#i'm kinda like 'why even bother' but one of em has been reaching out to try to hang with my partner more

[bladeofthestars]

.

[chidoroki]

182 Days of TPN - Day 130

Chapter 130: "Something to Report"

I love how easily Emma can now admit her feelings regarding the annihilation towards her family. From initially hiding her concerns, to opening up to Ray about them and finally admitting them to Norman himself and making her stance against the plan firm.. it's quite the improvement that she can talk freely about her choices without too much worry about how everyone else will react.

Probably the main reason why I believe that the hatred the GP resistance harbored towards the demons is more justified than the malice the Lambda crew feels. The poachers were all psycho and far from innocent, unlike those demons simply living in actual towns.

Definitely the best point to bring up in order to get the other thirteen escapees concerned, and I like how it's only them shown to react to the possibility.

I know it hasn't even been a full ten chapters yet, but it feels as if I haven't seen everyone else in ages. I suppose that's solely a me problem by going through the chapters on a day by day pace. (is Rossi raising his hand?? aww, precious boy has a question!)

She says it so proudly! And hearing her repeat Ray's advice to her makes me feel so soft. My boy has such intense glare though, as if he's just waiting to see if anyone is gonna really shut down her idea. Dude is giving y'all a warning to not challenge them after Emma's worked so hard to reach this decision.

Season two saw that comment of Ray's and said "alright, bet."

It's great that Sandy & Sonya recall that one brief moment with Nous mourning over Nouma, reminding us that even the real terrible demons do have actual feelings.

Getting the chance to see other people's reactions to this whole mess is definitely something. Gillian doesn't seem too thrilled to admit that last bit though. If I was in their place, I wouldn't know which side I'd be on at the start.

Oh Don, you wonderful supportive brother you. YES! These kinds of decisions is what Emma is best know for and no matter how risky they might be, the kids were able to come so far by following their highly determined and optimistic leader.

The advantage of being the main protagonist. Or disadvantage in this case. Take your pick.

Ahha.. wait til they find out Norman's life is actually in danger due to the Lambda experiments.

Mhhmm, can't say you're gonna escape with everyone when you let one of your besties go. Granted, they left the children four and younger behind but at least she made the promise to go back for them.

He said the thing again + double head pats.

Luckily for Gilda and everyone else, our girl keeps her promises. And remains quite honest throughout the series as well. (she may not tell the whole truth during the most crucial moment of the series but what can ya do.)

I laser focus on the GP trio every damn time I come across this panel without fail. Idc if they're just standing there, I love them.

You know Norman is so deep into the WM persona when he doesn't even bother to see RE off before they venture to the Seven Walls, like he knows how risky it would be to go there, if it even exists in the first place, and he just.. straight up lets 'em go without a proper goodbye.

Favorite panel/moment:

Big sis Paula is back with more hugs.

But more importantly, there's THIS. Ray calling her crazy and no one disagrees. Also, his comment about him not being able to see her pov is sorta foreshadowing to the Seven Walls and how Emma is able to meet the demon god and not him. Sure Ray might come to understand Emma's reasoning and how her mind works eventually, but not at first, hence why he was booted out of the Seven Walls.

Plus, I adore that face of hers. I'm very happy such a tiny detail made it into the anime as well.

I also.. forgot to cross check the anime with this chapter until now. Um, yeah, some stuff remains the same of course. Tons of people missing obviously. How RE invite Don & Gilda to help with their search of Sonju & Mujika is kinda reminiscent of their conversation from ch99 actually with them being thankful to finally help with something. The addition of Emma & Gilda's headbutt is cute.

I know this is already hella long and parts of this conversation don't even happen within the chapter (or at all in the manga) but screw it, my boy looks so handsome here.

[sburbian-sage]

Ah shit man if you needed food all you had to do was say, kinda shit texture but i made a fuckton of freeze dried foods and vacuum sealed them and they should be heading your way and arriving around the same time you get this message

(one of my coplayers was a farmer and entered with a whole ass farm, livestock and all) so theres gonna be some powdered eggs, freeze-dried beef and chicken, powdered potatoes and i think i managed to get some freeze-dried tomato powder as well, as well as some powdered milk, and also some canned corn

Honestly there were very few actual aspect abilities used to send you the box of candy which was a kind of test

Sent em over with a jury rigged telepad thing that i rigged up with a lot of bullshit, a bit of denizen magic, and also the mini-paradox skaia off the kings staff that i stole, using your posts as a kind of beacon with my space aspect (witch of space baby)

Tried making a cool infini-tele-staff thing but my alchimeter exploded and killed me so thats probably not gonna work

Honestly ive been just dicking about since I'm pretty sure this is a doomed timeline cause all my coplayers true deathed a while back

As far as I'm aware my denizen says I'm supposed to use this thing to send back some stuff but never bothered to tell me what i was supposed to send and then went and died so who knows

... Man, I feel bad now.

I didn't actually receive any of the candy the other guy sent. In fact, I didn't actually know until just right now that there was an authentic attempt to send me anything. I read "*uses my space powers to teleport a box of candy onto your ship thing in front of you*" as being in the same genre of post as "sends u internet hugs", AKA a nice message that doesn't actually come with any real hugs. I pretended I received the candy so I could play along and make a joke about thinking it was a Saccharine Doppleganger scare. I briefly considered saying "you teleported it outside of the ship and it has tentacles now", but I thought 1) that was too cynical 2) I could segue the joke I did end up using into a fun Knowledge Tidbit. But the consequences of this joke is that two people just teleported two care packages into who-knows-where and I just made everyone in this situation look like an asshole, especially myself.

I'd also advise against any attempts to do this in the future. I'm in the Furthest Ring, which is essentially a non-Space (and I don't think Time works correctly either) the deepest reaches of which do not "exist" in any particular Session. Space abilities can't directly access it (the best they can do is fling stuff in there, as in you're literally throwing them), and technology like Sendificators and Appearifiers can't really have their coordinates set out here, partially because I think they're bound to the universe they exist in and partially because I don't think euclidean space is really "a thing" out here so the numbers wouldn't even work. The fact that the Ring Servers can exist out here and provide a pan-Session online network is nothing short of miraculous, and it's mostly because their existences have been bargained for with the Others (so it's actually demonic power if anything, heh). To put it another way, if you could teleport something from your Session to my position in the Furthest Ring, you could do the opposite, and if you could do the opposite, I would not be here.

Either way, I don't mind that the packages didn't arrive and you shouldn't either. I have a stockpile of "real food" that isn't just staple crops, the Cookalizer does a good job of making them taste like something, and I do have a Alimentator, but I try not to use it too much because that stuff isn't free-use and I can't exactly gather any Grist or resources out here, same reason why I've mostly been saving my Alchemiter for air filters and other low-cost "maintenance" needs. I will survive. You should focus more on your own survival, particularly the "I might be in a Doomed Timeline and if I'm not then I'm the last survivor" and "my Denizen empowered one of my items and asked me to do something important with it" parts.

Also, congrats on the farm. I'm pretty sure those farm animals are Doomed because they're homeworld-originated non-player entities, so enjoy them while you can (as in "they're probably going to get wiped out with a meteor or something dumb and contrived). If you really want to help people with your food, I'd get into Alimentator hacking. Basically you can upload the food you make as a digital .ali file that other people can download and use a jailbroken Alimentator to turn it into actual food. It's really sick, but I know how to do that about as well as I know how to actually cook (and I'm not really in a position to begin learning considering the scarcity of resources). Luckily the Alimentator/Sburban Cooking community might be as big if not bigger than the Gamebreaking community, so there's a lot of resources out there that will help you get started. If you do end up getting into it (and not dying because of your current predicament), once I land in an actual Session I'll be searching through your .ali file upload for my first meal.

[artdecosupernova-writing]

Romantic Snippet Tag

taking an open tag from @oh-no-another-idea! I need as many distractions as I can get and I think this'll be a good one

I'll be tagging @ashen-crest, @zmwrites, @drippingmoon, @drabbleitout, @pertinax--loculos, @sleepy-night-child, @druidx, and literally everyone and anyone else who sees this 👍🏽

I've posted so many romantic moments between Warren and Thrive...and here's another one lmao. and I've posted parts of this before but never the whole scene so voilà

From Thriving: Meridian—

"I don't know how I feel about all the strangers on my ship."

The Setae'togun had been assigned to Warren when he was working for the Consortium; a relic from the days when he still fought a war that ended when ———. He used it more often than not to get from place to place, but there was a time it harbored a whole crew under his command.

Thrive sighed, standing in the door separating the commander's quarters from the bathroom. "They're not strangers, Warren, they've been my security detail for the past fifteen years."

