#it's horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible horr-

[barghest-land]

wanted to write a long ass rant post but i'm just gonna say that i absolutely hate lonely evenings after work. idk, work doesn't really matter tbh. but one more second of me not speaking to people and i'll die this is a warning

[ciaran]

I'M AT GHE DENTIST

[jesterjamz]

hey guys,

KILL ROSS.

- zubin

P.S make sure you kill him

[nightcolorz]

Armand could definitely 100% have prevented Claudia and Madeline’s death like obviously he is so full of shit 😭😭 he just chose not to. I dont think he was lying about being held captive, though. It seems more likely to me that he allowed himself to be imprisoned bcus the ultimate outcome would be desirable, rather then like, he was secretly orchestrating it all like a devious Master mind and was only pretending to be a prisoner to trick Louis. I think Armand was genuinely being imprisoned, but he could have easily escaped (as if the vampire Armand couldn’t win in a fight against Sam The Twink), and chose not to because it’s in his best interest for Claudia and Madeline to die 😭. While part of his betrayal I think comes from a comfort Armand takes in learned helplessness, where taking action feels less safe then leaning into victimhood, so armand chooses to accept helplessness rather then play the hero bcus helplessness is comforting, it was also definitely part “I want these two people to be gone from my life and this seems like a sure fire way to let it happen while I get to remain mostly blameless” 😭. Armand finds Claudia’s whole existence horrific and cruel. I don’t think he particularly likes or dislikes her as a person, he doesn’t seem to know her very well nor care to know her (he actually says this in tva lol), so I don’t think he considered letting her a die an act of spite.

Armand thought of Claudia as a suffering, rabid, sick and diseased animal that needed to be put down for its own well being. He considered her death an inevitable tragedy that “could not be prevented”, and bcus of his perspective on vampirism as a horrible curse that can only be spared through very specific very calculated and clean cut means, he wanted her death to come as quick and painlessly as possible. From Armand’s perspective, if he saved Claudia from death by execution, he’d only end up watching her excruciatingly loose her mind and self until she eventually killed herself or got put down by Armand or someone else Nicki style so that she wouldnt need to live in agony anymore.

Which, his whole perspective there is flawed, and fucked up, and dehumanizing of Claudia, but it makes sense why he would think that way. Armand considers vampirism to be always bad, regardless of the subject turned, and always smth he would hate to inflict on someone. So claudias turning, is not only cruel to Armand, but unforgivable and unsalvageable. He’s seen a lot of fucked up vampires in his time, a lot of botched turnings, and he knows from his experience how much of a toll vampirism takes on anyone, let alone someone in the body of a child. His whole “I will never turn someone into a vampire ever in my life” thing comes from this. So, of course he won’t save claudia from such a clean cut, blameless death 😭. He considers it an act of mercy, when he pictures the alternative as “Claudia clings to Madeline as she painfully looses her mind and eventually dies”. Which, comes into why he didn’t save Madeline either lol

Armand doesn’t particularly value life as smth to be worth preserving, he is very willing to view other ppl as commodities when it helps him. But he does value preserving peace and limiting other’s suffering (which is why he kills so gently). Armand is so horrified by Madeline being turned, partly bcus I think he saw himself in her. He sees a fledgling who he believes will inevitably loose her maker, the only person she rlly cares about, to horrible gruesome death, and he knows that once she experiences that her life as an immortal will be cruel and unbearable. So once she is turned, Armand sees another lost cause who will be better off if she is killed before it can get bad. What Armand misses when it comes to Claudia and Madeline, obviously, is that they r more resilient and self sufficient then he sees, and taking away their agency by deciding they have no hope and must die isn’t the mercy he sees it as but is actually like, fucked up and horrible. Armand is so blinded by his trauma fueled dog eat dog view of life as a vampire that he can’t see that.

I think the reason armand considers the perks of Claudia and Madeline’s death a priority over Louis’s happiness (and horrible grief that will ensue when his loved ones die), is bcus Armand considers Claudia and Madeline’s death an inevitable consequence of Louis’s unforgivably cruel actions. He doesn’t resent Louis for it I don’t think, but he definitely thinks that Louis will need to atone for what he’s done whether Armand wants him to or not. So, Armand is ok with Louis grieving (as long as it doesn’t turn to resentment of Armand), bcus it was ultimately inevitable, and comparatively less cruel then what he would have to witness alternatively. It’s a rip the Band aid off type of thing 😭😭

in conclusion uh Armand is bad but Armand has his reasons and Armand isn’t one dimensionally villainous, he has a ton of complex trauma induced reasons for the way he thinks, and his actions r more often then not coming from a warped view of “the kind thing to do” that comes from his lack of understanding of how kind the world actually is and can be (dog eat dog mindest etc), bcus of how horribly traumatized he is. thank u good night

[adverbally]

Slow, So Slow, I Fell to the Ground on My Knees

Written for the @steddieangstyaugust prompt “Terrible Things - Mayday Parade” | wc: 1,002 | rated: T | cw: dustin in peril, hospital | tags: canon divergent, what if Dustin came back to help Eddie buy time, no I couldn’t bring myself to actually kill Dustin, meditation on guilt and love and responsibility, not as sophisticated as that sounds, pre-steddie, hopeful ending

———

Eddie probably doesn’t have any right to be here.

After all, it’s his fault Dustin was so determined to get back to the Upside Down. If Eddie had just followed him up the rope instead of cutting it, they both would have been safe. Instead, he played right into Dustin’s need to know what’s going on, created a puzzle that Dustin just had to solve.

Eddie should’ve known that Dustin would find a way, but it didn’t occur to him. All he thought of was his own pride, his own vow to stop running. It wasn’t until he heard Dustin shouting his name, running into the swarm of demobats alongside him, that the horrible reality of the situation set in. Not only would Eddie die, but he would take Dustin– sweet, stubborn, loyal Dustin– down with him.

By some miracle, Steve, Nancy, and Robin had shown up just in time to save them both. They had dragged them back to their own world, done what little first aid they could manage, and got them help. But the damage was done.

Eddie had held Dustin, told him everything would be okay even as blood oozed out of his mouth. Even as Dustin grew weaker, and his voice got softer, he apologized to Eddie with tears in his eyes. It still makes Eddie sick to remember how sincere he had sounded, saying he wished Eddie had never been dragged into this and he was sorry to leave him like this.

Standing at the foot of Dustin’s hospital bed, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat on the monitor, watching the rise and fall of his chest as he breathes, Eddie still can’t shake the guilt. He was an adult, it was his job to watch out for Dustin and keep him out of danger.

As with everything else in his life, Eddie had failed miserably.

“It wasn’t your fault, you know.”

The voice is soft, coming from a dark corner of the room, but Eddie still startles. “Jesus!” he gasps, clutching his chest.

“Sorry, I wasn’t sure whether I should interrupt.” Is that…? Yep, Steve Harrington himself rises up from the stiff-backed chair, still moving a little gingerly, and moves into the pool of light that gently illuminates Dustin’s bed.

Eddie looks down at the scuffed, shiny linoleum. “I, um, didn’t expect anybody to be here.” It’s late, technically past visiting hours, but Mrs. Henderson’s job with the hospital has allowed them some flexibility as long as they keep it quiet.

“His mom is on the night shift. I didn’t want him to be alone.” He explains it so simply, like it goes without saying that Steve would be the one to step in. Maybe it does. Whether it’s because it’s Henderson or because Steve would do the same for any of them, Eddie can’t say, but he hopes Steve would have stayed with him too if he had been the one in the bed.

“You really care about him a lot, huh?”

Steve doesn’t respond for a long time. When Eddie glances up, he looks… not sad, exactly, but serious. “Yeah, I do,” he eventually says, hushed in the quiet of the room.

Eddie already knows, of course. Even before all of this Vecna bullshit, Dustin’s ravings had included a lot of references to the things Steve did for him. Not just shit like dropping him off at the arcade. Helping him get ready for the Snow Ball. Giving him advice about his relationship with Suzy. Bringing him soup and crackers and Sprite when he was sick and his mom was stuck at work. Steve had already started teaching him how to drive, for God’s sake.

He’s seen it for himself, too. He can never forget the moment when Steve realized that Dustin had been hurt so badly. How he’d taken one look at Dustin’s pale, blank face and collapsed to his knees, his eyes wide with horror, and let out the most spine-chilling noise Eddie has ever heard. It was the sound of some animal kind of grief, something so deep that Steve wasn’t even conscious of it. Eddie still hears it in his nightmares.

Yeah, it’s obvious that Steve cares about Dustin. Loves him, even. Like a little brother, almost like a son.

Eddie wishes he could love someone like that. Standing in that field, telling him, “Never change, Dustin Henderson,” it felt like he already did. As if he had any idea what love meant outside of family and excuses and obligations. As if he even knew Dustin at all. What Eddie does know is that he would have sacrificed himself in a heartbeat if it would protect Dustin. He hopes Dustin will wake up soon so he can tell him that.

And here comes the guilt again, curdling in his stomach. Eddie braces his hands against the footboard of the hospital bed, leaning over to look down at the knit pattern of the blanket covering Dustin’s feet. “I’m sorry I didn’t keep him safe,” he says, to Steve, to Dustin, to anyone who might be listening.

“Don’t do that to yourself,” Steve sighs. “Nobody blames you. Dustin definitely won’t.”

“I do,” Eddie scoffs.

“Then you’re wrong.” Steve steps closer and rests a hand over Eddie’s on the bed railing. “Trust me, I’ve been there. You did your best in a really shitty situation.” When Eddie looks up at him through blurry eyes, Steve’s expression is soft. “I know it’s hard to believe it at first, so I’ll keep reminding you until it sticks.”

