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rainrot4me · 1 month ago

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Run Rabbit Run - Chapter 3

“Claws”

── ⟢ ・⸝⸝

────────────────────────────────── animal - sir chloe

── .✦ do not copy, translate, or plagiarize any of my works. dividers by me.

MAY CONTAIN SENSITIVE TOPICS

✦ . Summary: Haunted by guilt and unnerved by how easily you saw through him, Masky spirals into isolation. But when the Operator delivers a new order, the proxies set a deadly plan in motion, dragging you into the night as bait for something far worse. Secrets unravel, instincts clash, and the forest comes alive. And for the first time, blood won't be the only thing spilled.

✦ . Characters: Masky x Genderneutral Reader, Ticci Toby, Hoody, The Rake

✦ . Warning: Mental distress, emotional distress, blood, injury, guns, descriptions of wounds, chase sequences, trauma

✦ . Words: 7.9k

✦ . Note: Thank you all so much for 4,000 lovely followers!!! Longer chapter! I took my last final exam this morning, so that means I am officially done for the summer! My schedule will become more open, so expect lots more posts soon! There are a good bit of POV switches in this chapter, so I hope it doesn't become too confusing! I hope you enjoy how the story is progressing!!!

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Eight Days Earlier…

He didn’t go downstairs.

Not once. Not even to glance.

He told himself it was strategy, a control maneuver, or tactical distance.

But every time he so much as passed the basement door, something twisted in his gut like barbed wire. A feeling he couldn’t place—too sharp to be guilt, too heavy to be fear, but too loud to be nothing.

You were down there. The cop. The one who saw too much in that interrogation room, who cut through layers of static and noise and found him in the middle of it all. You shouldn’t have been able to. No one ever had before without the influence of The Operator, not even Brian, not even Toby, not even himself. The Operator had twisted him, no, gutted him so brutally that Tim was barely a whisper in his mind anymore. Masky was the frontman now, and he was to remain in control as long as he was ordered to.

So, how did Tim front?

All he could think about was the look in your eyes right before the world had shifted—right before Tim’s voice had clawed its way out of his throat and pleaded for you to listen. He couldn’t have stopped it if he tried.

Masky spat the taste of ash out of his mouth and lit another cigarette. The porch was damp with dew, the fog thick enough to press against the edges of his vision. The mansion was quiet, only the creaking of hinges and settling of floorboards as Masky leaned against the railing of the porch. The smell of cigarette smoke was thick on his jacket, but it always was nowadays. It was morning, maybe, or evening. It didn’t matter anymore. The days blended together like one long scream muffled through his own skull. All he knew was it was August, and the nights were getting colder than he preferred them to be.

He hadn’t slept since they brought you here. That’s not saying much, he doesn’t sleep at all anyway. Not really. Not since he started talking again.

Tim clawed behind his eyes like a desperate animal, whispering in his own voice, hissing nonsense and fragments of your name, begging—begging—to be let out. Masky had nearly thrown himself into the lake just to shut him up.

“You look like shit,” Toby said casually, flopping beside him on the warped porch railing. He stole the cigarette from Masky’s fingers and puffed it for himself. “You gon-gonna do anything about your stowaway in the basement? Or wait until the bo-boss gets tired of ‘em first?” Masky didn’t answer, just stared out into the trees and let the smoke curl from his nose.

Honestly, that was Masky’s main fear at the moment. The Operator liked the be in control, liked to have a say on where and when his proxies did things. Taking you back to the mansion was not in the plan, but getting himself caught and taken to the police station wasn’t in the plans, either. Masky figured it was only a matter of time before The Operator’s patience with him ran out.

Toby nudged him with a shoulder. “Oh come on, they’re gonna starve the-themselves first if we keep feeding ‘em expired protein bars.” He let the smoke roll from his lips with every word, gray plumes hazing from the wilting gash in the side of his cheek. Unlike the other two, Toby didn’t wear his mask as a safeguard; he had no qualms with his appearance or the things going on in his head, so Masky usually had the displeasure of always seeing his shit-eating grin plastered on his freckled cheeks. “Not very gentleman-like to hoard your new play-plaything down with the rats.”

“Shut up.”

“Touched a nerve,” he sang.

“Toby,” Hoody’s voice cut in from the doorway, flat and low. “That's enough.”

The hooded man stepped outside, arms crossed, unreadable behind his mask. He looked at Masky for a long moment.

“Are we going to talk about yesterday?” Hoody questioned sternly, crossing his arms. “Or are you going to keep pretending it didn’t happen?”

Masky didn’t answer. Toby watched quietly.

“Because I’d really like to know,” Hoody pressed, stepping closer. “How the hell a you got yourself dragged into a police station? That’s not just a mistake, that’s a risk to all of us.”

“I handled it,” Masky muttered.

“No,” Hoody said sharply. “We handled it.” The words hung between them like a pit. Masky’s eyes flicked up, his jaw tensing.

“Don’t start with me.”

“I will end with you if you keep putting us in danger,” Hoody snapped. “You know what we are, what we do. We don’t exist in the system. We don’t leave fingerprints. You getting picked up like some drunken vagrant for trespassing? That’s not a fluke, that’s a breach.”

“You wouldn’t care to know anyway.”

“Then explain it,” Hoody demanded. “Why were you even in that part of town?”

Masky inhaled sharply through his nose. He didn’t want to say it, didn’t want to explain how the walls of the mansion had been closing in, how the Operator had been pressing harder than usual, coiling in his brain like smoke through vents. How Tim had been clawing louder and louder inside his head, and all Masky could think to do was run. Get air. Go somewhere he didn’t have to feel so damn watched.

“I needed a break,” Masky muttered finally. “Got too far out. Wasn’t paying attention. Ended up near some abandoned warehouse. Didn’t know it had surveillance. Cops picked me up for trespassing, then got all over themselves when they realized I still had my gun on me.”

Hoody’s hands curled into fists at his sides. “That ‘break’ nearly got you booked.”

“They barely had anything on me, could barely pin a name. There’s no way in hell they could trace anything back, especially now that their entire sanction is dead.”

Hoody didn’t move, didn’t speak, but his presence in the room seemed heavier now—oppressive.

“And the sheriff?” he said coldly.

Masky gripped the banister of the porch.

“They were the one who read you,” Hoody went on. “The one who watched you like they already knew what you were. They talked you down like a rabid dog.”

Masky ground out the rest of his cigarette.

“They got lucky.”

“They got too close. And you brought them back here.”

Masky turned sharply, throwing his hands up in agitation. “I didn’t plan it, Hoody. I didn’t go in there looking to bring them back here.”

“Then why?”

Masky didn’t answer.

Because he didn’t know how to explain it. How strange it felt to have someone look through him like glass. How furious it made him when you asked questions that got too close to the truth—closer than anyone else ever had. And how terrified he’d been when Tim stirred because of you. Tim had been loud enough, but it was as if being talked down by you was the final push he needed to block Masky out.

Hoody stepped forward. “They got under your skin,” he said, no judgment in his tone—just fact.

Masky groaned sharply, fist tightening at his side. “Shut up.”

“You dragged them into this. You made them a part of his game now.”

Masky pressed his forehead against the hilt of his palm, breathing heavily, his other fist tight at his side. “I didn’t mean for any of this,” he growled. “But no way in hell was I going to let someone who ran around my head like a playground go scot-free.”

“They’re dangerous then,” Toby mumbled, rolling the nearly-empty cigarette around between his bandaged fingers. “We gotta kill ’em. Simple solution, end of story. Th-That’s what should’ve happened in the first place.”

He turned, face unreadable behind the cracked porcelain mask. “They’re not special. Not important. They’re information I plan to gain and then dispose of.”

Hoody’s silence stretched for a long beat. Then he stepped back toward the doorway. “For your sake,” he said quietly, “you better start believing that.”

Masky was already walking before Hoody finished the sentence, boots crunching the damp leaves as he stalked into the trees. He wandered for hours, maybe longer. The forest blurred around the edges, familiar and unknowable all at once. He liked it out here. The quiet was never silent—not like the house. Birds called, branches creaked, wind whispered through the canopy like some old god breathing overhead.

It kept Tim quiet, too. Most of the time. He lit another cigarette with shaking fingers. Hands that slit throats without flinching now trembled around a lighter.

“You’re slipping,” he whispered to himself, voice raw with exhaustion. “Get it together.”

But no matter how many hours passed…

No matter how many trees he passed or cigarettes he burned down to the filter or cups of coffee he downed until his hands went numb—

He still couldn’t stop thinking about you. Not what you said, not what you knew. But what you unlocked. And what it would cost to shut it again.

It was after midnight when Masky finally stopped walking. He always forgot just how big the woods surrounding the mansion were, designed entirely to accommodate not only the inhabitants, but to drive any unwanted company straight for their demise. It drew you in, whispered to you through wind and shadows. Masky had lost his fear of this place a long, long time ago, though.

He stood at the edge of a crumbling ravine, the moon bleeding through the branches overhead like a knife wound in the sky. Somewhere below, water trickled faintly, weaving through jagged rocks. The drop wasn’t high enough to kill him, but it might shut Tim up for a while.

He tilted his head back, letting the smoke drift past his mask, up into the dark. The cigarette burned close to his fingertips, and he let it. Let the sting remind him he was still here. Still in control.

Still the one driving.

But that wasn’t true, was it?

Tim was awake. More awake than he’d been in months. Pounding at the inside of his skull. Screaming, whispering, crying.

That was the worst part.

It wasn’t rage Masky felt behind his eyes. It wasn’t revenge or hunger or madness. It was grief. Longing. That aching, open wound of a man who’d never healed.

And all of it—all of it—was aimed at you.

Masky ground the heel of his boot into the dirt. “They didn’t do anything,” he hissed. “You’re just soft. You’re just—”

Let me talk to them, Tim whispered.

“No.”

Please.

It wasn’t the first time. It wouldn’t be the last.

But this time, the voice didn’t sound like an echo in his mind. It felt closer. Heavy in his chest, like an animal trapped beneath his ribs.

A bird, he realized, in a rare moment of clarity. A bird trapped in a cage.

Tim flapped against his bones like desperate wings. Bruising the inside of his skull, clawing at the corners of his consciousness for any sliver of light.

The cop had been that light. Even if they didn’t mean to be. Even if they didn’t want to be. They had seen him. Not the mask, not the killer. Him.

And Masky had slammed the cage shut.

“You think I like this?” he snarled at the nothing around him, the night listening silently. “You think I wanted to split open and find you crawling out like some pathetic kid?”

They didn’t flinch, Tim whispered.

“They should have. They all should.”

They looked at me like I was still a man.

Masky’s breath caught. Just for a moment. Just long enough.

And then he shoved the feeling deep, deep down where even Tim couldn’t reach.

He lit another cigarette with fingers that wouldn’t stop shaking. Somewhere in the mansion behind him, the sun would rise soon. Another day. Another hour. Another reason not to look them in the eyes.

Let Tim stay a bird and keep breaking his wings on the bars. Because if the door opened—if Masky let it open—then what was left of him wouldn’t survive it. The Operator wouldn’t let him.

── .✦

The mansion sat like a carcass in the woods, long dead and still refusing to rot. By the time he emerged from the trees, the sun had risen into a haze of gray and white, too dull to burn, too present to ignore. The light bothered him anyway. His head ached. His bones ached. His hands trembled from caffeine and cold and too many nights without anything but the taste of smoke in his mouth. He couldn’t remember the last time he had eaten something, maybe since the day they brought you here? He couldn’t tell.

Tim had been clawing at the edges again.

Go back down there, the voice whispered. You left them alone too long. They didn’t deserve that. Just talk to them. Just let me explain.

Masky grit his teeth and pushed the front door open. The hinges whined like they hated him. The house was quiet, that brittle kind of quiet that came before something broke. He didn’t have to wait long.

The pain hit his skull like a spike driven into the base of his brain. He grunted, stumbling forward, one hand braced on the wall, the other cradling the side of his head. A static hum swelled in his ears, rising to a shrill, high-pitched drone that split his thoughts in two. Everything stopped. The world folded inward. He saw nothing—but he felt it. A slithering presence like a rope coiling around his ribs, pressing into his mind with impossible weight.

