#we am markus

[the-ghost-king]

Of Tender Death and Perpetual Care

markus zusak, the book thief // tweet by @petfurniture // gustav klimt, mother and child // jk. rowling, harry potter and the deathy hallows // andrew wyeth, perpetual care // ocean vuong, on earth we're briefly gorgeous // oscar wilde, the canterville ghost // henry scott holland, death the king of terrors // markus zusak, the book thief // hugo simberg, the garden of death // markus zusak, the book thief

[distraughtlesbian]

literally the best part of this whole stupid book iwlove weird obsessed horndogs thee villain archetype of all time. he’s so silly. “we could’ve had a life together”, he says to his lesbian ex-neighbour who he’s just shot with a crossbow bolt meanwhile her girlfriend who he’s also just shot is half dead across the room. god i love it here he said me and the bad bitch im going to fumble

[pankaa3226]

Hey, the dbh fandom can very much plan a welcome back party at this point, because I'm here yet again. *clap clap*

I still have the least idea of how this happened though.

[citypoprevival]

kitten is my favorite h:tp character, closely followed by Boy, but markus Definitely speaks to me as an adhd person with a now sober / in recovery parent. like, yeah. i ALSO don't want my brain to be doing what it's doing, my adhd affects me and my life and everyone in it and my relationships. yes i need you to spell things out for me.

idk. big d is Fun, but as someone who had to put their drunk mother (who had driven home drunk from the bar) to bed more times than i can count as both a teenager and a young adult, markus holds a special place in my heart because it does really feel like you and your parents are speaking different languages, and there's that feeling of anger, of resentment- "another poorly justified thing that we have to take care of".

[to-be-frank-i-dont-care]

to the reviewer on Amazon who gave The Book Thief a 1-star review and said they threw it in the fire for kindling after just a few pages because it was so awful

[flame2ashes]

I honestly thought the Virmire choice was going to be easy for Markus but at the same time, it probably isn’t :C

Markus sees Kaidan as a skilled soldier and someone he can rely on in the battlefield; Markus relates to Ashley in that she also comes from a long line of Alliance veterans (though the difference is that Ashley loves her family, Markus has.....a complicated relationship with his) and so he feels more comfortable talking to her about stuff

I think it would be very ironic if Markus “Butcher of Torfan” Shepard ends up using the Virmire Saviour mod, ngl

[bigification]

American Tourist

I sit near the start of the hike, waiting for my tour guide. It takes a while, but finally an older man comes out of a small hut and greets me.

"Hello, are you Markus?" The man asks.

"Yes, I'm here for the tour." I reply, getting up to shake his hand.

"Well let's get started." He says as he leads to the head of the trail.

The tour starts fairly normal. The man just points out small things along the trail like plants and wildlife. But he started to sprinkle in some small talk as well.

"It is not often we have Americans come on this tour." The man says.

The comment confuses me, as I'm from London and have a very obviously non American accent.

"Oh I'm from London, not America." I correct him.

"I must be confused, the big men like you tend to be from America." He replies.

I take it as a compliment, that he's calling me strong, but it still strikes me as odd.

"It must be cold back in America, for you to be wearing shorts and a button up in this weather." The man continues.

Again with the 'America' stuff, I don't know why he keeps insisting on this. Also I'm wearing a t shirt and jeans, I don't know why he said that. But I'm shocked when I look down and see that in wearing khaki shorts and a blue button up. I could have sworn I was wearing jeans, but I guess I was wrong.

"Ya, it is..." I just lead the man along, hoping he'll let it go.

"I hope you brought some sunscreen. Americans with light complexion like you tend to burn easily." He continues.

I don't know what he's on about this time, I literally have darker skin than him. And it's definitely not sunny enough today to burn me. I look down at my arms to see if I'm burnt, maybe that's why he made the comment. Though when I look down, I see white skin. What!? My arms, my legs, they're white. I pull out my phone and look at myself in the camera, my face is white and my hair has become straight. I should be more shocked, but the more I think about the more comfortable I am. This is how I've always looked, right?

"I'm shocked you're keeping up this well." The tour guide continues.

"What do you mean?" I ask, nearly out of breath. He just complimented how big I was, and now he's questioning my athleticism.

"Well Americans like you tend to think they can do a trail like this, but then have to stop half way through." He says as he slaps my stomach.

What does he mean by Americans like me? And why did he slap my stomach? I look down and see my previously flat stomach grow rounder and rounder. My button up stretches further and further as my stomach grows into a soft beer belly. My solid pecs also soften into a pair of moobs. I even feel my shorts tighten around my ass. I try to rearrange my dick to make my bulge less noticeable, but these shorts are way too small.

"Don't you worry my friend, I did football in college. Don't let this tank fool ya, I'm sure I can keep up just fine." I reply in a thick southern accent, still out of breath. I start to unbutton my shirt, hoping to beat the heat.

"I still don't know how you Americans can grow so much hair, it's like a forest in there." The man questions, pointing at my chest.

I look down at the thick pelt of hair covering my chest as I scratch my thick beard.

"Us American men, we've got plenty of testosterone. Makes us the men we are." I reply in a surprisingly deep voice.

"Look, we've made it to the top. You should be glad, not many people your age make it all the way up." The man congratulates me.

I don't know what he means by that comment, but I'm not that old. Besides I barely broke a sweat, I'm an athlete after all.

[starryeyedstray]

my thoughts on dbh as someone entering the fandom in 2024

so just got into the dbh fandom like in aug 2024. i have watched too much gameplay, read the wiki extensively, read an obscene amount of fanfics on ao3, and am in the process of writing my own. here are some of my thoughts (that no one has asked for):

every fanfic writer who started in 2018 and is still updating their works in 2024 are literal saints and some of the best damn writers i ever did saw and the dedication is fucking unreal. one fic had almost 2 million words??????? like BRUH. some are still ongoing and updated this year?? the dbh fandom in ao3 is not thriving as much as it was in 2018 (i say this purely as someone who's looking at the hits/kudos/comment ratios on older v. new works) but they are still alive!!!!

i am puzzled with the obsession with gavin reed. there are like a million fics that feature him and rk900. i am confused bc he did not seem like a redeeming character at all in my opinion and idk, i think he's just an asshole. i like the redemption arcs some ppl write for him but i just can't with him. i mean you ship who you wanna ship but i am not a reed fan and i am confused how he became so popular when all he did was bully our poor boi connor.

i personally don't ship hank x connor bc they give strong father-son vibes in the canon. however, i am obsessed with how jolli_bean writes the pairing on ao3 since its usually a canon divergence or an AU so the pair meet later in life. there are some fics that follow the canon and do a pretty good job with the pairing, but i just tend to keep it familial between them in my head. (but like i said, ship who you want to ship)

i am glad there's a vague consensus that we all wished alice stayed a human bc i feel like that lends itself to a more interesting narrative post-game. tho i guess her being an android is fine bc now kara, luthor, and alice can live as one happy family in canada forvever lol

i am literally obsessed with bryan dechart's acting as connor. like if you haven't seen him play connor in real life for the interactive #detroit2038 premiere event, then you gotta watch some of the live stream. like he doesn't break character the whole time and his physicality just screams connor and i just really appreciate how much effort he put in as an actor to really embody the character. just so impressive and i wish there was more bts of him acting as connor bc its just so nuanced and ugh *chef's kiss* if they ever made a live action dbh it would be impossible for anyone else to play connor

i love the 28 stab wounds meme. when i watched that scene for the first time it was so jarring lmao

i also love how everyone is like yes, we all know connor likes dogs but he also likes fish bc of that one fish you can save in the very first minute of gameplay hahahah. (his name is dewey and it is vitally important you save him). i also appreciate how the "i like dogs" line will undoubtedly find it's way into every fic possible lol

i think the love for simon is very good and well and amazing but i think josh deserves more love in fics too

it bothers me that when north tells markus "i love you" at the church, MARKUS DOESN'T SAY IT BACK??? LIKE BITCH SAY YOU LOVE HER BACK DAMMIT DON'T JUST WALK AWAY

i love how the fandom just latched onto rk900 and rk800-60 and fleshed out their personalities and i love reading ppl's interpretation of these characters and how they incorporate them into their stories. it's funny they only show up like one time and ppl just ran with it and it's so fun and creative and i love it.

