#and also a lot of those deaths were lame and stupid
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Look I'mma be honest every time twd kills off a long-beloved character at this point I'm just
#what's the point even#every time y'all kill off a character I just lose a reason to care#I'm just here for Carol and Daryl and Michonne's family#I dont rly care for Magna and Yumiko#Luke is fine#I like Connie but. that might just be because she's friends with Daryl idk#I'm still mad at Eugene#I don't care for Rosita#Gabriel and Aaron are cool I guess#Ezekiel's dying of cancer so. bye.#I like Jerry but we don't spend much time with him and I don't rly care#I'mma blast through the rest of this and tune back in for wenever Rick comes back lmao#christ god they used to have so many characters. so many actual good characters.#I'd say they didn't need to do us like that but a lot of those deaths were significant plot points#but then the show just kept going#and also a lot of those deaths were lame and stupid#like Tyreese. And Carl. T-Dog's death was so pointless it made me forget about him.#what was ever the point of Noah#they didn't have to do Enid like that#also! Alpha sucks. she's not a fun villain I just don't like her she makes my skin crawl#the govenor pissed me off more than anything but at least he was somewhat compelling#Alpha's just a child-beater and she whispers all cartoony fake-southern directly into my ears and I can't#I'm still enjoying the show but lol yeah I get it now#twd liveblog#the walking dead spoilers
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I'm not even a Belos enjoyer but finale was pretty dissapointing. It felt like Dana just saw that fans hate Belos and decided to not even show a proper flashback for him and kill him in a lame way. Sure fandom loved that he got stomped by Eda King and Raine (for some reason), but I feel like it should've been more like Luz tells Belos that he lost everything because of his inability to change and now he turned into a monster that nobody will remember after he dies or sth and Belos dies while seeing visions of Caleb Evelyn and everyone he's ever killed that don't even look at him so he dies scared with realization that Luz was right. Cuz that "huehue look we are not like the other cartoons our villain is lame and underdeveloped and died by being stomped by Luz's friends huehue AREN'T WE QUIRKY AND NOT LIKE THE OTHER GIRLS CARTOONS" felt lame and cringe like make defeat of a fashist actually worth it bruh
I mean I don't like the Not Like Other Girls'ing of the writing, but I'll be honest I think you're just mad that the Caleb and Evelyn red herrings didn't amount to anything. Those are things that were always afterthoughts and should have been scrapped. Phillip didn't need a secret Cain and Abel backstory to explain his genocide against witches. He was already from a deeply racist and fundamentalist time period.
There's a lot of people who wanted to Caleb to matter and for Evelyn to be a Clawthorne, and the truth is... they don't matter... at all.
I think it would have been worse if they harped on that shit. The time spent particle effect-ing and anime-framerating should have been spent on the main characters, not on the fan theories.
I mean, not to put too fine a point on it, but if you really wanted to just drive the spike through Phillip as a last word, what they would have done would have been for Camilla to take Luz by the shoulder and guide her away from him as he rots in the boiling rain, Phillip starts ranting about how the witches aren't people and will doom humanity with their filth, and then Camilla turns her head back and says "Yeah, I've heard that one before."
Because the thing about Belos is that he is fundamentally an invader. He's an invader of the Demon Realm, but he's also a white Christian British man living in America in the 1600's. He's an invader back in the Human Realm too. He came to the Demon Realm at the HEIGHT of his own previous invasion.
His profession is Witch Hunter. His job was never to hunt witches. It was to hunt women and native people and escaped slaves.
Belos' genocide of the witches on the Boiling Isles directly mirror the Salem witch trials, which were little more than a thin veil to persecute women who didn't conform to Christian morals. And they knew this. They knew magic wasn't real. They all of this.
Let's be honest here. Let's be brutally honest here. Why does Belos want to genocide everyone on the Boiling Isles?
He's mad about his brother's hot new gf
They do magic and therefore it is sinful
It is an integrated society that knows neither colorism, sexism, homophobia or transphobia?
It's the third one. Because to a white christian man 1600's US Colonies, that very notion is profane to him.
Hell when he tries to play the whole "I only care about humanity!" spiel to Luz, Luz looks at him like
Luz knows that were they in the Human realm, she would have been the target of Belos' ire in the place of the witches.
Honestly with that kind of background behind Belos that you can easily extrapolate just by knowing what he is and where he comes from, it was always fucking sad that they backpedaled like fucking crazy and pulled this stupid Cain and Abel bullshit in the first place. Like, you had the best foundation for a villain, you didn't have to add all this fandom bullshit.
But that's the Adventure Fantasy death spiral, isn't it? They start with something actually very biting and edgy, the genius of The Owl House in it's early seasons was that it didn't pull it's punches, and then walks most of it back to replace it with safe, santizied fandom mysteries about secret families and hidden identities and conspiracy mongering. Because you can't really pack hidden mysteries in like a pretentious weeby jackass if your bad guy is just a racist white guy.
Because racist white guys are just pretty straightforward.
Honestly, I think Luz just fucking standing there watching him burn away in the boiling rain, lacking any sympathy for him or his bullshit, silently gloating at the fact that she has completely and utterly destroyed his 400 years of work to undo the Boiling Isles and is content to watch him die like the cowardly, snivelling rat he is to be a and extremely powerful and poignant image
A far more meaningful moment than... whatever the fuck you were talking about.
You want the defeat of a fascist to be worth it, making him practically beg for the mercy of a woman who (were they not currently in a place with magic in it) would have been on his hit list and who he only tried to appeal to because she was the closest thing to a kindred spirit for parsecs, and having her look down at him like he is literally muck on her shoe IS WORTH IT.
What you're suggesting just puts the stupid red herring fandom shit at the forefront. Nobody cares about reading Belos a "reason you suck speech." Nobody cares about Caleb. Nobody cares about Evelyn. Nobody cares about any of that shit.
This is the closest thing we get to payoff for all that dragged out angst in the last 7 episodes, Luz getting to watch this man who fucked with her head and manipulated her good nature die begging at her feet, and you want to center the stupid Roundtable fan theories?
That's ultimately my problem with this entire genre. Because even when we get a really good moment like this, there's people like you saying that it should have been different and presenting ideas that all follow the same templates, and are written by TVTropes, and suck, and position white background characters as more important, and suck, and primarily exist for theory youtubers, and suck, and mimic your favourite anime, and suck, and suck, and SUCK SO FUCKING HARD!
What you said should have been done instead... would be shit. It would just be shit. It would be garbage.
I have complaints about Season 3, but this?
This is beautiful.
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The Night Tourist
(I actually do own this image. I made it with an AI. If you steal it I'll hunt you down.)
Series: Spectral Perception
Word Count: 16,483 (No, I'm not kidding.)
Warnings: Descriptions of blood, self harm, alcohol consumption, violent, frightening images, a lot of talking about death, and language. Two very derogatory terms for women are used - one in a humorous way, but still - this is your warning.
Summary: Both you and Kol knew that the news of your nature would spread through the Supernatural community like a wildfire. Your time had run out. You couldn't stay in your home, you couldn't finish school, and you couldn't even mourn your father's death. Now was the time to run. But where in the world could you run to? Was there anywhere you could ever be safe? || Kol x Banshee!reader || Here lies my Masterlist ||
Requested by: @trikigirl271 Thanks for your interest in my writing and for all your suggestions for this series. I hope you're not disappointed! So, in honor of the longest request I have ever received, here is the longest fic I've ever written.
A/N: Please note that the Other Side in this story does not even attempt to resemble the one in TVD canon. The Other Side portrayed in the show was a lame, low budget TV show rendition of the land of the dead and I intend to make mine 300% more epic. Also, this is low-key inspired by the novel of the same title by Katherine Marsh. Thanks for reading!
🔥STORY BEGINS BELOW.🔥
Death was to you like the humidity in Florida. It clung to you, it seemed. It coated your skin in a nasty, unwanted film and lingered around you in the air, weighing almost painfully in your lungs every time you took a breath. Perhaps that was why your chest hurt so much. Death surrounded you. It always had.
As for everyone around you? Same story - all dead. Your mother had died the day you were born; you'd killed her to come into this world. Kol was dead, but he'd been that way since you'd met him. Now your father was dead too. And come on now, really, how was that not your fault? He was dead because of you. Because you were some stupid supernatural freak who couldn't make up her mind on wether to be dead or not! You should have just died in that car crash.
Oh wait. That's right. You had.
You were dead, how funny was that? So why weren't you laughing?
Death clung to you. You had escaped it and it wanted you back so it was taking your life away one little bit at a time.
That wasn't very fair. But then again, life was never fair. Why should death be any different?
You scowled, glaring down at the tiles of your kitchen floor. They sparkled and shown. Clean. Immaculate. Kol had done a good job; no one would have ever guessed that a man had bled out on those tiles just last afternoon. You shook your head and raised the bottle in your grasp to your lips. Tipping it back, you took a long, painful swig and decided that those tiles were too damn clean. You weren't gonna act like nothing had happened so you stumbled over to the knife block and withdrew the biggest one. Standing over the place where you'd seen your father's body lying dead, you tucked your bottle under one arm and slit your palm with the knife. You held your hand out over the pristine tiles and clenched it in a fist, letting the crimson liquid ooze between your fingers, dripping to the ground.
The stuff burned your throat but your expression was blank as you took another sip of whatever alcohol was in that bottle. Your vision was too blurry for you to read the label, but it was probably brandy… or bourbon… or whiskey. Probably just wherever that stupid ghost could get his hands on. Kol had a tendency to swipe the stuff at pretty much any opportunity - he'd been slowly building a stash in your basement over the last year. You didn't care much anymore. You had attempted to reprimand him for his rash of thefts when you’d first caught onto him, but he would always just flash you that stupid smirk, pairing it with some off-the-cuff comment about how alcohol apparently helped with his cravings at which point you’d roll your eyes and forget about it until your next shopping trip where he would undoubtedly do the same thing. It never mattered what you said, Kol just did whatever he wanted.
You weren’t a stupid person, and you weren’t a trusting one either. People didn’t hurt you because you didn’t give them the chance to do so. The story your kidnapper had told you was more than likely true. After all, people don’t seek revenge for nothing and seven hundred years is a long time to hold a grudge. You hadn’t told Kol of your conversation with Christianna Galkin when he informed you of the bounty hunter’s name and reputation. He hadn’t told you anything more about her, neither confirming nor denying anything she’d said to you. The more you thought about it, the more you began to believe her words as they echoed in your mind.
“Where’s he gonna leave you, I wonder?”
Come on now, really. Why else would Kol Mikaelson - a one thousand year old Original vampire with a vendetta and a million better things to do - ever choose to attach himself to some slightly more than mediocre college student if not for your blood? How convenient was it that the girl he just so happened to stumble across would turn out to be a freaking banshee? How convenient of him to have befriended you before you discovered the extent of your abilities. What a coincidence it was for him to fall in love with you only after you’d discovered you could touch him, just after you’d begun to accommodate him, just as you’d begun to long for his touch. You’d told him you were in love with him too. He’d said it first because he knew you never would.
Hadn’t he been the one to ask for your blood? That had been him, his suggestion. Kol’s desire, not yours.
And had he not almost killed you immediately after that?
Wasn’t it just so odd that he had a hard time controlling himself - that he struggled to keep himself from taking your blood? Kol was a selfish boy by nature. So wasn’t it strange that he would be so noble and selfless when it came to your blood - to the thing he craved more than anything? You could tell he wanted it, and you had offered to let him feed on you because you didn’t like to see him suffer. But no, he made the self sacrificing play. Why? That wasn’t like him, Kol was the least self sacrificing person you knew. Despite already being dead, you knew he would never choose to die for you, he would always do his best to find any loophole because any situation where he lost something wasn’t acceptable. So, why would he pass up on any chance for a taste? Kol was hooked on your blood - he needed it. He was an addict, just like any other. If a policeman were to offer a heroin addict a dose, he simply wouldn't be able to resist unless he knew he could get it some other way. So wasn’t it funny that all of Kol’s actions oh so perfectly implored you to go out of your way to satisfy him?
Wasn’t that all so convenient? One might even call it calculated.
It was a backward and ingenious manipulation, but then again, he was one thousand years old. Was this not what Chrissy had warned you about. According to her, this was just what Kol did. Where would he leave you?
Perhaps you were about to find out.
You lifted your head and nearly fell over when you heard the front door swing open and slam shut. You glared at him, blinking rapidly to try to clear your vision which was swimming. Whether that was an effect of the alcohol or the bloodloss, you couldn’t exactly tell.
“Y/N, I hope you’re packed because we really need to-”
Kol made it to the kitchen and stopped dead in his tracks. His voice hitched when he caught the scent of your blood. Dripping from your hand, pooled on the kitchen tile - he couldn’t take his eyes off it. Those eyes turned into black pits of tar and his fangs slid out, sharper than the knife you’d used to slit your hand. Your drunken mind wondered vaguely what he would do. His hands were shaking - yours were too funnily enough. The boy stood perfectly still, though that was probably all he could do to stop himself from tearing into your throat. He swallowed thickly and wet his lips, then slowly, painfully slowly, he turned his head; yet, his eyes lingered, staring at your bleeding hand with longing desperation as if it were the only thing he wanted in the world. It must have taken a monumental amount of effort, but he finally drew his eyes along your body up to your face. He took a few measured breaths and opened his mouth to speak. His eyes were still black holes.
“Darling, why-” He cut himself off with a choked noise and squeezed his eyes shut, gripping the door frame for support. It kept getting worse for him, probably because he’d been consistently animated for going on forty-eight hours. Maybe it was just because you were drunk out of your mind, but you weren’t afraid of him or what he might do. What did it matter? You couldn’t be killed by him anyway. Even if you could, you didn’t exactly have a lot to lose. He opened his eyes but those still weren’t the ones you’d fallen in love with - they were still just dark and cold and hungry. “Why did you do that?” He demanded. His attempt at calm was nothing more than a mask. He was afraid - terrified of tearing down the illusion he’d created. “Do you want me to hurt you? Because I guarantee this is an excellent way to ensure it.” The boy groaned and slid to the floor, curling up on himself like a child with a stomach ache. You felt a pang of guilt but the alcohol wiped it away. Not your problem.
You simply shrugged and pointed to the kitchen floor. “It was too, uh… too clean,” You said, slurring your words more than just a little bit.
Kol lifted his head. “What?”
“Too clean!” You repeated, even less intelligible than the first time. “Dad’s dead, an’ th’ floors ‘ss too clean, an’ th’ A frickin’ C’s like down too low.” You leaned against the counter and huffed. “I mean, whass’a girl tuh’ do?”
“Well, not get sloshed for one thing,” He grumbled under his breath.
“I dunno.” You smirked, raising the bottle again. “I kinda like it.”
"Lovely," He deadpanned. "Well, this is going to be something of a problem.”
You rolled your head to look at him. “Mmm… I only see one problem here. It’s ‘bout 6’1, brunette, with no sense of when to leave a person alone!”
He sighed and the thump that reached your ears when he hit his head against the door frame sounded a little too loud to be okay. “Alright, that’s enough.” Kol stood, grimacing, and held his hand out. “Give me the bottle.”
Your playful expression dropped and you shook your head. “No can-do, cracker jack.”
“Give it to me.”
“Uh, uh.”
“Now, Y/N,” He warned.
“No!” You took a demonstrative sip and crossed your arms stubbornly. “Why don’t you come on over here and take it?”
Kol growled, grinding his teeth. “You really wouldn’t like it if I did,” He said lowly, eyes narrowing. He shook his head and sighed. “What are you doing, darling? This isn’t you.”
“Yell heah, it’s not!” You exclaimed, laughing though it was mostly just hysterical. Somehow, despite the drunkenness, you couldn’t find much humor in yourself. You tilted your head obnoxiously, tapping your chin. “But come to think of it, neither is finding my Dad dead on the floor, ya know? That’s not like me at all. O-or finding out that I’m dead too - gotta say that’s way outta character.” You started counting the events of the past two days off on your fingers, fumbling a couple of times. “Along with - I dunno - getting kidnapped, or getting my body and soul stuck in a magical shredding machine, or having visions of the future, or being muzzled like some rabid hound, or rupturing some person’s ear drums with a sonic scream, or feeding my blood to the ghost of a mass-murdering vampire,” You hissed, watching him unblinkingly with a seething glare. If looks could kill then blah, blah, blah. “Man, now that I say it out loud, I have no idea why I’m drinking! It’s not like my whole life is falling apart or anything, right?”
Kol blinked and his expression completely shattered. His mouth was open slightly and you watched his fangs retract as the blackness in his eyes faded and that warm chocolate color showed through once more.
“Darling…” He started, voice as soft as the chirping of crickets outside.
You just scowled at him. “Oh, don’t darling me,” You spat. “This is all your fault! I could have lived a long, happy, normal life if not for you! Now all of that’s gone!”
“What? How on earth-” He stopped. “Wait… Wait a second, you’re not suggesting…” He trailed off and all you did in response was sit down, leaning your back against the refrigerator. You just waited for him to get the picture. He did and when he did, it was like the boy had gotten the wind knocked out of him, like your statement had been a very literal punch to the gut. His brows pulled together and he shook his head. He just looked confused… and hurt… So, so hurt. But you didn’t feel very much sympathy. You didn’t have it in you to feel much of anything, nor did you want to. Hence the drinking.
“You think I killed you?” He whispered, choking on the words. You didn’t answer but that was answer enough. The boy took a few steps back, hands tearing through his hair with a muffled noise that could have been a scream had it been a little louder. His legs seemed to give out and he fell to the floor, wringing his hands to hide just how badly they were shaking. Taking a breath to calm himself didn’t seem to work very well. “Please don’t tell me you actually think I had something to do with your death.”
“Well, being dead and all, you sure stood to gain something from it,” You noted, hiccuping. The expression on his face didn’t look quite like guilt, but you weren’t sure what else it could be.
“No. No, Y/N… For pete’s sake, I didn’t kill you, darling.” He insisted. “I had no clue what you were! Why would I kill you? Even if I could affect the living world as a ghost, I wasn’t even in the area when you died.”
“Then where were you?”
“An annoying little town in Northern Virginia. A place called Mystic Falls,” Kol said with a huff. Only a moment later did he seem to realize what he’d accidently given away.
“Northern Virginia, eh? You know how many miles away from here that is, right?” You demanded, eyes narrowing as you leaned forward. “Huh. I wonder what could have possibly driven you to travel all that way? Somehow I seriously doubt you came here to make fun of college students.”
The boy paled. “Listen, Y/N/N, I didn’t-”
“Betta’ choose your next words veeery carefully,” You warned. Those words seemed to halt his lies in their tracks. He couldn’t meet your eyes.
