#this could technically happen in canon couldn't it
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They got access to all the fics real people have written about them
They are only reading them for journalistic and scientific reasons. Only for those purposes. For no other reason would they read smutfics of themselves together. Nope.
#wtnv#welcome to night vale#cecil gershwin palmer#cecil palmer#carlos dave robles#carlos the scientist#cecilos#cecil x carlos#backleftart#this could technically happen in canon couldn't it
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I also headcanon Izuku AND Tomura as horror/paranormal fans, just because it makes their story funnier to think about. How they become involved with the ghosts of people who live in their heads and possess them or talk to them even though no one else can see it happening. They've trained their entire lives for this
#i was so happy when tomura started being able to see the vestiges because of this#because like!! its a parallel with izuku!! he can see the ghosts talking to him!!#we could have had tomura izuku spooky ghost shenanigans but hori knew they would be too powerful he couldn't get into it#technically that did happen in canon but canon was more like. tomura izuku The Spooky Horrors#i need the shenanigans please and thank#bnha#shigaraki and midoriya#bnha manga spoilers#tomura shigaraki#izuku midoriya#mettys posts#metty posts#bnha spoilers
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Why did the writer in me reawaken after years just to write smut in my notes app and be unwell about a woman i named after a diagnostic manual
#i've been thinking about what i consider to be like. canon. to her story or whatever#because TECHNICALLY i got the araj confession but i like to think they had a more meaningful conversation after that#also i killed cazador so fast that the other spawn never came for astarion#and i go back and forth on whether or not that happened behind the scenes#i think probably not but some of the conversations around it still happened#i think she wanted to believe that if astarion could be better she could be better too#and the talk of ascension around the possibility of becoming bhaal's chosen was really freaking her out#because if he couldn't resist neither could she#also i think post caz they're annoying and sneak off to have sex in closets a lot#idk dat's just my opinion
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" Welcome back to Night Raven College's 'Ghostly Gossip'! The school's unofficial main online source for the latest news, articles and trending topics circulating around campus! "
"Prepare for trouble and make it double. No, really, the twins are some nightmarish business assistants. I wish I could have them on my team too..."
Navigation:
R. Rosehearts ▪︎ T. Clover ▪︎ C. Diamond ▪︎ A. Trappola ▪︎ D. Spade ▪︎ L. Kingscholar ▪︎ R. Bucchi ▪︎ J. Howl ▪︎ A. Ashengrotto ▪︎ J. Leech ▪︎ F. Leech ▪︎ K. Al Asim ▪︎ J. Viper ▪︎ V. Schoenheit ▪︎ R. Hunt ▪︎ E. Felmier ▪︎ I. Shroud ▪︎ O. Shroud ▪︎ M. Draconia ▪︎ L. Vanrouge ▪︎ S. Zigvolt ▪︎ Silver
Design notes:
And the electrified pool incident continues (ik electric eels are of fresh water and not the ocean, but I already drew it. So. I have no canonical explanation for that I did it for the joke)
Taking a second look I'm starting to think their outfits are too simple, but first and foremost I wanted to do something fun for the looks of their primary features. I took inspiration from Luca (probably one of my favorite movies ever so I couldn't help but reference it here too lol) for the eye catching merform designs! Considering they're canonically sea monsters anyway, I didn't want to just insert their og designs here, so in this au they're more like in between their og merforms and human forms, also with their color pallettes are more similar to what flotsam and jetsam looked like in the little mermaid movie imo I wanted them to essentially wear the same thing despite the contrasting personalities, and technically most of the time they're walking around the school they're simultaneously working for Azul, looking for students to make deals with happens in this universe too (fortunately for them and unfortunatelyfor others), so an outfit more inclined to formal would be ideal to cause a good impression on their business, or as good as they can make it anyway. Nobody can contain Floyd though, if he has to wear an uniform he is going to stylize it.
Keeping it short this time, I don't wanna keep it on my drafts to add more notes later and postpone this more than I already have 💀 if I remember more facts about the AU twins I'll share them later!
Also, I was thinking of making a tag for asks related to this AU and I think I'll name it #.phantom asks to follow the AU theme lol but now I have to edit previous asks to insert this tag so wish me luck
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#.the ghostly gossip#floyd leech#jade leech#twisted wonderland#twst#twst au#my art#octavinelle#twst fanart
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Timeline of Every Anecdote from Dean's Childhood in Supernatural (Full Canon Only)
My other timeline includes stuff from some of the pseudo canonical materials. This one includes only things that happen or are mentioned in the show itself.
winc*sties this is still not for you!
Still super open to feedback and suggestions if I missed something.
Content notes: death, child abuse, alcohol
1983
Dean is 4
John & Mary used to call Dean their “little piglet” because he liked to eat so much. [13.21 (this is technically in a dream of Sam's)]
Mouse Trap is Dean's favorite game. [14.17]
Mary would feed Dean tomato-rice soup when he was sick. [5.13]
Mary would sing "Hey Jude" as a lullaby. [5.13]
Dean really likes Mary's meatloaf. He doesn't know she gets it from Piggly Wiggly. [12.02]
Between May and November John and Mary had a fight and John left home for a few days. [5.16]
November 2 - Mary Winchester dies, Sam is 6 months old. [1.01, 1.21]
Mary's uncle arranges a burial and headstone even though she doesn't have a body. [2.04]
Dean doesn't speak for a while after Mary dies. [1.03]
John Meets Missouri. [1.09]
John leaves a box of pictures in the basement of the house. [1.09]
1984
Dean is 5
1985
Dean is 6
John takes Dean out shooting for the first time, using bottles as target practice. According to Dean, he "bullseyed every one of them." Dean remembers this story as him being “6 or 7." Dean cites this story as one of the fonder memories of his father. [2.06 (date suggested by John's Journal)]
Rufus spent the whole year being nice. It was the worst year of his life. [7.10]
1986
Dean is 7
Dean starts having a crush on Daisy Duke. [11.13]
Bill Harvelle dies. [2.06, 2.14 (year suggested by John's Journal)]
John began the masked vampire case - looking into killings and kidnappings along Route 77. [15.20]
1987
Dean is 8
John takes Dean and Sam on a donkey ride at the Grand Canyon. Dean’s donkey farts a lot which Sam finds very funny. [8.21]
Dean has begun hunting. [11.08]
1988
Dean is 9
John is hunting a Shtriga in Wisconsin when he leaves Sam and Dean alone in a hotel room. Dean gets bored and goes out and comes back to find the Shtriga attacking Sammy but can't steady himself in time to fire at it. John comes back but can only scare the Shtriga off. [1.18]
They know Pastor Jim by this point. [1.18]
Dean: "You couldn't been more than 5— you just started asking questions. How come we didn't have a mom? Why do we always have to move around? Where'd Dad go when he'd take off for days at a time? I remember I begged you, 'Quit asking, Sammy. Man, you don't want to know.... I just wanted you to be a kid... Just for a little while longer. I always tried to protect you... Keep you safe... Dad didn't even have to tell me. It was just always my responsibility, you know? It's like I had one job... I had one job...'" [2.22]
Dean and Sam (5) play dress up as Batman and Superman and jump of the roof of a shed. Sam breaks his arm and Dean takes him to the E.R. on the handlebars of his bike. [9.15 (mentioned again in 11.08)]
At some point before now Dean is given his first beer by Fred Jones in Salt Lake City. [8.08. He also apparently gives Sam his first beer too but it's unlikely it was this same time?]
1989
Dean is 10
“When I was 10, I got my first B&E from borrowing some family's pay-per-view so I could watch the cage match between you and the Tower of Power.” [11.15]
Bobby takes Dean to play catch instead of “practice with the double-barrel” as John had instructed Dean. In the flash back Rufus guesses the year is around 1989. “No, we didn't shoot rifles, as a matter of fact. We threw a ball around. He's a kid, John. They both are. They're entitled.... Yeah, I know I ain't their dad.” Bobby hangs up and throws the phone down. [7.10]
1980s General
(i.e. there isn't a specific date mentioned for this but I'm guessing from context that it happened in this decade)
Sam sticks army men into Baby's ashtray. [5.22]
Dean sticks Legos into the vents. [5.22]
Dean eating all of Sam's Halloween candy sometime. [12.11 & 14.04]
John taking them to see World of Wrestling. Sometime before Dean is ten. Dean calls it “one of the nicest things” John ever did. Sam remembers John getting drunk. [11.15] ("The Hangman": "He was Dad's favorite. Anytime that noose would come out, Dad would be on his feet. It was one of the few times I ever saw him actually happy.")
John takes Dean fishing. When Dean tells Jack, Jack feels from his tone that it's his happiest memory of John. [5]
Dean telling Sam a stupid joke to distract him from ripping off bandaids when he was little. [15.01]
The first beer John shared with Dean tasted like "crap". [15.20]
Sam's memory of Thanksgivings: “We had a bucket of extra-crispy and Dad passed out on the couch. [5.16]
Dean: "I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up." [1.22]
Dean says he believed the TV ads about Sea Monkeys having families [5.06]
Dean mentions a babysitter, Mrs Chancy, who was obsessed with the TV show Dynasty [5.06], which ran until 1989 when Dean was ten. This could be a lie he's just telling a kid to get him to open up about his babysitter though.
"Alright, here we go. John Winchester's famous cure-all kitchen sink stew. There you go. Enough cayenne pepper in there to burn your lips off, just like Dad used to make." [8.21]
"You used to read to me, um, when I was little, I— I mean, really little, from that— from that old, uh... Classics Illustrated comic book. You remember that? ... Knights of the Round Table. Had all of King Arthur's knights, and they were all on the quest for the Holy Grail. And I remember looking at this picture of Sir Galahad, and, and, and he was kneeling, and— and light streaming over his face..." [8.21]
“You used to take us hunting. Remember? Dad had a case, he'd just dump us on you. Shoot, you must have taught us most of the outdoor tracking we know.” Bobby: “Yeah, what I could get to stick. I never could get you little grubs to pull a trigger on a single deer.” Dean: “You’re talking about Bambi, man.” Bobby: “You don't shoot Bambi, jackass. You shoot Bambi's mother.” [7.09]
“Not young like I was when he actually taught me how to drive.” [15]
Dean says soft rock always put Sam to sleep. [7.16]
Dean talks about learning 101 different ways to make Mac 'n Cheese for Sam at a motel in Scranton while John was off hunting. "ketchup for spice, hmm? Uh, tuna, hot dogs, fluff marshmallow mix." [10.11]
1990
Dean is 11
January - John is injured on a hunt in Windom, Minnesota, and goes to the hospital, where he meets Kate Milligan. [4.19]
September 29 - Adam Milligan is born. [4.19]
At some point Dean makes a sawed off. He's in sixth grade. [3.03]
Dean tries burgers from a seaside shack in Delaware that become his favorite. [4.22]
1991
Dean is 12
December 25 - Sam and Dean are at a motel in Broken Bow, Nebraska while John hunts. Sam reads John's Journal and finds out that Mary's death was supernatural, monsters are real, and that John hunts them. He confronts Dean, who confirms it. Sam gives Dean an amulet. [3.08]
1992
Dean is 13
John buys a Playboy featuring Anna-Nicole Smith, eventually both boys end up reading it. [7.22]
June - Sam tells John he is afraid of the monster in his closet and John gives him a .45. [1.01]
Sam wants to go hunting with Dean. Dean says John said no. John calls to ask Sam to come. [11.08]
1993
Dean is 14
January – Motel Baba Yaga case. Dean says, “I was babysitting you when I was your age”. Sam says "I'm pretty sure that's illegal." Dean sees the nest, a pile of dead kids and has "nightmares about it for the longest time." [15.16]
1994
Dean is 15
Summer - Sam and Dean spend part of the summer being looked after by Donna, a babysitter (and maid at the Mayflower) in Housatonic, Massachusetts, while John hunts. At one pointJohn is gone for two weeks. It is the summer before Sam enters 6th grade, and he assigns himself a summer reading list. Dean possibly has a crush on Donna. [5.12]
October - They are living In Bismark (North Dakota?). Sam has a crush on Andrea Howell & has a really bad experience at her Halloween party, throwing up. Sam hides in the woods until Dean comes and gets him. [14.04]
Sam still believes in the Easter Bunny until close to here. [10.12]
1995
Dean is 16
Dean's first Werewolf. Sam doesn't go to the body burning. "So. I pick up this crossbow. And I hit that ugly sucker with a silver-tipped arrow right in his heart. Sammy's waiting in the car, and uh, me and my dad take the thing into the woods, burn it to a crisp. I'm sitting there and looking into the fire, and I'm thinking to myself, I'm sixteen years old. Most kids my age are worried about pimples, prom dates. I'm seeing things that they'll never even know. Never even dream of." [2.03]
Dean spends two months at Sonny's Home for Boys after being caught shoplifting. [9.07]
April 20 - Dean's award for New York Wrestling Champion. [9.07]
November 13 – Sam's soccer team won division championship. John keeps the trophy. [3.03]
Sam later talks about how John was upset with him for wanting to play soccer instead of learning bowhunting. [1.08]
November 24 - Sam has his first traditional Thanksgiving dinner at his crush Stephanie’s house. He has been attending a school called McKinley for two weeks. [5.16]
1996
Dean is 17
July 4 - Dean and Sam set off fireworks in a field and almost burn it down. [5.16]
At some point when Sam was 13 he ran away for two weeks while under Dean's watch in Flagstaff, Arizona, living off pizza in a cabin and befriending a dog he called Bones. Dean scoured the whole town looking for him and worried he might have died, and John was furious when he found out. [5.16]
1997
Dean is 18
When he's 13, Sam briefly wants to be a magician. [4.12]
Summer - The Winchesters hunt a werewolf. [4.13]
November - Sam and Dean attend Truman High in Fairfax, Indiana, for 3 or 4 weeks, while John is on a hunt that was originally supposed to be 2 weeks but ended up taking longer than expected. Dean is in 12th Grade. It is the third school they have attended since September. [4.13]
1998
Dean is 19
Sam is a mathlete. [4.04]
Summer - While John and Dean are off hunting a Kitsune, Sam stays in Lincoln, Nebraska, and does research for them. While there, he meets a girl and has his first kiss - only to discover that John and Dean's hunt has circled back on him. [7.03]
July - Dean goes on a solo "five states in five days" road trip, but ends up spending most of it in Cicero, Indiana, with Lisa Braeden. In the meantime, John & Sam "tie up a hunt" in Orlando, Florida. [3.02]
Dean meets Rhonda Hurley, she makes him try on her pink, satin panties and he likes it. [5.04]
At some point they spend time with Travis, the hunter. [4.04]
1999
Dean is 20
1990s General
Dean trying to cook Winchester Surprise on a hotplate with food (baloney and sliced cheese) that it seems Sam shoplifted in the rain. John gets home and throws it out. [14.11] In Lebanon John tells Sam he remembers this and apologizes to Sam for it. [14.13]
Sam and Dean visited the Cleveland Botanical Gardens on a field trip. [5.16]
Dean going to CBGB "way underage" and John coming to get him. [10.09]
Hunting the chupacabra in Mexico. Sam is an olderish teenager when he says this happened the year before. [11.10]
John making Dean be bait. [14.14 production draft. Corroborated by 1.20. Putting this in 1990s and not 1980s is very generous imo.]
Dean used to live on “Nerve Damage” (“10 times the legal limit of caffeine”) as a kid. [13.08]
Escalating prank wars? [1.17] Sam mentions a time Dean put superglue in his toothpaste [15.06]
Could be 80s too: Dean: “Remember that wreath Dad brought home that one year?” Sam: “You mean the one he stole from, like, a liquor store?” Dean: “Yeah, it was a bunch of empty beer cans. That thing was great.” [3.08]
Sam performing in Our Town. [1.16]
Sam talks about having to make his own dinner as a kid. [5.06]
2000
Dean is 21
2001
Dean is 22
Sam smokes weed maybe. [11.19]
Pre-2002, 2000s General
Sam & Dean driving 1,000 miles for an Ozzy show. [5.22]
Driving two days for a Jayhawks game. [5.22]
John catches Lee and Dean 'wasted' on a hunt. [15.17]
John plays Dean and Lee “Good Ol Boys” before hunts. “Listen up boys this is real music. [15.17]
Sam used to try to get him & Dean to do 'honest work' rather than hustling pool. [5.22]
The Las Vegs annual trip. [7.08]
Sam ran tech for a production of Oklahoma. [10.05]
John gives Dean the Impala. [1.20] (John's Journal suggests this was on Dean's 18th birthday which would have been 1997.)
2002
Dean is 23
John gives Sam the "hunting is life; you can't have connections" speech. [4.19]
Sam says he's leaving hunting to go to Stanford University. John says if he leaves to stay gone. [1.01, 1.20]
September - Adam Milligan meets John Winchester. [4.19] (This could be any time from now til 2003 but I think it would be now because John will want to feel he can replace Sam or do something right.)
Post-2002, 2000s General
Dean sleeps with Annie. [7.19]
Dean sees Lee while Sam's in college. [15.17] Possibly the 'cult thing in Arizona' 'what that thing did to that family, those kids.' Because Lee does one more job after that in Texas and retires.
At some point Dean hunts a Vetala and learns they usually hunt in pairs. [7.11]
At some point Dean hunts a succubus with Richie. [3.04]
Poltergeist case in Kittanning, PA. [1.04]
John teaches Adam to drive using the Impala (this is after John gave Dean the car for his 18th). He also teaches Adam poker and pool. [4.19]
John "used to swing by Stanford whenever he could. Keep an eye on [Sam]. Make sure [Sam was] safe." [1.08] because he was worried Sam was "alone, vulnerable'' [1.20] and "he was afraid of what could've happened to you if he wasn't around." [1.08]
2003
Dean is 24
Dean dates Cassie Robinson. She breaks up with Dean after Dean tells her about hunting. [1.13] It lasts less than two months. [5.11]
June 21 - Dean is involved in a hunt for the father of Cole Trenton, in Nyack, NY. [10.02]
John gets taken from this year into the future in "Lebanon." He is sleeping in the Impala and Dean calls him and he tells him he'll be back soon. [14.13]
2004
Dean is 25
September 29 - John takes Adam to a ballgame for his 14th birthday. [4.19]
2005
Dean is 26, dude.
