#i fucked up and solved the murder correctly the first time
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oh to be able to play disco elysium for the first time again
#i fucked up and solved the murder correctly the first time#so now theres no point in playing it again to find out#I KNOW#but i did get harry [ redacted ] and [ redacted ] that union guy so i have to replay for that part lol
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Love Bugs (Pt. 03)
Pairing: Derek Morgan x Female Reader
Synopsis: You and Derek Morgan have an arrangement. At work, your relationship is strictly business. Under the sheets, it's all about pleasure. Nothing more, nothing less. Until, of course, your feelings start to get involved. Your situation is complicated enough without the unexpexted predicament that suddenly befalls upon you. But with a maniac serial killer on the loose, will you ever get the chance to make everything right?
Warning(s): pregnancy, brief talk of abortion, stalker behavior, kidnapping, curse words (this shouldn't even warrant a warning at this point lol) pls lmk if I miss anything
Word Count: 2000-ish
Author's Note: told ya the pt 3 would be here sooner than you'd expect! as always, LIKE+COMMENT+REBLOG cause these give me the motivation I need to finish the parts sooner and maybe upload more frequently 👀
Love Bugs Masterlist / Criminal Minds Masterlist
You always took pride in your ability to predict things correctly. It was one of the best traits that made you a great profiler.
Not this time, though.
This time, your ability to conjure correct predictions just seemed like a big joke that the universe purposefully played out to torture your ass.
The ringtone of your phone's incoming call snapped you back to reality. Without looking at the caller ID, you pressed the green button and brought the device to your ear.
"(Y/L/N) speaking."
"Hey, Beets. Where are you?" came the voice of one Penelope Garcia. "Hotch is looking for you. Are you coming in today?"
"Huh? Yeah, I'm coming in. Sorry, it was an emergency. Tell the others I'll be there shortly."
After ending the call, you rushed through the rest of your morning routine as quickly as possible. The three opened boxes on the bathroom sink were thrown into the garbage can in no time. Their contents sitting on the counter, however, required you to pause and contemplate what course of actions you would want to do to deal with the problem at hand.
Upon realizing that this was not the kind of dilemma you could solve in a matter of minutes, you decided to fuck it before dumping the items into the same garbage can.
The three tests with two little pink lines would have to wait.
You had a serial murder case to solve.
If five months ago someone had told you that you'd someday end up carrying the child of Derek Morgan, you would have ordered a psychological evaluation for them right then and there.
The past few days had been a catastrophic turmoil. At first, the irrational anger had devoured you whole. You were this close to calling the company who produced your pills for claiming that they had 99% chance of preventing exactly the kind of mess you were going through from happening. Granted, they had put the minus 1% up there to save face in case anything like this were to ever happen. But what were the chances of you being one of the outliers in that small percentage?
Apparently, a pretty good one.
Then, the panic quickly had taken control and messed up with your head. The endless anxiety of having to bring a child into such a cruel world and bearing the responsibility of raising it, while having witnessed what kind of evil lurked underneath its facade, almost threw you to the brink of insanity. During those moments of fear, you had even entertained the idea of possibly terminating the pregnancy, even going as far as calling the nearest facility to question more about the procedure.
But once the fog had cleared, and you were able to start thinking rationally again, realization soon dawned upon you.
You wanted to keep the baby.
In some curious plot twist, you discovered that the idea of having this baby wasn't as scary as the knowledge of having to face Derek and inform him of the news.
And that was exactly what had been occupying your entire mind: how to break the news to Derek.
You barely even had the guts to talk to him directly anymore. Yet somehow, you had to find a way to tell him that you were pregnant, right to his face, as if you were bringing the news of a new movie that had just premiered in your nearest local theater.
How the hell were you ever going to do that?
And it wasn't like you were worried that Derek wouldn't be supportive about your decision to keep the baby. Even if he was unsupportive, there was nothing he could do to persuade you to change your mind. But Derek--sweet and kindhearted Derek--would never do such a thing. Having lost his father at a very young age himself, there was no way anyone could keep him from taking care of his child, no matter how they came to be in this world.
So, before you could gather your thoughts--and yourself--you had decided to put off telling Derek about your current condition.
"Still nothing, Garcia?" Hotch asked from his place in front of the board.
"I'm so sorry, sir. I've tried everything, but there was nothing else I could uncover from that tape."
The rest of the team was seated around the round table. It had been two weeks since the BAU received the video tape from the UnSub, and Garcia had finally revealed that there was nothing more to be analyzed from the tape despite having only obtained insignificant details out of it.
It also didn't help that the UnSub had been lying dormant since that video was delivered.
"It just doesn't make sense," Rossi said frustratedly. "Why would he stop now? What is he waiting for? This guy gets off on attention. Stopping his theatrics at a time like this doesn't fit his profile at all."
"He must be looking to get his attention from somewhere else," Derek chimed in.
"Yeah, but the question is where?" Reid interjected.
"And what is he planning to do to make sure he gets it?" Hotch let out a long sigh before pinching the bridge of his nose. "Alright, we're not going to stop just because this guy has. Emily, JJ, try interviewing the victims' families, friends, and the witnesses again. See if they suddenly have something useful for us. Morgan and Rossi, follow up on our other leads. Reid--"
"The case files. I know." Reid nodded.
"Right. And (Y/L/N)--" Hotch pinned his stare towards you, "--I need to talk to you. Thank you, everyone. Dismissed."
"Are you in trouble?" Emily leaned in as the rest of the team scattered out of the room.
"Not as far as I know," you whispered.
As you walked the path to Hotch's office, your mind began searching for the possibilities behind Hotch's sudden request to see you privately. You didn't get to guess for too long, though, as you finally arrived in front of his door almost in no time at all.
"Come on in, Agent. Close the door behind you," he commanded. You turned around to nudge the door closed. "Have a seat."
You didn't spend any time beating around the bush once you had sat down.
"Can I ask what this is about?"
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" Hotch looked at you with a raised eyebrow. "I heard you requested a half day off today."
"I, uh... yes. Yes, I did. Is that why I'm here?"
"No. That is not why you're here." Hotch leaned back against his seat. "You've been distracted lately. You're coming late to work, and you can't seem to focus when you're around."
"I-I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again."
"You should know that I've received concerns about you from the other members of the team."
What?
"Was it JJ?" you asked. "Because if this is about what happened in the bathroom--"
"It was Garcia, actually."
"Oh."
Hotch looked at you curiously. "What happened with JJ in the bathroom?"
"Nothing, sir. It was nothing."
The next few seconds were drowned in silence. The ticking clock on Hotch's desk became the only sound echoing against the walls. Hotch was examining you as if you were a suspect in the interrogation room, and with how much scrutiny was sizzling inside those eyes, you might as well have been.
"They're not the only ones concerned about you, (Y/L/N)," he spoke carefully. "I've also noticed that you haven't been yourself lately. You seem tired all the time. You look paler every single day." Hotch readjusted his tie before continuing, "I know that what we do here isn't easy. This job, it's not for everyone. Sometimes our limits are much smaller than what we thought it would be, and that's okay. If you'd like to put in a request for a transfer, I'm sure I will be able--"
"Sir," you stopped him before he could go on any further. "I don't want to transfer. I like working here."
"Just because you like working somewhere, it doesn't mean--"
"Hotch," you cut him off once more. "I'm pregnant."
The priceless look on Hotch's face at the sudden drop of your announcement would forever be ingrained in your brain.
"What?"
"I found out two weeks ago." You smiled tentatively. "I've been having severe morning sickness, and my appetite has also not been the best. Probably why I look tired all the time. I didn't mean to let my condition affect my work, I'm sorry."
"No, no. That's... wow. You're pregnant." Hotch started to nod as if the news was just beginning to fully settle upon him. "Congratulations, Agent. That's wonderful news. You are... happy, right?"
You smiled at his considerate question. "I am very much. Yes."
"How far along are you?"
"My guess is eight to ten weeks. I'm not so sure. Today is my first ultrasound, hence why I requested for half a day."
And then, by some unknown piece of miracle, Aaron Hotchner started to laugh. A real, actual laugh that had both of his eyes wrinkling in the corners. You didn't even know that he could do that without Jack around.
"When I called you in here earlier, this isn't exactly how I pictured the conversation would go," he admitted.
"Neither did I."
"Well--" He cleared his throat, "--there's, of course, a few things we need to go over in rumination of your current condition, but I'm sure we can manage that some other time."
"Of course, sir."
"And (Y/L/N)?" You stared at him expectantly. "You can come to me if you ever need anything. You know that, right?"
The sincerity in Hotch's declaration nearly brought you to tears. You immediately tried to blink back the emotions before you could make a mess of yourself in front of your boss.
"Of course, Hotch. Thank you."
You got up from the chair and began walking towards the door. Before your fingers could touch the handle, you decided to turn around once more.
"Hotch?"
"Yes?"
"I would appreciate it if we kept this between us for now."
"Of course, Agent." He nodded. "You have my word."
And with that, you exited Hotch's room before heading back straight to your desk.
A few hours later, you were finally returning home after attending the doctor appointment.
Confirming your earlier prediction, the doctor had put the estimated age of your fetus at around ten weeks. According to the internet, your baby was not larger than the size of a mere apricot. It was nothing more than a tiny blob in the sonogram image, but the sight of it alone somehow made you want to break down in tears.
Before you could turn into a sobbing ball of mess, you decided to put the picture right on the front of your fridge.
"Alright, I think that's--"
Thud.
Your head instinctively whipped around at the mysterious sound.
Without wasting another second, your hand immediately reached for the gun tucked safely in your holster. The tiny footsteps you took sounded deafening in the silence of your apartment. You first checked the bathroom, finding it empty with nothing out of the ordinary. The two bedrooms were pretty much the same. Quiet and a little messy just the way that you had left them that morning.
Sighing, you brushed off your paranoia as a result of your overactive hormons and creeping exhaustion.
When you reemerged from taking a shower nearly an hour later, the feeling of dread once again washed over your entire being.
At first glance, not a single thing in the apartment seemed to be out of place. But somehow, the feeling of another presence in the room was indisputable. Your wet feet slowly moved along the floor, careful as to not make as much sound as possible.
Once you arrived in the kitchen, you took in your surrounding, making sure that things really were staying in the places they should have been in.
You were about to sigh in relief until you saw it.
The sonogram image you previously had glued to the fridge.
It was now lying on the floor.
Before you could have a chance to grab the nearest weapon, the door to the second bedroom behind you suddenly began to creak.
"Boo."
That was the last thing you remembered before everything went dark.
#derek morgan#derek morgan self insert#derek morgan x you#derek morgan x reader#derek morgan x y/n#derek morgan fic#derek morgan fanfiction#derek morgan fluff#derek morgan angst#derek morgan smut#criminal minds#criminal minds fandom#criminal minds x you#criminal minds x reader#criminal minds x y/n#criminal minds fic#criminal minds fanfiction#criminal minds fluff#criminal minds angst#criminal minds smut#love bugs#shemar moore
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The Spiderman one I usually think about, tho..okay, first I gotta give y’all some background info, so there’s a Spiderman run where Norman Osborn frames him for murder, so Spidey has to create 4 new identities (2 heroes and 2 villains if I remember correctly) to go undercover, solve the murder, and clear his name (and I think at least 2 of those identities? Get picked up by other people and continue on as new heroes?)
So I was thinking about it awhile ago, because most of it was about going undercover, and it just led to me thinking about Spidey making a villain identity, except villains like to hang out
Cause, y’know, villains don’t actually have secret identities most of the time, and they’re usually teaming up against other heroes
So every time I think about Spidey having a fake villain identity, I think about the lengths he’d have to go to to make sure that villain identity also has a fake civilian identity
(His fake villain civilian identity has an apartment rn in my head, Peter Parker would actually be financially stable if he weren’t paying for this second fucking apartment, he can’t get rid of it because villains knowing where to “find him” is how he gets away without sharing phone numbers and other info, as well as evades their suspicion)
(They keep crashing at his place)
(He’s trying to work up the nerve to ask them to pay some rent if they’re gonna keep stopping by)
#did you actually need the background info? maybe not but I need other people to know about that run#if I remember correctly one of the identities is ricochet and he uses his spider strength in his legs to bounce around#and one of his hero identities is actually beloved by the bugle which. has to sting. I love it so much#god I love Spiderman#Spiderman#spider-man#spider man#peter parker
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AI3 predictions + headcanons
Aitsf and AINI spoilers ofc
Date will come back looking like Falco wearing a Vochlocho with the Greg Chun voice in it
It is revealed that Horadori Institute’s sole sperm donor was So Sejima
I scared myself with this one, this sounds like something that would actually 100% happen
Meaning Iris and Mizuki would be bio half-sisters
So gets murdered finally
And the detectives are like uh oh, we have no leads, the killer could’ve literally been anyone ever
Date and Hitomi actually spend time together and reconnect fr and it’s good
Iris’s next somnium is Among Us themed
She witnesses something important, but her somnium hides it under a puzzle where we have to do tasks and correctly identify the impostor that symbolizes what actually happened. The AI ball is crewmate-shaped like Shovelforge Aiba
We’ll be able to play as Marco/Maruko
If the effects of somnium make Aiba more silly instead of logical and Tama more nervous instead of confident, maybe they make Marco loud and expressive while they’re usually shy and quiet in eye form
Aiba returns to Date and Mizuki gets a new partner
We learn significantly more Adorabbit lore (is it a cartoon or something, or is it like a fucked up parody of Sanrio characters?)
There is a character named Adorat that Bibi likes
They put Shoma on some sort of hormone therapy
He starts working for Pewter
Maybe gets a scholarship/grant from ABIS so he can go to uni for robotics. This way he can get the education without debt and then support Mame when she gets out so she can get back on track and have the ability to find something better than Sunfish Pocket.
Go go Boss blackmailing Riichi to help the Enda-Dois as a parallel to her blackmailing So to save Iris
Unlike Pewter, Amame actually stays in prison for a while, but not a super long time
We meet Mrs. Doi as an NPC and she’s comically normal
We will psync with Moma (hopefully they’ll dial down on his A-Set obsession)
Omg imagine psyncing with Ritsuko the secretary
Naix starts revering Tokiko like a deity
The game starts with Tokiko speaking directly to you, the player, as a sort of narrator figure
The characters call on Lien to pick locks again but his role is very minor like that of Moma in AINI
Bigger Hitomi role please
We get to go to Boss and Bibi’s home as was apparently planned for this game at some point
Screw it, throw in Ryuki’s place too. He probably lives in a fuckin mansion
Mizuki inherited two companies from Ren yet she lives in Date’s studio apartment. Sure, she secretly loves him and wouldn’t actually want to move out, but what does she do with the money she must be making? Donate a ton of it? Saving and investing?
Minor subplot where Date and Tama end up working together for some horrible, terrifying reason
Aiba’s interest in bugs and fish becomes relevant to the case
Another iteration of that hilarious highway scene where all the psyncers are driving to the same destination in their own ridiculous vehicles instead of everyone just going in the limo. Or would it be funnier if they were all in one car? How about both in one game.
In AI1 they said there were six psyncers at ABIS. We’ve met Date, Ryuki, and Bibi, plus Mizuki, so there must be at least three other psyncers and AI balls we haven’t met yet.
The game title will obviously be full of puns so what if AI3 (AI san) is about the first psyncer and AI ball? I’m not thinking a prequel, but it could explain the origins of ABIS and be related to the first case solved using psyncing.
It’d be neat if the main character is a more senior detective, like maybe a Jane Marple type figure. It would be cool to see an old protagonist since the end of VLR
Idk what Marco/Maruko’s gender settings are supposed to be since Marco is a masculine name and Maruko is feminine, but I hope we get a male AI-ball in general
What tacky vehicles would the new character(s) ride? A convertible? Badass futuristic motorcycle?
The English title will have the number 3 represent the letter E and “AI” somewhere in it. Perhaps they will use <3 to reference ai as in love
Polyamorous relationship between three people to represent “ai 3”
Man imagine AI4… knowing that one of the ways to say 4 sounds like “death” and is considered super unlucky in Japanese, they’d go crazy stuffing the title with double meanings
Canon wlw representation please,,, there aren’t enough gay women in the Uchiverse
Mentally undoing the Michael Bubleification of Ryuki’s solo in The Song, pure homophobia
(Feel free to add on)
#long post#aitsf#aini#nirvana initiative#nirvanai#ai the somnium files#ai: the somnium files#ai nirvana initiative#aitsf spoilers#ai spoilers#aini spoilers#nirvana initiative spoilers#kaname date#mizuki date#ryuki kuruto#kuruto ryuki#bibi kuranushi#mizuki kuranushi#ai3
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Okay, you know what? Bill Smith appreciation post!
This guy was the coolest fucking dude! We don't know much about him (no date of birth, no obituary, nothing written by him) but we DO know his role in the Osage murders of the 1920's.
For those who don't know, in the 1920's, a guy named William Hale orchestrated a series of murders to kill anywhere from 20 to 60 Osage tribe members and steal their oil headrights. At that time, the Osage were the richest people per capita IN THE ENTIRE WORLD! So we're talking A LOT of money.
Anyway, Bill Smith went before the Osage tribal council after the first few murders to call for justice. Everyone was terrified and paranoid, of course, and many people blamed an evil spirit. Smith protested vehemently, famously saying "No! There is no evil spirit except one in human form." Unfortunately, not even he was brave enough to name the people he (correctly) suspected: William Hale and Ernest Burkhart.
Now here's where things get REALLY interesting. Hale, the mastermind, was SO THREATENED by this guy that he became absolutely DESPERATE to kill him. He approached several different men, some multiple times, asking them to carry out the hit. And then, he did it in the most public way possible by blowing up Smith's house!
Smith didn't even die instantly like his wife and their servant. He survived another two days in the hospital. Those two days were long enough for him to say that his only enemies in the world were Ernest Burkhart and William Hale, instantly throwing suspicion on them.
Not only was his death the final straw for the Osage tribal council before asking the feds for help, several of the guys Hale approached to kill him came forward during the investigation! I genuinely believe that, without Bill Smith, the Osage murder case would NEVER have been solved!
Source: I'm studying the Osage murders for my Comp 2 class. If anyone wants more specific sources, I'd be happy link them
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I play video games a bunch, and you can go ahead and report that incredible never-before-seen scoop to the news. Here's some ones I played this year!
Roguebook
This here is a Slay the Spire clone, no two ways about it. It's a good one, though, with gorgeous visuals. It's also got a fancy schmancy overworld system, where instead of picking paths down a graph, you have to use inks and paintbrushes to reveal the path to the boss by painting in a big hex grid with terrain. Lot of interesting choices to make, mechanically, and a replayability mechanic (Epilogues) that you can be done with pretty quick without sucking up your time for months.
(Story-wise, there's basically nothing going on. You get to the end the first time, it goes "oh, hm, it looks like beating the final boss didn't solve our problem of being stuck in this magic book! better go back to the start and do it over a bunch of times on harder difficulties!" and then you do all those harder difficulties... then it does not have an ending. At all. There literally isn't anything but the setup. Wow.)
Elden Ring
The big one! Ate up 120 hours of my life over the course of like a month and a half. I'd never played a Souls game before, wanted to see what the hype was, and... oh! The hype was about them being very fun! Really comes down to the very tightly-designed combat, I think- but I also wasn't expecting the level of creativity in the world and monster design. There's some... really wild shit in this game! I was just expecting generic swords and sorcery, not, like... volcano snake cult, upside-down crystal library, jar guys, flesh-fungus hellscape, Big Robot Cat... it builds a surprisingly unique world, with a lot of attention to detail.
also i managed to beat malenia (blade of miquella, as she reminded me very very many times) so i'm going to have to be awarded a large number of Gamer Points
AI: The Somnium Files
Jesus entire christ, this game. It's, uh. Uchikoshi unleashed, is what it is. The premise is- you're a detective investigating a murder using a special machine that lets you dive into suspects' dreams to try and find clues to the truth, and... it, uh, does a lot with its premise! It's thoroughly bonkers, and manages some pretty tasty twists. Very fun character designs and dialogue writing, and a well-structured mystery that manages to tie everything together in a really satisfying way.
However. There is gameplay.
The gameplay (when you're not doing the classic detective game stuff of searching crime scenes and interrogating people) is, in a word, bad. It's... well, there's the action sequences, which are... very entertaining, and exquisitely silly, but they're pretty much just quick-time events and they'll game over you given half a chance, which everyone already knows isn't fun. But the real fly in the ointment is the main mechanic of the game, Psyncing- the thing where you go into dreams to find clues.
Psyncing is two different mechanics- both of which are individually fun, but which trade off against each other and neutralize any fun to be had with either of them.
Psyncing is an oddball point-and-click adventure game segment where you investigate surreal dreamscapes, interact with bizarre setpieces, and fuck around with dream logic to attempt to solve environmental puzzles.
Psyncing is a time-management puzzle where you need to correctly sequence the time multipliers on your moves in order to reach an optimal solution before time runs out.
Because you're on the clock, you can't take your time and have fun doing wacky stuff to the environment and enjoying the flavor dialogue. Because the puzzles are all nonsense dream logic that boil down to random guessing 80% of the time, you can't sequence optimal moves unless you know the puzzle solutions in advance. The two halves of this equation have complete anti-synergy with each other, and made me dread every time another Psync came up. (Plus, a lot of the dreams are just really uncreative and tedious, like the crate-pushing puzzle at the docks or the aimless wandering through the dark woods.)
That said, the madcap fun and competent mystery writing are well worth slogging through the psyncs for, so I still recommend it. (At time of writing, it's 80% off on Steam!)
The Sekimeiya: Spun Glass
I'll confess, I've barely started this one- sure, I've sunk eleven hours into it, but I'm still on chapter one, and... this is absolutely the densest Zero Escape-ass mindfuck mystery game I've ever played. Some people are trapped in a mysterious facility, Weird Time Shit is happening (maybe??), impossible events are occurring one after another- and you've got to solve it, and they give you tools to do that in detail. The game gives you not just a log feature, but a log feature with a search function and a notes section complete with text editor, among other organizational tools to keep track of what the fuck is happening. And you'll need it, too- everything happens so much. I have no idea if it all comes together properly, but it's clearly putting in the effort.
(Character writing seems a little weak so far, with the exception of Sai who is trying so hard, bless his heart. Fans of Cordyceps will probably recognize Arc here.)
The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe
Remember The Stanley Parable? Comedy walking sim about the nature of interactive narrative, where you the player play merry hell with the intentions of the narrator as he desperately tries to get you back on track? Very fun game.
This is the modern updated HD rerelease! A genre of game I normally don't go in for, except that this is actually a trick, and it's actually a full sequel wearing the skin of its predecessor as a disguise. (And- well, the original game is in there, in its entirety, so it does pull double duty.) Its status as a sequel/rerelease is mined for every ounce of comedy it can muster, which is a lot. One of the funniest games I've ever played, next to maybe Portal.
Fate Stay/Night
It took some serious effort for me to even get a hold of this thing- they don't make it easy to purchase legitimately. It was a whole adventure of looking up patches and visiting shady torrent sites and translating japanese websites- @yumantimatter was a huge help.
Fate is this huge influential thing that I'd been on the outside of for a while, and I didn't know what to expect- hearing out-of-context stuff about Grand Order, the gacha game, led me to expect just, standard waifu stuff with a magic system that existed to justify Doing Whatever, but... I was really pleasantly surprised with how deep and well-written the original actually is! Like, the magic system is a little loosey-goosey in places, but they do a great job circumscribing what's possible, defining the limits, and foreshadowing the elements that are relevant to the story. And it really does manage to be the kind of story that's really about figuring things out and dealing with a social puzzle, not just big magic shonen battles. It gets shockingly complex and compelling, for...
...uh, for- it's, um, an eroge, it turns out. Like, there's sex scenes. They're not good. The version I played had a "censor H content" option, which- here's the thing about that: it doesn't just like, blur things out, it replaces them entirely, with new content that is way better and more relevant to the story and even more visually interesting, which, uh, speaks to the quality of the pornography. I recommend turning that option on.
Not that there isn't sexual content without that enabled- like, it still has dating sim elements, and Shirou's romantic relationships with the various girls are plot-important, and- it's surprisingly mature and compelling, actually. Normally I groan at that kind of thing, but was invested in the drama here! There's some emotionally fraught dynamics going on! I was really rooting for these kids 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚍𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚜, 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝟷𝟾, 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚞𝚜, 𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝚜𝚑𝚞𝚝 𝚞𝚙.
anyway taiga bestgirl. (unless taiga doesn't count in which case rin bestgirl.)
Grounded
Iiiiiit's a survival crafting game! You probably know how those go. Big open world, you gotta collect resources and build a base to survive, stay topped off on food and water and healing and stuff. Doesn't do anything too special mechanically, but...
...but it's also Honey I Shrunk The Kids, the game. It all takes place in this one backyard, which is richly detailed and full of cool setpieces and dangerous new threats. The world's not procedurally generated or anything- it's designed, and it's packed with stuff- most of which will kill you. The survival crafting aspects are kind of eh, but just being in this world is incredibly fun and unique. Would love to get a group together to play the multiplayer sometime.
Pokemon Violet
Such mixed feelings on this. Like... it was so obviously rushed to release, the crunch must've been awful, it could've been a way better game if they'd had time to fix the bugs and add texture to the world... but the new things it's doing are good ideas and a lot of it really works!
Like- just for starters, the plot. Pokemon has never had a good plot! It's had, at best, an unobtrusive plot, and at worst just the most tedious Bad Guy Team Want Destroy World With Legendary Pokemon cookie-cutter nothing plot. But this time, it's good! They did a good job! They hired writers! The Team Star subplot is both funny and a well-executed tearjerker, the main League journey is supported by a really fun rival character, and the big box art legendary plot plot is- holy shit! They tried some things! Most of them even worked! I cried a couple times! The final mission thing, when you learn what the deal is with Miraidon and Professor Turo- they took some serious risks there! It's good enough I can't even say more because I don't want to spoil it!
But also, there's a bunch of good quality-of-life stuff. The use of Miraidon and movement upgrades makes getting around the world feel good, and the titan fights feel rewarding. Having PC boxes available at all times saves a ton of hassle, as does putting pokemon centers outside so you don't have to sit through a loading zone. Allowing you to freely recall old moves at no cost lets you try out riskier, more gimmicky strategies than you'd ordinarily go for. On-field pokemon and opt-in trainer battles let you set your own pace. They put some real thought into what they were doing!
Buuuuuuut it's clear it needed more time in the oven. Multiple times I ran into a "random encounter" which was just me running into a pokemon in the overworld before its texture had loaded in, is how bad the pop-in is. The world is so empty and ugly, with N64-tier airbrushed-on textures, and with only consumable items as rewards for exploration. It's a total waste of an open-world movement paradigm. Dexit is back, and this time they couldn't even keep all the stuff they already modeled and animated in SwSh somehow. It's really embarrassing, and I really wish I had the version of this game that'd had an extra year in development.