Eddie clenches his jaw and nods. He doesn’t trust his voice enough to speak. Instead, he twists his hand underneath Steve’s, putting them palm to palm and threading their fingers together.

They stay there like that until Eddie can’t stand for much longer, and then Steve drags him over to the pair of chairs in the corner.

They’re still holding hands when they drift off, shoulders and heads slumped together as they keep their vigil.

[thebucketpail]

When You Accidentally Kill a Clown pt.4

Alright bestie you know the drill. Uh, this one's a bit longer than usual though. Enjoy?

Pt.1

To say Danny was having a bad day would be the understatement of the century. Well it wasn’t really a bad ‘day’ more like a terrible series of events that just kept getting worse. Oddly enough, though, this terrible horrible day did not start with killing the Joker, then promptly getting interrogated by a surprisingly cute serial killer/ crime boss/ vigilante. In fact it actually started seven hours earlier at around 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Danny’s roommate had practically kicked him out of the dorm so he could have ‘date night with his girlfriend’ but it was said in a way that made Danny nope out of there real fast.

‘It’s fine, I’ll just use this time to explore Gotham a bit,” he thought to himself. Turns out Gotham, with its incredibly high crime rate and massive amount of curses - seriously? How could one city be this cursed- has a lot of ghosts. Ghosts that seem to be very happy someone can see them. This would have been fine, Danny would have been happy to help, If they hadn’t swarmed him.

Mere moments after he had addressed a shade Danny had found themself in the middle of a mob, shades, imprints, spirits, etc, all vying for attention, help with something here, or just plain attention.

It took them 3 hours to lose the mob.

And it wasn’t even all of them, a few blob ghosts clung to him as he explored the piers, shades following at his heels, weaving in and out of shadows bringing general bad luck because of course, why not.

Danny just wanted a scoop of icecream? Sorry it fell on the floor. Oh look at that his shoes are untied, would be a shame if he- ouch that must have hurt. Just trying to sit on a bench and relax? Aww that's a cute seagull, here have some of Danny’s pretzel. Okay thats enough- ow what the fuck? Ack no stop! stop-!

So yeah, exploring the pier turned out to be not the most safe idea for all the strangest reasons. Danny had to leave before the shades did any real damage like throwing him into the bay, or splitting the boardwalk underneath him.

Danny had just lost yet another pack of attention seeking ghosts when he felt the eyes. It was the uncomfortable prickling that made the hair on his arms and neck stand on end. “Just find a place to get dinner, it’ll be fine," he thought, quickening his pace toward the batburger he had designated on a map he’d found at the pier.

Now what Danny didn’t know, being new to town and all, was that Park Row was not a place you should be walking by yourself, at night, with black hair and blue eyes. That was just asking for trouble, and oh boy trouble they got. Before a single thought could flash through their head, Danny had been pulled into an alley, a large figure pinning their hands behind their back. Danny twisted around, trying to gain purchase and maybe get a look at their attackers face, but stiffened as they spoke, low and gruff.

“Awww what’re you doing in crime alley all alone kiddie?” he crooned, “Don’t you know it's not safe?” Danny’s growing panic reached a peak as another figure melted out of the shadows of the dingy alley, “Boss, what do you think? He could be a Wayne." The ‘Boss’ leaned forward to inspect Illuminated by a nearby streetlight. Danny’s eyes blew wide at the painted white face, impossibly huge smile, puke green hair, and pristine purple suit in front of him.

He hardly heard him berate the goon

“This isn’t a Wayne you imbecile, it's just some random street rat” Hey

“But- he could be, he fits the bill,” the conversation drowned out as Danny stared, stock still. They could feel the ectoplasm in their blood pooling at their fingertips, the tingling sensation sending prickles down their spine.

The last thought that crossed their mind before a flash of green enveloped the alley was; ‘Fuck, I hate clowns.’

When the light died down they were free, the goon a few feet away on the ground, eyes wide in shock or horror, they couldn’t tell. Danny, eyes no doubt still glowing, followed his gaze to the crumpled purple mass at his feet. Oh shit.

“You- you- I’m getting out of here,” the goon shouted, pointing a shaking finger at him as he scrambled away. Danny just stared down at the clown in shock. Sure he’d fought a lot of dead people but ancients he’d never killed someone himself. Taking a deep breath he tried remembering those grounding tricks Jazz had taught him to ward off panic. He focused on his breathing, closing his eyes as the steady rhythm of his too slow heart beat in his ears. After a few moments he exhaled deeply, running a shaking hand through his hair as the other reached for his phone.

And, well, we know this part.

-------

It was almost 1 am by the time Hood got Danny back to their dorm. They had of course protested that they didn’t need the escort and it's all fine- because truly Danny had no intentions of returning to their dorm- but Hood had insisted, continuing the interrogation as they walked.

“Do you have any siblings”

“two”

“Where are you from?”

“illinois”

“What's your favorite color?”

“Green probably”

At the very least the questioning served to calm Danny’s nerves and distract them from the less-than-happy thoughts. There was also something about Hood that made Danny’s core pull in his chest. Aside from very obviously smelling like death- something he had chalked up to being a serial killer/ crime boss/ vigilante - the man kept making his ghost sense go off, but it always caught in his throat rather than escaping. Danny had almost choked the first time and it was starting to get annoying, it reminded him of being around Vlad. It piqued his interest regardless.

So when the noises coming through the door confirmed that; no, Danny should not go try entering his dorm and that he would definitely not be getting what little sleep his body could manage after the night’s events, he decided on some reconnaissance. Because if he wasn’t getting sleep, he would be at least getting answers for that weird feeling. He let invisibility wash over him and retraced his steps back to the building entrance. Hood was long gone but it didn’t matter. Danny soon took to the sky, staying low enough he wasn’t breathing in the dense clouds

of smog but still high enough to scan the streets from above the rooftops.

It felt amazing honestly. He hadn’t been able to fly since before he got to Gotham, and while it the air wasn’t as clean and the sky wasn’t a glowing blanket of stars like it was in Amity, but with the rush of wind, subtle glow of the street lights, and the soft din of night traffic, it still reminded him of home. In a way it was peaceful, if you discounted the ever present police sirens, occasional pop of gunfire, and general filthiness of the city.

As Danny wove through the street and alleys of Gotham he couldn’t help but to think about his hometown. He knew Amity would be protected of course. The GIW hadn’t been a threat since the Meta Human protection acts were passed, even though ghosts weren’t considered metas the investigation had been enough to disband the agency. His parents probably couldn't pose too much of a threat to any ghosts, especially with the portal being closed (he'd made Valerie promise to keep it shut, since she'd decided to stay in Amity), and even if someone from his rogues gallery managed to make it through, Red Huntress was more than capable to handle it.

Jazz had even managed to drill it into their head that Danny wasn’t responsible for the protection of Amity, as much as they thought they were. Being a hero didn’t make them happy, at least not in the way they were. Danny actually loved helping people, and fighting his rouges on occasion. But being Phantom was so stressful, the late nights, the missed school, the barely dodged calls to cps, it was all so much. So Danny had given up Phantom just in time to start senior year. Granted it was a little late to completely turn his academic career around, but he made an effort and now he’s studying Engineering at Gotham University on a near complete scholarship from the Wayne foundation. All of this though and Danny still felt an inkling of worry for his town, even if it was in capable hands. He was working on it though.

He knew back at the start of senior year that he wouldn’t be able to hang up Phantom forever, afterall he was a part of Danny that couldn’t be ignored (it would quite literally be detrimental to his health), that and the fact that he existed on the precipice of life and death meant he would always have some ghost or another vying for his attention. One of his regulars wanting a fight, someone new deciding they want to test his mettle, or just a lower powered ghost wanting some help, and as long as it didn’t affect his schedule too much or get him too high on the Bats radar Danny would be happy to oblige.

So he didn’t mind it much when, after he’d started losing hope in finding Hood - Damn that guy can disappear- he felt his ghost sense go off. The sharp air escaped his lungs in a sudden gasp, never failing to stop his chest for a moment. Danny felt the ice melt in his mouth as he scanned the streets for whomever had set it off. He couldn’t see anything but something- someone- was pulling at his core, beckoning him to a nearby rooftop.

There wasn't anything special about this particular building, just an old beat down 24/7 convenience store. Danny flew around it a few times before landing gently on the roof’s edge. They didn't know what they should be looking for as the area seemed to be entirely empty. But his confusion proved to be short lived when the surrounding shadows seemingly condensed in front of them. The dim and flickering neon sign to their left somehow got dimmer and more flickery, and what little moonlight that had wormed its way through the thick clouds was all but swallowed by the swirling mass of shadow.

The massive shadow was towering almost three feet over Danny by the time it began taking shape. And it wasn’t quite humanoid, but the flowing gown and veil reminded them of a mourning widow. Her eye glowed a flickering grey, and her skin was made of the same shadow as her gown. She was beautiful, Danny’s breath caught in their throat. They didn’t know why, but they dropped to one knee, bowing their head to the shadowy figure.

The woman chuckled, a sweet chirping sound that echoed and reverberated around the rooftop. When she spoke, her voice was just more than a whisper, yet sweet and full, even behind that recognisable Jersey accent, “Rise child.” Danny obeyed. “You are powerful, young one, I can see it in you.” Her eyes flickered to Danny’s chest, hovering just where his core sat. “You are the ghost child from Amity, yes? I’ve heard much about you and your exploits. I must say, not many could go toe to toe with Pariah Dark and come out victorious.”

