#so maybe this one can exit purgatory

[shiftylinguini]

For the Never Have I Ever asks :) *secret identities*

oooh WELL I have never posted this, but I am sitting on a Steddie WIP that might fit the bill if I really stretch it LOL (does Cat count as secret identity??). The premise is thus:

Eddie is a magical somethingorother and town pariah who has managed to bork a spell up and is now a cat that does not remember it is usually human.

Steve is a regular human person who is being harassed by a dickhead cat that hates him but won't leave him alone.

Dustin has regular cameos in which he does important things like throw leaves in Steve's face, inform us that cat bites can make you go blind, be sad about his missing human friend (see: first dot point).

Eddie definitely has fleas.

Sometimes I think, "why don't i finish more stories? this is a great story idea!" and then other times i see them written out like this and think, "why are you such a massive wanker?". The sweet spot is in the middle of those two states lol.

Never Have I Ever fic trope ask game!

[hotchnisslvr]

how do we carry on?

pairing: hotch x bau!reader

rating: m

word count: 4.8k

genre: angst, hurt no comfort

summary: emily was your confidant, your best friend. when she dies at the hands of ian doyle, you find comfort in your boyfriend, aaron. when you find out that she’s alive and that hotch had known all along, your world falls out from under you. can you and hotch come back from the decision he made for the good of the team?

*if this gains enough traction i might follow up with a pt.2 to give it a happy ending*

The criss-crossed lines of the tile floor blur together as you stare blankly between your feet. The tops of your thighs have gone numb from digging your elbows into them, using your cradled hands as a pillow for your forehead. You couldn’t go home, not until you knew.

Rossi had offered to go on a walk and get a coffee, but shitty lukewarm hospital coffee was the last thing you needed. You hadn’t meant to write him off, you just couldn’t justify doing anything to distract from the fact that she was on that operating table, that Emily’s life was literally hanging in the balance.

The rest of the team was no better off than you are right now. Penelope’s knitting needles clack relentlessly, the scarf inside of her purse growing as her hands keep busy so her mind doesn’t focus on how hard she’s trying not to cry. The last time you’d poked your head up, Derek hadn’t moved from the waiting room windowsill where he’d been standing still as a statue staring out at the cityscape. If Spencer didn’t stop shaking his leg, you feared he would wear a hole straight through the tile. JJ exits the waiting room as often as she returns, her liaising days quickly coming back, making her their only link to the operating room. Hotch’s behavior is no different. His cell rings every ten to fifteen minutes, no doubt the Bureau wanting to know how the hell this could happen. It’s the only sign that time is actually passing and you’re forced to accept that you’re not stuck in some fucked up purgatory-esque hellscape where time stands still, torturing you as your dear friend’s life teeters between worlds.

What you wanted, what you needed was for him to hold you; to place a kiss against your temple and tell you that everything would be alright. It had to be alright.

He couldn’t show favor to you though, not now. The team didn’t know about your relationship with him, though you believe a few have their suspicions. You’re all too observant for your own good. Not much goes unnoticed by anyone. So when JJ walks back into the waiting room, everyone shifts toward her to try and get a glimpse into her facial expression and body language for any sign of an update regarding Emily’s condition.

Instantly, you know something is wrong. JJ’s eyes flit from one person to the next, not lingering very long on anyone. Spencer is the first to stand and you follow suit. You close in, forming a small half circle. Behind JJ, Hotch stands in the doorway, brow straight as he folds his arms across his chest.

“JJ?” Her name is an anxious plea on Penelope’s lips.

JJ’s eyes drop to the floor as she presses her lips together. She takes a deep breath and lifts her eyes, yours the ones they land on as she speaks. “She never made it off the table.”

A choked sob echoes from Garcia as she falls into Derek’s arms, his features fixed as he stares ahead though his knuckles flush white as he holds tightly onto Penelope. Rossi pinches the bridge of his nose, eyes closed as he mutters something to himself; a prayer, maybe. Spencer envelopes JJ in a desperate embrace, as if clinging to her will somehow make her words any less true. Afterall, how can they be? Emily can’t go down, not like this; not after all she’s survived.

Someone says your name. Your brow dips, but you don’t respond. You need to see Emily. Your feet move of their own accord, guiding you through the waiting room. Someone grabs your arm and you tug away from their grasp, set on pushing onward and finding the OR.

Someone repeats your name, and you can’t help but latch on to the deep tenor that belongs to Hotch. You halt in your tracks and close your eyes, tears leaking over your eyelids and down your cheeks.

“I need to talk to Emily,” you say, your voice small.

The way Hotch says your name is laced with pity and you hate the way it sounds on his tongue. He pulls gently on your arm in an attempt to reel you into him, but you resist. You bite your lip to still its trembling. Yanking your arm free, you press on into the hallway and stumble toward the double doors that read in bold letters: Authorized Personnel Only. Fuck that. You’ve got a badge, that’s authority enough. Before you can push through, firm hands twist around your arms.

You push back, but their grip tightens. “Stop,” Hotch urges authoritatively. You turn into him and pound your fist against his chest, a sob cracking free from your mouth. “She’s not gone,” you cry. “She’s not gone. She’s not—” Your legs tremble with the wave of grief that crashes over you and you can’t hold your weight as it does so. Falling to your knees, Hotch reacts. His arms fold around your waist, catching you as you collapse into the wide plane of his chest. Your ribs ache as your lungs inflate with each rapid, sobbing breath. Your vision turns fuzzy at the edges as you try and fail to slow your breathing. It feels like you’re dying as the waves of grief assail you over and over again, battering you, body and mind, in an unrelenting tumultuous current of sorrow and pain as the wicked reality sets in. Emily is dead. You barely feel Hotch’s hand in your hair cradling you against him. As he murmurs apologies and sympathies in your ear, you don’t see the weighted look he exchanges with JJ.

•

The funeral comes and goes. The day is too beautiful for Emily not to be there to see it. You sit on the porch at Hotch’s house, breathing in and out as you watch the daffodils dance in the afternoon breeze. You smooth the fabric of your dress down over your knees, the satin wrinkled from the way you clenched it during the service.

Your phone buzzes in your purse. The number of messages and phone calls you’d ignored continues to rise, but you can’t bring yourself to express any gratitude for their condolences. You can’t bring yourself to feel anything except the crushing weight of grief.

You picture Emily sitting beside you on the wooden porch swing. Last Summer, you’d sat here with her as the team gathered for a Fourth of July Barbecue. Jack had made invitations and delivered them to the team at the office. He’d been so excited and so were you. It was around then that you and Hotch had begun to toe the line between colleagues and something more; a morning coffee dropped off at your desk here, an extra visit to his office there. You’d sat here with Emily watching as Rossi backseat barbecued Hotch on the grill. She’d caught you smiling at him alongside the fondness in your gaze. She’d clocked you from a mile away.

“Oh, you’ve got it bad.” Her laugh had tinkled from lips, ringing like a morning bell.

“What are you talking about?” you’d asked, trying and failing to school your features into a mask of indifference.

“I’ll tell ya, it’s a big swing, but if you hit it, that’s a home run for sure.”

You’d nearly choked on your lemonade, coughing and gasping; drawing the attention of the others.

“Wrong pipe!” Emily had called while pointing at you and clapping a hand against your back. “She’s good!” In a low voice she’d added, “Though I’m sure with him, it’d be just the right pipe.”

You’d elbowed her in the ribs and bust out laughing together. For the longest time after that, she’d been the only person that you’d confided in about your burgeoning feelings and relationship with Aaron. Through that, she’d quickly become your closest friend on the team.

A couple of kids shout at one another, laughing, as they ride past the house on their bicycles; shattering the memory. You dip into your purse and withdraw your phone, pressing a button and powering it down. The screen door creaks on its hinges and Hotch steps down onto the porch, the planks shifting beneath his weight. He sits beside you and offers you a mug. The scent of coffee reaches your nose and you accept it, thanking him quietly. Aaron had taken his suit jacket off and loosened his tie. He stretches an arm around your shoulder and draws closer to you. He kisses the side of your face and stares out at the yard.

“It was a beautiful service,” he offers.

“Aaron, don’t.” You close your eyes and take a breath. You hold the coffee with both hands, rubbing your thumbs up and down the warm ceramic. “Please don’t make small talk with me about this like it’s all so fucking normal.”

He sighs and apologizes. “I just wish I could make all of your hurt go away.”

A shudder runs through you and you nestle in closer to him, taking a sip of your coffee as you do so. “I don’t think it’ll ever go away.”

•

Her brown eyes stare back at you, though the photo paper could never capture the light that flared within them when she was alive. Of all the faces you could have seen up on this wall, you’d never anticipated hers being one of them.

Every day you stop by her portrait on the wall of fallen heroes. People talk about her less and less around the office. The team doesn’t stop, though your conversations are stilted and often end in awkward silences; no one really knowing how to carry on once the conversation slows to a natural end. You speak often with Spencer about the ways in which you’ve been grieving, the sleepless nights and early mornings. Derek is reserved. He’s angry above anything else. He feels betrayed by Emily and a part of you understands that. She’d not told any of you after all. You’d be remiss if you’d not also spent some of your time grieving in anger. Of all the times you’d stayed late after work, gotten together to hang out on weekends, or gone out for drinks, she had never indicated anything was wrong. You had told her everything, confided every one of your fears and hopes into her and you’d thought that the street had been going both ways. God, you’d never been so wrong.

“Conference room in fifteen,” Aaron says as he walks past you, hand grazing your back as he does so.

You smile tightly and nod, glancing once more at Emily’s photo before making your way to your desk in the bullpen, ignoring the fact hers still sits empty and unoccupied beside yours. How has it been three months already?

•

“Emily!”

Your eyes dart around the room frantically searching as your heart thunders in your ears. You feel the organ pounding against your ribcage, threatening to break free of it. It only takes a second for you to realize it had been a dream.

Aaron rolls over and sits up, threading an arm around your back and rubbing your hip with his fingers. “Another nightmare?” he asks, words tinged with sleepiness.

You nod, yawning as you rub your eyes. The dreams are further apart, but at least every other week her face haunts your subconscious. You can’t help but wonder if it’s some sort of self-punishment as life goes on and the days get easier.

In reality, you don’t know if it’s easier or if you’ve just forced yourself to become numb to it all, compartmentalizing the pain of losing your best friend because if you didn’t you don’t think you’d be able to leave the house and do what you do day after day.

“Are the appointments with the therapist helping?” he asks.

Another question you don’t know the answer to. On some level, yes. Talking to someone who knows nothing about you or her or anyone else on the team is good. You don’t have to walk on eggshells, worried you're going to dig open a wound the others are equally fighting to heal by talking about her or how much you miss her or wish she was here. On another level, you don’t open up fully to the doctor. There are some layers of this injury you don’t want to see heal and scar over. If you do that, it’s like you’re telling Emily that you’re over her death, as if it’s something as easy as that, something you just get over. No, some things need to stay fresh, to serve as a reminder that Ian Doyle is still out there. The man who took your best friend away from you and your BAU family is breathing and she’s not. You clench your fists, the sheets balling up in your hands as your resentment burns deep inside you. Yes, that’s it, the idea of him walking around thinking he’s gotten away with this is enough to stoke the flames simmering deep inside you.

You take a deep breath, mentally imagining the flames subsiding, and they do. They dial down, but they don’t disappear. You glance down at Aaron, who snores softly beside you. His fingers still curl around your hip and a faint smile graces your lips. He tries, you know he does, but this is exhausting for everyone. He bears the brunt of it at the office. He fought to be the one to meet with the team and conduct the grief interviews, not wanting a stranger to come in and sift through your friends’ and colleagues’ pain over what happened. God knows how much bureaucratic red tape he had gotten tangled in right after the fact, the higher ups demanding how such a blunder could occur right under their noses. Aaron had put out the fires though, as he always did. Reaching around his back, you withdraw his hand from your hip and tuck it by his side, not before pressing a kiss to his knuckles.

You glance at the clock before lying back down. 4:15AM blinks back at you on the digital clock face. In forty five minutes the alarm will go off and it’ll be another day at the office. Settling down into the pillows, you press your back into Aaron’s body, yours molding against the planes of his as if it’s the most natural thing in the world.

His arms slinks around your waist and pulls you in as if you can get any closer than you already are. He tucks his chin over your shoulder and his lips brush against your jawline.

“I love you,” he whispers and you relax into the safety of his embrace.

“I love you, too, Aaron.”

•

Nights are hard when Aaron is gone. Pakistan is nine hours ahead and all Hotch has to communicate with anyone is a satellite phone, the number for which you don’t have access to. Whenever Hotch calls, the caller ID flashes the word ‘Unknown’ across your screen. There have been several times you’ve missed him due to being asleep or at work. Each call missed feels like being sucker punched. Every time you talk, a part of you worries it’ll be the last time. You didn’t use to have this fear, not until Emily. Despite staring death in the face on a week by week basis, most of the time playing Russian Roulette with the Grim Reaper himself in each unsub you cross paths with, somehow you never thought he’d actually take someone you love from you; that he’d take down one of the team. You never thought there’d be a last conversation with Emily, and now she’s dead.

Dead. The word is a heavy stone, sinking from the cusps of your mind to the pit of your stomach. It sits there, a persistent ache idling deep inside of you. It never relents and it never allows you to forget.

There are nights you dream that Aaron is dead too, that somewhere far away and beyond your control, he’s dying on the ground, bleeding out, and no one knows. You don’t even know what he’s working on and he can’t say; despite your relationship there are still levels in which Hotch’s clearance supersedes your own and the need-to-know red tape keeps you out. Afraid to close your eyes and dream of his unseeing, you stare at the blades of the ceiling fan whirling lazily overhead of the bed you usually share with him.

“I miss you,” you whisper to no one; and you don’t know who you’re talking to anymore.

