#but the whole fate and luck and whatever is nice

[yugiohz]

I have to say part 6 circles back to part 1 pretty well I think but also maybe I’m just having fun in general

[quinloki]

Kinktober 2023 - Day 3

Today let's go with something a little... Naughty.

Character: Eustass Kid Reader: cis!fem Warnings: Tension. Almost sfw if not for the vibe, 18+

Summary: Bickering is par for the course with Eustass Kid, and your recent bout of bickering has led to a bet. Whoever cracks first is the loser, and you're playing dirty. -:- 1017 words

-:- Part 1 -:- Part 2 -:- Part 3 -:-

Naughty Mouse

You’d been doing it on purpose. Not to be mean or cruel, but to prove a point.

Kid had boasted that his will power was stronger than yours. He could go longer without touching you than you could go without begging for him to touch you. It hadn’t been a full blown fight that had caused the declaration, but you’d been going back and forth toward having one.

If that’s what he thought, then that’s what he thought, and so the impromptu unofficial bet had begun.

The two of you had been dating for a few months, and despite a couple bumps here and there, it was one of the better relationships you’d been in. Eustass Kid was surprisingly good at communicating – as long as it was about boundaries and sex. Emotions were a little harder to pull out of him, and you certainly weren’t going to hear the word “love” pass his lips any time in the next decade, but he had ways of showing he cared.

His pride, however, certainly got in the way more than anything else.

This was one of those times, but it was a good opportunity for you to prove to Kid that you weren’t the meek, squeaky, shy little Mouse he teased you for being.

So when you invited everyone over for a little party, you dressed very specifically. You had a thick knit sweater on, the kind that made your chest look bigger than it was, and a push up bra on under it just to enhance the effect. You were wearing a skirt, but it was barely visible from under the hem of the sweater.

A little thigh gap below that, and then some thigh high tights. A pair of Mary Janes and you had a nice balance between warm, low key, and flirty. You’d greeted him with a sweet smile when he’d arrived, stepping back and letting him enter with plenty of room. The cocky grin on his face faltered a little, but he didn’t look upset.

The evening carried on smoothly enough. There were drinks and snacks and card games, and music loud enough to be appreciated and quiet enough to avoid pissing off the neighbors. You kept things stocked, playing the good host.

You knew Eustass’ eyes were on you almost the entire night. You didn’t avoid looking at him, or interacting with him, but when you stepped away to refill a bowl or switch out a beer you knew he was watching you more than whatever game was being played.

And you used that to your advantage.

You bent at the waist, and lower than you needed to a few times. You knew he’d gotten a glimpse under your skirt at least once because when you’d returned to the table his ears were crimson red, and it took him a minute to actually look you in the eye.

One of the times you stepped away to get more food, Killer stepped away with you. He just wanted to make sure everything was okay between the two of you. He could sense some tension, and you weren’t sitting in Kid’s lap. Even though things seemed to be okay, he was still worried.

You assured Killer things were all good, admitting that you and Kid were in the midst of a bet of sorts, and you were fairly certain you were currently winning. Killer wished you luck, and went back to the table.

And so went the evening.

You managed to stop everyone from leaving three whole times before most everyone filed out of your house. Kid stayed behind, under the believable pretense of helping you clean up while he sobered up a little. He’d drank more than everyone else, and even Heat and Wire were saying he should at least crash on your couch before he tried to go home.

With Killer’s help, you’d long since hidden his keys. If he sobered up enough he’d hotwire Victoria, but otherwise he’d have to accept his fate and sleep on the couch.

Or your bed, if he was willing to concede the bet.

Kid was sitting at the table, kitchen tidied up well enough to be ignored until tomorrow. Elbows on the table, hands folded in front of his face, he looks up at you as you walk by him, swinging your hips more than you need to.

“Thank you for the help, Kid.” You manage to say it evenly, but the look in his eyes already has your pulse rising. “I can sleep on the couch if you want to stay over.” You offer, grabbing a glass and getting yourself some water.

“I’m a lot -.” Your words catch. You didn’t hear him get up, but he’s behind you.

Tall.

Wide.

Looming.

Kid’s good at making you feel tiny in all the ways you like, without letting you feel like you’re somehow less for it. Your heart is pounding in your ears. You almost want to take a step back and lean into him, to concede, to beg. To have him man-handle you until you’re a drooling, tear-stained mess of exhausted limbs with his seed trailing down your thighs.

After a tense moment one hand grips on the counter on your left, and then the other on your right. There can’t be an inch between the two of you.

“Mouse.” He says the nickname roughly. It’s like grit and rocks falling from his lips, and you can almost feel the weight of his desire tumbling down your back.

“Y-Yeah, Kid?” Your voice is small, but you don’t really move, barely looking over your shoulder enough to know how dangerously close he was.

“Am I going to reward you for touching me,” his voice is almost sweet, tracing a line down your spine sweet as honey, but it shifts to something more dangerous and threatening as he continues. “Or am I going to punish you for teasing me?” He takes in a deep breath, letting it out slowly, letting the heat in his soul slip across your neck.

“Making everyone stay so much longer was cruel, Mouse.”

[owo-shenanigans]

Hello can I please request kokichi, nagito, Gundham (separately ) with the ultimate hairdresser.

 I'm obsesd with their hair (ever since I started studying to be a hairdresser I loved their hair even more I just want to style it and treat it all the time )

-

Good luck with school! I haven’t played DR2 in a WHILE so while I still have Gundhams character down decently I’m wonky with his vocabulary.

Kokichi, Nagito, and Gundham dating the Ultimate Hairdresser

Kokichi Ouma

He took a while to notice you beyond that of his other classmates; perhaps Tsumugi levels of interest. Decent enough to make fun of, but there were better targets.

However, when he could feel your gaze on the back of his neck, and carefully pick out the sound of your pencil scratching against the paper, he realized how intense your interest in him appeared to be.

So he took the initiative and rolled up to your desk after class, swiping the notebook from your hands before you could slide it into your bag.

"Hey, whatcha been drawing?" He snickers as he flips through the pages. The majority is notes of varying quality, which he dismisses as immensely boring. Once he gets to the doodles, his rapid pace slows to a stop. It's of him and his classmates; however, it's only recognizable through the hair, the heads having the barest of details laid into them.

"You all have such interesting styles," you confess as you attempt to snatch the notebook back. "It's really nothing-"

"Oh?" He says, pulling the notebook from your reach. "What's this? A new style for our dear Miu?" In the notebook was a sketch of the girl, original hair drawn next to other cuts.

"Yes! No! I mean- just stop bothering me!"

"Only if you give me a haircut! I wanna feel special too!" He rejects the notion out of hand, but whatever keeps the fun rolling.

"Really?" Your tone shows that you believe him whole heartedly. “I’ll find you after school, you’ll look great!”

And with that, his fate was sealed.

Nagito Komaeda

You didn’t take an interest in him for how nice his hair was; you took interest for how awful his hair was.

You had asked to give him a trim to practice your ultimate and he agreed immediately, always happy to be able to help his ultimate classmates.

The prewash was where you grabbed him by the shoulders, making direct eyecontact with him.

“Nagito, what the fuck have you done with your hair?” Your tone was incredulous and distressed. The appointment quickly shifted from a trim to you piling product and shampoos and conditioners and post shower lotions into his arms, all the while explaining in great detail exactly how to use and combine them all for maximum effect.

He smiles, nodding along with your words, and shows up to class next with hair dripping with lotion. Your classmates check outside for a sudden downpour that affected only him.

After that, you took over care of his hair personally. You figure it’ll work as a thesis statement.

Gundham Tanaka

He came to you, actually.

It was late at night, and you were on your way to bed when a knock on your door interrupted you.

Opening it showed you Gundham standing there, hair wrapped in a towel and shirt plastered to his body with water.

“I greet you upon this cursed evening.” He said, but whatever effect his form of speech had on you usually was nonexistent, considering the circumstances.

“Yeah….? What’s up, Gundham?” You looked him over and he deflated immensely. His explanation as he stepped in was half of his usual nonsense and half genuine worry- his hair bleaching had gone terribly wrong, and he had no idea how, and you were the first solution to come to mind, so if you could do anything to help he would be extremely grateful…

You could already tell where he had messed up and your hands were itching to fix it, so you agreed to help as you led him to your bathroom, pushing his head over your sink as you began damage control.

After that, you two became close friends and you became his trusted hair worker. In turn, you got to spend hours with his animals and him whenever you wanted, so you considered it worth it.

[icyblogs]

wc: 471

Is this a niche? Probably but you know what it’s all good. Anyway-- Thinking about COD and DND. I’m imagining this specific scenario with a patron!Ghost x warlock!Soap x reader.

Reader is just some plain ol’ human in a world of, well, fantasy with things beyond the wildest imagination- dealt the wrong cards in the hands of fate. Maybe for plot sake let’s say someone close to you died: a family or a lover, or maybe you’re running from something in your past. Something that causes you to look for ways to gain more power- or to protect yourself, something, right? Years of reading in the depths and restricted areas of libraries, of tracking down people- of searching before you find what you’re looking for. Going to what you would consider far away from civilization- let’s say the mountains- in case you unleash some sort of unholy evil on the land, looking to summon a fiend in order to get whatever it was in your heart that you desired. 

Long story short, the reader would attempt to summon said fiend or ancient being- and maybe fail instead of succeeding? Maybe they misspoke the incantation, or had the wrong offerings or simply misunderstood the situation- not realizing that just because you try to do a summoning doesn’t necessarily mean it would work. And of course, such beings that lock in a pact with people.. In more cases than not it’s typically at the lowest point in their lives, giving the poor unfortunate souls an offer they usually can’t refuse. So I'm thinking the reader ends up failing in the summoning quite miserably but of course being out far from civilization for the ritual causes well.. Something has gone wrong. You end up nearly dead, just adding to the series of unfortunate events surrounding your existence as a whole; and guess whose attention you capture? Patron!Ghost- offering you a chance at life- at a chance to survive. All you have to do is take the leap. Oh forming a contract? Silly thing, you already offered yourself as a whole with that little ritual you did earlier! Aren’t you happy- isn’t this what you wanted? 

Look- he’s even so generous to have one of his oldest worshippers warlocks to help show you the ropes. Isn’t that so nice of him? After all you’re just a little human with nothing else going for you. Everything else you've known is gone! What do you mean you don’t want to be locked away- this is what you wanted! You wanted the power to protect yourself- and well you got it in the physical form of a new guard dog! (: And better yet you’re getting all the safety you could ever need, tucked away from everything else! You don’t want this anymore? You’d really try to leave a pact? How cute. 

EDIT: If you liked this, you're in luck!! Started writing a story about this here! (:

[beegomess]

Dark Paradise || Theodore Nott

Don't forget to watch the previous chapters

Reblogs and comments are greatly appreciated🫶🏼

13. Unexpected Letters

The big hall was filled with conversations and frantic laughter from students eager to go to Hogsmeade after breakfast. At Slytherin's table, the group of friends was getting together little by little, but everyone raises their eyes in concern when they see Nott enter, however, the boy surprises.

- Good morning. - Theodore says smiling and sits next to Daphne. Everyone looks at him strange, until yesterday the boy suffered silently from the death of his mother.

- Are you okay? - Daphne asks carefully.

- Great! - He serves himself with a glass of juice from the table and they still look at him as an exotic animal.

- Can we know the reason for this whole animation? You rarely smile. - Pansy was a little more direct, receiving a severe look from Daphne in reprimand.

- I even imagine what it can be. - Mattheomurmured for himself, but was inaudible to the others present, for Nott's luck.

- I'm just happy, Pansy. - The boy says, now a little more irritated by the insistence than before.

- Good morning. - Y/N arrives and Theodore's face lights up again.

The conversation and enthusiasm for the walk of the day consumed the circle of friends. The plan would be to spend the day strolling through shops and restaurants, meeting at the end of the day at Three brooms. The day passed quickly for Y/N, who this time decided to accompany Theodore, as he had promised he would do the night before.

The two separated from their friends for some time in the afternoon, that's when they found coffee that was also a library. If that was a date, it would be the best Y/N had ever had. They sat at a table with the chosen books, while drinking the drink in the cups and pinching the sweets they had ordered.

The silence was comfortable between them, and Y/N did not notice, but due to the small size of the table and the fact that his legs were crossed, one of his feet gently touched Theodore's leg, who shuddered when he felt his contact.

For a moment, Nott peeped over the pages, seeing Y/N suck a small part of his middle finger after dirtying it with the fruit syrup from the cookie he had just eaten. He felt like a pervert for seeing it with other eyes, but he also tried to calm down, after all, it's not like they've never done it before. His eyes returned to the book, but the mind was reprising that fateful night in Daphne's kitchen.

- Are you enjoying it? - Y/N brought him back to reality, the girl had a light smile on her face, which with the eyes he had now could be interpreted as a provocation of her.

- A lot. - He seemed a little anxious in the answer, but she ignored it for now.

At Três Vassouras, friends laughed at one of the tables. It was beautiful to see, they were just teenagers talking and laughing. Theodore noticed that he had never paid much attention to Y/N's laughter, which was nice to hear, and then started something new in his heart, and he began to notice it little by little. Perhaps the fact that she cared about his well-being the day before was the last straw for him to let the feelings finally knock on the door to get out.

The jealousy he had felt of her was certainly not because she was just her friend, that he already knew. But the boy has never been so in love with someone before, he was so tender that he would even look silly if someone outside found out. Y/N wouldn't tell anyone either, but the way his voice made her sleep the other night and how he trusted her made her worry if she was inventing fantasies in her mind or if she had let out some behavior that denounced her.

The way her fingers touched quickly when she tore the book out of his hand the night before made her pause the beats of her heart for a second, and even though they have already touched each other far beyond her fingers, there was different. Malfoy was afraid that whatever was between them was just carnal, and so she decided to move away in recent months, even if it was extremely difficult to ignore those looks on her.

The girl would not even confess to her best friends what she did when she took too long in the shower or under the covers when she was completely alone in her dorm. His own fingers caused the moans that, luckily, were muffled by the sound of the water falling from the shower.

That morning, this had even happened, that's why you were late for breakfast. The contact with Theodore the night before reminded her of many things from the night they spent together. These scenes that made her call her by his name desperately, imagining that it was he who practiced the movements so pleasurable. Well, but she had to leave these memories aside as soon as the conversation caught her attention again.

[...]

The Slytherin Elite met in the same way in her communal, already in pajamas and tired, however, satisfied and happy with the school year that was coming to an end. Y/N had his feet on his brother's lap and his body lying on the local sofa. Because it was late, if there were any other students there besides them, it would be strange.

- I was thinking, our parents are going to have that traditional pure-blood party on our property near the sea and, because we are on vacation... - Y/N widened his eyes and immediately sat down to look at him.

- Let's go! - The girl shoots enthusiastically.

- You didn't even let me finish. - Draco got slightly angry and continued. - As I was saying, I'm sure our parents would let us spend a few more days beyond the ball.

- I wouldn't complain about spending a few days out of the reach of my father's bad mood. - Theodore jokes, which cheers up the group.

- I think I can stand to see you a little during the holidays. - Pansy agrees.

It would just be a weekend, they would enjoy it with fervor. The property was far from the muggles and very close to a coast of stones in the sea. Friends planned the things they would do, when Astória approached the place, listening to their voices and excited about what she heard.

- I'm finally going to get to know your house at sea, after all? - The girl said excitedly, drawing the group's attention.

- I'll still think if you're going. - Daphne said, implying.

- Don't say that, Daph. - Y/N scolds her. - Don't worry, Astória, of course you're going.

- What is this? - Daphne takes the letter in the hands of her sister who had sat next to her.

- Ah, an owl was knocking on my window, so I woke up. - She passed the letter to her sister. - But, as I saw that the sender was not me, I decided to bring her.

- Probably the owl missed the window. - Daphne had a malicious smile on her face and walked away from the group, just enough not to have the letter taken from her hands.

- Um, who's sending you letters at this time, Daphne? - Y/N sat on the couch with a malicious smile. - Come on, read it! - The girl instigates and everyone encourages in curiosity. Daphne clears and starts reading aloud.

- "Dear Y/N, ...- Y/N immediately undoes the smile and looks at her confused. - "I'm writing, because I'm looking forward to seeing you again..." - Now everyone looks at each other confused. - "I hope I can see you more often this summer, actually. I miss talking to you and, of course, your completely malicious comments about Mrs.'s costumes. Violet at the pure-bloods party, just like we did when we were kids. I would even like to accompany you to this ball, if you want. Maybe we're not taking the opportunity to talk alone anymore. " - Daphne emphasized the last word while everyone finally understood whose letter it was, now it was clear as the day. The fun on Theodore's face is gone and Y/N began to have her cheeks slightly speckled in red out of shame, but Daphne continues, even with her requests to stop.

