#her meltdown at the end was so sad actually

[peppymintdreams]

What If Luca Didn’t Go to the Party

This is my first ever Zsakuva Fanfic so bear with me on this 🙏🏿

masterlist

It was a late Saturday evening. Luca was lying in his dorm room, staring at the ceiling and feeling empty. He had finished all he needed to do, and all that was left was to relax. He had been invited to a party but didn’t feel like going. What would he even do at a party? It came as a shock when someone actually invited him; it must’ve been a joke to get a reaction out of him—who knows? The night was quiet, aside from the occasional ventilation turning on and off, the faint sounds of upbeat music echoing across the campus, and moans of couples haunting the hallways. Here he was, alone in his bed.

Deciding to make a stand, he put on his nice clothes and headed for the door, determined to make his presence known at the university. But when his hand touched the door, something changed. Visions of doubt, insecurities, and the years of bullying he’d endured flooded his mind. He wanted to be strong; he wanted to try something new, but the pain was just too much to handle. What was he to do—stay home and let his insecurities and doubts win, or let himself be free? It took everything in his power to keep his hand on the doorknob and turn it fully. He was almost there, the door beginning to open, his vision starting to blur. It felt like time was running out if he didn’t make a decision. In the end… he shut the door and locked it.

“Weak,” that’s all he could hear in his head. A weak person, he thought. He lay down on the sofa, turned the TV on, and watched whatever was playing, tears streaming down his face. What was he to become if he couldn’t even muster up the courage to just be a person?

His phone lit up with a notification from his mom. She was his safe place, the person he could turn to whenever something went wrong and he didn’t know the answer. He called her and waited as the line buzzed. “Hello,” she said, her voice like a cloud—so soft and welcoming.

“Mom, I—” he stuttered, tears rolling down his face.

“Hey, honey!” she spoke with excitement; just getting a call from her son made her day, judging by the silence and occasional weeping on the other line. “What’s wrong, baby?” Anytime Luca was sad or upset, his parents were there for him, no matter what giant missile life threw at him.

“Mom, I don’t know what to do,” he began to cry, his voice cracking, He had explained to her about his invite to the party and what just happened and the meltdown he had.

“Aww, baby, it’s okay to not know the answer.” Hearing his mom understand him relaxed him, calming his breath. “Sweetheart, I understand how you’re feeling. It’s completely normal to be scared about going to a party, especially when you’re unsure of what to expect. Remember, it’s okay to feel nervous.”

His breath hitched; he began to hiccup. “Maybe you could talk to a friend who’s going and see how they feel about it?” Thinking about what she said, he realized he didn’t really have any friends in university or anywhere in London. So, what was the next best option?

“Think about what you might enjoy about the party—like meeting new people or having fun with friends. If you decide to go, just be yourself. And if you feel uncomfortable at any point, it’s okay to leave. Your feelings matter, and I’m here to support you, no matter what you choose.”

He began to calm down. Just a couple of minutes ago, it felt like the weight of the world was crashing down on him, but hearing his mother’s voice was enough to wash away everything. He wanted to change the topic to avoid the emotional roller coaster he had just thrown at her, but then he heard a door open and a heavy grunt—Luca’s dad was home.

“I have to go, Luca; your father just got back from the store. But we can talk tomorrow. Does that sound good?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Luca replied. There was nothing more he enjoyed than unwinding with his mother; she always had the right answer.

“Mom, I do have one more thing to say.” There was something that had been bothering him lately, and he needed the answer to free his mind. “Can it wait until tomorrow, dear? Your father appears to be struggling.” Disappointed, he reluctantly agreed.

“Of course, Mom,” he said sadly. Judging by his tone, his mom could tell he wanted to talk but couldn’t stop himself from waiting. His father did have a bad back.

“Well, okay. I have to go. Mommy and Daddy love you very much, Luca. Kisses,” she said.

“I love you too, Mom.” She hung up as soon as he responded; she was in a rush. He understood his parents had their own lives, but they always made time for him.

Turning off his phone, Luca made up his mind. Grabbing his laptop that was still on the coffee table, he looked for available flights home after his graduation. There was no one he had to stay with; he didn’t have friends here, and he wasn’t in a relationship this town wouldn’t miss him. Luca let out a heavy breath and flipped through the channels, trying to relax. “I’m here,” he thought. He felt comfortable. Soon, in the next few months, he’d be home—there’s no place like home.

Not more than a couple of miles away, a lonely person stood next to a table full of drinks. They seemed dazed and confused. “Ayo ___, come and dance with me,” a friend said. Looking at them, they replied, “Meh, I don’t know.”

Their friend looked at them, concerned. “Yo ___, you alright? You seem troubled.” They were troubled; something didn’t feel right. He took their hand, wrapping his other arm around their waist, twirling them to him. Nothing else mattered but having ___ someone he longed to hold in his arms, someone he was now face to face with, just a few inches apart.

“I don’t know; I just have a weird feeling,” they said, backing up and looking around.

“Feeling? Like what?” he asked.

“Like someone was supposed to be here…”

[theone]

I just watched Lorelai's Graduation Day and if I see one more hate comment about Rory....istg

[summerlycoris]

Guess whos potentially working a triple tomorrow?????????

Im going to transform into my final form if this shit keeps up i swear to god.

[thewanderingtrumpeteer]

Went looking through my personal tag and was surprised I haven't been more insane on here as of late

[hopepetal]

A little fanfic I wrote for the aftermath of MCC 33, because both Pearl and Impulse raided Scar. And also Boatem <3

--

Pearl sat on the balloon, legs hanging off the side as she looked out over the MCC server. Her wings fluttered lightly against her back– it was nice to be able to use them again after so long of having them hidden. 

She had gotten close! Really, really close! Even though she was rusty still, she had been able to get almost in the top twenty! And her team had gotten third overall. Pretty cool, in her opinion. She was still riding that high from meltdown, though. Maybe she was a good leader for that, after all.

From the distance, she heard a familiar voice. “Peaaaaaaarl! Pearl Pearl Pearl Pearl Pearl Pearl–!” Scar, equipped with elytra, slammed head first into the spot right beside her with a squawk. “Oh, ouch! Goodness, the lag on this server is awful!” he complained, pushing himself up and plopping down beside her. “So! How was MCC, how are you feeling?” he prompted, and Pearl let out a soft chuckle.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” she admitted, “I did pretty well. A little disappointing at the end, but…” She shrugged. “Y’know, what can ya do? We did our best, and that’s what matters.”

Scar nodded. “And that’s what matters, indeed!” he exclaimed. “You know, I was secretly rooting for you guys. Above my own team, even! I was really hoping you’d get that win.”

Pearl laughed, shaking her head. “Scar! That’s so sweet of you, mate. I appreciate it.” She let the silence between them sit for a moment. “How was Etho?”

“He was good, he was good! I’m hopin’ he’ll come back, y’know, maybe we’ll all be on the same team then.” Scar kicked his legs back and forth, leaning forward. “I actually did so much better than I thought I would! I got in a top ten! A top ten, Pearl!”

Pearl beamed, clapping her hands together. “That’s awesome, Scar!” she praised, “I knew you could do it. What was it in?”

“Meltdown! Which, if I recall correctly, you guys did amayzingly in too!”

Pearl grinned. “Oh, you bet. I’ll be riding that high for ages. I make a pretty good leader, it turns out!”

The two were interrupted by yet another familiar face flying up to their little spot– Impulse, seemingly also struggling with his elytra, judging by how rough the landing had been. “It’s just the generic version,” he complained to the two as soon as he’d steadied himself, “I’m too used to the personalized elytra we get on hermitcraft.” He sat himself down on Pearl’s other side. 

“Honestly, sounds like you should just grow wings,” Pearl teased, giving her own a small flutter. “You did amazing, mate. What team were you on, again?” she asked, tilting her head slightly. 

Impulse returned the smile she gave him. “Aqua Axolotls! I was with Sneeg, Illumina, and Joel.”

“I’m not even gonna try to say that team name,” Scar muttered, earning soft laughter from the other two.

“That sounds like a fun team, though,” Pearl commented. “How was it?”

Impulse nodded. “It was pretty fun! Joel yelled a lot, of course. He was very excited whenever he saw Etho, though.”

“I can imagine!” Scar piped up. “Kinda sad that Grian couldn’t make it this time. We all know how much that man loves Etho.”

Pearl shrugged. “Poor guy was just busy, I guess. You can imagine his horror when he realized Etho was in this MCC and he hadn’t signed up.”

“That’s why you’re here, right? To give him all the insider info?” Impulse asked, and Pearl laughed.

“Yeah, he wishes. I’m not telling him a thing,” she snickered, and Scar gasped dramatically.

“The cleaning lady has an evil heart!” he cried, “she abandons her brother in his time of need…!” 

“Ah, he’ll get over it!” 

The three sat in silence for a while after that, their shared company enough to fill the silence. Pearl sighed softly, leaning back and tilting her head toward the sky. “Well, it’s high time we probably head back to hermitcraft. You fellas wanna come with?”

Scar jumped up, holding out a hand to her. “Why of course!” he exclaimed, helping pull her up when she took his hand. “Let’s go back and surprise Mumbo with the good news of my top ten!”

“I’m sure he’ll be dying to hear about it,” Impulse chuckled. “And Grian, of course. We can have a little boatem meeting, just like the old days!”

“Even though boatem got crushed by the moon,” Pearl reminded them.

Scar tutted softly, shaking his head. “Ahh, Pearl, that’s where you’re wrong! Boatem is a state of mind, not just a pole! So long as we keep boatem in our hearts, it will stay alive.”

“You’re a goofball,” Pearl pointed out with a laugh. 

“He’s our goofball,” Impulse corrected. “Right. Whoever gets back onto hermitcraft and to Mumbo first wins. See ya!” And with that, he disconnected.

Pearl yelped. “Oh, that’s not fair, my ping–!” She watched Scar disconnect, and decided it would be best to quickly follow suit.

impulseSV left the game GoodTimeWithScar left the game PearlescentMoon left the game

[idontknowanametouse]

Straw Hat girlies headcanons! (Sanji included cuz transfem bigender Sanji lives rent free in my head. Also Bonney cuz why not; And Vivi is on the straw hats I don't care)

TW: mention of sexual abuse and other kinds of abuse, and also the trauma that comes with it

Nami

Autistic, but developed the habit of masking. Has been learning to undo it around her crew. Special interest? Maps, maps, maps. Tangerines are comfort food. She also has hypersensitivity to clothes, so she picks them very carefully. Her meltdowns are often, they come when she is emotionally overloaded, and she usually needs to stay alone to calm down.

After her meltdown in Arlong Park, her arm got paralyzed due to nerve damage. Now, she uses a sling to keep it always in place and not get hurt. Her tatoo covers a little, but not all her stabbing scars.

She has PTSD due to Bellemere's death, her enslavery and also due to being a survivor of SA. Has been doing therapy sessions with Chopper (he is learning about human psychology in order to help the crew) to help cope with it and receives help and support from the rest of the crew.

VERY pale, but due to spending so much time in the sea and under the sun, she ends up having many, many freckles through all of her body. Usually keeps wavy hair in ponytail due to it being really long.

Lesbian, loves girlies. Dating Vivi ever since they set foot in Alabasta. Clings to her so much it looks like they can't be separated. Also, Vivi was her lesbian awakening in the way of "wait, I think I like girls romantically???? And they are also hot????"

When she first entered the crew, she was underweight, almost malnourished, due to never having enough food and saving almost all money to save her village. However, after Arlong Park, she started gaining weight with the help of Sanji and Chopper. Now, she is fat, healthy and happy.

Loves orange, but also blue (no, it's not to match Vivi, shut the fuck up Usopp)

Swears and yells a lot. Has low voice tone control, actually.

Sometimes, when she is sad, she speaks to her tangerines as if Bellemere was there, as it feels comforting.

Ever since she received news that Cocoyashi Village got a Den Den Mushi, she calls them everyweek to tell Nojiko and Genzo about hers and the strawhat's adventures.

Besties with Usopp and Zoro, they talk shit about everyone. Gossip friends with Robin. Is one of the few people that can make Luffy not destroy an entire fucking island. Jinbei's second daughter (first is Koala).

Loves Beyoncé, rap and brazillian funk (Luffy introduced her to it) (yeah, I know this is a more modern-au like one, but let me have my headcanons ok).

Due to high sensitivity to clothes, she usually wears beach-like clothing cause they are light and let most of her skin exposed, so she can feel better the weather.

Terrified of bugs AND bats. Almost fainted when she first heard about vampires and now is fucking terrified of the possibility.

Likes drawing, not only maps, but her crewmates too. She is really good at it, however, she won't show it to anyone, just Nojiko (she's embarassed).

Only wears makeup and/or does different hairtyles in special occasions, as she finds it to be very inconvenient when they are on the sea.

Watching and hearing the sea is a nice visual stim. It helps her to calm down from the crazy thing that is day-to-day life with the straw hats.

She may say shit about her friends sometimes, but will absolutely kill you if you say anything bad about them.

Sanji

Autistic, special interest is fishes and the All Blue. Cooking is so stimmy hmmmm. Does not realize when she is being way too much on others. Even though he doesn't seem like, is very picking about food, can't handle anything made in a shit way. Has shutdowns instead of meltdowns as trauma response, and needs to stay around the crew these times.

Has PTSD due to constant abuse in childhood and from being stuck on the rock-island with Zeff (and also due to Zeff eating his leg). Due to never telling about it to anyone, he tried to hide it from the crew because of self-loathing, but after Whole Cake Island, the moments of crisis and panic attacks were so frequent it turned impossible. He is now working on it with Chopper, just like the rest of the crew.

