#okay i guess my panic attack is still going rip

[jonahmagnus]

How I think the TOH characters would react to you asking their pronouns:

1) Luz Noceda

Start of season one: "Uh, she/her! I think."

By the end of season one: "She/her! For noww~..." *double pistols and a wink*

Season two: "She/they baby! What about you?"

Season three: "She/they, but I dont really care."

Post show: "Ehhh, call me whatever. Follow your heart! See where the wind takes you. Look into the sunset. Listen to the whistle of the sea breeze. The answer lies within your heart, you just have to listen" *leaves before you can figure out what the fuck that means*

2) Gus Porter

"He/they, thanks for asking!" Hes a gay ally at the start of season one, but only because he learned about how humans are opporessed for "being happy" in their realm and that broke his heart so much he swore to stand by any "gay" human he ever found. So he self-identifies as an ally dispite being literally bisexual. Luz considers explaining what gay means in human modern context, but decides this is funnier, and then forgets about it.

3) Willow Park

Start of season one: "O-oh! She/they, thanks for asking! What about you?" A little unsure of herself gender wise but is coming into it

By season two: "They/She! What about you?" *Winks* By this point shes grown into herself and identifies as nonbinary. However, hes still not ready to peer into the depths of his soul and acknowledge the true hidden truth at the bottom there. No little plant boy dont internalize that!!!!

Post-show: "She/he/they, thanks for asking!" This is still fully a lie but he plays cat and mouse with his own gender for a couple years after the show. Literally refuses to think about it. He has other shit going on (he doesnt).

Finally, post-post-show: "He/him! Yours?" He is a nonbinary butch womanthing. Thank god he finally figured that out. Amity and Gus quietly exchange their bet money. Amity won.

4) Amitt Blight

Season one: "She/her. What do you want." I loved her bitch era it was so fun.

Season two: "She/they! Uh, thanks... for asking? Am I supposed to ask for yours now?" Still figuring out the proper etiquette. God bless her soul.

Season 3: "Oh, she/they. You?" This social script is so ingrained in her autistic speech patterns and mind that she acidentally said it to a cafe worker once and she almost turned herself into goo. Rip autopilot girlie......

Post-show: "She/they! :) What about yours?" She is secure in her answer now 👍 a certified category five nonbinary woman moment.

5) Hunter Noceda

Season one: "My..... whats?" You try to explain what they are to him and he says "My uncle says gender is a sin and I should never fall into it lest my soul be lost. And I dont know what that means but I dont want him to be mad at me so. Bye" and then he would flee the scene at 300mph and have a panic attack about in the closet.

Season two: "Oh... uh.... he... him?? I think??" *remembers youre supposed to ask something back* "Why do you need to know that" he sounds increasingly desperate as he realizes the social script for this conversation is slipping from his grasp, much like his current sanity.

Season 3: "Oh, oh, uhm, he/him, I guess" He sounds VERY unsure about that. You eye the book in his shoulder bag, and he shuffles awkwardly.

Post-show: "They/he!" They say, still a little haltingly. You nod like you believe it.

Post-post-show: "They...he... it? I mean I like they and it the most but Uhm he is still fine its fine like Im still a human. Im still a human... man" okay Hunter, for sure.

Post-post-post-post-show: "she...they?????" Sure Hunter

Post-post-post-post-post-show: "she/IT???" she shoulds desperate. Okay hunter.

Post-post-post-post-post-postshow: "It/its, but she/her is fine as well. Uh, thanks for asking. Uh. You?" There we go. Glad you finally came to this realization. The Murderbot Diaries would have irreversible affects on its gender.

[vigilskeep]

How do you think the templar skills such as Clease, Silence or Righteous Strike would affect Anders? I mean, the type of templar skills that prevent a mage from conecting with the Fade, would that also affect Anders considering that Justice lives in him too? Where does Justice draw his power from when he takes over? From the Fade for being a spirit himself or does he use Anders' natural connection with the Fade as a mage? I'm just trying to imagine how a fight between DA2 Anders and a powerful templar would go down. Because if I imagine it as realistic as possible, a templar skill like Silence should on its own negate most of Anders' powers, even with Justice's aid. Or am I wrong?

Thank you for your insights! I always read your DA thoughts with eager interest (that's why I'm asking your opinion on this now😉)

hi okay so my initial thought WAS that anders/justice could maybe get away with evading templar abilities which seems justified by justice’s notable successful destructive outbursts aimed in their direction. but that was based on my understanding that templars block mages’ connection to the fade to disrupt spells, and justice, described (paraphrasing) as like a piece of the fade brought into this world, might potentially be an alternate source of power. however! i was wrong!

i was just wrong on a basic level about how templar abilities work. mages use the power of the fade to make reality mutable, changeable according to their will. while templars can also drain energy drawn from the fade, what they actually do on a basic level when they stop spells is enforce reality. insist upon a stubbornly real world where the spell cannot be cast. (this is WAY closer to magic of their own than i was imagining but i’ll get distracted if i talk about that.) what anders/justice uses is still magic, even if amped up by the power of a spirit. i don’t see any reason why templars couldn’t deny it as they do any other magic. i suppose i should have guessed this because lots of templar abilities work on demons, right? which in functional terms is the same thing

nevertheless, templars are, broadly speaking, considerably less powerful than mages. ideally you want an entire pack of templars to deal with one mage, whereas a templar outnumbered even by two or three to one is completely fucked. that’s for regular well-trained mages. anders/justice when in Full Justice Mode™️ is notably capable of defeating an entire pack of prepared templars singlehanded. (you have to allow for mages “realistically” in-world being significantly more overpowered than they are in the games.) however in the short story where he does this, the templars involved do not specifically seem to use more abilities than being somewhat warded from an initial magical attack by having taken lyrium, so there’s no evidence there to my knowledge of what more specific templar abilities can do against anders/justice (the templar was terrified of what anders looked like despite having “faced broodmothers and abominations without fear”, so i have to imagine he just panicked too hard to do anything but jump straight to stabbing anders, which he does)

anders/justice then proceeds to, um, rip the guy’s whole head off. yeah. i don’t think any reinforcement of reality is going to do too much about that

so in response to your specific questions: i would expect cleanse, silence and righteous strike to work successfully, if maybe with some allowances for justice’s strength to let him shake it off quicker. there’s no reason a templar couldn’t successfully disrupt his spells with all of those abilities. however neither does that mean anders/justice is defenceless from a templar. if justice well and truly comes out, yes i think templar abilities will still work, it’s just not going to save them from what they’re facing. of course anders actively avoids and fears going that far bc of the obvious drawbacks, and he can’t do it at will, so it’s only happening if justice fully panics. but templar-related high anders distress and anger levels is exactly what makes justice panic so, you know, i can’t see him not showing up to a serious high stakes fight between anders and a templar

i would also suggest that since the vengeance tree has several spells to do with replenishing mana and lessening cooldowns, it seems likely that would translate to anders recovering much quicker from templars’ abilities to drain mana than another mage might, probably due as i said to justice’s more natural connection to the fade

[fivepointpalettes]

Pallets like this v

With long names and such!

My sincerest apologies for how long it took to compile this list. I tried to pick out the ones which were either significantly longer, or were... particular, one way or another, for lack of a better word. I tried to avoid song lyrics and such, but with some of them I couldn't help myself. 

Hope you find these sufficient! 

Looking through my older posts, this type of longer caption was a relatively recent development, but I nonetheless tried to pick ones that might work for you! I originally tried to sort them by topic, but there were so many... you can probably guess the point at which I have given up. I’m sorry. There were just so many. 

Sorry I didn’t Realize People Like You Have Feelings 

She Was A Girl He Was A Traffic Cone 

You Must Have Real Self Confidence Mortal To Attempt Flirting With Something All Holy 

Just Friends But We Kiss Sometimes 

Let Your Tender Hands Rip Me Apart 

Let Me Be Your Unreliable Narrator, Baby! 

Focus On Me (Ignore The Blood) 

I See You Everywhere See You Everywhere See You Everywhere 

Prove That You Love Me And Reanimate Me 

Stand Still As The Darkness Grows Roots In Your Mind 

The Lack Of Self Esteem I’ve Felt Since I Learned How To Read Or Write 

Not Great With People But Pretty Good With Milk 

Lost In Your Eyes Never To Be Found 

I Saw The End Of The World In Your Eyes 

I Touch You And My Hands Burn My Hands Burn My Hands Burn (What Have You Done) 

What Are You Doing In My House / Now Now I Don’t Usually Make It A Habit To - Stop Yelling - Break Into People’s Homes But As You Can See Sometimes I Do 

Well First Of All I Am Positive What You Did Is A Criminal Offense / And Second Of All Why Didn’t You Invite Me 

Once Again I Am Forced To Ask What In The World Did You Bring Into Our Home / What Do You Mean What Did I Bring It’s Very Clearly A Radioactive Waste Barrel Don’t Pretend You Don’t Know That 

What’s A Little Murder Between Friends 

Hey Quick Question Are We Really About To Commit Arson? 

Does This Taste Expired To You Too? 

It’s Even Smaller On The Inside If You Can Believe That 

Only One Thing In This Room Is Edible And Good Luck Figuring Out Which One It Is 

Your House Has No Anomalies But I’m Reporting You For Bad Taste In Art 

I Think I Know What A Rat Looks Like 

How Many Rains Will It Take Before The Ceiling Starts Leaking 

I’m Sorry I Chewed Through Your Walls But You Must Understand I’m Calcium Deficient 

Please Be Mindful Of The Evil Yoghurt Demon In The Freezer 

Who Put Strawberries In The Bathtub 

Who Put Strawberries In The Bathtub Again 

This Is The Third Time Someone Put Strawberries In The Bathtub Who Keeps Doing This Please Stop 

Of All The Things You Could Be Doing Why Are You Romancing Soda Cans 

Soda Cans Are Great I Love Accidentally Spilling Liquid On Myself 

It’s Not A Good Cake But It’s Not A Bad Cake Either (As Still It Is Cake) 

Scallops Reside Where My Brain Should Be 

Date A Girl Who’s Secretly A 20 Meter Long Man-Eating Centipede 

Being In Love And How It Sucks Sometimes 

Wish We Could Go Out For Coffee But You Hate Me And I Hate Coffee 

Do You Remember When You Told Me That You Love Me When You Told Me That You Love Me When You Told Me That You 

I Loved You I Did So How Did We End Up Like This 

This Will Hurt You More Than It’ll Hurt Me - And That’s Okay! 

I Need You To Understand That I Really Do Want What’s Best For You - And That Simply Isn’t Me 

Father I Do Not Wish To Consume The Cough Syrup 

The Doctor Tried To Check My Heartbeat Only To Find Out I Don’t Have One 

American Girls Scare Me 

I’m Always At Least A Little Bit Scared Hopeless And Frustrated 

The Annoying Whisper In The Back Of Your Head 

The Shadow Out The Corner Of Your Eye 

Can You Help Me Find What’s Wrong With Me 

Too Old To Die Young And Too Young To Just Die 

Plunge Head-First Into A Worldwide Panic Attack 

Unexplainable Excruciating Pain That Started Suddenly And Will Never Go Away 

Wasting Your Life Feeling Like An Underperforming Tool In Someone Else’s Hands 

An Unhealthy Relationship With One’s Own Identity 

Men Like Us Aren’t Supposed To Feel These Things 

Men Like Us Die Alone Because We Think We Deserve It 

My Body Is A Craft Store 

My Lungs Are Full Of Ink 

The Tall Faceless Lad Out The Corner Of My Eye Who Watches Me Sleep While Pointing At The Door 

Peeling An Apple Just To Eat The Skin 

Biting Into A Rubber Ball Like An Apple While Maintaining Full Eye Contact 

For Sale A Set Of Gold Teeth Never Used 

I’m Just A Normal Functioning Member Of The Human Race And There Is No Way Anyone Can Prove Otherwise 

Visual Representation Of The Sound A Rainbow Makes 

The Man Whose Hands Are Always Covered In Melted Butter 

The Girl In A Blue Dress That Lives In Every Village Ever 

The Boy With A Mouthful Of Chalk 

I’m A Weirdo Who Likes To Eat Chalk 

The Magical Princess’s Strawberry-Scented Battle Axe Of Infinite Bloodshed 

Although You Are Yeay Smsll And Your Kind Have Existed In The Universe For Only A Shore Tihe You Are An Inportant Part Of Sohething Yery Large And Very Bcavtiful 

A Friend Is Someone Who Belieuse In Gon Euen When Gon'ue Ceased To Belieue In Gonrseif 

How To Completely Disapp8ar Be Found And Never 

Your Smile Toasty As Yarm As Spiver 

My Face When Face When My F When Facle The Fwhen Thface Mey Face Face When My 

The Breathing Part Of Who Knew By The Correspondents 

Can You Imagine If Los Angeles Was A Real City 

Tower Cranes Are My Favourite Animal 

When I Was A Small Child I Held An Iguana Once 

Ed Sheeran Is My Enemy He Looks Like A Hot Dog 

I Hate Citations Why Can’t You Just Trust Me 

A Classmate Of Mine Once Borrowed One Of My Pens And Then Decided It Was Such A Good Pen He’s Just Gonna Keep It 

Sconce Doesn’t Sound Like A Word To Me But It Is One 

Spells Mom With An O To Confuse People Trying To Guess My Nationality 

The Parasocial Relationship I Have Formed With The Duolingo Cast 

Sorry That Your Rant About How The Game I Like Ruined The Whole Series Forever Didn’t Make Me Like It Any Less 

For The Longest Time I Was Convinced That Pocky Was A Wooden Stick Covered In Chocolate And People Were Eating It Purely For The Anime Aesthetic 

My Girlfriend Said I Eat Corn Weird Which Now That I Think About It Would Explain Why I’m Consistently Covered In Butter 

Wishing To Rant About Fanfiction But Not Wanting To Show How Much Of A Nerd You Secretely Are 

The Eye Lips Eye Emoji Face Fills Me With Unbridled Rage 

When I Was A Child I Was Afraid Of Eating Mars Bars / Because I Thought They Had Fish Food In Them 

The Frankly Terrifying Clip Art I Found When I Googled Champignons 

Doctors Say You Need A Consistent Amount Of Sleep To Be Healthy So I Consistently Sleep For 4 Hours A Night 

Whether You Qualify As A Beach Or Not Depends On The Amount Of Sand You Have Consumed In A Lifetime 

Only The Floor Candy Can Sustain Me 

I Am Irrationally Afraid Of Paper And Plastic 

Tainted Love But The Clapping Is Replaced With The Law & Order Sound Effect 

Softer Cleaner And Fresher Clothes For The Low Cost Of Your Firstborn Child 

What Will It Take For You To Give Up Your Humanity And Become One With The Night 

The Price Of Wisdom Is Bad Grammar 

The Eternal Dance Set To The Sweet Melody Of My Out-Of-Tune Guitar 

Been Hiding From Myself Since The Last Time I Died 

Don’t Aspire To Be Average You Can Go So Much Lower 

My Heart Was Stolen By A Blue-Haired Angel With Piercing Eyes And A Penchant For Singing 

Lonely Sewer Cryptid Looking For Love 

With All Due Respect Sir This Is A Plum 

You Call It Birth I Call It Escapism 

Falling In Reverse Just Means Getting Up 

The Privilege Of Being Born Somebody Else 

The Act Of Balancing A Bottle Of Juice On Your Head 

My Favourite Ride In The Theme Park Is A Bench 

They Stole My Blood Today 

Me And My Lungs Love You 

On The Outside I May Look Like A Regular Man But On The Inside I’m A Japanese Spider Crab 

My Head Is Full Of Froyo 

Seychelles Flag But The Colours Are Out Of Order And Now Also Inverted 

Slam-Dunking A Toaster 

Chugging A Bottle Of Body Wash 

Grandma Stop Touching The Stove \ No Need To Confirm It’s Not On 

I Found God Inside An Apple Core 

Some Days I’m Afraid I Will Cut My Eyes By The Sight Of Glass Shards 

Look At Her Go Biting Everyone Who Comes Near Her Like A Champ 

I Apologize If You Found Finding This Place Difficult But You Must Understand I Am Currently Evading Detection And Arrest For Crimes Undisclosed 

God’s Gift To Women (Promptly Returned) 