Danny’s tongue felt heavy in his mouth as he nodded, “It was difficult, but I had help.”

The woman hummed, “Even still. Is it true he still exists? In the forever sleep, you have not yet consumed his core?”

“I- no I have not,” Danny said. This was another of those things Danny had decided to ignore. A few months after they had locked Pariah away the Observants had tracked him down at school, resulting in a panicked request for the bathroom and a whole week of strife. Apparently, according to ghost politics, Danny had become heir to the crown of the ghost king. All that belonged to Pariah was now Danny’s, won in single combat. And if the news that he would become the new King of The Infinite Realms wasn’t enough, he had also been informed that to take the throne he would have to consume Pariah’s core, just as he had done when he won the throne from his predecessor.

This news had overloaded Danny’s brain and he had spent the past three years pointedly ignoring that fact about his half life. He’d get around to it… eventually. Luckily three years wasn’t much time for immortal floating eyeballs so it hadn’t become much of an issue. But he’d run out of time and would have to face the music at some point.

“But it is true that Pariah still exists, in eternal slumber for the time being.” He continued, squirming under the woman’s scrutinous gaze, “Ah, but if you don’t mind me asking, who are you?”

This elicited another set of giggles from the woman, err, girl? She had shrunk to the size of a young girl in a knee length black dress, a feathered beret sitting on a curly bob of dark hair. Her giggles grew, consuming the rooftop in the joyous sound. The laughing ceased as the young girl tilted her head to the side, just a little too far for a human. A grin spread wide across her face and something sparked in her eyes.

“I am Lady Gotham, princling, I thought that was obvious…” She trailed off for a moment then continued with renewed enthusiasm, “ I heard that you are a protector of your hometown, do you intend to assist my knights while you are here?”

Lady Gotham, Danny had heard of her. The supposed amalgamation of everything that made the city what it was. A combination of the pain and suffering as well as the fierce stubbornness and love of those who called the city home. Being a spirit she wasn’t seen often in the Ghost Zone, but those who passed through the veil brought stories of their protectoress. A Lady fierce, vindictive and unforgiving to those she considered an enemy. A being that collected curses like postage stamps. But also one who cared deeply for her city, and even more so for her knights who cared for her just as much.

Danny felt humbled in her presence.

He ducked his head, sheepish as he answered her, “My apologies my Lady, I have long since hung up my cape to pursue the remainder of my life. But should you call for my help I will not hesitate to do all in my power to aid you, or your knights.”

Lady Gotham hummed, pleased, “I appreciate the promise I will keep it in mind. After all, just tonight you have already helped my city so much. I want you to know that no matter how it may weigh on you; what you did was good. By taking his life you saved countless more, accident or no. And for that I thank you.” Stunned, Danny nodded. “I am afraid I must depart now, holding form isn’t difficult but I must say it makes it harder to spread my shadows. I wish you the best princling.” The girl before him smiled then melted -like actually melted- into a pool of shadow at Danny’s feet. As the cloud dissipated, the faint light of the convenience store returned, casting a dim staticky glow.

Danny stood mulling over her words for a few moments before laying down on the roof’s edge. The silence was punctuated only by the faint buzzing of electricity emitted from the neon sign, but it did little to distract him from the thoughts he’s been running from all night.

The thought that he had actually killed someone.

What Lady Gotham hada said was probably true, the Joker's death was a good riddance, he had killed tens-of-thousands, and probably tens-of-thousands more. Taking him out of the equation was a good thing. But that didn’t change the fact that Danny had killed him. Danny had never killed a person before, not directly at least. He wasn’t deaf to the notion that some people may have died during one of his ghost fights, in fact he was painfully aware of each person he had failed to save. But he had never been at direct fault for a murder until now. It shook him to the bones.

Did this make him a murderer?

He stewed in these thoughts for hours, only being pulled from them by an inkling of sunlight breaking through the towering buildings hitting his eyes. Groaning, he sat up, painfully aware of how tired he was. “Probably not getting any sleep though” He could feel the bags under his eyes growing with the lack of sleep. However he did manage to get off the roof and transform back into his living form, ‘need coffee’ He thought blearily as he began making his way down the street, maybe he’d find a shop or something.

What he did not expect was to be pulled into an alley for the second time that night (Morning? Oh what does it matter he’s getting mugged).

Their assailant, no more than two inches shorter than Danny with an unkempt beard and suspiciously stained shirt, had them pinned to the wall, a knife at their throat.

“Empty your pockets!” he shouted, digging the knife further against their skin. Danny suppressed a yawn, they really did not have enough energy to deal with this. Luckily they didn’t have to. The rumbling of a motorcycle filled the air as a blur of red and black turned into the alley. The mugger barely had time to shout “Hey!” before Red Hood decked him in the face.

“Twice in eight hours?” He asked, the grin almost audible in his voice as Hood tied up the man, “I know you’re not from here, but that’s still gotta be some kind of record,” Honestly Danny would have been more upset if he wasn’t so tired, but even so;

“Wee it’s not like I’m Trying to get attacked. I just wanted some fucking coffee,” he ground out.

“At four in the morning?”

“It’s almost six,” Danny muttered after sneaking a quick glimpse at his watch - a black digital one with little blob ghosts on it, a gift from Dani. “Besides it’s not like I was planning on sleeping anytime soon,” he continued. That same weird feeling from earlier tugged at his core during the silence that followed. Of there being a ghost nearby, but his cold gasp getting caught in his throat before escaping. Danny could almost feel the thrum of another core, but there was something muffling it. It made Danny wrinkle his nose.

Despite his wish to investigate the fact of Hood’s weird probably-a-core, Danny also really wanted to get out of this awkward situation. But hey it seemed like Hood was stalking him anyway so this probably wouldn’t be his only chance.

“I should probably be going now,” they said, moving to exist the grimy alley, stepping over the unconscious form of his would-be-mugger-#2. “Don’t worry, I’ll be a bit more careful this time,” They threw over their shoulder with a grin before leaving.

A weight settled on their shoulder as they walked away. Ancients this night was eventful. Hopefully their roommate was finally finished with ‘date night’ enough to allow Danny a couple hours of sleep. But first; coffee.

+++++

Humans I am so sorry for this chapter (because yes it's a chapter). I was just going to write another little installment from Danny’s Pov and then ended up with over 3k words which is like adding up the word counts of all three other chapters. But i think it turned out good so win some lose some. Anyway, all the exposition is out of the way so we’ll be going back to silly goofy fun times now. Also sorry about the kind-of angst, I didn’t mean to, it just appeared.

What were your thoughts on Lady Gotham? I’m fairly happy with how I wrote her, she will definitely be returning

No I will not add you to the tag list, I don't mean to be mean but I just down have the brain power for that <3

Subscrib to the Ao3

Pt 5

[o-wise-corvid]

Ummmm so when did killing children make someone not “technically” evil??? Asking for a friend. Some of y’all will literally excuse anybody of anything as long as they’re hot.

Qimir isn’t an UwU baby boy. He’s a murderer. Don’t forget the only reason he let Mae live was Osha basically sold him her own soul. Don’t forget she was terrified of him for half the show.

Sol made some horrible mistakes. Horr. i. ble. But every single one was actually motivated by trying to do the right thing. Did the man screw up royally??? Oh yeah. But he still never truly meant to cause any of the tragedy he did.

Qimir’s all for it.

[whumpsoda]

We Search For Stolen Personhood - Blue Walls

Masterlist

cw: pet whump, box boy universe/bbu adjacent, Institutionalized slavery, past abuse, conditioned whumpees

——————

Prince had awoken, same time as always, the routine mechanically ingrained in his brain. Now, lying in the old, twin sized mattress of the bunk bed the people had provided, he dared not shut his eyes, dared not to blink, dared not stop staring, fighting against the overcoming call of slumber that still had its hold on him.

The walls were blue.

He blinked, once, then twice, then three times.

Not white, not painstakingly, achingly white, but blue. A grayish sort of the color - or maybe that was a trick caused by the dim light of the room, he couldn’t tell - but definitely not white.

He sipped in a long, filling breath, hands laid over his chest and feeling along with the movement. He wanted to touch it. He wanted to dance around, to jump and sing and cheer. To rub his whole body across it, to smoosh his entire face against it, because maybe it wasn’t real at all, maybe it was false. Prince didn’t want to be dreaming.

Ever so carefully he picked up a hand, watching with innocent fascination as it neared the wall. Then, he hesitated, pulling back and lingering in the air before the two could meet.

What if it crumbled beneath his fingers in an instant? Disappeared the moment he made contact? What if they were simply a trick of his mind, fake and never to be true?

But the woman was real. He’d heard her speak, heard her converse with Mutt. The stuffed animal she’d brought for him, a bright, vibrantly pink teddy bear, sat over his belly, fur tickling him along the rise and fall of his breathing. The toy was real, she was real, and so was the wall.

They had to be.

Carefully, jaw working, he forced himself to press one finger to the wall. No crumbling, no disappearance, no reality warping magic that he could have thought up. Then another, then another, then the rest. The touch was slightly cool, bumps of plaster scratching gently to his skin as he grazed his hand over it in big circles. 

The blue wall was real.

And he was out. 

A short gasp slipped through his lips, realization finally dawning, jumping along with the beat of his heart. The contorting churn and quease of his belly was evident, an anxious feeling overflowing, spilling and seeping into each and every crevice.

He wanted to be happy, he really did… but was that not enough? What was with the sore in his chest, coiling around, suffocating his lungs and making it hard to breathe? 

Hm? You want some outside time as a treat for being so good? Is that what I think I’m hearing, ‘719?

N- no! Ms., um, Handler Reeves, sir, please, no, no outside, please.