September 29 - John buys Adam a beer when he's 15. [4.19]
Roughly October 10 - John cuts off contact with Dean. [1.01]
October 31 – Dean comes to get Sam. [1.01]
Dean: "I must have stood outside your dorm for hours... because I didn't... I didn't know what... What you would say. I thought you'd tell me to... to get lost or get dead. And I don't know what I would've done... if I didn't have you. 'Cause I was so scared." [15.20]
General Comments
(i.e. just quotes and things that are too general to place at a specific time. i've sorted them roughly into themes but all of these themes are also present in incidents above.)
Dean says he's been wanting John and Mary back together since he was four. [14.13]
John's absence
Sam: "You remember the poltergeist in Amherst? Or the Devil's Gates in Clifton? He was missing then, too. He's always missing, and he's always fine." [1.01]
Dean mentions how John would dump him and Sam at Bobby's. [7.09]
Toni Bevell saying about John's drunken rages and weeks of abandonment. Also pointing out that Dean & Sam didn't tell Mary about it. [12.21]
Sam says John would be gone for weeks at a time and "he wasn't exactly a monk." [4.19]
Sam says John "was not around much." [11.05]
Sam talks about worrying when John & Dean would be out on a hunt and he wouldn't hear from them for days. He thought about what he would do. [11.18]
John's drinking
In the pilot Sam comments that John is likely missing because he's drinking. [1.01]
Sam comments that a dad bringing their kid to a wrestling match to distract them while he drinks seems familiar. [11.15]
See also the above [12.21]
Young Sam says John has a temper and you don't want to see him when he's drinking [7.03]
John's parental control
Sam talks about how John was angry with him for not wanting to learn to bowhunt or hustle pool and instead wanting to go to school and live his life. [1.08]
Dream!Dean: "You can still hear your Dad's voice in your head, can't you? Clear as a bell. I mean, think about it …all he ever did is train you, boss you around. But Sam …. Sam he doted on. Sam, he loved. Dad knew who you really were. A good soldier and nothing else. Daddy's blunt little instrument. Your own father didn't care whether you lived or died. Why should you?" [3.10]
Dean: "My father was an obsessed bastard! All that crap he dumped on me, about protecting Sam! That was his crap. He's the one who couldn't protect his family." [3.10]
Dean: “And I get what I've been doing lately, you know, what with the yelling and the acting like a prison guard. It's just, that's not me. You tell yourself you're not gonna be something, you know? But my dad was exactly like this. All the time. It's scaring the hell out of me.” [6.02]
Martin alludes to the fact that John would disapprove of Dean's connection to Benny and Sam's patience with it and "he'd have a mind to take you both out behind the woodshed and show you what's what." [8.09]
Tara also mentions that John would not approve of Dean working with Crowley [9.11]
Sam: “his drill sergeant thing worked with you but it didn't work with me.” [13.04]
“You know kids, no matter what they still want the old man's approval” about an abusive dad. Dean agrees to it. [13.02]
Dean: “I know things got dicey… you know, with dad… the way he was. And I just… I didn’t always look out for you the way that I should’ve. I mean, I had my own stuff, you know. In order to keep the peace, it probably looked like I took his side quite a bit. Sometimes when I was… when I was away, you know it wasn’t ‘cause I just ran out, right? Dad would… he would send me away when I really pissed him off. I think you knew that.” [14.12]
Difficult childhoods
Talking about Charlie as a teenager, Dean says, "Dude. If a shrink interviewed us at that age, you think the report would be all kittens and rainbows?" [10.11]
Cas says, "You were both troubled teens." [10.19]
Dean says he & Sam could have benefited from a mother's dating advice. [11.12]
Sam: "And when we were kids how many times did we tell dad we were fine just to make him happy?!" [14.16]
Dean drinks to “crappy childhoods”. [10.12]
Sam: "I had a kind of lonely childhood." [11.08]
Sam: "I had a messed up childhood." [14.04]
Dean's parentified role
Sam: “I wish I could have that kinda innocence.” Dean: “If it means anything, sometimes I wish you could too.” [1.18]
John: “You know, when you were a kid, I'd come home from a hunt, and after what I'd seen, I'd be, I'd be wrecked. And you, you'd come up to me and you, you'd put your hand on my shoulder and you'd look me in the eye and you'd... You'd say 'It's okay, Dad'... You shouldn't have had to say that to me, I should have been saying that to you. You know, I put, I put too much on your shoulders, I made you grow up too fast. You took care of Sammy, you took care of me. You did that, and you didn't complain, not once.” [2.01]
Dean: "And I… I had to be… more than just a brother. I had to be a father and I had to be a mother, to keep him safe. And that wasn't fair. And I couldn't do it." [12.21]
See also 1988 above [2.22]
Food scarcity
Sam says explicitly that they had to hustle pool to eat. [15.11] Additionally, Sam says John made them learn to hustle pool. [1.08]
Travis: "you ever been really hungry? I mean, haven't-eaten-in-days hungry?" Dean: a 'yeah' so emphatic his voice cracks. Sam: silence. [4.04]
The future
Sam: “Dad always said it was temporary, Dean. He said it for 22 years.” [6.02]
Dean's allusions to liking dancing/wanting to be a dancer. [7.16, 15.20]
Dean: “Jo, you've got options. No one in their right mind chooses this life. My dad started me in this when I was so young... I wish I could do something else... Jo, you've got a mother that worries about you. Who wants something more for you. Those are good things. You don't throw things like that away. Might be hard to find later.” [2.06]
Dean: "You know, ever since you were a kid, you wanted to live in a town like this. Lame, normal…" [15.04]
Dean gets his GED [5.01]
See also 1980's general [1.22]
John spends Dean and Sam's college funds on ammo [1.20]
Hunting
John saying hunter gatherings were trouble and in general keeping Sam & Dean away from them. [2.03, 12.06]
Dean says he and John weren't using disguises for hunting. [1.09]
Sam saying it seemed to him Dean & John bonded over hunting. [12.20]
Dean learned to use CB radios to look for leads from truckers. John used them all the time. [13.11]
“I'm starting to get why parents lie to their kids. You want them to believe that the worst thing out there is mixing Pop Rocks and Coke—protect them from the real evil. You want them going to bed feeling safe. If that means lying to them, so be it. The more I think about it...the more I wish Dad had lied to us.” [5.06]
Gordon Walker meets John "Hell of a guy. Great hunter." [2.03]
John maintains connections with Caleb, Jefferson, and Pastor Jim. Caleb sometimes supplies him with munitions [1.11]
John hunts with and then has a falling out with Daniel Elkins [1.20]
John hunts with and hooks up with Tara but never calls her back. [9.11]
At some point, John and Bobby have a falling out and Bobby threatens to shoot John if he ever sees him again [1.21]
TV
“Growing up on the road, no matter where Dad dragged us, no matter what we did, there was always a TV. And you know what was on that TV? Scooby and the gang.” [13.16]
Dean: “Ah well, growing up it was a… it was always nice to check out once in a while. I like to watch movies where I know the bad guy is going to lose.” [14.04]
The Hustler was John's favorite movie [15.11]
(for the record, I didn't sort and collate every comment about john or their childhoods here. i mostly tried to pick one which were a little bit more detailed rather than just general attitudes. but if you want to see all comments made about john throughout the show, click here)
#i've been meaning to do this version for so long!#spn info dump#spn fic resource#dean winchester#sam winchester#john winchester#john winchester's a+ parenting#supernatural#spn
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Fugk shigrli LSOEE LOSER SHIGARAKI PLZ PLS SAVE MEEUGHHHH...can yu do..like THIS SOUNDS CRINGE BUT READER ISEKAI AND THEY R OBSESSD W SHIGARAKI,,, like, they get plopped down into his bar, they explain his lore to him, his fanarts, shiparts ALL OF THAT🙏🎀
Love u munch plz dont die
love u too munch!! hope u enjoy <3
i died violently in a car crash and all i got was this weirdo virgin!
shigaraki x isekai!reader
cw: no use of "y/n" (i used "______" instead!), fem reader, loser shigaraki (aka early chapter shiggy), virgin!shigaraki, isekai, tw: implications of death/major trauma, car crash, oral (male rec), loss of virginity, slight musk kink if you squint, kinda canon shiggy? rough sex, unprotected, pathetic virgin moment lol, teasing, missionary, p/v sex, choking implied for a few seconds, desperation, premature ejaculation, sliiiiiight breeding kink? if u squint
not proofread! pls dont eat me im sorry but its 5am i dont have the energy to edit rn!!!!!!!
you don't know how it happened. there was a sharp, hollow static, paired with the feeling of drowning, choking, sputtering. you could hear screaming, you could feel the branches interlocking with your innards, pinning you to the car seat. but...everything was so soft, so light...
until it wasn't.
you figured heaven would be a little less daunting than this. even atheists could dream up a place better than this.
but here you were, plopped onto a worn stool, a long mahogany bartop splayed in front of you. maybe it was a sick joke, maybe this bartop was the tree you lost your life to. maybe it was one big metaphor. either way, the leather was sticking to your legs already, a loose nail prodding at your thigh as you shifted in your seat. there was a strange smell here, a mixture of sweat and blood and something smoky, and you couldn't place whether you liked it or not. you tapped your fingers against the worn wood for a moment before glancing around the sullen room.
it looked so very familiar. worn furniture, brick walls, and a dingy carpet splattered the room like dollhouse furniture. the bar was fully stocked, but no one was tending to it. there were a few rooms down a hall, but nothing you could recognize. across from you, a little tv sat, with a torn poster of something you felt on the tip of your tongue. you forced yourself to move, standing from the seat and rubbing your eyes as you approached the wall. with a shaky hand, you wiped dust from the ripped paper, revealing a heroic-looking man. little holes scattered the image, as if it had been used as a dart board. bold writing splayed beneath his portrait read: "ALL-MIGHT", and like a crashing wave, everything came flooding back. your favorite manga series, my hero academia, had a bar similar as the base for the league of villains. you sucked in a sharp, excited breath as your eyes took in another look of the room. maybe this was heaven.
but...this shit doesn't happen in real life. isekai's were a favorite trope of yours, like re:zero or konosuba, yes, now you remembered- you had loved the idea of another world rather than death or rebirth. maybe it was your version of heaven. you bit your nail at the idea of being able to see the base for yourself. sure, it wasn't at all what you had imagined it to be- it wasn't as enchanting, per se, as you had thought. but it was...all in front of you. as you swallowed your discoveries, a squeal of joy erupted from your core. shit, your core. your body, fuck, was it okay? you lifted your shirt, expecting to see the gory visual of your death still imprinted on your skin...but it was gone. as if it had never happened. shit. this isnt so bad then, right?
but something surely was missing. and no, it wasn't your life. well, technically yes it was, but fuck that, who cares? what you really were missing was them. if this was a true isekai...
the sound of metal clanging sends a freezing shock through your bones. you whip around in time to see a very battered and bloody league stumbling in, kurogiri rushing to the bar to grab supplies. you stay silent as you watch them all individually groaning and pushing each other for a seat, too scared to say a fucking word. sure, your obsession was there, but it was all-too-intimidating when they're right in front of you. your breath is stuck in your chest, until a voice shatters your glass-persona.
"boss? who the FUCK is that?" a raspy voice slices the air and you feel everyone's stares fall onto you.
your eyes widen as shigaraki slumps out of his seat wordlessly and slinks over to you, hand extended. he's much larger than you thought he'd be. his frame towers over you slightly as he approaches, a sinister smile creeping up on his cracked lips.
"good question, spinner" his teeth are bared, and he's inches from you now as you shake. "who the FUCK are you?" he repeats the question, a sickening twist in his voice that shows he's really not in the mood to talk. without hesitation, you slip underneath him and head for the door, but he grabs you before you reach it. he yanks you back with four fingers, his grip deadly on the back of your shirt. in a panic, you blurt out the first thing that comes to mind.
"please! i'm sorry! fuck, i'm your biggest fan i promise! i don't know how the fuck i got here i just died and woke up here pleasedon'tturnmeintoashesi'msorry!" your voice is rushed and trembling, but he releases you onto the ground with a thud. you catch your breath as you stand, wiping the dirt from your legs.
"...the fuck?" dabi's voice rings through the thick silence, and the group breaks into a bellowing laughter. except for shigaraki. he stands over you, a wide, confused expression on his face.
"fan? so you've heard of us?" his smirk reappears as he couches down into your face, and you nod rapidly.
"yes, yes, i know all of you, you're my favorite characters!" you point at all of them, reciting their names. toga's smile consumes her entire face as you do so, and grabs onto twice's arm as she squeals.
"characters? tch, what are we to you?" shigaraki shakes his head as he looks down at you.
your expression falls as you realize they all have no fucking idea what the hell you're talking about. you take a deep breath and begin infodumping about "my hero academia", your favorite manga. everything from deku and his quirk, to all might, to the league itself. shigaraki finally backs up a step and offers you space to stand, and you do so. he nods as you recite the plot, his eyes widening in confusion and anticipation. when you run out of breath, he raises a finger to you, and you go silent.
"she sounds fucking crazy..." twice mutters sing-songy through his teeth. you chuckle nervously as shigaraki glances to the rest of the group, still bleeding and beaten.
"tend to your wounds elsewhere. i want a minute alone with...this thing." he gestures with a curled lip to you and you wave awkwardly. the group sighs and exits to their own spaces, toga examining you head-to-toe before bouncing away, exclaiming: "okay, but i want her when you're done!".
you cant help the anxious fiddling as he guides you to the worn stools again. he throws himself in one next to you, poppy irises still fixated on you with furrowed brow. he scowls at you, but says with a hint of amusement, "tell the truth now". his voice has a twinge of agitation to it, and you smile weakly at him.
"that's the truth, i swear" you start, and he shakes his head. you can feel the annoyance leeching off of him, and you start your next sentence very carefully.
"have you ever heard of an isekai?" you drag the words as if it would prevent your death, and he nods. "okay okay, good. so i think that's what happened. see, i'm not from here, as you can tell...and i died in a car crash, really brutal shit man, like literal sticks in my lower intestines and shit, that sucked balls." you trail off as you describe the fatality and he sighs.
"sorry, i got carried away. but yeah, basically, no need for an introduction on your part, i already know everything about you". you smile gingerly as he raises an eyebrow at you and scratches at his neck.
"mhm. everything, eh?" he leans into you again now and your breath hitches. you can smell him now, and it's unlike anything you could have imagined. the smell of sweat is combined with a faint sugared citrus scent. it's strange, honestly you didn't imagine he'd smell like anything more than a general stink, but he isn't unpleasant in the slightest. he's also all-too-close to your face, and you're able to see every patch of dry skin, scar, and scrape on his delicate pale face. strands of powdery blue hair drape around his face, and he pushes it back with a brutish movement as he takes in the image of you. you fight the urge to reach out and touch him as he speaks again, his breath on your face.
"what else do you know about me then, hmm?"
him being that close to you was overwhelming as fuck, and it takes a minute to reboot your brain and respond.
"well, fuck i don't have my phone" you exclaim as you pat your pockets down.
"need mine?" he slips his out of his hoodie pocket with two fingers and you shake your head shyly. "no thank you" you creak out, and shrug.
"well, basically, you're like, all over social media. and people really love you" you start, and a smirk forms on his face again.
"so, in another world i'm...people like me? in this other world...do i kill all might?" he says excitedly, snaking his long fingers together with a clap.
"well," you start, "sometimes?" you bite your lip, thinking of how to phrase it. "people write stories about you, and draw you, hell, some people even cosplay you..."
"cosplay? like...dress up? like me?" he says shocked, and you respond with a content "mhm!"
"...in your other world, do i win?" he smiles manically and you frown. you know his fate in your world. but maybe, in his, it's different. maybe you can lie to him.
"yes." you recall the recent manga leaks and chapters, and force a smile out. "you win, victoriously. and...you're the best villain!"
he leans back in his seat, a cocky look on his face as he folds his arms. "and society...does it fall?"
"you make it yours, shigaraki" you nod, distracting yourself from the blatant display of his death that replays in your mind.
"excellent" he hisses out. "tell me how i do it".
you shake your head. "i promise i can!" a look of determination overcomes you, your confidence way too high for someone who just got obliterated by a fucking tree branch. "if...if i can join you, i can show you everything from my world and help you" you propose, fighting off the aching in your chest. he glares at you for a moment and purses his lips.
"hmph. i'll consider it" he raises a brow and you respond with a tight, flat grin. he rolls his eyes as you shimmy closer to him. at this point, he hasn't killed you, and fuck it, if you die again, who knows where you'll go.
"did you know that a lot of people want to fuck you?" you blurt out, and he chokes on air.
"WHAT?"
"yeah, and they write about it all the time. and draw it, too. they also think you and dabi are together, sometimes you and spinner, hell i've even seen you and eraserhea-"
"WHAT THE FUCK?" he shouts out, and you laugh. you feel the excitement from before come rushing back, making you slightly delirious next to this definitely unstable and unhealthy villain.
"yeah! in my world, you're like, so hot" you giggle.
"i'm going to need you to shut the fuck up while i process that" he raises a hand and takes a deep breath.
he takes a few seconds, rubbing his temples and sighing. "...in what world would i fuck dabi?"
you laugh, violently, and he grimaces. you cant reply, so you just shrug as your laughter continues to startle him.
"well, a lot of people also think you're," you whisper the next part, "a virgin". he scowls at this and flattens his lips. he doesn't respond, which causes you in your delusional state to scooch closer to him.
"...is that true?" you ask quietly, and he glares at you. you take his silence as a yes, and nod.
"hmm. thought so" you reply with approval, slightly satisfied your favorite headcanon was very much true. he grits his teeth and stands from his seat, stretching a bit before walking away with a huff. you immediately fling yourself off your own seat and follow him.
"you know, that's not a bad thing!" you say behind as he trudges down the hall. he flings open a door and slams it in your face, sending you back a bit. you frown, not realizing how far you've been pushing it. you reach for the doorhandle and somehow, it's not locked. you push the old wood and enter slowly, the smell of dirty laundry and that same citrus smell enveloping your senses. he groans as he meets your gaze and you smile sheepishly.
"hey, sorry, i'm not sure why that of all things bothered you..."
he rolls his eyes and flops onto his bed. the springs creak with exasperation as his weight squishes against the old frame.
"of course an idiot like you wouldn't understand. even in your world i'm still somehow seen as a loser" he grumbles and you bite your cheek. you close and lock the handle behind you, and shuffle over to the bed. you dont sit, but you sway slightly as you watch him. his body is more defined from this angle, you can see the gentle muscles under his tshirt-his hoodie has been flung onto the floor with the rest of the clothes-and his baggy pants fall just low enough to expose his porcelain skin just above the waistband of his boxers. you take him in with a greedy stare as you plan your next response.
