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pxrxcxa · 2 years

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Opposite Ends

Chapter One - Welcome to Hawkins High

C2 | C3 | C4 | C5 | C6 | C7 | C8 | C9 | C10 | C11 | C12 | C13 pt 1 | C13 pt 2 |

Chapter 2 is out now - enjoy Sunflowers, P. x 🌻

Pairing | Eddie x Female reader 18+. Steve x Robin x Female reader platonic friendship

Series summary | Dustins older sister got brought into the group during the events of Starcourt mall, 3 months on she's in her senior year and the kids are starting high school. After everything that went down she feels that she has to keep them safe at all costs, that includes keeping them way from the charismatic 'freak' Eddie Munson that runs a club based on their favourite game. They've both hated each other since her freshman year -with good reason-, but when keeping distance between the kids and Eddie means putting herself in the firing line, boundaries get blurred, intentions get lost & the heart speaks louder than the brain.

The story is told from both Y/N & Eddies point of view.

What to expect | Slow burn enemies to lovers, Angst - with a happy ending, fluff & smut (in the later chapters). 18+ to read this story.

Series Warnings | Mentions of abuse, drug use, 18+ smut content

Chapter word count | 3.2k word count

Chapter warnings | Mention of physical abuse & Drug use

Any & All comments/reblogs are most appreciated - Love, P. x 🌿

Authors Note | I really hoped you enjoyed it & if you read the entire chapter then thank you for reading! I plan on putting a lot of effort into this story so it may be slow going at first before we see some development between Eddie x y/n. Feel free to let me know what you think! Take care sunflower 🌻, P. x

Y/N | October 1985

It had not even surpassed a month since the quote 'Fire of Starcourt Mall devastates Hawkins' had been splayed across static ridden TV sets in almost every household as it broke across our dearest - and allegedly cursed -towns news headlines and quickly spiralled into a national sensation, the deaths of the flayed blamed on it.

I didn't have to imagine what people thought about that "poor dammed Hawkins town' when they saw the news, up until June I was of the same mind as the rest of the towns terrified residents. Housewives had huddle together in the aisles of Hawkins stores; heads close together as the whispers broke out above the white noise.

“Yes, that’s right, ever since that Byers boy went missing, nothing has been right and all of these tragic deaths. I’m telling you Helen; it almost devilish what’s been happening. Hawkins can’t catch a break, we’re cursed, cursed I tell you.”

And with those venomous words loudly whispered into the eagerly awaiting ears of the notorious town gossip, it had taken only all of an afternoon for that gossip to turn factual and become the opinion held in the highest regard by most residents. Unlike those oblivious to the actual truth, I liked to think I wouldn’t have been so naive and gullible to believe the theories circulating the grapevine, some even more farfetched and implausible than what actually occurred last summer.

Well, almost, I amended. Sometimes I wondered if I would have been better off being continually blissfully unaware of what was beneath my feet at this exact moment. But my brother Dustin and his nerdy friends had come to me for help, whirling me into the most thrilling and traumatising week of my life.

Somehow having read some Russian literature and being able to crack some stupid code that Dustin wouldn’t explain the importance of, corelated to me being stuck in a secret Soviet Russian base elevator underground the famous Starcourt mall. I had sat with my head between my knees for hours, the cold metal of the grates in the floor pushing into my thighs while Dustin explained the past 3 years of our lives from his point of view.

I couldn’t keep up with his voice. Between some band geek from school that I recognised by face only, rubbing my back and kept asking if I was going to hurl, Lucas Sinclair’s kid sister humorous running commentary interrupting Dustin’s story at points and Steve the freaking hair Harrington pacing with his hands on his hips, inspecting the roof and telling Dustin to hurry up. I cut him off halfway through telling a story of something called a Dart. His goofy grin faded from his face as I stood up quickly, rubbing my hand roughly against my eyes to push away the images his irrational words had painted.

“Let me see if I’ve got this.” I had started ticking off my fingers.

“Byers wasn’t lost in the woods but was in fact in some other underground dimension of Hawkins.”

“The upside down.” Dustin interrupted me.

I continued like I hadn’t heard him “There’s some girl with superpowers who always saves you guys, and there’s something called a demodorgan that eats people?” Dustin opened his mouth to correct me, but Steve beat him to it.

“We don’t have time for this dingus, in case you haven’t noticed we are stuck in a literal Russian based filled with soldiers that are probably going to shoot us the moment they find us.” His voice raised to an unattractive shrill at the end, I examined him closer, dressed in that dorky ice-cream uniform with panic plastered across his face it was hard to imagine that he had once been my biggest crush in middle school. Although I doubted I looked much better.

“One last thing.” I grumbled as my hands flailed at my sides.

“Everyone else, literally everyone else knew about this except for me?” I questioned the room, but my eyes were on my baby brother. Anger was coursing through me, but also shame, it was hard to not believe that what he was saying was true given where I was standing at that very moment, no matter how preposterous all of it sounded, but shame at the fact that he hadn’t included me in this earlier. That Steve the hair Harrington had been a better older sibling than I had, I had been too focused on getting the best grades in school and over analysing every interaction I had with Billy while giggling with my friends, to see what clearly had to be happening in front of my eyes.

In that moment I had thought our situation couldn’t get worse. But then Steve, myself and Robin the band geek had held onto each other like a lifeline as we were each interrogated by the Russian soldiers, while Dustin and Erica ran for help. And the lasting physical damage from that didn’t even begin to compare to the consequences after the events of the fire, consequences that we were all still dealing with to this day.

I would have happily taken beatings from trained six foot grown Russian soldiers for the rest of my life if it meant the Mind Flayer never came top side. If it meant that I would catch glimpses of bruised skin out of the corner of my eyes as I passed my reflection in the hallways at school, instead of black worming lines that weren’t really there, crawling over my cheeks and pouring into my head. It had taken weeks for me to convince myself that it was just remnants of PTSD, or whatever the school counsellor had called it, that was causing the fleeting images to stalk me during my waking hours and follow me into my nightmares, seemingly doomed to plague my broken, murky mind forever.

That was the funny thing about shared trauma, the bond it created with those involved. Even though half of the group was split in more ways than one, it was ironic that I’d complained about being left out of the loop for so long, only to be practically joined at the hip with the members of the group that remained behind in Hawkins after the fire.

Max and I had found comfort in each other’s presence, silently understanding each other’s feelings over Billy. Since her stepfather had left and she had moved to the trailer park with her mom it had become the daily routine to drive her to and from school together every day, her home was out of the high school bus route and even though it wasn’t that far of a walk, I didn’t feel comfortable leaving her to her own devices.

As I drove to the trailer park Max and her mother resided in, my eyes came to rest on the clothes flapping on the washing line next to her home, as I turned my car off Curly road, down her street. The familiar gravel of the makeshift street crunching away under the tires. She was perched on the weathered steps, wearing Billy’s jacket as always and headphones already covering her ears. No doubt playing that new ‘Hounds of love’ album, I could hear it sometimes when Max was having a particularly bad day and she blasted it as loud as possible it on her Walkman. Probably to drain out whatever thought or memory harassed her, the first time I wanted to chastise her about making her eardrums bleed I caught myself. I did things I wasn’t supposed to, to block out my own demons. Who was I to judge about how Max dealt with hers.

“Y/N” Dustin pulled me out of my thoughts from the seat next to me as the rolled the car to a stop, Max pulled the back door open and slid into the seat, nodding her head as her morning acknowledgment. “You’ve been in the school for three years longer than me so you should know what clubs there are!” Dustin smacked his walkie and shoved the antenna down in frustration. ”Dammit Mike!” The asphalt flew away beneath the car as I pushed the gas pedal down faster. Itching to get the day over as fast as possible.

“Do I look like I’m even remotely interested in your nerdy stuff to even pay the slightest bit of attention to what clubs you might like?” Although it might have been a good idea to see what group I could off load my brother and Mike wheeler to, it was the last day of the first week of high school and they were still following me around like lost sheep. My senior year, the one where I needed to concentrate the most and I was stuck running a baby-sitting club. I rocked in my seat as we drove over the speedbump leading into the school’s carpark.

“What’s hellfire?” My neck snapped to look at Dustin.

“Wh – what?” I sputtered, “How do you know about them?” He pointed to a duo walking in the swarm headed to the school’s entrance. Gareth and Jeff I thought, but it was hard to tell from the distance, my eyesight was worsening, and I made a mental note to find my glasses in my bombshell of a room, sooner rather than later. Dustin must have seen their shirts.

“So?” He pushed, eyeing me curiously.

“I don’t know man, they’re a club I guess, they play some game...” I tightened my grasp on the wheel and looked over my shoulder to park.

“What game?” He drew out his question like he already knew the answer. I groaned internally already sensing where this was heading. Apparently so did Max.

“Bye.” She murmured as she slinked out of the backseat, sliding her bag up her shoulder and burrowing down into the safety of her oversized jacket.

"Some fantasy game” I shrugged nonchalantly as his eyes bulged in his skull. Killing the engine and gathering my stuff, I spoke before he could. “You’re staying away from them, Eddie Munson’s a member and he’s a freak.” I explained forcefully, the words burned my tongue on the way out, I was sure the words ‘hypocrite’ were plastered on my forehead.

“He’s a freak because he plays a game?” He scoffed looking at me disbelievingly, with traces of disdain.

I rushed to explain myself “No I just – he just – look, he’s dangerous and you aren’t to go near him, no discussion.” He just grinned and jumped out. Rolling down the passenger side window I shouted at his retreating back “No discussion!”

With robotical movements, ingrained from following the same path for almost four years, I made my way to my locker to grab the necessary books for my first class of the day. Ignoring the lingering and longing stares thrown my way, the whispers had dissipated weeks ago. New morsels of gossip were either discovered or created far too often to focus on any specific one to cause any real discomfort.

After the fire, everything had changed, it wasn’t just the physical impact it had. Anyone could see the holes that the deaths had created in Hawkins, but there was one that affected me more than anyone else's. Suddenly the basketball team wasn’t as loud, the hallways were missing a certain cologne and I still waited five minutes after the last bell rung to hear the smooth purr of an engine that would never roar to life again.

In the terms of Hawkins Highs newsletter, I may as well be a victim of the fire to. Sweet perfect Y/F/N didn’t care about cheerleading, or basketball, or parties, or boys or friends anymore. I was just an empty shell, an echo of the bright person they grew up with. They said Billy’s death changed me, that I was too heartbroken to continue on without him. They weren’t all wrong, loosing Billy, and – my heart squeezed painfully with the memories of what happened right after that - did change me. I would never admit it to listening ears, lest it get back to Max, but I was well and truly over Billy in a romantic sense. The past 4 months brought my inane problems and mundane life into excruciating clear focus, suddenly what I was going to wear to the after-game party didn’t matter. Graduating as soon as possible so I could escape the town that had its talons in deeper than just my skin - it had my soul in its grasp - was the most important purpose in my life.

That still didn’t stop my old friends from caressing at the surface, probing to see if I’d would come back to life. A strong hand slammed down on the locker next to me, sending a ringing in my ears and my carefully stacked books to clatter the floor. Sighing, I stilled the rattling open door of my locker.

“You coming to cheer me on tonight Y/N?” Jason Carver. His overpowering stench of expensive cologne and sweat after basketball practise assaulted my senses, invading my body and mind. I took an involuntary step back and crinkled my nose.

“Just like every other Friday you’ve asked me Jason, no. For the last time no.” His nonchalant laugh insulted the seriousness of my tone, but his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. There was something lurking there.

“Come on, I know your squad misses you.” His voice was whiny as he reached behind my head to bring the end of my ponytail over my shoulder, the brush of his fingers sent a chill up my spine as he fiddled with the green ribbon tied there. I could feel eyes pouring into my back, but when I spun away from Jason, slamming my locker shut, sending a fresh breeze over the both of us, there was no one I could see watching me.

“I’m going to be late for Mr Mundy.” I called as an afterthought, barely glancing back at a confused Jason still standing by my locker, not wanting to have him seek me out later. I hadn’t heard the second bell ring while he cornered me, too preoccupied with the sickening feeling that had begun in my stomach when Jason’s blue eyes bored into mine and now settled in the low pits of my frame as I tore through the empty corridors. I paused at the edge of Mr Mundy’s classroom door to fix my hair back into place when I got a glimpse of my reflection in the window. My breath hitched in my throat as a prickly heat spread out across my body. She smiled back at me with lips that were trembling on my own face.

“Y/N” She drawled, “I’m still here, waiting.” Black lines appeared on my neck, crawling up my face. My head swam as I hung my head down, ripping my eyes away from the stranger in the window. No, not a stranger echoed in my mind, the same black lines started to flourish from my fingertips, spreading up my forearms.

