me calling Esme a milf when she's 5 years younger than I am 💀

(spoilers for AI: the Somnium Files, but not for the Nirvana Initiative as it isn't out yet at time of writing)

This has been a long build coming, but I've got a goddamn bone to pick. Overall the story has its problems, but I can overlook them to simply Vibe and have a good time with my video game. It's not the type of game you're supposed to get nitpicky about, and I respect that.

But on the right side of the flowchart, in the path leading to either the Iris end or true end, Date's character gets fucking slaughtered.

I love Kaname Date. I love him so much. He's a bit too disrespectfully horny for my (and most people's) tastes, but he's actually extremely deep as a character. He's genuinely really smart and good at his job, honing in on Saito immediately after every murder with evidence to back it up.

He's goofy, loves puns, is always breaking the tension with something dumb and/or horny, but is extremely professional when it comes to his work. The interogation scene with Saito!Iris feels masterful. When speaking to Mayumi, he is patient and kind while still upholding picture perfect professionalism. He gets help from Aiba sure, but it feels like a give and take. It's not just her solving everything, they bounce off each other and have an actual partnership. It's a conversation, not a lecture. They cover each other's blind spots. He escapes into his work to push aside any nasty feelings looking overhead, throwing himself into murder investigation so he doesn't have time to think about his friend being DEAD.

And of course, his entire relationship with Mizuki. Not trusting himself to be the family she needs, but unable to sit by and watch this little girl in a bad situation. Considering Renju and Shoko (or at least Renju) his friends, but putting his foot down when so many people would just pretend not to see. Inviting her into his home, giving his bed, carving out a place in his life where she can fit because she deserves to have somewhere safe deserves to have someone she can shout at and mock and just be a KID to. I could write fucking paragraphs about their relationship and the Mizuki ending, but I will refrain.

The right side of the flowchart, the "true" ending, take that all away from him. Suddenly he feels like a watered down ghost of himself, with a terminal case of Protagonist Syndrome. Aiba has to explain everything like he's a child. So much of his personality feels muted down and bland as the game chooses instead to focus on the mystery. Which, fine, even if I don't like it I can understand why character sometimes takes a backseat to plot. But the introduction of Falco feels like a man we don't even know. There are shared components of course, and I can see the described past fitting well enough to the Date we know. But suddenly revolving his whole life around the Sagans feels like he's just throwing away the life he led as Date, and I know I'm not the only one who feels Mizuki got unfairly shoved aside in that timeline.

I hate right side of the flowchart Date so much. I miss my surprisingly competent, wise cracking, accidental father so much and he was TAKEN from me and the accepted true end has a pale imitation. The Sagans are lovely, but this has made me bitter towards them and those wonderful ladies have done nothing to earn my ire. They do not deserve this.

Tune in next time to hear my opinions on all the people Date has slept with, the verdicts may shock you.

Deanoru Fic: It's a love story, baby, just say, "Yes"

Summary: The one where the Runaways have to fight an unexpected criminal attack in L.A. during their night out and Nico ends up taking big risks to protect Karolina, which prompts her to ask Karolina the most important question of their lives.

§ - §

 What was supposed to be a quiet Sunday night for the Runaways quickly turned into a mess in a matter of seconds.

 Thinking in retrospect, Nico assumed she should have known they were bound to stumble upon a disaster every time they stepped outside.

 Still, it had been the first time in a while they had managed to get the whole group together at the same place. With Alex off to MIT, Gert and Chase finishing off college and Molly about to graduate high school all while Nico and Kare adapted to moving in together last year, they had been too busy for a reunion. At the same time, Nico was pursuing her own career in journalism (which had been quite a surprise to her, once she realized writing about the things that angered her was a better coping mechanism than trying to solve everything with spells) and Karolina started working towards her Sociology Masters (which did not come as surprise at all, because this girl was amazing and capable of anything).

 Because of the crazy times they had been going through, Nico had planned to have a peaceful night out with her friends at the amusement park downtown, followed by a sleepover at their old hideout, the Hostel, to blow off some steam. Of course, that didn’t go as planned thanks to some lunatic that had decided to attack LA and kidnap a bunch of kids in the middle of their night off. 

 Now, Nico was following the crazy man’s track to some abandoned warehouse (because he was a cliche like that, apparently), alongside Karolina, Molly and Chase. They had left Gert and Alex at the park, to make sure the civilians got home safe and nobody was hurt. When they finally reached the place Nico’s localization spell had pointed out, she stopped her friends in their tracks.

— Look, we don’t know much about this dude, other than the fact he’s insane enough to kidnap a bunch of kids without thinking twice. What we do know is that he seemed to know exactly what he was doing, so he may be a professional. — Nico explained, keeping her voice low while the four of them hid behind a bus stop. The sight was quite ridiculous, but the dark street provided a very welcome hideout.

— So, you think he is part of a gang or something? — Molly asked, appearing to be excited at the prospect of kicking some gangster’s ass, which did not appeal to Chase at all, considering his furrowed brow in Molly’s direction.

— He could be. Anyway, he had a whole crew and lots of guns. Be careful and don’t do anything dumb. And, yes, I’m talking to you, Chase, in case there is any doubt. — Nico reinforced, receiving a scowl from him.

— Oh, there wasn’t, baby. — Kare commented, earning a small smile from her girlfriend, despite the tense situation they were in. Chase just threw his arms up in frustration as a response.

— Just remember our main goal is to get the children back to their families before anything bad happens. Let’s go inside by the backdoor and, please, don’t forget to- 

— Stick together. — Molly interrupted. — We know it, Nico. You give away too many speeches for somebody that hates motivational stuff. — With that, she turns and leads the way to the back exit.

— Ow, I was just disrespected by a fetus. — Nico sighed, but still followed said fetus’ steps.

— Now you know how I feel. — Chase replied, shaking his shoulders.

 Their banter died down as Molly forced the door open and the four of them walked inside in complete silence. The place was pitch dark, so Karolina instinctively lightened up her hand, leading the way through an infinite amount of hallways that seemed to lead nowhere.

— Wait, I’m hearing something. — Kare whispers just when Nico was starting to lose hope of finding any clues in that place. Kare very quickly diminishes her light. — I think someone is coming, get ready. 

 Some moments after her warning, Nico manages to catch sight of a dim lantern light in the end of the hallway. Shortly after that, six men appeared, guns in hand. 

 Despite their muscles and armament, they had no time to react as energy blasts from Chase’s Fistgons hit the first two men right in their chests. Without missing a beat, Karolina flew over the fallen thugs to bring the next two to the ground as Nico attacked one of the remaining men with a restraining spell. Molly hit the last one of the men hard against the wall, leaving him momentarily unconscious. 

— Tell us where the kids are. Now. — Nico demanded the man she was holding against the wall. 

— Fuck you, bitch-

 A burst of light hit a spot near the guy’s head, leaving a massive hole in the wall. Molly let out a surprised squeal, but Nico didn’t even flinch, knowing exactly where it came from.

— You will tell her what we want to know or the next one is going right into your head. — Karolina bluffed, rainbow couloured beams of light coming out of her hand.

 Anyone who knew her could see right through her act, as Nico did, but, right there, in a dark creepy hallway with her exhilarating power consuming the whole place, it was no surprise the man was terrified of her.

 With blonde hair falling into her face, an anger-filled look on her dreamy blue eyes and incredible power radiating from every part of her body, Nico thought she looked like an avenging angel.

 Nico also thought several other things right after that, but she had to push those ideas away in favor of focusing on their mission.

— East side of the building. They are keeping the kids in the basement over there. You have to turn right in the next hallway and keep walking straight down. — The guy grunted out, visibly shaken up.

— How many people are guarding them? — Chase questioned, stiffening up.

— About twelve, but I guess you will have no problem with that. — He growled.

— Why did you take the kids? Is it to make a statement to a rival gang? — Molly seriously questioned, talking for the first time in a while, which earned a raising eyebrow from Chase. — What? I study gangs quite a lot, you never know when you will have to fight one.

— You terrify me sometimes, kid. — Chase said, deeply disturbed.

— She’s not wrong. — Their hostage said, once the hold Nico had on him tightened up. — I don’t know much, I was just paid to guard the place. All I know is the boss has some crazy guns and is trying to show off his firepower, the kids are just to attract attention. 

— As usual, kids are the ones getting caught up in the middle of adults’ bullshit. — Nico murmured, anger burning inside of her. — That’s all we need to know, let’s go. — Nico dropped the thug to the ground and whispered a spell to make him fall asleep.

— Alright, guys, let’s find them. — Karolina pleaded, holding out her hand for Nico to grab. Without thinking twice, Nico took it and guided her girlfriend and friends to the basement. They successfully avoided being seen by any other guards, managing to reach the place rather quickly, now they knew what to look for.

 Once they got to the spot where they were hiding the kids, Nico caught sight of plenty of guards gathered in front of the door. Nico signaled for the group to stop and listen attentively. They all waited together, trying to listen to the conversation being held near them.

— Is the gun ready? — One of the men questioned.

— The Boss says so. He brags it can take out any of those super powered freaks out there, anything that isn’t human. — Answered another.

— Do you believe it?

— I don’t need to believe it. Every other gang in town is going to be terrified. We are in for some good money. 

 Nico reached for Karolina without thinking twice, fear washing over her at the thought of some despicable guy harming Kare. The next thing in her mind was Molly, fearing the weapon could hurt her too due to her powers. Chase’s panic was also written all over his face when she looked up to him.

— So, what do we do? — Molly whispers, voice trembling. 

— We save the kids and get out of here. That’s the plan. — Nico answers, fearing Molly and Karolina would cross ways with a potential threat.

— We can’t let this guy keep the weapon. It could hurt people. People like me. Like Molly. — Karolina disagrees, nervously.

— This is exactly why we need to leave. We can’t put you and Molly in danger. — Chase pondered.

— Also, we don’t even know if this gun is real, the dude might just be making it up. — Nico argued back, trying not to raise her voice.

— We can’t take risks with this, Nico. — Karolina insists. There is a moment of silence where Karolina just holds Nico’s eyes on hers, letting her know she is not letting this go.

 Well, Nico realizes she isn’t either. 

— I don’t want to get in the middle of this staring contest you guys are having, but I think the guard is walking toward us, so maybe we can argue later and fight now? — Chase suggests, speaking fast as he prepared his Fistgons to shoot lasers at the upcoming target.

— Say no more. — Molly complies, eyes glowing in the dark.

 After that mutual agreement, everything becomes a blur of punches, light and loud noises as the four of them fight through the wave of thugs. 

 Once they finally reach the door, Chase blows the lock up, sweat covering his face and his breathing heavy. 

— Man, I don’t see you in this bad of a shape ever since you lost the Junior league championship. — Nico commented, earning an offended scowl from him.

— That’s low, Minoru, you know that’s the thing I’m sensitive about. 

 As Chase catches his breath, Molly screams a warning before kicking the door down. It’s all a bit dramatic and not that necessary, but Nico lets her have it. It has been a long night, after all.

 They find about fifteen very terrified kids grouped together in the dark, loud sounds of crying and screaming reverberating through the room.

— Hey, it’s okay. — Karolina softly announces, lighting up the place. — We’re here to help. — The kids amusedly stare at Kare as she shines, momentarily forgetting their current situation.

— Yes, we will get you out. Just make a line and I’ll make sure you get back to your families. — Nico asks, turning to prepare for her next speel. With a deep breath, she pictures the amusement park with clarity in her mind as she tightens her hold on the Staff. — Open the portal. — She murmurs, focusing on keeping it safe for the kids. — It’s stable now, but it’s not safe for them to cross alone. Molly, you and Chase go with them.

 The girl opened her mouth to protest at the same time Chase let out a breath of relief.

— Please, Mols. Those kids need protection, we have no idea if there’s something waiting for them at the park. They will need to be kept safe until finding their families. I’m trusting you with this. — Nico pleaded, hoping she would listen to her. Molly still looked unhappy about it, but nodded and accepted the request. 

— Hey, y’all, just stay together and follow me. — Molly said, walking through the portal right after. Chase spoke softly to the kids as they crossed it as well, only stopping when the last one was gone, following them as well. Despite that, Nico kept the portal open, fortifying it.

— Kare… You should go with them. — Despite her request, Karolina sighed, unbothered.

— I’m not going anywhere. 

— This guy is dangerous, okay? His weapon especially targets super powered people, you heard it.

— That is why I can’t let you go alone. If he can really hurt superheroes, I’m sure he can hurt witches with staffes too! — She argued back, hands crossed in front of her body.

— The Staff doesn’t count! Your power is engraved into your blood, Kare. It is too dangerous for you to stay. Also, I can handle him, believe me.

— I’m not saying I don’t believe you, but if you get hurt, we will be lost without you... I will be lost, Nico. — Karolina’s voice is shaking, which breaks Nico’s heart even more. 

— I won’t let that happen. But, even if it does, the team needs you to go and keep everyone else safe. You need to make sure these kids get back to their families and meet me back at the Hostel. I added an additional protection to the portal. It doesn’t let those who cross it come back here, keeping everyone safe. Please, just go. — Nico insisted, holding onto Karolina’s arms, trying to get her to listen. They are standing right in front of the portal right now, its purple energy beaming so strongly Nico needs to put a lot of effort into properly seeing Karolina’s face.

— Nico, no! I’m not leaving you behind, especially with no way of getting back to you. — Karolina firmly denied, sounding terrified with the idea.

— Karie, that’s not leaving me, that’s following a plan. Trust me, I would never not come back to you. 

— I do trust you. I just can’t-

 Nico stops her mid-sentence, hands gripping around her shoulders as she presses their lips together, hard and sharp. It’s not like their usual kisses, it’s not soft or slow or loving, it’s desperate and rough, just Nico sealing them together one more time before she does what has to be done.

— I love you, Karolina. Don’t forget that.

— I love-

— Also, I’m sorry. — Nico whispers, before using her tight grip on Karie’s shoulders to push her through the portal. 

— Nico! No, don’t you dare! I swear-

 Karolina’s furious scream is cut out by the portal closing.

— Please, don’t go too hard on me for this, Karie. — Nico begged the empty space her girlfriend was in until a moment ago, before turning on her heels to face her target.

§ - § 

 When Nico makes her way back to the Hostel almost an hour later, Molly is the first person to throw herself at her. Soon enough, she’s being passed around, from Alex to Gert to Chase and, finally, to receive a friendly tap from Old Lace’s tail.

 Karolina is the last one in her arms, holding her so tight Nico loses sense of everything around them for a moment. 

— Are you okay? Are you hurt, what happened? — Karolina fired the questions quickly, hands scanning her body, looking for any injuries.

— I’m fine, really. Not hurt, just really tired. — Nico assures her, trying to sound light.

— Did you catch the guy? — Chase asked next, curious.

— Yes, I did. He had a weapon that was quite powerful, but it wasn’t capable of all the things that he was told about. Someone tricked him, apparently. It could cause a lot of damage, but not to the point of harming superpowered people. I mean, at least that’s what I understood from the cops’ talks after they took him away. — Nico explained, hand rushing through her hair, trying to keep it off her face. 

— So I left for nothing? Damn it, I could have kicked his ass. — Molly complained, disappointed.

— It wasn’t for nothing! Nico made the right call. If this guy had the gun he claimed to, you could be dead right now just for crossing his way. — Gert refuted, arms around her sister in a tight embrace. Nico nodded softly to her as a way of thanking the support and Gert smiled back.

— Better to be safe than sorry. — Alex added, to Molly’s further disappointment.

— Whatever, I guess. — She muttered, arms crossed.

— Still, it took all of my energy to get him and his thugs to step down. I’m really drained. — Nico explained, breathing still irregular even now.

 As their friends discussed the night’s unexpected turn of events and planned a brunch for the next day to make up for tonight’s disaster, Karolina took the chance to lock Nico in another hug, still not saying much, appearing to be just taking in her presence.

— We will… Huh, leave you to it? — Chase suggests, his voice nothing but background noise to Nico as she buries her head in Kare’s shoulder, relief washing over her. In a moment, all her friends have dispersed through the Hostel and Karolina is taking a step away from her, cleaning her throat.

— Kare, I-

— Let’s not do this here. — Kare asks, indicating the stairs with her head. 

— Okay. Sure. — Nico complies, not sure of what to do, but still quietly following Karolina as she took them to their old bedroom. 

 Once they get there, Karolina closes the door and walks to the center of the room, nervously standing there. Karolina seems to gather herself for what she’s about to say. When she talks again, her tone is so sharp Nico feels as if her heart is being split in half.

— You’re unbelievable, Nico. What you did- I don’t even know what the hell to tell you. I was so scared for you, even more than I was mad. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you!

 Nico knows Karolina needs to get her anger out, knows she has every right to be pissed at her, but she’s too tired, too broken to do anything other than let her body take over.

 Her feet move before she even takes notice of them, arms enlacing Karolina’s waist, head fitting right under her chin.

 She listens to Karolina’s heartbeat, furiously beating because of what she did.

 Somehow, Nico is just really glad it’s even beating at all. Nico knows she put herself in danger more than anyone else in the team today, but she finds herself realizing the thing that terrified her the most was Karolina getting hurt. She didn’t think twice, didn’t hesitate, before throwing herself in the unknown, if that meant getting Karie to a safe place.

 Nico would rather do it a thousand times again if that meant Karolina would be waiting for her on the other side of it. Even if they fought, argued and screamed. 

 Karolina was all there was, as usual.

— I love you, Karolina Dean. — Nico whispers.

 Karie sighed, hands coming to tangle among the heavy locks of Nico’s hair. 

— I love you too. — Kare says it back. — I’m still mad though.

— I know. I’m sorry-

 Nico stops, breathes one time. Then, another. She runs what she’s about to say through her mind again and again. 

 Karolina waits for her, as she always does, even through Nico’s worst moments.

— I’m sorry I pushed you away. — Nico apologizes, taking enough distance for Karolina just to take a better look at her face. — I’m sorry I made you feel so worried for me, but I’m not sorry for what I did.

 Karolina is clearly confused, but still pays attention to Nico. Now, she is looking down to face her as well, which would annoy Nico if it came from anyone else, since she hates feeling so small, but it’s always quite endearing when Karie does it. The difference is that Karolina does it to make sure she never misses a single movement Nico makes, she stares at her as if Nico is something precious… Something marvelous. When Kare bows down to touch her face, when she pulls Nico towards her, it’s never patronizing… Quite the opposite actually: Every time Karolina touches Nico, she feels unchained.

 That is the one thing that prompts Nico to be truly honest about the reasoning behind her actions tonight.

— I'm not sorry for doing something stupid to keep you safe. I’m not sorry for putting you first. I’m only sorry for not letting you in. I just need you to understand that I will never stop trying to get you home safe. No matter what it takes. I promise to include you in that, though. It was shitty of me to just push you through the portal. I panicked and didn’t take the time to talk with you or respect your choice, and that’s all on me. I shouldn’t have been so reckless and stupid. — Nico was out of breath when she finished talking and Karolina was still surprisingly quiet. — Kare? Do you need some time to think? I can leave, I know you sometimes like being alone after stuff like this.

 Nico moves to leave, but Kare’s hand clasps around her wrist. She feels more than sees her body being snatched against the other woman. Karolina kisses her the way Nico has been dying to be kissed throughout this whole nightmare of a night. 

 This time, there’s no threats, fears or risks. This time, it’s just the two of them.

 When Karolina clutches Nico’s jacket and throws it across their room, she knows that means Kare was craving the same comfort from her. In a matter of seconds, Nico has gripped onto Karolina’s shirt and pulled it over her girlfriend’s head. 

 Kare knows Nico’s body as much as her own at this point, so it doesn’t take much time for her to get Nico’s shirt off and clash the two of them against their bed. Karolina’s hair is falling in a cascade, tingling Nico’s neck, but she is too busy kissing every inch of skin Kare has exposed to care. 

 Karolina is over her, but she’s also everywhere around Nico, light consuming their surroundings. Nico could watch her for the rest of her life without ever getting tired. More than that, she wants to spend forever getting to see Karolina like this, no walls up, just hopelessly opening up to Nico.

 It never fails to amaze Nico that she’s the one doing this to Karolina. That it is all her, darkness and brokenness and all, making Kare lose all control, disclosing herself in the most breathtaking way possible.

 Karolina desperately reaches for her, as if she will die if Nico isn’t closer. There’s nothing else in Nico’s mind once Kare touches her like that. 

 All there is in the world is Kare’s warmth washing over her, erasing every bit of pain and despair this night had caused.

§ - § 

 It’s pitch dark when Nico talks again, her head laying in Karolina’s chest, the two of them laying together in bed, Kare’s arms around her.

— I’m not one to repeat myself, but I really felt awful for shutting you out like that.

— I know.. I could tell it as soon as you did it. 

— I’m predictable, after all.

— Only to me. — Karolina scoffs, making Nico laugh. 

— I still feel like an idiot, though. — Nico confesses, causing Karolina to answer in a rather frenetic manner.

— You are not an idiot- Damn it, Nico. You’re everything, don’t you see? — Her voice is nothing but a whisper, but Nico still listens to it perfectly, years of secretive talkings like those preparing her to understand Karolina in any situation possible. — I can’t function without you, I can’t think, I can’t live if you’re not there. The worst part is that I’m so mad at you for doing something this crazy to protect me, but I would have done the same. I did before. Hell, I will probably do it again. 

— I get it, Kare, trust me, I do.

— I'm not sure you do, babe. — Karolina disagrees, fingers coming to trace the curve of Nico’s neck. — I was raised to obey, to comply. I was taught that to love someone meant to be loyal beyond reason. With you, though, it is the opposite of that. I don’t follow your lead because I’m forced to do it. I do so because I trust you. I put myself in risk every time you’re in danger because I can’t imagine not having you there, even though I know you would never ask that from me. I think I love you even more because I know you wouldn’t.

 Nico is not one to be left speechless, yet every single time Karolina tells her things like that, as if they’re a matter of fact, as if Nico is even deserving of that type of love, she takes a moment to convince herself this is real: that Nico is the one she loves, the only one she wants.

 So, she figures she might as well try to make Karie feel that same way.

— Marry me, Karolina. — Nico tells her, eyes locking into hers as Kare’s breath catches, shock written all over her face. — Marry me and stay with me. Fight me and love me and never leave. You’re my light, Karie. You’re my heart. I don’t want to wait any longer to ask you this. So… Will you marry me?

 As Karolina takes in the unexpected words, Nico’s heart desperately beats, terrified of what is about to come.

— Do you know that, when I fly, I can’t always see what’s ahead of me? — Karolina questions, confusing Nico, that doesn’t understand where she is going with this. Still, she’s smiling adorably, which warms Nico’s heart despite how nervous she feels.— The clouds blur my vision and I need to trust my instincts to make sure I’m not going to hit anything. I was terrified of getting hurt or falling at the beginning, but, over time, I realized that flying was part of me, that my body knew exactly what to do, even if my mind couldn’t quite understand it. My body can take over every sharp turn, every last minute deviant, before any thought crosses my mind. It's my nature.

