sollux on the roof gets blown over by the breeze, watching them. Inside the wormhole, Jake celebrates and highfives John before walking out, leaving karkat behind as he stares up into the soaring heavens. The perspective switches to the front of jakes ship, showing that its more reminiscent of a large battleship before it switches to dirks ship, flying through space he looks up at the screen. Slow pan over the members of the cast going to be relevant, terezi in front of a board of pinned papers and threads, rose watering plants, a timelapse of jakes ship and its occupants setting up and personallising the space. Alt calliope, davebot, the meat crew. etc. Cut to black and fade in text: HS2:OOT]

Ill put more later. But that was all of act one. maybe ill put up act two and other plotpoints later in another post along with the exclusive business.

[burreauxsss]

fanatics fest

background: the boy of every girl's dreams, joe burrow who was in a long lasting relationship with a model, ended due to infidelity, what happens when he runs into someone new at the met gala?

all pics from pinterest, all rights reserved)

synopsis: fanatics fest 25 in new york is everything but calm for joe and y/n.

word count: 1.1k

notes: i am SOO tired to be on tumblr these days so here you go, see yall laterr. and no i didnt watch his panel fully, i cannot sit still.

warning: this is a au aka alternative universe series. grammarly does correct alot of my work because i do write on google docs, so any mistakes blame it on them. this timeline doesnt match up due to the basketball season ongoing, but you get it.

The morning sun crept in through the oversized windows of their 19th-floor suite, casting lazy golden lines across the crisp white sheets… and across the man wrapped around Y/N like a human-sized koala.

“Joe.”

No response. Just a grunt and a shift as he burrowed deeper into her back, arms locked around her waist, his face smushed into her shoulder.

“Joe,” she said again, more firmly, trying to wiggle out from under the weight of one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks. “I need to do my makeup.”

“You don’t need makeup,” he mumbled into her skin, his brownish blonde hair touching her face. “You look perfect. Stay here.”

Y/N rolled her eyes. “Nice try, but you have a panel in less than two hours, lover boy. You have to get up, drink water, put your little outfit on-”

“I’d rather die.”

“Joe, you are a whopping 215 pounds. Get off me.”

"It wouldn't be a bad way to go, though."

"Yes, it would."

He groaned dramatically, pulling her back down when she sat up, her sports bra strap slipping off her shoulder. “Do I really have to go? Just cancel. Say I got like.... dunno turf toe or something.”

“From what?” she laughed, grabbing a pillow and swatting him. “Rolling over too aggressively in your sleep?”

He clutched the pillow to his chest like she’d just verbally wounded him. “Exactly. The turf is why, it hates my big toe." Both Y/N and Joe burst out into laughter at that declaration.

She finally escaped free and slid out of bed, feet tapping across the hotel suite in a pair of tiny sleep shorts and his oversized old LSU football hoodie. Joe watched her from the pillows, hair flattened on one side, a pout forming.

“You’re really just gonna leave me here? Cold and alone? On a sunny morning?”

“You have room service,” she called from the bathroom, already pulling out her makeup bag. “You’ll survive.”

She flipped on the light, looking in the mirror. Her hair was a mess. Lip gloss from the night before clung to the corners of her mouth. Joe’s hickeys were still faintly visible on her collarbone from last night.

“Your publicist’s gonna yell at you if you’re late,” she reminded him, applying concealer like it was armor.

“She yells at me even when I’m early,” Joe called back. “You’re the only one who talks to me nicely.”

Y/N poked her head around the corner, raising a brow. “You’re so dramatic. It’s a panel, you're not getting executed live."

Joe smirked from the bed, arms tucked behind his head now. “You think I’m gonna say something stupid and trend, don’t you?”

“I think,” she said, stepping back into the room and grabbing his outfit off the chair to see it, a tailored black shirt and pants, with black and white shoes, “that the second someone asks you about your offseason, you’re gonna deflect by bringing me up.”

He sat up, leaning on his elbows, that cocky little grin forming. “Maybe. Or maybe I’ll say you refused to let me sleep this week, and now I’m too weak to talk.”

She tossed a pair of socks at his head. “That sounds like a you problem.”

He caught them with one hand, stood, walked over to where she stood, and kissed her.

When he pulled back, he looked at her like she was the only thing in the whole damn city.

“Can we go back to bed after the panel?” he murmured, voice still scratchy from sleep.

"There's a whole day ahead of us, so no," she said as she pulled out an outfit for the day.

Saturday, June 21st 📍 New York, NY

The black SUV slid up to the curb, cutting through the chaos of Midtown like it had somewhere better to be, which technically, it did.

Y/N was curled up next to him, wearing a cropped blue top, a white skirt, and tiny diamond earrings. Her hair was up, her lip gloss was popping as always.

Joe glanced over at her, then down at their linked hands. “You sure you wanna deal with all this?”