Really? Are you sure? I could’ve sworn you loved the outside… always asking about it, always dreaming about it, all that ugly fucking crying…

Please, Handler Reeves, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, no outside, please, I’ll do anything, I’ll be so good just no outside, outside is bad and scary an’ and horr- horrible an’ no outside, please-

That’s what I thought, ‘719.

Prince swallowed, hard, shaking his head of thoughts as the pulse of his heart picked up pace.

No outside for you, Princey, you know that. Don’t tell me you forgot your training? Forgot all those things they taught you back at the facility… do I really need to send you back?

No, sir, no, of course not. I- I remember.

Good, good. They did wonders for you, did you know that?

Oh, he knew.

Prince slowly shuffled to a sitting position on the edge of the bed, carefully avoiding the mistake of nudging Mutt from his much needed sleep, who was collapsed in a heap on the floor. He must’ve been horribly exhausted to allow himself sleep, Prince couldn’t recall how many nights he’d stayed up to ensure his safety. Prince then stood, walking around to the drape covered window beside the bed. 

A window, just like his sir’s, but at the same time not at all. He gently drew the drapes aside, letting the early, faint, cloud concealed light filter over his face. Six o’clock, he guessed, familiar with the look of that time considering he’d woken up then for as long as he’d been with his sir. Except, the new view of a plain, dew dripping, cream colored fence took him off guard, being so used to the look of his sir’s neighbors’ front yards.

He swallowed, sucking in the flesh of the inside of his cheeks and softly gnawing on it, clutching the drapes tight. 

He was out, he was out, he was out. 

And he still hadn’t been hurt. So when was it coming?

If he looked close enough, focused his eyes in just the right spot, Prince could make out his own reflection in the window. Hair oily and undone, frizzy too, no more maids to get him prepared for his master before he even woke.

There was a cut, small but there, scratched over his upper lip, gradually scabbing over. He licked his tongue over it, feeling for the ridges and bumps and ugliness.

I can hurt you, Princey, any way I want, but I never leave any marks, do I?

Isn’t that just generous of me?

Who would want to ruin a gorgeous face like yours?

His gazed dropped, just a smidge, to find there was no lock on the window. He stared, just for a pause in time, debating. Would he? Would he not? Would sir allow it?

Breathing quickening, hand trembling and gradually pressing the latch, he shoved it over to one side, leaving half open. He looked back, as if his sir would jump in at any moment and catch him, yell, and anger, and hurt him-

The foggy, morning air blossomed over his face, a slight chill that worked to wake him further. Letting his eyes flutter to a close he sucked it in greedily, a large breath that filled his lungs with cold.

He smiled, still trained and never meeting the eyes, but a smile nonetheless.

Maybe one day he would be able to smile for real.

Soon enough, as the nerves overwhelmed him and grasped upon his brain Prince carefully and quietly shut the barrier once again, room filling up with silence.

Flopping back in bed, Prince would wait for his sir to wake, just as he always did, except he wasn’t in his sir’s bed or inside the white walls, and there were no maids who dressed him up, and no sir beside him.

With his sir unaccounted, he failed to realize what exactly he was waiting for. He waited, anyway.

——————

Masterlist

Taglist - @softvampirewhump @ivymyers @taterswhump @octopus-reactivated @tippytappytyping

If anyone wants to be removed or added to the taglist, please let me know! :)

[i-am-baechu]

♬ Summary: After a long day of training, Y/N is on the edge of having a anxiety attack. It’s been a rough week and all she wants to do is cry but when she comes home to see Jungkook and Bam, it makes her cry for another reason.

♬ Pairing: Established relationship; Jungkook x reader 

♬ Rating: Pg - 14

♬Genre: Established relationship, angst, and fluff

♬ Warnings: Swearing, anxiety attack, and very cute lol

♬ Part of, ‘ I fell In Love With A Girl Group Stan; The After Story

After the meeting, it was time for Y/N to go home. It was a rough day, the computers were acting up and Y/N couldn’t finish her assignment. Her boss told her that it was okay but deep down Y/N knew it wasn’t (or maybe her mind was doing a good job on convincing her). She sat in her car and stared at the steering wheel with a blank expression, then it hit her. She starts to cry as her head rests on the black material. She wasn’t even sure why she was crying exactly, maybe it was built up frustration with work or even in general. All she knew was, she was crying. 

She lifted her head when she heard her phone buzzing in the cupholder. She wiped her eyes and picked her phone up. She let a smile escape through her tears and she saw that Jungkook texted her, Baby I miss you.

She felt a little better at this text but it was only a little, I miss you too baby. I’m coming home now.

Okay! We’ll be waiting for you! <3 

The drive home was short and fast, thank god. She didn’t want to be stuck in her car alone any longer. She parked her car behind Jungkook’s and entered the house slowly. When she opened the door, her eyes landed on Jungkook and Bam who were on the couch watching tv together. A wave of warmth hit her and her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. She still wasn’t used to coming home to someone. Someone who was waiting for her to come home, it made her heart melt. She never experienced this kinda love before, someone who was always looking forward to seeing her and making her a better person. 

Jungkook heard the door close and he looked over the couch to see Y/N. A wide smile appeared and Bam jumped off the couch to go towards her, “Welcome home baby.” When she heard these words, she started crying again. Jungkook tossed the remote on the couch and quickly made his way to her. He gently pushed Bam away and wrapped his arms around her waist, “Baby, what’s wrong? Bad day?”

She nodded her head and hid her face into his black shirt, “I-It was horr-horrible.” 

He rubbed her back gently and kissed the top of her head, “Y/N, how long have you been feeling like this?”

“For a while...I just thought it was going to go away.”

“Y/N remember what your therapist said, talk about your feelings and struggles.” 

She nodded her head and dug her face deeper into his chest, “I thought I could take care of it myself...I didn’t want to rely on you for everything.” 

He sighed to himself and kissed the top of her head. He picked her up bridal style and headed towards the bedroom as Bam followed. He set her on the bed as she looked up at him with red eyes with tears staining her face. He walked over to her side and took some tissues before sitting in front of her. He gently wiped the tears away and he kissed her forehead, “Rely on me, Y/N. Talk to me about everything, please.” 

She nodded her head and took the tissues from his hand to blow her nose. She looked down and smiled at Bam. She scratched his head as he turned his head in her small hand. She glanced back at Jungkook and took a deep breath, “I feel like all I’ve been doing lately is getting up and going to work...I feel like I haven’t seen you much. I know that you're busy, so I don’t know why I feel like this. I feel like I’m on autopilot...I think that’s right...”

“And how long have you felt this way?”

“A week...or two.”

He pushed some hair behind her ear and she looked down at the carpet, “Y/N...you can always talk to me. Shit if you want to cry for hours, I’ll be there. I don’t care. Let me be there for you.”

“I don’t want to be a bother. I feel like I’m always going to you about my feelings-”

“But Y/N, you don’t.”

She looked up at him and tilted her head, “What do you mean?”

“Y/N, you just tell me you feel sad. That’s it. You barely talk about your emotions with me.” 

“Really?” 

He nodded his head at her and grabbed her hands to intertwine his fingers with hers, “Baby, please tell me everything. I won’t see you differently. It’s okay to feel like this. Rather it be sad or happy, it’s another day to be human. Remember that.” 

She bit her lip and glanced down at Bam who put his head on top of her knee, “I-I...”

“Y/N, you can cry. It’s okay.” 

She turned towards him and she nodded her head. She jumped into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck as she cried in his chest. She was crying hard and he only rubbed her back, letting her cry it out. Bam jumped on the bed and laid next to her. It felt like hours, when she finally pulled away she looked up at Jungkook. He glanced down and gave her a smile, “Do you feel better?”

She nodded her head and he leaned down to kiss the tip of her nose, “I need to change...”

“Let me set up a bath for you.”

She shook her head at Jungkook with a red face, “You’ve done enough-”

“Y/N, let me do this for you. I’ll put some candles in there and play some Red Velvet for you. Bam can sit in there with you. After that we can have your favorite for dinner.” 

“Fried chicken?”

He let out a small laugh and kissed her cheek, “Yes, fried chicken with the rice cake you like.”

“I love you Jungkook.”

“I love you more.”

Tag list:

@hannahdinse8 @princess172 @bbl32 @gloomy-k @dahliasbouqet

@cosmiclatte-world @juju-227592 @singukieee @astronaut-jin-moon @yvonne624

[cornyanus-snow]

Strawberry Milk

Rafe Cameron Drabble

Summary: Rafe struggling with the affliction of being human and experiencing complicated emotions paired with those that come with having a horrible father in an oat milk bubble bath…

Word count: 1.5k

CW: referenced physical and emotional abuse, struggles with sexuality, unhealthy coping mechanisms, internalized homophobia (not vivid at all)

Original posted on ao3 under the same name by me (Paynotommo)

White suds rested gently on the surface of the warm cloudy water. Small ripples and splashes lapped against the tub’s porcelain walls with every movement.

With his head lying lazily on the back of the tub, Rafe gently swished the sudsy water back and forth.

He knocked his pale knee against the porcelain absentmindedly.

 Times like this—times where the day was too hard and his emotions were too much to handle, is when he sat and marinated in a recommended soothing oat milk bath and thought but his mind was filled with nothing but a faint buzzing like tv static or a millions of flies.

There were no emotions for him stew because he worked so hard the entire day to stuff them deep down.


Lately he found himself becoming too emotional maybe in response to the weird world building, or rather crumbling around him.