Something hard but fleshy slammed into my back, bringing me out of my nightmare. Tommy H spun around to grin at me holding his hands up in an apologetic way as he walked backwards into the class. My head snapped back up to the window, but it was my own eyes, glassy with fresh tears that stared back at me. I quickly followed suit after Tommy, hoping to slip in undetected. Fortunately, Mr Mundy was preoccupied with reprimanding Carol over some violation or another as I hastily found my seat in the third row. I shoved my bag under the desk and flipped to an empty page in my notebook, a strong breeze blowing through the open windows helped even my breathing as I focused on the coolness of the air. I groaned as I felt the warm body on my left shift in my direction. With everything that had happened that morning I hadn’t let myself think about this class. Mr Mundy had been out sick for the first two days of the week, so it was actually the first class of senior year, and like the past three years of high school in calculus, I was situated in my regular seat with some quiet band geek on my right side and –

“Miss Y/N,” He cleared his throat leaning forward “You uh –“

“Shut it Munson, you’d think since it was you’re third year trying to pass high school you would at least bring a pencil, regardless – not my issue.” I snapped, crossing my legs and angling my body away from Edward Munson, Hawkins Highs very own organically grown Metal head.

As much I appreciated Mr Mundy’s teaching style, i wasn’t a fan of his inability to deal with change, hence why – after clearly pissing off some high power from above– I ended up sitting next to Eddie on an iron clad seating chart. No amount of begging and bargaining with the Calculus teacher got me anywhere

‘The best and the worst students in the class, you might rub off on him Y/N.’ Mr Mundy then just winked, laughed and snatched his brief case up on his way out before I had a chance to respond. But if he thought for one second that I was going to tutor or be some sort of good role model, then Mr Mundy wasn’t as smart as he thought he was, or I just was as stubborn as I thought I was. Eddie was a lost cause, for the most part of our four years of school, I’d managed to avoid and ignore the metal head. We’d probably said about five sentences to each other and that was only because of partnered projects we were forced to share. Even so, I swore his sole purpose on earth was to piss me off and he seemed determined to live up to the title or die trying.

The way he’d twist the rings that adorned almost all of his knuckles, so they’d catch the sunlight and blind me, or how he’d bang a couple of pencils on his desk pretending to play a fake drum set while humming a song I didn’t know under his breath. The scratching of his pencil against his desk piercing through my concertation as he doodled away, completing ignoring whatever important material Mr Mundy would be teaching. Most infuriating of all though was the fresh smell of weed that would hit me like a rock as he sauntered past my desk, arriving late to class because he was busy smoking. More infuriating now, as it was what I used to be able to sleep through the night. Since the fire I hadn't one night where I didn't wake screaming or locked in a frozen cage of terror.

The earthy smell, even diluted by Eddie's cologne, sent a stab of wanting through my core, not a feeling I wanted to associate with Eddie.

A wolf whistle erupted behind me and I slowly turned to see Tommy and some cronies eyeing me up and down like a piece of meat.

“Nice show Y/N” They chuckled loudly, ensuring everyone could hear them, Mr Mundy started to make his way over to the commotion. I scowled at the group of boys confused, until realisation dawned on my face.

Chapter Two

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter & my very first post! If you would like to be added to my Eddie tag list, let me know! :) Enjoy Sunflowers - P. x

#eddie munson fan fiction #eddie munson headcanon #eddie stranger things #eddie munson one shot #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson #stranger things s4 #stranger things 4 #stranger things #eddie fanfic #eddie smut #eddie fluff #eddie x reader smut #eddie munson x reader smut #eddie x reader #eddie x you #opposite ends

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brokenghostgirl1 · 8 months

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Hot Headed : 1

You’re a very hotheaded individual and you keep to \yourself not wanting to be around people and wanting to be left alone most of the time. Till your introduced to squad 141. Having to be transferred took a tole but you grew less angry in the days to come. However, things don’t change for the better…

The moment you set foot on the base, you felt like you didn’t belong there. Based on your records, training, and skills? You were a perfect fit. Personality? Not so much.

Your dear friend Ash tried to get you out of your “shell” but it never worked. He would bring you to the group parties they would hold but you left after she would run to the dance floor.

Of course, some welcomed you, putting on your fake smile and at least them including you in things. But they soon stopped asking after you wouldn’t show up.

Ash was your friend straight out of college, back then you were much different. You loved being around people and having fun. But growing up was hard, being an overweight college kid got to you.

Being bullied wasn’t a thing for you, well kind of. The muscle heads would def stare a little too long at you. Finding a boyfriend wasn’t easy in those days. I mean you had one, but he was only dating you as a bet.

Once Ash found out she had someone beat the shit out of that boy, she wouldn’t tell you who though. Said it was her secret.

Now once you got into the military things were different. You had to make sure you were up at a certain time, not being late was crucial. Being late meant more PT and you weren’t having that; it became too much on your body.

Having your friend with you makes things easier, but when you separated that’s when you changed. You seen things and felt things you wish you could take back, but that’s not how the military works.

You made it back to Ash and she hardly knew you, you wore a mask most of the time to hide your scar. She saw it after a year, you didn’t think she was ready to see it. She wished you could’ve stayed with her, but she knew what you both signed up for.

Someone once came into your room while you were with Ash and saw your face, you were pissed. After you almost beat him to death others started calling you Reaper. Reaper was the person you chose to become when you got angry or when you’re working. Y/N was no more.

Being with Ash made things better, she was helping you become more like yourself. Making a living in this place was hard on your mental state, it didn’t help, just made it worse. Having Ash was like a blessing, but you felt like you where the one holding her back, you knew she wanted to leave but she was staying with you trying her best to mend what’s broken.

You saw her in the mess hall eating her lunch, you sat down next to her. “look, Ash” you sighed, “I think you should leave.”

She looked at you with a confused expression, “what?”

“I know you want to do more than just staying in here, you don’t have to stay here. I’m not changing, and you know that.” You huffed, “you need to go live your life and have fun, you can’t have fun living here.”

She knew you wanted the best for her. She nodded and hugged you. That night you stayed up helping her find a job she would love and something she would be safe doing. You came across an add, ‘Help wanted, secretary’ you immediately showed her, and she lit up.

Ash loved people and hated being an outside worker. She knew this would be her job she would love; she knew she would miss you but she assured you that she would visit. You nodded and left her room for the night.

A few weeks passed and she was ready to leave. You helped Ash packed up, she gave you her favorite plushie, a little seal with glasses. She bought it for you a couple of days ago, she wore glasses and was on the seal team for a few years. You laughed as she handed it to you hugging her.

The last thing she packed was a German Shepard plushie, it had a scar running down her right eye. You hummed, “why a German Shepard?” Ash smiled widely, “Because you’re a hard-working loyal person, you protect those who you trust.” You smiled under your mask, “I’m gonna miss you” “I’ll miss you too.”

Ash left that night at 10pm, you couldn’t say goodbye to her. You were chosen by John Price, Captain of squad 141. He needed another Special Opp to help on a new mission.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Price, nice to meet you,” he shook your hand, “follow me, I’ll introduce you to your new team.”

It was bout 4pm the day you arrived at base, Captain Price waiting for you on the helipad. When he noticed your mask he smiled, it was odd no one ever smiled at your mask, they always hated it or feared it. A Skull mask was not very flattering.

You nodded, picking up your stuff from the ground and following him through the base.

He led you through a house like area of one of the barracks, it was fancier than your cot you’d sleep on back at home. You were gonna like it here. Price showed you your room, the kitchen, the showers, the upstairs offices. It was all quite nice, it made you feel like his team was going to more organized, you loved that.

Price ended the tour by bringing you to the briefing room. You noticed 4 people, you recognized Soap. You did a few missions with him when you both started.

“I know you know Soap”, price spoke up, “Next to him is Sargent Gaz, Major Alexjandro, and my beautiful wife Kate Laswell”

“Hi” you simply spoke.

Before Price could speak you ask, “Isn’t there supposed to be a Lieutenant?”

Soap spoke up just then, “He’s out on a solo mission right now.”

You didn’t speak, you just quietly stood there and let everyone speak a little about themselves. A few minutes passed and you decided to go outside and smoke to clear your head.

Something about being alone made everything better. It was about 11pm and as you where looking up at the stars you heard a truck pullup. It was a all blacked out dodge ram, you looked at it admiring it, ‘lucky guy’ you thought.

The guy that got out had a skull mask on just like you, that pissed you off. “Hey!” you yelled as you threw your cigarette on the ground.

“Who the fuck are you?” he asked.

“I’m your worst nightmare,” you spat, “Take that fuckin mask off, only one of us can have Skulls and its gonna be me, so take it off”

He growled, “Fuck you kid. What are you? A new recruit?”

Just then Price was standing next to you putting his hand on your shoulder calming you a bit, “I see you met Reaper.” You looked at Price and back at the man, “Ghost, Reaper. Reaper, Ghost. Your both lieutenants so act like it.” With that he left.

“Why Reaper?” Ghost asked, “Sounds childish.”

“Why Ghost?”, you huffed, “Sounds like you wanna be one.”

Ghost ignored you, he was tired he just wanted to go in and get some sleep. He pushed passed you, it was pretty easy considering he was 6’2 and you where 5’4. He was wondering why price would choose someone so small, especially a kid to be on the big boy team. ‘she doesn’t seem cut out for this, especially if she has that bad of an anger problem. My anger doesn’t even get that bad.’

You went to bed that night wondering why they would put you with someone just as hot-headed as you. You wore your mask as a symbol of strength, madness, and contempt. Having this one symbol helped with your composure, and somewhat of your stability. Control and stability was your main goal in this profession, it wasn’t easy some days but it helped when you could get this.

#simon riley #simon riley x reader #ghost #simon ghost riley x reader #din djarin x reader #könig x reader #tf 141 #task force 141 #john soap mactavish #cod mw2 #call of duty mwii #for everyone #ghost fans #mw2 ghost

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stephensmithuk · 17 days

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"We should swing in a row at Newgate in six weeks’ time!"

CW for discussions of the mechanics of capital punishment.

Newgate was one of the places in London that you least wanted to end up for most of the second millennium. Located near the "New Gate" of the City Walls, it began life in 1188 as a collection of cells to hold those awaiting trial.

It had a rather long and dark history, with many famous inmates (such as Daniel Defoe and of particular relevance here, Oscar Wilde spent some time), quite a lot of abuses and generally unpleasant conditions. The prison of this period dated from 1782, the third on the site. The second had been almost finished in 1780 when it was set on fire during the Gordon Riots, an anti-Catholic outbreak of disorder that saw 300-700 deaths. Charles Dickens used it as the backdrop for Barnaby Rudge, one of his lesser-known novels, possibly due to the limited number of adaptations. Other works of his set there included Oliver Twist, where Fagin spends his final night.

It was attached to the criminal courts colloquially known as "the Old Bailey" after the street is was on. By 1891, it had become the Central Criminal Court, dealing with high-profile cases from across England.

Many people only left Newgate for their meeting with the hangman. In 1783, London's gallows were moved from Tyburn to the front of Newgate prison. Until 1868 (three years after the opening of the first bit of the Underground!), these executions would still be done in public. Prisoners would take their final walk along Dead Man's Walk, over the quicklime-covered bodies of the previously executed under the flagstones, before coming out to see the crowds of spectators, looking forward to the show. It was quite common in the Bloody Code days for pickpockets to operate at the executions of people hanging for theft. The nearby Magpie & Stump pub would hire out upper rooms for those wanting a better view and also send the condemned a final pint.

After the end of public executions, the gallows were moved inside the facility. From 1881, a dedicated execution shed was built where up to four people could be hanged at once, although that only happened on one occasion, so a triple execution would have been perfectly possible. And "by once", I mean at the same time; the hangman would open the trapdoor so all were dropped into eternity at the same time.

There was a spectator's gallery outside for the press and official witnesses - their view was restricted so all they would see of the actual execution was the condemned drop into the pit below and the rope go taught. The prison was also used to train new executioners.

By 1891, the British government had clamped down on some of the dodgier practices engaged in by hangmen at this point after the Aberdare Committee of 1886. Like going around the local pubs the evening before and showing off the rope to the drinkers. Or selling said rope and the dead person's clothes to souvenir hunters after the fact. Or charging people to act as extra assistants at the execution, including one actual baronet. A standard "table of drops" was also set up, although not always followed initially.

In 1902, the prison was closed down and demolished in 1904. A rebuilt and expanded Central Criminal Court, opened in 1907 covers the old site - some of the old walls form part of it - still being known as the "Old Bailey". Trials are open for the public to attend, subject to a strict security check and an outright ban on taking photos inside.

Some of the remains of the hanged were removed and placed in a plot at the City of London cemetery.

The gallows moved to Pentonville and remained there, with the last execution occurring at that site in 1961, capital punishment ending three years later.