"...well, yes, but...we all think it's hot." the words startle him and he sits up slightly.
"we??" his eyes narrow, "you're one of them?"
you cringe and nod slowly. "sorry, shiggy, but if its any consolation" he cuts you off with a snap-
"i should kill you right now and send you back to your other world".
your hands fidget uncomfortably at your sides and you fight the urge to take off sprinting again. seems as though when you died, your proper judgement died with you. you sit slowly on the edge of his worn mattress and raise your hands in defeat.
"i don't think that's how it works. if i die again here, i'll just be sent somewhere else, and then i can't help you". he interjects with a quiet "ughhh", and you shrug. "like i was saying, if its any consolation, everyone who does think you're a virgin just wants to fuck you all the more. so in my world you get like, infinite bitches" you grin, and he frowns again.
"are you also one of those freaks?" he retorts, and you wince.
"hmph. checks out. mystery girl from mystery world shows up and says i, quote, get infinite bitches, and allegedly wants to fuck me" he throws his hands up in defeat. "i don't suppose you actually want that, just the idea of it, hm? i'm sure you get off on your world's portrayal of me. for all i know though, you could be lying, you could be a narc little NPC that works for the heroes, and they sent you to weaken me. i don't think i'll fall for it this time, idiot. get out." he points furiously at the door and you pout, folding your arms.
"fair assumption, but with all due respect, even if i were a spy, i don't think i'd be so stupid as to lock myself in a room with you" you motion to the locked door, and he huffs.
"prove you aren't then." he challenges, and you very quickly oblige. at this rate, you're living a fanfiction fantasy and you're thanking that tree branch more and more. you yank your shirt off and climb into his lap, choking out an exclamation from him. you straddle him and almost immediately feel him harden underneath you, eyes blown wide in shock as you wrap your arms around his frame and plant your lips on his. they're cracked and dry, but you couldn't care less. it feels like death all over again, the swirling static enveloping you as you taste him on you. a sweet twinge of blood and candy and salt coats your tongue as you slip it in past his lips, swallowing him whole. he whines as you tug on his tangled hair, rutting into you from below desperately. his body is already shaking, a silent plea as you grind down into him again, the friction of his rock-hard dick against your already throbbing center causing you to both moan. you cant hide your excitement and desperation as you claw at his back. he pulls away for a moment and shakily points to his hoodie on the floor.
"g-gloves" he chokes out, and you nod. you spring up and reach for the pocket, pulling out two artists gloves and tossing them to him. your hands brush against Father in his pocket and you suck air in through your teeth, completely forgetting about that weird fucking thing. you shake off the strange feeling and turn your attention back to him. he's hastily strapping the gloves on and fiddling with the button on his jeans. you lower yourself down to his crotch, the fabric strained against his length. with a surge of newfound confidence, you bite the button and undo the zip with your teeth, and he gasps at the sudden motion. you silently fist-bump yourself as he shimmies the jeans down his legs, tossing them off the bed. you follow, peeling the fabric off your own body and placing yourself back on top of him. he finally reaches up and squeezes your tits with his gloved hands, groaning at the feeling of them in his hands. his eyes are lit up like stars as he ogles your chest, yanking them out of your bra. you silently chuckle and completely lift the article off of you, and his jaw drops. he looks absolutely blown away, and as he greedily cups your tits and squeezes them, he whimpers underneath you. you feel his cock twitch and you grind slightly against it, and within seconds, he's panting and cumming all over you and himself, crying out a string of vulgarities. you kiss him again as he coats you both in slick, hot beads of cum and he bites your lip in pure craze. you remove yourself from his wet lap and look at him with a soft expression.
"aww, you've made a mess already. your boxers arent even off, shiggy" you whisper out and he balls his fists.
"mmf, fuck you, mystery girl" he mumbles out, and you help him pull his boxers off.
"call me by my name, _________". you plant a chaste kiss to his cheek. as his cock springs free, you audibly gasp.
its much bigger, and much angrier right now, than you typically read about. you take it in your hand and feel it, the soft, delicate skin feeling almost out of place on him. it's surrounded by thick baby blue hair, going up to his navel in a sparse trail. its heavier than you expected, too, as it switches in your palm. the creamy skin of his length is offset by a very sensitive silvery-pink tip, already leaking precum again as you thumb over it, sending pathetic whimpers to escape his lips in a fury. you blink away your greater morals and bring your mouth to it, licking a thick stripe from the base, tasting the slightly salty precum against your lips. he shakes as you slip him into your mouth, stretching your jaw out more then you expected you'd have to.
you begin slowly, keeping a hand twisting around the base as your mouth adjusts to the sheer size of it. slowly, you gain comfort and confidence in your actions, and you let your hand go. you take him further into your mouth with a sharp exhale through your nose, and he grips at your hair. he pushes you down, shuddering, and you bury your nose into the mass of hair, breathing in the aroma of his sweat and warmth. you feel yourself slicken more at this, and you bob your head up and down graciously as he whimpers, your name spilling from his lips a few times between labored breaths. you feel the blood pulsing in his shaft, and you wrap your hand around his balls as they tighten, squeezing them as he shatters into you again, thick ropes streaming into your mouth. his grip tightens on your hair and he shoves you all the way down, gagging you slightly as his cum drips down your throat.
"hnng, f-fuck" he drools as his seed fills your mouth generously, adn you pull off with a sloppy mixture of saliva and cum dripping from your lips. you swallow it feverishly and he shakes, watching as you collapse next to him.
it takes him a moment to speak, and its barely above a whisper when he does.
"_______?" his voice is raspier than before as he says your name, and is thick with desire still. you turn to him, still aching for your own orgasm.
"i'm going to fuck you now" he says, a little louder than before. you look at him with wide eyes and nod, spreading your legs are he peels his tshirt off and centers himself between them. he grips a thigh with his calloused fingers, digging his dirty nails into your skin. you hiss slightly but your back arches at the contact.
"why aren't you afraid of me?" he presses himself against your soaking cunt, leaning in to bite your neck. you gasp and grab his face, bringing him to your lips. waves of desire crash over you as he throbs against you. for a virgin, his stamina is something else.
"because i know that if i die again, i'll at least die happy this time" you admit, and reach a hand down to grab his cock. you center it to your opening, and nod. he presses himself in sharply, without warning, and you shriek out in pain.
"gah, fuck, okay, shigaraki" you put a hand to his chest to slow him, "easy, slow, please". he shakes his head and rams himself back into you, snaking a hand to your throat as he pumps inside of you haphazardly. there's no real rhythm to it yet, and you do your best to adjust to the size of him stretching your tight hole hungrily.
"tomura" he replies through grit teeth, and you moan.
"tomura," you repeat with a desperate sob, "please"
his eyes glaze over and with a newfound glimmer of faith, he grips your hips and begins to slowly rut into you, allowing the both of you to finally adjust. he exhales slowly as he rocks his hips into you, and you grab one of his hands, dragging it to your core.
"try...fuck, tomura, touch me" you plead, and he immediately presses his middle finger to your clit. its hard, almost too forceful, and you pull his hand back. he loses concentration and falls out of rhythm for a moment as you guide his hand around, showing him what feels good. you recall a few stories you had read and get an idea.
"like an analog. thumbstick. fuck. you know what i mean" you stumble out, and he very quickly nods.
"so not like a trigger." he follows, and suddenly, his movements are a lot more fluid. he smirks as he rubs your clit steadily. he begins to thrust back into you shakily, then with harder, longer strokes. he follows your directions as you moan and squirm under him, beads of sweat forming on his forehead and shoulders as he gains momentum, the mattress squeaking rapidly under the both of you.
you feel yourself at your own breaking point, the fire inside of you melting like metal as it fills you, and you sink your nails into his back as you clench even tighter around his merciless cock. he snaps out with a cry and thrusts into you faster, becoming a little unsteady as you soak his length. your body splinters in ecstasy as he drives himself relentlessly into you, orgasm ripping your body like a hurricane. you call his name out like an unholy prayer as you fall from your high, and he throws his head back as his own climax tears through him. you feel it as he rams himself as deep as he can, filling you with sticky cum furiously. his jaw slackens as he huffs and pants, the most angelic sounds emanating from the villain's flustered body.
as you both crash hard, he pulls out slowly with a hiss. his arms turn to jelly as he collapses on top of you, the weight of him crushing the air from you slightly, and you giggle breathlessly. you wrap your arms around his sweaty, shaking frame and kiss the top of his head as he hyperventilates.
he gathers the strength to push himself off of you and rolls onto his back next to you.
"was that real?" he asks, and you chuckle lightly.
"well, as real as i am, i suppose". he shrugs and closes his eyes.
"did you read about this? in your other world?" he asks gingerly, and you turn to him.
"something like this, yeah" you admit, and he nods slowly.
"you can stay, mystery girl, so long as you keep telling me about those things you read. or just show me" he says, and you smile. "oh, and help me kill that all-might fucker."
your eyes flutter shut in pure bliss as his visage interrupts your greater thoughts. if this is what your new life would be like, then perhaps the violent death was worth it.
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this took me like 3 hours to write tbh, i hope its good! i think im gonna cross-post this to ao3 to get the ball rollin. thank u sm for the ask! it was a pleasure (literally) to write this :)
#myposts#mha#bnha#my hero academia#tomura shigaraki#mha shigaraki#tenko shimura#shigaraki x reader#myfics#myoneshots#bnha shigaraki#shigaraki smut
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A 2012 Casey appreciation post, basically- Lmao
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I originally was going to rant about something not so positive, because that's just in my nature to do and 2012 as a whole just makes me incredibly angry- But that's how you can tell it's my favorite show on the planet, so like- LMAO
That's not to say that there won't be some moments of anger in this tangent from me, but for the most part I just want to kind of "gush" (so to speak) about 2012 Casey Jones and why these incompetent writers could never get me to hate him. 🫶✨
This might be kind of contradicting from me, since a lot of 2012 April's writing is what causes me to strongly dislike her as a character canonically- But I think I've come to realize that it's not that I necessarily hate April, it's just that I hate how she was handled and all the opportunities that the show gives her simply for just existing / a lot of what April gets tied to or what she accrued throughout the series are things that I feel the writers simply hand to her rather than explaining why she deserves them (Like her Kunoichi certification after the Space Arc- 💀 / I still don't understand why, "City at War" couldn't have been the first April solo mission episode instead to further show why she should be awarded this accomplishment, but okay- Lmao). And that's why she's frustrating to me. LMAO
Just think about how much better April's character would have been if the show writers actually gave a shit about her and weren't (probably) misogynistic because her character feels like a stereotype of a teenage girl / the "mandatory girl character" a majority of the time. 🙃👍
Casey, on the other hand, is a different situation. Because not only does this show not give him jack shit half the time, but they do him no favors the way they do April a lot of favors (in my opinion) and it feels as though practically a majority of the cast despises his existence-?? Another thing that cannot be said of April (in my opinion). LMAO
I also feel like a lot of the negative traits that we see from Casey throughout the series feel intentional?? In the sense that it feels as though the writers want us as the audience to think that Casey is the most insufferable person on the planet- Similar to how the writers embellish Mikey's negative traits so that we'll also think he's "unreliable" and "annoying" like his brothers do. The writers practically have Casey become "Mikey 2.0" in a lot of instances, and I don't say that like an insult because it honestly shouldn't be?? But it feels like sabotage from the writers, I gotta be honest. 💀
Maybe I'm the only one who feels this way, but 2012 Casey in his first three introductory episodes (Which yes, I refer to them as three introductory episodes because he wasn't officially introduced into the narrative until, "The Good, the Bad, and Casey Jones" / S2 EP 8 / but he technically was a big part of two episodes prior to that one and more literally introduced as a character in, "Mutagen Man Unleashed" / S2 EP 4 /. So-! 👍✨) has an incredibly different feel to him than the Casey that we see in, "Fungus Humongous" / S2 EP 10 /-?? Before, at least in my opinion, Casey felt like a chill dude who had occasional aggressive / hyperactive moments. But after, "The Good, the Bad, and Casey Jones", he felt more like an aggressive / hyperactive dude with occasional relaxed moments- Does that make sense? This is when I feel like he was really shifting into "Mikey 2.0" by the writers. He's a lot more brash, openly obnoxious and boisterous, saying things that he doesn't necessarily need to say so that everyone will look at him with glares (I wonder what other character that happens to- 🙄), having an unserious nature that the others disapprove of (Again, who else does that sound like-), a lot clumsier in battle than he used to be, the others don't take him seriously (Do I even need to say it again-), etc.
But does any of this deter me from loving him as a character? Absolutely not and it never will. LMAO
This isn't to say that I think Casey is perfect, because clearly he has his flaws, and given how the writers handled his character throughout the series, I completely understand why some people think less of him or would say that he's their least favorite character in 2012,, I really do get it.
BUT, despite all those things, I still feel like there were a lot of redeemable traits from him that don't get talked about a lot? Also a lot of things that I feel backfired in regards to the image that the writers "wanted" (Since maybe they didn't intend for this?? But it felt that way to me-) us as the audience to have of his character- Like him actually being one of kindest members of the team??
It's definitely not a conventional kindness, but it is a kindness nonetheless.
I honestly don't know a good place to start with this, so I'm just going to start rambling about whatever comes to mind and hope that that works out for me- LMAO
One of the first things that comes to mind for me is him during, "Of Rats and Men" / S2 EP 12 /. Despite having a crippling musophobia (Fear of mice and rats-) in the same way that Raph has a crippling entomophobia (Fear of insects-), Casey's still did his best to contribute to that problem and was probably enduring one of the most traumatic events of his life for his friends?? Like hello?? He's only known them for like maybe a few weeks or so at this point (Logically speaking-) too??
I know Raph technically has some growth with it in 2012 (Only saying technically because I really didn't like how the show constantly harped on Raph's entomophobia, as if there aren't many other aspects of his character that could have been talked about instead- Lmao), but when he was in his first situation revolving around his phobia ("The Cockroach Terminator" / S1 EP 18 / ) he was not very helpful for a majority of that situation (Which I totally get-) nor did he volunteer to put himself in the "eye of the storm" of that situation in the same way Casey did here. That was an incredibly kind / selfless thing for Casey to do??
Without questioning anything, he defends April against Timothy (Who they didn't know was Timothy at the time, besides I don't think that would be relevant cause April didn't really meet Timothy-?) during the episode, "Mutagen Man Unleashed" / S2 EP 4 / and rides away on his bike with her to escape Timothy, having just met April for the first time. He's pretty much kind towards April in general, but what I mean is a different type of kindness than the more general one that most characters give her- He truly allows April to be herself around him / doesn't treat her differently as person (When I say this, I mean moments like when Casey had no problem kicking April in her shoulder to wake her up during, "Within the Woods" / S3 EP 1 /- Lmao), and I feel like that is the biggest act of kindness he could ever give her. Like??
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Maybe this isn't something that is necessarily considered "kind", but I thought it was incredibly sweet and understanding of Casey sit through the drive all the way up to the O'Neil's Farmhouse immediately after the Kraang invasion + immediately after he had failed to find his Father and little Sister in the chaos,, I'm sure he felt like he had to because of everything going on, but it would have been just as understandable for him to need breaks on the road or to vent during the drive- Instead it felt like he just focused on getting everybody else to safety, you know what I mean??
The way he whispers to Raph about taking it easy on Leo during their sparring match since he's been having a hard time since he woke up from his coma during, "Eyes of the Chimera" / S3 EP 7 / ? 😭 || I don't know how much this counts for kindness either, but the way he was so excited to tell Raph about what he had accomplished in regards to Shredder and his little recon mission during, "Casey Jones vs. The Underworld" / S3 EP 14 / always makes me cry- Like he was so happy,,
Also speaking of Casey being incredibly understanding?? 2012 Casey has to be one of the most understanding characters I've ever seen, because the amount of shit that he gets dealt by everyone else and decides to just let's go / move past it is wild to me.
• When Casey's reminiscing to April about his ex best friend Nick in "Target: April O'Neil" / S2 EP 6 / and how there was this complete accident during last year's playoffs and he genuinely accepted that his best friend since second grade decided to never talk to him again?? The maturity that Casey exudes from the scene alone- Not to mention his understanding of her leaving him with a bunch of Foot Soldiers (Not that I'm saying she did anything bad there, I understand why she left and I'm sure he did too-).
• Casey not thinking twice about helping the Turtles and Splinter not get exposed to the Foot Clan during, "The Good, the Bad, and Casey Jones" / S2 EP 8 / despite having known them for a brief amount of time and being at odds with Raph prior- Giving Casey honestly the slimmest of reasons to do this + before this point he actively talked about how he didn't like mutants.
• During, "Newtralized!" / S2 EP 17 /, how despite Raph giving him the hardest time ever (Which felt so hypocritical because I've never seen Raph treat April this way, and she messes up quite a lot imo- 🙃) and blatantly disrespecting him to the point of genuinely pushing him away, Casey STILL CAME BACK AND SAVED THE DAY- Not even getting upset that he didn't get an apology from Raph. At all.
• I don't know if this necessarily falls into what I mean here, but I feel like he often gets misread when he's trying to be genuine? The moment he had with April during, "Within the Woods" / S3 EP 1 / feels like one of these instances to me. I truly don't think Casey meant anything by it when he was asking April if everything was okay between them (Implying the April's been distant towards him lately or probably just acting different-), and even after she kind of blew up on him, he didn't say anything about it and just let it go?? 😭
• Casey being quite literally understanding during, "Buried Secrets" / S3 EP 3 / when April was venting about the situation with her Mother and basically reassuring her that it was okay for April to leave with her if that was the decision that she wanted to make-
• It honestly boils my blood to see how little faith the others had in Casey during, "The Weird World Of Wyrm" / S4 EP 3 / (At least it came across that way to me-), because how could they truly believe that he would turn on them like that? On one hand, I get it was to make the whole thing more believable so that Wyrm wouldn't suspect Casey was trying to do something underhanded, but if I were Casey I would have felt genuinely hurt that they really thought that of me?? April didn't even try to be like, "This isn't you at all! :( " like she normally does, she just fully believed that this is who he was now- 🙃 || But I also understand that a lot of the events of this episode get retconned on purpose, so. 🙄
• Casey basically let go of Raph quite literally ditching him because of his entomophobia during, "The Insecta Trifecta" / S4 EP 17 /, but I also acknowledge that Casey was not helping but all his descriptions during the fight,, LMAO || But I don't know, I feel like Casey was genuinely taking Raph's word for it when he said that he was "over the bug stuff" in the beginning of the episode-
• I don't really want to count this one, but I guess I can bring up how everyone forgave April so quickly after the events of, "The Power Inside Her" / S4 EP 22 / even though I feel like that was incredibly unrealistic-
But all of these hurtful moments?? Casey never brings them up again, he doesn't hold anything over anyone's head- Like- 😭
There's also the fact that he's incredibly selfless?? The most well known example of this being when he saved Raph's life during, "Requiem" / S4 EP 25 / and almost lost his own in the process,,
I feel like the entire concept of his vigilante-ing is an act of selflessness on its own, since you have to want to help people who can't help themselves to accomplish something like that-
Casey almost risked his life protecting April from the mutagen vat Stockman was trying to fly into during, "The Lonely Mutation of Baxter Stockman" / S2 EP 16 /, and the reason I say that he was risking his life is because if that had gone the wrong way, he could have gone into the vat with Stockman himself or could've simply fell in somehow- He literally risked the entire world after Donatello stopped breathing (Presumably his Brothers would follow suit shortly after-) during, "In Dreams" / S2 EP 5 /, since he didn't know for sure that the Dream Beavers wouldn't be world ending entities (Which, this is completely derailing right now, but there was just really sweet 2012 Jonatello fanfiction that used this situation in it- Where Casey openly acknowledges that he risked the entire world for Donatello even if it would have been only for a few minutes because they would have parish shortly afterwards- Like?? I'll try to find it later- 😭💜🖤).