Getting Hunted For Sport With Your Good Friend Bates 

So Good At Sleeping I Could Do It With My Eyes Closed 

Your Teeth (Hand Them Over) 

An Overemotional State Projected Upon The Unsuspecting Public 

What If You Could Glow In The Dark 

You’re As Beautiful As The Light Reflecting Off The Teeth Of The Moon 

Why Are You Sleeping In The Algae Pond 

Write Your Love In The Blood Coursing Through My Veins 

Please Relieve Me Of The Dreams Plaguing My Every Waking Moment 

And If You Thought It Was A Threat It Might Have Been 

Find Yourself In The Patterns On The Wall 

The Horrifying Ordeal Of Having Loud Neighbours 

Putting On A Show To Seem Alive / When I Don’t Feel Alive 

Time Has Stopped Passing A Long Time Ago 

Once Again A Cold Rainy Winter Gives Way To A Cold Rainy Spring 

Here’s Cheers To The Man Who Stole My Heart Away 

Please Stop Eating Bugs It’s Weird 

You Made Me The Villain Of Your Story Darling Now Own Up To It Won’t You 

If Someone Tries To Shoot You Simply Tell The Bullet To Leave You Alone 

She Drowned Jupiter In Her Martini Glass 

The Sort Of Love You Only Feel When Drunk 

It’s Past My Bedtime And I’m Thinking Of You 

Say The Apples Seem Strange This Year 

The Man Who Looked At Me So Sweetly In Soft Flavours Of Deep Beige 

Oh Baby Don’t You Know Our Sort Is Locked Out Of Heaven 

There’s No ‘You’ In 'My Cup Of Tea' 

You Have To Stop Making So Many Enemies 

Now We’re Cooking With Lasers 

Middle Of The Night Yet You’re Wide Awake Thinking About Waluigi 

You Have This Power Inside And It’s Frightening 

You And Me And The Aquarium Between Us 

I Don’t Know What This Is But It’s Not An Avocado 

Wish Me Luck Honey (I Couldn’t Ask For More) 

All The Things You Did Before You Did Them 

You Ought To Stop Eating Spiders It’s Creeping The Guests Out 

It Sure Is Wet In Here I’ll Tell You What 

I’ve Been Chugging Poison Waiting For The Day You Inevitably Take Me Up On My Offer And Take A Proper Bite Out Of Me 

Keep All Body Parts On The Inside Of The Vehicle At All Times As Failure To Comply May Result In Having Them Unwillingly Removed 

Drowning In A Coffee Cup (What An Awful Way To Go) 

Do The Trees Bite Where You’re From 

My Overconfidence Is Astounding And It’s A Surprise I’ve Never Been Killed 

I Understand Where You’re Coming From But Where Did You Get The Gun 

Have You Found Yourself Or Your Loved Ones Suffering From A Case Of Empty Eyes 

We Wouldn’t Be Here If SOMEONE Didn’t Spill Ketchup On The Sheets 

Tastes Like Hot Sugar On A Sharp Knife 

As You Can Tell By The Yellow Filter We Just Entered Mexico 

You’re Telling Me He Died From The Mould? And What Did The Mould Do, Stab Him? 

One Of These Beans Tastes Like Cola And The Other Tastes Like Black Mould 

Next Time Maybe Don’t Go Into The Forest At Night Hm Buddy? Just A Thought 

Well That Was A Little Unnecessarily Brutal Don’t You Think? 

Tender Words And Hellish Screams 

Too Cool To Sleep At A Reasonable Hour 

For A Place Called Silent Hill It Sure Is Horribly Noisy 

Smoke’s Water And We’re Water Therefore We Are Bleach 

Your Love Tastes Like A Heart Attack 

Pixy Stix and Broken Bones 

You Smell Like Nonsense With A Hint Of Melancholy 

Crying Because Cats Are Cute And Deserve The World 

I’m Sick But The Bags Under My Eyes Are Sicker 

I Live In A Room With No Windows 

I Haven’t Left The House In Months 

Don’t Stand So Close To The TV Lest The Static Claims You 

Forever Dizzy In This Lonely World 

Day 243 The Wall Effigy Started Talking To Me 

I’m Not Happy Unless I’m Miserable 

Summer Lasts A Week At Best But My Dedication To Sweater Vests Is Eternal So Look Me In The Eye Little Teacup And Melt If It Bothers You So Much 

Chicken Nuggets Heat Up Faster On The Higher Shelf Of The Oven Because Of Their Proximity To God 

It’s Summer (Hot Weather Turns My People Violent) 

You Can’t Just Ask A Guy Why He’s In Love 

Seeing The French Everywhere Might Be A Side Effect Of Something And I Have Yet To Find Out What But It Could Be Asbestos 

Remember When We Would Stay Up All Night Reading Fanfic On Our Phones 

What Do You Know About Being Divine 

Couldn’t Believe When You Said You Were A Deity 

When I Was A Child I Thought / That The Word Rainbow Had Eight Letters / And That One Of Them Was D 

Who Needs Sleep When I Can Just Drop Dead For A Rest 

I Don’t Check My Email In Fear Someone Tried To Contact Me Via Email 

I Saw A Bumblebee Today And It Was Huge Really Absolutely Massive 

Mid-Performance Chainsaw Solo 

I Want To Drown In Your Swimming Pool 

Feelings Of An Almost Human Nature 

Can’t Let It Slip That There’s More To Me Than Little Old I 

Manual Therapy For Anxious Hands 

A Sense Of Failure Wasting Away And Never Living Up To Your Full Potential Unable To Get Things Done And Putting Everything Off Because You Are Scared Of Progress 

He To Whom The Cake’s Dedicated 

You’re Quite Pleasant But The Pleasure Is Mine 

What Dropping A Large Bag Of Coal On Your Foot Feels Like 

I’m One Of Those Annoying People Who Would Rather Use Fifty Commas Than Shorten The Sentence 

Seeing The Future In The Tear Stains On Your Cheeks 

Do You Ever Feel Crowded In A Lonely Room 

I Want To Eat Eggs Whole Shell And All 

Adopt Your Enemies To Establish Dominance 

I’ve Existed For Thousands Of Years Before Gaining Sentience 

You Are A Dream In A Crowd Of Nightmares 

Get Your Shoes Off My Bed You Animal 

Do Not Invite Me To Your DnD Party Unless You Are Ready To Accept The Consequences 

Too Good For Heaven Too Bad For Hell 

I’m Not Above Eating Off The Floor 

I Distinctly Remember The Time He Stayed With Us 

I Know I May Look Like A Real Person But I Am Actually Not A Real Person At All 

When It Comes To Near Death Experiences I’m An Expert 

Your Skin Smells Like The Last Days Of Summer 

I Never Learned How To Write 

God Wouldn’t Have Wanted This / But This Isn’t About God / It’s About Our New Dish Soap / Now Available In Supermarkets Near You 

Do You Remember Your First Time Tasting Water 

You Know How Sometimes An Unwanted Guest Comes Over And You Do All You Can To Make Them Leave While Remaining Polite 

Fizzy Brained Children Are So Troublesome 

I Forgot What The Antagonist Of Legend Of Zelda Was Called And For A Good Moment Thought It Was Gandalf 

You’re The First Descendant In A Line Of Workaholics Utterly Convinced Your Willingness To Sacrifice Your Own Health Determines Your Worth As A Human Being And Promptly Working Yourself To Death To Provide Unto Others What You Never Had A Chance To Understand You Deserved Yourself 

I Am The Mirror In Which You Can See All The Evil In The World 

So Far Throughout My Life I Got Mildly Electrocuted On Three Separate Occasions 

Asking My DM Friend To Put A Light-Emitting Crab In Our Game 

Leaving The Fridge At 3 In The Morning 

Pepsi Makes My Teeth Go Numb 

Peach Yoghurt Tastes Better With Whipped Cream 

Thinking About Him (The Enlightened Prophet) 

There’s A Strange Man Hiding In The Fruit Aisle 

My Brain Operates On Frequencies You’ve Never Even Heard Of 

The Curious Desire For Overwhelmingly Vivid Symmetry 

My Computer Chair Broke So Now I’m Stuck Here Leaning To The Right 

People Ask Me How I Manage To Think Of You Everyday And To Be Completely Honest I Never Know What To Say Because It Feels So Natural 

Pepsi Running Through My Veins 

What Flavour Is Your Mind 

Sorry My Dad Said I Can’t Join Your Cult Today For I’m Grounded 

Squirrels Ate My Will To Live 

Being Told I’m Allowed To Make My Final Class Project About Any Topic I Want Awakens A Demon Inside Me That Makes Me Subject My Classmates To Only The Finest Of My Obscure Interests 

Standing In Front Of Me She Quickly Undressed Confessing Her Desire To Cause Me Physical Harm And Needless To Say I Was Baffled But Nonetheless Intrigued 

You Love Them Now You’ll Hate Them Later 

The Only Thing Greater Than My Ego Is My Impostor Syndrome 

Don’t Try To Tell Me How I’m Supposed To Breathe 

Why Is There Fish Bait In The Fridge Again 

You Scream Ancient Curses In Long Dead Languages And Perish Surrounded By Friends 

The Subtle Taste Of La Croix And Gentrification 

The Cons Of Being My Friend Greatly Outweigh The Pros 

You Are Who We Say You Are Because Public Opinion Beats Self Worth Every Time 

Angels Lost Their Charm When You Walked In 

Some Days I Feel Like A Lobster On A Skateboard 

Make Yourself Comfortable We’ll Be Falling For A While 

Bleed Your Soul And Blind Your Eyes 

You Can Stay At My Place But You’ll Never Find Me There 

Had A Dream Today That Hastur Was A Canon Character In Deltarune (I Woke Up With Enough Adrenaline To Bypass Anxiety And Respond To My E-Mails) 

Murder And Other Expressions Of Love 

You Locked Me In A Cage And Threw Away The Key And When You Found Someone Better I Was Left To Gnaw On The Bars For My Freedom 

What Do You MEAN There Was A Fire 

Cough Syrup Flavours According To Tumblr User Darkangelofglory 

A Little Weirdo Driven By Consumption 

Does A Straw Have One Hole Or Two 

I Want That Coca Cola Limelight 

Clouds Did Not Exist Before 1997 

More Dish Soap Than God Intended To Exist 

Some Days The World Is Too Bright To Function 

Sometimes I Look Up The Last Minutes Of A Movie I’ve Seen Before Because I’m Not Ready For The Emotional Investment Of Going Through The Plot’s Ups And Downs But Crave The Gratification Of A Happy Ending 

My Companion Looked In Horror At The Scene Unfolding Before Our Very Eyes Before Finally Saying Out Loud What We’ve All Been Thinking / Did He… Did He Steal Her Teeth? 

Give Me Salvation I Swear I Won’t Bite 

Your Love Has Brought Me To The Point Of No Returning 

I Can’t Get The Bees Out Of My Teeth 

Open The Fridge Dear (I Promise I’m Not In It) 

Please Don’t Lick The Walls 

Two Egg Yolks Six Teaspoons Of Sugar And A Tablespoon Of Cocoa 

Go To Sleep In The Morning And Wake Up At Noon Only To Go Back To Sleep Till Evening And Wake Up Full Of Regret And With A Headache 

The Infinite Game Or The Inevitable Disappointment Induced By The Terminality Of Things And Its Ability To Ruin One’s Enjoyment Of The Thing In Question 

If A Mushroom Can See Itself As A God So Can You 

I Sold My Lungs On The Black Market 

This Man Shoved His Face In a Tub Of Soap Bubbles - What Happened Next May Surprise You 

A Sort Of Soft Paste Which Tastes Like Perfume 

I’ve Nothing But Contempt For Fahrenheit 

The Little People At The Bottom Of The Ocean 

When I Grow Up I Want To Be Fruit Juice 

You’re Being Hunted (By Me) 

He Kinda Looks Like He’s Sucking On A Brick 

Crying Over A Chicken Nugget 

Slide-Whistles You To Death 

All The Personality Of A Collapsed Lung 

The Burning Fragrance Of Cleaning Supplies 

The First Time You Scraped Your Knee Falling Off A Bike 

Go Ahead And Floor It Luv 

A Toast To Our Special Little Brand Of Sin 

Dunks You In Tea LOL 

Sipping Sunflower Oil From A Wine Glass 

Even The Mushrooms Mourn Losing You 

You And All Your Money That You’ve Stolen From The Poor 

Where Do You Get Off Poisoning My Tea 

The Man Of Wine And Cigarette Smoke 

[chrisevansdaughter]

Ooooo okay okay....what if....what about their first Thanksgiving together??? Omg please they'd be so adorable! 😭😭❤️❤️

Better than any medicine ever.

Mention of anxiety & meds :)

Thanksgiving with them would be so sweet and I can imagine it going a little something like this….

It was Chris’ first thanksgiving with Seb in Boston finally after always having conflicting schedules and filming dates usually meant they were never home even to see their families let alone each other.

So waking up in his master bedroom with the love of his life next to him quietly snoring away. It felt like a dream someone was going to rip away from him. But it was for real..

“Babe… are we going to get up so we can start prepping for everything to come over later?” He whispered peppering kisses along his partners exposed arm.

“Hmmmm - what? Yeah give me like 2 more minutes” Seb mumbles inaudibly.

“Okay love, 2 more minutes.” He chuckles as seb nuzzles into his chest more. Mumbling already asleep how much he loves Chris and he doesn’t want him to leave since it’s an anxious thing for him.

“I’m not going to ever leave my love… ever…” he whispered carding his fingers though his hair.

After a long 2 minutes *more like 2 hours..*

Cut to two super solider built men in comfy clothes, in chris’ kitchen with an open bag of flour involved…

It was carnage. Absolute carnage.

“Babe stop” Sebastian laughed at Chris whilst trying to finish the pie filling.

“What? What do you mean stop - he chuckled at his partner’s expression - I’m just trying to help” he said sprinkling some flours on to the massive island that they were working on.

“Don’t.. you. Dare. Christopher.” Seb tried to say that just knowing what his golden retriever boyfriend would do. Full naming him wouldn’t do much…

Much being absolutely nothing.

“Ahahahaha, don’t full name me but… flour attack” he shouted towards the end.

“Christopher!” He screamed.

Yeah… you could probably guess what ensued.. flour was EVERYWHERE literally, even dodger had flour in him.

After the flour fight happened, and it got cleaned up.

The cast was over, and we’ll just say Chris and Seb thought they didn’t know that they were together well. That’s what they thought… oh how wrong they were.

Chris got a bit anxious during dinner so excused himself from the table to go to the kitchen to calm down and maybe take some meds to help since he’s got meds that can help pre panic attack anxiety that comes out of no where.

Seb knew he wasn’t doing well today as the time got closer for them all to come over, it got worst so he followed his love into the kitchen to help.

Hugging him gently, he whispers sweetly that he was safe and okay, 5 minutes after whilst Chris was still cocoon in his chest safe from the anxiousness that this dinner brought. He heard shuffling, looking over at the archway of the kitchen he lightly laughs at the cast looking lovingly at the couple. He just knew they knew and he was okay with that.

In classic RDJ fashion the next thing that came out of his mouth even made Chris laugh.

"It's about time you two stopped dancing around each other and got together" all that was heard was an uproar of laughter.

And that made it all better.

Better than any medicine ever.

Hey bubs I hope you enjoy this! And i hope it’s what you wanted out of your idea coming to life.. love you loads :)

Taglist

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If you guys would like to be added to my tag list please do comment or just send in an ask :)

Reblogs, feedback and asks are appreciated <3

[mama-qwerty]

Hello, it's me again. It's been a bit, how are you? With me, here's the gist:

I'm cleaning out my friend's old Deviantart account! They originally gave me it, so I'm in the process of wiping everything clean from that account. I've contacted people to let them know that I'm deactivating the account. It's been bugging me since sophomore year in college and so I decided to finally step down and do something about it. A bit stressful but, by the end of the year, I will deactivate my Deviantart for good.

On the other hand, I'm having a bit of an identity crisis. I'm scared people will try to look up anything bad about me and try to take me down. Remember that post I told you about that was from 4 years ago? Well that post was about Hazbin Hotel. The fandom has caused me trauma and I'm just.. In a bit of panic right now. Plus I fell out of interest with the fandom (I don't mind if people talk about it though!)

I'm sorry for bothering you. I'm just a huge worrywart.

- 🦊 anon

Hiya! I'm doing okay. Trying to keep on keeping on.