“Look… I-I never meant for any of this to happen,” He muttered ashamedly.
You nodded and took a long swig from the bottle before setting it down on the ground loud enough to wake the neighbors. “You’re a liar, Kol Mikaelson,” You said, astoundingly clear for how drunk you were. “Why don’t you jus’ admit it! You knew what I was the whole friggin’ time.”
“I swear to you, I had no idea,” He claimed. “There’s no way to discern whether a female of Irish descent will become a banshee upon her death and no way to identify her once she has. I had my theories but… there was just no way to tell.” He dragged a hand through his hair. His eyes pleaded with you to believe him but you saw no reason why you should.
“Tough luck,” You remarked. He was lying. He had known. You were sure of it.
Kol leaned his head against the door frame. “What is it that you want me to say, love?”
You frowned, huffing. “The truth sounds good righta’ bout now.”
“You want the truth?” Kol sighed, shaking his head. His mouth pulled down at the corners in a grimace and he dragged his lip through his teeth, tossing his hands in the air. “Fine then… Fine! The answer is yes! Is that it? Is that what you want?” He demanded. His eyes were wild but his voice was thin. “You want to hear how selfish my venture to find you was? Want me to tell you what a cruel and evil monster I am? Is that what you’re so desperate to hear? I was drawn to this area because I could sense your power, alright? I admit it!" He cried. "I knew what you were but I had no true understanding of what a banshee’s magic was capable of! I had no idea what you would do to me! There’s only been two banshees ever recorded in supernatural history and I was curious. I didn't want to hurt you, darling; I never wanted to hurt you…” Something in his chocolate eyes turned oddly cold and he shrugged. “I wanted to study you.”
There was the truth you’d been searching for. Chrissy had been right, hadn’t she. You were nothing to him. You might as well have been livestock - a sheep or a rat.
“Study me?” You seethed. “Like some lab rat?”
“Yes! Exactly like a lab rat!” Kol hissed through clenched teeth. “You know why? Because I was dead and nothing - nothing - in the whole bloody world mattered anymore! I was murdered, yet my family forgave the culprits and forgot about me!"
“Oh, cry me a river, ya big baby!” You sassed. “Life sucks and then you die! That’s how it works. I.E. grow the frick-frack up!”
“Oh, you’re one to talk,” He spat, rolling his eyes. “Look at yourself, drinking your problems away - you’re no better than I am! When I first saw you, do you want to know how disappointed I was? You were nothing extraordinary - just some girl with no bloody clue what she was or what she was in for.”
That hurt more than you'd been prepared for. The alcohol didn't dull the pain.
“Then why’d you bother sticking around?” You asked quietly.
“Well honestly, I had nothing else better to do.” He laughed but it was humorless. "So I watched you. I did; I watched you and I lusted after everything you had, because it wasn't fair that you got the power to come back and I didn't. Then you had to come and tell me off and suddenly, for the first time in my life - for the first time in one thousand bloody years - I wasn’t invisible!” Kol’s mind seemed to catch up with his mouth a second later and his expression softened. “You saw me. You talked to me and it was like magic because all at once I would have done anything to please you.”
“Really?” You scoffed. “You ruined my life because you wanted attention?”
“Stop that,” He muttered. Kol’s fist collided with the door frame and the wood split with a crack. You jumped at the sudden display of violence but shrugged a moment later. So what if he tore your house down? You wouldn’t be spending much longer here anyway, regardless of what happened next. Kol took a breath - to his credit, he was at least trying not to be angry with you. “Stop blaming your circumstances on me, Y/N. You’re upset and looking for someplace to pin that guilt, but your father’s death was not my fault. None of this is my fault!”
“Isn’t it?” You droned.
“No. In fact, I think you should be thanking me,” He said. “Are you aware of just how many witches on the Other Side came here seeking your power? Dead witches can still access their magic, darling. If it wasn’t for me then you would have been in this exact position only much, much sooner, except you would have gone through it alone. Don’t you get it, love?” The boy leaned forward meaningfully. “I protected you.”
“Is that supposed to make it better?” You sneered mockingly. “The only person I’ve ever really had is dead, but it’s all good, ya’ know? I’m just supposed to be right as rain because Kol Mikaelson chose to save the day!”
His eyes darkened. “That is not what I said.”
You rolled your eyes and kicked the bottle at your feet towards him. It bumped against his knee but he made no move to touch it. You had nothing more to say to him. What were you supposed to say? He’d clearly just been trying to manipulate you this whole time and as loathe as you were to admit it, his tactic had worked like a charm.
“Y/N?” Kol called your name softly.
You snarled. “What?”
“I never wanted to hurt you,” He promised.
“Oh, no! ‘Course not!” You waved a hand dismissively but your voice dripped with sarcastic venom. “You jus’ wanted to manipulate me! Make me love you so you could drain every last drop of magical puppet potion from my veins ‘cuz you wanted to be a real boy again. Nothin’ wrong with that.”
Kol clenched his teeth. “For once in your life, Y/N, could you please stop it with the know-it-all attitude and just listen?” He stressed.
“Eh… No.”
“I am telling you the truth.”
“Don’t much care.” You shrugged. “You were never really my friend. Don’t see why I should do diddly-squat for you.” You threw your head back and laughed, wincing a little as your skull hit stainless steel. The alcohol dulled the pain pretty quick.
He sighed and shook his head. Then, picking up the bottle you had discarded at his feet, Kol raised his wrist to his lips and his eyes went dark and he sank his teeth into his own flesh before holding the wound over the bottle’s opening to bleed. There was still enough alcohol left for his blood to diffuse within it. He screwed the cap back on and rolled the bottle back over. It hit your foot and you grimaced
"Drink that," He commanded.
You raised your eyes from the bottle to his own, lifting a brow slowly. "Imma drunk stupid, nott’a stupid drunk," You replied.
"Do it or I'll make you, and I guarantee you won't like that very much." His eyes were hard. Like coal. Ha ha ha and that still wasn’t funny.
Begrudgingly, you swiped up the bottle and took a sip. The liquid burned your throat and tasted like pennies and the whole experience was downright unpleasant. You felt tingly for a moment afterwards, but what followed was infinitely worse.
Instantaneous sobriety.
Honestly, you didn’t feel all that different. You were still hurting and depressed, it was just stronger now. All that alcohol had done was mush those messy emotions down to stop you from crying your eyes out. The feelings were back with a vengeance, which was gross but at least you didn't have a hangover. You leveled your spectral companion with a hard look.
"There was a reason I was drinking," You grumbled, rubbing your eyes. You could feel the tears coming already.
"Believe me, darling, I'm well aware," He hummed.
You sighed, staring at him for a moment. "So did you ever really care about me as a person, or was it only because of what I am?"
He raised a brow. "Do you really think I would be trying this hard to restrain myself from ripping out your throat if I didn't adore you with all my heart?"
"You're an excellent liar, Kol," You said, chuckling as you wiped at the tears that hadn’t stopped streaming down your face since you’d found your father dead. You couldn’t stop them, the tears just kept on coming. "For the life of me, I just can't tell what's real with you."
He nodded and you knew your words hurt him. But he took a deep breath and kept on trying.
He lowered his gaze, playing nervously with his hands in his lap. “I suppose I haven't given you much of a reason to believe me. All I ever do is take from you, I have nothing to give. But, darling, I don’t think you understand what it's like over there - on the Other Side," He murmured, shaking his head. “It’s a nightmare. Every dead supernatural being is trapped there, stirring in their own hate, cannibalizing each other for it. I dragged my essence to this side of the veil to find you. Once I had, I didn’t want to go back - I couldn’t go back - to that hell. But being on this side of the veil nearly drove me insane too. Do you have any idea how lonely it is to sit in a room full of people and not be seen by a single one? No one knows you're there; you can scream and scream and scream and no one will ever hear you." His expression was twisted into a grimace, but he picked at the grout of the tiles he knelt on and his voice could only sound tortured. "Being invisible will drive you mad, but that's not even the worst part. As a ghost, you can't touch anything in the living world; you can touch objects on the Other Side but you can't feel them. There's no sensation - no hot or cold, firm or soft, no pleasure, no pain - only infinite nothing.
"You can't sleep. You can't eat. All you can do is watch everyone else have everything you can't," He said. Then he sighed, shrugging. "I understand that it’s pathetic - that it’s weakness, but I just-” You caught the flick of his eyes through his lashes as they darted towards the pool of crimson liquid just a few feet off to your right. He shifted away from it just slightly and curled in on himself a little more. "I just couldn't stand to be alone anymore," He admitted.
“I was door number three,” You surmised, nodding. The tears in your eyes kept falling.
“You were my door number three,” He agreed. “And I wasn’t trying to manipulate you, though I realize now that’s what it must seem like. I just… couldn’t let go.”
“So it was selfish,” You concluded.
Kol looked up at you through his lashes. Right then, he looked just like the loving boy you’d fallen in love with a year ago. “It was selfish,” He confirmed. The corner of your mouth twitched.
That was what you’d wanted to hear from him. You were right! So why did knowing it hurt that much more? Knowing for sure was supposed to make it feel better, but it didn’t. You were falling all apart and putting yourself back together was beginning to seem less and less likely. What else could you do but bow your head and cry?
Then Kol added, “At first.”
Your head snapped up and you stared at him with wide eyes and an aching soul. He smiled something of a crooked boyish smile and even though it was only half-hearted and a little bit sheepish in a sort of cocky way, you couldn’t help what came next.
You scrambled off the kitchen floor and threw your arms around his neck, tackling him in what you intended as a hug though your grip on him was probably tight enough for it to be considered a headlock. Kol caught you with a muffled noise of surprise and very nearly fell over backward because of it. His whole body stiffened, his fingertips digging into your arms, but you didn’t care. You just held him tighter.
“Why can’t I ever tell if you’re lying to me?” You demanded in a hoarse whisper. Your throat was raw from the stinging alcohol and all the tears you’d tried to swallow.
“Because I don’t lie to you,” He answered. His voice was strained as his chin rested on your shoulder. “I may bend the truth a bit, but I’ve never lied to you. Not once.”
“Promise?” You pressed. Kol was silent.
Why wasn’t he answering?
Why wasn’t he answering?
Before you could make another move, the world around you shifted and blurred. Your back hit something soft and you blinked, looking up. Kol hovered over you, a relaxed and playful grin spread across his face.
“I promise,” He said, pushing a stray lock of hair from your face. His thumb caressed your cheek and you raised a brow, opening your mouth to ask, but the boy leaned down and kissed you before you could. “I had to get out of that room, darling,” He murmured into your mouth. “It was driving me crazy.”
“My bad,” You chuckled. “That was pretty stupid.”
“In your defense, you were drunk.”
“Well, drunk-me is pretty stupid.”
“She is indeed.” He nodded. You gasped mockingly and Kol pecked your lips again, grinning. “Don’t tell her I said that though.”
“I think she overheard you.”
Kol pouted and lowered himself so he could nuzzle into your neck. His lips skimmed the column of your throat, leaving careful kisses that you couldn't help but relax into. Your hand found its way into his silky soft hair and you carded your fingers through it, grinning lazily when you felt him shiver and squeeze you tighter. Kol hummed sweetly in contentment, biting your shoulder gently with only blunt teeth. You gasped and tried not to think about his hand slowly exploring more of you than he'd ever touched before.
"Kol," Your voice was weak and breathy. "Don't go starting something you can't finish."
"I'm not," He mumbled, smoothing his palm along the base of your ribcage. "This is alright, though… isn't it?" His touch was hypnotic, lulling you into a sense of security as his lips brushed over your collar bone.
You nodded and your eyes fluttered closed. "Mm hmm… yeah."
"Good." He left a kiss at the hollow of your throat before pressing one more against your cheek. His eyes were liquid amber as he stared down at you, caressing your cheek with a faint smile. "I love you, Y/N. I really do," He said softly. "One day I'll prove it to you and you'll never have to doubt it again."
"M'kay." You smiled. "I love you too… idiot." The boy laughed.
A moment later, Kol's lips met yours and it wasn't like any kiss you'd shared with him before. All the other times and been sweet and playful and though they had been their own sort of special, this one blew them all away. Kol kissed you like a slow dance; it was elegantly affectionate, fetchingly attentive to your every movement, and intimate without being overly lustful. You could picture yourself in a ballroom, spinning to some silent song, but at the same time you wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. A pleasant warmth spread out from your chest as he tenderly deepened the kiss, drawing a soft moan from you. Kol made you feel like a princess.
The tension in your muscles eased and you just relaxed, letting Kol kiss you. His hands roamed your body - feeling, petting, and occasionally squeezing - but never in a way that strayed outside your comfort zone. Little by little, his touches soothed away the fear, the anger, and the sadness weighing in your bones. Those feelings didn't go away completely, but that was alright, because he was there with you and he always would be. Chrissy had been wrong. Kol Mikaelson was capable of love.
After a while, the boy broke away from you, resting his forehead against your own.
"We should get going," He whispered, combing his fingers through your hair. "You're not safe here anymore."
You nodded, opening your eyes to take in his expression. He seemed happy but a little bit sad too.
"Your mother's coming after me, isn't she?" You asked.
"Us, darling," He corrected. "She's coming after us." The boy leaned down to press another kiss against your brow. "But I won't let her hurt you. She'll never even come close, I promise."
"Where will we go?" You wondered. With a dead-undead-dead witch after you, would anywhere truly be safe? Kol sighed.
"As loath as I am to admit it, I think our best chance lies in New Orleans."
"New Orleans?" You questioned. "But didn't you say your family is there?"
He nodded. "I did."
You bit your lip. "Kol, not to be rude, but I'm not sure if I really wanna grab your family's attention."
They were a bunch of superpowered mass murderers after all. Yes, Kol was just as guilty as the rest of them, but he was your mass-murderer. You couldn't say the same of the rest of his family.
"I'm not exactly chomping at the bit for a family reunion either, love," He admitted, grimacing just a bit. Kol moved off of you and sat up, pulling you with him. "But our best hope of finding a permanent way to ensure my mother never harms you is to do so with their support. I may hate Klaus, but he is a strategic genius. Besides, if Christianna really is a member of the Strix then we'll have to deal with those lunatics too and, unfortunately, Elijah is the only one who can call his hounds off the hunt." He shrugged. "Best to get to him sooner rather than later."
"Okay." You took a shuddering breath and forced a smile. "Still, New Orleans is miles away," You pointed out. "Are you sure we can get there before…"
Kol placed his hands on your arms, looking you in the eyes. "No one is going to hurt you. I won't let them. Besides, you are more capable of fending for yourself than you believe."
You sent him an incredulous look. "You're kidding me, right?"
"No, I'm not."
"Kol, I can't do the screaming thing on command!" You insisted.
He shrugged. "I can teach you."
You bit your lip, nodding. "Sure, sure... And what do you know about being a Banshee?"
Kol opened his mouth to reply but shut it rather quickly, pausing for a moment to re-think his answer. "Alright, admittedly nothing. But, I have spent one thousand years - give or take a century - studying magic and the past two years figuring out how the Other Side works. So, between the two of us, we should be able to figure it out."
You raised your eyebrows. "That's gotta be the least reassuring thing I've heard all day."
"It'll be fine!"
"I'm not betting on that," You said. "Either way, taking care of my, er, condition can wait. We still gotta figure out how we're gonna get to New Orleans, cuz I don't have the money to book a flight."
A sly smirk spread across Kol's lips. "I might know someone who'd be willing to take us," He said with an innocent tilt of his head.
That statement sent alarm bells chiming through your brain.
"Just who exactly are we talking about?"
The boy simply grinned. "This is where that condition of yours comes in."
"What?"
A few moments later, you stood on the sidewalk in front of your house. You had stuffed your school bag with anything you might need for the next few days and you wore it on your back, tugging nervously on the straps.
"This is a terrible, terrible, idea," You announced, grimacing at the thought of using your powers again.
"You need to have more faith in yourself." Kol smirked.
"No thanks, I'm good."
He rolled his eyes. "Alright, so what did you do to access your power last time?"
You thought about it for a moment. "I felt all tingly, I guess?"
"Okay, so focus on that and do what comes naturally."
You bit your lip and glanced around, there were ghosts lining the evening streets. They were all simply going about their business, doing whatever it is that ghosts do, seeming mostly unaware of you as they did.
"These other ghosts-" You asked quietly. "- can they see us?"
"No," Kol answered, shaking his head. "Ghosts are like people - we can only see the plane of existence where the largest portion of our essence currently resides. Therefore a ghost on the Other Side can only see the Other Side, whereas a ghost on this side of the veil can see only the living world."
"So why can I see both you and them?"
He shrugged. "You're a Banshee," He replied. "As I said before, you effectively straddle the line between living and dead and thus can see both worlds. Currently, the majority of your essence is concentrated on this side, but once you cross over the dead will be able to see you."
You nodded. "Well, that's not scary at all." The boy chuckled and you frowned. "But what about you?"
He waved a hand. "Your blood wore off while we were making out so I'll be able to cross over with you just fine."
"Okay…" You were out of excuses.
"Just focus, Y/N," He encouraged softly. "This is in your nature, just let it happen."
You closed your eyes and sighed, wringing out your hands. Focusing on the ghosts you could feel standing all around you - and you realized then that, yes you could feel them - you opened yourself up to the energy surrounding them. The sensation started in your fingertips. It felt like the frosty waves that radiate from a block of ice when you hold your hands close to its surface. Like a creeping rime, the unnatural chill swept through your arms, creeping along your skin to encase your entire body. Every instinct you had demanded that you flinch away from it, anything to break off the connection, but you ignored all of them and kept pulling.
You could feel the chasm separating the two worlds - an ocean of endless blackness that both isolated and connected not only the world of the living and the Other Side, but every strange and unseen shore of infinite realms yet to be explored. You could sense them out there; the multiverse and all its power and this void that flowed between them. You were one with it. Something in you yearned to explore that vast expanse - to escape what had become your reality and travel anywhere else - but you pushed that feeling away. You could never leave Kol behind, you had sworn you wouldn't abandon him, so within that 4-D ocean of space and time you focused on the island that must have been the Other Side.
For one thing, it was the closest to the plane of existence you had just come from. The Other Side was like a boat moored to a dock. It kept attempting to drift away and float freely in the black ocean but it was as though there were magical chains keeping the realm tethered down. You guided yourself along those chains until you reached their end. When your form felt solid again, you opened your eyes.
