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octo-cutie · 3 years

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All I Ask Of You

Pairing: Tendou Satori x f!reader x Oikawa Tooru Warnings: Implied NSFW at the end Rating: PG-13 Summary: Tendou was in love with his best friend who was the lead in Phantom of The Opera. However, he was the stage manager watching as she falls in love with her castmate both on the stage and in real life.

The orchestra was preparing to play the second to last song in the first act of The Phantom of The Opera. Tendou could feel his heart clench as he turned his headset off. Thankfully most of the cast was in the green room preparing for the next act with the exception of Atsumu who was heading up to his place in the form where he would sing the reprise and crash the exquisite chandelier on the stage ending the first act.

The leads entered the stage. Oikawa gently held the hand of Christine who was played by Tendou’s best friend Y/N. Tendou wrapped his gangly arms around his clipboard as the leads began to talk to each other. Having just narrowly escaped a tantrum from the Phantom, Raoul and Christine had escaped to the roof of the opera house. Gently the fake snow started to fall around them and the spotlight illuminated their faces. From the first wing, Tendou watched as Oikawa gently lifted the hood of Y/N’s cloak off of her head letting her silky H/C curls fall against her shoulders framing her face oh so elegantly.

“What you heard, was a dream and nothing more,” Oikawa said holding Y/N’s nimble hands in his own. In the wings, Tendou whispered every one of Oikawa’s lines to himself pretending it was himself holding the hands of Y/N.

Y/N was the reason that Tendou had joined the theater. In their childhood, Y/N’s mother had taken the two of them to see! Tendou hadn’t really wanted to go but when Y/N’s beautiful E/C widened in happiness at her mother’s announcement there was zero chance of him telling her no. It was on this day that Tendou first realized that his friend was more special than before.

His appearance drove people away. Almost everything physical about Tendou was off-putting to people. His hair was unnaturally red. His eyes seemed to follow whoever dared look in them for too long. People called his body almost monstrous but not because of its size. Sure Tendou had height, but the term referred to how gangly his arms and legs were. The kids at school steered away from him out of fear that he would try to use his guessing ability to get ahead in life.

Only Y/N had shown him any sign of respect up until he met Ushijima but that was a different story.

The string section of the orchestra had shifted to open up the music for “All I Ask Of You.” The song where Raoul and Christine would profess their undying love for each other. Every night for the last six weeks, Tendou had watched the love of his life speak meaning behind the words he wished he could tell her. Tendou’s breath hitched as Oikawa gingerly touched Y/N’s cheek. Even with the heat of her cloak and the spotlights, Tendou could see the tinged cheeks of his crush knowing it was not entirely from the environment around her. It was partly due to the man in front of her.

“Yet in his eyes all the sadness of the world. Those pleading eyes that both threaten and adore.”

Y/N’s ethereal voice rang out through the theater causing several tears to shed. Including a couple from Tendou.

“Christine, Christine...” Oikawa pulled the girl close to his chest as Atsumu sings his echoing line prompting Oikawa and Y/N to look around in fear of the Phantom.

And finally.

Finally.

The worst part of the night begins.

Oikawa takes Y/N’s hands and begins to sing softly. Tendou in the wings catches Y/N’s eye as he mouths every word of the song that Y/N had begged him to practice.

“Who knows Satori? You could replace Oikawa!” She had said giving his arm a slight push as they ate their post-rehearsal dinner at his house. Tendou had laughed and played along in the lie but seeing it on the stage reminded him of how wrong he was to not tell her the truth at that moment.

“No more talk of darkness. Forget these wide-eyed fears. I’m here. Nothing can harm you. My words will warm and calm you.”

Tendou’s heart frantically increased its pace as he reminded himself of how Y/N trusted him with everything. Back in their third year of high school when Y/N’s ex had broken up with her, Tendou had created an entire pillow kingdom for her to spend the weekend in while he cheered him up. Their own perfect world where no one could get to them. But Y/N had been on her phone while he feigned sleep, silently giggling at something that illuminated the angelic features of her face. Tendou had never been one to have more than a few text messages (which were only ever from you, his parents, or the volleyball team group chat) and found himself not as attached to his phone as she was. But he couldn’t resist the smidge of jealousy that wormed its way into his heart everything you opened a snap from whoever had been making you laugh.

“Let me be your freedom. Let daylight dry your tears. I’m here with you beside you. To guard you and to guide you.”

He remembered when he’d found out she was transferring from Seijoh to Shiratorizawa back when they were still in high school`. Y/N hadn’t passed the entrance exams the first time around (not that she was in anyway dumb.) but had worked her butt off to retake them at the start of their second year. She had passed with flying colors and Tendou had immediately volunteered to show her around the school even though he knew that she knew every inch of Shiratorizawa grounds due to all the impromptu volleyball lessons she had attended at Tendou’s request.

All traces of oxygen escaped Tendou when Y/N opened her mouth to sing back to Oikawa whom Tendou knew had the biggest eyes for at the moment.

“Say you love me every waking moment. Turn my head with talk of summertime....”

Winter, summer, spring, or fall. Tendou had fond memories of each season he spent with Y/N. In the winter the two of them would travel to Tokyo for New Years’ and pray at the shrine for a good new year. In the summertime, Tendou would bring watermelon over to her house and they would read old Shonen Jump editions with the lights and fans on while participating in self-care rituals. He has so many photos of the two of them singing entire musical tracks in facemasks and pajamas while he has his hair in 12 braids and hers held up with 3 headbands and every barrette he could find in her room. In the spring you would visit the cherry blossom festival and he would flood her Instagram with every photo they took. In the fall they would spend their time tramping around Miyagi enjoying the leaves and an American drink from Starbucks (he’d never admitted it but he was now addicted to Pumpkin Spice)

“Say you need me with you now and always. Promise me that all you say is true. That’s all I ask of you.”

What a simple ask in the song but it was what needed to be asked. Both by the character Christine and himself. However, he knew that she felt nothing towards him that passed the barriers of friendship. It pierced his heart when he found out that Oikawa and Y/N had announced they had been seeing each other several years ago.

That year Tendou had spent Valentine’s Day alone for the first time in 11 years.

Soon after this announcement, Tendou began to see Y/N less and less as she now had two very important boys to balance in her life.

Behind the stage, there was the green room which housed the rest of the cast. Somewhere getting a head start on their costume change for the start of the second act, some were grabbing a quick bite with an overshirt protecting their costumes. However, there was a fairly large group that had their eyes glued to the TV that broadcast the show inside the green room to help them figure out when to make their next appearance.

“Dude he’s not gonna do it,” Kageyama whispered to Hinata who was in the middle of buttoning up his shirt for the second act.

“Have some faith is something! They’ve been together for years!” Hinata snapped that earned him a loud “SHUSH” from the rest of the cast. Sugawara who was finishing up on Kiyoko’s make-up for Carlotta sent a sharp glare to the orange-haired boy.

“You two need to simmer down. The audience can hear you. And yes, he probably will he’s just waiting for the right moment in the song.” Suga explained as he steadied Kiyoko’s face to draw the eyeliner on her eyes.

“Yeah shut up punks! We wanna watch it happen!” Yamamoto called from his

A fair amount of the cast stood around the flat screen that showed Oikawa and Y/N singing to each other waiting for the surprise that neither Y/N nor Tendou was ready for.

“Let me be your shelter. Let me be your light. You’re safe, no one will find you. Your fears are far behind you.”

Y/N had many fears that she had shared with Tendou over the years of their life together. Trivial ones like spiders, snakes, and things that go bump in the night but Tendou knew that her deepest fear was never finding true love which had only blossomed after her ex had broken up with her.

“All I want is freedom. A world with no more night. And you always beside me. To hold me and to hide me.”

What happened next sent Tendou’s heart hurtling towards a brick wall covered in spikes dripping in acid. His eyes bugged out of his head as he watched Oikawa get on one knee holding out a small velvet box. Wait where did he get that from? Tendou checked his clipboard hurriedly. There wasn’t a ring box on the props list...

No...

“Then say you’ll share with me one love, one lifetime. Let me lead you from your solitude. Say you need me with you, here beside you. Anywhere you go let me go to. Christine. That’s all I ask of you.”

Y/N’s face burst out in the largest smile Tendou had ever seen as his heart crumbled away, physical pain coursing through his veins. He couldn’t breathe. Everything was cold and his arms were numb. This had to be a dream! Y/N wouldn’t do this! She wouldn’t because she loved him right?

Right?

“Say you’ll share with me one love, one lifetime. Say the word and I will follow you.” Her exquisitely happy voice broke through the barrier of silence that had surrounded the theater save for the orchestra. No, she couldn’t do this.

“Share each day with me each night, each morning.” They both sang as Oikawa stood up and placed the ring on Y/N’s perfectly crafted finger. A place that should remain bare. A place for his ring for her.

“Say you love me...” Y/N whispered bringing her hand to Oikawa’s face with the happiest of smiles.

“You know I do...” Oikawa sang softly taking Y/N’s hand pressing it to his cheek. Subconsciously, Tendou reached for Y/N’s hand needing it to calm the ache in his heart that was beginning to constrict. Tendou collapsed on the ground cupping his hand against his mouth to stifle the dry sobs that had started. He needed to get out of there before someone in the audience heard him.

“Love me! That’s all I ask of you!”

Tendou hadn’t cared before when they kissed since it was written in the script. But tonight this kiss sealed the end for Tendou.

He had lost Y/N before he had even had a chance with her.

Whoops, and hollers from the audience were nothing compared to the cheers in the green room. Oikawa had been planning this proposal for months, had bought the ring the day Y/N had said yes to dating him. Everyone had placed bets on when and how he would propose but this proposal really knocked it out of the park.

The kiss went on longer than normal since this was a special night. When the music started up again, Tendou could see the tears falling from Y/N’s beautiful e/c eyes. The tears matched his own as his lip quivered slightly.

“Anywhere you go, let me go too. Love me, that’s all I ask of you...”

The crowd began their applause as Y/N began her reverie as Christine.

“I must go they’ll wonder where I am! Raoul wait for me!” Y/N exclaimed. Oikawa lets her hands go with a kiss on her dainty wrist.

“Christine I love you!”

“Order your fine horses! Be with them at the door!”

“And soon you’ll be beside me!”

“You’ll guard me and you’ll guide me.”

And with that Y/N and Oikawa rushed off stage to the thundering applause. Tendou backed away quickly to avoid the two as they rejoiced in the privacy of the wings. He clutched his chest pulling his black shirt away in an attempt to loosen the uncomfortable friction in his chest.

“If it wasn’t clear then Y/N I hope it is now. Will you marry me?” Oikawa asked looking into her eyes. A slight squeal from Y/N gave him his answer and they two kissed once more before running into the green room where they were greeted with a loud round of “Congratulations!”

Meanwhile, on stage, Atsumu was singing the Phantom’s soliloquy but even with the mask propped on his face he couldn’t hide the smile that was emerging in happiness for his fellow cast members,.

Tendou turned his headset back on and listened to the jibber jabber of the stagehands who were prepping for the next scene where the chandelier would crash onto the stage. Tendou wiped his face off to make it look as though he had a possible allergy attack and had not been mourning the loss of the love of his life.

Gripping the mic he spoke quickly.

“Hey, I just got an emergency text from my landlord. My apartment’s flooded and I need to go.” he lied. He didn’t bother to thank whoever agreed to relieve him and ripped his headset off throwing it to the side and narrowly avoiding the influx of cast members on his way out of the theater.

Tendou didn’t bother to check his phone when he got home. He made a beeline for his bedroom throwing his backpack aggressively against the wall most likely shattering his computer screen and his phone. Throwing himself on the bed in a true theater fashion he drowned the pillows on his bed in salty tears. They were bitter. Filled with jealousy. All his life he’d only ever had one person who was there for him and it was Y/N. But now she was gone.

“Say you’ll share with me one love, one lifetime. Say the word and I will follow you. Y/N... That’s all I ask of you...”

Tendou silently sobbed himself to sleep that night with the once dreamlike images of Y/N now torturing him as dubious nightmares.

______________________________________________________________

You were in the green room with your fiancé’s arm tucking you into his side. Your giddy expression hadn’t left your face since the moment Oikawa had proposed to you.

It was such a perfect proposal and the audience ate it up! You were fairly certain that there had been several reporters and critics in the audience. You loved Oikawa and this along with his proposal was the beginning of a brand new world for the two of you.

Looking around the green room, everyone was prepping to leave for the night. Y/N couldn’t find Tendou and felt like something was off since he wasn’t there to greet her with a warm chamomile tea and a bao bun like usual.

“Tooru, love I’m going to go get my phone but let’s head home once I grab it.” You whispered in his ear. Oikawa giggled in her ear and let her go. As you packed up your belongings, you texted Tendou asking him where he was.

You got no response.

You shrugged it off thinking that maybe he’d headed home and his phone may have died. You and your fiancé headed out of the theater with a cheerful goodbye heading to your apartment happy as could be.

When you got home, you had barely unlocked the door when Oikawa’s lips met yours in a fiery passion. Together your lips danced together as small noises escaped your mouth hungrily eaten up by Oikawa as he pushed you into a wall closing the door with a kick of his foot.

Oikawa picked you up and carried you into your shared bedroom as you continued to make out ferociously. Biting his bottom lip your tongue entered his mouth exploring the crevices inside. Oikawa’s nimble fingers made quick work of disposing of your shirt and bra.

“God Y/N... I was thinking about this all night. The moment you said yes I wanted to whisk you away back here.” Oikawa growled as he bit your ear and began to kiss the underside of your jaw as you mewled.

Your passionate night was uninterrupted by the silence of your phone. You didn’t even bother to look at it until the next day.

In your messages, your text to Tendou remained on delivered. Achingly you fumbled against the nightstand looking for your cellphone.

Right as you grabbed it a text from Tendou appeared.

Y/N.

I wanted to tell you from the moment that I met you that I liked you. We had all the same interests and together we were unstoppable as stage manager and lead! I guess it’s times like these where I am reminded of the day we met.

I would never treat you any different than the way you treat me.

I love you. I have for years and I will never stop loving you. But I know you love Oinky right? sorry that’s what Waka-kun calls him lol! Anyway, I’ll see you around.

You were speechless. For years you had had some inkling that maybe Tendou saw you more than a friend but despite having been friends for so long, you had never felt as though they were genuine. Fleeting moments of hello and goodbye.

Unbeknownst to Tendou, is that you still love him even if it would never be reciprocated. All Tendou wanted to ask you was to keep him together.

The End.

Please Note:

I am the original owner of this work which was previously posted on my now side blog @squiddlie. Please do not assume that this is plagiarized work.

#haikyuu!!#one shots #theatre au #tendou satori x f!reader #tendou x reader #oikawa tooru x f!reader #angst #fluff #phantom of the opera #music #songfics

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all-things-skam · 4 years

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Jens’ season | Chapter six

Saturday, February 8th

‘’Where’s your other half?’’ Jens teased, seeing no Sander trailing behind his best friend.

Robbe shook his head and hid his smile. ‘’He’s having lunch with his mom.’’

‘’Oh, so that’s why you came here? Because loverboy had to leave your side?’’

‘’That’s not-’’

‘’I’m kidding,’’ Jens said, grinning. He grabbed a controller from the desk and nodded at the television. ‘’Wanna game?’’

Robbe nodded and grabbed the second controller while Jens set up the console.

Jens knew there was a reason behind Robbe’s impromptu Saturday visit, but Robbe didn't seem to know how to bring up the subject.

After sitting in silence, for what felt like forever, with nothing but the beeps from the game, Robbe finally spoke. ‘’Sorry about last night, again,’’ he apologized, blush covering his cheeks and ears. ‘’I...didn’t mean to-’’

Jens shook his head. ‘’It’s okay, Robbe.’’

‘’Wanna talk about it?’’

‘’What is there to talk about?’’

‘’Why didn’t you tell me? About Lucas.’’

‘’Why do I have to tell? It’s not anyone’s business.’’

‘’Coming out of the closet is a part of the journey, Jens.’’

‘’I’m not in a closet. I-I’m not ashamed of who I am.’’

Robbe recoiled just a bit at the comment and Jens instantly regretted it. Shit. He didn’t mean to dig at Robbe. It was the last thing he wanted, knowing how difficult Robbe’s self acceptance had been.

He just meant that his situation wasn’t the same as Robbe’s - they couldn't compare. Everyone's experience is different, not everyone reacts to their sexual awakening the same. For some, realizing that their sexuality might differ from the society's common basket was hard to accept.

Jens paused, trying to find his next words carefully.

How to explain his situation to his best friend without diminishing his own experience?

‘’To me, it doesn’t matter who I’m attracted to. If it’s a girl that catches my eyes, then it’s a girl and, until recently, if it’s a boy, it’s a boy. Simple as that.’’

Robbe frowned. ‘’So...you still like girls?’’

‘’Yes.’’

‘’You’re bisexual, then?’’

Jens thought for a minute. Labels were tacky and invasive - he didn't like them. One's sexual preferences was nobody's business but theirs. But, if he really had to chose one, bisexual would be the most accurate.

‘’Yeah. I guess that’s what I am.’’

“How long have you known? That you also liked guys, I mean.”

“Ever since you told me that you liked Sander and not me.”

The controller hit the floor and Robbes mouth dropped open. Jens burst out laughing.

“Dude, I’m joking. It’s really been since I saw Lucas on the first day of school after break. I wouldn’t say it was love at first sight, but he was certainly easy on the eyes.”

The memory of Lucas walking in the courtyard came rushing back, hands in his pockets, curly fringe shadowing over his forehead, golden from the sun shining on them. His sharp jawbone and bright eyes had caught Jens' attention immediately.

“So, have you guys been together long?”

Jens glared at Robbe with a slight annoyance. “What is this? 20 questions?”

“You did the same to me once you found out about Sander, so this is just payback,” the brunet defended. ‘’And, can’t I be interested in my best friend's love life? I don’t want you to leave me in the unknown like I did.’’

Jens let out a sigh, admitting his past doing. Maybe he could answer some of Robbe’s question - just to satisfy his curiosity.

“It’s only been since Amber’s birthday party.”

“Jens, that was like almost a month ago.”

The raven haired boy shrugged. He didn't mean to let Robbe in the dark about Lucas. At least, not forever. But, sometimes, it's nice to keep your little happinesses to yourself.

‘’So,’’ Robbe started, a mischievous smile curling on his lips. ‘’Is Lucas your boyfriend?’’

Jens shrugged, honestly. He hadn’t thought about that yet. ‘’I don’t know… We haven’t talked about it yet.’’

“Well you might want to have that conversation soon since Valentine's Day is Friday, and you will need to know if you and your boyfriend are doing anything special,” Robbe teased.

With everything else going on, Jens had completely forgotten about Valentine's Day. It hadn’t been a problem in the past. Jana always made sure to remind him that it was coming, but now that he was single, Valentine’s Day wasn’t something Jens had to think about.

Groaning, Jens fell back on his bed. “Shit, what am I going to do now?”

Robbe shrugged. ‘’I don’t know, but, next time, lock the door.’’

Jens laughed. ‘’Will do.’’

Sunday, February 9th

The rain pouring outside had caused the cancellation of all the parties, obligating the teenagers to stay home and find other activities to occupy their Saturday night. Robbe and Aaron quickly made plans with their respective lovers, leaving Moyo and Jens to play Fortnite from each other’s room.

Despite being Saturday night, Jens had planned to go to bed soon. His beauty sleep had taken a toll lately because of his parents’ late night fights and he could feel himself falling asleep during the game.

He was about to tell Moyo he was off to bed when he heard commotion from downstairs, followed by slurred grumblings.

Oh no...

Jens sighed and checked the time on his phone: 1am. His dad must’ve come back from wherever he was and, guessing by the noises downstairs, it must’ve been the bar - or anywhere he could get alcohol.

Lucky for him, Lotte and Fenna weren’t home to see this. Jens’ mom had been clear about no more coming home drunk. Jens could cover for his dad, put him to bed and act like nothing happened in the morning, but he didn’t want to. Not tonight.

Jens: I know it’s late...but can I crash at your place? My dad came home drunk and I don’t want to deal with it tonight

Minutes passed and there was no response from Lucas. Jens was getting worried he’d have to stay here and that Lucas was asleep, but it was the weekend. No one goes to bed early on Saturday night, right? Well, Sunday, now.

Lucas: Always ❤

After getting Lucas’ response, Jens put on his shoes and rain jacket and slipped out of the house, walking to where he remembered Lucas’ house was.

He felt shitty for letting his mom deal with the casualties in the morning when she’d get back from her night shift, but Jens needed a break. And a good night of sleep without any interruptions. If he stayed home, he’d have to take care of his drunk father and he wouldn’t be able to catch up on sleep.

The lights were all off on Lucas’s street, everyone most likely asleep at this hour. Jens knocked on the door and waited for the Dutch boy to answer and open.

