#what are the cops supposed to call him that fateful day | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

anjelicawrites · 8 months ago

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The one looking out for you

Paring: dark!Michael Gavey x fem!reader Synopsis: fill for this ask: “Hii can I request a dark Michael gavey x fem reader smut where they're coworkers and reader don't really know Michael because he works in IT and they only pass each other here and there but Michael is obsess with reader and one day he overhears reader telling a coworker that she's ovulating but her fiancé (who's been cheating on her without her knowledge) is out of town and they've been trying for a baby. Michael digs up dirt on her fiance and leaks the info anonymously and then he "coincidently" finds her crying and kinda drunk and he "comforts" reader”. Warnings: NONCON (reader is drunk while having sex), rape, rape drugs, stalking, obsession, sexist language, fatphobia, pictures and videos taken without reader’s consent, vomiting, alcohol usage, reader being drunk, p in v sex, chocking, titty sucking, fingering, creampie, baby trapping, breeding kink, lactation kink, talk of reader reduced to a basement wife, talk of pregnancy sex. A/N: reader is AFAB but not described. Where needed, she/her pronouns used.

Michael knows how special you are, how gentle you heart is; he sees you in all the ways other people don’t. Some might call his behavior obsessive, stalkerish even, but the world doesn’t understand that, when you finally find your person, you need to take all the necessary steps to keep that person safe. Take today, for example. You had worked overtime, your team leader needing your expertise for the latest company project, and are going home just now, after 9 pm on a cold winter night. You should wait for the bus, or hail a cab, but you’re too tired to wait and just want to go home thus cutting through the city park. Michael knows because he’s following the GPS of your phone, to make sure nothing happens to you, and is using the speakers of your phone to hear what’s happening around you and call the cops if someone tries to approach you.

He shouldn’t have cloned your phone, he knows it’s frowned upon, but you pull shit like this: how is he supposed to keep you safe? You are too gentle, too trusting of the world and in need of a protector, someone who will really look after you, not like your useless fiancé, who doesn’t treat you the way you deserve, nor he loves you, otherwise he wouldn’t be having an affair with the girl living in the next door apartment. The discovery had been casual, the Trojan he used to clone your phone had infected your fiancé’s as well and Michael had been the unwilling witness to his sexual escapades with that whore. He had been so disgusted by the way the asshole talked about you, that he would have disconnected from the phone, if he wasn’t digging for dirt on him.

Michael knows he’s invisible, he’s always been: no friends, no girlfriend, only him and his brilliant mind; when he was younger he had suffered because no one acknowledged him, now he understands he has a superpower that helps him navigate corporate life, absorbing all the relevant information, without anyone realizing what he’s doing.

You greet him whenever you stumble upon him in the corridors, still grateful he solved a computer issue you had the day of a big presentation, the reason why he’s met you in the first place and every gentle smile you direct his way, adds fuel to the fire of his obsession. He’s racked his own brains for days, after that first fateful encounter, wondering how he could start a conversation with you, cloning your phone had been the only way he thought he could find something you two had in common. It saved him a gaffe, when he saw all the photos with your fiancé, and gave him so much insight inside your brain, to understand you were the woman for him; of course you are far more creative that he’ll ever be, your soul gentler than his, but you are smart and being so different will only add to you two’s relationship, once he’s gotten rid of your boyfriend.

Michael is working on the new firewall, hidden in his own basement office. He’s thankful that the other IT people are misanthropes as he is and don’t mind that he’s working with his headphones on, on the contrary, everyone is wearing headgear to focus better on their task, the difference being, he’s listening to you. Your day is slow, with the big project finished, you and your team can kick back a bit, have a chat while ironing the last wrinkles.

Michael has been listening while you were chatting with that stupid cow, Marissa, about the last movie you’ve watched at that theater that shows mostly old black and white flicks; Michael has managed to garner quite the knowledge about old time Hollywood and Cinecittà and has discovered a fondness for old Hammer movies himself, even though the movies he prefers the most star you while you’re pleasuring yourself (something you’re doing quite frequently, since the asshole doesn’t seem to be that interested in you anymore), the theater? Your webcam and your apartment.

His focuses his attention when you go to have a coffee with your ‘work wife’ Jenny; through your phone he hears that you two are going downstairs, to the cafeteria of the building: one day you and him will do the same, pick a place to call your own, just to have a break. You have only bought your phone with you, it’s easy for him to listen to the inane chat, even though the cafeteria is packed; he’s not truly focusing on the conversation, just to the sound of your lovely voice as you wait for your coffee (espresso, a splash of oat milk and half sugar) and your favorite pastry (pain au chocolat, vegan); it’s when the asshole’s name drops that he stops working and focus only on you.

“You know we’ve been trying truly hard, at least we used to.” You say with a defeated tone he doesn’t like. “Then we stopped for his big project, I understand that he couldn’t follow that and my hormonal cycle.”

Michael grits his teeth; he’s been looking out for you for the better part of the year, before? He wasn’t your guardian angel and it had been difficult for him to put together the pieces, since you don’t use that many apps to store your personal life and information.

“Wait.” Jenny stops you. “Wasn’t he the one who wanted to start trying again?” “Yes.” From your tone only Michael can imagine you pinching the bridge of your nose. “He’s been repeating me to check my ovulation, write everything down or use those pregnancy like sticks, and what does he do the weekend I am at my peak? Leaves for work!”

Michael has to clench his fists when he understands what you and Jenny are talking about: children. You and the asshole having a baby!

Michael has to leave his small office and storms to the bathroom where he can pace around like a caged beast: that son of a bitch wants to knock you up, while he’s having an affair with the whore next door?

Calm, he tells himself, you need to stay calm and focused.

“What kind of trip is that?” He hears Jenny ask. “Work. His firm is trying to promote a new kind of prosthesis during this orthopedics conference; he has to be there.” “Why can’t you go with him? Take the weekend off? You wouldn’t be the only partner to go, I think”. “There have been some issues.” Your voice lowers conspiratorially. “Some of his colleagues had gone with their mistresses, on firm expenses and now all family members are banned from going.” “Hmm.” Jenny doesn’t seem too convinced. “Are you sure he wants to truly try?

Michael hears you sigh and wished he was there, not in this stupid bathroom!

“We are more distant. I keep telling myself that we had to both work on big projects at the same time, that we were forced to focus on work more than we would have liked and that, after the storm, things would go back to normal.”

Michael hears you sniff and the soft sound of Jenny’s hand on yours.

“What’s your gut feeling, love?” She asks, with a quiet voice. “That is not a storm and that he’s asked to try for a baby again because he doesn’t know how to handle all of this.” “Perhaps him going away for the weekend isn’t such a bad thing.”

Michael likes Jenny, she’s smart, calls IT only when she has a real issue and treats all of them like they are people, not the weird nerds hiding in the basement; he reckons Jenny is a bit of a nerd as well, based on the Star Trek knickknacks on her desk. Yes, when you and him are together, she’s one of the friends he’ll advise you to stick with: you’ll have to drop many of them, too stupid for you, and for him, but not Jenny, she can stay.

Michael hides in one of the stalls and opens the secret app on his phone where he keeps all your photos and videos. Some are racy, you pleasuring yourself using your favorite dildo and clit sucker, your sobs of pleasure going straight to his cock every time, but that’s not what he is looking for as his thumb swipes through all the pics he has, until he’s found the one he loves the most: you on the sofa, dressed in an oversized jumper, as you read your book. You look homely, the picture of what he wants your lives to be: quiet and filled with each other’s presence, you two don’t need anyone else, Or perhaps...

His mind goes back to the conversation he’s just heard. Michael doesn’t truly care for children but for you? He’ll give you a soccer team of babies if only you asked, fuck you full of his cum until he’s sure he’s bred you, only to fuck you some more once you’re full. His finger slides through the photos until he finds one of you in your bathing suit, just to imagine your tummy full of his child and your breast swollen with milk, begging to be sucked: yeah, the idea of knocking you up becomes more and more appealing as the minutes pass. He just needs to make sure the asshole doesn’t manage before he does.

Michael goes back to his cubicle with a lighter heart, now that he knows what the stakes are; he even whistles his favorite song as he orders a bouquet of the flowers you love (white callas and light pink lilies), to have them sent to your workstation: this has been his only outward way to express his feelings for you and today you need something nice to look at, after your heartfelt conversation with Jenny. As he focuses again on the firewall, Michael mentally pats himself on the back for having cloned the asshole's phone by mistake: you will have to know what is going on, it will hurt you, but he’s going to be there for you, unlike your fiancé.

Later that night, Michael is storing all he has on the asshole on the USB pen he’s bought on the way back to his small apartment; as one of the computers is working on the background, out of curiosity he checks if what the asshole has told you about the ban on partners going to conventions is true or not: if he’s lying, he’s going to add to the mountain of proofs he has, if not, well, it means that even him plays fair sometimes.

He stares at the desktop, before clicking on his browser icon: obviously is a picture of you, a selfie you’ve taken on holiday; you look so relaxed and happy, the shadows the straw hat you’re wearing paint on the skin of your cleavage are so elegant: he’s never met a woman who can be classy even when wearing a skimpy bikini. You are truly a Goddess among your kind, the best and the smartest, created just for him. He hopes you’ll let him snap racy pictures of you, once you two are together; nothing obscene or pornographic, just to celebrate your beauty and grace. Michael thinks he will be able to convince you, otherwise something in your water to make sure you’re pliant will make do.

You don’t want to be at this stupid office party. Yes, your last project was a success, all your colleagues want to celebrate, but you are in no mood, thanks to your cheating, asshole of a boyfriend.

You don’t know who sent you the USB pen, you’re not sure you’ll ever thank them for opening your eyes, but the truth is in front of you and you have no way to stop knowing what has been happening behind your back; given the chance, would you rather not have received the envelope and the USB? Nursing your umpteenth cocktail you’re not sure of the answer.

The envelope was white and lacked a return address, which was unusual but not overly so: the local Catholic Church leaves leaflets when Christmas and Easter are near, to promote the activities during these periods of time, never envelopes but you thought they were changing their strategies and opened it once you were home, alone as usual. The USB had surprised you, the printout of the reservation made of your fiancé and the girl next door, for the conference, propelled you to the bathroom, where you threw up your lunch and afternoon snack.

There was another message, smaller, that invited you to check the USB pen in your hand, if you wanted to know the truth; you stayed rooted on the spot for the longest time, torn between wanting to ignore everything, or let the bomb explode. Time passed, punctuated by the old clock in the kitchen, until you made up your mind, and choose the latter, you’re a daughter of Pandora after all, and plugged the USB in your computer: a barrage of text, photos and audio messages attacked you, you managed to go through a small percentage of them, before you had to run to the bathroom to throw up again, your stomach churning bile until you had nothing left to give. After this onslaught you cried with your knees tight against your chest, until you felt so tired you’d sleep on the cold bathroom floor, but you forced yourself to go back to the living room and went through all the proofs of your fiancé’s infidelity with the whore next door.

You didin’t know your personal guardian angel was listening to everything and looking using the smart TV you’ve bought last year. Michael’s heart hurt with your pain, he wished he was there to comfort you; if only you had waited for him, instead of being with the asshole, he wouldn’t have to make you go through all of this. It was your fault for not having faith that your true love was waiting for you: you’ll go through this cathartic experience and then be free to start your new life, the one Michael will tailor for you, and for himself.

With gritted teeth he watched the fight you have with the asshole, all the excuses he spewed, and then the insults against you, before he left slamming the door. He saw you angrily drink and cry until you passed out on the couch and he stayed up all night, watching you through the TV to make sure you were still breathing. It hurt him that you were hurt, but it was the price to pay for a better future.

You have been on autopilot for the rest of the week: went to work, where you used a mere fraction of your attention on the last details of the finished project, and then returned home to cry. You fiancé, better, former fiancé at this point, didn’t even try to patch things up with you, on Thursday, after you returned from work, all his stuff had disappeared and he hadn’t even left a note or sent you a message. You truly spiraled after that, called your best friend and wept on the phone for hours, until you head hurt; on a whim you had even thought about not going to work on Friday, but you couldn’t, not with the presentation of the bloody project and the celebration party afterwards. You decided to settle with finishing the alcohol at home and sent disparaging texts to your ex, who never answered them (little you knew that your own guardian angel had to do with that, and with the fact that he had disappeared with all his belongings; that was not something Michael thought you needed to worry your pretty head with).

You played your part on Friday, said your little spiel and shook hands on command, wore a fake smile for everyone to see, until you could hide in the conference room, nursing glasses after glasses of cheap alcohol, until you felt like enough time had passed to return home.

You’re sitting at the big desk, facing morosely the incredible view from such a high floor, with a glass and bottle you’ve taken from the open bar. You’re drunk, it's so easy to ignore the little voice in your head that’s telling you to stop, call a Uber and go home when your tummy is sloshing with alcohol. You’re so detached from your body that the door opening with a small creak doesn’t scare you.

