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thelightsandtheroses · 3 months

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six. even the iron still fears the rot

Your Hand In Mine | Joel Miller x female reader.

Chapter summary: the past comes back to haunt you leading to a drastic decision. Chapter warnings: angst, discussions and flashbacks to descriptions of cults, religion and cult behaviour, past emotional abuse, love bombing and manipulation, the cult leader is a dangerous person, one instance of physical violence, guilt, PTSD , there is the very briefest allusion to homophobia (not direct), flashbacks, discussions of death and canon typical violence, passing mention of being an orphan, breakups, reference to pregnancy (reader is a single mother). Reader has a backstory but no physical descriptors. Word Count: 4.4k Notes -This is a big chapter, beginning a plot I have had planned for a long time and that I was so nervous about. I must thank the lovely @joelsgreys encouraged and supported me to write this idea from the start. The chapter title is from Ptolemaea by Ethel Cain (who can you believe I only discovered last week?!) Also I changed the image aesthetic a bit as I've loved seeing some other fics with this sort of three pic moodboard recently.

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“We need to talk about the Junction.”

In seven words, Beau and Sean have swept away every sense of security, of hope, of foolish optimism from you.

None of you speak as you unlock the library with shaking, sweaty hands. It takes three attempts to put the key in the lock, you can hear a strange sound, almost like an injured animal in the distance. The three of you walk in.

You lean against the wall, shutting your eyes as you try and centre yourself before you can look at your best friends’ faces.

“What’s happened?” you ask finally. "Why are you bringing up the past?"

Now is not then, you tell yourself. You are not that person anymore - you are a mother, you are stronger, more resilient. You repaired your cracks with gold. You are whole, you are different, you are you.

The Junction has no idea what they’re facing. If they’re here. If this is happening.

Sean reaches into his pocket and produces a small piece of paper. There’s a design on it, simple but familiar.

“Tommy and Joel found this less than five miles away on patrol. It was carved onto a tree.”

“Carved?”

“Yeah, so they took a sketch of it. They were asking around the Tipsy Bison about it, wondered if had seen the symbol before - knew it wasn’t Fireflies or FEDRA, guess it worried them. They showed it to me,” Beau says flatly. “I wondered if it was them, so I went straight to Sean. He said - he said it was, or he thinks it is. We need you to confirm it though.”

“It’s them, isn’t it?” Sean asks, his voice soft and eyes desperate for you to say no, to stop this nightmare in its tracks.

You can’t say it. You can only nod, meeting your best friend’s heartbroken eyes reluctantly.

“Scouting symbol,” you say quietly. ‘He designed it as a code but he designed a lot of things like that, I didn’t expect much would come of it at the time. I guess -” You pause. “If they’re nearby then it sounds they lost the settlement and have been moving around. I can’t remember exactly what the symbol was meant to mean, but it was definitely for scouting, or to mark - to mark something.”

You thought you would have more time. Time to build something with Joel, to watch Gabriel become the man you know he will be. You had started to hope, to dream.

Dreaming has always been dangerous.

You’ve been on borrowed time for seventeen years.

You expected to panic, to feel more anxious or upset. You had thought you’d sob, fall apart on the floor like you have before, burn with the agony of it all. There’s ice running through you instead and a cool detachment. You don’t recognise your voice, don’t recognise your body. You’re gone, an observer watching a stranger so far away from reality.

“How soon can we get ammo, get supplies?” you ask.

“You can’t think we’re going to outrun this, sweetheart. Not when they’re less than five miles away,” Beau says, shaking his head.

“We’re fucked,” Sean whispers, “less than five miles this morning, they could be - shit. We can’t even run, can we? We’re fucked.” He looks down at his hands, rakes his hands over his hair.

Your past has finally come back to haunt you.

You should have just told Gabriel the truth about his father. You should have told him where you took him away from.

You should have told him a lot of things.

2004

“We are at a moment right now where the only thing we can do is change. The old ways failed us; we let our hate, our differences, our selfishness dictate our lives and we have all paid a price for this. In our loss, in their names, we stand at a junction and we have a choice right now. Will you listen to me? Will we move forward together and carve a new path, take the route to peace and away from the horrors we have seen?”

The world’s changed a lot in the last six months. Pandemics, death, a whole new dictionary where abbreviations like FEDRA, QZs mean something now and some many words have become redundant. There’s been a lot of death. Survival, that feels like the best outcome right now, living feels like something impossible.

They’ll find a cure soon. The smartest people left in the world are working on it.

They’ll find a cure soon. This can’t go on like this forever.

They’ll find a cure soon. There’s no other option.

One day in a year or two, you’ll look back on this with Sean and giggle. Do you remember the winter of 2003? Do you remember when we had to live in a QZ and when mushrooms became sinister for a short time? It’ll be something to tell your grandchildren, huddled around a fire and after a long and normal life. You’ll go back to cinemas and dinner at restaurants, to finally getting broadband installed, to a future. There will be scars, of course, but society will move on before you’ve even recognised those.

Humanity will survive, it will endure this. You have to believe that.

There are rumours though - rumours of life in and outside the QZ being lawless, of the loss of society, that humanity isn’t thriving right now.

You had different plans for this year. You didn’t expect to be in a small one bedroomed apartment with Sean. You didn’t expect to be an orphan - or an assumed one at least. Maybe they’re still alive. You hope they are, hope their flight made it to their location, that Cordyceps isn’t so bad over there. You wonder what their lives are like - a two-week vacation that’s turned into months. You’ll laugh about this with them one day.

You live in denial because it’s easier. Because one day this will be all a bad memory. You’ll be back on the path towards the life and career you were working towards, and the months spent picking up shifts in a laundromat and community kitchen to live in a run-down building will soon be a distant memory.

You meet him on a Tuesday. You’re at the laundromat and reading a battered library book, enjoying this rare moment when you’re alone, when he walks in.

There’s something about him that immediately commands your attention. He’s tall, muscular and carries himself with confidence.

“Hi,” he says, noticing you watching him. “Haven’t seen you before.”

You nod, placing your book down quietly. “There’s only one dryer working, I’m afraid.” You’re not sure if there’ll ever be more than one dryer working at this point - there’s a shortage of parts and tumble dryers are hardly a priority right now. The one working dryer will just become a Frankenstein of other machine parts, of hope and duct tape until it finally dies. Maybe there will be a cure by then though.

“That’s no worry. I’m Ethan,” the man replies with a faint smile.

You say your name in response and he repeats it like he’s trying to store it in his memory. You feel exposed, perceived in a way you hadn’t anticipated.

You suspect though. You suspect that somehow an axis has marginally tilted, a change has occurred.

You don’t believe in love at first sight. Life isn’t like a movie after all, or if it is, then right now it’s only a horror film. You don’t believe that you can just fall someone instantly. Or you didn’t.

It’s magnetic, his energy, his charisma. You love how his voice sounds, the way his hair falls slightly into piercing eyes. He speaks with care, looks at you like he really cares what you think to his words. He reminds you of the men you’d fantasise about meeting while in college. You thought you’d just wander into a coffee shop on your way to your next seminar and there he’d be.

Even here in a dingy and dirty laundromat, you feel those butterflies.

You’re sure you’ve never met anyone like him before and you have a sense that you will never meet anyone else like him.

You have no idea how right you are.

“Is it a church thing? Really?” Sean asks, taking a gulp of water before leaning against the kitchen sink. “I thought you said after your parents -”

“I don’t think it’s really religious,” you say, “Ethan told me it was more about a sense of self than anything theistic. It’s like a support group from what he said.”

“Thought you hated therapy.”

“Yeah, well, then the world ended.”

“Touché. Can’t you go alone?”

“I could, but I don’t want to,” you say, a teasing smile as you meet your best friend’s eyes. “I want you to meet Ethan. Tell me what you think.”

You need Sean to meet Ethan because it feels like Ethan could be important. You want Sean to like him, to approve of him. You need to him to.

“I don’t know, hon, it sounds - I don’t know what it’s about.”

“Sean, it’s just a workshop, what harm could it possibly do?”

Sean cocks an eyebrow and sighs. “Fine, we’ll check it out. How bad can it be?”

Famous last words.

“The Junction is here. Humanity has failed in our mission, but it isn’t all lost. We can start afresh, become something better. Every one of us in this room has hope, has what is needed to rebuild our world to save us. The threats of cordyceps, of violence cannot stand in our way … we must not let these evil forces win.”

It starts so slowly. You become friends as he frequents the launderette more and more. You get to know each other..

You’re not what sure to expect from his workshops but his words are compelling. He makes sense. What he says is rational - until it strays into something else, but it’s still got that root of logic. He’s just stressed, you reason, more people are talking about the workshops.

You fall for him.

He brings you a bunch of roses to the laundrette. Roses.

You haven’t seen roses since the outbreak, you’re not sure anyone has ever bought you flowers like this. You have no idea how he’s got them, but he’s got them for you.

He’s so smart, so compassionate and it’s more than that, he really listens to you. Falling in love with Ethan is the easiest thing in the world. You hadn’t spent much time dating before the outbreak, had been too afraid in the immediate aftermath. You think Ethan might be the first man you’ve ever fallen in love with.

He starts to invite to sit with him at his workshops, places an arm around you when you speak in sessions. You swell with pride because out of everyone, he’s chosen you.

So you drag Sean to more workshops, you bring friends from your apartment building. You want more people to hear Ethan because he’s changed your life. What else could he do for people?

Time passes. Ethan’s language starts to change again. It’s starting to shift from collective processing of the trauma, the unceasing horror of the last year to something different. It’s less about you all and more about Ethan, about his visions and him. Ethan knows the way through the Junction.

He’ll lead you all through.

It’s your fault really, what happens next. You set everything in motion. You’re almost mugged on the way home from the launderette one night. His next workshop talks about the pain of this post-cordyceps world, of the way FEDRA encourages lawlessness to steer us from the right path, towards evil and ruin.

He says that the QZ is actively fighting against you all need to do. It is fighting for the wrong turn at the next junction. That can’t happen. You can’t raise a family here, make a life, not when society continues to fall apart in front of you. You’re scared walking to your apartment at night now, so you think he must be right. There’s the possibility of something better with him.

So when Ethan says maybe it’s time to leave the QZ, you think he might be right. Of course you’d go with him, where else could you go? You beg Sean to come with you, you’re terrified he’ll die when the QZ falls otherwise.

That’s another mistake.

2005

“The thing is, it’s not about cordyceps. Not really. That was only the vehicle to lead us here, to show me the way forward. We must build afresh here. I have been spoken to and I know this - this community is the only way humanity survives. I will lead us to ensure that humanity is not lost. We had to leave the QZ because the agents of chaos and evil were there, they knew what we needed to do, they knew my mission. We have a chance here. We have a chance here to grow and survive and thrive. This is my mission, our collective goal. The Junction will succeed where FEDRA failed, where the old ways. I received a message; we’re heeding it by being here. The hard work is being done now. The Junction is the future.”

The Junction move to what was once a gated community many miles outside of the QZ. It’s self-sufficient to a point, with high walls, generators, and access to facilities. In some ways, it’s almost like a miniature QZ- it’s better though.

A former resident suggested the location to Ethan and he said he knew right there and then it was where you all need to be. He said it was a sign; that he was told everyone needed to be there.

It’s going to be idyllic. That’s what he’s promised. It’s what you believe.

You love him.

You marry Ethan on a summer’s day to the entire Junction as witnesses. You are so in love, you don’t see the looming clouds, the storm ahead. It’s a whirlwind romance, a sign of hope in this terrifying world. Your relationship, he tells you, is a symbol for all of his followers, it’s the lynchpin to keep your community together.

