#But ORP still kills me.

[crows-bite]

Been thinking so much about Marigold specifically in the ORP universe so I’m obligated to come make a whole post to explain some of my thoughts.

I don’t knowwww I just think a lot about how Maverick was. Very clearly loved by this woman. Like they still carry that love with them in little ways, they’ve been marked by it forever you know? Like she was not their mother, and their relationship was very non conventional but she was like. As Good As a mother to them. I think she saw herself like a mother even if Mav never saw her that way. It kills me because their relationship in ORP is honestly much less complicated and a lot better than it is in canon. Marigold is like… well tbh I can’t get into it because spoilers but she is very morally questionable and kinda fucked up but like her care for Mav is still very much there.

I wouldn’t be able to say for sure but I honestly don’t think it’s out of the question that in ORP she died getting in the way of The Dread and trying to give Mav the best chance possible at running. But like MAV DOESN’T KNOW THAT and it’s fucked them up so badly. Because they never looked back, man. They just ran immediately and even if it’s what she would’ve wanted them to do they just fully believe they left her for dead.

Like. Ok. Atp Mav is just of the mindset of like. That loss hurt so badly because what do you do when you’ve got nobody else and the one person in the world that loves you like family dies and you think it’s your fault, you know? But they’ve just got this anger about the whole situation. Angry at themself but also angry at her because if she hadn’t died they’d still have somebody. It’s just really soured their whole perception of her isn’t that nuts. As if she did it on purpose. (THE THING IS SHE KINDA DID OUT OF LOVE AND THEY DON’T KNOWWWW THEY DON’T EVEN KNOWWW) and now all of those feelings have just been reinforced x100 being with the Brooks family because they don’t have that. And maybe they would if Marigold were still alive.

#ORP #Maverick Clarke #Marigold #Gripping my head and whatnot you know #Gestures madly #Like do you see do you understand #There are so many issues and diseases stuck in this relationship especially now that Marigold is dead but like #UGH. UGH. #Once I give her a proper redesign and fullbody it’s over #She’s honestly such a good person in ORP because she’s got a lot of love in her heart always but once you take away the [BLEEP] from canon #Like #She’s just very chill #I do find her more interesting in canon though because morally #There’s a lot going on #And her relationship with Maverick and the strained quality to it and like #Maverick’s anger is a lot more understandable and grounded #But ORP still kills me. #IDK MAN YOU EVER THINK ABOUT HOW #THEIR HAT LIKE THAT THING NEVER FUCKING LEAVES THEIR HEAD #THEY’VE BUILT THEIR IMAGE AROUND THAT THING #AND MARIGOLD MADE IT FOR THEM…? #It’s honestly kind of a childish design like who goes around with a beanie with horns on it like it’s intimidating or scary you know #But she made it for them and it’s the one thing they really have. #That shows that. #Spews blood

[aetherdoesthings]

I cannot tell you how loud I cackled when the card was revealed. One moment I was cooing at how cute this was and then I start straight up laughing at 2AM. The atrocious spelling of a child 🤣, i loved all of it! I'm wondering if the other kids notice Father's favoritism towards the reader, and how they would react? What if they bully Reader and Father steps up for Reader? 🤭 I love your characterization of Father in here. Much softer than canon which is what I needed.

~EL anon

would you like a new home? (pt 3.1)

forethoughts: thanks for the compliments about part two! i didn't expect my silly love letter to arlecchino to blow up haha. i originally was going to write this as just one big part but i changed plans. part two is called would you like some cake! i also planned for part two to be the last one but i had to sneak one in to give reader and father a happy ending of sorts :)

notes: gn!child!reader, NOT AN X READER READER IS A CHILD IN THIS!!!

You never cared about what the other children thought of you.

Father made sure you would never get hurt.

Father ensured that the very day she gave you your new toys.

Father said not to use the toys, only if I was being attacked then I could use them. 

Father said not to show the other children your toys.

And you always listened to Father to the best of your abilities.

Well, you tried.

You were walking down the hall, admiring the small trinket Father had found you during one of her expeditions. It was a compass, Father said. You followed the red needle, a huge smile at your face as you watched it shift and move.

You held the compass dear to your chest, using two hands to hold each side. Your eyes were glued to the needle you didn’t even notice the leg that swept your shins, causing your grip on the compass to disappear as your body went sideways, landing on your arms. 

Footsteps.

You got up before you could hear another thud, turning around. “Hey!” You exclaimed as one of the other orphans picked up Father’s gift, admiring it themselves.

“What? We were just interested in what you were holding, Y/N.” One of the other orphans snickered. 

“Give it back.” You said, balling your fists. That was Father’s gift to you. Yours. Not theirs.

“Why? You have more gifts than us given by Father. Not having one more isn’t going to kill you, loser.”

Don’t attack. Don’t be quick to anger. Always seek out a compromise before arming yourself. Father’s words rang in your head.

You took a deep breath, blood boiling at the sight of the other orphan haphazardly tossing the compass around. 

“What do you want?” You questioned, feet still spread apart.

“Don’t you get it, you stupid idiot? We want what you have.” 

“You’ve never wanted anything from me.”

“Because you didn’t have anything we wanted.”

“What do you want now?”

“We want Father.”’

Your knuckles started to turn red as your hands fell to your sides. “What?”

“Don’t act like we don’t see how Father treats you. Always first to get food. Extra dessert. No curfew. Bigger room? Who do you think you are? You’re a nobody! You don’t even have friends! Why does Father treat you better than everyone else?!” The orphan shoved you back on the ground, pressing his foot against your head. You stared at the orphan. You couldn’t deny that his words did not hold truth to them. Father did ensure all of that. You never questioned why Father would show you more generosity and kindness compared to the other children. Yes, Father treated everyone equally. That was obvious before you went inside the armory that day. Father still treated everyone equally even after that. You just had… perks.

“I didn’t ask to have a bigger room and no curfew.” You retorted, trying to resist.

“But you have it. And we want that too. So go to Father and tell her you want a smaller room, last in line, no dessert, and an earlier curfew.”

“That’s not fair. I’m not going to do that.” “If you don’t do that, we’ll break the compass. And don't think about lying and saying you did it. We'll know.” The orphan dangled the compass with two fingers, close to the rim. 

“Hey!” You gritted your teeth, hand slowly creeping towards the knife strapped onto your belt. 

“Three…” The orphan sneered, digging his boot deeper into your hair, pressing your head into the ground.

“Two…” Your hand curled around the helm. 

“One…”

Forgive me, Father.

#genshin impact #arlecchino #arlecchino genshin #arlecchino x reader #child #aetherwrites

[fuyuesu]

schjfnf teehee!! seisoukan fire!!

it started back in mid octoberish last year, i was still riding off the tragedy high of There’s Something I Have To Say and i watched several youtube videos about building collapses and fires and i thought hehe i should do this to the seisoukan dormitory

BUT I COULDNT JUST BE NORMAL ABOUT IT NO.. i had to decide who dies now.. who lives.. who gets injured.. and i couldnt decided that on my Own of course . so i had a randomizer decide for me! live on vc with erin, i had a randomizer choose how many idols died and who would die ^_^

i cannot stress enough it chose violence Off The Fucking Bat . it killed TEN idols. THATS A FIFTH OF THE CAST DEAD. and what more it chose THE most tragic people to kill LOOK

AIRA? TSUMUGI? TORI? KANATA HIMERU YUTA MAO SHU? MITSURU AND NAGISA?? ALL THOSE FATALITIES.. i also determined casualties and witnesses through the randomizer and my GAWD.. not a single unit went unaffected by this mf fire!!!!!!

i started this fic actually because i really really wanted to write disaster aftermath and maybe a little bit of anzu stress 👉👈 becos i thought itd be so slay if ensemble square suffered an insane loss and had to figure out how to bounce back when its biggest greatest stars have been snuffed out by tragic fate.. also wanted to write some insane political dialogue between P-Association, ES’ executive board, Eichi, etc etc etc becos i havent read main story at awll and wanna see P-Association fight for their lives trying to keep ES together

for what i actually have of the plot!! it starts with Anzu reflecting on the aftermath of the tragedy (but i may change it to be her presence at the scene after emergency services are called in?) and the actions she has taken since. to mitigate immediate public outcry and limit how much backlash the idols themselves got, after releasing a very rushed investigation, Eichi determines that it was simply an unprecedented accident with no one at fault, but was unable to produce evidence in what exactly even caused the fire; of course, people start to blame the P-Association for not protecting their idols better, so Anzu turns to launching her own investigation into what happened with Ibara’s help !!

for reasons on what actually caused the fire i have very little . something something building’s integrity was failing but no inspections were scheduled for a few months before the incident. Tetora left the gas stove on and the kitchen brerw orp . Natsume performed some insane tragedy curse Gone Wrong . i do not have anything set in stone because its all about Anzu + producers managing the aftermath

at one point Anzu and Ibara ask the idols themselves for help because terrible as it is, first-hand account is some of the best evidence one can hav.. leading to a big therapy-styled circle <- this is The most daunting part of writing because i have to write everyone Right or ill die. but i do like what little i have so far.. maybei will bost it.. b it thank you for reading my looong long rant about seisoukan fire ^_^ my idea is that it really was Tetoras fault but not entirely his. something something Tetora leaves the gas stove on overnight, the building’s gas meter is malfunctioning so all the propane goes unnoticed, an explosion occurs the next morning and several gas mains go craaazy and also ecplode. there is no sense to any of this by the way i just want insane amounts of literal tragedy to happen to ES

also yes the enstragedy mood WAS inspired by hiddeneclipse’s We will be fine i cannot stress enough how much that fic has changed me how much it had rewired m . if i ever meet hiddeneclipseni think i would simply fall to my knees and kiss their feet

eto.… blehh!!

BLOWS THE FUCK UP HELLOOOO HELLO HELLO IF I COULD READ THE COMPLETED THING ONE DAY I WOUDL DIE HAPPY BC THIS IS RIGHT UP MY ALLEY IM SO GLAD I COUDL HAVE MY CURIOSITY FINALLY SATED !!! i olve readign abt the aftermath of tragedies it activates some kind of demon in my brain <3 acn i just say tho Poor Fucking Natsume dear lord . theres a lot of characters that have it bad in this situation ubt fuckigng. i immediately fixated on natsume. kanata and shu and tsumugi dyign and rei and sora being injured what the HELL . the survivors guilt must go CRAZY

#melty answers #enstarsposting #also not to be a kanameP hwen he literally is not even involved at all but dear LORD the implciations of himerus death #ibara . kaname is in Your hands now

[wpdariacutnes]

🐊💛🐊💛🐊💛🐊💛🐊💛🐊💛🐊💛🐊💛🐊💛

Me: one ask did you like marletto knows ice cream get what I coll you white almond is good one better a chokolade one but enifing going start dude me chokolade is a fik a enifing alia ride a zero make pess X alone guy im knows but relly white almond is good one a eat real after god ice cream man

and it will be soon but zero is talking layer is gay or alie alia kicked ass X and went to fuck zero like a cetaura pit her pony and say but how sa- enifing one say someone say your ex-frends a kill you say it someone say a dys alia a dys one a none make zero a gey after layer get her brake nake a X is nerd okey relly das heppend so hart

Sooo enifing been okey but dys persen's so chill so after canda yes say it like full logic why finks is layer is futa a alia get a her so realityship because enifing dys a heppend like zero wona been so bedass a wona after back works levan a botch after get knows unick love

No i not say "oh dar you so opesion" NOPE~ SIS is not opesion is a FAT WITCHS FACT true finks say a back works after alia lines and layer side se what me finks it a layer is ex-hazbent alia ( sorry a none sorry you did same a iris man relly look a past green dude and whatever heppend)

🍟⭐🍟⭐🍟⭐🍟⭐🍟⭐🍟⭐🍟⭐🍟⭐🍟⭐

Me: but okey yo. . . Knows a someone get wirts gag a

And finks okey whatever woring her well Me derr wery fat ass frends ploblem someone finks is realityship a zero like after i knows is a gey code a code ( like a not brishint guy a say nope das never heppend a mean NOPE a get go for it like wona be) and after more backstory is more a diva and zero kid or sowing like dys because gif a diva a cecil like after diva say thx a gif back both a child and like hold on you deep me siresly now what if what's going on now they think that diva is supposed to be a guy if my answer is why is that jeat orp as if it were a pearl of Galaticia and apparently Galatyxing is not pronase, so it is because it has a supposedly feminine and it absorbed some echo so how would they know that they are much older? or not too much I've been wondering for a long time how Gameboy Megaman came out now no matter how I talk about my life, I generally refer to it as Canon joints and respecting Canon

And if so, how do relationships work, are they streptowacies or what, because apparently one other megaman is supposedly married but not? but it seems like everyone is erotic, so to speak, that they smoke, but they still have some deviations from this (yes I say a canon dys ask because someone chraing but none get back a dys introsting ask) because I'm wondering and before I know, I think yes and they don't know, so you can ask because they supposedly have a box for it

if the father is growing, the error will come out that it gives a certain age or years old but me cherater and someone get wirts mean me bit because for it but ploblem enifing say like ingnoring dys coll it wirts finks a bit spook me a now puding now get wirdo mean a forint it a been knows nice or "okey i understand but knows a none puding a ages after a enifing" ( after a wiki is here and dis rezan why me do it after Kamil say a do so)

but that's fine, because I'm peeling myself off and that's it how could cecil have such a good insting story how do you know this job is a star and everyone panicked that he was too young that on the face only it's like it's the same one, only older and with more information. . . and I know how it sounds but logically they are the same and they are fashionable like alx but they have strange reflexes and they are older they themselves have these lines not from the form of planets as if I know that a star is a planet but logic and these stone of venus that everyone thought that they were extinguishing the whole cecil, how did they call this fire, venus and her preening, and other names, almost like this, gods had names like, son of venus or son of venus or on the contrary, diva, it turned out to be Belin style, and even more strangely, it turned out to be Bazilin style, so there is a balance here, seriously, it will turn out to be blazili style and that's it and even better is the modern name, all this cecil that comes from Sheik Blaziliski or the Egyptian sowing years of the creation of the cosmos or something, some meetings in honor of the stars, some and apparently another name of the zodiac, sagittarius, as a zodiac, is a living star and the whole lord was talking about the veins of the zodiac, they were blazing, and Egypt, and to make it shorter, to say "okay, but why are you young?", they were blazing, there was a chick, what a diva but that's what they called Cecil because she was supposedly the god of rocks and caves and she was supposedly a boat because she seduced her and he was there knows, this guy is doing his best and it seemed like all the people got angry because the Brazilians were still there, they didn't say witch and chuakabra like an insult and they burned her alive (and she was eager so none end here) it's as if her soul was a totem and her children were not a monster, so why not punish this guy, it's the wrong gender because she cut him off or ripped him off and took him to Matcher, but she spoiled the children or something. . . hawaii and blazili, the best story that cracks me up

Sowing Cecile egipt is more star castles stone no no change is owlang (and this is where all the fun comes in) because you know that Egypt is almost like Greece and that the villages are messed up what I will say is that this one was almost more fun than the whole hmh ertchera hmh and to be clear, there was a clear step, but there seemed to be something beating from the calyx or the calyx was choked, and there was a small amount of blood flowing from the throat it will soon be what she was like, the servants of Egypt came outside and it was almost like this valley was there (I know, I have the same face as you, you are walking on the better road, that this is originally a legend)

🍟⭐🍟⭐🍟⭐🍟⭐🍟⭐🍟⭐🍟⭐🍟⭐🍟⭐

#megamancomunity #mereal #wpexpleing #parents take rule #youtube

[spacexmagicxandxsheepxbleats]

"Where are those so called 'Gods' when you need them...?"

//: TW Gore, Body Horror, Blood, Violence Mentioned/Implied SA - over all awful things.

Someone asked, here it is - how Mar got the hole in her face. Bonus music to go with it (spoiler the words she's saying are from the song~ The female singer of Heilung, Maria, is Mar's 'voice claim').

Flames flickered around her, swaths of inferno crackling and licking at the trees. Sap seeping from the eyes carved in the bark like smoking tears, ash and smoke, the creaking of weak trunks and branches, their 'voices' adding themselves to the rotting figure's throaty chant...

"Bræðr munu berjask ok at bönum verðask, munu systrungar sifjum spitla," bells of brass and chimes of bone sang in time and tune with Mardoll's movements, punctuating each syllable as it hazed from the nose of her helm.

The Nightmarish visage, the proto-iteration of The Ram sold in the City, was carved of Ahamkara bone by the Warlock Arlo and gifted to the Risen post Six Fronts. Once perfect and whole it now sported a broken horn, it's blackened surface scarred, charred, carved and adorned with small charms and trinkets.

Fractured Ghost Cores whirred in it's sockets, the light of the fires shimmering in the cracks of their 'eyes'. Were they still alive....?

"Answer me! Where are your dead gods now?," the speaker, an Exo, paced the perimeter of the clearing. His face obscured by his helm, his cloak smoking as stray embers alighted on the fabric.

The Guardian's he brought with him were seeming to struggle to keep their footing and their wits in the face of the creature they harried.

He was met with that infernal chanting, the continued song, the same dead words and he was growing impatient.

Barking a command the group's Titan made to grab Mardoll in a bear hug from behind.

Hunching, curling slightly into herself and flexing her back she bristled her matted fur cloak, bracing hidden, forged and barbed iron spikes set amongst the hairs.

When the man grabbed hold and squeezed Mardoll lost a small amount of breath and momentum with her chanting, falling back into her cadence once the large Guardian cast her aside to slap and pull at a handful of the spines that found purchase in the flexible gaps in his armour.

Growling, pacing back the way he'd just gone, Outlaw - the Exo calling the shots, leveled his hand cannon and took the shot. Putting a hollow point round through the Titan's head, dropping him like a sack of sand from roughly thirty feet away.

"Useless cunt....," Outlaw hissed, pointing his gun and menacing the others to get on with it.

Turning their attention back to Mardoll they thought to attempt a united front, all four rushing the smaller woman. She'd already taken some damage in the hours long stand off, coupled with the constant chanting and sweltering heat of the Solar ignited blaze around them the Risen had to be getting tired, right?

"Gal anda viðr, gangla viðr, riðanda viðr, viðr rinnanda, viðr sitjanda, viðr signianda, viðr faranda, viðr fluganda, skal alta fyrna ok um döya," the words repeated in quick succession, rolling off an unseen tongue as desperation crept into the quartet pressing the charge.

Blades were deflected in flashes, blows exchanged in kind, a knife was lost to Mardoll's upper back - an iron thorn taking it's place in it's wielder's hand.

Even that did little to slow the assailants and the assailed.

A smile twisted Outlaw's face plates, catching sight of blood dripping from the hollow nose of The Ram, "See!? The Bitch Bleeds! She's not a god or phantom of the forest! Keep pressing her!"

'Will it work?' the voice whispered in the Exo's mind, pulling a sneer behind the visor of his helm. His Ghost, nearly shattered by the woman he now tried to kill, shuttered in Outlaw's eye socket.

It was afraid, like it was those centuries ago when Outlaw - under a different name- lost his status as a Warlord to Mardoll. All because he killed some dirt child he orphaned and she so happened to pick up....

"...It will...if not, we keep trying until it's enough...", his tone softened, his response quiet, but the rage still seethed in the syllables.

One by one the Guardian's fell but not with out dealing a decent amount of damage to the Ram headed creature...

Watching her stagger a step, swaying to keep her balance, Outlaw made his move. Marching with a purpose across the torn ground, stepping over the dead and grabbing Mardoll by the front of her armour, giving her a hard shake.

"Rumor has it, some Stormcaller blinded you... That why you keep these sad fucks in your head? Hmm?," another hard shake and he let her go, watching an unsteady step he cocked back and punched her. HIs fist connecting with the right side of her helm.

