#the world is full of so many weird things in it that are harmless why waste time and energy on hating someone because of this while

[imimoken]

just a passing thought i feel like sharing but it I'll never be not enraged at the amount of content creators that make their entire career around bullying and exposing folks in online communities like furries and therians just because they're "weird and cringe LOL" and because so "deserve" to face hatred and harassment from people who wouldn't even necessarily bother on doing so if it weren't for their 30-something youtuber that likes to "review cringe content online" and by so exposing (a lot of times) minors who are just trying to have fun and older members who are literally causing no harm to anyone.

[miss-tc-nova]

We Want To - Vanitas x Reader

Aww, it's been a while since I got to write about cranky Vani. I really do love him. I hope I stuck to the theme enough though. Sorry if I strayed too far. Excuse the lame title, lol

Premise: Vanitas isn't all that amused at the amusement park

Words: 713

~~~~~

               Inconvenienced, absolutely beyond fed up, Vanitas gets dragged through the crowd towards yet another gaudy, mechanical attraction.

               He’s not entirely sure how he ended up here, let alone in this situation. For the last few weeks, Vanitas has been trying to navigate this strange world. He never thought that his greatest bane would be the whimsical maniac in human guise. He’d barely spent two hours wandering the streets before being bowled over and descended upon by this clown. Somehow, the encounter culminated in daily accosting and today’s torment has been deemed the amusement park. The amount of amusement, however, has been miniscule. Most of the last hour has been trying to decipher his predicament and the fool that dragged him into it.

               An arm flails in the direction of a spinning machine. “This is one of my favorites! It spins really fast and you stick to the wall! But you can’t ride it too many times or you might get sick. I did that once! Like four years ago me and some of my friends—”

               Yet another wild, ridiculous tale from that unstoppable mouth. Still, Vanitas endures the blathering as the line winds down. Eventually, it’s their turn to board.

               His companion isn’t the only one that seems eager for the ride. All the other passengers chatter as they stand in front of panels lining the round room. He doesn’t understand. Everyone was like this on the last one too, but it just seemed like a bunch of jerky, flailing movement. And this one’s just supposed to spin fast. The purpose of this place is beyond him, let alone the reason for all these people to be so riled up about it.

               Hell, his new “friend” has been like this about nearly everything. Every moment is filled with random things. At first it was aggravating, but now, it’s all just weird.

               The ride starts and, true to the explanation, the room spins so fast the gravity pulls him against the wall. People laugh and cheer, some twisting and turning until they’re sideways or upside down. The thrill is lost on him, but Vanitas is fully aware of the mirth from the person beside him. Even as the ride ends, the happiness continues, finally prompting the voicing of his confusion.

               “Why are we doing this?”

               Full attention turns to him. “Huh? What do you mean why?”

               His arms gesture to the colorful world around. “What are we doing here? What’s the point?”

               “There is no point.” That smile drops his guard against his will. “We do it because we want to.”

               The answer is so blunt and simple that he almost misses it. But it makes its mark. Vanitas had done plenty of things because he “wanted to,” in a world far from here. He’s done his best so far to blend in and consider what he’ll do next, but he can’t deny being drawn in by the frivolity of a simple fool. Something about the harmless chaos attracts his attention. Running around without a care in the world as if nothing mattered is so different from the mission-oriented life he has beyond the borders of Quardratum.

               The words slip from his mouth.

               “Do I?”

               Maybe he didn’t “want” to do those things. Hurting others and being hurt in return—the war flashes in his mind and his whole body flinches.

               “Vanitas.”

               Then a hand rests against his arm. His gaze falls on the face of concern.

               “Do you?”

               He’s not sure. But in this moment, he is sure he doesn’t want to think about everything outside this normal, boring, silly, surprising world. He wants to live in this moment.

               With the clown that found him.

               For the first time since he arrived on this world, Vanitas cracks a smile.

               “Yeah, I do.”

               The shock on his friend’s face ignites embers in his ears, but Vanitas continues to smile. Then the enthusiasm comes exploding out. It’s so chaotic he can barely understand what’s being said, but he has to jam his one request in.  

               “Hold on. I wanna do that spinny one again. I could totally stand on the wall in there.”

               In a blink, Vanitas finds himself being dragged through the crowds again, but this time, he feels all the same excitement.

~~~~~

Nova’s Kingdom Hearts Masterlist

[bubblegum-glitch]

The Lines We Won't Cross and How They Change

Let's rewind time a little bit, back to the year 2011. I had joined this little website called tumblr and had made an acquaintance whose confidence would begin to inspire me to branch out and try all kinds of things I never could have seen myself doing before that point in my life. I began recording and publishing vocal covers to YouTube, I started showing off my artwork publicly, and I even posted a single topless photo of myself online - all because I couldn't stop comparing myself to this random fucking girl. If she could do it, so could I...

But I was determined that I could do it better.

The "relationship" I built with this online stranger is a little odd, and probably would throw up several red flags for some people. I can't explain why I felt such a strong sense of rivalry between us, and I know she never felt the same, but there was just something about my interactions with this person that made me want to always do better than her, even to this day (even though I'm 100% sure she doesn't even remember who I am).

Creepy? Weird? Stalker-y? I dunno. Probably. Harmless? Absolutely. All I can say is she is the one who ultimately introduced me to the world of "Topless Tuesdays" and the alternative modelling site "SuicideGirls."

She had posted a set to SuicideGirls as a hopeful, and being in full rival mode at the time I had considered doing the same. Ultimately I decided against it however, as the fear of any member of my family every finding out gave me far too much anxiety to overcome (hold this thought). Not to mention I couldn't bring myself to believe I was "pretty enough" to succeed.

I often wonder what would have come of that if I had ever gone ahead with that hopeful photo-set submission.

But I digress.

Let's jump ahead in the timeline to around 2017/2018 (I can't quite remember when). I had a case of the retail woes, a certificate in photography, and a foolish idea to escape the Hellscape that is customer service once and for all. The internet had informed me that feet pics were in and there was mountains of cash just waiting for me, all I had to do was step on a twinkie or two.

Long story short (or short story shorter) I failed in this business venture pretty much immediately. It's harder than you think to market and sell pictures of your tootsies.

Now, let's spin back a bit to where I mentioned my fear of my family discovering my nudity online. This is a topic I will address a bit more in a future post, but I will let you know now that although my parents do try their best to steer more towards the life of liberal boomers, they are still very uncertain of LGBTQA+ topics and VERY against sex work. I have built a strong and close relationship with my mother, but if she ever discovered what I've begun doing for work I believe it would ruin all of what we have.

Early in 2023 I began weighing that fear of my family discovering me against the possibility of actually making a living wage by taking my shirt off for strangers online. After many discussions with my husband (who has been fully supportive since day one) and a long time of back and forth with my decision, I finally decided to give OnlyFans a try.

Originally I had no intentions of posting more than some topless photos. I used what I knew about photography, photo editing, and makeup to my advantage to create some high quality, if a little bit minimal, content. Upon seeing there was some interest, but being unable to hold the attention of anyone for long, I decided to step over that initial line I had drawn for myself and posted some full nudes. Immediately I started seeing a positive response and suddenly I had a little extra spending money.

At that time I said that this was as far as I was willing to go. Excuse my vulgarity here but I had no intentions of doing pussy pics or spreading my asshole. Tasteful nudes, and no farther.

I stuck to that line for about a year, until the inevitable "Fuck it" moment I previously posted about occurred in July of 2024. I stepped over the line again and started posting some more risque content at a premium rate. It was then that my OnlyFans really started to take off and I was seeing actual financial gain in response.

Once more I drew a new line for myself that I swore I would not cross. Absolutely no video content.

But then I couldn't stop considering making that video content. I would think about it so often that I actually began frequently dreaming about creating pornographic films.

So once again I turned to my partner and we discussed the pros and cons, and eventually I decided to dip a toe over the edge and get a sense of the temperature of the deep end.

Admittedly, that first masturbation video I made embarrassed the fuck out of me. I felt exposed, I felt ugly, and I felt very stupid. But then the response to it came.

"I love this."

"That was so hot."

"You're so gorgeous."

"More, please."

So I decided to try again, and again, and then suddenly I fucking LOVED making the videos. The sense of empowerment, the ego boost - It gives me this absolute sense of control. Something I have been missing in every single career I've ever had in my life.

It was about the third video that I realized "This is it. This is exactly what I want to keep doing with my life for the next several years."

But this is the point where I want to say this to anyone reading my blog who is considering this vocation as a future (or even current) option:

Set your rules early. Understand what you do and do not feel comfortable doing, and express that to your followers. You NEVER have to do anything that you are not comfortable with, even if it's what people are trying to push you to do. At the end of the day it is about your level of comfort, not their level of enjoyment. Set the line you will not cross and do not cross it unless YOU want to. You might have to work a little harder to build a community, but you can get there.

I still have multiple things I will not do, some of which I will likely never do, and others I might be open to one day exploring.

There is no timeline in existence where I will ever be comfortable sexting someone. I'm not even comfortable doing that with my own husband. It's just not for me.

I will not do the dom/sub stuff.

BDSM - Yeah, not happening.

Fetish content - It depends, I have no problem sitting on a cake and giving my husband a foot job, but most Fetish content is a nope from me.

Threesomes? Absolutely not.

Meetups? Hell to the fucking no. My husband is the only person I'm sleeping with and I'm firm on that, thank you.

In this industry you are the boss. What you say goes and your followers can either take what you're giving and appreciate what you do, or they can pack up and find someone else to pester with their more extreme requests.

Who you are and what your destiny is belongs to you and only you. Don't let anyone convince you to change if that's not what you want to do.

Never be afraid to say no.

---

As a side note before I close out this entry, I've opened up an Askfm account so you can ask me anything anonymously. It can be about me, about my journey, or even just general advice for starting work in this industry. I'm by no means an expert, but if I can offer some insight to help you out I would be honoured to do so!

[keef-a-corn]

Dat’s right! It’s everyone’s favourite ‘Keef watches TFP and all you get are the notes!’

Maybe I should make a cover for this series.

ANYWHO! I’m watching season 1, Episode 10: Deus Ex Machina.