A sleepy Lucas opened the door, hair matted from sleeping on one side. He was wearing a white sleeping shirt, thin and worn out, bringing out the blue of his eyes.

''Sorry for coming here this late,'' Jens apologized, seeing Lucas's sleepy face. He glanced down, chewing on his bottom lip. ''I didn’t mean to wake you-’’

‘’It’s okay.’’ Lucas shrugged. '’I fell asleep on the couch watching TV, it’s nothing.’’ The brunet stepped back, making room for Jens to get inside. ‘’Come in.’’

The house was smaller than Jens’ and had a lot less furniture. Most of which had probably been left in Utrecht, at Lucas’ mom’s house. They passed by the living room and Lucas turned off the television, the cartoons still playing turning black. He led Jens to his room and closed the door.

A small lamp on Lucas’ nightstand lit the place dimly, enough for Jens to make out the unpacked boxes still on the floor, left there for when Lucas will feel like putting them away - which wasn’t anytime soon. There was a couple pictures taped on the wall by Lucas’ bed, some Jens recognized from the brunet’s Instagram. Lucas’ backpack was laying on the floor, textbooks spilling out right next to his desk.

‘’Do you need anything to sleep in?’’ Lucas asked, pulling Jens from his visual exploring.

He shook his head, twisting on his heels to face Lucas, and chuckled. ‘’I don’t think anything will fit me anyway.’’

‘’Right,’’ he agreed, feeling like an idiot for asking.

Jens wasn’t bigger, but he was more built more squared than the Dutch boy - who was on the leaner side. Lucas’ tee shirts could fit him, but it would be tight around the shoulders and that wasn’t comfortable.

Standing in the middle of his own bedroom, Lucas didn’t know what to say after the personal bomb Jens had dropped on him over texts. It was the first time Jens had opened up to him, and he wanted to be supportive but he didn’t want to push him to talk either.

‘’Do you want to talk about it? Your dad.’’

Jens shook his head. ‘’Not tonight. I just want to sleep. Can we do that?’’

‘’Yeah.’’ Lucas nodded and went to the bed and sat.

He tidied the pillows and blankets, making room for the pretty boy who will spend the night with him, catching himself watching- staring as Jens peeled off his hoodie and jeans, leaving him in a tee shirt and underwear. There wasn’t anything creepy nor sexual, he just really liked looking at Jens’ body.

Jens sat on the bed beside Lucas, their legs brushing at how close they were, feeling the warmth of Lucas’ skin through his grey joggers. “Thanks for letting me come over,’’ he apologized. ‘’Again, I’m sorry if I woke you up-”

“Jens,’’ Lucas interrupted. He sighed, shaking his head. ‘’It’s okay. I told you if you needed to talk I’d be there. It’s nice to know you wanted to come here, to come to me,’’ he said, feeling like he was admitting more than what the words were saying.

“I know, it’s just... I don’t know. I’ve got a lot on my mind lately.” Jens sighed, hiding his head in his hands, elbows resting on his knees.

Hesitantly, Lucas put his head on his shoulder, kissing Jens through his tee shirt.

‘’You don’t have to keep everything to yourself, you know?’’

Jens stared off into the distance of the semi-dark room. He wanted to open up to Lucas and tell him everything that was on his mind, but he didn’t want to dump all of his problems on him and taint his only source of happiness. Jens wanted to preserve his time with Lucas, happy and appeasing as possible, a stark contrast from every other aspect of his life he didn't have control over. By dumping all his home life problems on Lucas, Jens didn’t want to risk this feeling and was afraid he wouldn’t have anywhere else to get this happiness from.

They also only met about a month ago and it wouldn’t be fair to unload everything on him. Jens had never been one to rant about his problems. He’d share situations with his friends, light troubles, but would never lay out his dirty laundry to them - not that he had anything worth telling before.

‘’Shall we get some sleep now?’’ Lucas suggested, smoothing a hand down Jens’ back, sensing he wouldn’t get any words out of him tonight. It was okay, though. He’ll talk in his own time, when he’s ready.

Jens nodded. Sleep will be good. He needed a good sleep.

Lucas slid away from Jens and turned off the lamp, crawling back and taking the spot near the wall, trying to leave room for the raven haired boy. ‘’Little warning, my bed is a bit smaller than yours.’’

Shrugging, Jens joined Lucas higher on the bed, laying his head on the grey pillowcase. ‘’I’ll just hold you tighter,’’ he responded.

Content with Jens’ response, Lucas moved closer and rubbed his cold feet against Jens’ bare calves, tangling their legs together under the comforter. Jens lifted his arm in order to make room for Lucas to snuggle in close. He breathed in the sweet scent of Lucas' shampoo, soft curls tickling his chin.

Lucas talked quietly, telling Jens about that time he slept over at Kes' for the first time and had to call him mom in the middle of the night - okay, it was 9pm - because he couldn't sleep in another bed than his own. Jens laughed at the childhood anecdote. How could he not?

He listened as Lucas continued his story, allowing himself to finally relax. Lucas' voice was soothing and calm in the dark room.

Half way through the second story, Jens felt Lucas’ body become heavy with deep sleep. He glanced down, making out Lucas' delicate features in the darkness, and smiled.

He could easily get used to this.

Waking up next to Lucas was...warm. It’s been a moment since Jens last shared a bed and he had forgotten how hot you get through the night. Getting sweaty during the night from cuddling and being so close to another body was the only downside to sharing a bed. Other than that, it’s just perks.

Jens' eyebrow twitched, fighting away whatever had brushed it. He felt it again, the same feather light touch, descending on his face, tracing the bridge of his nose and then his lips. He scrunched his nose and heard a soft giggle very close to him.

His lips curved into a smile, remembering where he was. In Lucas' bed. With Lucas.

Jens' eyes started to flutter and he began to shift, for once pleased to wake up.

''Morning,'' Lucas said, his breath tickling Jens' neck as he spoke.

He had been waiting for Jens to wake up, trying to pull him from his deep sleep without waking him.

Jens hummed, eyes still closed. ‘’Slept like a baby.’’

‘’Clearly. It’s almost noon,’’ Lucas pointed, kissing Jens’ shoulder.

Jens laughed, this time opening his eyes, grateful that Lucas had thick blinds over his window. The sun was so bright at this time of the day.

‘’You hungry?’’ Lucas asked, propping himself up on his elbow, staring down at the boy in his bed, tangled in his sheets. ‘’I’m not the best cook, but I make amazing toast.’’

‘’You’re offering me breakfast?’’ Jens asked, a bit surprised. ‘’I thought you’d hold me hostage in your room and sneak me out some time later.’’

Lucas pulled his eyebrows, shaking his head. ‘’Why would I do that?’’

It’s what Jana did when we were together.

‘’I’d like some toast.’’

It took them a few more minutes - and a growling warning from Jens’ stomach - before they pulled themselves out of bed and decided to leave Lucas’ bedroom. They went to the kitchen and Lucas began to raid the fridge of anything edible to go along with the toast that he had promised.

“So, where is your dad today?” Jens asked, suddenly reminded that he was only wearing his underwear and a tee shirt in the Van Der Heijdens’ kitchen.

How awkward would it be if Lucas’ dad had been here?

‘’He’s at a congress for his work. Or something.’’ He put slices of bread in the toaster and pushed down the button. ‘’Won’t be back until late afternoon.’’

Nodding, Jens jumped onto the counter and grabbed an apple from the nearby basket and began tossing it in the air, passing time.

A silence filled the kitchen as they waited for the toaster to pop. Jens had an idea of how to fill it, but, truth be told, he was a bit nervous. Yeah, Jens Stoffels was nervous. Shocker, huh? Lucas had this effect on him. He made Jens feel nervous, and excited and warm and out of control - everything at the same time.

‘’Robbe came over yesterday. He...he asked if you were my boyfriend.’’

Lucas stilled, surprised, and took a few seconds before speaking. ‘’Am I?’’

‘’Do you want to be?’’ Jens asked back, setting the apple down and hopping off the counter, eyes set on the back of Lucas’ head where wild curls were sticking up and the moles on the uncovered part of his back.

‘’Do you want me to?’’ Lucas asked, shielding himself as he bit his bottom lip anxiously, hoping Jens will give him the answer he wanted.

‘’I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to.''

Jens came up behind Lucas and touched his shoulder, making Lucas turn around. The brunet’s face was tipped down, trying to hide his smile and pink cheeks from Jens, but the latter tilted Lucas’ chin up to get a better view of his face.

‘’So, what do you say? Will you officially be my boyfriend?”

Lucas' smile widened and he cupped Jens face, placing a kiss on his lips, as if to make their status official. He had the intention to stop there, going just for a quick kiss, but Jens’ hand slid into Lucas’ hair, fingers buried in the curls, time forgotten as they kissed, slow and lazy.

Grey smoke started coming from the toaster, a burnt smell filling the air, but both went unnoticed by the new couple, too busy in their own bubble. It wasn’t until the smoke detector’s alarm went off, the chirp blaring through the kitchen that Lucas broke from the kiss, eyes wide.

''Shit, the toasts!'' He sped to the toaster and turned it off, making the toasts jump up, completely burnt and past the edible stage of burnt.

Jens followed him behind, snickering. ''I thought you made 'amazing toasts'.'' He picked one up, immediately dropping it on the counter as it burned his fingers. ''This is carbonized.''

Lucas glared. “If you hadn't distracted me…’’

‘’You initiated the kiss!’’ Jens pointed out.

“Only because you got all serious and asked me to be your boyfriend. What was I supposed to do? Stand there?” he asked, raising an eyebrow and exposing his pretty blue eyes.

Jens smiled, watching with amusement as Lucas got mildly irritated over small nothings. He thought it was really cute that their first ‘argument’ was about burnt toast and officially being together.

Extending his arms, Jens reached out for Lucas- his boyfriend and drew him to him, circling his arms around his smaller frame. Lucas exhaled a sigh, hugging Jens' middle and pushing his face into his neck.

''As much as I am liking this, you're gonna have to let me go. Those toasts aren't going to put themselves in the toaster,'' Lucas pointed out, yet not letting go of the other boy.

Jens snorted. ''No shit?''

Lucas pulled back, frowning. ''I thought you were hungry...''

''Yeah, but you can make me breakfast later.’’ Jens loosened his hold and descended his hands down, getting a full grasp of Lucas’ ass, making the latter’s cheeks flush. ‘’This is what I want now. And this.'' He started kissing along Lucas’s jaw, trailing his lips down the side of his neck. ''What time does your dad gets home, again?''

Humming, Lucas tilted his neck, giving Jens more room to kiss, as he tried to remember what his dad had texted him yesterday. ‘’Around 4pm? I think.’’

‘’That’s fine by me.’’

Without taking his lips off Lucas, Jens walked them back in the direction of Lucas’s bedroom, impatient to pull off some layers and get their hands on each other. Lucas giggled as Jens guided him into the hallway table, almost knocking down whatever was on it.

Monday, February 10th

The veggies were still a bit crunchy as Jens chewed them, needing a supplementary minute or two of cooking, but Jens didn’t comment on it. The carrots were fine. His mom did the best she could in ten minutes.

‘’Ines is having a sleepover on Saturday,’’ Lotte announced after she was served her dinner, stabbing a carrot with her fork. ‘’Can I go?’’

Fenna pulled her eyebrows. ‘’Didn’t you two have a sleepover this past weekend?’’ With her crazy schedule, she was losing track of time sometimes.

‘’Yeah, but it wasn’t for her birthday. Can I go? Please Mama, she’s my best friend,’’ she begged, pouting and all.

Fenna sighed. Birthdays meant presents and, with their current financial situation, they didn’t have spare money for an impromptu birthday present for Ines. The money Jens had given her had helped, but they still had the eviction notice to worry about and pay before it was too late.

It crushed Fenna’s heart to tell her daughter ‘no’, but maybe it was time she learned the value of money and that she can’t always go to birthday parties.

‘’Lotte, I don’t think-’’

‘’Friday is Valentine’s Day, Lotte.” Jens piped in. “I think Mom and Dad already have plans for the weekend plus, I thought we could do something special together.”

Lotte looked at him, eyebrows pulled together, as if trying to figure out if he was serious. “You’re only asking me because you have nobody else to spend it with.”

Jens couldn’t deny that she was right - half right. Technically, he didn't have someone to spend Valentine's Day with. This weekend fell on Lucas' mom's weekend and he'll be in Utrecht, leaving Jens by himself on Lovers' Day.

All Jens wanted to do was spend this day - of all days - with his new boyfriend, but now was not the time to come out to his family and tell them about Lucas. Plus, it was too early in their relationship to be introduced to each other's parents.

“I’m asking you because you are my favorite girl, next to Mom of course, and I want to do something special with you.”

Fenna tried to hide her laugh at Jens remark.

“Like what?” Lotte asked, still skeptical.

“Well, I was thinking we could bake Valentine's Day cupcakes together and decorate them with pink and red frosting, candies and everything. Maybe we could watch movies too? What about the live-action Aladdin? Or Beauty and the Beast?''

Lotte thought about it for a minute, but before she could give Jens an answer, they heard the front door open and close. Jens glanced at his mom across the table, knowing that it was his dad and Fenna tensed, worried her husband was intoxicated.

Much to their surprise, Mohamed had an unusual smile when he walked into the kitchen. Her seat facing the kitchen entrance, Lotte saw him first and let out a squeal, happy to see her father.

‘’Dad! Dad! I got an 8 on my Math test,’’ Lotte announced proudly. She jumped down from her chair and went to get her test from her backpack.

‘’Careful. Don’t get sauce all over your test, Lotte.’’

Mohamed took the paper, smiling at his daughter, proud of her progress. ‘’Really? That’s amazing, Sweetie. I knew you could do it.’’

‘’Jens helped me a lot. He taught me how to multiplicate because I couldn’t understand what the teacher was doing.’’

He sat at the table and gave a thankful smile to his son.

‘’You hungry? I didn’t know if you were going to be there for dinner so I didn’t make you a plate.’’

‘’I’ll fetch myself a plate, but, first, I have good news.’’ He glanced at his family, the three of them sitting at the dinner table, and smiled. ‘’I...I found a job.’’

‘’You did? Where? How? ’’ Fenna asked, trying to contain her excitement.

‘’A friend of mine told me they needed a new guy at his workplace. I applied and he gave them a good reference about me and...I got the job,’’ he explained simply, crossing the kitchen to stand by his wife. ‘’Things are going to get better now,’’ Mohamed whispered to Fenna, careful so Lotte wouldn’t hear, camouflaging his secret with a kiss on her cheek.

Jens looked at his dad with disbelief and skepticism. He wanted to believe that his dad wasn’t lying, but there was something, something he just couldn’t put his finger on, that made him question this sudden new job. Like, how could he get a job so fast? How come that after weeks - months, even - of searching for a new job that an offer was presented to him so quickly.

Tuesday, February 11th

After seeing Lucas coming out of the boys' gym locker room, there was no way Jens was going home without him. Fresh faced, his hair was still damp from the shower he just took, perfect curls resting over his forehead, and he smelled of sweet vanilla soap - and a touch of woodsy Jens didn't recognize.

Without thinking twice, Jens pulled him back into the locker room, not caring if there were still people left, and kissed him hard. Lucas followed willingly, tugging Jens closer by the side of his sweatshirt and smiling into the kiss.

Once they started, they couldn't stop. They could've, but they didn't want to.

Jens felt Lucas’ smile fade as the kiss deepened, becoming more serious somehow, tongues sliding together, becoming a bit too explicit for school.

Conveniently, Jens' phone buzzed in his pocket, a message from his mom saying she was going grocery shopping with Lotte after school.

The timing couldn't have been better.

Jens' hand slid under Lucas' shirt, grazing his stomach, making the hair rise on his skin as they kissed. Their motions were calm and relaxed, kissing languidly, bathing in each other's embrace.

It was a change from their usual horny teenager rhythm, laying there, so close to each other, with no intentions of taking it further than soft kisses and wandering hands.

Lucas pulled Jens closer, rolling them so Jens was on top. He liked this. Feeling Jens' weight, heavy and warm on top of him. His hand was hot against Jens' thigh, the warmth of his palm cutting through the denim.

‘’Do you have weed, by chance?’’ Lucas asked, his voice a soft mumble.

Jens hummed. ‘’Yeah. It’s in the first drawer over there.’’

Lucas smiled and removed himself from under Jens, making the latter whine in protest and grasp at the back of Lucas’ tee shirt, trying to pull him back to him. Lucas laughed. ‘’I forgot mine at my mom’s when I last visited. I had something else on my mind,’’ he explained, glancing at Jens with a knowing smile, flashing back to two weeks ago at the train station.

‘You’re gonna have to roll though, I don't have any pre-rolled joint. There’s a grinder and papers in the back.’’

Jens watched as Lucas crossed the room, hair messy from Jens relentlessly running his hands through it and his tee shirt wrinkled from rolling in the sheets for the past half hour. He smiled smugly, letting himself sink deeper into his pillows, asking himself how he got so lucky.

‘’Did you find it?’’ Jens asked from his spot on the bed, seeing Lucas standing still in front of the open drawer. ‘’Luc?’’

Turning on his heels, the brunet held up a baggie of colorful pills, fingers clutching the plastic tight. ‘’What’s this?’’

Lucas wasn’t an idiot. He knew what those were, but a part of him was hoping that he was wrong. That his boyfriend didn’t have drugs hidden in his drawer.

Fuck.

Jens sat up, panic flashing through his eyes. Shit, shit, shit. ‘’I’m not taking them,’’ he defended immediately.

‘’Then, why is it in your drawers?’’ Lucas demanded, eyes on Jens, expecting further explanations. ‘’This shit is addicting and dangerous. Have you not seen enough deaths caused by Xanax or even Fentanyl?’’

‘’I’m not doing drugs, Luc. I promise.’’

‘’But why do you have them?’’

‘’Because I sell them!’’ Jens felt himself being weighed down at the confession, taking a few steps back and sitting back on his bed. ‘’I sell them…’’ he repeated with a calmer tone, shoulders slumping. ‘’I’m doing this for my family.’’

Stunned and confused, Lucas’ eyebrows furrowed.

‘’About 3 months ago my dad lost his job with no severance pay, so my mom has had to pick up a lot of double shifts at the hospital. She has been stretching herself thin and I couldn't keep watching her-’’

Jens' voice interrupted and Lucas sighed, walking over to sit on the bed, no longer feeling like lecturing his boyfriend about the seriousness of taking drugs. Cert, selling drugs didn't take away the danger, but a lecture wasn't what Jens needed right now, it was support.

Exhaling a breath, Jens casted his eyes down on his lap, trying to gather his thoughts. He wanted to be honest with Lucas, but he wasn’t the only one involved and Jens doubted his parents would want their financial struggles to be spreading around to strangers.

‘’Money started becoming a bigger problem over the past weeks and I didn’t know what else to do. I just knew that I wanted to help. I'm helping a lot at home with my sister, graduation is so close too; it was impossible for me to get a job. So, I took the easy way and started selling drugs.'' Jens paused, scoffing a humorless laugh and shaking his head. ''My mom thinks I sold stuff - that's what I told her. I hate lying to her, but I can't exactly tell her where it came from because I know she won't take the money even though she needs it.''

Family was important for Jens. Especially his mom and sister. He loved his family and would do anything for them, to help them.

''At first, it was just weed, but Michiel convinced me to do more, to expand my sales to pills. He said that it would pay more too, so I accepted.’’

Jens knew Lucas wasn't proud of him, that he didn't approve of his way, but it brought money home, it helped his parents. Even if it was dirty money.

Lucas took Jens’ hands in his, supportive and understanding. ‘’I know you want to help your family, Jens, but this drugs shit isn’t the solution,’’ he said, worry in his tone.

‘’For now it is,’’ Jens pressed. ‘’It's not permanent, okay. I promise. Just until things get easier at home.’’

The world of drugs was anything but safe, but Lucas knew there was nothing he could say that would make Jens backtrack.

He sighed. ‘’Be careful. Please. These guys aren’t fucking around.’’

Thursday, February 13th

Tomorrow was Valentine’s Day and Jens still hadn’t found an answer to his question: should he get something for Lucas? They had been official for only four days, but it was Valentine’s Day. Couples get something for their partners regardless how long they’ve been together.

He laid on his back, staring at his ceiling in hope to find his answer. He didn't want to go for the cheesy rose or chocolate - even though Lucas and his sweet tooth would’ve loved chocolate. He couldn't draw like Sander or write cute poems like girls often do.

Jens sighed. And he thought buying a Christmas present for a secret santa was difficult/tricky/complicated; this was far worse.

A soft vibration shook his mattress and Jens reached for his phone.

Aaron: Anyone has a red shirt to lend me for tomorrow?