- "Well, don't get me wrong, I really liked the company of your friends the last time we saw each other. Zabini is really very intelligent, as you told me the other day, I got along very well with everyone, or rather, almost everyone. I believe Nott didn't go much with my face, but maybe we just didn't have the opportunity to get to know each other even better. Anyway, I hope this letter has arrived at the right place. See you soon. With affection, Enzo." - Daphne finally finishes, Y/N felt that he had sent a scroll, so long it seemed.

- Do you exchange letters now? - Draco asks in a malicious way. - I recognize a man in love from afar.

- Of course, after all, a man in love recognizes the other, isn't he little brother? - Y/N had a sarcastic smile on his face and Draco shrank a little in shame, the fact that he did not deny it lit a flame in Astoria's chest. Y/N gets up and pulls the letter out of her friend's hands, clearly angry. - And you, that's enough with that. - The girl burns the card, throwing it in the lit fireplace in the living room. - I don't go around insinuating lies about you, so don't do the same to me, Daphne. - Y/N leaves like a hurricane from the environment, most were stunned by her reaction, Daphne also shrinks slightly in shame, her sister blamed herself for delivering the letter to her.

Y/N stepped hard into the room, hiding between the covers. That day had everything to be perfect, until that moment. And what Lorenzo meant by "I believe Nott didn't go much with my face... "? What did that mean? Berkshire's letter definitely created chaos in his head.

_______________________________

next chapter>>>

xoxo, bee✨🫶🏼

[slaymitchabernathy]

Field Mouse

Coriolanus aces his officer's test. Not that he's surprised but still, it means something, it means progress, and most importantly it means getting the hell out of District Twelve. 

"You're out of here in one month Snow," Hoff had said to him, "keep that record clean and make us proud in District Two." 

District Two! Coriolanus could've jumped for joy when he heard that. He'd thought maybe he'd get sent to Four or Five but Two was more than he could've ever hoped for. All he had to do was keep out of trouble for a month and that shouldn't be hard considering how these people were set on working him and the new recruits to the bone. 

He did well for about two weeks, steering clear of trouble, he didn't even go to the Hob, figuring it had brought him nothing but sour luck the first time he'd gone. Soarynn hadn't come to see him, to apologize and crawl back to him and he decided it was for the best, they clearly lived two different lives. 

Then his past came back to haunt him in the form of Sejanus Plinth. Oh, how Coriolanus despised that boy. He'd brought him nothing but rotten luck in the Capitol and now here he was, following him to the Districts like some love sick puppy. He, of course, was bunked with Coriolanus and if that wasn't bad enough, his bunkmates immediately took a liking to Sejanus when learning that he was District himself. 

Coriolanus had done his best to keep his distance, not get too involved trying to protect Sejanus. He had to worry about himself. 

But Sejanus and that damned soft heart of his was easy prey for the scum of District Twelve. It took only a week for him to get tangled up in all sorts of messes and then Coriolanus found him in the back of the Hob one night, arguing with Billy Taupe and some red-headed girl. 

The argument only got worse when he found them in the midst of their argument and then this Mayfair girl was all in his face, spitting out threats about how her daddy was going to string him and the boys up. Coriolanus did his best to keep a settled temper, especially with only a week left in this wasteland but when she turned on her heel to leave, he couldn't help but reach for his holstered gun. It only took one shot to take her down and then everything went to hell. Billy Taupe was wide-eyed in fear, muttering about how they were all gonna swing together, whatever the hell that meant. But Sejanus was much worse than Billy Taupe.

He was shaking, crying, mumbling about how he didn't mean for any of this to happen. Coriolanus nearly shot him in the head but refrained from doing so and managed to calm him down so they could leave. Billy Taupe had already peeled out of the room, long gone now. 

A loose end. 

Four days later Sejanus Plinth met the fate of the hanging tree. It was easy for Coriolanus to report him, he was after all the one who killed Mayfair, the Mayor's daughter. And who was Hoff going to believe? His crowning achievement who was about to leave for District Two? Or some weepy Capitol boy who'd just shown up and could barely keep his emotions in check? 

Sejanus was quickly followed after by Billy Taupe, another victim of Coriolanus Snow. He hadn't been completely innocent in his eyes, making plans with Sejanus and apparently hitting girls when his temper got the best of him. He wouldn't be missed.

 

Coriolanus managed to look shaken up about the whole ordeal, Sejanus had been his friend after all. It seemed that Hoff took some pity on him and gave him the whole day off. While Coriolanus could've spent it in the comfort of the air-conditioned mess hall, he chose a different route.

He went to Soarynn's house. 

He figured he might as well make amends with his little field mouse, maybe even get a taste of that sweet little cunt before he left. That would be nice, especially after the week he'd had. 

Her house looked as sad as ever but he didn't let that hinder him. It was the middle of the week which meant no one should be home. No one but her. Coriolanus knocked twice and just when he began to wonder if this was a bad idea, she opened the door. Soarynn had the nerve to look surprised to see him but she recovered smoothly, "To what do I owe the pleasure?" She drawls, looking him up and down.

Coriolanus shifts on his feet, "I came to say goodbye. I'm leaving for Two at the end of the week." Soarynn whistles, "So the pretty boy is movin' up in life. Sounds about right after the week you've had, your friend bein' strung up and all." 

She turns on her heel, walking back in the house and Coriolanus is quick to follow her inside, locking the door behind him. It only takes one look around to see how poor Soarynn and her family are. In front of him is the living room, if you can even call it that. To the right is the saddest kitchen he's ever seen, they don't even have an ice box. The back of the house has two doors, one leading outside and the other must lead to her parent's bedroom. There's a ladder in the middle of the room and Coriolanus walks around it, tilting his head to look up and finds it's some sort of loft. 

"You're real nosy, you know that?" Her question stops Coriolanus from further inspecting her sad little home and he shrugs, "Doesn't hurt to gather intel." Soarynn raises her eyebrows like she's real impressed but he sees right through that, she's teasing him, making fun of him. "My bedroom's up there," she nods to the loft, "gives me a bit of privacy." 

Having a makeshift loft is the opposite of privacy in his eyes. Back at home, he has a bedroom to himself that's the same size as this entire house. He just nods, "Can I go up there?" 

She clearly didn't expect that question but she nods, seemingly having nothing to hide. She's wearing a simple white dress, it doesn't cling to her body in any way and he can barely see her rosy buds peeking through the dress. 

It's like she's trying to tempt him. 

Coriolanus slowly climbs up the ladder, well aware that it's probably old and isn't used to bearing his type of weight. Soarynn's much smaller compared to him and can probably scamper up and down this thing in seconds. Once reaching the top he's almost disappointed to find only a mattress with some sheets up there. She's also got a stack of books, a small lamp, and a basket filled with what he believes to be her clothes. 

It's barren. Some might call it cozy but he knows better. Seemingly disappointed he descends the ladder and lets out a small sigh of relief when his boots touch the ground. 

He turns back around to find Soarynn watching him. She's as curious about him as he is about her. He'd hate to leave on such a sour note and he has a feeling that Soarynn can be really forgiving if you make her feel good. "Look, I just wanted to apologize for that night at the Hob, I shouldn't have left you there," he says. He does feel a little remorseful, mainly because he never got a real feel of her and that cunt but she doesn't need to know that.

Soarynn shrugs, "It happens. Sometimes your ego can get in the way of important things."

Coriolanus feels his lip twitch when she mentions his ego because Coriolanus Snow does not have an ego. He does have a slightly growing problem in his pants and maybe Soarynn will help him out with it. "Well, maybe we can reconcile our differences," he suggests, giving her that smile that makes girls go weak in the knees. 

Soarynn's eyes travel down to his pants and she smirks, "You're just like Billy Taupe, only one thing on your mind huh? At least you're actually gettin' out of here, he sure didn't when he came to see me." She turns to go into the kitchen after saying that and Coriolanus can feel his blood run cold. 

Billy Taupe came to visit Soarynn? Did he tell her about Mayfair? About Coriolanus and what he did? Billy Taupe and Sejanus were hung on separate days, which would've given Billy Taupe enough time to tell someone the truth. To tell her the truth. 

"You thirsty?" Soarynn asks from the kitchen, rummaging around for some glasses no doubt. Coriolanus feels his hand travel down to his shotgun. He's already killed one girl, what's one more? 

"When did Billy Taupe come to visit you?" He asks, looking over to see Soarynn pouring the two of them glasses of water. She shrugs, her back turned to him, "Couple days ago, then he was gettin' strung up. Never really liked him, not after he treated me but it ain't easy watchin' that happen." 

A couple days ago is plenty of time to tell Soarynn everything. "Yeah," Coriolanus says, his mind so far away from here, "it's not easy watching people die." 

Soarynn remains oblivious as she turns back around, two glasses in her hands, "Yeah, especially after Mayfair died, pretty crazy since she's the Mayor's daughter. They're still tryin' to find who did it."

Coriolanus frowns, he frowns because they know who did it. Sejanus Plinth killed her. They said that while tying that noose around his neck, if Soarynn had been in that crowd she would've known. 

But she wasn't in that crowd. Coriolanus had looked for her but she was nowhere to be found. Neither was Billy Taupe. 

It becomes so surreal for him now. The girl, the gun, his secret. Soarynn knows. She has to know. And once he leaves, she's gonna turn him in and it'll all be over for him. Goodbye Capitol, goodbye freedom, goodbye world. 

Goodbye, Soarynn. 

He doesn't know why, doesn't even realize it but his hand is on his gun in an instant. It's still holstered. Not a threat. But Soarynn sees that. She puts on a smile, it falters slightly and he sees that. "I think I'm gonna go water the plants outside," she says, gliding towards the backdoor. He locked the front door. She noticed. Clever girl.

Coriolanus tilts his head because he can hear thunder rolling over the valley, it's been cloudy all day, finally a reprieve from the hot summer heat. "Soarynn," he says, and she freezes just as she's slipping out the door. "Yes?" She asks, batting her eyelashes up at him the way she did so long ago when they first met. 

"It's about to rain," he says, nodding towards the dark thunderclouds.

Soarynn gives him a smile like she knows something he doesn't, "Well I'm not made of sugar." 

꧁ ꧂

She closes the door behind her and he waits one second, two, three, four, five. He's bounding out the door, immediately stepping on broken glass. He looks down and sees two shattered cups on the ground and swears under his breath. He looks out into the meadow and she's already running and fast. 

Thunder booms over their heads as he chases after her, pulling his gun out. He's hoping she'll stay in the meadow where he can see her, it's hard enough with the tall grass and it's getting darker and darker by the minute. Then she veers off to the right into the woods. Coriolanus hasn't been in the woods yet and he's willing to bet that she knows them like the back of her hand.

He follows her. 

She's barefoot so she could step on something, slow her down. Coriolanus is on high alert as he slowly walks through the forest, his head on a swivel. It's still thundering and it adds an eerie feeling to this entire situation. "Soarynn," he calls out, hoping to calm her down, "Soarynn we can still talk about this, just come out and let me see you." 

The poor thing must be terrified, is she somewhere hiding? Crying and trying to cover up her sobs? She's about to lose him, the best thing that's ever happened to her. 

"We can still work this out," he says, more to himself than to her. He finally sees it, her white dress, hiding behind some bushes. "Come on little mouse, you can't hide in here forever," he says, getting closer and closer. As luck would have it, he steps on a branch and Soarynn darts to get away but he's already shooting and she lets out a scream as she falls to the ground. 

Coriolanus lets out a shuddered breath once she's down. He can hear her groaning in pain as he walks up to her, lying face down on the ground, her white dress slowly turning red. From the looks of it, he shot her on her right side, which might even be fatal with his luck. 

Soarynn tries to get back up, push herself off the ground but Coriolanus pushes her down with his foot, holding his boot against her back, enjoying the pained cry she lets out. "You tried to run away from me," he says. 

Soarynn gasps when he presses his boot harder against her back, "You...you killed Mayfair," she grits out, trying to crawl away. Coriolanus sighs, so she does know. Well, she has to die now, no question. 

But as she's lying on the ground, Coriolanus can't help but remember why he came here in the first place. 

To take what's rightfully his. 

He's on top of her in seconds, flipping her over in seconds, ignoring the pained moan she lets out when he grabs her side. "Might as well get what I came here for," he grunts, lifting up her dress. Soarynn spits in his eye and attempts to kick him in the crotch but his hand is on her pretty little neck before she gets the chance, "You little bitch," he hisses, squeezing so hard she can't breathe. "I tried to help you out Soarynn, I really did. Tried to make you my girl, take care of you. But after everything I've done for you, you still don't appreciate me, don't trust me." 

Soarynn's blue-gray eyes are wide in fear as she struggles against his hold, trying to pry his hand off her neck but she's so small, so powerless against him. He looks down at her side, oh yeah, and she's slowly bleeding to death. 

He looks back at her pretty, freckled face, "But lucky for you, I'm a generous man, and it would be a waste of perfectly good cunt to just let you die out here all alone." 

Soarynn's eyes turn from fearful to rageful as he lets go of her neck to fully lift up her dress, nothing but a pair of white panties covering her. "GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME," she yells, wiggling around under his body weight. Coriolanus sighs and wastes no time in pressing hard against her bullet wound. Soarynn turns into some pitiful, wounded animal being hunted for sport as she cries out in pain, her body seizing. Coriolanus uses this as an opportunity to pull her panties off, well, rip them off and then shove them into her mouth, He doesn't have any rope, and time is limited so he uses his belt to tie her hands, rendering her immobile.

"Now let's see that pretty little cunt," he purrs, smirking at her tear-stained face as she tries to break free. He pries her legs apart and groans when he sees her cunt, so perfect and all for him. He swipes a finger between her folds and rubs her clit, watching her body jerk on the ground from the stimulation, "See? You like it," he tells her, pinching her clit between his fingers. Soarynn lets out a muffled moan, he doesn't care if it's from pleasure or pain.

She won't be able to tell the difference once he's done with her. 

Coriolanus leans down to lick up her cunt, tasting how sweet his little field mouse is. "Can't believe you kept this from me, baby," he says, licking another stripe. How long has it been since he's been with a woman? Tasted cunt? Had something so sweet and warm wrapped around his cock? Soarynn says something but it comes out unclear with the gag in her mouth. It probably wasn't important. 

Coriolanus continues to eat her out, licking up and down, side to side, sucking on her clit all while Soarynn bleeds out to death. He can feel her body twitching, betraying her mind and emotions as he stimulates her. He pulls away to see her cunt glistening, so pretty and pink for him. 

His problem between his legs is more evident than ever and he doesn't hesitate to pull down his pants along with his boxers, letting his cock spring free. Soarynn's eyes widen in fear and she tries to scoot back but he grabs her hips and pulls her right back down under him, "You could've enjoyed this if you just behaved a the Hob," he tells her, rubbing his tip up and down her folds. "But you just had to be a brat, so ungrateful. You should be so grateful Soarynn. The last thing you'll ever do is know what it feels like to take Capitol cock." 

Soarynn is frantically shaking her head at this point, hysterically crying as she tries to convey her gagged pleas but he pays her no mind, slowly pushing into her cunt. 

Coriolanus moans, his eyes squeezing shut as he fully sinks in, her cunt fitting so snugly around his cock. "This is what you District girls are made for," he decides, "taking cock and looking pretty while doing it." He starts to thrust in and out, using her narrow, bony hips as leverage. He wonders what she'd look like pregnant with his child. Would it help her put on a few pounds? Round out her hips? He'll never know. 

He's pounding into her, watching her breasts bounce up and down, her head lolling to the side and her eyes rolling back. As much as she tries to fight it, she's a dumb little fuckdoll who's clearly cockdrunk. He bets she'd let anyone slip right in, someone like Billy Taupe. She probably let him at it one last time, right before he went to the hanging tree. A sweet goodbye. That's what this is. 

Coriolanus chuckles at her dumbed-down state, reduced to nothing the second his cock is in her. "Look at you," he drawls, "all you needed was some cock in you and suddenly you're such a good girl Soarynn. This is for the best I think, the best way to leave the world, stuck on my cock. Too bad I can't take you with me to the Capitol. I'd keep you in my penthouse, put you on a leash, train you." 

