#jane..explodes and dies

[sakuyuii]

hey guys. send me miraculous things to draw and i’ll do it when my timer in my head goes off okay….thank you…

[hedgefrogpresents]

I'm having so much fun designing el's costumes for season five I think she deserves the chance to play with clothes and dress up however she wants without being immediately thrust into grief

[dulcet-aurora]

video games . jason todd x reader. ⸼ ࣪ ✿ ❛ they say that the world was built for two. ❜

❪ in which. ❫ after half a decade of years of therapy, tears, and the seemingly never-ending loop of the five stages of grief, you've finally been able to claw your way past the death of your best friend. but one wish on a burning candle on a lonely, rainy night changes everything.

⸼ ࣪ ✿ 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔. mentions of blood, angst, dogshit writing. ⸼ ࣪ ✿ 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚. @di-lucss. ⸼ ࣪ ✿ 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕. 1.7k. ⸼ ࣪ ✿ 𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒔. @di-lucss, @ephemerensis, @dollishmehrayan, @aangelinakii. ⸼ ࣪ ✿ 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆'𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒓. please make this pull a jason and blow up 🙏🙏 also take note that there's like three different years that jason was born in order for me to determine when he died so i had to spin around in the dark and throw a dart and a random year. said year was 1990 so he died in 2005. reader has a february birthday for plot reasons. don't like it? don't read.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"𝒘ithout music, life would be a blank to me. you're my music. happy sweet sixteen." read the inside of your old, worn copy of jane austen's emma. scrawled in black pen was a little, poorly drawn but albeit sweet doodle of toad and toadette from mario kart sitting on opposite ends of a cake. you'd dubbed him as toad when you were little due to his last name. underneath, in smaller script, "for my favorite parasite. enjoy. love, jason."

your eyes glistened with tears as you looked at the date— february 7th, 2005. when you had turned sixteen, you'd tackled your best friend so hard in a hug that he fell over and landed on the grass. his sixteenth wouldn't come until august, but you already had a book chosen out. what you didn't know is that that same book would still be lodged among your collection of books in four years, because in just over two months, he'd be beaten half to death and let an exploding warehouse finish the job.

jason always liked to go out with a bang.

of course, you hadn't known that. you hadn't known that he'd gone on patrol as batman's sidekick, like he had for years without you knowing. it wasn't until an older gentleman approached you at the funeral and pressed a sharp ended pin shaped like an 'R' into your palm.

you'd renovated after he died. in this economy, you couldn't afford a new apartment other than the one you lived in when you were younger. with your father out of the picture and your mother sent to rehab just barely a year after jason's death, you'd doubled down and redid the entire thing yourself, erasing every trace of your teenaged self from every nook, cranny, and crevice. there were too many memories of jason in the walls— the two broken coat hangers where he'd tried to do a pull-up, the two handprints in red and blue paint on the wall after your first playdate in second grade, and that old guitar with two missing strings that he carved your initials into. gone, gone, gone.

you'd never forgiven him. for lying. for being so reckless. for leaving you. leaving you alone underneath that weeping willow wondering why he hadn't showed.

you brushed your fingers against jason's five year old handwriting, the last trace you had of him. the warm glow of your candle stabbed into your cupcake illuminated the pages. today marked your fourth birthday without jason, four years of that fifty dollar, leather bound copy of pride and prejudice, the one that you spent five months of allowance saving up for. you've never read it, never touched a copy of pride and prejudice again because all you could hear was his voice reading the words.

i wish you were here, jay, you thought to yourself as a puff of air left your lips as you blew out the candle. wisps of smoke curled off the wick and brushed over the first pages of emma. tears brimmed in your eyes as you caught a glimpse of his messy script again. i miss you.

you curled your legs up to your chest and rested your chin on your knees. you let yourself cry, tears trickling down your cheeks.

just then, you heard the window open and your plate beneath your cupcake vibrated as heavy footsteps hit the floor. the groan of a man echoed through your apartment and the sound of something large hitting your wall.

you flinched, your palms pressed against the table. your lights were off and your candle was out, the spark on the wick fading quickly. you inhaled sharply then clamped a hand over your mouth. you stood up and grabbed the quickest weapon you could find— your old, faulty lighter. you walked silently towards the sound.

you heard another rustle and the sound of bottles knocking against each other. the sound was hollow and echoed through your apartment— it was the sound of metal bouncing off tile. your bathroom. your socks quieted your steps as you made your way there. the door is ajar, and you can hear labored breathing slipping through crack in the door. the noise and the bright alabaster light made it look like god himself was speaking to you in tongues.

you nudge the door with your lighter, the harsh light making your vision go fuzzy for a moment before your eyes adjust. your hand goes slack.

"oh my god."

there's blood on your bathtub, your first aid kit is scattered all over the place, and there are muddy boot prints all over your tiled floor a masked head looks up at you and you make dead eye contact with none other than red hood sitting on the edge of your bathtub, a hand stained as red as his suit clamped over his abdomen.

"hey," red hood said, entirely too calm for the fact that a) he had just broken into your home, and b) there was a hole in his stomach.

"hello," you blurted out.

a beat of silence passes, "i'm bleeding," the masked man offered.

"i... can see that," you said. you slowly reached for a bottle of hairspray, your trembling fingers clutching around the bottle as you subtly angled the end of the lighter to the nozzle of the hairspray can.

"please don't set me on fire," red hood said gruffly. you lowered your lighter slowly.

"why are you here?" you asked, voice thick with the disbelief that was still choking you. "how did you even—" you cut yourself off, your eyes shifting nervously to the window, the glass still open. your apartment was on the third floor. he had a stab wound. how had he gotten in?

"i'm really not in the mood for twenty questions," he muttered, sucking in a sharp breath as he shifted his weight.

in reality, jason remembered your exact address from his old life, his old life with you in it, where he would scramble up the rusted ladder and run along the ledges to reach your bathroom window. it was muscle memory for him to go to your apartment, he hadn't even considered that maybe other people lived hear or they'd taken down that old ladder because it was a hazard.

"can you just... do the thing where you help me before i bleed out all over your bathroom?" he asked, and you blinked.

"i... i'm not qualified," you said.

"of course you're not," he grumbled, and you stiffened. red hood motioned to his wound still gushing blood in between his fingers. "look, do i look qualified? no. am i still patching myself up? yes."

"i could care less if you lived or died," you said coldly.

he went silent. you couldn't see, but he bit his cheek and forced down the lump in his throat. he knew that you didn't know that he had died, that he was the one person that you cared about. the singular organism on this planet with a beating heart and flowing blood and breathing lungs that had let those three things shut down and allowed himself to leave you forever.

you cared about jason todd. not red hood. and the only thing for your birthday was for him to stumble through your window like he used to, his clothes smelling like nicotine and his monster energy breath wafting through your tiny apartment. something had climbed through your window that night, but it wasn't your best friend, your jason, your toad. because he was gone and no matter how hard you wished, he wasn't coming back.

