#the eyeball on knives? give me more body horror i want it

[c-l-y-d-e]

fuck me im gonna have to watch this episode like five times aren't i

[tunedtostatic]

i’ll be shelter, keep you safe and warm

Arkady wraps her jacket around Violet in the back of a getaway car. Violet returns the favor at a formal reception.

3.2k, Vikady, with cameos by crew and an OC

Also posted at archiveofourown dot org, /works/32625262

CW: weather (hot and cool) and related financial issues, PTSD, scars, anxiety, brief mention of carsickness, canon-typical peril

~

Title is from “Shelter” by Joy Oladokun

Arkady coming out of a PTSD interlude with a one-liner is inspired by “i am strong enough to let you in” by findyourstars, archiveofourown dot org, /works/18482959

This fic came from wanting to write The Draping Jacket Around Shoulders Trope for Vikady and being unable to decide between an Arkady jacket or a Violet jacket until I realized the obvious answer was BOTH. I wrote most of this a couple of weeks ago (the tone of the end of Chapter 1 has been fighting me but I think I finally worked it out...), so before episode 8 dropped, although I guess nothing in Chapter 2 was really jossed but rather just made more painful? Woof.

~

1.

Violet slides into the backseat of the getaway car so fast she nearly careens into Arkady’s lap.

“Well hello there, Liu.” Violet can hear Arkady’s grin as she helps Violet disentangle herself, pulling the seatbelt of the seat next to her across Violet’s chest and lap in one smooth motion.

“Thanks! Arkady!” Violet pants, fighting a grin as she takes deep breaths after her sprint to the car. She doesn’t think she was being pursued, but their improvised backup exit strategy didn’t exactly leave much buffer time.

“Anyone on our tail?” Sana calls from the front.

Arkady turns to look out the rear window as Sana steers them out of the IGR building parking lot and back onto city streets. “Not seeing anyone.”

As Violet’s breathing slows, Arkady adjusts her knee so that it isn’t digging as deeply into Violet’s thigh and settles into the awkward backwards-leaning position. “I’ll keep watch for another few minutes.”

“Don’t make yourself carsick, Kady. Remember that time when—”

“No! No, I don’t, and neither do you.”

Violet laughs. The pent-up tension of the last few hours is diminishing now that she’s safe with Sana and Arkady, successful and on their way home to the Iris.

She sinks back in her seat, surreptitiously eyeballing Arkady for signs of injury as Arkady continues her lookout out the back window and Sana focuses on the road. Arkady doesn’t look hurt, and Sana probably would have shot them a “Let Violet take a look at your…” by now if she was.

That Arkady seems cheerful is confirmation enough that Sana is fine, and Violet relaxes a little more in her seat.

They did it. She did it. This plan depended on Violet as much as it depended on any of the other members of the crew, and she has the shaky elation that comes in the aftermath of danger. She did it, and it’s over now.

As they slip toward the city limits, Arkady finally settles into her seat facing forward, and the kneecap poking into Violet’s vastus lateralis disappears, replaced by the warmth of their thighs touching.

“I’ll keep an eye out, but looks like we’re in the clear.”

Sana acknowledges this, and Arkady turns to give Violet her full attention.

“How are you doing, Violet?”

“Fine.” Violet exhales, beginning to grin. “Good. Great, actually. That went well, didn’t it?”

“You were amazing, Liu.” Arkady smiles. “And yeah, aside from one of us deciding the best improvised extraction plan was to steal the most expensive car in the parking lot, it went okay.”

“More than okay.” Violet beams back at Arkady. “And I think it was very thoughtful of Tripathi not to deprive some broke IGR grunt of their family car.” She runs a hand over the seat leather and laughs, feeling a little giddy. “Besides...this car is nice.”

Arkady grumbles something about being happier once they’re back on the ship, and Violet settles back in her seat, used to Arkady’s recalcitrance about celebrating success until they’re well clear of it.

She smiles again. She did it, and it’s over.

Arkady has moved on to muttering about the building security system being tougher than expected and how easily it all could have gone wrong when suddenly she frowns. “Sure you’re okay, Liu? You’re, uh, shaking.”

“Oh.” Violet looks down at her arms. “Oh, um, I think that’s mostly the cold, actually? This air conditioning with this shirt…”

On the parked Iris, with fuel costs keeping the temperature reg no lower than a tolerable 78°F, the gauzy summer top had seemed like the perfect final touch to Violet’s civilian disguise. In the lobby of the IGR building, Violet had been reminded that not everyone had to take similar cost-cutting measures. Apparently that includes the rightful owners of the getaway car.

As though reading her thoughts, Arkady comments, “We should’ve remembered how cold rich people like their air conditioning.” Raising her voice, she adds, “Or, I don’t know, not stolen the 2191 BMW.”

“You know, that lobby reminded me of Harmony. The academic buildings were barely climate controlled, but walking into the admin building was like walking into the arctic.”

Arkady snorts, and they both look at the temperature control in the front, where Sana is now gripping the wheel and swearing.

Violet winces. “I’ll, um, ask her to adjust it once when we’re outside the city.”

Arkady removes a knife from her jacket.

“Uh, I don’t think a knife is going to help—”

Clipping the knife onto her belt, Arkady extracts two more knives and a switchblade, secreting each elsewhere on her person. Shrugging out of the jacket, she wraps it carefully around Violet’s shoulders.

In the dazed glow that takes up the next few seconds of Violet Liu’s life, words don’t really seem to be working for her, but she does manage to make a sound that comes out something like “Aghlf?”

The jacket is heavy around her shoulders, and it smells like Arkady, forming a barrier of safety and warmth between Violet and the rest of the universe. Violet slides her arms into the sleeves, snuggling into it.

“Um, the lockpick wires and emergency razors are still in the hems,” Arkady is mumbling, “so if it feels a little heavy, that’s why.”

“Mmmmm.”

“…Liu, are you listening to me?” Arkady’s voice shifts from sheepish to amused.

“Mm-hm.” Violet nestles her face into the jacket’s collar, breathing in the scents of engine oil and the cheap, supposedly forest-scented bath gel Arkady squirrels away in her room so Brian and Krejjh won’t use it in the Iris’s shared shower.

Arkady sounds like she’s trying not to laugh. “You know, I’m right here, if you’d rather hug the real deal than weirdly snuffle my jacket.”

“Oh, I don’t know…” Violet makes sure to speak in a mischievous tone of voice so that Arkady knows she’s fully and completely joking. “This jacket does have a lot of your best qualities. It’s cute, and forest-scented, and really, really warm…”

“But can it do this?” Arkady wraps an arm around Violet, heavy and warm just like her jacket.

She rests her head against Violet’s hair, and Violet closes her eyes, trying to shut out every thought and sensation that isn’t the feeling of Arkady against her.

It’s possible, she concludes, that the aftermath of the con is leaving her a little more shaky than she initially thought.

Alone with Arkady’s voice in her comm but not a single safe person around her is, it turns out, a very real kind of alone. Now that she thinks about it, it might be the first time she’s been that alone since ADVANCE Labs. The museum heist was dangerous, of course, but Sana and Park were present. If Violet wanted to catch a glimpse of Sana’s smile or even the reassuring slouch of Park’s civilian posture, all she had to do was flutter her eyelashes and scan the room.

At the museum, Sana and Park’s presences hadn’t even come across to Violet’s conscious brain as comforting. Instead, it had felt like two more crew members who might meet an unspeakable fate along with Violet if something went wrong, and she had had to carefully control her fear about what it might be like to watch Sana get hurt or worse, or what it would mean for Arkady if neither of them returned to her. This morning as she pulled on the gauzy top and placed her comm in her ear, Violet had felt grateful that the crew member going most directly into danger was her.

She’s still grateful for that. But apparently even the weight of human love isn’t enough to crush the human brain’s instinctive horror at being surrounded by danger alone.

Violet realizes Arkady has been saying her name. She blinks, looking up into Arkady’s concerned face.

“Sorry. I’m okay.” Violet glances out the window. “I wasn’t lying when I said I was okay, but it was all…kind of a lot, I guess.”

“No kidding, Liu. Hey, it’s okay, okay?” Arkady rubs Violet’s arm over the surface of her own jacket. “Everything… Everything did go well. More importantly, it’s over. We’re, um, all okay?” She trails off, patting Violet’s shoulder awkwardly, and it strikes Violet for the first time how rare it is for Arkady to be in the position of offering comfort to Violet that doesn’t come from Arkady’s calm emergency self. “We’re all okay,” she repeats.

