#that's a very brief explanation but there ya go

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

hiii wait these are my tags! is it that bad? should i really not have asked?

https://www.tumblr.com/letmetellyouaboutmyfeels/740459057488543744

*gently takes your face in my hands* Are you familiar with the term "ignorance is bliss"?

[krysmcscience]

Did somebody say Bill shouldn't be allowed to swear? I think somebody said Bill shouldn't be allowed to swear. Thanks to that, have these retooled The Good Place jokes:

The "powers that be" can refer to either the Theraprism staff, the Axolotl, or just. Ya know. Disney in general. Or all three! Whichever you think is funniest. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The "party" Bill's referring to is Weirdmageddon, of course. He was quite the ashhole to everyone back then.

Ford has probably gotten pretty good at the 'tune out your psychopathic ex with dank memes' challenge.

It must be very cathartic to be able to make Bill shut up whenever you want with just the press of a button. I'm sure Ford doesn't abuse this ability at all.

Oh, sure, 'Not now,' he says, before he immediately backs out of the newly-made hole in the Theraprism wall. 🙄

Don't worry, Bill doesn't get far.

also yeah i know this one doesn't have an attempted swear - i just wanted to use the joke because of the massive stink-eye involved in it because it makes me laugh

⬇️ More goofs beneath the brief ramble if you wanna skip it lmao⬇️

Why is Ford even there, you might ask? Well, he either decided he preferred to watch Bill suffer in person over being distantly and repeatedly harassed with the same evil desperation book for the rest of his life, or he got roped into some kind of contrived community service for 1.) all his many counts of interdimensional thievery, and 2.) his ignoring all the very clear warnings to NOT summon Bill in the first place (which I like to imagine is also illegal). Theraprism staff were just like, 'Wait, this guy matters to Bill? Ooh, we can USE that! It might be the only thing that can help him want to get better!' It is not considered that throwing Ford at Bill so soon after Weirdmageddon could instead make them both WORSE - in new and altogether special ways! :D

Anyway, I'm calling it the Community Service AU, and I am most likely not going to do anything else with it beyond appropriating these silly Good Place jokes. So, feel free to adopt the concept if y'all wanna??? Just make sure that Bill is still not allowed to swear, no matter what, full stop. It's gotta be a real linguistic corkblork of a situation for him, is all I'm sayin'.

Finally, have these bonus Good Place jokes, but with Handyman!Bill this time:

'Opposite tortures' doesn't sound so bad...at least until it's an all-powerful chaos entity known for torture saying it.

you may think i forgot mabel's cute pink cheeks but the truth is that i did in fact forget but then immediately stopped caring which makes it okay, SHHHHHHH

And, finally:

lmao this is shit

True facts, if you cram Season 1 Eleanor Shellstrop and Michael into a singular triangle shape, they turn into Bill Cipher. This is science, look it up. Or don't, and just trust the source that is me, bro.

Anyway, I should be in bed, y'all have fun with these, I guess. Tune in after like a week or so and maybe I'll have an addendum to my comic about how Bill was drawn naked for karaoke night. Because him actually being naked was not the only thing I considered as a plausible explanation. XD

Also if you see any inconsistencies or errors in any of these comics, No You Do Not :D

Also also, reblogs are rad as hell and I appreciate every single one, just don't repost, please and thanks. Every time a repost is made, an artist somewhere cries. :,)

[inubaki]

The Exchange

-final- part 8 -slight warning for Adam’s refusal to return from death-

“How dare you die…..” Lucifer spat between peeled lips. A wisp of flame escaped through his teeth as his body trembled with vainly concealed rage. The form gave no reaction. A being once so vibrantly animated now only stared seamlessly into Hell’s red skies. The gold pupils dulled and unblinking in a way that only enraged Lucifer further.

Even the puddle of angelic blood simmered in the heat extruding from his body, dissipating from his path in sparkling vapors at his approach. “How DARE you abandoned me AGAIN! You COW!!” His cane, as much of an extension of himself as his own tail and horns, prodding the first man’s jaw with a surprising gentleness the hard lines of devil’s face did not convey. When the human’s skin began to flush and crackle in the heat did Lucifer jerked away in a combustion of flaming curses. When the skin did not heal it only fueled him along, pacing as he stormed with no direction for his resentment. Nothing of holy intervention would save Adam this time.

“GET UP! YOU USELESS BASTARD!! Running your mouth was the only thing you’ve ever been good for!!” he demanded.

How dare God…how dare heaven. The only reason Lucifer had left Adam to them was their promise to shelter him always. All Lucifer had to do was wait, bidding his time for Adam to come to him voluntarily. How foolish he had been to play this human game for as long as he did.

“PIGS!! LIERS! MUURRRDERSS…!!!!!” his voice vibrated with a strength like an earthquake. His strength inexorable as he kicked and crushed through the debris that he left only to covet HIM. The body, the man that still refused to move dispute Lucifer’s unrelenting yearning. The gapping agony that festered the more it corroded by the second. A lifeless husk that stood no chance in his presence; blistering and flaying away skin in til only half its face was recognizable. It tear the Devil to see it no matter how wrong the shell had been.

It took every inch of Lucifer’s control to forcibly convert back the change and retain his humanoid shape. Shoving the fury inside if only to preserve what was left of the husk that was once his Adam.

“Fine!” he snapped allowed. Though the voice didn’t emit from his lips but all around them. He stormed back to the first man’s side, refusing to call it Adam. And with a non physical hand Lucifer reached for him. Reached for the spark that was truly HIM. The center of his universe. His true Adam.

“If unconditional love can only be gained from me then so be it!!”

Hate. It brimmed from all directions as if his essence was made out of jagged glass. Cutting and biting, the once malleable gentleness of Adam’s soul had been so utterly altered that it was nearly beyond recognition. Let. Go.

Little bastard was fighting him. Yet, dispute himself, Lucifer couldn’t help but adore the soul’s audacity. Even crafted by same hand that once crafted himself, the soul was a flick of dandruff in comparison to his own. Yet still it snarled in a fury against him. Let. Me. Die.

Frightened. Bitter. Resentful. Despair. Acedia. Vainglory. Covetousness. Tired. So. Tired. Insolent.

Lucifer laughed dispute his rage. Taking cruel delight in barring Adam all the more tightly to himself. Relishing his in struggles with a mocking laugh, “Good to see some life in you, little piglet. I feared they had castrated that too”.

LET. ME. DIE!

“Wake up, Adam”. Lucifer ordered coldly.

The tiny thing recoiled at the very idea and Lucifer mirth collapsed to cold contempt.

“Don’t make me drag you the rest of the way, ya little bitch!”

Lucifer’s hands pried out the newly fledged body from the roots of the tree. Just as violently as he dragged Adam’s essence back onto another shell. The last regiment of Eden sculpted like clay—-

The tree of knowledge, dragged down along side Lilith and himself into hell, finally collapsed.

Leaving all in exchange for him.

——-

final

yay! Done.

Brief explanation. These were mainly writing exercises since I get discouraged a lot. But here it goes. Eve’s consumption of the the apple and carrying their children gives her a higher connection to Lilith and Lucifer. But she’s naive and takes their actions more like a children’s wish. Alien to true death, she doesn’t see what the deal is when she repeatedly kills Adam. Or tricking him into Lucifer’s influence by sending him off to die by the lion. The markings Lucifer left on both of their backs are signs of their contracts. His star. -Adam upon discovering how they were suddenly so lucky in terms of hunting and dodging injury or illness, was horrified. But…reluctantly allowed it for the kids. As the boys grow older, an embittered Adam decides to take matters into his own hands. Willing to give anything for some semblance of control. Lucifer has been waiting for this and used this moment to have heaven’s favorite human to carry the first sin. Eve took this action as twice the rejection from both Adam and Lucifer, thinking nothing of trying to kill Adam again in her anger, but Adam kills her by strangling her with her own hair. Lucifer takes this as free pass to walk upon earth at Adam’s side. The pit is simply the make shift grave in which either Adam or Eve must rest to be resurrected.

Adam does give birth to all seven sins through Lucifer. While Eve gives birth to the children that would make up humanity through either Lilith or Lucifer. Lilith being her favorite. Adam’s deal was to finally walk his own path without guilt. But he dies before he can accomplish anything beyond being the mother of hell. Heaven never finds out about either of their transgressions, to blinded by their own pride and blind expectations. Adam got to heaven because of course he did. He’s theirs to own to mold. All of which Adam’s resentment festers. But the end he only believes true death will bring his freedom. To blind by his own transgressions he never thinks again about Lucifer’s contract. Nor their dealings. It never happened. And Hell always collects its debts. Even it’s Mother. ———- Prevs:

[ofstarsandvibranium]

Tour de Richmond

Fandom: Ted Lasso

Pairing: Jamie Tartt x F!Reader

Summary: Jamie gives you a tour of Richmond as well as gets to know you better. When you tell your cousin of his teammate's generosity, he suddenly becomes a bit hostile towards Jamie.

Meet Cousin McAdoo | Caffeine Crash

A/N: i looked up the bare minimum of the Richmond area. if anything is wrong, please let me know!

"So you've been around here, yeah?" Jamie asks, gesturing to the small shops that neighbors the cafe you were just at.

"A bit. Haven't really gone in any of these shops. But they're cute!"

"We can pop in a few if you'd like?" he suggests, pointing to a bookshop to your left.

"Another time."

Jamie shrugs, "Suit yourself."

He guides you away from the shops and towards, "The Richmond Green. The general gathering spot for people here. Kids like to play football here. There's sometimes cricket tournies here too."

You smile at the gathering of people scattered around the green acres. You see a small group of people doing yoga, three teens kicking a football around, people walking their dogs around. It's a very comforting atmosphere.

Jamie does his best not to be obvious about looking at you. He finds himself smiling to himself because you seem to find joy in the sights before you. He then turns to the view and realizes that he's never really enjoyed watching everything and everyone. He's always ran past them all during trainings and whatnot.

"Sorry, is it okay if we sit down and people watch for a little?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," he follows you to a bench where you both sit down.

You sit your drink and stare, "It's nice to just sit here and watch everything. I find it very calming. I don't get to do it much back home, though, always too busy with work and life."

"I don't think I've ever done this. I felt like I need to be on the go, ya know? Spend my time trying to get better, improvin' and all that."

You turn your attention to him, "You've never given yourself a break? What do you do during the off season? Don't you go on vacation?"

He shrugs, "I'm busy practicin'. I'll visit me mum and Simon sometimes, but they're doing their own travelin' a lot of the time," he nudges you with his shoulder, "What about you? Have you done any travelin'?"

"When my aunt married Isaac's uncle, that was the first time I travelled. They had a destination wedding in France. Wanted to be in the city of love and romance. That's where I met Isaac. We became really close through that trip. He's like my big brother. Always looking out for me." you take another sip of your drink and stand to your feet, "Okay. I'm ready to continue."

Jamie follows as you two continue to walk around the green. He points over in one direction, "Right there is the Richmond Palace. The Tudors lived there and some shit. Over there is the Richmond Theater. They do plays and stuff there."

You snort at Jamie's explanations, "Some tour guide you are! You're not going to give me a brief history on the town or these historic landmarks?" you give him a playful smirk.

He chuckles, "I'm sorry I didn't do me homework before offerin' you a tour. Here," he pulls out his phone, quickly typing something and clearing his throat, "Richmond was founded following King Henry VII's building in the 16th century of Richmond Palace.  The town and palace became particularly associated with Queen Elizabeth I , who spent her last days there," he lowers his phone down, smirking at you, "Better?"

You giggle, "You're funny. Are all of Isaac's teammates like you?"

"Nah. I'm the best outta all of them. I'm the funniest, best lookin'-"

"Most humble," you add with jest.

Jamie's smiling at you. He enjoys your company. He feels at ease around you and he's only spent maybe an hour in your presence. He likes this little back and forth you and he seem to be doing. It's nice. It's fun. Maybe-

A ringing comes from your bag and you swiftly pull your phone out, answering, "Good morning, sleepy head...I woke up early and thought I'd grab a coffee," you roll your eyes, "Don't be dramatic, Isaac, I'm an adult. I can handle myself...I'm not alone. Jamie." you sigh, "Yes, Jamie Tartt. Hold on," you pull the phone away from you and hold it out to Jamie, "He wants confirmation I'm really with you?"