The Magpie & Stump remains to this day, heavily rebuilt. I might go there for lunch at some point.

A door from the prison is in the collection of the Museum of London, but the main site closed in 2022, with the facility moving to a new location in the Smithfield area that is due to open in 2026.

The six weeks reference? That was how quickly you could go from arrested to hanged in England.

#letters from bunny #raffles #history #wilful murder #wilf

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chuthulhu-reads · 10 months

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[ID: Three panels from Trigun Maximum. The first is a close-up of Vash's eyes, looking more blank, hollow and deep-set than usual. The second is a wider shot of the orphanage's kitchen, with Vash sitting at a table, almost off-panel, and looking across the room at Livio, whose back is to the reader. Vash says, "He's dead. I buried him." The third panel shows Livio's shocked expression, his left eye completely whited out. End ID.]

I remember this page kinda rocked me the first time I read it, because Vash seems so calm, but you pretty quickly get alerted that, no, he is VERY much hurting and angry, but again, I think this is a sign of Vash's age and emotional maturity--he has, sadly, a lot of experience with grief. He knows how to function in his grief, and do what is needed, such as respectfully bury a body before it starts to go too nasty in the desert heat.

[ID: Three panels from Trigun Maximum. The first shows Livio looking down with a heavy expression, saying, "I can't... eat..." Vash responds, "You have to." The next panel shows Vash shoving a spoonful of rice into his mouth with a determined expression as he says, "We have to protect everyone who lives here. That's what he would have wanted." The third panel shows Livio looking grim as Vash continues, "If we don't stop Knives, then all this will have been for nothing." End ID.]

One of the most pragmatic things you can do for someone who's grieving and struggling with their basic day-to-day is feed them. I wonder how Vash would be coping if Livio wasn't here, also needing support, someone for Vash to focus outward on; Vash is better at helping other people than looking after himself, after all. But ever since Rem's death, Vash has been coping with grief by looking at "what they would have wanted/what they died for" and throwing his all into it. Rem died saving the fleet, so Vash has spent a century and a half saving and protecting human life wherever he can. Wolfwood died to protect the orphanage, and he wanted Knives stopped because he knew what a danger Knives was to all humans, including his kids; Vash already knew that Knives needed stopped, but I wonder how much Wolfwood's loss fortified Vash, who we know has always been hesitant to actually kill his brother and doesn't really know what he's going to do in the inevitable upcoming confrontation. His coping mechanisms show signs of being well-worn, that he's experienced with coping with loss, though that doesn't necessarily mean that all of his coping mechanisms are particularly healthy. Eating is good, overeating less so (though how much of an actual health risk that is to an independent plant and an augmented human with a likely jacked-up metabolism is debatable). Vash, you know those you've loved and lost would have wanted you to live and be happy too, right?

#Trigun #This is rambling but Vash and grief are portrayed in such a fascinating way in the manga imo #He's been here before #likely many times #he has mechanisms he has processes #but that doesn't mean he isn't hurting

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itsoneofthemuses · 11 months

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Thank you for answering my ask and posting your thoughts! I can definitely provide some more questions. I was inspired by the response and I have lots more thoughts :D I wrote way too much so feel free to divide up the different sections and post it however you like and answer only what you want.

All those examples you wrote about are so great. I love to see characters who are sometimes led by their emotions and then they use their head afterwards. I think it also tells us a lot of what is important to Lucy and why she sometimes loses her cool a bit. And I love that Lucy can act immature at times, but that does not mean she is immature. That she can react with anger when people opposes her, but that does not mean she gets angry every time someone disagrees with her. This makes her a very relatable character who is interesting to follow.

I agree that Lucy seems to be all over the place in season 4. She agrees to be Tim’s aide and I know others have written about that as she needing stability after Jackson’s death and I can definitely understand that. It might also explain why her emotional state is less consistent and why she seems to be less connected to herself and a bit less engaged with the people around her. I think there was an opportunity here to show her grieving her friend and everything their friendship gave her. That could have been more of a storyline instead of just being subtext to her actions in that season. What would you have liked to see for Lucy in season 4?

What do you think was the purpose of introducing Chris? Were they trying to give them a similar set-up as Angela and Wesley and flirt through disagreements? She is never really shown talking with Chris. Like you say there are conversations were they both state how they have completely different views on something and it is not resolved or brought up again. I am disappointed it seems like she did not care more about what it meant being a relationship with someone who she did not actually seem to care about. Especially after her last relationship ended because she did not appear to care enough about them. If she stayed in the relationship because she did not want more conflict and hurt in her life (while grieving Jackson) why could not that have been an explanation instead of «Chris is so great»?

What did you think of the choices made in the trial-prep episode? I guess they were trying to show Lucy healing through moving forward and leaving her trauma behind her. However, that is not how trauma works in my experience and I think it was a disservice to Lucy to make it so clean cut.

Also what do you think of her professional development in season 4? I feel like in season 4 she does not seem to have the same curiosity for different types of policing (and no mention of undercover-work for her until 4.22). I think introspection is really what have been missing in the last seasons with a lot of the characters. It is almost like since that they are not rookies anymore, they do not have anything new to learn or do not make mistakes in their police work that can help them grow and be better. They also had some interesting discussions about things they would want to change so they could do their job better in the previous seasons. The last seasons have been very plot-driven and I understand that the show had to evolve and it is harder to include «learning lessons» when they are no longer students, but still. I want to see characters grown both personally and professionally.

One more thing is that I feel a bit selfish voicing these concerns. So many people worked hard on this show and people spend their free time writing fics so we can get great entertainment. I do not want it to seem like I am diminishing their work. Sometimes I guess it helps voicing things to accept it and appreciate the things that are still great about the show :) Also I would love to hear peoples different opinions on this. I have not rewatched season 4 a lot either because it is not my favorite so people who know it better might have great examples to prove me wrong :)

I am also ready to get into season 5 more, if you are up for more asks :)

Well, shit, anon, you really let me have it! I am not complaining, by the way. You are forcing my to think and articulate my jumbled thoughts which is great… But take pity on me, because I’m truly not sure how well I get my point across when given license to ramble about fictional characters that I care about far too much.

I am glad you found something worthwhile in the two previous ask/answer! I think Lucy is eminently relatable, especially in S1 and S2, where (as a rookie) we get to learn so much about her and see her in a new environment, at a new job, and beginning this big new part of her life - so many people can understand being new to a job, trying to juggle friends and romantic relationships, family problems, while navigating adulthood. Angela, for all that she’s a bit of a mess, has been on the job for a decade. I don’t think Talia ever got a fair shake in terms of storylines. Tim is a great character in those early days, but I wouldn’t necessarily call him or Nolan relatable. And Jackson (RIP, you were the MVP all along) might be less relatable just because he was finding his way as a nepo baby dude.

Look, early on in S4, I was willing to cut the show a lot of slack. They had abruptly and unexpectedly lost a main cast member, they were still filming under pandemic conditions, and at some point during that season, they got the news that they were going to try introducing a spinoff. I was one of the people thinking that Lucy becoming Tim’s aide would be a soft reset and let them work together more like partners and deepen their bond while maintaining status quo until they could more calmly and clearly plan out the next arc. By mid-season, it felt like that was a pipe dream I once had. My problem with subtext in a show like The Rookie is that it is so open to interpretation that you may well be right - she’s subtly grieving, she’s isolated and withdrawn from friends (because, let’s face it, she has none in S4)... But that’s rarely, if ever, made clear. You could be right… Or you could be totally wrong. At some point, subtlety becomes ineffective if nobody understands what or why things are happening.

In S4, honestly, I would’ve liked to see Lucy dealing with her grief and taking risks - not ones that are stupid, but dangerous nonetheless. Angela is having a baby, so is Nyla (by the end), Nolan has ostensibly found love… Let Lucy feel the weight of being alone and grapple with taking on UC work (which they introduced and then basically dropped for most of S4?) while she’s barely trained. Let that same conversation that happened in S3 between Tim and Lucy and Nyla come up and let that be the conflict between Tim and Lucy in S3. His feelings about UC are clearly related to Isabel but his concern for Lucy is two-fold: she’s barely out of long sleeves and she’s taken hit after hit and had to keep going. Tim knows exactly what that’s like. And it doesn’t have to be Tim being over-protective or senior officer, this is hard won knowledge, just like when he told Lucy her scars made her a survivor.

That’s just one of many routes. I would have eliminated Chris and Ashley entirely, or used them very differently. Not even as a shipper but I honestly think they contributed nothing to S4 - they weren’t used for jealousy, they didn’t cause conflict, neither couple had particular chemistry. They were just… There.

You know, I’ve discussed to death with many people what the purpose of Chris was. I haven’t actually come up with a good explanation because his introduction felt inorganic and, even worse, the set up of his relationship with Lucy was so poorly executed that I think they shot him in the foot right from the get-go. I do think they were trying to sprinkle a little of the “Angela and Wesley” flavour, as if all lawyers are naturally argumentative about everything. But, in my personal opinion, it didn’t work. It’s definitely annoying that Lucy seems to get into relationships she doesn’t care about (but I am convinced that what happened with Emmett only happened because the actor became unavailable).

I have settled on the idea that Chris and Ashley were, essentially, introduced to explain why Lucy and Tim couldn’t be together. “Of course they can’t date, they’re both in relationships, silly!” I literally see no other purpose to them - neither illuminated anything new about Lucy or Tim, respectively, and neither ended up sticking around so 🤷🏽‍♀️

Oh, that was weird. That whole episode. Firstly, I have no idea why Tamara was there. She is Lucy’s teenage orphaned roommate so of course, she is Lucy’s sole emotional support! It was completely ridiculous and unprofessional that Chris would be working on Lucy’s prep and he should have recused himself. Apparently everyone in the office has seen the video so like… Why couldn’t one of the other junior ADAs have prepped her? If, for some dumb reason, they absolutely did not want Tim being there even though he was personally involved, why not have Angela support her? She suffered a similar trauma, she’s a woman, and she was there. Was she still on mat leave? No idea, I refuse to rewatch S4 so details are fuzzy. Or have Nyla be her support - she has been hurt, she’s served in a mentor role for Lucy, she was there.

Let’s move on from that. The episode actually starts off promisingly in some ways because we see Lucy struggling. It’s confirmation that this is a trauma she continues to struggle with (in The Rookie’s fucked up timeline, it has been maybe a year since Caleb happened, I think?). And then Chris hums the song, Lucy reacts strongly, Tamara is (as one might expect of a teenage roommate) locked out along with Chris the trauma-triggering boyfriend, and then Lucy emerges, on her own, and demands to see the video. Chris, who got a verbal lashing from Lucy in his introductory episode and apparently lost all backbone immediately after, caves (although I tend to agree that this was her experience and she was entitled to see the video on her own terms) and then Lucy just shrugs it off and goes to Chris’ for dinner.

Sure, okay. How does a day that starts out with Lucy appearing to experience disassociation, flashbacks, and PTSD symptoms end with her laughing with someone who triggered her again later in the day? Look, I’m not suggesting that people can’t process trauma, mental health, or their emotions/triggers however they want. In real life, people are complex and varied and resilient and unique. On TV where there is less time and space to explore those nuances, it very much looked to me like Lucy was casual and carefree by the end of the episode rather than emotionally exhausted and repeatedly subjected to extreme stressors regarding her trauma. But what do I know? Maybe the “subtext” is that Lucy is extraordinarily strong and can walk it off no problem because that’s what heroes do.

(in ending, I did not think much of the choices in that episode)

Woo, boy, did Lucy have professional development in S4? I don’t think she did. She was Tim’s aide and, as pointed out in the episode with Nyla’s wedding, she gets no credit for the arrests even if she played an instrumental role. I’m not actually sure how being sergeant’s aide is such a big deal when that’s the case. I would also like to point out that I’m not actually sure what Tim did as a sergeant. He was supposed to respond to high risk calls and be available as a supervisor on scene but, and maybe I’m remembering wrong, for most of S4, him and Lucy respond to regular ol’ whatever calls when there wasn’t something huge and ridiculous already happening in the episode.

I agree that none of the characters appear to have any self-awareness or display any particular insight or growth in S4. Nolan’s college classes and the professor who taught about racism and policing basically disappeared without a mention and they just stop talking about issues in policing entirely. The Rookie seemed to choose a cause, or whatever you want to call it, each season (racism in policing for S3) and they pivoted to… Women’s fertility in S4? Except their focus was egg freezing??? They talked about Black maternal health in a previous season and that was SO. MUCH. BETTER. I know a lot of people who have explored fertility options, mostly for the purpose of IVF admittedly, and it is an expensive, painful, and challenging choice to make. They didn’t discuss any of that. So overall, I would call it a fail, personally. Nevermind that Lucy’s dusty eggs and her concern with her mother crossing boundaries was basically ignored forever after.