Tall, with very strong legs with many scars on them. Has leg and facial hair, but, after Momoiro Island, she let her wavy hair grow and now keeps it in a bun, still with the part in front of the eye, of course.

Egg cracked with Ivankov, about both gender AND sexuality. Bi queen. Even though he didn't want to pass through surgeon (aka Ivankov's fruit) he still got a lot of help from the newkama. Also learned he loves drag and will do it sometimes for the crew.

Learned ballet as a kid from Reiju and his mom. Even though he always practiced it in secret, it came out once she started to do drag (on her shows, she uses ballet steps a lot).

Fave colors are yellow and blue, it feels soft.

Swears a lot. Zeff did swear a lot back on Baratie, after all.

Calls Zeff monthly to tell how things are going. Sometimes, after this, she cries a little.

Started dating Zoro shortly before timeskip and was afraid of how he'd react to the whole trans thing, but he couldn't care less. She cried over a week because of this.

Loves woman with all of her heart, specially her crew's ones. Not in a more sexual like way, but in a whole-heartdly way. Besties with Usopp, surprisingly VERY friends with Brook.

Listens to classical and french music, but sometimes likes some rock and roll.

Has three types of clothes: suits, dresses and a suit with a short and skirt. No matter the look, is always with ballet shoes.

Fucking scared of bugs. And pigeons. Don't ask, ok?

Sings very well, but doesn't like to show it. Only does it on the bathroom, but everybody ends up listening. They don't comment cause the single time they did they thought Sanji was having a heart attack.

Adores make-up and diverse hairtyling, finds it to be really cute.

Usually rocking back and forth on her feet, it feels nice.

Once kicked a guy to uncosciousness when he touched her butt.

Vivi

Autistic, has those big bug autism eyes, even though she masks well she cannot function daily without help, Karoo is her therapy animal, special interest in bugs (shares it with Luffy), has meltdowns whenever she knows she is completely alone and helpless.

Developed some level of paranoia after being infiltrated in Baroque Works, and sometimes has frenzys in which she thinks she is back there and that Alabasta is still in danger. It diminuted drastically after Chopper developed a medicine for her, but it still happens sometimes. Those moments, she can turn aggressive and needs to stay only with Karoo so she can calm down.

Has brown skin and some tatoos typical from the Nefertari family. She is short and skinny, and the secret nobody can absolutely know is that she dyes her (curly) hair blue (it's her favorite color and her mom used to do the same, so, she dyes it. Nobody other than Nami can know though).

Lesbian, her first crush was Miss All Sunday (it didn't last much, but o boi, how many nights she spent thinking about how ABSOLUTELY WRONG having a crush on your enemy is). Had an immediate crush in Nami, but couldn't say it cuz of the whole Miss Wednesday thing. They kissed after they left Drum Island and started dating at Alabasta.

Deals with the guilt of being with the strawhats instead of Alabasta very often, and likes having hugs so it can go away.

Favourite color is blue, but not all blue, just sky-blue.

Never swears, feels a little embarassed whenever someone does.

Resolves troubles from Alabasta through Den Den Mushi, that way she doesn't get that much worried. Also keeps in contact with her dad, Pell and Igaram.

Even though they had a complicated relationship at the start, Robin and her ended up being very friends, they love parallel playing (honestly, who doesn't?). Also very close to Luffy and Yamato, the one that keeps a leash on the two of them, relates a lot to Zoro in that aspect.

Loves bubblegum pop, an absolute Swiftie. Sometimes also compelled to Aurora and Halsey.

Whenever they go to an island, she likes keeping her formal clothes (after all, she is the crew's diplomat!). In fights, she uses more simple clothes and a mask to keep her identity hidden. In the ship, however, you'll always find her in pajamas (no, she is not always sleeping, Zoro does that very well for the whole crew).

Is scared of the sea, even though she can swim, nobody knows why.

Likes dancing and presenting to the crew, but the crew only. If some outsider is there, she won't dance at all. Likes helping Sanji with the choreography of her drag shows.

Likes makeup, but hates stylizing her hair. She is absolutely terrible at it, so she just keeps it in a ponytail during fights and that's it, that's the best you can get from her.

Likes playing and fidgeting with small things like coins, buttons, rubik cubes, pebbles and stuff like that. Usually has something in her hand.

Feels bad for being one the weakest crew members, but is always cheered up by the rest. After all, she doesn't need to fight to be nakama, even though she can kick some asses.

Robin

Autistic. Weirdgirl, big autistic stare, says every single creepy fact she knows in not very good situations, no social cues get to her head, never masks, almost always same expression and tone, special interest in history, does not know how to function normally, has auditory and light hypersensitivity, meltdowns caused by way too much light, sound and visual information.

Has PTSD due to the destruction of Ohara, living her childhood, teenagehood and adult years as a runaway and being constantly betrayed and abandoned. She sometimes has moments of profound anxiety in which she asks herself if she is gonna lose her family. Chopper helps her a lot with it, and, when she has those crisis, she gets a hug from everyone anytime she asks for it.

Very tall, with a few specific parts of her body being thicker than the rest. Her skin is dark, with many scars through all of it, and she has blue eyes and long (but not as long as Nami's or Yamato's), straight black hair.

Trans woman, found out during early childhood, and bisexual queen. Even though she was never in a relationship before entering the crew, she was with a few people before. Franky is the first guy she is with, and also the first person she dates. It's a bit scary for both, but feels also really, really good.

She was underweight most of her life due to the inconstancy of her nutrition and life situation, but in Baroque Works she had lots of food. She thought a pirate crew wouldn't care about their nutrition or food, but it was opposite. Even though she does not gain weight easily, her sillouette, that was VERY slim before, became thicker in a few points. Not much, she still is thin, but it's less ill-looking.

Favorite color is purple, black and dark blue. Goth girl Robin is real.

Does not swear, but says such weird, creepy and worrying stuff it makes everyone wish she did. It would be less scary.

Loves organizing stuff, for some reason. If you leave her alone in a messy room, in a short time it will be very nice-looking and clean. She has fun with it!

After some initial tension, she started taking care of Vivi like a big sister. Was called "mom" by Chopper once and almost had a heart attack. Enjoys parallel playing with Zoro and Law, scaring Usopp and playfully flirting with Jinbei (Franky loves this, it makes them laugh how embarassed it makes Jinbei look).

Likes goth and punk music, it feels very nice to her. Also loves horror-like classical music, it helps her to sleep (weirgirl Robin weirdgirl Robin weirdgirl Robin-).

Even though she appreciates goth fashion, it's not really for her. She prefers long, purple jackets to her elbow over dark flower-pattern dresses, dark boots and her cowboy hat with sunglasses (they help her with light sensitivity and it also looks really cool).

Absolutely HATES to be around statues. They just get a nerve on her. It feels awful, she wants to break them in half so they stop looking at her.

Likes sending messages to the crew in the vitorian flower language. Nobody gets it, but they try. She keeps infodumping about it, so they can get at least a few things.

Doesn't like makeup very much, but simple hairtyling is nice. She will experiment on it, but only in particular.

Makes many vocal stims. They variate from humming to speaking random syllabes to screaming out loud. The crew has gotten used to it. Stimming with her akuma no mi also feels very nice.

Has broken more necks than you would think. Is also nicer than you would think.

Bonney

Autistic. Very loud, has no control over her tone, emotionally extreme, no social abilities, pizza is her comfort food, has hyposensitivity to sounds and lights, sarcasm queen but doesn't get other's sarcasm or lies, has meltdowns because of people fighting that involve a lot of self harm.

Has night terror with her dad being chained and his death. She needs to go to Luffy so she can hug him and feel better. Also has hyperactivity and needs medicines from Chopper so she can sleep and focus on stuff.

Small for her age, has white skin that is also tan due to the sun, likes putting piercings through her body (Chopper is scandalized), has brown eyes and hair, which she dyes pink cuz she knows her mom did as well.

Transfem demigirl, came out when she was 7 and told her dad "I wanna be a girl" "alright" and that was it. Didn't know what was a period until Chopper explained, and then got reliefed she didn't get that shit.

Eats A LOT, but runs so much throughout all of the ship all the day through it basically doesn't affect her body in a noticeable way. Shares this fact with Luffy.

Favorite color is pink, all of them. Does not matter the tones, if it's pink, she loves it.

Learned to swear on her time as a pirate. Does it on a daily basis.

Always speaks to her dad when she feels alone. It makes her feel better, to think he is accompanying her journey with the straw hats.

Likes smelling stuff. Sometimes looks like a dog while doing it. She just can feel the vibes of the person through their smell. She warns the crew whenever she smells evil. She is never wrong.

Calls everyone her big siblings. Luffy's apprentice, spends much time with him, specially when they are eating. Is spoiled rotten by Sanji, he loves when she asks for food. Loves being carried by Zoro, Yamato, Brook, Franky and Jinbei. Never gets tired of hearing Usopp's stories. Besties with Chopper.

Loves pop and rock, always sings along while screaming.

Always wearing clothes way too big for her size cuz of her akuma no mi, likes wearing bubblegum-pop and tiktok like clothes.

Scared of labs and doctors. Had to be convinced throughout an entire week to do her first check-up on Chopper. She is now ok around him, but other doctors are terrifying (she keeps trying to find out where Law hides the bodies he obviously kills. He is called death surgeon, come on).

Likes hearing Robin read books for her and Chopper. It's nice and recalls her home, plus Robin's voice is really sweet.

Loves experimenting on makeup, specially with help of the girls, but hair is too complicated. When she is not with her hat, she keeps the hair in a bandana and that's it. Plus it's always messy and she has a hard time combing it.

Stims by running. A LOT. And jumping. Whenever she thinks something interesting, she goes through the entire ship, down and up, until she falls on the sea and someone has to get her.

Can kick ass, but is still a child, so the crew kind of... overprotects her a little. Basically, if she gets hurt in battle, prepare to die. Very painfully.

[eds6ngel]

hey! I just saw your account and I loved it, I'm looking for accounts that have open requests, if you don't like it, leave me empty, you have no obligation!🤍 eddie x reader where reader likes physical touch, but eddie isn't much of that, and he ends up calling her clingy or suffocating

hey beautiful! i made this a lot more angsty than you asked, but that’s just what i seem to do well, so i hope you enjoy regardless!

warnings: fem!reader. pet names. swearing. mentions of abuse. yelling. swearing. a lot of angst. a lot of hurt. eddie’s childhood trauma </3. comfort. self-inflicted pain. meltdowns. tons of sad eddie. but also some tooth-rotting fluff!! [2.3k].

Childhood trauma was a bitch.

Eddie loved you. He really did. But, it was fairly obvious that your love language was physical touch.

He explained to you that he wasn’t the best at giving physical touch, which was true, but he didn’t tell you from the receiving end. And arguably, that was ten times worse.

And it got visibly worse closer to traumatic events. This wasn’t just a relationship thing either. Close to his mother’s death anniversary last year, he practically shut himself off from all of his friends. He pushed Dustin off of every hug he tried to give.

And this time, it was the anniversary week of when his dad beat him so hard, he broke his nose and cheekbone. He was seven years old at the time.

They say that trauma-filled dates stay with you until the day you die, and Eddie was convinced that was one hundred percent true.

You see Eddie standing by his locker, sneaking up to him and wrapping your arms around his waist. “Guess who?”

You fail to notice the slight flinch in Eddie’s demeanour as he becomes aware of your presence. That was something he struggled with majorly. The unwantedness of your touch.

“Yeah. Hi babe,” he replies slamming his locker shut, D&D manual in his hand.

“How are you?” you ask cheerily, hands still wrapped around his waist as he turns to face you.

“Yeah. Fine, fine,” he says, looking around frantically as he pushes a hand through his hair, letting a shaky breath out.

“You okay?” you ask, placing a soft hand on cheek, him instantly moving his head away and wincing, closing his eyes in pain.

“Yeah. I’m good babe, I promise,” he lies through his teeth. He couldn’t tell you yet. He couldn’t scare you away. He couldn’t lose you. “I just… I have to get going, campaign starts soon.”

“Baby, it doesn’t start for another thirty minutes,” you say, a disappointed look settling on your face.

“Actually, um…” he thinks for an excuse, “We’ve decided to start early today. We’re all just too excited to wait any longer to finish this campaign.”

“Oh,” you softly mumbled, “Okay. Will I see you later?”

“No,” he blurts out, a confused look perched on your face. “Sorry… I mean, um, Wayne and I were going to spend some time together. He has the night off from work.”

You nod, understanding why he wanted some alone time, “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, ‘kay?”

He softly smiles, “Yeah. Tomorrow.”

You lean up and place a quick kiss on his lips before turning your back and waving goodbye to him.

But, on your way home, you wondered why his behaviour was… off. You caught on he wasn’t the biggest fan of physical touch early on in the relationship, but even so, when you hugged him from behind like that, he would still lightly place his hands on top of yours.

And why did he flinch? It’s not like your hands are rough or you gave a harsh movement, it was the same as every other time. And every other time, he would nuzzle his face into your hand. A small gesture, but enough reciprocation to show comfortability.

Maybe he was just having a bad day. Tomorrow’s a new day. Perhaps he would be better tomorrow.

But, you were very wrong.

You walk into the cafeteria, spotting Eddie and the rest of the Hellfire boys sitting at their usual table.

You beam as you walk over, reaching the table and taking your usual seat, on Eddie’s lap. You sit on top of his thigh, wrapping your arm around the back of his shoulder and placing a soft kiss on his cheek.