He can picture it right now, Soarynn living in his home, waiting for him to come back from work, so desperate to please him. No, that wouldn't work. It's too risky, and besides, she's losing a lot of blood right now. Coriolanus can feel her walls tightening around him, getting close to her peak. 

He'll even let her cum since he's so nice. 

"Give it to me Soarynn. It's the only thing you could ever give me so do it, cum all over my cock Soarynn, " he grunts, speeding up his thrusts as he nears his own peak, "show me what my little fuckdoll is good for." He reaches down and rubs at her clit and she's cumming all over him, her walls fluttering, her body spasming, her back bending off the ground. 

Coriolanus tumbles into his own orgasm seconds later, filling her with his cum, fucking it deep into her. Is this how she'll be found, fucked so stupid with a bullet in her head?

Coriolanus reaches for his gun, resting his band over her head and pulling her gag out, "I wish it didn't have to end this way sweetheart, but I can't afford for you to run around now that you know my dirty little secret." 

Soarynn's sobbing now, a complete and utter mess. "Please, please Coriolanus. I won't...I won't tell a soul, I'll come with you, stay with you in the Capitol and you can do whatever you want with me, please. Please don't kill me."

Coriolanus considers it for a moment, taking her home, training her, making her perfect. 

He sighs, no loose ends. 

"I hope you know how wonderful you've made this experience for me," he tells her, brushing her hair from her face. She's covered in sweat, tears, dirt, and blood. So pretty. "Now say goodbye."

He presses the gun to her head and Soarynn gasps, closing her eyes, "Please," she begs, "please Coriolanus please I...I could love you, give you children, please I'll do anything."

Coriolanus leans down until he's right next to her ear so he can whisper his last words to her.

"It's the things we love most that destroy us."

He pulls the trigger. 

It's scary how quiet she goes. One last short breath and she's gone. Her body stops shaking, her breaths stop, her eyes wide open as she looks up into the sky. 

Coriolanus looks down at her, remembering how sweet she was, how full of life she was. Laughing, dancing, smiling at him. He presses one last kiss to her lips before he pulls out of her.

There's work to be done. 

꧁ ꧂

He misses the funeral. Her body was found on the day he left. She was attacked in the woods, taken advantage of, and then shot in the head. 

His poor little field mouse. 

Commander Hooff waves the whole thing off when Coriolanus asks about it, "Girls go missing all the time," he tells Coriolanus as he walks him to his train car, "but you just focus on getting back home Snow." 

Home. 

He's going home. A change of plans has led him to be discharged with full honors. It's all so perfect.

Snow lands on top again. 

Coriolanus looks out the train window as it drives by the meadow, leaving District Twelve finally. Maybe he'll think about her sometimes, his girl, how she smiled, how good she smelled, how things could've been different. But they had been so different, didn't even know each other. 

Coriolanus takes one last look at District Twelve, thinking about all the bodies he's left behind, Soarynn's being the one that will haunt him the most even though he barely got to know his field mouse.

"Goodbye Soarynn, we hardly knew you." 

| Part 3. | Final Part |

| tumblr oneshot/drabble |

[digitaldoeslmk]

recollections of red and blue, or simple truths go oft-forgotten

it's been some time since MK's fateful encounter which changed everything, but Pigsy still won't forgive Wukong for what happened. Red Son is rather tired of this endless distrust and blame, and decides to remind the pigman of the kind of creature Wukong is. and maybe as important, the kind of creature that he used to be.

drabble where Hai'er sits down with Tang and Pigsy for a talk. beware the tags before proceeding. word count: 5.5k - AO3 mirror

"Alright, here we are. What did you want to talk about?"

The pig demon walked over to the other side of the bar with the familiarity of decades doing this. The few times Hai'er had been in the noodle shop, he could sense the love and dedication poured into every scratched bowl, worn balcony and faded tile. This place was the cook's whole life and soul, and he couldn't help but fix his jiasha a bit in respect before sitting down on a stool. It creaked a bit as it spun, and the pig man placed a cup of green tea in front of him. Probably from one of the thermos at one corner of the bar, no doubt, but Hong Hai'er sipped on it.

He had asked for a moment to speak with the old demon, given the past few interactions he saw between him and Wukong. While it was very amusing to see the pig try to get a rise out of a bodhisattva of all beings, it was also very distressing for everyone else involved, and this couldn't continue.

"You're a very stubborn pig." He said, dry and direct as usual. The human from the other corner of the bar choked a cackle into his fist, and Hai'er raised an eyebrow at him.

"Thanks, I work hard on it." Pigsy retorted just as dryly, but Hai'er had other immediate concerns.

"Are you sure he must stay?" Hai'er asked, nodding his head at the human.

"Oh good luck getting him to leave that spot, I've been trying for the past two decades and so far no luck." Pigsy replied, which earned a wide, stupidly cheeky grin from Mr. Tang.

"I see. You've out-stubborned him, that's an achievement." Hai'er said, directed at the human now, who preened at the not-at-all-a-praise.

"I prefer to think of it as perseverance, actually." He said, his grin gleaming in an insufferable way, and Hai'er rolled his eyes.

"I bet you do." He deadpanned. "But no, that one is just stubborn. Do you really insist on refusing to believe my uncle?" He asked, turning to the pig who was neating up the kitchen idly.

"Look kid, -"

"I'm older than you." Hai'er corrected, and the pig snorted, the interruption earning his anger and he rounded up on Hai'er, leaning on the counter.

"Whatever, kid! I don't believe him, and I never will. He can butter up the rest of these chumps, especially this one!"

"Hey!!" Tang whined, mouth half full of a half-empty bowl of noodles.

"But he can't fool me." Pigsy continued, "I know how important Sun Wukong is to the kid, but someone has to make sure MK doesn't fall on his face again cus he's too damn nice for his own good or safety, and if that  someone has to be me, then so be it!"

The demon finished in a snarl that was all tusks and fatherly care. Hai'er didn't react, not at first, but he sipped on his tea again as he considered how to begin. Pigsy gathered himself in the meantime, swiping a hand forcefully on his apron with a harumph.

"Mr. Tang?" Hai'er asks, and the scholar blinks. He didn't seem to expect to be included on the conversation again, but he hums in acknowledgment. "MK says you know the Journey to the West from head to toe, yes?"

The actual praise, even if paraphrased from the delivery boy, has the scholar preen again, pushing at his glasses.

"Oh, I do indeed! In fact, I'm in the process of my own independent translation, with quite a few new footnotes that--"

"Then you know the story of how I got these scars, right?"

Hai'er's interruption grinds Mr. Tang's whole rant to a halt, eyes wide as saucers as he seems to catch up to where Hai'er is going. His eyes flick towards said scars dotting his arm and neck, and those are just the ones in plain view.

"I... Yes, I suppose I do." He agrees, shrinking into his scarf like he would like to not have out-persisted Pigsy about his eternal bar spot after all.

"Of course you do. Tell it." Hai'er says, in that quiet yet stern tone that leaves the order implied but very much not up for discussion. Tang sinks even more into himself, and the rakshasa can feel Pigsy glare at him. Mr. Tang clears his throat, uncomfortable.

"Umm... You uh, Wukong and Guanyin both tricked you into... sitting on a fake lotus throne, but it was... made of swords." He says, meek as a turtle holed up in its shell. Hai'er frowns into his teacup; that wouldn't do.

"Oh come on, tell it right. I've seen it, you're a storyteller, born and true. You thrive in it, live for it." Hai'er says, pinning the man down with his brightening eyes, black coals ready to spark alive with indigo fire at any moment. "So tell the story as you should."

The moment of silence is heavy and tense, only the sound of the electric static of the lightbulbs about them to break it. Tang swallows and accepts his fate in the center stage, bracing himself before he begins.

---

"There you are, you wretched primate!! Come to face your demise at last?!" The brazen demon calls from his throne of basalt. His grin is fangs and rebellion, blazing eyes like a volcano's heart. His armor gleams under the glow of his bonfire hair, licking tall and proud into the air. Hong Hai'er calls to the figure in the sky blocking the late morning sun, a sad sight on his pearly cloud.

"Wouldn't count on it, nephew." Sun Wukong replies from on high, barely managing the cocky grin under the angry burns and scorch marks he still bears from last they met in battle. Hong Hai'er roars in rage, flames whipping out of his mouth.

"I've told you already, you're no uncle of mine! I, Red Son, would never call family someone who bows down to his foes like a whimpering fawn!" He bellows, the pines and firs bending at the heatwaves of his rage. Wukong doesn't deign him with a reply, and Hong Hai'er summons his flaming spear to his side.

"Allow me to put you out of your misery!!" He calls and shoots himself into the air, aiming his spear right at the monkey's chest. The sage parried it with his staff, and they sink into glorious battle once again.

The hellion demon is no match for the monkey, but he makes up for his lacking martial skills with his hunger for victory. A tiger smelling the trail of blood of a wounded prey, and stalking forward to a meal in the waiting.

The sage dodges an attack and jumps out of range. Again and again, always out of range!

"Fiendish freak, what are you doing!" Hong Hai'er screeches, frustrated.

"Well can't say I look forward to you using your fire on me again." Wukong replies, and Hong Hai'er snarls.

"You keep up with this and I just might out of spite! You come here to challenge me again, and you can't even do it right, what kind of man are you!"

Wukong cackles, choking on a sore throat in the process.

"More than you, that's for sure, nephew."

His flaming spear tears into the morning sky like a butcher's knife, "What did I tell you, you disgusting simian?!" The monkey dodges the strike easily and sails his cloud into the southern horizon. "You...! Hey, come back and die with some honor!"

Hong Hai'er chases after the fleeing monkey in a scorching blaze, careless of just how far or how fast they are going. It doesn't matter, nothing matters, except getting rid of this pesky beast. To end Wukong is to end this pathetic journey of his and to earn himself his prize. A plentiful feast and immortality!

A halo of auspicious light appears on the horizon, but the fire demon doesn't slow down, hot on the tail of the wretched fiend. A little more, a little closer... Wait, what?!

Wukong is gone, vanished into thin air and hallowed light. No. No! His victory, his prize!! The fire roaring in his belly eats at his sense, consuming his mind as well as his innards as he screams into the empty air.

"FIGHT ME, COWARD!!"

His wrath melts into the cold air and casts circles of waves in the water below him. Wait, water? This is... not a lake, but an ocean. Water as far as the eye can see. Red Son blinks, flames and sparks slithering from the corner of his eyes. How far did he fly?

A sound not unlike a wooden bell rings, and he turns to see the light in the distance dim and coalesce into a shape. A figure in draping silks, veil around black hair, and sacred jewelry that seemed to glow of its own volition. He knew this person, he noticed, and his grin turned almost feral.

"Ah, Guanshiyin. What luck!" He greets brazenly, dripping with ego and bloodthirst. "Tell me where that sad excuse for a sage has scurried off to immediately, and I might just spare you!" He orders, pointing his spear at the bodhisattva, who remains still and unbothered upon the floating lotus.

"Hey! I'm fucking talking to you!!" He roars, all-consuming flames roaring from his hair and eyes and fangs. "I said, where's Wukong?! Answer me!" Again, nothing. The nerve to ignore him, how dare!! With a bellow, he slashes at the enlightened figure. The streak of vicious fire licks at the water's surface and missing completely its target, since the lotus is now empty, as if there was never anyone upon it to begin with.

"Where did you-- Would you vermin cease vanishing and FACE ME!!" Hong Hai'er shrieks, the Samadhi fire eating at his bones and simmering at his skin. His ragged breathing is like blowing into a furnace, clouds of smoke and inflamed qi venting from his gaping mouth.

"Heh. You flee from me so swiftly, could it be the great Avalokiteśvara can't face my fire?" He asks the empty air, voice twisted and crackling from the heat within. "Hehe, hehahaha, AHAHAHA!! Very well then!!" He gloats, landing on the golden lotus. His feet fizzle against the cool seed pod, and he stabs his spear into it with a victorious growl.

"If you won't face me, then I, Red Son, Bull King of the Flaming Mountains, will take over your fancy old lotus throne! HAHAHAHA!!" He says, sitting down on the lotus and adjusting himself to lounge cockily on the feathery soft petals. He might have missed the monkey and the thousand-armed one, but this was satisfaction enough. Or so he thought, not knowing that both Wukong and Guanyin stood right by him, invisible to his un-enlightened eyes. Wukong winces in quiet rage at his disrespectful boasting, but Guanyin simply plucks the sacred branch of willow.

"Foolish rakshasa. Bear now the consequences of your crimes." Red Son startles at the sudden voice, looking about him for the source, but before he can even sit up, the willow beyond his sight waves in the air and the lotus throne vanishes. In its stead, rest the thirty-six celestial swords of Devaraja Li. Sharper than any wind, sharper than sunlight in summer, they all pierced right through his resting body in the span of half a heartbeat.

---

As Tang finished the story, the silence returned. Both men regarded the fire demon carefully, who didn't miss how their eyes flicked to the scars all over him pensively. Hai'er sipped on his tea one last time, the cup now empty.

"That's right. It hurt like nothing I've ever felt before or since. Even so, I tried to remove them, but the bodhisattva simply turned them into hooks so that I couldn't. All I could do was beg for it to stop." He said, knowing that those two needed some sort of reaction. He had none to offer truth be told, it had all been so long ago after all, and whatever he had to say was not for their ears.

Tang fussed with his sleeves, clearly unsure of himself and what to say, while Pigsy simply stood at the kitchen, folding and unfolding a wiping cloth.

"I... I'm so sorry." Mr. Tang said finally, and Hai'er chuckled.

"What for?" He asked, amused at the response he got. "I deserved it."

"No you didn't! Nobody deserves that." Tang said, and oh the sweet guy, he believed it too. Hai'er could just smile with fondness at the sentiment, even if it was misguided. He always forgot that mortals tended to get the wrong message from those stories; no wonder so few have ascended or devoted themselves to cultivation of late. Too many new-fangled morals.

He needed to remind them who exactly he used to be.

"Tang Laoshi, have you ever smelled burning hair?" He asks, and he feels the glare Pigsy throw his way.

"I thought you wanted to talk to me, not Tang." The cook grumbled, but Hai'er ignored him much to the scholar's dismay.

"Please answer the question." He said, and Tang looked between the two of them for a moment before nodding.

"Well, yes. Once, it was this little mishap you see! Me and Pigsy were still young, he had only just started the shop and I was--"

"Turn that smell up by a hundred, and you'll know what the smell was like when Wukong got hit by my Samadhi Fire." He interrupts the man's story again, earning him a flurry of baffled blinks from the human. "A patchy half-charred monkey is actually a pretty funny sight."

Neither of the men shared in his humor, instead looking rather uncomfortable by the sudden somber turn of topic.

"Uh, Shancai Zhuren? Is.... what is this?" Tang asks, looking sincerely spooked and lost in what's happening. Pigsy looks just as lost, but his fear manifests in a tense back and a wide stance. Someone with some fighting experience, at least.

"I was a villain, Tang." Hai'er began, his calm and matter-of-fact tone only seeming to spook the human more. And he's hardly begun. "I burned goats and pigs to watch them suffer and the people lament their lost livestock. I extorted minor gods out of their offerings, because them losing their divinity was funny. I hunted travelers on the road for sport, to eat them at the full moon family dinners." He said, having crossed his arms to lean on the counter, a single finger tracing the edge of his chipped empty cup. He threw a glare at Tang who looked pale as a ghost. "I enjoyed it." He said, slow and deliberate, and Tang flinched. "I tortured my uncle, and I was ready to kill him. I wanted to more than anything. If Wukong hadn't gone to get Guanyin's help, I would have done it too. I was going to take his skin as a gift for my mother, as a coat. I'd have steamed the pig and seared the fish, and I'd have eaten the revered monk with my parents with sour sauce and a glass of rice wine. And I'd not have regretted a single thing."

Tang looked about ready to bolt right out of the service entrance just so he didn't have to get past Hai'er for the door, and Pigsy's tusks poked out of his twisted grimace.

"I did deserve it, every single blade of it." Hai'er said and saw the pig man lean from the corner of his eyes.

"What is this, free moping hours?! Oh, no pal, that ain't on the menu. You had better get to the point, or get out of my shop!" Pigsy burst out, jabbing a finger at the door. Hai'er l lifted a hand to placate the demon.

"I have a point. Well, two actually, but first of. You must have known all this. Doesn't take much to know that you have been overhearing Mr. Tang and MK tell these stories over and over."

"What's it to ya?" Pigsy snapped.