Sometimes he would feel hollow like empty particles floating around in a clay vase, but mostly his heart would quicken to such an overwhelming degree he’d bury his face in his hands and sob quietly.
He tried so hard to avoid the bursts of tears by shoving himself into a tiny corner of his mind and denying the outside world to be apart of him. But the more he shoves it becomes so increasingly difficult to re-spackle the cracked drywall that was the shelter for his mind.

Rafe didn’t like to think of himself as the emotional type, it wasn’t very manly.

His father would eagerly disagree,
“Rafe calm down!” He would shout at him a lot throughout his childhood and it breathes through him at every waking moment now.

Given any high stress situation Rafe finds those words repeating constantly.

‘Rafe calm down’. That’s all he could tell himself today. It ricocheted within his mind like a high caliber bullet. Just thinking about it, a moment of true emotion began to bubble up again inside him. He let out a sigh dissipating the growing outburst of tears.

He lifted his head slowly as he glided his hands through the cloudy water watching the blood from his knuckles wash away into the suds. Seeing the red swirl around the milky surface reminded him of what happened earlier today and how he claimed to himself he had no more feelings despite crying till it hurt.


He remembered being pushed down against hard pavement barely managing to fight back and hot tears pouring down his face as he screamed desperately for some relief from his father.

Rafe Cameron loved to claim himself indomitable and a king among insolent men but faced down upon his father he was still a boy.
That fact hadn’t settled with him yet, after all he was nineteen on the cusp of manhood, hell he was a man now in the eyes of the law.

Even his father told him so, that was until he started ‘acting out’.

Rafe began to notice that strange pattern. He was a man when he was a burden and needed to start providing for himself but when he felt manly enough to speak out against his father he was demoted right back to boyhood. He could disagree with his father and argue that he is a man now but often times he never felt like it.

Still scared of thunderstorms and still preferred bubble baths most nights.

He knew deep down he hadn’t grown yet because he didn’t want to but hell did he try to convince every layer of himself that he was an adult now and it was his turn at being the man of the house. He failed time and time again. He knew and he knew it well but tries so hard to lie to himself until it becomes the truth.

Despite all that Rafe still hoped in the deepest part of himself it would never become true.

Today proved as much that in a very horrid way he was still a long ways away from being a man in the eyes of his father.

The way his father was so eager to remind him where he stood in his eyes scared Rafe right back into obedience adolescence.

Rafe’s fingers ghosted lightly over the bright red scraps stinging just above his elbow on his left where he had been pinned to the hard ground. He remembered the feeling of sharp rocks piercing his skin. He remembered so well because he focused on that as opposed to the beating he received everywhere else.

He winced at the pain when his fingertips pressed down against the cuts, but he did it again just to feel that odd sensation that was solicited from his own touch.

It was a strange sensation that teetered into a painful pleasure.
It hurt but as the pain faded it left a fuzzy tingle that made Rafe’s reflexes flick towards the scrapes again.

He winced as his blue eyes focused on his arm as he poked at the cuts. Slowly he moved down his pale skin to more cuts and purple bruises. His moon shaped fingernails dug gently into a few long cuts along the path of his fingers and he relishes in the ticklish sensation that buzzes after the sharp pain.

He finally reached his knuckles and ghosts the length of his own fingers.
His mind began to wander into this strange uncharted territory of his imagination.

He began to imagine what this same sensation would be like if it were the hands of another man, a real man. Someone his father deemed equal and respectable. A hand that has callouses and deep veins. A hand that’s known hard work and has been in the dirt.

Rafe traces his own palm and envisions someone else. He didn’t even know many men his father respected that actually worked for what they had…well he knew Barry, who worked hard— illegal or not. Only thing is his father sure as hell didn’t respect him.

Rafe began to think maybe that was apart of the appeal. Like a rebellious teenager he found himself almost immediately enamored with the idea. Someone like Barry— a man his father had no respect for— hands tracing along his delicate skin searching for nothing more than satisfaction.

He felt himself growing more confident as he ventured further into such muddy imaginations as his own fingers now found their way to the cuts on his knees they began to trickle down into the water. His nails ghosted along faint bruises to the supple skin that was spared from the beating he took earlier that day.
Rafe latched on to the idea of the hands of the less respectable and shallow Barry touching him in such a sensual way. Would he be so tender with Rafe? He would want him to be and would that even matter? Barry didn’t seem like the type to not listen at least. Maybe he was gentle and caring during sex.

Rafe hesitatingly allowed himself to imagine all the possible scenarios that could play out if Barry was with him now. His seasoned hands trailing gently along Rafe’s untouched inner thigh and leaving a blazing trail everywhere his fingers traveled.

He wondered how hard he would touch him and how far he would be willing to go. 
His breath quickened at the thought of Barry going as far as Rafe wanted him to.

How far? Far enough to disappoint his father. Far enough to have Rafe gripping the side of the tub with his head lolled back panting heavy and red in the face. 

That deep thought bubbling up into the very forefront of Rafe’s mind and the unimaginable feeling of his own hands stalking ever closer down to his hard on horrified him.

He snatched away from his body and found the sides of the tub with a lethal grip and closed his legs tight. His face grew hot with shame and the buzzing in his stomach grew unbearable.
He was so embarrassed to catch himself imagining such boyishly perverse fantasies after trying so hard to convince himself he was above that. That he’d grown, he could take a beating from his father despite the tears but alas he couldn’t help but cope with the idea of something so charged and sinister.

An innocent little lamb is something Rafe wasn’t and something he absolutely did not want to be perceived as but imagining himself as such under the gaze of what he considered a man was far too intoxicating.

He was disgusted with himself.

The milky bath water had grown rather cold and the suds had faded. It was more pink than white and he was feeling rather horrified so he hoisted himself from the water and opened the drain.

He stood there with a hand on the backsplash for support watching as the pinkish white water drained from the tub.

He felt like even less than before and seeing himself fully erect because of his sick fantasies didn’t help, in fact made things much worse.
He turned the shower on making sure the knob was turned to the right, he wanted it freezing cold.
He was determined to wash away everything that made him less of a man, including the weird feelings that made his mind wonder and wander away.

He forced himself back into that empty corner of his mind and hid Rafe away. Running from those strangely pleasing thoughts before he crashed and burned.

[queersrus]

Horror theme

general horror concept

tagging @bpdxhoardic

zombie

(Nick)Names:

horra, horrora, horroret/horrorett/horrorette, horrorel/horrorell/horrorelle, horrel/horrell/horrelle, horret/horrett/horrette, horroretta, horrorella, horrina, horrorina, hruza, horreur deimos, dread, dismay, distress, dehşet agi, agh, aghi, afraid, alarm, atrocity egil, entsetzen medo, metus ove, orrore panic/panick, phobia, phobes, phoebus, pelko, phoebe, paranorm, paranormal, pan, pavor, przerażenie scare, slasher, splatter, shock, strava fright, fear, formido, fríki, fasa bhao nightmare quaver terror, tremble, thriller, trepidation, torment, tension cosmic, cruel, cruelty, chill, chiller loath/loathe rædsel, redsel verschrikking kauhu zhakh uzhastik groază

1stp prns: i/me/my/mine/myself

ho/horror/horrors/horrorself hirr/herr/horrors/horrine/horrorself hi/horror fri/fea/frights/fears/frightself fri/frigh/frights/frine/frightself fi/fea/fears/fearself sla/slash/slashers/slasherself co/cosmi/cosmics/cosmicself thri/thrill/thrillers/thrillerself dri/drea/dreads/dreadself pi/pani/panics/panicself o/orr/orres/orroreself

2ndp prns: you/your/yours/yourself

ho/horr/horrors/horrorself fri/frights/frightself fe/fear/fears/fearself slash/slasher/slashers/slasherself co/cor/cosmirs/cosmicself tho/thrir/thrillers/thrillerself drea/dreader/dreaders/dreadself pi/panicker/panickers/panicself o/or/orrs/orroreself

3rdp prns: they/them/theirs/themself

ho/horror/horrors/horrorself hor/ror, horror/horrors fri/fright/frights/frightself fri/ight, fright/frights fe/fear/fears/fearself fe/ar, fe/ear, fear/fears slash/slasher/slashers/slasherself slash/sher, sla/sher, slasher/slashers co/cosmic/cosmics/cosmicself cos/mic, cos/cosmic, cosmic/cosmics cosmic/horror thri/thriller/thrillers/thrillerself thill/thriller, thri/ller, thriller/thrillers drea/dread/dreads/dreadself dre/ad, drea/ead, dre/ead, dread/dreads pan/panic/panics/panicself pan/ic, panic/panics orr/orrore/orrores/orroreself orr/ore, orrore/orrores

Titles

the horror, the horrible, the horrifying, the dread, the dreadful, the dreaded, the scare, the scary, the scared, the fear bringer, the terrible, the terror, the terrifying, the terrorized, the terrorizing, the terrorizer, the feared, the fear, the fearful, the fearing, the slasher, the panicked, the panic, the panicking, the panicker, the fear spreader, the doomed, the cosmic horror, the bringer of fear, the being of horror, the incomprehensible horror, the killer, the hunter, the haunter, the hunted, the haunted

(prn) who brings fear, (prn) who slashes, (prn) who panics, (prn) who brings dread

(name) of fear, (name) of horror, (name) of unimaginable horrors, (name) of the horror films, (name) of the horror genre, (name) of cosmic horrors

[balladofandromeda]

Horr!bl3 typ!ng qu!rk id34: 430@,3 3?346 “35534 385) 5)3 ,9443209’:8’( !7’?34 84 07’,7-589! 3.54- /)85 098!5/ /8!,3 85 9!@6 294&/ 9! 5)3 -00@3 @37!9-4: ;94’!-58!(

(Translation) Horrible typing quirk idea: replace every letter with the corresponding number or punctuation. Bonus shit points since it only effectively works with the apple keyboard formatting

[iamnotawomanimagod]

Okay so bc I’m lazy i just decided not to keep watching the house of jay z so pls could you spoil the entire show for me? 🥺🤭

"House of Jay Z" lmfao Nins you're so fucking funny

Okay, here we go! Also I'm sorry this is SO long, I tried to keep it short, but a lot happens!