The conversation goes as normal. Random chats about classes, latest campaigns, recent shows, a mix of everything.

But, Eddie is trying his hardest not to break. His other knee is bouncing and his hand is shaking, him trying to hide the fact by shoving pretzel after pretzel into his mouth.

With the boys loud chatter and the visible weight on his leg, it all becomes too overwhelming for him.

“Babe, can you get off please?” he whispers, just loud enough so she can hear.

“What?” you ask, making sure you heard right.

“Can you fucking get off of me!” he yells, his eyes on the brink of watering as you flinch at the loudness of his voice right beside your ear. You quickly move off of his lap, taking the empty seat beside Mike to your left.

“So fucking clingy all the time,” he grumbles, a slight waver to his face which you pick up on.

You reach out towards his hand, “Baby, what’s wro—“

But, he lets out a harsh whine and slams his fist down on the table in frustration, shaking his head and squeezing his eyes shut.

He grabs his small lunch box and loudly pushes his chair back, the legs scraping across the floor as he powers out of the cafeteria, arms folded across his chest.

All of the boys have their heads staring down at the table, each avoiding eye contact as they pick at the food on their plates.

“Gareth?” you pipe up, “Can I talk to you a second?”

“Uh… yeah,” he says, the pair of you getting up and walking over to the end of the cafeteria, away from the rest of the boys to be able to hear.

“What’s going on with him?”

Gareth sighs, a sense of knowing to his voice, “It’s best if you talk to him. It’s just…” he pauses, “It’s not my place to say.”

“Is he okay?” you ask in a concerned manner, worried for your boyfriend’s sudden shift in behaviour.

“No… he never is around this time of year. It’s… stuff from the past,” he explains, “I’m not the one to tell you, but he really needs your support. I would suggest you go find him.”

You place a hand on his shoulder, “Thank you Gareth,” you smile, walking back over to the table and collecting your belongings, before turning and walking out of the cafeteria and to the parking lot.

As you burst through the main doors, you look around, Eddie’s van nowhere in sight.

“Shit,” you curse, powering over to your own car and throwing your backpack in the backseat, jumping in the front and slamming the door shut. You put your keys in the ignition and turn it on, reversing out of the parking lot and heading down to Forest Hills Trailer Park.

It’s 1:30 by the time you reach Eddie’s trailer, stepping out of your car, seeing his van parked on the driveway. You walk up to his front door and knock on it, surprisingly no answer being shared.

It felt wrong, but you turn the handle and open the door, stepping into the small space, seeing the walls covered in Wayne’s favourite mugs. You giggle to yourself, he sure had a lot of favourites.

You walk past the couch, heading down the hallway and coming to a halt at his bedroom door. Making sure not to scare him, you lightly knock, “Eddie? Honey, it’s only me.”

“Leave me alone,” you hear him mumble from the other side, that waver in his voice returning once more.

You sigh, “I know you don’t really want that Eds,” you say, knowing that he did indeed want you to be there, he just shut himself out when things went wrong. “I’m going to come in, okay?”

When you are met with silence, you slowly open the door, turning to your right to see Eddie curled up in a ball in the middle of his bed, his knees tucked up to his chest and his head in between his legs.

As he looks up at you, you can see how puffy his eyes are from all the crying, his hair also a fluffy mess. It was the worst sight you had ever seen.

You sigh as you take a seat at the opposite end of his bed, giving your boyfriend enough space to make him feel comfortable. The last thing you wanted to do was scare him more.

“Gareth told me to come and find you. He didn’t tell me the details, but…” you take a breath, “He said you get like this every year and that you could do with my support. So, here I am.”

He simply nods, a strong silence filling the air once more. Seeing as the conversation wasn’t moving any further, you tell him something truthful, “I’m not pushing you to tell me a single thing, but whatever is making you have this reaction, I won’t judge you for it, okay? Our past doesn’t define us, and if you think that telling me is going to make me leave you, I can guarantee you that will never happen in a million years.”

He sniffles, “You won’t leave me?”

You attempt to lighten the mood, “Eds, unless you axe murdered someone in the past fifty days, I promise I won’t leave you.”

He slightly smiles at this as he untangles himself from his self-made ball and sits up on his bed. He takes a breath, debating to admit the truth to you, “You know I don’t live in the most… conventional family. I mean, it’s just me and my Uncle Wayne, you know? But…” he sighs out shakily, “I’ve never told you about my parents… Specifically my dad.”

You look over at him, “I’m listening, baby.”

You can see his leg bouncing, you refraining from the urge to put your hand out to calm him down, realising on the way here that physical touch must’ve been the issue he was facing with you.

“This week… Well, it’s been ten years since my dad hit me so hard he broke my nose and cheekbone. And I just…” He shakes his head in annoyance as the tears spill once again, “Fuck… I know you’re not him. God, you’re nothing like him. You’re one of the best things that’s ever happened to me, and you would never hurt me in my lifetime.”

He hits his head a few times with the palm of his hand, you almost jumping in to stop him as he refrains himself from continuing. God, it hurt to see him like this.

He sniffles, “Just… The way you touched my cheek like that yesterday in the hallway, and then today with how overwhelming everything felt in the cafeteria… It just brought back so many fuckin’ memories…”

You slightly shuffle closer to him, maintaining enough distance to make sure you weren’t pushing any boundaries. “And… I’m sorry,” he cries, “You aren’t clingy, not at all, I just couldn’t cope with the physical touch, and I’m just… I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to be sorry, angel,” you softly speak, “Trauma is a tough thing. You shouldn’t feel the need to put on a brave face and cover it up just to make others happy. If you don’t want me to touch you, I’m okay with that. Touch isn’t the only way to show love.”

You inch just a tiny bit closer, seeing that he wasn’t flinching anymore and his breathing was becoming more regulated, “I just want to tell you that we have moments where we crash and burn. Healing isn’t a linear process baby. And if you have moments where you don’t want me to hug you or kiss you or simply hold your hand, then all I ask from you is to let me know, okay?”

He shakes his head, “But, I want you to touch me. I don’t want your touch, your such kind and loving touch, to link to his hands,” he spits out the end of his sentence, an obvious frustration at his traumatic childhood.

“Well…” you think for a second, “Why don’t you guide me?”

He looks up slightly in confusion, you beginning to explain yourself further, “Take my hand honey. Guide me to where you want me to touch you. That way, you’ll know that my hands are safe and you are the one initiating the touch. It’s just a small step in healing yourself.”

He looks down at your hands, taking a shaky breath before grabbing them with his own. He places each one on either side of his cheek. You can feel him take a sharp intake as he feels your skin come into contact with his.

He’s gripping onto your hands, afraid to let go as his eyes are closed, you whispering out a soft, “Listen to the sound of my voice baby. It’s only me. It’s your girl’s hands.”

And with those words, he removes his hands from yours, letting them sit comfortably on his cheeks. You can feel and hear him start to cry once more, but this time, in a sense of relief.

He felt safe in what felt like forever. For the first time in years, this week in his life, he let someone touch him, and he didn’t feel scared. He felt safe, he felt secure, he felt loved.

You can feel him reach out for your waist, pulling you close as he places his head on your chest, sobbing into your shirt. “I’m sorry,” he cries out again.

Your hands are now stroking his hair, tangled in his brown curls as you place a soft kiss on his hairline, leaning your head on top of his.

“You don’t need to apologise, my love. We’ll get through this, you’ll get through this. Because I know how strong you are, how tough you are. You aren’t as weak as you think you are. What you did just there? That’s the bravest thing I’ve ever seen someone do. And that is what makes you a strong person. The ability to overcome a fear and accept love into your life when you most struggle with it.”

You can feel him place a soft kiss on your exposed chest, him mumbling, “Thank you. I love you.”

You place one more tender kiss to his head, replying, “I love you too. So incredibly proud of you.”

And that is what he needed. Someone to tell him that he was a strong person. He was worth loving and that he should be proud of himself. And he’s forever grateful that he gets to call that person his girl.

thank you for reading! and i’m sorry for the utter heartbreak in this, but it’s just what i do best </3 hope this was good for you my love!

[daeva-agas]

Speaking of the Senshi/Shitennou pairs. I was kind of curious why those stones in particular, right. Kunzite and zoisite are so unusual that I think only gemstone aficionados know them, and even though jadeite and nephrite are somewhat more commonly known names IIRC it still made people mess up the mineral names back in the day.

Well, uh, so, it was alleged that Takeuchi-sensei chose them to match the character and personalities of the senshi they're partnered with, so... Excuse me while I go overthink this and have a meltdown in suffering.

In the first place, supposedly the "inner senshi" are officially meant to be called "guardians"/"guardian deities" (守護 or 守護神). Haven't seen the raws, so I can't confirm, but that's what the JP media says. The term "Shitennou", as many are already aware of, are originally a term used to refer to a set of 4 Buddhist guardian deities.

If true then it just feels like they're all intended to be perfectly matching sets from the start, and it just never made it into the story.

I read that Sailor Moon was originally meant to just end with the Dark Kingdom plot, so maybe sensei intended to have a Romeo and Juliet sad ending where everyone just dies in the end?

These are all based on Japanese gemology guides (same as what I used to research for the Shitennou knight titles), since I imagine it's more likely to be the one Takeuchi-sensei had access to. These may differ from international ones.

(Warning: Long post)

In the manga sensei specified that the zoisite is the blue one, that's also known as "tanzanite". The blue variety of zoisite, among other things, means "calm and intelligence".

The connection to Ami/Mercury's character is very straightforward and obvious.

In terms of romance, a zoisite also means "subdued expressions of love". It really makes me think of how gentle this pair looks in the splash art sensei drew.

Kunzite means "premonition of a lover". It's specifically oh dang when I saw this because Minako was "special" among the senshi in the way that her character vibes are based on "love" (because Venus, goddess of love), rather than the original elemental name attached to the planet. It fits enough to make you pause and wonder if this it truly a coincidence.

The planet venus originally has the element of "gold/metal". The gold is reflected in her design somewhat, but her senshi identity is more related to "love". The other girls' names matches their planets' element names. E.g Jupiter = mokusei = wood, Ki(no) = wood/tree. Mercury = suisei = water, Mizu(no) = water.

Also Venus's relationship with Kunzite ended up being the one who got the most hints actually shown in the manga, so... I do wonder.

The two jades are less overly specific like this, especially Nephrite, but well.

Jadeite is the native jade from Japan, and has been long used to make magatama since ancient times. As such it's always seen as a deeply spiritual stone, that can protect against and/or ward off evil. A perfect match for Rei, who is a miko. One wonders if sensei chose the stone because of Rei being a miko, or if she made Rei a miko after choosing this name for the one matched with her.

Edit: Japanese Wiki claims Rei being a miko was based on Takeuchi-sensei's personal experience as a part time miko. So then Jadeite had to have been named/chosen to fit her, if this theory is true.

Not to mention that Akuryou Taisan, the evil-banishing spell, is something that she uses quite often.

Nephrite is the most confusing one here, because I'm not really able to find the connection. That's why I initially had strong doubts about the rumour/claim about the gemstone names' connection to the senshi.

In the gemology guide that I referenced, its meaning is "charm of maturity". I suppose Mako has always felt like she's older than the other girls, because her hobbies (cooking and home decor) feels really motherly.

Other than that and the stone being a deep green colour similar to Jupiter's senshi outfit I'm not entirely sure. (in the manga, sensei says nephrites are "always deep green" even though IRL that's not the case)

----

Just my additional comments after reading everything that I did:

In terms of colour, I like to think Jadeite is a red jade. Not just to match Rei, but in the manga Jadeite's stone is always coloured the darkest (it's almost all-black). Of all the various jades, red is one of the darker-toned ones.

The shading can be arbitrary, especially if sensei was just tracing from reference photos. Dark green jadeite also exist, so for all I know this is intended to be green too.

But if I use the logic that the stones are matched with the girls' character, I think red just fits the best. In gemstone language the red jade means "tenacity" and "willpower". Green jades tends to be associated with things like harmony, prosperity, luck, and so on. It doesn't feel very Rei-like.

Also, the nephrite jade being a "soft jade", it's associated with very cuddly meanings such as "warm" or "gentle", which makes me laugh even more than the "wisdom" one.

Unless, again, these words are more attached to the matching girls' character, rather than the guy in question, because yes I think Mako is definitely very warm and gentle and fluffy and very huggable.

Although other-coloured zoisite varieties were said to have different meaning, it looks like blue is the predominant zoisite colour in Japan. A lot of Japanese gem sites tend to automatically just say "it's blue" while describing zoisite, even though there's obviously other colours out there.

Sensei did specify it's "blue zoisite, a.k.a tanzanite" in the manga, so I think she's aware of the other colours having different meanings attached. Some articles also had mentioned Takeuchi-sensei's family runs a jewellery store?

I wonder if this is why Crystal went with the gemstone's healing properties for Zoi's title though, because the gemstone words overlaps too much with Mercury in a very in-the-face way. The other meanings are Hope, Mystery, Pride, and Noble, and maybe those don't make very good title names? Like, the only viable one is probably Hope, though I feel like it would be even more confusing if Crystal said Zoi is the "Knight of Hope" or whatever.

Another thing about Kunzite is that its meaning also include "pure and everlasting love", but the website caveated this that this is a saintly kind of love (for the gem's association with Holy Mother Mary). So it's not necessarily something to get overly excited about in terms of SenShi headcanoning, but, well, it's there.

"Shitennou" in Japanese pop culture is generally used to just mean "4 very important people", so it didn't have to actually mean anything. Like, a few samurai in history had their "shitennou", who are just the best 4 generals serving under them. Most famous being the Tokugawa shitennou, but other samurai lords actually have their own so-called shitennou. It's just that if the senshi are officially named "Guardians", then this changes the context.