Y/N grinned. “Baby, I’ve played in front of 17,000 people who wanted me to foul out because their little point guard couldn't handle me, I can handle a whole enterprise."

Joe chuckled. “Fair.”

The SUV rolled to a stop, and just like that, flashes bypassed the tint on the vehicle. Joe got out first before coming over to Y/N's side and opening the door for her.

Paparazzi, fans, and security. Shouts of “BURROW!” and “WHO’S THAT WITH HIM?” and “JOE YOU COMING BACK TO THE SUPER BOWL IN 2026?”

They stepped out into it together. His hand found the small of her back automatically, guiding her past the crowd. Y/N smiled, waved, didn’t flinch. She’d been with him long enough to know what to do, and she did it flawlessly without any questions.

Inside, the Fanatics Fest exploded with energy. A sea of jerseys, sneakers, merch booths, games, and oversized cardboard cutouts of athletes. Joe was due on stage in 20 minutes for a sit-down with many other people, including a few athletes. Fans were already lined up to watch him breathe.

Y/N kept close to him as they were ushered backstage. A staffer handed him a badge and whispered something about timing. Y/N wandered a few feet away, pretending to look at the promotional banners, but mostly just watching him.

God, he looked good.

All calm coolness, nodding politely, hands in his pockets, that quiet confidence that made people stop mid-sentence. This wasn’t Joe Shiesty on the field. This was the version of him who stole focus just by existing, the one she was his.

He came up behind her and nudged her shoulder. “What?”

She raised a brow. “Nothing.”

“You’re looking at me weird.”

“Just thinking,” she said casually, “you might be more photogenic than me today.”

Joe gave her a look. “Y/N.. don't start.”

“Okay, okay,” she said, laughing as his look slowly dispersed into a smile.

Joe leaned down, lips ghosting her ear. “You already know you’re the only reason I agreed to this thing.”

“You mean besides the six-figure appearance check?”

He smirked. “Okay, two reasons.”

The panel was packed. Joe answered questions smoothly, dodged contract rumors with the d-line, joked about his baseball game, and gave the crowd exactly what they wanted.

But what didn’t they expect?

It was for him to shout out Y/N.

A fan had asked who he was rooting for in the All-Star game.

Joe, smirking slightly, leaned forward into the mic. “Well, I’m obviously biased. I’ll be rooting for my favorite player.....who also happens to live in Chicago and yell at me when I forget to start the dishwasher.”

The crowd lost it.

The camera panned to Y/N in the front row, who covered her face with her hand like she was hiding a laugh. Someone yelled, “WE LOVE YOU Y/N!”, and her cheeks flushed.

Afterward, she waited backstage while he finished interviews.

When he finally emerged, she looked up at him, arms crossed.

“So,” she said. “Your favorite player, huh?”

Joe leaned in and kissed her cheek like the cameras weren’t still flashing. “Always.”

yn.handle posted a story

caption: fanatics fest 25'

[rayroseu]

Maleanor's Blessing to Malleus! 😭✨

I love her blessing to him a lot, it makes sense if you think about her situation and it matches Lilia's belief during his Platinum Bday story where its useless to bless a child with meaningless things like singing or beauty, its more convenient to bless them with strength or in Maleanor's case, the blessing of being fearsome so that the humans will be threatened to harm him.

credits: mysteryshoptls

I know her blessing is kinda 💀 because its one of the factors of Malleus' loneliness, but I love how at the end of her ominous speech, she says the last few lines of calling out to Malleus in such a loving and longing way that you can immediately feel that this blessing wasn't of ill-intent 😭✨✨💖

I know the story is going on a direction where Malleus learns to get along with humans as per current!Lilia's wish, and Malleus yearn for connection might be because he's still young, but I do wish the narrative won't remove this blessing on Malleus but rather he learns to wield it, after all i think its been awfully repeated by now in Book 7 that "you create your dream" its not going to be given by others (like in Malleus' case, his destiny isnt limited to Maleanor's blessing and his fate isnt just about current!Lilia's wish for him to get along with humans)

a reality where he can be respected and "feared" yet still amiable to humans is possible yk. After all, Malleus is not a person that wants the extreme of both sides(he doesnt like when humans gets intrusive with him if they're ignorant of his powers, and he also doesnt like to be excluded), he wants to experience both of it in equal ways, i believe its more convenient if he works together all the blessings he received from Maleanor and Lilia rather than remove the other because it matched the current beliefs of the timeline. Both blessings are given with love anyways, and Malleus has been implied to always will receive any love no matter where it came from.

[rahrizzle123]

Chapter 3+4 spoilers

More yapping and I said this on twitter already, but the way Kris acts when seeing Sans & Toriel is kinda....interesting(ik ik I said that last time in my other post).

But genuinely Kris seemed really unhappy to see the two dancing especially when Toriek fell over, they didnt even try to help her up, they just walked past to go to bed.

