#Mable Lake

[jinxthequeergirl]

The Ol Switcharoo (pt5)

Stan x reader / ford x reader

Summary: you are forced to question the life you've lived for 30 years.

Warning: none

☆anyone on my tagliatelle who isn't seeing this when I Tag them let me know ik I've been having problems tagging a few of ya'll

~~~~~~~~☆~~~~~~~

"I'm feeling little over dressed for the occasion." You said stepping into the kitchen wearing one of your best outfits for the date Mable had prepared for you and Stanford.

Stanford stood in the kitchen with a smile. "Are you kidding!? Look at'cha, you're stunning!" Stanford said you smiled as he reached out a hand and guided you to the table, pulling out your seat before pushing you in and sitting down himself.

Mable insisted your first date be at home, Dipper and Soos dressed to a T in fancy waiter outfits the table set with the nicest/ least stained tablecloth in the house. And Mable in a chef hat.

"I promise to take out out somewhere real nice." Stanford whispered as Mable scooped whatever she had on the stove onto plates. You chuckled in response before Dipper and soos presented you with the meals.

Your eyes widened. You looked at Stanford mouthing a thank you for the real date dinner in advance. Stanford managed to get you away from Mable and Into the car for some real food.

"Most fancy places are closed for the night. The best I can offer is burgers." He said, driving down the quiet road. "I love Mable, but anything is better than that." You both laughed. Eventually, you had your food as he pulled up to the lake, and you both sat and ate. Talking Like two teenagers on a first date.

For the following weeks, you found your rooms were now shared, and mornings and evening were greeted with quick kisses. It was a new routine you found yourselves falling into. Mable noted that stan was "a lot less grunkler" since the change. Even when everything was crazy it still worked.

After everything in your lives had finally calmed down, after saving the shack, repairing it, a Zombie apocalypse. You found the house was silent with what felt like the first night of peaceful sleep.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Y/n! I have been trying to reach you for a while!"

The voice that pulled you from your sleep boomed loud enough to startle you awake. You sat up in bed seeing the world around you was greyscaled Stanford fast asleep next to you and a familiar glowing freak above you.

His single eye staring down at you.

"Wh...will?..what are you doing here?"

You asked, sitting up as you did the world around, turned up right, causing you to slide straight out of bed into a chair. "Relax, we're in your dream, and the names BILL though I can't say I blame you, I was a complete and total secret but trust me y/n I know all about you."

You stared at him squinting, you where far to tired to understand what he was saying to you right now.

"What do you want?"

"A truce, I came to apologize for breaking into stans mind and almost killing shooting star and pine tree. And to warn you."

"Warn me?"

"Something big is coming something that will change your life! And I want you to know I'm on your side."

"On my side? Bill, I don't understand what you are talking about!"

"Trust me, you will, and when you do, you'll want a friend to be there for you, I'm offering myself for when everything you know changes. By the way, how well do you really know that stan?" He asked, pointing to Stanford asleep in bed.

"That stan?" You turned back, but as you did, you shot up in bed, clutching a piece of paper, breathing heavy. You looked down at the paper that looked like it had been torn out of something.

"Contact me, BFF!" Was scribbled across the top, and twoard the bottom was a cipher and some sort of incantation. You still fought to catch your breath. Your hand moved to shake Stanford awake, but your hand fell straight through the air and hit the empty space of your mattress.

"Stanford?"

That was a couple of weeks ago. You had folded up the page and tucked it under your mattress, trying to forget about the whole thing.

But every know and then you would get this hotrible feeling, you started to look at stanford weird and did your best to shake off the feeling. Luckily, Stanford had promised to take you out to dinner just the two of you. He told you he had something important to tell you.

"Aaahh, what if he asks you to marry him!?" Mable said excitedly from behind you as you had let her brush your hair. "I highly doubt that. You said clipping your last earring into place.

"Dipper! Doesn't y/n look beautiful! Grunkle stans going to ask her to marry him!" You rolled your eyes and looked at dippers worried face in the mirror.

"What's wrong?" You asked, turning around and crouching to his level. "Y/n There's something important I want to share with you I wanted to come to you first but I went against my better judgment and told stan first now i know you where the right choice."

"Of course you know you can tell me anything, dipper."

"OK you know about how strange and unusual gravity falls is." You nodded thinking to every monster, dinosaur, and ghost you had encountered with the twins even recalling some of the stuff from when you were young. Then the feeling set in again.

"Something big is coming something that will change your life as you know it!"

Rang out in your head. You wondered if what Dipper was about to tell you had anything to do with this. "Ah, c'mon dipdip can't this wait till after y/n and stan get home?" Mable asked, appearing from behind you now covered in makeup. Dipper rubbed his arm. "I guess..."

"Are you sure, Dipper? I can listen." He nodded. "OK, I'll see you in a few hours, ok?" You said ruffling his head. "Call if anything happens.

That was an hour ago already. You sat nervously at the restaurant Stanford promised to meet you at after he finished a few things up at the shack.

You tapped your glass and counted cars as they drove past the window you were sat by and looked at the gifted (more like lifted since it was a stolen antique store in portland) watch on your wrist and saw how late it was getting.

You sighed, resting your head on the table, watching the water droplets race down your glass. And you watched as the glass went up as the hair that fell around your face go cup as well. You pushed yourself up only to find yourself lifting out of the chair into the air before crashing back into your booth.

You paused only for a moment, trying to wrap your head around what that might have been, then ran to call the Pines family.

There was no answer for a long time you hung up and refilled several times before giving up. You grabbed your things and raced to the shack only being stopped by the same phenomenon as before.

Was this part of what Bill was trying to tell you about? Where are Stanford and the kids ok? So many thoughts raced through your head as you ran as fast as you could home.

"WHY would they call him unnamed!?"

"Unless stan isn't really stan"

The two kids looked up at the large painting of their great uncle on the wall behind them in horror.

"But there has to be some explanation as to why he would have all these fake ID'S and why that news paper says he's dead." Mable said trying to rationalize as Dipper continued to pull things from the box

"What about Y/n!? Is y/n even y/n!? What if she's in on this!?"

"In on what?" You asked pushing open the door.

The kids both screamed at your appearance.

"Are you kids ok!? Where is your grunkle and...what is all this?" You asked stepping further into the room to get a better look at what they had laid out on the floor in front of them.

In a different universe, Stanford Pines was an honest man. In a different universe, he didn't lie or cheat. He showed up to his date on time, there was no weird gravital anomalies interrupting your day.

You thought about this alternate reality as you stood over the fake IDs, news paper clipping, pass ports, the screen from the shack security cameras glow portraying a man you only assumed to be Stanford pines carrying gallons worth if toxic waste into the gift shop.

"What is this?"

You asked staring down at it afraid to move. "Is this why there are government vehicles surrounding this place?"

"You mean you don't know why stand has all this?" Dipper asked.

You shook your head.

In another universe, Stanford agreed to visit your family, even to just get away with you. In that same universe, he never changed, you where still hunting monsters and doing science stuff. In that same universe, you move out of the shack into a lovely home you share together, you teach together, and you live a beautiful and adventurous life. And he was still your Frodsy.

You didn't realize, but there was a ringing in your ear that tuned out the two children as they talked. All you could do is let time pass as your brain tried to work out yet another explanation.

Then Mable found the code.

"This isn't like any code I've ever seen before." Dipper said.

"The vending machine." You said quietly.

Your body had a mind of its own as you followed the twins to the vending machine in the giftshop.

"How well do you know that stan?"

This had to be what Bill meant by "that stan"

Without thinking, you typed the code into the vending machine as the kids distracted and fought off Soos, Without thinking...

"He swore he blocked this off..." You going down the stairs you hadn't seen in 30 years.

You felt as though you could throw up. Whe. You saw what was going on in the basement, the portal up and running, and with only a few moments to go. "So this is what's been causing problems... this is where he's been going!?" You half shout half say to the room.

You stare down at the desk seeing two familiar red journal. "The journal..." You and Dipper say at the same time.

"You know about these?" You ask in unison again.

"Your grunkle and I wrote them? How do you know about these?"

"When I said I wanted to tell you something." You watched Dipper pull a third journal from his vest.

"Grunkle stan wrote these?" Mable asked when you took the journal from dippers hands opening all of them to reveal the blueprints for the portal that sat in the room adjacent the one you stood in.

"What is it?" Dipper asked, looking at the pages. You glanced up at the timer and suddenly felt yourself fliat back into your body and realization kicked in "We have no time.We need to shut it off now. Kids stay here. Soos come help me. " You moved quickly. "We can help!"

"No! Please just stay safe! If your grunkle gets back, do NOT let him out of this control room!" You ordered them.

You and soos worked quickly enough to turn off the emergency kill switch just like you rememberd doing years ago. You felt a million emotions trickling inside you. Most of all, you felt angry that he would lie about keeping the portal, lie about working on it, and keep you out of it.

You scanned the room as the portal whipped your hair around you finally spotted it.

30 years never felt more wasted than it did in this very moment the moment it took you to walk from the key switch all the way to the shiny red button.

"Y/n Wait!" You frozen looking over at Stanford in the door way as the kids and now soos pushed him back.

"Don't touch that button, please!"

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!"

the kids couldn't hold him any longer, and he pushed past them running to meet you only to stop halfway, noticing you inch closer to the button as a defense. "Please! Just wait! Don't do anything! I can explain!" You watched Mable and Dipper get up. Dipper made eye contact with you as if he were trying to telepathically tell you something. It only took you spotting Mable trying to sneak around you for you to realize.

You stepped forward, pointing an accusing finger at Stanford. "After everything! You lied to me!? For how long!? When were you going to tell me? DONT YOU REMEMBER ALL THE HORRIBLE THINGS THIS THING HAS DONE!?" You asked poking him in the chest with a finger pushing him away from the button where Mable now stood.

"Yes! I wanted to tell you sooner! I was going to tell you today-"

"Today!? That's why you wanted to have dinner." You were getting off track. Before anyone could say anything else, your feet lifted off the ground, and you were in the air. "Now, Mable, press it now!" You heard Dipper yell.

"Mable, wait!" She froze as Stanford dove through the air for her as she gripped onto the pole.

Dipper soos and yourself took onto the task of catching him and pulling him away from her.

"30 YEARS OF NOTHING! STANFORD PINES! I CANT BELIEVE I WAISTED ALL THIS TIME JUST FOR YOU TO PULL A STUNT LIKE THIS!" He watched your angry tears roll down your cheek then up into the air around you.

"It wasnt waited, just hear me out all of you!" He plead as you held him against the wall. He stared you in the eyes a sad look met your furious gaze.

"I wanted to tell you all, your going to hear some bad stuff about me, some of it's true but believe me everything! Even this is for my family for a of you." He said the last part pointedly at you.

"Hit the button mable!" You yelled.

"Don't trust him!" Dipper followed up.

She looked around at everyone when her eyes locked with stanfords you knew what she was going to say

You quickly made a move to push it before her, but Stanford grabbed your hand and held you back. "I'm sorry! Trust me." You stared at him.

"I trust you grunkle stan!"

~~~~~~~~~~~☆~~~~~~~~

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[nightspires]

Audiodrama podcast friends... I have a request. I want to listen to a new show, that has a lot of episodes to listen to, that a) is an INDIE show (ie, not produced by big companies like Gimlet or Spotify etc) and b) is NOT an anthology. Also must have good voice acting!!!

I’ve already listened or tried listening to:

2298

Alba Salix

Alice Isn’t Dead

Arden

ars Paradoxica

Badlands Cola

Blackwood

Boom

Borrasca

Brimstone Valley Mall

Desperado

EOS10

Girl In Space

Ghost Radio Project

Gone

Gossip

Greater Boston

Hello from the Hallowoods

King Falls AM (my beloved)

Lake Clarity

Life/After

Limetown

Mable

Moonbase Theta, Out

Midnight Burger

Parkdale Haunt

Penumbra podcast

Red Valley

Oak Podcast

Olive Hill

Terms

Tribulation

The Big Loop

The Black Tapes

The Bright Sessions

The Far Meridian

The Message

The Silt Verses

The Strange Case of Starship Iris

The Two Princes

The White Vault

Victoriocity

Welcome to Night Vale

We’re Alive

Wolf 359

Wooden Overcoats

All suggestions are welcome!!!

Edit: I cannot emphasise enough that I DO NOT want to listen to an anthology. I want a narrative that extends beyond 1 episode. I also don’t want a podcast that is just one person talking to a mic—I’d like to hear shows with multiple casts members .

Also adding a few that I have already listened to to the list, as some of the recs have reminded me about them.

[dodgeballstuckonthegymceiling]

Saw this ask and immediately thought of Mable Pines from gravity falls. Had her in my mind while writing this too. Can you tell?

Jax x enthusiastic Reader

★ I'm not going to sugar coat it. He thought you were incredibly annoying. To be fair, you can be a bit much. Jax figured that your spirit would be broken soon enough. The digital world does that to people.

★ lo and behold you stayed the same, even after most would have given up. It was interesting how someone can be that hopelessly optimistic. Or maybe you were just stupid?

★ The more he talked to you the more he warmed up to you. You were a breath of fresh air in the normally hellishly day to day life he found himself in. You took his harassment with a smile and laughed with him after he messed with you.

★ At first he refused to help you mess around with the world's physics. Eventually, after weeks of asking, he gave in and indulged you. Maybe after he does it once you'll (hopefully) give up.

★ He had a surprisingly good time running around with you. Doing strange things he never thought to do because it would've felt silly. Seriously, who would willingly hold a cinder block and sink to the bottom of the lake? Apparently you!

★ Don't tell anyone, but he'd like to do it again sometime. It felt nice not taking anything seriously and trying to figure out how to break the games physics. Maybe next time you'll no-clip through something?

[cosmic-spider]

Weclome to Gravity Falls

Lake cryptic >>

Looked out the window of the bus as it passes tall Pine trees. You here your two friends a few sets behind you talk and joke around.

You had came with your two friends Mable and Dipper Pines. To spend your summer in a small unknown town called Gravity Falls.

The place sounded familiar to you, but you brushed it of. Dipper and Mable were going to be living in there Grate Uncle  Stan's house called the Mystery Shack.

The S on the sign on top of the roof fell of. So it said Mystery hack instead. You on the other hand we're going to be in a cottage farther out in the woods.

So when you three got off the bus arriving in the town. The three of you agreed that you should all got things settled first. Then meet up at the Shack

As you told the twins that you would fallowed the detections on your phone of where the cottage was. You eventually found were the cotta would be.

In a big clearing in the woods the size of a football field. You looked around to see if anything was close by. After making sure the cost was clear you moved a rock of the side of a tree.

Under the rock was a hand scanner. Putting your hand on it. The scanner blue light scared your hand then it pricked your finder getting a blood sample.

The ground then started to slowly rumble as it then opens up as a small ordinary cottage house. You went inside and cleaned it up a bit since it was keeper neatly already.

Getting out of the cottage you then clapped your hands making the cottage to then shape shift into another looking home that was basically made in a giant tree.

You pulled out a key with a weird looking eye on it. Tre eye was black with a golden brown cat like ires.

The cottage was fantastic on the inside it took you a bit to clean up the place of its dust and spider webs. You then checked by our phone to see when the delivery truck was going to arrive.

You knew that this version of the house was the one you would be staying in the most. The other form was just a cover up. In a clap of your hand it can change from being one to the other. Even if you were inside of the house.

Looking at your the mirror in your room. You see what you look like. The way your hair was down to the shirts and shirt you had on.

Walking up the mirror you touch your right cheek and look into your eyes. "You know you need to keep this look of you want to stay hidden."

"It has to be this way."

"He told you you had to. Even if I want to tell the twins. You can't Y/n you know you can't."

shaking your head brushing off the felling, and get back to unpacking your stuff. As well as already getting things in there place.

Checking your phone you see that it was now 4 pm you arrived here around 1. "Well might as well get done groceries as well as other supplies."

As you walked into the forest bin the detection of the town you hear the muffled sound of a..... heavy stomping ?

Stoping in your takes you look around to see if anything is around you. "Naw it's probably a tree that fell down somewhere."

 As you continue to walk you eventually made it to the town. It was true to its name it was small. It looked more like a neighborhood of stores. The so called Mall was only two stories tall plus looked to be the average size of a Walmart.

Plus a lot of things were so close together. There was a bar only two stores down from a library.

After a bit you got everything you needed. As you walked back  to the forest you decided to pass by the  Mystery Shack. When you  turned the corner to get to the front door.

You see a giant monster made up of gnomes? You then see Mable and Dipper use a leaf blower as a rocket launcher to the giant gnome monster. Making all the gnomes scatter around the place. 

You see how tired Mable and Dipper were, so you decided to not go up to them at the moment. So instead you continued your way to your home.

When you got back you put your stuff of the kitchen table. Then getting your phone to text the twins.

They both said that it was ok that hey also had a tough day getting settled in as well.

After getting all the food into the fridge and pantry. Plus cleaning and other hygiene stuff in place/ stock.

You went to your room as got changed and got into bed.

》 ━━━━━━━━━ ⊱✫⊰ ━━━━━━━━━ 《

Time skip

The next day you wake up and do all your morning routine stuff. You then when over to your closet and moved some Jacket to reveal a secret door.

Opening it showed that it healed a not of glass containers with a orange looking liquid inside of it. You take on of the bottles and drink it all down. "Plah this tastes awful." Then changed into something cute.

Plus making your breakfast and taking some cash with you in case. Walking in the detection of the shake you see that's were are a few cars parked outside of it. Probably tourists.

Go into the shake throw the Gift shop area. You see a another teenager at the register. She had red hear and a green plad button up shirt with some boots on with a lumberjack hat on.

She had her feet up on the rejuntes desk as she read a magazine. Of to the other side of the gift shop. Was a tall middle aged man that had a green shirt with a question mark on it, and a brown cap on.

He seemed to be a handy was as he was fixing up a shelf and had a tool belt on. Walking over to the teen so see if the twins were here.

"Hey are Dipper and Maple Pines here?" The teen looked over at you from the side of her magazine before putting it down on the counter. "Yeah there here. Just give me a second."

She then got up and went over to a door next to the vending machine and yelled into the door. "Mable! Dipper! There's someone here for you!" You jumped a bit at the sudden yell she did for the twins.

She then got back to where she was. "Your not from here." She said as she then looked throw her phone.

" No I'm not. How could you tell?" You asked as you took a seat on a barrel next to her.

"Well when you live in a small town like this. You basically know everyone that lives here." The teen said then put her phone back into her pocket.

"So what's your name and how do you know the Pine twins?"

"Oh sorry forgot to introduce my self there. Im y/n and I'm a friend of the twins that is also staying here for the summer."

"That's cool. How come your not staying here at the Mystery Shack?"

Well I'm staying in a cottage that's a bit farther out in the woods from here. (Quick y/n come up with a excuse) "It's a old family house, but I'll be in it for the summer."