•

“He’s back?” your heart flutters in your chest, equal parts excited and anxious at the prospect of Aaron’s sudden return. You push off your desk and swivel in your chair to stand, rushing down the hall and leaving Reid behind as you make your way hastily to the conference room.

The door is cracked and a gleeful sound eeks past your lips as his tall frame comes into view. You slip in before anyone else arrives and throw your arms around you. Inhaling deeply, his familiar teakwood scent envelopes you just as his arms do. You move to pull away, but his arms tighten around you.

“A second more,” he whispers, and there’s an edge to his voice.

You write it off to jet lag and sink into his embrace, though you notice how slight he feels against you. Finally, you pull back and cup his face in your hands. The scruff of his beard is prickly and you laugh as you take in his rugged appearance. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with this much facial hair.” You swipe your thumbs over the hair on his lip and he tilts his head, kissing the inside of your hand. He closes his eyes and breathes in deeply before lifting them to meet yours. It's then you realize how tired he looks. The bags under his eyes are puffy and purple, almost as if they’re bruised. His forehead is creased, brow furrowed; definitely not how you pictured him upon reuniting.

“Aaron is everything ok—”

“I need you to know I would never hurt you,” he says quickly, interrupting you.

You purse your lips, brow pinching at the sudden admission. As your lips part to speak he directs a pointed look at you, the depths of his brown eyes wavering. “I love you,” his voice cracks, “so much.” He swallows, his throat bobbing as he does so. “Please remember that.”

There’s a hollow feeling in your gut, a chasm opening wide where every anxious and painful thought that you’ve tried to keep buried since he’s been gone begins to claw their way out as a thousand different outcomes play out in front of you. “Aaron, what’s going on?”

He doesn’t answer your question as the rest of the team trickles into the room, sitting at the round table or standing as suspense fills the space. It’s tangible. Everyone’s posture is rigid and tense in anticipation of whatever it is he has to say.

“Seven months ago I made a decision that impacted everyone on this team,” he begins, eyes firm.

Spencer shifts uncomfortably beside you. Rossi leans forward, fingers steepled under his chin.

“As you all know, Emily had lost a lot of blood,” Hotch continues and your ears prick at the sound of her name. Why would he bring her up? No less, her condition the day you all lost her. You all know this.

“…the doctor’s were able to stabilize her.”

Your lips part but no sound comes out as you raise your eyes to meet his. They meet yours for the briefest of seconds before flitting on to the others.The next words to leave his mouth sound far away, interrupted by the blood now pounding in your eardrums. “She stayed there until she was well enough to travel…given identities…”

There’s a lump in your throat and you feel as though you may choke on it. Air doesn’t seem to be able to bypass it and you have to remind yourself that you can breathe even though it feels like all the oxygen has vacated your lungs.

Penelope is the first to speak. “She’s alive?”

Spencer’s brow quirks as he tries to rationalize what’s being said to him. “We buried her.”

You did. You helped carry the casket. You felt the weight of her dead body and watched it sink into the earth. If that wasn’t her, what the fuck or who the fuck did you actually put in the ground?”

“As I said I take full responsibility for this decision,” Hotch continues, eyes downcast. “If anyone has any issues they should be directed towards me.”

The blood pounding in your ears is deafening. When Hotch looks up, you search his eyes and can’t help wondering if you know him at all. All of the nights you literally made yourself sick from crying and he held your hair back as you dry heaved over the toilet and your body spasmed from the grief of losing your best friend, he’d known that she was alive. For a moment, you think you may be sick right there at the round table at the thought of it all. Derek is speaking, his voice tight with anger but you don’t hear him. Heads turn and the hairs on the back of your neck prickle as a haunting feeling creeps up the back of your spine.

Turning around in your chair, everyone else stands but not you. If you do, you know your knees will buckle and fall out from under you. Spencer and Penelope are on their feet, moving briskly to greet the ghost of Emily.

Except she’s not a ghost. Her skin is not the cold blue-gray pallor of death, but pink and bright, the blood beneath her flesh very much pumping through a heart that’s beating. Her dark brown hair is sleek and shining, her bangs grown out and styled; her part now to the right. You watch her arms fold around Spencer and the way he squeezes her in turn. Penelope follows suit, tears streaming down her cheeks as she smiles widely. Derek stares on, features fixed in a cross between anger and shock. Emily approaches him with apprehension. An apology leaves her lips as she draws him in for a hug and his arms tentatively wrap around her. When she turns to you, your muscles tense. Those deep brown irises flicker back and forth across your face, searching for a reaction. You don’t give her one. Instead, you push past her, avoiding any and all physical contact with her, and dip out of the conference room.

You hear Garcia call your name and Derek shouts about having a case. You don’t care. You bypass your desk, not even bothering to get your purse. Your keys are hanging on a carabiner on your belt loop. Ignoring the elevator, you shove your way through the entrance to the stairs and move down them so quickly you’re surprised you don’t lose your footing and tumble down them. Down and around you go, your footsteps echoing as your heart slams against your ribcage. You slap your badge against the keypad that lets you exit the building, ignoring the greeting from the security guard at the front. As you push through the front doors of the office building, you barely make it to the bushes before you fall to your knees and retch.

•

A car door slams followed by the double beep which locks them. You close your eyes and inhale deeply as you prepare to face him, hands clenching around the sweater you were packing. A tear slips free from your eye as you breathe out and look toward the ceiling, as if the answers to why all of this had to happen are written up there. This is not how your reunion is supposed to be. You’d pictured his homecoming for weeks; thought about the outfit you’d wear to dinner and the lingerie you’d bought to wear just for him when you both got home, opened a bottle of wine, and made up for all of the time lost while he was away. That is how tonight is supposed to go.

Now you’re leaving, and you don’t know if you’ll be coming back.

The lock on the front door jiggles before the gears click into place. It squeaks on its hinges as it swings open. Five beeps follow and you can picture his fingers pressing against each button on the alarm system. His keys clatter as he drops them on the table. As his footsteps edge closer to your bedroom, you count each one. The sound that usually means safety and security, now sends a shiver of anxiety throughout your body.

He appears in the doorway, eyes rife with exhaustion and the bags beneath them puffy and swollen. His cheeks are flushed and his nose is pink, as if he’d been crying. Maybe he had been, god knows you had. His eyes flit between you and the bag you’re packing. His lips part and a small sound of desperation slips past them.

“Baby, please—”

You hold up a hand, curling your fingers into a fist. Your lip curls as you speak. “Don’t,” you breathe. You swallow the lump that quickly forms in your throat as you drop your hand, zipping the bag shut.

The inner corners of his brow draw upward and you can hardly stand to look into his pleading gaze.

“You have to understand—”

“Understand, what? Aaron?” You ask sharply, struggling to hold back the thick hot tears pricking the backs of your eyes.

He places a hand on his hip, fingers tucking back the fold of his unbuttoned shirt as his thumb hooks into his belt; a gesture you’re all too familiar with as he does the same thing with all of his suits. His other hand rises to pinch the bridge of his nose. He pauses, inhaling as he tries to find the words. After a moment, he scrubs a hand over his face and turns his gaze to yours.

“I wanted to tell you so badly,” he says. When he looks at you there are tears in his eyes. “I hated myself, watching the agony this decision put you and the team through. I wanted to tell you and take away your hurt, but I couldn’t. It wouldn’t have been fair to the team. Just because you’re my girlfriend, I can’t—” He turns his hand and slams his hand against the doorframe causing you to flinch. “Dammit!”

Your voice is soft, but sure when you speak. “You can’t bend the rules.”

It’s what you’ve always worried about, both of you. You always knew the job could come first, especially with him being the Unit Chief. You always understood that that meant no preferential treatment and that is something you never would’ve asked him to do. You just never anticipated it happening like this, a complete and total life altering mind fuck.

Aaron drops his hand and it slaps against his thigh in defeat as it falls to his side. “What was I supposed to do?”

You cross your arms over your chest, fingers curling over your biceps to try and still your shaking hair. You hang your head and a curtain of hair falls across your face, “I don’t know, Aaron.”

He kicks off the doorway, moving towards you with his hands outstretched. It happens without thinking, the way you flinch away. Pain flashes in his eyes and you feel as though you’ve been punched in the stomach the way it’s suddenly hard to breathe.

His hip is close to yours, his body angled away from you. You can feel the weight of his gaze on your shoulder as he looks down. “Don’t do this,” he whispers.

Your lip quivers, chin wobbling in response to the tears you’re trying so desperately to hold back. “I have vacation I’d been saving.” You pick up your bag and throw it over your shoulder, not daring to look up at him because you know if you do you’ll shatter into a thousand shards of glass at his feet.

As you move toward the door, you pause. For a split second, you entertain the thought of dropping your bag, running across the room he’d chased you around so many times before, and throwing yourself around him. You consider all the things you want to say and scream and cry about; all of your anger, sadness, betrayal, grief, and love. You crave him so terribly in that moment because his have always been the arms you’ve run to when things become too much to bear.

Instead, your chin dips toward your shoulder as you speak, but you don’t raise your eyes to meet his. If you do, you don’t think you’ll be able to leave. “My gun and badge are in the safe.”

As you make your way down the hallway, you have to bite your knuckles to stifle a sob just as you hear one leave his lips from the bedroom.

You don’t turn back.

[jams-sims]

Because its so late, I think I can say this. As much as I fucking hate purgatory. As a DM to a story I think its the most natural out for characters and Muns. Oh! my character can have either lived or died on the purg island? Do I feel like coming back? If the answer no. Easy out, no over the top feeling, no need to do a final stream if I dont want to. Just a stark sad tragic exit that leaves it mark. Because no one expected people to die on this silly fucking island. But deaths, mark very important and poignant moments. The island is curel and its consuming its islanders.

Max's death is one of sacrifice for his friends and the eggs. He was in a hole of loneliness, I think that loneliness took him as well. But I think qMax's death was a simple stepping stone while q!jaiden death will be a full on turn. See-

Jaiden death is probably the most fitting for her character because it is the most tragic. Q!Jaiden died when bobby died. She speant her days in a home just cluttered with his images and his likeness. She was being used by the Feds and I think deep down she knew that. Her connections were severed do to grief, her platonic husband while also spiraling found hope. He got married had a new kid and while he made sure people put some respect on her name when it came to Bobby. He had moved somewhere she could not get to him.

An in a way, I think that's all she truly needed. Her last connection, Roier was happy living his full life in a castle. An what did she have to go back to? A sunset in a house full of memories in a field of flowers surrounded by nothing. The week spent in purgatory felt like a century of suffering.

Something in her finally broke and maybe she didn't make it to the final part where everyone else was. Maybe she walked slowly, legs and feet numb. An she got to a clearing, the world is doused in chaos once again. An her ears are rinning with sirens. An all of it fades away as she stops, she stops limping along, she falls back into sitting on the cold earth.

She realizes their nothing waiting for her back on the island. What was the rush for? What was all the screaming and crying, the begging the longing. She's tired. She so tired of it all. All of it and what was it for? A new start that would never truly be hers.

She relax for the first time in a long time and the sunset looks beautiful. And she hopes that roier stays happy that all the eggs get to live happy and healthy lives.

She doesn't even hear the explosion. She closes her eyes. An when she opens them she in the air, weightless and flying. She has food she hasn't eaten in a long time. She tells Bobby not to worry, she happy now. Only to feel a swift kick to her shins. As Bobby takes her hand and she gets to tell him about all the thing she did after his passing.

She finally get to go back home.

[duckymcdoorknob]

My friends and I just watched (a few of us for the third time) The Amazing Digital Circus before class. We analyzed it heavily, and here’s what our predictions are:

⚠️Spoilers (duh)

The whole circus is representative of Purgatory, and the six are being tested.

This one seems pretty self-explanatory

Caine seems to be some kind of guardian deity, given the fact that he can snap away Ragatha and Pomni’s glitching in an instant

Bubble seems to represent some kind of Guardian Angel that is there for support.

They are given daily tasks, multiple places to go, and are always under watch from every angle.

Not to mention that the abstractions look like biblically accurate angels…

The photos on the bedroom doors are also seemingly symbolic.

Those who abstracted have large x’s over them, and multiple rooms have wooden toy pose dolls (like the ones that artists use) on them.

We think that those abstracted represent those who failed their test and were damned, the wooden dolls are those who passed their test and have done whatever necessary to save their souls.

Caine seems like he is the one who controls that damnation or repentance, given that he can open holes in the floor and teleport and such.

This brings me into my next theory

Kinger has premonition, or has been through the whole show before.

Okay so listen

His very first line is “did someone say insect collection?” (Or something like that)

When he sees the Gloink queen, he repeats that exact line, almost as if he knew it was coming..?

Also, when Zooble was freed from its stomach, Kinger asked if Zooble had “participated in a game show” (again, ballparking these quotes)

Is this something that he knows that we don’t? Is it something that will happen in the future?

Did he have a vision? Or did he already experience that game show?

Maybe he’s a soul that was damned and was given another chance?

ANOTHER THING I THOUGHT OF-

Maybe he has had premonition of Gangle’s abstraction.

Hear me out- he jumps EVERY time Gangle is near him, almost as if he can’t see her until that moment.

My theory is, he shuts her out because he’s seen her abstraction and doesn’t want to be too attached and grieve when she goes.

Pomni may have been responsible for Kaufmo’s abstraction/Kaufmo responsible for Pomni’s arrival.

Kaufmo didn’t show up the day that Pomni arrived

Obviously we know that this is because he abstracted

But the question is, was it caused by Pomni?

This may be farfetched, but hear me out.

Pomni’s whole design is of a court jester/clown. Her color scheme is directly opposite of Kaufmo’s

Her base colors are red and blue with yellow accents. Kaufmo’s yellow with blue and red accents.

Perhaps Pomni’s arrival was because of Kaufmo’s abstraction, or maybe Kaufmo abstracted when the role of the clown was replaced?

Pomni became self-aware

In the beginning, she fell prey to the circus. She thought she was dreaming, forgot her real name, and longed desperately for an exit.