Jens: Shit. The Valentine’s Day theme…

Tomorrow, in honor of Valentine’s Day, their school’s had a themed dress code where the students had to wear something pink or red. It sounded a bit childish, something Lotte’s school would’ve done, but Jens had no choice but to participate. It wasn’t really a problem for him though, having a lot of red shirts in his closet.

Moyo: Are you wearing pink tomorrow, Robbe?

Robbe: Not all gays wears pink, you know 😑

Moyo: 😘

Moyo: Are we going to the bar again this year? There’s always hot chicks looking to hook up on Valentine’s Day

Robbe: Can’t. Sander made plans, but he didn’t tell me. I asked for something chill. Staying in is fine with me. As long as we’re together, I don’t care what we’re doing

Aaron: Sap 🤮

Robbe: 🖕🏻

Robbe: And you, with Amber?’’

Aaron: We’re going to the movies. They have a special screening of The Notebook and Valentine’s Day. I’m also going to get flowers for her

Jens: Wow, I would’ve never thought you were the romantic type

Aaron: Amber told me exactly what she wanted to do

Moyo: Of course she did

Aaron: You’re just jealous because you’re the only single person this year

Moyo: Fuck you all 🖕🏻

Moyo: And you, Jens, any plans with the mystery girl?

Jens: Yeah. Her name’s Lotte

Moyo: As in your sister?

Moyo: Dude you have to babysit? That fucking blows!!

Jens: I would rather spend time with her all evening than watch your ass get rejected by girls all evening and then come crying to me about it

Robbe: 😂

Aaron: 😂👏

Moyo: 🖕🏻

Jens: You can join us though. We’re going to make cupcakes

Moyo: Can we put weed in it?

Jens: Wtf? She’s 8 bro...

Friday, February 14th

‘’I left a rose in Amber’s locker this morning,’’ Aaron told the boys at lunch, bragging about his superior romanticism.

Robbe shook his head. ‘’And I’m the sap?’’

‘’It’s romantic! The girls will go all ‘aw’ when she’ll show them. I think they’re jealous.’’

‘’So you’re doing this to impress Amber’s friends?’’ Jens recapitulated, messing with his friend.

Aaron opened his mouth to defend himself, stopping mid-way when he realized Jens had tricked him and didn't know how to respond to that. ‘’No! I did it for Amber. She likes romantic gestures.’’

Moyo and Robbe laughed, pulling out their lunches from their bag while Aaron was already almost done with his. How can he be finished so fast? They just got here. Jens was about to do the same when his pocket began to vibrate.

Lucas: Meet me in the library 💋📚

Jens didn’t take a second to think, taking his bag from the chair next to him and stood. ‘’Gotta go. I’ll catch you guys later.’’

‘’Where are you going? We just sat down like ten minutes ago,’’ Robbe asked.

Jens bit down his lip, trying to think fast of a quick lie, but Moyo beat him to it and spoke first.

‘’I bet you’re meeting up with that Tuesday chick to make out,’’ he guessed, raising his eyebrows and making kissy noises.

‘’I knew there was a mystery girl!’’ Aaron added, a bit too cheerful.

Jens snorted, shaking his head. ‘’You wish.’’

Jens walked in the library and smiled politely at the librarian at the front desk. He didn’t go there...ever so she was probably confused to see a new face. He walked along the aisle, trying to look for Lucas’ table among the sea of pink and red students.

The library wasn't too crowded - not that Jens knew how many people came here daily. He recognized a few people he had classes in common with but kept going. His heart began to race, a tightening feeling in his stomach, when he saw the head of curls in the pink sweatshirt. Jens smiled, sneaking up on him.

‘’Aren’t you supposed to be studying?’’ Jens seductively whispered in his ear.

A shiver ran down Lucas’ spine and the brunet looked up, blue eyes staring at Jens, pencil between his teeth. He had a pile of books and papers strategically placed according to all his exams up for re-do because of his mid-year move.

Lucas put his pencil down and grinned, happy to see his boyfriend. ‘’Yeah, but I figured I could use a break,’’ he said, raising an eyebrow.

Reading through his thoughts, Jens smirked and Lucas stood, beckoning Jens to follow him to the back shelves of the library. It was cliché and risky, knowing they’ll both get kicked out if they get caught kissing between stacks, but they didn’t care.

Lucas backed up until he touched the wall behind him, reaching for Jens and tugging him down for a kiss, hands bunching up the material of his hoodie.

‘’Cute.’’

Lucas cocked an eyebrow. ‘’Me?’’

Jens rolled his eyes. ‘’That too.’’ He set his hands on Lucas’ waist, slipping under his sweatshirt and pulling him closer. ‘’I meant your sweatshirt. You look good in pink.’’ Jens dipped his head and kissed under his ear, making Lucas tilt his head back to make more room.

‘’That’s why I wore it today. I know you like it on me.’’

‘’It’s the one you wore at the skatepark. After our first kiss.’’

How could Jens not remember that moment? Lucas in a pink oversized sweatshirt, sunlight shining on him on top of the half-pipe. The sleeves were covering his hands a bit, fingers peeking out, looking cute as hell.

‘’I did?’’ Lucas asked, not remembering well.

Jens hummed, pressing his forehead against Lucas’, feeling the Lucas’ hands slide into his hair.

‘’Sucks that my first Valentine’s Day as a non-single person I have to be away from my boyfriend,’’ Lucas lamented with a sad sigh.

Jens was sad too, but he didn’t show it, not wanting to make Lucas feel more upset about spending Valentine's Day miles away from each other. Instead, he captured Lucas’ lips with his, cupping his jaw and deepening the kiss, making the brunet forget about tonight. Pressing himself closer to Jens, Lucas let out a small sound that was a bit too loud and inappropriate for a secret library make out session.

As Jens’ hands were starting to travel south towards Lucas’ backside, a large crash came from the otherside of the library, making Jens and Lucas jump apart from each other. Lucas went to the end of the row to see what was going on.

“Someone knocked over a book cart.”

Looking at the time on his phone, Jens groaned. “The bell is about to ring. Will I see you before you leave?”

“I’m catching an early train so I’ll be leaving before my last class.”

Jens sighed, not to pleased that he wasn’t going to give Lucas a proper send off. ‘’See you Sunday, then?’’

Lucas nodded, pressing one last kiss to Jens’ lips. ‘’Sunday.’’

Lotte ditched him. His little sister ditched him for her best friend whose birthday party she couldn’t attend on Saturday. After telling Ines the tearable news, the little girl decided to invite Lotte over and have a Valentine’s Day girls night to make up for her non attendance.

That left Jens by himself on Friday night - on Valentine’s Day night.

His mom was at work - and hopefully his dad too. It was weird to see him get ready in the morning and go to work, having a routine again. He’d drop Lotte off every morning, her school being on his way, and come back around dinner time or later depending on the day.

Sitting on his couch with a bag of chips, Jens flipped through the channels, trying to find something to watch. He rolled his eyes when seeing only bad cheesy movies like Valentine’s Day and The Notebook. And the news.

With a sigh, Jens sent a message to Moyo.

Jens: Wanna come over? My plans got cancelled

Moyo: Can’t bro. There’s so many hot chicks here. Tonight is a good night for me, I can feel it!!

Moyo: Come to the bar!

Jens scrunched his face. He didn’t feel like going to a bar tonight. He didn’t have money for drinks and didn’t feel like dancing and grinding himself against girls - or anyone else other than his boyfriend. If Robbe and Aaron would’ve been there, maybe Jens would’ve reconsidered. But, they weren’t.

He didn’t bother texting Moyo back, sinking into the couch’s back pillows and checking his social media, trying to cure his boredom. Sander had posted a cute selfie of him and Robbe on their date, making Jens smile. He liked the post and scrolled down to the next picture. Aaron had posted on his Instagram too, a picture of a popcorn and movie theater seats, telling everyone how in love he was with Amber.

Seeing his friends on dates with their respective lovers reminded Jens how he was the only one of the gang to not spend his night with his significant other. It hadn’t even been 8 hours since Lucas had left Antwerp and, already, he was missing his beautiful face.

Jens stood, dusting off the crumbs on his shirt and headed to his room, taking advantage of his parents’ absence to smoke a joint. It’s not like he had anything better to do.

Opening his drawer, Jens saw that he was all out of weed and groaned. He must’ve forgot to keep some for himself and sold everything. He scratched for the back of the drawer, hoping a couple grams had fallen there, but there was none. Fuck.

Mom: Can you pick up Lotte in the morning? I have to do a double and won't be home in time

Jens: Can’t Dad do it?

Mom: He has work

Jens: On the weekend?

Mom: Yes, on the weekend

Mom: Will you pick her up? Please

Jens sighed, missing the old days.

Can’t he just be a teenager for once? He missed the days where he could hangout at Robbe's or Moyo's and do nothing but drink and smoke, partying all weekend. When he got wasted enough, he would just sleep it off and not have to worry about babysitting his sister or his secret side job to help his parents. It was so simple and easy back then...

He almost grabbed his phone and called Moyo for backup, knowing he’ll have some at home, but the latter was at the bar, most likely drunk. And, Jens would have to explain why he was out of weed and why he needed it now. It’s not that he was ashamed of his anxieties, everyone has anxieties, but it wasn't something he wanted to scream on rooftops, never being one to be overly emotional.

Jens was a chill person. Always so calm and collected, easygoing; not much can ruffle his feathers. But, lately, his stress levels have been getting higher and he wasn’t used to so much stress in his life.

With his father's job loss, a lot of other things started to tumble down like an avalanche. Their finances had slowed down, but the bills were piling up, adding to the already tumbling snow. His father's lack of responsibility and empty promises were catching up to them and his mom was exhausted, trying to make up for his mistakes. Jens was trying to hold it back, to help where he could, but there was only so much he could do to prevent the avalanche from swallowing his family.

With time, Jens began to feel the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Despite his best attempts at adulting, teenagers usually don’t have the skills or the brain development necessary to really care for themselves or a full family. Because their brain is still in development - and will only be fully developed around their mid-twenties -, they are more vulnerable to anxiety and stress. There are many moments where they don’t know what they were doing. Frustration mixed with a lack of ability when it comes to 'adulting’ raises teenage anxiety levels.

Keeping everything straight in his mind was difficult. He had to help his parents keep everything from Lotte and take care of her here and there, maintaining good grades, figuring out all these new inclinations regarding his sexuality and falling in love with Lucas.

All of this was overwhelming sometimes.

Without realizing, Jens had found himself self medicating to relieve his stress. Weed, which used to be recreational, was now used to significantly reduce stress and was no longer just for fun.

Even Lucas had become a stress relief without meaning to. With his gorgeous smile and bright eyes, Jens couldn’t help but smile whenever he was in his presence.

Usually, he would lit a blunt and smoke a bit of weed, but when he was all out.

As a last resort, Jens glanced at the baggie of Xanax. He stared at the rectangular white pill, hesitating. He had never taken it before, but he knew it was medically used to ease the mind and calm anxiety, a stress reliever. Just like weed. Taking one pill wouldn’t hurt, right?

He grabbed one from the baggie and popped it into his mouth, swallowing dry.

#vds #jens stoffels #lucas van der heijden #wtfock #van der stoffels #lucas x jens #jens x lucas #skam nl #jens's season #please leave comments #I worked really hard on this one

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huntsman-ash · 4 years

Text

RWBY V8E2 LiveThoughts

And now, for episode 2; same deal as last time, spoilers for this weeks episode.

RT getting a wee bit too real with the “curfew in effect” sign on the side of that building in the opening. Least here its a visible noticeable threat and not Corona. Still.

Oh, heh. “Hope has no place here.” Always did love that line. But that might just be the grimdark fan in me.

Overall Im not a huge fan of this seasons opening, it doesnt sound as melodic as the last couple ones. More...chaotic. I think thats intentionally but Im still not a fan.

Dude, Qrow, thats unsanitary. Seriously, clean that shit off. You’re gonna get like, tetnus or something.

And Robyn complaining to Qrow. I mean shes not WRONG but at the same time SHE was the one who decided to pass out during the crash. Dont go throwing blame around Hill, you were just as useless and dumb as everyone but Tyrian in that whole section of last season.

Correction, shes talking to Jasque Scnee who is SOMEHOW in the same prison as they are. Additional; hardlight cells with no visible emitters, no toilet or other commodities. This must be a holding cell of some kind. Unless the bed they all have is ALSO a toilet. Ew.

Yeah you sure about that Schnee? Indirect murder is still murder.

Whh...WATTS IS IN HERE TOO?! WHAT THE FUCK IRONWOOD. You dont have a maximum security like, ICEBOX lock up? Dude this is just ASKING for trouble.

Watt’s black eye is still there. Maybe there is something to him not having his aura fully unlocked. Or...something else. Im really confused about that.

Odd cell structure. Impromptu? Or is this whole room just modular. Cause its WAY too big to house just this many prisoners. Im getting the feeling this is impromtu, yeah.

Schnee thinks hes getting out, sucker.

Mad props to the Atlas soldier for the brutality. NOW HIT HIM AGAIN. Robyns smirk gives me life.

And Qrow suggests Operation Valkyrie. Im down. Ironwoods proven useless at this point, maybe his replacement will be more tactically viable.

Alright, Atlas has pulled all military forces out of Mantle. Guess that means Ash and CAMO would be out too. Officially anyway. Making note for future threads...

Cute about the news guy, but I LOVE the fact you can hear the former masculinity in May’s voice here, like she isnt fully finished transitioning. If its intentional, bravo. If not, still cool.

“Its time to show your teeth, Mantle.” HELL FUCKING YES THATS THE KINDA SHIT IVE BEEN WANTING TO HEAR!

Ah and there’s the hoverbikes from the teasers. I really dont get why they’re so goddamn big. Surely you can miniatruize hovertech...right?

They’re big enough to have weapons installed IMO. They should have.

Ah okay here’s the rest of the trailer

Hey look more lesbians. Boy that one on the left is MAD.

I cannot believe these Grimm are dumb enough to not go AROUND the dropwall (and Im going to call it that until I get something else, its literally the equipment from Halo Infinite’s release trailer). I get Grimm are dumb but damn bro.

Ah okay, THATS the split. All the faunus live in the slums down in the crater. Mantle proper is the mid-level, and then Atlas is humans for the most part. As far as I can tell anyway. Literal stratification.

Ugh, that whole conversation was so expositiony. Jesus fucking christ.

Holy shit this crews moving slow. Like, good fucking lord.

Personaly headcanon; that tiny fox toy Oscar rides past on his bike is later retreived by Ash. That is actually his bootprint on it too oddly enough.

Unity in this situation, Ozpin? Not likely. What you need is miltiary intervention and firepower.

Still not sure why there’s smokestacks in Mantle if everything on Remnant runs on Dust. Maybe its steam vents for the heating system.

So the Crater is literally a divide. Like a circular diamond mine or one of those “rabbit hole” gold ones. Literal wall holding its outside.

Snowshoe Shipping. New company. Full autonomous workforce from the looks of it. SDC related of course. And its still running despite everything. The drones here are literally AKs. Motherfucker, I think I know where the idea for them came from. SDC literally just weaponized its fucking worker robots.

And apperently Dust is refined in the Crater. Okay that makes sense. Does it come from outside or are they still mining it there I wonder.

Oh pnumatic elevator. STEALING THAT

“That isn’t relevant at the moment.” WAY TO DODGE THE QUESTION RT. YEAH BECAUSE THERES TOTALLY NOT OTHER COMPANIES OUT THERE RIGHT?

What the fuck happened to Penny? Did becoming the Maiden make her emo?

Lol yeah people are gonna die, its WAR Penny, eat shit and get over it. Fucking weaklings...

Your the maiden. Get over it. Go kill some people, you’ll feel better. Relish in power.

And Weiss is now dead from either pressure shock, thermobaric style lung implosion, forceful impact, or just being crushed flat. Oh, and asphyxiation. Seriously that was the dumbest fucking thing I’ve ever seen in my life. REALLY NORA.

Oh hey, a banjo in the crater. It really is hicksville.

Fire dust crystals right into a metal container to keep it going. Holy shit it only took us 8 seasons to see Dust used physically again...

Sheep nom map. Nom nom.

Wonder who this Crimson she mentioned is.

Lil hops. Oh no shes too cute. Also it seems Mantle is divided into sectors. Useful information. Wonder what designates them.

Hahahah Fiona’s uncles a mole XD

And good to know “crap” is a swearword on Remnant.

Sounds like Crimson is a person with the Huntress’s. With his accent Im going to personally imagine his a grizzled former veteran, like Sergeant Stacker from Halo.

Note; the map says “Mantle City”. Interesting. Wonder what the other option is. Crater?

Ohhh and a spudmasher. Wait...no thats not a grenade. Some kind of gravitational surge thing. Again. Okay seriously RT is it so hard to just make a FUCKING WEAPON? Nothing fancy, no special features, just something that kills the fucking enemy.

Okay...what the hell. Those Grimm cleared out like they got a retreat signal...

Ohho whats this now...this thing looks a LOT more interesting. And SAVAGE. Damn, its beating the SHIT out of Oscar! I think I like this one.

It transforms. Like the Zeta Gundam. FASCINATING. So it must have a rapid transport/assault form of the original dog one then changes to this new one for close in? Or carrying I guess, its stealing Oscar. This must be the thing that Salem sent.

Yeah kinda looks like a werewolf.

Soooo why were they just standing there watching this thing beat up on him? It was open for a couple of seconds. Surely it cant be they were worried about Oscar, the best thign to do if an enemy is grappling your friend is to get in and take advantage of it.

Its smart too, used Oscar as a meatshield. Apperently just long enough to distract Yang and then yeet her.

Its got ONE HAND with Oscar in it you idiots, hit it all at once! Go for the legs and the other arm, knock it down, blow its head off. COME ON, its OBVIOUS.

Oh hey it talked. Good. That means it can probably feel pain.

There is no way those legs should work like that. They’re too small and its torsos the wrong shape. This things breaking physics.

The arms are also way too long.

Also why are you just standing there watching it grow wings? Kill the fucking thing already. Gotta admit the movement and screaming makes me think it feels pain. Interesting. Good to know. That or its just body horror/squick.

And thats the episode. I like how Fiona calls them “kids” though shes probably about their age.

#rwby #spoilers #rwby spoilers #rwby v8 #volume 8

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jupitermelichios · 4 years

Text

Smallville S2E23: Exodus

Nothing happens in this episode and then everything happens. Pacing!

Also Lex gets married off screen becuase the writers are wildly misled about which characters their audience is invested in.

Credit to Tom Welling, for 2002 that is some pretty decent screaming at nothing in the hope that it will make sense once the CGI is added in.

So we open with Jor-El speaking to Clark, giving the standard ‘reject the puny humans and join with me’ kryptonian bullshit, and as part of that he makes projections of Lana and the Kents, and a) he made the Lana projection significantly shorter than Kristen Kruek, and b) instead of just turning off the projection when he’s done with it he uses an effect I can only describe as ‘I don’t feel so good Mr El’

Okay on the one hand angry cupboard sex doctor is 100% justified in being angry at Lex admitting he broke into her office at the beginning of the season, but god damn it their relationship was one of the only compelling things in this fucking show!

Two horses. Lana has two horses again. Did she retrieve the one she left in the graveyard in the first episode?! Did she retrieve one of the many many others that fell into plot holes and disappeared between seasons? Although one of them is piebald, and I’m certain we’ve never seen a piebald horse before, so maybe she went and bought one to replace the last eight she abandoned

Oh god, they just made it really explicit the only person Lex has to take relationship advice from is professional sex pest Clark Kent, no wonder he fucked shit up with angry cupboard sex doctor.

Lionel and Clark are completely alone, in an underground cave, and Lionel still feels the need to whisper all his lines, just for the drama of it. God I love Lionel Luthor.

Oh wow, Chloe is wearing a pale pink Cheongsam over flared jeans, which is the single most 2000 thing I have even seen in my life.

So Jor-El is A Lot in this, and his idea of a compelling argument for why Clark should renounce his human family and take over the world is to levitate Clark and burn the superman logo into his chest with lazers, right across his nipples. Which is certainly an arguement.