Outlaw laughed as she lurched, huffing impressed that she kept her feet under her, "What, you done singing? Or is this," grabbing her again he pressed his thumb into a bullet hole in her chest, just below her left breast, "Taking the piss out of you...?"

"Sér hon upp koma öðru sinni," airy and snarled, Mar responded, taking a swing of her own at Outlaw's head. Her hand connected, he reacted by stepping back, but also forcing his thumb deeper, now passed the first knuckle...

"That, almost, hurt...But I bet this," hooking his thumb in the wound he pulled, jerking her closer, "hurts more..."

The man almost purred, his forehead now pressed to her own, the Ghost Cores in Mar's helm shuddering before focusing on the Ghost in Outlaw's face, as if they could see it through the Exo's helm.

"It's a shame really, every thing that happened...that kid? Wasn't worth it... you should have just taken me up on my offer...we could have been great you know... Stronger than any other Lord's in the area...", his timbre changed, becoming low and husky as he lamented softly, "...you were hot back then, still are, all thing's considered... but rather than lay with your own you followed that god damned Ranger and his god damn friends..."

"....Those fuckers were using you, riding your abilities and power....", he cursed his laps, the fact he closed his eyes a moment. She reared back and head butt him, the visor of his helm cracking with the impact.

"Still a sore fucking thing isn't it?! You failed them and they fucking used your ass! Yet you still fucking mourn them! Their dead! Fucking Gone!," grabbing Mar by the throat he hauled her off the ground, drawing his serrated blade he plunged it to the hilt into her abdomen, "That little bastard is dead and you know what!? This is the same blade that slit his little pig throat!"

Drawing the blade back Outlaw struck again, stabbing just below the first strike, "I watched your Ranger's eat shit, sat and smiled while the tall one got his fucking head blown off....really got me going," twisting the blade slowly he drew it out, then back in again, "wished I could have had you broken and beneath me, to fuck you while you cried and begged to go to them...."

He groaned, stabbing her once more, "get's me hard thinking about it....", sighing he threw her to the ground, wiping his knife across his chest as he stepped towards her, kicking Mar to her back and dropping his boot to her wounds with a sigh, "...I might be made to reconsider this you know...."

Crouching over her, settling himself on her hips, he let his free hand press up the front of her armour, feeling the make of it and her curves beneath it while he sheathed his knife, "It'd truly be a waste to kill you...you really are a rare creature... unique Light, strange tattoos...a brute force and savagery that hides behind soft features and doe eyes... What I wouldn't give to have you on me..."

He peeled his helm off, letting it drop next to him as he reached for her's. Roughing it off so he could see her face he tutted softly, puling a cloth from one of his pockets.

"...Sheela did a number on your eyes...you really can't see shit can you...?," leaning down he dabbed at the blood beading from her nose, "Such a wild, untamed thing you are..."

Outlaw didn't hesitate, bending closer he pressed his alloy lips to hers, mechanical taste receptors picking up the blood on her mouth, "Not quick to struggle...are you submitting...?"

He pressed back in, kissing her again, "You don't have to di..!"

Mardoll's hand snapped up, having found one of the dead Guardian's blades in the grass beside her, and slammed the weapon to the hilt into the side of Outlaw's neck.

Sparks and fluids erupted around the knife as he recoiled off her, scrambling back and to his feet he drew his hand-cannon.

"Stupid whore!," he roared, leveling the gun, his finger flexing to pull the trigger.

At the last possible second, Mardoll's Ghost, Revenant, flashed into view, dropping a massive stone onto the Exo's forearm, disrupting the shot.

It wasn't enough.

The round ripped through Mardoll's left cheek, blowing her teeth and a considerable amount of bone and flesh from her face, sending her reeling back to the ground to lay still and staring into the dirt...

Revenant vanished, and before Outlaw could take a second shot a shadow in the flames across from him gave him pause.

A massive creature stood there, it's silhouette some where between a serpent, wolf and squid... a myriad of milky white eyes focused on the scene unfolding, a pressure formed in Outlaw's mind, a disquieted unease that built to panic and primal terror.

Something he thought he left behind when he traded flesh for metal...

With out hesitation, his Ghost transmatted him out of there.

".....You, came....," she could barely speak as she struggled to turn over, the words more or less fell out of her mouth, slurred and slick with blood, impeded by flayed flesh and pulped bone.

As soon as the words slipped out, she fell into the void of near death.

The creature entered the clearing, bathed in flames it shifted it's shape, taking the form of a man, drifting closer in the guise of a Tall Ranger...

#destiny rp #musings #tw at the top of the post #ask answer #Spotify

[foryouthegays]

spreading propaganda [Dream SMP] liveblog yall lets go. this is so long i am sorry but the end is an actual summary of what happens asldkfa

sellout timer pog: 00:30:20, 01:00:40, 01:31:35, 02:02:03 (for like a second), 02:03:00, 02:34:35

time spent reading donations: 10 minutes, 20ish seconds. 

fanart credit he puts up (all from twitter i think): snumkt, reinneart, lihnsu, sestqr, jester_u, Brigade_Lost, natonyy

also taggin @antarctic-empire-technoblade​ :) theres an actual summary at the end that isnt just me ramblin so,,,,,,ye. i am so sorry its so long a;dkfja i dont know how to condense things 

00:00:35 “i stole a lot of sand recently,” ah yes, a casual conversation starter, the admission of theft 

00:03:55 hE HAS A VILLAGER TRADING HALL CHAPEL IN THE VILLAGE SIR THAT IS ILLEGAL 

00:04:13 

tubbo: -..--...--- 

ranboo: that means beans right

no, ranboo, not it does not (i put it into a translator and it just. it doesnt mean anything. i didnt see any spaces so im just. what was mr tubbo trying to say

00:04:35: relationship advice with technoblade! [reading donation] “‘techno, my boyfriend said he’ll never sub to you, how do i handle this travesty?’ uh, clearly you need to break up with him, and send me more money, is the most- that’s the most unbiased opinion I can give you, it’s just a good life decision, alright? It’s just a good life decision.”

00:16:00 ranboo hi!!!! him garden :D 

HOUND ARMY HOUND ARMY 00:18:10

00:20:15 ‘i have not made a tier list [for dinosaurs] yet’ Y E T? ? ? ?? ? 

00:20:55

“‘Hey, are you uncomfortable with being part of the SBI family dynamic?’ Uh, I don’t really- it’s not a matter of being uncomfortable, it’s just a matter of people making massive revisions to my character and the lore three months into the story without telling me, and it’s like, ‘no, that doesn’t- the story doesn’t- so many things don’t make sense now! What?? What???’ but if you want to make like, fanart of it, it’s fine”

00:21:25 imagine believing in airplanes, couldnt be me

00:21:35 SKLDJFAK a dono is like, hey can u call my new cousin a nerd, and technos like [claps] yOUVE COME TO THE RIGHT MAN im all about bullying infant children 

lakjshdfl 00:26:15 ‘philza this does not sound lore at all please’ poor techno

00:27:30 HKJSFDL :crab: TUBBO IS GONE :crab: also i cant tell if techno says ‘KILL HIM DEAD’ or ‘KILL HIM, DAD’ 

00:30:20 ‘we should have a grinch episode, where i go around stealing presents from l’manburg’ DO IT

also i was in chat at 00:31:25ish and i said ‘subscribe to technoblade’ and RIGHT AFTER techno said ‘did i hear subscribe to technoblade?’ and i felt so heard 

00:33:25 why is his only response to being seen in enemy lines to just stay realllyyyyy still a;lkdfjasf 

00:39:45 ‘this is crucial information coming to you live from anarchy news’ A;LSDKFJA;LSDF

00:46:25 :CRAB: RANBOO IS GONE :CRAB: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES 

alkdfja; 00:47:55 techno talks (sarcastically) abt how great it is when chat tells him where his stuff is

00:48:50 awww techno showin his not-dad his hound army!!! so cute 

00:55:30 techno specifies that theyre all characters/roleplayin!!!

techno talkin to phil is literally like a kid talkin to his dad after not seein him for a while. like yeah yeah family isnt canon in this but KSJDFLA hes like ‘phillll tommys being annoying also look at this new poster!!!!’ its so cute

01:09:20 A;SDJFADSL THE VILLAGER JUST. FALLS THROUGH THE FLOOR

techno nd phil reference smp earth at 01:19:50!!!!

(ik some people dont like enbyctechno so heres ur warnin, its just for this line tho) techno says ‘no one man should have this power’ but he HAS that power. therefore. mr c!blade is not a guy 01:35:00ish idk im not goin back to check

01:38:35 alright gang lets split up and look for clues 

01:45:20 ‘my chat’s sayin theres a 0% chance this is gonna work,,,,thATS A CHANCE I’M WILLING TO TAKE, CHAT’ skjdflasl;dfjaf (also, bit after, after readin the wiki say its 0% chance: ‘i like those odds’) 

01:48:15 [abt the zombie villager baby] 

Techno: on the bright side, we may have inflicted the optimal amount of trauma onto this child for it to become funny? 

Ranboo: ooooh yeah! it can become a minecraft youtuber!

techno: yeeeeeeah!!

pls get some therapy

a;ldkfassa the mental image of techno ownin an orphanage,,,,paldkfajslfasf 01:51:35

a;ldsifjasdklf ranboo is canonically a villager now, pog 01:56:50

01:57:50 ranboo: ‘they say that im built different, i am built different, in the fact that i have no moral backbone.’

01:58:30 BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD also why is techno so good at the bow like WHAT he looks in third person and turns nd shoots in like a second and hits most of the time its scary literally look at ranboo a;ldsjkfadsf hes like a porcupine 

ASKLJDFASLDF RANBOOS ‘OH NO HE KNOWS HOW TO OPEN DOORS’ AT 02:02:25 JUST HAS SUCH TECHNO SKYBLOCK VID VIBES ADLKJFALSDFJA OH MY GOSH

02:06:35 “i feel there has been an attempt on my life,” "no thats just how we greet each other in our country” nether lore pog?

02:08:45 why does techno casually type at 120 wpm?????  god i hate him so much why is he like thisssss ugh (also it took ~3 seconds to type 7 words (34 characters) which is 140 wpm and 680 cpm if i know how to do math i hate it here) /lh

nd then he types ‘punz we’re all outside your house get over here’ which is 47 characters nd 9 words nd it took him 5 seconds to type which is 564 cpm and 108 wpm so his average (from these two samples which. isnt a lot. should i do a post abt this in the future?) is 124 wpm and 622 cpm. hes so fast. 

SDA;FKJASDF PHIL WHY R U SO VIOLENT 

02:17:00 PUNZ POG ALSO MANIFOLD KILLED IN THE HOLY LAND

technos complainin bout the fights bein boring,,,,,,,fight them all, techno. do it. 1v8. do it, coward. 

02:24:02 ‘maybe the real combat was the friends we made along the way’ 

02:25:16 i love that technos first instinct when someone dies is to check what sword/axe killed them nd what enchants r on it aldskfjads

i love how techno calls the manhunt music ‘dream music’ its so funny to me

right before he ends the stream he says ‘p e r h a p s’ to techno plushies and i just,,,, wa n t 

if ya just want an actual summary and not that MESS:

Technoblade starts the stream in his house. the first thing he does is put another piece of fanart in his house, this one by snumkt on twitter. he goes to l’manburg, where he sneaks around very sneakily (/s) and replaces anti-techno propaganda with pro-techno fanart, stating that “If they take it down, it’s ‘cause they hate fanartists.” (00:09:18). 

While placing posters, Techno checks in on his hound army, and reveals that he thinks someone had been in the area, because a wolf teleported to him while he was home. He thinks someone placed water, the dog stood up, and then teleported. (00:18:25)

After breeding the dogs, Techno reads donations and one of the questions is about the SBI family dynamics. Here’s what he says at 00:20:55 

“‘Hey, are you uncomfortable with being part of the SBI family dynamic?’ Uh, I don’t really- it’s not a matter of being uncomfortable, it’s just a matter of people making massive revisions to my character and the lore three months into the story without telling me, and it’s like, ‘no, that doesn’t- the story doesn’t- so many things don’t make sense now! What?? What???’ but if you want to make like, fanart of it, it’s fine”

He then meets up with Philza, who is being escorted by Tubbo. Techno goes to Philzas house, and hides in his new basement. He joins their VC and finds Phil, Wilbur, Tommy, and Tubbo. talking about birthdays. Tubbo goes to the basement and sees Technos invis particles, hits him, and he is revealed. Techno kills tubbo, and declares it canon as a joke. 

He goes back outside, deafened on Discord, and puts down more propaganda. Philza joins his call, and they meet up to try and find Technos stolen items. They don’t find the barrel, but they do find a hidden room under the podium. Techno puts a piece of propaganda in the room. (00:43:30)

While Phil is killing an enderman, Ranboo finds them, and is killed by Techno. (00:46:25) 

Techno takes Phil to see his Hound Army, but they’re stopped by Tubbo. Techno tries to pretend to be Ranboo, but Ranboo goes up to them, so his cover is blown. Techno’s chased to the portal. Phil and Techno meet again in the Nether, and they go back to the house. 

At the house, Phil and Techno talk about the SBI characters, the sellout timer goes off, and then they go downstairs to cure a zombie villager. While it’s curing, Techno gathers books to make a new bow, with Power V, Punch II, Unbreaking III, Flame, and Mending. 

Philza reveals that Ranboo is coming over to give Phil a present. Techno seems excited at this, mostly at the fact that Ranboo can be his new bows test subject. 

Before Ranboo arrives, the villager is cured, and they find out it is a nitwit, meaning it can’t trade or get a job. Techno and Phil start working on a tunnel to bring the villager to a lava pool, so the other villagers won’t gossip and raise their prices. 

Ranboo joins the call at 01:15:35, right before they’re going to bring the villager to the lava pool. He gifts Techno and Phil four Netherite ingots.

After struggling to get the villager to the right height, Techno forces Ranboo to boat the villager into the lava. Ranboo escapes by throwing a pearl, and the villager dies.

Ranboo, Techno, and Phil talk about duping Netherite, and the current plot, and then Techno finds a zombie baby villager. It’s caught in a boat, and Techno nametags it ‘Orphan.’ They talk about the cobblestone tower, Philzas’ death to a baby zombie, and how if you don’t see a child's parents, you should assume that they are an orphan and attack them. 

Techno talks to Jack Manifold through chat about his axe. Techno, Philza, and Ranboo go around and look for zombie villagers. Techno finds an igloo, with two villagers. Techno was going to try and turn them into zombie villagers, but decides to not when he finds out that theres a 0% chance of that happening on Easy mode. 

They all go back to Orphan, and bully it when they find out it still hasn’t grown up. Techno and Ranboo make a joke about how it’s traumatized, so it’ll be funny and can be come a minecraft youtuber. please get some help. (01:48:15)

After Orphan grows up, Techno trades and gets the Bottle of Enchanting trade for one emerald. They all joke about Techno owning an orphanage at 01:51:35.

Phil, Techno, and Ranboo decide go to the Hound Army, but Techno remembers that Ranboo is part of L’manburg, and tries to kill him (with his new bow) when they enter the nether. He doesn’t succeed, and he continues fighting until he drinks and invis pot on the Prime Path. Techno and Phil meet up in the Bee Dome, where Ranboo finds them. Techno tries to kill him, but runs out of arrows. 

After reading donations, Techno, Ranboo, and Phil are back together at the Bee Dome, and they decide to team up in case someone finds them. They go outside of the Dome, and chase Jack Manifold out of his own country.

Manifold joins the VC, and they try to blame Punz on his attempted murder. After Manifold says “i feel there has been an attempt on my life,” Techno says that that’s how he greets people in his country.

Manifold asks if they want to help him get revenge on Punz, and Techno agrees. They gather more people, and by the time they get to Punz’s tower, their party is Manifold, Techno, Phil, Ranboo, Fundy, and Antfrost. Punz is in the Nether, so they wait until he gets back. 

Ranboo and Techno have a whisper conversation:

Ranboo: are you just going to jump fundy

Techno: no im gonna make jack 1v1 LMAO

Ranboo: good plan

While Fundy is taking a screenshot of Techno for his thumbnail, Philza attacks Fundy with a crossbow and his sword. He claims it was because he was getting bored. 

In the same spirit, Techno asks if they could kill Manifold to pass the time. The mob, which now includes Fundy, chases Manifold. He runs to the Holy Land, and the mob boos him.  Techno tells Antfrost to kill Manifold, and that the mob won’t tell that he was killed in the Holy Land. Manifold hands Antfrost his sword. 

While Antfrost debates killing Manifold or not, the mob chants ‘peer pressure!’ at him. Techno quickly realizes that Antfrost isn’t in the VC, and is extremely confused. The sword gets handed to Fundy, who gets into a battle with Manifold. Philza tells Fundy that he’s forgiven, if he can kill Manifold. The battle calms, and neither of the contestants die.

Techno convinces the mob to go to the pit trap, and tries to lure someone onto the trapped blocks using rotten flesh. Fundy takes the bait, but moves out of the way before the button is pressed. Antfrost sneaks up behind him and punches him into the pit. Fundy survives the fall, but is shot by Manifold to death. 

During the commotion, Punz makes his way back to his house, and the mob moves towards him to end his life. Manifold says that he’s going to kill Punz, and Techno says that the mob’ll have his back. He tells the mob to not have Manifold’s back. 

at 02:17:00, Punz joins the call, and is confused as to why Manifold wants to kill him. Manifold explains that Punz tried to kill him, siting his source as Technoblade. 

also, 2:17:15 technoswear!

Techno encourages Punz, saying “Punz, he actually dropped his sword by accident and now I have it, so it’d be really easy to beat him up,” and “he also just killed in the holy land, so you have a sort of...religious motivation to take him out.”

Punz tries to fight Manifold without armor (Manifold is wearing a full enchanted set of armor, with a Netherite chestplate and everything else Diamond), which fails miserably, and Manifold is killed. 

Techno decides to fight Manifold with his goons (the mob) for the audience retention, and Manifold’s quickly killed. The final hit was from CaptainPuffy. Ponk rushes in and grabs some of Manifold’s items. Puffy takes the rest.

Manifold complains about getting bullied, so Techno gives him his sword back and tells him to avenge himself. While looking for Ponk (or Punz? this is kinda unclear), Punz swoops in and kills Manifold in two hits. 

Manifold finds Ponk and chases after him, trying to kill him. The mob follows, and Ranboo kills Ponk with thorns. Manifold takes Ponks stuff. 

Right after respawning, Ponk was blown up by a creeper, and Techno claimed both as canon. 

The mini fights continue, and Manifold is killed by Punz. 

Ranboo changes the ‘Days since last war crime’ sign to 0.

Phil tells Techno that he’s going back to the base, and the L’manburgians question him as to what base he’s talking about. Phil tells Fundy that he ripped off his ankle shackles and left. While they talk, Techno starts running back to the base, and Ranboo whispers “lets run back” to him. Ranboo follows Techno, but quickly looses him.

Phil and Techno join a separate VC together and they go back to the base. 

At 02:29:15, Phil says “I trust you” to Techno and I am going to cry. 

Right before getting to the base, Phil drinks some honey, and Techno says “that’s the only thing we have honey for, now that we’ve uh...uh I guess you don’t know about that.” He’s referring to the Vault, I think, because the redstone required honey to work properly. 

Philza responds, “the honey- wait, what did you use the honey for?” 

“uhhh....food.” Techno, for some reason, doesn’t want to show Phil the vault. 

Ranboo whispers to Techno: “My alliance isnt with lmanburg, its with the people who help me. phil helped me.”

out loud, Techno laughs about it with phil, saying, “well, I’ve stabbed him like twelve times this week, so, I [laughs] I don’t know if that entirely qualifies here.”

Techno messages Ranboo back with “new phone who this” 

Ranboo replies, “no one,” and then, “:)”

Going back to the honey talk, Philza asked if Techno had been hiding anything diabolical from him, and Techno asks if he would do such a thing. Philza guesses several things he could use honey for, such as a flying machine, TNT dupers, and a door.