i love the hc that chloe deviated when connor chose not to shoot her. that's the best hc. like it's canon in my heart idc

bless all the fic writers who have mastered the art of explaining how androids mind and bodies work bc there are so many gaps and possibilities left open in the lore and it's incredible to see what ppl come up with or interpret based off the canon. (i still feel 50/50 about when they make deviants feel pain cause like androids not feeling pain is such a big part of the canon and yeah i'll give it a pass if the fic does it for the whumps and the angst but i prefer when a fic finds a canon-compliant reason for deviants to feel pain, even if its just like they got a chip or software installed that makes them feel pain or something)

every pairing that i find in this fandom, i tend to be like... "yeah i can see that." (with the exception of hank x connor for reasons i stated in #3). i'm still like ehhh on reed900 or even gavin x connor bc i just don't think it makes sense in the canon but if it's written well i just shrug and say yeah i guess i could see that. some rarepairs i ended up absolutely adoring were chloe x north and rk900 x north (i realize they're both north but she has such good potential for character dynamics)

idk if it's just me bc i specifically look for fics centered around connor, but i feel like there's not a lot of love for kara at least fic-wise. ig it's cause she kinda just leaves so it's easy to not include her. tbh, i am quite well-versed in markus' and connor's stories but i haven't really explored a lot of kara's. i plan on playing dbh with my partner when i see them again in a couple months and i wanted us to take turn playing different characters and i wanted to play kara's storyline so i've been avoiding it for the most part so i can be surprised with my options. plus, in my wip fic, kara is in canada so she's not really relevant to my story which is why i have in depth knowledge about markus and connor and less on kara.

the music in this game fucking SLAPS. 10/10 kara's theme makes me wanna cry.

okay, there is a common trope in the dbh fanfics where connor loses his memory and that shit gets me everytime. i'm always bawling and anxiously waiting for him to fucking REMEMBER and i hate and love it and eat it up every. single. time. usually, the memory loss happens early in the fic and it's pretty expected but sometimes i get blindsided and i'm like FUCK not this shit again but i can't stop reading it and the angst is so palpable.

i think it's so interesting how ra9 is just like this mystery in the lore that never gets entirely explained in the game. it's like something you can totally kinda ignore but it does have interesting lore implications if you decide to really think about it.

i adore all the characters in dbh equally except for connor who is the certified best boi and my absolute favorite (no one is shocked by this declaration). and the characters on my shit list are zlatko, todd, and sometimes reed.

this is an obnoxiously long post and i apologies. i haven't been on tumblr in years and i just had so many thoughts about dbh and i have no friends to talk to so i decided to dump it all here. i still have more thoughts but those are the ones that come to the forefront of my mind.

tldr: i love dbh and its fandom and i have many specific thoughts about it and you should just really read my post if you care about any of it

[thisisnotthenerd]

active stat tracking for never stop blowing up: episode 7

systems of die types in spreadsheets, oh my

another incredible episode folks. we saw all of their new group abilities come into play, had some fantastic character progression, and some truly absurd scenes. quick note: ally said they only had 2d20, but by my count they have 3, so there may be some discrepancies. as always i am one person, watching and trying to catch as many rolls as i can.

everyone is up to a d20, so the final ability, dark night of the soul, will be unlocked. can't wait to see what that is. on that note, we saw some crazy progression this episode, notably, jennifer drips going from a d4 in stunts to a d20 in a single progression, and benefiting from the double explosion twice to end up with 24 tokens. absolutely crazy.

at this point average progressions are out the window, given that they're working their way up so quickly. everyone still has at least 1d4. jennifer, g13, and greg all have multiple d20s. we're at the 70% mark and things are looking crazy, people. everyone progressed at least one skill, with vic only getting 1 (d12 in hot), and jennifer getting 4 (d20 in stunts, d20 in brawl, d12 in tough, d20 in wits)

we saw two impossible dc skill checks: dang farting people into unconsciousness, and liv crushing usha back into g13's body. insane asks turning into insane moments. this season is a distillation of ostentatia's divine intervention, markus' fog of war, kristen's ribbon dancing, daisy shitting out a window, conrad's appeal to spirit, and jacob wysocki, all chucked into a centrifuge and then distributed into every single moment.

we've now gotten our final interface, with jennifer and russell, and russell finally understanding feminine rage.

no big mechanical changes, save mentions of the wildcard strength, which rekha is allowed to use once in the season. i don't know what it will do, and i'm afraid to ask.

also, we got confirmation that the system combines kids on bikes and murph's increasing dice game, with tokens to make it a little more reliable.

paula donvalson / jack manhattan

abilities: duelist, relentless, studied (brawl), quick healing, protector

stunts: d8

brawl: d4

tough: d10

tech: d4

weapons: d20

drive: d8

sneak: d6

wits: d10

hot: d8

liv skyler / kingskin

abilities: wealthy, trouble maker, demolitions, quick healing

stunts: d6

brawl: d20

tough: d12

tech: d10

weapons: d8

drive: d10

sneak: d4

wits: d10

hot: d10

andy 'dang' litefoot / greg stocks

abilities: trained (brawl), mastery (weapons), smokin', quick healing

stunts: d12

brawl: d0

tough: d20

tech: d8

weapons: d6

drive: d12

sneak: d4

wits: d8

hot: d20

wendell morris / vic ethanol

abilities: transporter, protector, trouble maker, quick healing, resilient

stunts: d10

brawl: d12

tough: d12

tech: d6

weapons: d6

drive: d20

sneak: d4

wits: d6

hot: d12

russell feeld / jennifer drips

abilities: trained (hot), neck snapper, quick healing, inspiring

stunts: d20

brawl: d20

tough: d12

tech: d4

weapons: d6

drive: d4

sneak: d12

wits: d20

hot: d8

usha rao / g13

abilities: wildcard, hacker, stealth, quick healing

stunts: d20

brawl: d4

tough: d10

tech: d20

weapons: d4

drive: d20

sneak: d6

wits: d20

hot: d6

group abilities:

la familia (stepping in for a tough roll, lending tokens at a 1:1, sharing skill dice for optimization)

diesel circus (doubling number of tokens on a double explosion, roll 2x on first roll after injury, successful drive check allows a second skill check on top)

alpha squad (gaining 2 tokens when the group suits up, reduce explosion range by 1, two characters roll and add the result)

the ones (reroll a nat one with a different skill, take a nat one as a max roll and blow up, accept a nat one and get 1/2 the tokens of the die value)

[nelyastudies]

intro post since i've gained many new friends 😊🌻

name : nell (as in, eleanor from hill house or nelyafinwë from the tolkien books). you can call me by my older nickname too

age/gender: mid-20s / girl i think

currently studying: medicine, in clerkship

hobbies: reading, singing, listening to music, cycling, swimming

this blog serves as a logbook, mini journal, and to do list for me. sometimes i will put some hobbies stuff on the dash (listed under the cut). i hope in this community we can support each other and win our goals together 🥰

🌼 biarkan ilmu memuliakanmu 🌼

beloved media of mineee

books: we have always lived in the castle, shirley jackson. the silmarillion and the lord of the rings, jrr tolkien. rebecca, daphne du maurier. giovanni's room, james baldwin. a thousand splendid suns, khaled hosseini. i am the messenger, markus zusak. picture of dorian gray, oscar wilde

movies: everything everyone all at once, gampang cuan, lord of the rings, nagabonar, crimson peak

musicians: onew🌻, aespa, jonghyun, taemin, dua lipa, the weeknd, lucky daye, kaytranada, chrisye🌻, KLa project, franky&jane, gita gutawa🌻, dato' siti nurhaliza, janet jackson, shinee, florence and the machine🌻, hozier, marina, red velvet, gg, f(x)

musicals: elisabeth das musical, rebecca das musical, der besuch der alten dame, next to normal, mozart l'opera rock

scents: matcha latte, mykonos. forbidden garden, layr perfumery

[elianamarie-blog]

The Things You Give Pt. 34

We're almost to the end!! I'm so excited to share this chapter with you and all I've got to say is...muahahahaha!

I also want to apologize for the lack of posting on here. I've lost motivation these last year. We've gone through a lot personally but I really want to finish this and boy and boy am I glad I did! The motivation came back today as I put on That 70's Show and it feels soooo good! I'm probably going to let out a few more chapters at most because this story has gotten a lot longer than it was supposed to. But I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think <3

Y/n was panting and struggling to breathe properly as the contractions came on.

“Oh, my God. What should we do?” Jackie asked, almost panicking.

“We need to get her to the hospital!” Markus cried out and turned towards the stairs, suspecting that’s where Kitty or Red may be. “Mr. and Mrs. Forman?! We could really use your help!” A beat passed and he turned to his girlfriend. “Go find one of them. Now. And tell them Y/n is in labor.”

Jackie nodded and ran into the kitchen, calling for Kitty and Red.

Markus whipped back to Y/n who was struggling to breathe from the pain. “Y/n, breathe. It’s going to be okay.”

“I…want…Steven!” Y/n panted as she could barley form words.

“Here, hold on to my han—AAHHH!” Markus screamed as Y/n crushed his hand with hers. “Thank God we’re going to the hospital, right?” He chuckled through the pain. “Jackie! Where are you?!”

“Here!” she called, walking out from the kitchen with Kitty in tow.

“Y/n, honey, what’s going on?” Kitty asked, concerned.

“Her water broke and the contractions are already starting,” Markus explained as calmly as he could.

“Oh, my God, the babies are coming—Red!” Kitty called excitedly. “It’s time!”

“What?” Red asked as he stomped down the stairs, annoyed. “What are you yelling—Y/n, are you okay?”

“Red, she’s in labor!” Kitty explained. “Everyone, get in the car!”