You read through his notes, they’re less like inspirational words and more like sermons now, but he says that’s fine. He says he’s spoken to the Divine . It’s his duty, his destiny. It’s yours to help him too.

You believe he is a good man. It’s your responsibility to help him lead everyone through this mess.

You love him.

When you’re in love you can excuse things though. Those subtle language shifts: we to I, debates on decisions to instructions, the focus on how you represent him as opposed to how you feel, what you want.

The pressure starts to constrict around your neck just a little. It’s all becoming too much, you’re not Ethan, you don’t know how to be a leader, or a leader’s wife.

You take every note he offers in the spirit of self-improvement , tweak every behaviour to get things right. Ethan needs this from you.

The Junction needs this from you.

You need to do better.

You love him.

And if you notice the way Sean’s brow furrows every time you speak or see him now, the way he shakes his head sometimes, or the way he opens his mouth but doesn’t seem able to say the words he wants to, you put it aside. He’s struggling to adjust - that’s all.

It has to work here. If it doesn’t, you know you will die outside the Junction, that the QZs will already be falling. Ethan tells you he’s heard on the radio numerous have already fallen. You can’t find the same messages on the radio when you try alone though. You believe him though.

You’re the last stand for humanity.

This is the only way.

Ethan is your only option.

You are so in love with him.

Time passes. There’s a bad harvest, the seeds don’t take. Ethan says, it’s a sign the group’s faith is false, that they are somehow poisoning the group. Ethan becomes obsessed with the fact he needs to root the traitor out.

You’re not allowed to proof-read his speeches anymore, not involved in his congregation. He won’t discuss his beliefs, his visions with you.

You are in love with him though.

His eyes on you feel searching, scathing, and sinister.

You start to feel scared; a twisting sense of sickness and fear that perhaps this, this isn’t going to be okay. This isn’t just an intentional community, is it?

You have doubts about Ethan too, about the glint in his eyes, about the way he sometimes talks about Sean or other congregants, about you.

He doesn’t like you leaving the house these days because you keep saying the wrong things, keep unintentionally undermining his views. You stop answering the door to Sean, you listen to old radio broadcasts and wish you could be a better wife. A better believer.

After one sermon, he breaks the radio by throwing it against the living room wall. Your world becomes so much smaller again.

The doubts are getting louder now. Maybe the Junction is … no, that word belongs in movies and tv shows, in a time that’s long since passed. However, maybe it’s not what you thought. Maybe Ethan’s not what you thought.

It’s just … you really do love him, right?

“Is it you?” Ethan asks, eyes wild and desperate. You’re not sure what’s happened; one second you’re in your kitchen, sitting at the table and talking to him and now you can feel the cold wall against your back, Ethan’s hot breath so close to you, the feel of his hand on your hair. “Are you the reason why? Are you the reason why this is falling apart? You don’t believe, do you? It’s you, it’s you. You’re a curse, you’re a goddamned curse.” “Of course I believe, of course I do.” “You’re lying.” He’s right about that. Ethan is not who you thought. The Junction is dangerous. You need to leave. You know this now. You don’t want to die here. You don’t want Sean to die here either; you bought him into this mess, the two of you need to leave this place soon. Alive.

Jackson, WY, 2024

There isn’t much of a choice. You need suppliers, weapons, a plan before you can even think about leaving Jackson.

Beau’s right - this isn’t something you can outrun. It isn’t as simple as it used to be. Gabriel’s too old to be told he’s going on an adventure and cheerfully tag along without question - it was hard enough getting him to leave Kansas.

There’s Joel too, Ellie … you don’t know what to tell them.

You know that Jackson isn’t safe with the looming threat of the Junction. You’ve built a life here; a home and you want to protect that.

Besides they could already be here, you think, mentally running through every trader or newcomer you remember seeing in recent weeks.

“Is everything okay?” Gabriel asks softly, sitting next to you on the faded couch. “Beau and Sean seem … tense.”

“They’re fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

Gabriel frowns, looks away.

You could tell him. He’s sixteen. You could tell him the truth. He wants the truth.

You can barely live with it though; barely live with your own part in it all. You proofread his sermons. You want to give him a father that’s safe, a memory of a good man. Not a deranged, dangerous cult leader.

The air is thick with smoke. You can hear the flames consuming the wooden building, can hear people yelling in the distance. Your distraction failed. There’s a gun in your hands, aiming at him. You can’t stop shaking. “Just - just let us leave,” you say desperately. “You’re my wife.” “Ethan -” “You’re pregnant, you think I didn’t know?” Your panic heightens. This is the reason you’ve been desperate to escape with Sean, to find somewhere else ... you didn’t think he knew. “I won’t let you go like this. I won’t let you take a child from me. My child. They’re going to - when he’s born, everything will be okay again.” No. Ethan cannot be in your child’s life. You cannot raise a child in a cult. You raise your hands once more and pull the trigger.

“You know I love you, right?” you ask your son.

“Mum,” he groans, sounding out every syllable - the epitome of a teenager, ”Of course I know that.”

“Good, I’d do anything for you, kid.”

Love.

It’s a strange word; a weapon, a revelation, a lullaby. You grew up with messages about soulmates, about princesses finding their Prince Charming and happy-ever-afters. The world changed; those views were exposed for their naïveté more than ever. It became a dream. Something for other people, not you. Then you met Ethan and love became real, tangible. Dangerous.

You didn’t want that type of love again. Relationships were casual, you kept detached, held something back.

Then Joel stole your goddamn bench and ruined everything.

You feel an ache in your stomach as you watch him working on the porch of an empty house. The mailbox says it belonged to the Bensons, you wonder where they are, what became of them, who will move to this house one day.

“How is it?” you call.

Joel looks up and over at you, a smile widening.

You want to drink in every detail of Joel, commit every freckle, the feel of his fingers on your skin, the sound of his voice as he talks to you, the way he looks when he wakes up … every single part of him.

“Hi,” he says lowly, wincing slightly as he stands up. “It’s in pretty good shape actually - just the porch here needs some work.”

“Wow,” you say, aimlessly swinging your hands as you move closer to him.

“How’s the library been?”

“I wasn’t there today,” you say, honestly, “I had to help Sean.” Not that either of you achieved much. You were in the greenhouses and spent most of your day planning, panicking, and pacifying your anxieties.

There were no immediate solutions to the situation you’d found yourselves in so none of you slept much last night as the worry permeated your mind. Except for Gabriel, perhaps - your beautiful son, the reason you needed a better plan.

Well, there are other reasons too.

Joel touches your shoulder gently. “You okay, sweetheart? You look -”

“Don’t, don’t you finish that sentence, darling,” you say in your breeziest voice.

Joel frowns slightly, furrows his brow.

“How’s Ellie?” you ask, desperate to get this conversation back on track.

“She’s good. Gabriel?”

“I think he has a girlfriend,” you admit, giving yourself just a moment of normality. “Or boyfriend. I think he’s dating, regardless.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Uh huh, he’s got the signs.” It pulls at your heart; your son won’t want to leave Jackson. He’s building a life here. A decent one.

You were starting to do the same.

“I am not looking forward to that with Ellie,” Joel admits.

You raise an eyebrow. “Really? You’re worried?”

“Who doesn’t worry?”

“Touché.”

“So, what’d I owe the pleasure of this visit to?” he asks, honey sweet as he slips his hands around your waste, leans close to you, his lips on the edge of your collarbone. “not that it isn’t a highlight of my day.”

“Just wanted to say hello.” You feel the heat of his breath as he chuckles, kissing you briefly.

He smells like soap and the outdoors. There’s a lingering hint of mint, of firewood too.

“That works for me.”

He guides you against the wall and as he works his way up your neck, to your jaw, mumbling sweet nothings against your skin, you wish it could be different.

You want to stay here in this moment, or at least you want to stay here with Joel right now.

They could already be on their way.

“Joel -”I love you.

The words hang in the air, unspoken but clear. He must know, surely?

“Yeah?” he asks, looking at you carefully.

“I don’t think this is working anymore.”

You know you shouldn’t look at him, but you owe him this at least.

His face crumples; confusion, shock, uncertainty. You watch how he works through every moment before shaping his expression into something blank, a look you haven’t seen him wear before.

“Why?” he asks gruffly.

“I just think we need to pause things.”

“Is it because of what happened with Ellie?”

“No, no, not at all,” you say in a panic, remembering the stern conversation you’d had after Ellie’s suspicious accident.

Joel is in the kitchen with his arms folded, flannel rolled up to his elbows and his scarred, tanned skin exposed. “Total honesty […] that goes both ways, sweetheart.”

Joel was right and he deserves honesty, he deserves someone who can tell him their truths, but you can’t. Not yet.

Not when Gabriel doesn’t know, not when you fear the inevitable judgment on Joel’s face. You helped him edit his sermons, you married him, you didn’t see it until it was too late. Ignorance doesn’t excuse complicity to you though.

You need to protect Ellie too, protect Joel, protect Jackson as well as your family. The Junction would be so dangerous to them - they’re an invasive species, they see something habitable and they would take it over, spread the rot from inside. They might already be doing that.

You can’t be with Joel right now. You just can’t.

A thousand words sit at your lips; you will yourself to give him some sort of explanation, some sort of better parting. When you’re dead, he’ll remember this. maybe it’s better this way. You ruin yourself to him now so he doesn’t have to mourn you, so you’re not another loss or excuse to shut his heart away. You are committing a kindness to him and incomparable damage to yourself because you do love him. You do, you love him in a way that terrifies and soothes you all at once. You feel like it’s been years and decades but maybe Joel is the right person for you at last.

You will not damn him to mourn another lost love though.

This is a kindness.

“I’m sorry,” you say flatly and you step off the porch and away from him, unable to look back in case he disappears.

It’s for him, it’s for him, you’re doing this for him, for Ellie, for Gabriel, for Sean and Beau. This pain is your penance.

Tag List

YHIM: @orcasoul@pedropascalsbbg @yoursoulsunbreakable@iamskyereads@genetics4life@everyth1ngfan@frickatives@perennialdoll247@joelsgreys@pedrobaby@missladym1981@noisynightmarepoetry@picketniffler @titlee78

Everything Pedro tag-list: @harriedandharassed@pedrostories@hiroikegawa @pedrosaidsheispunk @pastelnap

#joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #joel miller x female reader #joel miller #the last of us fanfiction #pedro pascal character #joel miller fanfiction #the last of us #your hand in mine fic #fic: your hand in mine

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ghostfacesvalentine · 1 year

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Going to the club - MultiMuse x Fem!Reader

Pairing: Multimuse x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol, fighting, blackout drunkeness. Nothing too serious though.

Type: Blerps a little sprinkle of HC

Request: N/A

Word Count: N/A

Prompt: Going to the club with the muses and how they’d react or feel and what they’d do. Just a little messy fic, trying to get my creative juices back.

Notes: I pledge allegiance to Sean Paul.

Jason Voorhees: What a lost little baby, he doesn’t like the loud music or the bright lights at all. He’s kind of frozen, just standing by your side, it’s so hard to keep up with you. He likes to watch you dance and enjoy yourself though, but he starts to zone in and out as the night goes on. If you get him used to it, he slowly would become used to the surroundings and eventually would come out of his shell. It’d be so cute to watch Jason dance around in his little corner with his colorful drink that’s too small for his hands.

Michael Myers: Will not move at all, no matter how much you bump your hips into him, trying to get him to dance with you. Michael will follow you anywhere, but that doesn’t mean he has to participate. You may be getting drinks and he’d be standing right beside you, but even turning your back for a second, he’s gone. You’ve gotten used to that. When you’re dancing on the floor, you then catch a glance of a familiar mask. It’s nothing that you’re not used to, but it definitely would be more fun if you got him to budge, either way, rest assured yours and your friends’ drinks are safe with him.