I get that not being rookies anymore changed the dynamics, direction, and plot structure of the show. But I think there are ways to continue to grow and develop the characters and explore issues within policing that they did in previous seasons. Angela talked endlessly in S4 (in fact, I think that was her whole arc) about breast milk and being a mom. Why not encounter obstacles her rich husband couldn’t solve for her like the guilt of being a working mom? The danger involved in being a police officer and a parent? What about the discrimination around promotions when you’re a woman, of colour, and a mother (mat leave often means setbacks and missing opportunities)?

I don’t think it’s selfish to voice these concerns or to discuss ways the show didn’t work well and ways it could work better. I don’t know, honestly, how things work behind the scenes on The Rookie. I don’t know what their writer’s room looks like, I don’t know how or when they break the season, I don’t know who contributes ideas and writing and direction, I don’t know how much control the show runner exerts, etc., etc. But there are a lot of things that, for me, didn’t work in S4. I don’t @ the writers, show runners, actors, or anyone involved in the show (I believe in strong, firm, clear boundaries between fandom and the actual production) regarding fanfic, ideas, etc. Occasionally, when I livetweet, I might tag someone in a positive comment, but that’s the extent of my involvement with the real people who are working on this show. In fandom spaces, I think discussion, criticism, and honest, respectful engagement are signs of investment in the show and characters which is a pretty big compliment.

If I didn’t love this dumb show (or the first three seasons, anyway), I wouldn’t still be here after all.

#lucy chen #tim bradford #angela lopez #nyla harper #the rookie #chris sanford #the rookie anti s4 #anon ask #answered!#thanks for the ask!#sorry this was so late #i had to wait until i had time and energy #apparently that's at 11pm on a sunday night

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dungeonsdragonstdelinquents · 1 year

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Hii, saw your post about dps fics being really poetically written, do you have any favourites or recommendations? Have a good day!! :D

Hi thank you for the ask!! Oh goodness my favorite dps fics…I will include in general fics that I liked, but the ones that I have placed an asterisk with are pieces that had me–for lack of a better phrase–crying, screaming, shitting on the floor from how poetic they made me feel. Which really doesn't make much sense, but when i say poetry within me i just mean this strange feeling that is difficult to describe. Also these are all anderperry because i am a basic bitch, so apologies if you were looking for any other pairs! Maybe after finals I will look into some of the other pairs and put together a list for them too :) also I tried formatting this the best I could, I typed it all out on google docs so apologies for any fuck ups.

(in no particular order)

What We Stay Alive For **** by PiscesVanity on ao3, 18/18 chaps, 66,485 words.

Summary: “Do we get second chances in this life, Todd?” Neil asks him like he expects a negative answer. Todd doesn’t give that to him.

“Yes. we do. I know it.”

“Do you?” Neil grins, playfully elbowing him. “Did you at least wait to take it? That second chance? Until the world was more peaceful? More kind?”

Ten years after the death of Neil Perry, Todd Anderson wakes up with a second chance.

My notes: This incredibly crafted piece of art was the first dead poets fic I ever read. It honestly set the bar for me, for future reads. Also i didn’t have the chance to reread this one because this baby is long as FUCK and as much as I love long fics to read, I have to study for finals today so I can’t right now. I’m like 80% sure this is the fic where they confess by the lake and say something along the lines of “if you feel something even similar to what i feel…” but again i can’t be sure. Either way all I remember is that this fic is fricken good. Just for context, this is a time-traveling fic, but the type of time travel that happens in 13-going-on-30. Todd prays for a second chance on the eve of the 10 year anniversary of Neil’s death and he wakes up in his 17 year old body, on the day that he started school at Hell-ton. I think in general I just love the dead poets fandom because it combines some of my favorite tropes in any form of reading–50s/60s time period, boarding schools, and well…being gay. It is a fix-it so there is some angst, but there is a happy ending. But it will hit hard, especially since it comes close in the end so be wary. When I first started it, I was concerned about my own interest dwindling because the fic was going to cover the entirety of the movie, and since I have issues rereading or rewatching pieces of media when I know the end or the majority of it, I didn’t know if I was going to last. But the author of this stunning work (I know it sounds cheesy BUT IT IS) crafted it in a way that didn’t leave me bored. Even though several lines were pulled from the movie due to it being a time travel fic I still felt involved and captured by the story. It was comforting at the beginning to see how Charlie and Todd took care of each other after Neil’s death, and it was also intriguing to see how Todd almost started where he left off with Neil when he went back in time. He was more open than he had been prior, but eventually had settled back into his ‘old’ personality that he had before his first encounters with the poets.

to be alone with you by wordshakers on ao3, 1/1 chaps, 3,602 words.

Summary: “Thursday evenings were, unequivocally, Neil’s favorite part of the week.

On the surface, the explanation for this was simple enough. It was his opportunity to turn his focus entirely to the topic that made him happiest: Shakespeare. He savored the time he was able to spend sitting out on the dock, overlooking the lake, reading and reciting the words he loved so much.

The other reason–perhaps the more prominent one–Neil wasn’t able to explain quite as easily. In fact, he could hardly admit it to himself. Thursday evenings…they meant being alone with Todd.

An anderperry first kiss fic, set in a near-canon universe of the film (minus the death). Fluffy mutual pining.

My notes: I can’t recall everything about this one because my mind has been scrambled the last few days, but it is fluffy, it is cute, and it has Todd and Neil practicing lines together–what more could you want?

letters to my dearest beloved ****by UniversalSatan on ao3, 4/4 chaps, 34,162 words.

Summary:

“My dearest beloved,

It is with great relief that I finally write to you. I think it doubtful for my words to ever reach your ears, but spare me this chance to lend you a piece of my thoughts–and only a piece, for I must write with caution lest I be discovered.

Neil, amidst his own internal emotional conflict, accidentally stumbles upon letters Todd had been writing in secret to an unknown recipient. Neil (an idiot) continues to intrude on Todd’s privacy by reading each new letter in secret, continuously agitating over their purpose.”

My notes: I’m not 100% sure how well this fic is known because as I stated in the post you mentioned I am extremely new to this fandom, I think I only watched the movie the Saturday before last. Let me tell you, my heart was beating all over the place during this. I cannot believe the audacity of Neil! I don’t want to spoil it because it’s literally a masterpiece, like this should be published and printed and given awards to–the letters and the imagery in them were so *shakes author like a squeaky toy* I LOVE YOUUUU RAHHHHH. Anything i have to say just will not convey how fucking amazing this fic is. Please go read it if you haven’t. And also Neil is an oblivious little man in this fic, the best type of Neil.

A Midnight Summer’s Dream: A Story of Hope (chapter 2 specifically) by cc tinselbee (thearchivistonmars)

Summary: (my words) an almost main au that will tear your fucking soul from your body. Beautiful, amazing, life altering, makes me cry in the best way. The bittersweetness of it all is POTENT. It is an Almost Maine au (I am scared to look into almost maine now from how heartbreaking this fic was. I have only read the SECOND chapter, I’m sure the first chapter is magnificent but as of now I am in the midst of finals so I will check it out when I am done.)

My notes: Someone printed out this fic, tied it to a brick, and threw it into the window of my heart, shattering my soul into pieces. How could you do this to be, author? This piece has me able to physically feel my brain putting up barriers to stop thinking about the ending that is implied. Nope, nope, nope. If you are one for incurable angst, please go ahead and enjoy. It’s a wonderful story and it evoked emotions in me that I couldn’t even stand. The author is very talented for this and I’m manifesting that alternative/possible happy ending they mentioned in their notes/comments. I haven’t read the first chapter, so this is specifically about the second one because up until a few moments ago I didn’t realize that there was a first chapter–I clicked on the link to the fic from the author’s tumblr and was sleep deprived and thought it was the beginning of the fic 🙂

Gentle Lover, Remedy ****by violet_sunset on ao3. 1/1 chap, 13,135 words.

Summary: “Todd’s first semester at Welton marks the moment he stops going to church. There are regular Masses offered in the chapel, but whenever Todd thinks about going he’s overwhelmed by nausea and has to hover in the bathrooms until he is sure he won’t vomit. When he was a kid and he thought God was just a pair of arms open in embrace, he would have jumped at the chance to attend, to sing from the hymnal and listen to homily and absorb the sacrament of blood and body. Now, God seems like a distant thing.”

My notes: HOLY FUCK, RELIGIOUS GUILT MY BELOVED. That’s one of my favorite tags to see in a work, and it isn’t often that I have seen it in some of the pairings that I like. Of course, with religious guilt comes internalized homophobia and period typical attitudes–the fic actually made use of words used in that time period that were used to refer to queer folk, so if any of those trigger you please be wary as well. I love, love, LOVE the usage of religious metaphors and words that are littered all around in this piece as well as the descriptions that show Todd’s pathway of his beliefs. As we know Todd has a deeply ingrained inferiority complex and WOW does it shine in this fic. It made me cry feeling the second-hand guilt that Todd feels. Also, the author tackled the controversy of appropriation in the film–meaning Charlie’s preference of the name Nuwanda–and expanded on his ethnic background which was really nice to read. They also touched upon Charlie’s relation to gender and (semi-canonical?) non-binaryness (it's a word because I say so) in a beautiful and delicate way that is very rare in most works that I have seen. In general there are very few fics that I have read that have included Charlie as being anything other than cisgender, so it was wonderful to see it included in this work. As well as this, Todd having a panic attack/sensory overload when a certain ginger starts being homophobic was incredibly well written and it felt like it captured those feelings that you have during an overwhelmingly stressful moment, though that is an understatement. Todd’s inability to realize just what the fuck is going on and being sort of spacey during it all–been there and done that baby. This author is so fucking talented, and this is probably my favorite dps fic of all time. I dont have the words to effectively describe how amazing it is, so if you are able to, I highly suggest reading it to experience it for yourself :)

It’s Rotten Work by cc tinslebee (the archivistonmars) on ao3, 1/1 chap, 2,774 words.

Summary:

“I was hoping…” Neil peered back up at him with those fervent eyes before he broke his inconspicuous character and cracked a smile, “my favorite scene partner would help me test it out?”

In the midst of Todd’s continual crisis of what exactly Neil’s ‘no’ means, Neil asks him to read from a scene from Orestes. You know, for practice.

My notes: Short and utterly sweet. I love reading pieces that just show how much characters love each other whether it’s platonic, romantic, or somewhere in between. I’ve always been one for a slowburn, and it wasn’t until I realized that I was aromantic that the reason I love that trope is because in between the first ‘hello’ and the inevitable kiss, that love that I read about was similar to how I felt. Just a simple fondness that the characters had for each other that made them feel alive and safe etc. I could go on forever about that, but what I mean to say is that this fic captured that feeling of affection in a fleeting moment between Neil and Todd, and I think it’s lovely.

The Pepper Ghost Effect by Anonymous on ao3, 6/6 chaps, 19,472 words.

Summary:

“1964. Todd Anderson, now a successful playwright, whisks away an old flame from a horrifying mental asylum. That old flame, Neil Perry, becomes Todd’s new muse.”

Notes: Beware of the tags. It is a very angst ridden fic that addressed Neil’s mental health and the possibilities of what could have happened if he survived his first attempt on his life. Key word, first attempt. There is period-typical homophobia, past abusive partners, and ableism and abuse stemming from the sanitarium that [spoiler] is placed in for some time. There is a happy ending, so it’s not just angst and I feel that this fic is severely underrated. There are like only 24 kudos on it right now and 4 comments which?? What?? It’s an absolute masterpiece, and effectively captures the feeling and emotion of hopelessness and depression of a situation. Neil’s emotional response and numbness to everything around him resonated with me and I felt like it described my own brush with darkness from the lower points in my life. Read at your own risk and don’t push yourself if any of the tags may be triggering, but if you are able to this is a wonderful read that will elicit all sorts of feelings in your heart.

In the Subjunctive by ghostlin on ao3, 1/1 chaps, 5682 words.

Summary:

“The night the play opens, Neil turns left.”

My notes: This is a sort of fix-it fic with Neil coming back to the dorms after his fight with his father. It leaves off sort of ambiguous–and I do adore a good ambiguous ending–leaving the reader to imagine a happy ending. I consider it a happy ending because Neil is alive, but he is less than well mentally as of what he has endured. It also centered some on Charlie and Neil in the aftermath of it all which I enjoyed because I feel that sometimes fics forget that they are all friends. Todd wasn’t the only one mourning Neil–they all were. Also I liked the way the author captured the surprise of Charlie’s acceptance of Neil’s sexuality amongst the blunt hatred of the time. Often I feel like some fics don’t try to keep the edge of fear or vulnerability that that time period called for–which is totally fine! You do you, boo. I just have a preference for it because I feel that it almost adds to an ambiguous read of a situation. I also liked how the author wrote about Todd’s perception of Charlie and how he perceives him–whether or not Todd is supposed to be unreliable (I think it’s made somewhat clear that Charlie likes Todd–he wouldn't be encouraging Neil to spill his feelings if he didn’t) in his narration.