Just to refresh your memory - the first episode sets up a few storylines.

One is the trial against Fortunado, with prosecutor Auguste Dupin leading the charge. During the trial's opening remarks, he indicates that there is an informant among the Usher family. This immediately causes a lot of paranoia and distrust, which impacts a lot of the decisions the characters make.

Another storyline with Auggie and Roderick takes place after the deaths of all of Roderick's children. That's where the two men are talking in Roderick's broken down childhood home.

Third, we've got Roderick's "miracle drug" - Lidogone. It's meant to be a non-habit forming pain reliever and he's made his fortune primarily from its sale. Big shocker - Ligodone is absolutely addictive, and Roderick knows that all along.

Another key to understanding what happens is Carla Gugino's character, aka Verna. She is present and/or involved with all the deaths of all of the Usher children. She's basically a sort of devil/karma collector/god of death. Also, Verna is an anagram of Raven, which is a reference to Poe's "The Raven."

So all the Usher kids die in different horrible ways, which is revealed in the first episode, right? And Verna is there to give each of them an out - but only if they take it, which none of them do.

1 - Perry/"Prospero"

The youngest of Roderick's children (he's 25) dies in an abandoned warehouse party/orgy he's throwing, because he hooks the sprinkler system up to some tanks on the roof, not realizing those tanks are full of illegally stored acidic waste. (The building is owned by Fortunado, Roderick's pharma company, so it's kind of Roderick's fault too.) He wants water to fall on everyone to make the orgy sexier, and plans to turn it on right at midnight.

Before midnight, Verna appears (looking a lot like Red Coat from PLL lmao) and tries to tell Perry that he can end the party early (implying he doesn't have to die in such a horrible way.) But he doesn't really understand her, blows her off, and goes back to the party.

Verna tells all of the waiters/bartenders etc to leave before the acid rain falls. She also tells Roderick's wife, Morrie, who is there in secret because Perry invited her, but Morrie doesn't go. As a result, Morrie is also burned horribly by the acid, but she's the only survivor of the party and is rescued and sent to the hospital. Keep that in mind for later.

Perry dies horribly with all of his friends/lovers, everyone getting burned by the acid together into a big gross pile. He was a bit of a shit, as he was recording the whole party and intended to blackmail everyone there with the footage, so it's not a big loss. One down, five to go!

2 - Camille

She dies because she's snooping on Victorine's work, trying to prove that Victorine is the informant for the prosecution. She gets mauled to death by one of the chimps Victorine is testing her medical device on - a heart monitor thing that will not only assist with keeping heart rate steady, but can also map arteries and capillaries, making it possible to catch things like clots and strokes earlier.

Camille is a PR person, and is often the one who spins the family's scandals and losses as positive things. She also "knows everything" about everyone, but seems to resent Victorine for reasons no one else really gets.

Camille goes to Victorine's lab and discovers that Victorine has faked all the results of her miraculous heart device, and she pumps the chimps full of adrenaline to make it seem like it's working.

Verna, pretending to be a security guard, tries to warn Camille away, and tell her to leave, but Camille doesn't go. Verna corners her in the room with all the chimps, and gives a big speech about how horrible animal testing is. Then basically "becomes" the chimp that mauls Camille to death. Another one bites the dust!

3 - Napoleon

He dies because he goes insane, and starts hallucinating a demon cat in his home. He is the most emotionally distraught at the deaths of Perry and especially Camille, as he was closest to them. He wakes up one morning after they've died, and finds his boyfriend's cat (named Pluto) completely butchered, and Leo has blood on his hands.

So Leo convinces his boyfriend that the cat must've just gotten out, and he goes out and adopts a cat that looks *exactly* like Pluto, and tries to pass it off as his boyfriend's cat.

He adopts the cat from a shelter worker - but it's Verna. She does give him the same opportunity to die a less gruesome death, as she attempts to get him to adopt a different cat (but not one that looks like Pluto.) This would've meant coming clean to his boyfriend about killing the cat, though, so Leo doesn't listen.

Throughout the episode, no one else ever sees the cat Leo adopted. It turns out that it's just Verna, basically baiting Leo into destroying his own apartment and eventually, himself.

He ends up throwing himself off his balcony in an attempt to catch the cat - who is just a figment of his madness.

It's also revealed at the end that the real Pluto is totally fine, was never killed by Leo (he just accidentally got let out of the apartment,) and all of the violence against the cat in this episode was in Leo's head.

4 - Victorine

This storyline is based on "The Telltale Heart" by Poe, and is probably one of my favorites in terms of the stories Flanagan adapted for this miniseries.

Victorine is approached by a woman with a type of heart failure that is very hard to treat. This woman is actually Verna, of course.

Victorine thinks this woman is a perfect candidate for human trials for her heart device, even though Victorine knows that the device doesn't actually work. The woman is very vulnerable and uncertain about the procedure, but Victorine insists it's all good. (That was Verna attempting to give Victorine an out, and a less painful death.)

She still moves forward with setting up the procedure, even going so far as to forge her partner's signature (who is a talented heart surgeon) on the pre-surgery documents. When her partner finds out about this, she is super pissed and breaks up with Victorine. She says she's going to expose everything Victorine has done.

In a fit of rage, Victorine throws a little decorative sculpture thing at her partner and her partner gets hit in the head and dies. Victorine doesn't remember this, however, and spends the rest of the episode trying to call her partner and get her to do the surgery.

All the while, whenever there is silence, Victorine keeps hearing the little chirp of the heart device. She starts listening to very loud music to drown it out.

Roderick (her dad) eventually goes to her to talk to her about human trials on her device (he's dying of a brain disease and wants the device for himself.)

But when she turns the music off, he can hear the chirping too.

They go to the next room and find Victorine's partner with her chest cut wide open and the device wrapped around her dead heart. Victorine realizes what she's done and stabs herself with a scalpel. (But don't worry, Roderick makes sure to do surgery on her partner himself to get the device out so the cops don't take it. This family sucks.) Four down, two to go!

The remaining Usher children are from Roderick's first marriage to a woman called Annabel Lee.

5 - Tamerlane

Tammy is having a very hard time sleeping, and in fact hasn't slept in weeks. She is also certain her influencer fitness bro husband is cheating on her. That's because Verna keeps appearing in the background of her husband's videos to make Tamerlane paranoid.

Tamerlane fires/breaks up with him, and tries to do the big launch of her Goldbug luxury subscription packages herself. She hallucinates that Verna is there in the front row of the crowd, thinks she's the "other woman" that her husband is cheating on her with, and throws a microphone stand at her.

It turns out to actually be Juno, Roderick's very young wife, who was there to support Tammy, because Juno is a sweetheart and is way too good for the Ushers.

Tammy returns home after the disastrous launch, but starts seeing Verna in all of her mirrors. Verna keeps telling her to go to sleep, to get some rest, to stop being so paranoid and looking for enemies everywhere (her way of trying to give Tammy a peaceful death.)

Tammy starts smashing her mirrors in an attempt to get Verna to stop taunting her. This leads her to her bedroom, where she has a mirror on the ceiling and as her headboard. She smashes the ceiling mirror and the falling shards of glass kill her.

Just one last Usher child remains...

6 - Frederick

Freddie is the eldest child of Roderick Usher, and the final one to die. He's the worst, and imo he could've died a lot more painfully.

When he finds out that his wife Morrie was at the party where Perry died, he goes full asshole abuser mode, in the worst possible way. He removes Morrie from the hospital early and makes a sickbed for her at home. He tells his daughter Lenore (the only grandchild of Roderick) that he's going to get doctors and other help for Morrie, but Lenore never sees anyone coming in or out of the house.

That's because Frederick is essentially keeping Morrie captive and denying her medical treatment. He's using a paralytic to keep her immobilized and unable to speak, but completely aware. So she's just suffering and in horrible pain from the full-body acid burns, and he's using that to punish her for going to the party and presumably cheating on him.

He eventually prints out a million pictures of them on their wedding day and puts them all over the walls in her sickroom. He makes a speech about having to "put his house in order" and about how much he loved her smile when they met.

Then he rips all of her teeth out with some pliers. (This isn't shown, thank god.)

Lenore is growing more and more suspicious of her father and his treatment of her mother. He starts telling her that Morrie is too unwell for visits. When Lenore confronts him about it, he forbids her from checking on Morrie and then leaves the house.

Lenore breaks into her mother's sickroom, finds her being held captive there there, and calls the police. Morrie is rescued and returned to the hospital. We'll talk about what happens with Lenore later.

Frederick left the house to go oversee the demolition of the warehouse where Perry died. It's happening at night, under the table, without any proper permits. He decides he wants to go in and take a piss on the spot Perry died.

It's important to note that he's been doing a shitton of coke for several days now. Earlier, after ripping Morrie's teeth out, when he was getting ready to leave, he was scooping some more coke into a little baggie. We later see that Verna was behind him, urging him to take "more." It turns out that the "more" in question was actually some of the paralytic powder that Frederick was using on Morrie. So he does a bump of his "coke," unzips his fly to pee, then goes rigid and collapses to the floor, paralyzed.