Warren swiveled in his chair at the desk by the main door, steepling his fingers under his chin. "You understand why I'm unhappy they're here, right? With them here, there will be even less space to keep refugees. The fewer the refugees, the less likely we'll be able to smuggle everyone to Tournaltis' moons."

Thrive arched an eyebrow. "You're explaining my own concerns to me?"

"I'm not saying we ditch them on Efthim, but we can't bring them back with us."

"They're incredibly hard to lose."

"How many times have you tried?"

"How much time do you have?"

"Ooh." Warren pushed himself to standing and sidled up to Thrive, rubbing his palms together. "This is the plan...we pack as many of Efthim's people as we can onto this ship, say 'oops, looks like there's just not enough room, sorry,' then toss your sentries onto a passing cargo ship getting the hell outta dodge, provided they don't all succumb to the supernova first."

Thrive regarded him with surprise and amusement. "Dark. Even for you."

Warren shrugged. "How many times have they actually done something you weren't fully capable of doing nor had you not actually done yourself? Tell me this—who would win a round of hand-to-hand combat? The lady who'd mastered five different types of martial arts and spent thirteen years in the Marines, or fuckin' you?"

"There was a time her accolades would've impressed you," Thrive said, a smile threatening to break through an otherwise well-maintained air of concern.

"And how would you know that? I haven't been impressed with literally anything else since I met you."

"Qrihk."

Warren blinked. "Gesundheit."

Thrive shook his head, leaning into the door frame. "The people of Efthim are called the qrihk."

"Ah-ha…" Warren angled his head to the side and eyed him up and down before fluttering his eyelashes at him. "You wanna tell me about 'em?"

"I see through your scheme."

"My dearest love. Whatever do you mean?"

"I know what happens when I start prattling on about a subject." Thrive reached over to grip Warren's chin in the cup of his hand, fingers squeezing to force his lips into a pucker. "To be more precise, I know what happens to you."

A laugh nearly exploded out of Warren, but he fought the giggles bubbling up his throat. "I am disgusted and offended at the implication," he said as well as he could with half of his face squished together.

"You're also a deviant," said Thrive, exhausted voice lowered and much smokier than usual, which did not help matters in the least. "Vacate the room."

"It's my ship." Warren cleared his throat. "But marriage is about sharing, after all. You know what, I'm kinda hungry anyway, I might bother the cook for a couple hours—"

Thrive tipped Warren's face downward to plant a kiss on his forehead. "Goodnight, Warren," he murmured before releasing him and pushing him gently in the direction of the door.

[ritacaroline]

A New Series

By Ritacaroline

Quips n Blips to Ponder

Episode 3

Dial and Confess

The case of John A.

Phone ringing,

Hello. You've reached the Sunday version of 1 800 Dial and Confess. Please listen to the following options as our menu has changed.

To continue :

Press one (1)

if you wish to make a confession about yourself today.

Press two (2)

if you plan on throwing one of your neighbors under the bus.

Press three (3)

if you're a dirty slut. Then, we'll quickly call Father Larry, since he loves hearing about that stuff.

J : Hello ?

Father Larry : ( he's been called in especially for you, to hear your confession. Your kinda sins are his faves. )

Fr L : yes, my son. How can we help you this morning ?

J : My name is John. And I'm going to need to confess. I've been naughty.

Fr. : yes my son. Proceed with sin #1.

J : Bless me father for I have sinned. It's been 2 weeks since my last confession.

Uhm, well I met this chick on a website. And she's a Zep hoe. That was what first drew me in. And she reminded me of a tv character I like, from her supposed picture. ( who really knows ? She could very well be a 92 yr old horny Native American gay man, looking for love. Posing as a 60 yr old woman from CT. ) (And the joke's on me. Who knows, for real. ) She did once at least send me a bag of crappy take out food when I was so hungry I was about to eat a flip flop w cheese melted on top. So whoever it is - I decided to chat w her when I was down n out lonely. She really isn't my cup of tea. Ya know. Kinda bossy. But - wtf ? The woman I really love isn't available r n. She's away. So - wtf. But - I digress. Anyhow ...

Fr : uh huh, uh huh. I feel ya, man. Been there, done that. Usually those type of things ( website things ) don't amount to shit. My advice so far : Save yourself some time. Ghost her. Read me ? Leads to nothing but wasted time. You'll definitely end up hating her.

J : anyway, this chick is married.

Fr : sorry to interfere again - but damn. Wtf ? Why bother or get involved in that ? You're fighting a losing battle. Can you send me her # ?

J: again dude, IDK. She claims she has a pair of Ds. If you get my drift. And I'm waiting to see if I can get a view of those juicy morsels so that I can, ya know. Study em and view em daily, for science, ya know. While I, ya know. Polish the old silver. Slather up the old sea monster. While holding the photo up w one hand. Know what I mean ? Cuz, you get it... right ?

Fr : yes, because you only have one hand available bc the other one is extremely busy....Yeah, I get it.

J : ok. So one night - this crazy chick, who btw, thinks I like her ( dumbass ), we were talking by text. And things were starting to get a little hot n out of control. And she seemed to be into me pretty good that night. And even admitted she had wet underwear over me. Should I have believed that ?

Fr : yes, yes. More, more, more. I'm liking where this is going. ( J hears the bench creaking every second on the other end of the phone, over n over, along w heavy uneven breathing)

J : well anyway - I got this effin brilliant brilliant idea ! Snap a kwik photo of my enlarged beast, the old anaconda, ya know, standing tall like a soldier and surprise her with the pic, ya know. Make her think she won the lottery.

Fr : uh huh, uh huh. I see. And what was her reaction, my son ? And btw, this sounds like our client Cat. You're not referring to her, are ya ???

J : quiets down for a little while. Then :

Well, in regard to the pic - she was quiet at first. Guess she didn't expect to see the beast, right in her face. She seemed startled. But she got used to it, I think. They all do. They LOVE the old sea monster. All the ladies do. I'm a virtual chick magnet. And I'm the only guy around here who's got one of these. And damn, he's special.

So, you know. She may be sweet, or just a dirty slut, I can't decide which. But ... she said I'm beautiful. Gave it a 9.8. So who's sorry now ? Who's sorry now.

Fr : ( wiping sweat off his brow) please don't forget to drop those afore mentioned photos into the lockbox. It's for scientific research only, remember.

J : yes yes. I sure will. And I'll also include a copy of a cd of me playing selections on the bass. I'm quite good you know. ( hurts arm badly by trying to pat his own back. )

Fr : yeah, ok, under his breath - he says : yeah, who cares.

But my son, John. Please don't forget those photos and placing them into the lockbox. And by the way, has this woman sent you any under the skirt photos for YOUR enjoyment ? I'd like to see those as well. For science. Here at 1 800, we love a big juicy ass. Got any of those laying about ? Ya know. Been a long time since I've seen a real vagina. Are you sure she has one ???

J : IDK actually. But I'm certainly hoping for one. And I predict I'm gonna find out. But I've been w so many women in my life, it's not really even any big deal to me anymore. You seen one you seen em all. And I've seen plenty. Do you know my nickname is the great white...

Fr : ok ok. Get over yourself, guy. Ok. Good luck w that, you little perv. And are you sorry for your sins my son ?

J : uhh, not really. I just thought confessing would make me feel better. Clear my conscience. I don't want to be a home wrecker ya know. But I'd sure like a little action from this tv show actor look alike. She be cute.

Fr : uh huh, uh huh. If you do get some under the skirt photos please feel welcome to shoot back over here n drop em into the Ol lockbox. Ya know, because Father has been good to you. And it's super nice to share.

J : ok well. I'll see. She's acting kinda shy. Very non-generous with the panty pics and the tit pics. But I keep asking, just the same tho, you know me. Tryin to guilt her into it. She's very sensitive so.. you know, she takes my unhappiness rather seriously. So I been laying it on thick. You know me. She'll cave. Any day now. I got her attention, but good. She's very sensitive and can be vulnerable. So I got a shot at getting her to do anything I want. You know me.

Fr : I'm starting to. For your penance my son, please go out into your community and share some of them dick pics and other various smut to the homeless and to the sexually deprived among us. The Lord thanks you for your efforts.

Now, my son, go out into the world and serve the Lord. And please - spend some of your time helping the homeless and the less fortunate of society. Do something useful with your time ok ?

Also please try our menu item #10. It's perfect for you.

Over n out

The names and identity of the characters in this story have been changed to protect the innocent. We mean the guilty. Although the actual story is true. We hope you learn from the lessons taught here.

This story is a variation of what has truly taken place. And most rude insults were not meant to hurt anyone. But were adjusted for entertainment's sake and to make you laugh. And were not at all intended to offend any of our readers. So go grab a Ben and Jerry's and have a smoke. And relax. Do not be angry with the lovely woman who has written the above trash. Do not. She meant no harm, I promise you.