Jamie takes the phone and presses it to his ear, "Yeah, what's good, man?"

"You better keep her safe, bruv. If anything happens to her-"

"Oi! Chill man! We're just walking around the fuckin' park."

"I'm serious, Jamie."

"We'll be fine. She's a grown adult, man. Let her be," he hands the phone back to you.

"If you're going to be like this my entire visit, I'm getting a hotel, Isaac...yes, I'm serious! ...again, I can handle myself. I'll see you soon. Bye!" you immediately end the call and take a long sip from your coffee.

"I get he loves you and all, but Jesus. I can practically see that vein in his head ready to pop out."

You burst out laughing, "I know exactly what you're talking about! Also the way he frowns when he's all serious. Like," you do your best impression of Isaac frowning and Jamie laughs, "That's pretty good."

"Thanks," you reply with a smile, "I'm sorry about Isaac, by the way. Like I said, he's like my big brother and he sometimes takes the role too seriously. But he means well."

"I know. He's a good guy."

Another hour goes by of you and Jamie chatting, him occasionally pointing out some other Richmond landmarks. It was a very pleasant morning spent. He walked you all the way back to Isaac's.

"Thank you, Jamie. This morning was fun."

"I'm glad. Sorry again for crashin' into ya like that."

You shrug, "It's okay. It led to a fun little adventure with you."

Jamie slowly backs away from you, "See ya around."

"See ya!" you wave as he's lightly jogging down the street. You continue to watch him as he fades from view. There's a little fluttering in your chest and you feel a bit giddy.

You open the door to Isaac's and you yelp in surprise as he's standing there, arms over his chest, looking very stern.

"Uh, hi?"

"Did Jamie try anything?"

"What? No! He just gave me a tour of the town!"

"So he didn't try to kiss you or nothin'?"

You roll your eyes, "Nothing happened, Isaac. And if something did, it's none of your business! Besides, I thought you said Jamie is a better person now."

"Doesn't mean he can date you."

"Whatever," you pass him and head to the kitchen to make yourself a snack.

[momo-shut-the-fuck-up]

Hello I’m new! I read somewhere that most of the outfits so far have been very Lilith kingdom coded (??) because that’s what the heartland kingdom is based on (??) and they predicted that when we get clothes they’ll usually be in the design of the location we’re in in-game?? Do you have any expertise or comments to share with an enthusiastic Nikki newbie?

Hihi welcome to nikkiverse :] This is quite a long reply, thats y it took me so long to get to ya.

I summarised the 7 nations and their respective styles/names across the franchise, and included a link to a more in depth explanation of the nations of Miraland if you feel like doin research- but then i saw that post had a much better and much more succinct TLDR than i made oops. So i ll keep what i wrote but if u dont feel like readin it, just go to the reddit.

I'll give you a v brief overview of the other games too, thats y im tryna save u from my rambling lol- it aint over once u get past the nations pfft. Put it under a readmore cuz it was gettin looong

Ninir/lilith/Heartcraft kingdom: cutesy and/or fairytale-esque designs. Most people call it Lilith, from Love nikki. I can see why they started with Lilith, it s the most "whimsical" of the bunch, and they love that word. Its true that there's been a good amount of Lilith-styled suits released so far, but there's a decent amount of apple and north and now we have cloud styles too- hold on,

Apple Federation/Starhail Federation- It's basically modern styles, and anythin that doesnt quite fit into the rest of the nations. Styles are very varied and range from Regular Girl from Class to Worlds Most Overdesigned Gacha Character (and they fuck hard). The trend is just that the clothes are inspired by (relatively) modern fashion trends.

Cloud/Linglang empire- chinese/east asian traditional clothing. Devs loove cloud, ofc they do, bcs theyre a chinese company. If ur into this style too, ur in for a wonderful time playin these games buddy

North kingdom/ Empire of light: Millitary style, knights, soldiers, cool bitches w guns or just cool bitches in general (istg sometimes they put apple suits in north for no reason) oh also fluffy warm clothing. Its cold in the north after all. They dont get a lot of suits.

Pigeon/Twinmoon Kingdom: European style clothes, as well as religious inspos, and demons/angels (pigeon has always had some connection with the church). Academia, steampunk, uhh idk victorian clothing etc. U get the vibe yea?

Wasteland/Terra Alliance: Racism land. Or more accurately, whatever seems "exotic" to devs, they throw it in there. Ancient egyptian, middle east, indian, uhh idk dreamcatchers r wild right? Put that in there. they have some native american ones too and yeah they re all pretty questionable. Wasteland doesn't have a great reputation. Idk if infinikki will be better about this, but when u throw half the planet's traditional clothing styles into a mixer you re already doin somethin wrong imo

Ruin island/Whale port: Futurism babey. Wires and glowy things and tech and robots n shit. Pretty simple really

https://www.reddit.com/r/InfinityNikki/comments/1hbslkd/an_general_introduction_to_the_seven_nations_of/?rdt=49525

Here s the reddit post. Very helpful, a Nikkiverse veteran that explains the world of Miraland for people just getting into it in Infinikki. I just realised at the very bottom of their post, there's a much more compact TLDR of the nations than I cooked up.... coulda saved me a lotta trouble writing it and you a lotta trouble reading it...

So. In the other games (Love/Shining Nikki) we get whatever style the devs feel like throwing at us. Sometimes there s craftable ones related to the main story thus the location we're in. But in Infinity Nikki it's slightly different.

We are Not region locked in terms of aesthetics- as i said, we got Apple and North style clothes as well as stuff from Cloud, alongside the cutesy Lilith style clothing. A lot has been "Lilith Kingdom coded" as you put it, because we are in Lilith equivalent. (I Think we have some Pigeon coded stuff too- but sometimes Apple/Lilith/Pigeon's styles blur together a bit)

However, i d guess it's gonna be some time before we get Ruin style suits, let alone Wasteland- they're already the least popular in devs minds, they have the least amount of suits in every single game so far. So ima guess we're only half region locked, but not at all completely stuck with bows and frills.

Now, I don't really know if you're currently Playin any of the games. Ima guess infinikki is ur gateway drug?

Love Nikki is a lot of people's first Nikki game. 2D and incredibly detailed, it's been running for- close to 10 years now. It's Old, and feels old, and isn't very friendly to newcomers- but if you get past it's clunk you'll get the most robust 2D dress up experience there is. Except that yes, we have bunch of skintones, but none of them work with 99% of makeups..... devs have a bad track record with diversity.

Shining Nikki is the new shiny (ha) 3D game that got a global release in 2021. I was there day 1 i was so fuckin hyped for it- and it does it's job damn well. Much more intuitive and more f2p friendly than Love Nikki, but it will fry your phone. Monkey's paw curls.

And Infinity Nikki is "what if Sn was open world" except that we're not even in the same world as Sn do nvm.... Clothes are every bit as detailed as in Sn, and i'll stop here cuz my guess is that ur comin from here. If sn fries ur phone tho, infinikki destroys it- cant really enjoy the beautiful dresses unless u got a nasa phone or play on pc. If u can tho, it's the most straightforward of the bunch in terms of gameplay- really made for beginners of the franchise.

Soo pick ur poison, or play all 3 if ur insane. Read the main story, or don't, make pretty outfits, save diamonds so u can get more pretty clothes to make pretty outfits with- now Nikki has cemented herself in your life. You can never leave. You will wake up in a cold sweat at 12 am thinkin "oh fuck shit i didnt do my dailies-"

That is to say, remember these are all gacha games, Infinikki being the purest form of them 3. Thus, they all have inherently predatory monetization. Be conscious of it and spend responsibly if you choose to do so. It's not necessary per se, i haven't spent in love nikki in- 3 or so years i think? (I got mad at devs so i did my own lil boycott lol- long story,) and ever since sn came out, i think i gave em like, 60? 80? I dont remember. Its a lot when put in plain numbers, but when i think this was across 4 years, it makes me feel better lol.

And well, i think these are the essentials to know- honestly, the whole nations stuff isn t even needed to get started, but you asked specifically about it, so i gave u the rundown. Nikkiblr is a much smaller community than others, but it's cozy in here- hope u stick around~

[rypaliine]

In a writing mood hehehhehehehe

I wanted to make some canon Diskverse content quickly, so here ya go

This one is really to just show the morality of Disk and Eden

(Also, don't expect me to be a great writer or anything. If y'all want good writers, go check out Kaludiaa)

Slight update: i sketched 'em up

————

Another universe, this one bubbling with life. Disk noted that this might be a neutral timeline. Considering that there are no major Monsters dead, but they aren't on the surface either.

Disk was walking through Snowdin town. Making other monsters turn their head from confusion, since when was there another skeleton?

On this small trip Disk had brought a large bag with him, filled with.. fireworks? The skeleton has yet again planned something stupid for him to do just for the sake of passing time.

He made his way to the decorated tree in the dead centre of the town, and begun placing the fireworks on the branches. While putting up the "decorations", he tried to ignore the curious Monster Kid that was stumbling towards him.

"Yo, i've never seen you here before!" The kid tried to open up a conversation. Disk just side-eyed him quickly and tried focusing on his project. "Uh, cool decors'! I've never seen thing like that before, what are they?" MK said, still trying to get Disk to talk.

"Fireworks, they spit out some wicked colours." Disk hoped that this brief explanation would make the tiny monster leave him be. But no, that just got the Kid more interested.

Disk tried to ignore the many questions the young one was spitting at him. But the annoying babbling was getting on his nerves.

Disk finally placed the last firework and connected all of them with a singular wire. "If you wanna see what they look like in action, stay right there, as close as possible." Disk smirked and looked at the kid. He knew damn well what he was doing.

The MK sat down intrigued by the upcoming lightshow. Disk begun to walk away, with the wire on his hands, the line was long enough to reach the outskirts of the town. There Disk sat down on the snowy ground and called at a nearby conveniently shaped lamp. "Yo Eden, come check it out! Since ya wanted to see what fireworks look like, i set 'em up just for you."

Eden, who was hiding behind the lamp just complained in return. "I don't wanna go out there. There's people."

"Aw c'mon stop whining, this 's so cool and ya are gonna be missin' it soon." Disk kept convincing him. And after a slight silence Eden groaned and walked from behind the lamp. And sat down on the cold snow, right next to Disk.

Eden just stared at the bubbling city from where he was. "So uh, where's the fireworks?" He asked.

"In that tree, ya see?" Disk pointed at the decorated spruce.

"No, i can't see." Eden squinted his eyes only seeing the silhouette of the tree, his eyes really aren't top notch. And he had the great idea to leave his glasses back in Enchanttale.

"Well whateva, ya are gonna see the explosion anyway since the colours are brighter than a supernova." Disk giggled.

"Wait wait wait. Explosion?" Eden realised "But ain't that town full of people?" He started panicking, and shot a worried look at Disk.

"Yup, but it's worth it, the tree's decorations leave a glittery snowfall after the explosions." Disk tried to elaborate his decision.

Wow. That is his excuse of potentially harming people. Eden felt his anger raising fast. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WORTH IT', SOME MONSTERS COULD DIE FROM THIS EXPLOSION OF YOURS?" Eden shouted, the lights in his sockets were shaky.

"Damn chill, there are millions of other timelines where these people are living a happy life, one ruined AT ain't the end of the world." Disk rolled his eyes.

Eden went quiet with the desire to protest, but he already felt quilty for yelling at the very person who took him away from a doomed life. Whatever. Disk knows better than i do. I'm being too sensitive about this. It's just a timeline. Just. A. Timeline.

Eden scolded himself.

Disk snapped his fingers and pointed again at the tree, waking Eden up from his thoughts.

Silence, both were preparing themselves mentally for the upcoming lightshow.

After the wait, Disk set the line on fire. Eagerly waiting for the look on Eden's face.