"clean up," you quipped, motioning at the mixture of crimson blood and mud caking onto your tile. "grab some food and go be on your merry way."

red hood gave you a thumbs up and you turned on your heel and went back to the kitchen table. your candle had melted. there was wax in your icing.

tears welled up in your eyes. you furiously wiped them away, the sleeve of your sweater burning the puffy skin around your eyes but you didn't care. while you didn't give two shits about red hood, he was still a dangerous individual and was bleeding out in your bathroom. you didn't want him thinking you were weak or see you crying over a copy of emma and potentially digging up things on your personal life.

you put your head down and feels like hours have passed before red hood comes out of the bathroom. you heard the refrigerator open and the sound of containers being rustled around before the door shut and you heard your window slide open.

words danced on the tip of jason's tongue, trapped between his lips and the mask. words like i'm sorry or it's me, jason or any of the thousand inside jokes that had been trapped in his mind and guarded by the lazarus pit that had been sure to engrave it in his brain. his memories of you were still muddled but were all the same, like the layers of a 3d movie or the text on the rosetta stone.

he noticed the cupcake. and the book. that book. emma.

the scent of smoke lingered in the air, slipping between the sweat building up in his hood and the scent of gasoline that clung to his uniform. "happy birthday," he said, one leg hanging out the window.

silence. "how'd you know?" you asked after a moment, your voice hollow.

"you wanted something, and didn't get it," he guessed. jason recognized your flushed cheeks and moodiness when something went wrong. when you were little, you'd throw tantrums.

"i'm not four." you retorted.

"yeah, so live a little," he said. "how often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation!"

you'd heard that line before. "wait, did you just—"

the rest of your words came out as a breath as you looked behind you to see red hood gone, the only trace of his presence being the lingering scent of nicotine. your lips parted, hoping the rest of your sentence would spill out, but it didn't.

jane austen wrote that surprises are foolish things. the pleasure is not enhanced, and the inconvenience is often considerable. as you cleaned your floor of red hood's boot prints and had to make an extra grocery run for the amount of food that he'd taken, you might've agreed with it.

but the red annotation on page 182 and the note on your bulletin board reminding you to do something spontaneous said otherwise.

© dulcet-aurora 2025.

[april-is]

April 17, 2025: I Have a Time Machine, Brenda Shaughnessy

I Have a Time Machine Brenda Shaughnessy

But unfortunately it can only travel into the future at a rate of one second per second, which seems slow to the physicists and to the grant committees and even to me. But I manage to get there, time after time, to the next moment and to the next. Thing is, I can't turn it off. I keep zipping ahead— well not zipping—And if I try to get out of this time machine, open the latch, I'll fall into space, unconscious, then desiccated! And I'm pretty sure I'm afraid of that. So I stay inside. There's a window, though. It shows the past. It's like a television or fish tank. But it's never live; it's always over. The fish swim in backward circles. Sometimes it's like a rearview mirror, another chance to see what I'm leaving behind, and sometimes like blackout, all that time wasted sleeping. Myself age eight, whole head burnt with embarrassment at having lost a library book. Myself lurking in a candled corner expecting to be found charming. Me holding a rose though I want to put it down so I can smoke. Me exploding at my mother who explodes at me because the explosion of some dark star all the way back struck hard at mother's mother's mother. I turn away from the window, anticipating a blow. I thought I'd find myself an old woman by now, traveling so light in time. But I haven't gotten far at all. Strange not to be able to pick up the pace as I'd like; the past is so horribly fast.

--

Also:  + When I Say That Loving Me Is Kind Of Like Being A Chicago Bulls Fan, Hanif Abdurraqib + Kul, Fatimah Asghar

Today in: 

2024: You Belong to the World, Carrie Fountain 2023: Mammogram Call Back with Ultra Sound, Ellen Bass 2022: Catastrophe Is Next to Godliness, Franny Choi 2021: Weather, Claudia Rankine 2020: The Understudy, Bridget Lowe 2019: Against Dying, Kaveh Akbar 2018: Close Out Sale, Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz 2017: Things That Have Changed Since You Died, Laura Kasischke 2016: Percy, Waiting for Ricky, Mary Oliver 2015: My Heart, Kim Addonizio 2014: My Skeleton, Jane Hirshfield 2013: Catch a Body, Oliver Bendorf 2012: No, Mark Doty 2011: from Narrative: Ali, Elizabeth Alexander 2010: Baseball Canto, Lawrence Ferlinghetti 2009: Nothing but winter in my cup, Alice George 2008: Poppies in October, Sylvia Plath 2007: I Imagine The Gods, Jack Gilbert 2006: An Offer Received In This Morning’s Mail, Amy Gerstler 2005: The Last Poem In The World, Hayden Carruth

[strawbiecream]

can yuo make john doe explode bonus points if jane watches in horror

does this count as johnjane angst

he died

[sharp-silver4795]

The Creepypasta’s Worst Injuries

I get some inspo from “HC Prompt” posts and that’s what I got going on rn!

⚠️DISCLAIMERS⚠️

BLOOD: Mentions of injuries (ofc), graphic details in some of them, and just blood. Weapons will be mentioned, including guns.

INJURY: the situation is explained and can be a lil uncomfortable- but idk. Severe injury or explicit imagery.

SOURCE: Some of these are product of self harm, betrayal, attempted murder, abuse, general assault, or common causes of death.

ALL SENSITIVE TOPICS WILL BE MARKED AHEAD OF IT!!!

Mild Mention > Detailed > Extreme Details > Sensitive Content

Proxy Behavior miscellaneous

Details of how the injury happened. Jumping, defenselessness, detail of scars and the origin of them. Extreme detail of how the injuries occurred, attempted murder, Marble Hornets Spoilers, ig? Car accidents/injuries

Wilson, Zechariah, Neon Spike, and Rogue will not be included. They’re too sheltered smh 🤦

Kat Hunter: he once got shot 7 times by a few police officers. The other proxies came to his rescue.

Kate the Chaser: once got cornered by Bloody Angel and Scarecrow. She ended up bloodied due to being scratched, hacked at, stabbed, and all sorts of things. The most prominent ones were on her face and thigh. Bloody Angel had kept grabbing her legs to keep her from getting away. Bloody Angel has claws. Scarecrow has gloves very similar to that of Rouge and clawed down Kate’s face. Kate’s face was exposed in the first place because she got hot and couldn’t breathe, so she was jumped basically.

Brian/Hoodie: Fell from a two story building… duh

Tim/Masky: got into a tussle with Alex…

Ticci Toby: Car accident. Even though he didn’t feel the physical pain.

Depression

graphic/horrific death, freak accidents, Self harm, attempted suicide, Religious stuff/demons, mourning

Nathan the Nobody: Masky rocked his shit.

BEN Drowned: accidentally electrocuted himself and couldn’t stop glitching and getting bent and twisted

Eyeless Jack: he dies by biting his own tail and literally exploding his organs-

Clockwork: she got skewered, but somehow survived.