“Yeah.” Violet tucks her face into the crook of Arkady’s neck, breathing in the scent of Arkady herself, warm skin and the dream of a forest.

Arkady leans against the top of Violet’s head again, sighing into her hair. Violet closes her eyes, wondering if the part of her that knew there was a real chance she wouldn’t make it back to Arkady is still catching up to the fact that she has.

They embrace for a few more minutes before shifting to a more relaxed position, leaning on each other’s shoulders.

“How are you doing?” Arkady asks, neutral.

Violet considers the question, then nods. “Okay. Maybe not great. But okay.” She looks forward at Sana, then up into Arkady’s eyes. “We are okay.”

Silently, Arkady leans down to kiss her on the forehead, and Violet lets her body rest as the edges of the city whisk by.

2.

The atrium has been strung with hundreds of lights at the top of its columns, and between the lights, the string quartet, and the quantity of jewelry sparkling on everyone around them, Violet is beginning to feel like she’s in a scene from a film. As Arkady gracefully extracts them from one conversational circle and steers them toward another, Violet gives her suit jacket a firm tug, reminding herself that while Violet Liu is new to glittering receptions, the person she’s playing is not.

The part of Violet’s brain that isn’t consumed by keeping up her persona is, she would have to admit, enjoying both the suit and the feeling of Arkady’s hand on her arm as they glide across the atrium together, Arkady’s evening gown and capelet flowing behind them.

The cape was an improvisation. The only gown they’d been able to find on short notice was sleeveless, and while Arkady could have passed off the size of her biceps as her sweet-natured socialite self’s passion for rock climbing, fewer explanations would cover the scattered scars of over a decade of engine burns, knife fights, and the occasional bullet. Sana had fished a few yards of silk out of her fabric stash, and within hours Arkady was trying on a capelet that skimmed her elbows and fastened with a brooch between her collarbones.

Brian had gleefully informed her that it was an opera cape. Sana had been fairly certain that opera capes were longer. Brian had argued that opera capes were a supercategory and “womens’” included any that could conceivably be worn with an evening gown at the opera, and Arkady and Violet had escaped to the kitchen before the debate really took off.

As they glide across the atrium, Violet pushes the capelet debate aside, focusing back on her role as Arkady’s stately financier wife (“What’s a financier?” Krejjh had asked, leading to a debate Violet wasn’t lucky enough to dodge). It’s almost fun to let a hint of swagger into her walk, even if the part of her that’s enjoying the suit wishes that it could be her real name on Arkady’s lips and Arkady’s real laugh in her ear.

“Great, that’s the last of the key intel.” Arkady’s reassuring mutter is so low it’s almost subvocal. “I’m going to bring us to that group of functionaries, see if we can pick up any extra dirt on—”

She is cut off by a muffled boom, and the crowd around them flutters, people looking up and around for the source of the sound.

“Construction on the old library wing,” someone near them is announcing loudly. The crowd begins to settle back into its former patterns like a ruffled bird relaxing its feathers, and Violet turns back to Arkady, expecting her to continue leading them toward the group beside the string quartet, but Arkady is frozen, her body turned as though to shield Violet and completely still except for trembling.

Shit. Taking a calming breath, Violet steps in front of Arkady, filling her field of vision. Arkady is staring past her, her eyes glazed, and oh jesus, this hasn’t happened before, not during the day, not during a mission—

“Ar—” Shit. And she thought she resented being unable to use Arkady’s name a minute ago. “Are you okay, sweetie?”

Arkady unfreezes slightly. “Where…” she mumbles.

A small group nearby is starting to glance toward them. “Everything’s okay, honey,” Violet says loudly. “Why don’t we go get some air?”

“Why…” Arkady echoes. Her breathing is short and shallow. Violet swallows, afraid of what might happen to them if she grabs Arkady and tries to hustle her toward the door and equally afraid of what might happen to them if she doesn’t.

Think, Vi.

A man from the staring group says something to his companions that must be reassuring, because they stop ogling Violet and Arkady, falling back into their own conversation as the man steps away from the group and toward the two of them.

Violet schools her face into what she hopes is a mixture of authority and worry. “My apologies for bothering you and your friends. My wife—”

“The war?” the man asks quietly. His eyes are kind.

Sure. Yes, the war. Violet is halfway through nodding gratefully before she remembers there’s a solid chance it isn’t a lie.

“Anything I can do to help?” The man nods toward a corner of the atrium. “There’s a quicker way to the courtyard through there, if you think she’s ready to walk.”

“Are you ready to get some air, darling?” Violet asks tenderly, hoping the cloying pet names will remind Arkady of the role she’s playing even as she resents herself for having to guide Arkady out of one nightmare and back into another.

Arkady blinks at Violet. Somewhere in her dazed eyes Violet sees the stirring of an expression she’s seen many times before, from a room at ADVANCE Labs to the back of a getaway car, and she realizes that the thing she’s done that has gone furthest toward keeping them safe is letting some of her own fear show.

Arkady reaches toward Violet, and Violet takes her hand.

“You need,” Arkady grits out. “To tell me.”

“Don’t try to talk.” Violet keeps her tone soothing for the benefit of the stranger, hating herself for the real meaning behind her words. “Just walk with me, okay?” The last syllable is an idea. “’Kay?”

Arkady nods, and the three of them head for the door with the stranger leading the way through the crowd. Violet focuses on controlling her own breathing. What would the person she’s playing act like right now? Not much different than Violet. Worried about her wife. Grateful for the help of this stranger.

Would the person Violet is pretending to be be embarrassed for her wife to be seen like this? If so, that isn’t something Violet is going to portray.

The night air is cool when they slip into the courtyard. The man walks them to a bench, stepping back as Violet helps Arkady onto it.

“Anything else I can do?”

Violet shakes her head. “Thank you.”

“Good luck,” he replies gently, addressing both of them, before turning and walking back toward the atrium building. Violet exhales shakily as he disappears into it.

“I still don’t like rich people.”

Violet turns. Arkady is looking up at her. Her breathing is still shallow, but her eyes are clearer.

Violet laughs feebly, sitting beside her. “How are you doing?”

“Well, I’ve been better, Violet.” Arkady wipes a hand across her face. “Did I say—”

“You didn’t give us away, Arkady. You did great.”

Arkady grimaces at the second part, but doesn’t argue aloud.

“Me, on the other hand—” Violet stops, giving herself an internal shake for criticizing herself the way she was just wishing Arkady wouldn’t. “I would have figured something out,” she revises, and Arkady nods. “But…I guess we’re lucky that that guy was the one who noticed us.”

“Yeah, sure, what a teddy bear,” Arkady grumbles. “Big old congrats to him for his grasp of PTSD 101 and basic crowd control, I guess.”

Violet sighs. “Maybe he has friends who fought in the war, or—”

Arkady shakes her head. “Him.”

At Violet’s questioning look, she explains, “When he was walking us toward the door, he took point. Maybe he thought it’d make me feel safer. Maybe just fell into it.”

“Oh.” Violet looks to their right. “Well, ready to get out of here? There’s a path from this courtyard that should take us back to the carpark.”

Arkady raises an eyebrow.

“What? You said memorize the floor plan; I memorized it!”

“I always tell the others that; they never actually—”

Violet grins. “Advantages of a lack of confidence?”

“You seem pretty confident to me.” Arkady leans forward to kiss Violet on the forehead. There are shadows in her eyes, but her words and motions are fluid again, and Violet relaxes a little more even as she again finds herself resenting having to worry about this for any reason other than Arkady’s own wellbeing.

As they stand up, Arkady rubs her arms, and Violet realizes the single layer of capelet probably isn’t much against the evening chill.

“Hang on.” Violet slips off her suit jacket, reflecting as she reaches up to drape it around Arkady that this is one advantages of being chubby; even if her jacket still wouldn’t have fit Arkady’s exceeding muscular upper arms, it does comfortably span her broad shoulders.

Arkady stops in her tracks, staring at the jacket with a bashful smile that Violet realizes is the first actual Arkady smile of the night.

As they head down the path, Arkady reaches for Violet’s hand and squeezes it before letting their hands relax into each other’s, swinging loosely between them.

“Well, at least we got what we needed before that little fiasco,” she mutters. “How’d you like your first obnoxiously fancy soiree since the museum heist?”