Just trying to make you laugh.

[skellebonez]

Because I'm sure this is going to be inevitable, how about some angst for the Chaos Trio (Mei, Jin and Yin)? With 61 and 52

Oh I have been looking forward to Chaos Trio angst since you sent me this, anon. Despite how they act in show... I think Jin and Yin are not exactly harmless. Especially if you mess with people they start to consider family.

The Cursed AU and the Chaos Trio in it come from @winterpower98!

Warning: blood and head injuries, enemy demons limbs (not detailed).

That is not a good hiding spot./I am a really bad actor.

Things had been going pretty well, all things considered. Jin and Yin had no problem getting Mei to join them in a little bit of... let's say "competitive insurance" as it were. They had to make sure they were secured in their own little tech related ventures, and after some financial setbacks they needed extra fallback. They’d planned the whole thing out with her help, more than 2 steps and everything! She was good at that.

The problem was that someone got a lucky hit.

They would have made it out with no problems, if they all hadn't decided going on Mei's motorcycle as a group (which, now that Yin thought about it, was probably incredibly dangerous and illegal with 3 of them on it... not that they cared about legality for themselves but somehow when it came to Mei that suddenly made them concerned). But nope. 1 bike. 3 people.

One lucky shot to the rear tire.

The three of them went flying, Mei landing very impressively on her feet whole Jin and Yin bounced on a bush and thanked anyone listening that demons were sturdier than humans. They didn't thank anyone for the pieces of bike that came flying at them all, and they were certain that they heard a piece make contact with something hard, maybe the nearby light pole, but couldn't be sure.

By the time they looked up they just knew they had a group of very angry demons that were pissed they stole and then wiped their code for... something, didn't matter to the twins what it was. They just wanted their competition out of the way. For solely selfish reasons. Nothing else. Not like they wanted it to see what it was and maybe figure out a counter attack so that certain overpowered people with monkey motifs would have an easier time in the future.

Not a chance.

As they fought off the attacking demons they insisted to themselves they didn't care that much.

"That is not a good hiding spot!" Jin yelled across the battlefield as Yin ducked behind crates. "Just chuck it for now and beat em with the blunt end of something else!"

"Just give me 2 seconds, I can fix it!" Yin yelled back, trying his best to reassemble a part of his sword hilt that had broken off.

"Come on, these guys ain't so tough!" Mei laughed out, easily dodging projectiles and backsliding and slicing and dicing as she went. No one was actually killed, but they were lucky because the only reason for that was the young woman wasn't exactly out for blood. They'd be feeling every single hit well into morning though! She was doing much better than the two of them. "Grab a pipe or something! Wish I had MK's magic building power though, I'd rather not be here all-YIN!"

The younger twin looked up from where he had been crouched, eyes widening as he saw the form of a much larger demon hulking over him and ready to batter him with a club.

Things had been going well. All things considered. Then someone got a second lucky hit.

Right as Mei dove in to push the younger silver twin out of the way.

For a second the fighting stopped. There was just the sound of wood hitting hard plastic and fiberglass as the club was sliced in half by her sword and the lopped off half continued it's trajectory and slammed into Mei's head to lead to her crumbling on top of Yin. Jin stood on too of a pile of crates, watching as a line of red seeped through a crack in her visor and stained the white of her suit.

And then his entire vision was red as he lunged at the demon and sliced, sending his arm flying in the opposite direction.

The demon screamed, holding the stump that was his arm from the elbow down, backing away as quickly as he could. "W-what the hell!?"

"Mei," Yin said softly, carefully clicking the emergency release button to make her helmet digitize away. Her eyes were closed, blood dripping from a slice running along her scalp... but as far as he could tell it was from part of the helmet being cracked and cutting her. She was most likely knocked out from the impact, breathing odd but steady in her unconscious state. "You... we're going to get you to the hospital."

His tone hardened as he carefully laid her on the ground, standing tall as he grabbed his broken weapon and a nearby piece of broken steel.

"You. Are going. To pay for that," Yin said coldly, stance no longer lose and half playful as it had been the whole battle. His stood tall, eyes wide and cold and the demons surrounding them felt a chill run down their spines.

Jin stood in front of him, blood from the other demon splattered across his face and chest in a stark contrast to his orange visage.

This... this wasn't the pair of Gold and Silver Demons they had heard about before. They were known for not taking almost anything seriously, making bad deals and pacts and weird blood oaths they wasted on bizarre favors. They were known for being good at tach but not much else, most demons in the area knew vaguely of their history with the Monkey King but even that ended in failure. Their plans were half baked, goofy, and lately they'd heard they'd gotten roped in with the Monkey King's successor and renewed flame of the Six-Eared Macaque.

The two standing before them did not look like the demons they'd heard about.

Mei hadn't wanted to seriously hurt anyone. The demons heard her yelling as much on the battlefield. But now Mei was hurt.

And the twins did.

It happened fast. They wanted to get it over with quickly. Mei had also not wanted to kill anyone at the very least the twins could do was keep up their promise from earlier in the day to avoid that. And they did.

That didn't mean there weren't lost limbs. Hands and arms. A leg or two. More than a couple eyes were lost. Someone lost an ear. Another a tail and horn.

Injuries they could recover from meant as warnings.

All it took was 3 minutes and the entire storage area they crashed in was a mix of grey and brown and red. Demons holding their injuries or running off.

The one who had attacked Yin and hurt Mei stood in awe and fear, looking down at the smaller twins who has decimated an entire group so fast.

"I-how!?" He yelled, backing up slowly. "This isn't possible, you're not this strong!"

"Who told you that?" Yin asked slowly, tilting his head and watching as the demon realized... he'd never heard they couldn't fight. "We don't fight like this because we don't want to. Never meant we can't."

"Why?"

"We are really bad actors," Jin said, wiping the blood off his weapon on an unconscious demon's shirt. "Why bother trying to hold back when we can just hide it by not trying?" He turned to the demon, glowering coldly as he watched his brother pick Mei up carefully. "Tell anyone who asks nothing. We'd like to keep it that way. Unless you want a round two where someone else doesn't hold us back."

And then they were gone.

~

"What in the actual hell happened?" Macaque asked in an even tone. Practiced even. A dangerous even.

"Well-" "You see boss-" "we kinda-" "-there was-"

Jin and Yin tried to think of a reasonable excuse, faltering as everything they thought of sounded worse and worse in their heads.

The two sat in Mei's hospital room, towels draped around their shoulders. They’d been smart enough to stash Mei's bike somewhere safe and wash off in the ocean before coming to the hospital, less covered in demon blood meant less scared humans when they rushed in with Mei in tow, and it was easy to make the nurses believe them.

Simple bike accident, friend hurt, help please.

With Macaque staring them down with his patented death glower, shadows growing and warping around the room in response to him, it was infinitely harder.

Of course Mei's emergency contact was MK. Of course MK could call Macaque before her parents (who were apparently on their way back from some kind of dragon family business trip when they learned). Of course Macaque would show up almost immediately and begin asking questions.

"It was my fault," Mei chimed in, voice slightly off from having awoken with a nasty concussion. "I thought it'd be fun to go on a joy ride late at night, I've done it before without issues! But, uh... I've never had two passengers before... and we hit something. Don't be mad at them?"

Macaque looked like he believed Mei as much as he believed Tang would lose interest in the Monkey King and switch his field of study to obscure methods of basket weaving. Which is to say: he didn’t. But he sighed, giving Mei a small smile as the shadows returned to normal.

"Ok," he said softly, tone much more gentle with the dragon descendant as he reached out to brush loose hair out of her face. "I won't be mad at them. I'll be very disappointed-" his tone hardened for a second at those words as he turned to the twins with a glower again. "-but I won't be mad. Do you need anything?"

"Maybe a candy bar from the vending machines outside?" Mei asked with a smile.

"Sure," Macaque laughed and shook his head, moving to the corner of the room. "I'll be right back."

He sunk into the shadows, a cool trick that the twins would always be impressed by, and they breathed a sigh of relief at knowing they were alone. For now.

"You didn't have to do that," Jin said, frowning at Mei in concern. Maybe it was just because he was now the eldest in the room, but some kind of protective feel pulled at him.

"I know," Mei said with a tired laugh, laying back into her pillow. "But you guys are like... my bros. I gotta stand up for my bros."

And that made both Jin and Yin pause. They looked at each other, eyes widening as they both came to a realization that was probably a very long time coming at that point.

"Yeah..." Yin said, a soft smile forming on his face. "We'd do the same for you... you know, if you didn't take that hit for me you probably would have kicked everyone's ass way better than us! We barely got out by the skin of our teeth!" A full truth and a blatant lie, but he hoped Mei wouldn't pick up on that second part.