Jeff, Jane, and Nina the Killer: burned alive ofc

Puppeteer: Liu wears a rosary to remember his mother…

Liu Woods: when he was alive, he used scissors to cut at his shoulders and chest. He cut at his arms, legs, and abdomen as well. He nearly bled out in his bathroom.

Zero: she stabbed herself with glass shards cuz she had a mental breakdown

Kagekao: purposely ran into oncoming traffic.

This is what happens when you mess with kids

severe injury/free amputation

Jason the Toymaker: kid ripped out a ton of his hair and made his head bleed

Laughing Jack: got his arms cut off somehow- they grew back tho

Laughing Jill: a parent hit her upside the head and her own chainsaw went through her chest and abdomen

Clumsy Bitches

Mutilation, stupidity , how the fuck did they survive this shit? segments of body being removed and explicit injury mention(?), Experiments, self inflicted injury

Ani the Wight: existing in summer heat

Chess Master: boinked his head, tripped, and landed on the grass… off of a 10m tall tree

Candy Pop: fell off a building. He’s clumsy.

Bloody Painter: he jumped off a building and landed safely, then stepped on a bear trap. How does that even happen?!

Bloody Angel: her whole thing is that she got mutelated into a monseter by a crazy circus… do the math.

X-Virus: while working on a project and it exploded in his face. So, he now has giant burn scars on his face, neck, and chest.

Judge Angels: Rouge kicked her ass and she has claw-like gloves. She ended up with scars on her face for a long while.

Scarecrow: Hoodie once cut her in half with a tree branch.

Doll Maker: Stabbed himself in the eye

Divider Creds: Sister Lucifer; adorneswithlight

Header Creds: ME!!!

[callmrmorrow]

let’s talk about… POOOOOWERPLEX

(spoilers for invincible s3ep6 below, discussion of guilt/grief and death, all invincible-standard topics)

this motherfucker is a point of contention for the whole invincible fandom. do we love him, do we hate him? is he righteous or is he a hypocrite? at what point does the victim become the perpetrator, and is said point when he charbroils his loving wife and child while trying to kill his mortal enemy? is it even all his fault, or is his wife an instigating jane clone from breaking bad who egged him on? and most importantly… how the fuck did the GDA not clock that their new lab worker had loved ones lost in the chicago disaster? give him a psych eval or two, cecil!

also, if he’s so powerplex, how come i can understand him?

okay, all jokes aside, i think powerplex, or scott duvall, if you’re a friend, is a fascinating character. at the beginning of the episode, his formal debut for the show, he’s hanging out with his sister and her niece, gretchen and jessica respectively (another breaking bad nod). we see that his powers are based on transforming impact into electricity, but only in really small bursts. this brings up a fun idea in the invincible world, of natural-born supers who aren’t strong enough to make it big. does the GDA have a file on these guys, or do they spawn in at unpredictable rates within the human gene pool?

it’s super clear that jesse — sorry, scott — loves his family, and it becomes even more clear when they fucking die right in front of him. his entire revenge arc is based on pure misinterpretation and a salt shake of idiocy, because he assumed that invincible holding the severed arm of his (adopted?) sister meant he had torn it from her shoulder socket. easy to misconstrue in the haze of destruction, but really, you can’t tell me that working at the GDA for 1-2 years wouldn’t make you privy to how the fight really went down. short of invincible’s secret identity, of course. fallacy in the writing, and it really would’ve been better if his wife, becky, worked at the GDA instead and got the supplies for him.

also, his wife was 100% egging him on. couldn’t tell you why, maybe she has a power (com)plex herself. she seemed to have her fair share of hate for invincible and the hero system in general. one of the themes of the episode is indeed power, and how it translates into whether or not you deserve to live. the viltrumites are founded on this ideology, mark’s ability to survive is based on his power, but… what if you’re just a normal guy like scott duvall?

“why do you get to live when so many others died? what makes YOU so special?”

this puts me in the mind of deadpool and wolverine’s honda odyssey scene — not the sex allegory — but the part where wolverine is chewing out deadpool and about halfway through his spittle-flush monologue, you can tell he’s talking more about himself than the man he’s castigating. part of scott’s issue is MAJOR survival’s guilt: he only survived because he went to get a coffee. the people he loved, who took care of him all his life, the kid who adored him and whom he really seemed to treat like his own daughter, died and he lived.

half of the issue isn’t even invincible. it’s powerplex himself. this guy probably wishes he died with them. chances are his rage was redirected towards invincible when its initial source was genuine grief and potentially self-hatred. he threw the entire rest of his life into killing invincible, to the point where he arguably faced a mental sunk cost fallacy. i’m sure he did learn that invincible was a victim, but at that point, he’d already poured so much into this that he couldn’t just give up there and then. also if omni-man, the real perpetrator, was gone, then this was the next best thing. his power emulates his own mentality — a very popular thing in this show. his power translates physical impacts — pain — into power, and his story is about how violently and wholly that pain explodes out. even after he burns his wife and child to a crisp, which is arguably the point where he should’ve been like “fuck, stop fighting, it’s so over and this time it’s my fault,” he drives that shock (pun here) outward towards mark again.

aside: why is mark getting packed the fuck up by powerplex? you could ascribe it to his own guilt and perhaps a desire to pay a physical reparation for what he did to scott’s family, and all the other’s families. or you could chalk it up to plot relevancy, where it literally has to happen in order for becky and little baby boy whose name i forgot to die.

and when mark is speaking to scott in prison, he totally fumbles the “let me comfort you, bro” ball. but it is not [title card]’s fault! powerplex’s complex stops him from taking blame for his own actions regarding his wife and son, so he’s only going to be more furious with mark. he pins blame on an external source, and i’m sure this was a learned habit, probably from his wife (i do hate blaming the woman but she did really show some markers of an instigator here. wish that wasn’t the case but it is). i like that the invincible show/comics address the sheer destruction that follows these powerful, high-octane fights, because the s1 finale really was just omni-man showing mark how insignificant we humans are.

“he can’t keep getting away with this!!”

tldr: no, you’re gonna go back and read that.

[divineerdrick]

Homestuck: Beyond Canon Upd8 for November 11, 2024

*flops*

Don't mind me.

Just gonna lie here while I do the Homestuck liveblog thing.

I am going to give a heads up. If my next migraine treatment brings me a bit more back in line, I'll be doing VLogs again. I have a bigger video project planned, but it's not Homestuck related. I'll be posting the updates here though, so you'll still know when I blog an upd8. Then you'll all get to see my haggard and aged face.

We begin with the monthly news upd8 from James. Except no! It is in fact an upd8 from Miles! James fades into the background, and apparently Miles will be our flattering correspondent from now on.

It looks like Miles is putting potential spoilers in the news post, so I might have to be careful in the future. Of course these might be jokes. We'll have to see.