Also as a side note i love your pfp ive been needing to read the picture of dorian gray but ive been so busy 🙁 and you have a good day too !!❤️

#ask #dps fic rec #anderperry fic rec

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usergreenpixel · 2 years

Text

JACOBIN FICTION CONVENTION MEETING 29: NAPOLEON’S PYRAMIDS (2007)

1. The introduction

Well, hello again, dear Citizens! Welcome back to Jacobin Fiction Convention because it is now back in session!

Okay, first I will get one thing out of the way. I’m doing much better than I did in summer, hence the decision to resume my reviews. And what better way to make a comeback than to get the promised things out of the way first?!

On that note, I introduce to you the topic of today’s meeting: “Napoleon’s Pyramids”, a novel in the adventure genre set in the Egyptian campaign. Now, Directory years don’t have a good reputation in the Frev community, but technically those years are still officially Frev, hence my decision to include this book in the Jacobin Fiction Convention category.

Anyway, I’m pretty sure some people in my audience already know it, but I LOVE adventure stories, so when I stumbled across this book on a quest to find more Frev/Napoleonic media to review, you can bet your ass that I got excited!

Also, its resemblance to an Indiana Jones story initially drew me in, as I used to like the first Indiana Jones movie as a kid (not so much now) so there is some nostalgia involved here as well.

Luckily for me, I managed to find the book in pdf format here:

Then I did more research and it’s available in Russian too, mainly online and sometimes in paperback form, so my fellow Russian speakers who aren’t good at English can find the Russian version!

Is it worth looking for though? Well, let’s find out.

This review is dedicated to @mamelukeraza .

2. The Summary

Here’s the summary from Amazon and, apparently, the back cover of the book:

What mystical secrets lie beneath the Great Pyramids?

The world changes for Ethan Gage—one-time assistant to the renowned Ben Franklin—on a night in post-revolutionary Paris, when he wins a mysterious medallion in a card game. Framed soon after for the murder of a prostitute and facing the grim prospect of either prison or death, the young expatriate American barely escapes France with his life—choosing instead to accompany the new emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, on his glorious mission to conquer Egypt. With Lord Nelson's fleet following close behind, Gage sets out on the adventure of a lifetime. And in a land of ancient wonder and mystery, with the help of a beautiful Macedonian slave, he will come to realize that the unusual prize he won at the gaming table may be the key to solving one of history's greatest and most perilous riddles: who built the Great Pyramids . . . and why?

By all accounts, this book should have been right up my alley! I mean, we have adventures, ancient artifacts, mysteries and clues! What could possibly go wrong?!

(Spoiler alert: A LOT. More on that later.)

3. The Story

First of all, I didn’t really like the beginning of the book, mostly because the narrator (Ethan Gage) really takes his precious ass time to dive into his backstory and explain how he ended up at a table playing that fateful card game. I’m talking about two pages of backstory before finally getting to the fucking point!

Don’t get me wrong, a proper introduction is important to me personally, but maybe my problem is the fact that I prefer to receive a character’s backstory over time, bit by bit. Otherwise it gets a bit too distracting for me, especially when Gage stops narrating to crank out a few pages of his damn autobiography before returning to the actual events at hand.

Also, unfortunately for this book, the comparisons to Indiana Jones don’t imply anything good here. It simply reads like an extremely predictable adventure story that desperately tries and fails to be engaging and fun while treating really old orientalist tropes like a checklist (mysterious Egypt, hot slave girls…). Even the cliffhanger ending is predictable as shit.

Moreover, there is almost no suspense. Gage either conveniently shoots his target or gets conveniently rescued all the time. In short, he always wins, which is not what should happen in a good story because most people get bored with heroes who always win.

Last but not least, too many coincidences and everyone being connected to the point where my suspension of disbelief just went right out the window.

At one point Ethan Gage randomly encounters Sidney Smith, for example. Also he gets rescued by Nelson after a naval battle. And in a later chapter it turns out that the Romani with whom Gage had to hide at one point were the ones who alerted Gage’s future allies in Egypt about his arrival. Very fucking believable.

At this point, this book may as well be a soap opera where all the heroes are somehow connected!

Speaking of heroes…

4. The Characters

I don’t like Ethan Gage. He’s basically a knockoff Indiana Jones crossbred with a Mary Sue. Perfect sharpshooter, womanizer, spy, adventurer, apprentice of Benjamin Franklin. He has a lot of skills and connections and not enough justification for having them.

Trust me, even the fact that he’s a Freemason wasn’t enough for me to justify the fact that he just HAPPENS to know a bunch of important people.

Other than that, he starts out as a typical lone adventurer with no family who enjoys gambling and the company of sex workers. I was half expecting him to go full James Bond and be an alcoholic too, but luckily it wasn’t that cliché.

The Macedonian slave mentioned in the summary, Astiza, is a slightly more interesting character, even though she’s not free from clichés. Starting out as a beautiful mysterious slave girl, she is revealed to know more than she lets on and has a knack for practicing magic. Also she is later revealed to have known the villain of the book… Welcome to Santa Barbara, folks!

As for the villain, Count Alessandro Silano is presented as this master manipulator and a looming threat who wants to harness whatever secrets the ancient secrets and/or powers this medallion can potentially provide. In reality, however, he’s more of a hammy movie villain who likes to monologue, has no positive traits whatsoever has the same ability to survive the impossible as Gage does. Or maybe they both can just respawn, I dunno.

Unfortunately, “cliché” and “flat” are the best adjectives to describe most original characters in the story. Gage’s friend, Antoine Talma, is your typical intrepid reporter but at least he’s more relatable than Gage; Ashraf, a Mameluke Gage captures, is just a loyal servant who is there to conveniently swoop in and rescue Gage Deus ex machina style, etc.

It’s basically modern clichés served under the “sauce” of the Frev setting.

By the way, Napoleon is there as well and he gives me the same vibes as the Nazi villains in the first Indiana Jones movie. He only cares about people who are useful to him, doesn’t give a shit about his troops and also wants to harness the abilities that medallion potentially can provide so he can use those powers to CONQUER THE WORLD!

Most other historical figures only have minor roles, but I’m glad we got cameos of people like Kléber, Vivant Denon and other military men and scientists who were actually part of that campaign.

5. The Setting

Unfortunately, even the descriptions of settings leave a lot to be desired. They’re just blander than stale bread and I’m not even sure how accurate they are. Probably inaccurate as fuck though, if I’m being honest…

Paris is this city of vices like brothels and gambling houses and this setting is hyperbolic like we’re in a noir detective story.

Egypt is a treasure trove of orientalist clichés - a land of mysteries, cruel people, beautiful women and wise scholars who may or may not dabble in magic. That being said, I liked the fact that the book took a sledgehammer to clichés about harems.

6. The Writing

Ooh boy, I have some complaints here too. Aside from the distractingly long backstory tidbits I already ranted about, that is.

For example, basic French grammar and spelling have clearly left the chat because there are characters whose last names are spelled d’Liberté and d’Bonneville (de is only turned into d’ before vowels or the letter “h”) and at one point there’s a hotel called Le Cocq instead of Coq (rooster). The book was written in 2007 so it’s not like the author couldn’t look up the words and basic grammar that I learned in fifth grade!

These may seem like tiny mistakes, but if the author didn’t bother to look up the basics, then this makes me concerned about other mistakes in the novel that I probably missed. So yeah, take everything in this with a grain (or a barrel) of salt.

Last but not least, this:

This is where General Dumas and General Desaix make a cameo. Now, it seems fine… except there’s no prior mention of them being present in this scene at all before they speak their lines so… did these two just randomly poof into existence or something?

Also, these two suffer from Delayed Introduction Syndrome ™️, which means we don’t find out who the fuck these men are until a few chapters later and we don’t get any descriptions of them before that either.

Why is this an issue? Well, other minor characters in the book do get a proper introduction and a brief description IMMEDIATELY or SHORTLY after being mentioned, so there is an inconsistency here, especially since some minor characters get TOO MUCH time dedicated to their descriptions despite the fact that they are not part of the main cast (d’Liberté in particular gets too much attention).

Also, some descriptions in the book are unintentionally funny, like a part where Gage compares a woman’s nipples poking out of her cleavage to soldiers sticking heads out of a trench. Yes, this is the real comparison in the book and it fucking cracked me up.

One thing I appreciate, however, is the fact that the narrative doesn’t shy away from describing gruesome injuries like traumatic amputations and sometimes the author does have the balls to permanently kill off an important character (said characters has a really gruesome death btw). I don’t mind blood and gore like this, but trigger warning just in case you’re more squeamish than me.

7. The Conclusion

All in all, instead of being a cool swashbuckling adventure, “Napoleon’s Pyramids” comes off as an Indiana Jones ripoff with clichés stacked onto one another like Jenga blocks, a cast of bland characters, mistakes that could be easily corrected by a few Internet searches and inconsistent writing.

Do I recommend it? ABSOLUTELY NOT. Please don’t waste your time on this novel.

Okay, with that said, it’s time to conclude today’s meeting of the Jacobin Fiction Convention.

Please stay tuned for updates on future reviews and stay safe.

Love,

Citizen Green Pixel

#history #frev #french revolution #frev art #jacobin fiction convention #literature review #frev media #frev literature #obscure frev media #napoleon’s pyramids #ethan gage #louis charles antoine desaix #general dumas #napoleon bonaparte #horatio nelson #sidney smith #vivant denon #jean baptiste kleber

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chronicbeans · 1 year

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The Oath

A "Tales from the Iolite Hospital" story

TW: Hospital Setting/Doctors, Mentions of Chronic Illness

I look up to the large wall in the break room. The ringing of music from my chest and the clicking of my gears is the only sound in the room. As such, the golden words on the wall seem to glare down at me with such intensity that I cannot look away. My robotic joints move on their own accord, approaching the plaque on the wall. The plaque was, supposedly, written by humans long ago, then sent to our world by accident.

"I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgement, this covenant.

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.

I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick."

I stop at the last part, feeling an odd, uncomfortable feeling swell in my chest. I cannot help but remember the look on Aluminum's face after our last appointment when I read the line "I will remember that I do not treat fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being..." We may not be humans, but I feel like I have done something wrong, either way. His words were cruel, but I feel as though they were, in some way, deserved.

I hear the door open and shut behind me. Turning, I see the face of my colleague, Nurse Angel, staring at me. Her voice Pierce's the silence of the room, making her presence known. "Dr. Cogsworth, what are you doing? Your patients are waiting."

I wish to move, to go see them, but I feel I must ask this question. The burning in my chest increases as the words leave my mouth "Are we doing something wrong?" "What do you mean?" "Each patient is different. We treat them almost exactly the same. Patients with a specific GI disease go through the same medications and such, regardless of their differences in other health areas."

She crosses her arms "You must be crazy, questioning that. Look... here's how it works: patient comes in. Patient is sick with say... gastroenteritis. Treat gastroenteritis the way every other case of gastroenteritis is treated. It has been proven to work, after all! Patient is cured. Patient goes home happy. Any differences in treatment are due to outside forces, like allergies or such. Doesn't that make sense?"

I slowly nod my head, explaining "What about the patients that never get better? The chronically ill? Like-" "Like Aluminum?" I hesitate, before nodding again "You are letting his case get to you. I have never believed you could truly care for a patient. Let me tell you something: I never have. You get too close, Dr. Cogsworth, and I never expected you to even be able to feel anything. That robotic expression of yours tells nobody anything."

Nurse Angel takes a deep breath, before continuing "You are letting one patient get to your head. You already know the protocol for chronic illness here. Treat them how their chart says to. The only reason why Aluminum skipped to dupilumab was because he can't swallow pills. When you tried to give him pills, he choked. The liquid slurry was skipped, too, because the creators of dupilumab wanted more EoE patients to experiment with. If this is about him, you know how to treat his case. His condition is still not well-known, so we need to experiment as we please with his case. So, just follow protocol, while asking administration for changes as you see fit with him. The protocol has been proven to work. There are only healthy and sick people in the world, our job is to cure sickness. The chronically ill should just be seen as a lifetime job." With those words, she leaves.

I look back to the plaque one last time. That burning in my chest is spreading to my face. Before I know it, I feel liquid running down my cheeks. I bring a few stiff, shaking fingers to my face, before looking down at them. A clear liquid, which I know as tears, covers the tips of my fingers. I don't know why, exactly, but I am crying.

I am crying and all I can think about is the upset faces of my patients, as well as the words of frustration they have said to me.