Tiffany Valentine: LOOOVES IT. Would go to the club every night if you asked. Dressing up would absolutely be her favorite part. Tiffany would love to help you with your make up and choosing your outfit. If you’re really about it, she would pregame with you. She would encourage you to drink s o m u c h. If you meet her energy, you absolutely have to plan for after, getting food and getting home, however if you don’t then you may have to take care of her even a little into the next morning. It’s not anything new to you two. Tiffany definitely loves to have fun and going to the club, dancing and drinking without a care in the world would be one of the best date ideas you could come up with.

Billy Loomis: Is literally only down because he wants to see you in a short skirt or dress. That’s it. He likes the drinking too, but nothing that can compare to a horror movie party at Stu’s. Billy wouldn’t suggest going to the club, but he wouldn’t oppose to it. Would watch you get ready, staring you down from the corner of the bed as you put your make up on. He’s pretty much only drinking at the club and watching you get loose, swaying back and forth with hair tangling across your face without any rhythm. It’s kind of cute and kind of hot.

Stu Macher: Would love to go with you, he may not be as enthusiastic as Tiffany, but he loves to drink. When would Stu ever miss the opportunity to see you get dressed up and drunk? If he ever does, he made you promise him to shoot him. Stu would not be shy to let loose with you, ordering drink after drink, dancing until you literally cannot stand anymore. If the crowd matched his energy, you’d catch him climbing the stage and pretending like he’s grinding on the pole fully dressed. The headaches incoming are going to be gnarly, who’s turn was it to take care of the other this time?

Patrick Bateman: Is used to going to bars and clubs of all sorts, mainly high end ones. Patrick wouldn’t say no to your suggestion, not opposed to having a drink or two. You wouldn’t catch him shitfaced though. He kind of is just there to make sure you don’t get out of hand and embarrass him, but at the same time, he’s there to show you off knowing his friends would have a thought or two of lust cross their minds. He’d be an excellent caretaker for a hangover though, he knows exactly what to do but he also wouldn’t be accommodating to your circumstances, after all he warned you after the fourth drink you ordered.

Leatherface: Also kind of a baby, but an excited baby. At first he’d be scared, absolutely, but after some reassurance and encouragement, he’d be dancing next to you feeling the beat of the music. He doesn’t like the taste of alcohol, but he doesn’t really need liquid courage to sway his little hips around. He would be an excellent hangover caretaker, always making sure you had enough cold rags on your forehead and water. Of course he’d be ready to go next weekend, he didn’t have to deal with that headache.

Harley Quinn: LIIIIVES to go have fun and going to club with you sounds like the perfect night. Dressing up and putting on makeup is definitely fun, but actually getting there and dancing and drinking is the highlight of the night. You never have to worry about any creeps when you’re with Harley. Some nights you get shitfaced, why even hide it. Either way, I would say Harley would probably be the most fun out of the list to go clubbing with. Waking up in an alley is not totally unusual, but most of the nights you make it home safely, whether it’s back home or back to Ivy’s. Usually Ivy is the one nursing you both back to health.

Poison Ivy: Would get a little drink or two, but mainly is looking out for you and Harley and Selina. Not that she would absolutely have to, but she likes to be a little more on the cautious side when it comes to you three. Not to mention Ivy would be the one alongside Selina to make sure you four look stunning. Ivy would absolutely dance with you for a few songs before going back to your table. 10/10 Would be ordering bottle service. Not a fan of you guys going home with anyone, but wouldn’t stop you unless she had a reason to.

Bruce Wayne: Doesn’t like the clubbing scene too much but will go with you. He has a playboy appearance to keep up with anyway. He would definitely use this as an opportunity to get some intel that maybe batman couldn’t. Orders drinks for everyone at his table to seem drunker than he is, but really he’s trying to figure out why a certain ambassador is visiting the grimy scene of Gotham’s underground club. Won’t dance though, as much as you want to get him to. He’s content at the table keeping an eye on you as you sway around in the center.

Jason Todd: All for it. Can’t guarantee that there won’t be a bar fight because someone touched you or someone you’re with. Other than having to be cautious with Jason’s temperament, it’d be pretty fun. He doesn’t mind the music or the drinking, it’s the time to let loose and have fun. Honestly, to your surprise Jason is a pretty good dancer. Hope you’re not the jealous type because he definitely has hungry eyes all on him. Jason doesn’t get drunk too easily, but he’s a bit of a baby when it comes to the hang overs. After a few painkillers, he’s ready to go again until you’re the one yelling at him to lay down.

Steve Rogers: Actually kind of down. Would help you choose your outfits and whether he admits it or not, he would try to match you, whatever you were wearing. Steve actually wants to see what all the hype is about. Most of the time he’s enjoying himself, just swaying from side to side with a drink in hand, watching you dance. Of course he’d be the one to make sure no one got handsy, therefore you and your friends could enjoy themselves. Loves to see you enjoy yourself most of all and honestly wouldn’t even hesitate to go next weekend and the weekend after that if you’re free of course.

Bucky Barnes: Is a tad bit more reserved than Steve. He wouldn’t be necessarily ecstatic to go to the club, not if it wasn’t for a mission. Still, somehow the thought of you going alone just didn’t sit right with him. Honestly kind of awestruck with the way you doll up to go to the club. You were there to have fun anyway, why not add a little glitter to your hair and face. It looked mostly like you were going to a rave, but either way, Bucky refused to peel his eyes off of you, from the bar to the floor. Kind of like Steve, he’s watching you from afar, keeping the creeps off of you. You would literally have to drag these men to the floor if you want to see them move at all.

Loki Laufeyson: Clubbing isn’t really his scene, but if you insisted on going, Loki was sure as hell going with you. Of course he would see this more of a Tony or Thor kind of scene, but he can’t help to smile to himself upon watching yourself enjoy the music, the dancing, the drinking. It was the time and place to let loose and after a hard week, it was exactly what you were going to do. After going to the club scene a few times, Loki would grow more comfortable with it, opting to follow you to the floor and move around a little more.

Cloud Strife: It’s not really his comfort zone, but he would oblige to follow if you wanted to go. He’s mostly brooding and standing nearby with his arms crossed and stone frown. No matter how many times you try to convince him that it’s fun, he doesn’t seem to get the hint. Not until you put your foot down and ask him to dance with you. Showing him how to move with the rhythm of the beats, he seems to catch on faster than you’d expect. Though he’d never admit it, it was actually kind of fun. Not to mention, seeing you dressed up and ready to dance until your feet couldn’t hold you up anymore, it definitely helped.

Spencer Reid: Like many others, maybe it’s not where he’d spend his free time, but he’s had his fair share of going to clubs, many times being mistaken to be underage. It’s not until you continue to plead for him to follow you to the floor that he does. You don’t need him grinding on you, but you want to move around to the music near him. You wanted him to have fun too. It’s definitely a way to begin teaching him. After a few drinks, Spencer would absolutely become the life of the party and the hangover party too. After his pounding headache the next day, he’d swear to never do it again, but then it does happen again.

#Michael Myers x Reader #Tiffany Valentine x Reader #Billy Loomis x Reader #Jason Voorhees x Reader #Patrick Bateman x Reader #Stu Macher x Reader #Leatherface x Reader #Harley Quinn x Reader #Poison Ivy x Reader #Bruce Wayne x Reader #Jason Todd x Reader #Steve Rogers x Reader #Bucky Barnes x Reader #Loki Laufeyson x Reader #Cloud Strife x Reader #Spencer Reid x Reader

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redsandspirit · 4 months

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Matthew Stover ruined Dooku

It is perhaps generally accepted that Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stover is one of the best books ever written in the Star Wars universe, if not the best. It's not hard to see why, since in many ways the story is head and shoulders above the movie, and Anakin Skywalker is, in my opinion, better captured by the author than anywhere else in the Expanded Universe. Still, I can't say that I was completely satisfied with the novel. Count Dooku is one of my favorite EU characters and I was saddened by how he was portrayed by Stover.

Xenophobia

Matthew Stover's Darth Tyranus is a terrible xenophobe, who never fails to remind the reader of this even during conversations with his colleagues such as Grievous and Darth Sidious. He deeply believes that creating the Empire of Man is what he was born to do? Seriously? Dooku is so evil in this book that it seems as if he would have been able to carry out all of Palpatine's plans exactly to the smallest detail without the participation of Palpatine himself. I think Stover here erases the complexity of the character that Jude Watson and Sean Stewart were able to create, and that's something we'll come back to.

A government clean, pure, direct: none of the messy scramble for the favor of ignorant rabble and subhuman creatures that made up the Republic he so despised. The government he would serve would be Authority personified. Human authority. It was no accident that the primary powers of the Confederacy of Independent Systems were Neimoidian, Skakoan, Quarren and Aqualish, Muun and Gossam, Sy Myrthian and Koorivar and Geonosian. At war’s end the aliens would be crushed, stripped of all they possessed, and their systems and their wealth would be given into the hands of the only beings who could be trusted with them. Human beings. Dooku would serve an Empire of Man. And he would serve it as only he could. As he was born to. - Revenge of the Sith, 2

In the novels written before Revenge of the Sith, we saw many important episodes from Dooku's past, and there were no premises for xenophobia. As a child, he was constantly dealing with other sentient species in the Jedi Order, and his father figure was a literal gremlin. One of Dooku's childhood friends was Eero Iridian, who is also not human. Darth Tyranus shows some remorse due to the fact that he and Darth Sidious took advantage of the Troxans (a non-human species) to drain the Republic's resources. This definitely doesn't fit with the way in RotS Dooku gleefully imagines crushing non-humans under the new government.

“These are the envoys from Troxar,” his Master said. How could he know? Dooku didn’t ask. Darth Sidious knew. He always knew.“They are considering surrender,” Dooku said. “They claim they have a resistance planned, ready to rise in insurrection when the clone troops withdraw.” “No!” the flickering figure said sharply. “The war has already damaged the planet too much to make it worth saving. Its only value now is to chew up more troops and resources. Tell them they have to fight on. Promise them reinforcements—tell them you will be deploying a new fleet of advanced droids to retake the whole system within a month, if only they can hold on. Explain that such weapons will not be put in the hands of those who surrender.” “And when the month passes, and no reinforcements arrive?” “Help will come within another month at most. Promise them that, and make them believe it. I’ve shown you how.” “I understand,” Dooku said. How casually we betray our creatures. The hooded figure cocked its head. “Having an attack of conscience, my apprentice?” “No, Master.” He met the hooded figure’s hideous eye. “It was their own greed that brought them to you,” he said. “In their heart of hearts, they always knew what they were getting into.” - Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, 1

Technophobia

The next uncharacteristic trait that was added to the character is technophobia. Anakin Skywalker's prosthetic arm disgusts Dooku, and he almost spits bile while talking to Grievous. The aristocrat hates not only cyborgs, but also ordinary droids, calling them “repulsive” and hoping that they will be destroyed along with the General.