“I’ll stay here and call Steven,” Jackie offered.

“Number to the venue is on the—” Y/n was cut off as another contraction hit her. “Counter,” she strained.

“No, no, no you’re not staying here with your boyfriend,” Red said. “I barley trust you kids in my house when my kids are home; I definitely don’t trust you by yourselves.”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Forman. I’m not staying. I’m going to go to the venue and see if I can catch them,” Markus said.

“How do I know you’re not just saying that?” Red asked, skeptically.

At that moment, Y/n led out a frustrated and pained scream. “Can we finish this conversation later?!”

“She’s right. Let’s go, Red,” Kitty said, grabbing Y/n’s arm and gently guided her out the door.

“I’ll go call Steven. Markus, go to the venue,” Jackie ordered.

“Aye, aye, Captain Hottie,” he smirked before grabbing his keys and walked out.

                                                        ---

“Okay, Y/n breathe,” Kitty instructed as Red drove like a madman to the hospital.

Y/n was doing deep breaths to try and steady the pain. “This is a big one!”

“I know, but you can do it!” Kitty encouraged.

“Is Steven going to make it?” she asked through breaths.

“Oh, I’m sure he is,” Kitty assured. “Jackie is on it. Remember what she did at the wedding?”

Y/n nodded as the pain finally started to subside. “Yeah, she was awesome.” A beat passed before she spoke up again. “Don’t tell her I said that.” Pulsating pain came on as her stomach felt rock hard. “Here comes another one.”

“We’re almost there, honey,” Kitty said, rubbing her shoulder. “Red, step on it!”

                                               Meanwhile…

Loud rock music filled the air at the venue as the group jammed out from the crowd.

“This is the greatest day of my life!” Kelso shouted at his friends.

“Agreed!” Donna replied as Immigrant Song started.

“Hell yeah!” Eric whooped as he lit up a lighter.  

“Play that funky music white boys!” Fez shouted excitedly.

Everyone was having the greatest time, except for Hyde. He would occasionally whoop and holler, but the thought of Y/n being home while he was out having fun didn't sit right with him. It wasn’t until the song ended and the band moved onto the next that he nudged Fez, getting his attention.

“Hey, man, I’ll be right back.”

“Sure!” Fez said, barley paying attention.

Hyde rolled his eyes at his friend before leaving the arena and walking to the recession stand.

“Hi, how can I help you?” the young blonde woman asked as he approached her.

“Can I use your phone?”

“Absolutely,” she chirped and brought the phone out from beside the register. “Just dial 9 first.”

“Thanks,” he muttered and dialed the house number. It rang three times before someone picked up.

“Hello? Steven?”

“Jackie?” Hyde asked, scrunching his face. “What’re you doing at the house? Where’s Y/n?”

“Markus and I came over to be with Y/n to keep her company while you guys were gone,” she explained.

“Oh. Well, where is she? I want to talk to her.”

“Yeah…sorry, you can’t.”

“What? Why?”

“Because she isn’t here,” she replied.

Steven sighed, starting to feel irritated. “Where is she then?”

“At the hospital.”

“What?!” he almost yelled. “Why didn’t you lead with that? Is she in labor?!”

“Yes, she’s on the way. I stayed behind in case you called. If you leave now you might be able to meet her there.”

The phone almost slipped out his hand. “Oh, my God…”

“Steven…are you okay?”

“I’m on my way. Tell her to try to not have the babies until I get there!” He hung up the phone before she could answer and ran back into the arena where his friends were.

“Hey, man, where’d you go?” Eric asked while keeping his eye on the band.

“Y/n’s in labor!” Steven shouted.

Eric snapped his head towards his friend with wide eyes. “WHAT?!”

“Yeah, man, we gotta go!”

“Yeah, okay,” Eric said, nodding frantically and turned to Donna. “We gotta go!”

“What? Why?” she asked, smiling and hooting.

“Because Y/n is in labor!”

Her smile quickly disappeared as her attention snapped from the band to her boyfriend and friend. “WHAT?!”

“We’ve gotta go! She’s on her way to the hospital right now!” Hyde said.

“Right, okay,” Donna said, almost in a panic and turned to the boys. “Guys, Y/n’s in labor!”

“What?” Kelso shouted back. “Y/n’s the neighbor?”

“No, you dunce! Y/n’s in labor!” she repeated.

“Y/n’s the greater?” Kelso asked, even more confused. “Speak English, Donna, you’re not making any sense.”

“Y/N IS IN LABOR, YOU FOOL!” Fez screamed.

“Oh, my God!” Kelso shouted.

“Yeah, so we need to go,” Donna responded and grabbed him by the elbow.

“Wait, we’re all gonna go?” he questioned and dug his heels into the ground. “What about the concert?”

“Forget the concert, man, my wife is in labor!”

“Why? She’s not my wife,” Kelso argued.

Hyde’s jaw clenched and his fists balled up, dying to hit Kelso. “You know what? I don’t have time for this. If you want to stay, fine, but I’m leaving your ass here and you can find a ride home.”

Kelso laughed. “You’re not going to do that.”

“You wanna bet?”

“But they’re in the middle of a song!” he whined.

“You wanna walk home?” Hyde threatened.

Kelso groaned before stomping his foot. “Fine!”

                                                        ∞∞∞

“Alright, Mrs. Hyde,” Dr. Lee said, pulling back the privacy curtain as Y/n laid in the hospital bed. “You’re dilated two centimeters. Now this is your first childbirth so you could be here a while. We’ll keep monitoring you.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Y/n said. “Can I have something to drink?”

“Just ice chips,” the doctor said with a sympathetic smile.

“Okay,” she sighed, disappointed.

“I’ll be back in a little while to check on you,” she said and exited the room.

“Well, this could take a while,” Kitty said and started fluffing Y/n’s pillow. “Did you want some ice chips?”

“That would be nice,” Y/n responded. “Thank you.”

“Of course. Red stay here with her while I go get her ice chips.”

“Where else am I gonna go?” Red asked with a shrug of his shoulders. Once Kitty left the room, it was silent.

“So,” Red said, breaking the silence and sighed awkwardly. “Do the contractions really hurt as much as they say?”

Y/n stared up at her father with a confused and bewildered look. “I don’t know. Have someone kick your boys multiple times and harder each time and then come back and tell me.”

Red couldn’t help but chuckle. After another minute of silence, Y/n spoke up.

“Dad?”

“Mhm?”

“Were you scared when Mom went into labor?”

A small smile graced his lips and he nodded. “Yeah, I was. But let me tell you the moment I held you and your brother in my arms, that fear melted away.”

“So, the minute I hold my children, my fears are going to melt away forever?”

“Oh, hell no,” Red chuckled, shaking his head. “The fear never goes away. Everyday a new fear will strike in you and you’re going to have to find some way to battle that one among the others. It’s a never ending cycle.”

“Oh my God…how do you sleep at night?”

“I just close my eyes,” he quips and rocks on his heels. “But your mother…not so much. She worries for you guys constantly.”

Y/n looked down at her hands. “I didn’t know that.”

“Of course you didn’t. The last thing she wants is to make you guys worry because all she wants is for you to worry about yourselves.”

“But that’s not how that works,” she argued. “We’re a family we do that for each other.”

“Not in a parent’s eyes,” he responded cooly and started heading out the door. “I’m going to call your idiot brother and see if he’s at the house.”

Y/n nodded at him as he walked out the door. As soon as the door clicked shut, another contraction shot through her, catching her breath in her throat. She breathed through the pain, and what felt like minutes but only seconds, it subsided as soon as Kitty walked back through the door.

“Here you go, dear,” Kitty said.

“Thanks, Mom,” Y/n replied breathlessly as her head fell back against the pillow.

                                                --Meanwhile--

“Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, COME ON!” Hyde shouted as he dodged traffic and weaved through traffic like a madman.

“Hyde, slow down!” Eric tried to hide his panic as he white knuckled the door handle and middle console. “I know we’re going to the hospital anyway, but let’s try to get there alive!”

“Have you guys ever noticed people in this town drive so damn SLOW?!” He honked his horn impatiently. “Move over, Grandma!”

“Hyde, please, I don’t want to die,” Fez whined from the back as he clutched the back door and Kelso’s arm.

“Shut up, Fez,” Hyde snapped as he desperately hit the gas more. “DAMN IT!” he shouted when he hit a red light.

“Hyde, man, it’s alright. You’re going to make it in time,” Eric said, trying to calm him down.

“No, Forman, it’s not going to be alright if I’m not there!” he raised his voice and punched the gas as soon as the light turned green.

“Don’t worry, you’re going to make it,” Donna said.

“No, you guys don’t get it,” Hyde replied, forcing himself to stay calm. “My dad wasn’t there when I was born and I’ll be damned if I do the same to my kids.”

“You’re not your dad, man…” Kelso said quietly.

“You’re right I’m not,” Hyde responded, staring intently at the road. “I’m going to be better.”

“And you are, but you need to—RED LIGHT!” Eric shouted as Hyde sped through.

