#and say 'he's down there in the negatives'

[creativewritersposts]

fucked up - Nico Hischier

summary; Nico Hischier x reader.

The honest opinion from a person you really like can hurt the most. But what if Nico regrets it?

warning(s); bad language, angst, argument, fluff, maybe grammar errors

author's note; based on a true story. I'm sorry for not posting "happy-clappy fluff imagines" like usually (promise they'll come back soon). I can't write just pure fluff when I'm crying a river.

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It's the third day in a row that Nico doesn't want to talk with you. You can't explain why, but your stomach feeling tells you, something is not okay. You tried to distract yourself with work, work and more work. But when you step in your apartment, you're mentally break down. Your overthinking says hello. You grab your phone, trying to call him, just his mailbox.

"What did I do wrong", you mumble to yourself, biting on your lip. It's rainy outside, like how you feel. You're starring at other people out of the window, until your phone vibrates. "hello?", you start the conversation without looking on the screen, who it is. "it's Nico, are you at home?", his voice sounds deep and kinda annoyed, "yes", you smile, happy to hear he's alive. "Ok bye", he hangs up without a second. You stress yourself to cook a nice dinner in an hour until the door bell rings. "hi baby!", you want to wrap your arms around his neck, but he pushes you politely away, "we need to talk, something is bothering me", his brown eyes let you feel confused, he never been so serious. You nod and let him walk in your kitchen. "I cooked dinner for us two", you smile to blow the negative vibes away. "Do you think dinner will change the fact you act exaggerate?!", his tall body turns around because he stands before you. "huh?", you're even more confused. "We're not together and you stress me out", he tolerates no argument whilst speaking. Honestly you're not able to argue. It's like a punch in your face. "what did I do?", you feel so small. Even when he told you this in a respectful way. "you stress me out. You want to text non-stop and you're not my girlfriend, not yet. After last night with five text messages I'm thinking if it's a good idea to ask you for that", Nico grabs your shaky hands,"it's not like I'm not interested anymore", he kisses your forehead. You're just able to nod and accept the fact. What he needs and wants.

"Thank you for telling me this", your fake smile shows sadness. Nico doesn't want to hurt you on purpose. "I'll pack in the pesto for you", with blurry eyes you do that, giving him the lunch box. Nico just stays calm, taking it and when you close the door behind you, he thinks of hoping you understood what he meant.

The next days your chest feels heavy, texting no message, you don't call him, you let him his freedom. You know Nico lost the finals of the world championship, he looked so disappointed and usually you would at least send him something lovely, but your brain tells you; you were clingy. You're the problem. You're a bad Person for bothering someone. You don't enjoy being a clingy girl.

In the middle of night your phone vibrates again, like ten times until you groan, you're not in the shape to talk happy phone calls. "hey, are you ok?", his voice sounds occupied. "Sure", you reply. "You didn't text me once. I'm worried. We lost", he let you know the news. Of course you're not saying that you watched his game. Like he gave you a clear message. You would be clingy you're not his girlfriend and he owes you nothing.

"I'm sorry to hear that", your hands shake again. You don't feel comfortable anymore, more like you have to hide your personality to be not the problem anymore. "I didn't mean that I don't like to talk with you", he coughs. "I really like you anyway as a person who you are", he talks more. "I'm tired, good night", hanging up until he can hear how much you're hurt. Just thoughts hunting you in your head;

what are you doing now?

What is the right way to deal with this?

[hamlos]

Oh new episode new teasing from smg4 team

And so, while watching the new video, I was able to collect something and write down here my thoughts about what I think.

Smg4 care actually about what smg3 says

That shows 2 times and we see how even if he "hate" smg3, he listen to him.

Negative points?

But aren't smg3 is glowing like a rare item or something "special"?

I don’t think that’s how “negative” things should work smg4

Or..

Hm

Hey, actually, some people say in this scene, number 34 is gone from counting

So

I have a guess that smg4 actually trying to avoid a relationship with smg3?

Perhaps after the episode about his browser history and some of their conflicts and so on, smg4 simply denies his feelings or smg3’s feelings for him

"That what we do to each other, right?"

This guy seems incapable of actually seeing smg3 as his friend or anything else, he still wants to remain rivals with him.

Even after all

He still gonna see smg3 like his enemy

Perhaps a friendly enemy? Because we don’t understand how smg4’s feelings work, but we only know that it was he who first started their rival relationship with smg3 (according to canon?)

So I can assume that smg4 hates smg3 but at the same time is his friend? best friend?

Idk

Or hate-love thing that maybe but uhh not shure?

Well, or this idiot is just the same as smg3 and hides his feelings, because I don’t understand why smg4 keeps a smg3 toy in his inventory

[dovrt]

I am a sucker for sibling Angst, man

Sirius who stayed in an abusive house just to keep an eye on his younger brother, just to make sure Regulus was always safe. He would rather his parents focus all their negative attention on him, if it meant Regulus looked tame in comparison. So that's what he did. He grows his hair long, endures the curses and when it gets too much, when he sees no other answer but to run away, Regulus doesn't come with him.

Sirius who watched his brother grow more and more distant each year until one morning, it was the middle of the war, there were deaths left and right. People Sirius had seen and talked to, people who became corrupted husks of their former selves with no backbones.

Sirius who was rude and blunt, hating Death Eaters with a burning passion, but when it's his brother's name in the paper, he breaks down. Looking after Regulus was his job. He can't help but think he should have done better. No one else could ever hope to understand and there's nothing to be done.

Nico di Angelo who's only constant for ten years had been his older sister. She was there when their mother died, she was there when a weird lawyer took them to a casino, she was there at the weird boarding school.

And then suddenly she was pulling away and Nico was only ten with no clue what to do. Bianca wouldn't listen to him, she discarded him at the first opportunity. And still he couldn't hate her.

They were siblings, cut from the same cloth, with the same blood running through their veins. How could he ever hate her for wanting to live her life?

Nico di Angelo who's sister probably sat with him and let him explain mythomagic to her. They would play for hours, Bianca wouldn't understand half of it, but that was okay, Nico just liked her presence. It wasn't as though she didn't pay him any attention. She followed the game, the cards and the statues, asking him questions and talking about it to cheer him up.

Nico di Angelo who ran up to the first demigod he had ever seen in action, where's my sister?

Thalia Grace who was only seven when her baby brother was born. She would laugh and play with him, because their mother certainly didn't care. She was there when Jason got the scar on his lip, when Jason rolled over, when Jason started to crawl, when Jason learned how to walk, when Jason's first word was "Tha- Tha". It was a while before he could say her name, and even longer until he could say "mom".

Thalia Grace who stayed for her brother and left only for a moment. That one moment. When she lost her brother. And when Jason was gone, there was no more need for her to stay anymore. She was afraid, afraid for what their mother might have done. What if she had too much to drink and in her drunken state did something horrible to her brother. Her brother. Jason had always been hers more than he was their mother's.

Thalia Grace who's last thought before being turned into a tree was probably that she might get to see Jason again (Halcyon Green had basically told her that). And when she wakes up, all she can see is green-ish blue eyes and blond hair and her first thought is Jason but it's some new demigod, a son of Poseidon.

Thalia Grace who found her brother over a decade after first losing him. She wraps her arms around him, pulling him close and telling him about a mother he didn't remember. Good she thinks. Beryl Grace was not a mother he should remember.

Thalia Grace who's baby brother is fifteen when she meets him and she looks almost sixteen, no one could be able to tell they had a seven year age difference between them.

Thalia Grace who's brother died at age sixteen. Older than she was biologically. Her baby brother.

Gone. Again.

[skelliko]

Hello first time requesting

I was wondering if I can request reader x hanma were they have a toddler and hanma rough plays with him and overall hanma being a good father to the point that the reader is moved to tears as they see that since they never really saw how a loving father is supposed to look like so it’s like healing their inner child seeing their kid being genuinely loved by their father not just in name

(It’s to heal them daddy issues yes)

a/n: we're in this together cause me too. at first I didn't wanna write it since I've stated I wouldn't write about marriage or pregnancy but I'll let this dodge just cause I said so. (btw I did the kids gender as a boy cause you mentioned 'him' once, not sure if that was on purpose or not but i hope thats okay)

____

Hanma Shuji |-° a good father

it was scary getting married, afraid that it would turn south and become unhappy to the point where we'd turn down walls just to get our points across. afraid that cause of all our bickering he'd be secretly go with another woman, become avoidant and distant but that hasn't happened, at all.

finding out I was pregnant was terrifying, afraid that I would fail as a mother of a sweet baby and id be the reason for his dreams and innocence being taken away. you don't need to be drastically smart to know that you eventually become your parents, everyone has some sort of element inside of them that resembles their care givers. so I was petrified that I'd turn out like my father, or maybe that I had married the wrong man to commit in having child with; just like my mother. generational trauma doesn't go easy on anyone, so my heart always shook and sank whenever i held my boy.

I try, I really do try a lot to make sure that what I went through won't ever happen to my- our kid and he'll grow up to be loved. but fear does still strike me since I'm yet to figure out how to be as a parent, Im aware that how I grew up wasn't right at all, but that doesn't mean that I know what good parenting looks like.

I've told hanma about my fear of parenting before we had agreed on having a kid, he didn't look at me weirdly, he didn't say anything negative, he didn't tell me that I shouldn't worry half assed as if it should be common sense to figure it out on the spot. instead, he told me not to worry sincerely, he meant every word he said, soothed me with warm words and some of his little jokes, and told me I have plenty of time to figure out if I want to be called 'mom' and that there was no reason to rush into things. so after a few days I've made up my mind and went on to discuss baby names as a hint that i want to keep it.

----

I hear small giggles in the other room, ones that belong to our child, a child that has the most gorgeous smile and has his father's eyes. his tiny baby hands have grown to be toddlers and he's still growing everyday.

I wiped my hands dry and clean on a towel in the kitchen from washing the vegetables that I was about to cut up and cook. I could have started right away with the cooking but I wanted to quickly see what's so amusing that got our boy all loud and humoured.

leaning against the door frame I saw our boy stood up on his little feet with his arms circling around in the air, Hanma was gently pinching his tummy with this thumb, pointer and middle finger making him ticklish and making 'pow' and 'wow' sounds. Hanma was smiling and laughing along as he'd change him movements to then annoy the kid by tapping him on his cheeks and nose, the boy would try and move hanma's hand away but despite his annoyance he was enjoying it and that just kept Hanma to keep playfuly annoy him.

is that something that fathers do? is that what they call rough play, or is this something else?

a main thing that also struck me in this moment was that hanma was smiling while playing with the boy. Im aware that parents can still smile but seeing his joyed expression instead of a bothered and annoyed look felt really refreshing.

for the past few years we've had our boy he's been nothing else than a good father, sure we've had a few off moments but there will always be short lasting moments where it feels like we're all sinking because of our own mistakes and flaws.

but over time Hanna has made me realize many things, about himself, myself, our boy and on an overall what it means to be a good parent. what considers to be good parenting is a very controversial topic for most but I'd say as long as the child is happy and isn't sat through abuse or neglect, that's more than enough.

my boy will have the childhood that I needed but couldn't have, Hanma is being the father that I needed but didn't have. our boy will be smiling all throughout. while im over here trying to keep in my angsty emotions, c'mon I'm better than this aren't I?

I put a hand over my mouth to stop my quivering lips but my teary eyes took that as a chance to spill over before I could wipe them away. looking away to avoid any attention but before I could go back to what I was doing before; Hanma called my name out and I felt his hands slide up my upper arm and turn me around. he saw me cry before I saw him notice.

