#tw: for implications of manipulation and abuse

[phantom-of-the-ruckus]

Headcannons #2 NOT A SHIP

Welp, what can I saw Mortimer and Riley are my favorite non-romantic duo in the entire game with the most interesting relationship throughout the entire game and now after finding some stuff relating to their closure (non-romantic) in the MS I'm hyperfixing in their complex relationship.

As a note, this is not meant to be cute or fluffy. These two have a toxic relationship. I do believe the puppets are in the cult theory, and I headcannon that these two have more of a Mentor and mentee relationship tho (if the devs said otherwise, please let me know)

After breathing the puppets to life, Mortimer was quick to find Riley had a great potential and had signs of having a more complex mind than the other puppets. This prompted him to take her under his wing and teach her everything he knew as he saw a potential that we could help her grow. This ended up with both forming a non-romantic bond that went through deeply understanding the other and fighting for one purpose.

Both know the other perfectly and know that they should never underestimate what the other can do. Still, Mortimer has always presented and established himself as the leader and the one Riley should give up control and follow.

As Mortimer was drowning in paranoia he started to be a tad little hostile and more serious towards Riley. She did not question that, but remained loyal to his side. Mortimer casually fed into her unhealthy thoughts that the other Handeemen would betray her and hurt others to get what they want. Ironically Nick being a dumbass ended up proving Mortimer's point further.

Both started to develop an unspoken trust and a sorta dynamic to get things done. Mortimer would simply tell Riley he needed something or wanted something done, and she would immediately know what to do. Sometimes they pop into each other's offices (or her lab) to talk or discuss plans.

Upon discovering Daisy loosing her memory and feeling guilty for accusing her of trying to betray her, Riley slowly started to question if Mortimer was being paranoid about others wanting to hurt them. She keep those doubts to herself afraid of Mortimer finding out, and sorta making her mentor feel betrayed by Riley who he has been very special and took good care of her before his paranoia broke down.

Out all the puppets, Riley knew that she was the one who Mortimer had a soft spot the most. Still, he was not afraid of "correcting her" (I do believe he brainwashed her into thinking his abuses were correcting her behavior. More on my cult theory), but nonetheless she was the one that he had the hardest punishing her over as he did not wish to destroy her. This is also why She took the blame for Daisy as her calculations led to Mortimer giving her a less severe punishment than the one he claimed he would give. Still she did not what prompted her, but only knew it was something Mortimer both could not explain or approve either.

Mortimer did start to notice Riley's behavior was slowly changing. He took this as a bad sign that she was starting to wish to leave the world he so "created for the puppet"/like the nest like she was starting to rebel or something that his paranoia told him she was doing. He started to shut down her ideas and started to be more careless with stuff (also his conflicting problems with his creator as well)

Mortimer started to built upon the idea Riley was secretly working on projects to overthrow him as his relationship with her started to grow darker and darker. During the tape where he found her working on her research to bring Rosco to life. After their argument he kinda did but also did not mean to ask Riley to burn Rosco down (As he was in a paranoid state, furious that she did not ask his permission to do stuff, but kinda in a blind state of rage.) He did calm down after Riley begged him not to make her burn down Rosco as he did sigh knowing as much as he wanted to snap and tell her no, all he could see was that little bird he took under his wing for years. This prompt him to sigh and sorta think about what to do. His paranoia and pride won the best of him so he tells her to burn it before leaving.

After Mortimer left he ended up having a reflection about what he just did. He doesn't feel guilty for hurting Riley's feelings, but rather is upset about himself in regards about how he ended up losing control over her and how they're slowly drifting apart. Of course, he knew Riley wouldn't be able to kill Rosco (since he knows her perfectly) but he was debating a way to "Win" her back to his side but also "testing" if he was actually wrong about Riley. He contemplated the idea of bringing Rosco back to life but with a price to make her stay.

Knowing perfectly his little sheep or subjects or have an idea when something was wrong, Mortimer instantly knew Nick Nack being happy about something means something was up. So after spending some good 4 hours of a retailing or Romeo and Juliet and a secret marriage plan (which is what I think Nick's OG idea was) Mortimer knew Riley was up to something which was obviously not related to Nick thinking about himself and his weird fantasy world. So he decided to figure out what was she planning as he figured out a way to convince her to stay using some of the things Nick told her he discussed with her. (ignoring the fanfiction aspects) He sorta found the whole thing humorous and decided to humiliate Nick in the process for being an idiot

Riley was always hesitant over her plan to take over the studio and rebel against Mortimer throughout the whole time. Yes she was aware Mortimer was becoming "unsteady" but there was also the fact that Riley was well aware she knew Mortimer in a sorta close way as he was her mentor, and she had a hard time overthrowing someone who took her under his wing, taught her what she knew, always was special to and let her know and fell she was great and was very special.

(I think Nick was meant to distract Mortimer while Riley gathered the others or something) So Mortimer knew Riley would try to overthrow him, so he decided to use Rosco as a plan to foiled he plans. He had two plans. One was to kill his non-romantic affections for Riley and use Rosco to torture her, or Use Rosco as a way to play upon her the whole "I'm correcting your bad behaviors" This would be all depending on what Reaction Riley herself had. There was something off about Riley talking with Daisy regarding what Nick told him they believe they talk. So, knowing Riley, he believed that Riley most likely was talked into the plan rather than something she decided to do. This end up being true when he saw Riley being slightly nervous when she attempted to take over. He toyed with her with his taunts as a way to make sure she was in fact talked into the plan.

So the whole Rosco is mine but I let you take care of him Riley, it's a special way he push the whole "I'm just correcting your behavior" mentality he got her into believing, but also an opportunity for both to start over and forget about the whole ordeal and remind her that she was still special and welcome to part take in her plans (this is a bit of mercy from Mortimer's plan as he knew Riley was talked over and didn't really want to commit treason) The other puppets did not catch on this because they weren't aware of the special bond Mortimer and Riley had. He was also upset with the puppets for talking Riley into the plan and "punish" their defiance, but also use them as scapegoats for his near-fall apart with Riley.

After the failed Rebellion, Mortimer decided to destroy any sort of bond Riley had with the other puppets as he try to use the fail rebellion as an example towards what happens with trust. This sorta work as Riley was ruling a bit more with an iron fist and disliked those who showed some sort of defiance to their ideal, but she knew Mortimer was wrong to some expect about not trusting people. She still sorta gets along with Daisy and kinda Nick (not really tho) as both had shown her that at least there are puppets she can trust and part of her do hopes that Mortimer would see things her way one day.

[sinnful-darling]

Yan! Kitsune Hcs

tws: stalking, manipulation, deceit, abuse, fox-like courtship, implications towards rutting but nothing happens.

information needed beforehand: kitsune are known to gain up to nine tails- one for each 100 years they've lived. as they get older, their fur changes from red to orange to white. they're also known to ascend to celestia when they turn 1,000 years old, but Sisko was cursed by his brethren and has no chance of ever ascending to celestia due to his evil nature. Sisko is also a Yama kitsune. Yama kitsune are known to prey upon human sadness and fear

Yan! Kitsune who is the protector of the mountains closest to you. he initially spots you out with your friends, a smile on your face that had the corners of his lips tugging up into one of his own.

Yan! Kitsune who sneakily follows your group, watching as you revel in the beauty of nature, throwing your head back and taking deep breaths of the clean forest air.

Yan! Kitsune who continues watching as your group sets up camp for the night, grimacing at the use of tents and packaged food. seriously, how had you survived this long?

Yan! Kitsune who is elated when you come back the following week (on your own), taking the opportunity to introduce himself.

Yan! Kitsune who introduces himself as Sisko, his nine tails swishing mischievously behind him.

Yan! Kitsune who puts on a friendly face and asks to be your friend. you can’t tell him about anyone though! no one else can see him but you! you’re special.

Yan! Kitsune who was lying, anybody could see him. he just wants to gain your trust and then hurt you so he can prey upon your fear and negativity when he starts breaking you down.

Yan! Kitsune who does exactly that. he gains your trust and then kidnaps you, taking you away to his home and doing awful things to you.

Yan! Kitsune who slowly falls in love with you and your fearful expressions, denying all sense of affection for you when he finds himself becoming more and more reluctant to hurt you. what was this? did celestia and his ancestors curse him? why doesn’t it feel good anymore?

Yan! Kitsune who starts developing a sexual attraction for you, but refuses to touch you in anyway. that wasn’t his style. he wanted you to give yourself to him willingly.

Yan! Kitsune who, when he can’t deny his feelings for you any longer, starts courting you in the ways his kind taught him to. he’ll hold you close to him and scent you, pleased when you don’t resist. surely, you love him too. you’re just scared he’s going to hurt you again if you move.

Yan! Kitsune who takes you with him through the forest as he searches for a new den, making you choose the spot. contrary to his kind, he won’t allow you to build it yourself though.

Yan! Kitsune who tethers you to a tree when he begins crafting the den, a cozy little cottage he builds with his bare hands.

Yan! Kitsune who curls around you at night when it’s time for bed, his tail wrapping around your thighs and locking his arms around your waist.

Yan! Kitsune who starts barking at you…

Yan! Kitsune who becomes softer with you, doing your hair all nice and bathing you, becoming more playful and cuddling with you more.

Yan! Kitsune who chooses you as his mate. there’s no one else for him and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

(tw: abuse, noncon, implied SA)

this is something you wouldn't want to think about for too long but i think part of the appeal for c//a is the fact that it's completely one-sided and forceful.

let me explain.

if the writers really wanted to imply that adora enjoyed her fights with catra or that she was aroused in some way (which is gross, because she's a minor but they don't care about that) they could have shown that. they could have shown adora smirking or blushing or anything that indicated that she wasn't entirely against the way that catra treated her.

but no, the main appeal of c//a is that adora cannot fight back, not that she doesn't want to. catra not only attacks adora, like enemies usually do, but she does it in a weirdly intimate way that makes adora feel uncomfortable and humiliated.

this extends beyond the whole “creepy villain” persona that the other villains in the show has. like sure, both shadow weaver and horde prime have used unwanted touch to manipulate their victims. but catra seems to use it to a greater extent and more frequently, AND she mostly only uses it on adora.

it's unnerving but some people do seem to like romance tropes that are non-consentual. just look at the amount of media that has sudden forced kisses, because apparently asking for consent “kills the mood”. look at the entire trope of “chase them until they like you back”. people find this hot, for whatever reason.

and now look at how c//a incorporates these tropes into an “enemies to lovers” romance where adora is constantly made to feel scared, humiliated or uneasy. where adora is often in a position of weakness and vulnerability while catra has full control. there are too many frames in spop that has adora on her knees, either restrained or somehow rendered helpless, and catra towering over her, touching her or delivering some vaguely flirtatious dialogue that is often taken out of context.

this is why the whole “it's enemies to lovers, it's supposed to be like that” excuse doesn't work. if spop stans really wanted a classic enemies to lovers romance, they could easily ship glitra. if the writers wanted to write a good enemies to lovers ship, they could have made adora and catra fight the same way catra and glimmer did.

whenever glimmer and catra fought, they were always one on one. neither of them were stronger or weaker.

watch how catra never uses the same tactics on glimmer that she uses on adora. the only time catra made glimmer feel uncomfortable in some way was when she licked glimmer's arm. and she did this to make glimmer let go of her, it had a purpose.

so yeah, it's no wonder that c//a fans are often gushing about how “catra is the top” or making it seem like their relationship is a fetish. it's not just toxic, there are very heavy implications of SA, whether that was intentional or not. of course, it's not straight-up SA because this is a kid's show. but the fact that “catra loved adora all this time” and the fact that catra only treated adora this way gives all of these scenes a much darker and creepier implication.

[apollodarling-writes]

hxh yandere main four x gn reader??:))

YAN! HXH MAIN FOUR X GN! READER HCS

I did a poly, sharing situation. I hope that was what you were looking for.

its pretty shit, so I'm sorry

tws: stalking, murder, gaslighting, manipulation, implications of noncon, abuse, drugging, Stockholm, vague descriptions of injury, noncon somnophilia, forced pregnancy for afab readers, memory loss

MINORS ARE AGED UP!!!

Killua would develop this kind of attraction to someone because of their caring and kind nature. Maybe they're gentle to everyone and love to take care of people.

Maybe you took care of him when he was injured and made him good food, or perhaps he met you in the Hunter Exam. Either way, good fucking luck.

Killua grew up with a family of assassins and did not have the nurture a child needs. Illumi is extremely possessive of Killua and these habits were passed on to Kill himself.

Therefore, Killua thinks these habits are normal and when he confides in Gon about this, finding out that Gon has these same obsessive tendencies, he'll be even more inclined to do what he wants.

Gon grew up without his mother and father so he's obsessed with having a family one day. When he falls in love with you, it feeds into this delusion of keeping you safe from all harm so that one day you two can have the family he so desperately wants.

Gon doesn't have a specific type, but he does like the idea of having someone to protect.

When Gon and Killua are paired as yanderes, they're unstoppable.

Killua is a training, confining, princess love type, obsessive, delusional, possessive, overprotective, manipulative, stalker, monopoly yandere. He's not above hurting you

Gon is a delusional, confining, delusional, monopoly, obsessive, dependent, murder-suicide, self-harm, overprotective, training, manipulative, removal yandere.

Killua's training is vastly different from Gon's. Killua will hurt you, break bones, sever muscles, and then he will build you back up.

Gon is the softer training type. He'll be upset with you, but will whisper ever so softly, 'this is why you should let me protect you.' and proceed to manipulate and gaslight you while he cleans you up.

Gon and Killua, if provoked enough will kidnap you. They'll chain you their bed and monitor you, leave you in the care of Illumi for missions (which is never a good thing because the entire time they're gone, you have no human interaction outside of Illumi feeding you).

Gon and Killua like to drug you when you're 'misbehaving' so that it's easier to punish you. Oftentimes, their punishments consist of looooong 'lovemaking' sessions. They'll overstimulate you so much that you'll promise not to do it again.

If you are afab, Gon and Killua will force a pregnancy upon you, no matter how that may affect you.

