#Jay had the 'opportunity' to help Alex (and i'll get back to that in a sec) but DIDN'T - Jay wasn't Interested in actually offering Alex

[brittlebutch]

actually it's kind of funny how people will say Alex's fatal flaw is that he 'doesn't ask for help' and that it's his determination to handle things on his own that leads to his deterioration and eventual death when his whole introduction to the present-day timeline was a very literal cry for help that simply went ignored

#N posts stuff #like even if you think alex was lying throughout the entirety of season 2 and he was waiting from the Moment jay showed up #JUST to kill him (Which again i don't think makes much sense when he could have killed Tim & Jay immediately instead of #breaking Tim's leg. anyway) EVEN IF alex spent that whole time lying it doesn't actually change the fact that he would have at least #been Pretending to Ask For Help and if he wasn't lying then he was Literally Asking For Help and it doesn't Actually matter #what intention Alex had because the text is Ambiguous about Alex's honesty during season two; what isn't ambiguous is the way #other characters (specifically Jay) respond to him; like yeah - S2 Brian/Tim were never in one million years going to help Alex with shit #so sort of any argument that brings up Tim as someone who asks for/offers help is borderline meaningless in this era of the series #Jay had the 'opportunity' to help Alex (and i'll get back to that in a sec) but DIDN'T - Jay wasn't Interested in actually offering Alex #'help' bc Jay is ultimately curious about Answers and 'Offering Help' and 'Getting Answers' are two Wildly conflicting goals #Jay thinks Alex has answers and when Alex doesn't Offer these 'Answers' to Jay on a silver platter Jay gets pissed off and paranoid #and starts Stalking Alex bc he thinks it's 'Suspicious' that Alex won't give him the Answers (that Alex probably doesn't Actually have) #ANYWAY. ultimately this post is about how it's absurd when people argue #that individual character choices could have made a difference in the way this series played out - specifically wrt Alex #because EVERYONE in this WHOLE series are being affected by influences outside of their control ; including Brian Tim and Jay #so it's silly when people are like 'if ALEX had just made a different choice For Himself this could have all been avoided' WRONG. #bc Ultimately there's not really a way to 'help' someone else out of this situation - Tim tried and failed Repeatedly #the comics proved he even failed with Jessica - like MH isn't a horror situation where you can kill the big bad #'getting help' is a meaningless argument - what would successfully helping or getting help even look like? anyway. #the sub argument of this post is that Alex's biggest 'sin' is that he doesn't perform emotions the way other people want him to #like Alex is a character with a kind of flat affect - instead of LOOKING scared or grieved he LOOKS bored or angry #and everyone judges him based on that - so Alex is 'Suspicious' he's 'Lying' he's 'Guilty' but all of these deductions are predicated #on the belief that Alex isn't reacting to his circumstances the way a 'Normal' person would - so it MUST all be an act and so he's guilty #so everyone treats him like he's guilty until the end of season two when he's like 'Fuck it FINE i'll be guilty then' and so it goes #not a self-fulfilled prophecy but being Cornered Into a prophecy and then Blamed for it - SAD. anyway

[villruu]

Fake amnesia with Alex and Jay?

send me a reverse trope and MH characters & I'll write something for it

At first struggled w this one (couldn't decide between who was the fake amnesiac) and then this came to mind and i may do another oneshot about this lmao?

⸻

Alex woke up, for once, not wanting to die.

It was a novel feeling, to be honest. Waking up without having that deep dread rooted inside him, eating him from the inside out, without feeling like he was being observed, like he was about to become prey. Waking up and just feeling… nice.

He could hear the sound of someone in his kitchen, the sound of pots being moved and the old fridge being opened and closed and opened and closed. And, while usually, that would be enough to make him grab the gun he hid underneath his pillow, today, it just merely made him snort fondly and get up, pausing to even yawn and stretch.