—

The aftermath. People were screaming in horror, standbyers dusted. Eden stared in horror.

But the lights were beautiful. Disk smiled.

[t00thpasteface]

Just thought I’d tell ya that i came to your blog for all the Stabby bois (Ezio, Lucien- Ect) and Oblivion love— and then i stuck around for the M.A.S.H. - and since im strange i am trapped in the wondering limbo of your thoughts on Crossovers? And if you’ve ever considered what would happen if it happened between M.A.S.H. and literally any other fandoms??

(Not of course because i’ve looked up Assassin’s Creed/M.A.S.H crossovers before and found nothing but the gnawing desire to hunt down anyone who may have thoughts on it- no siree definitely not me- totally)

I've never really been one for crossovers, personally, at least as actual explorations of fused/swapped settings. The most I ever really care to see is Pokemon teams or Animal Crossing fursonas for whatever other random thing I like, and that's really just eye candy without thinking too hard about any narrative.

I'm very hesitant to do genuine MASH crossovers with anything, or shift the setting into AU territory, because I feel like introducing too many extraneous elements cheapens the message.

Under all the satire and farces, the meat of the show is that war is manmade, gruesome, and pointless. Once you start cross-contaminating MASH's ultimately very grounded historical fiction with the lore of things like Assassin's Creed, where alien-gods created humans and made special artifacts to mind-control them, MASH gains very little and loses a lot. The human element of war, cruelty, and bigotry is blurred or entirely lost in the face of fantastical fictitious concepts like alien mind control, genetically inherited memories, etc., because it provides alternate explanations for the core conflict (the war and the existence of war), thus cheapening the central pillar of MASH.

Note: yes, the show has a couple nods here and there to some degree of metaphysics, like Radar reading Hawkeye's mind in one episode or Mulcahy willing a patient back from death's door in another, but these are not loadbearing concepts and those individual scenes have little bearing on the setting as a whole and the logic it operates on; you could excise those brief scenes and never feel their absence in the narrative(s) the same way you would if you cut out any scene involving the Apple of Eden in AC II.

Because even on a deeper level, besides just a setting and its rules and logic, there's also the issue of crossing-over MASH with things that have an oppositional message. Again using AC, even if the games had absolutely none of the crazy alien sci-fi going on and it was just about following Ezio Auditore's adventures in slaughtering noblemen and beating the shit out of the Borgias, the tone and arcs of that story, and the other main historical stories in the series, is ultimately that of a power fantasy, because that's what the games are designed from the ground-up to be. Crossing-over MASH with another work of realistic historical fiction that still doesn't meet its message— a movie or a book or something where patriotism is a good thing and America represents some noble ideal— would undermine MASH just the same way as adding aliens or vampires or timeloop-magic would.

If I absolutely gun-to-my-head had to make a MASH crossover with some other work of fiction that I like, it would be Catch-22. To be fair, the book is far more absurdist (one character is literally named Major Major Major Major), but it's grounded in the very real horrors of war and the senselessness of human cruelty on both a societal and a personal scale. Yossarian witnesses, and participates in, a very real kind of death and violence. No acrobatics, no magic: just raw murder and suicide. There's no glory in it. There's no magazine-worthy photos of men wading ashore onto a beach or leaning on each other to plant a flag. There's just a bunch of officers and businessmen all trying to make some numbers go up at literally any cost.

Of course, to have Yossarian and the chaplain anywhere near the 4077th means they'd have to be forced back into a warzone, and I don't think they could survive that, so... you probably won't see any MASH-22 fics from me any time soon.

[marointhemoon]

It would have been fine...

Chapter 5

Travis hasn’t gotten consistent physical contact since he left the Horizon for the first time. He hasn’t had much reason to think much about it, either. And then some plant goes and attacks him and he’s starting to see why the lack of contact might be a problem.

This is a multi-chapter work. Click here to start from the beginning.

Malcolm was warming up.

That was the only explanation that made any sense.

It made Travis laugh in hindsight. Malcolm was being a lot touchier than usual, but in a very Malcolm way. Alongside Trip’s playful punches, he got a hand lightly patting or resting on his upper back. Along with Hoshi patting his shoulder as she left the bridge, he got a firm squeeze. It wasn't like he wasn't still getting plenty of affection from both Hoshi and Trip; the difference in the kind of affection just refused to stop being funny.

One thing was perfectly clear, though: Malcolm was trying. Everything else aside, the thought made Travis smile. In truth, the pollen hadn’t bothered him at all in a few days. He’d visited Phlox a couple hours after asking everyone over, and he’d been given a clean bill of health. By all accounts, the pollen had gone away.

Travis couldn't say the same of his thoughts about what Hoshi and Trip had said.

"If you want more hugs, I’m happy to give them.”

"If ya need lovin’ on, ya need lovin’ on. Doe’n’t matter the reason, either."

The memory of their words made his heart swell. He knew they'd cared about him; that much had been obvious. But he hadn't missed the way Trip had looked at Malcolm when he'd said he agreed with not asking for affection. He knew enough about the older man's upbringing; if anything, he probably had even less experience with it than Travis himself did.

He decided to put his theory to the test in the mess that night. He, Malcolm, Trip, and Hoshi had all gotten off of Alpha shift at the same time, talking as they ate dinner together. Travis finished eating first and sat back in the booth, quietly listening to everyone else and occasionally interjecting. At some point, Malcolm did a quick scan of the room, as if searching for a hidden threat. Finding none, he sat back in the booth, crossing one leg over the other.

A couple seconds later, Travis threw an arm around his shoulders. The smaller man blinked in surprise, his face flushing a little, but relaxed into the contact as he seemed to realize what was happening. Trip and Hoshi each raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

As the conversation wore on, Malcolm confirmed Travis' suspicions, slowly letting himself lean in closer. His breaths came deeper and easier, and Travis could feel the residual tension in his shoulders start to leave. Travis didn't think he'd ever seen Malcolm more relaxed. He didn't particularly care about the visual of the armory officer under his arm, either. The pollen hadn't completely left his system yet, and the pressure was still deeply comforting. 

"That pollen still givin' you shit?" Trip eventually asked after a brief lull.

"Yeah, a little," Travis lied. "It's starting to go away, though." 

"Well, that's good," Hoshi remarked, resting her cheek in her hand.

Travis internally cursed himself. He hadn't meant to lie. Still, he thought. He didn't want this all to go away just because the pollen had left. He was just starting to become comfortable with getting hugged this often.

But then, as Trip had said, none of them were psychic.

Fuck it. One step at a time.

"I was thinking..." Travis started.

Trip's eyebrows rose a little. Hoshi leaned in a little closer. There was a loaded pause. Why was this so difficult?

"I was thinking, would you guys want to hang out at my quarters at some point? Watch a movie? I know it's kinda cramped, but..."

Hoshi seemed to cotton on to the proposition first, her expression softening into an affectionate smile. "Doesn't matter," she said. "It sounds like fun." She glanced at Trip, raising an eyebrow. "Right?"

Trip blinked a couple times, before realization came over his face. He nodded sagely, a similar smile creeping onto his face. "Yeah." He turned to Malcolm. "And there's more where that came from," he added, gesturing at the smaller man's unguarded posture as he leaned into Travis' side.

To everyone's silent dismay, Malcolm immediately straightened up, startled. "Right—yeah." He relaxed a little. "Yeah, that sounds good," he added, his voice going a little softer.

Trip smirked, giving Malcolm a knowing look. Malcolm shot him a look of his own, then rolled his eyes. "Yes. I know. I'm going."

A soft chuckle made its way around the table once, then again as Malcolm slowly relaxed back into the position he'd been in. Travis gave him an affectionate, one-armed squeeze, his own expression relaxing again. "Friday night work?"

All at once, Travis heard a "yep" from Trip and two hums of assent.

He smiled. "Sounds like a plan."

As it turned out, he didn’t need the endorphins to be absolutely ecstatic.

Chapters:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 (you are here)

[sunriseverse]

@vaynglories replied to your post “10, 14, 16, 17 for the writing q's!”:

I AM ASKING NOW. TELL ME ABOUT THE USES OF "BAD WRITING" (if you want to) (also hardcore agree on the first person thing. so many oft-hated-upon devices can be used to good effect, it's all about the manner in which they're used!)

​okay sorry to only get to this [checks timestamp] twelve hours later BUT i have so so many feelings about this so thank you for encouraging me.

for this post, i'll be talking about the generally hated styles/types of writing, the ones that people always so to NEVER DO, that i can remember off the top of my head. (if i miss one that you want to hear about, let me know!!! i love talking about this subject.) i'll list them off very quickly so you have a general idea what i'm talking about: second person pov, first person pov, "excessive" italicisation, stream-of-consciousness, lack of dialogue tags, grammatical errors, repetition, "overly" detailed/purple prose, and omission of information.

(this got long, oops. sticking it below the cut for readability.)

as a brief preface, i'll say this: i think that a lot of these things are hard to pull off in a way that works. it takes a lot of experience, skill, and understanding of both the medium you're working with, and what each of these things conveys. but so often i see people warning authors away from them entirely, which is, in my opinion, shortsighted at best, and stunting of creativity at worst. now i'll give an explanation for each of these, and how i've used them/how i think they can be used effectively.

second person pov: this is arguably the most "intimate" pov, because you're making the reader an implicit party to the narrative, moreso than usual. that doesn't mean the narrator is the reader, though! second person pov can also help to create, paradoxically, a distance from the actual narrator. you can see this in the harrow the ninth novel, for one example, and in another, i've used second person a couple times in my recent works; here's an example of it:

You didn’t bother trying to answer. You knew well enough that the best option in the battlefield of pain was silence. They, you thought, perhaps, were waiting for you to make a sound; to groan, or grunt, or moan, or wail. They forgot you were as Zhang as they were. This was not a smugness; this was a fact you knew as well as the length of your fingers had been burnt into you.

here, the second person pov blurs the lines between the reader's experience, and xiaoge's experience, but does not make the reader the narrator; not that that would be a bad thing, but in this case, that's not what i was going for; you can tell who the narrator is based on details that are given. the second person pov also makes the narration feel more factual—it is being experienced rather than being observed.

first person pov: very common in YA novels, but adult novels have first person povs as well! you just don't hear about them as much. i would say first person pov is one of the harder things on this list, because it can be hard to characterise the narrator without making them feel too much like a self insert/audience insert. that said, first person pov is a great way to convey mystery, suspense, and have an unreliable narrator! to keep with giving examples, the main dmbj novels are told in first person form; they, therefore, are necessarily filtered through what wu xie deems important, and as you go further along, it becomes clear that someones—maybe even often—he's bending the truth, giving a very biased account, or just straight out lying or forgetting things, not to mention that, necessarily, there are things he just doesn't know that you don't learn about until either a. someone else states them upfront, or b. npss writes a third person pov novel that mentions the fact. some other novels with first person povs: the tiger's daughter, the employees, the murderbot diaries. the first two are epistolary, and the second two have mystery elements; in both cases, the first person pov has a specific purpose, which it fulfils well.