[randomly--accessed--memories]

I think that the heaven ending is so interesting! Do you have any more info about it? The concept is very interesting, he finally regains his identity and personal agency, but still has trauma from the incident. Like, how his reunion with Sarah goes, or coping with the trauma from the torture incident, or that he probably won’t see the other Vees ever again.

Reunion with Sarah

She really wasn’t expecting to ever see him again; it’d been almost one hundred years since sinners first started getting redeemed and a hundred and seventy years since he died. Sarah had mostly come to terms with the fact she was never going to reunite with her father, mother, or brother in Heaven. It was quite the shock when she got the call from the orientation services. All they said was “Your dad’s here, come get him” and didn’t explain any further. She rushed to the office, frantic, trying to wrap her head around what was happening, and met Niffty and Sir Pentious outside Vox’s room. They weren’t entirely sure how much to tell her— what she needed to know versus what should remain Vox’s story to tell. They gave her a vague rundown of the general situation that she didn’t fully understand. She didn’t really get what an “Overlord” was or have time to process the deeper implications of “there was an incident where he lost most of his memories, but he seems to have them back now.”

It was… awkward when she went in to meet him. Vox had mostly calmed down from the initial panic attack, but he was still reeling, trying to adjust to suddenly having full access to all his memories, grappling with everything that had happened to him in the past hundred years, and trying to come to terms with the fact that he was actually in Heaven. He’d been told that she was coming, but he didn’t recognize her when she first walked in. She looked like a middle-aged woman— older than he’d lived to be— and the last time he’d seen her, she’d been seven years old. It clicked after a moment (it was… something, noticing she’d taken on the form of a pilot fish of all creatures) and Vox was just stuck there, grasping for something to say. Sarah was floundering too. She’d been longing for this moment for almost two hundred years. She’d always imagined their reunion as a happy moment, where he serenely took her into his arms and hugged her just like he’d (occasionally) done when she came to greet him after he got home from work. He looked almost exactly how she remembered him (minus the antennas, angelic eye, and slight uncanniness to some of his features), but the overt anxiety in his demeanor was concerning.

Vox tried to talk to her normally, regardless of how overwhelmed he was. He never thought this moment would come, but he didn’t want to have a meltdown right in front of his daughter the second he reunited with her. He told her he didn’t know a ton about what was going on, but he could try to answer any questions she might have about Hell! Quietly, she asked if at any point in the past century he had seen/heard anything about her mother or her brother. Vox was left speechless. He hadn’t made any attempt to look for them and didn’t even know they were in Hell. Looking into her big, sad, disappointed eyes, it all became too much. He fell apart, shaking and crying (actually crying! He hadn’t been able to shed real tears in who knows how long) as the weight of everything that led up to this moment became too much to bear.

Sarah had always pictured her dad holding her when she imagined their reunion. She supposed her holding her dad was close enough.

Was going to write more about the other two things you mentioned, but then this got long and I dozed off while writing it, so Imma just post this now and come back to the other stuff later

[rapha-reads]

OOooooh my goodness, Doctor Who goes full mythology *full body shiver*

I'm aware it's not the first time, but from what I'm reading, Sutekh appears in only one TV serial before today, and all of his other appearances are in audio, comics and prose. And without doing too much research (edit: I ended up doing too much research), every episode that somewhat touched on the spiritual/mythological before never put the deity at the center of the story (except the pantheon of discord, but the Tardis Wiki article on it isn't very long and I already have done enough research for today). Like, "The Satan Pit", remember, who cares that Satan was chained on an asteroid somewhere in space, that wasn't the point. Interesting to note, "The Satan Pit" was not written by RTD, but did you notice how Carla Sunday was the first one to name Sutekh before anyone else, and call him "The Beast"? The Beast being one of the name of the Devil? And the Egyptian God Set, or Sutekh, having been conflated with the Devil when Egyptian religion met Christianity...? Clearly RTD and his writers have done their research. By the way, the Devil article on Tardis Wiki is fascinating. But unless I read too fast, none of the several Devils, Satans and Beasts the Doctor has encountered are part of the Pantheon of Discord, though Sutekh does use the name Beast too. Go figure.

Anyway... Not really a point to my ramblings. I don't want to do a full review of the episode just yet, I want to wait for the second part. But Set was my favourite Egyptian god as a kid, I've always thought that he's too easily cast as the evil god when polytheist pantheons usually do not have a single figure of evil, but gods representing concepts that can be used for evil (the way Loki in Norse mythology is a trickster god but his representations today turns him into a demon, demon here holding the monotheistic, abrahamic meaning of the word; note to self: check out the academic literature on comparisons and parallels between Loki and Set - how much syncretism at work here?).

Ahem. I don't know where I'm going with that. To revisit later, when I've had time to put my thoughts in order. Things to point out:

Carla calling the shade surrounding the Tardis "The Beast" before anyone else could start to guess anything - something fishy is going on with her.

Mrs Flood. Everything about her.. Is she a Sutekh cultist, like in the old episode "Pyramides of Mars"? Is she another Harbinger? Is she another, last surviving Time Lord?

Is the storm only coincidental, or is it going to be important in the next episode? By which I mean, is it a normal storm, or are we talking locusts and cricket plague storm? (Or sand-of-time-storm, ba dum tse)

Speaking of Harbinger, kinda sad Harriet isn't an actual character, she was cool.

So does this mean that this Susan was another Harbinger, or an avatar of Sutekh, who took on the name to mock the Doctor? EDIT: checked the Tardis wiki, she was an actual woman who was later possessed by Sutekh and turned into his puppet. Okay, one mystery solved.

The way Kate looked at the Doctor after the death of the security officer in the Time Window. Oof. That. That hurts.

The way Mel is not surprised at all by the Doctor's meltdown, and knows exactly how to stop him from spiralling down and getting back up. That's Companion Experience here.

Ruby and Rose immediately becoming the best of friends. Yes please!

Oh, music talk! Did y'all notice that the Saxon theme was played when Susan's prompter started going haywire? I recognised the melody but couldn't put my finger on it, just knew Murray Gold was playing us a throwback, until I read the Tardis Wiki page about the episode. Quite nice!

Okay, I already have 10 different Tardis Wiki tabs opened, I'm gonna calm down before I start writing an entire thesis about Doctor Who and Mythology. .. Do you think there's already thesis like that? I would love to read that.

Apart from all of that, it's kind of a weird episode, though, isn't it? The Doctor usually never seeks out trouble, and they hardly ever ask for help. Like, they don't just pop in for a visit, or to use UNIT's tech unless a crisis has already begun, or UNIT themselves called them in. At least in New Who, main TV episodes, I can't remember one instance of the Doctor appearing in UNIT's HQ or where their former companions are of their own volition (in Class, he appears in Coal Hills, because the Shadowkin are already here; in the Sarah Jane Adventures, I haven't watched it, but Tenth comes to help Sarah Jane because she's trapped in a Time Loop, and later Eleventh is a plot point himself; same in "Day of the Doctor", UNIT calls him in, crisis already ongoing). The Doctor appearing in UNIT HQ, saying "alright, here are two mysteries that I want solved today and y'all are going to help me", that's very new. And maybe very welcome...? If it makes the Doctor reconnect with former companions, and start popping in for tea and scones, that would be nice.

[punkeropercyjackson]

Spiderband groupchat headcanons but it's based off my bio siblings and friends who're teenagers that i also consider my younger siblings because Y'all Do Not Know How To Write Teens

It's called 'Websters Declassified'

It was Margo's idea to start it obviously

Miles already had a groupchat app that she used for her family but the rest of the band except Gayatri had to install them-Gwen and Miles G DID have one but she took it off because she only ever used it with 65 Peter and she had multiple meltdowns looking through their messages so she forced herself to out of mental safety and he smashed his phone in agonized sadness after finding out about Jefferson so all the data on it was lost

Gayatri has an additional old one she uses for school friends since she's so popular and dosen't want to fuck up and accidentally send Spiderwoman stuff to them

The layout of it has a notebook theme and is popular among black people thanks to it containing various exclusive black stickers and emojis and that's why Miles and Margo both use it

Hobie's a bit of a grandpa when it comes to technology because of being from the 70s and not having been at Spider Society for that long so he had a hard time communicating in it at first,not helped by his cockney

Peni is reverse where she considers it slighty obselete thanks to her futuristic world but in a charming shaking her head 'This old thing' way(Just like she does with Noir /hj)

Their icons are:Miles-a black/blasian edit of Orihime Inoue,Gwen-A random picture of a half eaten pink cupcake she took,Peni-A lesbian flag meme,Pavitr-Bugs Bunny,Hobie-A black/blasian edit of Ichigo Kurosaki to match Miles(They are LITERALLY black4black Ichihime),Gayatri-Bugs Bunny but in one of her fem outfits,Margo-Nessa from Pokemon with a pink filter and Miles G-A cartoony drawing of a black kid with braids

They use it almost every day and night-It actually messed up a few of their sleep schedules but they fixed them again when it started going too far by reminding the other to go to sleep because they love them and deserve good health

Gwen sends them her audio files,either as gifts by covering their favorite songs or just to try out how a new song sounds

Pavitr violently falls over from so much bouncing with his phone getting the brunt of it SO many times but it's somehow always completely intact despite having no special protection

It's where Miles came out to them after her egg cracked but she did because they were all sitting together physically so she'd have them there to comfort them as she sobbed in a big flurry of different emotions

The other girls then start sending her transfem memes on a regular basis and Miles G is actually the one who made her her Orihime pfp

They tried to have movie nights but the collective audhd proved to be too much so they just have normal ones

It's incredibly active and a mixed ass bag,one second they be talking about Spiderjunk,the next someone's venting to the point you can feel them shaking through their texts and then they're discussing the history of legos

Peni's the one who most uses it in class and had a special mini comic where she got it back from her principal and didn't learned her lesson at the end

Since Miles uses kamojis,Margo is a gifs addict

They learned a lot about eachother cultures,more than ever

Selfies sending is a pretty regular thing

Miles G was more hesitant to start using his app again than Gwen since his was actually the same but he prowlered through and now it's a healthy and stable part of his life

Gayatri looks for wholesome videos to show all of them

"MARGO,GIVE ME YOUR PHONE"-Hobie at least twice a day

Gwen and Margo are an e-couple in the sense that they act exactly like girlfriends in it but are in denial irl

Hobie randomly infodumps in it once he gets the hang of it and takes up Miles' kamoji usage but only the smug/bitchy ones

Their usernames are mostly just their names but with a special twist to give them personality-Miles is her name with a sunflower next to it,Pavitr has a sparkles emoji and Miles G has his in that edgy font.But Margo is 'Margo Thee Byte',Gayatri is 'The Ungwen' as a reference to 'The Undead' and for irony,Hobie is 'What are you?A cop?',Peni is 'Pastel Genesis Evangelion' and Gwen is just an assortment of pink emojis

Rio:Mija?Are you texting a boy? Miles,texting Hobie:Technically yes but also literally no

Margo gets them to be on her streams and Miles ends up making her own channel and her fans nearly broke her comments section when Hobie made his first apperance(Tragic day for weird ass Miles fanboys)

Gwen and Peni start rubbing off on eachother,like Peni starting to love her kind of music and Gwen starting to get blunter

Pavitr is the most slang knowledgable and this is thanks to Gayatri-He surpassed the best there is

Miles and Hobie did the 'At Dairy Queen with my Dairy King' meme once but the picture wasn't them at Dairy Queen,it was them chilling with mutated cows they'd saved and they didn't even get the food at Dairy Queen,Hobie cooked them copies because fuck capitalism

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Hello dear! It's been a long time :)

I've read some of your Mandela Catalog fanfics and they are amazing!

I would like to make a request, how about the Reader (who was a friend of the Murray's and took care of Adam after the divorce as Lynn didn't have much time to spend with him) take custody of him after his parents died?

Adam at least grew up with someone :) and the Reader always sang songs when he got sad about his parents...

But the events are the same as the Mandela Catalog (Volume 1 and 2 etc.)

In the meantime, the Reader ends up dying for an Alternative, after months of the Reader's death, the events of volume 2 happen and then the events of Mandela Catalyst happen.

Basically, Thatcher finds Adam singing one of the songs that the Reader sang to him to calm him down, but since it's not the Reader singing...he can't calm down at all .

Just Angst in general...sorry :)

Oh boy this one hurt a LOT to write. Strap in and be ready for (several) different timeskips (and a whole lot of angst)

.........

--September 1992--

"Hey, [y/n]. I'm so sorry to bother you, but-"

"It's okay. What's up? Do you need me to watch him for a bit?"

"...I actually needed to talk to you about something important, but he hasn't stopped crying, and...shit...I-I just need a little bit of help if that's alright. I can't calm him down."

Hearing Lynn's exhausted sigh over the phone, you frowned slightly. It especially pained your heart to hear her son's wailing in the background, yet you realized she called you around this specific hour last time..with the exact same problem.

It was strange, honestly.

You would've thought she'd figured out what was going on with Adam by now.

"Wasn't Jude there earlier? Don't tell me he bailed and that's why he's-"

"No. He actually showed up this time and watched him while I was in a meeting. Everything was fine..a-and Adam didn't make any fuss when he left. But now he just started up the waterworks again and...god, I don't know what to do anymore.."

"Well you tell the little guy to hang tight, okay?" You reassured her as you grabbed your keys, jacket, and shoes. "I'm on my way over."