"And yet you trust me. I've only ever been a villain in those stories, and a dangerous one at that, yet I get more goodwill than my Uncle. You blame him for what happened to MK, but I couldn't stop it from happening either. What makes me special?"

"You're not making a great case for yourself, pal." Pigsy warned, but Hai'er waved off his threat.

"Humor me."

Pigsy regarded him for a long moment. With a sigh, the tension from his shoulders abated if only a bit.

"You helped MK. You called us, and you drove him here. That's, something. Certainly more than that immortal furball ever did."

"My uncle was in the Celestial Realm. Time dilation sucks." Hai'er retorted in a deadpan, and he could tell the pig demon was just barely holding back from throwing a spoon at his head.

"So what! He's enlightened or whatever, he should have known! He should have stopped it!" Pigsy said, poking at the counter so hard his large nails left dents on it. Huh, just like the floor of his home with his father's hooves. "If he really cared so much, he would have done something!!"

Red Son rolled his eyes at the response but sighed.

"Alright then. Humor me a bit longer so I get to my next point."

"Make it snappy, would ya?"

"As you wish." He said, and almost as a gesture of peace, the pig plucked the cup from his hand and filled it again.

"Even though that was the worst paint I've ever known, when the blades were gone all I could think about was vengeance." He picked up the story again, and sure enough, Mr. Tang piped in.

"Yes, you struck at Guanyin with your spear." The scholar said, and he nodded.

"I did. Because I knew that if I did, Uncle wouldn't hold back. I knew that if I struck at her, he'd defend her at all costs."

If the story from before had made the atmosphere tense, he was sure that the cook could cut it with one of his knives and use it for cartilage soup. The silence stretched and he could smell the moment the realization set in.

"You... You wanted..." Tang's voice wavered like a plucked string, and Hai'er took pity on the man and said it himself.

"I wanted him to kill me. I refused to be defeated and tamed by them, even if I had to die for it. Rebirth was preferable to captivity." He said, with the ease of someone who had grappled with that aspect of himself for centuries and made peace with it. Or someone reporting on the weather for the day, whichever worked. "And I would have too, but instead I got these."

The golden fillets at his wrist glinted under the fluorescent lights. Polished to a pristine mirror shine, unscratched and undented despite the wear and tear of centuries. Heavenly metal, not made to be tarnished my mortal means. His own gaze met him from the warped reflection on them, a familiar sight to him now.

"Master Guanyin saw this unrepentant, irredeemable creature writhing in rage, and she was going to drag it kicking and screaming into a second chance I did absolutely nothing to deserve." He said in a soft reverent tone, a hand cradling one of the circlets and feeling it warm under the touch.

The pigman snorted, unimpressed. "Is this where you tell me he's going to do that to me, eh?"

"I'm not done. The books don't tell this part of the story, so listen up.

"The first time I saw him again, I was gathering bamboo shoots for dinner. It oddly was the one thing Master let me do away from the groves, even though I had tried to poison her and the other disciples every time I got dinner duty. He showed up in my path, and he fell into a kowtow and begged for forgiveness for what happened. He said that I had left him no choice, but I could always call on him whenever I needed. That he would never shirk his duties to me as family." Hai'er told and huffed a little laugh. "I told him to get lost."

That at least got some amusement from the pig, though the scholar watched him with wide eyes, ever interested in a new tale for his collection.

"The second time we met, he did the same thing. Going on about how sorry he was, how he'd never surrender his duties to me or my family,  that he... still cared for us in the only way he could. I was so angry still, so upset over my fate, and seeing him pleading for forgiveness made me so irate. So I kicked him."

Tang sputtered at that, "You did??"

"I did."

"How did he take that?"

"He didn't budge, but I broke my big toe on his forehead."

Tang suddenly spits out a mouthful of broth, caught between a cackle, a cough, and a lot of choking. Hai'er considers patting his back, but the man seems to gather himself more or less while the pig man complains up and down about the gross mess he made of his bar.

"Oh I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to laugh, I--"

"It's quite alright, it's very funny." Hai'er grants, waving away the man's apologies. It had hurt like a bitch back then, but it was his ego that was more hurt than his toe. He gives the scholar and chef some time to clean up a bit the kitchen and their pride before continuing.

"I cursed him out so much for it, too. I told him I hated him and I'd hate him forever, because he didn't even let me say goodbye to my parents, that I was trapped in those miserable groves and didn't know if I'd ever see them again." There's a knot in his throat at the memory of those uncertain years, but he pushed them aside. "I promised him that if he hurt my parents, I'd tear off my own hands and feet and head to get rid of those fillets, and I'd haunt him to the ends of the world.

"All he said in reply was that it was okay. I could hate him as much as I needed to or wanted to, it didn't matter, but he would always embrace me as his nephew no matter what. I told him to get out of my sight and never show his face in front of me again."

He could feel Mr. Tang's eyes on him, ever kind and pitying and infuriating, but Pigsy just huffed unamused but not unkind. To Hai'er, that was an improvement.

"And? What about the third time?" He asks, and Hai'er chuckles.

"Rushing the story, are we."

"Yeaaaah, he does that all the time, don't mind him." Tang comments, waving a hand dismissively much to the pig's disapproval.

"Well you're clearly on talking terms with the guy, so there must be a third time where that changed. So spill it."

Hai'er smirked at that, amused. The pig was the direct cut and dry type, which he could appreciate.

"The third time was much later on. I had grown a lot already by then, was much calmer and collected. I was past being resigned and just trying to live in this new normal I found myself in. I was making the best of it I suppose. Maybe even started to enjoy it.

"He showed up because he had crossed paths with my parents, which led to quite a conflict. In the end, Nezha had taken my father to the Jade Emperor for judgment. When I heard the news I was so sure my father was dead, executed long before I even heard of his arrest. I... I cracked.

"I was wailing on the ground and tearing at my hair, but then Wukong grew ten times his size and held me. He let me cry, and reassured me that it wasn't what I was thinking. My father was still alive, but serving penance. He had pleaded to Nezha and before the Jade Emperor himself to spare his life. I asked him why, and he looked at me with such open kindness and warmth. He even laughed a bit when he told me that as long as he breathed, he would not have me separate from my parents. He wouldn't break up our family like that. I didn't understand why he still cared for us so much, not when he was supposed to be detached from worldly ties and not when we had caused him so much trouble already. I tried to kill him, I wanted to, and yet he still cared enough to spare my parents. I didn't understand him at all, but it didn't matter, because I knew then that he meant every word of it.

"After I stopped crying, I asked him once he was finished with his Journey, if I should call him Great Sage or Enlightened One, and he said that just Uncle would suffice if I chose to. He's been Uncle Wukong to me ever since."

The ending to his story hung in the air, along with the lingering scent of stew spices and the buzzing of the electric lights. Mr. Tang looked ready to say something, probably of the awkward yet ever kind variety, but the chef beat him to it.

"And the point is?!"

"Pigsy!"

"The point, Zhu Dachu," Hai'er interrupted, "is that you can scream and blame and rage and whine and winge and kick and throw whatever you want at the walls. None of that will change the fact that my uncle cares for MK. And I mean truly, genuinely cares and worries for him, whether you believe him or not. Even if MK for some absurd reason decides to turn his back on him, shun and curse him from the twelfth heaven to the eight hell, Wukong will still, to the Universe's dying breath, care for him."

His gaze bore down on the pig, as if he could someone stare his words into the man's thick skull.

"That's my point. I hope you'll at least consider my words, though what you do with them is entirely up to you." He finished, leaning back in his seat and it creaked with the movement. For what it was worth, Pigsy gave nothing away, but something in the air had shifted somehow, whether for better or worse was too soon to tell. Regardless, he simply cradled his empty cup, now gone lukewarm from his hands.

Their staring contest, or at least heated sparring, was interrupted by Mr. Tang's not-so-subtle thorat clearing.

"That's very kind of you to share this with us, and we'll definitely take it heart, Shancai Zhuren." Mr. Tang said, ignoring Pigsy's grunt of offense on the "we" he tacked on his words.

"I think at this point, we can go with just Shancai, yes?" Hai'er offered with a small smile, not seeing the need for formalities with these two. Not when he's shared such a personal story of his with them.

"Oh! Yes, Shancai, thank you." Tang thanked, looking genuinely flattered and more than a bit close to squeeing for joy. Hai'er rolled his eyes in exasperated fondness.

"Now I gotta ask. Why is it Shancai for us, but MK gets to call you Hai'er?" Pigsy asked, seemingly done stewing on his story. Hai'er shrugged.

"That's just how it is." He deadpanned. No need to tell the man about how his son's glazed eyes lit with recognition once he was able to put a name to the stranger with him, how somehow ranting about the novel's chapter in a parched throat helped him ground himself to some semblance of normal after the horror he was put through.

Shancai wouldn't have done anything for Xiaotian then, but Hai'er did, and he didn't feel like breaking that connection. Not when somehow, Hai'er was someone Xiaotian trusted, and even liked having around. That's just how it is.

"Well, it is late and I think I've taken up enough of both your time. I shall leave you both to it." Hai'er said, sliding off his seat and giving them a bow. When Tang made to follow him to the door, he waved him away. "No need, I know where the exit is. And wouldn't want you relinquishing your hard-earned seat on my account."

Mr. Tang gave him a good-natured laugh at that, and he counted that was a good note to end on.

"Goodnight, sirs. Enjoy the rest of your evening."

Pigsy gave him a short nod and Tang waved him goodbye, and with that, he was out of the shop and back into the cool city night air. Not as cool as the deserts, that's for sure, and for a moment he kind of wished it was. Brisk and bracing, enough to make his skin climb into goosebumps.

He did his part. Whether it would go anywhere or not, was out of his hands. But his ears could catch the two men's hushed tones past the walls, though he didn't bother trying to pick their exact words. He had a feeling he's left them with plenty to discuss in the coming days, and he was glad to be left excluded from the specifics.

Taking a deep breath, he returned to his car. He couldn't wait to be out in the desert, with the cool dry breeze to wash him clean from the day's affairs. No more broth spices, city smog, engine grease, bamboo sawdust, lotus incense smoke, or stardust metal and sticky copper and bile.

Just the sunbaked breeze of the sands and his thoughts.

At every stop sign, his gaze lingered down to his arms. Bandaged and glamoured, bound by celestial metal, scarred down to his bones. He was long past caring, vanity was a far away thing to him now after, but sometimes looking back at those memories stirred something in him.

Not regret, or bitterness or shame. He had faced those foes long ago and emerged victorious, with no small amount of effort. Not even nostalgia either, he couldn't miss those troubled days if he tried, not with the wisdom he now wielded.

Instead, he missed that feeling of realization. Held in his uncle's massive arms, almost drowning in his own tears, and realizing that he wasn't alone. He never was. He always had his uncle, even when he believed as sure as the sky was blue and the earth was solid, that he had no one.

He missed his family. How could he not? He missed the simple filial love of his childhood when he could reach out to his mother and be held in her arms, or jump on his father's lap and be brought to sit on his shoulders. It was easy as breathing then, for all of them, but those days were long past.

As clockwork, that little voice in his head muttered at him, peaceful and solemn as his Master's voice at lectures.

Let go.

He should listen. It was about time he did, it's been centuries and it's brought him nothing but suffering, and if he just let go then it would go away. He could finally fully commit to his Master's teachings, take the vows, and maybe join his uncle in enlightenment.

Instead, he pressed a few keys on his on-board phone, letting the call come through.

"Zhizi? What's up?"

He couldn't believe he was so damn weak.

"Shushu, do you want to have some tea at my place?" He asks, and there's an amused chittering laughter from the other side.

"It's been a while! I thought you'd never ask." Wukong replied, and Hai'er had to sigh.

"Me too." He agreed, his tone quieter than he had hoped it.

There was a quiet pause that he knew meant his uncle was staring at him across the line, and he took some comfort that he wasn't actually present.

"Meet you there, then. You better not skimp on me like last time, I know you hoard pu'er like a magpie." He teased, and cut the call before Hai'er could even reply.

Ah well, so much for detachment of worldly things. He had time. Yeah, he had time to do better and to finally let go of these illusions. Until then, he had his uncle and he could always call him for tea when the longing was like blades on his ribs. Until then, that was enough.

---

vocabulary

jiasha: mandarin, borrowed term from the sanskrit "kasaya". Piece of patchwork cloth worn by Buddhsit monks over one shoulder, once used to distinguish monastic schools of geographic origins.

wooden fish: a kind of bell used in Chen Buddhism to mark the pace of reciting sutras and prayers, often depicted in the shape of a fish.

Hong Hai'er: "Red Son/Boy".

Guanshiyin: full mandarin name of the bodhisattva Guanyin.

Avalokiteśvara: sanskrit name of Guanyin.

Devaraja Li: also known as Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li, chinese analog of Vaisravana. Father of Jinzha, Muzha and Nezha.

Tang Laoshi: "teacher Tang", respectful title for anyone who teaches.

Shancai Zhuren: "director Shancai", respectful title for someone in a high management position.

Zhu Dachu: "chef Zhu", mandarin dub name for Pigsy, also serving as a title.

Zhizi: nephew by the male line.

Shushu: uncle, father's younger brother.

[aslitheryprinx]

I wish that I were a streamer, bc what just happened to me is SO insane.

So despite having played Minecraft for years I've never actually beaten the game on a survival world. I always get distracted and end up creating a new world before I actually get to that point. Earlier today, I decided to log onto a slightly older world (like a year or so, not very old, but it's been a bit) since I'd already progressed pretty far.

I gather all my stuff and start hunting down the stronghold. It takes a bit, especially cause I'm not super practiced at this, but I find it! I also happen to find a bunch of old stuff from when I apparently died trying to find the stronghold ages ago- that was a nice surprise!

You know what wasn't a nice surprise??

The stronghold sitting snug up against the deep dark.

Honestly, at first I think it's pretty cool. It's the first time I've actually seen the deep dark in person, so I'm more intrigued than anything else.

I set my spawn, and start looking for the portal room.

I open a single door and hear a shrieker go off.

Darkness starts pulsing.

Right about then is when I start thinking 'ok this might be a Problem!!!'

I'm hoping the shrieker or catalyst or whatever it is that actually spawns the warden is outside the door, so I press my luck and go forward. I end up setting it off again, so I retreat to try and figure out my next move.

I'm wondering if I should just abandon this stronghold and find a new one, but that would be a pretty long journey. If I can just get rid of the catalyst, I should be set to explore the stronghold.

I leave the actual stronghold itself and start carefully going around looking for where the problem spot is, but I can't actually see anything important except for a diamond. I crouch the whole way, grab it, and come back to the top.

And then. A zombie villager sneaks up behind me and knocks me off into the deep dark.

I land on the catalyst, setting a shrieker off again of course.

Now, I wasn't sure how many times you could set the warden off. I thought it ran on a 3 strikes you're out system, so I am PANICKING.

I try to break the catalyst.

The catalyst is also under a water stream so I'm splashing around the whole time and. Of course. I set off a shrieker again.

The Warden spawns.

Somehow, I manage to swim back up the water stream without dying. I turn around. The Warden is about six blocks away.

It is at this point that I just fully pause the game to contemplate my fate.

Maybe I should've logged out at that point, to lose that aggro on myself. But I didn't think about that.

I was incredibly certain I was about to die, and having just gained back a ton of stuff that I'd been devastated by losing in the first place, (enough that I had kind of lost interest in this world originally), I decided that making sure I didn't lose any of my stuff was the priority.

And my spawn point was basically right there...

I dropped back into the stronghold and was almost immediately killed by the Warden. But when I respawned, I could see my stuff all right there, still safe.

New problem: the Warden had dropped down and was also right in front of my spawn point.

And thus begins my death loop.

I put all of my stuff save my sword in a chest- which didn't help the warden being mad at me- and decided to try and brute force kill this thing through multiple deaths.

But by the time I had everything situated, the warden had sort of disappeared.

It was still there. It was shooting me with sonic blasts and killing me over and over again. But I couldn't actually see it, so I couldn't kill it.

It was at this point that I decided to log out, get a snack, and come back with a clearer head afterwards.

I don't know if wardens despawn. I don't know if it's going to be there when I come back. But I'm in too deep now, I am going to find the portal room of this Stronghold if I have to kill the Warden with my bare fists to do it!!!!!