You seem to have a lot of anxiety about others coming at you and attacking you over things that either happened a long time ago, or for just any reason. I get the second guessing and the stressing out over things that maybe could give people ammo against you. I get it. So I'm not diminishing your fears and worries because I know they are real to you.

And I get that some (most?) fandoms can have an element of negativity and stress. Which sucks because, c'mon people, we're all here to enjoy something. It's more pleasurable to enjoy than to tear down.

But what I want you to try to keep in mind is, in most cases, you're not going to be attacked just for posting some things online. Yes, I know there are exceptions, but they are just that--exceptions.

And I will ask this (which you absolutely don't have to answer publicly), what 'bad things' could people dig up on you? Some comments made when you were younger, with less life experience, or just in a bad place mentally? Past interests that have not aged well, or have been ripped to shreds by an angry/spiteful fandom?

Even if you were a major trollish dick years ago (which I doubt), you can still address things maturely and calmly.

Once you've narrowed down exactly what you're worried people will 'attack' you over, you can adequately plan for a reaction. For example:

Someone: "Hey, you said _____ which was so horrible!"

You: "I agree, what I said then was not okay and I apologize if it hurt you. I am a different person now, and really regret that."

Someone: "OMG you were in ____ fandom???? You suck"

You: "I was in that fandom years ago, and have moved on. Mind your business."

What you're worried about are the what ifs. The unknown. So make a list of what you worry will happen, and then a plan on how to react to it.

And also, bear in mind that some people are just assholes who delight in upsetting others. Especially on the internet, where the anonymity makes them braver. The block and delete buttons (where applicable) are your friend. Use them without mercy on those who seem intent on just being a dick to you.

Many hugs to you, Foxy! Try to stop looking behind yourself so much. You'll never see the beautiful road ahead of you if you're always looking at the potholes in the rearview!

[abhainnwhump]

IMYM Chapter 35: Heart Made of Lead: Nightmare

(Content warnings: Major character death, torture, body horror, suicide references)

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Nightmare didn’t waste any time as Dream’s eye lights glazed over and glowed. Cross grabbed the bars and tried to curse him without his voice. He shook his head for an effect that never came.

“Aw, something you want to say, Cross?” Nightmare leaned over in front of Cross’s cage. The latter attempted to punch him, but Nightmare swiftly dodged. He kept the same smooth smile the entire time, laughing at his failed attempt. “Dream is fine. Nothing will harm him physically. Now that he’s out of the way, I can move on to the main event.” Nightmare shape shifted one of his fingers into a key and walked over to Error’s cage.

The destroyer did not hold up well from torture. His turtleneck ripped, revealing the brand Nightmare gave him. His eye lights were bloodshot and despite his fear, his fighting spirit still thrived. He glared at Nightmare but before he could yell a curse or another slur, Nightmare waved his finger. He shot malice around his mouth and made a makeshift gag. Blue stopped looking at Dream to look at Error instead.

“Nightmare, what are you doing to Error? Get away from him!” His aura spiked with panic. Blue tried to snap his Anti-magic cuffs off to help Error. Nightmare saw a chance for an easy attack and almost slammed Blue against the wall. But then Ribbon set his hand on his cage in an attempt to calm him down. He whispered comforting words to him and gave his best puppy dog eyes.

“Shh, shh, don’t be mad. It’ll all be okay! Nightmare’s going to make things better! He promised he wouldn't hurt you!” Ribbon reached out to take his hand. Nightmare helped him calm Blue down.

“That’s what I thought. Nightmare picked a chain from the wall. He crouched down in front of Error. One raise of his tendrils made the destroyer cower back, terrified of more pain. Nightmare shook his head as he hooked the chain up to his handcuffs. How the mighty has fallen. He forced Error to stand up and yanked the chain. Error stumbled out of the cage after him.

“Ribbon, stand up. I need you to go upstairs, find Dust, and bring me the syringe on my desk. So you understand, my sweet little doll? Nightmare held a tight grip on Error as he tried to escape, screaming through his gag. He attempted to kick Nightmare, but he pulled the chain, making him trip instead. Then he wrapped his tendrils around him to keep him still.

Ribbon didn’t question it. He squeezed Blue’s hand to comfort him before standing up. “Yes, darling. Um, where would he be?”

Nightmare tilted his head to sense his aura. “He’s in the training room with Horror and Killer.” With that information, Ribbon dashed off.

The mention of the syringe caught Epic’s attention. He pondered while Nightmare and Ribbon talked. "Wait, bruh. You said before that you had his fate planned out or something like that. So guessing from your other attacks, I'm guessing you're either going to corrupt him or mind control him. Then you'll make him kill us, right?"

“Mmm . . . close enough." Nightmare shrugged. Epic's chin had a new scar. It looked nice with his eye socket scar.

Error's eyes widened in alarm. He tapped a finger against the bars to get his attention. “Aw, calm down, Error. It's going to be okay. Don't try and attack me, I thought we talked about this. Come along."

Nightmare ignored the chatter and confusion of the others as he dragged Error away. The guardian himself kicked and fought to get out of his grasp. Due to his power being greater, he managed to glitch through his cuffs. It wasn't strong enough to glitch away. Nightmare brought Error down the halls and into the room they used to punish Cross. Ribbon should've been here by now, hm.

Nightmare took his chains off and fastened him to the wall. He spread out Error's arms and legs with chains. His head hung down. The chains prevented his magic, though more glitches sparked from his fingers. Nightmare ripped the gag off his face and he panted.

Error frowned at Nightmare. "So, are you proud of yourself?"

Nightmare looked down at his hand and messed with his nails. "I am, very much so. It's a shame I had to do this to you. If only you hadn't betrayed me, then maybe we could've made an arrangement."

"An arrangement? That's all you ever do. Deals, contracts, schemes, that's how I agreed to work with you. Remember that? You always came to me. I don't remember what AU that was, but you wanted my help to stop Dream. Sure, you knew how to get inside my head with compliments and make me listen. I did your bidding, I helped you with favors, but I almost never needed you. Why did I ever agree to this . . . I should've killed you when I had the chance years ago. Would've made everything easier for everyone." Error growled.

Nightmare's tendrils swayed behind him as he looked at the door. "So impulsive. You know that would throw off the balance."

“And killing me and Ink isn't?"

"At this point, the effects counteract each other, at least if my theory is correct. The forces of creativity and destruction will still be in balance with nothing. The multiverse will be stagnant, but it won't matter. Does the balance truly matter any more? I win and rule over all. Let's see, what to do after this . . ." Nightmare tapped his foot on the ground, trying to draw it out to anger Error. "First would be corrupting the rest of those AUs. Did you think I didn't notice you destroyed some of them?"

"No, I know you would've figured it out. I wasn't even thinking about that part," Error muttered. He gave his chains another hard tug.

"Well, after that, I need a way to take care of the others. I'll keep Blue here for Ribbon to play with. Core and Dream need to be heavily supervised and forever removed as threats. Cross must suffer and Epic . . , I don't particularly care what happens to him, he's only here for helping Cross. Don't worry, dear destroyer." Nightmare tugged Error's cheek just to mock him.

Ribbon walked into the room with Dust. The doll tilted his head at seeing Error tied up against the wall. Dust carried the syringe, which made Nightmare smile. As Error continued to snuggle, he glanced down at Ribbon. He looked both frustrated and disappointed.

Dust stared at the dark liquid in the syringe, then looked back at Error. "Boss. If you're going to inject him, what am I doing;? What do you want me here for?"

“Simple, your task will be to clean whatever remains. If his clothing is still intact, I want to keep it. You can keep the remains, I'd be curious to see if you could experiment on a melted body." Nightmare said. He took the syringe from Dust.

"MELTED BODY? YOU'RE GOING TO WHAT?" Error held back from going into a crash. He thrashed and looked down at Ribbon, who stepped back from the screaming. “Ribbon! Help me out here! I'll be your friend if you do!"

Ribbon hesitated, but Nightmare stood in front of him. "Don't listen to him, Ribbon. He's not being honest. The second you let him go, he'll betray and attack us. You don't want to be hurt, do you?"

"I'm not the one lying, he's lying! He's going to murder me if you don't let me go! How are you this delusional?" Error shouted at Ribbon. Glitches tainted his eye sockets.

"You did leave me . . . and Nighty wouldn't lie to me." Ribbon hugged his shoulders. His aura grew with worry. This was exactly what Nightmare didn't want. It would've been a safer transfer if Ribbon was relaxed.

Error gritted his teeth in frustration, not believing a word Ribbon said. “Are. You. Kidding me. This entire plan was him lying to you so he could use you as a weapon and murder you! But you don't care. You would kill yourself if Nightmare told you to, wouldn’t you?”

Ribbon didn’t even need to think about it. “Of course. A doll is purposeless if its master doesn’t want it anymore. But Nightmare would never get rid of me, right?" He turned to him for support.

Nightmare nodded. His loyalty no longer impressed him, he expected it, but he was still touched. "I would never get rid of you. You've said enough, Error. Now, hold still and maybe we can make this easy on you. Thank you for all your service." Nightmare gestured toward Dust.

Dust looked up at Error, then at the syringe. While the two weren't close, they did know each other well. Dust's multicolored eye light glowed. "Sorry, Error."

Dust used his telekinesis to pull Error's glitching soul out of his chest. He injected the serum inside his soul. Error cried out in pain. His soul glitched.

For a moment, nothing happened. Nightmare worried. Did he make the poison incorrectly? No, he shouldn't have.

Error twitched. He began to pant and his soul glowed. His face appeared to sweat, but it was the same shade of black as his bones. It leaked over his eye socket, blinding his left socket. His fingers melted from his hands. His skull caved in at the top. Error gasped from the pain. His bones didn't snap since they turned to mush. Despite his position, he screamed and took advantage of his position. He shook his melted hands until they slipped from the chains. Puddles of black, red, and yellow liquid fell where his hands were. Error fell over as his ankles were still held down. Ribbon watched in horror and buried his face into Nightmare's shirt with a small whimper.

Error melted himself out of his ankle restraints. However, his ankles melted with them. He dragged himself toward the three members of the Villian Sans Squad.

His jaw melted as he stood up. His eye lights glitched and left his sockets hollow white voids. "NIGHTMARE!"

Error raised his hand and summoned a Gaster Blaster. The blaster looked wrong, distorted, and it melted in seconds. Error tried to summon another, but the same effect occurred. It seemed it wasn't until now did Error realize he was dying. He only had moments left to live, and he wanted to spend them killing Nightmare. Ribbon trembled.

He grabbed the melting strings off his face and shot them at Dust, who blocked them with a bone. Error swung his arm around to fire more strings and his arm flew off, splattering against the wall in a puddle of colorful liquid. The Guardian of Destruction attempted a scream, but his vocal cords melted away. He threw up liquid. His jaw melted until it passed his neck. His waist collapsed into itself and would've snapped if his bones didn't turn to mush. Error ran at Nightmare and reached his free hand out. Every step sunk him further into the ground until he collapsed, melting into a pile of black, blue, and red swirls. Only his soul remained intact as it flew out of his chest.

Dust reached out and took Error's soul in his hands. The glitches on his soul faded. The now white soul floated in a circle in Dust's hands. He tilted his head and gave it to Nightmare. "So . . . he's not goin' to be a guardian?"

"No, he won't have any of Error's powers. He'll still be his cute little self." Nightmare turned to look at Ribbon. He took the soul from Dust and offered it to him. "Go on, Ribbon. Put the soul inside your body and make it yours. Are you ready?"

"Ready . . ." Ribbon took the soul and with a deep breath, set it inside his body. His eyes shot open and flared with white light. He screamed in pain and held his head, a sound that set Nightmare off.

Nightmare wrapped his tendrils around Ribbon in a cradle. The light faded after a short while. "Shh, shh, don't worry my angel. I'm right here. I will not leave you. Aw, I know it hurts. Focus on being immortal again, I get to spend the rest of eternity with you. I never have to worry about you dying. You're going to be youthful, powerful, and beautiful for me forever. Shh, it's okay . . ." Nightmare laughed, bordering hysterical. Dust gave him a judgemental side-eye as he cleaned Error's melted remains.

Ribbon twitched his lilac eyes like any moment he would snap. But the shaking stopped, he went back to an innocent daze. He rubbed his head and looked up at Nightmare. "I feel weird . . . it's my emotions. It's like I can feel double as much! Owie, it hurts."

Nightmare's laughter reduced and he kissed Ribbon's head instead. "That's because you have a real soul. No need for your paints anymore, you can feel all by yourself. I wonder how much cuter you'll become now that you can feel in full. You have so many new chances with your soul. Oh Ribbon . . ."

Nightmare cuddled his wife, relieved she- he was okay. He wasn't certain why he thought of Ribbon as a girl for a brief moment. Yes, he hyper-feminized him for months, but this was different. He never made the slip-up. It didn't matter right now. Nightmare couldn't lose his doll again. He gave Ribbon all the affection and attention he needed before letting him go.

Ribbon pulled his string. "Better, I feel better, thanks."

Nightmare rubbed his head. Dust used his magic to fill his vials up with the liquid that was once Error. Nightmare picked up his worn clothes with his tendrils.

"Let's give them a surprise, shall we? Dust, you come too." Nightmare said. He took Ribbon by his side and walked back to the main dungeon. Dust followed close behind, shaking the vial of liquid in his hand. It was still warm. Nightmare tilted his head. "What do you plan to use it for?"

"Don't know. I could try and see if there's any power left in it and use it as a boost. I'll run some tests." Dust stated, pulling his hood more over his face. Ribbon glanced over at it with curiosity, but said nothing.

They returned to the main dungeon. Dream snapped out of his trance and argued with Blue. Nightmare was hoping for more pleading and crying out of him, but anger worked to. It all fed his powers in the end. Core stepped in occasionally and Epic tried to talk with Cross, who seemed zoned out and inside his own reality.

"I should've tried fighting from the start! It's all my fault we're in here in the first place!" Dream shouted at Blue. He turned to Nightmare as he walked into the room with Dust and Ribbon. His tired eye lights focused on the clothes in his tendrils. "Nightmare? I knew it. As soon as I couldn't sense Error . . ." Dream scoffed and curled into his knees. Meanwhile, Blue covered his mouth with horror.

Nightmare smiled. "Minor correction. It was the retraints and your failing powers that kept you from feeling Error. But yes, he's gone now." Nightmare tossed his clothing in the middle of the cages. Cross raised his brow bones in shock. Blue grabbed Error's scarf off the pile and looked at it. Epic scrunched his face.

Core gasped, shooting Nightmare an irritated look. "Have you realzed what you done? How did you kill your own ally?"

"He wasn't my ally at that point. He betrayed my trust one too many times. He signed his own death warrant."

Ribbon crouched down in front of Blue as he looked over Error's scarf. The doll reached his hand into the cage and stroked his cheek. "Blue, don't be upset, it's okay! Error was bad! I have a pretty soul now too!"

"He was my friend too! How am I not supposed to be upset?" Blue teared up and wiped it away. He shook as he stared at Ribbon, staring between the scarf and Ribbon. He moved away from him. His aura reeked of regret. Nightmare assumed his mind rang with sentences that began with should've.

Ribbon frowned and moved away from Blue's cage back to Nightmare. He lay his head on him and held where his soul was. He winced, rubbing over the spot. He whispered. "Night? Why does it hurt so much? I've felt sad before, but not like this. It kinda feels like when I drowned."

Nightmare opened his mouth to explain, but Dust beat him to the explanation. They talked as they pulled a tray out of Error's cage. "You haven't had a soul your whole life and now your body doesn't know what to do. Everythin' is more intense since all you had was some paints to make you feel thin's. Souls are much stronger in every way. Give it a few weeks, you'll live. I had my soul corrupted, it takes a while to get used to."

"Oh." Ribbon said. "That makes a lot of sense."

Nightmare focused his attention on Dream. Funny, both him and Cross leaned against the wall. They stayed silent for different reasons. "I see my spell worked well on you, I'll keep in mind that trauma trigger spell is very effective on you. I assume if they're curated, the others as well. Dream-"

"Don't talk to me. Leave me alone, please."

Nightmare shrugged, though the sudden bluntness still caught him off guard. He took Ribbon's soul out to play with it. "I know I said no more fighting and I will stand by it, but I wonder if it will affect your fighting at all. No new magic, but potentially new strengths. We can find out when we take down the Omega Timeline. Does that sound fun, my precious little doll?"