I know this could just be a writing thing and another glaringly obvious way the writers clearly didn't care enough about him as a character, but I feel like his lack of bringing up his personal issues or his family feels selfless-? Like, he doesn't want to weigh anybody down with his problems, so he'd rather focus on what he can control than what he can't- You know? From a canonical writing standpoint, I found this really annoying, but ignoring the writing for a second- I wouldn't be surprised if Casey felt like the guys already struggle with emotionally supporting April and her constantly absent Father enough as it was, that maybe that's why he felt like he didn't want to add on to it or something by talking about his-? 😭 (But knowing these writers, I wouldn't be surprised that they had the Turtles be complete assholes to him about it- Because "boys will be boys" or some shit. 🙃 Lmao)
I also want to talk about how Casey felt like such a fantastic friend?? I know we only have that one moment with Leo during "A Foot Too Big" / S3 EP 2 /, but even that felt like a really great moment from Casey to me? Not to mention the fact that Casey's demonstrated multiple times that he's incredibly loyal, so whenever Leo asked him to be there, he was there- Something we see in episodes like, "The Lonely Mutation of Baxter Stockman" / S2 EP 16 / (Though, maybe this kind of feels like a straw grab-? Casey and Leo don't get a lot of interactions, so I don't know what else to say- 😭)
The only reason why I say what I'm about to say is because I feel like the writers handled Casey and Raph's friendship extremely poorly, but even though Raph treats Casey like shit 9 times out of 10 during the show, Casey still views him as his best friend and still has his back constantly?? This is demonstrated throughout the entire series honestly- (This is it to say that I don't like 2012 Raph and Casey or I don't value their friendship as such a staple in the series, because it's the exact opposite-! Which is why I was so disappointed in how 2012 handled their friendship,, 💀)
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Casey and Mikey's dynamic is one of the most organic friendships to come out of the 2012 series in my opinion- They were genuinely the most fun on screen and it made me want them to interact a lot more. Like have you watched the episodes, "Meet Mondo Gecko" / S3 EP 17 / and "Bat in the Belfry" / S4 EP 19 / ? 🙄✨
Even though Donnie views Casey as "his rival" or some kind of "threat" between himself and April, I still feel like Casey had a lot of moments where he treated Donnie with respect and as an ally / friend, despite how Donnie feels towards him being glaringly obvious- As much as I would love to give you a plethora of examples of this happening, it feels like there's too many because it's kind of a in the background / nuanced thing-?? (See the picture I put for this part-) Like, if you focus on them during episodes, I feel like you could see what I mean- LMAO
Which has always led me to have this theory that Casey never actually hated Donnie to begin with and was just reciprocating the energy that Donnie was giving him, because why wouldn't he?
But I think a dynamic that is one of my favorites with Casey in the 2012 series is his dynamic with April-
April feels like a genuine person / fleshed out character when she's interacting with Casey as opposed to when she's interacting with any of the brothers. I don't know how else to explain it- A lot of the solo scenes that April and Casey get feel so different for April specifically, and I genuinely enjoy them ! Moments like when they're riding "Kirby Bat" during, "The Lonely Mutation of Baxter Stockman" / S2 EP 16 / or that Kraathatragon / " Giant Kraang Worm" during, "The Manhattan Project / Wormquake!" / S2 EP 13-14 / or when April finally breaks the wood in half with Casey at the end of, "Vision Quest" / S3 EP 8 /, or when April and Casey are walking home from the movie theater in, "The Deadly Venom" / S3 EP 18 /- It also makes me sad at the same time though, because I feel like if the show just dropped the stupid "Will they? Won't they?" romance bullshit subplot between them, they would have just been the best of friends and that would have been the best thing ever- Like. 😭
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I almost forgot to mention the amount of times that Casey was actually able to swallow his pride for his friends despite the show giving us the impression that he's an incredibly prideful and egotistical person?? The fact that he has gone to the guys for help on more than one occasion (i.e. "Fungus Humongous" / S2 EP 10 /, "The Wrath of Tiger Claw" / S2 EP 19 / though this was just him sending them an alert from his phone, "A Chinatown Ghost Story" / S2 EP 23 /, "Casey Jones vs. The Underworld" / S3 EP 14 /-) despite claiming that he's a "Lone Wolf" and doesn't need anybody's permission to act. He even calls and waits for them before acting in, "The Power Inside Her" / S4 EP 20 /. He apologized to Donnie during, "Race With the Demon" / S3 EP 6 /, something I'm sure he never thought he would do in a million years at that point- He also had a lot of technical apologies?? Like telling Raph he's "not bad for an amphibian" during, "The Good, the Bad. And Casey Jones" / S2 EP 8 /, telling Donnie he "takes back everything he ever said about him" during "The Manhattan Project (Part 2) / Wormquake!" / S2 EP 14 /. I don't know if this one necessarily counts as an "apology" per se, but the way he was so quick to claim fault and say it was his bad after he triggered the traps during, "Riddle of the Ancient Aeons"- 😭 || I also want to tie in how a lot of the episodes were Casey was the problem or the issue of the episode revolved around Casey, Casey was genuinely the one to resolve said issue- We love him for taking responsibility ! ✨
Casey is also a lot smarter than I feel the other characters and the writers give him credit for / care to acknowledge. This dude literally made his own weapons. Excuse me?? Not to mention his shoes that have hockey blades that retract?? His decked out bike?? Like bro- His entire vigilante get up is incredibly unique and innovative ! During the episode, "Newtralized!", Casey was able to deduce where to exactly shoot his hockey puck explosive into the Kraang contraption (I don't remember what that thing was called,,)- During high action / high speed (??) scenes, you can tell Casey is very quick on his feet and has some pretty natural reflexes of his own (I think a great example of this is his "fight" with TigerClaw during, "The Wrath of Tiger Claw" / S2 EP 19 /-). He was the one that came up with the idea to use pizza to distract and subdue Leo / Raph / and Mikey during, "A Chinatown Ghost Story" / S2 EP 23 /. He clearly has some mechanical experience + possible engineering prowess, given he was constantly trying to work on that busted up truck in the O'Neil Barn and is clearly capable of not only helping Donnie but keeping up with him mechanically during, "Race with the Demon" / S3 EP 6 /. THE ENTIRE EPISODE OF, "Casey Jones vs. The Underworld"?? HELLO?? The way that he did all of that on his own and nobody gave him his flowers is criminal- /hj LMAO
You have no idea how much it upset me when everybody was acting like it was "so wild" that Casey had a good idea / his input was valuable during, "Tokka vs. The World" dude- 💀
All this is to say that 2012 Casey Jones is one of the most charming characters in an animated TV series for me. He's silly, he's stupid, he's loyal- He's just the biggest lovable goofball to me, you know?? 😭🫶
2012 Jonatello side tangent- 💜🖤
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Because I genuinely cannot resist putting this at the end, I love talking about Casey's "contradictions" (so to speak) as a character and how he's presented in the show because this genuinely just feeds my Jonatello obsession. Like how I was talking about Casey treating Donnie like a friend despite Donnie clearly not liking him very much for a majority of the show?? How one of Casey's only on screen apologies (If I'm not mistaken??) is towards Donnie? How 2012 has Casey and Donnie conveniently standing next to each other or being in the same vicinity as each other despite "hating each other" more than not? How if you really break down their characters, they're kind of similar? Both physically (Tall, gaps in their teeth, brown eyes-) and characteristically (i.e. Mechanics and inventions, their weapons of choice / fighting styles, they both can get pretty morbid at times but Casey's just being Casey in this instance while Donnie's trying to be "scientifically accurate", as he says, etc.-).
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How during, "Monkey Brains", if you look really closely at Donnie's plan to, "Get April to hang out with him", he has hockey on that plan? (Images courtesy of me by the way, since I happened to have the official 2012 art book !) How Donnie's helmet of choice (Specifically during Season 1 but did make an appearance in Season 2-) was a hockey helmet that had the number 16 on it? You know who else has the number 16 on their gear?? CASEY. IMPLYING THAT THIS IS LITERALLY CASEY'S HELMET.
But also the things that make them different attribute to these to being a perfect match to me ! Like their love languages ! Donnie's love language is definitely more verbal / words of affirmation (Since all he does is say things that he shouldn't say about April because she's not his girlfriend and call her things that he shouldn't call her because she's not his girlfriend- Lmao) and gift-giving / acts of service (Pretty much everything Donnie has ever done for April ever falls into one of these two-). While Casey's is also verbal / words of affirmation but in a different way (Since he's definitely more flirtatious / playful-) and physical touch (Since he's always getting into April's space and being very physically close with her-). This makes sense to me, but maybe it might not make sense to other people- I just can't help but feel that everything that Donnie became infatuated with about April and Casey with April is quite literally just each other?? To Donnie, I genuinely feel like he was more attracted to the fact that she was a "firecracker" (so to speak) and did what she wanted / didn't let others tell her what to do. Something we actively see in episodes like, "Panic in the Sewers" when April actively lies to a man to get through an apartment building and Donnie responds with, "She's so cool-". With Casey, it feels like the opposite, where he was only interested in April because in his eyes she was kind of stuck up and a nerd (In his eyes-). I feel like this is enforced by their early on interacts during Season 2, specifically, "Mutagen Man Unleashed", when Casey asks April if "studying is all she does" and April points out that he likes to push buttons-
Which?? This solidifies that (canonically) Casey's method of flirting is pushing buttons, and whose buttons does he push more than DONATELLO'S?? HELLO- 😭💜🖤
I completely derailed by talking about 2012 Jonatello, I'm sorry. This was meant to just be a 2012 Casey appreciation post only- My bad,, 🥲👍 LMAO
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let's talk about the many crimes of the phantom thieves
hello and welcome to me detailing the many crimes of the persona 5 royal teenagers... my dearest friend and i got bored and decided to make a list of every crime they could potentially be charged with, and i thought i'd post it to get other people's thoughts (in case i missed any) + laugh about the insane shit they've pulled off.
lets go!!!
before we get into this: we did not count crimes that were committed within the metaverse, as it wouldn't be possible to really charge the phantom thieves. the only exception to this is goro. we counted his metaverse crimes because it made his laundry list of crimes funnier. that's all.
p.s.: i love studying criminology, but i know i'm not an expert by any means. if i mess something up, miss a crime, etc.- let me know!
now, let's get into it, in order from least to most crimes!
sumi yoshizawa commits zero crimes.
good for her... good for her...
ann takamaki commits one crime: battery.
aside from ryuji and haru (who also only commit one crime), ann has the shortest list of crimes with just one: battery. it's a stretch for sure, but technically, she does slap ryuji after shido's palace, and that does qualify as battery. good on her otherwise.
ryuji sakamoto commits one crime: assault.
side note for anyone who doesn't know: assault and battery are two different things. assault is the threat, battery is the action. for example: if i tell someone i'm going to punch them, that is assault. if i actually do punch them, that is battery. that's often why the two go hand-in-hand.
ryuji threatens people quite a bit, but we actually couldn't think of any instances where he goes through with said threats, excluding him punching kamoshida. because that happened pre-canon, however, and because kamoshida clearly didn't charge ryuji, we didn't count it.
haru okumura commits one crime: perjury.
haru lies to sae when being questioned about her father's death. and yes, lying to a prosecutor during a criminal investigation does count as lying to law enforcement in general.
makoto niijima commits three crimes: blackmail, hacking, and theft.
blackmail: makoto approaches the phantom thieves and blackmails them with a video of them stating their identities, threatening to leak it if they do not meet her demands.
hacking: makoto intentionally manipulates sae's laptop in order to steal documents from it.
theft: makoto steals confidential documents from sae's laptop.
ren amamiya/akira kurusu/the protagonist/joker commits three crimes: improperly bringing an animal onto public transportation, resisting arrest, and breaking and entering.
improperly bringing an animal onto public transportation: animals are allowed on most subways in japan if they are documented, in a proper carrier, and, at times, have been paid for with a proper fee. joker brings morgana onto the train every day without doing anything of the sort.
resisting arrest: joker runs from the police and attempts to escape when surrounded outside of sae's palace.
breaking and entering: in one of yusuke's later confidant events, joker picks the lock to madarame's house and enters.
yusuke kitagawa commits four crimes: plagiarism (charges would likely be dropped, however!), stalking, solicitation, and trespassing.
plagiarism: this one was really interesting to discuss with my buddy. yusuke does commit plagiarism by willingly handing over his artwork to madarame and allowing him to claim it as his own. however, it can be argued that he did so because he was being manipulated, abused, and was under duress* (madarame essentially claimed he would end up on the streets if he did not hand over his art). it can also be argued that because yusuke did not place any copyright infringement on his paintings, it wasn't really plagiarism. therefore, this charge would likely be dropped, either on the basis of insufficient evidence and/or his being under duress.
stalking: yusuke does stalk ann for a few days before speaking to her. because this action causes distress to ann (shown by her mentioning yusuke following her around a few days prior, as well as her initial reaction to meeting him), it falls under the category of stalking.
solicitation: yusuke solicits joker to commit the crime of breaking into madarame's house in one of his confidant events.
trespassing: when joker does break into madarame's house for him, yusuke enters.
*under duress: constraint illegally exercised to force someone to perform an act (AKA, forcing somebody to do something illegal via threats, blackmail, manipulation, guilt-tripping, etc.)
futaba sakura commits eight crimes: wiretapping, non-consensual surveillance, espionage, truancy, hacking, tampering, theft, and blackmail.
wiretapping: futaba hacks into phone lines (most notably, ren and akechi's) and listens in on conversations.
non-consensual surveillance: futaba tracks the GPS on a few people's phones.
espionage: futaba spies on people.
truancy: we don't know the full extent, but it is implied that futaba has missed a lot of school, which is a crime.
hacking: i hope i don't have to explain this one HAHA.
tampering: to send shido's calling card, futaba tampers with all the big screens around japan, which is tampering with property.
theft: futaba has stolen plenty of information, classified or not classified, from a loooot of different people.
blackmail: when she first asks the phantom thieves to change her heart, she does so through blackmailing them, threatening to reveal their identities if they don't do it.
goro akechi commits twelve crimes: attempted first-degree murder, mass first-degree murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, conspiracy, fraud, aiding and abetting, terrorism, assault, battery, perjury, blackmail, and obstruction of justice.
attempted first-degree murder: whilst akechi technically doesn't kill joker, he does try to, which means he can be charged with this.
mass first-degree murder: akechi murders. a LOT of people. which falls under this category.
unlawful possession of a firearm: in order to kill joker, akechi steals a gun from a police officer.
conspiracy: akechi states his plans to murder joker and plots it out in advance for a long, long, time.
fraud: faking joker's death certificate is a form of fraud.
aiding and abetting: helping shido kill people is aiding and abetting.
terrorism: terrorism is defined as "the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims." akechi's actions fall under this category.
assault: akechi throws plenty of threats people's ways!
battery: and follows through on many of them.
perjury: akechi lies to all sorts of law enforcement around him, most notably sae and the guard outside of joker's interrogation room.
blackmail: akechi threatens to leak the identities of the phantom thieves if they don't infiltrate sae's palace.
obstruction of justice: by lying about what he knew about the phantom thieves, withholding information from law enforcement, and overall just completely messing with the case, akechi commits obstruction of justice.
that's it!
thank you for reading thank you for joining us joy to the world... shoutout again to my wonderful friend for being these guys' defense attorney's
BYE!!
#the torrential tagging .#persona 5#p5r#akira kurusu#ren amamiya#goro akechi#ann takamaki#ryuji sakamoto#yusuke kitagawa#futaba sakura#haru okumura#makoto niijima#morgana#sumire yoshizawa#persona maeta#Thats enough
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thoughts on LIS: Double Exposure?
This is probably gonna be my hottest take in awhile, but: I deeply dislike the idea of an official LiS1 direct sequel game existing. Excluding all my thoughts on the gameplay, story, Max's character, etc. I don't think a game like Double Exposure is necessary.
This isn't a new take either; back in 2020 I made a Reddit post saying I was glad we never got a continuation of Max and Chloe's story, because in order to have a plot, you have to have conflict. And to have conflict means your characters are forced to change or struggle in some way, and I simply wasn't interested in seeing that again. I never even read the comics. As long as Max and Chloe's future existed only in the fanbase's collective imagination and not in an officially licensed game, Pricefield could be as happy as I wanted and I wouldn't have to witness DN or D9's version of canon.
A lot of fans, including myself, are also confused and upset as to where Chloe could be in Double Exposure. Even if Chloe winds up having a surprise role, it would likely be too logistically difficult to write Chloe into one version of the story and not the other. Either way, DE is strongly pointing to Chloe no longer being the deuteragonist. If D9 was going to make a direct sequel with Max and Chloe, I could at least be intrigued by how they might write their dynamic and how they'd use Max's power in new and interesting ways. But instead there's... none of that. Chloe's nowhere to be seen and Max can't time travel anymore.