Verna appears, impersonating a construction worker, and explains what's happening to him. She was going to give him an out, just like she did with his siblings, until he ripped Morrie's teeth out. Verna decides then that Frederick will not get the chance for a peaceful death. So she makes sure that he's got the paralytic instead of the coke, waits for him to be alone in the warehouse, then mimics his voice on the radio and calls for the demolition to begin.

Frederick dies paralyzed on the floor, with his dick out (embarrassing,) as the building collapses around him. A big metal piece of the rafters breaks free, swinging like a pendulum, and slowly cuts him in half. Still too good for him, if you ask me.

So now all of Roderick's children are dead! But we're not done, we've still got the terrible twins to contend with.

7 - How Madeline and Roderick fucked over Auggie Dupin

Back in the late '70s, Dupin used to be an investigator for Medicare fraud. He uncovered a conspiracy where higher-ups at Fortunado were forging the signatures of their lower-level employees (like Roderick, at the time,) and their patients, making it seem like the patients had signed off on agreeing to medication trials. They took advantage of a lot of sick, elderly, and mentally unwell people to do so.

For months, Roderick acts like he's going along with Dupin's investigation and plan to ruin Fortunado. He agrees to be a whistleblower and testify that Fortunado forged his signature and lied to their patients.

When the trial finally happens, Roderick lies under oath, says he did sign those papers, and insinuates that Auggie has been harassing him and his family into helping bring down Fortunado. Roderick is very briefly arrested, but quickly set free by Fortunado lawyers. Auggie is left with no case against Fortunado at all, because his key witness and whistleblower betrayed him.

When Roderick's very good, sweet first wife (named Annabel Lee, after the Poe poem) finds out about this, and that Roderick planned to turn on Auggie all along, she is devastated and angry. She leaves Roderick.

It's later revealed that Roderick basically bought their children (Tamerlane and Frederick) away from her by showing them a lavish lifestyle that she couldn't compete with, and Annabel Lee eventually kills herself from the loneliness.

(In the present-day timeline, Auggie admits that the only reason he trusted Roderick was because of Annabel Lee being a genuinely moral, kind person.)

8 - The Deal with Verna

Back in the late 70s, once word gets out that Roderick lied to save the company from litigation, Roderick is considered set for life at Fortunado. His horrible boss, Rufus, keeps talking him up at this big New Year's Eve party, telling him how everyone knows that Roderick is Rufus's number one man.

Later on at this party, Madeline lures Rufus into the basement. She and Roderick then brick him into a wall that's under construction, Cask of Amontillado style. They also poisoned him with cyanide for good measure.

Because Rufus talked up Roderick so much, it's almost guaranteed that Roderick will inherit Rufus's position/title when Rufus turns up missing.

Madeline and Roderick leave the Fortunado party to establish an alibi elsewhere. They find a small, relatively uncrowded bar. It's here that they meet Verna.

Important to note - Madeline was the mastermind behind all of this. She convinced Roderick to betray Auggie. She came up with the plan of trapping and killing Rufus, letting Roddie take his job. She is absolutely the smarter of the two, and is basically always pulling Roderick's strings in the background.

Everything that Roderick is, he owes to Madeline's ruthlessness, cleverness, and total disregard for everyone else but herself and her twin brother.

And to one other thing...

The terrible twins are the last people at the bar, and are talking about their ambitions and dreams while they drink with Verna. As the conversation goes on, Verna reveals that she knows what the twins did to Rufus just hours before, which should be impossible.

She then gives them an offer, and makes it clear that it's not a hypothetical, but a deal that she wants to make with them.

If they accept, their family will never again be able to be convicted of any crime, including the murder the twins literally just committed. No legal charges will ever stick. They'll achieve anything they can imagine, and have a lifetime of money, luxury, and comfort.

But the trade-off is their entire bloodline. When Roderick and Madeline reach the age where they would've naturally died anyway, all of their offspring will die before them.

Obviously, they took the deal. Madeline never has children. Roderick pops them out left and right. And one of his children has a child, too - Lenore. And the trade-off is the entire bloodline.

9 - Lenore

Roderick loves Lenore very much. He considers her the best of the Ushers and has faith that she will be a good person. And the narrative makes it clear that this is true, as Lenore is shown constantly questioning the older members of her family about what's right and wrong, and why they're doing the things they do.

After the joint funeral of Tamerlane, Frederick, and Victorine, Roderick's brain disease makes him collapse on the street. Lenore stays with him that night to keep an eye on him, because Roderick's very young wife, Juno, has left him. (We'll get into that later, as Juno is a key part of the ending.)

The night Lenore stays with Roderick, Verna appears to her and tells her a story about Morrie. Because Lenore intervened, Morrie will make a full recovery. Then she'll go on to start a non-profit foundation for victims of domestic violence. That foundation will go on to help millions and millions of people. Morrie calls it "The Lenore Foundation."

Verna apologizes to Lenore, says she doesn't want to do this part of her job, and then gently touches Lenore's forehead.

Lenore basically goes to sleep, dying peacefully, but she's also not even 18 yet so it's a big bummer. (One of the implications of this is that all of Roderick's children could have died this way, too, but they were assholes so their deaths were gruesome and painful.)

Roderick is obviously very distraught by this. He goes to his childhood home and asks Auggie Dupin to meet him there.

10 - The Deaths of the Terrible Twins

As he finishes telling him the whole story, the question of whether or not Madeline and Roderick really believed that the deal with Verna was real or not comes up. Roderick admits that he believed it, and that he knew that he would "climb to the top on a pile of corpses" and that he didn't care. He chose to do it all anyway, knowing how many people would be killed by his drug.

All throughout their conversation, Auggie keeps hearing some clunking noises in the basement. Roderick tells him "it's just Madeline."

We then find out that Roderick brought Madeline to their childhood home and shares a drink with her. He actually poisons her. After she dies, he takes her eyes out and replaces them with blue stones, mimicking the burial of Egyptian pharaohs.

Madeline, either back from the dead or having never really died, comes up from the basement wailing, her eyes gone and replaced with stones. She runs straight for Roderick and begins strangling him. At that point, the storm that's been brewing all night reaches a frenzy, lightning strikes the crumbling house, and it starts collapsing.

Auggie flees the house just before it completely falls. Madeline and Roderick are buried beneath the rubble. And so, all the Ushers are finally dead.

Epilogue - Juno

Some background - Roderick met Juno in a hospital. She was there after suffering a serious heroin overdose, which including losing her leg. (The actress playing Juno is a real amputee, so that's a fun bit of representation.) She's in a coma when Roderick hears about her - a young woman who suffers from a terrible heroin addiction and has no family, prospects, or assets of her own. Juno is given the highest dosage of Ligodone that anyone has ever received. She wakes up in no pain. She and Roderick fall in love and get married, and she continues taking the highest dosage possible, at Roderick's insistence.

Juno believes their love is real. As the show goes on, she starts expressing interest in weening herself off Ligodone. Roderick forbids her from doing so, asking her how it would look in the midst of Fortunado being on trial. When she insists, saying it should be easy since it's non-addictive, Roderick reveals that it's VERY addictive and that recovery will be a slow, painful, years-long process. He also admits that the reason he loves her is because her body is so good at processing Ligodone, and she's taking so much, that she "basically is Lidgodone." He even compares himself to Dr. Frankenstein and her to his monster. This is when she leaves him, telling him that she'll endure three years of pain and discomfort over a lifetime with him.

And then, with everyone else being dead, Juno is the only person left in the will.

She completely dissolves Fortunado and gives most of the money away. She also manages to overcome her addiction to Ligodone, slowly and painfully, but on her own terms. The heroin addict - "junkie slut" as his kids so often called her - wins it all, dismantles the horrible pharma company, and gets to live her life without the Ushers.

Auggie's final scene is him standing at the graves of the Usher family. He says: "Goodbye, Roderick. I'm going home to my husband and our kids and their kids. I'm the richest man in the world, you know?" SO on the nose and cheesy, lmao. One of the criticisms that I do have of this show is that it's pretty heavy-handed and can be very preachy at times. But putting that aside, I really enjoyed it!

Anyway - in the final scene, we see Verna placing objects of importance on each of the headstones for all of the deceased Ushers: the mask Perry was wearing the night of his death; Camille's phone (for her PR job); Pluto's collar for Napoleon; Victorine's heart device; Tamberlane's "Goldbug" pendant; Frederick's baggie of coke (lmao); the blue stones that became her eyes for Madeline; and a whiskey glass for Roderick. Lenore gets a beautiful raven's feather, wrapped in a white ribbon.

As she places these items, Verna speaks in voice over and recites the Poe poem "Spirits of the Dead."

There ya go! That's the basic meat of the story and as many details as I could include. I honestly skipped over SO much and left out some characters entirely, but I think this'll give you a good idea of what happens plot-wise.

Love you, Nins <3

[puppety-pupils-and-pedagogues]

Here's a fic. Spoiler warning for the entirety of the TV series for I have Finished it.

Im-por-tant

TW: violence

Description: Yellow fights and shouts and hurts and is hurt as he wants to help and generally has a horrible time.

~ ~ ~

You hate him. You hate him so much.

It's his fault. It's his own fault. He yelled at you, being mean and horr- and bad when he's your friend.

The glass digs into the fabric of your hand, but you don't care. It's hard to, when trying to think about why you hurt your friend aches more than the cut.