"excessive" italicisation: this is a complaint i've heard less often, but i have heard it, so it's going on the list. oftentimes people tell you to reserve italics for special occasions, not much unlike the way older generations would have told you to restrict your exclamation mark usage. it's a matter of stylistic preference, i'll be blunt, and carries with it a lot of implication that are culturally specific. for example, if you're writing in chinese, you necessarily cannot italicise—but i digress. italicisation is good for drawing special, specific emphasis to things; i've used it in my writing to indicate altered mental states before, as i have personal experience with my mental state being altered by psychiatric episodes that cause me to give undue attention to seemingly "trivial" things, changed my speech patterns, etc. from a very old pacific rim fic, where the narrating character is still suffering under the effects of being possessed and having his mental state altered by it:

This time, the guards don’t protest as Hermann dismisses them—a quick jerk of his head and they’re gone. “They gave me thicker socks this time,” Newt says conversationally, part of him wanting to shift from foot to foot, but he remains still.

as you can see, the italicisation gives the dialogue a strange, almost jarring, artificial quality. it's as if it's being read off by an autogenerated voice, rather than a human—which, considering the fic touches upon the experience of humanity, is fitting.

stream-of-consciousness: not a very common thing, but in my opinion, good for showing altered mental states—be it due to extreme fear or stress, mental health issues, or tense situations. i've used this a couple times, in a sha hai fic where li cu is experiencing a sudden realisation of what, exactly, is sharing his body with him, and the conflicting thoughts between him and the parasite, and i've also used it in sunrise more recently, describing xiaoge's experience hiveside, in a place that cannot properly be comprehended by the human mind:

The stone scrapes against the wall. Li Cu breathes, and blinks, and you are not alone in this body the other has noticed you the other must not be allowed to Li Cu wants to run wants to drown himself until the sensation leaves the panicked sparrow in his chest the body will listen to you and you will return to It because that is the only way this can end one foot before the other move slowly move steadily don’t harm this body it is all you have until It do not let the other do as it wishes Li Cu wants to yell wants to scream Li Cu wants to flee Li Cu is a rabbit in a snare Li Cu is a deer’s neck snapping beneat the force of a tiger’s jaws Li Cu is a sparrow Li Cu is a mouse Li Cu is fucking done no he is not fucking letting this thing do whatever it wants with the body is no longer listening the other has grown too strong a flameburst a flash of fangs the other has noticed the other should have been excised Li Cu is not fucking letting this be his end Li Cu is not fucking dying down here Li Cu is not, Li Cu is not, fingers clumsy on the zippers, fumbling as they shift through the contents, tubes and papers and they’re heavy on the hands they fit so nicely isn’t it strange it’s never been thought of before that excision isn’t always cutting isn’t it strange that excision can be burning too that you can cauterise an infection can cauterise an interloper can cauterise

and

in this place in this space he will have no moment to breathe no moment to blink no moment to slow in this place he will have no self no other only IT and ALL ELSE because that will be the truth of IT that it will see not in terms of differentiation but in SELF and OTHER and he will be OTHER and he will fight it better than anything or anyone before because he will be the only one who has the memory of before the only one who won’t corrupt at its touch though it will burn though it will sing and oh it will be blinding oh it will be vibrant oh it will paint the hollow of his mind in beautiful beautiful colours no other will be able to comprehend in this moment he will for a second become not OTHER but rather IT become not OTHER but SELF and it will be this that he fights mostly this that he battles the longest SUBSUMATION INTO THE WHOLE that he dances away from will be the CONSUMPTION that he holds the walls against firm will be this that he will try and summon the memories of THEM and this that will succeed but not for yet not for now NOT JUST QUITE NO NOW IS NOW IS NOW IS NOW IS

lack of dialogue tags: as long as you know what you're doing, it's actually not that hard to make it clear who's speaking even if you're not using dialogue tags. i haven't seen this in a published novel, but i've both used and seen it before in character study-type fics, and in remembered conversations, where the focus is less on a conversation happening, and more on the experience of the conversation. it also, in my opinion, tends to add a surreal atmosphere to the section it's being used in—more like an image than text. there is, of course, also the lack of dialogue tags in speech when talking about telepathic communication, but i don't think that that's usually what's being talked about when it comes to this.

grammatical errors: while annoying when made because an author doesn't know better, in the hands of an experienced writer, these can be very effective at conveying altered mental states, giving a sense of foreboding or surrealism, or for characters that aren't human or for some reason have no experience or memory of being human. i forgot to add this to the list, but grammatical errors also blend a bit with formatting errors—formatting is a great way to build a certain atmosphere, be that ascetic, horror, etc.

repetition: can be annoying, but has genuine applications! if there's a truth that a character holds particularly firmly, that might show up in repetitive narration. on top of this, if there's something particularly strange, eye-catching, or an overwhelming emotion or experience, this can also show up in repetition. repetition pressed closer together can give the sense of a stifling, claustrophobic atmosphere, or that a character is experiencing something overwhelming, and spread out, it can be used to establish themes and characterisation.

"overly" detailed/purple prose: i am a purple prose defender until the day i die. just because some people who don't know what they're doing make purple prose a slog doesn't mean that it's inherently bad. prose that's "excessively detailed" can be a good way to establish character—they may pay particular attention to detail due to, for example, constantly needing to be aware of their surroundings for safety or political reasons, etc—, and a good way to establish dynamics between characters, convey emotion, and give the world of the writing a more "realistic", vibrant feel to it. i especially appreciate detailed prose for its ability to convey emotion—as someone who's a character writer, i rely a lot on the prose to convey the character's emotions, and thus, characterise them, and carry the narrative.

omission of information: sometimes the narrator won't tell you things and that is not only okay, but also good! it can be a great way to characterise a character—what do they focus on? what do they avoid? what does this say about them? are they omitting these things only from those around them, only the reader, or both? how does the reader's perspective change if/when they find out what's been omitted? in my opinion, a lot of great usages of omission come from them being only omitted in one or two ways—as in, there are hints as to the omission, that the reader could have pieced together, but they trusted the narrator, or just didn't notice them because they were paying more attention to what was being said directly rather than what was being alluded to by the other characters. omission is similar, in my opinion, to plot twists—it works best when the reader had enough tools to figure it out, but for whatever reason, didn't.

okay that's the end of my very long rant. i hope this makes sense!!! and if there's things i missed let me know and i'll talk about them :)

[fireandiceland]

you mentioned in the tags that you like austrias portrayal, any particular reason why? i ask with best intentions possible since i always look forward to his canon appearances and i’m really curious how an austrian feels about him. that’s if you’re up for it though lol.

Hey, it’s completely fine to ask this. I think I’ve gotten asks about how I feel about him as a character before lol

First of all I think aph Austria aka Roderich really captures that mentality of always complaining before thinking further. I don’t know why but we don’t just accept something, there needs to be complaining first and then there’s a high chance it will be accepted without any or only minor changes. But agreeing to something without calling it unnecessary and or giving in without questioning the purpose behind it all (even if there’s no actual explanation desired) is something I can easily identify with as an Austrian. 😅

It’s canon that Roderich’s state of health is party dependent on how Germany (I think mostly his economy) is doing. I’m not sure I’m how far that transfers to real life, I guess as an EU member we’re kinda dependent on the strength of every other member, but what is true is that Austria often seems to see what Germany is doing before doing it ourselves. Like the Pfandsystem for plastic bottles and cans. This is also the reason why we’re still waiting what our government is going to do when Germany legalises marijuana cause now they say no we won’t do that but we know how it was with other things lol 👀

Back to the topic: cake! Austria is seen enjoying cake quite a few times in the manga and in the anime too! My family often has cake in the afternoon when guests are over or sometimes even for breakfast on weekends when there’s some leftovers from a party or whatever. Having a piece of afternoon cake with a cup of coffee or tea is something very casual to me, like we do it so often it’s not for special occasions. It can be a random Tuesday and my grandma has a Sachertorte at the ready 😇

Also that thing about walking slowly 😩 as someone who has inhabited the Gay Walk (ya know that thing where people in the lgbt+ community are said to walk fast for some reason) I am suffering in big crowds cause people are so fucking slow. But adding onto this I think especially in the mountains people have a high endurance, going hiking or just walking longer distances so we might be a nation of slow walkers but we don’t get tired that easily (at least that’s not something I’ve observed in my circle. My friends and I are just lazy and we can admit that.)

I just churned this out in one go right after waking up cause I felt like it so I might add more later if I can think of sth but thank you for the ask and I hope this gives a brief view of why I personally feel like he’s a good representation of the Austrian mentality (or at least the stereotypical one lol) 😉

[henriiiii-1001]

ion know how to reach out to ya other than sending you an ask, im also doing this so i can give you all the freedom to answer it publicly meaning youd have all the leverage, not me.

you know who it is by now im sure XAXAXA and before you go and delete this ask i need a huge, huge favor from you. i am, first of all, legitimately, from the bottom of my goddam heart to the tippy top, sorry for the way i treated you back in 2022 and 2023. while i was thirteen, fourteen, whatever, i should have known better. i was in the wrong, ill gladly admit, and i should have left you alone. no ifs, and, ors, buts, whatever. i was fucking with vou iust to fuck with vou. that wasnt fair at all. while i have obviously grown and matured and yada yada i still owe you an apology, and ion expect forgiveness. just wanna clear the air that ion hate you anymore.

it was internet drama and i let it go

all i need is proof, evidence, at the very LEAST a statement proving that "mayabuckleystan" was originally my blog. you deleted it, which surprisingly and unbeknownst to you, makes this a bit harder for me.

i wont get into the nitty gritty details as its not your business or burden or watchmacallit, im just giving you a very brief explanation:

soundlessnoise, rabbit, whatever you know them as, is a fucking groomer. i have, for months now, been attempting to write out a concise timeline of events to prove that rabbit is faking an identity and acted as a whole nother goddam person to run away from what they did to me. if i can prove that we met under my alias of, at the time, mayabuckeystan, youd be doing me a HUGE goddam favor. i have screenshots of my posts but i unfortunately cannot prove its mine as the web archive makes it appear as if you were the owner of that blog.

that is all i need. it doesnt even have to be an answer to this ask, just a dm saying "yes, mayabuckleystan was gavins/yours, i took the url, but at some point in time it was yours." seriously. thank you.

again, im sorry for everything, but thats literally all i need lol. i have screenshots of my posts but i unfortunately cannot prove its mine as the web archive makes it appear as if you were the owner of that blog. ive already been faced with doubt because unfortunately some morons would rather believe a half-baked “ermmm thats not me guys” over mountains of evidence!!! i just want ts to be as concise as possible.

that is all i need. it doesnt even have to be an answer to this ask, just a dm saying "yes, mayabuckleystan was gavins/yours, i took the url, but at some point in time it was yours." seriously. thank you.

again, im sorry for everything, but thats all i need. i cannot stand knowing that freak lied to get out of the shit they did. its fucked.

thank you. xx also sonic is freaking goated

HOLY SHIT?????? DUDE WTF?????? duuuude

but yeah, putting this on the record, yeah, you (gavin) did own that account. i was just taking usernames as sideblogs on my old acc (bc this is a new acc i made) bc i was petty as SHIT. that name was one of the ones i took, and if this is why you wanted the username back a couple of months ago, then i completely understand why and im REALLY sorry for being petty about it and putting you on blast for stupid shit. if you need me to give it back to you too then i can 100% give it back to you now.

i hope you can get this all settled soon bc that is so horrible. im so sorry that happened to you man :( and i'm also sorry for the way i acted in that server as well as how i acted after everything went down. i hope everyone else in the server we were all in is okay too, i really hope rabbit didnt do anything to them too.

if you need someone to talk to abt this, you're free to dm me. honest to god man, i'm here for you bc that is fucking horrible

[seventhofcrows]

Terribly Altercated Brain Chemistry: The Post

TW: Mental health mentions, including for (potiental) self-harm, gender dysphoria, and such.

Been relistening to Mother Mother and the like since one of my newest Discord mutuals likes the artists mentioned, and I have come with a very brief theory. I'm giving up my life expectancy for Tumblr anyways, so you can laugh at me all you want. Anyways, here it is... 1... 2... 3.

(Almost) Every Song Can Be Associated with Octo Samurai

Why isn't it normalized to have characters have highly specific, but interpretive soundtracks? I dunno, and it sucks. I say, Mother Mother is one, if not the only, decent soundtrack I now associate with Funny Octopus Dude with Many Undisclosed Mental Illnesses. Listen, get on my ass all you want with the "But he's not a real character, why are you projecting mental illness onto him? That's not healthy!" but like, if you been around here enough, once in a full moon I'll stay up and make my fanon (Hell, there is no real canon!) lore on Why This Dude is The Textbook Example of a True Living Weapon, then proceed to pretend I didn't just get 4+ notes from people who are just as so interested in hearing my Ritalin-fueled autistic rants. (To those few, I say, reblog and comment, those are much more fun than likes. But I won't judge.) So, the verdict is that despite less traction than expected, I will still put him through the grinder to make him suffer both externally and internally through whatever I say fits. Or If I'm in a really depressed mood, I halt the train of thought completely and think of him way later. But we're not just talking Mother Mother, I'll add my personal faves outside of that, too. You don't want me to look like a fake music fan, don't you?

