#like his song about abuse is called Poison and he's trapped in an abusive performance contract - bringing to mind Britney Spears | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

violetwolfraven · 3 years

Text

Ray Molina: Best Dad Ever

For the March 11th explosion of content thing. Just Violet being a fantom and doing my part for this!

Tw: mentioned death, mentioned abusive parents, mentioned panic attack.

So the boys can be seen and heard when directly touching Julie after the whole post-Orpheum glowy hug thing but Ray doesn’t know that just yet.

What he does know is that Julie’s mental health took a rapid turn for the better for seemingly no reason and then a couple weeks later he found out she joined a band without telling him.

He’s not stupid. He knows that’s probably because of the band, though he is a bit confused as to how she even met them.

He kinda figures it’s a kids and your internet tricks thing but there’s some flaws to this theory.

1) He asks Flynn what she knows about the boys only... it seems like she doesn’t know much of anything. That’s weird because he knows Julie tells her practically everything.

2) The boys have American accents despite Julie claiming they’re from Sweden.

3) Carlos is a terrible liar and on the rare occasion Julie actually talks about the boys he gets this weirdly conspiratorial look.

So anyway Ray doesn’t really believe it’s as simple as ‘I met these 3 Swedish boys on the internet’ but he trusts his daughter’s judgement and he leaves it alone.

Anyway he has other things to focus on.

Such as how Ray has literally never been able to keep track of his keys/phone/hats/camera parts/stuff and now it seems to just pop up whenever he’s looking for it.

Also he keeps feeling like there’s someone with him around the house more and more.

Like not a malicious presence like Victoria fears, and definitely not like Rose is around watching him, but like someone is there.

Sometimes it feels like there’s more than one presence around. None of them familiar but all of them friendly.

Oddly enough, whatever or whoever it is feels almost like Julie or Carlos. Young and excitable and like a verse of a happy song. He’s not sure why they’re around, but they definitely don’t feel dangerous, so Ray doesn’t feel threatened.

But some days a better comparison might be to Trevor back when Rose first introduced him. Raw and fragile and very, very sad.

Ray tries to put on happy music or a Disney cartoon or something on those days and he doesn’t quite know why or how but the energy usually gets more positive when he does that.

Anyway after a while of this (after the Orpheum performance) he starts noticing weird things that Carlos and Julie do now.

Carlos will just carry around a small whiteboard and a couple pens and he erases it whenever Ray comes into the room but before he does it almost looks like there’s two, three, or even four sets of handwriting on there.

And he walks in on Julie talking to herself like. All the time.

Carlos doesn’t ask for help on his math homework anymore. Julie makes this insanely good chicken recipe for dinner once and then clearly panics and lies when asked where she got it. Flynn makes a set of rainbow friendship bracelets one day while she’s hanging out at the Molina house but he doesn’t see Julie wearing the match to the one she keeps.

Plus Carrie starts hanging out at their house again?? Out of the blue?? And none of the girls have a good explanation for how they made up??

Then later Nick Danforth-Evans (who Julie used to talk about having a crush on but hasn’t in a while) starts hanging around too and the kid seems... well, Ray doesn’t want to throw the word ‘traumatized’ around, but he’s jumpy and guarded in a way that can only be described as a little bit traumatized.

So all 5 kids are clearly keeping some secret and Ray’s getting suspicious and worried.

He sits them down and asks what’s going on. Like is one of them having problems at home, or..?

The kids, simultaneously:

Julie: no, we’re just all in a play together!

Carlos: we’re fine we’re just ghost hunting!

Flynn: we’re exhibiting bisexual-pansexual-lesbian solidarity!

Carrie: Julie and the Phantoms and Dirty Candi are doing a collaboration album!

Nick: we all joined jazz band??

Ray’s calling bullshit at this point.

Then Julie and Nick both look up directly at the same spot, somewhere a couple feet above the arm of the couch, which is seemingly just empty air.

Whatever it is, it doesn’t seem like the other kids can see it but they all seem to be waiting for something and Ray is wondering if they’re sharing a hallucination??? Are they all on drugs??? Should he be worried???

Then Julie says to meet them in the studio in 30 minutes. Flynn, Carrie, and Nick go home to give the Molina family some alone time.

*cue music performance where Ray is introduced to the boys*

So anyway Julie and Carlos (with the help of the ghosts whenever one of them has something to say and grabs Julie’s hand) give him a clearly-sugarcoated version of the last few months.

Ghosts of Trevor’s dead bandmates help Julie reconnect with music, they form a band, they meet another ghost, other ghost accidentally gets them involved with evil magician ghost, Nick got possessed, Carrie figured it out and helped plot to get him un-possessed, evil magician ghost is still out there and they’re sticking together so he can’t get any of them in the future.

Despite how they say it like it’s no big deal, Ray now understands why the kids have been acting so weird because all these things sound scary and painful.

Also the more he thinks about it, the more he worries about the fact that he has three 17-year-old boys sleeping in his garage who died terribly of food poisoning.

They are children and they died incredibly painfully and then almost got enslaved and/or erased from existence.

Then one day Ray’s feeling one of those presences around the house again and he realizes it’s probably one of Julie’s ghost boys.

Ray: who’s there?

Whoever it is freaks out and leaves, and Ray takes notes for next time.

The next time he feels someone in the room, he has a notepad ready and he writes down “Luke, Alex, or Reggie?” from what he remembers from Julie’s introductions.

Immediately, there’s a spike of anxiety in the room.

Ray: it’s okay. You can stay and we don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. I’d like to know who it is I’m not talking to though.

There’s a few seconds of hesitation, and then the pen picks itself up and the name “Reggie” gets circled.

Ray: the bassist with the flannels, right?

Yeah, written in a teenage boy’s messy scrawl.

Ray: okay, do you want to watch a movie?

More hesitation, and Ray’s not sure what that’s about but he’s starting to suspect with the amount of fear still in the room, and there’s a good 20 seconds where Reggie doesn’t respond before I don’t know.

Ray: Moana or Tangled? Moana.

After that, he takes a page out of Carlos’s book and gets a small whiteboard with 3 pens that stick to it magnetically. Red for Reggie, blue for Luke, and pink for Alex.

Reggie has written conversations with him most, but Luke does sometimes too and Alex does least often but he’ll still request a movie occasionally.

All of them are wary around him and Ray doesn’t quite know what to do to earn their trust. But he asks questions about their preferences on things. He says they did good on their latest show. He remembers which movies are their favorites and introduces them to music he thinks are their styles.

Luke is a big fan of Fall Out Boy and Reggie fucking loves Taylor Swift.

Alex is less consistent but occasionally Ray will play a song and he’ll write something like This is a cool song.

He starts to be able to tell which energy is which even before they write who it is right around the time the boys start to be visible for longer and longer after playing.

They play a really good show and stay visible for like 2 full days and that’s the first (but not the last) time Ray really gets to get to know them.

He starts noticing after really good shows like that one how even more now that they can be seen, they’re all a little... off from how Nick and Carrie and Flynn act around him.

With Luke it’s mostly because he’s trying so hard to impress because *gasp* he and Julie are a thing but there’s still a little bit of tension that seems like it comes from something deeper than just being nervous around his girlfriend’s dad.

With Reggie it’s subtle caution. Like he’s happy to be hanging out with Ray but he’s constantly ready for something to go wrong. There’s a catch in his smile, a hesitation before he states an opinion, a practiced carefulness where he changes the subject at any sign of even mild frustration.

But with Alex... it’s mostly just avoidance. Like if he poofs in while visible and it just so happens that no one else is there, he’ll find an excuse to leave.

And Ray lets him, of course. He doesn’t want the kid to feel trapped. But all of the boys’ behavior bothers him.

On the rare occasion they spend more than 2 seconds together Alex is really quiet. He won’t admit if Ray guessed wrong about a song and he doesn’t like it even though his body language makes it clear he’s not vibing with it. Actually, his body language pretty much just spells I am very uncomfortable in every situation where Julie or Carlos went to the bathroom or someone went to grab a snack and they’re alone even for 5 minutes while he’s visible.

Ray’s not stupid. He knows three 17-year-olds don’t end up getting their instruments left to their only living bandmate’s new best friend’s family by having good relationships with their own families.

He doesn’t exactly want to bring it up, but he kind of knows.

Then one day he’s sitting with all 3 boys watching a movie while he fixes something on his camera and Julie and Carlos are at school and he messes up a little part that means he has to start over (don’t @ me I know nothing about cameras) and swears out of frustration louder than he meant to.

He reaches for the screwdriver on the coffee table and

And Reggie and Alex both flinch.

Ray hadn’t even noticed they were tracking his movements, but while Luke seems to just have moved his focus from the TV to his friends in concern, Alex and Reggie both look too tense to play it off.

He figures its as good a time as any to have a chat cause these boys aren’t his sons but they don’t have anyone else acting as a parent figure to them and he feels the need to take care of them. He pauses the movie.

Ray: Can we have a talk? About you boy’s families?

Naturally Luke jumps in to try to distract him immediately, telling a story about his dad taking him fishing once, but he stops when Ray asks him to stop.

Ray: That’s not what I’m talking about and I think you all know it.

The boys are all still silent. Luke looks 500% ready to deflect again. Reggie and Alex look more like they’re expecting to get yelled at or worse.

Ray: I just want to help. I’ll drop it if you want me to but I want you to know that I would never do something to hurt any of you intentionally. You can talk to me about anything if you need to.

He means to make it an option of ‘you can talk but you don’t have to if you don’t want to,’ but the boys clearly don’t take it as such with how Luke starts talking immediately.

Luke: I ran away when I was 17. My mom and dad didn’t want me to stay in Sunset Curve, I think they thought it was going to get me into drugs or something.

They have a short talk about parents having good intentions not equalling them being right to push Luke so hard they pushed him away and it’s okay to feel hurt by that and then press play on the movie again and Ray thinks he sees all 3 boys relax somewhat during that.

A couple weeks later Reggie comes in visible and hesitantly asks about watching this series he saw when Carlos was scrolling through Netflix once.

Mid-episode he blurts out

Reggie: I don’t want to look for my parents and I feel weird about that.

He rambles for a while about knowing he was lucky that his family had money and his mom and dad told him they loved him and stuff but also he remembers so many fights between them where he felt caught in the middle and it never ended well if he chose a side but there was no way to win because they’d both turn on him if he didn’t so it was just this constant balancing act to try to prevent fights in the first place.

Reggie: I felt like I was walking on a tightrope. Like, all the time. I tried so hard to keep them from getting mad at each other or at me. Only it never worked and it was always a question of when they were going to snap next and it was confusing cause one day we’d go to the zoo and everything would be fine and the next they’d yell at me and send me to bed without food.

He feels guilty for not wanting to put in the effort to find them because he’s pretty sure on some level they did love him but he doesn’t want to see them again.

And he doesn’t want to know if they even miss him at all because when he got older and the fighting got too intense he would sneak off to Luke’s or Bobby’s and no matter if he stayed away for an hour or a couple days they never seemed to notice he was gone.

Ray listens and a lot of things about Reggie start to make sense. How he’s so careful not to catch him in a bad mood. How he shuts down whenever anyone raises their voice. How he helps out so much in an effort to stay on Ray’s good side.

It’s a day and a half after the latest show so they can’t really hug but Ray does what he can to provide comfort and validate his feelings anyway because damn Reggie is a good kid and he didn’t deserve that.

Reggie and Luke get more comfortable with coming to him for meaningful chats, or even just to vent about whatever’s going on lately.

Eventually they seem to feel almost as comfortable with him as Julie and Carlos do so it kinda becomes a routine.

Like Julie will ask for cuddles when she’s sad about missing Rose or she’ll walk in and vent about Carrie and Flynn being so obvious about liking each other but somehow not realizing it’s mutual and she and Nick are 3rd wheeling and going insane.

Carlos will excitedly ramble about his latest baseball practice shenanigans for an hour but also sometimes ask for someone to watch old home movies or listen to old CDs from Rose and the Petal Pushers with him.

And that’s normal. That’s been Ray’s life since his kids started talking. But the thing is that it’s just as normal when

When Luke tells how he’s still angry about his music getting stolen because it feels like a part of him was taken away and he worked hard on those songs. Also one day he very shyly admits

Luke: I like Julie a lot.

Ray: I know, kiddo.

Luke: You’re not mad?

Ray: As long as you two make each other happy, no. I’m happy for you.

