Oh my god, i spent 6 chapters telling myself "comment on the main screen Flea art, he's gorgeous, he should be praised" and then just forgetting to do it, so I'm doing it right fucking now. We've had 6 Fleas who've posed in all manners of provocative and sensual, just to come out with this Flea, bare faced, wearing the hoodie WE bought him, and simply holding out his hand to us?? Excuse me, my heart? I love him.
Establishing all the actions i've taken so far, im shocked at how lucky i got??? Never got maimed, saved Sandy's life, Jack isn't dead, i've been rather fortunate in my choices somehow.
edit: FLEA REACHING HIS HAND OUT FOR US WAHHHHHHH
oh the horror and suspense was DELICIOUS, muah, i ate up every bite. nightmare sequence looping, the text repeating and repeating to sink in the horror of Mc's situation. trapped and unable to leave their worst memories. oh but the mystery of the deaths that day finally getting the curtains peeled back. a stranger had knocked on the door, dad answered, and then...?
Mc had seen the demon's face but doesn't remember what they look like. trauma or something else? There were other details too, like, they collapsed? and dad caught them? told mom to call 911...
(and Mc and i do not share the same opinions, she was scared but. Flea reverting to his true form, tearing Mc apart and eating her heart??? Hot. Would. Sorry.
However, she did decide to face herself and had Flea fuck her in his true form so maybe we're not so dissimilar )
anyway. flea said that demons avoided trouble. and then he said that maybe more demons skirt the lines than he, or the powers that be realize, because they don't give a shit. i feel the truth is somewhere in the middle. what if the whole scenario had been just. an accident? demons feed off of all sorts of things from humans. they've got powers but they have to stay in line. they can't just cause chaos willy nilly. what if it was all just a mistake?
that would be such a huge blow wouldn't it? the idea that the demon who has been the center of their nightmares was just someone who didn't actually mean any harm. or, more harm than was needed for them to feed. maybe it's a baseless theory but it's in the back of my head now.
god, ted knows about demons. and uh, pouring out another one for unrequited love!Mcs because i feel like shit went down that i bypassed lmao
he knows the truth about demons. he knows about the fear of abandonment that Mc has carried most of their life, that the one person that they still had might simply walk out on them because he's had enough. -clenches fist- shit is complicated, shit can never just be easy. Mc needs a break!!
can i just say, also?? It's remarkable just how much patience that Ted has had for Flea up till this point. he's not like your typical, jaded grizzled detective who's emotionally constipated and puffs up his chest to posture, like he just bypasses all of Flea's caustic, hostile behavior and somehow that elevates him even more in my eyes as a person?? you know that he's a good guy, because of how he took care of Mc all these years, looking after their well being, but him having the patience and the composure to let Flea's, frankly, bratty shit behavior roll off his back speaks to me that he's patient with people with baggage. like a traumatized little kid who just had their whole family killed.
he's just had his worldview shattered but he pushed that aside to get shit done,that's my fuckin DAD
not only was there another shift in the relationship between flea and mc, but mc and ted have also now have had a wrench thrown into their connection. all the things mc has not told ted, brought to light in all its ugliness. now, they both have to contend with that.
i've been majorly focused on ted and the nightmare, how about some flea spotlight because wow!! Flea POV jumpscare, i was delighted to get his perspective for the very first time. poor flea was just trying to be considerate of Mc, worrying about their lack of sleep, forcing them to go to bed so they could rest. (also, watching house wives reality tv?? flea pls.) i love the bit of hinting that something is wrong, from Tabby's behavior pawing at the door. and then he took her away and said that they had to be nice to Mc </3 that's really cute.
and then there's the fact flea asked ted to check on the homeless community, that's so bittersweet? he couldn't bring himself to ask Mc to do it, so he went to ted even tho he doesn't like the guy. i think he should go visit them, but that's his choice to make in the end i guess...
he cooked them oatmeal and tried to change the sheets. he's a changed incubus from the guy we met in chapter 1. it's clear now that Mc has become a very big and important fixture in his life and he's so scared to lose them. his confused, vulnerable reaction to the fact that Mc's sketches have all been him was such a bee sting on my heart, but in a nice way. in this chapter we finally get to establish that flea is just as important to Mc as they seemingly are to him. now....i guess now, we see what comes next