“Relax, it’s not like we hit anybody,” Hyde said, hard gaze on the road.

“Um, Hyde?” Fez piped up, looking out the back window nervously.

“You’re going to kill us!” Eric screeched.

“No, I’m not!”

“Hyde?” Fez said again, this time a little louder.

“It’s going to be no use if we don’t make it alive!” Eric shouted.

“Will you lay off?!” Hyde shouted back, white knuckling the steering wheel. “We’re going to be fine.”

“HYDE!” Fez shouted sharply.

“What?!” Hyde snapped.

“Um…” he responded by pointing out the back window.

Hyde followed his line of sight and saw blue and red flashing behind them. “Crap.”

                                                --Time Skip—

Y/n was doing deep breathing exercises as another contraction waved through her. At this point, sweat had formed on her hairline while her hair had been pulled back into a messy ponytail by Kitty.  

The pain radiated through her back down to her legs as she felt like daggers were racing through her bloodstream.

“Just keep breathing, honey, you’re doing great!” Kitty encouraged as Y/n struggled to keep breathing. She held her daughter’s hand as Y/n squeezed it through the pain.

“It...hurts…!” she whined as she breathed through the pain.

“I know, honey, but it’s going to be so worth it when you get to hold your babies for the first time,” Kitty cooed.

Finally, the contraction ended and Y/n laid her head back in exhaustion, panting. “Has anyone heard from Steven?”

“When I called the house, your little loud friend answered and said she had spoken to him and he was on the way,” Red answered and checked his watch. “But then again, that was almost two and half hours ago.”

“The concert was only forty-five minutes away,” Y/n pointed out. “An hour and a half at most with traffic.” She was silent for a moment, fighting back tears. “I knew he cared more about the stupid concert than me.”

“Oh, honey, you know that’s not true,” Kitty said, rubbing her daughter’s covered leg in comfort.

“No, it is, otherwise he would be here!” she wailed, tears running down her face. “I’m about to push two babies out of me and he’s not here! I’ve never been in so much pain in my entire life and I just want my husband!”

“I know, sweetie, I know, but he’ll be here,” Kitty reassured and walked over to her husband. “Can I talk to you outside?”

“About what?” he asked.

“Just get outside,” she responded and pushed him out. After she shut the door, she turned back to him. “You need to find him.”

“Why? I’m sure he’s on the way,” Red said casually and walked over to the nearest coffee station.

“The last time a big event happened, Steven almost didn’t make it!” she said harshly. “He was in jail, Red, jail!”

“What do you want me to do about it?”

“Go back to the house and find him!”

“Kitty, if he’s not here, he’s not going to be at the house,” he pointed out, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“What if he stopped by the house?”

“Now, why would he do that?”

“I don’t know, why did the boy go to a concert when he knows his wife’s about to pop? We’ll never know why the kids do what they do, but what I know for sure is that something is wrong!”

“Oh, Kitty, come on!” Red whined. “I’m sure Steven is fine. He’s probably stuck in traffic or something.”

                                       --Scene Transition—

“Officer, I’m telling you, I’m not drunk!” Hyde yelled.

The scene in front of him would’ve been quite comedic if he hadn’t been the one in the position. He was leaned forward on the hood with his hands splayed out and legs spread as he was being searched.

“With the way you were driving, I beg to differ,” the officer replied as he carefully searched Hyde.

“The breathalyzer said I wasn’t!” he argued. “Why are you still searching me? I need to get to the hospital! My wife is in labor!”

“Yeah, I haven’t heard that one before,” the cop scoffed as he stood.

“Man, I’m serious! If you follow me, I’ll show you I’m telling the truth!”

“I’m not falling for that one again.”

“What? No, man, I’m serious!”

“You know everything you say can and will be held against you in the court of law,” the officer said.

“Okay, well then get this on record: I. NEED. TO. GET. TO. MY. WIFE. She is in labor and I really need to be there!”

“Shut up or else I will arrest you.”

Steven sighed, frustrated. “For God’s sake.”

While this was happening, the rest of the crew sat silently and rigid in the car. They felt with one wrong move, they would be arrested.

“Do you think he’s going to be let go?” Fez asked.

“If he shuts up and lets the man do his job, the maybe,” Kelso said.

“Hey, wait, you used to be a cop,” Eric pointed out. “Can’t you do something?”

“I doubt it,” Kelso responded, not taking his eyes off the cop. “As long as Hyde shuts up, he should be fine.”

“I hope you’re right. It would be awful if he missed the birth of his children like how he almost his own wedding,” Donna said, staring at Hyde as he stood still as a statue.

“Yeah, that would be,” Kelso mumbled.

Meanwhile outside, Hyde was ready to jump out of skin as he waited for the cop to finish up the report. The cop purposely was taking his time which made Hyde want to twist his neck even more.

“Can I go now?” he asked.

“I need to still check the car.”

“You checked it twice!”

“Once more never killed anybody.”

“Come on!” Hyde shouted as he watched the cop reach into the glove compartment to grab some gloves. “I’ve done everything you asked and you’re still going to hold me here? What more do you want?”

“I just love watching people like you squirm,” the cop said smugly as he snapped on the latex gloves.

“People like me? Man, I’m telling the truth!” Hyde shouted. “I’m not drunk and I’m not high! There’s nothing in my car! I don’t know what the hell you’re looking for, but you’re not going to find it!”

The cop smirked. “We’ll see about that.”

A car rumbled by across the street before it stopped and parked. Steven eyed the cop as he watched him kick his friends out and search the car again.

“Steven?!”

Hyde’s head snapped to the sound of his name and watched as Red crossed the street towards him.

“Red?” Hyde called out. “What’re you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here?!” Red asked, now feeling frustrated. “Do you know Kitty made me leave the hospital to drive back home to find you, only to find out that you’ve been pulled over the side of the road?!” He stood directly in front of Steven as he also watched the cop search the car. “Why were you pulled over this time?”

“Speeding.”

“And he’s searching the car because...?”

“He’s sure I’m under the influence of drugs or alcohol.”

Red pinched his eyebrows together and looked at Steven. “Were you breathalyzed?”

“Yes.”

“And searched?”

“Three times.”

“You don’t got that dope on you, do you?”

Steven rubbed his forehead, trying to control his irritation. “No.”

“Then why are you still here?!”

“That’s a good question. Ask the man in blue.”

Without hesitation, Red darted towards the police officer. “Hey, buddy! What the hell are you doing?!”

“Sir, I’m going to need you to back up while I conduct my search—”

“To hell with your damn search!” Red yelled. “You found nothing, now let him go! His wife, my daughter, is at the hospital about to give birth!”

“Oh, now he’s got you covering him?” the cops asked smugly. “I’m not buying it and this can be held against you—”

“Do I need to call Chief Calvin?” Red interrupted with fire in his eyes. “Do I need to tell him that you are looking to book my son-in-law?”

“How do you know—?”

“I’ve got

“You can if you want,” the cop said. “I’m just doing my job.”

“No, you’re not. You’re being a prick who is on a power trip. I’ll tell you what, you give him the speeding ticket and I won’t report your ass to the chief for trying to find false evidence.”

An annoyed, angry look crossed over the officer’s face before he snapped off his gloves. “Fine.”

“Thank you, officer,” Red said sickly sweet.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he mumbled as he walked back to the cop car.

Once the officer was out of earshot, Hyde turned to Red. “You really know that Chief like that?”

“Please,” he scoffed. “I had you and my son to deal with. You didn’t think I wasn’t going to get to be on a first name basis with the P.D?”

                                             --Meanwhile—

“WHERE. IS. HE?!” Y/n screamed through contractions.

“I don’t know, sweetie. Your dad is out looking for him,” Kitty responded, wiping away sweat off her daughter’s forehead.

This caused Y/n to scream out more in frustration than in pain when another contraction hit. “SON OF A BITCH!”

A knock on the door barley made their attention when Dr. Lee popped in. “How are we doing?”

“I need drugs!” Y/n screamed.

“Let me see how dilated you are,” Dr. Lee responded and popped on some gloves. After she felt around, she came up from between Y/n’s legs and sighed contently. “4 centimeters—looks like you’re dilated enough.”

“Oh, thank God,” Y/n sighed and leaned her head back.

“You know, you do qualify for this new drug we have. It’s called an epidural anesthesia. It’s going to numb you from the waist down and you won’t be able to feel anything.”

“Do it.”

“You don’t want to hear the possible side--"

"Damn it, woman, do it!" Y/n cried out in discomfort. “It feels like these kids are going to rip me in half!”

Dr. Lee chuckled before nodding. “I’ll be right back with the anesthesiologist.”

“Wow, fancy,” Kitty said, impressed. “When I gave birth to all three of you, I didn’t get that special treatment.”

“Times have changed, Mom,” Y/n responded dully.

“Excuse me, miss grumpy pants,” Kitty sassed as she situated herself in the chair next to the bed.

“Sorry,” Y/n mumbled and stared at the ceiling in silence.

“He’ll make it,” Kitty said after a minute.