“Which is precisely,” Dooku said meditatively, “why it might be best if I were to kill him, instead.” “Are you so certain that you can?” “Please. Of what use is power unstructured by discipline? The boy is as much a danger to himself as he is to his enemies. And that mechanical arm—” Dooku’s lip curled with cultivated distaste. “Revolting.” “Then perhaps you should have spared his real arm.” “Hmp. A gentleman would have learned to fight one-handed.” Dooku flicked a dismissive wave. “He’s no longer even entirely human. With Grievous, the use of these bio-droid devices is almost forgivable; he was such a disgusting creature already that his mechanical parts are clearly an improvement. But a blend of droid and human? Appalling. The depths of bad taste. How are we to justify associating with him?” - Revenge of the Sith, 2

Dooku nodded judiciously to himself, frowning down at the translucent blue ghosts slinking toward Palpatine. “Sound the retreat for the entire strike force, General, and prepare the ship for jump. Once the Jedi are dead, I will join you on the bridge.”“As my lord commands. Grievous out.” “Indeed you are, you vile creature,” Dooku muttered to the dead comlink. “Out of luck, and out of time.” He cast the comlink aside and ignored its clatter across the deck. He had no further use for it. Let it be destroyed along with Grievous, those repulsive bodyguards of his, and the rest of the cruiser, once he was safely captured and away. - Revenge of the Sith, 3

Why doesn't this make sense? As with xenophobia, the previous books and comics do not contain any hints that Dooku has disdain or hatred towards people with prosthetics and cyborgs. Moreover, when Grievous proposed using Geonosian technology on the Jedi Padawans for experimental purposes, Dooku approved the idea. Not to mention, the Sith Lord enjoyed Grievous' training.

Grievous had been a delight to train, as well. - Labyrinth of Evil, 22

Love and friendship

Next, Stover gaslights the reader by talking about the friendship between Dooku and Lorian Nod. Because if we go back to Legacy of the Jedi, it turns out that Dooku wasn't such a bad friend. He cares about Lorian and tries to be careful with his words so as not to hurt his feelings. Then after Lorian betrayed Dooku by blaming him for stealing the holocron, did Dooku worry about his reputation? Sure, but what unsettled him was that he was betrayed by someone so close to him. Even after what happened, he considers Nod his friend and cannot decide to refuse his request.

He doesn’t remember quite when he discovered this; it may have been when he was a young Padawan, betrayed by another learner who had claimed to be his friend. Lorian Nod had said it to his face: “You don’t know what friendship is.” And he didn’t. He had been angry, certainly; furious that his reputation had been put at risk. And he had been angry at himself, for his error in judgment: trusting as an ally one who was in fact an enemy. The most astonishing part of the whole affair had been that even after turning on him before the Jedi, the other boy had expected him to participate in a lie, in the name of their “friendship.” - Revenge of the Sith, 3

His best friend had betrayed him. Throughout the years at the Temple, he could always depend on Lorian. They had shared jokes and secrets. They had competed and helped each other. They had quarreled and made up. The fact that this person could betray him shocked him so deeply he felt sick. Legacy of the Jedi, 3

Dooku didn't know what to say. He wasn't prepared to lie, but he couldn't say no to his friend. So he said nothing, and, after a long while, the two friends fell asleep. Legacy of the Jedi, 3

Was Dooku the perfect friend? Of course not, and his pride played a role in escalating the conflict, as did Lorian’s envy, but to reduce everything to the words that “Dooku was different and did not understand friendship” I think is a monstrous simplification. The loss of his friend played a big role in Dooku's life, and that's how the story ends.

Lorian had been wrong. Dooku's heart hadn't been empty. He had loved his friend. But he had changed. Lorian had betrayed him. He would never believe in friendship again. If his heart was now empty of love, so be it. The Jedi did not believe in attachments. He would fill his heart with nobility and passion and commitment. He would become a great Jedi Master. Legacy of the Jedi, 6

We further learn that Dooku cannot care about the feelings of other beings and does not even see those around him as entirely real. Now, I don't by any means think that characters with these traits are a bad thing, or that you can't do something interesting with them, but that's not Dooku. We've seen how important his relationships with some of the other characters are to him (there's a whole novel written about him and Yoda), and that he cares to some extent about the feelings of those around him. Moreover, Stover will not explore these new traits, because Dooku will die in the next chapter anyway.

He is entirely incapable of caring what any given creature might feel for him. He cares only what that creature might do for him. Or to him. Very possibly, he is what he is because other beings just aren’t very … interesting. Or even, in a sense, entirely real. For Dooku, other beings are mostly abstractions, simple schematic sketches who fall into two essential categories. - Revenge of the Sith, 3

Jedi Order

Stover's Dooku ideal Jedi Order would forcibly remove Force-sensitive children from their families. Perhaps it's just my opinion, but it seems strange in light of the fact that his rejection trauma, as described by Sean Stewart, is related to his parents and the Jedi Order.

And that Fist would become a power beyond any Jedi’s darkest dreams. The Jedi were not the only users of the Force in the galaxy; from Hapes to Haruun Kal, from Kiffu to Dathomir, powerful Force-capable humans and near-humans had long refused to surrender their children to lifelong bound servitude in the Jedi Order. They would not so refuse the Sith Army. They would not have the choice. - Revenge of the Sith, 2

Ultimately, I can make the case that the ending of Yoda: Dark Rendezvous may have served to develop Dooku and make him even more bitter, but that doesn't justify the radical personality transplant Matthew Stover performed. And now, I often see these lines used to say that Dooku was always pure evil, had no good intentions and was always pretending, and also see questions like "as a human supremacist, what did Dooku think of Yoda?" And how can we know? All of these things were added to the character at the last minute and didn't match anything we'd seen before. This is not my Dooku.

#star wars #star wars meta #revenge of the sith #labyrinth of evil #yoda dark rendezvous #legacy of the jedi #dooku #darth tyranus

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jayden-okayden · 1 year

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“Can I call you pretty?” Sean Macguire/Reader- SFW

“Sean, Arthur, and Reader go on a run to rob a side business in a high-society bar in Saint Denis, and things go a bit off track. Arthur is caught in the middle of an argument, as usual with the two.”

Howdy! I apologize for not having updated here in a hot minute- but hopefully things are going to start getting back to normal soon. This fic was entirely made because of a conversation a friend and I had about Sean having to wear fancy clothes, so enjoy the 1.6 k words result!!

CONTINUES UNDER THE CUT

You and Sean weren’t a couple. Well, not officially, at least. But you flirted on the regular, were together more often than not, and he was almost constantly calling you silly pet names like “Darlin’” and “Sunshine.” When he told you of robbing a fancy saloon, (although you couldn’t quite wrap your head around the idea of a saloon that wasn’t always dirty, with windows and furniture constantly being broken in drunken brawls.) that was a front for money laundering, you agreed to accompany him and Arthur, thinking, what was the worst that could happen?

He even took you into town before hand, “buying” you a nice, new set of clothes. When he rushed out of the store to you and the horses, you simply raised a brow, asking how much the clothes he just got costed, he replied “Oh, right! That’s the ol’ Macguire classic, five-finger-discount!” Much to your amusement. The angry shop-keep suddenly burst out of the store, and you both jumped onto your horses, speeding out of town in record time.

And now here the three of you were, riding into Saint Denis in a stagecoach, dressed in suits that honestly made you laugh when you first saw the other two men wearing them.

When you reached the saloon, you all hopped out, and Sean payed the driver, clapping him on the shoulder before following you and Arthur into the noisy establishment.

You had to admit, the Irish man was right in his description of the place. It was nothing like other saloons. Just from a glance, you could see every person in there had pockets absolutely stuffed with money. Even the music playing was more high-class than other bars, and your fingers itched at the idea of lightening a few patrons wallets.

Arthur seemed to know exactly where your mind was going, and you flinched when he put his hand on your lower back.

“No pickin’ any pockets. We’re goin’ to find a seat, have a drink, and figure out who’s the best to get information from on the back-business.” You sighed, nodding and taking Seans arm to lead him to a table near the back of the saloon.

After around ten minutes of sitting in comfortable silence at your booth, Arthur sat up straighter in his chair, leaning forward to you and the gingers side of the table.

“Man in a white blazer, over there. He’s been going back and forth from the bar to the hallway into the kitchen. He’s definitely not a cook or staff. He came out once with his arm around a younger mans waist.” He whispered, and glanced at you with a look you knew all too well.

“Wha- No. I’m not doing that again.” You hissed, and the brunette took to a more pleading expression.

“I ain’t! Last time I did, I ended up getting two of the buttons on my shirt ripped off, AND a bite on my throat that forced me to wear a scarf for nearly a week and a half in the dead of summer!” You snapped, and Arthur sighed.

“Please? I wouldn’t ask if I had another idea.” He implored, and when you looked to Sean for a bit of help, the fool just looked away, tapping his fingers against the table edge. You huffed dramatically, standing up from your chair suddenly.

“Fine. But you both owe me.”

Sean thought it would be easy. He thought he could just sit in his seat and not worry. But now he felt guilty, and he found himself glancing toward the saloon doors every five seconds. You and the suspect had vanished into the back of the establishment after only like, ten minutes of you chatting him up at the bar counter. Now we were at eight minutes and twenty seven seconds of you being (presumably) alone with him, and the Irish man found himself getting closer and closer to barging in, guns blazing. His leg was bouncing incessantly, and no matter what he told himself, all he could think about was “what if he just sent you into the lions den?”

Arthur kept calming him down, but that didn’t matter one bit when he heard something slam in another room. Shooting up from his seat, he took off toward the doors, relieved that Arthur didn’t seem interested in stopping him.

Throwing the door to the back room open, Sean felt a wave of relief flood over him when he saw you standing over the man you left with, holding a bloodied knife as you smoothed out your dress shirt that was almost halfway undone. He rushed to your side, and you looked up, wiping the blood from your lip.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were worried about me Macguire.” You hummed, smirking at the redhead as he scoffed and turned to search for the money. You grinned, clearing your throat and holding up a stack of cash triumphantly.

“And as usual, I’m one step ahead of you.” You continued, and Sean grunted in response, crossing his arms as you divvied out the money to the other two men, giving the gangs share to Arthur to bring back to Dutch. You glanced at Sean again, and took note of his sour expression.

“What’s got your drawers in a twist, Macguire?” You asked, tilting your head to catch his eye. Sean huffed, running his hands through his hair.

“I just don’t understand why we couldn’t have just come back here when no one was watchin’, eh?” He snapped, and you jumped back as he waved his arms to exaggerate his displeasure.

“Ye’ dinna’ need to do all that whorin’ when we could’ve done it just as easily together! Makes a man wonder if you’re really all’at’ put off by it.” He finished, and you froze, eyebrows shooting up as you stared incredulously at him.

“I beg your pardon? You addle-headed Irish prick! I only did it because Morgan goddamn told me to!” You shouted, getting in his face. To your right, you heard Arthur clearing his throat quietly. The redhead scoffed.

“Yeah, I’m sure ye’ would do whatever he wanted if it was Morgan tellin’ ya’! You’ll do anythin’ to get a good fuck, eh?” The words barely left Seans mouth when your fist connected with his jaw, resulting in a satisfying crunch before he was knocked backwards onto the floor. He yelped, and grabbed his cheek in his hand while looking up at you furiously. You sneered, spitting at his feet and speaking.

“Find yer’ own way home, you fuckin’ pig. Arthur and I are gettin’ a stage back for ourselves.” You snarled, turning and leaving him on the ground as you urged the other outlaw out of the room.

The coach ride to where you left the horses was entirely silent, and Arthur only spoke up while you were leading your horses into a trot.

“Can I offer some friendly advice?” He asked quietly, and you took a calming breath before responding with a “depends.”

“I think you should talk to Sean later. He only yelled at you like that because he was worried sick about’chu when we were waitin’ to come get ya’.” He suggested gently, and you clenched your jaw.

“I ain’t sayin’ what he said was okay, but there’s more goin’ on than just him bein’ an ass.”

“I no longer want your advice, Arthur.” You replied, and you heard an exasperated sigh over the sound of your horses hooves hitting the dirt road.

“Just think about it, alright? He cares about you. That much is clear as day.” He finished, and you rode back into Shady Belle in silence.