 She stops and the look she gives Nico is so full of love that she can’t find it in herself to panic over the fact she just proposed to Karolina out of the blue. Nico listens attentively as she continues, heart pondering in her chest with every word out of Kare’s mouth.

— That’s how I feel about you. You’re my nature. I have always known you, every part of my body did, even when my mind hadn’t caught up just yet. I always knew you, Nico, more than that, I always loved you, for all the things that terrified you and amazed me. So, yes, I will marry you. I will stay with you and I will never leave because being apart from you is denying my own nature and I won’t ever do this to myself again.

 Kare is crying now and Nico notices she is too. Karolina’s hands are shaking when she holds onto Nico's face. She kisses her, her lips, her cheeks, her nose, her chin. Somehow, through the tears, Nico is also laughing, never getting tired of the soft feeling of Kare’s lips on her. 

— You’re all I have ever wanted my whole life. Sometimes I still can’t believe I have you. — Kare utters, one last kiss being laid at Nico’s forehead.

— You do. Kare, you always had me. — Nico moves fast to lay a leg on each side of Kare’s body. She holds Karolina’s delicate face in her hands, the look of awe in her eyes almost burning through her heart. — It’s just official now.

 — You really are everything, Nico. You really are. — That’s the last thing Karolina says before leaning forward to capture her lips again. 

 Just like that, Kare manages to surround Nico with her presence once more. 

 There she is again: Nico’s light in the dark, now and for the rest of their lives.

Ditz

Pairings: Damian Wayne x Reader

 Requested by anon: Hello there! Could you do Damian Wayne x Reader where the reader is super sweet and cute and stuff but she's also really ditzy so everyone (including the rest of the Batfam) thinks she's dumb and it's weird, because Damian hates being around dumb people, but then they find out that she's actually like a genius and she just comes across as ditzy like that because she just really loves being around people. By the way, I love love LOVE your writing!! Every story of yours I read makes me so happy

Thank you so much, anon! I hope you’re safe and healthy, wherever you are. I’m sorry I’ve been inactive forever, and this fic isn’t my best work, I’ve gotten really rusty- but it was really a pleasure to write this for you, and I’m glad you enjoy my fics!

“Father, I’ll be having a friend over today,” said Damian, looking keenly at Bruce across the dinner table.

Bruce looked up from his food, a bit confused.

“A friend that isn’t Jon?” he asked.

“No, she’s a classmate, she- don’t look at me like that Father. Stop. Stop smiling, it’s uncomfortable!” said Damian, scowling.

“What? I’m not smiling!” said Bruce, with humor in his voice. “It’s just, it’s good, I’m glad you’re making friends. I’ll tell your brothers to not walk around in their uniforms.”

Damian shrugged in response, hoping his father hadn’t noticed the slight redness in his cheeks.

---

“WhoOP-“

“(Y/N)!” sighed Damian, grabbing her by the arm as she half-fell over the threshold.

“Sorry!” she laughed. “I’m hyper when I’m excited.”

Damian didn’t respond. Not letting go of her arm, he led her into the manor, towards one of the more favorably furnished drawing rooms (there had been several incidents some others, including someone absolutely ravaging one of the stiffly furnished ones, and one of the sitting rooms being converted into a slobby, messy, caffeine scented “family room”).

“I’d take you to my room but I’m afraid my father wouldn’t permit it,” he sighed.

“That’s alright, Dami,” she responded, smiling at him. “Is everything good with you and your dad?”

“As good as it ever was,” responded Damian, glancing quickly around the room as they entered it. Then he lowered his voice, and said-

“I’ve found that it makes him…warmer, somehow, if I engage in typical adolescent activities. It’s…nice, that way,” he said, his voice catching on the last part as if he wasn’t quite sure what he was saying.

She squeezed his arm, eyes bright.

“I’m glad. See, I told you- with family, all it takes is effort.”

“Yes, well-oh,” Damian stopped mid-sentence, his eyes on the door.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” said Bruce, with a small smile at (Y/n).

“Oh, that’s okay! I mean, hi- hello, Mr. Wayne-“ (Y/n) said, or rather jabbered, words tumbling one on top of another as she got up to shake his hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, (Y/n). Damian-“ said Bruce, looking towards his son, “I just wanted to tell you that I’ll be flying over to Metropolis tonight, but Dick-“ he was interrupted by a giggle from (Y/n), which he chose to ignore “-will be coming over to stay till I get back. No staying out too late, okay?”

“Yes, Father,” said Damian, shooting (y/n) as amused look.

“Anyway, (Y/n), it was great to meet you, I have to get going-“ Bruce began, just as (Y/n) backed up a little and rammed into a small side table.

“WeLP-oh my god, I’m sorry,” said (y/n) as the table fell over. Luckily, there was nothing breakable on it.

Bruce made sure, in a few short words, that (Y/n) was okay, and left the two to their own devices, wondering how it was that Damian had not uttered a single disparaging remark the whole time.

---

“Damiiiii I’m hoooome~” sang Dick, deliberately adopting the high, jaunty tone of voice he knew Damian hated so much.

The manor seemed pretty much empty, so Dick checked all the training rooms, and then he checked the Batcave. No sign of his little brother.

He was just about to call Damian when he heard a resounding thud from upstairs, followed almost immediately by a clang.

It sounded like it came from the little attic room that Damian would use as a studio, so Dick rushed directly upstairs, and shoved the door open to see-

A girl around Damian’s age, sprawled on the floor, her legs dripping with white paint. She was laughing, and a large can of paint was lying toppled on its side. Damian was looking at the girl with a mixture of exasperation and- amusement?

They both immediately looked up when Dick entered the room, and the girl hastily got to her feet.

“Hi!” she said, in an excited, chirpy tone. “I’m (Y/n), and you must be…Dick?” She extended her hand, which Dick took without thinking.

“Oh, shiz, sorry!” exclaimed (Y/n)- her hand was covered in paint, and now, so was Dick’s.

“Heh, that’s alright, kid,” said Dick, slowly processing the scene. Damian’s eyes were set intently on his face.

“Yeah, I’m Dick, you’re a…friend? Of Dami’s?” he asked.

“Yeah!” she nodded, previous embarrassment forgotten as she began to bounce a little on her heels. “Damian’s doing a portrait of me,” she added.

“That’s really nice of him,” Dick said, looking at Damian with incredulity. “I mean it, (y/n)…Damian isn’t nice at all, not ever!”

“Shut up, Richard,” growled Damian. “I need to get back to work.”

Dick laughed, with (Y/n) smiling as she assumed her position on a small stool in front of Damian’s easel, which faced away from the door.

---

Sometimes, when you really, really, like a person, you don’t want them to meet your family, or your family to meet them. The smaller your family, the larger the chances that this person will quickly be exposed to your entire family, but with a large family, you may hope to keep them hidden from some members, at least for a little while.

Damian hoped. He hoped in vain.

“She visited you? She visited you? Why?” hollered Damian.

“Relax, I liked your sister! She’s not a woman of many words, but she seems really nice,” said (Y/n), sincerely.

“Cassandra is not nice,” grimaced Damian. “She’s feral.”

“Damian, that’s not nice,” said (y/n), leaning forward in her armchair.

It was one of those really nice days when everyone was busy in their own thing, and Damian and (y/n) had a little privacy in a sitting room.

“Besides, Jason seems really funny,” (y/n) added.

Damian sat up straight in his chair, eyes flashing.

“Todd came to see you? WHY?”

“He was with Cass when she came over to give me the book I left at your place!” said (y/n). “I like your siblings, I really do.”

“That’s because you don’t know them,” whined Damian, knowing full well the real reason why Cassandra and Todd went to (y/n)’s.

Todd would call it reconnaissance. Damian called it being a busybody.

---

Within less than a month, through some excuse or the other, (Y/n) had been exposed to his whole family. The whole nuthouse. All Damian really needed at this point for his mother to go barging into her room at some ungodly hour and take her for blackmailing him or something, and the picture would be complete.

Damian’s real problem wasn’t what (y/n) thought of his family. It was more the way they had taken to teasing Damian, randomly whispering her name through the comms, asking him about his giiiiiirlfriiiend, someone (and he suspected either Stephanie or Todd) had even left an elaborately embroidered handkerchief with her initials on his bed. Even his father had joined in the joke, occasionally asking him if he needed any “tips” and whether he wanted to be taken to the jewelry store to scout for rings?

It was insufferable.

What bugged him the most, however, was the little talk he had had with Richard.

“Damian…listen. You really seem to like this girl,” Dick had said, making himself comfortable on the bed Damian had just made.

Damian had just shrugged.

“Look, I know what it’s like to really have a crush on someone, but she’s been coming over a lot, and before you start to get serious, I want you to think about how much you really like her. Do you think you’ll, erm, continue to like her?” Dick had asked, a little confused as to how to ask Damian the awkward question.

In spite of himself, Damian had asked what he meant.

“(Y/n) is very sweet,” Dick said, “but she’s a little, she doesn’t really seem your type.”

Damian had stared, as if waiting for him to continue, and he did.

“She’s adorable, Dami, but do you really have fun with her? I mean, not that kinda fun, just, I know if you’re going to seriously like someone they need to challenge you, they need to be sharp and-“

“Are you calling her dumb?” Damian had snapped, feeling his defensive hackles rising.

“No! It’s just, she seems a little scattered and, I dunno, ditzy? I know for a fact that you’re intolerant of anything but the very best in people, both intellect wise and strength wise.”

Damian had just sighed. “She’s much smarter than she looks.”

----

Tim and Bruce were staring.

(Y/n) was sitting cross legged on the carpet, flipping through a case file they had told her Richard was “going through for work, consulting a bit for the GCPD while he took some time off of his job”.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure,” she said, a goofy smile on her face as she put the file back on the central table.

She had come over to see Damian, and had been talking to Tim and Bruce whilst she waited for him. She’d gotten curious about the case file lying on the table, looked through it, and-

“She might have solved it,” Tim murmured to Bruce, half wondering how he had missed the subtle details (y/n) had picked up.

Bruce looked thoughtful.

“You seem quite observant, (y/n),” he said. “Would you like to give your input on some of the other cases we have? It would be quite helpful for the, uh, the GCPD to gain some fresh perspective.”

“Oh, sure,” chirped (y/n), entirely oblivious to all the surprise she had occasioned. “Let me just-“

She stood up sharply, forgetting that she had sidled almost entirely underneath the extended arm of a hardwood chair.

“Ouch!” she exclaimed, rubbing her head where she’d hit it. “Damn, I need to stop being so hyper,” she grumbled, earning a look of amusement from Tim.

Damian was quite pleased to hear that all of Dick’s previous doubts had been removed, and that the GCPD has received a sudden influx of invaluable input helping them solve at least two cases gone cold.

------

Okay, so i got a little awkward at the end. I’ll get it with practice, though.

Requests are open! Give me something to do y’all I’ll be in complete lockdown for a few more weeks! 

Also, for Damian x reader fics, could you guys please specify in the request roughly what age you’d want him to be around?

Sunny, I remember you saying that you would have loved to rewrite parts of the start up to develop characters and make it a more complete story.... if you don’t mind I would love to hear your improved take on it! That show had so much potential and they wasted it for what???

okay! (this is gonna be long. i apologize in advance) 

i think the first two episodes of start up were perfect. like *chefs kiss*. academy AWARD 

(the way the backstory was set up. getting to know young dalmi and her family as well as young ji pyeong and her grandma (🥺). the subsequent tragedies that played out. the jump to the future. showing dal mi’s personality as an adult with how competent/smart she was handling that mess at the coffee shop. the reintroduction of ji pyeong. the introduction of nam do san. the way even with the ridiculous set up and the fact that as a viewer you are already invested in jipyeong they managed to make nam do sans character stand out bc he didnt meet dalmi for any selfish reasons at the end of the day. he just wanted to help this woman he didnt even know bc thats just the type of person he is . like the set up was PERFECT. it was so good. i loved every character)  

my PROBLEM is litchrally everything that happened in terms of character progression after that. i dont mind the way the story went in terms of the main plot points. its just how they got to and through those plot points was just SO uninspired. they WASTED those characters.

as soon as they started prioritizing the love triangle over the individual characters arcs the quality of the writing went down. 

one. everything shouldve been out in the open after dalmi met dosan at sandbox and found out he wasnt rich. there was NO reason to keep the lie going after that and it was a disservice to dalmis character to have her be bamboozled for SO long. they tainted so many of the best parts of the show for that lie. them meeting at sandbox and then being on the same team and ji pyeong as mentor was the perfect opportunity to come clean about the other shit bc the story no longer NEEDED that other shit to continue the plot and even the love triangle. that lie was just dragged out TOO long and in the real world dalmi shouldve never talked to EITHER of them again. (if they revealed it earlier it wouldnt have been such a huge deal)

two. i love ji pyeongs character, i think he was very interesting and complex but i didnt once want him and dal mi to end up together. to me no matter how it wouldve happened they wouldve gotten together for the wrong reasons. she was 26 years old with an unhealthy attachment to her elementary school pen pal that she never even MET. and he had this perpetual sense of guilt for what happened when he was a kid. i wanted them to be friends. i feel like so much of his attraction to dalmi was just loneliness. and it was such a disservice to his character to have him hung up on her until the END?? he was lonely in the whole show and then still kind of lonely at the end? literal whole time jump and he was still inexplicably hung up on her?? that was ridiculous. that was MEAN

three. ji pyeong and dosan shouldve became real friends and ji pyeong shouldnt have liked dalmi until the end (that was mean and dumb). they ROBBED me of ji pyeong/dosan friendship. theyre evil for that. if you think about the way the plot started jipyeong and dosan learned so much from each other about love and friendship. i think ji pyeong really introduced like romanticism and ~love~ to dosan while dosans relationship with his friends showed jipyeong like real loyalty and platonic love without ulterior motive (bc he was always talking about how dosans friends are gonna turn on him bc thats just business) . and the fact that ONE) they never really acknowledge how they changed each other for the better and TWO) they just never warm up to each other?! even after jipyeong bought him home drunk and they slept in each other arms (lmfksjkgf) and also beat the shit out of each other that one time (loved that btw) i think it was really SOOOO wack they didnt become friends. when the pieces were all already in place. WASTED POTENTIAL

four. as a rule i think all time jump character development is bad writing. where instead of doing the actual work to develop a character they just put in a time jump and imply the development all happened off screen. and the fact that they did that with injae’s character was just so corny and LAZY. they had ample time to flesh her out. and with the way the backstory played out dalmi and injaes relationship was arguably MORE important than anything with either of the men. and they just didnt show it?! they just dislike each other before the time jump and then after theyre cool and thats just it?? it was a disservice to her and dalmi and the viewer to just do all that shit off screen so they could keep clowning with the love triangle 

five. the Love Triangle was more between the VIEWER, ji pyeong and dosan than it was DALMI, ji pyeong and dosan. they kept trying to sell the back and forth of the love triangle to US but there was a blatant disconnect in the story on the ji pyeong and dalmi front! dalmi didnt ONCE think of ji pyeong romantically. so much of the love triangle was just pulling the leg of the viewer. (ALSO this couldve been solved if they revealed the truth earlier bc dalmi wouldve at least considered them both) like i dont care too much for love triangles but i feel like if they were gonna spend SO much time and effort on it, the least they couldve done was actually write a love triangle??

six. this is kind of a crack idea (so if you disagree with this its fine) but i think ji pyeong and injae shouldve had something instead of him being hung up on dalmi the whole show. he shouldve realized halfway through he was just lonely and guilty about his past (also he was dalmis mentor) and then they shouldve started peppering in some subtle hints about him and injae. injae was not only older, she had a similar disposition to jipyeong in terms of just her outlook of the world and their work. injae and ji pyeong were both more cynical and also mature in a way that dalmi and dosan just werent. they shouldve at the very LEAST hinted at it instead of them both just being alone at the end?! it wouldve rounded out everyones characters so well. ji pyeong not being lonely bc of his friendship with dosan and falling in love with injae. dalmi gaining her relationship with her sister back and falling in love with dosan and getting that sweet romance she always wanted WITHOUT any big lie. AND dalmi and jipyeong being family bc of her grandma. it wouldve covered everything! 

but NOOOO. start up writers said we are gonna focus all our energy on this love triangle that isnt even a love triangle. fuck you

u tell nikki bout your pregnancy but u are a bit afraid of her reaction with tom

"I'm pregnant"|t.h.

a/n: thank you so much for your request💜

warnings: none:)

_

It was positive. The pregnancy test in your hands turned out positive. You were a whole mess with so many emotions. First of all your heart couldn't stop beating from all the happiness you felt, that a little baby was growing slowly in your belly, a baby that you and your lovely boyfriend had made. Enthusiasm suddenly kicked in, already anticipating the moment you would hold this small creature in your hands for the first time, the first kiss he would take from you, all of the love you would give him not wanting nothing in return.

You placed the palms of your hands in your stomach and checked out yourself in the mirror in front of you turning to the side, imagining your belly bigger in just a few months. You smiled at your self and let out a breath from your chest.

But what if Tom didn't want the baby? You never talked about this topic, it wasn't in your future plans. He was always sweet to you, loving, caring, respectful, always listening eager to solve every problem on your path. However a baby wasn't the same. Maybe he would leave you all alone not wanting anything related to the baby.

You couldn't think of that scenario. That wasn't him for sure, but you didn't know how he would react to this huge responsibility he had to take just like you.

And besides that, how both of your parents would handle the news? If he would be by your side, it could be a little better and easier, yet it could be difficult with no help at all from your family.

The doorbell stopped all of your thoughts. You wiped some tears that managed to escape from your eyes, hid the test under the sink and made your way to the door with a smile on your lips.

"Hi" you heard your -soon to be- mother in law telling you as her arms hugged your body with warmth.

"Hello" you replied taking a step back and making room for her to step inside before leading her to your living room offering a cup of tea for the both of you.

Moments later the both you were discussing many things, making jokes or talking about your boyfriend's embarrassing stories he wouldn't tell you. And even though you had a really good time with her, your pregnancy you unexpectedly found out hours ago didn't leave your mind for a second, distracting you from the present many times. That didn't go unnoticed by the woman next to you.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing just a little headache" you lied but you knew that you were a pretty bad liar and it showed by the way your eyes were looking down on your feet, your hands intertwined.

"You can tell me y/n"

KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT

"Well, it's something that I-I mean i have no clue how to start" you giggled nervously"Its just that I learnt something today that-woah" you stopped to think for a second. She couldn't be the first one to know, Ton should be although she was looking through your eyes making it hard for you to lie to her or make something up just so you can get away for now.

"Go on talk to me, let your thoughts" she encouraged you.

"I don't know if I should though" your half smile made the situation even more awkward for you.

"Why?"

"I mean-yeah I think that Tom has to first" you shyly glanced at her. "Its something between him and I" you bit your lower lip anxiously but smiled anyway.

"I won't tell anyone. You can trust me and maybe I can help, you can't guys break up after all these years, I'm sure it's a misunderstanding-"

"What?" you interrupted her with lifting your hand at the air in front of the mouth, opening your eyes quick confused. "No no! That the opposite if what I want to tell him." you saw her chest getting back down as her eyes shut for a moment and her lips pushed to one another. "You thought that I wanted to break up with him?"she nodded her head laughing." No way I can leave him, I love him with my whole soul you know that!"

"Then what's wrong my love?"

"I'm scared that he'll run away after- you know. Why is this hard?" you asked yourself with your hands in your head. You were now scared for her reaction, cause you knew that you had to tell her now. You desired to scream with all your powers and let the whole world know that you had Tom's baby inside you, a kid that will have all the live from its mother for sure. But the rest of them?

"Y/n what is wrong with you? Tell me please can't you see that you need help? Come on" her hand touched your shoulder while she came closer to you.

"I'm pregnant" you said without thinking. When you realised it you covered your mouth, eyes wide open focused on the woman to your side looking at you in shock.

"What?" she whispered under her breath, already her eyes filling with tears.

"Please please I understand if you don't want the baby it's okay- I mean- I'm not good at this" you cried out. She stood there still in her seat with out talking but staring at your face. You were terrified that she will be saying words that would hurt you. You were both too young to start a family at this age, a lot of things were waiting for you outside, parties, traveling, wandering. But you always wanted to start a family with him, he was the one you imagined as the father of your children and no one else.

Nikki out of nowhere grabbed you by your shoulders and held you closer to her, rubbing your back and letting her tears ran down. "You just made me the happiest mother in the world" she said to you and kissed your cheeks leaving a lipstick stain having the two of you laugh.

"Really?"

"Of course darling! What did you act like that?"

"I was just scared that you might not want the baby cause of our ages"

"Tom is right you can be dumb sometimes" she squeezed you tighter into her arms and continued. "Why would we want that? We all love you and especially Tom. He would be so excited I know that" she smiled at you again and after a couple of seconds you did too letting your tears as well as her. "And as for me I couldn't be more grateful for this."

"Baby I'm home" you heard his voice from far away. You watched his mother as she let go of you and making her way to her son.

PLEASE DO NOT SAY IT PLEASE DO NOT SAY IT

"My boy" that was the only sentence she said and hugged her son. His arms crossed her body while his laughter came to your ears and you swore you felt something in your belly moving. IT'S TOO EARLY FOR THIS

"Hey mum! Are you okay?" you smiled back at him and enjoyed the view of them hugging at the same time you wondered how he would react to the news that you had no idea how to present to him.