Let me just quickly disclose the songs I believe fit him. No, I won't go into much detail about it, I can't afford mental energy to go into essay writing, though I really like to read those kinds of posts, that's my hobby. And I'll give a sentence long explanation on why. TW's are about to be used to its advantage, so read really up above before you read, alright? In all sorts of thoughts, of course.

Curated Songs

Mother Mother - Burning Pile: "I'd done some terrible things and I legit don't care anymore so it's coming to my grave with me!" core.

Mother Mother - Wrecking Ball: "I can't stop thinking about hurting people, but I always hurt myself more than anything. but man, nobody finds me fucking good unless I can beat some Inkling's ass." core.

Talkshow Boy - I Cut Myself (Shaving): "My body is a temple, and I must destroy it." core. (This is more of my song because I am LGBTQ+ and I have to dress up in uncomfortable and overall gender dysphoric clothing.)

Ghost and Pals - Happy Days: No core here, I literally don't know what this means for him.

Sewerslvt - Pretty Cvnt: Controversial, but it's up there. Maybe... this means something for a younger version of him. Also remembering the song this is based on has a bit to do with social anxiety and such.

Rio Romeo - Over and Over: Oh shit, you recognize this one? Well, I either interpret this to be a song I associate with a female version of him, or it just kind of sounds like my voice, hence why I somehow make this the song of his.

Ghost and Pals - Housewife Radio: I don't know either for this one.

Sadly, this is all I got. If you have any (potentially) depressing songs for him, I like to definitely hear your thoughts. Anyways, I gotta get the fuck out of here.

See ya on the other side of the internet, I guess!

SeventhofCrows

[ocean-anchored]

continued... December 13, 2023

Yesterday was the office trivia which we needed more people so I had also invited him expecting him to not say yes so quickly but he did! I offered to pick him up cause I knew he lived DT and he also said yes again & gave me his number. He was really friendly, he did engage & ask questions which I liked. Trivia was fun even though both of us barley contributed. Shane, Kamber, Amber, Naythan, Nick, Ali, Troy & i. It was a fun night, I got to know Troy better and we had a good brief chat on the way home about church and trying to connect with people. I can't read him too well but I mean, who says yes to a NYE night & a trivia night so quickly if they don't want to connect? Idk. I'm certainly not getting my hopes up & keeping it causal. I've been thinking about thanking him again for picking up my tab (even tho it was a server error) but I remember Daniel telling me about some reasons why Troy & his ex broke up so I thought about saying thank you & gently putting it out there that Id buy him a beer whenever he's free, I don't want to come across too much at first here though so Ill give it a bit of time. Who knows, I guess we'll find out over time and we'll see what NYE brings. Yesterday, was 2 weeks since I last spoke to Zack, I've been doing good not thinking about him much & not caring. I almost got past thinking that he'd reach out again but he did. Texted me asking if he could explain what happened & that he doesn't deserve it but had to try. I haven't responded. I don't plan to. He really fucked me up and really does not deserve to talk to me again. I'm happier without him. I need to move on and I can't get sucked back in, that's so damn toxic and honestly I don't care. I'm SURE he was high again when we were talking at some point over that weekend and that Monday night so I don't need an explanation, I know what he's going to say, it's always the same shit and I'm over it. Oh and Connor, yea also tried of that shit. I'm so tired of being an option and inconsistency. We talked a bit after the last time I saw him and then his last text back was again just giving me nothing to work off, he's such a shitty texter so my response was somewhat cut off I know he didn't have anything to comment back other than if he asked how im doing which he didnt so I left it. It was a couple days, till my IG got hacked & he texted me, again which we exchanged very few words and gave me nothing so I thought Id asked how his week was cause I knew he was off those days. went back & forth like one or two more times but again still just fuck all so I didn't bother responding, then he did text me the next night when I went to Shanes christmas party & again few exchanges back, I knew he was close to his time off so we talked about him having the next two weeks off and then he said "well have to hang again soon" which I commented back "ya let me know when if you'd like to" along with another little text acknowledging his plans for his time off & of course no response like fuck me. then last night texts about the knights game with literally like 3 words and an emoji so I gave him nothing back, it's pathetic and I'm not going to engage in being someone to entertain someone while they're bored. Gosh men are so fucking annoying and lazy and non committal. I swear I might really just be single for a long ass time. Anyways, that's the last week or so. I'm really thankful for Amber & Naythan, it will be really nice to spend the holidays with them and I hope to continue focusing on myself and putting myself first.

[muzzlemouths]

Well, I can't refuse an excuse to indulge lmao. Some of these explanations will have to remain very brief/vague in an attempt to tiptoe around spoilers, but I'll say as much as I can!

Honorary mention to Killers Walk which won't make it onto this list with an explanation because you know I just put it on here for sillies.

Be prepared for this to get pretty long!

(Don't Fear) the Reaper

This one's obvious, but I do want to mention that the change of parentheses placement was purposeful. (Don't) Fear the Reaper as in do, as in you should, as in you have every reason to fear them, but that "(don't)" is meant to imply a whisper from the reapers themselves. A plead. Please don't be scared of me.

One Way or Another

Also pretty obvious, but this one especially made it on to the playlist because I am struck with visions of an animatic of Sun going ham with his axe/knife on the counselors, montage style, every time it plays. It's just so fitting to how giddy and enthusiastic he is when getting his hands dirty. Then there's the final chorus, "One way, or another, I'm gonna lose ya, I'm gonna give you the slip, I'm gonna trick ya," which will be especially relevant in these coming chapters.

Wolf Boy

The first appearance of a modern song! I normally like to keep my au playlists to the era they take place in (take the Dead Mall Dare playlist, for example), but I had to break that habit for this au because there were just too many songs that fit too well to pass up. This being one of them!

The lyrics feel play a play-by-play of the experience thus far. Y/N has many bones to pick with them (murder being just the start), and they would give anything to just forget about this whole event and go back to how their life was before, but it's never that easy. I think "I ain't gonna play the same" touches on Y/N's refusal to look the other way. They had an opportunity to save themselves if they only played along, but they're playing another game entirely, and they don't intend to lose.

"Wolf boy" itself is undeniably clear (I mean, I literally made a Wolf Among Sheep reference last chapter), especially with the line about a puppy becoming a beast. They've seen how Sun switches on a dime, the way he puts his amicability up on the shelf like a prop, and now that you've made your decision, it's your head on the platter.

"Can you dig what I found?" reminds of moments where they first started putting the puzzle pieces together, and most especially when they discovered Jenn's drivers license. They won't be left alone anymore because they can no longer be trusted not to stick their nose where it doesn't belong.

"You think you're some tough stuff, I hope you're happy now," said after three of their friends have now been put to the blade, one way or another. They still don't understand why Sun enjoys their suffering so much, why it makes him happy to see them panic, and with how smug he's been about it all it's really starting to piss Y/N off. There's only so much empathy one can share with a serial killer before it becomes motive.

"If you're gonna huff and puff, I gotta save this town" because they've finally reached their breaking point, and they're prepared to drive the wolf out of town if they have to do it all on their own.

My favorite part about this song is how the vibe of the final chorus changes — and how sudden the change is. To me, this is the musical version of the moment the Final Girl decides it's time to fight back.

Shout

This one, to me, feels like a one-sided conversation between Sun and Y/N. "These are the things I can do without" being his implications of what he is willing to risk, and what he is willing to lose to get the job done. Because he has nothing left to lose, and that makes for a very dangerous person.

"I hope we live to tell the tale" The fish metaphor. The fish metaphor. You understand. "And when you've taken down your guard, if I could change your mind, I'd really love to break your heart" It bears repeating that he is still convinced he can change your mind, and you'll one day see his side of things. He would love nothing more than to wrap things up here and then live out the rest of your lives together as besties. But both of you know that's not going to happen.

Eyes Without a Face

The first song mentioned in the fic! (Actually, the only song actually mentioned in the fic so far. I gotta remedy that.)

"I'm all out of hope, one more bad dream could bring a fall."

"I spent so much time believing all the lies to keep the dream alive"

"Now all I can do is love what was once so alive and new, but it's gone from your eyes. I'd better realize." What can I say except that this guy is depressed and delusional. I hope you pick up on the themes of this one on your own because I keep trying to come up with ways to articulate why this one is important but I just look like a guy with his theory board and red string. Please tell me you understand. please. please. plea

Hungry Like a Wolf

This one is just for funsies. Something something Wolf and Rabbit dynamic. "Strut on a line, it's discord and rhyme" something something he be flipping on that dime again. You get it.

Private Eyes and Somebody's Watching Me

I'm not explaining this one. They're both about stalking and seeing through each other's facades it's not that deep (it is).

Psycho Killer

Come on man.

Dead Man's Party

Oingo Boingo beloved. This one is one of those songs that is a mix of Vibe and Lyrics. Sun would kill somebody to this. It's just bouncy enough to match his vibe perfectly. The lyrics themselves are pretty obvious:

"I'm all dressed up with nowhere to go. Walkin' with a dead man over my shoulder"

"Waiting for an invitation to arrive, goin' to a party where no one's still alive"

"Don't run away, it's only me"

There's more to it of course but alas, spoilers. You'll figure it out.

Dancing With Myself

If DFtR au were a movie this would be on the soundtrack, and yeah, Sun would kill someone to this one too. It makes me think about the times they've made their own company with the forest animals after being made outcasts, and especially when he extends an offer for you to join him— but, ah, that hasn't happened yet, has it?

Personal Jesus

What can I say except that this guy is too smug for his own good, and that kind of self assured vanity can only bring further tragedy. Sun and Moon are convinced that what they're doing is righteous, that it is justified retribution, that they are the heroes of this story. And Sun is personally going to do everything he can to convince you of that.

Bigmouth Strikes Again

"Sweetness, I was only joking when I said I'd like to smash every tooth in your head"

"Sweetness, I was only joking when I said By rights you should be bludgeoned in your bed"

"Now I know how Joan of Arc felt, as the flames rose to her Roman nose and her Walkman started to melt."

This guy is not joking. And his martyr complex is showing.

Tear You Apart

I pointedly look away from the camera. Anyway—

Y'all Want a Single

This one is so self indulgent. I just like to imagine Sun beating the shit out of somebody to this song I'm so sorry. This is the song where he stops playing with his food and just goes balls to the walls.

Who is She

Hey, I drew that vhs poster to this song!

There's just something so eerie about the vibe of this one, and I really enjoy the mental picture it draws of Sun and Moon's opinion of Y/N; how conflicted he is about their presence, how intriguing they are, how their antics are equally exciting and frustrating. This song is about them losing you. You, who they never had to begin with.

#4, Portrait of Mr. Boogie, AHS 1984, The Quarry

Skipping ahead on the list a bit so I can save the best songs for last. These four songs are nothing but atmosphere music for me. They don't personally relate to the story in any way (I mean, they're instrumental, so yknow), and are just songs that I keep on the playlist because I've repeatedly written scenes to them.

#4, specifically, was played while writing out the discovery of Chet's body (for real this time), and I'd like to think it's the song that would play during that scene were this a true slasher film, too.

Run Rabbit Run

Yeah yeah rabbit is in the title. Yeah yeah Moon made reference to this very song in his rhymed threat about a hunter coming for a trapped rabbit. But also this song is immediately relevant to the next chapter :) and I can't say more than that.

Now we're getting into heavy spoiler territory. These next three songs will be kept purposefully vague, but I hope you'll remember them when the time comes that all of it is laid bare.

Disenchanted

This song is about the tragedy. The tragedy that befell the campgrounds, yes, but more so about the tragedy that Sun and Moon endured as a result.

"Well I was there on the day They sold the cause for the queen And when the lights all went out We watched our lives on the screen I hate the ending myself But it started with an alright scene"

"It was the roar of the crowd That gave me heartache to sing It was a lie when they smiled And said, you won't feel a thing And as we ran from the cops We laughed so hard it would sting"

Sun and Moon were never given a chance to prevent this. They were always doomed from the start. When tragedy struck, they could only stand back and watch as decisions were made for them, as their very life was tossed around in conversation like it meant nothing. So they took matters into their own hands, and decided to flip the script.