THE WOODS TREMBLE.

AN OLD FRIEND STIRS.

YOU WILL CLEANSE IT.

The voice wasn’t a voice at all. It didn’t speak so much as press its meaning directly into the meat of his brain, bypassing sound and reason entirely. Masky gasped as the pressure twisted deeper. Something behind his eyes burned.

He wasn’t alone in the pain.

Toby stumbled in from the side hallway with a groan, scratching at his scalp like he could dig the Operator’s grip out with his nails. “Gah—fuckin’ ow, man—can he not do that every time?”

Hoody followed close behind, slower, more composed, but even he winced beneath the hood. He stood at the base of the stairs, arms folded, chest rising slowly. “It’s bad,” he said lowly. “He doesn’t summon like that unless something’s… distressing him.”

Masky tried to speak but choked on a cough. His knees buckled. He must have gotten caught up in The Operator’s guide in his mind, because someone else tried to slither their way in, too. For a second, Tim surged forward, panic bleeding through.

Let me out. Let me speak. LET ME—

Masky shoved him back with a snarl.

“Get it together,” Hoody barked.

“Don’t you start with me,” Masky hissed, voice ragged. “He’s in my goddamn skull.”

Toby’s smile was stretched wide and twitching now, equal parts anxious and excited. “Did you hear the boss? Something’s mo-moving in the woods—something nasty. Big teeth. Long claws. I love those jobs.” He laughed, cracking his knuckles obnoxiously loud.

“It’s the Rake,” Hoody said simply. “Or one of its spawn. Too close to the borders. The Operator wants it dead.”

“And let me guess,” Masky growled, straightening despite the tremors in his legs, “he wants us to babysit the woods all night, play exterminator while it stalks us from the trees?”

Hoody flinched, gripping his fists tight at his sides—a sign that The Operator was speaking again, just to him. “Not quite.”

The silence that followed crawled under his skin. Toby tilted his head like a dog hearing a distant whistle. Then that shit-eating smile grew. “He wants us to use the cop.”

Masky’s heart stalled.

“They’re bait,” Hoody said flatly. “They’re durable. And they draw attention. You know it too.”

“No,” Masky said instantly. “Absolutely not.”

Toby cackled. “Aw, come on, Masky. It’s not like they’re useful for anything else. And hey—ma-maybe if it eats ‘em, it’ll save you the trouble.” Masky’s fingers curled into fists. His mind buzzed. He could still see your face the last time he saw you—eyes wide, body trembling, the faint whisper of Tim on your breath.

“They’re a liability,” he snapped. “They’re not as fast as us. Or familiar with the woods. Or—”

“What happened to disposing of them?” Hoody said, voice like a blade. “That was your plan, right?”

Masky’s head whipped toward him.

“You’re unraveling,” Hoody continued, stepping forward slowly. “You haven’t slept in four days. You haven’t eaten. You walk around like a dog that��s lost its scent. Because they’re in your head. And he’s in your head. Tim’s not scratching anymore—he’s pounding.”

Toby let out a low whistle. “You gonna cry about it?”

Masky lunged.

Hoody caught his arm and shoved him back hard against the wall, pinning him in place with the force of someone who knew how to hold a struggling man down. “If you don’t get control, the Operator will cut you loose,” Hoody growled, eyes flashing behind the red-tinted fabric. “And you remember what that means. We all do.”

The thought of it silenced them. That kind of silence—the kind where pain leaves a memory so deep it becomes instinct. Masky breathed hard through his nose. Rage burned through him, bright and sharp. But under it… something worse. Guilt. Weakness.

Let me see them, the voice inside him pleaded again. Just let me explain. Let me apologize. I can’t take it anymore. I didn’t mean to—

Masky slammed the heel of his palm into the side of his head. “Shut up,” he muttered. “Shut the hell up.”

“You’re pathetic,” Hoody bit out, stepping forward, voice low and hard. “You’re the one who dragged them here, and now you can’t even look at them. You’re getting weak and sloppy.”

Masky looked up sharply, eyes flashing behind his mask. “You don’t get to talk like you’re any better.”

“I’m not,” Hoody agreed. “But I own what I am. You’re a mess of delusion and rot, letting some innocent nobody crack you open like a ribcage, and all you do is pace around like a dog too scared to go near the fire it started.”

Toby let out a low whistle and backed a few steps away, sensing the shift in the room. “Oooookay. I’ll just… go.”

“Shut it,” Hoody and Masky snapped in unison.

But Hoody didn’t take his eyes off Masky. “Since you can’t handle it,” he said, stepping toward the basement door and dragging on his gloves, “I will. I’ll get the information so you can get to the disposing part.”

Masky moved to block him on instinct. “Don’t touch them.”

Hoody stopped just inches from him. “I don’t have to. I just want to see what all this fuss is about. What Tim can’t stop clawing for.”

Masky stiffened.

Hoody’s voice dipped into something more scathing. “You think if you keep your distance, the problem will sort itself out. But it won’t, Masky. You’re rotting from the inside out.” With that, he turned and started down the stairs.

Masky stayed frozen where he stood, fists clenched so tightly the joints cracked. He stared at the wall, counting every age-line in the wooden boards. He saw Toby slip downstairs too, cheery as ever to stick his nose where it doesn’t belong.

Go down there. Please. Just talk to them. Tim pleaded.

But the voice didn’t stop. It never stopped. Tim buzzed in the back of his skull like static under his skin, digging in deeper with every breath he took. Every heartbeat down in that basement. Every sob you swallowed just out of earshot. Masky could feel it all, like a splinter burrowed beneath the bone.

He snapped.

“Fine,” he hissed. “You want to see them so bad? You want to crawl back to your fucking mess and see what it did to you?” Masky stormed toward the door, vision red at the edges, rage boiling up to meet the sharp relief of decision. “Then we’ll look. We’ll see what’s left of them.”

His hand gripped the knob. Then he heard it.

A voice.

Not Hoody’s. Not Toby’s.

Yours.

Raw. Scratchy. Threadbare. So unlike the sharp, clever words you’d thrown at him that first day. Nothing steady or sure in it now—just a hoarse whimper, barely a breath through cracked lips.

It stopped him cold.

He didn’t hear the words. He didn’t need to. It was the sound. The sound of someone broken in a way that couldn’t be undone. Hollowed out and left to echo. Something in him twisted. It wasn’t Tim. It wasn’t Masky. It was just… human.

You sounded human.

Masky’s breath paused. He stood with his palm still pressed to the door, pulse hammering in his neck. That voice—it didn’t belong in the mansion. It didn’t belong in his world. It belonged somewhere quiet. Somewhere safe. And he’d dragged it here. Left it to rot, just like he was.

The next breath he took came out like a snarl.

He pressed the door open, boots crashing on the stairs, fury flooding his limbs again like gasoline on fire. How dare he even contemplate such thoughts.

If Tim wanted answers, then Tim could have them.

But not the way he wanted.

Not gently.

── .✦

Present Day…

The wind bit colder out here.

Branches whispered like teeth clacking, and the night closed around you like a vice. The mansion’s looming silhouette vanished behind the treeline, swallowed in black. You had woken up in the basement, so being dragged out to the sight of a mansion was more whiplash than it was worth. You stumbled as Toby dragged you forward by the wrist, humming off-key like this was some kind of walk in the park.

He hadn’t said much since hauling you from the basement. Just little things, mostly to himself, muttered phrases like “you’ll see,” or “it’s gonna be fun, yeah?” His grip never loosened. In the fogged moonlight of the forest, you could see him more clearly now. Toby wasn’t much younger than you, probably around the same age, but the wild look in his eyes and the stress lines creasing his face made it hard to tell. Just like the other two, the masks didn’t help, hiding away all the secrets they didn’t want you to see.

“Where are we going?” you croaked. Your voice was still raw, throat bruised from days of crying, screaming, then drowning. “Toby—what the hell is this?”

He just hummed, high-pitched and jittery. “A surprise, sheriff. Our boss wants to try some-something new. Play a little game, y’know.”

“Play?” you echoed, dread tightening in your stomach.

“You’ll find out soon,” he sang.

That was it. Being scared was one thing, but teetering on the edge of terrified was enough to push your reflexes to the precipice. Instinct surged up in you. Not fear—training. You were a cop. Or used to be. Whatever you were now, you weren’t helpless. You didn’t go through years of combat simulations and skills classes just to let some kid manhandle you around. What little strength you had left, it was enough. In one smooth motion, you twisted your wrist in his grip, threw your weight forward, and slammed your shoulder into his side. He hit the ground hard, a crack of impact echoing through the trees.

You stepped back, chest heaving, muscles bracing for retaliation. But Toby just laid there, arms sprawled.

Then… he started laughing. Choking, wheezing laughter, like it had knocked the air clean out of him but he still thought it was the funniest thing in the world. He rolled onto his knees, dropping his mask just enough to wipe his nose on his sleeve. His grin never dropped.

“That was good!” he chirped, teasing and sarcasm lacing his words. “Damn, you got some gu-guts, sheriff. Do it again, maybe I’ll land on a rock next time.”

You backed away, blood pounding in your ears. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Oh, so much,” Toby said brightly, pushing himself up without a flinch. “But pain? Not one of them. Don’t feel it. Born special, ‘s what my mo-mom said.” He winked, giggling to himself. Something cold slid down your spine.

Up on the ridge, two figures stood half-shrouded by branches, stopping their pace into the forest to access the damage you clearly didn’t afflict on Toby. Masky had his arms crossed. His posture screamed irritation, but his head tilted—just a little. As if sizing you up. Hoody said nothing, but you saw the faintest nod beneath his hood. Approval? Or calculation? You couldn’t tell.

The woods thickened as Toby shoved you forward again, but now his grip had changed. Lighter. Not respectful—but curious. “C’mon,” he said. “Can’t keep the Rake waiting.”

Toby walked ahead, swinging a flashlight, your flashlight from your utility belt they had taken from you, like a toy, letting the beam skate across tree trunks and tangled brush. Shadows danced behind him—sometimes yours, sometimes not, you couldn’t be sure. Every crunch of leaves underfoot echoed too loud. Every branch looked like it might reach out and wrap around your throat.

Hoody and Masky flanked you, quiet as phantoms. You couldn’t see their eyes, but you felt them. Watching your shoulders, your hands, your steps. Not guiding you—just waiting. For something.

The deeper you went, the worse it got.

The trees were wrong. Too tall. Too thin. They leaned like they were listening. You knew the woods. Had trained in them for search and rescues, camped with your friends, lived near them. But these felt sick. And somewhere in the distance, a low rustling, soft and rhythmic, followed in your wake.

You were being led. No—you were being delivered.

When the trees finally parted, it felt like stepping off a ledge. The clearing opened like a wound in the forest. Moonlight bled across the uneven earth, silvering tufts of dying grass. It was quiet—too quiet. No bugs. No wind. Just… stillness.

And then Masky stopped walking.

“This is it,” he muttered.

You turned toward him, your voice a hoarse rasp. “What is this? Why did you bring me out here?”

He didn’t answer. Hoody stepped forward, shoulders square. “The forest’s been disturbed. Our boss doesn’t like that.” Toby twirled in place beside you, humming something just off-key. “Something’s hun-hunting in his territory. So we’re hunting it.”

You stared at them, heart crawling up your throat. “So why am I here?” Masky gave a dark, dry chuckle, low and empty. “Bait.”

Your blood turned to ice. Toby clapped his hands like you’d won a prize. “Don’t worry, you get a head start.”

“What—?”

“You better start running,” he said, eyes wide behind the goggles. “I can already hear it.”

Your legs didn’t move. Hoody turned away like he’d already dismissed you. Masky took a step back into the treeline.

And then it hit you. They were leaving you here.

“What’s coming?” you asked, voice cracking as your gaze swept the woods. “What the hell is coming?!”

“Doesn’t matter,” Masky said, giving one glance back before retreating with the others. “You’ve got maybe a minute before it’s here.”

Panic detonated inside your chest. This wasn’t a game. This wasn’t some power play. This was survival.