And it’s just as normal when Reggie talks about missing his little cousin Kelsi and wondering where she ended up only for them to look her up and find out she’s a major Broadway writer/director now oh my god— and also

Reggie: I think I like boys. Like boys are cute. But I know I’m not gay because girls are cute too and ugh it’s confusing it’s probably nothing I guess everybody goes through this.

Ray: Have you ever thought you might be bisexual?

Reggie: Bi-what-now?

Ray, already digging out his old flannels that he would have passed down to Julie except they’re too big for her: It’s okay to like both, kiddo.

All this is great of course. It’s great how Reggie and Luke aren’t afraid anymore and they feel validated and seen and listened to.

But months have passed and Ray notices how Alex remains separate. He still avoids Ray when he can and stays quiet and cautious when he can’t.

Like Ray still senses Alex around him sometimes but never right after a show when he’s visible. He doesn’t come to him with problems. He’ll stay and listen when Ray plays a song he thinks he’d like, but he still seems so cautious and Ray doesn’t know how to help.

He asks Luke one day while he’s introducing him to a Wicked bootleg if he’s done something specific to scare Alex away.

Luke gets this really dark look on his face and he just

Luke: Let’s just say that my parents didn’t do everything perfectly, but they’re saints compared to Alex’s.

Ray decides to drop it, but Luke wants to reassure him.

Luke: You haven’t done anything wrong. He’s just not very comfortable around most adults in general. It’s one thing when we’re invisible, but...

Ray: I just wish I could help.

Luke: You do help. But it took a while for Alex to trust me.

The conversation ends there because Luke starts getting really into Defying Gravity.

But then that night Julie comes in with a kind of out of character movie request so Ray thinks Luke talked to her.

Because Julie does not like most romcoms that aren’t musicals. She gets bored. But she requests Love, Simon anyway.

Ray kind of sees what she’s trying to do there because now that he’s thinking about it the boys haven’t really seen many things with queer rep. Especially not queer main characters.

And nobody’s really told him that Alex is gay but cmon he’s an elder bi. He has accurate gaydar so he can support his queer ducklings.

Despite how the boys all know being gay is more socially acceptable now (they found out about Nick’s dads and the girls gave them the ‘gay marriage is legal now’ talk) they still seem kind of baffled by how there’s an entire romcom centered around a gay boy and it did well.

From there Ray tries to find more movies and tv shows with canon queer representation.

And he keeps giving Alex space but also trying his best to show him that he’s not like his parents.

For a long time nothing changes beyond Luke and Reggie getting increasingly comfortable with him.

Well that’s not completely true actually cause Reggie starts tagging along to photo shoots and becomes Ray’s unofficial mostly invisible assistant.

Then the band plays an amazing show and the boys stay visible for a full week.

Around the middle of that week, Ray goes out to the garage to find Reggie and see if he wants to come on a photo shoot.

Reggie isn’t out there but Alex is.

And he’s crying. Hard.

He looks like he’s going to poof out when he sees Ray there but Ray’s already 100% ready to do exactly what he always does when he walks in on Julie or Carlos crying.

Ray: Alex. Hey, buddy, it’s okay. I’m here. It’s going to be okay.

Alex freezes and it breaks Ray’s heart how that kind of concern is clearly not what he’s expecting.

Ray: Are you okay with being touched?

Alex looks kind of like he’s in shock but he nods.

He clearly doesn’t really know what to do with it but he kind of melts into it when Ray hugs him and he just sobs on his shoulder.

When he’s stopped crying enough he starts rambling about how he’s been looking everywhere but he can’t find Willie.

At that point he’s basically having a panic attack so finding out what’s wrong takes a backseat compared to calming him down and Ray knows how to do that because he and Rose used to do that for Trevor all the time.

Ray: Alex, breathe. In for 4 counts, hold for 7, out for 8. Breathe with me.

It takes a couple minutes until Alex has calmed down enough, but once he does, Ray asks what’s wrong and what’s happening with Willie.

He only vaguely knows who Willie is from what he’s been told by the other kids but he knows he’s important to Alex.

So Alex takes a deep breath and explains that Caleb confronted him and basically said the boys had to join his house band or he would make sure he’d never see Willie again. And he doesn’t want to ask his family to sacrifice themselves for him but he doesn’t want to lose the boy he loves either.

Ray wants to throw hands but from what the kids have told him about Caleb, he has a better idea.

Ray: Here’s what we’re gonna do, buddy. Reggie said Caleb has this super catchy number, The Other Side of Hollywood?

Alex: Yeah?

Ray: How quickly do you think Luke and Julie could come up with an arrangement for you four to cover that and how desperate do you think Covington would be to make sure a video of that never gets published without crediting him?

Alex: :o

Spoiler alert: Julie and Luke, in collaboration with Carrie, can come up with an arrangement very quickly.

They do a private performance of it and film it and basically blackmail Caleb into letting Willie go.

Willie has an empty house that used to be his parents’ that he still considers his so he mostly crashes there if he needs to. Also he loves skating around so much that he never stays in one place for very long.

Julie can see him but she can’t make him visible so it’s a little odd but Ray gets an orange pen for him for the whiteboard and he finds skateboarding videos and stuff for when he visits.

They eventually figure out that he can be part of the magic by adding him to the band so they give him a tambourine and yay now Willie can be seen but that’s later.

The biggest immediate change to come out of all this is Alex.

He’s not afraid of Ray anymore for the most part (healing isn’t linear and he can’t help a few bad days) and he starts actually talking to him. Not about serious stuff but he’s talking. Mostly just rambling about how Willie makes him feel or how Luke and Reggie have been being annoying lately.

Then one day he comes in really nervous and says something about Reggie saying he talked to Ray about his parents.

And Ray confirms it and asks if there’s anything Alex needs to tell him.

Alex sits down and clearly he’s been holding this in for a long time and he just unloads how he came out to his parents because his youngest sister found his diary and he was scared she’d tell them. They didn’t react well and when he cried out of fear and frustration his father... gave him something to cry about.

His father did that a few more times, trying to ‘make him man up,’ and Alex never told his bandmates but he always knew they could see the bruises and that was why Bobby made it so clear his garage was open and his house was a safe place to run.

But Alex didn’t no matter how bad things got because he guessed some small part of him thought he deserved it but mostly it was about how his oldest sister dropped out of college and ghosted the family and Alex was the next-oldest so he felt responsible for protecting his younger sisters even if they both had learned behaviors from their parents and hated him.

Then that summer he found out his parents were planning on sending him away to some Christian camp where they’d ‘fix’ him.

Alex made it clear that he wouldn’t go and if they tried to make him he’d run away, but their ultimatum was that he couldn’t live under their roof if he was gay.

So he didn’t. And it was a situation somewhere between getting kicked out and running away, but he packed a bag and never went back.

He ran to Bobby’s house, he wrote a whole bunch of angry songs, and he tried not to think too much about how he understood why his older sister left and how he was doing the exact same thing to his younger sisters.

By the time he’s done explaining everything Ray’s trying not to cry but Alex is definitely already crying mostly out of anger.

Alex: I hated them all. I hated Molly for leaving me and I hated my mom for turning my little sisters against me and I hated my dad for hurting me and I even hated Anna and Josie for not standing by me and I just hated them all so much. I still do. And it is so stupid that I feel guilty for that because they were terrible to me and I was 16 and I didn’t deserve that but I do feel guilty for it because they’re my family and I hate them.

Ray doesn’t have much to say because damn this is heavy stuff but he assures him that after what he went through he has a right to hate his blood family.

Alex tells him awkwardly when he’s calmed down a bit that Luke is the only other person he’s ever told about all this, because after he ran away they dated for a few months before figuring out that they were better as friends.

Reggie and Bobby guessed parts of it and Julie probably has too but none of them have asked and Alex thinks he might tell Reggie and Julie someday if it ever comes up but he never did end up telling Bobby.

Ray assures him that he won’t tell anyone and also that he would never do that. He would never do anything to hurt Alex or the others on purpose.

He makes a silent promise that no one will ever hurt one of his kids like that again and if Caleb or anyone else ever tries, they will regret it.

But anyway on to happier matters.

Willie visits a lot and he’s a little skittish around Ray but he loosens up after he jokingly mentions one time that Willie and Alex are like the beginning of the Sk8ter Boy song.

Alex and Ray might be Denim Jacket Buddies but once Ray digs his old leather jacket out of the closet he becomes Leather Jacket Buddies with Reggie.

You’d think he has to tell Carlos and Reggie off the most for breaking things but he doesn’t. It’s Carlos and Luke.

Also Ray doesn’t consider himself an overprotective dad but Julie and Luke are not allowed to be alone in a room with the door closed.

Neither are Alex and Willie technically but it’s harder to enforce it when they’re both ghosts.

Lmao all the kids follow the rules anyway because they love Ray and he’s not being unreasonable.

He helps Julie in her plot to get Carrie and Flynn together and also he helps Nick plan how to make a move on that cute boy on his lacrosse team.

Because Nick loves his dads but they’re disaster gays. Neither of those men can properly flirt. They fell in love because of a baseball rivalry and Nick doesn’t trust their advice.

Pride month rolls around and Julie makes sure to book a big gig the day before the parade so the boys will be visible and tangible.

Trevor’s on tour and can’t get away and Flynn’s parents are working and Nick’s are busy too so Ray finds himself escorting this whole little gaggle of various queer ducklings to pride.

Carlos isn’t quite sure what he is yet so he’s just got a rainbow flag painted on his cheek and a shirt that says I love my bi sister on it.

Julie’s all decked out in the bi colors, complete with ribbons braided into her hair and a flag to use as a cape. She made the tutu herself and it took her hours but it turned out really good.

Luke’s got a tank top with the pan colors and a trans flag as a cape and also yknow face paint of course.

Reggie browsed thrift shops everywhere until he found a flannel in the bi colors and he’s got that along with pink purple and blue laces in his combat boots and what Ray is really hoping is temporary dye and not spray paint in his hair.

Alex has a rainbow shirt that matches Willie’s and matching bracelets with Flynn. Also he painted rainbow hearts on his cheeks and put a lot of effort into them and they look really symmetrical.

Willie’s of course matching shirts with Alex and also he has sparkly rainbow socks and a flag to use as a cape.

Carrie’s got a whole ensemble in the lesbian colors complete with a pride wig and also matching necklaces with Flynn.

Flynn’s matching colors with Carrie but more in her style with of course matching jewelry with the people closest to her. She’s got friendship bracelets corresponding to Alex and Julie.

Nick’s got a pan tshirt and a fedora with a ribbon in pink yellow and blue plus face paint cause all of them have face paint. Nothing too crazy.

Meanwhile Ray’s got a bi bandanna and one of those shirts that’s like Free Dad Hugs.

Plus everyone did each other’s nails with varying degrees of success the night before and Julie did Ray’s so they turned out good.

Nick’s lacrosse buddies and the rest of Dirty Candi are around somewhere but they didn’t ride in the same car so they’re not that relevant.

They party. Celebrate being alive. Idk I’ve never gotten to go to pride.

And afterwards they all go back to the Molina house and the couch isn’t really big enough for all of them but it’s okay it’s not like they know how to sit correctly anyway.

They all kind of pile together and cuddle and watch movies until Flynn and Nick’s parents can come pick them up.

And Ray just looks around and realizes that

Sure only 2 of them are his biologically

And 3 of the others have good parent(s) who are actively a part of their lives

The remaining 4 are technically dead

But he has 9 children and he’s totally fine with that.

Cause he’s Ray Molina: best dad ever.

Victoria’s head is going to explode when she finds out that not only is the Molina house really haunted, but he’s adopted the ghosts.

37 notes · View notes

vigilant-shadow · 3 years

Note

[ 🌎 ] are there any aus you have for your muse? what are they like, and how is your muse different in them? [ 🎵 ] is there a specific song or songs you associate with your muse? why is that?

[ 🌎 ] are there any aus you have for your muse? what are they like, and how is your muse different in them?

Oh, boy, do I.

I'll only expand on two or three here, but I have a bunch.