Violet thinks about the sparkling room and the soldier with kind eyes, finding herself wondering which side he’ll fight on if the next war is human against human.

“There were…a lot of jewels.” She leans into Arkady’s shoulder. “Existent, even, not fictitiously stolen.”

“Hey, at least Sana can act. Can you imagine if we’d sent Krejjh down there?”

“I’ve been telling you, they just haven’t had a chance to practice! Most of your cons are on humans. I still think they’d make a better actor than you think.”

“Yeah, because you’ve never heard the story of the last time they tried…”

“Guess you’ll have to tell me when we get back.”

As they arrive at the carpark, Arkady bounces her own shoulder against Violet’s. “Hey. Thanks for the jacket, Liu.”

Violet smirks. “I just felt bad for you in that little not opera capelet. Could you even fit your emergency wires in there?”

Arkady looks smug. “They’re elsewhere in the outfit.”

“Of course they are.” Violet rolls her eyes, tugging Arkady’s hand. “Come on, let’s go home.”

[chalkrevelations]

SO, Episode 28 of Word of Honor was a roller-coaster ride.

(Spoilers, as ever, so scroll away and come back later if you want to see it unspoiled.)

They managed two entirely separate scenes in this one that had me going “Did … did that just happen? Is this really happening?” Let’s get this one out of the way first: The scene of Zhao Jing in his serial killer lair with the altar and memorial tablets and his serial killer trophies. Y’all. I swear, scene opens with a shot from behind of drunk Awful Yifu in his Fantasy Ancient China underwear staggering through a set of doors into a room with candles and draperies, and before I was able to register the rest of the set design, my brain gave a terrified squeak and started rabbiting around like, “Oh my god, please do not let this be Xie’er’s bedroom. Oh my god, they wouldn’t actually go there, not even hinted, surely that would be too far!” Then my eyeballs caught up and registered the set, so I thought I was safe, but that didn’t even turn out to be the moment in the scene that had me going “Is this really happening?” (Although I do think the fact my brain immediately jumped to that scenario speaks to the creepy vibe the show has managed to build between Awful Yifu and Xie Wang). So, Zhao Jing is a sloppy drunk and absolutely shitfaced, stumbling around and yelling at his dead brothers, and I’m sitting here watching him, feeling like I need a shower, with my skin a little bit trying to crawl off my body, and then he picks up Rong Xuan’s memorial tablet and pours an entire stream of alcohol out of the pitcher all over it, and I say, out loud, to the screen, “Oh my god, they just had him figuratively piss on that tablet.” Only, no, they didn’t, because there was no need to have him do it figuratively because then, he literally whips it out of his pants and takes a piss on the tablet, complete with sound effects, and I’m open-mouthed, thinking “Is this really happening?” As some background, I grew up in mainstream U.S. culture where ancestor veneration isn’t formally practiced - although it isn’t an entirely absent part of our cultural mythos, it’s just that now when I when I offer cultus to the Patres Patriae, it’s deliberate and intentional – but I’ve been doing ancestor work in my particular flavor of polytheism for long enough, and intensely enough, that I had a visceral reaction of disgust and horror to this. Hand literally clapped over my mouth in shock, even after watching all of his ranting at his dead brothers and spitting at his dead shifu and just generally being a disrespectful asshole with delusions of grandeur building up to it. So, yes, show, you have indeed convinced me that Awful Yifu is the worst, even in an episode that also devoted that much screentime to Prince Jin.

Fortunately, the other “Is this really happening?” moment was at the other end of the spectrum, somewhere in the face of how married Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing are, which I cannot believe passed censorship. I know I keep saying that, but every time I think I’ve adjusted to how far they’re going to go, the show laughs gay-ly as it pushes the envelope another mile down the road. Truly, this show is the gift that keeps on giving where these two are concerned, and not just because of Zhang Zhehan’s face. I realize I had to spend 50 episodes deciphering Lan Wangji’s smallest microexpression (not that I’m complaining), but I can’t believe how expressive both Zhang Zhehan and Gong Jun are in these roles, with Gong Jun’s little sadness eyebrows when WKX wants ZZS to humor him, and how soft Zhang Zhehan’s face gets when ZZS looks at WKX, and how great they both are at making all this look like a pair of adults who are in an established relationship and confident of each other. I’d be as weak as Wen Kexing if Zhou Zishu pouted at me the way he does when he tells Chengling that he can’t do anything to help decorate the Manor except observe and direct because he’s oh, so injured and frail, poor him. Wen Kexing can laugh at Zhou Zishu when ZZS pokes at him by saying the papercrafter was such a beauty! (Compare this to his reaction back in the day, when ZZS deftly manipulated him out of bringing A-Xiang along on their honeymoon adventures by calling her a beauty and implying she might draw attention away from WKX!) Wen Kexing waves kitchen knives at Zhou Zishu in (somewhat fond) exasperation! Zhou Zishu now accepts Wen Kexing piling his plate with food at the table as perfectly normal! There’s no crying in Spring Festival! They send their kid outside to watch the fireworks so they can have sex some alone time! (Merciless killers. How the fuck so adorable?) Someone must have backed up an entire truckful of money to the house of someone very important to get this aired, because what is the heterosexual explanation for … any of this?

Other thoughts:

We continue to get small things that maintain the parallels between Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishou and Gu Xiang/Cao Weining, including the mirrored theme of finding a home with a welcoming family, shown through family dinner, and expressed through WKX’s description of his former self as a “lonely ghost,” echoing A-Xiang’s self-description (to Shen Shen in an earlier ep) the same way.

HAN YING! Listen, I am stupidly attached to this bit player, and not just because he’s a familiar face (because half of Wen Xu’s screentime in The Untamed was just a disembodied head hanging at the entrance to the Unclean Realm, so it’s not like there was time to get … attached). And I say stupidly attached because ever since we first saw the way he looked at ZZS with big puppy heart-eyes, I knew he was going to be a goner. I just know they’re gonna fridge him for the next step in ZZS’s journey, because something has to pry ZZS out of Four Seasons Manor, as much as I, personally, would like nothing better than to see 8 more episodes of wedded bliss for two gay dads and their son. (OK, one thing I would like better would be if their daughter and son-in-law came to live with them, too.) At least it looks like Han Ying will get to die taking a figurative bullet for ZZS, which will make him happy and might prevent him from finding out the Glazed Armor he’s so proud of bringing is actually pointless, because don’t think that didn’t hurt to know while I watched him being so proud of managing to get his hands on it. But I’d prefer he didn’t die at all, show. Also, why on earth are there only two (completed) stories under the ZZS/Han Ying label on AO3? Because yes, I have looked. I have the search open in another tab right now. Why haven’t more people taken advantage of this guy’s utter devotion for ZZS? How are people looking at the way Han Ying reverently brushes his fingers over the single white blossom on the wall mural in ZZS’s rooms back in Prince Jin’s palace and not falling all over that?

Xie’er, oh, Xie’er. You’re killing me, here. I need someone to rescue you, you desperate affection-starved little sociopath. So, to recap, last time we met, your Awful Yifu finally let it slip that he was never ever going to acknowledge your existence in public. So now, you’re being a very clever boy, setting up a scheme to manipulate him into having to publicly acknowledge you if he’s going to claim credit for your successes (because I’m sure you can’t even contemplate failure) in service to Prince Jin. So clever, but I hate to tell you, you’re clever at everything except learning from your mistakes when it comes to your Awful Yifu. You really learned nothing from Beauty Ghost, did you? Ugh, your sad little face as you watch your hot mess of an Awful Yifu while you wait for the maids to make tea – it hurts me. Please tell me you’re playing some kind of long game, and you’re just a really great actor. Because he’s sloppy drunk, and right now, watching your face journey, I think maybe you think that makes what he’s saying true – that he’s not guarding his words, and he means it when he tells you that of course he loves you and would never leave you. “Are you still angry with me?” Awful Yifu literally asks. “Alright, I’ll apologize. I was just mad. It didn’t mean anything. We’re together in this. I’ll always stand by you.” Xie’er, you have got to stop believing gaslighting abusive men who shovel that BS. This is what they call the honeymoon period in the cycle of abuse. Seriously. This is textbook. Please stop making the same mistakes over and over again. Maybe think about the fact that your Awful Yifu is, single-handedly, the reason the Department of the Unfaithful actually exists in the first place. He is THAT AWFUL. I would like to think actually seeing his serial killer trophy room will make a difference, now that you have some confirmation of what Tragicomic Ghost told you and not the ability to wave it off as part of some he-said, she-said situation where how could we ever possibly know the truth, despite the fact that Zhao Jing has shown he’ll stab anyone in the back in his quest for power? But, then, I also thought maybe learning last ep that he never planned to publicly acknowledge you would make some kind of difference. Are you going to roll the dice again, gambler? Because I’ll tell you right now, the house always wins. (Not that you’d listen to me anymore than you listened to Beauty Ghost.)