Ribbon gave an excited yet playful smile, Nightmare's favorite expression. He pulled his string. "Yeah! Can we go-"

"NO!" Core Frisk shouted. The child's black eyes widened and they fell into a panic. Though their people were in danger, so Nightmare understood. As always, he didn't care and fed off their alarm instead. "Stay away from the Omega Timeline and my people, you goopy octopus! You've messed with the multiverse balance enough! You can't destroy the hub!"

"It's my domain and I worked for five hundred years to control it. I'm going to do whatever I want." Nightmare smiled at Core Frisk. "But, to be fair, today was a very, very long day. I assume you all would like some time to . . . process Error's passing. Ribbon needs help to learn with his new soul." Nightmare touched Ribbon's chest and the soul floated out. It began to develop a pink glow already. His own personality mixed with the magic. Nightmare had seen it happen before, only not in this certain circumstance. It truly felt like his.

Core frowned at the soul. They stared at the floor as they decided whether to hit them or protect themself. Their eye twitched and they chose the wise choice of staying still. Epic stood up though as everyone else was down in one way or another. His spirit wouldn't break it seemed.

"Our time is up here, Ribbon. Let's get practicing with your soul." Nightmare turned around and brought Ribbon with him. He ignored the argument Epic and Dust had in the background and covered Ribbon's head. He didn't need to hear that.

[drkineildwicks]

BH6 Snippets--2/21/2024

So today was pretty productive, got a fic named so it could get out of one of the catch-all docs, got Tekko Obake up past 100 pages, and...more work on that sequel to (Not So) Hated by Life Itself, AKA the time-travel Obake AU:

Despite everything, Hiro started coughing out a laugh.  “Since when did you watch Kung-Fu Panda?” “If you’re proposing another movie marathon I’m going back to being dead.” “No you’re not.”  Look up at the monster rooting through the dumpster, ignoring them both.  “He…you saved my life.”  Look at Obake.  “I…he could have really hurt us, but he didn’t.” Obake pointed at him.  “We are not keeping it.” “No think about it,” Hiro said, hauling him up.  “He stopped me from being a street pancake, he had you in his mouth and didn’t hurt you—I don’t think he’s dangerous.” They watched as the monster flipped the dumpster down, ripping a trash bag open and going to town on the refrigerator refuse. “Just…really hungry,” Hiro added. “We’re still not keeping it,” Obake said.  “I have objections to pets that can kill me.” “I’m guessing you didn’t watch Monsters, Inc. either.” “Hiro.” “Okay, just—don’t panic,” Hiro said—to him or the monster wasn’t clear, considering he was easing up to the latter with his hands up by his shoulders.  The monster looked up at him, snorted—“Don’t panic don’t panic don’t panic….”  Grimaced as he half-put a hand out, looking away—okay no sorry Hiro this was going in the panic folder—bumped into Hiro’s other hand, outstretched his way—grab him and get ready to tug him away— Right as the monster closed its eyes and bumped its nose against Hiro’s other hand. Hiro opened his eyes, looked—started one of those breathy I could have died but I didn’t giggles as he rubbed the monster’s snout.  “Oh just wait until I tell Fred about this.”

So recently watched the episode "Prey Date," that this bit takes place in...and when Hiro had the realization after Knox saved him from falling my first comment was "do the Toothless touch." Obake, meanwhile, is either too young or just the right age to be having a heart attack, either way it's got Hiro written all over it.

[mrrightandmrbubble]

I hope you’re doing well XO

Hi, hello, I still exist though my blog upkeep would say otherwise. It's been a minute. That's really sweet that you 1) thought of me and 2) wanted to check in. I start to type up something about last year but keep abandoning it because how do you casually introduce that to people's timelines?

So, yeah, ripping off the Band-Aid (putting behind a read-more in case of triggers):

Someone tried to kill me. Well, not just someone, a now-former housemate who I thought was a friend. I still don't understand what lead to it and I don't know if I ever will, because they swing between "nothing happened" and "but if something did, it's her fault" (the O.J. defense). They were removed kicking and screaming from the house by police, and a provisional APVO was served that night with the provision that they must not come within 50 metres of any place where I live or work. It's already had a few court mentions, which I didn't have to attend, but an actual hearing has been adjourned to my birthday this year (happy fucking birthday to me) upon which I expect i'll be called to give my evidence. Charges include: Armed with intent to commit serious indictable offense, destroy/damage property, intimidation, common assault, and intentional choking. They're pleading not guilty on the grounds of mental health, but pull the other one. They had awareness and intent, and the ability to understand the events and make different choices in real-time - such as putting down the knife and saying to the other housemate who was trying to keep me safe, "The only reason i'm not killing her is because you're here".

They tracked down CC (after i'd shared that shit heap of a situation with them) to try and dig for dirt to use against me. They sent the other housemate messages and accusations through her via text for a few months, until the other housemate moved out and blocked them on everything. Some continued willful actions.

Once the property recovery order was finally sorted, they sent a family member and their partner to collect their belongings, and it became obvious rather quickly that they have not been honest with anyone about what they did. The fact that they refused my initial proposal of having a mutual friend do the collection supports that. Not that them acknowledging it would provide any kind of validation or resolution - they've bent over backwards to avoid taking responsibility for themselves since i've known them. But it's that which worries me re: how the hearings could go. I have to prepare myself for the likelihood that they won't face any natural consequences for their actions. The mentions so far have been more concerned with their wellbeing than mine. I haven't been contacted by anyone in months. If it eventuates that they get to go on their merry way, i'm not sure yet how I would respond.

At least the Department of Justice has been amazing, approving an Immediate Needs Support Package to fund a complete security overhaul for the premises. My GP also referred me to a psychologist while the local Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service applied to VOCAL (Victims of Crime Assistance League) on my behalf, though nothing's come of that yet. [EDIT: I just called to follow up and they seem to have lost me in the system, which is awesome but they can't all be winners.]

I wasn't seriously injured, thankfully, besides a chunk of my hair being pulled out (and subsequent blood) and cuts and bruises around my body.

As for my mental health, i'm...okay, I guess. That I knew I needed to quickly access support to mitigate development of PTSD probably saved me from being much worse. I had panic attacks and would replay the event like a video over and over for the first few months after it happened. I have occasional moments when I have trouble dealing with it and get real hard on myself, wishing they'd finished me off. But those moments, thankfully, do pass. Maintaining connection with friends and family, as a means of navigating the trauma recovery, hasn't been easy in recent months (will cover it in another post) but in fighting against my old instinct of avoiding asking for help, it serves as a reminder that there are places and people I can still trust and feel safe around. I've basically treated myself like a client and thought, "Ignore the lies your brain is trying to feed you - what would your best self do right now?"

I survived. I'm continuing to survive. That's the big takeaway.

[r0semultiverse]

The Lady of The Lake

Had this recurring dream again where I was a part of a ghost hunter style cryptid find show. One of my old friends Elijah was in it. We needed film ideas. It was a chill thing. The main guy would ask us what ideas we had. Leader guy says what if we could make anything what would we make. Black hair girl says a coffee machine. Blonde hair girl says a fishing rod with fishing line and all.

These meetings always take place in my parents’ back yard for whatever reason. The leader guy is the producer just for the record.

Anyway Elijah says “depends on for what.” Then he says jokingly “what are you a cop?” Producer guy chuckles and says no it’s not that kind of show. Then asks me what I would make. I say it depends on the context of who I’m making something for. “You guys gotta be able to come up with something on the spot, it’ll help,” the producer states. Then we notice that Elijah is outside the fence now starring at what appears to be a pond nearby. We all walk over and ask him hey what’s up what’s going on and try to check on him. He says “you guys see her right?” The producer has a grim look on his face and says sternly & loudly “that’s the lady of the lake, look away!!” He also takes out his camera, starting to film. “Whenever you spot the lady of the lake you need to look away immediately and imagine to yourself scenarios where she is killed, dead, ripped in half, anything and say them loud and proud as factual”, he says. “If you do not do this, she will keep getting closer whenever you look for her even if it’s just to find out if she’s getting closer and she’ll take you unless you declare her death as factual,” he also states.

Some of us start looking for her but I look away at first from the pond because I don’t want to aggro the lady of the lake onto me. It’s like SCP Shy Guy Rules but you can turn off her chase state by declaring her death out loud & proud. When you blink or look away after making eye contact it teleports closer to you every time until it’s completely upon you. Elijah in a panic says “the lady of the lake was eaten by bears?” He sounds even more scared now and squeaks up “guys, she’s gotten closer!!!” Producer tells him to remember to say her death loudly and proudly. I’m still looking away out of fear so I can’t say for sure what was happening but I hear Elijah take a deep breath in and tell “the lady of the lake was mauled to death by bears this afternoon and tragically died due to bleeding out!!” Elijah has sighed and said he couldn’t see her anymore and had returned back to the group to hang out with me. I never did see what she looked like, but when I asked Elijah he was too afraid to describe her out of fear that it would aggro her once more onto him.

We have a lunch break and one of my old friends Izzy was like yo Rose I bet you can’t lift me up! I said “okay bet!” I lifted her up bridal style and she kissed my cheek and I kissed hers and we laughed it off. Izzy lifts me up with ease and laughs saying something about me being light on my feet. ‘Twas all fun and games today since we almost had one of our group attacked by a cryptid apparently. My partner Jun was there for some reason now and said “hey Rose do me next!” Much to my surprise they pulled me into a full on kiss and it was very enjoyable.

Some time later amidst this yard party I guess we were having, I hear some strange bird noises and the blonde girl and black hair are asking if the producer also hears some weird bird sounds. All 3 of them look up to my neighbors roof and suddenly are stricken with fear across their faces. The producer tells me not to look up knowing I’m curious almost to a fault. I glance up slightly and just see a black raggedy robe, cloth, or dress flapping in the wind and I pause my vision there, not daring to look up a single centimeter further. “That’s her”, the producer yells and tells me to record. I take out my camera and do as instructed, tilting the camera towards the roof, but not daring to look.

The next few moments happen very quickly. The producer and the 2 girls start floating upwards towards the roof, holding their necks as if they’re being force choked by Darth Vader or something. “This must be the part where she’s close enough to get you”, I think to myself. I have to do something! Having not not completely locked eyes on her myself yet, I latch onto the side of my neighbors house and start climbing the rain water filters, which surprisingly didn’t budge under my weight. I hear a screech and look quickly towards the pond from earlier, not daring to make eye contact with this creature, assuming it even has eyes. I keep climbing and use the windows to pull myself up onto the roof. The roof rather than being hard to walk on was somewhat hollowed out like a big nest for a bird. The producer and the 2 girls were on the ground struggling for breath and I glanced up.

What I will describe to you next is potentially very off putting if you have a fear of being watched or looked at especially from afar. You know how in low quality photos or just poor brightness settings, there’s sometimes blurry people in the background just minding their business or doing their own thing? Or shadowed background people in a manga panel so far away that you can’t make out any features? Take that shadowy background figure and imagine it looking directly at you, intentionally in that random fun vacation photo or outdoors shoot you were doing. That figure isn’t minding its business, it’s locking eyes with you. It knows you’re watching and it’s watching back and it doesn’t take fondly to you having made eye contact. Descriptions aside I feel my heart sink into my chest as if I’m on a drop on the roller coaster. I was starring into this thing’s face, the lady of the lake, if you could even call what she has a face. It was just all shadowed, but I could feel myself losing breath and being unable to breath.

I quickly start running over through her makeshift nest towards the cryptid, my time is short now so I have nothing to lose at this point. As I make my way over I declare loudly that the lady of the lake was ran over by a semi-truck, shot outside a club, mauled by a grizzly bear, and beaten to death this evening as I maintain eye contact the entire time, coming closer to her. The creature screams out in agony and I hear my colleagues gasp for air, finally being free of her effect on them. “The lady of the lake was beaten to death this evening by yours truly,” I declare as I grab at the shadow and swing a punch towards their face. The hit lands but almost kind of goes right through at the same time. The shadow and cloth start to collapse as I attempt more physical attacks upon it. Whose to say if I was out of breath at that point or not, but I kept going until this thing was just a lump in a black cloth. I proceed to stomp it out, declaring the lady of the lake dying in as many scenarios as I can think of. I was working off of pure adrenaline at this point. The cloth eventually just dissipates into thin air, fading as if made of ashes. The Lady of the Lake was gone for good or at least for now, hard to say for sure. We only knew about avoiding eye contact and declaring her death out loud & matter of factly. We all carefully climb back together and someone goes to get a ladder. We were safe this time and got a tiny bit of footage out of the whole thing.

[crazy56u]

Currently batting two for two in the “Have to watch the new episode after the fact due to work” category, yay for me!

We open in on a pregnant woman in a parking lot.

Ben legitimately almost had a panic attack when face with having to deliver a baby.

The quickest, cleanest baby delivery.

Now if only the rest of the Leap was this easy.

And Addison decided to just rip the bandaid off and say the episode’s title.

If only Ben leap into the grunge scene instead of the ER scene…

I don’t know how to feel about the asshole she’s talking to being a Stephen…

Dr. Turk. …so, basically, this is Scrubs.

“Why are you here past your shift?” “I delivered a baby! :D” “Yeah, get off the high horse, pal…”

“You can’t save everyone.” That moment they telegraph the moral three minutes in.

And as Ben learns he has to save multiple lives, the sound department decides to crank the knockoff Creed!

Nurse Carolina, not to be confused with Nurse Nebraska.

Thank god for that white coat, otherwise Ben would be looking shifty right now.

Annnnnd they ain’t in the system yet, so in about 10… 9… 8…

“Code trauma.” Ding!

What if those two ambulances did a head-on collision just then?

Okay, so question: Why didn’t they have Ben leap in to stop the train crash?

“If they can walk, they can wait. If they are currently standing, fuck ‘em!”

Ben was about to black out then and there.

“Ziggy says there’s a 100% chance all three were on that train!” Tell Ziggy “No shit.” for me.

Okay, not for nothing, but if they said she had shrapnel in her fucking heart, I don’t have high hopes for her…

Watch as Nurse Carolina decides to brush off the fact that the resident, from her perspective, predicted three of the train victims prior to them arriving.

…is Dr. Harper’s first name “Stephen”, by chance?

In the 90s, hospitals were just playgrounds for mad science experiments, I guess…

Ah, so this hospital sucks, glad to know!

Addison, so what if they “didn’t know” Respiratrex was dangerous. People didn’t know Thalidomide was dangerous in the 50s, and look what happened there!

50/50 odds on her survival, glad to know God’s about to flip a coin in this bitch.

Ben’s logic: “Fuck it, I’m a better doctor than Harper, and I’m a time traveler, fuck his paper!”

“If Dr. Harper finds out you changed his script, he’ll Nike your career!” “Dr. Turk, you won’t understand this saying for a couple decades, but ‘YOLO’.”

[Okay, legit, Peacock crashed after I did that.]

…I think she forgot the actual line, and just ad-libbed that “Bold”…

Meanwhile, in 2023, everything is somehow worse!

I still stick to my theory that they locked Janis in a broom closet last week, her being in the interrogation room changes nothing.

I love how Magic is just playing the Sam card right out of the gate, he is done with her shit.

Okay, I half expected Janis to immediately make a break for it once the cuffs came off.

“I wanna talk to Ben, and I don’t care if he’s currently doing hospital resident train crash victim shit.”

“Hey, you, I have a working memory, did you predict there was a train crash?”

It is in my strongest belief that the second Carolina learns of the third victim, she is going to punch Ben in the arm.

Okay, cool, so the episode’s depressing depressing, got it.

Being told you have a concussion is the shittiest way to learn you have a tumor, goddamn…

And Eli just wants to die, okay, what a fun episode to enjoy immediately after a long night of work, yay me…

Oh! Goody! He’s Sandra’s dad!

It feels weird having barely missed the pager era…

“Okay, look, I’ll keep your tumor a secret, you fucking stay put.”

[I just paused. Why are they not showing the right half of Louis’s head?]

[OH FUCK]

“Hey, audience? Tell me? Do I got something on my face?”

Ben must engage in casual chit chat, or Louis will fucking die.

Ben, this is the worst time to forget you are supposed to be a woman…

Okay, cool, one out of three so far…

And so Janis and Jenn get crunk.