Forget the Golden Witch and Empire of the Golden Witch
Two Umineko fangames by DWaM. Forget is a purple-truth logic gameboard with a very tasty answer-submission mechanic and a spooky metaplot, and Empire is a Her Story-style look-up-terms-in-a-database-'em-up that turns you into a total crazy person screaming about lizard people and the JFK assassination.
Both assume you've played through Umineko no Naku Koro ni, which I've recced before, and- if you've played Umineko, then I'm pretty sure you want more Umineko, and this is some really good more Umineko.
Peglin
It's another roguelike deckbuilder Slay the Spire clone, but this time instead of a new map mechanic, you've got pachinko instead of cards. It's hard to explain exactly how it works (you deal damage to enemies by racking up points on the pinboard, but there's a ton of mechanics that make it more complicated), but despite being in early access and graphically pretty ugly, it's pretty fun!
...And also insanely frustrating, because it turns out that pachinko is an insanely frustrating game. Random chaos will save you and it will kill you, and you'll be screaming at your computer to HIT THAT ONE, THE ONLY ONE YOU NEED TO HIT, THE THING YOU'VE DODGED FIVE TIMES IN A ROW WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU I'M LITERALLY DYING RIGHT NOW. You gotta have the temperament for it.
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okay, some misc. chapter 4 thoughts while i work on finding something more coherent to say:
i mentioned this when it happened but i really love how the entire opening of this chapter has you basically on rails with no room to really investigate, explore, talk to people, etc. of your own accord as the player, up until the point where you finally get to "make a decision" and the decision is entering the funhouse. which is the only way to advance the game, so it's not really a decision. also you know full well it's a bad idea and that people will die as a consequence of this choice. i like when a video game forces you to make a decision that you are fully aware is a bad one. the feeling of player helplessness (and in this case, character helplessness as well — hinata believes in that moment that he has to investigate the funhouse and ultimately that is indeed the case) that this evokes is quite good.
this chapter is just zero escape! i was so delighted to replay the chapter and realize this. i wouldn't have picked up on this when i first got into sdr2, i didn't play 999 until a year or so ago, but the zero escape references are just everywhere in this chapter. the characters (and there's exactly nine of them left alive at that point) find themselves trapped in a strange building from which they must seek a way out! and the building turns out to be different in structure from what they were led to believe. there's a time limit (they will starve if they don't get out soon). sonia infodumps about asimov's laws of robotics at one point totally unprompted (and this does actually turn out to be relevant — will talk more about this later), the way zero escape characters are constantly delivering infodumps on seemingly random topics. we switch perspectives to the deuteragonist for the sake of solving an escape room puzzle, which is done in a style blatantly mimicking zero escape puzzles. this was so much fun to me. danganronpa has always worn its zero escape influences on its sleeve but this in particular was just splendid. whatever the hell is going on with kodaka and uchikoshi, i'm here for it
good character stuff all over the place this chapter. sonia and gundam have a lot of really cute interactions with each other, and souda's increasingly desperate attempts to get sonia to notice him make for a good running gag (there are a lot of jokes related to this that i skipped over for brevity when summarizing, but i was definitely entertained by it). gundam of course is fantastic here in general and i'm going to talk about him a lot more later. owari gets some time to shine this chapter — it became clear to me at this point in the game that while she isn't particularly useful during investigations/trials she does tend to have good gut instincts (she managed to correctly guess some aspects of how this murder went down despite not figuring out the bigger picture), and i like that for her character. kuzuryuu gets some real time to shine this chapter as well both because it's the first time we've been able to spend free time with him and because that one scene between him and owari is real fucking good. nidai being a robot is fun and... also continues the wizard of oz reference from earlier in a rather interesting way (i want to talk about this more too). nanami's a little out of focus this chapter as you can't hang out with her but she still has a very important role to play and seems to be really getting into the swing of solving the mysteries (she contributes a lot to figuring out the funhouse layout stuff). komaeda gets an entire fucking section of the chapter from his POV. and of course, we have a major reveal about hinata.
i still maintain they need an eye strain warning in that damn funhouse. not that it gave me specifically a headache to look at but i imagine this one was rough on some players, and it certainly would have been rough on the characters. since i was reading a let's play that used screenshots back in the day i did not realize the walls are all fucking animated in addition to being garishly colored/patterned and i'm still a little shocked at how, well, despair-inducing it is in there. imagine dealing with that while also starving... i'd feel murderous too tbh
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All I Want For Christmas Is You
Holiday Mr. Freezy One Shot
~~
Okay, so I’m just gonna start this off by saying that this is the darkest I’ve ever written. If you’re not into dark stories, PLEASE DO NOT READ this. Now, this is supposed to be a holiday follow up to ‘The Darker Side Of You’, but there was no way I could post this on Christmas lol. I almost didn’t post this at all, but thanks to @jtargaryen18 (a true angel), I am. Idk, buckle up and get ready for holiday cheer...Mr. Freezy style.
Word Count: 6558
Warnings: 18+, MINORS STAY FAR AWAY FROM THIS, dub-con, talks of murder, implied child murder, suicide attempt, SMUT, fluff (but like...Mr. Freezy fluff, so it’s a warning), murder, swearing, smoking, drinking, smoking, drinking, fighting, arguing, depression, conspiring to commit murder, murder kink, Stockholm Syndrome ...just read with caution. Read at your own risk and responsibly.
Summary: Robert was slowly turning you into his perfect little homemaker, but what happens when he decides that sharing you with anyone is out of the question?
I do not give permission or consent for my works/stories to be posted elsewhere. I DO NOT condone any of this behavior, this is purely for entertainment purposes.
~~
“Fuck me harder, please!” you softly slur as you beg Robert who is fucking you senseless from behind.
“C’mon baby, I know you can be louder than that for me,” he pants, his grip on you getting tighter.
“Shit! Tommy is sleeping-”
“Who gives a fuck?!” he exclaims, frustrated, and he pulls out.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” you snap, turning to face him and laying on your back.
“You’re so worried about waking up Tommy-”
“Oh, don’t start being a little bitch because everything isn’t about you all the fucking time!”
“Watch it-” he warned, darkness and lust very present in his eyes.
“Or what? The fucking least you could do is get me off! Jesus, I play along with this fucked up and ridiculous charade enough, don’t I?”
“If I recall correctly, you were all too happy to play along when you heard Samantha crying and begging for me not to fuck you while she was tied up,” he chuckled darkly, a devilish smile on his face. “And when I strangled her to death, you watched with pure glee as you got yourself off, then sucked my cock like the little whore you are as soon as her last breath left her body.”
“Fuck Robert,” you moan softly, not breaking eye contact with him as you clench your thighs together in a weak attempt to fight off the pressure building up between your legs.
“You were such a good little slut for me that night and I want you to be just as good tonight, you understand you little bitch?”
“Robert-”
“I don’t give a fuck if he’s sleeping! Bring him up one more time and I’ll solve the problem myself,” he warns ominously.
“You’re such a fucking asshole,” you scowl with a small hiccup “you wanna hear me scream?” you ask opening your legs. “Fucking work for it, you piece of shit.”
“Gladly,” he growls before pulling you towards him roughly as a small, drunken giggle escapes you.
**
You and Robert have been living in a sick and twisted hell for almost two years. Two years since Robert ruined the life you loved & forced you into hell with him.
You aren’t any closer to loving him but he’s all you have. He made sure to make himself all you had. He got you to stop talking to your friends and made sure to alienate you from your family (all by threatening to murder them), and he barely let you go out without him. The only time being when you needed to go grocery shopping, but even that had its setbacks. If you weren’t in the house after an hour and a half, he made sure to punish you later on at night.
You remember the first time you decided to test those waters and how it ended.
“Where the fuck were you?” Robert growled for the third time as you got dinner ready in your parents house.
“I’ve already told you-”
“Samantha gets grocery shopping in half the time-”
“Do I fucking look like Samantha to you? Besides, she isn’t being held captive in her own fucking house,” you muttered as you took a glass out of the cabinet.
“Y/N, I swear to Christ, you been talkin’ to the fuckin’-”
“The fucking who, Robert? The cops? My friends? My family? You’ll what? Kill them? Kill me? I fucking wish you so I could free of you, finally!” you snapped, finally reaching your breaking point.
You heard his fist colliding with your face before you felt it.
“I better not fucking find out you’re doing shit that you shouldn’t be doing, you little bitch,” he spat before roughly gripping your hair. “Or I swear to God, I’ll make you wish that I’d slowly killed you in that fucking warehouse,” he warned in a low growl.
“You’re acting like I don’t already,” you replied coldly before pushing him away from you and storming out of kitchen.
Yes, you told yourself he was all you had, but deep down in places you don’t and won’t talk about, some small part of you started to care for him.
You figured it would only a matter of time, because he was the only other person in your life. You cleaned his wounds, you listened to him when he vented his frustrations, you made him dinner, you fucked him daily, and he took care of you.
No, he was no fucking knight in shinning armor, but if you let yourself ignore what was happening, you could pretend just enough. Pretend he wasn’t a monster, pretend he hadn’t destroyed your life, pretend he hadn’t ripped almost every bit of innocence left in you, and pretend that he wasn’t turning you into someone you weren’t particularly a fan of.
However, for as much s you’ve started to care for him, it will never how much you hate him. How much you truly despise him for ruining everything.
But what could you do? Robert made it very clear that he was never going to set you free, and that you’d never leave his side.
At first, it was hell on earth. Especially after the funeral for Samantha. Killing his wife had been the first gift he’d ever given you. Yes, Robert was the one who had ruined your life, but by Samantha turning a blind eye to his cheating and never questioning what he did for a living, she was just as responsible as far as you were concerned.
The funeral was extremely mundane and you thought of telling everyone that it had been your idea, just so they would stop offering sympathy and leave you alone. It wasn’t enough that you had made it through the whole day without rolling your eyes and scoffing as everyone offered Robert their sympathies and condolences. No, you had to sit there and pretend to be the neighbor who took sympathy and felt bad for him and his son, Tommy. Who had to be sad that she lost a good family friend when she had just lost her parents not too long ago.
The whole thing was pathetic.
Whenever you think about that night, it has you excited and yearning for Robert in all the ways you shouldn’t.
“Fuck, just like that, baby,” Robert grunted as you continued to grind your hips against his and your clit rubbed against his pelvis. “Best fuckin' pussy I’ve ever been in!”
“Why....how could you both do this!?” Samantha cried from the chair she was bound to, blood dripping from her mouth and nose. “I trusted you, Y/N! You fucking bitch!”
“Oh? Aren’t you just a dirty fucking slut?” Robert groaned with a sick smile as you clenched around him and he started kneading your nipples between his fingers, as your pace quickened. “Keep goin’, Sam. It’s gettin’ her off,” he chuckled.
“I hate you both! I hate you both so fucking much!” she wailed and it was just enough to send you over the edge into one of the most powerful orgasms you’d ever had with Robert’s name leaving your lips as a desperate cry.
“You okay baby?” Robert asked, caressing your face softly. When all you did was nod, he pulled you close and kissed you deeply, and it almost felt as if he genuinely gave a shit about you. “Another round or do you think now is a good time?”
“I could do this all night,” you smirked, still coming down from your high, “but Tommy has school in a few hours and someone needs to be there when he wakes up.”
“Such a good girl,” Robert chuckled before kissing you again.
“Tommy? If you think you’re keeping Tommy after all this-”
“Shut the fuck up,” Robert interrupted harshly. “Did you really think I would beat the shit out of you and let you go? Fuck Y/N in front of you for hours and let you just leave? God, you really are a stupid cunt,” he scoffed as you slowly got off of him, groaning in dissatisfaction at the fact that he was no longer filling you up.
“What do you mean-”
“I’m going to fucking kill you. If you ask me, it’s been long overdue,” he smirked as you lit your own cigarette before using it to light his and pass it to him.
“What?! No! You wouldn’t! You can’t! HELP!” she screamed, her tears coming harder.
“No one can fucking hear you,” you laughed, before taking another drag from your cigarette. “Trust me, he held me here for two weeks.”
“He...he what?! Y/N, you have to believe me when I tell you that I didn’t know-”
“But you knew that he was cheating on you,” you snapped. “You knew that he was keeping secrets about what he does for a living, but you decided to turn a blind eye to it, because it made your life easier! He killed my parents! He brought me here and raped me until he was all I wanted! He was able to destroy my life because you did nothing!” you yelled as Robert chuckled. “So now, I’m going to sit here and do nothing as he takes your life. I’m going to sit here, enjoy it, get off on it, and then I’m going to fuck him in front of your lifeless body. You wanna know why? Because it’s the fucking least I could do to thank you,” you smirked before laying back on the bed.
“I fucking love it when you’re an evil little bitch,” Robert smiled at you before taking a final drag from his cigarette and throwing it to the ground. “Lets get this over with so I can get back to perfect little pussy.”
“No baby, this is my gift. I want you to drag it out like you promised,” you moaned as you started to softly rub your clit.
“Whatever you want, Sweetheart. You’re the one calling the shots tonight,” he shrugged. “God, I’ve waited so fucking long to do this,” he laughed darkly at Samantha before wrapping his hands around her throat.
Once Samantha was finally dead, you were on your knees for Robert in almost an instant. Happy to please him in any way he wanted since he gave you the one thing you truly wanted most of all.
However, with Samantha’s death came the job of now playing lovers with Robert, which didn’t come without its setbacks.
“You’re not gonna fucking sleep around on me, Pronge!” you shouted as you two stood in your parents living room.
“Someone jealous?” he chuckled.
“No, you piece of shit! If this is to be my new life now, you’re going to make it somewhat bearable. That includes me not not looking like the town fool!”
“Or what? You’ll leave me?” he laughed, taking out a cigarette and placing it between his lips.
“No, I’ll try to fucking kill myself again, and I’ll succeed this time because I’ll shoot myself with one of your guns,” you replied coolly and you saw his entire demeanor change.
He had instantly remembered your last attempt after the last physical fight you two got into.
You usually backed down and just sulked, but that night you fought back with all the energy and courage you had, not giving up until he had you pinned against the bedroom door and fucked you roughly and painfully, before leaving you on the floor and going out to do whatever it was he needed or wanted to do that night.
You’d stayed on that floor and cried for hours, before forcing yourself downstairs and into the kitchen and deciding that enough was enough. Who you were becoming, what you were allowing, and what got you off only made you hate yourself more each day. You had never been this person and you didn’t want to become more and more unfamiliar with yourself.
You refused to keep going on like this.
You found the sharpest knife and took it to your wrists and just let yourself sink down onto the floor, memories of your life flashing before your eyes as the world around you started to fade out.
The good and the bad.
“Y/N!?” Robert drunkenly called, as he slammed the door shut behind him.
You said nothing an hoped the darkness would consume you before he’d have a chance to save you.
“Y/N!? Don’t fuckin’ make me...Jesus Christ!” he exclaimed as he ran to your side, napkins and towels in hand. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!”
“I...I have to go,” you stated simply before slipping away.
“Fuckin’ bitch! Don’t you dare fuckin’ die on me!” was the last thing you heard before the darkness took you.
When you woke up, to your dismay, there was a white light and a lot of beeping machines.
‘He’d got me to the hospital in time? Fuck!’ you thought to yourself as you slowly came to, trying run your hands through your hair, only to find that you’d been restrained. ‘Fucking great.’
“You’re up,” Robert slurred softly, his gaze on you soft. “What the fuck were you thinking?!”
“I think it’s pretty clear what I was thinking,” you croaked, your mouth dry, as you looked away from him. “You couldn’t be kind just let me fucking die?”
“You really think I’d ever let you take yourself from me? That I’d let anyone or anything take you from me?” he questioned angrily. “What the fuck am I supposed to do without you?!”
“I don’t know, be a better parent to Tommy? Be a parent, at all?” you questioned with a laugh. “Maybe not be a fucking murderer,” you muttered to yourself.
“Fuck him! All he does and bitch and complain!” Robert scowled as he sank further into his seat.
Before you could even open your mouth to respond, the doctor came in and decided to explain everything to Robert, since he’d put himself as your emergency contact on the clipboard.
From then on, things changed drastically between you and Robert.
He never laid a hand on you again, he stopped sleeping around (which you could tell by all the glares you received from the women around the little suburban hell you two called home), he was never out or away too late, he made an attempt to be at least pleasant, and he attempted to be romantic by buying you skimpy outfits that you could wear for him around the house.
He also hid all of his weapons from you.
In an attempt to accept your hell with grace and dignity, you did your best to be civil. When he came home with blood on himself, his clothes, or both, you didn’t look at him with pure disgust, you didn’t question him about work, you tried to have dinner ready for him when he came home, and you made yourself available to him for whatever he wanted whenever he wanted.
You also, in a way, started care more.
You’d never allow yourself to believe that he loved you, but on some level, he did to seem give somewhat of a shit about you. Or, at least, he was obsessed enough to take care of you.
Well, take care of you in a way that suited him.
No, it was by no means romantic or deal, but you’d done everything in your power to get away from him and it hadn’t worked at all. The only thing left to do was give up and accept your fate.
This also meant you’d have to accepted the role of step-mother to Tommy.
That was the other thing.
What also came along with Samantha’s death was the hardest challenge: raising Tommy.
You know that your own cruel and evil desires are what drove to the current hell you were living in, but Tommy is part of the reason you decided to play house with Robert. Tommy had done nothing to deserve the current life he was living and being left with the worst parent on planet earth, so you took it upon yourself to fill the roll of being a mother.
Well, to the best of your ability.
Before Robert came along, you craved to be the type of mother your own mother had been. Loving, thoughtful, strong, funny, caring, brave, and devoted. You couldn’t wait to have a family of your own with your own ‘Mr. Right’ and to take on motherly duties. You really did try with Tommy but you just couldn’t do it. It’s not like there was anything wrong with the child. He was sweet, compassionate, loving, innocent, and so incredibly considerate. No, the issue wasn’t so much Tommy as much as it was who his parents were. You’d hated his mother and you tolerate his father because he’s all you have at this point.
You looked at Tommy now and saw regret and felt anger.
It’s not like Robert hadn’t noticed how unhappy you were. He’d gotten you pregnant twice and both times you’d aborted them, just like you’d told him you would. Yeah, there was hell to pay, but it was worth it as long as you didn’t have to bring another Pronge into the world.
“I can snap his neck and you wouldn’t even know. He’ll just look like he’s sleeping,” Robert suggested one night as he put the video camera away, like it was no big deal.
“Shut the fuck up!” you snapped, pulling your nightgown on “don’t you touch a hair on that boy’s head!”
“Why not? He’s unhappy, you’re unhappy-”
“Enough Robert,” you warned as you got out of bed to clean yourself off.
“We should get married. That way, when you’re pregnant with my kid, the town won’t think of you as a whore. Hell, you’d have two Pronge’s of your own if you’d stop killing them.”
“I’m not fucking marrying you, Robert, or having your fucking kids. I’m playing house with you, that’s enough. Besides, I saw what you did to your last wife, no fucking thanks.”
“I did that for you, baby,” he smirked as he wrapped his arms around your waist. “And if I recall correctly, you fucking loved it.”
“Yeah, so I’m not setting myself up to be the next Mrs. Pronge for you to kill in front of your next deranged sex slave.”
“You know you mean more to me than that.”
“I fucking hate you,” you spat as you looked at your reflections in the bathroom mirror
“I know you do, baby. And I love you,” he responded softly, before forcing you to bend over and thrusting himself into you.
Since that conversation, you’ve done your best to love Tommy as your own. To be patient with him, to make time for him, to help him, and to care for him since you know Robert never will. However, the harder you tried to love him, the harder it became. He needed a mother and you just didn’t know how to be one for him. Before everything happened, you loved him with every fiber of your being. But now? Now, you can’t look at him and see anything besides Samantha and Robert.
How the hell were you going to raise him to be a stable and capable adult? How were you supposed to raise him to be better than his father? How were you supposed to be his way out when all you wanted to do was pretend that he doesn’t exist?
Robert’s P.O.V
As I watch you bring in the mail, mindlessly going through junk and invites for Christmas parties, I can’t stop the smile that comes to my face at your dissatisfaction.
“Do we feel like bullshitting through another Christmas party with the Kingsley’s?” you sigh as you take a seat at the kitchen isle.
“What do you wanna do?”
“I wanna stay home.”
“Home?”
“Here. Don’t fucking start,” you snap.
“This is your childhood home, Sweetie.”
“Yeah, too bad you fucking tainted it.”
“You know, you did tell me love me last night,” I remind you, a small sick smile on my lips.
“Fuck you, I was drunk. I would’ve told you anything you wanted for you to bring me off,” you mutter before getting up and grabbing a glass so you can pour yourself a drink.
“Oh honey, you don’t mean that,” I can’t help but laugh as I light a cigarette. I’ll never get over how much you hate me and I don’t want to.
It only makes me love you more.
“Fuck, we have to get Tommy’s Christmas gifts!” you snap, stomping your foot, probably angry with the fact that we’ll have to put up with Christmas traffic and shitty weather.
Or just at the fact that you have to deal with Tommy at all.
“We don’t have to.”
“Robert, I know you don’t give a fuck about your child, who fucking worships you for whatever reason, but I do. He’s getting toys on Christmas,” you mutter.
“Get him a toy gun,” I laugh as you shoot me a glare.
“You’re not fucking funny. Get your shit together, we’re leaving in 20 minutes, and you’re the one paying for everything, since you’re the one with the fucking job.”
As you storm upstairs, I can’t help but think about how bitter you’ve been these last few months. Of course, I know it’s my fucking fault, but it’s more than that. This is the life you’ve dreamed of and you hate every aspect of it.
Even Tommy.
The boy you once adored and thought the world of, you now resent and can’t wait to put to sleep. It doesn’t help that the time you take to pretend you care for the boy, takes away from time that you can spend with me.
I can put the little shit up for adoption, but knowing Tommy and how emotional he is, he’d find his way back and want answers.
Not like he deserves them.
I can also hand him off to Samantha’s family, but that once again gives him the opportunity to come back and be a pain in my ass.
No, the easiest and nicest thing to do is get rid of him. Yeah, the kid deserves a better father, a better family, but if he’s dead he’ll be reunited with his cunt mother.
At least, that’s what he’s been brought up to believe. Poor kid never had a chance.
Besides, why should I have to share you with anyone? I do shit for everyone else all the fucking that could kill me or get me locked up. You’re the one good thing in my life and I don’t want to share you, so I’m going to.
Sure, you’ll be mad at me for it, but when aren’t you mad at me? The sex is better anyway. No matter how many times I try to break you, you bounce back and this won’t be any different.
At some point, you’ll probably even thank me for not letting you get to hate him as much as you hate me.
“Pronge, lets go!” you call as you make your way back down the steps. “And you better not be cheap about it either!”
“Comin’ Sweetheart.”
It’s sick how happy I feel finally being able to have you all to myself. There’s no heaven for guys like me, but in your arms and in-between those legs is the closest I’ll get, and I’ll be dammed if I let anyone get in the way of that.
Even my own fucking kid.
Y/N’s P.O.V.
“I love my gifts, Mama!” Tommy exclaims as he runs over and wraps you in a giant hug. You want this moment to fill me with an extreme amount of love and happiness, but you just can’t wait for him to get off of me.
“And what do you say to your dad?” you ask, giving him the most genuine and loving smile I can muster.
“Thank you, Daddy!” Tommy beams, ready to run over to him, but Robert holds out his hand while a smile plays on his lips.
“If you wanna thank me, go out and play on you new bike.”
“Really? It’s Christmas and Mama Sam-”
“Things are different now,” he chuckles. “Take a few rides around the block and tell me what you think.”
“Thanks Daddy!” Tommy yells as he dresses up in his snow gear before taking his bike outside
“That was sweet, Bobby,” you smile once the door closes. “He’s so happy.”
“I just want you to myself. I knew if I got him that fucking bike, he’d leave us alone for a few hours.”
“So sweet, so romantic,” you scoff as you start to clean up the torn up wrapping paper.
“Stop, deal with all of that shit later,” Robert scoffs. “C’mere.”
“What do you want?” you groan, though a very small part of you is glad to be alone with him and getting Tommy the fuck away from you.
God, you hate him for turning me into this. For ruining you.
“Come sit on Daddy’s lap,” he smirks.
“What do you want?” you ask once I straddle him, already knowing what he wants.
“Did you like the gift I gave you?”
“An orgasm? Yeah, it was amazing.”
“Don’t be a bitch,” he warned “the fuckin’ necklace.”
“It was nice, thank you,” you smile before dipping down to kiss him.
He almost feels like home. Two more glasses of the egg nog he made and he will.
As you start to deepen the kiss, you scowl when you see Tommy’s gloves out of the corner of your eye. “Shit!”
“What?”
“Tommy forgot his fucking gloves and he needs them. It’s freezing and the last thing I need is for him to get sick.”
“Leave ‘em, he’ll be fine,” Robert shrugs before attempting to pull you close to him again.
“Your dick can wait a few minutes,” you laugh before attempting to get up again, only to have him pull you close again. Rougher.
“He ain’t gonna fuckin’ need ‘em, Sweetheart.”
“What do you mean he won’t...what the fuck did you do, Robert?!”
“Great, we’re back to fuckin’ Robert now,” he scowls as he lets go of you and reaches for his pack of cigarettes. “I was really hoping this would happen after we fucked,” he muttered as he lit one and took a drag from it.
“What the fuck did you do?” you repeat, a chill running down your spine.
“The one thing you truly wanted, but would never ask for.”
“Robert-”
“I got rid of Tommy. Well, I’m getting rid of Tommy. Kid still has a few more minutes before he gets hit,” Robert sighs as he checks his watch. “Figure I’d let him enjoy that bike for a bit. A nice going away gift,” he laughs before he takes another drag from his cigarette.
“Jesus Christ! What the fuck is wrong with you?!”
“Here we fuckin’ go,” he huffs, pushing himself out of the Laz-y chair and making his way into the kitchen.
“What the...he’s your son! How the fuck-”
“I never wanted him! God, I told that stupid cunt that I didn’t want kids, but she went and got pregnant anyway! The kid’s been a nuisance since he fuckin’ arrived,” he spat, pouring himself a drink.
“Robert-”
“Come the fuck on! YOU don’t even wanna fuckin’ deal with him! He’s too stupid to see it, but I can see it clear as day! You hate spending time with him, you hate how needy he is, you can’t stand it when he touches you-”
“I don’t want him dead, Robert! Call it off!”
“No,” he responds coolly, evil smile on his lips.
“Fucking call it off!” you roar at him.
“No, because it’s easier this way. I don’t have to deal with any fucking clean up this time, we don’t have to worry about him finding us and wanting answers, and I don’t have to deal with him crying over that cunt anymore. Jesus, the fucking crying with that boy,” he mutters before taking a sip of his scotch before taking a final drag from his cigarette and putting it out.
“Robert-”
“I’d planned to be deep inside of that fucking pussy by now, and our fucking neighbors will probably be here in the next hour, so,” he huffs before throwing you over his shoulder, “I think we should get started.”
“Put me down!” you scream, wiggling and fighting against him, trying to think of any way to save Tommy.
“No, I get that you need to pretend to be angry, but I’ve waited long enough,” he snaps, continuing the trip up the steps with ease.