First one is a modern au! In which Xiao is a pole and areal silks dancer, though he's good at all kinds of dances, he just likes being high in the air and feeling like he's flying. He works as an entertainer in Zhongli's bar and is actually pretty popular. His fluid movements and skill are quite a treat to watch, plus he's always polite to the costumers, unless they deserve to be punched in the face. He will never defend himself if they start attacking him, but if they start attacking the other entertainers, either by commenting on their worth for choice of dance they do, or saying things like "Strip club's down a couple blocks!", or inappropriate touches, the customers in question can be rest assured that they will get a really pissed off tiny sarcastic gremlin in their face. They may leave the establishment in tears and that is no fault of his, they deserved it. In this universe, Xiao doesn't have that trauma from the old god and the other Yaksha are all also alive and well, working at the same establishment. They do your typical family things like playful bullying and going absolutely apesh*t on anyone who dares hurt one of them. And due to this lack of trauma, Xiao is a much more open person, being the giggly, sarcastic and carelessly daring gremlin child of the family. He still retained his empathy and is still ridiculously protective. He often watches around the bar as he performs, making sure nobody is getting hurt/spiking someone's drink/whatever else. Zhongli pays him double because 'He's basically a bodyguard along with an entertainer'.

Second one I'll expand on is a mafia! AU. In it, he's Zhongli's bodyguard, though people often assume the opposite is true when seeing them together. In this universe, instead of his usual spear, he uses a dagger and various poisons to get rid of any issues. He's quiet, not speaking unless spoken to, something he learned from his previous boss, named Lǎoshén. That man's dead, but he still holds a grip over Xiao mentally with all the physical and mental scars he had inflicted onto the boy. Xiao is, here too, extremely loyal and relentlessly protective of Zhongli, but also insanely stubborn about his injuries, considering them insignificant. In this AU, he's also selectively mute due to his trauma. He won't talk to anyone unless he really trusts them, preferring to use sign language as means of communication. He's also a lot stronger than he seems.

In both of these AUs, his choice of clothing is the same. A black sleeveless turtleneck, dark mint jacket with his yaksha mask design on the back that he never wears properly, instead opting to wear it unzipped and off of his shoulders, black fingerless leather gloves, with a polished fuchsite inlaid on his right glove. He wears black leather jeans and black combat boots. His tattoos are still present, along with an anemo symbol on the back of his neck. He also has a tongue piercing and natural fangs.

The third AU I'll tell you about is called loyal servant AU. Basically, Xiao's mind was corrupted into making him believe that the old god truly did love him, so, he frees the damn creature from where it was trapped, once again becoming their personal slave, constantly used and abused by them, but he doesn't mind, because it's love! Right?

I have many more, a mermaid au, a fae au, performer au, truly a whole bunch. If anyone is interested, feel free to come into my IMs!

[ 🎵 ] is there a specific song or songs you associate with your muse? why is that?

Yay! More excuses for me to talk about songs I associate with Xiao!

Marionette by Antonia -> word for word, his feelings about the old god back when he was still owned by them. And they just strung him along.

Terror time again cover by Jonathan Young -> Listen, I just feel like, in modern times, he would adore Scooby-Doo. And Martin Mystery. No, I cannot explain why I feel that way.

Dance In The Dark by Au/Ra -> Just a song he would definitely vibe to, dancing in his subspace (I refuse to call it a teapot because I think only Madam Ping actually creates teapots. Other adepti have their own subspaces, like caves, or books, or anything like that.)

#Answered #Potential tw?#Once again things got away

2 notes · View notes

dullahandyke · 5 years

Text

Kick it up a Notch

Summary: Sure, Deceit might have won the case, but Roman’s ruling on the punishment wouldn’t do... if he was going to convince Thomas to do the right thing, he’ll really need to kick it up a notch with his persuasion tactics... luckily, catchy tunes solve all sorts of problems.

Trigger Warnings: Deceit (he isn’t entirely sympathetic because he delights in his own bastardry, but also he isn’t abusive, and i like to call this version of Dee ‘asshole with a point’), there’s a lotta manipulation and Dee invades Thomas’ personal space a lot. Also there is One use of the f word but other than that, there isn’t any swearing.

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18884050

Notes: Deceit is a very, very, very unreliable narrator, his thoughts influencing the narration and he holds a hell of a grudge against Patton so there’s some Patton hate from Dee. Also, I do not own the original Kick it up a Notch song, it is entirely Team Starkid’s and this is just a parody. Here’s a link to the song in case you haven’t heard it, it’s pretty fundamental to the story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ6d1uTVG64

“I hereby sentence you-”

“That’s not really necessary, I think now you see that all of this is-”

“-To one day at the St. Clifford’s Chapel on the day of Lee and Mary Lee’s wedding.”

Deceit hissed lowly, his face knotted with frustration and his eyes narrowed in the judge’s direction. “You can’t do that! That’s not how this works!” Roman furrowed his eyebrows, pointing his gavel rather dramatically at the liar. “Too bad, The Lie Who Didn’t Like Musicals, going to the wedding is what’s right.”, and his voice held all of the conviction of someone who’d stood in front of a mirror practicing for hours.

“Ah, back to the nicknames, are we, Your Honour?” The sickly-sweet words dripping off of his own tongue felt like poison in a way that almost made him pity Roman. Almost. The inferno in the pit of his stomach was still burning, bright and true. It fed on justice, and god was it hungry. “So I suppose cold, hard facts aren’t enough to sway you, then?” He arched an eyebrow at the far-away Logan, daring him to speak up before he was spoken over, but just as he saw the logical side open his mouth and lean forward to object and make himself heard, Deceit made sure that he cut him off before he could begin.

“Wait… maybe there’s something I could…” He shoved as much fake-realisation into his voice as he thought was realistic. Really, he had pushed this scenario to the back of his mind, hoping to convince Roman with the whole courtroom gesture, but at least the song he had written wouldn’t go to waste. He did love a bit of theatricality, even if the melody… wasn’t the most original. He snapped his fingers deftly and looked up to Roman. He smirked devilishly, turning the flirt on full-blast. “What do you say we go somewhere a bit more… familiar, ay Roman?”

Even though he was sure Patton and Virgil were protesting somehow, Deceit’s sole focus was on Roman. At his words, Roman looked up, curious, with a certain twinkle in his eye that Deceit wasn’t able to identify. And really, that was all the confirmation he needed to clap his hands and bring them to someplace surely familiar, even to the viewers.

Seconds later, the sides popped into the new environment, each taking their respective places. Patton, in the audience, not sure of what was happening but not liking it either way. Virgil, backstage, in a black turtleneck and the hallmark exhaustion of a techie. Logan, finally a bit more to the forefront now, sitting in front of a book on the history of musical theatre. And finally, Thomas and Roman, standing in the front of the stage, Roman a bit too far to the left to be considered centre-stage, but Thomas caught in the attention.

Finally, Deceit stepped forward from the back of the stage, emerging from a mustard-coloured curtain, taking the time to take in the scene around them, smiling at how everything was in its places. He cleared his throat, drawing all attention to him, and he grinned amicably, making sure the grin was just false enough that the sides knew who they were dealing with. He was not someone you could smile into submission, and they needed to know that if Patton was the one they were letting have the most influence. He opened his mouth to speak, and put on the customer-service voice that he knew Roman would have killed to have been able to do; he always went a bit too far in these things, and all of that bravado he hid behind was proof of that. Really, did he think he was fooling anyone?

“Thomas and those who are not Thomas, I welcome you to a… not quite evening, of entertainment. Please turn off your mobile phones, and may I remind you that no flash photography is allowed. I would tell you to take note of your closest fire exits, but there are none. Wait until intermission before bailing, please, as to do otherwise would be terribly rude. Please, enjoy the show-“

All of a sudden, his suave and debonair voice was interrupted by Virgil, and honestly, could he not, please? However, despite Deceit’s wishes, he did, indeed, speak in his meagre voice. “Yeah, no, I’m not buying it. We’ve reached our conclusion, why do we have to keep-” As Virgil’s outburst continued, Deceit sighed. Really, he had hoped he could just arrive, do his song, convince Thomas and then go back to his room to hug his giant plush snake and let his small, real snake crawl all over his face like the little cutie she was. Instead, it looked like he’d need to expend even more of his energy on this whole plan, just to get Thomas to do what was right for him! God, he had really underestimated how easy it was to be Patton; he was a formidable opponent, if only because of how much everyone else blindly trusted him.

As he zoned back in on the edgy side’s monologue, he lifted his hand swiftly in a familiar motion, Virgil’s once frantically gesticulating hand now slapped over his struggling mouth. Deceit focused back onto the performance. “Now, where were we?” He motioned towards the pit, waiting for his previously-set music to be played, but apparently, even in the mindspace, Alexa decided that it was too good for Deceit to look cool via motion controls, so it decided to be difficult. He huffed to himself, before leaning forward and shoving his face directly into the pit. “Alexa, play Kick It up a Notch instrumental.” The robot in question made a little beeping noise, and the recorded voice of Deceit counting himself in started playing.

The man in question took big strides until he was stood back next to Thomas, walking in time to the voice counting him in, because if you were to sing a show-stoppin’ number, you have to go all out. That’s just common knowledge. As the voice reached ‘one’, he opened his mouth, donning his best silky smooth singing voice, secure in the knowledge that his snake had loved this song.

“Commitments to events! Are they worth all their expense? To miss such a big opportunity!” As he waxed poetic about why friends were overrated, he kept a keen eye on his fellow sides. Well, the other sides were reacting in some way, but Roman… Roman was looking at him with the kind of sceptical curiosity that could really only come from seeing a snake man that you hate but fundamentally agree with performing a musical number tailor made to your interests. He smirked; he could easily win Roman over if he played to his interests. After all, if Roman got riled up enough about something, nothing could stop him. He was Deceit’s key to success, and he knew all of his weaknesses.

“Go to your new arrangements! Forget about those past engagements! Instead, take this lifetime chance to be, ooooon theeeee biiiiig screeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!” As a rogue piano note made itself known, he broke into an easy grin. He could see the cogs turning in Thomas’ head, but they were still bogged down by Patton’s ideology. He sneaked a look over at the side in question; there he was, sat trapped through Deceit’s effort. Good, that was working; Virgil was having a particularly hard time leaving his corner, after all, no matter how hard he tried.

However, no matter whether or not he could move, there was no mistaking his disbelieving face. No doubt he was trying to come up with a way to intervene, but of course, it would be very rude to interrupt a live performance, and so he kept his manipulative mouth shut. Deceit smirked smugly, allowing himself to bask in the joy of everyone’s eyes on him, watching and waiting for his next move. They were finally paying attention, and that was all that mattered.

“Hmm… What do you say you answer the call-back, Thomas?” Deceit arched one of his eyebrows as Thomas furrowed his. “But, we’ve already been through-” And oh, of course, they’d already talked it through once, so what could returning to the topic possibly do for them? Maybe it could, I don’t know, help them reach the correct conclusion now that Patton was out of the equation? But that was just a suggestion, of course, as whatever came out of Deceit’s mouth couldn’t possibly be the right answer, no, that was just preposterous.

“Now listen to me, my confused friend.” He grinned like a particularly friendly shark. “We are friends, after all!” He moved uncomfortably close to Thomas, pulling him into a one-armed hug and booping his nose with a gloved hand, pushing it harshly enough to make it just slightly painful. “I know you have your share of doubts and fears, but this is your chance! You can take charge! Push the limits!” He unconsciously pulled Thomas closer to him, caught up in the idea of Thomas grasping his future with both hands instead lending one to someone else’s.

“You gotta be determined. Persevere! To coin a phrase, act the part!” Deceit chuckled at what he thought was some very humorous wordplay, and he pushed himself away from Thomas, placing his gloved hands on his host’s shoulders and pulling him across from him, facing him head-on, and in that moment, it seemed that he had become a bit taller. Well, about time. He had always seemed to be shorter than the other sides, and it didn’t do anything to help intimidate them.

He looked out into the audience, drinking in Patton’s panicked expression at Thomas’ resolute feelings melting into uncertainty. Good. He needed a bit of competition. He turned back to Thomas, resolve hardening as the backing track picked up speed. Now, it was time for the real show to begin! The preface was over, and now it was time for a song they’d be sure to remember! Well, they’d better. He’d spent a while manipulating multiple songs he’d heard Roman singing recently, and it had taken him and his snake ages to narrow it down to the right choice.

“You’d better kick it up a notch, if you’re ever gonna reach your goal.” He tore his hands from Thomas’ shoulders, deciding that staying stationary wasn’t something that suited this song. Hell, it didn’t particularly suit him – he preferred to be a bit more… touchy-feely. Let whoever you’re persuading never forget that you are there, constantly weighing in on them in a way that they can’t ignore; an arm around a shoulder, a hand on the hip, even just a pat of the head is enough to remind them that you are there, you are real and they will pay attention to you, whether they want to or not.