You had been sitting with Arthur, Charles, and Tilly around the campfire for about thirty minutes when Sean finally arrived back, and when you saw who it was, you turned back in your seat so quickly you felt like you nearly snapped your neck. (As much of an exaggeration as that is.)

Sean of course, came over to the group before long, and you stood from your seat with an unintentionally(?) loud, inconvenienced sigh. You ignored the look Arthur gave you, making your way to your tent.

Just as you unfastened the flaps, a hand was on your shoulder, and you turned to see Sean standing behind you, a guilty look on his face.

“What?”

“Er- I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier.” He said quietly, looking at the ground. You raised a brow, and he continued.

“I dinna’ mean to insult ye’, I was just so worried about what was goin’ on while you were alone with that pig. That’s not to excuse what I did, but I just wanted to let ye’ know that..” You stared at the redhead while he trailed off, waiting.

“Know what?”

“That I.. care.. for ye’. Differently than the rest of these fellers’. I see them as brothers, but with you..” You grinned as he trailed off again, and stepped closer to press a kiss to his lips.

“I fancy you too, Sean.” You hummed as you pulled away, and had to stifle a laugh at the star-struck expression he now wore. Backing into your tent, the laugh bubbled out as he nearly tripped following you, securing the tent behind himself.

You took his hand, kissing him again.

“Yer’ very pretty, darlin’. Er- can I call you pretty? Is that weird to call a man pretty?” He asked, nervously stumbling over his words in a way that warmed your heart.

“Sean?” You cut off his rambling, and he started, looking at you with wide eyes.

“Yes, darlin’?”

“Shut up and kiss me.”

#rdr #rdr1 #rdr2 #sean macguire #sean macguire x reader #rdr2 fanfic #drabble #ao3 author #arthur morgan #arthur morgan rdr2 #au

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gonzo-rella · 2 years

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Headcanons: Being Laszlo Cravensworth and Nadja of Antipaxos’ Human S/O

MASTERLIST | AO3 | KO-FI

Relationship(s): Laszlo Cravensworth x Nadja of Antipaxos x gn!human!reader (romantic)

Warnings: Nothing you wouldn’t see in gay vampire show. (Let me know if I need to add any)

(A/N: Let’s start off with some shameless self-promotion for my Nandermo drabble. Sponsorship over. So, I had a jolly old time writing a Blackbonnet x reader fic not long ago, so I figured I’d write another poly thing, this time for my good time boy Laszlo and his good lady wife Nadja. At this point, my blog’s slowly being taken over by gay pirate show and gay vampire show, not that anyone’s complaining (aside from the people whose requests I haven’t written even after it’s been over a year- whoopsie). This is unrelated but I’ve added Marwa, the Guide and the Djinn (my beloveds) to my writing list. [Insert obligatory begging for WWDITS requests, especially poly Laszlo and Nadja, but I love all of my gay vampires and non-vampires])

It’s not too common that these two will be attracted to the same person, and, if they are, it’s typically purely sexual.

So, when they both find themselves attracted to you, it’s a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.

It’s clear that they both adore you.

It’s not like they declare it multiple times a day in multiple ways.

They’re both incredibly affectionate, verbally and physically.

They’re very generous with kisses and cuddles.

Nadja loves kissing your cheek and lips, while Laszlo’s more partial to your hand and forehead.

So. Many. Pet. Names.

They gush about you a lot, especially in the early stages of your relationship.

Nandor and Guillermo are sick of hearing about how wonderful you are, even if they’re supportive of your relationship.

The most supportive of your relationship is definitely Sean- he’s as happy about your relationship as Laszlo and Nadja are, if not happier.

If you’re nice to him, Colin/the Boy will definitely approve of your relationship.

You become part of their group/family quite quickly.

You probably connect with Guillermo and Marwa because of your humanity among vampires.

Sean and Charmaine treat you like an old friend.

I can imagine that, at first, Laszlo and Nadja inadvertently insult and patronise you because you’re a human (if you’ve read my platonic!WWDITS 2014 x human!reader set of headcanons, it’s a lot like that)

“Ugh- stupid humans. Not you, darling!”

Eventually, they’ll manage to stop themselves from doing it (I feel like Guillermo would be the one who tells them to cut it out).

Very random headcanon: Nadja loves holding your face in her hands.

I feel like they’ll be far less critical of you as they are of each other, and they’re less likely to argue with you than they argue with each other.

After all, they’ve been married for longer than you’ve been alive.

So, they’re sort of in a honeymoon phase with you (it’d last far longer than it would in a regular human relationship though, since vampire time feels different to human time).

God they're so cute when it comes to you.

They’re very protective over you.

They think the world of you, but Nadja’s also referred to you as her ‘sweet, feeble little human’, so...

Nadja’s more feral when it comes to protecting you.

At best, she’ll incessantly berate the other person.

At worst, she’ll tear their throat out (unless you beg her not to).

Isn’t that romantic?

Laszlo’s more likely to make an indignant remark and drag you away (more than likely while your feral lady wife is on the attack).

They love taking night time walks with you and holding your hand(s) (you usually end up in the middle).

That said, they cherish any time that they spend with you no matter where it’s spent.

The idea of turning you wouldn’t crop up for a while.

Nadja would be the one to bring it up and plead with you to consider it.

Of course, you know they’d respect whatever decision you made, even though they both hope you’ll agree.

If you do, they’ll be overjoyed.

After all, they love the idea of spending eternity with you.

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ikoarts · 3 months

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October 2022 Art (OC-tober)

All my drawings for OC-tober 2022! I did miss out Day 9 + Day 22, I think coz the prompts weren't specific to any of my OCs, but I was happy to get a unique OC drawn for 29 whole days! I'll list the prompts below too

vvv dates + info under the cut vvv

1, 2, 3 - 01-02-03/10/2022 : (The Care Taker ; The Crazy One ; The Guide)

Raven, Calypso, and Sean - Raven being something of a caretaker, caring for her little brothers, and even taking on her infant half siblings, she's very busy all of the time... Calypso, yeah hes just crazie. Sean I figured is a maths teacher, he probably teaches Noah, and is a mentor to him

4, 5, 6 - 04-05-06/10/2022 : (The Grump ; The Beauty ; The Evil One)

Ruben, Antonia, and Russula - Ruben is definitely grumpy, I think the only thing that could make him smile is if you present him with some nice cheeses, or do something really stupid :p Toni, ofc is beautiful, she takes a lot of pride in her appearance, oh the style!! i wanna be her!! Russula.. isnt "evil", not really, but shes a demon lady so thats as close as you'll get x

7, 8, 9 - 07-08-10/10/2022 : (The Pet Owner ; The Mechanic ; The Quiet One)

Wren, Delilah, and Jay - I like thinking Wren would, at some point, have a guide dog, though it's not really canon unfortunately. Delilah is one of my Ace Attorney OCs! The daughter of Ron & Desiree, she definitely has a knack for mechanics, even at such a young age. Jay is like the "fly on the wall" of the Maedas, so is Robin tbf, I think both of them sit in a corner and stare, but yeah totally quiet, unless he feels like being snarky, he just sits and is judgemental

10, 11, 12 - 11-12-13/10/2022 : (The Handsome One ; The Thief ; The Best Friends)

Copper, Angel, Blaire + Ginger - Copper is handsome!!! thats all really. Angel is another of my AA OCs, Delilah's grandma, actually, like Ron she's a thief, though it's more serious stuff, Angel might not even be her real name, who knows! Blaire and Ginger are beloved to me, best friends who found each other thru drag!

13, 14 - 14-15/10/2022 : (The Gun Lover ; The Cutie pie)

Richie and Robin - Richie isn't a "gun lover" exactly, only that he has a gun for an arm, sometimes, which he loves, but yea he might be a bit "and then i started blastin"... and Robin is a cutie pie! I've updated his design since this, but he's still cute <3

15, 16, 17 - 16-17-18/10/2022 : (Someone Else's OC (Mitzi from @creaturedrawz) ; The Helper ; The Nature Lover)

Mitzi, Susie, and Buttercup - i hadn't drawn Mitzi yet and i rly wanted to bc i love her... i need to draw for others more x ,, Susie, ofc is very helpful, super friendly and outgoing, and Buttercup is a farm boy, despite living in the city he still ofc has a huge love of nature

18, 19, 20 - 19-20-21/10/2022 : (The Father ; The Siblings ; The Girl Next Door)

Felix, Una + Zin, and Penny - Felix... ugh.. da dad evar... i love his swag ass gay boy style... Una n Zin, some of my IZ OCs, they're siblings, but, it's complicated, they consider each other siblings anyway thats all that matters, Una worries abt him a lot. PENNY, ms americas sweetheart that penny. she is battling demons in hell, with her boobs (gay)... she used to be human, but since fucking. dying. shes having a gradual transformation x

21, 22, 23 - 23-24-25/10/2022 : (The Gang Leader ; The Sad One ; The Gamer)

Caspian, Rushada, and Pumpkin - Caspian isn't a gang leader, but he would get wrapped up in gangs, but dont worry he turns it around <3 Rushada my beloved sadgirl.. again its funny to see her before i gave her a slight redesign, i liked her hands in this one tho. Pumpkin is a gamer, in his gamer zelda shirt and gamer cargo shorts, thats about it

24, 25, 26 - 26-27-28/10/2022 : (The Mother ; The Power Within ; The Lovers)

Alice, Lafayette, Gizmo + Jasmine - Alice <3 my scouse ma.. she kinda just is The mother of my ocs ig ,, Lafayette, i still haven't figured out anything too concrete about his lore, but the hidden power thing is something i feel fits him. Jasmine n Gizmo have been my standout married couple ocs for years now, i just never draw Gizmo LOL, so this is still the most recent thing of him... oops

27, 28, 29 - 29-30-31/10/2022 : (The Scientist ; The Marked One ; The Goddess)

Daffy, Luna, and Rosaline - Last stretch..... im getting tired of typing....... Daffy likes to picture himself as a mad scientist but hes just a dorky autistic dude accidentally making nuclear bombs in his bedroom lmfao. Luna i thought was obvious for the prompt, she's a zombie catgirl so shes just, parts. bits n pieces. Rosaline, again like Lafayette, i dont have much concrete about her, but being my 1 goddess oc it was pretty obvious she'd be the one i drew for the last day lol

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fanfictionroxs · 1 year

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A little analysis on who is the bigger meow meow between Black and Wei Wuxian. All blame goes to this post by @bl-bracket for making me go nuts and write all this 😅 Here we go:

On one hand, Black was betrayed by his own friend and was injured heavily and entered a freaking coma because of said betrayal. On the other hand, Wei Wuxian was dead for 13 years because he was betrayed and killed by his own brother. But since Black has taken his revenge on Todd (and confessed hehehheh) and he still has his brother, things are looking better for him. Because Wei Wuxian has Lan Wangji, but he'll never be able to reconcile with Jiang Cheng since he murdered A-Yuan's entire family. And when that shit hits the fan (and it will because no way in HELL will Sizhui let the murderers get away with this injustice), even Lan Wangji might have to leave his brother and sect since they're all responsible for the slaughter. Or they might both lose their son.

Now back to Black.. his troubles aren't over yet of course because even though Todd might be the love of his life/best friend, he's still a bad guy who stands on the unethical side. It's going to bring major troubles in Black's life and there's a bit of a parallel there with ToddBlack and WangXian since there was a time when Lan Wangji was on the wrong side. Yes, he didn't actively hurt the Wen remnants or Wei Ying, but silence/inaction of a good man is worse than being outright evil and stuff. Wei Wuxian refused to join the wrong side and Black is the same. No relationship can shake their morals (god damnit I love them both so much for this), so Todd will either have to do a Lan Wangji and join Black in walking the single plank road or they'll remain separated forever.