But as the episode progressed, she seemed much more comfortable in the circus.

Naturally, this is probably because of her adjusting to her surroundings, but this is where I started to pay attention.

For starters, Pomni’s name is the Slovenian word for “remember” What’s the story behind this?

When Jax swung the key above her head, she flinched and ducked down. Was this out of fear he’d hit her? Or maybe out of habit?

If out of habit, weren’t they supposed to lose a good chunk of their memories?

When she was being chased by abstracted Kaufmo, she stopped to look in the mirror. She looks deeply into her eyes, realizing that she can see her reflection.

A person cannot see their clear reflection in a dream. If they can, it’s a warbled image and not a true reflection of them.

It’s at this moment that Pomni realizes she’s not dreaming.

When she enters the exit labyrinth, there is a famous scene with her looking at the computer setup and laughing maniacally.

My friends and I think that it’s at this point in which she realizes that she is there for a reason and remembers said reason.

That same computer is revealed at the end after the camera pans out of everything. That is Pomni’s computer (we think). Maybe when she saw that computer, she became self-aware and all of her memories came flooding back.

Thinking back earlier, when Ragatha first got glitched, she had an internal dilemma of saving her new friend, or surviving without a hitch. She left quickly, choosing herself.

Perhaps it’s because she has a mission to carry out?

The scene at the end is symbolic of the Last Supper in Christianity. Pomni is in the center where Christ would have sat. Christ knew that he had a mission to carry out, and now Pomni does too.

The question is her creepy smile.

Is she smiling at the chaos that will ensue?

Or has she finally realized that’s she’s stuck for good and has no way out?

There is more past the void, which is why Caine does not want them to go out there.

Caine is seen in a restaraunt with bubble, one that was not shown during his tour of the grounds.

He’s surrounded by the wooden pose dolls.

As soon as he gets an alert on his watch, he teleports to grab Pomni almost immediately.

He does a shitty infomercial about his watch, complete with pop-up information. Maybe this was for comedic effect, or maybe he did it to let her get a good look of what she wasn’t supposed to see?

Caine lies about the exit, and does everything in his power to keep the six of them stuck in the circus (always keeping an eye on them, alerts to their movement, etc.)

Jax knows more than he leads us to believe

I mean obviously

It’s always the most cocky ones that have the darkest secrets

He’s obviously been in the circus for a while, for he has a great understanding of the lay of the land.

He’s calm when the Gloink queen materializes, and even calmer when the abstracted Kaufmo comes to kick the shit out of it.

Maybe Jax was some kind of caretaker in his real life and is trying to keep everyone calm by putting up a facade of some sort?

“Ladies first? Wait, no, why am I saying that?”

Zooble asks where Pomni is since the mission is for her, Jax shuts them down immediately, giving the excuse of “I can’t hear the escalator.”

That’s probably just for comedy and his cockiness, but what if Jax knew that something was happening with Pomni?

Spy on the inside??

When he pairs up Kinger and Gangle, he claims they’re the two most “mentally stable”. Is this because he’s seen Kinger’s premonition? Or perhaps he’s seen Kinger do this exact mission once in the past..?

I think the seven (including Kaufmo) represent the seven deadly sins.

Okay I’m still trying to piece this one together and I may be cooking nothing BUT LEMME COOK

Oh my god this is so farfetched I love it.

Pride will have to be Kinger/Ragatha. No idea which yet.

Gluttony will also have to be Kinger/Ragatha. No idea which yet.

Lust is DEFINITELY Jax. Not for sexual reasons, but for the fact that he is trying to cause mayhem at any given minute. He strives off of being as unbearably annoying as possible.

Envy may be Gangle. She’s stuck in a perpetual sadness, with her comedy mask being broken every time. Her emotions depend on her mask, and maybe she longs to have

Maybe Kaufmo is wrath? Not sure if it was to protect his friends, but homie was SWINGING on that Gloink. When Gangle questioned, Jax said “Calm down, that’s just Kaufmo, it’ll be alright.”

Sloth is Zooble, with no desire to take part in the activities.

Greed will maybe be Pomni. With all of my previous Schpeels about her, she is very focused on number one. She abandons Ragatha out of “fear”, and she kept trying to exit even though she knows she can’t.

Okay wow that was long- GIVE ME YOUR PREDICTIONS OR EXPANSIONS OF OURS IN THE COMMENTS OR REBLOGS!!!

[skittikyu]

Stiltikyu? You good there, buddy?

Explanation for hypothetical abstraction under the cut!

When Stiltikyu first entered the circus, she practically skipped all stages of grief right to acceptance in a day. She was still freaked out of course, and it’s not like she likes the situation any more than the rest of them just because it became the new normal. They just..it never actually occurred to their brain that there was any other conclusion to reach. Heck, they’re half convinced they’re just dead and in some kind of purgatory now, so whether or not their body is rotting away at her computer, preserved in a comatose state, or just vanished leaving their conscience no place nor method to return, the result is the same as it would have been if they’d been isekai’d to hell by truck-san.

So are they immune to abstraction, then? Alas, just because their personal coping is different than the others doesn’t make their psyche any more resilient to stress in general, even if the source isn’t the idea of an exit just out of reach. Stiltikyu’s “what’s the point”/“nothing matters” moments are mostly interpersonal. She’s never been desperate to leave so it’s not something she can be disappointed by when she had no expectations in the first place. How can they lose the hope she never had?

What drives them to her near-breaking point is how isolated she feels despite being surrounded by other people in an identical situation. 

Maybe the situation made her desperate for connections, or maybe she was always the type to try and make then maintain social bonds. Could be both, the former exacerbating the latter. 

As an introvert she’s fine being on their own, so it’s not like she’s trying to be best friends with everyone, but they’ve got no choice but to be stuck here together so they might as well tolerate one another, right? 

So yeah, when they interact with the same group of usually-less-than-10 people every day, for years, possibly forever, she gets attached even to the ones they’re not particularly close to.

So losing them is already hard. And then feeling like the only one who cares makes it even worse. She tries to not resent anyone too badly for it, whether they’re repressing the grief for their own stability’s sake, are desensitized or mentally too far gone themselves to really process, or actually legitimately Do Not Care. 

(Besides, they’re technically not dead. Just in the cellar, indefinitely. Possibly permanently, so not much different than death, but the same could be said for their human lives regarding the circus, and you’ve already read her outlook on that.)

And oh boy do they have to try. 

The news that Kaufmo had abstracted was broken the same moment as the ceiling he came crashing down through right in front of them. Upsetting as that is already, wouldn’t it at least catch them off guard, draw out a reaction from it being so sudden and jarring?

And yet, Jax was dismissive, Kinger and Zooble didn’t even acknowledge it, and while Gangle had some of an expected reaction, that didn’t stop her from calmly taking the escalator up and away with everybody else.

Then when Caine had put him away, Kaufmo’s name was mentioned only in an incredulous comment from Zooble- mostly a jab directed at Kinger -before the conversation moved on like it was nothing. 

Just another day. 

Which yeah, here, it was. 

That’s the problem.

Maybe she’s the only one here whose ever been to therapy, but Stiltikyu genuinely believes they’d all be better off if they were more open with one another. They should be leaning on eachother for support, but the lack of vulnerability indicates an even deeper lack of trust.

(Well, maybe that’s unfair to Ragatha, who puts in the most effort compared to all of them, but she’s walking proof of the point about therapy, just in the opposite direction. Even Stiltikyu, with all her “hang ups” about compassion and connection, knows that being what you think others want or need never guarantees you’ll get what you want or need from them in return, only that they’ll eventually take it for granted (unintentionally or otherwise).)

They’re used to- expect, even -a lack of care from Caine. She understands he isn’t human and doesn’t think or feel like they do. What’s the other’s excuses? Even if they don’t have the energy to empathize, are too tired or scared or whatever to want to risk letting anything else happen that will just end up hurting them more, isn’t the fact they cling so much to their remaining humanity proof of its existence?

Either they no longer see that same humanity in those who hit rock bottom, or they’re pretending not to if it means putting off the same fate for themselves.

She’s not sure which would be the sadder way to be living.

Well, no. Surviving isn’t living.

That’s the heart of it then, huh? Everyone is too busy surviving to live.

And she can’t take it. (But she has to.)

Whose going to care, let alone miss them if they fall into thoughts they can’t come back from? They’ll just be another soul lost to the cycle with the only ghost of proof that they were ever there an X on a door memorializing them.

They don’t remember much of her life before coming here but they’re certain that at least their friends and family would miss them, even if they stopped (or never were) looking.

And maybe, in small moments, their “friends” here would think of them from time to time. Not enough to mourn or reminisce, though. The last their “name” would ever be said would probably be some semi-sarcastic remark about weakness, then they would go on like she’d never even been there to begin with.

Obviously she doesn’t wish devastation on others, especially in a case where it could become their own undoing, but the idea that she might have no impact/impression if- probably when -she slips up, is a terrifying source of motivation to keep going.

So, she survives right alongside the rest without ever really feeling like she’s “with” them.

(The disconnect is worse some days than others.)

(Let’s see how long she lasts.)

[devildom-drabbles]

Heyya I have a request, feels a bit angsty about this one.

Where MC kinda damage their eyes because of their own action leads to their eyes damaged (so kinda like blind temporary and wearing a blindfold too)

and need a long recovery(because I don't want to be to cruel here let MC have happy ending too) and feeling frustrated because their eyesight are important to them and it make them impatient for the recovery (maybe something connect to their talent or hobbies or unable to see their loves one)

I just wondering how sometimes the brothers help and calm down MC when they're frustrated for their temporary circumstances.

Sorry for the delay in answering this! Ooh, this is a little angsty, but the boys would definitely do what they could to help MC get through this time. Also, I did see your other ask about including the dateables/side characters, too, so they’re here with the brothers. Thanks for the prompt! Enjoy! =)

How would everyone respond when MC becomes temporarily blind from an injury?

Lucifer would act like his usual self for the most part, with the occasional check-in to see how MC is doing and if they need anything.  However, on the inside, he’s incredibly worried for their well-being--it’s already dangerous enough for a human in the Devildom, and now if other demons catch word of their temporary blindness...well, Lucifer is going to make sure that he or one of his brothers is with MC at all times outside of HoL.  Still, he wouldn’t want anyone to know just how concerned he is, so the rest of his protectiveness comes out in discreet ways.  For example, he’d “forget” to include MC in the chore schedule for the first week.  Afterward, he’d not only give MC the easiest chores he can think of, but he’d even sometimes complete them ahead of time for strangely logical reasons.  He’d also make his rounds throughout HoL more than usual each day in order to ensure there is nothing obstructing MC’s path, like a stack of Akuzon packages in the entrance hall.  Whenever he’s in MC’s general vicinity, he’d subtly assess how they’re doing from afar while considering how else he might be of help to them.  When MC bursts from a build-up of frustration, he’d quietly listen to their woes before suggesting possible solutions to certain problems, hoping that may ease their stress a bit.  He’d then remind them that their circumstances aren’t permanent so they just need to be patient a little longer, allowing them to find solace in his embrace for as long as they need.

Mammon would be constantly looking out for MC, practically glued to their side to ensure they’re okay until their vision is back to normal.  Whether it’s in HoL, at RAD, out in town, or even at Purgatory Hall, Mammon wouldn’t stray far from the human.  He’d also walk them to and from RAD every day, always with some excuse as to why he “just so happened” to be waiting by the door at the exact moment they were ready to leave.  It’s blatantly obvious to everyone that he’s worried about them, but he’d vehemently deny it, claiming that he’s just watching over them because Lucifer ordered him to back when they first arrived in the Devildom.  (That was a long time ago, Mammon...)  Of course, the truth would come out in his tsundere manner if MC confronts about it when they’re alone.  He’d begrudgingly back off if MC feels his behavior is overbearing, but it wouldn’t be long before he’s back again, albeit at more of a distance this time.  Since he knows they’re not as aware of their surroundings, he’d alert them in a casual way whenever someone has entered or exited the room they’re in or something new is happening so that they won’t be caught by surprise at any point.  For instance:  “Oh, hey, Asmo.  I see ya got your nail kit.  You goin’ around to touch up everyone’s nail polish again?”  When MC becomes overwhelmingly upset from their condition, Mammon is great at applying calming techniques with them or simply holding them in his arms for a while.  Once they’ve relaxed, he’d take them to do something fun to get their mind off things, even helping them engage in one of their hobbies, if they’d like.

Leviathan would have a hard time figuring out what he could do for MC during this time.  If MC wants, he’d hold off on continuing any anime or video games that they were enjoying together before the accident until they’re able to see again.  If not, then he’d do his best to narrate what’s going on in these things to give MC the best experience possible--they’re sure to get all the important and even the most minute details from Levi’s rambling.  He’d also take care of any of the daily login bonuses and events in the mobile games MC plays so that they won’t be behind on anything.  Aside from his aid in the 2D worlds, he’d try to help them with real-life situations as well whenever they ask.  In the instances where MC is feeling frustrated about their current predicament, he’d tell them about all the manga/anime and video game characters he knows that are blind or wear blindfolds who still do incredible things.  In fact, he thinks you look cool with a blindfold on, MC!  Why not try cosplaying as some of these characters?  “You’re amazing just like them,” Levi says, “so it’d be perfect!”  If that doesn’t help, then he’d lend them his headphones so they could listen to his favorite Sucre Frenzy and anime songs that always cheer him up when he’s feeling down.  He’d let them rest their head on his shoulder, too, while the music plays so that they can relax better--although, Levi’s heart is far from relaxed at this close contact...but in a good way.