I write down timestamps, but I watch Transformers Prime on Stan (and Australian streaming service) so they may be slightly off.

~~~~Transition~~~~

00:00 - I know that’s my favourite book ‘World History’.

00:04 - please tell me that everyone else saw her just break the fourth wall.

00:11 - Bulkhead’s an asshole if Miko can hear the car from inside the building.

00:14 - Read.. 150 pages? Okay, I’m gonna be honest, I’ve never been to detention (I haven’t even gotten a slip [3 slips means detention]) so I could be wrong but.. isn’t detention formed by a variety of students? Not everyone’s going to be reading the same thing so how can a teacher assign such vague homework?

00:41 - In Bulkhead’s rear view you can actually see the teacher.

~Intro~

01:39 - I may have yelled ‘what the fuck?’ When I saw that cactus. Why did they get a real cactus?

01:43 - Bulkhead’s hovering above the road.

02:15 - Bots not understanding human expressions. So beautiful.

02:25 - Jack sounding exactly like an older brother, then Bulkhead ignoring him is hilarious.

02:37 - this has the same energy as ‘you’re going to end up at McDonald’s if you don’t do your work. We going to McDonalds if I don’t do my work? :D’

02:51 - you already KNOW Greek viewers went crazy.

03:16 - ‘those’ being a car… although still sounds kinda racist. Transformist? Modist? That sounds like modest.

03:17 - mmm I like when they have very.. civil reactions to comments.

03:24 - pssst guys… it’s a height difference

03:27 - I get that this part is supposed to show that Starscream considers Knockout inferior, but like… he knows that decepticons also need to have ground support that aren’t just vehicons, right?

03:30 - honestly, go off, K.O. Ya look good.

03:44 - that must be such a weird sight.

04:11 - Miko’s an idiot. I will explain further. She’s been rejected from every other mission, regardless of what it was and when Bulkhead notices a connection between Miko’s school work and a harmless mission, let’s her join. Why would Miko assume that it’s anything other than school related??

04:25 - Bulk didn’t need to justify how he knew that.

04:52 - randomly including democracy, alright

05:04 - he’s got looks, brains and fighting ability. Can you tell who’s one of my top Decepticons?

05:07 - he means boyfriend. (I’m like fairly certain that in some canon they are in a relationship)

05:09 - Where’s Starscream lookin?

05:43 - they’re ex boyfriends

06:26 - Bulkhead angst potential.

06:33 - HOW THE FUCK IS THE QUALITY SO GOOD??

06:37 - what’s he supposed to be pointing at rn?

06:47 - I dunno why but that just reminded me that Bayverse Bumblebee was in WW2.

06:52 - that’s really smart

07:11 - why are there so many dangerous weapons??

07:20 - Arcee decided to use a double negative than say ‘Miko’s right’ + Bee looks lifeless. Like I got jumpscared by him.

07:30 - no it doesn’t. I checked.

07:32 - I think Bee was just zoned out because he’s eyes/Optics are now full+ Bulkhead’s lean is beautiful.

07:34 - Optimus’s boobs are too big. He can’t see the screen.

07:40 - OH! LOOK AT THAT! FOWLER PROVING TO BE USELESS.

07:48 - I get the joke being ‘oh he’s a machine’ but honestly- I agree with Ratchet.

07:52 - I’m gonna be honest… I cried looking at Bee from Optimus’s perspective. He looks like a puppy!

07:54 - *cri* he’s so cute.

07:58 - confiscate as in remove dangerous weapon.

08:18 - Here we witness an idiot forgetting that they turn into cars.

08:29 - Miko using her brain. Woo!

08:39 - Optimus saying ‘Bulkhead’. I need a compilation of Optimus saying each Autobot’s name. (Specifically Bumblebee tho)

08:47 - ‘aw fuckin Soundwave’ ~ my genuine reaction when it showed that Soundwave was back at his hijinks

08:48 - draw the gang like this.

08:57 - that’s… what the frag… that’s so messed up.

09:21 - it might just be me, but wouldn’t it make more sense for either Bee or Arcee to be parked up front and Optimus at the back? Considering that people there have cars like Bee and Arcee’s a motorbike so it would look fairly normal. Then Optimus as the back to look like he’s museum property. I could be wrong tho.

09:46 - …Fnaf SB was def inspired by this so. I will not hear otherwise.

10:06 - Just seeing Optimus like that reminds me… why don’t the other have holoforms like Arcee? Their windows don’t have a heavy enough tint that an absence of driver does goes unnoticed.

10:55 - Knockout flirting with Optimus is such a silly idea.

11:08 - that was smooooooooth.

11:24 - Optimus lookin around, then looking down to see Knockout is actually really funny. I bet that happens all the time at the base.

11:30 - the way Optimus’s foot/pede bends implies that he can go on the tip of his toes and that fills me with immense joy.

11:37 - that’s a horrifying sight.

11:59 - Woo! Bee!

12:05 - NO! BEE!

12:10 - Okay but like Arcee could’ve dodged that initial missile(?) with a smaller turn, means she wouldn’t have crashed into Bee. + Whump potential anyone? + Bee does a backflip. Get on his level goddamn.

12:13 - Knockout really took down Optimus and just stood on him. Power move.

12:31 - if they’ve only NOW gotten it down, then there’s something wrong with them.

12:38 - Knockout reacted before Optimus started to move, but I now understand why Knockout stood on Optimus.

12:43 - that could’ve looked so cool.

12:44 - but Optimus said no

13:10 - Damn, Miko..

13:12 - She was complying yet the officer decided to be really rough.

13:18 - I now point out the foreshadowing when Bulkhead talked about Miko getting arrested.

13:25 - Soundwave got them feminine legs. Go off, king.

13:30 - that was a forced ‘gulp’ and I love it.

13:37 - Harry Potter, or whatever.

13:42 - Optimus, how long have you been lying on the floor, Primus.

13:53 - Shoutout to bots that can do backflips. Gotta be one of my favourite genders.

14:07 - And do what?.

14:08 - Mmmm Y E S. (Optimus said Bulkhead and Miko)

14:36 - a good liar doesn’t hesitate like that, Miko.

14:42 - DAMN THOSE BACKGROUNDS BEAUTIFUL AF.

15:06 - Ratchet in the corner.

15:07 - HOW THOUGH?! HOW WOULD YOU DO THAT, BULKHEAD??

15:38 - Does anyone else now get annoyed at Bulkhead? Like dude! Ratchet needed that! Couldn’t you have punched a wall or something??

16:06 - EXACTLY!

16:08 - shut up, Jack.

16:23 - bots feeling strong emotions are more heavily animated.

16:49 - that’s how I act and I’m feeling called out Ò-Ó

17:17 - did anyone else feel deeply disturbed watching that?

17:45 - Bulkhead lookin like a penguin.

17:52 - When you compare that walk to other bots (such as Bee or Arcee) you can especially tell the Bulkhead is not made for swift movements. He’s shaky on his pedes/feet when he went from uneven to stable ground and from the slide into a run.

18:00 - most realistic r action right there.

18:04 - Knockout’s significantly faster than Breakdown he’s just decided that instead of using his quick strides to run forward, he’s going side to side.

18:12 - LMAO

18:27 - I FORGOT THIS HAPPENS. THAT’S SO MESSED UP.

18:37 - Take that out of context. I dare you.

18:57 - okay, this looks awesome af.

19:16 - take THAT out of context-

19:27 - OOOOH I get it! Because traditionally it’s ‘fight or flight’ but because their both cars he said ‘drive’

19:50 - Awww look at them. That’s sad. They also kinda look like video game characters, especially because their eyes aren’t glowing the way they usually do. (Sorry I couldn’t get a clearer photo)

19:59 - this is what I sound like when I’m talking about Polar Bears.

21:03 - I would like to acknowledge that TFP is bad with letting characters take a moment to recover. The more this happens, the more you’ll hear about it.

———————

And that was Deus Ex Machina.

Honestly I’m not a big fan of this episode. It’s okay, but definitely doesn’t stand out as much as it could’ve. I thought the plots were very weak and there were very few iconic moments. Considering that this was the first appearance of Knockout and Breakdown, it’s an underwhelming reveal.

[mysterionrisez]

i admittedly have not watched most of, or even half of south park (new fan/little free time/poor attention span) so im sure there are MANY more examples to choose from.. but i feel like butters' bottom bitch is pretty representative of butters' autonomous control over his actions without really having full, conscious control. his internal motivations and external behaviors are clearer here than in his other Situations because 1. hes not in any way being puppeteered by cartman, so he does in fact have full control ("dude, we've created a monster.") and 2. he truly does not know what he's doing. we know already that butters is very emotionally immature, and has little understanding of himself or the world around him. throughout this whole episode, he's parroting the exact words and actions of others. it's clear by his permanently innocent tone of voice that his actions are never intentionally malicious. but at the same time, it's not because he was forced to make the decisions but because he can't pick up on intention, so he sees no issue with what he does. he just chooses whatever has the best outcome (money + a positive reputation) and at the same time minimal punishment.

because like.. the thing is that cartman doesn't really fear much. he doesn't fear punishment or anything. he finds ways to work around punishment, and of course much of this has to do with being raised by liane cartman, vs butters who is raised by the stotches. but he considers each factor of every Ruse he carries out, including the aftermath. and as weird as it is to say... cartman does have some form of empathy, he's TERRIFYINGLY good at understanding where people are coming from and working from whatever angle they're at. so everything he does is intentional. he never accidentally goes overboard. he knew what he was doing every step of the way in the scott tenorman episode. he knew what he wanted, and he got exactly that, as fucking deranged as it all was. and in many ways, this makes him worse than butters. because he's just like... an implicitly evil and disgusting person. who does bad things, and thrives off of that. but he never really does much more than he needs.

however, in a lot of ways butters is a lot scarier! because he DOESNT have empathy, he DOESNT make conscious choices, and he DOESNT know when he went overboard. when butters is "intentionally evil" we end up with professor chaos, who is more or less, in the show at least, shown to be harmless. even though thats his "evil persona", he doesnt actually know which actions are EVIL and which aren't. all of his self perceived "evil" actions, like in professor chaos & the ungroundable, are just things that lead to punishment. he doesn't do anything "immoral" in super fun time but he was TOLD to stay with cartman and he KNOWS that being told to do something = being punished if he doesnt. but all that's to say, he doesn't seem to understand what's wrong with pimping girls out on the playground, despite that being like.. an actually way scummier thing to do than ditching a school trip. like, in the scene where hes trying to recruit wendy and bebe into his whole mission, despite the fact that they're both clearly like hey! we're uncomfortable! and with stan telling him off, too, he only takes it as "oh, they don't want to do this. but i can convince them why it'd actually be the most beneficial option." like.. he CANNOT wrap his head around why they wouldn't wanna be whored out yknow, lol.

and i just thought of this now.. but this premise is made especially clear in post covid. cartman grows into a better person... behaviors wise, but from what we can tell all of his motivations are the same. he just knows that starting fresh, being nicer, starting a family, presenting as a jewish convert... will give him more credibility than everything he did as a kid. he just like, actually KNOWS these things. but who ACTUALLY grew up to become a classic supervillain was BUTTERS. and then we meet him, and he still fucking acts like that. literally a manchild!!!!

[rivetgoth]

what do you think of cursedindustrialconfessions on instagram? and other fandom style confession accounts?

personally i don't find much issue with the accounts themselves but some of the comments and confessions are truly cursed 💀

Been sitting on this ask since I woke up trying to figure out why it doesn’t sit right but yk, here— I don’t have any interest in name dropping specific accounts or pages and talking shit on them (OR conversely praising accounts who I think are the "right" kind of fan). I obviously vagued a few specific instances I’ve seen of behavior I found inappropriate from online “industrial fans” in the original post I made but even then kept usernames out of it and even then I was trying to emphasize that all of these are examples of a larger problem, not that One Particular Guy is the harbinger of inappropriate industrial fan behavior lol. I already shared the bulk of my thoughts about “fandomizing” real life musicians and real life music subcultures/communities and my distaste for it, but ultimately every single topic (especially things that are ultimately not life threatening and I’d even go as far as to call a First World Problem) is going to have plenty of nuance and grey area and I think it’s counterproductive and even hypocritical personally for me to start making lists of the Good and Bad industrial fans/pages. That just as much goes against my view of the industrial scene as a community as the stuff I was bitching about to begin with.

I’m honestly a little nervous about the post I made getting a decent amount of notes to begin with because it’s not like I was trying to write the absolute manifesto on Correct or Moral fan behavior, though I think sometimes my posts are mistaken for such because I write a lot and very passionately (sorry), I was just complaining about trends I’ve seen in online industrial music spaces that feel disrespectful or rub me the wrong way, and ultimately was just trying to strongly emphasize that this subculture is an incredibly important real life community for me full of people I absolutely adore and I don’t like seeing the music or the people who make it fandomized or treated like weird quirky characters, with their experiences and traumas not taken seriously. Obviously there is a grey area to any of it, and ultimately I think stuff like memes or jokes about these guys, fan creations ranging from DIY’d clothing to fan art to fan edits to cosplay to whatever else, and even expressing sexual attraction towards them is generally harmless and normal when it’s done respectfully and thoughtfully, keeping in mind these are real people with real traumas, who are not that famous, who can and do look themselves up online and see what’s going on, or have friends who do and then send it to them. Like, I was planning to make that post BEFORE Ogre spoke up about how he was reading comments online about people complaining about the show not being as bloody as prior ones and how it upset him because the older shows were an expression of authentic pain and suffering and even literal self harm and this new show was an intentional movement towards something new and the fact that he’s in a better place in life now… He said that because he saw firsthand what people were saying about him online!

So idk man. But ultimately if you really really want my thoughts? I think any time something is described as “fandom style” in the context of real people or an active real life music subculture all of my hair bristles like a scared animal and my fight or flight response kicks in lol. And I ultimately think that y’all are gonna have to decide for yourselves what you’re okay with rather than ask me, because Lord knows I am not the keeper of all that is objectively right and true. I think some of MY opinions for what is or isn’t okay might actually be more extreme than others (like I said in my previous post—I’m much more neutral on RPF than many I’ve seen, which I think is a controversial take? I just think like anything else there is lots of nuance in that conversation. Idk.), I just encourage anyone calling themselves an industrial fan or viewing it as a fandom to try dipping their toes into an IRL alt music scene and start talking more to old timers and going to shows and clubs and making friends and connections that way with other people who are devoting parts of their life to actively engaging with the community surrounding this music face to face because I think it can very quickly change your perspective for the better and kinda demystify some of the more fandom-y mindsets that these guys are larger than life caricatures to be memed on the same way you would talk about like, Herbert West or Will Graham or whatever.

[fortanreviews]

Big Bad Fortrant: Twitter (Part 1)

When I first joined Internet 13 years ago (”joined” as in made my first online account in anything, I had lurked for few years before that), Twitter was a boring website whose character limit was a stupid gimmick. Most people around me thought the site was terrible and mainly served as a place where celebrities could make an update about taking a shit. Just like Facebook, I avoided it because I didn’t want to post my real face under any circumstances.

I created my first twitter account in 2012 because I wanted to smear the name of my rival at the time, G0ATFAC3. I mainly ended up sending angry replies to wrestlers and Barack Obama, and then I got banned. 

I made another twitter account in 2013, this time using my real name, I can’t remember why. I suppose it was because I wanted to spread my online presence I guess? I remember there were some finnish comedians that I wanted to follow. Yes, back then Twitter was quite different. It was more of a chill site where people often made jokes and provided insightful anecdotes about recent events of their lives. I thought it’d be a nice break amidst all the drama and stupidity that rest of my Internet life was full of. That sentence is insanely ironic in hindsight. My biggest highlight during that time was getting a finnish life improvement guru Jari Sarasvuo to respond to me after I posted “Jari Sarasvuo scares me”. It was actually an inside joke that originated from one of my gag dubs of Dingo Pictures’s “Lion and the King”. I was not expecting a response and somehow it drove 17 year old me bananas.

I continued to post on twitter, putting out my silly thoughts. And then in 2016, Orange Man came to power and Twitter changed forever.

Twitter became a much more political site than it previously was, even in non-America parts of the world. I believe I abandoned my twitter around this time, but I wouldn’t delete it until 2020 or so.

Twitter’s culture was mostly mainstream, there were not that many big fandom spaces, many of them were instead on tumblr. And all of that changed when this site commited the biggest fuckup in the history of big fuckups, that is right, the porn ban.

Porn ban could be considered the beginning of when Twitter started taking strangehold of internet culture. Many porn artists moved there, but also people who complained about the existence of porn, because they had nobody to bully and harass. These people created a subculture of their own, the Yikes Sweeties.

Yikes Sweetie is a person who is looking for things to get offended at, many of the things they get offended at however are either trivial or related to big issues, but so insignificant in the scale of the big issue, that resolving or getting rid of the offense would not change the big issue one bit. The name “Yikes sweetie” is short for a sentence that is often used when parodying “Twitter checkmarks”, “Yikes sweetie let’s unpack this”. Sometimes it’s also “yikes sweaty” but I’ve never seen anyone use “sweaty” unironically.