"You know it, boi!" She didn't.

It was odd for him in particular. Yin had never really thought of himself as an older brother before.

First time for everything.

[magnusgoetia]

Transcript of a Sinner’s Conversation: A Meeting with Caecus

--Begin (In Medias Res)--

Sinner: You kiddin'? Dyin' was the best thing that's ever happened to me.

Caecus: There’s nothing you left behind? No family to miss?

Sinner: My family? Fuck 'em, I'd ‘ave hired 'elp to kill 'em already if it meant they'd be dead-dead, and I wouldn't have to spend time wiv 'em down 'ere. It wouldn't be right for me to force this on my friends either, but they'll be 'ere in due time anyway. I can wait.

Caecus: So, you’re expecting your friends to join you here as well. The wait must be awfully lonely.

Sinner: Ah, not really. I’ve made friends while I’m ‘ere. The shit I can do ‘ere is like, fucking magic and with it I can make up for what I lack in a lot of different ways. Just wish I could remember how I ‘ad died.

Caecus: Maybe it’s better not to remember… Not all of us intended to be here, after all.

Sinner: No. No, perhaps it’s best not to remember. I quickly found out that it's not just evil folks that end up here, lots of good folks, plenty of weird ones too. I'm sensing you’re of the “gooder” ones, you radiate...well, it’s 'ard to describe, but I don't sense any hostility from you at the very least, even though you were born ‘ere.

Caecus: How amiable of you. But remember, a birth is just a new beginning of sorts. You couldn’t have been alone since you were… delivered to us.

Sinner: Ah, you’re a poetic type aren’t ya? Anyway, I’ve not made many friends but I do ‘ave a particular fondness for this one clown...me an' 'im seem to 'ave this weird connection wiv each other. Actually, he's more of a jester type, though rather embarrassingly his name escapes me...

Caecus: Are you, by chance, referring to an imp named Blocko?

Sinner: Yeah, don’t surprise me you know ‘im. He seems like the type to ‘ave a particular reputation.

Caecus: That he does, and yet a divine will connects us. I’m being led to believe your intriguing appearance has an even more… intriguing history.

Sinner: Riiiight...Well, you know what they say about skeletons and closets. Though I suppose I ‘ave nothing to hide ‘ere...Well, to put it simply, I was a broken kid. I never got help, and I did... unspeakable things to anyone who ‘ad wronged me—or simply didn't like.

Caecus: Even the purest of souls can be corrupted by another’s sins.

Sinner: Yeah...Well, it's not like I'll stop doin’ what I did while I was alive, with all that murder and hedonism. Though death has a way of humbling some people...In any case, the murders mostly stopped as I grew older. I seemed to have preferred to just traumatise people instead, ruin lives of the people I saw as bad or evil.

Caecus: Then you found a different punishment for those you had judged.

Sinner: I suppose so. A lot of it involved me spying on groups of people. I'd worm my way into the seedy societies that thought they were safe in their little circles and collect dirt on them. Really sick shit too by the way but don’t worry, the hypocrisy wasn’t lost on me either.

Caecus: Oh? You judged yourself a hypocrite yet continued along a path of self-appointed righteousness... Why?

Sinner: I don’t know, maybe a sense of catharsis? A lot of these were people who I wouldn’t have to feel guilty about killing or whatever. Sometimes it was more personal too, there were—still are people I am attached to up there that got hurt, and I took my revenge on them in their place.

Caecus: Ahh, how noble. Fighting for your friends.

Sinner: Yeah, there was this one particular bastard. Actually, there were a few…but…eh, nevermind…this one particular guy who was essentially lying to one of these “friends” and caused them a psychotic breakdown. I didn’t take action right away, but I did end up killing ‘im. Didn’t even bother hiding the fact it was a murder.

Caecus: What made you wait?

Sinner: Money, mostly. It makes the world up there spin, and you need a lot of it to get anything done, right? Well, I ‘ad to wait until I ‘ad enough money to fly to the states on top of all that shit involved in immigratin’. When I settled in, that’s when I made my move on a buncha grudges. This guy was just the first. Moving to the states made my life a lot easier in some ways. Was a lot easier to sleep when I took care of the grudges too.

Caecus: Oh, wow. You must have had remarkable resolve to keep a “grudge” that long… Tell me, did all of them truly deserve it?

Sinner: No, most didn’t, but I am…was, an angry person. I found I was very much capable of venting my anger, to put it mildly, and I was much too young when I had...shall we say...discovered it.

Caecus: Young minds are impressionable.

Sinner: Right, and the fact that I was generally good at getting away with it made me feel just that little bit better about it.

Caecus: So, you exploited that validation to continue justifying your actions. Most sinners in your position never reach awareness...

Sinner: Yeah? I’ll take that as a compliment, but I was totally emotionally disconnected when committing my crimes. Afterwards I pretty much always dealt with conflict. Cognitive dissonance is a bitch. Though I had largely stopped my ways. I’m ‘aving way too much fun down ‘ere, and even though I won’t drag ‘em down here with me, I’d love to have my friends join me eventually.

Caecus: Would they be pleased being here, embrace this existence like you have?

Sinner: I dunno, some of them have a hard enough time as it is with one existence, I doubt they’ll be too happy to find out there’s another waitin’ for ‘em. The others I’d imagine would be quite surprised all the same, being atheists and such, but I reckon they’d come to like it.

Caecus: An existence you cannot escape is itself a prison. Albeit, choosing to enjoy it in spite of that perspective is a marvelous thing. If you could imagine them in your presence, what would you do?

Sinner: Again, I dunno. It’s hard to tell when they’re not here yet but I am somewhat interested in what’ll end up happening should they get here. I dunno if I’ll be able to tell if it’s them even.

Caecus: And how do you dare to enjoy existence now?

Sinner: Well, I’ve been doing everything I’ve ever wanted to do but could never do in life amongst other things. It’s kinda embarrassing, but I played a bunch of video games, so I miss those quite a bit. I’ve found plenty of ways to fill that void though. Some of your movies are pretty sick down ‘ere, and importing goods from the other rings to ‘ere means I don’t miss out…mostly, on their fun too. I just wish I could explore the other rings; I don’t get why us sinners can’t.

Caecus: Decretum is often difficult to understand. However, it would seem a blessing that you’ve been placed with the multifarious company of the pride ring.

Sinner: True enough, whatever that means. There’s a lot of strip clubs, greedy businesses and shit, stuff you think you’d only find in the other rings. Though I think I probably would’ve ended up in wrath if we landed in the rings based on our sins.

Caecus: Most catechisms view wrath as an excessive anger. You strike me as having more control than the average sinner.

Sinner: A lot of people on the surface woulda said the same too, I was and I suppose still am really good at keeping it in check, well, good enough to not make it obvious anyway. Though it’s been a lot tougher down here.

Caecus: This is a realm of collective temptation, after all.

Sinner: My only judge here is myself and perhaps my peers if I let them. I still kill down here, but it’s been in self-defence. I don’t think I’ve killed anyone out of anger yet but let’s just say I’d feel sorry for the poor sod who happened to piss me off on a bad day.

Caecus: You’ve always been your own judge. I suspect the lack of good comparisons for your behavior here has coaxed you further.

Sinner: Actually, I could tell you about the first person I “killed” down here. It was soon after I woke up. I suppose this guy thought it’d be easy—fresh sinner, just in time to be another tally mark on some statistic.

Caecus: A second death, the lake of fire…

Sinner: Uh...yeah, I reacted on instinct and it musta been a sort of “kiss of death” type shit. I only touched the dude with my hand, and he just kinda…shrivelled up and died. You know…like when a cartoon character eats a lemo—ah sorry, you can’t watch TV.

Caecus: Ah, yes… a shrivelling death is nevertheless descriptive.

Sinner: Anyway, I have a bunch of other powers too but that one I’m most afraid of you know? I can drop the ambient temperature of an area so shit gets cold, have some form of telekinesis and a buncha other stuff, like I have some kinda control over this weird glowy energy, it’s how I have my eyes, which are purely for show, I don’t need them since I can see perfectly fine without ‘em...not that you’d know I even have ‘em.

Caecus: I’m aware you observe our world, in a traditional sense. My observations are just a bit more… unorthodox. And I feel as if your fear is not from a lack of understanding.

Sinner: Well I seem to have it under control, but I’m afraid in a moment of weakness I might react without thinking, you know? I’ve not had it happen yet, but it would be so easy when flippin’ out that I just give ‘em the ol’ touch of death.

Caecus: Even a king’s heart is just a stream of water to the hand of… fate.