"Thank you so much, [y/n]..I'm sorry about this-"

"Don't be. It's not your fault. I'll see you in a few."

"Alright, see you soon."

After hanging up the phone, you headed out the door and got into your vehicle, driving to the Murray's residence.

You've been close friends with Jude and Lynn, having supported them through nearly every milestone of their relationship: when they had their son, when they got married, and....when they unfortunately went through a divorce two years later.

To this day, you still weren't sure what caused their relationship to crash and burn. They were highschool sweethearts who hoped to move into the big city and have kids--the kind of dream any couple would wanna live out.

But then they became incredibly stressed over raising just one child alone, and thought rushing into marriage would resolve things quickly.

Instead, it only caused more friction between them.

Regardless, you still wanted to help them out. So you've offered to watch Adam for a few hours while Lynn went to work, or if she just needed to get out of the house and take a breather.

He's a good kid...aside from being either quiet or having huge crying fits with consistent patterns to them. You suspected he saw something scary and violent on television once and hasn't recovered since.

Lynn mentioned a toddler stress assessment he took, showing his scores ranging from low to zero, indicating he didn't respond to the stimuli properly. She would have been more concerned if other children his age didn't share similar results, all apparently due to them being witnesses to a "phenomena".

Whatever it was, it must've been traumatic enough for him to have these meltdowns seemingly out of the blue.

But you always succeeded at calming him down. Lynn mom had yet to see your methods, though she's convinced you're some kind of "miracle worker", doing a better job at parenting than she or Jude could.

Fortunately, she was going to find out today.

You arrived at the house, exchanging sympathetic smiles with the exhausted mother before she led you to Adam's room. There, he was in the corner bawling his eyes out.

"Adam, sweetie? Someone's here to see you." She cooed, but to no avail as he didn't even look up at her. Sighing in defeat, she stepped aside when you reassured her you'll handle it.

"Hey, buddy. It's me again." You spoke softly, kneeling down on the floor in front of Adam. For a moment, he fell silent and glanced up at you, hiccupping on occasion.

But when you opened your arms up to him, he started crying even louder and clung to you tightly. "Oh it's okay, kiddo. Shhh, I'm here." You hushed, holding him as you stood back up. "[Y/n]'s here now."

He could only blubber your name in response, snot and tears dribbling down his face as he nuzzled into your shoulder. You rubbed his back, wishing you could take away whatever made him this upset.

Since that wasn't possible, you did the only thing you could do in that moment.

And that was sing.

More specifically, sing a song you heard on the radio earlier today. It's one of your favorites, which always helps you calm down after a stressful day; surely it'll help Adam in his case, too.

Although your voice was soft and quiet, it managed to reach his ears as you sang to him, and eventually it worked its magic. His sobs died into sniffles, and then sniffles into silence.

You smiled. "Did you like that one? That's one of my favorites."

He nodded, now resting his head on your shoulder and closing his puffy eyes as you kept rubbing his back, humming softly. Before you knew it, he was fast asleep.

"....are you serious? I've tried singing to him and it does nothing!" Lynn whispered, astonished you were able to resolve that in a minute, when usually it took her an hour.

"Sorry, I guess he likes my voice better." You chuckled lightly, before your eyes shifted around the room. "Where do you want him? The crib as usual?"

"...as usual. I know he's supposed to be grown out of it, but he refuses to sleep anywhere else."

"It'll happen eventually, I'm sure." You set Adam down, making sure the pillow was comfortably underneath his head. Then you turned back to Lynn. "So...you wanted to talk about something?"

"It's..on the kitchen table." She muttered, confusing you as she turned and walked out the room.

You followed her to the aforementioned section of the house, noticing documents on the table. One mentioned child custody, which was signed by her and Jude...but also had a third blank line on it as well.

"Jude and I had a long talk, and...we both decided that if, god forbid, anything should happen to us and we can't be here to take care of Adam...we'd make you his legal guardian." She explained. "I know it's a lot to ask of you right now and I doubt we'll even need this, but-"

"I'll sign it."

She blinked. "R-Really? I mean..there's no rush. If you need time to think about it-"

"My mind's been made up. With those broadcasts having everyone on edge, it's better to be safe than sorry. But I hope it won't come to that." You picked up the pen, clicking it as you sat down to read the document. "I just sign here? Do I have to go to the court?"

"No, you can just sign it and I'll bring it to them tomorrow." She swallowed the lump in her throat, choking back tears of relief. "I-I just want Adam to grow up in a better place and..we trust that you can do that should it be necessary."

Nodding in understanding, you signed the paper, slipping it back into the folder before you gave Lynn a hug. "If this helps you guys out, then it's fine with me. Does Adam know?"

"W-We're gonna tell him about it, soon. But..thank you so, so much, [y/n]. This means a lot to us."

"Of course, I'm here for you and him till the very end."

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--One Week Later--

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"Lynn? Are you alright? I was driving by and noticed your door was wide open."

"......"

"Lynn? Jude? You guys here?"

"........"

"....Adam?"

"........"

"Anybody home at all? Hello?"

"........."

"C'mon, this isn't.....wha....o-oh my god. LYNN!! No, no, no, no, no!! What the fuck?!! Why would you...y-you....?! Oh Christ, I'm gonna be sick....I need to call 911-"

"[Y/n]? Where's momma...?"

"A-Adam! Don't go in there. Thank god you're okay, but wha...what are you doing out here by yourself??"

"...looking for my new friend."

"Huh? But..sweetheart, there's no one here but us."

"Not even momma?"

"N-No. She's..gone away for a while. And dad, too. But do you remember that talk we had about me looking after you?"

"Mhm."

"Well, that...starts now. I'll be taking care of you for a little while, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good, good..now let's go home."

--January 2002--

It's been 10 years since the worst night of your life, as well as Adam's.

You lost two of your best friends, and he lost his family.

The sight of Lynn's hanging corpse was forever burned into your mind, and you were still unsure of Jude's whereabouts to this very day. He was never found by the police..although you felt like they were too scared to investigate further and give victims like yourself the proper justice.

Nevertheless, you had a promise to keep. And so you've done your best to raise Adam as his legal guardian. Signing those documents all those years ago certainly streamlined the process of you gaining custody over him, and he didn't protest over it.

You never did tell him what actually happened that night. You don't think you'll ever be able to.

All you said was that you found him alone in that house and took him with you, clueless as to where his parents are. It was only partially a lie, yet you still felt guilty.

You tried giving him a normal life away from Mandela County, as it was simply too dangerous to live there. He grew out of the unusual behavioral patterns of his toddler years, thank goodness, and continued being a generally good kid.

In school, he took up a hobby in filmmaking, while also gaining interest in ghost-hunting shows and other subjects related to paranormal activity, including online forums discussing Alternates.

Although concerned about this interest he's been pursuing, you supported his passions.

After turning 14, he reached that "teen angst" state of his life where he was going through lots of changes and constantly flipping moods like a light switch.

And when you picked him up from school today, that bad attitude reared its ugly head for you to see.

He didn't greet you after getting in the car, keeping his headphones on as he stared outside the window, seething red. You did notice a small group of jocks, one of whom seemed to have a nosebleed while the rest scowled at your son, only to see you were staring at them too. They quickly scampered back onto the campus grounds.

But what you didn't notice was Adam rolling down his sleeves to hide his bruised knuckles.

As soon as you both got home, he threw his backpack onto the nearest table and stormed off to his room without speaking a single word to you.

Now any other parent wouldn't have tolerated his disrespect. But rather than chastise him when you knew he was already feeling shitty, you calmly walked towards his bedroom door.

It was partially open, though you gently knocked just to be polite. "Hey, kid..may I come in?"

"....sure. Whatever."

You pushed the door open more, entering to find Adam curled up on his bed, staring down at his music player as he shuffled through some songs. "Glad to see you're using the MP3 I got you for Christmas."

He didn't respond to that, instead burying his face into his knees and keeping his hood drawn over his head.

You sat beside him, knowing that you'd have to choose your next words very carefully from here on out. 'Wish there was some guidebook on caring for a grumpy teenage boy..but I'll have to figure this one out myself..'

"So..what're you listening to?" You asked, hoping to start up some kind of conversation.

"...if you care so much..it's Radiohead." His voice was slightly muffled, but you understood him as your eyes lit up.

"Oh! I love that band."

"You do?"

"Of course! You think I'm too old to enjoy it?" You feigned hurt, although when you heard him sniffle quietly, you sighed and rested a hand on his back. "Look, I noticed those kids staring when I picked you up. They look like the same jerks I used to meet in school. Did...they say anything to you?"

For a few long moments, he was silent, but eventually answered.

"They called me an orphan, so I punched one of them."

Your heart sunk. "Wha--Adam, you gotta be more careful. You could've gotten hurt or expelled-"

"So what? I'm supposed to just take it?" He glared up at you, his eyes red and watery. "I can't defend myself?"

"...that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that there's other ways we can deal with them without violence. But I agree that what they said was wrong." Frowning, you gently brushed his curly bangs to the side. "They shouldn't be using orphan as an insult."

"Yeah. They think both my parents are dead, but they're liars. My mom's still out there, and if she comes back we can prove them wrong."

Ah.

You could feel this familiar conversation starting up again, but this time you weren't sure if Adam was going to be placated by your answer anymore. The more he pressed about it, the more he got suspicious and tired of the same excuses.

"....are we ever gonna go back to Mandela and try to find her, [y/n]?"

You shook your head. "I'm sorry, Adam. But you know we can't. I...have no clue where we'd even start."

"Then why doesn't she try to find us, instead? She must have escaped those things by now..unless she gave up on me."

"Wha--" You blinked, having no idea how he could've drawn that conclusion so quickly. "What made you think-?"

"I-I mean..it makes sense, right? It's been ten damn years and she hasn't tried looking for us once?" He started getting agitated, taking off his headphones as they no longer comforted him. "Maybe she wanted me out of her life for good. I mean...I'm the reason her and dad divorced."

"Adam, their divorce wasn't your fault at all. I knew your mom for a long time, and she loved you a lot-"

"Then why does it feel like she abandoned me?!!" He snapped, throwing his music devices onto the mattress before scowling at you. "Just tell me the truth, [y/n]!! I can take it. If she said I was a burden, then fucking TELL ME!!"

You took your hand off his back the moment he started shouting, feeling yourself tensing up.

The one thing you hoped not to do was make him angry, and yet here he was...lashing out. But you tried not to take it too personally and stayed quiet.

Not long after his explosion, Adam saw the look on your face and instantly felt remorseful for snapping like that. His face began burning with embarrassment as he looked away, fresh tears welling up in his eyes.

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

"I know you didn't mean it. It's alright." You carefully wrapped your arm around him, bringing him closer to you. "But you were never a burden to her. That's the truth. She loved you and wanted you to have a better life..one that she couldn't provide. I know you don't understand everything right now, but one day it's all gonna make sense. I can promise you that, son."

He sniffled and tucked his face between your neck and shoulder, trying to stifle his sobs as he mumbled about still missing her so badly. You held him even closer, feeling the poor kid shaking in your arms.

Luckily, you knew exactly how to remedy this situation.

"Adam?"

"Y..yeah?"

"...do you want me to sing to you like I did before? I know you got your music player, but..my voice might help you feel a little better."

For a moment he was quiet, but you felt him nod against your neck. You smiled and kissed the top of his hood, before quietly singing one of his favorite songs:

"Such a pretty house, and such a pretty garden. No alarms and no surprises. No alarms and no surprises...."

He closed his eyes as he listened to your soft voice, tears dampening the collar of your shirt. He felt like he did nothing to deserve you or all of this love after the way he acted earlier.

You could've left him alone, or got angry right back at him.

But you didn't.

You never stopped being there for him.

After Adam calmed down a few minutes later, you let him go and saw him wipe at his face with his sleeve. While still embarrassed to be seen like this, he did feel a lot better. "Y-You...still got it." He chuckled. "You ever think about becoming a singer? Like in a band or something?"

"In my dreams, yeah. But I told ya I'm a big Radiohead fan." You smirked.

"Alright, alright..I guess you're not too "old" to like it." He rolled his eyes, but eventually leaned back onto your shoulder, relaxing. "Thanks again, [y/n]. I-I..really needed that."

"Anytime." You gently hugged him to you. "I'm here whenever you need me, son. I promise we'll go back to Mandela when it's safer."

"Together?"

"Together."

--September 2008--

You couldn't believe it.

You couldn't.

Fucking.

Believe it.

Adam went behind your back and did exactly what you told him not to do.

He left for to Mandela County in the middle of the night, taking a stolen car. Although he did leave you a note saying he was going on a "BPS mission" with Jonah and promised to be back in several days, you were still quite infuriated.

Especially since you've been meaning to talk to him about this little "group" of his.

All this time, you thought it was just some afterschool club he attended that helped him make friends and even find a girlfriend. He told you all they did was chat about ghosts and research paranormal stuff and nothing more.

But he's been using it as a cover-up to hunt down the Alternates who ruined so many lives, breaking several laws while doing so.

You only learned about all this through Evelin, who called your cell phone just a few minutes ago. The poor girl was in tears, explaining that she and Adam had a huge fight, and apparently he told her some....very hurtful things.

Things you'd never believe would come out of your son's mouth.

You didn't raise him this way at all.

You raised him to be a better person, not a rebel who thinks he can talk to girls with such disrespect and run away from home.

Why would he do this all of the sudden?

Did he just get too impatient?

Did he not trust you anymore?

What ever happened to the promise that you'll go to Mandela together?

Regardless, you apologized to Evelin for Adam's behavior before hanging up. Then you called his number, and he surprisingly answered within the first ring.