Killua wakes up a lot during the night, and sometimes he just can't resist using your body for his pleasure.

Kurapika became a yandere shortly after he fell in love with you. After his clan's massacre, he just couldn't afford to lose you too, so he always has tabs on you.

Kurapika is the chill yandere in this relationship. As long as you're in sight, he doesn't care what you do. That doesn't mean that Gon and Killua won't kill someone if Kurapika gives them the go-ahead, though.

Please, please, please don't make Kurapika angry with you. He will tell Killua and you will not like it.

Kurapika wants you to lean on him more than anyone else, so he does his best to worm his way into your heart and psyche.

Leorio is the insecure one in this relationship. How can he compete with the others? He can't protect you and he can't use nen, so why does he think he has a shot?

Leorio is the only one in this relationship who knows that these feelings of obsession are wrong, but he can't bring himself to stop.

Leorio is the insecure type. He thinks he's inferior to the others and often wonders if he even stands a chance.

If he decides that he doesn't... watch out.

Leorio will kill you and then himself.

[thewayuarent]

Ways of handling addictions in Only Friends

Tw: drug abuse, overdose

Let me tell this straight away - I was in a relationship with addicted person. By the time we started dating they didn’t use drugs for about couple of months by still used alcohol a lot. They’d come a long way to be clean and I was there all the time every time. This year they collapsed. Drug overdose, the end of it.

So I know that my personal experience doesn’t make me a profi automatically. Addiction is a very complex subject and very personal experience. But I do know a thing or two about it.

And the first rule here is: addicted person will never stop because of you. They need to want it for themselves.

By this moment we’ve been shown three different dynamics where one person is addicted and the other isn’t: Sand and Ray, Mew and Ray and Mew and Top.

Start with Mew and Ray. The thing is, Mew has no obligation to save Ray. He was there for him in the worst moment and, yes, I really want to say that he had to do more for Ray - he is his closest friend and he is definitely struggling - but. But Mew has a right to step away. Because navigating someone through healing is very hard and very long process and Mew doesn’t have to deal with it. I can’t blame him honestly for that.

For what I can critique not Mew specifically but the whole friend group (all four of them yes) is the very next scene where them all - including Ray - are drinking. Like guys, Ray right here tried to overdose, may be it would be nice to have a fucking break?

The Mew and Top situation is way different. Mew finds out Top uses drugs - that’s not the best thing to learn about someone, sure. But Mew doesn’t take time to think about “do I need that in my life” (which would be understandable), no. He makes a statement: stop using drugs and I’ll have sex with you. There is your price by the way. And this is also understandable - it is a manipulation, yes, but it’s very common way to try to handle things like that, and I would argue Mew has good intentions here. And oh, Mew, my boy, I’m sorry but that’s not how things work. You know Top can have more in a phone call, right? You understand that person saying “I’m not an addict” while having a dose in his pocket it’s at least a bit shady? I know that it doesn’t automatically implicates that Top is a hard addict but still.

But he is already lying about it. Using drugs while having fun with your friends it’s not the same thing as calling your dealer and using it alone in your room because you struggle with emotions, just saying.

Making him choose will never work out. Because he will choose, and it won’t be you.

And what’s about Sand and Ray? Sand knows for a fact that Ray has problems with alcohol. He doesn’t know about drugs, at least for now. Sand and Ray know each other for a very short period of time, and Sand is “it’s not my business” type of person, so I don’t criticize him while saying the next thing. But.

Sand is unintentionally supportive of Ray’s addictions. He drinks with him a lot - they are drinking buddies. I can’t be sure but it’s kind of looks like there will be a weed smoking next episode? For Sand drinking time to time and smoking weed can be fine - he is not addicted (by what we know). For Ray it is a call. So of course Sand, so as Mew, has a whole right to live his life without dealing with Ray’s addictions. But they are definitely falling for each other. That can develop into relationship. And then it will suddenly be a problem. But isn’t it already? How will Ray react if Sand suddenly turns from drinking/smoking with him to trying to stop him? I would say not the best way. There is also an option that for Sand it won’t be a problem so we’ll see.

The addiction is not a verdict. Both Top and Ray are young and very rich and it’s a very common thing for young rich people to have some kind of stuff - drugs, alcohol or both. It doesn’t automatically mean they are doomed. But still whoever decides to be in relationship with them (Mew and Sand, talking to you) have to think about it and think hard. Do you understand what are you dealing with? Do you honestly want to deal with it? Are you ready for all of highs and lows you’re going to face? If yes, then good luck to you - it really can work out. But don’t fool yourself into thinking that there is nothing to worry about.

[fallenasleepyetagain]

Reveal - Nightmare/Blue Fic

Prompt: Secret Relationship (reveal)

Prompt from: @yearoftheotpevent

Media: Undertale AUs/UTMV

Genres: Romance (but in heavy air quotes), betrayal, dark fic (?), betrayal, human AU, idk what else lol

Characters: King Nightmare, Blue, Dream, Killer, Ink (mentioned), Error (mentioned), Horror (mentioned), Cross (mentioned)

Pairing: Nightmare/Blue

CW/TW - Manipulation, Implications of Abuse, Toxic behavior (?), mentions of violence, mentions of almost dying, being high mention, Nightmare being a piece of work

Other Notes: yes this is my second nightblue piece in like a month im ill for them sorry not sorry also a bittttt darker than i usually write? but i still think its ok also this is one of my most recent fics in it with a time/space jump! i hope its not too bothersome :0

Word Count: 4273 Words

The storm raged deep into the night, beating against the walls of the house, the wind screaming and howling as the rain poured down from the gray sky. It was perfect. The rain and thunder hid any sounds of Blue leaving and re-entering the house. Being out in the rain was cold, it soaked into his clothes and sunk into his skin. Drying off wouldn’t be an issue, and neither would sneaking back into the house after his excursion. At least, if things went his way. He wasn’t sure why he thought that this would be easy, it never was. Life enjoyed giving him what he wanted before sucker-punching him in the gut.

Getting back in the way he got back out was out of the question, climbing from the ground to the second story window that led into his room in this rain was unthinkable. Scaling up the wet bricks would surely lead to him crashing onto the back porch, and that would be a whole other issue. Teleporting was also out of the equation. To prevent intruders, they had set up a system to alert the three of them if any magic crossed the threshold of the house. Unfortunately, that included Blue.

There was a single light on in the house, and it belonged to the TV. Blue watched the channels change, someone trying to settle on one. He mentally swore over and over as he pressed himself against the front door, trying to hide from the rain. Why was he up right now?! It was three in the morning, he was never awake this early!

Rise and rest with the sun. That is how he functioned. Blue couldn’t remember a single time when Dream was awake in the middle of the night. And yet, there he was! At three in the morning! Watching TV!

Blue ran his hands up his face, the rainwater soaking into his skin, pushing his curly hair up. He could handle it being Ink. Ink would likely be stoned out of his mind, and if he wasn’t, he didn’t give a shit if Blue came home late, as suspicious as it was. The worst he would receive from Ink would be some teasing, borderline ridicule. But from Dream? Dream, someone who he respected more than anyone else, and someone who he would consider his best friend? Dream would ask. Interrogate. And he would have no choice but to tell the truth. Dream could read him like a book, and would see through his lies in an instance.

As the cold began to set in, he surrendered himself to the only option he had. He had wracked his brain for an alternative, some way to avoid the confrontation he knew he was about to have. There was always the option of waiting him out, but he wasn’t exactly jumping at the opportunity to spend more time in the cold rain. Maybe he could pull this off, somehow. Dream was likely very drowsy; Blue could tell by the way he half-heartedly switched through channels that he was forcing himself to stay awake. Why he was doing that, Blue couldn’t say. He hoped that it wasn’t because Dream noticed his disappearance.

With a cold and trembling hand, Blue opened the front door, pushing it open with his shoulder. He had to force it closed, the wind fighting him as he did so. As the door shut with a gentle click!, the TV paused. It was on some documentary that Blue doubted Dream was interested in. He didn’t move far into the house, allowing his clothing and hair to drip onto the mat by the front door. Dream twisted his body, facing Blue with only his face, his hips still facing the TV. It looked incredibly uncomfortable and Blue doubted he would stay in the position for long.

Due to the heavy rainstorms that have been happening in their world, the trio had been keeping towels next to the front door as of late. Using one of them, Blue managed to get most of the water out of his curls and clothes, although he would stay a little damp until he changed.

“Where were you, huh?” Despite the playful tone of Dream’s voice, Blue felt his heart leap into his throat. His heart slammed against his ribcage as he got rid of the water soaked into the scarf onto the towel. He slipped his scarf around his neck, feeling the texture on his face as he gathered his thoughts.

A lie was out of the question, Dream knew his tics.

However, maybe he didn’t have to lie. It wasn’t a lie if he didn’t give Dream all of the information, right?

“Oh, you know.” Blue spoke, flinging Dream’s playful tone back at him. He managed a slight smile, despite the anxiety bubbling in his stomach.

Dream chuckled. He finally decided that twisting his body at the waist was uncomfortable and sat up on the couch, arms resting on the upper couch cushions. He leaned into the palm of his hand, watching as Blue discarded his boots next to the shoe rack.

“I don’t, actually.” He dropped the smirk on his face in favor of something softer. “Indulge me?”

“Mmm…” Blue hummed, wringing out his gloves over the kitchen sink. He had flicked on the one light right above the sink and none else. It wasn’t necessary, as he knew the layout of the kitchen better than the back of his hand, and turning on more lights would awaken Ink, and that would be a whole other problem to deal with!

How much could he hide from Dream? Maybe skewing the truth would work just fine…

“I was with Cross.” Not exactly false.

Dream’s face dropped, which Blue expected. He turned back around on the couch, grumbling to himself. The mere mention of Cross should dissuade Dream from continuing the conversation entirely. Both Cross and Dream disliked each other greatly, but Blue could not figure out why. Their personalities clashed, sure, but Blue didn’t think it was to that high of a degree.

“And?”

“Huh?” “You were with,” Dream grit his teeth as he stood up, brushing off his black jeans before walking into the kitchen. “Cross, and? What did you do with him?”

Blue was still a little damp by the time Dream got over, but he didn’t mind. It would dry. As Dream walked over, he flicked off the light, leaving the two in darkness. The only light source was the TV, which was beginning to dim, and Dream’s golden eyes. Dream leaned against the counter, one hand on it, the other on his waist. His posture was casual, he wasn’t upset. At least, Blue hoped he wasn’t reading it wrong.

“...We were in a library.”

Blue hoped that the darkness would shield his nervous tics, shield Dream from his lies.

“Was this a planned meeting?”

“Yes.” Again, not a lie. Not fully.

The silence wrapped around his neck like a noose, leaving him breathless. He couldn’t read Dream’s face, both due to his incredible poker face and the darkness around them. He cocked his head to the side, thinking.

“You could’ve told me, y’know.”

Oh thank the heavens.

“I mean, I don’t like Cross, at all, but I respect your relationship with him. I’m not going to like, stop you from seeing him or anything.” Dream kept his arms crossed as he spoke, his body relaxed as he shrugged. “Buuut, I feel like you're hiding something. You’ve got this nervous energy around you, B. Did something happen?”

There it was. He should’ve known Dream would catch on eventually. It was hard to hide things from someone who could read your feelings. Blue sighed, the sound of his heart pounding in his head was clogging up his mind. He leaned against the counter by the sink, his hands gripping onto the countertop.

“You can tell me anything. Even if it has to do with Cross or whoever.”

Blue inhaled sharply, his resolve faltering. He got no pleasure from hiding and lying to Dream (or to anyone, for that matter). Maybe he could just be honest?

No, only a naïve fool would allow himself to think with such optimism.

“Why can’t a guy have his secrets?” It took all that Blue had to keep his voice stable, not allowing the anxiety to bubble over into his voice. If he could play defensive, and then change the subject, then he’d be able to get off scot free.

“Why can’t that guy tell his best friend his secrets?”

“Ah…” Blue glanced away, the smallest bit of anger pooling inside of him. Despite his inherent goodness, Dream was one to play underhanded, and pulling out the ‘best friend’ card was a cheap tactic! He ran his hand through his damp curls, pushing them off of his forehead. He kept his eyes on the floor as he ran his hand down the back of his head, his hand resting on the side of his neck. He flinched as his fingers pressed down on the tender spot on his neck, his face twisting as he shoved his hand back into his pants pocket.

“What was that?”

“What was what?”

“You jumped. Are you hurt, let me see.” Dream stepped closer, flicking on the sink light. Blue shrunk away, hiding in his scarf. His mind was whirling, he needed to get out of this, he needed to divert Dream’s attention. This was possibly the worst thing that could happen. He couldn’t believe he flinched like that! He knew it was there, the blemish was still warm, it stayed warm, even when the cold rain soaked into his skin.

“Dream, I…” He didn’t get the chance to finish as Dream pulled him back into the light, holding onto his forearms. Dream turned him to the right, allowing the light to hit the left side of his body. His nails dug into the palms of his hands as Dream shifted his scarf down his shoulder. Goosebumps appeared along his skin as Dream’s warm hand touched the side of his neck.

“What is…?” Dream murmured, getting closer to Blue, eyes squinted. “It’s not a bruise, is it?”

Reserving himself to the situation, Blue nodded, his voice barely audible. “No.”

“Then it’s…” Dream’s eyes widened and he pulled back, confusion and hurt dancing across all of his features. “Cross didn’t give you that, now did he?”

“Of course not.”

“So you lied.”

“Not exactly.” Blue strained, giving Dream distance, space. He messed with his scarf, having it cover his neck once more. “I was with Cross, and I was in a library.”

“Nightmare’s library.”

And there it was. The nail in the coffin.

“...Yes.” Blue said, his voice hoarse and throat dry.

All of Dream’s hurt became anger at the mention of Nightmare. Blue staggered further back, getting out of Dream’s way, out of his reach. He watched as Dream’s face contorted, his mind trying to wrap around his betrayal.

