#flashback time

[crimsonblue31]

[sephirthoughts]

Vincent's New Kid Just Dropped CH. 5

FLASHBACK TIME: Deepground Part I

screenshots borrowed from @siringadev 💜 💙

Nero’s first memories weren’t of Weiss. They were of fear and pain. Being alone in a terrifying white space, full of noise and chaos. A woman weeping, somewhere he couldn’t see. Aching all over his body, sharp pricks in his skin, tubes sticking out of him everywhere, sickening chemical smells. The whirring and clicking and occasional beeping of machines.

They thought he was blind, at first, because he never looked around or focused on anything. It turned out he was nearly blind, but only in bright light. He had perfect dark-vision. This wasn’t a physical defect, they decided, but a successful result of bio-engineering, and congratulated themselves on their ingenuity.

He never cried, as an infant, and as a toddler, he never smiled or laughed. He was marginally responsive, but avoided eye contact, and was entirely nonverbal. They assumed he was mentally deficient, but he wasn’t broken. He just didn’t work the way they expected. 

The silent, crimson-eyed little boy was actually hyperaware, always absorbing and digesting information, sucking it up like a dry sponge. He just didn’t want to communicate with the people who put a muzzle on him, whenever they took him out of his room, poked and prodded him all over his body, like it was their property, stuck needles and probes into him, pumped his veins full of stuff that burned his insides, and fed him pills that made him vomit.

Rather than asking questions of his tormentors, he sent superfine threads of darkness into people’s heads and examined their thoughts directly.

When he wanted to know what was going on outside his cell, darkness vapor seeped from his palms and fingertips, slipped into the shadows, and wandered the vast, underground complex, taking his perception with it. 

Though he’d hardly ever left his own cell, by the time he was six years old, he knew enough about the Deepground complex's layout, that he could’ve drawn a reasonably accurate map from memory.

One day, his darkness tendrils crept under a door, to find a cell like Nero’s own, only it was bigger and had much nicer furniture. There was a boy there. Snow-white hair and silver eyes, a descended angel in a halo of light, blindingly bright to Nero’s darkness-filtered senses. 

He was definitely a child, but he was a lot bigger than Nero, and he looked fierce and strong. Beautiful and dangerous, like a lion in a picture book.

Nero wanted to reach out and touch him so badly it made his chest ache, but the darkness would only hurt the other boy. So he satisfied himself with watching him, from dark corners and beneath furniture. 

Over time, he grew bolder, and when the beautiful boy was asleep, the darkness would silently coalesce, inky purple-black, into the little demon’s spectral form, and he’d sit there for hours at a time; a creature of the abyss, lurking in the shadows, watching his angel sleep, and listening to the music of his soft, regular breathing.

Then, one night, the unthinkable happened. Those silver eyes opened, and looked right into his face. Nero’s spectral projection should have collapsed and scattered, but it could only stand petrified and stare back at the boy, captivated by his gaze, trembling with something that was akin to fear, but not quite the same.  

“Who are you?” the silver boy’s voice asked, drowsy and thick with sleep.

That broke the spell and Nero’s projection instantly dissipated. As his consciousness returned to his body, he thought he heard the other boy calling out to him. Wait! Come back!

For a long while afterward, he didn’t dare enter that room, or even send his tendrils anywhere too close to it. But eventually, his curiosity and an intense, irresistible compulsion to see that boy again won out, and he went venturing cautiously back.

This time, the silver boy had been waiting for him. He looked asleep and his eyes were closed, but the moment Nero’s specter had fully materialized, he heard a soft voice say, “Please, don’t run away. Please.”

He almost did, but something in the boy’s tone stopped him. His spectral form stood perfectly still, wide-eyed and wary, as the boy sat up in his bed. 

“I dreamed about you,” were the next words out of his mouth. “That you were sitting by my bed, watching over me. I mean, I thought I dreamed it. But…you’re real, aren’t you.”

Nero’s specter gave a tiny nod. 

“What are you?”

Nero stared. 

“Can you talk?”

He shook his spectral head slowly. He could talk, but he would have to touch the other boy with his darkness, and he was afraid that he’d hurt him. He’d seen the tentacles drag people into the miasma to be consumed within mere seconds, before. 

Not that he felt bad about it—they were all big people, and he didn’t care one way or another whether they lived or died—but this boy…he felt instinctively that it would be deeply heartbreaking, if he no longer existed.

“It’s ok, I can ask you yes or no questions,” the silver boy said cheerfully. “Are you alive?”

Nod.

“Do you live here, in Deepground?”

Nod.

“I’ve never seen you before,” the silver boy mused. “But I’ve never seen anyone but adults. They must keep you locked up, too. Are you dangerous, like me?”

Stare.

“Well, you must be, if you can sneak around past security and everything. Hey, have you seen any other kids, here?”

Shake.

“They say my brother is here, too, but I’ve never seen him. They say I can’t, because he’s sick. I don’t even know what he looks like. Probably like me. If you see a kid who looks like me, could you tell me? I just want to know if he’s ok.”

Nero recoiled, at the idea that the silver boy had someone he cared about, already, and would have become morose, only at that moment, booted footsteps came plodding down the hall, outside, accompanied by several adult voices.

“Oh, no!” the silver boy whispered. “They must be doing a surprise inspection! Go, go! Before they catch us! Wait—you’ll come and see me again, won’t you?”

Nero hesitated, then nodded, before his specter vaporized, whirling away into the shadows, leaving no trace of his passing.

LINK TO CH. 6

[horizonpal]

Hey there

Howdy

Is this seat taken?

It’s 20 minutes till class, none of them are taken

Yeah but i like this one

Is it a particularly special seat?