Ugh I hate that I’m rooting for Lex and angry cupboard sex doctor even though I know Lex is going do a full villain heel-turn any time now, but I’m so fucking invested at this point and there is literally nothing else in this barren wasteland of a show for me to care about, so fuck it, I’m rooting for them anyway

In order to get both Clark’s shiny new superman scar and Pete’s face into shot at the same time, that shot was framed like Pete is thinking about licking Clark’s nipples, which was a Choice

Pete is 100% going to grow up to be the kind of asshole who writes op eds about how anyone can own property if they just try because he inherited a house at sixteen and got a 6 figure salary thanks to nepotism and if lazy poor people tried harder they could do the same

“There’s something I have to do, I can’t tell you what just know it’s for our future” then followed up a “I just want to remember this moment”. I’m assuming Lana now thinks Clark is going on a killing spree, because that’s the kind of thing people only say in movies before they go on killing sprees and/or hand themselves over to the bad guys to be murdered, and tragically Clark cannot be murdered yet because no one evil knows about the kryptonite thing

I hate Jonathan Kent so much but also I am so invested in Lex getting father figures so this whole Jonathan giving him a Kent family traditional wedding gift thing has me very torn

Jesus fuck I hate Chloe Sullivan. She’s apparently shocked and betrayed that Clark IS INTO LANA. We are two fucking seasons into this sickening bullshit and instead of just being sad that the dude she likes is dating someone else, she’s furious and screaming at him that he betrayed her trust. By fancying the person he’s been consistently into since he was like 3 years old

FFS Lex’s fucking wedding happens off screen so we can spend more time on Clark’s absolute fucking bullshit. Oh, and Clark missed his best friend’s wedding. The wedding at which he was supposed to be best man. Because he’s the absolute worst person in the world

So in literally less than 30 seconds with almost no build up, Clark blew up his entire house in an attempt to murder the tech-ghost of his dead bio-dad, nearly killed his parents in a car crash, and caused his mom to have a miscarriage. The rest of the episode is filler with a tiny bit of relationship drama. You know, like a well paced episode of TV!

On that theme, WHAT THE FUCK WAS THE POINT OF THE PREGNANCY SUBPLOT?!!!!!! It’s taken up so much fucking time in this season and the pay off was meaningless. Martha could have had a concussion and it would have achieved the exact same thing without the need for that complete culdesac of a subplot!

So after we skip the wedding entirely, because it’s not like we’ve had five or six episodes build up, we cut to Lex and angry cupboard sex doctor on their private jet drinking champagne on their way to the honey moon, and firstly the editing implies this is happening at the same time as the house blowing up and holy shit I think that might be a record for the quickest wedding ever (and apparently they didn’t bother with a reception), and secondly it’s framed like she’s poisoned Lex and I have absolutely no fucking idea why she would do that

Okay so after the weird “I’m going to do something terrible but it’s for us” dialogue Lana turns up to find Clark standing in the exploded ruins of his house. And then he tells her he did this. And at no point does it occur to her that Clark was clearly making explosives in the basement. I mean, he wasn’t doing that, but literally all evidence points to that. But she’s just like ‘no clark, how could you possibly have caused a massive explosion that’s not a thing humans can do’

So Chloe’s teamed up with Lionel because she’s sad about the shock reveal that when Clark said he fancied Lana he wasn’t lying, and just in case we didn’t realise this was a villain heel-turn, they’ve dressed her in all black, with twice as much make-up as normal, and also made her hair all spikey in a style we haven’t seen since the red kryptonite episode. Subtlety!

Holy shit we’re getting a drug addiction subplot. Why the fuck are we getting a drug addiction subplot?! Who on the writing staff thought they were competent enough to handle that, because whoever it was was so very very wrong

Okay time out, how the fuck tall is Kristen Kruek?! Because over the course of this episode she’s been the same height as Tom Welling, taller than him, barely come up his his nipples, and about a head shorter. I need answers, right the fuck now!

So Clark just dosed himself up on red kryptonite, stole a motobike, and noped the fuck out of the show. Is it too much to hope that he doesn’t come back and the show just continues on without him because I would honestly be so up for that. Chloe and Lana could go back to being cute sisters instead of fighting over a man barely worth spitting for never mind throwing hands with your best friend, the Kents could adopt Lex and then when he’s had some father-son bonding time Lex could then have Jonathan quietly murdered, Martha could marry Lionel… There’s literally no downsides to cutting Clark out of the show.

Okay so apparently angry cupboard sex doctor drugged Lex, waited until the plane was in the air and then she and the pilots fucking parachute jumped out the plane leaving Lex to crash into the ocean and die and like, him stealing medical files from her was fucked up, but I really don’t feel like it was fucked up enough to warrant going full Bane!

#smallville #smallville recaps #charlie watches a thing #smallville s3 luthor family drama is all i want

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crystalninjaphoenix · 4 years

Text

Nevermore

A Stitched Story

JSE Fanfic

It’s been a long while since the last part, hasn’t it? And even later, since I don’t usually post fics in the middle of the week. I have an excuse for the latter, I was too sick to do anything except lay down all weekend. But as for the former, I’ve just hit writer’s block, basically. But I finally got it done! I think I had trouble cause there are a couple important reveals in this chapter :3c And since it’s been a while and you could be confused, I suggest reading at least the last two stories before this one, but hopefully you enjoy anyway!

Tagging @septic-dr-schneep for inspiring this AU with this post.

Read where it started: Stitched Together | Season One

Previous season two stories: No Strings on Me | Nightmare World | Normalcy | The Notion of The End | Nobody’s Home

A week passed before Jack finally got up the nerve to talk to JJ again. Well at least, talk to him about more serious matters. He didn’t know why he was so nervous about it. Maybe he’d just been busy. After all, things had been different ever since Marvin and Jackie...returned. The apartment felt crowded with six people inside its walls.

Jack woke up that morning, got ready, and immediately started down the hall. Or, not immediately. He had to be quiet, and thus careful. With the lack of sleeping areas in the apartment, Schneep had recently started crashing in Jack’s room. And Schneep didn’t fall asleep easily anymore, so Jack was careful not to disturb him when he was.

He followed the sound of a voice talking down the hall to the living room, peeking his head inside. Everyone else was in here. JJ was sitting in the armchair, reading over one of the magic books. Chase was on the couch, with Jackie on his left and Marvin on his right. He was scrolling through his phone and talking animatedly. “And this is you two when you first moved into your apartment—oh sorry, ‘flat’ as you called it. Ha...you kept correcting me. See, there are all the boxes?” As usual, neither Marvin nor Jackie responded much to hearing this. It was...still kind of creepy, the way they were just staring.

Jack cleared his throat, and Chase looked up at him. “Hey, bro. Good morning, how you doing?”

“Good, I guess.” Jack shrugged. “Um...I wanted to talk to JJ.”

Jameson looked up at that. Catching sight of Jack’s expression, his eyes widened.

“Oh, yeah, sure. Uh, sorry about this.” Chase put his phone in his hoodie pocket. “I just figured that...you know, maybe it was like Gravity Falls or something and I had to jog their memories.”

“Good idea. How’s it going?”

“Uh...” Chase pursed his lips. “Well, I mean...y’know what, maybe it would be better if I worked with one of them at a time. We can give you the room?”

“If you want, yeah.”

“Great.” Chase stood up. “C’mon, bro.” He grabbed Jackie by the hand, pulling him upright as well. And with only a little tugging, he guided him out of the room and into the kitchen.

Jack sat down on the couch, in the now-vacated spot. Jameson sat up straight and closed his book. What is it? he asked.

“Well, uh...” Jack cleared his throat again. “So...you’re the magic man, right?”

Apart from him, yes. JJ indicated Marvin, who was still sitting nearby, expression as blank as ever.

“Well...yeah, but he’s not...” Jack trailed off. He waved his hand in front of Marvin’s eyes, getting nothing. “You both have magic, though, right?”

Yes, but there is a difference, JJ explained. From what you’ve said about him, Marvin was born with magic. I’m still unsure where mine came from, but I certainly didn’t have it my whole life.

Jack nodded. “I see.” He shifted in his seat. “So my point is...if something weird’s been going on, would you be able to...I don’t know, explain it?”

JJ leaned forward. I could try. What “something weird”?

“Okay. So.” Jack exhaled. “Something’s been going on with me for...a while now. Since we got Chase back, and that’s a couple months ago now, isn’t it?”

JJ said nothing, just gestured for him to continue.

“This is gonna sound completely insane, but...sometimes I see things,” Jack finally said. “That aren’t there, I mean. And that I’ve never seen before, and that nobody else sees.” There. It was out, after all this time.

JJ looked intrigued, and also slightly worried. What kind of things?

“Well, they’re...lights. Inside of people. I can only see them when I close my left eye, but they’re there. All different colors, too.” As if demonstrating, Jack closed his eye, looking downward, where he could now see a ball of green light glowing inside his chest. After a brief moment, he looked up with both eyes again. “Sometimes they’re different. Chase’s has these weird...I don’t know, groove things, like impressions. And yours has tiny circles around it, like sparks, if sparks were donut shaped.”

That’s...unusual. JJ’s hands stilled as he thought through his next words. You don’t have any idea what it could be?

“I mean, kinda.” Jack shifted again. “I think...maybe it’s something to do with people’s souls?”

JJ seemed to sharpen. You think you’re seeing souls? That’s impossible.

“It is?”

Completely! JJ emphasized. I’ve never heard of anyone with magic, learned or born with, that can see souls with the naked eye. He paused. Wait. Didn’t you say that it was only in your right eye?

“Yeah.” Jack nodded. “Why, what’s that got to do with anything?”

JJ leaned back again. He looked...completely awestruck. Disbelieving.

“What? What is it?” Jack asked insistently.

Jack...JJ signed slowly. You do realize...that’s not your eye, right?

“What?!” Jack’s hand flew to his face, feeling his right eye under the lid. “How can it not be mine?!”

Because Anti took it, remember? JJ signed gently. It’s not the one you’ve always had. I had to...replace it.

It took a moment for Jack to process the entire statement, his train of thought momentarily hijacked by memories of October before he pushed it back on track. “So...you’re saying it’s your freaky magic that’s the reason I can see shit like this now? How’d you do that?!”

I don’t know! JJ threw his hands in the air. I just remember wanting you to see again!

“Well, I can see, alright. I can see a whole bunch that’s apparently new to the whole magical world!” Jack ran his hands through his hair. “Jesus...and you have no idea what happened?”

JJ shook his head. Maybe the magic took the command to “see” a bit farther than intended?

“Maybe.” Jack leaned back into the couch cushions. “Holy shit, dude, how do you not know how your magic works? Doesn’t it, like, belong to you?”

JJ hesitated, then shrugged uncertainly. I don’t believe it’s normal magic. All of us are diving into realms of the strange that are rarely explored, if at all. He paused. Like, for example. Did you know Henrik has magic, too?

Jack stared blankly at JJ for a solid thirty seconds. “I’m sorry, what?!” That statement just—just didn’t compute. Schneep was the logical mind, the one who remained stubbornly skeptical for the longest time. How could he have magic?

I don’t think he realizes, JJ said. But...last week. The two of us were stuck in a room in Anti’s lair, the door locked. And then he stepped toward it and it just...it was like the world was sliced up and put back together in a different way. And suddenly we were on the other side.

“And you saw this?!” Jack said incredulously. “And he didn’t?! I mean, of course he didn’t see it, but he didn’t realize? And you haven’t told him?!”

JJ ducked his head. Well...it’s a fairly long story to tell via Morse code.

Ah. “Well, tell him anyway! No matter how long it takes, he should probably know about that.” Jack sighed. “How on earth did he get magic?”

I’m unsure, JJ admitted. Maybe something similar happened to him as to what happened to me.

“But you don’t know what caused that, either.”

No, I don’t. For a moment, the two of them sat in silence. And then JJ continued. But back to your main point, why are you telling me about your ability now? Did you just think it was worth knowing?

“I mean, yeah, but also...” Jack pursed his lips. He glanced to his side, where Marvin was sitting. The whole conversation hadn’t elicited as much as a glance from him. “We were talking...last week, about that transference spell. You said it had to do with souls?”

JJ nodded. Why, do you think your ability could come in handy?

“Yeah, in figuring out what happened,” Jack finished. “You know what I saw when I activated this soul vision while looking at...him? I saw that green string, the one we now have in the kitchen. And it was holding a...a bunch of red and blue...light...shards. Like, stitching them together.” That sounded strange, but it was the most accurate way he could think to describe it. “I was wondering if...I-I don’t know. That would be helpful to know.”

It would, JJ said, intrigued. Odd...if you see most souls as lights, I’m guessing that’s a most unusual spell. Perhaps the side effect of the transference?

“Maybe.” Jack squirmed in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable. He stood up. “Well...good talk.”

JJ looked mildly surprised, but quickly hid it. Yes, it was. If you figure anything else out about your vision, or see anything unusual, could you tell me?

“I will,” Jack promised. “I’m...I’m gonna go to the bathroom.” And without another word, he left.

He wasn’t sure what made him leave. Just that...he didn’t like talking about that black magic transference spell. And he didn’t know why.

He’d considered using his soul vision to look at Jackie and Marvin, to see if something was wrong with them there. But...thinking about it filled him with an uneasy dread. Like he was afraid of what he would see.

— — — — — — —

“Okay, you have to remember this one,” Chase said, once more scrolling through pictures on his phone. “This was that time I asked you to come over and watch the girls. Remember them? Anyway, you tried to bake chocolate chip cookies without the recipe, and it all ran together into one big, flimsy, super-chocolatey pastry thing that took up the entire pan.” Chase laughed. “Moira really liked it, but I think Lily was just glad she helped.”

Jackie, sitting next to Chase at the kitchen table, didn’t move at all. He was looking at the phone, but that was only because Chase had forcibly moved his head to look at it. His expression might as well have been carved from stone, and there was absolutely no recognition on it.

“Ooookay.” Chase sighed. This was getting nowhere and he knew it. But who knew? Maybe on the seventy billionth try there would be something. “Let’s try something else, then. Um...”

Turned out, he didn’t have to wait that long.

He turned his attention to the phone’s photo gallery for a bit, looking for something good. When he looked up again, he visibly jumped. Jackie was staring right at him. He had most definitely not been doing that before, and he was still silent, but...he must have moved to look. “H-hey, dude.” Chase gave a lopsided smile. “What’s up?”

Jackie didn’t answer. But after a few seconds, he tilted his head to the side, like he was considering something.

At that moment, Jack walked past the kitchen doorway. “Hey, how’s it going?”

“Oh, uh, great, I—” Chase started to say something, but Jack walked right past without waiting for an answer. “Oh. Okay, you do that then.”

Something grabbed his wrist.

Chase yelped, instinctively trying to pull away but finding the grip too tight. He looked down to see Jackie’s hand wrapped around wrist, right on top of his wristband. Looking back up, he saw that Jackie’s expression hadn’t changed at all. He swallowed, suddenly on edge. “Hey, Jackie. So, uh, a lot of things have changed since you last saw me—before this last week, I mean. One being that I would prefer if you didn’t touch me. And especially—” He looked back down, starting to pry at Jackie’s fingers gripping his wrist. “—especially not there.”

Jackie didn’t react as Chase pried away his fingers and pushed his hand away. He just kept...staring at Chase. There was...something in his eyes. Which would’ve been great, if that something wasn’t making shivers crawl along Chase’s skin. It felt like...like him. But that was impossible. This was Jackie, who was still his friend, even if so much had happened to the both of them.

Then something crashed in the living room, shattering the moment.

“What the...?” Chase stood up, crossing into the hall and leaving Jackie behind. He entered the living room. “Did something fall in—” And then he froze. And screamed.

The standing lamp had fallen over, causing the crash, but that wasn’t what concerned him. No, it was JJ. He was lying on the ground, on his back, and Marvin...Marvin was kneeling on his chest, hands wrapped around his throat and clearly squeezing. Jameson was thrashing as much as he was able, and clawing at the hands around his neck.

Chase leapt into action. “Marvin, no!” He shouted, lunging towards the pair and trying to pull Marvin’s arms away. But Marvin’s grip was furiously tight, a contrast to the still blank expression on his face. But...there was something in his eyes that Chase wasn’t sure he wanted to identify.

“What’s going—holy fuck!” Suddenly Jack was by Chase’s side, helping to pull Marvin away. Between their efforts, they finally managed to separate the two others. Jameson immediately scrambled away from Marvin, pressing his back against the nearest wall and breathing heavily.

Jack wrapped his arms around Marvin, holding him back. Though it seemed that, once Marvin was pulled away, he’d lost all interest in strangling Jameson. Jack looked at Chase. “What happened? I left for two seconds!”

Chase shook his head, baffled. “I don’t know. I heard a crash, and went to check it out, and they were like this!” He looked at Jameson. “Jays, what happened?”

Jameson didn’t respond for a while, getting his breathing under control and rubbing at the sore spots on his neck. After a while, he signed shakily, He started staring at me the moment you left. And then he attacked me! No warning at all!

“What?! That’s insane!” Jack looked at Marvin warily, as if searching for some sign that he was ready to attack at any minute. “Why would he do that?”

JJ only shook his head, baffled.

And in that brief moment of silence, there was a dull thud from the kitchen.

“Oh, now what?” Chase groaned. He reached down and quickly pulled JJ to his feet before going back into the kitchen to check out the sound.

He walked back in to see Jackie now standing by the counter. Chase briefly glanced down to see a plastic box had fallen to the ground, as if pushed carelessly. Then he looked back up to see Jackie holding something. It took him a moment to recognize it as the glass mason jar that was containing that strange, almost alive, green string that Jack had pulled away from Anti. And then it took him a moment more to realize Jackie was trying to unscrew the lid.

“What are you doing?!” He lunged forward, closing the distance in a short time. Jackie put up no resistance as Chase yanked the jar out of his hands. The lid was looser, but not off. And the string inside was writhing furiously and slamming against the glass with enough force to jolt the jar, even as he was holding tight to it.

JJ appeared in the kitchen doorway, leaning heavily on the doorframe. His ankle still wasn’t healed, it must’ve been difficult to even walk that far. What’s happening?

“I...I don’t know.” Chase found himself taking a few steps away from Jackie, who just stood there. “He was...trying to open the jar? You know, the one with this string inside.” He held the jar up.

JJ tilted his head. The string wasn’t...acting like that before, was it?

“I don’t think so.” Chase looked at Jackie. “What’s the matter with you? A week of nothing, and then you suddenly decide to...interact with this, of all things? Are you and Marvin trying to freak us out?!”

Jack poked his head in the doorway. “You guys okay?”

Chase shook his head. “I guess? I-I don’t know. Jackie was trying to get to the string.” He suddenly scowled. “And by the way, what even is this thing? Where did it come from? Why is it alive, or some shit?”

Jack paused. “Well...it could be part of Anti’s soul, or something like that?” He didn’t sound too certain.

“Oh great, and we’re keeping it in a jam jar. Don’t you have a safe or something?”

Jack just shook his head.

You have a point, JJ signed. This thing appears to be...more dangerous than we initially thought. Perhaps we could find some way to keep it safe.

“Or get rid of it altogether,” Chase suggested, glancing at Jackie.

Or that, JJ nodded.

Footsteps sounded down the hall, and suddenly Schneep appeared, hair disheveled and wearing the same outfit he’d worn the previous day. “What is all the yelling?” he asked, scowling.

Jack winced. “Sorry, Hen. We just...some stuff happened.”

“What stuff?” Schneep demanded. “I was sleeping!”

“Uh...y-yeah, I...I know,” Jack shifted, folding his arms and curling inward guiltily. “Let’s...sit down and I’ll tell you.”

Schneep grumbled, but turned and headed towards the living room, gesturing for Jack to follow him, which he did. After the two of them left, Chase sighed. He looked at JJ and held up the jar, as if asking what to do with it.

JJ shrugged. Seems like it needs to be kept somewhere more secure.

“Yeah, no doubt. Not a lot of secure places in this apartment, though.”

They ended up placing the jar back inside the plastic box, but then put that box inside one of the cabinets under the counter. And they were so busy talking about whether or not that was safe enough, that they didn’t notice the way Jackie’s eyes tracked their movements, following the string to its new hiding place.

— — — — — — —

Later that night, Chase found he was having trouble sleeping. Again. It was a new development, ever since he...came back, those few months ago. He suspected it had something to do with not knowing it was...acceptable to fall asleep, without someone saying so. He’d been doing well over the last month or so, but for whatever reason insomnia decided to return this night.

He sighed, and got up. Maybe a walk around the apartment would calm him down. Though he’d have to be as silent as possible, wouldn’t want to wake up the others.

He made his way down the hall, towards the living room and kitchen. And then he saw something move in the darkness.

Chase immediately froze. He debated turning back and grabbing his gun—in fact, he was leaning toward that—but what was there to hurt him in the house? It was probably just one of the others. He took a deep breath, and walked forward, turning into the kitchen.

Flipping the lights on, he saw mostly nothing was changed. Except Marvin was crouched on the floor, opening one of the bottom cabinets.

“Marv—!” Chase hissed. “What’re you doing?!”

Marvin didn’t so much as turn his head, just reached forward into the cabinet, and pulled out a plastic box.

“Hey!” Chase darted forward as soon as he recognized the box. He got there just in time to slam the lid down a moment after Marvin started to open it. “You can’t do that!”

And then Marvin did look at him. And Chase shivered, for some reason.

“Um...I’m just going to...” He managed to pull the box away, grabbing it and backing up. Marvin stayed where he was. While not taking his eyes off him, Chase pulled one of the dining room chairs over to the counter, climbed on top of it awkwardly, opened a topmost cabinet, shoved the plastic box inside, and slammed the cabinet door closed. “Okay...” He let out a deep breath, and climbed back down. “You should be asleep, you know that? C’mon, let’s go.”