Satan, after learning about MC’s situation, would immediately begin researching how humans are impacted by blindness and what they do to navigate the world without sight, allowing him to better aid MC during their recovery period.  On top of that, he’d make copies of his class notes for MC so they can focus more on listening to the lectures instead, and then after school, he’d assist them in preparing for upcoming exams and completing their homework.  Since they can’t read for the time being, he’d download audiobooks for them or read aloud any book they were in the middle of or have been interested in before their accident.  Also, whenever they go out somewhere together, he likes to explain their surroundings for MC in a poetic way, including a loving description of how he sees them in hopes of bringing a smile to their face.  When MC is feeling down because of the situation, he’d take them to a cat cafe to relax by petting the soft animals.  He’d also do his best to assure them that things will get better and that he’s more than willing to join them in their usual hobbies so that they can still enjoy them with his help.

Asmodeus would be the first to jump in to assist MC with their morning and nighttime routines, especially skin care.  He knows exactly how MC cares for their face, so he’d do it just the way they like it while also suggesting other products for him to try on them, partly because he wants their skin to be as healthy and radiant as his is but also because he wants to spend more time being close to them like this.  On the weekends, he’d already have an outfit picked out for MC to wear during the day, and he’d practically beg them to let him tag along if they decide to go shopping.  “I’ll make sure you stay looking as beautiful as ever each day until your pretty eyes are all better, okay, darling?”  He’d love to help them with bathing and changing their clothes, too, but the rest of the brothers would make sure he isn’t involved in those processes unless MC gives him permission.  When MC expresses their frustration from not being able to see, Asmo would immediately bring them to his room for a self-care session, which is basically a mini spa day complete with words of affirmation and physical affection (including delicate kisses on their eyelids/blindfold).  It breaks his heart to know they’re upset, so he plans to shower them with extra love to brighten their spirits.

Beelzebub would become more protective of MC than usual once he finds out about their injury.  In the back of his mind, he blames himself somewhat for them getting hurt in the first place--he thinks he should’ve been there to ensure the accident never happened (despite no one expecting this to occur).  So, he’d be by MC’s side as often as he can while they’re recovering.  If it’s too much, a good reassuring talk would comfort him enough to give the human more space, but he can’t entirely stop himself from wanting to watch over them since they’re as important to him as his family is.  He’d hold MC’s hand a lot when walking anywhere, or even carrying them sometimes if the path seems unsafe or the area is too crowded.  Also, as he normally does, he’d make sure that they’re getting enough to eat at every meal, especially if their melancholy causes them to lose their appetite.  If MC wants to exercise, he would spot them the whole time so that they can continue safely without straining themself since their eyes are healing.  When MC gets overwhelmed from their current condition, he’d buy them their favorite snacks to cheer them up, but if they’re not hungry, he’d give them a long hug instead, only letting go once they’re feeling better.

Belphegor’s personal goal during this time is to make sure that MC isn’t pushing themself to the point where their actions could be detrimental to their recovery.  He’d encourage MC to relax as much as they could so that their eyes could heal more quickly, and he’d drag them to the nearest bed or sofa whenever he thinks they haven’t been getting enough rest. Prepare to be trapped in his vice grip snuggling until you finally agree to sleep, MC.  He’d also help them with RAD work and studying, even forcing himself to stay awake in the classes they both have together in order to aid them whenever they seem to be struggling (and then afterward, he’d tell them that they have to nap with him as payment for his “hard work”).  Aside from that, he’d try to treat MC as if everything were normal to prevent them from thinking about their current circumstances.  When MC mentions how frustrated they are about this situation, he’d gently pull them in for an impromptu cuddle session (if they weren’t already cuddling), rubbing their back soothingly while listening to them vent until they’re able to calm down.

Diavolo would come straight to HoL to visit MC after hearing about what happened to them.  Once he sees for himself that they’re all right and just need time for their eyes to recover, his demeanor finally softens, having been in a panic that the situation was far worse and irreversible.  He might suggest that MC return to the human world until they’re completely recovered since they could receive “better care for a human” there, but he wouldn’t force them if they refuse.  During this time, he’d check in on them at RAD or through a phone call just to make sure they’re still doing okay.  He’d also always ask if there’s anything he can do for them--seriously, no matter what you may need during this time, MC, he’d step in to help you in a heartbeat.  For example, he’d start requiring the teachers at RAD to record their lessons so that MC (and any other students who may be sick/absent or simply struggling academically) can listen to them at home to aid in their studying.  He’d gladly even let MC stay in the castle with him so that he and Barbatos can help them more easily--and so that Diavolo has a “valid excuse” to get out of doing paperwork to spend more time with the human.  When MC becomes agitated from their current circumstances, he’d invite them to his room so that they have privacy to tell him everything that’s bothering them.  He’d sympathize with their troubles and provide them with encouraging words to lift their spirits, tossing in a few silly comments as well to make them laugh.  He’d then assist them in tackling each difficulty they’re facing one at a time until the day comes when their eyes have completely healed.

Barbatos’s initial response to the news of MC’s injury is to prepare a gift basket filled with items that have healing properties (including potions, creams, and teas) and MC’s favorite treats that he baked himself.  He’d deliver this directly to the human when he accompanies Diavolo to visit them for the first time after the accident, and before leaving, he’d request that MC call upon him at any time for whatever they may require during their recovery.  Whether MC does take him up on his offer or is with him in general, he’d basically act as their personal butler, wanting to ensure that all of their needs are met and assist them with the struggles they encounter.  He gives them a warning before he does anything so as not to startle them, like, “I’m going to place the handle of the teacup in your dominant hand now.” or “MC, there’s some lint on you.  Do you mind if I remove it?  My hand is going to touch just below the neckline of your shirt to get it.”  When MC is feeling upset due to their loss of sight, he’d take them outside to the castle gardens for some fresh air.  Once they’ve calmed down, he’d apologize if he overstepped his boundaries by helping them too much and was part of the reason they were frustrated.  Although he doesn’t have the power to immediately fix their vision, he’d do whatever else it takes to cheer them up, even if that’s just putting aside his butler duties to sit by their side for a while.

Simeon would feel a bit on edge until he hears from MC that they’re all right and just need time for their eyes to recover.  Since MC has the demon brothers looking out for them, he wouldn’t worry quite as much about their health and safety, yet he’d still find himself watching over them whenever they’re together or from afar.  He’d give MC endless support and patience each time he’s with them, assuring them that they’re doing very well with everything despite not being able to see and never rushing them when they’re walking or working on something.  He’d invite them to Purgatory Hall more often in case the quieter environment would benefit their recovery.  Then, when they do decide to come over, he’d make sure to escort them both to the building and back to HoL, already having a variety of pleasant conversation topics and easygoing activities planned out for the duration of their time together.  His heart aches when he listens to MC explain how much their vision loss is bothering them, which includes not being able to see their loved ones’ faces.  “You may not be able to see us right now,” Simeon remarks, “but we’re always by your side.”  He lifts your hand to rest it on his cheek.  “Myself included.  Just reach out for me, and I’ll be there.”  He’d also extend his aid when MC wants to engage in their hobbies, especially writing and cooking, so that they’re still able to enjoy doing it.  Oh, unless your hobbies are connected to technology in some way, MC, in which case, he’d have to direct you to Levi or someone else who can help you without accidentally making things worse.

Solomon would first ask MC about the incident that caused their temporary blindness, not only out of curiosity but mainly because he wants to determine if there’s a way he could prevent this from happening to them again, such as by making them a magic-infused charm.  Afterwards, he’d be compiling a list of magic solutions for every-day situations to teach or use for MC until their sight returns.  He does worry for them since they’re surrounded by demons on a daily basis, so he’d also cast some protection spells on them that would save them in a pinch if a malicious demon would strike them unexpectedly.  Reassured by the help that he’s given, along with MC’s determination to continue life as they normally would, he’d resume interacting with MC as if nothing is different.  When he notices that MC is getting annoyed by the problems caused from not being able to see, he’d suggest they work together to brainstorm how else they might minimize or even eliminate these challenges.  Or, if they just need a friend to vent to, he’d agree to that, too, while coming up with solutions to their troubles in the back of his mind.  “You know,” Solomon speaks up at one point, “if having one of your favorite human world dishes would also cheer you up, then I’d be happy to make it for you.  ...No?  Oh, you like cooking, so you want to do it yourself?  I understand.  Then, maybe I could help you cook--  Whoa, slow down, MC!  You’re going to bump into something if you hurry off like that!”

Luke immediately would want to help MC as much as he could after learning about their injury. Whether it’s at RAD, Purgatory Hall, or out in town, he’d stick close to MC’s side to make sure they didn’t trip or run into anything and to give them details about things they couldn’t see, such as what the newest cake looks like in the display window of Madam Scream’s. He’d feel sad whenever MC expresses frustration with their condition, but he’d do his best to reassure them that it’s only temporary and that they could rely on him anytime they needed to--it isn’t a burden at all to him! He’d give them hugs and bake them their favorite treats often while they’re recovering in hopes of cheering them up more.

[novankenn]

Coco's Search for a WAIFU or The Purgatory of Jaune

= Seven = (Master Chapter List)

Pyrrha: Jaune what happened? You're all...

Nora: Gooey.

Jaune: Coco, happened.

Pyrrha/Nora: Coco?

Jaune: Yes Coco.

Ren: Any idea why?

Jaune: None. She just showed up, slimed me and ran away.

Pyrrha: That is rather unlike her.

Jaune: To be honest, when it happened, I had a déjà vu moment.

Pyrrha: What do you mean?

Jaune: Well, it feels like she's done this to me before, but I can't remember, exactly, if she has.

Ren: Well, we can wait for you to get cleaned up before we head to Vale.

Jaune: (Rubbing the back of his head) About that. Can we get a rain-check on the trip? Maybe do it tomorrow?

Nora: Why Fearless Leader? Why?

Jaune: I just feel off. I'll make it up to you guys, I promise.

Pyrrha/Ren: It's okay, Ja...

Nora: HOW?

Jaune: I know a great buffet place that has all-you-can-eat pancakes. It'll be open tomorrow. We can go there, my treat?

Nora: Apology accepted.

Jaune: You guys might as well go get something to eat while I shower. I'll meet you at the cafeteria after I'm done.

The rest of team JNPR nodded, and exited, closing the door behind them as Jaune moved to get a clean change of clothes and headed into the bathroom. As he stepped under the hot spray of water, his mind rolled back to the fifteen minutes before. Back to the time when Coco slimed him. He thought about it, and he could swear it felt like it had happened before. Shaking his head, he dunked it under the spray while reaching for his shampoo/body wash.

Twenty minutes later, Jaune left the bathroom and proceeded to find some clothing to wear.

Jaune: Argh! Too tight and not cute enough.

/=/

In the cafeteria, Nora was relaying what happened to Jaune to the members of JNPR's sister team, RWBY. Blake for the most part was disinterested and continue to focus on her book. Weiss just shook her head and focused on her salad, while Yang watched Ruby growl in annoyance.

Pyrrha: So we're thinking we should stop by CFVY's dorm and see what is going on.

Ruby: I'll come with you.

Weiss: How scandalous! Look at what that... that... that woman is wearing! This is a school!

Everyone and the table turned to look at what had Weiss so bent out of shape over...

Jaune: (waving at them excitedly) Hey guys! Like what's good, to like to have for lunch today?

Pyrrha: (Noticing some similarities between her crush and this young woman) Do we... know you?

Jaune: (Pouting) Pyr-Pyr, like that hurts, like totes, you know. It's me Jaune.

RWBY/-NPR: JAUNE!?!

Nora: What... what happened to... you?

Jaune: Like, what do you mean?

Nora: You're a girl!

Jaune: Like totally.

Nora: No, you used to be a boy! Now you're a girl! What happened?

Jaune: That's like, silly! I've always been a girl.

Weiss: Can you put on some real CLOTHES, please?

Jaune: No.

Weiss: WHY NOT?

Jaune: I must have, like, had a growth spurt or something. Nothing, like, fits, anymore.

Pyrrha: (Getting out of her seat and gently placing her shaking hands on Jaune's bare shoulders.) Jaune, listen to me.

Jaune: Like okay.

Pyrrha: What's the last thing you remember before coming to get lunch?

Jaune: Ummm... like, I'm not sure? Like everything is a jumble up there right now. If I, like, had to guess... it would be how bigger my, like boobies are, then, like yours.

Nora: (As Pyrrha looks down into Jaune's impressive cleavage) Is that one of my bras?

Jaune: Like, yeah.

Nora: Why?

Jaune: Like, I couldn't find mine, and Pyr-Pyr's were too small. (Reaches down and does some adjusting) Like this one is tight too.

Yang: (Cluing in before anyone else) Ruby, go to our room and get one of my spare uniforms! NOW!

Ruby: Yang?

Yang: (Pulls off her jacket and tosses it to Jaune) Jaune, put that on and sit down! Ruby, go!

Ruby takes off in a whirlwind of rose petals.

Pyrrha: (Also now cluing in) Jaune, quick sit. Sit!

Jaune: Why? You're all acting like I'm nakey. I'm not, I have underwear on!

Weiss: *Choking on air

Blake: (rolling her eyes) Jaune underwear is not proper clothing.

Jaune: (Pouting) Is to!

Yang: We are not having this discussion here! Put on the jacket and sit down!

Jaune: I don't wan... oh, he's cute!

Pyrrha/Nora/Yang/Blake: *Gagging

Weiss: Are you a complete air-head? That's Cardin!?!

Jaune: Cardin? Hum, I'm going over to say hi.

Jaune shrugs away the hands of her friends and starts to make her way towards team CRDL's table.

Coco: OH NO! NO, YOU DON'T ANGEL!!

Those members of RWBY and JNPR still at the table blink in confusion as Coco Adel appeared out of nowhere and scoops Jaune up, tossing her over one shoulder and racing out of the cafeteria.

Jaune: WEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

[ronearoundblindly]

Is it alright to ask this from steve and ss reader i love that one 🥹

If she has nightmares she hides somewhere and screams in pain first one to go to her is steve

Purgatory (immediate follow-up to this)

Warnings for light angst, hurt/comfort, and only being 1.1k

Steve remembers how Bucky woke from brainwashing vividly. It was violent. It was tortured. He was wrecked.