The outcome has been miserable, but the beginning — their life before that point — was wonderful. It was home.

There's more that has to do with the lyrics further down, but you'll have to wait for the explanation on that until more has been revealed.

Dead Come Talking

Ohhh this one gets me Emotional every time. I can't say too much about it because this song and the one after it are both entirely about Sun and Moon's personal hardships, of which have not yet been properly addressed or revealed in the fic. I will say that the haunting they've forced upon the counselors is a shared experience, something they've personally been enduring for years, already. Sun and Moon are haunted by their past, by their grief, and in that way they themselves are the ghosts haunting the campgrounds.

Spring Break 1899

This is it. This is the most important song on the playlist. This is the song that plays at the end of Act 3. The song that plays when Sun takes in all that he's done, when the carnage sits before him and he's made to face every wrongdoing, every decision and path that has brought him to this point, and come to terms with whether or not he still wants to continue. Whether he has the strength to continue. This is the song that plays when he makes one final choice.

Echoes

The aftermath.

Do you perhaps... have a playlist for dftr?

As a matter of fact, I do 😌

It's a little on the short side at 2 hours because I am very specific with what songs get put on my au playlists, but that means each and every song has been picked with purpose (and I'm still adding more every day).

Also — you're right on the money with that song choice, anon. I don't want to spoil anything, but let's just say it'll soon be very relevant.

[ginnsinabin]

Wrench with “rival” hacker hcs

+Gen neutral 

(not at all sure what this is, its different than my normal hcs but its not exactly a one-shot type? maybe a blurb no idea but here ya go)

-Now this all started because of a coincidence, you two just happened to be hacking the same item 

-No war, no mission, not even trying to out hack the other

-Just two hackers wanting a bit of cash and just so happened to choose the exact same atm and the same time

-You managed to hack it just a bit before wrench tried to, thus causing a notification to come up on wrenches phone saying that there’s no money available

-Now this wouldn’t be a problem, it could have just had no more cash to withdraw, however the screen also comes paired with a small character with its middle finger shown

-This leads wrench to let his wild paranoid mind fly free

-Who the hell is fucking with him and why? Is this prime_eight wanting another ass kicking?

-While you go on about your day with your newly “found” money, wrench is festering

-He spends the next several hours tracing signals, networks and the like until he finds your blurred and practically nonexistent ctos profile

-But this wasn’t enough info to find and payback this person, he needed to fuck with whoever fucked with him

-This turns into a day's long investigation of non stop searching for some rando he didn’t even meet

-His last resort was just to sit on a nearby bench by the atm, just sitting and waiting 

-He stayed there for quite a few hours

-Just as he was about to give up, finally tiring himself out of his own insanity, a small cha-ching echos through the air

-Wrench snaps his head up, scanning the area

-Almost no one was around at that time of day, and absolutely no one stood at or near the atm

-Yet lo and behold there’s a ‘transaction complete’ pop up on the screen featuring the same character flipping the bird

-It took several head swivels to spot someone on their phone, in the same general direction the sound was heard, turning on their heel to calmly walk away

-Wrench, with in his new found crazy, jumps up and legit chases after you

-While wrench is spouting absolute nonsense about ‘revenge’ this and ‘you messed with the wrong hacker’ that, you are the most confused you have ever been to date

-After a very brief and simple explanation that this is just the atm you typically hack cause of the high foot traffic around the area, wrench is brought out of his self-absorbed fantasy

-Now that he can see clearly now the rain is gone, he takes in your appearance and presence, finding not only his interest peaked but his heart deciding that this person is now its target

-After a moment, or two, of a long drawn out silence following your non antagonistic actions, wrench decides that this is a good time as any to ask for your number with a slightly cocky yet embarrassed emote on his mask

-While this is by far the weirdest pick up starter to not only start a conversation but to also ask for your number, you evidently say yes

-How could you turn some the very much weird and spiked dude that was a fellow hacker?

(i kinda like this topic with wrench, might continue it but probably in headcannons instead of this weird blurb like thing)

[elena-mayfair]

Daring to dream

Paring: Morpheus x f!reader, Sandman x f!reader Warnings: tw abuse, sexual violence, swearing, graphic violence, adult themes, reader discretion is advised Summary: The Witch had always led a life full of nightmares, both living and dreamt ones. So when a Dream entered her life she simply shut him down and hid behind the safety of her walls. Will she dare to bring them down? What will Morpheus do when confronted with violence in her life? Word count: 6.9k Note: Gifs are not mine, credit to the authors.

Series Masterlist Part Twelve: Living Nightmare

***

"Alright! So what are we doing here exactly?" Matthew asked as he flew down and sat on the table. The library recreated itself anew, a space that had not long ago been ruined and empty was now filled with shelves reaching up to the very ceiling of the castle, and each day new books appeared. For the past few days, Matthew had been finding Lucienne and Mervyn in the central area of the library surrounded by piles of books on every side. That day, curiosity got the better of him and he decided to join in.

"We are helping Lord Morpheus to find answers," Lucienne answered vaguely.

"To what exactly?!"

"Haven't you heard?! That Witch was able to do magic in the castle!" Mervyn answered without hesitation.

"Yeah, I wasn't here yet. I guess it is not something normal?" he asked unsurely.

"No, it is not," Lucienne answered kindly, "This is Deam's realm, no one has power in here, except Lord Morpheus."

"Where is Boss anyway?" Matthew asked.

"You are a lousy raven!" Mervyn snapped at him, "Shouldn't you be his eyes!? Whatever happened in the Waking World caused him to disappear under a mountain and create whatever monstrosities he created there!"

"Hey! For once I did what he asked me to do!" Matthew tried to defend himself.

"You never do what he asks you to do! Not exactly anyway! You got a lot to learn kid!"

Lucienne only exhaled heavily and massaged her forehead. Mervyn was right, but she knew that Matthew did what he thought was best. All of them had Morpheus' best interests at heart. A few days ago Morpheus suddenly returned home and without a word of explanation he ordered her to find anything that could explain Y/N unusual abilities and after that, he simply disappeared into the Dreaming. She haven't seen him since and didn't dare to go look for him.

Residents of the kingdom brought her word that he had spent some time sitting on top of a mountain in stillness staring at the changing sky above him. Word was that the terrible storm that hit the land two days past was his doing. Rumor spread that nightmarish creatures had taken up residence in caves beneath the mountains, while in the forests some gloomy voice was deceiving travelers from their paths.

"I've seen what she can do!" Matthew began again, "Even before he gave her his sand!" brief silence fell between them as Lucienne and Mervyn gasped in disbelief.

"He did what?!"

"What did you say?"

They asked simultaneously.

"He gave her a vial of sand," Matthew replied, "You didn't know?" he asked Lucienne.

"No I did not," she replied thoughtfully, "Why would he do that?!"

"Ha!" Matthew crocked loudly, "And who is lousy now! You really don't know?! There is a benefit of being new you know? You two had been away from humans way too long!" he snapped at them, "It's obvious that Boss is in love!" he cawed with certainty.

Lucienne answered nothing, Mervyn only snorted cynically but they both looked at Matthew as if they had suddenly received a miraculous enlightenment.

"You really didn't notice that?! Like, come on guys! Jasmine field was kinda on the nose don't ya think?" Matthew mocked.

"Lord Morpheus does not..." Lucienne started but Matthew didn't waste time interrupting her.

"Hey, listen Boss, I am the one who is with him there on the ground right?! I am the one who has an eye on her whenever he asks me! I know what I'm talking about! Maybe you two forgot a few things, but let me remind you, again, that not so long ago I was a human! I know love when I see one alright! And when I say that the Boss is in love, that means he is fucking in love! You should have seen his face when he saw her dancing with some random in the club!"

"That could destabilize the whole realm..." Lucienne murmured to herself.

"His in love?!" Merv exalted, "Stop! The kid has been here like five minutes!

"We need to find anything that could possibly explain the source of her unusual abilities..." Lucienne picked one book from the pile and started paging through.

"I'll help," Merv offered, "And you," he directed his attention to Matthew, "you better go and watch her. Look for any unusual behavior."

"Said the pumpkin to the talking bird" Matthew sassed, "She is a Witch! Everything involving her is unusual!"

"Then more unusual than usual! And birdie, you see anything you tell Lucienne before you tell the Boss."

"Mervyn!" Lucienne objected.

"Stop! Everyone knows that you secretly run this place!"

"I've got no problem with that," Matthew agreed, "Besides I don't think that in his current state Boss would even talk to me."

***

Morpheus knew that night was falling in the part of the Waking World where Y/N lived. He could feel it spreading its veil over the dreaming humanity to bring them, one by one, into his realm. Each night they wandered unknowingly on the paths he had created for them. Each night they welcomed one of his dreams or nightmares, and with its help, they embarked on the most beautiful adventures, realized the most beautiful dreams, faced the most terrible nightmares. It has been so since the dawn of time. It will be so until its end. However, the time he spent with his sister gave him much to think about. For billions of years he had not thought about the purpose of his existence. "We are here for them. This is our function and purpose." that's what Death claimed. Not so long ago, he would have agreed with her. He knew who he was, or rather what he was, he accepted his duties and carried them out thoroughly. For in his hands he held the entire dreaming consciousness of all existence. He had seen their dreams, he had seen their desires, he had seen their fears and nightmares. He had known each of them better than they knew themselves. To create a dream is to know how one feels. After all, what is a dream if not the most lucid articulation of our true self?

He had known people so well, knew their deepest desires, and yet he had long ago ceased to care. He had been creating dreams and nightmares in such a way as to allow them to take any shape, any form, to fulfill their function, regardless of who they were serving that night. He had no need to personally supervise their work; he had known what people were dreaming about, even if he had not been personally present in their dreams. "For what purpose would that serve." After all, people do not change; eons of life spent controlling their dreams had taught him that not much could surprise him anymore. He would occasionally influence the dreams of mortals personally when he deemed them too dangerous for humanity when an individual posed too great of a threat to life on earth. He would also personally oversee the dreams of great people, humans whose influence on the world would prove invaluable. Scientists, inventors, philosophers, and writers, the latter of whom he was most fond of. For in his eyes, those who told stories had an indescribable gift in their hands, the gift of shaping mankind's desires, the gift of inspiring, the gift of shaping human souls. They were bringing solace to those who suffered, strength to those who had fallen, inspiration to those who dared to dream. They were creating and making dreams a reality. He smiled slightly to himself at the memory of the words that he had inspired long ago….

All men dream; but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds Awake to find that it was vanity; But the dreamers of day are dangerous men. That they may act their dreams with open eyes to make it possible. - T.E. Lawrence

"He wrote that so well..." he thought, "I inspired him and he inspired so many dreamers of the Waking World."

Yes, Morpheus was particularly fond of writers.

But the rest of the dreaming consciousness of mortals did not concern him, people ceased to be of any interest to him, his function was to control their dreams, not to care about them, it was a task, a duty, and duties are carried out without emotions.

And yet, this night on the nightward shores of a Dreaming he felt lonely. Loneliness was washing over him in waves lapping and pulling at his spirit. That night, for the first time in eternity, he found himself worried, he felt that he cared.

He closed his eyes and, as he sifted through the grains of sand in his hands, he recalled images from a few days ago. The rage in her eyes, the pain on her face, the bloody bruises on her neck, and the wall she so desperately tried to surround herself with every word she spoke. "There is so much empathy and kindness in her, and yet she has received so much pain from life." He didn't want to feel it, he didn't want to feel care and compassion, he didn't want to feel desire, he didn't want to feel rage. Yet the feelings flooded him in waves, unleashed, burning, powerful, uncontrollable. "It isn't about a quest or finding purpose outside our function. Our purpose is our function." Death's words echoed in his head and yet they sounded empty, meaningless. Purpose, function, his duty, the duty he fulfilled for eons suddenly became nothing, like a void at the end of everything.