You shriek as the other one smashes glass onto your head. Hurts. Hurts. Hurts more than thoughts and your hand and even worse-

Worse? Worse, like more, like better but bad. No thing worse nothing worse than a friend betr- har- hurting you-

(He's your friend but he hurt you. You're his friend but you hurt him. That's just how things are now and will always be because that world's funny like-)

Glass is in your side you scream angry because that hurt and hurt and it's not fair it's not- not- it-

It hurts to think. You can only really hand- do quick thoughts now. Short thoughts. Simple thoughts. Simpleton-

Who's fault is that?

Your fault. Always your fault. Dumb. Stupid. Slow. Soft in the-

No. No. Their fault. Their fault her fault his fault now, because- be-cause-

You crash to the ground, glass piercing your back. A weight on you, because of a body on you-

For a moment, contacts connect. Jostled just the right way, through the filth and grime. A bit of juice, jolting your mind, a needle in a haystack, fresh air in a gas chamber-

You hate him. You hate him so much because-

He's your friend but he put that awful, awful worm in your brain. The pillow-soft, safe happy place in your mind tainted and twisted, your friends gone and your brother dead, and for what? To keep being awful to you? To call you names and call you wrong-

He's your friend but he couldn't let you be happy. He gave your arm back but he took your retirement card and Claire and Janet away because he couldn't stand not being the center of attention and getting his beloved respect-

He's your friend and you love him, you loved him so much that you dug him back out and when you picked up that shovel and broke the head-plank of that coffin and saw him moving you were so happy. But he keeps throwing punches and drawing blood and he-

He likes you better, like this. A dummy in every sense of the word. A moron who can't think for himself, a simpleton who can't slight anyone's ego-

Don't move. Don't move, now. You have your head. Move out of the way. Be careful. Find batteries. Clean these ones. You have to, because for all the hate you have for him, and him too for being so spineless but not now, you love them. You love your friends. Just move slowly, before-

Red hair parts to reveal a roaring maw. He's so loud now. He shouts so much and you hate that you hate-

A toothy bill digs into your leg and you scream you-

You-

You

You hate him. You hate them. You were busy you had- there was-

Important. Im-por-tant. Something important, with you, and that never happens, because you're dumb and stupid. They made you lose it. The thing. The imp- the- the thing, with you, the special thing-

You won't share with them. The special thing, when you have it. They don't get it. They won't get it. No special for them.

Im-por-tant. They're yelling. They're hurting. You hurt too. You're shouting too. Grown-ups are loud when they say important things. Here. Right now, hurting each other. Being loud. This is important.

There's a sharp thing in your hand, and in the rest of you. They have sharp things too. They're hurt too. This is important, hitting each other. Screaming.

You hit and scream and hit and scream. This is important. This is right. You hate him, and him. This feels right because you hate them.

You want to cry. You don't know why.

You hate them so much.

[crimsonfluidessence]

Prompt 20: Hamper

Being the part-time therapist, according to Esredes, meant that you were the one destined to be alone. It was an occupation that barely existed, and you were the healer to everyone else. Someone had to be the one to simply absorb the pain and deal with it, and he was used to it already.

But one session that went particularly bad broke Esredes just a little. He was so incredibly frustrated that something in him twisted all out of place. And he found himself looking onto an old recommendation from a friend. He still didn't believe it was possible for the therapist to be helped, but what did he have to lose? So against all odds, the man tried to put himself in the other seat for once. At first it was just nice to talk about how everything felt, but it didn't take many meetings for the other person to tell him his core problem could never be fixed, and he would always have to choose between being well-liked and sincerity.

Well, he knew that already, and he knew the choice he'd make. So Esredes slipped the mask back on and left. He knew this was a truth, but now he didn't have to waste time figuring out if somehow he missed an answer like people kept insisting for him. They were just hopelessly idealistic, and he already knew exactly how the world worked. No more wasting time on things only meant for real people.

Some time later, Esredes was in the Firmament, when a white-horned Au Ra woman with a foreign accent approached him and started talking to him. That certainly wasn't a combination Esredes saw much of, but she was very nice and sweet, gentle and soft. And she said something about how it felt like something was on Esredes' mind, and she would be happy to listen if he needed to talk. A part of Esredes couldn't help but feel like it might be some kind of trap? But he did go to see her in an inn room in the Forgottten Knight, and everything was normal.

It wasn't until the middle of the conversation Esredes learned she also considered herself a therapist. Oh dear, had he just gone into therapy again, on accident? But he didn't care. Her advice was actually very good, and for the first time in a while, Esredes felt truly heard. He talked about the ongoing situation with his former squire coming back into his life recently but hating him, and she told him to bring him to a place of shared memories, to which in doing so the two were able to, albeit messily, sort out the problem and realize they were family. Outside of those discussions, Esredes slowly learned about Fuyu, as was her name, and they became friends. They went to the large and comprehensive aquarium in the Shroud and looked at fish for hours, he found her crying once and comforted and calmed her down, he encouraged her gently to stop picking at her scales as a bad habit, and albeit she was a wanderer, she said she'd stay in Ishgard for him. Fuyu really felt like a gentle and understanding friend, far beyond that he could usually imagine.

And then one day, she was kidnapped. It was out of nowhere, she went missing. Him and the rest of the people who hung around her quickly assembled to find her and bring her home, and it was a major relief they were able to. Esredes watched from a distance as she shut herself in her room after that, too afraid to go outside, and his heart sunk. A friend of his was hurting badly, and he knew it was his fault. The universe always punished him for getting too comfortable, or trying to have things go too well. She had been kidnapped because he sought out her help, he knew this in his bones. And he felt horrible for it.

It was then and there Esredes put a stop to his therapeutic pursuits. If he went back to her, she'd die next time. And he couldn't bear to kill her, or any other therapist, with his selfish desires. He had his place, he had his box, and he would not dare try to crawl out of it again.

He only wished he realized this earlier, before the damage has been done for his selfishness. Never again would he be that horribly selfish, he pledged to himself. Never again.

[huntsphury]

I've seen a lot of people saying Elain is acotar's Sansa, so continuing the acotar and got comparing I wanted to say that I feel some Theon vibes on Lucien, talking about the <<<journey>>>

They both came from important families, but never felt at home there. Then, they had to live in another place, and tried to make themselves usefull for their new "masters", besides not belonging there too. And, because they were so desperate to belong somewhere, they commited mistakes (Theon's are a hundred million times worse, there is no comparison, of course).

They both suffered horrible things, and got so broken that they lost a lot of their spirits. Everyone talks about how Lucien changed from acotar 1, but would you keep being the same after being tortured, trepted, suffering SA and being always diminuted? Remember that he was already in a bad place before, with all his backstory.

It seems very alike to Theon's journey to me. When he finally gets free from Ramsay, he is so traumatized that becomes an entirelly different man. And he tries so hard to help the good people then, even with nowone trusting or respecting him. Nothing he does is enough. Yet he tries, and doesn't say anything back to the insults, because he thinks he deserves everything bad.

After Lucien goes to the NC in acowar, the same thing happens. We still can see his fire sometimes, but he's so different from the Lucien we first met. And he makes everything to not be useless - that's a big thing to him, since he always offers his services to help and even goes to a dangerous travel alone, explaining that "it was time for him to finally do something".

Another big thing for Lucien is the feeling of home. I'm 100% sure that this is gonna be the main question in his journey. Even in acofas he says firmly that the manor at the human lands also belongs to him. He gets irritated with Rhysand and Feyre paying for his stuff. He finds himself a house in Velaris right after war just because he doesn't want to cause trouble. And with the whole thing of being usefull or not, and Rhys saying that he is very loyal... Lucien is the kind of person who feels like any help he recieves is a doubt to pay, just like it was with Tamlin.

Also, about "losing his personality"... I don't thing he lost it. He just hides his fiery side right now (it shows up sometimes, like when he calms Cassian down in acosf, or in the beggining of acowar, or in his discussion with Feyre in acofas) and doesn't feel happy or comfortable enough to make jokes and all. Because we only see him around the IC now. He was caught smiling and laughing with Vassa; even with Feyre, when they're alone and the issues between them don't get in the way. But in the NC, he has to be someone just smart and a political ally, nothing else. Nobody in there trusts him. Nowone tries to show that they like his presence there, except for Feyre, witch is the intention SJM had when she put that ridiculous scene between Cassian and Lucien in ACOSF.

So it's obvious to me that the feeling of belonging and home and who am I? will be essencial for Lucien's development. Just like... Theon.

But it seems to me that SJM has some bigger plans for Lucien. She made him the son of Helion Spell-Cleaver for a reason. Said that this information wouldn't change nothing on that first war. And she tried really hard to prove the readers that he is a good male in acowar - I could make a whole other post about how she tried to "redeem" him for acomaf in acowar and acofas, actually. She wanted the readers who didn't pay attention to his character in acomaf to know that, besides his mistakes, he is good. And she even makes Feyre say those exatly words twice in the series.

Just to finish the comparison, in the first book Theon is like an evil version of acotar!Lucien? They're both arrogant and a little traumatized, except that Lucien wore that as a mask and could be very kind. As the time passes, they change. But, when Theon got easily manipulated to do the most horrible things and became the villain in his own story, Lucien was the clever fox, never liked anything Tamlin did in acomaf - he was trying to calm things down, and was afraid of his own friend (even Feyre recognizes that). Tamlin was always dominating him, even using physical force. Yet he kept being smart. That's why I'm just talking about their JOURNEYS.

I'm so excited to read more about him. He's the most intriging character in acotar for me. I absolutely love characters that are misunderstood by other characters in the story; the ones who are lonely, and you have to pay attention to understand them; the ones who stay on the back and have so much to deal with but won't tell nobody... I love them.

Ps: I'm so excited to read more about Theon too! He was the most interesting part of A Dance with Dragons. But it seems like GRRM won't finish the next book 😭