(Also, wait wait waitwaitwait. Waitaminit. This is pure speculation and probably way too out there to be true (oh, but, someone’s going to write this AU for me, right?) Hot-mess drunk yifu tells Xie’er that they’ve been depending on each other “ever since I picked you up and brought you back home.” I can’t remember if we know anything about Xie Wang’s background at this point, but it does sound like Zhao Jing might have literally yoinked him off the street to raise him. He … he doesn’t think Xie’er is actually Yan’er, does he? Only he kidnapped the wrong orphaned urchin by mistake? I’m just sayin’, thinking back to Shen Shen’s reaction to finding out Zhen Yan was still alive, it would be exactly the kind of thing Zhao Jing would do, to keep this kid that his brother(s) wanted to find hidden right under their noses.)

Chengling and the chicken. I can’t, y’all. And Zhou Zishu’s face as soon as he realizes what Wen Kexing is telling Chengling to do – he knows this is going to be a show.

Prince Jin, you are almost as bad as Xie’r and his awful Yifu combined:

Prince Jin: Zhou Zishu, you mastermind, your super-secret spy network continues to spread everywhere, including into my very own palace. Oh, the things you must be plotting against me!

Zhou Zishu, chillin’ at Plum Blossom Manor, day-drinking, dressing up in pretty festive robes, taking advantage of his disciple’s unpaid labor so he doesn’t have to raise a finger for himself, and providing his husband with sex so incredible he is never required to actually cook: “OK, my gay husband and our son-with-two-dads, how about we just stay here together forever and be happy?”

Also Prince Jin: *Creeps on Zhou Zishu like a gaslighting m’fker*

Anyway, if Prince Jin always knew what Han Ying was up to all along, is the letter about ZZS’s father a plant, with false info? It was just kind of suspiciously hanging out in the open on Prince Jin’s desk.

[random-writes-blog]

What you are chapter 4

The weekend came far faster than Deceit would like, he felt like he was leading a death march as he and Remus walked down the dark halls of the Mindscape to the large door of the Imagination. It towered over the pair, like a black dragon, ancient and terrifying. Each piece of silver decor outlining it a scale on the beast.

It will devour Remus whole.

Deceit shook the melodramatic thought from his head. Granted there was a truth to it, he shuddered thinking about what might happen to Remus in there. He glanced at the side who was rocking back and fouth, heels-to-toes, heels-to-toes. Deceit checked his watch- 10 minutes left. Deceit turned to Remus and opened his mouth-

Remus immediately replied, “I know, you’ve been repeating it since I brought it up. I’m sure this is what I want to do. This is what Thomas needs me to do. I get that it’s risky but you have to trust me on this one.” His cadence was less bouncy than usual, his smile, less manic. The unease that rose in Deceit’s chest wasn’t lessened in the slightest by Remus’s serious certainty.

Deceit hesitated, he needed a mind unclouded by emotion right now, “It’s not that I was worried about you of course. I was worried about how this will effect Thomas’s overall mental health. Honestly this level of repression seems like a short term situation that will cause long term problems and...” He faltered over his statement his throat closing in on itself stupidly.

Remus leaned down and kissed the top of his head, “Hey, hey, it’ll only be a few hours, than I’ll be back in here,” He did a pose, “My usual ass-mazing self,” He slapped his own ass for emphasis, “and everyone will be better off for it!”

Deceit closed his eyes and nodded, he held his hands up a light yellow glow forming around his gloves. He checked his watch, 2 minutes. “Only a few hours... If you can and you need to contact me if you need to leave earlier.”

Remus gave a one handed salute, using his other hand to grab the slimy door handle to the Imagination. He pulled and the door moaned sexually, he couldn’t help his giggle at it, on a different day he would have spent hours teasing the door, but today he just stepped into his half of the Imagination. He heard another moan, followed by a click behind him. The door gained a steady yellow aura around it.

This was it. From now until Thomas woke up he would be stuck here. He could do this!

Immediately clouds started forming around him as his thoughts began to run wild, what if the Imagination created a monster that he couldn’t defeat? What would it even look like? OH imagine if it had long claws like a crab, but the rest of its body was octopussy- heh, octopussy, what if it had one that worked like a vacuum, sucking up everything in its path?

And as soon as the thought formed so did the cloud, and as soon as the cloud fully formed, so did the creature. It was the size of Mount Everest, and other than its bright red claws it was made of a strange, putty like substance. Its face- or lack thereof was a completely flat surface. It rolled towards him, claws outstretched ready to snap him in half.

Well this certainly was a great way to start the night.

He leaped away from the creature’s first attack, and tried to ignore how large the crater was, tried not to think about how it would feel if the creature managed to catch him, how he would first feel the sharp sides of the claws digging into his flesh, then feel them push deeper into his skin.

It grabbed him.

The creature was clever, it would play with him, slowly pushing those nubs into his skin, he cried as he felt a thousand needles dig into his skin at once. The blood trickled down his skin hot as a flame, each droplet touching another hold. It never touched the ground, swirling around him, burning him. He panted, both because of the extreme heat and the ache that had taken over his body. He wished something would get rid of the blood in his body, at least if he didn’t have blood the burning aches would go away.

The Imagination obliged him, the creature rolled onto its back, revealing the only hole in his body. Remus couldn’t help but take a moment to admire the perfection of his Yonic imagery. The way the sides folded in on itself and the round diamond-like shape. It was like a Georgia O Keef painting, Logan would be proud after all those lessons on anatomy...

Well he would be proud until it started to pull the blood from his body, his body arched back and he screamed, he felt like an inflated blow-up doll, limp in the air but still conscious. His heart continued to pound, giving the creature more blood, and it gained more size and power. He forced himself to think of a way out of this situation. The only thing that can beat one giant octopus-crab-vag creature... Was another octopus-crab-vag creature! And maybe he’d just be thrown off to the side so they could touch lips-

And so he flew through the air, watching the two octopus-crab-vag creatures roll away together and he easily thought of a cloud to make him slowly float into the arms of a group of small humanoid creatures, aspects of their faces each in different spots like a group of Mr.Potato heads in a preschool. Their hands were cold as ice and had the texture of snot. They gripped his wrists, the top of his head and ankles, that snot-like texture dripping against arms, head, and legs. He twitched under the touch- a twitch that would have been a flinch if he could properly move at the moment. He couldn’t help but give a sigh of relief, even though these guys were creepy and he was trapped in their grip they didn’t seem to automatically want to kill him. If anything, they were kind of cute, one of them had an eye on his chin how precious!

Remus giggled, “What’s your name little guys?”

One of them grinned from a smile in their hair, and the others started giggling, one of them loudly started shouting, “DING DING DING DING DING DING!” Another clicked on a record player which started playing siren noises, and a third created a stepping stool and stood over him, several knives in hand.

“SPIN TIME!” The one standing over him shouted, the ones holding Remus giggled started to spin him around and around the one standing above him began to throw knives at his body. Remus thought he would get sick and his mouth immediately started to taste like bile and his stomach heaved, he tried to throw up, but the one holding his head had an iron grip. He felt the bile rise in his throat and stop there, he coughed feeling the chunks getting stuck in his throat. His coughs became harsher as he tried to force them out but to no avail.

It was then that he started to feel the pinching, harsh stab of dull knives being thrown at his body, the first at his stomach, then his head, then two for each shoulder and two for each knee- and at first, he supposed it wasn’t too bad. He sucked in air through his breath as each one pierced through his skin, but it was only a few seconds of pain before he was gently set down on the ground. He took a moment to breathe, the creatures suddenly became silent as he stared at the sky; it was already filled to the brim with clouds of thoughts towards other people he’d had throughout this endeavor. Every second he wished someone else was here, every fly away thought he had while floating to the ground sat in that sky.