The reaction to trivial bullshit of Yikes Sweeties is emphasized in their name, at least when tumblr was at it’s peak, most tumblr users addressed people they were offended by with “shitlord” or something to that effect. There was a genuine sense of offense in that response. However in Twitter, people adapted the passive-aggressive politeness of tumblr, missed the point completely and as such people often use words like “oof” and “yikes” to respond to things that are either super offensive or not offensive at all. This weird playground speak is so impossible to take seriously, which just increases their trivialiness. “Sweetie” is probably short for “you sweet summer child”, which was often used in negative connotations.

Unfortunately, Yikes Sweeties are not harmless. They often gang up on people they see as their enemies, they smear them with a bunch of labels, they will likely doxx them and possibly try to get them to commit suicide. This is often assumed to be part of a larger phenomenon known as “cancel culture”, but I say “yikes culture” and “cancel culture” are two different things with some overlap.

“Cancel culture”, much like many words that have become popular in the internet, has lost its meaning. Some people say “oh it’s just accountability”, but often times cancel culture targets those who have done jokes in the past that aged badly, like what happened with James Gunn. I don’t want to dwell too much in anglosphere politics but i feel ‘cancel culture’ just means when people get mad at twitter at a famous person for fucking up.

“Yikes culture” leaves out the ‘famous’ and ‘person’ parts, and they get mad at anyone AND anything for expressing something that is problematic. This ranges from works of fictional media with no limit on release date to randos online. Probably the best example of Yikes Sweetieism is the Space Buns incident. For those of you who don’t know, an user on Twitter posted an image of her character having a hairstyle called “Space buns”. Instantly she was flooded with angry messages calling her a racist, colonialist, fascist and a pedophile for wearing a “black-only” hair. It even led to Nintendo themselves commenting that hair isn’t limited to one skin color. While the controversy eventually calmed down, the person in question still gets harassed to this day for having Space Buns by terminally online weirdos, the Yikes Sweeties.

Yeah, being terminally online is a key part of Yikes Sweetie’s identity. These people don’t go outside that often, rarely exit their comfort zone, and quite honestly have very few actual hardships in their lives. They spend their time all day on Twitter, doomscrolling to their heart’s content. The minute there is potential for an outrage or controversy, they pile up on anything they see. They pile up on a person for enjoying “irredeemable media”, they pile up on a popular content creator for doing a stupid joke 5, 10 or 30 years ago and so forth. Anything to make themselves look superior, “I’m glad I’m a good person” they tell themselves. They don’t want redemption, they don’t want apologies, they want the person who did the mistake to kill themselves. And nothing proved this more than Alec Holowka’s suicide.

Alec Holowka was the creator of “Night in The Woods” a popular indie game. He was baselessly accused of sexual harassment by an attention-hungry gaming personality known as Zoe Quinn. Many Yikes Sweeties saw this as an opportunity to cancel him and boycott his work, as well as harass anyone who defended him. What they didn’t anticipiate was a devastating consequence of their actions. Alec Holowka ended up taking his own life. There were a lot of people that were shocked by this, but many Yikes Sweeties celebrated his death, because he would never harm anyone else. Other Yikes Sweeties, including Zoe Quinn, were upset Alec rather took his own life rather than face consequences. Now, his company is actually making a sequel to “Night in the Woods” without his involvement, which is just the top of the scumminess in all accounts.

Yikes Sweeties thrive on the power of tearing other people down, it is all based on their messiah complex, their desire for “moral justice” in the form of harassment, doxxing and abuse. They are no different from christians calling everything “satanic” or high school mean girls spreading rumors about the weird kid in their class and ruining their lives as a result. Yikes Sweeties don’t have empathy and believe that every mistake, no matter how trivial and insignificant, should be met with the most extreme punishment.

Twitter plays a huge role in encouraging Yikes Sweetie behaviour. Back in the days of Tumblr, even the biggest social justice warriors didn’t support mindless harassment. In Twitter however, Yikes Sweeties have the platform to spread their toxic behaviour and attack others. And you can’t fight back against them without being labeled every word in the Yikes Sweetie’s handbook. The platform’s character limit contributes to the rise of Yikes Sweeties, as it allows for accusatory and attacking responses without room for thought.

Nobody wants to call the Yikes Sweeties out in fear of being labeled by them. Those who have tried have either fallen into the other extreme, or disappeared completely. Let me end this rant on a cautionary tale about a Yikes Sweetie named Bruce Mitchell.

Sorry about the jumpscare.

Bruce was a wrestling journalist working for PWTorch, a pro wrestling news website. He had been with the company for nearly three decades and was a trusted name in the industry. Bruce Mitchell was often calling out mainstream wrestling companies such as WWE for angles that he considered racist. These includes matches where one side of wrestlers was white and other side was black, or a scene where black wrestlers did literally anything. He considered everything black person did on TV besides wrestling racist, as he often claimed it was based on an obscure minstrel era stereotype or imitation of “ghetto” culture.

Bruce got flack when he posted this tweet when he learned that pro wrestler Keith Lee was using a finisher called “Big Bang Catastrophe”, initials BBC.

Bruce was lecturing a black man for a joke they wanted to do. Understandably Twitter got upset at him for his high horse behaviour, only for Mitchell to double down and claim that he was the biggest expert on black issues and he compared himself to white people who ended slavery. The truth is, Mitchell’s own claim of credentials to understanding black culture was having two black roommates while he was in college and going to black-only strip clubs with them. Yes, seriously.

A lot of people pointed out the irony of Bruce acting like a person from that “crowd of black people worshipping a white woman” meme when he lived in Greensboro, a city with a long history of racism and segregation, and Mitchell's comments seemed to reflect that ignorance.

However that wasn’t the end of Mitchell, in December 2020. Wrestler Brody Lee tragically passed away. Mitchell posted an article few days later claiming that Brody Lee died from COVID-19, and AEW was covering it up. This earned the ire of Brody Lee’s widow who blasted Bruce, and this led to an internet-wide backlash against Mitchell’s comments. Wade Keller, Bruce’s co-worker who was in charge of approving the article, dodged all responsibility to save his skin and fired Mitchell. The Yikes Sweetie had been eaten by other Yikes Sweeties.

Bruce tried to have brief internet presence but whenever he showed up people would call him out for writing the article, despite apologizing for it. He ultimately ended up disappearing forever from the internet. While I think the reaction to the article was blown out of proportion, Bruce was faced with karma for being an overreacting fool who was obsessed with being morally superior and talking on behalf of black people.

When I talk about Yikes Sweeties, I don’t talk about actual activists who are fighting for their rights to survive. Yikes Sweeties are often sitting in their ivory towers, looking for any way to make themselves feel superior and act like a good person. They have rarely, if ever, faced any kind of hardships, and if they have, they often use those hardships as a weapon to protect themselves from criticism.

However, Yikes Sweeties are only a small part of what makes Twitter a horrible place. While they’re easily the biggest problem I have with the site’s community, they’re certainly not the only ones. I will talk about them another time, hence “Part 1″ in the title.

[regarding-stories]

Shows I've recently watched (and it's all anime...)

I guess I'm getting some use out of that Crunchroll subscription... though this phase started on Netflix. Shows with links I wrote more about elsewhere. Presented in no particular order.

Uncle From Another World: I love this show. Quirky characters, subverted expectations, lots of laughs. 17 year old obsessed with video games lives in a fantasy world while in a coma, wakes up 17 years later. The show plays the issues of all characters in a satisfying way. If the manga is anything to go by, will get more serious and heartfelt.

Re: Zero - Starting Life in Another World: Extremely good show, highly recommended. Plenty of gore, you're warned. But resolutions in this show are ever so rewarding. Great Isekai world building - with a time loop twist.

Handyman Saito: Funny in a cute way, rather inconsistent. Rather gimmicky and tends to make too many crude jokes.

Romantic Killer: Oh, that one really got me. This show made me laugh so hard! It has a unique style that it plays very well. Girl resists being forced into romance-sim plot. Lots of character development all around. When you're not laughing it gives you the feels. Definitely deserves another season.

The Quintessential Quintuplets: I liked it so much, I watched the two seasons twice in a row. Seeing the movie conclusion in the cinema soon. Funny that I pick it up right before the release of that movie. Great characters, tears, laughs, heartbreak. Whatever the conclusion will be, I will be sad. And probably mad.

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash: It's a good Isekai story with a slower pace. The anime will not continue, though, and the books are an annoying disappointment. Who on Earth can stand Ranta?

In/Spectre: An unexpected show. Lots of talking - in fact, weaving of narratives, alibis, and coverups is the main theme of the show. If you like smartasses, you won't be able to resist the main character - a goddess of wisdom with a mouth and some issues. All stories feel like they have depth and logic to them, plus you get to meet some of Japan's outlandish spirits and monsters. If you make it through the Steel Lady Nanase arc that takes up so much space. Can be gory.

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation: An extremely good fantasy story, but the show's depiction of an adult reborn as a child in another world can be sometimes very cringy to watch. Why? Because as adult he lived as shut-in (hikikomori) without human relations and developed some kinks he obsesses with. If you can see past that, you will find an actually extremely decent protagonist who grows a lot during the show - and away from that. Mostly. We also learn what traumatized him. His depiction is very honest in many ways, so the uncomfortable and weird is there for a reason. For the same reason, the humor can really hit home. Very detailed world that feels alive. Sudden dramatic reversals. I will write an article about the character arc of Eris (female love interest) soon because I think it is amazing, especially in the way it concludes. Started reading the books to continue, and it's definitely readable material.

SPY x FAMILY: This show is extremely funny, but it's also heart-warming. Telepathic child, woman with side job as assassin, and undercover spy form a fake family of convenience - and neither of the adults knows about the hidden side of the other, nor of the power of the child. And the family of course grows to be more liek the real thing. This show requires some suspension of disbelief, but it is just extremely enjoyable.

BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense: A light-hearted show which can be fun. The humor worked quite well for 2-3 episodes, pretty harmless, then I started losing interest for lack of stakes. Still, might revisit it.

Cautious Hero: In many ways a good show and parody of the Isekai genre. Unfortunately full of boob jokes and really has a problem with depicting women. At least the behavior of the protagonist gets an explanation in the end - it recontextualizes a few things. That doesn't vindicate the rest, but it was... watchable. I definitely wanted to see it to end.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: It's fun, but somehow I lost interest within 2-3 episodes. It seemed predictable at that point, but maybe that would change...?

The Way of the House Husband: Well, I continued it. (I think they uploaded new episodes.) The show is fun and funny. Former Yakuza member turns into house husband, displays same intensity when it comes to chores. At times surreal, the art style is very interesting.

I wish another season of Dorohedoro were to be announced. Netflix will never become a mainstay for anime (most of the aforementioned stuff was on Crunchyroll) if it remains so inconsistent in releasing new seasons.

[mangodestroyer]

Studying the freeze response to trauma has... helped me figure so many things out about myself. I thought I was just tired and lazy. No, I'm actually a very hyperactive individual deep down. I don't get it. How can one feel so tired but actually have repressed energy? I might have been dissociating because of repressed energy (not being able to do shit about my situation so escaping through my intense imagination). It's so weird because when I dissociate, I sometimes feel like I'm not real, that nothing is real. I feel like I'm fading out but also reaching another level of existence and sensing things about reality that others can't. I feel out of touch with others. I sometimes feel like other people aren't real and like I'm almost hallucinating everything.

So... how the hell can this trippy ass, fading out feeling mean I have too much energy and am not using it? Let me tell you, psychology is weird. But hey, figuring this out is helping me so much. Allowing myself to be hyperactive and just do things... it's making me feel a TON better. Literally, just cleaning, watching TV, stimming, talking up a storm on my Tumblr... it's all helping me so much. I've even been getting myself to write more, so YAY!

It feels good to have energy! I just wish I would have known this sooner. Sadly, I haven't met a therapist who even came close to touching upon my dissociation. I was so confused by these episodes and didn't even know what to make of them, but they would just be mistaken for general anxiety disorder and depression. Which, don't get me wrong, I do have those things, but they aren't the full picture. Turns out, what I might have needed was a trauma therapist. The reason why therapy wasn't working for me was because normal therapy doesn't do enough to address trauma. It only helps manage some of the symptoms.

This is why I don't get the stigma behind doing the research on mental illness yourself. I get it, there are people who fake disorders for attention. But some of us are genuinely looking for answers and are trying to find ways to better live our lives. Also, why are people so adverse to the idea of others being neurodivergent? A huge chunk of the population has at least one mental condition. And that's okay. A lot of these conditions are harmless when accommodated appropriately and modern life just isn't friendly to the human condition in general. The world would be boring if we were all "normal."

[machine-gun-casie]

HEYY pls a headcanon of pete davidson reacting to someone flirting with you or some jealousy typo PLS

okay so i don't really do headcanons and my requests are closed butttt i have been in a rut recently and this just might be what i need so here you go my first headcanon type thing:

p.s. this turned into more of a blurb/one shot thing so sorry

i don't see pete being jealous just because of how he copes with jokes, so i see loads of self deprecating humor if his significant other was being flirted with

buttt i do see him getting defensive if its getting old like u said no to the same person a couple times or to too many people in one night then he would step up and make sure people know ur his

but with harmless flirting from strangers i cant see him caring much

which is why we're exploring both ideas here

okay so i imagine this happening at pete's job, so snl

maybe not saturday night itself, but during the week

you're on the way to pete's office with some lunch from your favorite restaurant and you bump into none other than....

we're gonna say it's jack harlow just cuz of tiktok's latest obsession with him but u can imagine anyone else

and at first ur confused until it clicks, this is the musical guest

"Oh, hi!" You smile, "I didn't know you were the musical guest this week, that's awesome!" You had met him once at a party or studio in l.a. and he had talked about snl being a dream appearance for him, as it was for many artists.

"Yeah yeah it is, thank you." He smirked and ducked his head bashfully. "Pleasant surprise seeing you. Maybe more than pleasant. What are you doing here, anyways?”

“Having lunch.”

“I thought you worked in L.A."

"I freelance, actually. So the world is my office." You used your free hand to gesture briefly around you, cheesy as it was, but hey he laughed. You lifted up the bag full of food your stomach was crying out for by this point, "You can join us, if you'd like?" Offering was the nice thing to do you supposed, and as far as you knew he was friends with your boyfriend.

"Us?” He asked.

“Yeah, me and Pete.”

“Oh.” He paused. “Nah, that's alright." He shook his head. "I didn't know you and Pete were..." He trailed off.

"Were what?" You asked, not defensively just confused.

"Never mind." He shook it off and sent you what you would describe as an attempted smoulder but he seemed to drop it pretty fast. "See you around?"

"Uh, yeah." You smiled and waved as he walked away.

You walked a few doors down and into Pete's office and saw your boyfriend in the bean bag nearest to the door. i.e., he probably heard everything that was just said. “Hey, I got lunch.” You announced and plopped down on the floor next to pete.

“Thank you, m’lady.” Pete smiled and accepted the greasy bag from you. As he started sorting through the take away containers, he started giggling to himself. “I heard you inviting Jack to eat with us.”

“Yeah, I got two burritos for me so I could've given him one. but he said no.” You shrugged indifferently and took the container Pete extended to you. “Maybe he already ate.”

“He probably just didn’t think I would be involved.”

“Huh?”

“Dude.” He raised his eyebrows at you in a ‘come on, you’ve got to be kidding me’ way. “He was totally flirting with you.”

“What?” You balked. “Oh my god, was he?”

“He totally was.” Pete nodded. “He laughed at your freelance joke, no one likes that joke but me.”

“Oooh, that’s exciting.” You giggled and Pete rolled his eyes with a smile. “But he knows me through you, how did he- wait he did say that weird thing. ‘didn’t know you and Pete were-”

“Still together.” Pete interrupted you. “He was gonna say that he didn’t know we were still together.”

“But why would I be in 30 Rock?” You furrowed your eyebrows. “Where snl is? Like, has he not seen you this week?”

“No, he has. We’ve got a couple sketches together, actually.”

“A couple?” You grinned and made eye contact with Pete, who was also smiling. “How many?”

“Three, so far.”

“Three?!” You squealed. “Look at you, my boy taking over snl!”

“Stopp, you’re acting like my mom.” He smiled and tried to brush it off, but you knew he was just as excited as you. “Hey, maybe he thought you would cheat?”

“Who?”

“Jack.” The sudden change of topic made you furrow your eyebrows until they shot up in realization.

“Ohhh! Maybe he did!” You gasped. “Damn, am I that hot?”