About fucking time we remember the cowboy existed…

Again, why didn’t we have Ben try and stop the crash?

Why does it look like Ben is trying to invent Wikipedia?

“Got a patient with a brain tumor?” “Yep, and it ain’t your dad, so don’t worry a thing about it.”

“Man, I sure do have a patient with a break tumor, so, hey, on an unrelated note, wanna talk about your dad?”

So, in other words, Eli is the Saul Goodman of Quantum Leap.

MORAL OF THE STORY: If you suck at being a dad, you will create doctors.

Okay, in another life time, Ben is the guy who does the quick side effect reading during medicine commercials.

“Look, I know this drug has bad side effects, but the FDA helped me pay off my car, so I say you’re wrong.”

“Look, I know I can’t prove how I know she has an undiagnosed medical condition, but fuck off.”

I love how Dr. Harper thinks he’s the hero in this story.

Okay, at this point, I hope Dr. Harper slips on a banana peel and falls on his ass.

And there’s the rub: In order to stop the use of a shit drug, a daughter must make amends with her dying father.

“Look, I know I said I’d stay, but fuck it, I’m out.” “Eli, if you leave, the FDA will win!”

I really want to see the “Better Call Saul”-style spin off involving Eli…

“Maybe this cancer is the way the universe wants my story to end.” “Look, I already changed one script today, don’t you worry…”

[Okay, I was joking earlier, Ben legitimately practically told Eli “if you leave, the FDA will win”…]

…and now we have a character being declared brain dead… … …okay, I know that coincidences exist, and I am reading too much into this, but how in the fuck is this the second Quantum Leap story this month I have experienced involving this shit?

Man, Ben, this week just sucks for you…

BOY DO I LOVE HOW LIGHT HEARTED THIS EPISODE IS BEING RIGHT NOW, BOY OH BOY

“Hey, good news, the depressing scene is over!”

Episode, why are you insistent in turning the screws on Ben right now?

Okay, it’s defibrillating time.

Why am I now hearing “How To Save A Life” in the back of my head?

And speaking of depressions going back to baseline!

“Hey, are you psychic, tell me now!” “So, about your dad’s tumor-”

“So, what do you think?” “Man, Jenn, I dunno, this episode’s fucking depressing…” “Magic, I was talking about Janis.”

Is the endgame of Janis’s plot arc just hiring her onto Quantum Leap?

Wait, was Ian even in the episode yet?

Also, calling it now, the dead wife’s gonna be the heart donor.

“FUCK these papers!”

CALLED IT

I choose to believe that this is Ben himself admitting he should’ve been allowed to prevent the train crash.

Now watch as Dr. Harper tries to fuck up the heart transplant…

CALLED IT.

Is Ben about to fist fight Dr. Harper, please god say he is…

“Look, I’m still processing my dad has a tumor-” “TOO BAD, DR. HARPER IS ABOUT TO KILL KIMBERLY”

“FUCK THESE CROWDED HALLWAYS!”

WHAT THE FUCK, BEN?! “Look, if you don’t hear us out about the murder drug, THE IV BAG GETS IT!”

Just fucking saying, Sam Beckett never fucking held a person’s life hostage in order to save the day, so that’s how you know Ben has bigger stones.

Ben got so pissed off with the sexism, he forgot the plot.

“Look, if she had that stupid disease, we’d know by now!” “(practically slaps him in the face with the chart) Bet.”

“…okay, fine, fuck it, use the other drug, I give. Now, just let the IV Bag go.”

Honestly, Ben should’ve been allowed to keep the scalpel, he earned it.

What if Eli already left?

I love how Ben didn’t leap yet, so now he’s chilling in an ambulance.

“What if all of this was for nothing, and I let you down?” Ben, the show got renewed, you’re fine.

Also, calling it now, the situation with Addison is revealed in the season finale.

“Stop being afraid.” “Oh, okay. (leaps)”

“Okay, look, I just got done with helping Ben stop the FDA, so this better be good.”

“Look, I ain’t happy with this situation either, Addison, but that doesn’t mean I have to put up with this shit.”

“Tell Ben to shut up, or the Secret Leapers will get us all. Yes, I know this sounds like conspiracy theory bullshit, but I am being legit.”

And now Ben is in the elevator from Speed, I already saw the promo, I know the punchline.

…is Ben in fucking Chernobyl?

So, just to reiterate: Ben defeated the FDA by holding an IV bag hostage, and Janis is a borderline conspiracy theorist.

It is a legitimate crime we have to wait three weeks for the next episode…

[bolontiku]

Bye GM, Hello Panic Attack

Walked into my café the other day and the three managers were having a meeting, waited for a bit to chat with the Assistant GM about a few things and if she could talk it over with our GM since she would see him before I would?

No more GM.

I stared at her and asked what happened? Did he get promoted, moved, quit, fired?

No answer. He is no longer with us. Cool, cool, looks like it's on you now buddy, she wasn't exactly thrilled about it. Shame since he was doing so much better. Relayed the info to my boss.

Catering manager comes up a couple hours later says she gotta use my cooler and disappears into there while I go about my business with my work and music blaring into my ear. Go to the freezer come back and find her and an associate chilling in my area, like... I need this space. My space is limited and I need to keep moving, I don't have time for visits...

She's crying.

Ah.

Associate trying to comfort her. Cute kid, 19yo, going to school for personal fitness/trainer, very positive. Been chatting with the catering manager cause she's been trying to switch to baker. She's full blown having a mental breakdown now.

Me: uNcoMfoRtaBle...uncomfortable....

She's calming down and trying to breath as she has a panic attack, trying to work through it, breathing slows. Associate,"it's okay, nobody is gonna judge you, we all have problems it's not just you." Panic attack intensifies. She's not breathing now, stutters when she does.

I need my work space. *sigh* I step between them and put space between her and the boy, he means well I know he does. I demand her to slow her breathing, she's freaking out and lookin to the boy, I tell her to stare only at me and match my breathing, slow intake, slow exhale. She slowly comes out of panic mode. Stops crying (why do people come to my corner to cry?!) He's trying to help, still saying words, I ask him to help by fetching a glass of water. He runs off like the good child he is.

Her "I know he's trying to be nice"

I laugh, remind her to breathe, "boys always trip over their words. I sent him to get you water for that reason"

She smiles and is breathing normally when he comes back with a tall glass of ice and water. I send him to go get a chair, he comes back with one and she sits. We stick with her for a few more minutes, I just want my work space back, he's saying that nobody will be mean to her. I look at her and tell her if someone says anything to her she can come tell me and I will rip their ass in half. "Only I can laugh at you got it?!" She nods. "Okay, get back to work now and lets get done so we can cry at home where its safe" she laughs. To be fair, only I get to pick on anyone in the cafe, I will shove a bitch into the oven if they make my kids cry.

Anyhow took thirty minutes to calm her and get my work area back, but if not it would have taken longer. She went back to work and I reminded her to take it one task at a time. The kids listened and came to me if they had any questions when she was busy.

Which is fine I guess, most the kids and new hires are scared of me anyhow.

[sirspazingtonthefourth]

Olivia Is Missing

June 29th

Olivia is missing.

We don’t really know what happened, she just didn’t show up to work. It was fine that first day, we got the food out for everyone, only had some minor panic attacks, just a usual day. No one really noticed she was actually missing until a couple days later. Someone went looking for her, because Jake finally noticed she hadn’t been in for a few days, and no one could find her.

We packed lunches for the search parties an hour ago, even for the police and firefighters that showed up from town. We appreciate them coming to look for her. We’d appreciate it more if they let us look for her too. Instead we have to prepare dinner for when they come back. We’re setting a plate aside specifically for her.

July 5th

I thought I saw her. God, she was right in front of me. It was awful. She was right outside the door when I got up for work. I almost wish I hadn’t. She was all bloody and ripped apart and I don’t remember screaming but I guess I did, since I woke the others up.

She wasn’t there, not really, but I swear I could have reached out and touched her. Jasmine thinks I was sleepwalking, but I’ve never done that before and I don’t have the haunted bed (some poor guy in West 4 has it; I woke him up on the bridge one night).

They gave up searching a few days ago. They think she’s dead. I do too, now. No one could look like what I saw and still be alive.

July 12th

Everyone’s doing okay. It’s been two weeks since Olivia disappeared. Things are getting back to normal. Alice is still a wreck, those two were so close. Jake is too, she was one of the interns he already knew when everyone came back this summer. Sometimes they just sit together and look out at the lake.

It’s weird. I took the drive to town a few days ago and I stopped by that vietnamese place she mentioned. It’s as good as she said. I wish I’d gone with her and the rest, one of those nights in the first couple weeks. But town is so far away, and I had to get up early. I have the morning shift. Olivia never did.

July 14th

Jasmine is missing.

She wasn’t here last night when I went to bed, which isn’t odd because I’m the first to go to sleep usually. But I’m the first up and she wasn’t there and something felt wrong and no one saw her leave the lab under the dining hall last night. She doesn’t leave that late, there’s still people in the library. Mike’s called the cops again. I don’t get to be a part of the search. It’s Saturday, I still work. I’m stuck packing lunches and making dinner again.

July 14th

They found her. Oh my god, they found her. What’s left of her. She was still breathing when the helicopter got here, everyone told her to just keep fighting.

She won’t make it.

They think it was a bear turned maneater, but no bear could’ve done that. They’re going to let hunters know. No one’s allowed to walk alone anymore.

Her stuff’s still in the cabin. I don’t even want to look at it. We weren’t close, but she was still a friend, sort of. I just keep looking at her bed and seeing her lying on it like she was lying on that stretcher getting loaded into the helicopter. She’s not coming back.

Everyone else at the station gets the time to mourn. We still have to get up and make breakfast. There’s a truck coming in today. We’re going to make breakfast tacos tomorrow. She liked those.

July 17th

Everyone’s tense now. The hunters scoured every inch of land in the station proper and the prairies surrounding and said there’s no sign of a bear, or a mountain lion, not even a coyote. Some of them mentioned they were waiting for someone to get back before taking the hour and a half long drive to town again. Some of them didn’t show up.

Jake’s making chickpea curry for dinner. I know, I’m waiting for my cabin mates, Margret and Lisa, so that we can go to the cabin. Whatever’s going on, no one wants to be next.

Jake’s as pissed as the rest of us. Mike’s trying to get the station shut down for the summer until we can find everyone that went missing. We all know Yucca Peak demands blood, but not like this. People don’t die, they just get hurt.

July 20th

Three people went missing. I didn’t know most of them, they were just here for a class. Here for a moon cycle, as Mike likes to say. Liked to say. He’s talking to the university about shutting down the summer programs out here, but he’s not getting very far. The university doesn’t want to have to pay people back for the canceled classes. They don’t  understand the situation out here.

I thought I saw them. All five of them. Margaret was sick and in the cabin, but Lisa was with me. She saw them too. Lake said they’re seeing the same stuff. At least I’m not the only one going crazy.

Some of the students are leaving. I can’t blame them. Five people in three weeks. More, if you count the hunters that didn’t come back. The professors are still teaching, but Margaret and Lisa say that not much gets done. Everyone’s too scared to go out looking for snakes. You get too far apart from other people, and no one wants to be the next missing person.

July 21st

Margaret is missing.

July 23rd

Something cut power to the station. No one wants to use their phones or computers. We don’t have wifi out here. We barely have a cell signal. Mike radioed the town to ask for help getting electricity back but he couldn’t get through to them.

Half the people are gone now. I was going to leave too, before Margaret. I couldn’t leave Lisa alone, those two were best friends. Some people are moving their things into the dining hall so they don’t have to go out at night. I’m trying to convince Lisa and Alice to do the same. Kitchen-Mike and Cole already have. We have to do it soon, or all the space will be taken and we’ll have to be in the library.

July 24th

Something cut the tires on all the cars left here. We don’t know if the water’s clean. We’re boiling it in the fireplace and letting it cool when we want a drink. We can’t run the oven or the grill. We haven’t been able to get food in.

Mike walked the two miles to get to the mailbox. We’re hoping the snail mail gets to the University, someone in town, anywhere. We’re trapped out here. Mike’s looking through every book he can with Jake to see what can be foraged, if we can find enough for the 45 people still here.

Jordan keeps saying this is all just a series of coincidences. Really unfortunate coincidences. I think he’s in denial. Especially since five more people are gone. Alice among them.

Lake said they saw the hunters coming back from the bathhouse with Kitchen-Mike. I’ve been seeing Margaret and Olivia the most. They look like they’re trying to say something, but I can never hear them.

They all look so horrifying.

July 27th

There’s not much to forage out here. At least, there isn’t enough for everyone. The water got cut off too, so we only have the lake. No one’s swam in it in years, not since it got treated for E. coli. We boil it for twenty minutes instead of ten.

Some people got fed up and decided to take their chances walking to town. I hope they make it. Heaven knows we need to help.

More people are going missing. Since the water got cut off the plumbing doesn’t work in the bathhouse. There’s no bathrooms, no showers, no real sign that help is coming. There’s 30 of us now. Some left, some went missing. People are starting to starve. It’s been a month and a half since this all started.

I want it all to be over. I want to go home. I want to hug my parents, my siblings, my girlfriend, my dog. I want to punch whichever university bigwig pushed back at Mike for wanting to shut Yucca peak down for the summer. I want to leave here and never come back.

The vultures are all circling over the mountain, day in and day out. We make up stories about why. It’s not like we have much else to do. Class has stopped and no one is out working, except for bringing in water and going out in pairs to try and find food.

A few people brought instruments. They play songs, but only during the day. Once the sun sets it’s lights out and we don’t dare make a sound.

August 2nd

Lisa had water duty with Jordan today. They haven’t come back.

I want to go home.

August 3rd

They found Jordan in the lake. Pieces of him. We buried what we could. Everyone’s seen them now, whatever you want to call these things we keep seeing. Ghosts, spirits, collective hallucinations. No one wants to open doors. They like to pop up when you do that. We’re stuck in the dining hall without food or water. There’s 24 of us now. There were nearly a hundred before this all started.

I want to wake up from this nightmare. I want to wake up and have this all be a dream, for Olivia and Jasmine and Margaret and Lisa to all still be here. Those of us left of the kitchen staff stick close. It started with us, and if nothing else it’ll end with us.

Jake tries to keep our spirits up, but it’s kinda hard, especially now that no one’s going out to get water and stuff. It always feels like there’s something watching us, waiting for a slip up, an opportunity to grab someone else. It’s already taken so many of us. I don’t think it’ll stop until we’re all gone.

August 7th

I saw it. I don’t know what that thing was, but I saw it. It got impatient, it snuck into the lodge. It grabbed Lake. I heard them screaming. They were out the door before I could do much, but the thing looked almost human. It was too long and too tall, though, and it’s skin looked like a corpse and the look in its eyes wasn’t human.

I froze. I froze as that… thing dragged Lake out the door. I saw their eyes. They screamed for my help. I can hear them still screaming a little ways away. Whatever it is, it wants us to know it’s there.

We’re barricading the doors tonight.

I don’t think I’ll ever sleep again.

August 9th

We can’t stay here. The barricades didn’t work. There’s 19 of us now. We’re getting what we can and we’re going to walk to town together. I hope we make it.

I’m going to use the last of my battery to call my mom. Tell her I love her and Dad and the kids and all that. In case we don’t make it. In case that thing gets to us first.

August 10th

It found us on the road. It got Mike and Cole, but it was too preoccupied to follow us. We weren’t carrying much but water bottles which is why we managed to get away. I can’t… I can. I can believe that all happened. I do believe it all happened. I have the malnourishment to prove it. Dad’s going to pick me up from the hospital once I get discharged. He’s across the state, but it doesn’t matter to him. He’ll book a hotel for the night and leave the morning after I get released.

None of us wanted to be alone. We’re all in adjacent rooms, two or three to a room. The nurses don’t like it, but being alone still feels like a death sentence. At least there’s sound here. Beeping monitors and footsteps all the time. The air is stale and cool, not free and warm like at the station.

We’re all having nightmares. I think we all will for a long time. The cops tried to ask us about what happened, but they don't believe us. You can see it in their eyes. We told them about the mountains, the vultures. They said they’d check it out, even though we told them not to. I don’t think they’ll come back.

We’re all trading numbers. Our phones are all dead, we left the cords behind, but when we get back from wherever we all came from we’re going to make a group chat. I can’t imagine talking about this to anyone who doesn’t know right now. Not after the cops.