Mia Corazón (Commission)

Another commission I got via my FA page. This is from the same person who commissioned “Tick Tock” and “A Grim Dinner.” It features his OC based on Tick Tock the Crocodile, Tock Crockwork...BUT, more importantly, it also acts as an introduction to his newest OC, Caelyum De Macabre - a character based on Davy Jones (with hints of Tia Dalma) from “Pirates of the Caribbean.”  And it’s NOT A KINK STORY. HERESY, I KNOW. I had a LOT of fun with this one; my only major regret is that I couldn’t make it longer than it already is. XD Also, just for the sake of making sure people know, I did not make up the lyrics to the song featured here. They’re actually fan-made lyrics for Davy Jones’ theme from the movies, originally created by a YouTube artist called Fiajela. I highly recommend looking up the song - it’s been covered by her and Man on the Internet, and they even made a duet version with the two stitched together. Anyway...hopefully you all enjoy. :)

-------------------------------------------

Valentine’s Day had come to Night Raven College. As you and Grim walked through the halls of the dark castle, you couldn’t help but chuckle at the decorations: pink paper hearts and streamers of white and crimson were everywhere, making it feel almost as if Heartslabyul had somehow managed to take over the entire palatial academy. Grim frowned up at you, trotting at your side, trident tail swishing as he went. “Nya? What’s so funny, Minion?” he demanded to know. “Nothing, nothing,” you responded with a shake of your head. “It’s just…everything looks so different.” Grim sniffed snootily, crinkling his nose at a poster of two young lovers embracing. “I don’t like it,” he remarked. “It’s all…mushy. It just doesn’t feel right for a School of Villains to be so…nya, what’s a good word…?” “Sentimental? Sappy? Saccharine?” “Gross,” was the word Grim chose, sticking out his tongue and shuddering like a small boy afraid of getting the dreaded cooties. You snorted with laughter. “Well, bring it up to the Headmaster,” you smirked, stuffing your hands in your pockets as you went. “I’d rather not,” Grim grumped. “Besides, we all know Crowley would just ramble on about it, or say he’ll get things done and never do…how come he’s Headmaster, anyway? He doesn’t do anything!” “Your guess is as good as mine,” you shrugged. “All I know is the only home I have is thanks to him, as is the only job. I’d like to keep both, thank you.” Grim shrugged back with an accepting sort of rumble as the two of you ascended the spiral staircase that led up to the Headmaster’s Office. Crowley had sent a call that morning; classes were dismissed for the day, so the university was a little quieter than usual: many of the students were off visiting family or loved ones, and those that were hanging around the campus still were largely engaged in…ahem…PRIVATE affairs. You, of course, could not leave; at least for now, Night Raven was your home, and as you were currently not in a relationship, Valentine’s Day wasn’t much different than any other day. Not that you minded much; it was still nice, in your mind, to see others happy and relaxed, and a holiday was a holiday, at any rate…though it seemed even St. Valentine’s holiday would not be saving you from helping clean up whatever mess Crowley needed dealt with this time. As you passed an image of two small, fluffy kittens holding a heart, a random thought came to your head: “Grim?” “Nya?” “Have you ever wanted to be in love?” “Not really,” the cat-like monster said. “Love is all…icky.” You frowned. “Icky?” you repeated. “All the kissing and hugging and…bleh!” Grim shuddered again, then went on: “Besides, it seems awfully difficult; makes you humans and even beast-men all crazy. I’ve got too much to deal with as it is, thank you very much! Nope. The World’s Greatest Mage won’t ever let love make him all soppy.” Grim stuck out his fluffy chest proudly at this, sticking his nose in the air. You smirked, and paused, reaching down to scratch behind his ears. He froze up…then purred and nuzzled into your touch. “Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…o-okay…maybe I love some things,” he admitted.

“Good kitty,” you teased, and snickered as Grim growled at you and half-heartedly swiped at your hand with a paw. You retracted it and the two of you kept moving. “Come on. The sooner we deal with Crowley, the faster we can get to our own stuff.” Grim nodded, as the pair of you drew nearer to Crowley’s office. You knocked on the door and waited for the sing-song call of “Come in!” before entering. Inside the office, things looked the same as ever, floating portraits of the Great Seven and all…aside from a vase of roses, plus a couple of heart-shaped ornaments on the desk, as well as the fact the purple-and-green curtains had been exchanged for solid red velvet drapes. Dire Crowley himself was seated behind his desk, sorting through paperwork, dressed in his usual attire. His feathery cloak rustled as he lifted his top-hatted head, and smiled at both yourself and Grim as you shut the door to the office behind you, his yellow eyes sparkling behind his Plague-Doctor-esque Venetian mask. “Ahhh! Prefect of Ramshackle Dorm! And the Little Monster!” he greeted warmly, rising and waving his hands, bidding you closer as he stepped around his desk. “Come, come, you’re right on time!” “On time for what, dare we ask?” Grim meowed. “Aren’t you celebrating Valentine’s Day, too, Headmaster?” you asked, politely. “Later,” Crowley smirked, winking and tapping the side of his mask’s long nose. “I’ll be entertaining a cute little fairy sorceress from the Land of Oz later tonight.” He let out a dreamy sigh, placing a hand to his heart. “Ahhh, Miss Upland…one day, you will be mine…” You and Grim gave each other a look, shrugged, then turned back to Crowley. “What’s the problem, then?” you asked, knowing better than to think this was a social call. By now, Crowley had firmly established yourself and Grim as the chief problem solvers of the Academy, so it stood to reason he had a mission for your both. “Oh! Yes, well,” Crowley muttered, and cleared his throat, adjusting and straightening his stance before going on in a business-like way: “As I’m sure you’ll both know, tonight there’s a special performance, directed by our own Vil Schoenheit, for the holiday.” “Nya? Isn’t it that play about the Sea Witch?” Grim checked, tilting his head. “Correct,” nodded the Headmaster. “And the Little Mermaid she assisted. We have a special guest coming to see the show tonight…” He reached into the folds of his cloak and pulled out a small photograph, handing it over to you. You knelt down to get closer to Grim’s level, and showed him the photo as you both looked it over: the picture was a portrait of a dark-skinned mermaid, with hair black as ebony and scales of red and gold. Her eyes were brown and soft and warm as milk chocolate, and a silver locket in the shape of a heart was clasped about her throat. “Oooh…she’s pretty!” Grim smiled. “Very,” you agreed with a smile of your own. “She,” the Headmaster spoke up, “Is Young Lady Mia Corazón. Her family is one of the richest in the Coral Sea.” “Which is why you invited her,” you guessed, trying not to sound as bored as you were. To your surprise, Crowley answered, “I didn’t invite her! She wanted to see the show on her own…but there is one difficulty: her family insists that she be accompanied by at least two bodyguards at all times. Much like the Al-Asims, they’ve had…ISSUES in the past, and if their daughter is going to be on land for a spell, her parents want to make sure she’s adequately protected.” “That’s fair enough,” you supposed. “Let me guess,” sighed Grim, crossing his arms, “You want us to be the bodyguards then?” “Well, I suppose I COULD hire professionals,” Crowley murmured, scratching his chin in thought. “But they can cost a lot…I’d probably end up having to cut your pay just to-” “Forget it,” you grumbled, while Grim growled and slapped a paw to his forehead. “We’ll do it. But something is worrying me, if you don’t mind my bringing it up.” “What’s that?” “Are you sure WE’RE the right ones for this job?” you pressed, then before Crowley could speak up, you went on quickly: “We’ll do it, like I said, but…are you certain we should?” “How do you mean?” the Headmaster questioned, tilting his head. “Well, we’re not from the Coral Sea,” you explained. “Wouldn’t someone from that area be a better choice? Perhaps Azul could loan out the Leech Twins for a day!” Both Grim and Crowley looked at you as if you had grown a second skull. “…Right,” you sighed, quickly catching on. “Azul. ‘Loan’ us the Leech Twins. And us NOT expect things to go HORRIBLY wrong, one way or another. Yeah, that was a dumb suggestion, sorry.” Crowley chuckled and shook his head. “I have every confidence in you,” he said, with a wide smile. “You’ve solved so many problems in the past! And it’s only for tonight! What could possibly go wrong?” “Well, great, now something will DEFINITELY become a problem,” Grim grumbled. “Look, it’s not that I’m ungrateful,” you pressed on, “Or even that I’ve got a whole lot else to do, just…I’m worried because I don’t have magic. And Grim is…well…Grim.” “Hey!” Grim yapped indignantly. “I could roast any bad guy’s butt if they tried to get to Miss Coronation!” “Corazón,” corrected the Headmaster. “Whatever,” shrugged Grim. Crowley rolled his eyes, then turned his head upward. “You do raise a good point though, Prefect,” he conceded. “I didn’t think of that…at the very least, you two will need some help.” You were just about to agree…when suddenly, you heard Grim shiver. Both you and Crowley looked down as the cat-like demon quivered and hugged himself, the fire in his ears flickering. “Are you okay?” you asked, worriedly. “Y-Yeah,” Grim answered with a slight chattering of his teeth. “But…does anybody else feel like it suddenly got colder in here?” Now that Grim mentioned it, you DID suddenly feel a light chill crawl up and down your back…and it wasn’t too long afterward that the source of the cold made its presence known. With an authoritative BANG, the Headmaster’s office door burst open, causing both yourselves and Crowley to yelp and jump in alarm. You turned around fast, and gulped nervously as you perceived the imposing figure of Chief Jehan – the school’s head of security, garbed as ever in his military style cap and long, black trenchcoat. “Headmaster,” the darkly dressed security chief intoned, bowing his head respectfully to Dire Crowley, “Forgive this intrusion.” “Oh, it’s alright, Claude,” Crowley sighed out, then frowned. “Whatever is the matter?” “I apprehended this rule-breaking scallywag in the school cafeteria,” Jehan stated, indicating a second figure. “Ow! OW! H-Hey, let go of me, you old…! I’ll bite your legs off, you hear me?!” You and Grim were surprised to see the short, thick-hipped, green haired figure struggling in the icy grip of Claude Jehan, trying to pull away as his ear was all but being yanked from the side of his cranium. “Tock?” the two of you chorused. Tock Crockwork just snarled as Jehan glared at him. He tried to return the glower, but it came off more akin to a wounded animal trying to look tough than…well…looking tough. Crowley’s frown deepened, and he stepped past you and Grim – uttering a quiet, “One moment please” – before approaching the chief and the unruly Octavinelle student. “What is the meaning of this?” the Headmaster boomed. The Security Chief pushed Tock forward, releasing his ear. Tock stumbled a bit and caught himself, massaing his sore lobe. “This young ruffian,” Jehan explained, “Started a brawl with Mr. Bucchi over the last Deluxe Menchi Katsu Sandwich. As the latter student was merely defending himself, I felt his punishment should be more lenient; both have been banned from the cafeteria for the rest of the week…but as the one who started the whole affair…” He trailed off as Tock growled rather pathetically, looking down at the floor sullenly. Crowley scowled and hummed thoughtfully, clearly trying to determine a fitting punishment. Your eyes, as well as Grim’s, widened, and you looked to each other. “Grim,” you whispered, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” “I think so, Minion, but a show about a math teacher who’s also a criminal mastermind? Who’d want to watch that?” You facepalmed. “What are you two whispering about?” Jehan asked, suspiciously, as Tock and Crowley both looked to you as well. “I think I know a way to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak,” you suggested. “You mean, a way to deal with Mr. Crockwork while also dealing with your dilemna?” Crowley guessed. “Exactly.” “Dilemna? What dilemna?” Tock asked. You grinned.

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“Thanks for sticking up for me, snack meat,” Tock groused, petulantly pouting as he walked by your side. “You’re the one who decided to pick a fight with the hyena,” you shrugged. “Honestly, I think I did you a favor.” “Nya…my Minion has a point,” Grim nodded. “Do you really think things would have been better if Crowley had decided to punish you himself?” “Or worse,” you put in, grimly, “Leave you to Chief Jehan?” All three of you shuddered, and Grim even crossed himself at the mention of the security chief. “Fine, I guess that’s fair,” Tock grumbled. “But I don’t like having to protect a fish filet from harm. I eat fish!” “Well, you won’t be eating Mia Corazón,” you sniffed. “Alright…guess I’ll just have to eat YOU instead,” smirked Tock, and licked his sharp teeth. Grim mewed and hid behind your leg. You blushed. “…We’ll worry about that later,” you grumbled, making Crockwork snicker with a wicked smile. “For now, let’s focus on getting you some actual lunch.” “You ARE an actual lunch,” snorted Tock. “I am not on the menu!” you snapped, flushed with embarrassment as Tock gave you a knowing grin. “Well…not till your work is done,” he teased, winking deviously, then smirking down at Grim. “Maybe I’ll have the little hairball for an appetizer, too…” Grim hissed at being referred to as a “hairball,” but said nothing. “Do you always have to be so antagonistic?” you sighed. “It’s what keeps getting you into trouble, you know.” Tock just shrugged carelessly, hips swaying as he walked side by side with you. “So, where are we heading?” he asked. “Can’t go to the cafeteria, and the Mostro Lounge is way too expensive…” “The Mystery Shop,” you answered. “I’m sure Sam’s got something in stock for us all to snack on before we head to the beach to pick up our special guest.” “Nya! Between my fiery awesomeness, my Minion’s brains, and lizard-breath’s strength, we’ll be the best bodyguards ever!” declared Grim. “Call me ‘lizard breath’ again,” Tock warned, “And we’ll be back down to two people, fuzz-face.” “Fuzz-face?!” Grim snapped. “How’d you like to BURN off a few of those calories you’re so proud of, hah?!” “Girls, girls, you’re both pretty,” you droned. The pair glared at you, then each other…then growled in unison as they stopped. “Thank you,” you sighed with relief. “Now, let’s be on our best behavior: I don’t want Sam’s Friends to give us a hard time…” As you spoke, your little trio reached the entrance to Mr. S’s Mystery Shop, and the three of you walked inside. Aside from a simple banner reading “Happy Valentine’s Day!” over the door, the shop was completely as it usually was…at least on the outside. To be fair, once you all entered the building, the store within seemed its usual self, too; no heart-shaped décor here, only the usual assortment of voodoo accessories. The strange part came when you not only realized Sam was nowhere to be seen…but you all also noticed who was tending to the store. Or rather, what. “Crabs?” all three of you gasped in surprise. Sure enough, crawling all over the Mystery Shop was an assortment of strange white sand crabs. Their shells seemed to have been made from smooth, ivory-colored stone…and as if the presence of the pale decapods wasn’t bizarre enough, their activities certainly would have gotten some unusual reactions. A few of the crabs were straightening out and sorting through items on the shelves, making sure everything was in top-notch condition. One crab was holding a miniature broom, while the other held a dustpan, the pair of them sweeping the floor. Still another crab was changing a lightbulb, while two more – clicking their claws encouragingly – were supervising. A bunch of crabs carrying a spray bottle and a wash cloth scuttled past you all, near your feet. Yourself and Croc stepped back, but Grim – with typical feline curiosity – leaned down and actually sniffed at one of the crustaceans… “ME-YOWCH!” he yelped, and jumped back, mewling and covering his muzzle after one of the crabs pinched his nose with their pincer. The crab seemed to strut away importantly afterward. “Heh…guess the crab cake bit back, huh?” teased Tock. Grim just growled and massaged his stinging snout. “This is new,” you muttered. “Where’d all these little guys come from?” “Cruel and cold, like winds on the sea. Will you ever return to me? Hear my voice sing with the tide: My Love Will Never Die…” The melodious voice soon sang into your ears, and you and your companions looked towards the source. In a corner of the shop, a lone figure was quietly mopping, and singing the lonely, haunting sea shanty you had heard. The figure was a young and slender man, dressed in a tan-colored jacket with ruffle-ended sleeves, and a brown hip-skirt. His legs were covered by dark beige trousers, while plain brown boots were on his feet. A fishnet scarf was loosely slung about his shoulders, almost like a shawl, and an orange muscle shirt festooned his abdomen. His hair was a curious pink hue, and done up in dreadlocks. “Ahem!” you coughed, catching the young man’s attention. He froze and looked up to you, blinking his brown eyes. For a moment, you noticed there was a look of pain and something…hollow in his face, as if something inside of him was missing and he longed to get it back. An overwhelming feeling of loneliness and sorrow seemed to wash over you…but it disappeared in an instant when the youth smiled. “Oh! Ahoy there! Didn’t hear you come in,” he greeted, bowing his head respectfully as he put the mop in its bucket and then walked towards you and your group. “Can I help you?” “Well, you can start by telling us who you are, and what happened to Sam,” Grim frowned. The young man chuckled, flipping his fishnet scarf over one shoulder. “Sam is taking the day off for the holiday,” he explained, then slowly added, “I don’t…make merry on Valentine’s Day, so I volunteered to keep the shop open and do some cleaning.” “Well, that answers one question,” Tock snorted, crossing his arms over his chest and lookin the taller youth up and down. “Mind answering the other?” “Oh! Right, right,” the young fellow chuckled, and cleared his throat before giving a mock-salute and answering: “Name’s Caelyum. Caelyum De Macabre. I’m Sam’s new assistant.” “Pleased to meet you,” you smiled, and shook Caelyum’s hand, and tilted your head. “Say…can I call you Cael for short?” The young man’s smile flickered, and he paused before quietly beseeching, “I’d…rather you didn’t, thank you.” “No problem, I’m sorry,” you apologized quickly. “Not at all, not at all,” the young man chuckled, and straightened his stance, recovering quickly. “So! What can I do for you, me hearties? Supplies, clothes?” “Food,” growled Tock. “I’m STARVING.” Caelyum chuckled and jabbed a thumb to one part of the shop. “You’ll find everything you need in that direction.” Tock nodded, and sashayed in the direction De Macabre had indicated. Caelyum smiled back at you and Grim in the meantime. “You’re the Prefect of Ramshackle Dorm, right?” he guessed. “That’s right,” you nodded. “It’s nice to meet you, then,” Caelyum smiled. “Sam’s told me all about you: he says you’re his favorite customer.” “He says that about everyone,” Grim snorted. Caelyum chuckled and knelt down. He extended a hand carefully. Grim sniffed it carefully…then smiled and allowed the shopkeeper’s assistant to pet him softly. “You have a beautiful singing voice,” you couldn’t help but comment. Caelyum looked up in surprise…then blushed a bit. “Oh, uh…you heard a little of that, did you?” he chuckled with embarrassment. “Nya! It sounded really sad, but…it was also really nice,” Grim mewed. “Thanks,” Caelyum said as he stood back up to his full height. “What song was that?” you asked, curiously. “I’ve never heard it before. Is it from your homeland?” Caelyum’s smile fell, and he looked askance. “Not exactly,” he murmured, then informed you aloud, in a matter-of-fact way: “It’s a song from the Coral Sea. I come from the Jubilee Port, near the Swamplands: same place as Sam. A…friend taught the song to me.” Catching the hitch in his voice, you smiled sympathetically. “It sounds like you two were close.” “We were,” Caelyum said softly. “Very.” “Nya…what happened?” Grim asked. Caelyum paused…then shrugged. “They left,” was all he said. Sensing the sensitive subject, you decided to drop the matter; Grim caught on and did the same. “How long have you been working for Sam? I haven’t seen you around before.” “Not long,” shrugged Caelyum, seemingly grateful the subject had changed. “He and I have some similar interests, and when I joined Night Raven, I applied for work.” “Oh, so you’re a first year?” “Yep.” “What house? Octavinelle?” you guessed, wondering why Tock wouldn’t have recognized the youth if so. “Scarabia, actually and weirdly enough,” laughed Caelyum, as if the placement struck him as some sort of very funny joke…he paused then leaned in and whispered: “Um…is it just me, or is the dorm head of that house a little…you know…how would you say it…?” “Too pure and innocent for this cruel, unholy world?” “…Yeah, that.” “Yes. Yes, he very much is.” The two of you were interrupted by the sound of Tock snarling in the food aisles. You all turned to see him trying to pry a bag of chips out of the pincers of one of the crabs, who looked very insulted to be interrupted in his work. “Hey! Can somebody make this crab cake let go?!” he snapped. “Oh, sorry!” Caelyum called out, and then snapped his fingers. Suddenly, every single crab inside the building froze…and then their claws and extremities retracted into their shells, leaving only a series of what looked like smooth, white stones scattered around the shop. With a second snap of his fingers, the stone crabs disappeared; there was no puff of smoke or flash of light. One second they were there…the next, they were not. Grim whistled, impressed. “Nice trick,” he murmured. “Is that your Unique Magic?” you asked. “Yep,” Caelyum nodded. “They’re called Locker Crabs, and you’d be surprised the kinds of things I can do with them…” “Cool!” Grim commented. “Hey, Tock!” you called out, hearing the rustling of snack food bags. “Leave some stuff for the rest of us, and hurry up! We need to get to the beach quickly!” “I’m hurrying, snack meat, I’m hurrying!” Tock called back dismissively. “The beach?” Caelyum spoke up, looking interested. “Why are you three heading there? What’s so important?” “We’re on a mission!” Grim cheered, puffing out his chest once more. “Oh, really?” smirked Caelyum, looking amused, and scoffed as he moved behind the front desk. “What for? Some sort of Valentine’s Day meeting, or something?” You frowned, sensing a bitterness to two particular words. “You mentioned you don’t make merry on Valentine’s Day,” you said slowly, approaching the desk and leaning on it. “What do you…y’know…have against it?” “Hm?” Caelyum murmured, then shrugged as he leaned back against the shelves behind the front desk. “Oh, well, it’s…not the day itself. More what it represents.” “Nya? What do you mean?” Grim asked, tilting his head. A shadow seemed to fall over Caelyum’s face, and he looked askance. Something icy and stormy flickered across his features. “Love,” he said, as if the word were some repellent toxin. You and Grim shared a look, then looked back to Caelyum. “Love is a lie,” Caelyum went on, seemingly talking more to himself than to either of you. “It’s like a parasite that burrows into your chest…and even once the sickness it spreads is cured, something in there remains, keeping you from ever knowing real peace. It pulls you along a blind alley, and just when you feel safe, it stabs you in every place it hurts most, and then leaves you to either heal on your own or die. It weakens your defenses, and confuses your resolve. And yet every year, every time this day comes around…I just see people acting like it’s the best thing in the universe.” He shuddered violently, looking positively ill. Grim meowed almost sadly. “I think love is mushy and gross, but…I don’t think it’s THAT bad,” he mewed. His words seemed to snap Caelyum out of it. The witch doctor’s assistant glanced up at you both…and, with a light chuckle, his helpful, friendly smile returned, the shadows departing in an instant. “Well…being mushy and gross doesn’t help,” he joked. Grim sniggered. Your own expression didn’t change, even as the employee leaned forward again. “Seriously, though, what IS your mission?” “We’re gonna be bodyguards!” Grim announced joyously. “Bodyguards?” “There’s a special guest coming to the show on campus tonight,” you explained. “The Headmaster assigned the three of us to look after her, since she’s a VIP.” “A really RICH VIP,” Grim added. “That’s our Headmaster,” Caelyum scoffed with a roll of his eyes. “So, who is this special guest?” “Mia Corazón.” Caelyum’s smile vanished, as if it had been smacked off his face. “Mia…Corazón?” he repeated. “Nya? Do you know her?” Grim asked. Caelyum didn’t answer, looking away; that hollow, haunted stare came to his face as he seemed lost in another world. “Mia Corazón,” he repeated again, then let out a soft, slightly hysterical laugh. “Of all the cursed days of the year…she chooses now…” Before you could ask what was wrong, Tock came lumbering over, arms loaded with various snacks and drinks. “There! That should be enough for all of us…or at least, for me,” he grinned, flashing you a wink that would have made you blush in an instant if your mind weren’t on other matters. He looked towards the assistant…then frowned, eyes narrowing. “Hey…who are you upset with?” The words once again snapped the brooding Caelyum out of it. He looked at Tock with surprise…then shook his head fast and brushed some of his pink hair away from his face. “No one. Nothing,” he insisted, and forced his smile back onto his face. “Now! Let’s, uh…let’s ring this up, aye?” In casual, business-like fashion, Caelyum charged Tock; you were grateful for the recent raise Crowley had given you as you paid for it all. The three of you then left the shop. Just before you exited, you turned to bid Caelyum one last farewell. He smiled and waved back… …But the moment you left, the darkness flooded his face once more, and he looked away, eyes smoldering like hot coals as he reached into his shirt… …Revealing the silver locket that was around his neck. The same sort in the photo Crowley had given you. The young man’s face became cold as an iceberg once more as he opened the locket…and sang to the tune the music box inside played. “Wild and strong, you can’t be contained. Never bound, nor ever chained. Wounds you caused will never mend, and you will never end…”

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“Why did you ask him that question?” Tock Crockwork belched and grunted as he finished up his lunch, licking and sucking on his fingers before looking to you, cheeks bulging as he still chewed his food. “Whuh queshun?” he mumbled out through a full mouth. “About why he was upset?” Grim spoke up, tilting his head. “I mean, he certainly looked upset, so…” “That wasn’t the question he asked though,” you clarified to Grim, then looked to Tock. “You specifically asked, ‘WHO are you upset WITH?’” Tock swallowed and let out a hiccupping burp before speaking. “Mph…yeah, and?” he grunted, patting his stomach and licking his lips free of any crumbs from the sandwich he had devoured. “Well…why did you assume he was upset with someone?” “I didn’t assume, I knew,” snorted Tock, and slung his arms behind his head as the three of you neared the beach of Sage Island. “That was the same look I saw in the mirror every day when I thought of Leona, or those boys back home.” Knowing what had happened in his conflict with Leona, you gulped at Tock Crockwork’s words. “Well, I hope he wasn’t mad at us,” murmured Grim. You smiled thinly; you had a very good idea you knew who Caelyum was mad at, given the context of things…and you were very much hoping you were wrong. You had the sinking feeling those hopes would be dashed as the three of you drew closer to the beach…and a familiar-sounding song, accompanied by the tinkling notes of a music box, drifted through the greenery and into your ears… “Over waves and deep in the blue; I will give up my heart for you. Ten long years I’ll wait to go by: My Love Will Never Die.” The source of the singing soon became clear as you pushed past the last few bushes of the wilderness and stepped onto the open, sunny beach. There was a single white bench nearby; standing beside the bench was a man in what looked like an almost Spartan uniform…and seated upon it was a young woman, with dark skin and long, black hair, dressed in a red and gold dress. In one of her hands, she lifted the pendant of a locket; the source of the music box tune. The lady snapped the locket shut, and she and her chaperone turned fast when they heard yourself and your companions approaching. She smiled, chocolate-toned eyes lighting up with interest. “Oh, hello!” she chuckled, seemingly a bit embarrassed at being caught in her reverie, and stood up as her suspicious compatriot narrowed his eyes at you. “Are you…my bodyguards?” “Yes, ma’am!” chirruped Grim, proudly. “Mia Corazón, I presume?” you smiled, respectfully. “That is right,” the young woman greeted, bowing her head in matching respect and lowering her locket. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” “Wait a minute…why do you need us to guard you?” Tock spoke up, and pointed to the Spartan-looking fellow. “Wouldn’t he be enough?” “Oh, that’s Firme. He actually has a date with his wife,” Mia answered, giving the man a teasing smile.