“Pretend?! Robert-”
“I get it, Sweetheart,” he chuckles before throwing you down on the bed and quickly hovering over you. “You still have your good girl ways and you need to save him. You need to pretend that you care enough to save him, but we both know you fuckin’ don’t,” he smirks as he rips your skirt off.
“Stop it!” you yell, trying to push him off of you.
“Oh baby, you know I only love it more when you fight me, but then again, it has been a while since I’ve had to take what I want,” he chuckles darkly.
“Fuck you!”
“Think about it, baby,” he whispers hotly against your ear as his hand travels down into your panties.
“Stop it,” you moan softly, your will to fight quickly fading and you hate how easily your body comes undone for him at this point.
“You don’t have to wake up early to drive him to school anymore,” he groans as he starts rubbing your clit teasingly “you don’t have to pick him up, you don’t have to comfort him when he cries, you don’t have to help him with his fucking homework, and you don’t have to pretend you fucking care about him.”
“No,” you moan as you feel your release coming on.
“I know baby, I know you need to hate me and that’s okay,” he moans he slides two fingers into your desperate and soaked cunt. “Be my good little girl and pretend to be angry with me.”
“So what? I’m...fuck! I’m supposed to feel special even though one day...one day I’ll end up like Samantha and Tommy?” you whimper as you cum hard. “Why do you even want kids with me?!”
“Oh baby, don’t you see?” he asks as he forces those two fingers into your mouth, forcing you to taste how desperate and pathetic you’ve become for him. “Your parents, the neighbors, Samantha, my son, I did that all for you! As for our own kids,” he chuckles darkly “our kids will be nothing like Tommy. His mother was weak and he’s weak too, but you...you’re gonna be so much better for our kids,” he coos before removing his fingers from your mouth and ripping your shirt open. “Fuck!” he growls, quickly going to undo and pull down his pants and boxers.
“You haven’t done any of this for me,” you whimper, desperate for him to fill you up, and ignoring the part of you that’s relieved that you’ll never have to deal with Tommy again. Of course you don’t want Tommy dead, and you hate the part of you that doesn’t feel completely terrible, but knowing you’d never have to deal with the spawn of two Satan’s again?
That has you feeling elated.
“I know you don’t believe me and I I’d be disappointed if you did,” he chuckles darkly before thrusting himself inside of you, and gaining a loud and pornographic moan from you “but it’s true.”
“Fuck,” you moan as he starts to pump into you rough and greedy. The way you love. “Please don’t stop!” you beg, starting to claw at his back as you wrap one of your legs around his waist, and your back arches a little.
“There’s my dirty little thing,” he laughs looking down at you as you’re desperate mess beneath him, loving how he always gives you what you want without even having to ask. “Got everything I wanted for Christmas,” he grunts as his thrusts become erratic as one of his hands starts to massage one of your breasts “because all I wanted for Christmas was you,” he shouts as he shoots his load into you, you following right behind, screaming his name. “All...all I’ll ever want,” he breathes after a moment “is you.”
“I fucking hate you. I hate you for turning me into this,” you sob as you come down from your high, disgusted with yourself.
No matter what, you’re always disgusted with yourself, but it’s never enough to get you to find any real fault with Robert.
“I love how much you hate me. I love you,” he breathes as he looks at his watch. “We’ve got another 30 minutes before someone comes to tell us about Tommy, so I think we should get in one more round before we have to start pretending again, don’t you?” he questions with a devilish glint in his eyes.
You look him deep in his eyes, looking for any sign of remorse, sadness, or shame, but you see none. Instead, you see elation, greed, relief and something...soft? You can’t quite put your finger on it, but it’s not the first time you’ve seen it.
It’s in this moment that you realize that he’ll never let you go and he’ll never let you leave him.
And at this point, maybe you don’t want him to.
When you don’t respond, his wicked grin that you’ve come to desire spreads across face as he starts to move within’ you again, and you can’t stop the moan that es escapes you. “Sweetheart,” he rasps with an intense gaze on you “there’s nothing better than this. You all to myself. Don’t have to share you with anyone else and don’t have to worry about anyone comin’ between us,” he grunts as he picks up his pace and you instinctively wrap your legs around his waist and arms around his shoulders. “Merry Christmas indeed.”
The End
~~
taglist: @fuckingbye, @whxre4cevans, @sweetflowerdreams
#fanfiction#fan fiction#fanfic#fan fic#fan fic smut#mr freezy#Mr. Freezy#mr. freezy x reader#robert 'mr. freezy' pronge#Mr. Freezyxreader#The Iceman#Robert Pronge#mr. freezy x y/n
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The Prenup: Part Three
Summary: After four years of being together and finally being engaged, Chris wants you to sign a prenup.
Chris Evans x Reader
Warnings: angst, swearing, chris getting his ass handed to him, a lot of pain.
Part One Part Two
After Chris' little sob moment, he got his shit together and went back to where his family was. There was no way he was going to get you back crying like a baby when he was at fault. He needed to fix this, but you had to be on board in order first
He sits back on the couch, his mother and siblings not even realizing he entered the room, for they were having their own squabble. Scott's voice being the loudest out of everyone of course.
He sees his phone and goes to grab it. Carly notices him and speaks up.
"Chris is there anywhere you think she could be? Any place you guys have gone that's sentimental or something?" She's trying her best, but it wasn't enough. For all Chris knew, you could've been in numerous places. Everywhere you went was special.
When you both aren't working, you're on an adventure after another. You both loved to explore and were the perfect partners for each other to do it. You guys had traveled everywhere.
"I have no idea. I really fucked up and I don't even know where to begin to fix this" he breathes out, voice wavering gradually at every word. "Why do I always do this?"
It's Lisa's turn to speak up. "Do what?"
"Why do I always sabotage everything good in my life? Specifically love. It's like whenever it gets too good to be true, I back away. This time, I decided to wait four years to mess this up."
"Chris," Shanna calls. "You have a good woman." She pauses. "A great woman. She has put up with your shit and gave up so much to be with you. That's exactly what you wanted. Someone to really prove their love for you and she did that. You cannot go back on that now."
"Look how that's going." Scott doesn't fail to add a snarky remark.
"Scott I'm not going to tell you again. Quit it." Lisa barks and pops the back of his head. Scott goes silent.
"Okay but what if I messed up for good this time?" He looks up and straight at Shanna. "I have never seen her like this. I don't think anyone has ever hurt her this bad before." And he was right. You'd never experienced this much emotional pain before and the love of your life is to blame.
"Well you don't know that unless you find out. You can't just sit around here and feel sorry for yourself because believe it or not, you have no reason to." Shanna is completely right. Now it was up to Chris. But first he needed to figure out where you were.
He grabs his phone and goes to your contact. He finds you and clicks. All your info pops up and he debates on whether he should call or message. As he's deciding, his eyes wander lower to the location box. He sees your icon on the map.
His mouth opens, but nothing leaves it. Your location was on. It had been on the entire freaking time.
"Chris what's wrong?" Lisa walks over and the kids perk up.
"Y/N's location has been on all this time. I can see where she is now!" He clicks your icon and waits for it to load. A little hope has risen inside of him. One step closer.
"Well this is good. Now you can go to her. I just hope she doesn't want to kill you when she sees you." Shanna scratches the back of her neck because she knows what you're capable of.
Last year, your sister's boyfriend was messing around with your cousin's girlfriend and it got exposed at the dinner table infront of everyone.
Chris and his family had been invited and everything was going great. But then one of your other cousins decided to start some mess and pointed out how it was so strange that they were so close and always hung out together. They weren't wrong either.
Turns out they've been hooking up behind their backs for a while and all hell broke loose. Your sister and cousin are both very sensitive people. Their feelings get hurt fast and this absolutely tore them to pieces. That pissed you off and you went straight for the girlfriend. Then you went for the boyfriend but only got a kick to the spleen before Chris snatched you up.
She went to the hospital with a broken nose and dislocated jaw. The boyfriend had pain in his spleen for weeks on end. You apologized to the Evans' for your riveting hospitality, but Scott backed you up and stated that 'you did what you had to do'.
From that day forward, they did not get on your bad side. But you'd never hurt them. You had a great relationship with all of them. Something rare with in-laws. But not the Evans'.
Your location finally loaded and you were pinned at the Liberty, almost an hour from where you guys lived. Chris didn't even need to ask himself why you were so far away. He knew why.
"Okay I found her. She's at a hotel about about an hour away. Who knows what she'll do next, so I need to go right now." He moves to get his jacket and shoes. Slipping them on he grabs his keys and heads out the door, yelling an 'I'll be back soon' just before closing it.
Pregnant, tired, once again and alone. This should not be the case. You should be at home with your fianceé discussing how you'd break the news to your families about your new addition. But instead, there you are eating Domino's and binge watching the first and only season of a new show you found to get your mind off of things.
Its about a district attorney who's son had been found as a suspect for the murder of his schoolmate. What didn't help was the fact that the father, Andy Barber, looked almost identical to Chris. And the way Andy would interact with his son had you thinking about how he would react to your little surprise.
Would he be happy? Would it be too much for him? Seeing that you guys had just now got engaged after 4 years, you didn't see him too excited to add a baby in just yet. You hadn't even gotten married. Not to mention you just pushed that off the table.
You got your mind racing again, so you turned off the show and just sat quietly, succumbing to your thoughts. First, you guys needed to solve your problem before you tell him anything of the current events. Should you call him and tell him to come over? How were you gonna approach him?
Staying mad was off the table as soon as you saw the pregnancy results. You had to be mature for your new family. That meant pushing aside your anger and solving this prenup issue. Then you'd tell him about the baby. You just needed the chance.
And your chance had arrived when Chris pulled up to the parking lot of the hotel. Your icon was still at the location. He rushed to get out and inside, heading to the front desk.
"Hi! Is a Y/N Y/LN checked in here?" His fingers tap the counter in anticipation. The clerk is taken aback but checks the computer infront of him anyway.
"Uh, no sir there isn't anyone here by that name." The clerk shook his head and looked back up at him. Chris sighs and thinks. An idea comes to his head. It doesn't sound reasonable, but he had to at least try it.
"Okay um..how about a Y/N Evans?" The clerk looks back at the computer and types.
"Yes! There's a Y/N Evans in room 263 on the 3rd floor." Chris' heart leaped. You used his last name. After all that went down, you still went by his last name. He was gaining hope by the minute.
"She's my fianceé. Is there a way I could have a key to her room? It's super important" he begged.
"Well we're not allowed to give room keys out randomly. It's policy. But I could call up to confirm with Ms. Evans, if you'd like?" Chris accepted the offer, but not before correctly the clerk to calling you Mrs. Evans.
You jump slightly when you hear the phone ring. You stretch your arm and pick it up from the receiver.
"Hello?"
"Hi Mrs Evans! I have a-"
There was a pause before he continued,
"Mr. Evans down here at the lobby that wants to see you. Should I send him up?"
You swear in that exact moment all the saliva in your mouth dried up and your mouth was sealed shut. He had found you and and wanted to see you. But how? Anyways, you had to face him sooner or later. You freaking live together and you can't stay at that hotel forever.
"Mrs. Evans? Are you alright?" You snap out of your immobile state and clear your throat.
"Um..yes. You can send him up." You scold yourself for not putting up a bigger fight. But what for? It would only make shit worse than it already was.
"Alright ma'am. He'll be up shortly."
"Okay thank you." You quickly slam the phone on the receiver and let your body hit the mattress. Well, there's no turning back now.
You don't know how long you were laying there, but it couldn't have been long because you heard a knock at the door. You shoot up and stare at it.
Another knock.
"Y/N?"
You move your body towards the door taking a deep breath. You can do this Y/N. Get it together. This is Chris for goodness sake.
You turn the knob and pull the door back, Chris coming into view staring right back at you.
"Hi baby."
pls- this dramatic ass ending 😭 this was gonna be the last part, but dialogue/ just kept coming at me as I was writing 🥴.
tags:
@flattykawa1 @mayafatimakhan @attitude-times @shawn-youth @traceyaudette @fantasticinternetpizza @kyraroseficreblogs33 @radi0active-thoughts @youthought-iwasa-nicegirl @ohbarracuda @katelyneannxo @jennamarieee623 @nicochantez @craycraycraic @ilikeurdad @ppal3 @captainson-of-coul @joanne-stan @ilovetheeagles @cristinagronk16 @kelbabyblue @onyourgoddamnleft @jessycatth @misz-adrii @geminievans1 @saltyflowermakertaco @a-moment-captured @harrysthiccthighss @greatbatprofessordragon @dauntless2022 @f12sfm @allboutdatmarvel @ineedpineapple @illyrianprincess @ladycumberbatchofcamelot @thesecretlifeofdaydreamss @rubyztimetobeme @marianas-studyblr @icycheerleader @obliviatevamps @thevelvetseries @coffeebooksandfandom @shamelessfangirl-3 @quietmyfearswith @jennmurawaski13 @kissme-hs @lvgllre @secretmysteriousperson @arabescapr
#cevans#chris evans#avengers#chris evans fanfiction#chris evans x reader#andy barber smut#steve rogers smut#captain america#chris evans fluff#chris evans smut
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Theory: Stanley Uris was Murdered.
Tagging @vvanini I hope you can follow this okay it’s very word vomity lol
Okay So TW because this post will touch on Stan's death ad the methods behind it
I propose that Stan Uris was murdered. by IT. In his home on that fateful night. I think that Stan posed the biggest threat to IT and therefore IT felt the need to take him out before the battle even started.
Allow me to explain.
Okay, so, I need to lay out some basic "rules" or "facts" before I make my case. They are as follows.
- IT planted it's roots in Derry, and finds it difficult to leave, but still can at it’s own wil.
If you read the book (I honestly don't blame you if you haven't) You'd know that once the Losers kill IT for the final time, Derry (the Physical town) is obliterated. Buildings explode, sinkholes appear, things are flooded. The town is in ruins by the time that the Losers leave the sewers. The movies don't adapt this so If this is news to you thats fine. the bottom line is that destroying IT destroys Derry, like ripping a tree out of the ground with all it's roots. Because of this, we can make the claim that while it can Leave Derry (as it does every 27 years) it probably takes tremandous amount of power to do so, which is why IT only goes when the cycle is over. Why does this matter? Well, what if IT left Derry to get to Stan? The murders had stopped for about a week when they're all in the Jade of the Orient. Plenty of time for IT to cross from Maine to Georgia.
Side Note: We KNOW IT leaevs Maine to elsewhere in the world because of King's extended universe all interconnecting. it's not far off at all to make the claim that IT is the same evil that haunts, say The Shining's Overlook Hotel, which is in Colarado.
- IT is omnipresent
This is also a given, IT lives everywhere, and can fuck with time and space in godlike (or maybe eldritch like) ways. in IT: Chapter Two, when Mike claims "IT Doesn't know I know what I know" he's unfortunately wrong, because we know that IT can be in A) Multiple places at once, B) can manipulate anything on the drop of a hat (See: Stan being teleported away from everyone else in Chapter One, Everything about Neibolt, etc) and C) Knows everyone's deep fears. This is further proven by IT Saying things like "Beep Beep Richie" (although this is Horribly Horribly executed in the films, ugh.) and so on and so forth. On top of all of this, We can make the claim that IT can exist outside of Time as well, given that IT is immortal. SO, what's stopping IT from Knowing Mike was going to call them all back (Espically considering that IT TOLD Mike to do this?). Even if we keep IT's omnipresence to the location that IT inhabits (in this case Derry) IT would still have knowledge of where the losers are through Mike. And if you take the Lucky Seven/Chosen Seven route (oh my god I got theories on that too) you could argue IT knows where they are inherently due to their cosmic status.
- Stan is the "most Powerful" loser
So, obviously all the Loser's are powerful, espically considering they're the ones who Defeat IT (Again going on to the Lucky/Chosen Seven theory). This next claim is going to be less focused on what the 2019/2017 Movies do because they are Bad Movies and that's a whole other rant. However, in the book, Stan is (to my knowledge feel free to correct me on any of this) the only loser to Actively ward off and 'defeat' IT on his own without running away. He uses his belief in this what is Real (birds) to ward off what is "not real" (IT). The other losers do manage to take down IT in their own Right, but Stan is ultimately the one to Really get IT. This is because Stan's character revolves around Belief and Willpower. These are, in some form or another, the ways to Defeat IT. the ritual of Chud is a battle of Wills. in the book, Bill takes IT down and Eddie does the final blow. In the Remake (ugh) the losers can defeat it Technically using the belief that IT isn't as powerful as it claims because IT's "just a clown" (Ihatethatfuckingendingsomuchugh). Stan being much more skeptical than the rest of the group in his ability to understand Reality vs IT's illusions is a powermove, and IT knows that ability doesn't go away as Stan grows up, but rather he gets more powerful. Stan is the Only loser out of the 6 who left that has any sort of knowledge about IT, where the other losers have nothing. Bev has nightmares, yes, but she still forgets them. We're told in his chapter (Chapter 3, Six Phone Calls (1985), Part One: Stanley Uris Takes a Bath) that he has some hazy knowledge of his place in the Lucky Seven, and even goes so far as to MENTION it sometimes, even if he doesn't quite remember or understand any of it, his knowledge of IT and Derry is worlds more prominent than that of the rest of the losers.
(page 52 of IT:
"Stanley, nothing's wrong with your life!"
"I don't mean from inside." he said. "From inside is fine. I'm talking about outside. Something that should be over and isn't. I wake up frmo these dreams and think, 'My whole pleasent life has been nothing but the eye of some storm I don't understand.' I'm afraid. But then it just... fades. The way dreams do."
OR ��page 45:
He had been smiling a little. Now the smile faltered, and for a moment he seemed puzzled. His eyes had darkened, as if he looked inward, consulting some interior device which ticked and whirred correctly but which, ultimately he understood no more than the average man understands the workings of the watch on his wrist.
"The turtle couldn't help us," he said suddenly. he said that quite clearly.)
So, Stan has some cosmic knowledge of IT and Maturin and his role in the battle against It. What does any of this have to do with his death? Well, let me point out some other things about Stan's death that always stuck out to me.
- His death chapter is narrated by his wife, Patty, rather than himself. The other chapters - almost all the other chapters - are narrated by their respective Loser (the caviot for this is Ben, but Ben is also wasted out of his damn mind so its understandable.)
- Stan's personality is few and far between in the book, but we know he has a weird little sense of humour and that he's incredibly logical. I think that this logical part of him would be able to understand that Suicide is Never Ever the answer, and that it would cause FAR more problems than it would solve. (the 2019 movie tries to reexplain his death and it's crap and i hate the letters i hate the letters so much im gonna explode) The other losers try to rationalize his death by saying "He would rather Die Clean than Live Dirty (Page 506, Chapter 10, The Reunion, part 3, 'Ben Hanscom Gets Skinny') but he had already BEEN Dirty when he defeated IT the first time, and I think he would've recognized that.
- upon finding him, Patty (in her narration) notes that Stan's head is bent back over the edge of the bathtub, so from his sight she would have been upside down. If Stan DID kill himself, why would he be positioned like that? It's unnatural, like someone Posed him.
- the cuts on his arms are two length wise cuts. I'm no expert but.. that's suspicious. That's weird.
- IT is written in blood on the wall. Why? Why would Stan right THAT of all things? You know who DOES like to paint with blood? IT.
Alright, returning to my thesis statement, Stanley Uris was murdered. Do I think Stan genuinely was going to take a bath at 7pm (which we're told is weird for him)? Yes. I think that's absolutely a thing he could have done or planned to do. Do I think he slit his wrists and commited suicide so he wouldn't go back to Derry? No. Not even remotely.
Let me paint a New Picture.
It's May 28th, 2016, or 1985. Stanley Uris gets a call from Mike Hanlon. Stan is incredibly hesitant to go to, and says he needs time to think about it. Or tht he'll try. He can feel the starts of a Panic attack, and as he's remembering the circles of Hell he went through as a child, he tries to hold himself together. He doesn't want his darling wife to see his break, so he says "I think I'll take a bath" and nothing else before going upstairs. he hides in the bathroom. He closes and locks the door, because, well, he's panicking. Locking doors is one of The Small things he does. Is it usually the bathroom door? no, but still (OCD is a bitch, and even with medication, but this is a special case). He looks in the mirror and tries to breathe. This is fine. He can do this. They killed IT once before and they can do it again. He thinks about his younger self, the promises made, and how he could explain all of this Patty in time to catch a flight to Maine. It's terrifying, but if his friends are going to bite the dust, he wants to be there with them, wedding vows be Damned.
Then he looks at his reflection again. A younger, rotted version of himself stares back at him. IT crawls through the mirror. Stan freaks out, obviously. This isn't real. This Can't be real. But IT utilizes this notion against him. It digs it's claws into his arms, and forces him to bleed out in the bathtub. IT then sets the scene nicely. Razorblades on the counter, a bloody signature on the wall, a horrible posture of Stan's neck. So on and So forth. and then IT returns to Derry. IT's a little weak, yeah, but Stan is dead. That's what matters. the Lucky Seven has now Officially broken, and the balance shifts in favour of the clown.
So that's the theory. feel free to correct me on anything or engage I have plenty of theories on this story and I like discussing this stuff :).
#anyways#Stan#stanley uris#Stan uris#mine#Murder Theory#honktheory#thats a tag now I gues ??#pw#analysis#meta
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catch me if you can
Сharacters: Hange Zoe, Levi, Erwin Smith, Kenny Ackerman
Genres: Mystery / Romance
Summary: The Ackerman duo. Just the mention of this name filled Hange with so many feelings. Mostly, when she reread the files of their cases over and over, until her eyes watered, she felt pricking annoyance. Sometimes, when she stared at the dead bodies of those scarce unfortunates who stumbled upon their crimes, she was filled with hatred and a pushing need for revenge. Hange couldn’t deny, however, there were times when she marveled at the impudence of their crimes. And, when she was investigating the Ackerman’s cases and saw just how meticulously planned they all were, she couldn’t help but feel something close to fascination.No one knew who they were. No one had seen their faces, no one knew their true names. Almost everyone knew of their crimes.Hange was determined to unravel every last one of their secrets. She will put an end to their crimes and then she will get the elusive Ackermans behind bars.
Chapter 9/?
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
“We aren’t looking for Krista Lenz. We’re searching for Historia.”
Despite the evidence quite literally staring right back at her, Hange could scarcely believe what she herself had just said. Krista Lenz, the missing girl she was searching for, wasn’t actually Krista Lenz? Apparently, the girl’s name was Historia, at least, according to the birth certificate. But it didn’t make any sense, and, what’s worse, it raised so many additional questions…
The main question, of course, was the reason for why the girl was living under a false name, and how did Kenny Ackerman acquire this piece of information? And for what purpose?
Luckily, she had the person, who, hopefully, could shed some light on this new mystery. Hange shoved the photo and the document in Ackerman’s hands, staring at him expectantly. “Do you know something about this?”
He didn’t answer right away, and that gave Hange a semblance of hope. Perhaps, it was just a misunderstanding? Perhaps, the photo and the birth certificate were put into one envelope by a trick of fate? And Krista Lenz was truly Krista Lenz? Hange certainly hoped so. It would save her so much trouble.
Ackerman’s eyes were narrowed as he studied the document. Hange watched him with bated breath.
Her world crumbled when he gave a little nod.
“I think I know where Kenny got it. Remember the robbery of that politician’s manor? Kenny stole this thing from the guy’s safe.”
Hange remembered that robbery, remembered that murdered man. But how could it possibly be connected to her recent case?
“How did you know where to find it? And why did your uncle need it in the first place? It makes no sense…”
“On the contrary,” Ackerman shook his head. “Now everything makes perfect sense. I couldn’t understand why Reiss asked us to rob that guy’s house, but now I’m starting to think that your missing girl…”
“Wait! Wait!” Hange silenced him with her palm on his mouth. She whirled around, starting to pace around the room. What he was saying just now? He didn’t mean it, right? At least, not in the way Hange comprehended it. It couldn’t be, she refused to believe it. But what if Ackerman was telling the truth? What if— Hange turned back to him, her eyes pleading for him to say it was an ill-timed joke. “What was that about Reiss? Did you mean Rod Reiss, the member of the parliament? That Reiss?”
“Naturally.”
Hange slowly sank into an armchair. Her head was spinning, her thoughts were going in circles. Rod Reiss, the model politician, the law abiding citizen was working directly with Ackermans. It seemed completely outlandish.
“Are you serious?” she asked quietly, to keep herself from shrieking. “Are you actually fucking serious?”
Ackerman shrugged, looking so nonchalant, a stark contrast to her frantic appearance. “Why would I lie about this?”
Why indeed… Logically, Hange knew there was no reason for him to lie about Reiss’ involvement, but, damn it, she just couldn’t wrap her head about this. Even the notion seemed utterly ridiculous, like it was taken from a dumb conspiracy theory.
“Just before I dropped your case…” Hange began, desperately trying to find a way to contradict Ackerman’s claim. “He wanted to help me solve it. He offered me money and people, anything to get you behind bars.”
And that meant that he wasn’t working with them, right? It meant that Reiss was actually a good guy, who wanted to fight the bad ones.
He’s a politician, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Erwin reminded her. You can’t get so high just from being good.
Despite her endless stubbornness, Hange couldn’t disagree with that. Those who held a lot of power didn’t acquire it from being honest and honorable.
Reiss claimed he wanted to catch Ackermans, but that desire could just be his attempt to cover up his traces.
Fuck.
Ackerman was right. Everything was starting to make sense.
“I guess Reiss wanted to get rid of us,” Ackerman confirmed her guess. Hange’s heart sank. “Maybe, that’s why Kenny didn’t return him this,” he showed her the birth certificate.
Hange felt another wave of nausea. If she correctly understood what Ackerman was implying…
“Are you saying that the missing girl…” she swallowed, reluctant to end that sentence. It would become more real then.
“Yes,” Ackerman nodded, his voice a little softer. Was it his attempt at giving her a bit of comfort? Did he simply pity her? “I think that your Krista Lenz is actually Historia. And that her father is Rod Reiss.”
Even before he spoke, Hange knew that Ackerman had reached that conclusion. Reluctantly, she was almost ready to agree with him. But… her inner world was practically in shambles. Rod Reiss, the good-willed, kind looking man with a gentle smile, was working with the criminals. He had a secret daughter.
She really couldn’t trust anyone, huh? She should have learnt this simple truth by now. Levi Ackerman did a great job of teaching that lesson to her, after all.
Hange dropped head into her hands, letting out a deep, bone-weary sigh. Couldn’t she have at least one simple, easy case? One that wouldn’t make her revalue all of her relationships and lose her faith in the humanity?
A case like that would have been real nice.
But instead she had a case that grew more complicated with each clue and a girl who was waiting to be rescued.
If nothing else, Hange couldn’t let Krista Lenz down. Or Historia, whichever name was the correct one.