"It is not enough. Not anymore." he let the grains of the sand disturb the water and enter the dreams.

At that moment Dream of the Endless decided to dream.

***

"How do ya even find anything in here?!" Constantine asked as he scouted your bookshelf, "it's uh bloody mess!"

"Hey! I don't recall asking your opinion! It's my mess deal with it!" you sassed with a smile, "Keep looking! I'm sure it is there somewhere."

"I swear love, one day I'm going to catalog all of this in an alphabetical or chronological order!"

"Don't you even dare Constantine..." you warned and handed him a cup of tea.

For the second night in a row, you spent together in your apartment surrounded by books, manuscripts, empty whiskey bottles, and cigarette packets. The air around you was heavy with smoke and suffocating, neither of you would like it any other way. This was your world, a world of magic and sorcery, a world of secrets and mysteries that wanted to be found, that you wanted to understand. And your current undiscovered secret was your new abilities, your ability to wield a fragment of the power of the Endless.

"Sorry love but I don't think we will find any explanation in books," he took a sip of his tea and reached for one of the volumes.

"What was the thing you used to say? One thing I've learned is that you can know anything, you just need to find it."

"Don't ya' bloody quote me to me!" he snapped, "besides there is nothing to be found! cuz nah one ever in the history of this plane or any other had been able to wild power of the Endless n not suffer horrible consequences."

"Well lucky me then..." you sighted, "I just need to know!! It's driving me crazy!!"

"No bloody surprise here! Why did you keep it anyways?" John asked from above the book.

"Because Morpheus gave it to me..." you answered quietly, "It was a gift."

Constantine closed the book, grabbed his teacup, and sat down on the couch across from you. He looked at you closely for a while, the bruise on your face had almost disappeared, and its remnants were cleverly hidden under concealer and foundation. On your neck, however, fingerprints continued to reflect with colors of red, purple and green. You did not escape his gaze, you had nothing to hide from him. More than once he has seen you in a worse shape when you were hunting together for anything supernatural. And although these bruises were of a different nature, personal, with him you had no need to hide them. He was one of the few people you trusted, with whom you felt safe, with whom you didn't have to wear a mask and could simply be yourself. You had a true friendship, the kind of friendship that was a miracle and a rarity in the vicious world you lived in.

"I've never apologized..." he began with his eyes fixed on your neck.

"And you never have to," you cut him off shortly.

"Why you never told me? I would have blood killed the bastard!"

"That's why!" you pointed at him with your finger, "Because I knew you would do that! And that is not something that we do. Besides..." you hesitated.

"Wha'?"

"Come on John!! What was I supposed to tell you!! That I, a Witch, a sorceress, who hunts monsters for a living, I let some fucker abuse me?!" you snarled in frustration.

"Humans are often bigger monsters than the ones we hunt," he consoled.

"Be careful John, or I might just start to think that you do have a heart after all," you quipped.

"Heart? What's that?! Never heard of it!" he chuckled and lit a cigarette. "But going back to the subject, we won't find any answers in books or anywhere...."

"I don't need exact answers, but I don't know...I guess I was hoping that something at least similar had happened in the past," you sounded disappointed.

"We are going about it all wrong," he put down his cig in the ashtray, "Answers are not in books or in some wankers journals," he gazed at you, "They are in you."

"Poetic," you chuckled.

"Zip it! I bloody mean it! We are going about this like it's a case! But the bloody subject is not your powers but you. You is the case!"

"I don't wanna be a case!" you fumed.

"Well too bloody sorry, you are, so tell me everything from the beginning."

And so you did. Sparing very few details, you told him everything, starting from the moment you involuntarily began traveling to the Dreaming in your dreams, when for months you were seeing Morpheus standing in the distance overseeing his fallen Kingdom. You told him about how Morpheus had saved your life when you foolishly wanted to jump from the fourth floor, convinced that you were still dreaming. About how he invited you to his castle and how a shard of painted glass showed you his castle in its past splendor. You recounted memories of killing a demon, of being dragged down to Hell by Lucifer, witnessing Morpheus fight him and of your feelings when you held a vial of sand in your hand. You talked about how you accidentally heard Morpheus' thoughts when Dee used his ruby to destroy his kingdom, and along with it the human ability to dream. You had told him about it all and you had to be honest with yourself, it felt good to get it all out.

"Bloody hell..." he let out after you finished, "I've seen and been through my fair share of insanity but love... you take a grand prize!"

"Not funny," you murmured.

"So where is he now?! After all of that, where is Sandman?" he glared at you with a sneaky smile on his face.

"Fuck off..." you snarled.

"You are calling him by name so easily, it seems to me that you two is friendly," he pushed slightly, "What did you do, huh?"

You remained silent for a moment, focused only on dragging the cigarette that you held in your fingers. You frowned your eyebrows angrily, annoyed at yourself for falling so easily into the trap.

"Love?"

"I told him to fuck off alright!!!" you exploded which only caused Constantine to burst into an uncontrollable laugh.

"You did wha'?!" he guffawed.

"You are an asshole! Stop laughing!" you demanded, while simultaneously laughing yourself.

"Bu' it is too bloody good! You told a bloody Endless to fuck off," he wiped out tear that formed in the corner of his eye, "Oh bloody hell it's worse than I suspected!"

"What the fuck do you mean?!" you frowned.

"C'mon love," he grinned, "How long we know each other?"

"Fifteen years?"

"Exactly! It's fucking obvious don't ya' think?!"

"What is?"

"You're bloody in love with sodding Endless!"

***

On yet another night in a row, Morpheus made the decision to find him in the Dreaming. Since that fateful night, Y/N has not appeared in a Dreaming. He was convinced that she must have been drinking an enhanced Asfodelus potion to sleep without dreams. He was unable to look into her dreams, but he could find his. This was not an easy task, after all, he didn't even know his name. Nevertheless, he knew mankind, he knew that it had to be a man, a man who dared to hurt her. It never ceased to amaze him how much violence and hatred people harbor within themselves. Instead of searching for the unknown man in never-ending nightmares, he decided to find her in the dreams of others.

He first found her in the dream of her friend, a kind woman who surrounded the people around her with care after Dee used his powers on humanity. She was a good woman. With a good pure heart and an empathetic soul. There were very few people like her left in the world. In her dream, he saw Y/N sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace reading a book to the smiling children huddled around her. There was no magic, no horrors, no pain, just love and the warmth of a peaceful home. He smiled. This is what she wished for her. It was a good dream.

Then he found her in the sleep of a black Dane. He saw the relief in the dog's eyes as her horrified face leaned over him. She stroked him gently and tenderly, promising that no one would ever hurt him again. She promised to take care of him, promised that he wouldn't have to fear anything anymore, that he would still be a happy dog. She gently lifted him off the ground without even touching his body. Her power allowed her to carry him steadily in the air. He felt a gentle tickle on his sore dog body as her magic poured over him. He knew he could trust her. He whined quietly and allowed himself to be carried to warmth. No one would ever hurt him again.

The third dream in which he found her belonged to the woman whose life she had saved. He saw her huddled against the wall, looking at Y/N's smiling, bloodied face. He saw the exhaustion on her face, saw how much effort it took to stand on her own two feet, how difficult it was for her to speak words of comfort. However, he saw that in this woman's eyes Y/N was someone else entirely. To her, she was strength, she was someone who had changed her life, she was a voice of comfort and inspiration. He saw the way she looked at her when Y/N extended her hand to help her rise from the ground, the place on which she had spent so much time. The woman did not felt fear as she looked at her bloodied body and face, she was not afraid of her even after seeing what she did moments ago. For to her, she was the bearer of hope. Hope that she would never have to be afraid again. Hope that from now on her and her son's lives would be happy.

Morpheus left the third dream and moved on through the ocean of dreaming consciousness of mortal beings. He walked through the heather fields, where a couple in love indulged in passion and desire only to find himself moments later on a battleground where a brave knight fought a golden dragon. He entered a tavern where a bard sang a song about a fisherman's daughter while collecting coins from the gathered folk. Then he stepped into the black and red, a hellish ruined world painted itself before his eyes. He stopped for a moment as the sky lit up with red lightning flashes, and the all-encompassing silence was shattered by the aggressive riffs of an electric guitar. A young man with a storm of curly hair stood on the roof of a wrecked camper, he cranked up the amplifier and passionately began to play Master of Puppets by Metallica. The black sky above his head flashed with red as he furiously moved his fingers across the guitar's neck. He was good. "Most metal shit ever!!!" he heard in the distance as he left his dream to move on to the next one.

And the next dream was his.

Morpheus found himself in a small apartment so different from the one in which Y/N now lived. The colors of the walls, the pattern of the floors, the furniture, the curtains, the accessories everything was perfect. Perfectly matched, perfectly clean, empty, without a soul. There was nothing here that belonged to her.

"Hey baby!" he heard her radiant voice coming from the kitchen and he followed it. The rays of the afternoon sun illuminated her as she hurriedly bustled around the pots. Although her voice sounded cheerful her face was tired, sad, the fire in her eyes which he loved so much extinguished, they were empty and soulless, like all her surroundings.

A man appeared in the hallway. Tall, stocky, with hair the color of dark blond, he shed his leather jacket and revealed tattooed arms.

"Hey," he replied and walked into the kitchen, a cigarette was hanging from his lips. Morpheus watched as Y/N forced the most sincere smile possible and greeted him with a kiss.

"Launch will be ready in a moment," she said softly, "Shall I make you some coffee? How was your day?"

"Like every other day," he replied, "How long will I have to wait?" Morpheus did not like the tone of his words, as if he was deliberately trying to start an argument.

"Almost ready!"

The man took a beer from the refrigerator, then headed to the living room, sat comfortably in an armchair, and turned on the TV. Morpheus stood in the hallway in a way that allowed him to observe both him and her at the same time. Y/N's hands shook, but she quickly calmed them down. She corrected her hair, took a deep breath, and began to plate the prepared food. Perfectly served and presented, she brought the meal to him first. He did not wait for her.

"Roast again?" He stabbed the beef with his fork.

"You like a roast!" She replied after which she once again fled to the kitchen to plate her portion.

They ate in silence. He was looking at the TV, while she was looking at him. He could see that she wanted to ask him something, he could see her glancing at him longingly, waiting for him to ask how was her day. A gray face hidden under a heavy layer of makeup, sad eyes, nervous gestures, so unlike herself.

"You could ask how my day went…" she began quietly.

"You sat at home all day doing shit, probably reading your stupid books again, as I worked hard for us." he gruffed.

"Yeah, I forgot that you're the only one in this relationship working hard…" she muttered under her breath. A trace of her fire still burning in her.

"Am I wrong?" the fork hovered halfway to his mouth.

"No darling, of course not. I know you work hard, it's just…" she hesitated, weighing her words, "I spend my days alone and I miss you. I know you're tired, but you could at least ask how my day was…" her tone of voice so cautious, so apologetic.

The man did not answer anything.

"Alicia called, she and Darek are inviting us to their place for the evening," she changed the course of the conversation, "I said we would come."

He continued to say nothing. With contempt painted on his face, he chewed his lunch and sipped his beer.

"Are you even listening to me?"

He dropped the knife and fork abruptly and looked at her angrily.

"Can't you see I'm trying to watch the show? Fuck! I can't even have a moment of peace and quiet in my own home!" he growled after which he abruptly stood up gathered the plates and went out to the kitchen. Out of the corner of his eye, Morpheus saw as he furiously threw them into the sink, one of them cracked.

She entered the kitchen lured by the sound of the cracking plate.

"I didn't mean to upset you…" she whispered.

"Of course! You never want to upset me and yet you always succeed!" he raised his voice, "You sit here like a fucking princess all day doing shit and a man comes home after a hard day's work and can't even have a moment of fucking peace because all you do is talk!"

"David, you're exaggerating…"

"David…" he got what he was looking for, he found out his name.

"I'm exaggerating!!!" he stepped dangerously close to her, "I work my ass off for us every day, every single day, and you can't even fucking make dinner on time!!!"