[theamityelf]

I enjoy calamity and details too much so I have to ask RE: your Undead Hope’s Peak AU… do you think Makoto and Komaeda would suffer SOME sort of side effects to being constantly exposed to the zombie virus? At the very least I can’t imagine either of them were able to be as vigilant on caring for themselves as they could be, especially being surrounded and essentially drenched in blood, rot, and death. If the virus was ever reversed, I have to wonder if that wouldn’t be the greatest time for both Makoto and Komaeda’s bodies to tap out and get some rest whether either of them volunteered or not lmao. Also judging by how awful the reserve course is getting the brunt of things I can’t imagine vengeance isn’t close at hand for them. This could end up causing the reserve course despair attack without Junko’s influence.

To your first point, I can definitely see them at the very least getting sick pretty regularly. They try to keep the room and their classmates as clean as possible, but yeah, the amount of stuff they're exposed to and the amount of times they get bitten and maybe forget to bandage it until later or just are too busy for a while, at the very least some of those bites get super infected with just regular pathogens. These guys have unbandaged bites while bathing with a bunch of undead people; I think at the very least, they feel sick.

I'd say one plausible way that the undead virus could affect them is that they develop a higher tolerance for those blood and meat smells. By which I only mean their disgust instincts are decreased, but they will still have a physical reaction if they're exposed for too long. So being around all that decay will still make them physically ill, but they won't feel the disgust leading up to it, so they won't know to be as vigilant as they need to be.

The smell of rotten meat doesn't bother them all that much anymore, but they will still vomit if they're in the room with a lot of it for very long. And they will still get sick if they're handling something that carries disease.

Their immune systems are definitely in a bad place on the basis of exposure, diet, and not getting enough quality rest, so they'd also be getting regular colds and stuff pretty often.

(If we wanted to, we could definitely also say that the undead virus that they're immune to, the regular infection in the bites, and whatever regular cold or flu they might come down with, end up mixing together and create whole new cultures of disease.)

To your point about the reserve course, I think Hajime could even be the catalyst for that. Maybe the reserve course didn't know that any of the lucksters were setting traps for them, because those who found out were already caught in the traps and so never got to tell anyone before they got eaten. Maybe Hajime is the first to make it back to the others with news of having been caught in an actual human trap to be fed to the main course.

I'm thinking, before that point, they didn't feel slighted by anyone in particular; they just felt like they got caught up in a zombie apocalypse, like in the movies, and it's no one's fault; just bad luck. They felt the faculty had no choice but to lock them here, since the disease had spread so much, and now they just have to survive until there's a cure. Maybe it occurred to some of them that they were here to be food for the undead, but those people were treated as conspiracy theorists. Hope's Peak may have its faults, but they wouldn't feed students to anyone. They just weren't evacuated in time, and the school had to barricade the campus so none of the undead could get out and hurt way more people.

But then Hajime gets back with news that there are human main course students setting traps to feed the talentless to the Ultimates, and that even the nice luckster who protected Hajime from such a fate is just being used by the school to take care of the Ultimates, and that causes an uproar. They realize they're being sacrificed, and they want to fight back.

Maybe they want to attack the undead, but more likely they want to charge the barricades and escape. They refuse to be the school's disposable sacrifices, even if it means the undead are able to leave the campus and infect more people outside.

[wolfhednn]

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is. Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing! Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

Name: rai

Pronouns: it's complicated so she/he take ur pick

Birthday (no year): may 17

Where are you from? What is your time zone? the states, east coast beast coast. (not rly its swampy here)

How long is your roleplay experience? i regularly lose count. 17 years now i think?

How were you introduced to roleplaying as a whole? neopets, p sure. at least i can't remember rping before that. warrior cats and gifteds rps on neopets were the one-night stands of my heart

How were you introduced to TOA? according to legend, ree was reported famously to have said "we could do it tho" and then i answered "yeah ig we could huh"

Do you have any pets? nah i've come to realize that im not very good at taking care of living things (including myself) and no lifeform should be subjected to that

What is your favorite time of year and why? i'm an autumn girlie, complete with the pumpkin spice. november specifically is my favorite time of year

What is your IRL occupation? i work at a community college writing center ob it's really rewarding to make a direct impact on other people's experiences

Some interests and things you like/enjoy? gacha games, reading, poetry, hearing the dank beat drop in a song and imagining some dramatic rp scene to go along with it

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? honkai: star rail, granblue fantasy, pokemon, jrpgs, otomes, vn's in general, whatever games my friends want to stream for me while i grind granblue fantasy

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: raichu, and flying types

Tell us some fun facts and trivia about yourself! 3 stuffed animals have pride of place on my bed and they are a fennec fox named luhan, a red panda named shizi (persimmon in mandarin), and whale tartaglia

How did you get into Fire Emblem? was browsing the nearby gamestop in college shortly after fates came out, decided to pick it up on a whim because it looked up my alley. got hooked and blasted through the rest of the series in short order afterward

What Fire Emblem games have you played? everything except jugdral, but i've studied jugdral like i did ff7 back in the day in order to rp it

First & Favorite Fire Emblem games: fates as mentioned above. favorite depends on the metric jsdjgsk but, simplified, binding blade remains near and dear to my heart

List your 5 favorite Fire Emblem characters across the series! i cannot do this i do not hold enough characters in my working memory at a time

Who was the first character ever to make you go “ooh I like this one in particular” and why? Can be any context and reason! i think tsubaki. he was pretty and a pegasus knight, and i only liked him more as i actually saw more of his character HAHA

Any Fire Emblem crushes? huh. surprisingly, not really? was definitely expecting to have some for this one

If you’ve played (or are familiar with) the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? 　　Awakening: lucina. and yes. always always 　　Fates: tsubaki, nishiki, and leo. and yes. 　　Three Houses: felix bc i liked his character and i always tend to s-support my faves just to see their lines. ambivalent now tbh im kinda roulette w 3h s-supports 　　Engage: gregory, mostly bc i'm also roulette w engage s-supports rather than any overt favoritism for gregory. maybe fogado?

Favorite Fire Emblem class? nomad ranger / bow knight

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class and stats? Would you be playable? i've been told i'd be mage into mage knight but wielding dark magic. magic nuke but kind of whatever everything else. lysithea but mounted i guess. if i'm somehow playable the circumstances must be EXTRAORDINARY because good luck peeling me away from my nice quiet life for your continental justice war no thanks

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? black eagles probably and i'd cringe abt it

If you were an Officers Academy student, what would be your boons, banes and potential budding talent? reason and authority boon. gauntlet, heavy armor, flying bane. i don't rly think i'd have a budding talent in any of the rest

If you were an Engage character, which nation would you originate from? tbh i'd probably be from elusia

How do you pronounce TOA? individual letters

Current TOA muses: felix, caeldori, rosado

Past TOA muses? too fucking many yall. ugh lemme see. volug, sety, idunn, leif, yuri, kurthnaga, ephraim, lucius, etzel, nel, citrinne, nishiki

Who was your first TOA muse? If you no longer have them, can you see yourself picking them up again? will smith gestures at the grumpycat

Do you believe you have a type of character you gravitate towards writing? reckless boys with hearts of gold (felix, leif, zeiss, ephraim); perfectionistic dreamers (caeldori), charismatic cunning extroverts concealing a boatload of issues, somber cerebral sages (sety, etzel, kurthnaga arguably)

Do you have characters or types of characters you don’t think you can handle writing, but wish you could? there's plenty of archetypes i don't gravitate toward, but i don't really wish i did either. so not really

What kind of scenes, situations etc do you believe you enjoy writing the most? i like dramatic, fast-paced action scenes. i also like anything that explores complex topics and reveals how subjective the world really is, situations that challenge a character's views and beliefs and force them to reflect on what makes right or wrong

Do you have any scenario in mind for your muse(s) that gets you thinking “man I hope I get to write this one day”? not really right now. i don't usually have rp wishlists like this because my enjoyment of a scene depends more on how effectively i feel it's being executed rather than just getting to do the specific scene by itself

Favorite TOA-related memories? probably running team mercy in lock&key? that was a really fulfilling experience

Present or past tense? present tense

Normal size text, small text, no preference? small text but idc what my partner uses

Got any potential muse delusions to share? i have muses falling out my pockets. lately i've been fistfighting the ilios in my head constantly. sometimes you just want to play a loser

[zmediaoutlet]

okay first of all. Lovee the takes on each character/ship dynamic. second this one is kind of a given so I completely get it if you don't really have any opinions at all about them but I was wondering what your thoughts are on Sam/Jess. Obviously most people just think about them in the existing dynamic of the show but idk! Personally I find their dynamic to be really interesting in the context of what Jess is representative of to Sam. Especially in that time of his life. So I guess it's more of a question of if Sam/Jess is interesting to you, what makes it so and your thoughts on that.

As a backup question to that, thoughts on Dean/Jess? Dean/Jess/Sam?

eyyyy continuing the wine party into post-workout saturday morning tea party --

sam/jess:

to be honest friend, I'm falling into the "most people" category here because my real opinion about Jess is that she... basically isn't a person. And I love that for her, sincerely. Some characters really are tools in a story to spin in forward, and I am soooooo tired to death of all the carrying on about "fridging" and whatnot. Some characters are characters and some characters are narrative tools and, yes, bad luck to the angry ladies out there, spn is a show built on super classic-traditional bones about men who are getting revenge for the dead wife and what they learn along the way. That's good and fine. I'm into it.

with that aside, and given that she is a tool, I just -- don't... care about her. Like I thought about writing a fic one time as a demonstrative exercise called "Five Personalities Jessica Moore Could Have Had," because she's such a blank-slate (again, correctly!) in her like five minutes of screen time. We can't even count the djinn dream of Jess, because that was a pretty vision dreamed up by Dean to hurt himself worse, lol.

but as you say, her being representative of something to Sam is legit interesting -- he didn't fully engage in the relationship, he was gonna marry her without telling her the truth -- like a gay man desperately hitching himself to a nice wife in some misguided attempt to "fix" it. Like if he just tried hard enough he would be someone other than who he is. Which is the whole Sam-at-Stanford story, really. And it's an important part of his story -- the hero has to go away from home and return to it with a better sense of who he is -- but it makes Jessica entirely figural and metaphorical instead of being, again, a person. Like when Sam says in whatever late season ep that he "still thinks about Jess," I'm left going... really? Because even by late in the first season he's reoriented into the family revenge story, not specifically the for her revenge story. But if we reorient that to "I still think about the life I could have had" -- that, I believe. And she'd be part of that. Whatever her actual personality was. Apparently she made cookies. How... fridged wife of her.

WITH all that said, what I'm most interested in with stories that circle around Jess are stories that completely ruin that relationship, haha, because the whole point of it in the larger frame-story of Supernatural is that it has to end so Sam can get back to his real life. So -- if it's an AU where Sam for some reason stays at Stanford and they do get married, I'm only interested if their marriage kinda sucks and they get divorced by year five. (e.g. maybe, like his mother, he pretended he could be 'normal' but he keeps sneaking out on hunts after all, and Jessica thinks he's cheating, and they end up dead bedroomed, etc etc.) Or, if it's set during Stanford, I'd go for an almost horror-story dramatic irony fic where she's introduced to this tall hot guy by her smiling blond classmate Brady and we can see fate rearing up to grab her by the neck, and she feels almost compelled to stay, and she doesn't know why when Sam keeps obviously not telling her things but she forcibly dismisses it from her mind and goes he'll tell me someday. And then it's November 2nd. :)

Dean/Jess similarly I guess I'd only be interested in from a symbolic sense -- Dean attempting to get closer to Sam any way he can in the period of not-talking. I have no interest in Jess living -- her job is to die -- so it'd have to be still at Stanford, and it'd be a really tight window to make it work in a way that wouldn't screw up everyone because Dean isn't a piece of shit and Jess (being a figural Nice Girl who Dies) can't be a cheater. Maybe in the very early Sam and her have only gone on like one date but they're not an 'item' yet, Dean sees her at the bar after Sam leaves and decides he'll take her for a spin...? Eh, that's too mean. So, I guess not for me. And I never like ot3s so the other one is not for me either. But if you can make it terrible and Jess dies at the end anyway, maybe!

[lilith-little-world]

The Oracle|| Concept Oneshot 3|| Valentine Special

I know this is somewhat late, but I really wanted to do something sweet that doesn't reveal too much of the plot. Which took me the whole day to come up. Also I may have forgotten that it was Valentine's day and slept for nearly the whole day. Whoops... my bad. This is in 1st person and whatever style you guys like, I will have majority of the story in. (Since I like mixing perspectives once in a while.)

I fiddle with a small black box. My mind raced on how I should give this to him. It was a simple gift, so why was I so worried? Glancing at the window, the sunlight shines strongly through the curtains.

‘He should be coming here soon.’

I was sitting on my bed staring at the box that holds a necklace. It was supposed to be a thank-you gift, nothing too special. Hell, it wasn't much of a big deal at first. However, a comment from the vendor changed everything.

“Hope your significant other enjoys the gift!”

A comment that had been stuck in my mind all morning.

“Ahh, this is driving me crazy!” I sigh and give my loveable pet a tired look. She was laying across from me, exhausted from walking all morning at the market.

“I mean, we’re friends! So he wouldn't think anything weird if I got him a gift. Anyways, red has a lot of meanings over here! It could mean protection or good luck!”

The small dog huffs.

“Don't give me that, Almond! I would like it if you at least try to sympathize.”

Almond lifts her head and looks at me.

“Maybe I'm overthinking things, but can you blame me? I don't think he feels the same way about me… I don't want to make a big fool of myself.”

Almonds slowly get up and walk towards me. Her tail wags as she sits on my lap. A small smile finally made its way onto my face.

“Alright, I get it, I'm calm now,” I said, scratching behind her ears.

A loud knock breaks the happy moment. Before the front door opens, revealing Wukong. He had a relaxed expression on his face as he waltzed right into my room.

“I brought lunch!” He said, bringing the plastic bag up to show off before heading to the “kitchen”. Which were just a mini fridge, microwave, and table with three chairs.

He places the bag down and sets up the table. I took this as my chance to hide the box in my jacket’s pocket.

“You don't have to do this every day.” I took a chair right across from him. Grabbing the plastic plate covered by foil.

“Is it a crime of wanting to help?” He quickly jabs. Finally sitting and getting a plate.

I stay silent, as I take off the foil. It was steamed pork buns.

“I still don't understand why you would go this far for me. I'm not that important.” I grabbed a bun and took a bite.

“You are to me.”

I cough loudly, nearly spitting out the chewed-up bun. I stare at him with wide eyes. It seems that Wukong didn't realize what escaped from his mouth, because he soon tensed up and darted his eyes away from me.

“You may not see yourself as someone special or important, but I do.”

“Because I'm the fated oracle?” I said questioningly.

“You’re more than that! So what, you got a blessing from Guanyin herself? To me, you're more than that! Y/n, I care about you, because I love you, alright.”

He stayed silent, refusing to look at me. All I could do was sit there stunned.

‘He loves me…’

I took another bite from my bun and stared at the red face monkey. His eyes were shut closed and a scowl quickly took over his face. My hand went into my pocket. Grazing the small box, I contemplate for a second.

‘Well, guess that solves my dilemma from earlier.’

I slid the box across the table. Wukong opens his eyes to glance at it. Hesitantly reaches for the black box.

“When I was at the market, I saw this old lady selling some jewelry. Then this crazy idea came to my head when I saw the necklace. That it would be nice if we both match.” I twiddle with my bracelet nervously.

Wukong takes out the red string necklace with a simple gold peach charm. He finally looks at me and down at my wrist. There was a brief silence before he smiled and put on the necklace. It sits nicely on his collarbone.

“Not bad, peaches. I like it and that idea. However, so that we are clear.”

His tense posture disappears as he leans forward, head resting in his hand. Giving his classic smirk that shows off his fangs.

“Does that mean you feel the same way?”

It was my turn to turn red.

“Stop being so smug about it and yes.”

He chuckles.

“I'm not smug, on the contrary, I'm just really excited!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Hey, Y/n.”

“What?”

“You give out the cutest of reactions.” He smiles at me brightly.

Maybe it won't hurt to make this place my new home.

_______________________________

Alright, the story is nearly all set up. Just need a few more things, like where the hell should I post it since it's going to be really long. Also may open the asks soon, so I can answer your guy's questions. In the meantime, you guys chill and enjoy some one-shots coming your way. Some will be with different characters (cough macaque cough cause I also am planning a story for him as well). Hopefully, things turn out well and you guys stay long enough for these damn stories to come out.

Happy late Valentines!