As much as he hated calling it that, there was no other word. His hand went up to his neck once more, slipping underneath his scarf. His fingers gently ran across the hickey, he had to make sure that it was really there.

“So, so lemme get this straight.” Blue could hear the hurt, the barely contained anger, in Dream’s voice. “You, knowingly, went to Nightmare’s castle, not just a meet up in another timeline, no, you purposefully went into the homebase of that bastard, and let him suck on your neck!”

Blue’s body stiffened, his shoulders going tense. “That…is what happened, yes.”

“Why?” Dream snapped, his hands balling into fists. Blue’s eyes widen at the sight of his fists, his heart slamming in his chest. Seeing this, Dream took a long, deep breath, and loosened his hands. He had never hurt Blue, but other people had. He didn’t blame Blue for his reaction. With a deep breath, he ran a hand through his hair, pushing his coils back. “I need you to tell me why you ran off to…to him of all people!

“Please. Let me understand. Make me understand why.”

“I…” Blue sighed, dropping his hands. “Okay.”

Dream kept his arms crossed, folded tightly over his chest as he gave Blue time to think. Time to get his thoughts in order. He shifted on his feet, heart slamming in his chest. He was about to admit everything. The prospect of that was…terrifying. He didn’t want to lose Dream as a friend, or lose him at all! At the same time, though, he didn’t want to stop speaking, or getting intimate with, Nightmare. Would he be forced to pick?

The more he thought about it, if he had to choose one or the other, he was beginning to realize that, maybe, his loyalties didn’t lie with Dream. A scary thought, considering he would have shot someone point-black with a blaster for Dream. When did this change? Where he would pick Nightmare over Dream?

“Do you remember the fight up in the mountains? The one where Ink and I evacuated an entire town from an avalanche?” “How could I forget?” Dream said, laughing a little. “I searched for days looking for you in the snow, only for it to turn out that Nightmare had taken you.”

“Yeah. That was the fight that, ah, started everything.”

“What do you mean? He took you prisoner, B.” Dream scowled as he spoke, concern rising in him. He knew about Blue’s relationship (if you could even call it that) with Error, the guy was too trusting. Too full of optimism. Believing that everyone could be a good person, if they just try. Horror dawned on him. Nightmare could, and would, use that.

“Not exactly. You see…I was trapped under the snow.” Blue took a deep breath. “It was scary, I could barely breathe, it was cold, and I couldn’t use my magic. I…I thought I wasn’t going to make it.”

“Oh, B…”

“But I did! Obviously,” Blue snorted. “It was Nightmare, actually, who fished me out. I don’t really remember what had happened, but when I woke up, I was in Nightmare’s castle.”

“The dungeon.” “No.”

“No?” Dream asked, an eyebrow rising.

“I was on a couch by a fireplace covered in blankets. And when I sat up…Nightmare was there.”

Blue half expected Dream to say something, but he was prompted to continue.

“I was scared, at first. I thought he was going to hurt me. He promised that he wouldn’t.”

“And you believed him.”

“I…” Blue flushed with embarrassment, “Yes. I did. And he didn’t! We just…talked. It was really nice, actually.”

“What.” Dream’s face flashed with a sense of hurt and anger once more, and Blue’s face fell in response.

“Dream, listen. I had never had a conversation like that before! It was like…like we clicked. I’ve never had such an intellectually stimulating conversation before!” Much to Dream’s alarm, Blue’s cheeks visibly warmed and his lips pulled themselves into a smile. “It was incredible!”

“Oh my God, you don’t see it.”

The smile dropped from Blue’s face, his arms going down to his side. “See what?”

“That he’s using you!” Dream hissed, anger filling him up once more. Anger at Nightmare, anger at Blue. “He’s using your trust to hurt me, to make you believe that you can trust him! He’s been fucking with you, and you fell for it!”

“That’s not…We’ve had our differences in the past but, I think that-”

“If by differences you mean tormenting you, then sure.”

“Dream-”

“But by all means, if you want to run off and be with him, I won’t stop you.” Dream gripped onto his forearms, teeth grinding together as he spoke. “I mean, I get it, really, he’s got the castle, the tentacles, the throne, the never ending cruelty. Didn’t realize that was your type.”

Blue could feel the venom being spit at him when Dream spoke. His heart slammed in his chest, and a familiar lump began to grow in his throat.

“Why are you so angry?” He croaked.

“Because you’re pissing me off! He’s obviously using you for ulterior means and the fact that you can’t see it, that you’re letting him mark you and who knows what else, makes me want to tear my hair out!”

Dream met eyes with Blue, and his body softened, just slightly, when he saw Blue’s wide eyes and pursed lips. He rubbed his forehead, nails still digging into his skin. “I can’t…I can’t deal with this, with you, right now. Just…go.”

“What?”

“Get out! I need some time to think. So go.”

“...Okay.” Blue whispered, voice trembling. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, forcing him to make a mad dash for the front door, his hands shaking as he opened the door. Outside, rain and thunder greeted him, but his legs forced him out, boots smacking against the buddy ground. Just when he was starting to get dry, the rain soaked him again, running down his face and making his clothes feel colder. He couldn’t tell if he was crying or not; rain and tears felt about the same. That was probably for the better.

Perhaps it was deranged of him to know who was at the door by how they knocked. However, it made his job a whole lot easier. Knowing who was coming in by the knock allowed him to have a few, sweet, seconds to prepare himself, to know how he should be presenting himself. With Cross, he would stand, if he wasn’t already, and take his position as Cross’s superior. There was no such thing as being too formal with Cross, it was informality that was the issue. For better or for worse, Cross felt more comfortable, or simply less anxious, if he knew who was in charge, and if that person made it clear. If he had to guess, this complex was likely his father’s doing. With Horror, on the other hand, being informal was the goal. He would often stay sitting down, being casual, and as open as he could be.

The rapping at the door told Nightmare that it was Killer who needed his presence. Killer knocked with his knuckles, brushing his hand against the door. There was no need to stand with Killer, although he would limit the informality. Killer was a wildcard, who knew how he would interpret certain things. Nightmare supposed that was somewhat his fault.

“You may enter.”

The door creaked open, and Killer slipped in like a shadow, barely making a sound. He stood at the door, as Nightmare had taught him to do, waiting. Nightmare finished his sentence, setting the quill down before gesturing to Killer to come with two fingers. He quickly read over what he had written in response before deeming it good enough before turning his attention towards Killer.

One of his legs was propped up, the ankle resting on the other knee. Nightmare leaned his face against the back of his hand, his teal eyes settling on Killer’s pure black ones.

“Whacha workin’ on?”

“Settling a land dispute. Nothing particularly interesting.” Contrary to popular belief, his title as King wasn’t just for show. He had a proper kingdom, and it was his job to make sure it stayed afloat. He may rule with an iron fist, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t care. “What do you want?”

“It's Blue.”

Ah, Blue. Nightmare hummed, smiling at the name. He was endearing, and kind. Despite his moments of incredibly handy naïveté, he was quite intelligent. Not the greatest conversationalist, but intriguing enough to forgive his struggle with small talk. He had to admit that he quite enjoyed the conversation the day he plucked Blue from the snow. If he had to be completely honest, it was a spur of the moment action. He didn’t want Blue to perish, not in such a fashion. Taking him home though, that wasn’t his plan. At least initially. It just so happened to work out that way, and it spurred on one of the schemes he had put on the backburner.

Earning Blue’s trust, his unwavering loyalty, and then ripping him from Dream’s hands.

“He’s at the front door, Boss.” “So soon?” Nightmare grinned, completely unsurprised. “Let him in. He knows the way.”

After all of their meetings, all of their erotic rendezvous, if Blue didn’t know his way to Nightmare’s bedroom by heart, then it would be a surprise.

It took a minute, maybe three, although Nightmare wasn’t paying attention, for Blue to come barreling into the room, damp with rainwater and his body trembling, likely for more reason than one. A towel was half-hazardly draped over his shoulders, likely given to him when he made his way up here.

“Back already? Did you miss me that much?” Nightmare grinned as he stood up, stretching his back a little as he did so.

“No- Well, I mean,” Blue chuckled, cheeks flushing. “Yes, I did, b-but that’s not why I’m here! I…”

Blue fidgeted with his hands, glancing away. “It’s Dream. He, um, found out.” Nightmare could feel the terror radiating off of him. It was as if Blue expected him to get angry, get aggressive. Not like this was unexpected, especially when they had spent so much time fighting against each other, when Nightmare spent so much time terrorizing him, feeding on his sweet, negative emotions.

“Found out what?” Nightmare asked, getting closer and gently holding Blue’s cold hands. He made a point to keep his voice low, his body language unthreatening.

“About you.”

“About us?”

“Mhm…” Nightmare gently wiped the tears forming in the corners of his eyes, using his other hand to feel his quick heartbeat via his wrists. “I’m really sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. I thought it was late in your universe?”

“I-It was! It was like three in the morning! I don’t know what in the world he was doing up!”

“And he…?”

“He saw the hickey and…he knows when I lie so I couldn’t…”

Nightmare gently held Blue’s face, his thumbs on the center of his cheeks. “I’m not mad.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.” Nightmare placed a kiss against his forehead, “I don’t care if he knows or not. The more time I have with you, the better.”

“You promise you’re not upset?” “Yes,” Nightmare chuckled, “I promise. Now, you’re a mess, why don’t you dry yourself off? You can borrow a shirt of mine, for now.”

Blue glanced towards the window, and it didn’t take a genius to know what he was thinking. Even though it was very early in the morning in the universe containing Dream’s house, the sun was peeking over the horizon on the eastern side of the castle. Sleeping now would set himself up on the path of becoming nocturnal.

“You can head to sleep.”

“But-!”

“Quiet. Allow your brain and body to rest.” Nightmare said, gently tapping Blue on his ass in the direction of his bathroom, causing him to squeak. “I’ll get you a shirt in the meantime, go get dry.”

With bright red cheeks, Blue skittered off to the en suite bathroom. Nightmare watched him go, eyes boring into the back of his head. Everything had panned out as planned. Not that he expected it not to, Dream was incredibly predictable and his reactions were perfect. Admittedly, he wasn’t completely sure if he would be able to wake Dream, as the guy slept like a corpse. It did work, and it went just as he intended it too.

All that was left now was to get Blue to stay in the castle with him permanently, which would be one of the easiest parts of his elaborate scheme. He could almost taste the despair Dream would feel, discovering that he had pushed Blue right into his loving embrace.

Choosing a shirt for him wasn’t difficult. They’d all look the same on him anyway: massive. He selected a black, satin, button-up shirt. He had slept in something similar in the past, and it had the added bonus of being a texture that Blue didn’t abhor, so he knew that Blue would be comfortable. He walked over to the bathroom door, opening it a crack before handing the shirt off.

“Thanks.”

“Of course.” Blue stepped out of the bathroom, his curly hair messy and frizzy from drying it with a towel. His scarf, which was decently dry, hung loosely around his neck. In his arms were his clothes, which Nightmare took from him when he bent down. “You look adorable.”

Blue pressed his face into his scarf, nodding. His legs were cold, but he wasn’t about to complain. “Th-Thanks.”

“I’ll go put your clothes in the dryer, you get into bed and sleep off your adrenaline and anxiety, you reek of it.”

“Right! Right, okay.” Blue walked over to the bed, pausing before getting into the plush, velvet covers. “Are you sure…?” He asked, gesturing with his thumb towards the window.

“It’s only six in the morning. I’ll come wake you up in a few hours.”

“Promise?”

“Yes.”

Nightmare walked over to the bed, holding the damp clothes in a tentacle. He pulled the covers over Blue’s shoulders, and leaned down, allowing their lips to meet. Blue smiled up at him, his big, blue eyes filled with nothing but genuine gratitude and adoration. He shifted onto his other side, back away from Nightmare. Nightmare smiled, smiled something sly, and borderline cruel as he gently tucked a piece of hair behind Blue’s ear. Everything had gone like clockwork, and he would reap the benefits for as long as he could.

[mutual-monsters]

get busy living or get busy dying

Pairing: dark!poly!Ghostface x gn!reader

TW: kidnapping, dubcon, manipulation and mental abuse, lots of implications but not a lot of follow-throughs

MINORS DNI !!! 🔞

Summary: kidnapped by the boys,,,not much else to say 🤷🏻

Word count: 240 (tiny)

A/N: old drabble i forgot to post based on a line from this fall out boy song (because of course it is). prompt/lyric is in bold. also the first time i've written for stu??? not outright said in the fic but he is meant to be the gentler hand here. anyways, enjoy :)

tagging: @ouijaboardemo

They never say a word, but one of them is always there, just on the cusp of your periphery, stalking and lusting, hungry and ready to take what he’s come for. They take turns, swapping out to let the other shower, sleep, eat, and so forth, but their eyes never wander. You may be tied down, but there’s no way either one would let you out of their sight. Every so often, you hear the basement door slam shut, or some scuffling behind you, nevertheless, their eyes always remain glued to your figure, covetous as always, aching to make their move. 

They bring you food and water, they allow you up to use the restroom a generous twice a day, they even bring you gifts when you’ve behaved. They’ve told you many times they don’t want to be harsh with you unless they have to, that they adore you, that this is only temporary until you can learn to mind your place– after all, why would they lie to you? You’re all they have. 

Sometimes you can’t help but cry, but don’t worry, they are always there to remind you that it’s okay, that they are there, that you’ll never be separated and you belong to them. 

It’s nights like that that make you remember what Billy said to you on your first night with him and Stu, “Oh, baby. I know. I know this hurts, it was meant to.”

[zv5x]

“Forbidden Psychology” Edward would so go on stream and brag about the “amazing results” he had with Y/n😳 I could see him holding Y/n in his arms as he softly pets her hair

Forbidden Psychology - Part 3 (Yandere!Riddler • GN!Reader)

find part two here! 🍮 find part one here! tw // brainwashing , psychological torture , use of the yandere trope , manipulation and abuse , forced brain numbing with successful effects , restraining and sensory depravation , hostage situations , Edwards fans are basically the CEO of being after-the-fact accessories , implications of further psychological torment

For Edward, the inside of his outfit was hotter than it usually was. The most likely cause of this? You, of course. You were sitting so cutely in his lap, brain still mush from the effects of the conditioning. From the moment he heard you brainlessly mumble his name upon seeing him he knew his fans just had to get a good look at this. After all, they were always there to root for him! They never let him get discouraged when he told them of the times you called the police or sobbed in fear upon waking up to see him straddling your lap in costume while you slept.