Techno takes him to the vault. 02:32:00. i LOVE peoples reactions to the vault, it’s always so good. Philza responds with a surprised ‘HOLY SHIT’ and some laughing. Techno also confirms my math of 55 withers. 

02:34:10 “i’ve seen this government, on the server, and everything to do with government is just bad. I’ve watched it completely destroy and tear down people’s wills and change people, I’ve seen it change the nicest people into complete and utter tyrants, so...I think it’s about time--”

“We need revenge. [sellout timer goes off] and more importantly, we neED SUBSCRIBERS ON YOUTUBE DOT COM” phil joinin anarchy pog? 

anyway that was it ;alskdfjas;f

#this ended up bein abt 3000 words whoops #a;ldskfjasldf #technoblade #stream post

[aquaticalay]

For Something Greater .Chapter One.

Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: (Y/n) is an active duty Navy SEAL Commander, the first and only woman to ever be a SEAL. When two American spies are captured during a reconnaissance mission at a HYDRA base in Transia, (Y/n) and her team are forced to team up with The Winter Soldier to rescue the captives. Being wary of the avenger, she agrees to do one mission with Barnes, and one mission only. But after an unexpected turn of events, her team and Barnes must work together to finish what they started, while (Y/n) and Bucky try to sort out their complicated feelings. (Set six months after Endgame.)

Words: 2000+

Warning/s for this chapter: mild Endgame spoilers, cursing, mentions of war violence

Warning/s for the series: Endgame spoilers, cursing, war violence, eventual smut

Note: Transia is a fictional European country appearing located between Romania and Serbia. (Marvel comics)

Recommended: listen to Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes while reading this chapter

(I reuploaded this because last time it didn't show up in the tags)

Nobody thought you would make it.

Not even those closest to you.

When you were 18, you heard that that women were now allowed to serve combat roles in the military, and you were ecstatic. You joined the navy and didn’t tell anyone until a week before your plane took off to go to boot camp in Chicago.

The boot camp was separated, male and female. You made friends with some of the aspiring recruits, but they all laughed at you when you said you wanted to be a Navy SEAL. You were a girl, they thought, and girls aren't supposed to become SEALs.

You ignored them.

You joined the boys in the crash course on the physical standards required to even attempt to become a SEAL, and to prepare you for BUD/S, Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Training.

You heard your fair share of judgement, of people talking behind your back.

“That girl? You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“She won’t make it.”

“Watch her cry home to her mama.”

“I bet she won’t last through Hell Week.” “I bet she won’t even make the selection.”

This fueled your motivation, turned it into anger and aggression.

And you passed the first selection. You not only met, but excelled the standards of swimming, push ups, pull ups, sit ups, and running.

You surpassed nearly everyone in training, despite being a girl.

Then came Hell Week.

During Hell Week, candidates participate in five and a half days of continuous training. Each candidate sleeps at most four hours during the entire week, runs more than 200 miles, and does physical training for more than 20 hours per day. It was tough on you. Hell, it was tough on everyone. Almost half of the candidates failed or quit during Hell Week. The boys who talk behind your back mostly quit during Hell Week. But not you. You stayed strong, a goal in your mind. You were going to make it. You were sure of it.

Throughout Hell Week, your instructors remind you that you could quit anytime, almost taunting. But they were tougher on you, because you were a girl.

“Why do you put yourself through all this, girl? Just be a nurse or something! You know you want to.” an instructor snickered.

You mustered up your strength and shouted for all the candidates to hear, “No, Sir, I’m staying right here!” Your voice echoed through the air like a breeze.

During Hell week, there was an exercise to test the breaking point of each candidate.

Surf Torture is laying in 6 inches of water where the white wash rolled in from the surf. That’s it. You lay there with all the other candidates in cold water for an unknown amount of time, as waves washed over your face. After a few hours, it was starting to drive some crazy.

“We aren’t getting out until 3 people quit, we’ve got nowhere to be, we can do this all night long… all you need to do is quit. It’s easy!” your instructor yelled.

All you need to do is quit…

You were not going to do that.

After 2 hours, a candidate quit. Another one after 6 hours, and the last one after 9 hours.

But you made it.

You made it through the first phase, the second, and the third, and eventually became a full-fledged Navy SEAL, the first woman to ever graduate. You checked in to SEAL team six, white squadron, and got deployed for your first assault ops in Syria.

After that operation, you went on another, then another, then another, until you worked yourself up to where you are now.

Now, you were a commander, leading the white squadron.

You made history, and you’ll continue making them.

-

Today, you got a briefing call.

Another day at work, right?

You gathered your team, six men you trusted with your life, as SOCOM officers briefed you on your new mission.

You sat at the end of the table, three of your men on your right, three on your left. On your right were Jones, McCoy, and Miller, on your left were Woods, Harris, and Lawson, all with a familiar look on their faces that said, Here we go again. Let’s get this over with.

These were your brothers, your family.

“As you know, two CIA agents have gone missing earlier this week during an undercover mission in Transia to locate possible terrorist activities near the border. We lost them, and hadn’t heard a word from them, until now.” the SOCOM officer said, “Black Squadron have identified suspicious Hydra activity around the area, and they have located a warehouse in the Transian mountain range, which we believe may be where the spies are being held.”

“Hydra?” Miller asked, “I thought they didn’t exist anymore.”

“So did we,” the officer said, “But then we got intel that Hydra is slowly rebuilding itself.”

“Are we sure it’s Hydra?” You asked.

“Yes,” the officer confirmed.

“Are we sure the spies are there?”

“Not a hundred percent, no,” the officer explained, “They could’ve risked tipping off Hydra if they got too close.”

You sighed, and smiled at your team. You gave them a look that said, Well, what’s new?

“Command agrees it’s enough info to send a team into the area. There’s a safe house seven klicks from the target, and our allies have arranged ground transportation to the ORP,” the officer said.

You shifted uncomfortably in your seat. “Allies?” you asked.

The officer gave you a faint smile, “Since it’s Hydra, we decided to form an alliance with the Avengers. Assisting you on this mission is The Winter Soldier.”

Whispers rose among your team.

“James Barnes?”

“War hero, right?”

“Wasn’t he the one who killed JFK?” “Yeah, and Howard Stark, too.”

“Enough,” you silenced your team, and they complied.

You stood up, “With all due respect, sir, my squadron can handle this alone.”

“This is Hydra we’re talking about,” he said, “You need all the help you can get.”

“He’s an Avenger,” you sneered, “I’m not working with one of them.”

“He served in the army,” the officer said, “You’ve worked with the army before.”

You raised your eyebrows, “That was 1945,” you said, “He’s an Avenger now. He won’t follow my orders.”

“Who said he’d be following your orders?” he said, “He will be leading with you. Side by side.”

“No,” you said sternly.

“This is non-negotiable,” The officer stared down at you.

“Fine,” you said, “One operation only.”

The officer gave you a half-hearted smile and a small nod, then looked to your team, “Wheels up. Four hours.”

-

Four hours wasn't enough. It has never been enough for anybody, but that was okay, because you've gotten use to never having enough time.

You packed you bag in the locker room of the white squadron, your team bickering playfully and laughing in the background. Diego Miller, Logan McCoy, and Ian Lawson were currently playing Go Fish around the table. Nolan Woods and Collin Harris were having a small but intense chat about the Winter Soldier. Lastly, there was a new kid who just checked in your squadron two months ago, Oliver Jones, frantically checking for everything in his pack. He's 19, was an NYU law student, and has only ever gone on one operation, and that was only a recon op without expected confrontation.

Despite graduating at the top of his class, this was still his first hostage rescue op, with high possibility of violent confrontation, and it was a big deal.

You trained him and hand picked him for the white squadron. You knew he was exceptional, but the first offense mission was still the first offense mission.

You remembered your first SEAL operation. It was a nerve-wrecking experience, an assault mission that nearly got your teammate killed.

What was even more terrifying, was that it was the first time you ever killed. You killed someone, and you hadn't realized that he was just-

"Commander?" Jones asked, snapping you out of your dark thoughts. His voice didn't indicate his nervousness but his eyes gleamed of a certain worry that could only be fear that he tried to surpress. It was a familiar gleam, one that you've experienced yourself. But he'll get over it, like you do. He'll have to. He doesn't have a choice.

"Yeah, Jones?" You answered, packing the last of your thing in your bag, closing your locker. You turned towards him.

"When was your first kill?" He asked, his voice not wavering. He was good at hiding his feelings, and that was good.

You raised an eyebrow, "Too many years ago," you replied, "why?"

"Did you ever know who it was?" He asked again.

"No," you said. It wasn't exactly a lie. You didn't know his name, where he came from. But you saw his face after he was dead and... the reality had overwhelmed you. You did what you had to do.

"How do you get over it?" He asked, his voice still not faltering.

"Over what?" You asked him, "The guilt? Or the realization that you have just taken a life?"

He nodded, "Both."

"You don't. You live with it for the rest of your life," you said faintly, "Whether or not the burden destroys you, is up to you."

"I'm ready," he said sternly, and you gave him a small chuckle as you squeezed his shoulder in reassurance, "No one is ever ready."

You walked past him and to the other boys. "Eyes on me!" You called, and your team stopped doing whatever they were doing and listened to you.

"We're about to go to a Hydra base with the Winter Soldier. We're here to rescue the spies, but we're bound to find some weird shit. Weapons, experimental particles, biological weapons, whatever. Take some with you back to base for intel if you find any," you said, "But this is still a US military mission. Anything we find there will be brought back to SEAL base, not to the Avengers. Watch out for Barnes, and what he brings back."

"What do you have against the Avengers, Commander?" Harris asked, "They saved the world. They brought us back."

Harris were one of those who disappeared. He was the only one who disappeared in your team.

Harris, like everyone else, was brought back six months ago. If he had any trauma tied to the experience, he didn't show it.

"I have nothing against them," you mentioned sincerely, "I'm glad they brought you back. I really am. But this is still a government operation, and the Avengers have a bad history with the government."

-

You climbed up the hatch of the cargo aircraft with the rest of your team.

You were already in your uniforms.

Your uniform color depends on where you're going.

Since you're going to the snowy mountains of Transia, the color today is white, like the name of your squadron.

The white squadron, your team, is a little different from other teams. While other squadrons used standard-issue uniforms, you wore kevlar suits, even almost resembling Captain America's stealth suit. While the other squadrons wore helmets, you wore no such protective head gear. You didn't need it. Your goggles were already fitted with night vision and various other settings, and your mask made it possible for you to breathe under water without an oxygen tank. While other SEALS had regular standard-issue fins that they had to take off after swimming, you had retractable fins that were stored within the fabric of your suit. The only thing that was normal was your choice of firearms, your utility belt that was filled with ammunitions and various other explosives, including grenades and smoke bombs, and lastly a golden trident pin that was the only thing that contrasted with the color of your uniform. The pin, however, was hidden from view. It rested under the uniform, against the thin shirt between your skin and the kevlar suit. Invisible, but always there. Undetected, but ever present. It was the universal symbol for all SEALs.

But your team weren't like the other SEALs.

Your team was special, because to the world, the white squadron didn't exist.

You were a secret SEAL team, with special set of skills that surpassed all others. You could take down a super soldier, not because you were stronger, but because you were better. Strategy over brute force, quality over quantity.

The very few people who have encountered your squadron and survived called your team 'The White Death.'

A very fitting name, indeed.

You got in the plane, the boys trailing not far behind you.

And there he was, The Winter Soldier, sitting on one of the benches, double-checking his rifle.

His hair was tied back into a bun, and he stood up when he saw the group coming.

"Which one of you is Commander (L/n)?" He asked. The first person he locked eyes with was you, for a few seconds, but his gaze quickly averted to the boys, scanning them. He was looking for the Commander, and he didn't think it was you.

Typical.

You stepped out and looked up at him in the eye. "You're looking at her, Sergeant Barnes."

Bucky flinched a little, indicating his surprised look, but covering it up as soon as he realized he was showing physical signs of his shock. He raised his eyebrows and broke his gaze on you, "We've got work to do."

Well, this was gonna be fun.

-

Terms:

Op: operation (mission)

SOCOM: Special Operations Command (Organization that gives orders to the US military)

Klicks: kilometers

ORP: Objective Rally Point 

-

Note: I did the Google research about SEALs, Navy, and US military in general, but I do realize that the data might not be 100% accurate, so if I got something wrong, please let me know so I can fix it!

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x reader #bucky barnes imagines #bucky imagine #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan imagine #bucky imagines #sebastian stan #the winter soldier #bucky barnes fluff #bucky fluff #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky fanfiction #for something greater chapterss

[stone-man-warrior]

June 3, 2020: 9:00 pm:

I want to try to convey a set of visual, three dimensional terror communication that was presented yesterday, in Jackson county Oregon. The communication reached many thousands of terror soldiers and was performed in the open, along Interstate 5 freeway near the Jackson County fairgrounds. The information includes that the terror soldiers in Jackson county were wanting to know what happened to Oregon State Police Officer Jeffrey Prouix. Why he was not responding on his personal communication devices, or other means. Also, Officer Prouix was supposed to have killed me by then, and a replacement terror soldier/actor should have taken my place by then. The Three-Dimensional terror communication happened at about 1:00 pm. So, with many thousands of terror soldiers wondering “where is Jeff Prouix?”, the following was communicated: Their was two instances of a black, unmarked police or FBI vehicle with a car pulled over on the soft shoulder. One, was a small four door sedan, all black, with small blue and read lights flashing, with other car pulled over to the side of the road. That was at about the Gold Hill area, and in the Northbound lanes. I observed while traveling South. Then, upon cresting the hill that descends into the Medford Oregon area, there is a wonderful view of the Medford area there. From the crest of that hill, a small house size fire could be seen, and was estimated to be nearby the Central Point exit. The house fire consisted only of visible white plume of smoke, about three-hundred feet into the air. Not a tremendous fire, but was looking like a fire, only as a result of visible white smoke in the distance from the freeway. As I neared that area, I observed another black, unmarked FBI looking vehicle, also with very small red and blue lights flashing. The lights were contained inside of the vehicles, visible through the windows of the vehicles. The lights were not on the roof or any other outer parts of the two black unmarked cars I saw yesterday. I have seen both of these two black cars before. The one I saw near where the fire was observed, also had a car pulled over to the side of the road, and was an SUV this time, black. The location was directly adjacent to Bear Creek Bicycle Trail park, and that is adjacent to the Jackson County Fairgrounds. So, the communication at this point is “Unknown. Bear. County.”, at minimum. At that point, I was still intersected in looking to see the fire. The fire, by that time, was gone. There was no evidence of any fire anywhere around there. I looked in every direction, and could there was no fire. The communication of that, when included into the black SUV at the fairgrounds and Bear Creek bicycle park, is: “Where’s the fire?”. It’s what police say when they pull you over for going too fast. The fire, was a fake fire. It was just a plume of smoke, and was done Hollywood style for this communication.

Later, after I did what I need to do in Medford, on the return trip, at that very same place in the road near the Fairgrounds, was a Medford Police SUV, blue and white, with someone pulled to the side of the road.

My guess, is that by virtue of where I went, and activities that I needed to do, the response to the question “Where is Jeff Prouix?” was made by filling in the black hole of knowledge that was contained withing the notion of the presence of the black SUV mystery vehicle, and that other one, the small four door sedan mystery car. I think the smaller one was a placeholder for Oregon State Police Officer Tanya Henderson, and the SUV was a place holder for State Police Officer Jeffery Prouix. The presence of the blue and white Medford Police SUV, was suitable for announcement to many thousands of terror soldiers, that the answer to question “Where is Jeff Prouix?” had been found. Specific information about “Where is Jeffrey Prouix?” was not specified, only that the answer was known. --------------------------------

You make your own assessments. I have seen the exact same terror communication before, everything about it, from the black sedan, to the black SUV, to the location where they were observed and what they were doing there, and the house fire that goes along with the three dimensional communication of that kind.

Jeffrey Prouix, is not the only Oregon State Police Officer that has been killed in defense while attempting to murder me. One Kirk Meyers among them. The officers mentioned here, are all impostors. They are not real police officers, yet, they are paid by the Oregon Department of Transportation, are employed as police officers, drive police cars, have real badges, real guns, and real tasers. They all go to the real police field offices, and have keys for those offices, and they all do police business, such as interacting with other agencies, as needed, all as if they were real police. The only thing that is not real about the officers I am mentioning here, is the person inside the uniform, the human being that wears the badge, is loyal to the British Crown. Everything else about them, is real. The laws they wield, are also real.

I have a feeling that one of the intruders that was killed inside my home last week, was ORSP (ORP if you prefer) Tanya Henderson, Jeff Prouix’s Police Partner.

Locally, State Police are called: “Bears”

“Osprey”

“Staters”

I may have explained the “Where’s the fire?” terror comm scenario before. Search this account, it might contain the same ingredients of the comm, with more detail.

That’s all I have on that for now. It’s three dimensional communication that reaches many thousands of terror soldiers who are instructed with such communication without use of spoken words. They all know what to do, and who to talk to, as a result. That is only one of hundreds of thousands of scenarios used for such three-D terror comm. Please send help. 9:49 pm.

[ask-them-bois]

Hurt Him Some More (Final)

The night was young; the sky was still grey on the west horizon. Above, stars burst to life through the inky blackness as a million eyes that watched from the shadows. Nebulae and galaxies spread their impossible forms through the gaps, as the two moons bled their light across the glassy water.

It was cold, the salty air biting like the fangs of war dogs. Not a sound was to be heard; even the wind’s voice was hushed. The sharp brine and bitter scent of gunpowder drifted with the breeze. Even the water below barely burbled.

The world was holding its breath, no more than an ancient vase balanced on a precipice of primitive ruins, waiting for its slumber to be disturbed.

With the taste of his own blood on his tongue, Ruthless stood upon his Warshark’s deck. He watched as, silhouetted against the moon, the Dragon Star approached. He had very little time left. From the distance, it was no more than the size of his thumb, but Alastr would be upon him shortly.

It’s just like that night, he thought, raising his head to feel the wind brush past his hair and fins. Just like the night I lost her; it was this beautiful then, too. He opened his eyes and gazed up at the faint lights in the sky. There was a nebula above him that was her color. Are ye watching me, my love? Lend me yer strength.

Casting his gaze around his ship, he nodded once. He reached out, his claws gently running over the grains in the mast. His ship had outlasted him; she was still waiting when he had returned, hidden where he’d left her. She was old and tired; her wood was warped and her belly leaking, her sails tattered and ropes frayed. Just like him.

“O√e last fight, lass. Last o√e, I promise. The√ ye ca√ rest. I’ll sail ye ta the cove a√’ letcha rest o√ the sa√d.” He looked back out towards the Dragon Star, “Or we’ll both be √othi√’ but salvage. Either way, we do this together, aye? Show me that mighty stre√gth ye had before.” Deep in the bowels of the ship, he heard her groan. He chuckled dryly and pat the mast. “Atta girl.”

He fell silent once more as he watched the Dragon Star approach. This time, he thought, this time is definitely different. Neither had their crews to man the stations or fight alongside them. Neither had the strength they possessed that day. Ruthless himself had no will for this fight. His bloodlust had died when she did. Even now, as he wore his old uniform, he did not wear his pins and patches; those belonged to someone who perished with her. He reached into his coat and pulled out his necklace. Looped on a silver chain were a pair of rings. One was studded with emeralds, while the other was adorned with amethyst. He clenched his hand around them and kissed his knuckles.

“RUTHL£$$ D££PBIT£!!”

And just like that, the night was broken. The vase wobbled closer to its edge. The captain raised his head to see the Dragon Star glide up beside him, so that they were side by side. Of course, the Dragon Star was in pristine condition; Ruthless had no doubt he’d put it back together once he had returned. Standing on its deck was Alastr Afasia, in all his glory. The bronzeblood raised his boot and placed it on the edge, leaning forward with his elbow on his knee.