“You can’t sit around and watch, your destiny is in your control.” As he sang, he walked around Thomas slowly, making sure he was violating his personal space as he did. His steps were slow, measured, almost calculated, making sure that Thomas felt with every inch of his crawling skin that Deceit was nearby, and he wasn’t going away anytime soon. His hand trailed around Thomas’ side, almost purring out the words he was singing, voice as sultry and smooth as possible, keeping his eyes solely on Thomas. Although, for one second, he looked over to Roman, making eye contact as he painted a smirk onto his face, and before he dragged his eyes over to Thomas’ once more, he thought he saw the romantic side blush.

“Go ahead and, kick it up a notch.” Deceit walked out from Thomas, leaving the man to regain some sense of personal space, walking over to stage right, backwards, may he add, which made him like, 10x cooler instantly. His arms were held out beside him, in a ‘what can you do’ pose, but really, what could Thomas do? Deceit knew. Roman knew. Patton knew. Everyone knew what Thomas could do, but no one had the clarity to realise it was right, so it was up to Deceit to stand up for his beliefs. Well, he supposed Roman knew it was right, but under the bravado, he was nothing but a coward, and he planned to use that to his advantage. “If your life is at a level too low…”

All of a sudden, he was at the left side of Thomas, arm around him, running the other hand down the host’s face, taking advantage of his newfound height. Thomas jumped, before looking into Deceit’s eyes, and his ever-present smirk grew wider, this time in the name of real emotion instead of intimidation. This smirk was the culmination of a lifetime of vitriol aimed towards Patton for good reason, a lifetime of being seen as nothing but a villain, a lifetime of being ignored and demeaned and told he was malicious and wrong when he knew he was right – it was all blending into this feeling of contentedness and satisfaction and justice.

“There’s no attempt that you can botch, when all you gotta do is just give it a go!” He creeped ever closer to Thomas, unsettling the man more and more, even going as far as to lay a head on the man’s shoulder, his cheek pressed into the crook of his neck. He sighed dramatically, gesturing towards himself. “But then again, what would I knoooo-ooooo-oo-o-ooow?” He tore himself from the host as if he had been burned, and, in a way, he had been. The feeling of another living, breathing, real person next to his own body was something that he had always wished for, and now he had the chance to do it, he was touching his host like it was nobody’s business, and, in a way, it was. This was between Thomas and Thomas, and no one else was involved in this, be it the more anxious aspect that just dragged everyone down, or the logical side that had always been thrown to the side-lines, and did he even need to mention Patton?

All of a sudden, his hands were on Thomas again, shoving him into a cage that hadn’t been there a moment ago. Thomas flew back, hands flying backwards to catch himself before he flopped onto his back. Deceit lowered himself to Thomas’ level, crouching down to make eye contact and for whatever reason, Thomas couldn’t look away. “What I see right there is a prisoner who’s trapping himself in a cage!” With a snap of a finger, all of a sudden Thomas’ cage was sliding to the back of the stage, allowing Deceit to take centre stage as he looked back to the cage, taking in Thomas’ form as it shakily stood, hands grasping at the bars. The liar had his back turned to the audience. Well, this was never a performance meant for Patton, anyway. He looked over to Roman, still standing on the stage, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else but also more intrigued than Deceit had ever seen him. He held a longing in his eyes that Deceit recognised from seeing in the mirror almost every day since he had been formed. This was his chance for a better life, and all it took was a little nudge from Deceit to do it.

Deceit went from looking at Roman to looking with him. He locked eyes with the fanciful side, the side of dreams, the only side that, in Deceit’s opinion, had ever had his priorities straight. Well, not straight straight. Deceit had had enough pretending to be that for a lifetime. “Kick it up a notch, if you want that silver stage!” Roman’s eyes glimmered in recognition, considering the snake’s offer more and more by the second. Who knew it could be so easy to make someone do something they really want to do?

“Well, being in a movie would be really cool…” Roman started, eyes darting towards the sides that were not the most important one, as if trying to tread lightly, and oh, how sad was that? Thomas’ hopes, his dream, his deepest fantasies and what makes him happy, were being constantly bogged down time and time again by the other sides to the point of trying not to upset them, even if it meant missing out on a lifetime opportunity like this. Stepping on a few people’s toes was worth it if it meant Thomas’ whole life could change for the better.

“It would, wouldn’t it! Thomas, in an Alfred Hitchcoppolucas movie! He could kick-start his whole career!” “But, Mary Lee and Lee-” And oh, how nice for Patton to get involved! The one time Deceit got to speak, Patton just had to be a part of it. He couldn’t stay quiet for two seconds without getting involved, and that was dangerous. His influence could make or break Thomas’ life, and Deceit wasn’t going to let him break it.

Deceit was going to need a little extra firepower if he wanted to win Roman and Thomas over. He knew he was going to feel it in the morning, but it was worth it if everything went according to plan. He snapped his fingers, and all of a sudden, Virgil and Logan were rising from their places, not of their own volition if one was to believe the panicked look in their eyes (which they should), and they met Roman at centre stage, Deceit having stepped back to Thomas’ cage to lean on the bars and watch the show.

All three sides moved in unison, dancing to the beat of the music from Alexa and all donning simple smiles onto their faces, swaying eerily side to side, Roman’s grin more realistic than the others. This is why they stayed on the side-lines; they weren’t good actors in the slightest. But hell, he needed to prove a point, and if the chorus had to come in to back him up, so be it.

Deceit locked eyes with Patton and made the manipulative side clap a hand over his own mouth. Sure, it wasn’t necessary, and he was already expending too much energy as it was, but it was more than a gesture to shut Patton up; it was a show of power. This was Deceit’s turf, and he had to make sure Patton knew that before he got cocky again. He coyly placed a finger over his finger in a gesture of silence, eyes turning to the sides dancing in the centre of the stage.

As he did, they opened their mouths and began to sing, an eerie lilt adopted by their voices, each voice a different octave but ultimately in the same key. “All you gotta do is kick it up a notch, to dig yourself out of this hole! You wanna have the things you want? Then you gotta give that dice a roll!” They all smirked in unison, Logan and Virgil’s face blankly smiling while their eyes screamed for out, but Roman’s… Roman’s face was much more interesting. He had never seen anyone more conflicted, and he had watched Thomas realise he was gay. On the outside, it seemed he was thankful for this opportunity to get Thomas to do the right thing, but there was a certain tension to his eyebrows, smile not quite right and eyes aflame with doubt. Deceit pouted; that wouldn’t do. He sighed as he expended even more energy to push the choreography and lyrics into Roman, overtaking his mind with the smooth music of Starkid.

It worked. Roman’s face lit up, no longer hampered by doubt and fear for what the other sides will think, mind whirring with ideas of how this could positively influence Thomas’ whole life. Deceit looked smugly at Thomas as the man tried to grapple with what was going on, why he was being overwhelmed by hopes and dreams. All of a sudden, the cage hit Deceit’s moving fist, the energy rebounding through it and unbalancing Thomas as it did. The man fell to the floor, this time staying down as he sat, fearfully looking between the dancing sides. Roman stepped towards Thomas’ cage, sliding down to the host’s height as he crouched on the floor, voice buttery-smooth as he reached out to caress Thomas’ cheek.

“Kid, kick it up a notch! What’s the point of less when there is more?” Roman sang in a falsetto Deceit didn’t know he had, and he stood back up, yanking Thomas’ face up as he did, hand still holding onto his cheek and forcing the host to stand up. Logan and Virgil approached from behind, and as Roman made way for them, they bounced to the sinister beat. It had taken so damn long to create a backing track by ear – he’d gone to the effort of learning the piano, for hell’s sake! Thomas had better appreciate this – hell, Roman had better appreciate this. Logan sang next, voice as deep as Virgil liked to think he was. “Forget about friends.” Virgil cut in next, meagre voice having graduated to singing instead of just angstily hating Deceit. “They just let you watch, so when opportunity knocks at your door, you let it in and then you-” “Reach out for more!” All three sang at the same time surrounding Thomas’ cage and leaning in close enough for Thomas to be immensely uncomfortable. Never let them forget you’re there.

Finally, the one, the only, Deceit the magnificent took his rightful place in the spotlight once more as he sang, snapping his fingers and popping the other sides back to their places as the liar made himself known once more. “Life is short so before it’s over, take a chance and think it through!” He moved away from the cage only to move closer to sing the next line, and if he did a spin on his way back, that was nobody’s business but his own. “You better kick it up a notch, it’s the human thing to do!” His voice reached a peak at the end, and where he had previously planned a euphoric laugh, he fell silent. A man on the brink of tears shouldn’t be one to laugh, it’s never convincing. It’s not like he was getting worked up about this, or anything, it’s just that his Patton allergies were acting up.

“It’s a big, big world out there… So many weddings, are they all worth attending?” He scowled, shoving as much vitriol into his voice as he could, aiming his next words directly at the still-mute Patton. “Stop pretending.” He turned back to Thomas, voice softer but still angry and passionate. “It’s your life.” His voice went even softer, voice wistful and filled with awe. “What an invention… Life…” He grabbed onto one of the bars, hand inside the glove shaking with the intensity of which he was doing so. “There is some choice involved in what life you’re livin’!”

He turned so both hands were grasping the bars, voice raised to a shout as he screamed out in desperation. “You’re your own person, take what you’re given!” He coughed awkwardly, removing his hands from the bars and straightening his tie. “B-but” He took a deep breath, calming himself down as he did. “You wanna be a good person… or is that really what you want?” He raised an eyebrow doubtfully, making eye contact with his host as he towered over the man. “You wanna be in that movie? Well this might be your one and only shot!”

He turned away from the cage, letting the shadow the harsh stage lighting cast upon the floor speak for itself as he gesticulated grandly, looking in Roman’s direction but not quite at him. “You could go to the wedding, sitting sullen and depressed, or you could reach out and grab all you’ve ever wanted! All I ask is that you do what you’ve always truly wanted!” At that, he looked Roman in the eyes, the conflict evident on his face, but it looked like he was winning, shaking loose of the other side’s debilitating grasp. Deceit let himself show a small smile, one that would have been much larger if he hadn’t been under the pretence of composure. He turned back to the host, looking him right in the eyes, noticing that the man had his mind made up. He took the key to the cage out of his pocket and dangled it on a string for the man to grab. “So Thomas, what do you say?”

“I... I…”

He took it.

“I think I’ll kick it up a notch! I can take control of my own life!” “That’s the spirit! Make them be the ones to watch, how ‘bout that?” Their voices melded together, united in the fire of righteousness, ignorant of anyone who would dare drag them down. “Who are they to deprive us of wanting to-” The lyrics split off for both of them, but their voices still sang as one, overlapping each other and drowning out any protests as Thomas opened the door to the cage and stepped out steadfastly. “I’m gonna make my life damn better!” “Kick it up a notch, never give yourself reason to doubt!” “I’m gonna make my life damn better!” “You gotta strike it while it’s hot, ‘cause that’s what livin’s all about!” “I’m gonna make my life damn better!” “My dear Thomas, time the lights went out!”

All of a sudden, they stopped, Thomas having migrated to the other side of the stage. He waved to Deceit and smiled. “Well, I’ll see you around, Deceit. Thanks.” And he said it so sincerely, that for a genuine minute, Deceit believed it. “Oh, uh- you’re- you’re welcome, Thomas.” Thomas left the courtroom with a snap of his own fingers, and it was then that Deceit sobered up. Suddenly, the aches and pains that came with using that much of his energy came ploughing into him, and even though he would like nothing more than to collapse into bed, it was time for one more victory dance.

“That’s not what he wants!” It seems that with pain came the loss of all of Deceit’s power, for Patton was making his way onto the stage as Logan and Virgil exchanged looks that just screamed ‘I have no idea what the hell to do so now I’m looking at you I guess.’ In Patton’s haste to get onto the stage, he stepped on Alexa, the backing track jumping as the hardware was damaged, so like, Patton, what the fuck? Those cost money, and unless he intends to pay Deceit back with that one dollar that Deceit knows was taken from him, Patton doesn’t have any money! He’d better at least leave a bouquet of flowers Deceit’s door, maybe a card if he was pushing his luck.