"Oh that's nice plus you have a cute dress. I'm Wendy Corduroy  by the way" she raised her fist to you.

"Well nice to meet you Wendy." You retired the jesters giving her a fist bump.

The sound of two running foot steps were heard. As the twins then came throw the door of the inside of the Shack.

"Y/N YOUR HERE!!" Mable yelled out as she tackled you with a hug. That badly slowed you to breathe.

"Mable.    I can't.    Breathe." You patted her on the back to try to tell her to let go.

"Mable let go y/n can't breathe" Dipper came up to his sister.

"Oh sorry y/n. I'm just so excited to see you again" Mable said as she let go of you.

"Mable you say me yesterday. Your acting like I've been gone for the past month." You said as you got your breath back.

"Well might as well since we didn't get to show you the shack  yesterday." Dipper chimed in as be patted you on the back.

"Oh your right Dipper we should show her around the shack. Then many the town to." Mable said as she then started to jump around me and Dipper.

Well I already went into town yesterday. So all I need to see is the Shack." You told them, but Mable then grabbed your hand and ran farther into the shack. Dragging you in the process.

But before the two could even start the tour. They were stoped at the door by a old man in a suit.

"Wow there you two. You may be living in my shack but that dose not mean I'll let your little friend in." He stud in front of us as he blocked the path.

"Aww come on Gruncle Stan. You can make an exception for y/n PLEASEEEEEE" Mable said as she then gave him the puppy dog eyes.

"Ok ok. Stop with the dog eyes Mable. I swear umm going to go blind if you do." Stan said as he then rubbed his eyes.

"Ok fine she can come over to the shack but you got to give me something in return. If I'm going to let you come here?" Stan said as then looked at me. "So what do you have to offer kid?"

You then went through your purse and got out a stack of money. "Well I have about 650$ on me."

The twins and Stan look at you in disbelief. Then grabs the stack of cash putting it into his pouches.

"Ok it's sealed you can come over to the shack when ever you want kid!" Stan said with a smile on his face as he pushed the three of you into the house part of the shack.

"Oh my name is actually y/n!" You tried to correct him. But a new group of tour cam into the shop getting Stan distracted.

"Well um either way let's go show you the shack y/n" Dipper said as they continued to walk.

"Yeah! Oh here's the living room!" Mable said as she pulled you to the living room that had a tv and one yellow couch infront of it. Then a dinosaur skull next to it. The room also had a long aquarium next to the wall.

》 ━━━━━━━━━ ⊱✫⊰ ━━━━━━━━━ 《

Time skip brought to you by the twins showing of the shack and ending it in the empty attic.

“That's the whole Shack y/n!" Mable said as we went up the empty attic.

“ I’m a lot surprised that Stan has a few weird things around the place."  You said as you got on the ledge next the stain as window.

"Either y/n I found a weird Journal in the woods yesterday." Dipper said as he then grabbed a old looking maroon colored journal. That had a gold six fingered hand on top with the number 3 on it.

"Wow?! so what dose it have in it?" You said as you got up and looked over his shoulder.

"Well almost anything!" It's a journal that has a lot of weird creatures from this town.

"Yeah it helped us yesterday when some gnomes said I was going to be there queen blah!" Mable said as she she did some type of craft of to the side.

" Mables right  y/n. At first It was amable dating some guy Norman. I was skeptical at first and thought he was a zombie from the journals descripción." Dipper said as he flipped throw a few pages before stopping at the zombie titled one.

"But in reality it wasn't a zombie at all. It was actually a bunch of gnomes in a discuses. They wanted to make amable there queen." Dipper then flipped a few pages back to another page with gnomes in it.

After a good hour of two Stan told the twins that they would be going to the store to get a few things.

"Oh well we got to go y/n." Dipper said as he got up.

"Oh what if you come with use?!" Mable said as she jumped up and down.

"Sorry maybe next time since I went shopping yesterday. But Dipper do you mind if I can look through the journal and take a few picks of it while your gone?"

You asked as the three of you went down the stairs to the front door.

"Sure I don't mind. Here take it  you can give it back to me tomorrow when you come back." Dipper handed you the journal  as they then got into Stan's car and drove of.

As you made your way home you continued to read the journal and taking a picture of it after reading the page.

The writing was a bit hard to read since it was in cursive, but you could read it.

》 ━━━━━━━━━ ⊱✫⊰ ━━━━━━━━━ 《

Time skip

After a hour of reading the journal you arrived to one's of the final pages. It had a image of a figure that was triangle with a top hat and a bow tie.

 The page was so ominous. Well the whole journal was, but something about this page specifically made you feel off. You kept getting the feeling that there was something else wrong with it.

You didn't even try to read the page deciding that you read enough about the journal for now. Taking a pick of the page closing the journal. Then doing your things to get reader to sleep.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

1 9 8 5/9 19/ 4 9 19 3 15 22 5 16 9 14 7/ 20 8 5 / 23 5 9 18 4 14 5 19 19/ 15 6/ 20 8 9 19/ 20 15 23 14

6 9 14 4 9 14 7/ 1 14 4/ 21 14 3 15 22 5 18 9 14 7/ 20 8 5 / 19 5 3 18 5 20 19/ 15 6 / 5 22 5 18 25 20 8 9 14 7

2 21 20/ 8 15 23/ 12 15 14 7/ 3 1 14/ 19 8 5 / 11 5 5 16/ 8 5 18/ 15 23 14/ 19 5 3 18 5 20/ 8 9 4 5 14

[roosterbruiser]

𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 — 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

—𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐃. —𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐒: 𝟖.𝟓𝐊 —𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 —𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 —𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐁𝐎𝐀𝐑𝐃 —𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐎𝐀𝐊𝐒, 𝐌𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐏 𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐀 𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐘 𝟐𝟐𝐍𝐃, 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟕

“Whose is it, birdie?” Bradley asks, eyes wide. "It's all over--whose blood is that?"

He hasn’t moved his hands from your warm and sticky face--he’s still cupping your cheeks, face contorted in anguish as his eyes pour into yours. 

You drop the ax and the shotgun on the ground--they make a dull thump, one you can feel in the soles of your feet and in your pulsing head. There’s a lump in your throat so obstructive, so thick and overwhelming, that you can’t speak. 

All you can do, as Rooster looks down at you while the swallows begin to swoop from roof to roof and the irises emit their sweet scent, is cry.

How can you explain to Rooster, who’s held it together this entire time, that you can’t hold it together right now because of what you just witnessed? How are you going to explain to him that you had the person cornered--that you could’ve shot him--and you didn’t because Paul needed help? And even then, even when you abandoned your firing position to help Paul, it was all fruitless because Paul is dead and his body is in the woods all on its lonesome. 

“Birdie,” Rooster mutters. He smooths a hand through your hair, dirty with lake water and leaves and blood, and shakes his head softly. “Who’s bleeding?” 

“Paul,” you finally choke, shaking your head. He thumbs your tears, but it’s for naught. “It--it was Paul’s.” 

It was Paul’s. 

Rooster looks you up and down--the blood is all over you. Up to your ankles and covering your shoes, all over your shins, dried up your legs, staining your poor dungarees again. 

“Oh, baby,” he whispers to you. His bottom lip trembles. “Is he…?” 

You nod--just barely. 

Rooster doesn’t ask any more questions. 

You think, suddenly and very clearly, that you’re not sure how much fight you have left in you. You’re not sure how much longer you can keep doing this. 

Mable was right. There is no way out. You will bathe in your own blood and be torn limb by limb as the depths of Hell calls for you. There is no way out. 

If you let go, if you give in, if you wait to die--then what will happen? Everyone else will die. No one else is as good a shot as you. No one else is willing to trek through the woods. No one else can suture a gash or staunch a wound or cauterize a limb.

So, you have to push forward. It’s a decision that is made with haste.Very swiftly, you realize you’re not going to lose your head now. You’re not going to break down again. You’re gonna keep going--you have to keep going. 

“He…he said he’s back,” you whisper to Rooster, wiping your own cheeks now. “He said…he told me to--to run away. I didn’t think he was--I didn’t listen to him. He said that he’s back--he’s back, he’s back. I don’t know what he…”

You don’t rest your head on Rooster’s chest and you don’t lessen the burden of that lump in your throat. You’re in shock, you know--which is why the tears running down your face are involuntary.

“Who?” Rooster presses, eyebrows furrowed. 

“I don’t know,” you whisper. Your head is spinning. “I don’t know.” 

Only a moment before Rooster is going to pull you to him, only a moment before you’re going to ask him if he found anything in the woods, the walkie deep in your pocket comes to life. 

“Gale!” Phoenix sobs through it. “Gale! Are you there? Oh, God--Gale, please!” 

Scrambling to grab the walkie, Rooster leans down and takes the ax in his hands. It’s with his heart in a cold, cold puddle that he sees that it’s the ax from the mess hall. D.G. He says nothing to you, just holds onto the handle tight. 

“I’m--I’m here,” you answer Phoenix, shuffling to grab the shotgun. You start for the bus barn, wiping your face clean of tears. 

“It--it’s Bob,” Phoenix sobs. “I think he’s--I think he’s--!” 

“I’m coming,” you tell her. “I’m coming.” 

Phoenix, who’s trying desperately to blot the cold sweat from Bob’s face as Coyote sends all the children to the back of the bus, doesn’t feel relieved by your answer. She thought she would--if not to just know that you’re alive then simply because she won’t have to be alone with Bob anymore. Help will be on the way. Bob will be okay. 

“I’m so--fuck, I’m so cold,” Bob whispers to her, lips quivering. “Can you start the fire?”

Phoenix’s tongue is dry. 

“Bob, we’re on the bus,” she says, voice thin and flat. “There’s no fireplace.”

He’s confused. He’s been confused for a few hours now. Phoenix knows this is the infection--that it must be spreading. But still, she desperately runs her palms up and down his arms to try and get some friction. This cold that Bob feels, though--it’s not one she can fix. It’s not even one a fire could fix. 

She pulls the walkie to her mouth again, breathing heavily. 

“Gale, quick! Please!” 

“I’m on my way,” you say back. 

You don’t say I’m going as fast as I can, but I’m so tired. I’m so scared. I want to give up. I’m only coming because it’s you and it’s Bob and it’s Coyote and the campers. But that’s it, that’s all. I want to lie down. But it’s what you’re thinking. 

And you’re by yourself suddenly as Rooster falls behind you, taking a glance at the perimeter of camp just in case Jake shows his face. He doesn’t fall in step with you again--he’s going to stay out here and guard. You think maybe it’s because Bradley isn’t brave enough to see it up close--Bob hurt, infected, writhing. 

And, really, you don’t blame him. 

You’d rather be anywhere else. 

The sun is warm on your back. The blood is itchy on your skin. You’re running as fast you can, limping with tired, your temples throbbing. Your heart thumps in your ears.

At any moment, an ax could come whizzing out from the woods. There could be a hiding place just yonder, far enough away that you never see it coming. You could hear its noise, fast and sharp like a whip, and then that could be the end. An ax to the head, to the back, to the legs, and you’re down. A peculiar sensation prickles your spine, torments the swollen muscles in your legs and arms: you could die at any moment. Right here, at Camp Arcadia, on the gravel just outside the bus barn. No one could do a thing about it either. 

Oh, God, you think. Where are you?

When you step onto the bus, you know. 

It is quiet--so very quiet. No one knows what to say to a dying man and that is what Bob is. None of the campers are whispering and none of the counselors are rustling. Phoenix is sitting in the front seat with Bob over her lap, sobbing as Bob blinks up at her, only barely conscious. Coyote is kneeled beside them, his lip being sawed in half by his own teeth as he tries to keep from crying. 

The smell comes first--that distinct perfume, so familiar and pungent with musk. It’s the rot, you know. It’s the body shutting down, the organs giving in, the skin infected. But to you, it just smells like death. The two of you are thick as thieves. 

And then, when you look at Bob and everyone else looks at you to save the day, saliva gathers underneath your tongue and your lashes begin to quiver. Pennies settle beneath your tongue. 

“I’m here,” you whisper, your throat burning. “I’m here now.” 

Phoenix doesn’t understand why you’re not rushing to Bob’s aid. She doesn’t understand why you’re not suturing or cleaning or wrapping or whatever else the fuck you’re suppoosed to do to save him. You should be ordering everyone around, saving Bob. You should be stony right now--but your face is soft and wet.

“Help him,” she cries. “Get over here--help him! Help him, he’s dying!”

Coyote knows when he looks at you. The sun is just barely puncturing the bus barn, just barely lighting the side of your face. You’re covered in blood, limply holding the shotgun, looking down at Bob with an agonized sense of forbearance. You cannot save him. Nobody can--he is too far gone. Coyote bows his head and that is when the tears come.

“Phe,” Coyote whispers. He sets a hand on her elbow. She jerks away from him, looking at him as if he’s just burned her. Her eyes are wild with grief. “Phe, there’s nothing--!” 

“--Fuck you,” Phoenix spits at Coyote, her face split in half by anguish. She’s never felt this way before--she’s never felt this mind-splitting, chest-numbing pain. But it’s suddenly drowning her and she feels that no one is throwing her a life preserver. You’re all watching her flounder. “Please…please…” 

Slowly, you kneel beside Coyote. Everything smells like sweat and dust, but this close to Bob, you are practically rubbing noses with death. You can see the freckles on its cheeks. 

You carefully place your hand on Bob’s leg. He looks down at you, pale as white-sand and shaking. Cold sweat covers his face, stains his shirt. His eyes are focused, but untrained. 

“Bob,” you whisper. “We’re here.”

That’s about all you can say to him. Not just hold on, we’ll fix you up. Not only another minute, it’s okay, it’s alright. Not help is on the way. You’re going to make it.

He’s so cold--so, so cold. And he’s been cold since he went out into the night, since he was struck. He’s known, from the very beginning, that he’s dying. He just didn’t know how to tell anyone else. And he knew everyone else was too afraid to tell him. 

 But when you say that--we’re here--something grows warm in Bob. He’s been in and out of fitful dreams, sometimes dreaming about his father’s fingers on the strings of a guitar and sometimes dreaming about his less than stellar date with Michelle Johnson. It’s peculiar--he never thought dying would be so slow, so tedious. 

“Payback and Fanboy haven’t walkied,” Coyote whispers to you. The only recognition you show is a slow blink. “Maybe they’re close.” 

“Maybe,” you whisper back.

The both of you know that it wouldn’t matter, anyhow. By the time the tree is moved, by the time the brigade is here if they’re coming, Bob will be gone.  

Reaching up, you take Phoenix’s hand. She looks at you, brown eyes wide with horror, and almost pulls away. But then Bob, with the last bit of his strength, puts his hand over hers, too. 

“Thank you,” he tells Phoenix. She looks down at him, shaking her head with her eyes wide. He doesn’t break their gaze, lips trembling. “You’re my best friend.” 

“Stop that,” Phoenix demands softly. “Cut it out, Bob! You’re fine!” 

“I’m dying,” he whispers. He swallows hard. His throat is so very dry. “I didn’t know how to…how to tell you.” 

Phoenix sobs. 

“No,” she whispers. She blinks hard, shaking her head. “Bob, I can’t--please, please, please…” 

Leaning down, she holds Bob’s body against hers. He blinks a few times, the sunlight coming over his face just barely. It’s good to feel warm, he thinks. 

“I know…I know you hate Cutting Crew,” Bob starts. With the last bit of his strength, he smiles. It’s a barely-there, strained thing. But it’s there. “But they wrote our song, huh?” 

It takes a moment for everyone to register what Bob’s saying. For a second, you think he’s delirious. But then Coyote chokes out a loud laugh, a few stray tears running down his face. 

Phoenix looks up, puzzled, and then it dawns on her. 

(I Just) Died In Your Arms. Cutting Crew. She groans every time it comes on the radio just before tuning to another station. She’s literally left coffee shops over the song. Bob knows this. But now it’s the song that will make her think of Bob because he’s willed it so. It’s the song that will remind her of this exact instance--sitting on the bus, terrified, dirty, holding her best friend as he dies. 

“Bob,” Coyote laughs. He’s about to say that he’s a sly, sly dog. That he’s got the jokes. But just the sound of his name falling off his lips is enough to halt Coyote. That is the last time he will ever call Bob’s name and have Bob answer to it. “I…I love you, man.” 

Bob smiles. 

“I love you, too, man,” Bob whispers. “Don’t tell Phoenix.” 

And then Bob is looking at you. You with your eyes heavy with tears and your face a calm and placid sea. He doesn’t know how you’ve done it--he doesn’t know how you haven’t given up yet. But he knows that he loves you for it. 

“I’m sorry,” you whisper to Bob, tears pouring down your face. You sniffle and sigh. “I’m really, really sorry Bob. More sorry than I’ve ever been.”

He knows what you’re apologizing for: not saving him. 

“No hard feelings,” he whispers to you. Another meek smile tugs on his lips. “You did good.”

You did good. 

Choking on your grief, you can hardly stand to look at him anymore. You can hardly stand kneeling here, breathing in all this death. But you know this is where you’re supposed to be. 

Just as Phoenix is about to sob again, a meager voice finds place in the stale air around everyone. 

“Can I pray for you, Mister Bob?” Mable asks softly. There are tears in her eyes as she blinks at everyone. “If that’s okay…”

You glance at Phoenix, who looks like she never wants to see Mable Brandt’s face ever again in her long, long life without Bob. Bob was born Godless and will die Godless. But then Bob is nodding. 

“That’d be swell, kid,” he whispers. A shuddering breath falls from his lips. “Make it out to Bob Dylan, would ya?” 

Mable sniffles. She rests her hands on your shoulders because you, out of everyone here, are the only one that can hold her up. And you let her hold you--even close your eyes and feel the heat of her body against you and fall into a dreamless, sleepless state. 

“Dear Heavenly Dylan,” Mable starts. Bob lets out a quiet laugh--a weezy, tired thing. It is the last time he will ever laugh. “Please take Mister Bob’s pain away--he’s been in an awful lot of it since the attack and I think he’s tired now. He’s a real nice guy--he never yelled at me or anyone else. I don’t think it’s very fair that he’s got so many boo-boo’s.”

No one speaks as Mable continues praying, everyone’s head slightly bowed and eyes drifted shut. Everyone’s face is wet with tears that are shining in the yellow light. 

“And we know that you’ll have a place for him when he gets to where he’s going, alright? So, make sure it’s nice and clean. And make sure there’s aspirin there because Mister Bob doesn’t feel so hot right now. But most of all--keep him safe on his way. Miss Nightingale and Miss Phoenix did the best they could. It’s your turn now.” 

An overwhelming sense of peace finds Bob. His fingers are numb--he wonders, strangely, if they’re already dead. Maybe when you die, it’s piece by piece, a little at a time. And maybe his fingers went first.

“I’m scared,” Phoenix whispers to Bob, looking down at his pale cheeks. “I can’t…I can’t never see you again.”  