You’re…glowing with possibility, stunned but smiling softly.

Natasha is the one who notices how you peek at the windows more than look at them and offers to take you outside.

You shrink. That happy smile dies, but you nod.

Even though you’ve hugged Steve, Bucky’s the brave one to touch you at the shoulder and lead you to the exit.

Steve can only see your back while you look up to the sky and walk to the edge of the grass. He can’t tell what you’re thinking or feeling, but after a minute or so, you fall to your knees and plunge your hands into the mulch and dirt below. The shake across your spine means you’re sobbing.

“Maybe give her a sec,” Bucky shrugs, watching with protective focus.

Nat and Bruce go back inside first. Bucky has to meet Steve’s eye and tick his head away to dismiss him.

Steve looks at you one last time to watch you press your forehead to the ground.

He’s interested. How could he not be? You’re the new, curious creature in the building, doubly so because you are now different than the you that was here before.

Steve went through a version of this with Bucky, so he feels like the second-most qualified person on the team to handle you.

He can’t get close though.

Having too many people around overwhelms you, which is to be expected, but it means you’re still glued to Bucky the whole day. He’s been texting the team updates and tidbits you remember that may help track any more Hydra operatives.

That’s all Steve gets.

Bucky confirms that as a precaution you’ll still be housed in the interrogation room you’ve been in since your rescue. Although you were following Buck’s orders while awake as the Autumn Soldier, in case that changed without warning, you slept in a room you couldn’t get out of (easily).

Steve tries to put that aside and get his work done.

Restless, he does a late-night workout in the middle of completing a shameful amount of overdue paperwork, and again, just as a precaution, he keeps the feed of your room up on his tablet. That’s not the reason the paperwork is progressing slowly. Can’t be.

You sleep for a bit, but then you get up and cross to the opposite wall. Steve waits to see if you flag down someone by waving at the camera you know is there, but when you don’t, he minimizes your video feed to send off the completed files so far. He needs to stop hovering. He's not a voyeur.

He gets back to it. He manages to focus for about ten minutes until his curiosity gets the better of him.

And then he’s running.

You’re punching and beating at the door to your cell, arms visibly dripping with blood by the time Steve checks again, and he flings the door open without a second thought, gripping your wrists to stop you from hurting yourself further.

Your eyes are still closed, but you fight anyway.

This is the violence, torture, and wreckage that was missing earlier, buried deeper than Bucky’s, waiting to lash out in the calm.

In his best (mediocre) Russian, Steve yells “Soldat” and tells you to stop. If you can’t see that it’s Steve, you might listen.

You do. Sort of.

Your eyes snap open in utter terror. You’re screaming at him before you register that Steve’s even in the room, and then you shove him away with surprising force only to cower in a corner, muttering…what is that? Latin?

He tries your name. You don’t turn to him, tucking farther into the ball of your body and the wedge of concrete.

“Autumn,” he tries again.

The blood from your arms now covers your pants and smears on the far walls. He knows they’ll heal by morning. Steve also knows they still hurt.

He presses his shoulder to one wall, about four feet from you, and lets himself slide down to your level.

“Autumn, let me help.”

The shake of your back has returned. The sobbing starts anew. He doesn’t know how Bucky soothed you outside. He should have asked, but he’s here now and wants to help. That has to count for something.

“Steve.”

Did he actually hear it or did his hope get the better of him?

Slowly, face low and shadowed, you turn glistening, teary eyes toward him and repeat.

“Steve?”

He’s two feet closer instantly but not all the way by your side.

Shakily, sniffling hard and surpassing what ragged breaths you can, you ask, “what did I do?”

You think the blood isn’t yours. You think you’ve been ordered to do a horrible thing and enacted it without question, without remembering.

“Nothing, doll. Just a nightmare.” Steve’s dying to stop your pain.

Your hands shake when you release the grip on your knees.

“I can help.” He stretches out his arm like an olive branch. “Is that ok?”

Back and forth from his nearing fingers to his steady face, your eyes dart. “I won’t hurt you?”

Steve’s heart seizes knowing that no one can answer that question, but he lies anyway.

“No, you won’t.”

It’s the most convincing lie Steve Rogers has ever told, a bluff with tiny consequences in the grand scheme of things, but he knows it’s the difference between life and death for you, for your soul.

“You won’t hurt me, and I won’t hurt you.”

The transition starts with your fingertips touching his, and then he gets to hold your hand. Steve resigns himself to either no movement forward or only mimicking the small shifts you make. The entire twenty minutes it takes for you to inch into his embrace again is excruciating, but finally, finally, after pressing you to his chest and resting his head overtop yours, you calm down.

He can tell you’re getting sleepy again. You must be exhausted, but every time you start to nod off, you snap back awake.

You’re afraid to fall asleep.

“I can stay here,” he offers. “I can stay and make sure you don’t hurt anyone. I promise.”

The sharper, worried breaths escaping your open mouth catch a few times before you whisper, “please.”

Steve’s on a mission suddenly. He gets you a glass of water, wipes down your arms and hands, settles you back onto your cot, and smooths one big hand over your forehead and down your hair.

He wipes the tears from your face, but your eyes are still glassy when they find his once more.

“You won’t leave?”

“Doll,” Steve smiles weakly, “don’t worry. I could do this all night.”

[Stay tuned for more from Cap and Autumn during Flufftober '22]

dividers by @silkholland and @firefly-graphics

The new series masterlist for this--Autumn Is Healing--is posted for easy navigation.

Thank you for reading, and if you liked this work, please consider reblogging and/or commenting! It's wonderful to hear from you guys. :)

[writing-by-mimi]

Between Heaven and Hell

Simeon x Fem!Mc x Diavolo

Adult content, read at your own risk. Not beta read.

Tea time at the castle was always enjoyable. Today it was going to be a gathering of the exchange students with Lord Diavolo, which was over all exciting. It wasn't often that you got to be with just the Purgatory Hall group and Diavolo. It would make for an interesting day, that's for sure.

      Barbatos ushered you in, as always, but this time you stopped when he missed the turn for the garden exit. Usually gatherings of this sort happened at the cute little patio set up on the verge of the gardens...

     "Today's gathering will be held in the young masters chambers, Mc."

      It's not an odd change, just one you didn't wholly expect. Maybe Lord Diavolo had something he wished to show, like a movie or something. "Alright." You nodded as you followed the butler. You didn't need him to escort you, you already knew the way, you'd been there plenty if times. Though as you followed him you became more and more suspicious as you read your text messages along the way.

      Luke had been called back to the Celestial Realm by Michael, and Solomon had other engagements. That meant it would just leave yourself, the Prince and the angel... and two of the three of you had a strained relationship...

      You weren't sure exactly what happened between the two, maybe it was resentment by Simeon that Lucifer now worked under Diavolo after the fall, maybe it was something else entirely... Whatever it may be, it would make for an experience, though you could only hope they would at least set their differences aside for today.

     Barbatos stood outside the door, turning and giving a bow before excusing himself.

    It's odd. Usually he is present at things like these...

    You brush it off and knock on the heavy wooden door, the door moving swiftly as if it weighed nothing revealing Lord Diavolo. "Ah, welcome, Mc. I am glad you could make it!"

      His bright smile as he ushered you in made you smile in return. He had a way of being contagious when it came to smiling.

     Setting your bag down by the door, as not to forget it later, you gave a wave and smile to Simeon as he stood from the couch. "Good evening, Mc. Have you been well today?"

      "I can't complain." You give a quick laugh, "No one tried to eat, stab, or murder me, so over all its been a good day." You nodded with a playful smile. It was only half true, Beel had been chewing on your hair at one point during class, but that was harmless enough and didn't really count in your mind.

     Simeon gives a small frown, "Are those really your daily standards?"

     "Yes?" You ask slowly. "It's okay though." A bright smile appearing on your face. "If things get bad I'll figure it out. I always do, and when I don't, I know you'll come through." You poke part of his exposed hip on your way to one of the chairs and listen to him hum in disapproval. "So since it's just the three of us, what's on the agenda?"

     "Simeon suggested a movie. We can also go out for a bit before returning to my chambers, if you would like."

      "Hmmm, a movie night sounds like it could be fun." You smile.

      "Excellent. I'll prepare the video Simeon has brought." The Prince announces as you move to the couch for a better angle.

     Simeon sits to your right, leaving Diavolo enough room on your left. You can act as the middle man between them and maybe this night won't fall to chaos like most Devildom nights you plan to relax.

      The lights dim and Diavolo seats himself, arm behind you on the top ridge of the fancy red velvet couch as he navigates the remote.

     "So what are we watching?"

     "Simeon and I happened to...run across eachother while attending to private business. From that moment forward, we've worked together to make our own personal movie." Diavolo tilts his head and gives a smile.

     "Really?" You turn to the angel, it's unexpected that they would team up for anything on their own...

     "Y-yes." Simeon looks away. "I suppose you could call it a... labor of love and inspiration for my next book. For Diavolo it was more of... a passion project."

     Diavolo? Simeon has never just used his name... things must be going much better between the two. It piques your curiosity as to what brought them together in the first place. It must be pretty important for them to actually get along and show their work to the world... well, at least you...

     "Well if its helped relieve the tension between you two, then I'm completely on board for whatever it is. Count me one hundred percent in." You give a thumbs up as you smile to Simeon. He looks away flushing deeply, of course he would be embarrassed. The man was very modest in some respects, even for an angel.

     "That's great to hear, Mc. I'll hold you to it." You turn to Diavolo and his smile is relaxed, but it feels like he's looking at you differently. You can't put your finger on it and you stare back at him trying to read his eyes.

     "Now I'm very curious what brought you two together..."

     "I suppose you have to wait and see. Though it is a bit slow in the beginning, but what good movie isn't?" The Prince gives a deep chuckle as he hits play. You turn your eyes forward and miss how the demon and the angel look between eachother before subtly watching you.

     Other starts cute enough, Simeon trying to navigate his phone camera and what direction is filming. His confused face and look of surprise once he realizes it's facing him and not his target is adorable.

      It flips around, leaves and bushes being the only thing showing for almost a minute. Maybe they haven't edited it yet, so you won't complain.

      The camera pans quickly and you notice the leg in the frame. It's red pants and fancy dress shoes, Diavolo.

      It's funny to think about, them meeting in the bushes around the Devildom to start such a project as a movie. There is talking, but most likely Simeons hand is the reason why it is so muffled. You can tell its them, but not what they're saying. Maybe it's important to the plot later and can't be revealed at the moment?

      The camera cuts quickly, a few moments of black until the next since plays.

     You pause for a moment... you know that tree...and that bush. "Why are you guys outside the house? How did I never see you?!" You turn to Simeon quickly.

     A gloved hand grabs you by the chin lightly and moves your gaze back to the screen. "This part is important, Mc." Diavolos hot breath in your ear makes you gasp, you aren't sure when he got so close, but the fact you can smell his cologne so well makes your heart thump in your chest.

      It's you. You're in your room, and your watching yourself take your top off. You're in absolute shock. This has to be a joke... there's no way both of them would be peeping on you.

     Yet as you get undressed the camera begins to jiggle and a moan can be heard. You know what it implies...but your mind still can't process.

     "Ah, Lord Diavolo! It's too sinful, I...I can not!" Simeons panting voice rings clear as day in the video.

      "Fuck, yes you can." Diavolos deep voice growls, "Mc is beautiful, they'll look even better under us."

      The camera pans to Diavolo's cock before panning to Simeons tight pants, cock throbbing as his hand slowly takes them down. His cock bounces free and the small whine that leaves his lips is filled with nothing but lust as his fingers slowly wrap around his shaft and begin to carefully stroke his erection.

       Your skirt comes off and your left in your bra and panties, but not for long as you shimmy them from your hips before making your way to another door as you unclassified your bra and your breast are revealed.

      The camera quickly turns to Simeon, his pants and hand are a mess and he's flushing so deeply he might actually catch fire.

     Diavolo follows right after, camera focused on his hand roughly stroking his cock until it coats the camera with white before cutting to black again.

      You just sit in stunned silence. This...this isn't right? Maybe this is a fever dream. It's so confusing! Simeon and Diavolo both peeping? On you? When? Why?

     You aren't given any time to process as another video starts. This time it's at R.A.D. and your stomach sinks. You've only ever been naked once in the Academy and it had been because of Simeon accidentally covering you in a mystery liquid for one of his potions classes... Lord Diavolo had come to the rescue with a new uniform, he even sent Barbatos to go and buy you new undergarments...

     You had been ushered to Lord Diavolos office so you could clean up and change, he had even closed the curtain over the giant window that laid behind his desk that day. It was something that left on human skin would cause harm...at least, that's what they said... time was of the essence and Diavolos office had been closest...

     Your question is answered, the angle, the camera has to be setting on the bookcase...

       Once again, you're taking your clothes off, wiping down with the wet rag and towel Diavolo provided you with.

     You feel a mix of emotions. These men you trusted spied on you in your most vunerable moments and used it for such dirty things as masturbating! Diavolo and Simeon! Simeon is an angel for Christ sake!

      It's also...oddly...endearing? Can that even be the word your mind is searching for?! It can't be...yet the fact they come so undone so quickly from just you changing has your cheeks warm and you're suddenly very aware of where you sit.

     Between the two men who had plotted against you to get you naked on camera.

     You know they jerked off to it...

     Simeon shifts next to you and you glance over quickly. He's as hard as he was in the first clip and almost as flushed as he watches the screen, his eyes sliding to you before you look away.

     Out of the corner of your eye, Diavolo is stroking his cock through his pants slowly and your brain isn't sure what to do.

      A hand on your right knee makes you jump as it pulls you from your thoughts. Simeon is panting as his eyes find your face, "I know it's sinful, taking pleasure in the flesh..." His eyes are almost helpless, like he's lost to his own bodily functions and his free hand rubs over his tented pants. "You make my body...respond." His deep grunt as his hand presses harder onto his cock makes you gasp as you turn away once more.