“You definitely are.” Pete said without hesitation.

“Maybe he's got a cheating kink.”

“Oh yeah, that too.” Pete nodded. “But you’re also definitely that hot.”

“You've gotta say that cuz you’re my boyfriend.” You said, though you couldn’t help but smile.

“Sweetheart,” he said bluntly, staten island accent coming in strong, “I wouldn’t be your boyfriend if I didn’t think you were hot, so no I don't gotta say shit.”

“Well, you ain't too bad yourself, hot stuff. Tall sick lookin’ guys are just my type.” You leaned forward and puckered your lips for a kiss, which Pete delivered.

“Timothée Chalamet is coming next week I think, so be prepared to be swept off your feet.”

“Oh, shut up.”

after that first interaction, you start seeing jack a lot more throughout the week

you’re not at 30 rock all day of course

but for the little time you are there, you bump into jack more and more

he invited you to lunch alone twice, you refused both times

he kept trying to lead you through hallways with his hand on your back

all the hallways were empty

he seemed to behave himself around pete tho, which was a nice reprieve

until the day

saturday

you were in pete office for a bit before moving to the crowd, so he hadn’t managed to catch you before the show

but after

the wrap party

apparently all he needed was a couple drinks

You were sitting at the bar waiting for Pete when you saw Jack coming your way. You had noticed him drinking throughout the night, and no matter the guy’s tolerance he must have been drunk by now.

“y/n!” He called out loudly before sitting down next to you. “How! are you?”

“I'm doing great, how are you?” You smiled and leaned away from him a bit. The guy wasn’t a creep, if anything he was incredibly nice. But you knew his intentions. So you weren’t going to be rude. And it’s not like this was happening behind Pete’s back, so you weren’t worried. He was just a friend who wanted to sleep with you apparently. A friend you would probably never see again after tonight, possibly only in passing.

“Let me tell you that you look absolutely stunning tonight.” He slurred his words and draped himself against his section of the bar.

“You’re drunk.”

“Am not!”

“You very much are.” You smiled. “But you did great out there! One for the books! You should be proud.”

“I am proud!” He smiled a little smugly, before he turned serious. “But we gotta talk some business.”

“We do?” You raised your brows in amusement, seeing where this was headed. But you could see Pete wrapping up his conversation across the room and you knew you were safe.

“Yeah, let’s be real.” He lifted his head to face you head on, eye contact surprisingly on point considering how drunk he was. “I wanna fuck you.”

“Oh my god, Jack.” You gasped, in shock from how blunt this man was being.

“C’mon y/n, I doubt Pete would even notice.” He whined, kind of like a kid begging the babysitter for another cookie behind mom’s back. “Besides, someone told me y’all were in an open relationship.”

“Who told you that?”

“I don't know, somebody.” He brushed it off, knowing he couldn’t go along with that lie for too long. “What is it? Am I not attractive to you?”

“You’re okay.” You shrugged, finding this all incredibly hilarious.

“Then come back to my hotel with me.”

“Buddy, you’re starting to sound desperate.” You chuckled as you watched Pete come over to the bar.

Gently moving away to face Pete as he approached, you let out your first genuine smile of the night as you hadn’t been able to see Pete much today.

“Gorgeous as ever.” Pete smiled once he was in ear shot.

“You like?” You asked, striking your best pose while seated. 

“I love.”

“Wore this one for you.”

“How’d I get so lucky?” Pete said as he closed in on you, pressing his lips firmly against yours more heatedly than he usually would in public. 

“Down, boy.” You chuckled against his lips.

“Come on, just a little?” He pleaded, still not willing to pull away.

You rolled your eyes but nodded nonetheless.

He reached down and grabbed you by the waist with both hands and hoisted you up onto the bar. “Pete!” You squealed, grabbing his arms to steady yourself.

“I've got you.” He mumbled and leaned back into you, kissing you in a borderline obscene way. One of his hands stayed on your waist while the other went to cup your jaw, almost hiding you from Jack’s view.

“Great show tonight, Pete.” Jack said as he got out of his seat. “I'll see you around.”

“What?” Pete pulled away from you with a faux confused expression. “Oh uh yeah, see you around pal.” Pete turned back to you with the biggest grin.

“Get me off the bar Pete, before the bartender kicks me out.”

“Vicky’s my pal, they’re okay with it.” He nodded towards the bartender who sent the two of a wink.

“Fine.” You conceded, your concerned frown turning into a smirk. “I didn't know you were the jealous type, Petey.”

“He was begging you to go home with him, y/n.” He said matter-of-factly.

“And I wasn't going to.”

“I know that!” He scoffed. “But he’s gotta know that you’re spoken for.”

“Spoken for? Are we courting, good sir?” You chuckled.

“Come on, you know what I mean.”

“I do, hun.” You nodded seriously and sobered up your demeanor a little. “He was undermining you and our relationship by constantly hitting on me no matter how clear I made it that I was with you. I'm just teasing. I don't even know how I would react if it was the other way round.”

“Would you throw hands for me?” Pete chuckled.

“I might.” You laughed. “You’re spoken for.”

“Damn right I am.”

[phoenixyfriend]

Vader Tries to Help

People encouraged me to share the dead dove concept! Yay! It’s a horrible concept with an undertone of comedic absurdity in the sense that you keep waiting to see what awful, incredibly stupid thing Vader is going to do next. Like it’s horrifying but it’s also very dumb.

By moving forward into the fic, you acknowledge that this is intended to be dark and liable to be upsetting, and that you are taking responsibility for your own engagement with the material.

This AU was helped along on discord by several parties but tbh I’m not sure how many of them actually want to be named.

Warnings: Mutual Extremely Dubious Consent (forced by a third party), drugging, irrational behavior (Vader), nonconsensual body modification, forced pregnancy, imprisonment, threatened torture of a child (not followed through on)

----------

Vader captures Obi-Wan a few years into the Empire. Because Vader is Anakin, but even worse on the emotional bullshit, he decides that he needs to keep Obi-Wan safe but harmless. Vader also got Luke in the whole 'capturing Kenobi' situation, so part of what Vader's thinking about all this is that Obi-Wan tried to protect The Baby and so Vader kind of owes him, obviously.

Palpatine lets him keep Obi-Wan "safe," because threatening Obi-Wan is a convenient way to make Vader shut up and do what he's told. Palpatine can kind of tell that threatening the toddler would make Vader lose his shit and attempt to kill good ol' Palps, so threatening the middle-aged depressed alcoholic being kept in Vader's guest room with Force-nullifying cuffs is pretty good. It's an additional layer of emotional torture on top of the electrocution of Vader himself!

Vader has Obi-Wan taking care of Luke, mostly, because Vader has Obligations and A Job, and Obi-Wan wouldn't hurt Luke, duh. He might try to escape with the kid, but he won't be successful, and Obi-Wan will definitely put Luke's safety first, so that probably won't happen.

This is all fairly normal for a variety of AUs, granted, and not very dark.

But see, Obi-Wan behaves. He's aware of how tenuous the situation is for him and his charge, so he plays nice. And Vader decides to reward that.

By giving him Cody.

There's an implied thought process there that Obi-Wan was fond of Cody, and Cody was fond back, and now that the Jedi aren't around, they can follow through instead of worrying about some silly Code. Vader's nullified the orders to kill all the Jedi, of course, possibly dosed their food with an aphrodisiac so they don't try to talk themselves out of What They Obviously Want.

Now, we’re going to make it a little darker, because why not make things worse by having Vader try to make things better?

Vader somehow twisted himself around to encouraging them to have a baby. This is accomplished through a combination of Sith Magic and nonconsensual surgery, and lots of questionable drugs.

Obi-Wan just wakes up in a hospital bed with a womb one morning, and is informed of the surgery then and there, after it’s already happened. The droid telling him about it is just like "in the Lord Vader's infinite kindness--" and Obi-Wan just.

Anakin.

What the fuck.

What in the actual fuck made you think this was a good idea.

(The Sith Chemicals, probably.)

I feel like Palpatine would maybe even order the pregnancy induction just to torture them by proxy because that's like eight levels of Fuck No and he barely has to do anything except tell Vader that he'd like to see what kind of children a Jedi Master like Obi-Wan has.

Luke needs friends, doesn't he?

Obi-Wan is having some very complicated emotions about all of this because Vader is, in his own absolutely insane way, trying to help.

Anakin wanted babies and Padme wanted babies so clearly, if Obi-Wan and Cody are in love, then they also want babies!

Cody and Obi-Wan very well might not be in love. Anakin definitely could have misinterpreted. It’s probably more angsty if they're just friends who ended up in this bullshit together.

(He's taking baby fever to new and somewhat horrifying heights, because... he would adore Obi's kids.)

(His family button is suprisingly large for a mass murderer.)

Vader Kindly Informs Bail That Obi-Wan Is Alive And Unharmed. Bail was a friend of Obi-Wan's, telling him this is only helpful and will keep Alderaan from getting more rebellious out of personal insult. Obviously.

Vader is almost offended when Bail implies he might hurt Obi-Wan. He kept his son safe, he owes him. Speaking of, don’t you have a child? How old is she, again? It would be Good for her to make friends, wouldn’t it? :)

Palpatine is just like... sitting back and eating evil popcorn as Vader runs around, ruining people's lives by trying to be less of The Worst than before.

Palps barely has to do anything, Anakin's fucking it up on his own!

Could have been just a sly "Kenobi is so attached to young Luke, but now that you've been reunited with your son, perhaps he'd be happier with a child of his own?" Come at it from both "make Obi-Wan happy" and "protect your relationship with Luke" angles.

Vader: I can't have babies anymore due to what you did to me on Mustafar. Obi-Wan: So you're punishing me by forcing me to have them instead? Vader: No! Children are a gift that you have been cruelly denied by the Order that held us in its chains! Obi-Wan: ...oh, right, you're insane. Forgot about that. Somehow.

Big dramatic speech about how the Jedi Order spent so long making them take lives, he’s giving Obi-Wan a chance to create it! To put something good and bright into the world!

Poor Cody is like. "General, I am very fond of you but I'm having a million panic attacks at the same time because of the mind control, and also Vader is under the impression that we're in love and I need to be your stud? I wasn't aware you could have children--" "I can't. Or at least, I couldn't, but Anakin is... creative." "...what."

I don't want to actually objectify Cody in the narrative past the point that Obi-Wan himself is, because nnnnngh racism and clone stuff, so I'm going to say Cody was in love with Obi-Wan, and would have been okay with at least discussing the whole baby schtick if not for the absolutely horrible circumstances.

Like if the war had ended normally, and Obi-Wan had expressed a desire to retire, unlikely as that was, then Cody may have suggested a dinner, and they could have gotten married and then eventually adoption...

(Cody had a lot of fantasies he didn’t let himself think about too hard.)

But no. It's this... weird Vader-inspired bullshit.

I'm just so invested in Vader trying to help but making things legitimately a million times worse.

He wants to help :) Oh god, he wants to help.

Why aren't people more appreciative of how hard I'm helping them? - the Anakin Skywalker story

With less time to stew and also getting handed what he wants, Vader could absolutely flip on a dime the second he saw Luke being protected, and go from “I hate you” to remembering that Obi-Wan said he loved him, and now he must keep Obi-Wan safe out of debt and he just... he’s playing house. 

Vader throws Obi-Wan a baby shower after the pregnancy is confirmed. Bail is invited, because Obi-Wan doesn't have a lot of friends still alive. Vader decides Bail is top of the Obi-Wan’s Friends List.

This is the first time they've seen each other in two years. Obi-Wan is heavily pregnant despite Bail knowing full well he didn't have the plumbing for that before the Empire rose. Cody is there and emotionally exhausted but more lucid than most troopers. Luke is running up to Leia because New Friend!!!

....there may be MORE of the 212th and 501st at the baby shower, with “kill all Jedi” orders revoked, of course. But it will keep the children safe!! And Cody and Obi-Wan can see their surviving friends!!

Cody: I'd be much happier to see my surviving troopers if they didn't all still have chips in their heads. Obi-Wan: I feel much the same. Vader: [404 error]

Bail and his family might be there at blaster point, but aren't you happy to see them, Obi-Wan??

Obi-Wan's endless trauma is honestly somewhat curtailed by the incessant need to facepalm at Vader’s bullshit

Obi-Wan and Cody both outwardly have a very "there are much worse people I could be stuck with in this situation but obviously I wish I'd had a choice, no hard feelings" attitude at each other.

Internally, Cody is suffering because this is NOT how he wanted his crush to be realized, and Obi-Wan is just suffering, period.

Cody: How did he even choose which of us ends up pregnant? Obi-Wan: He thinks I need to be protected, and that he needs to keep me safe. Cody: ...he does realize that you're better at-- Obi-Wan: Cody, he's completely lost it. No! He doesn't realize!

I feel like over the course of the year or two this plot unravels towards Palpatine getting murder-deposed and Anakin getting locked down, part of the driving force to Vader not being Vader anymore is that Luke actually really loves Uncle Obi and always starts fussing and going "Ben's sad" whenever Vader dismisses what Obi-Wan wants in favor of what Vader thinks Obi-Wan wants, and Vader can't deny his child anything.

Luke cries because Palpatine Feels Wrong like, once or twice, and Anakin goes “oh, okay, assassination time.”

[scenefox2003]

No, Camila is not a good mother. And here’s why.

Yes, this sounds like a very harsh statement, but hear me out. Camila, on the surface, seems like a decent and loving mother, especially when compared to say, the Blights, who are much more obviously and stereotypically terrible. But from the very beginning she displays some VERY toxic and harmful behaviors towards her daughter Luz. Her sort of parenting, even though she has good intentions, can do some horrifying and long lasting damage to the mental health and self esteem of a child. How do I know? My mother was exactly like Camila. And like Luz, I still loved her. But that doesn’t mean she didn’t do some serious harm. And those same things are happening to Luz right now.

First up, let’s state the obvious. Luz is neurodivergent. This isn’t even just coding, either. Dana Terrace has outright stated this is her intention. And like many neurodivergent kids and teens, she often gets in trouble in school without realizing why. The things she does are still bad, of course, and she still needs to face the consequences of her actions and learn why they’re not okay. The first two things she does (going a bit too far in the school play and doing that freaky eye thing at cheer tryouts) aren’t even that bad, but her bringing spiders, snakes, and fireworks to school are obviously huge issues. Those last three are obviously cartoonishly crazy acts that have been played up by the writers for humor and to get the idea across, but even if we take this all at face value Camila’s handling of the situation is STILL HORRIBLE. Notice what she criticizes here. Not the fact that her daughter brought dangerous animals and explosives to school, but her love of fantasy. Yes, they’re related, but Luz’s love of fantasy can still exist without her breaking school rules. Not only that, but taking Luz’s neurodivergency into account here, The Good Witch Azura and other fantasy tales are clearly a special interest or hyperfixation of hers. Her love of Azura goes much farther than that of a normal neurotypical fangirl, she uses this character to help navigate through her life. She chooses to stay on the boiling aisles because Eda and King remind her of characters from the book. She chooses to take the risk and try to befriend her rival, Amity, because that’s what Azura did. Even in season two, when she’s talking about her future, she states Eda and Azura as her role models. Not to infantilize Luz (trust me, that’s the last thing I want to do) but this level of connection to a fictional character is unusual for a fourteen year old who just really likes something. Luz clearly uses this character as guidance in a world she doesn’t understand (which funny enough, is both the boiling aisles and earth) and what does Camila do?

She forces her to LITERALLY throw it away. Right before she has to go to a scary and uncomfortable place for THREE MONTHS, that SHE FORCED HER TO GO TO. That’s the time when Luz would need that special interest the most. It isn’t just a book she loves. It’s a coping mechanism, a genuinely harmless and positive part of her life, that she is shamed for. Being shamed for an interest or hyperfixation is such a terrible feeling I can’t even begin to describe it. But if you’re neurodivergent, you know what I’m talking about. What makes it even worse is that Luz literally cannot control what she loves. She can’t just find a new hobby, not that she should even have to, because when you have a special interest or hyperfixation, that thing becomes such a huge part of your life. And most of the time, it’s such an amazing and wonderful thing. And for Luz, it clearly is. Azura LITERALLY LED HER TO FORMING THE STRONGEST RELATIONSHIPS IN HER LIFE, with Eda, King, and Amity. That’s huge, considering Luz clearly has a lot of trouble forming friendships back in the human world. Luz’s love of fantasy is not a problem. Her “weirdness” is not a problem. But that’s what Camila sends her to camp for. To change her interests, her personality, not her actions. That, and for something even worse.