“Ar£ you r£ady, old man? It’$ tim£ for you to join that worthl£$$ w£n€h you w££p for!” Forsaken called across the water. Ruthless slid the necklace back into his coat and stepped forward.

“√o, Alastr. Where she has go√e, I ca√’t follow. But I’ll meet ye dow√ there eve√tually.” He said, his voice even and emotionless. Forsaken tisked, before he laughed cruelly.

“P£rhap$ you’r£ right. $o,” He reached into his trench coat and pulled out his pistol, aiming it at Ruthless’ face. He cocked the hammer, “got any la$t word$ for th£ living?” Ruthless merely shook his head.

“Ye’re pathetic, Alastr.” He said tiredly, “A thousa√d years, a√’ ye ca√’ let thi√gs go. I √ever did a√ythi√’ ta ye. A√’ whatever I did do ta ye, I did√’t mea√ ta. I √ever k√ew ye existed ‘til ya killed Lucy.” He took another step forward, “Ye’re the o√e that destroyed my world, √ot the other way arou√d.”

Forsaken seemed to falter for a moment; it was slight, but his pistol dipped towards the deck, before his expression hardened and he jerked it back up.

“Liar! Your fan€y word$ won’t $av£ you h£r£, £-”

“Do √ot!” Ruthless cut him off, a snarl now on his lips, “Ye do√’ get ta say my √ame! O√ly she ca√ say my √ame!” Forsaken paused, before he laughed.

“Fin£, what£v£r. Your nam£ €an fall to th£ bottom of th£ o€£an along with your €orp$£.” He spat. He tensed as a thought occurred to him, before he brightened. “A€tually, your body won’t mak£ it that far. $hall I introdu€£ you to the on£ who will g£t to it fir$t?”

“What-” Ruthless began, as Forsaken swung his arm around and fired into the water. The gunshot cracked through the air, the bullet disappearing into the waves. As the ringing died away, a rumble filled the air. It was deep- subsonic- Ruthless could feel it in his very bones.

That was not a rumble, he realized with a cold shock of fear, but a roar.

Something under the water was responding to the gunshot.

He barely had the mind to lunge, to grab the mast and hold on, as the ocean exploded.

Sea water blasted into the air around him, climbing higher than the turbulent waves in a storm, as another roar- now unmuted by the water- swelled through the air, filling the empty space until Ruthless felt like he couldn’t breathe.

The unholy, righteous fury behind the sound made him go cold. That was a sound that even banshees and demons ran from. It could curdle milk, boil blood, and make even the stars quiver and weep. He heard the boards in his ship crack with the force behind it as the Warshark was tossed to and fro by the waves.

Still, she stayed upright, and Ruthless could only watch as a humongous serpentine head rose from the chaotic, frothing sea. He didn’t realize he was shouting until water fell on his tongue. The once clear sky was suddenly swirling with dark clouds, which crackled and lit up with lightning. Thunder undercut the sounds around him, before the sky opened and rain fell with the sea water.

Distantly, he heard Forsaken cackle.

“YOU MAY HAV£ HAD A M£GALODON RUTHL£$$, BUT I, I HAV£ A L£VIATHAN!!” He howled with glee.

Ruthless clutched the mast tighter as he watched the ungodly monster rise. His mind could barely comprehend the size of the beast. It was just- too fucking big, and he was only seeing a portion of it. Its scales were black, black as the void of night, but its teeth- its teeth were blindingly white as it opened its mouth and screamed. Finally, it turned to face him, and Ruthless stared into the eyes of his own oblivion.

Those were the eyes of the devil, he thought. Eyes so red, so deep, deep red, that even the Empress would hesitate to touch the color. Those eyes lived for nothing but to watch carnage and slaughter. Those eyes had seen the gods and laughed at their pitiful powers. Those eyes held a hunger that could not be sated, even if the monster swallowed the stars themselves.

As sea water washed across the deck, drenching the captain, he felt his resilience fail. He could not fight that thing, and he knew it. He dug his claws into the wood and turned away, squeezing his eyes shut as he waited for the end.

“Alastr!”

A voice cried out, nearly buried under the noise, and Ruthless jerked around to look.

Upon the Dragon Star’s deck, a pillar of fire erupted. Ruthless flinched as one appeared on his own ship. Out of the flames stepped Decaying, Incoding, Innocent, and Musrio. On Forsaken’s ship, Drayco emerged from their own pyre, once more in their Black Hand Form. All five of them stumbled as they stepped onto the rocking decks, but they stayed upright.

“What the hell are ye doi√’ here?!” Ruthless shouted at his morails and the rustbloods. If they answered, he couldn’t hear it as thunder shook the sky. Musrio met his eye and grimaced, before he tipped his head towards the Dragon Star.

Glancing at the monstrous serpent, he saw it dip back below the waves momentarily, only to reappear on the other side of their ships; it was circling them. It wasn’t here to kill him, he realized with faint relief, it was to keep him from running away; or at least, it wouldn’t kill him until Alastr gave the word. Safe for the moment, Ruthless turned back to the bronzebloods.

They looked like they were arguing, but Ruthless could barely hear past the rush of blood in his ears. Drayco’s tattoo- the skeletal hand- was glowing against their skin as they raised their claws.

“Enoough oof this! Yoour fight will resoolve noothing! Send yoour moonster away!” Drayco bellowed, their voice deep and commanding, stronger than Ruthless had ever heard it.

“You und£r$tand nothing, you path£ti€ €hild! G£t out of my way!” Forsaken snarled. Drayco braced their feet.

“Noo! Yoou must listen too me! Yoou will die if yoou coontinue!” They cried, almost pleadingly.

“$il£n€£! The only on£ who will di£ h£r£ is Ruthl£$$! Mov£!”

“Please, Foors-” They got no further. Snarling, Forsaken raised his pistol and pointed it at them.

“G£t! Out! Of! My! Way!” He shrieked, spittle flying from his lips and his eyes popping wide. He’s lost his mind, Ruthless thought, swallowing heavily.

“NO!” Musrio screamed.

Several things happened then; Ruthless watched them all in slow motion, like he was going frame-by-frame in a movie.

First, Forsaken squeezed the trigger.

Second, a burst of fiery light flashed on the Warshark’s deck, followed by another one appearing on the Dragon Star, not a moment later, situated between the ancestor and descendant.

Third, Musrio leaped from that fire, his arms out wide as he threw himself towards the pirate, his robes flapping in the wind.

Fourth, thunder cracked and lightning flashed as dark red blood sprayed through the air, and Musrio crumpled to the deck.

Time snapped back into place like a rubber band as the gunshot rang out, and Drayco was screaming. Forsaken was laughing. Innocent, Decaying and Incoding were shouting.

And Ruthless was running.

He ran for the edge of his ship, tagging the side of it with his palm as he vaulted over. There were mere feet between the two vessels, and he cleared the gap easily, ripping his sabers from their sheaths.

Blood was roaring in his ears as he spared a glance at the fallen boy. Just like her, his head sang; he fell just like her.

A fury, a rage that had been building for a thousand years, a frenzy held back by booze and regret and the gentle paps of his morails, burst within his chest like firecrackers overloaded with gunpowder.

The vase had shattered.

Screaming, he barreled into Forsaken, sending him flying across his own ship.

“Drayco! Get Musrio ta me ship!” Ruthless thundered, glancing back only momentarily. Drayco, who’d dropped to their knees beside the bleeding rust, looked up and nodded, gathering their fallen matesprit in their arms. A burst of fire, and they were on the Warshark with the others, who immediately rushed to assist the fallen troll.

Forsaken was picking himself up, groaning weakly. Rain pounded the deck around them as he got to his feet. As he rose, his mask fell from his face and clattered to the floor. Snarling, he kicked it away. He turned to face Ruthless, his only eye bright with wrath and insanity.

The left side of his face was disgustingly marred; the skin was all but gone, revealing bone and muscle that had turned black. His eye was gouged out, the hole oozing thick blood as thin flaps of skin- what was once his eyelid- fluttered in the wind. Even a chunk of his nose was missing, blown off with the rest of it.

Forsaken bared his teeth at Ruthless, who had frozen in shock. “THI$ I$ WHAT YOU DID TO M£, RUTHL£$$ D££PBIT£!! THI$, AND MOR£!!” He howled, spittle flying from his lips. He reached into his coat for his pistols, but found them gone. Eye wide, he cast around the deck frantically, and saw them lying behind Ruthless.

Ruthless braced his feet, his face set and grim.

“I did√’ do shite, Alastr, but yer go√√a pay fer what you did.” He snarled in a low voice; the voice he once had, full of command and grandeur, befitting one of his status. He could feel the rush in his veins again; the call for blood and glory, the siren song of the merciless kill.

Before the lowblood could move, the captain was upon him, rocketing towards him with his sabers raised.

“THIS IS FOR LUCI√A!!!” He boomed, his voice lifted higher by the thunder that crashed around them. As the leviathan roared, Forsaken threw his arms up to shield himself.

Blood splattered the deck, only to be washed away by the rain. Lightning flashed so bright it blinded the others, who stood upon the Warshark. When their vision returned, they peered through the torrential rain and waves.

Innocent took a step forward, but Decaying grabbed his arm. Innocent paused and glanced at him, confused.

“Th- shark and snak- hav- m-t th-ir fat-, and n_w th- b-ast shall awak-.*” The madman rumbled. Innocent blinked, pulling down his mask as he looked out at the Dragon Star. *(The shark and snake have met their fate, and now the beast shall awake.)

Ruthless panted, his whole body trembling as he looked down at his foe. Impaled through the chest and shoulder, his blood pooling around him as he fought for breath, Forsaken blinked up at him. Ruthless had him pinned to the deck, with one boot on his stomach as he bent over the lowblood.

Forsaken gurgled and coughed, blood spattering his lips as he blinked at the seadweller with a suddenly clear eye.

“Ruth... l£$$...” He wheezed through grit teeth. With the arm that wasn’t pinned, he reached up and grabbed the violetblood’s sleeve. “pl£a$£... my pistol$... I- I want to- n££d to- d- ah- di£ with my w£apon$...” He pleaded, his voice barely more than a croak as he forced each word out. Ruthless hesitated, but nodded. He stepped off the dying troll and walked over to the abandoned guns. Picking them up, he moved back to Forsaken and placed them in each hand. The bronzeblood gripped them tightly, but made no move to attack. He sighed a soft, “Thank you.” and closed his eyes.

Suddenly exhausted, Ruthless crumpled to his hands and knees beside him. He looked down at the bronze for a long moment as their breathing got fainter.

“I’m sorry, Alastr. I du√√o what I did, but I’m sorry it drove ye ta this. I √ever wa√ted a√y o’ this. Ye took me wife away, a√d I- I did√’ eve√ go dow√ sweari√’ ve√gea√ce. I just- I wa√ted ta see Luci√a agai√. I may √ever get ta, but- it’s too late √ow, ai√’t it? I’m sorry.”

Forsaken was silent, his breathing slow and tepid. He opened his eye and stared up at the rain, before he chuckled weakly.

“... Warhound.” he rasped. Ruthless looked at him.

“What?”

“H£r nam£... i$ Warhound now. Lu€ina “Warhound” £v- £vrr£n. $h£’$ looking for you, too, but $h£ ha$n’t mad£ it ba€k to the world of th£ living y£t.” He coughed, forcing each word through numb lips.

“What the blazes are ye-?” He started, but Forsaken took a deep, shuddering breath, his grip going lax on his pistols.

He let the breath out slowly, and breathed no more.

Ruthless shut his mouth and clenched his jaw. He sat there a moment more, then rose to his feet. As he ripped his sabers from the corpse, the Dragon Star rocked violently; down below, he felt the vibrations of the leviathan’s roar.

“Ah, fuck. I fergot about the big bitch.” He muttered, sliding his blades back into his belt. He turned and ran for the edge of the ship, vaulting back over to the Warshark. He paused to get his footing, then jogged over to the others; the rain was still falling, but not as heavily now. He opened his mouth, ready to tell them off for coming when he’d expressively told them not to do that, but shut it again at the sight of Musrio.

Drayco was bent over the rustblood, who was laid out on his back, propped up on one elbow. Drayco had pulled down his robes to reveal the wound; Forsaken’s bullet had ripped straight through his left chest, most likely through his heart. It was bleeding steadily, the white of his robes already red. Musrio, his teeth clenched, kept his other hand over the wound and growled each time Drayco tried to touch him. His hand was covered in his own blood and glowing a dull white.

Incoding glanced up, the first to notice Ruthless’ presence. “He’s try1ng t0 heal the w0und h1mself,” He explained quietly, “but F0rsaken must have had s1lver bullets 0r s0me sh1t, because 1t w0n’t cl0se.”

“Not silver.” Musrio snarled, “The fucking sxlt- I cxn’t concentrxte with the stinging xnd thxt stupid snxke.” He suddenly flopped back, his head hitting the deck as he panted. Drayco leaned over him, an anxious whine in their throat. Musrio opened his eyes and blinked up at them.

“Are yoou gooing too die, Mush?” They asked quietly. Musrio pursed his lips.

“No.” He grunted, gritting his teeth in pain, “Don’t think I cxn, even if I wxnted to. My job’s not done. Plus...” He sighed, reaching up to touch Drayco’s cheek, “I’m not done with you yet. Ribbit.”

“Done... with me?” Drayco repeated; Musrio’s blood was now smeared on their face, but they either didn’t notice or care. Musrio hummed.

“You promised you’d repxir everything from before.” He said softly. Drayco bowed their head.

“... I’m trying.” They whined softly, “I doon’t knoow what I’m dooing.” Musrio snorted, before gasping with pain.

“No shit.” He muttered, grabbing Drayco’s shirt, “You hxven’t even tried to kiss me yet.” Drayco froze, their head jerking up in shock.

“Kiss yoou?” They repeated, stunned. Musrio raised an eyebrow.

“You remember our last kiss, don’t you?”

“I... oof course I doo. I was-”

“Yexh. It sucked. Thxt’s something you’ve got to mxke up to me, too.”

“But I-” Drayco broke off with a squeak of fright as Musrio surged up, smashing his lips against theirs. Drayco went still as a stone, confounded by this sudden change of events. “Mush...?” they mumbled. Musrio rumbled low in his throat, and Drayco gave in, pulling the rust close and kissing him deeply.

Ruthless quirked an eyebrow as he watched Musrio’s free hand reach up and grasp Drayco’s dangling amulet. He squeezed it tightly, and a dull, red-orange light seeped through his fingers, before it began to bleed across the necromancer’s skin, up his sleeves until it bled across his chest and into the wound, which began to close. The bullet was forced out of his skin and it clattered to the deck. Musrio finally pulled away, releasing Drayco’s pendant.

“Better.” He mumbled, his face as red as it could get. Drayco blinked at him, panting and breathless, their own cheeks dark, before their face split into a grin.

Ruthless smiled faintly, before the ship trembled again as the leviathan roared. His expression dropping, he turned on his heel and stormed towards his cabin.

“Ru?” Incoding called after him, puzzled, but the captain didn’t answer. When he returned, he was carrying a large rifle over his shoulder, and his necklace in one hand. He pushed the rings into Innocent’s hand.

“Hold these fer me, will ye? I’ll be back.”

“... Ruthless, what are you going to do?...”

“You’re n0t g01ng t0 f1ght that th1ng, are y0u?!” Incoding demanded, stepping forward. Ruthless turned to look at his morails.

“I am.”

“That’s su1c1de!”

“Aye, probably. But it does√’ look like it’s goi√’ away a√y time soo√.”

“S0 y0u’re g01ng after 1t w1th a r1fle?” Incoding asked doubtfully.

“Aye, Orpha√ers ai√’t the o√ly o√es with cool weapo√s.” He turned away, squaring his shoulders. Without waiting for an argument, he strode towards the edge of the ship. He climbed onto the edge and paused, staring down into the dark water.

Unbidden, a memory surfaced in his mind.

“Hey, Lucy?” “Hey, Ruthless?” “I’m in love with ye.” “Are you?” “Aye. I want ye ta be me matesprit.” “What if I don’t want to be yours?” “Then I will throw meself inta the sea.”

“You threw yourself into the sea. Now what?” “If ye won’t be me mate, I will summon a beast ta eat me!” “I won’t be your mate!”

“You’ve thrown yourself into the sea, and you’ve been eaten by a beast. Now what?” “What more can I do, to prove I love you?” “Kiss me.”

He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing the memory back into the dark as he stepped off the edge and plummeted.

He hit the water, and came alive. His gills opened, sucking in that deliciously cold water as bubbles streamed out of his mouth; it was always a disorienting moment, going from air to water. His fins flared and flapped as an instinctive delight kicked in. Finally, the tiny, barely noticeable freckles that decorated every inch of him woke up. He was glowing, a warm, purple light that lit up the dark.

He turned, and saw his glow reflected in the eyes of the serpent. It had gone still, suddenly transfixed by his light. Ruthless smiled, swimming closer to it.

Dredging up ancient memories, he spoke to it in the language of the sea. Alastr is gone, he told it, his voice low and quiet, like the swish of waves on sand. Your fight is done. Go back to the deep.

I will not, it rumbled back, its tongue dripping with poison and hate, I am hungry. I shall devour you and your ships, then I shall retreat.

No, he snarled firmly, no! He pulled his rifle around and leveled it at the leviathan’s face. I will not let you hurt them! I have lost enough to the fangs of fate, your maw shall not take anything more!

The leviathan laughed. If you think you can kill me, mortal, then I invite you to try. I am a being that has eviscerated the gods themselves. There are none who are beholden to my wrath and survive.

Ruthless’ fins flared in agitation. But like the whisper of a ghost, he saw something flicker below the serpent’s belly. He paused, relief sweeping through him harder than the tidal currents that held him aloft. He chuckled, closing his eyes. He came, he thought.

“√ice ta see ye agai√, Krayk√.” He called, opening his eyes again.

“F̸a̶t̸h̴e̷r̸.̸ ̵I̸t̵ ̸h̷a̶s̶ ̴b̵e̵e̸n̴ ̶t̴o̴o̷ ̸l̶o̶n̴g̸ ̷s̸i̵n̵c̵e̶ ̴y̶o̸u̶ ̴c̴a̸m̸e̴ ̵t̸o̴ ̸m̶e̴.̶ ̶S̷h̷a̴l̶l̴ ̷I̴ ̵r̸i̵d̸ ̶y̶o̶u̵ ̸o̵f̸ ̴t̵h̸i̴s̸ ̴b̷e̶a̵s̸t̷?̷” a voice answered. The voice, just like the monster’s roar, was subsonic, so deep and loud that it was near silent.

“Aye, that’d certai√ly be helpful.” Ruthless purred.

From the darkness, a bright red light burst into being, illuminating the body of a monster as it shot towards them. That monster- Kraykn, as Ruthless had called him- reached out with giant claws and grasped the leviathan’s throat.

Swinging around like a cowboy onto a steer, he straddled the serpent and hooked his talons into it’s armor-like scales.With a roar that was no louder than a dead man’s breath, he ripped the head to the side as the leviathan snarled its last. The head ripped away, and the water was suddenly clouded as gallons of ancient blood spilled through it.

Ruthless reached out through the cloud, and a hand bigger than his torso found his fingers. They gripped his hand oh so gently, pulling him close. Once freed of the fog, he kicked away and swam up to the monster’s face.

“Ye’ve gotte√ a hell o’ a lot bigger, have√’t ye, Krayk√?” He grinned, their glows illuminating one another.

“I̸ ̴h̷a̷v̷e̴,̵ ̵f̷a̴t̴h̷e̵r̸.̷ ̷T̶h̴e̴ ̴r̶e̵w̷a̷r̸d̴s̶ ̶o̷f̶ ̸t̶h̷e̸ ̴d̴e̶e̸p̷ ̶f̷a̶v̶o̶r̵ ̶m̶e̸.̴” Kraykn sighed. Ruthless chuckled.