How could he be worried, when he knew exactly who was inside his house? He had been the one to invite him yesterday.

The mere memory of yesterday was enough to make Alex smile, feeling giddy and happy in a way he hadn’t felt in ages.

This was the perfect opportunity, the perfect chance to at least make sure nothing bad happened, to at least keep one person alive. He just had to make sure the other didn’t find his computer or where he had been staying, and it would be okay. With no clues, the other would have no other option but to leave.

When Alex entered the kitchen, he couldn’t help the amused snort upon seeing Jay startled and fumble with something at his appearance, probably a pan or a mug knowing how clumsy Jay was.

“You slept okay?” He asked, leaning against the counter.

“Oh! Uh, yeah,” Jay nodded nervously, turning around to pour himself some coffee, “Thanks, by the way, for letting me stay. I, uh, I didn’t know where I would have gone.”

“Of course you could stay,” Alex said, grabbing a mug to pour himself coffee too, “Didn’t have any luck with your phone?”

“Uh, no, not really,” Jay mumbled, fidgeting with the shirt Alex had loaned him, frowning nervously at his shoes.

“Damn, that’s a shame dude,” Alex commented mildly, like he hadn’t been the one to crack open the phone and carefully pry away parts of the hardware so it wouldn’t work, “Was the chip okay, at least?”

“I don’t, I don’t think so,” Jay grimaced, clutching tightly his mug, “I, um, I have no idea why. Maybe I broke it, um, broke it before you found me?”

“Probably,” Alex said, satisfied as a smug cat internally, “Guess you’ll have to get a new one.”

“I, um, I guess so.” Jay frowned even more.

He looked pale under the white light of his kitchen, eyes sunken and bruised with eyebags.

But, Alex thought to himself, if he were in Jay’s situation he doubts he would have been any better.

…Actually, when it had been him, it hadn’t been any better, to be honest. Alex shuddered as he remembered how it had been almost a year ago, waking up one day without a single idea as to what had happened, to where he was, where was Am—

Alex shook his head, and tried to focus on Jay, who now looked at him with some strange expression.

“Any idea what you will do?” He asked, taking a sip of his coffee, “Since you, um, don’t remember the last…?”

“Four years,” Jay reminded him quietly, fidgeting, looking unnerved, “And, um, I don’t know? I thought maybe, um, walking around and trying to find clues? As to why, um, why am I here?”

Hm. 

No, that would be far too… dangerous. The probabilities of Jay remembering something would be too high. No. That wouldn’t do.

“Maybe you should try contacting your family?” Alex suggested gently, carefully laying a hand on Jay’s shoulder, “Maybe they have an idea as to what you’ve been up to.”

“I… Uhm. I hadn’t, uh, I hadn’t thought of, of that,” Jay stuttered, looking uncomfortable, “I…”

“From what I remember you used to call your parents every weekend back in college,” Alex said, “They probably have an idea. I doubt you have changed much since then.”

“I…um, I’ll think about it,” Jay promised him, avoiding his eyes.

Good. 

The sooner he got Jay out of here, the better for everyone. 

If Jay left, then Tim would forget as well. And everything would be just fine.

And if not… Well, it would be easier to catch Jay off guard if he didn’t remember the last time they had seen each other.

Alex left the kitchen, and did not notice the knowing and weary look Jay pinned on his retreating back.

#marble hornets #alex kralie #Jay Merrick #mh alex kralie #mh jay merrick #vrill fics #for reference this is set post S2 but in an au where Jay forgot to update the twitter account for almost two months #THEY ARE PLAYING 5D CHESS AGAINST EACH OTHER #Jay pretending to be oblivious to gain more info on alex VS alex who gaslights and manipulates jay so he doesnt have to kill him #FIGHT #obsessed w the idea of jay pretending to be amnesiac and then getting himself trapped in a psychological horror movie LMAO #also the idea of jay getting guilty bc alex is so happy that he forgor???? iconic to me