This line hurts my soul. I don’t even have to explain why this is an awful thing for a mother to say to her daughter, it speaks for itself. But I’m gonna explain anyway. Luz doesn’t have any friends. But that’s clearly not her fault. Just look at what happens when she goes to the boiling aisles and FINALLY meets like minded people. She makes tons of friends without changing at all, because Luz is a genuinely good person with a great personality. She’s kind, excitable, and always eager to help others. This is INCLUDED with her “weirdness”, and often directly related to it. Luz is not the only weird person that exists, even in the human world. I had pretty much no close friends as a kid, then I switched to a school full of open minded (and many queer and neurodivergent) people, and now I have TONS of friends who are just like me, who like the same things, that I didn’t have to change myself at all for. This is how real healthy friendships work. And the sad thing is, Luz wouldn’t even HAVE to go to the boiling aisles for this to happen! If Camila really wanted Luz to make friends, all she would have to do is send her to some sort of fantasy or roleplaying camp full of people like her who share her interests. But instead of blaming the judgy bullies for why Luz doesn’t have any friends, she blames Luz for just. Being herself and liking some unconventional stuff. This is so, SO disgusting and harmful. It can lead to so many problems, destroy yourself esteem, and ironically enough it makes it HARDER TO MAKE FRIENDS. Forcing yourself to be someone else to make someone you’re not really compatible with like you just doesn’t work. Believe me, I’ve tried. This is LITERALLY HAPPENING TO LUZ RIGHT NOW. IN THE MOST RECENT EPISODE SHE NEARLY RUINED HER CHANCE WITH AMITY BECAUSE PEOPLE HAD MADE HER FEEL WEIRD ABOUT HER INTERESTS AND PERSONALITY IN THE PAST. That’s why I’m making this post, even though I’ve thought this for a long time. The damage the human world has done to Luz is starting to show. Even after all these months of being loved for being herself and proudly being an advocate for being weird, that instinct is still there. And it lasts. For years. I’m eighteen years old, I’ve been in a supportive environment for six years now, and my parents have been fully supportive of me and my interests and quirks for two. But that instinct doesn’t go away. The deep rooted shame whenever you do something harmless that’s outside the norm, something you were directly told not to by the people who are supposed to love you unconditionally doesn’t go away. And Camila, the only person Luz truly cares about, perpetuated that. And that’s truly awful. I get it. Parents aren’t always perfect. But this is beyond imperfect. It reminds me of a line from Gwendolyn in Keeping Up A-fear-ances. “Your curse is a part of you, and I love every part of you.” Camila clearly loves Luz, but she doesn’t love every part of Luz. And in order to truly love someone, you must fully love them, quirks and all. I hope we get to see Camila learn this before the show ends, but most of all I hope that the show openly states that her parenting is awful. It could save so many kids from so many years of pain and an inferiority complex.

[astaroth1357]

MC's Family Finds Out that They're Actually Dating a Demon the Hard Way

Demon boys more or less going demon on the MC's family. Bound to happen really. This one ain’t so cuddly guys. Special thanks to @anonimo324 for the inspiration for this one. Literally never would have occurred to me if they hadn't have said something and I love the excuse to revisit this idea. 😄 

Check out the Masterlist for more!

IMPORTANT: Continuation to "Demon Brothers Meeting the MC's Family" The general setup to this post is in that one.

Lucifer

You know what they say about things that seem too good to be true, right?

Oh, their MC's new boyfriend was smooth, put together, intelligent…

And prideful. So very prideful.

It radiated off of him like no tomorrow, there was just a subtle but constant air of superiority to everything the man did or said. Some may find it attractive but others? It can drive other people right up the wall.

And that's exactly what it did to some members of the MC's family. Even if he seemed educated and well-spoken what made him think he was so special? What made him think he was just so much better than the rest of the world??

They couldn't have known just how angry he'd get when they confronted him about it.

They couldn't have known that they weren’t questioning an arrogant man, but a prideful demon who'd take offense at the mere thought of being anywhere near their level.

It was only when he stood towering before them, demonic wings and horns in full view, did they learn the folly of their actions.

In their hospital beds, bones broken and bodies bruised, they'd rant and rave to anyone who'd listen "He's a demon! A demon! My child/sibling/etc. is dating a demon!!"

The MC disappeared with Lucifer that night, however. Their family writes them off as either dead or kidnapped for torture purposes.

In truth, they returned to the Devildom and Lucifer will never hear the end of how he lost control and attempted to skewer the MC's family members. Surely such a mighty demon should have better control than that... 🙄😑

Mammon

His dumbass let it slip a couple months in, but not without good reason for once.

He had actually been doing pretty well with their family. Sure he wasn't perfect,  but he made it clear enough he was looking out for MC and honestly the rest of them as well.

It was small things. Checking up on them sometimes. Making sure the little ones, if any, were safe. Not stealing anything that isn't nailed down (though that's something the MC notices more than their family of course).

It takes a lot. A lot. A LOT to make Mammon break out his demon form. He's better at keeping it in than Lucifer. But showing him something that’s threatening MC is actually a pretty quick why to do it.

The family was out together on a shopping trip, a giddy Mammon included because he knew that meant he could beg ask the MC to buy him stuff.

They really should have checked before they started strolling down the damn crosswalk, but they didn't, and an impatient taxi went hurtling towards them.

Before they could even open their eyes Mammon was already lecturing them about their stupidity, holding them on the other side of the street. Shirtless because his demon form was out and the dumbass forgot to hide it again. Even though they were in public.

He was quick to change back once he noticed, but the damage was done. You can say their family was a little surprised that he straight up grew wings and horns. Only one of them fainted anyway.

To avoid causing further panic, Mammon just legs it away with MC still in his arms, shouting back an quick expletive laced "apology" over his shoulder.

MC smooths things over with their family later by phone. No one can quite wrap their head around the fact that Mammon is a demon, despite what they had seen, but it helps that he did seem to want to protect them.

The MC is not allowed to come home if they want to bring their demon boyfriend too, but their family isn't as worried about them as they could be. Mammon's looking out for them after all.

Leviathan 

Okay. They always knew the boy was a little weird but hot damn did that opinion suddenly go from 0 to 60 real quick.

Levi was distant and off-putting at first but in time it became pretty clear that he was just pretty awkward. He wasn't the best with people, but he seemed harmless enough.

It was the MC's idea to bring him along on a family weekend trip to the beach. They honestly couldn't understand why at first. He never seemed to like being with them...

It DID start to click for them a little more when they saw the guy in the water though. They can say it's probably the first time they'd ever seen him so comfortable in his own skin. He even started smiling!

Things were actually going smoothly for them all for once… until other people started taking notice of MC in their swimsuit and one bold gentleman decided to make a cheeky comment on it.

Now, Levi had always stuck close to MC when he was around them. He was practically a second shadow. But it seemed like the second he took notice of those glances he got extra clingy and after that comment.. he started to have a meltdown.

The once bold gentleman was kindly picked up by the neck and hurdled into the ocean like a Frisbee. It would have been hilarious if it weren't so horrifying.

It was about the time that the lad grew a snake tail that the MC's family peaced out off the beach, screaming in terror. MC and Levi left too, mostly because Levi was hellbent on dragging them back to the Devildom in a jealous rage. Obviously THIS is the kind of shit that happens when he leaves his room!

No plans are ever made to go visit again, which he's very happy about. He hated being out in "the real world" anyway.

Satan

Nice as he could be, that temper was bound to catch up to him eventually…

There would be small incidents. A kid cuts him off on the sidewalk and he'd get a little loud and snippy about it. A dog won't stop barking at him and he'd just glare and send it away with a terrified whimper. These things were… worrisome. But not all that demonic.

Then other red flags started showing up. A person on the street would be rude to him and he'd look honestly ready to kill. It'd take MC physically holding him back to keep him in place. Their family was worried about them… Had they'd fallen victim to a possible abuser...?

MC had never listened to what their family had to say, always claiming that they were perfectly safe with their boyfriend. That he had to listen to what they said. But no one really bought that…

Well if there is one way to piss Satan off (and there are many) probably the fastest and most lethal is to doubt his intelligence. Especially if you're only one of those everyday, average humans...

That poor employee at the bookstore had no idea what kind of mistake they made when he told Satan he wasn't looking for Camus but Kafka then refused to double check. Satan doesn't make mistakes about his authors. Ever.

What was originally just supposed to be a relaxing afternoon with the family turned into a night in the station as everyone was questioned about the employee whose head got flattened against the store counter-top. The police weren't entirely convinced a demon did it, but they would look for a blonde.

Said demon had chucked MC over his shoulder and took off before the police arrived to investigate, which as far as they're concerned also kind of amounts to kidnapping.

Satan's now a fugitive in the MC's hometown and on the FBI's Most Wanted List so safe to say that they won't really be visiting anymore.

Asmodeus 

Not as surprised as you might think. There were some signs…

Asmo had a bewitching quality to him that went well into the unnatural. He could soothe and win over right about any person or animal to an… uncomfortable degree.

He also kept bringing up and babbling about nonsense products all the time. He always seemed to have the perfect hair treatment or know the best drinks but no one else had ever heard of any of it. What the heck even is Demonus…?

But the real kicker was, well, just how lustful he was. There were horn dogs and then there was this guy. It felt like he could flirt with a potted plant sometimes.

Though he was nice, no one in their house thought Asmo was faithful to MC. And even if he were, his blatant willingness to tease right about anyone he came across was showing them disrespect. 

Unfortunately, they had made the poor decision to confront him about it and claim that he didn't actually "love" MC….

There are few things more brutal and less forgiving than an enraged Asmo. Here he was with these humans, people he had been nothing but nice to, and they were doubting his love for MC?? What gave them the right!?

He had his demon form out and his whip already raised to teach these slanderers a lesson! Even if he had grown to like some of them, his anger took over his reason and he had to vent his displeasure NOW.

The MC stepped in before he could crack the whip and made him stop. Their family was terrified but he charmed them into calming down while he and MC talked things out.

They (by which I mean mostly a fuming Asmo) decided that since their family couldn't understand their love for each other, they didn't deserve to see it.

They leave the house calmly and don't come back. MC still sometimes calls their family, but they refuse to leave the Devildom or their beautiful fallen angel, no matter how much their family pleads for them to come home.

Beelzebub 

On the one hand, absolutely no one wants to believe it… But it also does make a lot of things make more sense in hindsight.

Like, he was built like a linebacker so it was sort of understandable just how many calories his body seemed to need but there was a limit.

He. Just. Kept. Eating. Never-endingly hungry. Always poking through the kitchen or ordering a mountain of pizzas. More impressively, he never made any leftovers… Ever.

He was such a sweetheart though… They tried to turn a blind eye for a while. Make excuses and rationalize the impossible… but it couldn't last.

It was only supposed to be one nice dinner out. MC had gone over the rules with him ten times before going, "This is a human restaurant and I'm paying, so you HAVE to stop at thirds. Okay? Okay??"

He tried. But the food was sooo good, he just couldn’t stop! And, like clockwork, here comes the manager to cut him off and there goes an angry Beel. Full demon form, tossing tables and wrecking chairs to everyone's absolute horror.

MC had to use the pact to stop him. They could only leave their family with a quick goodbye before they had to book it from the cops on Beel's back as he flew away.

To say there was a mini-meltdown among the members left behind would be an understatement. What the HELL just happened to the sweet young man they had come to know???

The damages were paid for by Lucifer a "mysterious donor" and everything was explained to their family by MC over video call from the Devildom with a very guilty and apologetic Beel in attendance.

When it was clear that the MC wasn't going to leave him or literal Hell despite their protests, they either had to accept it or never hear from them again. Members made their choices, but it's pretty hard to stay mad at someone they've grown to like so much...

He's no longer allowed to go visit them in the human world (which is probably for the best) but shows up on MC's video calls regularly. They still kind of think of him as family even if he could eat them all. He's just such a nice lad, you know?

Belphegor

…. You know, there was always something kind of off about that kid.

It was always hard to place what made Belphie so… different. It could have been the way he never seemed to take any of them seriously or the kind of amazing lack of energy he brought to things.

It also could have been the fact he kept making comments about being a demon, going to "hell," knowing Satan personally, etc. but always played them off as jokes.

Honestly when it finally came out that yes, he was actually a demon, it was almost a relief because it made waaaay more sense than not.

Still fucking terrifying, though.

One of their family members had made the mistake of waking him up from a nap when he and MC were there for a visit

Now. It's not easy to wake Belphie even on a good day but an airhorn to the face is probably not the way to go about it.

When he sent said family member soaring out the window, one-handed, with his horns and tail on full display and a familiar look of murder in his eyes, MC knew the charade was pretty much up...

True to his word, Belphie doesn't let some humans keep MC away from him. He scooped them up and hopped out the broken window before they could really even protest or explain anything.

Which, I mean, how does one even go about smoothing over the fact your demon boyfriend just yeeted one of your family members out of the house?

Their family is kind of able to put two and two together themselves regardless. Which is good because neither Belphie or MC are probably coming back any time soon. If ever. Hope they enjoy postcards...

[berrydoodleoo]

If Ignis were himself, he would no doubt have counseled them against the trip, or at least proposed some kind of clever work around. Gladio would have loomed and grumbled, and then would have been the first to bow at Luna’s bedside with some courtly, if gruff, remark. But of course, Ignis wasn’t himself, and really, neither was Gladio. And Noctis knew it was all his fault.

But Prompto was insistent, and he was trying so hard to be himself and keep things light. He'd taken over Iggy’s duties of cooking and planning their trip, and still found time and energy to help Ignis activate the handicap settings on his phone while keeping up a steady stream of light-hearted chatter. Not to mention visiting Luna and helping out with the rescue and relief efforts. It was like watching someone do a ballet in a field full of giant boulders – three of which were named Ignis, Noctis, and Gladiolus – he just kept moving, kept dancing, and you almost couldn’t see the toll it was taking on him.

Almost.

So Prompto brought up visiting Luna’s hospital room again, as-if casually, mentioning that he’d had word from Weskham as to where she was currently hidden, and that he was sure he could get them in without being noticed by Imperial spies. And besides, Pryna had licked his hand when he’d visited last, which probably meant that Luna was going to wake up soon, any day now, and wouldn’t it be something if she woke up while Noct was there? A kiss from Prince Charming, eh?

Gladio had snorted, an ugly, mocking sound, and Prompto had stuttered to a halt, with an expression like his heart was breaking. Ignis had averted his face, just slightly. Shutting the whole world out. And Noctis had dredged up a voice (his own? someone else’s?) from the vise clamping his chest and said sure, Prom, let’s go.

And so they did.

Traveling the streets of devastated Altissia in Lucian royal black was probably unwise, but Prompto seemed to exude a notice-me-not aura that, in conjunction with the chaos still gripping the city, was enough to let them travel unmolested. They kept to the areas packed with refugees where possible, where everyone had their eyes glued to the screens announcing ferries and how long the current wait lists were (some were hours, most were days) instead of at each other. It did nothing for his nerves, which were a constant jangle, but at least no one stopped them. Or worse, shouted, hey, Prince Noctis!

The hospital was mostly intact, at least from the outside. Upon entering, it became clear that it had suffered a beating, either from Leviathan or the Imperial forces. The first level was still flooded, the polished marble turned treacherous by a thin layer of mud. The smell of mold competed with the smell of hospital bleach, and Noctis almost gagged.

There was a crowd here, too, too many people to fit in the emergency room reserved for the most critical cases. Noctis stood aside as Prompto shuffled about, standing on his toes, trying to find the best way forward without attracting too much attention.

A little kid with a bloody rag tied to his forehead stared at them. Noctis met his eyes and then regretted it, trying to look away and act casual. When he glanced up, the kid had wandered from his sleeping mother to stand beside them, still staring silently.

Prompto almost collided with the kid, and then did a double-take. “Hey!” he exclaimed quietly, and he sounded happy. “Stanford, my man!” He crouched, careful to keep the edges of his jacket out of the water. “How you doin’? Still waiting for a doctor, huh?”

Stanford – he must have been a few years younger than Talcott, too young to be so injured and haunted-looking – nodded, popping his filthy thumb into his mouth.

“Can I take a look, dude?” Prompto asked, gentle, touching the bandage on the child’s head. He nodded again.

It made Noctis’ eyes water, seeing how gentle Prompto was with the kid. He unwound the bandage and checked the wound beneath – the sight made Noctis wince – and produced some wrapped bandages and antiseptic wipes seemingly from his pocket (Noct felt the tug that meant they’d really come from the Armiger). He talked the whole time – man, those are cool shoes, I love chocobos, and how old are you again, dude? like, sixteen, right? or seventeen, you’re in high school, right – trying to coax some words out of him. Stanford was clearly listening, half-smiling at Prompto’s jokes, but was otherwise unresponsive.

He submitted to the cleaning with only a little tearyness. When he finally spoke, it wasn’t about anything Prompto had said.

“Do you have more magic potions?” he asked hopefully.

Prompto winced, shooting a quick glance at Noct. They’d agreed early on not to share their potions with people – it was too easy to trace them back to Noct, and Ignis was always concerned they would run out at the worst possible moment (which, to be fair, they had done so more than once).