With a little effort, Chase managed to guide Marvin back down the hall to the bedroom where he and Jackie were supposed to sleep—though Chase would be lying if he said he’d seen them ever close their eyes—and lay him down on the bed. And with a sigh, he left the room, closing the door behind him. That whole thing was...odd. Odd in a way that made you look over your shoulder. What really struck him was that he slept in the same room as the two of them—and he hadn’t heard Marvin get up and leave, even though he was lying there awake.

But he still wasn’t tired. So he walked back down the hall, trying to give the pacing another try.

“What was all that about?”

Chase yelped, jumping sideways until he hit the wall. Then when he saw who it was, standing in the entrance to the living room, he sighed. “Doc, what the hell? You can’t just sneak up on someone like that!”

“Sorry,” Schneep said.

“What’re you doing up?”

“What are you doing up?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Chase explained. “Now, you?”

“The same,” Schneep said. “I was reading. Sitting in here.”

“Well, why didn’t you turn on the light?”

Schneep blinked. “Did you seriously just ask a man who cannot see to turn on a light? Would that make a difference?”

Chase flinched. “I’m sorry, Schneep. I...I hadn’t thought of that.”

“Well, now you have. Besides, Jamie is still asleep in here.” Schneep gestured behind him into the living room. “On the sofa. I would not want to wake him up anyway.” He paused. “So what was all that noise in the kitchen?”

Chase sighed. “I...I don’t know what was going on. Marvin was in there. Messing with the cabinets.”

Schneep furrowed his brows. “Why? He and Marvin have been unresponsive for seven, eight days. Now, all of a sudden, this?”

“Yeah...it-it might have something to do with that string,” Chase confided. “Maybe they’re trying to get to it.”

“Why?”

“I-I don’t know.”

Schneep growled. “Well, they have been strange since this started anyway. I cannot feel them.”

Chase stared at him for a moment. “You can’t what?”

“That...that feeling you get when someone is nearby. You understand? I do not get that around them.”

“You mean, like, the hairs standing up on the back of your neck?”

“No, no.” Schneep shook his head. “That is the watching feeling. Do you not understand? The feeling you have when someone enters the room, and you just know someone is there now. And how close they are!”

“Yeah, I...I don’t get that, I think,” Chase said, shrugging. “It’s not that hard to sneak up on me.”

“Hmm.” Schneep looked confused at that. “Maybe it is different person by person. Or they say your other senses enhance when you lose one, maybe it is related to that.”

“Maybe.”

The two of them were silent for a moment. After a while, Schneep said, “You really should go to sleep.”

“I will,” Chase said automatically. “I mean—but, uh, so should you.”

“Perhaps.”

“Jesus, dude, you’re a doctor and you don’t know the benefits of sleep?”

“Ha...” Schneep’s expression fell a bit. “Well...that never stopped me when I was one.”

Oh. Chase stepped forward, voice softening. “Hey, I didn’t mean—”

“Go to sleep, Chase,” Schneep said, turning away.

Chase backed away. “Oh...okay. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Schneep nodded. Chase turned back, hand trailing over the walls. He still found sleep a while coming.

— — — — — — —

Everyone was awake at the same time that morning, all gathered in the kitchen. Jack was messing about in the cabinets, getting out dishes. JJ was sitting at the table, half-reading one of the magic books, holding it open with one hand. Schneep sat next to him, listening to whatever message JJ was tapping on the tabletop with his other hand. Chase was leaning against the wall on the fringes. Even Jackie and Marvin were there, sitting in the remaining chairs at the table, as blank as ever.

“Hey, JJ?” Jack said. “You know, I would’ve been fine bringing you breakfast again.”

JJ finished his statement to Schneep before answering Jack. I’m sick to death of being stuck on your sofa with my idiotic injured ankle.

“Well, then the next three weeks at least are gonna suck for you,” Chase muttered.

JJ glared at him, then returned to tapping Morse code on the table.

Jack raised an eyebrow at Chase, shutting the cupboard he was messing with. “That’s a little snappy, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, well...” Chase’s eyes darted around the kitchen. They landed on Marvin and Jackie, hovering on them. He shifted uncomfortably, then suddenly pushed away from the wall. “I...I don’t think I’m hungry.” And with that, he left the room.

“Wh...? Hey, Chase!” Jack ran after him.

Chase stopped halfway down the hall, letting Jack catch up with him. “What?”

Jack skidded to a halt. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s—”

“Don’t pull that shit on me, Chase Brody, I’ve known you longer than anyone else in this apartment,” Jack cut in. “I know when something’s up. I...I want to help, so can you let me?” He tried not to sound too desperate, but his question turned into a plea anyway.

Chase looked away. “It...it sounds crazy.”

“Our lives are crazy. Go on, what’s up?”

After a moment of hesitation, Chase sighed. “Okay. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, but...they’re freaking me out.”

Jack blinked. “Who? Jackie and Marvin? They are acting kind of creepy, I’ll admit, and this whole business yesterday was weird—”

“No, it—it’s different.” Unconsciously, Chase rubbed his wrist, reaching under the band and itching. “It’s like...fuck, it sounds crazy.”

“I don’t care how it sounds, if it’s bothering you, then it matters.”

Chase sighed. “They...they’re kind of reminding me of...him.”

Back in the kitchen, JJ finished tapping out his Morse code message. Schneep leaned back in his chair, confused. “I do not understand,” he said. “I would know if I had magic of some kind, yes?”

Maybe, JJ tapped. Didn’t you notice it odd when we got out of the room?

“Well, yes, but I assumed that was you,” Schneep admitted. “Or more strangeness of that place.”

No, it wasn’t. JJ insisted. It was you, I could tell.

“Well, what kind of magic would that be, anyway?” Schneep countered. “To get out of locked places? Is kind of...ah, I do not know. Stupid, I suppose. Yours is more useful.”

For keeping everyone else safe, yes, JJ admitted. But I can’t do simple tasks, or use it to defend myself.

“Those are strange rules, I—” Schneep stopped. In the silence, he heard the squeak of a chair against the kitchen tile. “Was that you?”

JJ, previously busy with dividing his attention between the conversation with Schneep and the magic book, looked up at the sound. In the few minutes since he’d last glanced over at them, Marvin and Jackie had both stood up. Jackie was dragging his chair over to the counter, while Marvin was staring at JJ and Schneep with a...it was almost a glare. JJ jumped, slamming his book shut. He tried to stand up, only for pain to shoot upward from his ankle. He crumpled back down with a muffled cry.

“What?! What is it?!” Schneep half-stood up, bracing himself.

This message had to be quick. J, M, he tapped. Weird.

Luckily, Schneep caught on quick. “What are they doing? Should I get the others?”

That would probably be a good idea. Call, JJ tapped, trying to stand up again, leaning his weight on the table.

Schneep raised his voice. “Jack?! Chase?! Something is happening?!”

It only took a few seconds for Jack and Chase to reappear in the kitchen, stopping in the doorway. Jackie had managed to drag the chair over to the counter, and was climbing on top. The moment Jack and Chase reappeared, Marvin switched his attention to them, watching.

“What are they doing?!” Jack yelled. He ran forward, only for Marvin’s hand to shoot out and grab him by the back of the hoodie as he passed. Jack cried out in surprise.

“I moved the box with the jar to that cabinet!” Chase, said, pointing. “Last night!”

“What?! Why?” Jack asked. He was trying to pull his hoodie away, but Marvin’s grip was unusually strong.

“Marvin was trying to get into it!” Chase explained.

“Well, we should not let them get to it!” Schneep stood up fully, though he looked unsure about what to do.

JJ reached a hand toward Jackie. A circle of blue runes briefly flickered around his fingers before fading. Jameson looked down at his hand in surprise.

“On it!” Chase dashed forward, giving Marvin a wide birth, and was by Jackie in a couple seconds. Jackie had opened the cupboard, and was pulling out the box. “Hey!” Chase tried to climb up onto the chair, but suddenly Jackie looked down at him, and kicked him away, sending him flying backwards.

“Stop it, both of you!” Jack didn’t think either Marvin or Jackie would listen, but he had to try. He managed to pry Marvin’s hand away from his hoodie, but as soon as he’d done that, Marvin suddenly reached forward and grabbed him, holding both arms behind his back. “Let go of me!” He glared at Marvin, and out of the corner of his vision, he got a glimpse of something...glowing. His soul vision. He’d been hesitant to use it before, but now? Well, what was there left to lose? He wasn’t sure what the two of them wanted with that string of Anti’s, but he just knew it wouldn’t end well. So he closed his left eye, letting the soul vision take over.

And in the center of Marvin’s chest, where Jack would usually see the glowing ball of light that he usually saw someone’s soul as...there was a loose pile of blue and red shards. He looked over at Jackie, climbing down from the chair with the box in his arms, and saw the exact same thing. He...he’d seen something like this before...

Chase climbed to his feet and lunged towards Jackie, grabbing for the box. But Jackie wasn’t as keen to let go of items as he was earlier, and a strange tug-of-war started. “Schneep? Jays? A little help?!” Chase called.

JJ tried to step forward, but once again winced under the pain of his injured ankle. Realizing he couldn’t get to Jackie, he looked over at Marvin, still holding Jack. And suddenly threw himself at him. Marvin stumbled.

“I do not know where they are!” Schneep wailed. “I told you, I cannot tell!”

“Can you tell where I am?” Chase said. “He’s right next to me! Help me get this away from him!”

Schneep scowled a bit, as if angry with himself for not thinking about that. And so he ran to Chase’s side. After a moment, he figured out where the box was and grabbed it, adding his strength to Chase’s side.

For a moment, everyone was locked in a struggle. Marvin tried to shrug JJ away while still keeping hold of a wriggling Jack. Jackie kept resisting Chase and Schneep’s attempts to pull the box away. For a moment, just a moment, they all seemed evenly matched.

And then the lid of the box came loose, and opened wide enough for the jar inside to roll out onto the floor with a heavy thunk!

Chase immediately dropped the struggle for the box, reaching down for the jar. But the string inside seemed to know he was coming. It pushed against the side of the jar, rolling it away from Chase’s grasping hand until it bumped against Jackie’s shoe. Jackie looked down, scooped up the jar, and raised it high above his head.

“No!” Jack shouted.

But it was too late. Jackie threw the jar down on the ground, and it shattered instantly.

The string inside wriggled and stretched, free of its confinement, and it started to grow in size. It shuddered and writhed, splitting in branches like a hydra growing heads. Tendrils reached out, wrapping around Jackie’s legs, and crawling over the ground until they were able to wrap around Marvin’s as well. The green light coming from the string intensified from a slight glow into a blinding glare, and anyone who could see it was forced to shut their eyes.

They opened them again to the sound of laughter. Marvin and Jackie had disappeared, and standing in the middle of the kitchen, static creeping over his skin, was Anti.

“No!” Chase grabbed Schneep’s arm, stepping backwards. “What—where—?”

“S̷u̢͠rpr̕i͏̸͝s̢ed to see me?” Anti waved his fingers. “You shouldn’t be.”

JJ slumped backwards against the kitchen table. He looked around the kitchen, then glared at Anti. Where are Jackie and Marvin? What did you do to them?!

Anti looked over at Jack and grinned. “You’ve figured it out h́av̛én'̛t͏ y̴̴o͞͠u̶?”

Jack didn’t want to say he had. But...he closed his eye again, looking at Anti’s “soul.” Just as he’d seen last time he looked at it, he saw red and blue shards, stitched together with that interwoven green string. But now he realized he’d seen the shards elsewhere. “He hasn’t done anything to them,” Jack said, voice almost too quiet to hear. “He is them.”

“No no no no no, that’s impossible. That’s impossible!” Chase laughed hysterically. “Jackie and Marv are—they’re not evil!”

“Everyone has a little bit of ḑa̷̡r̢k͟͠n̛es͢͠s͏ inside.” Anti waved his hand in front of his face, dispelling the mask of shadows and revealing his face for the first time since any of them had known him. He tilted his head to his left, and his features shifted a bit, looking more like Marvin. He tilted it to his right, and they shifted again to resemble Jackie. “What happens when that’s a̷̕l͏l͝ ͏t̡h̴a͏͡t'̀s̵̢ ̡l͠͠ef͞t̡̢͟?͏́”

JJ started to shake his head, but then his eyes glanced downward, and he froze. The amulets, he signed shakily. The transference did go wrong...just not in the way we imagined...

“There we go, you have a ṕ̨o̸̴ì̶n͞t͢ to existing, a̧͡fte̸ŗ͡ all̶̡̀!” Anti clapped his hands. “Yes, it went wrong. Neither of them expected that one of them would k̦̙̜̼̞i̱̞̳̬̬͉̞̝ļ͇͞l̶̨̛͖ the other! Seems everything go̕͟ǫ̸̛d̸ got lost in translation!”

“You’re lying!” Chase shrieked. A few tears slipped down his face. “They were best friends! They wouldn’t hurt each other, much l-less—!” He choked, unable to even finish the sentence.

“Hmm, w͏ér̸͝e ͏t͠h̡e͟y̨͏?” Anti laughed. “Well, it doesn’t matter. T̡h̷e̷y'r̶̕e̷ g̀ó̷né̀ now. As you saw, there’s ǹơt̛͏h̡̢̀ì̢n͞͝g̶ left except some empty shells—a̴͞n̶d ̵́m̸̵e̡.”

Anti raised a hand. The room filled with the sound of static. Jameson managed to pull Jack close, a blue shield of runes flickering in front of the two of them. Chase backed up, paling.

And then, the air seemed to rip apart.

In between one second and the next, there was suddenly a kitchen knife driven into Anti’s chest. He screamed, staggering backwards. Another second, and then Schneep was in front of him, pulling the knife back out. He was panting, like he’d just sprinted across the room. He blinked, and for a moment, it almost looked like his eyes were black. And then it was gone. “You shut your mouth,” he growled.

Anti seemed to recover from the stab quickly, cracking a grin at Schneep. “That’s a new t̨ŗi̵͠c͠k̨,” he remarked. “Are you going to kil̢͝l̴ ̡̨m̢è͟͢? You, the least u͟ś̀ef̢ú̶l part of the group?”

“Yes,” Schneep said simply. And he lunged again.

Anti was prepared this time. With a burst of white noise, he disappeared, reappearing behind Jack and Jameson. “No, I don’t t̸h̡i̸n͏k͏ ͝s̶̶o.” Anti’s hand darted forward, and Jameson barely managed to swivel the circular shield around to the other side in time to block him.

There was another rip, and then Schneep was behind Anti, driving the knife forward again, managing to hit his shoulder. Anti shrieked, and spun around before Schneep could pull the blade out again. “Fine. Have it y̴̕͝o̸͢uŗ͠ ͢ẁ͡ay.” With a smile, he reached back and pulled the knife out himself, slashing it forward.

Schneep yelped, leaning backwards, and suddenly he wasn’t there anymore. Anti growled, and in a fit of static, he disappeared too.

The air was still filled with the sound of static. Occasionally the world jumped and fizzled, like it wasn’t sure of its place. Chase looked around. “Wh...what the fuck is happening?” He squeaked. “Did Henrik just—what?”

Jack glanced at JJ. “That would be the magic you told me about yesterday, right?”

JJ nodded.

“Schneep has magic?!” Chase asked, gaping.

“Apparently! Don’t ask how, ‘cause none of us know the answer, not even him!”

The world jumped again, and suddenly the cabinets all flew open in unison. Another jump, and all the dishes shattered into pieces. Another, and cracks shot through sections of the kitchen tile. “And what about this?!” Chase asked.

“I don’t know!” Jack shouted.

Maybe their magics colliding? JJ guessed.

The ceiling overhead groaned, and suddenly bits of plaster fell.

“Whatever it is, it’s destroying your apartment!” Chase yelled. “We have to get out of here!”

“But—Henrik!” Jack protested.

Chase hesitated. “We can go look for him, but we have to be quick.”

Jack nodded.

Chase ran across the kitchen floor, joining up with Jack and JJ. Jameson adjusted the shield to cover them from above, as more chunks of plaster started to fall, and the walls started to peel. “C’mon,” he said, throwing one of Jameson’s arms over him to support him. “We gotta go!”

They didn’t have to go far. The living room was crumbling, same as the kitchen. The lamp was broken in two, the upholstered furniture bleeding cotton. Schneep and Anti were jumping in and out of existence, flickering between places in the room. At first, it seemed an evenly matched sort of chase, but after a while it became clear who was winning. Schneep had no weapon, and he didn’t understand his own powers, making his disoriented. It wasn’t long before Schneep was cornered—literally stuck huddling against the room’s corner, Anti looming over him.

JJ threw out his hand, and a circle of blue appeared above Schneep just in time to deflect the blow from Anti’s knife.

Anti scowled, turning his attention to the group who’d just entered. A smile twisted his face. “Someone’s h̵u̵͢ŗ͠ţ͟in̛g͞! Someone’s ś͟lo̵̴͞w̧.”

“Leave him alone,” Jack hissed.

“Or...?” Anti pressed his knife deeper into Jameson’s shield. Below him, Schneep was trembling, panting, eyes wide yet seeing nothing. “You can’t do a̴ņy͠ţ͝h͡įn͢g̴̢ about it! The f͞à͟͡k̀e̶ magician can only defend, my pu͢p͏̸p̡e̷͠ţ has no weapons, and you can only s͟͠e͡e̢̕ what’s wrong and n̛͞oth̷̀ì̷͞ng̢̕ else!” He laughed, and pressed down harder, sparks flying from the shield. It flickered. “In the end, you’re a̵̷̢̹̻̲l̷̵͕͟ļ̯̗̲̘̭͓̳͠l u̸s̷̢e̴l̡es͞͏s͢͝! So why not let me take out the one who does the ĺȩ̵ąs̨t̷͝ for you?!”

Schneep suddenly screamed and clutched at his head. The world shuddered, and slashed apart, slices of darkness appearing in between broken fragments. When it all settled, Schneep was gone.

Even Anti looked surprised at this, taking a few steps back. But he recovered, shaking his head and smiling at the other three. “Oh well. I can still take care of y͡͏̨o̷͟u̴̷”

Jack, Jameson, and Chase all glanced at each other. And in unison, they sprinted for the door.

The room behind them started to fall apart, wires flying out of the walls, pieces of furniture bursting, the ceiling collapsing right behind their heels. The three of them barely managed to get out the door, Chase and Jack pulling Jameson behind them. Anti screamed. Cracks full of static crawled along the wall, following them. “Keep going!” Chase yelled.

They ran.

— — — — — — —

They didn’t stop until they were at least a block away from the apartment building, and then they all collapsed to the ground in unison, breathing hard.

“What—was—that?!” Jack yelled.

Jameson shrugged vaguely.

“That was Anti,” Chase said, staring at nothing. He blinked, and a tear escaped. “A-and Anti was...was...” He buried his face in his hands.

Jack nodded. He felt...nothing. Just a sort of numbness. It didn’t hurt, though maybe it would later. But for now, it was just...empty. “They...they’re...”

“They can’t be.” Chase looked up. “They can’t be gone.”

Jameson looked up. Chase...maybe—

“No!” Chase suddenly shrieked. “They aren’t gone! An—he was lying! He just took them away again! They’re not him! They can’t be! They can’t! They...they...” He slumped, and let the tears flow. “They can’t have...done that to me. To us,” he sobbed.

Jack didn’t say anything. There was nothing he could say. But he reached over and gently picked up Chase’s hand. Chase squeezed it tight as he continued to cry.

They must’ve stayed there for ten minutes at least, sitting on the sidewalk as morning traffic drove by. Briefly, Jack wondered what onlookers would think, but he didn’t care. They needed this.

After a while, they all calmed, staring blankly out at the city. “Where are we supposed to go now?” Jack whispered.

Where did Henrik go? JJ asked. We have to find him.

Jack nodded. “But...we can’t just stay on the street. He could find us.”

Chase wiped his eyes. “I...I think I know a place.” He stood up.

Jack stood as well, pulling JJ up and letting him lean on him. “Really? Where?”

“It’s...some way away. We’ll have to walk a while,” Chase admitted. “I just hope she’ll let us stay.”

“Oh.” Jack nodded. “I see.”

“C’mon, let’s hurry,” Chase said. “The sooner we get somewhere safe, the sooner we can figure out what to do next.”

And in silence, they started walking.

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticegos #septic egos #septic egos au #antisepticeye #marvin the magnificent #jackieboy man #chase brody #jameson jackson #dr schneeplestein #brigid writes fanfiction #fixing stitching #stitchedstories

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littlemisssquiggles · 5 years

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You know this has been bothering me for a while now... How do you feel about people dropping the show? I mean, I'm currently not that close anymore and I am willing to give Volume 7 another chance (but I keep my expectations veeeery low since I am so tired of being disappointed like I was with Volume 6 - it started out good and I really much liked the two Apathy episodes, even though they had narrative weaknesses in my opinion), also thanks to you. I just want to know what you think about it.