"hey hey, what happened? talk to me" he said worryingly

looking at him briefly, I wanted to speak up but even I was unsure on what I was crying about, but then i looked at our boy for a few seconds and it only then clicked in. I shook my head gently before replying "no it's just- you're a good father. and I'm glad our boy will have you to look up to"

hanma immediately brought me into a tight hug but then chuckled a little, I felt the vibration of his laugh against his chest. whats so amusing? "and he has an amazing mother to look up to as well. I know how stressed you've been and I'm really proud of you for how far you've gotten"

 ♡---

[themultifanshipper]

..................reader riding logan soft and slow after miami, leaning down and kissing all over his neck, whispering gentle praises and "you did all you could"s and "it wasn't your fault"s and "i'm proud of you no matter what"s while his hands cant stop scrambling wherever they can reach- reader's shoulders, hips, ass, chest, waist, arms, anything he can hold on to because he's just so overwhelmed with how good it feels.

eventually it ends with him almost choking on reader's fingers, spit and tears mixing on his tongue and sobbing heavily after reader removes their fingers, saying "i did well, i believe you" when he finally, finally cums and it's one of those slow and smooth ones that just never seem to end and it's all soft and vanillay UGH i can't get over this. i thought of it on a high-speed train through korea (seoul to busan) and i didn't have service but WOOOOO i'm doing great

(can u tell i'm ovulating)

I'm ovulating too and this just ... wow kill me softly why don't you

Shoving your fingers into his mouth just to stop him trying to argue with what you're saying, and eventually his drool is dripping down his chin, over his abs, down to where you're joined, easing the slide even more.

You're splitting yourself on his cock as he struggles to not thrust up into you, using him as you please to punish him for saying negative things about himself.

In fact, whenever he gets close to coming, you pull off, making him wail around your fingers, tears streaming down his cheeks. You're not letting him come until he repeats the sentences you said to him back to you.

You take your fingers out of his mouth for the 3rd time now "Well? Anything to say to me?"

He shakes his head as you tut disapprovingly, seating yourself back on him, but not moving. "I've already come twice my love, I'm satisfied. I'm not letting you come until you've done what I asked, and if you don't want to I guess can just walk right out of here." You clench around him to emphasise your point and he whimpers.

"I did all I could-" he manages to choke out after a while "It- it wasn't my fault".

You hum in encouragement and start rocking your hips again, slowly.

"I did well...I-" he stops, the last part always the hardest to say for him.

You grab his face, forcing him to look at you, thumbs wiping at his tear stained cheeks. "Go on baby, say it, I know you can"

He surrenders completely at your touch "I'm proud of myself"

You smile and kiss him softly.

"Again" you order and he squirms as he repeats the words again under your heated gaze. You make him repeat them once more after that, rythm of your hips never faltering, until he finally starts sounding like he believes what he's saying.

You kiss him passionately and you pick up the pace, his hands grabbing onto the meat of your hips as you trail kisses over his face and neck. "Good boy, you can come inside now baby, I'm so proud of you"

He groans at that, and grabs your waist to start pounding into you from below.

"I'm so close!" He whines.

"I know, baby, let go for me, I've got you"

And he comes inside you with a noise somewhere between a sob and a wail as he wraps his arms around you and buries his face in the crook of your neck.

This is the best way to make him decompress after a bad race (and he has a lot of them at the moment) and you're only happy to embark on the long and hard journey that is making Logan Sargeant believe in himself again.

Logiiiiiie, this hit me in feels ngl I'm terrified about his future, and now I learn they're giving Kimi Antonelli dispensation to drive... truly cogs in a fucked up machine

Anyway

[celaenaeiln]

What do you think of Nightwing/Robins relationship with each of the Titans through the years? Specifically Roy, Donna, and Wally.

With Donna and Wally it’s so fluffy! With Roy however I feel like they are either partners in crime or hitting each other where it hurts

You're so right anon. With Donna and Wally things are pretty much perfect but with Roy, Dick's relationship is back and forth but it's not because they don't like each other. It's because they like each other too much.

Donna

Donna is EVERYTHING to Dick Grayson. She's his sister, best friend, other half. Hardcore ride or die. He literally walked her down the aisle the day of her wedding.

Tales of the Teen Titans Issue #50

She also said she would follow him all the way down to hell and she damn sure means it.

Justice League of America (2006) Issue #50

These two aren't going anywhere but to each other.

Wally

World's Finest: Teen Titans Issue #5

Wally just loves Dick a lot. Like if he could Wally would just live with Dick forever and the two of them would just be happy for that.

You've probably read my other posts about Wally already but I'll collate them here just because it's a long time and it's a nice refresher.

Dick and Wally's friendship post

Dick as Wally's lightning rod post

How Dick and Wally in a relationship would go post

Roy

Like I said. It's not a problem but Roy's relationship with Dick is based on the fact that he loves Dick too much. He thinks Dick is the best thing in the world to ever exist. All the Titans think that but Roy wants to BE Dick. If you look at it, Roy's relationship with Dick is a parallel to Jason's relationship with Dick and Donna, Wally, and Garth's relationship with Dick matches exactly with Tim's relationship with Dick.

Jason thinks the world of Dick Grayson and tried his best to live up to him. He tried to fill in Dick's shoes which is exactly what Roy does.

Teen Titans (1996) Issue #13

He loves Dick to an extreme that he wants to emulate but finds himself struggling because he doesn't believe he achieves that. So, he acts out in order to recieve attention from Dick and Ollie and so on. He gets aggressive with the people he loves because he wants them to look at him. He wants to keep them looking at him. Which is the reason for the back and forth between best friend and angry friend moods he has going on with Dick. It's born out of respect and love and need for acknowledgement from the person who he considers is the greatest to have ever existed.

The reason I bring up Jason and Tim is because it's the clearest way to explain Dick's relationships with the Titans. The Titans and Dick's brothers hold him in the highest esteem - they just react to him differently. Wally,Donna, Garth, and Tim love Dick and think of him as the peak of perfection. So, Wally and Tim especially celebrate it by using him as an inspiration to be greater. In similar ways, Jason and Roy love Dick and think he's the peak of perfection and want to be him. They use him as inspiration but at the same time they feel the need to compete with him to prove their worth. Where Wally and Tim have just accepted that Dick is the best and can't be achieved by anyone, Jason and Roy actually do try to be like him. However you know what they say about Icarus - don't fly too close to the sun. Meaning, don't be too overly ambitious and greedy. I don't think there's anything wrong with what Jason and Roy do but the impact of what they're trying to achieve has negative consequences on their mental health.

They love him, want to be him, but personally feel they're falling short of him which brings in the mood swings. The rest of the Titans and Tim have a fluffier relationship because they don't even bother. They've just accepted that Dick is the best and go about on their day. So in summary, Roy's relationship with Dick is fraught with tension because of insecurities as a result of hero-worship. But truth be told, Roy loves Dick just as equally as Wally, Donna, and Garth. He simply shows his love a different way to him than they do because they're all their own individual people.

In terms of Dick viewing Roy, Dick is Roy's hardcore friend. He's a real one. When Roy was struggling with drugs, Dick single handedly dragged him into Rehab because he was there for him. Because for Dick, it makes him happy seeing Roy happy and successful.

The New Titans (1988) Issue #101

Titans (2008) Issue #23

And Roy literally holds down Dick when he freaks out and chases after Kori after she gets possessed at their wedding. The friendship they have is not the smoothest friendship but it's a real one. They need each other because when they're each at their worst the other other one comes in slaps the other around, gives a twisted love confession in the form of threats, and then they get better.

New Titans (1988) Issue #101

Dick is stubborn as hell but Roy is willing to put in the dirty work to pull him out. Same goes for Dick with Roy.

Outsiders is probably the best explanation of their dynamic. Roy put together the Outsiders because he didn't want Dick constantly depressed WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT WALLY DID WHEN HE PUT TOGETHER THE TITANS IN TITANS (1999). But it comes off differently because Roy is more aggressive in the way he shows love. If Roy needs anything, Dick's there for him immediately.

Action Comics (1938) Issue #631

THIS. This scene is them.

They're a flipping hot mess that love each other. In other words, Roy and Dick's friendship is what you get when you put two egoists in a room together and tell them that they're going to die only for them to start beating each other up because they're each screaming that they love the other more and neither refuses to let the other one go first. Kinda like the song Style. They fall apart and then they fall back together for an eternity.

[vickyvicarious]

Jonathan's description of the Romani people is certainly full of racist stereotypes. But it also reads to me as something he's reciting; as he says, he has notes of them "in my book." His words here seem to be him copying down something he's read in a book (whether here or in his research before he left). It's completely uncritical, but aligns with his earlier notes about history.

Even though he writes that they "attach themselves as a rule to some noble" he's not certain that they will turn him in to Dracula. He guards against the possibility of course, with his shorthand, and does mention that possibility of "should [the letters] not send," but he still willingly took the risk. Of course, it's really the only thing he can do, so even if he fully believes the stereotypes he's got to try anyway. Certainly though, I think he would be willing to alter his beliefs should they act in a way that contradicts what he has heard.

From his perspective, they... don't, at least today. Dracula coming back with the letters could easily be explained by them taking his money and then giving him up. But I choose to believe that they really did try to help him. They might have brought Dracula the letters because he's the only one who knows English. Or, more likely if they know he is a vampire and work for him at least partially out of fear, they intended to hide it but Dracula heard Jonathan calling down to them/saw him throwing something and asked about it. Or so on. There are several different ways they could have wanted to help Jonathan but still have been forced to give his messages to the Count. There's no evidence against such an interpretation, and it is not only better because it's not a racist stereotype, but it also fits the themes of the story and the pattern of humans trying to help one another as well.

However, I can't help but note that Dracula also calls them "Szgany". I didn't know this for a long time, but at some point last year I heard that term is not referring to a specific group of people. Instead it appears to be a phonetic spelling of a slur:

Cigan/Tsigan      Term used to describe Roma. Amongst most Romani communities this is a highly offensive racial slur. It originates from the Greek word "atsinganoi" meaning "untouchable". (from the European Roma Rights Centre)

This is awful, but perfectly in character for Dracula. He looks down on humans in general, and is clearly dismissive of 'peasants' at other times. It also would make sense for him to intentionally reinforce negative stereotypes about them in order to degrade any trust between Jonathan and other people. He did something similar when he called the other locals superstitious peasants.

It's possible that at least some of Jonathan's information about these people comes from Dracula himself, or at least has been 'confirmed' by him. Even if that's not the case, it makes sense that Dracula would be aware of any negative reputation and I could see him playing into it in any conversation or potentially in any interactions he thinks Jonathan can see.

[bairdthereader]

Time to pay homage to the Spring Queen, Tori.

[This is a long one, folks. I have lots of feelings. Sorry, not sorry! TLDR can just look at the gifs for the gist of the story.]

Having read Solitaire, This Winter, and Nick and Charlie in addition to Heartstopper, my thoughts on Tori and how she's portrayed in the show are a bit difficult to organize and express. Since we don't get her backstory in the show (yet), we see her exclusively engaging with Charlie's story; this leaves out a lot of her depth and complexity, or at least leaves it to the viewer to piece together. BUT . . .

The specific ways she goes about protecting Charlie say so much about her.

It's established from their first on-screen interaction that Charlie feels safe with Tori, both to be himself and to confide in her that he's ended his pseudo relationship with Ben, a relationship no one else knows about at this point. Tori automatically assumes the fault was with Ben, which is not only peak awesome older sister behavior, but a cue to Charlie that she knows him well enough to trust that he was not only not the offending party, but that the breakup was a very positive move for him. She's affirming and bolstering Charlie without any platitudes or unsolicited advice, a sign of her care and respect for him, as well as her understanding of him and his needs.

In Solitaire, Tori explains that she rides the bus with Charlie when he's dealing with particularly bad mental health struggles, which puts the scene toward the end of S1E7 in a slightly different perspective. She knows that something is deeply wrong, but also that Charlie isn't ready to talk about it. She keeps an earbud out just in case, but doesn't pressure him in any way, another sign of respect and silent support.