The guard blushed. “Miss Corazón, not in front of civlians!” he pleaded. Mia chuckled. “Sorry, Firme,” she apologized. “Now go on; I know she’s waiting for you.” Firme nodded gratefully, then glared at the three of you more seriously. “Protect her at any cost; we’re depending on you,” he ordered. “Aww, don’t worry, we’ll keep the little fishstick safe!” Tock smirked, cracking his knuckles and neck. “You can start by NOT calling her ‘fishstick,’” you droned, noting the nervous look on Mia’s face and the anger on Firme’s. You gave both an apologetic smile. “Sorry. He’s half-crocodile. Trust me, though, he’s a softy when you get to know him.” “HEY! I AM NOT!” snapped Tock, angrily. Grim just giggled. The interaction and your promise seemed to relax both denizens of the Coral Sea. Firme bowed to Mia, and then walked towards the beach…and kept walking, straight into the sea, until his head disappeared under the waves. “Well!” Mia smiled, and cheerily hurried towards your group. “Can we go see the show now? I don’t wanna be late!” “Of course…um…Your Excellency?” “Oh, don’t bother with titles like that,” the girl giggled. “Just call me Mia! Everybody does!” “Okay, Mia,” you chuckled, quite liking her warmth and energy. “Follow us, and stay close.” “I will,” Mia promised as the three of you set off along the beach. “Thank you, by the way; I hope this doesn’t cause you too much trouble.” “Quite the opposite,” grumbled Grim, remembering what Crowley had said earlier. “Why do you wanna see some silly show anyway?” sneered Tock. “Oh, it’s not silly!” exclaimed Mia. “The story of the Sea Witch and the Little Mermaid is important among my people…and besides, I think theater is exciting! I always enjoy seeing it!” “Hopefully our show won’t disappoint,” you smiled. Tock just rolled his eyes and scoffed. “I still think it’s for wimps,” he mumbled…then abruptly froze. The rest of you stopped, too, looking to the croc boy as he sniffed the air and growled. “What is it?” Mia asked. “Something wrong?” “Very,” Tock nodded. “We are being watched.” “How do you know?” you asked. “Instinct? Intuition?” Tock growled and narrowed his eyes, looking at you determinedly. “No, meat. We. Are. Being. Watched.” “By who?” whispered Mia, nervously. “I have an idea,” you murmured with some dread. Before Mia could comment on your remark, all three of you heard a sharp yelp, and turned to see that Grim had inexplicably toppled over. The feline-like creature sat up and massaged his bumped noggin. “Owwww,” he moaned. “What happened?” Mia asked, sounding concerned. “I dunno!” Grim whined out. “Just…s-something seemed to come up from under me and…” “GAHR!” You jumped as, right on cue, Tock toppled over as well. Then it was your turn, as you felt something shift under the sand where you stood, and you dropped to the ground. The wind was knocked out of you for a moment, but you managed to sit up just in time to see three large, round humps in the sand…which seemed to move of their own accord. The three humps began to trace a path, circling Mia, who froze up and squeaked like a mouse, clearly confused and frightened. It only got worse when, suddenly, more and more humps seemed to appear out nowhere: at least a dozen or more, which shot through the sand, burrowing through it with a barely-audible scraping sound… …Then, dust flew up as the shapes burst from the ground. As the dust cleared, you and your friends watched wide-eyed as a consortium of familiar white crabs toppled Mia Corazón, and – working together to lift her, carried her off across the beachside. “HEY! PUT ME DOWN! STOP!” Mia cried out, but the crabs wouldn’t listen, and soon vanished from sight. “Nya…we’re off to a good start with this job,” sighed Grim dismally. “After them!” you barked, and leapt to your feet as you dashed after Mia and her arthropoid captors, Grim hot on your heels. Tock grumbled sourly as he dusted himself off then jogged after you. “Taking orders from my lunch…I’m gonna eat that stupid, mask-wearing, feather-loving…!”

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Mia cried out as the crabs carried her along the sand, her “volunteer” bodyguards soon out of sight. She tried to fight free, but the crabs pinched and held her fast, keeping her in place. She wasn’t sure how far or for how long they carried her…but suddenly they stopped, and she let out an “eep!” as they moved into a pillar, and pushed her up, allowing her to stand. The mermaid-in-disguise turned around, panting for breath as she watched the crabs swarm about each other…then, they seemed to coalesce and mesh together; their pale shells took on more colors; hints of pink, brown, and orange… …Until, finally, standing before her was a familiar young man with dreadlocks and a fishnet scarf. In his hand, he held a heart-shaped silver locket. “Come my love, be one with the sea. Rule with me for eternity. Drown all dreams so mercilessly, and leave their souls to me.” He snapped the locket shut at the end of the verse, and paused before uttering, in a mechanical, robotic tone, two words: “Ahoy, Mia.” Mia blinked slowly, absolutely stunned. “…C-Cael?” Caelyum blinked back and said nothing, his face emotionless and blank. Mia slowly smiled, her eyes lighting up…then squealed with joy and rushed forward, throwing her arms around the young man…who stood stiff and rigid, not even looking at her, as she hugged him close. “CAEL! I…oh, Gods, what do I even say?! It’s…it’s been so long…I’ve missed you so much! Where have you been?! Cael…Cael, I-I’m so happy…!” “Let. Go. Of. Me. You. BITCH.” Mia gasped as Caelyum harshly pushed her back, nearly knocking her over. Her heart sank as she stared at the young man, who glared at her, grinding his teeth and clenching his fists. She looked deeply hurt…and not because of the push. “Cael?” she whispered. “Cael…wh-what’s wrong? Why…why are you upset with me?” Cael’s eyes flashed with anger. “What’s wrong?! Why am I upset?!” he repeated. “What in Hades do you THINK is wrong?!” Mia flinched as the boy from the swamplands’ voice rose to a perfect scream. Cautiously, steadily, she approached. “Cael…please…I-I don’t understand. I…I’ve wanted to see you again for such a long time, and now-” “How DARE you?!” shouted Caelyum, silencing the aristocratic mermaid. “How dare you say something like that to me?! After what you did to me, do you expect to believe you’ve ever cared?!” “I…what…I do care!” Mia pleaded, and tears began to twinkle in her eyes. “Cael, what are you talking about?” Cael laughed; a dangerously unhinged, malicious sound. “Oh-ho-ho, you know EXACTLY what I’m talking about! You should!” he spat…then, the bitterness was replaced by pain as he went on. “Two years, Mia. Two years I waited, and you never returned. You…y-you broke your promise to me…and did you ever think of me in those two years? Did you think of me even once in all the time since, until now?” Cael’s eyes began to brim with tears of his own; he was shaking. Mia felt her heart sinking further in her chest. “Of course I did,” she said, softly. “You’re…you’re my best friend.” One could almost hear Caelyum’s last heartstring break. “Best friend,” he repeated, in a dead, soulless voice…then hung his head. “You still don’t get it, do you, Mia? You broke my heart, Corazón…” Head still hung low, dreadlocks casting shadow over his eyes, Caelyum De Macabre lifted one arm, and snapped his fingers…and Mia nervously stepped back as a swarm of crabs appeared to trail across his arm and mesh together…forming a silver cutlass. “…And now, I’m going to break yours. Literally.” Ominously, Caelyum began to approach. Mia felt panic rise in her, and started to back away…then yiped, almost comically, as she tripped on her own dress and tumbled back. “C-Cael…Cael, PLEASE!” she cried out, as the boy loomed over her, his face twisted in anger as he began to lift the sword above his head… “HEY! BACK OFF!” FWOOSH! A jet of blue flame shot between Mia Corazón and Cael De Macabre; the lad from the swamplands jumped back, then growled angrily, turning to face the source. You had finally arrive, with Grim at your side, both of you glaring at the bokor’s assistant. “That’s enough, Caelyum,” you warned. Cael sneered. “It’s not enough,” he hissed, “Until she endures the same amount of PAIN and AGONY I HAVE!” With a roar, he rounded about to try and strike Mia down…then froze in place when he found she had seemingly disappeared. Startled and caught greatly off guard, he was unable to avoid the green scaled fist that grabbed hold of the back of his jacket, and cried out as, with a roar, the owner of the fist hurled about seven feet away, sending him rolling through the send. His sword spun through the air before stabbing into the ground right at the edge of the shore. Caelyum coughed and snarled and spat as he got onto his hands and knees…then glared as he found Tock Crockwork – now in his full “true form” – glaring at him, fangs and claws bared. “Keep away from the fishstick, swamp meat,” he spat. “Thank you,” Mia whispered. Tock just smirked at her – somewhat cockily but not cruelly – then glarde back at Caelyum as yourself and Grim moved to stand beside him, all of you making sure to create a barrier before poor Mia. Cael rose to his feet shakily. “Leave her alone, Caelyum,” you said. “This is not your fight!” he snapped back. “Uh…yeah, it kinda is,” Grim snorted. “We told you, this is our job today!” “You don’t know who you’re protecting,” Cael viciously sneered, his shoulders trembling with fury, his fingers clenched so tight that his knuckles turned white as the bones under his skin. “She cursed me!” “Cursed you?!” Mia exclaimed. “Caelyum, I never did ANYTHING to you!” “Yes, you did!” Cael answered…and gulped back a sob before explaining: “You made me love you.” All eyes widened; you and your friends looked to Mia, then back at Caelyum. “Ohhhh…now the pieces are coming together,” Grim murmured. “I know the look in your eyes, meat, and it’s not love,” Tock said, darkly. “Not love as it should be, anyway.” “Cael…I-I’m so sorry,” Mia quavered. “Of course you’re sorry,” Cael scoffed. “Everyone’s sorry when it’s too late.” So saying, he lifted his hand…and the sword that had stabbed into the ground “dissolved” into a group of crabs. They scurried across the beach, crawled up his side…and reformed into a cutlass in his grasp once more. “Put the weapon away, Caelyum!” you beseeched. “It doesn’t have to be like this!” “Yes it does!” Cael yelled. “Don’t you get it?! I can’t be free! I’ll always remember! I’ll always feel that pain! Love is a curse; a curse that hurts me, every day of my existence…but after today, I’m going to change that.” He closed his eyes. You had a bad feeling you knew what you’d see when he opened them again…and you were correct. One of his eyes was suddenly surrounded by a fiery aura. “Today, I break the curse.” KA-ZAM! The familiar black cloud of Overblot surrounded the shopkeeper’s boy. Blue and orange light flashed in the gaps between the vapor as it swirled around the fellow from the swamplands…until finally, the mist parted. When it did, you all found that Caelyum De Macabre had gone through an alarming transformation. His brown-tinted clothes had vanished, replaced with a blue-gray uniform like a navy seaman. One of his arms was stuck into the sleeve of a long, tattered cerulean coat with gold lining, which hung about his shoulders almost like a cape. A blood red sash was lashed about his middle. While his left eye was surrounded by orange aura, a tattoo had appeared over his right, in the image of a pirate medallion. His dreadlocks had transformed into a head of writhing, wriggling, pinkish-purple tentacles, like those of a squid; each tendril’s tip was smeared with ink. His left arm had become a white crab claw, ink oozing from its joins; his right leg had become a crab’s leg, too, and was also oozing with Blot. A single black boot covered his one human foot…and he still held his cutlass in his one human hand. Cael grinned viciously, pupils pinpricks as he pointed his sword at you. “Yo-Ho, me hearties!” he bellowed. “Shiver ‘em from stem to stern!” At these words, the ground before his feet seemed to ripple…and then, a swarm of Locker Crabs came scrambling from the ground, racing towards your group. “I’ll take care of this!” Grim pronounced, and summoned a wall of flame. As the fire struck the crabs, they vanished in a cloud of silver smoke…but more just kept coming! Caelyum laughed and began to move towards your group, swaggering as the point of his crab-leg stabbed into the ground repeatedly. Seeing the approaching dark mage, Grim paused to hurl a fireball in his direction…only for Cael to split in half, crab legs showing in the “seam” of his being, as the fireball hurtled past without causing any harm. He stitched himself back together and kept moving forward, as if nothing had happened. Tock Crockwork roared and charged at Cael, swinging a punch at him…but De Macabre simply swept up his crab claw and, in a fluid, wrenching motion, whirled Tock about and flung him to the beach floor. He grinned with deranged excitement as he moved closer to yourself and Mia, leaving Tock to choke in the dust. “Hold them off, Grim!” you called out as he continued to scorch the crabs. “I’ll try!” Grim called back. “Run for it, Minion! RUN NOW!” And you did, holding onto Mia’s arm as you dragged her after yourself. With a wild laugh, Caelyum lifted his sword up…and then “melted” into a swarm of crabs, which scurried after the two of you as you raced along the beach. Behind you, Tock snarled, clutching his banged skull as he watched the horde of crabs vanish. He angrily kicked away a few that Grim didn’t manage to stop, and then charged forward. Grim panted; he was already growing weary. “I…I can’t hold them off!” he meowed. “There’s…there’s too many-EEP!” “Stop whining and shut up,” snarled Tock, whisking Grim up in one arm and sprinting on, the pair pursued by the remaining Locker Crabs. “We’ve got more important things to worry about, come on!” Unaware that your friends were on the chase, you hurried along with Mia Corazón. The crabs that made up Cael’s being clicked and scraped behind you with a deeply unsettling sound, urging you to go faster and faster. “Wait!” Mia gasped. “If…I…can…talk…to him…!” “I don’t think he’s in a mood to talk!” you replied. “Right now, all we can do is…!” You trailed off and stopped short as the crabs suddenly caught up with you…and then moved around you, reforming in front of you into a column. Thinking fast you looked around… …And were just in time to grab hold of sturdy tree branch, as a sword reshaped and then stabbed at you. You barely had a moment to parry the strike, the blade cutting a notch into the wooden limb you held. “Stay behind me!” you hissed to Mia, as Cael reformed fully. “So, it’s a duel then?” Cael cackled. “Alright! EN GARDE!” You yelped, instinctively blocking as the sword slashed at you once more. The slash was followed by a lunge; you jumped back quickly and parried that strike, too. CLING-CLANG-CLING-CLANG! The cutlass and the branch clattered against each other, the sound of the steel against wood that was tougher than it looked ringing out. Each time Cael tried to get around you to lunge at Mia, you blocked his path. You laughed softly, amazed you were holding out; guess one didn’t know how good they’d be at something like a swordfight till they tried! You ducked another slash, and responded by swinging your stick around. WHACK! Caelyum reeled as you managed to smack him across the face…then slowly turned back. He looked…annoyed. “Ow,” was all he said, almost sarcastically, before swinging his blade around again. You quickly lifted your branch… SWACK! And gulped nervously as the cutlass sliced it clean in half. “Oh, boy.” “HA HA!” laughed Cael, and lifted his crab leg, kicking you hard in the stomach. You coughed, dazed and winded as you crumpled to the ground. Now, nothing was standing between the enraged Caelyum and his prey: Mia. The mermaid with legs began to back away in fright…then cried out sharply as Cael thrust out his crab claw and grabbed her by the throat with it. A grin of evil triumph spread across his face as he lifted his weapon above his head. “And here we are at last,” he crooned with twisted delight, and squeezed, making Mia gasp for air. “Any last words, my dear?” Mia gulped…and looked pleadingly into the Swamplander’s eyes as she uttered five simple words. “Cael…please…I love you!” Just before the last three words were uttered, Cael had prepared to attack…but then he froze. The grip of his pincer loosened as she said those three golden words, and the demented smile vanished from his face. He hesitated, as if those words had caused something in his brain to just shut down… Which was all the opportunity you needed. CRACK! “GAH!” exclaimed Caelyum, and dropped Mia, who coughed as she hit the ground. His tentacle hairdo wriggled like a horde of angry snakes as he glared at you in rage: the stone you had thrown at his shoulder had hurt! With a furious roar, he swung his sword around his head three times, trying to cut you into pieces. You ducked and dodged each strike as fast as you could…only to fall back as Cael summoned a horde of sand crabs. You squirmed and grimaced as the crabs pinned you to the ground, acting like organic shackles. You winced as each time you moved, they pinched you hard, making you stay still. Caelyum smirked victoriously, and pointed the tip of his cutlass at your heart. “Tell me, Prefect,” he taunted. “Do you fear death?” “Do you?” CHOMP! Caelyum began to turn around towards the voice, his face etched with surprise…and stayed perfectly still, as if he’d become a statue, paralyzed in shock. The red marking of Tock Crockwork’s unique power – One Minute to Die – was evident on his left arm. “NOW!” the crocodile shouted, as Grim hurried over. The feline-like creature wasted no time: he focused his power, a bright blue aura surrounding him…before, with a spiteful hiss, sending a huge jet of flame towards Caelyum. Caelyum was sent flying through the air, clothing scorched, and rolled across the dirt, still in the position he had been stuck in. Only a few seconds later, he convulsed, and groaned, trying to stand up… …Only to find Tock looming over him. “This,” the crocodile hissed, “Is why I’M top of the food chain, snack meat!” WHAM! He spun around, slapping his tail across Cael’s face…and the Overblotting mage fell still and silent, rendered swiftly unconscious. The sword disappeared without warning from his hand, as if it had never been there. The crabs he had summoned all vanished in the blink of an eye: just like at the shop, one moment they were there, and the next they were not. All four of you – yourself, Mia, and your friends – sighed with relief. “Thanks,” you nodded to Tock as he helped you to your feet. “Hey, I’ve gotta protect my territory; that includes you,” Crockwork shrugged. You decided not to comment on that. “Are you okay, Miss Corazón?” meowed Grim, nuzzling up against the mermaid’s side. She smiled weakly and patted his head before standing. “Physically, yes,” she said. The teenaged girl’s eyes then lit up with concern as she hurried over to Cael’s side. “Cael…Cael, are you okay? S-Speak to me!” she pleaded. “He just tried to kill you!” Grim snapped out. “He wasn’t thinking straight,” Mia defended him. “Just…h-he didn’t understand…” She sniffled and bowed her head. “…C-Caelyum…I’m so sorry…” You and Grim shared a sad sort of look. Tock just looked confused, above all else. “What happened between you two?” the croc grimaced, crossing his scaly arms. “I think we’re about to find out,” you said, and pointed as silver mist began to wisp off of Caelyum De Macabre’s form. A moment later, a blinding white light surrounded the young man…and the mist formed a cloud, inside of which – as always seemed to happen – pictures from the past began to appear… “Tag! You’re it!” “I’ll get you! Ha Ha Ha!” In the swamplands of the Jubilee Port, a small boy with pink dreadlocks giggled and hid behind a tree by the riverbank. For several seconds, he sat anxiously…then yelped when, out of the river burst a familiar, dark face with flowing raven hair. “GOTCHA!” sang out the girl with the gold and ruby tail, and reached out a hand to playfully tap his shoulder. “No fair!” huffed the boy. “I always have to stay near the water; you never let me have an advantage!” The girl giggled and smirked teasingly. “Not my fault you’re a lousy swimmer,” she cooed. The boy grumbled and pouted. She smiled gently. “I’m sorry, Cael; I didn’t mean it,” she said, placing a hand on his leg… “AHA!” the boy laughed, and tapped her hand before jumping away. “You’re it again!” “HEY! THAT’S CHEATING!” The two laughed as the girl swam through the river, chasing the bayou boy up and down the banks…before finally leaping out of the river with a victorious cry. “RAAAAH!” “EEK!” Young Caelyum yelped as he was thrown to the ground. The girl with the fish tail grinned, flippers wagging happily as she kept him pinned. “Gotcha again!” she sang out. Young Cael giggled and wiggled under her. “Hey, lemme go!” he demanded with a slight laugh. “Hmmmm…if I do, will you just tag me again?” “…Maybe?” The mermaid glared…and tickled her friend with her tail. Cael squealed with laughter before flashing an evil smile. “Ohhhhh, you wanna play that way, huh?” He tickled her back and the two rolled across the bank…before yelping and splashing into the river. A moment later, both rose from the depths Caelyum coughing and floundering. “Help! Mia, help! I’m drowning!” “I’ve got you, hold on!” Mia said, and helped Cael back to shore. The boy sighed with relief and began to wring out his clothes. “Thank you,” he gasped out. “No problem,” Mia smiled. “I’m sorry you got all wet…” “It’s okay; I’ve got other clothes,” Cael smiled. Mia nodded, then smiled a bit more sadly. “I still should have been more careful: there may be more clothes, but there’s only one Caelyum.” Cael blushed. “Hush, you’re just teasing me now…” “No. I’m not,” Mia said seriously. “You’re my best friend, Cael.” Cael blinked, pausing in his activities. “…But…don’t you have other mermaid friends?” “I may have OTHER friends, but you’re my BEST friend,” smiled Mia. “And there’s only one of you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Cael blinked again…then smiled sentimentally. “Heh…well, um…you’re my best friend, too, Mia. And, uh…a-and I feel the same.” “I’m glad,” Mia smiled. A pause. “You should really suck less at swimming though.” “Oh, hush. Say! Maybe you can teach me?” “Sure!” That word seemed to be a cue, for the scene changed to a few years later; the same river on the bayou, the same boy and girl, just a little older. “MARCO!” “POLO!” The Mermaid floated with her upper half above the water, eyes closed, flapping her tail as she blindly searched for her friend. Cael would pop up now and again with a gleaming, gloating grin as he watched her try to find him: he’d learned to swim VERY well in the years since that time playing tag. “MARCO!” Mia called out again. “POLO!” laughed Cael. “Oh, this is impossible, you’re too fast!” “Suck less at swimming,” teased Caelyum. “I’m a MERMAID, all we DO is swim!” ���You can walk!” “I need a potion or a spell for that,” huffed Mia, and turned around, trying to feel about for her friend. Cael smirked and dove under again, swimming cautiously around her in the wide river… …But as he popped up again, he was due for a terrible sight. He gasped as he saw Mia blindly reaching closer to the shore…where a venomous serpent glared at her oncoming form almost hungrily… “MARCO!” “MIA, WATCH OUT!” Confused, Mia opened her eyes…then gasped as she saw the snake rearing back to bite her! She pulled away just in time, and at the same moment, Cael glared and snapped his fingers. The snake heard a clicking noise, and turned its head to find a white crab snapping its pincers. The pincers swung towards its throat… SNICKER-SNACK! And that was the end of the snake. Mia swam back to Caelyum’s side as she snapped his fingers again and the crab disappeared. He hugged her close. “Are you okay?” he whispered, worriedly. “Yeah…i-it didn’t get me,” she panted with relief, and squeezed him tightly. “Thank…th-thank you…” Caelyum smiled warmly and returned the hug…then froze up as Mia leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you,” she said again, and nuzzled against his bare chest. Cael blinked…then blushed red as a tomato and grumbled. “…Hey, what are friends for…? More time passed, and the swamp disappeared. The scene now became a lonely pier. On it sat Caelyum and Mia, who was now in full human form. “Do you really have to go?” he whispered. Mia nodded sadly, hanging her head. Cael bit his lip, and looked away, tragedy in his eyes. “…When…w-when will you be back?” he asked, timidly. “I don’t know,” Mia admitted sadly, then smiled gently up at her friend. “My mother said I need to start learning more about the family business; spending less time on land and…well…with you.” Cael frowned and clenched his fists. “I see.” Mia’s smile fell…and she gave Caelyum a hug. He relaxed. “She’s set in her ways,” she said softly. “But I will never forget you. And I WILL come back.” “Do you promise?” “Of course. You’re my best friend,” smiled Mia…then reached into a bag she had with her, stationed between the two. “Here…I have proof…” Cael tilted his head as out of the bag she pulled two silver necklaces with heart shaped lockets. She gave him one, and clasped the other around her neck. “What is this?” Cael asked, crinkling his nose in confusion. “A sign that we both share the same heart,” Mia said, and giggled. “That’s the really sappy way of saying it, anyway. Put it on and open it!” Cael did, and at the same time he opened the locket, Mia did too…and soft, beautiful melody chimed from the music box contained. Caelyum’s eyes widened. “That’s the song you taught me,” he recognized, and looke dup to Mia. “The one about the pirate and the goddess of the sea?” Mia nodded. “It’s your favorite…my favorite…OUR favorite,” she said gently, and took Cael’s hands in hers, looking into his eyes with deep-rooted affection. “And as long as we share these lockets, share these songs…we’ll never truly be away from each other.” Caelyum smiled weakly. “I don’t know about that,” he chuckled, wryly. “But…thank you, Mia.” He paused. “You…you know I love you…right?” Mia blushed. “Yes. And I love you too.” Cael gaped. “You do?” “Of course, silly! You’re my best friend!” Cael blinked…then smiled and shook his head wearily. “Yeah…I know,” he said softly. “I…I know.” A pause…and the pair began to sing together to the mingled tune on their music boxes as they watched the sun sink on the horizon beyond the sea. “Warm and welcoming as the sea, someday I will return to thee. Hear my voice, sing with the tide: Our Love Will Never Die.” Time passed once more, but the music box still played. The next scene played in silence, as Cael lay on his bed silently one night. He hummed to the tune on the locket, and glanced sorrowfully towards a calendar on his wall. Every date was crossed out with a red X. He sighed…then snapped the locket shut…before a lightbulb seemed to go off over his head, and he reached towards his book case, grabbing a specific spell book… This short tableaux was followed by another as Caelyum was now found…underwater. His lower half had become a white-scaled fish’s tail as he swam through the water, using a spell that would turn him into a merman for a few short hours. He’d taken a boat out to the coordinates where he knew Mia lived. Now, he swam quickly and quietly through the city, looking for Mia. His eyes darted this way and that, seeking some sign of his long lost friend; two years without any sort of contact – never a call, never anything written – and he was now so close to seeing her again! He smiled wider as he moved into one of the higher rent neighborhoods of the underwater area, carefully brushing past other, natural merfolk going about their business. His heart was beating fast in his chest; when he found her, he’d tell her everything. How he felt, how much it hurt to be without her, how much he never wanted to be separated again! Then he found her, as he turned an alley…and that fast beating heart seemed to skip a beat… …As his face filled with sorrow. Only yards away – never noticing he was there, he saw a strong, burly-looking merman with blonde hair…hugging his Mia and kissing her full on the lips. He clamped his eyes shut…and swam away, out of the city and back towards the surface. His tears were lost with the tides. Thus ended the vision, as the blinding light faded, leaving an unconscious Caelyum De Macabre lying on the ground, back to his usual self. “…Prefect?” “Yeah, Grim?” “Is it, like…a requirement that we stand here for several seconds in total silence after we see those?” “No, I think it just happens.” “Ah. Okay then.” Tock Crockwork said nothing. A few moments later, Cael groaned and began to stir. He blinked his eyes and clutched his pink-haired head as he started to sit up. “Ugh…what…wh-what happened?” he slurred out. “You tried to turn my food into shish-kabob,” droned Tock, thumbing towards you. “Shut up,” you grumbled. Confused, Cael turned towards your voices, and looked about to say something…until he heard sniffling and whimpering. He turned…and found the teary-eyed face of Mia staring back at him. “C-Cael,” she whimpered…then let out a squealing cry that caught him off guard as she threw herself upon him and began to cry. “CAEL, I’M SO SORRY! I’m so, so sorry…please…please, I’m sorry, PLEASE…!” Caelyum, as you might imagine, looked beyond uncomfortable…and with a growl, he managed to push Mia off of him. She whimpered like a kicked puppy as, without a word, he got to his feet and turned away from her, one hand on his chest, clutching his silver locket. “Sorry isn’t enough,” he answered, coldly. Mia gulped…and stood up. “Cael…please don’t walk away,” she begged. “Why not?” Caelyum snarled back over his shoulder, and began to stumble away. “Because I love you!” Cael stopped. He didn’t turn around…but he stopped. Mia paused…and took a deep breath. “I love you,” she said, firmly now, not desperately. “I…I always loved you, but…but I was…I don’t know, I…I was worried…” She hung her head and paused before going on. Cael turned his head slightly to show he was listening. “When I returned to the sea, my mother didn’t want me to ever go back to the land. She forbid it. She told me I had to stay under the water, and…and find a proper husband. She told me to forget about you, and…that merman you saw? He was…my betrothed.” Cael growled. “WAS,” Mia pointed out, and then went on quickly: “Cael, I could NEVER forget you, and I could NEVER stop loving you. Those two years…they were agony for me. That time in the alley…I asked him to kiss me because I wanted to show him we WEREN’T right for each other. He agreed; there just…wasn’t a spark. We liked each other, but…we both knew it would be wrong.” She swallowed, and lifted her head. “So…we both spoke to my mother. And…she realized what she’d been doing was wrong. The very next day, I went back to the swamplands; I looked everywhere for you…you weren’t there.” Silence. “I’m so sorry, Caelyum,” she sniffled. “I’m…I’m so-” Cael stopped her with a raised hand…and slowly turned towards her. All of you were surprised to see tears in his eyes. “…I just tried to kill you.” “Yes.” “I ran off over this whole misunderstanding.” “Yes.” “All this pain, all this time…and you really loved me?” “Yes.” “And…you…still love me? After all that?” Mia smiled. “Yes.” Cael blinked…then let out a wet laugh. “Wow,” he chuckled. “I…I guess swimming isn’t the only thing we both suck at. I mean…we’re n-not very good at this whole ‘relationship’ thing, either, are we?” Mia shared a sniffling laugh…and the pair promptly ran into each other’s arms. “I’m so happy I found you,” Mia sobbed with joy. “I’ve missed you so much…” “Not half as much as I’ve missed you,” Cael choked. The pair squeezed each other…then backed up, holding each other’s hands and staring lovingly into each other’s eyes. “Play the song you sang long ago,” Cael began. “And wherever the storm may blow,” Mia continued. “You will find the key to my heart,” both finished. “We’ll never be apart.” “Aaaaand…kiss,” you murmured to yourself with a smile, as the pair did exactly that. Tock snorted, rolling his eyes as Grim stuck out his tongue and grumbled something about “soppy mush.” The two lovebirds parted after a few seconds…then seemed to remember you were all standing nearby, and blushed before backing away from each other like scalded cats. “Um…s-sorry,” Caelyum mumbled. “About trying to destroy us, or for that sappy display?” droned Tock. “Because I can forgive one of those…” “It’s the destroying us part, isn’t it?” you guessed. “Yyyyep.” Cael hung his head and shuffled his feet guiltily. “…I’ve…had a lot of pain bottled up for years,” he said silently. “And…when I heard she was coming here…I…well…” “It’s alright,” you soothed, moving closer. “I can understand. And for the record, we won’t tell the Headmaster.” “Nya…or Chief Jehan,” Grim added. “Claude Jehan?” Mia spoke up, and tilted her head. “Is he really as scary as they say back home? The Ashengrottos and Leeches have a LOT of stories to tell.” “I’d imagine,” you snickered. “And no. He’s not that scary.” “Right. He’s WORSE,” Tock responded. “Amen,” you and Grim chorused. Mia gulped nervously; Cael chuckled softly, smiling at her with puppy-eyed affection. “I…hope he’s not going to be at the play tonight,” she said slowly. “Trust me, you’ll be fine,” you soothed. “Well, we won’t be if we don’t get there on time!” Grim reminded you. “We’re already behind schedule, thanks to all this!” “The hairball has a point,” nodded Tock, stiffly, then grumbled under his breath: “I still say it’s all for pansies, though…” All of you chuckled…except Mia, who took Cael by the hand. “Can…can he come, too?” she asked, shyly. Cael looked shocked, as did Grim and Tock. You just smiled wider. “If he wants to,” you answered. Cael blinked…then grinned so wide his face nearly seemed to split in two. “Please!” he nodded eagerly. “Then come on!” you called, and gestured for the reunited lovers to follow. “Let’s get moving before my pay gets docked! I have a pet to feed, you know!” “I AM NOT YOUR PET!” snapped Grim, while Tock cackled with amusement, snapping his fingers and resuming his humanoid form. Caelyum De Macabre and Mia Corazón just smiled and squeezed each other’s hands, following at a steady pace. It took longer than it should have to reach the theater, in the end, but you still made it in the nick of time. When asked why it took so long, you had an honest answer: Cael and Mia were so busy staring into one another’s eyes with everlasting love, it made getting there quickly difficult. In your mind, and theirs, it was more than worth it.