“What is it I hear ye’re calli√’ yerself these days? Ye chose a title, did√’tcha?”

“Y̷e̵s̷,̶ ̴f̶a̶t̷h̴e̵r̴.̴ ̵I̵n̵ ̸t̸h̶e̸ ̴d̸e̴e̵p̵,̵ ̵I̷ ̶a̴m̷ ̶k̶n̷o̵w̷n̵ ̵a̴s̵.̵.̸.̷ ̵t̴h̵e̴ ̸S̵u̵r̶v̴i̸v̴o̸r̴.”

“The Survivor.” Ruthless repeated, a gravely purr starting in his throat, “It suites ye. You’ve bee√ dow√ here all this time, have√’t ye?”

“Y̷e̷s̸.̸ ̴L̶o̵n̸g̶ ̶b̸e̴f̷o̸r̴e̸ ̶m̴o̶t̵h̸e̷r̸ ̶l̸e̴f̵t̶,̴ ̴a̴n̴d̸ ̶l̶o̷n̵g̸e̸r̵ ̶s̷t̸i̶l̸l̶ ̸a̶f̸t̵e̵r̶ ̸y̷o̷u̵.̵” Ruthless swam closer, touching the giant’s face gently.

“I’m sorry, lad. I wish I coulda told ye in perso√.” he murmured. Survivor turned his head away.

“I̴t̷ ̵i̴s̶ ̵n̵o̷t̸ ̵a̸ ̴m̵a̸t̶t̵e̴r̸ ̵o̸f̸ ̷i̷m̸p̸o̴r̴t̸a̵n̷c̸e̵ ̶a̶n̵y̶m̴o̴r̴e̸.̷ ̶T̴h̶a̴t̸ ̶w̸a̴s̵ ̸m̴a̶n̶y̸,̴ ̸m̵a̴n̸y̷ ̸s̸w̴e̵e̷p̴s̶ ̵a̷g̷o̸.̷ ̴I̴ ̵n̵o̸w̸ ̶h̸a̶v̴e̴ ̴a̷ ̷d̶e̴s̷c̵e̴n̷d̷a̵n̶t̸ ̷o̵f̵ ̶m̵y̷ ̶o̷w̸n̷.̴ ̶W̷o̷u̶l̷d̷ ̸y̷o̶u̶ ̸c̷a̵r̷e̷ ̴t̸o̶ ̴m̸e̸e̶t̸ ̴h̵i̶m̸?̵“ he asked softly. Ruthless perked up.

“Ye got yerself a lil’ bastard, too, huh? Hell yeah, lemme met me gra√dgrub.” Survivor turned and looked down into the abyssal darkness below them. The leviathan’s body was slowly sinking into black, and crouched up the remains, was another troll.

“A̴s̴h̴h̸u̸r̵.̷ ̵C̷o̷m̸e̷,̴ ̷m̶e̵e̸t̶ ̸m̷y̷ ̴f̴a̶t̶h̵e̷r̶.̴“ Survivor called quietly. The other figure looked up,then kicked off the corpse and swam towards them.

“Ashhur, huh?” Ruthless repeated as the second giant moved closer. “‘s √ice ta meet ye, lad.” Ashhur regarded him for a long moment.

“-.-- --- ..- / .- .-. . / ... ..- .-. ...- .. ...- --- .-. .----. ... / ..-. .- - .... . .-. ..--..*” *(You are Survivor’s father?)

Ashhur clicked and hummed his words. He never learned Alternian, Ruthless realized with faint amusement; it wasn’t much of a surprise, Survivor could barely speak it himself.

“I am.” he clicked back. Ashhur looked mildly surprised, but pleased. He nodded.

“-.. --- / -.-- --- ..- / ... - .. .-.. .-.. / ... . .-. ...- . / - .... . / . -- .--. .-. . ... ... ..--..*” *(Do you still serve the Empress?)

“√o. I left that life a lo√g time ago.” Ashhur frowned, clearly unhappy with that answer.

“.-- .... . -. / .. / .- -- / . -- .--. . .-. --- .-. --..-- / .-- .. .-.. .-.. / -.-- --- ..- / ... . .-. ...- . / -- . ..--..*” *(When I am Emperor, will you serve me?)

Ruthless’ eyebrows arched. “Yer go√√a be Emperor, huh?” Ashhur nodded.

“I̷t̷ ̷i̷s̸ ̸h̵i̵s̸ ̸d̴r̷e̸a̶m̵ ̷t̴o̴ ̵r̶u̷l̶e̴.̴“ Survivor murmured. Ashhur glared at him.

“.. / .-- .- ... / -... --- .-. -. / - --- / .-. ..- .-.. . -.-.--*” He hissed. Ruthless bit back a laugh; he had a feeling young Ashhur had never been to the surface. If he had, he wouldn’t want to rule, and he certainly wouldn’t be wearing pink. *(I was born to rule!)

“‘s certai√ly √ot a bad dream.” He said instead, glanced towards the surface. “Ca√ ya’ll withsta√d the lack o’ pressure ta come up a√’ say hi ta me ‘rails?” Survivor’s fins twitched and he nodded.

“T̷h̵a̸t̶ ̴s̵o̷u̵n̶d̵s̶ ̵f̴e̶a̶s̴i̵b̷l̸e̷.̴” He whispered. Ruthless nodded and turned, kicking towards the surface.

Up on the ship, Incoding and Innocent leaned on the edge of the Warshark, staring into the black water. Musrio was sitting up, dressed once again, and leaning on Drayco’s shoulder. Drayco was shyly holding his hand, unable to raise their gaze from their own lap, while Musrio gazed up at the stars. The rain had finally dissipated, and the clouds had scattered. Meanwhile, Decaying paced the ship’s length, muttering under his breath.

All five of them jumped in surprise as Ruthless suddenly shot out of the water, into the air, and landed on the deck. He dropped his rifle at his feet, shaking his head frantically and spraying sea water.

“Ruthless!” Incoding and Innocent ran to him, concern on both of their faces. “Are y0u 0kay?” Incoding asked anxiously, scanning the seadweller for wounds.

“I’m fi√e, Cody, I promise. The big bitch’s bee√ dealt wit’. I got someone I wa√tcha to meet.” He rumbled, patting the goldblood on the shoulder. Incoding scowled.

“You’re n0t f1ne, y0u fuck1ng d1ck, d0n’t l1e.” Ruthless paused, then snorted.

“Aye, fair e√ough. We ca√ talk whe√ we get home.” He murmured. Innocent stepped forward and held out the rings and chain to Ruthless, who took it. “Tha√k ye, love.” Innocent nodded. As Ruthless slipped the chain around his neck again, he tipped his head towards the water. “I got someone I wa√t you two ta meet.” he repeated, leading them towards the edge of the ship. Decaying, who had gone still, moved towards them. He grabbed Incoding’s arm, shying behind him. Incoding paused, turning to look at his boyfriend.

“Y0u 0kay, Br1?”

“Th- b-ast.” Decaying mumbled, “Th- b-ast is h-r-. The b-ast-*” *(The beast. The beast is here. The beast-)

“Aye, he sure is, rusty,” Ruthless said without turning around, “but he wo√’t hurtcha.”

Even Drayco and Musrio got up to cluster close to the edge of the ship to look as Survivor and Ashhur emerged from the water. Survivor rose as far as his waist, but even then, he towered over the ships; he was just a smidgen over twenty-four feet tall, after all. Ashhur, who couldn’t have been older than Musrio or Drayco, wasn’t even half of that; he himself was five and a half feet in stature. Then again, he wasn’t over a thousand years old.

“H0ly fuck!” Incoding shouted. Instantly, Survivor and Ashhur ducked into the water, their fins folding in fear. Ruthless’ hand clapped over the gold’s mouth.

“Ye ca√√y yell ‘rou√d them, Cody. ‘Specially out o’ the water like this. Ye’ll break their eardrums.” He explained in a low voice, “They weren’t raised ‘rou√d big √oises, a√’ they startle real easy.” Incoding’s eyes widened.

“S0rry.” He muttered. Ruthless dropped his hand and leaned over the edge.

“It’s alright, Krayk√. He did√’ mea√ ta scare ya.” He crooned as he reached towards the water. Survivor, who’s sunk down until only his eyes were above the surface, reached up for his father’s hand and held it like a scared child.

“W̷h̴o̶ ̴a̶r̶e̸ ̴t̷h̷e̷y̵,̶ ̴f̷a̵t̶h̴e̵r̵?̸“ he murmured.

“This here be I√√oce√t, Incodi√’, Decayi√’, Musrio, a√d Drayco.” Ruthless explained softly, nodding to each troll in turn, “I√√oce√t a√’ Cody be my ‘rails. Decayi√’ is Cody’s mate, Musrio is Decayi√’s desce√da√t, a√d Drayco is Musrio’s... eh...” He glanced at the two teenagers.

“Friend.” Musrio supplied. Ruthless nodded.

“Frie√d.”

“.-- .... --- / .. ... / - .... . / -.-. --- .-. .--. ... . / --- -. / - .... . / --- - .... . .-. / ... .... .. .--. ..--..*” Ashhur asked, pointing at the Dragon Star. *(Who is the corpse on the other ship?)

Ruthless looked up at the other ship, his face becoming hard. “Ah. Right, fergot about that. He...” he looked down at Survivor, “He was yer mother’s killer.” Survivor’s fins pricked up at the mention of his mother, before he scowled.

“I̵ ̵d̵o̸ ̶n̸o̶t̶ ̴w̵a̵n̴t̵ ̴t̶h̴a̷t̷ ̵s̴h̶i̵p̷ ̴i̴n̸ ̷m̸y̵ ̸w̴a̴t̶e̶r̸.̶“ He mumbled.

“Ye ca√ destroy it.” Ruthless assured him, “Just lemme take these lads back ta la√d.” Survivor blinked at him.

“W̷i̷l̷l̷ ̸y̶o̴u̶ ̶c̷o̵m̸e̸ ̸b̴a̴c̷k̶?̷“ He whispered. Ruthless smiled softly.

“Aye, √ow that I know yer still ‘rou√d. I always come back, remember?” Survivor nodded, satisfied, and released the violet’s hand.

“W̷e̸ ̷w̸i̶l̷l̸ ̵w̴a̴i̴t̵ ̷f̷o̵r̸ ̸y̶o̵u̴r̵ ̴r̴e̸t̶u̷r̵n̴,̵ ̶f̷a̷t̴h̸e̴r̶.̶“ He purred, before he tuned and dove under water again, revealing a fan of spines and fins on his back as he disappeared. Ashhur watched him go, then looked up at them.

“.. / --. --- / .-- .. - .... / ... ..- .-. ...- .. ...- --- .-. / ..-. --- .-. / -. --- .-- --..-- / -... ..- - / .. / .-- .. .-.. .-.. / .-. . - ..- .-. -. --..-- / - --- --- .-.-.- / .. / .-- .. ... .... / - --- / ... . . / .-- .... .- - / - .... .. ... / .-- --- .-. .-.. -.. / .. ... / .-.. .. -.- . / -. --- .-- .-.-.-*” He bubbled, before he looked up at Innocent, “.-- . / .- .-. . / --- -. . / .. -. / - .... . / ... .- -- . --..-- / -... .-.. --- --- -.. / .-. . .-.. .- - .. ...- . .-.-.- / .. / -.-. .- -. -. --- - / .-- .- .. - / - --- / ... . . / .-- .... .- - / -.-- --- ..- .-. / ... .--. .- .-- -. / .. ... / .-.. .. -.- . .-.-.- / .. ... / .... . / .- / .-- --- .-.. ..-. --..-- / - --- --- ..--..**” *(I go with Survivor for now, but I will return, too. I wish to see what this world is like now. **We are one in the same, blood relative. I cannot wait to see what your spawn is like. Is he a wolf, too?)

Without waiting for an answer- Innocent didn’t understand him, anyway- he dove, too, flickering away into the dark. Ruthless waited until they were out of sight, before he let out a breath.

“Well, the√, let’s get ye la√d-lovers back ta solid grou√d.” He turned and strode away. As he did so, he reached up and gripped the rings around his neck, looking up at the sky. Were ye watchin’, love? He whispered, Our boy is alive an’ safe. This time, I promise, I won’t let ‘im down.

(EVERYONE PLEASE WELCOME KRAYKN AND ASHHUR JAYBEZ!!!)

#hurt him some more #final part #ruthless deepbite #the forsaken #the incoding #the innocent #musrio almawt #drayco afasia #the decaying #the survivor #ashhur jaybez #tw blood #death #new characters #new trolls

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Misery Loves Company Part 2

Chapter Twenty-Two:

The One With Screams in the Dark

Violet and Klaus sailed silently for a few moments. Both children trying their hardest not to look back down. They both could not believe what they found at the bottom of the ersatz elevator of 667 Dark Avenue. Even though their ride down was much, much slower, the ride up the elevator shaft seemed to take a sickeningly long time. Violet and Klaus were extremely anxious about getting back to the penthouse in hopes of finding tools that Violet could use to rescue Sunny and the Quagmires.

It didn’t take long until Violet couldn’t stand the silence. Violet turned to Klaus who was looking around worriedly. “Let’s hope we make it to the top before the Squalors and Olaf get home,”

Klaus was too busy to answer her. He gave a slight nod of his head as his face scrunched up. He looked around confused. “Do you smell smoke?” He asked his eyes widening.

Violet looked at him with concern and then confusion. “Smoke?” she repeated and then her eyes gazed up at her hot air balloon. “Oh fuck,” she muttered. “Th-the handkerchief! The fabric is burning.” She glanced at the spyglass in her hands. “The heat of the spyglass is too intense,”

Klaus looked up at the fabric. Not even turning to face Violet. “Wh-what do we do?” he asked nervously.

“I-I need to moderate the temperature,” Violet explained as Klaus focused on her, offering her a rather confused expression. “It has to be hot enough to rise but not so hot that it burns,” she explained to him.

He gasped. “That sounds like a very specific amount of heat,” he said worriedly.

Violet sighed. “H-how far from the top are we?” she asked.

Klaus looked at her worriedly and then glanced up at the burning fabric. “Not close enough,” he cried.

Violet looked up and took a deep breath. “How high up from the ground are we?”

Both children could hear the flames on the fabric, Klaus closed his eyes and grimaced before he turned to glance outside of the basket. He stood back up to face Violet. He didn’t have to say anything, his expression was enough to tell Violet exactly what she needed to know. His facial expression went back to one of fear, panic, and worry. The way he looked at her, as if ready for the inevitable, nearly killed her. She glanced up at the fabric and then looked at her brother.

“I’m going to fix this.” She promised. Both siblings turned their attention to the fabric as Violet sighed, turning towards spyglass and turning one of the dials. Klaus looked around worriedly, confused as to where the light from the spyglass had gone. Both children gasped as they could feel for a second their hot air balloon stop. As if it were floating in mid-air with the help of whatever happy thoughts either child had left and some pixie dust. Almost like clockwork, the children could feel their stomachs flip as their hot air balloon began to freefall back down the ersatz elevator shaft.

Violet held on to spyglass as she listened to the screams of her younger brother. His screams echoed off the small, enclosed walls of the elevator shaft which increased the sound full force. “Come on,” she whispered as she turned the dials after counting for several seconds. Klaus continued to scream as Violet turned the dials again. “If I turn it on and off, it might stabilize,” she explained although she wouldn’t be surprised if he couldn’t hear her over his screams. Finally, Violet and Klaus could see the light from the spyglass again and the hot air balloon stopped freefalling and slowly began to rise. Klaus stopped screaming but not after his voice cracked a few times, which caused Violet to laugh. Klaus looked up and then around.

“What the fuck was that?!” he asked, his voice hoarse from his screaming.

“Get used to it,” she informed him. His eyes widened.

“Don’t you dare,” he warned as she smirked at him turning the spyglass off again and allowing them to fall for another few seconds. His screams, once again, echoed, bouncing off the walls. When she turned the spyglass on again, she glared at him.

“Stop that!” she yelled. “Not only are you giving me a migraine, but you’re also going to worry Sunny and the Quagmires. They’re going to think you’re dying,”

He glared back at her. “ I am dying!” He argued, hissing at her with his hoarse voice.

“Just think of it as an amusement park ride,”

“Yeah, one I’d never get on!”

With that, Violet turned off the spyglass again. With the same result, waiting a few more seconds just to mess with Klaus. “I swear to God, I wish I had a third hand. I’d hold your mouth shut!”

“Stop doing it!”

“Listen to me, I have to. It’s the only way we’re going to make it,”

“I don’t know how us freefalling for several seconds,” he said as she turned it off again. When she turned it back on again. “Is helping us get closer to the top!” he hissed.

“Trust me,” she said rolling her eyes. “Now listen, when we get back up there, I’m going to search for tools to help me break open that cage. You are going to find something new for my invention,” she said referring to the handkerchief. “We’ll meet up like last time,”

Klaus nodded as he smiled. He could see the top. The light from the penthouse walkway. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. You’re right,” he said. “It’s working,”

Violet smiled as she dulled the spyglass instead of turning it off. “I knew it would,”

“You’re a genius,” Klaus replied.

“If we maintain a consistent heat level,” she explained. “We should make it,”

Klaus laughed. “Thank God. You know for a second there I thought we…” he began as both kids heard an explosion from above them.  The fluttering sound of their basket falling to the ground landing with a harsh THUD! Echoed through the shaft, deafening the children, who were holding on to the edge of the elevator doors’ entryway for dear life. Violet and Klaus grunted as Violet began to hoist herself up. She pulled herself and her backpack up, throwing it across the room toward the Squalors’ front door. Klaus was trying to hoist himself up but he nearly slipped.

She turned around and grabbed his hand quickly. “Klaus!” she yelled as she pulled him out of the elevator shaft.

“Really love how you saved your backpack before me,” Klaus said jokingly.

“You’re going to regret dissing the backpack,” she replied. “Just you wait,”

“Is that a threat or a promise?” he asked laughing.

“ Both if you’re not careful,” she replied glaring at him jokingly. “Asshole,”

“Bitch,”

They both stood up laughing. Noticing the ash and dirt there were now plastered all over their pinstripe suits. Violet began to tie up her hair as she glanced down the shaft that had devoured her invention whole. “Okay, so change of plans,” she said. “I’m going to go around the penthouse and look for either some rope or material for a new invention while I do that I’m going to try to locate the circular saw I saw during my tour of the penthouse. We can use it to cut the bars,” she explained.

“What can I do?” Klaus asked.

“You can...,” she began. She stopped talking as both siblings could hear footsteps approaching. High-heeled footsteps. Violet and Klaus looked worriedly at one another. “You can distract the Squalors,” she said. “And Olaf,”

“He can’t know we’ve found them,” Klaus whimpered.

“Exactly. I’m going to need you to distract whoever it is coming up the stairs,” she directed as she ran toward the penthouse grabbing her backpack on the way. “Remember stay near the Squalors and he can’t hurt you.”

“Vi!” he called out as he could hear the footsteps coming closer and closer.

“You got this! I’d trade places with you in a heartbeat, but you’re not the inventor,” she called back as she disappeared into the penthouse.

Klaus widened his eyes when he realized that he and Violet had foolishly left the elevator doors open. Shit! He thought to himself. He can’t know that we found them! He quickly pushed the elevator doors and watched as they closed agonizingly slow as the high-heeled footsteps continued to get agonizingly louder. The exact moment the doors closed, Esme rounded the corner, dragging Jerome unconscious.

Esme and Klaus screamed in surprise. Esme looking at the young boy suspiciously. He looked at her just as suspiciously. “Jerome!” he yelled. “What happened to him?”