“Hey listen…” a tentative touch to her shoulder and a gentle voice in her ear made Hange jump. She looked up and saw Ackerman, standing right next to her. He was… gods, he looked worried. Hange didn’t know if she should be amused or slighted. Just how pathetic she seemed just now, if Ackerman decided to comfort her? “I know it’s a lot to take in…”
Hange brushed his hand aside, abruptly jumping to her feet. Ackerman could take his pity and fuck himself with it. It was a lot to take in, but she was fine. She had taken it all in, she dealt with that mind-blowing revelation. Well, she didn’t really deal with it, but she took a pause in dealing with it. She’d finish the processing after this fucking day was over and she’d get drunk at some shitty bar. But now, she had work that needed her attention. And Hange was ready to begin.
“Give me that,” she snatched the birth certificate out of Ackerman’s hand, studying it intently. The graph with the father’s name wasn’t filled, but the mother’s name was there. Alma. There was no last name, but still, it was a start. Certainly not very promising, but Hange did more with less.
Alas, there was nothing interesting about the document except the name of the child’s mother. The child was born here, in their city, twenty two years ago. Krista Lenz was exactly twenty-two years old. A small detail that simply couldn’t be overlooked.
Next, Hange turned her attention to the photo. The picture showed adult Krista, and it was shot from distance, only her profile visible. Could it mean that someone was spying on her? If Krista was Historia, and a daughter of Rod Reiss, it made sense that he was keeping tabs on her. However…
Hange’s eyes widened, the realization swiftly settling.
The photo and the document, it didn’t come from Reiss. Reiss asked Ackermans to steal it for him, meaning…
“Do you think Reiss has enemies?” she asked Ackerman. “Do you think that someone wanted to expose him?”
“Perhaps,” Ackerman tentatively replied. His eyebrows furrowed, as he continued, rubbing his chin. “The guy that we killed… he wasn’t supposed to be at home that night. Reiss said he wasn’t going to be at home.”
“But he was.” Hange uttered, confused.
“He was,” Ackerman agreed. “And I think Reiss knew about it.”
“You think he tried to set you up?”
“Possibly. Or it was a pure coincidence and the guy just decided to return from the party earlier. Or…” he spread his arms, his point more than clear.
Closing eyes, Hange rubbed her temples. Possibly, Ackerman said. Well, she was definitely getting into something she shouldn’t. Secret children, Ackermans, nasty politicians… It was well above her paygrade.
But she couldn’t just give up. And, fortunately, she knew a place where they could find more information. If the person spying on Krista wasn’t Reiss, then it was someone who was actively trying to expose him. Someone who had died before he could reach his goal.
Hange still remembered that brief conversation she had with the politician’s widow, remembered her mentioning something about a girl that worked for her late husband. Perhaps, that girl was the one who took that photo of Krista. And if she found Krista once, perhaps, she’d help them to find her again.
The plan of action was prepared, and that was enough to calm Hange’s mind. At least, for a short while.
“We’re going to visit the politician’s house,” she announced to Ackerman. “His widow might know something.”
“You want to go to the house of the guy we robbed and killed? Awesome.”
Hange hummed, letting her eyes linger on Ackerman’s bored face. There was a question that’s been bugging her for a long time now, ever since she learnt about his true identity. They weren’t in a hurry yet, so she decided to take another moment to satisfy her curiosity. “That guy… were you the one who killed him?”
Ackerman stared back at her, his eyes surprisingly honest. “Would it make you feel better if I tell you that my uncle did it?”
Would it make her feel better to know that he was just a thief, and not a murderer? Maybe. Or, maybe not. Hange wasn’t sure what feeling this knowledge would provoke. These days, she wasn’t sure what to feel at all. The only feeling she was certain of was the exhaustion.
“Back at the museum…” perhaps, bringing this up was unreasonable. Perhaps, completely unnecessary. But she had been thinking about it, a lot. She had already formulated an explanation. Now she wanted to hear Ackerman’s reasoning, and see if the two versions were compatible in any way. “I know you weren’t the one who shot me, your uncle is much taller. When he raised that gun, he was aiming at my head, I could see it clearly,” she laughed, the sound too broken to be genuine. “I thought I was already done for, so why…”
“Why what, four-eyes?” Ackerman snapped. “Why did I stop him? Do you actually not know?”
Ackerman was staring right at her, his impassive mask slipping to reveal his anger and… frustration? Hange couldn’t clearly interpret the look in his eyes, not when she was so confused herself. She swallowed heavily, her heart pounding as she struggled to look away. Ackerman’s gaze… was burning.
“I wouldn’t have let Kenny kill you. I couldn’t bear the thought,” he said, his voice raw. He took a step towards her, and, subconsciously, Hange took a step away from him, her back now pressed against the wall. Despite their height difference, Levi seemed to loom over her, his eyes brimming with feeling. The feeling of… what? Hange didn’t know if she wished to know the answer. “Do you actually not understand why I did it?”
Ackerman was wrong. She did understand. She had him figured out, all thanks to dark, long and sleepless nights.
“You still needed me, right? That was your reason? I was still useful to you, that’s why—”
“Useful?”
Hange flinched at his tone. There was no protest there, no anger. His voice was thick with pain. Her eyes widened at the realization.
“What did I use you for, Hange?” he grabbed the lapels of her coat, roughly pulling her close to him. His breath was hot on her skin, and his fists were clenched so tightly she could almost hear the sound of the coat’s fabric ripping. “What did I ever use you for? Did I steal something from you? Did I get some piece of information out of you? You gave me the keys to your damn office, I held your shitty notebook in my hands, and did I use it?”
In the face of his outrage, Hange felt numb. She didn’t try to push him away, felt too weak to escape from him. She could only stare helplessly at him, feeling small and insignificant. Feeling like she had missed something vital, a central piece of the puzzle.
“I don’t know,” she murmured. “I didn’t check, perhaps you did take something—”
He breathed a curse into her face, his eyes a liquid fire. Just as suddenly as he had grabbed her, Levi let her go.
His back was now facing her, as he stared out of the window, his breathing loud and irregular.
“You can think whatever you want about me,” he said, deadly quiet. “You can think that I am a liar, a thief and a scumbag. But I didn’t use you Hange. It was never my intention. And if you really don’t know why I didn’t let you die, then you’re a shitty fucking detective. No wonder you couldn’t catch us.”
He stormed out of the room a second after, leaving Hange to stare incredulously after him.
His words, his touch, his eyes, it weighted down on her. They made it hard to breathe.
The places where Levi had touched her were burning, his words were still ringing in her ears and she couldn’t quite shake off the image of his eyes, his stare furious, but simultaneously hurt.
She was hoping to gain some clearance, hoping to deal with one of the many mysteries of her life. But now she was even more confused.
She took one deep breath after another, clutching at her chest. What the heck had just happened? What was Levi so worked about, what was he— it was another lie of his, another act, it had to be, Hange at last decided. What else it could be? Levi, no, Ackerman, he couldn’t really speak the truth just now? Because if that was the truth, then—
The loud bang of the closing door snapped Hange out of her reverie.
She was being naïve and foolish, again.
She was letting him get into her head, she was allowing him to fool her once more. But she wouldn’t let him do it, not after everything she had gone through.
She also couldn’t let him distract her from the case. Be her name Krista or Historia, but that girl needed to be saved. Hange had to save her.
And she wouldn’t be able to find her if she continued to stare numbly at the wall.
Hange shook her head, pushed the hair back from her face and fixed the lapels of her coat. She had no time for confusing feelings, she had to get back to work.
She was fully intent on doing that, until she remembered what had helped her get her focus back. The front door was thrown closed…
Hange shrieked, her hands flying to her head. Ackerman! He had escaped!
With a lightning speed, she rushed out of the room and out of the apartment. She took two stairs at the time, hurrying to get to the bottom of the stairwell. Her mind worked just as fast as her legs, as Hange tried to predict what direction Ackerman would take. Where would he go? Would she be able to find him? Should she even find him, after everything that just transpired?
By the time, she reached the exit of the apartment complex and tumbled out on a street, Hange was completely out of breath. She took a fleeting second, doubling over in an attempt to stop her lungs from burning out. Shit, she was getting too old for this kind of thing.
With her breathes still coming out way too rapidly, Hange slowly straightened out. Left or right? Which direction Ackerman would take? Maybe, if she was lucky, she’d catch him before he ran away.
But as Hange turned her gaze to her left, she was surprised to see that the escaped criminal… didn’t actually escape. He was standing right next to her, lazily smoking a cigarette.
“I thought you had a girl to save, detective?” he asked in a bored, indifferent voice.
Hange hated how good he was at concealing what was going on inside him. She was still shaking.
She also hated how attractive the damn bastard was, especially while smoking.
But Ackerman was right. There was a girl, and she needed to be saved.
Hange shrugged, adopting a more confident stance. She couldn’t let him know she was worried that he left. Or how handsome she thought he was. She had embarrassed herself plenty already.
So with a determined face, Hange lifted an arm, hailing a taxi.
There was no time for feelings. Not when there was work needed to be done.
***
The time they’ve spent in taxi was spent in silence.
Hange was looking out of the window, stubbornly refusing to even look in his direction. Levi himself was staring at his knees, lost to his own thoughts.
There was a lot he had to think about, the main focus, of course, was on Kenny and his involvement with Reiss and his new-found daughter.
Levi had kept a faint hope that when they got to their apartment, Kenny would be there, laying on a coach with a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of beer in another. Until the very end, he hoped that this whole ordeal with kidnapping and letters from Kenny the Reaper was a result of a weird coincidence.
Unfortunately, his hope was crushed without mercy.
Kenny wasn’t at home, and what’s more, the state of their apartment frightened Levi. Kenny wasn’t as obsessed with cleanliness as him, but he had never created such messes either. At least, it had never happened during all these years they’ve lived together. Was the mess caused by the fact that Levi had left? Or was Kenny truly going crazy?
If he decided to kidnap a girl, Reiss’ daughter, and then run off to god knows where, then he was definitely not quite right in his head.
But that wasn’t the only thing occupying Levi’s mind. Ashamed as he was to admit it, Kenny wasn’t in his thoughts nearly as often as was Hange.
Their fight back at his apartment was, for the lack of better word, a complete disaster. He made a mistake, he shouldn’t have lost his cool, he shouldn’t have admitted the things Hange didn’t have to know.
For fuck’s sake, he practically admitted that he was smitten with her. Worse yet, he almost admitted just how far he was willing to go not to hurt her. It was dangerous and it was foolish. Luckily, Hange wasn’t too interested in listening to what he had to say.
And still, the things that she had said hurt him. More than Levi was ready to admit.
She really lost all trust in him, didn’t she? Perhaps, this outcome was not at all surprising, but… painful nevertheless.
Levi stole a glance at Hange - she wasn’t looking back at him. So he allowed himself to admire her profile. Her bright, brown eyes, that hawkish nose, those enticing lips… He sighed, tearing his gaze away.
Coming here was certainly a mistake, he could have hid a little better, could have tried to run from Hange for the second time. He could have done so much more, could have at least attempted to not get caught in all of this.
Too late for any regrets now, he thought bitterly. Besides, it wasn’t like he had come here for Hange, right? He had to get Kenny out of whatever shit he had involved himself into this time.
Kenny, he was there for Kenny. For him and him only.
He had to repeat this to himself a couple of times more, because with Hange sitting so close to him, with their thighs slightly touching in the backseat of the taxi, it was hard to remember his main and initial goal. With Hange so close, it was getting hard to focus at all.
He had to think of something else.
Levi looked out of the window, watched the streets they passed by. They were getting close. Close to the house of the man he murdered.
Levi gulped. Perhaps, the idea to focus on something else wasn’t as sound as it seemed at first.
Another train of thought then. He turned to look at Hange again.
He couldn’t think about her, but there was the matter of their case. He could try and pay attention to it.
“You mentioned that the girl is missing for almost a week. Why are you the only one who’s working on finding her then? Aren’t these types of cases supposed to be…” he waved his hand around, gesturing uncertainly. “Especially time-sensitive?”
Hange sighed, showing just how stressed she truly was. “They usually are time-sensitive. But… thing is… no one actually cares if I solve this case or not.”
“Do you mean—”
“Yes. Krista, or, well,” she winced, “Historia, doesn’t have a family. She doesn’t seem to have any friends either. We received the tip about her disappearance from a fucking anonymous call. No one even noticed that she is gone. I talked with the students at her college, and some seemed sympathetic, some even mildly worried about her well-being, but no one actually cared about her. No one truly knew her too, at least, no one knew her well enough. As I asked about Krista, I got the same answer. She was kind, always ready to help. She was attentive and diligent during classes. And that world ‘was’,” Hange shook her head, her palms clenching into fists. “It seemed like everyone had already accepted that she was gone for good.”
Hange sounded so sad, so frustrated, Levi desperately wished to give her what little comfort that he could. He understood now, why she was so determined to find that missing girl and bring her home.
It was good to know that people like Hange existed. People, who would do their best to try and help someone else.
Levi could be that girl, he realized. If he went missing and Kenny wasn’t there to find him, no one would care to help him. If something like that ever happened to him, he could only hope to come across a person, who would be as selfless and kind as Hange.
If there were more people like her, perhaps, his life wouldn’t be so miserable. Perhaps, he’d be a different person.
But pondering on it was pointless now. He was who was he was. For the better or worse, Hange was who she was too.
“So no one is pushing you to hurry?” Levi glanced at her beneath his fridge. “Then what was that shit about? When you ran out of my apartment, red in face and panting like a dog?”
“Oi,” Hange slapped his knee. “Fuck you.”
“Fuck me?” Levi raised his eyebrow, remembering their first conversation. “Aren’t we moving a little too fast?”
“Shut up,” she grumbled, turning her face away. Just before she did, Levi saw the red on her cheeks.
Hange blushed. Hange, the hot-shot detective and a huge pain in the ass, had actually blushed after his stupid joke.
Well… now Levi had something to be proud of.
“I just thought—” she huffed, moving hair from her face. “It doesn’t matter what I thought, but… thanks for not running away. I… appreciate it. Looking for you would be a large inconvenience,” she gave him a side-glance, her lips twitching. “Thanks for not creating even more problems for me, I guess.”
And who said that Hange wasn’t a paragon of politeness? Levi almost felt good about himself. He almost thought that things between them were… not as disastrous as they actually were.
“We are almost there,” Hange announced, nervously tapping fingers against her thigh.
The bubble busted. There was no time to fool around. There was no time for playful banter and witty back and forth. There was no time to… appreciate that bright sparkle in Hange’s eyes.
Levi nodded, acknowledging her words, but remained speechless. What was there to say? He was going to the house that belonged to a man his uncle had killed right in front of his own eyes. And he was going there willingly. God, his life was just a string of one fucked up shitty event after another.
Hopefully, this visit would help him learn more about Kenny’s new job and, maybe, even find Kenny himself.
Hope… that’s all he had these days.
The taxi took a turn and drove up to the tall, black gates. Levi remembered climbing over it during that awful night two months ago.
This time, he wasn’t climbing over it.
Hange got out of the taxi, just as they approached the front gates. She spoke through the intercom, requesting entrance. After a long moment, the gates slowly opened and the taxi drove inside, bringing them to the large doors.
Front doors. Last time Levi was getting inside through the back door. Well, another improvement. Another sign that this visit, hopefully, wouldn’t end so horribly.
Hange paid the taxi driver and told him not to wait for them. Together they exited the car.
As they walked to the door, she leaned in to him and whispered, “It’d be best if you don’t tell the grieving widow that your uncle killer her husband.”
“I’m not an idiot, four-eyes.”
Hange chuckled and lifted her arms, palms-up. “I’m just saying. I don’t think she’s eager to meet us as it is.”
When the front door had finally opened, they were met by a butler. A fucking butler, dressed in a suit and tie and with glasses on his face. Levi stared at him, incredulously.
Killing people in general went against Levi’s principles, and killing the owner of this house in particular was obviously wrong, but stealing from him? Perhaps, he and Kenny should have also taken a few paintings.
“Good day,” Hange smiled – to Levi the expression seemed a little forced. “I’m detective Zoe and I wanted to—”
“I know,” the butler bowed his head, gesturing for them to follow him. “The Lady asked me to bring you to her office.”
The Lady? It took all of Levi’s willpower not to scoff. Rich people were ridiculous. That’s why he preferred to steal from them. Served those fuckers right.
The butler led them through a big, brightly lit hall, up the majestic stairwell, through a row of ugly paintings, and finally they stood before a brown oak door.
“The Lady is inside,” the butler said, taking a step back. “I’ll bring tea in just a few minutes. Now if you’ll excuse me…”
Hange waved her hand, obviously not interested in his false politeness. She threw the door open, walking inside without waiting for the invitation. So that was detective Hange at work? Levi watched her, hiding his amused expression.
“Sorry that we didn’t give you a heads-up,” she spoke to the woman that was sitting behind a long, mahogany desk. Suddenly Levi realized it was the same room, where Kenny had killed a man. Suddenly he realized that he was staring at the face of a woman, who had lost a husband because of him and Kenny. Avoiding the widow’s gaze, he did his best to hide behind Hange. “But there’s something we wanted to discuss.”
“Did you find my husband’s killer?”
No, but I'm his nephew and I was there when your husband had died, Levi almost blurted out. But Hange had warned him. So he wisely kept his mouth shut.
“No,” Hange walked further inside, plopping down on a chair. Much more humbly, Levi did the same. “But we think your husband is related to our other case. So we were wondering if we can ask you a few questions?”
“Who are we?” the widow arched her perfectly thin eyebrow. “Last time we spoke, I didn’t remember you having an assistant.”
Hange’s smile became strained. “That’s, um, Levi,” she gestured at him. “My, well, he’s sort of my partner.”
“A partner, huh?”
“He helps me with the case,” Hange answered vaguely. “Now about our questions…”
The widow arrogantly waved her hand, allowing Hange to continue. “Just be quick about this. After my husband’s death, I have a lot of work on my hands.”
And all of it because of him and Kenny. Great. Levi sat lower in his seat.
“I remember you mentioning…” Hange took out her notebook, Levi cringed at the sight of it. As he watched her shift through it, he briefly wondered if that note he had left for her was still there. Did she tear it out, rip into pieces and then burn the rest? Or did she… leave it there, so she could stare at it whenever she felt especially angry? Levi wasn’t sure which option was more preferable and which one would make him feel more sad. Meanwhile, Hange continued, “A girl who visited your husband. Do you remember what she looked like? Can you describe her to us?”
The widow scrunched her nose, clearly displeased. She reached to the desk’s drawer, taking out a pack of cigarettes. She opened it, putting a cigarette in between her lips. “If you don’t mind,” she mumbled, flicking up a lighter. The widow took one long drag, letting the smoke curl up towards the ceiling. She lazily traced its movement, then, when the smoke had dissipated into nothing, she spoke, “I saw her only once, she was leaving our house late in the evening. It was dark and I didn’t get a good look on her face, but I remember that she was tall,” she squinted, looking at Hange. “Slightly taller than you. Had brown hair, gathered in a low ponytail. Her clothes were baggy, and, overall, she looked just like…”
“Like what?” Levi snappily required. “Like a criminal?”
“Well, yes,” the widow agreed, throwing the ash off her cigarette. “I think she was doing some shady work for my husband.”
“Do you by any chance have a way to contact her?” Hange asked. “A phone number or a home address…”
“And why do you need it?” the widow looked at them skeptically.
“Classified information,” Hange smoothly replied. “But it’s for the greater good, believe me.”
The widow huffed, obviously not buying it. But she put the cigarette down and reached for the drawer again.
“I don’t know if that will be of any help, but,” she rummaged through the drawer, taking out a yellow envelope. “I found this when I was looking through my husband’s things. He must have destroyed the letter that was inside it, but there is the sender’s address on the back, so…”
“Thank you for your time,” Hange spoke sincerely, snatching the envelope from the widow’s hands. “You really helped us. A lot. You might have even saved a young girl’s life.”
“Whatever,” the widow rolled her eyes. “Just get out of here already. I have the work I need to do.”
“Thank you,” Hange repeated, rising to her feet. “Have a nice day.”
“And…” the widow hesitated. “Good luck with your case. I hope you do better this time.”
The smile on Hange’s face faltered, but didn’t disappear. “I’ll do my best,” she promised, before walking out of the room.
Throwing a quick last glance at the widow, Levi dutifully followed.
***
The address on the envelope led them to the worst part of their city. To the streets that were filled with garbage, where the walls had paint falling off and most windows stood completely smashed.
Hange in her fancy light brown coat looked starkly out of place. Perhaps, Ackerman was right about her having too much privilege. Right now, the contrast between her and the more unfortunate ones were sharp as ever. Although, Ackerman’s attire wasn’t that humble either.
Hange stepped a little closer to him, in a futile attempt to hide from the unfriendly gazes that followed after her ever since they stepped into this part of the city.
“I’m surprised you’ve agreed to come here,” she spoke to him in a quiet voice, “Since I know how much of a clean freak you are.”
The look Ackerman gave her could probably freeze someone to death. “I wasn’t always living in a nice and neat apartment, four-eyes. People like me usually come from the places like that.”
Hange’s eyes widened at the realization. She glanced at the man beside her, tilted her head to study him more intently. It was hard to imagine sharp-dressed and clean-shaved Ackerman, or younger Levi living in a place like that, walking through the dirty streets with broken windows. He came a long way, it seemed. Hange was amazed at his perseverance.
“I think this is the right house,” she pointed at the grey four-story building. Hange took out the envelope, checked the address again. “Yes, this is it.”
Wordlessly, Ackerman started walking in that direction. Hange caught him just before he pushed the front door open.
“Shouldn’t we, like, knock?” she asked, doing a poor job at hiding her nervousness.
Ackerman just rolled his eyes. “Don’t be an idiot,” he scolded, adding a quiet ‘tch’. “There are several apartments here. You’re not trespassing on someone’s private property yet.”
“Oh, alright,” Hange mumbled, letting him open the door and following him inside.
The inside of the building… was dirty. There were bags of trash lying around, shards of broken glass and half-shattered empty bottles. The house wasn’t silent too, from somewhere deep inside the building a child’s wailing was heard. It was accompanied by the sounds of a fighting. Or, maybe, extremely passionate love-making. Hange desperately hoped it was the latter.
“We need to go to the basement,” she said to Ackerman, trying her best to sound nonchalant and confident.
“Basement?” he repeated incredulously. “Is the address actually pointing to a basement? Are we looking for a vampire?”
“I don’t know who we’re looking for. But here,” she thrusted the envelope to him. “You can check it for yourself.”
He pushed her hand away. “I’ll trust you on that one.”
They made their way down the stairs in silence. Not wanting to see something that wasn’t meant for the police officer’s eyes, Hange kept her gaze focused on Ackerman’s face. Unsurprisingly, his expression was indifferent. But his breaths were coming out more raged than usual and he was walking with his head bowed low.
Compared to his regular level of emotionlessness, Ackerman seemed almost overly distressed.
Was this place affecting him so much? He had hinted at his not so happy childhood before. Were bad memories the reason for his emotional state right now?
Hange placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Ackerman, listen…”
Roughly, he slapped her hand away. “I’m fine, four-eyes. Focus on the task at hand.”
She stared at him, affronted. Here she was trying to— what was she trying to do? To comfort him? Because she was worried about him? Hange conceded. Perhaps, Ackerman had every right to scold her. She was losing her focus. She couldn’t allow herself that.
As they climbed to the end of the stairs, Hange looked around, searching for an apartment 009. It stood just at the end of the hallway, and without hesitation she marched right there.
She knocked, quite forcefully. And received no answer. She huffed, ignoring Ackerman’s amused gaze, and knocked again. Again, there was no answer.
Hange put her ear closer to the door, listening to any signs of life inside. There was… nothing.
“I think no one is at home,” she announced mournfully to Ackerman. “Perhaps, we can come back later…”
“Or we can stop wasting precious time,” he rolled his eyes. “Move your ass, four-eyes, I’ll get us inside.”
Ackerman went down on his knees before the door, searching for something in the pocket of his jacket.
It took Hange a long moment to realize what he was about to do. As soon as that realization kicked in, however, she rushed to pull Ackerman away from that door.
“What are you doing?” she cried out. “Ackerman, it’s illegal!”
He gave her a pointed look. “I’m a criminal, remember?”
“I’m not! I can’t let you break inside someone’s house, I’m a police officer!”
“And can you let a young girl suffer? My uncle is an impatient man, if she pissed him off…”
“Don’t joke about it!” Hange scolded. Fuck, she didn’t know what to do. On one hand, she couldn’t let Ackerman just break into someone’s house. On the other, she couldn’t really waste any more time.
“You can look the other way, four-eyes,” Ackerman proposed, his voice an octave softer. “I won’t tell anyone.”
Damn it, Hange couldn’t believe what she was about to do. Ackerman and his damn influence, if Erwin ever finds out…
She sighed, surrendering, and turned away from that door. “Do your thing already,” she urged. “I’ll be… on a look-out. Or whatever you people say.”
“You people?” he repeated teasingly. “What kind of people?”
Hange could practically hear the laughter in his voice. Well, at least, someone was enjoying himself.
“Criminals,” she gritted.
“Just don’t forget that it’s a nasty criminal,” he said, “That helps you solve this case.”
Gods, what a fucker. But he was right. He was helping her. For his own reasons, sure, but even so, Hange was working with him for merely a day, and already she accomplished so much. Perhaps, after all of that mess was over, she could even thank him.
If he wouldn’t give her another reason to hate him.
Ackerman dealt with the door just in mere seconds. Hange didn’t know that it was possible to break the locks so swiftly. He surely was talented.
“Wow, you really are good at it,” she marveled under her breath.
“Figures why you couldn’t catch us, eh?”
So he was not only a fucker, but a cocky one as well. Hange shouldn’t have found that trait of his attractive. He lied to her, for god’s sake. But she had to admit – he looked damn good while doing it.
Ackerman opened the door and let Hange go in first. She did, a bit precautiously.
The first thing she noticed was, of course, the absence of the light. Outside the afternoon sun was shining brightly, painting everything in warm orange colors, but here, in the basement, it was dark as ever. Distinctively, Hange could hear the sound of the pipes leaking, the steady drop, drop, drop that set her just a little further up on edge.
She blindly searched for the switch on the wall. As soon as she had found it, a lone lightbulb filled the room with faint light.
Apart from that, the interior of the apartment wasn’t so different from the interior of the whole building. It was in similar bad shape, with torn wallpapers and leaking ceilings. But, surprisingly, the apartment also seemed strangely empty, like whoever was living there didn’t actually consider it their home.
As Hange looked around, she found nothing personal there, no photographs or postcards or any other kind of trinkets people usually treasured.
There were some clothes thrown here and there, but that was about it. The rest of the apartment was disappointingly empty.
“I don’t think we’ll be able to find something here,” Ackerman said, as he walked inside beside her.
Truthfully, Hange was of the same opinion. But they came here. They broke inside. She wouldn’t leave until she finds at least something remotely useful.
“Let’s look around,” she said, deciding to start with the kitchen.
Unfortunately, there was nothing useful in the kitchen. The only thing Hange found was the insane amount of instant noodles and cheap beer.
No clues were found inside the living room as well. She looked under the dusty old couch and the rug, behind the shattered TV-screen and the wardrobe. But she found nothing.