He almost thought it would be more painful for him to be stuck here, staring in horror at the future that Thomas had waiting for his mind and knowing it was his fault. The guilt weighed in his chest like a thousand bricks, and unsurprisingly at this point, several tons of bricks than fell from the sky and onto his chest, forcing the breath from his lungs. Something that looked like ash swirled around him. In his ears came the squelch of a knife being pushed into a body.

Oh wait, no, that wasn’t ash.

Those were his locust.

The first one landed on his skin and immediately the creatures that had captured him began to make noises that banged around in his head like the beans in a rattle. The feeling of every small leg of the locust against his raw, pained body felt like hammers banging against his skin. Their bits like needles pushing into his skin. One began to walk on top of his eyeball and he immediately closed his eyes, squishing it between his eyelids, feeling the guts in every pore. He put his hands to his ears but the sound only grew louder, he rolled around but failed to kill any of the locusts. They swarmed around him like a tornado of pain. He wished this would end, he wished he could just escape-

"Remus?" Remus could hear the sound of a voice above the whirlwind of noise noise NOISE around him. The screams of children as someone chopped off their fingers and used them to scratch a record playing Sweet Home Alabama slowly, far too slowly, the man's voice low and crackly and the SCREETCH of the nails against the record. How could he even try to focus on who this was?

" REMUS! "He struggled to hear the voice and recognize it. So familiar, so terribly terribly familiar. his eyes popped open and his vision filled with the twitchy, tiny leg of locusts. They started to gnaw on his eye, his vision slowly becoming black as they bit into his iris as easily as one might chew on a piece of a sandwich.

But Remus didn't need to see at the moment, he knew what he saw.

Roman. His brother, he could save him! Wait, he was supposed to be in here for a reason, wasn't he? Think Remus think! Why was he supposed to be here? Something about Patton? Thomas? The noise broke his brain, he didn't care anymore, he didn't care anymore! He just wanted to get out of this situation, to live for a few more minutes. He crawled out of the tornado and reached for his brother's hand.

Light flooded his vision and the swarm of locusts exploded into a swarm of butterflies. The creatures started to run towards Roman, who easily tore them down with a wave of his sword. He picked up Remus as easily as he might a small child. Remus watched as they walked through the black and silver door of his half of the Imagination, he saw Deceit, he was obviously saying something but his ringing ears couldn't understand a word. He felt weak and dumber than usual as he finally closed his eyes, deciding he'd focus on the consequences of his actions later. For now, he would let himself rest.

[findingtheperfectcharacter]

What You Are Chapter 4

Warnings: Gore, body horror, genitalia mention, blood, Vomiting, insects, insects crawling on skin gonna be honest folks this chapter’s borderline Whump, ask to tag

@booklover223

@isaacoctosnake

The weekend came far faster than Deceit would like, he felt like he was leading a death march as he and Remus walked down the dark halls of the Mindscape to the large door of the Imagination. It towered over the pair, like a black dragon, ancient and terrifying. Each piece of silver decor outlining it a scale on the beast.

It will devour Remus whole.

Deceit shook the melodramatic thought from his head. Granted there was a truth to it, he shuddered thinking about what might happen to Remus in there. He glanced at the side who was rocking back and fouth, heels-to-toes, heels-to-toes. Deceit checked his watch- 10 minutes left. Deceit turned to Remus and opened his mouth-

Remus immediately replied, “I know, you’ve been repeating it since I brought it up. I’m sure this is what I want to do. This is what Thomas needs me to do. I get that it’s risky but you have to trust me on this one.” His cadence was less bouncy than usual, his smile, less manic. The unease that rose in Deceit’s chest wasn’t lessened in the slightest by Remus’s serious certainty.

Deceit hesitated, he needed a mind unclouded by emotion right now, “It’s not that I was worried about you of course. I was worried about how this will effect Thomas’s overall mental health. Honestly this level of repression seems like a short term situation that will cause long term problems and...” He faltered over his statement his throat closing in on itself stupidly.

Remus leaned down and kissed the top of his head, “Hey, hey, it’ll only be a few hours, than I’ll be back in here,” He did a pose, “My usual ass-mazing self,” He slapped his own ass for emphasis, “and everyone will be better off for it!”

Deceit closed his eyes and nodded, he held his hands up a light yellow glow forming around his gloves. He checked his watch, 2 minutes. “Only a few hours... If you can and you need to contact me if you need to leave earlier.”

Remus gave a one handed salute, using his other hand to grab the slimy door handle to the Imagination. He pulled and the door moaned sexually, he couldn’t help his giggle at it, on a different day he would have spent hours teasing the door, but today he just stepped into his half of the Imagination. He heard another moan, followed by a click behind him. The door gained a steady yellow aura around it.

This was it. From now until Thomas woke up he would be stuck here. He could do this!

Immediately clouds started forming around him as his thoughts began to run wild, what if the Imagination created a monster that he couldn’t defeat? What would it even look like? OH imagine if it had long claws like a crab, but the rest of its body was octopussy- heh, octopussy, what if it had one that worked like a vacuum, sucking up everything in its path?

And as soon as the thought formed so did the cloud, and as soon as the cloud fully formed, so did the creature. It was the size of Mount Everest, and other than its bright red claws it was made of a strange, putty like substance. Its face- or lack thereof was a completely flat surface. It rolled towards him, claws outstretched ready to snap him in half.

Well this certainly was a great way to start the night.

He leaped away from the creature’s first attack, and tried to ignore how large the crater was, tried not to think about how it would feel if the creature managed to catch him, how he would first feel the sharp sides of the claws digging into his flesh, then feel them push deeper into his skin.

It grabbed him.

The creature was clever, it would play with him, slowly pushing those nubs into his skin, he cried as he felt a thousand needles dig into his skin at once. The blood trickled down his skin hot as a flame, each droplet touching another hold. It never touched the ground, swirling around him, burning him. He panted, both because of the extreme heat and the ache that had taken over his body. He wished something would get rid of the blood in his body, at least if he didn’t have blood the burning aches would go away.

The Imagination obliged him, the creature rolled onto its back, revealing the only hole in his body. Remus couldn’t help but take a moment to admire the perfection of his Yonic imagery. The way the sides folded in on itself and the round diamond-like shape. It was like a Georgia O Keef painting, Logan would be proud after all those lessons on anatomy...

Well he would be proud until it started to pull the blood from his body, his body arched back and he screamed, he felt like an inflated blow-up doll, limp in the air but still conscious. His heart continued to pound, giving the creature more blood, and it gained more size and power. He forced himself to think of a way out of this situation. The only thing that can beat one giant octopus-crab-vag creature... Was another octopus-crab-vag creature! And maybe he’d just be thrown off to the side so they could touch lips-

And so he flew through the air, watching the two octopus-crab-vag creatures roll away together and he easily thought of a cloud to make him slowly float into the arms of a group of small humanoid creatures, aspects of their faces each in different spots like a group of Mr.Potato heads in a preschool. Their hands were cold as ice and had the texture of snot. They gripped his wrists, the top of his head and ankles, that snot-like texture dripping against arms, head, and legs. He twitched under the touch- a twitch that would have been a flinch if he could properly move at the moment. He couldn’t help but give a sigh of relief, even though these guys were creepy and he was trapped in their grip they didn’t seem to automatically want to kill him. If anything, they were kind of cute, one of them had an eye on his chin how precious!

Remus giggled, “What’s your name little guys?”

One of them grinned from a smile in their hair, and the others started giggling, one of them loudly started shouting, “DING DING DING DING DING DING!” Another clicked on a record player which started playing siren noises, and a third created a stepping stool and stood over him, several knives in hand.

“SPIN TIME!” The one standing over him shouted, the ones holding Remus giggled started to spin him around and around the one standing above him began to throw knives at his body. Remus thought he would get sick and his mouth immediately started to taste like bile and his stomach heaved, he tried to throw up, but the one holding his head had an iron grip. He felt the bile rise in his throat and stop there, he coughed feeling the chunks getting stuck in his throat. His coughs became harsher as he tried to force them out but to no avail.

It was then that he started to feel the pinching, harsh stab of dull knives being thrown at his body, the first at his stomach, then his head, then two for each shoulder and two for each knee- and at first, he supposed it wasn’t too bad. He sucked in air through his breath as each one pierced through his skin, but it was only a few seconds of pain before he was gently set down on the ground. He took a moment to breathe, the creatures suddenly became silent as he stared at the sky; it was already filled to the brim with clouds of thoughts towards other people he’d had throughout this endeavor. Every second he wished someone else was here, every fly away thought he had while floating to the ground sat in that sky.