“I thought nobody was here.”

You turn your head slowly and feel the strain of your eyes as they focus on the intruder. On first sight you don’t recognize him, then his name comes back to you Michael, one of the IT guys who solves all your technical issues. You’ve met him a couple of times, once when Marissa had some issued with her computer. You had felt bad for the guy, who had to come upstairs to simply turn the switch Marissa had swore was already on the right position. He had said something nasty about your colleague under his breath, ‘vapid cunt’, or something among those lines, as he was leaving. You didn’t approve of his language, but understood his frustration: he probably had to deal with stupid accidents like that all the time, his patience must have slipped; you had stopped him before he entered the lift and said you were sorry on your colleague’s behalf. You could have sworn his eyes had focused on you, behind his tick glasses, as if he was assessing you, judging you, but it was just a moment, then his blue eyes seemed to clear and you had repeated yourself that you have been consuming too much true crime, if such an innocuous man could cause weird thoughts in your head.

You had seen him around, he had saved your arse when your computer stopped working the day of a big presentation, tall and gangly, and always greeted him with a smile and a wave, which he would awkwardly respond to: he was one of the many people you knew, but weren’t truly friends with.

“Hi.” You try to sound sober. “Far from the madding crowd as well?”

Ok, you tell yourself, that’s not too bad.

Michael gently closes the door, you don’t see it but he locks it as well, before he walks towards you.

“Something like that.”

You stare at him, truly taking his appearance in for the first time. He’s awkward, standing the way he does a couple of chairs away from you, but not ugly: he should dress better and wear more stylish glasses, but he is handsome, in a nerd kind of way; his eyes are a beautiful shade of blue, and he is tall, not imposing but with large shoulders.

“Come.” You say, patting the chair next to you. “Don’t stand where you are. Fancy a drink?”

Almost knocking a chair over, Michael walks where you are and stiffly sits.

“I think I am full for the night.” He answers, when you offer him your own glass. “Are you sure? I’d loathe to drink by myself.” “Sure.” He answers. “Uhm, congratulation with the project.” He adds.

You pour yourself a generous amount of alcohol and drink it down in one go.

“That? Child’s play.” “Still, a great amount of money coming this way.” “Yeah.” You’re suddenly more morose than before. “All I am good for.”

You sway on the chair and distantly feel Michael’s hands, his very large hands, grab you by your shoulders before you can fall.

“I’m fine Mickey boy.” You slur with your face dangerously close to his. “I’m nothing but trash worth kicking anyway!”

You shrug him off and try to keep an upright position.

“Don’t say that about yourself!”

Something in his tone forces your drunken mind to focus on him.

“What do you know?” You bare your teeth at him and he has to keep you upright again. “I’m with this guy for years, years! I turn down the position in the USA office for him! Lose weight! Learn how to cook like his sodden mama and what does he do? He fucks the next door neighbor, that fat cow! I have to starve myself and be shamed when I can’t be a bloody size 8 and he fucks her! Sends her dick picks! Talks shit about me!”

The same way rage had possessed you, it disappears, leaving you a shaking handful of nerves; before you even realize it, you fall against Michael and start crying, fat, inconsolable sobs against his ugly sweater.

Michael holds you tight, reveling in the fact that you are in his arms, never mind the reason: you’ve opened up your heart to him, you’re seeking him for consolation! Not Jenny, not your best friend, but him! Because you know, in your heart of hearts, that Michael is the one for you!

He knows he’s awkward as he caresses your back and tries to murmur soothing words against your hair, but it doesn’t matter, not when all his hard work has come into fruition!

“I’m so sorry.” He hears from the general direction of his chest. “I don’t know what happened.” “That’s fine.” He answers, his arms still caging you. “Truly Michael, I don’t know what possessed me.”

When you finally manage to lift your head from his chest, you stare into his eyes, now dark pools your drunken brain can’t read.

Michael loses himself in your beautiful face and in the pain still marring your features: you need consolation and not the kind that words offer. He hadn’t planned all of this when he had followed you in the conference room, but you are in his arms, needy and sad and his cock is rock hard. You are causing all of this, he tells himself, because you need this and him. And he can’t say no to you.

His big hand sneaks into your hair to pull you closer to him; in your drunken state you don’t realize what’s happening, if not when his lips crash on yours, uncoordinated and dry. You try to push him away, to beg him to stop, but he uses your parted lips to slip his tongue in to deepen the kiss, his free hand grabs your hips and he pulls you on the table, slotting himself between your parted legs, his erection shocking you. When he starts kissing your neck, you try to push him away again, too drunk and weak to manage and he grabs your wrist in his big hand, to push you against the cold glass of the table; his free hand slips under your skirt and his fingers sneak under your panties.

“If you don’t want me, why are you so wet?”

He towers over you, his eyes unreadable behind his glasses and you can’t help but sob again: your drunken brain can’t find an adequate response, your body on fire after such a long time without another person’s touch.

Your body arches when his fingers slip inside your cunt, warm and wet, to fuck your hole hard and fast: he’s seen you masturbate so many times he knows how you like it, how you want his thumb on your clit, how to curl them to find your G spot and bully it, while you trash and cry, your muscles impossibly tight around him. He knows the sounds you’re making, those high pitched sobs that mean you’re close.

“Nooo…” You moan when his fingers leave your body.

Michael’s stare his cold and burns you at the same time, you have to hide your face because you can’t stand it deep into your soul; roughly he forces you to look at him.

“Look at me when I fuck you.” His palm cups your cunt cruelly. “You don’t get to come if you stop staring at me.”

Your drunken mind wants to come, wants an orgasm to take the pain away, it doesn’t matter who gives it to you, as long as your heart stops hurting. Then you will forget all about it.

A scared sound escapes your mouth when his big cock is revealed to you: you’ve never had anything so tick inside of you, you’re scared. Michael seems to revel in the fear he sees in your eyes, he can feel his erection grow with it, the knowledge that you’re finally at his mercy fueling his desire: you’re going to take all of him and be grateful that his seed will grow inside your belly, he’s going to give you all the time to adjust, but he’s coming inside of you and you with him.

Impatient he pulls your shirt and bra out of the way to free your beautiful breasts and he jacks himself faster at the sight of your tits. He bats your hands away when you try to cover yourself and curls one hand around a breast, until you cry out in pain.

“You’re all mine to see.” The vise on your breast is so tight he’s going to leave imprints. “Say it!”

You’re drunk and petrified, you don’t understand where this violence comes from, you just want to come and be done with all of this.

“I’m… I’m all yours to see.” You manage to say with tears threatening to fall from your eyes. “It wasn’t so hard.” Michael’s hand travels from your abused tit to your cheek to dry the tears already there. “I want to make you feel good, but you have to behave. Will you be my good girl?”

If you weren’t this drunk you’d fight him off you, scream bloody murder until someone comes to your rescue, but you’re drunk and desperately need all the human connection that you can scrape. You’d never sleep with Michael, not in a million years, but you’re not in your right mind and you just slump against the cool glass, incapable of stopping him.

Michael’s bulbous head nudges your wet entrance, slowly he slides in and groans at how wet you are; he hasn’t had many partners but no cunt has felt as perfect as yours, the ripple of your muscles as your body desperately tries to adjust to his size makes his blood boil, your pained moans and keens spur him on and his pushes become faster and faster, the more your cunt opens up for him. Desperate you try to relax, the pain of his intrusion mixes with pleasure, your drunken mind is confused, your body arches when he bottoms out and your eyes roll in their sockets: you’ve never been so full in your entire life.

Michael has to stop once he is sitting fully inside of you, your hole strangles his cock in ways no other cunt has ever managed, your nipples are erect with the pleasure he’s giving you and you’re making those small sounds that have him want to fuck you hard and fast, but he’s promised you pleasure, and he is no liar. Your tearful eyes are on him as he bends his back to envelope one nipple in his mouth to suck, gently, the other is getting pinched by his long fingers; slowly the pleasure mounts over the pain you’ve been feeling, your drunken body responds to his ministration and you moan, eyes on his as he switches between nipples with satisfied groans, your hips even lift to invite him to move, and he follows your movements, picking up speed when he feels your muscles give up to his ownership of your body.

You moan and keen when he picks up speed and he pulls your legs over his arms to fold you and fuck you faster, your wet cut squelches with every push, his cockhead bullies your G spot mercilessly and you try to squirm away, the pleasure too much and not enough. Michael bends against your body again and kisses you, tongue proprietary in your mouth he snuffs your scream when you come, your cunt so tight around his cock that he follows, copious in your hungry hole, and keeps fucking you, his erection still at full mast, fueled by your desperate sounds of overstimulation: he’s dreamed about this for too long to stop now.

You try to beg, to scream, but his hand around your throat cuts off your desperate prayers, your scratch his wrist and he simply fucks you harder, grinds against your poor clit tighter and your legs kick against his back, spurring him on: he knows you like it hard and even if you don’t? It’s what you’re getting now.

With a groan he pulls out and turns you face first on the table, fast he enters you again and grabs your tits to use your body as leverage to fuck your hole savagely, his hold the only reason your body is still up, your hands try to grab uselessly at the glass, his heavy balls slap against you and pleasure burns through you, painful it courses through your body and you squirm with it, tears falling from your eyes as his cock rapes your hole deeper and deeper, until he comes, panting your insides again, triggering your own orgasm.

You pant, the cold of the table nice against your over heated skin. Distantly you feel Michael’s lips on your nape, he’s leaving small kisses and nibbles on the soft skin, when you try to move you moan, your cunt curling around his still erect cock.

“Michael, please.” You beg, so sore already. “If you didn’t want me, why is your cunt strangling my cock?” He whispers cruelly in your ear.

Michael can’t believe his body can still be in need of yours, but he’s not going to say no, not when your cunt is massaging his erection so deliciously. Fast he removes his cock and plugs your cunt closed with his fingers, he can’t risk his seed to go to waste, not when he’s trying to knock you up; one handed he turns you on your back again and enters your hole with a groan: he’s found his home and he’s not going to leave it.

“Please Michael.” You sob. “I’m so sore!”

He cups your cheek and kisses you again. You submit to his ownership, afraid of triggering his rage; distantly a part of your brain is screaming that you don’t want this, that you should fight him, but you don’t have the strength to, not when you just want to forget your ex for a while ans are so scared of his rage: you will feel dirty afterwards and will drunk yourself in a stupor to forget, but that’s problems for future you, now you can't do anything else, you just want the pain to stop.

“I was too forceful, was I?” Michael caresses your body, already getting used to the feel of your skin under his. “I’ll go slow this time, love. Give me your last one and we’ll stop.”

For now, he thinks. He’s not done with marking all your holes as his.

“Don’t hurt me.” You sob, small and pathetic. “Never.”

His hips move slowly against yours, long and deep pushes that you feel everywhere in your body. His hands are at your breasts again, massaging them in tandem with his pushes inside of you; you squirm, your muscles sore with the abuse he’s subjected you to, your clit inflamed with the way he grinds against it, still sparks of pleasure explode in your muddled brain, your cunt clenches around him, pulling him in tighter and tighter, that he can’t help but grind against you, the image of the ring of his come and yours around his base and the squelch of your hungry hole spurring him on. He’s not going to last long and you’re coming with him again, sucking all your seed inside of you, until it takes. He’s going to fuck you through your pregnancy as well, his hips grind faster when he imagines the added pressure of your full belly and your tits, leaking milk he’s going to be all the happier to suck.

“No Michael please!” You beg when he starts fingering your clit. “Be my good girl.” He groans, punishing you with hard thrusts. “You’re going to come and drain my cock dry, or I’m not going to stop until you do.”

Your body arches at his words, the part of your mind that’s still coherent reels at the realization that he’s been fucking you bareback, your cunt clenches at the thought, tighter and tighter as he fucks your deeper and faster, until you come with a pained sob and he follows you, emptying his balls fully inside of you.

He stays rooted inside of you, willing his seed to take as your muscles massage his soft cock to the point of overstimulation; you’re a mess of tears and ruined make up under him, still too shook after so many orgasms, and he uses your fragility to enact the last part of his plan.

He grabs the glass and bottle still intact after your coupling and fishes for the small packet of drugs he’s bought on less than savory websites (the wonders of the deep web, if one knows where to look) and dissolves one capsule in the remaining alcohol. Gently he raises your head and forces you to drink everything: you need to be pliant for this part, he can’t risk you acting silly if you two meet some coworkers on the way out.