The blood in Morpheus' veins began to boil as he watched him walk up to her and yell in her face. He saw the veins in his neck surging with blood as he clenched his hand tensely into a fist.

"I didn't fucking ask for this!!!" she shouted, and flashes of thunderstorm ignited in her eyes, she was there after all, stifled, humiliated, enduring, burning, "And I'm not your slave so don't treat me like this! I take care of you, I take care of you and in return I don't even receive a bit of affection from you!!!"

"Well here we go again!!!" he rolled his eyes and turned away sharply heading back to the living room.

"Oh no, I'm talking to you!" she ran after him, "I'm sick of you ignoring me all the time!!!! I'm so fucking sick of you blaming me for everything!!! And when I want to talk to you, the thing that people in a relationship should do, you don't listen to me at all! You are always tired! You never have time!" she was furious.

"Because you keep yapping about the same thing!!!" he shouted back.

"Because you never listen to me!!! I didn't ask for us to go abroad! I didn't ask for us to live away from family and friends! You think I like sitting here alone all day and playing perfect housewife!!!? I'm suffocating! And you don't give a damn about all that! You don't give a damn about me!" tears run up to her eyes as anger boiled inside her.

"If you don't like it, get the fuck out! No one is keeping you here!" he slammed his hand on the table and pointed to the door.

"It's so easy for you to say…" she lowered her voice, "I mean nothing to you? Years spent together mean nothing to you? I wonder what you would do if I were to leave for real."

David sprang to his feet and jumped to her. Morpheus saw her instincts take over as she reflexively took a few steps back.

"Are you going to blackmail me now?" he growled at her, "You said you loved me, you said you wanted to support my dreams, you said you would follow me anywhere. And what, your words were worth shit!"

"Bullshit! I supported you! I tried! And you won't tell me I didn't! First, a second, and a third time! But before this trip, I told you from the beginning that I didn't want to! That I don't want to live away from my family, I don't want to live away from my friends!" defended her case, though her posture diminished with each step he took.

"Then you should have stayed home."

"And what!? Be there alone and wait for you to kindly come home!? What kind of life is that!"

"If you don't like it, get the fuck out," he hissed furiously.

Morpheus saw something inside her snap. He saw the remnants of the love she had for him die.

"Fine! That's what you want! That's what years spent together are worth to you! Have it your way!!" she growled furiously and headed for the dressing room. She grabbed her suitcase and frantically began throwing clothes into it.

"And where will you go?" David snarled, "What are you going to do? You don't have a job, no money and you don't have anything to go home for either. You won't survive without me."

"Fuck it! I'd rather live on the street than one more day with you!" she hissed.

David approached her, his hand tried to stop her as she angrily threw more clothes into the suitcase. She tried to yank her hand out of his grasp.

"Leave me alone!" the shirt ripped in half, "all you do is humiliate me and treat me like your slave, bullshiting me about white picket fence house, sweet apple pie life, but at the end, it's all shit anyway. I'm sick of it all, your lies, your unfulfilled promises." He grabbed her hand and with a strong yank forced her to stand up, pain covered her face, "Let me go!!!" she screamed but he held tight, "Fuck you! You and your lies!" she yanked her arm.

"Stop…"

"You and all your promises! That you'll stop drinking, that you'll never hit me again, that things will be like before!"

"I said stop…" with his other hand, he grabbed her shoulder and tried to calm her down.

"I'm done with you! You killed everything in me! You took everything from me!" tears began to flow from her eyes, "I gave you all of myself, I sacrificed everything I had to you, and you pissed on it. So fuck you!"

"I said stop!!!" he yelled, and with all his weight he pinned her against the wall. She tried to push him away, tried to kick him, so he pressed his forearm against her throat and steadied her, "Stop…"

Morepheus' blood began to burn in his veins. The grip on her neck, the bruises he had seen a few days ago. This was his doing, he was the one who had hurt her. And he didn't do it for the first time.

"Let me go…" she choked out through a clenched throat.

"Stop yanking, listen to me," he began in a soft tone, "I'm sorry. I don't want to hurt you. I don't want you to leave." Y/N didn't even look at him so with his free hand he grabbed her face and violently forced her to look at him, "Listen to me. I don't want you to leave. I love you. Why this drama? After all, you know I love you."

"You have no idea what love is," she growled venomously.

"I know these past few months have been difficult, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," he continued, ignoring her words , "I know I've promised many times that I'll get better, and you know I'm trying. You know I'm trying. But you have to help me. I can't do it without you. Without you I am nothing." His words sounded so true and yet Morpheus could see right through him. "I know it's hard for you, and I promise we'll find a solution. If you really want it, if you really miss your family so much we will come home. Will that make you happy?"

"I want nothing more…" tears flowed from her eyes.

"Please give me three months, six months max, I'll make some more money and we'll go home."

"It will be like always again…you won't do it…"

"I swear to you, " he assured, "After all, you love me. After all, you don't want to leave. You love me don't you?" He loosened his grip on her throat and with his other hand slipped a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Of course I love you," she confirmed quietly.

"See? I love you you love me so why the screaming?"

"You know very well why, " she looked away again, "You don't care about me."

"I care, I don't want you to leave," he begged in a false tone, "Stay please. Where would you go without me?"

"I don't want to go anywhere without you," she smiled weakly.

"Then stay…" he said and kissed her, violently, aggressively, invading her mouth pushing her against the wall. She yielded to him. "Will you stay?" she nodded, "You see, I don't want to hurt you. I want what is best for us. You just have to listen to me," he stroked her face then grabbed her hair, tilted her head and began to kiss her aggressively. With his free hand, he forced her to get down to her knees in front of him. Morpheus looked away, he could not bear to see her enslaved and humiliated. He could not watch as this man violently took his pleasure from her mouth.

He left the dream.

He had to leave. Even if the desire to end his life burned in his veins, even if every fiber of his being wanted to send him the most horrible nightmares he had created, nightmares that would drive him insane, he could not do it. Not yet. He suppressed within himself the desire to inflict pain on him. After all, he was the Ruler of Dreams, and he knew all too well how treacherous human minds can be. He had to confirm that this was not just a fantasy. Vicious, vile, discussing, creation of lesser human being mind. He had to be sure that it had really happened. And the only person who could confirm it was her. And the last time he saw her she told him to fuck off.

***

"You lost your goddamn mind!" you laughed maniacally at his statement, "In love? Really?"

"Yeah right," John inhaled deeply, "you can deny it all you want but I know love when I see it. And you are bloody in love."

"Really, just stop, please!" you reached for a bottle of whisky and you poured two glasses.

"Oh now you gonna drown it all down?!" he teased, "Heh, like I haven' seen that before!"

"Shut up! Since when you are such an expert?!" you handed him a glass, "In love...unbelievable... I wonder where did you get that from? Was it in the part where I killed a demon? Or perhaps in Hell? Or maybe when I was talking about burning man?!" you mocked.

"Kinda everywhere..." he smirked, "you haven' seen your face love! All blissful and dreamy, radiant, and those dreamy eyes of yours. You can't deny something that you can't even hide! Should I bring you a mirror?"

"Listen to me John Constantine and listen to me well," irritation took over you, "It is perfectly understandable and normal to feel in the weird way when freaking Dream of Endless suddenly becomes a part of your life. After all, he is who he is. But just because he makes me feel wired doesn't mean I am in love with him!"

"And I'm sure that your weird feeling got nothing to do with the fact that you told him to fuck off. C'mon love! Don't be a bloody mug!"

You took a long deep sip of your whisky and became lost in your thoughts for a moment. A pleasant shiver ran through your body as you thought of Morpheus, his eyes like endless galaxies glittering from the dancing stars, his voice piercing every fiber of your body, his touch lingering on your skin like the touch of a god himself, his barely visible smile on his statuesque face. John said nothing. He just smiled slyly and continued to observe.

"You know..." you started, "I know who he is, or rather what he is. I'm not a mug as you call it. And sometimes he is this unbelievable entity that brought itself down to the human world," you gazed into the distance, "he....he can be scary you know. If he wants to. And sometimes when I am around him I feel like I am in the presence of god, like...like the universe itself is a part of him and with his each and every gaze, each word, it's drowning me into its endless darkness. Does this makes sense?" you tried explaining, "Sometimes, especially in our reality, I look at him and I don't see anything human. I look at him and I see endless galaxies hidden inside the marble statue, slowly sipping out covering the world around him. But the way he speaks, the way he acts...he is more human than a lot of us. There is kindness in him, empathy, and so much compassion. I feel like he understands us humans, more than we do. He creats such an odd, unreal image." You stopped and took another sip from the glass, "And at other times, like in my dreams, or when we were in Hell, it is the exact opposite! He looks, walks, and talks more like a human. Like the endless universe in him is somehow less visible outside of our reality, like he is no longer this unreal animated statue but a human, very stiff one but human. Yet at the same time, there is nothing human about him. When he gets angry it's like the all-encompassing darkness spreads out of him to cover everything and everyone around him, when he talks his voice sounds like from the deepest and darkest depths of the cosmos, when he cares, feels, it's like stars themselves falling down from the sky...I can't explain this, words can't explain this..."

"What were you saying about not being in love?" John chuckled.

"My impeccable taste in men! Creeps, abusers, and now the anthropomorphic personification of a Dream!" you groaned, "Even if I am so what!? He is a Dream of the Endless, and I? Well, I am me. Even thinking about its pointless. It's not like I can even allow myself to think about it." you added and sadness crept into your voice.

"Why?" John put down the glass on the table and focused his blue eyes on you, "Why not? Why the hell not?"

"I just said it."

"Listen, love," he leaned back on the couch and reached for his cigarette, "We ain't exactly leading normal lives, you and I. If you is still thinking that you'll have sweet apple pie life, husband, white picket fence, and all that bullshit then you are delusional," he sneered, "You and I, we gonna probably die bloody, horrible deaths, strangled in a dark ally, knifed down buy unsatisfied customer, ripped apart by our mistake, or with our guts turned inside out by some monstrosity we brought on ourselves. So why not dream a little huh?"

"It sounds like you are encouraging me, " you noted suspiciously, "Not so long ago you were all fuming and pissed just because I mentioned an Endless."

"Maybe I am encouraging you! Our lives are fucked up! We are fucked up! We do not exactly belong here among normal people, and we do not exactly belong outside of this realm either. We're kinda in the middle. So why not dream a little bit? What is the worst that could happen? Looks like he is a good lad, for an Endless immortal being. But even angels come down on earth and take humans as lovers."

You lit your cigarette and drifted away in thoughts as he continued.

"You're searching for answers that you might never find. But I get it, we do that, that's our thing. But perhaps there is no answer to find. Perhaps you were meant to venture into his world, perhaps you meant to have these abilities of yours, perhaps there are bigger forces at play here. You've always said that you do not believe in Destiny, but if you believe in Dream you gotta believe in his brother."

"That is not exactly an encouraging idea," you chuckled quietly.

"Dream of the fucking Endless is a part of your story now. So perhaps you should accept that. You've met him. So now it is your turn to be daring a bit. Dare to dream a bit. Who knows, tomorrow we both might be dead."

"What would it be like to love him?" your own question echoed in your thoughts, loud, vibrant, replacing all other thoughts, filling your heart with a desire, removing all other doubts. At that moment you decided to be daring, you decided to fly high even if it meant that you might fall hard. You wanted this. Now it was time to find out "What would it be like to be loved by him?"

Part fourteen: Dream

~~***~~

Authors note: It's funny because I started this week with a lot of work on my hands, I was super busy, and I was very worried that I wont be able to deliver this chapter before weekend. And suddenly I've found myself with a word count of almost 7k! I have no idea how this happened! And guys! After 13 chapters and 52k word they are finally both in the same place emotionally! Hah! Progress! :) At least we know it, they don't :) But I promise it will not take another 13 chapters for them to find out :) Quick info from me, next week I'm afraid I will be able to deliver only one chapter. I have some additional work to do which means overtime, which means less time for writing. Hope you'll all forgive me. But for now, next chapter will be out in Sunday as always (at least Sunday in my part of the Waking World). For now, as always my dear Readers, I thank you for reading :)

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