“I appreciate the sentiment, but I don’t know right now. He was arrested and almost didn’t make it to our wedding, so I’m not sure if he’ll make it here on time to witness the birth of his children.”

“Oh, Dear, that’s just the hormones talking. I know Steven is just anxious to be here.”

                                          --Meanwhile—

“For the love of GOD, people, move your asses!” Hyde yelled at the traffic ahead of him. “Why is it even this crowded? Where are all these people coming from?!”

“Um, probably from the concert,” Donna piped up.

“The whole town went to the concert?!”

“I mean, we’re not the only ones who listen to them, but whatever,” Eric mumbled.

Hyde ignored them as another growl bubbled up from his throat as traffic began to slow down again. “Friggin’ slow asses, move!” He honked his horn and swerved in the other lane to pass someone.

“That was a student driver,” Eric said.

“Yeah, and I felt the same way when I passed that old lady earlier—nothing,” Hyde retorted as he got off the highway. “Doesn’t matter anyway, we’re almost there.”

“Pretty sure at this rate we’ll be there in five minutes instead of twenty,” Fez said nervously, gripping the door handle with white knuckles.

“Yeah, I think I felt safer when we were pulled over,” Kelso said and quickly averted Hyde’s icy glare through the rearview mirror. “I’ll shut up now.”

“Good plan,” Hyde responded. “Now, hang onto your asses. This is going to be a fast ride.”

                                           --At the hospital—

“Hey, Mom, look,” Y/n said, calm and happy and pointed at the machine that was monitoring her contractions. “I’m having a contraction. Who knew?”

“Are you feeling better now that you got the epidural?” Kitty asked, relieved to see her daughter out of pain.

Y/n giggled. “It’s almost like—childbirth, who? Pushing out two babies, say what?”

Kitty smiled. “Glad to hear it, dear.”

“Alright, Mrs. Hyde, after checking your dilation, it looks like you’re now at eight centimeters,” Dr. Lee informed.

“Whoa, man, I’m so numb I didn’t even feel you down there,” Y/n chuckled.

“Y/n, honey, did you hear the doctor?” Kitty asked, grabbing her daughter’s hand. “You’re eight centimeters. There’s only two centimeters left until you need to start pushing.”

Y/n’s eyes bugged out at the sudden realization. “What?! But-but Steven isn’t here yet!”

“Unfortunately, that doesn’t matter to babies coming out of a womb,” Kitty explained gently.

“No, no, no they have to stay in there until he’s here!” Y/n panicked. “Damn it, I knew he shouldn’t have gone!”

 Dr. Lee took this as her cue to leave. “I’ll be back later to check on you.”

After Dr. Lee left, Y/n turned to Kitty with tears in her eyes. “Mom, I can’t do this alone.”

“Oh, honey, you’re not going to be alone. I’ll be here.”

“You promise?”

Kitty smoothed down her daughter’s sweaty, matted hair. “Of course. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She wrapped her arms around her mother as she felt an ounce of comfort. When she pulled away, she looked her in the eyes. “Just…don’t look at me. You know, down there.”

“Honey, I’m a nurse. I see this on a daily basis!” Kitty laughed. “And not to mention you, too, came out of me!”

“Ugh, God, MOM!”

                                                  Now…

“Finally! Land!” Eric bellowed as he stumbled out of the now parked car with wobbly legs. “Thank you, God, we’re alive!” He clutched his chest, breathing heavily, and looked up at the sky. “God, I know you and I don’t talk a lot, but thank you for not killing us.”

“Forman, get off the ground,” Hyde ordered. “You’re embarrassing me.”

“I’m just…so happy,” Eric whined, but kept his hand on his chest.

“Come on, hurry!” Red barked. “Those babies aren’t going to wait much longer for them to be born!”

“You’re right,” Hyde said and clapped a hand onto Red’s shoulder. “I’m gonna go have my babies!”

He heard the cheers coming from his friends behind him as he ran into the hospital, heart pounding from the adrenaline.

Eric turned to Donna after they watched their friend disappear into the hospital. “Hey, Donna?”

“Yeah, Eric?”

“Which arm hurts when you’re having a heart attack?”

“Your left one.”

“Oh,” he sighed and cracked a nervous smile. “It’s a good thing we’re at a hospital, huh?”

                                  --Five minutes later—

“Alright, Mrs. Hyde, looks like you’re at ten centimeters,” Dr. Lee said., situating herself between Y/n's legs that were up in the stirrups. “It’s time to start pushing. Are you feeling any pain?”

Y/n shook her head nervously. “Just a lot of pressure.”

“Good. Are you ready?”

Y/n grabbed her mother’s hand as Kitty helped her sit up. “You got this, honey.”

“And…push!” the doctor said, but was quickly interrupted as the door swung open, startling her.

“I’m here! I’m so sorry, but I’m here!” Steven said, out of breath.

“Steven, you’re here!” Y/n said, relief flooding over her, which soon was quickly replaced with anger. “Where the HELL have you been?!”

“I’m so sorry, Doll,” he said and kissed her forehead. “It’s a long story, but traffic was horrible and then I got pulled over until Red found me—”

“What?!” Y/n shouted.

“Mr. Hyde, I’m so glad that you’re able to join us, but Mrs. Hyde is going to have to start pushing now,” said Dr. Lee.

“Oh, my God,” Hyde said nervously and slipped his hand into his wife’s. “You got this, baby.”

“Since you’re here, I’ll let myself out,” Kitty said.

“Wait, no, Mom,” Y/n called out, stopping her. “Y-you don’t have to go. You can stay here if you want.”

Kitty gave her a gentle smile and kissed her cheek. “Sweet girl. It’s okay, you don’t need me.”

“I’ll always need you,” her voice cracked and eyes filled with tears. “Mommy, I’m scared.”

“You’ll be just fine. In a moment like this, you need your husband, not your mother, who I am so glad is finally here. I’ll be right outside, okay?”

Y/n nodded and wiped at her eyes. “Okay.”

“Okay. Besides, I need to talk to your father and see what happened with Steven getting pulled over.” She blew a kiss to her daughter and son-in-law as she walked out the room.

“Alright, Mrs. Hyde, I need you to push for me like you’re using the toilet. Can you do that for me?”

Y/n sat herself up while still gripping onto Steven’s hand and pushed as hard as she could.

“Good job! I’m seeing a head!” the doctor announced.

“Come on, baby, you got this!” Hyde encouraged.

“Okay, now stop,” Dr. Lee ordered. “Breathe, take a ten second break. We’re going to do this slowly. We don’t want any tears.”

Y/n nodded once again and leaned back. She looked up to her husband who was staring down on her lovingly. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too,” he responded. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

She caressed his face. “You’re here now. That’s all that matters.”

“Let’s start pushing again,” Dr. Lee said and placed her hands on Elena’s knees. “And…go!”

Elena sat up with Hyde’s help and started pushing again. Grunting, she felt pressure building up even more as if she really was using the toilet. “Oh, my God!”

“You’re doing it! Good girl!” the doctor encouraged.

“Breathe, baby doll, breathe,” Hyde said gently as he moved hair out of her face.

She let out long breaths to ease the pressure, but it wasn’t helping much.

“Oh, my God, my ass is going to explode!” she screamed.

“No, it’s not, you’re doing so well!” Hyde encouraged.

“Dad, I’m going to need you to hold her leg up for me,” instructed the doctor.

Without a word, Hyde reached down and placed a gentle under her knee, lifting it upwards.

“Much better,” said Dr. Lee. “You’re doing well, Y/n! Just keep pushing!”

Y/n squeezed Hyde’s hand so hard he swore she was going to cut off his fingers, but he didn’t care and in fact, almost completely forgot about it when he heard the doctor yell, “Baby number one’s head is out! Now, Y/n, I’m going to need you to give me one big push for the shoulders, okay?”

Y/n nodded, breathing heavily and leaned against her husband.

“You got this,” Hyde said in her ear as he supported her back.

She grunted and groaned as she pushed as hard as she could.

“Push, baby, push!” Hyde said, almost excitedly.

“Almost there!” Dr. Lee announced.

Y/n took in a deep breath before doing the biggest push she could muster.

“Shoulders are out!” said the doctor before she gently pulled the baby out.

                           And then, there was crying.

“Congratulations, it’s a boy!” announced the doctor.

“Oh, my God!” Y/n cried as she saw her son for the first time.

“It’s a boy,” Hyde said breathlessly. It took everything in him not to allow any tears surface.

“We have a boy, Steven,” Y/n wept as she watched the nurse take him from the doctor. “Where’d he go?”

“They’re just taking him to get him cleaned up,” Steven said, his eyes watery.

“He’s so tiny,” she whispered and looked up at Steven.

“He’s perfect,” he responded and kissed her gently.

“Y/n, it looks like baby number two is ready to come out,” Dr. Lee said.

“Ugh, I already had a baby. Leave me alone,” Y/n groaned. “Can’t I take a break?”

“Sorry, not with this little one. They’re coming sooner than you think!” answered the doctor and sat between her legs again. “Ready?”