On a narrative level, Max and Chloe are the heart of the original Life is Strange. They represent the game's central relationship, and their very first interaction (Max saving Chloe's life) kicks off the entire story. Throughout the story, their dynamic advances the plot and mutually motivates their character arcs. You can't have LiS1 without either Max or Chloe; the story simply wouldn't exist without them. Now in DE, they don't even seem to be in each other's lives anymore. It's true, this series is meant to reflect universal feelings and experiences, which could include breakups, but the romantic catharsis of Pricefield as canon soulmates who defied time and space itself to stay together forever is something you can only get from the beauty of fiction. To jab DE's story with a dose of reality and go, "Eh, they grew apart. Shit happens," totally undermines everything the Bae ending stood for.
On a technical level, Max's rewind was an objectively brilliant game mechanic. LiS1 arrived onto the scene after Telltale had paved the way for the resurgence of choice-based, episodic games, but LiS1 totally reinvented the wheel by giving the player the option to go back and weigh each option before continuing, essentially save-scumming in-game. But the right choice was never that easy to determine, and Rewind brilliantly complemented Max's character arc of overcoming her indecision and learning to live with her choices. Not to mention, you could also use Rewind to solve puzzles, instead of the endless fetch quests the later games had. No other LiS game since then has given the player that kind of agency and interactivity. LiS2 had telekinesis, but the player couldn't use it, only Daniel. D9 tried with Backtalk and Empathy, but Max's Rewind was truly the narrative and gameplay jackpot that they haven't been able to recreate since.
So if you take away one half of the central relationship that made the first game so memorable, and the supernatural power/game mechanic that made it so fun to play... why even bring Max back at all? It just feels like D9 threw away their golden opportunity to build upon the major selling points of the first game and are only relying on name recognition of the Life is Strange "brand" and Max Caulfield.
What upsets me most of all about a direct sequel existing is that it proves that Life is Strange, as a series, now stands more for profits than originality. Life is Strange will always be an IP meant to make money for Square, I know that, but back when LiS1 was just a brand new episodic game, it stood out for how different it dared to be. In a landscape saturated with shooters, sexualized female characters, and casual misogyny, LiS1 instead featured a teenage girl in a contemporary setting that took her seriously and made her the hero of her story. Before it was a franchise, LiS wasn't concerned with the bottom dollar; it was a piece of art that just wanted to tell a thoughtful, unique story.
Whether you love it or hate it, Life is Strange 2 was an insanely risky follow-up to Life is Strange that refused to rely on the convenience of a direct sequel because Dontnod stuck to their artistic vision. Meanwhile, all of Deck Nine's games have leaned on the first game's following to generate interest (BtS being a direct prequel, TC bringing back Steph, and Wavelengths expanding on Steph's connection to Chloe, Rachel, and Arcadia Bay). In other words, all of the subsequent LiS games by D9 have played it very, very safe. It's worked like a damn charm because there are still elements I love about each game, but the basic principle is nostalgia-baiting fans. It's just that now, Double Exposure isn't hiding that nostalgia bait at all anymore and prioritizing profits over telling a unique story. It's sad to see that LiS has strayed so far from its risky, daring, original, and unique artistic beginnings.
Before I end, I'll say that I can't be too cynical about it all, nor do I want to be. Because I can't deny how much joy this whole series has brought me, too. LiS was what got me into narrative adventure games and pushed the boundaries of what a video game could be. If nothing else, I am truly thrilled that Hannah Telle got the chance to play Max again. D9's always been great at maintaining relationships with their actors, and the casts of their games always have consistently great chemistry. Getting recognized by Erika Mori on my own blog is still unbelievable and speaks to the amazing community that LiS has built. As you can see, I'm still posting and reblogging stuff about Double Exposure. And while I don't see myself buying or playing this game for myself, I know it'll keep all of us talking for awhile, and I still live for a good discussion.
Thank you for asking! And thank you for reading.
#lis2#lis#lisde#life is strange#life is strange double exposure#life is strange: double exposure#life is strange 2#life is strange before the storm#chloe price#max caulfield#rachel amber#pricefield#my post#answered asks#daraactualtrash#rad mutuals#lis: de
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Hello :) My request is MC/Yuu overblotting- but not with magic! What I picture is them having a nervous breakdown. It starts off with them hyperventilating and being unresponsive. Then it devolves into them screaming their head off until their voice starts going hoarse and hitting anyone who tries to touch them. Maybe even throwing and destroying things. Afterwards, they refuse to speak to Crowley- even avoiding him- due to his role in their breakdown. In my mind their breakdown is caused by long term stress and triggered by Crowley telling them that there is no way for them to go home.
YES
I love this idea, it's been bouncing around in my brain for so long <3
TW // Harsh language, violent depicitions, graphic metaphors, ANGST
Uhhhh, I took some creative liberties here and there, so some things (mainly regarding Idia and Malleus because I haven't gotten up to their books in the game and refuse to look up spoilers LMAO) may not be 100% canon oopsies!
︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶
You were starting to feel exhausted.
Well, that was an understatement, You had felt exhausted ever since you arrived at NCR...but this feeling was something slightly different. It was like a nagging sensation, yet also like some sort of wet rag placed over your mind at the same time. It was concerning, to say the least, but it was something you would have to shrug off until you could find the free time to fix it.
Which most likely wouldn't be anytime soon, knowing how the days went for you.
Grim was always priority number one. Keeping him out of trouble meant constantly keeping an eye on him, de-escalating any fights that he might try to kick up if left alone for a single moment. And since the two of you were technically one student, that meant that his grades were yours. Even though he was the only one out of the both of you that could use magic, he still slacked off at every turn, which left you to straighten every corner he tried to cut, finish every project that he wrote one sentence on and left, finish every alchemy potion he left bubbling on the cauldron, even if you had your own stuff to complete.
Then there were the tasks given to you by Crowley, your "ever so kind" benefactor. Despite his school getting you into this mess in the first place, Crowley considered it your fault, and as such, made you complete various chores to earn your weight around school. Which, paired with your classes, made for a day in and of itself. This isn't to include the yard-long to-do list he gave you at the start of every week, most of the points looking suspiciously like tasks the Headmaster was supposed to do himself...
And there were the students. Some you didn't know tried to kick up fights with you, knowing you couldn't use magic back on them. So you had to learn to avoid these students, or make sure you were always traveling with a friend. And as for your friends, every single one came to you with their problems day in and day out. A dorm dispute, so they needed to crash at Ramshackle for the night and eat all of your food. An overblot. More fights. Homework. Tutoring sessions. Projects they needed your help with.
You shook the thoughts out of your mind and continued walking to class with Grim, the Direbeast nestled in the crook of your arm as you balanced both yours and his schoolbooks in the other arm.
"And then, Ace was all like-" His voice sounded unusually high-pitched today. Or maybe that was just your imagination? Either way, it was giving you a headache.
"YN!" Another voice called out, the owner quickly jogging up to you. Ace and Deuce, ever the duo. You nodded your head at them in greeting, as Grim twisted his head around to look at them.
"Ace! Hah, I was just telling YN about what happened yesterday in the courtyard!" At the mention of the incident, Ace's face blanched, and the boy looked uncomfortable and ashamed.
"Oh, you mean with him and Professor Crewel?" Deuce spoke up, laughing already "Yeah, that was hilarious- remind me again, why exactly did he-"
"YN!" Now came one of the twins- normally you wouldn't have much of an issue telling them apart, but your head was starting to pound even harder now, making your vision a little blurrier. The fact that he didn't greet you with a nickname most likely meant that it was Jade.
"Oh...hey," You greeted, your brows furrowing from the pain in your head.
"Have you been to the greenhouse recently? I seem to have misplaced-"
"SHRIMPY" Ah, and there was twin number two. You felt your shoulders being constricted in a strong hug, much to Grim's dismay
"STAWPIT, YOU'RE CRUSHIN ME!" The Direbeast yowled, practically clawing himself out of your arms and jumping down onto the ground.
"Yo, YN, are you alri-" Ace started, but he, too, was interrupted
"YN!" Oh great! You recognized the Headmaster's annoying voice anywhere. And he waltzed up to you with all the elegance of an unpolished piece of charcoal, one hand reaching out to pull your arms free of Floyd's vice grip, and his other hand dropping a stack of papers into your now-outstretched arms. "Please, finish all of these by the end of this week, if you don't mind. It's papers for the senior's internships this year, and they need to be signed to be official, but I'm much too busy doing...other things...to be bothered."
"Are you still looking for a way to get me home?" You heard yourself mumble out loud, without even thinking of asking that question in the first place. But you had made it a habit to ask Crowley every time you saw him, so perhaps it was just muscle memory.
"Oh!" He chirped, straightening the front of his suit "Ah, yes, well, in my infinite wisdom, I have found out the reason to your barging in on our new-year's orientation, how you came to be here. But as for you returning, hmm, yes, I have managed to conclude that it is thoroughly impossible."
He said it so casually that it took you a moment to digest what had been said.
The students around you had gone silent, and you could feel their eyes all turning to you.
"What." Was all you could manage.
Crowley became increasingly uncomfortable, fidgeting with the watch he kept buttoned to his vest, then brushing off his front side, then folding his arms before repeating the process again "It is impossible to return you home, I'm afraid," he said with as much bravado as he could muster "Now, as for your stay here, since there is nothing left that I can do, you will need to continue to work for-"
Everything seemed to crumble around you in that exact moment. The feeling of damp, dreaded annoyance that had been bubbling up in the back of your mind all day came to the surface at once, and you couldn't help but slam your eyes shut tight against the world. You didn't want to see that damn Crow, you didn't want to see your friends, you didn't want to see anybody!
You opened your mouth to speak in that moment, dropping to your knees, but all that came out was a painful, sorrow-filled wail, so loud and so harsh that you could feel the inside of your throat shred with every passing second.
A puddle of black ink started to fill your mind's eye, growing larger and larger until it was all your brain could think of.
𓆩⟡𓆪
Every dorm in the school was based off of one of the Great Seven. All but for the Ramshackle dorm, a long-forgotten piece of trash that rested on the campus of the school rather than in its own pocket dimension like the others.
Every housewarden embodied the spirit of their designated Great.
Riddle Rosehearts idolized the Queen of Hearts, following every law she had set in her chaotic kingdom, becoming as strict and severe with the enforcement of rules as she was.
Leona Kingscholar was a second-born, raised in the shadow of his older brother and sneered at by his people, and now had to live with the knowledge that he would never be a ruler with the birth of his nephew.
Azul Ashengrotto was an octo-mer, much like the Sea Witch, who specialized in contracts with those who were less fortunate and needed a favor.
Jamil Viper, although not a Housewarden, technically, but some would argue that he deserved to be such, was a consultant for the person in charge- someone he viewed as daft and naive to the ways of the world.
Vil Schoenheit, a man who wanted nothing more than to be considered the "Fairest of All", unable to cope with the fact that there was one who might be better than he.
Idia Shroud, a "loner" by typical standards, was born from a family long cursed, a family seen as Pariahs due to their research and studies.
Malleus Draconia, a descendant of Faes, royalty, with horns that rivaled the Great Thorn Fairy's. Despite longing for human interaction, and simply to be included, he was shunned for his bloodline and odd actions.
But you, Prefect of Ramshackle dorm, had no one to model yourself after.
You were nobody.
Every Housewarden Overblotted, one after another, because they couldn't be the spitting image of the great Seven, because of pressure, because they didn't realize that they were only teenagers who didn't have to be perfect.
Riddle overblotted because he couldn't grasp the concept of being wrong. Leona, because he wouldn't be anything greater than a second-born scum. Azul, because all his work was shredded and he was left with no power to put him above those who bullied him years ago. Jamil, because he had enough of pretending to be someone he wasn't. Vil, because he couldn't admit that he wasn't perfect. Idia, because he wanted freedom. Malleus, because he was tired of himself and the hatred others showed him.
Which only left you.
Nobody.
The nobody who landed in this strange new world, a world in which everyone had magic...except for you. A world were you were less than. A world where you were treated like a burden, despite everyone laying all of their problems on you, demanding you fix them. A world where, no matter how hard you tried, you would always, always be less than.
A nobody.
𓆩⟡𓆪
Then entire campus of NCR shook with your rage and sorrow.
The students both outside and inside stopped, simultaneously looking at whoever was closest to them before running to the source of the wail.
Everyone was silent. What could they do?
It was an overblot, the school's nurse would officially state later, brought on by stress and pushing yourself past the limit. Although you had no magic to push yourself over the edge with, the sheer amount of mental exhaustion you were being put through would work just as well as an exertion of magic, if not more so. In the privacy of their rooms and dorms, assured that no prying ears would overhear them, the students agreed amongst each other that it was more terrifying of a sight than anyone else's overblot they've seen. Yours was one of pure emotion, without any magic to artifically amplify it. Pure and untainted.
And while anyone else who overblotted could only use their magic, you held something far more powerful.
You held the emotions of hundreds of students at NCR. The most top-notch mages and students look to you with a sense of reverence. Whether you knew it or not, you held the strings of the hearts of them all. With one single word, you could cause any of the Housewardens to level entire cities for you, if only to gain your approval. You held the strings of fate for them all, and your pain and suffering was enough to make the same Housewardens, and anybody else who knew you closely- or even in passing- unable to use their magic for weeks after your breakdown.
They just...couldn't seem to use it. It was as if their magic were broken.
When you ran out of breath, finally getting all of your anger out of your system, you inhaled shakily, putting trembling hands on the ground to steady yourself.
When you opened your eyes, the first thing you saw was a speckle of blood on the concrete below you, where your screams had caused your throat to crack and shred. You could see people in your peripheral vision, your friends, not one of them moving towards you.
Directly in front of you, looking as if he were about to make a run for it, was none other than Dire Crowley. You could see the sky behind him, dark and grey. Was it that color before?
"I-" You started, your voice cracking, but nonetheless heavy with emotion. You stood up slowly, your knees buckling at first, but eventually letting you stand up to your full height. You stood as tall as you could, your shoulders straight and your eyes focused straight ahead, drilling a hole through Crowley's head. Your face was wet from tears, and more were threatening to spill, but you didn't care about that right now.
"I'm done with you, Crowley," You spat, your voice holding a level of hatred you didn't know was possible. "I'm done working to make up for your shit. I'm done risking my life for you when I'm defenseless, when I'm stuck in this god-damn world because of you!" You held up an accusing finger, taking a step forward to jab it in his chest. He stepped back, but you stepped forward again, keeping the distance between you two even.
"I never wanted to be here, yet you treat me like I'm some sort of burden who showed up at your door- you force me to work, force me to be the therapist for children who need fucking help! How many overblotting students have I saved, huh? How many of those were ones you ran from, ones you refused to help with?! When have you ever been on my side? When have you ever stopped to think not of yourself, but me? What about ME, you worthless piece of shit?!"
You took another shaky breath, wiping the blood gathering on your lips with your free hand.
Crowley let out a small breath as you lowered your finger, and you turned around in a small circle to look at the crowd of students surrounding you. There were your friends, some looking concerned, other terrified. Grim was being held by Ace in a comforting gesture, the cat-like beast shaking. Some of the students had unreadable looks on their faces. Others looked confused.
"I'm done." You hissed, half to yourself, and half to the students. Although it was low enough so only those a few feet away could hear you speak, the word got around quickly enough, and the throng of students began whispering amongst themselves.
You ignored the offers of helps from your friends, and stormed off, back to the Ramshackle dorm, house of Nobody.
Ruled by Nobody.
︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶
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. ݁₊ ✶ MY MHA DR . ݁ ˖ˎˊ˗
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Kayama Hiromi, niece of Midnight, aspiring hero-in-training. She has known Bakugou Katsuki and Midoriya Izuku since they were young, and constantly intervenes whenever Katsuki decides to bully Izuku, much to the former's irritation. Despite that fact, he is still friends with her, and they train together religiously, both striving for the #1 hero spot.
Throughout the years, Hiromi has honed her quirk, Zoomorphosis, and can use it efficiently. She passed the entrance exam easily, and was admitted into Class 1A. There she meets her old friends – including Izuku, much to her surprise – and made some new ones, growing especially close with Sero Hanta. The two of them bonded over their shared love of Spiderman, becoming fast friends.
quirk summary:
Zoomorphosis allows its user to morph their body into an animal's, taking upon desired traits and abilities. It is a transformation type quirk, and requires its user to have the comprehensive knowledge of the animal beforehand in order for the body to shift to that form (e.g. how claws are formed, how canines would elongate). Not only that, if it is the first time the user tries to shift, intense visualisation and focus is required, for an incomplete shift may occur.
Extra practice is required for the user to transform partially, but all transformations are stored via muscle memory, and can be activated at a moment's notice when done right.
When Zoomorphosis is used over a long period of time, there may be a buildup of animal hormones in the body, causing the user to be stuck in a semi-transformed form till the hormones have been metabolised. some instances include: wings not retracting, the lower half of the face stuck as a snout, patches of skin stuck as animal hide.
most notable usages of Zoomorphosis are:
Hiromi using crocodile skin to withstand Katsuki's explosions while sparring;
Hiromi using scorpion book lungs to avoid breathing in Midnight's sleeping gas
Hiromi adapting the glands of her wrist to shoot out spiderwebs
(some) changes i've made to canon:
note: i have ditched canon almost completely and just kept what i like. i have only watched mha till season 6, and could only sit all the way till around season 4-5 when i rewatched it – i couldn't put myself through watching everything after. honestly, i'd rather watch a whole season of filler episodes when it comes to mha. i AM kinda aware of what happens in the epilogue though.
revised some deaths... (e.g. toga, tenko, touya/ dabi, MIDNIGHT, maybe twice, etc.)
changed hero rankings... (mr. bakugou katsuki is the #1 hero, followed be me, shoto, etc.)
make it a LOT less depressing... (basically whole arcs are taken away, and that includes a lot of the violent and (in my words) 'depressing' plotlines.)
changed villains' backstories and endings... (e.g. dabi isn't dead/ in a coma and though the physical damage done to endeavour is still the same, he has also lost the respect and admiration from the public and his team, etc. and he is now forced to rely on whatever money he had from before to support himself – like paying for a caretaker – because i am NOT sentencing rei to that)
and a lot more. (canon is so mangled at this point, just consider this an au (which it technically is LMAO))
notes: this is like a brief intro – i doubt i'll expand on this one a lot here but my script's been ready since 2022-2023 so here! i scripted out mineta and took his place in class 1A. though i know some people keep him around for comic relief, just watching him in the show makes me super uncomfortable. while yes, i can script that away too, it feels weird keeping someone who is basically an author self-insert (on mineta's page, horikoshi self-proclaims himself a "pervert" and basically said as such [my interpretation]) made to creep on his female characters.
divider credits: @/strangergraphics
#row's grove#mha dr#my hero academia dr#dr intro#reality shifter#shiftblr#shifting#shifting community#reality shift#reality shifting#shifting antis dni#shifting blog#desired reality#shifters#shifting consciousness#shifting realities#shifting reality#shifting motivation#shiftingrealities
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October Sun
summary: it had been settled. everything had gone to shit and then everyone had had front row seats to watch how that'd happened. back in the theater, no one had known what to say, how to describe what they'd seen, how to reconcile that whoever had been behind the circumstances haunting Split River High could've been anyone.
pairing: Wally Clark x fem!reader
warnings: eventual smutty smut smut. mad spoilers. and obvious Canon divergence. very involved, very dense plot.
bon reading, frens
___________________________💀
OCTOBER SUN pt.27
"Love this for me."