#Tales from the Iolite Hospital #my original story #my ocs

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othercat2 · 1 year

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This Crossover is Full of Pandaemonium

Chrono Crusade and SVSSS is an almost perfect fit.

Chrono Crusade: Girl makes a contract with a devil in order to find her brother. They both become exorcists of a demon-hunting religious order to do this. It turns out that the "devils" are actually aliens! Key bit of information about these devils: Devils are composed of cells referred to as "Legion." (I tended to interpret them as being biotechnic organisms, basically nanotech Bee People.) The manga ending features the antagonist trying to set off a Grey Goo apocalypse because he hates imperialism that much. He's stopped by Chrono, the titular demon of the manga series. The success is Pyrrhic though, and the ending made me bawl my eyes out.

Anyway! Say it turns out that the SVSSS Heavenly Demons are Heavenly in the sense that they are aliens! Specifically, the Chrono Crusade aliens. But not as a precise crossover. This was a different ship, a different cosmic accident, that crashed and resulted in the PIDW Heavenly Demons. (And the passengers, not the crew, which is why they don't have horns putting them under the control of the ship.)

In addition, because why not include the transmigrator elements, lets have either Chrono (one of the two protagonists) or Aion (the antagonist), or both end up in PIDW verse.

Choose your player:

Aion: Okay so, Aion is a monster. He cannot help being a monster because the ritual that would have permanently enslaved him to a horrifying gestalt of screaming ghosts being used as fuel/computer/life support system went wrong and as a result, he has a deep and utter loathing for any form of hierarchal control. It probably didn't help that the Elders of his community decided to put down him and his entire generation because something went wrong. (This does not stop him from taking advantage of it.) To make things worse, he is an idealistic monster, in the sense that he believes that his actions are correct and righteous, and in a certain sense they very well might be. Our boy could be best said to be an anarchist. He believes that the mass extinction event he's trying to trigger will lead to a better, more peaceful, with a better and kinder way of life. However, he's going about it in a way that is utterly lacking in individual compassion for the folks he's willing to murder for his cause. (I kind of headcanon him as being neurodivergent. I played and wrote him as somewhat unable to grok actual social cues, and made him the kind of literal-minded where you just go down a rabbit hole of why certain phrases mean certain things, which is more or less canon because he keeps mixing up common aphorisms or remembering them incorrectly in canon.)

Chrono: Our boy is Aion's brother. Chrono adored and believed in his brother and what he thought was their joint goal of freedom and safety from their people, who were still trying to hunt them down. His faith is shaken after a sequence of events that results in the death of Mary, the woman they both care about. Aion kills the woman, who has vast gifts of precognition because the woman was subsumed by the Horrifying Ghost Gestalt Monster. He believed there was no hope and no cure, and because Aion is a kind of a complete bastard, he ordered Chrono to kill her. Chrono objects and tries to run for it with Mary, but Mary ends up dead anyway. Chrono possessed greater compassion and empathy for individuals. (Also neurodivergent, but in a slightly different way. His behavior seems to indicate that he was probably the one assigned as the "responsible one" in childhood. He's very empathetic and protective of those he's close to. He's gentler than Aion, buuut paradoxically more likely to go absolutely berserk if a loved one is threatened.)

Both these boys have so much fucking ptsd.

Both can almost look completely human except for their hair and eyes. (Aion: white hair, light purple eyes, Chrono, red eyes, purple hair. I might make them better and disguises.)

The possibilities of who I could stick them with are endless. Aion would probably go to ground and become a crime boss. This is what he knows, and would be good at, even in Fantasy Ancient China. Possibly he gets involved with demonic cultivators because that is also a part of his mo. Those demonic cultivators will probably end up very dead, but no great loss. An interesting story might be Aion taking in Shen Jiu, or stumbling across bitty!Mobei-jun. Or both! Aion would probably be in a crisis of faith because of having been defeated/stopped by Chrono, but would start weaving new plots almost immediately because fuck all hierarchal systems.

Chrono on the other hand is usually moved to support. What Chrono knows is "exorcism" which is essentially being a demon hunter. Our boy ends up going on a lot of night hunts, and maybe acquires a social network that way. He'd make an extra effort to seem human. He'd end up becoming very well known as a "cultivator." I would also want to have him maybe run into Shen Jiu or maybe Shang Qinghua. Or maybe Su Xiyan.

#chrono crusade #svsss #crossover crack

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outbreaksurvived · 11 months

Note

She would make her way towards the agent whilst he is having a drink, then sits by his side and orders her own glass. Once it is ready, she takes a sip of it before setting it down on the counter.

" I thought you could use some company, don't you worry I'm not here to go on a lecture to you far from it. "

She has a small smile on her face, almost as if she's apologetic for it.

" I heard a lot about what you have done for everyone, strangers included, of course. "

She turns a bit to have a better look at Leon.

". . . I don't know if anyone has ever taken the time to tell you this but, thank you for what you have done for them the results haven't been what anyone would have wished for in the end but you gave them a second chance at life and hopes. Nothing can beat that. "

Jill's right hand squeezed his shoulder in a friendly manner.

( You don't have to respond to this. We are both having a rough time lately, so I wanted to leave you something nice ♡ )

@hauntedreality He heard the voice, as he was sitting at a bar, a beer held in fingerless gloved hand as he was drinking, needing something to take the edge off from his day, deciding to give up on whiskey for good after the episode in his own bathroom. "Hi." He smiled to greet her, as his blue eyes from beneath obsidian bangs met hers, and he made eye contact with Jill. The legend from S.T.A.R.S. "Wow. The prodigal daughter returns, at last. I'm astonished." He said sincerely, his irises gazing softly over her figure. Did he mention that he loved her hair, when she wasn't wearing that beret?

He said seen her, in the STARS office, of the team posed with their assault weaponry, in front of their helicopter, looking like badass motherfuckers. All of them were dead now, for most part, aside from four or five.

"Thanks. Really means alot. To be recognized. From your peers." Leon gave her a soft smile, as he poured his beer into a glass for her. "Have one. It's on me." He pressed his lips together, as he pulled out his chair.

"The word on the street, Jill. Is that you're having difficult time right now. With guilt. And that's something I'm kind of an expert on. Being a 'retired' Catholic. Aside from the usual religious Bible shit about the original guilt...of just being human." He took a deep breath. "Only heard from reports about what happened. And it's aweful. Wesker was a real madman, and to be used to hurt friends is somethng that is hard to forgive over."

He gazed forward, looking at Jill next to him, in the mirror above the bar, as he gave his knuckles a soft crack. "The first step towards recovery is forgiving yourself. Being kind to yourself, and others will follow. Everyone loves you, who matters. Your friends. And they admire you. I definitely admire you. What I've heard about you doing. And I'm sorry that meeting you had to happen here in this lousy dive. But, yeah, death wishes are something I know about well. Just don't. It's a hole you'll never be able to get out of."

He smiled, feeling much better these days, even if Leon lived from day to day, these years, and he was united with the original survivors from Raccoon City. Even if he was from a different agency, and him and Claire were in the same room, and didn't speak.

"Thanks for making me feel like I'm part of the family, Valentine. My found family. Can't thank you enough. Partner."

He took a final drink of his beer, and he held out his gloved hand softly outward, for her to bump fists, shaking hair out of his face.

#hauntedcarnality #(you bet your ass i was going to reply to this.)#( <333 the best around.)#v. undetermined

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gcnedark · 2 years

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Stronghold.

Character: (Saints Row 1) Aaron Trouble

Cw/tws: Murder, drugs (I mean, he's clearing out drug labs but no ones using anything in this, and nothing specific is mentioned.)

•

Out of everything the teen thought he'd be doing the day after he beat his father to death with a bat, not a single one would include "destroying the Carnales drug labs," but alas- he was currently speeding towards the first location that had been sent to him. The phone was propped up against the windshield as he drove, directing him to it.

He had an assortment of firearms in the passenger seat, most of them being tossed in as he grabbed them in the heat of battle. Almost like a vulture as he tore the gun away from corpses, but for some reason- it didn't bother him. Of course, Aaron didn't question that much. He was fine with not knowing why he was so fucked up that making bodies drop and then stealing their guns didn't bother him, and quite frankly- he wasn't sure if he wanted the answer.

The dirt road eventually split apart, one new route appearing in Troubles sights. Going straight to the right and down to the location he was being sent to, Aaron quickly turned the car and slammed down on the gas. The tires screeched as he drifted, and then proceeded to speed off towards the lab. The dirt underneath the wheels kicked up dirt and rocks as he drove, leaving their tracks in it as the vehicle moved.

For someone who'd barely started driving, Aaron liked to think he was doing pretty damn good for himself. The same could be said for shooting, hell, violence in general. It was almost like these were all things that were in his blood, but they'd only started to be taken advantage of now in the new life the teen found himself thrusted into. It was rather odd, but he could only brush it off as being a quick learner.

The warehouse the Carnales were holed up in quickly revealed itself as Aaron travelled, he leaned forward ever so slightly to get a better look. But almost as soon as he caught sight of some of the gangbangers guarding the outside, they saw him. Their guns were already in hand though, and it seemed like they recognized his face- he didn't think they'd be aiming and screaming at anyone else.

"KILL THAT HIJO DE PUTA!" One screamed out, letting off shots that barely whizzed by Aaron's head. He let out a small squeak in fear and ducked down, immediately hitting the brakes and taking his foot off the gas. He could hear the shots hitting his car door, and it scared the everloving Christ out of him. He quickly grabbed the 12 gauge shotgun from the passenger seat and used his free hand to open that sides door, crawling out of it and landing on the ground as the bullets continued to fly. While down, he pushed the car door shut.

It took him a few moments to get his composure, but once he did, he sat up and pressed himself against the side of the door. Through the gunfire he managed to hear their footsteps coming closer, and all the noise stopped for just a moment. Right up until a voice with a thick accent piped out, right on the other side of the vehicle.

"Where the hell did he go?"

Hearing that the man was right there, Aaron turned slightly turned to get a view on him and aimed the shotgun over the door he'd shut. The gangbanger barely managed to shout out the beginning of a sentence before the ravenete pulled the trigger, the shot sending the other down to the ground- dead on impact. As soon as the other guard saw their comrade fall, he began to fire as well.

Aaron ducked back down, he knew he couldnt take him out with a shotgun at this range. He set it down for a moment and grabbed onto the handgun that was tucked into the front of his jeans before clicking the safety off. He peeked over ever so slightly to get his sight on the gangbanger that shot at him, before raising the gun and aiming it in his general direction. Once he did, he began to unload the clip and repeatedly pull the trigger.

Several shots were fired from Aaron's gun, and only one hit. Aaron didn't register he had hit the Carnales member until he was staggering and hitting the wall, with that- he got up a little further by going on one knee. His aim becoming a little better once he did, he fired a few more times and the first two bullets hit. The rest just missed, but the few shots he did hit were enough to keep the attacker down for good.

Aaron grabbed onto the shotgun and stood up, he tucked it between his left arm and the side of his torso as he reloaded his handgun. The empty magazine fell to the ground, allowing Aaron to slide the full one in and cock it back. He clicked the safety on and tucked it back into his jeans before taking a hold of his shotgun, he felt confident with the 5 rounds he had left in the firearm to the point where he didn't feel the need to reload.

He gripped the shotguns handle tight with one hand and moved forward, his other hand falling to his side, the sawed off being aimed preemptively as he waited to see more of the Carnales. He knew they were in there, just waiting to get the jump on him. At least he knew some of what to expect, that gave him a bit of comfort. But still, his heart paced quickly and the adrenaline pumping through him was the only thing keeping Aaron going forward with this alone.

Luckily for him, the guards let themselves be known as he entered. The one directly to his left shouting out to him, "TE MATARÉ!" Hearing his voice alerted him to his exact position, and caused Aaron to turn to the side and fire. The bullet tore through the man's side and the force of it caused him to fall back and onto the ground, but- the same force went through the back of the gun and straight into the single wrist that helped hold the gun.

"SHIT!" Aaron cursed, dropping the gun instinctively as the pain shot right through his hand and into his wrist. He used his other hand to gently rub it in a vain and downright dumb attempt to numb the pain. It didn't work- but he also didn't have time to think about that, as one of the Carnales from further in took this moment to step into the doorway and aim at Aaron. He barely looked up in time to see her standing there, and immediately he dove for the porta-potty the corpse he had just made was behind.

He landed and let out a small grunt as he did so, barely pulling himself up before standing upright while pressed against the porta-potty. With his hand that didn't have a most likely broken wrist, he took out the handgun he had tucked away once more. Aaron hit the safety off and stepped out of cover to open fire. In a stroke of luck, the 3 rounds he shot went up the woman's body. One in the abdomen, then with the jerk of the gun from the last shot- it made the next one hit her in the chest, and then with the jerk from that one- the final one pierced through her head. She fell back to the floor with a thud, and Aaron could hear someone in the next room.