Once you’ve drunk everything, he stays inside of you, just enjoying your body as the drug takes effect, only then he’s going to dress you and help you back to your apartment, where he’s going to fuck you for the whole weekend. Hopefully his purchase will not be needed, but if you misbehave he’ll have to give some more of it, he needs you to be pliant, ready to follow his breeding project. As you stare at him with glassy eyes, Michael decides he’s going to drug you anyway and once the effects drain off your system, hopefully you’ll buy his story, that you two went on a weekend binge of alcohol and sex. If things will go as he’s planned, come Sunday you’ll be embarrassed and he will buy you breakfast and ask you out on a proper date, if you start complaining, then he has to use plan B, the one he had devised when he had found out you had a fiancé. You don’t know it, but if you are going to be a silly goose, he’s going to hide you away in the small farm out in the country he’s bought under a false name (he is a man who needs little to survive and has managed to put away a big sum easily), until he can break you and remake you into his perfect little wife. He will have to lock you in the basement for a time and use the fake posts he’s prepared in advance to justify you disappearing from your life, but he’s positive that’s not going to be needed: you are his other half, after all.

#michael gavey #michael gavey x reader #michael gavey x y/n

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cookiesupplier · 11 months ago

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Every Rose Has It's Thorns - Part Eleven

pairing: Ricky Olson x ofc (Talia)

warnings/tropes: slow burn, soulmates, strangers to enemies to lovers, betrayal, angst, fluff, smut, language, panic attack, stalking.

summary: In a world where soulmates inexplicably receive a tattoo that will match that of their soulmate the moment they turn eighteen years old, being famous and covered in very visible tattoos can make finding your true soulmate a questionable fate. Not that it is any easier for the soulmate in question. Thus is the fate for Ricky and Talia. Sooner or later, however, life is bound to collide, but what will happen when it does?

author’s note: Unbeta, reader beware.

tags: @tearfallpixie @cncohshit @jordynyingling0219 @faceless-mirror @nyxthedestroyerofworlds @wild-child-7747 @witchyweeb34 @black-damask1999 @casangel1986

Please ask if you'd like to be tagged, to this story or in general.

Coming home from this tour was supposed to be the most amazing feeling in the world, at least, he had hoped it would be. Instead, Ricky had come home to find that Grace was there, in his house, waiting for him.

She hadn’t left yet.

He’d let himself into his house, to find that she was still there and, yes, naturally considering everything that he’d been going through in the past two weeks, he’d gotten pissed. Could he call it trespassing when technically they’d been living together for the past two years? However, the house was in his name, and he’d told her he wanted her to pack her things and be gone by the time the tour was over. The screaming had started immediately, but it had quickly turned into her begging him to hear her out when he picked up the phone and started calling the police, asking if he wanted her gone so badly, why hadn’t he even announced their break up on their socials yet?

He’d stared at her in complete and utter shock.

So that was it. Whatever was spinning through that head of hers, she was clinging to the shred of hope that he still wanted her. Because he wanted his privacy, and not to smear his personal life all over the internet and what felt like the biggest, stupidest mistake of his life, airing it out for all his fans and the trolls to see, she was taking it as what, a sign he still wanted her in his life?

No.

Not going to happen.

He’d called the cops. Had her escorted off the property, not arrested considering she left, but she got a warning, and a report would be filed, he asked for a copy of that.

While she gave his keys back then and there, he got a locksmith in to change the locks to his house the next day, every last fucking one. The alarm company was booked in for next week to do an upgrade, he wasn’t taking chances, he was done. Coming home to find her in the house. Any hope that her leaving him alone and their break up could be amicable after she’d already proved willingness to stalk him, was gone.

He wasn’t above a restraining order if she tried anything else. That was why he’d asked for a copy of the police report.

It was safe to say, that he had been looking forward to everyone being there, the barbecue had become the tradition for them to relax rather than being confined on the bus, even Ryan and Justin stayed the extra few days with their partners so they could come before heading home. A bit of a respite in a way, a detox from the tour. Ricky thought of the barbecue as a reminder of how they didn’t actually want to throttle each other, and he had a feeling that this time around, the reminder was about how none of them wanted to throttle him.

He knew he hadn’t been easy to live with the last couple of weeks.

Rick hadn’t even told anyone what had happened when he got home. Wasn’t like he wanted a fucking pity party or anything either, he just wanted all of this to be done with. So, the plan was simple, he’d go to Chris’ parents like he usually did post-tour run, he’d enjoy the afternoon, have some barbecue, eat some pie, and laugh with everyone else. Right? Exactly, simple.

So, why didn’t it feel so simple when he turned up to find out that Vinny and Ava had bought Talia? Chris pulled him aside as soon as he got there with a hushed remark, shit shit shit, apparently Ava convinced Talia to come to visit because she was Ava’s family, and wanted her to get to know Vinny, the way Vinny wanted her to get to know his family. Alright, he understood that he did, but where the hell did that leave him?

“And he had to bring her today? What the fuck Chris! As if I don’t have enough.. Grace was still at my fucking house the other day!”

Rick’s fingers ran through his hair. He was done, he was so fucking done with all of this shit, and Chris, who had glanced back out to the back, making sure everything was going fine, and that tidbit had gotten all of his attention, he looked livid.

“Tell me you called the police?”

“Of course! I filed a report, escorted her off the premises, locks have been changed, I’m upgrading security, the whole nine yards.”

He remembered what Chris had been through, they all remembered. None of them were going to forget any time soon. Rick still felt sick thinking about it, some of the shit that could have happened if everything had gone sideways, but he’d been lucky, and Rick knew all the precautions now, before things got bad, the moment he was home, they were done.

“Restraining order, man, now. I know you probably don’t feel like it, but I do, man I do, and maybe not for your benefit, but,”

Chris glanced back to the house,

“It might not be you that needs it.”

Right paused, there was just one problem with that, if he was the one getting the restraining order, it wouldn’t protect her, without claiming her as his soulmate. There was no fucking way he was going to do that. That was legally binding shit and no fucking way.

“No way, no way in hell. As long as Grace stays away, I’m not pushing for legal action unless I have to Chris, she’s never tried to hurt me. I’m taking precautions, she crosses the line, I’ll do something, I have the report, I’ll get the forms, I’ll be ready if I need to be, that's it.”

Chris frowned, it was obvious he didn’t like the answer, but what could he do as Ricky was already walking back through the house towards the backyard where everyone else was, having fun out in the back by the pool. Hearing Vinny call out to Rick happily when he saw him come out, he sighed, fucking hell Rick, Chris just hoped he knew what he was doing. No, he knew he didn’t know what he was doing, he just thought he did. Chris shook his head, and followed Rick back to the party, considering at least warning Vinny, it was about time he upgraded his security too, he could frame it as for Ava’s benefit.

At least Ava had given her fair warning about packing some swimwear for them both when asking for the extra gear, not that she’d told her that it was going to be for some big group get-together. Just swimwear. She’d packed the bikini that she knew Ava loved and would show off for Vinny, something she’d already seen him enjoy, the man’s eyes almost fell out of his head seeing her in them, and it left almost nothing to the imagination, not to mention showcasing that soulmate tattoo, perfectly. Talia had laughed softly at the way Vinny had walked beside her, hand in hand, man, he was already smitten with her.

She enjoyed watching them together, it was a night to see them work out. Even if it made her sad, knowing that the odds of Ava coming home were unlikely, but that was okay. Talia could visit, she had nothing against being long-distance besties. She had friends all over the world.. She had friends all over the place. It was fine. Still, he was on tour constantly who knew what would happen, who knew what she would decide, Talia knew what she would, though. Her family wouldn’t hold her back, and Ava only had three people who would encourage her to move here. She’d tell her to be here in a fucking heartbeat. Especially with how she was with Vinny already.

Talia, however, made sure she had a cover-up for her swimsuit, bringing a wrap-around maxi-style dress, it was nice and breezy under the sun. This way she could get away with looking nice and relaxed, but also still enjoy the day out by the pool, not wearing anything thick and heavy to cover herself. Covering herself, that was what she wanted. To hide from one man's glares, to hide from the wordless accusations, from the actual accusations. She had enough of all of it, both in reality and in her mind, over the past two weeks.

Talia found herself sitting with some of the women, talking about different things they’d gotten up to while the boys were on tour. Justin was the only other member of the band other than Vinny with a soulmate it would seem, they were married, and she was already trying to talk Talia into designing a new tattoo for her, even talking about including her in the girls weekend she was planning that involved flying them all out to Florida next tour. In the end, despite the thrill of meeting her, and the hopefulness of new friends here, Talia just shook her head, she wasn’t a band girl, she was just family of one, she didn’t count. Still, she had just assured her that didn’t matter, she was inviting her, and that was the important part.

Talia eventually agreed to at least consider it. The last thing she needed was to make plans and have them thrown in her face. As excited as she was right now to meet everyone, she had yet to come face to face with the one person she knew could so easily affect her, much to her dismay, rip her open and make her feel like she could bleed out without even saying a single word. She thought about that fact all morning, and that every good feeling came with this ominous shadow in the back of her mind.

She never used to resent the soulmate tattoo, she never used to hate it. It used to be something she just accepted, and lived with. It was just another tattoo, another picture on her skin like all the rest. Now it has become something else. Meeting Ricky, feeling the judgement, that hate in his eyes, had changed everything.

There he was. Looking over to the house as she heard Vinny call out to him, he did not look happy, then again, she hadn’t seen him once since she’d met him when he did. Sighing, she missed that, that smile, that happiness in him. Rick was, he was beautiful, especially when he was happy. Even when he was pissed, just knowing that it was her being here that upset him…

Why else would he have reason to be when he’d only just arrived

Looking down at her glass, she swallowed, only to have Ava nudge her shoulder, shake her head, no. Easier said than done, she couldn’t stop blaming herself, but, she could push it down, reminding herself, it wasn’t her fault. This wasn’t on her and Rick could go shove it blaming her. Lifting her cup to her lips she drank down the rest of her glass and finished her drink.

“I’m just going to get a refill.”

Anything to get out from under the eyes of everyone around her for the moment, especially Ava’s, she didn’t want to be watched while in Rick’s eyesight, not by Ava, she knew her too well. The others, she could put on a mask and be fine, Ava would know.

Instead of just going to get another drink from the table with all the food and drinks, she went inside, walking down the hall towards where she’d been told the guest bathrooms were earlier. She just needed some time to cool off, just needed a moment to think, think about anything but Ricky. She could do this, she could be here and not deal with him. It was just one day, one day of this trip dealing with being anywhere near him and then she could forget he was around. It wasn’t like she’d have to hang out with him all the time right? No, she was here for Ava, Vin, and his family.

In the bathroom, she splashed some water on her face, cooled off, and just breathed.

Considering how long she was in there, the was probably a slight chance she was hiding in there, just a little.. But when no one came in to bang on the door, Talia felt like she was safe. Sooner or later though she knew she had to come out sometime.. So she did. Sighing, she stepped out, closing the door behind her, only to find Ricky, in the hall. Why the hell was he there? She didn’t know, but the way he was looking at her knowingly, she guessed, maybe, he was waiting for her.

“About time, almost starting to wonder if you’d solved one of my problems and just fallen in.”

Her lips pressed together, swallowing heavily, biting off the retort, she didn’t want to make things difficult for Ava by ripping into one of Vin’s best friends, but she was tempted. Taking in a breath,

“Rick, obviously Ava and Vinny are doing well, this isn’t going to be a fleeting thing for them, so we’re going to have to find a way to at least be civil and get along.”

He smirked then, stepping towards her.

“Oh, I agree.”

His eyes flitted down to the tattoo on her neck, the rose, her soulmate mark, and without thinking, instinctually, her eyes flitted down to his neck just as he had to hers, to his tattoo. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen the same image in the mirror every day, the same rose, the same, but different, the way the tattoos around them marked them differently.

“You want to claim you’re my soulmate. Prove it.”

Prove it? She was supposed to think that he was willing to give her a chance, here? How the hell was she supposed to prove it? She’d never heard of a way to prove it.

“How?”

“Well, you suggested to Grace to get a fake tattoo.. Makes me wonder if you're willing to ensnare a famous soulmate once…”

Oh yes, Ricky was going there, he was wondering if implying that if she got that tattoo to trap him, she could be trying to trap other famous people too, tattoos hidden on her body under those clothes. His eyes swept down her body, plenty of her hidden by her cover-up dress, some of her tattoos exposed, the one down her leg, some of her arms, but most of her body was covered. He knew enough people out in the world had had their tattoos exposed just like he had, and dealt with people trying to fool them constantly…

Ricky would probably recognise them if he saw them, well, some of them.

His eyes met hers, those stormy blues…

“You want to prove you’re my soulmate. Strip.”

#motionless in white #miw #ricky olson #ricky horror #ricky olson fanfiction #ricky olson x ofc #original female character #soulmates #vinny mauro #fanfiction #miw band #rick olson #ricky horror olson #soulmate au #soulmate #tattoos #ricky olson fanfic #vinny mauro fanfic #fic: every rose has its thorns

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yandevee · 1 year ago

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Johnny Cage × Reader

Chapter 1

You are a fangirl but he is kinda into it because he loves the attention

In all fairness, you didn't really mean to go through a glowing blue portal.