No one but the nurses believes us. If we don’t stick together, I don’t think we’ll last very long. I’ve heard about tragedies happening, survivors killing themselves in the aftermath. We’ve been through so much, we have to survive. We have to. I’m scared that if we die that thing will come for us, take our bodies since it couldn’t take our lives.

I can still hear them, everyone who died. I swear I can hear a scream down the hall, like that thing managed to travel all the way here. I know it isn’t likely, but after everything that’s happened it feels more likely than not. No one’s died, though. We’re all hearing the screams. Even the nurses. I think it’s why they believe us.

I’ll be here for another week at least. Then I’ll have to figure out how to keep living. I don’t think I can go back to school right now. I don’t think I can do much of anything. Not when I can still see Olivia standing outside the door. I can hear her now.

She wants to know why we didn’t run when she told us to.

[boopjuice]

Olivia Is Missing

June 29th

Olivia is missing.

We don’t really know what happened, she just didn’t show up to work. It was fine that first day, we got the food out for everyone, only had some minor panic attacks, just a usual day. No one really noticed she was actually missing until a couple days later. Someone went looking for her, because Jake finally noticed she hadn’t been in for a few days, and no one could find her.

We packed lunches for the search parties an hour ago, even for the police and firefighters that showed up from town. We appreciate them coming to look for her. We’d appreciate it more if they let us look for her too. Instead we have to prepare dinner for when they come back. We’re setting a plate aside specifically for her.

July 5th

I thought I saw her. God, she was right in front of me. It was awful. She was right outside the door when I got up for work. I almost wish I hadn’t. She was all bloody and ripped apart and I don’t remember screaming but I guess I did, since I woke the others up.

She wasn’t there, not really, but I swear I could have reached out and touched her. Jasmine thinks I was sleepwalking, but I’ve never done that before and I don’t have the haunted bed (some poor guy in West 4 has it; I woke him up on the bridge one night).

They gave up searching a few days ago. They think she’s dead. I do too, now. No one could look like what I saw and still be alive.

July 12th

Everyone’s doing okay. It’s been two weeks since Olivia disappeared. Things are getting back to normal. Alice is still a wreck, those two were so close. Jake is too, she was one of the interns he already knew when everyone came back this summer. Sometimes they just sit together and look out at the lake.

It’s weird. I took the drive to town a few days ago and I stopped by that vietnamese place she mentioned. It’s as good as she said. I wish I’d gone with her and the rest, one of those nights in the first couple weeks. But town is so far away, and I had to get up early. I have the morning shift. Olivia never did.

July 14th

Jasmine is missing.

She wasn’t here last night when I went to bed, which isn’t odd because I’m the first to go to sleep usually. But I’m the first up and she wasn’t there and something felt wrong and no one saw her leave the lab under the dining hall last night. She doesn’t leave that late, there’s still people in the library. Mike’s called the cops again. I don’t get to be a part of the search. It’s Saturday, I still work. I’m stuck packing lunches and making dinner again.

July 14th

They found her. Oh my god, they found her. What’s left of her. She was still breathing when the helicopter got here, everyone told her to just keep fighting.

She won’t make it.

They think it was a bear turned maneater, but no bear could’ve done that. They’re going to let hunters know. No one’s allowed to walk alone anymore.

Her stuff’s still in the cabin. I don’t even want to look at it. We weren’t close, but she was still a friend, sort of. I just keep looking at her bed and seeing her lying on it like she was lying on that stretcher getting loaded into the helicopter. She’s not coming back.

Everyone else at the station gets the time to mourn. We still have to get up and make breakfast. There’s a truck coming in today. We’re going to make breakfast tacos tomorrow. She liked those.

July 17th

Everyone’s tense now. The hunters scoured every inch of land in the station proper and the prairies surrounding and said there’s no sign of a bear, or a mountain lion, not even a coyote. Some of them mentioned they were waiting for someone to get back before taking the hour and a half long drive to town again. Some of them didn’t show up.

Jake’s making chickpea curry for dinner. I know, I’m waiting for my cabin mates, Margret and Lisa, so that we can go to the cabin. Whatever’s going on, no one wants to be next.

Jake’s as pissed as the rest of us. Mike’s trying to get the station shut down for the summer until we can find everyone that went missing. We all know Yucca Peak demands blood, but not like this. People don’t die, they just get hurt.

July 20th

Three people went missing. I didn’t know most of them, they were just here for a class. Here for a moon cycle, as Mike likes to say. Liked to say. He’s talking to the university about shutting down the summer programs out here, but he’s not getting very far. The university doesn’t want to have to pay people back for the canceled classes. They don’t  understand the situation out here.

I thought I saw them. All five of them. Margaret was sick and in the cabin, but Lisa was with me. She saw them too. Lake said they’re seeing the same stuff. At least I’m not the only one going crazy.

Some of the students are leaving. I can’t blame them. Five people in three weeks. More, if you count the hunters that didn’t come back. The professors are still teaching, but Margaret and Lisa say that not much gets done. Everyone’s too scared to go out looking for snakes. You get too far apart from other people, and no one wants to be the next missing person.

July 21st

Margaret is missing.

July 23rd

Something cut power to the station. No one wants to use their phones or computers. We don’t have wifi out here. We barely have a cell signal. Mike radioed the town to ask for help getting electricity back but he couldn’t get through to them.

Half the people are gone now. I was going to leave too, before Margaret. I couldn’t leave Lisa alone, those two were best friends. Some people are moving their things into the dining hall so they don’t have to go out at night. I’m trying to convince Lisa and Alice to do the same. Kitchen-Mike and Cole already have. We have to do it soon, or all the space will be taken and we’ll have to be in the library.

July 24th

Something cut the tires on all the cars left here. We don’t know if the water’s clean. We’re boiling it in the fireplace and letting it cool when we want a drink. We can’t run the oven or the grill. We haven’t been able to get food in.

Mike walked the two miles to get to the mailbox. We’re hoping the snail mail gets to the University, someone in town, anywhere. We’re trapped out here. Mike’s looking through every book he can with Jake to see what can be foraged, if we can find enough for the 45 people still here.

Jordan keeps saying this is all just a series of coincidences. Really unfortunate coincidences. I think he’s in denial. Especially since five more people are gone. Alice among them.

Lake said they saw the hunters coming back from the bathhouse with Kitchen-Mike. I’ve been seeing Margaret and Olivia the most. They look like they’re trying to say something, but I can never hear them.

They all look so horrifying.

July 27th

There’s not much to forage out here. At least, there isn’t enough for everyone. The water got cut off too, so we only have the lake. No one’s swam in it in years, not since it got treated for E. coli. We boil it for twenty minutes instead of ten.

Some people got fed up and decided to take their chances walking to town. I hope they make it. Heaven knows we need to help.

More people are going missing. Since the water got cut off the plumbing doesn’t work in the bathhouse. There’s no bathrooms, no showers, no real sign that help is coming. There’s 30 of us now. Some left, some went missing. People are starting to starve. It’s been a month and a half since this all started.

I want it all to be over. I want to go home. I want to hug my parents, my siblings, my girlfriend, my dog. I want to punch whichever university bigwig pushed back at Mike for wanting to shut Yucca peak down for the summer. I want to leave here and never come back.

The vultures are all circling over the mountain, day in and day out. We make up stories about why. It’s not like we have much else to do. Class has stopped and no one is out working, except for bringing in water and going out in pairs to try and find food.

A few people brought instruments. They play songs, but only during the day. Once the sun sets it’s lights out and we don’t dare make a sound.

August 2nd

Lisa had water duty with Jordan today. They haven’t come back.

I want to go home.

August 3rd

They found Jordan in the lake. Pieces of him. We buried what we could. Everyone’s seen them now, whatever you want to call these things we keep seeing. Ghosts, spirits, collective hallucinations. No one wants to open doors. They like to pop up when you do that. We’re stuck in the dining hall without food or water. There’s 24 of us now. There were nearly a hundred before this all started.

I want to wake up from this nightmare. I want to wake up and have this all be a dream, for Olivia and Jasmine and Margaret and Lisa to all still be here. Those of us left of the kitchen staff stick close. It started with us, and if nothing else it’ll end with us.

Jake tries to keep our spirits up, but it’s kinda hard, especially now that no one’s going out to get water and stuff. It always feels like there’s something watching us, waiting for a slip up, an opportunity to grab someone else. It’s already taken so many of us. I don’t think it’ll stop until we’re all gone.

August 7th

I saw it. I don’t know what that thing was, but I saw it. It got impatient, it snuck into the lodge. It grabbed Lake. I heard them screaming. They were out the door before I could do much, but the thing looked almost human. It was too long and too tall, though, and it’s skin looked like a corpse and the look in its eyes wasn’t human.

I froze. I froze as that… thing dragged Lake out the door. I saw their eyes. They screamed for my help. I can hear them still screaming a little ways away. Whatever it is, it wants us to know it’s there.

We’re barricading the doors tonight.

I don’t think I’ll ever sleep again.

August 9th

We can’t stay here. The barricades didn’t work. There’s 19 of us now. We’re getting what we can and we’re going to walk to town together. I hope we make it.

I’m going to use the last of my battery to call my mom. Tell her I love her and Dad and the kids and all that. In case we don’t make it. In case that thing gets to us first.

August 10th

It found us on the road. It got Mike and Cole, but it was too preoccupied to follow us. We weren’t carrying much but water bottles which is why we managed to get away. I can’t… I can. I can believe that all happened. I do believe it all happened. I have the malnourishment to prove it. Dad’s going to pick me up from the hospital once I get discharged. He’s across the state, but it doesn’t matter to him. He’ll book a hotel for the night and leave the morning after I get released.

None of us wanted to be alone. We’re all in adjacent rooms, two or three to a room. The nurses don’t like it, but being alone still feels like a death sentence. At least there’s sound here. Beeping monitors and footsteps all the time. The air is stale and cool, not free and warm like at the station.

We’re all having nightmares. I think we all will for a long time. The cops tried to ask us about what happened, but they don't believe us. You can see it in their eyes. We told them about the mountains, the vultures. They said they’d check it out, even though we told them not to. I don’t think they’ll come back.

We’re all trading numbers. Our phones are all dead, we left the cords behind, but when we get back from wherever we all came from we’re going to make a group chat. I can’t imagine talking about this to anyone who doesn’t know right now. Not after the cops.

No one but the nurses believes us. If we don’t stick together, I don’t think we’ll last very long. I’ve heard about tragedies happening, survivors killing themselves in the aftermath. We’ve been through so much, we have to survive. We have to. I’m scared that if we die that thing will come for us, take our bodies since it couldn’t take our lives.

I can still hear them, everyone who died. I swear I can hear a scream down the hall, like that thing managed to travel all the way here. I know it isn’t likely, but after everything that’s happened it feels more likely than not. No one’s died, though. We’re all hearing the screams. Even the nurses. I think it’s why they believe us.

I’ll be here for another week at least. Then I’ll have to figure out how to keep living. I don’t think I can go back to school right now. I don’t think I can do much of anything. Not when I can still see Olivia standing outside the door. I can hear her now.

She wants to know why we didn’t run when she told us to.

[whispers-of-gallifrey]

Side of my brain panicking about the future vs side of my brain panicking about not living to see the future fight!

[elysianslove]

haikyuu boys that ━━

━━ would absolutely, definitely, 100% get nauseous, dizzy, possibly might faint, while their s/o is in labor. one peak and they’re doubling over the hospital bed, inhaling deeply and exhaling sharply, steeling themselves. some are surprising, some are expected. all are stupid.

iwaizumi hajime; he just cannot. he cannot fathom what is happening. there is no way you’re going through that and surviving. no wonder you’re screaming in pain. of course you’re screaming in pain. he takes one look at what’s going on and just immediately takes a step back, eyebrows raised and hand pressed to his chest like “my god.” he’s an 8/10 though because he is incredibly supportive and those arms are great to grab onto. will not complain for a second (is strangely way too quiet), but he’s worryingly pale. maybe he’s quiet cause if he speaks he’ll throw up. 

miya atsumu; he’s this close to screaming. or crying. possibly both. he can’t tell if he’s scared in general or scared for you or if he’s hurting seeing you hurting. in fact, no one can tell. he just looks like he’s watching an alien abduction happen right before his eyes. like a 6/10 because he probably does actually faint. it’s almost as if he’s the one in labor. and he’s the annoying kind of supportive that makes you want to smack him like shut the fuck up i’m pushing a whole child out of me right now. but his reactions are extremely endearing and hilarious to watch back because he most definitely insisted on filming. 

akaashi keiji; the silent struggler. really doesn’t wanna make it obvious at all. like he really, really, really doesn’t want you knowing that he’s uncomfortable in any way, but he’s like, sweating from how nauseous he is. a big part of it is hating seeing you in pain; he cringes every time you so much as groan or pant. 7/10 because he’s incredibly supportive but his hands are way too clammy :/ like fr get a grip keiji. again, supportive, but his voice is shaky so it’s like, really ineffective. he cries when he sees his baby and it automatically makes him an 11/10.

sakusa kiyoomi; absolute coward. pussy. it’s not about hygiene, he’s just genuinely mortified. keeps asking you’re okay like,,, what do you think, sir? he keeps looking even though every time he does it doesn’t get any better? question mark? you can see him visibly gulping cause he’s in so much shock. like a 5/10 because he forgets to hold your hand. just stands there. eyes wide and mouth parted like a dumb fish. chokes back on his sobs when he hears his baby’s cries and it’s adorable how he brings his hand up to silence himself so maybe he’s a 7/10.

goshiki tsutomu; please he probably has a panic attack mid labor. definitely screams with you and all the nurses and the doctor are like ???? holds your hand tighter than you’re holding his. apologizes the whole time. the whole time. like the doctor asked him if he wants to see what’s happening, which idk why they would consider that a smart idea, and he just wailed like, “baby i’m so sorry, i’m so sorry, can we just adopt?” a 3/10. he’s so cute but. bring someone else if you don’t want to rip your hair out and his. 

kageyama tobio; he absolutely tries to pretend that he’s okay but he just gets really, really quiet once you start delivering and his lips are chapped and his pupils are blown and his face is so pale. he looks like he just got off of a really bad rollercoaster. he’s not even holding your hand you’re just hanging onto an unmoving, lifeless limb. maybe 6/10, cause he could be better in the supportive department but, at least he was quietly panicking. he does have a mini panic attack once his baby is in his arms though. like just starts hyperventilating. it’s okay though! it’s actually kind of cute <3

lev haiba; actually faints. not probably. he actually faints. like all 6′5 of him just drops onto the floor by your bed and you’re like ,,, damn, guess i’m doing this alone then. he wakes up and the first thing he sees is your baby crowning and he just faints again pls. someone has to be there with you, just like to help him to you. he cannot stand straight at all, he’s leaning on the bed the whole time. 5/10 because it genuinely makes you laugh it kind of makes the pain bearable. they have to get a chair in case he just falls back cause he’s just so dizzy pls.