He left the shotgun on the ground for now and moved forward, going up the stairs and stepping over the corpse of the dead Carnales member. Quickly being met with the last one, protecting the lab. He opened fire on Aaron before he had the chance to even aim, the first round grazed his shoulder and tore his jacket while the next went straight into the wall behind him. And to the horror of the other, his gun jammed. Only hearing clicking as he attempted to continue firing on Aaron, who after crying out in pain from the first round was now taking aim.

To the others credit, he thought quickly. Tossing the jammed gun at Aaron which hit him in the nose, causing him to bend over and instinctively hold onto it as it now began to bleed. But that's exactly what the Carnales member needed, with Aaron distracted even for that second he seized the opportunity while it was presented to him. He charged forward and grabbed onto the collar of Aaron's shirt, pulling him back up just to swing his fist directly into the side of his face.

It cracked Aaron's jaw and if it hadn't been for him gripping onto his shirt, he most likely would've staggered. Aaron attempted to aim his gun at the other, but with his free hand he grabbed onto Aaron's forearm and began to push back against him. The two stood there for a moment, struggling as the Saint began to get the advantage, the gun slowly beginning to rise up more and more. But before he could even get an aim on the guys crotch, he crashed his forehead against Aaron's. With his grip on Aaron's forearm and shirt, he had no choice but to drop the gun and attempt to fight without it.

The ravenete cocked his other fist back and swung, his fist striking into the others eye. That caused Troubles attacker to stumble back and let him go. The two stood there for a second, staring down one another before the Carnales member spoke. "¡Te mataré, te traeré de vuelta y luego te mataré OTRA VEZ!" He threatened, pointing a finger at Aaron, "What the fuck are you even SAYING?!" The teen shouted back to him, which was promptly followed by the other stepping forward and swinging. Aaron barely moved his upper half to the side slightly to miss the hit, before retaliating with snapping his forearm against the fellow criminals features.

In the same motion as his arm went to his right after he swung it, he raised it up and swung down on him, the haymaker going directly down against the back of his head and knocking him to the ground. Aaron wasted no time before he started turning around and going for his gun that he had dropped, but the male knew exactly what he was trying to do. He grabbed onto Aaron's ankle and pulled back, making the Saint go to the floor with him. He began to crawl onto his back, but Aaron's long arm had already reached out and he'd grabbed onto his gun. When he felt the others breathing going straight onto the back of his neck, he blindly aimed his gun behind it and shot twice.

The first round went straight through his jaw and up into his head, and the second blew said jaw clean off. It landed next to Aaron's head, allowing him to get a bit of an idea of the damage he'd done to the man- but now that it was just dead weight on him that wasn't struggling, it was much easier to simple roll him off and clamber back up. He turned around and got sight of the drug lab, seeing two large barrels. From there, Aaron put two and two together and aimed once more- firing again. After 3 bullets, it blew apart. A fire began and Aaron could feel the heat and smell something.. really off in the air. It burned his nostrils and made him cringe, so as quickly as he had come in- he left.

Walking out of the warehouse and past the corpses of Los Carnales, he couldn't say he felt great. But that wasn't because of what he'd done, it was because of the pain he was currently in as a result of it. While walking, he leaned down to grab the shotgun he had dropped before quickly continuing. His walk turning into a jog as sirens rang out in the distance, cops were on their way and he couldn't stick around. He still had to hit the other drug lab.

He tossed the shotgun and even the handgun into the passenger seat, right before he pulled himself over the car door and sat upright. Aaron took a deep breath and gripped the wheel with both hands before flooring the gas and taking off, leaving the scene of murder and chaos behind and for the pigs to find. The adrenaline rush of these activities was something he'd never experienced, and he never wanted that rush to end. So he drove as quickly as he could to the next lab, hoping he could keep it going without a long pause in between the killings. He was just glad he wouldn't have to wait very long to start shooting again.

#the sinner thats a saint [ aaron trouble ]#! drabbles #saints row

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musette-thornsong · 1 month

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OJ: Bride of Thrax – Domestic Dispute, Pt. II/Til’ Death Do Us Part

Here we enter the final chapter of the couples vs. enemies. Ozzy intends to save Leah and kill Thrax for the hope of a future together. While Thrax has everything set in motion to his advantage, Aura begins to rethink her choices in life upon seeing the love the cells share for each other. What will this mean for our beloved demon couple? Could this be the end? Find out now…

Warning: Explicit Language/Violence

Aurie Zurie belongs to me

Ozzy ran after Leah and Thrax towards the cemetery with Aura being unceremoniously swung by her burnt hair. Meanwhile at the cemetery, an unsuspecting white blood cell coroner is at work digging up Thrax’s grave for an autopsy with forensics to further aid the mass murder case. But before he can open the coffin, Thrax hovers above him before shooting a fireball at the poor cell. The blast causes his cytoplasm to explode all over the grave, making Leah even more terrified.

Leah: (screams in horror) AAAAAAAAHHH!!!!

Thrax: (barks) Get down there! MOVE!!

Leah: (hesitantly climbs down in the grave, struggling to lift the heavy lid off the coffin, grunting)

Thrax: (impatiently) HURRY UP!!!

Leah: (screams from the pressure being thrown at her) I’M TRYING YOU FUCKING MIDGET ASSHOLE!!!

Thrax: (angrily fires a warning shot at Leah from his gun)

Leah: (screams from the shot before using all her strength to push the lid off) AAAHH!!

Thrax: (watches intently as the scene unfolded before him)

Leah finally manages to push open the coffin only be met with Thrax’s boney corpse which was ragged and infested with germ rats. The sight was enough to nearly make Leah vomit in disgust whereas Thrax was just as grossed out regardless that it was his own dead body.

Leah: (retracts from the body ready to puke)

Thrax: (shudders in disgust of his rat-infested skeleton) Uuugh! You really didn’t need to see that.

Leah: (looks back to see the Heart of Damballa around the skeleton’s neck)

Thrax: (sees the amulet too, demandingly) Give me the amulet!

Leah: (hesitantly reaches for the amulet before she suddenly snatches it off, breaking the skeleton’s neck)

Thrax: (annoyed) Aw, bitch! Ya broke my neck!

Leah freaks outs before throwing the amulet up at the gravestone as it land near Thrax’s feet. Thrax picks up the amulet with a gleeful look on his face, happy to see an old friend again with his plan ready to come to fruition. But suddenly, Ozzy shows up having finally caught up to them with Aura in his grasp. Thrax spots them before aiming his gun at his old enemy. Ozzy quickly draws Aura’s gun to Thrax in standoff.

Thrax: (stares Ozzy down at gunpoint)

Ozzy: (stares Thrax down back before holding Aura’s head at gunpoint)

Aura: (grunts in pain feeling the cold steel pressed against her head) Ungh!!

Thrax: (eyes widen in horror of his love being threatened, demandingly) Let her go!

Ozzy: (retorts) Let Leah go first!!

Thrax: (lowers his weapon before looking to Leah) Get movin’

Leah: (begins to walk away towards Ozzy)

Thrax: (calls out to her) And Leah?

Leah: (looks back upon hearing her name)

Thrax: (grins maliciously) See ya’ real soon

Leah: (turns back around and continues walking to Ozzy)

Ozzy: (lowers his weapon before putting Aura down carefully)

Aura: (looks up at her old friend almost reminiscently, whimpering in pain)

Ozzy: (looks down at her pitifully, calmly) Get out of here.

Aura: (weakly turns around and walks towards Thrax, sadly) Why can’t I ever get it on with the real good guys?

Aura feels forlorn about her life at how much she had suffered and fallen. She had no family, no home, no job, and her friends and fellow comrades turned their backs on her. Everyone treated her like dirt or a piece of meat they could just dig their claws into. She thought she had finally found some resemblance of happiness when she met Thrax; the only man who seemed to understand her better than anyone. She had sacrificed everything including her humanity to be with him and hoped to have the perfect domestic life. But looking back on it all and how her choices lead to this point, she began to wonder…was it all worth it? She kept limping forward until she crosses paths with Leah before they lock eyes together.

Aura: (sincerely but sadly) You’re a lucky girl, Leah. Remember that (limps past her towards Thrax)

Thrax: (keep the gun at elbow’s height for good measure)

Ozzy & Leah: (run into each other’s arms, embracing strongly and lovingly)

Aura: (reaches out to Thrax, begging) Catch me, Thrax (falls to the ground, coughing)

Thrax: (dodges her as she fell over, grimacing at the state of his burned bride, before looking to the cell couple) Uugh…

Ozzy & Leah: (kiss each other lovingly in relief that they both managed to survive so long)

Having had enough of mushy scene, Thrax narrows his eyes before flickering the flame in his claw and immediately throws a fire dagger towards Leah. Ozzy sees this and throws himself in the path taking the flaming projectile to back. Ozzy slumps to the ground in pain as Leah struggles to hold him up.

Aura: (looks up weakly to see the lovely couple)

Leah: (panics, faring for Ozzy’s life) Oh, God no!

Ozzy: (grunts, pleading) Pull it out!

Leah: (gasps in pain from the flams burning her hand, firmly grabs the dagger pulling it out swiftly and tossing it to the ground) UUUUUNGH!!

Thrax: (aims the gun at Leah, snaps his fingers recalling the flame to his claw) I’ll take that.

Ozzy & Leah: (hold each other close as they look up at Thrax with fear in their eyes)

Thrax: (picks up Aura’s gun and points both weapons at the cells with the amulet tied to his hand) It’s showtime!

Thrax ties the couple up back-to-back to prevent any further disruptions as Aura laid back against his tombstone. She begins to see how much they were willing to sacrifice to be together and then looks to the demon before her as he begins the chant to perform the ritual. The sky becomes enveloped with storm clouds and lightning swirling around them.

Thrax: (chants with a gun in one hand and the amulet in the other) Ade due Damballa. Give me the power I beg of you!Leveau mercier du bois chaloitte.

Aura: (crawls towards Thrax)

Thrax: (continues the chant) Secoise entienne mais pois de morte. Endenlieu pour du boisette Damballa! Endenlieu pour du boisette Damballa!

Aura: (cozies up next to Thrax, leaning against him)

Thrax: (looks down to his bride excitedly, cradling her face in his hand) This is it!

Aura: (looks up to Thrax, wholeheartedly) I love you, Thrax

Thrax: (casually) I know.

Aura: We belong together, forever.

Thrax: (smiles genuinely)

Aura: Kiss me

Thrax lowers his head and kisses Aura more passionately than ever. Leah struggles to get herself and Ozzy free while the demon couple was distracted. Aura slid her hand down Thrax’s torso towards his hips before gently clasping his hand in hers. Suddenly, her hand started to glow with embers and without a second thought, her scarlet eyes flashed golden yellow as she buried her claws into Thrax’s back; scorching his insides with his stolen fire. Thrax screams in agony as he was taken by surprise, having forgotten his love was also a practitioner of dark magic. He rolls to the ground down completely stunned by her sudden betrayal.

Aura: (limps over, looks down on her former flame with regret)

Thrax: (rolls on his side to look up at Aura, groaning) Why?

Aura: (finally seeing the truth before them, sadly) Oh, Thrax. Look at us. Don’t you see? We belong dead.

Thrax: (eyes widened from Aura’s sudden conscientious epiphany)

Aura: (woefully) Goodbye, love. I’ll see you in Hell.

Thrax: (breaths his last breath as his eyes close for the last time)

Leah manages to get both herself and Ozzy free of their binds. They gaze lovingly into each other’s eyes before coming into a strong embrace, glad that the nightmare was finally over. Aura looks out at the sweet couple with hopeful eyes that they will have a better life she did. She felt she could let go of everything and move forward. But that thought was put to an immediate halt when something hard hit Aura upside the head, knocking her to the ground. The sound was enough to catch Leah and Ozzy’s attention. Aura looks over her bloodied head to shockingly see Thrax alive and having hit her with a conjured Hell’s mace. Apparently, she had just barely missed his heart and was only knocked out for a few seconds. Thrax was about to go in for another strike, but Aura blocked his vision by throwing a clump of dirt in his face. Distracted, Aura quickly conjures up a Hell sword and engages Thrax in a duel. Thrax manages pins Aura against a vehicle, but she uses all her strength to push back. Both are at a matching standpoint until Aura bares her fangs and sinks them into Thrax’s hand. Thrax staggers back in pain from his feral bride as she charges him with the sword only to miss. Thrax takes the opportunity to strike her head with the mace, seemingly knocking her out cold as her sword disappears.