Sinner: Gonna be honest, I haven’t the foggiest of what you just said. Though if I’m being honest myself, I couldn’t care less if it was someone I didn’t know anyway. Only really care about my friends and such. You seem pretty neat yourself.

Caecus: The impression is mutual. It’s not often that I’m seen as anything other than senseless and intimidating. I don’t find it unwarranted, granted; my appearance is as disconcerting as my psyche.

Sinner: How do you even know what you look like? It’s not like you can just look into a mirror.

Caecus: I was presented with a vision soon before I arrived, my last blessing I suppose… Regardless, my rebirth is a tale for another time. I’ve relished in your company long enough, and I must answer my calling. I’m sure our paths will converge again.

Sinner: Hey, I hope so too...uh....

Caecus: Please, call me Caecus.

Sinner: Well, it’s only polite to give you my name too. I go by many names here, but I am quite fond of “Mr. Death” as silly as it sounds.

Caecus: Silly, yes, but very becoming of you. A pleasure, Mr. Death.

Mr. Death:Well, don’t let me keep you. I’d like to see you again sometime, Caecus. I’ll take my leave.

Caecus: All in due time.

--End--

[echo-three-one]

Chapter 24

I should really put effort on summaries, right? Anyways... Enjoy! ❤️

Table of Contents

Going Dark - Part 3

Gary "Roach" Sanderson

MacTavish Residence, Glasgow, Scotland

Roach never would have guessed that MacTavish was a big time. Their 'old' house was already a mansion, complete with guest rooms, extravagant furniture and even an outdoor pool. Roach could stay here forever.

He was laying on a queen sized bed relaxing after a tiring chase earlier when Ghost knocked on his door and let himself in.

"What's wrong mate?" he asked, lifting only his head. Ghost leaned by the door and crossed his arms.

"You know how I got into a little argument with France back in Brazil right? Well, I still regret it ever happening…" he frowned, as shown by the way the fabric of his mask twitched.

"You regret which part? The fighting or the telling her what you feel?" Gary asked, cornering the ever vague Simon. He always does that when it comes to asking for advice.

Ghost ran a hand across his face and groaned.

"Bloody Hell, mate. Why do you have to ask those kinds of things?" he complained.

"So I could be clear as to which one I should recommend you to do." He replied quickly. He was very willing to help, but if Simon refuses to cooperate, then maybe he could handle it on his own.

"There's still one thing… I've been meeting with Alexandra not just for intel… " the tone of his voice was hesitant but he took a sharp inhale and continued.

"... we've also been sleeping together. No strings attached. For her it eases her tension from all the work while I try to forget about my feelings for Francine."

Gary didn't know what to say. Simon wasn't the kind of person to give up easily, and he fully understood the reasons for his latest actions.

"Well, it looks like Francine already made her choice, right?" Gary asked, trying to confirm from Simon that he already lost the battle.

"I'm not quite sure. Everytime I see her, she's physically distancing herself from Soap but later that night, they actually slept beside each other. She's making me confused and it still makes my heart beat for her…" Ghost admitted. As tough as he is on the battlefield, so was his admiration toward Francine. Gary pondered on how to help out his friend in this love triangle situation he caught himself in, but every direction he thought of would result in Ghost actually ending up sad.

The discussion was interrupted when a plane was heard from the distance, as it approached the nearby open area. It looked like the girls made it home.

"Looks like they're here." Roach sounded excited while Ghost looked worried.

~

It was impressive how they managed to bring most of their stuff from Brazil here in Scotland. It wasn't that much but the idea of packing things for six people in a hurry made Roach impressed.

"How did you bring most of this stuff?" Roach curiously asked Maxine as he helped her carry her stuff.

"Well, Samantha asked for help from his Dad and they immediately flew to Brazil." Maxine replied cheerfully, Roach loved how she managed to see the bright side of everything amidst the panic.

"So will Samantha-"

"No. They had a long talk with his Dad and she felt much safer back here with us. Her Dad wanted to offer help now that the New York Attack was over, but Samantha insisted, especially now that they're out hiding."

"Doesn't he have the power to like, pardon us for being wanted? That would make life much more easier for us."

"I thought of that too… but they're seeing Shepherd differently now. He's gone mad. And they want to corner him. Any action involving him may result in a global cripple. And I just heard all this on the plane ride here." Maxine frowned.

"Then that makes our job of locating him all worth it." Roach smiled giving hope to Maxine.

Maxine just nodded, her face was full of fear and doubt. She just wished all of this was over.

With Soap probably asleep, Roach had the liberty of touring the girls around the house, it was huge and spacious that each of them could occupy a room with about two more rooms to spare.

"Man, I could stay here forever." Roach mused as they walked the halls of the second floor. These four rooms are already occupied, most of the empty rooms are over there…" Gary pointed to the other end of the hall. Maxine looked at France and nodded as they both agreed to stay in one room.

"What about you, Miss Samantha?" Gary asked with sophistication, imitating a butler. Samantha giggled and blushed.

"I'll actually be sleeping with Alex, thanks Mr. Sanderson." she replied, playing along with Roach's role play. For a short moment, Roach felt relaxed. He hasn't felt like this for a while and it was too overwhelming. But while the enemies hid in the shadows, he was sure the team would be up for a tough fight anytime soon.

Despite being tired, Roach couldn't sleep. He felt that there was something or someone else he needed to consult. So, he decided to get up and get himself a glass of water down the kitchen. While he could hear himself gulping down a glass of water, he could also hear faint thumping from the basement. With high alert, he began descending down the stairs to investigate the source of the sound.

It was Simon. He was still up and doing sparring rounds with a red punching bag, each of his punches sent the bag swinging violently.

"You okay?" Gary finally asked, alerting Simon of his presence.

"Can't sleep." he said nonchalantly, giving the punching bag another mighty punch. Roach took a minute to admire the huge gym Soap had, each piece of equipment probably spent a fortune. He slowly paced to the small area filled with equipment and grabbed himself some boxing mitts and a protective helmet.

"So, why don't we resume our little talk?" Gary called as he presented himself to Simon on full boxing coach gear. Simon immediately positioned himself and Gary did the same as they began training with the intention of talking it out.

Simon's punches were heavy, Roach could feel a little emotion on each hit he made and it was starting to make him unstable.

"So, anything you'd want to discuss?" Roach initiated, his hands carefully met his punches as they circled around the area.

"I've been trying to ignore her, Gary. You see me try right? But the more I don't think of her, the more excited I get when I accidentally see her. It's frustrating." He explained in between his punches. There it was, the thing bothering him the most.

"What did she say back in Brazil? She probably said something that kept you from moving on. I can't think of anything else that might cause you to feel this way, unless you're lying." Roach tilted his head so he could see Simon's reaction. His punches stopped coming and he just stood there, his hands dropped to his sides.

"She… she didn't say anything… but she distances herself to John while I'm around."

"John MacTavish or John Price?" Gary interrupted, in an attempt to brighten up the mood, but instead all he got was Simon's 'are-you-kidding-me-right-now?' look.

"But when I'm not around, she finds time to see him…" Simon continued. Gary took off his gloves and tapped his shoulder.

"She… she was being considerate." Simon concluded. It looked like Gary did his job. He could feel Simon's shoulders relax upon realizing what was actually going on.

"Despite all that… she sacrificed a little just to not hurt you." Gary added, he had no intention of making Simon guilty but now that he realized it, he was making an impact toward the relationship that was blooming between Soap and France.

"Thanks, Gary. For being a great friend…" Ghost took off his gloves and walked out of the gym.

"... and the worst therapist." He joked with a grin as he walked up the stairs and left Gary in the gym.

"I hope you find your peace, Simon." Gary muttered.

The following morning, the team was already busy walking around the house. Soap was on the phone with a long list of things the girls ordered for their restock. It was planned that for the time being, the team was to stay in the MacTavish residence while Nero and Shepherd were off the grid.

Price and Jack started their own little command center inside Soap's father's office just by the living room. They began creating connections to their closest contacts to track activity from their enemies. Ghost seemed to be not around at the moment and Gary guessed he's still asleep.

Soap nodded a greeting to Roach as he walked by him on his way to the kitchen. Maxine and France were out opening drawers and anything in the pantry to clear up space for supplies. From the kitchen window, Gary spotted Samantha, Alex and Nikolai in front of a truck. Gary overheard that Nikolai wanted to go back home and he guessed today was the day he'd do so.

"I didn't know what kind of sugar you needed so I kinda ordered a bunch of em." Soap announced to the sisters and they laughed.

"The clerk kept asking me of brown, white, confectioners and some other and honestly I don't know which." he shrugged and scratched his head.

"Hey man, I was just wondering… why did you choose the risky life? When you had everything you ever needed here?" Gary asked the question that has been bothering him since he got here.