[dalchiid]

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 14

A story of obsession, fear, and lust. You're a maid whose Masters forbid you in meeting their guests for the night but your luck runs dry when you run into them and catch the attention of Lord Hoseok himself. He's smitten from the beginning and thus, your fate has been decided.

Pairing: Yandere Vampire Hoseok x Fem/AFAB Reader

Word Count: 7,339

Warnings: 18+, Yandere, Obsession, Possessive, Angst, Fear, Blood, Biting, Dub-Con, Eventual smut

Will add or remove warnings based on what's in each chapter.

I do not condone the behavior being exhibited in my work. This is solely for entertainment purposes and I hope if any of you are ever in a situation like this that you have the chance and ability to run away from it. Take care out there.

DO NOT copy, edit, or repost my work anywhere.

Chapter 14 Warnings: Yandere, Possessive, Obsession, Angst, Drama

Prev | Next

It takes a while for you to wake up. You feel so drowsy and can't bring yourself to care about anything but sleep. Your body feels heavy and your brain is having a hard time catching up. You feel something in your hair scratching away at your scalp. It feels nice and it makes getting up even harder.

There's a kiss to your temple and another on your cheek. They're soft and for some reason or another they make you think of Hoseok.

Slowly your memories come to you and you remember Hoseok coming to you when you needed him most. You remember the spit, you remember the feeling of being tired, you remember... You remember? You remember nothing else.

Your eyes roll side to side beneath your lids as you slowly come to. A big sigh leaves you and the scratching at your scalp momentarily stops before continuing again. Though heavy, your eyes begin to open little by little. Your hand comes up to rub the sleep and whatever crust is in them away before you open them fully. You realize your facing Hyun-Woo's chest as he's lying perched on his elbow staring down at you. He pushes your hair back from your face as you sniffle a little. Your sinuses feel clogged up from all the crying you did yesterday and you feel weird after having your body betray you constantly.

You moan a little as you stretch. Joints popping here and there as your back and limbs thrum with a dull ache.

"Morning, my love. Well, good afternoon really." Hyun-Woo smiles at you, infatuation painting his eyes.

You wipe your mouth of any residual drool and look around you. "Did I sleep the whole night?"

He smiles again and nods. "You didn't have any more attacks. How do you feel?"

How did you feel?

"Like I've been hit by a truck but outside of that I'm okay." You sit up more and wince as your back cracks.

Hyun-Woo sits up along with you. "Do you," he pauses. "Do you think it's over?"

"What's over?" You question.

"The withdrawals. You seem a lot better than you were yesterday."

You were a lot better and the withdrawals were over but not because you sweated through it. It was because of Hoseok's visit last night that feels like a distant memory. It almost doesn't feel real but you being awake here now with no issue is proof of it but you couldn't tell Hyun-Woo that. He'd more than likely lose his mind and you didn't want that. Didn't want to face his disappointment nor what he might do to Hoseok if he found out.

"Yeah I guess so," is all you can say.

"I'm glad," he says. "I'm glad you don't have to go through this for the two days he claimed you would."

You hum in response - unable to come up with a happy enough answer because there was nothing to be happy about.

You bite your lip as you swallow deeply. You can still taste the blood that oozed from your gums but you're sure that if you checked you would be fine.

You look behind you at the pillow you slept on and see blood mixed in with your drool. You frown at the sight before looking Hyun-Woo's way.

"Sorry about that."

He looks confused until you point out the blood.

"It's okay," he says with a smile on his face. "I'm just happy you're doing better."

You grunt.

You're sat on the bed a moment more before you start to stir and get up. From the corner of your eye you see Hyun-Woo move and you look to see a worried look overtake his features.

"Where are you going," he asks.

You look from left to right before staring back at him. "I have to use the bathroom."

A look akin to being relieved washes over him. "Okay."

You're not sure about his reaction but you know it makes you feel uncomfortable.

You slip around the bed and head towards the bathroom to pee. With the door closed you're alone and you're given some time to think. You feel so stupid after last night. You couldn't believe you actually begged for Hoseok's help. Then again the you now was completely different from the you then. You were in excruciating pain. Him coming in to help was a godsend even though you shouldn't have accepted it - accepted him because you're now back to square one and when he leaves you're screwed.

You try to calm your rapid beating heart as anxiety starts to spark within you. You didn't want to alert Hyun-Woo who is no doubt waiting on the very edge of his bed for you to come back out. You take deep even breaths. Now wasn't the time.

You finish up real quick and wash your hands before stepping back into the bedroom. You don't find Hyun-Woo and wonder where he's at until you notice his closet door is open.

"Hyun-Woo?"

"In here," he calls back.

You step into the closet and see him rifling through his clothes. You've never had to clean in here so you're surprised to see how big his closet is. It's a walk-in with a long mirror attached to the wall. It's well lit and smells of a mixture of Hyun-Woo and clean clothes.

He turns his head to look at you before smiling. "All better," he asks.

You nod your head.

"Good." He pulls out a pair of black, slim fit dress pants and compares it to a gray one. "Which one?"

You look between the two. "I guess the black one."

He smiles before putting the gray ones away. Up next, he moves to the other side of his closet and combs through the shirts. You look down at the one you wear and stare at the bass that seems to stare back at you. Realizing how underdressed you are - pantsless and all. You blush a little but try to not let it get to you.

"How about this?"

You look up to see him holding two modern hanbok tops one in navy blue and the other black.

"Which one should I wear?"

You hum before pointing out the blue one and he smiles again. As if your choices mean the world to him.

You look back down at what you're wearing and fidget in your spot. "Um, Hyun-Woo."

He hums questioningly before looking your way.

"I need to find something presentable to wear. I can't go into the hall like this."

He looks you over before nodding. "Of course! I can get you something from your room and have you wash up here."

You give a small sigh of relief.

He finishes gathering the last of his things before stepping out with you to head into his bathroom.

"I'm going to shower. Are you?"

You nod your head.

"Then come," he says. "Wash up with me."

Your face drops before your eyes widen comically. "You're not serious, right?"

He frowns looking absolutely confused. "I am."

"Hyun-Woo," you start albeit nervously. Your hands worry between each other. "I-I we don't..." You can't even get the words out of your mouth.

He pouts slightly looking between the bathroom and you. "Are you not comfortable doing this?"

You shake your head no.

He visibly deflates. "We can do this another time then if it's a problem."

I don't want there to be another time, you think to yourself. You don't want him getting any ideas. As much as he might believe so the two of you are not a couple.

Before you can say anything his expression changes into a resolute one. "Next time."

You smile awkwardly but can't bring yourself to correct him. You're leading him on like this one part of you says. Another part which is the one that's winning is too nervous to say a word. You can't even get a word in anyway when Hyun-Woo turns in his spot and heads to the bathroom.

"I'll shower first then I'll get your stuff so you can wash up. Is that okay?"

"Y-Yeah that's fine."

Nothing more is said between you two as he closes the door then leaving you alone.

You shake your head as you silently berate yourself. Say something next time.

You turn around in your spot and stand about awkwardly. Looking around to see the room around you. You've been in here so many times to clean but it feels weird being a guest to sleep over. You look at the bed and decide to change the sheets. You sweated through them you're sure and you want to get rid of the blood stain you drooled out.

Heading over to his dresser you pull out what you need from the very last two drawers and get to work. Having done this before you're quick and efficient. The bed is clean and made neatly while the dirty ones sit in a corner of the room waiting to be tossed into Hyun-Woo's hamper. You look at the time and note it's 4:25. Gods you slept for a long time! Whatever Hoseok did to you really knocked you out. Speaking of Hoseok, you wonder where he is now. There's a part of you that wants to go see him but another part that knows you should stay away. He's a danger to you and you know this, but what does this mean for the two of you now? Technically you went back to him. Just as he wanted you're sure. He said there was no going back and that frightened you. In what sense did he mean that? You weren't his but between him and Hyun-Woo they sure act like you belong to them.

You sigh as you sit on the edge of the bed. You have enough problems as is with Hyun-Woo alone. Staking his claim on you the way he did. Thinking back on it sends a shiver up your spine. Now he wants to act like you're a couple in love. It makes you feel sick. And you can't say Hoseok is any different but you don't have an ongoing friendship with Hoseok. You did with Hyun-Woo and it was all ruined. You don't feel like crying about it the way you did that night he kissed you but it does leave you feeling forlorn.

You look to the bedroom door and think about peeking out. You don't want anyone to catch you in here but you want to find Hoseok. You've decided you want to after last night because the two of you needed to clear the air on some things. First and foremost being that despite what happened you aren't his. He needed to realize this more than anything.

You stand up from the bed and head towards the door. Your hand shakily comes to the doorknob and you grip it with your other hand. Why were you shaking? Nervous much? You shake your hands and body out and bring yourself to calm as much as possible before attempting to grab the doorknob again. When you do you slowly turn it and open the door. You peek your head out and look in the direction of Hoseok's bedroom. You see no movement but what did you expect? He must have probably already left. Doing his own thing while you're stuck in here thinking about him.

You huff to yourself. Stop thinking about him. Not now. You'll worry about him later.

Just as you close the door you hear the bathroom door open. You whirl around to see Hyun-Woo come out dressed up in the clothes he had chosen. That was fast... He looks around for you briefly before his eyes land on you near the bedroom door.

"What are you doing over there, silly?" He smiles.

"Oh uh," you start. "I thought I heard something out there but it was nothing." A bold faced lie.

He doesn't question you on it but you can tell he's a little skeptical.

"Hm, well the bathroom is all yours. I just have to get your stuff for you."

You can only nod in response.

He looks at you concerned. "You okay?"

You nod again. "Y-Yeah. Promise."

His look of skepticism grows deeper but he doesn't question it. "Alright. You can head to the bathroom then. I'll bring you your clothes."

You nod for the third time before heading to grab the dirty sheets to take them into the bathroom with you.

"Oh, I didn't even notice the bed."

You look over to see him frown.

"You know you're not my maid anymore."

His maid, he says. You never were just specifically his maid but the maid of the estate. He just managed to convince his brothers enough to make sure you were mostly in his line of sight more than the others. It bothers you to hear him say this because you are supposed to be a maid, but you lost your job because of him.

You frown and he notices.

"What's wrong?"

You look up at him before looking down at the sheets in your hold. "It's just... It's just my job. I want my job back."

It's silent between you two and at first you think you said something that might be offensive to him because he doesn't react, but soon after you hear him sigh.

"I already told you why I relieved you of your duties, Y/N." He makes his way towards you before holding your face in his hands. "You're my partner now. I can't have you working for me when we're in a relationship."

It's your turn to sigh now and it's long and deep.

"Come now," he says as his face leans more towards yours. "It's not that bad to be without responsibility for once in your life." He kisses your cheek.

You try to pull your face from his grasp but he holds on to you tight. Your cheeks smooshed as he squeezes you lightly. It forces your lips to pucker and before you can do anything he lands a kiss on your lips. It's a chaste kiss before he takes from you again though this one is a little longer.

You wrench yourself from his hold then but he says nothing as you look at him with a betrayed look in your eyes. How could he take and take from you so easily when it was so one-sided?

He leans in again but pauses when you visibly flinch. Your nostrils flaring as discomfort courses through your body. His hand comes up to squeeze your arm before releasing you.

"Go and shower. I'll be back with your clothes." He walks away and leaves from his bedroom without giving you another glance.

You're body aches but it doesn't change the fact that you want to throw the rolled up sheets in your arms and scream, but you do your best not to. Screaming and having a fit did nothing for you before and it will do nothing for you now. You just go to throw the sheets into the hamper before grabbing your shower caddy and heading back into the bathroom.

You're standing before the mirror staring into your reflection. Your face is a little puffy from the heavy sleep you were once in and your neck is slowly healing from the bruises Hoseok left behind. You pull your hair up and away from your face with a hair tie you found lost in your caddy. You decide to start brushing your teeth to clear yourself of the morning breath and residual blood and do only that because you won't let Hyun-Woo catch you off guard showering while he brings over your clothes.

It's now you take the time to realize something and that is that your friendship with Hyun-Woo is over. Deep down you still have a part of you that cares for him like you once openly did but it's hard to express that when he keeps acting the way he is. You know it's also partly your fault for not standing your ground more and you have half a mind to do so when he comes back, but you know you're too much of a coward. Tears gloss over your eyes as you stare into your reflection. When did things get so complicated? You feel like you ask yourself this all the time and despite knowing the answer it doesn't feel good enough. Like you need something greater to be the reason. As if it would all make sense then because even though everything always leads back to Hoseok Hyun-Woo's feelings for you run much deeper than that. Even though you think back on the day Hyun-Woo found you in a compromising position, again, Hyun-Woo's feelings run deeper than that. Now you admit it. You wouldn't say he was in love with you but something close to it and it scared you because he wanted to express it to you against your wishes.

You spit in the sink before wiping your eyes. You didn't want him to catch you crying because then comes the questions and the concerns you didn't want to attend to. Honestly it would probably just make you cry more.

You brush your teeth a few minutes more before you're finally done and you can hear Hyun-Woo's entrance as he calls for you. Looking in the mirror you wipes your eyes again before making your way back into the bedroom.

You hum in acknowledgement.

He comes around the bed with a small smile. "You don't have much clothes outside of your uniform but I put this together for you."

You see it to be a pair of light wash jeans and a black top that more than likely is from your uniform.

"This is fine."

"What's wrong?" He looks confused.

"Hm? Nothing is wrong."

"No something is wrong. You seem like you're withdrawing into yourself."

How could he tell? Did you make it that obvious?

"I'm fine," you say though you don't even believe that, but it wasn't for you to believe but Hyun-Woo to.

He doesn't seemed convinced but he can tell you don't want to talk anymore.

"Okay, I guess." He leans towards your face to steal another kiss from you but you pull away.

Your heart nearly freezes then at your action. You didn't mean to pull back but then again you did. You just weren't expecting him to do that. He leans in again slower this time but you still pull away.

"Y/N." His voice is stern.

Tears spring forth and you have a hard time keeping them down.

"I'm sorry, Hyun-Woo. I just-"

"Don't do that."

"Don't do what," you ask as your bottom lip quivers.

"Don't make excuses."

It's like he's a different person now as you face his ire. What could you respond back with if not excuses? You swallow deeply as your tears threaten to fall down your face.

Hyun-Woo pinches the bridge of his nose as he looks away. A deep sigh comes from him as if dealing with you right now was a problem. A problem he couldn't deal with.

He puts his hand down and looks back your way. "Are you seriously not going to let me kiss you?"

You release a deep sigh of your own and it was answer enough for him.

"Oh but if I were Hoseok-"

"That's not fair, Hyun-Woo!" Your voice raises higher than you meant it to. "Stop bringing him up if he isn't a part of the equation."

Hyun-Woo seems to bristle at your words as he looms over you. "I'll bring him up as many times as I want if it means I'm speaking the truth."

"And if it were the other way around," you ask.

"There wouldn't be an issue because I would never do this to you. Ever!" His hands go to grip your arms tightly. "What is so wrong about loving me back?"

You wince as his hold grows stronger.

"Hyun-Woo you're hurting me."

"Answer the question."

"You're hurting me!"

All goes silent as he suddenly releases you as if you had scalded him. His eyes grow wide as he looks at your bare arms as if he could see where his prints once were.

"I'm sorry," he says softly. A hand goes up to his mouth as he pulls away. "I'm sorry."

A sharp intake of breath resounds from you as you try to control your breathing. "Why are you doing this to me?"

He looks slightly affronted. "Because I love you."

It's all he could say and it's all your brain could process. Because he loved you.

"No one hurts the ones they love." You snatch your clothes from his arms before running off towards the bathroom.

"Y/N," he calls out to you. "Y/N, wait!"

Before he could reach you you slam the door in his face. It's a bold move but you take it and lock the doorknob before he could even try to twist it.

"Y/N." He bangs on the door.

"Just please leave me alone," you cry. "Let me just shower in peace."

The banging stops and so do his calls for you. You can see his shadow beneath the door and it stands there for a minute before it retreats. It's then you give a sigh of relief. You were not expecting all this to happen. At all. Especially not after your recovery from the withdrawals.

You rub your face before turning to the toilet. You place your things on top of the bowl before going to turn the shower on. You needed it now more than ever to unwind. At this point you're running on autopilot. Turning on the shower, stepping in, doing your routine, finishing up, on and on and on. You don't even realize it when you're done until it's time to face Hyun-Woo again. You know he must have heard you finish by now. There's no question about it and you know he knows that you're hesitating to come back out. You're wondering what to say to him if anything at all. Despite knowing he's in the wrong for this you doubt he sees it that way. Were you wrong in any way? You try to think about it but the only thing you can think of is that you might have lead him on. Did you? You try and wrack your brain on some info that would state that you did. Maybe it's just your mind being paranoid. It wouldn't be the first time. You just want to be able to step out and settle things as adults would but would he be willing to?