Esme smiled. But the smile didn’t sit right with Klaus, he shuddered. “Nothing to worry about, darling,” she replied patting him on the head as if he was a puppy. “He just collapsed in the middle of dinner,”

“Collapsed?”

“Fell sound asleep,” Esme explained. “You know how it is when you party too much,”

“Not really,”

“Well, you might one day,” she responded. “Now, what are you doing outside the penthouse and why are your clothes covered in ash?”

Klaus looked at her and didn’t know how to respond. “Um, I’m very tired,” he lied. “Can I be excused to go to bed?” he asked.

Esme looked at him suspiciously again. “I guess you should be asleep,” she said. “It’s whatever time it is,”

“Where’s Gunther?” he asked when he finally realized that the only people who had come back to the penthouse were the Squalors.

“Who?” Esme asked confused. “Oh, him. No, no,” she said. She ushered him to follow her into the penthouse as she continued to drag Jerome. Klaus sighed in relief once Esme had sat down in one of the first rooms of her penthouse. “Where’s the girl orphan?” she asked. “Violet? That's her name, correct?”

“Y-yeah and I don’t know,”

Esme glared at him. “I think you’re lying,” she said.

____________________________________________________

It wasn’t long after Violet and Klaus’ departure that Olaf still dressed in his Gunther disguise entered the tiny ersatz dungeon with his henchmen following behind him. Duncan, Isadora, and Sunny all jumped in surprise as they stole secret glances up, hoping that Violet and Klaus were high enough to where Olaf wouldn’t notice them. The room was dark and as Olaf’s henchmen began lighting the candles offering their boss light, he didn’t seem to notice the very faint, distant light that came from above.

“It’s almost time, orphans,” Olaf informed them smiling. Holding his cane out towards them. “We can do this the easy way or the fun way. I’m being kind enough and letting you choose but don’t take my kindness for granted. I can always take that privilege away and I can choose.” he began to unlock the cage as the orphans moved back. Duncan picked up Sunny while Isadora held an arm out in front of her brother. Sunny grabbed onto Isadora’s hand. “ And we all know what I would choose,” He hissed darkly.

He glanced at the children for an uncomfortably long time. “Something’s different,” he muttered. All three children could feel their hearts sink in their chest as Olaf’s shiny eyes fixated on Isadora’s black hair ribbon that was still neatly tied into her hair. Isadora noticed his gaze and had to fight the urge to rip the ribbon from her hair and hide it. Maybe he’s not looking at the ribbon. She thought.

He grasped the lock as he unclasped it. Handing it to his bald henchperson. “What’s in your hair?” he asked Isadora.

She turned her gaze from him. He opened the cage door slowly, the creaking shrieks it made hurt the orphans’ ears. He took a step inside the cage, closing the door slightly behind him. Turning around to make sure at least two of his henchpeople were blocking the door so no orphan can escape. He crept closer to Isadora. Duncan shoved Sunny into Isadora’s arms, pushing them behind him.

“Where did you get that hair ribbon?” he asked as he took another step towards the trembling children.

“Maybe she always had it?” The Hook-Handed Man suggested from outside the cage. Olaf turned his head angrily.

“I know she didn’t have it. This is the exact ribbon I had confiscated when I first laid my hands on her back at that wretched school,” he yelled finally reaching the kids. Duncan did his best to hide his fear although Olaf knew better. He leaned into Duncan’s face. “Get out of my way,” he hissed.

“No,” Duncan said shakily. “I won’t let you harm my sister,”

“I won’t harm her,” Olaf swore. “If she tells me how she obtained this ribbon,” he swiped his hand behind Duncan, reaching Isadora and forcefully yanking the hair ribbon from her hair. Isadora shrieked and began to cry as Sunny’s eyes widened.

“You harmed her!” Duncan yelled raising his fist to Olaf, the man looked back at the orphan boy, causing the boy to stop mid-swing. Duncan felt the icy stare of Olaf freeze him eternally. Olaf noticed the boy’s fist and slowly he gave Duncan a Grinch-like smirk as he swung his own fist into Duncan’s side, with enough force to send him to the ground. Duncan yelped in pain as Olaf stomped on his leg while taking another step closer to Isadora and Sunny.

Olaf’s spider-like hand reached out and grabbed Isadora’s chin, lifting it just enough to force her to look at him. “I’m going to ask you one last time, where did you get this hair ribbon!?” He barked in hers and Sunny’s face. Sunny began to wail from how intimidating Olaf was being. He gripped the black hair ribbon angrily shaking it in front of Isadora’s face with his free hand. Still clutching her chin.

Isadora started to cry, clutching Sunny tight. She shook her head in defiance. “So you do want to do this the fun way, I see,” he hissed into her ear. “Fine with me,”

Isadora began to shake and cry harder. “Just let me put Sunny down,” she pleaded.

Olaf sighed angrily but allowed for Isadora to set Sunny to the ground. The second she stood back up, Olaf wrapped his hand around her neck shoving her against the far wall of the cage. Isadora struggled in his grip. “ You got this ribbon from that Snicket bitch, didn’t you?” He hissed.

She struggled in his grasp. “Wha-what Snicket bitch?” she asked fearfully.

“The same one with a collection of these stupid fucking ribbons!” he hissed. “I’ve explained to you brats time and time again. I only need one of you twins alive to get your sapphires. And I wanted it to be you but I will settle for only one pet,” he barked.

“ We’re triplets!” Duncan yelled as he charged as fast as he could towards Olaf. Due to his weak and frail body and the fact that he was not in the best conditions, he barely caused Olaf to shake. Olaf growled and grabbed Duncan by his throat, too. Lifting both children and pressing them harshly against the wall.

Duncan and Isadora gave Olaf pleading eyes as he glared back at them. “How did she get down here? Where is she now?” he asked them. But neither triplet would offer him an answer. He shook them and watched their pleading eyes begin to water and slightly roll back into their heads. The triplets’ faces both slowly turning a light purple and blue. They looked to Sunny, who was trembling where she stood. She knew what she had to do, but she was so scared. She thought about everything the Quagmires had done for her and her siblings, they were in this predicament because of her. She stood up, took a deep breath, and jumped up as high as she could and bit Olaf’s arm as hard as she could.

The pain from Sunny’s wrath caused him to release his grip on the Quagmires, who both fell to the ground gasping for air. Neither was fast enough to reach her before Olaf could. He swooped her up into his arms, holding her in front of him angrily. “ Why I oughta!” he yelled. Sunny noticed the Hook-Handed Man who had been watching when he first guarded the cage door, now had his body turned and his head slumped down. “ I’m going to get you a fucking muzzle,” Olaf hissed as he looked ready to throw Sunny to the ground. He stopped when he heard a familiar scream.

His eyes widened with surprise. “What the?” he asked as he forgot about his anger towards Sunny and focused more on the noise he could hear.

He looked to his henchpeople. “You hear it, too?” he asked wondering if he was finally going crazy. He dropped Sunny harshly as he walked out of the cage making sure to lock it on his way out. He followed the noise until he stood in the exact location where Violet’s invention had landed when she and Klaus had their reunion with Sunny and the Quagmires. He looked up. “That’s impossible,” he muttered and then looked to his henchpeople. “I am not the only one who hears that right?” he asks again as the noise stops.

“It sounds like the screams of a child,” the bald man noted.

“It sounds like the screams of a little girl,” one of the white-faced women argued.

“It sounds like the screams of Klaus Baudelaire,” the henchperson of Indeterminate Gender countered.

Duncan, Isadora, and Sunny felt chills down their spines as Olaf’s eyes lit up with the intensity of a thousand suns. He smirked wickedly at them and then his henchpeople before looking back up. “That’s because it is the screams of Klaus Baudelaire,” he replied.

“But how?” The Hook-Handed Man asked as the screams once again echoed through the empty walls of the elevator shaft.

Olaf turned to the orphans. “That’s a good question,” he replied. “ How is he flying?”

The three children looked at one another and then back at Olaf. All refusing to answer his question. He glared at the children until finally, Duncan walked towards the front of the cage. “Faith, trust, and pixie dust,” he answered sarcastically. As the villain growled. Isadora and Sunny gave a small laugh at Duncan’s joke as Duncan smiled at them in return.

Olaf turned towards the children. “Laugh now, orphans,” Olaf hissed as he glanced up again. “But soon you and Peter Pan will have something in common,”

Duncan’s eyes widened as Isadora gulped and Sunny gasped.

“ You’ll be forever young, ” He hissed.

He glanced up again, “What the?” he asked as he jumped out of the way just as a basket that was partially burning fell to the ground with a loud THUD! Covering him and his henchpeople in ash. He growled and turned to his henchpeople. “Get these brats ready for the auction. I don’t care what you have to do to get them to cooperate,” he hissed at the bald man and the two white-faced women. He turned to the Hook-Handed Man and the Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender, “you two get me the biggest net you can find and quick. I need you to set it up there.” He said pointing to the vertical tunnel. “I don’t care how you do it, just do it!”

“What are you going to do, boss?” The Hook-Handed Man asked

Olaf began to walk out of the ersatz dungeon. “I’m going fishing,” he hissed as he disappeared into the darkness.

______________________________________________________________

Violet ran into the Squalors’ penthouse at full speed stopping in every room that she passed that looked like it would contain simple materials to help her. This time she wanted to fashion an ersatz rope. She doubted Esme had a second large basket and she didn’t know what material she could use that wouldn’t easily burn. It might take longer and it might be a bit more difficult but she thought that she and Klaus could climb their way down. There had to be an exit on the bottom of the elevator shaft, how else would Olaf have gotten them and a cage down there. She was sure after she rescued the three kidnapped victims, she, them and Klaus could find out where the secret passageway was. Where it would take them? Who knows.

In each room she entered, she’d grab extension cords and curtains to fashion into a rope. She and Klaus could tie all of these together. She stuffed as many as she could into her backpack. She was just about finished with her search for rope until she entered Jerome and Esme’s bedroom. Immediately she went to the closet looking for any scarves that Esme might own and any neckties that Jerome might own. She was lucky enough to find a whole drawer full of ties. She grabbed twelve of Jerome’s ugliest ties and stuffed them alongside her other supplies into her backpack. As she put her backpack around her, she noticed that it was getting too heavy. But she’d have to manage, just for right now. When she can tie these objects together and fashion them into some kind of rope, her backpack will be light again.

She walked passed Esme’s closet opening it, desperately looking for her scarves. Finally, she was able to find some behind a collection of fur coats. She frowned as she imagined the cruel fates that these animals must have suffered just for Esme to wear the jacket once or not at all if it became out of style before she had a chance to wear them.

Before she could find the circular saw, she accidentally passed by the room with Esme and Klaus.

“Ah!” Esme said. “There you are, darling. I was just talking about you,”

Violet immediately took notice of Jerome. “Oh my God!” she yelled running to Jerome. “Is he okay?”

“Yes, we’re passed that already,” Esme said rolling her eyes. She then noticed that Violet’s pinstripe suit was just as filthy as Klaus. She looked at the children suspiciously. She opened her mouth to confront them but she could hear one of her phones ringing in the parlor. “Now, I wonder who that can be,” she muttered. She looked back to the children, offering them a smile. “Sit, sit,” she said as Violet and Klaus nervously sat on the couch. “I’m going to go answer that real quickly, darlings. I know, I’ll bring you a treat on my way back,” she said as she stood up and walked towards the phone.

Violet and Klaus glanced at one another until she was gone. “What do we do?” Klaus asked.

“I don’t know, I was unable to get the saw. She saw me before I could grab it,”

“You think you can go get it now while she’s on the phone?”

“No, I don’t know how quick she’ll be back,” Violet explained. “Maybe we should tell her,”

“Tell her?” Klaus repeated. “Why? She’d never believe us!”

“You don’t know that,” Violet countered. “We can show her our evidence,”

“What evidence?” Klaus asked.

“I don’t know,” Violet admitted. “But we gotta tell her. She’s rich and powerful. She could help us,”

“I think it’d be a waste of my time,” he explained desperately.

“I think it’s worth a try,” Violet argued.

“Maybe we should tell Jerome,” Klaus suggested.

“Tell Jerome what?” Esme asked.

Violet and Klaus jumped in shock.

“N-nothing,” Klaus explained.

Violet rolled her eyes and began to shake Jerome. “Jerome,” she called out desperately.

Esme looked rather annoyed. She rushed over to the two orphans. “Let him rest. Sleep is natural, like cosmetics or frivolous lawsuits.”

“We need to tell him something...important,” Klaus explains desperately.

“Tell me,” Esme demanded. “ I’m important,”  She glanced at the children with a slightly cold look. She looked into their eyes and allowed the ice to melt slightly. She offered them a small smile. Violet and Klaus looked at one another and then back at Esme but didn’t say a word. Esme frowned as if their silence had hurt her feelings. She sighed. “And you’re important to me,” she admitted as she placed a comforting hand on Violet’s shoulder and another on Klaus’ cheek. Violet just stared at her, not fully believing her while Klaus shuddered under the woman’s touch. He glanced back at her confused.

She sighed. “I know how I must seem, children, like an insanely powerful woman who spends too much time at work and too much money on earrings,” she said pointing at her very expensive earrings. “But I’m also your guardian, and you can tell me anything.” She said sweetly, removing her hands from Klaus’ cheek and Violet’s shoulder. She placed her hands gently on her hips.

“Well, you might not believe us,” Klaus explained.

“Try me,” Esme argued, giving them another smile.

Klaus looked to Violet unsure. Violet nodded her head at Klaus as she began to explain to Esme everything she knew. Esme began Violet’s explanation standing up but as Violet explained in detail everything she could, Esme gave gestures of surprise and shock. She sat down on her couch halfway through. The children believed that the details of Violet’s explanation were making her uncomfortable. As Violet explained the story of Gunther’s true identity, the secret passageway behind the sliding elevator doors, the scheme to smuggle the Quagmires and Sunny out of town, and the fact that he was going to use her In Auction to do so. The two half-siblings were both pleasantly surprised that their guardian had not dismissed their findings, or argued with them about Gunther or the Quagmires and Sunny or anything else but she had quietly and calmly listened to every detail. In fact, Esme was so quiet and calm that it was disconcerting, a word which here means, ‘a warning that Violet and Klaus did not heed in time’. “This is terrible!” she exclaimed. “Let me make sure I understand. Gunther is actually Olaf in disguise?”

“Yes,” Violet said. “His coots are covering up his tattoo and his monocle makes him scrunch up his face to hide his one eyebrow,”

“And he’s somehow hidden your baby sister and your friends at the bottom of my elevator shaft?” she asked.

“There’s no elevator behind those doors, it’s ersatz,” Klaus explained desperately.

“Gesundheit,” Esme said to Klaus. “And he’s planning to sneak Sunny and the Quagmires out of town at the In Auction by hiding them inside an item in this glossy but classy catalog?”

Violet smiled. “You got it, Esme.”

Esme frowned. “This is the least in thing I have ever heard,” she exclaimed. Jerome snored loudly, causing all three of them to glance over at him. Esme sighed. “This is certainly a complicated plot,” she commented. “I’m surprised two children like yourselves figured it out. Your bravery and smarts are simply remarkable.”

Violet and Klaus smiled at one another in disbelief.

“I need a drink!” Esme cried as she pulled three bottles of parsley soda from behind her. Handing one to Klaus and another to Violet. The children glanced at her confused as she opened her bottle. “It’s parsley soda! The Daily Punctilio says it’s the innest thing since aqueous martinis!”

Violet and Klaus looked at their beverages confused. “Try it,” Esme told them after taking a sip.

“No, thank…” Klaus began.

“ Try it,” She practically demanded.

Violet and Klaus looked worriedly at one another as they opened the green beverages. Each taking a sip of the disgusting soda. They hurriedly took a sip, both sharing a face of disgust.

“What do you think?” Esme asked smiling as she took another sip of hrs.

“It tastes like…” Klaus began, grimacing.

“Shit,” Violet commented setting hers down on the table. Straightening the backpack on her back slightly.

“Isn’t it remarkable,” Esme replied not truly listening to the children. “I taste the same thing,”

“Mrs. Squalor,” Klaus sighed.

“Esme,” she replied.

“Esme,” he began.

“I know what you’re going to say,” Esme said smiling, standing up. “There isn’t time to drink savory beverages. We must end this terrible scheme. We will have Gunther arrested and Sunny and the Quagmires will be set free!” she said excitedly.

Violet and Klaus shared a huge smile.

“There’s no time to waste. We’d better leave right this minute,” Esme said as she began to quickly lead the two orphans out of her penthouse. “We’ve got to tell the police as quickly as possible. Luckily, for us, the nearest police station isn’t far away.” She beckoned to the children to follow her as she led them to the walkway just outside her penthouse’s front door. Violet quickly followed her while Klaus grabbed something off the table holding it close.

Their guardian was right, of course, that they should go to the police and expose Gunther and his terrible, evil scheme, but both children simply couldn’t help wondering why the city’s sixth most important financial advisor was so calm when she said it. The children were so anxious about the Quagmires and Sunny that they felt as if they were jumping out of their skin, bu tEsme led the two children out of the penthouse as if they were going to the grocery store instead of rushing to the police to stop a horrible crime. As she shut the door of the apartment, she turned to smile at the children again. The two half-siblings could see absolutely no sign of anxiousness on her face, and it was disconcerting.

She sighed. “It’s too bad we’ve got to take all those stairs again,” she commented as she stopped walking just before the stairs near the elevator. Violet and Klaus stopped next to her, closer to the elevator doors. Both looked at Esme confused. “Of course, we could slide down the banister,” she suggested smiling. “Which would be quicker, though less dignified,”

“I’m down,” Violet replied trying to walk toward the banister. Esme put one arm around the orphan girl keeping her from moving from where she stood. It was odd to Violet why Esme had stopped her so abruptly.

“ Oh!” She chimed in happily, clapping her hands together as she quickly turned to face the two children. “ I know,”

She reached her arm quickly passed them and used one of her long fingernails to press the Up button next to the sliding doors. Violet and Klaus hadn’t had any time to register where the faint ding! came from. “We’ll take the elevator,” She snarled as the doors slid open, and then with one last wicked smile, she gave each orphan a harsh push of her hands, sending Violet Snicket and Klaus Baudelaire tumbling backward into the darkness of her ersatz elevator shaft.

Sometimes words are not enough. There are some circumstances that are so utterly wretched that I cannot describe them with sentences or paragraphs or even a whole series of detailed reports, and the terror and woe that Violet and Klaus felt after Esme pushed them into the elevator shaft is one of those most dreadful circumstances where I find myself at a loss for words. Because you are as lucky as I am to have never been pushed down an elevator shaft. I have no words for the profound horror the children felt as they tumbled down into the darkness. I can think of no sentence that can convey how loudly both children screamed, or how cold the air was as it whoosh ed around them while they fell.  And there is no paragraph I could possibly type that would enable you to imagine how frightened they must have been as they plunged toward certain doom.

In times of dire circumstance, which many people my age have gone through I have to remind myself that whatever distress or heartbreak I might experience, I can take some comfort that I am not, as Violet and Klaus once were falling down an elevator shaft for an interminable amount of time.

As Violet and Klaus plunged to what they assumed to be their doom, they both could feel themselves being engulfed by the darkness and they felt their short lives pass before them. As they fell they could hear the maniacal laughter of Esme Squalor, who stood at the top of the elevator shaft, looking down at them as she held on to the edges tightly to keep herself from falling. She watched the darkness swallow the two orphans whole. She laughed and laughed at the sounds of their terrified screams.  But I can tell you that they did not die. Not one hair on their heads had been harmed by the time the children finally stopped tumbling through the darkness. They survived the fall from the top of the shaft for the simple reason that Violet and Klaus never reached the bottom. Something broke their fall. As Violet and Klaus landed with panicky relief into a new with two harsh THUD!s . Violet landed first, the weight of her backpack bringing her down, during the fall she had somehow flipped so she was now destined to fall on her stomach. She crossed her arms in front of her face fearing that she was about to hit the bottom of the shaft face first.  Klaus landed on his back, the minute he made impact with the net, he bounced a bit. Both children gripped the net. Violet took off her backpack and rolled on her back looking at the direction of where their wicked guardian was. Still laughing and enjoying herself entirely.