Deceit scowled, but whether it be at Patton’s words, Patton interrupting him or Patton stepping on his goddamn Alexa was to be speculated. “No, no, he’s told us what he wants! Break out the good clothes, boys! Soon, we act again!” He laughed evilly, hoping to strike fear into the hearts of Pattons everywhere, looking over to Roman to find him giggling along, giddy with the idea of working with Alfred Hitchcoppolucas. Deceit beamed and walked over to him, offering a hand in dance to the creative side. Roman took it in his fervor, and soon, Deceit was ballroom dancing with the fanciful side, consciously trying to ignore Patton, and, more importantly, make Roman ignore him.

He opened his mouth, his voice still as smooth and sultry as always despite how utterly exhausted he was. “Kick it up a notch, oh my plan is all about to unfold.” He spun Roman under him, Roman’s grin widening as he did. “Let’s put a twist into this plot. Tom, go forth, do everything that I’ve told ya.” As he sang the next line, Roman joined in (good) but so did Patton (very bad). “When we kick it up a notch…” “It’s worse for his friends!” Ah, there goes Patton, always so sure that his answer is the right one. Really, this must be good for him. He needed to be taken down a peg. Either way, Roman joined Deceit in protesting him, and oh, wasn’t that delicious? “But best for me!”

Roman held a note as Deceit went on to sing, both still dancing, but at some point, Roman was swapped for Patton, and now Deceit was holding onto Patton’s hands too tight, spinning him just a bit too wildly and accidentally stepping on his toes several times. “I’m gonna let our guy, once lost, be everything he’s wanted to be! Truly because I know he’s actually…” A wild spin, Patton left grasping for his bearings as Deceit wouldn’t stop spinning him.

“Make his life for the best, who cares about pleasing the rest?” Roman joined his song of victory. “Oh Thomas, I promise a treat!” Return to a solo, the liar’s voice gravelly as he could make it, finally letting Patton be as the ‘moral’ side walked away, shaken. “Let’s kick it up a notch.” “Kick it up a notch…” Roman chimed in, standing next to Deceit as he pulled Patton back one last time for a dip.

“So at last he’ll know what he needs!”

Shoutout to @rose-gold-roman for screaming about his fic with me (ur great broski) and to @captainofbadart for being on the same wavelength as me about Deceit and Kick it up a Notch!

Reblogs, likes and comments are greatly appreciated! Feedback is wanted.

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #deceit sanders #sanders sides deceit #ts deceit #roman sanders #ts roman #logan sanders #ts logan #patton sanders #ts patton #virgil sanders #ts virgil #sanders sides fanfic #lowkey super proud of this.....

55 notes · View notes

guesswho-mp3 · 4 years

Text

[ Slim Shackled Wrists ]

Au: joker!kai x reader | Pairing: character x reader | Warning: manipulation, mention of crime/violence, joker!kai being a sexy mf | Rating: 16+ | Word Count: 1.4k

Her newest patient was unceremoniously dumped in his seat, the guard quick to shackle him to the table. Despite the fact that the cuffs provided ample protection from physical interaction on his part; the guard stood directly behind the newest inmate, hawk eyes daring him to move out of line. “Thank you sir, I can take it over from here, you may leave.”

“You sure, lady? It’s not safe to be alone with this guy. I saw what this psycho did on the news, he’s like a mad dog with rabies,” he warned. A high pitched cackle escaped the clown’s maws, the guard’s face quickly morphing into anger, burning red as he raised his hand in retaliation. “Shut up freak,” the order was punctuated with a firm push to the back of his head, resulting in it nearly smacking the table.

She stood up from your chair at the aggravated abuse. “That’s enough! Do not refer to my patient as a freak, he is here to receive professional help. Unless you want me to write a formal complaint against you, I suggest you go.” The guard scoffed but nonetheless turned towards the exit, the jokester snickering and waving as best he could in his restraints, sing songing bye bye.

“Stuck up bitch, don’t say I didn’t warn ya,” he muttered, shaking his head. With one last glance to the duo he shut the door, the resounding clang echoing in the sterile room and she turned to see the eyes of Gotham’s Most Wanted surveying her. The news had only ever managed to get shots of the back of his head when he was on his rampages, and even then they were always blurry from being captured at night.

Sitting across from him, she felt a weird sense of pride being able to be so up close and personal with the man who had the city on the edge of their seats for the past two months. Still despite his misdeeds there was something undeniably alluring about him. With all her years as a shrink, she felt like she was the one needing help this time with the very unprofessional thoughts poisoning her mind. There was a pull in her gut, something that made you want to stick her hand in the fire just to feel the sweet pain of it licking at her fingertips.

His garish orange jumpsuit seemed to devour him, a far cry from the stocky brutes that frequented Arkham, but she could see the faint outline of lean muscle from underneath the fabric. Emerald green hair and tiny flecks of white face paint around his hairline added to his mysterious and twisted persona. Red rimmed eyes, some fresh purple bruising near his jaw, probably from his scuffle with Batman, that brute. Refined nose. Porcelain cheek bones. Two shallow scars extended outward from his plump lips, giving him the appearance of a smile, how cute—

She cleared your throat. “I apologize for the mistreatment, that was uncalled for. Welcome to Arkham Asylum, we’ll just be doing a quick psychiatric evaluation,” she scanned through her notes, noticing a lot of his general information was blank. “It seems you have no name on file, and I hardly think it’s appropriate to refer to you as Joker. May I call you Mr. J?”

“Fine by me darling, call me whatever you like.”

She nodded, failing to ignore his husky tone and the charming way the pet name fell off his lips. Most patients when they arrived at Arkham were frantic, body trembling and eyes shifting, complaining of hearing voices. But he seemed cool and composed. Normal, even. The clinking of his handcuffs ricocheted off the tiled walls.

“Alright Mr. J. Now, why don’t you tell me what you remember about the incident.”

“Remember? Very dangerous proposition, doctor… Yes, very dangerous ahehe. What, do you want my whole life story? My deepest secrets, my darkest desires? Oh I know I have some that will make your toes curl,” he teased.

She brushed off the insinuation despite how much it made her ache and clicked your pen. “Perhaps the reason that landed you in here? Your childhood? Anything you’re willing to discuss,” she said with a reassuring smile.

He stirred, a switch flipped and he started laughing, half crazed at a joke known only to him. “Childhood? Memory? Yes, I suppose memories are a bit like children. Vile little things. A funny thing though, to reminisce. My father owned a gag shop in the East End. Whoopee cushions, hand buzzers, the whole shebang. A real comic that one, he loved to put smiles on people’s faces.”

“He sounds lovely.”

“He was.”

Her face turned into one of concern, giving into the honey trap. “D-Did something happen?”

He shrugged. “It was a rough part of town. With the murder of those billionaires everybody started getting…desperate. Started stealing stuff, murdering people. As if they were going crazy,” his voice took on a fevered lilt at the last word, hurried and frantic. She remembered what it was like back then, the murder of the Kwons seemed to lure out all the from the monsters from Gotham’s underbelly.

“One night somebody broke in. Daddy went downstairs to investigate and got a knife in the back. Mommy dearest was next, she screamed when she saw the body and he held a knife to her neck while she cried for help.”

He was feral, eyes unhinged as if he were being possessed by the killer. “You know what he said to her? As he held the knife to her? Why the frown, doll? You’d be so much prettier with a smile.” He flopped back into the chair like a marionette with its strings cut, wrath replaced by nonchalance.“ He carved a grin into her face while I watched. Then,” he positioned his thumb underneath his throat and pretended to slice it, making a croaking sound.

A wet gasp came from her. She’d heard her fair share of gruesome backstories but there was something about the image of his younger self; an innocent cherub with rosy cheeks and wide eyes having to be a victim to such violence that she absolutely couldn’t bear. She was horrified with the scenario her imagination painted, unaware to how engrossed he was in watching as a single tear cut its path down her cheek. He licked his lips.

Leaning forward, his eyes rounded, angelic innocence adorning his features. “You know you’re very pretty. Like a doll. Hmmm… My little harlequin.” he giggled. ”May I call you Harley?”

Her head hurt from the whiplash but her stomach, attuned to his remarks, fluttered. “I—

He blew a raspberry through his lips, gaze skipping to and fro across the room. “I can’t remember anything after that. But I was alone.”

“Alone?” A feeling she knew all too well. Her father having kicked her out at a young age, suffering constant neglect from the nuns at the orphanage. Even in college she spent your Friday nights hunched over her studies to earn her Masters rather than hanging out with friends, not that she really had any. He recognized the mourning in her cadence and became resigned.

“Not just physically. It was the sort of loneliness where you have no other option than to throw a ball back and forth against the walls of your own mind. Where every thud reverberates in your empty skull,” he wheezed. “I was spiralling, searching for someone to grasp my hand and show me my purpose in this cesspool of a world. But I finally found someone.” He was gazing directly at her now.

“You have?” She questioned, voice soft. Caring. Hopeful.

“Believe me never did I think I would find this person in such a situation. Where once I was a sole performer I finally found my partner to dance with through the chaos. Take the plunge and share my madness. Though… I’m sure you don’t know what I’m talking about, doc,” he wistfully sighed, interested in the view outside the barred window while still watching her in his periphery.

“Actually,” she shuffled in her seat,” I think I do.” She leaned forward, a movement he caught in the corner of his eye, a smile so wide stretching across his face threatening to split it in two. Mask relaxing into a coy expression, he drummed his fingers on the table.

“You feel a special connection with this person. Like they know you for who you truly are. Almost like it’s fate that brought you together.” He snapped his fingers. “Exactly!”

“Almost like… almost like you’d do anything for them.”

He surged forward, face one of predatory anticipation. “Anything?” She nodded, fingers traipsing over his wrists.

He peered down at his hands and howled with laughter, her own giggles matching his. “I think we’re going to have lots of fun, don’t you,” he pushed her glasses up and twiddled her hair, ”Harley?”

1 note · View note

rubberduckyrye · 6 years

Text

minawakitten replied to your post “Sorry for Undertale-ing on main but I’e been listening to songs that...”

yall gonna have to go into more detail about that because that gremlin child did not give me many good impressions [ especially when asriel goes into detail about the time they were as one being ]

Sorry I was really focused on drawing this:

Now that I got some of my feels out of my system I’ll tell you about Chara, or at least, the story I had for her.

Spoilers under the cut, because I still want to write this damn story one day gdi

Okay so Yeah I get why you’d think Chara is an absolute gremlin. TBH I thought the same when I started developing the original AU where this specific interpretation of Chara comes from, but the story developed beyond that and she became the protagonist.

But first: Have you ever heard of the Narrator Chara Theory?

I’m not sure how popular the theory is now, but it was kind of popular when I was in the undertale fandom. The idea is simple: Chara is the narrator. This explains some strange things, like why the narrator is addressed as “Chara” by Flowey when you open the game after a pacifist run to RESET it, and other bits and bobs. A lot of people use the flavor text like “No Chocolate” or “Where are the Knives” from the genocide route to point out that this is Chara and Chara is evil--except that flavor text is narration. You can’t just say some narration is Chara while others aren’t. It’s all or nothing, and there’s hints that depending on how the player plays the game determines what kind of personality Chara gets at the end. When you do a genocide run, Chara wants to destroy the world because Chara saw Frisk kill all of monster kind and decided that the whole world should be erased. If you think about it, they are said to hate humans--and why wouldn’t they hate humans more after seeing Frisk massacre the entire monster race? What motivation would Chara have to want this world to live if the species they grew fond of was obliterated?

It’s also implied that the player’s/Frisk’s actions makes Chara “Good” or “Evil” depending on what you do. Notice how the narration changes in the different routes? That implies that the narrator themselves is a character being affected by Frisk’s actions. Chara may or may not also feel bitterness at monster kind in the afterlife, because of the declaration of war Asgore had, which is why Chara may have been enthusiastic about the genocide run as well as the pacifist run.

Once you consider Chara to be the narrator Chara’s character expands beyond what Asriel gives you and the hints you get about them in the game. Asriel’s claim that they weren’t a good person almost becomes kind of cruel, and before you say Asriel is a sweet baby child that can do no harm, let’s not forget that Asriel is also Flowey and Flowey is just Asriel’s personality without much empathy/sympathy/unable to feel emotions.

I’d like to point out that Chara... literally gave their life to try to save monster kind. They had no point of reference to what would happen to them after they died and Asriel took their soul, there was no real way for them to have known they weren’t going to just cease existing afterwards. Them taking their body up to the surface? That was probably Chara wanting to give closure to any family, or in a more bitter tone, bring their body up to the surface to show what the humans what they had done--killed them.