You sigh as you gather your things and get ready to step out. You unlock the door before opening it and your eyes immediately look for him. He's sat at his vanity staring into his reflection. Though it seems more like he's staring through it. Like the day when Hoseok and his brothers first came. You set aside your stuff before slowly approaching him. He doesn't acknowledge you at first but when he does his eyes gloss over. Your face morphs into one of pity and small anguish. You watch as his lips part and nothing comes out of them at first. His mouth open and closes a bit before he lets out the words that have been plaguing him to say.

"I'm sorry."

Your own eyes begin to gloss over as you push your tongue into your cheek. "I know." You did because this Hyun-Woo you see before you reeked of sorrow and you know it was directed towards you.

He turns in his seat to look at you - the sheen in his eyes still prominent. "I really, truly mean it."

"I know."

A hand of his comes up to hold your hand. His touch is soft and his grip just as so. It's like he's afraid to touch you but at the same time he needs the comfort. You don't react to it afraid that if you do he'll see it as all being forgiven. He seems to realize this as his head leans down to rest onto your stomach. You can hear the way that he sniffles and despite it all it breaks your heart. You close your eyes and feel a few tears escape them. Your hand closes around his and it's from there does he break down. Your hand cards through his hair as he continues to cry in your hold and you do so as well though silently. Your bottom lip quivers as you give a wet sniffle and at the sound of that Hyun-Woo's other hand comes around to hold your one in his two.

The two of you are like this for a while - just crying your hearts out. It aches knowing you both have come this far and you wish you could go back and make things okay again, but you have to face the truth. The truth being that this is how things are now and you have to deal with it. You think back on his words "What is so wrong about loving me back?" What was preventing you from doing so besides the fact that you've only cared for him platonically? Could you ever learn to love him? Could you?

You go to pry your hand from his but he holds on tight.

"Hyun-Woo."

He doesn't budge merely shaking his head no.

"Hyun-Woo look at me."

It takes him a moment more before he does. He sniffles as more tears spread down his cheeks. His eyes and nose are red and irritated from all the crying and it makes you wish you had a way to stop it all so he'd smile once more. With his attention you don't know what to say. You wrack your brain until you come up with one. One you would ask Hoseok if he were here too.

"Why do you want me?"

He seems to stop crying at this but sniffles once more. "Why do I want you?"

You nod.

He wipes his tears away and gives a wet sniff before parting his lips to speak.

"What isn't there to love about you? You're kind, you're hard working and you're beautiful. Even if that makes me sound like a bad person - simply for finding you beautiful more than anything - but you are. I've never met anyone like you. Though I no longer want you to get hurt I'm glad you did the day I found you because otherwise I would have never found you by the scent of your blood." He pauses to swallow. "You make me happy and all I want to do is make you happy back."

You take in every single one of his words and the way they shake as he's on the brink of crying again. So many kind words and they're all directed towards you. You sigh deeply because what else could you do because despite how kind his words are his actions haven't been. It breaks your heart to know you've come this far like this but it's not like this was out of the blue because as much as you want to blame Hoseok Hyun-Woo has always been possessive over you. It's just he had no reason to act on it until the other vampire came into the picture. Your eyes begin to water again at your predicament but you do your best to hold the tears back.

You sigh deeply before stepping back. Hyun-Woo sits up straighter in his seat and his grip on your hand tightens. His eyes grow wide as you try to pull your hand away and a choked sob leaves him.

"Please don't leave me."

"I'm not leaving. I just want to sit down." You point to the bed.

Immediately Hyun-Woo stands up and goes to the bed to sit with you. His grip unwavering as you give an experimental tug.

Silence blankets over the two of you as you look towards the floor while his eyes are no doubt on you. What fills the air then is a small sigh from you before you look in his direction and you speak.

"Hyun-Woo."

He hums questioningly.

You purse your lips before continuing. "We can't keep doing this. You're hurting me in ways that you can't even think to imagine. I care for you. I always have but you're taking advantage of that and doing things that are making me uncomfortable. Like I said, I care for you. Please let's not ruin this."

You don't know how you managed to get the words out but you did and you're proud of yourself, but your heart also beats painfully against your chest. You're nervous of what he's going to say.

He nibbles on his bottom lip looking side to side before back at you. "But you care for me."

You nod.

"Then that's all that matters to me."

Your brows furrow. Did he not take in the rest of what you said?

"Hyun-Wo-"

"I hear you. I do but you care for me and I can work with that. All you have to do is give me a chance and I can show you that we can make it work."

Your lips part in disbelief. He thinks he did but he understood nothing of what you said. His eyes look deep into your own and there's a hint of hopefulness within them. He expects an answer you can't give him. An answer that's anything but what you just said and so you try to change the conversation for your sake.

Out of the blue you grab your stomach and frown. "Sorry. I'm hungry."

His brows shoot up as he looks you over. "There's no need to apologize! We can get you something to eat now. We'll talk about this later. Dinner should be starting soon anyway so come with me."

Your eyes widen before you shake your head. "I don't want to do that. It's not my place to sit with you guys."

"Nonsense," he frowns. "You're no longer my maid so it'll be okay."

You frown back but he ignores it choosing instead to stand you up with him and leaving his room hand in hand. His grip is tight and unnerving but you don't say anything. He's so sensitive right now that you're afraid he might snap so you let him drag you around. You doubt he'd listen to you anyway after you poured your heart out and he chose to ignore it. Choosing instead to pick out from your statement what appeased him the most and ran with it.

There are stares from the day crew and no doubt gossip is already forming. First Lord Hoseok and now Master Hyun-Woo. You'd rather drink bog water than hear what they have to say.

It's then a thought strikes you and you voice it to Hyun-Woo.

"Where's Sunmi?" The maid who cared for you was nowhere in sight. Had she even come to visit you?

"She's no doubt doing her work. She came to see you earlier but I sent her off because you were still asleep."

"Oh." It's all you can say.

You wish she was here to save you but she's not. Like Hyun-Woo said she's no doubt doing her work. You wonder if she's been with Hyung-Won or not and whether or not she might have slipped and told him everything. No. You doubt it because you feel like Master Hyung-Won would have confronted you about it by now.

Hyun-Woo and you make it past more stares before you reach the dining area. By the doors are Hyun-Sik and Lord Jungkook. They're engaged in conversation before they look over to you two. Their eyes immediately zone in on your hands and you feel yourself trying to slip your's out of Hyun-Woo's grip but he doesn't relent. A smile graces Hyun-Sik's face but Jungkook's is carefully still.

"Well look who it is." Hyun-Sik says. "My brother and the love of his life."

You openly cringe at the title he bestows upon you. He chuckles at your reaction and you remember he lives for these kind of things. Revels in stirring the pot.

"Shut up, Hyun-Sik." Hyun-Woo knows not to take his brother's words to heart after having lived with him for so long.

Said brother chuckles again before stepping out of the way to let the two of you in to the dining room. Lord Jungkook's eyes are still focused on your intertwined hands but he says nothing. You can't even read what emotion may lie behind his eyes.

Hyun-Woo opens the doors and your breath is taken from you. There are already people here. Master Hyung-Won and Lord Seokjin are sat at the table conversing but there's no sign of Hoseok. You breathe a sigh of relief at that but tense up when the two Lords eyes swing your way.

Hyung-Won frowns when he sees your hands and so does Lord Seokjin before his brows raise and something akin to mirth colors his features.

"What is this?" Hyung-Won demands.

"What do you mean, brother?" Hyun-Woo asks as he let's go of your hand to pull a chair out to his left for you.

You don't even dare sit with the way your other Master is glaring your way.

"Why isn't she in uniform?"

You look up at Hyun-Woo before looking down at your feet.

"I relieved her of her duties. Problem?"

No words are said and you feel embarrassment coat your insides the longer you stay the topic of conversation.

"And why would you do that?"

Hyun-Woo huffs. "Because we're dating."

You look up at him with wide eyes before looking at Hyung-Won. Your other Master looks your way and just by the look on your face he can confirm that it's a lie. A lie Hyun-Woo has deluded himself into. Hyung-Won frowns as he looks back at his brother before shaking his head.

"I'm not up for this," he sighs. "You may sit, Y/N. If my command is what you were waiting for."

In actuality you were hoping he'd demand you be reinstated and send you away but nothing ever comes that easy for you. So you sit down into place before a servant comes to pull out Hyun-Woo's seat next to you and he follows suit.

You look at the empty plate before you and feel your stomach growl. Heat rushes into your cheeks and you're too embarrassed to look up to see if anyone had noticed. You're sure everyone except for the servants lining the walls heard it. Speaking of them you look at each person. Two of them from across the way are looking at you and you quickly avert your eyes to the back. It's then that you see him. Ji-Woon is stood against the wall behind Master Hyung-Won. He doesn't look at you at first but when he does it's with a look akin to mild worry that he does. You give him a look of your own and it's with that do you look forward again.

You sigh before feeling a hand on your arm.

"Are you okay?"

You look at Hyun-Woo before nodding despite feeling far from okay. It's then do the doors open and in come Master Hyun-Sik with Lord Jungkook but they're not alone. As you turn your head to see you see Hoseok as well. Your head snaps back forward as your eyes widen a fraction. You don't know why you're so surprised. Of course Hoseok would attend but his presence still catches you off guard.

You worry your hands between each other as you try to look anywhere but him. His presence demands attention but you try not to give it to him. He slowly makes his way to the other side of the table where he sits across Hyun-Woo just as before when you waited upon your Master. You're too nervous to look up and can't tell if he's looking your way. Your eyes dance across each item that's placed before you all as a means of distraction from the vampire's presence.

You hear someone clear their throat and it makes you look up to see who it was. When you do the first thing you see is Hoseok looking at you. Your eyes slowly shift to your right and back in nervousness. He's expressionless but his eyes are glued to your figure. His elbow rests on the arm of the chair and his fingers play with the petals that make up his lips. You swallow deeply and try to clear your throat after. Your spit feels thicker than usual and you blame it on the nerves.

A hand comes to rest on your thigh and it forced you to flinch. You look down to see Hyun-Woo's hand and feel as it gently squeezes you. You know he means well but it makes you feel uncomfortable instead. You clear your throat again in awkwardness and watch the other vampires whose brows are quirked in interest.

There's a subtle roll to Hyung-Won's eyes before the doors to the kitchen suddenly open and carts filled with food start to pile in. No one says a word as the food is lied out before them. Jungkook isn't one to wait and starts to fill his plate up in earnest. The others wait patiently until the servants finish lying out the food and once they begin to leave everyone begins to eat.

Before you is bibimbap. A collection of rice, meat, vegetables and an egg and it smells delicious. A variety of side dishes are settled between each plate of food around you all and you grab a spoonful of gochujang to top your dish with. You all start to dig in and it's in silence do you all enjoy the food.

No one says anything for a while choosing instead to relish in the taste of every biteful of food. It's weird for you to be dining with your Masters and the Lords. If you felt awkward when you had to serve Hyun-Woo you feel even more awkward eating with everyone. For every bite you take you look around you. Everyone is enjoying their fill and Hoseok is no longer staring at you. It brings you some relief but you know it's temporary.

A hum comes from Hyung-Won before he swallows. You look at him as his lips part to speak.

"Another night and you'll be leaving, correct?"

Lord Seokjin's mouth is full of food but he swallows then before speaking himself.

"It's been nice being here and all but it's about time we finally head back home."

"Well we discussed what needed to be discussed. Everything depends on the Alliance now."

"Exactly."

More silence as they eat more food.

Their words reminded you of the conversation they had that day about the revolts around the area. It still baffles you how you didn't know about any of this. It's your own fault really for not concerning yourself over outside matters. You wonder if you're the only one who didn't know but you have a feeling that you might be wrong.

"I should thank you for the hospitality. You welcomed us in as if we were brothers and I appreciate that of you." Seokjin says around a mouthful.

Hyung-Won shakes his head. "It's nothing."

A chuckle comes from Hyun-Sik as he takes a drink from his wine. "It was a pleasure to have you here so of course."

Seokjin hums. "It was as much of a pleasure for us to be here ourselves. Right Jungkook? Hoseok?"

Lord Jungkook grunts as he swallows a large mouthful.

"You'll have to forgive our youngest. If you haven't noticed already he turns into a primitive sort when it comes to food."

This makes Hyung-Won laugh. "It's okay."

Seokjin looks over to Hoseok then and smiles. "You had a good time here too didn't you Hoseok?"

The vampire in question sits up in his seat before taking a napkin to wipe his lips. He looks over to you then and something akin to a smile graces his lips. "Of course. Some made the stay all the better."

There's a clang of metal to your right and you look over to see Hyun-Woo dropped his utensils into his bowl. He glares Hoseok's way and you can see the way his jaw clenches beneath his skin.

"I'm sorry was that wrong of me to say?" Hoseok raises his brow.

"You enjoy treading on thin ice don't you." Hyun-Woo's words aren't phrased as a question.

"If me stating I enjoyed being in the presence of Y/N is me treading on thin ice then sure. I do enjoy it."

You can't bring yourself to swallow your food. You have to grab your glass of water to help wash it down.

Someone clears their throat in the distance but Hyun-Woo isn't willing to back down.

"Have care how you talk about my partner in front of me."

"In front of you? So whatever happens behind your back is fair game?"

Hyun-Woo stands to his full height food forgotten.

"Hyun-Woo sit down." Hyung-Won's words are harsh but his brother doesn't listen to him.

"Hyun-Woo." You try calling to him but again he doesn't listen.

"I said have care," he growls.

Hoseok leans back into his seat seemingly without worry. He looks to you and back to Hyun-Woo before parting his lips to speak.

"I don't know what you've deluded yourself into Hyun-Woo but the one who should be having care is you. Don't mess with relationships that are already established."

At this everyone's attention excluding the two arguing focuses on you. You sit frozen in your spot and your eyes begin to gloss over the longer they stay open. Your breathing pattern increases and you feel a prick of anxiety being formed within you. What was Hoseok doing?

Hyun-Woo's nostrils flare as his eyes widen a fraction. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't I?" Hoseok asks. "If I didn't know how much she needed me I would be inclined to believe your little fairy tale romance." Hoseok shakes his head before huffing then. He chooses to stand up before leaning his hands onto the table. He looks Hyun-Woo dead in the eyes with a smirk before saying just barely above a whisper "Tell me. Where were you last night?"

A loud cry resounds around the room and it takes you a second to realize it came from you. What was Hoseok doing? Why was he saying this? Why was he doing this to you?

Hyun-Woo's eyes are drawn to you from both your cry and Hoseok's question. A look of worry coats his features but there's a hint of something else there. Something deep-seated within him. Betrayal.

You stand up to go leave because you can't stand being here anymore. Can't stand everyone's eyes on you. Tears form in your eyes and they threaten to fall as you run off. You can hear Hyun-Woo call out to you but you don't look back. You're too afraid to look back. You can feel everything that has lead up to this point come crashing down around you and you wish the Earth would swallow you up. For it to take you far deep inside and make you disappear forever. You weren't prepared for the questions that surely would come. From Hyun-Woo and even your other Masters who no doubt have questions. You're going to lose your mind just thinking about it.

This wasn't fair. Why you? You've asked this question so many times. Why you? Why you? Why you? You hated Hoseok and you hated Hyun-Woo as well for putting you in this position. You're left with nothing but pain and agitation and only the gods know what would come next for you because at this point you don't know anymore. No. Not anymore.

[syntia13treeman]

Case files 09.01

what I think happened in:

Case 09.01, the case of "Dice of Fate" or "Mr. Die and a very bad, horrible, no good roll."

Well well well. If it isn't an honest, good old fashioned statement. Fancy seeing it here. Not much left to puzzle out, we have it all laid out very nicely. The Dice make a comeback. When we've seen them last in nineteenth century, they were sitting pretty in the sack of the Gentleman (the mystery man in the woods, quite preoccupied with luck).

By nineteen-nineties they somehow came to be in possession of a young man named Gary. (Double meaning intended). As is their nature, the dice brought Gary luck when rolled. Good luck with high rolls, bad luck with low rolls.

Gary eventually decided that bouts of good luck were not worth the inevitable dive into misfortunes, which varied from leaky pipes to broken legs. Finding himself incapable of simply NOT rolling, he fell back on time-honoured tradition of making his problem somebody else's problem.