Work continues on the planned [S] page and more Beyond Canon merch. We won't be getting an upd8 for December, but they will be running the Patreon. The next upd8 looks like it might be as late as February.

That's all unfortunate. But I fully support if the team wants to take a well earned holiday.

Upd8

Tavvy has decided to join Yiffy on an adventure. This can't possibly end well. His attempts at being her lackey have so far landed him mostly in trouble. And there's a heap of trouble brewing on the soon to be battlefield.

Yeah that's not happening.

Heh! Harry brought the trail mix.

Oh wow. And oh no!

OH NO!!!

That can't possibly count as Heroic though. Getting sniped while performing a purely tactical role is not a hero's end. Still, Rose is probably glad the kids aren't seeing that.

And button.

Interesting view to cut to.

Again, I don't think this will count as Heroic for anyone. But a lot of people are about to die. And let's not forget, none of the trolls currently outside for the Plot Point are God Tiers. This is bad. This is really bad. This is the kind of moment that calls for an extreme, deus ex machina, like the Plot Point has the potential for.

But we're not getting to see it yet.

Edit: @vriedi reminded me that Meenah is a God Tier. Though this does make me wonder, what happens when a dead God Tier dies?

Orange curtains.

Okay! Legitimately fantastic Psyche Out. They actually got me pretty good there.

Okay, we have a new troll it I think.

gavageCunctation is messaging Vrissy. Though that doesn't necessarily tell us much, except that a new player may have entered the drama.

And they're "negging" Vrissy. So this troll clearly sees themselves as a "player" too.

We've got a "game" that's about to be played. A game being run by a TC. Now Gamzee is dead, but that doesn't mean he didn't setup something before Vriska killed him. Still, it's likely these are two completely new troll kids.

We've got a new AA too. So we might be seeing more troll descendants. After all, they used cloning to kick things off. This troll is typing in purple, but blood typing may not be universal anymore. I do find it interesting that we're continuing the nucleotide pairs though. They could have gone for a different motif. Maybe they're trying to symbolize that these are potential paradox clones for a new session?

AA is apparently our chronic auspistice for this group. And potentially our Seer, though we've had fake-outs on that before.

And our actual cliffhanger ending is this new GC's computer exploding.

So yeah. Something has to happen for a lot of our beloved characters to not bite it. I'm also curious how Rose's vision of future events can come true if Jane has unleashed her weapon. But I mentioned last time that Rose is playing a dangerous game here. I don't think any of our God Tiers are in trouble, and I'm pretty sure the Plot Point is fine.

I'm wondering if this is how Calliope ends up sacrificing themself, if Rose was even correct there. Either way, this a dark ending for the year on a community that's already seen some dark endings.

*Returns to flop*

[final-destination-headcanons]

Really, really long message explaining Dustin Bava lore.

Watching all the Final Destination movies, I realized that Dustin appears as an extra in EVERY film, including the fifth. I know they probably just recycled the actor, but I spent too much time crafting his lore to waste it. I tried to make it make as much sense as possible.

Dustin, at 16, about to turn 17, managed to volunteer for Presage Paper, where his job was simply to run errands. Because of this, he wasn't on the bus where Sam, Molly, and the rest of the North Bay Bridge survivors were. However, he was on the bridge that day with his father. Dustin survives both the premonition and the actual accident. This is why Sam hears the song "Dust in the Wind" (Dustin the Wind), because it's one of the loose ends of death.

Dustin enters Larry Murnau's French class and also volunteers for an accident support group. This volunteer nearly drowned in a stream, but was successfully rescued, which is why Dustin appears on the "New Life for Drowning Victims" poster (From Final Destination 2).

Upon being rescued, he was somehow added to Death's plans. In Final Destination 1, Dustin is part of Carter Horton's group. He is a rather quiet boy, which is why he is rarely seen speaking in the film. He is also friends with Jane/Lucy, Valery Lewton's favorite student. They sit together on the plane with another friend.

In the premonition, the window explodes and burns Dustin's face and hair. He couldn't move away from the window due to the sudden movements of his two companions, who pressed him against the plane window. This cut his face with small gashes and caused him to lose sight.

Dustin heard Alex screaming that the plane would explode, but he couldn't get off. When he tried to get off, he had a brief argument with Jane, which prevented him from getting off. He was about to leave when Larry came back in. Larry wouldn't let any more students out. Presumably, Dustin died exactly the same as in the premonition.

__

If Dustin had gotten out, he would have died anyway, drowning/boiling in a pool with a temperature malfunction.

Dustin really cared about Billy Hitchcock. He was the only one in Carter's group who tried to treat him well. The fact that Billy wasn't there was the reason he wanted to get off the plane in the first place, but this also prevented him from getting off.

Dustin was a person who always had bad luck and many setbacks. That's why he tried so hard to get volunteer work or jobs despite his young age; he wanted to give his life a meaning.

If Dustin were to survive all of this, he would argue with Carter quite a bit throughout the entire movie about his poor treatment of Billy.

this is so well thought out????

[l0starl]

˗ˏˋPut em higher than Mary Jane˗ˏˋ

Ingredients : Sugar, cinnamon, lemon, sour candy

I got this idea from this FIC‼️Not my original idea‼️

୨୧ Warnings : Cursing, readers death, violence, blood, maybe angst

Summary : Your sick and tired of being a Mary Jane or a Gwen Stacy, your sick of being merely a love interest, your sick of watching yourself die while spiderman can never get over it.

⟢ Participants : Miles (1610)

W/c : 770

“After all death loves Gwen Stacy”

“No…no…no..NO!” Miles cried out holding your lifeless body in his arms…

You died…Again, an endless loop of the tragic spiderman stories that you only serve one purpose, to be a love interest, nothing more.

Your just a pawn in someone else’s game, if they want to kill you off they’ll do it, no hesitation…All the Gwen Stacy’s are dead…except one, ghost spider…spider woman, what’s interesting about her you may ask? She’s the only one to be bitten by a spider..

And the only one who’s still alive…..:)

Your a mix between the two, either way they both end up dying, spiderman is the main character after all, your merely a side character, your sick and tired of watching yourself die in other dimensions, you know you’ll be next, it’s only a matter of time before you’ll be lying in your grave…

But you refuse to follow those “cannon events” you’ll find away to live, you’ll find a way to break the cycle, Gwen has managed to “cheat” death, you’ll do the same as well.

Ms. Morales always considered you like a daughter, you were always welcomed into their home, and you would always spend your time with Miles goofing off.

But lately, you both have been drifting far apart, he’s hiding something from you, and he knows your suspicions of him, he’s always coming to your window injured, having you worried sick tendering his wounds while you scold him, and he won’t tell you where he’s been, won’t tell how he got injured, having you so worried you exploded his phone with calls and texts, he knows he’s taking you for granted. He doesn’t deserve you.