Met with the absence of the clues and Ackerman’s increasing impatience, Hange was starting to get desperate.
“We’ll find something,” she murmured, to assure both Ackerman and herself.
He simply clicked his tongue. “I searched the bedroom already. I didn’t find anything that might be of some interest.”
“I’ll go and have another look,” Hange stubbornly pushed past him. “Perhaps, you missed something.”
“Or, perhaps,” he countered, his voice laced with venom. “This lead is a dead-end. And we’re just wasting our time.”
“Need I to remind you that this is the only lead we have? Because you’re unable to find your own uncle.”
Hange knew she had said the wrong thing as soon as the words had left her mouth. She didn’t mean it, not really. But she was frustrated. She was tired and lost, and Ackerman’s proximity and their shared history were making her even more stressed than she already was.
But all of it didn’t mean that Ackerman deserved her bitterness. Not in this moment, at least. Hange knew she was in the wrong, she wanted to take her words back, but then— then Ackerman decided to retaliate.
“And need I to remind you that the only reason I’m here is because you can’t solve this shitty case all by yourself. So stop accusing me of being useless when I’m helping you out of the kindness of my heart.”
“Out of the kindness of your heart?” Hange repeated, completely scandalized. She couldn’t believe that she was meaning to apologize to that shithead just moments ago. And he had the audacity— Gods, he infuriated her to no end. “You’re a fucking asshole, Ackerman. When you were lying to me like a total scumbag, were you doing it out of the kindness of your fucking heart as well?”
Ackerman was getting riled up to, his face became contorted with faint lines of anger. His hands clenched into fists, he took a step forward, breathing heavily. “Are you still going on about that thing, really? Yes, I lied to you, but I’m sure I’m not the only person in this life who did it. So can you just let it go already?”
“Let it go?” Hange felt like she was boiling, there was so much fury inside of her that it seemed like it was pouring out of her. She wanted to smash or break something, preferably Ackerman’s stupidly handsome face. “Are you seriously asking if I can let it go? Do you really not understand how much—” she faltered, choking on the hurricane of her emotions. “I trusted you, Levi, I believed you were a good man. For god’s sake, I was starting to develop f—”
Hange abruptly stopped herself. She was angry, true, she was overwhelmed as well. But she was not so lost as to reveal to him just what he truly made her feel. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing how good his lies were and how much they’ve hurt her.
After taking a deep breath, she risked a glance at Ackerman. He was staring right at her, wide-eyed and shocked and… was that sadness in his eyes?
Before Hange could decipher his expression, it changed again, became more cautious.
She blinked, and Ackerman was already moving, rapidly, in her direction. All out of sudden, he was standing right beside her, close enough for Hange to hear just how loudly his heart was beating.
Confused, she wanted to push him away, she meant to do it, but before she could react, Ackerman had her encircled in his arms. He pulled her to the side, and just as Hange was trying to get away, they swayed and tumbled. In a mess of limbs, both of them fell onto the ground.
No more than a second later, Hange heard a loud, sudden noise.
A noise she knew so well. A gunshot.
Confused and with her ears ringing, Hange tried to make sense of her surroundings. There was a gunshot, and she fell but she wasn’t on a ground. Ackerman was on the ground, and she was lying right on top of him. Hange stared at him, wide-eyed and shaken.
Their sudden close proximity made her thoughts move even slower.
Still in Ackerman’s embrace, she turned her head in the direction, where that gunshot had come from. A girl stood there, her gun raised and aimed at them.
How long had she been standing there? How in the world Hange hadn’t seen her enter?
The reason for her lack of caution was still beside her, holding her tightly to his chest.
It felt good to be so close to him, Hange felt so warm and safe—
“Get the fuck off me,” feeling her face burn, she pushed Ackerman away, and jumped up to her feet.
“That’s the thanks I get for saving your life,” he grumbled, standing up as well and dusting off his jacket. “And I did it for the second time, four-eyes.”
“Shut up,” Hange gritted, returning her attention to the girl who almost shot them both. She was tall and brown-haired. Could it be their mysterious lead?
“I’m terribly sorry to interrupt… whatever that was,” for a second the girl’s lips curled in a wicked smirk, but then she gripped the gun in her hands tighter, her finger going to the trigger. “But who the fuck are you and what are you doing in my house?”
Still slightly shaking from the whole ordeal, Hange’s fingers trembled as she took out her police badge, showing it to the girl. “I’m detective Hange Zoe, and I came to ask you some questions.”
The hand that held the gun didn’t lower. “Regarding?” the girl asked.
“Regarding Krista Lenz’s disappearance.”
The girl relaxed. The gun was tucked safely inside her leather jacket. “So the police have finally taken notice of that case? Took you long enough.”
“I’m hoping to rectify that mistake. And I hope I’ll be able to bring Krista home. What is your name?” Hange smiled and tentatively offered her hand for the girl to shake.
“Ymir,” just as cautiously, she shook Hange’s hand. “And Krista isn’t her real name, you know?”
“She is Historia, right?” the smile on Hange’s face widened, as she saw Ymir’s genuine surprise. “We found that bit of information already.”
“Seems like you’re a real deal then,” Ymir concluded with a nod. “I’ll share what I know with you. But,” she raised a finger. “I have a condition – you’ll let me join the investigation.”
Their crew was rapidly growing, and two-thirds were presented by criminals, Hange thought grimly. Well, she was ready to do anything to bring Historia home. It seemed like she would have to stick to her own promise.
Just when Hange was ready to accept Ymir and her proposition, Ackerman took a step forwards. His eyes were narrowed to slits as he glared at their new companion.
“And what guarantee we have that we can trust you?”
“You have no guarantee,” Ymir replied, staring down at him. “But as long as our goals align and as long as you promise not to hurt Historia, I promise not to betray you.”
Ah, so their crew was rapidly growing and they couldn’t really trust each other. A recipe for a horrible disaster, but… Hange had no other options.
She clasped Ymir’s shoulder, giving her the most convincing of her smiles. “Welcome aboard then. What have you managed to find out?”
Ymir grinned and turned around, gesturing for them to follow. “Probably much more than you did. Come with me, I’ll show it to you.”
#the quote from community perfectly summarises this chapter#'i think you two like to partner up on cutesy capers so you can hold hands in the dark and address your urges in semi-acceptable scenarios'#nothing else in this chapter but this!#levihan
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okay, phucker, do it
ok let's do this @rolli-zolli @ninikins
Horrortale: technically an alternate timeline instead of au. after a neutral run where undyne's queen the core malfunctions and food becomes scarce and people resort to eating humans because sans suggested it. Aliza is the protag. latest thing that happened in the ongoing comic was Aliza agreeing to go with Papyrus to solve his last puzzle. as for the appearance of sans he has a HUGE hole on his head and a red eye. he got the hole from undyne when she got his magic eye which was going to be used to power the core. sans didnt die tho and killed the guards holding him down and just took whatever eye was on the ground and used it as a replacement for his magic eye that's powering the core. i quote first words he said after putting the eye in his socket "who the fuck took my phone?". then the magic eye went apeshit and broke the core again. oh and also he made alphys braindead by quite literally scrambling her brain. yeah this au is rough sans hasn't really eaten anything since the core was destroyed since he decided not to eat any humans.
Dusttale: i think this was originally a korean au? basic rundown: too many genocide runs sans goes apeshit and tries to get his Lv up by killing monsters himself man went fuckin insane kills his brother blah blah blah edgy angsty au the ghost of papyrus haunts him n stuff. sans literally just looks the same except he has his hood on and sometimes artists draw him with papyrus's scarf. the cool artists draw him with his hood on and has the hood completely cover his face so u can only see his glowing pupils. although people call him dust sans he's actually named murder sans
Killer: so frickin similar to dusttale except sans goes apeshit because of the human being like "join me lmao". three different outcomes come from this. i think it was 1 sans joins human 2 sans joins human kills human later on 3 kills human or something. friends with color sans who is basically his impulse control. pretty sure his soul's fucked up and Color sans tries to make his soul un-fucked but Nightmare comes in and fucks up the progress. he has white shorts, his eye sockets are constantly pitch black and leaking tar or something also has a weird target thingy on his chest. OH YEAH ALSO HE HAS BEEF WITH UNDERSWAP SANS ALMOST FORGOT. basically swap sans tried to make killer good and then they had a fight, swap sans lost and was on the verge of dying thankfully swap papyrus was able to save him in time i think
Dreamtale: Dream isn't in the drawing but his brother, Nightmare is. Sooo he used to not look all goooy and have tentacles n stuff but then he ate a couple hundred apples and yeah. he's six years old apparently. Nightmare and Dream are supposed to be guardians of a tree that has 500 golden apples and 500 black n goopy apples. the golden aples are positive and the goop ones are negative. you're not supposed to eat either of them cus bad shit happens. Dream and Nightmare live in a village and for whatever reason they're all dicks to Nightmare because ooughh he's the guardian of negativity that's not baller. he also goes apeshit (do u see a pattern here) and eats a goopy apple n then becomes the goop man he is today. he fuckin eats 999 apples jesus christ. and the last one is eaten by Dream because if u eat all 1000 apples u become unstoppable and immortal. so that would be a bad thing if nightmare got the last one. wop wop wop these dude aren't sanses they only have the body of one if that makes sanse.
Error: manlet. he's literally an error and that's why he's like that. also he's technically not a sans now, the redesign for him was so that he could be in the creator's webcomic named Lucidia. Error sans, aka the destroyer of aus, finds aus to be mistakes so he tries to get rid of them. his process of doing this is simple: get the human soul to the void so that they can't reset, destroy the au. he primarily attacks using his strings which can wrap around one's soul and control them. he like some aus like outertale because of how open and empty it is. he likes to be alone and has haphephobia. if u touch him he'll glitch out and possibly crash. he crashes whenever gets overwhelmed. said crashing causes him to shut down and reboot and he's powerless while doing so. he's actually pretty easy to beat if you know how to push his buttons the right way. in the og ask error blog made by his creator Loverofpiggies he kidnaps Swap sans who tries to help Error become a better person. this ends horribly as error leaves Swap sans in the void who then becomes an error aswell due to being alone in the void too long. Error actually regrets doing that to swap sans
Aftertale: OK FUN FACT THE SANS OF THIS AU, WHO'S NICKNAMED "Geno" IS ERROR. aftertale is a comic made by LoverofPiggies it's been SOOOO long since i last read it so i cant really give a good summary. but anyways Geno is trapped in the loading screen with the human and will die if he leaves the loading screen. eventually from being in the loading screen for too long after the events of aftertale he becomes Error.
OOF WOWIE THERE'S SO MUCH TO GO
Underfresh: he's not even a sans either. "Fresh" is a parasite inhabiting a skeleton. his birthday is on 4/20 which is ironic cus he doesn't like drugs. he censors swears. he speaks 90's lingo and dresses like a neon sign. for some reason he has eyebrows and a gold tooth. the glasses he has can change text but normally defaults to "YOLO". he can't feel anything since he has no soul of his own and just latches onto the host's. instead he learns how to act from the people around him. not being able to feel actually bothers him a LOT
Echotale: Aka Gaster sans. uhhh this one was also a comic if i remember correctly. basically Frisk and G!Sans are the only ones in the au and they're trying to find the core to fix the fucked up timeline that they're in but the core keeps changing positions so that sucks.
Swapfell: originally made by Khhoppang who left social media. Started out as an Alphys x Undyne au so only those two were designed but Kh was planning to design more of the characters. before they could people had a field day with the idea of mashing two aus together and SO many people came up with their own designs for sans and papyrus. Khhoppang left social media because they got overwhelmed with all the art reposters and stuff, pretty sad. the appearance of the sans in that au is the purple one with a scythe (i dont think he has a scythe in the og design).
Swapfell Red: so basically this is the swapfell made by people that isn't Khhoppang. community made per se. Sans's appearance changes constantly because as said before many people made many different designs. typically he just looks like Swap sans but with red high heel boots and his color scheme fits underfell
Fellswap (gold): Au made by blackggggum. so swapfell is underswap turned fell, fell swap is underfell swapped it takes a bit to understand that. his appearance is somewhat similar to Swapfell red. He's kind to his friends but if ur his enemy he'll fucking deck you. he's blind in his left eye, the leader of the royal guard, and secretly into dressmaking. fun fact in this au Papyrus has autism
Xtale: uuuuhhhh so Cross is a complicated one. he's part of the royal guard along with papyrus. has beef with xgaster. responsible for the downfall of his au and then Underverse happens and Ink is all "oh cool someone to mess with" and they became friends for a bit then shit hit the fan
Underfell: OOOOO YES UNIRONICALLY ONE OF MY FAVORITES. So Underfell sans is actually a very powerful mf and constantly has his magic eye activated because he has so much magic. This au is also technically an alternate timeline where monsters "lost their humanity" as the creator put it. so basically trust in the underground is scarce. Sans and papyrus, contrary to many interpretations i fucking hate, are actually on good terms (and no sans doesn't call papyrus "boss" the creator said if he does he'd do it ironically and papyrus would hate it). Fun facts he pays Grillby in socks (grillby accepts the socks as payment and wears them), if u make grillby laugh he gives u a jacket that looks like his and it's heavily implied that sans made him laugh because their jackets are similar
Underswap: ah yes another classic that i love as well. originally made by PopcornPr1nce who fled social media because they hated how the majority fandom treated Underswap (Blueberry and Carrot were popular names for the fanon swap papyrus and sans). Swap sans is constantly infantilized by the community which sucks and i hate it so i draw my own very super cool version of him whom i kin because i am also very super cool.
Outertale: mainly an aesthetic au pretty sure there's no comic of it. basically, instead of underground they in space. outer sans dies in underverse after like minutes of screentime lmao
Epictale: a comic made by Yugogeer. the og comic was retconned and the creator loathes the original version and made a reboot that's much better. Sans actually dies very early in it because Yugo hates how Sans is almost always focused on in aus. also the creator hates how meme-y their sans has become (like him saying bruh every single sentence, using a rubber chicken as a weapon, cookies, etc.) he's friends with Cross but not in canon. He has a purple magic eye that makes him immortal and i think only epic gaster could remove it which is how sans was able to be killed when he fought gaster.
Temmietale: it's undertale but everyone is temmie, don't question it
Trainertale: it's undertale but it's Pokemon, don't question it
Dancetale: it's undertale but you dance instead of fight, don't
Mobtale/Mafiatale: im unsure if mobtale and mafiatale are separate or not but they are very similar. basically undertale but mafia it's self explanatory
Undertale: no clue which au is this one, nope not at all/j
Bittytale or whatever idk: so take sans, make him small. boom. never understood this au
THAT BASTARD INK: HOOO BOY SAVED THE WORST FOR LAST. FUCK THIS GUY/j. THIS DUDE. IS THE REASON IM STILL INTO UNDERTALE AUS. I LOVE EM SO MUCH. also technically not a sans. He comes from an unfinished au and ripped his own soul to escape said au and became an outcode. for so long he was just a soulless husk until someone drew him and he got splashed with paint which let him feel. soon he learned to keep the paint in vials so that he can be able to feel 24/7. And then he learned how to create things with a paintbrush and the paint and spent time alone drawing up his own world until a portal appeared and took him to the multiverse. now he encourages artists to keep creating aus. he's the protector of aus in the sense that he keeps other outcodes from disrupting the script of the au, so if it's pacifist and an outcode tries to kill people he'd stop them, if it's genocide and an outcode tried to help them he'd stop them. no matter what he wants the au to stay on script. fun fact the creator of ink and the creator of error never had them interact with each other in canon, that was all the fandom's doing. Contrary to popular belief he's not really considered "good" his alignment is officially "Chaotic neutral". I personally interpret him a lot more chaotic than in canon because it's fun but he's a pretty chill guy actually. he can just be a bit of an ass sometimes. According to the creator of Ink (who is Comyet) his interpretation in Underverse is not canon compliant. one of the biggest canon things that underverse contradicts is Ink deliberately not taking his vials. if he were to do that in canon he'd become a husk again which is the equivalent of him "dying". he was described as a walking corpse by Comyet, without the vials he can't function anymore. Like Error he's pretty easy to beat if you know his weaknesses. also he has fears of empty spaces and being alone
off topic kinda but i very much love how Error and Ink are opposites yet parallel even though they were completely written without the other in mind. Error believes getting rid of aus is getting rid of anomalies. Ink believes people interfering with aus are anomalies. Error loves emptiness, Ink hates emptiness. list goes on it's funky fresh.
also uhhh sanses missing from that drawing that i can name from the top of my head
Seraphim sans, Insans, Dusttrust, He who shall not be named because he's from an 18+ au, Swapswap (yes. that exists), Storyshift, Inverted Fate (very good au i suggest checking it out), Negatale, Oceantale, Template, Pale, Mafiafell, Farmtale
my phone is at 9% y'all are spared from me going on
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October 31st (Ethan x f!MC)
Pairing: Dr. Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr. Lilac Allende)
Word count: 2.3K
Warning: Language
Premise: Ethan Ramsey doesn’t do costumes... except maybe for her.
A/N: A pointless Halloween fic
A/N2: For Day 28 of @choicesoctoberchallenge2020. The prompt is “Costume”.
1. Intern Year
Ethan resisted a groan as an atrocious, remixed version of The Monster Mash blared through the speakers, eliciting a cheer from the drunken crowd. Characteristically, he pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes shut as he wondered why he decided to venture out on the worst night of the year. Perhaps he needed a drink that badly after another full day of dealing with interns.
“Time for a refill, Dr. Ramsey,” a voice said over the music.
Ethan hated the way his pulse quickened at the sound.
Doing his best to appear collected, he shot what he hoped was an impassive glance at the figure now standing beside him at the bar, the floral notes of her perfume already caressing his every sense. One single glance at her, however, was enough to shoot all efforts of appearing aloof straight to hell.
She leaned casually against the bar, clad in a sensuous, forest green number that molded to every curve of her body and ensnared every bit of his attention. Dark green leaves embellished every surface of the sinfully short dress, tapering off into delicate, curly vines along her exposed shoulders and arms. Her glossy, dark hair was hidden away beneath a cascade of long, auburn waves that made her eyes appear greener still.
“Wig,” she explained with a small laugh when Ethan continued to stare.
At last, he pried his eyes away, feeling his neck flare with heat. Unsure of what else to say, he feigned indifference as he asked, “And what are you supposed to be, Rookie?”
Aside from fucking irresistible, his idiotic, addled brain added on impulse.
He could see Lilac's jaw go slack in a way that was almost comical but somehow managed to be entirely too adorable.
“You're kidding, right? I'm Poison Ivy.”
Ethan had known that. He had been, after all, a comic-book obsessed teenager once. If someone had told him back then that he would one day witness the sexiest version of the character imaginable, his head would have caved in on itself. Adult Ethan, it seemed, was no better because his eyes fell on her once again, unable to resist her magnetic pull.
Lilac, however, was too busy looking at the dancefloor. She nodded toward her group of friends, dancing, laughing, and contributing to half of the noise in the bar.
“We were all supposed to be Batman villains but Bryce and Landry got lazy. They put on a Thing One and Thing Two shirt and called it a day.”
Ethan followed her gaze to where the young surgeon had peeled off the aforementioned shirt, relishing in the attention that decision was earning him from a gaggle of girls nearby. The other one Lilac had mentioned stood awkwardly off to the side, too pale and and gangly to ever be Lahela's counterpart.
“More like tweedle dee and tweedle dum,” he muttered.
Lilac met his eyes at once and to his delight, she laughed, the sound sending his stomach into a dive. It was already maddening enough that the sound was entirely too attractive, but Ethan felt a swelling sense of satisfaction at being the one to inspire it.
When she sobered up, her green eyes remained on his, humor melting into a pensive expression. She continued to watch him with the conviction of someone discovering a new secret. He would have given anything to know what she was thinking at that very moment.
“What about you?”
“Hmm?”
He had been distracted by her full lips and by how fitting the damn costume was. Much like every weak-willed man in his comic books, Ethan would have risked absolutely everything to kiss her.
“No costume?”
“God no,” he spat, inspiring another little laugh.
“Never say never,” she told him in a sing-song voice.
“I can confidently say never.”
______________
2. A year later.
They paused outside the door to Bryce's apartment, the muffled sound of music and laughter making its way to the hall. Ethan briefly wondered if his neighbors would complain enough to derail the whole affair. It would mean he could go back to the peace and quiet of his home.
As if reading his mind, Lilac turned to face him, a knowing smile pulling at her lips. God, he loved it when she looked at him that way.
“You're not getting out of this,” she reminded him, her fingers moving to play with the orange Ascot tie she had forced him to wear.
“We're well into November. There was no need to dress up.”
As usual, Lilac rolled her eyes lovingly.
“It's hardly dressing up when all we did was put you in a white sweater you already owned, babe,” she explained for the hundredth time. Ethan tried to scowl at the pet name, but he was beginning to enjoy it. Instead, he relaxed into her touch, trying his best not to follow the lazy path her fingers made on his chest. “You wouldn't even wear a wig, so it doesn't count. As for the party being this late, it was the only night we all had off. And we'll be damned before we let a whole year pass us by without dressing up.”
She finalized that sentence with a searing kiss to his neck. His hands banded around her waist reflexively, pulling her soft body flush against his. In their time together, he had avidly learned the many ways to drive her just as crazy.
“You and I can still dress up,” he murmured darkly against her ear.
Lilac shivered, to his immense delight.
“Are you suggesting role play, Dr. Ramsey,” she returned in a poor attempt to mock him.
The formal mode of address, uttered in a low, breathy voice against his ear, made his blood buzz for her. More maddening still was the short, purple dress she wore along with the auburn wig that made a reappearance after a year.
“Got a thing for redheads?” she asked, correctly guessing the contents of his thoughts yet again.
Ethan smiled crookedly down at her. “I got a thing for you.”
The words rang with sincerity and an overwhelming sense of relief at finally being able to say them out loud, without any fear of consequences.
Lilac, for her part, looked as though she wanted to shove him against the wall and kiss him fiercely, but the erupting cheers from inside the apartment interrupted their exchange from advancing further.
“Mystery Gang in the house!” Bryce, dressed as a pirate, hollered as soon as they walked through the door. Everyone else cheered and hooted, the sounds no doubt fueled by the contents of the many red solo cups around the room.
“You guys look adorable!” Sienna commended over the music, greeting each of them with a friendly hug. “Fred and Daphne makes so much sense for you two.”
“Because we solve mysteries for a living?” Ethan asked, voice deadpan.
“Nah, because those two were a thing long before any of the others found out,” Elijah said as he joined them.
Lilac laughed out loud, the sound teetering on the edges of relief. She had been nervous, just like Ethan had been, that her friends would be awkward around them now that they knew of their relationship.
By the way they easily joked with him and included him in conversation throughout the night, their concerns had been for nothing. They even helped Lilac pressure him into dancing a modern pop song he had heard many times on the radio. Not that he needed much convincing when he would gladly do anything just to see her radiant smile directed his way.
By midnight, the party had dwindled down to drinks and board games. There was a raucous consensus to play Clue, which caused Bryce to roll his eyes.
“Of course the diagnosticians want to play the nerdiest game.”
Ethan rolled up his sleeves in preparation, which earned him a coy and borderline lustful look from Lilac. “You're just bitter that we're playing something other than beer pong, scalpel jockey.”
Elijah let out a surprised yet impressed laugh, wasting no time to high five Ethan. Even Bryce couldn't help but grin.
“Trash talk all you want, old man. I'm more than just a pretty face.”
When it came to Clue, however, Bryce had no chance against Ethan, who analyzed every player with sharp precision and correctly guessed the murderer, the room, and the weapon. Several games later, Ethan easily proved victorious while Bryce only laughed graciously, raising his palms up in defeat.
When even the board games ebbed into quiet conversation at the end of the night, Lilac sat on his lap, circling her arms around his neck. They sat like that for minutes, enjoying the nuances of being that annoyingly cute couple at a party.
“Thank you for dressing up for me,” she said as she pressed a chaste kiss on his cheek.
Even that sent his heart into a tumultuous rhythm.
“Only for you,” he murmured. “And as a one time deal only.”
______________
3. Many years later.
Ethan plastered the fur-lined hat on his head, a perfect complement to the fur-lined everything else he was currently wearing. Luckily, fall time in Boston was cold enough that the ensemble would prove to be practical as they walked the streets. He stepped into the hallway, not bothering to check his reflection. There was no doubt he looked utterly ridiculous.
But he didn't care.
He would do anything for her and for the unbridled joy in the eyes he loved so much.
Lilac was already waiting when he entered the living room, her smile impossibly wide as she glanced him over. It was the exact reaction he expected and he couldn't help but grin too.
“Is this how it's supposed to look?”
“Yes!” she all but shrieked in delight. The magenta cape of her costume fluttered behind her as she rushed to him, her body crashing against him in an overjoyed hug. “I love you so much for doing this.”
The words still sent a thrill through Ethan, as strong as the first time he heard them. Heart thundering wildly at his chest, he leaned down to kiss her, just because he could.
When they pulled apart, she watched him through half-closed eyes, her teeth catching her lush bottom lip. All Ethan wanted to do was carry her to their bed and tear off the costumes they had spent so much time perfecting. Inwardly, he marveled at how everything had changed over the years, but there were some things that remained the same.
Instead, he captured one of her plaits between his fingers. “These people we're dressed up as,” he started, gently trailing the ridges of her braid. Lilac watched him, captivated by his every word. “Do they end up together?”
She allowed a laugh. “We've watched nothing but that movie for a week straight.”
Ethan shrugged, allowing a sheepish grin. “I tune it out thirty minutes in every time.”
More laughter and Ethan decided then that he could hear the sound forever and not get enough.
“Don't let Dolores hear you say that,” she warned with one final kiss. She moved to break apart from their embrace but he stopped her.
His wife looked at him expectantly and Ethan frowned, suddenly doubtful.
“Do you think she'll like it?”
Lilac's curious expression melted into a fond smile. “She's going to love it,” she assured him, leaning in to press a sweet kiss on the tip of his nose.
Not surprisingly, Lilac had been right because moments later, a delighted shriek of laughter announced the arrival of their toddler daughter. Her godmother trailed close behind, crouching over in an attempt to fix the blue tulle that trailed along the floor as the child ran towards her father. It was futile and Sienna sighed in defeat, shooting Lilac an amused look.
“It's pointless,” Sienna laughed. “There's no stopping little Lolly when she sees her father.”
Proving that point, his daughter flung herself into Ethan's arms and cried, “Dada!”
“Hello, princess,” Ethan laughed as she pressed her version of a kiss on his cheek.
“I'm Elsa,” Dolores corrected sagely.
“Yes, babe,” Lilac added with mock seriousness. “You are in the presence of Queen Elsa of Arendelle. Have some respect.”
“My apologies, Your Majesty,” Ethan said to his daughter with such formality that the child laughed. Sienna watched the exchange with a watery smile, failing to repress a squeal.
A loud roar coming from the threshold informed them that their son had joined them. Sienna laughed as Jonah ran around the room, the antlers of his costume bobbing wildly as he moved. At last, he stopped right before Lilac, who picked him up in her arms.