But one very important thing is that Black has White and for both of them that's enough. They complete each other in a way that Todd and Sean never will be able to do for them, though of course those two have a very high place in their respective twin's heart. Another thing is that Black never yearned for parental validation (and if he ever did then his mother did a good job destroying those feelings) while Wei Wuxian was always in control of his so called 'mother'. Both Black and Wei Wuxian were victims of emotional abuse by their mothers especially, but Black was able to move on from it while it still effects Wei Wuxian probably because he never got the unconditional support from his brother that Black got from White. They were like a team united against their parents' abuse since childhood and sure codependancy and stuff, but still it provided them an emotional security that made breaking away from their parents much easier even when the brothers were apart from each other.

Yeah so I'll have to give this round to Wei Wuxian. He's definitely the bigger meow meow 😢

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thewritersofdeceased · 1 day

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❛ how could you do that? i thought we were friends! ❜

❛ you betrayed us and still you think you can think you can just waltz back in here like nothing ever happened? ❜

❛ fuck you! this is all your fault! ❜

quotes from ;; @poohsources !!

word count ;; 1,147

Antonio "Racetrack" Higgins, Jack Kelly, Louis "Kid Blink" Balletti

“I’ll soak ya! Ya bum!” A voice shouted, being held back by multiple other boys. Antonio was beyond pissed. Jack betrayed them! His own friend! The leader of the Manhattan newsies! Betrayed them! He had all the right to be pissed off! For once, the boy hadn’t had a cigar held between his teeth, but damn right was he pissed off beyond recognition. Jack was a scab! Just look at him! With that stupid blazer, that stupid hat. Well- Race couldn’t call it stupid. He had the same hat on his own head.

His dark eyes were narrowed, continuing to spill out threats to Jack at the given time. Though Spot, or Sean, had stopped him eventually, spewling out his own threats, “Let me get my hands dirty.” He’d speak to Race, pushing the male slightly back. “C’MERE YOU DIRTY ROTTEN' SCABBER-!” He’d shout, trying his best to point his cane at the man he used to trust. This was just so fun. Wasn’t it?

It was aggressive. Spot was an aggressive kid, everyone knew this about him. He was a loud kid, a mean kid. It didn’t matter what, Spot was angry. But right now, he was definitely aggressive. Spot continued to try and get to Jack, being pulled back by countless of the other Newsies surrounding. “I’LL MURDER YA!” He shouted, being pulled towards the back. Eventually, Jack was.. Well, off selling his papers. He’d only stopped and gave up his scab facade when hearing the yells of a woman. Sarah Jacobs, David’s sister.

To say when Race, Spot and Blink had seen Jack again, it took a large portion of the boys to hold the three boys back so they didn't exactly murder Jack. Racer was the first to shout, violence held in the way he shouted. "How could you do that!? I thought we were friends!" He'd shout, narrowing his eyes at Jack. He was beyond pissed with Jack. Who wouldn't be? The three continued to be held back, either by someone's arms around their chest, being held back by the arms, or shoulder. For example with Racer. He had to be held back by the arms, people knowing he'd be swinging if he got free.

Spot had to be held by the chest, his cane he always carried around tightly held in hands. He had an annoyed expression on his face, his pale eyes narrowed at Jack as he stared at the boy. "You betrayed us and think you can just waltz in here like nothing ever happened!?" He shouted eventually, venom in his tone as he tried to get out of whoever was holding him, which resulted in one of his own Newsies, Sniper, being elbowed in the stomach. He didn't apologize, hell no. Spot hardly ever apologized to anyone.

Next on the list was Kid Blink. He was being held back by Mush, who had been holding him by the arms. Even with a singular bad eye, Blink had his target straight in his vision. The dirty blonde had his eye narrowed straight at Jack, annoyance laced in his tone as he soon enough spoke. "Fuck you, Jack! This is all your fault!" By all of it being Cowboy's fault, he meant all the newsies being either hurt or caught. That was his fault. And it was clear that Louis didn't trust him just yet.

Who would? Jack was JUST dressed like a scabber only a day ago! Blink had his expression remaining beyond pissed, Mush having not let go at all. He'd rather Jack not get murdered by one of the guys who can easily do that. Even if David had told them Jack was helping them again, it would take the three boys a while to really trust Jack again. Did he think he could just walk in here and think everything was going to be fine? It wasn’t. These three boys, mainly Race and Kid, trusted Jack with their hearts. But now look! Jack was coming back, even after being revealed to be working for Pulitzer! They all had the right to be pissed off. Hell, Mush understood the reason why Kid was prepared to kill ‘em. Him and Race had all the right. So did Spot.

Hell, the kid came all the way down here just to be left and betrayed by Jack! The king of Brooklyn had all the right to be beyond pissed at the leader of the Manhattan Newsies. As soon as he saw Jack dressed as a scabber, all the trust for that bastard had gone away. But now, here they all were. Well, at least here is where two of them were. Kid and Race kneeled down besides a window that appeared to be from a basement. In that said basement was David, Sarah, Jack and Denton. And it just so happened to appear that they were working on printing out a paper. The paper that spoke about the rally, that spoke about the strike. All of this. All of what these boys were standing for. Jack was trying to avoid eye contact with Race at first before hearing the boy speak.

“It’s good to have you back, Jack.” He commented, grabbing the papes that the cowboy was giving out and slinging them over his shoulder, like he had with every paper he sold during the early hours of the morning. A soft sigh escaped Jack, his shoulders falling as the breath he had sucked in finally released. He was nervous, especially when it came to his right hand man. Though, when Race and Mush had kneeled down to grab their papers, Blink still had that slight death glare on his face for a couple seconds. Unil Jack saw it form back into a smile. Which… surprised Jack, actually. He thought the kid was gonna’ kill ‘em at the third sight of him. And he wouldn’t have been surprised if so.

Taking a shaky breath in himself and grabbing the papers, he avoided eye contact for a moment or so before speaking up himself. “Thanks for comin’ back to us, Jack.” He spoke, giving a small nod to Jack, who’d only reply with a smile and nod. “It’s good to be back, Kid.” But Jack knew after all this was over, he’d be out of here. On that train to Santa Fe. It wasn’t until after the strike, with everyone celebrating, that everything happened. Jack was in the back of Teddy Roosevelt’s carriage, on his way to the train tracks. With Race in front of the line at the distribution gates trying to get their papes, it was a matter of time before someone called out with excitement in their voice.

“EVERYONE, IT’S JACK!” The voice called out, resulting in cheers. Jack was back, the boys were on goodish terms ,and Spot wasn’t gonna’ murder Cowboy.

Everything was back in order.

#92sies #kid blink #racetrack higgins #newsies #jack kelly #david jacobs #spot conlon #1992

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hydesjackiespuddinpop · 16 days

Note

You said you wanted an ask like this, so would you rather have a Sellie endgame or a Jeia endgame?

Oh my god this is so hard. On one hand, I want Jeia to be endgame so badly, but I’d be fine if they weren’t because I’m a multi shipper. And as long as their story is respected and there aren’t any retcons or the writers shitting on them, it’s completely fine with me.

Sellie, on the other hand, is endgame or bust to me. Literally it’s Sean & Ellie’s healthiest relationship and their story is so beautifully written imo. Two kids feeling broken and alone and finding solace in one another. Loving each other unconditionally and not giving up on another even after seeing each other at their worst. I can’t imagine them ending up with anyone else. Well I sorta can since I do ship them with other people, but literally they are it for me.

There’s a reason why out of both their relationships, Sellie was so well crafted. Literally the only other canon ship for either that was crafted as well is S*mma and Paige/Ellie (I’m counting them as canon since they kissed. That’s definitely cheating but idc).

And even with S*mma, after season 4, the way they were written was not favorite and the writers had Sean be all about Emma in season 6 and putting her on this pedestal and being her fanboy. Don’t even get me started on the military storyline.

And there’s Cr*llie, a ship that made Ellie lose all her morals for a man who cheated on her best friend with Manny for months. Also the fact that she hated Craig for cheating yet ended up being his personal side chick in s6 & s8 is bad writing all together, but that’s for another day.

Not to mention, I don’t even know if I can say that Craig loved Ellie. Because he used her in s6 for coke, most likely knowing that Ellie still loved him. He used her love for him against her. That’s not love.

I can go on, but basically, Sean came back for Ellie in s6, they did long distance in s7, and in present day Sellie is endgame and together in Tahiti with 2-3 beautiful children.

#answered #ashton 👻#my meta #t9s meta #degrassi meta #that 90s show #degrassi #jeia #sellie #anti cr*llie #anti s*mma #het ships #es meta #jl meta #otp: move in with someone who loves you #otp: i'm not ready to give up on us

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hupla222 · 2 months

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Bad Future AU

It's time again to discuss one of my many different aus because I just love them. This one I have dubbed "Bad Future". It is set in an alternate timeline of Sinnoh. Everything is different and no one is exactly the same as they were before. Everyone has a new role. And in this post I'd like to talk about the main players. I may make a separate post about all the side characters later because, trust me, everyone has a new story to tell. If you want to know more about this au feel free to ask! I love answering questions!

First up is the main character, Lucas. Lucas was raised by his father and Rowan in Sandgem Town alongside Rowan's adoptive son, Sean. At some point Rowan was killed by a mysterious man named Hood and soon after Lucas's father disappeared as well. Now all Lucas wants is to protect the only family he has left in Sean. And he aims to become the strongest trainer in the region to do it. He comes across as cold and uncaring but he wants the best for everyone deep down. Against Sean's advice, he seeks vengeance on Hood for what he has done to the region, instilling so much fear in everyone. His first partner is a Turtwig.

Next comes Lucas's best friend, Barry. Barry is quite the shy and nervous trainer. He is a bit impatient as well, often rushing away from danger without thinking. Sean smoothed out his hair and he hasn't had the courage to change it. He isn't sure of himself and his own strength after even his own dad disappeared due to Hood's influence. He wants to support Lucas in anyway that he can but he's not a very strong trainer. His main goal is to rescue all of the people that Hood has taken, if they're even still alive that is. He also wants to be a great trainer despite his fears. His first partner is Chimchar.

This is Dawn. She is a trainer from Twinleaf Town and a friend of Barry's. She's a kind hearted, cheerful person and wants to see the people she cares about smile, especially Lucas. While not a battler, she still aims to create the best team she can for the sake of performance. He goal is to bring joy back to the region that has been terrified by Hood. She's very supportive of Barry and often helps him train. Her first partner is Piplup.

Sean, or as he's known in our timeline, Saturn is this au's professor. As a child he was taken in by Rowan and raised as his son. Rowan did his best to instill kindness in the boy and Sean eventually grew in interest in Pokémon research. Years before the main story, Rowan was killed by Hood, leaving Sean to care for Lucas on his own. He also took it upon himself to continue Rowan's research. He's still the same underhanded, conniving person we know, just looking out for the good of Sinnoh instead of just himself. He gives the partner Pokémon to Lucas, Barry, and Dawn for reasons unknown to them. He also ends up travelling with the group at Lucas's insistence. His goal is to put a stop to Hood once and for all. He has been doing much research on the man as a result.

The villain of the au, Hood, both wearing his skull and not. This twisted version of Roark came to be when his father was killed during a cave in. He ran away from home and stumbled on plates that allowed him to view into other timelines. This drove him to madness to the point where he is barely recognizable. He wished to summon the creation trio so that he can rewrite the timeline into the "proper" timeline, aka the one we are all familiar with. To do this he has been kidnapping researchers and forcing them to help him. If they refuse they are disposed of. Death means nothing to him. After all, it won't matter anymore when the timeline is fixed. The skull he wears he refers to as "father" although it definitely does not belong to Byron. Currently, he wants the help of Sean and has been tracking him for some time.