You tried to think—assess, assess—but nothing came. No tactics. No strategy. Just cold, raw fear chewing through your thoughts like acid. You turned. Stumbled. Then ran.

Branches tore at your pant legs, the roots of trees so prominent in the ground that it seemed as if they were trying to run away themselves. The night swallowed your breath. And somewhere, not far behind, something began to move. Something fast. Something hungry.

Your feet hit the forest floor hard—too hard. Everything was too loud. The thud of your boots, the rasp of your breath, the snarl of branches snapping past your shoulders, the wind slicing against your raw throat.

Bait.

Masky’s words kept echoing, droning itself like you were nothing more than meat strung on a hook. You had no idea what was out there. But whatever it was, it had to be worse than them.

Why? Why drag you out here? Was this Masky’s revenge? Some sick punishment for what you’d said in that interrogation room? Or maybe—maybe this was part of the same game, some twisted test to see how long you last. See how fast you run. Or maybe they just didn’t care. Maybe they really were going to let whatever was out there rip you to shreds and be done with it. This is what you get for sticking your nose in other people’s personal vendettas for so long: someone finally gets to hurt you instead.

No. No, you weren’t going to let it end like this.

You pushed through the next tangle of brush, lungs burning. Every step jarred your body like a hammer. You hadn’t eaten in days. You were dehydrated, sleep-deprived, trembling from adrenaline and cold. Your muscles screamed, but your survival instinct was louder. You had to think. Where am I? How far from town?

You tried to remember the drive, the hazy bits you could see in-between losing consciousness. The turns, the winding road before they pulled you off the map. There’d been a stream. A distant highway hum. Lights, maybe. Somewhere east?

You slowed just enough to glance around. Moonlight lanced through the canopy in broken strips. You looked for elevation, shadows, any sign of clear sky that might suggest an opening. A road. A hill. Get to higher ground. Find the ridges of the mountains. Head east.

Your hand braced against a tree as your knees wobbled. Just one second. One second to catch your breath and—

A branch snapped. Not behind you, ahead. You froze, the little breath you had caught in your throat.

Then—movement. Not big. Fast. Low to the ground.

You didn’t see it so much as feel it—a flash of pale skin cutting between trees, limbs too long, too thin, moving on all fours like a starving animal.

It stopped.

Staring.

Eyes like hollow pits, glinting silver in the dark.

It smelled you.

And it grinned.

Your scream caught somewhere between your ribs and your throat. You turned—bolted again, blindly now. Crashing through brambles, your arms shielded your face as thorns ripped into you.

Behind you, something gave chase. No footfalls, no heavy steps, just a whisper of motion. A scrape against bark. A skitter. It was faster. So much faster.

You tripped—caught yourself—kept running.

Your legs felt like wet paper. Your chest cracked with every breath. Pain lit your sides like fire. You couldn’t do this, not in this shape, not after days in the dark, starving and broken.

But still you ran.

You weren’t a victim. You weren’t going to die out here like an animal. The trees blurred around you. A root caught your boot. You fell hard—knees smashing into cold earth. You rolled, gasping, and looked back—

Nothing.

Just trees. Moonlight. Silence. Your whole body quaked. Mud coated your hands. Blood ran down your arms where the thorns had caught you.

You sat up slowly, eyes scanning the dark.

Maybe it’s gone.

A whisper of breath behind your ear. You turned—

And saw it. Not twenty feet away. Crouched, still, grinning. Waiting.

And then—it leapt.

── .✦

Masky moved like a shadow between trees, boots crunching softly over dead leaves and hardened earth. His breath came out in shallow plumes, fogging in the crisp air. Beside him, Hoody was silent—almost ghostlike, gliding just beyond his periphery. Toby brought up the rear, far less graceful, singing something under his breath. They were spread just wide enough apart to cover ground, just close enough to regroup if it came to that.

The moon was high now, an ever-present light in the foggy sky.

The forest creaked and moaned in the wind. Every crack of a branch or scuffle of animal paws sent adrenaline spiking through Masky’s limbs, not from fear, but anticipation. Something was out here with them; he could feel it in the pressure behind his eyes, like a headache waiting to happen.

“He’s watching,” Toby chirped quietly, skipping a step to keep pace. “I can hear him, somewhere past the fo-footpath.”

Masky didn’t answer. Just pressed on. Hoody, ahead, slowed to a stop. He tilted his head, listening—then murmured, “West. It’s circling.”

Masky adjusted the course without a word. His fingers twitched at his sides. He could feel the pistol's weight hidden under his coat, the familiar itch in his spine. Fight or flight had long stopped applying to them; there was only attack.

“They should’ve run farther by now,” Hoody said humorlessly, glancing back. “Or at least screamed.”

“They’re probably dead,” Toby offered, a little too snarky. “Or pissing the-themselves. I’d be pissing myself.”

“You wouldn’t know. You can’t feel anything.”

“Exactly,” Toby beamed.

Masky gritted his teeth. His mind was loud again, not just from Toby or the ambiance of the woods, but from Tim.

We have to find them, Tim murmured, barely a whisper. They’re not ready for this. They don’t even know what it is.

“They’re bait,” Masky hissed under his breath.

Hoody turned his head slightly. “Now's not the time, Masky.” He ignored him.

Branches cracked to the east, and all three men froze. Toby’s grip on his hatchet tightened, holding it at the hilt against his side. Hoody’s hand brushed the revolver at his hip.

The sound came again. Louder. Not the careful steps of a hunter, but something running.

A scream tore through the density of the forest, breaching the silence of the trees like a gunshot. All Masky could think was how human you always sounded. The air snapped like a wire pulled too tight. Masky’s head lifted toward the sound, and his blood surged. The noise sliced into his chest before he could even register it—hoarse and raw and desperate. Nothing calculated about it. No edge. No charisma attached, just your fear.

“Let’s move,” Hoody said coolly, already changing direction. Toby nodded and vanished into the dark like a dog off his leash. Masky stood rooted for half a second longer.

Tim was screaming in his head now. Screaming with you.

Go. Please.

Masky’s fists clenched. His legs moved before he could think better of it.

── .✦

Branches tore at your arms as you pushed through the underbrush, lungs burning, legs screaming. You didn’t know where you were going anymore—just forward, forward, anywhere but here. But it was fast. You could hear it now.

Behind you, beside you, above you.

A blur of pale limbs darted between trees in your peripheral vision, flashes of bone-white skin and gleaming black eyes catching the moonlight. It didn’t sound like it ran; it slithered, it crawled, it just kept grinning.

You stumbled, caught yourself on a tree, and shoved off again. Your body was failing, muscles trembling from starvation and cold, your stomach clenching with every jolt. Your throat was raw from sucking in gasps of air, your feet were blistered in your old work shoes, and the thing behind you—whatever it was—wasn’t chasing; it was herding.

Your foot caught on a root. You hit the ground hard again, cheek scraping bark and dirt. Before you could move, you felt it: hot breath on your neck. You turned with a scream just in time to see a long, narrow limb retract into the shadows. It had touched you, tasted the moment, and let you live. This wasn’t a chase; it was hunting, playing with its prey before tiring it out.

You were the rabbit in the snare.

Tears blurred your vision. You scrambled to your feet, every instinct firing off—cop or not, your brain only told you one thing—runrunrunrunrun.

You pushed through another clearing. The woods opened for a split second, moonlight spilling across the frostbitten grass. You looked around, desperate for a path, a road, a fucking miracle.

Nothing. No direction seemed safer than the other.

“Please…” you whimpered, staggering toward a cluster of trees. “Please, Jesus, fuck…”

Snap. Behind you.

You turned—and there it was, just standing. Bare, bony, and too long in every place that should’ve been short. Knees bent backward, mouth stretched far too wide across a gaunt, eyeless face, fingers so long they nearly scraped the ground. It cocked its head.

And smiled.

You screamed and bolted again. This time it didn’t wait. It lunged.

It clipped your back, sharp fingers slashing across your shoulder. You fell hard, rolling against the grass and roots bumping up. The pain was instant—hot, ragged coils of uncomfortable shock coursing through you. You crawled forward, heaving through air and tears. Your nails dug into the earth, pulling at tufts of grass as you drug your body against the ground.

“No—no, please, please—”

It crept forward slowly, shifting between two and four legs, inspecting your movements. You pushed yourself up, dizzy and bleeding through the torn fabric of your shirt. You felt the gush down your spine, the muscles of your shoulder blade twisting and separating in all the wrong places. It had gotten a deep gash, at least deep enough to feel the cool breeze of the night against the wound.

You reached back, trying to cup the wound and stop the bleeding with the shaky press of your palm—but it was no use. Your hand came away slick with blood. Too much blood.

The Rake paused a few yards away. Its head tilted with childlike curiosity. You thought it might pounce again—but it didn’t. Not yet. You stared at it, heart hammering so loud you could feel it in your teeth. And for the first time in your life, you knew true fear. Not adrenaline, not nerves, not the fear of losing a suspect or screwing up a report.

This was fear. Animal fear. Prey-and-predator fear.

Your mind ran wild. What the hell was this thing? You’d seen monsters in movies, you’d chased killers and psychos and men with dead eyes, but this—this was something else. This wasn’t a man. This wasn’t even right, it was never meant to exist in the same world as you.

What else is out here? You thought of the mansion. Of the others—Masky, Hoody, Toby. All of them dancing like puppets on strings, pulled by something ancient and evil. Your chest tightened. What the hell did I get dragged into? What else is hiding in those walls? In these woods?

A sob slipped from your throat. Your vision swam. You’re not going to make it to morning.

You clutched your chest, trying to suck in air, your back pressed against the wet bark of a tree. Your mind scrambled for a distraction, anything you could use. Could you throw something? Hide? Make a noise and bolt the other way? But there was nothing, no tricks left, no more fight in your legs.

The Rake took another step closer. You saw every line of muscle shifting under its sickly skin. It sniffed the air, stretched the gap of its mouth, and you broke. Your body crumpled forward and you began to cry—quiet at first, then deeper. Raw, painful sobs that wracked your already-wrecked frame. You pressed your face into your hands, begging something—anything.

Please. Please, don’t let it end here. Don’t let this be it. Please. You pleaded, hiding your face in your hands.

Thud. Your head snapped up. Another step, but not from the Rake.

Thud-thud-thud.

Heavy and purposeful, two sets were coming from beyond the treeline. The Rake froze, its entire body twitching like a hound catching the scent of something new. Its head turned toward the sound, its smile slowly curling into something less amused, less playful, and more agitated.

You blinked through your tears, heart lurching toward hope and horror in equal measure. You didn’t know if it was rescue or another nightmare come to join the hunt, but they were close.

You didn’t wait.

Whoever—or whatever—was coming, it didn’t matter. You weren’t about to sit still and gamble on who arrived first. With every ounce of strength left in your trembling limbs, you staggered upright and pushed off from the tree. Your legs howled in protest, knees threatening to buckle. You grit your teeth, blood dripping from your back, hot and heavy as it soaked into your waistband and down the backs of your thighs.

Move. Just move.

The creature’s head snapped back to you. You froze. Its eyes narrowed, then let out a guttural sound, low and almost disappointed, like a cat watching a wounded bird try to limp away. But then—it moved.

It was fast. Too fast. You turned and ran.

Branches snapped against your face. Thorns tore at your arms. The world swayed as exhaustion and hunger dragged on every part of your body. You didn’t care. You couldn’t afford to. The only thing that mattered was putting as much space between you and that thing as you could. Your breath wheezed ragged in your lungs. You tripped over a root and barely caught yourself, scraping your palms raw against the forest floor. You didn’t stop. You couldn’t.

But then—gunfire. Cracks split the night.

You screamed, then ducked instinctively. Bullets tore through the trees just behind you, close enough to hear them snap past your ears. The Rake shrieked behind you—an unholy, metallic screech of anger and pain. You risked a glance over your shoulder and saw it dodge one shot, the next tearing straight through its arm. It reeled but didn’t fall. Its body jerked unnaturally, then launched itself forward again. Its claws tore through the ground, earth and dirt flying up behind in its wake, leaving a mess wherever it went.