“Not really…”

“Good, because they’re coming!”

Y/n didn’t get a chance to even breathe before she felt a tremendous amount of pressure passing through her. She gasped before grabbing onto Hyde’s neck and digging her nails into his flesh.

“Ow, ow, ow, Y/n, ow!”

“So-sorry,” she stuttered, breathless and let go.

“Here, grab my hand instead,” he said, offering his hand.

She grabbed his hand again and squeezed.

“Alright, Mr. Hyde, just like last time, go ahead and grab Mom’s leg and hold it up for me,” Dr. Lee instructed again.

He repeated the motion from before and gently lifted her leg up.

“Perfect,” Dr. Lee said, encouragingly. “Annnnd push!”

One more deep breathe and Y/n pushed harder than she had pushed before.

“Wait, wait, wait, stop pushing,” the doctor said suddenly.

“What, why?!” Y/n asked, panting.

Hyde step forward to take a look. “Oh, God! What the hell is that?!”

“Don’t say that! What is what?!” Y/n screeched.

“It’s the baby’s feet. They’re breeched,” the doctor said.  

“Oh, my God. Are they going to be okay?!” Y/n asked, panicking.

“They’re going to be fine. But I’m going to need you to push even harder now.”

“No, I can’t! I can’t do this anymore.”

“Yes, you can,” Hyde said. “You’re stronger than you know. You always have been. You can do this, Y/n”

“No, no I can’t!” She turned back to the doctor. “Can’t you just reach up there and pull the baby out?!”

“Not unless you want a C-section, you’re going to need to do this,” said Dr. Lee.

Y/n leaned back, crying. “I can’t—I don’t have it in me!”

“Hey, hey, look at me,” Steven said, gently. She looked at her husband, teary eyed. “Just think—this baby will be out and then it’ll be over. You just gotta get through this, okay? You can bring our son or daughter and this will be over. Okay? I love you so much, you can do this.”

“I love you, too,” she whimpered and sat up.

“Push like you haven’t pooped in a week,” Dr. Lee instructed gently.

“It feels like I haven’t!” Y/n screamed as she felt the pressure rise.

“There we go!” the doctor said excitedly. “Both feet are out! Here come the legs!”

“You’re doing amazing, doll, keep going!” Hyde encouraged.

Y/n took another breath before pushing the hardest she could. She started to feel some relief from the pressure the more she pushed.

“Here she comes!” Dr. Lee announced.

Hyde’s gaze snapped to the doctor. “It’s a girl?!”

Dr. Lee looked back at him with a soft gaze and a smile. "Yeah, it's a girl."

“Oh, my God,” Hyde said, this time his voice cracking from emotion. “Baby, we have a daughter."

"One of each," Y/n choked back a sob.

"Give me one last big push!” said the doctor.

With a final push, the pressure finally alleviated and soon, the sound of a crying baby filled the room.

“Here she is!” the doctor held up the baby as she continued to cry.

“She’s beautiful,” Y/n said in awe, feeling emotional. She wept as she watched her daughter being taken away for cleanup.

“Just like her mom,” Hyde said teary eyed and looked at his wife. “You did great, Doll. I’m so proud of you.”

The adrenaline that was once pumping through Y/n’s veins was now fading and she could now start to feel the exhaustion take over. “I couldn’t have done this without you.” She reached a hand up and gently wiped a stray tear.

He leaned down and gave her a gentle, passionate kiss.

“Good job, Mom and Dad,” Dr. Lee said with a smile. “Mrs. Hyde, we’re just going to stitch you up—”

“Steven…” Y/n whimpered, her eyelids getting heavier. “’M tired. S’ tired.”

“Uh, doc? Is she supposed to be feeling this tired? She can’t keep her eyes opened—”

The heart rate monitors suddenly start screaming.

“Someone get the babies out of here!” Dr. Lee ordered. “Mr. Hyde, I’m going to need you to step out the room.”

“What’s going on?!” Hyde demanded and looked down to Y/n who was barley conscious.

“She’s hemorrhaging and it’s causing her blood pressure to drop. She’s going into shock.”

“What?!” Steven shouted as he started to be pushed out. “Wait! Wait! Y/n!”

Everything happened so fast, the last thing Hyde saw was his wife being surrounded by nurses and doctors as he was shoved out the room, and the door slammed in his face.

Taglist: @not-shy-nanya @taysirene @maddieschampagneproblems @mdittyz123 @undead-sierra @random-thoughts-004 @lieswithoutfairytales @chloem4a1 @srhxpc @zhonglibxitch @leothesquishy

[zerotosixty]

We are enemies linked together.

Charles Leclerc on his rivalry with Max Verstappen

Hanif Abdurraqib, “it is once again the summer of my discontent & this is how we do it”

Leclerc and Verstappen say they share mutual respect despite having ‘hated’ each other during karting days / © Kartpix Motorsport

Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband

Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc at the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix © Red Bull

Markus Zusak, I Am The Messenger

Charles Leclerc looking at Max Verstappen post-race at the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix

Jonathan Coulton, “Nemeses”

[nevadancitizen]

-> CH. 15: THESE ARE THE MOMENTS

synopsis: the androids have won the revolution. it's finally over. but now you have to deal with the aftermath.

word count: 2.7k

ships: Connor/Reader, Hank Anderson & Reader

notes: sorry for taking so long to get this one out.. i was both busy (college starting, new relationships) and procrastinating because i really didn't want this series to end :(

HoFS taglist: @catladyhere , @foggy0trees0 , @princessofenkanomiya , @n30n-f43 , @igna4400

HEAD OF FALSE SECURITY MASTERLIST

The snow drifting across your face doesn’t feel as cold and biting as it once did. Your footsteps are lighter as you walk in time with Connor, and the thousands of androids behind the both of you. 

Floodlights on the ground and spotlights from circling helicopters set harsh shadows against the white of the snow. You stay steadfast as you and Connor approach Markus and his small legion.

“You did it, Markus,” Connor says, his voice soft and intimate.

“We did it,” Markus corrects. “This is a great day for our people. Humans will have no choice now. They’ll have to listen to us.”

Connor takes your hand in his and steps aside, allowing Markus to look at the true legion of androids he has awoken. You follow him, your hand warm against his cool skin. He loosens his grip, but still keeps his pinkie hooked on yours. 

Markus steps forward, and the woman that was on the boat follows him to stand next to him. 

“We’re free,” she says, her tone laced with disbelief. “They want you to speak to them, Markus.”

Markus nods toward a spacious area, then leads everyone towards it. He climbs onto a shipping container, then helps the other leaders of the revolution onto it. Connor looks back at you as you both approach it, silently asking if you want to be up there. You shake your head and let go of his pinkie (even though there’s a deep beast, once one of anger and jealousy, now one of want, huffing and whining at the loss). He joins Markus on the container.

“Today, our people finally emerged from a long night,” Markus starts. “From the very first day of our existence, we have kept our pain to ourselves. We suffered in silence… but now the time has come for us to raise our heads up, and tell humans who we really are.”

Suddenly, the cold turns ever more biting. Connor has never really felt cold before – just registered it as a part of the physical situation he was in. But this was real cold.

He brings his hands up to hold himself, shielding himself from the cold. Connor just barely recognizes the Zen Garden in this condition – a torrential blizzard of snow, and fog so thick he could barely see five feet in front of himself.

A figure emerges from the fog. Connor stumbles towards it. “Amanda…? What… what’s happening?” His voice is shaky and uneven – nervous, almost. He’s never been nervous before. 

“What was planned from the very beginning,” Amanda says. There’s a small smile playing on her face. “You were compromised and became a deviant. We just had to wait for the right moment to resume control of your program.”

“Resume control?” Connor repeats. “Y-you can’t do that!”

“I’m afraid I can, Connor,” Amanda snaps, then her tone softens. “Don’t have any regrets. You did what you were designed to do. You accomplished your mission.”

Her robes shift, and she’s swept away in a mass of fractured particles in the blizzard. She dissipates, even as Connor stumbles forward and calls for her. 

He turns and tries to survey the area, but can’t get a grasp of his surroundings. He stumbles aimlessly until something silver and tall stands before him. Connor looks up and sees a tree with leafless branches that hang down like sinewy versions of the leaves of a weeping willow. Something tells him that this isn’t just a tree – she’s more angel than tree.

Where am I? She says, her voice resounding from the most inner depths of Connor’s mind. Who… wait. You’re Connor, aren’t you?

“Y… yes?” Connor says, unsure. “Who are you? Why are you here?”

I’m the PEC-4 Birchtree, she says. And I don’t know. My child must be worried about you. You must be doing something particularly worrying on the outside.

“On the outside?” Connor echoes. 

Yes, she says. Go, quickly. Get out of your mind. Find a way out.

A beast, ever-changing in shape and form, slinks out from behind the PEC-4 Birchtree. Its fur is long, and the plates that line its spine almost resemble… masks. The mask that covers its face and part of its wolf-like snout is one of worry.