━━ would be so fucking annoying. who the hell let them in this room? why did you agree to this? how are you going to raise a child with them? regrets. so many regrets. 

tanaka ryūnosuke; he’s like annoyingly scared. shut up and calm down for a minute i’m trying to birth your child here. swears so much like “holy shit holy shit that’s a big baby.” like pls you’re trying to push it out of you and he has the audacity to say shit like that? treats it like it’s some sort of volleyball match like he cheers whenever the doctor praises you. maybe a 5/10 cause he’s just annoying, but it’s motivating in a way. accepts any insult you throw at him too, like he’s so on board with it. “yes, i’m absolutely a piece of shit— what do you mean you’re not getting anywhere near my dick babe wait.”

bokuto kōtarō; listen :( you don’t want to think he’s annoying but he lowkey is. he’s trying his hardest to make this an easier experience for you but you just need him to be a little quieter. like this hurts bo, calm down please. you want to match his energy but it’s literally physically impossible. he’s an 8/10 though because you doubt it’d have been possible to go through it without him. bokuto’s incredibly ripped too so he lets you hang onto him and he holds you tightly too, like grips your hands and legs so strong that it’s v physically supportive too. 

kozume kenma; he’s so. quiet. like say something kozume. say anything. he’s just wincing and cringing. 4/10 cause where’s the emotion. lets you hold his hand, like wow you should be honored. insults you back if you insult him???? like what’s that about???? when he sees his baby he does like, sharply intake a breath or whatever cause he doesn’t want to cry but he’s really struggling not to, which is kind of cute you guess. films the whole thing and does like a peace sign with a very nonchalant face but he has a filter on and the filter scans your face too except you’re like screaming. actually a 3/10. 

sugawara kōshi; he’s incredibly supportive yes, but mans will be laughing at you. laughing. at you. probably films you and is like properly giggling and laughing boisterously. is so unfazed by anything and everything he sees. he would so easily be a 10/10 but he becomes a -1/10 just cause he’s an ass. definitely like is breathless and is so mind-blown when he sees his baby. just in awe and in shock that he laughs like, “we made that holy crap.” good to have in the delivery room because he does make the atmosphere easier and more lighthearted, but,,, at what cost? your sanity’s. 

suna rintarō; the amount of times you wanted to punch him you cannot count on your ten fingers. makes some sex joke about how you’re so stretched out. you literally want to deck him. films the birthing process and makes you watch the video when you’re not even done delivering the baby? cause he’s insane i guess? justifies it as “this is a reminder of how strong you are,” like shut up with your bullshit. it’s kinda smart tho cause you can pull this on your kid later but still. he’s so fucking annoying. if you hold his hand too hard he’ll be like “it can’t be that bad stop being such a baby,” and the baby is delivered like an hour early out of spite. a 6/10 tho cause somehow you love him and decided to have a baby with him. 

ushijima wakatoshi; pt.2 to say fucking something??? he’s mostly quiet cause he doesn’t really know what to say, and cause he’s never seen you in this much pain and it’s kind of shocking him. he’s not scared though, cause it’s like, a natural process of human life and the life cycle and all that stuff, he’s just like. taking time to process it. lets you hold his hand though. also if you wanna like give up halfway through he’s annoyingly angry with you like “no. you can’t just give up halfway. stop being a coward.” like why don’t you give it a try toshi??? a 5/10. could do better. 

terushima yuuji; so hyperactive that it’s infuriating. doesn’t even hold your hand, he just stands back and observes and like cheers. literally will jump every time you push, like what the fuck, my love? makes really weird comments like “what does it feel like? does it feel like you’re pooping?” like???? it feels like i’m being torn in half yu :D a 4/10 only cause when you ask if you can slap him he wholeheartedly agrees and the doctor cannot hold their laugh back. also definitely plays like the chika dance and makes the nurses do it with him. probably films a tiktok too. you’re going to kill him after. 

oikawa tōru; he’s trying so hard to be supportive and your backbone but he’s just so jittery and nervous. he’s not going to faint or get nauseous, but he literally cannot stay still. he’s so anxious it’s making you anxious. his hands are shaking when they grip yours, but honestly, completely unbiased of course, an 8/10, cause it really is so endearing. like he’s breathlessly and exasperatingly praising you and you can tell he’s near tears just gasping back sobs so ,,, maybe he’s not that annoying. but he is. he is annoying. a little. 

━━ would be the best of the best. perfectly supportive. a lovely anchor. not too quiet, not too chatty. is so soft and gentle with you. you fall in love with them all over again. 

miya osamu; definitely a 10/10. husband material. he has a cloth that’s just patting away at your sweat. kisses your hand and knuckles. soothingly rubs at your thighs. tells you you’re doing great, that it’ll all be worth it. kisses your forehead. grins at you halfway through when you need that extra motivation. literally all the nurses and the doctor are swooning over him. he’s very nervous deep down but he won’t show it, not for a moment, for your sake. 10/10. can’t stress this enough. 

kita shinsuke; another king! so soft with you when you feel like giving up. just speaks to you in hushed tones like, “you’ve come this far, lovely. you can’t back out now. think of all the happy moments we’ll get to share just a few hours from now.” and you’re like “alright i’m sold.” completely unfazed by anything he sees. okay maybe a little fazed but he just kisses your forehead after sneaking a peak and tells you you’re doing wonderfully. 100000/10. imagine him as the father of your children???? like literally who else would you want????

aran ojiro; wow another inarizaki i sense a trend. except atsumu he’s a pussy. cheers you on quietly, holds onto your legs, breathes with you, smooths your hair back, literally just an angel. if you take a small break he just spends it quietly talking with you to get your mind off the pain. his knuckles are just caressing your jaw and cheek softly till you’ve calmed down. 10/10 obviously. he’s just the right amount of loud supportive and quiet supportive. kisses you full on the mouth when he first hears his baby’s cries and can’t stop thanking you. literally wtf he’s so cute.

kuroo tetsurō; he’s actually surprisingly very serious when you’re delivering the baby. he’s cracking jokes and all before to try and get you less nervous but it’s actually because he’s freaking out. he’s mostly quiet, just holding onto your hand as tightly as you’re gripping his. he holds his breath every time you push. keeps whispering i love you and pressing kisses to your temple. a 9/10 cause he’s so quiet it’s a little scary but he cannot hold back his tears when he sees his baby. kisses you all over your face after. 

satori tendō; very emotional. like so emotional. he’s teary eyed the whole time, just thanking you even if you hadn’t given birth yet. it makes the nurses cry too cause it’s so lovely to see him get so visibly affected by this. he’s just whispering thank you’s and i promise not to let you down ever and i promise to love you forever and you’re pretty sure he’s speaking to the baby you’re birthing at this point. 9/10 cause he made you cry :( no but really he’s a 10/10. super loving, keeps asking you if you’re okay, if you need water, need to hold his hand, anything. angel, fr. 

matsukawa issei; relatively surprising as well because you expected him to be more than just annoying, but he’s just. in awe. he’s so amazed by how much you’re going through, and he just stores it in the back of his brain. literally thanks you for the next 50 years to come. laughs endearingly with you to lighten the mood. 9/10. a point is deducted because he jokingly said that now you’ll be able to take his dick really easily. a nurse choked in shock pls. gets real close after to whisper i love you so that only you can hear. he’s just a dream <3

━━ would not let you move an inch after giving birth. all the work is on them for the next 5 years. 

all of them. not a single one is left out in this one. they’re annoying but ,,, they all love very strongly <3

end note; listen idk what this is. i had a vision where iwaizumi could not handle his s/o giving birth and the thought was actually so sweet to me, just the nurses laughing at him and he’s just breathing deeply to try and not throw up and then. this happened. anyways. this helped put me in a better mood so i hope it does/did for anyone else too! 

[sergeantsporks]

Hexside University’s Falling Down

CW for: Depictions of abuse, emetophobia, alcohol, panic attacks, victim blaming, gaslighting.

xxx

“Guess who got a court summons?” Willow sang, plunking an envelope down on Eda’s nightstand.

Luz’s back straightened. “You did?! For Hunter’s case? That’s amazing!”

Eda grinned from her hospital bed. “Remind me to send Darius some thank you chocolate.”

“Don’t thank him yet,” Amity’s voice grumbled from the doorway.

Luz jumped up, grabbing her around the waist and swinging her in a circle. “Amity! You’re free!”

Amity kissed her cheek, then waved an envelope of her own. “My parents wanted me to reject jury duty since I’m a student. Buuuuuuuut I said yes, so they had to let me out. Legally.”

“You’ve got one, too? Great!”

“Not so fast. This means I can’t testify, so while it’s great for the vote, it’s not great for your evidence pile. My parents both got summons as well. So did Terra Snapdragon, if my dad is to be believed. That’s one heavily in favor of Belos.” Amity shook her head. “You don’t need to convince Willow and I to vote in Hunter’s favor. And you’ll never convince Terra to vote for you.”

“Okay?”

“Luz, what I’m saying is to forget whatever your argument is. Two members of the jury are unequivocally for you. One member is for sure against. There are two members of the jury that aren’t set in stone who you actually need to convince to be on your side. And they’re not going to be swayed by evidence. They don’t care. You need to come up with a reason it will benefit them more to have Hunter taken away from Phillip than it will to stay in Phillip’s good graces.”

“But that’s…”

“I know. I know, Luz, I know we want to live in a world where people will just choose the right thing, but that is not how you win my parents over.”

Luz sat back down with a whump, her gut twisting. “I don’t have anything for that,” she whispered, “We don’t have anything to offer them.”

Amity sighed. “Look. You might, might be able to get my dad to do the right thing if you make a strong enough case. But it would have to be the best case in the world, or else he’s just going to go with whatever my mom says. And if you can’t convince her it’s in her best interests to help Hunter, then she’ll vote for Belos.”

Luz leaned forward. “Well, then. We’ll just have to make the best case in the world.”

Xxx

“You are not very good at holding up your end of bargains.”

Darius waved a bunch of flowers. “Do you want the get well soon bouquet or not?”

Eda crossed her arms. “Terra? And the Blights?”

“I included his team captain and the Blight girl, and do not even think about pretending that he and the Blight hate each other, if their parents every paid attention to them for more than three seconds, they’d realize very quickly that those two are best friends.”

“Still. Terra?! And Odalia and Alador?!”

“Give Alador a chance. No comment on Odalia.”

Eda threw her hands up. “Excuse me if I’m not pinning all of my hopes on your old high school flame growing a conscience after years of doing nothing to stand up to his wife!”

“Careful, Edalyn, you’ll rip out your stitches.”

“Ough.”

Darius set the flowers down on the night stand. “If I rigged the jury too far in Hunter’s favor, Phillip would just make some outrageous claim about a rigged jury. Which would be absolutely true, but this way, he’s got Terra. It comes down to the Blights, who CAN be convinced either way. It’s as fair a trial as you’re going to get.”

Eda sighed. “Yeah, okay, sure. Thanks. For getting Willow and Amity on the jury.”

Darius rolled a hand. “You never heard this, but you’re not the only one who wishes Phillip would get taken down a few pegs. Some of us just aren’t committing acts of eco terrorism and leaving a calling card.”

Eda blinked. “Wait, what?!”

Darius waved, heading for the door. “Hope your recovery goes well, Eda.”

“No, wait, you get back here and explain!”

“Bye.”

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Eda murmured, “Didn’t think it would be him of all people.”

Xxx

“I can’t do this.”

Luz twisted around to look at Hunter, who’d stopped dead in his tracks, pressing his arms to his stomach. “Hunter—”

“Luz, I can’t. It’s not going to work, it never does, and then he’ll just be worse.”

Luz hopped down the steps, taking his hands. “Hey. We’ve already got two fifths of the jury on our side. We only need to convince one more person.”

Hunter shook his head. “We have to convince Amity’s parents. They’re just as bad! They’re not going to vote against my uncle, that’ll mean Amity will be able to break away from them!”

“We’re going to change their minds,” Luz said fiercely, “We are going to kick up such a fuss, they won’t have any choice. And with the evidence we have? Even if we lose this case, everyone will know it’s from your uncle’s meddling. We are going to get you out of there. Trust me, Hunter.”

“I do,” he murmured, letting her pull him up the stairs of the courthouse, “It’s everyone else I don’t trust.”

There were more people here than Luz had expected. The derby team was there, of course. Dell gave her a thumbs up. Luz spotted a few professors, the twins. Lilith was in the corner, and Luz glowered at her for a moment before taking her place. Phillip leaned back in his seat to shoot Hunter a smile, and Hunter paled.

“He’s already got us,” Hunter whispered, “Look—he already knows he’s going to win somehow.”

“He’s trying to psyche you out,” Luz hissed back, “Just ignore him.”

Darius cleared his throat from the judge’s bench. “The court calls the case of Hunter Wittebane versus Phillip Wittebane. Hunter Wittebane, are you here?”

Luz nudged Hunter. “That’s you,” she whispered.

“Yes, your honor,” Hunter mumbled, twisting his hands.

“And Phillip Wittebane, are you here?”

“Present. Your honor.”

Darius’ lip curled slightly, but it was quickly smoothed over. “And are you ready to proceed today?”

“Yes,” Phillip and Hunter said in unison.

“And do you both intend to testify?”

“Yes, your honor,” Phillip said smoothly.

“What’s he gonna say?” Hunter hissed, “Luz—”

“Hunter. We’re going to do this. Okay?”

Hunter took a deep breath. “Okay.

“Hunter Wittebane?” Phillip pressed, “Do you intend to testify?”

“Yes, your honor.”

“You will need to be sworn, or affirmed.”

The clerk came around, and both Phillip and Hunter swore. Luz crossed her arms.

Like that’ll stop the slimy liar from twisting his words. She nudged Hunter. “You’re up.”

He gulped, moving up to the stand and sitting down. The chair squeaked, and he flushed bright red.

“You may proceed with your testimony.”

“Okay,” Hunter whispered, “Um. My name is Hunter Wittebane. I live with my uncle, Phillip Wittebane, and uh… the… the domestic violence incident happened… It happened January seventeenth, at—at eleven PM? Ish?”

Oh, not a great start.

“I… I was trying to leave the house, because…” Hunter gulped, glancing at Phillip.

No. No, don’t look at him.

“Beeeecause. My uncle was… intoxicated. And I… didn’t want to be in the house. And he tried to stop me, but I… I ran out. And I ran to a friend’s house, but I had to go back, because her parents didn’t want me there. And it was snowing, so I had to go back home with my uncle, and…” Hunter shuddered. “And… um.”

Deep breaths. Deep breaths, Hunter.

“Um, we started arguing, I said I didn’t want to be around, and… he…” Another shudder. “He pulled me back from the door, and he was yelling and…” Hunter drew in a long breath. “He hit me in the head with a bottle and knocked me down and kicked me while I was down,” he said in one long rush, “And then I… left. And I ran to one of the professor’s offices, and stayed there for the night.”

Hunter put his head in his hands, staring at the desk. After a moment, Darius cleared his throat. “Any further testimony?”

Hunter shook his head. “That’s it. I just… I just want a protective order. I want to… that’s it. It’s… this wasn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last, and I…” Hunter took a deep breath. “I’m done.”

Darius nodded. “Phillip Wittebane, any questions?”

Phillip’s lawyer got up. “If this occurred, why didn’t you go to the police?”

“What?” Hunter whispered.

“Why didn’t you go to the police? For record, to take pictures, proof?”

“I—they wouldn’t listen, they never do, I’ve tried, I tried, I—”

Luz stood. “We submitted claims Hunter filed multiple times that never made it anywhere. They’re in evidence.”

“So the police never found the case to have any truth?”

“They dismissed it—”

“Which means they didn’t think there was a case. Multiple claims filed with no follow through is evidence that Hunter Wittebane has cried wolf before.”

“What?!”

Hunter shook his head. “I didn’t, I—I’m not lying, I swore the oath, I—”

“No one’s accusing you of perjury,” Darius piped up, “Just answer the questions, honestly, please. If there are any other questions?”

“No other questions.”

“And do you have any other evidence, Hunter?”

“We do,” Luz piped up, “We submitted a flash drive with video footage taken from the security cameras in the Wittebane home the night of the incident.”

Hunter startled, blinking at her. Luz winced. Vee had only managed to get it to her last minute, and she hadn’t found the time to tell him or go over it with him. Even she hadn’t seen it.

“It’s not pretty stuff,” Vee had warned her, “I hope you know what you’re asking for.”

Darius checked notes on his desk. “It’s still being processed. Anything else?”

“No.”

“You can leave the stand, then, Hunter. Phillip Wittebane, are you ready to give your testimony?”

Phillip stood up. “I am.”

His shoulder brushed Hunter’s as they passed each other, and Hunter shuddered, finally making his way back to Luz.

“You didn’t tell me we had video footage!” he hissed.

“I wasn’t sure if they’d accept it,” she whispered back, “I didn’t want to get your hopes up. Hey. You did good up there.”

“Didn’t feel like it.”

“You stated the facts, you got it out. That must’ve taken a lot.”

“Mr. Wittebane?”

Phillip cleared his throat. “On the night in question, Hunter did attempt to leave the house. He was visibly shaken, in the middle of an anxiety attack. Of course I didn’t want him going out in a distraught state, late at night. I worried for his health, so I tried to convince him to stay home, that he was not in his right mind. He ran out anyway. Obviously I contacted my friends, the Blights, to see if they knew where he was, and they said he’d gone to their house. I went to retrieve him, and he’d calmed down enough to realize it was time to go home.”

Hunter was shaking his head next to Luz, mouthing no, over and over again.