Charley scanned the area, confused, disoriented, nervous. We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto, he shuddered, wrapping his jacket tighter around himself as he began to trek in the direction he hoped would take him back to civilization.
This wasn't how he imagined finally being free from the school. Lost in the middle of nowhere, dense trees as far as the eye could see. There weren't many wooded areas around Split River. A couple of parcels here and there, wilderness parks, but not like this, and he had to wonder if the forest was actually native to the land.
Finally, he found a trodden path in the dirt and decided to follow it. What did he have to lose? There was no danger. He couldn't die twice. Food, sleep, shelter weren't required despite he and the others keeping up those habits in the afterlife at Mr. Martin's guidance. Still, what you'd mentioned on the rooftop the night before—about how your great aunt or your mother could blast his soul into oblivion—made Charley paranoid.
What if he'd landed here just for an evil witch to use his ghost for some nefarious plan to make her young and beautiful again? He'd seen Hocus Pocus. And it didn't matter that he was technically too old for that spell to work. He was stuck at 17 until he moved on and he wasn't keen on having a wicked witch absorb him for the sake of vanity.
Which, okay, Charley reasoned, sounded ridiculous, but one couldn't blame him. After a tornado had manifested in the theater and he'd been transported to some creepy, dark forest alone; he wasn't going to criticize himself for the insane theories his brain churned out.
He followed the path until it brought him to a winding, unpaved road. Turning left, he trailed down the edge of it for what felt like hours. It'd started raining halfway through his journey to wherever the hell, and night had fallen before the road widened into a bare plot of land stretched in front of a dilapidated farmhouse, its shadow a fanged monster raking toward Charley's ankles.
"Oh, that's not freaky at all." Charley muttered, quickly glancing over his shoulder and debating whether or not to go back the way he'd come. The darkness blurring the unpaved road seemed to push toward him as if discouraging him from turning around. He groaned in despair, "I hate everything about this," wanting the universe to take pity on him and return him to—God help him—the safe and familiar halls of Split River High.
It was Movie Night, he winged internally, and Wally had agreed (with conditions) to watch Ghost—shut up—and Katelynn and Bernadette were in charge of snacks which meant there'd be a smorgasbord of good options because Mr. Martin always filled the table with carrot sticks and his homemade tuna salad ("Just like my mother's! Doesn't it taste like home?"—"Why is it encased in jell-o?"—the 50s were a heinous decade, Charley thought, green around the gills at the memory).
Today was supposed to be a good day. A day of progress. A day of togetherness. He and Rhonda and Wally, and now Maddie, a united front against the mystery of Maddie's.....well, not "death", Charley supposed, because you'd debunked that. But against the mystery of Maddie's situation, nonetheless. Except he was here, wet and cold and lost; an Addams Family-esque farmhouse towering in front of him like a bad omen and no one to turn to for answers.
"It can't get worse," Charley sighed, about to ascend the first of the front steps.
As his foot set down on the wood, the screen door creaked and someone emerged, using their back to push the door open so they could exit. When they turned around, Charley nearly jumped for joy. He knew that face! That was your face! Your face... Charley reeled back. Your face was coated in blood. You were coated in blood. Hair, hands, jeans.
"What happened!?" He questioned, pitching toward you to scan you for injuries. You didn't seem to be in any pain, not favoring a leg or curling over a gut wound. Beneath the thin red film on your face, Charley couldn't spot a gash, a cut, a scrape, nothing. He panned to the front door, speculating in startled flashes what lay beyond it. The color drained from his face as he thought about it and he decided, no thanks, he didn't want—didn't need—to know.
The most unnerving part, however, wasn't the Evil Dead amount of blood on you. It was how your eyes stared ahead, completely blank; the same dissociative gaze Charley had witnessed on Emilio's face in the wake of Charley's death. Like Emilio's mind had evaporated while his brain repressed every bad thing that'd ever happened just to keep him upright.
Charley wanted to ask if you were okay but the words lodged in his throat when he finally noticed that you had something—someone—bundled in your arms. Small, child-sized (probably because it was a child, Charley, he chided himself), wearing Spiderman rainboots and a Looney Tunes sweater. A queasy sensation flushed through him as he watched you fumble down the stairs, gaze fixed ahead, arms fastened around the little body.
When Charley shifted to follow you, the screen door creaked again then slammed closed. Another person hurried out, clomping down the steps to chase after you. Small. Child-sized. Spiderman rainboots and a Looney Tunes sweater. Charley's expression twisted with sorrow. He bit the inside of his lip as he turned and walked beside the little boy who contemplated his boots as he squelched through the mud.
"Where are we going?" The little boy asked you, stomping into and out of a puddle.
You answered, "I'm taking you home," your voice light as a feather and far, far away.
"Will mommy be mad at me?" The little boy paused, big green eyes on your back, worried that he'd be in trouble for...for what? Charley couldn't discern. For dying?
"No." You said, dragged your feet with effort, your Converse not made for soft, sinking ground. "She'll know what to do. She'll make it all better, Aiden, I swear." On the last word, your voice cracked, but your face didn't change, your gaze still distant.
Charley kept pace with the little boy, Aiden, until you came to the end of the unpaved road. You were shaking, probably freezing, soaked to the bone and in shock. The unpaved road intersected a tarred section of old, narrow highway, a rusted mailbox keeping vigil in the tall grass that lined the shoulder. Part of the name was scraped away by time and weather. Still, Charley could make it out: Meheive. A name Charley had had hammered into his skull in Grade 7 History. The name of one of the four industry men who'd founded Split River in 1850.
"Oh," He commented mildly, "It gets freakier. Fantastic." Then, as he lifted his foot to continue after you, he simply couldn't. He tried again, again, again, walked in place as if on a treadmill while an invisible force kept him at bay. "Never mind," He gulped, "Now it's freakier." At least he wasn't being shot back to the cafeteria at speed, he mused glumly when he took the time to feel the identical vibrations he felt when he got too close to the one around the school.
Slanting his attention to the side, he saw Aiden standing alone, face pinched, lower lip trembling and eyes filled with tears. "Sissy May, wait... I can't follow you..." He stuttered several breaths, hands balled into fists at his sides. "Sissy May!"
You didn't turn around. "It'll be okay, Aiden. Mom will fix it. She'll know what to do." Charley heard you murmur, dreamlike, detached, as you began to walk along the shoulder of the highway, adjusting Aiden's weight in your arms. "She'll fix it..."
Charley came up beside Aiden, watching you blend into the dark the further away you got. Aiden sniffled, squeaked before he coughed out a sob. He craned his neck to look up at Charley in devastation. Briefly, Charley was surprised though that settled into sympathy the longer Aiden blinked those green eyes up at him.
"I don't want to be alone," Aiden whimpered and took Charley's hand, his grip limp, his fingers tiny.
There was nothing to say to that. Charley didn't want Aiden to be alone either, and if he had to stay with Aiden for eternity, he would. He knelt down and pulled Aiden into a hug, his voice wet as he said, "You aren't alone, buddy," the way he would've comforted his younger cousin, Luca.
Unfortunately, the moment the words slipped out of him, Charley was snatched away and dragged through the farmhouse door.
‗‗‗‗•‗‗‗‗
Where Charley couldn't follow, Ajay did. Down the shoulder of the unlit highway, stomach rolling as he observed how you swayed and stumbled as you pressed onward, Aiden's dead weight becoming more and more difficult to manage. A car had stopped, a woman had called out to you, and Ajay had heard her on the phone with the police, asking for help.
It was as if you hadn't heard her. Ajay doubted you had, the state you were in, mumbling gentle promises to your brother as you carried him home. "Mom will know what to do, Aiden..."
Twenty minutes came and went before an ambulance and two squad cars screeched to a halt meters in front of you, lights flashing, red blue, red blue, red blue. When the EMTs tried to take Aiden from you, you put up a fight; kicked, gnashed, snarled, screamed. Not words, just noise, like a provoked animal. Deputy Baxter managed to get you in a submissive hold so an EMT could sedate you before he helped settle you into a stretcher. Strapped you in, just in case, the corners of his mouth severely turned down and his eyes shuttered to conceal the heartbreak Ajay had caught a glimmer of.
"Take them to St. Vincent's." Deputy Baxter instructed the ambulance driver. "I'll call their mother." He moved on to order the second unit that'd arrived with him to follow the ambulance, that he would check the road, "For anything that'll tell us what the hell happened here."
"Noah, are you sure you want to do it alone? If someone's responsible, they could still be out there. They could be armed." Deputy Hayes voiced her concern through the passenger-side window. She was new, too new to understand a protocol had been established between Deputy Baxter and Sheriff Stallow when it came to your family. A grandfathered in whatever it takes that often involved doing things off-book.
Deputy Baxter shook his head and reassured, "I'm just going to see what I can find along the road. If anything comes up, I'll call it in." He straightened and peered down the highway in the direction you'd obviously come from, a deep-seated foreboding frosting beneath his skin.
He was at a crossroads, his gut told him. Something terrible waited for him in the dark and whatever choice he made to deal with it would change his life forever. Damned if he did, damned if he didn't. He just prayed to God that he'd still be able to be there for his own little boy in the after. That he'd have the chance to hug Xavier and tell him the world might not be safe, but his dad will always be there to protect him.
In the side mirror of his vehicle, Deputy Baxter stared at the retreating image of the ambulance and squad car as they blared down the highway toward the town. Once the sound of the sirens faded, he shifted the gear into drive, gravel crunching under the tires, and he drove to the only building in the area for miles.
Once Deputy Baxter was gone, Ajay vanished through the farmhouse door.
‗‗‗‗•‗‗‗‗
Question Five.
Does the Monster die?
‗‗‗‗•‗‗‗‗
Simon's eyes flew open and he jolted upright, waking abruptly in a cold sweat. The sky was dark outside his window, his room pitched black, and his mom was tugging at his shirt. He barely registered her words, you told the police you'd return the phone tonight, get up, as she fussed over him, fuming, lecturing him in Tagalog as she switched on the overhead light and pinned him with a strict expression.
He scrubbed his face to wake himself up. Dragged his hands through his hair, eyes drifting to his closet. He could've sworn... Hadn't there been...? The door was open and, apart from the two rails of clothes and the shoe rack, it was empty.
"Hurry up, iho! Before your father gets home." His mom commanded before she turned on her heel and left the room.
In English, Simon responded, "I'm going, I'm going..." and rose from his bed. He felt weak, exhausted despite having apparently slept through the day. Again, his gaze settled on his closet as if the person who'd been crying in there had just tucked themselves in the corner and would pop out any second now that the coast was clear.
But nothing happened.
Taking a deep breath, Simon stood and treaded to his closet. Just to make sure; just to see if it had really all been a dream. There was nothing inside to indicate anyone had been hiding there. No displaced clothes to suggest Simon had shoved them aside to get a better look at the little boy who'd quivered beside the shoe rack. No puddle from the rain that had dripped from the little boy's hair and Spiderman rainboots. No scuff marks in the carpet. No mud. No little boy.
"She's gonna hurt him," The little boy wailed into Simon's hip. "She's gonna take him and she's gonna hurt Sissy!"
Simon tripped backward, away from the closet, breath suddenly ragged as the memory flooded his mind. Because it had to be that. A memory. He'd had vivid dreams before, but never like that. He could still feel the little boy's tight grip around his waist, could still feel the wet and cold of the little boy's body through his Looney Tunes sweater when Simon had instinctually returned the embrace.
"She wants t'take them!" The little boy sniffed thickly, "You gotta help! You can't let her!" And then he added as if he'd been reprimanded enough times by his mommy, imploring "Pleeease!"
"Who are you talking about?" Simon asked. Leaned back and crouched so he was eye-level with the little boy, his hands holding the little boy's boney shoulders, "Who's going to get hurt?"
Simon grabbed his sweater and his car keys, calling out, "I'll be back soon," to his mother who'd installed herself in front of Wheel of Fortune. He had to get to the school. He had to see Maddie. To tell her what he'd dreamt or prophesized or hallucinated because, guess what, he'd apparently graduated from unwitting medium to Nostradamus.
As he trotted down the front walkway, he checked his phone. 7 missed calls from Nicole. 2 missed calls from Mathilda. 3 texts from Nicole asking the same question—are you okay?—and a novel from Mathilda that detailed the lessons he'd missed and what he'd have to make up over the weekend, but don't worry, I'll help you. And 1 text from you. Short and sweet, sent that morning just after Simon had returned home from the police station.
"We found something to get Mr. A. I'll meet you at the bus stop when you get here."
Simon hoped it wasn't too late. That you'd stayed behind to wait for him even though he hadn't answered you. Unlikely, but he tried to remain optimistic, even as he took a moment to collect himself once behind the wheel of his car. That dream...it lingered like a bruise.
The little boy's voice stuttered through rough breaths, "Sh-she said because M-Maddie's gone, she needs s-someone else now and that she still wants Sissy. But she can't do it w-without trapping more people."
Simon started the car and pulled into the road.
"What do you mean, 'gone'? You mean because Maddie died?" Simon pushed, but the little boy wasn't listening, sobbing about 'him' and 'Sissy' and how they were in danger. Simon grabbed the little boy's face between his palms, soft but firm, and god, his cheeks were so cold. He looked the boy straight in the eye, "What can't 'she' do without trapping more people?"
He rolled down the window to let the fresh air soothe his anxiety.
Eventually, the little boy quieted though tears continued to stream down his face, "She can't have a new body." He said in a little voice. "Now she needs more people because Maddie got away."
And what the gentlest fuck did that mean?
Simon still didn't know who the 'Sissy' and 'him' were that the little boy had referred to. The little boy had been too distressed to divulge their names, talking as if Simon should already know everything. Just 'Sissy' and 'him'. 'Sissy' and 'him' and Maddie and someone named Janet. Did Simon know a Janet? He wracked his brain, trying to summon the names of everyone in his class who could have a connection to Maddie's death. There was a Jessica and a Jennifer and a Jayden. No Janet.
Then there was the matter of 'she' wanting a new body. Because that was sane. And impossible. Right...? Fuck, what if Maddie's death had been some nutcase's idea of a ritual sacrifice. What if another teenage girl was about to be murdered because, lo and behold, magic isn't real and Maddie just died instead of ceding her body.
The devil on Simon's shoulder quipped, "But ghosts are real," which, fair. If ghosts were real, surely they weren't the only eldritch phenomenon to exist in the world. Maybe there were cursed mummies or body snatching aliens out there scheming to take over America via its youth. No child left behind. Jesus Christ. Simon was spiraling, brain spitting random images of every creature feature he'd ever seen at him. Had the little boy been trying to warn Simon about mummies? Aliens? Was. it. aliens!?
As he stopped at a pedestrian crosswalk, he stared—definitely too intensely—at the young woman who passed in front of his car. Like he could see straight to her bones and determine whether or not she was really human. The woman picked up her pace, shoulders up, head down, and folded her leather jacket tighter around her.
Don't be suspicious, Simon, he admonished himself, ashamed of his behavior, eyes darting to his lap until the woman was safely on the other side of the road. "What even is my life anymore?" He wallowed. Ghosts and Mystery Inc. side-quests and pinning crimes on teachers. He felt he'd lived a hundred lifetimes in the last week and was seriously considering becoming a hermit the minute Maddie moved on.
There wouldn't be much reason to stick around after that anyway...
‗‗‗‗•‗‗‗‗
Mina Volkov hadn't left the theater since 1987. She was a looper. She performed the same tasks every day, from morning to night to morning. She didn't sleep. She didn't eat—except for the paper bag lunch she'd brought with her the day she'd died. She didn't stray. Mina had to make sure that what had happened to her wouldn't happen to someone else.
There was safety in her loop. Not just for the living students she protected through her hard work, but for herself. Her loop allowed her mind to remain clear, focused entirely on the task at hand. She didn't have to think or reflect or question why her soul had lingered after being squashed by a stage light. Rhonda had called it denial when she'd visited Mina a week after Mina's death. Rhonda had been sizing Mina up, prodding and poking to see how Mina would react.
Mina had simply gone about her safety checks and Rhonda had eventually gotten bored. And had never come back.
Sometimes, her loop veered off-course. Sometimes Mr. Martin came to check on her. Just to say hi. Never to invite her to those stupid meetings he hosted in the gym. The ones Ajay attended and would tell Mina about later when they picnicked on the stage or between kisses in the green room.
She liked Ajay. He was kind and thoughtful, and he respected her loop. He didn't complain when she prioritized double-checking the lighting cables and tightening ropes and cordage for the dropdown scenery. He'd simply sit and talk to her. Recite poetry or passages from books she never intended to read. Ajay was smart. Ajay was handsome. Ajay was...
Ajay was comatose. Slumped on the floor along with the others, his face, like theirs, twisted in anguish. Whatever measures Mina used to wake him up didn't work and she had no idea how to help. But she knew she needed to. Not because New Girl had brought Mina flowers. Or because Hawaiian Shirt Man had caused her so many headaches since the start of the school year and they'd found something to make him stop banging around under the stage. But because Ajay needed Mina to be brave.
He needed help and she was going to help him. Which meant Mina had to leave the theater. She had to find Mr. Martin.
Though Ajay often thought Mina didn't listen when he spoke, he was wrong. She held onto every word like a treasure that she'd tuck away in her heart and savor in the moments she was alone. Mr. Martin took his privacy in the fallout shelter in the basement. Mina had been there before she'd died. Several times, in fact. It'd been an opening night ritual conducted an hour before curtain. The cast and crew piled downstairs and hid in the fallout shelter to pass around a spliff.
No, Mina hadn't partaken, much too responsible, but she'd wanted to participate in some way even if that was just being there. She'd wanted to feel like part of the group when she'd so often felt like an outsider the actors and other crew members made fun of, "for being so snooty and uptight, God, Mina, chill out."