Another volley of bullets exploded from behind, muzzle flashes lighting up the clearing like lightning. You screamed again—not at the Rake this time, but at them. Masky. Hoody. The gunshots were too close. Way too close. Were they aiming at the creature or at you? The panic clogged your throat, and the next step you took was too slow, too sloppy. Your foot snagged on something, and you went down hard, shoulder-first.

Before you could get up—it was on you.

The Rake tackled you like a freight train, its claws pinning your wrists down in the dirt. Its legs straddled your hips. The weight was unbearable, its body pressed so close you could see the sinew beneath its skin and smell its rancid breath as it opened its mouth and screamed in your face. The stench of rot and dead earth surrounded you, clogging your thoughts.

The sound made your vision go white. You shrieked, thrashing, the creature’s face inches from yours, saliva dripping from its yellowed teeth. Its claws dug into your arms, slicing clean through skin. You felt warm blood ooze down to your elbows. You kicked, bucked, did anything to get it off—

But it was too strong. Its claws raised. It was going to end it.

“Hey, ugly.”

A blur slammed into the Rake’s side.

You heard the impact before you could register it—flesh against flesh, then a sickening crack. The weight was gone. You sucked in a ragged breath and rolled onto your side just in time to see Toby—his usual wild grin gone—drive his hatchet down into the creature’s back. The Rake screamed again, high and desperate, lashing out and slicing across Toby’s chest—but he didn’t even flinch. Not once.

He laughed. An unhinged, manic sound. It was scary.

Toby yanked the hatchet free and slammed it down again—over and over, until the creature’s writhing turned to twitching. Until the shrieks were replaced with wet gurgles. Until the forest was silent, except for the sticky squelch of metal meeting flesh. You lay there, too stunned to scream. Blood sprayed across your face—hot and thick—mixing with tears you didn’t even know you were crying. It was everywhere, on your clothes, your lips, your hands. You couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t look away.

The Rake's body convulsed one final time, and then it was still. Toby stood over it, chest heaving. His hatchet was slick and dripping, his eyes wide and unfocused, like he hadn’t really come back from wherever he’d gone to kill it.

He looked at you.

You flinched.

But he only blinked, wiped the back of his hand across his forehead, and grinned. The grin you’d seen before. That too-wide smile. That wrong smile. Your only saving grace from absolutely losing it was the mask covering the lower half of his face, covering the inhumanity behind it.

“Man,” he said, as if they’d just finished a football game, “that was fun.”

You didn’t answer. Couldn’t. The adrenaline was fading and leaving nothing but pain and fog in its place. Your arms trembled where the Rake had pinned them. Your lungs stuttered with shallow, broken breaths. You weren’t sure if you were safe now, or if you’d just survived one monster to be dragged back to another.

And Masky… Masky hadn’t said a word, but you felt him watching. You could feel his rage from here. You didn’t know what scared you more—the Rake’s claws, or the look in his eyes when they met yours.

Hoody wasn’t far behind, footsteps soft over the blood-dampened leaves. He crouched briefly beside the Rake’s remains, his head tilting like he was studying it—like he was already trying to commit the damage to memory. Then he looked at you.

Your body throbbed.

The ache flared all at once, like it had been waiting for your mind to calm just enough to notice. The gash in your back burned. Your arms shook under their own weight. Your legs were shredded and trembling. You could feel fresh blood seeping down your ribs, sticking your torn shirt to your skin. You reached up to your head and felt wetness there, too—had you hit it when you fell?

Everything started to swim. The forest tilted.

The air sounded too loud and too far away at the same time—Hoody saying something in a low voice to Masky, the crunch of Toby’s boots as he wandered off into the brush, humming under his breath like a psychopath. Even the wind through the trees had a static edge to it, like it was pushing in on you.

Too much. Too much. Too much.

Your breath hitched.

You tried to speak, but no words came. Just a shaky wheeze. Your knees buckled again, this time for good, and the world tilted in slow motion as you dropped to the forest floor. You barely registered someone lunging forward—boots and jeans and a mask—before hands grabbed your shoulders to steady you.

Masky.

He didn’t say anything, but you saw the way his fingers hovered near your back, hesitating. You looked up, barely able to lift your head, but it was enough. Just enough to catch it—that flicker of expression behind the eyeholes. Concern. He masked it quickly, tilting his head away like it hadn’t happened, like you didn’t see it.

But you did. And that scared you, too.

You tried to breathe, tried to hold on, but the trees blurred, and your vision tunneled. The last thing you saw was Masky’s white mask swimming above you in a haze of black and red and forest green.

You heard the muffled call of your name, then everything went dark.

Thank you so much for reading! Comments and reblogs are appreciated!

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magicalrocketships · 5 months ago

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Flip flop for Where the Light is? Sorry for acting like a fan but i saw ur reblog and jumped at the chance

↻ FLIP FLOP: send me a scene from one of my fics and I’ll describe or write it from another character’s POV!

Where the Light is (Masterpost || AO3) AKA the one where Max gets pregnant.

Except, this time: Daniel's POV (part 1/2, I didn't mean for it to turn into something but then I got tired)

Daniel I have some news for you so please call me back Daniel deletes the voicemail.

Where the light was

Daniel I have some news for you so please call me back

Daniel deletes the voicemail.

You have not called me back Daniel and now it says your voicemail is full so I will text you instead to tell you to call me

Daniel sees the notification pop up just under the last missed call from Max. That's five calls now since the last time Daniel swept the notifications away.

He doesn't want to talk to Max. He doesn't want to talk to anyone. He turns the volume down to nothing and switches vibrate off.

Sometimes he'll look at the phone on the coffee table and see the screen light up with another message, another call, another notification. He doesn't pick his phone up. Eventually they'll stop.

I need to tell you something daniel and I can see your read receipts are on so text me back

Daniel googles 'how to turn read receipts off'. He follows the instructions. He's okay. He just— there's a lot going on. It's complicated. There are lawyers. Contracts to unravel. Partnerships to end. He's tired. There isn't a space for racing and people who race in his life right now. It's a door he's got to close for his own survival.

You have turned your read receipts off but you are still not texting me back and it is important daniel

Daniel doesn't call Max back. He doesn't call Max, he doesn't text him, he doesn't come back to Monaco, and he doesn't read or reply to his Instagram DMs.

He goes back to the farm. Someone takes over his inbox and sends him meeting invites to a new, private email and he shows up to them when he's required to. He runs a lot. Bikes a lot. Answers one message or one call from his parents per day, as agreed.

It's okay. He'll be okay. There's a whole world out there, a future that's just waiting for him. It's okay to close the curtains for a while, though. Know the world's out there waiting for him. When he's ready.

He's just not ready yet.

Scotty messages him to say that Chloe got asked by Lance who got asked by Max to make him get in touch. He texts Scotty back it's on my list.

There's a lot of stuff on his list. He calls his therapist. She's been waiting for him to get in touch. He books in two sessions, and gets out the yoga mat again. He stretches. He talks.

Max keeps on messaging him. They're all much the same. He hopes Daniel is okay. He wants to talk. Can Daniel call him back please.

Daniel doesn't have it in him to talk about racing. He doesn't have it in him to know that Max is carrying on when he's pulled off the track and won't be getting back on it. He knows Max deserves better.

He doesn't let himself think about that one night they spent together, the one where Daniel had been drowning in hope, in promises, in a future. He'd wanted more than just that one night. He'd wanted that future, the one he'd dreamed about, him and Max and racing and everything else.

It's all right that things end. It's the natural ebb and flow of life. He wouldn't have been racing forever, anyway. There would always have been a last race, a last season, a last car. His therapist tells him it's okay to have feelings about how it played out, though. Daniel has feelings. He's mad, he's sad, he's disappointed and embarrassed and lost.

He doesn't want to get stuck as well as lost, though. He's always been an adventurer. There's always been something to reach for. He's just got to figure out what.

"You've got time," his therapist tells him. "You don't have to decide today."

That's good, Daniel thinks, because he's got no idea what's next.

His phone rings in the middle of the night. He answers blearily, without thinking. He'd turned the volume up after weeks of it being on silent. The ringer is so loud in the quiet of the night. He reaches for his lamp.

It's— it's Max. The angle's weird. He's holding his phone up to talk into it, but his eyes are closed like he hadn't realised he was FaceTiming, like he was just going to talk into the mic. He's lying down. That's a— that's one of those shitty medical beds like they have in the medical centre trackside, complete with the shitty tearaway paper sheets. It's Brazil weekend and that's a medical bed.

Daniel's heart pounds.

He has to tune back into what Max is saying: "—There is a baby, Daniel. Our little baby. I tried and I tried to tell you. I didn't tell anyone else but now they will be finding out. I don't know if it is me that is not well or if it is the baby. I want it to be me."

Daniel says, "Max?"

Max opens his eyes. He looks exhausted and pale and washed out and ill. He touches his thumb to Daniel's face through the phone screen.

"Max," Daniel says again.

"I don't feel well," Max says. "They are taking me to hospital."

"Max," Daniel says.

"Our little baby won a race," Max says. "I am going now."

The phone goes fucking dead.

Daniel calls him back. It goes unanswered. He calls again. Unanswered.

What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck.

Daniel googles. He calls Max, over and over, but there's no answer. He reads peoples tweets and reddit posts about Max's win, about his fourth world championship, about him supposedly being ill and needing help out of the car and the weird, disjointed way he'd looked on the podium, not even picking up his champagne bottle, and how someone had come to offer Max help off the podium and down the stairs. The rumours and the news of him being taken to the medical centre, and then to hospital. He turns the TV on then off again. Dawn comes. Daylight. A new day. He messages Max. Nothing.

Then: I am coming to Perth. We will need to go to a baby doctor.

Daniel sits down. What the fuck. A baby. Their baby? A baby. All this time, a baby.

A call from his parents. He answers it hoping that it's Max, then he has to try and explain that Max is coming to them. Has to ask them how to find a baby doctor. There are calls to Blake, to someone who might know something, texts to people Daniel hadn't wanted to talk to ever again. Eventually, someone in Raymond's office. A time. Details of where Max's jet will be landing. Questions about whether Daniel will meet him or if alternative arrangements have to be made.

The whole time Daniel feels like he's having an out of body experience. He goes to his parents' place and they look at him with the same confusion and concern as is probably mirrored on Daniel's face. Knowing Max discharged himself. That he's flying across the world when he should still be in hospital in Brazil. It's too much. They're going to come meet Max's plane with him. They're going to drive.

"Jesus," Daniel says, when he sees Max, who's barely managing to stand. He's never seen Max look anything like this bad. Pale and weak and exhausted and touching his stomach, where there's a baby. Where there is their baby. God, maybe he misunderstood. Don't get hopeful. Don't wish for anything. He might have got it wrong.

He trails his parents to the car. He's trying to catalogue everything that's different about Max. He has to help Max get into the back of the car. Has to help him with his seatbelt. His hands shake.

Max looks at him. He says, "The baby is okay, Daniel, they said so. I am just tired."

Daniel says, "You're a real fucking idiot, Max," and he can't help but hold on to Max's hand really fucking tight as his mum tells them they're going to the hospital.

Max doesn't argue. He looks like there's nothing holding him together but willpower. "I thought you would like it if the baby was born here," he says. "I was picking a place for the baby to be born and I thought you would like it if it was here."

Daniel is going to fucking sob. He's going to break down and cry.

Max shakes his head. "You didn't answer your phone. I kept trying."

"I'm sorry," Daniel says. "I'm so sorry. I couldn't be anywhere where racing was. I didn't know it was more important."

"I told the baby you would love them but you just needed to know about it." He leans his head back against the head rest.

It's too much. It's another thing he's failed at. He should have answered Max's calls. He should have known it wasn't about racing, that it was more important, that Max needed him. That there was a baby, their baby, and Max was trying to tell him.

The punishment, Daniel supposes, is finding out like this.

Daniel holds Max's hand the whole way to the hospital.

#where the light is #fic fic tumblr fic #maxiel #choo choo #the mpreg train is leaving the station #(again)#(except this time it's just from Daniel's pov)#my fic

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samsayswhatever · 3 months ago

Text

Analysis of their morning

When Saxon gets back home, he's is in FULL DENIAL MODE. He remembers doing things that no one should do, and he is losing his grip on his sanity. His only life line is that Lochlan says he doesn't remember. Now he plans to double down on his identity, starting off strong by making his protein shake.

