iluvroadrunner6: ([charmed] eric)
Emily ([personal profile] iluvroadrunner6) wrote in [community profile] fandomweekly2019-12-15 12:06 pm

[#035] Raise Your Arms and Someone's Always There (InCryptid)

Theme Prompt: #034 – Mirror, Mirror
Title: Raise Your Arms and Someone’s Always There
Fandom: InCryptid
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: Yes.
Word Count: 300
Summary: Verity contemplates the pros and cons of her new secret identity.



It’s a disorienting thing to look in the mirror and not see yourself in it.

I know all the logical reasons why I need to perform this way. Protecting your family is never a simple thing, and for better or for worse, the more I can protect my identity, the better things are for them. But every time I put on that red wig and have to adjust to hearing myself called “Valerie” and not “Verity,” I know that there’s another part of myself I’m giving away. And I know that if I win this thing, I’ll be giving all of me away for good.

Can’t win Dance or Die if I don’t participate. Can’t participate in Dance or Die if I don’t become someone else to protect my family. Feel less and less like myself every day, losing track of the person I want to be.

(The real issue is, this is what happens when your family has pissed off a covert paramilitary organization determined to stomp out everything you love. You give yourself a stage name and a bad dye job or a less than ideal wig to keep from being stamped out yourself.)

Still, I’m determined to make this work. Even though every time I check a line on the mirror or watch myself go through the motions of a routine, it always takes me a second to find myself. One day maybe, I’ll be used to the red hair and the different name, but until then, I need to focus and make sure my A-Game is on at all times.

After all, what’s the point of going through all of this if I don’t win? And whether it’s as Verity Price or Valerie Pryor, the fact of the matter is this: I always come to win.

autobotscoutriella: Ahsoka Tano holding a lightsaber with the text Fierce (ahsoka tano)

[personal profile] autobotscoutriella 2019-12-15 05:33 pm (UTC)(link)
AAAA I literally just finished reading the first two InCryptid books, so this is exciting to see!

This is so good. It's pitch-perfect Verity, and it feels like it could be canon!
badly_knitted: (Jack - Big Smile)

[personal profile] badly_knitted 2019-12-17 11:47 am (UTC)(link)
I have no clue about the fandom, but I liked this a lot. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to live your life as someone else, the reflection in the mirror a stranger.
m_findlow: (Default)

[personal profile] m_findlow 2019-12-18 08:59 am (UTC)(link)
The irony of the competition title is not lost on me. Without the disguise it might be Dance and Die.