He takes a deep breath. His lungs are warm, very warm. 

“I’ve been here the whole time,” he whispers to her. “You’ll manage.”

He’s accepted this. This is okay. He is looking up at his best friend in the world and it is the last thing his eyes will ever see. And he thinks, with a sudden swell of pride, that he did good. She’s really the cream of the crop--the best friend he could have asked for.

Something flickers behind his eyes, bright yellow and aquamarine and jet black--memories. They flutter past his vision, clear and crisp, like he’s pulling the little plastic lever on a viewfinder of his own life. 

The smell of his mama’s hotcakes on late Sunday mornings, Bob sleepy and syrupy and reaching for more butter despite his mother’s tutting. Lazing around the pool with his kid brother, Neil Young humming on the radio as his daddy grills. Sitting in the movie theater during Star Wars, too engrossed in the movie to realize that Lisa Patterson is making googly eyes at him. Finally kissing Michelle Johnson at the roller rink, her tight curls gleaming beneath the disco ball, her skin shining blue and pink. Reading Kurt Vonnegut in his car before class, holding in tears when the profoundness struck him over the head like a brick. Holding hands with Phoenix during games of Red Rover, their mouths wide open, their hairlines dotted with sweat. Swimming in the lake after tipsy bonfires, bobbing his head beneath the water, listening to the muted sound of you squealing when Jake pulls you up on his shoulders. His toes in cold, cold mud. His face against the warm, warm sun. The first snow of the year blanketing the front lawn. His dorm room, which always smells like crayons for some reason. His best friends pedaling down the street, swerving at cars and whooping and hollering, switching gears up the big hill on Freemont. His daddy taking his mama’s hands and dancing her around the wrapping-paper covered living room, her new necklace gleaming on her throat like a personal star on a silver chain. Holding his baby cousin for the first time, breath caught in his throat and arms stiff because he’s never held anything so tiny. Cutting his knees on concrete. Hitting his head on that shelf in the living room. Learning how to change a tire. Driving down his street for the first time. Playing his guitar in his room, shutting his eyes, and quietly whispering Bob Dylan songs.

He can hear it now--Bob Dylan is playing. And it isn’t him singing and it isn’t him playing the guitar. He doesn’t know where it’s coming from or why it’s so loud, so clear, so sudden. But there it is--clear as the day is blue. It’s like there’s a private concert just for Bob and he’s in the front row, the sun warm on his face and shoulders, his arms raised in ecstasy. 

That long black cloud is comin' down

I feel I'm knockin' on heaven's door

He always wanted to be front row at a Bob Dylan concert. He was saving up to take him and Phoenix. 

Funny how life works that way, he thinks. 

Oh, well. So it goes.

“Please, if you could make it easy, we would all really appreciate it. And in Bob Dylan’s name we pray…amen.”  

And then, with a final shuddering breath, Bob Floyd dies in his best friend’s arms on a disjunct bus on the worst Thursday of anyone’s life. He was the newest counselor at Camp Arcadia. This was only his second summer. 

“Bob?” Phoenix asks. Panic shoots up and grabs onto her ears, tugging hard. His lips are parted, his eyes are open. He is not moving. “Bob! Wake up! Wake the fuck up!” 

Mable leans down to your ear. You’re so thoroughly covered in blood that you look like something that crawled out of a horror film--she can make out the tracks of your tears as the salt cuts through the gore on your cheeks. It’s an image that will stay with her for the rest of her life, one she’ll doodle inside book covers and on the backs of restaurant napkins. She’s so young now that when she’s older, she’ll wonder if her juvenile mind was exaggerating just how gory you look. But it is not an exaggeration at all. 

“You have to fight it,” she whispers in your ear. Her cut begins to bleed. “It’s here.”

When you look up, your eyes fluttering open again after seemingly being pasted shut, you see another dead body. Your second this morning. There is less blood and more sunlight, but it is still there right before you. 

As if a mortar has suddenly gone off beside your cheek, your ears are hollowed out and ringing. You can see Phoenix screaming, can see her patting Bob’s cheeks, but you can’t hear her shrill tone or the lifeless thumps on his skin. Coyote touches your shoulder and you think maybe he’s saying something to you, but you don’t look at him. 

Vision beginning to vignette, you stand slowly. And then you turn and walk all the way off the bus, the blood on your shoes matted with dirt and grime. You take a few stumbling steps, the gun clenched tightly in your hands. Then you open the doors, let the sunlight in. If someone was running full-speed at you, intent on cutting you down, you wouldn’t hear it. And you think you wouldn’t fight it either. 

The only way you know you’re on the ground is when the gravel slices your knees open. It is not from brute strength that you have fallen--no one has hit you. It is because you are drained. Entirely, completely, wholly drained. 

Bradley finds you only a few moments later. 

You’re on your hands and knees just outside the bus barn, clutching the gravel with the gun laid out just beside you. Your back bows, curved like the neck of a preening swan, and you suddenly heave. Vomit spews across the rocks--all stomach acid. 

Oh, he realizes. Bob’s dead. 

He stops where he is, only a few paces from you, and watches all of your humanness from afar. Surely you’ve seen dead bodies before in your line of work--in fact, he knows you have--but maybe you’ve never seen it this close. And it has never, ever been a friend. That must be what’s different about this one, he thinks. That’s it. That must be it. 

And then he watches you stop. You suddenly swallow hard and wipe your mouth with the back of your hand, eyebrows furrowed and lips trembling. Then you fight to your feet, wobbling and quivering, leaning over once more to grab the gun and hold it to your body. 

As if you knew he was there the entire time, you look at Bradley. He can see it from where he is, dazed and heartbroken and lovesick: there is fight in your eyes. It is dim, it is full, it is small, it is hazy--but it’s there, gleaming in the early morning light.

You have to fight it. It’s here. 

“We have to find him,” you tell Bradley. Your voice is ragged and thin. You swallow hard, shaking your head. “No one else is dying today, alright?” 

Bradley nods at you, dumbfounded and grief-stricken. His throat is tight. 

“Alright,” he answers. He takes a deep breath, fills his lungs.“Birdie, I…I think I might have an idea.” 

♀

“What do you mean?” Coyote asks. “You two are gonna just…play music? And get him to come? Like…a dog or something?” 

“So he knows where we are,” Bradley defends, his voice hard and serious. “We’re not, like, whistling for him.” 

“And you think that’ll make him come?” Coyote asks, brow perched. 

He glances at you. You’re not looking at him. 

“He’ll come. He’ll come if he knows Gale’s there.” 

Coyote opens his mouth to argue, but then you quietly add, “What other option do we have? I can’t…I’m not strong enough to go back out in the woods.”

“I could go,” Coyote offers. 

You shake your head.

“I’m the good shot,” you whisper. And all that responsibility weighs down on you again. “It would have to be me. And you’re hurt.”

Coyote knows you’re right. He carefully touches the back of his head, wincing when the gash stings beneath his fingers.

Phoenix’s eyes are on the floor. Her throat hurts too bad to say anything. She won’t look up at you and Bradley as you stand outside the bus with Coyote, relaying the plan. 

“And when he--if he comes, then what?” Coyote asks. He swallows hard, his head pulsing. “You’re gonna…?” 

“Wait. For help,” you whisper. 

Coyote looks at your face--still covered in blood, but stained with a detached sort of anger. You’re resolute and morose all wrapped up in bloody dungarees. 

“Back to square one, then, huh?” He asks softly. 

“What’s the alternative?” Bradley counters. “Killing him?” 

“No one else is dying today,” you say matter-of-factly. You look at the two men, who are looking at you already with their mouths flat and their chests heaving. “I mean it, alright? No one else.” 

“Alright,” Coyote answers. “So, Phoenix and I should just hang around? Wait?” 

You nod. Coyote shudders at the thought of just waiting. 

“We’ll come get you when it’s…” you start, trailing off with your brows furrowed. 

“Over. We’ll come get you when it’s over,” Bradley answers. “Don’t open the doors for anyone but us, okay?” 

“Yeah,” Coyote answers. He takes a long, deep breath. His head hurts. “Okay. Are you sure you don’t want me to help? Strength in numbers, right?” 

You glance at Phoenix. She’s still holding Bob. Though now that the tears have stopped, she’s completely quiet. You fear, suddenly and completely, that she’ll never speak again. 

“Yeah,” you whisper. “Stay here with her.” 

Glancing up at the bus, you see all the campers already looking at you. Knives in their little hands, fear in their little teary eyes. Their faces are almost begging, you think. 

Fight it. Fight it. Fight it. 

Toes numb with panic, you look back at Coyote. He’s already looking at you. 

“Don’t let anyone in,” you say again. You think of last night when something tried to get into the mess hall--just how close they came. “And if they do get in…corner them. Get them.”

Coyote nods firmly. You can count on him. He can count on you. The two of you have never bullshitted each other before. 

“I will,” he says. “I’ll die fighting if I have to. No one’s touching those kids.” 

Die fighting. How silly that phrase seemed before, when you’d throw it around at random. And now there’s two dead bodies and three missing counselors at Camp Arcadia. You hope you don’t die fighting like Paul, like Bob. But it would be a valiant way to go. 

“Let’s go,” Bradley says, throwing an arm around your shoulders. You’re rigid underneath his hands--it stains him, wounds him. But he doesn’t punish you for it. How could he? “We’ll be right back.” 

Coyote swallows hard. His heart is pounding. 

“Don’t say that,” Coyote pleads. “Haven’t you ever seen a horror movie? Ever?” 

“This is real life,” Bradley argues. “Not some story.” 

But it was a story--before, at the bonfire. 

Damien and the Devil. Six counselors, one nurse. Slashed. Dead, gone, buried, away. 

Saying nothing more, you turn on your heel. 

It’s time to end this.

The walk back to the mess hall is very quiet. Underneath the bright yellow sun and the clear blue sky, you and Bradley say almost nothing to each other. You’re holding the gun, trying to keep your heart from beating out of your chest. He’s holding the ax, the one that killed Paul, and the other one he took into the woods with him. He’s glancing around the perimeter to make sure nothing’s sneaking up on the two of you. 

You’re stumbling slightly when you step--Bradley isn’t sure if it’s because you’re tired or if it’s because of the gashes on your knees or if it’s because of your shock. He does know you’re in shock--that you’ve been in shock since you tumbled out of the woods covered in Paul’s blood. You look shell-shocked, but brave. Like you know the bomb is about to drop, but you’re ready to arm yourself against whatever’s coming even if it’s for naught. Do svidaniya.

Ears still ringing, stomach still churning, you feel like the walk is too quick. Suddenly you aren't outside anymore--you’re in the mess hall in all its disarray, walking towards the kitchen with the intent of grabbing more ammunition. 

Bradley’s closing the buckshot-broken doors, brows furrowed as he examines the shots. Shit. You really did it. Something in his belly feels better knowing that you’ll shoot. You’ll pull the trigger. 

As soon as you’re through the kitchen doors, your heart stops. There on the dingy tiles is what remains of Bob’s blood--it’s smeared, dried, browned. But you can still see where he laid. And just beside the bucket, which is still full of bloody water, are Bob’s broken glasses. 

Leaning down, legs shaking, you pick the glasses up and hold them up to your face. They’re broken--the glass is cracked and the frames are bent. 

But it’s okay. He doesn’t need them anymore. 

“Oh, Bob,” you whisper. You grip the glasses hard. Tipping your head forward, you let the metal fall against your closed mouth. A sob ripples through you. “I’m so sorry.”

“Gale?” Rooster calls. He turns--sees your form frozen in the doorway, kneeling with your head bent. Starting for you, he swallows hard. “Birdie?” 

His presence behind you is warm and solid, like standing against a water heater. His chest just barely grazes your back. It brings you back a little bit--his steady and even breaths. You can count them--you can count on them. They’re there, steady, as you look down at Bob’s glasses. 

Rooster, his jaw squared, sighs gently. 

He tugs under your armpits until you’re standing on your feet again.

“Are you…are you, like, alright?” 

Dumb question, he thinks. Jesus. Dumb, dumb question.

Shaking your head, you let your eyes fall shut. 

“I’m numb,” you whisper. “I can’t…I don’t think I can…I can’t feel anything at all.”

A pang of pain radiates in Rooster’s chest. You’re so quiet, so drawn into yourself. Maybe this is your surrender. Maybe this is when you give up. Maybe this is when you call it a day and lay down and just wait for the end to come. Rooster can’t have that.

“Can you feel this?” Rooster asks. 

And you’re about to crane your neck to look at him, about to ask him what he’s doing, when the very softest of kisses lands just below your left ear. 

Oh. You can feel that. His warm lips, full of blood and live cells and made up of skin, send a shiver down your spine. 

“Yes,” you mutter. “I can.” 

Another kiss--this time in the middle of your neck. Rooster can still faintly smell jasmine on your skin. It makes him ache all over. 

“That?” He whispers. 

You nod, choked up. 

And then he’s very carefully brushing your hair off your shoulders, pushing it aside so he can see your throat and the curve of your jaw. It’s covered in blood, flaking off whenever it’s disturbed. He doesn’t care.

He kisses a trail down the back of your neck, his own eyes fluttered shut in just a moment of peace. And your body is growing softer beneath him--so soft that when he reaches around and pulls the gun from your hands, you don’t fight it. You just let your head fall to the side, eyes flickering shut. 

His palms splay on your hips. He holds you tight, pulls you until your back is flush against his chest. And your mind is buzzing and your body is growing warmer and warmer, but you cannot deny the pleasure of this encounter. This is the most human you’ve felt since all of this began, since you jumped out of bed naked when Phoenix came into your cabin. 

And even though you’re suddenly crying, even though you’re gripping his hands, you know that you need this to keep moving forward. You cannot fight if you feel like there’s nothing left to fight for--maybe the faces of the campers, stained with fear, aren’t enough for you. Maybe seeing Phoenix holding Bob still isn’t enough for you. Maybe you need this--to be touched and held. To be reminded that you can feel still. To be reminded that when this is over, there will be life to live and sex to have and jobs to hate and cars to drive and stars to gaze upon. 

This, right here, is proof of that. 

“Hold me,” you whisper, suddenly desperate. “Hold me, please.” 

You cannot remember the last time you asked someone to hold you. Rigidity sometimes feels like your natural state. Steeling yourself against death, against blood and hurt and pain. And now you’re so soft as Rooster wraps his arms around you. 

He holds you so tight that all the air leaves your lungs. 

You’re stuck still, breath stilted, lungs empty. 

Yes, you think. This is how tightly I need to be held. 

Rooster buries his nose in your neck. He can feel the tears dripping down your cheeks as they land in his hair and he only holds you tighter. He can feel that he’s squeezing the life out of you, but for some reason, he knows you want it like that. 

“I’ve got you,” he mutters to you. “I won’t let you go.”

But just as quickly as you found comfort in his arms, in his heat, against his pumping heart and hot skin, you become uneasy. It’s the thought of seeing his dead body, it’s him calling you hysterical, it’s the spit flinging out of his mouth as he called Jake the killer, it’s his naked body you left behind to find Bob. 

All of it comes at once, slaps your face until your cheeks are raw.

Wriggling your way out of his grip, you take a half-step away from him and grab the shotgun again. Rooster, slightly stunned, watches you with his mouth ajar. 

“Set the music up,” you whisper. You sniffle. “I’m gonna reload and…and get in position.” 

Jake’s trudging back towards camp, openly weeping. He hasn’t openly wept since his toddlerhood, he thinks. But he is right now: shoulders shaking, spine curving, snot dripping, tears pouring open-mouthed weeping. There’s bile covering the front of his shirt and blood on his hands, which is why he won’t look down, which is why he’s stumbling.

He’s been walking all night long--ducking behind trees, stumbling over jagged roots. He’s so tired that his bones feel brittle. He’s so thoroughly exhausted that he’s stumbling towards the mess hall now, even though he knows it’s a trap, even though he knows this might be his final location. 

Kate Bush is playing over the loudspeaker--it was loud enough for him to hear where he was just before in a puddle of blood, vomiting and swatting away swarming flies. Through his heaving, through his tears, he knew immediately that he had to go to where you were calling him from.  

Do you wanna feel how it feels? 

You must be there. You must be the one calling out to him. He wonders if maybe it’s a call for help. But no--it must be a trap. Maybe Bradley swayed you. Maybe everyone swayed you. Maybe you want him dead. Maybe, as soon as his feet cross the threshold, you’re going to shoot him in the chest. He wouldn’t be angry with you. But, boy--would he miss you if he died. 

But all he wants, as his stuttering footsteps grow nearer and nearer to the mess hall, is to keep you safe. And if you’re with him--if you’re even near him--you aren’t safe. 

Limping, he approaches the doors to the mess hall. They’re closed, but damaged. You already shot through them, Jake sees. And there’s blood dotting the doors--so much of it that he knows you must’ve really got ‘em. 

Atta girl, he thinks. 

“Jake?” Your voice comes from inside, echoing in the empty mess hall. “Is that…is that you?” 

Instead of answering, he opens the door. 

You

It's you and me

And there you are. Standing a few paces ahead of him, holding the shotgun like you’ve held it a million times before, eyes narrowed and focused on him. You’re covered in blood, even your heavy eyelids, and sniffling as you cry quietly. But even through your tears, you’re strong. He can see the fight still tugging on the ends of your hair and straining in your wobbling thighs. 

Bradley is just behind you, armed with an ax, sneering at Jake. 

“Don’t you come any closer,” Bradley demands. He rears back so the ax is in position to swing down at any given moment. “I mean it, you fuck!” 

Jake stumbles slightly as he steps into the mess hall. 

“Jake,” you whisper, shaking your head. Your throat aches with grief. “Where have you been?” 

I'd make a deal with God

And I'd get Him to swap our places

It all comes rushing back to him, a wave of grief and exhaustion and derangement. Taking a shuddering breath, he tries to communicate with you, his words coming out like a fluttering and distant bird that flies right over your head.

“Get away from him,” he whispers. 

You furrow your brows, straining to hear him over Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God).

“He’s got a weapon,” Bradley whispers to you. His heart is pounding. “Gale, he’s got an ax.” 

Fingers numb with panic, with pain, you shake your head at Jake.

You don't wanna hurt me (yeah, yeah, yo)

“Where did you get that?” You demand quietly, nodding to the ax in Jake’s hand. 

Jake glances down at the ax. He got this just a few miles outside of camp. He pried it out of Fanboy’s hands--his cold, dead hands. And then he promptly spewed vomit onto the rocks just beside his body and Payback’s. He found them, their bodies hacked, lying together. They never left each other’s sides. Not for one moment. 

“I…” Jake whispers. He swallows, head pounding. “Get away from Bradley. Please, baby, please get away from him.” 

The hairs on the back of your neck prickle your skin as they raise. 

“Can it,” Bradley spits. You don’t have to see him to know how angry Bradley is right now, sneering and snarling at Jake. “You--you fucking son of a bitch! Bob is dead! You fucking killed Bob!” 