Lately, all he ever talks about is “Gwanda” Apparently she’s from South Africa, you basically know everything about her, and you haven’t even met her! She seems like a nice person, but the way he speaks about her makes you feel….

Jealous..?

You wish he would talk like that with you, always bringing her up when your speaking to him

“Oh, gwanda does the same thing yk? She’s i-“

“Yes miles! I know she’s in a band, I know she plays the drums, I know everything single thing about her!” You retorted

“You make everything about her! Even when I’m speaking to you about something that has nothing to do with her, you always bring her up! But you can’t help it can you?” You sighed

Miles had a saddened expression

“You know I didn’t mean it like that, I just like talking to you about this stuff yk?” Miles replied

“You talk about her so much, I wished you’d talk about me like that, the way you so engaged just to tell me a simple story about her” you snapped

“And you’re always coming through my window injured, having me worried sick and you can you at least tell me where you’ve been? You spat

“Where do you go miles? Because lately you’ve been sneaking out and coming back hurt” you hissed

“Look, I- I just can’t tell you right now, maybe in the future alright” Miles replied

“You know Miles, maybe we need a break from each other, we’ll talk when you tell me what you’ve been hiding” you responded as you walked away, leaving Miles, not bothering to turn around…

He knew he fucked up…….Real bad.

Miles went home that night, contemplating if he should tell you what he’s been hiding all this time. After Uncle Aaron’s death, you always came to comfort him during those hardships, no matter how many times he pushed you away or isolated himself from the world, you were always there for him.

You were now walking home, and it was raining hard, you hated the way your clothes clung to your body, prohibiting some of your movements. You pulled up your hoodie in frustration, why was Miles always bringing her up?

You arrived home soaking wet, the air was crispy, and the house was awfully quiet.

“Mom? Dad? I'm home?” you spoke loudly

No response

“Maybe they aren't home right now…” she muttered to herself

You take off your jacket leaving it in the laundry basket near your room, you notice a note on your door.

“We won't be home for a few days, I left you some food in the fridge, you can heat it up for dinner. - Mom”

You sighed entering your room and collapsing onto the bed, today’s been a rough day..Your heart aches for being to harsh on miles, but who could blame you? He’s hiding something…

And you’ll get to the bottom of it

[sakuyuii]

an angel loses its wings everytime u give adrien a. fuckass haircut

[residentevilbrews]

RE OC Incorrect quotes GROUP EDITION #2

Store Worker: Would a Ms. Fawn please come to the front desk? Fawn, arriving at the desk: Hello, is there a problem? Store Worker: points to Leon and April Store Worker: I believe they belong to you? Leon and April, simultaneously: We got lost :( Fawn: I didn’t even bring you guys here with me-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane: Hey Chris, Chris: Yes? Jane: Can a person breathe inside a washing machine while it’s on? Chris: Chris: Where’s Terisha?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jaiden: Isn’t it weird that we pay money to see other people? Barry: Plane tickets? Terisha: Concert tickets? Jordan: Prostitution? Jaiden, holding his broken frames: Glasses.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane: If I accidentally sat on a voodoo doll of myself, would I be trapped forever in that position, doomed to starve to death? Terisha: How am I supposed to know? Jill: You say, as if we don’t use you as a source of knowledge of the occult. Terisha: *sighs* Terisha: You wouldn't be trapped.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Shiloh: What do you think April will do for a distraction? Luis: She’ll probably, like, make a noise or throw a rock. That’s what I would do. *Building explodes and several car alarms go off* Luis: ... or she could do that.

~~~~~~~~~

Jordan, driving Dylan, and Junior: So how was your day? Dylan: We almost got surprise adopted! Jordan: What? Junior: We almost got kidnapped. Jordan: Oh, okay. Jordan: *slams on the breaks* WAIT WHAT?!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jordan: Self care is actually getting into fights with randoms in dark alleys. Fawn: No, self care is stuff like taking a bubble bath, or putting on a lot of makeup if you like it, or taking a nice warm nap! April: Self care is the burning heat when rage washes over you!! Self care is when you feel the bones crack under your powerful fists!! Self care is the fear in your enemies’ eyes!!! Jane: Lmao self care is taking your birthday cake just so I can eat the frosting. Jordan: If you touch my birthday cake I’ll make you eat your hands.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jordan: Time for plan G. Shiloh: Don’t you mean plan B? Jordan: No, we tried plan B a long time ago. I had to skip over plan C due to technical difficulties. April: What about plan D? Jordan: Plan D was that desperate disguise attempt half an hour ago. Leon: What about plan E? Jordan: I’m hoping not to use it. Luis dies in plan E. Ada: I like plan E.

~~~~~~~~~~

April belongs to @inhabitant-nefarious

Jordan, Jaiden and Junior belong to @feng-shui71

Jane belongs to @jiitterbuug

Shiloh, Fawn, Terisha and Dylan belong to me.

[blueplumbbob]

A little bit of context for today's story post: some Lorimer lore, if you will. content warnings for death and pregnancy.

Above: Formal portrait commissioned by the Palace, c. 1919, age 22. Left: Pictured c. 1905, age 8, with her parents. Right: Pictured c. 1914, age 17.

Frances, Princess of Romilly, (born Frances Elizabeth Imogen Selby; March 5, 1897 - April 11, 1924) was the first wife of King Arthur V and the mother of his three eldest children: King Frederick IV, Prince Patrick, Duke of Statham, and Prince Louis, Duke of Atteberry.

Frances Selby was born on March 5, 1897 in Maloret, Iverny to Lt. Col. James Selby and Lady Imogen Penrose, a niece of Earl Maurice Penrose, husband of King Charles IV’s fifth daughter Princess Georgia. The marriage was loving, but morganatic, and Frances was the only surviving child. 

Frances was enrolled in the Maloret Girls’ School at age six, on the insistence of her mother. She graduated in 1914 and had planned to enroll at St. Anne’s Women’s College in Lorain, but the outbreak of World War I prevented this. Frances’s father, James, was drafted into the war at age 50 for his military accomplishments in the 1889 Isle of Leonne Offensive, a brief land dispute between Iverny and the United Kingdom. His actions as a Lieutenant colonel during a 1915 Western Front battle, while directly in opposition to his superior’s commands, were responsible for saving the lives of nearly 1,200 Ivernian soldiers. He was dishonorably discharged for insubordination in November 1915, but received a pardon directly from the Queen. In January 1916, he was knighted by Queen Jane II and awarded an Augustan Cross for valor, the highest military honor in Iverny. Frances reportedly met then Prince Arthur of Ettinger, the Queen’s cousin, at this ceremony.