They were always there to cheer for him, and now they all get to celebrate the fruits of his labor together.

"I had to put the tape over their mouth, but they're not in trouble! They've just been saying pretty much nothing but my first name for the past like...what?" He sat for a minute and pondered. "Week now? Yeah. Week." He laughed a bit, absentmindedly petting the top of your head as you shook happily under his touch. "Everything went well. Perfectly, even!" He said, a sudden jolt of energy showing through his tone, though his voice was slightly muffled by the mask he was wearing. You hated that. The voice was too deep and distorted to really remind you of Edward's usual voice, and you needed a constantly supply of that to bring you comfort. Your head was too burried to look over and get a good look at the chat, but you could see the reflection of the hearts and messages, as well as some donations against his glasses. He looked down at you, and when he noticed you were staring, he smiled. His eyes squinted upwards, signifying this. With your heart bubbling with a warm and loving feeling, you cooed.

You couldn't feel the warmth of his hand as much as you usually would have considering the glove he was wearing, but it was enough for now. You knew very well that live streaming important milestones in his career as the Riddler made him happy, and you wanted to repay him for going through all the effort he had for you by taking the presence of his depersonalized persona over him for as long as you could. "God, if only you could have seen them a few hours into it." He shivered, moving his hand down to massage your shoulder with a single, trembling hand.

"They didn't really cry until they saw me, though, and they were definitely happy. So no." He said in a quieter tone, presumably responding to a question sent in the chat. "They've gotten slightly better with verbal communications, but I guess I really did a number on them." Laughing in a more calm and calculated tone, he suddenly made the move to sit them up. No longer laying, you melted as far as you could into his chest as his arms wrapped around you. He rested his head on your shoulder, continuing to ramble and go over everything it took to finally get to realize your love for him. Though you wanted nothing more than to fixate on the words of your beloved, your curiosity did manage to prick your side enough for you to try and squint to see the chat.

/ f to their brain lol

/ why are they so fucking cute

/ Man you have to release a tutorial on this shit. It seems really effective for what it's meant to do

The chat was fast paced, and you could only read a few more that weren't the first three you focused on, but they all seemed to be satisfied with what was going on. It seemed like such a nice community, besides a few usual bad ones that were expressing doubts and worries. Edward didn't give them much thought, until a single donation popped up on the screen.

Anonymous donated $5.00

Edward was in the process of thanking them for the donation, until a female text to speech voice echoed against the laptop speakers.

/ i hate to give you money but you need to hear this you're a sick man and you need to realize this is all in your head they will never love you the way you act like you love them

The message from what you could see had no punctuation or even capital letters. It was as if the sender wanted to get their message out as soon as possible. Speaking of their message, you couldn't understand their reasonings. Of course you loved him! It's not like you wanted all that effort Edward out into protecting you from orphanage to present to go to waste! You were a greatful partner. The perfect partner, even. They didn't understand. They'll never understand. Edward seemed to feel the same way, and he suddenly gripped your shoulders with a force that caused you to whimper against your tape in slight twinges of pain.

"Shut up!" He screamed against his mask, voice cracking against whatever voice masker he was using from the sheer strength of his rage. It took a few seconds for him to regain himself, breathing heavily and squeezing you for comfort.

"I'm going to take the tape off, and you're going to hear (Y/N) say they love me. Then, you'll finally realize there's nothing you can say anymore to brainwash them." He explained, his fingers dancing over to your lips to rip off the duck tape as quickly as he could as to not prolong the pain it would cause.

Taking a few deep, gasping breaths, you started your declarations of love before Edward even demanded it from you.

"I love him!" You said, using every inch of strength in your body to stop yourself from saying his real name. "I love him more than anyone else, and he loves me!" You called out, the chat booming with small hearts and various messages. You could only imagine how defeated the sender of the donation was feeling right now. Just imagining it cause a smile of triumph to spread across your lips. Edward giggled, squeezing you gently and rocking you from side to side.

"Well guys, they said it themselves. They love me." He purred, rubbing your cheek with his thumb. You signed in pure euphoria, enjoying the feeling of the overabundance of physical contact Edward was giving you. Loving the displays of your newfound realization of your true feelings for him, the chat was most definitely exploding. The spams of "aww"'s and heart emotes quickly made up for the one single opposer.

"All (Y/N) needed was to be reminded of all the memories we shared together, that's all. They loved me from the start, I just needed a way to pull it out of them after the scum of the streets buried it." He explained calmly, continuously petting the top of your head as you mumbled incoherent nothing's under your breath. "It was foolproof, really. 12 hours of nonstop memories of a person being spoken into your ears will definitely cause at least a little bit of love to emerge. If you guys want me to, I could always demonstrate. I'm sure my darling wouldn't mind, right?" He looked down at you, tilting his head innocently. Of course, willing to do anything to please him at this point, you rapidly shook your head.

"N-no, I wouldn't mi-nd at all..." Still gaining your grasp back on the English language, you tried your very best to give him the permission he deserved. The chat liked the idea of that as well, and Edward smiled as he removed you from his lap, placing you on the floor.

Of course, you cried out in fear, hating being away from him to the point where you'd quite frankly rather die. He giggled a bit, waving at the camera in a friendly manner, and speaking a date clearly and slowly.

With a happy "Goodbye!", the stream was over, and finally, you were alone with your soulmate once more.

[spikeinthepunch]

i finished Lisa the painful *again* to get the secret in Definitive edition and now i want to ramble about that, and also the other realizations i had on my second playthrough (spoilers ofc. do note again i havent gotten to Joyful). get ready for an essay

TW for physical and sexual abuse

soooooooooo

this second play was good because there was a lot i hadnt yet connected about the story with Brad, and it hit like a fucking truck when i realized.

For one, I hadnt really understood what Brad's "second chance" actually was. It took me a minute to actually realize Dusty was Rando, and with Dusty's limited appearances I didn't completely recognize him in flashbacks. I did know it was him at the end but the information on him is very very scarce and only now did I realize what happened. And how (as i assume based on the information and my assumptions) Brad's second chance is about Dusty instead, and being a better father to Buddy instead.

Because when I saw that flashback of Dusty apologizing, backed into a corner with a bloody injured face..... and then even thinking back to Brad's convo w Queen in the new campfire stuff- about reprimanding Dusty and Buddy for hugs..... it had me connect the change in behavior. Much like Brad turning tough as a defense, and Dusty learning that too esp with how weak he was. I have to imagine while Brad hasn't been physical against Buddy, he still carries that strict and detached role. I don't know for sure if anything is implied as to what Dusty did later in life- if he ran away or something. But oof! ouch! that fucking slapped me when i connected the dots. and feel free to correct me but also, no spoils on Joyful lol.

And then I get to the secret boss added in Definitive (go sleep at the first campfire after getting 4 boat parts).

boy that was something. like, an hour of my time and lots of suffering. I was playing Painless so it wasnt nearly as awful. but god damn. there is such a strong theme of "you cant escape your abusers. you will become them" through the game, and there is desperation from Brad to not be that. But he hold on to so much guilt and so much anger, he is trapped in a cycle of never getting away from it. Marty lives inside him, like some part of him, that he cant get rid of. actually similar to how Lisa in The First sees her mother inside herself that turns into Marty, showing how he has infected all of her memories and mind-- Marty's influence grips Brad so hard still that parts of him reflect Marty's which in turn keeps the roots deep inside.

theres something also so fucking painful with how Marty is displayed. Honest to god havent seen a story like this ever display such a horrible disgusting character so blatantly... so up front... as a huge focus of the characters' arcs. Every step and every piece of dialog had my flight or fight instinct on high. Definitely more triggering as a abuse survivor but-- jesus I felt like I was constantly on alert, fearing for the worst, trying to read Marty's intents as if to make sure I could tell something worse was going to happen. I could just feel it in my gut and i wanted to leave even when i stayed to keep listening to what he had to say. even something about marty patting the bed beside him and telling Brad to sit down with him got my chest tight.

everything Marty says through the fight makes it harder and harder to bear. While I got stressed every time my dude's died, I kind of also wanted to see more of what he'd say out of curiosity lol... It is so strikingly manipulative. the way Brad's relationship all comes from the idea of masculinity and bloodline and how thats just the way it is... thats the worst part. you could probably assume this is what happened to brad's dad with his dad, and so on. not to put any pity on Marty- just the fact that such things run so hard and so deep, and the fact that Marty pressures it on Brad with implications that he weak or not a real man or a disappointment. after a while none of that even mattered to Brad, he didn't like his father and he couldn't stand it. and yet those people, those abusers, hold power because theyve always told you how you're below them.

it hurts so fucking bad esp after i made my above connection with Dusty. i think its wildly interesting to have a character like Brad. i know i could say a lot about "imperfect" or kinda shitty characters as main characters after playing Disco Elysium, and while DE is a fantastic game (my all time fave) oghhh boy if we need a shitty guy then we definitely need Brad. and like, its still not shitty in an irredeemable way, but like the main of DE. orrr at least, its shitty in a way that you feel like they are trying. theyre truing....something. they trying. maybe for the wrong reason? and theyre fucking up when they dont even know it.

Brad's drive in Painful goes from "father figure wanting to protect his child in a world that wishes to hard her, abuse her, and use her." to "father figure finding a way to atone for his past abusive behavior, by caring for a new child despite being unable to let go of the grip that trauma left on him, thus still repeating the cycle of abuse in ways he doesnt understand".

augh. okay. idk where i am going with this now. but i think that secret boss added a lot and i think it was a good addition (even if they sure love making you climb long ass ropes). I also found it interesting there are two scenarios we know abt brad messing around and putting on makeup. With Lisa he apparently just wanted to get into mom's stuff. and i can imagine with Buddy he willingly did it for her to have fun. like. not saying transfem Brad but. you know. i think thats cute.

but this new thing reminded me much of the surreal stuff in The First and i think that was great bc Painful doesnt have too much about Marty and Brad's relationship outside of the beginning and end. and I dont think its needed-- the game can be played fine without it (and many will likely not see it bc its not stated how to get this boss). but The First had some p interesting visualizations about the abuse and i think its very effective. it makes it more scary. it makes it hit harder. the imagery associated with Marty strikes me harder when I played the First after Painful and saw those Marty spiders in the first game. And then seeing the bile. and the vomiting. and the slimy disgusting way he talks--

sorry, i imagine this whole game's story and this dream is probably super triggering for others too, and it hits a different way. i think its easier to attach to this game due to it. and i definitely wont stop my praise for it-- its hard to recommend but, seriously genuinely cant think of any media thats done it like this and i really enjoy every moment.

[goddesstrolls]

(TW for vomiting; Drinking; Mentions of heavy drinking and drug use; Sexual implications; Implications of domestic violence, manipulation, and abuse)

Rotavh woke, and it took him a few moments to realize it was his vision that was spinning, not the bathroom ceiling. The only other thing he registered was that his face hurt very much.

His breath hitched as the contents of his stomach threatened to jump up his throat. He sat up slowly, covering his mouth with his hand as he tried to breathe, and then leaned over to retch into the toilet next to him.

At least he had the foresight to pass out in the bathroom. The bile in his mouth was deeply bitter, the taste of undigested pills and alcohol.

It took him a few attempts to get his hands onto the floor on either side of him and put down enough force to stand. His palms were slick with sweat and his whole body ached.

He found his way to the bathroom sink and looked in the mirror. His nose was bruised, a bloody split along the bridge and dried blood streaking from his nostrils down his lips and chin.

Both eyes were ringed with black and purple bruises. He was shirtless- Naked, actually, and hickeys marked his body from his neck down to his navel. Rotavh stood there trying to piece together what happened.

They had dinner. He hadn’t been feeling well, but Joclyn made drinks anyway, and he knew she’d get out of hand if she drank both.

Things got out of hand anyway. She gave him some pills. His memories from there got blurry, moving both too fast and too slow to parse.

He said something to piss her off and she punched him. He tried to make it up to her. She passed out after they finished in bed, he stumbled off to the bathroom and fell asleep there.

Rotavh didn’t have work for a few nights. The bruising could be written off. He rinsed the blood from his face and the bile from his mouth, and readjusted his gills covers.

He shuffled back to the main room, leaning heavily on the door frame. Joclyn was awake already and at the bar, naked and her hair a mess, pouring herself a shot.

“Evening.” Drawled Rotavh. A few bottles had been discarded on the floor, and he stepped over them.

“Evening,” Joclyn replied, her voice hoarse but still sing-song. She threw back the shot and lifted the glass, her tone still overly sweet and sing-song. “Hangover cure~!”

Rotavh gave a huff of laughter and collapsed onto the couch. Joclyn poured another shot and sauntered over.

She straddled his hips, her bare legs warm against his. She pressed her lips together as she looked at him, and ghosted her fingertips over the gash in the bridge of his nose.

“Sorry about your nose, baby. I didn’t mean to hit you that hard.”

“It’s fine.” Rotavh smirked. “I know I have a punchable face.”

Joclyn giggled. “And a very handsome one.” She leaned in to kiss him, grinding her hips slowly against his.

Rotavh hummed faintly. It didn’t feel bad, but he wasn’t really in the mood after yesterday. His stomach was still doing flips.

He couldn’t think of any other way to avoid it, his mind drawing blanks. “I’m not in the mood, Joclyn.” He mumbled, leaning his head back over the couch armrest and away from her.

Joclyn’s expression soured, but she didn’t say anything immediately. She shifted in place like she was trying to hold her tongue, and then shoved herself off of him and stormed a few steps away, downing the shot in her hand.

“You never are, unless you’re drunk.” Joclyn snapped and flung the shot glass in his direction. The glass sailed over the couch and landed with a thud against the carpet.