“Stop,” you beg softly, the gun shaking in your unsteady grasp. “Jake, just…just put the ax down, alright? And then we can talk.” 

“Talk? Fuck that,” Bradley yells. “He killed Bob!” 

“You did,” Jake utters. “You killed him, Rooster.” 

Is there so much hate for the ones we love?

You hear him loud and clear as if he’s just whispered in your ear. Heart pounding, you shake your head. Fuck. Fuck.  

“He’s lying,” Bradley laughs bitterly. “You fuck--you stupid fuck! You really think she’s gonna fall for that? You think she’s gonna believe you? You destroyed the fucking cabin and went AWOL and then people started dying!” 

But Jake isn’t responding to Bradley. He’s just staring at you, cowering where he stands, defeated and terrified. His shirt is ripped and his hair is messy and there’s blood underneath his fingernails. 

“Just drop the ax,” you tell him. “I don’t want to--I’m not gonna hurt you. We’re not going to hurt each other, right? Just drop it.” 

It's you and me

Jake drops it--it clatters onto the floor unceremoniously. Your lungs deflate. 

“Nightingale,” Jake whispers. His eyes are pouring into yours, red-rimmed and wide. “You have to get away from him, baby. He’s gonna hurt you.” 

Panic is pulsing in your chest now. You’re desperately clinging to reality right now--even though you’re not sure what that is. 

“He’s trying to confuse you,” Bradley whispers. “Don’t let him.”

“Gale,” Jake begs, sobbing. He steps closer to you. You reposition your fingers so they’re not sitting on the trigger anymore. “Please…please…just get away from him! Please!” 

Eyes wide, you watch as he stumbles closer. Bradley is grunting behind you, rearing the ax up further and further. 

“Don’t you fucking touch her,” Bradley sneers. “I mean it, man! Stay the fuck away!” 

“Jake,” you whisper. “Please. Please just stay where you are.” 

“Where’d you even get the ax?” Bradley asks. His voice echoes. 

Jake is still looking into your eyes, openly weeping. Bile dribbles down his chin. 

“They’re dead,” he whispers. “I--oh, God, they’re dead. I found ‘em. I found them together.” 

Be runnin' up that road

Be runnin' up that hill

You immediately know that he means Fanboy and Payback. They’re dead. They’re gone. They haven’t been answering the walkie calls. They’re not close to town at all--they’re just dead. 

A sharp and punctuated sob ripples through your entire body. Goddammit.

“Who?” Bradley demands. “Who the fuck are you--?” 

“--You know what you did,” Jake whispers to Bradley. Suddenly, Jake isn’t deflated. He’s almost close enough to reach out and touch you. Your finger isn’t on the trigger. His chest puffs up and his shoulders roll back. He can protect you. He can do that. “Don’t you fucking touch her, man. Don’t you fucking ax her like you axed them! You--you fucking got ‘em when they were sleeping, didn’t you? You’re a fucking coward.” 

Eyes wide, you begin to beg Jake to move back. 

“It’s you,” Bradley spits. “You’re the fucking killer! 

Oh, come on, baby (yeah)

Oh, come on, darlin' (yo)

“Enough,” you try desperately. “We’re gonna sit here and-and wait for Mav and Penny to come get us, alright? All of us!” But they’re not listening to you. Jake is staring at Bradley and Bradley is staring at Jake. “No one else is dying, okay?” 

“Who else is dead?” Jake asks. “Who else did he kill?” 

Your mind is racing. You don’t know what’s happening. You don’t know who’s telling the truth. All you know right now is that Jake seems earnest and Bradley seems angry and the truth is lying somewhere between them in no-man’s-land. 

“You know damn well Paul is dead,” Bradley sneers. You see it--Jake’s shock. Thoroughly, in your bones, you can tell that no, Jake did not know that. Your spine tingles. “You fucking killed him! And you cut Mable, didn’t you? Snuck out while Gale was sleeping, right? You coward.” 

Swallowing hard, Jake looks at you. His face is very serious, very anguished. 

Oh, come on, angel

Come on, come on, darlin'

“Don’t let him confuse you,” Jake begs. He’s desperate, shaking his head at you. “I’m still me. I’d never--you know that I’d never--!” 

“--You’re sick,” Bradley screams. His voice booms, drowns out the music. “You’re worshiping the same twisted demon Gwyar did, aren’t you? Or is it that--that you’re worshiping Gwyar? Him and his fucking ax and his sick fucking game! Feeding on everyone’s fear, scaring the tar out of everyone! Or is it that you’re cutting down anyone that gets too close to Gale? Huh? Is that it? You sick fuck!” 

Furrowing his brows, Jake looks at you. And you know that he doesn’t know what Bradley is talking about at all. 

You’re getting lightheaded. 

“Gale,” Jake whispers. It’s a desperate, desperate plea. “Get away from him, baby. Please, please, please. I won’t even--I won’t even touch you. Just get away from him. Point the gun at him.”

And here it is: you’re getting ripped apart. You didn’t even make it to the end of summer. 

But then Jake is falling to his knees, sobs tearing him to bits, looking up at you like a depraved and despaired. It’s horrific--having Jake there before you.  

“If you’ve ever done anything in your life, listen to me right now,” Jake sobs. “Please, Gale--get the fuck away from him. I’m not the killer, baby--Bradley is. You’re not safe!”

Your fingers are shaking. 

And if I only could

I'd make a deal with God

And I'd get Him to swap our places

“Enough,” you try. “Please, Jake--Bradley! Just stop!” 

Head swarmed, you look at Jake with wide eyes. 

“Maybe you’re possessed,” Bradley says, laughing humorlessly. “Maybe you couldn’t help yourself. You were drawn to it…you found the ax ‘cause it called for you, didn’t it?” 

Bradley’s chest is hot with rage. He wants to get Jake away from you--now.

And then Jake isn’t just on his knees before you, he’s throwing himself forward and against your legs. But your feet are planted so firmly that you don’t shake, you don’t fall. He isn’t trying to knock you over--he’s just hugging himself against your thighs, burying his face in the bottom of your belly and looking up at you. 

“I’d never hurt anyone,” Jake pleads with you. “You know that…baby, you know that. I don’t even know what he’s talking about! I don’t know who Gwyar is! I’m so confused…Gale, please…we have to get away from him!” 

“Get the fuck away from--!” 

“Stop!” You cry desperately. Jake is holding you so tight that you can’t breathe. “Stop it!” 

But they’re not listening to you. 

I'd be runnin' up that road

Be runnin' up that hill

“It isn’t me!” Jake sobs. “We have to get away from here!” 

“You fuck,” Bradley continues. “It took your blood! It wanted you! Sliced your hand when you were chopping that tree down!” 

The song ends. 

Your hearing goes out--fuzzy and fading. Every muscle beneath your sizzling skin is locked in place. A noose of fear wraps itself around your neck and tightens, tightens until you cannot breathe at all. Your lungs are stunted at a deep exhale. And you can’t close your eyes for even a millisecond to blink. Sulfur floods your nostrils--abundantly clear and thick in the air.

Jake stares up at you, horrified. He watches, in real time, as the realization dawns on you.

He was telling the truth. Bradley is the killer. 

“Bradley…” you whisper, voice quivering. Just barely, you turn your head. And Bradley is behind you, still looking like himself but ugly with rage and red with anger. “You cut your hand on the ax.” 

At first, his face contorts in confusion. He stutters, mouth parted. Brows furrowed, he attempts to say something. But his tongue is dry. But when he sees the fear in your eyes and hears Jake’s sobs, he knows the jig is up. He just gave himself away. 

You watch, in utter terror, as his face drops completely. And for the first time, as you stare at him, you see it: the pure, unadulterated evil. It’s there in the black in his pupils. The flecks of gold in his amber eyes are faded, gone. His smile is wide and broad, but it isn’t the smile you saw at the beginning of the summer. It is wicked--dry and nefarious. 

“Damn,” he says, sighing. He beams at you wickedly. So wicked that your arms go limp, the gun falling onto the floor. Good. He’s got you where he wants you. “I was doing so well, too.”

Lips open wide in shock, two stray tears fall down your face. 

And it is not a moment later that he brings the ax down.

Jake, with all the gall and gumption of the soldier his father wanted him to be, acts fast. So fast that he doesn’t even think--he just does.

“Gale!”

Closing your eyes, you accept it at once. You will die at the hand of Bradley--he’s killing you and you don’t know why other than he’s sick. And you’re already covered in blood, you already saw two dead bodies today. People are dying. You’re going to be another one to add to the pile. Your body will be covered with a sheet and your father will identify you with tears in his eyes and he will wonder why and you will die not knowing why. 

When you hit the ground, head slamming against the hardwood floors and neck cracking, you’re waiting for the pain to come. The first hit, the first hack. You’re waiting for release. 

But instead, you just feel heavy--something is brushing your nose because it is so close to you. And when you open your eyes, you’re staring into Jake’s. His eyes are wide in shock, his mouth, too. 

For a moment, you’re not sure what’s happened. Then you hear the strangled moan he releases, the barely-there and quiet thing. A steady stream of blood floods out from his parted lips and into your mouth. 

“Jake?” You whimper, terror flooding your body until you’re cold with it. 

And he’s so heavy on top of you and so warm--deadweight. And the warmth, it isn’t just his body heat. No, no…it is a wet and slick warmth. It is his blood that is leaking from his body and onto yours. 

Choking out a sob, your spit red with his blood spewing onto his face, you try desperately to move your arms. He has you pinned--and he’s so heavy that you can’t move. 

“My, my, my…” Bradley laughs. He leans down, wraps his hands around the handle of the ax and steadies himself by pressing his foot on Jake’s back, and rips the ax from his back. Jake coughs--blood spews across your face and you whimper aloud, stunned. Bradley totes the ax over his shoulder like it is as friendly and unassuming as his guitar. “Sacrificing his life. Now, that’s love, huh?” 

Jake can’t feel anything. Not the gash on his back or the blood he’s losing. He can’t feel your body beneath him or the sobs ripping through your shocked form. He can’t feel any of it. He’s just looking at your face, his mouth wide open and gaping, and praying that Bradley will go. 

“Jake,” you sob again. You can’t breathe. You can’t move. “Jake! Jake!” 

If Jake could speak, he’d tell you that he loves you and that he’s sorry he can’t do more. But he can’t, so he just slowly lowers his head until it falls into your neck. He stops moving.

Bradley watches from above you. He rolls his shoulders, cracks his neck, sighs deeply. It feels good to be out in the open like this--no more lying, no more sneaking around. Just him, just you, just Jake. And he’s about to finish off the two of you and head to the bus barn. He’ll finish what was started thirty years ago--almost to the date, that sly dog. 

“Jake,” you keep whispering, shocked, stunned, horrified. Your body vibrates with panic. You don’t care about Bradley hovering over you. You care about Jake and the way his green eyes are losing the color, the way his cheeks are becoming pale. He can do nothing but stare at you, his vision beginning to blacken around the edges. “Jake, I…” 

And then Bradley kicks the shotgun--it slides across the floor and clatters against the wall. As if you weren’t already defenseless. You look up, quivering, and Bradley grins down at you. 

“I’m more of an ax guy myself,” he says, smiling. He leans down, settling the ax beside him. And then he strokes your hair back from your face, relishing in the horror that crosses your features. “Don’t wig out yet, baby. Let’s chat before I book it to the bus barn, huh? I can spare a few minutes for my best girl.”

𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐓𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄:

BOB BE LIKE:

𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐒:

@thedroneranger

@fandom-life-12

@avaleineandafryingpan

@popsycles

@guacala

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@angelbabyyy99

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@bradshawbabe

@topguncult

@kmc1989

[lulu2992]

Uncovering the unreleased Far Cry 5 in-game Encyclopedia

The almost complete but unused in-game encyclopedia, reconstructed thanks to the oasisstrings file.

Please note that it’s still cut content, so some information might not be relevant anymore.

You can read the oasisstrings file here. Pictures from this encyclopedia were also extracted and posted by @xbaebsae here.

Part 4: Locations - Henbane River

Tanami Residence

Some idiot drove a dredge into Roy Tanami's property, damaging his bunker beyond repair. Out of options, Tanami swallowed his pride and joined the Whitetail Militia up north.

Vasquez Residence

Home of Mr. Vasquez, former employee of Nolan's Fly Shop.

Hollyhock Saloon

One of the first businesses to fall to Eden’s Gate when they banned alcohol in the county. No one knows if the owners moved or were taken.

Can of Worms Fishing Store

Rods and tackle a-plenty. Owned by Sherri Woodhouse, who does salvage runs for sunken treasure in her spare time.

Deep North Water Treatment Plant

Built in 2002 to treat the toxic water from decades of mining practices. Today, Eden’s Gate uses it to disperse Bliss into the water.

Misty River Gas

A local gas station by the water, owned by Mr. McDevitt.

McCoy Cabin

Home of Darby McCoy who joined the cult against his will. This cabin is both close to the water and the Misty River Gas, an ideal spot for the cult to run operations.

Peaches Taxidermy

Mable's a rough-edged taxidermist. She lives here with her pet cougar.

Barlow Residence

Residence of Dr. Phil Barlow. He was a pharmacist who joined Eden’s Gate.

McClean Residence

Residence of Travis McClean. He was a former Air Force veteran turned prepper. Like so many others, he and his husband are on the run from Eden's Gate.

Eden’s Gate Outreach Center

This was once a place to learn more about Eden’s Gate and the Father’s message. Nothing out of the ordinary, until it became what it is today.

The Pillars of Eden

An outdoor amphitheater and a place of worship for Eden's Gate.

Drubman Marina

The Drubman Marina began in 1992 as an oil sands prospecting venture. Hurk Drubman Sr. became rich, but ost the property in a divorce to his wife Adelaide. She has big dreams for the place.

Silver Lake Campgrounds

A place to camp with a nice view of the mountains, the water, and the Whitetail Mountain Rail Bridge.

Silver Lake Summer Camp

An old summer camp. It was forced out of business by Eden’s Gate about 8 years ago. The cult used this place to stockpile their goods while their bunkers were being built.

Howling Cave

A well-known wolf habitat. The cult frequently takes animals from here and sends them north to Jacob.

Taft Lookout Tower

An old firewatch tower built in 1945. The cult uses it as a checkpoint and surveillance location. As expected, it is heavily guarded at all times.

Raptor Peak

A mountain peak that's a favorite nesting spot for birds of prey.

Camp Cougars

The Resistance has set up a camp to use as a base of operations for attacks against the cult and rescue missions for those on the pilgrimage path.

Dire Wolf Basin

A smoking basin that Eden's Gate has claimed as their own. Also a place of worship for the cult.

Sabre-Tooth Springs

These hot springs and the nearby cave used to be a tourist destination. It's right next to a road, meaning this location spent little in advertising. Today, it only attracts the cult.

Eden’s Convent

The very first building set up by the Project at Eden’s Gate in Hope County. People came here for spiritual retreats and to learn the Word of Joseph. When they left, if they did, it was with a permanent smile on their faces.

Sacred Skies Youth Camp

Formerly a Christian youth camp that was shut down fifteen years ago when the population dwindled. Eden’s Gate quietly bought it ten years ago. They use the land for growing Bliss flowers while living on-site.

Joseph’s Word

A statue of Joseph Seed that was constructed almost overnight. It commemorates the Father bringing his Word to the world. It also houses a rare, one-of-a-kind manuscript that is sacred to Eden's Gate.

Purpletop Antenna

Eden's Gate controls the radio towers. There's no signal but Joseph's Word out here.

Dead Man’s Mill

A water mill left over from the gold rush heyday. Everyone in Hope County has a different version of how it got its name, but the most popular story is a man's suicide after the closure of the mines.

Mastodon Geothermal Park

A tourist attraction established in 1836. People used to come here to admire the unique geological landscape. Now Eden's Gate uses it as an execution site.

Chan Residence

Back in the day, the owner of the Sacred Skies Youth Camp lived here. The cabin now belongs to Jasmine Chan, a big game hunter who was recruited into Eden's Gate against her will.

Counselor’s Cabin

This used to be the counselor's cabin when the Sacred Skies Youth Camp was in operation.

Nature Cabin

It once belonged to the Sacred Skies Youth Camp. Kids would come here to learn about animals, or rest after hurting themselves on the nearby zip line.

Throne of Mercy Church

A gold rush era church run by Jerrod Wilson, a preacher and rival of Emmet Reaves in the late 1800s. The church survived until about ten years ago when the cult closed it down.

Administrator’s Cabin

This used to be the administrator's cabin when the Sacred Skies Youth Camp was in operation.

Boshaw Manor

The humble dwelling of Charlemagne Victor Boshaw IV, gentleman fire enthusiast.

King’s Hot Springs Hotel

Once a spot for the posh to "take the waters," a landslide triggered by an earthquake in 1917 closed it temporarily and made it a ghost hunter's gem. It reopened, only to close again in 1994. Eden's Gate has put it to good use.

Moonflower Trailer Park

Once the fanciest trailer park in Montana run by the Boshaws. When the economy dried up and the Boshaws did nothing to retain their tenants, people relocated to the Silver Lake trailer park in the Holland Valley.

Sinclair Residence

Frankie Sinclair dreamed of being a world class French chef. Only problem? He couldn't speak a lick of French. He worked at the King's Hot Springs Hotel until it closed in 1994.

Horned Serpent Cave

A sulfur cave that's part of the volcanically active landscape of the region. It was once an industrial site, but the cult has turned it into a mass grave for Angels who can serve the project no more.

Henbane River Station

Copperhead Rail was created in the late 1800s by Emmet Reaves. It was shut down in the early 70s after the last of the local mining industries dried up. This station has been abandoned ever since.

Grimalkin Radon Mine

Once a part of a radon spa chain, it shut down in the 60s. Guy Marvel fell in love with the aesthetic and figured it’d be the perfect place for his next movie masterpiece.

Lydia’s Cave

In 1912, some loggers saw a girl eating a goat with wolves. She was captured in this cave and brought to a doctor who named her Lydia. She escaped and was last seen deep in the wilds suckling two wolf cubs.

Whistling Beaver Brewery

This brewery and pub opened in the late 1880s. It closed in 1916-1918 for Prohibition and reopened in the 30s. Pushed out of the national market by artisanal beer, the brewery was struggling and quietly sold to Eden's Gate.

The Misery

A dredge that belonged to the Catamount Mining Company. When the mines dried up, they tried to get gold from the riverbeds, but failed and abandoned it. The Resistance tells horror stories about what goes on there now.

Faith’s Gate

A bunker under Faith's guardianship. It is shrouded in Bliss, ensuring that those who are sheltered here will not be frightened when the Collapse comes.

Feeney Residence

Home of Dwight Feeney, a prepper and chemistry aficionado who joined Eden’s Gate when they promised him an important role in the creation of Bliss.