And of course the moment when Charlie is desperately vulnerable, scared, admitting his darkest thoughts to her, when she realizes for the first time (in the show timeline) just how deep the pain goes, she takes it seriously. She knows what it could mean. Though we as viewers haven't seen it yet, Tori knows her own version of this particular darkness and recognizes it in Charlie. She grounds him with firm, safe, physical touch and a truth that only she can give--which makes it the truest kind of truth, a bedrock truth for Charlie to stand on--that he is valuable to her and vital to her life.

After Charlie tells his parents about his relationship with Nick (with fairly negative results, but that's a whole other post), Tori's concern for Charlie is immediate. Not only does she remember how terrible the bullying Charlie experienced was, but she also knows how fragile his newfound happiness really is. Charlie misinterprets her question--whether intentionally or not I think might be up for debate--and assumes that her concern is mainly for Nick, asserting that he can protect Nick. Tori knows that Charlie will need that protection as well, maybe more, but also respects his choice to view the situation in this way. [Side note: respect is like Tori's secret love language; she doesn't give it very willingly.]

"Look after him or you die" seems funny, but Tori is dead serious. Her later accusation that Nick doesn't keep his promises feels harsh at first, and he doesn't really deserve it, but we have to see it for what it is. Tori is trusting Nick with a responsibility that she usually puts on herself, and she doesn't take it lightly; very few people can care for Charlie the way Tori does, and to her, failure to do so is indefensible. Nick's failing her test in this moment, though she's a complete enough person to recognize that it's a momentary lapse and trusts Nick with Charlie later in the story.

And of course there's the infamous Nelson dinner party, where Tori does in reality what we ALL want to do in spirit and knocks David down several pegs. She sees in him exactly the kind of person who bullied Charlie and made his life miserable, and she's not about to let it happen right in front of her. No real commentary here, just a deep appreciation for Tori's sisterly rage and complete disgust with David.

And then there's this:

Oh, season 3 Tori is going to be something to behold. I absolutely cannot wait. All hail the queen.

[universallydestinytaco]

The Little Smiling Mermaid (Chapter 2)

TW: Emotional/Verbal *b*se, Queerph*bia

(Next chapter will be light-hearted enough to make up for how sad/relatable this chapter turned out)

NOTE: Pim is transmasc in this fanfic but the misgendering he gets isn’t intentional, not that his boorish family would be supportive anyway. When Pim arrived back, he thanked Neptune that the concert only started…30 minutes ago, and yet it already descended into chaos all because of him but better late than never! He hastily dolled himself up with traditional Meeplantica garb consisting of a crown of flowers, a necklace of pearls and orient clams clipped on one’s tail-fins (Pim hated that part because of the pinching) prior to announcing his belated presence on stage and calming down the commotion. “Sorry I’m late everyone I had trouble fitting into my costume!” Alan certainly felt conflicted. On one hand he knew Pim was up to more than just having a wardrobe malfunction and the irritated lobster wanted to read him the riot act for almost ruining his big break, on the other hand he knew Pim on a day-to-day basis already got yelled at enough for far more trivial things and began to count his blessings once that headstrong mercritter finally arrived. “From the top, Mistro!” chirped Pim giving Alan the signal, thus finally began the concert after that awkward disruption.

…

While the concert was well received overall, the aftermath on the other hand…wasn’t pretty to say the least. Within two hours Pim went from happily singing in front of an impressed crowd to being sheepishly backed into a corner, trying to look away from the glaring faces chewing him out for somehow forgetting the day of the concert and how he made them all look like “a gang of incompetent buffoons” and at worst, Amy was just rolling with the degrading insults, ranging from insulting his body to his intelligence while screaming in his face. Pim tried to explain but kept getting cut off, as the already unreasonable relatives kept getting angrier. Pim failing to hold back his tears only aggravated them even more. Glep, who was hiding in Pim’s iconic satchel couldn’t take all the negativity targeted at his friend and plucked up the courage to defend him even if it would be fruitless and potentially get him fried by King Steven’s trident. Glep swam out and immediately jumped to Pim’s defense, explaining best he could without bringing up the shipwreck or the surface-related stuff. “An abyss demon was chasing my baby?!” Queen Bertha shrieked with an initial gasp, with Glep responding with the ol’ rolling of the eyes how the flibbertyjibbit would go from verbally assaulting her youngest to immediately acting as if he was still her dainty little infant who she couldn’t possibly bare seeing hurt. A skeptical King Steven cut her off, “Hold your damn seahorses, an abyss demon? In MY domain? I harshly trained my palace guards to be on the look out for abyss demons!” As King Steven was going on one of his tangents, Amy swam up to Pim from behind and yanked his satchel away from him, making Pim indignantly grab it in an attempt to take it back. “Amy what are you doing?!” “I wanna see what else is inside! You been hiding more weird creatures in that bag?” Pim’s heart raced as he yanked it harder with an indignant cry of: “Leave me alone!!” Amy pulled her crocodile tears routine, knowing very well her parents would side with the golden child of the family. Damien rolled his eyes and swam to another room to get away from the noise. “Ugh, Pimberly is being mean to me and won’t let me see what’s inside of her bag!” King Steven was too busy with his unrelated gloating of his glory days as a volunteer soldier for the royal army as Queen Bertha barked at Pim: “PIMBERLY! YOU’RE TOO OLD TO ACT LIKE THAT! QUIT BEHAVING LIKE A CHILD AND GIVE HER THE BAG!” Pim didn’t even have a chance to give the bag to Amy because she ripped it out of his arms and tore a hole into it, revealing Pim’s haul of surfaced items he collected today. “Oh, fudge…” Pim uttered to himself as his family witnessed in disgust at what they discovered before returning their vicious glares to Pim. While this family was no stranger to shooting Pim some seriously dirty looks, this was the first time they looked as if they saw him as a sick twisted crook who had no place under their roof and where all ready to disown him all together. King Pimling clenched both of his fists and swam up to Pim’s face, demanding the smaller mercritter to: “Look at me square in the eye.” Pim nervously looked up at the unbridled rage of his father’s face for about 2 seconds until he finally broke the silence with: “I raised you to never indulge in the culture of those filthy fishmongers…”, grabbing Pim’s hair with the fist that wasn’t holding his trident. “…I don’t even know which has me more repulsed by you: carrying that shit around or the fact that you knew better.” He let go of Pim’s hair and backed away, turning his attention to the assorted items that spilled from the satchel as Pim stayed in place, completely frozen with dread. King Steven pointed his trident at the pile and right before zapping it to oblivion, he gave Pim a stern warning: “This is what happens to any of my subjects whom I see ever engaging in collecting this surface filth, be thankful you’re not one of them.”

KER-POW!!!

All was left was a pile of ash, and Pim could feel tears leaking out of his eyes and into the water surrounding him. Amy, still holding the satchel, threw it on the ground and spat out: “While you’re at it, burn this too! That oughta teach this disgusting little monster a lesson!” Pim finally couldn’t take it anymore. “I WOULD RATHER BE A COMMONER THAN LIVE WITH ANY OF YOU!!” cried out Pim, his heartbroken words echoing throughout the palace before grabbing the satchel and escaping in tears; While the rest of the family kept their disgusted expressions, Queen Bertha visibly went from feeling contempt and outrage to guilt and remorse watching Pim rapidly swim his way out of the palace with Glep following him out of sight, even attempting to reach out to him before it was too late. Amy passive-aggressively comforted her mother: “Oh, she’ll be back after she’s done clutching her pearls! Pimberly does this all the time, last time she shit herself like this it was because I told King Steven she wanted to kiss another girl! Like, eww…what a weirdo.” with a snooty laugh. Queen Bertha didn’t respond with continuing with going back-and-forth about her “odd” youngest child like she loved to do, rather she couldn’t stop thinking about the way her youngest was so visibly distraught rather than irreverently ignoring his uptight Father’s rage with a sassy “What would you know?” attitude. “…Maybe you’re right, she is the most overly sensitive of them all!” Queen Bertha giddily replied with a girlish giggle, igniting Amy’s own amused laughter.

…

It was two hours after dinner time and there was zero sign of either Pim or Glep whatsoever. King Steven and Queen Bertha were on their thrones, silently reflecting on what happened earlier. Of course King Steven was proudly reliving how he destroyed the “surface filth” and laid down the law on his “impossible” child, Queen Bertha failed to further repress her guilt as her restless conscience kept on nagging at her to make it right.

“Steven, darling…don’t you think you were a little too hard on her?” asked Queen Bertha in a voice much softer than usual. King Steven gave his wife a befuddled look, only to smirk with the boastful reply: “Don’t make me laugh, you complain that I don’t discipline hard enough and when I do you still bitch and moan, typical Bertha.” He went from cocky to stoic mode when gloating: “It’ll do the shrimp some good to scare her straight! Whenever I get the trident, she never makes the same screw-up twice.” His stone-cold stiff upper lip twisting into a sadistic grin. Queen Bertha rolled her eyes, humbly announcing: “I’m ready for bed, you coming dear?” to which he gruffly replied: “Yeah I guess.”

Just minutes after the couple retired to their bedroom chamber, a cloaked Pim slipped into his room for what would be the last time. He grabbed some belongings of his while his siblings were asleep, placing them in his now patched-up satchel. Pim knew deep in his heart that this choice was for the best in regards to his mental health…but even if most of his family were mean to him, he still loved them dearly and he couldn’t help at feeling his heart shatter over the idea of making the right choice. He swam back outside and picked four flowers to put each one near his family members. He kissed two of the flowers before placing them by his siblings’ respective bedsides, and he quietly swam into the empty throne room but not before peeking to see if his parents were still there. He thanked Neptune they went to bed already. He kissed the last two flowers and placed them on the seats. With a heavy heart and memories being brought back to him both bad and good, the little mercritter swam back out of the palace knowing even if there where nice times he had with his family, it was for the best he left them for the good of his own mental health. Once Pim was far away enough from the palace, he didn’t bother holding back the fat tears from escaping his eyes.

~

Charlie couldn’t sleep on nights like this when the moon was big and bright, something about it made him want to stand outside by the ocean, drink from his flask and play his ocarina. As he played his beloved instrument, he fondly recalled a childhood memory of his own when he was about 6 or 7, wearing a cape and an old hat Mr. Boss wore while armed with a little wooden sword, gallivanting around the beach while loudly-and-proudly proclaiming he was King of the Pirates. Little Charlie didn’t have much friends at that time but what he would do was based on one of Mr. Boss’ bedtime stories: writing mercritter runes in the sand and coming back later to see the response. Charlie did exactly that and eagerly waited for the response while distracting himself best he could fighting imaginary monsters and bad guys. Lo and behold Charlie always got a response, while in hindsight a Charlie figured it could have been possible that someone, perhaps even Mr. Boss was playing along writing the responses in runes, he couldn’t shake off the magical sensation he got from the afternoon ritual. If it really was a mercritter responding to him this whole time he’d be over the moon.

~

The next morning, King Steven and Queen Bertha made an important announcement to the guards, the servants, Alan (who was sheepishly perched on King Steven’s shoulder) and all of the kingdom: “Princess Pimberly” was missing in action, and all of Meeplantica was given an order to search far and wide for their youngest child. As contentious as Pim was to his own family, the public adored Pim for putting his heart on his sleeve (or lack thereof) through his irreverence, tender heart and adorably awkward clumsiness as he felt more relatable and authentic to the common merfolk than the rest of the haughty and “perfect” Royals…and having the most beautiful voice in the entire ocean was just the icing on the cake! After the commoners split up and swam away, King Steven turned to the residents of the castle, looking ever-so-businesslike while trying to silently hide away whatever he deemed as weakness to appear more so unshakable. “If we can overcome what happened to my father, the king before me, then this so-called crisis is just plankton on algae as far as I’m concerned, for all we know the shrimp’s pulling a fast one on us.” Damien, as much as he tried to put on a brave face for his peers, was deeply worried about Pim, regretting how complicit he was in the toxicity of the family’s dynamic. Amy on the other hand whined: “Do we HAVE to look for her?” King Steven sighed: “Well I can’t blame you for being burnt out on her antics, I swear she takes after her mother.” Queen Bertha gave her husband an icy glare for that comment, but he didn’t really give a barnacle. He pointed towards the other palace residents, demanding: “The rest of you better look high and low for my youngest and if she ain’t in one piece, It’ll be on YOU! Now MOVE IT ALONG YOU BLOKES.” Everyone scattered as King Pimling darted his eyes at the nervous Alan, and spoke in a less-furious yet still very serious tone: “You swear to Neptune you’ll fetch her home?” Alan solemnly nodded, “Yes your Majesty, I have yet to let you down.” King Steven picked Alan up and placed him on the ground to scurry away in search of Pim.