It’s implied heavily that Chara was abused, which is where they get their hatred of humanity from. Them wanting to kill all the humans on the surface, while still morally wrong, was probably a sort of revenge for what they did to them. They were hurt and abused, and they have an intense hatred for humanity that they probably wanted to wipe most of humanity out because of their past abuse. That is especially amplified with how it was monster kind that gave them a good home, food, love and care where as humanity remained ugly and horrid. There were no positive human influences on Chara, and seeing how such a kind and loving race was trapped under ground probably fueled the fire even more.

Either way, they did sacrifice themselves to try to free human kind, regardless of interpretations and speculation.

Now in comes my specific girl here.

My interpretation of Chara didn’t just have the above conflicts weighing on her mind, but also pressure accidentally put onto her and Asriel. Asgore, Toriel, and all of monster kind calling them their “hope” and... you know? That’s actually a lot of pressure to put on two kids, especially when one of them was abused like Chara was.

Chara sort of cracked under the pressure, feeling like she had to do something to save all of monster kind, and it lead her to mixing the poisonous buttercup flowers with milk chocolate to make poisonous chocolate bars Asriel could sneak to her without Asgore or Toriel noticing. Because she felt like she wasn’t worth anything, and hated herself for being human, she chose to sacrifice herself.

Asriel absorbed her soul, and she took her body to the surface to give closure to her brother, Marcus. Marcus is an OC who is also the soul of INTEGRITY. Yes, the ballet dancer soul is a boy in this story, and that actually kind of comes into play as to why Chara and her brother were heavily abused and eventually kicked out and living as starving children in a village. Marcus immediately recognizes his sister, and of course, thinks Asriel killed her. This causes a riot within the town and Chara wanted to fight them, kill them and collect their souls to free monster kind from the underground, but Asriel refused to fight. This ends up getting them both killed like in the canon.

In this AU/Story, Chara actually had a yellow soul of JUSTICE rather than a red soul. However she died with a red soul--how? Well in this AU, a RED soul isn’t actually a naturally occurring soul color, but rather represents the soul being overtaken by DETERMINATION. Being DETERMINED to save monster kind turned her soul red, but she couldn’t perform the RESET trick Frisk can. Why?

Marcus.

Marcus, being a blue soul, was filled with DETERMINATION to the point where his soul was red. The implications here is that yellow is easier to make red than blue is, so Marcus was filled with more DETERMINATION than Chara. In a fit of rage, he tracked Asriel to the underground carrying Chara’s body back with him, to show the monsters what hey had done to his sister and why they were being massacred by him.

His DETERMINATION wore thin, however, as he couldn’t kill Asgore, so his soul returned to blue and his soul was taken as the first soul. Enter the first glitch RESET.

You see, in this story, Chara wasn’t supposed to die like she did. She was supposed to free monsters peacefully after her brother found her, but because she died like she did, the world’s code was glitched, and it tried to rectify itself by trying to recreate the peaceful scenario. This is why there was a drought of humans not even coming near the underground and then suddenly, six humans fell in succession.

Meanwhile, Chara was put in the LOADING SCREEN, basically a dark room with no light aside from green lines of code flickering on the wall. She eventually realizes she can manipulate the code, and spends a very long time learning how to manipulate it to build a console, a machine that allowed her to see what was going on in the outside world.

Before she was able to finally make the console, however, six humans had fallen and killed. Asgore, not wanting to kill humans anymore, sent the six souls to Gaster (yes he has a role in this) and his lab assistants, Sans and Alphys, to try to figure out a better solution.

The DETERMINATION machine was created as a result, and extracted all of the DETERMINATION from the six souls. However, at a sort of celebration party for the success of the machine, Goner Kid was left unattended and accidentally pushed some buttons on the machine’s control panel, causing a severe malfunction.

Sans was only able to teleport himself and Alphys out of the lab before the machine exploded, obliterating all of their coworkers into space and time, including Gaster. The DETERMINATION plus explosion also forced another glitch RESET, creating the timeline where Gaster and all of those who perished in the lab never existed, and creating the situation with Alphys and Flowey.

Chara develops her console quite a bit after Flowey’s conception, and by this point Flowey’s been killing and RESETTING and abusing his powers.

After realizing who Flowey was, this naturally upset Chara. She eventually pieced together what happened by observing, and found that she remembers through the glitch RESETS. So she basically watches Flowey turn everyone’s lives into his play things until, you guessed it, the DETERMINATION from the previous timeline with Gaster manifests itself as Frisk, the first and only pure RED soul with no base attributes.

Frisk’s DETERMINATION surpasses Flowey’s, and Frisk takes over the timeline.

In this story, Frisk is initially a coward who runs away from all fights, but soon they start to realize their power and they become a bit more kinder. Chara is also guiding them as the “narrator” and helping them through the underground.

They do a pacifist run. Everyone’s got their happy ending.

But then... they RESET.

Frisk is the only human Chara can itneract with, so she immediately questions what Frisk was thinking, and Frisk says that they want to save both Chara and Asriel from their fate. Seeing nothing wrong with this, Chara lets them try to save her and Asriel.

RESET after RESET, and nothing is working. Chara tells Frisk to give up, but Frisk gets an idea. They decide to kill--after all, they could just RESET to bring them back, and it might lead to a clue as to how to save Chara and Asriel. Chara reluctantly agrees to it.

This is the beginning of hell.

Frisk goes through RESET after RESET trying to figure out how to save Asriel and Chara, but nothing they do is working. Not even killing. So they get desperate, and start trying to kill everyone.

That’s when a “glitch” happens in Chara’s code.

As Frisk attempts a genocide run, both their and Chara’s LOVE goes up. However, Frisk aborts the first genocide run after killing Mettaton and they RESET, thinking that there had to be a better way... except the damage has been done.

Because Chara exists outside of the RESETS, Chara’s LOVE never RESET either, and this turned her cold. Hateful. She decided that Frisk’s attempts to save her and Asriel weren’t just a waste of time--it was a form of torture.

Chara decided then, “If this is a world of ‘kill or be killed’... wouldn’t it be better off dead?”

From there, Chara devised a plan to force Frisk into completing a genocide run. She started forcing Frisk into RESETS and claimed that she had no idea what had happened. After a while, she lied to Frisk and told them that the world was ending and Frisk needed to complete a genocide run in order ti fix it. Frisk refused at first, but all Chara had to do was be patient, and Frisk finally gave in and went to attempt a genocide run.

Cue glitch two.

As they were fighting Sans, it was Sans’ code that glitched, making him remember the tale of monsters being able to absorb a human soul. Thinking that there was no other way to stop Frisk from completing a Genocide run, he forces his soul and Frisk’s to fuse.

This also causes a RESET, and Chara’s LOVE is finally back down to LV 1. However, Frisk is now unavailable for her to talk to, because now Frisk and Sans are both neither human nor monster. Sans looks the same, except for his soul, which looked like this:

The problem is, like Asriel and Chara, Sans had no way of knowing that Frisk would still have control over his body, and this causes a new kind of hell to be born as Frisk tries to complete the genocide run with Sans’s body and magic.

However, because Frisk cannot kill Sans without killing themselves and resetting, the genocide run cannot be completed at all. Sans also has a tendency to fight back for control before Frisk is able to get close to realizing this, so they are locked in an endless hell of Frisk trying to “save the world from the glitch they made” and Sans fighting to stop the from completing a genocide run.

And Chara could do nothing but watch.

She couldn’t contact Frisk anymore and tell them it was a lie, so she’s basically forced to watch their struggles with the guilt heavy on her shoulders that she caused this.

Cue the next Glitch.

Upon a RESET, Chara’s yellow soul was restored and Chara becomes the “eighth” human to fall into the underground, though she has no memories of who she is or everything that had happened. She is also wearing Frisk’s clothing, and only remembers the name “Frisk” at first, so she thinks she is Frisk. She eventually meets Sans and has to rely on him to make “Save points” but notices that he seems really bitter and pissed off at her for some reason when his eyes are white, and when they are red, he’s much kinder. She goes through the underground with her yellow soul and eventually uncovers all of what I mentioned before, and realizes that Frisk and Sans are still fused, and Frisk hasn’t gone on another Genocide run because of Chara’s appearance.

Despite Frisk refusing to kill, Sans refuses to give up their soul, paranoid that once he does they’ll just ruin everything all over again, and he blames Chara for their actions.

However the story is designed to be a series of mistakes and unfortunate events that no one person can be blamed for--Frisk’s first unprompted attempt at a genocide run corrupted Chara, Chara lied to Frisk in a plot to end the world, and Sans refuses to let Frisk’s soul go not just to keep them from hurting others, but to keep some control. None of these characters in this story are good or evil.

Anyway, Chara decides to complete a pacifist run, and it’s mostly the same from that point until just before Flowey turns into Asriel. Flowey knows Sans has Frisk’s soul, and tries to rip their souls apart--but Sans refusing to let go, makes it so Frisk’s soul and his split in half.

Frisk’s half-soul is enough to transform Flowey into Asriel, and then Chara finds her own DETERMINATION to overpower Asriel and complete the pacifist run. She gives her body to Frisk’s half-soul so they could live in their happy ending, and she and Asriel move on to the afterlife after the barrier is finally destroyed and humans and monsters can have their hopeful future once again.

Of course, Chara’s more than just this story however. She’s a break dancer, where as her brother was a ballet dancer, and their non gender-conforming interests is what gets them abused to begin with. However Chara also can play the violin and is an excellent programmer thanks to her being trapped in the LOADING SCREEN. However she’s also severely touch repulsed from living there for so long by herself. She’s also suuuper awkward and can be prickly to talk to. She’s cold, but she doesn’t really know how to be more social as her social skills are entirely wrecked at that point.

She actually hates all chocolate except white chocolate. Milk and Dark chocolate especially make her sick upon association with the poisoned chocolate bars she originally used to try to sacrifice herself to save everyone.

Anyway that’s my info=dump on my Chara from my one story and I love my daughter.

#minawakitten #long post

6 notes · View notes

ladyhawk-s · 7 years

Text

“Chocolate”

Relationships: Katsuki Bakugou/Ochako Uraraka; Katsuki Bakugou & Ochako Uraraka

Characters: Katsuki Bakugou, Ochako Uraraka

Rating: G

Word Count: 1545

Inktober Prompt 3 - Warmth

Summary: Katsuki, with a cold heart, doesn't allow anything or anyone to make him smile or feel warm except the troubles of the battlefield. Well, except for a certain girl and her batch of cookies.

A/N: So here comes Chika again with her not so great writing and horrible horrible summaries again. Sorry for not posting this earlier! I started actually working in a job so it’s made it difficult to be on my computer to upload things or even write new content so I can upload other things than just inktobers and such. I’m hoping I’m able to find the time soon enough to be able to write more and post more since it’s sad I’m relying on my queue right now. But I hope you guys like this mini fic in the meantime! I have a really long Kacchako fic coming up soon, I just need to edit it before I post it so hopefully that’ll be uploaded soon too!

Read at AO3 ; Read at FF.net

------

Contrary to popular belief, even though Katsuki was a man infused in flames, constantly in a spasm of heat and fire, if you peeled out his outer skin and touched the organs that made him function, one would come to realize that he was actually cold instead.

Alright, possibly not literally since nitroglycerin does run through his body and create miniature explosions at the tips of his fingers, however, his heart was the coldest out of everyone in Class 1-A. Even Shouto’s tragic backstory of abuse and entrapment went nowhere near the encasing of Katsuki’s heart in ice, trapping it into an eternal prison of ice that saw all the seasons. The ice traveled to all his nerves and his heart could only pulsate bitterness and picks of coldness.

No one knew where this crusted permafrost came from; everything in Katsuki’s childhood was perfect. He was born with the best combination of quirks that allowed him to see #1 hero in his visual field, he had a posse of friends that he manipulated on the tips of explosions, he even was swimming in riches from the designing companies his parents affiliated in. Whatever his hands desired, they received, and a huge smile would bore on his face every time the figure of All Might would appear in front of him, burning up his heating heart in ecstasy as he could feel the words of his idol singing within his ear drums.

However, time moved on and that smile that could to be summoned on his face turned into a permanent scowl that only upturned when the idea of violence came to his playing field. No one knew what occurred in this change but only pride and competitiveness could give hints to the crystallizing blades that incarcerated his beating heart in glimmers of ice. No matter what occurred, its form would still be rotten on there, unwavering under no circumstances.