Eden’s Altar

A place of worship for Eden’s Gate. The faithful gather to hear sermons about Joseph’s visions and plans.

Gethsemane Greenhouse

A building used to precisely control the growing conditions of plants. Whatever these plants were before, they are now Bliss flowers.

Lorna’s Truck Stop

Lorna Rawlings used her BINGO winnings to create the best place for hard-working truckers like her husband to refresh and refuel. The cult came to take the place. She said no. She hasn’t been seen since.

Henbane River Chalets

A tourist trap that was shut down by the cult. The lake view was also sought after as a filming location.

Aubrey’s Diner

One of the first places to close when the cult took over. Their grilled cheese was no good.

O’Hara’s Haunted House

A professional clown named Edward O'Hara bought a barn and turned it into a haunted house that was a Halloween tradition in Hope County. Edward himself disappeared, and people disagree on whether or not the cult got him.

Ghost Cat Mine

The old mine has been closed for decades but the headframe warehouse is still there, used by the cult to store their containers of Bliss.

The Last Best Resting Place

An old, overgrown graveyard left from the gold rush era.

Jones Residence

Home of Kanti Jones, a Blackfoot woman and ranger who used to work in Whitetail Park. She was forced into retirement when the park closed. She fought against Eden’s Gate, dying in a shootout in her home.

Nelson Residence

Home of Coyote Nelson. He tried to lay low and enjoy fishing and painting but his peaceful pastimes didn't save him.

8-Bit Pizza Bar

The presence of pizza and an arcade made this the most exciting spot for teens within a hundred miles.

Pepper Residence

Holly Pepper and her girlfriend Charlie were among the first locals to join Eden's Gate. They abandoned this house and were never heard from again. The cult turned the property into a grow op.

Hope County Jail

20 years ago, a riot caused a jail break and a bus full of escaped prisoners ran off the road somewhere in Holland Valley. Later on, the prison closed due to budget cuts. Today, the Cougar resistance takes shelter here.

Nolan’s Fly Shop

Nolan Pettis ran his fly shop and gave fishing tours happily for years, although he was never a famous outdoorsman like local celebrity Skylar Kohrs. The money for his shop dried up and he joined Eden’s Gate.

Johnson Residence

Bob and Penny Johnson struck it rich in cattle futures, then they lost everything. After such a fall from grace, Joseph’s cult seemed welcoming. They handed everything over. No one knows where they are now.

Bright Warden Radon Spa

A health spa shut down in the 60s. Eden’s Gate has been spotted going in and out of this mine, using it as a storage facility.

Prosperity

Founded by rail and lumber baron Emmett Reaves. As the industry dried up, the town died and people moved west to Fall’s End. What remains of the ghost town is now used by junkies and the homeless.

Abercrombie Residence

Home of Melvin Adams Abercrombie. He robbed a bank in the 1940s and got away with it. He used his money to build this property and to prepare for the total collapse of the global financial system.

McCallough’s Garage

Once owned by Steve McCallough. He tried to warn everyone about Eden’s Gate, and even had a getaway car and some supplies ready. One day, his shop got boarded up and Steve was nowhere to be found.

Jessop Conservatory

Dr. Rachel Jessop created this place to protect and research at-risk flora and fauna. After budget cuts gutted her funding, Eden's Gate bought her out and devoted the facilities to developing potent strains of Bliss flowers.

Harrison Lookout Tower

One of the towers built in the 1940s to spot forest fires. It was abandoned ten years ago when funding ran out and the cult bought the property. It overlooks the site of one of Clutch Nixon's legendary stunts.

Seeley’s Cabin

Residence of Dwight Seeley. He worked in the local mines and then got kicked out of his place when the cult took over.

Deer Tiger Mine

Established in 1912, this mine was closed down in the 70s. Eden’s Gate appears to use it for storage.

Puma Mine

Another relic of a bygone gold rush, the Puma Mine has been abandoned for decades.

Ancient Bison Tunnel

A closed-off tunnel. No one gets in. No one gets out.

[ym-loreposting]

Location name references in Breath of the Wild

A year or so ago, I went through the location names in Breath of the Wild and tried to find out which names reference previous things from the series. The following is an overview of everything I was able to find back then. Will be taking this region by region and adding some observations where relevant. I also think most of these names are the same in Tears of the Kingdom but I know at least a few changed, so all of this may not apply to that game. Of note is also that I am leaving out the more obvious ones like Gerudo Desert, Lake Hylia, Death Mountain and the Lost Woods as these tend to be well-known. This focuses on the slightly more obscure ones.

I do want to point out one major one though: the Hebra Region (ヘブラ地方). This is actually a reference to A Link to the Past, A Link Between Worlds and Four Swords Adventures. In the former two, the main name of Death Mountain in the Japanese version is ヘブラ山 or Hebra Mountain. In Four Swords Adventures meanwhile, there is a minor region on Death Mountain called Hebra's Hill (ヘブラの丘). But let's get into the more minor references.

Gerudo Region

Arbiter's Grounds = Arbiter's Grounds from Twilight Princess

Spectacle Rock = Spectacle Rock from The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II and A Link to the Past. Many similar locations, sometimes with similar names, have also appeared throughout the series.

Koukot Plateau = the names of Koume and Kotake, who together make up Twinrova, smashed together. They appear in Ocarina of Time, the Oracle games and the memories in Tears of the Kingdom.

Mount Nabooru = Nabooru from Ocarina of Time and Nabooru Town from Zelda II.

Yarna Valley = Yarna Desert from Link's Awakening.

East Gerudo Mesa = Gerudo Mesa from Twilight Princess.

Overall, this region has few references, mostly centered around deserts and the Gerudo people. The only odd one out is Spectacle Rock, which is usually located in the north of Hyrule on Death Mountain.

South of Lake Hylia

Parache Plains (テトラ平原/Tetra Plains) = Tetra (テトラ/Tetra)

Faron region

Lake Floria/Floria River/Floria Bridge/Floria Falls = Lake Floria from Skyward Sword.

Martha's Landing = Martha's Bay from Link's Awakening.

Tuft Mountain = King Tuft from Tri Force Heroes.

Toronbo Beach = Toronbo Shores from Link's Awakening.

Koholit Rock = Koholint Island from Link's Awakening.

There is no real theme here, aside from the locations on Eventide Island referencing Link's Awakening, as the whole island is a reference to that game. This region also contains the only reference in Breath of the Wild to Tri Force Heroes.

Great Plateau and southwestern Hyrule Field

Digdogg Suspension Bridge = Digdogger from The Legend of Zelda and Oracle of Seasons.

Manhalna Bridge = Manhandla from The Legend of Zelda, Oracle of Seasons and Four Swords Adventures.

Gleeok Bridge = Gleeok from The Legend of Zelda, Oracle of Seasons, Phantom Hourglass and Tears of the Kingdom.

Aquame Bridge = Aquamentus from The Legend of Zelda and Oracle of Seasons.

Mount Daphnes = King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule from The Wind Waker.

Lake Kolomo/Kolomo Garrison Ruins = the Lokomo from Spirit Tracks.

Forest of Time = Forest of Time from Oracle of Ages.

Temple of Time = Temple of Time from Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. The appearance of the structure most closely resembles the Ocarina of Time incarnation.

The bridges here are named after bosses from the first Zelda games, which is a running theme with the bridges around Hyrule Field. The other bridges are named after bosses from the other NES Zelda game, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, however.

Kakariko Village and Southeastern Hyrule Field

Proxim Bridge (モヨリ橋/Moyori Bridge) = Aboda Village (モヨリ村/Moyori Village) from Spirit Tracks.

Owlan Bridge = Owlan from Skyward Sword.

Horwell Bridge = Horwell from Skyward Sword.

Eagus Bridge = Eagus from Skyward Sword.

Batrea Lake = Batreaux from Skyward Sword.

Nabi Lake = Navi from Ocarina of Time.

Mable Ridge = Maple from the Oracle games and A Link to the Past (GBA).

Sahasra Slope = Sahasrahla from A Link to the Past and A Link Between Worlds.

Telta Lake = Tatl from Majora's Mask.

Lake Siela = Ciela from Phantom Hourglass.

Pillars of Levia = Levias from Skyward Sword.

Bonooru's Stand = Bonooru from Ocarina of Time.

Pierre Plateau = Pierre from Ocarina of Time and (maybe) Majora's Mask.

The island in the southeast of Hyrule Field is centered around Skyward Sword references, while the area around Kakariko Village contains references to helpful characters from throughout the series: companions and friendly NPCs. If I had to hazard a guess, this is a general reference to the Sheikah's and Impa's supporting roles throughout the series, as Kakariko Village is their home in Breath of the Wild.

Tabantha and Hyrule Ridge

Kolami Bridge = Komali from The Wind Waker.

Seres Scablands = Seres from A Link Between Worlds.

Breach of Demise = Demise from Skyward Sword.

This region contains relatively few references. This is of note because there is only one reference made to the Rito from The Wind Waker, which makes sense considering the Rito live in Tabantha in Breath of the Wild. However, there were a lot of named Rito that appeared in The Wind Waker and only one is referenced in Breath of the Wild. This is especially notable as there are a lot of references to individual Zoras, Koroks/Kokiri and Gorons in other regions of the map.

Northern Hyrule Field

Carok Bridge = Carock from Zelda II.

Helmhead Bridge = Helmethead from Zelda II.

Rebonae Bridge = Rebonack from Zelda II.

Orsedd Bridge = Horsehead from Zelda II.

Mount Gustaf = King Gustaf from The Minish Cap.

Mabe Village Ruins/Mabe Prairie = Mabe Village from Link's Awakening.

Romani Plains = Romani and Romani Ranch from Majora's Mask.

Rauru Settlement Ruins/Rauru Hillside = Rauru from Ocarina of Time and Tears of the Kingdom and Rauru Town from Zelda II.

Crenell Hills/Crenel Peak = Mt. Crenel from The Minish Cap.

Thims Bridge = Smith from The Minish Cap.

Minshi Woods = Minish Woods from The Minish Cap.

Pico Pond = the Picori from The Minish Cap.

Trilby Plain = Trilby Highlands from The Minish Cap.

Here we see the rest of the bridges that reference the NES games. The eastern island and area further to the northeast in general contain many references to The Minish Cap (not pictured here is also the Trilby Valley that also references that game). Mount Gustaf to the west meanwhile is one of three mountains that references a king of Hyrule: we also have Mount Daphnes mentioned earlier and Mount Rhoam in Hyrule Ridge, which of course references king Rhoam from Breath of the Wild itself. Finally, the places named after Rauru could be named after the sage from Ocarina of Time, but it is also possible they reference the first king of Hyrule from Tears of the Kingdom. It depends on how much of Tears of the Kingdom's story was conceptualized when Breath of the Wild first released.

Lanayru Region

Trilby Valley = Trilby Highlands from The Minish Cap.

Zauz Island = Zauz from Phantom Hourglass.

Linebeck Island = Linebeck from Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks.

Mercay Island = Mercay Island from Phantom Hourglass.

Molida Island = Molida Island from Phantom Hourglass.

Bannan Island = Bannan Island from Phantom Hourglass.

Goponga Island/Goponga Village RUins = Goponga Swamp from Link's Awakening.

Inogo Bridge = The Indigo-Go's from Majora's Mask.

Tabahl Woods = Tabahl Wasteland from Link's Awakening.

Zodobon Highlands = King Zora de Bon XIV from Ocarina of Time.

Oren Bridge = Oren from A Link Between Worlds.

Ralis Pond = Prince Ralis from Twilight Princess.

Luto's Crossing = Laruto from The Wind Waker.

Rutala River/Rutala Dam = Queen Rutela from Twilight Princess.

Ruto Mountain/Ruto Lake/Ruto Precipice = Princess Ruto from Ocarina of Time and Ruto Town from Zelda II.

Toto Lake = Toto from Majora's Mask.

Mikau Lake = Mikau from Majora's Mask.

Lulu Lake = Lulu from Majora's Mask.

Ja'Abu Ridge = Lord Jabu-Jabu from Ocarina of Time and Oracle of Ages.

Veiled Falls = Veil Falls from The Minish Cap.

Lanayru has a pretty clear division, with the western Wetlands mostly referencing Phantom Hourglass and the eastern Great Spring containing many references to Zoras and characters relating to the Zoras. We also see a few stray references to Link's Awakening and Veil Falls from The Minish Cap. This is notable because in that game, Veil Falls act as the source of Hyrule's water, which is also often the case for Zora's Domain whenever it appears in the series (and so too in Breath of the Wild).

Lanayru Bay

Samasa Plain = Samasa Desert from Oracle of Seasons.

Brynna Plain = Labrynna from Oracle of Ages.

Horon Lagoon = Horon Village from Oracle of Seasons.

Talus Plateau (トロイワ高原/Toroiwa Plateau) = Talus Peaks (トロイワ山地/Toroiwa Mountains) from Oracle of Ages.

Lodrum Headland = Holodrum form Oracle of Seasons.

Tarm Point = Tarm Ruins from Oracle of Seasons.

Wintre Island = Woods of Winter from Oracle of Seasons.

Spool Bight = Spool Swamp from Oracle of Seasons.

Tal Tal Peak = Tal Tal Peaks from Link's Awakening.

The area around Lanayru Bay is a hotspot for references to the two Oracle games. The stray reference to Link's Awakening (DX) also fits this theme, with it being the other Zelda game for the Game Boy Color, as well as the other Link's Awakening references in Lanayru in general.

Great Hyrule Forest

Upland Lindor/Lindor's Brow = Linder from The Wind Waker.

Irch Plain = Irch from The Wind Waker.

Rowan Plain = Rown from The Wind Waker.

Elma Knolls = Elma from The Wind Waker.

Aldor Foothills = Aldo from The Wind Waker.

Mount Drena/Drenan Highlands = Drona from The Wind Waker.

Lake Mekar/Mekar Island = Makar from The Wind Waker.

Lake Saria = Saria from Ocarina of Time and Saria Town from Zelda II.

Mido Swamp = Mido from Ocarina of Time and Mido Town from Zelda II.

Lots of references to Koroks and Kokiri, which makes sense as the Koroks live in this area in Breath of the Wild.

Eldin Region (a.k.a. Death Mountain)

Lake Darman = Darmani from Majora's Mask.

Darunia Lake = Darunia from Ocarina of Time and Darunia Town from Zelda II.

Gorko Lake/Gorko Tunnel = Gorko from Skyward Sword.

Gortram Cliff = Gortram from Skyward Sword.

Darb Pond = Darbus from Twilight Princess.

Medingo Pool = Medigoron from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask.

Gero Pond = Don Gero's Mask from Majora's Mask.

Lots of references to Gorons, as the Gorons live here in Breath of the Wild. Don Gero's Mask is probably here because it is initially worn by a Goron in Majora's Mask.

Akkala Region

Kanalet Ridge = Kanalet Castle from Link's Awakening.

Ulri Mountain/Ulria Grotto = Old Man Ulrira from Link's Awakening.

Torin Wetland = Tarin from Link's Awakening.

Malin Bay = Marin from Link's Awakening.

Ukuku Plains = Ukuku Prairie from Link's Awakening.

Kaepora Pass = Kaepora Gaebora from Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask and Four Swords Adventures.

Tingel Island = Tingle, who appears in a lot of Zelda games.

Ankel Island = Ankle from The Wind Waker, Four Swords Adventures and The Minish Cap.

Knuckel Island = Knuckle from The Wind Waker, Four Swords Adventures and The Minish Cap.

Davdi Island = David Jr. from The Wind Waker, Four Swords Adventures and The Minish Cap.

Akkala is a cluster for Link's Awakening references, with the reference to Kaepora Gaebora likely also tying into this. That owl's spiritual predecessor, simply called the Owl, namely appeared in Link's Awakening. The islands of off Akkala's coast meanwhile are named after the four Tingle brothers.

[catdemontraphouse]

I’ve got a lot of “Nightmare Realm Blunt Rotation” written but I write extremely non linearly, like that’s just my natural work process? So nothing ready to post because it’s all filling and no bun, if that makes sense. This word sandwich hasn’t got the bread encasing it yet. I struggle with “beginning” and “end” but I’m a pro at random dialogue middle.

Maybe I’ll just figure out an upload structure somehow where that could work 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

What do you want me to attempt to finish first? Some of the chapters are supposed to take place later than others chronologically but like, you know, the whole I don’t work in order thing is a problem so… tell me what you wanna read!…plz?