…

Of course Alan felt super conflicted about this search party! On one claw he’s been studying in the palace as a chosen prodigy since Pim was just a little tadpole, serving as the older brother Pim never really had. Unlike his actual-biological brother Damien, Pim felt more comfortable confiding to him about personal things his family would refuse to understand to save their own lives such as who he crushed on and his strained relationship with his own identity. Alan was one of the few Meeplanticans who knew Pim’s authentic self and it would boil his blood whenever Amy would stir up drama between Pim and the rest of the family. Whenever Alan was there to witness the conflict, he tried to speak up on Pim’s behalf but his pleas of defense where drown out by the ear-piercing chorus of screaming and crying, so the best he could do was console Pim and reassure him one day he’d somehow get out of this mess. On the other claw, why the hell would anyone want to knowingly bring Pim back to THAT home?! If the public had any idea what went on behind closed curtains, everyone would whole-heartedly agree that Pim would be much happier and safer inside the depths of Davey Jones’ locker than within the company of that toxic cesspool of a Royal Family. Still, Alan wanted to make sure Pim was alright so even if he wasn’t ordered to join the search party, he willingly set out to look for his friend.

[ninjagirlstar5]

So I made a Danganronpa & AVA/AVM Crossover

But less about the killing games and more like, "How would the Tragedy affect the OuterNet?"

I'ma just copy-paste my Discord ramblings, but yeah, it's gonna get long so buckle up.

At first the OuterNet barely bat an eye at the Tragedy. Some Stick figures even claim that it's just a "Creators' problem," not a "Stick problem." Surprisingly, though, FreedomStick/Freedom Guy (the guy that had an ad that said stop stick slavery!), which I will be calling Rebel from now on, advocated for Sticks to do their part and protect Creators from Viruses and such that come from the OuterNet due to it's connection to the DeepNet (a.k.a the dark web) as they predicted the Despairs' ideals from real life will trickle down and affect them just as much as it'll affect the Real World. While there's not much Sticks can do to their creators from inside the PCs (physically, anyways), there are still ways they can harm them through the internet (gestures to Second forcefully commenting negative things on Facebook through Alan's account, viruses like The Dark Lord's, etc.) So Rebel is trying to get their fellow Sticks to be aware of the Tragedy happening in the Real World and trying to get some protection ideas off the ground, not only for the Creators, but for them, too.

(Btw, this is my design for Rebel, teehee.)

Of course, most of the stick community was not…pleased with Rebel's prediction and some even felt betrayed because it was thanks to them that they weren't treated like slaves from their Creators anymore, freeing them from their misery and/or inspiring them to break away. So having an influential figure be idolized for their, uh, "Anti-Creator" ideals (which is actually just a very extreme version of their beliefs cause in reality, they just want sticks to be treated like people, not hurt the Creators) say something of the "opposite" gets them ignored or even ousted from lots of groups. And so, the OuterNet continued on like normal.

There's just one problem: the Tragedy, and thus the Despairs, quickly makes itself apparent on the Internet.

Due to the OuterNet's nature, it is inherently tied to the Internet, which is where the Creators create most if not all of the websites where a lot of stickfigures come from. Not only that, the OuterNet gets most of it's information and ideas from the Internet, allowing them to stay in touch with the Real World while also inspiring them in ways that can help better their lives (it's why RocketCorp is able to grow as big and as quickly under a few years as it did: Vic saw an opportunity and snatched it while he still could). So, over time, the OuterNet started becoming more and more aware of the Despairs, their nihilistic propaganda campaigns posted all over in ads and news sites, and the harm that has been done all over the world.

Until, one day, the first sight of a Despair stick appeared in the OuterNet and proceeded to wreck havoc. And thanks to the Tragedy ongoing in the Real World, the denizens of the DeepNet becomes more bold in their crimes to the point that they do it in broad daylight. Guess where the Despair stick got it's equipment from.

The first Despair incident gets resolved pretty quickly but not without casualties and the community is shocked that this even happened.

Cue Rebel staring into the camera and having their "I told you so" moment.

Rebel doesn't spend time being petty, though. Instead, they take the opportunity to remind the community of their connection to the Creators and how they are affected by the Real World just as much as them. This incident only proved that their prediction is coming true and that the community is going to need all the help they can get to combat against the upcoming Tragedy. With the results of ignoring the problem shoved right in their faces, most of the community relents and helps out Rebel.

Of course, since this is the Tragedy, some of the ideals of Despairs start affecting the community through their campaigns and many become apathetic to the disasters happening outside and inside the OuterNet. But Rebel refuses to back down and let Despairs hurt any more people, becoming a Symbol of Hope as they fight against the Tragedy and help as many people as they can to protect not only their fellow Stick figures, but also the Creators that are suffering in the Real World. Even if all they can do is keep the DeepNet's crimes isolated in the OuterNet and preventing it from spreading to PCs.

Speaking of Despair sticks, there are three kinds of them:

Created Despair Sticks: These sticks are ones that are created through the Despair ads campaigns. While the Despairs have never intended to make these stick figures due to sentient Sticks being so rare in the Real World that nobody really knows about them unless they're a Creator, sometimes these Sticks will come across these ads and articles on Despairs and their code will be influenced by their "ideals" or even pop out from these Internet campaigns. As a result, it is a part of their nature to create Despair and Destruction to those around them and their surroundings. There are usually no way to reason with these sticks as it is a part of their code and cannot be removed without being killed.

Regular Sticks turning to Despair: Stick figures that have lived relatively normal lives before the Tragedy struck. Most sticks that turn to Despair are ones that have unresolved trauma from their past Creators that absorbing the Despairs' "ideals" encouraged them to finally go back and strike at their Creators, regardless of who gets hurt, or those that already had a nihilistic and pessimistic viewpoint that becoming a Despair is much more preferable than holding the Hope that things will get better. Because to them, the world has already turned to hell. Why not join them instead? It's very hard to reason with these sticks, but some are able to turn away before it's too late. Or at the very least, turn themselves in.

Despair-Infected Sticks: I've debated on whether or not to keep this one but I think it just adds another layer as to why these sticks are different than humans even though they're still people: because they have a code that can be removed or added to depending on if the person is able to access it. This is why Viruses are so dangerous to sticks as they can infect and even destroy their coding from the inside out, which is why Dark had to put in a bunch of safety measures for him to be able to use his Virus with his bracelets and such. Someone from the DeepNet decided it'd be a good idea to create a Despair Virus and sell it to other Despairs simply for the profit. Whether this bit them in the ass or not, we'll never know as they disappeared off the face of the Earth after it was completed. Despite it's creator gone, it was very easy to replicate the Despair Virus and have it infect many unsuspecting Sticks in a populated area. Once infected, they become exactly like every other Despair Stick, however, some victims are able to fight back long enough to beg for help and mercy from those around them. Currently, there is no cure and RocketCorp has been trying to study this virus to find it or at least a means to create back-ups of those infected (even though Vic is secretly selling things to the Despairs so he can fund RocketCorp and continue his goal in finding Alan, oops).

Created Despair Sticks are literally just born like this. Even if they develop into wanting something different, they can't go against their code cause they're born with it and it's literally them so they can't break it unless they break themselves.

Despair-Infected Sticks are literally infected by a virus and are forced to hurt others around them as their coding is forcefully changed and even broken down to make room for the virus. And some are even aware enough to know this and try to fight it. Basically, both are pretty damn bad, while the second type of Despair stick is more a choice than anything else.

And as my mutual pointed out, "infected sticks causes despair for both the infected and the victims surrounding them." It's a cycle, man. Once it starts, it's hard to stop. 💔

As for the Desktop Sticks...why don't we start with how Second and the Color Gang are holding up!

To be honest, they probably didn't notice what the fuck has been going on in the outside world. They've mostly been doing their own thing and having fun. Sure, Alan seems a little…stressed but he's sometimes like that, you know?

And then, Alan kinda just stops showing up.

They didn't think much about it at first. They just kept themselves preoccupied and Second took the time to hang out with the CG some more as he assumed that maybe Alan took a day off to hang out with his family. But then the days start going by and they all look at each other and go, "Hey. Alan hasn't come back yet. Is he okay?" So they decided to open up the Internet to see what's up.

And they get blasted with all the news on the Tragedy: crime has risen, riots are everywhere, terrorists called the Despairs are running around spouting nihilistic bullshit as they destroy buildings and spread their influence. They're all just shocked at what's happening and are frankly, terrified! And then Yellow points out that Alan must have been dealing with this outside in the Real World and and they all go, "OH SHIT, Alan's in danger!"

But, problem! They can't do shit about this.

Yes, they've destroyed Alan's PC numerous times, mostly by accident, mostly from collateral. But they do not have the influence or the bodies to stop the Tragedy in the Real World. All they can do is just…watch and wait for Alan to return. Well, Second and Yellow have been scouting the internet trying to see if they can find traces of Alan but everyone else is kinda just…bundles of anxiety

And then a couple of burglars break in and try to steal Alan's PC. And when Second tries to notify them to stop, they just laugh and ask each other if anyone would buy these sentient sticks off of them! That's when Green took the initiative and said that they're leaving and they all book it into the Minecraft portal so they can try and contact Mango and Purple. They're kinda hoping the OuterNet is faring better than the Real World. (They are all clueless.)

Second and the Gang actually aren't the only Desktop Sticks that have fled to the OuterNet. Some created Stick figures have been losing their Creators one way or another and they've all been immigrating to the OuterNet for safety and security as they have no one to help them or take care of them anymore. Assuming they even know of the existence of the OuterNet. If they don't…they're just kinda stuck on their desktops, alone. They're lucky if they have another Stick figure with them but if they don't, they just sit there and…wait. Like a sad little dog waiting for their owners to return. And that's the "best" case scenario in a situation where a Stick knows nothing of the OuterNet and lost a Creator that genuinely cared for them.

Desktop Sticks are usually ones that have Creators (some simply just come into existence by pure accident through websites and the like, though) and usually are unaware of the OuterNet. Since the OuterNet is kind of a secret safe space for Sticks, DeskTop Sticks aren't really searched for unless they send an SOS through a website. Rebel, of course, tends to travel between many PCs, but it's difficult for them to gain access to these PCs due to firewalls and stuff and often risk getting themselves deleted thanks to those. So it's usually safer to have these Sticks come to OuterNet on their own or through a secret code amongst many different websites that Rebel put out through their own ads. A Desktop Stick and their Creator's relationship is a case by case basis as some Creators treat their sticks like people (or at worse, pets that just so happen to live in their PCs) while others tend to abuse them or try to delete them for "taking up space," which depends on what kind of powers the Stick has (Chosen was kept because he had a use in being an ad-blocker, but was done so against his will). If the Desktop Stick's relationship with a Creator is positive, they usually stick around and stay in the PC, even when they know of the OuterNet's existence. If it's negative/abusive, they tend to break away and live in the OuterNet on their own, which is where Rebel established many communities for those who are new to the OuterNet and needed a place to stay. Every now and then, there are Desktop Sticks that move into the OuterNet due to escaping a horrible Creator, leaving an abandoned PC where the Creator just never took/transfer the Sticks to their new PC, or simply because their Creator passed away and they needed to start a new life. There was a steady flow of Sticks that come in and out of the OuterNet and the immigration was quite manageable.