The world around you was the same in some aspects. You were standing on your street, in front of your house but that was where the similarities stopped. The sky above was bleak and eerie, the moon hung full and looming in the sky but there were no stars. Everything was blanketed in a thick greenish fog that obscured your vision. You felt isolated and alone in the mist, yet you could feel the eyes of a multitude of ghosts trained on you and it made your skin crawl as you caught glimpses of their shadowy forms. The whole world reeked of death - of rotting flesh and burning corpses - it made you want to empty your stomach, but you realized with a start that you couldn't.
"Very good, darling. That trick took me months to master."
You jumped at the sudden voice piercing the silence, whirling around. Behind you stood Kol in all his undead glory - eyes dark, fangs out, and a hole in his chest exposing a mutilated heart. Though you'd seen him this way once before, you couldn't help the scream that clawed itself from your throat. Luckily, Kol reacted significantly faster this time, clapping his hands over his ears just before any damage could be done.
You slapped your hands over your mouth quickly, eyes wide.
"What on earth was that for?!" He demanded incredulously, dropping his hands.
"Sorry!" You peeped. "You just surprised me."
His expression was priceless but you tried your best not to laugh. "Bloody hell woman! You're going to be the death of me."
"Pretty sure I'm too late for that," You muttered under your breath.
He raised a brow. "Funny."
"Thanks, I-" You cut yourself off with a gasp as your gaze was drawn to the building behind him. The walls of your home began to fade away, becoming translucent until they disappeared completely, replaced by a visage of grand trees with long, looming branches. You glanced around at the rest of your street to find it changing as well. Time seemed to turn back on itself as the tarmac road shifted into one paved with cobblestone and the electric street lamps that accosted the sidewalk were lit by candle light once more. You gripped your ghost's sleeve, stepping a little closer to him just to be safe. "Kol? What in the Sam Hill just happened?" You asked, eyes wide.
"Hmm?" The boy didn't seem bothered. "What are you talking about?"
"I mean, why does my street suddenly look like we just Somewhere in Time-ed?"
"Oh, you mean the decor?" He pried your hand's white-knuckle grip from his sleeve and brought it to his lips. The gesture did little to comfort you. "It's nothing to worry about."
"Well, I'm worried so get talking," You said, unable to keep your eyes from darting all around at the other ghosts lining the sidewalks.
He regarded you for a moment before seeming to make up his mind. "I suppose we have a moment. Come, sit." The boy tugged you along as he moved to sit on the curb. You sat beside him and he angled himself towards you so your knees were touching. "Ready for a crash course in being dead?" He asked with a cheeky grin.
You made a face. "Ready as I'll ever be."
"Good answer." He smirked. Kol rubbed his hands together eagerly and you had to admit to being just a little bit scared. "Alright! Before I start, I want you to take everything you know about reality -" You nodded slowly. "- and toss it out the metaphorical window because I guarantee you it does not apply here."
You blinked. "Yeah, okay." Kol grinned and as he started talking, you could see a gleam in his eyes that you hadn't before. This was his passion - best you listen.
"The Other Side is an odd place, even as far as alternate dimensions go. Here, the concepts of space and time aren't as concrete as they are in the world of the living. For one thing, they're just like everything else in this place - incorporeal, impermanent. See, this reality used to be one of countless others like it, merely a reflection of our own with a few subtle differences, that is until a witch decided that she wanted to use it as a safety net for her revenge plot. She cast a spell that anchored this reality to the living world and designed it as a sort of catch-all for any being touched by magic, ensuring we never find peace." He sent you a tight smile.
"So that's why I couldn't see my dad?" You wondered. "Because he found peace and you couldn't?"
Kol nodded. "A veil similar to the one that keeps the living from seeing this realm, prevents souls like my own from finding the light." He explained. "Now, we're all trapped - doomed to wander this breach between worlds for all eternity." The boy turned his gaze outward into the shifting mists and the ghosts wandering aimlessly within them. A frown marred his lips and he began twisting one of the rings on his left hand. He sighed heavily. "Bloody hell, I hate it here. It's not right. Werewolves, vampires, and witches alike - they all come here when they die, even those that never discovered their abilities… children. They're all trapped here with monsters and murderers." Kol shook his head, muttering a curse under his breath. You reached out to touch his arm gently and he glanced up, offering a faint smile that was heartfelt if not entirely genuine. He took a breath and continued.
"Anyway, in order to be so close to the living plane, this place has been pulled out of orbit, so to speak. It doesn't want to be here nor does it want to interact with the living world at all, thus it tends to drift, which renders the laws of reality a little bit bendy to anyone with enough power. Time has no lasting effect and space can be molded to fit one's needs, or more specifically, your needs." He paused to waggle his brows at you. "This is where it gets fun," He promised. "There are a few things in the cosmos that make beings powerful. One of which is age and another is miracles - you're the latter. Your power is… intense yet ambient. It's a part of the two worlds you walk in, and with time, I think I can teach you to mold both realms to your desires."
Your brows pulled together and you nodded, still trying to wrap your head around that. "So, you're saying that as this place drifts further from the living plane, its appearance fluctuates through time?"
"Something like that, yes." He grinned. "Good to see you're catching on."
"Is it like a pendulum, with things looking more modern as it gets closer to the living world?" You wondered. " Or is it just kinda random?"
Kol shrugged. "I'm sure there is a pattern, but it seems mostly random from what I've observed," He said. "I think you're partially right. Time here does behave like a pendulum but at random times - most likely whenever a new soul crosses the gap, as you did earlier."
"Oh…" You nodded. "That's cool. But the thing with space that you were talking about…"
"Yes?"
"Is that how you teleport?" You asked, talking with your hands. "You just cross over, fold space up how you want it, then cross back?"
"Precisely." His grin grew wider. "Would you like to try it?"
You shook your head vigorously. "What? No! I don't know how!"
"No better time to learn!" Kol pulled you to your feet and pointed into the distance. "You see the end of the street?"
You had to squint through the fog, though it didn't help much with visibility. "Barely."
Kol stood behind you, placing his hands on your shoulders. "I want you to imagine that the end of the street is right in front of you, though how you do that is your decision. Personally, I like to imagine myself folding a piece of paper and taking a step but I've spoken to other ghosts who picture themselves jumping a gap."
"Okay." You bit your lip and wrung your hands. "Here goes nothing."
You closed your eyes and pictured your hands scrunching up the land between you and the end of the sidewalk, bunching it like an accordion, then you hopped forward. When your feet hit the ground, you opened your eyes and grinned. You were standing exactly where you had pictured. You turned around and pumped your fists in the air.
"I did it!" You called back to Kol.
"Excellent job, love!" He shouted. "Now come on back!"
You could have done that… but you decided to try something else. In your mind, you scrunched up the sidewalk between the two of you again but instead of crossing the distance, you reached across it. You pictured yourself grasping onto Kol's arms and tugging him forward.
Your eyes snapped open as you heard the boy cry out, a spark of panic ripping at your lungs. Kol's hands shot out, gripping your clothes as he stared at you with surprise. He glanced over his shoulder at where he'd previously been standing, then back at you and a bright grin stretched across his face.
"Never thought to try that before," He laughed, brushing out the wrinkles he'd made in your jacket. You couldn't help but grin as well. "But before you get any ideas, you're not taking us to New Orleans."
Your face fell. "Why not?!" You demanded. "Jumping the street was easy, I'm like ninety percent sure I could do that at least a couple more times without killing us!"
"I know, and I'm very proud of you," Kol said, smirking just a little bit at your eagerness. "But there's a bit of a difference between jumping the street and jumping to New Orleans." He pulled you closer and kissed your forehead, wrapping his arms around you. "I love you, darling… but I'm not sure how much trust I have in these newfound abilities of yours."
You shrugged. "Fair enough. I assume that means you have a ride?"
"Better!" He declared. "I have a friend!"
You stiffened at that. As much as you loved that boy, his personality didn't inspire much confidence in the sort of friends Kol would attract. "What kind of friend exactly?"
"The best kind, of course! The kind that owes me money!" His brows furrowed. "Not to mention six cows, I think… and a pig… four chickens… two horses… his firstborn…"
You blinked. "What kind of person-"
"A gambling addict," Kol answered, completely straight-faced. You were vaguely curious whether he was exaggerating or not. He pointed around the corner. "Here he comes now."
Glancing where he pointed, you squinted in an effort to see past the mists, though your eyesight was still much inferior to his so you heard what was coming before you saw it.
Hoofbeats pounded against the cobblestone street and you felt the color drain from your face.
"Kol?"
"Yes, darling?" He hummed. There was a certain smugness to his tone.
"Please tell me that's not -"
"Oh, but it is."
You caught sight of the glowing eyes first. They pierced the mist, followed by the massive black bodies that housed them. Horses as black as the night drew behind them an ominous black coach, driven by a driver you knew could only have been stark raving mad. The whip in his hand cracked, driving the horses to scream as they rounded the bend at breakneck speed. Two of the carriage's wheels left the street and you ducked on reflex, convinced that the whole thing would topple but it didn't. The wheels slammed back down with a roauctious crash and the driver laughed, throwing his head back as he tugged on the reins and his horses skidded to a dead halt.
Kol gripped your hand and tugged you down the street and you followed reluctantly.
"Francis!" He called as he strolled into the driver's view. "So good to see a friendly face. How've you been, mate?"
The man with the coach pulled a pipe from his mouth and squinted down at the both of you. His face was haggard and both his bone white hair and beard were wildly unkempt, frizzing about his face as though he'd been struck by lightning. Sticking out of his chest, you could see the broken odds and ends of ribs - a sight which would have heavily encouraged your gag reflex if only you were capable of gagging. You just shuddered instead.
"Bless my soul…" The man remarked quietly. "It really is you. I'd heard rumors but I never believed 'em. You know, I told em', I says: 'the ole' bat's too clever to wind up 'ere!' Guess I was wrong!" Francis threw his head back and laughed obnoxiously. His teeth were rotted and black.
"Indeed," Kol said with a tight smile. "Well, I don't intend to be here much longer. That being said, how fast can you take me and my companion to New Orleans?"
The grimy man snorted. "Eh, ten minutes or so. Why? Who's the bint?"
Kol glared at him. "She's not someone you will continue insulting, Francis," He ground out between clenched teeth. His arm wrapped around your waist tightly. "She's mine, that's all you need to know. If anyone asks around, you'll tell them you have no idea where we went. Savvy?"
"As yeh say, me'lord." Francis shrugged, jabbing his thumb at the coach. "Climb on back, the ride's here for you's is free… damn your good cardsmanship."
"A pleasure doing business with you, Franny." Your ghost said with a smirk. He turned to you. "Well, you heard the man, climb on up."
"I'm not getting in that thing,* You stated firmly.
"Come now, darling. It's perfectly safe!'
You raised a brow. "Kol, in case you forgot, I died in a car crash. I'm not about to die twice because I let this mad-man drive me anywhere!"
Kol waved a hand. "Oh please! Francis has been driving a cab since…" He paused, turning back to the driver. "Help me out here, mate."
"Fifteen sixty three," The man answered gruffly.
"Since fifteen sixty three!" He parroted, throwing the door to the carriage open and climbing in. "Besides, it's impossible for anyone to die here. You'll be fine." He offered you his hand. You eyed it for a moment before making a really stupid decision.
"I'm going to regret this," You muttered as you took his hand and let him pull you inside. The seats of the coach were upholstered with fine red leather and a lanturn hung from the roof. Your ghost shut the door behind you as you sat in the seat across from him, fidgeting worriedly.
"Please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times, and if you feel the urge to scream…” The driver up front cracked his whip and a lazy grin pulled at Kol's lips, “- try really hard not to.”
You swallowed thickly and he just chuckled.
“I got’s tuh’ get outta ter' city before we’s can getta goin’,” Francis shouted back as the horses began to move. The coach shot forward with a jerk and you tried to focus on anything else, your fingernails digging into your knees with your effort to keep from leaping out of that death-trap contraption.
You eyed Kol who sat there, completely relaxed as he watched you with some amusement. His entire appearance was still incredibly upsetting, but if that was the way he had died then there really wasn’t anything that he could do about it.
“It’s really not my best look, is it?” The boy joked, catching onto your stare. “Sorry about that, love.”
“No, no… It’s fine.”
You couldn’t remember how you had died. All you knew was that a car had collided with your own and you had blacked out. So, what would you look like in this hellscape?
Glancing down at your lap, you inspected your hands. Aside from giving off that same haunting green glow that Kol’s skin did, yours seemed mostly the same. The window next to you was reflective enough to show you what you couldn’t see, but you dreaded looking at it. You knew that you probably should, if only so you could face what had really happened, but that knowledge didn’t make acting on it any easier. Drumming your fingers on your knees, you drew in a breath and turned your head slowly.
“You don’t have to look if you don’t want to.” Kol’s voice was gentle and it made you pause. If you didn’t know better, you would think the boy could read your mind. His hand came to rest comfortingly on your knee. “You don’t have to face this all at once. I know it’s a lot and it’s alright if you want to take it slow.”
“That bad, huh?” You asked, smiling wryly.
He didn’t blink. He didn’t hesitate for a moment.
“I’ve always thought you beautiful, darling,” He said. “But if that were all of you that I valued, then I would have been on my way a long time ago.”
You smiled. Maybe he really meant that.
The passenger window was rimmed with frost but you could see your reflection clearly enough when you turned your head. The first thing you noticed was your hair. Your naturally H/C hair was now a shocking, pure white. It was whiter than fresh snow and it flowed around your head as if suspended in water - as if frozen in time, mid-impact. Your eyes next were bloodshot. Not just bloodshot, but bleeding. Multiple blood vessels in your eyes had ruptured, rendering the whites nearly scarlet, and some of the blood had spilled over, slipping down your face as crimson tears. Similarly, a trail of blood trickled from the corner of your mouth and nose. You couldn’t taste the blood in your mouth but more seemed to dribble down your chin every time you moved your lips, like a never ending fountain. Your neck was marred with lacerations and broken pieces of glass but what really stood out was the stain on your shirt. Just beneath your rib cage, bloomed an ugly red stain. Your fingers brushed the mark.
“In case you’re curious -” Kol voiced. “- That would be the rather large fragment of shrapnel that embedded itself in your back and severed your spinal cord, ending your life before you could feel it.”
“Oh…” You nodded, voice weak if it was even there at all. “Well, that’s gonna give me nightmares, but uh… okay.” Turning away from your reflection, you took to playing with your hair in an attempt to repress the onslaught of imagery flashing behind your eyes. The carnage of that car accident right before you’d died played through your head on a seemingly endless loop and you buried your face in your hands. Kol’s grip on your knee tightened. He had been right before, when he told you about what it’s like on the Other Side. You could feel the pressure of his fingertips on your knee, but you couldn’t feel anything else. He wasn’t warm, his hands weren’t soft. He was touching you, but it wasn’t fulfilling in any way. You peeked up at him through your fingers.
“It’s okay if you’re not alright,” He said, offering you a small smile. “Heaven knows I wasn’t. If you want to talk about it, you know I’ll always listen.”
You wiped at your eyes and shook your head, clasping your hands in front of you. “It’s okay, Kol. I’ll be fine. Unfortunately, I’ll also be a freaking horror show, but I will be fine!”
His adorable half-smile was exactly what you needed to see at that moment. “Well, if you expect me to lie and say you’re the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen at this particular moment… I’m not going to.”
You snorted. “Good, because if you did, I wouldn’t believe you.”
“I know. Yet another reason why I love you.” He smirked. “But hey, look on the bright side. You only have to look like this when you’re here and when you scream.”
“When I scream too?” You groaned. “How is that the bright side?”
“Well, Francis here has to look this ugly all the time,” He replied jovially.
Up front, the driver shouted, “Very funny tha' is! We’ve reached speed, ya’ manky migin’ cad!”
Kol glanced up, straightening. “Is it that time already?” He shrugged and grabbed the overhead handrail, glancing back to shoot you a smirk. “I would hold onto something if I were you.”
“Wait, what?” You asked, confused and just a little worried.
“Well, we’re about to run through a brick wall.”
“WHAT?” You peered out the window to see the wall of one of your college’s dorms approaching fast. Your eyes flew wide and you gripped the edges of your seat in a white-knuckle grip.
Kol grinned. “Relax, darling! We’ll be fine, just think happy thoughts.”
You screamed instead.
The black horses in front of the carriage didn’t slow. They charged towards the building at full speed and you watched in a mixture of horror and amazement as the street in front of you stretched and contracted. Suddenly, you were inside the building. Your stomach dropped as you watched furniture and doors pass through your body. The mad driver of the phantom coach threw his head back, laughing boisterously and Kol joined in a moment later. The horses picked up more and more speed and your surroundings began to blur until you had left the dormitory behind and the scenery outside became nothing more than a slew of colors rushing past your window. Sickly shades of green and black were all you could see.
Before you had any time to react, the carriage lurched to a halt, throwing you unceremoniously into the ghost-boy’s lap. You groaned and he just chuckled, rubbing your back.
“That was fun, don’t you think?”
You drove your elbow into his gut. “No.”
He just snickered and helped you out, smirking when you purposely stepped on his foot. You knew he couldn’t feel any sort of pain here, but it made you feel better anyway.
“Welcome to N’awlins, me’Lord!” The coach driver wheezed, lighting his pipe anew as you stepped from the carriage.
Kol frowned. “You couldn’t have taken us further in?” This must have been the outskirts of the city's historic portion. You could only guess, however, seeing as the Other Side liked to change.
“An’ risk them crazy VooDoo queens hexin’ my ass?” Francis laughed though it sounded more like a cough. “No thank yeh! Dis bein’ as far as ye go.”
“Very well.” The boy sighed. “Thank you, Francis.”
“Not like I had much’uva choice, ya’ swine-headed git!” The crazy guy snorted and spat, clenching his pipe between his teeth. “Ter’ Misses sends her regards ter' ye’. Oh, an' o' couple of us ole' codgers get together at Buckin'ham fer' some Blackjack n’ Baccarat on Tuesdays if ye’ wan’ teh bring yer newest, er… dalliance along.”
Kol perked up. “Baccarat? What time?”
Francis grinned, displaying his set of rotted teeth.. “‘Round four. Let’s see ye try ‘ter cheat at that! HA!”
“I never cheated!” The boy insisted. “You’re just an awful gambler, mate.”
“Eh,” The man rolled his eyes with a grumble. “Have fun stormin’ da castle!” He shouted the gruff farewell over his shoulder as he spurred his horses and they started down the next road.
“TO THE WINCH, WENCH!” Kol bellowed. You scowled at him, and he just grinned, pointing towards the retreating coach. Just before it disappeared into the mists once more, you watched Francis flip him the bird and smirked. The boy nodded, satisfied with the rather unorthodox goodbye. Then he turned to you with a smile. “Come along then, love. Back to the land of the living.”