When Victoria brings up how Piper has no thesis, and is moving to Thailand piper says "What do you care?" to Saxon. He's like, "Because you're my little sister! I don't want to see you wasting away your life."

I think he says this because he's doubling down on his identity as a big brother because of what happened with Lochlan. He's reminding himself of who he is and what he wants. And he's now hyper aware of what regret can do to someone, and he doens't want Piper to regret her life choices.

However, from Lochlan's POV, of the night, he chose to go to this crazy full moon party with Saxon instead of staying with Piper to help her tell this news to their parents. I think he's feeling a little bad that he left her, but still worse that she's leaving him behind too, like they always do.

He's the youngest, so he had to grow up watching his siblings slip out of his grasp. His father is either working or working out, and his mother is always on drugs or at "the club" (which I think means like the preppy golf club type place.) I think Lochlan is alone a lot, and really wishes he had stronger family connections. I think he was hoping to grow closer to one of his siblings by joining their college, but Piper is leaving now, so he thought Saxon would give him attention if he did what he wanted for a night.

Lochlan drank, possibly for the first time, and did drugs for the first time. He partied like there was no tomorrow to the best of his ability to gain Saxon's favor. And what happens? He wakes up alone, and naked. And his shorts are missing. And so he puts on the only shorts available - Saxon's shorts. And then he wanders the boat looking for his brother, only to find him annoyed and standoffish. Saxon insists he doesn't remember anything about last night, and isn't being his normal confident self. Saxon should be happy they partied like crazy, and tell him some overly detailed sex story about Chelsea or somehting. But he doesn't. Saxon's not giving him any positive feed back about whatever the hell happened last night. This must be disappointing at least, and at most it could freak Loch out.

Lochlan doesn't remember the threesome but I'm curious about which pieces he's putting together. Does he remember kissing Chloe? The flashback only showed him the threesome, so does he even remember kissing Saxon the first time?? Is there any evidence besides his nudity that he had sex? Like a condom wrapper or stains on the sheets? Is he aware that both he and Saxon would have to be naked at the same time to switch their shorts? Does he think he slept next to Saxon or Chloe? Or did he just blearily roll out of bed, noticing nothing, questioning nothing, grabbing whatever was at hand to get dressed.

I don't know what he thinks happened, but my best guess is that he doesn't remember kissing anyone or sleeping next to anyone. It's also quite possible he hasn't thought much about how the shorts swap happened. However, I think he has enough clues to be a little afraid to find out what happened last night.

Lochland doesn't say, "Morning, Sax, crazy party. What even happened last night? I blacked out after the fireworks." Instead he just sits down and is quite for a moment before he says, "I don't last night, at all." He doesn't ask questions even though he knows nothing. This just felt important because his character always asks questions. He asks why his mom ignored Kate even though she obviously didn't want to talk about it. The next day he asks his dad if something is wrong when his phone keeps buzzing. And Lochlan asked about Pipers virginity twice! He likes to know things. But now, after the night Saxon wanted him to lose his virginity, he just doens't ask a single question about what happened? It's just very interesting.

Then they didn't show what happens between the boat and arriving back at the hotel, but I can assume that Saxon didn't answer any questions. It's likely that they didn't talk at all except maybe a, "Let's go," or something simple here and there. Lochlan must be getting more and more anxious, wondering what he did wrong, and Saxon is trying to build up his emotional shields so that he doesn't have to admit to himself what he did.

Their both having a horrible morning. Saxon wants to stay away form Loch to keep his guilt at bay, and Loch is probably regretting going to the party because it seems to have just made things worse. So he goes with piper to the monastery. But then he says he will stay the night with her. This is interesting again. He don't know what happened last night, but he assumes Saxon will still be ignoring him by the time he gets back, therefore it's not worth it to try to go home. I think that if he thought a little time away form each other would reset things with Sax, then he wouldn't have offered to stay with Piper. So he must think it's really bad.

Then of course Lochlan remembers some snippets of what happened, but specifically the handjob. And he makes a face, and opens his eyes and looks around, but specifically to his left, not at Piper, but past her. I wonder if he was looking at the door, like he was trying to escape. If he's like the rest of his family who like to escape through work, exercise, drugs, etc, then he might not be comfortable continuing to meditate. He might try to leave, but he might also be "forced" to stay because he's holding out hope he can get attention from Piper. Then he might confront his thoughts, and work through them faster than Saxon.

Since Saxon was acting weird, I think Lochlan will figure out that he knows, even though he said, "We both blacked out." But Saxon doesn't think Loch remembers, as far as we know. However, he might be the type to be suspicious. He might have enough drinking experience to know that his memories could come back, and that probably is adding a lot to his stress levels.

Anyway, it will be so interesting to see where the show goes from here. They could easily have them remember more parts of the night, and expand their story, but they could also leave that up in the air. The show could have them stay apart for the whole next episode, and continue to freak out and process separately, or they could get thrust together. If Piper ends up hating the monastery, I could see her wanting to go to gregs party, and of course Loch will want to stick with her, but will he know Saxon is there? Will he not go because Saxon is there? Will he seek Saxon out and finally ask follow up questions? There is so much possibility.

#yes i wrote another essay forgive me #the white lotus #saxloch #saxon ratliff #lochlan ratliff #the white lotus season 3 #twl ep 6

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sunshine-zenith · 7 months ago

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On my daily rewatch of anw I'm thinking about how people thought Hazel and Dev should've swapped fairies because of how unfair the godparent system was and how Dev needed more experienced godparents or how Peri should've been assigned an easy case and while that may be true, I'm just thinking how that swap would have suited the kids' needs.

With Dev, yes, he was a hard case and probably should've had godparent who had more experience with children like him, but he is a child who is lacking in the parental department and needed someone to fill that role.

Same is true for Hazel. She would have been more suited for a first-time godparent, but what she needed and missed the most was her brother and who do we know who has experience with being someone's godbrother? Peri.

I'm probably just rephrasing stuff here so this probably didn't need to be said. Everything more or less worked out for everyone and eventually for others (hopefully).

Anon I have been rotating this ask around in my head since it popped up into my ask box

Confession: I and many others have thought about the similarities between Peri and Hazel, and pointed out that Dev was not a case for a beginner, but I haven’t seriously considered a full out fairy swap until now because I’m actually very fond of the Hazel-Cosmo-Wanda dynamic and the Dev-Peri tragedy dynamic

Still… yeah, you’re kinda right. Dev genuinely would’ve been better suited for experienced godparents, and he might actually benefit from Cosmo and Wanda specifically because A) there’s two of them and B) they’re very parental with their godkids. And Hazel — having Hazel, the kid who misses her brother so much it tipped over the Needs A Fairy edge, be paired up with the godparent who lost his older brother is kinda brilliant

It kinda makes me wonder about how things would be different if we got Hazel-Peri and Dev-Cosmo-Wanda…

Heads up, this gets long

The first thing I wonder about isn’t so much the dynamics, but rather who would be the protagonist? I adore Hazel as a main character, but Cosmo and Wanda are the FOP difacto mascots. They’re the ones who get the cameos and appear in the reboots/sequels. They can exist independently from Timmy/Hazel/Chloe/Viv. If they’re Dev’s fairies, then Dev would be the main POV character. And like. I love Dev, I do, but he’s an asshole. I understand why and I’m down to justify anything he does, but he’s a dick. Plus, well, he’s also super sad. It’d be very hard to make him a fun POV character, especially pre/mid-character development, at least without switching the genre from Heart Felt Comedy Aimed At Children/All Ages to something much darker and more mature. He’s a great side character/deuteragonist, but it would be a Commitment if we followed him 95% of the time

(And before anyone comes at me about Timmy also being The Worst, a lot of that was flanderization. By the time he gets that that point, let’s be real a lot of people stopped watching, and even then he at least had half a dozen I Love Yous and sweet moments with Cosmo and Wanda to make the commitment worth it to the audience.)

Hazel and Peri

So if we keep Hazel as the lead and Peri as her fairy, how’d that work, writing wise? Do we keep his introduction the same and hope the audience is fine with a Sequel Babies Series. Or (and this is just me having fun), do we hypothetically cut out the part where he Introduces Himself With His Deadname For The Audience’s Sake and just hint at him as being Poof from the original series. Then, after Founder’s Day, we introduce Cosmo and Wanda as Dev’s fairies, and the Peri Is Grown Up Poof thing is treated as a Big Reveal, a la Author Of The Journals from Gravity Falls

Now that out of the way, how do I think these dynamics would work, and how would it affect Dev and Hazel’s relationship?

Like you said, Hazel and Peri connecting over missing brothers is a great starting point, and Peri getting to be the big brother for once would be so much fun to watch. Plus, and I’ve pointed this out before, they’re both rule followers (I can totally see a gag of them bonding over Hazel’s DMV love), though Hazel is willing to play things by ear, while Peri gets majorly stressed/anxious/high strung when rule breaking is in question — in fact, that could be a fun angle to some potential conflicts. Hazel makes a wish, but she doesn’t know how to find the words for what she wants, and since Peri is so new, he doesn’t have the experience to confidently guess. He hesitates, both of them get caught in a mini Anxiety Loop, and escalating event happening in the background force them into action, and through hijinx, they both receive character development

I can also see the Antony thing leading to conflict for them — Hazel’s brother is gone, but he comes back. He visits. They reconnect. Meanwhile, Timmy’s gone gone. His memory is wiped. I can see Peri occasionally accidentally fumbling Hazel’s missing Antony with his own likely grief over Timmy. Maybe after another missed flight or phone call, Peri tries to be “supportive” in the same way he tried to cheer Dev up at his birthday, and he accidentally says something that makes Hazel not only miss her old life, but thing she’ll never have any sort of relationship with Antony again.

Or maybe Peri does handle it well until Antony comes back. Then, alongside Hazel trying to recreate the past, Peri gets overwhelmed with jealousy, like he was when Irep tried taking his place with Dev but dialed up by 10. He worries he’ll lose his first godkid AND be fumbling with reawakened grief

(Plus hey, I can actually see this scenario as a good way to justify bringing Timmy back. Maybe Hazel could even include Timmy’s memories as part of her Rule Free Wish in the finally)

Basically Hazel and Peri have so much in common that if they were the main duo, those similarities could lead to so many bonding moments AND dramatic moments where through being mirrors for each other they accidentally hurt each other and help each other to grow as people

(It makes me wonder how Peri would hide himself in Hazel’s day to day life. Peri becomes inanimate objects for Dev, sure, but he doesn’t have a consistent object he hides as. Maybe Peri could have a human disguise, pretending to be a recent college grad who moves into Hazel’s building? Or maybe he could be a “new pet rock”?)

(Also I have a lot of thoughts on C&W being disguised as pets for Timmy and neighbors for Hazel, but that’s a ramble for another day.)

Dev, Cosmo, and Wanda

So the first question is how would Dev become Cosmo and Wanda’s godkid? They weren’t actually assigned to Hazel, they basically just adopted her. Maybe, Cosmo and Wanda could still be traveling and just end up in Dimmadelphia around Founder’s Day, and through their observations, they seen Dev is going through it and come out of retirement for him. This could also lead to a Cookie situation with Dev instead of Hazel (imagine Dev pretending to be a lawyer, there would 100% be a gag of him acting as every shady lawyer stereotype you know.)