“That’s not true.” Rotavh grumbled, shoving down the flare of anger in his chest at her throwing something at him. “I’m still drunk, anyway. I’m just not in the mood.”

“Oh, and now you’re calling me a liar.” Joclyn rolled her eyes, storming towards his bedroom. “You do this shit all the time.”

“Do what?” Rotavh pushed himself slightly more upright to watch her, but she was already shutting the door.

Rotavh lay back down, folding his cold hands over his stomach. He heard some thumping and shuffling from the other room. This continued for several moments until he heaved a sigh, and got up.

He toddled over to the bedroom door, but found it locked. The thuds and rattles on the other side continued.

“Can I come in?” He asked after several moments.

“No.” Said Joclyn through the door. She sounded like she was on the verge of laughing.

Rotavh furrowed his brow slightly. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing.”

Rotavh sighed, glancing at the electronic keypad next to the door. He typed in the code and the lock clicked, and he let himself into his room.

Joclyn was in the process of removing all the drawers from the dresser and dumping all of his clothes on the bedroom floor. She grinned at him as he came in, and giggled at her handiwork. Rotavh stared for a moment, processing this. She looked too delighted for him to be angry.

“...Having fun?” Rotavh asked. She giggled again and flopped onto his bed, apparently done. Rotavh sighed again and doubled over to root through his clothes and find something to wear.

He’d take a shower if he didn’t think she’d do something else while unattended. He just bundled up his clothes and sat down on the bed.

“Can I shower?” He asked, while Joclyn lay face down on his bed and kicked her feet.

“Yeah?” She said. “I’m not stopping you.” 

“I mean, will you get up to anything else while I’m in the shower?”

“No. You don’t like my re-organizating?” Joclyn looked up at him with wide, jade eyes.

“I do. But, pinky promise?” Rotavh held out his pinky.

“You don’t have to make me pinky promise!” Squealed Joclyn. “I won’t do anything!”

Rotavh wiggled his pinky at her. She pouted and squirmed and then hooked her pinky around his. “Promise.” She said.

Rotavh got up to shower. When he came back out, he found that Joclyn had very purposefully broken her pinky promise.

[crownedrottenthorns]

system emotions and thoughts. mourning stuff our trauma makes us be. dark-ish implications but nothing outright stated.

Tw/Cw: general talk of abuse, csa/sa vague/mentioned/implied, self harm/suicide

Venting and mostly just hoping we aren't alone.

Knowing how much of our experiences are not our own is terrifying. The ways we've acted for years finally having an explanation. Yes, we have general core overall beliefs, but it's the ones that aren't those that are scary.

The fact we have to remind ourselves while abuse is bad, why things are harmful, why other people aren't desensitized to things. It's frankly just...scary.

Imagine you have your core beliefs. Typical things like treat others well, don't hurt people, abuse is bad, the good of people, generic shit like that. And then you have alters and "thoughts" convincing otherwise. That when faced with triggering material, you wonder how it's even bad, you want it, you miss it, you get "jealous" and it's so out of line with everything the overall system believes. It's distressing, terrifying, and you hate that you have to go "Stop. Abuse is bad." Craving the abuse, craving abusers. So much so you feel incomplete. That you don't want the bad distressing alters to stop or the way you act to stop.

It's fucking terrifying having those thoughts. They are not us, they are not me. They are for our fucking abusers and they are a part of our system. It makes us angry, it makes us scared, it hurts us. That these thoughts exist, that someone wanted us to believe it so they could abuse us, that we are so stunted due to this. We believed they were intrusive thoughts for a while, but for us they are not. They are so fucking real and it genuinely makes us doubt how we think or believe. We are so easily manipulated. It makes us especially scared because of how vulnerable it makes us. That even being retraumatized, we might not hate it due to these parts of us. We don't use the term parts much and prefer alters, but these things? They're parts. Parts we don't want, parts we can't control, parts that terrify us. It is why we are so avoidant as well and paranoid. Because we cannot guarantee that if we were retraumatized, that we would even "hate" it during it. Not because it wasn't traumatizing, but because it was out of our control. That we might not fight back, that our trauma response (fight/flight/freeze/fawn) may not even function as it would for other people. We are terrified of it. Which is why we avoid things, avoid people. We cannot trust anything. Most of all, we can't trust ourselves.

We cannot trust that we won't seek destructive behaviour, retraumatizing situations, our abusers (in this instance, the ones we don't know.) We cannot trust that we won't hurt ourselves, relapse, or even die because of these parts. They are not us or our main beliefs and goals. They are terrifying. They are harmful to us and work against us. And the scariest one is when we felt distress at the mere idea of getting rid of them. That it changed us to believe we never wanted them to go when we saw a post about systems healing.

I usually just find posts to reblog or like when dealing with distressing emotions, but this one? I just had to type it. Because it's scary. And it's even scarier we have to dance around it or even avoid talking about it out of intense fear and paranoia. I hate how much of our life is still controlled by an abuser or abusers that did this to us as children. That we are so heavily traumatized and hurting because of these abusive assholes when we were a fucking child and that we do not remember. The higher ups might like Unknown as well as those mean enforcer type ones from the abyss, but the majority of us alters and especially our fronters and host, do not. We do not remember the name or the face or anything. There is nothing except for the extreme distress, the leftover signs, the intense flashbacks that are wiped and taken so quickly by the controllers from the abyss that don't want us remembering.

Our mind and body are fucked up. And after years of living with this with no explanation and extreme fogginess, here we are. Finally able to slightly process it. And it hurts as the reality sinks in. It is scary and it hurts deeply. And we don't know how long we must live with this. We feel the aches and the grief of it all. We hurt. And the one thing we hope for is that someone understands and we aren't alone. Because we feel truly isolated in our feelings and experiences.

[sinnful-darling]

BAERRR THE MALE SIREN ONE WAS JUST SO— JRKEODKDDNDKSSKEKDJDJDK

SCREAMING. 🛐🛐🛐

He makes me wanna punch him in the face (romantically😳)

Are we getting a part 2 soon?? 🤭🤭

YAN! MALE SIREN PRINCE PT2

tws: manipulation mentions, abuse mentions, torture implications (not directed to the reader), domestic violence mentions, regicide,

i didn’t know y’all would like that so much 😭😭 but yes i can do a pt 2.

♡ Yan! Male Siren Prince who, as mentioned before, is the eldest. He’s the heir of the Siren Folk and because of that, his parents are extremely strict.

♡ Yan! Male Siren Prince who has scars on his back from lashings and has had scales ripped off of his tail as a punishment. His parents punish him when he doesn’t live up to their expectations, so he’s become very introverted and resentful because of this.

♡ Yan! Male Siren Prince whose name is Mattias.

♡ Yan! Male Siren Prince who is natural kind and nurturing, but is also a master of manipulation. Be careful, his words might not be in your best interest at times!

♡ Yan! Male Siren Prince whose father was not only abusive to him, but to his mother as well. Because of this, he plans on killing his father and taking the throne to protect his mother and his siblings.

♡ Yan! Male Siren Prince who tried his best to protect his siblings and mother from his father’s wrath, but when his father laid hands on you, he snapped.

♡ Yan! Male Siren Prince who kills his father in a blind rage, claiming the throne and immediately creates a law that protects all human lovers.

♡ Yan! Male Siren Prince who, in case you were wondering, used a spell to permanently allow you to breathe underwater since you refused to become a Siren.

♡ Yan! Male Siren Prince who is a better ruler than his father by far, but because of that, he doesn’t have much time for you anymore.

♡ Yan! Male Siren Prince who wishes he left his home with you instead of becoming the King. He’d be able to spend more time with you that way…

♡Yan! Male Siren Prince who fakes your deaths and leaves his home to find a new place to live!

♡ Yan! Male Siren Prince who’s furious when he finds out his siblings figured out his plan and invited themselves >:((

♡ Yan! Male Siren Prince who begrudgingly admits that the more people there are to protect you and have eyes on you the better. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all… but you have to love him the most!

[veil-over-miitopia]

I know that you mean so well-

But I am not a vessel for your good intents.

(As usual, Picrew link is in the ID)

More details (and trigger warnings) under the cut!

🌙🍂🌙🍂🌙

(TW: Death of a parent, mishandling of grief, implication of child abuse)

The crowned prince of Thulmisa (Neksdor); Dakarai "The Merciful"/Al-Rahim comes off as a rather...cold individual. Harsh and direct with his words, his people skills are as lacking as his free time; he finds no time with frivolous matters such as "breaks" or, Gods forbid, visiting the neighboring kingdom. To him, maintaining the country's stability and its survival is of top priority- and his ONLY priority.

That is not to say that the concept of 'love' is unfamiliar to him; he loves his people, he loves his kingdom, and, most of all, he loves his mother - the late queen of Thulmisa -. He wasn't given that title of "The Merciful" out of thin-air, after all. He's just...sort of...pretty much a stuck-up dick tbh.

It was a mystery how Echidna gave birth to him; she was not married, nor was she spotted to have had relationships beyond platonic affection- yet, lo and behold, she comes out of her palace with a small baby in her hands. Theories ran rampant throughout the streets of Thulmisa ever since the day of the little prince's "birth", but nothing was ever confirmed.

Dakarai was a shy child back in his youth; he was almost never seen without hiding behind his mom, especially when around new people. Those who have gained his trust back in the day, however, claimed he was a bright kid with extensive knowledge of the human body- a trait that would carry on to his adult years as his profession leaned more into that of medical territories.

A fire burned inside him; a fire that, day by day, grew dimmer. From his encounter with the nobles of Greenhorne and him meeting with their soon-to-be Besmirched son, to that fateful day in the neighboring realm. Incident after incident etched themselves unto Dakarai's mind even when he was chosen to take up his mother's mantle so suddenly at the age of 7.

The weight of an entire kingdom was heavy on his shoulders; even at a young age, he wasn't even able to cry over what had befallen the late queen. All Dakarai was able to do was focus; do his best to look past his own noblemen's attempts at manipulating the youth for their own gain.

His own reign throughout the years was...bumpy, completely unlike that of Echidna's, so it wasn't uncommon for comparisons between the monarchs to be made. Thus, a mission was set in stone in his mind; not only was he supposed to keep his people alive, but he must also preserve her legacy. Even when the world turned dark and people fell into corruption, he didn't let go of his promise to his kingdom, and to her...

[stayarmytinyzenmoa-l]

Lapis Love [Ch. 2]

Nobility AU; Fantasy AU

TW: Language, Implications of an Abusive Household, Gaslighting, Manipulation, Descriptions of a Panic Attack

CW: Arranged/Political Marriage, Politcial Turmoil

Genre: Romantic Comedy, Fantasy

Pairing: Mercenary!Liu Yangyang x Noblity!Reader

Y/N Pronouns: Female (She/Her)

Summary: When hit with the sudden news that you’d be married you freaked out and with the help of your brother you ran away to avoid becoming embroiled in a political war. However, your betrothed was just as freaked out as you were and sent a mercenary after you. When you’re two paths cross unknowingly, suddenly your month journey to refuge becomes that much more interesting.

(2/?) [Previous] | [Next]

[NCT Masterlist] | [Other Groups Masterlist] | [Lapis Love Masterlist]

Word Count: 5.6K

Notes: Y'all have no idea the rage I felt editing this lmfao first Tumblr eats this entire post then as soon as I press post on the new version it fucking deletes the whole thing evil evil site WAAAH it's okay it's here now! I hope you enjoy <3

Disclaimer: Please remember that this is an AU and a work of fiction, obviously the idols mentioned/written about in this story would never partake in these actions. The idols mentioned in this work are meant to be seen more as face claims rather than the actual idols themselves.

Feedback is greatly appreciated!! Thank you for reading!

“Okay, all packed?” Kevin asks, patting your shoulder and readjusting your bag straps.

“Yeah, I’ve got everything,” you stumbled slightly under the weight.

“Extra clothes? Cloak? Some pocket change? Journal and pen? Extra shoes? Snacks? Sleeping bag? Pillows?”

“Kevin! I have everything,” you stopped him before he could say anything more. He took a deep breath. You slipped your bag off to show him the contents, seeing everything that he mentioned packed in there.

“You know… I’d come with you if I could,” he says, “and I really really want to,” his voice was now heavy with melancholy.

“Kev, I’ll be fine,” you offered him the widest smile you could. You didn’t want to leave. But you didn’t want to be a pawn meant to be thrown away either. Kevin’s hand never left your shoulder, instead he pulled you into a tight hug, as if this would be the last time he’d be able to hold you at all. With his arms around your shoulders, he pressed his head against yours, and you could only wrap your arms around him too. Would this be the last time you saw him?

The reality of the situation just came crashing down on you. Once you get to Stardenn, no doubt, you wouldn't be able to leave. In fact, the possibility of you starting an all-out war between the Qian and the Huang families is entirely probable. You'd have to change your name, your appearance, your story, and everything else about you. Would you ever see any of your family members again after that? The only other possibility is that you make your way to Bleakgate, to your fiance who is waiting to meet you, and to sign your name and your abilities away to that family.

Either way... you lose who you are. If you could hold your brother any tighter, you did just now. Your only regret, well, actually there are many, are that your last conversation with your parents was an argument and that you didn't get to say goodbye to your other siblings. What kind of cruel trick of fate is this?

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, (Y/N), I’m sorry I failed you as a brother,” he cried into your shoulder. You held him tight to you. 

“No, don’t be sorry, Kev, it was out of your control,” you reassured him.

“Please, please be safe on your way to Stardenn,” he says it more like a prayer to whatever god is above you rather than a request to you. “It’s dangerous out there, (Y/N), you can only trust yourself and please, by god, do not reveal your abilities. It’ll give you away in an instant,” he pleads.

“I know that! I’m not going to go around freezing people, Kev!”

“At least I can hide my abilities, you know? Stardenn is going south, there’s no snow down there,” he says.