Well, except for one. And that one circumstance just so happened to have a round face that could turn on you the minute it was called for.

Ever since his match with Ochako, something about her infatuated him, making him observe her more closely and study the way her curves moved under her own gravitation. In the classroom, she seemed like a dolt, always crying about her unstudied grades and how she would always tug on his sleeve to help her out just this one time when that one time became several times. She had a laugh that should have annoyed Katsuki and sent him in a bitter mood but instead, it felt like a song to him, a melody he once heard as a child as it dwindled in his ear and created a symphony that slightly made him feel warm in his cheeks. Ochako was the definition of cute as her curved features danced with the bounce of her frontal tuffs yet Katsuki knew deep down that people underestimated that figure of hers. Her legs could mask quickly under any ruble she shot into the air and if it wasn’t for his own fast reflexes, she could knock him down with the same arm technique Izuku used on him before. Her muscles were strong and sturdy, capable of even beating the strongest villain and her gravitation wasn’t one to be messed as she controlled the earth in the paws of her hands. She was cute yet vicious and it made Katsuki’s iced heart burn in agony as he didn’t how to wrap his mind around her complexity.

Even now, sitting down in the couches of the dormitory, a blanket snuggling his body as he had his phone in front of him, a diversion for his eyes as they actually stared at Ochako. Hums escaped her throat as she pranced around the kitchen, using all kinds of concoctions to create something that had a distinct smell of sugar wafting from it. Katsuki’s eyes narrowed, cautious of her movements as she would speak whispers to herself, making herself look clumsier in her casual zone. Horribly to admit, seeing her smiling with bubbles appearing around her demeanor and the way her clothes creased against her body made a special kind of heat appear on his cheeks and he pulled the blanket over them to veil his covert affections.

Mesmerized by her actions and the way she conversed with the others that slide in and out of the kitchen with their varying snacks, he felt himself taken by a slight surprise when her disappearance was soon emerged with a plate of aromatic treats that made the saliva in his mouth thicken in joy. With neon cheeks that squished her face and a smile that create small sparkles in her eyes, she handed the plate over to Katsuki, a gesturing of offers being given to him. “Bakugou, would you like a cookie? I made them for everyone and it would really make me happy if you ate them!” she chirped at him, her singing voice causing another melody to occur that made his thickened heart slightly feel more softened than before.

Yet, the reddening mess that plagued his face soon only began to splotch more and acid was the only thing he could return back to her to get her off his back. “Fuck off, you’re a shit cook. Go get others to eat your poison.” He spat back, bitterly regretting his word choice but still recoiling from the closeness and smell she emitted.

“Oh c’mon Bakugou! I know I’m not the best cook but I tried a new recipe with these cookies!” she said with a continued grin on her face, a single facial structure not moving once even after his words. With a small little bounce, she grabbed one off the plate and offered it to him, making sure her smile was even deeper than before. “Just try one! They’re just made so they’re really warm and gooey still!”

Analyzing the cookie in her hand, Katsuki went through a debate on whether to grab it or not, mixtures of thoughts zooming in his mind as everything combined itself together to create a cluster of emotions that his mind couldn’t handle after all those years. It was as if his previous child form was bursting from the seams and cracking through the icicle that formed within him. Feeling his face begin to contort in front of Ochako, he quickly swiped it from her and placed the treat into his mouth, his canines ripping into the soft dough that melted in his mouth. As warned, it was hotter than the normal ones they had out there but something about them was different than the other monstrosities she’s created in the past. This time, the cookie was gooey and moist, the chocolate chips digging into his taste buds as a hint of cinnamon burst from the inner core and leaving his mouth to be a version of candy land that he had never explored before. Sugariness filled all the corners of his mouth and swallowing the chewed up pieces traveled down his throat and entered the pit of his stomach, making it feel a different sense of warmth than he had in the past. It made him feel fuzzy and gooey and soft, just like the cookie he was about to take another bite in. As soon as his teeth chomped into it again, his crimson eyes looked up at Ochako bouncing on the balls of her feet as teeth began to combine with the smile she was radiating. “What?” he asked in mid bite, not caring about his hostility in that moment.

In mid giggle, Ochako smiled even wider and held onto the plate with firmer fingers, making sure the gems wouldn’t crumble and meet their fate on the floor. “Well, I can tell you’re enjoying it, which makes me happy because that means I did a good job this time! You don’t know this Bakugou, but it’s always my goal to impress you because if I can impress you, that means I’m doing pretty darn good since you have high expectations!” she brashly said, her eyes slightly adverting as her blush marks increased with color ever so slightly. Picking up another cookie from the plate, she placed it in Katsuki’s free hand, really making sure their fingers touched as she performed the action. “Here, take another one! I’m going to go find the rest of the class and give it to them! I’ll even tell them they have your stamp of approval!” Ochako cheered off as she quickly left Bakugou’s frontal side, not allowing him to get another word in there.

Which, her demeanor made his words get caught with the rest of the cookie as he couldn’t speak them out loud given the shock value her words presented to him. A pulsating feeling began to occur in his heart as the ice began to crack further and further, a feeling of melting from this new found warmth succumbing to his soul.

Everything about Ochako made him feel warm and the cookies she made with him in mind only warmed his soul even more, creating a foggy feeling within his organs as he took another bite of the cursed cookie, allowing his body to continue to have that.

#lizwrites #kacchako #bakuraka #urabaku #katsuocha #katsuki bakugou #uraraka ochako #inktober 2017 #ochako #uraraka #uravity #drabble #bnha fanfiction #bnha fics #katsuki #bakugou #katsuki bakugou x ochako uraraka #katsuki x ochako #bakugou x uraraka

35 notes · View notes

lbbounaries · 4 years

Text

Summer Lyrics

Sunburn:

Come waste your millions here

Secretly she sneers

Another corporate show

A guilty conscience grows

And I'll feel a guilty conscience grow

She burns like the sun

And I can't look away

And she'll burn our horizons

Make no mistakes

Come let the truth be shared

No one ever dared to break

These endless lies

Secretly she cries

She burns like the sun

And I can't look away

And she'll burn our horizons

Make no…

by Muse

Sunburn Analysis:

Sunburn written by Matt Bellamy, lead vocalist. This song is about moving into a new world mentally and/or physically. You realise that it’s not what you thought it was going to be. The band Muse state it was written at a time of change for them, from painting and decorating, to signing on and flying first class to LA.

When I listen to Sunburn, I get a sense of anger and frustration. Someone who has been mistreated and used by those who have underestimated her strength, that comes from years of anger being pushed down until one day it is realised and burns everyone who has never shown any respect. All lies have been broken and the truth has come out, ridding her of any guilt she felt before towards those people. They shake with fear in the presence of her power, but are captivated by the sheer magnitude of it.

Psycho:

Love, it will get you nowhere

You are on your own

Lost in the wild

So come to me now

I could use someone like you

Someone who'll kill on my command

And asks no questions

I'm gonna make you

I'm gonna break you

I'm gonna make you

A fucking psycho

Your ass belongs to me now

Are you a human drone?

(Aye, sir!)

Are you a killing machine?

(Aye, sir!)

I'm in control, motherfucker, do you understand?

(Aye, sir!)

Your mind is just a program

And I'm the virus

I'm changing the station

I'll improve your thresholds

I'll turn you into a super drone (super drone)

And you will kill on my command

And I won't be responsible

I'm gonna make you

I'm gonna break you

I'm gonna make you

A fucking psycho

Your ass belongs to me now…

by Muse

Psycho Analysis:

Psycho was written by lead vocalist Matt Bellamy. The song explores the violent nature of modern society. Matt Bellamy explains the songs in the album Drones, including Psycho, are metaphorical psychopaths enabling psychopathic behaviour. The world is run by these Drones turning the rest of humankind into a “super drone” with this psychopathic behaviour.

Matt continues to say that the album itself explores the journey of a human, from abandonment and loss of hope, to indoctrination by the system to be a human drone, to their eventual defection from their oppressors.

My interpretation of the song involves the training and brainwashing of armies, stripping them of their humanity, and replacing it with the urge and need to kill. Being trained to kill on command, with no empathy, to then be blamed when the consequences come around. Being abandoned and forgotten, left to suffer with the trauma and guilt of the actions forced upon them.

Time Is Running Out:

I think I'm drowning

Asphyxiated

I wanna break this spell

That you've created

You're something beautiful

A contradiction

I wanna play the game

I want the friction

You will be the death of me

Bury it

I won't let you bury it

I won't let you smother it

I won't let you murder it

Our time is running out

You can't push it underground

You can't stop it screaming out

I wanted freedom

Bound and restricted

I tried to give you up

But I'm addicted

Now that you know I'm trapped sense of elation

You'd never dream of

Breaking this fixation

You will squeeze the life out of me

Bury it

I won't let you bury it

I won't let you smother it

I won't let you murder it

Our time is running out

You can't push…

by Muse

Time Is Running Out Analysis:

My personal interpretation of this song is about life itself. At times you feel like you're drowning and that you will never be free to do what you want to do, and try to stop it. But there will be a point where you are addicted to everything life can give. You can’t stop it from taking its course, and you can’t contain it or ‘screaming out’. It is meant to be seen and heard and used to its full potential.

Time Is Running Out written by lead vocalist Matt Bellamy. This song is open to many interpretations. One is a girl who smothers a guy, but he is now ‘addicted’ to her and can’t let go.

It could also be a commentary on the fleeting nature of time itself, and how it can be so overwhelming but beautiful. It is slowly sucking the life out of us and, in the end, it will be the death of the majority of humankind. The song states that you can’t stop it, and you can’t manipulate it. You are free until you realise you are, then it will restrict you - ‘bound and restricted’.

Based on the music video, it suggests the lyrics refer to the approach of a nuclear holocaust: ‘you can’t push it underground, you can’t stop it screaming it out, how did it come to this?’

Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide:

Time takes a cigarette, puts it in your mouth

You pull on your finger, then another finger, then cigarette

The wall-to-wall is calling, it lingers, then you forget

Ohhh, you're a rock 'n' roll suicide

You're too old to lose it, too young to choose it

And the clock waits so patiently on your song

You walk past a cafe, but you don't eat when you've lived too long

Oh, no, no, no, you're a rock 'n' roll suicide

Chev brakes are snarling as you stumble across the road

But the day breaks instead, so you hurry home

Don't let the sun blast your shadow

Don't let the milk float ride your mind

They're so natural, religiously unkind

Oh no, love, you're not alone

You're watching yourself, but you're too unfair

You got your head all tangled up, but if I could only make…

by David Bowie

Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide Analysis:

Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide written by David Bowie. This song is about Bowie’s persona, Ziggy Stardust and his collapse. The song closes the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. You get an idea of what the song is about just from the title itself.

Lyrics such as, “Time takes a cigarette, puts it in your mouth” and “the clock waits so patiently on your song” suggest that Ziggy was born to die. Time is killing him slowly, waiting for him to finish his performance. Personally, I think that this is David Bowie singing to Ziggy Stardust, saying his final goodbyes, knowing what is going through his mind. “I’ve had my share, I’ll help you with the pain, You’re not alone”. I believe he is thankful for what Ziggy did for him and his career, and knows his time has come. “Gimme your hands ‘cause you’re wonderful”.

Lazarus:

Look up here, I'm in heaven

I've got scars that can't be seen

I've got drama, can't be stolen

Everybody knows me now

Look up here, man, I'm in danger

I've got nothing left to lose

I'm so high it makes my brain whirl

Dropped my cell phone down below

Ain't that just like me?

By the time I got to New York

I was living like a king

Then I used up all my money

I was looking for your ass

This way or no way

You know, I'll be free

Just like that bluebird

Now ain't that just like me?

Oh I'll be free

Just like that bluebird

Oh I'll be free

Ain't that just like me?

by David Bowie

Lazarus Analysis:

Lazarus written by David Bowie. Bowie was working on his off-Broadway musical Lazarus, a sequel to The Man Who Fell to Earth. He played the lead Thomas Jerome Newton, a man who remains on Earth unable to die. It is the only song from the production on the album.

Lazarus is a biblical name, who was restored to life four days after his death by Jesus. Reasoning behind the naming of the song, could be a metaphor for the resurrection of the Newton character. It could also be Bowie reflecting on the revival of his own career after years of self-imposed silence.