New Orleans was more beautiful than you expected once you’d crossed back over. The sun shone bright and the streets were alive with music and dancing. It was like something out of a dream except you’d never had a dream with such a high humidity percentage.
You offered Kol your hand but he turned you down.
“My brother has eyes and ears all over this city, darling. If you’re seen with me before we can get to Elijah, then things could get ugly rather quickly,” He said.
“Wait, is this the big, mean hybrid brother or one that controls the Strix?” You asked, glancing around as if you might spot someone tailing you. The idea was highly unlikely, or at least it would have been if your eyes hadn’t met those of a stranger in the crowded streets.
“Actually, it’s both,” He replied. You nodded.
“Uh, huh… and what might a member of the Strix look like, exactly?”
The boy shrugged. “They could look like anyone, really.”
“So like that dude then?” You pointed and Kol followed your finger, catching sight of the stranger who began pushing through the throngs of people towards you.
“Yep.” He nodded. “Definitely like that one.”
“Run?”
“Run!”
You took off. Weaving in between tourists as fast as you possibly could, though that wasn’t very fast because street traffic was slower than cold tar. The man was gaining on you and there really wasn’t much you could do.
“I’m gonna jump!” You said, glancing towards Kol who stood to your left.
“Jump?” He cried, eyes wide. “In New Orleans? Are you insane?”
“Little bit!”
“The ancestors will catch you!”
Naturally, you ignored his warning and crossed anyway. The shadows of the French Quarter enveloped you, but the streets were mostly empty now. You kept running, heart racing, legs pumping. Yet you stopped moving. You looked down with a building sense of dread. It was honestly like something out of a cartoon. As your feet pushed you forward, the ground beneath them drew back. Glancing over your shoulder, you caught sight of a hoard of figures shuffling towards you through the mists. Witches could manipulate the other side too. You cried out as the sidewalk wobbled and twisted, throwing you off balance. Kol appeared beside you and wrenched you to your feet.
“Pick up the pace, love!” He tugged on your arm, pulling you with him as he kept running.
You pointed towards the entrance to a small bar. “Door!”
The boy glanced towards it and nodded. It was a certain dead end and an excellent choke point. Focusing intently, you lunged for the building and ripped yourself away from the Other Side.
Admittedly, you hadn’t gone that far despite having expended a ridiculous amount of energy. Perhaps it would be best to build your magical endurance slowly, you thought as you nearly toppled to the ground. A searing pain slashed through your side and you gasped, stumbling and throwing yourself over the top of the bar. The place was closed during daylight hours. Hallelujah. The cheerful tinkling of the bells tied to the door jam did not match the intimidating figures of the two men dressed like secret service agents in a low-budget movie who stalked towards you. From the back door, two more approached. You hadn't even realized there was a back door, now you were flanked. How magnificent.
“It appears they have us surrounded,” Your ghost noted. Good thing he was there to state the obvious.
“Since when were there four of them?” You demanded, glancing worriedly at Kol who just shrugged.
“Beats me.”
Your eyes flicked between the vampire assassins and you swallowed thickly. “Is now a good time to hold hands?”
“No, I think that might just make things worse,” He mused. “Besides, I can’t fight four Strix members at once while holding onto you.”
“Well ain't that fantastic,” You grumbled.
“You could scream?” He suggested.
“I can’t do that on command, Kol!”
You glanced up as one of the vampires spoke. “Lookit that, boys. She is talking to that raging psychotic, after all.”
You hissed at your mistake. “Crap. Sorry.”
Kol sighed heavily and muttered something that sounded like a string of profanity. You followed his example, spinning in a circle. Keeping a bead on all four guys wasn’t exactly easy when they kept moving. You were panicking. What were they going to do? Were they going to butcher you for your body parts like Kol had said?
A hand caught your wrist and you didn't think. You just screamed.
It was as easy as breathing. It just happened. Nothing more to it.
Just in…
Then OUT.
Your scream was once again silent.
Actually, that’s not quite correct. It was loud. The sound was horrific - an unbearably shrill and positively ear-splitting screech, utterly deafening to all those who could hear it, but such a population would only include vampires and the nearby canine. You heard nothing, but the five vampires surrounding you fell to the ground, clutching their ears. They begged you to stop.
The wail of a banshee was a targeted sound - a frequency designed to hurt, to shake apart whatever enemy you faced. It was instinctual, you realized what you were doing but you weren't sure how you were doing it. You had learned about resonant frequency in your physics class. Every object vibrates on a certain frequency and if something - such as a lapping tide, a stomping foot, or a wave of sound - manages to match that frequency, applying pressure at just the right intervals, the object becomes unstable. It quickly begins to deteriorate, tearing itself apart, disintegrating from the inside out.
Your scream matched itself to the resonant frequency of every object in the building.
Every glass and bottle in the establishment shattered, the wooden shelves they rested on cracked and splintered, raining a curtain of broken glass and slivers onto both you and Kol. He hardly noticed - too busy writhing on the ground, howling bloody murder.
You hadn't meant to hurt him. You hadn't realized you could. He was a ghost, without a body for you to be able to hurt. It didn't make much sense but if you were a breach between worlds then your cry must have been able to harm spirits too. He’d been standing right next to you. He’d taken the worst of your power.
With a gasp, you snapped your mouth shut and dropped to your knees. His shoulders shook and he looked up at you with bloodshot eyes, choking, convulsing.
"No, no, no! Kol, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I-I didn't mean to!" You reached for him.
Something cold and metallic clasped around your wrist and a lock clicked into place.
Kol vanished.
Just like that, he was gone. It felt like your heart stuttered to a stop. Where did he go? Why couldn’t you see him? Was he alright?
“Kol?” You whispered. A searing pain erupted across your back as someone dragged you along the glass covered floor. Another lock clicked and you scrambled upright only to find yourself handcuffed to a table - one that was bolted to the floor. You looked up, shaking with fear and anger and pain. “What-what did you do?” You asked the man who had cuffed you. His ears were bleeding profusely and he just glared down at you.
One of the other vampires struggled to his feet, coughing up blood. “Aww, where's your boyfriend, princess?” He mocked. Anger flared white-hot in your chest.
You whipped your head to face him, teeth grinding. “What. Did. You. DO?!”
All four of your asailents once again dropped. Their ears bled. Their noses bled. They coughed up crimson and their eyes cried scarlet tears, but you weren’t done. No. No, they deserved this. They were murderers. They had taken Kol from you. What if you never saw him again? You weren’t ready to lose him forever!
So you kept screaming… and screaming… and screaming.
Two of the vampires stopped moving. Blood dribbled from their mouths and they didn't cough or twitch. You shut your mouth and whipped around to face the remaining two.
“Where is he?!” You demanded. “Where is he? What did you do? Tell me!”
It wasn’t really your fault they didn’t want to talk. If they had really wanted to, then they would have spoken up past the blood filling their lungs. They chose not to.
You took a deep breath and-
Someone punched you in the throat.
Coughing, you glanced up to see a familiar head of black hair. It was choppy since she’d sheared it off during her fight with Kol. Her eyes were calm, yet they held a hint of concern. You weren’t sure why.
“Y/N, stop it!” She commanded. You couldn’t speak past the shock to your voice box, so you shook your head viciously. It wasn't enough. If they wouldn't give Kol back, then they needed to suffer. She held up a finger to stop you. “No, Y/N! He’s still here and you’re hurting him too!”
That gave you pause, but Chrissy turned away from you, humming to herself as she removed a pair of earplugs. She danced over shattered glasses and splintered tables to the two groaning vampires and stooped down before shoving one hand through each of their chests. Their skins turned ashen and they lay still.
"Piercing a wooden anything through the heart kills a vampire, FYI," She said, answering your question before you could answer it. "Ripping the heart out entirely works too, but that's kinda nasty so I just wear a couple of wooden rings. Telling you that trick is me giving you permission to borrow it so you might want to jot that down."
You watched as she grabbed a napkin and used it to wipe the blood off her hands.
“What are you doing here?” You rasped.
"Saving your rear end and keeping your moral statutes unbroken in the eyes of your nation," She replied smoothly. You frowned, confused. The girl rolled her eyes. "Isn't there some stupid American law about cruel and unusual punishment?"
"Yeah."
She sighed. "It was a joke, you were supposed to laugh."
You glared at her. “Really? You killed my dad! I'm not gonna laugh at your jokes.”
"I didn't kill your father, dorogoy," She chuckled.
"The corpse I had to clean up says otherwise, along with your attempt to kill me," You hissed, not entirely sure where you were pulling this bravery from. You were just sick of being scared. Sick of losing people because of it. "Too bad you suck at your job."
Chrissy sighed. In one smooth movement, she got up, flipped her hair over her shoulder and then spun. Suddenly, you were staring down the barrel of a glock.
“Y/N, my sweet,” She hummed, a pleasant smile plastered across her young face. “What does it tell you when an assassin can’t kill their intended target?”
You blinked, taking a step back. Christianna pulled the trigger.
A sharp click pierced the air… yet, nothing happened.
The girl smirked, lowering the gun. “It tells you they aren’t really trying."
Her statement left you reeling. “What?”
“Podumay ob etom, solnyshko,” She said. You stared, wide eyed and the girl huffed. “Come on, you’re not stupid! Think it through.”
“Y-you weren’t trying to kill me?” You sputtered in disbelief.
“I believe I just said that, no?”
“Well, you could’ve fooled me.”
Chrissy rolled her eyes. “Keep up, girlie. This is me teaching you to fend for yourself. Think: if I wasn’t trying to kill you, and I just killed these two idiots so they couldn’t kidnap you, then what was I doing yesterday?” She asked, posing the question as if to a child. You had been too terrified and distracted yesterday to realize that Chrissy had an accent. It wasn't thick, but it sharpened her words into razorblades. “You’re not gonna survive another day in NOLA if you can’t speed this up.”
You shook your head, just trying to slow your spinning thoughts. “Uh… I dunno, faking my death?”
The girl wet her lips and blinked, nodding slowly. Her expression was one that called you every variant of dim there is to be said. She shrugged. “Actually, I was playing you up so hopefully Aya wouldn’t mess with you for a bit. Unfortunately, she’s insane so that worked about as well as one could expect given this mess.” She kicked one of the corpses with a huff.
You clenched your jaw. “Too bad, can't say I really care. Now, where’s Kol?” You demanded. “You said he’s here. Why can’t I see him?”
“Handcuffs,” She said, pointing. She bent down to inspect the two bodies, looking for something. You directed your eyes to the cuffs on your wrist.
“What about them?”
“They’re magic, duh.”
“Can you get them off?” You asked, trying to maintain your very thin illusion of civility. Chrissy raised a brow, considering you.
“Yeah, sure. Why not?” She wandered over and pinched the locks on either side of the cuffs, snapping the metal as easily as you would a toothpick. “Now, ask our lovely mutual friend how he would have murdered these duraki.”
As soon as you were free, you dashed around the bar and there he was. Kol laid sprawled on the floor, a pool of blood and broken glass surrounding his head. You knelt down by his side. You did this to him.
“Kol?” You called his name quietly. “Kol, are you okay?” He didn’t respond. “Please say you’re okay. I-I didn’t mean to hurt you, I-I just…” You shook your head, blinking back tears. Fighting the urge to touch him was like trying to fight a riptide, but you didn't know if it was safe yet. Someone might be watching. You wanted to touch him more than anything in the world. This was your fault. “Kol, I’m so sorry.”
A pained noise sounded from the back of his throat and your head snapped up. “We’ve got to stop doing this, love,” He groaned. The corners of his lips twitched up and you sighed in relief.
Just then, Chrissy hopped up onto the bar. “Yo, we don’t have time for yall’s romantic crap, okay? We gots to go!" She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. "Now, ask him how he would have killed these dudes.”
Kol shook his head, throwing an arm over his eyes. “I’m not telling her anything,” He stated. You looked up at her again.
“Uh, he’s mad at you.”
“Good for him.” She smiled sickly sweet. “Kol, you're an overgrown toddler and you need to figure out how to let things go. Now, I am trying to help you and your bonnie-lass, not because I like you, but because I might just be the only member of the Strix who is actually loyal to Elijah. I’ve been his personal eyes and ears on the inside for about three or four hundred years now and discovered a while ago that Aya is planning a coup. She wants to break her sire line and, with the entirety of the Strix behind her - save for yours truly - the absolute hag plans to use you and little miss Danny Phantom over here as some big-ass magic batteries. Elijah doesn’t want you to end up tortured for the next millinea and I don’t want Aya’s supiriority complex to reach critical mass. In other words, I’m on your side, stupid!”
Kol rolled his eyes and did the talking hand thing. You had to bite your tongue to keep from laughing and he sighed.
“How lovely," He said, sitting up and rubbing his temples. "Please tell her these words exactly, darling: My dearest little match girl, I couldn't care less whose side you're on. Whether it was part of a stunt or not, your little grudge nearly cost me the love of my life. So as far as I'm concerned, you can shove all of that where the sun don’t shine. Thank you and good day.”
You didn't fail to notice that he referred to you as the love of his life, however, now probably wasn't the time or place to squeal like a little girl about that so you stored it away for later.
You gaped at him. "I'm not gonna tell her that!"
"Why not?" Both the girl and the ghost asked simultaneously.
"I dunno," You deadpanned, shooting the boy a meaningful look. "Maybe I'd just like to keep as many allies as we can get."
"What? I said please." He shrugged.
You frowned. “He says: My dearest little match girl, I couldn't care less whose side you're on. Whether it was part of a stunt or not, your little grudge nearly cost me the love of my life. So as far as I'm concerned, you can shove all of that where the sun don’t shine. Thank you and good day." You held your hands up as if to surrender. "Again those are his words, not mine!"
Chrissy grimaced. “Okay, first of all? That was below the belt. Second, I do not identify with any folktale based on my death, okay? And finally, what part of that whole spiel did you not understand?”
“The part where Elijah gives a damn about me.”
You repeated his words.
“As hard as it is to believe, he’s your brother, moron. He loves you, and I pity him,” She deadpanned. You weren’t about to relay an argument, so you just touched Kol’s wrist.
“Really?” His face contorted into a sneer as he glared up at the black haired girl. “Two years I was dead, Christianna. Two bloody years, and Elijah did nothing! If he lacks the capability to call off his dogs, then I want nothing to do with him,” The boy growled. He stood and wrapped his arm around your shoulders, half to keep you protected and half for his own support. You followed his lead as he made for the door.
“I think you missed the part where I’m not asking,” Chrissy called out.
“I think you missed the part where I don’t care,” He spat over his shoulder.
“I already beat you once,” The girl warned. “Do you really think you’ll stand a chance now? When you’re not doped up on banshee blood?” Kol stopped at the door and Chrissy continued. “I’ve been watching you two for a long time and - I gotta say, psycho - you really almost impressed me. I’ve never seen you hold a con this long. Death must do wonders for one’s patience because damn! It’s almost endearing that you’re too scared to take another bite of her… Too scared to lose it - lose control, lose your one chance, lose your mind - if you do…” She slowly crept around the room to stand about five feet to your right. Your whole body tensed as you heard the soft click of a switchblade. “Wanna see if I can make you?”
Kol pushed you behind him, facing the girl with the knife.
“Don’t you dare,” He threatened slowly.
She gasped mockingly. “Oh, oh! How ‘bout a game? Let’s make it a game!” She laughed. “That’s what you always said to me, isn’t it? Let’s make it a game, Chrissy. They won’t mind, it’s just a game, Chrissy… Oh, and what about my personal favorite? If you just do this one thing for me, you’ll never be cold again, Chrissy - I promise.” Her impression of his voice was disturbing, mostly because of just how chillingly twisted it sounded coming out of her mouth. Those must have been the words he’d used. “Funny, cuz the most depressing folk-tale ever was based off of me and how I froze to death right where you left me.”
Faster than you could blink, she dashed forward and broke both of Kol’s arms, pulling you to the other side of the room where she held a knife to your neck, ready to draw blood.
“No! NO! Don’t do it!” He shouted. Yet she couldn’t hear him. She nudged your knee.
“What’s he saying?”
“He’s saying don’t kill me,” You whispered, trying your best not to breathe and accidentally cut yourself on the knife. Chrissy smirked.
“Gimme one good reason,” The girl hissed. “You know what I want.”
“I’m sorry.” He blurted the words out immediately and surprised as you were, you relayed them as fast as you could. “I’m sorry for what I did to you. It was cruel and-”
“Ah, ah, ah!” She cut both of you off. Staring at the ground rather than in his direction. “Say it like you mean it, darling. Beg me not to make you kill her. She may come back, but you know she’ll never forgive you.”
You could hear his teeth grinding. But he did it.
Kol knelt down, on his knees and he begged for your life.
“I used you, Christianna, and I’m sorry.” You relayed his words. “I’ve never regretted anything more in my existence and that’s the truth. You were innocent - a child - and I hurt you. For that one deed alone, I know I’m doomed to hell.” His breath shook and you could see the tears welling in his eye as he watched you. This is what he’d meant. He’d promised that he would one day prove just how much he loved you. This was it. You nodded to show him that you understood. The boy continued. “But mine is not the fate prepared for you, so just let the girl go, alright? You’re better than me, you always have been. Just let her go.”
You finished his message and awaited her response with baited breath.
Chrissy laughed.
“Well, you’re wrong about one thing,” She said. “I’m not better than you, Kol. I am what you made me… Well, you and Rebekah, that is.”
You squeezed your eyes shut and waited to die. Again. Yet, once again, you didn’t.
“That's quite enough, Christianna. Thank you.”
This voice was different. It wasn't like the assassin's - frigidly playful whilst bordering on unhinged. No, it was collected, polished, and polite; yet it held a distinctly dark and rather deadly edge. Not unlike the blade of a sword.
Across the room from you, Kol's entire body froze. He met your eyes and nodded - a gesture that filled you with dread. He knew that voice.
Chrissy huffed, dropping the knife from your throat. "Buzzkill," She muttered.
From the shadows that sheltered the door at the back of the bar, emerged a tall, dark haired man dressed to the nines. Instantly, you knew this had to be Elijah. The brotherly resemblance gave it away. Though, you had to admit, having the foreknowledge that Elijah was older, you had expected him to be the taller one. Rather, Kol was the tallest by a solid few inches.
"As I recall, I asked you to bring this young lady to me unharmed," Elijah reprimanded, leveling the bounty hunter with a withering stare as he strode across the room as though he owned it.
"I wasn't gonna do anything," She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "What, you think I actually want and/or need your baby brother's validation? Come on! I just love making him squirm… Even if I can’t actually see it." Chrissy shrugged. “It’s a lot more entertaining when I can see it, but oh well!”