“Not at the moment, little dude,” Prompto was jittering, hurrying to finish wrapping the bandage, “but uh, maybe later, I can, uh–”

Noctis reached into his back pocket and summoned a potion from the Armiger, the same trick Prompto had just pulled. It was weak – he just hadn’t been able to summon the magic for a proper Elixir once it was clear they wouldn’t help Ignis’ eyes – but it would help ward off infection and help with pain management. For a little while.

Stanford’s eyes lit up, and he started to snatch the glowing bottle from Noct’s hand. But then he hesitated. “For – for me?” he asked, staring up at Noct with the hugest eyes he’d ever seen.

“Yeah.” Noct tried to smile for him, extending the potion a bit further. “Of course.”

Stanford accepted the bottle, hugging it to his chest as if were a precious treasure. Now his eyes glowed with happiness, watching Noct, and he stood obediently still as Prompto finished retying the headband that kept his bandage in place. “Can I share it with my mom?” he eventually asked.

Noctis glanced at the sleeping woman, and wondered what was wrong with her. Was she injured, too, or just exhausted? “Yeah,” he said again. “Just don’t tell anyone else, okay?”

Would the woman even accept it, if her son told her he had a magic potion from a strange man? Well, maybe she would assume it came from a doctor, or that it was still the harmless bottle of (Noctis checked) apple juice it had started out as. Albeit glowing apple juice. Well, marketing, right? Maybe it wouldn’t seem too weird.

It was Stanford’s to do with as he chose. If he wanted to give it to his mom, or a total stranger, or pour it down the drain, Noctis wouldn’t stop him. He just didn’t have the energy.

Stanford’s eyes went even wider, but he nodded. “Yes, sir,” he said.

Brave little man. Noctis tried to smile for him again, moved his lips in the familiar gesture, and the kid tried to smile in return. If his own forced smile made him look as sad as Stanford’s did, Noctis mused, then it was no wonder people kept flinching away at the sight.

~

They found an un-monitored stairwell, the door blocked off with yellow tape. It quickly became clear as to why it was locked down – some tree branches and half a gondola were poking through the battered walls, tossed through marble and concrete by Leviathan’s rage. Worse, there were puddles of slimy water everywhere.

Prompto kept ahold on Noct’s arm – Noct realized he’d been doing that since they left their borrowed refuge in the Secretary’s home, as if Noct would drift away without the anchor – as they made their way up the stairs. “I don’t think he’s gonna keep it a secret, man.”

Noct had to blink himself back to the present. “Huh?”

“Stanford. With the potion.”

Noct shrugged. “Didn’t get the impression he was talking much.”

“Noct…”

“It’s not a big deal. We’ll be out of here soon.”

Prompto seemed deflated, guiding him up the stairs. “Yeah.”

Noct let himself be led. What did Prompto expect him to say? Maybe he wanted Noct to go back down the stairs and offer to help everyone else in the room. Give out their store of potions, grab some bottles of water and start enchanting those, too. Act like a king for once, instead of piece of luggage that had to be carted to and fro by people smarter and more capable.

“I just feel bad, you know?” Prompto said, his voice echoing a bit in the humid, smelly space. “I’ve never done anything to deserve you guys – traveling with you guys, using your magic, seeing the gods, I – I don’t deserve any of this – this magic, this specialness, I’m just –” He swallowed. “And then there’s kids like Stanford, and man, I just don’t know. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know anything.”

Noctis let his arm slide through Prompto’s grip until he could squeeze his hand. They paused, side-by-side as they sidled around a piece of crushed stairwell, and Prompto squeezed back. Hard.

~

Noct started feeling floaty once they left the stairwell. Parts of this floor were still in use, despite the damage and the flickering lights. But Prompto knew the way, avoiding the lighted areas, and led him to a dark hallway behind more yellow tape.

Noct felt his steps slowing. He and Prompto’s arms, connected by their held hands, stretched like a rope between two ships tugged in opposite directions. They reached a door, Prompto produced a key, and Noct thought he might faint. He pulled free of Prompto’s grip to lean against the wall, heart laboring, spots filling his vision.

Luna. Luna was on the other side. Once he saw her, it would all be real.

He needed more time. Time to get ready, time to be better, time to be the King she believed he was. All he could picture was her face – somewhere between the child he’d known and the woman he’d seen in official broadcasts – crumpling in disappointment, and the fact that it hadn’t happened (yet) did nothing to lessen the pain. Gods. Gods. He couldn’t do this. More time—

Prompto’s face appeared, looking worried and frantic, and then Noct was being hauled into the unlocked room despite his sluggish limbs. He heard the door shut behind them, closing them in safely. And when he opened his eyes, he was in Luna’s hospital room.

“Dude,” Prompto was whispering. “Breathe.”

Noct nodded.

“Breathe. Breathe.” Prompto pressed a quick, awkward kiss to his forehead. “Breathe. Just breathe.”

Noct breathed, or tried to breathe. When he opened his eyes, he could see Luna in her hospital bed, traced in appallingly bright sunshine, and he swayed again. Prompto caught him, held him up, held him in place. Just held him, really.

For a minute, he had the inane thought that Clarus and Gladio were on the other side of the door, and if they came in they would see Noct snuggling with Prompto and the game would be up. And then he remembered that Clarus was dead, that Gladio wanted nothing to do with him, and that this wasn’t his father’s hospital room, after the stroke that nearly claimed his life a year ago. Something about the smell, the beeping, the seafoam green of the curtains and blankets, must have taken him back. And his dad was dead, anyway, dead like Clarus, dead like Ignis almost was, dead like Luna almost is….

“I can’t do this,” Noct whispered, when Prompto backed off to give him a little space.

Ignis would have said, yes you can, Highness. Majesty. Gladio would have said, don’t give me that crap, you’re gonna do your duty if it kills us both. Luna would have said, none of us know what we can do until we do it, or fail trying. But I do believe in you, Noctis.

Prompto just whispered, “I know, man.” Noctis met his eyes, briefly, and the love and sorrow there stole his breath. “That’s why I’m here to help.”

Noctis glanced back, thinking of escape, about making excuses and stepping out, running away, back to the Secretary’s house and the room where Ignis and Gladio tip-toed around each other and the smothering silence. And then he swallowed, and squeezed Prompto’s hand, and nodded, meeting his eyes one more time.

“Let’s go,” he whispered, and Prompto led him forward, into the light.

[five-rivers]

Is there any way we could possibly convince you to write more of the Eldritch!Danny au? As it's own phanfic? This, of course, would only be done once you are under considerably less stress, and can comfortably put the effort into that, if there ever could be such a time whilst writing Mortified and Stars Aligned. It could even wait until one or both of those has reached a point that you deem them Completed™. I'm just immediately part of Sam's Cult XD

It’s been a bit, and this is kind of random, but...

.

Clockwork’s avatar pressed the food to Danny’s lips, and he bit down, hard.  Juices dribbled down his chin as the food squirmed.  He moaned in something like relief as the pressure in the venom sacs in the roof of his mouth lessened.  He ate.

He kept Dreaming of himself with fangs and venom. Did that mean something?

A cold pressure under his chin forced him to look up.  Clockwork’s avatar inserted another piece of food into Danny’s mouth.  

Of course, it means something, it said. You are such a generous soul that you must give of yourself before you can even do something as basic and vital as eat.

Something about that didn’t sound right, but Danny wasn’t in a position to argue, not when he found himself so hungry.

Clockwork’s avatar fussed over him, feeding him more and more, past the point of mere satiation to the point where he felt bloated and slug-like.  He wanted to curl up and sleep real sleep.  The image of a caterpillar who, having gorged itself, began to form a cocoon, flittered across his mind.  

You are a long way from metamorphosis yet, dear one, said Clockwork’s avatar.  Come.  I have something for you.  

Danny followed the tug of the chained collar around his neck, blinking blearily, his footsteps just a little unsteady.  

The careful direction of the chain led him to a small table cluttered with trinkets.  Clockwork’s avatar leaned down to press its cheek against the crown of Danny’s head.  Its cloak fell to either side of Danny, cutting off his field of view to the left and right, leaving him with only the table and the wall behind it.  

A gift, said Clockwork’s avatar.

“Why?” asked Danny.  It felt odd to speak here, and much more so in English, but he was still learning how to use his True Voice.  

I wanted to give you something myself, before we celebrate your birthday.  

“My birthday is ages away,” said Danny.  

From some perspectives, perhaps.  But we missed so many of yours.  We must make them up before the next one.  

There was something ominous there, but Danny just leaned into the avatar’s touch, unwilling to devote himself to interpreting omens.  

Pick one, said Clockwork’s avatar, pick wisely.  Gifts received in the Dream become part of you.

Danny nodded and opened his eyes (when had he closed them?) to look at the trinkets—no, the gifts—again.  Gifts that, like all good gifts, came with strings attached.  

There was something off about that thought.

But it didn’t matter.  It wasn’t as if he could refuse a gift.  

He reached out.  

.

He picked the beaded pectoral necklace.  Mostly because he was curious to see how it went on, what with the collar around his neck and all.  Yes, this was the Dream, and multiple things could exist in the same place at the same time, but usually there was an… internal consistency, of sorts.

It turned out the answer was that the necklace merged with the bottom edge of the collar, which felt weird, but it was fine, because both were manifestations of Clockwork’s Love.  

The unfamiliar weight of it hung strangely off his shoulders, especially given the counterweight that hung down his back, and forced him to alter his posture.  He stood straight and… Well.  Not tall. But to his full height.  

Clockwork’s ticking sounded pleased.  An echo of something where Danny’s heart once was agreed with that assessment.  

When he left the Dream and went on with his life, it seemed as if not much had changed, except—

He felt more confident.  More coordinated.  He didn’t stutter as much.  People listened to him more.  

Even Sam and Tucker remarked on it.  

Only a few days later, Clockwork called him back, reeling him into the deep Dream by the chain attached to his collar.  He had another gift for Danny.  A bracelet.  Its weight joined that of the necklace.

Since you seemed to enjoy this so much, said the avatar, running its fingers over the faience beads.  

And so it went.  

Every few days, Clockwork would call him back and give him some new little adornment.  A ring.  A jeweled comb.  An anklet. A brooch.  A belt.  Each gift seemed to smooth away some almost imperceptible flaw in his waking self, seemed to draw more eyes to him, more attention, more praise.  People who would never give him the time of day before actually sought out his company.

He wondered.  Each thing he was given was a display of wealth.  Did that come across, somehow?  Or was it simply gravity, the mass of his presence pulling in their regard?

The improvements weren’t just in his human life. The others were easier to fight, to distract and ward away.  Their blows did not hurt nearly as much, nor did their ‘appearances’ distress him as much as they once had.  

He noticed, too, the weight of what he wore in the Dream.  Each ring, each bauble, made it easier for him to sink into the depths, made it harder for him to reach the surface.  

Sometimes, after a return, he would like on the floor in his room, panting.

But he was growing stronger, too, and he hoped—

It didn’t matter what he’d hoped.  

He could no longer reach the waking world. He tried seven times before the chain, vibrating with amusement, pulled him back to Clockwork.  

We must celebrate, said Clockwork’s avatar, pulling a sort of woven metal sleeve over Danny’s right hand.  It hooked neatly onto the rings on each of his fingers.  

“Why?” asked Danny, barely holding himself back from falling to pieces.  He had a responsibility to Amity Park.  Not to mention, he wanted to live there with his friends and family.  

Because it is a wonderful milestone, that you are too powerful to reach that place on your own.  The avatar placed a crown of knotted metal on Danny’s head.  This is what a cult is for, my little gem.  To pull you up.  

“What if…” said Danny, “I get too… heavy to be pulled up?”  

Another milestone.  

.

Except, no, Danny’s hand still hovered over the table, undecided.  He let it fall back to his side and blinked, shaking his head to clear it of the vision that had just overtaken him.  

Did it show what would be, what might have been? Or merely a possibility?  

Reality splintered.

.

He put his hand down on a stack of folded white cloth, jostling the bells sewn to the hems.  He didn’t actually know what it was, but it seemed harmless, and the fabric was soft.  

It turned out that the cloth was a set of folded veils.  The bells were weights, to make them hang properly.  

Clockwork’s avatar helped him put them on in front of a mirror, since Danny had never worn anything like them before.  The cloth was thin, diaphanous gauze.  Where the veils touched the clothing he was already wearing, it whispered away, like it never was.  In some places, mostly on his shoulders and back, for some reason, the veils merged smoothly, seamlessly, with his skin.  It was an odd sensation, made more so by the fact that his nerve endings seemed to extend partway into the cloth.  

Although, that might not be by design, but because Danny expected it.  This was the Dream, after all.  

Once all the veils were in place, the only pieces of his body exposed were his hands and bare feet.  It was strange, looking at himself in the mirror through the sheer veils over his face and head.  He almost looked like a ghost.  

It was… it was kind of embarrassing, being dressed like this.  The veils were the only things he was wearing, and even with all their frothy layers, he could make out the silhouette of his body beneath them.  

He spun in place, just enough to hear the bells ring with high, clear tones.  Like this, the subtle embroidery on the veils looked like feathers.  

When he woke again, normal clothes felt rough and coarse against his skin in comparison.  He gritted his teeth and bore it.  He couldn’t very well walk to school in the nude.

“Did something happen last night?” asked Sam, surveying Danny up and down.  

“Um,” said Danny, “yes, but why?”

“You look…”

“Mysterious,” said Tucker.  

“Ethereal,” decided Sam.  “But also…”  She hummed. “Untouchable, maybe?  I don’t know.”

Danny explained what had happened.  

It was in the course of just messing around that they found another effect.  

“Dude,” said Tucker, as Danny sat on his shoulders, “did you lose weight or something?”

“No?” said Danny, turning away from his sticky-note masterpiece on the classroom ceiling.  “At least, I don’t think so.”

“You just seem a lot lighter than the last time we did this.”

They weighed him later, at Sam’s house.  He was.  

The next time he visited the dream, there were changes.  One, the sensation in the cloth had extended.  He could feel almost all the way to the ends of some of the shorter veils. Two, his form beneath the veils was less distinct.  Softer. When he put his hand underneath them to check, his body felt softer, too.  Three, he was glowing.  

Of course, said Clockwork’s avatar, stroking its cold hand down his back in a way that made all of his new nerve endings overload.  As the illusion fades, the truth may shine.  

It did not elaborate, no matter how Danny pressed him.  It did, however, pet him until he was left as little more than a pleasantly chirping puddle of veils and feathers on Clockwork’s floor.  

He did not note the significance of the feathers until his next visit to the Dream, whereupon some of his veils had become wings, bells still attached and ringing with every motion.  He spread them out and flew.  

Flying was even better than he had imagined. Never before had he known such joy.

The changes continued, the form he wore in the waking world becoming progressively more and more alien to him, more grating and uncomfortable.  

“That only makes sense,” said Sam.  “You’re more than us.  Being constrained like this can’t be good for you.”

Tucker nodded in agreement.  “I mean, look at all of this.”

Danny looked around the cafeteria, catching several worshipful gazes.  

“You don’t belong in a cage like this.”

“I want to be able to help,” said Danny.  It had become easier, in some ways.  It was as hard as ever to fight the others, but human aggression stopped dead in Danny’s presence.  

“You’ll still be able to,” said Sam.  “But Tucker’s right, you should be trapped here. You should in a high place… on a pedestal.  Somewhere to give us hope.  Somewhere we can look up to.”

He stood in front of Clockwork’s mirror again. There was a suggestion of a human body beneath the wings, but nothing more than that.  Soon, even that would be gone.  

Even as he thought it, he let his wings shift, forming a more spherical shape.  The light at his center became blindingly bright, but Danny could still see the chains of Love attached to it that kept him grounded.  

One of those chains pulled taught as Clockwork summoned him, not even bothering with the avatar this time.  This time, Danny would be able to talk to Clockwork directly, and it would be fine, because Danny had shed that illusion of humanity and become more like Clockwork.

He entered Clockwork’s direct presence and—

.

Danny reeled as the vision simply stopped being something his mind could interpret.  He felt a part of what he called his sanity crumble.  

Perhaps…  Perhaps not that one.  Instead…

.

He chose the featureless white mask, lifting it with both hands.  It was surprisingly heavy.

Clockwork’s avatar reached out, the sleeves of its robes whispering past Danny’s ears.  Let me help you put that on, it said.  It took the mask and flipped it over, brushing the broad, white satin ribbon out of the way with its thumbs.  

Before Danny could think to protest, before he could decide if he wanted to protest, the mask was pressed against his face.

The soft inner lining fit perfectly snug against his features.   Perfectly enough that it forced his eyelids and lips closed.  The bottom edge of the mask cupped his jaw, preventing him from opening his mouth.  

He could not see, with the mask on. Somehow, this surprised him.  Part of him had expected to supernaturally be able to see through the mask.  

This was inconvenient.  On the other hand, not being forced to see the Dream and its denizens could be a boon in and of itself.  

Clockwork’s avatar finished tying the ribbon.  When you wear this, only those who know you will know you.  And only those who you keep in place of your may have their knowledge progress.  

Danny tested his ability to speak, first with human words and then with his True Voice.  The best he could manage was a sort of hum.  