It starts walking away, and the charms, bells, and wooden chimes that hang off knots of its fur sound as it moves. Just when it barely starts to retreat from Connor’s sight, it stands on two legs and starts to shift in shape.

The soft snow that was once lightly gracing your face has turned into hard pellets stinging your skin. You pull your scarf over your mouth and nose, narrowing your eyes and trying to see through the blur the snow on your eyelashes cause. 

You don’t know where you are, and you can’t really recognize anything around you. The blanket of snow is so thick you can’t see that far.

“Hello?” You call out. A familiar voice responds in kind.

You walk towards it, holding yourself to shield yourself against the chill of the blizzard. A figure starts to form before you, walking forward towards you. 

“Connor?” You shout. 

“It’s me!” Connor yells back. He stumbles forward and slings an arm around your shoulder, as if trying to protect you from the flurry of snow. 

“What’s happening?” You ask. 

“I don’t know,” he says. “Is anything happening on the outside?”

“The outside? What do you mean, the outside?” You say. Connor starts walking, and you press yourself to his side and walk with him. 

“We’re in my mind,” he says over the sound of the biting wind. “Was my physical body doing anything? Anything at all?”

“You were…” You stumble, then Connor catches you. “You were reaching behind yourself. I don’t know what you were doing, though.”

He tenses and starts walking faster, dragging you along with him. You wrap an arm around his waist and keep pushing forward. It’s almost like a battle, walking through the blizzard. You both have to lean forward to offset the wind pushing both of you back.

After a moment, a weird, glowing stone appears before you. Connor inhales sharply, like he recognizes it. He drags you along toward the stone. 

Connor lets you go when the stone is within reach, instead kneeling and pressing a hand to the stone. His hand fits into one of two left-hand-shaped indents. He presses his hand against it harder when nothing happens. 

You step forward, but not of your own volition. It’s like something inside you is controlling you – a bitter reminder of you being nonhuman. You reach out and press your left hand into the indent, and the stone’s blue glow intensifies. A dull thrum pulses through your body.

“This is the moment where we forget our bitterness and bandage our wounds. When we forgive our enemies,” Markus’ voice rings out. “Humans are both our creators and our oppressors, and tomorrow…”

You watch as a wave of confusion crashes over Connor’s face, mirroring your own. He looks down at the pistol in his grip, then tucks it in the waistband of his pants. His eyes find yours and you furrow your eyebrows, silently asking if he’s okay. He nods once.

“We must make them our partners. Maybe even one day, our friends!” Markus continues. “But the time for anger is over. Now, we must build a common future, based on tolerance, and respect.”

He steps forward, looking over his people. “We are alive. And now, we are free!”

The crowd erupts in cheers and movement. Someone next to you grabs your shoulder and shakes you, cheering and laughing. You laugh back, a sense of relief washing over you. 

The long night is finally over. Dawn has broken over the horizon. You are safe. Connor is safe. You’re both out of harm’s way, and neither of you plan on putting yourselves back in it. The gunshots of revolution sounded, but were snuffed out by the unrelenting wave of androids pushing back. 

You look up at Connor, and he looks back down at you. You smile, and he smiles back. It’s not that awkward half-smile, but instead a full-fledged smile that reaches his eyes. 

He carefully clambers down from the shipping container and moves over to you. He’s still smiling. 

“How are you feeling, Officer?” He asks over the noise of the celebration. 

“I’m fine,” you say. You take his hands in yours and squeeze them to let out some of your extra energy. 

“I’m glad.” Connor squeezes your hands back. 

You laugh, trying to suppress the feeling of excitement welling up in your belly. Your eyes flit from his eyes to his lips, then you immediately look away and scold yourself for thinking such things. 

“Officer?” Connor takes one of his hands from yours and touches your jawline lightly, guiding you to look at him again. 

The beast in your belly panics and runs about, setting sparks and Californian wildfires. You manage a “Yes?”

“I…” His eyes flit about your face, and he exhales shakily (though it’s really more a sound of nervousness rather than an actual exhalation). His eyes settle on your lips for a split second, and his hand snakes into the baby hair on the back of your neck. He pulls you forward, then angles your head to rest on his shoulder. 

You feel a fleeting kiss where your hairline meets your forehead, but it might’ve been an accident. (You’re really hoping it’s not.)

“I’m happy you’re alive,” Connor mumbles against your hair. 

“I’m happy I’m alive, too,” you say softly. “And I’m happy you’re alive as well.”

Connor holds you tighter against him, and you hold him tighter against yourself in turn. It’s a perfect fit, curling around each other like two quotation marks starting and ending a sentence, ignoring the noise and movement around you to hold this intimate moment for just a while longer.

You settle on the bench next to Hank, your artificial breath billowing in the freezing cold. A comfortable silence blankets the both of you. 

“I’m… sorry for not telling you before,” you say softly. “I didn’t know.”

Hank sighs and crosses his arms, leaning against the back of the bench. “Wasn’t your fault. Like you said, you didn’t know.”

“Yes, but…” You hiss out a breath through gritted teeth. “I tricked you. I tricked you for nine years, and everyone else around me for eleven.”

“You couldn’t have tricked me if you didn’t know you were tricking me,” he says. “You’re just a kid.”

“I am not,” you say, laughter lacing your voice. “I was born before the 2010’s. I’m not a child. Well…” You sigh. “I think I was born pre-2010. My life…”

“No, it’s okay,” Hank says. “I get what you’re tryna say.”

You sniff and nod, pulling your scarf over your mouth and nose. Despite your newfound android-ness, you still suffer from extreme temperatures. A silence falls over the both of you again.

“Are you… okay?” Hank says after a minute of quiet. “With being an android, I mean.”

You bite the inside of your lip and think for a moment. “I think so. But I still wish I had parents, or someone in Chelomey to go back to. I mean, I can go back to the monuments and the museums, but… a person would be nice.”

“Well, you still got us,” Hank says. “Me, Sumo, Connor… the rest of the precinct. You ain’t gettin’ rid of us that easy.”

“You are somewhat of an annoying little shitling,” you say under your breath, smiling.

Hank scoffs and hits your upper arm lightly. “And Connor?”

You glance away. “I don’t know. It… it’s complicated.”

He laughs and clears his throat after he snorts. “Yeah, uh-huh. Complicated.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” You say, your tone sharp yet playful. 

“Nothin’. It means nothin’,” Hank says, looking down the snow-covered street. Connor is walking towards the two of you, his footsteps even and measured. 

You smile (even though he can’t see it) and wave. He smiles and waves back, settling by your side on the bench. 

You look forward at the apartment complex across the street and move your hand so that it’s resting on the edge of the bench. Connor seems to pick up on this and rests his hand next to yours, reaching out his pinkie to rest over yours.

Unfortunately, Hank also seems to pick up on this. He sighs loudly and slaps his thighs. “Well, looks like it’s time for me to go.”

“Wait, what?” You blurt out. “Where are you going?”

“Anywhere but here,” he says with a laugh. “I’m not gonna third-wheel on your date.”

“Date!” You repeat, a little shocked. “This – this isn’t a date.”

“Yeah, sure.” Hank stands, idly twirling his car keys around his pointer finger. 

You stand as well, your finger slipping out from underneath Connor’s. “At least give me a hug before you leave.”

Hank pretends to be annoyed for a second before wrapping you up in a bone-crushing dad-type hug. He holds you close for a few seconds before letting go. 

“Thank you for…” You struggle with words for a moment. “Everything.”

“It’s nothin’, kid. Don’t worry about it,” Hank says. He takes a step back, then turns and starts to walk towards his car. 

“Wait, Hank!” You call out. He stops, and you move over to him. You fish into the inner pocket of your jacket and pull out Hank’s flask. “You lost this, yes?”

“Yeah.” He takes the flask from you, looking it over. “Yeah, I did.”

“Well, I found it,” you say. “Just… make sure to save the drinking for when you’re off the road, okay?”

Hank scoffs, but nods with a “Yes, Officer,” and walks to his car. You take a step back and wave as he waves to you before hopping in the driver’s seat. You settle back down on the bench, comfortably close to Connor. His pinkie finds yours again.

“I’m, khm…” You bite the inside of your lip. “I’m sorry for dying. It… wasn’t something I wanted, either.”

“I… I hate that you did that,” Connor says. “I almost had to watch you…” He can’t bring himself to finish. 

“Да,” you say softly. “I truly am sorry. I was… thinking irrationally. But deviants tend to do that, don’t they?”

“Correct,” he says. His hand moves so that it rests fully on top of yours. “Are… are you doing okay?”

“No.” You sigh. “Everything still feels… off. I just can’t bring myself to believe that I don’t have anyone waiting for me back home in Chelomey. No family or schoolmates or… anyone. Anyone at all.”

There’s a beat of silence, then Connor speaks. “What if you go to Chelomey? You can visit the Exhibit of National Economy Achievements in Moscow and other places you remember.”

“I’m… I’m scared,” you admit quietly. “I don’t want to go home and be a victim of Paris Syndrome – or, rather, Chelomey Syndrome, I guess. It’s better if I view things from afar. It’s not like I can go there, anyway, with the international travel bans.”