Now granted you could say "well they have plans with the knight/mystery caller" sure, but the phone doesnt ring untill AFTER they get out the bed and after they listen to Susie, so o doubt they had any major plans. Especially since they where laying down already.

Chapter 3 kinda went more into like Kris before everyone left them and how they always huddled together as a family until the divorce hit. We dont get a solid timeline of events but im guessing the disappearing of Dess, the divorce, and Asriel leaving for college hit in a small time frame for Kris to handle. Idk about Dess's disappearance time wise, but I think the divorce was not long before Asriel left, maybe its why he left instead of staying close idk.

Seeing how pushy and embarrassing(twice) Asgore was in chapter 4 you can tell Kris is very unhappy about their situation and with Asgore specificly, as they throw away the flower he give them.

Its not that Kris doesnt love Toriel, I just think they feel like everything was very out of their control and nothing feels right anymore. They didnt care to have fun or help Toriel cause they probably arent ready for that change yet. They are already having these fuckass issues with US controlling them, the dark world stuff, and school. They are STRESSED OUT.

Also as a theory I wonder of Toriel like drank a lot after her divorce, and maybe that's why Kris seemed kinda off about it?

Idk but what i getting at is just. Kris needs a break. I pray by the end we can stop controlling them and they figure out hoe to cope with their life overall.

[allisluv]

Other victors find out you and Johanna are dating 😭

finnick would lowkey be like "i told you so" while annie comes up with ship names for the two of you. peetas congratulating you and katniss just doesn't give a damn LMAO 😭 cashmere would lowkey be super sweet about it but gloss would throw in a smart comment and she'd have to whack him in the ribs for being so rude. beetee and wiress will give in depth timelines for how long they think you're gonna last. haymitch doesnt care but he says something along the lines of "lets go lesbians" to show that he supports you HAHAHAHAH 😭

[stopthisshitplease]

What I would chance about the last season of The Umbrella Academy because the last season was a disgrace for the humanity and lost of all our hopes. (#1)

SPOILERS OBVIOUSLY

- Luther's jobs were in a bar for so long so it doesnt really made sense on why he was a pole dancer. I feel like after looking less hairy and buffy he would try to socialize more. Maybe hes that one barista who is overly talkative but so done with people. We could see some Karens absulutely wailing at him. And Sloaine. Shes with him. BECAUSE WHERE IS SHE???? But Luther begin a 'dancer' was really funny af sooo

- Diego wouldnt become a mailman thing. He was trying to be a police in the first season and tried to save Kennedy in the second. He would try to be a police again. Yk the Police Academy and all that. The CIA thing was good but if he cant get in the legal way he is getting in another way. You cannot stop him as he was a literal vigilante.

- Allison, Claire and Raymond lives together now! She wouldnt overwork herself, She is finally with her daughter and her husband now. She would work a small but stable job so she can provide and have time for her family. (Keep in mind that Raymond isnt from this timeline so hes still learning about the future) And yes Klaus does visit her time to time so he can babysit Claire, even thought its more like Claire babysitting Klaus.

- Klaus is eighter a psychiatrist or has a 9-5 job while is studying in community Collage. Eighter way he is helping drug addicts, homeless people, LGBT+ people, angsty teenagers in his own way. People know him as a friendly weirdo but they all like him! Hes not doing well financially tho. Güven that he doesnt have a stable job experiance.

-Five working in CIA doesnt make a lot of sense. For all the means he probably swore wouldnt work anything like that at all. He lives in the countryside now. And is a farmer! He tells the other people who lives close to him that he inherited the place by his dead father (haha) and the others learned the hard way to not pity him.. The boy maybe cant travel now but he is sure manically dangerous!

- Ben... Agh Ben. Not sure about him. He is obviously an asshole. But in the season he was more open. He was getting better. He doesnt have a lot relationship with the other siblings so I dont think he wants to hang out with them at all. But I dont think he would be a criminal (minus minor law breakings but who is counting?) Maybe he teaches martial arts? But a really competitive teacher and his students always go to home with bruises. He swears its a part of training. The parents are not amused. His yelp revievs sure is something!

- Victor wouldnt have a thing with every woman come on.. He loves Sissy too much for that. And his relationships never ended good. Him having his own place is nice but he strictly never dates. He adapted to the powerless life better that the others given that he didnt have them for a long time. But he still felt like the little kid who was locked up again time to time. Would be kinda cool if he and Allison bonded over it. (Allison couldnt talk for a year remember?)

- Lila wouldnt be a stay at home mom. She would still be on the 'book club' but her, a stay at home mom??? She has insane abilities in physical power, she would maybe be a coach. And for her AND Diego having three kids bespite begin scared to have one?? Nope those babies are poof! Gone!AND NO SHE DID NOT CHEAT.