“I didn't know reindeers roared,” she laughed, swaying her son in her arms.
Jonah roared again to demonstrate that reindeers could indeed roar formidably, at least when impersonated by a five year old. “I'm a Halloween reindeer,” he explained. “He roars to be spooky, but just for today.”
The adults laughed. “You're a good big brother, Jonah,” Lilac informed him with a kiss, closely followed by a tickle.
“Lolly wanted to be Elsa so bad so I wanted to help,” their son said through a giggle, as though it was the most obvious explanation in the world.
It was for Ethan.
As Sienna ushered them together for a picture, Ethan looked at his family, everyone smiling radiantly and far more beautifully than the moon itself. Little Dolores clung to him, laughing and looking happier than he had ever seen her.
His wife caught his eye and shot him a knowing but proud smile. Ethan knew she was remembering the cynical, jaded version of himself who had confidently proclaimed he would never do this.
Ethan had never been happier to be proven wrong.
______________
A/N: I HC they name their daughter after Dolores and nickname her Lola/ Lolly
Once upon a time I used to write for another pairing who canonically dies on Halloween. You have no idea how happy I am to write for a pairing who’s alive and well lol.
Thank you so much for reading! I love these time hop fics so much. I wrote another one for Ethan x MC a long time ago that I will publish on my birthday in November :)
Finally, Chapter 10 of the Pictagram is coming soon. It might be two parts... Yikes. Thanks for waiting so patiently for it! Life has been crazy over here
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tags: @openheart12 , @takeharryandgo , @trappedinfanfiction, @aestheticartsx, @aworldoffandoms, @paulfwesley, @myusualnerdyself, @rookie-ramsey, @ohchoices, @colossalpainintheass, @enmchoices, @i-bloody-love-drake-walker, @choicesfanaf, @openheartthot, @octobereighth, @nazarihoe, @utterlyinevitable, @kites-in-our-skies, @maurine07, @schnitzelbutterfingers, @doilooklikeiknow, @snesdudes, @kingliam2019, @perriewinklenerdie, @cinnamonspongecake, @choicesstan1, @queencarb, @ethxnrxmsey, @missmiimiie, @jens-diamondchoices, @adamsdumortain, @apphia12, @kalogh, @lucy-268, @binny1985, @queenbirbs, @honeyandsunfl0wers, @newcolonies, @lilyvalentine, @rigatonireid, @interobanginyourmom, @parkerattano, @custaroonie, @nikki-2406, @lilypills, @chasingrobbie, @nooruleman, @lonely-mxxnlight, @ruinedbypixels, @shadynaturehilariouscookie, @tsrookie, @mvalentine, @professorkingslay, @drakewalkerfantasy, @casey-v, @helloblueeyedcat, @mysticaurathings, @blossomanarchy, @thegreentwin, @togetherwearerapture, @rookieoh, @ramseysno1rookie, @rookiemarsswiftie, @natashajaniphil, @mysticalgalaxysstuff, @hatescapsicum, @choices-lurker, @kiara-36, @junehiratas, @danijimenezv, @macy-ray85, @adrex04, @canigetanawwjunk, @sanchita012, @overwhelminglyaquarius , @scorpiochick8, @skylarklyon, @starrystarrytrouble, @mercury84choices, @drariellevalentine, @ethanrcmsey, @lion-ess24, @aarisa-frost, @kaavyaethanramsey , @udishaman, @a-crepusculo, @quacksonlover
#open heart#ethan ramsey#ethan x mc#playchoices#my writing#ethan ramsey fanfiction#ethan ramsey x mc#open heart fanfiction#choices fanfiction
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Midnight : I prevented a murder today.
Xisuma : Really? How’d you do that?
Midnight : self control.
Midnight : Date someone who will drag you outside at 3am to look at the stars.
Xisuma : If anyone, and I mean anyone, wakes me up at 3am to go look at the damn sky they will be removed indefinitely from my life.
Midnight : Here's some advice
Xisuma : I didn't ask for any
Midnight : Too bad. I'm stuck here with my thoughts and you're the only one who talks to me
Midnight : Do you take constructive criticism?
Xisuma : I only take cash or credit.
Xisuma : I slept for almost 12 hours but I might still be tired so lets go for 12 more just incase.
Midnight : Xisuma , that's a coma.
Xisuma : Sounds festive.
Xisuma : Remember when you didn't try to solve all your problems with attempted murder?
Midnight : Stop romanticizing the past.
Xisuma : I'm a reverse necromancer.
Midnight : Isn't that just killing people?
Xisuma : Ah, technicality.
Xisuma : Okay, help me please!
Midnight : Got two words for you.
Xisuma : I bet they won't be helpful.
Midnight : Your problem.
Xisuma : I was right
*Xisuma and Midnight are doing something absurdly dangerous*
Xisuma : I think Houdini did something like this once! Why, if I recall correctly, he was out of the hospital in no time!
Midnight , deadpan: Well that's encouraging.
Xisuma : *Kicks the door down looking panicked*
Midnight : What did you do?
Xisuma : Nobody died.
Midnight : WHAT KIND OF ANSWER IS THAT?!
Xisuma : WHAT’S YOUR TYPE
Midnight : Anything, honestly, but nerds especially
Xisuma , desperately, as Midnight bleeds out: YOUR BLOOD TYPE
Midnight : Oh! B positive.
Xisuma : DONT TRY TO CHEER ME UP JUST TELL ME YOUR BLOOD TYPE
Midnight :
Xisuma : Stop buying plastic skeletons for Halloween! It's terrible for the environment!
Midnight : Yeah! Locally sourced, all natural skeletons are much more environmentally friendly!
Xisuma : Let’s watch Sharkboy and Lavagirl.
Midnight : Okay.
Xisuma : And make out during the scary parts.
Midnight : Th-
Midnight : The scary parts.
Midnight : Of Sharkboy and Lavagirl
Xisuma : What the fuck is wrong with you?!
Midnight : Wow, you could start with a 'good morning'.
Xisuma : Good morning. What the fuck is wrong with you?!
Xisuma : Okay, truth or dare?
Midnight : Truth
Xisuma : How many hours have you slept this week?
Midnight :
Midnight : ...Dare
Xisuma : Go to bed.
Midnight : I don’t like this game.
Xisuma: How many kids do you have?
Midnight *holding a bucket with three axolotls in it surrounded by cats*: Biologically, emotionally, or legally?
Xisuma : You're 'the second worst thing to ever happen to those orphans', what does that mean?
Midnight : It means i was second worst thing to happen to those orphans.
Xisuma : but what’s the first worst thing?
*Awkward pause*
Midnight : Xisuma , they...they weren’t always orphans.
Xisuma :
Xisuma , trying to cheer the group up: Things could be worse, you know!
Midnight : How?
Xisuma : How what?
Midnight : How could they be worse?
Xisuma : They couldn’t, I lied.
Midnight :
Xisuma : I prevented a murder today.
Midnight : Really? How’d you do that?
Xisuma : self control
Xisuma : I actually have a black belt.
Midnight : In what, karate?
Xisuma : No, from Gucci
Xisuma : Man, I only ever see you awake, do you ever shut down or stop running?
Midnight : Oh, I’m always running
Midnight : The question is from what
Xisuma : It’s dark in here
Midnight : Don’t worry dude I got this
Midnight : *Stomps their feet*
Midnight : *Skechers light up*
Xisuma : I've already sent good vibes your way… they’re coming. There’s nothing you can do to stop them.
Midnight : This is the most threatening way I’ve ever been cheered up.
Xisuma : Am I in trouble?
Midnight : Take a guess.
Xisuma : No?
Midnight : Take another guess.
Xisuma : Please, I'm begging you go to a doctor.
Midnight : I'm sorry is this OUR stab wound? Stay out of it.
Xisuma : You love me, right, Midnight ?
Midnight : Normally, I’d say yes without hesitation, but I feel like this is going somewhere and I don’t like it.
Xisuma : What is your biggest weakness?
Midnight : I can be uncooperative.
Xisuma : Okay, can you give me an example?
Midnight : No
Xisuma : Top 30 reasons why Xisuma is sorry... Number 5 will surprise you!
Midnight : Top 30 anime deaths. Number One: YOUR FUCKING ASS RIGHT NOW!!!
Xisuma : If there's going to be a big dramatic scene, wait until I get back.
Midnight : Of course. I can't flip this table by myself.
Xisuma : A theif.
Midnight : Thief?
Xisuma : Theif.
Midnight : I before E, except after C.
Xisuma : Thceif.
Midnight : No.
Xisuma : .. .----. -- / ... --- .-. .-. -.-- [translation: I’M SORRY]
Midnight : What's that?
Xisuma : Remorse code.
Midnight : I'm even angrier now.
Xisuma : *Gets down on one knee*
Midnight : Oh my god, it’s finally happening.
Xisuma : *Falls over*
Midnight : The poison is kicking in.
Xisuma : Midnight and I have the kind of easy chemistry where we finish each other's-
Midnight : Sentences.
Xisuma : Don't interrupt me.
Xisuma : Don’t worry, I know exactly what I’m doing. Everything is going to be fine!
Midnight : How can you still say that?
Xisuma : Because sometimes, when things get tough, denial is all we have.
Xisuma , watching the news: Someone tried to fight a squid at the aquarium today!
Midnight : *walks in covered with ink* Well, maybe the squid was being a dick.
Xisuma : I want to wake up with you every day for the rest of our lives
Midnight : I wake up at 4:30 AM
Xisuma :
Xisuma : I want to see you at some point every day for the rest of our lives
Xisuma : This is bothering me.
Midnight : Well, you are digging up a corpse.
Xisuma : No, not that. That's, uh, pretty par for the course, actually.
Xisuma : I’m going to take you out
Midnight : great, it’s a date!
Xisuma : I meant that as a threat.
Midnight : See you at five!
Xisuma : Midnight , stop! This isn't you, you've gone mad with power!
Midnight : Well of course I have.
Midnight : Have you ever tried going mad without power?
Midnight : It's boring.
Xisuma : I'm incredibly fast at math.
Midnight : Alright, what's 30x17?
Xisuma : 47
Midnight : That's not even close.
Xisuma : But it was fast.
Xisuma : Can you keep a secret?
Midnight : Do you know anything about my life?
Xisuma : No I do not. Good point.
Xisuma : I'm 10 times funnier and sexier than you
Midnight : 10 times 0 is still 0 though
Xisuma : Jokes on you, I can't do math
Xisuma : *holding a bottle* Is this whiskey or perfume?
Midnight : *chugs entire bottle* Midnight : It’s perfume
Xisuma : I can explain.
Midnight : Can you?
Xisuma : If you give me thirty seconds to think of a lie.
Xisuma : Treat spiders the way you want to be treated.
Midnight : Killed without hesitation.
Xisuma : No
Xisuma : What’s up guys? I’m back.
Midnight : What the- you can’t be here. You’re dead. I literally saw you die.
Xisuma : Death is a social construct.
Xisuma : Whaddya call a fish with no eye?
Midnight , not looking up: Myxine Circifrons
Xisuma :
Xisuma : fsh
Xisuma : Bad things keep happening to me, like I have bad luck or something.
Midnight : Xisuma , you don't have bad luck. The reason bad things happen to you is because you're a dumbass.
Xisuma : That’s one of my biggest fears. Like, if I ever woke up as a donut...
Midnight : You would eat yourself?
Xisuma : I wouldn’t even question it
Xisuma : Lol heads up if you try to make a candle with food coloring, the food coloring will just sink to the bottom of the glass, and when the flame eventually reaches the bottom all the food coloring will catch fire and become one giant tall flame that you cannot possibly blow out and the glass will start to crack and then you'll throw your tea on it in a panic and then the extremely hot food coloring will boil and sizzle horribly and then the glass will shatter. Please take my word on this lmfao
Midnight : What did you do op?
Xisuma : A MISTAKE
Xisuma : English is a difficult language. It can be understood through tough thorough thought, though.
Midnight : *crying holding her head in pain* You need to stop.
Xisuma : Do you think you’d actually notice if someone didn’t cast a shadow? Or if their limbs were just slightly too long? Or if they had just a little too many teeth? like how many times have you passed Something on the street and you just didn’t Notice It?
Midnight : Stay woke monsterfuckers ur love is out there!!!!!
Xisuma : Yknow what? Not my point at all in any way whatsoever, but I’m glad I could be an inspiration.
Xisuma : What if the 'g' in 'gif' is silent?
Midnight : Go the fuck to sleep
Xisuma : What gif I don't want to?
Midnight : Fuck You
Xisuma : Hey, it's your turn to wash dishes.
Midnight : I'LL WASH THE WALLS RED WITH YOUR BLOOD.
Xisuma : 'Kay, but before that, wash the dishes, also use soap this time?
Xisuma : Do you have any skeletons in your closet?
Midnight : You mean literally or figuratively?
Xisuma : Honestly, the fact that I have to specify...
Xisuma : I made tea.
Midnight : I don’t want tea.
Xisuma : I did not make tea for you. This is my tea.
Midnight : Then why are you telling me?
Xisuma : It is a conversation starter.
Midnight : That’s a lousy conversation starter.
Xisuma : Oh, is it? We are conversing. Checkmate.
Xisuma : Where are you going?
Midnight : To get ice cream or commit a felony, I’ll decide on the way there
Xisuma : So are we flirting right now?
Midnight : I AM LITERALLY STABBING YOU
Xisuma : That doesn’t answer my question
Xisuma : Ok, maybe playing ‘whose family is most dysfunctional’ wasn’t the best idea we’ve had. Midnight 's been crying in the bathroom for an hour. We can’t get them out...
Xisuma : Midnight ... Why did you draw a pentagram on the floor?
Midnight : Your text told me to satanize the house before you returned.
Xisuma :
Xisuma : I wrote sanitize, Midnight
Xisuma : You know, not every problem can be solved with a sword.
Midnight : That's why I carry two swords.
Xisuma : petition to remove the 'd' from Wednesday
Midnight : Wednesay
Xisuma : Not what I had in mind, but I'm flexible
Xisuma : Hey Midnight can I get a sip of your water?
Midnight : It's not water.
Xisuma : Vodka, I like your style!
Midnight : It's vinegar.
Xisuma : Wh-Wha-
Midnight : It's vinegar, Pussy
Xisuma : I turned out perfectly fine!
Midnight : Xisuma , this morning you thought a ghost made your toast
Xisuma : I DIDN’T PUT THE BREAD IN! YOU DIDN’T PUT THE BREAD IN!!!
Xisuma , talking to Midnight on the phone: Did you preheat the oven like I told you to?
Midnight : You bet!
Xisuma : At what temperature?
Midnight : 535.
Xisuma : That's the clock.
Midnight :
Xisuma :
Midnight : 536.
Xisuma : Look. I may not be a saint, but it's not like I’ve killed anybody. I’m not an arsonist. I’ve never found a wallet outside of an IHOP and thought about returning it but saw the owner lived out of state so just took the cash and dropped the wallet back on the ground.
Midnight : Okay, that's really specific, and that makes me think that you definitely did do that.
Xisuma : Change is inedible.
Midnight : Don't you mean inevitable?
Xisuma , spitting out coins: No, I did not.
Xisuma : This is such a bad idea.
Midnight : Then why are you coming along?
Xisuma : One of us need to be able to talk the cops out of arresting us when this inevitably goes wrong.
Xisuma : i went through an entire character arc during quarantine
Xisuma : i became more evil if you’re curious
Midnight : We're still in quarantine, don't worry, there's time for a redemption arc still!
Xisuma : i’m going to get worse on purpose
Xisuma : Someone will die.
Midnight : Of fun!
Xisuma : I was thinking I'd do some magic-
Midnight : You? Magic? Xisuma , it says talent show.
Xisuma : You saved me. I owe you my life.
Midnight : No thanks. I’ve seen it and I’m not very impressed.
Xisuma : Is something burning?
Midnight : Just my love for you.
Xisuma : Midnight , the toaster is on fire.
Xisuma : You're the love of my life and my best friend, I would do anything for you.
Midnight : I want you to eat three meals a day and have a decent sleep schedule.
Xisuma : Absolutely not
Xisuma : You kill people for money?!
Midnight : I can explain!
Xisuma : And all this time I’ve been doing it for free like a chump!
Xisuma : You know, I'm starting to regret showing you how that blender works.
Midnight , drinking toast: Why do you say that?
Midnight, pointing: May I sit there?
Xisuma: That's my lap
Midnight: That doesn't answer my question, Midnight
Xisuma : Must be hard not being able to laugh
Midnight : I do have a sense of humor you know
Xisuma : I’ve never heard you laugh before
Midnight : I’ve never heard you say anything funny
Xisuma : So what’s for dinner?
Midnight , staring at the food they just burnt: Regret.
Xisuma : Oh just so you know, it's very muggy outside
Midnight :
Midnight : Xisuma , I swear, if I step outside and all of our mugs are on the front lawn...
Xisuma : *Sips coffee from bowl*
Xisuma : Oh just so you know, it's very muggy outside
Midnight :
Midnight : Xisuma , I swear, if I step outside and all of our mugs are on the front lawn...
Xisuma : *Sips coffee from bowl*
Xisuma : Are you an ‘arr’ pirate, or a ‘yo ho ho’ pirate?
Midnight : I’m a ‘I’m not paying $600 for photoshop’ pirate.
Xisuma : *Stubs their toe* FUCK!
Midnight : Mind your language!
Xisuma : What else am I supposed to say, “Woe is I”???
Midnight :
Xisuma : You have to accept that swear words are necessary sometimes.
Xisuma : Hey, you want some leftovers?
Midnight : What's that?
Xisuma : You've never had leftovers???
Midnight : No, because I'm not a quitter.
Xisuma : Violence isn't the answer.
Midnight : You’re right.
Xisuma : *sighs in relief*
Midnight : Violence is the question.
Xisuma : What?
Midnight , bolting away: And the answer is yes.
Xisuma , running after them: NO-
Xisuma : In light of what you did for me, you can hug me for four to five seconds.
Midnight : FORTY FIVE SECONDS?!?
Xisuma : No! Four to five seconds!
Midnight : Too late!!!
Xisuma , struggling to keep upright in their 1 inch heels: Yeah, I-I don’t really think heels are for me
Midnight , pointing at them and walking flawlessly in sparkly golden 6 inch heels: WEAK.
Xisuma : This is a mistake
Midnight , enthusiastically: A mistake we're going to laugh about one day!
Xisuma : But not today
Midnight , still enthusiastic: Oh, no. Today's going to be a mess
Xisuma : You're right.
Midnight : That's... That's an unusual phrase for you. Did you just learn it?
Xisuma : Sorry it took me so long to bail you out of jail
Midnight : No it’s my fault, I shouldn’t’ve used my one phone call to prank call the police
Xisuma , in a beach shirt: So sue me, it's October and I'd like to be on Island Time for a day!
Midnight : I have Spotify open right now on my computer, do you want me to blast you? Do you want me to put you on blast? Cuz I've got your history right here on the sidebar,
Midnight : Take it Back by Jimmy Buffet, Nautical Wheelers by Jimmy Buffet, Jolly Mon Sing by Jimmy Buffet, Steamer by Jimmy Buffet, trEAT HER LIKE A LADY BY JIMMY BUFFET, MAÑANA BY JIMMY BUFFET, WHEN SALOME PLAYS THE DRUMS BY JAMES BUFFET, HAVANA DAYDREAMIN BY JIMMY BUFFET- What the FUCK happened to you?!
Xisuma , laughing: I HAD A CASE OF THE MONDAYS
Midnight : ARE YOU HAUNTED?! ARE YOU FUCKING POSSESSED?!
Midnight : YOU USED TO BE MY FRIEND
Xisuma , cry-laughing: ᴵ ᴴᴬᴰ ᴬ ᶜᴬˢᴱ ᴼᶠ ᵀᴴᴱ ᴹᴼᴺᴰᴬʸˢ
Xisuma : If you were to vacuum up jello through a metal tube, well I think that’d be a neat noise
Midnight : I beg to differ
Xisuma : Then Beg
Midnight : *muttering* that’s kinda kinky…
Xisuma : what?
Midnight : what?
Xisuma : Wake me up…
Midnight : Before you go go!
Evil X : When September ends…
Evil midnight : WAKE ME UP INSIDE-
Xisuma : Care for another sundae, weenie?
Midnight : I am not a weenie!
Evil X : Relax, you’re among friends. *raises their drink*
Midnight : My friends don’t hang out at Weenie Hut Jr’s.
Evil midnight : You tell ‘em, Midnight ! *sips their drink*
Midnight : Evil midnight , what’re you doing here?
Evil midnight : I’m always here on Double Weenie Wednesdays.
Your prompt:
*Xisuma 's helping Midnight out after they get injured, while the others are watching*
Evil X : How does Midnight look?
Evil midnight : A little better than you, actually.
Xisuma : How did none of you hear what I just said?
Midnight : I’ve been zoned out for the past two and a half hours.
Evil X : I got distracted about halfway through.
Evil midnight : Ignoring you was a conscious decision.
Xisuma : *Gently taps table*
Midnight : *Taps back*
Evil X : What are they doing?
Evil midnight : Morse code.
Xisuma : *Aggressively taps table*
Midnight : *Slams hands down* YOU TAKE THAT BACK-
Xisuma , about Midnight : Apparently we’re getting someone new in the group.
Evil X : Are we stealing them?
Evil midnight : New or used?
Xisuma : Wonderful responses, both of you.
Xisuma : Can I be frank with you guys?
Midnight : Sure, but I don’t see how changing your name is gonna help.
Evil X : Can I still be Evil X ?
Evil midnight : Shh, let Frank speak
Xisuma , setting down a card: Ace of spades
Midnight , pulling out an Uno card: +4
Evil X , pulling out a Pokémon card: Jolteon, I choose you
Evil midnight , trembling: What are we playing
Xisuma : Why is Midnight so sad?
Evil X : They took one of those “Which Character Are You?” quizzes
Xisuma : And...?
Evil X : They got Evil midnight
[The group is a prison cell that was just hit by an earthquake]
Xisuma : Uh, I'm gonna roll a perception check of... 4, and see if our cell is, uh, in any way damaged by this quake
Midnight : You're in a prison cell :)
Evil X : You did great. Well, I got a 10-
Midnight : You're in a prison cell with bars on it :3
Evil midnight : I got a 1!
Midnight : You're in... a cube-shaped place.
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The Great Ace Attorney Playthrough: The Adventure of the Great Departure (Part 3)
Last Time: We finally found Miss Brett, the English woman who’s present had been erased from the scene of the crime, and dragged her ass to court only to discover that she was a Massively Racist Bitch in a swan hat. After a lot of back and forth it became clear that Dr Watson Wilson actually died of poisoning, and that Miss Brett took advantage of the fact Japan currently doesn’t do autopsy reports to shoot his corpse in the chest and frame me (Ryunosuke) for the murder. Fortunately for us Hosonaga took the bottle from the crime scene, and after needlessly translating Miss Brett for the last hour (and presumably filtering out a lot of questionable content) was only to happy to produce it for the court. Unfortunately for us the poison wasn’t in the bottle, so it’s up to a lady in pink to save the day!
I’m going to roundhouse kick Auchi
I’m liking how everyone else in this room is just as done with Auchi as I am
Our saviour Ryunosuke, that’s who
Oh, that’s not a glass
Is it about poisons?
It is!
Ok so I’m pretty sure that Curare is incredibly powerful and fast acting poison (which lines up with what we know). Unfortunately I think it needs to be injected but I might be mixing it up with something else.
Susato’s actually given me the report now, which is probably a much more sensible way of getting information (rather than me trying to remember what I’ve picked up from Agatha Christie novels), and unfortunately it looks like I remembered correctly about it needing to be injected.
(Side note: how alarming is it that I’ve retained this much knowledge on poisons? I feel the need to explain that I’ve been reading and listening to audio dramatisation of Agatha Christie novels since I was about three, but I feel like that makes it worse)
What is curious though is it’s potential use as an anaesthetic. Given that Dr Wilson had just had a tooth removed with anaesthetic I wonder if there’s a connection there?
I’m not sure what it could be though, unless it turns out Miss Brett Weekend at Berniesed his corpse all the over way from the clinic.
GET HER ASS RYUNOSUKE!!!
Actually wait...
GET HER ASS JUDGE!!!
Auchi if we were to run this courtroom on things you know about we’d be running a kindergarten.
Auchi, you’d never even heard of Curare until I told you about it, be quiet while the grownups are talking.
Yeah, Curare is not a nice poison.
I’m not going to post the full explanation here, but wow, Kazuma’s really going all out with his description!
Also it looks like I misunderstood about it needing to be injected. Everyone’s saying that it can just be swallowed, which I guess that makes sense given how deadly it is.
Miss Brett’s being a bitch again (but what else is new) and Kazuma’s taking none of your shit and telling her that the feeling’s mutual. (Something I would have screenshot, but I was too busy calling Kazuma a legend to press the little square button.)
I knew it, it was only in the glass.
Yeah, now try it again from the glass you took.
Don’t worry Ryunosuke, I got this!
It’s ok Kazuma! Believe in me (Ryunosuke) and our beautiful friendship!
It astounds me too Kazuma, but for once I’m on to something!
Kazuma, please stop saying foreboding things, I need you to survive the next case and you’re already not being helped by the fact that you’re so much better than me. You’re so good you kind of render me, the protagonist, a little bit obsolete in fact.
PENALISED!
I guess I was wrong then! That bottle does somehow contain poison.
Yes Kuzuma, because I’m going to be penalised otherwise!
OH FUCK I’VE GOT IT!!!
I UNDERSTOOD CORRECTLY THE FIRST TIME!!!
IT DOES NEED TO BE PUT INTO THE BLOODSTREAM!!!
AND THE DOCTOR HAD A GAPING WOUND IN HIS MOUTH!!!
WHICH MISS JEZAILLE BRETT ADMITTED SHE KNEW ABOUT!!!
It’s finally time!
Let’s get her!
He’s got it!
GET HER ASS RYUNOSUKE!!!
She’s cracking!
Is it hatred Ryunosuke?
Ah no, my mistake - it’s lawyer rage conviction!
I know I’ve said this a lot but...
GET HER ASS RYUNOSUKE!!!!!!!!!!
HE DID THE THING!!!!!!!!
WE’RE USING HER OWN WORDS AGAINST HER
AND IT FEELS SO GOOD!
Oh good... she’s started laughing
Oh no. We’ve set things into motion haven’t we.
Kazuma, I can’t stress enough how important it is for you to take care of yourself in the case to come.
SHE’S DESTROYING THE EVIDENCE!
You can’t do that!
Oh who am I kidding, this lady’s been dancing on privilege since she walked in.
Oh Ryunosuke I think she might have done...
I knew she felt like an end of game villain!
Auchi’s about to catch these hands!
Kazuma’s telling us to step into our mind palace.
‘Is Kazuma right’, he thinks, as he remembers the blood on the plate.
I don’t know Ryunosuke? Is water wet?
You got it Kazuma!