Standing slowly, Mina regarded the theater door. Her heart slammed against her ribs, palms clammy as she tightened and loosened her fists. A comforting motion to calm her nerves as she stepped carefully to the door and placed her hand on the exit bar.
Mina hadn't left the theater since 1987. But today, she would.
For Ajay.
She spilled into the hall, the world spinning in her panic, and took off at speed to the other side of the school. Down two flights of stairs, through the door that led to the basement.
Most of the basement had been bricked off which had narrowed the hallway, making it feel like a catacomb. Poorly lit and spooky. The fallout shelter was at the far end, directly below the gym. Its vault door was open as Mr. Martin usually kept it. A practical solution given how regularly he had to come and go during office hours.
It hadn't been his idea originally. No. It'd been hers. The woman currently speaking through the janitor's mouth as she stared Mr. Martin down.
"I've had someone canvas the area and several others every night since that traitorous little bitch escaped." Mr. South stated, "There's no sign of her."
Helplessly, Mr. Martin explained for the second time, "I don't know what you want me to do, Amelia. I've done everything you asked me. I'm doing what I can to keep the kids present, like you said, and I need to concentrate on that. I've already noticed a shift in sentient ones since Maddie joined us."
Mr. South—Amelia—snarled, "I'm not asking you to participate in a search and seize, Everett. I simply want you to tell me where that conniving piece of shit would have gone! She confided in you, you told me that. So, tell. me. where she's most likely to go!"
Mr. Martin shook his head, a cowardly expression miring his face, "I've told you everything I know, Amelia, please. I've given you her notes, her journal. Every piece of information I had is already in your hands."
Quite unexpectedly, a frightened voice interrupted from the vault door, "Mr. Martin?"
Mr. Martin whipped his head to the side, his eyes going wide in panic when he saw Mina stood just over the threshold, inside the fallout shelter. She looked ashen. Scared. Shaking like a leaf in the wind. Her brown eyes slid away from Mr. Martin's face to rest on Mr. South for a second before returning to Mr. Martin.
Mr. Martin swallowed, opened his mouth to say something, anything to explain why he was mid-conversation with the live and well school janitor, when suddenly it didn't matter anymore. Mr. Martin choked as he watched Mina glance down her body. Her chest seared like paper in a candle flame. She looked back up, fear contorting into betrayal, before she quietly burned away into oblivion.
Unable to reconcile what he'd witnessed, Mr. Martin merely stared at the spot Mina had just been standing, expression slack in horror. His chest rose and fell heavily, "Why?" he rasped, and it took every ounce of self-preservation not to lash out.
Behind him, Amelia lowered Mr. South's hand, scoffing, "Oh, don't look so sad, Everett. She didn't feel a thing," but Mr. Martin didn't believe it. Still, he was too intimidated to argue. He knew what Amelia was capable of and he didn't want to be on the wrong end of her wrath.
Virtuously, Amelia commented, "You'll have to find me another to replace that one. So, two more, I suppose,. And we need someone to step in for Janet," breezy, as if she'd killed nothing more than a house fly. "And soon. We can't have any more delays." In Mr. South's lumbering body, she picked across the floor like a debutante, "Time is running out." She finished, already out the vault door and returning Mr. South's body to the storage room Mr. South used as his office.
Alone in the fallout shelter, Mr. Martin buckled to his knees.
‗‗‗‗•‗‗‗‗
Operating with half his mind still on aliens and mummies, Simon waited in the bus shelter. He was grateful you hadn't left, had responded to the text he'd sent when he'd arrived at the school: "See you in 5," you'd told him. At the metal crack of the side entrance opening, Simon stood up from the bench and faced the school. He frowned when he saw who emerged.
Steps uneven, Xavier exited the school. He stopped when he noticed Simon, stood still like a deer in headlights. Damn, Xavier looked like his whole world had been turned upside down. More so than it already had been, that was. Pale and bug eyed and jittery. They watched each other for a moment. Simon nodded his head in greeting. Xavier didn't return the gesture.
Instead, he lifted the hood of his sweater and turned toward the parking lot, skulking off with his head down. A minute or so later, the door opened again and this time it was you. And Maddie. Together. Followed by a tall guy in a varsity jacket, a girl in a newsboy cap, and a boy with frosted tips wearing a Canadian tuxedo. The trio of strangers stayed by the door to watch as you and Maddie—together—approached Simon.
When you and Maddie were within earshot, Simon said, "Okay. What the hell is this?"
You at least had the decency to look apologetic.
"So you can see ghosts." Simon stated, irritated.
"So can you." You shot back, but it didn't sound like your heart was in it. In fact, you looked just as rattled as Xavier had when he'd come out of the school.
Although he wanted to chew you out for having lied to him, Simon wanted to make sure, "Are you alright?" His demeanor softened as he took you in. Puffy eyes, flushed cheeks, red nose. You'd been crying. And Simon would never be angry enough to let that trump being there for a friend who needed him. He bundled you into a hug, one hand rubbing your back, and asked Maddie with his eyes what was wrong.
In his periphery, he saw Varsity straighten and move to take a step forward. His friends each grabbed an arm and appeared to shut whatever idea he'd had down because he shifted back before shaking them off.
Urgently, Maddie told Simon they'd discuss everything, "Later," and ushered him back into the bus shelter. He kept an arm slung around your shoulders, a shoulder to lean on, though had to release you when you decided to lean against the interior glass. Simon took what was becoming his usual seat on the concrete base and Maddie folded herself onto the bench.
When neither you nor Maddie spoke, Simon took the lead, "Mr. Anderson totally played us," he began, glancing between you and Maddie. "I mean, the cops are convinced I helped Maddie run away."
Maddie immediately defended, "Seriously? That's—"
"I know. They only let me come back here because I promised I'd get Anderson's phone and turn it in."
You cleared your throat, "Okay, well, before you do that..."
Maddie continued where you trailed off, "I think we might've found something that can help maybe keep the cops off your back." She fished something out of her back pocket and handed it to you which you, in turn, handed to Simon.
Stunned, Simon gawked at the piece of paper, eyes darting between it, you, and Maddie several times before finally resting on the paper. "We're just...not going to acknowledge how insane this is?" He sputtered, flapping the paper to indicate what he meant.
"Just go with it for now, Si." Maddie implored, "Let's take down Mr. Anderson first."
"Yeah," Simon agreed and examined the paper. It was a receipt for new band uniforms. He pulled out his phone when Maddie informed him he'd have to call the company the receipt was from and punched in the number. As the line connected, Simon cast to the three people at the school entrance. "Quick question, and not to alarm anyone, but who are they?" He asked as he waited for someone to answer the phone.
You and Maddie looked to the three people then at each other, Simon, the three people, each other, and ended with open-mouthed stares at Simon.
"They're dead, aren't they?" Simon deadpanned. You and Maddie nodded. Simon kissed his teeth. "Of course they are."
‗‗‗‗•‗‗‗‗
After all was said and done, Simon had watched Wally—the tallest of the three ghosts Simon had seen outside—drape his varsity jacket over your shoulders and stamp a kiss to your head. Simon had seen Wally hold you protectively in the wake of Simon's impassioned announcement to the table of Split River High staff.
He'd heard Wally whisper comforting words and stroke your cheek with his thumb and, wow, you hadn't been joking about saving yourself for the hot ghost on campus.
It was a mindfuck, to be sure, but Simon adjusted. Or he was in shock. Toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe. Wally had mentioned to the group at large as they huddled in the hallway that he and Charley—Canadian tuxedo—had needed to go lest Mr. Martin—whoever that was—get suspicious of their absence at Movie Night. Which could've been dead dove, do not eat, or could've been ghost code for watching the living go to the bathroom.
"Dude, we don't do that." Wally had cringed, offended.
Charley had raised his brows in consideration, "Well, not all of us."
Simon was beginning to double-down on putting together a personal bestiary à la Teen Wolf just to aid him in navigating this shitshow.
Afterward, you, Simon, and Maddie had holed away in a classroom to watch Mr. Anderson be escorted into the back of a squad car. In a line at the window. Discussing in solemn tones what you and Maddie had seen in the theater. How it related to Mr. Anderson. How whoever was behind Maddie's death—no, not death, Simon emended, since you'd brought him up to speed. How whoever was behind Maddie's missing body could be literally anyone. That was if Maddie's circumstances were related to the terrors you and she had experienced in the theater earlier.
"What do you think's gonna happen?" Maddie asked faintly as she watched the deputy close the back door of the squad car.
"He'll be questioned," Simon said. "Probably arrested."
Angry, Maddie replied, "But not for abduction. Not for bodily injury." A weighted pause. "I swear to God, if he did this to me over some stupid band uniforms..."
His voice tinged with hope, "Maybe he'll confess."
"Or," Maddie offered the alternative, "You'll hand that phone over to the cops and we'll never know who he was working with. Or why he said he gave me money... I'll never know what really happened to me."
Maddie turned. As soon as she settled against the windowsill, you shuffled closer to her and put a supportive arm around her shoulders. Fuck if that didn't make Simon's heart ache. He wanted so badly to be the one to do that for her. To be there for her. To comfort her.
"We'll figure it out, Mads." You reassured, though you still looked haunted.
"At least for now," Maddie said, gazing up at Simon, "some of the heat will be off you."
Her words struck Simon's soul. After everything she'd been through, she cared about what happened to him, and it made him yearn to show her how much that meant to him. Seeing you in Wally's varsity jacket gave him an idea. Slowly, he peeled off his sweater and hung it over the back of a chair. It wasn't enough, but at least he could do this.
"What are you doing?" Maddie asked.
Voice rough with emotion, Simon said, "I was thinking... I can't hug you, but my sweater can."
You hopped down from the windowsill and positioned yourself between Maddie and Simon, voice pitched just as low as Simon's as if not wanting to disturb the somber atmosphere that had befallen the classroom.
"I can do you one better." You said with a small smile and placed one hand on Maddie's shoulder. Your held out your other hand to Simon which he took, curious as to what you were going to do. It seemed Maddie knew because she came closer and then—god—she wrapped her arms around Simon and held him tight.
Without a second thought, Simon returned her embrace with his free arm, putting everything he had into it. All the grief, all the solace, all the love. He hiccupped a weak sound of overwhelm and pulled Maddie as close to himself as he could. She felt warm. Alive. Like she was right there in her body.
With wet eyes, Simon peeked up at you, "Thank you."
"You're my friend, Simon." You said easily, "I'd do anything for you in a heartbeat."
He dragged you into the hug; you and he and Maddie holding each other, leaning on each other, needing each other. And for that small segment of time, the weight of the world didn't feel so heavy.
‗‗‗‗•‗‗‗‗
Mr. Martin was surprised when Rhonda marched into the gym and pulled up a seat. It wasn't the first unusual thing Mr. Martin had noticed of his Support Group that night, though.
Something felt off. Ajay had been morose when he'd entered, but Bernadette and Katelynn had puppy piled him on the stack of gym mats and were comforting him with cuddles. Always upbeat and charismatic Wally had been reserved until halfway through the film. Perhaps he was truly taken by Demi Moore's performance, though Mr. Martin suspected there was more to it.
Charley hadn't made any sarcastic comebacks to Mr. Martin's purposefully cheesy jokes about the film before Mr. Martin had started it, either. Keeping an eye on Charley and Wally, Mr. Martin had entertained the idea that the two had had a falling out. Teenagers were fickle beings. Even those in their forties and fifties.
Of course, Mr. Martin could be seeing things that weren't there. Reading too much into every small shift in behavior because he'd been on edge since Amelia's impromptu visit. A shiver ran through him, cold as ice, as he recalled what he'd witnessed and what he'd been ordered to do.
Banishing the memory, he forced a smile to his face, "Rhonda. You usually boycott movie night."
Rhonda stiffened in her seat, gaze fixed determinedly on the screen even if it seemed to go against everything she believed in to do it.
"Is everything alright?" Mr. Martin probed when she didn't say anything. His first priority was always his students' wellbeing, no matter what Amelia felt about it.
Rhonda took her time to answer, but eventually, "I've been here for sixty years. Sixty graduations," She explained, jaw tense, as if her words were being forced out of her. Rhonda rarely shared and, when she did, she'd smother the sentiment beneath myriad barbed wire remarks and threatening stares so no one would examine what she'd revealed too closely.
As Rhonda disclosed what had motivated her to join Movie Night, Mr. Martin heard Amelia's voice in his head, "we need someone to step in for Janet."
"—I've made my peace with it because nothing changes...but now..." Mr. Martin listened, giving Rhonda his full, undivided attention. Rhonda didn't elaborate on how her views had shifted, rather redirecting to claim, "I know I'm not always a joiner but," her voice was raw, "I gotta get outta here."
She was outright doing her damnedest to hold back tears and it shook Mr. Martin to his core. The sight made Mina's image flash in his mind, the pain and fear in her eyes as she'd silently begged Mr. Martin to help her before being disintegrated into nothingness.
When Rhonda admitted, "I'm willing to try anything," Mr. Martin was brought back to the present, Mina fading from his mind. What Rhonda said next made his smile falter, a pang of regret in his heart. There was nothing else for it, his hand forced, because everything was easier when the participants were willing. But Rhonda needed to say it right. She needed to mean it without Mr. Martin's direct interference.
And, just like that, she did.
He ignored how his gut wrenched as he heard Rhonda speak into the air, "So, whatever you did to help Janet, I want in."
Mr. Martin felt Rhonda's words vibrate through the veil, the gears shifting as the pieces on Amelia's board were recast.
Mr. Martin forced another smile. However, turning back to the screen, his smile faded completely as Mina's final moments crowded his mind again. The fear. The helplessness. One of his students...gone. His conscience kicked and screamed and berated him. Challenged him. Brought his face right up to the hundreds of mistakes he'd made leading up to Mina's permanent erasure from this earth.
He'd had no choice, a milder, more detached part of him reminded, and it's too late to undo what'd already been done. There was no going back.
All Mr. Martin could do now was offer Rhonda his bowl of popcorn and tell her, "I'm glad to hear it."
💀___________fin.____________
PART TWENTY-SIX - OCTOBER MOON
also available on AO3!
MASTERLIST
#Milo Manheim#Wally Clark#Kristian Ventura#Simon Elroy#Peyton List#Maddie Nears#Spencer MacPhearson#Xavier Baxter#Charlie Morino#Nick Pugliese#Rhonda Botezatu#Sarah Yarkin#Mina Volkov#Zoe Christie#Wally Clark x Reader#fem!reader#Wally Clark smut#Wally Clark fanfiction#Milo Manheim fanfiction#School Spirits#zed necrodopolis#Disney Zombies#October Sun
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A Visitor
Someone from Simon's past comes knocking.
Word count: 1,480
Characters: Simon "Ghost" Riley, fem!reader (no use of y/n)
CW: Mentions of past abuse/DV
A/N: This is technically canon divergent since Simon's dad is presumed dead. Also I could have sworn his name was Lee in the comic but when I went back to check I couldn't find it, so it'll do.
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The knock at the door came at perhaps the worst possible time. Simon had dozed off watching rugby with the baby snoozing on his chest, one of his large hands plenty big enough to support her. The man was a notoriously light sleeper, and always vigilant, so it was nice to see him relaxed enough to doze off.
You hurried to the door, hoping against hope the knock didn’t wake the two sleeping beauties. You hadn’t been expecting company, so your secondary hope was that it wasn’t someone who wanted to linger. Upon opening the door, though, you froze, perplexed. Standing before you was someone you’d never seen before.
The man was old, but how old it was hard to say. His clothes were worse-for-wear and he looked like he hadn’t showered in days. The wrinkles in his face betrayed a permanent smirk. He was rough around the edges, not just in appearance but in the way he carried himself. You had half a mind to ask if he was there asking for charity, but the words stuck in your throat. Something about this man made the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.
“Can I help you?”
“Dame of the house, I presume?” The words were polite enough on their face, but something about the way he said them grated, as did the way his eyes raked over you as he said them.
“Yes. Can I help you?” you repeated, hoping to speed this interaction along.
“Name’s Lee Riley, here to see my son.”
The name wasn’t familiar, except for the surname. Dumbly, you blinked at the man for a few seconds before realization struck.
Oh.
Oh no.
Simon had inherited his mother’s warm brown eyes, but looking closely you were able to see traces of him in the man’s stature and bone structure. Standing before you wasn’t just any random person, but a monster you had heard about only in stories. You felt sick looking at that smirking face, knowing it was the same face Simon had to look at as a boy facing relentless abuse and terror.
Instinctively, you squeezed the door shut just a bit tighter, as if to barricade yourself in the house and keep him out. The two people you loved most in the world were inside, blissfully unaware of the piece of shit on your doorstep, and you intended to keep it that way.
“Get off my porch and never come back here.” You willed your voice not to betray how uneasy you felt. The man barked a snarling laugh.
“Ha! Mouthy bird my son went and found himself. Just like his old man.”
“He’s nothing like you,” you spat, your voice struggling not to rise alongside your temper. “And there’s nothing for you here, so get -”
A hand on your shoulder stopped you in your tracks. Simon stood behind you, the gurgling baby in his other arm. His eyes were fixed over your shoulder on his father, expression unreadable.
“Take her and go upstairs.” His tone was gentle, not a reproach but a warning to get far away from whatever was about to happen. You hesitated only a moment, silently praying for some way to save Simon from this confrontation. He spent so much of his life fighting against his father, against the beatings and the fear and the expectations that he’d grow up to be just like him. You were desperate, in that moment, to spare him one more fight. But one glance between the two men, at the stare-down they were having, made your shoulders sag in defeat. This was something that had to happen, and you and the baby being in the crossfire would only make it worse.
You lifted your daughter into your arms and made your way upstairs to the nursery. Once safely inside, surrounded by soft pink toys and blankets and baby books, you wanted to cry. Simon never got the opportunity to be soft, never got the tenderness he showed you and your baby. Getting out some blocks to let the baby play, you couldn’t help but wonder what was going on downstairs on the porch.
What you couldn’t see, what no one could see or hear, was the war that was going on inside Simon’s head as he took in the sight before him. The shriveled old man before him had once loomed so tall it seemed impossible to ever escape him. Now, half-bent and coming up to his son’s collarbone, it was almost laughable. This was the tyrant who robbed him and his brother of their childhoods; this was the coward who had beaten his sweet, joyful mother down into a zombie. He had seen her just now in your defensive posture, and something in him had gone scarily quiet. Ready. Eager, even.