I know you best of all.  One cannot progress past completion.  Remember, those who Love you will understand you, even without words.  You will be allowed to remove the mask if it pleases you.  

Danny nodded to show he understood, the weight of the mask making the motion more energetic than usual.  

It took Danny time to learn how to navigate the Dream blind.  The Dream was, well, Dream.  It did not follow the usual rules of object permanence.  Things Danny could not directly perceive existed only at the whims of others.  While he was with Clockwork, he could have faith that things would stay mostly stable, but once he left, his world shrunk to echoes and what lay against his skin.

But when he did finally make it home and opened his eyes, he was able to fully understand what the mask gave him.  

He could not see the nightmares and madness lurking just under reality.  His sight was human.  He turned to his mirror and saw not a monster, but simply his physical body.  

He found himself weeping in relief.  It had been so hard.  Even if it was an illusion bought by ignorance, for the first time in far too long, he felt safe, no longer exposed.  

Whether or not it pleased him, he might never take the mask off.  

He walked to Jazz’s room to tell her the good news, only to discover he could not speak.  

After some experimentation, Danny and Jazz determined that, when he wore the mask, his speech was as constrained in the real world as it was in the Dream.  If he wanted to talk, he had to slip into the Dream to take it off.  

It was inconvenient, but still.  A perfectly hidden identity and relief from seeing were more than worth inconvenience.  

With the mask on, he almost felt human again.

Before the school day began, he paused in the bathroom and braced himself.  He had gotten away with being quiet at home, but at school, teachers would require him to answer questions.  

He stepped into the Dream and reached up to untie the knot at the back of his head.  It would not come loose.  Danny pulled harder.  

If it pleased him.  

Well, it didn’t please him to be exposed in school.  Beyond that… Danny suspected that Clockwork also had a hand in when he was allowed to remove the mask.  

A few weeks later, the school psychiatrist diagnosed him with selective mutism.  

“It almost makes sense,” claimed Tucker, gesturing at Danny’s ceiling, “if you think of it like a parent keeping their kid safe on the internet.  Like, you don’t want their identity exposed, so you keep them from giving away personal information or talking to strangers.”

“That,” said Sam, poking Danny’s cheek, “or he wants your cute little face all to himself.  What do you even look like in the Dream?”

“Like me,” said Danny.  He raised a hand to touch his face.  “I don’t know what I look like with the mask on.”  The words came surprisingly easily.  Before the mask, he’d worried that he’d eventually be unable to speak English, what with how difficult it was becoming to translate his thoughts to sounds.

Later that day, there was an incident.  Danny couldn’t help.  He couldn’t see.  

(It was, however, very clear that the others could see him.)

(He couldn’t help but feel guilty.)

That night, Clockwork pulled him into the Dream.

There is someone I want you to meet, said Clockwork’s avatar as its fingers untied the mask.  

“Who?” asked Danny as the mask came away.  He nearly forgot his question as he once again took in Clockwork’s appearance.  He had forgotten how beautiful it was here.  Tears rolled down his face.  

Your brother, said the avatar, gently leading Danny forward.  I think you will get along.  You both like masks.  

It took a few minutes for Danny to distinguish this new presence from Clockwork’s, but once he did, the name came easily to his mind.  This was Nocturne, the Dream Eater.

“Why is your mask different from mine?” asked Danny, because he couldn’t make a good first impression to save his life.  

The mouth and eyes on Nocturne’s mask turned upward in humor.  It plucked Danny’s mask from the hands of Clockwork’s avatar, and, to Danny’s simultaneous horror and delight, Danny discovered that he could feel Nocturne’s claws on the mask as if they were on his face instead.  

That is because it is your face, said Nocturne, the one you show the world.  Why wouldn’t you feel it when it is touched?  When it is damaged?  Nocturne ran his fingers down across the space where eye holes would have been in an ordinary mask, and Danny found himself forced to blink.  For the other, it is because you are a child.  I see and speak for myself.  A child sees the world through their parent’s eyes.  A child has no voice, but their parent speaks for them.  

“Will it change when I get older?” asked Danny.

Nocturne laughed.  You will not grow older.  He moved forward suddenly, pressing the mask to Danny’s face, and putting one of his other hands against the back of Danny’s head.  You will always be the youngest of us.  The most… Human.

.

Is something wrong? asked Clockwork’s avatar.

“No,” said Danny, quickly.  “It’s just hard to decide.”

You could have them all, it said, if it is so difficult.  

Danny shook his head.  “No, I just need more time.”

Maybe if Danny were human, this would be about getting the best deal, choosing the gift with the lowest price, but he wasn’t, and it wasn’t.  This was about choosing the price he wanted to pay.  

It surprised him, how much he wanted to pay some of them.  

.

The set of bracelets clinked merrily when Danny touched them.  They were four bands, each about two inches wide and a couple millimeters thick.  The metal they were made of was smooth on the outside, but on the insides, they had the same fractal patterns as the collar.

The manacles are a good choice, said Clockwork’s avatar, approvingly.  

Manacles.

Not bracelets.  

Unfortunately, he didn’t think he was allowed to change his mind.  

The manacles went around his wrists and ankles, each one closing with a snap.  When they shut, the metal they were made of swirled, the hinges and seams disappearing to present a flawless surface and the overall shape shifting so the inside laid flush against his skin.  

As soon as he closed the last one, and it finished altering itself, Danny felt a sharp pain through the center of his wrists and ankles, followed by a radiating numbness, as if a rod had been driven through each manacle, through each wrist and ankle, stopping only when it hit the other side.  But the numbness soon faded, and as he flexed his hands and feet, he didn’t feel anything like that.  

Still.  The message was clear.  The metal bands were not coming off.  

Clockwork’s avatar took one of Danny’s hands, and examined the band.  The metal, which had warmed against Danny’s skin, turned frigid under the avatar’s touch. For a moment, Danny’s vision blurred, and he saw a multitude of delicate chains leading from the manacle in every direction, connecting it to Clockwork, the other manacles, the collar around his neck and who knew what else.  His vision cleared.  A few long, silent minutes later, the avatar released him.  

They were made with much skill.  I hope you find them useful.  

Danny nodded.  

The manacles weren’t visible in the waking world, but Danny imagined he still felt them.  Especially when he was doing things with his hands or feet.  

‘Made with skill,’ indeed.  

Lots of skills.  Skills like drawing, writing, dancing, sign language.  He didn’t trip or stumble any more but moved smoothly.  It was interesting.  It didn’t feel like the skills belonged to someone else.  They were his, now, wherever they had originally come from.  He knew how to do each thing he was doing, and he did them intentionally.  

Still, his art (which he had always considered at least decent) was now scary good.  He’d also outplayed Ember on the piano a few days back, breaking her hold on the people who had been listening.  She’d been… rather upset about that.  

It was worth it.  

The string attached to the gift didn’t make itself known for a while.  One day, while he was drawing, his wrists burned cold, and he found himself drawing something more than what he’d originally intended.  The general subject was the same, but the skill put into it, the effort, was far, far greater.  He’d meant to doodle a little, maybe for ten or so minutes before he went to bed.  

Instead, it was hours later and if it wasn’t on the back of his French homework the drawing could have been hung in a museum.

It would have been the easiest thing in the world to imagine that he was being puppetted, controlled, that the manacles made him into a marionette, but that wasn’t what it felt like.  Instead, it felt as if something had flipped a switch inside him.  

He understood, then.  The manacles granted him skills, but he couldn’t always decide when to use them.  Or how much.

It wasn’t the last time it happened.  He’d suddenly be seized with the urge to do something.  Make use of some skill.  And whatever he did when those urges settled over him was inhumanly good.  Dangerously good.  As in, attracting the wrong kind of attention good.  

Those men in suits had been there for him, and he was quite certain that, if he had been perceptible to people foreign to Amity Park, they would have tried to take him.  Tried, being the operative word.  

More importantly, the mural he’d been compelled to paint on the side of the supermarket last night seemed to be attracting a following.  He’d attempted to keep elements of the others out of it, but he knew they somehow slipped through, slipped past his attention, and into his art.  

Sam and Tucker thought it was fine, though. He was inclined to trust them.  

He was glad that the manacles did not seem to infer any violent or deadly skills.  He wasn’t what he would do if they did and the urge to act turned into an urge to harm.  

The manacles turned cold.  

Perhaps he’d bake a cake.  Something for Sam and Tucker, as a thanks for putting up with him.

.

Danny slumped against Clockwork’s avatar, who held him without complaint.  These visions were mentally draining.  They would be, what with containing weeks compressed into seconds.  

Were they seconds?

.

The picture frame caught Danny’s eye.  It was a picture of him, as an infant, being held by Clockwork’s avatar, the great expanse of Clockwork himself in the background. Danny wasn’t quite sure he knew the picture was of himself.  Really, he’d been a generic-looking baby.  But he did know.  

He took the picture.  

Nothing happened.  He went home, woke up, and went about his normal life.  On occasion, he would look at the picture when he dropped into the Dream.  It warmed something in him.

It took him a month to realize he was aging backwards.  

To be fair, no one else seemed to notice, either, even though the change was much more rapid than normal forward aging.  Danny suspected they were being blocked from noticing.  

No, that wasn’t quite right.  They treated the age he appeared as the normal state of things, but they also treated him as if he were his apparent.  Something which had bothered him all last week, even if he didn’t realize why it was happening.  

It made it slightly more embarrassing that he himself had only noticed when he’d gone to retrieve a cup from the top shelf in the cabinet and couldn’t because he was too short.  

Sam, Tucker, and Jazz were confused when he brought it up to them.  They seemed to be under the impression that he’d always been a few years younger than Sam and Tucker.  That he’d been skipped forward a few years to be in the same class as them.  Danny had let the subject drop.  He had no idea how to even begin fixing this.  If it even could be fixed.  

Every day, as he got younger and younger, he also seemed to attract more and more attention.  Positive attention.  People would smile at him, tell him he was cute, give him presents out of nowhere. Danny couldn’t say he hated it.  

Until he got small enough for people to carry around. Which they did.  Frequently.  Without asking for permission.  Even this wasn’t so much of a problem.  

Until the cult.  

Until the knife.

Until the sacrifice.  

(And Clockwork was so thrilled to be able to raise him from infancy.)

.

He hadn’t decided yet.  

How could he decide?  They were amazing gifts.  Terrifying gifts.  Gifts he could not refuse.  Gifts he didn’t want to refuse, at least on some level.  

But this wasn’t about what he wanted.  It was about what he could live with.  

The pectoral gave him power and the respect of his peers but took away his ability to use those things in the defense of Amity. Although being powerful in the Dream was an idea that tickled at the shadows in Danny’s mind.

The veils gave him something he always wanted – flight – but at the cost of his humanity and individuality.  

The mask would protect him, let him hide and return to a mostly ordinary life, but he would lose the chance to face his new existence on his own terms as well as some of his autonomy.  Not to mention, his ability to actually help his people.

The manacles gave him skills he’d enjoy, but also made him a hazard for others.  

The picture frame…  Something twinged inside Danny’s chest… The picture frame gave him a new life with Clockwork, from the very beginning.  But he’d lose everything else and kickstart an unmanageable cult.

He couldn’t give up his friends, his family, his human life.  He couldn’t give up his ability to protect Amity.  Perhaps all those things would fade from importance in his mind as he became more and more other, but for now they were razor sharp.  That made his choice clear.  

“The manacles,” he mumbled to Clockwork’s avatar. He could work around the drawbacks (even if part of him resisted the notion that the drawbacks were drawbacks).

The avatar stroked Danny’s hair.  An excellent choice.

“How,” said Danny, trying to recollect his thoughts, “how do they work?”

Danny’s eyes fluttered as he saw the chains on the manacles again.  The way they felt on his skin was just like what he remembered.  

Skills that go unused are lost in the Dream. These find them and bring them to you, bind them to you, so they are never lost again.  Clockwork’s avatar plucked one of the chains.  It felt as if someone had traced their fingers possessively up one of his arms.  Although some of the chains have other functions.  It nuzzled Danny as something deep below in Clockwork’s depths began to chime.  One can never be too connected to those they Love.  

Danny woke in his bed and moaned.  His pillow was wet with drool.  Evidently, he had left his body behind this time.  That happened, on occasion, when he went to the Dream. He was never sure how he felt about it.

He raised his hands up above his head.  As expected, the manacles were not visible, but he did feel more… connected to the world around him.  Being connected was good.  It meant that what happened before wouldn’t happen again.  It meant that he wouldn’t be lost.  

He lowered his hands, clasping them over where his heart would have, should have been.  

The connections, though, were mostly to Clockwork, who was as inhuman as any of the others Danny protected Amity Park from. Should that bother him?  He thought of what Nocturne had said in the other timeline, the one where he had chosen the mask.  He’d known, already, that as much as Clockwork protected him, he also kept him in a state where he needed that protection.  Wasn’t it natural?  Wasn’t it the desire to keep Loved ones close?

His breath hitched as he briefly felt the soothing mental weight of Clockwork’s Love increase.  

It was fine, wasn’t it?

[ramzawrites]

Wherever the world takes us Part 1 - A SBI!Reader insert

GN

Pairings: none Characters included: Philza, Wilbur, Tommy, Tubbo, Cpt Puffy, Schlatt, Captain Sparklez, (mentioned) Fundy Warnings: small mention of death Series: Yes, planned slow updates but this happens in a slight AU world of the official lore of the dsmp and follows along the plot only this time the reader gets included as the middle hybrid child of the SBI Part 2

Summary: A small introduction to the SBI family dynamic including the reader! Today is Techno’s big day at the local festival! He get’s to participate in a fighting tournament but until that happens there is still a ton of time to somehow still get into trouble, isn’t there?

Word count: 4380

Shapeshifters aren’t as rare as many people think. In fact many carry that gene but not everyone ends up showing the properties of one. If you have the active gene you may show first changes during your early childhood which then stretches out until your late teens where the changes will stop resulting in the persons usual animal like form. These changes can range from a whole body covered in fur to having goat like eyes or just horns on their head.

As far as scientists know there isn’t a real reason as to what the final form will be since Shapeshifters who are directly related to one another can have complete and drastically different forms to each other. Though an old myth has been going around for as long as people know that the form a Shapeshifter takes is a result of their subconscious, something that mirrors their true self. Sadly due to this belief many Non-Shifters hold stereotypes and prejudice towards them.

Philza was a Shapeshifter himself. As a kid two stubs slowly appeared at his back and settled in over the years as beautiful huge black wings that he could use for takeoff and a bit for flying but mostly functioned better for gliding around. He used these wings to later travel around the world, learning everything about it and training himself.

At some point he did settle down again and ended up fathering four children alone of whom two showed Shapeshifter properties as well.

There were the twins Technoblade and Wilbur. Technoblade showed from an early age on a deeper interest in fighting. Always asking to learn more than the self-defense techniques their father was teaching them, so Philza took the time to teach him everything he knew. Gifting him later on a proper iron sword which Techno then used to train almost daily with. Philza later had to put mending on that sword since it was chipped and scratched in a short time over heavy use. He is also one of the two children of Philza who ended up being a Shapeshifter. They first noticed when two of his teeth in his lower jaw tended to peek out of his mouth. Over the years these two teeth turned into full blown tusks, flappy pink ears would appear on his head, his hair slowly turned into a soft pink, as well as bristle like fur begun growing on his arms. It were the characteristics of a pig as they soon realized.

Wilbur the younger of the twins by two minutes was more interested in music and books. Philza gifted him a guitar the same time he gave Techno his first sword. From that point on it was a rare thing if you didn’t see Wilbur’s guitar around him. Either on his person or laying close by him. Over time he got really proficient with the instrument and begun writing amazing songs as well as singing them himself.

The middle child Y/N was the more mellow of the whole bunch though this didn’t mean much in the context of the whole family. While they happily took part in whatever trouble their siblings got up to they were at the end the first person that would try to help solve these troubles as well and took care of any wounds. To that end they soon learned how to grow their own herbs to make medicine. This was something Philza taught them. Both would spent a ton of time in the garden, so much so, that the garden was dubbed Y/N’s and Dad’s garden. Techno would sometimes help out as well but that was a more rare occurrence. Y/N was the second kid with the active Shapeshifter gene. Just like their father, two stubs appeared at their back that too would turn into huge black wings. Y/N still remembered how perplexed but proud Philza was when he understood what was happening. They didn’t know what they expected from their father but this reaction wasn’t it. But they weren’t mad about it.