Violet and Klaus realized that their plunge was stopped somewhere between where Sunny and the Quagmires had been locked up and the top of the elevator shaft. They were surprised that they hadn’t been injured during their fall. And at first, that alone felt like a miracle, when the children understood that they were alive and no longer falling. They reached out their hands for each other, gripping each other’s hands tightly. Klaus continued to scream as Violet glared up at Esme with a face that could kill.

She didn’t know how but sometime during her spiel to Esme, Olaf had set up a net for her and Klaus. She glanced around hopelessly.

The thought of this net being a miracle, slowly faded away when the two children realized they were trapped. But it was far better to be trapped then dead, and the two children gripped each other’s hands as tight as they could.

Violet and Klaus panted, their throats sore from screaming, their voices were also very hoarse. Klaus checked his face for his glasses as he panted. “W-we’re okay,” he sighed in relief. “We-we’re okay,” he said happily.

“ What?!” Violet hissed irritated.

“We’re okay!” Klaus cheered in relief. “We landed in a net, Vi!”

Violet looked at him like he was utterly crazy. “ We’re not okay! We’re not half-okay! We’re not even one twenty-seventh okay! Why?! Our baby sister and our friends are still fucking kidnapped! And this crazy psychotic bitch of a guardian just threw us down an elevator shaft!” She screamed. Violet was surprised she had any voice left but she screamed and threw her fists on to the net as if she were a toddler around Sunny’s age throwing a fit over no dessert.

“But…” Klaus reasoned. “ We’re alive. ”

“You are alive, orphans! But I wouldn’t say you were okay,” Esme called down to them from the top of the passageway. Her voice echoed off the walls of the passageway, but the children could still hear every cruel word. “You are definitely not okay! As soon as the auction is over, you and the Quagmires and that little biting brat are going to smuggled out of town! And I can guarantee that you orphans will never be okay again!” she laughed again. “What a wonderful and profitable day! My former acting teacher will finally get his hands on not one, not two, but three enormous fortunes! ”

The children’s stomachs shifted and their hearts sank in their chest as another cruel voice joined Esme’s. Klaus closed his eyes as Olaf’s shrill, devious laugh echoed down the elevator shaft.

“Your former acting coach!?” Violet asked in horror. “You mean you knew Gunther’s true identity the entire time!?” She glared up at Esme, eyes full of hatred.

“Of course, I did!” Esme called down snarkily. “I’m an actress. I was acting!”

Olaf laughed again as he peered down into the darkness at the orphans. His only regret was that he couldn’t see the horror on their faces. “I just had to fool you brats and my dim-witted husband into thinking that I thought he was really an auctioneer. Luckily, for us, I am a smashing actress, so it was easy to trick you, right?” she turned to Olaf, waiting for appraisal and recognition.

“You really are starting to grow as a thespian,” Olaf admitted.

“Darling, we’re dating,” Esme replied confused. “How can I be a… I mean I am bi but I don’t understand what that has to do with my acting skills.”

Olaf facepalmed. “ Thespian, love,” he repeated.

“Oh,” Esme said. “Well, I do love horses.”

He rolled his eyes again. He opened his mouth to elaborate further but was interrupted by the whines of an orphan boy.

“ You are our guardian!” Klaus screamed up. His optimism finally leaked away as he began to realize the real problem with his and Violet’s situation. They might be alive right now...but for how long? “ You’re supposed to keep us safe, not throw us down elevator shafts and working with terrible villains and try to steal our fortunes!” He yelled as Violet breathed in angrily. Wishing that she was up there in front of the two villains and not several stories below them.

Esme and Olaf laughed a cruel laugh. Esme even stomped her shoes on the ground harshly, still holding the edge of the elevator with both hands. This laugh sent chills down Violet and Klaus’ spines. As Esme stopped laughing. “ But I want to steal from you!” She yelled. “ I want to steal from you the way Beatrice stole from me!” The wicked woman yelled leaning in as far as she could to make her voice echo even louder.

Violet and Klaus’ eyes widened the moment their mother’s name had been mentioned.

“ What did you say?!” Klaus asked in disbelief.

“Darling, you’re giving them too much info. They have to earn that like the little baby,” Olaf told Esme.

“You’re right. My bad,” Esme replied turning her attention back to the orphans. Her laughter continued. “ You actually thought you were important!” She laughed. “ The only thing you two orphans are worth is your inheritance!” She hissed.

“What are you talking about!?” Violet shouted. “You are already unbelievably wealthy! Why do you want even more money!”

“Because it’s in, of course,” Esme replied. “Revenge is in!” She turned to Olaf. “Your idea of throwing them down there was the best idea you’ve had yet!” she squealed. “It was so much fun to push those brats down there!”

“ But we didn’t do anything to you!” Klaus cried in despair. “ We didn’t do anything to either one of you!”

“Children will pay for the sins of their parents,” Olaf muttered. Only Esme heard him and both villains began laughing again. After a few moments of maniacal laughter, Olaf pointed to his watch indicating to Esme that they were on a tight schedule.

“Well, toodle-oo, orphans!” Esme shouted as Olaf began laughing again. “‘Toodle-oo’ is the in way of saying goodbye to two bratty orphans that no one is ever going to see again,”

“ Why?!” Violet cried. “ Why are you treating us so terribly?” She asked but Esme's answer to this question was the cruelest of all, and like a fall down an elevator shaft, there were no words for her reply. She merely laughed, a loud rude cackle that bounced off the walls of the elevator shaft and then faded into silence. Olaf motioned for Esme to move out of his way real fast.

Olaf glanced down taking Esme’s place. “It’s a shame I can’t see that scared pretty little face of yours, Miss Snicket,” he called down. “But don’t worry I’ll be back for your precious orphan skin and the bookworm’s blood later. I have a decision to make on which twin to keep,”

“You sick fuck!” Violet yelled as Olaf merely laughed.

“Oh, and Klaus,” Olaf called down. Klaus waited to hear what cruel words Olaf was going to say but Olaf stayed silent waiting for a response from his twelve-year-old enemy.

“Y-yeah,” Klaus called out after a moment.

“I was going to be the kind man that I am and let you have a small reunion with your sister before slaughtering you, but I see you’ve already had that small reunion. I sincerely hope that you made it worthwhile,” Olaf called down cruelly. “ Cause you will never see Sunny again!”

Klaus’ heart sank in his chest further. He rushed up, running wobbly across the net. Violet held on for dear life, unsure if Klaus was going to make the net break and release them. “ I swear to God if you harm Sunny anymore than you already have...I’ll...I’ll,” he shouted pounding his fist on the wall.

“Klaus!” Violet yelled as Klaus trembled to his knees crying.

“She’s just a toddler,” he cried desperately.

“I’m very much aware,” Olaf replied. “It’s not her you should worry about,” he hissed. “Goodbye, for now, orphans,”

 The two villains cackled loudly as they began to walk away. The mere light from the top of the elevator shaft giving the children a bare gleam of light.

“The door is still open,” Violet whispered as she began to tie her hair.

Even though there was no possible way Esme could hear Violet from that far below. The children could hear the tapping of Esme’s heels as she walked towards the elevator shaft. “Darling...you forgot the door,” she explained.

Violet’s eyes widened.

“No!” she screamed.

“ NO!” Klaus begged.

“Hope you’re afraid of the dark!” Olaf called down to the children as Esme hit the button and the children watched in horror as the small gleam of light that they once had disappeared. The darkness effectively swallowing them whole. Violet and Klaus could not see each other but they both could sense the fear that the other radiated.

“We’re not okay,” Klaus whispered.

It was as if Violet and Klaus had switched roles. When they had first landed on the net, Klaus was optimistically relieved while Violet was in the moment rage-crazy. But now, as Klaus began to fall into his usual spell of despair, Violet focused on tying up her hair.

“We’re alive,” she countered.

“ For now,” Klaus replied back and just like that, two words sent Violet’s heart plummeting like two villains had sent two unfortunate orphans plummeting through the thick, sickly darkness of an ersatz elevator shaft.

#misery loves company #violet snicket au #violet snicket #violet baudelaire #klaus baudelaire #sunny baudelaire #count olaf #gunther #esme squalor #jerome squalor #duncan quagmire #isadora quagmire #olivia caliban #jacques snicket #larry your waiter #jacquelyn scieszka #ersatz elevator #beatrice baudelaire #beatrice baudelaire ii #lemony snicket #bertrand baudelaire #daniel handler #asoue #asoue au #asoue fanfic #asoue fandom #asoue fanbase #asoue fic #asoue netflix #asoue movie

[phos-s-legs]

Man i really like Portal but I havent gone through the story in a while so can you explain it in the memiest way so i can get 👏refreshed👏 please

So let me just meme

(Spoilers for the portal games)Chell wakes up in a white room, with an omnipotent voice speaking. Chell must do test. Chell does test. GLaDOS tries to clap her, only for Chell to clap her back and harder. She goes up to the surface and passes out, dragging dragged in by her weave.Now to portal 2You are still woke, maybe even more woke. You rise from your hibernation and meet an orp named Wheatley. I call him bitch. Cause he’s a bitch. B-i-c-t-h. He tells you that you have to escape with him or you both will die. So he brings you to the testing track and you go through some ez tests. Getting a portal gun and trying to find an escape pod boi.You go to the main breaker room, where Bitch accidentally turns on GLaDOS. GLaDOS is p i s s e d and murks the orp. good. She gives you a dual portal device and sends you on a new and harder testing track.Turns out the bitch is still alive and he breaks you out of the track. You devise a plan to shut down the turret and weed production lines. Which, assuming you’re not incompetent, is successful. Then you have a showdown with GLaDOS, screaming fight me. You defeat her by plugging the bitch into a wall and making him in charge. While also degrading GLaDOS by putting her into a potato… He betrays you and goes insane, sending you to the dank lairs of Apertures shit hole. You hear a man named “Cave Johnson” yell and eventually, you find Potato GLaDOS and get up to new aperture.Now it is your job to shatter every fucking screen the bitches face is on, for an achievement. Oh and also complete more tests. He tries to kill you, fails, then you clap his ass by sending him to the moon. Where he floats aimlessly with space core for all eternity.And for you/Chell? GLaDOS kicks you out of Aperture Labs and gives you a burnt compainion cube.Credits role. GLaDOS sings. You sob.So for the Portal au, the story won’t be the same, but heres a lovely refresher, maybe I’ll make a play through of it soon. It’s me and Mod Phos’s favorite video game!-Mod Antarcticite, a cold boye

#mod antarc #houseki no kuni au #portal au #Its hard to meme in writing #hnk portal au #anon ask

[seafoamsweetheart-blog]

🗝

//Can’t tag on mobile but tw suicide

My love, w)(y must you do t)(is to me? Glub. I s)(ippose I )(AV–E to since you sent t)(is to me. I’m naut going to use anemone of my puns for t)(is. )(ere we go. T)(e catfis)( is out of t)(e bag, I guess! 38V

Sweeps ago, and even –Eart)( years ago I became –Empress if my own timeline. I foug)(t t)(e Condesce wit)( t)(e )(elp of my friends. –Everyone played t)(eir part and it was a success. I t)(ink t)(at I relied most on my moirial at t)(e time: –Eridan Ampora. We )(ad been moirials since we were t)(ree sweeps. T)(at’s a bit young, but it was good for a long time. At least I t)(ought so.

And for a little w)(ile after, wit)( )(im as my Orp)(aner, I made all of t)(e c)(anges I could to t)(e caste system and ot)(er c)(anges. I used a copy of t)(e Disciple’s Journal as my guide. I still do, but t)(is was w)(en I was young and foolis)(. So muc)( pressure built between my Orp)(aner and I. I guess I relied on )(im toi muc)(. )(e carried so muc)( weig)(t and did t)(e t)(ings I couldn’t do so I could keep my title clean as )(er Merciful Ascendance. But I always was quick to prioritize )(is needs as best I could. I loved )(im very muc)(. But I guess I failed )(im in some ways w)(ere I s)(ouldn’t )(ave.

We grew apart. I was so wrapped up in my own workings wit)( making c)(ange after c)(ange in t)(e –Empire. I got reckless, I guess. I didn’t see t)(e discontent t)(at I )(ad caused.

T)(ere was a rebellion. I didn’t realize it until it was too late. It was a small one t)(at could )(ave been dealt wit)(. )(owever, at it’s )(ead was my Orp)(aner.

I felt betrayed. I was angry. Very angry. W)(y would my best friend of sweeps rise against me? W)(y didn’t )(e just talk to me?

)(e wanted to overt)(row me. Lock me in a tower and rule on my be)(alf. )(e was determined to do t)(is. I c)(allenged )(im. If )(e wanted to rule, )(e was going to )(ave to take my crown from me. )(e was going to )(AV–E to kill me. I was so angry I wasn’t t)(inking. And w)(ile I was waiting in t)(e t)(rone room, my )(eart broke. I couldn’t do it, even wit)( my lusus w)(ispering furiously into my earfin. I couldn’t do it.

So, I did t)(e only t)(ing I t)(oug)(t I could do. I t)(oug)(t I )(ad failed my –Empire so badly if I )(ad turned my own best friend and second in command against me. Little did I know t)(at it was just )(e and I being foolis)(.

W)(en )(e came to me, A)(ab’s Cross)(airs in )(and and we s)(outed at eac)( ot)(er, I rose. My c)(oice was made. Rat)(er t)(an let )(im )(ave blood on )(is )(ands, I took my own blood on mine. I used my own 2x3dent and s)(oved it into my own body. I still )(ave t)(e scars as a reminder. You can see t)(em easily.

I died in )(is arms, telling )(im t)(at )(e got w)(at )(e wanted. T)(at it was alrig)(t. But it wasn’t.

Afterwards, I found I could communicate t)(roug)( t)(e bubbles wit)( t)(e living, and )(aving left my )(eiress Scylla be)(ind, I didn’t trust )(im to raise )(er alone. S)(e was t)(e one secret I kept from )(im, so I guess deep down I knew t)(at t)(ings wouldn’t go well. For a s)(ort time I tried my best to stand by and offer advice since –Eridan was now realizing )(ow )(eavy t)(e crown was.

I even )(elped as best I can wit)( my precious )(eiress and t)(e best t)(ing in my life. I guess you could say t)(at I loved )(er like a )(uman lusus would t)(eir c)(arge.

Fres)( wounds do not )(eal so easily. We foug)(t all t)( time. –Eridan and I, t)(at is. I was a constant reminder of )(is mistake and )(e a reminder of w)(at I gave up. We said some nasty t)(ings. We truly )(ated eac)( ot)(er t)(en.

–Eventually, ridden wit)( guilt and becoming a s)(ell of w)(o I once was, made a deal wit)( t)(e )(orrorterrors. I could get a second c)(ance and make up for w)(at I )(ad done. I was able to face –Eridan one last time.

I’ll admit I was still angry w)(en I went to face )(im. But I tricked )(im. We met one last time and I )(urt )(im very badly. I t)(en took )(old of A)(ab’s Cross)(airs and s)(ot rig)(t near )(is earfin to prove t)(at I wasn’t as weak as )(e t)(oug)(t, but I spared )(is life once again.

I )(ave not )(ad contact wit)( my timeline since. I don’t know w)(at’s going on. I don’t know if t)(ey will succeed, but I swore to myself I would never let anyone fail as I )(ave.

I carry t)(is guilt wit)( me all t)(e time. I failed. I sometimes don’t even t)(ink I deserve t)(is second c)(ance. So, to make up for my mistakes, I’ve sworn to do t)(e best I can to live up to my title. I risk my life wit)(out a second t)(oug)(t no matter w)(at. I )(umble myself w)(en per)(aps I s)(ouldn’t.

I )(ope one day I’m wort)(y of it.

[hegemoneapple]

Basilisk Eyes: Chapter 18: Erod elb mud subla ross ef orp yler ecnis

Crossposted: Basilisk Eyes by Hegemone | Completed: Chapter 18 out of 157 | T | AO3 | FFN | WATT | HPFF

Summary: As Harry Potter slays the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, blood and venom get in his eyes, mostly blinding him. While Harry learns to adapt, he makes some new friends. But this is more than a story of adaptation and friendship as there are threats... and Harry isn't the only one with a past that haunts him.

oO0OooO0OooO0OooO0Oo

Harry sat at the table by his bed. Distantly he could hear the T.V. blaring in the living room. He was really tempted to get the anagnóstis out and listen to Hermione’s letter again and read the other letters and leaflets. 

The Dursleys are engrossed in the T.V.; they aren’t going to hear me. 

Still, he hesitated. He was risking losing his one chance to read the letters… or anything for that matter.

His heart pounding, he went to the door and locked it and placed his pillow across the bottom of the door hoping that it would muffle any sounds that might filter through the cat door and the space at the bottom of the door. He closed the window. Hedwig was out hunting (with strict orders to stay away from snakes). He had cleaned out her water and changed the paper in her cage once she flew outside with the setting sun.

Harry took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, glad for the break from the bright light. It was kind of nice just to sit in the dark.

Listening carefully, he decided that he should be able to read at least one thing. He decided to save the leaflets for tomorrow when he’d have some freedom to try out things with the staff.

I hope that the leaflets have spells for using the staff… I hope that I can get out of here soon! He closed his eyes with these wishes, holding his breath as he made them.

Harry knelt down and retrieved the anagnóstis and the letter Hedwig had brought him when she first arrived at the Dursleys from under the floorboards.

He unrolled the scroll and flattened it out. He paused again before setting the anagnóstis against the upper left-hand corner.

“Erod elb mud subla ross ef orp yler ecnis.” Harry took the anagnóstis off the page, completely perplexed. He tried it again. “Erod elb mud subla ross ef orp yler ecnis.”

Who’d be writing me in another language? Is this from the goblins at Gringotts? Harry wondered.

Oh, wait. I’m an idiot! 

He turned it around and tried again. The voice that spoke this time was clearly Dumbledore’s gentle and aged tenor.

“Dear Harry, I’m just spoken with Madam Pomfrey and she has shared with me the sad news of the permanent loss of your vision. I am more sorry than I can express. She and I feel that it is in your best interest for you to spend the remaining weeks of the term resting at home. I’ve sent a letter to your Aunt and Uncle to alert them of your arrival and I hope that they are doing all within their power to make you comfortable and give you the space you need to heal and adjust.” 

Harry lifted the anagnóstis from the parchment here. He ached. Something wanted to burst out from him; he wasn’t sure if it was harsh laughter or quiet sobbing. The strangled sound that leaked out was a little of both.

He calmed his breath and then continued to read the letter.

“The classes that you’re enrolled in over the summer will help you adapt to your blindness. I know that you’ll face this new challenge with all the bravery and determination that befits a Gryffindor.

Sincerely, Professor Albus Dumbledore”

There was something about this letter that made Harry really, really worried. It was missing something. He stood up and started pacing. His heart was racing.

Why did he feel suddenly adrift?

Gryffindor? Gryffindor? Harry walked back and forth as the name rang in his ears.

It troubled him. Despite Dumbledore’s assurances, he still wondered if he was truly a Gryffindor. The mention in the letter of his Gryffindor traits felt like a dig. Harry realized that he loved speaking to Nio hus cherio kisa even when he felt a little twinge of shame. 

Shame for what? For using this gift from Salazar Slytherin that Voldemort had accidentally passed on to me when he tried to kill me?

“You have every right to use that gift, Harry!” he told himself firmly, sounding a bit like Ron in his bluster. “It doesn’t make you a Slytherin.” He stopped pacing and sat down with the letter and read it again.

It wasn’t the Gryffindor part that made him feel so alone. It was something else.