Hello again Mizu! Firstly, let me apologize for taking so long to respond. I’mbacklogged on questions to answer in my inbox so I’m slowly working my waythrough them. Secondly pleased to hear you’ve decided to give the new season achance.

To be honest with you fam, I honestly have nothing against folks who wish to drop RWBY. As I’vebeen telling you before, folks are entitled to feel the way they feel---be itgood, bad or indifferent.

Basically what I’m saying is, I understand that everyone’s viewson RWBY aren’t the same and I respect that. I respect the fact that there arefolks who are genuinely loyal to the series and will continue to support it tothe very end, just as much as I acknowledge and respect the views of the folkswho are genuinely disappointed with the series or rather, they’re disappointedwith the direction in which the series has changed since V3---the last seasonits original creator---Monty worked on, I believe, before he sadly passed away.

When it comes to indulging in media, myideology stands as this: if you’ve come to a point where you’re watching apiece of media that you used to indulge in but the overall positivefeelings--- love, joy and entertainment--- you once felt for it when you firststarted is no longer there, then you’re more than welcome to drop it if you sodesire.

Or you can take a break from it and come back later. Heck you can evendrop it but still remain a part of its FNDM, not necessarily following the showanymore but still enjoying other things like fanart and fanfic. No one is atfault for wishing to stop watching a series they once loved nor are they atfault for wanting to leave it/ take break from it only to come back later. Youdo you, dude.

In terms of RWBY, I’m half and half. Iunderstand why folks would wish to continue to watch the series; but at thesame time, I understand why folks would wish to drop it. The series, whilestill entertaining and enjoyable in some parts (at least to me) has admittedly madesome rather questionable choices in regards to certain aspects of the writing within therecent last arc.

Questionable choices which unfortunately left a lot of fansdisappointed. As a matter of fact, I think disappointed is an understatement.But like I said before, folks are entitled to feel the way they feel andthey’re allowed to express their feelings, thoughts and opinion if they feelthe need.

Where I may take issue with folks whodrop RWBY, however, is if they turn into one of those kindred spirits over inthe RWBY Hatedom. RWBY is the one series I know where it has a community of people who dislike the show as much as the ones who love it. And they’ve very vocal about it too.

It’s perfectly cool if you feeldissatisfied with the way things are being done with RWBY but where that becomes problematic, in my opinion, is when it turns to bitterness which then leadsto you attacking people and downright disrespecting them. This is inclusive of notjust the fans who still support RWBY but also the members of theCRWBY.

I get that people didn’t like the waythings were done with the show but that still doesn’t give you the right todisrespect the people working on it. One habit that I’m tired of seeing from theHatedom is their incessant use of throwing Monty’s name around as a means toridicule the current state of the show.

Regardless of whether or not you don’tlike the way the showrunners have written the show, you still have to show themsome level of respect. And continuing to use the name of the show’s deceasedcreator to scrutinize the efforts of the same people---some of which wereMonty’s friends and original colleagues---is just beyond disrespectful.

If I may talk about Monty here for abit, it honestly disgusts me whenever I go into forums discussing fan reviewsof RWBY and still see people leaving comments such as “Monty wouldn’t have liked this” or “You’veruined Monty’s vision” and all that jazz.

Seriously, how entitled of a fan must you be to act as if you knew Monty personally enough toimply that he wouldn’t have liked the way RWBY is now?

Who do you think will have the moral high ground in this predicament of deciding how RWBY should continue? The people whopersonally knew and worked with Monty when RWBY first started and are doing thebest they can to keep the show running? Or the so-called fans who continue towatch the series just to mock the efforts of Monty’s former friends and colleagueswhile constantly throwing his name in their faces as an insult.

You tell me.

What happened to Monty was sad and I’mmostly saying that as a longstanding fan of his. Like many RWBY fans, I didn’tknow Monty personally. I knew him mostly through his work. Monty was a creatorwho got an opportunity that most of us creatives with our our stories to tell couldonly dream of. He got a chance to bring his story to life only to unfortunatelypassed away while working on it.

It’s one thing to be disappointed withsomething you used to love but it’s another thing when your anger andresentment makes you disrespectful. It’s not cool when former fans of RWBY become people whoconstantly look for ways to talk down the show. I can sympathize with the FNDMfam members who were upset with the development of the show but where Ican’t take your side is if that dissatification leads to contempt.

I’ve said this before and I’m going torepeat it again. RWBY isNOT a flawless show. It never has been and quite frankly,it’ll probably never be as perfect as fans want it to be. But what I havelearnt is that RWBY is a show that’s much like the man who created it. It keepsmoving forward. Each season it tries to do better than the last and it shows.

I know certain parts have not been sogreat but I have to acknowledge the ones that were. I know some of usweren’t 100% pleased with how V6 turned. However, I will say this. Prior tothat season, the Writers promised that they were looking into some of the criticismsleft behind from past seasons and were working to fix him. Did they live up tothat? To quote Ozpin, in some ways yes and in other ways, no.

V6 still unfortunately suffered fromthe same issues with the writing that fans disliked back in V5. But what I willpoint out that it didn’t start off that way. I think we can all admit that thefirst half of V6 (C1 to C7) was done well. The other half….....er....not so much. Butit’s still worth noting that there is good within the bad.

This is why I personally will keepgiving the series a chance. Speaking for myself here, I’ve been on the RWBY train since thevery beginning and sink or swim, soar or crash, I’m staying on-board till thisseries reaches its final destination. Because outside of that fact that thereare still things about the show that I enjoy and love, I’m also very, verycurious to see where exactly the CRWBY Writers are taking this story of theirs.

Monty may not have been able to joinMiles and Kerry in progressing the show he made; however Miles and Kerry arecontinuing it. They are telling theirstory now in direct correlation to the onethey kicked off with Monty.

What that story is overall? How is it gonna go for future seasons and arcs andmore importantly, how is it all gonna end? Those are questions with answers I’mstill interested to know. And until the day comes when I no longer care aboutthese things with RWBY, I’m gonna stick around and try my best to enjoy the ride alongthe way---whether it cruises calmly or runs over a couple of rough patches andbumps. It’s fine. I’ve got plenty of tolerance.

I see a lot of potential for betterwriting in RWBY. I’m just patiently waiting for the season where the Writersfinally find their groove since I think they were struggling during the MistralTrilogy. RWBY isn’t perfect but it’s a show with folks who admittedly do theirbest to improve on it as the seasons go.

They may not land every time but theeffort is still worth appreciating in some sense-- well at least I know appreciate it especially when they get things right cause, contrary to what othersmight believe, not everything about RWBY is completely bad. As a matter offact, some of it is arguably not as bad as folks let it out to be. But I understand that’s amatter of opinion. Can’t honestly speak for other FNDM members. Only my squiggly self here.

Now mind you, none of the stuff I’vementioned about the RWBY Hatedom applies to you Mizu. I know we’ve only chatted once or twice between Q&A but forthe most part, you’ve been quite humble and a pleasant person to talk to.

Despite your voiced issues with the current run of RWBY, you’vemaintained a cool, respectable air about yourself and that’s great. Please keep that up. Regardless of what happens during V7. Regardless of whether youchoose to stay or go with RWBY during or after V7, do your best to remain as humble as you as much as possible. That’s basically the bottom line point I’m trying to say here.That goes for you and anyone else who’ve been feeling the same way you haveabout the show.

Just stay humble guys. Opinions can be different but still maintain that R-E-S-P-E-C-T and that goes for both sides.

And, yeah, that’s pretty all I gottasay. I hope I actually answered your question. I feel like I did. As always,feel free to let me know. In the meantime, take care.

~LittleMissSquiggles(2019)

#squiggles answers: rwby #oscar pine #rwby #mizuike #squiggles answers

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stranger-who-writes-fiction · 4 years

Text

Everything Awesome about COIE Hour 3

MANY THINGS OCCURRED!

This one is Long, guys.

Also a more accurate title would be Everything Awesome and some Less So about COIE Hour 3

But I wanted the posts to match, so.

So I never watched Birds of Prey because I never knew it EXISTED when it was on, but as a fan of the Birds of Prey team in general, and the characters Huntress and Oracle...not gonna lie, t’was sad to hear Helena desperately calling out to Barbara before they were destroyed by the anti-matter wave. So I give that cameo a thumbs up.

How is it only just NOW occurring to me that the Waverider (Wave Rider?) is serving the same function as the Monitor’s Satellite from the comics????

J’onn!!!! I’m so glad he’s here! Bearing news about the supporting cast of Supergirl! And the entirety of Earth-38!

So glad that they’re alive! And safe! And not dead! And that they are sure to remain that way, for the rest of the crossover! XD

And then J’ONN IS THE PARAGON OF HONOR!

It’s what he deserves.

And then like four different subplots are set up in short order: They gotta to to Purgatory to get Oliver’s soul; they gotta get Ryan Choi; they gotta go to the cave where the Anti-Monitor was hanging out until fairly recently; Kara’s gotta be talked out of using the Book of Destiny.

It’s...a lot.

Also Vibe is back!

“Maybe you didn’t hear me under those voluminous mutton chops of yours--!”

Another nice Iris/Barry scene, BUT, for my money, it’s the second one, later in the episode, that really tugs at them there heartstrings.

All the Pariah stuff is as accurate as the Arrowverse could possibly MAKE a Pariah. Good, solid, good.

Then the British Fellows Ham it Up for a few minutes, before The Soul Searching group goes to Lian Yu, because of COURSE it’s Lian Yu, as if Oliver would allow his soul to languish anywhere else.

Then we’re back in the Anti-Monitor’s room domain and COSMIC TREADMILL! AW YIISSSSSS

All of the good treadmill jokes have been made already so I’ll just move on.

This is very comic-y! The Anti-Monitor used Barry to power his Anti-Matter ray in the comic, and he ultimately destroyed it as well, dying in the process.

HERE, we discover that when Earth-90 Barry vanished last year, he was captured by the Anti-Monitor, and then CONDEMNED TO A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH; HE WAS TO RUN, FOREVER, ON A TREADMILL.

(...Pretty sure that joke was made on the after show, but I couldn’t help it. IT WAS RIGHT THERE.)

So they bust Earth-90 Barry out with the help of Jefferson!!!!

I love that he’s got his line in there, the, ‘whose life is this’ line. Good, yes, good.

(Listen: there is no greater proof that the Arrowverse will go back to some version of the multiverse model, than Jefferson’s inclusion here.)

I’m getting a little ahead of myself...BACK TO THE OTHER SUBPLOTS!

Ryan Choi is great! I don’t keep up with Legends, but it’d be cool if he stuck around, since Ray is leaving.

ALSO GREAT???? Routh Supes’ explanation of the black shield. ‘Hope cuts through the darkness.’

(And the Superman theeeeeeeme I never tire of hearing it)

There’s some Kate and Kara stuff here but I wanna cover that later so FIRST...

The Oliver reunion on Lian Yu happened way too fast! But then, many things happened way too fast! But this one REALLY FELT WAY TOO FAST.

Like: He’s ready to kill us! But no? YAY, OLIVER IS COMING BACK! But No? Wait, he’s Spectre now????

But also...SPECTRE!!!!!!

Spectre is the deus ex machina of the Crisis comic, so it’s fitting that he’s just. A sudden thing that pops up out of LITERAL NOWHERE and is apparently vital.

So I guess Oliver’s final form ISN’T Team Dad, it’s Mysictal Green Hooded Guy.

(Man we should have seen this coming.)

(I like that Oliver is Spectre, just to be clear.)

Iris’ pep talk with Ryan was lovely.

(And then there’s the moment I mentioned earlier, where Barry’s like, ‘I might die’ and Iris is like, ‘I don’t want to go, I want to be with you.’)

(I will admit...that part got me a little.)

HEY FLASH FANS, HOW DO WE FEEL ABOUT THE FACT THAT LITERAL YEARS OF TEASING LED UP TO A BAIT AND SWITCH, HUH????

I honestly don’t know if I’m impressed or annoyed by this cop-out.

I will give them props for the inclusion of the original Flash show footage, that was very nice.

(And I say that as someone who has but a passing familiarity with the original TV show.)

The disintegration effect, as well as the Flash emblem being the only thing left, are really great direct homages to art from the comic.

I’m gonna talk more about this part LATER so let’s jump back toooooo....

Oh! The Barry and Jefferson scene!

It was so niiiiiice.

Very emotional, and a nice bonding moment, and this bit:

“I don’t think Henry and Alvin raised quitters, so we should rage against the dying of the light.”

FEEEEEEEEELIIINNNGSSSSS

Another Kate and Kara bit, which again, I wanna get into in a minute, BUT, before we do, I will say that: this buddy dynamic is very nice, but it takes the place of the Kara and Alex stuff from crossovers past, which I might have been okay with...if not for the severe LACK of Danvers Sisters content in the SG season proper.

Here’s hoping 5B gives us...something.

(Also I know it’s very much because Kate is like, the lead of one of the five main shows being crossed over so obviously they’re teaming up instead of Alex and Kara hanging out but I just. Love the Danvers Sisters, okay?)

(Related side note: Really glad this crossover isn’t so focused on romantic pairings! It’s a nice change of pace! I mean we’ve got Iris and Barry obviously, as well as Lois and Clark but I’m just recalling the Double Wedding nonsense of Earth-X and...*shudder*)

(This is an improvement, IMO.)

OKAY OKAY HARBINGER’S BACK HERE WE GOOOOOOOOO

MIND CONTROL! BETRAYAL! DEATH! THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ENTIRE MULTIVERSE!

And crashing on this Vanishing Point because technically we’re HooOOooOOomeless!

Aw man I was so sad to see Routh Supes go...and be replaced by LEX, ugh.

(But it’s very Lex, so.)

And Kara’s desperate, ‘Kal, Kal! What do I do?’

OKAY so I kinda wanna talk about the Kara stuff, the Barry stuff, and the Kate and Kara stuff.

This crossover does some interesting things, re-contextualizing the two ‘Big Deaths’ from Crisis.

In the comic, both Kara and Barry die, and their deaths are kind of like...thesis statements, on their brand of heroism.

They’re willing to give up everything--even their very LIFE--to ensure the safety and survival of others.

And both are treated as kind of remarkable things, even among their peers, who are other, selfless superheroes.

Which is WHY...the Barry thing is kind of...a massive let down.

In the after show, Marc Guggenheim talked about how they could have their cake, and eat it too, because Barry was ready to give up his life, but was denied the opportunity.

And...I get that logic, but man, they spent all of season 6A dragging out that ol Barry-Dies-Angst.

And last season too! The WHOLE SEASON LONG PLOT with Nora was centered on Barry’s disappearance during Crisis and thus, her growing up without him and now...

That’s all just out the door? Because a different Barry decided to take his place? AN ELEVENTH HOUR LOOPHOLE?

It’s so audacious...that’s why I’m also kind of impressed, as well as annoyed.

And they don’t quite do the same thing with Kara, since they haven’t so much as TEASED anything resembling her comic death--I kind of assumed they might with the Book of Destiny stuff, but she didn’t even open the thing.

(And ultimately this is GOOD because if they’d done something similar to Barry--a last minute bait and switch--HOO BOY. There would have been...WORDS. OF STERN DISAPPOINTMENT.)

Instead, the crossover frames living as the more heroic option, because these heroes are Paragons, and thus are needed for some...other purpose, put in motion by the Monitor.

So if they die, they’re actually DOOMING the multiverse.

As mentioned! It’s kind of an interesting inversion, and until we know being a Paragon fully entails--it is difficult to say if it’s a positive or negative change!

(Still love that Kara and J’onn are Paragons, tho, cause they’re my Favs.)

OKAY so that’s the Kara and the Barry stuff. NOW, for the Kate and Kara stuff!

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE KRYPTONITE, MY DUDES.

Yeah, you thought we were DONE talking about Supergirl-specific plot lines...BUT THINK AGAIN!

LET’S TALK ABOUT HOOOOOWWWWW Kate was gonna use that Kryptonite...BUT DECIDED NOT TO, AND THEN WILLINGLY HANDED IT OVER TO KARA because she knew that 1.) SHE WOULDN’T NEED IT and 2.) Kara deserved to have the deadly poison THAT IS ONLY POISONOUS TO HER AND HER SINGLE SURVIVING BLOOD RELATIVE to decide how to dispose of it.

AND THEN...Kara tells Kate to keep it, and I thought, for one HORRIFYING MOMENT, that Kara would insist that she might someday NEED it, should Kara ever go rogue, thus VINDICATING every stupid pro-Kryptonite debate ever BUT...

NO! Instead she’s like, ‘I know you won’t use it!’

And folks.

Folks.

If nothing else. If nothing else. Please. PLEASE. Let this fun week of death and destruction be a learning moment for Kara, that she both HAS and DESERVES better friends, than a woman who casually subjected her to Kryptonite to further her own ends.

PLEASE, SHOW, PLEASE.

Anyway! That’s hour three! And now we have to wait an ENTIRE MONTH to see how this plays out! XD

#stranger speaks #COIE spoilers #crisis on infinite earths spoilers #long post #DCTV #SG post

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worryinglyinnocent · 5 years

Text

Adventures of Worry and Captain Scarlet (again)

I actually made notes of my thoughts on the last few episodes I watched. I lumped them all together in one post to stop me spamming everyone with stuff that no-one but me is interested in.

I’ve only got the series finale left now, and I’m sort of concerned about watching it in case someone does something irretrievable. I’m looking at you here, Conrad...

So without further ado, the hopefully humorous observations of Worry...

Episode 2.9: Storm at the End of the World

You know, if I was showrunning I would have just called this episode ‘Ragnarok’.

How do you get a fucking Druznik from Russia to the US? *remembers that the easternmost point of Russia and the westernmost point of Alaska aren’t actually that far away from each other and Druzniks are almost indestructible.* Oh, yeah.

(Two seconds later the mystery is solved when they mention that there’s a bridge over the Bering Strait...)

Fucking hell, Mysterons, an entire town? You’re getting desperate...

Official Spectrum snow suits!

Boys, boys... Never trust free coffee!

Adam looks cute asleep.

Oh boys... Please tell me that Elaine and the Angels are going to come and rescue them with an ‘honestly, men’ comment.

Paul only ever has stubble in the episodes where there is snow. Does it just automatically grow in response to the cold, or what?

Adam! No!

THEY SHOT ADAM!

WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT? ADAM HAS NEVER DONE ANYTHING WRONG EVER! The poor bloke is the most put upon guy in Spectrum AND NOW HE’S BEEN SHOT!

A part of me seriously thought that Paul and Adam were going to kiss after Adam did his whole ‘leave me behind and go and save the world’ bit. That same part is mildly disappointed that they did not.

Is he seriously... Are they seriously going to kill Adam off? Dudes! This is a not kids’ TV show!

Ah, Elaine arrives to save the day! At last! “We kinda knew where to find you.” *looks around at exploded town and burning debris*

How the fuck did they know to bring the doctor??

Episode 2.10: Duel

Adam wastes no time in making up for lost time whilst recuperating from being shot last episode by crashing into a building. Glad to see that the events of Ragnarok did not dampen his enthusiasm!

I love the contrast of the super sleek Spectrum vehicles and the hideous old bangers on the road...

They are all over the cheesy one liners. We’ve had four and we’re only six minutes in.

Proof that the Skybase staff do actually own civilian clothing. And do actually wear it on Skybase. Yay!

Gotta love the fact that Serena and Destiny’s beachwear is still in their signature colours even though they’re off duty.

Hi Magenta! Has your accent improved any?

(He ended up not having any lines so I couldn’t tell.)

Conrad! Woot! Long time no see! You haven’t been around in person for five episodes! (Being a hallucination in Syrtis Major doesn’t count.)

Actually, that’s a point. Conrad’s only actually been in two episodes this season, and he’s been a hallucination in two more. Hmm.

As much as I am hoping for redemption for Conrad before the end of the series, I do love his Bond-villain-level-crazy evil plans.

I will admit that when I saw the title of this episode I was disappointed that I probably wouldn’t be getting pistols at dawn, or sword fighting. Or even light sabers. However, Conrad yelling ‘en guarde!’ in a heavy duty space exploration vehicle is a suitable alternative.

Conrad? Conrad? Are you ok? Speak to me! You can’t die with only three episodes left! You are very good at surviving unsurvivable things and there being no trace of you when they go to scrape your remains out of the wreckage! You’ve done it before!

And he’s done it again. Yay!

The part of me that is still holding to the theory that Conrad either can’t or won’t outright kill Destiny is wondering what would have happened if Paul had just told Conrad that she was in the complex he was about to blow up...