The youngest of the family was Tommy and he was the number one reason why the kids got into trouble in the first place. He would wake up, make weird plans and rope the others into it as well. Wilbur was the first he would usually try to recruit to which Techno then would reluctantly join knowing that if the two are together they will need help later on. Getting Y/N on board was pretty easy as well. It was either a thing of them knowing they will one hundred percent get hurt so best to join in now or they were feeling particularly chaotic that day and wouldn’t even hesitate to join.

Back when they all lived together in their old cottage home their daily lives would always start in the same way.

Philza would be the first awake. He would wake the children up and continue downstairs to work on breakfast for everyone.

There was no real order to who would be the first downstairs for food but it was always Y/N who would be the last to join the group. Moving in front of their designated chair only to stretch before properly sitting down.

“Ew! Gross! Your wing touched my food!” Wilbur exclaimed angrily, pulling the plate with his food closer to himself and farther away from his sibling.

Y/N rolled their eyes “I’m not poisonous, Wilbur.”

“Still gross.” He muttered more to himself as he reluctantly took a bite from his toast.

Phil eyed the two but looked back down to his food and coffee “Your wings are getting pretty big. I’m sure it won’t take long until you can do more than just gliding about.”

“So, that means you can teach them to fly soon?” Tommy was the one to ask surprisingly. Sure, that was on Y/N’s mind as well so they didn’t mind Tommy saying what they thought but they still felt like it was a bad sign and a call for trouble though they couldn’t think how nor did they care enough to find out.

Philza raised one of his eyebrows, obviously taking note of that fact as well. It was something you learned to look out for once you spend enough time with Tommy. “I’m not sure how soon but I think so, yeah.”

“Cool.” Was all Tommy remarked. He then proceeded to stare at his food so his family would get their suspicion off of him. Acting as if he didn’t just figuratively plant a huge red flag on the table with the words “I have a plan!”.

Y/N on the other hand couldn’t help to smile. They were excited for the eventual day when Philza could finally teach them how to fly. For the longest time now they have only learned to use their wings to glide and got really good at changing directions while doing so. Taking care of their wings was already a pain so they wanted to get at least something good out of having them in the first place and being able to properly fly is a huge plus since getting into positions where you could actually  glide around was a difficult and a bothersome thing.

Philza sighed choosing to ignore Tommy and instead turned to look at Wilbur and Y/N “What is your plan today? Want to join me and Techno when we go into town for the tournament?”

After a few seconds of confused expressions between the two Wilbur suddenly shouted “Oh! Techno’s tournament! Of course! I wanna see him beat up other people for a change!”

Techno snorted “Really feeling the support here right now, bro.”

“I’m guessing you both are coming too?” Philza was now addressing the other two of his kids.

Both were fast and eager to agree. Wilbur was right. Usually Techno tried sparring with his siblings though using the word sparring was maybe an overstatement. He would mercilessly beat them up and complain they didn’t last long enough. At rare times where all of them were bored enough they would play a game of >Who can last the longest against Techno<. Y/N really wasn’t too big a fan of this game since they ended up being the only one who would address the wounds later including their own since they didn’t trust the others to properly apply a band aid.

From this point on the breakfast was more alive than before. Tommy and Wilbur would constantly ask questions to Techno about who he will be fighting or how everything will work. To which he all just gave a very non-committal “I dunno”.

After they all cleaned up the breakfast table, they got ready and grabbed everything they needed.

The town wasn’t super far away but it was a long enough walk that it would be inconvenient to get back for things you might have forgotten.

Techno grabbed his sword while Wilbur made sure to take his beloved guitar with him. Y/N made sure to grab all kinds of medicine and bandages with them. They knew Techno will get treated at the tournament should he get hurt but they felt better if they brought some stuff with them as well. Tommy on the other hand made sure to grab all kinds of things including a few pages of paper, pens, string and more. Philza wanted to just write it down to Tommy probably meeting up with Tubbo in town and doing harmless crafts but the chances were slim.

As they made their way to the tournament and Philza was preaching to them to not cause any trouble since there would be a lot of people there today, Y/N soon noticed how Techno would nervously play around with the hilt of his worn out sword.

They affectionately put their arm around their older brother for a short side hug, including putting their wing around him “You’ll do fine. I know it. Don’t worry too much and just imagine you are beating one of us up.”

Technoblade had to roll his eyes at that “I’ll try to take that advice to heart.”

As they arrived in town the kids looked around in awe. Everywhere were stalls set up selling food or little decorative things or toys. People where weaving in and out between stalls, loudly talking with each other. Laughter and yells filled the air.

In the middle of the town square there was a huge box marked on the ground. This is where the fights would happen. As far as Techno explained the rules were simple. Get your opponent on their back, get them out of the box or beat them unconscious. Tommy was absolutely loving the idea of Techno beating all of his opponents unconscious and said he wouldn’t take any other result as acceptable.

“Alright kiddos. Techno and I have to talk with the organizer. You three can go and have some fun but you have to promise me a few things. Whatever you guys do stay together! Don’t talk to strangers and as soon as the fights start you come over. I will find you then, okay? I will only let you guys go if you agree to this.”

“I can still try to find Tubbo, right?” Tommy asked.

“Of course but only if you all stay together.” He was looking at Wilbur when he said the last part. This meant Wilbur was the boss for today. Well until they met up again with their dad.

Wilbur put his hands on each shoulder of his younger siblings “We will! Don’t worry dad!”

Philza gave them a last nod before walking off. Before Techno followed him he looked at the three “Don’t… cause too much trouble. At least for me so nothing happens to the tournament.” With that Technoblade turned around and followed Philza closely.

“Well, what should we start with?” Y/N asked their brothers.

Tommy threw his arms in the air “Tubbo!”

Wilbur laughed “Alright. We’ll try to find your Tubbo. I’m sure he and his siblings should be around here as well.”

Tubbo was Tommy’s best friend and honestly he hangs around their home so much they almost consider him a family member as well. He had an older sister Puffy and an older brother Schlatt though. They were a curious case. All three of them carried the active Shapeshifter gene and all three begun growing horns, their ears turned into that of goats and they all had the horizontal iris’.

Y/N liked to spend time with Puffy. Just like Y/N Puffy too acted more like a caretaker to her siblings which the two soon bonded over while Schlatt and Wilbur soon hit it off as well. It was actually quite amusing to see them interacting since Wilbur was known for loving art and freedom. Schlatt on the other hand tried to see how he can scam the most people in the most effective manner in the shortest amount of time. Trying to turn in a profit at every turn. You wouldn’t immediately think they would end up being such good friends.

The three were raised by their father as well who everyone just referred to as Captain Sparklez though his real name was Jordan. He coincidentally also helped with setting up this little festival for the town.

Tommy suddenly took a deep breath in as he cupped his hands around his mouth “Tubbo!”

Wilbur furrowed his brows “Tommy, there are a ton of people around here! There is no way he heard you.”

“Tommy! Over here!” a different voice called out, away from all the stalls and people.

Wilbur and Y/N looked surprised while Tommy almost proudly smirked at them. The bond Tommy and Tubbo had was something else.

Together the three ran through the crowd to finally meet up with Tubbo and apparently his siblings. As a greeting Tubbo softly headbutted Tommy while Puffy did the same to Y/N. Schlatt never did this with Wilbur. Said he might have goat like characteristics but he is still more human than goat hence why he didn’t do this whole headbutting thing. It has been a whole ordeal with Wilbur once where he demanded to get a headbutt from Schlatt as well for a greeting. After enough prodding and being a general nuisance Schlatt decided to straight up headbutt him as hard as possible almost knocking him out and gave him a good bruise on his forehead. Wilbur never asked for another headbutt greeting since then.

Y/N gave Puffy an additional hug, making sure to wrap their wings around her as well “I’m glad to see you Puffy!”

“So am I! I heard Techno is taking part in the tournament, isn’t he?”

Schlatt was for some reason cackling at that “Oh I bet he will win, won’t he? This would be the best time for some betting!”

Tommy, Y/N and Wilbur all nodded saying things like “Of course he will win. My brother is the best”

Soon the group begun to fall into their usual banter. Tommy and Tubbo were doing something next to them, only sometimes getting back into the conversation. Schlatt and Wilbur on the other hand were talking about how they could start bets and maybe earn some money because surely Techno will win. Y/N and Puffy listened in only to interject at times to root them back down. Both made sure they wouldn’t end up doing anything too stupid, though they too were in on it and ready to help out.

In the end the whole group was sitting on the ground and writing their plan down on the paper Tommy brought with him as suddenly a loud voice boomed over the crowd announcing that the fighting tournament will soon begin.

Tubbo looked absolutely horrified “No! I didn’t have a chance to check out the candy yet!”

Schaltt sighed and gave Tubbo a reassuring pat on his back “Don’t worry kiddo they will still be here after the tournament.”

With that the group begun walking to the marked place for the fighting. All the while Schlatt was grumbling that this was way too early and he couldn’t act on his betting plans.

“There are a lot of people.” Y/N noted as they came closer to their goal.

Indeed there were a surprising amount of people standing around the place. If it was difficult to get through the crowd before, now it seemed almost impossible. It was almost comical how the crowd seemingly turned into a wall of steel as the announcer begun his speech in order to greet all the people watching.

“Ugh, I can barely see anything.” Wilbur whined as he moved on his toes. Wilbur was the tallest of the group so when he had problems seeing anything Y/N instinctively already gave up. Maybe one day it would be the other way around seeing as they all were still growing but for now this was the reality of the situation.

Tommy was frantically jumping into the air trying to see anything that happened. He didn’t say it but he wanted to make sure to not miss out on any second of Techno’s fights. He was his older brother after all.

“Hey, Schlatt?” Tubbo almost whispered as he tugged at his older brother’s shirt.

Schlatt barely made any proper attempt to look over the crowd probably still busy thinking about his lost business opportunity. He tilted his head down to look at Tubbo “Hm?”

Suddenly Tubbo’s unsure expression turned into a serious one. While Wilbur, Tommy and Y/N were confused about this, Puffy begun to snicker.

“Aw, come on!” Schlatt drawled out but as soon as Tubbo got his pouting face out it was over for him.

He rolled his eyes and knelt down. With the help of Puffy, Tubbo was soon sitting on Schlatt’s shoulders, overlooking the crowd.

For some reason Tommy looked absolutely betrayed “This is unfair!”

“And why is that?” was all that Tubbo asked smugly. He was grabbing onto Schlatt’s horns which lead to him involuntarily yanking around his head whenever Tubbo himself moved around. Annoyed Schlatt gave his younger brother a playful slap on his arm as a sign to knock it off.

Tommy crossed his arms “Hey, Wilby! Wait no, I’m not a child anymore.”

Before Wilbur could even do his obligatory cooing whenever Tommy used his nickname or before Y/N could remind him that he was indeed still a child and younger than Tubbo he turned towards them instead.

“Y/N! You carry me and fly up that is way cooler than sitting on someone’s shoulders like some two year old.”

This took Y/N quite by surprise “What?”

“Dad said you are ready to fly and you spent like most of your free time already gliding or flying about so like basically the same thing right?”

“No! This is completely different! Besides I’m pretty sure my wings right now are barely able to carry my own weight! To that I have no idea how to take off from ground!”

Tommy’s bottom lip begun to quiver. Both Wilbur and Y/N knew it was fake but it was still a weakness for the two.

Y/N tried grabbing Wilbur’s sleeve for support but he was already looking at them with sad eyes himself “I mean Tommy just wants to see his big brother win, which is understandable right? At least worth a try?”

It was Y/N’s time to look betrayed but their expression soon got exchange by that one of defeat “One… One try. If that doesn’t work out I will give up.”

So the group walked back away from the crowd to have more space, Tubbo still happily sitting on Schlatt’s shoulders. He looked annoyed but Puffy knew that he was just as happy as she was that Tubbo had obviously a good time.

Y/N would spent a few minutes just trying to take off the ground on their own saying that they would first need to be a bit in the air before being able to grab Tommy. Wilbur was just watching with an amused smile on his face. Oh he was almost certain how this will end in disaster but he was just too curious to see how exactly.

After multiple running starts Y/N managed to get a few feet off into the air, flying directly towards Tommy so they could pick him up. They more or less bodychecked into their younger brother but still managed to pick him up and for a short moment it looked like the two were indeed a few feet above the height of the crowd.

Tommy was screaming partially out of fear but partially out of excitement. Y/N was so concentrated on flying and holding onto Tommy they didn’t even try to look out for Techno on the ground. They stayed semi stable in the air for good two seconds before both suddenly noticed they were losing altitude rapidly.

Now both were screaming as Y/N desperately tried to glide towards the hay bails that the town put up as decoration but with the added weight of Tommy they still plummeted towards the ground pretty fast.

The next thing Y/N remembers was that they were surrounded by hay and that their whole body was feeling heavy and sore. Tommy was groaning as he tried his best to get out of the hay and off their sibling while Y/N first made sure to calmly fold their wings back against their back as they slowly got out of the hay as well.

Suddenly two strong hands grabbed the still disoriented Y/N and helped them properly back to their feet only to be met by an angry looking Philza.

“What on Ender were you thinking?”

“Oh hey dad!” Y/N croaked out as they avoided any eye contact with him. Instead they were busy plucking hay out of their wings. Due to the fall there was a lot of hay trapped between feathers, there were also a few bent feathers that felt uncomfortable at best.

Tommy was sheepishly standing next to them also avoiding eye contact.

“I told you to get to the tournament and wait for me! I told you guys I would make sure to find you so why did you do whatever the hell you just did?” Philza rambled off.

“Yeah guys why did you two do that?” Wilbur was now approaching his family as well, including their other three friends who followed suit.

Y/N let go of their wing as they turned towards their older brother with an angry frown “You encouraged us! Don’t act like you are the only innocent person here! Aren’t you as our big brother supposed to stop us or something when we are stupid?”

Philza sighed “Okay, we deal with this later but at least tell me why?”

“We wanted to see Techno but we couldn’t get past the crowd!” Tommy answered.

“My fights will only start in like half an hour dude. Didn’t you guys listen to the announcements?”

To their surprise Technoblade appeared from behind Philza. He looked bored but still had a somewhat smug smile on his face. Who wouldn’t feel a tiny big smug when your younger siblings gets into trouble with dad for something that was absolutely their fault and you were luckily this time no part of it.

“You three are in trouble! We will go back so Techno won’t be too late for when it’s his turn but once we are back home it’s three weeks of chores for all of you.”

This earned him a murmur of “Okay, dad.” And “But we didn’t do anything bad!”

After that the day ended up pretty normally. They had their trouble for the day so they continued on with following Philza back to the tournament place. He made sure that all the kids had the best places in front so they could watch as Techno absolutely destroyed the other kids.

Jordan joined them as well. Philza didn’t spend any time waiting on telling him how Y/N and Tommy crashed into one of his decorations. He wasn’t angry but did chew out his own kids a little bit for not even attempting to stop them.

For some reason this was the day Y/N always fondly thought back on. They got into their typical trouble that day but also spend a ton of time with their family and friends back in their hometown. Enjoying seeing Techno beat others up and of course winning the tournament to which then Phil and Jordan bought the kids a ton of candy from the stalls.

Yes, they loved their family so dearly and would do anything for them.

So when a letter arrived from Wilbur that informed them that a few days ago a friend betrayed him which led to him losing his first life of three as well for Tommy, Tubbo and their nephew Fundy it felt like their heart got ripped out of their chest.

Y/N was still living at their old childhood home with Philza but both were only rarely at home. The two traveled around the world independently from each other using the old cottage as a place to rest in between. Wilbur probably addressed the letter knowing that this was the most reliable way to contact his family.

Reaching Technoblade who was training out of country was almost impossible at this point in time.

Y/N got out a piece of paper and wrote a letter for their father.

“Dad, I’m going to visit Wil and Tommy. Love, Y/N”

This was all that needed to be said.

They put the letter including the letter from Wilbur visibly on the table so Philza would see it as soon as he got back home. They did this sometimes in order to talk to Philza as well as the other way around so both were always looking out for messages on the table once they got back home.

Y/N grabbed their old netherite sword they got way back from Techno as a gift and begun thinking about what to take with them for the flight towards L’Manberg. If they fly it would only take a few days to reach the place but they also couldn’t carry a lot of things with them.

“Hell of a reason to visit your family after a long time, huh.”