You usually spend your days wondering the streets of the oh so famous Hollywood. Honestly in contrast to popular belief fame city wasn't all hot gossip and movie shoots.

There was a dark side, a poor and homeless side, that had been creeping up throughout the years.

You...are a part of that percentage. There is a lovely little place on the tip top of an apartment building that you have found sanctuary. A lovingly crafted shack made from two tall and sturdy pieces of plywood and a blanket draped over the top. The loving part was the string of battery-operated lights that you managed to steal from a dollar store. Along with your trusty, kinda beat up CD playing laptop you may or may not have also stolen...

It's not much but it's yours, along with the beautiful view of the walk of fame.

You wished desperately to get to that place you call 'home', but fate seems to have a different plan.

---pov---

Oh shit oh fuck. I've really done it now.

You know all these years of shoplifting and never ONCE has someone chased me down a street for a fucking CD!

"Just stop running! If you give it back I swear I won't call the cops!" This guy has some damn good stamina.

My legs beg me to give in, but there was absolutely no way in hell I'm giving this up. It's Johnny's newest film!

"YOU DEFINITELY DONT GET PAYED ENOUGH FOR THIS SIR! Probably $8.00 a hour at MOST." I yelled over my shoulder, not looking where I'm going.

Wait.

Why is it daytime?

WHERE DID THAT GUY GO?

I stop and catch my breath. At the very least, this means he won't get me. "How did I even get here?"

"That's what I want to know." I'm mildly embarrassed at the yelp that left me. Only a tad. Ok, maybe a lot.

I nearly jump out of my skin and turn around to see a man with... white glowing eyes? He's tall with dark hair pulled partially into a bun, wearing a white, undone shirt and dark blue pants.

"Uh, you're not the guy from the video store."

"Definitely not." It feels like his gaze is burning holes in me. Clearly, I'm somewhere I'm not supposed to be.

He took my stiff figure in slowly, like as if he was trying to scan me for...well something. "You are lost?" Uh, no shit?

I don't know the guy. I can't just say that out loud, so I settled with a nod. He looked more relaxed and settled his eyes on the CD I had clutched to my chest.

"Where am I? If you don't mind me asking that is-" I've had my fair share of fights to know that I don't wanna be on this guy's list. Especially since his eyes are glowing like a comic villain.

He gave me one more once over before giving a soft smile. "How about you follow me, and we can discuss your questions." I'm not too sure about that one chef. This has murder written all over it.

For whatever reason, I find myself following after him despite my thoughts.

He led me through courtyards of men in orange that were training tirelessly. There were beautiful statues and lush greenery that complimented the stone pathways. I took it all in, and the only thing the serene setting gave me was more and more questions.

HEWOO~ HAI

This is my first time writing something like this but I CRAVE more Johnny content and honestly I was like 'Oh wait I can make some' so here I fucking AM!!! RAAAAAAAAAAAAA there will be more parts definitely but hope you enjoyed chapter one! Next one should be longer- baiiii

#johnny cage #johnny cage smut #johnny cage x reader #mk1

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tartarusrising-rp · 20 days ago

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OOC INFO

Name/Alias: Cris Pronouns: He/Him/She/Her Age: 27 Timezone: gmt-3

IC INFO

Character Name: Nikkolas 'Nikko' Stephens Character Age: 22 Character Birthday (with year): January 1th, 2002 Gender & Pronouns: Trans Man, He/Him Affiliation: Tartaturs Occupation: Dealer - College Student Faceclaim: Sophie Thatcher

BIOGRAPHY

TW: Near Death Experience, Violence, Child Neglect, Blood, Death, Car Accident, Drugs, Alcohol

Nikkolas Stephens wasn't supposed to survive ⸻ At least, that's what it feels like most days. He lives on borrowed time; from who, he will never know ⸻ The man from the river, perhaps, with his golden shining eyes watching every step Nikkolas takes. The complex web of near deathly encounters began when the boy was only a year old; tiny even for his young age, malnourished and with heavy lungs, Nikkolas was snatched from the clutches of the Church of the Lost during a raid the cult suffered. Adopted by Kiri Stephens, a figure larger than life in his eyes, Nikkolas grew up shielded from his origins, yet haunted by nightmares of things he couldn’t possibly recall.

One dream stayed with him: the image of a man burning alive, seared into his mind for reasons he never understood. He often wakes up screaming, drenched in cold sweat, clawing at his own throat as if he can't get enough air into his lungs.

In the years of his youth, Nikkolas had yet to suffer under the hands of a cruel fate out to get him ⸻ He was a sensitive kid, sweet and loyal to the point of fragility. He spoke too much, forgave too quickly, kindness dripped from his mud-stained fingers in tandem. It didn’t take long for life to shape him into the brittle, reckless creature he has become. At nine years old, he found himself bedridden with pneumonia ⸻ the doctors couldn't tell precisely how the kid got it; weeks of constant rain; his lungs already sensitive duo to his bad asthma; a cold swim in an outdoor pool ⸻ He hardly cares about the hows or whys, truly. All he remembers are key factors that stick with him these days; he thought, felt, and believed he was going to die. Everyone else around him was of the same mind.

People who cheat death cannot escape its touch.

At thirteen, when his smiles were turning into smirks and his words were beginning to be wrapped in sharp shards of glass, his past caught up to him ⸻ Of course, he doesn't know it was a fanatic member of the Church who changed the curse of his life ⸻ More than seventy percent of his hearing were lost in a cold winter day. Nikkolas doesn't talk about it ⸻ refused to, even then, with his head open and blood pouring like a waterfall. Is not lies, when he says he doesn't remember ⸻ his memory of the day are cloudy at best, and painful to think of. But he never spoke of being chased through the snow-covered streets of Boston, words of ‘returning’ and ‘lamb’ following his hurried steps. A mugging, cops believed, suspect ran away before anyone could catch him.

Life wasn't the same, after. Adapting was hard enough for a kid his age, but the fear which filled his body seemed to make him freeze and panic at the most inopportune moments. Perhaps it is why he began gravitating closer to Tartarus ⸻ after all, fake arrogance could only get him so far, and there was no place safer than by his parents side. It is what he told himself at least, when his stomach began to tighten unpleasantly at the horrors Tartarus would commit. Much better than the Demons, he would often hear, or the Lost. He couldn't do much more than trail around the Stephens women curiously, uncharacteristically quietly, making a point of paying attention to what they were doing.

It wasn't until he was eighteen that he began working under Kiri Stephens. He wished to so more heavy lifting, looking for mentorship in other places too ⸻ but his affinity for drugs tugged him towards the intricate world of fabricating it. He never called it a problem, despises the world addiction with a vicious force, but he can't really call it anything else. Not with how he lives. Not after the accident.

It wasn't his fault ⸻ Nikkolas sat brightly and happy in the back seat of his friend's car, pleasantly high and drunk as they all returned from a party. They were twenty and free, wrapped in the fake notion youth made them immortal. Packed like sardines in a can, nothing could ruin their night. Until eyes got off the road, a pickup truck didn't turn its lights, and suddenly the car was turning and tumbling down the road. Seven people died that night ⸻ Nikkolas, the only survivor, died once on the way to the hospital after having to face the lifeless bodies of his friends. It wasn't his fault. The pickup driver was drunk, too, arguing with his girlfriend without paying attention to the road. It wasn't his fault. Their assigned driver had been the sober one in the group, a sharp mind even with the alcohol and chemicals in his system. It wasn't his fault.

Then why couldn't he sleep at night?

At his own decision ⸻ the only thing he ever asked for, begged and cried ⸻ Nikkolas was admitted to a recluse rehabilitation center. He couldn't face his own reflection in the mirror, and the drugs did nothing to help with the pain in his heart. A year spent in group therapies, tending to gardens, painting and clay sculpting to try take the edge of want and desire off ⸻ He promised himself he would never drink or smoke again. A promise he kept for three months after being rehabilitated ⸻ sent home with a chip and a pat on the back, proud of himself and the things he achieved. Three months until the urge and itch got to him. Working around drugs perhaps didn't help, but Nikkolas knows he would've fallen prey to their hold regardless. He has a weak mind.

He keeps to himself, however, pretends everything is okay to his friends and family ⸻ that he is still clean. With the stress of the murder on everyone's shoulders, Nikkolas doesn't want to burden his family even more. But he knows it's just a matter of time until he messes up ⸻ His recklessness tends to get the best of him, after all.

#tr.taken #tr.tartarus

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echotrinityme · 2 years ago

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Sweet Lies( Past Stickvin, one-sided Stickprice, other ships)

A/N: I had this idea from reading FuchisaPaper's end call from AO3. Go read it if you haven't read it yet, it's so good.

This takes place during the post-VH timeline... Why do I keep writing about this timeline when I do not like that ending?

Henry listened to Charles's final message one more time before he went to go meet Rupert Price.

He knew it was unhealthy.

Ever since Charles's sacrifice in taking down the Toppat Clan in the orbital station, Henry has been in a slump.

Henry met Charles at a tavern when he saw Charles shooting some Toppats. Charles was surprised when he saw Henry at the tavern. Charles thought he was dead which made Henry look at him in shock. Charles got over supposed Henry's death and quickly explained to him about taking down the Toppat clan in space.

The General tasked him and Henry to take down the Toppat Clan.

The mission was almost successful until Henry and Charles got into an escape pod since Charles did one of his greatest plans. It worked but the orbital station was counting down to explode, they got into an escape pod, and were about to escape the station but, fate had other plans.

A random Toppat opened the hatch and tried to get the duo out but Charles was two steps ahead. Charles took care of the Toppat while saving Henry in the process, Henry was shocked Charles did that. Charles kept holding the Toppat down as the pod's doors closed, Henry was worried about Charles, however, Charles told him he will find another way out.

But... Charles didn't.

Charles didn't find another escape pod... He knew this and told Henry his final message. Henry didn't want to hear the message, he pleaded for Charles to get out or find another pod.

Alas, the orbital station exploded with the dead toppats and Charles with it.

Henry was devastated, and so was everyone in the Government.

General Hubert Galeforce and Rupert Price were especially devastated. The General saw Charles as a son, and Rupert was one of Charles's closest friends. The General had a funeral and a memorial for Charles. It was sad and heartbreaking.

Henry sighed as he left his apartment to meet with Rupert, bowed his head down, put his hands in his pockets, and thought about what happened after Charles's death.

Henry still stayed with the Government and helps out with missions and stuff.

Before Charles's death, he and Henry were a couple. Nobody knew this except for the General and Rupert. However, while Galeforce was happy for the couple, Rupert was not.

Henry and Rupert have a history and it's not a happy history.

Before Rupert joined the military force and Henry joined the Government, Rupert was a cop and Henry was a criminal.

As you were expecting, they didn't get along.

Henry got caught trying to steal from a bank and was put in a cell in a police department where Rupert worked. Rupert would always play jokes on Henry with his best friend and co-worker Dave Panpa. Henry didn't find the jokes to be funny but to Rupert, it was hilarious. Dave sometimes participated in the jokes but he looked like he was forced, Henry thought Dave was too nice for the police force because he was a bit of a doormat.

However, although Dave may be nice he does have his limits. There was this one time that Henry was still in his cell when he saw Dave putting a criminal away next to the cell Henry was in, the criminal was being uncooperative and Henry saw Dave looking annoyed. Then Henry saw what he considered the most aggressive he had ever seen on Dave; Dave said something awful to the criminal and threw the criminal into the cell hard.

After that day, Henry learned to never undermine Dave.

Henry got to the base and found Rupert talking to Victoria and June. Henry came over to them with a smile, June saw him and waved hello to him. Victoria also waved to him, Rupert turned around to see Henry heading toward them. Rupert smiled at him when Henry was next to him now, Rupert wrapped one arm around his waist and resume talking to the girls.

Henry blushed as he felt Rupert's arm around him, Henry looked down at the ground.

Sometimes it felt weird to him that he and Rupert are a couple.

Henry was shocked and suspicious when Rupert, his enemy and the bane of his existence, asked him out. It was a couple of months after Charles's death when Rupert asked him out. At first, Henry didn't want to accept Rupert's offer because he was suspicious of Rupert's motives and he felt like he was betraying Charles, and their history together. However, Rupert convinced Henry that Charles will want him to move on.

Henry leaned his head on Rupert as he heard him talking to June and Victoria.

June squealed silently while Victoria was giggling softly, she was also surprised when Rupert and Henry got together. Rupert told her about his history with Henry and how he hates him. So Victoria was suspicious when she heard Rupert and Henry are dating but her suspicions died down when she saw Rupert being affectionate to Henry.

Rupert grumbled as he went to the General's tent.

"How long do I have to keep playing a lover to Henry?!" he thought as he got to Galeforce's tent.

Before he went in, he thought about what happened with Charles and Henry.

Ever since he was a little kid, he wanted to help people.