Somebody else, we'll call him SG (short for Statement Giver), has recently been dumped by his boyfriend Carl (CaaAAAaaarl! That hurts people!) and really needed something to cheer him up. So when an old high-school friend called to invite him over for a game night, he made his way to Gary's place in West Didsbury, where he got tricked into taking over as the Dice Bearer. The dice changed hands and SG felt it as the ownership transferred to him.

SG was much smarter about rolling that Gary had been. Just like a certain violinist before him, he figured out that he needn't be the one to pay the price for the fortune his cursed object brought him. And he figured out the system (or so he thought. He should have remembered that the House always wins, in the end). He started passing the bad-luck-rolls to random strangers on the street.

After a time, he started to also let strangers roll high. And then… well, for someone who had the gall to talk shit about D&D, SG turned out to be SUCH a nerd himself. He assembled a whole-ass Grim Dicer costume, grew a goatee, he was even doing the voice! Go you, Mr. Totally-not-a-theatre-kid! Rock that Dice King persona!

He was well on his way to becoming a full blown urban cryptid, when alas, he went too far. By chance (chance?) he run into Gary and made him (made him?) roll one last time. It was the lowest roll yet. Snake eyes. 1+1. You couldn't go lower if you tried.

It seems that the Dice did not appreciate being disposed of, and they disposed of the previous Bearer in return, with extreme prejudice, via runaway truck to the face.

After that, SG lost his nerve and tried to get rid of the Dice which… Buddy. You've just seen how that ends. What did you think would happen?

SG thought he was being smart. He gave the Dice to Magnus Institute, who, as paranormal research facility (or whatever they were known as), were bound to accept them and presumably able to handle them safely.

Too bad he believed that rolling was a matter of choice*. Too bad the Dice were still within reach when the urge hit. Too bad he died right there, at the statement giving table. RIP, statement giver (????-14.10.1998). You could have been great.

So that's that. What more to say? Let's see.

I feel quite confident in saying that SG was actively becoming a supernatural creature. That feeling of increasing disconnect from the world was not just in his head. And the rolls that he took for himself, that kept getting more and more abstract, until he couldn't tell what changed, just that something did? It was you, SG. You were changing. Such a damn shame your rise to power was cut short by your own folly.

I'm equally confident that he was unwittingly creating a brand new urban legend. I bet that at the time there were people in Manchester who'd talk in hushed whisper (or at high volume in a crowded bar) about the Grim Gambler, the Dice Devil, the Lord Luck, the Horrid Hatman. (Coincidentally, for no reason whatsoever I need somebody to draw SG in full Mr. Die costume with Alex J. Newall's face). Some would warn against touching his dice, others would swear up and down that he'd bring luck and prosperity. (Imagine the discourse at cryptid message boards!). I wonder if the legend still lives, even if SG doesn't.

*About rolling the dice, even knowing the odds… It sure as hell wasn't free choice, no sir. What was it then, compulsion, or addiction? Was that need to see the dice clutter over one's future coming from without, or within? Both options are equally appealing to me, to be honest.

The statement and the Dice were given to MI in October 1998. This means two things: a) Arguably, events surrounding death of SG could have been one of the 'weird stuff' that Sam saw with no context as a child, and: b) The Institute burned down little over a year later. Do you think somebody was rolling the Dice bit too much?

'Recommend referral to Catalytics for Enrichment Applicability Assessment'. To me it sounds like: "hey, Catalytics, check if we can use this thing for enrichment." And I'm having a bad thought. They were studying kids, Sam among them, for some purpose, almost certainly related to supernatural stuff. Did they give the kids cursed artefacts to play with, to boost development of their otherworldly skills/trait/whatever? Because if so, so help me… 🔪🔪🔪🔥🔥🔥

Lastly, for completion's sake: viability as subject (none), agent (low), catalyst (medium). I've no idea nor theories what these are about, I'm just leaving them here for future reference.

[theclaravoyant]

AN ~ I'm sorry.

For @fictober-event’s Fictober 2023 prompt: “I can't wait for you."

Masterpost of my Fictober OFMD fics

S2 Spec Fic. Angst. SPOILERS FOR EPS 1-3 AND INSPIRED BY PUBLICITY TEASERS. I couldn't help myself, especially not after DJenks teased the Stede's dream coming back into play and "their fates are tied together."

Fandom: Our Flag Means Death Characters/Relationships: Stede Bonnet, Izzy Hands, Ed Teach. Relationship-wise it's canon compatible mess they've got going on, I'm flexible with however you want to see that. Tags: Canon Typical Violence, Major Character Death.

Love (~1000wd)

In the distance, Izzy signals from behind a cluster of rocks. Ed and Stede sprint for it. They’ve managed to put the English behind them, for now, but they don’t have long. Any second now, the jangle of pistols and cutlasses will alight over the horizon and then - 

Stede throws himself into the dirt to get behind cover. His heart is pounding in his throat as he looks around at the small, sheltered cove Izzy has found for them. It looks nice. It feels an awful lot like they have nowhere left to run.

Ed and Izzy are tucked up behind another rock together, conspiring away in hushed voices like they’ve been doing this their whole lives. Maybe they have. Ed lifts himself enough to glance over the rock face, out of the shelter and down the open beach at something. His face lights up.

“Izzy, you’re a lifesaver!”

He claps him on the shoulder and leaps out and runs down to whatever it is they’ve discussed.

Izzy smiles briefly, breathlessly, like it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to him. Then he lets it die - or maybe, drags it into the depth of his heart where he’ll hang onto it with everything he has. He’s going to need it, for what’s about to happen next.

Stede averts his eyes, and tries to give him the decency of pretending like he didn’t notice. There’s something heavy in the air.

Izzy clears his throat, and beckons Stede over. He pulls the pistol from his belt and hands it to Stede.

“Bonnet. Take this.”

Stede takes it, and checks it’s ready like it’s instinct now. Just like Izzy taught him.

“I’ve put something together,” Izzy explains. He gestures over the rock and Stede looks, just like Ed had. There’s a dinghy on the sand that Ed is readying, and Stede finds his face lights up in much the same way.

“Brilliant!” he declares, in a hushed tone. Maybe they’re getting out of here after all.

“There should be enough food in there for a week, used sparingly,” Izzy explains. “Did the best I could for water. With your luck, hopefully it’ll last long enough for the crew to find you.”

(Ed has dragged the dinghy into the water now. It’s almost up to his knees. He looks back for his crewmates and frowns. They need to move. Where are they?)

“When I give the signal,” Izzy instructs, “I need you to get down to that boat and go. Don’t look back. Don’t wait for me. Row for your life, do you understand?”

Stede does not. Then, he blinks, and the dawning realisation that Izzy has been saying you and not us this whole time starts to sink in. So this is the heaviness in the air.

“I can’t wait for you,” he repeats numbly.

Piled by Izzy’s feet, Stede belatedly notices, are a dozen or so pistols and a cutlass and a knife. It looks an awful lot like someone’s about to make a last stand. Izzy checks and prepares them effortlessly. Discards a few he doesn’t trust to be too damaged or empty. Maybe, probably, it might even be a comfort to have so much to do with his hands - so much tough, and familiar - while he speaks. 

“Edward-” Izzy sucks in a breath like he has to force himself to do it. “He’s not going to want to go. I need you to make him.”

“I will,” Stede vows.

“He’s going to hate himself. I need you to look after him.”

“I will.”

“And Stede-”

Stede.

“Tell him-”

Tell him.

“Tell him-”

Stede looks on with such a steady, solemn expression it makes Izzy furious. This is all so pathetic he can hardly stand the stoic admiration. The words die in his throat like they were always going to. Tears sting his eyes. He’s such a fucking coward.

Over the hill, shouts and the clanging of metal returns. They’ve caught up.

Ed glances up the hill, then over at the rocks. They’ve waited too long. He has to get back.

Izzy shakes his head. It’s too late now.

“Oh, fuck it,” he breathes, spitting bitterly at the universe who, it feels like, had to get this one last knife in. “He knows.”

In one fell swoop he pulls the first pistol from his belt and breaks cover. Stede is right behind him in the opposite direction; sprinting for the beach and waving Ed back into the water with the passion and desperation of a charging horse. He throws himself into the boat so hard it hurts and the oars give him splinters and he rows with everything he has.

“Wait- wait, Stede,” Ed begs, quietly at first in his confusion. “Izzy?”

He twists around in the boat, trying to see where Izzy went. It’s impossible he’s not here. Yet it’s all too likely. It’s a miracle they’d ever made it this far. There’s a tangle of bodies on the beach. Gunfire and swords flying. And in the middle of it all -

“Izzy.”

Stede can hardly look. He can’t speak. His eyes are filling with tears. He only rows. He can practically feel Ed’s heart breaking, can see it in the changed set of his shoulders. The way his breath shakes. Shatters. He howls.

“IZZY! IZZY!”

He can’t help himself lunging forward to the end of their little lifeboat. It sways dangerously and he freezes. If he fucks this up now they’re all dead. They’re all dead and this is for nothing. That bastard.

There’s nothing left to do now but bear witness, as the silhouette of the man finally falls.

[rei-ismyname]

HEIR OF APOCALYPSE #4 - A WET FART TO END A TURD OF A MINI

So... This was a waste of time at best. I'm not going to bother with any literary analysis because I don't feel like putting more thought into it than the author, so I'm just going to dunk on it. Spoilers below the cut.

If you read my previous entries, you'll recall I reasoned that Mr Sinister would be part of the climax. He was in opposition to everyone else in the mini and had more page space than any two other characters put together. A Chekhov's Gunman, if you will. NOPE. Doesn't even appear. Emma asks where he is and Warren says he fucked off. WHAT WAS THE FUCKING POINT THEN? I didn't want any more of him, but I wanted a story that's internally coherent. He was already a nonsense addition to the cast, and his presence just makes it a mini full of shit jokes and OOC responses to him murdering everyone's friends. He choked everything else out. Readers already have Sinister fatigue from Krakoa, where he was a crucial character - here he's just infuriatingly needless like a child licking all the cupcakes. The child is Steve Foxe, the saliva is Sinister, and the cupcakes are character work and a plot. Would've been nice, but get fucked I guess. Let's check in with the rest of the contestants.

I've read this sequence four times and I still don't know what is happening here. Meant to what, Doug? You can communicate with a fucking rock but can't tell us what's going on? You deserve to get turned into a golden idiot. I take it back, nobody deserves that.

O.....okayyyy. He doesn't pick Cable. This is gibberish. This is the end of Cable's time in the book. Lucky him. I said I wouldn't do any literary analysis but ARGGGHH. This is all information both parties, AND the reader, know. No new context, just taking up page space.

Sup, Forge? You remember how you were going to solve global homelessness and starvation? You'd built this whole system and were excited. You already knew it would work but I'm going to tell you anyway. (Can Apocalypse see the future? Wtf?) Shame it needs Krakoan biotech.

You're just the best. What this world truly needs. Except... You made a bad thing once so you can fuck yourself buddy. Bit rich coming from Apocalypse, no? 'Deserve' is moronic coming from a social Darwinist. He doesn't get picked either.

Alas, Tumblr only allows 10 images per post. Danielle Moonstar will not be featured bc I don't want to explain it then dunk on it. Just trust me when I say it sucks. She doesn't get picked and she's quite fine with that. Maybe Big Blue learnt nothing from his ridiculous Egyptian traps and decided to make one of his four living children heir? Five if you count his clone, Evan, who is just the sweetest kid ever.

I wonder if he's still calling himself Genesis. That'd be funny cos that's Apocalypse's wife's name. We never did see Evan on Krakoa, what's up with that? It would have been the perfect opportunity for what Age of X-Man bungled - interrogating the reason for his existence, destiny, fate, etc. Would he rethink his position on Nature/Nurture upon seeing Apocalypse behave responsibly and selflessly? Many of the other clones had their personhood affirmed - why not he? These are all very good questions that I'll come back to one day, but I'm honestly just trying to build some tension where STEVE didn't. It should be obvious who 'won' using the process of elimination.

Dougie! You're a good kid. Maybe even the best. We know this already. He picks him btw. He picks Douglas Ramsay. Cypher is the Heir of Apocalypse. Does it matter that he survived the Pyramid obstacle course through luck? Or are we meant to assume he 'solved' whatever dumbshit puzzle it was? It's quite clear Big Blue chose who he wanted to and the Tournament somehow helped that process. Doug ends up in Egypt whereas everyone else is on Arakko. Seems like it should be the other way round but whatever. How did Apocalypse get there? The transporter I guess. This really could have been a one shot.

Were you here for more than a panel of Emma Frost, Laura, Rictor (who actually wants to be here and has a relationship with Apocalypse) or Warren? Too bad, fuck you. Were you here for ANY Exodus, Armageddon Girl, Monet, Gorgon, or even Sunfire who teased a way more interesting story in issue 1? Double fuck you. You get nothing. All people I care about more than Sinister and his dumb jokes. May as well have done a Deadpool movie tie in LIKE EVERY OTHER FUCKING COMIC THIS WEEK. Okay I'm getting distracted - Doug wins the nebulous position of Heir and a ... Transformation. Drumroll please.

Woo! Bei and Warlock sightings! It's nice that they're supportive and they're the first good thing in this book. The second is that Arakko isn't blown up or moved to another dimension or whatever. We might see it again, hopefully in better hands than this kick in the balls. Anyway, let's see what Doug looks like post-transformation and wrap this shit up. Hopefully he doesn't look like an idiot.

HAHAHAHA HAHAHAHA. Oh my god he looks ridiculous. His face and body language look like mine the first time I saw him. 'Fucking really, dude? This doesn't feel like a reward.' Gold, short, Apocalypse - That's what Doug looks like now. Big Blue can alter his own body at the molecular level and he chose Mini Me from Austin Powers 2. Ororo grew up in Cairo, maybe she can call his dumb ass out for cultural appropriation? He looks like a Halloween outfit or a bad cosplayer that doesn't know he's white. White boy dreadlocks given human form.

Is he fine with being renamed as well? Revelation is another word for Apocalypse, the greek translation AFAIK. It was mentioned a lot in Immortal X-Men and Excalibur. C-3PO here could tell him that too. It makes zero sense.

I can't see how this is close to a good thing for Doug, sorry, REVELATION. Apocalypse is kinda world famous as a genocidal lunatic. He may have worn a suit to the Davos economic forum and dropped awesome one liners but it's easy to forget that was a setup. They had 20~ dudes with psi-blockers, body armour and assault rifles to kill them. Unless he included some massive physical upgrades and defenses Doug is in great danger. I hope he got to Egypt by other means bc his days of commercial flight are over. Forget flight, going to the shops to buy food will terrify everyone he sees and he'll probably get murked by a SWAT team. Fuck this is dumb.

OUTRO/SLIGHTLY MORE SERIOUSLY

Okay, it's happened, I've accepted it. Heir of Apocalypse was hot garbage and Doug looks like a fool. What now? Doug has inherited the job of 'shepherding mutantkind' with his words. I know Warren is not listening to him lol. Why would anyone else? Big Blue built up *some* goodwill during Krakoa but blew it at the end. Look how many of the contestants showed up to keep an eye on him. Most of them. Nobody trusts this MF and looking like a gold version of him can only hurt his efforts. A good writer can make anything work, but those kind of pitches getting accepted are rare.

Sigh. What seems more likely to me is some dipshit making Doug a villain. I really hope not, because let's face it, Apocalypse's motivations were always nonsensical. He's like the Phoenix - totally iconic but becomes harder to take seriously each time it's used. Hickman and Gillen, respectively, are exceptions to that and part of their success was retconning the idiotic shit that had been overused and then recontextualising the concept from the ground up. One could argue that Doug as Heir of Apocalypse is doing just that, but if that happens that writer has a lot of work to do.

I'd LOVE for him to get his own book examining exactly how one fills that role with Doug's skills, powers, experience, and worldview. Truly, I would, but the Marvel formula is built on punching and Doug doesn't do that. He's just said he's not going to do that. The easy/obvious path to take is to have Doug go craaaazy (ugh) or be changed into Violence Man from whatever Apocalypse did to him, which would be a waste of time. It'd just be Apocalypse 2: The Goldening. Sadly it's probably most likely.

Until then, I guess Revelation is a gold idiot that's probably not appearing in any books. I'd love for him to show up to the bar Anole works at in NYX or something but let's be serious here. This wasn't even good bad, 'twas just an incoherent disappointment.