 The End

5 sad truths that made Horimiya so relatable [spoilers!]

Horimiya has ended but not the feelings that the winter season left behind for us.

As Horimiya has been a topic lately on our blog with Nissa’s quote analysis and one of my latest breakfast anime reviews, this time we are going to look how the anime actually impacted us.

The anime which did really well and gave us a refreshing and out of the ordinary romance story compared to other series, had a lot more to give than simple romantic relationships and wholesome moments.

Why is Horimiya so relatable?

Why does it differ from other anime in this aspect especially considering relationships and romance?

In today’s blogpost we will cover those questions, with 5 sad truths that made Horimiya so relatable.

Please be aware that this post will contain spoiler, read at your own risk.

1. Hiding a part of yourself

With the first sad truth we shall start and it’s something we also see in the very beginning of the anime, actually it is the whole start of the plot and how it unfolds.

As we see, especially our two main characters have a drastic change in behaviour, in Miyamura’s case even appearance, when they are both alone. None of them want other people to know about their other side.

We see why they do not want that secret to be exposed, with each character having a justified reason.

And not only Hori or Miyamura, also Yoshikawa, Ishikawa, Remi, Sengoku and most other characters in the series are hiding a part of themselves which makes you wonder what would they think if they ever saw this side of me?

In Yoshikawa’s case when she was obviously jealous as Kono made her romantic approach on Ishikawa, realizing most of the things she wants but does not speak out loud are not in her grasp and if she decides that she wants something it is already gone. Not her jealous feelings seem like a different side, since every human has those feelings which are normal if treated in a proper way but also the way Yoshikawa acted out those feelings as she herself mentioned that she was disgusted by herself doing things behind the scenes to avoid that Kono would come closer to Ishikawa, a side that only she knows since she hides those feelings deep inside of her. Nobody would have known that she hid the fact that she wasn’t actually dating Ishikawa or that she purposely said mean things in that sense, since the Yoshikawa everyone knows is energetic and happy-go-lucky.

But it’s not limited to Yoshikawa, beside the main characters we also have Sengoku who is also hiding his cowardly self, scared of most things and not as amazing as he seems to be. A side that only Remi knows and secretly loves about him as she mentioned that he started to change toward the end of the anime but that she loves both the new and old Sengoku, yet he tries to be much more manlier and strong for Remi without Remi asking for it.

The latter also hides many things she could have said to Sengoku, many of her feelings and the way she acts when alone or around Sengoku and Kono, who knew her for a long time now look past her cute and happy act, Remi is a very smart and observant person who is not unaware of the things happening around her it is quite the opposite in fact.

All of those characters have a side they do not want to expose, as it is human nature that we adapt to the environment around us and put on the facade or personality we need to distinguish between work, school, friends, family and more.

The sad reality is that sometimes we even lie to those around us, those who are close and maybe like Remi or Yoshikawa just cannot express the true feelings that we are desperately hiding inside of us waiting for somebody to notice, that is hiding a little part of yourself that nobody shall ever see.

2. The past that haunts

It is nothing new to hear that we should leave the past behind us and just focus on the future ahead, or use the past to learn from it and correct our mistakes to step into a new light.

But that is easier said than done and that very example is represented in two characters especially: Miyamura and Tanihara.

Apart from their connection and the past they

overcame becoming closer, leaving their dispute behind there is still a conflict that each of them are fighting on their own respectively.

Miyamura, whose present self is no longer the same as he was in middle-school, learned how to interact with those around him, considering people as friends and even getting himself a girlfriend who he cherishes dearly as she does the same in return. Still there is never an episode where he doesn’t think back of the past or get anxious about it, even in the opening we see the correlation of Miyamura’s past haunting him until his graduation day of highschool, obstructing him to be truly happy despite the fact he overcame the difficulties and made friends with Tanihara who was one of his problems in middle-school as well.

Nissa wrote a whole analysis on that, if you are interested check it out, I won’t go much deeper into that topic here.

We also have Tanihara who seemed to hate Miyamura, but we also see that he is not just living his life as if nothing happened but still let’s the past replay in his head. He used to bully Miyamura and tried to continue that when he saw him in highschool as he was walking with Hori but due to some events both of them became more involved and started to hang out as friends after talking it out. Tanihara still used to dream about the incident that happened in middle-school and was even frustrated why he was actually bullying Miyamura in the first place as he simply didn’t like him for no apparent reason. He is aware that the things he did to Miyamura were in no way justified and doesn’t know where to start to redeem himself, or how he should apologize to him causing him to have nightmares and being scared to encounter Miyamura in some cases (also due to seeing Hori being a threat he considers both of them dangerous).

In our lives we cannot always do things right, leading us to mistakes towards ourselves but also towards others. Sometimes other people can forgive what we cannot forgive ourselves, as the past is nothing that can be overcome overnight. We struggle with ourselves to become a better person in the future.

But simply letting the past go even when we are now at a better place, Miyamura and Tanihara show us, it’s not that easy to just pretend the past never happened.

3. To be liked is a matter of heart

Another thing that we often experience in our lives is that no matter how good or nice we are, people simply cannot fall in love with us, or like us in a way or another.

Winning someone’s heart can take some time, but in some cases no matter how hard we try it just doesn’t spark or click.

“A matter of heart”, as we can say since some things cannot be solved by logic or forcing kindness on a person.

In Horimiya again this parallel is represented by Kono Sakura, who has a crush on Ishikawa after an encounter.

Kono being a quiet, cute, reserved and responsible person who cares dearly about the people around her is in no way not appealing, on the contrary even Sengoku mentioned that the ones who rejected her was simply dumb/blind to not see the good qualities in her.

But Ishikawa as well who used to like Hori for a very long time was rejected by her not because he was someone bad, but since she was simply not interested in him romantically while as friends she also cherishes him dearly.

As Kono started her pursuit of giving Ishikawa sweets and becoming more bold when it came to her indicating her feelings for him, at the same time Yoshikawa and Ishikawa started to become more aware of their own feelings for each other.

With Kono still being adamant to confess her feelings, being true to herself and make it clear that she likes Ishikawa, Ishikawa himself mentions that she is a nice girl, she is good in baking and more compared to Yoshikawa, but the one he is interested in in the end is Yoshikawa.

Sometimes we cannot help who we love and like, and sometimes even when we dislike someone but cannot grasp why despite trying our best to like them it’s still a matter of heart and feeling who we like.

No matter if one person seems like the better choice in other people’s eyes.

4. Loneliness is a hidden pain

Loneliness is a big topic in Horimiya, even visually we see that feeling being represented with colors and auditory with a representative sound.

A feeling so familiar yet strange, a feeling that every human experienced at least once in their life.

But despite loneliness that can be detected in some cases most of the time people struggle with it deep inside nobody aware of the hidden pain tugging inside.

We get to see a variation of loneliness that the characters carry with them.

Hori being the oldest sibling and with her parents always away due to work, grew up becoming rather independent and relying on herself. When she fell ill for the first time we get to see her vulnerable side as she was struggling with that deep-rooted loneliness since her childhood, when her parents didn’t even give her the special time back then so for her it was common to be alone until Miyamura was there for her and suddenly the loneliness that she subconsciously tried to push away gushed out of her.

With Miyamura we have someone who was lonely from the very start, not in a sense like Hori was since she still had friends who surrounded her but Miyamura didn’t have anyone around. The feeling of loneliness was so familiar to him that he never considered what it would feel like to have many people around before meeting Hori, as Shindou was his only friend in middle-school and they aren’t able to meet that frequently since they attend different highschools. Miyamura struggled with constant loneliness and even deceived himself that it wouldn’t bother him anymore if he was alone or not but in the end all along deep inside he knew that it was.

Additionally we have Kono who hangs out a lot with Remi and Sengoku due to the student council yet feels like she is always left out in a sense, may it be due to them being a couple or just generally when they ask her for advice as she feels like that’s the only thing she is good for.

Speaking of the student council, the former problem with Remi hiding her true feelings, we can see that there is a sense of loneliness as well, as she sees Sengoku slowly changing despite her liking him the way he was even with his little flaws. When she narrates the way they met and that she was fond of him, she doesn’t seem to give off the feeling of a sweet everlasting romance that started from that point, but rather talking nostalgically and with a hint of missing the old Sengoku she fell in love with.

Last but not least we have Honoka who appears to hate Miyamura in the beginning but we get to see that he reminds her of her deceased brother. Coping with the death of her brother who used to get along with her very well, the strong underclassman of Hori and Miyamura is fighting with the loneliness of having lost someone very dear to her as she sees Miyamura every day resembling that very person.

Loneliness cannot be simply defined and is a complex feeling as we can see in those characters that we have a variety of that feeling and most of them represent someone out there who may have experienced the same, making us think which of this loneliness is my own?

5. Communication is hard

With the last and obvious sad truth we see that one of the things we probably do often in our daily lives but still struggle with it the most is communication.

Each human is individual and different, we may share similarities some more than others but in the end we communicate with each. May it be through words, gestures, letters, chats and so on we are always connected in a way.

Still it always happens that no matter how hard we try, there are misunderstandings and we often conclude after a dispute or later on when we re-analyse the problem, there was a lack in communication or miscommunication.

In Horimiya especially in the beginning where Miyamura and Hori start to see each other more often we see from a viewer standpoint that both of them enjoy each other’s presence yet each of them thinks about the possible concerns and outcomes of problems that could occur.

In some cases there are incidents that could have been solved if someone would have just started explaining or maybe the other one trying to resolve the matter by speaking up, but just like in real life we humans tend to make assumptions about what the other person probably could think instead of asking them directly in most cases, or we are afraid to know.

Hori for example thinks it is obvious that she likes to be around Miyamura while Miyamura thinks she is probably pitying him and at some point they won’t meet anymore. That again results in Hori thinking that Miyamura may see her as pushy and therefore she doesn’t want to force him to do things with her in the beginning and Miyamura thinks again she is getting tired of him.

If neither of them would have spoken up this would have continued despite that both of them shared the same thought of wanting to stay with the other person.

We also get to see that with Yoshikawa and Ishikawa.

Even with Yanagi when he confessed to Yoshikawa, if it wasn’t for him clearing the misunderstandings that he caused most of the characters would have had the wrong impression of him and Yoshikawa would have thought he wasn’t serious about the confession he made in the beginning.

Same goes for Remi who tends to say things in a round-about-way, which mostly Kono or Sengoku need to clear up so other people wouldn’t misunderstand her actual good intentions.