Prince Arthur and Frances quickly bonded over their shared love of books and reading. According to the diaries of his sister Princess Antonia, the prince reportedly gave up to thirty-three books as gifts to the young Frances, and loaned out several copies from both his personal library and the Queen’s Clemons Palace library. It did not come as a surprise to the family when Arthur asked the Queen’s permission to marry Frances in the fall of 1917. The match proved unpopular in the Assembly and amongst the Royal Family for being morganatic, especially because Arthur was second-in-line to the throne behind his father, and Queen Jane II had yet to marry and produce an heir. However, the Queen approved the marriage on the grounds that morganatic marriages, while unpopular, were not against the law, and that she “saw the deep Affection and Trust between these two young people.” This infuriated Arthur’s mother, the Duchess of Ettinger, who had been trying to arrange a marriage between Arthur and one of her Romanov relatives for years. The wedding and marriage were delayed by the Queen for months at the Duchess’s insistence as the Russian Revolution made contact with her family almost impossible. 

The Queen died unexpectedly at age 26 in November 1918 from the Spanish Flu, shocking the nation and sending the royal family into upheaval. The Duke of Ettinger ascended the throne as Richard V, and both his wife and the Assembly urged him to prohibit the marriage. The new king refused on the grounds that “continuation of the Family line is essential” and that “through all of their Hardships, Miss Selby and the Crown Prince have stayed true to themselves and steadfastly honoured the love between them. Despite her humble background, she will make a fine Queen for this nation.” The two were finally married in February 1919 at Herriot Cathedral in Gaucelin. The Princess became a dedicated patron of many of the same causes that the very popular Queen Jane II supported, such as labor and occupational safety and education, as well as several of her own, including literacy and public libraries, quickly endearing her to the skeptical public. Her popularity exploded almost overnight.

The couple’s first child, Prince Frederick of Romilly, was born in January 1920, followed by another son, Prince Patrick, in the summer of 1922. Both pregnancies and deliveries were easy and uncomplicated. When the Princess fell pregnant again in 1923, court diarists wrote that she complained often of exhaustion and chills, and was confined to bedrest for much of the pregnancy. In April 1924, the Princess went into labor. After almost eleven hours of no progress despite labor symptoms, the court physician determined that the baby was breeched and ordered a cesarean section. Court midwives desperately contested this decision, but the Princess agreed to the surgery. The child, Prince Louis of Romilly, was born healthy on April 8, 1924, and initially the Princess recovered well from the delivery. However, the next day, the Princess developed a fever and extreme fatigue, and her condition rapidly deteriorated. The Princess died on April 11, 1924 at 27 years old, three days after giving birth to her third son, from sepsis and postpartum hemorrhage. The nation, still reeling from the shock of losing Queen Jane II unexpectedly five years prior, was in shock, outrage, and disbelief, but none moreso than the Crown Prince himself. 

[macaroni-art-fandom]

Doom Patrol finale killed me all the way dead.

Rita fucking died. Laura got no forgiveness. Movie Snuggles <3. Jane is now Kay. Isabel/Immortus is just chill now. Larry and Rama exploded with love, literally. Kay and Casey are gays in space! Cliff died but he got to see his grandson grow up. Vic got his robotics program going. Laura got to burn shit. Dorothy just completely vaish3d after Immortimas.

10/10 Maximum Emotional Damage.

[themculibrary]

Loki Pairings Masterlist

add it up (ao3) - leftennant darcy/loki, jane/thor, pepper/tony E, 125k

Summary: Loki and Darcy have been dancing around each other ever since they were paired up as a team at S.H.I.E.L.D. by Nick Fury. When they both end up up in his apartment after saving the world, things finally hit the boiling point.

Advantage (ao3) - FauxGateaux loki/natasha, clint/maria G, 10k

Summary: Set near the end of Avengers Assemble. After Loki has been scraped up off the floor of Stark Tower, the Avengers keep him in Nick Fury’s glass cage on the helicarrier while awaiting for transportation to Asgardian justice. During his overnight stay, he is monitored and interrogated by Natasha Romanov. How much does Loki share with the her, and what impact will this have on their futures?

An Endless War (ao3) - Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye) loki/natasha T, 23k

Summary: The Watcher dropped Natasha Romanoff into a world where she had died. It is very similar to the world she lost, with very significant differences. She’s not about to let this world go down the same path that hers did, and will do whatever it takes to save it. Including dealing with a war criminal.

A Place In Time (ao3) - SnakeCharmer2023 loki/mobius T, 7k

Summary: Loki knew what he’d signed up for, replacing the loom at the end of time and sitting alone on the throne.

But what if the end didn’t have to be forever?

A fix-it fic after the ending of series 2, because my heart can’t take it.

Cold Hearted (ao3) - Xythia loki/tony E, 132k

Summary: Sometimes the best defense is indeed a good offense. Which means, if you ask Tony Stark, that you should give the most Machiavellian, twisted and ruthless bastard you’ve ever met every reason to act in humanity’s best interest.

Deep Freeze (ao3) - Kadorienne bucky/loki/steve E, 198k

Summary: As atonement for his crimes against Midgard, Loki is sentenced to fight alongside the Avengers. In time he finds love with Steve Rogers, but then Steve’s first love, Bucky Barnes, returns from the dead. The solution is something he hadn’t dared to hope for.

Do No Harm (ao3) - AuroraWest, the_genderman loki/stephen M, 69k

Summary: When Loki stole the Tesseract from the Avengers, he hadn’t been trying to break the universe. Nor had he anticipated a wizard saving his life.

Now, Loki finds himself in the New York Sanctum, helping Stephen Strange hold the universe together—while he himself falls apart. But trouble finds the God of Mischief whether he invites it or not, and good things don’t last for Loki. As his universe crumbles and takes another with it, he’ll be faced with a choice: the greater good or the people he loves.

Dreams Come Slow and They Go So Fast (ao3) - FlashySyren jane/thor, loki/sif M, 27k

Summary: Loki managed to get the throne for himself, but now he has to figure out how to keep from being discovered and replace Odin as King because the ruse won't work forever. Unfortunately, plans have a way of going awry.

Hold Me Like a Grudge (ao3) - Gryffindancer darcy/loki E, 12k

Summary: Darcy and Loki hated each other. Like visceral, deep, serious hate. Turns out, that type of energy has a way of building until it explodes.

Enemies to… well, “lovers” is a bit of a strong word.

Insatiable (ao3) - thebynary loki/mobius E, 31k

Summary: 5+1 things, OR 5 times Loki showed Mobius pleasure, and 1 time they showed each other what love was.

Joy Comes from Unexpected Places (ao3) - TheBookTheDragonSaved loki/mantis T, 2k

Summary: So, here’s the funny thing about falling in love with an empath: They know it before you do.

(Mantis and Loki totally confusing each other before a mission. And you know the sad thing? Loki is so emotionally confused that it kinda works…)

Loved and Lost (ao3) - forever_whippoorwill loki/mobius G, 4k

Summary: Loki hadn’t realized how much he had missed the man’s comforting presence until he was here and he could see it. Let me sit here, Loki’s bones begged, at the sight of Mobius just out in his yard, andwatchthe wind blow through your hair and ruffle it in all the ways I want to.