But then the Tragedy strikes and suddenly, crowds of Sticks have been entering the OuterNet and it becomes very difficult to find the space for all these Sticks as the OuterNet isn't actually that big. Especially in comparison to the Real World. To make matters worse, the Despair Sticks see this as an opportunity to hurt even more Sticks. Many of whom are quite distraught at losing their Creators as, you know, not all of them were horrible people to their little Stick buddies! So hey, they may as well kick them while they're down! So Rebel is kinda just…struggling to find the time and space for the Desktop Sticks to live in and protecting them and they just look at this crowd, sweat, and go, "Wow…that's a lot of Sticks, haha…."

They honestly have no idea where to put all these Sticks, ngl.

And that's actually where Mango and Purple come in.

So, Mango and Purple have been watching this shit all go down. Hell, they actually witnessed the first Despair Stick incident and survived from that, which signaled to them that they can't just bury their heads from this situation. However, Mango prioritized he and Purple's safety first and foremost and the two hid away in Minecraft for a bit, but kept in contact with the OuterNet through phones and such. But as time went on, Purple was getting more and more antsy and Mango can tell just by looking at him. But he wasn't sure what he could do to help…until word spread that there has been a lack of space in the OuterNet due to the amount of DeskTop Sticks escaping there for a chance of safety. And it was then that he realized that, hey, Minecraft has been pretty much untouched from Despairs. And why would it be? It's literally just a game. For all everyone knows, both in the Real World and the OuterNet (except for some people in the DeepNet), it's a game that has existed before the Tragedy and can't really be used to spread any sort of propaganda. It's not as if there couldn't be any servers owned by Despairs, but the likelihood of them spending time on a game outside of their free time is pretty low. It wasn't a foolproof place to live in due to mobs and other environmental hazards, not to mention that Mango and Purple need to use a Nether portal to enter the game and the Nether is! Not friendly, to say the least! But it was the only other option they could use, as long as they're able to establish communities in different Minecraft worlds.

So Mango tells Purple of his plan to let Rebel know about his idea to use Minecraft to establish shelters for their fellow Stick people and Purple jumps at the chance to help. They managed to establish contact with Rebel and tell them of their plan secretly as they didn't want word to spread to the DeepNet or the Despairs on where they're putting the Sticks. Rebel is, surprisingly, all for this idea and helps them iron out the details. The first thing Purple does is create an easier path to some of the Nether portals they've already established in the past and create shelters for the sticks, Rebel and their team escorts a group of Sticks to the portal(s), and Mango helps teach the Sticks on how the game works, keep themselves safe, and how to create their resources like food, wood, take care of animals, etc., etc. Due to the danger that the worlds of Minecraft can pose, the three of them often take turns or team up to escort these groups to the shelters and protect them. This plan has worked for a few years and the Stick communities have grown enough to be able to protect themselves, but it seems that the Despairs and the DeepNet have started to catch on to their plan. They've started to follow the refugees to the portals, forcing Rebel, Mango and Purple to block off or even destroy some of the Nether portals they've established to prevent them from following them into the game. Thankfully, they haven't slipped through their defenses…yet.

This plan isn't foolproof but they're trying their best. At least the Despairs don't have the means to destroy the game! (Don't ask Mango about the time he tried to do exactly that. We don't talk about it.)

But yeah, Mango and Purple get to work with Rebel and Purple is kinda awestruck with hanging out with a historical, even legendary, figure and helping them out. Mango also finds it fascinating to work with Rebel but he quickly finds that for all their admirable traits, they can be quite flawed, too. For starters, they are…quite reckless! And tend to run off and act first, think later. Which contrasts with Mango, who tends to be pretty meticulous in his planning, since he had a step-by-step plan he came up with with Purple in AVM Season 3 (with a few, ahem, "missing" details at the time). And it turns out, while Rebel has a bunch of good ideas on paper, they often need help from their group to bring these ideas to life, cause otherwise they can get quite...aimless and may overlook things that they didn't notice. But the fact that they're willing to listen to other people's advice shows their good qualities in leadership as they're able to listen and examine the flaws of their ideas while still holding their ideals up. These two just tend to butt heads a lot due to their contrasting personalities as Mango is constantly trying to keep Rebel from running into trouble headfirst while Rebel is like, "No, we must act now!!"

Basically like this:

Mango: "Okay, first, we have step A, which will lead into Step B and Purple, you can take care of step C-"

Purple: "Uh, Da- I mean, Mango?"

Mango: "Yes, Purple?"

Purple: "Rebel already left."

Mango:

Rebel, running off to fight the Despair in the vicinity to protect a Stick figure:

Basically, Rebel has the passion and skills, but can also be impatient to a fault and can cause a bigger problem by running headlong into it.

Mango has the genius to examine the scenario and plot around the problem, but may not always be able to act quick enough to save lives.

Both mindsets has it's pros but it can also have their cons, and in a situation like the Tragedy, neither side is in the wrong. But it's a tough situation all around that either one can make things messy. But they're trying their best to work with what they got.

And now, to see how one of the scrunkly cats ever is doing during the Tragedy...*Holds up The Chosen One*

Since this takes place after AVA Season 2 where Dark is MIA by the end of it and obviously after AVM Season 3 since Mango and Purple have already gone through their arcs, Chosen is wandering around trying to undo his wrongs as an ex-terrorist. But he's still wanted by the public for his past crimes, which, yeah, that's bad. Makes sense. But unlike most of the public, Chosen believed in Rebel's prediction as he sees them as an inspiration and has been keeping an eye out on any sort of Despairs. So when the first incident happened, he was immediately on it and was the reason why the problem had been taken care of as quickly as it had happened. Unfortunately, though, time quickly proves that as powerful as Chosen is, he cannot be in two places at once (something Rebel can unfortunately relate to). Despair incidents happen one after another, sometimes at the same time, and he struggled to do his part in protecting other people. To make matters worse, those who actually recognized Chosen often freak out and run away or even beg for mercy, still seeing him as a terrorist. Some even blamed him for some of the Despair incidents he helped resolved, and he ends up being labeled as a Despair due to his past, even though he's been trying to do good for others. Which, ow.

And, to make matters worse, Vic is still on his ass by sending the Mercs after him. Just because the Tragedy is happening doesn't mean that he won't give up his goal on getting his revenge on Alan, not realizing that he had gone missing for awhile now. Vic is more or less a neutral party in the Tragedy, with RocketCorp willingly combating against the Despairs but also buying things from them and/or selling things to them if it means advancing his own personal goals. The Mercs help against the Despair incidents but are also waiting for Chosen to appear so they can capture him…

Fun fact: Mango and Purple witnessed Chosen saving them in the first Despair incident before he left without a word as a little setup for future development. ChoKing in my funky little crossover? It's more likely than you think!

At some point, Second convinces Chosen to meet with Rebel to try and establish that hey, he's NOT a Despair, he's actually trying to help everyone so please stop slandering him like this even though he knows his past is shady as fuck. Chosen agrees, albeit hesitantly as he knows that this is a very dangerous thing to do and he's meeting his idol so he's nervous for another reason, too. Surprisingly, Rebel agrees and even planned to go alone but Mango was insistent that no, they shouldn't go alone, even if he and Purple did personally witness him helping others, as they don't know if he succumbed to Despair or not. So they agreed to bring Mango along with them (Purple was told to keep an eye on the shelters with the rest of CG, much to his disappointment).

Ngl, I think their meeting starts off like this:

Second: "Hey, this is Chosen! He's kinda like my brother."

Rebel, blunt: "Your brother is a terrorist?"

Chosen: *Obtains -1000 psychic damage*

Second:

Rebel:

Mango: "…I think you broke him."

Rebel: "Oh, whoops."

Eventually, though, Chosen becomes honest with his experience and says that he looks up to Rebel as it was thanks to their ad that led to their website that he was able to free himself from the abuse Alan treated him with, and reassures them that he's stopped being a terrorist and has been trying to help and prevent more Despair incidents. Rebel, recognizing that he's genuine in his turnaround, does a 180 in their suspicion and is like, "OH, I love redemptions!" and immediately welcomes him into the group. Naturally, no one really likes this or believes in Chosen outside of Second, the Color Gang, and Rebel, while Mango and Purple are quite skeptical of him. Although Purple is more willing to give him a chance…and maybe wants to see his powers in action. Without the danger, this time. But yeah, Rebel recklessly brings him into the group, which causes a ripple effect of anxiety as most people in the Stick community doesn't agree that he's turned over a new leaf. He did, after all, hurt MANY people in the past and whose to say this isn't a ploy in the making? (It isn't but Chosen can only prove himself through action, not words.) This is pretty much how Mango and Chosen officially meet in this crossover.

Obviously, Mango eventually starts to see that Chosen is doing everything in his power to help others and is kinda just…fumbling as he tries to grasp how Minecraft works, which leads to Mango trying to help and teach him. Ngl, what makes this version of their dynamic hilarious is that this grown-ass middle-age man knows far more about Minecraft than a young adult person. Bonus points that the only reason Mango knows so much about Minecraft is because he was trying to destroy Minecraft in the past.

Speaking of Second, chronologically speaking, Second and the Color Gang end up crossing paths with Mango while he's escorting a group of sticks and after everyone gets over their shock of "wow, more people like us!", they ask if Mango is bringing some friends into Minecraft. Mango then realizes that, oh God, these kids do not know what's happening in the OuterNet, oh no, I have to tell them-

Second and the Color Gang are very distraught that essentially no where is safe but after meeting with Rebel, they suggest that they help out as it's made pretty clear that they're experts in Minecraft and that they can help teach and protect the shelters on how to work in Minecraft. Mango is concerned as he doesn't want to put these kids to work, but they all immediately jump at the chance cause they don't want to sit around and wait any more. Not only because doing nothing would make them anxious, but also cause they want to help as much as they can, too. (It also helps distract them from Alan going missing, although they still put in the effort to search for any signs for him.) Mango relents as he knows these kids are just going to do whatever they want, so he might as well support them and give them guidance instead of shutting them down. And Rebel makes a pretty good point that even though they were just minding their own business, the Tragedy still affected them by taking their Creator away from them, even if he's just missing. Whether they like it or not, they're forced to face the Tragedy so they might as well willingly get involved by doing the right thing.

And I think that Second and co. are very good at their respective jobs at helping others and giving them hope. Because, even though they're kids, they're always trying to find ways to keep things together and do the right thing. They may argue and fight sometimes, but in the end, they always come around a common goal and are able to stay positive despite everything. This happens in canon as in many scenarios, they're always having fun while on their adventures, even when things go wrong. As kids, they shouldn't have to go through all of this. But it's also because they're kids that they're able to see the light, the hope, in things and work hard to do their part in helping others in need. And I think AVM Season 4 can be a great way to tie into this crossover:

People are bored and scared out of their wits? How about Yellow sets up a fun-little cart game for people to watch the Color Gang go ham at!

People are starting to get tired of the same food? Blue and co. go on a journey to start a recipe book and establish a food network across the Minecraft world.

People are losing hope? Green holds a concert - which, uh, ends a lot more chaotically than anyone expected, but the rest of the Color Gang don't seem to be too concern.

Heck, even the prank episode can be shown as Red fucking around in his downtime.

(The Lucky Block episode is a pretty self-contained episode as it mostly happens inside the block so a lot of people probably weren't aware of it.)

Second and co. are constantly coming up with ideas to create fun activities and keep everyone's spirits up, making them very successful Symbols of Hope alongside Rebel. Mango and Purple are also considered as symbols as they work side by side with Rebel and were the ones that came up with this Minecraft Shelters in the first place. Chosen is seen as a symbol of Despair at first, but as time goes on after he joins Rebel's cause, public opinion slowly starts to shift in a better light for him. They don't consider him a complete symbol of hope but he's becoming less and less associated with Despair now, which is more than enough for him.