     Diavolos hand comes from your left and holds your chin firmly between his fingers, making you look to him. "Are you proud of yourself, Mc?" His groan and the clicnking of his belt buckle make you flush. "You've drawn a high ranking angel to sin and have the Prince of the Devildom grunting your name at night."

     "I-I..why?!"

     The prince only offers a chuckle as his cock is removed from his pants, slowly stroking up his shaft as he holds your face in place. A smirk taking his lips as a sudden wartm and wetness hit your neck. It's simeons tounge dragging across your pulse point and his hands are on both of your shoulder, erection pressed into your back.

     "I am still unsure. You make my mind cloud over and these terrible thoughts collect there. I want nothing more than to pull your hair and jam my cock down your throat."

     Diavolo let's out a chuckle as he releases your face, "Then perhaps you should act on those feelings finally." And he pushes you back onto the couch, Simeon standing over you before he straddles your chest, hands cupping your face as he pants down to your face below him, just mere inches from his tented pants.

     Your face is flushed and the fact Simeon is so close to jamming his cock down your throat has you confused. Part of you is so angry, yet the other part wants nothing more than to swallow the angels seed and watch him fall apart so perfectly from just your tounge. Simeon has always been beautiful, but the fact he wants to do something so unholy to you makes your clit throb with want.

    His legs are pinning your arms to the couch, though not enough to hurt you, he's still being gentle with you and considerate of the fact he's much stronger than you.

    A hand sliding up your thigh makes you squirm under the angel as you gasp at the contact, Diavolo's warm fingers slowly trace patterns on your thighs. "Doesn't she just make the cutest sounds?"

    "It's even better than the video..." Simeon undoes his pants and you can feel the warmth of his cock on your lips.

     "D-did you watch me-"

     "Fuck yourself with that ridiculous vibrating toy that Asmodeus gave you? Yes. I listened to every single sound you made while imagining it was my cock stretching your cute little cunt." Simeon groans as he looks to the television, and sure enough the next clip is you on your bed, riding the vibrator from Asmo, hips rolling against the toy slowly as you pull your shirt off and run your hands slowly over your bra before pulling the straps down and even the cups to expose yourself. "Such a naughty little human, moaning like a little slut from just cheap plastic." Simeons hand slowly strokes his cock watching your face flush heavily. "Moan on my cock, Mc."

      Opening your mouth, Simeons hips move forward quickly and it's only a moment before you can feel the head of his cock hit the back of your throat.

      "If you cum in her mouth, you won't be able to stretch her pussy." Diavolo reminds as his fingers flip your skirt up and slowly trace your panties. "Her pussy looks so needy, but perhaps we should get a better look."

       You can feel his fingers hook around your panties and pull them to the side, his warm finger slowly tracing your lips before parting them and finding your bundle of nerves and slowly rubbing. "You're such a good girl, Mc."

      "Beautiful little whore." Simeon grunts as he begins to fuck your mouth above you, one of his hands tangling in your hair while the other holds himself up by the arm rest.

     "You're taking him so well," Diavolo's fingers slide down and he slowly pushes two fingers into your cunt. "Even my fingers..." He sighs against your thigh, placing kisses sporadically about, "you're doing so, so well, Princess."

      "You're such a filthy whore, letting a demon and myself defile you." Simeon grunts with every thrust, his grip only gets tighter as his hips slam harder and between all the attention your body is receiving your moaning on his cock just like he wanted. It feels absolutely divine being used by the angel and the demons skilled fingers haven't let up, even for a second.

     "Divine little whore. Mine to use as I wish." His hips piston faster and you can feel his erection throb against your throat, when he pulls himself from you, leaving you gasping for air and begging for the sensation of him to return.

     His thumb travels over your swollen upper lip as he smirks down to you and Diavolo removes his fingers, standing he removes his fingers from his mouth.. "She's ready." Diavolo hums as he gently pets your hair. "Such a good girl. Open your legs." He carcasses your cheek as Simeon takes his place on the couch. "Slowly, Simeon.Else you'll cum far too quickly to take what you want." The Prince warns.

      You do as instructed, the angels grip already tight on your thighs and you can't help but look away. Simeon is going to fuck you...it's a thought you never thought imagined possible. "Such a filthy little human." Simeon hums as he rubs his cock between your folds. "So willing to be on your back just for me." His smile is dark as he slowly sinks his cock into your pussy, hand moving to grip your throat as Diavolo turns your gaze to the angel.

    "Taking an angels innocence, you're incorrigible Mc." Diavolo purs as his hands move to rip open your shirt. "Bra, or no bra?"

     "None." Simeon growls, his grip on the couch splinters the wood that lines the top of the back rest. The hand still on your thigh verges on the feeling of pain and you know it will leave a bruise. You can't bring yourself to care though as his cock drags slowly from you, only to slip quickly back in.

     The front of your bra is torn apart easily by the Prince and his warm fingers slowly rub at one of your nipples. "Whatch them bounce, Simeon."

     His eyes leave your face and he slams his hips in the rest of the way roughly, making you cry out. It seems to be all that Simeon needs to pick up his pace, it's not a steady rhythm by any means, but he never pulls his cock too far out of you. His blue eyes almost seem to hold a glow as his watches your breast bounce with every thrust. "My pretty little slut." He hisses as he begins to take longer strokes.

     Your head is absolutely spinning at the fact Simeon is so dominant. You'd always imagined it would be soft, tender. This Sineon is a man crazed and lost to desire. The angel is, well, was, completely virginal and now he's fucking you like he owns you. The sounds he's getting from you are absolutely lewd, between your drenched pussy and moans it makes you flush at just how sloppy it all sounds.

     "If you fuck her faster, you'll cum." Diavolo tuts as he watches the angel lose himself in you. Grabbing the hand gripping the back of the couch, he leads it to your breast and watches as the angel immediately runs his thumb across your raised nub. "Remember what you wanted to do, we might not have another chance to show Mc appreciation."

      Simeon leans forward, his hand gripping your breast as his lips find your nipple, tounge dragging across your sensitive flesh as he moans.

      Diavolo let's out a chuckle, "You enjoy corrupting him, don't you, Darling?"

      "Y-yes!" You manage to gasp as Simeons teeth bite roughly at your other breast, his hips are bouncing you harder now and he's finally found a rhythm.

     "You should tell him how good he's been making you feel." Diavolos breath is hot in your ear, "I'm sure he'll let you know how much he appreciates it." He nips your ear before pulling away with a deep chuckle.

    "S-simeon! Your cock... i-it feels so... so fucking g-good!" You manage to stutter out as his thrust become deeper and harder with your every word, his hips now snapping as fast as they can against your ass.

     "Such a ravishing little slut, all fucking mine to use." The angels growl is in your ear before his lips come crashing down, his growl continues as his hips stutter and you feel his cum filling your cunt.

      "He's such a selfish angel. Leaving you all pent up and not making sure you came first. He'll learn with time though." He laughs. "He can learn how to finger you. You're more than lose enough from Simeons virgin cock and I'll know your stretched enough for every part of my cock."

     Simeon has pulled his cock from you, as he sits on his knees you can see his cock and a thread of his sticky cum from your pussy, connecting the two of you.

    Two of his slender fingers enter you and feeling his fingers explore your pussy male you squirm. You've been so close for so long and your starting to get desperate to cum.

     Diavolo gently moves Simeons wrist slowly, showing him the angle he thinks would pleasure you best. "Spongey spot, you'll know when you find it. Rub it hard and quickly with the pad of your middle finger." He turns your head towards him and rubs his cock across your lips, coating your lips in precut before you move forward to take the head of his cock greedily into your mouth. Simeons fingers have found that sweet spot inside of you and you'll be able to moan on the demons cock as Simeon continues to play with you.

     The prince let's out a hum as his head falls back, hand holding your hair back as he slowly fucks into your mouth, his other hand stroking your cheek slowly. "You're doing so well, Princess, tending to us both."

       "Cum." It's a growled command as Simeons fingers roughly message the spot inside of you, it's finally enough for your body to spasm under the angels touch as you take Diavolo's cock as far down your throat as possible while squealing.

     It isn't until your almost done cumming that Diavolo's cock explodes in your mouth and you do your best to swallow as you keep riding your high.

      Simeons finger slowly slide from you as you lick up the bottom of Diavolos shaft, cleaning the residue of his cum from him trying to get every drop. "You've done perfectly, Darling." He pants down to you as he tucks himself back into his pants.

    Simeon presses a deep kiss to your lips, hands cupping both sides of your face as he rest his forehead on yours. "I haven't hurt you, have I?" His tone is calm as he tries to catch his breath.

    All you can do is shake your head, trying to clear your throat and catch your own breath. "I'm okay, are you?"

     A soft kiss is placed to your head, "Yes, better than okay, Mc."

     "I need a nap." You hum with a smile.

     "Ready the bed, I'll bring her." Diavolos deep voice gives a laugh and a warm set of arms pick you up from the couch. The softness of the bed coupled with the warm kisses on both sides of your cheeks leave you with a cozy feeling as words of praise are rained upon you before succumbing to sleep.

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[partyswirl]

False alarm for the gooieducks thing

just posting this cause people were rbing my post it was a glitch with me specifically cause console is glitchy, im now crashing much less. dont wanna spread misinfo oopsies

it might have been an issue with how many creature interactions were happening at once cause i was in subterranean, now im in sunken pier and I haven’t crashed yet and am lagging much less

so it was a false alarm but i think being in the same room as your slup while it eats takes some amount of processing which probably pushed my already weirded out game to the edge.

still dont know why the crash was so strange usually it exits me out of the game and is like “oops an error occured9 but for this one i had to actually turn off the console which is weird

also i had a weird glitch with a flashbang earlier so that certainly wasnt helping loading

console slups are weird

more stuff to know under cut, mostly glitches ive encountered incase you want to know them a lot of them have to do with either gourm or slips.

didnt mean to write this long but apparently i am rain world technical difficulties georg

pipeyard slups

sleeping in pipeyard yeets your slups so if you find a slugpup in pipeyard/already have a slugpup and enter pipeyard, either try to move out of the region same cycle or dont get attatched to the sluppy. i havent seen this issue in any other region yet but be careful

gourm wall clipping

maybe this is an individual thing as well but sometimes i clip into the wall as gourmand when im going through a pipe. i dont know why. it’s only happened in outskirts so far but idk. each time ive had my slup on my back and they come out unscathed so thats good.

id just keep walking to the side opposite where i shouldve come out of the pipe, and threw the spear and rock i was holding and i’d come out the other side most of the time so yea

time travel is bad

if you remember my time travelling thing yea be careful of time travel. if the region changes significantly during the timeline and you havent been to its updated state, DONT PASSAGE THERE.

it will send you to the state you’ve already seen, not the updated place. go to an adjacent region instead and then travel by foot there and it should be fine.

i got stuck in glitched shoreline and my spear is in purgatory yet unless i reset its playthrough or somehow achieve another passage or escape normally which is really hard as spear cause theres not a lot they can eat lol. also it crashes a lot as well

slup wall clipping

ive had a couple instances where either my sluppy somehow clips into the wall or goes into the pipe and disappears.

this also happened on gourm, might be a subterannean issue, it happened multiple times when i was going into the room with the monster kelp that has the scavenger toll to the upper left. either die to restart w your pup or theyll just be gone not much you can do from my observation

slup centipedes

not a glitch but if your sluppy wont grab baby centipedes alive sometimes theyll still eat them if theyre dead. spear it first and throw the dead centipede at them, maybe theyll eat it. try a few times. probably the same for noots. also sluppies will die to shocks from adolescent centipedes so b careful with those.

slup shelter

forst off, just because a slup spawned in a shelter does not mean it has eaten. sluppies will not have eaten on their first cycle so you have to feed them or let them have a starve cycle.

also sometimes if you walk into a shelter at full food it will instantly close not giving your slup time to follow you in.

if you close the game before you can fall asleep it will count as a death and send you back to the last shelter. i believe this is the only way to not just get your slup basically disappeared

dropwig gourm yeet

dont try to do the thing where you run past dropwigs and then stab them backwards as gourm. for some reason dropwigs are more likely to hit gourm, bigger hitbox??

and they yeet me into the stratosphere like 90% of the time, and stunned the whole time they just insta grab you after and it’s game over. they also seem to instakill me more often as gourm but that’s probably bad luck. anyway dropwig alley (the outskirts place) is way more dangerous soo yea

rain world on switch is super broken and weird

[taylorrama]

The Locked Tomb + mewithoutYou pt. 4/17

And she'd always weigh me down But, afraid I might need her I dragged her around

Song: My Exit, Unfair Album: Catch For Us the Foxes

Several mewithoutYou songs have long, slow intros that would make good music for a trailer for a TLT adaptation, just saying.

I think from the title, we can get several TLT vibes if we interpret "exit" as death. Unfair exit. Unfair death. Even taking "exit" to mean "exit," the only way Gideon gets to leave (exit) the Ninth House is by an agreement with Harrow that really isn't on her terms. Unfairness all around.

My exit unobserved And my homesickness absurd I said "water" expecting the Word would satisfy my thirst Talking all about the second and third When I haven't understood the first

Something something the various unfair exits/deaths of characters in a world where one soul consumes another to attain immortality might be "unobserved" if we think about off-screen deaths in Canaan House, but also the way that certain people (Harrow) refuse to accept or allow certain other people (Gideon) to be truly gone.

Homesickness. Not sure anyone in TLT really feels homesick with the exception of Nona.

Something something, more about water and the River. There might be some ways I could tease out some connection between the River and this concept of metaphorical water (scripture) being something that might promise relief, but ultimately doesn't; however, I need my reread to help me figure out the River better so I get something more than "it's Purgatory/a wormhole" out of it.

But here's a funny joke. The last two lines in this section are probably talking about some philosophical concept, but in a TLT context, it actually makes fun of all of us for not understand wtf is happening in these first three books.