"You promised me you would put aside your personal grudges, Christianna," Elijah said, straightening his cufflinks in what Kol had informed you was a deliberate act to appear bored.
"And I did," The girl snorted. "Hence why she's not bleeding. If you failed to specify by what means, then that’s your problem; but you said to keep them here and keep them here I did. You’re welcome!” She smirked and hopped up onto a table to start cleaning her fingernails with a knife.
Elijah sighed and shook his head with a long-suffering expression before turning towards you. "My apologies on behalf of my associate, she can be a bit… enthusiastic."
You rubbed at your throat, nodding. "Yeah, I got that."
He offered you a smile that was nothing more than polite. "I see. Now, not to be rude, but I am in just a slight rush. Might I ask to speak with my brother?"
You flicked your eyes to Kol. He stood slowly and backed away from his older brother, glaring daggers. You pursed your lips. "Sorry, uh… sir. But I don't know if he wants to talk to you."
“I see.” The man nodded and opted to address the air. "Kol, I'm afraid this matter cannot wait as it is one of utmost importance concerning our family."
Kol huffed a laugh but there was nothing happy in it. "Our family? That's rich. What do you want this time, eh?" He said. “Do you and Nik want to use the both of us as the perfect magic battery as well?"
"Our family?" You repeated. "That's rich. What do you want this time, eh? Do you and Nik want to use the both of us as the perfect magic battery as well?"
Elijah’s brow furrowed as he inspected you. Then he seemed to figure it out. His eyes swept across the room, almost anxiously, as though part of him expected Kol’s rage to allow him to manifest from the woodwork.
"It really is you, isn't it?" He chuckled, the beginnings of a smile pulling at his lips. "You know, for a while, there was a part of myself that just couldn't quite bring itself to believe it."
Kol pressed his lips together. Then, slowly, he crossed the room and held his hand out for you to take. You tangled your fingers together and Elijah drew in a sharp gasp, struggling to believe his eyes.
"It's me," Kol said.
Elijah grinned. "Hello, brother."
“Hello, Elijah,” He huffed. The ghost’s lips twisted into a sneer. “Well, that was interesting. Goodbye, Elijah.”
“Daaaaaaang! Death made you salty!” Chrissy cackled from her perch. You glanced back at her and she winked. You couldn’t say you didn’t agree, but you kept that to yourself as Kol tugged you towards the door.
“Kol, wait.”
“No.”
“I said wait!”
“OR WHAT?!” The boy roared, whipping around with a snarl. “What are you going to do? Dagger me? Sorry to say, but you’re a little too late.”
His older brother sighed. “Both our mother and one of the most dangerous and cunning beings alive seek your power and that of this woman. I seek only to ensure your safety - to keep you from eternal torture. Kol…” He opened his arms in an inviting gesture. “Can we not simply talk? Will you not let me help you?”
“No.” He smirked tightly. “No, I won’t.”
“Why?” Elijah pointed. “Is it because of her?”
“Man, I just love being talked about like I’m not here,” You muttered under your breath.
“Join the club, korovka.” Chrissy grinned lazily. “They do that a lot.” You snorted and turned your attention back to the pair of brothers.
Kol drew in a sharp breath. “No, it’s not because of Y/N. It’s because of you.”
“I assure you brother, whatever I have done, you have my word that I will do my best to fix it.”
“You can’t fix it!” He yelled. “You don’t even care to! You don’t care about me! Now, if you can’t call off your dogs, then I want nothing to do with you.” They stared one another down for a moment. “Have a nice life.”
“Kol, you are my brother-”
The boy cut him off with a harsh, biting laugh. "No, I’m not! I never have been and I see that now. I have never been a part of Always and Forever, Elijah. Admit it!”
“That is simply not true.”
“Isn’t it?” He hissed, stalking closer. “You’re a liar, brother. If I was truly part of your little pact, then I would have been there when it was made. But I wasn’t! If I were truly a part of Always and Forever then you, Nik, and Bekah would have decimated the town where I was murdered. But you didn’t!” Kol cried. “You didn’t mourn me! You didn’t avenge me! You did nothing!” How many months had he spent doing this? Yelling and screaming and pleading to be remembered, even though his siblings couldn’t see or hear him? You placed a hand on his arm in an attempt to comfort him. Kol covered it with his own, calming just a bit. “Then what? I come here, and I learn that you knew where I was all along? You could have talked to me - even just once, just to say that you were looking into a way to get me back - but you didn’t. You chose not to. You chose to abandon me.”
“I know,” Elijah said. “And for that I am sorry. There were other matters that demanded my attention, but I did not forsake you as you are so keen to believe. As soon as my contacts alerted me to the creation of a banshee, I immediately sent Christianna to seek this young woman out.” He gestured to you. “I had hoped that, when her powers grew sufficient enough, Christianna might be able to convince Miss. Y/N to resurrect you; however, when I was informed that such a deed was not within her power, I left Miss. Galkin to watch over the both of you while I sought out a more feasible method to bring you back.”
“Good for you.” He shook his head. “You’re too late.”
“I ask nothing of you,” Elijah reasoned. “I only want to help.”
“Well sure, you say that now but every time, it’s the same thing. You or Nik or Bekah, you want a favor so you make all these promises. You promise to be better - to be more tolerant, to listen - then I agree and I do whatever it is and then you turn your back on me! It happens every time. Every single time, Elijah. I hold up my end and you break your word. Every time, I fall for the same old act! Well, not anymore! So, why don’t you just go ahead and do what you do best,” Kol spat. “Leave me alone Always and Forever because I will listen to these platitudes no longer. I don’t want to see you and I don’t want to talk to you! Hell, I don’t want to think about you or about Niklaus or even about Rebekah ever again!”
“Well, that’s too damn bad!” A feminine voice joined the conversation from behind you. The ghost beside you stilled. Then he sighed, hanging his head. He didn’t glance behind him.
“Hey there, Bex,” He said dryly. You peeked over your shoulder to see a gorgeous blonde standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips. Weren’t Kol and his siblings supposed to be one thousand years old? Because science dictates it should be impossible for all of them to be this insanely beautiful. How was that fair?
“Oh, no you don’t, you minging, gormless, narcissistic, smooth-talking, mouth-breathing wanker!” The girl - Rebekah - stomped around the two of you to stand right in front of Kol. In heels, she stood almost level with his chin so naturally he made a point of looking down at her while she shoved an accusatory finger at his chest. “You don’t get to push me away, Kol! Not when I’ve only just gotten you back!” She threw her arms around him, burying her face in his jacket with all the enthusiasm of a younger sister who absolutely adored her partner in crime.
Kol rolled his eyes and returned the hug as much as he could with just one arm. He tried to play at reluctance, but you could tell that he was relieved to see her again. He could claim to hate his little sister, but saying the words would never make them true. “Really?” He sighed, staring blankly at their eldest sibling while he rubbed circles over his sister’s back. “You kept this a secret from her?”
“I didn’t want to get her hopes up for nothing,” He replied with just the suggestion of a smirk.
“I missed you so much, you absolute moron!” Rebekah sniffled, squeezing the poor boy tighter. “You were right about the cure and you were right about Silas, you were right about everything! I should have believed you and I’m sorry! I’m so sorry.” She shook her head and Kol smirked, patting her head. He was enjoying this a little too much.
“It’s okay, Rebekah,” He said. “I forgive you.”
“Really?” Her head shot up.
“Yes, little sister.” He chuckled and pressed a sweet kiss to the crown of her head. “ I can never stay mad at you.”
“So you’ll still let me choose the music at your wedding?”
“Of co-” He blinked. “Wait, when did I say anything about that?”
The blonde grinned. “You didn’t, I was just hoping to slip a commitment in there when you weren’t paying attention.”
“Who said anything about a wedding?” You asked, glancing between them. Rebekah looked up with a mischievous smile that scared you just a little bit. “Also, that insult was the most beautiful I have ever heard.” You added.
“Thank you,” She preened. You sighed a tiny breath of relief but she wasn’t done. “As for the wedding, we’ll have to set a date once we bring my brother back to life for you.”
You felt the color drain from your face. “Say what?”
“Oh, don’t try that.” Rebekah waved a hand. “I’ve seen the pictures.”
“What pictures?” Kol demanded.
“That would be me.” Towards the back of the room, Chrissy raised her hand and both you and Kol turned to stare at her with varying degrees of what the hell? “Twas I who took the stalker photos. I am both unashamed and immensely sorrowful.” She announced, smirking like a very satisfied cat.
You blanched. “Wait a second, just how many are we talking?”
“You know how much a free google photos account gets you?”
You nodded. “Uh, huh…”
“Yeah, like three of those.”
“What? How?!” Kol demanded, equally baffled as you.
Chrissy shrugged. “Well, ya see, I’ve got seventy eight some-odd fake Emails and-”
“No, no,” You cut her off. “How did you take that many?”
“I mean, I had a year,” She said, pointing one of her knives at you. “Plus, stalking yall was kinda my full-time job so I didn’t have much else to do besides compile a wedding album.”
Rebekah nodded enthusiastically. “It's adorable.”
“Stalking is not adorable!”
“No, stalking is practical,” She countered. “The pictures are adorable.”
Kol pinched his nose, muttering, “Can I die again please?”
“Ditto,” You agreed.
“Trio!” Chrissy chimed in. You raised a brow and she just shrugged.
“Why, Elijah?” Kol complained as he rounded on his brother. “Why did you let them do this? How could you?”
The eldest sibling shrugged, lips twitching. “I thought it might be humorous.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“And are you amused?”
“Indubitably.”
“Oh, bloody hell.”
Rebekah moved in front of you, placing her hands on your shoulders. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I am ecstatic to have another sister!”
“Another sister?” You and Kol asked in unison, though you were pretty sure the two of you asked for very different reasons.
Elijah nodded. “Freya has recently reunited with us.”
“She’s annoying,” Chrissy supplied.
Kol sighed. “Of course…”
That was about the moment when you just gave up trying to understand everything that was going on. Your Weirdshit-O-Meter had hit its peak the day before and you were positive it was simply broken.
“You know, hindsight tells me this could have gone over a lot worse but, personally… I’m having a hard time believing it,” You said, shaking your head. “This has got to be the oddest family gathering in history.”
“Second only to the next one which will include our hybrid brother, his hybrid former one night stand and their tribrid daughter!” Rebekah added cheerfully.
“Huh…” You blinked. “Well, that’s neat.”
Tagging: @yn-ymn-yln @r13mar @rootbeerfaygo @iiskittles16ii @fandomrulesall-blog @dark-night-sky-99 @railingsofsorrow @apolloroid @thatweirdoleigh @misswe03 @eat-cake @felinegrate Hey, if you want on or off the tag list for just this series and/or all my other works, just send me a DM to let me know! And if Tumblr won't let me tag you, I'll just send you a friendly DM reminder at your request. Thanks for reading!
#kol mikaelson#kol mikaelson fanfiction#the originals#the originals fanfiction#the originals fan fiction#tvdu#tvd fanfic#vampire diaries fan fiction#fan fiction#fanfic#the vampire diaries#my name is cas and i write stuff#angst and fluff#klaus mikaelson#elijah mikaelson#rebekah mikaelson#kol x reader#elijah x reader#kol mikaelson fan fiction#klaus x reader#fluff#fluffy fluff#cuddles#reader insert#banshee reader#funny oc#slightly ooc#but only every now and then#but part one was ooc the whole time so I think yall can forgive me#kol mikaelson x reader
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August
Robin Buckley x fem!reader
Summary; Eddie gets rejected by his best friend but for different reasons he doesn’t understand.
Warning- rejection angst, ANGST, fluff, brief talks of death.
———-
A dream come true would be being able to stop trudging through some woods following the directions of two boys, and being able to find Eddie and rid him of the fake accusations the stupid people of this stupid town threw on him.
A dream come true would be spending spring break hanging out with the girl you like and having her watch your band practice, go watch movies, get some ice cream or do something fun while you waited for Eddie to finish his D&D tournaments.
But no….you had to be avoiding the police as they tried to arrest Eddie, whilst you also had to search for some kind of dark wizard that’s killing teenagers. And well you’re also having to hide the truth from her.
And him.
At least she was here—talking with someone else.
Pft.
You look away from Nancy and Robin and try to kick a rock but miss misberly, instead your feet just kicks dirt.
“That was lame,” Robin’s voice startles you.
You blink and look over at her and your lips gape for a second before you chuckle nervously and answer her. “Well, I was just warming up.”
Robin scoffs and smiles at you. “Watch,” she says and then pulls her foot back to kick a small rock forward, but she fails too.
“It went…somewhere,” you laugh and just watch the rock move about an inch or two away from her.
“At least mine moved…somewhat. Not like it was a competition or anything you know,” she begins to ramble. “So don’t feel like I was showing off or anything, I just thought—”
“It’d be fun?” You cut her off with an amused smile. “No, it was. Even if our attempts were futile.”
Robin laughs softly and nods in agreement. “I used to play soccer,” she adds. “I think my mother would be happy to see that I got to kick something. So my single trophy actually means something now.”
You snort. “Let me guess, participation trophy?”
Robin nods and you continue. “Instead of making me feel special, I actually felt worse when I got those, it’s just another way of saying you suck so here’s your award for that.”
“Exactly!” Robin claps. “Like thanks for making me feel more ostracized.” She scoffs and grins. “They’re still on my resume though.”
“Same here. They’ll know that I’m at least a worthy participant.”
Robin laughs and her eyes meet yours for a split second before she seems to grow flustered and turns away to change the subject. “So how long have you known Eddie?”
“A long time. We met at one of his concerts. I was the only one there,” you scoff and can’t help but smile. “We quickly became friends after that, and now I’m a part of that band. However we did now lose our only fan. Me…” you pause and exhale deeply before finding the courage within yourself to actually continue. “So that does mean that that spot is open, so if you want to come one day to watch us play, you should come.”
Robin's head snaps towards you and her eyes widen slightly before she begins to mutter. “Oh really?”
You turn your smile a lot softer and nod. “Yes, it’d—no, I’d really like it if you came. You don’t even have to like us, I just think seeing you would…encourage me.”
That was ballsy, but totally worth it.
Robin's lips part and at first she gasps before she lets out a nervous laugh and nods. “No, yeah, that, I mean yes I’d love to go. You know because if your encouragement depends on me then it’d suck for the rest of your band mates because well—actually, I’ll be there! Just let me know where to go.”
A beaming grin grows on your features and you can’t help but sound excited. “I will! After we get out of this I’ll give you a band sheet.”
“Great! That’d be cool,” she says with a smile. “And maybe after we can…uh, get something, like, Ice-cream or a burger?” Her eyes drift to you and she begins to fiddle with her hair as she waits for you.
Yet your answer was unheard since Steve’s shout cut you off.
“Oh, boom! Bada, bada boom!”
Robin and you share a look before you pick up your pace to follow after the group. Except instead of cutting through the shrubs that stood between them and Skull Rock, you and everyone else walked around it.
And the moment you do, you catch the sight of your best friend, pulling away from a hug with Dustin.
“Eddie.” You call with disbelief.
Said man snaps his head your way and his eyes begin to widen whilst lips begin to pull into a smile as he mutters your name. “Y/N?”
You nod as if it was an actual question you were answering and repeat his name in a much more excited manner. “Eddie!”
Without another minute to spare the both of you break into a fast pace towards each other to meet halfway for an embrace.
“What are you doing here?” He asks as he clutches onto the fabrics of your shirt.
“I came to look for you! I was searching for you and ran into some friends!” You explain with excitement as you hug him tighter. “I’m so happy you’re okay! I’ve been so worried.” You pull away and show off your smile. “I’m so happy to see you.”
“Likewise,” he says with his smile. “I’m glad you’re here.”
You grin now and let your eyes linger on him for a bit longer before you begin to grow serious and lift your fist to punch his arm.
“Ow!” He whines. “What was that for?”
“For worrying me,” you counter with a huff. “You could’ve told me something instead of getting me all stressed!“
Eddie rubs his arm and whispers, “I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to get you in trouble.”
“You’re my friend, I wouldn’t have cared because none of it is true,” you assure him, making him sigh in relief. “And we have proof.”
“Not actual physical evidence,” Dustin cuts in whilst Nancy walks to Eddie to hand him what he had ordered them. “But evidence!”
You take a step away from Eddie and let him eat what he could while he begins to explain everything he witnessed that night that girl died, and how his hiding spot was compromised by the school jocks. And it was because he shared that your group was able to make a connection to what they witnessed at the Creel house, and that creepy Upside Down monster called Vecna.
Now all you need though was finding him, but luckily you were able to solve that out too. If a few mens egos didn’t get in the way you’d find it soon.
However, there was a problem that came with that, Eddie. Even if he volunteered to tag along to this crazy and scary mission, you still couldn’t help but worry since he’s still a wanted man.
But you had to trust that this was going to go fine, you were going to get what you needed to free Eddie, and everyone else from this stupid monster.
You have faith.
And after all this is over you’ll be able to go out on that…well go out with Robin. Which brings up the unfinished conversation that got interrupted.
Luckily now all you’re doing is walking, so there's time.
You look over at her walking ahead of you and glance past her to double check that everyone else was further away so you could talk without having to worry someone could overhear.
“Robin,” you call out as you jog to catch up to her. “Uhm, I just remembered we have a conversation pending.”
Robin looks over at you and nods but begins to get all nervous again. “Yeah, no, yeah. But it’s stupid, you know, your probably tired after your perfomces, or you want to hang out with your friends so just forget I ever asked.”
“No, no,” you assure her. “I do nothing after, the only thing I get tired of is seeing old drunks throwing up by the stage, so I’d love to do something after.” You look over at her and manage to meet her gaze.
This time though, Robin doesn’t look away, her eyes linger on yours as she offers you a small smile and nods softly.
However, it was in your trance that neither of you became aware of Eddie falling behind just for you. He saw you guys by each other sharing a look, but he didn’t think anything of it, he was actually too lost on you to notice any sparks between Robin and you. That’s why he interrupted your moment without a care because he didn’t notice…and well because he didn’t know either.
“Y/N.”
Robin and you quickly look away at the sound of your name and you answer him with a hum as Robin makes sure to walk ahead at a fast pace.
“Eddie,” you say a bit bluntly. “What’s up? Tired of all the bickering between Dustin and Steve, or too jealous?l
Eddie’s eyes narrow and he feigns a dry and short laugh. “Ha! No. I actually came back here to talk to you, and now that I have you alone…” Eddie pauses and sighs deeply. “We need to talk, I mean since I’m probably going to be in jail for the rest of my life—”
“Don’t say that Eddie, we’re going to clear your name,” you try to assure him. “We’re going to prove to them that you weren’t the one that killed them.”