⚠️Option 1- Chapter where Bill is forced to help Mabel with her crystal business livestreams and he becomes infamous for eating rocks and asbestos on Instagram

⚠️Option 2- Chapter where Pyronica and Amorphous Shape visit Gravity Falls to check on Bill, they end up as freeloaders in the Mystery Shack and they drive Stanley fucking crazy

⚠️Option 3- Chapter where Dipper finds out Bill is telling everyone he’s the Pines twins’ uncle and he’s so pissed about it

⚠️Option 4- Chapter where a serious Pines family fight breaks out after a discussion about a gorilla-orangutan hybrid gets out of control

⚠️Option 5- Mabel, Dipper and Pacifica attempt to include Bill in the town’s annual Founders Day festival as a form of “enrichment” and the results are interesting

⚠️Option 6- Mabel and Dipper’s grandpa Shermie comes to visit and I’ll figure out some kind of stupid drama between the three brothers involving sibling rivalry and Sherman Pines’ train otaku travel youtube channel

⚠️Option 7- Mabel and family discover that Bill has a keen sense of smell. Stanley, Bill, and Mabel’s Pet Kunekune pig Walter (who is a former Theraprism patient who was reincarnated) attempt a grift involving boutique perfumes that are not FDA approved and cause rashes as a way to profit off Bill’s olfactory talent

⚠️Option 8- Bill accepts a 7 day long affirmations challenge after Ford stupidly bets Bill that he can’t hack it in exchange for five minutes of Ford’s unfettered attention

⚠️Option 9- Pines family rents out Pacifica’s parents cursed lake house and stupid shit ensues, Bill being weird at the beach and annoying Ford

⚠️Option 10- Ford makes a messy deal with Bill for him to use his neuron re-wiring powers to restore Fiddleford’s busted ass brain at the cost of allowing Bill to move into a storage closet in the Mystery Shack instead of sharing a room at Mabel’s house with the pig. Can Bill and Fids manage to get along well enough to keep the peace and can Bill learn to stop being so needlessly jealous? Idk let the drama bitch-fest begin (not rly angst more like trashy reality tv, I don’t do serious for extended periods of time ok)

⚠️Option 11- Bill starts getting paid in valid US currency instead of bricks of cheese and decides he will become Ford’s sugar daddy in a cringe attempt to woo him (guy works part time doing crystal sale livestreams for Mable’s business he is not rich)

[ordinaryschmuck]

Had another randomized marathon, which my therapist said was a good sense of self-care and decompression. Here's what I watched between Gravity Falls, Amphibia, and The Owl House:

The Hand That Rocks the Mable

Watching and Dreaming

Thanks to Them

Battle of the Bands

The Stanchurian Candidate

Northwest Mansion Noir

Eda's Requiem

Eclipse Lake

All In

[transcodedcharacterstournament]

Sorry it so long, but the list is finally done

Here are our pair ups

I included almost every character so the tournament is going to be long

Left side

Jesus vs Hamlet

Dean vs Sam

Rose Tyler vs The Doctor

Mob vs teruki hanazawa

Emily Prentiss vs Penelope Garcia

Anakin Skywalker vs Obi-Wan Kenobi

Aziraphale vs Crowley

Jessie vs james

toph vs Sokka

julian bashir vs James T Kirk

Jadzia Dax vs Ezri Dax

Spock vs Odo

Luke skywalker vs Leia skywalker

Hunter vs Luz

Alador blight vs The collector

Raine vs Lilith Clawthorne

Dipper vs Mable

Sonic vs Shadow

Marco diaz vs Pidge

Katsuki Bakugo vs Ejirou Kirishima

Kagamine Len vs miku

bot lightbulb

Test tube vs Apple

Tree vs black hole

saw vs Golf ball

Dr. teeh vs Animal

Floyd pepper vs janice

Zoot vs lips

Fjord Stone vs Yussa Errenis

Zukko vs Azula

Veth Brenatto (Nott the Brave) vs Pyrrha dve

silver vs blaze

Howl vs Aizawa

Walter White vs Jesse pinkman

Noelle vs Ralsei

Perfuma vs Bow

Jim Lake Jr vs Steve Palchuk

Hiccup vs Danny Phantom

Fox Mulder vs Dana Scully

Harley Quinn vs the riddler

Neo vs Trinity

Deanna Troi vs Brunt

Worf vs Saavik

Dr Habit vs Kamal Bora

Scout vs Ms. Pauling

Right Hand Man vs Henry Stickmin

Reginald Copperbottom vs Ellie Rose

Kurapika vs Alluka Zoldyck

Kite vs Daisukenojo "Beat" Bito

Link vs Zelda

Miles Edgeworth vs Franziska von Karma

Rolan Deep vs Chip

Jay Ferin vs William Wisp

Ashe Winters vs Kian stone

Gillion Tidestrider vs Edyn Tidestrider

donnie vs leonardo

Madeline Hatter vs Darling Charming

Kokichi Ouma vs Shuichi saihara

Aiko Umesawa vs Hajime Hinata

Komatu Naegi vs chihiro fujisaki

Randy Radman vs Jaques Kensignton

Shiki Misaki vs Yoshiya "Joshua" Kiryu

Eddie Munson vs Jonathan Byers

Nancy Wheeler vs Max Mayfield

peter parker vs Cecil Palmer

BOYD vs Lena Sabrewing

Yuuki Mishima vs Naoto Shirogane

Futaba Sakura vs Akira Kurusu

Ricky Potts vsJane Doe

Koichi Hirose vs Narciso Anasui

Adeleine vs Meta Knight

Ferdinand von Aegir vs Lorenz Gloucester

Gomez Addams vs Morticia addams

Sir Crocodile vs Yamato

yellow caballero vs Gold

Akari vs Silver

Right side

Penny vs Champion Cynthia

Captain3 vs Agent 8

Apollo Justice vs maya fey

bill s preston esquire vs ted theodore logan

Kermit the Frog vs Gonzo

Jack Kline vs Castiel

Kazuhira Miller vs Revolver Ocelot

Mizuki Akiyama vs Mafuyu Asahina

Scaramouche vs Venti

Alucard vs Juste Belmont

Rika vs Wallac

Bede vs Celestia Ludenberg

Omega vs Pavel Chekov

Amy rose vs Tails

Gerard (Gerry) Keay vs Jonathan Sims

Jane Prentiss vs Martin blackwood

Aether vs Lumine

Diluc Ragnvindr vs Fischl

Sasha waybright vs Marcy wu

Lars vs finn

Jim Hawkins vs Mulan

onoda sakamichi vs shinkai yuuto

Vivian vs Birdo

Bridget vs Poison

Jack Spicer vs Enid

Taliyah vs Jinx

Yoshiko "Yohane" Tsushima vs Rina Tennoji

Marceline vs Wendy Corduroy

Optimus Prime vs Rodimus prime

The Master vs john sheppard

haruhi fujioka vs Haku

Jason Todd vs tim drake

billy batson vs Cleo Cazo/Ratcatcher 2

Maxwell Klinger vs George Costanza

Gyro Gearloose vs ron stampler

Daniel LaRusso vs Miguel Diaz

Xion vs Lauriam 

Alice Yabusame vs Marina

Anna vs Rin Hoshizora

David Jacobs vs Ambrose

Lestat vs Quentin Coldwater

Orel Puppington vs Chucky

Reze vs Isabella Yamamoto

Mrs. Frizzle vs Dr. Doofenshmirtz

Ellen Ripley vs Orla McCool

Peril vs Baldwin

Sidney Prescott vs Envy Adams

akiyama mizuki  vs Flower

Oswald Cobblepot vs Margo Hanson

Charlie Kelly vs Newton Geiszler

Remy vs Meowth

knock out vs Lavernius Tucker

Raiden vs lappland

Party Poison vs Nico di Angelo

Hera vs P03

Leo Demonheart vs Suzuki Iruma

Doug Ramsey vs Marty McFly

Lake vs Jenny

Will Graham vs Herbert West

Anne Boonchuy vs Carmen Sandiego

Paul Atreides vs Yoon Jong-woo

Ritsu sohma vs Ruby Rose

Ruffnut  vs Momoe Sawaki

Xie Lian vs Raikou Shimizu

Chai vs Hisirdoux Casperan

henry morris vs Dave Strider

Jeremie Belpois vs Lloyd Garmadon

Gandalf vs Dolores Abernathy

Arthur Kingsmen vs Mako

Kurama vs Vash the Stampede

Shiver vs Luigi

Kim Kitsuragi vs tristian

Rouge vs Zoe

Shinji Ikari vs Dororo

[realbigpodcastslut]

Lee's Podcast Master List (Current)

This is def incomplete and not all caught up anymore and I lost all the podcasts I have listened to. Do with that what you will. Bolded are podcasts I talk about the most.

Currently Listening To

The Silt Verses

Welcome to Night Vale (relisten)

Listened

Audio Dramas:

2298

36 Questions

A Scottish Podcast

Aftershocks

Alba Salix

The Alexandria Archives

Alice Isn't Dead

The Amelia Podcast

The Angel of the Vine

Archive 81

Arden

ars PARADOXICA

Attention Hellmart shoppers!

The Black Tapes

Blackwood

The Blood Crow Stories

The Bridge

The Bright Sessions

The Bubble

Brimstone Valley Mall

Charlie’s Mailbox

Dead Serious

Death by Dying

The Deep Vault

The Directive

Dreamboy

Drywater

The Elysium Project

Empty

EOS 10

The Far Meridian

Girl in Space

Greater Boston

Hadron Gospel Hour

Herbarium Podcast

Here be Dragons

Heroics

Hosts of Eden

I Am in Eskew

Inkwyrm

It Makes a Sound

Jim Robbie and the Wanders

Kakos Industries

Kevin’s Cryptids

King Falls AM

Lake Clarity

The Last Movie

Lesser Gods

Liberty

lif-e.af/ter / The Message

Limetown

The Lost Cat Podcast

LUCYD

Mable

Malevolent

The Magnus Archives

The Magnus Protocol

The Meat Blockade

Misadventure By Death

OAKPODCAST

Old Gods of Appalachia

Olive Hill

The Orbiting Human Circus 

Organism

Orphans

The Penumbra Podcast

Point Mystic

Qwerpline

RABBITS

Return Home

Rex Rivetter:  Private Eye

Rose Drive

Rover Red

SAYER

Scotch

Small Town Horror

Space Log

Spines

Star Tripper

Station to Station

Steal the Stars

The Strange Case of Starship Iris

Subject: Found

SubverCity Transmit

TANIS

Tales of THATTOWN

Testing Connection

Tides

Time:Bombs

Tribulation

Tunnels

Uncanny County

Under Pressure

Unwell

Video Palace

We Fix Space Junk

Welcome to Night Vale

What’s the Frequency

The White Vault

Within the Wires

Wolf 359

Wooden Overcoats

Zero Hours

Improv/Dnd:

Hello from the Magic Tavern (On ep 300-something I think?)

The Adventure Zone (Balance, Amnesty, Graduation)

Other:

The Folktale Project

Heme Review

Lore

My Brother My Brother and Me

This Podcast Will Kill You

The Topical (Onion)

To Listen To

Camp Here and there

Red Valley

WOE.BEGONE

Hello From the Hallowoods

Midnight Burger

Midnight Radio

Moonbase Theta, Out

The Godshead Incidental

Janus Decending

The Petrol Station

Cthulhu and Friends

The Mistholme Museum of Mystery, Morbidity and Mortality

Kakos (relisten)

Mabel (relisten)

Old Gods of Appalachia (relisten)

Palimpsest

Second Star to the Left

The Sheridan Tapes

Who Watches the Birdwatchers?

The Vesta Clinic

Spirit Box Radio

The Dead Letter Office of Somewhere, Ohio

Dead Man’s Notes

Life With Althaar

Middle:Below

The Pale

The Secret of St Kilda

Last updated: 6/25/2024

[julia-anon]

These city lights don't shine the way

That your eyes did on the lake

And I promise I won't forget you

I'll be back home one day

@willowanon @hazel-anon @alison-anon @mable-anon @haruanon @harleyanon @broghan-rplife @darla-anon @poppy-anon @violetjune-anon @ella-anon @kyleknightanon @beckymunsonanon @eric-anon @elhopperanon @lydia-anon @alexanon @maxmayfield-anon @ethan-anon @rileymayfieldanon @ivy-anon @charlotte-anon @alice-anonn @evelyn-anon @ava-anon @emily-anon @nancywheeleranon @luna-anonn @daphneanon @jennierubyjaneanon @liam-anon @abigail-anon @daphneanon @robinbuckley-anon @daniwood-anon @samharrington-anon @jaspermayfieldanon @lucas-anon @amelia-anon @theolivestheory @emma-anon @dustinhenderson-anon @violetharrington-anon @chrissy-anon @sallyanon @juliette-bishop @vanessaanon @alexnewhookanon @brettanon @cale-anon + anyone i missed

[siverwrites]

Game Log 2022

And here's how that game log for 2022 went. I had changed things up from previous years with three lists. The main To Play, knock 5 off my To Play itch.io collection and continuing with my journey through Dragon Quest.

To Play:

Disco Elysium (PC, GOG)*

The Messenger (PC, Epic)*

Ara Fell (PC, Steam)

Forgotton Anne (PC, Steam)

Machinarium (PC, Steam)

Moon: Remix RPG Adventure (Switch)

The Night of the Rabbit (PC, Steam)

Persona 4 Golden (PC, Steam)

Primordia (PC, Steam)

Wandersong (PC, Steam)

Book of Travels (PC, Steam)*

Metroid Dread (Switch)

Toem (Switch)

Tangle Tower (PC, Steam)

Later Alligator (PC, Steam)

Pokémon Legends: Arceus (Switch)

FAR: Changing Tides (Switch)

Sea of Stars (PC or Switch) (Removed for delay)

Return to Monkey Island (Switch)

Knock at least 5 10 games off the To Play collection on itch.io (complete or retire)

10mg: SNAAAK

A Bird’s Tale

a garden on the sea

A Good Snowman is Hard to Build

Anodyne

Astrologaster

ᗢ

Baba is You

Backbone

Beasts of Maravilla Island

Book of Eos

Button City

Bug Favor

by constellation

Celeste (Removed)

Chalk Gardens

Chook & Sosig: Walk the Plank

Cloud Gardens

Coffee Talk

Cookie’s Bakery

CrossCode

Eselmir and the Five Magical Gifts

Fairy Song

Falling Awake

Friendly Fire

Get In The Car, Loser!

Hidden Folks

How We Got Here

inbento

Little Mouse’s Encyclopedia

Lonely People Potion Shop

Mable And The Wood

miniNATURA

Minit

Momodora II

Monkey Warp

Moon Hunters

Night in the Woods

Nonsense at Nightfall

OneShot

Papersaurus

Panmorphia

Pendula Swing – The Complete Journey

Pillars of Dust

Quench

Rusty Lake Hotel

Satan Loves Cake

Semblance

shrubnaut

Signs of the Sojourner

Spring Falls

Star Surveyor

Symphonia

Tales Across Time

Tales from Windy Meadow

Tenderfoot Tactics

the bell shrine

The King’s Bird

The Old City of High Walls

The Search

The Stillness of the Wind

The Sweater Thief

The Tale of the Cartographer

Underhero

Where the Snow Settles

Wonderflower

Ynglet

Dragon Quest:

Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation (DS)*

Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past (3DS)*

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (3DS)*

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (DS)**

*Has been started before or currently playing (note I have played DQ VIII before but on PS2) **Replay

Currently Playing:

Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past (3DS)

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GCN, emulated)

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (PC, Steam)

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky 3rd (Steam)

Pokémon Violet (Switch)

Chained Echoes (Steam)

–

Finished:

January:

Later Alligator (PC, Steam)

TOEM (Switch)

Disco Elysium (PC, GOG)

Nonsense at Nightfall (PC, itch.io)

February:

shrubnaut (PC, itch.io)

the bell shrine (browser, itch.io)

The Sweater Thief (browser, itch.io)

a garden on the sea (PC/browser, itch.io)

Papersaurus (PC/browser, itch.io)

Bug Favor (browser, itch.io)

March:

Cloud Gardens (PC, itch.io)

inbento (PC, itch.io)

Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster (PC, Steam)

10mg: SNAAAK (PC, itch.io)

Disco Elysium (PC, GOG)**

April:

The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition (PC, Steam)

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge (PC, Steam)

The Curse of Monkey Island (PC)

Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation (DS)

May:

Tangle Tower (PC, Steam)

Pokémon Snap 64 (N64, emulated)

FAR: Changing Tides (Switch)

June:

Chrono Trigger (SNES, emulated)

She and the Lightbearer (PC, Steam)

Sorcery! Part 1 (PC, Steam)

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC (PC, Steam)

July:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

This is a black parallelepipedon in a yellow field (browser, itch.io)

Tales of Monkey Island (PC, Steam)

The Secret of Monkey Island (PC, Steam)

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge (PC, Steam)

The Curse of Monkey Island (PC)

Hidden Folks (PC, itch.io)

A Bird’s Tale (PC, itch.io)

Crash/Impact/Contact (browser, itch.io)

August:

Everything is Garbage (PC, itch.io)

Trapped with Jester (browser, itch.io)

Late Night Talks (browser, itch.io)

Celeste 2 Classic: Lani’s Trek (PC, itch.io)

Satan Loves Cake (PC, itch.io)

Sort the Court (browser, itch.io)

ᗢ (PC, itch.io)

Wonderflower (PC, itch.io)

Mimi’s Delivery Dash (PC, itch.io)

Burly Men at Sea (PC, Steam)

Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling (PC, Steam)

September:

Return to Monkey Island (Switch)

Persona 4 Golden (PC, Steam)

October:

Final Fantasy X (PS2)

November:

Donkey Kong Country (SNES, 3DS Virtual Console)

Baba Is You (PC, itch.io)

Symphonia (PC, itch.io)

Live A Live (Switch)

King’s Quest: Quest for the Crown (PC, GOG)

December:

Hot Pot Panic (PC, itch.io)

◫ (browser, itch.io)

Solomon’s Box (browser, itch.io)

King’s Quest II: Romancing the Thrown (PC, GOG)

Sisão (browser, itch.io)

beachcombing (browser, itch.io)

King’s Quest III: To Heir is Human (PC, GOG)

Nothing to Say (browser, itch.io)

Cookie’s Bakery (gameboy emu, itch.io)

Resonance of the Ocean (PC, itch.io)

Towerbag (browser, itch.io)

Mario Party 2 (NSO)

King’s Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella (PC, GOG)

2023 Log

[be-side-my-self]

Rewatch of ONLY Murders In The Building to prepare for season 4 (V)

<Part I> // <Part II> // <Part III> // <Part IIII>

Block #OMITBRewatch if you don’t want to read notes that will have spoilers up to seasons 3. Just to make it clear, while quoting, I use M, O, C for the main characters.

Also I’m putting this under a read more because it gets long. (also, also this is the fifth part and I finally added "only" to the title.)

S2 E7

Episode of Mabel.

There is Theo and that is a really nice apartment.

M: "Is that me? Did I stab someone? Again?"

Detective Williams baby is so cute! Keith.

Mabel: "Nice accesory." Theo: *Looks down at his ankle* Mabel: "You steal jewelery from dead people, and the state gives you and anklet. Kind of poetic." Theo: *slams the mug, pissed off.*

THEO DIMAS I'm deaf. I write, or use ASL _I catch only 1/3 of what you say,_ through lip-reading.

*insert that video from american psycho about the business cards.

Theo: "When you got off the train, you were in shock so I took you to my place like creep."

Theo is really nice.

Detective Williams is so great.

.... they are so stupid it's amazing... but also that apartment is poorly soundproofed

Talking about a two-men job on the toilet is a really weird thing to say.

M: "Ah, yes. The adventures of a teenage grave robber. Got it."

Theo likes the simple solutions. Nice.

Someone with frustration is playing Whak-a-mole

Crane game... my sister is so good at it. Better than Theo.

So, how did he manage to get the ring in the crane-game? Sleight of hand? He could have put it in there when Mable did not look.

Oliver probably has probably flash-back to the time Will was a baby.

The dads are consulting.

Oh Mabel :(

Of course she is angry, her dad is dying and he can't keep his promises and she does not know.

Uh oh... glitter.

That is such a good scene.

So, the background on Mable's phone... is that her fursona?

Omg... please... I know you need to look at the lips Theo, but please look at the street.

M: "Thank you for stealing my fish."

Oh right! A blackout!

S2 E8

Sith-Avenue Slasher

Something about this was correct...

Also love the fan-made merch. All the tie-die stuff.

You always get Oliver with dips.

Howard! Go for it!!

Psycharatist: "There may be more to life than cats."

... lmao Charles and Oliver bonding over the guy who operated their knees. Besties.

Howard: "Sevenlyn Marie Morris, num num!"

Smooth, Howard!

It's actually nice to see some side-characters in that episode...

Howard and that other guy are a match made in heaven... pity it does not last :/

Also the scene with Nina and the door-man is really good.

Oh... the whole house singing sound of silence. That is such a nice scene.

:(

Mabel takes the dips with her!

lmao everyone getting drunk in the lobby XD

M: "But why are you here? Other than interrogating teenage girls? Detective Kreps: "That's just one part of the job I happen to like."

YIKES YIKES YIKES

The GLITTER!!