"I dunno Roach. It's just that I knew it was calling out to me… You also sound like my Mum when I told her I'm joining the force." he chuckled. Gary just nodded but still didn't understand his logic. But he dismissed the thought as soon as Maxine and France asked for his help reaching something by the cabinets.

The rest of the day was busy. Once supplies arrived, everyone else was preoccupied. Lifting boxes, arranging items, looking for intel. It was like they made their own 141 base inside the house.

By the time they're almost free, Roach and Maxine were already in the kitchen preparing for dinner.

"So, any new dreams lately?" Roach initiated as he sliced through the vegetables they're cooking.

"Piece by piece. Last night I remembered having gum stuck on my hair on picture day. I cried a lot." she giggled. Roach smiled, he was glad she's getting her memories back which made him remember of Samantha's case.

"Ow!" Gary winced as he accidentally cut a short scrape on his thumb. He was so busy staring at Maxine that he forgot he was chopping.

"Don't worry. It's just a small wound." Gary assured as Maxine pulled his thumb close to her mouth and blew air through it, just like when you're a kid and you do that to ease the pain.

Gary couldn't help but smile at her immediate action. She also looked concerned and worried about his welfare.

"Hey Max." he whispered, making the girl turn to him, her face was so beautiful in Gary's eyes.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing… It's just that…"

"What is it? You're making me worried"

"I really really like you, Maxine Winters."

Maxine looked at him in the eye, the eye contact they were doing was starting to make the world fade behind them.

"Guys! I have bad news." Soap interrupted, causing everyone to form a small circle by the living room.

"Ghost left. With a note saying he'll try to gather more information on Shadow Company with Alexandra's help. He says thanks and that he'll see us all soon." Soap summarized the note. The room fell silent.

Next Chapter : Off the Grid

Notification Squad my Beloved

@samatedeansbroccoli @enderio @smokeywhalee @whimsywispsblog @beemybee @ricinbach

[princess-pill-enjoyer]

Takin a break for the first time in a while

It feels weird to be saying that again. It's been prolly.. 2ish months since I've cared how much I take. Let alone not having any at all lmao. I didn't forget that I'm mean to explain myself and I have been working on a draft for that.. tho it wont be posted for a little while.

tldr: temp break for a week. possibly still dosing but much lower and only taken where needed to prevent adverse effects to not get in the way of a massive project I'll be working on. At most probably 2-3 for the week vs 1-3 a day. No posts of any kind til at least the 14th. Even if I dose, no documenting as I'll strictly be sleeping and working to have any possibility of get this shit done in time

Reason being R's birthday is coming up. She's been in a slump since her breakup. Course I mean. Losing someone that you had that much history plans with is awful. Even if it was only a year. I couldn't imagine how she feels rn. Whiich is why I'm bothering to do all this..

I promised I'd make her some bracelets months ago since it's a longtime hobby of mine. Been making rubber band bracelets since middle school. Wayyy past the rainbow loom craze tho.. smh. I still get so salty about that. COULD YOU IMAGINE THE MONEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ME COULDA MADE??? Even if I only knew half the patterns I knew now I woulda made BANK bruh.. but nah. 5 years after the fact I finally learn it

Then during quarantine I picked up friendship bracelets and kandi, with friendship bracelets being my preferred type. Made sooooo many... only to never wear em. I never wore any of my bracelets if I'm being real. It's so backwards

Ah but anyway. Yeah. I'm gonna give her pretty much all of the bracelets that're worth a damn and I have probably... 40ish patterns saved on top of that

....and like 10 keychains.....

Kinda overboard I know. I was originally content with just sending all the bracelets I've made through this year with a few extra but.. then i went and caught the fr feels (the actual term for that feels cheesy 🙃) so didn't feel like it was enough for her. So I started casually making a list of shit I wanted to make which got massive sooooo quickly

Thennn shit happened and my progress pretty much halted. During the time we were on the phone all the time I made a good 20% of my list which was pretty good for 2ish months of heavily interrupted work so I thought I'd have this all done wayyy before her birthday

Did not expect half the shit that went on in the time since.

I've BARELY made progress since. I've maybe made... 5 bracelets in the time since. I get kinda cold/shaky when I'm high + a good majority of the time I'm either salty/crying/thinking up a storm or dancing around my room/listening to music/playing a game tryna act like dph is pink dopamine. Basically, I'm not too productive when I'm gone. HA ofc unless I want the shit when I'm doing something I need to be productive for. Then I'll bullshit til I get some..

Tangent mb mb. Two other things happened. Uh one I just realized I misremembered her birthday. It is in fact NOT the 28th as I thought it was.. it's the 18th. Only recently checked and saw so that was fun. Then she got broken up with and went pretty much silent ever since. I think we were otp damn near everyday before we went to bed during that period of them being together but not speaking. Then like 2-3 days after her partner left she said the whole I don't know if you can help shit so I haven't really talked to her since. I tried checking in one other time but it was still pretty obvious she didn't really wanna talk so I've been giving her her space. I know it'd probably be the smart/right thing to keep reaching out even if it'd annoy her but she'll turn off notifs in a heartbeat. i think she only recently turned em back on actually I asked her about something and it didn't take hours.. its a pathetic that is something I'm genuinely happy about..

Ah but yeah us not really talking plus her being so sad is kinda pushing me to make her present as grandiose as I can. She's not that sort of person anyway I'm sure even if I made her one she'd wear that shit til it fucking disintegrates but I'm hoping a bigger selection will make her feel less obligated to do all that. Plus I wanna show her that friendships/relationships shouldn't be so transactional you know? It'd be hella easy for me to just send the few I've already made and just say fuck it. We aren't talking rn and I didn't get a gift. I didn't even get a happy birthday period til the next day off of some fight with her and her partner that had her crying and sulking the day away. But even with that, she's a good friend to me period. I don't need her to be there for me every single time for her to reap the rewards from that. It sounds kinda stupid just saying it. Ah yes, you've sat there and helped me plenty of rough times and have made a strong friendship with me even with me CONSTANTLY trying to push you away but you forgot my birthday and been quiet for the last week so therefore fuck your present. Like ?? stupid. I'm sure she's gonna see it that way though smh. I'm already writting a gentle stfu letter to put in there so she'll hopefully ease up on herself a bit

Ah anyway. Long story short I can't risk the nonsense of benadryl rn. Shit makes getting out of bed hella hard and I can't have anything effecting my hands as I gotta to be able to make knots quick quick if I have any chance of getting the entire list done. So unless some life shit happens, I'm going 110% on that. Ideally, as little sleep as needed to not make too many mistakes as its a hassle to untie. I would say no sleep but I'm sure a week of that aint possible so I'm aiming for 2 hours a day. 30 mins of naps when needed though I really need to have it all right the first time to not waste time. It takes me a good minute or 2 to untie a single wrong knot so it's not even worth. The time I waste sleeping'll pay for itself in accuracy.

I'm assuming this all means no dph til at least next week. Works out honestly I'm running low on pills anyway. That's been weird to think on. I calculated it all out and it's kinda shocking. It's the most real feeling evidence of my addiction. If I were taking the proper dose, I could take it every single day and it'd still last roughly 3 years. I've only had mine since Feb 23rd and I have probably 100ish pills left. Shit honestly felt unlimited for a while..

Well, ig if the week goes to plan I'd be killing two birds with one stone, tho i doubt. If I have any issues with nightmares, I'm taking some no questions asked. I never get the hallucinations benadryl is so infamous for but when I'm withdrawing bad enough allll that horrible shit gets crammed in my dreams. God.. I remember the first few I like they happened recently. Had one where an end of the world paradise suddenly went dire and everyone just started killing themselves to save themselves from dying of starvation/thirst and I had to listen to every single sound from that. Another where I was accidentally drugged tryna help a friend and spent the entire dream running while going in and out of consciousness which made getting back to their house/evading the police terrifying. Most recently I had to help/defend a family with various deformities while trying to hold it together to not make them feel like I was upset because of their looks when in reality it was from having to scream and yell at people gawking at the kids I was helping. That and having about 40 people to take care of and it all being sprung on me out of nowhere. Which after was said and done took a seemingly casual turn to a free dinner in the lobby with the rest apartments residents being in there. I naively sat and picked something I knew would be good not thinking anything of it, only for the random people I sat with all being replaced with these older women yelling at me for picking so casually. Ah then all grabbed me and forced me to watch my dad cut some dude's head off with these giant shears. Ah. That was the first time I've actually cried in my sleep. Well... ish I clearly was sobbing from the way my face/chest was feeling but none of the tears. Shit I almost fell out of bed. I was pulling back trying to turn my head away from the whole beheading but they were all holding me in place. So ig I was doing that as I slept too. Woulda been.. not fun to say the least. I have concrete floors as my room is the basement sooooo I'm sure my fatass full deadweighting onto the floor would prolly cause a few issues lmfao

ah god sorry sorry I did not mean to go that in depth. That is genuinely the only thing that keeps me dosing some days. I've gotten used to a lot of the various withdrawal effects but nightmares + heart pain are really the only things that actually bother me nowadays. I was only going to do a brief retelling to emphasize why it's such a non-option for me but I got carried away.