“He started having another panic attack as we got home, and, fearing he’d run off again and this time get hurt, or freeze out in the cold, I did pull him by force back to the house. He was rambling, not making any sense, trying to fight me. He slipped and hit his head on a coffee table. I’m sure between the panic attack and hitting his head, my attempts to get him to bed seemed like an assault, he shouldn’t be blamed for how he perceived the events of the night. And, of course, while I’m wounded he’d go so far as to drag his friends into a court case against me, I’m glad he does have friends he feels he can depend upon when he can’t depend upon me.”

Luz’s blood boiled, and her vision tunneled in on Belos.

“Do you have any questions for—”

Luz slammed her hands down on the table. “Oh, yeah, I’ve got a question for you. How dare you lie like that?! After your oath?!”

“Hey,” Darius said sharply.

“What about the shard of glass I pulled out of his head, huh?” Luz snarled, “Where does that fit into your story? The bruised and broken ribs? Huh? How do you explain those?”

Phillip stared her down, unflinching, nothing but calm in those blue eyes. “Hunter has a history of hurting himself.”

“I do not!” Hunter protested.

“And, may I ask, do you have any hospital records you’ve submitted as evidence documenting said injuries? No? Then I suggest you stop making ridiculous claims. Hunter has a very fragile mental and physical state, and he worked himself into a panic over nothing. He may have hurt himself in that panic, or deluded himself into thinking that I hurt him, but the fact remains that I have done nothing except try to help him.”

“You—” Luz growled.

“Miss Noceda, sit down,” Darius sighed, “If you start a fight, I’m going to ban you from the courtroom.” He pulled a computer up onto the desk. “Phillip Wittebane, if you have no further testimony, please step down.”

Phillip nodded gracefully, sweeping down from the stand and back to his seat.

“Now, the video evidence has gone through, I will play it for the jury.”

Luz sat back down in her seat with a whump, fuming. “How could he just lie like that?! In front of everyone?!”

“I’m not lying,” Hunter whispered desperately, tears forming in the corners of his eyes, “I’m not lying, I’m not mentally unstable, it’s not my fault I couldn’t get records or police investigations, I—”

“It’s okay, Hunter, I know. I know you’re telling the truth. They’re just trying to goad you into breaking down, that’s all it is.”

Hunter shook his head. “Luz, about the video, I… I don’t know if…”

“Hey. You’re telling the truth, right?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Then the video will just prove it.”

“But I—”

A projector bleeped on, and a black and white image of Hunter’s living room came on. There was Phillip, a bottle next to him, half empty. And then there was Hunter, tiptoeing past, casting nervous glances at his uncle as he crept towards the door.

Even though Luz knew what was going to happen, she still flinched when Phillip lunged upwards, seizing the back of Hunter’s coat. Hunter slipped out of it and ran out the door, the feed following to see him crunching and sliding his way through the snow. After a few moments, Phillip followed, getting into a car and driving after.

So far, so good. Nothing indicates Hunter was panicking, Phillip’s obviously had a little too much.

The video fast forwarded, and the car pulled back up. Phillip got out, slamming the door, and then going around the car, dragging Hunter towards the house by his ear. Hunter pulled away, but at a yank, followed Belos inside. The feed moved back to the living room, where Phillip finally let go of Hunter’s ear, shaking his head and going right back for his couch and his bottle. Hunter moved towards the door again, fumbling for the lock with hands that Luz could see were shaking even in the grainy footage.

Phillip’s head jerked up, and he stormed over, grabbing Hunter by the arm and dragging him away. Hunter pulled against him, and then Phillip swung the bottle in a crashing arc, slamming it into Hunter’s head with a yell. Luz put a hand to her mouth as the footage showed Hunter fall, holding his head. Phillip pulled his foot back, kicking Hunter in the face. The courtroom was completely silent, everyone’s eyes fixed on the video.

Hunter threw his arms over his face to protect himself, and Phillip switched tactics, his foot connecting solidly with Hunter’s chest. Hunter curled into a ball as the blows kept raining down, his arms clutched to his face and his hands over his head. He shuddered and twitched, his shoulders heaving.

The silence was broken by a loud retching noise, and Luz jumped. She didn’t know when Hunter had left her side, but he was hunched over a trashcan, his shoulders heaving. A sob tore out and echoed into the silent courtroom, and Luz jumped up, kneeling next to Hunter and putting a hand on his back. He retched again, his breaths quick and uneven, shuddering and gasping for breath as much as the Hunter in the footage. Luz looked up at Darius.

“Can we take a break?” she whispered, “Please?”

He nodded, still watching with wide eyes as the Phillip in the footage finally left Hunter alone. Luz helped the real Hunter up to his feet and guided him out of the room, everyone’s eyes fixed on them. In the footage, Hunter slowly uncurled, bruised and bloody, and limped to the door, scrambling barefoot into the snow and stumbling away out of sight.

Luz let the door slam shut behind her, and she hustled Hunter to a quiet hallway, where he finally sank down to the floor, his back to the wall. He clutched at his hair with a sob.

“Hunter, I…” Luz sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to relive that, I’m sorry you had to see it again, if it doesn’t convince them, then I…”

“Everyone saw,” he choked.

“What?”

He curled his knees to his chest, his shoulders hunched over. “Everyone saw,” he burst out in another sob, “Amity, and the team, and you, Uncle’s friends, they all saw.”

“Hunter, I…”

He heaved in a frantic gasp, rocking back and forth. “Everyone saw, they all saw, they all saw how pathetic I was, they all saw—they saw—” Another sob clawed out his throat. “They all saw how I didn’t do anything, I just sat there and took it, and they saw how he could make me come back, they saw how things are, they saw—they saw—” Another frantic gasp. “They saw—I just let it—and I didn’t go to the p-po—or the hospi-pi—and everyone saw it’s my f-fault for—for not-t—”

“Hunter?” Dell’s voice said quietly. Luz looked up at Eda’s father, gesturing helplessly towards Hunter.

“Everyone saw what a weak coward I was,” he burst out, his shoulders heaving with sobs, “I didn’t fight back, I didn’t try to escape, I just… I just let him hurt me, and—and—god, I’m such a cow-ow-oward-d-d! I can’t go back in there, L-Luz, I c-can’t-t.”

Dell knelt down next to Luz with a creak of his bones. “Hunter,” he said gently, “Look at me.”

Hunter’s face tilted up, his bloodshot eyes frantic and hopeful and despairing all at the same time.

“Listen to me. If that video showed anyone to be a weak and pathetic coward—” his voice broke into a snarl. “—it’s your uncle.”

Hunter sniffed, hiccupping.

Dell held out his hand. “You have been much stronger and much braver for longer than anyone—” Dell’s voice cracked. “—has ever had any right to ask you to be. You aren’t a coward for not fighting back, you’re… you’re a kid, and your guardian should never have been hurting you. And god, I wish that right now, right here, you didn’t have to be strong. And you didn’t have to be brave. And after this is all over, hopefully no one will ever ask that of you again. But just for one more hour, we need you to be strong. And we need you to be brave. And we just need you to hold on for just a little bit longer.”

Darius’ head poked into the hallway. “Noceda. A word.”

Luz got up and followed him to the side, leaving Hunter with Dell. “Yeah?”

Darius took a deep breath. “Look, I’m the judge. I’m supposed to be impartial, and I should not be talking to you or saying any of this, but god knows it’s all for show in this town anyway.”

“Huh?”

Darius jabbed a finger at her. “Win the damn case, Noceda. Win it.”

“That’s what I’m… trying to do?”

“I don’t care about trying. Do it.”

Xxx

Eda rustled through her purse, looking for her phone. “C’mon, Dad, you said you’d keep me updated,” she muttered. Her hand hit a hard box, and she pulled out that thing she’d taken from the archives. “Oh, man, I forgot about this,” she muttered, opening it up, “They have the video footage, they should have all the evidence, but…”

She scanned the paper, then smacked her hand against the nightstand table, making Darius’ “get well soon” bouquet wobble in its vase of water. “Mom. Mom, MOM!”

Gwen burst in. “What?! What, sweetheart?!”

“I need to go down to that trial!”

“Oh, Eda—no, you have to stay in the—”

“Mom, I need you to help me break out of the hospital.”

“It’s already in swing, it’s too late to submit new evidence.”

“Oh, to hell with evidence, we all know that doesn’t really matter in this case.” Eda waved the papers around. “This is what we need to get the Blights on our side.”

“I’ll drive.”

Xxx

“Has the jury reached a conclusion?”

Luz twisted to look at her friends. Amity scowled, and Willow gave her a little head shake. Hunter paled, and she gave his hand a squeeze.

“Your honor.”

“STOP! STOP, HOLD IT, PAUSE, REWIND! I OBJECT”

Luz jumped. “Eda?!”

“Oh, look, the get well soon bouquet worked,” Darius commented. “You can’t object, you’re not part of the court.”

Eda slammed her hand down on the gates. “Hunter’s dad left him everything.”

“Edalyn—”

“Phillip got control of everything UNTIL HUNTER TURNED EIGHTEEN. And then he was supposed to get everything that belonged to his dad. The house, half the company, it was supposed to be his once he turned eighteen.”

Hunter frowned. “That was… two years ago. I turned eighteen two years ago!”

“Phillip’s been controlling him, been keeping him on a tight leash while he applies to get control over Hunter’s finances through a conservatorship, Phillip doesn’t care about him, he just doesn’t want to lose control of everything, which he will if you convict him right here, right now, and let Hunter have what’s been his for two whole years.”

Odalia and Alador glanced at each other, and Odalia raised a hand. “Can the jury rethink?”

“That’s irrelevant to the case!” Phillip’s lawyer squawked, “It doesn’t affect anything! Whether or not the plaintiff is entitled to money has nothing to do with whether or not the defendant committed an act of domestic violence!”

No, but maybe… Luz stood up. “Before we close this, I want to call one more witness to the stand!” she yelped.

“What?! NO! You can’t—”

“Sure, call your witness,” Darius interrupted.

“But—”

“Shh. She gets to call her witness.”

Luz jabbed a finger at the corner. “I want to call Lilith Clawthorne for testimony!”

Lilith pointed one finger at herself. “Me?”

“Yeah. You.”

Please. You owe Phillip, you always say that’s the reason you don’t speak up. So if Hunter can get you out of that, if he can end the debt, if that’s no longer a factor, then please, tell the truth.

Lilith slunk up to the stand, swore the oath, then shrugged. “Regarding the incident of the case… I was not there. I went to find Hunter the next morning at Phillip’s request, and decided to leave him in the care of my sister. She wouldn’t let me see him, so I have no evidence to suggest or deny that he sustained injuries.”

“Yeah, yeah, can I question the witness? Right. Lilith, you’re the chief of police, you’ve been in the force for a while. Have you ever handled any of the reports Hunter’s made in the past?”

Lilith took a deep breath. “Yes. I handled all of them.”

“What?” Hunter whispered.

“What kind of investigation was done on them?”

Lilith lifted her chin, looking Phillip right in the eye. “None. Not a single step. At the request of Phillip Wittebane, they were all dropped before any investigation was made.”

“Oh? And can you describe Hunter’s physical state at the time?”

“There were bruises, cuts. Signs that should have been investigated but weren’t.”

“Why weren’t they investigated?”

Lilith took another deep breath, still locked in a glaring contest with Phillip. “I owe Phillip a lot of money. Student debt I wasn’t able to repay in time, loans I took out for my sister in my name. He promised to forgive some of that debt if I kept it under wraps. But in any other fair case, the claims should have been investigated. There was clear evidence.”

“Well, that’s all the evidence I need to hear to reconsider the vote,” Alador remarked, “If that’s alright with everyone else.”

Amity and Willow jumped up. So did Phillip’s lawyer. “That’s ridiculous! You’re going to take the word of a corrupt cop?!”

Lilith stared him down, steely cold. “That has nothing to do with the case at hand, as you were fond of saying about Hunter’s inheritance. I’m not on trial, here. You can try me for my crimes at a later date, but as of this moment, we are deciding a domestic violence case.”

The jury filed out, and Luz collapsed in the seat next to Hunter. “She did it,” Luz whispered, putting her head in her hands. “Oh, thank god. She did it.”

“Why?” Hunter mumbled, “Why start telling the truth now?”

Luz shook her head. “Hunter, if we win this case, we can nip Phillip’s conservatorship. You’re going to get what belongs to you, what your dad wanted you to have. He won’t have most of the grip he has, and when he does get out of jail, he won’t be able to just resume what he was up to before, because you’ll have control over it. She finally can tell the truth, and it will actually make a difference.”

I hope.

The jury filed back in, and Alador stepped up, handing a piece of paper to Darius. Darius’ face twitched into an almost smile before he smoothed it over.

“The court finds that in the case of Hunter Wittebane versus Phillip Wittebane, an act of domestic violence occurred on January seventeenth, and that the defendant, Phillip Wittebane, did cause bodily injury to the plaintiff. The court further finds that Phillip Wittebane has engaged in previous acts of domestic violence, and Phillip Wittebane will no longer be allowed contact with Hunter Wittebane under order of protection, as well as serving one year in prison for an act of domestic violence against a family member. Any violation of this order of protection could subject you to the contempt powers of the court, which could include being jailed, so I need the two of you to stay here while the orders are prepared and you each get a copy. Any questions?”

“No.”

Luz grabbed Hunter in a hug. “We did it! Hunter, we did it!”

He stared at the wall in a daze. “It’s over. We won. I…”

“You don’t have to see him again, Hunter!”

Tears bubbled up in the corners of his eyes, and he buried his head in her shoulder. “I don’t have to see him again. I don’t have to…” He sagged against her with a sob. “It’s over.”

Luz hugged him tighter, then let go and strode up to the stand, tapping the desk in front of Lilith. “Hey. Thanks. You’re going to go down for that, you know.”

“I suppose it’s about time. Don’t thank me, Luz, it doesn’t even BEGIN to repair the damage I’ve done. It was the bare minimum, and I should have done it years ago.”

“Still. You are for sure going to jail.”

“Mm.” Lilith chuckled darkly. “Maybe they’ll put me in the same prison as Phillip, and then Hunter won’t have to worry about him getting out and breaking the court order.”

Yikes.

Luz went back to Hunter, now crowded by the derby team, and Amity. Amity nudged his shoulder.

“Congratulations on striking gold, too. Hope you still want to hang out with the peasants.”

He gave her a tired smile. “Looks like those business classes will come in handy after all.” His legs wobbled, and he leaned on the desk for support. “Look, I… thanks. Thanks, for showing up. But I… I really want to crash somewhere.”

Amity wrapped one arm around him for support. “Yeah. Let’s get you home.”

Xxx

“Selling, huh?”

Hunter shrugged, leaning against her car. “I… don’t really want to stay in a great big giant empty house all on my own. Especially this house. I’m just gonna pack my stuff and go.”

“Go where?”

“Got an apartment lined up. Thinking about dorming when the next semester starts, always wanted that part of the college experience.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Dell said he’d take care of Flapjack if wherever I go doesn’t allow pets, but hopefully I can work around that. Gonna switch my major, too. Be nice to actually get a choice what I go into.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Man. You want something to drink, Luz? I kind of do.”

“Hunter.”

“Alright, goody-two-shoes. I’ll save it for when Amity and I are hanging out. Without you. Hey, wait, I have money now, I can get her an apartment and she won’t have to live with her parents anymore!”

“Well, aren’t you the fairy godmother now.”

He puffed out his chest. “With great power…” He deflated. “I was looking through all of Uncle’s… stuff. There are a lot of people he screwed over. I don’t even know where to start trying to fix it.”

Luz nudged him. “Hey. That’s not your job. I mean, I think it’s great that you want to help. But let’s take this one step at a time, huh? Like… maybe answering your friend’s texts.”

He went quiet, shrinking back.

“Hunter, the derby team is worried about you.”

“I know. I just…”

“They saw,” Luz finished softly, “Hunter, I know. But I promise they don’t think any worse of you.”

“I can’t stand the pity,” he mumbled, “I can’t look them in the eye, I…”

“It wasn’t your fault. I know, they saw you vulnerable, and that’s hard, and it can feel embarrassing, but they want to be your friends. They like you, they’re not just pitying you.”

“It’s just… let me sort it out, Luz? Please? I’ll text them back, I just… need some time.”

Luz nudged his shoulder again. “Hey. You won. You’ve got all the time in the world.”