Sometimes talking about a matter a bit longer than needed can resolve it than letting it sit in our heads and becoming a far worse misunderstanding. Often we get into disputes, discussions or become angry but in the end the longer we try to get across that what we really mean (if we mean well of course there are always people who mean harm as well), and try to make the other person aware of that what made us act or talk the way we do, the easier it becomes in the future to resolve matters just like Hori and Miyamura became much better in understanding each other towards the end of the series.

What do you think made Horimiya relatable for you?

Leave a comment and let us know!

Until then, spring started again…

Makii

Even Heroes Have the Right to Dream: Chapter 1

The skyscrapers look down on us like a bird under bars.

Story Summary: MariJon college roommates AU. Marinette and Jon have decided to give up being heroes in favor of an ordinary life. This story follows them throughout their college careers, and their mutual journey to find what life holds for them without heroism.

Next.

Ao3.

Story under read-more.

It’s over.

So many years, so many enemies, so many battles… and it’s over. Marinette’s body feels like jelly unable to support its own weight as she stands there. It’s over. Marinette fights the tears in her eyes. Already it’s hard not to lose her grip on the butterfly Miraculous in her hand. It’s finally over.

There’s a soft, breathy laugh from her partner. Chat Noir leans heavily on her, as she leans on him. “We did it.” He says. “We did it!”

“We did it.” Marinette agrees. She sniffs back her tears, steels her heart, and sighs. “Come on, chaton. We’re done here.”

Chat Noir smiles gently at her. He and Marinette both spare Lila another look, but no more than that. “After you, my love.” Chat says.

Lila raves at them. She spits and screams and throws every vicious insult she can at them, but in the end, Lila is in handcuffs going the way of Gabriel. In the end, the butterfly Miraculous is finally back where it belongs. And with the box complete, no one can use the Miraculous for evil any longer. Not so long as Marinette is still guardian over it.

But Marinette… Marinette is so tired. All the fighting, every battle, just one after another, over and over. The secrets. The fame. The responsibility. The expectations. Marinette is so tired of fighting. She’s tired of being perfect for the people. She’s still human.

When they take down Gabriel, there is a whole celebration. The butterfly Miraculous eludes them, of course, to ultimately land in Lila’s hands, and Nathalie escapes as well, though without the peafowl Miraculous, but there is still a celebration. Hawk Moth is taken down. One great evil defeated, so it’s only a matter of time before the next is, too. It renews faith, proves to the people that their heroes are the paragons they’re meant to be. For Marinette, it is a failure. For Adrien, it is losing his family. Marinette still doesn’t quite forgive Paris for celebrating something so horrible.

She wonders, will they celebrate this? It’s over. Ladybug has retrieved the Miraculous. The source of the power that allows those evils to do what they do. Gabriel and Lila. Selfish, cruel, short-sighted, villains the both of them. But their power is gone. It’s in Marinette’s hands now. That’s something to celebrate. Marinette just really doesn’t feel like celebrating.

Right now, she just wants to see the butterfly Miraculous in its rightful place in the box, Nooroo to reunite with the rest of the kwami, and to sleep. So that’s what she does. In near silence, she makes her way back to her apartment, pulls out the hidden Miracle Box, puts Nooroo back where he belongs, smiles at the kwami’s excitement to be together again, and crawls feebly into bed beside Adrien.

Adrien wraps her up in his arms, happily holding her close and whispering cheery words to her. He’s excited, and rightly so. Lila has been a thorn in their sides for more than just her reign with the butterfly Miraculous, and for much longer, too. To see her finally land herself in jail is satisfying in a way that Gabriel’s arrest still isn’t. Adrien is so happy right now, nuzzling into her and giggling and peppering her with victory kisses. It’s more than enough to make her smile. Marinette slips into sleep there in his arms, curled up where she belongs.

Marinette stares at the letter in her hand, not quite sure yet how to feel about it. The letter is great news! Yet… something ugly writhes inside her. She doesn’t know how long she stands there, just staring at the words – not reading, just staring – slowly being eaten alive by that ugly thing in her gut.

“I’m home!”

Marinette jumps, quickly folding the letter and slipping it into one of the pockets of her nearby coats and closing the closet door on it. The reaction is purely on instinct, and that only makes that ugly thing inside her grow larger. She doesn’t have time to reconsider, though, before Adrien pokes his head into their room. “How’re you doing, my lady?” He asks with an easy grin. “Did your acceptance letters come yet?”

Marinette nervously glances away, to the closet, and hesitantly shakes her head. “No. Should be any day now, though, right? If I get in.”

“Oh, you’ll get in.” Adrien chuckles. “I know they’re competitive, but you’re you. You’re a hero, remember? You’re literally miraculous! And you’re best fashion designer in the world.”

Marinette ducks her head to hide her blush, even as Adrien approaches to hug her. “I’m not…”

“Yes, you are! You’re Ladybug! You can do anything, and if those dummies at IFM or ESMOD or wherever don’t see that, then they don’t deserve you. You’re already successful, so you’d only make them regret turning you down by being the bigshot in fashion you already are. None of those universities are dumb enough to turn you down. The real question is which one you’re going to pick!”

Marinette laughs, a tad humorlessly. Isn’t that the truth? “Adrien…” She says, “I…”

Adrien just smiles at her and takes her hand. “Come on, my lady. Let’s go patrol. It’ll take your mind off while we wait.”

“I…” Marinette tries again. Words just don’t come to her. She can’t tell him that she doesn’t want to patrol. She can’t tell him that being Ladybug isn’t the honor it once was. She can’t tell him that she hates being a vigilante. (Hero, he and Paris keeps saying, but without a Miraculous-powered villain, they’re tackling regular crime and that makes her a vigilante, whether Paris agrees or not.) She can’t tell him that she’s starting to hate Paris itself. Fighting Hawk Moth is one thing, handling Miraculous problems is one thing, but Marinette always thought, back when that was happening, that when she beat Hawk Moth that would be the end of it. Every moment Adrien and Paris demand more from her is another that she resents Ladybug just a little more. “Okay.” So, she just agrees and transforms and goes out on the rooftops with her partner.

And, for a while, it takes her mind off of everything. She soars through the air and dances across the rooftops like she was born there, and she and Chat Noir break up some minor crime. Catch a pickpocket, stop a mugging, help an old lady across the street. It’s busy work, and it does keep her mind occupied, but it makes her heart heavy.

She’s sick of people calling for Ladybug like she’s some god among men who can be omnipresent and solve everything for everyone. She’s sick of fighting, of the adrenaline she gets when she sees a knife, or of the chase of some thief trying foolishly to escape. She’s sick of sacrificing her time and effort and safety for increasingly diminishing returns. It’s just not satisfying to her to stop a robbery. Not enough to justify dressing up and seeking them out. Not anymore. It’s cruel of her to think so, but sometimes she wishes that these people could just defend themselves.

Chat Noir ironically lights up when he dons his dark costume. It’s when he’s clad in black that he truly shines. He’s a true hero, a born hero. It’s worth it for him. He’s not sacrificing anything, because being a hero is what he’s meant to be. That’s why Marinette hasn’t told him yet. That’s why she can’t find the words to tell him that she doesn’t want to do this anymore.

They return to their apartment tired as always and feeling like they’ve done good. Adrien is cuddly. He always is after patrol. He’s touchy anyway, but in the afterglow of fighting crime there’s nothing he wants more than to cuddle up with his girlfriend. Marinette has no problem with that, of course, except when he gets a little clingy and interrupts her when she’s trying to work, but she usually is too tired to work right after patrol anyway. That’s just for when she’s bogged down.

Marinette lays in bed listening to Adrien’s sweet nothings, hyperaware of the letter in the closet that he still doesn’t know about. She has to talk to him about it, but how will he react? Will he be mad that she hid this from him? That she applied to schools abroad without telling him because she secretly wants to be anywhere but Paris? Will he be disappointed in her, for shirking her responsibility as one of Paris’ heroes by leaving their city to fend for itself without her? Will he and the kwami hate her for putting such selfish desires over her duties to them as the guardian?

How is she supposed to be Marinette, when Ladybug demands so much of her? Is it so wrong to want to walk away from it all? If people get hurt that she could save if she stays a hero, is that blood on her hands? Is she even allowed to be Marinette at all, or is she only Ladybug?

Marinette goes to sleep thinking that she’s starting to hate Ladybug, too.

“Marinette! It came! It came!” Marinette jumps up from her work when Adrien comes running into the room. He’s breathless, clothes and hair a mess, but he’s glowing and holding a small envelope proudly. “From IFM! Come on, Mari, open it!”

He shoves the letter into her stunned hands and sits eagerly, waiting for her to open it. Marinette examines the letter carefully. Plain, white, with their address and her name and Institut Français de la Mode’s seal printed boldly on it. Such a small, delicate little thing, holding her entire future inside it.

There’s no more avoiding this. Marinette realizes staring at the letter. Dread bubbles up inside her. If she’s accepted, then she’s going to have to tell Adrien that she isn’t sure she wants to accept. If she’s not, then she’s only delaying the inevitable until the next letter comes. She’ll only be playing along as Adrien sits with her to look through even more schools to apply to. More schools in Paris. Only in Paris.

The gentlest of hands cover her own, and Adrien’s loving green eyes bore into her. “It’s okay. Only one way to know, right? I’ll help you, if you want.”

Marinette shakes her head. Sweet, sweet Adrien. He’s the love of her life, but… he just can’t understand that acceptance isn’t why she’s scared to open this letter. She’s scared because the last one she opened changed everything and she still hasn’t figured out if she wants that change or not.

With trembling hands, Marinette breaks the seal and extracts the letter. She can’t breathe as she unfolds it. And when she reads it… she can’t finish, because she’s too busy crying.

She can feel Adrien carefully take the letter from her to read over himself, and then his ecstatic arms around her as her feet leave the ground. He lifts her, so joyful, and swings her around with a bright, clear laugh. “You got in! I told you, you would! Oh, Marinette, this is so great! I’m so happy for you!”

Marinette pats his arm as firmly as she can, a request to be put down. While she’s wiping at her eyes, Adrien seems to realize that she’s not as excited as he is. “Bugaboo? Are you okay? You don’t look ver-”

“I’ve got something to show you!” Marinette blurts out suddenly, still trying to stave off her tears.

Adrien blinks dumbly. “You- okay. What is it?”

Sniffling, Marinette guides him back to the bedroom closet, where her other letter of acceptance sits quietly hidden. She digs it out of her coat and hands it to him, too ashamed to meet his eyes. When she feels the paper slip out of her fingers, she wraps herself up tightly in her own arms and closes her eyes.

“Marinette, this is…” Adrien’s voice is so hesitant, so quiet compared to the jubilation from before. It hurts Marinette’s heart so deeply to hear. “I… Why didn’t you tell me you applied to New York? I- I mean, I’m happy for you! I am! I just… I thought…”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” Marinette mutters.

“I- wait, are you… are you planning to go to New York? To FIT? Is this where you really want to go?”

Marinette sighs. “I haven’t decided yet, but… I think so.”

“Oh.” There’s a long, long silence, during which all Marinette can think of is that tiny, hurt, “oh.” That realization that she isn’t what he thinks she is. That she lied to him, and that she wants to be an ocean away from their home. “I… I don’t…” Adrien sighs. “I don’t understand, but… if that’s really what you want, I… I’m here for you, Marinette. A- and hey! You got accepted! This is- this is still a great thing!”

“Adrien, I-”

Adrien laughs sharply and rubs at his eyes. “I’m sorry, I- I really am so happy for you, I just… This was a… bit of a surprise. I’m… I’m going to miss you.”

Marinette surges forward to crush him in a hug. “You’re not mad at me?” She asks quietly.

“Mad? Never. I love you, Marinette. If this is what you want, I’m proud of you for getting it.” He squeezes her back like he’s trying to crush her. “I’m just also sad that I won’t be able to go with you. And I… I have to ask… what about Paris? We need you. I don’t know what we’re going to do without you.”

Marinette reluctantly pulls away. “I- I have a confession to make about that, too.” She says.

The way Adrien’s eyebrows knit together tugs too hard at her heartstrings. I’m so sorry. “What is it?” He asks quietly, patiently.

Marinette takes a deep breath. “I… I don’t really… want to be a hero anymore.”

“You… don’t?”

“I’m tired, Adrien. I hate fighting. I hate going out every night looking for trouble. I hate being an idol. I hate that everyone expects so much from me, when I don’t even want to fight in the first place.” After a long pause and a lot of sniffles, she says, “I do love the people. And I love you. And I’m so proud of you and all the good you do. I just… kind of hate Ladybug. And I don’t really like Paris much, anymore, either. I don’t want to be a hero, Adrien, I just want to be me.”

“But… you are a hero.”

“I’m not. Maybe I was, but I don’t want to be anymore. I’m tired. We got the Miraculous back, and as far as I’m concerned, I should have retired then. I never wanted this.”

Adrien bites his lip and grits his teeth, turning his gaze to the ground. “I didn’t know you felt that way. I thou- I thought we were in this together.”

“We are!” Marinette says. “That why I’ve been going along with it. For you. Not to be a hero or anything like that. Because I knew it was so important to you. I’m sorry I never mentioned it before, I just…”

“Just what? You think I’m not under pressure doing this? You think I don’t know what it’s like to have everyone expect you to be perfect? I know that being heroes is a lot to live up to, but that’s why we can’t just give up on it! We’re important! We accept that pressure because everyone else can’t!”

Marinette sighs. “I can’t. Not anymore. It’s too much for me. I know you know what it’s like, Adrien, I just- I’m not like you. I’m not a hero. I don’t want to be a hero. I just want to be Marinette. Not Ladybug.”

“Marinette and Ladybug are the same person.” Adrien says. “You’re the same girl. One girl who’s so brave and talented and beautiful. One girl that I love. That’s you. You’re not two different people.”

“I know that, I- I just- I…” Marinette huffs in frustration. “I don’t know. I just want to go to school and live an ordinary life. That’s all.”

Adrien’s expression softens, and Marinette feels his hand on her shoulder. “Marinette, I… I don’t think you can. I don’t think either of us can just be ordinary anymore. I mean, you’re the guardian. There’s nothing ordinary about the kwami.” He chuckles weakly.

Marinette sighs. “I never asked to be guardian, you know. I don’t even know why Master Fu trained me for the role, and then when he actually transferred the guardianship…” She sighs. “Hey, Adrien?” She steps close again to hold him tightly, whispering into his chest. “Can I tell you a secret?”

His arms wrap around her like they’ve done a thousand times, and it eases her anxious heart. “Of course.”

“Promise you won’t be mad?”

“I could never be mad at you, my love.”

Marinette sniffs. “Sometimes… Sometimes I think you’d be a better guardian than me. I think I should just transfer the guardianship to you and be done with it all. Then I could… I could be normal.”

Adrien stiffens under her. “But… then you’d forget. Everything. You’d forget me.”

“I know.” Marinette admits.

Adrien holds her for a long, tense moment. “Oh.” He says tightly. “I see.” Marinette just hums to acknowledge him and holds him tighter. “Hey, Marinette?” Gently, he pries her off of him. Cupping her face in his hands, he kisses her, fervently, timidly, carefully. “Don’t ever forget me. If… if being a hero really is so hard for you, then… then stop. It’s okay. I understand. I want- I want you to be happy. You hear me? So… so accept your spot in New York. Go to America. I can take care of the box and Paris while you’re gone. Just go and… be normal. Okay? When you come back, then you can decide where to go from there.”

Marinette’s eyes flicker away from his. So kind and sincere and caring and… everything. It’s such a cruel thought she has, such a cruel question to pose to the man she loves and who loves her, but… it might be the most important question in this moment. “What if I don’t want to come back?”

Adrien follows her gaze to the floor. “Then… Then I’ll miss you. And I’ll be rooting for you. And I’ll be happy you’re doing what makes you happy. Maybe New York could take another hero?”

Marinette snorts. “Have you seen New York? It’s a pretty competitive market.”

Adrien laughs. “Yeah, I suppose it is. Paris would miss me, anyway. What would they do without my devilish charms?”

Giggling, Marinette enjoys that small moment. But it’s not nearly enough. “Adrien, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Adrien steals another kiss. “You’re so brave. You know what you need to do, and you’re doing it, and I couldn’t be more proud of you. That’s exactly what makes you Ladybug, you know.”

“I…” Marinette’s throat closes up. “Thank you.”

Adrien smiles, sniffles, and nods. “Anything for you.” He ducks his head. “But… if you don’t want to be involved in all of… this, then… what about us? Will I… Will you be okay with me still going out as Chat? Will you being in New York…”

“I don’t know, Adrien.” Marinette murmurs. “I don’t know. I’ll never ask you to stop being a hero, but… I just… right now, I just want to put this life behind me.”

“I understand. So, then… are you going to break up with me?” His eyes are so wide, so scared, so worried and hurt and sad and haunted.

Marinette grimaces. She wants so badly to deny it. To scream “Of course, not! I love you!” But though the latter is true, the first… Can Marinette really put heroism behind her when her boyfriend goes out to fight crime every night? Will she ever have the peace of mind she so craves, of a normal life without worrying over a city worth of trouble if her boyfriend is still involved in that trouble? Can she do that even if she doesn’t have that boyfriend? “I don’t know.” She says. The honesty sears her throat. “I’m sorry, I… I don’t… know.”

“Oh.”

“It’s not… not that bad, yet, but… I don’t know if I can live this way forever. If you’re still…”

“No, I get it.” Adrien says. “I understand. But I- I can’t give this life up. It’s… It’s everything to me. I’m… I’m sorry. I wish this was different.”

“Me too, Adrien.”

“Do you… think we can hold on?” Adrien asks softly. “Do you think, if you go to America and take a break from all this, we can survive that? Do you… want to try?”

“I want to try. I don’t know if it’ll work out, but… maybe if I get a break, it’ll be okay. I… there’s no way to tell for sure, and I… I do love you. So, so much. I don’t want to break up.”

Adrien smiles. “Me neither. I want to try, too. I’ll be yours as long as you’ll have me. But… Thank you, for the time we’ve had together. If you do decide we can’t do this, I hope… I understand, and I still love you, and I want only the best for you. And, I’m sorry I can’t be who you want me to be.”

“You never need to be anyone but you, Adrien.” Marinette says. “I’m sorry I can’t be a hero like you.”

Adrien chuckles. “You’ll always be my hero. Always. Just be happy. That’s all you need to do.”

Marinette accepts her spot at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Once she does, it’s a scramble to get everything ready for her departure. Her parents help her organize everything, as does Adrien. Marinette can tell that Adrien is trying to be strong for her, but the smile he wears is unmistakably forced, and no amount of poise can hide the way he cries when he thinks she’s not watching.

It’s almost too much to leave. To leave him, her parents, her city, even the kwami. Everything she knows. Everything except her and her dream. She feels so unbelievably terrified, and yet somehow, she feels like she’s the boldest she’s ever been. To take this step into the unknown, to leave behind so much of what’s familiar, it’s a brand-new chapter in her life. There’s a lot she hopes she can keep, like Adrien, and a lot she knows she’s going to have to give up, but it’s a new step, and she’s excited to see where it takes her.

The kwami are none too happy about the thought of her making Adrien the de facto guardian in all but the magic. Marinette knows he’ll be a better one than her – he’s a hero, after all, through and through, not like her who only wants to be normal – but they, like Adrien, understand where she’s coming from. They like and trust Adrien enough to accept him looking after them while she’s gone. After all, since they beat Gabriel and Adrien moved in with her, first into her parent’s bakery and later into their own apartment, he’s essentially been a second guardian already.

Tikki does insist on coming with her, though, and with Adrien and her parents arguing that her having the earrings, even if she doesn’t always wear them, will give them peace of mind that she’ll be safe all the way across the ocean, Marinette has to concede this. She doesn’t want to say goodbye to Tikki, either, but she will never be normal while she’s still with her. But her family and her boyfriend and all the kwami do have a point. Marinette doesn’t plan on wearing the earrings all the time like she used to, but if it’ll make the people she loves feel better, it’s a small enough thing to concede.

And no matter how much she wishes it, while she still remembers everything she’s been through, she’ll never be totally normal. Tikki is a beloved friend, and Marinette will be glad for her company when she’s all alone in America. Maybe, if she’s not a hero, having Tikki won’t be too bad. No one is completely normal, after all.

Everyone joins in on the “send Marinette off” planning party. Her friends, her family, everyone. Alya is tearfully leading the charge on making sure everyone spends as much time with her as possible before it’s time for her to leave, and her family leads the charge on making sure everything is in order, that she’s packed and has everything she needs and that she knows what to do when she gets there. Adrien is quieter than usual, but he’s stuck to her side like glue, refusing to leave her for any longer than is necessary for his own job, and stealing intimate moments anywhere he can in the flurry of the preparations.

When the day comes for her to leave, there’s more tears. Marinette is half-afraid she’ll miss her flight because everyone wants to hug her and no one wants to let her go. It’s hard. It’s very hard. To look at the faces of the people she loves and tell them goodbye.

Adrien kisses her. Heated and tender and trembling. Only for her to hear, in a hot whisper, he says, “Don’t know if that’s the last time I’ll get to do that.”

Marinette just kisses him again. “I love you.” She says.

“I love you too, Marinette. Promise me you’ll be happy.”

“I promise. I’ll do whatever I need to to make it happen. Promise me you’ll do the same?”

“Of course, my lady. I’ll do everything I can.”

The next thing Marinette knows, she’s all alone, save for Tikki in her purse, and she’s flying high, en route to America. The long journey is filled with doubt and second-guessing, but it’s too late to turn back. She’s committed, and now all she can do is find her new apartment, meet her new roommate, and make the most of life in the Big Apple.

It’s a relief to have Tikki with her when she touches down. Leaving the airport, Marinette hesitates, but Tikki’s reassurance gets her back into gear. She hails a taxi, finds her new home, and gets started. Her roommate is supposed to move in soon, she’s told, but she has the place to herself for at least a few days. That’s fine. She’ll just get the place how she likes it and ask her roommate when they get here.

Opening the door to the small apartment, Marinette explores first, though there isn’t all that much to see. It feels a bit like the whole apartment is just a narrow hallway. When she steps inside, there’s two doors to her right, one with a small closet and one with the washer and dryer. The hallway turns to the left, and there’s three more doors on the right before she finally steps into the living room. The first door is the bathroom, and the next two are bedrooms, and the kitchen is just the inner wall of the living room.

It’s tight and will be especially so when her roommate gets here, but it’s enough. I’ll have to apologize in advance. She thinks. The living room is the only place with any space to get work done. I’ll probably be taking up a lot of the floor when I’m sewing. Hopefully most of it can be done at university, but I don’t know yet how they’ll feel about using the school resources for personal projects.

I can’t imagine it’ll be an issue, but I also imagine I’ll be doing at least some work here, so I should make sure my roommate is warned about that.

Marinette takes the second bedroom after determining it has a larger closet, but she doesn’t unpack yet. She just throws her bags down and calls home.