Usually it took three.

"Hey, [y/n]. What's up?"

""What's up?"" You mimicked, already growing annoyed. ""What's up" is that your girlfriend called me and said you insulted her. All because she didn't like these little "ghost hunts" you've been doing??"

"Oh fuck, did she really tell you about all our problems?" He groaned. "Look, I'm not the bad guy here. I swear. We had a petty argument and she freaked out on ME, and then I got a little defensive. That's all."

"...a "little"? You made her cry, Adam. I had to help her calm down before she could even talk to me."

"....well it's not my fault if she's too damn sensitive."

You couldn't believe how heartless he sounded, but you didn't wanna stay on this topic forever.

So you sighed, sitting down on the sofa as you wondered how you can convince him to stop these ridiculous "hunts". "Listen, son. I just think this is consuming your life too much-"

"But this IS my life, [y/n]! Jonah and I have been making some serious bank from this! Believe it or not, paranormal investigating IS a real job-"

"But it's not a safe one." You interrupted. "I know how badly you want closure on your mother, but those things won't give you any answers. They're only going to kill you if-"

"I stared at one dead in the face and it didn't attack me."

You froze, feeling your heart drop into your stomach. "...what?"

"Yeah! I found out I'm sorta "immune" to M.A.D or whatever, and I have footage of it!" He bragged. "It didn't hurt me at all. We had a pretty funny staring contest. I can send you proof of it so you don't have to worry about me."

"....I don't want "proof", Adam. I want you to come home."

"....not until I find out the truth for myself." Suddenly his tone turned spiteful. "Unless you know something that I don't."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not a dumb kid anymore, [y/n]. If there's something YOU knew about that night that you didn't wanna tell me before...now's the time."

For a few long moments, you were silent as you thought over his words, although his snarky response made your blood boil even more.

At this point you were fed up you were with him sneaking behind your back like this and breaking his promise. You only sheltered the truth of that night from him for this long because you knew how deeply it would hurt him.

But now he was practically goading you into laying it all out.

Maybe that's what you should do. Just to finally put this to rest and make him give up on these stupid "investigations". He was searching for someone who wasn't even alive anymore.

He may hate you, but if this is what he wanted...it's what he'll get.

"I'm sorry, Adam. But-"

All of the sudden, a loud sound akin to static noise crackled right into your eardrum, causing you to flinch and hold the phone far away from you.

Only then did you notice an unknown caller ID had popped up, the ringtone playing normally. You declined it and tried calling Adam back, but the same mysterious number showed up again before you could even dial anything.

You had no choice but to answer the stranger.

"Hello? Yes?"

"This is no longer your place to spill secrets, I'm afraid." A male's voice, staticky and coarse, droned in your ear. "Only I will reveal everything to our prophet soon enough."

"....your prophet? Who the hell is this?" Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I think you got the wrong number. I don't know any "prophet". Goodbye."

Hanging up, you hoped to put an end to that discussion and reach out to Adam once more-

"Of course you do, [y/n]. He's the son you've taken under your wing."

Every muscle in your body tensed.

The same voice was now inside your own home.

Your eyes searched the living room until you noticed the TV flickering to life, the screen displaying a hooded man with a face that looked as if it were melting.

"How do you know about him?" You scowled. "Don't tell me...you're the creep who kidnapped all those kids back in-"

"You played right into our hands. You've passed our test. I must say you've raised him well..keeping him in the dark about his truth." The Intruder taunted. "But it's time you open your eyes and recognize the favor you've done for us."

"...what favor? What does any of this have to do with Adam?!"

"From the moment you saw that boy's poor mother...he ceased to exist, too. I had taken him only for a moment, and gave you back something you promised to protect. But you've been living a lie, [y/n]. Your "son" was never actually him."

"You mean to tell me he's......?" Your heart dropped into your stomach, realizing what he was implying. But you clenched your fists. "N-No. You're lying."

"You had already failed them before you even realized it." The TV glitched to show the shadow of a certain woman with her neck broken, before displaying an image of the Murray house, before it reverted back to the Intruder's face. "You could've joined them, but we wanted to see how he'd grow under your watchful eye. Now thanks to you, we know we can blend into mankind and watch it rot from the inside out. And soon we'll awaken him, too, and rejoice."

"I don't believe you." You tried keeping your voice steady and calm, knowing he was attempting to inflict M.A.D on you. "If you think he's going to be anything like you freaks...you're dead wrong."

"Oh, but he will. He must. It's his fate."

"If he's one of you, then why would he care for the real Adam's mother like she was his?! And on that note...was hanging her just your little "distraction" so you could-?!"

"You accuse me as if I pulled the rope." He scoffed. "But I didn't. She just lost all hope and faith in finding him. That poor mother, too distraught at the sight of her missing infant---distraught at the sight of her missing infant, missing infant, missing infantmissinginfantMISSINGMISSINGMISSINGMISSINGMISSING...."

His voice suddenly began repeating on a loop, corrupted messages and symbols covering the screen. Through it all, you were still able to make out his haunting gaze and widening grin.

The only way he disappeared was when you grabbed a nearby chair and smashed the glass with it, shattering the screen to pieces. Electric sparks and smoke sputtered out of the TV, but besides that...it was finally silent again.

You huffed and took several steps back.

Yet you had little time to fully process everything he told you as your phone rang again. You hesitantly checked it, only to become relieved at seeing's Adam's number and quickly answered it.

"A-Adam! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, um..are you? What happened? You just hung up on me.." He sounded rather concerned.

"I didn't mean to. S-Something must've disconnected our call.." You scrambled to grab your keys, convinced he was in danger.

'Damnit, I swore I was gonna stay away from Mandela, but if he's still there....and HE knows about him-.'

However before you could get your shoes, you stopped and felt a sudden chill run up your spine.

One that left you with the feeling that you weren't alone anymore.

Your gaze slowly went to the front door, where a tall humanoid figure lurked in the nearest corner. It was overtaken by a huge shadow, although the whites of its elongated eyes were still visible, staring back at you.

Adam's concerned "hellos" on the other end fell on deaf ears as you watched the creature limp out from the darkness, revealing itself to be the most horrifying attempt at human mimicry possible.

The worst part?

It looked just like you.

"I'm here whenever you need me, son." It echoed your voice, stalking towards you and forcing you away from the front door, back into the kitchen area. "Something must've disconnected our call-l-l!"

"Who the hell was that? What's going on?!"

Finally hearing your son again, you swallowed back tears as you shakily reached for a large knife, keeping the phone in a tight grip.

This was it for you.

You've just been a pawn in their plans all along.

The Intruder had intentions to kill you with M.A.D by revealing you've basically raised an Alternate for them, and if that despair alone didn't end your life.....then this beast that somehow got inside your home will surely finish the job.

But screw that. Screw all of them.

You'll fight till your last breath if you must.

Your only regret is leaving Adam all alone when he's already lost so much in his life...but you didn't want him to think you resented him.

"I-I have to go. I'm sorry if I sounded harsh back there. I just want you to make the right choices. But if this BPS stuff makes you happy, then..keep doing what you're doing. Just be careful, okay?"

"Uh, sure. But why are you talking like that, [y/n]??" His voice was growing more worrisome. "Look, I'm sorry. I-I swear I'll come back home soon-"

"Don't worry about me...I'll be okay." You smiled shakily, not taking your eyes off the creature closing in. "Just take care of yourself out there. This world's cruel, but I know you'll kick it in the ass."

"Just wait a damn second! Don't g-!"

"Goodbye, my son. I love you."

You ended the call, dropping the phone to the ground and holding the knife with both hands, finally ready to accept your fate.

The Alternate howled with laughter, before it lunged at you with its claws and jaws wide open.

"GOODBYE-E-E!!!!"

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!!!!"

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"Uh-oh! Bad decision, [y/n]!"

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--January 16th, 2009--

Adam staggered through the front door to his home, famished, dehydrated, exhausted....

And burdened with knowledge that made him want to die.

Only a few months ago, you disappeared after that concerning phone conversation you two exchanged. He hasn't heard your voice since, and when he returned to Werksha..you were nowhere to be found.

There was no sign of a break-in, or anything of that sort..but Adam was convinced you were taken just like his mom was--obviously by one of the Alternates.

So he went back to Mandela to continue his investigations alongside Jonah, growing desperate for answers. There had to be at least one who knew what happened to you and where you are.

His obsession with these hunts only worsened, turning him into a crueler person around those who questioned his reasons for "chasing" after Alternates. Evelin did break off the relationship for good, seeing as he was too far gone to even reason with.

He knows you would've been disappointed in him...but surely you'd understand why he'd do this. You understood him better than anyone.

You said it yourself. As long as he was careful, he can do whatever he wanted!

Yet nothing ever turned up.

Until the day he and Jonah agreed to help put a cat's spirit to rest, the "owner" offering them $500 a night if they stayed for three in total...

That investigation ended in a huge argument in which Jonah brought up your name and his mother, setting him off and indirectly causing his best friend's death.

And then he was all alone again, but acted like none of it bothered him and tried to quell BPS' online following with a memorial video.

Days later, the Intruder contacted him on his laptop and unveiled the truth about his existence--the same truth he told you before you died.

"Your skin is not your own."

"You're not the real you."

Those words were drilled into Adam's mind, and he could feel his own body going through an agonizing metamorphosis as he forced himself to drive back to Werksha one last time.

He barely was able to drag himself out of the van and through the front door.

But that's when he was greeted by a grisly sight:

Your rotting corpse slumped against the wall, a bloody knife in your palm and a deep slash wound across your throat, your clothes caked in dried blood.

You were never missing.

You died.

And whatever monster brought you back here decided to present you as some twisted "gift" for him.

Adam collapsed and screamed so loudly that it shattered the lights he turned on, deciding right there that he didn't wanna live this way anymore. He couldn't. He didn't wanna become one of them.

He wanted to join you while he still had his humanity left.

Yet despite all his attempts to end his misery, including using the same knife you used to stab himself and consuming enough bleach cleaner he found under the sink to make him vomit his guts out......nothing was working.

His body didn't fail him like he expected.

He still felt his bones breaking in all the wrong ways, and now his insides fucking burned like an inferno.

Eventually, Adam stopped and instead covered your body with his BPS hoodie, sobbing about how sorry he was for not being here for you, before he managed to crawl his way into his room--his one place of comfort.

Having no strength to climb onto the mattress, he just slumped next to his bed, leaning against the nightstand for support. He made the mistake of looking into the cracked mirror beside him...and wailed as he saw the same monster that robbed you of life staring straight back at him:

A gaunt, skinny husk of a boy with pupils of light and a horrifying facial expression that's impossible for humans to mimic.

God, he wishes he spent more time with you...had he known all of this was going to happen..

Did you know he was an Alternate? Is that why you were afraid of him coming back to Mandela?

What would you do if you found him like this?

Would you still hold him?

Would you still sing to him?

Or....

'That's it...I can sing...' He realized, slowly quieting down as he recalled all the times you sang to him whenever he was saddened in the past.

If you were able to calm him down easily, then surely he can calm himself down in a similar way in this situation. It's just his own voice this time around; it couldn't be that much different...right?

It was worth a try.

"...s-such...a...pretty house...and...and such a pretty gardennn...."

He ignored the creaking of the front door being opened, and the footsteps that echoed through the house, slowly approaching his room.

"No..alarms-s-s....and no....a-and no....!"

Suddenly Adam began hyperventilating, eyes filling with tears as he struggled to finish the line, despising the way it sounded.

It wasn't the same.

It wasn't your voice.

It was a voice that wasn't even his own. Just a broken and flawed attempt to mimic the real Adam's--the one who never even got a shot at life before it was stolen away from him.

If this didn't help him..then nothing could..

He wanted you back.

He needed your voice to sing and comfort him, just as you've done all those years ago.

He needed you.

But you're never coming back again.

Up to this point, a certain ex-lieutenant officer with a vendetta against the Alternates entered the bedroom, shining the light around until he found this kid sitting all alone and....

Singing a Radiohead song?

He realized his ears weren't deceiving him, but just as he attempted to confirm his identity-

Adam's jaw unhinged without warning, stretching to impossible proportions as he looked directly into his eyes, screaming and crying out with all the grief left in him:

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!"

[allisluv]

COMING CLEAN

Chapter Six — sex for secrets

pairing: finnick odair x fem!oc

content warnings: forced sex work, dissociation + an autistic meltdown, slut shaming, wyatt being a better brother to dahlia even though they’re not actually related. if there’s anything else just lmk!

word count: 3.5k

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Dahlia set her plan into action and changed her form of payment that very evening. Most of her clients were head gamemakers or people who held a position of influence in the Capitol, which gave her a perfect opportunity to gather information on their beloved president and use it to her advantage.

Instead of being paid in cash, she chose to exchange sex for secrets.

She burned through her list of clients in fourteen days and before she knew it, she was on the train back to district nine. Malaki accompanied her on the journey home and flaunted a newspaper in front of her face.

She and Finnick had made the front page for two consecutive weeks. The paparazzi were having a field day with the story. Pictures of them had been circulating the whole of Panem and Caeser Flickerman had been hounding them for an interview since they spoke to Capitol News.

The plan seemed to be working so far and although being in the spotlight would surely make her episodes more frequent, it was a cross she would have to bear if it meant everybody she loved was out of harm's way.

Over breakfast, Malaki joked about how Bloom was growing more popular as the days went by. Dahlia polished off a bottle of fizzy lemonade before excusing herself from the table and retreating to her room on the train.