He almost thought it would be more painful for him to be stuck here, staring in horror at the future that Thomas had waiting for his mind and knowing it was his fault. The guilt weighed in his chest like a thousand bricks, and unsurprisingly at this point, several tons of bricks than fell from the sky and onto his chest, forcing the breath from his lungs. Something that looked like ash swirled around him. In his ears came the squelch of a knife being pushed into a body.

Oh wait, no, that wasn’t ash.

Those were his locust.

The first one landed on his skin and immediately the creatures that had captured him began to make noises that banged around in his head like the beans in a rattle. The feeling of every small leg of the locust against his raw, pained body felt like hammers banging against his skin. Their bits like needles pushing into his skin. One began to walk on top of his eyeball and he immediately closed his eyes, squishing it between his eyelids, feeling the guts in every pore. He put his hands to his ears but the sound only grew louder, he rolled around but failed to kill any of the locusts. They swarmed around him like a tornado of pain. He wished this would end, he wished he could just escape-

"Remus?" Remus could hear the sound of a voice above the whirlwind of noise noise NOISE around him. The screams of children as someone chopped off their fingers and used them to scratch a record playing Sweet Home Alabama slowly, far too slowly, the man's voice low and crackly and the SCREETCH of the nails against the record. How could he even try to focus on who this was?

" REMUS! "He struggled to hear the voice and recognize it. So familiar, so terribly terribly familiar. his eyes popped open and his vision filled with the twitchy, tiny leg of locusts. They started to gnaw on his eye, his vision slowly becoming black as they bit into his iris as easily as one might chew on a piece of a sandwich.

But Remus didn't need to see at the moment, he knew what he saw.

Roman. His brother, he could save him! Wait, he was supposed to be in here for a reason, wasn't he? Think Remus think! Why was he supposed to be here? Something about Patton? Thomas? The noise broke his brain, he didn't care anymore, he didn't care anymore! He just wanted to get out of this situation, to live for a few more minutes. He crawled out of the tornado and reached for his brother's hand.

Light flooded his vision and the swarm of locusts exploded into a swarm of butterflies. The creatures started to run towards Roman, who easily tore them down with a wave of his sword. He picked up Remus as easily as he might a small child. Remus watched as they walked through the black and silver door of his half of the Imagination, he saw Deceit, he was obviously saying something but his ringing ears couldn't understand a word. He felt weak and dumber than usual as he finally closed his eyes, deciding he'd focus on the consequences of his actions later. For now, he would let himself rest.

[doodledoobug]

The Void without Magic

Hi!! I normally don’t share my writing, but recently @purp-man has convinced me that it is good enough to post, so here we go :)

Title: The Void without Magic Wordcount: 4054 Trigger Warnings: Blood, blindness, mentioning of depression and suicide, major fight injuries Main characters are Anti, Jackie and Marvin, No ships included Summary: In a battle against the glitch demon Anti, Marvin loses control over his spell and needs to learn how to live while he is blind

  I

It was Thursday evening, stormy weather was cast over the city. Jackie, a local hero, had just called up his brother to help him with a terrorist that was once also part of their family. A crazy maniac, with knives hidden all around his body and the ability to glitch all over the place. He was literally able to be everywhere; In your brain, in your house, everywhere. He was manipulative, and overall just incredibly insane. The more blood there was, the better. Rain was hitting the pavement like hail, and the ominous sound of thunder could be heard every now and then. The hero was covered in blood, bruises, and sweat, and it was very clear he was using the last bit of stamina he still had. Marvin had thus come at the right time to help him. 

“Marv! Please watch out, he’s even stronger than usual! He’s unpredictable and plays with your mind!” The worn-out hero warned the magician. Marvin had come straight after his magic show to the crime scene to help, but he still felt as if he should’ve come earlier. Whatever he was thinking, he should not let it bother him with the fight displayed in front of him. He quickly tossed a stamina potion to Jackie, who caught it and drank it as soon as he caught it. “Gotcha. This is all the stamina I can give you, I did not have enough time in the break to make more.” He apologized.  Jackie shook his head and thanked him for the potion. “If you prepare some spells, I will hold him off. He is ready to charge again!” Jackie said, pulling two katanas from his back, and inducing it with lightning. 

Jackie had electrons in his blood, that he could move as he pleased. It did tire him out quite quickly, and that raises the possibility of him electrocuting himself. He had to be careful since it was storming as well. Marvin was already preparing a few spells that might give them the chance to knock the glitching demon out. Anti wasn’t just going to sit around and wait for Marvin to be done though. He knew he could take Jackie out in a few hits, but Marvin needed to stop his spell preparation. “Well, well. Was the hero not strong enough themselves to finish me off?” He cackled and shook his head. “Can’t be helped. You need to train Jackie.” He grinned, spitting the name out as if he hated it with all his guts. “But your magician friend isn’t going to be able to get me too. Just try to protect him with me around” He spoke, and started glitching all over the place. Jackie had to do his absolute best to follow the demon around. 

Anti dashed towards the fully concentrated Marvin, only to be blocked by Jackie himself. Anti gritted his teeth in annoyance. He had wished to finish Marvin off in one hit since he wasn’t sure how much his magic had improved in the year he had been gone. Jackie seemed certain they were going to win, which made him a bit wary of the magician. He could, however, use that certainty against himself. “Hey Jackie.. What if you don’t win huh? Then you took an innocent life with you, and it would be your own brother's life. Oh, how unfortunate..” He grinned. He saw the certainty waver for a second, which made the demon press harder on the katanas. Jackie got pushed into Marvin his magic circle.

“Jackie, get out of the circle. The spell is going to be ready soon.” Marvin said. The hero nodded, and pressed harder, walking out of the circle while pushing Anti back. What Marvin said had sparked an idea by the demon, however. Marvin said that Jackie couldn’t be in the magic circle, which most likely meant that that would be dangerous. He kept his eye on Marvin and tried to estimate when the attack would be ready. It didn’t take more than one minute for a bluish-black fire to appear in his hands. His eyes were glowing and Anti knew what he had to do. In the instant that Marvin was about to send his attack flying, he pushed Jackie into the circle and backflipped away from it himself. 

Marvin’s eyes widened in shock, and he desperately tried to redirect the flame, to make sure Jackie wouldn’t be hit. Redirecting a magic attack that already had a route was one of the most difficult things for a magician to do, so it wasn’t a surprise when the fire got redirected to Marvin himself, sending the magician flying to the nearest concrete wall, and an agonizing scream filling the air. The scream was followed by a loud thunder, and even more rain started to pour down. “MARVIN!!” Jackie screamed in absolute horror, his eyes big in shock. The demonic laughter of the glitch, fading in the distance, was the last thing they heard before Jackie blacked out as well.

II

Jackie was the first one to wake up the next morning. Soft beeps could be heard and the room was brightly lit, with white walls reflecting all of the morning sun. Every bone and muscle in his body hurt, and he could feel medication flow through the tube coming out of his body. He sat up, a loud groan coming out of his mouth. “Jackie, how do you feel?” The familiar voice of the eldest brother asked. Henrik was a doctor and had probably carried both of the brothers back to their house when they were knocked out on the concrete pavement.  “I’m okay. How is Marvin? Because of me…” He said, frowning when he remembered what had happened the previous evening. “It is okay Jackie. It’s not your fault, Anti has grown even stronger since the last time that we saw him. We should all have been more prepared to take him on.” Henrik said. He and Chase had been doing research, trying to figure out when and where Anti would reappear. The day had come quicker than they all had anticipated, resulting in the embarrassing loss of the two brothers.

“I’m afraid that I do have bad news though,” Henrik said, with a sad expression on his face. Jackie braced himself for the worst possible situation, but he was still not ready for what he was about to hear. “Marvin has lost almost all of his vision. He can only see shimmers or very bright lights, but he will never be able to see again.” Henrik said, doing his utmost best not to break down in his sentence. Jackie felt his heart sink into the floor. It had been his fault that Marvin’s attack backfired into his own face. The hit with the building wall must’ve been that hard that he had damaged his brain. Tears slipped down his face, and his hand slowly curled up in a fist. He couldn’t even face Marvin after the humiliation they had yesterday, and Marvin had taken the hit instead of him. 