I'm gonna jump now to the chorus because that's the next place where we have some interesting lines for TLT purposes.

And just like the clouds They bring a darkness And a hard rain's going to fall I felt the crowd Bring a loneliness and a hard rain A hard rain's going to fall And she'd always weigh me down But, afraid I might need her I dragged her around It's best to keep close sackcloth and ash In a whitewashed town

There's so much rain in Harrow the Ninth, but not really a crowd. Though maybe you could argue that even the small cast of characters around Harrow could feel like a crowd to her and it probably would since she finds Ianthe's and the Body's constant presence unsettling enough.

Speaking of the Body, the second half of this chorus is Harrow POV about the Body. The sackcloth and ash imagery is especially fitting given that in a Biblical context, those are used in times of mourning, and Harrow is mourning through the entirety of book 2.

She wore that phony smile on her face I guess like a bandage on a wounded place While I kept the keys to every old lock just in case

This...is Harrianthe LOL. And do we ever find out if people still have their keys from Canaan House?

Rehearsed indifference tossed aside Our narrow arms spread wide What unseen pen etched eternal things On the hearts of human kind But never let them in our minds?

"Rehearsed indifference" is totally Harrow. In general, I love these last three lines, but I've got nothing at the moment in terms of connecting it to TLT. It could be about the quest for immortality vs. the mechanisms for achieving it being so elusive, but it's not clear to me after a first read that John had initially set out to defy death before he had his powers.

The chorus again, with some differences.

Oh, the clouds they brought a darkness And a hard rain's gonna fall And all my laughter ends in emptiness And a hard rain's gonna fall My every medicine causes more illness And a hard rain's gonna fall And until I let you go Oh, I didn't know You were never mine You were never mine at all

"All my laughter ends in emptiness." If Harrow ever has any joy, this is how she feels about it and what she's experienced whenever she's had something (Gideon) that genuinely makes her happy.

"My every medicine causes more illness." I see this working in TLT in a few different ways. What is the "medicine" that Harrow gives herself to prevent herself from devouring Gideon's soul? A lobotomy that fractures her consciousness and sense of reality. Did John initially believe that his necromantic powers were some kind of medicine that could help others? Sure, a little bit. And what did that cause but a 10,000 year life that he's disillusioned with, and a paradigm that probably isn't better than the pre-Resurrection solar system.

"Until I let you go, I didn't know you were never mine at all." Lots of ways this could apply. Mostly, I think of it as a lyctor lament, but if Griddlehark ends in some type of mutual release of one another–to oppose the possession/destruction that's inherent to the lyctor state–then it could be their finalized albeit sad realization.

There's a bit more to the song after these lines, but nothing super specific comes to mind right now with TLT. Rereads and Alecto might make me go 👀 but for now, this is all I've got on this song.

---

TLT + mewithoutYou pt. 1; TLT + mewithoutYou pt. 2; TLT + mewithoutYou pt. 3; TLT + mewithoutYou pt. 5

[isolaradiale]

Data runs rampant, not only within the mists that crawl through city streets and shadow kissed forests, but upon the illuminated screens of technology that both Stars peer into. Every reaction was duly noted in the glimmer of Pleiades' glasses, much as she assumes it is for Caelum, likely keeping vigilant eye on his own respective area of interest. Before long, she offers an almost contented hum at what she sees, head tilting as she shoots a glance from the corner of her eyes toward him.

"I think this is more than enough data for my purposes. Is it enough for you, though?"

Part of the scientist attempts to smile, though it comes as more of a grimace.

"Well, it didn't turn out how I expected. Certainly not as much carnage as I thought. But I think that overall, they were able to connect with themselves a little deeper. So if they gained any knowledge from that... hm. I suppose that's good enough for me."

Emeralds linger on her fellow scientist, finding herself in agreeance the more she thought on it, moving to stand from the seat she'd been in. "They've learned quite a bit, I think. Perhaps next time we can put you in charge of our next little test? Maybe you can think of something more... ah, murder-y to tune everything up? There are always opportunities to see them raise from the ashes, of course," she shrugs almost leisurely at the suggestion, reaching over to input a few keystrokes.

To that, it seemed he finally relaxed--perhaps a little too much--he wobbled a bit on his feet. Now seated, his one good eye turned to the other.

"Something about that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe I'm starting to like this place after all, hm-hm~"

Slender fingers tapped on his cane as he chuckled.

"...We'll have to see. Maybe that won't be necessary for a while."

Pleiades' expression hardly shifts, her smile growing, if anything, as she finally places the last inputs in with silent acknowledgement. Everything was set up, the last of their experimentation to be silently swept away with but another click of a button, thrusting everyone under their gaze back into a sense of normalcy. Or, perhaps, as normal as one can find themselves after the trials and things they have faced until now.

"Oh, but I do wonder if our darling subjects have come to notice the reality of themselves yet," she muses, hands shoving themselves into the pockets of her white coat, all before offering a speculative smile. "No, allow me to correct myself: if they've come to understand what they actually aren't一"

"--Pleased with our antics, I imagine." Came a cheeky little laugh.

"Well. I'll take care of the ones stuck in Purgatory if you take care of our surface-dwellers."

A gentle roll of her eyes in turn. "Very well. Then, let us begin..."

And with one click of a button does it all begin to return to how it once was. Where Caelum works upon his Purgatory tenants, her fingers are swift to realign the way mists swarm the perimeter of the city, peeling it back to release any still snared within their very own data. No longer does the crimson eclipse watch their every breath, returned once more to an innocent moon that lights the streets as if nothing has changed at all, before the mists finally settle at long last as a looming reminder of what had transpired.

All except for one opening, a new path to be taken, toward an area of Radial Island that was once blocked only a few days ago...

and that concludes our event rerun for MISTIFIED!

to start, there are a few notes on clarification: compared to other times when your muse returns to life, this time they'll discover they aren't being manifested into their homes and waking up in their bed anymore. instead, they get the unique experience of walking out of where they were kept during the event for the very first time! going forward, this is what you’ll expect if your character dies in isola, with the echo being the point of origin for post-death situations until they leave. for more information on this, refer to the 'exiting abyss' section of the echo's branch page!

we'd like to thank everyone who participated in this rerun. when we first ran this event, it was when we introduced THE ECHO and SKY-STREWN ISLES to our list of locations. you can still find them over on THE MAP, of course, alongside the other branches listed!

we're also happy to say that those who participated in this event will be receiving a FLAT REWARD as a prize for it! this means that so long as you participated in some way with the event and show us, you'll be able to redeem a small unlock without any other strings or word counts attached! some examples are:

one weapon unlock

one small power unlock/upgrade

500 stars

however if your character has already participated in the original mistified run and received an unlocked weapon or ability, you may only claim the stars reward! we have records of what was given out during the last run of the event, so do not try to claim an unlock if you already have. we will know!

all you'll need to do is go to THE GALAXY inbox and send in a request with what you'd like and your participation. much like the requests for housing, you'll have between MARCH 20TH until APRIL 3RD, 11:59PM to redeem this if you qualify!

once again, thank you all for your participation, and we'll see you in a new event in april!

[antihell]

I know you wanted questions on the resource page,,, but this just immediately popped into my head and I HAVE to ask;

Do you often combine psychological horror with religion? And if so, what are your favorite ways to do so, or see in media?

I myself am not religious, nor do I have anything against it, but I do find the history of catholicism and christianity a fascinating topic when it comes to horror!!

i'm actually so glad you asked this! i'm going at this from a christian angle (the "god" i'll be referring to is the christian god from the bible)

first of all, major trigger warning in here for anti-religion/anti-christian language, religious trauma, cults.

i think psychological horror so often includes religious aspects because it is a common psychological conflict in people's minds. is there a god? if there is, will i be punished for doing things he deems wrong? what does he consider right and wrong, and what's unforgivable? if i do this, will i suffer in hell forever? can i do enough good things to save me from this fate? etc. etc.

i grew up in a christian cult and only got out about a decade ago, so a lot of the time i use my stories to work through some of that sweet, sweet religious trauma. it's hard to talk about in person, so i choose to write through it. it's extremely cathartic.

nothing anti-christianity or falsely representing christianity can remotely offend me because of the damage it's done in my life, so i eat up religious tropes like cake. my favorite subjects and tropes in psychological horror that have to do with religion are: reading "the latin" to set fate in motion (evil dead, the cabin in the woods, etc.), demonic possession (the exorcist, the exorcism of emily rose, etc.), anything to do with cults (midsommar, last shift, etc.), is it mental illness or demons? (hereditary), satanic panic (the babysitter), human sacrifices (jennifer's body, apostle), a kid that's the antichrist or at least Evil (the omen), eldritch gods (the ritual)... yeah, you can say i have a type.

the stories i'm working on that have at least one religious theme (all my stories except for one lol):

god exits: a fallen angel tries to find why god has abandoned him;

the incident in ashford, nebraska: a doomsday cult gets it right for once (maybe...?);

the mosaic children: a messianic cult must sacrifice a child a year to appease an ancient eldritch god;

protest the sky: humans stuck in purgatory try to find whoever is in charge to change their mind; and

twisted stitiches: heheheh, you'll see.

thank you for asking!! this made my morning.

[pahrak-the-sinnoh-slizer]

Immortal Virtue (part 1?)

You watch the Steltian berserker closely as you make your approach.  The hulking brute doesn’t notice you, giving you the chance to get within striking distance before springing from the bushes.  You take the berserker by surprise, dealing a string of blows with your Toa Tool before rolling clear of his counterattack.  You repeat this process several more times, but then, suddenly, you see a flash out of the corner of your eye.  A plasma turret sits atop a nearby wall, and its operator has noticed your scuffle.  Reacting quickly, you just barely manage to avoid its shot, but this leaves you no time to dodge the berserker.  He closes in and uses both fists to smash you into the ground.

You died.

The next thing you see is the Red Star.  It’s close, so close you could almost touch it, but you cannot move.  A voice whispers to you.

“Pitiable Toa, cursed with Destiny unfulfilled…though your body may perish, your soul remains compelled.”

A crack appears in the Red Star.  It widens, slightly but violently, as something thrashes against it from within.  It grows closer.  You realize that you stand upon a pile of bodies, one which grows taller by the second.

“You have been given a task to complete.  Mata Nui demands you see it through.”

An enormous metal hand breaks out of the star. The crack spreads to cross it entirely, and it splits open.  More bodies spill out, rotten and rusted with scraps of organic protodermis clinging just barely to the feverish limbs.  As the pile beneath your feet continues to grow, the contents of the star reach towards you from above.

“The Red Star shall replenish your flesh, and you will set forth again in search of your Destiny.  Woeful spirit, celestially bound…return now to the world of the living…”

The two mounds of corpses meet.  You feel something grab you as your world goes dark.

“...as an Inika.”

You open your eyes.  The hallway around you seems to be made of organic Protodermis housed in bands of metal.  Looking down at yourself, you realize that your body has changed dramatically, now with far more organic components than there should have been.  A terrible chill pierces your soul.  You get up and follow the hall, eventually coming to a laboratory filled with strange beings you’ve never seen before, armor black and purple, movements stiff and mechanical.  One of them approaches you.

“Reconstruction complete.  Depart for the Kingdoms when ready.”

They walk off with nothing more to say.  You exit the lab through a different hallway, and before long you bump into a fellow Toa.  He looks you up and down.

“You seem confused.  First time here, maybe?”

You nod.

“Ah, that explains it.  Well, friend, welcome aboard the Red Star.  Name’s Zykard.  I’ll be happy to answer some questions to get you on your feet.”

You ask him if this is really the Red Star.

“Hard to believe, eh?  I always thought it was just a ghost story used to keep Toa motivated. Now that I know it’s true, I wish more than ever it weren’t.  But it’s just like the tales say: a purgatory that ensnares the souls of Toa who die without completing their Destiny.  We’ll keep being brought back to life, again and again, until we’re able to fulfill that immortal virtue.  Supposedly, we’ll be able to move on then, but…hard to say for sure, you know?”

You ask him why your new body looks so strange.

“The beings who run this place—the Kestora—aren’t exactly the best at what they do.  The bodies they build aren’t very sturdy…aren’t exactly pretty, either. But, you get used to it eventually.”

You note that he looks just fine.

“Right, I was getting to that.  You know those Suva shrines scattered across the realm? Turns out they do something after all. Now that you’re an Inika, you can instantly move between them, or use them to get back here if you want.  But more importantly, they also have a function to restore your original body.  It’s not free, though: you’ll need to feed the Suva a Heartlight in order to initiate the process.  I know, I know it’s grotesque, not the sort of thing a Toa would normally do.  But like I said, these Kestora-made bodies aren’t very sturdy.  If you’re aiming to actually fulfill your Destiny, you just might need every advantage you can get.  Something to think about.”

You shudder, but drop the issue.  Instead, you ask Zykard about his Destiny.

“Hah!  Same as you! Same as everyone else trapped in this place.  The Great Spirit’s gotten awfully desperate to be rid of those Barraki controlling the Kingdoms, so he’s been giving every Toa he can find the Destiny to defeat them once and for all.  Must think that if he throws enough bodies at the problem, something eventually has to give.”

Before you leave, you ask Zykard if there’s anything else you should know.

“The situation’s about the same for us as it is for regular folk.  Though there are a bunch of Inika getting together to plan a big raid on Pridak’s castle in Xia; suppose you could join them if you like.  Me, I’m more interested in taking down Carapar, of the southern Kingdom.  If you hear anything about that region, would you let me know?”

You agree, and thank Zykard for everything. You part ways then, and follow the hall until it ends in a small room with a faintly-glowing Suva.  When you touch it, the world warps around you, and you find yourself in a shack along the coast somewhere, another Suva nearby in case you wish to head back.  You pick a direction and start walking.