I mean to be fair it did only just happen.
DID HE STEAL THE PLATE?!?
YES HOSONAGA!!!
YOU BEAUTIFUL GENIUS!!!
I do genuinely love these moments in Ace Attorney though. When everyone works as one to get some untouchable big fry. There’s something very rewarding about the whole thing.
Shit... she swapped it out...
Fortunately my man Hosonaga has everyone’s plates though!
Cheer up Ryunosuke, look, we have steak blood at least. And I’m sure Hosonaga’ll bring us the rest of the plates if we ask nicely. Especially after Miss Brett broke his bottle.
Miss Brett’s now making racist statements again.
But at least I’ve been given the steak to examine!
Bless you Kazuma
Ryunosuke what short of cats have you been looking at!
Get his ass (affectionately) Kazuma!
THE STOLEN COIN!!!
I KNEW SHE SWAPPED THEM!!!
(Also it looks like I was right about it being stolen by Nosa)
Didn’t know that was there, did you Miss Brett?
Now, dig your own grave with your words!
Now it’s time to dob Nosa in it. Sorry Nosa but you were kind of a jerk. Look on the bright side though, now’s your chance to redeem yourself in my eyes, like Hosonaga has!
Old man Korekuna’s armed and pissed!
Nosa I’m sorry. It’s best to throw yourself on his mercy now before I rile him up more. Use your baby to calm him if you must.
NICE CATCH NOSA!
I take everything back, Nosa your complete safe, old man Korekuna has no idea how to use that thing.
Ah, I forgot he was proficient in vase!
(Which I forgot to screenshot)
Never mind Nosa, you’re still screwed!
That is the right face to pull (Nosa not Hosonaga):
Look at him in the corner there. I feel bad now.
It was theft wasn’t it?
...oh Nosa what have you done?
(Kept food on his kids plate probably, given how he can’t afford childcare)
Nosa’s now accusing his infant son of being the mastermind... Sure Nosa, everyone’s bying that.
Either accusing a baby is a panic response, or I don’t need to feel so bad anymore.
Hosonaga how did you not immediately catch this guy?
HE SLIPPED THE COIN UNDER THE STEAK SO IT WOULDN’T BE FOUND WHEN HE WAS SEARCHED!
MISS BRETT’S TRYING TO WEASLE HER WAY OUT TO LUNCH AGAIN!
Oh thank god!
I thought for one terrible second we were letting her go.
(I’ve say it before and I’ll probably say it again, this is an intense first case)
Yes! ‘Her’ steak had a big bite mark in it!
But I thought and English Lady like yourself wouldn’t eat steak that way Miss Brett?
Of course, there’s a difference between the two photos.
I knew I could see the glass in the first one, which means it was taken before Miss Brett rearranged the table!
Oh, now Nosa’s saying that he switched the plates.
I must admit I didn’t expect that, I thought it was something Miss Brett did to remove the bloody evidence.
She’s cracking!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
YEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!
IT WAS ALIVE!!!
BABIES!!!
BABIES EVERYWHERE!
Oh god... what’s she planning.
Your honour, she’s already poisoned one person, do you want to be next?
Kiss my ass Miss Brett
Get used to it Auchi.
HAHA!
DAMN KAZUMA
(Editor Note: I am very upset by how poorly my screenshots conveyed Kazuma destroying Auchi’s hairdo with his sword)
Also, were you always hot Kazuma?
Wait no - I can’t be thinking that. The bar for fictional men I like is the floor and if I want Kazuma to continue to live a long, happy, non morally ambiguous life, I need him to not fall into the category of ‘fictional men I find hot’.
For some reason, I picture it being blue and spiky your honour
Wait what’s this about Kazuma having a mission?
Oh fucking hell, I’ve doomed you to moral ambiguity haven’t I Kazuma?
Thank you for the backhanded compliment your honour!
Ooh, petals rather than confetti, that’s a nice touch!
We did it!!!
And most importantly of all, we’re being praised by Kazuma!
Susato! Our saviour! Has turned up, along with her father: the innocent Professor Mikotoba, who I would like to thank and to reiterate that he could never kill anyone!
Seriously though, what was the relationship between him an Dr Wilson?
Ah ok, I simply just had to click on to find out.
So apparently the two of them worked together in the same hospital in London for a while.
OH MY GOD KAZUMA’S TAKING THE SWORD WITH HIM TO GREAT BRITAIN!!!
YES KAZUMA! F THEM UP!!!
(Also if your journey tragically ends in the customs office there’s a non-dead-Kazuma reason for me to go in your place.)
Oh fuck, she got off didn’t she...
I knew it
Of fucking course...
So basically she’s going to get off with a slap on the wrist. That’s what I’m getting from all of this.
Yep
Ah, but what you’ve failed to understand Kazuma is that the British Government and 99% of those people in power, are hypocritical dirtbags who will change the rules to suit them.
OK TEAM LETS GO GET HER ASS!!!
FINAL BOSS! FINAL BOSS!
Now on to the party with Kazuma!
And also Hosonaga apparently. Who is clinging onto his waiter job even though the case he was investigating is solved. Look like Ryunosuke was right about money being tight.
Hosonaga, do you not have a job anymore?
Were your superiors upset when you said ‘fuck the government’ and bought Miss Brett to us? Or was it your one man forensics team shtick that upsets them?
Oh yeah, we never did find that out did we?
Kazuma Asogi I forbid you from charging me with looking after your sister, of for that matter anything, incase something happens to you!
Fortunatly for us Hosonaga is here! Diving in-front of that Kazuma shaped plot bullet with promises of food!
Ryunosuke over here, taking the cases final moments to roast Hosonaga.
I think we’re even now Satoru, my second favorite character.
I don’t want to click to the next text box.
OH FUCK!
Oh wait, false alarm everyone!
I genuinely thought that the case was going to end with something like: but little did I realize that he never would.
Anyway that’s enough worrying about Kazuma! For now let’s enjoy the fact we’ve finished this bastard hard first case!
We’re moving on to Episode 2: The Adventure of the Unbreakable Speckled Band next!
#tgaa spoilers#tgaa#the great ace attorney#the adventure of the great departure#ryunosuke naruhodo#kazuma asougi#satoru hosonaga#jezaille brett#susato mikotoba#yuujin mikotoba
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Redamancy - Chapter Six (f.o)
summary: it’s time to forgive and repair.
warnings; swearing, murder, HEAVY GORE, brief hint of prostitution.
wc; 10.2k
NOTES; I give reader a last name to fit the world.
–
It turns out that you’ve worked yourself to the bone all these years. Day after day, you woke at seven, left at eight, and stayed in the betting room until late evening into the early morning. You didn’t realize just how taxing it was until now. For the first time in a long time, you’ve gotten more than just a couple of hours of sleep. You slept into noon.
This must be how Finnick felt for those years. He could, more or less, go to bed when he wants and wake well into the afternoon. And although the whole day isn’t up to your interpretation, you’ve had your fair share of evenings with friends. To think that he used to live like this every day, while you were busy worrying over tributes, or pushing yourself to the brink of exhaustion is unfair.
And for a moment, you can allow yourself to be upset at him and yourself for letting it go on for so long. Finnick’s time in the Capitol is far from fun and perfect, but you still hate how he wasn’t required to do all the same things you are. That he didn’t put in as much effort as you have. Even if you two weren’t talking…
You count to three and let it go.
You think you can stop being mad about this now. To you, it looks like things have changed. Of course, you can keep your guard, but you can stop talking about it. You already know all the shitty things that he’s done, he knows it too. With that acknowledgement, you can save the thoughts for a rainy day.
You get out of bed at noon, dragging your feet around the room. It’s funny how you’ve kept that wake, eat, watch, sleep schedule for this long, and it was so easily broken. You thought that you’d have to fight with yourself to sleep in past seven, considering that some habits are hard to break. Yet here you are, sluggish. You suppose that more sleep doesn’t automatically mean being more energetic.
Not trying to be too slow, you only take a ten minute shower instead of your normal thirty. Finnick’s been in the betting room since midnight last night, it’s going to be a full thirteen hours by the time you go to switch with him. He’s running on fumes, he hasn’t slept in a day, if you remember correctly. The sooner you get down there, the better.
Not to mention, like nights, the mornings are extremely boring. As you’ve observed for the last couple of days--and years--the tributes are up to nothing. In the morning, they’re either still sleeping or getting ready to spend their day doing mundane shit. At nights, the careers might go hunting for obvious tributes, or they’re all going to bed.
On one hand, you think that this is good for Finnick. Like you’ve said before, he’s not as practiced during chaotic situations inside of the betting room anyway. The last time he saw anything remotely close to that was maybe yesterday, when you were going around talking to Capitol people. But that wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been.
You’re talking about the times where you’ve been in full-blown mentor mode. Quick on your feet, even faster problem solving, a silver tongue that easily has mentors falling on your feet. The only times you’re like that is when there’s an unpredictable fight that includes your tributes. You’re here for damage control, so anything that your tributes do inside of the arena, you’re going to be there to try and clean up what they can’t. Whether that be injuries, them losing all of their stuff, sponsoring weapons in the midst of a fight, whatever.
But on the other hand, he’s just out of practice. If he took afternoons instead of you--fat fucking chance--he would be able to go right back to how he was before. It’s like flexing a muscle, all your instincts are still there, you just have to relearn a few moves to make the whole job easier.
And you’re all about easy.
You go for black skinny jeans and a yellow-orange shirt with a breast pocket, and then slip on a pair of tennis shoes. As always, you’re the only one in the dining room, so you’re free to watch the television as you eat lunch. The avox serves plum and lamb soup, with a side of jasmine rice to make it more filling. You thank him quietly, already distracted by what’s going on the screen.
Without any context, you slowly put the pieces together by yourself. Starting with your tributes, Annie and Marsh are already off near the snares. They’re currently having lunch too, eating the sponsored food that you gave them yesterday. The gamemakers are allowing you to hear their conversation for the first time in days.
The gist is that Annie wants to go up to the dam. Like, follow the stream of water to the top and inspect the dam for herself. The condition of the cement will hopefully determine when they should leave the shack and head towards the village. But they’re working through one step at a time. Getting to the village is a whole new problem, as far as she’s concerned. Marsh agrees.
The Seven tributes are at the stream getting water, with the boy cupping his hands and bringing water to his lips that way. They’ve still got no supplies from the cornucopia, looking pretty dirty from sleeping in leaves and dirt for the past couple of days. They still look healthy though, so that’s a good sign. They’re getting all the nutrients that they need, to a certain extent.
Five boy is still on the edge of the woods off to the left, far away from the rest of the tributes. He’s not as close to the treeline as he was yesterday. If he keeps there for a while, you’re sure that he’ll surely be overlooked and hard to find like Nine girl. Who, speaking of which, is actually on the move today, instead of just sticking around in the grass and bushes.
She’s got her hair tied out of her face, any loose strands are tucked behind her ears if it can reach. She’s walking through the grass, heading towards the cornucopia. You think it’s a stupid idea, that surely she’s going to get herself killed for being so calm about walking straight into a wild pack of careers.
Until you look to see where the careers are this morning, and find that they’re inside of the woods. The cornucopia is completely vacant, all their supplies are there for a tribute’s taking. Nine girl saw this and decided to take a chance and grab what she can. Which means that she’s been camping out in the grassy hills the entire time, or she was in the trees after all. Either way, she’s kept a pretty low profile since the beginning. This is going to give her a new spotlight to work with.
She heads right inside without hesitation, not even waiting to hear if there’s any voices. Yeah, she’s definitely been keeping track of the tributes in the sky, and even going as far as to watch the cornucopia in her freetime. Especially if she’s so forward and confident. Considering she’s spent the last couple of days cloud gazing, this is fairly impressive.
She grabs a backpack, vaguely going through boxes and only stopping long enough to grab handfuls of items. She moves on quickly, eyes sometimes flickering to the mouth of the cornucopia. At least she’s not stupid enough to entirely rely on what she saw a couple of minutes ago. She knows that going inside is completely risky.
By judging what you can see with the careers, she has nothing to worry about in the end. The careers are far into the woods, and they’re only getting farther. In fact, the only tributes you think that have to worry about what they’re doing is the Seven tributes. In your opinion, they could be moving a little quicker.
If the careers do run across District Seven, this’ll be the first real conflict since the bloodbath. Of course, Sanguin killing Three boy yesterday was an event, but he didn’t really stand a chance against her in the first place. That was banking on false hope. With the Seven tributes, they might not have weapons, but they’re also two people. Just like Annie and Marsh. They have a chance, you always have a chance with bigger numbers. Where one person fails, another will prevail.
Nine girl grabs a knife on her way out of the cornucopia, officially heading towards the woods. She should’ve just went straight towards the village, that way she wouldn’t have the chance of running across the other nine people that are currently in the forest. This is all dependent on her goals, you suppose, but no one willingly tries to pick a fight unless they’re a career. It’s just the truth.
The last tribute that you haven’t mentioned is Bauhinia, Cecelia’s girl. Bauhinia already has a backpack of her own, courtesy of the raid she had conducted on the cornucopia by herself on the second day of the games. She’s got a bottle full of water, so that means she’s found her own source by now.
Actually, she’s been up against the dam for the past couple of days. Which means that the dam is leaking from some area, otherwise she wouldn’t have the water up that high. Not without a second stream, and from all the time you’ve spent watching the tributes, she hasn’t been to the original water stream.
Well, the dam is certainly more dangerous than you originally anticipated. It’s only the fifth day of the games and it’s already leaking water. You give it a couple more days until the entire thing blows. You keep saying a week and a half, you’re not sure it’ll even last the half part. The gamemakers are impatient this year. Or maybe they have no control of it. Either way, everyone is going to be going home sooner than usual.
With the hopeful exception of District Four, of course.
At any rate, Bauhinia is moving through the trees too. She has a knife in hand, which means that she’s looking for something or someone in particular. You’d say she’s just hunting, but there’s an edge to her steps. You bet that Cecelia is on the edge of her seat right now. Her only tribute is up to no good.
You finish up lunch, go to the bathroom to brush your teeth, and leave the apartment. On your way down to the betting room, you hope that whatever Bauhinia is planning, she’s not going to act on it just yet. She needs to wait a little longer. If something does happen, Cecelia’s going to need a shoulder to lean on.
When you enter, you see that Finnick sits on the couch, elbow on the arm, leaning against his fist. Gloss and Enobaria are with him, with Gloss leaned forward onto his knees and Enobaria with her arms crossed. The only person that seems to be standing in your bizarre group, is Cecelia. Who’s swaying from side to side, hand on her mouth.
Looks like they’re all just as captivated as you were when you were watching. You check up on the Morning Line Odds, which might as well be known as the Afternoon Line Odds, with the times you’ll be showing up from now on. Annie and Marsh still hold their odds at 6-1, they haven’t moved since the first day, that's just fine with you. As long as they don’t drop lower, they’ve still got the interest of the Capitol.
As for the only group that actually poses a meaningful threat, Sanguine has moved up. From a 4-1 to a 3-1, she’s now tied with the boy from Two. You’re not surprised, it was only a matter of time before she went up—before any of them moved, actually. It’s worrying, though. No matter how many times you’ve seen it before.
You stop next to Finnick, staring up at the screen. In the time it took you to brush your teeth and get down here, things have changed. The gamemakers have focused on Bauhinia and the careers, so it explains why everyone—with the exception of Finnick, who sounds like he’s sleeping—is on edge. Doesn’t mean you have any clue what's going on.
You take a moment to analyze what you see. Bauhinia still has her knife in hand, moving through the trees. It looks like she’s trying to be quiet, carefully placing her feet in spots that shouldn’t be possible. All to just narrowly avoid a stick that might give her away. Give her away…
The careers are also going through the woods, but their camera is angled weird. Instead of watching them from the front, so that you can see their faces. Or from the back, allowing you to see where they’re going exactly. It’s at a diagonal, barely catching One girl, who’s leading the pack through the woods. The main is One boy, who’s in the middle, but even he’s a little blurred.
Oh.
Oh!
“Oh!” You let out, causing your friends to jump at the sudden voice. They’ve been quiet for so long, you just snuck up on them, “Is Bauhinia stalking?”
Stalking, a term mentors use when one tribute is following another. Normally because the stalker has ill intentions, or they’re observing for future reference. It’s like when the Seven tributes followed the careers all the way to the stream of water and didn’t attack. Observing.
But Bauhinia isn’t observing. She’s got a knife in her hands, she’s making an extra effort to be closer, to hear their conversations. She’s moving right along with them, waiting for a perfect moment to strike. Bauhinia isn’t stupid enough to attack all three of them, she’s waiting for an opportunity to pick one off.
You wonder what got her to think like this, to suddenly get up and decide that she wanted to risk her life. She isn’t specially trained in any way regarding fighting, Cecelia said it herself. And if you remember correctly, she only scored a six. The Morning Line Odds say that she has a 14-1 chance. She’s going to get herself killed.
���Yeah, she has been for a while now. She only just got closer.” Gloss says, looking over you, and then his eyes land on Finnick, “He’s been out cold since nine.”
Well, you more or less called it, even before you got down here. She looked slightly more relaxed the last time you saw her, but now she has to be more careful with how she’s putting herself in danger like this. One bad move can be the cost of her life, unlike before when she had a little bit of breathing room. She must’ve been loosely following.
As for Finnick, you’re not at all surprised. You gently place your hand on his back, rubbing slightly to wake him up. It takes a moment, reminding you of the last time you woke him up like this. He doesn’t stretch this time around, mostly makes a noise and raises his head.
“What time is it?” He yawns, and sinks into the couch, “Is she here yet?”
“A little after one.” You answer.
Finnick looks up at you, and lets out a sigh of relief. He must be exhausted, probably won’t even last a minute on his bed before he’s knocked out. You give him a smile, pat his shoulder, and take a seat between him and Gloss. There’s not much room, but you can imagine that Finnick won’t be staying here much longer.
“Annie and Marsh are doing fine.” Finnick yawns again, crossing his arms and staring at the tv, “The last time I checked, anyway. Which was…”
Enobaria lets out a laugh. Gloss snorts and finishes his sentence; “Five hours ago.”
Finnick vaguely motions to Gloss. “What’s happening now?”
“Flower girl is looking for trouble.” Enobaria says, “She’s like, ten feet from them at max.”
Finnick squints, humming slightly, “I’d head up but I have a feeling I should stay down here.”
“Probably.” You agree, “You can use my shoulder as a pillow if you want.”
Without missing a beat, he takes you up on your offer. He places his head on your shoulder, and only lifts it once to readjust. You smile a little to yourself, but it quickly fades when the betting room is suddenly filled with unfamiliar voices coming from the speakers.
Two girl--Vanilee--has a kama in her hand, which is surely a unique choice of a weapon. It’s not chosen often, mostly because of its range. Think of a scythe, with the curved blade and all, just with a shorter handle. It’s much better for hand-to-hand combat, you think. It’s not going to be much use for long distances, unless you were to throw it. Then again, you’re no expert. You don’t even remember seeing that in your cornucopia.
The sixty-fifth Hunger Games had all the classic weapons. Spears, tridents, bows, axes, swords, scythes and knives. You chose a knife and a sword, obviously. As most careers do, since they’re the easiest things to figure out. The only problem is trying to find a sword that isn’t too heavy, a knife with a blade that isn’t too short, bullshit like that.
Anyway, Vanilee is stopped, eyes searching the woods around her. Bauhinia is perfectly hidden behind bushes, not only crouched but also blending in. It’s understandable why the careers haven’t seen her by now, even with their experienced eyes. At least they caught on that the air was weird or whatever, but you can’t give them that much credit in the end, especially if Bauhinia has been following them for a while now.
Yeah, for a bunch of people that have been practically trained to think a certain way and catch onto situations, they’re not very in-tune with their sixth senses. Literally, even a hint of a gut feeling and you’re going to be searching around. Hell, you even did that yourself! The pond on the first day is the perfect example of this.
“What is it?” Sanguin asks, impatient.
“I swear that there’s someone following us.” Vanilee says, moving her hair behind her neck.
“Like who?” her district mate, Geare, asks.
Vanilee shrugs, not giving it up. She ventures out a little bit, squinting and searching. She won’t find anything, you’re sure of it. With the way that Bauhinia has placed herself, she’s in the best position she can be in. Except for the part where one career has caught on to her stalking. That’s the only bad news. Where one will go, the others will eventually follow.
“She’s just paranoid.” Sanguin says, stabbing her sword into the ground and leaning on it like a cane, “I think I would know if we were being followed.”
Vanilee’s eyes land on Sanguin, “Okay, genius. Don’t you think that it’s weird we haven’t run into any tributes yet?” she raises her eyebrows, shakes her head like she’s waiting for an answer, neither Geare or Sanguin says anything, “That’s what I thought. Maybe my paranoia will do something for us.”
Sanguin sighs, eyes rolling into the back of her head like a teenage girl. She runs a hand through her hair, and then slaps her thigh when she lets it fall, “Fine, let’s take a break. Whoever it is will have to move at some point. We’ll hear or see them, problem solved.”
Hypothetically, yes. But you watch as Bauhinia slowly sinks herself to the ground, crossing her legs. She’s lucky that her backpack doesn’t make any noise, otherwise she definitely would’ve been found by now. For a while, the careers all sit there, drinking water and eating a small portion of food to keep them going. So far, their hunt for other tributes has been a bust. What a surprise.
However, Vanilee signs her own death certificate when she says that she’s going off to pee. She’s told to stay nearby in the case that someone is around them. Sanguin even offers to go with her, it just leaves Geare by himself, though. It still leaves a problem, two of them can go one way, the other can stay back, or Vanilee can just go by herself. In the end, one person will get picked off.
The moment that Vanilee heads off, Bauhinia slowly and carefully begins to follow her. Cecelia has finally taken a seat on the edge of an armchair, fingers intertwined and pressed against her lips. Enobaria is shaking her head, upset that Vanilee can’t just pee in front of her alliance. It’s a stupid situation. And it’s almost rightful what Vanilee gets for it.
The good news is that Vanilee isn’t stupid enough to get out of earshot. If she were to scream, the others would hear. It would take them a moment to get to her, but at least they’re close enough if the situation were to arise. The bad news is that it doesn’t matter, not with the way that Bauhinia springs on Vanilee.
Really, Bauhinia doesn’t fuck around. She wraps her arm around Vanilee’s neck in an armlock, and then uses her other hand to tighten the hold. She has the same face of determination that everyone else gets when they’re trying to kill and survive in the Hunger Games.
Vanilee digs her nails into Bauhinia’s tan skin, hard enough to draw blood. This is the reason why Bauhinia lets go, clutching the spot. She lands a kick to Vanilee’s back, making her trip and go sprawling in the dirt and grass. Vanilee opens her mouth, drawing in a long breath of air, clearly going to scream.
Bauhinia’s on top of her, disregarding the blood running down her forearm. A squeak leaves Vanilee’s lips, just before Bauhinia’s fingers are tight around her neck, squeezing hard. Vanilee’s eyes widen, face quickly turning a shade of red as she struggles to breathe. First her fingers try to wriggle their way beneath Bauhinia’s hands, but then they settle for scratching down her neck and face, trying to inflict enough pain to get Bauhinia to get off.
It’s hard to watch, you can feel the pressure on your own stomach and hips, hands growing harder and tighter around your neck as you give up. As you slowly stop coming up with solutions to get out of the hold, as you forget the one way the training expert told you to leave a situation like this.
You reach for your throat, rubbing the spot where Lennox was sure he’d be able to cut off your air supply. You swallow thickly, “I don’t know if I can do this.”
You get a confused glance from Gloss, and Finnick hums quietly.
It’s the sensation of being trapped, not being able to escape. This happens all the time, especially with people hovering over you, even if it’s a joke. If you can’t have an easy escape, then it’s a cause for trouble. Even watching people not be able to leave, especially in a situation like this--
You take a deep breath through your nose, and hold.
Vanilee is turning blue, still fighting to escape. Bauhinia’s got red scratch marks all over her, some even bleeding slightly, blood running down her skin. She’s patient, and doesn’t at all seem to be concerned about the other careers. Not even worried that they might come looking for her if she doesn’t make it back soon.
You let out your air slowly, feeling nauseous.
“Are you alright?” Finnick asks.
“Still not over it.” is all you say, Finnick lifts his head up. You glance over to see that his eyes are open now, staring at the screen.
“Yeah, I can see why. Look away, I’ll tell you when it’s done.”
“Thanks.” you breathe, placing your head on the couch, staring at the sky. Well, the sky through the glass ceiling. There’s no way that the architects would ever let a place like this fall victim to something so heinous like rain.
“You went through something like this?” Gloss asks.
“Something similar.” Finnick says, he lets out a sigh, “And then got stabbed right after. To be fair, she was beat to hell in that fight. It was hardly fair.”
“But she got revenge, if I remember right.” Enobaria says, “(Y/n) single handedly killed three out of four of the career tributes.”
“Actually, I wouldn’t even count one of them, that was mostly mutts.” you say.
“It counts. I remember it counting.” Enobaria says.
It’s quiet for a moment, “Okay, it should be done.”
Right on time for you to look at the screen, a cannon blasts. Bauhinia releases Vanilee, stretching her fingers outwards, staring at her hands for a moment, like she can’t believe she’s done it. The moment that Vanilee’s name is yelled, Bauhinia is up and off of her, sprinting up towards the dam. It’s not very smart of her, she should be going downhill, or at least running the way she came for a while to put distance between her and the others, and then move downward diagonally.
Finnick goes back to putting his head on your shoulder. Enobaria has her jaw set, shaking her head. You can’t blame her, Vanilee was a trained volunteer. She got a nine on her training score, while Bauhinia landed herself a six, if you remember correctly. Even Vanilee had the feeling that there was something wrong, and she still went out by herself.
Two careers left in the game, though. It’s satisfying to see a second name greyed out on the Morning Line Odds. One less career for Annie and Marsh to worry about. If they were to go out and try and attack them now, you’re sure that it would be more than a fair fight. The only threat left is One girl. Sanguin.
Speaking of which, she’s running up towards where Vanilee lies in the dirt, red-purple hand marks bright around her neck. Geare is right behind her, weapon already displayed. At the pace that Bauhinia is going at the moment, you don’t think that he’ll have the chance to use it. But then again, the careers always bounce back in some unpredictable way.
Sanguin is quick, leaving Geare completely behind her, “Vanilee?” she yells.
She’s more or less making the same mistake that got Vanilee killed by leaving Geare behind her. Although, you all know that she can take care of herself in a fight. In fact, unlike Vanilee, Sanguin probably would’ve found a way to get out from underneath Bauhinia. Whether it be from the same way you did it, through momentum. Or some other unique tactic.
You’re not saying that Vanilee didn’t try, she definitely did. The marks up and down Bauhinia’s face and arms says so. The problem was that it wasn’t enough. But to be fair, there’s not much you can do in a situation like that in the first place. She was underprepared, caught off-guard without the opportunity to catch her breath and evaluate the situation before Bauhinia was back on her.