It took a few more hours for Marvin to wake up. He woke up with a deep sigh and rubbed over the back of his head, where he felt a soft fabric. Bandages? He opened his eyes tiredly, but it stayed dark. He tried consciously blinking. Still, it was dark. “Where am I?” He yelled panicked and started feeling around. He was on a bed, that much he could feel. Maybe his eyes were bandaged. His hands went up to feel his face, but he could feel his eyeballs and skin, so there was no mistake here. He couldn’t see. Would he be like this forever? He couldn’t be. He could not possibly live blind after having been able to see for almost 30 years. He started to sob, and he screamed at the top of his lungs. “JACKIE! HENRIK! ANYONE?!” He cried out, his faint sobs echoing through the room. It was quiet, except for the beeps. He felt the cold tears flow down his skin, and his bed sheets started to get wet. Henrik rushed through the door not even 5 minutes later. “Marvin, is everything okay?” He asked concerned. Marvin just kept weeping.

“Henrik… I can’t see… Everything I love doing… I can’t anymore…” He cried, his foggy eyes staring right past Henrik. “I can’t live like this. I can’t even see my own magic!” He wept, starting a small flame in his hand. “I’m sorry Marvin.. I’m trying to find a way to fix your eyes, but so far I’ve come up with no cures..” Henrik said, tears starting to form in his eyes as well. He couldn’t bear seeing his brother like this, but he also knew there would be no way for him to fix his eyes. At least not with the medical knowledge he had right now. “Leave me alone Henrik… Please.” Marvin mumbled underneath his breath. “But.. I want to comfort you..” He said back. “Please, it’s the only thing I’m asking from you.” 

And so Henrik went back to his office. Jackie didn’t want to face Marvin, and he hadn’t even told Chase and JJ the bad news yet. He felt useless as a doctor. He couldn’t even fix up his broken brother, and it frustrated him. For now, he would have to tell Chase and JJ the bad news. Usually, they help with researching, making a weight lift off of Henrik his shoulders. He quietly walked into the living room and made himself a cup of coffee. Afterwards, he poured in some vodka and walked up to Chase and JJ. “Your brothers got badly hurt in their fight yesterday, and not only that. Marvin has lost almost all of his vision, and there doesn’t seem to be a cure for it as of today. He doesn’t want to speak to anyone, and Jackie feels responsible for them.” He said quietly. A shocked JJ was waving his arms around in panicked sign language. “Yes, Marvin is pretty depressed right now. Could you guys please help him get used to being blind? Maybe do some research on getting a cane? I will be spending my nights working on a cure.” Henrik said, and took a sip of his coffee. “Sure, but don’t overwork yourself, Henrik. We all know that no one but that demon needs to be held accountable for this. Don’t beat yourself up over it.” Chase said and gave his big brother a hug. Henrik nodded, but deep inside he still felt like he had failed his brother.

III

For five whole weeks, Marvin refused to speak. The only thing he was doing in his room was trying to heal his eyes by making potions based on what ingredients he knew by smell, and Chase was the only one he spoke a few words to. His question had been if Chase wanted to read all the healing spells to him, so he would be able to heal his eyes. But nothing seemed to work. The magic he had wanted to use on Anti, was a binding magic; Anything that happened 5 minutes after the spell would not be able to be erased, and thus Marvin had become eternally blind. 

Often you could hear desperate screams at night, the shattering of bottles against the wall and loud explosions of spells he used around his room to let off some steam. It was excruciating to hear, and the brothers would often break down crying and hugging each other. They had never seen Marvin so distraught, he had always been the positive one in the group. “Everything can be fixed with a little magic!” had been his catchphrase for the longest amount of time, so it was a surprise when he one day walked out of his prison of misery, stared at a random point and said. “Everything can be broken with a little magic.” 

All of the brothers had been caught so off-guard, that they didn’t even stop him when he seemed to walk towards the front door. Chase had been the first one to jump up and rush towards him. “Marvin! What are you doing? Magic isn’t a bad thing! It helped me so much through my dark times” He said quickly. He was afraid. Marvin could hear the tremble in his voice and knew that he was scared. “This isn’t living Chase. I can’t see my own magic. All my hobbies require eye-sight, and I can see nothing more but a glisten. I’m only burdening you guys in this house.” He mumbled and gave his brother a quick hug. “Nothing can fix this! There is no way I can help you guys anymore, I’ve become a weak kitten that can be grabbed by the demon any minute. I would be better off dead.” He finished up, his voice growing more desperate and melancholic as the monologue went on. 

“That’s not true Marvin… We taught JJ to be able to use sign language when we first found him. We taught him to read lips and do anything another normal human being could do. That is no different from you. We can teach you how to live again, but you need to let us help you.” Chase said, hugging his brother even more tightly than before. “We love you, Marvin, you’re our magician. Every moment with you is magical, even if you can’t see it” Henrik added to Chase his argument. The poor magician started to tremble, and his voice got engulfed by his sobbing. “I-I…. Where do I even start… I can’t read, I can’t walk… I can only listen” He wept. Henrik handed Chase a walking cane, and Chase folded it out. Softly, he grabbed Marvins hand and let his grip fall around the plastic cane. 

“We are prepared. We got you beginners Braille books, which Henrik will work through with you. Our fridge, music installation, tv, bathroom and anything else got remodeled to work on voice controls. Jackie has been transcribing all your magic books to a braille version when you finish learning braille. We begin with slow steps, and that first step is you accepting our help.” Chase explained and looked into the foggy eyes of his brother. “A-Alright.. If you guys planned this far ahead, I will at least try..” He mumbled “Thank you, Marvin. Now, Jackie would like to talk to you for a bit.” Jackie had been the only one that hadn’t visited him in the five weeks he had been working himself to the bone. He had felt very lonely since Jackie and him were always extremely close as brothers.

Marvin heard quiet footsteps grow closer, and before he knew it, he was being hugged by his closest brother. The blind brother carefully hugged him back. “Jackie… Why didn’t you visit?” Marvin asked quietly. “I-I felt responsible. Because I got slipped in your magic circle, you had to redirect your magic spell and hit yourself. If I had been more careful, or if I had been stronger, this wouldn’t have happened. You wouldn’t have to learn how to be blind. I’m so so sorry, you can hate me all you want. It is my fault after all. I will do everything I can to find a way to get your eyesight back. “ He wept loudly. 

The Magician was taken aback by his hero-brother. He had never held him accountable for what happened, and it broke his heart to see him blame him for something that wasn’t his fault. “Jackie… Hey, Jackie… I would never hate you.. It is not your fault,. Don’t feel guilty, please.. We will work this out” He finished off, his brother nodding slowly and cried for a few more minutes. 

IV

They had been helping Marvin train for about 2 weeks now. He had gotten familiar with using his cane and could read basic braille. He still tripped over a lot of stuff, and getting meals and paying for it was still quite hard for him, but he was managing a lot better. The brothers had been delighted to see him brighten up so quickly, by doing simple things such as board games in teams, finding shiny outfits for Marvin that he could actually see, learning him to use makeup blindly and much more. He seemed to have regained his spirit again.

While they were all helping him with relearning all the basic things, Chase and JJ didn’t stop researching when Anti would reappear. Jackie had been working out like crazy, and Henrik had been helping him with creating gadgets to enhance his electrical powers. It felt like they had never been this prepared for an attack. One thing that they couldn’t use this time, however, was Marvin’s magic. His magic had been one of the strongest tools against fighting Anti, but now the only thing they could use were the potions he had made for him. The bottles had both braille and English tags. He had made defense, offense, healing, and spirit potions. The Spirit potions would call spirits from the magic realm to help him with the battle. They had been more prepared than ever. 

The evening before Jackie went off to fight Anti again, he walked up to Marvin’s room. He softly knocked on the door, which got opened after a few minutes of waiting. “Yes?” Marvin asked, not sure who was waiting in front of him. “Hey, uhm. I will definitely get revenge for your sight. It is his fault, and I want to own up to my mistake by taking him down.” He said, hugging his brother. “That's okay Jackie. I wish you good luck, and please come home safely.” Marvin smiled, and let his big brother go. 

Even though they had made mighty preparations for the battle between the hero and the demon, it quickly became clear it hadn’t been enough. The next morning, the hero was still not home, and he had not responded to any messages to phone calls. The brothers went out altogether to set out a search party. Marvin had used a piece of clothing from Jackie to use a tracking spell to where he had been last. Luckily he was able to see the tracking spell fairly clearly. His magic had adapted to show shimmers, so he was able to control it more. They quickly arrived at the wide-open grass field, which the hero had battled in the evening before. There was an overwhelming smell of blood and burnt flesh, and Marvin felt his knees buckle when they came closer to the source. The stench became worse and worse, and the magician started to believe they had already been too late. 