anyway. temporary goodbye for now. i wont be posting so i can focus on her present. dont know if i also mentioned it but im also using paper stars/flowers/hearts as the like.. gift paper shit. like the thin strands you'd put in a gift bag so you can't immediately see everything inside? yep. uh. had the bright idea of filling that with little mini origami... dont know why th I would as that shit is literally worthless in the way I'm using it but... I already bought the paper and I have all the tutorials bookmarked... 🙃

i must be a special breed of stupid honestly.. within the week I'm supposedly making 50 bracelets/keychains of varying sizes/patterns/difficulties + learning how to do origami so I can fill a fucking box. we'll see how that goes lmao

[vi-sability]

Rebel of Dimensions Chapter 1

Perched on the rooftop, I watched the throng of people almost breathe as they pushed around each other. The top level of Khido was an open space, and it bothered me. It’s so easy to get caught up here. It's not like the air is clean; far from it, actually, but the lower levels let you hide easier. With my hair, hiding well is essential. I've been told to never travel further up. My family say that the city above ours, Drin, is the worst place to be, but never why. Khido is full of dark walls and streets, which kinda sucks for me. My hair's bubblegum pink, thanks to my mom. I can duck and dive into the shadows, but I stick out like a sore thumb. Maybe Drin is worse? Maybe there's light in every place there isn't here? 

"What are you doing up there, boy?!" I sneered at a policeman and stood up, turning and jumping across the rooftops. Nobody can catch me. Gripping a loose pipe, I swung around and slid to the floor, the metal soles of my boots creating sparks on the brick wall. Somebody yelled after me, and I ducked into an elevator pod, yanking the lever and keeping an eye on the dark streets below as I descended. Khido has like, five different levels of homes and markets, the people getting nastier the further you go down. Me and my family live on the fourth level, so we're kinda in the middle. All I'm doing is trying to get by. 

I still haven't spotted my mark. My uncle said that he needed something specific from them, and they didn't give it up easily. Shaking my mother's goggles over my face gave me enhanced vision, letting me track the data sample in my glove. There. As the elevator pod rocked to a halt, I broke off into a run, using the jagged cliff edges to jump from and keep my speed. Nobody sees me coming unless they know what to look for. As I got above the mark, I held onto a spike with one hand, pushing my goggles back onto my forehead before jumping down and stopping my mark in his tracks.  

"What's up?" I grinned, folding my arms like I've seen my uncle do. It makes me look so cool. "I'm gonna need that Deusum crystal from you."  

"I-I've been told to not let this go!" I shrugged and rolled my shoulder.  

"Well, I've been told to not come back without it." I'm lying, but it makes everything much more dramatic. I did feel kinda bad, because he was wearing rags and tattered shoes, but it's every person for themselves. He hugged the briefcase to his chest, and ran past me, bumping my shoulder. It's not surprising that people run from me, though. I am wearing roughed-up jeans, metal boots, and a set of chest belts instead of a shirt. I look like a thug. Grinning, I ran after him, vaulting up onto a low wall, and then up onto a rooftop.  

The runner wasn't used to this. He kept bumping into people and stumbling over his own feet. I picked up a couple of cuts on my un-gloved hand as I vaulted over low walls and jumped to different rooftops, rolling on impact so I didn't break a leg. He ducked into an elevator pod and slammed the door shut, looking up at me and grinning smugly as I skidded to a halt. Oh, he thinks I'm beaten. How cute. Turning, I looked up to the thick cables that the pod was suspended on. Well, there's a first time for everything.  

Running again, I dug the toes of my boots into the wall, gripping the lower cable with my gloved hand. As I started to slide down to the pod, the runner's expression turned horrified. A few people yelled up to me, but this is a normal day for what I do. As my feet hit the metal pod, I winced at the pain in my ankles. I'm still a teenager, though. It's nothing.  

"Are you gonna give up the crystal?" I asked, gripping the window edge of the pod to lean in. I think the last time I did this, I held onto the cable for about fourty seconds.  

"Get away from me!" He tried to hit my fingers with the case, but I'm a lot faster than him. Gripping the edge again, I swung down, both hands on the window ledge. The runner tried to hit my hands away a couple of times, but I'm still way too fast for him. I pulled myself up, the strain in my muscles starting to burn. As I got at the right height to pull myself in, the pod stopped, and I was thrown forward, onto my face.  

He laughed as he ran again, still thinking that he had me beaten. I got up, brushed my messy hair back into place, and ran after him, using an abandoned cart as a springboard up to a rooftop. We're on the sixth level now. I'd be surprised if somebody didn't grab him. I dropped myself down to slide through a hole in the wall, throwing myself to my feet. The runner started to jog down what was the only staircase in the huge city, which made me stop. I'm not really used to stairs.  

"Kid! Use that pipe!" I looked down to the huge, fat guy, and where the pointed to a huge metal pole.  

"Thanks!" I called back, running towards it. I jumped, gripped it with my gloved hand, and started to slide down the rough surface, my boots creating sparks. There he is! I hit the base of the pipe, pushing myself away from it and catching up with the runner. When he saw me, he shouted in surprise and tripped over himself, falling down the small hill and into the poisonous sewer river that ran the length of the Khido's bottom level.  

"Help me!" He yelled, barely staying afloat. I can't just leave him in there. Digging my fingertips into the gravel and dirt, I edged my feet down the hill, reaching my gloved hand out for him. He gripped my wrist, and I started to pull him up, slowly losing my grip. He did have a damn good grip on the case. When his torso was on land, I pulled myself back up, sitting on the edge of the road and rubbing my sore shoulder. "Th-thank you..." He huffed, trying to catch his breath.  

"Don't mention it." I grinned, reaching over and grabbing the briefcase. "No hard feelings, but I have a job to do."  

"You're not the only one." He sighed. "Looks like I can't go back to the Blood Pack Mob on the second floor."  

"They're the ones who gave you this job?" He nodded. "Damn, you're gonna have to stay away from the top floors now."  

"Who sent you to take that crystal, anyway?" He asked, coping how I was sat. "You seem like a professional, kid." Now that I could look at him more clearly, he was obviously struggling. Underweight, cracked skin full of dirt, clothes that are full of holes, stuff like that. He was balding, and his eyes are dull, like there was no life in him at all.  

"I've been doing this for four years, since I was 12." His face dropped even more, and he rubbed his face in his hands. "Look, if you need help, you could join the Generations team."  

"The rebels?" He asked. I nodded. "That's not exactly a safe place to go, kid. Freedom fighting is deadly."  

"Don't I know it." I grinned. "I'm close with 'em, though. My Aunt founded it." When I looked back, he had an expression of shock. Setting the case down, I brushed my hair back to the right side of my head, showing the thick pink stubble and the 'V' shaved into the side of my head. "But do you have any other choice?"  

"No..." He mumbled, looking at his feet.  

"Exactly." I got up, gripping the case in my bare hand. "Good luck." I said, patting his shoulder before running off. As luck had it, somebody was getting into an elevator pod for the exact level I needed. A lady gasped in surprise as I ducked inside just before the doors closed.  

"The name's Vincent, nice to meetcha." I grinned, holding a hand out for her and the guy she was with.  

"Oh, uhm, I'm Olivia." She shook my hand.  

"Aaron." He shook my hand, too. They're both brunette, with the same chiselled faces and narrow eyes. I'm guessing that they're brother and sister. "We're not going to get in trouble from being around you, are we?"  

"Nah, I'm just heading home now." I lifted the case into my open palm and peeked inside. Deusum crystals are kinda pretty. They look like steel, but the magic inside flows like ink in water. All that my uncle told me was that he needed these, but not what for. "Here's my stop." I clipped the case shut again and jumped onto the edge of the open window. "See ya." They both shouted in panic as I jumped, catching a well-placed wire with my gloved hand, and sliding down until my feet hit the wall of my home.  

Where I live isn't much to look at, but that's how it's supposed to be. There are people out there that would sell my family out in a second. It's made of the same dark stone as any other home, set into the cliffs that loomed over either side of the city. Dusting the gravel and metal shavings off of my pants, I pushed the door open, hearing something fall over as soon as I stepped inside.  