“I know, I know, Kev! I’ll be okay,” you reassured him again. “I’ll write as soon as I get to Stardenn, I promise,” you held his hand tightly and picked up your bag with your other hand. “But… Kev, let me know if anything happens. I know you have the ability to find me, so if the situation suddenly turns you need to tell me and I’ll change due course to Bleakgate,” you said solemnly. Kevin only shook his head.

“Whatever alternative you face out there will be much more favorable than what House Huang has planned for you,” he says. He takes a deep breath and holds open the door for you. You both had to leave quickly and in secret, thus, the only likely exit was through the servants’ exit in the kitchens. You looked out the door. It was a chilled night with not a single cloud in the sky and with miles of stars to light your path. “Are you… are you ready to go?” He asks again. You looked down, gone were your riches and silks and instead they had been replaced with common clothes taken from the servants’ quarters. You adjusted your cap and nodded your head. “Okay, one more thing,” Kevin leans forward and tucks your hair under your cap. “It’s infinitely harder for a woman to be traveling on her own, until you make it to Stardenn, you must pretend to be a man, can you do that? You cannot reveal your identity, your abilities, or your gender. It’s just a precaution to make it safely to Stardenn, then you can deck out in all the dresses you want,” he adds with a weak laugh. Kevin knew much more about the world than you did, you had nothing else to go upon.

"Okay, yes, I can do that," you nodded unsurely. Kevin was hiding something from you. Something about your situation, your marriage to House Huang, you could tell from the way he was trying to avoid your eyes. Kevin, who was always the more expressive of the four children, was hiding a huge secret about your political marriage, and for him to do that, you know, it must be something horrible, something he's chosen to spare you the fear of knowing. It must be something horrific if he's decided to go through such lengths to prevent your marriage to the militaristic house, to try to offer himself first in your stead. You owe him so much, and you haven't the slightest idea how to pay him back.

“If it’s hard… just pretend to be me, okay? It’s easier to pretend than it is to lie,” he says. You nodded your head again, making sure all the stray hairs were tucked and hidden securely. “Oh, and this too,” he unbuckles his belt and clasps it around you instead, your left hip weighing down. You looked at the new addition and shook your head.

“No! Oh, no, Kevin, I can’t take this,” you reached to unsheathe the sword at your hip, but Kevin stops you.

“(Y/N), I can’t be there to protect you, so… this is the best that I can do,” he says.

“But I know next to nothing about swordsmanship,” your hands wrapped around the hilt and he shook his head.

“What do you mean? You watched Byul and I spar every day,” he says. “Don’t pretend that you didn’t mirror our moves with a quill,” he laughs. “Keep it, (Y/N), and it will keep you safe,” he insists. You look down at it again, seeing the orange calcite gem glimmer back at you. You looked at the bracelet around your wrist, the lapis lazuli gem seemed to react with the sword. The manifestations of two seasons with one person. “I can always get another one,” Kevin senses your unease. You sighed, there was so much more you wanted to say, but you only had so much time to leave before the guards would begin their morning rounds.

“Thank you, Kevin, I owe you so much that I can’t even begin to fathom how I’m going to repay you once I’m safe,” you said with a soft smile. Kevin only shook his head.

“Any good brother would help his sister this way,” he refutes. "If you want to repay me back so soon then... then I'd better get a letter from you with a postal stamp from Stardenn within the next month, alright?" He says, playfully nudging your shoulder.

"I will do that then," you nodded. “Then, I will see you soon, I promise,” your eyes held sincerity in them and Kevin’s shoulders relaxed.

“Be safe, (Y/N), and may the Fates bless your journey,” he watches you step out into the vast.

~

“Your highness! You need to calm down!” Doyoung shouts. Renjun’s shoulders hiked up for a moment, his hands continuing to squeeze each other.

“Your highness… you’re bleeding,” Ningning steps forward and pulls Renjun’s hands apart. He hadn’t even realized that they were hurting. “I’ll return with bandages,” she runs off before Renjun could say another word. He looks to Doyoung, the family’s advisor, who was deep in thought himself.

“It just doesn’t add up, why would the Winter Noble run off?” Doyoung clicks his tongue. “There would be no reason to, unless… unless House Moon was aware of our intentions,” he unrolls a parchment over the table. “But that should be impossible, we’ve played our cards right all this time, there’s no way they could know,” he continues to mutter.

“Doyoung… what will I do? What will happen to me?” Renjun asks. Doyoung looks up from his plans, focus and intensity etched into his features.

“You will not do anything, we’ll hire a mercenary to find her instead,” he says. “We have to leave as little traces as we can back to House Huang or else it’d look suspicious,” he says. He taps on the table absently. “Renjun, your friend from military academy, the one who dropped out, what was his name again?” Renjun froze at this.

“Y-Yangyang, his name is Yangyang,” he answers.

“And this Yangyang, it is to my knowledge that he took up mercenary work following his withdrawal from academy?”

“That is correct, Doyoung.”

“How good is he at tracking?”

“Not bad, if I say so myself,” Yangyang responds. Both nobles turned to the door immediately, seeing Yangyang leaning against the doorframe with a knife twirling in his hands. “Need me to find a runaway noble? Easy,” he says while he pushes off the frame. He stands next to Renjun and rests his palms on the table in front of him. “How much?” He asks. Doyoung’s eyes glowered.

“Name your price and we will negotiate. The master is in an unfit state to rule due to his… anger, I am working as the lord regent in the meantime,” he explains. Renjun blinks, regent? His father never mentioned anything about a regent taking over, and if there was it wouldn’t be Doyoung, it would be either him or his siblings. However, Doyoung paid no mind to Renjun’s suspicions.

“I’ll take down and charge any damages, how about that?” Yangyang answers.

“And the down payment?”

“Let’s say… two million gold pieces,” Yangyang held up two fingers and Doyoung’s eye twitched in annoyance.

“Done.”

“I sup— Wait, seriously?” Yangyang seems taken aback while Doyoung nods.

“It is imperative that the Winter Noble is in our control,” Doyoung says. “House Huang is willing to pay any price to ensure her safe arrival,” he emphasizes. Yangyang nods.

“Alright, give me a description, and I’ll find her,” he nods.

“I’m afraid there’s not much to go on, House Moon was very careful in keeping their children from nobles’ eyes for a while, we had only met three of them two years ago, after all. Just look for someone with a talent in ice. In a life or death situation, I doubt any of the four siblings would be able to hide their powers.”

“Viscount Kim!” A gruff voice enters the conversation, the three redirect their attention and a soldier stands at attention.

“At ease, soldier,” Doyoung dismisses. The soldier steps forward, a letter in hand.

“This was intercepted by the messenger line, there is no return address, but there is a destination,” he says. Doyoung takes the letter, examining it carefully. There was no design on the wax seal and the paper looked old. He turns it over and reads the delivery address.

“It’s addressed to the Qian Duchy.”

“Correct, we found the letter in Kilvein, meaning that it’s possible origins were either Evercairn, Fairham, or Emberhaven,” the soldier says. Renjun listens carefully, all three territories were under House Moon, to his knowledge, while Evercairn was where the manor was located. “It’s only a hunch, sir, but it’s the best lead we got,” he says.

“The master of the house must not hear of this at all, am I clear,” Doyoung says with a dark stare. The soldier nods.

“Stardenn, then?” Yangyang cuts in. Doyoung raises an eyebrow.

“Do you intend on going alone?” Renjun asks.

“Well, this is just hypothetical, by the way, but if I were a noble lady running away from a forced marriage—”

“Arranged marriage,” Doyoung corrects.

“Tomato, tomahto,” Yangyang waves his hand, “and I saw a militia awaiting the place I was hypothetically going to take refuge in, I would turn tail and hide somewhere else,” Yangyang postulates. “A month, give me a month to find and return the Winter Noble.”

“And if you fail?” Doyoung asks.

“Shoot, do whatever then! Send our military, execute me, whatever!” Yangyang shrugs and Renjun gasps.

“We will hold you to those words, mercenary,” Doyoung says with a hint of warning in his voice. Yangyang only grins. “When will you be ready to leave?”

“Right now is fine,” Yangyang nods his head and pivots on his heel, walking out of the meeting room.

“Wait… wait! Yangyang!” Renjun stumbles after him, but not before nodding his head to Doyoung out of respect. Renjun just barely catches up with Yangyang as they turn into the armory. “Yangyang—”

“Can I borrow this?” Yangyang takes one of the swords leaning against the wall.

“Yes, go ahead,” Renjun nods. “I need to—”

“Okay, sweet, how about this one?” He takes two daggers.

“If you need it, then be my guest,” Renjun says. “I have to—”

“Should I take this too?” Yangyang holds a shield up.

“Oh, goodness, no, I know your fighting style well enough to know that a shield would just weigh you down, at most, just take an arm guard,” Renjun hands him the latter and the shield clatters to the ground. “Anyway, Yangyang—”

“So, since the Winter Noble uses elemental magic, maybe I should take a protective piece with me instead? Winter, meaning ice? Okay, what protects against ice?”

“Lapis lazuli, none of which we have in this territory, you’ll probably find more in Evercairn, but your journey won’t take you there, just avoid getting frozen,” Renjun answers. “Now, before I forget—”

“I guess I’ll travel lightly, no telling when the lady took off, so I’ll have to catch up as soon as I can,” Yangyang wonder aloud.

“Yangyang!” Renjun shouts and Yangyang looks surprised.

“Damn, no need to raise your voice, what’s up?” Yangyang asks.

“I’m coming with you!”

“Oh, no, absolutely not,” Yangyang shakes his head. Renjun looks around him before grabbing Yangyang’s arm.

“Yangyang, please, you can’t leave me here with… with them,” he whispers.

“Jun, are you kidding me? If I could take you, I would, hell, it’s your wife-to-be that I’m tracking down, but it is exactly because of your parents that I can’t take you,” Yangyang whispers back. “Your dad’s already on the brink of madness, imagine what would happen when the last of his kids who lives with him up and disappeared?” He says.

“But, Yangyang…” Renjun pleads, but he soon catches himself. Yangyang was right. The punishment for him leaving his duties here would be much more severe than if he didn’t leave at all. “Okay, I trust you, Yangyang,” Renjun says. He reaches into his pocket and hands him a small piece of parchment. “House Moon are very secretive, not much is known of them. We only know the visages of the elder three because they’ve been in public eye. Taeil is top of his class in military academy, Byulyi may be in line for a ministerial role, and Kevin… well, he’s Kevin, everyone knows him and his extravagant lifestyle,” Renjun shakes his head as he says this. “Then there’s (Y/N).”

“Ooh, wifey, huh?”

“It’s not funny, Yangyang,” Renjun grimaces. “There’s not much anyone knows about her, other than the fact that she can be rude and cruel to people,” he shivers. “So we only have a basic description of her, she was a real homebody, apparently,” he says. Yangyang unfolds the paper and reads through it. His eyebrows furrowed together.

“This is literally just her hair, skin, and eye color,” he deadpans.

“Exactly,” Renjun drags a tired hand down his face.

“Well, whatever, I just have to find the first ice magic user, right?” Yangyang shrugs.

“Well, yes, but it can’t be that simple,” Renjun shakes his head.

“What do you mean? From what you told me, her highness is sheltered. She’s never been to the outside world. So what I’m looking for is a noble woman with an insane amount of naivety who can freeze things,” Yangyang says with a confident smile. “Easier than sharpening a sword,” he reassures his friend. “I’ll be back in a month, hell, maybe even earlier,” Yangyang says.

“You… you shouldn’t have said that back there, Yangyang,” Renjun mumbles.

“Said what?”

“You gave Doyoung permission to execute you, Yangyang, he takes those things very seriously,” Renjun bites his nails.

“Oh, pish posh, I’ll be fine, have I ever failed you?”

“You dropped out of military academy!”

“Okay, well, that was more of failing myself.”

“You left me alone, Yangyang!”

“Come on, you’re fine!”

“I am now! Yangyang! Yuta and his goons shoved me into chests!”

“They what?!” Yangyang’s jaw dropped and Renjun hung his head low.

“They…” he takes a deep breath. “It’s fine, it was in the past… just… be safe, okay? You’re my only friend,” Renjun says sadly. Yangyang sighs, a small frown settling on his lips.

“Hey, come on, don’t talk like I’m going to die so easily, what did they call me back in academy?”

“Hard-headed?”

“Yeah! And I’m literally hard headed! Johnny used to try to bash my skull against a wall and the wall would crack instead!”

“Your tenacity is… outstanding,” Renjun says with concern. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop worrying about you, if anyone can handle this, you could,” Renjun backs off.

“Cool, cool, see? Your best friend’s got this job in the bag,” Yangyang laughs. “I’ll be back before you notice that I’m gone!” Yangyang attaches the weapons to his harness.

“Just be careful, Yangyang! I heard… I heard that there’s strange beasts around the roads now… you’ll never know,” Renjun reaches around his neck and pulls out charm of his necklace from beneath his shirt.. “Take this with you too, it’s a protective amulet but… I don’t know, maybe I got scammed, it hasn’t done much protecting,” Renjun laughed. Yangyang spotted the dark bruise under Renjun’s collar when he unclasped the necklace to hand it to him.

“Geez, that’s one way to get rid of trash,” Yangyang chuckles while he clasps it around his neck. “Sure, I’ll keep it safe for you, but I’m returning it as soon as I get back,” Yangyang says. “Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone,” he says.

“Oh, please, you’re taking all the stupid with you,” Renjun rolls his eyes.

“There’s the Renjun I know,” Yangyang grins. “See you in a month!” And then Yangyang took off. Renjun held his hand up a little bit longer, a strange sense of foreboding in his heart. Something bad was going to happen. Renjun shook his head. If anything bad was going to happen, it would be to him. Yangyang’s got this uncanny ability to slip out of trouble easily, after all. Renjun took a deep breath. The wedding has been delayed a month. 

Maybe he could still escape.

~

“Eek!” You jumped up as soon as you heard a bush rustle next to you. Your hands were clasped over your heart and you could feel it pumping against your chest at an ungodly pace. No way, you’d just been out for no later than an hour, imagine the embarrassment you’d have to live through in the afterlife if you’d died so quickly. Soon, a mere bunny hopped out of the shrubbery and you let out a sigh or relief.