Episode 2.11: Shape Shifter

I love gecko-grip technology.

Those body shapes look female.

Or maybe not.

Mysterious gas is never a good sign, people! Did you learn nothing, nothing from Syrtis Major???

That is very clean sewer water. Is sewage too hard to animate or what?

I TOLD YOU THAT THE MYSTERIOUS GAS WAS NOT A GOOD SIGN, PEOPLE! Honestly, whatever goes wrong now, it’s your own fault.

How long before this weird-gaseous-thing-that-can-shapeshift-into-anything-it-touches meets the colonel and proceeds to cause havoc?

I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to all Lousiana rednecks for their absolutely atrocious portrayal in this episode.

I was quite alarmed by how pissy Destiny has been acting all episode, before remembering that this is the second time she’s had her boyfriend turn evil on her. Poor girl. She’ll be wondering what she’s doing wrong.

Hi Magenta! Has your accent improved any?

(Again, no lines. Maybe they realised that his accent was too weird for him to speak again after that one episode.)

In which Captain Scarlet is sort of compared to a ham sandwich.

Oh look. This weird-gaseous-thing-that-can-shapeshift-into-anything-it-touches has met the colonel and proceeded to cause havoc.

Everything was going well until his arm turned into what appears to be a lamppost...

Episode 2.12: Grey Skulls

Colt reminds me of someone.

Adam is all over the cheesy one liners again.

I am not at all happy that the only time we ever see the colonel laying into someone for fucking up, it is the only female captain.

Seriously people! You did really well by including more female representation and now you do this to me!

Yes Elaine, kick his arse!

(I feel I should point out that Elaine is not kicking the colonel’s arse at this juncture, as much as I would have liked her to.)

Dudes. Dudes. Have you seriously forgotten that Mysterons will literally vanish off the face of the planet when they’re compromised?

Colt (still reminds me of someone) is an alien conspiracy theory nut. Of course. Why not?

A ferris wheel? Seriously? You’re going to have your epic final confrontation on a ferris wheel?

I mean, it’s a ridiculously futuristic ferris wheel, but still. It’s a fairground ride.

More one liners! We’re all over them today!

I will sort of forgive the ferris wheel considering my best girl Elaine pretty much got an episode to herself.

In fact, on both occasions that they’ve had someone who’s not Paul lead an episode, it’s been a female character, the other being Destiny in Fallen Angels.

Hmm.

They are still not forgiven for my earlier point about the colonel, though.

Series finale tomorrow. For the love of God, Conrad, don’t let me down. You’ve got 22 minutes left in which to get de-Mysteroned and help save the world as we know it...

#New Captain Scarlet #Worry Watches New Captain Scarlet #Captain Scarlet #Captain Black

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pop-punklouis · 5 years

Note

hey hope!! i’ve completely run out of things to watch recently and was wonderinf if you had any recs of movies and tv shows??

HI!

It’s your lucky day because I have found myself in a hole of watching many new things lately that I’ve more or less found enjoyable so hopefully you will too? lol

1. Russian Doll: Nadia, a young woman who is on a journey to be the guest of honor at a party in New York City. But she gets caught in a mysterious loop as she repeatedly attends the same event and dies at the end of the night each time – only to awaken the next day unharmed as if nothing had happened.

(I know I’m late to the party with that one, but it is quite literally one of the best comedy-dramas I’ve seen in a long while, not to mention Natasha Lyonne, the ultimate babe, stars in it. It is, blatantly, obvious that the script was written by women (thank god) and it has a cool, mind-trip twist at the end that’ll have you guessing what actually was happening the entire time. Super easy to binge!! 10/10)

2. Perfume: When a woman is found murdered with scent glands excised from her body, a detective probes a group of friends who attended boarding school with her.

(A German mystery-crime-thriller that is way too convoluted and intertwined to know the real culprit of the grisly yet complex murders until the few minutes of the last episode. It has an incredibly intriguing script with intricate details and dialogue. Pleasantly surprised by how solid the entire storyline and characters were. TW though!! There are scenes of obscene sex, implied rape, domestic abuse, and sexual assault. So be careful if those things trigger you. Watching it in German with English subtitles is the way to go, though. Trust me.)

3. Handsome Devil: Two opposites, a loner and the top athlete become friends at a rugby-obsessed boarding school, and the authorities test their friendship.

(An irish coming-of-age LGBT film that, again, pleasantly surprised me with how well it was executed underneath the guise of an overly cliche storyline. It’s winning, compelling, and quite moving with how it tackles individuality in teens. It’s just a great film that takes tropes and turns them on their head by transforming the characters in their own way. Not to give too much away but the talk one of the boys have with the English professor on the rugby field at night is so, so important as an open dialogue.)

4. Dumplin’: The plus-size, teenage daughter of a former beauty queen signs up for her mum’s pageant as a protest that escalates when other contestants follow in her footsteps, revolutionising the pageant and their small Texas town.

(As you can probably guess this film is an emotionally-impactful conversation about self-acceptance that rides on the back of societal expectations of young women all tied together in a very heart-warming coming-of-age drama. Also there’s loads of Dolly Parton music. What else is there to say)

5. The Lobster: In a dystopian society, single people must find a mate within 45 days or be transformed into an animal of their choice.

(Isn’t a new watch, but I was reminded of it recently. Just an extended Black Mirror episode, pretty much. It’s odd. It’s bizarre. It’s engaging. It’s a lot of things, and they are great.)

6. Shirkers: In 1992 teenager Sandi Tan shoots Singapore’s first road movie with her enigmatic American mentor, Georges, who then absconded with all of the footage. The 16 mm film is recovered 20 years later, sending Tan, who is now a novelist living in Los Angeles, on a personal odyssey in search of Georges’ footprints.

(One of my favorite documentaries I’ve seen in a while, mainly because it doesn’t exactly feel like a documentary. It feels like you’re privvy to the incredibly frustrating, disheartening, and determined story of friendship, women-bound creativity, youth, and dishonesty when it comes to the mystery of where and why Georges disappeared. It’s also empowering in a way to see the transition of these young women reclaiming their lives after such betrayal.)

7. Grace & Frankie: For as long as they can recall, Grace and Frankie have been rivals. Their one-upmanship comes crashing to a halt, however, when they learn that their husbands have fallen in love with each other and want to get married. As everything around the ladies is coming apart, the only thing they can really rely on is each other.

(I’ve been living under a rock, sue me. This show is fanfuckingtastic. Just watch it. Just binge it. Just do it.)

8. Voyeur: Gay Talese investigates Gerald Foos, a Colorado motel owner who spies on his guests. Using a carefully constructed platform in the motel’s attic, Foos documents his guests most private moments, from the mundane to the shocking.

(Just a frustratingly and horrifyingly sad and strange recollection of two men who act as an incredibly interesting character study if nothing else. Recommend)

9. Some Freaks: A charming romance develops between a boy with one eye and an overweight girl, though when she loses her weight after going to college, their relationship is tested in devastating ways they never dreamed would happen.

(….. I still don’t know how I feel about this movie. I’ve watched it twice, once alone and once with a friend, and I’m still conflicted on my lasting thoughts about the film and its message. It’s definitely something I suggest watching, at least, to come to your own conclusions about how it made you feel. It’s just. uncomfortable in the strangest of ways, and I just need more people to converse about it with lmao)

10. The Kindergarten Teacher: A teacher sees such great promise in her 5-year-old student that she goes to unreasonable lengths to protect his talent.

(I watched this film on a whim one day while off from work, and I was pleasantly surprised by its depth and heartbreaking tendencies. This film does not evoke anything but unsettled feelings and yearning for both the young boy and the teacher. Many people tend to gloss over the fact that this film does so much more than its superficial narrative. it opens such a bigger conversation into what absence and neglect of personal creativity and art through someone’s marriage and family can cause them to in-turn have an unhealthy obsession with wanting to keep a child’s love/talent for art alive. Haunting but great film.)

11. Mr. Roosevelt: A struggling LA-based comedian goes home to Austin, Texas, when a family member becomes ill and finds herself in the awkward position of staying with her ex and his amazing new girlfriend.

(Friend found this hidden-gem on Netflix, and it’s such a quirky, comforting, easy-watch that I miss a lot in indie films. It’s progressive and weird in all the right ways, and it leaves you with a cozy feeling inside once the film reaches its end.)

12. Queer Eye Season 3

(You know the drill just more feel-good reality-television makeover that makes all of us a little bit happier about humanity’s ability to be kind)

13. Happy Anniversary: On their three-year anniversary, Molly and Sam are at a crossroads and need to decide whether to move forward or call it quits.

(Another hidden gem found on Netflix that I ended up thoroughly enjoying. It comes across as a real, genuine, non-exaggerated look at the inside of a couple’s relationship. It’s candid, fun, witty in dialogue, and heartwarming towards the end. I’ll admit I got a bit misty eyed at 1 AM lol also the dude who plays jean-ralphio is one of the mains so c’mon.)

14. Class Rank: When her class rank threatens her college plans, an ambitious teen convinces a nerdy peer to run for the school board to abolish the ranking system.

(Listen up, I watched this film because I was under the impression that it was going to be a b-rated teen film I could be amused by, but it ended up being a sorta cute story that I enjoyed a lot more than I probably should’ve RIP. Give it a shot).

15. Cam: A camgirl has her principles, until a mysterious woman who looks just like her takes over her channel.

(Don’t take the general critic review to heart and watch the film, yourself. It’s. a ride. It definitely gave me chills as much as it made me uncomfortable. A thriller with twists and uneasiness at every corner. Just a real creepy look into AI, especially in industries like the camgirl industry. I do want the girl’s play dungeon tho rip)

#hope you like at least a few of these!!#grey

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thestarsanddays · 3 years

Text

Sometimes I've wondered whether I have this many journals because I've tried so many times to keep one just for my bare thoughts with no specificities as for a prevailing topic or style, and so each journal represents a failed attempt at this. I know it must be tough on T having been betrayed by his best friend as he put it, with the thing between Italians and honor and...it's probably the first and sole (but very strong reason) S has never ever liked me. Even as the rain was pouring down outside and just four minutes before we could've reenacted the whole of the last scene in How I Met Your Mother (precisely, the show we watched when we finally got to the dorm) if it hadn't been because the train was already at the station and about to leave when we got there - even then I knew she never meant it when she said she'd tell me if she ever stopped by here, in Barcelona. I could believe it from A, the patient partner by the side of every intense person - from her...not really. Who cares now anyway? It's been long, they now live in the desert, quite literally, and they'll be married less than a year from now, so I got nothing to say about that particular night. Nothing else.

I don't miss the times in my own life when it was the norm for me to think and believe I had an ugly body, we were a poor family who lived in a poor state of mind, he did what he did because he didn't love me. You know, there's something complex which complexity I feel the need to call out and express at this point now, for my wellbeing. For the whole of me to stir and be warmed up. Looking into the past, which I don't particularly enjoy doing because the future interests me a hell of a lot more, I see now how nothing, no event, no brief moment, no change or turn, no second-person appearance was ever out of place. They weren't, and there's no way they could have been I think. I mean - and I've thrown this question out into the fresh nights of all and every season and also the yearly cycles these form - is there a possibility that an error in the Matrix could happen? Because an error in the Matrix would be no tiny little thing. And yet, about Covid, about finding someone I loved and that not being the right time, about certain crashes, about meant-to-bes that contemplate doors being shut...? I've called that 'errors of the Matrix' more than it'd make me look good to admit. Even when wearing these silver hoops that frame my face like I'm as pretty as...I'm inside. Still it doesn't convince me fully, the ramblings about fate-mistakes. Mistakes-in-fate? Dude girl, stop asking questions. It doesn't convince me, this fatalistic version of the story. So instead I've come to the conclusion that if none of these realities was off, if it went right as it had to - I kinda have to trust it did - then the discomfort the present brings every now and then regarding these things will inevitably be resolved, see its light, at some point in the future. And it happens that on looking back, knowing what was to come after certain moments, nothing seems that bad. Meanwhile, on the isolation of the situation in terms of time, the perspective was absolutely different. And so is it now, as well. No fail behind, no fail in front - the current pain will be solved, there's no other way.

I guess it never occurred to me I might have to leave for Denmark during this tempered, golden season of fall I so adore. Leave on a halt the tradition born last October of Friday chestnut-eating nights. No, let me try to reformulate it again: our Friday nights, eating roasted chestnuts and drinking wine and freezing-cold Jäger. I saw a Jäger bottle behind Robin's head (from the camera's standpoint, duh) today, 'cause I'm rewatching the entire thing, an attitude that doesn't surprise me because the show is freaking awesome. I belong to that team. But it feels bittersweet to have to leave them both - mom and M - to continue on with the tradition just the two of them. Although, they're not gonna say this explicitly, but I'm aware that the dynamics between them are much more fluid when I'm living on my own. Then, and let's not forget because I know none of the three of us would wanna repeat it if it was necessary (which I doubt it will) - then, after the fall tradition, we were forced to develop a whole new variant of all the previous Christmas traditions and customs, but this particular one involved us being alone just the three of us (+ the three cats) throughout the entirety of Christmas. We don't hate each other or anything like that, but Christmastime is for all of the people whom one loves, not only two of them. We wouldn't go back. And if my fulfilling the prognostics for a happy life involves not going all the way through the 'Friday nights, eating roasted chestnuts and drinking wine and freezing-cold Jäger' season, we're all good with that.

When my anxiety and obsessive, irrational thoughts come gripping at my throat, it is easy for me to already start the job of not breathing, before these things have succeeded in choking me which, on the other hand, they would never be able to do because their power lays in the lies and manipulation. When this takes place, I always feel God backing me up with the crystal-clear truth of things, nothing shady, nothing to hide from. Today, upon reflecting once more on my future - I often have to just sit quietly in the present instead -, and the fucking hideous thoughts bumping against my conscience as if by accident (the motherfuckers are such bad actors, by the way), God has revealed to me how the sad and worrying possibilities they show me for what's to come, are not really a part, a real possibility of what the future will bring, but instead are clearly a part of what I am indeed leaving behind - much baggage, much that isn't serving me any longer, a mentality conditioned by pain and trauma. I am entering a new season of many good riches, which I wholeheartedly welcome and say 'yes' to with arms and heart wide open because I know I deserve them, and every bit of them. Let it be, let it be, let it be. Proof is the physical, visual lights everywhere - like the candle we light up regularly in front of the Virgin - look so beautiful and warm, even when I'm beginning to wander the paths of freaking out, they say to me wordlessly - as light understands light - 'everything is going well, everything is okay.' And so it is.

#poetic prose

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jquinnthings · 6 years

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break the ice.

a/n: so i was pretty inspired after the pics of shawn at the hockey game came out cause shawn and hockey are my two favorite things and thus you get this. it’s pretty rusty cause i haven’t written anything non-school related in a long time and it’s my first rodeo in the world of shawn but i just had to get this out into the open, if only for myself. i have a few other ideas for cute little blurbs with hockey shawn but we’ll see what happens with those. hope you enjoy! :]

Shawn was the new kid in town and everyone knew it despite the fact that it had already been a few months since he moved out here. After a long conversation with his hockey coach that saw “a world of potential in him” and his parents, he made the decision to transfer to the university before their next season because of the esteemed hockey program it ran. It was common knowledge that they had trained a few pretty well known players, a couple of whom even went on to play in a professional league or two around the country. Shawn knew that if he even wanted a shot at playing hockey beyond the college level then this was where he needed to be. And he also knew that his life needed to revolve around the sport (and his education of course), with absolutely no distractions. He was here for business not pleasure which didn’t exactly make him the most popular new kid on the team.

Things were difficult for Shawn at first. He was extremely close with both his family and all his friends that he left behind in Toronto. Not getting to see them often or hang out was rough. He was lying if he said that there wasn’t a period of time when he thought that he wouldn’t make it. That maybe he just wasn’t cut out for this. But things got better. He loosened up a bit, especially when he got to know some of the other guys on the team. They got him to break a little out of his shell and to not be so serious all the time, only when it was required of him. He was starting to feel a little more like he belonged and just a little less homesick. Routine kicked in quickly with the start of the semester and things got even easier. Class, practice, schoolwork, sleep, repeat. Throw in the occasional team dinner or party at the hockey house and that was his life. Not that he was complaining though. This was exactly that he had wanted. It was why he was here.

It was another long practice after a long day of classes for Shawn. Normally he wouldn’t complain but with the first set of games coming up this weekend, the coach had been on their ass all week long. All he wanted to do was go back to his place and crash but he couldn’t think about that. Not when Shawn still felt he had to prove he deserved to be here to his coaches, his teammates, and himself.

After finishing one of the drills, Shawn skated over to where the rest of his teammates where already positioned. He tried to catch his breath as he grabbed one of the water bottles and took a long drink before scanning the arena. The rink was basically empty save his teammates, the coaching staff, and the few employees scattered around trying to prepare the arena for this weekend’s games. That was until a small figure sitting a few rows behind the player’s bench caught his attention. He had seen her linger around practices occasionally which always threw him off because they were generally closed to the public. She couldn’t have been a worker because she wasn’t wearing a uniform and if she was one of the athletic trainers or worked for the team, she wouldn’t just be sitting around; she’d be engaging with the coaches or players. Shawn sure as hell wasn’t complaining though cause she was gorgeous. He noticed it almost immediately and despite the fact that she was bundled in a heavy sweater, scarf, and beanie with her face in a book, she was still stunning. He needed to know who she was. Knowing his luck though, she was already taken by one of his new teammates and that was why she was bumming around during their practices.

“Dude,” He started as he nudged the shoulder of Cole, one of his buddies on the team, before nodding in her direction. “Who’s the girl over there? I’ve seen her around a bit.” Shawn was a little taken back when Cole patted him on the shoulder with a laugh and a shake of his head.

“No. Don’t even think about it man. Don’t go there.” Cole warned. Shawn couldn’t tell by his tone whether he was being serious or joking since he seemed pretty amused by what he thought was a pretty innocent question.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Confusion was written on Shawn’s face as he tried to discretely glance back towards the girl. There was clearly something that he was missing here. Obviously she came with a warning for a reason. His teammates had warned him about girls that liked to linger around the hockey players, but she didn’t give that vibe. Especially since it appeared that she wasn’t really paying all that much attention to practice.

Deciding to throw the new kid a bone, Cole leaned in as he joined Shawn in looking towards the girl. “That would be Sophie Brooks...” Cole paused to allow his words to settle with Shawn.

Brooks. Brooks? Why did that name sound so damn familiar to him? It took a couple of seconds for it to actually sink in, letting out a loud groan when it finally did. “Fuckk, you’re kidding right? Brooks? As in Coach Brooks? You mean to tell me that’s-”

“The coach’s daughter. That’s exactly who that is.” Cole answered, confirming his response with a sad smile. “Don’t worry bro, we’ve all been there. But like I said, spare yourself the trouble and drop it right now. Especially if you want to actually have ice time during any games this season. Last kid who tried that ended up getting benched for a couple of games.”

Trying not to seem too bummed, Shawn adjusted the visor on his helmet before giving Sophie another quick glance. Of course that would be his luck. Sure, she wasn’t taken but she might as well be. It was practically an unwritten rule that she would be off limits to him, especially if he ever wanted his skates to touch the ice during a game which was the entire reason he was here.

“Hey! Mendes!” He heard the coach scream from across ice, snapping him out of his little trance he was in. He quickly shifted his gaze to his coach, who didn’t seem too pleased that he missed his cue. “Would you like to join us in practice? Or want to divulge whatever conversation you’re having with your buddy here that’s more important than listening?!”

Shawn quickly shook his head and diverted his gaze down to his skates, grateful that Sophie was far enough away to see his cheeks turn red from being called out. He hoped she didn’t hear it, but that was only wishful thinking.

“Didn’t think so, now run the damn play!!”

Shawn spent the rest of practice trying to actually focus on hockey and not the girl that was sitting a few rows up, watching on. The last thing he wanted was to be embarrassed in front of everyone and to get on the coach’s bad side so early in his first season with the team. For the most part he was successful. The rest of practice was uneventful and after a quick shower and gathering all of his equipment into his hockey bag, he was bidding his teammates goodbye and heading to his Jeep to go home for the night.

Readjusting the bag over his shoulder as he got closer, he spotted Sophie loading a few things into her own car. Popping open his hatch, Shawn tossed his equipment bags into his Jeep before slamming the door shut and glancing over at her. “You need any help with that?” He knew he was playing with fire but offering a friendly hand wasn’t off limits. Shawn was just being the gentleman that he was raised to be. His mother would be proud.

Sophie smiled and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear before she politely declined. “Oh, thank you but it’s only a few more bags so I think I can handle it.”

He had to admit that he felt a little bit defeated by her dismissal and he tried his damnest not to show it, just offering her a simple shrug before starting to turn back to his car. So much for playing it smooth and trying to at least make small talk with her, but maybe it really was for the better. Shawn certainly perked up though when he heard her soft voice again.