He always helped his mom, dad, friends, and others. However, as he got older, he learned the world isn't all rays of sunshine and rainbows. The world is full of harsh realities and hard truths. His mom left him when he was small, his dad became abusive to him, and he didn't have a great childhood to teenhood. But when he joined the police academy right after high school, he finished his training at a young age and made new friends in the process.

Dave Panpa was a meek, shy individual that Rupert instantly took a liking to, and Johnny Panzer was someone who was a decade older than him but he was like a mentor to Dave and Rupert. Rupert was happy for a while, and nothing can change that. But... life is not fair. Rupert's happiness faded away from an annoying thief and the bane of his existence.

Henry Stickmin.

Henry Stickmin tried to rob a bank but ended up getting arrested and put in prison where Rupert, Dave, and Johnny worked. Rupert loved to mess with Henry and so did Johnny. Things changed when Henry was given a package from someone and Dave didn't check the package like he was supposed to do. Unfortunately, the package that was sent to Henry helped him escape and Dave got fired as a result.

Dave's firing was the start of Rupert's grudge against Henry.

Rupert's grudge against Henry got worse when Henry accidentally murdered Johnny. After Johnny's death, Rupert was not happy. He also got frustrated with the police force and he decided to quit and joined the military where he figured he will do more help than the police force. Joining the military gave him the chance to prove himself and he made new friends in the Government.

Charles Calvin was bright, eager, friendly, and overzealous but Rupert instantly bonded with him. Charles can be an idiot because he loved to crash his helicopter into things. He and Rupert always worked together. Rupert thought he will never have to see Henry ever again but life just hates him. Henry was recruited to help them stop the Toppat Clan and Henry bonded with Charles to the point they've become a couple.

Rupert was devastated when he heard of Charles's death and didn't vocally blame Henry for his death.

Rupert went inside the tent and saw the General looking over some reports. Galeforce looked up to see Rupert standing in front of him, he smiled at him. "Hello, Price," he said, "May I ask what are you doing here?"

Rupert crossed his arms, "Where on the whereabouts of the remaining Toppats?"

Galeforce blinked in confusion then he sighed, "Nothing yet, Price,"

Rupert grumbled as he looked down, he didn't like that answer. "But..." Rupert looked up at Galeforce, "There have been reports that the Toppats have several prisoners and one of them is a security guard."

Rupert blinked, "The security guard must be Dave then!" he thought.

Dave have gotten a security guard job at a museum and heard he was missing. Rupert figured he must have gotten kidnapped by the Toppat Clan, Rupert nodded.

"Okay, sir," Rupert responded curtly, "Thank you for the report."

Galeforce nodded as Rupert left the tent, Rupert went to the cafeteria to meet with Henry and the others.

Rupert was staring up at the ceiling of Henry's apartment while Henry was asleep next to him, Henry was cuddling him because of his warmth. Rupert couldn't sleep. Why? His guilty conscience kept nagging him about using Henry. Rupert tried to ignore it. He kept telling his conscious that Henry deserves this, it was all in good fun, and it was the best kind of revenge. Rupert finally fell asleep when it was time to get up.

Rupert was trying not to fall asleep as he sat next to Henry in the clearing, he leaned his head on Henry who smiled at him. Henry handed him a coffee, "Here you go, Thor," Thorn was Henry's nickname for Rupert which at first Rupert hated but quickly got used to it.

"Thanks," Rupert replied as he grabbed the coffee, he drank the coffee.

"Hey, Rupert?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you," Henry said softly.

Rupert furrowed his brows in confusion, he glanced up at Henry and sat up. "For what?"

"After Charles's death, I was broken... and heartbroken," Henry explained as he got closer to Rupert, "But you came and helped me. I was suspicious of you when you asked me out but after a while, those suspicions went away I feel weird for saying this but I fell in love with you."

Rupert nearly choked on his coffee as his face was now red, and his guilty conscience flared up.

"Oh shit..."

Rupert grumbled as he walked where most soldiers go to to wind down, the bar. The bartender sensed Rupert's thunderstorm of a mood when he saw Rupert coming in, the bartender gave Rupert a drink as the prickly captain sat in front of him. Rupert thanked the bartender and drown the drink. A couple of hours later, Rupert was drunk.

A couple of soldiers were there at the bar. Hayden, Hank, Drake, Josh, Jose, and Howard were there drinking. They saw Rupert was in a bad mood and was drinking. They know to steer clear of him when he is like that. Calvin and Konrad came into the bar. They saw Rupert was on his phone and was smiling like an idiot.

They went over to him, and each brother sat on one side of Rupert.

"Are you texting Henry lewd texts?" Calvin snickered.

"If you are," Konrad added with a smirk, "What are they?"

Rupert stopped texting for a moment, he quickly stood up and faced Calvin which made him and Konrad scared. Rupert was glaring at the twins with his golden eyes that was ablaze with anger.

"No... No, I'm not..." Rupert snarled, he was clenching his fists as he trembled. Calvin and Konrad didn't like how Rupert looked, and the other soldiers stood up and stared at them.

"I will never do that to Henry... because I will never like him like that..." Rupert stated coldly.

Calvin and Konrad blinked in confusion as they trembled in fear, "I have been using him since Charles's death..." Rupert continued, "I have been using this prick."

Calvin gasped as Konrad's eyes widened.

"You have been using him?" Calvin asked incredulously, "Is this supposed to be some kind of prank? If it is, then this is messed up.

"Yeah!" Konrad added angrily, "You're messing with his emotions! That is low... even for you."

"The fucker deserves this for ruining my life!" Rupert reasoned.

"He's already been through enough!" Calvin argued back, "Just because you and he have a bad past doesn't mean you have to hurt him like this!"

While Calvin and Rupert were arguing, the situation was getting tense and some of the soldiers were worried about a fight breaking out. The bartender watched the confrontation with anxiety as he saw the door to his bar opened, and he gasped at who entered.

"Yes. It. Does." Rupert snarled, "He ruined my life and got Charles KILLED!"

Calvin flinched at the last word, however, before he could argue, he saw something familiar behind Rupert. Rupert saw Calvin was not looking at him, Rupert was about to question what Calvin was looking at when he felt something hard rammed into his face. Rupert fell to the ground. Calvin looked back and forth between Henry and Rupert. Calvin saw Henry's expression and he winced, Henry was crying. His blue eyes were red and puffy, and he was trembling.

Calvin peeked at his brother and the other patrons for help. But most of the soldiers didn't want to get involved because they thought Rupert deserved the punch and they were afraid of Henry. Henry quickly got Rupert up and led him to the entrance of the bar. Henry threw Rupert out of the bar and went outside before slamming the door, making the glass crack.

Everyone flinched including the bartender. Calvin stared after Henry, debating if he should follow them. Konrad stood next to him, also debating. They both stared at each other, wordlessly having a conversation. They decided to wait a while. They're hoping that there will be no killing involved.

Henry pulled Rupert on his jacket to the clearing and once there, Henry threw Rupert on the ground and started kicking him.

"You... You fucking bastard!" Henry shouted as he kept kicking Rupert, Henry heard grunts from Rupert who wasn't fighting back. Henry stopped kicking and started punching him.

"How fricking dare you!" Henry couldn't understand what it takes for a person to play with someone's emotions, he couldn't comprehend it.

Normally, Rupert would defend himself in a situation but he's too drunk. He got up and stagger a bit, he stood up and he glared at Henry with his bloody teeth bared.

"YOU USED ME!!" Henry bellowed, "YOU FUCKING USED ME!!"

Rupert still glared at Henry as Henry started laughing while sobbing, "All those times we-" Henry said, voice cracking, "Were too good to be true..."

Henry went up to Rupert who was still glaring at him, "You're such a dirty liar! I would kill you but I don't want your dirty blood on me!"

Rupert raised an eyebrow at the subtle death threat, he didn't think Henry had the guts to kill him, maybe beating him up but not killing him. "Rupert... why?" Henry asked, anger ebbing away and replaced with sadness.

Rupert spit out some blood, and he wiped the blood off his mouth.

"Do you want to hear the brutal truth?" Rupert asked.

" I wanted to mess with you, it was fun to see you head over heels in love with me," Rupert responded before Henry could answer him. Henry gaped, trembling badly, restraining himself from killing Rupert.

"You pretended to be in love with me... What. The. Hell." Henry scowled, "How badly are you screwed up in the head to do this to me!?"

Rupert didn't do anything at first but he exhaled, "None. I did this because you ruined my life and got Charles killed!"

Henry blinked as a new wave of emotions set in, he stopped trembling as he bowed his head down. "Is using me like a toy really fucking worth it?" he questioned, his tone emotionless.

Rupert would have said yes and would have enjoyed the revenge, however, he didn't. Henry ceased his crying, wiped his eyes, and he exhaled a sharp breath. "And I didn't mean to get Charles killed... he saved me..."

Rupert gave Henry an apathetic look, he crossed his arms. "We were supposed to come home together... instead I have to watch him save me from a Toppat clan," Henry continued, voice wavering, "I didn't want him to die... "

"Every day my mind tells me it should have been me... " Rupert's eyes widened when he heard Henry's confession, "I wish he didn't save me, I wish I switched places with him..."

Henry felt numb.

Henry went quiet as Rupert stepped closer, Rupert felt extremely guilty. Without thinking, he held out a hand to comfort Henry but that was a wrong move. Without warning, Henry screeched and pulled out a pocket knife. Rupert saw the knife and was about to apprehend Henry but he was too slow.

SLASH!

"AAAAGH!"

Rupert cried out in pain as he felt his left eye being slashed by Henry's pocket knife, he trembled as tears started brewing in his left eye and felt a stinging sensation. He used his remaining eye to glance at Henry in shock, Henry was holding up the pocket knife which has Rupert's blood. Henry was glaring at Rupert with malice, "You tell me I'm a heartless bastard..." he said coldly, "But... have you looked in the mirror?"

Henry dropped the knife on the ground and left Rupert alone bleeding cause he didn't want to be near Rupert. Rupert stared after him, feeling a twinge of sadness in his heart. He covered his eye and picked up the pocket knife to inspect it. He recognize the familiarity of the knife and gasped when he saw it was Charles's pocket knife.

Rupert went back to the base to get patched up but stopped when he saw Calvin, Konrad, and the other soldiers who were at the bar. They didn't look happy. Some had angry looks, some have apathetic looks, and some just stared at him. Jose went over to him and led him to the med bay. Jose patched Rupert up, and neither didn't say a word to the other.

After Jose was done, he stared at Rupert blankly. Rupert didn't look at him, Jose sighed.

"I lost all respect for you,"

Jose left Rupert alone in the medbay to think about what he has done.

The Government managed to capture the remaining Toppats and freed some prisoners they had. Dave Panpa was one of them. Dave was happy at first to see Rupert but his happiness faded when he heard what Rupert did to Henry and he verbally beat the shit out of Rupert. Dave stopped talking to Rupert after that.

Rupert thought about what he did to Henry and wanted to apologize to him but Henry refused to speak to him.

Rupert was heading toward the bar to celebrate when he spotted Henry heading toward the bar, Rupert quickly ran over to him to stop him. "Henry! Wait!"

He was hoping Henry would listen to him since every time he tried to talk to him, Henry would make up excuses or avoid him. However, to his surprise, Henry stopped. Rupert was now in front of Henry who wasn't looking at him, Henry turned around to face Rupert. He wasn't looking at him. "What?" he said, tone cold and clipped which made Rupert cringe.

"I want to apologize for my behavior," Rupert replied softly.

Henry looked at him, his eyes were glossy. "I'm sorry for manipulating you, using you, and just being a jerk to you in general. I was a prick to you and I know what I did to you was fucked up. I knew I screwed up the moment I started playing with your emotions. And I'm sorry for blaming you for Charles's death... that was uncalled for." Rupert said, his eyes shimmering.

Henry looked at him for a moment then he sighed, he closed his eyes as he inhaled and opened them as he exhaled. "Okay, I don't forgive you,"

Rupert blinked when he heard Henry said that, "Why would I forgive you for hurting me?! I know you don't forgive me for the other stuff..." Henry continued harshly, "You have to live for what you did to me as I do for the lives I ruined."

Henry turned away from Rupert as he began to walk away, "Also, I don't trust you anymore... and I will probably never will."

Henry went inside the bar and for a few minutes, Rupert followed suit. Once inside, he saw every soldier was there. He looked for Henry and he spotted Henry with the Bukowski twins. His eyes widened when he saw Henry's head was on Calvin's shoulder and Calvin's arm was around his waist. He had heard rumors that Calvin and Henry got closer after their nasty breakup. Rupert silently went out of the bar and went back to his tent.

Inside his tent, Rupert got out his secret stash of alcohol and drank from the bottle. A few minutes later, he was drunk as hell. He then started sobbing as he put his hand into his face, he lost three people he cared about and it's two of them were his fault.

His mind kept making up this sweet lie that Henry might change his mind but he knew he lost Henry.