“How?” He retorts. “By bringing them the wizards head?”
You scoff and shrug. “If that’s a possibility, yes.”
“That’s,” he begins to counter, but stops himself and just shakes his head and lets out a deep breath. “Well that doesn’t matter right now because it’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.” He grabs your arm to stop you in your tracks and let the others get further on ahead.
You furrow your eyebrows and look at him with a bit of concern. “What is it then?”
Eddie drops his hand to place them both on his hips as he lets out another deep exhale and drops his head to look at the ground for a few seconds before he slowly looks up at you again. He parts his lips but just licks them and raises your worry and curiosity.
“What is it about?” You press him.
Again Eddie lets out a deep breath out of his nose, but this time he blurts it out. “It’s about us.”
At the sound of his words your face slowly begins to fall, all the curiosity and worry you held onto extinguishes and now all you can feel is surprise, and fear over where this conversation was going.
“Wh-what do you mean?” You stammer to say.
Eddie steps towards you but you take a step back.
“What I mean is that I like you,” he reveals, causing your breath to hitch. “No, I…” he pauses and clenches his fist to raise it a little and hit it against his palm. “…I love you.”
Your jaw drops, all the breath you held escapes your chest the moment you gasp. “Eddie—
“Before you say anything,” he cuts you off. “Look, my future looks bleak, so I needed to tell you.”
Once again he steps closer to you, but this time you don’t move out of your own shock that you’re still dealing with.
“I have loved you ever since we met each other,” he continues to say with a sweet smile. “And the only reason why I haven’t told you before is because I wasn’t sure for a while if you liked me too. I was waiting in hopes that maybe you’d tell me something, or you’d catch that I was hopelessly in love with you. I also didn’t want to ruin our friendship, but now, I can’t hide that anymore.”
You drop your eyes and let them roam the ground as you try to think of words to say to gently reject him without breaking his heart, or ruining this friendship you hold so dearly.
“Eddie,” you mumble to the ground. “I…I don’t feel the same way. Look,” you quickly try to explain yourself without looking the hurt on his face. “You’re a lovely guy, you’re a great friend! But I can’t feel that way for you. We’re friends….” You pause and look up at him and just see the disbelief on his face and the heartbreak in his eyes.
“Oh,” he whispers and begins to avert his gaze.
“No, no, don't get the wrong idea, okay? Please, I love you but not in the way you want me to,” you huff and step towards him to grab his arms so he’d know you’re sincere. “You’re special to me, Eddie, so why can that be enough? Huh?”
“We have fun though,” he mutters in disbelief and meets your gaze again, “isn’t that enough? We’re always together so maybe we can just try to be together in a different way?”
You shake your head and continue to reject him. “Please Eddie, understand. I know that you think your future is coming to a stop but it isn’t, we’re trying to find a way to prove your innocence.”
Eddie sighs and swallows thickly while he steps away from you, making your arms fall to your sides. “I just thought,” he continues to say. “That you loved me too.”
“Oh, Eddie,” you whisper softly. “I do love you, you’re my dearest friend, but I just can’t love you the same way…” you pause and think of telling him your truth but your fear of having him actually view you differently, and having never talk to you again, got the best of you so, instead you chose to keep that to yourself. At least for now.
“Please let’s forget this happened and go back to being us? Just Y/N and Eddie. Friends. Best friends. I just…have my reasons, so please respect that.”
Eddie blinks repeatedly and lets his eyes drift away as he nods slowly before he snaps his eyes back to you and questions that. “What reasons?”
You draw in a deep breath and exhale to answer, but just before you can, Robin walks over and interrupts you.
“Hey, guys come on, you can’t fall behind Eddie.” She looks over at you and you meet her gaze and smile. “We’ll be right there, Robin,” you let her know.
“Okay,” she says and hesitates but walks away when you don’t follow right away.
It’s now that she’s gone that you answer Eddie’s question. “Personal reasons. You know I like us as friends so let’s keep that way. Okay? Please.”
Once again Eddie looks away but instead of trying to press this on you, he just nods and responds. “Alright. Sounds good,” he clears his throat and hides the emotions that lumped in his throat. “Conversation forgotten!” He exhales and offers you a feigned smile. “Let’s go catch up to the others before Dustin comes this time and gets us in trouble.”
You hesitate where you are, unconvinced by his response but you don’t have time to really get too deep and well you weren’t ready to tell him anything.
Maybe after all this gets resolved you’ll tell him.
#August#stranger things imagine#robin buckley imagine#stranger things fanfiction#Eddie Munson#Robin Buckley#eddie munson imagine#robin buckley x fem!reader#robin buckley x female reader#Robin Buckley fanfiction#robin buckley x y/n#robin buckley fluff#eddie munson x fem!reader#Eddie Munson fanfiction#eddie munson x you#imagine#fanfiction#damn-stark#eddie stranger things#Eddie Munson x y/n
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You can probably guess what inspired this, but what I'm about to discuss talks about a pet who passed away, bullying and harassment, and fandom discourse esque drama. If you're at all sensitive to any of these, it may be best to just skip this post entirely. Don't worry about it. The long and short of it is I'm just venting. Hope you have a good day.👍
---
You've all probably seen what happened with that cat poll between Jellie and Nefarious Anglerfish by now. Even if it's been a bit since, with it coming up again, I still can't shake off some lingering resentments of this being one of many examples of something I've seen and bottled up for a while now.
What the fuck happened to us? To fandom lately? What the fuck made enjoying things and letting other people enjoy things and liking or disliking certain things that turned into some kind of fucked up litmus test of whether or not someone is an appropriate target to just turn off all senses and be a complete asshole to them?
And over nonsense things like liking something someone else didn't like, or thought cringe, or thinks is overrated, or whatever. What the fuck happened to "cringe culture is dead"? And when did it evolve into "This person is ok to completely shit all over cuz they like Roblox/Minecraft/Undertale/Among Us/whateverthehell and that's cringe"?
No, dipshit, you're still an asshole whether they or you like those things or not.
Like, I'm sorry. I hate drumming up this issue when at this point the issue is long since done, the dust had settled, and that OP of that poll straight up fucked off.
But what gets me is how easily someone can "unperson" someone else - just shut off their brains, remove all empathy and common sense, and say the most horrendously cruel shit without a second thought - treating them like they don't have feelings and it doesn't matter if they do anyways, and over what?
Cuz they play Minecraft and you don't? They like something you think is stupid?? And you make fun of their loss of their cat for "milking the attention away" with their death and derailing attention from another cat in a fucking poll nobody's going to give a shit about by the end of the week??? Cuz the "cringey minecraft player"s cat died at a time too inconvenient for your poll?!
Fuck you. I said it before and I'll say it again: fuck you.
Back when I was way younger, what's now happening to Minecraft used to happen to a lot of things.
Back then? It was liking cartoons in general.
Then it was liking anime specifically on top of liking certain cartoons.
Then it was liking the "lame" (read: "girly") anime like Cardcaptor Sakura, Fruits Basket or Sailor Moon over the badass ones like Dragonball Z, Gundam or Cowboy Bebop. There were constant rotating fights of which anime was "cool" enough not to get shit on for liking it. (And there's still that shit even to this day, let's be real.)
Then it was liking Pokemon. Then it was liking Digimon. Then it was Yugioh, or Beyblade, or whatever. Then there's being a furry. Then it was being a brony or even tangibly liking My Little Pony. Then Undertale. Then Steven Universe, or She-Ra, or whatever the fuck else. Sometimes it's just the one thing. Other times it's an entire genre.
On and on and on the goalpost will keep changing when the old "cringey" thing stopped being an acceptable target, and there's a new thing people completely unload on without a second thought.
Like I said before. I used to be a pet owner. I've had, and lost, pets over my lifetime.
Back then I would've also been in that camp of "easily acceptable target cuz people who like pokemon/digimon/anime are losers who deserve it", and I've been on the receiving end of that shit all my life in and out of fandom circles back in the day.
When I lost my cat, it already devastated me. And I can't imagine the kind of way that pain would've magnified if I was still trying to cope with that, tried to find escapism just hanging out online or browsing or whatever, and someone took my loss to make fun of me about it cuz I was some cringey loser who liked pokemon, so they felt I deserved the kind of words that they wouldn't dream to say to the face of someone actually "worth respect".
Because how dare my cat die on a date that inconvenienced them and ruined their good mood. Some cat nobody gives a shit about, cuz she belonged to a pokemon fan, and we all know pokemon fans are huge no-life losers who never get anywhere in their lives, amirite?
It didn't have to be specifically Jellie, or even specifically about Scar.
In that moment, I saw me, when I was younger, going through that shit that's the same bullshit then as it is now, and where kid-me would've broke down and spiraled worse than I already had, adult-me wants to drop a fucking meteor on a bitch.
I said unkind things and lost my cool and I'm sorry you all had to witness that. By virtue of this post, I'm sorry you're still witnessing it now.
But I'm just so goddamn tired of seeing it, and that's not even the only time I've seen that shit happen, time and again over similarly petty bullshit. It's Minecraft now for whatever the goddamn fuck reason, but it could be anything next once Minecraft and those who play it stop being cool to bully. I've seen it in public with strangers in passing just as I've seen it thrown in the face in private at people I know. I've seen this shit thrown at friends just as much I've still had it thrown in my face time and again.
It never fucking ends.
Why is the message always "it's ok to say whatever the hell I want, as long as they like something that's cool now to shit on them over"?
When did we somehow stop caring about "If you're being a thoughtless asshole, I don't care if they like [insert acceptable cringe target here], you're still an asshole."?
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WELCOME TO NUKA WORLD
"Colter's dead. We've got ourselves a new Overboss."
- Porter Gage, a man who will join Colter soon
< Previous > . . . < Next >
"Thank you all for coming out this... afternoon, I think. To those who were friends of Overboss Colter, I'll give you... maybe six seconds to grieve."
"Let's talk about us. About, we. About, team raiders. I'm your new mom-dad, and our family just changed a lot, with me killing your old dad-mom. Things were said in this... bumper car ring that I don't think should define our relationship. Mostly by Colter, but I'm willing to overlook that, since he was a coward and a loser and an idiot and is now a leaky buckshot container. A little about me, then! Used to roll with the Atom Cats, big meow to all my... okay, okay, relax. I'm also the General of the Minutemen which is..."
"It's okay, I get it, this one you can laugh."
"...which is, fine. No complaints - turns out water and food are so like stupid easy to generate that only a complete idiot would do anythin... it's just easy, is all I mean. What else, what else... favorite colors are green and black and gold, or pink and yellow and blue, but not mixed, don't give me a green and gold and pink and blue thing because I'll hate it. Okay? Little hint for the gift love languageers. Least favorite tense, past perfect, get outta' here with that. And I guess the last thing I wanna say is... I am immortal, and I don't need tricks. I've smelled the breath of a deathclaw with nothing but a snub nose in my hand. You mean nothing to me. When I see your disgusting friends in the wasteland it's dirt nap on sight. Hangman's Alley? Corvega? The Combat Zone? All me. I'm not going to stop, so if that bothers you, you have ten seconds to come into this bumper car ring and make me care. Go ahead and hop in Colter's armor if you want... he's not using it."
"Sexy. Now that we're all on the same page... go run off and gossip in your little fan clubs or whatever you are. Announcer guy, please stay. I have some... criticisms, of your performance."
< Previous > . . . < Next >
youtube
"Are you sure you don't wanna come to Nuka-World? We can get novelty t-shirts and pose the skeletons funny."
I will maybe play Nuka-World. I did this first part back a while ago. I... approached fun. The Gauntlet was lame as could be. Colter was lame. I hate that everyone taunts me and never seems to recognize that I'm the biggest cause of death in the Commonwealth. I was level 34 when I got here, it's not like I didn't do things! I looked it up and Colter will comment on power armor if I brought any, he'll even comment on my vault suit if I show up in one, but says nothing about me being the General of the Minutemen, the most egregiously anti-raider faction of all time. I've never sided with raiders, and won't start now, which means there's no content for me to do, apparently.
Oh.
Anyway these pictures came out WONDERFUL. It was Jet, funny enough. The visual effect, the saturation boost, it was really great for this fight. Looks like winners do do drugs!
If you're not unjustly asking why I changed Cait to the Grognox costume it's because Nuka-Cola theme park comic cosplay group theme. Piper was supposed to be the Shroud but again, can't remove Shroud. I finished that quest today just to get that outta pockets.
< Previous > . . . < Next >
#fallout#fallout 4#fallout mods#fallout original character#fo4#reshade#screen archery#nuka world#Youtube
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Konig x OC // Monster Squad : mutant AU word count : 2kish
Rating: T for swearing
Summary: This story follows Sully, a member of mutant only task force AKA Monster squad, and their relationship with Konig. This story is not in chronological order, but rather written in whatever order my mind decides Trigger warning: corny fluff? no beta we die like Graves. Listen I've never played war video games and I'm not about to start now just because I'm thirsty for big boys. Sully is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, but is AFAB. Please be kind, I havent posted fic since I was 12 (is now 30)
“So, how did you first figure out that you can’t die? I mean that’s a pretty fucking specific set of circumstances.” Hutch asked taking a long drink of his beer. The other operators at the table agreed, clambering to butt their opinions in.
“Had to have been when you were serving right?”
“How fucked up if it was before?”
“Super fucked up.”
Sully paused, sipping their vodka cran trying to decide what story they were going to tell. They had several stashed away in preparation for this question, all technically true. Having decide on one, they opened their mouth to tell the story -
“It was during basic, some asshole shot them in the stomach.” Lillian answered for them, skin slipping from golden brown to green to red back to brown. Well ok that answered the question too. Lillian was used to answering for them when they were too injured to speak for themselves so sometimes she just answered. Mostly it just made things easier for them. Like right now! No hassle and no worrying about blood loss high making you say something hella stupid. Or worse, something true.
“Yeah, super lame. A guy that had literally never touched a gun in his life fired a live round into my stomach during basic training. I’m not sure who was more surprised, me or the doc that pronounced me DOA.”
Sully grinned at the group of soldiers, Hutch throwing his head back laughing. The only person that didn’t seem to laugh at the story was Konig. His blue eyes were intense and serious staring at them as they re-told the story in detail, mostly focusing on the surprise in the doctor’s face when they woke up.
Of course, they left out the searing pain of being gut shot, the way they felt the life being drained from them and the panic that gripped their heart in a vice. Sully also didn’t mention the way the boy- because they were really all children at that stage- had cried over them, begging with them to forgive him. They didn’t tell the group the way they screamed when they woke up, suddenly alive and so disoriented that they couldn’t even recognize who or where they were.
No one liked those kinds of stories. No one really wanted to know what death is like or what it feels like to die and then come back. The thought of death was frightening enough, but every man, woman, and mutant at the table knew they would likely die a painful slow death. Everyone but them. They get to die a slow and painful death over and over again.
“That must have been terrible.” Konig said quietly to them when the laughing dies down a little.
“Nah.” Lies “I’ve died worse.” Not a lie. Konig frowns under the hood, eyes narrowing and they can hear him take a breath, -
“Oi’ what’s the worst way to die?” O’Connor asked, leering across the table at them. Sully knows a thrown gauntlet when they see one. Bet.
The rest of the table groaned, protesting the question but not sticking up to tell Sully not to answer. Typical.
“Drowning. Hands down.”
O’Conner scoffed, “Bullshit.”
Sully can’t help but smile meanly at the Irish man and throw back the rest of their vodka cran, draining the rest of the glass in one long swallow. The burn inconsequential to them.
“You ever been water boarded?” O’Conner goes still “It’s obviously a lot like that, but worse. When you’re being water boarded you at least know what’s going on, right? Eventually its going to end and you’ll get to breathe again.” Everyone was silent at the table, eyes on them, “Did you know your own body drowns you? You can’t help but to try to breathe, even though you know that there’s no air. Your throat closes and traps water in your lungs. And sometimes” they leaned in further, “blood vessels pop because you’re struggling so hard and you start to bleed from your face.”
There was quiet tense silence and Sully snorted shoving their glass over at O’Conner.
“And since I answered one of your incredibly invasive questions, you owe me a drink.” The relief in the air was almost tangible as the group laughed and ribbed O’Conner, giving him grief and bullying him into buying a round for the whole table.
Again, Konig was a silent presence next to Sully as they drifted in bad memories, trapped in cold dark waters. Then a slight pressure against their side and heat banished the memories. Konig. He was leaning into their side adding very slight pressure to pull Sully back to the present. Sully smiled up at him and leaned back into his arm before pulling away.
Sully excused themselves from the table, yelling at O’Conner to even up with them at another time. O’Conner naturally yelled obscenities at their receding back that had them giggling.
“Wait,” a soft voice called after them and soon, long strides brought Konig within inches of them, “ I will walk with you.”
“Oh? You didn’t have to come with me if you didn’t want to. I’m a big mutant, can find my own way back.” Sully said kicking lightly at Konig’s much larger boot. He tapped it back and shook his head. Sully paused, trying to think what could pull the man from drinks with his team.
“Ah, social battery is drained.” He nodded slowly like he was still translating the word from English to German in his head. Sully kicked at his shin guard and then started walking again.
“I get that. It’s hard to be on all the time. I’m probably gonna steal a snack from Kit’s room and then go to bed.”
Konig mumbled something and they peered up at him. “Say again big guy?”
“Being with you doesn’t drain my battery.”
Sully stopped point blank and stared at him. Konig stared back before breaking eye contact and focused on the gleam of their dog tags resting on their chest.
“Konig.” He looked back up at them “I think that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.” Warmth blossomed in Sully’s chest and they let a genuine smile pull at their lips. Konig’s eyes went wide and darted across their face. Sully reached out and tugged on his thick dark hoodie.
“Come on, let’s go get steal some snacks. Oh! I have a tablet that may get Netflix out here, did you want to watch a movie or something? Work on recharging your battery?”
Konig pulled on their sleeve, big hand drifting down to hold theirs briefly, leaving Sully stunned and more than a little flustered at the way his hand completely engulfed theirs.
“Whatever you want, maus, lead the way.”
They walked together for a while after securing snacks, scant inches away from each other. The heat coming from Konig’s body was almost scalding. Sully wanted to lay across his chest like a lizard and soak it up. But that would be highly inappropriate, probably.
“So I did some googling.” They mused as they opened up their barracks door and motioned for Konig to enter first. He looked down at them, amusement in his eyes. Sully closed the door behind them and immediately started digging in their pack looking for their tablet.
“Is that right?”