Your new body takes some getting used to.  You die numerous times as you work your way across the Northern Continent, each time waking up back on the Red Star and heading right out again.  A mad Blade Burrower alone kills you nearly a dozen times, and that’s what finally prompts you to use one of the Heartlights you stumbled across to restore your original body—with that done, you slay the Rahi with ease.  You encounter others every now and then, sometimes fellow Inika with intel to exchange, sometimes regular people in need of assistance. You do everything you can, but it seems all those you try to save wind up meeting an unfortunate end nonetheless. You try not to think too hard about what the Nui-Rama did to that village while you were gone.  All that truly matters, you tell yourself, is taking down the Barraki, to fulfill your Destiny and bring peace back to the realm. Until then, you cannot stop.

The path finally leads you to the fortress of Kalmah, Constrictor of Souls and Barraki of the Northwest.  After taking a long, long time to survey the place, you manage to isolate a gap in the patrols—your best chance at getting in without any trouble.  You wait until nightfall to be extra safe, and then make it inside the fortress. The floor shifts when you step on it. Fire pours down from the ceiling, smothering you entirely.

You died.

That’s far from the only trap you fall to as you slowly but surely progress through the fortress.  You’ve more or less figured out how to handle the soldiers you come across, at least, but even they get the jump on you more times than you’d like to admit.  After what feels like ages, you emerge from a corridor into an armory full of half-empty shelves and cracked, decaying trophies.  A chest on the far side of the room catches your eye.  You advance with utmost caution, and that gives you just enough time to sidestep the electrified blade that comes flying at you.

“I’ve been watching you, Inika,” calls a voice from the dark corners of the armory.  “You have the fervor of a fresh recruit.  None of your kind who have been fighting for any amount of time are able to push on as stubbornly as you.”

You point your tool in the direction the voice seems to be coming from, hurling an elemental blast.  The voice continues from your other side.

“I’m thrilled that Lord Kalmah has ordered me to dispose of you.  It’s been far, far too long since I’ve hunted even half-capable prey.”

Another blade shoots out of the darkness.  You duck, and as you come up to fire another blast, something else dashes at you too quick to see, raking blades over your chest before letting you tumble into a wall.  Quick as you can, you stand back up, but your foe has disappeared already. You keep your back to the wall and closely watch the darkness.  The flare your enemy lights catches you totally off-guard.  You recoil and shut your eyes, and the next thing you know, a metal-plated claw grabs your head and smashes it back into the wall to keep you stunned while another buries itself in your gut.  You catch only a glimpse of the foe’s boots as your body hits the floor.

“Hmph…killing Inika is so unsatisfying,” you hear him say. “Give me more of a challenge when you come back.”

You died.

When you awaken on the Red Star, you almost immediately bump into Zykard.  He says, “Nice to see you again.  How have you fared?”

You tell him that you pushed deep into Kalmah’s fortress, before someone swiftly put you in your place.

“Well!  Not bad at all for a newcomer.  Most Inika are at it for at least a few weeks before they get their skull bashed in by one of the Barraki’s lieutenants.”

You ask if he knows anything about the enemy in Kalmah’s armory.

“Afraid I’ve never ventured that far north, but what you said brings to mind a story I’ve heard.  Vaikav used to live up there, I think—always talked about some famous hunter who ended up in Kalmah’s ranks one way or another.  Try asking him.”

You thank Zykard and leave to search for Vaikav. After searching what seems like every last corner of the Red Star, you finally manage to find him, slumped against a wall sharpening his blade.

“You want something?”

You ask to hear about the hunter from the Northern Continent.

“Oh, so that’s it.  The Warden of Gloomwater gotcha, did he?  Heh…can’t tell you anything you’ll wanna hear, mate.  Only good news for you is that he’s holed up in Castle Kalmah these days.  Otherwise, he’d chase you across the Kingdoms and beyond, and kill you over and over until your mind crumbles completely.”

You say you’d still appreciate whatever information he’s willing to offer.  Vaikav leans forward.

“You’re not seriously thinking of going back to fight him, are you?  Forget it! No half-alive Toa is a match for Dekar, ‘specially not if you’re fighting in his court.  What’s the most vicious Rahi you can think of?  Dire Muaka?  Or maybe something more sinister, like a blood Fikou?  He’s hunted ‘em all.  Probably would’ve wiped out everything on the Tren Krom Peninsula if Kalmah hadn’t snatched him up.  So unless you think you’re a step above the whole bloody food chain, count yourself lucky, and don’t ever go near Dekar’s territory again.”

You tell him that beating Dekar might be necessary to get to Kalmah.  He laughs at you.

“You are new, aren’t you?  Don’t you get it?  Our ‘Destiny’ is impossible!  Defeat the Barraki—hah!  Like we’d ever stand a chance!”

You ask if that means he’s given up.

“In any immediate sort of way, yes.  I’m gonna play to the strengths of this cursed body and wait them out.  Only a matter of time before the Barraki croak, either from old age or from disagreeing with each other.  Until then, I’m not setting foot near any of ‘em.  I’d suggest you do the same.”

You see no reason to continue the conversation. You head back to the Red Star’s Suva, but rather than going straight back to Kalmah’s fortress, you travel to a Suva just outside it.  If you can’t get more information, you can at least hone your skills and search for better equipment—with this goal in mind, you venture off towards unexplored land with your senses on full alert.  You’re not beaten yet.

[car-sounds]

Valentine's Baking

Simeon x (GN)reader

1020 words

Summary: Simeon and Mc do some baking the weekend before Valentine's Day.

Simeon and you were walking towards each other through the halls of RAD, Simeon ended up being the one to start your conversation “Oh, Mc. I had something I wanted to talk to you about, do you have a minute?” 

“Yeah, go ahead.”

The two of you continue walking to the RAD exits while Simeon explains what was on his mind “I thought since Valentine's Day is coming up the two of us could bake some cookies together. I know that the brothers will probably be hogging your attention throughout that day, maybe we could get together this weekend to make some sweets that way we could also hand them out to everyone else as their Valentine's gifts.”

“Of course, I would love to!” Simeon looks delighted with your answer, and continues to explain what he had in mind “I’m sure Purgatory Hall already has all the ingredients we need and I remember both Luke and Solomon said they would be out most of the day on Sunday. If you can make it then, it would be easier to keep the surprise from them.”

“Sunday works for me. Are you sure you don’t need me to bring any ingredients?” The two of you stop when you reach the corner you usually part ways at, to have a bit more time to talk. “No, don’t worry I’ve got that covered. Let me walk you the rest of the way home, It’s nice getting a moment alone with you.” You agree and catch up with what went on in your day.

—

It’s the weekend before Valentine's Day, Simeon texted you the day before telling you the time Solomon and Luke should be out of the house, around one in the afternoon with them coming back before dinner. Hopefully that also left time for you to air out the kitchen so the cookie surprise isn’t immediately obvious.

When the wait is up Simeon picks you up from the House of Lamentation, the two of you discuss the cookie decoration ideas you both had in mind. Setting up the cookie making starts pretty much right away, Simeon had already gotten out the recipe you’ll be using, it was decided over text that making heart shaped sugar cookies would be the most on theme dessert for the holiday. He starts reading out the ingredient list directing you to pull them out so they’ll be ready to use. Once that’s done Simeon tells you to get started while he grabs something from his room, he comes back after about a minute holding a present wrapped in pink heart shaped wrapping paper. 

You feel a little guilty when you first see what he has, you didn’t have anything on hand to give to him since you were going to wait until the actual holiday. “Oh, what’s that?” He gestures the gift towards you and responds “It’s one of the gifts I have for you today, I thought it would be best to give this to you now rather than later given what it is.” 

“Thank you Simeon! You should have told me that you were going to be. I could've brought some of the things I had for you.” You say while starting the unwrapping. “Well, that would have ruined the surprise wouldn’t it? So do you like it?” It’s a Valentine’s Day themed apron, pink and covered with heart prints. “Oh! It’s so cute! Thank you” 

“I’m glad you enjoy it, I even have one here I bought for myself so we could be matching. With that out of the way let’s actually start baking. Oh, let me help you tie up your apron?” 

Once both of you decided who was going to do each step, you and Simeon got to work chatting more about whatever random things that came to either of your minds. Once the cookies were cut into their shapes and thrown into the oven, the two of you got started on the icing, it was divided into separate bowls and dyed one red, one white, one pastel pink. Simeon was helping you learn how to properly flood the icing and both of you were trying to make as many different designs as possible using some of the sprinkles the kitchen had on hand and the different coloured icing. 

Not all of them ended up original but they were still super cute. Simeon had even made some extra preparations and bought little boxes to give the cookies in, boxing the cookies was relatively quick, although there was some debate on who to give each cookie to.

It didn’t take as long as you expected and there was still a bit of time before Solomon and Luke came back. Simeon expressed interest in you staying for dinner tonight, since that's the plan there’s you have extra time to hang out with Simeon before everyone else gets back. It’s an hour before they come back enough time to make dinner together and than clean up, it goes pretty smoothly and by the time Luke and Solomon are back the kitchen is as clean as it was when they left and the cookie scent was gone from the room which would keep them from asking questions and ruining the surprise for themselves. Dinner was nice and once it was finished there was a bit of chatting before Simeon pulled you to his room. There was a cute pink box sitting on his bed.

“I said there was going to be another gift, didn't I? Go ahead, open it.” You pull off the top of the box and inside is a small heart shaped cake, it's decorated with pink frosting as the base and white frosting as decorative piping with those large pearl sprinkles carefully placed on it. “Oh, it’s so pretty! Thank you.” 

“I made it yesterday, I’m glad you like it. ” He prepared a knife and plates that were placed off to the side. It’s a delicious vanilla cake with strawberry flavoured buttercream frosting, it’s a wonderful moment between just the two of you…

Until Solomon and Luke come barging in and interrupt the moment.

Masterlist

[bllsbailey]

Even NBC News Is Asking What Will Happen If Biden Drops Out

I doubt the writers at NBC News want this, or maybe they do because Joe Biden seems stuck in political purgatory. Joe’s approvals are in the toilet, hovering in the low 30s. There is no indication that a comeback of epic proportions is on the horizon for the rapidly decaying Biden. Besides lacking the elite political and communications skills required to complete such a feat, Joe lacks the energy. This turnaround takes much work, which Joe isn’t familiar with concerning his time in the White House. Though Republicans only control the House by a hair—literally—they’re not going to pass anything to help this administration, especially come springtime. 

Inflation remains high, and now the real estate market shows signs of immense gridlock, which could add to the Biden administration’s woes with voters. The White House is already facing a Muslim revolt, as legions of voters in these pro-terrorist enclaves that dot the Rust Belt have voiced their disgust over the president’s support for Israel. There have been some Democratic Party insiders who have pulled the usual pivots, like saying it’s too early. Still, the consensus is correctly grounded with Joe Biden’s 2024 chances being severely degraded by the lagging economy. So, what will happen if the Democrats decide to replace him? It’ll be a circus, and the same mayhem will probably ensue if they keep him (via NBC News) [emphasis mine]: 

What could go wrong? Plenty. What follows are five unpredictable twists that could upend the race and derail Democrats’ hopes of keeping the White House.  What if Biden drops out?  It can’t happen, can it?  There's no way the president would go home to Delaware and voluntarily give up an office he pined for his entire political career.  That’s the conventional thinking in Washington, anyway.  But what if Biden takes a hard look at his poll numbers and concludes he'd rather bail than risk losing to Trump, the GOP front-runner? Or if he is feeling every bit his age (81) and no longer wants all the travel and stress that come with the job? Or if he decides the negative attention heaped on his one surviving son, Hunter, would subside if he just took himself off the ballot and retired from politics?  None of that is expected; neither is it out of the realm of possibility. Over the last 50 years, Democrats have grown accustomed to a comparatively orderly and transparent process that empowered voters, not party bosses, to choose the presidential nominee.  Biden’s withdrawal from the race would disrupt all that, setting off a frenzied scramble for the nomination unlike anything that most Americans have seen in their lifetimes.  By early January, more than half of the filing deadlines to compete in party primaries and caucuses will have passed. So, depending on when the president were to exit the race, candidates would be jockeying to win over Biden delegates who suddenly found themselves without a candidate.  […]  OK, but what if Biden stays in?  July 26 must have been an uncomfortable day at Biden campaign headquarters.  On that fateful afternoon, 81-year-old Mitch McConnell was holding a news conference when the Senate Republican leader abruptly went quiet, staring vacantly at the cameras before he was led away from the scrum.  What if something similar were to happen to Biden? A brain freeze of some sort, a bad fall on the steps of Air Force One, a speech that devolves into gibberish — any fresh sign of frailty would reinforce Americans’ impression that Biden is too old for the job. Biden’s doctor proclaimed him “fit for duty” in February, but voters have their own ideas of how a president should look, act and sound — and Biden isn’t measuring up on that score.  The White House has organized itself in ways that minimize the chances of a Biden stumble — physical or otherwise. It’s no coincidence that Biden is forsaking the long staircase on Air Force One for the shorter one that unfolds from the belly of the plane.  But accidents happen.  Biden thinks “he can cheat nature here and it’s really risky,” David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to Barack Obama, told The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd last month.

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If there is one crew that shouldn’t be trusted with carrying out a heist like that—hiding Biden’s trip-ups—it’s this White House team. They have a spokesperson in Karine Grey Poupon, who is thoroughly inept at her job. That’s not the least of it. It seems every staffer and every cabinet appointee is outright abysmal at carrying out their tasks, so what makes you think the communications and advance teams can stop a Biden stumble or mental lapse? 

Besides the looming housing crisis, the Ukraine quagmire, high inflation, and Biden’s overall impression on voters that he’s too old, do we think that will be neutralized by the brutal schedule of a campaign season where COVID rules no longer apply? The man fell during the US Air Force's commencement, probably on his better days, too. 

Biden is going back on vacation literally 36 hours (maybe less) after coming back from a holiday. Any party leader with approvals in the 30s is radioactive to candidates' down-ticket. If Democrats wanted to boot him, they should’ve initiated the Brutus protocol months ago.

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