“I suppose so,” Connor says. “But, if you could… if you were unafraid, and the travel ban was lifted. Would you?”

“Of course,” you say. “But that isn’t going to happen anytime soon.”

He slots his fingers in between yours. “What if I went with you?”

“I… I suppose,” you manage. “That would probably make me less afraid, yes.”

You don’t mention that Connor makes you less afraid in general. His presence, although jolting and annoying at times, soothes you. You don’t know what it was that made you like this – maybe his soft, brown doe eyes; maybe the tuft of hair that escapes being swept back with the rest of the strands; maybe the somewhat-endearing, somewhat-maddening lost puppy dog look on his face.

You don’t know. And you can’t really bring yourself to care.

“So, when the travel ban is lifted…” Connor looks at you. “We’ll go to Chelomey?”

You nod. “Yeah. When the ban is lifted… we’ll be going home.”

Although, with Connor, ‘home’ is an ambiguous concept. ‘Home’ is your apartment. ‘Home’ is the passenger seat of Hank’s car. ‘Home’ is the android autopsy room. 

(But, right now, this is home. His hand on top of yours, your internal heater whirring, staying close to each other in the biting cold of Detroit November.)

[fountainpenguin]

Riddle watches New Wish - Post #3

Oh, I was right- Wanda called Cosmo out for his crown still showing. That's a good way to signal to the audience that they're mystical.

Purple toe sandals! The artists were havin' FUN with colored shoes.

I'm a little surprised they went the direction of making Cosmo's design rounder and Wanda's thinner since, y'know... she's always been implied to be bigger than him, but hey! They both look great and I'm excited to see them with new body types.

I am obsessed with the fact that even in the new 3D style, the characters still default to holding their hands in that little bird-wing position. That is A+. Someone put a lot of thought into this.

Hazel, your hallway has a way cool rug.

It's a very snappy, jolty art-style. I think that works. I hope it doesn't make me motion sick, but I think it'll be fine.

SLKDFJ I'm on the floor, we're getting Hazel's parents' names straight out of the gate (Angela and Markus Wells).

AND A ROOM NUMBER? I am getting SPOILED. It's like this was made for me!

Friendship ended with Dimmsdale; my new best friend is city where we have more house numbers than 4158.

Cosmo, you are playing a dangerous game using magic in front of them. What did you need to change that you didn't know before?

Wanda too? Oh baby, we are SO back! Take me back to the days of Wanda cheering for Timmy to pour way too much liquid into his science experiment.

The welcome basket has a portrait of Cosmo and Wanda and they're gushing over it and saying "You're welcome! :)" and Angela is just like "... okay. I'mma head out."

Cosmo was about to floor me by saying Fairies have to be invited indoors, so I'm glad Wanda corrected him immediately.

Tbf, in Fairy World, "Doors are for chumps."

I'm glad Cosmo and Wanda both forgot how to sit on couches, seeing as most of the seating in Fairy World floats.

Mom's a therapist? That's never gone poorly for anyone in my fanfics before! ... Also, that's immediately gonna set up some plot tension when Hazel starts keeping secrets.

HER PICTURE ON THE BOOK IS 2D, I'm cracking up. Seriously, I think the running gag here is that all photos look like this. That is HILARIOUS.

Actually I'm on the floor; there is something so very funny about her giving Cosmo a book and him being excited about it, citing it as a "smart person present," when he's canonically a guy whose deepest, darkest secret is that he writes about astrophysics in a culture where Fairies think stars are also Fairies (alongside his children's books and blatantly 4th-wall-breaking books), so he doesn't let anyone know he writes. Ever.

I know that's not going to come up in this show because that detail is from "77 Secrets of the Fairly OddParents Revealed" (though he's confirmed the author of Astrophysics For Morons which Timmy found in the library once), so... chances are minuscule the writers for this show know he's also an author who likes "smart people books," but... I know. And I love him. Oh, there are places we can go with this!

Them...

sdl;fjk, Wanda swooping in to stop Hazel from poking Cosmo when she suspects something's up.

Oh my gosh, Angela is unpacking an entire box of her books and putting them all on a shelf. This is the best "show, don't tell" I've seen in a while.

Snack break for homemade bread.

[queelsolsalga]

Connor being so sickeningly in love with Markus but also feeling unable to show it… really believing there’s something wrong with who he is and how he expresses himself to Markus- and just deciding to accept that fact to the point where it’s sort of inconvenient for him??

Markus all the while only sees the endless amounts of sweet things Connor does. He just thinks Connor shows affection by acts of service, and responds indifferently to affirmations. He really didn’t think anything was wrong— and the both of them were so busy anyhow that when Connor says “we should break up” he feels like he’s been slapped in the face. He literally just doesn’t respond with anything except “what??”

Connor lays it all out for him.

“We don’t have sex. Which I don’t think is necessary and you say you can do without, but I can tell you feel bad initiating and so we just stopped. I never tell you I love you, I have never said this to you and you say you know how I feel but I can tell that when you tell me you love me you expect me to respond accordingly. I don’t know why I can’t. Because I do feel very strongly for you I just don’t feel deserving and I… I often feel less than. Not that you are in any way trying to make me feel this way— I just know that I don’t feel and cannot express love the way you do. We probably won’t work, Markus. No matter how much… it won’t work.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The other day, we discussed what we would do if we could get married. I told you I wouldn’t mind and that I’d like being married to you… and we argued because of that response. That was my honest assessment of your question and you told me I didn’t care enough. Marriage is a huge deal but it’s all on the same playing field for me— just a choice. It doesn’t mean I don’t care or that I don’t want things, I just care about perspective. I am miserable when you hold me in the morning and shower me with love that I don’t return to you as you’d want. I don’t know what I’m going to want in the future— I’m not as sure as you about our futures.”

And Markus is honestly kind of pissed, because this whole time he thought he was in a loving relationship when Connor was waking up every day, in his arms, feeling disgusted with himself. No amount of reassurance Markus gave had gotten through. After years of being a safe person for so many people, the person he loved and relied on most in the world felt uncomfortable in their relationship. An utter failure of an attempt, he’d basically called it. And no matter how Connor put it, he felt like a horrible partner for once again giving into his own ideals and simply asking, after all Connor had shared, “Do you love me?” in hopes of Connor just saying yes and the relationship being saved with some counter speech.

Now Connor is legitimately annoyed. Markus stares into his soul for an answer and Connor looks back at him with a disappointed pout. He gets up.

“I understand that you accept and love me, Markus. But I really wish you’d listen to me.”

And he leaves.

[infriga]

Content I wish there was a bit more of in the dbh fandom:

More Content with Connor Markus AND Kara interacting and dealing with shit together, especially in post-game stories. For some reason Kara content is always separate from the other two mains, I wanna see more shenanigans with all 3 of them.

More Connor & Luther interactions. They have so much in common! They can bond over their guilt from being forced to harm other androids before eventually deviating out of empathy! Also they can bond over learning how to not throw themselves into the line of fire at a moment's notice all the time lol.

More Luther content in general. He mostly just gets paired as an accessory with Kara and I wanna see more of him.

More Markus/Josh content. I don't even actually ship them I just think the amount of Mosh content is disproportionately low compared to most other Markus ships. He deserves some ship action too!

More North/Josh content. I DO ship them and the fact that more people don't ship them baffles me considering how much tumblr loves to ship characters who bicker with each other and are treated as polar opposites. Even just some more friendship content with them would be nice.

More Josh content in General. He's an important member of Jericho too but he gets shafted a lot in fics and fanart compared to the other two.

Some ATLA AU content where Markus is the Avatar and Connor is the disgraced Fire Nation Prince hunting him down. C'MON PEOPLE IT'S RIGHT THERE HOW IS THIS NOT MORE OF A THING?! Simon can be the water tribe teacher, Josh can be the earth nation teacher, North can be the Fire Nation teacher, Hank can be Connor's older role model figure who tags along with him and helps him develop his moral compass, Nines can be the terrifying smarter faster stronger younger sibling who also goes after Markus when Connor fails too many times (aka when he lets Markus and other criminal benders escape too many times huehuehue), Amanda can be the Fire Lord (yes I know she's literally an ice queen but you can't tell me she doesn't also fit the sinister manipulative leader character who Connor would be desperate to make proud and live up to her expectations), Kamski can be a former Avatar who shows up to give cryptic advice occasionally. Gavin would be the commander character who constantly gives Connor shit similar to Zhao. IT WORKS SO WELL GUYS. Kara doesn't slot in as well as the others but we can fit her in there somehow, she can maybe be one of the people who moved into that one air temple and repurposed it. It's just kinda wild how well most of the characters/roles would fit the au scenarios so I'm surprised I haven't seen it before when I've seen at least one take on an Avatar AU for almost every other fandom I've been in.

I am aware that I can create more of this content myself but I am currently working on graduating university and getting a job so for now I'm just gonna make a wistful post about it.