I can see Dev still lashing out at them, probably still demanding perfection for hollow wishes since he can’t get what he really wants, BUT C&W would cause mischief as they misinterpret his wishes. I can also see him acting unimpressed/impatient when they take him on little side quests to meet with fairies that specialize in the things he wishes for. He’s have to defrost to them, and they (likely especially Cosmo) would push his buttons. Dev would also probably deny having fun during these adventures. I’m sure he’d eventually come to see them the same way he saw Irep)

A potential conflict could come from the fact that a lot of Dev’s wishes are by nature spiteful/fueled by pride. Again, major Dev apologist here, we’re talking about the kid who wished for a an evil ghost to come from the depths of hell after having a fairy for less than a week. C&W would still grant his wishes, but they wouldn’t approve of him being a bully, and would probably try really hard to get him to realize the error of his ways through these wishes

It’s likely that Dev wouldn’t even get involved with the anti-fairies here. If he did, I can only see this after Dev specifically makes a wish relating to his father loving him, which C&W can’t grant, or something similar — a breakdown after a big, direct moment instead of a breakdown after months of little, indirect moments

I can also see him both clinging to them as parental figures and resenting them as misplaced anger and sadness over his neglectful dad

I can also see him seeing Peri (and maybe even Timmy) as a threat here — Peri is their son, who they adore like Dev wishes Dale adored him. And since Peri isn’t Dev’s godparent here and therefore doesn’t feel the need to look out for/do right by him, Peri would like sass him harder or treat him as an annoyance, an extension of any tension that comes up when C&W their clingy thing. In a scenario where Dev still ended up under an anti-fairy’s influence, he might even wish Peri was Nothing, or still kidnap Peri here out of misplaced resentment

Dev and Hazel

I feel like swapping fairies would also affect their relationship. Part of their comes from Dev’s jealousy over Hazel’s relationship with C&W — she has two while he only has one, she has a positive relationship with her while his “can’t do anything right” (can’t cross the red tape of Da Rules, doesn’t have the experience/comfort level to go buckwild with wishes/has parents that love him/etc). Here, that wouldn’t be a problem— Hazel wouldn’t care that Dev has two fairies instead of one, and C&W would probably have an easier time getting through Dev’s defenses. It’s possible that a lot of their fights and negative interactions just wouldn’t happen here, and if they did, it would be related to Hazel wanting Dev to be nicer to C&W/Peri.

#ask #anon #cosmo cosma #wanda fairywinkle cosma #dev dimmadome #hazel wells #peri cosma #fop #fop a new wish #fairly oddparents #spoilers

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legionofnone · 23 days ago

Text

A/N: If you get grossed out by medical procedure stuff, you might want to skip? I note clearly where it begins and ends, though. It’s not like…gruesome. But my husband went “EEK” as he was beta reading it for me, so, thought I’d just…let y’all know.

Oh! And this one is also told entirely from Harvey’s POV. I like to switch it up, yanno. ;)

Anyway!

Click here to read ch3 of “A Sea of Glass and Shifting Skies” on AO3

Pairing: Harvey x Chloe (farmer) (and yet, so much more!)

Rating: Mature (fic will eventually bump to explicit)

Summary:

Harvey performs a biopsy on a suspicious spot on Chloe's scalp.

Later, he brings home dinner and a movie.

Excerpt:

“Harvey?” Maru calls out as she steps into the office, glancing down at the chart. “It says we’ve got a same-day biopsy for…”

“Chloe,” I say. My voice catches, just for a second. “It’s for Chloe.”

She stops in the doorway. “Oh. Is it… serious?”

“Could be,” I reply, without looking up. “Non-healing lesion. Irregular borders. Posterior auricular.”

Her voice softens. “Are you okay?”

“Not especially. But I’m planning to hold off on that until after it’s done.”

She takes a step closer. “Why isn’t she seeing Raya?”

“She’d put it off. I can’t risk that.” I line up a pair of forceps. Straighten the gauze packet. “I know it’s not ideal, but, right now, I don’t care.”

“Well, yeah, you love her,” she says quietly.

I nod, still focused on the tray. “Yeah.”

She regards me carefully for a moment, “Do you need…a hug or something?” she cringes with regret as soon as she says it.

“No,” I say, sharper than I mean to. I clear my throat, adjusting my voice, “Thanks. But no.” I finally look up. “Right now I need to be clinical. Detached. Hands steady, mask on.”

She nods, gently.

“Robot Mode,” I add, with the faintest twitch of a smile. “I’ll let it glitch out later.”

She doesn’t press. Just nods once more and steps back.

I turn back to the tray, double-checking everything again. And again.

If I get the setup right, maybe I won’t fall apart before she walks in.

#sdv harvey #harvey sdv #harvey x farmer #stardew fanfic #stardew valley harvey #farmer x harvey #stardew farmer #stardew valley fanfic #stardew oc #stardew harvey #sdv fanfic

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justanotherpersonsuniverse · 6 months ago

Note

Holy shit I’m a week late to a new chapter how did i manage this

Oh my god i’m so hype

Holy shit

Cap

Omg

I fell behind on my thorough reread cause college, actually experiencing romance of a sort, choosing tattoos and all that so i sincerely apologise but you must know; as soon as i saw this new chapter i started writing this

Obviously, i can’t just jump into the new chapters i have to familiarise myself with the latest one so it’s a smooth transition. Not that i’ve forgotten shit, god knows i’ve read it too many times to do that, but i do this for all things with gaps between updates

Deary me i’ve missed your writing… instagram reels have been rotting my brain

Just a note; juleka saying “we’re very alike. I like that about you.” in chapter 74 is sooo… toxic yuri ladynoire my beloved is that you? I can hear it.

I always adore how juleka thinks in fights, especially when she recalls stuff someone has said like her mum

16 THOUSAND WORD CHAPTER?? OH MY GOD

HERE YE HERE YE BEWARE FOR SPOILERS OF PN CHAPTER 75 ARE BELOW READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

[— — —]

Ok word, timeline information, good to know, i think that makes them around 17 now? Anyway, what has hawky been up to over the summer to keep him so quiet? Certainly not using the time to bond with adrien i’m sure

Ah ofc, lila pov for the start of chameleon

Oh dear, lila’s mother doesn’t know she was akumatised? Is she vying for third place of worst parent after Gabriel and Audrey?

Bloody cunt, course lila’s not told her about being aroace.

Im curious about this conspiracy board… is it about gabriel or the heros

What attack on agreste?? You have piqued my interest over and over cap fabulous start to the chapter

“We will spread our wings and take flight into a changing future.” yeah ok mister butterfly metaphor, how does he make dad jokes about being a supervillain

Ah ofc, it’s about gabriel, i really must read that again to refresh but i remember the gist

Nooo, i really like how you’ve characterised lila in this and her shit always seems to be heartbreaking the poor we lamb

Ok the way you’re describing the transformation is incredibly chilling, i adore the line “her lips curled into his grin” blegh. Fantastically written.

It’s reminding me of the scene where the girl becomes enchantress in the first suicide squad movie, i love that scene.

—

Alright pov change to… caline? Very fun

Love the in world reason as why they’re in the same class, i just KNOW your ass couldn’t be bothered switching it up but needed a reason

CONFIRMATION ON CALINE AND ANARKA?? DAMN OK

I mean we knew but so much outright is very exciting, and a wonderful segue into discussing juleka

The workplace banter between caline and valerie is a joy to read, i think you’ve hit it perfectly where caline isn’t acting like a sugary teacher but also isn’t acting like a different person

Aww cute moment with sabrina and chloe

I always love seeing what other characters think of each other so this is a treat, Juleka would be totally miffed by how much they worry about her

Wait. you’re not telling me were going to get caline and Anarka in the same room are you? Hold up

Ruh roh

Intern with agreste? I beg that it’s paid for marinette but uh

Ruh roh

Especially with adrien and chloes reactions

Hey i nearly forgot about chameleon where is she lila? Pspspspsp

Adam making a return was not the comeback i expected, however detective Rena is a wonderful treat

OOO WAIT ARE WE GOING TO TREAT THIS LIKE A MURDER MYSTERY

I might be too hype for nothing but that would be so much fun

Ladybug just watching rena fuck about is cute

Rose and alix conversing? In MY panthera noir fic?? This is awesome

Rose and panthera have a crazy relationship… i like to think about it from rose’s perspective sometimes and like damn i’d be baffled and flattered too

I love alix. Ugh the way you go about her minute traits is just fantastic

WAIT

WHAT

THATS A CHOICE

OK GIRL I SEE WHAT YOU’RE DOING

Oh i feel like a fake fan for not knowing if panthera is chameleon or if juleka is after the first line. Panthera has to be chameleon right? Why would lila choose juleka?

OK SO IT’S PANTHERA TIME TO REREAD HER LINES

Oh i thought it was weird she winked, i was a bit happy cause playful panthera is always good but i also felt a bit weird about it cause it’d been so long

Ok i don’t think i would’ve noticed. I’m ashamed. Lila is a good actor tho? Nah that’s pity points. I shall live with my shame.

It is weird having panthera and juleka in the same room, alix. Very weird.

Rose is so cute about juleka fr, the way she behaves is so endearing

Oh i just love the direction you’ve taken this in

Oh ok black scary magic veins thats fun. Short end of the stick or what jesus, ladybug doesn’t get lasting effects. I don’t think? It’d be interesting if she couldn’t heal herself or something but i don’t think you’ve gone in that direction

Oh it is funny seeing lila flirt in pantheras body, girl you don’t know how to do this. Are we gonna get civilian juleka getting caught up in the mix again? That’s always fun

For me, no one else finds it fun

Good that luka keeps up his right as an older brother and annoys juleka with tiktoks

Wait

There are tiktok edits of panthera

There are probably tiktok edits of ladynoire

Wait this is the funniest thing ever, a more chill chapter or scene delving into their fanbase would be funny lmao

“Panthera what that tail do” is an atrocious cat call (dya see what i did there?)

OMG RENA GETS AN INTERVIEW

NVM JULEKA CALLING HERSELF A SLUT IS WAY FUNNIER HELLO? GIRL??

Someone in this freaky friday world must be getting major twilight zone vibes from seeing juleka and panthera next to each other. How does that not break the glamour.

Help juleka you can’t ask for a selfie from your clone transformed self that’s crazy

Juleka just being raging this whole time is wonderful

Oh ew i don’t like it as much anymore, girl paws off this is just weird to imagine

Ladybug is that jealousy?? Crazy move at this time

Ladybug has to know right? She’s seen how she’s acting weird and she just called her Noire. I don’t think she’s ever done that before

HA toxic ladynoire my beloved you’ve made a comeback

I love when juleka says shit she means to think like she ruminates so hard

Be crazy is ladybug found out juleka is panthera

She won’t it wouldn’t make sense

Or would it

I think I just want to know what would happen if that was uncovered. Anyway. The electricity has to be because of the magic right?

Omg marinete is so silly, calling her jules is a wild move she’s lucky she already knows like damn

That whole paragraph about wondering how to talk to LB when it’s one sided trust? Chefs kiss, muah, I adore it. I want them to interact outside the mask more so bad because it’s always weird as fuck when they do.

Like holy shit I love this chapter

EEEE their relationship is literally so much fun to read and see develop

She knows everything about her aww they’re so sweet

They should kiss

No they shouldn’t that cheating on rose but you get what i mean girl

Plagg just being out and about without anyone seeing nout is crazy

Why did i become dr seus

Alix is such a cheeky cunt i love her

Sorry got absorbed by the accusation, that was perfection Cap, i love it

Omg i forgot about the parent teacher conference. This is so funny. Ops on juleka walking in and finding them making out?

Och nvm but them drinking and going for it full tilt is the best i can get

Hey what happened

Why is lila in there oh we just skipped the fight? That sounds so bitchy I’m sorry, I was just a bit confused

Panthera picking lila up is so cute… the poor thing tho, man…

Caline is doing gods work i love her in this, fighting nathalie about adrien is bold but needed

Oh lila you poor we thing, man it’s just such a shame… its so heartbreaking seeing just how much lila loves the heroes and yet because of her fuckwit mother she cant seem to see how that connection is just as valid as a romantic one if that makes sense? Like you do have feelings towards people please lila i beg.

Ew gabriel

His attitude is just so offputting. Leave her alone! To like everyone in his life fr.

THIS WAS FANTASTIC CAP

PN is always a treat and this chapter was built amazingly <3

i'm sorry if this is less energetic than usual, the winter sickness has been hitting me.

GLAD YOU ENJOYED!!! Also- yeah- Sorry about the sudden fight skip. Both for skipping it and for not making it clear that it was skipped. Was burning out hard at the end and I couldnt figure out a way to just keep the fight going without staying interesting. Glad you enjoyed despite that.

Stay safe out there! Glad you enjoyed!