“Mmhm, and according to the google,” Sully let out an exclamation of success as they found their tablet, “Let’s see if we can get Netflix on this bad boy. What was I saying?” they paused as they tapped the password onto the tablet.
“Google.” Konig prompted, sitting on their bed carefully, waiting to be told off. Sully jumped up next to him and was pulled into his orbit by his weight.
“Yes! Google. I was googling last night and apparently Konig means King.” They grinned up at him and he looked down at them fondly. His heart was bursting with fondness like he had never felt before, all for this little mutant.
“Oh? If you had asked me I could have told you that, maus.” He grinned as they pouted.
“Yeah but then it wouldn’t have been as much fun. Plus! Everyone knows Google doesn’t lie.” Konig laughed lowly, “I also know what maus means too. You’re not slick.” Konig tried to hid his giggles but with Sully pressed right up against him they could feel the laughter.
“It fits you, no?
“No! Everyone’s small like a mouse when you’re a giant. Unfair and uncool.” Sully repositioned so they were up against the headboard and pulled at Konigs’s pants so he adjusted himself to match their position.
“No, I call you maus not just because you’re small,” Sully grumbled to themselves as they swiped through Netflix, “But because your always busy, always thinking, just like a maus.”
“Mice are kind cute too.” Sully said slyly, looking at Konig from their peripherals. He tensed up, avoiding eye contact and fiddled with the edges of his sleeves. Oops pushed too far.
“Hey, I’m just teasing-“
“Yes, sehr niedlich (very cute).”
Sully looked at him, steadily going red from the throat up. Konig couldn’t help but stare, in awe. Sully coughed and looked away, cheeks still flushed obscuring the freckles that dotted their skin.
“um, well did you-theres a show-“ they tried to say, voice squeaking and stuttering. Again, Konig couldn’t hide his laughter. “Shut up.” They muttered poking him in the side with their slim fingers.
“Whatever you want to watch, maus.” Sully nodded and queued up a show, pausing it to explain the concept to Konig before starting it back up. Konig didn’t pay attention to the show very much, he was focused on the way Sully plucked at the fabric of his clothes, the way they laughed over the jokes, the slight gasps at a tense moment, the light reflecting off their cheekbones; honestly the list could go on.
His favorite moment was when their long eyelashes fluttered against their cheekbones only to slip closed. Their head lulled against his shoulder and it felt like he couldn’t breathe. This breathtaking little being had wound their way into his chest so deeply, in such a short amount of time, it almost scared him. It would have been so easy to let the panic over this fastly blooming…something overwhelm him. But then he looks at their face and their sweet little grin, all playful mischief that’s so inviting. He doesn’t want to lose whatever this is and he doesn’t want to slow the trajectory. He wants to savor this, this lovely moment in the middle of what could be the start of a third world war. A spark of human connection, strong in a way that he had never felt before.
His musing is cut off by the sharp change in light as Netflix asks if anyone is watching. No not really, but he still doesn’t want the moment to end. He taps the screen and another episode plays. Sully doesn’t move from his shoulder, bathed in light from the tablet. He sighs and with a shaky hand moves hair from their face. They look so peaceful.
The watch on his wrist beeps, telling him that its now midnight. He needs to go. He needs to sleep, they ship out tomorrow to try and track down more terrorists hell bent on destroying the world. Reluctantly he stops the show and closes the tablet. He places it on the bedside table that rocks too far to the left and cradles Sully’s face to his chest as he moves. They make a slight mumbling noise, words lost in the sleepy fog. Konig lays them down and covers them with the scratchy standard issue blanket, briefly wishing there was something nicer for them.
He quietly slips on his shoes and starts towards the door when he hears them, a small voice still mumbled from sleep.
“Goodnight King, see you tomorrow.”
“suße träume (sweet dreams)”
Their sleepy hum and sweet smile would haunt him in his dreams.
#konig x oc#konig x reader#konig#konig cod#konig fanfic#cod mw2#call of duty#truly im going to be stressing about this for days#also wtf is this formating#I'm going to cross post this on AO3 too i think#Sully is a little menace that isnt used to being menaced back#jokes on them Konig is also a menace#i mean hes menace who is also down bad for Sully#my writing
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Digimon Adventure (Manga) - Vol. 4
(I wasn't able to find any high-quality images of this one).
More so-so digimon manga adaptation action. It might just be that I've gotten used to it, but I think the artwork has improved somewhat in this volume. I feel like some of the mega-level digimon are especially well drawn (the artist excels at the robotic looking mons) and the title pages are fun to look at. Only one more volume to go!
Ch. 22
-In this chapter Kari decides to just randomly grab a wild animal (Gatomon) and bring it home with her. Seriously, she doesn't know Gatomon is her partner digimon so why is that her instinct? Guess she's the type to bring stray animals home...
-Gatomon's reaction to the hug was pretty cute ("this attack is...unsettling.")
Ch. 23
-Once again, Kari is hella nonchalant about digimon showing up outta the blue, this time it's Wizardmon on her balcony.
-I think the manga is capturing the emotional beats of the Wizardmon and Gatomon storyline decently, but Gotsumon and Pumpkinmon had zero impact. They were introduced and killed off in the span of 8 pages and had one line of dialogue. If you weren't familiar with the episode they would have seemed incredibly random lol
-I noticed that Gatomon isn't making an annoying catnip/kitty litter/tuna joke every two seconds, so that's a step up from the anime dub.
Ch. 24
-Vamdemon starts rounding up the kids on...Earth? The real world? What am I supposed to call the non-digital world?
-A lot of stupid (but fun) lines thrown into this chapter. TK sees Wizardmon floating around in the ocean and shouts "hey look, free hat!" I wonder if the original Chinese also had a goofy tone?
Ch. 25
-Angewomon slays as always. I think she might be peak digimon design (at least as far as humanoid digimon go). Those who cosplay her must feel so powerful.
-With all the angels vs. demons action in this series, I wonder what those christian moms who banned Pokemon thought about Digimon back in the 90s? They probably just didn't know what it was or lumped it in with Pokemon. It just seems like the vaguely religious themes might have gotten their attention. (Does Pokemon even have demonic/angelic mons?)
Ch. 26
-The adults are all shown with vampire bites in their necks and they're under Vamdemon's hypnosis. I guess it doesn't work like other vampires though because they're completely fine once VenomVamdemon is defeated? I'm just used to vampire bites having more permanent effects, but he's a digimon so ~anything goes~
-They had to throw in all these lame "no homo" lines when Tai and Matt hold hands. Ohhh toxic masculinity :P
Ch. 27
-I kind of forgot all about Chuumon. When Chuumon is first introduced in the anime they make it seem like they're inseparable from Sukamon, but here we get a rare, solo Chuumon appearance. Sukamon, on the other hand, always shows up solo in the video games. I don't think I've seen a Chuumon in any of the 6 digimon games I've played so far. An underutilized, early franchise mon.
-I tried to see if I could name all 4 dark masters before they revealed them, but I could only remember Pinnochimon and Piedmon. The robo dark masters (MetalSeadramon and Machinedramon) are just forgettable to me. They look cool and that's about it.
Ch. 28
-Damn, the Whamon and MetalSeadramon deaths were a lot more hardcore than I remember. Whamon basically gets lasered through the head and MetalSeadramon gets shredded to pieces by WarGreymon. I can respect the lack of censorship.
-I liked this chapter because it was paced like a normal Digimon episode instead of shoving 5 plots into one. Hopefully we get more of this slower pace in the final volume.
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i regard stc and stco much the same way - that they have a lot of great characters and interesting narrative ideas, i just don’t particularly care for the execution of them, and i for sure don’t care about the worldbuilding or lore
the character writing in stc is actually genuinely good, the complexities of the freedom fighters &knuckles was fascinating and enjoyable to read and i liked to watch them interact, but also i found the “what”s of the story a lot more compelling than the “how” or a lot of the “why”s of the story - ie it was interesting zachary was the only other echidna who took advantage of knuckles’ desire to have a community and find out what happened to the rest of the echidnas, but i thought the writing regarding that was kind of lackluster and boring and hardly explored. and he wanted some unspecified vague kind of revenge that i felt should have had solid reasoning but didnt. so i wish it was just more interesting. and it was interesting that the freedom fighters had their hideout destroyed so they had to traverse the lands as nomads but the actual stories that was attached to were just kind of lame. it was interesting that johnny died and had an impact on what was left of the freedom fighters, but that he died after getting one big smack from chaos was kind of boring. not even drowned by chaos or electrocuted in his attempt to plug in those cables? okay, i guess.
anyways, then stco doesnt have an editor with any real authority to shoot down a bad idea or make alterations to when the idea is interesting but just fucking written weird or would have made more sense in a different form (ie adapting the idea of sonic being mistaken for criminal in sa2 with a pre-existing character intentionally framing him since shadow didnt exist yet was interesting, but that it was the metallix AGAIN who suddenly have the ability to physically shapeshift into more biological forms was so stupid when it was the perfect opportunity to bring back extra life? or the story where amy has nightmares about johnny as a zombie coming back for revenge against her when it would have made more sense as being SONIC having the nightmares, since one of the last things stc did was establish that sonic was having recurring dreams about johnny since his death - even if it also narratively skipped over it to focus on when sonic was more at peace with his death) even though i find that the character writing wasnt quite on par with the character writing of stc, in-line with the characterization in stc, nor quite as compelling - im kind of willing to overlook that given the circumstances (being an online comic with no authorative editor) <3
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Did you do Akira yet
No. Let’s do it. Akira!!! For fun, let’s assume I’m talking about the manga unless I specify the anime. Granted, most of my answers are the same for both.
Character I first fell in love with: HA! Ha. Everyone is an asshole in this series except Kaori. However…
I had tons of fun with Kaneda and truly loved a lot of the characters, including the psychic children from the kindergarten (Masaru, Kiyoko, Takeshi), Keisuke/Kaisuke, and Tetsuo.
A character I used to love/like, but now do not: Not applicable.
A ship that I used to love/like, but now do not: Not applicable. I don’t even like the canon Kei/Kaneda, though as a general duo they did make me laugh and endeared me overall.
My ultimate favorite character: Hm. I think I’d have to say Kaneda because for the duration of the manga in which he isn’t present, I found that I really missed him.
On the other hand… I did feel a lot of melancholy about Tetsuo.
Prettiest character: The women in this series are drawn like cis men with boobs and all the men are really well-structured polygon cubeheads. It makes for a striking and excellent visual presentation (I actually really like it), but because of this, I don’t think I can really say any character was particularly “pretty”.
I actually think Kaneda was prettier and had more fantastic eyelashes than Kei in many panels. So, uh, Kaneda. Final answer Kaneda.
My most hated character: Uh. We had a new government or street punk asshole every two pages. If I stopped to hate any one character I’d never have finished the series.
My OTP: Kaneda/any possible moment he makes an ass of himself.
My NOTP: I dunno. Make one up.
Favorite episode: As much as expository chapters are lame, I actually loved the sequence of Tetsuo speaking with Lady Miyako about Akira in front of the sun bas relief. Really, it’s a lot of Tetsuo scenes that stick out to me (including his wack-ass rape-orgy with the three women he drugs, including Kaori.)
Tetsuo is a spiteful and angry young man, but he’s also deeply sentimental and thoughtful. While he’s never exactly nice, kind, or even heroic, the moments he’s not under the influence of his powers or drugs (and sometimes even when he is), he’s extremely thoughtful and melancholic. The panels of him framed against the moon to not only show how he is represented by it much like Miyako and those in her influence are the sun (Amaterasu theming and all) but also to show where he is on a journey of enlightenment or emotional understanding were really effective to me when used in this manga.
Tetsuo isn’t exactly someone I would want with the power of the universe at his fingertips in any situation, but I think the manga really shows that many of his choices and the backlash he gives are a result of other people not listening to him, trying to kill him first, belittling him, or otherwise provoking him until he doesn’t give them the time of day to even try to connect. And then it leaves him horribly lonely and vulnerable because of it, and doing stuff like turning into a giant nasty baby and reaching out for his childhood friend in delirium.
Saddest death: Uh. The only ones that are really super duper tragic are Takeshi’s as Yamagata’s by design, but… I’d have to say I am saddest by the death of all of Miyako’s disciples!!
Favorite season: My favorite volume was volume 1 because I enjoyed seeing Tetsuo and Kaneda’s piece-of-crap school and dumb moments like the one where Kaneda asks his pregnant baby mama if he can watch her have the baby (while not realizing she’s telling him it’s probably his and also not realizing that she’s in a moment of vulnerability). Or Kaisuke trying to steal Kaneda’s also-stolen-military-mystery-psychic-drug from him to pop in class while Yamagata argues with the teacher. Does that count?
Also, the Capsules’ disciplining moment in the principal’s office scolded by the gym teacher was both funnier in a stupid way and more fitting for the nature of their dogshit authority structure than it was in the movie.
Least favorite season: I think the fourth volume might have been my least favorite. I think.
Character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but I hate: Akira has a fandom?
My “you’re a piece of trash, but still my favorite”: Tetsuo, Kaneda, Joker.
My “beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this” favorite: All the nursery kids with the exception of Tetsuo. Kaori. Kaneda’s nurse ex-girlfriend.
My “this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but I still love it” ship: Um. You know, I think I could qualify Tetsuo/Kaori as this, but I’m really not that attached to it as a ship…
My “they’re kind of cute, and I lowkey ship them, but I’m not too invested” ship: I really don’t care about that for this series. Masaru/Kiyoko/Takeshi? Ryu/Kei???? Except Ryu/Kei was kinda stupid, so…
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Wow…Just…Fuck
spoilers:
How in the fuck does everyone somehow start blaming Laurie for Michael killing people? How did they even jump to that conclusion? Wth
Allison was so stupid, and for what? It’s like her character did a full 180 or something because how the hell did she let a blaring red flag of a man she just met convince her to fully turn on a woman she’s known all her life and was living with for the past four years? Make it make sense
Then Michael was just getting his ass whopped every other second he was on screen (which wasn’t a lot in the first place). Like, you can’t expect me to take the villain of your franchise seriously anymore when a half blind 21 year old that just fell off a bridge can kick his ass (yeah, I’m exaggerating but still). The end fight, which was a travesty all on its own, didn’t even feel tense because Michael had been losing all movie long so why wouldn’t Laurie have been able to kill his weak ass?
They also only gave him one kill before they had Corey jump him and snatch his mask. That was just lame. Even him killing Corey at the end couldn’t make up for how sucky that was.
There was exactly two kills that even kind of edged towards being cool A.) when Corey killed that asshole band kid by blowing fire into his mouth and B.) when the radio host was killed and only the radio host’s death was fully shown so it wins ‘top kill’ by a landslide.
Laurie herself was weird. I don’t know what they were going for with her character but at least out of everyone else in this movie she made the most sense, (?) which isn’t saying a lot but whatever
I really disliked this move if I’m being honest, and I’m easy af to please. I just hated it. I would’ve been furious if I’d gone to the movies to see this even.
Also, small nitpick, but what kind of band kids were those? As a band kid myself I don’t claim them. They were all also stupid and oddly vindictive, but definitely complete idiots and no one but the head boys seemed to be able to think for themselves. They were just super unlikable which may have been the point but idc
I’m not saying any of these to attack the people who worked on this film but I am going to express how wild (and disappointing) this was to watch. I don’t know? I feel like this is going to be another huge blow to the franchise. Also, I came into this movie optimistic (at least for the Michael scenes) and was still really thrown by the decisions made.
I also despise Corey with all my heart and soul (or as much of them I’m willing to give to a movie anyway). Like he was alright in the beginning and then he was all of a sudden swapping evil with Michael and then pretending to be him and his character just went downhill from there. He just wasn’t for me once Michael got to him and his overall inclusion was certainly a decision that was made. I’m just going to try and forget he ever existed.
#halloween ends#I have thoughts#none of them good#personal•#like I’m sorry but what did I just watch#this coming from someone who likes Kills mind you#halloween ends spoilers
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Undertale Theory: Alright, so a Major part of this Theory isnt mine, i mightive gotten it from a youtube comment, a tumblr comment, or even a post from tumblr (If i did please dm me the post so i can link it)
So basically, its about human souls ok? So, as we know when a monster absorbs a human soul, they gain a loooooootttt of power, right? But like, and this speaking as a person who has a lot of experience being human ok? I dont really think humans are that powerful, i mean like, sure, the average human could probably take on like 10 monsters or something, but if they jumped you? And also, when playing undertale, we have the mystical power of being able to reset, and save and load, without those, frisk probably wouldve died to something lame like a vegatoid or froggit while in the ruins, and they wouldve gotten the 7th soul they needed, cause the truth is, Frisk ahs died MANY times, its not their human powers that make them powerful, its our ability to remember attack patterns and learn from our mistakes over many many death, so overall frisk is nowhere near the power of equalling "Every soul in the underground."
So heres the part that i got from somewhere else right? The theory goes that, The game never actually states that a human is as powerfull as every single monster in the underground, rather, it states that they're SOUL, is as powerful as the souls of every monster in the underground, meaning that Frisk isnt nessecarly using the full extent of their souls power, its also directly states in the game that monsters are deeply attuned to their souls, so we can speculate that if they were to absorb a human soul with its potential, they would also be better attuned to it then humans are, and they would become a godlike being.
This makes sense on a lot of levels, but it also has some questions that cant be awnsered, lets go over what could be some proof for it first, So when frisk was fighting Hypergod of death Asriel, they were tanking his blows quite well, which should be impossible considering that Asriel had infinite stats, but if we consider the fact that they were determined as all heck from all their friends believing in them, we could maybe hypothesize that, this determination helped them reach a bit further into their soul, and unlock a bit of their souls latent power.
Another question is answers is why do human souls linger after death even if they're bodies are destroyed? Its because their soul is much more powerful then their bodies are.
Now to talk about what it doesnt answer/counter points against it, if you have any counterpoints yourself feel free to comment, i'll read them all im sure i missed something stupid. Alright now for the first one, why does the hyper god of death Asriel become infinitly powerful with the equivalant of 7 human souls compared to when he absorbed Charas soul and died, or when he was omega flowey and could be injured? The awnser is that i have no fricking clue, one theory i thought of was that maybe human souls all held infinite potential, and that maybe Monsters had to get several to unlock their true potential, but that makes no sense, as we can see when Flowey become a god, the souls of nearly every soul in the underground does infact equal one human soul, so by the logic we just states, monster souls should also hold the same potential for infinite potential, but then you consider the fact that monsters are more attuned to their souls then humans are, and you realize that if they did have that potential, they would be so much more powerful, it makes no sense.