Dahlia waited for the heavy metal door to clunk closed behind her before she pulled off her slippers and sat on the edge of the bed. It was always difficult to tell what was real and what wasn't when she was on the train. She supposed it was because of all the bad memories she associated with it.

Either way, it would take seven hours to arrive home, and sleeping was the best solution to her problems. She curled up under the thick duvet and silk sheets, falling asleep in a matter of minutes.

As six o'clock rolled around and they grew closer to home, Malaki opened the blinds to let the remaining slivers of evening light into her room before shaking her awake. "Wake up!" he beamed, tugging the duvet down to the end of the bed. She tossed about in protest and groaned into her hands. "Come on, I bet Juniper's dying to hear the gossip first-hand."

Dahlia muttered a muffled string of curses into her elbows before pulling herself up. She wrapped a beige cardigan around her and slid on her slippers as Malaki wheeled her black suitcase out into the hallway.

Although Bloom was an outstanding stylist, she couldn't help but feel grateful to dress in her own clothes again.

As the train pulled into the station and slowed to a gradual halt, Dahlia made her way down the carriage, waiting for the automatic doors to swing open. Fresh air filled her lungs as she hopped onto the platform and wearily offered her thanks to Malaki for hauling her suitcase down the steps.

A sad sigh escaped his lips as he scanned her face, looking for any sign that she was going to retreat into that hazy other world. This time around, they might not get her back, and that thought terrified him. "Darling, are you sure you're going to be okay?" he asked gently, patiently waiting for her to acknowledge that he had even asked a question.

Dahlia didn't blame him for being worried —the dark circles under her eyes did little to plead her case—but if she were to answer that question honestly, he wouldn't like what he heard.

The last thing she wanted to do was add to his worries, so instead of telling him the truth, she plastered a smile on her face. "Don't worry about me. It's Bloom you should be checking on — her fingers are probably bleeding from all the sewing," she joked, doing her best to swerve the question altogether.

Malaki had always been able to see through her lies and she half expected a lecture but he didnt press her for the truth. He was probably exhausted (it had been a long couple of days, after all). "Alright, if you are sure," he ran a hand through his hair, his golden rings getting caught in his dark curls. "If you need me—"

"I know," she cut him off kindly. "I'll call if I feel like throttling any reporters," she smiled. The phones in Victor Village only worked half the time but she chose to keep that piece of information to herself. He grinned, and she resisted the urge to flinch at how blinding his teeth were.

The train engine spluttered into life again and she gestured to the closest compartment. "Go on. Don't miss the train. I wouldn't want you getting stranded here, not without any skincare products," she teased, tightening her hold on the handle of her suitcase for something to remind her that this was real.

He chuckled under his breath, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder before catching himself and letting his hand fall back to his side.

"Call me if you need to!" he hopped up the steps to the train and waved through the windows until the surroundings blurred and she was a tiny dot on the platform.

Dahlia huffed out a breath of relief and rubbed at the ache in her chest. It was always easier to breathe when she didn't have reminders of the Capitol around her, even if she did have a soft spot for her escort.

The sun was beginning to set and although the warm light beat down against the nape of her neck, it did little to stop her from shivering.

She was tired of being cold all the time. It made it that much harder to stay in this world.

She tilted her suitcase up onto its back wheels, pulling it along the gravel as she headed for the small cottages in Victor village. The sooner she got home, the sooner she would be able to bribe River into gathering firewood.

She trekked up the familiar path to her house, noticing that someone had been watering her forget-me-nots. "Something smells nice," she announced, abandoning her suitcase in the entryway and preparing for impact.

As if on cue, Juniper deserted her post at the stove, dropping the wooden spoon back into the bowl and hurling herself towards Dahlia.

For someone who weighed fifteen pounds soaked through, Juniper always managed to knock the wind out of anyone she hugged.

"Oh my god, tell us everything! Is the news true? Are you actually going out with Finnick O'Dair?" Juniper squeaked, untangling her arms from around Dahlia's waist and holding her at arm's length. "I can't believe you never wrote me back! I've been dying here!"

Dahlia laughed, kindly shrugging off Juniper's touch and manoeuvring her way around the young girl. June had never been one to give up easily, though, and questions kept tumbling from her lips as she followed her into the kitchen.

Recent events were still weighing heavily on Dahlia's mind and her patience was beginning to wear thin as she sat cross-legged on a countertop. "June, I'll tell you everything over dinner, okay?" she grabbed the blonde's hands in her own.

Juniper nodded earnestly and started violently stirring the stew in the pot, adding in dashes of spices whenever she deemed necessary. She was clearly trying to get dinner on the table because the quicker they all sat down together, the quicker she'd get answers.

Ivy handed over the wooden spoon and pushed onto her tippy-toes to reach for tomatoes in the cupboard above Dahlia's head.

Ivy had always been considered the beautiful one in the family and her older sister couldn't agree more. That was part of the reason she had agreed to Snow's demands — there was no doubt in her mind that if she had refused, the president would've enlisted her sister into sex work at the tender age of nine.

He wouldn't have thought twice about it. He would not have even blinked.

Ivy was all skin and bone with cheekbones that could easily cut through glass. Her hair was black and had fallen out in parts from too much stress, but it covered her face like a curtain, and it wasn't noticeable from afar. Her eyes were by far her best feature —they were alluring, captivating, almost, and they spoke a million words. You never knew who Ivy was, not really, and that was something the Capitol would eat up.

"Is River out harvesting?" Dahlia covered her knuckles with the sleeves of her cardigan. Ivy didn't answer but a noise of agreement got caught in the back of her throat. "Does he know about Finnick?"

Ivy sauntered back to the stove with a sour expression, as if to say 'You bet he does — and he's not happy, either.'

Dahlia ran her tongue over her teeth, listening to the meat sizzle in the pot as her two mini-chefs expertly worked their way around the kitchen. She'd have to find some way to make it up to the girls; listening to River ran and rave for the last two weeks must have been torturous.

Juniper was true to her word and didn't ask about anything until they were sitting down at the table for dinner. "How long have you been seeing your fancy man for then, young lady?" she scooped generous servings of stew into their bowls and sat beside Ivy, impatiently rocking back and forth.

Dahlia desperately wracked her brain for an answer that would satisfy the girls; Ivy could sniff out a lie in milliseconds and Juniper would keep probing for the nitty-gritty details until she was satisfied, which made it incredibly difficult not to tell the truth.

She shoved a spoonful of stew into her mouth to buy herself some time. "We've been seeing each other for a couple of months," she said carefully. "We managed to keep it private for a while but someone walked in on us at a gala."

"What, they caught you having sex?" Juniper blurted out, eyes bulging out of their sockets as her fork clattered to the floor loudly.

"June!" she scolded, all the heat rushing to her face at the insinuation. She brushed back a few fly-away strands of hair and shook her head incredulously. Sometimes she forgot how little of a filter that girl had (which, admittedly, was rich coming from her —talk about the pot calling the kettle). "No, nothing like that. We were just hanging out in the garden and people started speculating, that's all," she insisted.

Ivy eyed her sister curiously. Maybe they hadn't been screwing, as June had so blatantly put it, but there had to be some fragment of truth to what the reporters were saying. She didn't care enough to ask, and the question wouldn't have left her head anyway, so she went back to picking at her food.

"What's Finnick like? Is he nice?" Juniper held her hands up in surrender as Dahlia glared in her direction. "Hey, don't shoot the messenger!"

Dahlia glanced out the window behind Juniper's head. The moon was already out and it was starting to get dark, which meant River would be home soon. Sliding out of her chair, she let the girls split whatever was left of her stew. "You can give me your character analysis when you meet him. I'm sure the two of you'll make a trip to the Capitol at some point or another."

Juniper jumped into a new line of questioning as Ivy took advantage of her opportunity and swiped a few tomato chunks from her older sister's bowl.

Dahlia chewed the inside of her cheek in an attempt to keep her temper in check. Hiding her distaste for the Capitol had worn her out but she refused to take it out on the girls. "Will you two be okay if I go to bed? I've got a migraine."

Juniper nodded sympathetically and anxiously tugged on her heart-shaped earrings. There was a silent understanding shared between the two. Dahlia liked to think that she shielded her victor from all of the terrible things life had to offer, but truthfully, they just never spoke about it.

Dahlia snagged a bottle of water from the fridge, fondly ruffling the girls' hair as she passed by and made a beeline for the staircase.

Her suitcase belted loudly against the steps as she carted it up to her room and shoved it underneath her bed. Out of sight, out of mind and all that jazz —in other words, she would likely forget it existed until Bloom showed up on her doorstep to whisk her away again.

She stripped out of her dirty clothes and heaped them together in the corner before tearing her chest of drawers apart for pyjamas. She stepped into polka-dotted bottoms and yanked a fleece over her head, running a brush through her hair for good measure.

Once the curtains were closed and her salt lamp was emitting an orange glow in the corner of the room, she wrapped herself in her duvet like a butterfly that was desperately afraid to leave its cocoon.

Worry ate away at her insides as she tossed and turned for hours on end, falling into the deep depths of sleep long after everybody else in the house had retreated to bed.

˚＊✿❀༓❀✿＊˚

Dahlia had been burning a hole in the living room carpet since she woke up. Her teeth tore away at the skin around her fingernails.

River had roped everybody into a mother's meeting and had swapped his usual work shift for the evening one. He had been scoffing under his breath, making a big song and dance about the whole situation until Ivy pushed him out the back door and locked him out.

Dahlia had been this close to ripping his head off and she was thankful that her sister had stepped in. The last thing she needed to deal with today was his inflated ego. He stropped off to the market to get some food and she hoped he would be calmer by the time he came back.

Juniper and Ivy were perched in the windowsill like two cats, their knees pressed up to their chests as they talked amongst themselves — well, as Juniper talked and Ivy listened.

Wyatt sat at the kitchen table, hands cupped around a steaming mug of coffee as he fought to keep his eyes open. At least she wasn't the only one running on empty this morning.

Letting out a frustrated groan, she collapsed into one of the kitchen chairs, holding her head in her hands. She found comfort in sitting with Wyatt. He didn't ask questions or hound her for details or tell her what to do. He just smiled tiredly and sipped his coffee like it was any other morning.

A burst of gratitude swept over her at how easy it was for him to adapt to his surroundings. She often said he was like a chameleon, changing forms and personas depending on who he was surrounded by, and she supposed that was something they had in common.

It was eleven o'clock when Juniper fell out of the windowsill, landing with a thump on the floor and loudly announcing that River was coming back.

Dahlia wiped her clammy palms into her blue jeans and rested her hand on her abdomen to regulate her breathing. Wyatt poured the dregs of his coffee down the sink and inched his chair closer to Dahlia's. He would no doubt be playing referee between the older siblings.

River crept his way back into the house, his arms folded over his chest like a child throwing a temper tantrum. He set the bag of food down on the table and sat opposite his sister. The girls were quick to follow suit, standing behind Dahlia's chair like a firing squad.

He propped his head up with his hands and sighed. "I know you're not going out with Finnick but what I don't understand is why you insist on entertaining the rumours. They're painting you out to be a slut and you're letting it happen," he spat.

Juniper knew that Dahlia would retreat into her own head if given the opportunity. She traced shapes into the older girl's skin to keep her tied to this reality.

Wyatt's eyes rapidly darkened and he clenched his fists in his lap. "Watch your tongue," he warned. His voice was raspy and he leaned forward in his chair. "Call her that again and see what fucking happens." He stood to his feet and River followed suit, towering over the victor.

Before either of them had a chance to start fighting in the middle of the kitchen, a hologram on the telly began to fizzle into focus. The Capitol anthem rang out, bouncing off the walls of the house.

President Snow took the stage and as the anthem ended, he began to speak about the Dark Days.

Dahlia's feet were moving on autopilot as she walked into the living room and collapsed on the sofa in front of the hologram. Everyone else was quick to follow and the tension between River and Wyatt was quick to dissipate.

Juniper sat at her feet and clutched her hand like a vice, eyes glued to the screen. "It must be the card reading," June whispered. "They announce the twist a couple of months before the games begin. That must be what it is, right?"

Dahlia's face was paling as the seconds ticked by. President Snow pulled an envelope from a wooden box and began to read from the card.

"On the seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest among them can not overcome the power of the Capitol, the male and female tributes will be reaped from their existing pool of victors!"

Dahlia keeled forward off the couch, landing on her knees as a scream clawed its way out of her throat.

She slipped away after that, and the feeling of being gently rocked back and forth was what brought her back to reality.

She was cradled in somebody's arms and the smell of pine told her that it was Ivy. She pried her eyes open.

The hologram had disappeared and the evening light blinded her. She didn't remember getting to the lake but gaps in her memory was normal when her brain was working in overdrive.

Ivy quietly shushed her and pushed back the damp strands of hair stuck to her temple. "I can't go back there. I can't do it," she sobbed.

Dahlia lay her head in Ivy's lap and the younger girl threaded her fingers through the knots in her hair just as their mother had done when they were kids.

There was a chill in the air as Ivy brushed the sand off her kneecaps and led Dahlia back to the house, keeping a firm hold of her hand in case she broke free and started to run.

As they neared Victor's Village, Dahlia could hear a wailing sound that was no doubt coming from her female counterpart in the reaping. Her feet were moving on autopilot as she slipped in the back door.

River had backed himself into a corner and was watching nervously as Juniper scratched at the skin on her arms. Wyatt was sat on the floor beside her, yet he maintained his distance in case it escalated the situation.

Ivy dimmed the lights and kicked River and Wyatt onto the porch. The last thing June needed was an audience.