Her parents answer right away, and Marinette isn’t surprised that Adrien and Alya are both with them. “We miss you already.” Her mother says. “How is everything? What’s New York City like?”

Marinette chuckles. “Maman, I only just got here. The apartment’s alright, but my roommate’s not here yet. I’m really excited to visit the garment district, though! I’ll have to do that soon.”

“Of course. Don’t slack on your studying, though.”

“I would never!” Marinette fake-gasps. “But seriously, don’t worry. This is going to be great. I’m excited to get started.”

“And I’m excited for you, sweetheart.”

The conversation goes on and on, but eventually they have to hang up. Knowing already what she needs to do first, gets started on cleaning. The place isn’t dirty, but she feels better after having gone through it thoroughly.

After that, it’s all about getting ready for school. Marinette will worry about unpacking and making sure the apartment is exactly how she wants it when her roommate gets here to give their input, but for now, she’s starting university in a week and she has a lot to do in the meantime.

But she’s Marinette Dupain-Cheng, after all. If anyone can handle it, she can.

I have a question for you! As it is the lovely Mammoney's birthday coming up, what would your MC give the boys for their birthday?

This actually became a lot longer than I expected because I couldn't help writing minifics whoops and ahh asks about my MC make me happy cause I rarely get to talk about them specifically

Note; despite the typical idea you'd get from their name Eliza is neither white or western or a girl. All the relationships except the one with Mammon are just platonic✌ lemme know what you think cause feedback (either good or bad) is my only fuel

Lucifer

Lucifer gets a #1 MOM mug but also the day after his bday he gets Eliza asking Diavolo if he could let Lucifer off work for the day and dragging the rest of the brothers out of the house while making Lucifer promise he'll take a nap.

"Are you ordering me?"

"Well I mean...yeah? Not - not in a," they wiggled their fingers in front of them "pacty way. Just in a concerned friend way."

"And if I don't?"

"Well Diavolo went through all the trouble of taking on your work load... He'd be terribly disappointed if nothing came of it."

Lucifer had to stamp down the twitch of fond amusement that threatened to show on his face, "Are you trying to manipulate me?"

"No, I am manipulating you. Because it's working."

He gave them a dubious look.

"It is working. Right?"

With a sigh he said, "It's working."

"Great!" They pressed forward to give him a tight brief hug whispering "Happy Birthday Lucifer" before they were moving away, running off to presumably gather his brothers. "Remember," Eliza yelled over their shoulder, "Sleep!"

Mammon

The day of Mammon's birthday he gets a scavenger hunt. He grumbles at first but the lure of the prize at each location has him solving the riddles in seconds. Eliza trots after him to each location. The gifts, though there are a lot of them aren't anything big or overly expensive, a keychain with a little crow at the end of it, a bright gold cover for his D.D.D., A tote bag just so he could put the rest of his gift in it, that one choker/collar he had been eyeing a few days ago, a few of the old Disney princess movies because he got really into Cinderella, a warm scarf and set of mittens for the colder months because they know he prefers the warmth, a new pair of sunglasses, a new pair of earrings/studs, nail polish. But it's the little notes attached to them that's killing him.

"It's cute like you!" "Ik your eyes aren't gold but I always think of shining gold when I think of them. Maybe because they are so precious?" "I love you" "I saw you staring at it. You probably thought you'd look hot in it. You're right." "Did you know meeting you made me believe in happily ever afters?" "This one's pretty selfish because seeing you happy and comfortable makes me happy" "This one's a joint gift. I'll need to borrow them because you light up the room" "You deserve the best things because you're the best" "Have I told you I love you" "Stop solving these riddles so fast! I spent a lot of time trying to find the hard ones and now you're making me look dumb! Plus my legs are hurting."

The words of the last note blurred a bit as he tried to discreetly sniff. He'd been holding back tears since the second note, not that he'd ever let the human know (they knew). He wasn't sure why this was the one that broke him.

"Mammon?"

He turns to Eliza slowly. Making sure he doesn't crush the note.

They're panting slightly, from having to run up and down the whole house after him, but they smile brightly when he meets their eyes. "Seriously man, slow down for us weaker beings yeah?"

Then Mammon does something he rarely does. He makes the first move. He shoots forward to envelope them in a hug. They yelp at the sudden movement but immediately fold their arms around him.

They're almost the same height, something Eliza loves to hold over him, so it's easy for them to shift back and press a kiss to the tip of his nose. "I love you."

That just makes him sniff harder and burrow further into their shoulder, "Said that twice already," he mumbles between hiccuping little sobs.

"Dunno what to tell you, Mammon but I love you a whole lot. Just once won't work"

"... l - love ya too dummy..."

"There's one more riddle."

The last one simply says "Happy Birthday, Mammon."

"What's the gift?" He asks, looking around his room where the last riddle had led them.

The click of the lock and the wicked look on their face says it all.

*If you think the notes were cheesy Eliza absolutely cringed while writing them and had to take breaks to go scream in their pillow because of how sappy they were, but Mammon liked this kind of cheesy and it doesn't mean they weren't 100% sincere.*

Levi

For Levi they hunt down Simeon, trailing after him begging, negotiating and making deals.

"I-is this - this isn't - h-how - there isn't any - ELIZAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" He launches himself at them, still holding the little book. "I LOVE YOU!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH ELIZA! I - " He pauses, seeming to finally register his words and jumping away, hand flying to cover his flaming face "I! That doesn't mean! I didn't mean it like -"

"Love you too," they say easily.

And that has Levi blushing even more and trying to hide his face while mumbling something about 'normies'.

"Do you like it?"

"LIKE IT!? How'd you get it! This! This isn't even supposed to exist!"

"Ah I spoke to Simeon, he wrote it just for your birthday. They're only a collection of short stories though."

"FOR MY BIRTHDAY!? A LIMITED EDITION!? NO! NOT EVEN A LIMITED EDITION, AN IMPOSSIBLE ONE THAT SHOULDN'T EVEN EXIST!"

"...happy birthday Levi?"

"I LOVE YOU!"

"Love you too."

Satan

For Satan Eliza follows both Diavolo and Lucifer around, once again begging, pleading and bargaining. Diavolo agrees pretty quickly, it's Lucifer they take a week to convince

"Where are we going exactly?"

"You'll see."

"And how exactly did you manage to convince them to let us into the human world?"

"Uhm.."

"Do I want to know?"

"Probably not."

He chuckles softly, gently bumping them with his elbow he asks, "At least tell me where we are."

"Well this is where my mother was from. She was the one who was Lilith's descendant."

"It's not the same as where you lived?"

Eliza flushes at his use of the past tense. "Nope. It's funny though... "

"What is?"

"The first people who lived, the natives, the name of their clan translated to 'Demon'. They even had a Demon King. Ah, not sure how much of that is actual history and how much has been twisted through time but. It's an odd little coincidence don't you think?"

"Amid the action and reaction of so dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be presented which may be striking and bizarre..."

"Don't quote your detective at me."

Satan laughs. "What happened to them? In your history?"

"Well it's a bit of a long story, it's not exactly a fair one either."

"History so rarely is. It's always told through the mouths of the survivors, the winners, it rarely gets a chance to be fair, to be anything more than fiction peppered with fact." His eyes are fixed firmly on the sky.

Eliza looks up with him, staring at the cloudless blue sky.

He shakes himself out of it with a chuckle, "That doesn't mean I'm not interested in hearing it. Quite the opposite actually." He smiles sweetly at them.

Eliza grins back. "I actually managed to get us a few days here. There are lots of ruins all around the country, they're not from that original clan but they're still really old and kind of amazing. We won't be able to visit all of them but it's still something."

"It is. Thank you, Eliza. It means a lot that I'd be able to learn something new and that you're sharing this with me."

Still grinning they hug him gently.

He wraps his arms around them

"Is this the part where you wish me?"

"It is. Happy Birthday, Satan."

*Anyway this is part of our actual history and even though I haven't really decided where Eliza is from this felt fitting? The detective quote is taken straight from Sherlock Holmes*

Asmo

"Elizaaa~ This is so sweet! Ahh, I love it! I love you!!"

Eliza couldn't help the soft laugh as Asmo clung on to them, rubbing their cheeks together and enveloping them in the sweet scent of his perfume.

"How did you know I needed this?"

"Well, living with six brothers anyone would need a weekend spa retreat away from them."

"You're right, Eliza! You're so right! They're the worst and it's even started to affect my skin! I needed some me time."

"Well... It's actually a coupon for two..."

Asmo blinked at them looking down at it and yes it was a coupon for two.

"You know, just in case you wanna..." they did a ridiculous eyebrow wiggle that had him giggling.

"Well then, Dear. How about a weekend spa treatment with me? Hmm?"

Eliza blushed, stumbling back and stuttering, "That's not - I - you know - I'm just - I - "

He watches them stutter, with an amused smile before he mercifully cuts in "I know you're set on that idiot brother of mine. Lord knows why, he's such a mess and I'm much prettier. You know I love you Eliza but you really do have terrible taste."

At their scowl he giggles, "But you love him, and you look out for him and you make him happy and he does all that for you too. And, well that's all that matters, isn't it?"

They're a bit red again, but they're smiling at him softly and looking at him with such love in their eyes, it makes a gentle sort of warmth spread through him.

"No, what I meant was not everyone in my family has been driving me crazy recently and you look like you could use a weekend off too. I can tell you embarrassing stories about Mammon from back in the Celestial Realm, if that sweetens the deal? Unless," now that he thought about it, "that makes you uncomfortable!? Ah! Eliza, I'm so sorry I didn't even think! I know you don't like this kind of thing, that's okay I'll ask So-"

"No, wait Asmo it's fine. I don't mind it, if it's with you."

Asmo blinked. The warmth spread. Then he flung himself at them again, "Elizaaaaa, don't say things like that and expect me not to react!"

They laughed, easily catching him in their arms, "Happy Birthday, Asmo."

Beel & Belphie

With Beel & Belphie Eliza leads them into the attic and locks the door behind them.

"Are you going to kill us here?"

"Haha. Funny."

Belphie laughed lightly, and Eliza could almost hear Beel's frown as commonplace as it was when the topic was brought up. Not wanting to keep Beel in any type of discomfort they reached out with that flicker of magic in them and a muttered spell and lit the fairy light like little lamps that hung across the room.

"You're getting better at that." Belphie said, eyes on them and looking impressed.

Beel hummed and agreed, looking proud.

"I know." Their chest puffed out a bit and the twins laughed.

Letting the moment fade they swept their hands, gesturing at the rest of the room. "So what do you think?"

The furniture had all been moved to the sides, the blankets and pillows from the room along with many, many additional ones were all piled strategically on the floor, making a large nest like structure. The outer structure of the nest was lined with various boxes and packets of different kinds of snacks and drinks. On the wooden floor in front of the nest was a large cake decorated in warm oranges and cool purples.

"I made it!" They said, proudly before deflating a second later "Well Luke made it, he wanted to do something nice for Beel's birthday but I stood around and licked the raw batter so that counts?... There's also a handheld vacuum for crumbs." They gestured at the side.

"It looks good," Beel said with a nod. "Smells good. I'm hungry."

Belphie tilted his head, "So your present for us is our sins?"

Eliza bristled, "No. That's just the setting, next is the accessories."

"Accessories?" Beel asked softly, still eyeing the cake, only held back by the firm grip that both Eliza and Belphie had on his hands.

"Accessories." Eliza moved away to a corner, returning while juggling two wrapped gift.

"It's that manga of Levi's that you like, it's the full published series so you don't need to keep borrowing it." Turning to Beel, "pyjamas. Large oversized thick and comfy pyjamas. I washed them too so that they would smell nice and wouldn't be scratchy. So this is your present: A sleepover, cuddled together under the blankets, in large comfortable clothes, eating junk food and reading manga where none of your brothers can interrupt." Eliza stopped for a breath, their proud smile dimming a bit, "I guess your presents are your sins..."

"No. They're not." Beel said firmly. Hands already unbuckling his pants and sliding them down. He changed his clothes quickly with no care for either of his audience who, to his credit, failed to react. He folded the old ones and placed them in a corner while Belphie removed his boots.

"They're not," Beel said again looking straight at Eliza, "They're quality time doing things we love with the people we love, without having to worry about anything else." He walks up to them, enfolding them in a warm, soft hug. "Thank you, Eliza."

"Right, right. Our sins are part of it because those are things we enjoy. But they're not the actual gift. Like you said it's the settings and accessories that make the actual gift. And that's spending time together without any of those idiots interrupting us for once."

"It's a good gift." Beel said, as Belphie slid into the hug. Beel lifted them both off their feet as they clung to him.

"Happy Birthday guys," Eliza said through their laughter.

"Love you," they both said in unison.

Listen To Your Body Tonight (Biadore) - Tanawrites

Summary - (belatedly) written for the Summer Lovin’ challenge for the prompt ice cream. Roy is always there when Danny needs him to be.

A/N - This is a super late contribution to the challenge but I’ve had it half-written for about a month now and I finally finished it! tw for mentions of depression and one brief mention of an eating disorder at the very end of the fic.

CC: @writethehousedown

-

The first thing Danny noticed when Adore finally won over Bianca and they truly became friends, was that Roy was fiercely loyal. It later translated into protective - both of Roy himself and the small selection of people who were close to him. It was an endless comfort for Danny to know he had a friend who was so unwaveringly in his corner.

It had never felt stifling, never that Roy crossed the boundary into possessive rather than protective. Just that he had someone, even in the moments when Danny didn’t think he needed anybody.

When Danny left All Stars, he didn’t call Roy. There was a whole track record that logically told Danny that Roy would understand, would be on his side and that Bianca had told off enough of their fellow queens that spoke down to Adore to know that Michelle Visage would be no exception to the onslaught of hate as well. Despite that, a voice in his head told him that Roy would be disappointed. That the few weeks they’d spent preparing, the money Roy had generously poured into making custom designs for Adore without a thought of Danny paying him back, it was for nothing. He was forever grateful that his mom had known better and called Roy, who held him and without knowing any of the rest of the story, told him just how much he belonged and didn’t stop until Danny believed it too.

It was like that all the time for them. One of them needed the other and they were there, no questions asked.

This time though, they hadn’t spoken in a while. Longer than they usually went without talking but they’d both been busy, rarely in the same city when they happened to be in the same country. Their groupchat had died down, only used for big occasions like holidays or birthdays rather than the constant chatter it once was. Despite this, Danny knew he could call Roy. That even across the globe Roy had woken up in the middle of the night or answered his call during the intermission to talk him down.

It was a stubbornness that stopped him though. Knowing that he should be able to deal with this himself, to pull himself out of the rut he was in. So he secluded himself, from his roommates, his friends, his family. Instead of finding comfort in the warm body of one of his fans at a show or at the bottom of an empty glass, he locked himself away from the world.

-

Roy thanked his driver and got out the car, slinging the bag he’d packed in a hurry over his shoulder. It was a familiar front door he rapped his knuckles against, despite how many times he’d been told to let himself in.

His chest clenched in a way it only did for someone who he truly cared about when the door opened and there stood Danny’s mom. Bonnie looked tired. For a woman who usually had personality and warmth oozing out of her, it pained Roy to see her like this.

“Thank you for coming, I’m so sorry to call you like I did. God Bianca, I just didn’t know what to do-“

“Hey, stop. It’s good to see you.”

Roy hushed the woman politely but firmly. He stepped forward for their usual greeting hug and let Bonnie pull him inside once they drew away.

“You know you can always call. He knows he can too.”

“He won’t talk at all. He just came home and said he needed to be alone for a while.”

Bonnie shook her head as they came to a stop in the kitchen, their voices hushed as they came closer to the hallway. The same hallway Roy was practically aching to rush down and into a familiar bedroom. He knew he had to hear Bonnie out first, to get whatever information he could so he knew what to do to help.

Danny needed him.

It wasn’t the first time Bonnie had called Bianca and it certainly wasn’t the first time Danny had tried to hide the fact that he was struggling by hiding out in his childhood bedroom and avoiding the outside world.

It always broke Roy’s heart to see Bonnie like this no matter how many times he’d seen it, the love between mother and son so strong to anyone who met them. What was important was that Bonnie knew that Danny didn’t mean to shut her out. The same way he didn’t mean to shut Roy out. He was hurting and didn’t know how to cope with it, so he didn’t. Roy knew to be grateful though that healing now took place in the safety of his Azusa family home rather than an alley behind a club or a dirty bathroom like it had so many times when they were on tour.

“I wish his problems were still simple enough that it was solved with a tub of ice cream.”

Roy let his hand reach across to rest on top of Bonnie’s as she reminisced, waiting until she squeezed back.

“He mentioned you the first day he got back, that you were home from tour. I offered to call you then but he said he just needed a few days.”

“But it’s been more than a few days now. It’s ok, Bonnie. I’m glad you called.”

“I’ll give you guys a few hours, I have to go to run a few errands but…I haven’t wanted to leave him home alone.”

It was with a heavy heart that Roy nodded, knowing many years ago he had promised Bonnie to take care of Danny and that she still trusted him with that.

With that he watched as Bonnie let herself out and took a steadying breath, braced against the kitchen bench. Roy would always be there when Danny needed him. Even if Bonnie had called and he was on the other side of the world, he would have figured something out. It was hard though, seeing someone he loved so much in pieces.

Roy didn’t want to waste anymore time, not when he didn’t know what to expect behind the bedroom door at the end of the hallway, so he tightened his grip on the strap of his bag and walked the short distance to come to a stop at Danny’s room.

He knocked once on the door before pushing it open.

“Adore?”

-

As expected, the room was pitch black except for the light streaming in from the hallway where he was standing in the doorway. Danny’s head didn’t lift from the pillow but as Roy pushed further into the room and heard the heavy sigh that answered him, he knew Danny was awake.

“I missed you too, bitch.”

Roy’s lips curled into a small smile as he heard the responding grunt from Danny. He closed the door behind him again and cautiously moved forward, blindly feeling around until he could flick the lamp on beside the bed. Once the room was dim and he could see the outline of Danny under all the covers, he let his bag fall to the ground and he perched on the edge of the bed.

“Let me see your face, it’s been too long and you don’t post enough pictures.”

“Just because you don’t know how to use your phone, grandpa.”

Not expecting the quip back, Roy scoffed but underneath it was a resounding sense of relief. He usually took longer to feel out the situation before pushing Danny. If there was something he prided himself on, it was being a somewhat expert on Danny - both emotionally and physically. It could be magnetic between them sometimes, knowing exactly when they needed the warmth of touch or the intimacy of a hushed conversation meant only for the other’s ears.

Despite the joke, Roy could hear the guttural tone in Danny’s voice and the underlying exhaustion and emotion under it. He was reminded of why he was here and that Danny was struggling.

It only took a gentle coax to get Danny to roll over, Roy reaching to brush some hair out of his eyes. He stopped the motion when Danny pushed his cheek further into his palm though, instead simply resting there as he took in the circles under Danny’s eyes, the hollowness of his cheeks.

“There you are.”

A humourless laugh was the start of Danny beginning to crack and Roy was ready to catch him. He was about to say something, to comment on the self-deprecating laugh that was usually his own forte but Danny spoke first.

“This is so stupid…so dumb. I don’t even know what’s wrong I just-”

It was a sob that cut Danny off this time and Roy was there to meet him when Danny leaned forward, falling into a messy embrace.

-

“Do you ever get sick of always putting me back together?”

Roy was in the middle of untangling the matted mess that Danny’s long hair had succumbed to after a few weeks without brushing it when Danny broke the comfortable silence they had fallen into.

It had taken a long time for Danny’s tears to slow, Roy patient and tender with steady hands holding Danny close. They had talked as well, as much as Danny could through getting worked up again. Nothing could be fixed with a single conversation but it was a starting point for Danny to arrange his thoughts. Roy’s next task was helping him feel better physically, recognising the all too familiar signs of Danny not taking care of himself.

“Do you get sick of doing it for me?”

Despite being taken off guard by the question, Roy didn’t hesitate in answering it with a question of his own.

It was something that had only come up once in all their years of friendship, in a much different situation than where they were now. It was almost a hazy memory of Bianca supporting almost the full weight of Adore on their way back to the hotel room, Adore more inebriated than Bianca had seen yet and worse than that, sobbing. Loud, guttural sobs that racked Adore’s whole frame and gasping between them why Bianca did this for her. Why Bianca would clean her up, stumble them both into the shower and stroked Adore’s hair while she was slouched over. Why Bianca would open her door at any hour. Why Bianca didn’t ask for any explanation the next morning about what or who Adore was doing or even why.

“What? I’ve…no, you’re never like this.”

Roy shook his head, letting the hairbrush rest against his thigh and waiting until Danny turned to face him.

“No, I’m not,” Roy agreed. “But you’re the reason I try to be home for holidays. You’re the one I call when I can’t fall asleep in a hotel room or the one who comes over when I’ve been away too long and can’t fall asleep in my own bed. You remind me that I’m still human and that Bianca and working isn’t always everything.”

Danny seemed to be mulling it over, Roy could practically hear the argument he was having in his own head. The voice of reason and the other voice, the one that tore Danny down and dragged him into this dark place to begin with. This is what he was here for, to be a steady foundation for Danny to lean on.

Danny had always been a disaster just waiting to happen, eyes that had seen too many bad mistakes and heart strained from all the burdens too heavy to carry. He was entirely too much and wanted for more than he could handle. But Danny would never have to beg Roy to love him. Not ever. Roy was already there. Willing and offering up anything he had to give, love at the very top of the list.

“I mean it. We take care of each other, it doesn’t have to be in the same way.”

Danny softened after hearing that, giving Roy a nod to show he agreed. Danny wasn’t always the best with words in moments like this, his thoughts getting lost in the commute from his brain to his lips and never coming out as articulate as he meant them but the way Danny looked at him sometimes, was everything Roy needed to understand.

-

Roy had coaxed Danny into taking a shower and done a customary tidy of the bedroom, changed the sheets and remade the bed. Danny looked embarrassed when he came back to see Roy straightening the pillows with new covers but Roy was quick to shake his head.

“Remember when I got so drunk that one Christmas Eve and tried to sleep in the dogs playpen?”

Danny faltered for a moment but as the memory came back to him, a grin slowly spread across his lips.

“And you had to wash both the dog beds, my bed sheets and we both ended up sleeping on the couch with a throw blanket?”

Another nod and Roy knew he didn’t have to continue anymore, that his point was made. They’d been friends for years and the thing about touring together, about spending as much time as they could together between their own tours once their careers took off, was that they’d already seen each other’s worst. Then when they discovered there was an even worse worst, they dealt with that too.

He never minded having to remind Danny of this - that no one was keeping score and that putting the pieces back together always worked better with two instead of one. It was a vulnerable place to be, baring all the times Roy had been at his low points to assure Danny that he was no less for his own but that was the difference for them. Vulnerable didn’t ever mean weak.