My Mutual: Gee I sure hope nothing fucks this up-

The Mercs:

LIKE, YEAH, THE DESPAIRS ARE BAD, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, VIC HAS HIS OWN GOALS IN MIND-

At some point the Mercs eventually find out that Chosen is in Minecraft and end up creating their own Nether portal, ambushing a shelter and telling Rebel to bring out the "Despair" and RocketCorp will leave them alone. Chosen immediately tries to give himself up instead of fighting back, but Second is like, "No, don't do it!" and Rebel is like, "NUH UH" and immediately runs in to fight the Mercs themselves. They always got bad vibes from RocketCorp and this just confirms their suspicions that they're up to no good, even going as far as to accuse them in supporting the Despairs themselves. Which, they're technically not wrong about, they just don't have concrete evidence beyond them trying to arrest Chosen, which is would be fair in any other circumstance. This results in a 3 VS 4 scenario where Rebel is fighting the Mercs for Chosen's safety, Chosen is just trying to survive and talk down Rebel, and Second, unlike canon where Chosen kinda just plops them into the situation, jumps in as well to protect Chosen, too. Mango and Purple are doing their best to escort the citizens to safety while the Color Gang are about to go down and help as well-

-But, oops! The Despairs are coming through the very portal the Mercs used to enter their Minecraft world! So the Color Gang is forced to split their attention on the Despairs and destroying the Nether portal while Mango and Purple defend the shelters.

The situation does stabilize once the Despairs are taken care of, but the 3V4 fight pretty much ends in the Mercs favor like in canon, except I'm thinking they take Rebel with them? But they might just leave them paused as they just up and leave, lmao. Either way, RocketCorp's reputation is not going to look good cause everyone saw that, although Rebel will certainly get criticized for their choice as well. And the Mercs destroy the Nether portal on the way out, all dramatically before Green could reach the portal and follow after them. They regroup, discuss what the fuck just happened and the Color Gang are tasked with trying to get them back while Mango and Purple try to manage things in the Minecraft shelters.

That's about it for the "main story" but I do have an idea for The Dark Lord:

Basically, The Dark Lord hid away in the DeepNet and has made a living for himself, even if he's frustrated and hurt by being "betrayed" by Chosen. Honestly, I think he'd take part in the Despair terrorism as he was definitely the most gung-ho about the terrorism back then. Like, even though he planned to hurt Alan with his virus, he still enjoyed the terrorism in the past before ever involving him again. He, again, makes more Viruses and shares them with others…and would give them away to the Despairs, too. Hell, I can see Dark taking part in the incidents, leaving whispers of people witnessing a familiar red blur hurting and killing other people…

Chosen is hoping it's not who he thinks it is.

And the minute word spreads about RocketCorp kidnapping Rebel, Second, and Chosen, Dark is immediately raiding it. To help Chosen? To take his revenge? Who knows, it depends on how you want to interpret him and what you wanna see from him after everything he's done.

Honestly, I don't have a lot of thoughts on The Dark Lord for this, he's kinda just doing his own thing. Same with Vic, but they pretty much lean towards Despair.

(And because I have no idea where else to put this, uh, I kinda forgot that Second would be shocked to learn of Chosen's experience with Alan back then when they meet up with Rebel. Like, yeah, he deleted the Color Gang once and threatened to do it again, but after all this time, it feels more like a misunderstanding as Alan clearly did not realize that they were sentient, even if he was pretty callous about it, and started treating them with kindness and respect. They also can't ask Alan about it right now cause, uh, he's missing. 💔 And while making this post, I realized that Second would find out about Chosen's terrorism through Rebel and other citizens…That's gonna be one hell of a conversation between them once they meet up.)

But yeah, that's about it for the time being. And if you're wondering what made me think of this crossover, well...

I stickfigured Teruya and it spiraled from there. He'd basically be our audience surrogate into the OuterNet if I were to ever write a story on this.

[dotthings]

If some people who ship Destiel hate Jensen so much, why do they reblog JenMish, why are they so interested in Jensen. If they are so sure that all the negative things they believe about him are true, why do they bug him, why do they wankbait him.

Why, if nothing he says is ever good enough, if they look down on him this much, do they keep at him .

Why do they think they have rights to tell other Destiel shippers they can’t appreciate Jensen, they can’t listen to him, respect him, or find anything welcoming or encouraging in his words. (You know who also doesn’t want any Destiel shippers to find anything welcoming in Jensen? Antidestiel hatedom).

Why is it Jensen fans who ship Destiel and who find comfort and validation in Jensen’s words—even if it’s still open-ended in some respects, even if it’s not an exact match to Misha’s bluntness, are expected to put up with being called crazy by other Destiel shippers.

Why is it bitter hellers who barely even go here any more and who clearly haven’t experienced joy in years outside of fanfics so often will pop back in just to say something invalidating and mean before they vanish again.

Why do Destiel shippers not want Destiel shippers to have validation or comfort.

Why do Destiel shippers who seemingly have had only misery and sense of rejection and disappointment about Destiel keep hovering over it instead of moving to something more satisfying. And when they do sometimes move on, they keep taking cheap shots at Destiel, they weaponize whatever wonderful new perfect thing they’ve found to throw their spite back at Destiel.

If Destiel isn’t enough, if what was already accomplished isn’t enough, if they can’t feel how extraordinary this is or why it matters to people, people are allowed their opinions and feelings, but if that’s how they feel, why keep touching the hot stove over and over.

If Jensen isn’t enough, why won’t they leave him alone.

They need to understand their hatred of Jensen isn’t entitled to a free pass.

And they need to understand that chronically treating Destiel like it’s never enough, constantly belittling the mountains spn moved and whatever comes next, belittling shippers who feel strongly about the significance and meaning of all this and the hostility towards Destiel shippers who find joy and meaning in it, not only from fanfic, but from the canon story and the creatives who purposefully crafted this love story, is a hostility towards the Destiel lane and I don’t know why they thought they were entitled to a free pass.

People are allowed their opinions but acting shocked when they get pushback for the hate and invalidation they keep bringing into the lane is wild. There’s nothing wrong with needing to move on.

Why do we have to tolerate this from inside the Destiel lane?

[gayhorrorboy]

the rise from the ashes credits are almost as good as the main game tbh

obvious spoilers to follow but like

lana foreshadowing emmas future role? meekins saying he wants to be gumshoe right after gumshoe just told you hes almost at negative pay right now? the blue badger finally breaking down? marshall telling you to water his plants correctly? angel naming a meal after you <3 the judge forgetting your fucking name. the implication phoenix visited maya??? <3333 and of course. edgeworth just fucking leaving. ALSO EMA LEAVING ALMOST THE SAME DIALOGUE AS MAYA??? THE ADORABLE PIC OF HER AND LANA TOO??? im not even mad about this case taking me twelve hours now.

[bruhainrot]

VREL RESPONDED TO MY DUMBASS QUESTIONS AYY

Just imagine eden and pc creating a big ass community in the forest with their offspring. Children gather up, lets hold hands and sing kumbaya!!

whitney bouta pull out dat strong british accent n be like "goys dis li ol slut jsut faar ted😂😂☝️💩"

question 5 made me like aww theyre so down bad :3

question 6 nahh its fine i can still enjoy dry syd. I initially thought that sydney would be funnier than whitney, especially when hes corrupted. To me, syd is just your typical chill ass guy with bbq sauce on his tts that likes to joke around a lot, like if you take the time to get to know them, youd find them naturally endearing and hilarious

question 7 lmao its most certainly gonna be a negative compromise anyway but hey at least no rapping or punching! also, good to know that its possible for the pc to become a different person and get away with it for some time.

question 8 is based on my friend asking me whether id say "BOOYAH" or "YIPPEE" when cumming, i chose the first option of course

[narrans]

My Borrowed Son | 26 | Walls Tumble Down

Chapter Twenty-Six | Walls Tumble Down

The night was a completely restless one. Between the nightmare and the girl Parker was sure he saw, no sleep dared to disturb him. He lay there completely awake as his eyes darted to the trim on the ceiling and the bedside table he used to sleep on.

Nothing happened all night.

It was maddening.

Parker wasn’t sure what he wanted to happen, but something to confirm or deny what he witnessed would have been nice. Instead, the rhythmic breathing of his mom and the warmth of her nearby hand was all he registered all night long.

When the sunrise finally came around, Parker felt like he had already put in a full day. As soon as his mom opened her eyes, Parker was on his feet and nudging her.

“Mom? Mom? Are you up?” Parker repeated himself until his mom was fully upright. Parker was determined to search through anything and everything he could, and he hoped his mom would help.

Both awake, the search began. Parker and his mom combed over the different parts of the house trying to find anything that would hint at this mysterious dream girl.

Sadly, to no avail.

No marks on the trim or electric covers. No wires or items out of place. The two of them scoured the house and found nothing.

It wasn’t until Parker suggested going into the walls that his mom raised an objection.

“Parker, I don’t think that’s a good idea. There could be anything in there and I don’t want you getting hurt,” Amanda insisted. They had been at this for a few hours now and it was making Amanda nervous, and for more than one reason.

The creeping thought that she had before that there were people Parker’s size living in the walls felt more like a possibility by the minute. She hoped and prayed it was all a dream, but Parker’s insistence filled her with dread.

She needed a minute to compose herself for the conversation she knew they needed to have today, and her being rattled and sleep deprived like Parker would lead down a negative path. The adoptive mother wanted to say the right things to her son, and her overtiredness wasn’t helping. Everything felt hazy in her mind.

She just needed a minute to collect herself.

Just one minute.

And Parker wasn’t giving it to her.

“Mom, just hear me out! I’ll be back and I’ll be careful. Look! You could even tie a rope like a harness and use it to…”

I said no, Parker!” Amanda had never snapped at her son, nor raised her voice at him, and this was precisely what she did now. The fear and worry were consuming her. She just needed a moment, and her words came out before she could stop herself.

Parker, stunned that his mom adopted such a tone now of all times, felt himself tense before the emotion swelled up to choke out any other suggestion he could make.

Didn’t she know how important this was to him?

Didn’t she know what this could mean?

There might be someone his size out there! She could need help.

Parker always thought he had tough skin, but something about the exhaustion and obsession to find the truth whittled him down to raw emotion.

Dejected and confused, Parker’s shoulders sagged as he walked back to his room. He heard his mom call after him, but it wasn’t until her hand physically stopped him that he turned to face her. Vision blurred from tears threatening to crest over the edges of his eyes, Parker barely noticed his mom had the same look on her face.

“I’m so sorry, Parker. I’m… I think I’m just a bit tired. Let’s… let’s just lie down for a few minutes and reconvene for lunch. Yeah? Get back to the search then? Maybe we missed something,” Amanda suggested.

Parker sniffled and nodded. With that, his mom watched him walk back to him room down the hall. The small teen boy barely registered that he was walking. His mind was numb and he felt foggy. Something just felt off about his mom’s reaction, and he wanted to know why.

He also knew he didn’t want to take a nap.

He wanted to find the girl.

The moment he was in his space and climbing the stairs to his room that his curiosity and drive got the better of him. The more he thought, the more he was convinced what he needed to do.

He needed to search in the one place his mom couldn’t reach.

Despite what she said, he was going to go anyway.

He was going into the walls.

When he was sure his mom had stepped away and wasn’t going to walk in to check on him, he pulled on his pack like he did the first time he went into the walls and climbed down the line to the electrical cover in his room. Nerves made his hands shake as he unscrewed the panel and pulled.

Just like the one at home, it came free easily. Disbelief tugged at Parker as he looked at the screw. It looked like the other one – like it was filed down or purposefully shorter.

Parker’s ribs could barely contain his pounding heart. He forced two nervous breaths into his lungs slowly as he hoisted himself up and into the wall.

Immediately, he could see it was dark, but not as dark as the walls at home. Perhaps it was because it was daylight instead of in the dead of night, but something inside Parker told him it might very well be something completely different.

He placed one foot in front of the other carefully, like he was walking on slick ice. Something made him want to stop, but that same thing compelled him forward. It was the sensation of experiencing the unknown. It was the need to discover the truth.

Was what he saw real? Or not?