Finally, for now, is Hood's right hand woman, Cynthia. Cynthia was contacted by Hood years ago, right after the death of Rowan. After hearing him out, she decided that he was right and that she would help him with his goals. She then retired as league champion and went around researching the creation trio. She spends most of her time curbing Hood's madness, maintaining as much of his sanity as she can. While she is sad that she had to betray her friends, she thinks that she is doing what is best for everyone.

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gnrbitch · 9 months

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Grunge Days pt.11 - Let it Roll

Warnings: none

————

1991

“Wait so you’re now just telling us this?” Y/n said, her arms crossed as AIC and Guns were sitting in a conference room.

“Well we knew you guys wouldn’t say no- and hell we just forgot” Axl said, letting out a chuckle.

“Jesus” Layne said, putting his hands on his head.

Guns manager had urgently called the young band to meet them, just to tell them that Soundgarden wouldn’t open for them if Alice didn’t come along, which was exciting to say the least

But to kill the mood, Axl told them that they would leave for the tour later today. As in the next four hours.

Y/ns head almost exploded, she barley had any clean clothes left, her G&L was currently getting some work done which meant she had to take her Ernie Ball, and it’s a great guitar really- it was one of the guitars Eddie had given her. But the issue was the strings break so easily.

“Fine- Can we go now?” Y/n sighed out

“Yup you’re free now” Axl said, giving her a cocky smile.

“Fucken hell” Layne said as they got back into the car “This tours already off to a bad start”

“Maybe it won’t be so bad” Sean said from the backseat “I mean we’re basically touring with out friends, and Y/ns touring with her boyfriend”

This time Y/n spoke up “I mean yea- but they just snatched us up from the Clash of Titans tour”

“Shit” Jerry said “That would’ve been the best tour ever”

They all sat in silence, making a mental note on what they needed to pack. Y/n noted to pack both of her Ernie Balls.

“Why didn’t Susan tell us about this?” Sean suddenly spoke, “I mean she’s managing the both of us, so she definitely knew”

“She’s too focused on Soundgarden to think about us” Layne mumbled “Okay that was mean, maybe it just slipped her mind”

The girl sighed as she put her head to the window.

“Got everything?” Layne said as Y/n stepped into their shared (with Soundgarden) tour bus.

“Yea just put the last of my shit away” Y/n said setting her guitar case down, “Do you guys know our first stop?”

Kim looked over at her “San Jose”

“Right” Y/n said, sitting next to him and opening up a beer bottle, “Can’t believe you guys dragged us on this tour”

“Hey if we have to travel with guns so do you” Chris spoke up “Plus you know them, your literally related to one of them”

“Yea but- Clash of the Titans” Y/n sadly said

“Ohhh Clash of the Titans waa waa” Chris mocked her “This is gonna be fun Y/n”

“I don’t even have my G&L, that already means this is gonna be horrible”

“Susan’s gonna pick it up tomorrow you’ll be fine” Chris said.

He wasn’t right. Y/n broke her string in the middle of the set, and while the guitar tech was fixing it she broke the other one, right in the middle of the ‘Man in the Box’ solo.

And Guns had placed Alice as their ‘closers’, which made Y/n roll her eyes cause that wasn’t even a fucken thing.

Y/n was fucken fuming when she got off stage, she was humiliated. Never in her life had she played such a shit show.

“Y/n babe” Slash said, putting his arm around her as he caught up to her, the girl was walking out of the venue cause goddamn was she so upset.

“What Slash” Y/n sighed out

“Are you okay? What’s wrong” Slash questioned, the girls anger was written all over her face.

“What’s wrong-” Y/n scoffed “I played like fucken shit that’s what’s wrong”

Slash furrowed his eyebrows, he was right next to the stage as Alice performed, and Y/n sounded perfectly fine “Hey no- you sounded great”

“No i fucken didn’t- both of my guitars strings broke and-” Y/n rambled, steam practically coming out of her ears.

“Okay relax” Slash said in a calming voice “Your guitar strings broke- that’s okay it happens to everyone”

“If you guys would’ve told us before i would have my G&L and my strings wouldn’t have broken!” Y/n said, poking her finger into Slash’s chest. “Are you- are you fucken smiling?”

“I’m sorry babe- i just can’t help it” Slash smiled at her “But i know how you feel alright? The only difference is i’ve actually played a shitty show”

“This was a shitty show! Never in my life have i played that badly” Y/n rolled her eyes at him.

“You’ll be fine Y/n” Slash said bringing her into a hug “The rest of the tour will go great, i promise”

“Oh wow you promise huh?” Y/n mocked him

“Yea, I do” He smiled as he rolled his eyes “I’ll do anything i can to make sure you have great time”

“Oh that was sweet” Y/n jokingly said as she smiled at him, “You’re the best” She said, pecking his lips.

“You know no one’s on my bus right now” Slash looked at her “And they’re not gonna be for a while”

“Is that so?” Y/n said, seductively looking down at his lips, “How about you start keeping that promise now?”

“How could I say no”

————

Tagged: @hoodiesandicedcoffee @deeznutsworld @eddiiiieeee

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petty-d4bblr · 2 years

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Hellblazer issue #100, "Sins of the Father" (Paul Jenkins & Sean Phillips), is one of my favourite Hellblazer stories. Spoilers below, obviously.

John Constantine, having recently sent all the parts of himself he didn't want anymore to Hell inside a doppelgänger in order to, once again, outwit The First of the Fallen, winds up in a coma in hospital while his subconscious is taken hostage by The First and taken to task for his disrespect.

The writing in this issue is excellent. I absolutely love John's wandering internal monologues and, in my opinion, aside from Jamie Delano and Neil Gaiman, Paul Jenkins is one of the best at delivering these in the original 300 issue run.

I also love the 'hate-love' (definitely different to 'love/hate') relationship John and The First share. The witty jibes and constant bickering. It's such a fun relationship that goes much deeper than just 'sarcastic protagonist vs equally sarcastic antagonist'. They're like exes: John's the one that got away and The First is the resentful one who can't let go.

The First spends a great deal of time gloating over having the upper hand this time, which is always the hallmark of a villain about to be bested by the main character. But not before he puts old John through the emotional wringer. Plus, there is always the chance that this isn't really happening at all and is just one of John's own fever dreams from his guilt-ridden conscience.

The visual storytelling in Hellblazer is, for the most part, always exceptional. They're all gritty, high calibre comics, even the arcs I'm not a big fan of. But issue 100 boasts some fantastic side-by-side comparative Earth vs Hell panels that feel very cinematic (in that my brain easily imagines these in live action as I read).

We see what is happening in reality compared to what John is experiencing in Hell throughout the story and the question is always there whether the Hell scenes are just John's imagination or not.

Back to the story. At this point in Hellblazer John has actually got a bit of a social life on the go. He has allied himself with some old punk friends (never previously mentioned punk friends, but John is always pulling allies out of the ether) and so Straff is able to find him when he falls into the coma and call the paramedics. Rich Eldridge and Slart join him at his bedside with their tornado of a child, Syder, causing chaos in the waiting room. A concerned Chas Chandler, of course, turns up when he hears what's happening and eventually they call John's sister, Cheryl, down from Liverpool when things look to be in dire straits. It's always nice seeing John with some support now and again even if, in true Constantine style, he seems completely disconnected from it and unable to appreciate it while it's there. But we can cut him some slack this time, I guess, what with him being in a coma...

So, we reach the big reveal: John's dead father, Thomas Constantine is inside the house he and The First enter in Hell.

The First has outdone himself this time and Constantine is completely winded for the next few horrifying pages as The First uses Thomas to punish John while dangling the idea that some key piece of information will let him escape back to the Earthly plane.

Throughout Hellblazer we learn of John's tumultuous relationship with his father. Thomas consistently blames John for the death of John's mother, Mary Anne, during childbirth. Thomas is a violent drunk, an abuser and a sexual deviant (he gets arrested for stealing women's underwear from their washing lines after harbouring horrifying thoughts about his own daughter). John and Cheryl's relationship is strained due to the fact they had to depend on each other growing up. Cheryl was resentful for being pushed into a motherly role for her baby brother at a young age, and John was resentful for Cheryl leaving home and abandoning him with their horrible father as soon as she could.

But it isn't until this issue that we get to see John really process his complex feelings about his father. We do explore John's guilt over his father's murder at the hands of serial killer, The Family Man, in previous issues, and John's childhood is reflected on throughout Hellblazer. But issue 100 really pushes John to confront Thomas and it's an incredible read.

In this issue John exorcises himself of some of his anger at his father. Thomas continues to be a complete piece of shit, demanding that John save him and that him being in Hell is all John's fault. We see John shrinking at this outburst and we know it's a repetition of his childhood cycle. But it's The First who calls Thomas out on his bullshit.

And it's The First who reveals the truth about Thomas Constantine's dirtiest secret: that he is responsible for Mary Anne's death through a dangerous and unsuccessful backstreet abortion (and now those clothes hangers make sense, eh? Yuck). John's stillborn twin remains a bit of a mystery as to whether this was also Thomas' fault as the Constantine line and twins are a bit of mythos at this point and we previously see John killing his brother in utero in an earlier issue (issue 39). But, as always, how much of this is John's guilt and how much of it is real... Or how much is retconned by subsequent writers... it's what makes Hellblazer so fascinating sometimes.

But before the reveal we get a bit of back and forth mudslinging between father and son. But no matter which way you slice it, Thomas was a horrible father and the creator of much of his own misery as well as inflicting it onto his children. And his expectation that they would grow up and just suddenly forgive him and respect him was misplaced (although, it seems quite common a belief amongst some people to this day).

But John knows that this is what The First wants. The angrier he is, the less likely he is to escape. And the longer it takes him, the more likely it is for his body to die and leave his soul stranded in Hell. In short, it's a trap.

So he resolves to forgive his father, despite the fact that this new information is quite possibly the most horrendous thing he could ever learn about his father. So, in a way, The First gets to win a little bit. John is put into a position and essentially forced to tell his father he forgives him for one of the biggest traumas in his life. But, at the same time, John is able to distinguish that Thomas' damnation is Thomas' own fault: a realisation that frees John of The First's trap. And so John gets to make a dramatic return to the land of the living (of course it's dramatic. This is John fucking Constantine we're talking about). Where he can ponder whether or not anything we just read really happened and whether or not it really means anything. But one thing can remain constant; John Constantine is still not okay.

As an aside, this is definitely not an anti-abortion story. While abortion was only legalised in Great Britain (Scotland, England and Wales) in 1967 and John's birth year is 1953, the availability of legal procedures is not the point of the story. This is a story about an abusive husband who forced his wife into a life-changing decision against her will then, when she paid the ultimate price for his dangerous conduct, blamed his children for it. And the impact this had on his children well into adulthood.

It's a heavy, heartbreaking story. And it's definitely no walk in the park to read, and I say this as someone who has no personal connection with any of the issues contained. But it's a powerfully told story and it's an incredible one-issue exploration of several key characters (John, Thomas and The First of the Fallen). And that's what makes it stand out to me as one of the best Hellblazer issues.

Anyway, if you're looking for light-hearted entertainment, Hellblazer probably isn't the DC Comic you should be looking at!