However, Bauhinia’s quick movement saved her. Just before Vanilee went to scream, Bauhinia cut off her vocals to make it impossible. And it’s not like she could’ve done much to stop the scratching, she needed both hands and all of her weight to put pressure on Vanilee’s neck.
Anyway, you think you’ll stop now. You’re beginning to struggle again.
All that matters is that it’s one less career in the arena, one more rung up the ladder. Gloss and Enobaria both have one tribute left before they’re sent home, which is actually pretty good news. It’s only been five years, but that’s ten tributes dead from District Four. Annie and Marsh can turn the tide, create a new era for Four in this decade.
Gloss is sat back now too, his hands resting on his thighs. Cecelia is digging her thumb nail into her other palm, clearly worried over Bauhinia. The clock is ticking down for Bauhinia, she got a headstart away from the remaining two careers, but now she’s started a real hunt for herself. The careers will either give up, or work themselves to the bone for revenge. And they never let anyone off easy.
Sanguin slows down when she sees a body, she doesn’t stop until she’s standing over Vanilee. Her sword was originally raised, now it’s tip-down into the grass. She sighs heavily, “Motherfucker.”
Geare appears behind her a couple of seconds later, paling immensely when he sees what used to be his district mate. He freezes in place, Sanguin shakes her head, points the tip of the sword at Vanilee’s throat, “She was strangled.” and then looks up to the woods around her, “Whoever did it has to be nearby.”
“Not if they ran.” Geare manages.
“Then we fucking chase them.”
Gloss breaks the silence between you guys, “Sanguin is an excellent tracker. All she has to do is find Bauhinia’s trail.”
Spells for even more trouble, more than just for Bauhinia. Annie and Marsh have been walking the same path everyday for five days. By now, they’ve stomped their schedule into the grass and dirt. If the careers were to just barely run across their shack, all they’d have to do is follow your tributes’ path to their snares. After that, their field of snares is gone for.
You let out a breath, running a hand through your hair before sinking a bit.
“The careers won’t wander upstream.” Finnick murmurs.
“They will if Bauhinia leads them up.” you whisper back, “You think that they’ll head back down?”
“If they’re smart they’ll leave the woods after they find her.”
“Fat chance, the careers are hound dogs. They caught the scent of one tribute, they’re going to be bloodthirsty for more.” you close your eyes, “I think it’s time for another sponsor gift.”
“The gamemakers will get suspicious. You’ve said so yourself a long ass time ago.”
He’s right. Annie and Marsh aren’t hurt or starving, sending another gift out of the blue would turn heads. Either you start hoping that one of them gets injured badly enough to need something other than healing cream, or you just have to let fate have her way with the arena. Which is hard to do, considering all the other times she’s screwed you over.
“This is their games.” Finnick reminds you, “Not ours. We’re in no control here.”
“I just want to help.” you say.
“I know. We just have to wait.”
Even though Gloss didn’t directly predict it, Sanguin goes around looking for a path to follow and finds the way that Bauhinia had run, “Grab her kama, let’s go.” she says, and then starts walking down the path.
Geare lets out a shaky breath at first, uttering out an apology. He takes the weapon and heads off after his only ally. It’s only slightly funny how Vanilee was the one acting a buffer between them, and now they’re having to work together. They start off walking, but end up jogging the longer they go on.
“I will not lose them.” Sanguin snarls.
Bauhinia isn’t running anymore, there’s sweat running down her face, she wipes her forehead to get the sweat from going into her eyes, and ends up smearing blood. She’s near the top of the hill, you can see the dam through the trees. She’s going to corner herself, there’s no doubt about it.
If she’s not careful, you think she could actually end up running the careers straight into the Seven tributes. It’s unlikely, you think. But if she runs along the dam, maybe a little downwards, it’ll bring her to their huts. They’re not at them right now, you don’t think. They do have to come back eventually, though.
Bauhinia huffs, sucks in air through her nose heavily. She winces when she stretches the skin in her neck and face, gently pressing her hand to the marks as if it’ll magically relieve the pain. She closes her eyes, takes another deep breath, and then takes off running again, not heading uphill, off to the right side.
Oh, that’s not good.
“She’s going to lead them to Annie and Marsh.”
“You don’t know that.” Finnick says, but he’s lifted his head.
“She leads them to the stream, all they’d have to do is head half a mile down and they’re at the shack. They take up home there, and District Four is fucked.”
“She’s bringing them into uncharted territory. The careers are going to be more apprehensive--”
And all at once, you, Gloss and Enobaria answer the same way; “No, they’re not.”
On any other day, the unison would be funny. But Enobaria just lost a tribute, Gloss is worried about Sanguin heading in recklessly without thinking first, and Cecelia might lose her second tribute. The stakes have definitely risen today.
The chase continues for hours. You watch as people come and go out of the betting room, all wary about leaving when something so important is happening. None of you move from the couch area, except to stretch your legs if they fall asleep. Finnick dozes on and off, waking on his own every now and then.
Bauhinia is running them in circles at this point, zig-zagging. She ran towards the stream for a little while before heading straight down the hill, then decided that was an easy way to catch her, so she took a sharp right to head back to where she killed Vanilee. The body has been collected already, it was collected as soon as they had all cleared out of the space.
Annie and Marsh have just now started their way back, thankfully. It’ll be sundown in two to three hours, which will then give Bauhinia better cover. Gloss said that it’s going to be shitty to try and track in the dark. It’ll definitely slow Sanguin and Geare down, and by then Bauhinia will be long gone.
“It won’t last that long, though.” Gloss said, “Bauhinia’s getting tired. Sanguin and Geare have been forced to work hard like this for hours. It’s only a matter of time.”
He was only saying what all of you were thinking.
Finnick goes from his head resting on the back of the couch, to placing it on your shoulder. You reach up and behind to rub his hair slightly, “You’re going to have a kink in your neck if you keep this up.”
“I’m literally exhausted.”
“Then go up to your room, you’re going to be miserable tonight.” you say, he hums.
“You think Annie and Marsh will be fine?”
“I can take care of them, if not.”
He sighs, “Okay.” Finnick gets up from the couch, yawning loudly and stretching his arms above his head. He gives one last look to the screen before looking at the others, “Good luck.”
“See you later, Finnick.” Gloss nods. Enobaria waves, Cecelia thanks him for his company.
Just before he goes, he leans on the arm of the couch, staring down at you, “I might sleep through dinner.”
“I’ll go and get you, don’t worry about it.” you smile, “Go sleep.”
“Thanks.”
He leaves, and as soon as he’s through the door, Enobaria snorts slightly. You and Gloss look at her, “There’s totally a thing between you two.”
“Okay, fuck off.” you wave your hand, “You have other things to be worrying about.”
“Yeah, and what’s that?” Enobaria’s amused.
You raise your eyebrows tauntingly, “My tributes are going to kick Geare’s ass.”
“Ha!” Enobaria laughs, “He scored a ten!”
“And Sanguin scored a nine, yet your little boy in there’s a sheep.”
“Oh, that’s got to burn.” Gloss smiles, Enobaria socks his upper arm, barely earning a look of pain out of him.
Half an hour later, Bauhinia’s running on fumes. She’s inhaled all of her water by now and sweated it out. Every step she takes, she grimaces as if she’s got scabs on the back of her feet. It’s probably her calves burning from all the exertion. She’s completely out of breath, her face an underlying red color.
Bauhinia slowly comes to a stop, walking a little off to the side by a giant tree. She leans against it for a moment, you can imagine how awful she’s feeling at the moment. She lets go of the tree for only a moment, sways, and collapses in the grass, struggling to breathe. In a little less than two minutes, she’s hyperventilating, and it’s not exactly quiet.
Game over.
Sanguin and Geare are close behind her, both experiencing their own unique versions of exhaustion. Geare complains at least once every twenty minutes, while Sanguin just continuously hydrates, pauses, and keeps going. She might have scored a nine, but she’s got the determination of an eleven. Sanguin’s a fucking trooper.
There’s no way that Bauhinia is getting up from her spot in the grass. She has half the mind to clutch onto her knife though, knuckles a pale color from her hard she’s gripping it. It’s only ten minutes later when Sanguin and Geare are almost on top of her. Bauhinia falls silent, eyes slowly moving to where she had stopped running.
“Fucking hell.” Geare says, his voice is quiet, getting louder as they come to the spot, “Can’t fucking believe this.”
“It’s impressive.” Sanguin admits, “But they’re stupid. They could’ve at least tried to hide themselves. It’s like they didn’t even care.”
Bauhinia moves the knife around in her hand, Sanguin uses the sword to poke around at their surroundings, “I’m not seeing a path.”
“Which means?” Geare asks.
“Either they scrambled up a tree, or they’re right here.” Sanguin turns, looking at her ally, “Don’t kill them.”
“Yeah, I don’t plan on it. Not after all of this.” Geare says, they split, going two ways.
Bauhinia slips out of her backpack straps, which is smart. There’s a sick feeling in your stomach starting to arise, though. You know exactly what she’s planning, and she’s not going to get very far. She’s not the only one that can ditch a backpack and go running.
Bauhinia tucks her knife in the leather belt, turns over onto her knees, watching through the bushes for the perfect moment to run. Geare has backtracked slightly, wanting to be thorough, just in case Bauhinia didn’t drop off there, and created a second, more invisible path. Sanguin turns her back.
You’ll give Bauhinia some credit, because not only is she arrogantly stupid, she’s also resiliant. One second, she’s standing over her black backpack, the next she’s twenty feet away from the careers already. All she had to do was quietly sneak away, but with the way she’s whipped through the bush leaves, she’s caught their attention.
“It’s a girl!” Sanguin shouts, shedding her backpack, “Give me the kama!”
Geare’s ripped it off of the backpack, completely destroying the strap that was holding it in place. Sanguin must run track in high school, because she moves through the trees like she’s running on solid ground. She doesn’t look where she’s stepping, just keeps her eyes on Bauhinia, tracking her every movement. Bauhinia moves upwards, Sanguin pushes for a diagonal path. There’s no getting out of this one.
At least Bauhinia’s running on adrenaline, otherwise you’re sure she would be some form of a corpse by now. You can’t imagine that all of this running is good on her heart. Especially when she’s probably not used to running for long periods of time.
Sanguin gets right up on her, but she knows that she won’t catch her exactly. It was smart of her to ditch her sword, since that’s heavier that shit. But it raises the question of the kama, because there’s no way she’ll know how to wield it… right?
Wrong.
Sanguin comes to a full halt, nearly throwing herself forward from how hard she stops. She draws her arm back quick enough to be a blur, and then whips it forward, the kama disappearing from her fingers. Sanguin is strong, because that fucking weapon flies through the air at twenty-five miles an hour at least. The curved blade goes right through Bauhinia’s back, sending her sprawling into the trees.
Sanguin is breathing heavily, continuing up the hill to her prey. It’s the same predatory look in her eyes that you saw in Lennox’s. The desire for sweet revenge, or the sadistic mindset of murder for enjoyment. No one who volunteers for the Hunger Games is in their right minds. You’re surprised that the districts don’t require them to go to therapy after shit like this.
Bauhinia is sobbing into the dirt, hands balled into fists. Blood has seeped through her shirt where the kama has stabbed her. Only a couple seconds later, Geare is coming up behind them both. Sanguin isn’t concerned, doesn’t even look to check. Instead, she leans down and grabs the handle of the kama, and without a single hint of remorse, yanks the weapon out of her back.
You cringe, a gag rising in your throat at how much blood comes gushing out. Bauhinia’s scream of agony is nightmare-inducing, making goosebumps raise on your arms and a chill go down your back. Forget watching her strangle Vanilee to death. This is worse. Much, much worse.
Sanguin’s covered in rich colored blood, little specks across her face like freckles. The kama is quite literally dripping in Bauhinia’s blood, landing in droplets in the dirt, grass and weeds. Bauhinia’s scream-sobbing, her back is a giant open wound, you think you can even see her spine. How the fuck is she still alive?
“Oh my god.” you breathe, pressing the back of your hand to your forehead. You feel hot, and your mouth is watering more than usual.
The Capitol finds entertainment in moments like these, and even worse, tributes like Sanguin long for murders that keep everyone on their toes. Cecelia lets out a shaky breath, sniffs, and then stands, “I can’t do it.”
“Cecelia, I’m sorry.” Gloss says.
“I’ll see you next year.” is all she says, and then she’s gone too.
A giant puddle is forming beneath Bauhinia, the stench of metal and dirt has to be strong enough to bring tears to your eyes. You remember when you cracked a head open, and immediately puked after. It’s the same thing, only yours being slightly worse.
“You’ve trained a fucking psychopath.” you get up from the couch to have something to do to take your mind off of the rising vomit in your throat.
“Yeah…” Gloss’ voice is distant.
It’s hard to watch the rest of what happens to Bauhinia. Like promised, Sanguin doesn’t let her get off easy. Bauhinia should be dead already, and yet the hits just keep coming. Sanguin’s so ruthless that Geare doesn’t even feel the need to step in, leaning against the tree with a dead-straight face, arms crossed.
Sometimes Bauhinia is able to grasp a few words, always a plea for Sanguin to stop. Otherwise, she’s gurgling blood when Sanguin hits harder. Just this morning, Sanguin’s odds had already boosted from a 4-1 to 3-1, but now they’re 1-1, Geare is 2-1. And your tributes are fucked if they ever run across these two.
By the time Bauhinia does finally die, it’s almost an hour later, Sanguin and Geare weren’t even done with what they wanted to do. They pick up their shit, and on the way out, Geare lands a particularly hard kick to the side of Bauhinia’s head. They don’t look back when they walk away.
The show is over. They grab Bauhinia’s backpack at where she’d collapsed and set up camp right there. Sanguin grumbles about how Bauhinia probably stole the backpack from the cornucopia a while ago. They raid it, toss the remaining stuff into the bushes, and start a fire. They have enough water to drink and take their time to catch their breath. But they’re not planning on doing anything else today. They’re at least a mile away from the stream, as far as you can tell.
Annie and Marsh are almost back at the shack. They’ve already eaten their dinner on the way, from what you remember. And if they’re hungry later tonight, they agreed to just eat it cold. They don’t want to take any chances when it comes to being caught at their homebase. You appreciate the both of them.
Five boy, who was on the left side of the arena, has now migrated almost all the way to the right side of the arena. The gamemakers were all so caught up in showing the chase for hours that they weren’t able to show what the others were up to. The boy moving from one end to another is actually pretty impressive, but you’re starting to worry. The right side is becoming crowded.
Your two tributes, the two careers, and now Five boy. District Seven is three miles away at most, the only person who’s on the other side is Nine girl. There’s eight people left in the arena, and more than half are too close to your tributes for comfort.
The evening goes too quickly for your liking, you just spent hours feeling nauseous for Cecelia, and now that it’s over it’s almost forgotten completely. Annie takes watch in the shack tonight, Marsh falls asleep next to the wall, one arm bent above his head, the other resting on his stomach.
Five boy travels for a little while longer before making his home. He picks leaves off of bushes and chews them while making a bed of grass comfortable enough to sleep on. Nine girl looks like she’s found herself a hiding spot under a rock that’s behind a fallen log. The log is a home to bugs, so you’re not entirely sure if it’s a good spot to stay for the night or not. And District Seven is comfortable in their huts near the middle-top of the arena.
With the sun setting already, and the betting room mostly cleared out, you feel comfortable enough to get up and try to eat dinner. You’re not exactly hungry, especially not after all that you’ve just watched, but you know that you don’t want to be ordering food in your room in the middle of the night. Or gorging yourself in the morning.
“I probably won’t come back down here. I don’t think another fight’s going to break out tonight.” you briefly twirl a strand of hair around your finger before letting it go.
Gloss gives you a hug, bidding you a good night. Enobaria says the same, you wish her good luck when it comes to breaking the news to Wade. She rolls her eyes, “He’s going to be dramatic about it, but I’m pretty sure he’s not going to be awful. The real fun here is going to be telling Cashmere what Sanguin did.”
You both look to Gloss, “Yeah, she’s not going to be thrilled. You think the gamemakers will kill her?”
“If she starts licking blood off of her fingers, definitely.” you say, which earns a laugh out of your friends.
The second you step out of the betting room, you start feeling better. It’s fresh air from what you’ve been breathing for the past hour. While the hallway smells like stale concrete, it’s also more moist than it is inside, but not moldy. The inside of the betting room is dry, mostly because of the fact that it’s underneath the glass ceiling. If you were to describe it; dirt, sunlight, and dust. And if it’s particularly hot: sweat.
You don’t head straight up, opting for a few minutes to yourself before you ultimately have to explain what happened in the arena to Finnick. You’re sure that you won’t have to get into the gorey details, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t know the severity of it. Every couple of years, tributes like Sanguin come around, and it’s always a bloody ending. They always get stuck with some title like ‘Ruthless’ and take pride when other mentors steer clear.
Sometimes, you hear people debating whether or not you fall under that topic. And honestly, sometimes it’s hard for you to know, yourself.
You take the elevator up to the Four floor, holding onto the railing. You’ve seen more than your fair share of gorey moments inside and outside of the arena by now. At this point, you’re sure that you’re being tested to see how far you can be pushed before you snap. The truth is that you have an immeasurable amount of patience. It’s going to take a while.
The moment you get upstairs, you go ahead and turn the tv on and wait. Finnick had only come up here a little while ago, it wouldn‘t hurt to give him some more time before he’s subjected to a boring night. He can always just sleep down there, of course. But it’s more comfortable to sleep in your own bed, even if it’s just for a little while.
You take a seat on the couch, untie your shoes, and watch Annie. She’s talking to Marsh at the moment, mostly speculation on who died. Two tributes is a lot, considering all that’s happened. It isn’t until the anthem comes on, do they realize that they can just look into the sky and see who it was for themselves.
They both slip out just in time to see that Vanilee is one of the dead tributes from today. Annie grins slightly, elbowing Marsh. He elbows her right back, looking just as happy. And with Bauhinia showing up next, they head inside right after.
“Two careers.” Marsh whispers, “We ought to take them on ourselves.”
“Us and what army?” Annie asks.
They’re both quiet for a couple of minutes, until Marsh speaks again, “I think we could do it.”
“It’s a risk.”
“The entire Hunger Games is a risk. We knew that and volunteered anyway. What’s the harm in a little more?”
Annie doesn’t answer him, he drifts off to sleep. The truth is that if you’re not ready to go at it with a whole heart, you shouldn’t go into it at all. Annie is conflicted, you hope she doesn’t buckle just because Marsh is applying pressure. All it takes is one moment of hesitance with the careers now, and your tributes are screwed.
Still, you sit and watch for an hour or so longer, as the tributes settle into their spots. The moment that Sanguin says that she doesn’t want to take watch tonight, you’re at ease. You pick up your shoes by the back, and head up towards your room, right after telling the avoxes that you’ll be out to eat in a moment.
You drop your shoes off in your room. On your way over to wake up Finnick, you can hear the door close. It’s Elysia, dressed in sunshine yellow and pink. She gives you a slight wave before sitting down at the table. You continue on your adventure to Finnick’s room, gently knocking on the door before you open it.
Finnick is passed out on the bed, anyway. You stand there for a moment, hesitating on whether or not you should actually wake him up. You think that you’re just fine to keep going in the betting room for a while longer. If you take it easy after dinner, you should have loads of more hours in you. And you’ll actually get to see Cashmere and Wade for the first time in a couple of days.
However, it doesn’t work out like that. You go to turn and leave, but Finnick inhales sharply and sits upright on his bed, “Fucking Christ, you scared me.” He lets out a small laugh, and rubs his face, “That’s one way to wake me up.”
“Through your sixth sense?” You joke, Finnick snorts.
“Something like that.” He looks at you, “Anything wrong?”
“Just dinner time. And I should probably catch you up on what happened after you left. Get dressed, Elysia’s out here.” You flick on his lightswitch, since the room has grown dark without any natural light, and then you leave.
Elysia is at the table, food displayed all across it. She helps herself, giving herself small portions. Knowing her, she’s planning on trying everything at least once to try and not seem rude. You take your regular spot, and start out pretty light, not wanting to push yourself. You don’t know how much you’re going to be able to tolerate.
Finnick comes out a couple of moments later, wearing jeans and a black shirt. He sits beside you, but stares at the tv for a while, probably trying to figure out what happened exactly.
“Today was… eventful.” Elysia says, there’s a hint of distaste in her voice. You’re so glad that you got stuck with an escort that’s some form of sane. If you had one of those Capitol people that act like your former prep team when something bad happens, you would’ve murdered her by now. It makes for hard conversation when you’re at opposing sides.
“Finnick missed it.” You tell her, “Do you think there’ll be a recap of it?”
“Do you want to watch the recap?” She asks, face twisting, “Does he?”
You both barely glance at Finnick, who’s not very entertained by all the vagueness. It doesn’t even cross your mind that Elysia might be right and he wouldn’t want to watch someone literally get their back ripped out. You’ve seen the shit that Finnick has done, or watched when he was bored.
“Finnick’s got an iron stomach. Your back is to the tele anyway, you should be fine as long as you don’t turn around.” And you should be fine if you don’t watch the particularly bad parts. In the end, Elysia helps you rewind to when Bauhinia collapses in the bushes.
“This happened thirty minutes after you left.” You say, deciding that you should eat while you can.
Finnick doesn’t seem bothered at first, watching as the careers come around and start looking for her. It’s only their natural instinct, and it’s the same thing for when Bauhinia pushes herself to her feet. Finnick does react when he realizes that she’s going to run.
“Wow.” He says, pulling apart a honey roll, eating it in bits.
“It gets worse.” You say.
Elysia barely glances over her shoulder, apprehensive, “Much, much worse.”
Bauhinia runs, Finnick exhales. Sanguin shouts, collects the kama, and leaves Geare in the dust. He’s moving behind her, but not as quickly.
“She’s fast.” Finnick sounds impressed, “And so is Bauhinia.”
“Not fast enough.” You find your fingers twisting the ring, anxious.
Sanguin catches up, and the moment she comes to that quick stop, you hold your breath. The kama flies through the air, lodging into Bauhinia. Finnick tilts his head. The room falls silent, Elysia finishes her meal just in time for Sanguin to reach Bauhinia.
You turn your head away, but you’re still stuck with the sound of squelching and blood-curdling screaming. Finnick’s face twists, eyebrows pushing in, “How did Cecelia take it?”
“Left before this happened. Gloss tried to apologize, but she said she’d see us next year.”
“Probably not.” Finnick shakes his head, “And this went on for how long?l
Elysia turns the tv off, “Practically an hour.”
You two go back to eating, Elysia’s space is cleared. “Anything else happen?”
“Nine girl got a backpack this afternoon, just before I went down to see you. Her pick of the litter since the careers were absent from the cornucopia. Five boy is almost on the right side.”
Finnick chokes, “Already? When did he start heading that way?”
“Sometime during the great chase, the gamemakers showed all the tributes after the fact. Also, Marsh has proposed the idea of him and Annie going after the careers since they’re down a tribute. Annie doesn’t think it’s a great idea.”
“That’s because Annie has some common sense.”
“Yeah.” You agree.
Elysia stays out with you guys just long enough to pass on a few messages from Laurel and Pleurisy. It’s not anything important, just meaningless facts about their progress, they want to know your opinions on if your tributes still have a chance. Your answer is yes.
She goes to her room, Finnick finishes eating. You tell him that he can probably sleep for a while longer without having to go downstairs. You got confirmation from the careers that they weren’t going to try and go night hunting after what they’ve been through today.
“What're you going to do in your free time?” Finnick asks, you shrug and jab your thumb down the hall.
“Go outside and try not to puke.”
“Did it know you were so squeamish.” There’s a cheeky smile on his face.
You give him a look, and then disappear down the dark hallway. Your fingers find the doorknob, twisting it. The summer air is surprisingly cold, but surely refreshing. You take in a deep breath, and feel like an idiot almost immediately after. It’s air.
Finnick comes out right behind you, shutting the door. The city is calm, no one is in the streets celebrating an exciting day. You lean against the railing and take in deep breaths of air. It wasn’t a good idea to rewatch the recap, you’ve decided this now. Even if you weren't watching it directly, you still heard it all.
“Annie and Marsh are going to be okay.” Finnick says.”
“I think so too, as long as they don’t go running towards the careers. That’s a fight I don’t want to watch them lose. If you thought Sanguin on Bauhinia was bad, imagine what she’ll do to Annie.” You look at Finnick.
He hadn’t considered that, you can tell by the look on his face. He sighs, which turns into a yawn, “Well, Annie Can take care of herself.”
“Hopefully.”
“There’s no hoping, she can take care of herself.” Finnick pauses for a moment, “Imagine having Annie or Marsh in Victor’s Village. One of them could be our new neighbor.”
You snort, smiling, “Talk about a nightmare. My house already hosts practically everyone during the dinners, adding Annie’s family on top of that means we’ll have to get a bigger table. Or worse, build one ourselves.”
“Reed is handy!” Finnick laughs.
“He’s not handy, and neither is Mox.” You shake your head, the ide app either of them attempting to build a table is stupid. You’ll just have to find some sort of carpenter and hope that the dining room is big enough.
“How many people do you normally have over?” Finnick asks.
“Think you have a table?” You joke.
“Maybe.” He grins, “I’m just curious, honestly. Last time I went to one of your dinners, I was sixteen.”
“Yeah, well, it’s my entire family, which is four. And Caspian’s family, which is seven.” Finnick laughs, you chuckle slightly, “Sometimes Mayor Burrula and his family, which is four. Definitely Anchor…” you trail off, counting, “Sixteen people, give or take.”
“You’ll invite Anchor but not Mags?”
“Oh! I forgot Mags. She comes to our dinners every night, though. Guess I should count her as family at this point.”
“Anchor isn’t?”
You look at Finnick again to see that his eyebrows are raised, “Still curiosity?”
He shrugs, “Are you still dating?”
“No, not anymore.” you follow a car until it turns a corner, “We were only together for a couple of months… last christmas through August.”
��Huh, felt like longer.”
You give him a look, “How’d you even know?”
“I pay attention. Why’d you break up?”
You hum, “Well, for starters, he’s like five or six years older than me. He’s worked through all of his problems, and I’m not even done yet.” you pick at your nails, “He didn’t like seeing me stressed out all the time, either. He was there for me when I needed him but he thought that I was dragging him around like a weight.” you look back at Finnick, “Partially your fault, mostly mine because I don’t know how to chill out apparently.”
“Don’t need to tell me twice.” Finnick says.
You make a face, and then punch his arm as hard as you can. Finnick’s still rubbing the spot when you go back to where you were standing before, “Anyway, asshole. Him and I still hang out when we can. I take care of Mags, he takes care of Luther.” you snort, “You and Scotch have something in common, can you guess what it is?”
“Fuck you.” Finnick’s laughing, “I’ve done my part this year!”
“After I nearly killed you three times.” you run a hand through your hair, getting it out of your face, “But yeah, Anchor and I aren’t together anymore.”
“Seeing someone else?”
You look at him, “Are you?”
Finnick shakes his head, “No, not yet.”
--
REDAMANCY IS PART 2 OF A TRILOGY //MASTERLIST//
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