Revenge is not sweet... it's bitter.

A/N: I'm sorry if this is so long... and I was crying while writing this... I know what it is like to be used like a doll so that's why I relate to Henry so well.

#thehenrystickmincollection #the henry stickmin collection #henry stickmin #rupert price #charles calvin #calvin bukowski #konrad bukowski #jose gonzales #hayden brock #drake camper #josh taylor #hank stockman #valiant hero ending #thsc valiant hero ending #past stickprice #past stickvin #calvin x henry #henry x calvin

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joshuasumter · 1 year ago

Text

Scooby-Doo! and the Phantom Thieves (Formerly known as Scooby-Doo! Meets Persona 5)

DISCLAIMER: The following crossover you're about to experience is a reimagining and a reinterpretation of the main story of the hit Persona 5 Strikers video game, depicting a world entirely separate from the main flow of the Scooby-Doo franchise and the worldwide RPG Persona series. Say, it's just like the Dead Rising 2: Off the Record video game - a "new version of an existing story"

Synopsis: Worlds collide as the casts of SCOOBY-DOO! and PERSONA 5 team up in a crossover ordeal that is a re-interpretation and reimagining of the hit Persona 5 Strikers video game - an alternate version of the same story!

Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. gang - Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy - embark on what was supposed to be a relaxing vacation once they visit modern-day Tokyo, but only to have been interrupted when events of something strange and supernatural occurred during their time of fun and games…literally! They find themselves in an alternate version of Tokyo in the Metaverse called a Jail, where people’s desires are being taken by the ruler’s shadow called Monarchs, complete with cop-resembling monsters called Shadows. As they try to find a way to escape, Scooby and the gang have another mystery on their hands as they are put on high alert - this time, there are no guys in rubber masks.

SIDE: SD (Scooby-Doo): After wrapping up yet another mystery, Velma got an invite from her pen-pal, asking her to come to Shibuya to visit. Once she, Fred, Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo arrived in modern-day Tokyo, however, they are in for an unexpected and supernatural surprise! Thanks to a recently popular app they installed called EMMA, the Mystery Inc. gang ended up in an entirely, different Tokyo filled with cop-resembling monsters called Shadows. Luckily, two masked teenagers and a cartoonish-like, talking cat came to their aid, calling themselves the Phantom Thieves! Once they return to the real world, Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby realized that a series of cases involving a "change of heart" are happening all over the country of Japan and their new friends are being under suspicion by the police for the recent cases from last year and their involvement. The Scooby gang will have to help their new Persona-using friends clear their names in their longest, most unexpected mystery yet...

But there’s another team also on the case as the Scooby gang ran into…the Phantom Thieves of Hearts from Persona 5, consist of normal teenagers-turned-Persona users Ren Amamiya, Ryuji Sakamoto, Ann Takamaki, Yusuke Kitagawa, Makoto Niijima, Futaba Sakura, Haru Okumura…and their talking black cat, Morgana! Why? Because they had stumbled into this world as well, thanks to a popular app called EMMA. Not only that, but their camping trip on summer vacation together has turned into a road trip when they are being the prime suspects of a series of cases involving a change of heart in people that is happening not only Shibuya, but all over the country of Japan, currently investigated by the Tokyo branch of the Public Security Bureau.

SIDE: P5 (Persona 5): Months have passed since Ren Amamiya left Tokyo after his probation ended, and now he and Morgana return to the bustling streets of Shibuya in order to enjoy summer vacation with their old friends and comrades - Ryuji Sakamoto, Ann Takamaki, Yusuke Kitagawa, Makoto Niijima, Futaba Sakura, and Haru Okumura. Unfortunately, despite the celebration, the smiling faces of his former teammates and comrades-in-arms weren't the only things awaiting Ren's arrival. Summoned by Lavenza of the Velvet Room, Ren learned from her that a new, potential danger threatens to consume him and the entire world, which made him become a prisoner of fate once again. This led Ren to a sudden conclusion - the Metaverse that he and the Phantom Thieves had worked so hard to destroy has return in an unexpected way! One day, while shopping for camping stuff, Ren, Ryuji, and Morgana find themselves transported from the real world and into an alternate version of Shibuya in the Metaverse in their Phantom Thief attire, all due to a popular app they installed called EMMA that somehow acted as the new Meta-Nav. There, they fought Shadows that dressed like cops, encountered an A.I. named Sophia, and in an unexpected plot twist, they are joined by Mystery Inc., consisting of Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and their talking dog, Scooby-Doo, who are also on the case when they have accidentally entered the Metaverse through EMMA as well. Once they return to the real world, the Phantom Thieves reassembled again to unravel this new Metaverse called the Jail, only to find themselves being suspected by the police for being involved in a series of Change of Heart incidents all over the country. But what if the Phantom Thieves and the recently joined Sophia...turn to Mystery Inc. for help?

Thinking that this case is similar to their previous adventure from last year** (**See Persona 5) and that someone is framing them by not changing people’s hearts under the same reasons as them, the Phantom Thieves reluctantly turn to Mystery Inc. to help them crack the case, leading both groups to team up - that means Scooby-Doo and Morgana will have to get along, right? They are joined by Sophia, a sentient A.I. who can detect the presence of Jails; and Zenkichi Hasegawa, a member of Public Security who needs both the Phantom Thieves and Mystery Inc.’s help to catch the true perpetrator.

But when the bad guys labeled the Phantom Thieves as terrorists, Scooby-Doo and the gang bravely try to rescue them from getting arrested and Zenkichi's daughter, Akane Hasegawa, will have to play a huge role as she summons her very own Persona and later joins the fray! To make matters worse, they’re suspected of being accomplices to the Phantom Thieves. Will both groups be able to get out of this situation and solve this very long and huge mystery?

WORLDS COLLIDE: SD/P5: Mystery Inc. find themselves in a very serious and long mystery and the Phantom Thieves' plans for summer vacation takes an unexpected plot twist when two groups join forces, using their mystery-solving and phantom-thieving skills to crack cases involving a change of heart across the cities of Japan, learning more about the circumstances of the Change of Heart epidemic and the Metaverse-like Jails... Who is behind it all, and to what end? And can Mystery Inc. help their new Persona-user friends find the truth behind these strange incidents...or will they end up being arrested by the police as well? The ordeal of the Phantom Thieves and Mystery Inc. has just begun...

Pack your Scooby Snacks and summon your Personas for this is the one crossover team-up you never expected that needs both mystery-solving…and phantom-thieving.

#scooby doo #scooby-doo #persona 5 #persona 5 strikers #persona 5 scramble #crossover #crossovers

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allsassnoclass · 9 months ago

Note

Say…two people break up, right? But Fate thinks that’s bullshit so it creates a time loop and the couple is forced to relive the day they broke up multiple times, in different alternate realities, until they kiss and make up. The universe’s version of couple’s therapy.

OH i read a pretty good buddie fic with a similar premise, found HERE for my 911 friends.

anyway!

On the 11th day, Michael runs.

He wakes up alone, of course. Ashton is an earlier riser, and Michael wouldn't want to stay in bed with him and the memories of the past 11 loops, either. The bunks on the bus are a tight fit on the best of days, but they're suffocating if you've just broken up and have to keep breaking up over and over and over again.

Michael checks the date on his phone, sees that it hasn't changed, and barricades himself in his bunk, covers pulled over his head and only offering grunts to anyone who checks on him.

The bus pulls to a stop at 12:43pm, just like it always does. Michael could time everything down to the second now, the comforting routine of tour made eerily exact by the loop. It means he knows exactly where he needs to be.

At 12:57pm, he exits the bus under the guise of unloading, turns left instead of right, and ducks into the first alley he can find before breaking into a sprint.

In the 11 loops they've taken, he hasn't been out to explore the city. It's easy to get lost, and it's equally easy to blend in to the crowds, head down and hat pulled low. No one is expecting to see Michael Clifford wandering around by himself, so no one does. He ducks into a coffee shop that looks somewhat interesting and nurses a mug in the back corner for a while, people-watching and steadfastly not making eye contact with anyone.

It takes 15 minutes for his phone to buzz, everyone too wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of unloading and setting up for soundcheck to notice that he's not where he's supposed to be.

It takes 20 minutes before someone calls, and another 5 after that for him to decide that he's still entirely too close to the venue and needs to keep moving.

Luke and Calum's name flash across his phone screen with equal enthusiasm, with the occasional call from someone else on the crew. Michael sends I'm fine to the band groupchat, but declines every call.

It takes 56 minutes and a trip to McDonalds before Ashton's name appears.

"What?" he answers, careful to keep his voice cool and level.

"You don't get to run away from this, you ass!" Ashton hisses. "Get back over here and play the fucking show like a mature adult!"

Right, because Ashton is the mature one.

"Why?" Michael asks.

"Because we have fans out here who have paid a lot of money to see us! We promised when we got together that we wouldn't let our shit impact the band or the fans!"

"They'll still be there tomorrow," Michael shrugs. "No one is going to remember this. I'm not impacting anything."

"It's impacting Luke and Calum right now!" Ashton says, sounding very close to exploding. Michael can perfectly picture him running a hand through his hair, jaw hard and eyebrows pinched in that one frown that he only ever brings out when Michael has seriously, catastrophically pissed him off.

"Tell them I needed some space after the breakup," Michael suggests, picking at his fries. They're getting cold, but Ashton hates when he chews while talking, even though he does it himself, the hypocrite.

"There hasn't been a breakup, dipshit! You never broke up with me this time!"

Michael hums.

"I think it's your turn, actually," he says.

"I fucking hate you," Ashton seethes, which. Duh. Obviously. That's probably at least half the reason they're in this mess. "Just-- Come back before Luke and Calum call the cops, okay?"

"No," Michael says. Ashton growls, actually growls at him. "At least it'd be something interesting to break up this monotonous hell we're in!"

"I hate you," Ashton repeats, landing just as hard the second time as the first. Michael tries to shake off the stabbing feeling in his heart and somehow misses Ashton hanging up in the process.

Michael eats a fry. It's cold and a little soggy.

He puts his head down on the beige, probably-filthy McDonald's table and desperately wishes for the day to end.

#my writing #mashton #anon #anyway. in this loop they're both in the anger portion of the grieving process #interesting concept to have them BOTH be aware of the loop! that's fun #i've always wanted to do a timeloop tour fic #i feel like the liminal repetitive nature of tour would interact with a loop in a really interesting way #bite sized au

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marvelmaniac715 · 2 years ago

Text

What Sarah Pierce never wanted her husband or daughters to know is that she had encountered Charles Lee Ray before that fateful summer day.

In a seedy bar a couple blocks away from her neighbourhood, they were both drunk. But it was one night, she hadn’t even remembered his appearance until he was introduced to her at that barbecue. Then it all came flooding back.

She wasn’t a disloyal woman, but her husband was never home, and she was so stressed at work, that one night gave her a sense of freedom and release she’d never felt before. Apparently her soon to be kidnapper felt the same way.

The whole time she was tied up in that room with the yellow flowers that had now seared themselves into her cranium, all Charles had wanted to do was play happy families. He took Barbie to daycare, cooked family dinners, brought back tattered board games that he made them play. A poor attempt at domesticity, but the horror of her situation soured his attempts.

Even if she had her daughter cuddled in beside her, digging into a hot home cooked meal, she would never be able to shake the fact that the man at the other end of the table, laughing through his own morbid jokes, was the man that had murdered her husband.

A month after she had been freed (thankfully Barbie had begun to forget everything, she was only three after all) Nica was born. Sarah knew that this baby girl wasn’t her husband’s. The timing didn’t match up. She could only pray that this child didn’t take after her father, in appearance or behaviour.

By the time Nica was an adult, she was the spitting image of her father. There was no lie she could tell that would fully suppress the horrible truth. But Nica never learnt the truth. She knew that her father had died before she was born, that much was true. To Sarah’s relief, her youngest daughter took after her in behaviour and morals, no plans for murder at all.

————————————————————

She shouldn’t have opened that delivery box. She shouldn’t have removed that red headed demon spawn from the packaging. She shouldn’t have let Nica hold him for a moment whilst she went to see if they had batteries. All of these thoughts ran through her head as her former kidnapper (in the body of a retro children’s toy) stared her down calmly from the end of the hall, knife clutched firmly in hand. They just looked at each other before he finally spoke.

“So. We had a kid together.”

Sarah gulped a nervous breath of air.

“No, she was conceived before you came along.”

The doll laughed.

“C’mon Sarah, we both know that’s bullshit. She’s my daughter, I mean, kid’s the spitting image of her old man!”

He had her there.

“Well maybe she is, but you have no right to call her your daughter after what you’ve done. You killed my husband, you crippled my- our daughter, and you kept Barbie and I captive for months! If you really wanted to be a father you wouldn’t have done all that, and you would have come back to see Nica.”

The doll somehow raised an incredulous eyebrow (seriously, weren’t those things painted onto moulded plastic?) and scoffed.