Another huge counter point is, if monsters really arnt all that outmatched by humans like i stated, why did they lose the war? Surely they only needed like one human soul, and then the rest would be easy to get with said human soul absorbed? And yet the game claim that not a single human soul was claimed. The only counter point i have to argue that statement is that Asgore/the monsters of the underground killed 6 human children, meaning more likely monsters either chose to not go order 66 on their ass, or that humans protected their younglings cause they were aware of the monsters power, humans also probably had better weapons, more monsters, and judging by the gameover screen, more then likely had the ability to just shatter their soul when they die, meaning that monsters cant absorb them when they die, taking all this into account, you could probably still make an arguement that humans arnt really that physically superior to monsters, i mean like, when was the last time you saw a human suplex a boulder, but it becomes a lot more dubious adn questionable.
That's all i pretty much got for this theory, tell me what you guys think, thoughts, evidence, counterevidence etc.
#undertale#undertale theory#undertale pacifist#frisk#undertale frisk#frisk undertale#asriel#asriel undertale#undertale asriel#flowey#flowey undertale#undertale flowey#undertale souls
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Is idiots are having a war with themselves and it's going on now and it's gigantic and it just went up several notches because of our son and daughters announcement.
-the Sahara is an unsightly mess there are huge tanks hitting out there there beyond the perimeter and they are hitting and they're hitting Max they're down below in tunnels hitting and it's max they're going towards the ships hitting and they say it's Max is going to turn huge and this will be the beginning of Star wars but they're also hitting the max and use this as cover it's a nightmare none of them do well and they're keeping you poor but the treatment is better than most no that's not really true but. There's a lot of things to say but we don't want to. It's a tough time for anybody. Now he went out there and he's trying to get something to eat and they wouldn't the lady said no and so he left a little pissed off he said I have to eat something and didn't have any money anyways came home and ate something. They thought it was screwing around and just being angry and it's not true so they got on the phone and start yelling at people and they're not even figure out who's there and I figured it out a little and they're very lame annoying stink pot Big mouth losers
-that's a little more saying really stupid s*** we should call the cops on him. My son was saying go right ahead I didn't do anything wrong at all. I wish you would of some are trying to call the business line saying stupid things there's a kid down here he's walking around he doesn't buy anything you look suspicious that's cool who they are where they are so go down there it's like five people calling the police and the sun shows up in space and winks and says it's the thrift store near the police and they're going what in the same dumb s*** the same dumb s*** they're saying dumb s*** I took three times and they're messing around with it so they call her phones and they picked them out of the crowd and their numbers blocked and they pull them out and they question them and arrested them for a suspicious activity instead we know about him he's poor is kept for me people like you and they know who they are and they are not clones they're trumpsters so the guy wants to extort the election using our son he says mostly so we've had it with him he's a little retard kid and he's a imp and we're going to make him pay right now we're going after the stuff in the middle area and pulling it out and we're taking care of business we also see what you're saying you need to take that area and putting that facility in is holding on to it in a passive way right now there's a huge bunker underneath. Not really there's a couple they're old and not occupied. We're. instructed to take them out we probably will
-there's a lot of death happening around here now it's happening in Charlotte county can't really tell and it is obscured. They're going to hold off but undercover cops all day and night and in addition to the 10 households there are five but they're outside of this neighborhood, there's still are the regents, they were running whole countries. So far there are about 300 of those that tied into people here. We have 200 more households outside the neighborhood that are higher ups and underneath the regions and they mostly have been unscathed so far but as we were saying about five of them died last night and mostly because they were sick and they got sick I'm going outside and getting air yesterday and last night.
More shortly
Thor it has been a while since he has asked me if I had anything to say but now here I am and he asked and wondering what I can say and I have plenty firstly finally in the backs are going to be at attacked and none too soon who knows what stage they're at this is going to be a nightmare they are a real pain and it's going to be different very different for people when they see what they're like
Freya
There's a lot going on there's a lot of questions love people ask us what's happening and there's a lot of people signing on and God be praised it's finally happening we are going to get together we have more people signing up and we ever thought possible that's going on today and figure out that you need assistance and right now
Thor Freya yep me again
Olympus
I'm going to have a good time today this is going to be intense it's been fooling around with everybody and us for years
Hera
Zues
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Mods thoughts on latest DB?
//I'm not gonna make a habit of this because Death Battle, while it is trending with me right now, is not my main focus with this blog, so while I might do this with this episode and the next episode, I'm probably gonna halt it there.
//Anyway, Rick Vs The Doctor.
//Really good! Not amazing though, but still fitting in well with the trend of really good fights and by no means a disappointment.
//If I have any complaints about it, it's with the analysis, the death, and a few minor plot holes with Rick. The analysis really sold Rick more than the Doctor, and for a while I really thought Rick had it in the bag, even though I was fairly sure from the outset that the Doctor would win.
//Rick's Death made sense, but it was still pretty lame. Especially by the standards of Rick and Morty where there's no real filter to how disgusting the deaths can get, but Rick kind of just dissipates into space. The ending is pretty funny and honestly a little sad though.
//The part that made the least amount of sense to me though is that Rick let his guard down and kind of let the Doctor regenerate. While I wouldn't go so far as to call it character assassination, Rick evidently showed in the fight he was at least aware of who the Doctor was. He referred to him by his species race at the beginning of the fight and shot him in both his hearts at the climax, proving that he KNOWS how the Doctor's species functions, yet he didn't immediately try to stop the regeneration. Not enough to make the fight bad but...easily the most nonsensical part about it.
//Best part of the fight was the narrative and sequence of the fight, which was a big reason why Courage and Scooby's fight was so good to me, though that one still did it a tad better. I like how Rick and the Doctor banter off each other, and I think they did both characters some decent justice. Voice acting was pretty good too, especially the Doctors.
//Now...Goku Vs Superman 3...
//Let's be real, we WERE warned that this was going to be controversial. There are a few reasons why I'm really annoyed, and surprisingly, it's not for the reasons you'd expect. ]
//This is not only the third time these two have fought on Death Battle, and the two have a pretty poor track history on the channel for their previous two episodes. The reason I'M frustrated personally isn't because of this.
//I love this season of DB especially, especially the last 7 or so fights, in fact, it might be my favorite season of the show EVER. But my biggest issue with the season and what I find really stupid about it is that, now with Goku and Superman, 4 of the fights so far have been DC characters, 4 of the fights have been Marvel characters, and 3 of those fights have been Marvel Vs DC.
//I REALLY just want them to do something else and stop wasting slots to characters they use CONSTANTLY.
//And also, in the second video they straight up, said that Goku’s ride or die on his potential, but Superman‘s power is limitless by default, so I think even with what's been happening with Goku and the new power he's unlocked, Superman will STILL stomp him.
//But...I have to admit...Aside from everything I've just listed, I'm not COMPLETELY opposed to the matchup.
//The biggest issue with Goku and Superman on Death Battle is that their episodes have not aged well, or sit on the throne of the most controversial and disliked episodes of all time.
//That being said, it’s been around a decade since their second match and both characters have made a lot more appearances, and Goku especially has a new peak with Super Saiyan Blue and Ultra Instinct.
//And what matters to me most is that they A) Present both Goku and Superman in a respectful way and really detail their capabilities, and B) Make it at least a decent fight that shows off their capabilities as best as they can. I know it's possible and that the series has come a long way, and to reiterate, the last few episodes, from Bill Vs Discord to Rick Vs Doctor have been the absolute peak of the series for me.
//They CAN do it. And I'm trusting them to knock this one out of the park and redeem both of these characters.
-Mod
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Loving the concept of Tubbo and Scar having a tentative friendship arc as Tubbo learns more about Hermitcraft. I think Tubbo would find Scar to be trustworthy, perhaps even a bit familiar in a way?
(I find Scar’s mannerisms and humor to be somewhat similar to Ranboo’s. I imagine Tubbo feels drawn to Scar, but also a bit confused. He wonders how Scar ended up being the mayor at all? He certainly doesn’t act like a leader- at least, not the kind of leader Tubbo knows.)
I think that while it was all initially for the sake of an alliance between the two nations- and Tubbo still wonders what it is they see in his nation? Why does this grand and prosperous server want anything to do with his home? Surely they’ve heard about what happens on the Dream SMP- I think that Scar would end up wanting to get to actually know Tubbo. To know who Tubbo is. Not Mayor Tubbo of L’Manburg, not Tubbo, Ambassador of the Dream SMP, but Tubbo, the kid who’s seen way more than any kid should ever see. The kid who’s looked hell in the eyes and barely made it out alive.
But it’s not just that. Scar knows that this Tubbo kid has clearly gone though a lot, but he can also see so much more to him. Scar can see Tubbo’s muted passion for all the huge bases littered around Hermitcraft. He can see Tubbo’s curiosity about all the crazy farms and redstone contraptions that have become Scar’s day to day life. He thinks, maybe if Tubbo were a bit more comfortable here, then he would be able to really show his true colors.
YES YES YES TO ALL OF THIS !!!
I agree that Scar and Ranboo are actually kind of similar though I would have never thought of that on my own. In particular the way they do kind of lame pranks (like puns, like Scar naming his easter eggs and putting them in obvious places because it's funnier). Everyone likes to write stupid shit on signs and leave them at people's bases. It's like, the most harmless kind of prank and an easy way to break down the walls of the tense kid-ambassador. Also think Tubbo would be a fan of those pranks that require basically doing a whole build for the meme. Maybe not a huge perpetrator of them but he'd think they're neat.
The very first thing Scar thinks when he sees Tubbo is sad. Just everything about him is kind of sad, but he's on Hermitcraft now which means Hermit rules which means it's time to do something fun. Like, immediately. Anything at all to get this kid to look less miserable. Politicians golf, right? They don't have golf but they could go place some minigames! (Highly unsettling to Tubbo, by the way, but he would learn to love them once it was clear they weren't disguised death traps.)
Scar drags him a lot of places that an ambassador doesn't necessarily need to visit: basically every Hermit's base, every shop, some of the farms, and so on. A full tour! with souvenirs! (No contraband, though.) All in a loose attempt to get Tubbo to maybe not stick to the ambassador role so closely.
Sidenote: Doc and Tubbo would get on really well. I feel this in my bones. Tubbo would be really into Doc's game breaking stuff.
#i have no idea if this is coherent. i will not be proofreading it. enjoy heart emoji#dsmp x hc#hc x dsmp#dream smp#hermitcraft#tubbassador au#goodtimeswithscar#tubbo#umbrify#nondescript ask
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"Accidently ending a phone call with your roommate with a casual ‘I love you’ seems like a very good reason to move out"
For benrey @ gordon?
“And can you pick up some oat milk while you’re there? I just realized I’m out.”
“Man, oat milk freaks me out,” Benrey said, pushing their shopping cart towards the dairy section anyway. “Like, do oats even have, uh. Others?”
“Others?” There was a beat of silence as Gordon attempted to figure out exactly what the hell Benrey was talking about. “You mean udders?”
“Yeah. Cow things.”
“Dude, that’s not how oat milk works.” Gordon’s laugh made Benrey’s cheap phone speakers crackle.
“Then how does it work? Huh? Mister scientician?” Benrey propped the phone between their ear and shoulder as they opened the fridge door to grab the brand of oat milk he knew Gordon liked.
“I don’t fucking know! I’m not a goddamn milk scientist.” Even through a phone call, Benrey could hear the smile on Gordon’s face. “They squeeze juice out of the oats or smush them into a paste or something. I don’t know. Stop making me think about how oat milk works, it’s going to make me not want to drink it anymore.”
“Cool, so I’ll buy milk with extra lactose then.”
“You will not, unless you wanna deal with me laying on the couch complaining all afternoon because my stomach hurts.”
“You do that anyway.”
“Fuck off, man.” Gordon’s tone of voice didn’t carry any bite to it. “Alright, I gotta go, I’m almost at the end of the queue to pick Joshie up. I’ll see you back at home, okay?”
“Mhm. Love you, bye.” Benrey hung up and shoved their phone back in their jacket pocket. They unfolded the shopping list and attempted to decipher the mix of their own chicken scratch, Gordon’s doctor handwriting, and the occasional misspelled request for snacks in Joshua’s six year old handwriting. Okay, they had to get those frozen chicken nuggets Joshua liked, another pack of seltzer, a can of black beans since Gordon was planning to cook dinner tonight-
Thinking about Gordon made them suddenly freeze in place as they realized what they’d just done. Did… Did they just say “love you” on the phone with Gordon?
Aw, fuck.
They’d been living with Gordon for a while now. It hadn’t always been an easy thing for either of them. When they’d been freshly respawned, both of them had been jumpy around each other at best, and at worst, they were at each other’s throats trying to kill each other. It took a long time and a lot of uncomfortable conversations for them to get to the point where they could interact without an unbearable amount of tension. From there, they were able to start rebuilding an actual friendship. Turns out, they got along a lot better when they weren’t in mortal danger. Who knew!
Living with Gordon involved a lot of rules, both spoken and unspoken. They involved stuff like “don’t ask weird questions about Gordon’s feet,” “if one of them gets too angry, walk it off instead of actually fighting,” and “no gross body horror in front of Gordon’s son.” It also involved shit like “please for the love of god don’t put empty juice cartons back in the fridge” and “don’t stain the carpets with Sweet Voice, this is a rental and that security deposit is worth getting back.” So far, Benrey hadn’t had too much trouble following the rules. They had been a security guard, after all; following rules was supposed to be their thing. Besides, they were a low price to pay to get to spend time with Gordon.
One of those early unspoken rules, however, had been “keep the flirting to a minimum.” That one had been a little tricky at first, but it had been necessary, especially back when they still weren’t on the best of terms. Benrey learned that when Gordon was already worked up, blowing a kiss did the opposite of diffusing the situation. This was news to Benrey. Who didn’t love a little kiss from their buddies? Lame.
That had been an early rule, though, and one that had kind of faded into the background over time. The longer they lived together, the more physically affectionate they both got, and a little domesticity is only to be expected when you share a household. It was nice. Comfortable.
And then Benrey had to go and say “I love you” on the phone. What the fuck.
That had to be crossing a line, right? Gordon was fine with some handholding and some cuddling and they’d make dinner together once a week, but this had to be pushing it.
Benrey went through the rote motions of buying the rest of their groceries without really paying attention, too busy panicking. There was only one option. They had to move out. This was fine. This was totally fine. They could just crash on Tommy’s couch until they find a place of their own because there was no way this wasn’t going to make Gordon freak the fuck out. As much as they loved fucking with Gordon, they’d learned there was the fun kind of freaking him out and the bad kind of freaking him out. They were fairly certain this fell into the bad category.
By the time that they were walking up to their apartment door, they were already mentally packing up all their things, resigned to their fate. They were so stuck in their own head that Joshua barreling into their legs when they opened the door actually startled them.
“Benny!” Joshua cheered, clinging to their jeans.
“Hey, li’l dude.” Benrey carefully tried to push past the kid without tripping over him on the way to the kitchen. Tragically, that’s where Gordon also happened to be.
“Hey, what took you so long?” Gordon asked, taking some of the grocery bags from them. “I thought you’d gotten lost in Costco again.”
Benrey grunted noncommittally and started putting away groceries instead of answering Gordon. Maybe if they didn’t look at him, they could avoid confronting whatever Gordon’s reaction was. Yeah, definitely, this seemed like a sustainable, reasonable decision to make. Yep.
“Dude.” Gordon’s hand suddenly appeared on their forearm. Benrey stared at it, then looked up at Gordon’s concerned face. “Are you okay?”
“Huh?”
“You’re putting carrots in the utensil drawer.”
Benrey looked down at their hands again. Oh. So they were.
“You’ve been acting weird ever since you got back from the store,” Gordon said, gently taking the carrots away from them. “Did something happen? You wanna talk about it?”
Benrey screwed their mouth up. No, they didn’t want to talk about it, but learning how to talk through things like adults was something they both had agreed to do. That had been a rule introduced by an exasperated Tommy, sick of mediating their bullshit. So, they sighed and looked away while Gordon put the carrots in the vegetable drawer of the fridge. “I was thinking about how I’ve gotta move out.”
“What?” Gordon stood up too fast and smacked his head on the freezer door. He swore loudly, and Benrey reached over to hand him a bag of frozen peas to put on the back of his head. “Thanks. But also, what? Since when are you moving out?”
“Uh, since now?” Benrey said, confused. Shouldn’t it be obvious?
“Why?”
“‘Cause I said I love you on the phone? Dummy? You, uh, a fucking old man got bad brain disease, not remembering things?” They said, defaulting to picking on Gordon to avoid focusing on anything else. Gordon stared blankly at them for a moment, then, against all odds, a grin spread across his face.
“Benrey,” He said, and Benrey decided he didn't like that tone one bit, “Are you embarrassed?”
“Whuh? No.” There was no way they could be embarrassed. That definitely wasn't what was going on here. Nope. Not a bit, “...Maybe.”
“Dude, you don't have to be embarrassed about that.” Gordon laughed. “Do you know how often I've said stupid Freudian slips? I called my sixth grade teacher mom once and wanted to change my name and move to Canada. I've been there.”
“It wasn't, uh… It wasn't too much? Not crossing a line or anything?”
“Nah, man. It was kinda sweet.” Gordon flashed him a smile and finished putting away the last of the groceries.
“Cool.” Benrey relaxed, letting go of the tension that had been building in their shoulders. “That's good ‘cause I was gonna fight you for custody of your Xbox.” Gordon snorted.
“Good fucking luck, you’re too much of a Playstation guy to win that case.”
The evening passed relatively uneventfully from there. Gordon enlisted Benrey’s help in cooking dinner, and Joshua eagerly told them all about the cool dinosaur facts he’d learned in class that day. They went through the easy routine of watching just one episode (which of course always turned into several episodes) of Joshua’s choice of TV, then Benrey helped wash up in the kitchen while Gordon put Josh to bed. Gordon joined them as they finished washing dishes and squeezed Benrey’s shoulder affectionately when they were done.
“Alright, man, I think I’m gonna head to bed early tonight.”
Benrey nodded. “Cool. I’ll be quiet.”
“Don’t worry about it. G’night, dude.”
“Night, Gordon.”
“Oh, and Benrey?” Gordon paused in the doorway of his bedroom and waited until Benrey glanced up at him. Gordon smiled. “Love you too.”
He shut the door before Benrey could respond, leaving Benrey to stare blankly at the door. They let out a groan, careful not to wake Joshua. Oh, Gordon was going to be the death of them.
#hlvrai#frenrey#gordon feetman#benrey#my writing#okay to reblog#this is not my best work but my brain is toxic slutch rn so here you go!!!#I did not proofread this at ALL have fun lol
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