You could say that. I’m Kai by the way

Emily

So, Emily. why’d you choose that seat?

Front of the class but not front row. Central i guess, why’d you choose yours?

To introduce myself to you

I’m very flattered

You should be, this is otherwise a terrible seat

Oh, you’re a back of the class type person?

Yep, just blending in

You should have thought about that before you dyed your hair bright red

Yeah but now i can pretend to be an apple

That is an upside

Yeah except its been really hard to see a doctor

And i bet hiding from William Tell is really stressful

It does make life difficult

I’m sure it does.

Sooooooo, they’re showing the new Evil Guy at the theatre downtown this afternoon if you want to judge those seats

I have a sneaking suspicion you’re gonna be partial to the back row

And right there is another thing i like about seat choice, it’s a window into someones mind

Ok then, whats going on in my mind?

Well you’re a diligent student who’s a little quiet, doesn’t want to lead the discussion in class but has a great many thoughts on everything discussed. Though hopefully whats going on up there right now is along the lines of “Wow i can’t wait to go see a movie with Kai”

Thats pretty accurate, i’ll see you there at 4, Kai With Strong Opinions On Seats.

See you there, Emily With Bad Opinions On Seats

[beardedmrbean]

[pinkwanderer]

⏳

-and there she is, looking so unbelievably perfect as she sits in the field. You almost feel guilty at the thought of disturbing this perfect moment as you approach, the plants of the field brushing against your legs, your gaze fixed only on her. Long, brown hair, a sundress, and a smile that could light your darkest moment. You've finally found her, haven't you? You hold out a hand, your voice awkwardly cracking as you speak after hours alone.

But then she's gone.

[thedaily-beer]

Societe Brewing Flashback Time IPA (Picked up at Windmill Farms). A 3 of 4. A nice, bright tropical and juicy nose and a firmly bitter and decidedly West Coast body. Nice mix of components and has a clean, refreshing, and dry finish. Probably wouldn’t stand out in a pack of IPAs, but it’s quite nice.

[stellanimarum]

It was a question he had expected sooner or later. After all to those who knew botb sides, it was confusing. He paused for just a moment reflecting on how to explain. It was a long story regardless.

"I wasnt really that much older than you when they shoved a crown on my head." He began, setting that scene in his storyteller voice that he used when reading a load and recanting other tales.

A sixteen year old King, thrust into that position. Overnight following the assassination on his parents. His daily battles were people patronising or undermining him but he was doing what he could.

Manon felt the same. The only difference was she had been here before. With the younger members of the Thirteen angry and grieving for a childhood they never had.

Eventually Aelin sobs turned into tears that she wiped away angrily. Angry at herself for breaking like she had. Her head was pounding and her throat was dry. Eyes puffy. Still. She had questions that needed an answer.

"You're servants talk about you highly to Lysandra. Your court seems mostly well behaved and so far you have been generous and kind. Yet your reputation had Arobynn delightfully telling me all the things a man like you would do to me." She croaked. Confusing bleeding through every part of her.

"Why... Why are you two different people depending on who you ask?"

[darrenpillowscriss]

[addybrock]

oh my god he's a fucking baby LOOK AT HIMMMMMMM

[stargirl230]

ghost of you

super quick Sua screencap redraw to celebrate the new video release - no I was not expecting it to be Like That and yes I was devastated

(no reposts; reblogs appreciated)

[bricreative]

Already thinking about their future together UGH they make me sick

Inspired by Heybosshotsauce fic “Lovers, Hunters” Chapter 12, on AO3! A great blend of pre/post battle missing scenes and flashbacks that relate to the story.

Check em out!

[egophiliac]

A guy who just wake up from a coma -> what did i miss?

Pomefiore was the last plot i follow before real life made me forget about our silly boys. How bad has the plot become now for our gang? Also who is that Gojo looking guy?

anon, I am so sorry and I mean this in the best way, but I do think episode 5 is the absolute funniest place to have stopped following Twst because shit starts escalating SO fast after that. episode 6 literally starts with a secret government shadow agency breaking down our doors and kidnapping students. zero to a million instantly.

and like...that's not even the zaniest thing so far? Ortho's hacked into the collective human unconscious. there's time travel (sort of). "Crowley might be Malleus' long-lost father" is a serious theory. if you'd told me any of this back pre-episode 6, I would have asked for the link to this unbelievable but highly intriguing fanfic.

also, episode 7 gave us (and then immediately took away 😔) the best character in the whole story:

[onesidedradiostatic]

hell's courtroom vs heaven's courtroom

[kalicocal]

different time, the same place, the same ache

[pinkwanderer]

⏳

-and there she is again, so different from before and yet so perfect. You run towards her as fast as you can, bounding over low stone walls, stumbling over the rolling field. You trip, stumbling over a wall, knees scraped bloody against the stones.

You don't care.

You run and you run, you call out at the top of your lungs for her to wait, to listen.

And then she's gone the moment she turns to face you. You stand there for a moment, hand outstretched as you shake, tears welling up in your eyes.

And so you step out of that world and keep running.

She's still out there.

[milktrician]

1: Wake Up

2: Names

3: First Mission

love bullet au tag

If you liked any of this concept, go check out Love Bullet by inee! It's one of my favorite new mangas I read last year and this was very fun to think about :) The first comic here is based off two of it's pages. Here's the official summary:

Since the dawn of humanity, those who have never experienced love and meet an untimely end are granted a second chance at life as Cupids by the Goddess of Love. Present day Cupids have traded in their bow and arrow for modern firearms, but their mission remains the same: find suitable lovers for their targets and make them fall in love!