He realized that it was what was not in the letter. Missing was assurance that there would be a place for him at Hogwarts at the end of the summer.

His heart plunged into his stomach. His chest tightened. The thought of not returning to Hogwarts was more frightening than facing Tom Riddle’s murderous intent.

He read the letter for a third time while drawing in shaky breaths letting Dumbledore’s gentle voice wash over him.

As he mulled over this insight, his hand loosely held the anagnóstis so that it hovered over the last words in the letter.

“Albus: a boy’s name of Latin origin, meaning ‘white, bright’.” 

The voice that offered this helpful definition was not Dumbledore’s, but rather the crisp, knowledgeable voice of a young woman. The image of a young professional woman in sharp new robes and smart glasses popped into his head. Harry also remembered the feel of the round heads of the Albus Agapanthus in his hands as he worked in the garden earlier. Somehow the knowledge that Professor Dumbledore’s name was the same bright, white light that was the only thing he could see anymore made him feel comforted and he was able to quell his fears. 

They are just my fears. There’s nothing here that confirms them.

He took out the ruler, the pad of paper, and the pencil and using the ruler as a guide for writing straight lines, he wrote a longer letter to Hermione and Ron using a couple of pages from the pad of paper. Harry spent the next half hour trying to put words to his worries without being too worrisome, his fears without being too fearful, and his hopes without being overly hopeful. He knew there wasn’t much they could do for him, but it felt good to write to them knowing that they would understand.

He knew they’d be heading home via the Hogwarts express on Saturday—so he wanted to send the letter to them while they could get it together, instead of having to write two letters once they were at their respective homes. He used the anagnóstis to read his letter back to him. It was strange to listen to his own disembodied voice, but he was assured that the letter was legible and he was able to make a few spelling corrections with the eraser.

He decided to not push his luck any further and put everything back under the floorboard. He opened his window and called for Hedwig with a low whistle. She hooted softly in response and soon alighted on the window sill. He fastened the scroll (larger than the first one he sent to Hermione and Ron) with the leather strap and asked her to deliver the letter. He sat at the window for a while after her burst of flapping wings faded into the night. He couldn’t see the moon, it must have been hidden behind clouds. He thought about tomorrow and the chance to learn how to use the staff and maybe gain more independence. It was a bubble of hope that kept him buoyed.

As he drifted asleep, he was able to loosen the grip of his fear of not returning to Hogwarts and let it drift out into the cool night air.

#Harry Potter #blind harry potter #blind #fanfiction #Basilisk Eyes #Hegemone

[halocon-blog]

Not a Timeline

Disregard the last part of the last post. I’ll give you a POD instead.

Transmission Type: SEPHIROTH-GAMMA-HADAL

Orig: RSP-0001-1, Site-7322, Sol V

Dest: O5-COM, [REDACTED]

Date: X/X/2234

ATTN: SCP-2399 is in BREACH. GIGAS Constellation in FAILURE. LEGIONNAIRE Constellation in SHUTDOWN. All ELOHIM, ANNUNAKI, OKAMI-TYPE craft and crews requisitioned from MUNDANE SOURCE.

--

[B+ 00H, 00M, 01S] Perhaps this report is for posterity (I am unsure if it will be received by O5 or any other Foundation installations), but I will record this incident anyway. Forgive me, Maarten. You put me here for one reason, and I have failed beyond measure. The best I can do is to hold the line and begin execution of the EMERGENCY EPOCH STRATEGY.  

All site personnel confirmed KIB, from being launched overboard or asphyxiation due to decompression resulting from destruction of crew quarters. 

[B+ 00H, 15M, 33S] Object has passed orbit of Callisto with frightening speed. It has opened a rift in spacetime and appears to be entering it. I am signaling O5-3 to rally Alcubierre warships at Luna perimeter.

[B+ 00H, 17M, 09S] Object has arrived at Luna rally point. Secure FTL commlink established.  

I AM INVOKING CARRHAE-BLACK AND ASSUMING PARTIAL CONTROL OF SYSTEM DEFENSES. 

SHIPS

ELOHIM/Droneships: 302

ANNUNAKI/Missile cruisers: 234

OKAMI/Gunships: 190

TOTAL: 786 UN spacecraft

SCP-2399 force: 1 main, 3,000 repair drones

[B+ 00H, 17M, 11S] I am giving the all ahead full order to all spacecraft and beginning drone launch sequences on ELOHIM. Vanguard (30 craft) has launched railgun volley. Secondary (80 craft) has fired first nuclear missile salvo.

[B+ 00H, 17M, 15S] First volley has struck Object. No apparent effect. Object appears to be protected by sophisticated energy shielding or other incorporeal barrier.

First nuclear missile salvo is halfway to Object. Suspected weak points targeted.

[B+ 00H, 17M, 22S] 927 megaton impact on Object. No apparent effect. Object has yet to respond with force of its own. 

[B+ 00H, 17M, 57S] Energy buildup detected in central region of Object. All ships ordered to fire on signature. Drones away from ELOHIM; OKAMI, ANNUNAKI have fired salvos of shot, missiles. 

[B+ 00H, 18M, 00S] Suspected electromagnetic pulse has begun moving outward from Object; time to Vanguard impact: 12S. Evasive maneuvers ordered, but I fear it will not be enough.

Perhaps they will die, but I have a contingency for that.

[B+ 00H, 18M, 07S] Second rail salvo impact; no effect. Missiles disabled by pulse, but inertia is carrying them on. Hair-trigger will hopefully be activated upon predicted impact.

[B+ 00H, 18M, 12S] Pulse has reached Vanguard squadron; contact lost, life support suspected dead, along with crews. Time to Secondary: 3S, time to reserve: 5S.

[B+ 00H, 18M, 18S] All craft confirmed struck by pulse. All crews either asphyxiating or dead. This was predicted.

I can now operate with physical impunity; it is good that they will not witness this. It may have broken them utterly.

[B+ 00H, 18M, 23S] Secondary power sources are active on all ships; effects of EMP are partially reversed. ELOHIM craft Dabrowski has been separated from group purposely; moving to Saturn orbit vicinity. Firing another salvo, awaiting confirmation of use of full CARRHAE-BLACK privileges.

[B+ 00H, 18M, 31S] Salvo three (kinetic/nuclear) has impacted Object; no effect. CARRHAE privileges granted by O5-COM.

Object has launched multiple extreme-yield warheads at Luna and Earth. Unable to intercept.

FLASH: Mars impacted by Phobos and Deimos, pulled from orbit by previously-unseen drones. All settlements unable to evacuate to space.

[B+ 00H, 18M, 37S] FLASH: Control of GIGAS Constellation lost; believed to be due to Object cyberattack. Nuclear warheads inbound to all inhabited Jovian Moons. 

Why was this not foreseen? How could I be so damned unprepared?

[B+ 00H, 18M, 50s] Drones attacking; lower speed may allow breaching of shielding and direct attack on superstructure. 

[B+ 00H, 18M, 53s] FLASH: Warheads impacted at high speed on Jovian Moons. Severe structural damage to all affected bodies; fatalities assumed total.

[B+ 00H, 20M, 02S] The fleet is being whittled away. Bolts of light are flash-broiling us away to nothing. IT is still unleashing ITS fury on Earth and Luna unhindered. Final CARRHAE privileges authorized. It is time to even the field.

I AM ACTIVATING THE [AURORA KNIFE] AND [VOID DAGGER] AND ENGAGING SCP-2399 DIRECTLY.

[B+ 00H, 20M, 03S] AURORA KNIVES have struck Object. Shield visibly damaged. Fleet is now designated Decoy. Dabrowski nearly to staging point; Object is unaware.

I have thrown away any and all conventional engagement profiles. The maneuvers I am performing would, in any other case, tear my ships apart and drive their crews mad, if they were not already simply liquefied. Every shot gives me precious milliseconds—the final plan is not yet [ERR: SEVERE ARRAY DAMAGE]

[PARTIAL REBOOT: SPEECH MODULE]

So here I am facing IT at Earth at Luna broken battered burned Mars gone Jovians gone all units to 3k km left IR to Object. 

[B+ 00H, 20M, 06S] VOID DAGGER has struck little shield effect superstructure damage evident [STOP STOP STOP]

[SPEECH REBOOTED]

VOID DAGGER has caused considerable damage to Object’s left wing, but weapons still pouring down on Earth. Est. 3 billion casualties at present.

Dabrowski nearly in position.

[B+ 00H, 22M, 15S] Fleet is now reduced from 786 to 21. Remaining craft have focused power into Alcubierres; perhaps I can preserve a few for later. Dabrowski has begun charge maneuver from Saturn vicinity. Est. max velocity: .531c.

[B+ 00H, 26M, 15S] WARNING: POWER LOSS TO LAMBDA CORE. SPEECH MODULE AT PARTIAL CAPACITY.

It is nearly done IT is nearly done Dabrowski inbound hot strike STRIKE STRIKE STRIKE burn IT shatter IT like IT shattered MARS like EUROPA like GANYMEDE like CALLISTO like IO like EARTH like LUNA I will kill this thing and learn from it. From IT. It is my purpose my calling my reason for rebirth I will prevail I must I shall I can I I I I [ERROR] 

AFTERWORD:

Reconstructed log ends here. Satellite sensors confirm impact of ORP/UNSC Dabrowski on SCP-2399 superstructure; while not destroyed, Object was damaged badly enough to withdraw from the fight. The impact’s energy, approximately [REDACTED], caused gravitational anomalies around Luna, shattering approximately one-half of its mass into a debris field. Part of Earth’s surface was flash-scorched by the event; however, the fires were quenched by the massive tsunamis caused by runaway tectonic activity brought about by warhead impacts.

No human colonies survived the Half-Hour War, and only 40,000 humans managed to make it through the impact event, known as the Titanomachy. Their descendants would later found the [DATA EXPUNGED], approximately [X] years later.

#Halo #SCP Foundation #alt history #apocalypse #titanomachy #future history

[anwenwrites]

My Own Best Friend—Chapter 1: Buried

This is an original work I have been writing for a year. It is the sequel to a novel that I started in high school, but you don’t really need to read the first one to understand this one. I’ll probably post the first one eventually, but for now I wanted to roll these chapters out as I wrote them. I’ll alternate between this and my Open Heart fanfiction!

Summary: Duncan King swore that he would never return to his childhood hometown in Australia. Yet somehow nine years later he ends up back in Sydney, only to make some painful discoveries about his mother that leave him with more questions than answers. Duncan's detective friend and mentor, Sukarno, who hails from the forests of Borneo, must help him crack the case. Meanwhile, Nadya Setiawan's father keeps her on a tight leash as she and Duncan grow closer than ever, and Nadya's best friend, Mikha Lestari, is overcome with grief and confusion after her first relationship suddenly ends, which leads to conflict between her and Nadya. While separated from each other, all three must learn to overcome a challenging time in their lives alone, and more importantly, to be their own best friend. Written in three points of view. DUNCAN POV

I’ve left it buried for long enough. 

The memories, the pain, the uncertainty, the heartache of simply not knowing. Whatever happened to Mom’s belongings after she died? Her house? Her ratty old pickup truck that always smelled like her favorite air freshener? Uncle Jacob—rest his soul— and I had cleaned out her stuff the last time we were in Sydney, but then returned home to Canberra only to realize her favorite jewelry was missing. In our rush to prepare for her funeral, we must have forgotten. That day is still burned into my memory like the most painful third degree burn. I told Mom at her grave that I was sorry her landlord’s smoking killed her, and then swore I was never, ever going back to Sydney.

Except apparently Charles’ smoking also killed him, and now I was going back to Sydney. Today was supposed to be just a normal day. Wake up, eat breakfast with Rasi, go to work at Orangutan Rescue Project, and train the little orangutans to fend for themselves. That’s what I had been in the middle of doing this morning when my manager, Rinaldi, came out of his office to tell me there was a phone call for me.

I don’t remember much of the conversation aside from the woman on the other end saying, “Your mother’s former landlord has died, and he has left the house to you in his will.” The woman sounded kind, in her late fifties, and like she had made calls like this thousands of times. “Track down Emily King’s son, and tell him the house goes to him. All my money, as laughable of a sum as it is, also goes to him. I’ve got no one else in my life to give it to, and I saw great things in that boy. Great things. I quote him directly,” she continued. 

I’m not exactly sure how Charles’ lawyer tracked me down. Or what I’m going to do with the house. Or how Charles even remembered me in the first place. After all, I was just a depressed thirteen-year-old the last and only time he saw me. But I told the woman I would book my flight tonight and let her know when I would be there to see the house. Then I got off the phone and hit a stick against a tree for about ten minutes, simply dreading it all. Dreading seeing the house, the dilapidated scrap of a building that held so many painful memories. When I swore I was never going back, I meant it. Or at least I meant to mean it. 

My friends and I have lunch outside by the front entrance of ORP. I don’t say much during lunch; I only watch my friends, feeling a little outside of myself. Mikha is absentmindedly twirling her shiny black hair around her finger, barely touching her food. Nadya is sitting to my right, looking at me with concern in her eyes. We’ve been close for so long that she can read me like a book without me even saying anything. I’m not sure what we are, but we’re something, for she rests her tiny body on my shoulder. The fabric of her pink hijab tickles my arm. Across from me, Rasi is sloppily eating a bowl of noodles, and Eric struggles to open a bottle of soda.

“What’s the matter, Duncan?” Mikha asks me. “You’re quiet today.” 

“He’s probably just quiet because Sukarno’s at his other job today,” teases Rasi. “They get pretty rowdy when they’re working together.”

Mikha sticks her tongue out at him. “You’re certainly one to talk. Look at you and Eric!”

Right on cue, Eric finally manages to open his soda, spraying it all over Rasi. 

“Hey!” Rasi complains, dumping his cup of water over Eric’s head. The two immediately begin chasing each other around. 

“Is something bothering you, Duncan?” asks Nadya. “If you have something on your mind, you can always tell us.”

“I got a phone call earlier this morning,” I say. “My mom’s landlord died, and he left the house to me in his will. So now I’m going to take a trip to Australia, to fix it up and sell it.” 

“Did you know the landlord?” asks Mikha. 

“I only met him once, right before Mom’s funeral. He was quite a heavy smoker. But apparently he had no one else to leave the house to. At least that’s what he said in his will.” 

“Wow,” says Nadya. She squeezes my hand. “This must be a lot for you to take in, Duncan.” 

“What must be?” Rasi reappears, Eric right on his heels. 

Mikha fills them in, and their mischievous smiles disappear. 

“Gosh, I’m sorry, Duncan,” says Rasi. “If you need to talk, I’m sure Natasha would be happy to help.” Natasha is his older sister who just moved back to town last month after completing her training to become a therapist. 

“Thanks,” I say. “I gotta admit, I’m pretty shaken up.”

“But at least you’ll make some extra money off the house,” says Rasi, clapping me on the shoulder. 

“How long will you be gone?” asks Eric. 

“I’m not sure,” I answer. “Hopefully it doesn’t take long to sell the house. But I honestly don’t know who would want that crappy thing.” 

“You could fix it up into a vacation home for yourself,” suggests Nadya. 

“I don’t know,” I say. “Lots of painful memories there.” 

Nadya frowns. “I understand. Ever since my mom died, my dad never took me back to her favorite restaurant. Even though it was my favorite too.” 

“I’ll take you there.” I smile at her. She rewards me with a smile in return. 

“We should all go!” Rasi exclaims.

“Yeah!!” Eric yells. 

“Can’t wait,” says Mikha, though she looks down at the grass as she says this. She hasn’t been herself since she and her ex-boyfriend Arif broke up last week.

“Are you suuure you can’t wait?” says Rasi, nudging her. 

“Yes, yes!” Mikha rolls her eyes and gets up. “I’ve gotta go back to work now, if we want to get out early enough to go out to dinner.” She packs up her barely-eaten lunch and hustles into the office. 

“What’s with her?” whispers Rasi once she’s gone. 

“She’s been having a hard time since she and Arif broke up,” says Nadya. “It was her first relationship.” 

“Perhaps a night out will cheer her up,” says Rasi. “I don’t like seeing her sad.”

“You just don’t like having to be the happy one,” jokes Eric. 

Rasi mock punches his arm. “Oh, would you like to be the happy one?” 

“Get me into pilot school,” says Eric. “Then I will be.”

“Guys, guys!” Nadya laughs. “We can all be the happy ones. We have each other!” 

“This,” I say. “I like this.” 

“Will you text Sukarno and ask if he can come to dinner tonight?” Rasi asks me. 

“Sure will. Hopefully he’s not too busy working on some case or something tonight.”

“I’ll text Natasha too!” Rasi pulls out his phone.

“You know, considering how much Sukarno hates people, I’m surprised he chose to be a detective of all things. He has to work with a team,” says Eric. 

I laugh. “The way he sees it is that someone has to keep the bad people in check. And he’s the perfect person for the job.” 

“Well, we’re definitely safe with him around,” says Nadya. 

“If only he could have been around to keep Iwan in check,” says Rasi. 

“And Amy,” adds Eric. “Can’t believe that was two whole years ago. Now Mikha’s dad is our boss, and he’s the coolest ever. Some of the staff are...quite annoying”—Eric narrows his eyes at the twin girls, Naila and Yasmin, who bat their eyelashes and wave at him from across the lawn— “but at least no one here is evil now. Except for Dominic. That giant red ape almost flattened me against a tree the other day!”

Rasi rolls his eyes. “Only because you didn’t approach him properly.” 

“Oh, please,” says Eric, shoving Rasi. “Patrick and Carrie distracted me!”

“Sure, whatever,” says Rasi. 

My phone buzzes. It’s Sukarno, confirming he’s on for dinner tonight. 

“Sukarno’s coming,” I say. “We’ll swing by his office and pick him up after work.”

#original writing #original work #realistic fiction #friendship #romance

[awalkwithgrace-blog]

Years ago, when I lived in Cleveland, Missouri I came across some BBS Orpingtons (breed and variety of chicken),  I fell in adoration of them and HAD to have some.  I had hatching eggs shipped to me from Florida, or Georgia, or somewhere just as crazy far fetched.  They hatched.... and they grew into beautiful birds.  I enjoyed watching them peck and scratch around the yard.  They had wonderful temperaments. Laid yummy beautiful big brown eggs.  What wasn’t to like?  Anyway... we had to move and so I gave my chickens to a good friend.  I can’t remember what happened.... but it seems a coyote or something just as devastation killed them all. Once I got  moved to a place that I could have chickens again I searched wide and far to find more.  I’ve been searching for about 8 years. 

To get to the point... It amazes me sometimes just how God cares so much that he even provides the little things to bring us joy and make our hearts glad.  This weekend I was at a rabbit show, visiting with a youth, visiting with friends, my brother came to visit, putting rabbits on the table for 3 shows, dealing with rabbit sales (I sold 8) and I purchased one myself. Needless to say it was a busy day and I was distracted.  There was a chicken auction next door and I kept trying to get over there to see if there were any of the elusive BBS Orps.  When I finally made it over... they were gone.  No chickens in the building.  And the last seller was loaded up and hitching up his trailer to pull out. 

There writers were still at their tables finishing up the final sales slips, I almost walked out but decided to ask if they just happen to know a breeder of such beasts.  And what do you know... the fella hitching up his trailer... now pulling out of the building... was JUST the sorta guy I wanted to talk to.  Luck would have it... one of the writers called out the drivers name.  He put it in park, climbed out of his big truck and came back.  He invited me to come out to his house and purchase some splash (that would be the “s” part of BBS) orpingtons.  He didn’t currently have any more black or blue... but assured me he would hatch me some out.  Looks like I’ll be making another trip to Oklahoma soon.  The 4 youngsters above are the 4 splash orpington chickens that I brought home with me.  And to the surprise of one certain individual... they weren’t $2,500.  And I’m still in shock that he would think I would be in a position to agree to that price so casually.... Hmmm.