Dahlia crouched down in front of her. "June, it's just me. I know you're probably struggling to understand what is happening and why it's happening and that's alright. It's okay to be scared and confused because I am here to help. Do you want me to explain what's going to happen?"

Juniper hummed under her breath and flapped her hands as she tried to break apart what Dahlia was saying. Once she could understand what was being said, she nodded anxiously.

"There's three months until the reaping so that gives Wyatt and I plenty of time to get back into shape before the games. We're gonna train like careers and you're gonna be our coach! I need you to listen carefully to this next part, okay?"

Juniper continued humming but she pried her eyes open a fraction of an inch.

"I'm going back into the games. Me. Not you. I love you but I will never forgive you if you volunteer. Do you understand?" she warned, gently brushing away the tears rolling down her warm cheeks.

Juniper sniffled and wiped her nose with her sleeve. "Promise me you'll come back. Promise me."

Dahlia swallowed the lump in her throat. It was hard to lie to Juniper— it was like kicking a puppy when it was already down. "I promise."

[pristinekanesays]

 🦋 Life Is Strange: Mental Health Headcanons

 🦋 warnings: heavy topics, mentions of psychical and verbal abuse, mentions of mental illness, kate's suicide attempt, a gif of warren beating the shit out of nathan which is funny to me, mentions of my literal enemy mark jefferson

 🎧 A/N: I was feeling a little silly, goofy even. This idea popped into my head as I was writing some relationship headcanons but I decided to write this instead, the relationship headcanons will be out later today though probably or tomorrow. ツ (this took like 9 hours)

 🦋 Chloe Price:

  💾 An attachment to Rachel who turned out to be just really only leading her on and giving her false hope, a dead father who she keeps seeing in her brutal nightmares, an abusive stepfather who we see hit her after a certain choice and has probably hit her before on several occasions, a mother who rarely takes her side and a best friend that's dipped only to come back and not tell her.

   📼Her emotions can change in a split second from 0% to 100% almost immediately, she's seen smoking which she probably uses to drift away from reality and ease the way she feels.

  📝I think that from research and playing the game that Chloe has Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), from her trust and abandonment issues, being unable to take control of her emotions and the meltdown she had in Chaos Theory.

  🍂Kate Marsh:

 💾 Kate is so deeply traumatized by what Nathan did to her, drugging her and promising that he'll take her to a hospital (he lied to her, he's an asshole). Only for Victoria to spread a video of her kissing complete strangers for the whole school, town and her extremely religious family to see.

  📼Her room is unclean and messy, things are spread across the floor including books and clothes, when she's at her desk she looks noticeably tired with red, puffy eyes from crying. Inside her room, it's dark and her mirror is covered up (afraid to look at herself, i think she's beautiful by the way.) When she's on the roof threatening to jump, she's correct that we don't know her mother but she apparently thinks that Kate is already on her way to hell.

 📝I think from how her behaviour is in the game that she has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) & Depression.

 📷 Max Caulfield:

 💾 She's gone through hell and back, watching her best friend get shot and finding out that she has literal powers that can rewind time. Then having to rewind and save Kate's life, rewinding to stop Victoria from going to Mark Jefferson and ending up in the dark room, saving Chloe from getting killed by a train and shot by Mark, finding Rachel's dead body and ending up in the dark room herself.

  📼Max seems to be pretty socially awkward and just focuses on photography entirely, she probably struggles making friends and communicating with others.

  📝I think that Max has Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), from her tending to avoid certain social decisions and her problems communicating with other people. Also, she could possibly have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after the Life Is Strange events take place, from her time in the dark room and constantly having to rewind and save Chloe's life.

 🎭Rachel Amber:

 💾 Rachel sort of has to have everyone's eyes on her, you know? The popular girl that everyone knows, especially after she goes missing. Finding out that her dad's cheating on her mom, who turns out to actually not be her biological mother, that shit would fuck with anyone's head.

  📼She's described as a huge flirt from the way she acts with Frank and Chloe but she's leading them both on at the same time, putting a huge strain on both of their relationships. Chloe's convinced that Frank is a huge creep (a little) especially since he has her bracelet but Chloe refuses to believe that Rachel would have did that to her. (going behind her back, lying to her.)

 📝Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD), it seems to describe her and her behaviour pretty well. Her emotions, her powers , how she started a whole fucking wildfire and her very unhealthy behaviour.

 🎬 Victoria Chase:

 💾 The Queen Bee! It's obvious that she was born into a wealthy family due to her expensive jewellery, clothes and very expensive camera equipment. (I see why Nathan and Victoria get along, they're both rich people who slightly get on my nerves.)

  📼From what she said to Max, it's obvious that she's jealous of her and probably afraid she'll take the spotlight or her place probably. She wants to be liked, the center of attention and if she isn't then she'll have a fucking fit. (I'm gonna have a BF, a bitch fit!) It's also obvious that she's very close with Nathan and aware of his unstable behaviour, their relationship can be seen as romantic or just friends. (i don't ship them, more like brother & sister.)

 📝It says on her profile that she could possibly have Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD), seductive behaviour, self-centeredness and constantly seeking reassurance or approval.

 🎮 Warren Graham:

 💾 It's my favourite dork! He's literally 16 and in a school specifically for seniors, smart much? It's said that he probably advanced a couple grades on his profile due to him being pretty smart.

 📼He's seen a few times fidgeting around, he's literally unable to stay still apart from when he's getting his picture taken. He acts without thinking like how he beat Nathan Prescott's ass (twice) and I get the vibe he'd also struggle focusing on certain tasks.

 📝I couldn't find anything on Warren but personally i think he has Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) from what I said earlier, he's unable to stay still, acts without thinking and struggles focusing on certain tasks. (like loving me back)

 🧨 Nathan Prescott:

 💾 He's a horrible person and I don't defend this man but I do feel bad for him, physically and verbally abused by his own father, used by Mark Jefferson all because he's rich and easy to manipulate. He went down all the dark paths in the world for a fucked up dickhead (i literally despise mark jefferson, i will beat his ass.)

 📼It's obvious he's mentally unstable and everyone around him knows, they just don't care except for his therapist. It's heavily implied that he suffers from paranoia, anxiety and psychosis. From his scary ass drawings and a letter from his therapist directed towards his father detailing how Nathan is `disconnected from reality`.

📝Nathan is confirmed to have Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia from the medicine (Risperidone, from his profile) that he takes which is used to treat both of those things. And possibly, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which could have been brought on by the abuse he endures from his father. (i'll beat his ass as well.)

[treason-and-plot]

REPLIES TO SAFFY LAMBASTING LIAM

@windermeresimblr

Wow! There's Saffy's backbone.

Yeah she's not known for holding back!

@drudragonrose

She's with a boy her own age that she actually likes. Be gone worm!

@ivorycrayon

Man, you write shades of grey so well. It’s hard to root for anybody, but it’s also hard to condemn anybody completely because all your characters’ actions are way too complex. “He’s wrong but..” “She shouldn’t have to deal with this but..” I could use your characters if I ever taught ethics class 😂 (except for Anita, that is, I always struggle to find any redeeming qualities in that lady :P)

Thank you so much Ash! I love writing morally grey characters who have questionable (but hopefully relatable) motives so it's extremely heartening to read your comment. And I love how steadfast you've always been in your opinion of Anita, lol!

@keoni-chan

I don't like this one bit. I hope Liam's brand new backbone doesn't evolve into an "if I can't have you..."-situation 😱

who knows what might have happened if fate hadn't intervened....

@dresdendarlin

Oooh it’s his snapping moment. He’s gonna do something drastic and crazier next.

@batsheba

Ok, now let's see if he, the creep Liam, can process this information?! Whatever happens I hope Saffy will be ok... I'm worried Liam will do something utterly stupid and potentially dangerous.

@oasislandingresident

Ooooh shit's about to go down!!! 🍿

@kimmiessimmies

I'm with @batsheba, this is not going to go down well with Liam...

@wannabecatwriter

Be careful, Saffron. He's in a weird mindstate now.

@bool-prop

Oh no. He's going to snap.

@muses-circle

🤦

@muses-circle

Liam will either have a meltdown right there, in the parking lot, or he'll wait until he's in the middle of class and doing something worse. I'm worried about what his breaking point will look like.

@muses-circle

And Saffron, men DO leave their wives. It's call divorce, honey. Life isn't as black and white as you think.

I didn't write Saffy's speech very well...what she was trying to say was that it's a well-known fact that married men never leave their wives for their side-pieces! She was actually quite enraged that Liam turned out to be the statistical anomaly, lol. That was the last thing she wanted to happen!

@echoweaver

Woo. Saffron's right, but wow she's still got so much growing up to do. OTOH, Liam seemed to be with her in large part because she verbally abused him. It's such a messed up puppy.

Yeah, he seems to derive a perverse satisfaction from being the victim and indulging in self-defeating behaviour. It's also not an accident that the two women in his life routinely humiliate and criticise him.😬

@sweetnovember77

Saffy's words can devastate ANYONE with strong emotions toward another person. It's like a knife to the heart.

Yeah, Saffy can be very acid-tongued. He probably deserved the wake up call but Saffy can count herself very lucky he didn't snap or do something as drastic as Stephanie.

@anamoon63

😮 This is not going to end well. I wish Saffy had been a little more diplomatic. 😔

It definitely did not end well, but fortunately for Saffy she was not the one who was impacted the most! I hope at the very least she learns some important life lessons from this whole sorry experience.

@simsaralove

I really hope this will make Mr. Yucky realize he better go live in the Twinbrook swamps and not make him do something stupid and ruin Saffy’s happiness 😭

@justanothersimsblog

I'd tell her to slap him but I think he likes that so... maybe knee him in the balls then lol

lol he is such a pathetic masochist that he would probably enjoy that too!😆

@greywardenconsort

He's a monster thru & thru

A sad, spineless, loser monster.

@streetlites

That's gotta sting. Bwahahah. Also, what did he think she was going to do? Leap into his arms? She was never like that toward him to begin with.

@mysimsloveaffair

They are both better off without each other. Saffy is doing him a favor and he doesn't even know it. SMH

Liam was always doomed by his poor life decisions and victim mentality. I'm also thinking that it was possible he had affairs as a passive-aggressive form of revenge, but didn't count on falling so heavily for Saffy. In any case, I think he got what he deserved.

[komohine]

(College au)

Today i bring you found siblings Pidge and James. Wont disclose too much (for suspense but also bcs i havent figured everytjinf out yet) but basically Pidge is a 15 year old in an extremely fast paced and competitive college environment (their uni, Burnham, is basically just another ivy league in this universe. And she’s in uni for compsci and coding) balancing her schoolwork with her tireless search for her missing brother and father. That’s not healthy for a 15 year old. On top of that she doesn’t get that big of a monthly stipend because her mother is really struggling to keep everything afloat alone. And even though her mom tells her not to worry of course Pidge fucking worries.

James comes from a similarly fast paced and stressful background. His whole life was pretty much making sure everything he did was beyond perfect for not only the public eye but also so he could maybe get some love from his parents (never happened). He’s balancing a dual major and a minor with the responsibilities of being his parents company’s heir and it absolutely sucks but at least he’s a legal adult.

Pidge does NOT like James at first. Like with James you either really like him or you really, really hate him. Most people like him but the small minority that hate him are passionate about it. She always questioned Keith’s taste and thought James was a no good pretentious asshole that would only hurt Keith and everyone around him.

Until one day, while James is spending some time in the dorm, Pidge offhandedly mentions to Hunk how annoying it was that her favourite chocolate brand doubled in price because of import fees because she could no longer afford buying it. James made zero indication that he care or even that he heard this. But two days go by and the paladin dorm gets a fresh grocery delivery (their struggle with groceries was a recurring theme). Beyond the fact that James went out of his way to buy groceries for them, the groceries weren’t just a random assortment of stuff either. Inside were spices Hunk complained he was missing, a premium protein powder for Lance because Lance finds the cheap ones taste quite bad, chestnuts for Keith, and a megapack of the chocolate Pidge wanted. Down to the specific kind of chocolate from the specific brand.

And Pidge had been so wrapped up in her insane schedule and stresses that she’d forgotten how nice it was for an adult to take care of things for her. Because making the decision to skip out on your favourite treat in favour of actual nourishing food bcs you cant afford both is a heartbreaking decision to make at 15. And Pidge realizes that maybe James isn’t so bad.

And she starts sucking up to him and loudly mentioning her favourite snacks around him because she knows he’ll buy them for her and every grocery delivery she’s proved right when her favourite snacks show up. But one day James just looks at her and goes “you know you can ask me directly, right? I don’t mind” and Pidge crumbles a little and her voice gets stuck in her throat and she can only manage a weak comeback because shes now realizing that James actually does care and that he reminds her a lot of Matt and she misses Matt so much its painful.

One time Keith and James were out but Keith forgot something in his dorm. James is the faster one so he offered to go get it for Keith and ended up accidentally walking in on Pidge having a full on meltdown (Pidge and Keith are roommates). James very quickly walked back out of that room to give her space but he didn’t leave immediately. After he heard her sniffling die down a bit he asked through the door if she wanted to talk about it. Because James came from a big family that was devoid of love. He would do anything to have had one of his older siblings comfort him when he was younger and sad over whatever. The least he can do is try to be what his older brothers were not. Because he sees himself reflected in Pidge in a way. He knows if he was in her position at her age he’d kill for someone older to tell him that all will be well eventually.

And instead of answering Pidge just opens the door and hugs James and James is a little shocked but hugs back nonetheless and sits with her on the dorm floor for a long while (he had to text Keith to go on without him) listening to her ramble about school problems, more personal issues, club penguin drama, and warrior cats lore.