“And how do you suppose I come here on my own as a doll in the 80s? Even if I did, your brat Barbara probably would have snatched me up and kept me in her room for all eternity, trapped under an avalanche of Barbie dolls and Cabbage Patch Kids. And, that stab was meant to kill her, we’re lucky it wasn’t permanent damage, I didn’t know she was my kid, did I?”

Did he not remember that night they spent together that started everything? How it was almost exactly eight months before they next saw each other and Sarah was pregnant?

“Well weren’t you at least suspicious?”

“Even if I was, I was running from the cops, you don’t really think coherently when you’re doing that!”

That made sense, but why, after all these years…

“Why are you here now?”

Charles advanced towards her, making her feel even more unsettled.

“Initially it was just to see if you’d finally shuffled off the mortal coil like you should have years ago. But now I know I had a kid I never knew about I’m a little pissed off. Yeah, I’m so pissed off that I think I just might do somethin’ about it.”

It was all over in seconds, he raised his knife and stabbed her repeatedly. The last thing Sarah Pierce heard was the monster’s nightmarish cackling before it all faded to black.

————————————————————

Nica never imagined being alone in her own home, dead family members on each floor. She had lost everyone, and she had no clue where Alice was, or if she was even alive. She had nothing left to live for now, so why wouldn’t that evil doll just kill her already?

But he wasn’t hurting her at all, in fact, he looked almost concerned when she began having a heart attack. He grabbed her medication and injected it into her himself, into the right spot, not taking the chance to slit her throat or stab her in the heart or temple.

When she had recovered, Chucky was sitting on the hood of the car, making direct eye contact. He didn’t look like somebody preparing themselves for a sudden jump. He looked like he was settling down for a long talk.

“I’m not really sure how to start this conversation. But you deserve to know, since your future’s screwed up anyway, sorry about that.”

“Know what? That I’m next?”

“No, nothing like that. It’s something… Well, I didn’t know until like a day ago.”

“What is it you sick bastard? You already took my whole family. What else do I need to know?”

The possessed doll snorted. It was somehow more off putting than the staring.

“I didn’t exactly take all of ‘em.”

“What the hell do you mean by that?”

He smirked a little, then pulled out a picture that he’d printed from the old home videos they had watched hours before, back when Barbie was still…

Looking closely at the man in the picture, Nica noticed several similarities to herself, this man was almost her doppelgänger.

“Well, I’m right here, aren’t I?”

This was impossible, he couldn’t possibly mean that he was..

“There’s no way that you’re-‘

‘What? Your father? Face it kid, this is your Star Wars moment. I’m Darth Vader and you’re Luke Whatshisname.”

“Skywalker.”

“Doesn’t matter, point is, I’m your dad. Your mom and I had a one night stand about the time you were conceived. Not to be crass, but she wasn’t getting any from her idiot husband at the time.”

Luckily the police came at the exact moment she was about to speak again. Otherwise, she probably would have burst into defeated tears, and Nica Pierce wasn’t a crier.

————————————————————

Drugged out of her mind and on the verge of hypnosis, Nica looked blearily down at her supposed father. He was outraged.

“I leave for like a month and my kid ends up in the nuthouse? Who’s this asshole and what the hell was he doing to you? Oh wait a minute, I think I know.”

A small hand on top of hers. Oh, she hadn’t realised he was that close.

“Look, I know we aren’t exactly close, but I’m gonna get you out of this. We’re gonna share a body for a while. It’s only temporary but it’ll get us both out of here.”

She was in no place to disagree. From the patchy amount of consciousness she had, Nica could see that the good doctor was beaten to a bloody pulp by those dumb red shoes. Served him right.

Wait a minute, that wasn’t her.

————————————————————

If you had told Nica two years ago that she would be trapped in Jennifer Tilly’s house by his dad’s psycho sort of wife (technically her stepmother?) she would have laughed in your face. But here she was, cutting meat for a stew she was making for dinner.

Tiffany had left a list of instructions on how to prepare the dish on the kitchen counter. It was so strange that a woman as unstable as Tiffany Valentine had such neat, orderly cursive handwriting. As always, her father was in the back of her head, correcting her with every swing of the kitchen knife.

“No, you need to cut straighter. No, cleaner. You’ll make a mess of the meat like that. Are you trying to cut cubes or rectangles? Now that’s just a triangle! Look, give me the body I’ll show you how it’s done.”

Nica gritted her teeth.

“Leave me alone, I’m not a little kid, I’m a grown adult and I know what I’m doing.”

“Not from what I’m seeing.”

“What makes you so knowledgeable about this anway- oh, right.”

After a quiet burst of that horrific cackle, he spoke.

“You know Nica, I did have a life before you were born. I know it’s shocking that parents are also human beings, but-‘

‘Shut up. You are not my parent.”

“That’s not what the DNA test would say, sweetheart.”

As she continued to dice the meat (carefully, because she was tired of being corrected by a sentient doll) Nica sighed heavily. What felt like a lifetime of burden was conveyed in that one sigh.

“Family isn’t always just blood. You can choose whatever family you want.”

She thought that she had him there, but like always, her ‘father’ had a comeback prepared.

“That’s real cute sweetie, but like it or not you’ll always be my kid. Doesn’t matter if we’re blood related or not, you’re just like me.”

“Am not!”

“Not true, you’re Daddy’s little girl, no matter how much you try to hide it.”

Nica hated the glee in his voice as he spoke those words.

————————————————————

Glenda looked down with concern at the demented woman in front of them. An escaped mental patient who was now cackling like a crazy person. Sure, framed for a crime, that was totally what happened.

When they’d had enough of the woman’s struggling they removed the gag. They were rewarded with a grin that seemed quite similar to their own in the more rare moments they fully smiled.

“Glenda.’

It was weird to be greeted with a name they hadn’t given.

‘It’s great to finally see ya. Before we go any further, I’d like you to meet your big sister.”

————————————————————

Even with Chucky out of her head, Nica couldn’t shake the violent images in her head. The urge to kill Tiffany, in front of her kids. Make them watch as their family was destroyed like hers was. See her precious clothing smeared with her own blood as she fell down dead at her feet.

As she raised the gun, joy sang through every inch of her, filling her from head to toe with excitement. The thrill of the hunt, she thought. She briefly wondered if this was how her father felt as he killed. She could understand the temptation now.

From the months she had shared a headspace with him, she knew how his mind worked. She knew how similar they were now. Mirror images of each other, down to the last detail. She just did a better job of hiding it behind the last fragile layers of her humanity and morality. But even Nica knew it wasn’t long till she finally snapped.

Finger itching to pull the trigger, Nica felt the corner of her mouth curl into a familiar smirk, her father’s, she realised. Oh well, it was fitting. She was her father’s daughter after all.

#chucky #childs play #charles lee ray #nica pierce #chucky series #fanfiction #horror #fan theory

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emmym1 · 1 year ago

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My thoughts on... (Part 2) Spider-Gwen 2015B (#24-29) "Gwenom"

So Rhino gets real scared now that he knows there is a big target on his back by a hero that has turned into something completely different now. Murdock takes advantage of Gwen's anger and sets up a trap. He no longer will protect Rhino and leave him to his fate, even more he lets Gwen know where he is all while calling the cops to let them know where Spider-Woman/Gwenom will be. Gwenom confronts Rhino and she's ready to full on kill him and get her revenge. The cops turn to the scene and you start reading the inner monologue of someone, at first you could think it might be Gwen as she usually is the only one that gets her inner monologue presented but after a few dialogue lines you think it might be Rhino. Only for it to turn out to be Frank Castle aka The Punisher who finally realized that the real enemy isn't Spider-Woman but Murdock, who's been puppeteering everything and is pulling the strings on both sides of the law. Frank actually kills Rhino with a stark tech gauntlet he had from his days back in the war machine program. Gwen is furious about this because he stole her only shot at revenge. And she even talks how she wanted to be the one to kill him and how it was more than anything she's ever wanted. After this she realized how much the symbiote has consumed her and her mind and acknowledges that she has to get rid of it. So she goes to see Reed Richards to find a way to get inside the SHIELD bunker where they hold Cindy Moon of earth-65, the one responsible for Gwen's powers and taking them away. They find a way in and as she makes her way through the guards you continue to see how different Gwenom is from Spider-Woman. What's interesting is that she doesn't ask Cindy how to get rid of the symbiote or how to get her powers back without it but instead she asks, Why? Here we get some really really cool extra backstory for Cindy. Originally we knew she was supposed to be the one bitten with the radioactive spider but that it was prevented on the last second. After this she spent her life trying to make sense of her fate & trying to recapture the moment that passed by her. So she recreates the spider who was supposed to give her her powers. Before this we just knew that she set it out in the wild to give a middle finger to the web of fate. But there was a big question of "Why didn't she let the spider bite her so she could fullfil her original fate?", turns out she was scared. What if it didn't work? or what if it did? then what? So instead she decided to let fate do its work and releases the spider into the wild After this she confronts Gwen and says there is no magic way out of this for her. And that her dark thoughts, fears and anger are her own and not something that's being caused by some alien force. They're her own. It's a pretty important moment for Gwen as she slowly comes to learn that all of this is her responsibility and hers alone. She's responsible for the actions she takes. Cindy tells her that revenge will not set her free and that the more she hates murdock the smaller she becomes and the more murdock can control her. Her advice? Walk away and never think about it again, don't give into what murdock wants but instead just move on. After all, she has nothing left to fear anymore. Although Gwen isn't sure if she can do that. While trying to leave the building she comes across Black Cat's cell. Wondering why she's here. Last time she saw her was at a concert fighting Murdock. she tells her this is what happens when you take a shot at Murdock and miss. Seeing Black Cat in that cell made Gwen realize just how much of the justice system Matt controls.

After that Gwen kinda starts to think that Matt might have been right. Maybe this never was about wanting to be Spider-Woman, wanting to make a difference, making it mean something. Maybe in the end it simply was all about power and nothing else. And she slowly starts to lean more into that thought and convinces herself that might be it. After this The Punisher shows up and offers to team up to bring down Murdock. Gwenom absolutely loses it. The guy responsible for this entire mess, the one indirectly responsible for her dad being in jail and all the problems that came after it wants to team up with her. She loses it and starts to violently destroy everything arround her. It's here you see how much the symbiote and her own thoughts have consumed her very well. Ultimately she doesn't say no. After all that she decides to something very interesting. She reveals her identity to not only ben & may parker but also to the mary janes. She finally reaches out to the people she's been shutting off. Finally she gets to hear a voice other than the one inside of her. It's here we learn something very interesting and hard hitting. We knew that Gwen was neglecting her life as Gwen and moreso living it as Spider-Woman. But she finally admits why. She had to many responsibilities and expectations. She was changing as a person and became something different due to her powers and she was scared that they'd never accept it, let her change, let her grow. To them she'd always be Gwen, so she thought it was better to pretend nothing changed. To let this version of Gwen be someone they could understand and accept. She split her lives into two halves and is scared to admit that neither of them were never really whole. But for the fight that lies ahead of her she has to be whole. And even though she doesn't want to admit that she's still affraid. She is affraid that in order to win the part of her that makes up Gwen Stacy will have to die, that she will have to let go forever of who she once was.

#spider gwen #comics

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smokeybrandreviews · 2 years ago

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Fallen Dynasty

This sh*t with Jonathan Majors is getting real serious, man. Dude is getting dropped by his representation left and right, more cats are alleging brutality, and Disney might have already fired the dude from the Kang role. This sh*t is wild to see, man. Majors was finally, deservedly, on the upswing with his career. Dude had some stellar performances under his belt, both Lovecraft Country and The Harder They Fall come to mind, but was poised to have his signature role, this far, really leave a mark. I was a little hesitant to give this man the nod as Kang the Conqueror when Marvel announced his casting, not because of his performance or his race, but because Kang is just a goofy ass villain. But then Majors sauntered through as He Who Remains and I was sold. That one episode we got of his, was more than enough for me to get behind what Feige had planned. Dude was so nonchalant about the destruction of an entire timeline, so smarmy with is inevitable fate. I loved it! I haven’t personally seen Ant-Man III but I’ve heard that Major’s performance as the Conqueror proper, is the best thing about that film. I was looking forward to The Kang Dynasty but all of that is up in the air now because of this chick’s allegations.

It must be stated that Majors has steadfastly denied the allegations and that his primary accuser has basically recanted her initial claims but, goddamn, does this sh*t look grim. His lawyer finally released the evidence she had and, while I think it reads clearly as someone who has come to their senses and wants to try to mitigate the damage they have done to a person’s life, I can see how it can be interpreted as another abuse victim kowtowing to their abuser. As one Twatter reaction stated, “This ain’t the flex you think it is.” I get that. I also get that Majors removed himself from the situation and it was he who called the cops that night. I also understand that the cabbie gave a statement and even handed over the video of the ride where the incident took place. For my money, Majors is being wrongfully accused because, you know, giant, rich, black man. Wouldn’t be the first time. Definitely won’t be the last. But this time is wild to me because of the worms coming out from under their years long hibernation on this subject to make their own claims. If Jonathan Majors abused this many people, if he was violent to all of these alleged victims, where the f*ck have they been? Major’s has been in the spotlight for some time and not a word. But now that he’s on the cusp of super stardom, there’s a line of bodies in his wake? Make it make sense.