The song had a new meaning after David Bowie passed away, two days after the release of the album Blackstar. Bowie died of cancer, and had known that his life was coming to an end, indicating that in this song he was coming to terms with his death. “Look up here, I’m in heaven”.

In the music video, Bowie sings from a hospital bed with a wrap covering his eyes. A woman comes out of a wardrobe, reaching up at him from under the bed, and from under the desk as he quickly and desperately writes. She is the visual representation of Death. Bowie’s final scene is him backing into the wardrobe from where Death came from, and closing the door.

People Are Strange:

People are strange when you're a stranger

Faces look ugly when you're alone

Women seem wicked when you're unwanted

Streets are uneven when you're down

When you're strange

Faces come out of the rain

When you're strange

No one remembers your name

When you're strange

by The Doors

What Percent Are Monsters:

Early morning rain and I can’t explain

All this heartache falling down on me

And I’ve been runnin for far to long

Take me when you’re gone

Don’t wanna sing about love sing about pain

I feel all alone

We don’t feel the same

Town was built

Town was paved

Early morning rain and I can’t explain

All this heartache

Don’t go

What do you get when you lose someone?

The same old place and the same old scars

What do you do to forget someone?

You don’t look back you never look back

Stay don’t go

How many time do you have to let me go

What do you get when you lose someone?

The same old place and the same old town

by Friends of Clay

Every You Every Me:

Sucker love is heaven sent

You pucker up, our passion's spent

My hearts a tart, your body's rent

My body's broken, yours is spent

Carve your name into my arm

Instead of stressed, i lie here charmed

'Cause there's nothing else to do

Every me and every you

Sucker love, a box i choose

No other box i choose to use

Another love i would abuse

No circumstances could excuse

In the shape of things to come.

Too much poison come undone

'Cause there's nothing else to do

Every me and every you

Every me, me

Sucker love is known to swing

Prone to cling and waste these things

Pucker up for heavens sake

There's never been so much at stake

I serve my head up on a plate

It's only comfort, calling late

'Cause there's nothing else to do

Every me and every you…

by Placebo

0 notes

lexaterrestrial · 7 years

Text

“Only the Good Die Young”? Idolizing the Destructive

They say the good die young.

But is that necessarily true?

Not to insinuate anything but to merely pose a question.

A lot of people are inherently good. And many i know have died young. Many of them being great people with decent characters. But they were also doing terrible things.

Do good people do terrible things?

Another question: Do we say the good die young as an aphorism to detract from the fact that they lost their life so early, or to make up for the tragedy?

I am not speaking of the unfortunate instances of innocent people with cancer, freak accidents or even murders that take their lives early.

I am speaking of self inflicted casualties that could have easily been prevented.

I once went to school with a girl, who many have described as reckless. After graduation you could catch her in local sports bars on top of the bar with her titties out. Drinking every night and always looking for a party.

One night, her and 3 of her friends were drinking heavily while driving. She was behind the wheel going 80 miles per hour and simultaneously snap chatting, while completely inebriated. She inevitably crashed and died that night killing one of her friends. And the fate of the 3rd girl? She was tossed from the car breaking her ribs and somehow surviving.

A question i can’t stop myself from pondering… Would a good person with good character do something like that?

As hard as it is for me to answer that question, the simple, intuitive answer is

No.

Sure, people are troubled. And still carry many good qualities that benefit themselves and the world around them. There are many reasons for the things they do.

But a genuinely smart and considerate person, would not put their friends, family and others in that high of a risk of imminent death. Not even for the mission of a good time.

When we say, “the good die young”, we often refer to our idols, another topic i will be covering.

Take Marylin Monroe for instance, a beautiful, charismatic woman. She was an overdosing playmate, pills and champagne. And a sadness not many knew she carried within. What ensued in her head we may never know. But she died young. Found in her home having overdosed on barbiturates. Many idolized her for her fame, her figure and her looks.

Elvis Presley, addicted to pills, particularly valium. He would take so many drugs that he would be in a complete stupor before his shows and his manager’s and assistants would have to lift him up and inject cocaine into him just to wake him back out of it to perform. Many said he was a glutton.

I won’t go into Kurt Cobain’s death because there are too many controversies surrounding it. And i find his character to be pure and exempt aside from the pain & addictions he struggled with. Which raises a point: One can be a good person, still having problems, if they keep their problems from completely overshadowing their inherent good. Or separate them.

Another 27 club member, who happens to be, and continue to be my favorite is Miss Amy Winehouse, a passionate, sassy yet troubled woman. I adored her much. I adored her for her wits, her androgynous aura, her humor, her inner strength, and the fact that at the end of the day, she wasn’t afraid to say no, she just wanted to be a real person. She rebelled. But she did so in order to keep it real. She cried out in order to be so at times. She struggled with an eating disorder and drug addiction soon after meeting the love of her life, falling into yet another destructive relationship: one with crack. She then became an alcoholic later on, and died from alcohol poisoning at 27. As destructive as she appeared in the media. I found her to be an overall good person, who considered herself equal to everyone. Who showed her flaws. Who cared for others. And had the capability and depth to fall madly in love at levels most people cannot even reach. This showed in her music.

Aside from Amy and Blake, other infamous couples are: Bonnie & Clyde, Kourtney and Kurt and Sid and Nancy.

Sid Vicious was the vocalist and bassist for the Sex Pistols (If you haven’t a clue who the sex pistols are, you need some culture in your life boo).

This was around an era where big haired rockstars shot up drugs backstage and in hotels. They cheated on their spouses with many women and fan girls, covering it up by supposedly “rubbing burritos on their dicks.” Although that was Motley Crue, not the Sex Pistols, but regardless, that was apparently a thing. Now back to the story….

Sid Vicious was a dope addict.

Vicious met his eventual girlfriend and manager Nancy Spungen, and the pair entered a destructive codependent relationship based on drug use. This culminated in Spungen's death from an apparent stab wound while staying in New York City's Hotel Chelsea with Vicious. He was a suspect but released on bail. He then went on to assault a man named Todd Smith at a night club and then entered rehab.

To celebrate his release from Prison his mother threw him a party in Greenwich Village where a friend helped him obtain heroin and he died in his sleep that night.

Sid Vicious is an idol to many people. Was it for his music? Or his character and reckless punk rock lifestyle?

It’s interesting and hard to deduce, because a lot of people are ridiculed because of their poor behavior and as a result, their music is no longer listened to by many fans who protest their actions; just look at Chris Brown- who is still making music but not where he could be had he not been so reckless and abusive.

The last person i am going to talk about is the most recent, and that is Lil Peep. At only 21, he died from an overdose of xanax and benzo’s right before a show. Although many people are talking causes of death before autopsy reports will even be conclusive. It’s likely due to the mixture or amount he took. You would regularly see posts of him on social media popping pills on his tour bus or talking about xanax. Promoting reckless behavior to his other artists friends zx well who had fallen into the same trap. Many idolized him. For his image, his music and his struggles. But was he idolized for anything other than that? I would assume so, but i never hear much about it from people outside of his circle which is unfortunate.

Do good and/or smart people promote lethal drug use on their social platforms? Or do they choose something intelligent and influential to say…?

I won’t say that all troubled people are bad or dumb. Troubled people have foggy minds… that make us act outside ourselves. I know because i have been there. I started to realize that i was destroying my life, my potential and causing my family stress. We never really assume that things will play out the way they do, so we inch towards danger. We know the consequences but we make excuses in our head, and fool ourselves into thinking we’re invincible.

Freak accidents happen every day without one even trying. And TRYING only ups the ante.

A lot of people don’t think. At least not rationally. Especially before they think or act.

We cannot blame people for their vices or their troubles. Whether mentally or emotionally. However It is partly their responsibilities but also partly a disease.

But were these people good? We all carry some good traits. But over all as a soul. Were they good people? Some don’t know these supposed idols well enough to determine that. So why do we idolize them?

When you think of a good person what do you think of? Honestly.

Someone who is famous, beautiful, inspiring? Someone who died before their time?

Or someone who gives back to others, their community, spreads kindness and joy? Maybe volunteers, or even works hard to take good care of themselves and their families.

What i think of to be an all encapsulating good person, I envision someone who doesn’t ask much of others, who is self sufficient, someone with a good heart, good intentions and good ACTIONS. Someone authentic, who doesn’t bullshit for their own benefit. Someone who speaks truth to the public and puts out an image congruent with that. Who also uses their platform to help humanity progress forth, and not simply for their benefit. Someone who has a heart for those with less. Someone who does incredible things in the world that benefit others. Someone who doesn’t promote destruction or a destructive lifestyle, especially to the young and moldable.

Why are our idols not doctors, inventors, scientists, a teacher, a social worker, a firefighter, a counselor, or a veterinarian…?

Most of these people go unknown, and unaccredited.

Some of these people die young i’m sure. But we would never know it, unless they were famous or murdered.

Some people might say bringing Music to the world IS HELPING PEOPLE.

But is it? As a diehard musician this is even crazy for me to ask. Aside from their music, what do they do to inspire or be worthy of idolization?

I can only think of a few that make sense to me: Lady Gaga, maybe Jay-Z or J.Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Logic, and now my mind is blank..

Their positive messages & political statements are not just potently scattered throughout their music but also through what they say and do.

Just watch a Logic interview or Listen to his 1-800 song. Or hear him preach the mantra of “Peace, Love & Positivity” at his shows. Watch how J.Cole carries himself and even talks about false idols and false prophets (or is it profit$?), calling out society’s hypocrisies. Listen to the way Kendrick Lamar shines light on societal problems, poor neighborhoods, diversity and even your relationship with yourself, the influence of good, the evil and how not to fall into it’s trap. Even his interviews in which he discusses how he doesn’t drink or do drugs. Jay-Z, a father figure, a husband (although imperfect), a mogul, an entrepreneur and a legacy of hip-hop music with an actual message. He holds himself accountable and talks about his mistakes in his music. And lastly, one of the boldest women in the industry: Lady Gaga. Not only her Born This Way Album, Ball and single but her messages to her fans. Her profound, relentless strength in standing up for bullied kids like herself, who get made fun of for the way they look or not being good enough. And of course, her Born This Way Foundation that she founded with her mother, which spreads awareness for social compassion, LGBT rights and Anti-Bullying. These are artists that, if you told me were your idols, i wouldn’t need to ask why.

Being a leader, or someone worth looking up to, does not mean one is perfect, or should be. It means they try. It means they carry good, and are aware of their mistakes, and can openly talk about them in a mature manner and grow to correct them. Not blindly promote them. They aren’t only using their platforms to sell overpriced lip kits and post photo after photo in their thongs. They aren’t mean to their fans, or Diva’s to their assistants. They aren’t pretentious. They don’t do things just to look good. They are concerned with their soul, their intelligence, their purpose, not only just their brands. Idols do not even want to be idols, they are equal to man, and exemplify that we are all one, and we are all great.

These are inherently good people. And most of them, are still alive.

Tom Petty, George Michael, Prince, Robin Williams, Paul Walker, Michael Jackson… although a bit older than their 20’s and 30’s, they passed on earlier than they should have. I see these people to be necessarily good. And some of them to be passionate, caring and considerate, good hearted people, who spent a lot of their time on making the lives of others better.

So, do the good die young? Sometimes.

But suicide, and drug usage is not inherently good. Although it does not erase all of the good qualities of a person… it is not worthy or logical of idolizing. To be completely truthful, NO ONE should be idolized. And although we are all made to be different heights, we should not look up or down at one another. We are all equal.

But if we are going to idolize let it be because of ones actions, souls, and ones words: not their reckless, “rockstar” behaviors.

Let us be praised not for killing ourselves (or others). But be appreciated while we are alive. Give attention to those doing good, not bad. Look up to those people, the ones who didn’t succumb to the dark path but rather got themselves out of it, and helped others find the light in the process.

Perhaps it is in our nature to be drawn to a train accident or freakish series of events…

but we find ourselves examining and paying attention to the misfortunes of others, rather than their good. And we find ourselves paying attention to train wrecks to see what they do next, and for the controversial aspect of their entertainment.

My conclusion is that some good people unfortunately die young. But so do a lot of reckless people. Even though we are mortal beings, death is not something we ever picture happening to us. But the stigma in our society will only continue until we STOP acknowledging the wrong behavior and start rewarding the good.

- Melody Joy Novak

1 note · View note