“Ah, just a bunny,” you muttered. You relaxed and stumbled forward. You looked down and pulled Kevin’s sword from where it had gotten stuck. Sword. Right, you had a weapon and yet you hadn’t thought of using it even once so far in your journey. You pulled it out of its sheath, the gemstone at the bottom glimmering against the ornate silver hilt.

Kevin had received it as a gift from your father on his eighteenth birthday. Each of the siblings had received a gift like this at that age, Taeil’s were a pair of gloves adorned with green aventurine and Byulyi's were a set of claw rings with carnelian. Yours, meanwhile, was a simple bracelet with a beautifully carved lapis lazuli. The purpose of these charms were to keep your powers in check, and the fact that Kevin so readily handed his to you… he must trust you a great deal as well as himself. Growing up, Kevin had a nasty habit of accidentally setting things on fire, and thus was one of the first to wear the appropriate gemstone, then as a brooch, and had so far been the only exception to the eighteenth birthday rule. He was happy enough when he got upgraded, though, 'carrying a sword looked much cooler than wearing a gaudy pin,' he would say.

You looked at the way the sword glimmered in the sunlight, naturally, it reacted well. It was heavy in your hands, and while it took one hand for Kevin to wield, it took you both to hold it steady. Whatever possessed Kevin’s mind to give this to you, you were sure you’d curse it as soon as you saw him again. If anything, it was just weighing down your travels, but you couldn’t shrug away his kind intentions. You gave it a small twirl, the sword weighing your hand down enough to make it ache. True, you watched him spar with Byulyi a number of times, you understood swordsmanship in theory, but not in practice. Byulyi, namely, was gifted in fencing. Parries, lunges, and ripostes, true to Kevin’s words, you practiced all of these with a quill. Same in Kevin’s case, militant swordsmanship. Slices, thrusts, and counters, you knew all of the basics yet you lacked the ability to apply them practically.

“What use is a sword if I can barely use it?” You frowned. You sheathed it again and continued down the path to Kilvein, it was the closest town to Evercairn on the way to Stardenn. After that, you would make way to Rosebreak, and after that Hazelfall. Then, finally, your destination of Stardenn. It was a long road ahead of you, but one you were determined to take in order to ensure your safety and, if not that, your own independence. Kilvein shouldn’t be much further away, in fact, if you squinted a little, you could just barely make out the outline of the town already.

It was as if you were invigorated once more, finally seeing civilization just as the sun began to rise. You approached with a skip in your step to the town gate. The gate wasn’t manned at the moment, and you took the liberty of slipping in. Despite the early morning, the streets were busy with people bustling about the morning market, no doubt buying ingredients for breakfast. Breakfast, your stomach rumbled quietly and you glanced around, being sure that no one heard. You pulled out your small purse, counting the coins concealed in it. With a small smile, you approached the baker’s stand.

“Good morning, ma'am,” you grinned. The baker matched your smile.

“Good morning, fair lady,” she says. “Would you like any of my goods?” She inquires. You nodded, looking down at the collection.

“Just this one, please,” you pointed to the braided bread and she nods, grabbing a basket to place them inside of.

“Anything else?” She asks.

“Ah, no, it’s quite alright,” you nodded, shuffling through your coin purse to pull out the appropriate amount. Then, suddenly, a young boy bumps into you. “Goodness!” You just barely catch yourself, but once you’ve finally regained your composure, you realized a grave problem.

“That urchin, he stole your purse!” The baker looked more shocked than you.

“Why, I…” you blinked a few times, trying to process what just happened. “I’ll be right back!” You said to the baker before taking off after the boy, but, as you were running, someone else ran past you at a much faster speed, catching up to the boy in no time and grabbing him by the collar to hoist him up. The boy squeaked in surprise and the man sighs.

“You little brat give back what you stole!” The man shouts. The boy cries for a moment before dropping two bags. You just barely catch up with them. “You the owner of this one?” The man asks, holding up your purse. You could only nod, just barely catching your breath.

“That’s mine!” The boy refutes.

“Sure it is, and I’m the crown prince’s lover,” the man laughs. “Ugh, it’s too early in the morning for this,” he drops the boy and hands you your purse. The boy kicks a stone under him while the man continues to tell him off.

“Ah, this may be awkward but,” you cut in and the boy and man turn to you. You just felt so bad for the young boy, he must’ve been hungry. He was so thin and dirty, you could only imagine what he had been going through. “This is actually my younger brother,” you said suddenly. The man looked unamused but the boy’s eyes shone.

“Sure.”

“Big brother!” The boy clings to you. “I barely recognized you! Since you were accepted into academy, I thought I’d never see you again!” The boy plays along easily.

“I apologize for my brother’s rashness, please look kindly upon him,” you continued, ushering the boy out of the alleyway and into the market. As soon as the man was out of earshot, you grabbed onto the boys ear harshly.

“Ow! What the heck, mister?! I thought you were on my side!” The boy grimaces.

“Why would I be on the side of a petty thief?”

“Then why did you help?”

“Didn’t you see the sword at that man’s side? He could’ve cut you down where you stood,” you narrowed your glance.

“But… you have a sword too, mister,” the boy frowns.

“Luckily for you, I don’t intend on using it,” you continued and tugged him along with you back to the baker stand, pulling out an extra gold coin. “Miss baker, I’ll take an extra loaf of…” you looked at the young boy, who only looked back at you with surprise.

“Uh… cinnamon swirl… please,” the boy mutters.

“Cinnamon swirl it is,” the baker adds the loaf to the basket and hands it to you in exchange for three gold coins. You hand the boy his loaf and you could practically see him start to salivate.

“Th… Thank you, mister!” He looks up at you with shining eyes. “You really didn’t have to,” he quickly regains his rugged composure and you laughed.

“Please, it’s nothing, consider it a lesson for stealing from people, not everyone will be as nice as me, you lucked out this time, but it would do you well not to do it again,” you pointed your finger at him and the boy nodded his head.

“Thank you,” he muttered quickly before running off. You looked at your purse. Looks like you’ll have to keep a stronger hold on it from now on, it’s a bit embarrassing that such a young child was able to pull it from your grasp so quickly. You stepped away, ready to indulge in the freshly baked bread, when someone spoke up behind you.

“You know, you shouldn’t do that,” you turned to the voice that addressed you, seeing the man from earlier. “You feed one of them and then they all run to you,” he says.

“Well, I have no intentions on staying in town any longer than today, I have a friend to meet within the month,” you crossed your arms. “And, dare I say, what I do is none of your business.”

“None of my business, huh?” He asks. His arm flies out, grabbing the arm of a child about to run past you. He shakes them lightly and your purse drops to the ground. You stare at it for a short while before the man sighs and picks it up. “You should really hold on to this tighter,” he holds it towards you.

“Noted,” you took it from him, being sure to hold it more securely. “Now, if you have no more inquiries, I must be on my way,” you walked around him.

“Where to?”

“Stardenn.”

“First rule of travel, my friend, never share your destination,” he catches up with you.

“You’re tenacious, and I find that bothersome,” you stopped to make your point before continuing.

“Hey, come on now,” he easily keeps up with you. “You’re heading to Stardenn, right? Well, guess what? You’re headed the wrong way,” he says. You stop again and look at your map briefly before pivoting on your heel to turn the other way. Still, the man keeps up with you. “Come on, you’re heading to Stardenn, I’m heading to Stardenn, let’s go together,” he insists. You ignore him yet again before he whistles to catch your attention.

“What in the heavens do you want from me?!” You shout. He holds your wallet in his hand again.

“Look, man, if you’re going to get pickpocketed at least three times in every town, you’re going to die of poverty before you do of starvation,” he says. “Let me help you out.”

“Why?” Kevin’s warning echoes in your head, trust no one. But… maybe you could keep this one in check. If worse comes to worse, you could probably just freeze him over in some secluded area in the woods. You watch him cross his arms.

“Why not? Can’t a guy do a good deed?” You’re not that naive to fall for that one.

“Good deed? Likely,” you walk up to him and attempt to take your wallet back, something which he easily moves out of your grasp. He takes a deep breath.

“Okay, let’s start over then, shall we?” He still keeps your purse out of reach as he does this. “My name’s Liu Yangyang,” he holds his hand out for you to shake it. You hesitated for a moment, wondering how you should go about this. Wait, shit, you need a fake name. You said the first one that came to mind.

“Kevin.” As soon as you said it, it took every fiber in your body not to scream. “Kevin… Sohn,” you continued. You hoped up and down that he’d fall for it and, as luck would have it, it did.

“Well, Kevin, I’m a knight in training and I’m on my way to meet a close friend in Stardenn. We have similar goals here, right? And, I'm sure you know, one of the practical exams for a knight is the safe passage of a traveler. And that would be you! All I have to do is show the captain proof at Stardenn and ba da boom ba da bang, I'm a full-fledged knight!” He explains. You, still skeptical, mull over his words while giving him a quick look down. He did have the build of a knight, something you were very familiar with in more ways than one. And, so far, he’s proved to be useful to you. "It's a good deal, right? You clearly have money and I don't. Let's work together!"

“What’s in it for me then?” You ask.

“What do you want?” He answers your question with one of his own and you huff. You really only needed safe passage to Stardenn, and you were perfectly ready to brave it on your own, but… your eyes settled on the sword at his side.

“How good are you with a sword?” You ask. Yangyang looks at you quizzically. What good is a blade if its owner couldn’t wield it? Being a knight in training, certainly, he must know his way around it. If you were to go against the wishes of the Huang family it would do you well to know how to defend yourself and, who knows, maybe a month would be the perfect time to learn the basics? Kun wasn’t so bad a swordsman himself if your memories served you correctly, whatever Yangyang taught you here would only serve to benefit you. All you had to do was to become his main sponsor and, luckily, Kevin had convinced you to travel with extra funds as a just in case.

“Considering I would’ve been kicked out of academy otherwise, pretty damn good. Why?”

“During our passage to Stardenn… teach me how to wield a sword, and then I’ll call our transaction equal,” you say. “If you think about it intuitively, it only makes sense. If I’m to fund our excursion, you teaching me the way of the sword is nothing,” you explain. Yangyang looks you over.

“Okay, sure. I can agree to those terms,” he holds his hand out and you take it, both of you sharing a firm handshake. “So… Stardenn. It’s about a three week journey, give or take, if we plan our route carefully. We’ll leave in the morning, make sure you have everything stocked up,” he says.

“Done, I can do that,” you nod. “And when do I begin my first lesson?”

“Next town over,” he says. He tosses your wallet back to you and holds a gold coin between his index and middle fingers. “I’ll take this as my first allowance,” he tosses it in the air and catches it in his fist and walks off to the nearest tavern. You stood dumbfounded for a moment. Was it really that easy to rob you?! You swallowed harshly. You had a long way to go. “Well, aren’t you coming?” Yangyang cuts through your thoughts.

“Sorry?”

“What? Were you planning to sleep on the streets tonight? Let’s go,” he waits for you to catch up with him before entering the tavern.

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(6) Ex Knows Best

LTWF Hub, < prev, next >

The aforementioned things that inevitably go wrong from the initial notes go wrong here. Everyone has a bad time, and things don’t end looking up for anyone. I absolutely love when I'm writing and my own stuff gives me ick lmao Sorry not sorry please enjoy the horrible hurt and angst !

Word Count: 2837

Chapter TWs: Violence and Injury, Mentioned Past Abusive Relationship, Stalking, Manipulation, Panic Attacks

--

Something was wrong.

Sitting at his desk, Patton couldn’t shake an awful feeling of impending doom as he tried to work on his philosophy essay. Roman was casually flopped on his bed, quiet music playing from his phone as he idly scrolled on it. Patton couldn’t focus on the paper due to both his slowly mounting anxiety and general boredom, thankful for the distraction of his phone going off until he flipped it over to check and saw a message from an unfamiliar number.

————————————

From: (786) 555-1436 102.

Better hurry!!

————————————

A hand flew up to his mouth as his breath caught in his throat, nearly throwing his phone away from him as he stumbled back out of his chair at the implication.

“Pat?” Roman’s question was lost on him, Patton not listening as he slid his shoes on and all but threw himself through the dorm door and down the hall, his stomach sinking with every step.

Patton waited impatiently for the elevator as a confused Roman took the chance to shoot a concerned text to Virgil, recounting the way Patton had checked his phone and then bolted.

Patton’s foot tapped nervously on the tile, leaving the building as soon as he could to run to Thaw Hall. The building was less than 10 minutes away from Patton’s dorm, but it felt like he was running for hours by the time he finally rounded the top corner of steps and dashed into 102 without so much as looking around. “What did you do to him?!” 

There were five boys standing around Logan—three of which he recognized as Alex, Bailey, Kylar, and two that were unfamiliar—with the one at the front grinning wide and holding a large bat. The two new boys; however, were vaguely familiar, the one holding a bat matching Roman’s description of one of his most annoying classmates, Remus—the shock of white hair falling in his eyes recognizable from all the creepshot photos Roman had shown him. He couldn't remember the name of the other, not bothering to wrack his brain for it as he zeroed in on Remus’ bat.

“See, I told you I could get him here.” Remus snarked to the air behind Patton, the latter confused as he hadn't seen anyone else in the room.

“Who are you—?” Patton’s confused question and turn to look behind him were cut off simultaneously by a hand suddenly grabbing the back of his neck, him flinching involuntarily from the contact.

But the only one who used to do that is—

“Hello again, my dear.”

“Janus?” Patton froze, cold fear washing over him at the familiar voice. He couldn’t help but shiver as a hand ran down over the top few notches of his spine to grip one of his shoulders. “How did you find me?”

“Now, is that any way to greet your lover? And here I thought you’d be happy to see me.” “...lover?” Logan asked, voice quiet and confused, but none of the others paid him any mind.

“That doesn’t answer my question.” Patton couldn’t will himself to move out of Janus’ grip, gritting his teeth together as he attempted to sound assertive.