I already addressed the stuff about the cats claiming battery from back in his college days but these new “victims” are nuts to me. I get that the case against him was floundering because of the recantation and the cabbie’s statement so now the cops needed way more, which they got. Sh*t just seems real fishy to me, especially considering that there are rumblings of coaching being caught on the body cam footage of the initial response. I imagine it’s not a coincidence that the strangulation charge was dropped but I digress. If that sh*t is sus, how am I supposed to take the sudden influx of other victims seriously? Obviously, I could be wrong and Jonathan Majors could be a decades long violent psychopath but that doesn’t feel real to me. It doesn’t feel accurate. It feels made up. It feels like a false claim. It feels like the systemic lynching of a another rich, famous, black man. But that remains to be seen. I want to believe Majors is innocent in all of this because I want him to be Kang. I want him to get that Marvel shine. I want him to be that superstar. We already lost Chadwick, we need Majors. Time will tell how history sees this situation but, so far, these optics are real bad.

#Jonathan Majors #Kang the Conqueror #Marvel #MCU #Some ol' bullsh*t

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haveyouseenthisskeleton · 2 years ago

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You know those situations where the skellie has to choose between saving the baby or the s/o? What if the s/o chose to save themselves? 💀

I will assume S/O is doing a diversion and tries to escape their fate.

Undertale Sans - He takes advantage of the situation to teleport his child out of here, then comes back to give a worst time to your agressor, hands full of bones and blasters behind him. You never thought he could do that.

Undertale Papyrus - He panicks. What are you doing? Now the guy is even more furious and they're attacking you! Papyrus has no choice but to attack too, trying his best to protect his baby in the operation. But he has only two hands, and he can't be everywhere. You got badly hurt, but you hurt the guy who hurt you too, which made it easier for Papyrus to knock him out. After that, Papyrus is a ball of stress, hugging the baby with one hand and treating your injury with the other. He just wants this day to be over already.

Underswap Sans - He doesn't understand your strategy, but he's sure going to help you. Blue would have choose S/O anyway, so he's flying to rescue you. With the two of you bullying the bad guy, in no time, you manage to knock him out and call the cops. Everyone is alright despite S/O getting mad for him not saving the baby.

Underswap Papyrus - He's in shock and he doesn't know what to do. He takes the opportunity to grab the child and runs, but man, he feels so bad for his S/O. What now? He's having a panic attack! He shakingly manage to call his brother for help. When Blue arrives, S/O is injured, but they are at least still alive. Honey will have a hard time to calm down and not feeling guilty.

Underfell Sans - He pushes you out of the way before you can jump on the guy and screams that you take the baby and run. He's taking care of the guy, bare hands, and he's going to make sure no one can recognize its face anymore. He is so mad and angry right now. You don't touch his family, that's his main rule.

Underfell Papyrus - Your kidnapper made the mistake of looking away to look at you. He never saw Edge taking that opportunity to create the biggest bone he has ever done and crush the guy under it with all he has. They're dead in one hit. Edge grabs his kid and his S/O and gets the hell out of here, relieved and a little proud of himself.

Horrortale Sans - He is confused when you simply move out of your seat. Are you not supposed to be tie? Oh well. He doesn't care. Now that you're free and out of the way, he grabs his axe and throws it with so much force it's crossing your kidnapper. Oak doesn't give a shit. You hurt his family, you die. Now that no one is in danger anymore, he relaxes slightly and starts to purr, petting his baby happily. Here.

Horrortale Papyrus - He screams when you jump on the back of your kidnapper, and bites through their shoulder. Everything is screaming in Willow's head, but he manages to gather enough cold blood to grab his child and hides it in the nearest bin he can find. He then jumps in the battle to save you, even if he's not the best at this anymore. Your kidnapper quickly understood his spine is a weak spot and hit it several times. But it helped to gain time as the rescuers finally came. Willow and his S/O are hurt, but the baby is fine, so you don't care. You pretty sure you desserved the parents of the year medal at this point.

Swapfell Sans - Well, you don't really need to do anything. The second the guy threatened Nox, he laughed. "oh sorry, you talked to me?" He takes out a gun and shoots the man several times. Here. No choice to make and one more idiot gone from the surface of Earth. Truly, he is the best hero. He doesn't know why everyone consider him a villain.

Swapfell Papyrus - Oh man, this is bad. You're fighting with your kidnapper, and he's just... standing there, not knowing what to do of his hands. That was not supposed to go this way! Fortunately, you are angry enough to rip one of the man ear off and hits him until he falls unconscious. Rus is kinda impressed and also kinda terrified by how violent you can be to defend your child. Well, at least, he grabs the child and cheers. Now, can you two please leave? He hates it here.

Fellswap Gold Sans - He grabs the baby and throws it on the kidnapper to knock them out. He goes to help S/O as fast as he can and uses all his general's skills to beat the man down and makes them fight him instead of his S/O. That's not going to be pretty. Your kidnapper kinda didn't prepare to fight a general of the royal guard and got rekt.

Fellswap Gold Papyrus - As you fight with the man, Coffee calls Wine, grabs the baby and runs. In second, there's a very pissed off megalovania in the hair and something fast and red jumps at the kidnapper's throat and destroy them. Never touch Coffee or his family. That might end pretty bad.

#undertale #underswap #underfell #horrortale #swapfell #fellswap gold #undertale ask blog #undertale asks #undertale imagines #undertale headcanons

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feminexisting · 1 year ago

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Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

I’ve presumably owned this book for a few years now, although I don’t remember buying it. It has a Bargain Priced sticker from Books a Million, and another regular price sticker, denoting it as (being bought for) $4.97. I think I chose this book mostly because I was looking for a short book to read for this month, and it just happened to sound interesting as well.

The premise is that Melinda is a high school Freshman who is an outcast after having called the cops on an end-of-the-year party where she was raped by a high school boy (she had just finished eighth grade at this point), Andy Evans. Following this and being unable to tell anybody about it, she’s abandoned by her friends and blamed for ruining the party. She’s briefly able to make friendly-enough with a transfer student named Heather when ninth grade starts, but is eventually abandoned by Heather for having no drive and not being popular. Melinda’s grades are in the gutter, her parents are tense, and she’s all alone, her only comfort being in her art teacher, Mr. Freeman’s, class, and in her special hiding place, a forgotten-about janitor’s closet. Over the year, she’s able to come to terms with what happened to her, as well as start to get closer to one of her old used-to-be friends, Ivy. When Andy starts dating Melinda’s used-to-be best friend, Rachel, Melinda tries to warn her, luckily resulting in Rachel ultimately backing away from him (although she blames Melinda at first in her shock) and arguably saving herself from the same fate. In his rage, Andy tries to get his revenge on Melinda by raping her again, but she’s able to fight back this time and stop him.

Right off the bat, pretty fantastic book. I don’t know if it’s the best one I’ve read this year, but it’s certainly up there. I really appreciated how realistic it was with the way the high schoolers and teachers were written, as well as how Melinda felt, acted, and thought after the rape. It really did feel like it “got it”, you know? What it was like to be a teenager and have the whole world crashing down around you.

There were a few things that kind of stood out in the book as being different from when the time the book was written to now. For one, there was a joke about “the cheerleaders getting group rate abortions before prom”, since Roe v. Wade was overturned this year. The joke still lands, because cheerleaders are the most likely to have parents who could buy them abortions, although it’s interesting to see how the joke has morphed from the time it was written. The second joke, which isn’t technically a joke I suppose, was when Melinda mentioned that people might think she’s the type to show up at school with a gun one day. Obviously not a joke, but very realistic; I remember thinking about students who I thought might bring a gun to school, too. There were a few times I even thought about it (not that I had access to a gun, and not that I ever actually WOULD have; it was just a dark little thought to tide me over the sea of hormones).

I really loved the writing style of the book. It was good at suspense,especially when Melinda wanted to talk to Rachel and tell her the truth. The passage of time being marked by outstanding events because that was the only thing that you really took note of as a depressed teenager, the way things were emphasized, the way Melinda thought, the way she thought about her trauma in particular, etc etc. It was a really enjoyable writing style, one which was never too long winded and which made it easier for me to actually want to read more. It was probably one of the most realistic high school books I’ve ever read. A quote from the book I really enjoyed: “Is there a chain saw of the soul, an ax I can take to my memories or fears?”

I was really intrigued by Melinda’s parents’ relationship. I kept thinking that they would get a divorce at any point in the novel just to add to it, but now I wonder if most of the pain wasn’t just because they didn’t recognize their daughter anymore and didn’t know what was wrong or how to help her. That said, it’s not like they were the parents of the year, either- when Melinda cut herself, her mom said that she “didn’t have time for it”. Heartbreaking, especially to a girl who had almost nothing to lose. I genuinely thought that a failed attempt might have been the catalyst for the truth coming out, but luckily, she never tried. It was nice, however, when Melinda often thought about telling her parents, usually when they showed that something was there- love, maybe, or understanding. I understood why she didn’t, though.

This book had a really good way of making you expect the worst every time something good happened. Like when Melinda became friends with Heather, and then Heather ditched her. When Melinda tried to do a good deed, and it backfired on her. Etc etc. When Ivy, one of Melinda’s old friends, started talking to her again, I was afraid that Ivy was going to tell Rachel and it was all going to start crumbling down; thankfully, that didn’t happen.

Melinda’s relationship with her friends-not-friends was interesting. With Heather, Melinda implied that she was annoyed or not really interested with her companionship for most of their friendship, right up until Heather wanted to break it off, which is when Melinda was suddenly more interested in it than anything else (understandable, since she suddenly realized she would be all alone). In the end she realizes that she and Heather were both just using each other for companionship, not actual friendship, and Melinda was able to turn down Heather crawling back to her at the end of the novel when she needed help decorating the gym, which I was proud of her for doing. With Rachel, her used-to-be best friend, Rachel blamed her for the party getting ruined, even mouthing at Melinda at one point that she hated her. Despite that, she still believed Melinda in the end when Melinda told her the truth, ultimately saving herself from disaster. With Ivy, Melinda was friends with her but it wasn’t a huge loss, either, which is why it was surprising but nice when Ivy was the first one to try to become friendly with her again, complimenting her, listening to her, and helping her. With Nicole, they weren’t very close friends, so it wasn’t a loss to either of them, but they never really tried to reach out to each other, either, which wasn’t a big surprise. David, Melinda’s lab partner, wasn’t necessarily her friend, but he was nice to her overall and even invited her to a get-together at his house (which she declined), and who stood up for her against the mean Mr. Neck, but neither of them really made any attempts to be very friendly together. Overall, it was just an interesting view of the different dynamics of the friendships.

I was glad, in the end, that Melinda was able to get some catharsis and was able to save herself. I was surprised that she never actually told anybody (or, at least, she only told her art teacher? I wasn’t really for sure about it), but that in itself was a realistic ending, too. The summary of the book mentioned that after she told the truth “everything would change”, which I don’t think is true, exactly. Things DID change, yes, but they were changing before she told Rachel, too. The only thing, I think, that really changed was the fact that Rachel was reaching out to her again afterwards (after she had some time to process and started to believe her). In a way, I’m glad that everything didn’t suddenly change - I’m not sure Melinda would’ve been able to handle it if they had suddenly changed all at once. Instead, the change happened gradually, which allowed for a pretty shitty school year, yes, but which also allowed her to change and grow with it. I was proud of her progress at the end and I hope that the coming summer was better for her. I hope everybody believed her. And, although she missed Rachel most of all, I kind of wish Ivy became her new best friend, haha.

Not of any import to the book itself, but the art project assigned by Mr. Freeman, the art teacher, reminded me of the art project the teacher from the book Heartbeat, by Sharon Creech, assigned, about drawing an apple every single day. In this way, the way the students changed and how their art reflected it was a really interesting thing to do. I wonder if that was a real art project any high school teachers have done before? Man, I really want to read that book, now. Did I ever even read it in full? I can’t remember. I’m pretty sure Megan showed it to me, though, and I remember reading part of it, at least. Need to get my hands on it at some point.

Really a fantastic book overall. Very enjoyable. Pretty heavy subject-matter wise, so it’ll definitely have to be a while until I read it again, but I wouldn’t mind reading it again, which I count as a win. Definitely a keeper. 5/5.

My bookmarks for this book were a dark brown paper wrapper from a Ferrero Rondnoir truffle and a white paper wrapper from a Raffaello truffle.

#july 2023

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