He was too tired to keep that thought from running through his mind.

magic isn’t the answer to everything (only some things) (ao3) - melonbutterfly loki/tony E, 25k

Summary: In which Tony is pregnant, everybody else isn’t (except for two weeks but it doesn’t count), Fury’s chair gets abducted, there’s some panicking, a little textspeak, some overprotectiveness, a lot of tuna, and no fainting.

Modern Warfare (ao3) - Kayah371 loki/steve T, 12k

Summary: Due to an unlucky series of events Steve and Loki end up stranded together across the galaxy, captured by the Collector.

While trying to escape together Loki learns that he may not be the only one good at tricks and Steve realizes that the shield is not his best weapon.

of wizards and heroes (ao3) - storyforsomeone loki/harry T, 85k

Summary: Centuries after that fatal day of the battle of Hogwarts, Harry Potter has fallen into legend, a bedtime story parents tell their children, a name whispered around campfires. He wanders the world alone and immortal, until one single reckless moment sends him hurtling into a parallel dimension of heroes and villains. A new enemy arises from an ancient power, and Harry must take a stand as the last wizard to protect this new world. If only SHIELD would stop trying to track him down…and someone could explain what the hell was an ‘Avenger’ was supposed to be. Honestly, muggles…

Sure (ao3) - usedupshiver loki/tony M, 77k

Summary: When Loki finds the hung over remains of the party animal that is his brother's best friend sleeping on his couch, he's sure it will upset all his plans to spend the day studying. Tony isn't really sure how he got there in the first place, but it turns out he isn't in any hurry to leave.

Tapestry (ao3) - Arvensis5 loki/tony T, 35k

Summary: While in prison on Asgard, Frigga devises her own punishment for her wayward son – she bestows upon Loki the curse of watching the different pathways of what might have been during the attack on Midgard. In one thread, he accepted the drink from Stark. In another, Stark saved him from death. In every thread, the infuriating mortal captures Loki's attention. Now, every time he closes his eyes, Loki walks the threads of fate that never were and that never will be, and in doing so, he must learn from the past to find the future that Frigga has already foretold from the tapestry of fate.

Temptation (ao3) - OwenGrey loki/mobius E, 10k

Summary: Mobius placed Loki in a makeshift prison cell, of him being punched and beaten by Sif in an attempt to get the truth out him. However, when he comes back he does get the truth he wants, but not the one he expects.

That Darn Cat (ao3) - CanterburyTales darcy/loki N/R, 53k

Summary: Thor persuaded Loki to return to Asgard before the portal was opened and the Chitauri invaded. The Avengers cleaned up and that seemed to be the end of it. Unexpectedly, Thor has returned, he's moved into Stark Tower, and he's brought his pet cat with him. A pet cat named NotLoki.

Thor was never very good at coming up with names.

The Sweet Escape (ao3) - AndySkull loki/sylvie E, 50k

Summary: Sylvie’s attempt to bring down the Assassin’s Syndicate is frustrated by their latest addition, Loki, who instead of finishing the job, takes the opportunity to run away from the Syndicate and tag along with Sylvie, the rogue assassin he was sent to kill.

They’ll need to work together for survival, and to bring down the Syndicate while discovering new found feelings for each other.

Twenty-Six (ao3) - pearlofthesea loki/sylvie G, 3k

Summary: Loki makes a discovery about Sylvie, much to her embarrassment.

Vetr / Zima (ao3) - yumekuimono bucky/loki M, 18k

Summary: For his crimes, Loki has been sentenced to exile in Midgard, under the watchful eye of his brother and the Avengers. James has recently been rescued from the clutches of HYDRA, though he wishes people would stop calling him Bucky. They're both on the outside, looking in.

Winterheart (ao3) - orphan_account loki/tony M, 144k

Summary: For his crimes, Loki’s punishment began in a lonely and endless winter. For Tony’s sacrifice, his imprisonment began with a rescue.

A story of ugliness and beauty, inside and out, and learning what the word ‘monster’ really means.

[cowgurrrl]

Eight

Pairing: Joel Miller x fem!reader (except this is all backstory)

Author’s note: The end of the beginning. Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to continue this story or took the time to read and support this weird idea.

Summary: “Everything I’ve ever let go of has claw marks on it.” - David Foster Wallace [2.2k]

Warnings: if you’ve read this far, you know what to expect

You bury Jane outside the walls on a hill overlooking the QZ. The same hill where you hid with her when the Outbreak happened. You can see everything from up here. The sky stretches infinitely beyond the horizon, and you can see where nature has reclaimed what used to be your hometown. This hill reminds you of the one near your old apartment building where she used to roll down the grassy knoll until her clothes were stained and muddy. She would've liked finally being outside of the QZ, you think as your hand rests on the freshly dug earth, protecting her better than you ever could. 

"Y'know, I named you after one of the kindest people I've ever known," you say into the air, looking at the sunset. "I don't think I ever told you about her, but you would've liked her. She was tough and consistent. She's one of the only people who was nice to me when I was a kid. It seemed like the right thing to do, naming you after her. I still stand by it. Jane's my favorite name now." You catch yourself waiting for questions or thoughts that never come. You listen for her voice in the rustling of leaves or the distant sounds of the QZ. You've never felt more alone than you do right now. 

"I was gonna get you out of here. I was gonna take you somewhere far away and let you run around and be loud without worrying about anything. You were gonna get to be a kid. I was gonna make things better for you," you sniffle. "And I'm so sorry I couldn't do that for you, sweet girl. I tried so fucking hard, and it wasn't enough, and I," your voice catches in your throat. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." 

You tell her stories from when she was a baby, like how she couldn't fall asleep unless she was snuggling on your chest and how you still can't believe she was ever small enough to fit her entire body in your two hands. You tell her the good stories from your childhood, the ones you were too scared to even look at, let alone say aloud. You tell her the truth about her dad, how you wish he could've been better for her, and how you tried your best not to make his absence a hole in her life. You tell her everything.

You don't leave her even after the sun dips below the horizon. You can't go back to that empty apartment with the three fucking chairs and bedroom reserved for her. You can't keep living in a stale memorial for people you should've died for. You were too late, too slow, too stupid to save Adam and Jane. Why should you get to live there when neither of them does? You've been trying to gather information from different people on what happened that day, who set the bomb off, who killed your daughter, and a handful of others, including Mrs. Carmichael, as a form of repentance. You can't bring them back, but you can kill the people who took them from you. 

You don't know how long you've been sitting there when a twig snaps next to you, and you point your gun toward the sound. "It's just me," Owen says, stepping out from the shadows with raised hands. You sigh and lower your weapon, your body slumping against the tree as he gets closer. He's unarmed and out of uniform, a gray shirt stretching across his shoulders. You let him settle on the ground a few feet away, his boots crushing wildflowers under the soles. 

"D'you have information for me?" You ask, not even looking at him. He freezes, and it's enough of an answer. "Whose bomb was it?"