Thrax: (makes sure she’s down for the count then resends his mace to Hell, heaving)

Aura: (springs at him in a full-on bloodied rage and proceeds to strangle him to ground while keeping his clawed hand pinned under her boot)

Thrax: (struggles to get free while grasping at Aura’s wrist)

Aura: (chokes him harder, screaming bloody murder) ROOAAAAAAARRRRGHH!!!

Thrax: (manages to his claws free from under her as he springs up before grabbing her throat and immediately stabs Aura through her heart)

Aura: (catches this too late as she feels the Hell’s fire from his claw piercing through her, gasping for air while choking on her blood)

Ozzy & Leah: (stare in udder shock of the scene)

Thrax: (looks into Aura’s suffering eyes, breathing animalistically)

Aura: (looks up into Thrax’s venomous yellow eyes, sorrowfully) My mother always told me “Love would set me free”

Thrax: (grimaces at Aura’s pathetic state before pushing her off his claw) Get off me

Aura: (falls to the ground as she breathes her final breath)

Thrax: (stares down at Aura’s lifeless body, disappointed)

Ozzy: (grabs a shovel charging Thrax and immediately whacks the small demon into the grave)

Thrax: (lands on top of his rat-infested corpse, freaking out as he makes for the ladder) AAAAAAAAGH!!! HAAAGH!! AAGH!!!

Ozzy: (quickly removes the ladder from the grave, trapping Thrax)

Leah: (points Aura’s gun at Thrax)

No sooner did they trap Thrax in his grave, a patrol car pulls up to reveal the Chief of the FPD whose been following the mass murder case. He pulled out his gun the moment he saw Leah and Ozzy.

Chief: (points the gun at them) Let me see your hands!

Ozzy & Leah: (look up to see the Chief)

Chief: (orders to Leah) Drop the gun! Drop it!

Leah: (drops the gun)

Thrax: (screams and shouts frantically while shooting out fireballs) LET ME OOOUT!!! LET ME OUT!!! LET ME OUT!!! LET ME OUT!!! (tries to claw his way out to no avail)

Chief, Ozzy, & Leah: (ducks down from the raging fireballs)

Chief: (looks down shocked to see Thrax alive and in the form of a pint-sized demon) Whoa!

Thrax: (screams ferociously) GRRRRRRRRAAAGH!!

Leah: (grabs the Chief’s plasma gun and points it at Thrax) DON’T MOVE!!!

Thrax: (glares up at Leah & Ozzy menacingly, seeing the killer in the estrogen cell’s eyes)

Leah: (glares back)

Thrax: (challengingly) GO AHEAD AND SHOOT!!! I’LL BE BACK!!! I ALWAYS COME BACK!!!

Leah: (cocks the gun ready to fire)

Thrax: (resigns, sighs annoyed) Yeeeaah…. But dying is such a bitch.

Leah: (fires the gun several times through Thrax’s heart)

Thrax: (gasps as his blood spills out before finally falling dead next to his corpse)

The group looks down at the sight before them trying to unravel what just transpired. As the dawn approached, the Chief looked to the frightened couple.

Chief: No one’s ever gonna believe this, ya know?

Ozzy: (holds Leah close, worried) What’s gonna happen to us, Chief?

Chief: (hears his cellphone ring and picks it up) Chief here. *chatter* Yeah, I’m here now. I’m afraid we got another corpse to add to the list.

Ozzy & Leah: (look at the Chief, worried about the results)

Chief: (gives them a smile of relief) Jones & Estrogen…. Hell, they didn’t do it. *chatter* Just get forensics down here. You’re never gonna friggin’ believe this. (hangs up, looking to the couple) Alright, you two go on home. And stay put!

Ozzy & Leah: (leave quietly in each other’s arms)

Chief: (watches them leave hoping the best for them)

While the Chief waitd for the forensics tam to arriv, he has a look around and comes to find Aura’s burnt miniature corpse soaked in blood. He kneels down to hav a closer look completely unnerved at the grotesque sight

Chief: (disturbed) Jesus…

Remembering what he saw with Thrax, he carefully poked Aura’s body to make sure she was dead. After two more jabs at the husk, he goes in for a more closer looker only for Aura suddenly spring up alive scaring the wits out of the Chief.

Chief: (terrified) GODDAMN!! Son of a bitch! Holy mother of…

Aura: (screams in writhing agony) AAAAAAAAAAAGH!!! AAAAAAAAAAAGH!!! AAAAAAUUUUGH!!! AAAAAAUUUUAAAAAGH!!!

Chief: Jesus! Jesus! (suddenly notices something moving inside Aura under her wedding dress)

Aura: (continues to scream in pain as she struggled to push it out before shooting out a splash of blood and placenta)

Chief: (gets the full blast of the mess in his face and desperately wipes it off, freaking out) AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!

Aura: (makes one final push releasing a blood-soaked Hellspawn before finally dying)

Chief: (keeps screaming in horror upon seeing the terrifying creature crawl out from under Aura’s dress)

Hellspawn: (crawls out into the world, shrieking)

Chief: (stares horror-stricken at the atrocity)

Hellspawn: (sees the Chief before attacking, shrieking)

Chief: (screams his last breath) AAAAAAUUUUGH!!!

And so, ends tragic tale of our demon lovers and the cell couple who persevered through all Hell had to throw at them. For those of you who enjoyed the Osmosis Jones characters in this Bride of Chucky scenario, thank you for your love and support. Expect only a few more of these real soon.

#osmosis jones thrax #bride of chucky #osmosis jones #ozzy and drix #ozzy x leah

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andtheghost · 4 months

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01/11/24 - Disappointed Idealist

I quit a what most people would consider a good job back in 2022. Higher than average pay, guaranteed vacation, a 401k. There were a lot of things happening at the time, but the breaking point was when I had spent the entire twelve hours killing myself trying to keep up with a machine because no one was willing to shut it off to fix it. Downtime means no production. No production is bad. Can you keep up with the work a machine can produce? No, but I don’t give a fuck what your fragile little human body is capable of doing, do it anyway because my numbers are worth more to me than you.

And FINALLY the machine broke down on its own. And after a whole day of constant alarms going off and panicked running back and forth and watching as the product came out at a pace I knew I could never possibly keep up with, everything was quiet, and nothing was moving, and I looked around for the first time in almost twelve hours. Bins everywhere, overflowing with product that was going to need to be fed through by hand. Hours of time that literally nothing got done, because THE MACHINE CAN NOT BE TURNED OFF!!!!!!!! THERE AREN’T ENOUGH EXCLAMATION POINTS IN THE WORLD TO PROPERLY EMPHASIZE HOW IMPORTANT THIS POINT IS!!!!!!!!!

If you die on this floor, so be it. But your coworkers are going to have to work twice as hard now to make up for the production time we lost because of your death. We’ll give a speech about how sad your passing was even though I’ll have to look at my cue cards to remember you even had a name, and mention what a valuable asset you were to the company, but never mention how much of your life you missed in the process.

I ran into the clean room and had a panic attack.

And decided at that moment that I was done. I was never going to be a THING for some corporate fucking piece of shit because I am worth so much more than that. Everyone is, but somehow we all kind of forget that, don’t we?

But I can’t forget it anymore. I had another job briefly later that year, but I felt like the worst kind of traitor the whole time. Fucking liar. The anxiety was constant and, eventually, unbearable.

I haven’t had a job since August of 2022. I would rather slowly bleed the system than prop it up, but I don’t want to do that, either. It’s not really DOING something. Its like passively standing by glaring as the CEO parade comes by with their smiles and their floats and their confetti because they know my existence has no effect on them. A single cog worked its way out of the machine, and there are millions waiting in line to take its place. It’s not helping the system, but it’s not hurting it, either. I want to rip it to unrecognizable shreds with my fucking teeth and set it on fire.

And maybe there’s a third option, but I’m not sure what it is or how to access it, if it does exist.

But the reality is that until someone finds that third option, I would rather drain it than prop it up. There are a lot of people who won’t like that idea, myself included, but I’m just being honest.

That might make me selfish. It’s okay, I am selfish. Humans are inherently selfish animals. They’re also inherently loving animals, but it’s a lot easier to focus on that part than admit the other, and in turn we create a toxic existence where a whole part of our very nature is evil and wrong.

I realized I’m not a pessimist, and I don’t hate people. I’m an idealist. I can see how much better everything could be, for everyone, and I see most people actively working against it, and I can’t read minds. I don’t know if they actually believe they’re doing something good or if they’re just trying to make themselves feel better because they think there’s nothing they can do. I certainly don’t know if I’m doing something good. George Carlin said:

“Inside every cynical person is a disappointed idealist.”

I don’t know if that’s true of every cynical person, but I know it’s true for me.

#andtheghost #text #personal #spilled thoughts #blog #diaryposting #capitalism #work

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rollinggirlrunahika · 1 year

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Rolling Down From Here: [x]

@valorxdrive

♕ - “Well... My world was coming to an end.”

There truly was no better means to describe it. One day the passion of an oncoming adventure fueled them to get that raft set, emotions and growth were spiraling to unknowns and on top of it all, the answer to it all felt like it was the horizon itself. To think the very next day after that determined sunset would lead to the chaos of a primordial, dark and all-consuming power grew too large and somehow tuck between a mysterious door.

All that ran within Sora’s mind was an estranged mix of fear and desperation. Survival. Not just for himself, but for everyone he loved, somehow the grated sparks of courage were bred and it led to him advancing to the jaws of death. Recalling that very day allows that odd feeling in his gut to gradually bubble for. His lips thinned as the page of memories were effortlessly flicked through. “In the middle of all that, one of my best friends, Riku, he was in the middle of being consumed by that very power. ..To be honest? I was just tryin’ to reach him while it felt like the darkness was eating me alive..”

“Then it’d be exactly within that moment that I saw it.”

Light.

A wonderfully iridescent force that managed to be burn away the void, causing it to shriek, howl and inevitably push away in violent tremors. Somehow all emotion outside of willpower melted in the collision of these two powers. There was a weightlessness to it all, as if the body didn’t exist, only the components of a steadfast heart that gripped onto every feeling managed before making the plunge to that light, to form a hand plunge it ruthlessly into that very energy. ..Somehow, something in him knew that the strength didn’t except a weak-willed heart.

“In the middle of it all, I found it.. Kinda feels just as much of a dream as the other stuff before, buuuut sis, that’s the day when my journey really kicked off. A scared brat transforming into the dependable hero that’cha see today.” He admits with a boastful press of his knuckles onto his own chest.

"Still don’t know what it all means either.” Then again was that truly surprising? “That day it started... I feel like there’s something really important about it that I’m missing, kinda hard to figure why with the big showdown seemingly over..”

Ah.. So.. It was kinda like what happened with her. A part of her couldn’t help but ache at the thought of the Islands disappearing the way it did. Even if she hasn’t been back there in years, even if she wasn’t there to begin with to see it’s demise at the hands of Darkness, her birthplace being taken away just like that was still a depressing thought.

“I see...” Was all she could think of to say. “I-- I’m sorry.. that you had to witness all that... Must’ve been hard...” Runa really tried to express her condolences to her twin over the event, even if it had already been said and done years ago. They were lucky really: That the worlds that had fallen then were able to come back, Destiny Islands included.

“It’s kinda ironic, y’know..?”

“My.. My world was ending too. So many things were happening, one thing after another...” Her eyes glanced off to the side as she recalled the events of beginning of her own journey. Now that she thought about it... how her own Keyblade appeared for her was also oddly similar. Not exact, obviously, but still.

“My Keyblade appeared when... I could’ve died.” She stated, almost too flatly than she intended. Guess that’s what happens when death itself was an almost constant presence in her life, either directly or indirectly. “I didn’t know why then, why my body moved so quickly on its own. But, there was this kid...”

A complete stranger of course, especially in a place as populated as Shibuya. “Heartless were starting to surround him, and they tried to take him. But-- I got in the way.”

It was so clear to her. She remembered the voice ringing in her head when the magical blade appeared in her hand for the first time. And how she was able to get that kid back to his parents. Although.. Shibuya still fell, she hoped that in the end the family was still together.

Shaking her head, pushing the thoughts away, the younger twin brought a hand up to rest behind her neck. She huffed out a giggle.

“A scared brat?” She repeated, raising a brow. “When we were kids, I never thought that about you, though looking back I probably should’ve.” Runa couldn’t help but let a small smirk dance onto her face. “You’re more of hero than me anyway..”

“... Does it get any easier..?”

#valorxdrive #|| Making Up Time In Whatever Way We Can || Valorxdrive {SORA}#|| Is It Alright If I Keep Calling Out Your Name? || MAIN VERSE #(( HI HELLO AFTER 500000 YEARS I HAVE FINALLY REPLIED TO THIS ))#(( COMPLETELY FINE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO CONTINUE THIS BUT I'VE JUST HAD THIS SITTING MY DRAFTS COLLECTING DUST BUNNIES ))

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