#john constantine #constantine #hellblazer #dc comics #dc vertigo #thought exorcism #comic books #cw trauma #cw abuse #cw abortion #thomas constantine #the first of the fallen #first of the fallen #cheryl constantine #my thoughts #hellblazer spoilers #comic spoilers #chas chandler

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hermitcraft-8 · 8 months

Text

Deiforms, Chapter Two: Bullrush (Part One)

masterpost

By the time they arrived, the fire had been extinguished, and the firefighters had begun to comb the wreckage. Lori and their mothers were sitting off to one side, hugging, while Lori stared dully at the house. Miki was crouched in the back of an ambulance, her hand wrapped in bandages. When she saw Dean, she leapt down, stumbling over her feet until she had him in her arms. He choked on the smell of smoke, but hugged his sister back tight. Kyrie was on the phone, arguing with someone irritably.

And Ash was gone.

Sean couldn’t get that crushing feeling off of his chest, couldn’t get that burning weight off of him. He felt like he’d been in that building when it’d collapsed, and now he was trapped, too.

One of the police officers took notice of the four of them standing there dumbly and walked over, running a hand through his short graying hair. Sean knew this one- he’d been involved with The Incident. Luckily, he didn’t seem to recognize Sean at all.

“Hey, you kids can’t be here-”

“This is my friend’s house,” Sean said, and it sounded weak and lame, so he cleared his throat and tried again. “My friend lives here.”

“Your friend… is Lorinine Capsum?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, that’s sad and all,” The officer sighed. He was tall and skinny. Ash could take him in a fight, probably. “But you’re not allowed any closer.”

“My brother was in there,” Madi said, her voice wrecked. This was the first she’d spoken since answering the phone thirty minutes ago. “He didn’t make it out.”

The cop paused, before shaking his head. “No, I’m sorry-”

There was a yell, from one of the firefighters and the cop turned to look, and on some strange instinct, Sean darted forward, racing past him. He felt Madi right behind him, and something told him that the others weren’t far behind. Out of his view, yet somehow completely clear to him, the cop warbled, lunging for his gun, before seemingly remembering that these were high school students running to search the wreckage of a friend's house for their other friend's body, and shooting at them was definitely the wrong move.

Sean felt odd. He felt like he could feel every movement everyone on the street made, could feel the pulse of every firefighter, the breath of every cop.

And he could feel Ash, laying unmoving in the basement.

He didn’t get inside. A firefighter grabbed him by the collar, and Madi by the arm, and Dean and Lillian both stopped on their own, Dean holding up his hands in surrender and stepping back quickly.

“What the hell are you four-”

“Ash,” Madi gasped. “Ash, oh my god.”

Sean glanced at her, expecting to find her crying or something, but instead, her eyes were wide, and dry, staring into the dusty interior of the house. The dusty interior of the house, and the young man standing there.

Sean had once told Ash in a fit of vulnerability late one night that the only thing he was really afraid of was losing a friend, and Ash had promised that he would never be the first to go. Now, staring at his best friend, Sean couldn’t help but feel that that promise had been exactly what had saved the man, in some strange holy intervention.

Ash looked… fine.

No, he looked better than fine- in the smokey, soot stained living room, he looked like an angel, his warm brown skin and white shirt perfectly shining, untouched, against the ravaged background.

He stared at the four of them, at Madi’s tear stained face and swollen eyes, and he snarled, a look of absolute disgust rending his face. And he began to advance.

The firefighter had the good sense to drop Sean and Madi and stumble off the porch, but neither of them moved. They just watched as he stomped up to them.

He didn’t touch them though, he just stopped.

“Move,” He snarled. “Now.”

“Ash, I thought you were-” Madi started. “- How did you-?”

“Don’t pretend to care,” He spat, quietly. “You never have before.”

“Wh-” Madi shook her head, bewildered, “Of course I do, you’re my brother-”

“Do you want to see god?” Ash asked Sean, and something about the way he said it made it seem less like a threat and more like a genuine question, like they were discussing evening plans. “Do you want to know the Truth?”

“Uh, no?”

Ash laughed, coldly, raising a hand, a glint of metal in his fist. “Sorry.”

Sean opened his eyes to white.

That was it, just pure blinding white, no horizon, no shadow. Just white. He didn’t have any difficulty seeing, didn’t have any urge to close his eyes. He just stood there, waiting.

“You’re here.” A voice said, neither masculine nor feminine, neither rough nor smooth, neither surprised nor resigned.

He was. He wasn’t sure where there was, or why he was there, or even really who he was, but he was, certainly, there.

“Don’t be dramatic. Turn around, I want to see your face.”

He did.

The thing standing behind him looked like him. It wore his hoodie, his jeans. It had the same bruises on its knuckles, had the same hair. The only difference was that it’s face was peeled. That wasn’t the right way to put it, wasn’t the correct phrasing, but it was all he could think of as he watched the way the flesh curled away from the center, the pure void that settled where its face should be.

And then, with a SHHHHWP, the face snapped back together, the seams disappearing, and it was just… him.

“Hey,” It said. “I don’t know if I’m a fan of the short hair.”

“What are you?”

“Call me Jack.”

“That didn’t answer my question.”

“Well hell, man, I don’t know what you want of me,” Jack said, and the way it moved his lips looked wrong. “Look, we probably don’t have much time. The Revolutionary just wanted to stall Her Majesty, the sooner we get this over with the better.”

“What the hell is happening,” Sean said, and he could suddenly smell blood. “What the fuck is going on, who- what are you, why is Ash alive-”

“Stop, please, saints above,” Jack rolled it’s- no, his eyes. “This is genuinely such a non-issue.”

“A non-issue?!” Sean practically shrieked. “What the fuck are you talking about?!”

Jack opened his mouth.

And then Sean lay on the porch of Lori’s house, blood flowing freely down his face, his forehead burning.

A paramedic shone a light desperately into each eye. “I think his left eye is damaged-”

“No shit, that kid stabbed him in the face!” The firefighter from earlier fretted. “What the hell was that?”

“Son, are you awake?”

He grimaced, squinting his eyes shut. He didn’t want to be awake for this, he decided.

And then he wasn’t.

#deiforms #deiforms story tag #sean o'lainey #madi costello #ash costello

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sande5098 · 2 years

Text

Alive

Kim Burgess x friend reader

Summary: A murder of someone from Kim’s past brings back someone she thought was gone.

Warnings: murder, mentioned SA, mentioned Abuse, and mentioned kidnapping (please do not read if you find this triggering)

Word count: 1117

Gif not mine

Kim Burgess sighed as she took a sip from her morning coffee, She was currently sitting beside her partner, Sean Roman, who was also drinking his coffee. An early start without coffee was no way to start the day so they shad take 5 minutes personal, to go grab coffee.

For a Tuesday morning Kim was lost in thought, she had the weirdest dream last night, one that she just couldn’t shake from her head. For some reason Y/n L/n had been knocking on her apartment door, covered in blood; definitely peculiar and a long way off what she was like in high school.

Y/n L/n, Kim Burgess’ best friend during High school. She was quiet around others but filled with personality, bossy and outgoing once you got passed her shell. She had been the sweetest woman that Kim had ever met, but the way her dream portrayed her, was cruel. Her eyes dull, with blood all over her face, with dark circles under her eyes, a hollow face and tears tracks that ran down her face that sent shivers down her spine. It bothered her even to think about it… the topper on the cake, Y/n L/n was meant to be dead.

“What’s wrong Burgess?” The voice of her partner shook her from her thoughts, she looked over at Sean and smiled, “nothing, just thinking.” Taking another sip of her coffee, their radios started talking, “2113 shots fired on 118th street, assistance required. Do you copy?” Burgess nodded and Roman, as she notified back,“2113 responding.” They turned on the sirens and made their way towards the scene.

By the time they got there, only the paramedics and a DOA where left, the shooter nowhere in sight, they had searched the perimeter and the only thing was a blood trail that stopped suddenly near an abandoned house. Roman had gone in the opposite direction in search of the weapon, leaving Kim to search the house herself.

She crept though the door that was left slightly ajar, Kim had her gun drawn and her flashlight on. The floor boards where creaky in certain places that she stepped, and she winced at the sound. A scuttling sound took over the deafening quiet of the house, “CPD, show yourself!” But nothing moved. Kim continued to search the house, but nothing came up. Eventually she had no choice but to leave, they needed to find the killer quickly.

——

The DOA’s name was Timothy Campbell. A name that Kim too well knew from high school, one of the jocks that had made peoples lives hell.. she went home, tired that day, intelligences had taken the case and they would be reporting to them tomorrow to help. With whatever willpower she had left she started making herself dinner, more specifically Mac and cheese.

The smell wafted through the apartment making Kim forget everything that had just happened today for a couple of seconds before a knock at the door. She turned the gas stove off and made her way to the door, there stood the exact same figure in the doorway as her dream… the woman’s face was hollow, her hands had dried blood on them, her e/c eyes looked dead with tears in them. Her clothes were also in tatters, but she recognised the face…. “Y/n? But you’re dead.”

——

“Kimberly?” Your voice rasped, “is that really you?” Your friend nodded and quickly ushered you into the place she was at after seeing your clothing. “Y/n, you’re dead, that’s what your mother told me.” Kim said as she hugged you tight, you started sobbing, “I killed him, I’m sorry.”

Kim froze and barely whispered, “who Y/n? What happened?” “Timothy Campbell. I killed him.” You started sobbing harder, and Kim hugged you tighter, telling you to calm down. After a little while you stopped crying as hard and Kim pulled away from the hug, and faced her best friend. “Hey do you want to go get a shower? Do you know where you left the gun?” You nodded and pulled a 9mm from your jacket pocket and put it on the table, pushing it to Kim, “I..I didn’t know what to do… he kept me hidden for 8 years and…” your voice trailed off and Kim just pulled you in for another hug, both your clothes were covered in blood. “Let me call someone, I’ll explain the situation and we’ll get the case dropped.”

You wanted to disagree but you knew Kim wouldn’t put you in danger. “Here let me lead you to the bathroom, you can take a shower and I’ll get you some fresh clothes. Don’t worry about anything, I’m glad you came to me. How did you know I was a police officer?”

You coughed, “please, I knew you weren’t going to be an air hostess forever, that vibe just wasn’t you and you always talked about being a cop… I missed you Kimmy.” She smiled at you too, “yeah it was kinda obvious, I missed you too Y/n.”

She lent you some clean clothes, with the promise of a shower afterwards while also changing herself out of the clothes she was wearing.

Next on the list, call Hank Voight.

“Voight.”

Kim braced herself for this conversation, “I need you to drop the case.”

Why’s that?”

“Because the girl who killed Campbell was abducted and abused by him, she done it in self defence.” Kim whispered, “she genuinely believed this was the only way she could get out,” Kim explained, trying to prove a point.

“You believe this story?” Voight asked,

“Well the girl was dead until now, hell, I went to her funeral and now I’m looking at the murder weapon. I’d be a shifty friend if I didn’t believe her.” Kim snapped, and immediately regretted it. “sorry it’s been a long day.”

Voight replied, “so she’s your friend.”

“Yeah, we went to high school together.” Kim confirmed, “please Voight, she’s been through enough.”

“I’m coming over.”

That was the last thing that she heard before the call ended, Kim could only hope that he saw it like she did.

——

As Voight left, Kim couldn’t help but sigh in relief and hugged Y/n tight against her, Voight had taken the 9mm and your bloody clothes to get rid of them, as well as call Mouse to wipe the apartment footage of your arrival.

You couldn’t help but feel relieved, no charges would be pressed and you would be able to get your old identity back, and perhaps your old job back as a paramedic, if you retook and passed the updated test. But right now, it was just good to be back in your best friend’s arms.

#kim burgess x reader #reader insert #friend!reader #Chicago pd #Hank voight #short fic #kim burgess #One Chicago #female reader #Sean Roman #sande5098

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