“Wait, you’re the new kid right? The transfer from Toronto? You play, uh, right wing! It’s Shane right?” Another chuckle fell from her lips as she glanced away from him. “Sorry. It’s how I keep all of you straight.”

Shawn wanted to be upset or at least a little bummed that she hadn’t quite gotten his name right but she seemed to at least know a little bit about him so that had to mean something. It definitely had to be good, or at least that’s how he was going to take it. Even if she made the off-handed comment that she did it with all his teammates too. Rubbing the back of his neck nervously, he let out a small chuckle before nodding. “It’s actually Shawn, but yeah. That’s me.”

“My bad, Shawn. It’s nice to meet you.” She repeated. Suddenly he was very okay with correcting her after hearing her say his name with a quiet giggle. God, he was screwed if after only a few words, barely even a conversation, he was giddy and clinging to holding onto their conversation for as long as possible. “And you’re Sophie, right? Coach Brook’s daughter.”

Laughter escaped her lips as she pulled her jacket closer to her frame and rocked back and forth on her heels a few times. “Ahhh, so the boys have already warned you about me. Interesting. Hopefully it’s all been good things.”

“No! No! I mean of course they’re good things. Not that much has been said really. It’s nothing like that though. I was just curious was all.” Shawn scrambled to try to explain himself but was failing miserably. He could feel his cheeks heating up and could only imagine how red his face was slowly turning. This was not going well. He should have done the smart thing and just hopped in his Jeep and drove off instead of embarrassing himself in front of her. Quite the first impression he was leaving with her.

“Curious, huh?” She asked with a raise of her brow before switching the subject. “It’s good that they warned you though. It’s probably needed. Everyone thinks that it’s the coach that you have to impress but it’s actually me. I’m the tough Brooks. I’ve heard a lot about you though listening to my dad ramble on and on after he heard you were officially joining the team. You have a lot to live up to. Let’s hope you’re up for the challenge.” She sent him a small smirk before loading the last of her things into the car and wandering to the driver’s side. “I’ll see you on the ice Mendes. Better be bringing your A game.” She said with a wide grin before climbing into her car and pulling out of the spot before he could even respond.

Shawn could only stand still as he watched her drive off. Oh he was gonna be in a lot of trouble. So much for no distractions.

#blurb #shawn mendes blurb #it's not the greatest but i enjoyed writing it #who knows how long i'll keep it up

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cescalr · 6 years

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Teen Wolf Backstories Pt. #1

There's this thing.

You see, in Teen Wolf, the backstories for characters is something that's a little hard to come by. A little muddled, a little biased, or fully missing - backstories for characters, they're a limited resource. We know Derek's, as much as is necessary, we know some of Peter's, we know a fair bit about Deucalion, we know some of the Sheriff's - more now, thanks to season 6, so I suppose it was good for something - we know a bit about Claudia, we know a whole lot more about Garret Douglas than I care to know, we know a little about Stiles and Scott and Theo and Malia, but we don't really know a whole lot - and when it comes to Lydia and Jackson and Aiden and Ethan and Danny and Melissa and Agent McAsshole (whoops, sorry, Agent McCall) and Chris and Kate and everyone else, it's pretty much a blank slate.

Here's what we know for Scott (since as he's the main dude, he'll go first):

Scott lived with his Mum and Dad McAsshole when he was little, and moved to beacon hills during the fourth grade; so when he was about nine, with them.

Agent McAsshole left after a drunken bout of 'accidental' child abuse never to be seen again (well, unfortunately showing back up again unwanted during season three).

Melissa got a divorce (???) at some point, though she kept McAsshole's last name (????) for some reason (??????)

Scott was diagnosed with Asthma when exactly? Did he have an attack and that was how it was found out? What?? Tell meeee-

Scott was befriended by Theo who was asthmatic (? or manipulative and a liar, take your pick) and by association Stiles.

Likely bullied a little by Jackass but probably being friends with the likes of Stiles and Theo, that would have ended very quickly if it did indeed happen in the first place (I feel like it probably did).

Stopped being friends with Theo probably at the start of fifth grade when Theo was nine/ten and killed his sister, basically forgot about him after that; they weren't really close, though he easily recognised him - which could either mean Scott has a really good memory or Theo looks really similar to how he used to look.

Didn't know Stiles when Stiles' mum had recently died, see Stiles' bit on having panic attacks when his mum died and having to say this implying that Scott hadn't known that - so they likely became friends after Stiles' panic attacks stopped for the most part, which means maybe Scott wasn't really friends with them until the end of fourth grade regardless so he didn't have much time to be friends with Theo anyway (????)

Scott didn't know Heather existed - Stiles explained why they were going to her party - so Stiles was his only friend after Theo left (and vice versa)

Nothing interesting happened until sophomore year, when he got bitten, and voila, the start of the series.

Okay, so that was a little more cohesive than I thought, onto Stiles:

Born and raised in Beacon Hills

Claudia diagnosed around about when he was six, I think?

Stiles diagnosed with ADHD may be a little after or before that, or maybe when he's seven, or eight, maybe they catch it late or maybe they caught it early, at five, or four, but I doubt that - maybe they didn't catch it while Claudia was ill, maybe they only caught the anxiety, maybe they only caught that after his first panic attack, when was that - was that before Claudia died or after? - maybe Stiles only got diagnosed after his dad stopped being massively alcoholic/workaholic and actually paid attention to him and his school reports, maybe Stiles started his medication when he was ten, eleven, twelve - who knows??? The show doesn't say. Stiles still has to reassure Scott that he's taken his Adderall in season one, so maybe Stiles started taking it after he met Scott, or maybe he's just reassuring Scott because he's acting a little frantic and Scott doesn't really get it - who knows, again??? Who Knows????

Basically, you can do a shit tonne with that, that's all I'm saying. I've got it at him being diagnosed at the same time Claudia gets her false diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder from her pretty crappy local doctor, so a year or so before Claudia gets hit with the knowledge of Frontotemporal Dementia - though I've definitely got scenarios of a different nature in my head, I assure you. Most if not all of my fics follow my current set-up with the story I've already got on AO3 in the Backstory Collection, but some don't. The ones in my head don't, whoops.

Stiles is friends w/ Heather when young enough to take baths with her and have that not be Weird - so really, really young, then. Likely because Claudia and Heather's parent(s) were friends - mother or father? Dunno. Do they stop being close-but-close-enough-to-get-invited-to-parties-and-send-Christmas-cards before Stiles befriends Theo, or after? Was it a trio of Heather-Stiles-Theo, for a while, or was it Stiles-Heather Stiles-Theo and then just Stiles-Theo? Was Erica a friend of his when young, or did he not speak to her ever until season two?? Did Stiles ever meet Isaac or Boyd or whatever - did Stiles want to be Boyd's friend because they used to be, or was it just something he wanted at the time?

WHO KNOWS

anyway, so that's that for that part

Stiles gets a 'crush' on Lydia in the third grade - he's the one to call it an obsession, not me - perhaps its more a fixation on something that isn't complicated? A way to distract himself from his problems at home?

Claudia attacks Stiles on the roof. Has she done this before? Has she done the physical part multiple times, the verbal, or both? How often? Or was it just the once? And did she go to Eichen House, and if so, was it before or after this incident? Also likely her words - 'he's trying to kill me' - left a scar called that guilt complex he carries around and also the thing where he thinks he's evil in season five after he unlocks this horrible memory.

Claudia dies when Stiles is eight/nine - going into fourth grade, I think.

Stiles starts having panic attacks, but as far as he knew they'd stopped by season two's time.

(oh, no they hadn't. My poor man.)

Stiles' dad starts heavily drinking and heavily working. Stiles starts having to look after the both of them - we see leftovers of this in the show; Stiles bringing his dad food and being really very insistent about what he eats, etc.

Stiles is friends with both Theo and Scott at this point, more the former than the latter, anyone else is gone.

Stiles stops being friends with Theo at the start of fifth grade, I guess, which is about the time Theo kills his sister - Stiles feels bitter and angry and alone, so alone, so he latches onto Scott and probably punches Jackson in the face a few times, and likely vows hatred of Theo for the rest of his life - but he could never think the worst of him, that's why he was so insistant that the Theo in season five wasn't Theo at all, but rather an imposter, a fake, because Stiles didn't want to think of his childhood friend that way - the kid who helped him through panic attacks, the guy that distracted him when his dad was drunk and rambling and useless, or at work for days on end - Stiles can't think of him negatively, because Stiles has always struggled with seeing the faults in those he cares about - struggled with admitting them to himself.

I guess sixth grade (???) and onwards is pretty boring? Fifth grade the Sheriff cleans up his act, or maybe it takes two years, and Stiles is eleven - who knows. But maybe, maybe, sixth grade and onwards until sophomore year things are quiet. Stiles drags Scott out to increasingly more illegal and dangerous activities because Scott made the mistake of whining about how boring their town is - and that's that. Stiles finds out about a body in the woods - and they go. And all hell breaks loose.

There's a bit more confusion there, I guess. Theo next:

Born in Beacon, raised by the Doctors (oh, what wonderful parental figures they make, Christ)

?????

Apparently Asthmatic, but that's ??? up in the air. Perhaps he lied. Theo does that.

Disliked his sister.

Didn't really have a positive connection with anyone ?? except Stiles.

Befriended Scott ??? who knows why. He didn't like the guy, after all, and he returned back to Beacon Hills to murder him dead, so perhaps he did it because Stiles liked Scott??? Who knows.

????

Killed his sister at the start of fifth grade ??? it was cold enough for her to have mostly died from Hypothermia, so ??? maybe more nearing December, but I don't know how cold it gets in fake California. Beacon County is where, exactly??

Tore his sister's heart out, got surgery, became the first successful chimera.

Went away with the Dread doctors.

His family???? Died?? I guess??? Theo's parents never did anything about their dead kid and the one who disappeared????

????????????????????????????????????????

a whole load of 'what'

??????????????????????????????????

Returns to beacon hills after eight years (wow, talk about long-term planning) to get a pack with a bunch of strangers and Stiles that part is very important and also maybe murder Scott dead because ??? Jealousy ???? of what?? Power? Likely. Stiles? Probably.

and canon from then on.

Well, that's a whole lot of ????????????? what, what happened, please tell us.

Yikes.

Anyway, Mals:

Born to Peter Hale and Corrine ???/The Desert Wolf

Talia removes Peter's memories of a kid and convinces the Desert Wolf to have her child, which in turn turns the Desert Wolf bitter about losing her powers to a homicidal extent

Malia is adopted by the Tates

Malia goes to a different school to Stiles and Theo (Lydia and Jackson and Scott, later on) because Beacon Hills is big enough for two?? Since Heather apparently is in a different school district as well

man beacon hills is not a small town

anyway, Malia has a pretty normal life until

Nine years old, full moon.

Birth Mother shoots at the car she and her sister and her mom are in, the car swerves and crashes, the panic causes Malia to shift, she claws and destroys her way out of the car, mauling and chewing and probably eating some of her family in the process.

Malia is stuck as a coyote.

Is in town in season three, canon from then on.

Well, that's depressing. Kira time!

a whole load of ?????????????????????

They arrive in Beacon Hills, canon from then on.

Wow, that's terrible. Yikes.

Lydia:

Born and raised in beacon hills

raised in money - she's likely a spoiled kid.

part of the popular crowd from an early age, but not too early

started hiding her intelligence at some point??? when I don't know. Middle school would be too late because too many people would know she was intelligent. Everything seems to happen in fourth grade, lmao, so maybe then??

Parents fight from a young-ish age, probably. I mean, they split at some point during the show, so ????

?????????????

Starts dating Jackson for the Image it gives.

??????????

Bad shit starts going down in her sophomore year.

That's very little information. I'm still more salty about how little we know of Kira, though, and at least we know this of Lydia.

Danny:

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Canon.

post season three: ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I'm bitter.

Boyd:

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

canon.

dies.

Forever bitter.

Erica:

maybe friends with Stiles/Heather/Theo, maybe not, maybe friends with Isaac/Boyd, likely not because they didn't want her to be happy, who knows-

?????????????????????????????

canon

dies.

still bitter.

Cora:

pretty decent childhood w/ the hales

FIRE BURNING IN FIRE

Saved by Peter

???????????????????????????

she isn't with Laura and Derek, so maybe she runs off into the woods?

regardless, apparently, she went to south America for some reason

???????????????????

caught by Alpha Pack

likely kills someone?????????

Maybe erica?????????

who knows??????????????????????????

???????

canon

post season four - ???????????????????

Yep, still salty.

Caitlin:

???????????????????

starts dating Emily (I'm pretty sure her name was Emily)

?????????????????????????

canon

post season 3a - ???????????????????????

????????????????????

Still bitter, still salty.

Welp. That's all for tonight. More later. Maybe. Probably not.

I've still got that goodbye teen wolf thing to do anyway. Oops.

#.txt #Scott McCall #stiles stilinski #theo reaken #malia tate #lydia martin #danny mahealani #caitlin #cora hale #vernon boyd #teen wolf #character backstory #forever bitter #anyway #kinda #tw: child abuse #just to be safe

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madegeeky · 4 years

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Giftening 2020: Obligatory Vote for These Post (spoiler version)

Want the non-spoilery version? Seriously, though, super spoilery for main plot points for a lot of these. Skip the ones you don’t want to know about.

Ones with * are my nominations, so you know where my biases lie. :P Ones in bold are my top pick for the categories. I did not include things that don’t need the boost (like Utena).

ANIME

Aggretsuko - A tv show about an unassuming shy red panda woman who works in an office building and deals with the stress of it by going to karaoke and screaming out death metal. The show largely deals with her making friends with two women who she admires and a dude who likes her. The dude who likes her is actually a geniunely interesting storyline because at the end of the first season (which I’ve not seen beyond), he basically admits that he’s built this image of her in his head that isn’t real and he wants to know the real her. (Which, fuck yeah.)

Fushigi Yuugi* - This is a story about two teens who used to be friends fighting over a man which is literally the antithesis of everything Jet is. And yet, Jet watched the whole damn thing. Watch her squirm as she has to deal with that in a liveblog format. You can get a preview of some of that in Doc’s liveblog of it that she did for Jet.

NON-ANIME ANIMATED

Archer* - This is an animated parody of James Bond made for adults. It's offensive as fuck because Archer, the titular character, is a James Bond stand-in and that character can also be offensive as fuck. In fact, one thing to appreciate about this show is that all the characters are shitty, awful people and the show never attempts to excuse their shitty, awful behavior. Plus, it's one of the few shows where half the main characters are women. I am a tiny bit hesitant to rec this for a liveblog due to the offensivness however, as far as I can tell it's not popular on tumblr, and those are generally the ones that cause the most trouble so...

Daria - The story of a misanthropic teenager, her family, and her best friend. The characters are specifically meant to appear to be tropes before slowly being unveiled as three dimensional people. It's got a dry sense of humor that I think Jet will enjoy. I actually didn't know until years after I watched this that it was a spin-off of Beavis and Butthead (which I hated) so don't let that dissuade you.

LIVE ACTION

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - I haven't seen past a certain point because it starts going super deep into exploring depression and that is one of my main triggers for a depressive episode, so I cannot speak of later eps. However, this show starts out funny and silly and evolves into a show exploring how toxic the main character actually is and how unhealthy her coping mechanisms are. It's amazing to see a character type whose actions are usually excused or written off as funny instead be specifically called out as being awful and toxic. (It was a Shit Show is still one of the best songs I've ever heard and Mr. Geeky and I sing it to each other whenever shit hits the fan.)

Hannibal* - If you know of Hannibal, you know the basics premise is that of a man who eats people and is chased by the FBI. The writing in this is some of the best writing I've ever had the pleasure of seeing in a piece of media: it's subtle, smart, and trust its audience to follow along without having their hand held. However, what's really great about the TV show is that it's not afraid to do its own thing. It constantly fucks with your expectations and deconstructs and explores tropes in ways I've never seen before. I haven't seen the ending yet but I highly doubt it's going to end in a place where Silence of the Lambs will happen. The acting is fucking great and even though Anthony Hopkins gives an amazing performance as Hannibal Lector, after seeing Mads Mikkelsen play him there's no going back to Hopkins. In general, if you're looking for something original (which is ironic considering it's based on a book and there are several movies) and smart, I cannot recommend this enough.

Russian Doll* - (Doc, please skip this one, as in 5 years when you're done with Two Storms, this is one of the things I'm considering nominating should I ever win a liveblog again.) I don't really know how to explain this show because it's so fucking weird and is so focused on character and ideas that the plot is both super simple and extremely complicated. It's a story about a woman who starts to relive the same day over and over again except, instead of the typical thing where it starts over when she falls asleep, it's only until she dies (so sometimes she lasts for hours, other times for a couple days). However, almost immediately there are signs that something else is going on, that something outside of the main character's repeating day, something has gone horribly wrong. (Count the fish.) It's a very thoughtful, character-driven show, more about exploring ideas than plot which I, personally, didn't mind at all. Another one I highly recommend overall with much less blood and gore than Hannibal.

Xena - IT'S FUCKING XENA PEOPLE! Okay, but just in case you don't know what the show is about is through cultural osmosis, Xena is a show about a woman who used to be a truly horrible murderous bitch and her continual attempts to make up for the wrongs she has done. The main relationship in the show is between Xena and her (girl)friend, Gabriel, and although the show can be ridiculously silly (time is made up and history doesn’t matter!), it also explores deep, dark issues. One of the best things this show explores is the idea of redemption and forgiveness and that perhaps nothing Xena does will ever get her those things.

LIVESTREAM

Crank* - Jason Statham plays a man who has been given a poison that slowly cuts off his adrenaline, meaning that eventually he'll die. He has to do increasingly ludicrous things to get his adrenaline pumping overtime to make up for it slowly being cut off. It's one of the most fucking bananas thing you'll ever watch but is just a bunch of fucking fun. (CW: Public sexual assault. I only mentioned because it’s a scene that last for a bit. It's a complicated scene so I won't get into it here but send an ask if you want more details.)

Dale and Tucker vs Evil* - Dale and Tucker, two hillbilly best friends, are going into the woods to fix up their vacation home when they stumble across some college kids. Random circumstances make the college kids think D&T have kidnapped their friend and so they decide they need to attack D&T to get her back. Hijinx ensue. I don't want to say much more because there's a moment that is, to this day, still one of the funniest fucking things I've ever seen, largely because I did not see it coming.

GAMES

Doki Doki Lit Club - This is a game about games. You play a guy in a dating sim. Your first playthrough everything seems normal enough. You join the literature club, meet and talk to girls, and then one of the girls commits suicide. And then game restarts and the girl who committed suicide just... doesn't exist anymore. Your replay the exact same days but it's as though she never existed. Things only get weirder from there. This game does a great job of turning dating sim tropes on their head, as well as exploring games in general. (Content warning for a lot of things. Let me know if you want more details.)

Slime Rancher (stream) - There's really not much to spoil here. You play a woman who is in charge of a ranch full of slimes. There's some messages you'll find, left by the old owner, telling story about their romance. There also some messages between you character and a deliberately gender-ambiguous significant other. And that's about the closest to story you get. Otherwise it's just catching and ranching slimes.

Subnautica* - Fucking fuck I love this game. When this game first starts it appears to be your typical survival game with no real direction other than what you want to explore. But then you find an alien structure. And you realize that your spaceship didn't randomly crash. And you find out that there's no way get off this planet except to explore deeper and deeper and find out what the aliens were doing on this planet. A genuinely beautiful story, told mostly through entries in data pads and voice messages left behind, this ending is one of the most moving ends I've ever experienced and I never ever would have expected to be able to say that about a survival game.

We Happy Few* - In this alternate universe, the Germans invaded Britain during WW2 (although, through exploring the world, you learn that the differences started well before that). When the story starts up, the Germans have left Britain behind and Britain, for unknown reasons, appears to be cut off and/or abandoned by the rest of the world. The majority of the country is constantly hopped up on a drug called Joy, which is specifically used to help them forget something horrible that happened in the past. (I have theories.) The story starts when your character goes off his Joy and gets kicked out of society. There's a general sense of unease about everything and the more you learn the more that unease grows. The art style is great and the world building fascinating.

MISC (there’s nothing spoilery here but it feels weird to not have it)

Interactive Horror Story Livestream - Doc has talked a bit about this in at least one of her Xmas streams and it sounds amazing. Not only is Jet hilarious with horror stuff but knowing Doc’s writing skill, it will be something that we’d never want to miss.

Bean Boozle When Failing a Hard Game* - I am a sadistic bitch, I admit to this, and I love watching people eat Bean Boozle, the jelly bean of horrible flavors. One of my favorite videos content creators has done is playing an incredibly difficult game and then being forced to eat a random one every time they fail.

#giftening 2020 #giftening recs #spoilers for jetwolf

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