#panthera noire au #sneak a cat

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max-nico · 1 year ago

Text

Songs to listen to for maximum Tails angst, as well as a run down of how I daydream to them

Enjoy, or don't, and feel free to add your own. I'm always looking for new music recommendations.

Multiple paragraph incoming, you have been warned

The Tornado, Owl City

Starting off with an absolute BANGER !!!!! I'm obsessed with Owl City so don't @ me about this lol. In this song Adam Young is telling a story about a young boy delivering papers on his bike, when a tornado hits. Miraculously, he survives.

To me, this song is about Tails gearing up to leave in the tornado. As he begins to fly over the ocean a storm hits, and eventually turns into a tornado. As the music crescendos the storm gets worse, and eventually the plane crashes into the ocean (specifically at 2:05, you can't tell me it doesn't sound like a Wii sports snorkeling mini game). By the time the lyrics come in he's grabbed the chaos emerald from the back of his plane and he's trying to get out of the water. At the line "the shadows slowly melted as I was hunkered down" Tails spots angel island and he flies up there and it's a happy ending yayyyy

I Was an Island, John-Allison Weiss

Honestly I don't have like a particular scene or daydream to this. This song just makes me feel things when I listen to it, and I think Tails would really relate. I think specifically NINE would relate actually, but any Tails variation will do tbh

"I can't do this alone anymore, I'm no good on my own anymore. What did I do to do deserve this? What did you do to me? Baby come back, you know I don't wanna be free." Is just something I feel like Nine would relate to idk

Bugbear, Chloe Moriondro

I don't have a particular daydream to this one either but this song is so Tails to me. This is so him. Y'all aren't listening she said "my brain is surrounded by school kids who all got their valedictorian course, while I couldn't care enough about my 3.8, no matter how hard I try I'm still not trying hard enough to be... Great." YOU'RE TELLING ME HE DOESN'T RELATE TO THAT ?!!?!!

Talk To Me, Cavetown

This is so Sonic talking to Tails to me. "You don't have to be a prodigy to be unique, you don't have to know what to say or what to think, you don't have to be anybody you can never be, that's alright, let it out, talk to me." Is something Sonic has said to Tails at least once and you can't convince me otherwise.

This song is just so comforting. Listening to this makes me warm with brotherly feels.

Vanilla Twilight, Owl City

I used to cry to this song, so tread lightly sympathetic criers lol.

This daydream takes place sometime after Sonic Frontiers when Tails decides to go his own way, leaving Sonic by himself. It switches between their POVs depending on the lyric. For example, one of Sonic's lyrics is "cause I'll doze off safe and soundly, but I'll miss your arms around me, I'll send a postcard to you dear, cause I wish you were here." And one of Tails' lyrics is "I'll find repose in new ways, though I haven't slept in 2 days, cause cold nostalgia chills me to the bone."

They'll reunite someday I swear

Overgrown Garden, Beetlebug

Ow ouch ffff-ouch ouchie owwwieeeeeee ಥ⁠_⁠ಥ sorry guys this one involves major character death lol

So the actual song is about an abusive relationship using flower metaphors and symbolism, but I didn't know that when I started listening so this daydream has nothing to do with that. With that being said...

Every chorus is Tails at a different age wondering if Sonic will abandon him, no matter how much Sonic reassures him the thought just sticks in the back of his mind even if he doesn't voice it. Things don't start to get juicy until the 3rd verse, "The rhododendrons crimson flame, set fire to the sleepy air, and lit the early morning haze, that glistened in your tangled hair." I understand that the flame is a metaphor and there's no actual flame but I don't care, in my daydream there's actual flames because Sonic and Tails are in the middle of a flower field that's been engulfed in them.

At the lyric "You place a crown of marigolds on my head, and then you said, as you tried to pull your bloody hands away" Sonic is laying against the only tree in sight, a big bloody wound in his abdomen with Tails trying to stop the bleeding. And then when the chorus comes in again, it's Sonic comforting Tails while he bleeds out on a battlefield. When Tails asked "I wonder if you'll leave me, behind someday, among the wildflowers and lilies, sleeping by the way" he meant like runaway and abandon him on an adventure, not die in a burning flower field you idiot ಥ⁠_⁠ಥ

Blue Hair, TV Girl

For maximum feels, listen to Vanilla Twilight directly after listening to this

I feel like a lot of y'all are already gonna know this one, and I respect that. I'm not super sure what this song is actually about but I like their funny words so it's okay lol

This is another song from Sonics POV to me. It's Sonic talking to his friends at different times about Tails growing up and not needing him anymore. In this case, Tails has to "cut her blue hair off" and Sonic is the blue hair if you couldn't tell lol like "and I tried, to hold her, but it didn't really last long, she's getting older. I guess she's gotta cut her blue hair off".

There's also the line right before that one "what seems so blue in the sunlight, by the night was a pale green" blue and green are literally their eye colors this song was meant for them.

This isn't all of them, we'd be here all day if I listed every single one lol. Don't be surprised if I follow up with more song rec posts bc I love talking about music, and please give me some recs as well

#sth #miles tails prower #i have the mic #tails the fox #tails miles prower #tails sonic #sonic and tails #tails and sonic #unbreakable bond #sonic the hedgehog #sonic #music recs #Spotify #obvs you dont have to have the same daydream as me lolll feel free to tell me yours as well #miles nine prower #nine sonic prime #sonic angst

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kailoraurelius · 7 months ago

Note

Seeing your notes I was curious to know how you choose which pov to write from? I know you said you have a reason for doing AIAOY from chloes pov, *and I also have two side questions about that specifically 🤣 but your other works. What factors help you decide?

*And so I don’t forget, you can answer a different time but: 1. are we eventually gonna read from becas pov? 2. which one for you is easier to write?

It depends on a lot of factors, actually. I actually haven't written my favorite type of POV switching yet. But I have written my second favorite, which is back and forth between Beca and Chloe. But that doesn't always serve the story I'm trying to tell.

So that's #1: What story am I trying to tell? For SG, I wanted the story to be about both of them navigating this extra closeness and realizing they've BEEN in love. So both POVs made sense. For Unendingly Yours, the story is about the horrors of time and the conflicting idea that it's all beautiful and worth it. So the POV is, of course, the vampire that's outlived everyone. For Occulta, the story is all about Chloe trying to find her footing and herself again now that she's broken away from her ex, so it being in her POV makes it easy to show her feelings on the world around her and within her.

But #2: What do I want the readers to know? For You and I, I wanted the reader to be just as surprised by the proposal as Chloe was, so obviously the final chapter, at least, had to be Chloe's POV. For Occulta, the whole magic system is something some readers may know some stuff about as it's based off DND, but a lot of it will have to be explained. So Chloe's POV best serves that, as she is clueless about it and the audience can learn right alongside her. For SG, where I was going back and forth, I would sometimes have to add or cut entire chapters or plot ideas so that things were being revealed to the readers in the POV I wanted them to be.

#3: What's the vibe I want readers to feel in the voice? This one weighs in pretty heavily. The core vibe of these characters is very engrained in me by now lol. This may not make total sense lol, but Chloe is warm, bold, far-reaching, open, infectious, outwardly yearning and loving, hopeful, bright, ridiculous. Beca is softer, cooler, darker, narrower, skittish, grey with brief bursts of color, secretly desperate, calculated, harder, witty, quietly devoted. The sunshine and the rain cloud. So when I write a story, I think about which of those vibes I want to convey. AIAOY is all fluff and comfort and brightness. Of course it's Chloe's POV. It's her voice the whole way through. Accidental (though I didn't really choose the POV cuz it was based on a thing I said on here) isn't as bright or warm or broad. It's a lot more calculated and focused. For this one, the POV determined the vibe instead of the other way around, but still. AND this allows me to do things like Occulta: where the vibes are ABSOLUTELY more Beca, so it's interesting to have Chloe as the POV.

And there's other, more specific things, like who do I want to say a specific line of dialogue and who do I want to hear it? Or I have this one line of prose I really want to include in a story, but who's voice would it fit best? Etc. So it's a lot lol.

As for your other questions: Are we eventually gonna read AIAOY from Beca's POV? I don't actually know! The story will take me where it takes me and, if it serves the story I wanna tell, then it's possible! For now, I don't see it going that way for many reasons, but who knows! And which POV is easier to write: Beca's. Always. I relate more to Beca's vibes so her voice comes more naturally to me. I adore writing Chloe's POV because she is more overtly observant and emotional, so I can really get into details of the whole scene. But Beca makes more sense to me overall, so definitely her.

#ask kai #beca mitchell #chloe beale

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cloudsandcrescents · 27 days ago

Note

can you tell us about what you’re working on next?

Ah, sure a little teaser wouldn’t hurt. Existing works will still get their much needed attention but I’ve learned that sometimes when I’m stuck, the best thing is to switch to something else.

One work which is just about done is a smut one shot for Beca/Chloe. Basically from Chloe’s POV where, after an unexpectedly steamy night a few months ago on her birthday, Chloe tries to get Beca to take charge in the bedroom the way she did that night and discovers that the best way to do that is when her girlfriend is high and jealous.

The other work is actually one that I’ve had in the archives for a really long time. I just never quite got around to writing for it. It’s Chloe but she’s got a slight corruption kink. Beca’s the new girl at church and basically, Chloe’s made it her mission to get her in bed. I promise she’s not like a grimy dog in this lol. It’s a normal routine but for some reason with Beca it starts to feel different. I haven’t decided if this will be a longer one shot or a multi-chapter fic but I’m leaning more towards the latter.

The other idea I’m working on is a little different as it’s actually a Beca/Emily fic. It’s still in the early planning stages but I’m thinking a fic where Emily decides to follow in her captain/mentors steps and ends up interning for Beca. Emily’s introduced to the glitz and glamour of the industry from a different side but finds that she’s more interested in her mentor than the lifestyle. Meanwhile, Beca’s drowning and Emily’s her safe space. Emily makes her feel nostalgic and like kids in college again, only, Emily wants Beca to see her for who she is now. A lot of push and pull and “we shouldn’t do this” spiciness.🙂‍↕️

There you have it. These have been my thoughts and projects I’ve been toying with. I’m still trying to make sure I focus on the existing works but even just fleshing these ideas out has helped with the writer’s block I’ve been fighting with. Stay tuned!🩵

#beca mitchell #chloe beale #bechloe #emily junk #pitch perfect fic #ao3 author #ao3 fanfic #so many ideas

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somedudenamedanthony · 10 months ago

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Don’t worry, I saw your chapter!!! I gulped it down like sprite. It was very tasty. I highly am enjoying this much delicious angst. Please and thank you ❤️.

Also, just thought you might wanna know it says ‘Leabian’ Queen of hearts in the tags instead of Lesbian’ no biggie tho.

Back to the angst though cause HELL YES! I wouldn’t have thought you’d have Red be the one to mainly watch over Ella but it’s fairly interesting that you’ve done so. My theories were that red was only gonna find out much later on that Ella was alive. AND THEIR IN WONDERLAND??? Definitely switches things up. I definitely was under the impression this would all take place in auradon! Since she succeeded in the cou how will The red queen keep Auradon under her rule if she’s in wonderland! How will Chloe find out her mom’s alive?? I’m so very thrilled with this story!!!

I let out the biggest fucking sigh on earth. I read that eight times to make sure it was spelt correctly

Red was with Ella purely out of convenience and to set other stuff up, they have like two more scenes planned together and that's it

Red is 90% handling Wonderland while Bridget is taking over Auradon.

There's a second story running in the background "The Red Rebellion" which is Chloe and Red's povs of everything going on. Will I write it soon..? eh. But Chloe finds out there (even though it's currently just looking like it's going to be a Chad and Red friendship fic)

#disney descendants #descendants #descendants rise of red #bridgella #tower au #asks

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maddascanbe-blog · 2 years ago

Text

MLB Rewrite: Origins prt. 1 &2

Note- I'm using (POV) to mention who the 'camera' is following for the most part. Also I skim over things that happen nearly the same as in cannon.