S2 E9

Rose Cooper and Leonora Folger are the same person iirc.

Well the alimony is probably partly your fault, Kreps.

Kreps: "And she, or he, if that is your thing, they smile at you, and your whole goddamn universe turns upside down. And that's when shit gets really crazy."

M: "That is ASL for glitter." C: "Oh, that is kind of fun."

Congrats Oliver! You are the father!

O: "There's no real difference. All the European countries are esentially the same."

... boy.

Hey, Alice!

As I said, I did not like Alice but this is really tragic. It would have been nice for Mabel to have an artist as a girlfriend.

Oh lol... Rose just acted like she was Leonora.

And... now I think I remember that Oliver is lying about being greek... but it's a white lie?

25 Willow Dr Lake Placid New York

"Excessive Force Fighting Gym" ... that sounds fun and not serious at all. But gosh the upcoming scene is so good.

Hey, Teddy!

Lmao... Oliver just going for Teddy's throat.

O: "You're my son's father, you piece of shit!"

Kreps: "If I'm so stupid, how come I was able to land the smartes woman on the planet?"

It they weren't murderers their story would have been kinda cute.

Teddy: "Ow!" O: "Can I get you something!? Coffee? Water? A swift kick in the dick?" Teddy: "Look, Oliver, let me explain--" O: "Oh no, no, no. You know you don't have to. I was up all night talking to Roberta. She told me what happened." Teddy: "Did she tell you it only happened once?" O: "She said twice." Teddy: "One night, two times." O: "Well, now you're just bragging."

Mabel figures it out but comes to the wrong conclusion... I mean I would too.

Teddy's whole family was a bunch of crooks.

Teddy: "Aren't we square at this point? You send me to jail, I fuck your wife?"

Well, shit.

S2 E10

I remember that I really enjoyed the episode.

Poppy really had a shitty life.

The Mayor... yikes, yikes, yikes...

Cinda is such a bitch.

O: "Torture? Can we torture her? Charles, get your concertina and whatever you consider your 10 most intersting stories." C *rubbing his nose with his middle finger*: "Hm, let me just muse on that, uh, for a second." O *smirks*: "Mm."

No, Oliver it does not feel like a finale yet... but at least we got to see Poppy's background story.

M: "Oliver, what did we agree on?" O: "You and Charles do the talking."

I know people who are disgusted by the inside of the tomatoe but also someone who gets an allergic reaction when eating unprocessed tomatoes. I on the other hand can eat a tomatoe like an apple. And I enjoy it.

Liverwurst? Yum. Marmelade? Yum. Togther? ... nonono

Uma is great.

Lester's (Doorman) story is hardcore.

Oliver is so fast with giving away Charles' money.

O: "The sexual energy between you two was obvious. I'd say more, but this is a family murder podcast."

Charles and Oliver doing slow motion is so hilarious.

Don't waste food.

... love how Mabel ist using the ego of Poppy to confess.

Holy shit what a scene.

I remember the first time I saw that I was so freaked out.

And the fact that Cinda is now complimenting Mabel...

Again... if they weren't murderers, I would have wished Krebs and Poppy all the best.

C: "Hallelujah! It's a miracle cure!" Lucy: "Nice. you got de-dementia'd."

LMAO... How Charles tries his best to ask out Joy and luckily she understands his grunts.

Pity, that the mural is painted over.

Also it seems like Mabel and Alice stayed friends at least. Maybe dated some longer, who knows?

Awww... Will and Oliver having a moment.

I screamed when I saw Paul Rudd in that role.

But like what kind of ass do you have to be to get on the bad side of Charles?

*dramatic yodeling*

[cosmic-spider]

Gideon

<< Lake cryptic Triangle >>

After a few days the twins invited you to go see what the tent of telepathy was like.

You agreed to compare it to the mystery shake and see which ones more of a scam.

As the three of you plus Soos arrived at the tent and took your seat in one of the row's.  You all stared to look around and point out how it was kinda like the Shake.

" Wow this is like a bazar version of the Mystery Shake." Dipper said as you sat in between the twins. He then pointed of to the side.

"Look they even have there own Soos." A guy that kinda looked like Soos walked by. The lights then started to fade as music stared to play.

"It's starting, It's starting!" Mable chanted as the lights did some tricks until they landed to a blue curtan.

" let's see what this mister looks like?" Dipper said as he got ready for the performance.

"Yeah right like they can be anywhere worse than Stan at road attractions."  You said as you then focused on the show.

A figure shadow then showed on the curtan a bit until they opened up to show

.

.

.

.

A small child?

"Oh no!" You whisper as you slumped into your seat.

" what y/n what's wrong!" Mable asked as she looked over at your side.

"He's one of my greatest fears!" You whisper yell.

"What do you mean?You can take him in a fight right?" Dipper asked as he looked over at you confused.

"Oh totally. I would drop kick him in a heartbeat." It's another thing about him you told him as you sat back up correctly.

"Talentless children trying to show off." You whispered to Dipper side since you know Mable wouldn't like what you said.

"Oh I see." Dipper whispered back before Mable shushed you up.

"Shshsh it's starting!"

" Hello American, my name is lil' Gideon!" The small big white hairs child introduced himself as he then closed his hands. As doves flew out of his hair.

"That's Stan's mortal enemy?" Dipper asked in disbelief.

"But he's so...little?" Mable said kindly.

"Well I don't trust this one bit. You crossed you arms. The smaller and simple  something is. The more likely there dangerous." You said as you squint your eyes, look at Gideon on the stage.

Lady's and gentlemen it's such a gift to have you here tonight. Such a gift. I have a vision that all of you will say aww."

Gideon said out to the crowd as he then turned around and made a " cute face"

Most everyone in the crowded did say aww. Expect  you Mable, Dipper, and Soos.

" pfff- I can be cuter" you said as you rolled your eyes away

Gideon then started to sing as he then grabbed his bow tie and made everyone stand up.

"Nope I don't trust him at all. Plus he's a complete fraud more than Stan." You thought to your self and you felt the force of magic he used to make the audience to stand up.

He then started to point out simple things like a old wanna with cats. Sherif Blubbs having a bunch of Gideon merch.

He even came up next you were you were all and said Mables name that was in her sweater.

After the show you all walked out as the twins talked in front of you.

"He was amazing, and did you see his hair it was like woosh!" Mable said impressed while Dippers wasn't .

You liked behind you a bit to see Gideon spying on you all behind the tent. Then  hid when he saw you looking behind you.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Time skip

The next you you were over at the Shake again as Dipper was drinking some water and you were looking throw the journal again.

Mable then came running into the room with a bedazzled face.

" look I successfully bedazzled my face!" Mable then blinked a few times and some of the gemstones on her face came off.

You didn't pay to much attention as you then hear the door bell ring. Then Stan yelling off from another room for someone to get it.

You and blue raced a bit to get to the door. But you got there first. Opening it up you then see Gideon at the front door in his suit.

"Oh it's you." You said a bit bland as you looked down at him. Mable on the other hand pushed you a bit out of the way to also be at the door.

" of its little l'you!" She said as the two talked you watched from the door not really talking. You did notice the bit of weird that Gideon would say every now and then.

Like when he got his collet cover bin the gemstones that Mable coughed out. Plus the complaints he gave Mable.

"What do you say the two of us get away from here perhaps in my dressing room?" Gideon asked Mable.

You then grabbed Mables hand pulling her into the shake.

" just give us a moment to discuss this in between us girls" You told Gideon then started to close the door.

"Oh that's ok." He said as you closed the door.

" Mable don't go to his dressing room or hang out with Gideon!" You told her as you grabbed her shoulders.

"What why not! You and dipper get to do a lot of cool mystery stuff and you don't do a not of girly things with me! Well other than our dress up fashion shows, make sweats, do each others make up." Mable told you as she grabbed on to your hands.

" please this is my first time to hand out with someone new that's not you or Dipper. Mable asked you as she did her cute eyes.

"Ok ok you have a point but can I at least go with you. As our S.I.S.T.E.R code states on rule 35. If one of us wants to hand out with someone new. The other one has to be there to. We don't want another Josh situation, now do we?" You told her you got on your knees looking amable in the eyes.

"No we don't and you have a point to." Mable said as she gave you a hug.  Then she opens the door to show Gideon backing up. Seeming to be putting he's head up against the door.

"Ok Gideon we can hand out, but  y/n with have to come with me. As it's part of our S.I.S.T.E.R. code." Mable told Gideon as she stepped out the shake.

" oh... ok then I can see that the two of you are close so it's fine." Gideon said as he laughs nervously.

"Relax Gideon I won't be there completely. I'll just be off to the side so you two can have fun. So don't worry I won't bother you guy's fun." You told him with a small fake smile on.

"Alright then let's get going!" Mable said as she grabbed your hand and started to fallow Gideon pulling you along.

As the day went by you watched from a distance as the two would do each other's makeup. You on the other hand would just sit down on a chair close by and be on your phone.

Every now and then you would participate when Mable called you over. As the day ended you stole some eyeliner from the dressing room.

Mable then told you they were going to handout the next day. Saying something about them going to the roof of Gideons family wear house.

So you came as well but stayed on the ground leaning on a tree. As you stayed down there waiting for the " hang out" to be over. You just  keep having the felling that you were being watched.

Even when you looked around you didn't see or feel the presences of anything. It was more like it was just a figure of energy not having a physical form.

But you stoped looking as you see Mable walking towards you with a more nervous and uncomfortable  face on.

" Mable are you ok did anything happen up there?" You asked her as you both walked back to the Shake.

"Um we can talk about this back at the shake with Dipper." She whispers as she continues to walk ahead of you.

As the three of you got to the shake.Mable and Dipper played a video game as you got back to the journal.

"Well it's not a date, date?  I didn't want to hurt his feelings, so I thought I'll throw him a bone. "Mable said as he then won the game."

"Mable guys don't work that way. He's going to fall in love with you." Dipper said as he then lost the game.

The sound of a knock at the door then shuts us up.

" Mable this has gotten a bit out of hand. So I will be going on this ( date) of yours." You told her as amable got up to answer the door. Only for Gideon to come in throw the door on a horse.

"A night of enchantment awaits m'lady." Gideon said with a smile as he held out his hand to Mable.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Time skip

Gideon then took Mable to a date inside a ( fancy restaurant.)

You as always stud on the side lines, but this time it was now like Gideon was forcefully trying to separate you and Mable.

It was suspicious from the start, but this just had you on edge.

You then decided to spy on then a bit. So you sat down on a bench right outside the restaurant. But then you closed your eyes and did a few small circle on the ground.

Next thing you were able to watch what was happening. On the inside of the building from the shadows.

You watched as saw how Gideon then pressured Mable to to go on another date. You then started to have a headache from spying on them.

When amable got out with a lobster in hand. You told her that you couldn't accompany her on the next date.

After a bit of talking you told dipper what was happening. That he was going have step up since you were getting a headache.

As you got home and took a nap. You then had a weird dream were you were walking around in the forest. Until you made it to bridge over a lake. Then a blurred out figure float ahead of you giving you a necklace.

You then closed your eyes and then you opened them. To see you can only look out of your left eye. You put your hand up to were your right eye was only to see that you had black hood on your hand.

Then you woke up in the middle of the night. You looked down at tour hands and see that they weren't your human hands. They were more like bone claws you then passed out.

Then the next day after the second date Mable went on you went over to the shake. You see how Mable was covering up her face with her sweater.

"Ok this is it making you nervous was one thing, then pressuring you to go on second date is a bit much. But making you the most happy girl I know. Go to sweater town! That's enough Gideon has crossed the line and I'm going to tell him to back off!" You yell out after Dipper told you what happened while you recovered from your headache.

"I know! How about I go tell him to back off. While you keep an eye on Mable." Dipper suggested as saw how sick you still looked.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

                                 Time Skip

After amable asked Wendy how she was felling she made a concussion. To tell Gideon her self that they were not going to be together.

You fallowed close behind and arrived in time to see. Gideon was using his bollo tie to hold Dipper up in the sky choking him.

After amable said that they were not going to be together, but could still be friends.  She then walked up to him and the pulled out the tie of Gideon.

Making Dipper fall to the floor. She then throw it to you as you ran over to were Dipper was. Making Gideon run at the two of you so hard that the three of the fell out from the window behind you all.

Mable then grabbed the tie as she then used it to float herself and catch the two before they fell on the floor.

You then see that there was nothing to catch you fall until you see a tree grow out a beach. Catching you in the process of falling. As you climbed down the tree you then looked over to see Mable throw the tie on a rock braking it.

As Gideon said a threat to watch out for him he walked backwards to were you were standing.

You then  picked up Gideon by his hair  to your eye level and then looked him in the eyes.

"If you mess with my little brother or sister then your going have to face me!" You yelled out to him as your eyes for a moment we're yellow with a long black pupil and brown iris around it.

"Ahhh!? Let me go you freak!" Gideon yelled out as  screamed and got out of your hold running into the forest.

" Wait you think of us as your little siblings? Mable asked surprised as she walked over to you.

"We'll of course I do  you two may be four years younger than me. But you two are like the siblings I wish I had." You told them as you gave them a hug.

Third pov

As Gideon made little figures of Stan amable and Dipper. After he Frobisher making the y/n one. It then caught on fire the moment it was placed on the table.

“Ahhh!?”Gideon yelled out shocked and scared as the small figure fought in fire. “Weird just like that freak y/n.” He whispered as a shadow of a triangle was shown on the wall behind Gideon.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

[roosterbruiser]

𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 — 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄 —— 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄

—𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍: 𝐁𝐎𝐁 𝐖𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐒 𝐔𝐏. 𝐅𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐔𝐁𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑. —𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐒: 𝟒.𝟔𝐊 —𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 —𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 —𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐁𝐎𝐀𝐑𝐃 —𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐎𝐀𝐊𝐒, 𝐌𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐏 𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐀 𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐘 𝟐𝟏𝐒𝐓, 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟕

It’s still quiet in the mess hall when you wring out the rag for the last time, bits of clotted blood and clumps of mud floating in the murky water.

Bob looks better--kind of. Without the mud and the blood obstructing his flesh, you see how peaked he is. There’s no color in his cheeks, in his chest. It’s all rushed to the stub of his left arm, which is red and swollen and angry. The bleeding has stopped, yes, but the burn is beginning to blister. 

Deep, deep down in your body, you know that it will get infected. Even if you’re cleaning it every half hour, even if you disinfect your hands as best as possible every time you touch him, you’re certain it will become infected. You’re just hoping that when the time comes, you won’t be at Camp Arcadia anymore.  

Phoenix is sitting with Bob’s head on her lap now, her palms against his cheeks. She glances at you from her lashes--watches you wipe your hands on your dungarees and then sit back on your haunches. When you tip your head back, eyes shut uneasily and throat tight and flexed, she can see that you’re bloodier than Bob. It’s matted over your skin, on your clothes, in your hair. She hasn’t noticed until just now.

“You could really give Carrie White a run for her money right now.” Her fingers are tangled in Bob’s hair. His scalp is hot to the touch--that’s good. At least she thinks that’s good. “Do you want me to wash you off?” Phoenix asks in earnest. 

Humming, you shake your head. Exhaustion is starting to lick the inside of your eyelids--it's saliva is like a paste, a paste that makes it harder and harder to keep your eyes open and on Phoenix. 

“You stay with Bob,” you tell her. You don’t move at first, your heavy head still tipped back. “I’ll wash up.” 

“Alone?” Phoenix asks. She furrows her brows. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” 

“I’m just gonna wade in the lake,” you tell her. You pause--an image of water kissing the bottom of your ribs thick behind your eyes. “Maybe I’ll ask Mable to wash away my sins. Think she’d jive with that?” 

Phoenix snorts, a smile tugging on her lips. 

“It would be the highlight of her summer.” 

You chuckle. 

“You know, if we were talking about anyone else, I’d say bullshit considering the--you know, the circumstances. But I know you’re right. Big time.” 

You and Phoenix laugh shortly--it’s tired and doesn’t take up much room in the warm kitchen. Bob doesn’t stir. And then, just as quickly as the laughter is born, it dies on the tiles shapeless and quiet. 

There is humor in terrible things and there are terrible things in humor. And as you and Phoenix settle back into your quiet lull, you wonder which this is. Holding Bob, who’s still pale from blood loss, sitting on the bloody tiles of the mess hall kitchen, joking about Mable baptizing you. 

Phoenix shifts. She’s baptized--her parents are Catholic. But Bob--she knows Bob isn’t baptized. Late one early May night, they talked for a long time about religion. Bob, a devout agnostic, explained his parent’s distaste for organized religion. He grew up Godless and will die Godless. 

“Are you baptized?” Phoenix asks you. 

You shake your head, sniffing. It’s like someone is holding dirty pennies underneath your nose. 

“No,” you tell her. “The ‘rents never got around to it.” 

“Never a priority, huh?” Phoenix asks. She curls a piece of Bob’s hair around her finger and then lets it go. “I get it.” 

Now you shift. It’s always made you uncomfortable to talk about religion in personal terms. Especially since people always assumed you were religious given your virginal status, which simply was not the truth. 

“I’m a lost cause,” you sigh quietly, finally. 

You scratch your head--dried blood flakes off. 

Standing up, you exhale so all the air is punched out of your lungs. Your legs are wobbly and the muscles in your thighs are burning, but you carefully maneuver yourself around Bob anyway. 

“Be careful,” Phoenix tells you. “Don’t get slashed.” 

“Brill idea,” you whisper. “Why didn’t I think of that?” 

And then you’re walking through the empty mess hall and your footsteps are heavy and echoing off the vaulted ceiling. Your heart is beating in your ears and your feet are so, so heavy. 

The exhaustion sitting heavy on your chest is so overwhelming that when the doors leading outside swing open before you even touch the handles, you almost fall back flat on your ass. You’re partly expecting to see the entity there in the doorway, wreaking of sulfur and covered in Bob’s blood, flesh stuck between its teeth. You think--maybe it’s finally come back to take me. Maybe it will take me and leave everyone else be. 

But it’s just Bradley standing there in the doorway, backlit by the golden sun.

And then all thoughts of the creature vanish. Jesus. You’re sleep-deprived. 

Bradley blinks in surprise, the tips of his ears still hot from his confrontation with Jake. He’s truly taken back by you for a moment--you’re so thoroughly covered in blood that you look hurt. Well, you look like someone dumped a bucket of pig blood over your head.  

You’re blinking at him, your eyes narrowed and your hands lamely by your side.

“Hey,” Bradley says. “Sorry, didn’t mean to…accost you.” 

Swallowing, you shake your head.  

“You good?” You ask finally, swallowing hard. 

Bradley nods. 

“Just dandy,” he tells you. 

He lets the door fall shut behind him and you’re able to open your eyes fully without the sun pouring in the room. 

It’s quiet for a moment. The sticky air is melting the blood on your body all over again--so much so that you can feel it dripping from your thighs down to your calves. It’s pooling in your socks again. 