"Yasi, you idiot!" My little brother, Jayson yelled. I poked my head into the room where it came from. Jayson looks nothing like me. Scruffy black curls, wide eyes, and a bright smile. We both have blue eyes, but that’s where the similarities end. "Vinny!" He ran over when he saw me, and I knelt down to give him a hug.  

"What's up, little bro?" I grinned, putting the case down and hugging him back. He and Yasi were only 6. Yasi ran over for a hug, too. They were both dressed mostly the same, in button-up shirts and jeans. Yasi had a darker tone to his skin and deep red hair, thanks to his mother. It was longer than hers, braided so it didn't get messy. But just like his dad, my uncle, his eyes were glow-in-the-dark green.  

"Did you bring us back something?" Yasi asked, leaning away.  

"Not this time, sorry." I grinned. "Didn't have chance."  

"What fell over in here?" My uncle's wife, Alva Bronze, walked down the hall. I'd be blind if I said she wasn't pretty. Dark skin, soft features, covered in tattoos.  

"The small table!" Jayson said, running over to it. Alva shrugged to me as I stood up. I'm not that tall, but she's tiny. She only comes up to my shoulder.  

"Vincent, what have you been doing?" Alva then asked, stepping back and covering her nose. "You smell like sewage!"  

"Well, I did pull a guy out of the poison river down on the seventh level." Her brow creased, and she turned away. "It's probably only my glove that stinks. Oh, and the case."  

"Vinny is stinky!" Yasi laughed, grabbing my bare hand.  

"Take it somewhere else before my sense of smell decides to mutiny." Alva walked into the room, Yasi following her. Smiling and shaking my head, I picked the case back up and jogged to the last room in the hallway. I opened the door slowly, just in case there was any experiments going on. I have a scar on the back of my head from when I was seven as a reminder.  

"Uncle Cable?" I sighed in relief when I saw him.  

"I see you got your job done, Vincent." My uncle is a weird kinda guy. His blonde hair was shaved on both sides, leaving two mechanical inputs open on each side of his head. He and Alva barely had any bare skin left, due to how many tattoos they got together. I always thought it was funny how Alva barely came up to my shoulder, and I was eye-level with Cable's shoulder. I know that they loved each other, though.  

Cable, my mom, and my aunt all escaped from one of the experimental camps that the higher-ups let happen. It's how my mom got her pink hair, and passed it on to me. Cable has sockets on his head, inner elbows, and on the backs of his hands. He uses them to plug himself into the computer systems across the city. He's sat in a chair with an extending monitor wrapped around the front, inputs plugged into his head and hands.  

"I did." I kicked the door shut and put the case down on a clear part of the workbench. "The guy fell into the poison river, though. Had to pull him out." Cable laughed and waved the screen away. The holograms flickered off, and the frame detached, sinking back into the headrest of the chair. I winched as he unplugged himself, but it's just routine. "Found anything in the systems?"  

"The leader of the Two Mark Mob has had a daughter." I laughed as he stuck his tongue out. "Good thing you got this Deusum, though. Otherwise, we'd have had a terrible week." Cable opened the case and smiled at the amount of crystals in it.  

"What do you need them for, anyway?" His green eyes met mine, and he stepped back, motioning to a cybernetic arm that was drenched in blood. "Again?"  

"It's getting worse." He sighed. That's my mom's fake arm. She told me that her real one was blown off in an accident before I lost my memory. To make the arm work, she had to push a lot of tech into her skin. Makes me shudder to even think about.  

"Is she okay?" Cable nodded.  

"Spring made her lie down an hour ago. You better go check on her." Of course. My Aunt is caring like that. Nodding, I pulled my glove off, put it on the bench, and walked out of the workshop, smiling to Alva when she saw me. Now she had her older boy, Nate hiding behind her. He looked more like Cable with his blonde hair and sassy resting expression. Just like Yasi, his skin was a mix of Cable's pale and Alva's dark, but he took after my uncle more in that respect. Even though he's ten years old now, he's still wary of me.  

I was careful pushing the door to my left open. This place was small, but we made it work. My mom and Aunt shared a room, of course Cable and Alva did, I was bunked with Nate, Yasi, and Jayson, the room nearest the door was the kitchen, and the last room went to my younger sister Caylee and Spring's daughter, Tabs. I think that my family is the perfect size. We're all a bit weird because of what happened to my mom, aunt, and uncle, but it's perfect.  

"No, I'm sure that I heard Vincent come back." I walked into the room, grinning to Tabs when she looked up at me. "I was right!" The side effect that my aunt Spring got from the experimentation was discoloured patches on her skin. It used to freak me out because they move. I don't care anymore, but it did pass down to Tabs, even if hers didn't move anywhere. They were both blonde with blue eyes, with Tabs being Spring's spitting image. The only difference is that Spring's hair was longer, going down to her stomach when she flicked it over her shoulder.  

"I saw him before you did." Caylee smiled. Just like any family, we were close. Spring was sat on the end seat of the couch, my mom's head in her lap. I winced when I saw the blood-soaked gauze wrapped around the stump of her shoulder. Caylee and Tabs were sat on the floor against the couch, Tabs turning to smile at me when I walked in. My sister's completely blind, but still sees everything through what she calls her 'mind's eye'. It's kinda freaky. I still don't understand why Caylee or Jayson don’t look anything like me or mom. Caylee's hair was brown, the same length as mine –cut just above the ears- but not shaved on one side.  

"Frost? You still awake?" Spring asked, taking the wet cloth off of her face.  

"Yeah, I'm alive." Caylee and Tabs shifted over so I could sit next to them, and right next to my mom's chest.  

"How's my big boy?" Mom tilted her head to look at me, the cloth falling off her face. She put her arm around my shoulders and pulled me in to kiss my cheek. "Why do you smell so terrible?"  

"Poison river." I grinned. Spring groaned, and mom rolled her eyes. My mom was the most scarred out of all of us. Spring still had the same connections as Cable in her head, but my mom told me that she'd pulled hers out not long before I was born. The left side of her body was scarred by fire, from her ankle to just underneath her eye. She doesn't like talking about it. Her hair was cut to her shoulders in an incredibly messy way, sticking out and a few angles. "I got the Deusum, though."  

"That's good news." Caylee reached over Tabs to pat my arm.  

"You're not gonna talk to 'em, are you, Cay?" Spring asked. Caylee is definitely the weirdest out of all of us. She's obviously a mage, seeing everything with her mind, and she says that she can talk to the magic inside the crystals I bring home.  

"No. It's depressing knowing that they're going to be crushed." Cay and Tabs were best friends, which didn't bother me. They are the only two girls aside from the adults.  

"We should go and get your shoulder fixed before you lose any more blood, Frost." Spring said, patting my mom's cheek.  

"Yeah, you are looking really pale." Tabs said, a wince in her voice.  

"I've survived worse." Mom laughed, letting go of me to push herself up.  

"I've got ya." I grunted as I got up, my ankles still sore from the risky jumps I did earlier.  

"Your bones are grinding together too much, Vin." Caylee said, scaring me.  

"What have you been doing?" Spring asked. I grabbed my mom's hand and helped her to her feet.  

"I need to do my free running to catch people." I said, grinning to mom when she raised an eyebrow at me. "I'm fine, though."  

"A teenager shouldn't have the bones of somebody who's eighty." Caylee said again, turning to look at me with her white eyes. Creepy.  

"We can argue about this later." Spring said. "We have to stop Frost from bleeding out, first." The metal in her shoulder never agrees with her, so we use Deusum crystals to fuse flesh and metal. They never last long enough, though. I hate seeing my mom in pain.  

"If I pass out, don't be surprised." She grinned, walking out of the room with Spring following close behind.  

"Yeah, yeah, just move." Spring shoved her, which made her laugh. Sighting, I sat back down against the couch. My mom and Spring share a bed, which confuses me. Wouldn't they prefer separate beds?  

"How come you're allowed to do whatever you want?" Tabs asked. I looked at her, eyebrow raised. "I want to take the fight to corruption, but mom, Frost, and Cable won't let me."  

"Because I'm the oldest." I grinned, brushing my hair back into place and making sure that the 'V' was still in the side of my head. "You're still twelve, Tabs."  

"Yeah, but you're not even doing anything!" Here we go again. "You could be fighting those idiots that are killing people, but you're just stealing crystals from people!"  

"It's not that simple." Caylee said. "Spring has a small army of people that hang on her every word. Vincent is just one teenager. If he tried to take the fight to them by himself, it would not end well."  

"Did you see that in your future vision?" I huffed, resting my face on my hand.  

"No, it's common sense." Tabs snorted and coughed into her hands. "What you're doing is the best you can do."  

"No, it's not." Tabs huffed.  

"Hey, I got the Deusum, didn't I?" I tried not to imagine the pain that my mom was in as Cable fixed the problem. "I'm doing stuff to help us all."  

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