Hawkmoth Re-design

Origins Part 1

(Hawkmoths POV)

Starts the same with Nooroo explaining the miraculous and Hawkmoth’s first transformation, though we wouldn’t see him outside of his hands. As the butterflies crowd him to transform a scream of pain rings from his throat.

(Fu’s POV)

Like before, Wayzz fills Master Fu in on the butterfly being active. But I’m gonna pull from the movie's idea of letting Tikki and Plagg choose their own wielders. Fu does bring them to the school though with the intent of choosing a young initiate.

(Marinette’s POV)

Marinette is 16 years old, this is her Junior year.

Marinette meanwhile has had a day of it. Working herself up over everything she might need for her first day and nearly being late after reorganizing her bag for the 4th time that morning. Finally, Sabine dragged her downstairs and Tom gave her the macarons.

(Adrien’s POV)

Adrien is also 16 at the moment.

Boy is forever trying to get educated but gets caught by Nathalie.

(Fu’s POV)

Master Fu briefly loses Plagg before seeing a black cat sitting on the back of Adrien’s car as it drives away. Since he saw Adiren get in, and the boy’s face is all over Paris, he knows who his Cat is.

Marinette still saves Fu’s life as he had run into traffic looking for Plagg and paused in the middle of the road after seeing him. Tikki jumps into Marinette’s bag while she’s picking up the macarons.

Content Fu heads home.

(Marinette's POV)

Chloe basically just says “Switch.” And Marinette decides it honestly is not worth the hustle and does. Alya introduces herself and berates Chloe’s actions to which Marinette shrugs and says, “I don’t really care, she probably has a reason.”

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good people to do nothing.”

“A nice rule, but remember you can’t judge someone evil based on their first impression. You never know what they could be going through.”

(Adrein’s POV)

It fades to Adrien being told his father is busy and can’t scold him right now. Once Adrien goes back to his room he finds a cat sitting on his table, confused he tries to approach it but the animal just bounds away. But on the table still, is a ring box.

(Ivan’s POV)

Que Kim and Ivan’s argument. A black butterfly lands on the crumpled up paper. All that we see or hear is the mask appearing on Ivan’s face and Hawkmoth's voice. “Stoneheart, I am Hawkmoth. You feel unsupported, and unseen. Allow me to harden your heart and take that pain away.”

(Adrein’s POV)

Adrien is observing the ring when a quiet meow is heard behind him. The cat is balanced in the back of his couch and looks between the ring and Adrien.

“You want me to put it on?” He asks and gets a purr in return. He does and there is a flash of light.

(Marinette’s POV)

Worrying herself to death over Alya chasing the monster, but too scared to follow her. Marinette finds a box that had fallen out of her bag. A ladybug lands on the box.

“Bug Mouse!” And the cup things.

As Tikki explains, Marinette is working herself into a fit. She’s terrified, but Tikki assures her that very little harm can come to her in the suit. That she’ll have a partner to help her, and that it will give her a chance to protect Alya. Unwilling to not even try when an innocent person is being puppeteered by an evil asshole she agrees.

Ladybug Re-design

Chat Noir Re-design

Key Power differences:

Ladybug:

Lucky Charm is specifically stated to give you a solution, not just an object. The object is only to point you in the right direction.

Purification allows her to cleanse the akuma.

Miracle Cure allows the world to heal from and injuries caused by a miraculous (Only Physical Damage) "Miraculous *Insert Name*"

Cat:

Cataclysm can either turn an object to dust or cause it to stop functioning.

Purgation destroys the dark energy in an akuma

Miracle Purge allows the world to burn out any effects a miraculous had on a person (Only works on Non Physical Effects) "Miraculous *insert Name*"

(Marientte’s POV)

They meet about the same way as cannon. The fight up to a point is pretty similar, except Marinette is very thinly veiling her utter panic with humor. Chat picks up on this and starts cracking jokes to help put her at ease.

After breaking the akumatized object they part ways, but the butterfly goes “Oops, bye bitch.”

Tikki’s like- “So you got the akuma right? Right?”

“I can’t do this Tikki, I couldn’t even listen long enough to know what my one job was. There are two many bad things that could happen, and all I can think about is how I can continue to mess things up in the future. Paris doesn't need a Ladybug who can’t trust herself. You deserve better.”

She removes the earrings and puts them back in the box.

Marinette goes to sleep with plans to give up the miraculous to Alya in the morning.

The akuma is targeting people who had been rejected or feel unseen, turning them to stone more medusa style statues than Stoneheart’s golem influences.

Marinette wakes up late that night to the miraculous in its box buzzing, asking to be let out.

She goes to beg Tikki to please choose someone else. Except when she picks up the box the earrings shoot from the box. It leads her down and out of the house. To a stone woman frozen in misery.

Marinette can’t stand to see someone suffering like this and tells herself she’ll do what she can to help until either Stoneheart is defeated or she can hand the miraculous off to Alya.

Origins Part 2.

In the morning, Marinette finally returns home to get ready for school. She was up all night finding every akuma still loose and catching it. She tells her parents she just went for an early morning run (technically true) and is okay, she is late for school though.

On TV she see’s Ivan has once again been re-akumatized, after trying to read Mylene his poem when they both got to school. Knowing Alya will be chasing the akuma Marinette chugs some coffee and chases him too.

When Alya gets trapped Chat Noir is captured, same as cannon, she decides to be Ladybug just a little longer.

(Though she finds a hiding place first, gosh cannon Alya was like 20 feet away)

As Ladybug chases down Stoneheart she catches Chloe after she is thrown from the Eiffel tower.

Hawkmoth does not do the floating head thing. Instead Stoneheart mentions that the butterfly that made him strong wants the miraculous.

Officer Raimcomprix tells Chat Noir that they’ve already failed one.

Chat Noir scoffs. “No shit. We’re two teenagers in spandex. Of course we're gonna make mistakes. But you don’t really have a choice but to trust us. Because you can’t beat this thing, and we can.”

He turns to face Stoneheart.

“I know you can hear me, you’ll be looking through his eyes right? Well listen up little Papillion. I don’t know what you want, what drove you to this. But I'll give you a bit of a friendly tip, you messed up. Because you chose to prey on an innocent teenager, tried to force him to nearly kill Chloe Bourgeois, and attacked the girl he loves. You’ve definitely made a mistake, bigger than either of ours. Because you honestly thought that we would roll over and let you get away with it.”

Ladybug, in awe of her partner's confidence even in the face of failure, starts planning how to take out Stoneheart.

They do the kiss thing and both teens are rescued safely. Ladybug catches the akuma and uses the Miracle Cure to fix the damage and bring the stone people back to themselves.

Chat asks to meet with Ladybug to talk about their new jobs later that night.

When Marinette arrives back at school she meets Adrien. Because Nathalie is awesome.

+x+

“So you’re the rival Chloe’s told me so much about?”

Marinette floundered a little at the son of her favorite fashion designer, and a supermodel in his own right, stuck his hand out. “A- Adrien. You’re Adrien Agreste.”

He winced a little. “Yeah that’s me.”

Somehow the girl managed to snap herself out of the stupor enough to shake the boy's hand.

“Adrikins,” Chloe called. “Come on, I need to show you around before class starts.”

Marinette was in a daze all the way back to Mme. Bustiers class. She just met Adrien Agreste, the Adrien Agreste. And she was a total spaz about it.

She sat down in her seat and placed her head on the desk.

She didn’t remember the seat change until Chloe reemerged with her friends in tow.

“Move.” She told Marinette.

Marinette really didn’t want to do that. She didn’t want to be next to Adrien where she could potentially embarrass herself more. If he told his father about the mess of a girl in his class her dreams would be crushed before they even got off the ground.

(It is of course bold of Mari to assume Adrien’s father speaks to his son.)

Maybe- maybe if she was going to stand up for herself as Ladybug, at least until she found a better candidate, then starting as Marinette would help.

“No.” She said plainly. “It’s my seat, and I don’t really want to.”

She clenched her hands into her jeans as Chloe raised an eyebrow.

“Whatever. This isn’t worth my time.” Chloe sighed like she had just wasted precious hours on that interaction.

Marinette let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding.

Alya slid into the seat next to her and grinned triumphantly. “Nice job girl.”

Marinette smiled back, but it was shaky. She hadn’t slept last night and was really starting to feel it.

“So girl, check this out.” Alya held up her phone.

On it was a blog template with red and black spots covering it.

“The Ladyblog?” Marinette read the title at the top.

Alya practically squealed in excitement. “Isn’t it cool? Since your’s truly got the best footage on the attack I thought I’d start my own blog. The one stop spot for everything Ladybug.”

“What about Chat Noir?” Marinette mused. “He’s super cool, Ladybug just kinda fumbles around after him.”

“Don’t be like that.” Alya pushed the girl’s shoulder. “Ladybug was the one to come up with the plan to save the day both times. And she saved me today.”

Marinette wished she could point out that Chat Noir had saved Alya twice, but that would reveal that she was there.

“But you are right, I need to think up something good for Chat Noir.” Alya leaned back.

+x+

(Adrien POV)

Vibing, waiting for the car. Marinette comes outside and waits too.

Adrien’s like, “Hey.”

And Marinette apologizes for being a spaz. Explaining that she was just caught off guard and that she didn’t mean to make him uncomfortable.

Adrien explains that he’s pretty used to it, and laments that no matter where he goes people will always know him before ever speaking to him.

“I almost don’t even know how to act in public. I wanna make friends but- I feel like people will only ever see the boy on the posters. … Sorry, that’s kind of a lot to dump on a stranger.”

Marinette paused. “You shouldn’t have to deal with that. I can’t change the fact that people know who you are. But we are still kind strangers. So- Hi, I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

He chuckles at her outstretched hand. “Hello, I’m Adrien Agreste.” He shakes her hand and smiles.

“So, you’re new to the school? What do you think of Mme. Bustier?”

(Fu’s POV)

He watches on as Ladybug and Chat Noir meet each other for the first time, again. Making idle small talk until the same car from before arrives to take Adrien home.

Before getting in the teen hands Marinette his umbrella with a parting goodbye.

Wayzz asks if he came to check in because he questioned Tikki and Plagg’s choice.

Fu admits that he was worried, but he needn’t be. Those two will help each other, in and out of the mask. They’ll be okay.

(Ladybug’s POV)

Ladybug meets Chat at the Eiffel tower.

She tells him how much his words of confidence helped her, since she had been so upset about her failure she forgot that mistakes are not the end of everything. So long as you try and fix them.

She confides that she’s still considering giving up the Ladybug miraculous, since she’s worried her catastrophizing will cause her to be overwhelmed and fail.

“Well m’ lady. I know a thing or two about Cat-astrophizing. And if you promise not to give up just yet, then I promise to help keep you from spiraling. Deal?”

She agrees to keep trying.

END

Okay let's get into the details.

1. Hawkmoth's transformation hurts like a bitch. His head is full on splitting open to make way for the butterfly wings, that's part of his face. He's spending most of his time lying on the floor in too much pain to move until Ivan get's akumatized.

2. Marinette will have the first suit design, with the plain suit and boots. Chat Noir will also have his first design, but his is a bit more interesting than LB's since Adrien has a little more faith in himself.

3. Since I'm overhauling Chloe's personality there was no reason for the gum incident, so I just dropped it all together. There would have been 0 purpose. Instead their rough start is caused by Marinette having a fairly normal reaction to meeting a super model who is also your idol's son. She does feel bad about it later, but Adrien harbored no ill will.

4. Around here is when the crush starts developing, but it's just that. A crush, she has the vague idea that she might like Adrien, but she doesn't know him super well yet.

5. Fu, you bastard. He really does think choosing two legal children is a good idea. I'll partially blame the Order of Guardians, but he knew what he was doing. Children are more likely to believe that they are just "The Chosen Ones" and not question anything, or wonder gave them the miraculous. Tikki and Plagg actually don't like that they had to choose two teenagers, but they aren't going to take that out on the kids. Fu's probably gonna get hot sauce in his tea curtesy of Wayzz for pulling that though.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous fanfic #miraculous rewrite #miraculous origins #ml ladybug #ladybug and chat noir #hawkmoth suffering cause I said so #Adrien Agreste rewrite #Marinette Dupain-Cheng rewrite #mlb #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir

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