He had done it once; bullied the bully and forcibly removed his father from the home, and he was all too ready to do it again. He was ready, in that moment, to do whatever it took to be the wall between this evil on his doorstep and the family he had built, that which he cherished above all else. The nerve of this piece of shit, the gall to show up out of the blue like this and contaminate the doorstep had Simon’s anger rising in a persistent wave.
“Why are you here?” His tone didn’t betray the storm of emotions roiling under his skin; he’d had that trained out of him long ago. He didn’t much care what the answer was. What he was really thinking was Say something. Try something. I dare you. I want you to. Let’s finish this.
“Can’t an old, sentimental man visit his son? The manners of your generation!” The man’s taunting expression and jeering tone were almost enough to get his face flattened into the ground. Almost.
“I’m no son of yours - you said that yourself. Now I suggest you take my wife’s advice and go back to whatever hole you crawled out of.”
“Wife! Atta boy,” the man cackled, barreling on and completely ignoring him. “And a tyke too. Taking after the old man after all, are we?”
Simon’s knuckles flexed. You were right when you said he was nothing like the man standing before him; he had worked hard to be sure of it. Every therapy session, every time he communicated with you when he was upset, every time he cooled off before arguing, every time he looked at his infant daughter and vowed silently to the universe to only ever show her safety and love, he was making sure of it. Every time he used his strength and brutality - perhaps the only gifts his father ever gave him - for the good and safety of the world and made the decision not to bring it home with him he was making sure of it. Every time he used his pay to pay bills and take care of the house instead of spending it at the pub, he was making sure of it. Every time he nurtured the friendships and brotherhood he had with his teammates, he was making sure of it. Everything he was as a man, as a husband, as a father, was in spite of his upbringing, not because of it. And he would be damned if this man would take credit for any of it.
It was on the tip of his tongue, this acidic rebuttal, when realization struck: he’d won. He’d grown into a man he was proud to be, a man who embodied everything his father had tried to beat out of him. He’d created a home where he and his loved ones felt safe, he’d found a good-hearted woman and built her up rather than draining the life from her, and now she was a great mother to his daughter. His beautiful little daughter who would never know the fear, the hunger, and the confusion that had marked his earliest years.
The realization was shocking and humbling, and he blinked, taking in the scene before him with seemingly new eyes. The dirty, snarling man before him was nothing. Not a challenge, not a threat, nothing more than a nuisance. Not worth the air it would take to explain why he was wrong, and certainly not worth putting his hands on and causing a scene.
Simon let out a long breath, and with it, decades’ worth of something to prove. The man before him wouldn’t hear it, and couldn’t understand it, and that was okay. Because Simon understood it, and you understood it, and one day your daughter would understand too. He could see his future stretching out before him, and there simply was no room for the mean little man on his porch.
“If you ever come back here, you’ll regret it.” He said, finally.
And then he closed the door.
#simon ghost riley#simon riley x reader#cod ghost#mwii ghost#simon riley fanfic#girl dad ghost#cod fanfic#mwii fanfic
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Teen nat comforting you when you're crying about something hcs?
natalie scatorccio x reader
a/n: we're so back! after the first two episodes of season three dropped I'm inspired by this ask. it's not head canons, sorry, I just liked the idea and wanted to write a little story about it.
sorry this must be at least six months late, but here it is! camp counsellor nat :)
spoilers ahead!! (technically? I think it's just season two spoilers though)
wiping the tears from your eyes, you sniffle into your lap, hunching over to take up as little space as possible. you just wanted to be out of everyone's way, not wanting to ruin the mood with your tears. everyone else was happy and celebrating surviving winter, while you felt stuck. frozen in time, still unable to move on from how much winter took from you girls.
first jackie. then crystal. then javi. . .
now springtime has rolled around, you can't help but feel the same dread you felt throughout winter—yes, it was lovely now and your team has cultivated a livable community. however, you couldn't help but wonder what happens next winter? When akilah's animals freeze to death, gen can't find game. . . when shauna goes crazy again.
you pause, wondering when was the last time shauna was sane. then, guilt creeps in as you realise that you had no right to judge her—not after everything she lost. her best friend. her baby.
"hey, are you okay?" nat asked, crouching down to your level.
you gasp in shock, wiping more tears from your eyes. your cheeks stung with embarrassment at getting caught—nat came out of nowhere, giving you no time to recuperate. "yeah, just. . . needed to let it out."
placing a comforting hand on your back, nat tried to offer you a reassuring smile. "hey, we all understand. it can feel daunting out here. if you ever need someone to talk, I'm here."
"oh I know, your majesty," you tease, eliciting a snort from nat—you could tell she hated the title. you sigh gently, signalling you were okay. nat pats your thigh, standing up when suddenly your hand flings out to grab hers. "do you think we're awful people? for eating javi? and jackie?"
nat pauses, her face dropping significantly. she bites her bottom lip, which you find insanely attractive, before shrugging. "we did what we had to. . . to survive."
"but if that's what it takes to survive, do we deserve to?" you question, clutching nat's hand firmly. the brunette looks down at you, her expression unreadable, before shaking her head.
"all I know is that it should have been me. javi. . . I still don't believe in lottie's bullshit about the forest, but I will never forget his sacrifice."
you nod, realising your questions were hurting natalie more than you'd meant for them to. you drop your hand, resting it in your lap and watch her walk away.
she swivels her head to look at you, words on the tip of her tongue, before she shakes the thought away and walks away.
late that night, you hear a rustle outside your makeshift hut. turning to your roommate, you find gen fast asleep, so you decide to investigate by yourself. you follow a sliver of light, someone's back to you as they watch the small flames dance.
"shouldn't you put that out? it's late," you ask, sitting next to nat on the campfire log. she glances at you, her face enchantingly illuminated by the flames, taking your breath away.
"just thinking," she mumbles.
"about our conversation before?" you ask, eliciting a nod in response. you stare at the fire, wondering if it was the heat from the dying flames that burnt your cheeks or the way nat looked.
"you didn't chase me. why?" she whispers, not daring to look you in the eyes.
"when we ate jackie, it felt different. . . she was already dead and we didn't cook her, the snow did. sure, it was cannibalism but it wasn't murder. . . if I had chased you—"
"you'd have actively tried to hunt me," she replies.
"it seemed wrong, even for us," you answer.
there was a beat of silence while you watch her gaze into the flames. you felt your heart race in your chest, working up the courage to tell her what you want to say, "it goes both ways," you promise. she looks up at you confused, "if you need someone to talk to, I'm here for you. . . and I'm sure it's not easy as the antler queen, especially with whatever shauna and mari have going on."
nat erupts into laughter, shaking her head. "don't get me started on those two," she replies, before her laugh fades to a small smile. she places her hand on your shoulder, "but I like the idea. we look out for each other."
"You'll be the queen and I'll be your—wait what is it called. . . the people royalty lean on for support. . . oh, concubines?" your face drops when you notice nat's face. her eyebrows are raised and tries to cover her mouth and stifle her laughter.
nat can no longer hold it in and burst into laughter again, "that doesn't mean what you think it does," she teases.
"oh, that's the sex one. isn't it?" you mutter, lowering your head to avoid her gaze. nat tucks her hair behind her ears, making you think about how she managed to rock the grown out look. she suited blonde, brunette and a combination of both.
nat notices you watching her intensely, "what? is there something in my hair?" she asks, raking her hands through it swiftly.
"no, no. just wondering if you miss the blonde?"
"well, it's still there, isn't it?"
you snort, "yeah, but the full blonde?"
nat shrugs, "more important things to worry about," she replies candidly.
you reach out to play with the blonde hair, twirling it around your finger. unknowingly, you'd accidentally brought her face closer to yours. she didn't seem to mind, but once you realise your cheeks burn and you shuffle away from her. "sorry," you mumble.
"come here," she replies, grabbing the back of your head and pulling you close.
your lips connected seamlessly, like your lips were made for each other. she kisses you softly, a reassurance that she was here for you, while her fingers tangle themselves in your—already tangled—hair.
after what felt like only a minute—but could have been longer—nat gently pulls away, a string of saliva all that connected you two. she runs her thumb over your bottom lip, cleaning away the evidence, and offers you a wonky smile. "I suppose every queen needs her concubine after all," she jokes.
"that was amazing," you whisper, still in awe. she laughs again, resting her forehead against yours.
#yellowjackets#fanfic#natalie scatorccio x reader#natalie scatorccio#fluff#wlw#oneshot#danisbrainrot#yj fanfic#yj season 3#dani's fics <3
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more about og tue timeline twins danny and dan/jamie
very touchy with each other. you might even say. ccclingy. its to be expected, they're two halves of a whole after all and all they've got of each other. worryingly co-dependent. do not separate. ever.
Danny was really weak and sick after the initial separation, and was for a while after. Jamie knew internally that if Danny died, he'd take the whole world with it. He was the one sole caretaker for him while he got better -- not for lack of trying on Vlad's part, but without his ghost powers he was nothing more than a feeble (albeit handsomely rich) man, and James looked ready to bite his head off if he got within ten feet of either of them.
Vlad is intimately aware that James (or Danny, if he tried) could snap his spine in half like a twig, and is uncomfortably aware of his own lack of ghost half now. It makes him feel self-conscious and exposed, so he never fully returns back to "cocky and self-assured billionaire Vlad Masters". Making deals with other brands feels a lot harder now that he can no longer possess them anymore.
Speaking of, he very quickly has to come up with a cover story as to why there's now a James Daniel Fenton to the public, when no records whatsoever of him existing existed prior. Lots of forging false government documents on his end. James and Danny do not help because it's his fault this happened in the first place.
(Regardless of whether or not Danny actually willingly chose to rip out his ghost half/humanity in canon is true, or if that was Vlad Masters speaking out of his ass, a large part of the blame still falls on Masters.)
(As his primary caretaker and guardian, it's his responsibility to ensure the health and safety of his charge, and since Danny was in clear emotional duress at the time, it can be argued that he was not in the mental state to make such a decision. And, allegedly, couldn't do it on his own which is why he asked Vlad for help.)
I chose "James" as Dan's name since it's a popular fanon middle name for Danny, and since he's half of Danny, it felt like it just made sense lol. Also because of the ensuing comedy of the two of them introducing themselves as "James Daniel Fenton" and "Daniel James Fenton". It's got the same energy as "danny with a y" and "danny with an i" and it's the exact kind of name bullshit you expect parents to give their twins.
I don't have their exact personalities down, but something I am actively writing into this au's bible is that I think Danny should be the quiet and (ig technically) meaner one. There's a lot to go into about interpretations for ghosts, halfas, and the incident itself, but TL:DW; Danny is technically soulless, or at the very least missing half of his soul (altho Jamie is too just in a different direction).
Pair that with the trauma of losing his family in front of him + having his ghost half ripped out + all the trauma he would've sustained as a hero, and he's not doing too hot mentally! i think if the twins met good timeline!Danny, Danny would've mistaken Danny for Dan and Jamie for the original half.
He comes off to others as pretty apathetic and indifferent to a borderline terrifyingly calm degree. He doesn't go out of his way to insult people, but he also doesn't care enough to consider the other party's feelings so he doesn't filter himself, which makes him come off as rude. The only times he looks truly comfortable is when he's near Jamie or talking to him.
His standoffish, ice prince demeanor makes Jamie look like a saint in comparison. When really he's not all that much better? He's more outwardly emotional than Danny, whether that be positive or negative, but at the end of the day he doesn't trust or care about anyone else any more than Danny does, and he's got a bit of a sadistic streak. Danny reigns him in when he starts becoming too destructive.
(Which I think makes sense. Danny asked Vlad to rip out his ghost half specifically so he could stop feeling his human emotions. Dan, despite his monotone voice, does exhibit emotions. He's smug when he asks Valerie if he likes his ghostly wail, sardonic when he reunites with Sam and Tucker, annoyed, shocked at Danny's ghostly wail, etc. He enjoys wreaking destruction and chaos.)
(If Danny had survived his encounter with Dan and if Vlad was successful, then I imagine he'd be rather apathetic to his other half as a whole. That'd be interesting.)
Overall though they're both hurt, bitter, and distrustful of the world around them, with abandonment issues a mile wide. They can get better and they can heal, but it takes time and patience and proper support.
On the DPxDC side of things, they do genuinely hold some kind of respect or regard for Bruce. They also don't become vigilantes for a while. Neither of them are jumping at the bit to enter heroism again, not when it was heroism that killed their family in the first place.
In fact when they find out Bruce = Batman they think he's foolish for it. They think its a fool's errand, and they've been so spurned by their time as Phantom that for a few weeks, Jamie even refused to call Bruce anything but Sisyphus. Danny called him Tantalus, and the two of them had a faux-argument about which one was more accurate.
Bruce does, though, worm his way into both of their hearts, and that's like, the main reason they become vigilantes to join him. So that they could keep him safe and not because of any desire to return to the heroic life. Relearning to care and finding satisfaction in helping others was an unintentional side effect.
(Bruce is so very smug)
Essentially:
The Twins: this is our squishy and fragile adoptive father. If anything happened to him, we're becoming mass extinction events.
Bruce: Nnno.
#danny fenton is not the ghost king#dpxdc#dp x dc#dpxdc crossover#dp x dc crossover#dpxdc au#danny phantom#the twins au#dan phantom#batman and his no-good terrifying little bodyguards. they're both like 5'2 and weigh 90lbs soaking wet and are capable of great violence#he can scruff them both with both hands. they're like two wet cats.#bruce: these are my children Daniel and James | the twins: *emanating little orphan tom riddle energy from behind him*#danny can experience emotions btw they're just dulled(??) to an extent. he doesn't feel them as intensely as Jamie does. in some cases#he knows he should be feeling SOME kind of emotion he just doesn't. being around Jamie helps amplify them. some kind of feedback thing#Jamie is a mischief maker. enjoys wreaking subtle chaos on other people especially people of his ire. laughs at other's misfortune.#neither of them are all that sympathetic when bruce takes them in. but they dO like. like~ him when he does. in some way. they prefer him#over vlad at least. by the time they become vigilantes they genuinely care about him. if not as family then at the very least as a friend.#which means. congrats bruce! you've unlocked the [ viciously protective sons ] perk! have fun with your mini ragnaroks :)#cannot express enough that the twins DO like and respect bruce. there's a genuine care and mutual friendship/relationship there.#yeah they dont need bruce's permission (technically) to be vigilantes but with the way they're set up why WOULD they lmao.#they have no incentive to return to the hero life and in fact comma have the incentive to do the exact opposite and avoid it.#so i give them believable incentive >:]#batdad aus go brrrrrrrr#referring to dan as a 'mass extinction event' is my new favorite way to refer to him <33 bc its technically true
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Reluctant Partners (Part 2) | #LeviMonth2024 Smut Drabble
✧ word count ➼ ~700 ✧ notes ➼ canonverse, captain!reader, technically part 2 to this but can be read on it's own too ✧ comments ➼ levi month entry for august 1! this had gotten too long so i split it into two parts ✧ content/warnings ➼ afab!reader, p in v, oral (fem receiving) ✧ join my levi month taglist here!
{{ August 1 (Pre-Canon: First Time Part 1) | August 4 (BDSM) }} Masterlist
Things hadn't been the same since that night. All that had really happened was you finding out the truth regarding his abrasive attitude towards you, but now you couldn't get him off your mind.
It was less inappropriate now than it would have been had you still been a recruit, but it still felt wrong and like something you had to keep under wraps. You had found yourself regularly going to his chambers in the middle of the night.
Initially, it was just to chat, with you quoting that you couldn't sleep, and that he'd be the only one awake at this hour—but you knew that the reality was that you wanted to be around him, as well as move towards figuring out whatever the hell was going on between the two of you.
You didn't know exactly what it was that led to this. Whatever your original intention was for seeking him out late into the night currently seemed lost on you as you struggled to keep quiet while bouncing up and down on his cock.
It started off as words left unsaid, unspoken frustrations, and multiple nights alone in which a single touch from him was enough to set your heart ablaze.
Your fingers were digging into his shoulders, your arms wrapped around his neck as you moved your lips against his, with your breasts rubbing up against his bare chest. His eyes were beginning to roll towards the back of his head as he focused on the feeling of your heat wrapping around his length.
Levi wasn't one to be into one night stands or meaningless sex, but he already knew that wasn't the case with you. While he had never assumed that you would ever get together, the idea of sleeping with you only to forget it ever happened brought a pang to his heart.
Pulling away, he leaned back so he could get a better look at you, his pupils dilated as he noted your flushed expression, your breasts moving up and down so prettily, and the thin layer of sweat that had coated your skin. His eyes wandered down to your lower abdomen, his eyes honing in on the scar that had formed from when you had gotten your injury all those months ago.
Levi let out a soft hum from his throat, before gently tapping on your rear to signal you to get up, immediately flipping you over upon doing so.
You looked directly into his intense gaze that you still struggled to read as he hovered over you, giving you only a second to reorient yourself before leaning down to plant his lips on yours.
His lips quickly began to trail down your neck towards your chest, with him planting a gentle kiss on each breast as he continued his descent.
Levi paused a bit near the scar on your belly, gently touching his lips to the area. Your face began to heat up as you watched him, with it becoming next to impossible to hide how flustered you were as he continued to move until he was eye-level with your pussy.
He let out an elated sigh as he eyed your heat that was still dripping with your own arousal, and throbbing from how good he had been fucking you just now.
"Beautiful," he murmured quietly to himself before gently pressing his lips against your sex.
Your eyes instinctively shut as you felt your hips bucking towards him once his tongue began swirling around your clit. Your walls were fluttering as you felt his fingers playing with your slit, with a guttural moan escaping from your throat.
One hand was holding your hips in place to keep you from moving too much, especially once you began squirming under him upon feeling him thrust two fingers deep into your pussy. His lips were wrapped around your clit, alternating between sucking and gentle nibbles, making it a struggle for you to contain the mewls he was drawing out of you.
"Cum for me," he rasped, his voice vibrating through you, which only further added to the sensation. "Let me hear you come apart."
#: @shayewrites @littlerequiem @ackerbootytobbi @humanitys-strongest-brat @mostlilo @dustbuniesworld @levisrations @ebechnasheim @moonchild-angel @jayteacups @bipolargatto @samackermaan @deepzombieyouth
#levimonth24#levi x reader#levi ackerman x reader#levi heichou x reader#captain levi x reader#levi smut#n.sfw#levi#levi ackerman#levi heichou#captain levi#attack on titan#aot#shingeki no kyojin#shingeki no kyoujin#snk
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