“Well... Your friends here on campus are quite lovely.” Janus’ free hand gestured in front of Patton from over his shoulder at the five standing around Logan—who all wave. “When I told them about my predicament… how’d you just run off and left me behind, they were more than happy to help me find you.”

“You…” Patton shook his head, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to try and calm some of his fried nerves. “I got that, but… how did you know I was here?”

“All it took to find you was a quick look through some of your social medias.” Janus explained breezily, Patton not even needing to see him to picture the sinister smirk stretched across his face. “Plus a few of your friends’.”

“You stalked me?!”

“It’s not stalking if you weren’t hiding it.”

“Okay, but I was!” Patton finally jerked forward, whirling around to face an unnervingly calm Janus, crossing his arms and fighting down the tears threatening to form in the corners of his eyes. “I went private online and blocked every alt account you made after we broke it off.”

“But is that really what you want, Patton?” Janus feigned hurt, placing a hand over his heart and giving Patton his most pleading eyes. “For us to be over?”

Despite the disgust and anxiety sloshing around in his stomach, Patton couldn’t manage to get his voice steady even as he choked out a barely affirmative, “Ye—Yes.”

“Are you sure?” Janus took a step forward, Patton stumbling back to keep him from getting any closer again. “You don’t sound so sure, and we were so happy…”

“I know better now than to put up with your manipulative crap, Janus.” Patton’s response was met with a humorless laugh, Janus easily closing the remaining gap to be face to face with him again.

“Oh come on.” Gripping Patton’s shoulders a little harder than necessary, he offered, “Why don’t you and I just go somewhere more private to talk?” 

“No.” Patton stood firm, surprising himself as he managed to steady his voice. “That’s not going to happen.”

“Don’t be like that, my love. You wouldn't want anything to happen to your little pal, would you?”

“...you wouldn’t.”

“I think you being here is enough proof that I would.” Janus shrugged nonchalantly, the glare he sent Logan’s way bitter and unamused. “Besides, it’s not like it feels pain or emotions or anything like that. You’d be better off with me than some… stoic tin can.”

It must really say something if I prefer Logan’s company to yours. Patton thought sourly, shaking his head to clear his mind. “It’s not going to happen, alright? You should really leave.”

“Oh, then I guess you won’t mind if I ask my new acquaintances to wreck your new boy toy.”

“Wait, what—?” Patton looked just in time to see Bailey and Kylar each grab one of his arms, holding him in place even as he struggled. Remus waved cheekily as they all turned to face him, him adjusting his grip on the bat with a deranged smile. “Whoa, hey, there’s no need to—!”

Any other protest he had was cut off by Remus swinging the bat wildly for Logan’s face, a hard crack resounding as Logan just managed to get his arms up to partially block the swing. An almost imperceptible look of regret—pain?—passed across his face as Remus smirked, Alex grabbing and twisting his arms away from his face.

“Oh? You want to try to defend yourself this time? How cute.”

Logan’s eyes narrowed into a glare as Alex pinned one of his arms down against the desk, still attempting to pull away as he gestured with his head towards a panicking Patton. “This is wrong. You’re hurting him.”

“Duh. That’s the whole point, R2-D2.” Remus commented blandly, before smashing the bat down onto Logan’s exposed arm with careful aim to hit hard against the panel on his wrist, causing Logan’s hand to spaz. His fingers twitched and sparked, before locking in a strange half open position as Remus grinned and moved to swing the bat hard at the other panel on his upper arm and cause the whole limb to fall limply off the desk as Alex let go.

“Now, isn’t this fun?” Janus snickered, watching gleefully as Patton tried in vain to pull away from the two holding him.

“Stop it!” Patton was yelling, unable to look at anything but the scene unfolding in front of him as Remus and Whitney—as he finally recalled the remaining boy’s name to be—worked their way up the panels on Logan’s other arm as he tried unsuccessfully to grapple the bat away from Remus.

With both of his arms out of commission—twitching helplessly at his sides—Logan looked worriedly at Patton, the distraction giving Remus the chance to sweep Logan’s legs out from under him. He thudded into the floor, tears springing up to run down Patton’s face as Whitney and Alex hauled his damaged body back onto his feet.

“Oh, darling… Don’t cry. You know how much I hate seeing you cry.” Janus gently wiped the tears off of Patton’s face from behind him, before leaning in to whisper menacingly, “Besides, it’ll just motivate them further.”

“Please, just stop!” Patton let his head drop with a cry, catching one last glimpse of the bat thudding into the side of Logan’s head, his eye on that side flickering out.

“Oh, come on, don’t you want to watch?” Janus mocked, one of his hands snaking up the back of Patton’s head to grip a fistful of his hair and yank his head back up. More tears misted in Patton’s eyes from the pain, Janus using his hold to keep him looking towards a damaged Logan and the others. “After all, this is your fault.”

“No, I—! Please…” Patton winced out, tightly closing his eyes only for Janus to tug at his hair until he opened them again to see Logan backing away from the three as his remaining eye darted around anxiously.

“Then what do you say?”

Patton started to shut his eyes again, but instead just diverted his gaze to the floor at his feet as he whispered a quiet, “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t really believe you, my dear.” The grip on his hair seemed to tighten even further as Patton refused to look up from the carpet, Janus tutting disapprovingly under his breath. “It doesn’t sound like you mean it.”

“I’m sorry, please…” Patton tried again, lifting his eyes up to see another smack of the bat land hard against Logan’s side. “Just stop it, okay?”

“Hmm, I don’t know…”

Remus jammed the end of the bat right into the center of Logan’s chest, him stumbling back blindly into the desk behind him, his back slamming hard into it as he folded over backwards. His one working eye looked almost glazed as he tried to glance around, his whole body locking up for a moment before he could move again just in time to slide to the floor at the feet of a smirking Remus.

“I’m sorry, okay?! I’m sorry!” Patton tried again, louder. He was no longer struggling against the two, sobbing hard as all three started kicking Logan’s body. One particularly hard kick that landed against the side of Logan’s neck caused him to seemingly short circuit—his whole body lit up with blinding sparks as his other eye shut off and his whole body fell still. “Janus, please!”

“Now that’s what I like to hear.”

“Whoa, what in the fuck is going on here?” 

“Roman?” Patton asked softly, his voice shaky and a little hoarse.

Everyone froze at the same time, turning to look at the now open door as Roman crossed his arms and scanned the scene: falling first on Logan—who was still unmoving on the floor—and then Patton—who could barely make his figure out through his tears.

“Alright, I’ve decided that whatever this ruckus is, it’s unacceptable. You all better stop before I intervene.” Roman threatened from the doorway, his face unreadable. 

“And what are you going to do about it?” Remus mocked, swinging the bat he was holding menacingly.

“You asked for it, then.” Roman shrugged easily, uncrossing his arms to crack his knuckles. “But remember, I did politely ask you to stop. Since you ever-so-nicely ignored me, you’re gonna get what’s coming to you.”

Remus didn’t get the chance to utter any sort of snarky reply before Roman threw a hefty punch at his face, his whole body following through as Remus went careening for the floor. Whitney and Alex jumped in surprise, looking at Roman and backing away as Remus whistled—impressed—and attempted to push himself back up off the floor.

“Wow! What a right hook!”

Roman scoffed, kicking up into Remus’ stomach as soon as it was off the floor, winding him and hopefully keeping him down for good. “Shut up, would you?”

“Right on.” Remus wheezed, giving him a dizzied thumbs up before collapsing as Roman’s cold gaze turned to find Janus.

Janus, Bailey, and Kylar all let go of Patton at the same time, letting him instantly stumble over to Logan’s motionless form on the floor.

“Are we going to have a problem?” Roman demanded, Janus glancing between him and Patton a few times before smiling curtly.

“No, of course not.” He said breezily, turning to leave. “Lovely to meet you, Roman.”

All six of the boys disappeared in an instant, leaving Patton and Roman alone with Logan’s still unmoving body.

“Virgil, I— we— we need to—!” Patton stumbled out in a panic, Roman hesitating before lightly hugging his roommate to try and ground him.

“He's on his way, Patton. Breathe.” Roman instructed softly, breathing deeply in hopes Patton would follow along. “I texted him as soon as you ran out. It's okay now.”

The wait for Virgil was agonizingly slow, Patton barely leveling his breathing off to a fast hyperventilation as Virgil came sliding in through the doors with his backpack haphazardly slung on.

“Pat!” Virgil ran over, eyes locked onto his friend as Roman kept trying to keep him breathing evenly. “Are you okay?! Roman said you freaked and he followed you here and—!!”

“Logan, he—!!” Patton pushed down a fresh sob to gesture at Logan’s body, before he broke down into frantic tears again.

“Oh. Oh! Shit, okay, hold on.” Virgil awkwardly looked between the two before caving and going over to Logan, opening his backpack and spilling the contents as he lifted Logan's head onto his lap to get a better angle on him. “Let me see if I can get him back online.”

“What happened, Patton?” Roman asked as Patton finally calmed down seeing Virgil help Logan, him nodding a few times and taking in some deep breaths.

“I don’t… I don't remember…” Patton admitted, wiping at his face and trying not to relapse into sobs. “After he grabbed me it's all kinda fuzzy…”

“He?” Virgil stopped in his once over of Logan, narrowed eyes meeting Patton’s.

“The kids, they… they had a bat, and… Logan hit the desk… they kicked him in the head and—!” Patton cut himself off as his tears welled up again, shaking his head hard to try and keep them at bay.

“Oh fuck, they must've hit the panel on the back of his neck.” Virgil tried to keep his outward panic to a minimum, but the other two clearly understood how bad the situation was as he instructed, “Keep him breathing, Ro.”

“I got him, you get Logan.” Roman nodded, rubbing gentle circles into Patton’s back and taking slow, deep breaths for him to follow.

Patton watched Virgil work through bleary eyes, not quite sure what he was doing while working with very fine tools on the back of Logan’s neck, until Logan suddenly powered back on and sat up straight.

“You back with us, Logan?” Virgil asked hopefully, watching the android blink slowly several times before nodding.

“Yes, I am back to full function. Thank you.” Logan said to Virgil, before quickly turning worried eyes to where Patton was slumped against Roman. “Patton! Are you alright?”

“Yeah, Logan. I’m okay.” Patton smiled unconvincingly, Roman, Logan, and Virgil sharing a unconvinced look.

Virgil reached out to grab one of Patton’s shoulders, softly asking, “Are you okay to talk about what happened?” 

“He’s here, Virge.” Is the only answer Patton gave, explaining nothing.

“He?” Virgil prompted gently, but Patton only shook his head and refused to speak further.

“Can I answer?” Logan spoke after a moment, watching Patton nod with earnest eyes. “I believe Patton called him Janus. He said he was—”

“JANUS?! HERE?!” Virgil immediately exploded, Roman jumping as Logan’s eyes widened in surprise. “I'm going to kill that son of a bitch!”

“Virge?” Roman asked, concerned.

“That's… Can I tell them?” Virgil turned to Patton the way Logan had done just moments before, eyes blazing but shoulders mostly relaxed. Patton nodded again after a moment, before lunging forward at Logan—who pulled him into a hug. “He's Patton’s manipulative stalker piece of shit ex, to put it simply.”

“He did have that shifty look about him.” Roman commented, attempting to lighten the heavy mood.

“I think I understand what happened a little better, then.” Frowning, Logan slowly—and awkwardly—snaked his arms around Patton, who buried himself further in his shoulder.

“We can talk more about this later.” Virgil sighed, unclenching his tight fists to pack up his bag. “Let's get you home, Pat.”

“You’re safe now.” Roman smiled warmly, getting to his feet as Virgil did the same. “We’ll handle him, so don't worry.”

“Things are alright now. I am okay.” Logan soothed, letting go of Patton to get to his feet.

Patton got up to shaking legs with a hand from Logan, managing a watery smile at his assembled friends. “...okay.” 

[agirldying]

Tw: rant about being cluster b, ableism, and stupidity

I think people don’t understand certain disorders can make us more prone to acting out abusively. It’s not inherent to the disorder. There is still a correlation. Just because your acting out due to fear of them leaving doesn’t make it any less abusive or impactful for the other person than someone doing the same action -> different motive. The action and words matter when your scaring somebody, it’s abusive, when your saying shitty things it’s abusive, just because you have good intentions you can be abusive. When disorders make you want to possess/control people, raging jealousy, wanting to manipulate esp interpersonally is abusive and as much as we should and can work on it and deserve therapy and do better, to act like we’re all positivity good people a lot of us aren’t esp ASPD. We can be shitty without being abusive. And we can easily be abusive because of our symptoms as well. Stop lying to me because I couldve been in therapy SOONER. Therapists don’t make it better because they’re shitty too. And it’s annoying as fuck the fake positivity I see around “all people with aspd are good people” it’s so fucking stupid these morons aren’t tricking anybody, no Karen, UR making it hard for me to get proper therapy/help because your telling me my homicidal urges/ideations aren’t from my cluster b disorder when in fact THEY ARE. So STFU. coming from a cluster b we’re not usually good people so stop spreading misinformation. Some of the stigma is true. And people have a right to see those red flags and steer clear of me. I don’t blame them. I avoid people like me too. There’s a grey area that both cluster b and neurotypical don’t fucking understand where you don’t have to demonize us but you dont have to sugarcoat shit either. You’re both fucking dumb.

Hi anon,

I agree! I think there's definitely a spectrum - I don't think that people with personality disorders are all necessarily innocent (despite it being a large stigma, it's not impossible), but they're not inherently abusive either. I do understand your point about how certain traits and symptoms of specific personality disorders can make someone more prone to or dispositioned towards abusive behaviors. It doesn't necessarily mean that they will be abusive, but that sometimes these things provide leeway for abusive behaviors to take place. Ultimately, though, I'm someone that believes that, at it's core, abuse is a choice one makes independent of mental illness, because I believe that once you say that a mental illness can cause abusiveness, then it creates certain harmful implications about mental illness. Honestly I'm still working to better understand where the lines are drawn in this discussion, because I know for a lot of people, myself included, it can obviously be very fuzzy.