He finally heard a scream coming from Chase, followed by loud weeps. Marvin moved over the grass with difficulty, trying to find his way to the scene. “I-It’s Jackie!! Henrik, we need to get him out of here!! He has a gaping hole in his chest!!” Chase screamed at the top of his lungs. Marvin felt tears well up in his eyes and tried to keep his stomach in control. “Chase! I still feel his presence! I think he’s still alive!!” Marvin yelled over the open fields as soon as he got his breakfast back down. He tossed a very strong healing potion in the direction of Chase, who quickly applied it to the brother. 

“Let’s get him out of here!!” Henrik said, and their voices all grew distant. “Wait… Guys!!” Marvin yelled, unable to see and unable to feel well with his cane on the grass floor. There was no response. Marvin tried to hurry to what seemed more voices, but soon that lead was gone. His cane got stuck in a bump, and it snapped like a twig under someone’s food. Marvin started to tremble. “Please..! Don’t tell me you guys left me alone!! Please!! PLEASE!!” His screams echoed over the green hills, but there was no response.

The brothers who had helped him through his hard time had in the rush completely forgotten about his blindness and had gone back home as soon as they could to save his amazing hero brother. For some reason, the emptiness in his heart had returned. He felt betrayed by his brothers. That potion he had thrown would at least get him out of critical condition, they know that. So then, why would they rush off and forget about him. 

V

“Funny, isn’t it brother?” A voice of a glitchy demon appeared behind him, and Marvin froze in terror. “People seem to love you, but as soon as you turn into the slightest bit of inconvenience they leave you behind” He turned his head around, and even through his blind eyes, he could still see the shimmering glitches. “I can’t fight you Anti. You know this. If you wish to kill me, please do it now. I have nowhere to run to, and there is no place for me to hide as well. I can’t control my magic well when I’m blind.” He sighed, and let his shoulders hang down in defeat. 

“Do you really think I would sink as low as our other brothers? They exiled me because I lost control once. It was Chase his ex, who had hurt him oh so often. And you lose your eyesight, and suddenly they feel to burdened to help you” Anti spat. For some reason, he showed no ill will to Marvin. He even seemed to pity him. “So if you’re not here to murder me, why did you try to murder Jackie? Why did you stay here after I’ve been left by my own brothers?” He asked. Two hands with sharp nails carefully helped him up. “I never went to you guys for a fight. You Decided I was bad and tried to kill me. I was protecting myself. I even missed Jackie his vitals so he wouldn’t die. You are still my brothers.” Marvin felt weirdly at ease in the presence of the demon. It seemed like he understood him, but he still felt weary. He couldn’t see his facial expressions, so maybe he was changing the tone to deceive him. The way he had helped him up, however, didn’t seem fake. He was genuinely caring. “What point do you want to reach, Anti?” Marvin finally decided to say. 

“I want you to join my side. Yes, my acts can be considered evil. I kill, but I don’t just kill anyone that crosses my path. I’ve killed people who have taken advantage of the weak, the poor, the exiles. Just like me. I’m finding peace in my own way.” He said. There was no hesitation in his voice, no sign of a lie. It was all the honest truth. “And, while your brothers only looked into medical solutions for your blindness, I found a technical solution to it. It had never been my intention to make you blind.” He said. Marvin felt a cold plate being pressed against the skin just above its ear. It slightly melted into his skin. For a moment there was a sharp pain, but when he opened his eyes next, he was able to see things again. Not in the way he was able to see before, he was able to see layouts of where he was. The outlines of buildings in the distance, the tree in front of him, and the outline of the birds in the sky.

“I know it isn’t what you hoped, but this AI can be improved. Join me, lend me your strength, and I will lend you mine. We can rid this place of misleading bitches.” He spat out. Marvin’s eyes started to tear up. He was able to see  again. It was black with white lines, but he was seeing stuff again. He quickly engulfed his lost brother in a hug and started to sob. “I will join you! Thank you Anti… Thank you for getting me out of this void without magic. Thank you, for not leaving me behind and for accepting me.” 

Anti pat the head of his little brother and looked at the sky. “No problem. We will work for a better future. 

[peaches-of-1]

Mafia AU: The Trusted- Chapter 4

Ship: RM x Desta (OC)

Warnings: Mentions and descriptions of guns, knives, violence, body horror, death, and other Mafia related things ahead. PLEASE SKIP IF YOU CAN’T HANDLE IT since this chapter is only these things.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

Jin was excited to use his custom knives, especially on a traitor. They were new and smelled like it, tasted like it. The body strapped to the chair was one of the newer kids that had joined them. Jin spoke to him while watching the blades shimmer in the light.

“You know, it’s such a shame. Namjoon really had his eye on you to make the Trusted 6 into seven, and now I get to turn your 10 fingers into nine.”

He squealed like pork with the gag in his mouth, probably doing that lame ass begging people did when they were scared.

Jin rolled his eyes and held up the biggest cleaver, “Silence, child.”

And he was reduced to oink-like whimpering.

“Now.” The man turned to his meat. “If you give me the information I want, you’ll keep your little piggies, but if you lie. Oh, but if you even lie a little bit, they won’t be the only things ‘crying wee wee wee all the way home’. Understood?”

The boy nodded. He was just now 18. It used to hurt Jin to use his tools on kids, but there were no children in this world. Only friends and enemies. Right now, this boy was the latter.

Jin smiled, “Good. I’m removing the gag now. Don’t scream.”

He remained silent and shivering. His eyes looked around the unfamiliar room. There was a drain nearby on the floor and tables full of all sort of sharp objects. Things you’d usually see in a kitchen, but probably not used for cutting and cooking animals.

“So, why were you teaming up with SB?”

“Fuck you, old man! I ain’t loyal to anyone one but the Supreme!”

The older one laughed a squeaky type of laugh and shielded his mouth with the biggest knife he had in his gloved hand. “Oh sorry. Wrong answer.”

A swift movement, and the kid screamed at the pain and the loss of his pinky finger.

Jungkook wiped his bloody knuckles on a towel. Jimin was in full body latex. If this man was going to die, his last sight would be something he found beautiful.

“You’ve such a filthy dog for me, barking about how you got yourself into such a muddy mess.”

The traitor’s hands were bound as he knelt in front of the smaller human. He was the type of man who loved to be called filthy words and treated like dirt, so that’s what Jimin did to get the information out of him. His bulbous belly exposed to the world. Bruises already starting to bloom from Kookie’s work.

“Now I’ve got one more question for you before our session is over.”

He nodded, “I’ll tell you anything, Master.”

“I know you will. My question is, why did you want to overthrow RM?”

“He’s not worthy, Master. He’s too kind. Too compassionate. What we need to rule the streets and get what we want are warriors who thrive off violence and strike fear into all who oppose us, not the guy who hands out lollipops like gold stars.”

Jimin sighed, “Are we not provided for in every aspect? We’re rich, all of us. We can afford food and places to live. Our community is clean and happy because of RM. We don’t need more death of innocents.”

“You’re so brainwashed, my beauty. I would have saved you if you could only see the truth.”

“And I will kill you because you can’t.” A bullet right between the eyeballs, the trigger pulled by Jungkook.

“Let’s go. I’m starting to chafe.”

Taehyung sat behind a computer while an older woman sat in a clear tube of sorts. Her hair was standing every which way, and her mic was turned on. He waited until she was aware of her surroundings before talking. Now it was time to test out the newest torture weapon this boy had dreamed up.

“First question.” He said into his microphone. “What was the plan?”

“He--He, Supreme Boi was gathering us from the inside out. He asked how we felt about RM as our leader. There are quite a few of us who don’t really trust him. Yeah, he made sure my children were fed and that our house didn’t get foreclosed. I was having a hard time paying bills since he killed my husband!”

V spoke up, “It was a stray bullet. Your husband was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and RM did his best to fix it by helping you.”

“That doesn’t get me my husband back!” She screamed.

In his heart, V knew this woman was just in extreme grief. Still, V was loyal to Namjoon, and this woman was trying to kill him. He’d do his best to persuade her to think about her children and forget her plan to murder his boss, but if he failed, she would die for the better of the mob, kids or not.