But the quiet, muggy air doesn’t distract you from all the blood that’s gathered in Rooster’s face, his throat. He’s pissed, you realize. Like breathing hard, lip-twitching, eyes narrowed kind of pissed. 

“What’s grinding your gears?” You ask him. Then you sigh, eyes fluttering shut. “If that isn’t too dumb of a question.” 

“Hangman,” Bradley answers, rolling his eyes. He pauses before adding, “He’s really gone for you.” 

Shifting uncomfortably and slapping a mosquito off your thigh, your eyes fall to the floor. Rooster’s just watching you, hands on his hips. Your brows are furrowed and your lips are flat. 

And suddenly, things feel stilted--awkward. 

You care a lot about Bradley. You care a lot about Jake. Jake made you cum and taught you how to shoot a gun and you had sex with Bradley after he told you about his parents then Bob’s arm got hacked off. All these feelings are still here in your body, amalgamating in the tips of your fingers and your littlest toes. 

Things are stilted. Things are weird. 

Bradley’s thinking about how blissful everything felt hours ago. He’d told you he loved you. You told him to kiss you. He can remember the way your lips felt, open and gasping, when he pressed into you all the way for the first time. How thoroughly his you felt. Finally his. Just you and your body and just him and his body. 

Then he thinks about how it crumbled. All of it--gone, just like that. 

“Birdie?” Bradley says softly. He takes a half-step closer to you. 

You don’t look up. 

“Yeah?” You whisper back. 

“Do you regret it?”

Still looking down, you shake your head. You know what he’s talking about.

“No,” you whisper. “I don’t.” 

He thinks, as he stands here before you, that this was never the way things were supposed to go. You were supposed to have sex for the first time and then it was supposed to just be you and him--that’s it. You and him. Sunlight, dewy grass, blue sky, fresh sheets, kissing each other’s throats, making goo-goo eyes at each other across the mess hall, holding hands at the bonfire, skinny dipping after midnight. 

And now it isn’t just fucked up, all of it, but he’s fucked up--he’s hardly asked how you were. He knows how some girls feel after their first times and he knows that it’s his job to make sure you feel good about what happened. But between Bob and blood and searing skin and morphine and all the confusion, he’s been lost. 

“Are you…Jesus…are you, like, okay?” He asks. His hip is jutted as he speaks, his brows furrowed and his eyes wide with earnest. “I know I was supposed to, like, bring you a muffin in bed and, like, pick you some flowers--!” 

“--Shut up,” you whisper, an exhausted smile tugging on your lips. “You’re such a cornball.” 

Just the sound of your voice, which is entirely exhausted but amused, makes him grin. It’s that easy for him. 

“I was gonna write a song, too,” he continues, grin growing wider and wider. “Perform it with just a sheet on.” 

“I would’ve left the cabin,” you tell him, finally meeting his gaze. 

And, oh--there it is, clear as day. His eyes are pouring into yours and they’re crinkled with joy amidst all this shit because he’s looking at you. All the love you’ve ever known, you’ve ever even come close to returning, is sitting pretty on his eyelashes. 

It nearly knocks the breath out of you. 

“Well, in my dream scenario, you’d be tied down,” Rooster says. 

His eye falls in a wink--quick and discreet. 

“Didn’t know you were bad like that,” you tell him. 

And then you take a moment to stretch out your body, reaching the tips of your fingers to the ceiling. His eyes drift to your thighs, which are slick and flexed.

“Depends on who I’m with,” Rooster says. He can feel all the rage in his body, the rage Jake put there, fading fast. “You bring out a different side of me, I guess.” 

“Giving me a big head over here,” you say with an exaggerated eye roll. “And you think Jake is gone for me, huh?”

Rooster grins. 

“Like when I lay it on thick?” 

Another eye roll. 

“Oh, you’re really giving it to me.” 

“Well, if we had it my way, I would still be giving it to you--!” 

Before he can finish his sentence, you’re hissing and shaking your head, nose wrinkled. You have half a mind to clamp your hand over his mouth, but you don’t want to stain his lips with blood. And really, if you do anything to his mouth, you want to kiss it. 

There’s a pause, both of you just watching the other. 

“You regret anything?” You ask softly, though you already know the answer.

He shakes his head immediately. 

“Regret not doing it sooner,” he says. 

Heat floods your face. 

“Right,” you whisper. “You’re such a romantic.”

And just as you’re about to squeeze past him and walk to the water before you get too ditzy, Phoenix suddenly bursts through the doorway. Her knees are bowed and her eyes are wide and there’s tears running down her face.  

Rooster watches in real time as you shift. That slight slump in your shoulders, the heaviness in your eyes, that lazy smile, the earnestness in your irises--it disappears immediately. Your rigidness returns, stiffening your spine and pulling your lips down and turning your body away from him. 

“What?” You ask--that edge is back in your voice. 

“Bob,” Phoenix says. She swallows hard, shakes her head. “He’s waking up!”

And before you can respond, just as you’re about to start for Bob and Phoenix with all thoughts of wading in the lake entirely vanished, the mess hall doors swing open again. Everyone, in complete tandem, turns to see who’s coming. 

It’s Jake and it’s Javy, standing beside each other with their chests heaving and their faces drained of any color. They’re each holding something, blinking rapidly at everyone dispersed around the mess hall. 

“Gale,” Javy says, stepping into the hall and shaking his head. “I found the--I found the weapon.” 

“Weapon?” You say, shocked. 

“The weapon,” Jake utters. “Like, as in, this is what cut Bob’s arm off.”

Coyote drops it on the floor--the bloodied ax he and Jake found on their walk back over. Jake was the one who’d seen it from afar, shining underneath the sun, nestled in the rocks and mud outside their own cabin. 

It was not exactly hidden and it was not exactly in plain sight either. It was placed as if it’s user was playing a game--testing the intelligence, the observance of the counselors at Camp Arcadia. But when Coyote said as much to Jake, Jake doubled over and vomited on the rocks. 

“I’m freaking out, man,” Jake had admitted. 

And he is still freaking out now as he stands before you and Bradley in the mess hall, your face horrified and stony as you stare down at the ax.

You step back--Bradley puts his arm in front of you as if protecting you from them. Any other time, you’d shove through his makeshift barrier. But you’re shaken right now and that doesn't happen often.  

“Jesus,” Jake says. “Someone slashed the tires, too. With this.” 

He throws the Swiss army knife on the floor and it clatters just like the ax did, clagning to a stop right by your feet. Jake looks at you, an apology on his lips, but then you’re leaning down and grabbing it. 

A shrill chill slices through the middle of your chest--numbs your toes and your fingers. There’s ringing in your ears and your heart is in your chest and all these people are here and you’re so tired and oh God--Mable wasn’t lying. 

Everyone is stuck still watching you as you hold the knife in your sticky hand, gazing down at it as the blood drains from your body and pools in your lower belly. You’re so full of fear that you feel like it’s bile pushing up, up, up your throat. 

“What is it?” Jake asks finally, breaking the silence. He hasn’t been able to stop shaking since he found the ax--which is covered in blood and bits of Bob. “Gale, what is it, honey?” 

Bradley doesn’t move when Jake steps closer to you. Jake stares at him for a long, hard moment. But he doesn’t challenge Bradley--not when he can hardly look at you on account of the gore you’re covered in.

“What’s wrong?” Javy repeats. “You’re skeeving me out, Gale!”

“Mable told me the Devil…she told me someone cut her with a Swiss army knife,” you say. You say it only just loud enough for the room to hear. “She wasn’t bullshitting us. She wasn’t fucking bullshitting us.” 

You don’t give anyone a chance to respond. You hand the knife to Bradley and meet his eyes again--his brows are furrowed now, his cheeks are reddened again. 

“Put this in the nurse’s office,” you tell him. “Tuck it in the back of a drawer so no one can find it. I mean it, okay? Not a soul.” 

He nods once--suddenly very sober. 

“Why?” Javy asks. 

“We’re not gonna make it easy for them,” you say. 

Your throat is dry. So is everyone else's.

And then you’re jogging back to the kitchen. 

Bob’s blinking up at the ceiling in the kitchen, his eyelids like sheets of rock over his dry eyes. Everything is blurry--the water-stained planks, the wooden walls. At first he isn’t sure why and he can’t even wonder about it because of the pulsing of his entire body. The pain isn’t very bad and for some reason, he knows it isn’t natural. He knows that he’s supposed to be in a lot of pain right now. But it feels removed from him by one degree of separation, like he’s one on one side of plexiglass and the pain is on the other. 

“Bob,” he keeps hearing you say. “Can you feel this?”  

You’re coming in and out of his field of vision, a red blur, and he wants to respond to you but he can’t. He’s too out of it, too distracted from the severe numbness in his left arm. He wants to tell you that he can’t feel anything you’re doing. 

And then he’s freezing, fingers trembling, because someone is pressing an icy rag against his face. 

“Ow,” he whispers because it’s all he can manage to say. 

Phoenix leans in so her face is hovering Bob’s. She’s crying, smiling as she wipes his feverish face with the rag. 

“Bob,” Phoenix says--her voice is quivering. “You absolute dork. You really gave us a scare.” 

You’re making quick work checking his wound, disinfecting it. You’re half-listening to Phoenix talk to Bob as she tries to cool his fever, your heart racing. You’re laser-focused, carefully working around the stub. 

But then you roll his t-shirt back and it takes everything in your power to not faint, to not cry, to not scream. There it is, clear as the day is blue: red streaks moving away from his crimson, swollen wound. It’s angry and seared and pulsing and leaking. Infected. The wound is infected. Carefully, you keep rolling the shirt back and that’s when you see that it’s already spread to his shoulder.  

“What…what happened?” Bob asks, voice thin and strained. 

Phoenix sniffles. 

“You don’t remember?” 

“He’s been out for a while,” you remind her. Your voice is quiet, restrained. You roll his shirt down and stare down at your hands. “We don’t know if he hit his head.” 

Phoenix nods. 

“Bob,” she says softly. “You were…attacked.” 

And as soon as she says it, it all comes rushing back at hyperspeed. It hits him right behind the eyes--the memory of that night. 

Oh, yes. He was attacked. 

He was going to the latrine when he heard a noise by the water--yes, he remembers. It was an odd noise, one that he hadn’t ever heard before. It was a grinding--a quiet and severe grinding, like rubbing two rocks together at a hasty and constant speed. 

He had peered around the corner, the dim glow of the lantern his only source of light besides the paper moon. The noise was so constant that he had a hard time imagining it was man-made. But then he saw it--very faintly, just a silhouette: something by the water, hunched over, grinding something. 

Bob just watched for a long, long moment. He didn’t know what he was looking at, straining to see more in the dark. And as his eyes adjusted, the grinding growing louder and constant as ever, he realized what he was looking at. 

A man--a naked man.

Fear was like a noose around his neck, tightening and raising him up, up, up until he felt like he could only breathe when he stood on his tip-toes. Bob must’ve choked out a gasp, the reality of this horror dawning on him suddenly and overwhelmingly. 

The grinding halted--the naked man looked up and right at Bob. 

And even though Bob was horrified, even though he was stumbling backwards and away from the man with his heart in his throat, he had the distinct feeling that the man knew he was there the whole time. 

Something gnawed on his brain stem then and there: this was a game. This was about fear. This was about what he could get away with. This man wanted to be caught--knew Bob would hear the noise, knew Bob would come looking. 

“What the…” Bob had whispered in the dark. 

He started stumbling backwards, started to head back towards the cabin, his throat numb. 

And then the man suddenly stood--tall and broad, much bigger than Bob. And in his hands was a stone and an ax. That’s what the grinding had been, Bob realized. He was sharpening the ax.

Bob wanted to scream, but the petrification choked him so completely that he could only suck in a gasp, could only half-turn his body before he heard the thunderous footsteps closing the distance between him and the man. The rocks skittered and the cool night air plunged against his back as the naked man ran towards Bob. 

“Wait, I--!” 

And then the stone had come down on Bob’s head so hard that everything blinked into blackness. The last thing he remembered, the very last thing, was the taste of the earth on his tongue. 

Now he’s here, in the mess hall kitchen, and everyone is starting to crowd around him. 

“Do you remember anything, Bob?” Coyote asks. His face is a flat plane of concern, his lips twisted and his eyes narrowed. “Like, anything?”

“Give him a minute,” Phoenix hisses. “He just woke up.” 

Bob blinks and lets his head lull to the side. He sees you there, covered in blood, wearing your dungarees. Your face is hard as you pour something on a rag and start to press it down on Bob’s arm--

Bob chokes on the very breath in his throat. He pales all over, feels dizzy, almost keels over right then and there. 

“My-my arm!” Bob cries. “My goddamn arm!”

Phoenix turns her face when a sob ripples through her body. 

“I know,” you tell him. You’re working quicker now, more diligently. “I know it looks scary, Bob. I know. I know. But you’re okay. I’m--I’m really sorry, alright? It’s just--well, you’re alive, okay? And we’re gonna keep you that way.” 

Everyone around watches in real time as Bob comes to term with his missing limb. 

“This is so fucked,” Payback whispers to Fanboy. He shakes his head soberly, looks away from Bob when he starts to dry-heave. “We’re so fucked.” 

“Enough,” Hangman hisses. “You’re not helping.” 

He’s watching all the campers settle back into their groups, holding the shotgun in his hands. He’s scared enough already, so horrified that his fingers are quivering over the safety. 

“Shit,” Bradley whispers, glancing at Jake. He glances at Jake’s trembling hands. “Neither are you, butter-fingers. You can’t even look at him, can you? Or Gale.” 

Bradley knows what saying your name does to Jake. And Jake turns with a sneer on his face, ready to shove the butt of the shotgun against Bradley’s jaw, but then Coyote gasps in irritation. 

“Stop,” Coyote insists, voice hard. “Or I’m gonna tie both of you to the flagpole.” 

“Me?” Jake asks, incredulous. 

And somehow from your spot beside Bob, who’s writhing, you hear their conversation. 

“Yes you!” You hiss from your knees, bloody sweat dripping down your spine and staining your shirt. Everyone’s eyes go wide when you point to Bradley, too. “And you! The both of you need to--God, you need to grow the fuck up! There are real issues in the world--there are real issues here, right now. We don’t have a way out. We don’t have a phone. All we have is each other and that fucking shotgun. Lots of help that’ll be if the two of you keep trying to mark your territory. So--just--Christ, just fucking can it.” 

You’ve never spoken to Bradley or Jake like this before. Your heart is racing, your body is hot. You’re stuck on Bob’s spreading infection and suddenly, you feel like you’re on a time limit. And everyone is looking to you right now. 

Everyone is watching the floor, your words ringing in their ears. Fanboy’s skin prickles at your tone alone--God, he’s glad he’s not on the other end of it. Coyote just nods soberly at Jake and then shakes his head at Bradley. 

“Are you fucking serious?” Bradley asks. After the conversation the two of you just had--when you were so soft and so close--your words feel like acid rain pouring down on his sun-kissed skin. He glances at Jake, who’s staring at the floor. And that’s all it takes to push Bradley over the edge. “Here’s a grown-up thought that I bet no one else has had--have you even considered that the slasher is one of us? Has anyone considered it?” 

The room goes ice cold. No one says a word for a long moment before Payback meets Bradley’s eyes and shakes his head slowly.

“Don’t,” he warns. “Just…take it easy, man, okay?” 

Bradley’s skin is hot. The tips of his ears are red and plump as cherries. 

“No, no--fuck, if we’re really gonna get it all out in the open, if we’re all gonna hold hands and sing Kumbya while we wait around for someone to come fucking kill us…I’m gonna get this off my chest,” Bradley insists. He looks at you hard--you stare back just as stony. “Who the fuck is gonna hike their happy ass all the way out to Great Oaks, then hike all the way out to Camp Arcadia, just to kill us?” 

“Now isn’t the time!” Phoenix tries, still sobbing as she holds Bob’s tearful face in her hands. “Can’t you just get lost already?”

“No, this is important. I think we should all hear this if we’re gonna just sit around and wait, right? Entertain all the ideas! No bad questions, right? Right, Gale?” 

“Enough!” Fanboy snaps.  

“Let him finish,” you insist. Your lips are flat, your brows are blanched. “If it’s so dire.” 

He looks around the room--everyone’s staring at him. His fingertips burn with rage, his heart racing in his throat.  

“So, I’m the jerk now?” He asks, narrowing his eyes at you. “After everything I’ve done--all the shit I did for you and for Bob and--!” 

“My hero,” you interrupt. Your voice is very quiet, very solid. You do not stutter, you do not quiver. And you can see how it burns Bradley bad. “What would we do without you?” 

Bradley’s jaw is flexed. 

“C’mon, guys…” Payback insists. His throat is dry. “We need to keep our heads.” 

“You’re cut loose, man,” Coyote says to Bradley. “Go.”

Just as Bradley starts to plant his feet on the floor, just as he about spouts off again, you hand your head and look at Bob’s wandering eyes. His face is wet with tears and his cheeks are red and the infection is spreading. 

“No,” you whisper. “We need to draw straws.” 

Everyone looks at you confusion. 

“What are you talking about?” Phoenix asks, wiping her nose.

“We can’t keep sitting here,” you decide. You sniffle hard now, voice seeped in exhaustion. “We’re--fuck, he’s right. We’re sitting ducks.” 

“But what are we drawing straws for?” Payback asks. 

“Someone has to go,” Jake answers for you. 

You glance up at him and although he isn’t able to meet your gaze, you know that he wants to. 

“No,” Fanboy insists. “No fucking way.” 

“That’s like--shit, that’s like sending them with a target on their back!” Payback says. 

“We have weapons,” you say softly. “Axes, knives. Two people can go. It’s a couple days to town, right? And maybe we still have those old walkies--we can check in or something.” 

“We do,” Jake pipes up. “I saw ‘em in the bus barn.” 

“Well, this is just great,” Fanboy laughs humorlessly. “You two would want us to go ‘cause your names won’t even be in the drawing!” 

“Why wouldn’t they be?” You ask. 

“You’re the nurse! You have to stay!” Fanboy says. 

You swallow hard. 

“Look…” you sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose. “Someone’s gotta go.”

“Why? What happened to waiting?” Payback insists. 

“Bob’s arm is infected,” Phoenix says before you can. She sniffles hard, glances down at the red streaks. “She can be in the drawing because if she doesn’t go--if no one goes, then it won’t…” 

“It won’t matter,” you whisper. 

Bob’s ears are ringing. He’s having a hard time keeping his eyes open. You’re glad he can’t process anything that you’re saying now. 

“So, like…” 

“Bob’ll die,” Bradley says. He glances at you. You won’t look at him. He knows he fucked up and he doesn’t know what to do about it. Not now. “Simple as that. So, let’s fucking draw straws.”

𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐓𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄: BUT AT LEAST BOB IS ALIVE!!!!!

𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑

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