Parker wasn’t even sure what he wanted the answer to be.

Did he really want to think a girl his size was living in the walls like some weird rodent or pest? Was that the truth? Or just his imagination? Did she have his rare genetic condition? If so, why had her family abandoned her? Or had she run away?

On the other hand, was it just a part of his nightmare? His dreams felt so real. Those nightmares felt tangible. Would something that was “just a dream” make him wake sweaty and shouting for those figures being dragged away by the currents?

He was like Neo from The Matrix, torn between two choices. He hadn’t even realized he had stopped walking forward as the thought hit him.

Did he turn back and believe whatever he wanted to believe?

Or did he want to see how far down the rabbit hole went?

The teen swallowed dryly, already knowing what he wanted and yet afraid to take it.

One step.

Then another.

Parker chose to move forward toward the curve of the hallway that led further into the walls.

~~~^*^*^~~~

He hadn’t been walking long. Five minutes maybe?

As he delved further into the walls, Parker noticed the same things he did at his old home. The walls were void of debris and random chunks of fallen drywall and dust piles. There was something familiar about the walls. It was like a comforting blanket on a winter night.

Then, he saw it. As he rounded the next corner down some cords and across one beam, he saw light.

It was a soft, warm glow that would come from Christmas lights. He even turned off his own lamp to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him.

They weren’t.

His quiet, careful steps broke into a bold run. His heart was tearing him apart from the inside. Every thought felt like white noise humming in his skull. Parker pursued the light and whipped around the corner to see the shocking sight he couldn’t have expected.

The moment he rounded the corner, he saw what he could only describe as a mud room or supply closet.

He saw fishing hooks attached to knotted rope on the walls. There were bags in a pile in the corner of the room. Thumb tacks, razor blade with rubber on the ends, and toothpicks were in the wall at the far corner. Shoes lined the other wall, and there were quite a few with what Parker could only describe as different designs.

A roll of double sided tape hung on the walls beside a post-it note with scribbles all over it. Parker’s insides clenched as he spotted one symbol he recognized which looked like a poorly drawn house with a check mark in the middle.

I’m really through the looking glass now. Parker thought as he surveyed his surroundings. No specific emotion rose to the surface, but panic was starting to be one of them.

“Wha-… You!”

Parker nearly jumped out of his skin as he spun on his heel and saw none other than the girl with raven eyes. Time held still as he had a full minute to look at this new stranger.

“You… y-you… you’re real…” Parker couldn’t even stop the words from coming out as he exhaled in awe. The girl, on the other hand, looked tense and offended. She spun around quickly and started to sprint away, forcing Parker into a reactive panic.

“Wait! Please! Don’t go! I’m sorry!” he shouted, daring to chase after her a few steps before his legs gave out. His limbs refusing to respond as some form of shock overtook him. Parker heaved in a few deep breaths and listened desperately for the girl but heard nothing but the thunderous beating of his heart.

Was this happening? He was giving out now?

The teen simply sat there crumpled on his knees as he could do nothing else for a minute or two before something caught his attention.

“Hey! Hey! You going to start shouting for that human again?”

Parker blinked and saw the girl had returned and was peering around the corner at him.

That human? Is she talking about my mom?

“N-no… no, I… I don’t shout. Just… don’t go,” Parker replied. His desperation to talk to this girl and keep her in place overrode the girl’s insult of calling his mom “that woman.”

The girl huffed nice and loud once in a kind of scoff before stepping back into the room. She folded her arms indignantly and stared expectantly at him. The teen wasn’t sure why, but he felt like he was in a world of trouble. Parker had always imagined what it would be like to meet someone else like him, but never did he imagine this kind of scenario.

Parker took in everything about her. From the way she was dressed to the way she held herself. She held herself with a certain amount of confidence that was certainly admirable. She also looked like she could verbally rip Parker a new one if he angered her more than what she already was.

Her clothes were a mismatch of blues and blacks, a severely patched poncho covering her shoulders and most of her torso. Her dark brown hair was in a ponytail held up by a piece of black yarn. There was a hook on her hip as well as what looked like a climbing rope and a lamp. She also had on a backpack, but Parker could only venture a guess as to what was inside of it.

Overall, she looked like some kind of wall bound adventurer.

“Well?” she said after Parker had stared at her for a considerable few minutes. Parker sputtered for a second, not sure what to do. She rolled her eyes and kept her arms folded. “Aren’t you going to apologize for kicking me? You left quite the bruise.”

Right! Parker recalled their tussle earlier this morning.

“Umm… yeah.. right. I’m sorry. I’m Parker. What’s your name?” asked Parker.

“Sorry for what? Be specific when you apologize,” stated the girl curtly. Parker’s mind scrambled for the words, which finally came to him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to kick you. Well… I mean I did… but I thought you were trying to hurt me and that it was just a dream,” stammered Parker. The girl heaved a hefty sigh and kept her arms folded.

“I suppose that’ll have to do,” she said sarcastically. “And I’m Kit. Well, Sprokit technically, but I prefer Kit.”

“Kit, right. I like that,” grinned Parker. His heart fluttered as he took in a few calming breaths, grinning as he continued to look at this strange new girl. “I just can’t believe it. You… you’re here. You’re real. I never thought I’d meet someone else like me.”

Kit’s raven eyes narrowed.

“Someone else like you? What? Did you think you were the only one?” she asked disbelievingly. “Rude.”

“I… I’m sorry. No. I mean, of course no. I knew others had to be out there. It’s such a rare condition though. Can you blame me?” Parker had a million questions coming to his mind. The awe of finding someone else with his genetic condition was astounding.

“Condition?” asked Kit. “What on earth are you talking about?”

Confused, Parker pushed himself up and stood shakily, his entire body vibrating with excitement and nervousness as he said, “You know? Condition? Oh… wait… do you not know?”

“Know what? You’re the one talking crazy,” scoffed Kit.

Parker felt a wrenching in his gut.

This girl doesn’t know she has Parvi Homunculi Syndrome. Poor thing. Her parents probably didn’t know when they had her. She probably ran away.

“You don’t know? You must, right? Your pediatrician would have diagnosed you when you were little,” stated Parker, every thought pinging in his mind and bouncing around like a tiny rubber ball. Each thought was one he tried to stitch together to better explain to this girl her condition.

“Pedia-what? What on earth is that?” Kit asked.

“Pediatrician. It’s a doctor for kids. They give you your shots and make sure you’re well and don’t get sick and all that. You have check-ups and everything every year. Have you never been taken to one?” The notion someone had never been to the doctor was absurd to Parker.

At this, Kit bristled, and her face scrunched. Parker figured he had offended her again based on the look she gave him. “I’m not some pet to be take to the doctor, especially a human one.”

Parker was completely baffled. What was she talking about? She kept talking about “human” this and “human” that.

“But… why? I mean, you are human, just a little smaller than normal,” stated Parker.

Kit’s eyes widened. It was like she just realized something which made her stoic features unhinge. Her jaw slackened as she just stared at Parker.

The next words out of her mouth made Parker’s blood run cold.

“Good night… you really don’t know, do you…” muttered Kit in a tone of awe. Her arms went slack by her side as the pretentious air around her changed to curious tension.

“Don’t know?” asked Parker. He felt like they were both from completely different worlds. How could she not know that she was human? “Don’t know what?”

“That you’re a Borrower.”

That word.

It sounded so familiar.

It sounded like something Parker had heard before. It stirred something in the back of his mind. It was like an itch he couldn’t scratch in the depths of his brain, but it was there all the same.

Borrower.

Borrower.

Borrower.

Why did that sound like he should know what it meant?

No.

No that’s not right.

This has to be a mistake.

“That’s… impossible,” muttered Parker aloud. His head swirled. To keep from losing his balance, Parker staggered backward and leaned against the nearby wall under some of the shelves. “No. You… you’re wrong. I’m… I’m a human, and so are you.” He looked up and locked eyes with Kit, but there was no play of smile on her face indicating she was just messing with him.

“Parker, I’m being serious. I’m a Borrower. You’re a Borrower. We’re not some weird small human,” asserted Kit. Parker felt completely and utterly sick. His head was throbbing. Every beat of his heart felt like it would bring the house down.

“No… No! I’m not! It’s a genetic condition. I have a genetic condition. Parvi Homunculi Syndrome. It’s a rare condition. It makes me just like a human, but smaller. Yo-.”

“Parker, don’t lie to yourself,” Kit stated firmly as she stepped forward and gripped Parker’s shoulders, forcing him to look into her coal black eyes. “You’re a Borrower and you have been all your life. That human took you and has been keeping you like some kind of sick pet.

“She’s been lying to you. That human down there has been lying to you. You’re not human. You’re a Borrower. You belong with other Borrowers, not down there in the human world! That’s why I went down last night. I was trying to rescue you. I didn’t think that you wer-.”

“No!” Parker couldn’t take it anymore. He reached up and shoved out as hard as he could, which sent Kit flying across the room, which was spinning violently. “I… I don’t believe you. I…”

Suddenly, his vision started to darken into little pinpoints. He started breathing harder and faster, but it did him no good. Every breath felt completely absent. It was like his lungs were paper bags with holes cut in them.

Nothing was sticking.

No thought.

No air.

No way to stabilize this swirling room.

Parker fell to his knees and felt the thrum of his pulse in every part of his body.

It couldn’t be helped. Though breakfast was scarce, everything on the inside was suddenly bubbling up his throat and exploding out of his mouth. The acid burned his throat and mouth, making breathing impossible.

The ringing in his ears blocked all sound. Parker’s shaking was uncontrollable.

It wasn’t until he felt something around his shoulders that he finally started to see again. Though the ringing in his ears didn’t stop, Parker blinked away his daze to see something had been draped over his shoulders. What confused him was that it was brown, and nothing either of them had on was brown in any stretch of the imagination.

Warily, Parker glanced over and saw not one but two new sets of boots standing directly to his right. He swallowed roughly and blinked his eyes tight and reopened them.

No.

It wasn’t his imagination.

They were real.

A string of acid tasting drool slipped from his laxed mouth, but he didn’t care. The teenager, crouched on all fours, dared to look up and, to his mortified astonishment, saw two new faces. One face had the same charcoal black eyes and blond hair. He looked older than Parker, but not by much. His features reminded Parker of some of his classmates, who were all two or three years older than him.

The other was a man who, for all Parker knew, could have been about the age of his mom. He was obviously athletically built, muscles noticeably tone and sharp. His clothes were also in tatters, just like Kit’s clothes made of patches and odd pieces, and there was a thumbtack and stay pin on his hips.

The man had these keen blue eyes built for assessing and survival. Parker couldn’t discern how he knew, but he just did. The man’s hair was a dark and shaggy brown, and it had been tied up into a weird kind of bun. He was crouched by Parker’s side, and he looked worn out and irritated, but the young teen could sense it wasn’t with him.

“You okay, kid?” asked the man as he scanned Parker’s face and his crouched body. Parker felt his eyes burning and realized only now that his face was wet.

“I…” Parker’s head swirled again. His chest spasmed and he coughed up a few more chunks that had been lodged in his throat. The man rested his hand on Parker’s back reassuringly and patted him a few times.

“Yeah, you’re alright. As alright as you can be I guess,” said the man. He sounded tired and resigned. Parker barely registered the man turning his head up toward the other pair of boots that were nearby. “So, you two decided to take it upon yourselves then, hmm?”

“She did,” grumbled the other teen.

“What? You’re pinning this on me?” demanded Kit. “We all talked about it. I’m just the only one who decided to do something about it. I didn’t think you were serious about this kid not knowing he was a Borrower.”

“Kit!” scolded the other guy, this “Borrower” thing they kept throwing around, as he stepped up to her. Parker wondered if they were related because of their shared eyes. The other one, however, didn’t look like he was related to the two teens his age.

Parker was so distracted that it took another gentle nudge from the older stranger to get his attention. He was holding up something that looked like part of a plastic bag with some clear liquid in it.

“Don’t worry. It’s water. Swish and spit, okay?” he offered. Parker tried swallowing again, but his throat felt like sandpaper. Without a word, the man stood, snagged Parker by his armpits, and helped him to sit with his back against the wall as he offered the clear bag again.

The simple command of reaching up and grabbing the bag was almost too much for Parker’s muscles to endure, but he somehow found the strength to reach out and take the bag. The water felt cool and refreshing and getting that nasty bile out of his mouth made Parker feel a sense of clarity.

While Parker swished the water, the two other teens continued to argue.

“I told you that if you didn’t tell mom and dad that I would tell them,” said the one.

“Finnick! You traitor! I was going to tell them. I just wanted to check and see if we had to run for our freaking lives because of this one and the human downstairs. I didn’t think you meant waking mom and dad up first thing and telling them,” Kit spat.

They went round and round with this as the older man stayed crouched by Parker’s side. With a hefty sigh, he didn’t even glance at Parker when he said, “So, they told you?”

It wasn’t hard to guess what the stranger was referring to, so Parker dared to nod his head.

“T-they told me that my… that I’m… not… that I’m…” Words were hard. Any coherent thought Parker had was completely fried. Everything hurt. The man nodded slowly and smiled sympathetically as he rested his hand on Parker’s shoulder.

“I know. I’m sorry, Parker. You should’ve been told sooner, but it never seemed to be the right time,” sighed the stranger. This sparked a million new branching thoughts, each leading to nowhere specifically. Parker, now partially in control of his faculties, turned his head to look the stranger in the eye. One thought managed to manifest itself, and Parker wasn’t sure if he wanted to know the answer.

“H-how… how do you know m-my name?” he stammered. The man’s shoulder’s slumped. He looked defeated yet resigned to his fate.

“I’ve known you for a while now, you just didn’t know it since I was hidden. I’ve been watching over you for a little while now, Parker. You and your mom both,” he said. Parker felt his head swirl again as his insides threatened to once again turn inside out.

This guy has been watching me? Watching my mom? Is he a stalker? Who does stuff like that? Who just watches people? Has he been living in the walls?

Parker’s memory flashed of that fateful night when he saw a shadow outside of his space and went into the walls after finding that mark on the electrical cover wood panel.

“Y-you. You! It was your shadow I saw that night?” asked Parker. The man sighed and nodded slowly.

“I thought you were in the other room and wanted to check on your space to make sure you were doing alright. I didn’t think you were nearby but ran for it the moment I realized you were close,” said the man.

At this point, the siblings’ argument was so loud that it was hurting Parker’s head. The strange man obviously had had enough and stood abruptly, taking a step toward the two fighting teens.

“You always do stuff like this! You’re always going off on your own because you think you know what’s best. Now, we’ll have to leave because you were careless an-”

“Oh sure! Blame me! I’m little Mr. Perfect over here and never break any of the Borrower rules! You would never think about accidentally revealing yourself or leaving something out of place because you wanted to help the human girl because you thought she was cute!”

“That’s enough!” the man roared over the two squabbling siblings. It was so loud it made all of the teens jump a little, Parker especially because it reminded him of his mom’s tone earlier this morning. The silence that followed was tense. Discomfort filled the small room.

Parker saw the two other teens bristle, but their argument stopped thankfully.

“Fighting like this is doing us no good. Finnick, you went and got me because you wanted us all to be present to discuss what we thought Parker did and didn’t know. Kit, you know you had a hand in all of this. Finnick wouldn’t have gotten me unless it was absolutely necessary.

“Your parents made sure to know how they felt about me yesterday when I warned you about Parker’s situation. Now, we need to stop fighting amongst ourselves and focus on the task at hand, which is helping Parker readjust to everything that was just dumped on him,” said the man. “Now, if you two don’t mind, you should lead the way. Finnick, based on what you said, your parents are waiting for all three of us. I’m sure our fourth will be welcome as well.”

Parker knew they were talking about him, but all he could do was stare at the clear liquid in the bag in his hands. He felt like that liquid, contained in a perfect little container that had now shattered into a million pieces that had no hope of reassembling.

“Parker?” The teen glanced up and stared into the strange man’s face for several seconds, only now noticing the scar on his cheek that had long since healed.

“Y-yes?” said Parker as he fumbled over this one word.

“If you want some answers, you can come with us. I know all of this is strange. It probably feels like nothing is real right now, but I can tell you it is. I can help take you back or you can come with us. We’ll answer your questions and then take you back when you’re ready,” said the man.

Parker’s mind was a blurry haze. Nothing made sense, and yet it did at the same time. There were so many questions lingering in his mind that he couldn’t reach. It was like whisps of smoke. Every time one was nearly visible, it vanished into thin air never to be seen again.

It was the offer of some truth that gave Parker the strength to stand shakily to his feet and nod.

“Oh… o-okay,” he said weakly.

“Need help walking?” offered the man. Parker shook his head and pulled what he could now see was some kind of brown cloak further over his shoulders. Based on the way it dragged the ground, it probably belonged to the man rather than one of the two teens Parker’s age.

Staggered step after staggered step, Parker followed behind the teens and beside the strange man.

Parker’s heightened senses for danger and other such things weren’t going off, which was either good for him or bad for him. Stranger danger was a thing, but the situation he was in was beyond worrying about strangers.

This was something earth shattering, and all at once Parker felt like his world was collapsing in on itself.

The thing he knew for certain was that there was no going back, and he might as well hear these peoples’ answers before going back to talk to his mom.

His mom…

Parker hoped and prayed that this was some kind of elaborate prank and that these people just didn’t realize they had Parvi Homunculi Syndrome.

Sadly, as he followed them through the labyrinth of walls and climbed cables and exposed nails, he slowly began to realize that his hopes were just a pipe dream. Parker climbed, hand over fist, up a makeshift ladder and found himself face to face with what looked like a ragtag house. There were windows and a door and a mix of Christmas and fairy lights all going inside of the structure.

It was official.

This was a home.

A home within a home.

It made Parker ask the gut-wrenching question he had been dreading.

If these people had, Parvi Homunculi Syndrome, would they be living up in this crawl space hiding away from the world?

Which thing is true? Am I a human? Or am I this other thing? A Borrower?  