"Fireflies." He mumbles, his voice gravelly. You lift your head to find him staring out at the QZ. People have been on edge since the bomb exploded, as they should be. The fighting between FEDRA and the Fireflies has been ramping up. Nobody's been sleeping with gunshots firing and people barking orders all night. Still, if FEDRA could hold onto any idea of normalcy, that they are the good guys, they would. 

"If I find out you're lying to me-"

"Jesus, who else do you think it was? You really think FEDRA is dropping bombs on schools?" 

"You guys certainly aren't known for your empathy," you snap and immediately regret it. He let you go to her when you found her despite the earth still rattling under your feet. He helped you get Jane out of the QZ. He offered to help you bury her. You know he's not heartless, but he's still one of them. You clear your throat and take a shaky breath. "I'm going after the Fireflies."

"They'll kill you."

"Then I'll take as many as I can down with me." You say, and he says your name, shaking his head.

"We're already doing an investigation. Just let us handle it."

"Like you handled the bombings? Or the daily shootouts? Or the fucking Infected?" You ask. "I'm not burying anyone else, so you can tell me what you know about where the Fireflies are holed up or stay out of my way." 

"Or what?" He asks. You pull your gun and level it at his head, cocking it in half a second. His Adam's apple bobs, and you catch the slight tremble of his hands, but he doesn't move. Your hands, however, are steady as you grip the metal.  

"Wanna keep asking stupid ass questions?" You ask, and he shakes his head. "If you don't know anything, that's fine. I'll get what I need. But don't come here and act like you don't know exactly what I can do. Remember your weapons dealer?"

"He was a security risk." He swallows thickly, and you laugh.

"One you were too chicken shit to take care of yourself, right? Couldn't even tell Lee the truth about why you wanted him gone." 

"You're right. Okay? Is that what you wanna hear? You're right," he says. "Just... please put the gun down."

"I'm going after the Fireflies, and if you or any of your buddies try to stop me, I'll put a bullet in your head so fucking fast, it'll give you whiplash. Do you understand me?"

"Y... yes," he manages. You adjust your grip on your gun and lower it, but don't flip the safety. You're not a threat, you're saying. But I am. He gets the silent message and stands, showing you his empty hands once he's at his full height. His eyes jump from yours to the mound of dirt next to you, tears shining against the steel gray after a few seconds. "For what it's worth, I really am sorry for what happened. I wish I could've done something to save her." 

His words take you right back to the rubble outside her school when people were screaming with pain or grief. You swear you can smell the smoke and ash hanging in the air. You can see the caved-in front door, the blown-out windows, and how the broken glass twinkled in the street. You can feel her weight in your arms. Your face stings and you reach for Jane but only feel the cool soil. He's still staring at you, but you don't meet his eyes. 

"If you're really sorry, you'll stay the fuck out of my way," you say, the words cutting your tongue as you speak them. "I'd hate for you to become collateral, too."

2010

Your knuckles are bloody and bruised, and you can feel the bones in your hand creaking under the weight of your punches, but you can't stop. Not when you're this close. The man under you is shaking, and tears streak over the blood on his cheeks. The tape around his wrists has come undone, but he doesn't move to stand or defend himself. Not when his shoulder is dislocated. You crouch in front of him where he's spitting blood, and he slumps against the wall with a defeated look.

"Where is she?" You ask.

"Why should I tell you? You're gonna kill me either way."

"Oh, I'm not that nice," you say. "If you don't tell me, I'll just tie you up and leave you here. The next Firefly I find will get to hear all about how you cracked and told me about their safe houses. We both know how they feel about traitors." One of the few good things to come out of you tracking the Fireflies for so long is that you know how they operate. Not only that, you know how they punish those who step out of line. For all their righteous talk, they're no better than FEDRA. "And once I tell them exactly where I left you, they'll come here and make you wish I had wasted a bullet on you. Then, I get to start all over with another one of your stupid fucking recruits. Might even grab one of the ones you brainwashed." 

He mumbles something like, "Please, don't," and shakes his head. He drops his chin to his chest and cries for a few seconds, making you roll your eyes, but you don't rush him. They all do this.

"And if I tell you?" He asks, lifting his gaze to you, and you pull your gun from your backpack. You pull the slide, clicking the bullet into place, and shrug despite his whimpering.

"I make it quick for you. Won't even feel it." 

"Please, just let me go," he begs, and you suck your teeth. "I won't t... tell anyone I saw your face. Please."

"I'm losing patience here, Danny boy." You say, reaching for the knife you threw to the side about an hour ago. 

"No, please! I have a daughter!" He yells suddenly, and you hesitate, the knife's bloodied handle slicking your palm. He seems to realize the effect of his words because he keeps going. "She's… she's three. Her name is Harley. She needs me." Strangely, you smile and slide your knife into your backpack as you stare at him. 

"I have a kid, too," you say, and his eyes brighten just enough to tell you he thinks he has a sliver of a chance. "She's ten, but she acts like she's sixteen, and she really loves music. I mean, she could just dance to it all day long. Or, at least, she would," You bite the inside of your cheek. "She would if you hadn't thrown a bomb into her fucking school building and killed her. June 2nd, 2008, does that sound familiar to you? Hm?" You ask, pressing the gun to his forehead. 

"It-it was an accident. Someone misread orders and," he sobs. "Please."

"Where's Marlene?" You ask, but all he does is cry. You give him ten seconds before you shoot his shoulder. "Where's Marlene, Daniel?" You ask again as he claws at the bullet wound, trying to stave off the bleeding. Twenty seconds. Another bullet, this time through his knee. "Where is Marlene?!" 

"B…Boston! Boston! She's in Boston!" He finally relents, and you sit back on your heels. "She has... a system of people there. If you find one of them, you can find her." You've let yourself believe a lot of lies, but this is not one of them. She's in Boston. The woman who gave the orders to detonate a bomb inside her school is in Boston. You can get there. You can do that. You have to. There's no other choice. You give Daniel one last look before shooting him. 

Suddenly, the building is silent, and the only thing you can focus on are the plans overflowing in your mind. If you leave tonight, you can make it to Boston in a month. Maybe three if you get caught up in raids or with Infected. Whatever. It doesn't matter. You can make it. You leave Daniel and the blood and gore to pack your things. The next few hours are a blur. You're clearing out your caches and stuffing bands and bands of cards into your backpack. You don't say goodbye to Lee or your neighbors or anyone. 

The only person you tell your plan to is buried under a big tree on a hill overlooking the QZ. She's the only one you say goodbye to. She's the only one you still care about. She's the last shred of your life before the world ended, and you're leaving her behind. 

One last time, you pick her wildflowers and leave them at her grave with a strained, "I love you." One last time, you kiss your hand and press it into the earth like it'll penetrate the ground and land on her forehead. One last time, you stand over her, and you walk away, hoping that the view from here is enough to absolve you of everything you've done wrong. Hoping you did at least one thing right by her. Hoping love is a good enough excuse for all the horror.