~~~~~^*^*^*^*^~~~~~

Continue

Previous

Beginning

[aleenuhs]

Can you make a drabble where the reader asks Arthur for advice? The reader went through a difficult time and she would like to ask Arthur for help. You can do it platonically or romantically, I'd just like a little fluff with angst.

⋆Confide in Me

thank u anon. i am so sorry that i got back this really late, its been a whirlwind of things.

warnings: nun much just fluff and smidge of angst.

Lately you’d been down. Moping around camp and hardly carrying your own weight, so you were having a hard time needless to say.

Barley finishing your chores, your mind was filled with the negativity energy that clouded your judgement. Finding no time to be alone or without your thoughts for even a moment.

Nobody had noticed you and how you carried yourself for the last few days, well, most people in the gang had been out and about the land, hunting — robbing, stealing. Whatever they did outside of camp.

It felt so lonely but crowded at the same time, like you were a ghost in a room full of people.

Your life had been characterized by an overwhelming desire to escape, but a lack of direction harbored you. From your childhood till now, you wanted to leave, find a home. And even around these people who treated you so well, you felt lost. Arthur had tried talking to you, but you quickly ended it, shutting down any opportunity for him to ask if you were okay.

Arthur, had just came back from a hunting trip with the Charles, bringing back 2 deer carcasses.

You were sitting on a flipped over crate, which created something like a seat, which wasn’t to your comfort but you didn’t want to sit on the ground. You needed some kind of break, maybe even someone to confide in.

Arthur was at his tent, moving some stuff around, you looked at him, quickly looking away when his gaze turned back to you. A moment passed by and he kneeled next to you.

“Hey love,” he said, lowering his head to look at you, your gaze was locked to the floor and the blades of grass surrounding. Though it was hot out, the breeze felt nice.

You chose your words, and replied back. “Hi,” you said, barely audible, he had to strain to hear you.

“You doin’ alright there?” He said, still kneeling next you. You looked at him, you nodded, then took it back, shaking your head, tears threatening your eyes. His face contorted into a more worried expression, his hand went to your thigh. “Hey — what’s wrong?” He’d sensed something was up, the way you were hardly talking for the past few days, just finishing up chores. Which you didn’t like to do, but it was your distraction.

“I’ve…” You started, then retired as you could hardly find the words to express what you had been feeling for the longest. You and Arthur were no strangers, you knew him well and he knew you very well, and how he loves you is for eternity. But you could be closed off at times.

“I don’t know Arthur.” You spoke and his eyes looked sad as he looked at you. “I feel so alone, here.”

He brings you closer, taking you into his arms, now sitting on the ground with you in his arms, he slowly brushed your hair away from your face. “Whys that? Is someone making you feel that way?”

You immediately rejected that idea, as it was not true. “No, it’s not that Arthur. I don’t know how to explain it, I feel like I’m just free floating and nobody sees me here, I feel down. And it’s all coming back to me.” You shed a few tears, but you weren’t full fledged sobbing.

He nods, “Understood. Y’know, I see you. Always.” He said calmly, it comforted you like hell. “I’m here for you, come to me.”

“I know, but you’ve been gone for the time being. And I missed you so much.” You admitted.

“I can’t skip my chores or duties here, but if it’s somethin’ like this, I’ll try and stay here for you. You mean s’much to me, if I lost you I’d go mad.” He said stroking your hair. And at once, your problems weren’t gone, but you knew you had a solid rock to lean on. And it was Arthur.

“Yeah. Thank you, Arthur.” You looked up at him, he thumb reaches up to swipe a tear from your cheek, kissing your forehead.

a/n if u liked this pls req more, they’ll be open for a bit (check guidelines and info to see who and what I write for!)

[bubblespalace]

Three things for each brother I would tell them as children.

Shuu: "Don't leave Reiji out when you go play with Edgar. It'll have a negative effect on your life. Make sure you include Reiji." "Keep trying to reach out to Reiji. Give him attention since your mom won't. Be there. It's not fun to be alone." "Don't let your mom put too much pressure on you, you're perfect, but never lose that spark and ambition you have currently."

Reiji:

"Don't burn down Edgar's village, it's not going to do what you think it's going to do." "Give Shuu a chance. It's not his fault your mother is neglectful. If he tries to be there, let him be there. He's all you have as of current, but it's better than nothing." "Don't overwork yourself. You have a real problem with this in the future. Take breaks and have a bit of fun every now and then." Ayato: "Remember that Cordelia's view on everything is very messed up. Take everything she says with a grain of salt, even her views on you." "You don't need to prove you're the best when you already are. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." "What you have to go through is lengthy, terrifying and abusive, but when you get older, try to remember where you were before getting to a better place. Treat others how you want to be treated." Kanato: "Your mother shouldn't be using you as an object the way she is. You have no obligation to be at her beck and call when it comes to your voice, that is yours and yours alone." "Avoid your mom and help your brothers avoid her. She doesn't treat you right and her views on everything she is trying to drill into your mind is wrong." "Don't treat others poorly when you grow up, treat others how you want to be treated. Don't become the next abuser." Laito: "Your mother isn't showing you love by any means. What she is doing to you isn't right and she is a horrible person for it. Don't think that is love. Love is a deep affection for one, not a bodily craving." "Get away from her as much as you can, try to stay together with your brothers so you won't be alone with her. She is a very evil woman, and she will take a toll on your mental health." "You are so much more than just a toy. Practice what you want to do and become what you want. You don't have to sleep around to get 'love'. And don't ever treat anyone how she treated you. Don't put anyone else through that pain." Subaru: "You are not a monster. You are a child. And all children are innocent. Don't think you are a horrible being because you're not." "Find something you like doing and focus on that. Try to find what you like and what you don't." "You are darling, like every other child in the world. And you won't grow up into a monster. Please don't ever try to cut your life short. Your life isn't a movie, so don't end it. It'll get better eventually. Everything does."