“Come on, I have an idea.”

-

Half an hour later, Roy had them both set up on the couch in the front room. The TV was playing some trashy, mindless reality show that he knew Danny loved and they were bundled in amongst cushions and a throw blanket over both their laps. He’d been fussy around, adjusting the cushions and was about to head back into Danny’s bedroom to grab another blanket when Danny grabbed his hand.

“Will you just sit down, willow?”

Roy didn’t know if it was the nickname or the firm, caring reprimand that was clearly a call for him to relax but he sat down. He let Danny tuck comfortably into his side, a hand coming up to run through the long strands of Danny’s hair and exhaled. Things weren’t perfect but Danny would be ok and Roy felt like he could breathe again.

When the front door opened a few episodes in, the calm air that had settled around them trembled as Bonnie came into view with a grocery bag in each hand.

“I’m sorry, mom.”

Danny’s voice was small but rang volumes with how thick with guilt it was. Bonnie’s concern seemed to lessen somehow, recognising the truth in the statement and more importantly, her son again.

Roy felt like he was intruding on a private moment when Bonnie sat on Danny’s other side and pulled him into a tight hug. He was just pulling back to stand up to leave the room discreetly when he felt a tug on his shirt and Bonnie was pulling him in as well.

She was laughing as she pulled away, fanning at her eyes that were shining with a thin layer of tears that mirrored Danny’s.

“You always come back eventually.”

She patted Danny’s cheek and mouthed a silent thank you to Roy as she took her groceries to the kitchen and took what Roy assumed was a quiet moment to herself, waving off both his and Danny’s offer to help her.

Roy knew exactly why a few minutes later when Bonnie returned with two pints of ice cream and spoons clasped in her hand, a reserved expression on her face.

“I thought you two could use some ice cream.”

He could hear the refusal Danny’s brain was already conducting, the extra weight Danny was now carrying around his hips was something they had discussed earlier that was adding to the burden that had dug Danny into this hole.

“That sounds great, Bonnie. But I can never finish a full pint, me and Dan will share one.”

Danny glanced back at him and Roy returned the questioning look with a smile as he shifted over on the couch, leaving enough room for Bonnie to properly sit next to Danny.

“You’re going to have to catch your mom up though, I haven’t been really watching.”

Danny hitting him with a cushion in response was expected but soon they were all settled. Roy and Danny were alternating spoonfuls of ice cream and Bonnie was running a commentary that had Roy almost in hysterical chuckles, it was like a weight lifted off all of their shoulders.

Nothing was fixed but a pint of ice cream on the couch with his best friend and his mom was helping more than Danny thought it ever could.

-

Scooby Doo (2002) Review: The Most Punchable Fred Jones of All Time

It’s one last hurrah for Halloween as I take a look at the often derided 2002 Scooby Doo Movie! See what happens when you combine future superstar director James Gunn with .. the guy who thought directing the Smurf’s movie and Big’s Mama’s House were good ideas. Oh and with a splash of the guy who wrote the loveable family film Cheaper by the Dozen and the utterly loathed Percy Jackson film. It’s as messy as you’d expect with that.. but is it BAD? good, so bad it’s good, just sorta okay? Come with me as I try to find out under the cut with a full review. 

I’ve always loved Scooby Doo. I grew up with the guy, watching reruns of the non-scrappy classic series from Where Are You to the Scooby Doo Movies, the three Superstar 10 movies (Boo Brothers, Ghoul School and Reluctant Werewolf), or the at the time brand new What’s New Scooby Doo. And later in life i’d absolutely adore Mystery Incorporated.. minus the whole Shaggy, Scooby Velma love triangle, but i’ll likely cover that at some point or sooner, you can comission reviews from me for 5 bucks each, 5 dollars off group orders if you really want to make me suffer through that that bad. But getting off self promotion point is I loved and still love the franchise. While I”ve yet to see “Scooby Doo and Guess Who”, though given there’s Weird Al, Kristan Schaal and Urkel episodes you can be sure i’m going to eventually, and Scoob was VERY ehhh even if Dick Dastardly was awesome. But despite my history with the great dane much like with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, despite my rich history with the franchise I haven’t dove in yet and with a friend who could use a nice halloween suprise and loves scooby doo, I figured now was the time to take a look at it.  And since i’d been wanting to take a look at it again anyway, and decided going big wasn’t a bad way to start, i’m taking a look at the 2002 Scooby Doo movie. I saw this flim first run in a drive in, and saw the sequel the same way and loved it as a kid, and fondly remember checking out the Sountrack Preview page back before youtube existed to make checking out soundtracks easier. It was a simplier time. And even rewatching it later with my nieces, I found myself liking it.  And the thing was almost every time this film comes up it’s with a turned up nose. The CGI, the confused audience, the deciding to cast Freddy Prinze Junior.. all terrible decisions that overshadow the film, when it’s not that bad. It’s not GREAT, but it’s not TERRIBLE either. So what is it then? Well i’ll tells ya. Let’s start with

PRODUCTION: Wait James Gunn Wrote This?

At the turn of the millneium Scooby Doo was back on top. After waning popularity during the Scrappy era, the advent of the warner affilated Cartoon Network meant a whole new generation of kids (raises hand) got to experince Scooby Doo for the first time. This new audeince lead to Scooby Doo on Zombie Island, the first of the franchises 80 or so DTV movies that will continue on long after the earth dies, and brought back the franchise after it’s long slumber. Scooby Doo went from dead to as popular as he was in his hey day again. Naturally Warner wanted to cash in and thus this movie was born.  Originally the film was supposed to be a more adult project, a send up of the franchise with more sex jokes and what not than made the final cut according to writer James Gunn. Yes, the same James Gunn who wrote and directed the Guardians of the Galaxy movie and whose currently saving the suicide squad. It was one of Gunn’s earlier films but just from when he’s talked about it, you can tell he genuinely cared about the project.  Along for the ride with our future Guardian was his co-writer, Craig Titely,  who i’m convinced only came in to do punch ups as the guy has only written three other movies. One of them was being one of MANY writers on Cheaper by the Dozen and thus likely not doing much of note with that, and the other.. is being the only writer on Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief’s movie adaptation.. aka the movie the fanbase and general audiences rejected in droves yet SOMEHOW got a sequel. Which is somehow still worse than his other film, one that asks “was the moon landing a hoax?” Spoilers, it wasn’t. Point is this isn’t a resume that screams co creator and more screams “Guy brought in to kid freindly this up”. More on that in a minute.  The director is another less than reassuring face: Raja Gosnell, whose credits BEFORE this film were Home Alone 3, Never Been Kissed and Big Momma’s house.. so already he dosen’t have the best track record but somehow got worse because AFTER this film and it’s sequel he directed both live action Smurfs Movies and the universally hated Show Dogs, aka the film  that thought dog rape was funny. The fact this film isn’t out and out terrible is a miracle. 

Even more so because naturally, as Studios tend to do they interfered: The film was supposed to be more adult, cracking jokes about common things fans of the series growing up thought like Velma is Gay or Shaggy’s a stoner, and having both be fully true. But wanting to appeal to kids, Warner gradually lightned it, hence Craig, and Raja clearly having no shame gladly took it instead of you know.. standing his ground.  So Velma has a love intrest thrown in and her kiss with Daphne is gone, while Shaggy’s toke smoking was lowered to subtext.. because either of those things is bad apparently? I dunno the 2000′s were fucked. 

Point is THAT’S why these films are so tonally confused and why I don’t hold it agains the film now I know: It wasn’t James Gunn or even, as dumb as he is, Raja Gosnell’s fault that the film had some tones clashing when the studio was demanding it, instead of you know, thinking this through at all and realizing more kids cared about Scooby Doo than they would’ve josie and the pussy cats instead of bringing it up DURING production, when most of the adult stuff was in there. It’s also why the sequel has no real adult stuff, though it’s STILL damn good, but i’ll get to that some other day. 

The film was also shot at an actual theme park in australia. Neat. 

So yeah the film’s humor kind of ping pongs between knowing adult winks and kids stuff. We get Scooby dressing like a grandma in the same film shaggy enhales his demon possed love intrests breath like weed. The jokes themselves on average are pretty good: Some of my faviorites include the grandma scene, everything rowan atkinson does, Velma getting drunk off her ass, and the instructional video bit which is easily my favorite bit of the episode and one of my faviorite scooby doo jokes period:

This is even FUNNIER to me on rewatch, as we now know this is an instructional video for demons.. and that Scrappy clearly had enough problems with his demon horde to have to pay for this thing. It tis glorious.  However there also are also a few that HAVE NOT aged well, are very creepy at best and disgusting sexual assault at worst with Daphne getting her ass grabbed by the Luna Ghost at the start being treated as a joke and Fred oggling Daphne’s body when he’s in it being treated as a ha ha and not...

So yeah the humor’s USUALLY good, but the slipups are noticable and do bring things down a bit when they come by. So the humor is decent if mixed and the production’s a nightmare, how’s the plot? The Plot: Scoob, We’re Getting the Band Back Together!

I won’t be as through as usual because this is a 90 minute movie, I’m running behind as is and it’s 20 years old, 

We start with your standard mystery inc case with the Luna Goose, aka Old Man Incel who resented Pamela Anderson for not boning him. But Fred hogging the glory during the resulting News Cast leads the gang to start fighting over lingering tensions: Velma is tired of Fred hogging all the credit when she does most of the legwork solving things, Daphne is tired of being kidnapped and being mistreated by Velma and Freddy who laugh at the idea of her doing more, and Fred..

We’ll get to him later. Shaggy is the only one wanting to stick together, but no one’s having it and the group breaks apart and Matthew LIllard REALLY sells Shaggy’s heartbreak over his friends all abandoning him well. 

Two years later though, with Shaggy and Scooby naturally getting stoned and eating large quantities of food on the beach, have made peace with retirement, and have apparently had to duck tons of people coming to them to solve mysteries since they aren’t about that. The latest in that line is a man representing Emile Mondovarius, the owner of Spooky Island, a vast island resort and theme park. Naturally since it has spooky in the name the boys want nothing but Mondovarius does what honestly every previous guy coming to them should’ve done: offers them an all you can eat buffet.  Since they’ve done more traumatizing for Dog Treats, they agree and it soon turns out the entire gang was invited, though none of them but Shaggy and Scooby are happy to see each other. I will say one of my complaints about the film is it never tackles the emotions behind the breakup: while the teams slowly repairs there are never any outright apologizes or scenes of them recociling or scenes of Shaggy chewing them out for abandoning him due to their spat. It just skips over the emotional bits to either wave a joke for the kiddies around or scream 

Really the jokes aren’t bad, the film just has trouble with actual emotion or depth that could’ve been there and tries for it once in a while, but dosen’t really do anything with it. The gang splitting up’s a good concept, and at this point on Scooby Doo on Zombie Island had really used it, and that was one where they were clearly still close friends and were still in touch they just quit mystery solving for a while till Zombie Island happened. Mystery Incorpreated would finally give this story justice later: Instead of over a petty ego squabble, the gang broke up over underlying tensions: The revelations about Fred’s dad caused him to go try and find himself, Velma alienated herself by hiding things from them, and Shaggy was shipped off to Military School and Scooby doggy prison camp... thankfully the last two didn’t last and Scooby rescued Shaggy with a tank but the tension DIDN’T go away: While the gang mostly reunited, Velma took time to forgive them and also tried bringing in the friend/girlfriend she’d made in the meantime only for her friends to isolate her and throw her out while Daphne took her time to return due to being hurt by fred. It’s complex and good stuff versus here where it’s just “WE’RE APART BECAUSE WE HATES EACH OTHER. And now we’re NOT”. It’s just a waste of a good concept and i’ m glad the franchise got around to doing it right. 

But my gripes aside our heroes head to the resort and meet Mondevarious, who admits outright to having tricked then and with confronted with the gang being broken up, makes it clear he knews.  “That’s the thing about broken things.. you can put them back together.”

And so he did. He needs the Gang’s help as he’s worried about the island and something going wrong there: The teens are leaving polite, well behaved. and clearly not themselves as one reacts to an old friend by neck lifting him and tossing him aside. Something’s deeply wrong here and the gang’s intrest is piqued enough to stay though everyone but Shaggy is determined to solve it themselves out of ego. Mondvarius is played by Rowan Atkinson and while I watched the bean movie as a kid this is where I fell in love with the guy, with later watches of Blackadder confirming that in my college years. Rowan just brings a fun dorky energy to the character and a nice earnestness too but when he later takes a turn for the bad, he does that well too. Atkinson is HIGHLY underated in my opinon and easily the MVP of this film’s supporting cast.   So the investigation begins, and we get our supsects: The first we met on the plane, Mary Jane, a kind blonde played by Isla Fisher who got the job becasue Gosnel, in a rare good decision, saw how talented she was and while still picking Sara Michele Gellar for Daphne, made sure she had  a part. She’s a nice sweet girl who Shaggy falls for and Scooby’s annoyed by it.. though unlike earlier the film beats mystery inc easily here as it’s a more understandable conflict and dosen’t act like Dog Issues is a thing people says. Again i’ll get to that clusterfuck of an arc some day. The other two are N’Goo Tuna, a shady worker at the park who spouts off the legends of the island. In a nice twist, he’s NOT the vilian, as is obvious but is his right hand man. He also has his own right hand and muscle in Zarkos a cool looking Luchador and N’Goo’s muscle. Also N’Goo may be one of the worst names in Scooby Doo History, and that includes Dabba Doo. But the legend claims the island was once owned by demons who want revenge since the resort took the island from him. 

The other is probably my faviorite non Rowan Atkinson character, Voodoo Maestro, played by Miguel Nunez. He’s basically just a guy who lives on the fringes of the island and also hates the resort and tries using voodoo curses. He’s honestly a delight from his attempt to sacrifice a chicken (An already dead one at that), to his general hammy and annoyed at dealing with these teenagers demeanor. NAturally he has nothing to do with this but he’s still a fun addition and I wish he was in more scnenes than the two he gets.  But with what they’ve gathered the gang all end up at a spooky castle attraction, with Scooby and Shaggy of course being bribed by daphne while Velma and Fred show up indpeendntly and end  up finding the weird training video from earlier but all get caught when the traps are activiated> There’s also a farting contest which.. eh not funny to me but i’ve seen so much worse i’m not even remotely upset. But then the traps trigger though during the chaos Fred and Velma are forced to work together and finally start doing so, and Daphne finds a clue: A mysterious pyramid known as the damon righus and finally gets some, if not nearly enough, credit.  So the gang is back together.. even if it’s a tenative peace, the high from solving this and relay to their boss the suspects, including him, though Fred assures Mondovarius it’s just because he’s spooky and rowan’s character’s delight over that is fucking glorious.  So the gang enjoys some down time at the local bar, with Fred and Daphne doing their own look ins, Scooby and Shaggy eating and encountring mary again and Velma getting hit on by a dude while looking over the ritus, revealing it’s some sort of soul sucking aparatus, and going into their history... which is really just an excuse to bring Scrappy in who in this universe, is a horny egotistical little shit whose abandoned as a result. ANd before anyone boos he’s not a puppy here, he’s got.. dog dwarfisim.. which while .. how does that even work... means he’s a grown ass man and deserved this. We also get drunk velma and Linda Caredenlli is a delight

The night gets interupted by terrible cgi monsters, the aformentioned emon who soul suck most of the college kids present and also get fred and velma who both find out these are very much real. We also get the best song on the soundtrack, man with a hex. It slaps. But it makes good chase music as with Mondvarious, Fred and Velma captured, the rest of the gang and mary escape.  The next morning we get a surreal as hell scene as everyone’s partying, Fred’s talking in slang and Velma with clevage, thank you, is chatting up.. Sugar Ray? For those younger of you they were a band at the time. They were a big thing. Not half bad but faded away. They looked as 2000′s as hell though. WHy Smash Mouth gets all the memes and not them is beyond me. Look at lead singer Mark McGrath!It’s like the early 2000′s gained sentience and took a human form. But the gang is quickly forced to run from sugar ray, though they get Daphne in a deleted scene. Why it was deleted I dunno. Point is Shaggy, Scooby and Mary are all alone.. oh and Mary’s possessed. Shaggy and Scooby argue over it because Shaggy just thinks Scooby is jealous and while he is .. why would he lie about this? He’s as cowardly as you are. But Scooby falls through the floor, and Shaggy is now going solo but luckily finds his friends souls, and eveyrone elses in a massive cool looking vat and frees them all.  Velma, when the demon leaves her and confronts her, finds out sunlight kills the demons and saves Daphne from hers... only to find Fred in her body. Daphne is naturally horrified and we do get a great bodyswapping scene.

Our heroes reconvince on the beach where htey find the Maestro who explains what’s going on to a point, with the gang’s clues filling in the blanks: The ritus, which they stole back earlier, is used for a ritual that will allow the Demons to rule over the earth for “a thousand years of darkness” but it requires a pure soul to work. Cue our big bad talking Scooby into being their willing sacrifice since Scooby dooes not understand what a sacrifice is.  Shaggy naturally rallies the group to go save him after their understandably worried since they usually dealt with weirdos in costumes and not the apocalypse.. well okay Velma and Fred aren’t, Daphne dealt with this kind of thing once a week back in Sunnydale. So they set up a plan to destroy all the demons at once by unleashing the soul bath, setting them all loose and then using a spooky disco ball from one of the attractions rigged up over the ritual area to shine the light in. It’s classic scooby doo. 

Things naturally go wrong as while Shaggy goes to rescue scooby and makes up with him, he’s caught, so are fred and velma and they have to scramble, while Daphne looses a fight with the luchador up top while trying to let the light in to finish the trap. Meanwhile Shaggy saves Scooby’s soul just as Mondovarious sucks it out by shoving the guy.. revealing him to be a robot! DUN DUN DUN. And inside is Scrappy.. which you all probably knew already but try to act suprise who wanted to conquer the world as revenge for the gang abandoning him and because again, in this universe he’s kind of an asshole. He absorbs the souls gathered so far and merges with the damon ritus, because we’re operating on video game rules now apparently, so final boss time.  But we get a great climax as Scrappy chases scooby, Daphne goes buffy on Zarkos ass , and as a result he shatters the glass and lets the light in releasing the disco ball the kill the demons.. man I love that I get to type things like that. Scooby removes the ritus and defeats his nephew and the day is saved. Velma hooks up with random guy, Daphne and Fred get together, I die inside a little and Shaggy and Mary Jane bond. At the press Fred does his good deed for the movie by letting Velma explain things and get the spotlight and the group have firmly reunited. THE END. Overall it’s a solid plot, that works well, comes together in the end and was well put together, it’s more the filling that causes it to tilt back and forth a bit, but overlal outside of the issue I mentioned it’s a good scooby doo plot. While some have pointed out it is similar to zombie island, a case reuniting the gang, the person who brought them there wanting to sacrifice them, or just scooby here, monsters being real, it works because everything else is so different. But since there’s more to break down and it’s easier to give it it’s own section let’s look at...

THE CHARACTERS: NOT HALF BAD, FRED CAN GO FUCK HIMSELF. 

So we’re down to character.. and since there’s a blonde, preeening, selfish, arrogant, sleazy, sexist, obnoxious, loud mouthed, useless elephant in the room, let’s start with Fred. And to quote it’s always sunny....

Yeah so that fury of a thousand crashing waves (Cracks Knuckles): Fred is the worst part of this movie, the worst version of the character across the entire franchise that i’ve seen with the sincre doubt that there is ANY version worse than this. Everything I said above is true and THEN some. He is one of the most unlikable characters i’ve seen in a film that wasn’t INTENDED to be. There’s just NOTHING to like about him. Nothing. He treats his “Friends” like garbage, all four of them: He basically ignores shaggy and scooby at best and treats them as if they were nothing. For Velma he’s your classic power abusing douche who pushes her to the side and often steals the credit for things she did. He’s still a good mystery solver, but he acts like he does all the work to the press and takes all the credit when Velma works as hard as he does if not harder. And worst of all is Daphne, who he basically either treats like some moron who gets kidnapped due to incompetence and not because creepy old dudes want to feel her up, which given the intro is VERY likely the reason she’s the resident victim of the group, and not like a person, or like a pair of boobs and legs he wants to bang or feel up creepily while he’s in her body. For fuck’s sake his reaction to finding out he’s in her body is a creepy and smug “I can see myself naaaakeddd” If that dosen’t make you want to smack him get off my blog. And they get together in the end! 

Who who wanted that. I genuinely want the presumibly original ending where Daphne and Velma hook up and Fred falls off a pier and is never seen again. The acting does not help. While the other four gang members are expertly cast Fred was given to Freddy Prinze Junior, who made a career out of playing arrogant dicks who are somehow the main character so I can’t fault the casting but I can fault that he can’t delver any line without that smug air of trying to be cool douche and it’s at it’s worst with Fred since Fred’s already written as the biggest creepiest douche in the world and Freddy somehow makes it WORSE. He also has zero chemstiry with Daphne, which would be weird given he and Sarah Michelle Gellar had dated for 2 years at this point and as of this writing have been together for 20 overall and have two wonderful kids together... but given how badly written Fred is here, I can’t blame either of them. And i’m sure FPJ is a swell guy, loves his kids loves his wife seems like a really plesant guy, nothing against him as a person, but at least at this point in his career he wasn’t very good. And I am actually planning on trying to seek out one of his later works in his career to see if he’s gotten better in recent years, and willing to give him the benifit of a doubt that he probably has. I just don’t like him here, and while the script does most of the work he only makes it worse.And works before this (Pup Named Scooby Doo) and after this (Mystery Incorperated) would prove you can give fred a personality that’s not dick tip, so fuck this character, fuck the writing.. and I hope Freddy is having a happy halloween with his loving wife and children, seriously I meant it I have nothing against him as a person. A terrible actor can still be a WONDERFUL guy. 

Now that’s thankfully put to bed, let’s pivot over to Shaggy, whose easily the best of the cast. Matthew Lillard looks the part pefectly, has the right combination of heart and goofus and has some great comedic timing. Granted Scream had already proven the guy’s got genuine talent, but still he’s great here and is currently playing Shaggy in most films and productions, except Scoob which.. was far from it’s only mistake but easily the biggest. There’s not much else to say: the guy IS Shaggy and is the only person whose taken up the roll to equal Kasey Casem in it. As for how he’s written.. he’s basically the same and apart from one line of him wanting to leave everyone to their deaths, which feels like it was added later, he’s written really well and is easily the most likeable of the group. 

Scooby is alright. Not the best version but funny and charming enough when he needs to be and while I hated the CGI at one point.. it’s honestly not that bad. It’s not GREAT, but time has actually been very good to it both in how it’s held up and in the fact we’ve gotten SO MUCH WORSE with so much better techlogies. I mean.. Cats exists.. Marmaduke Exists.. the Bill Murray Garfield exists. This was offputting at the time but now it’s just okay. But character wise he’s good and again not much diffrent. 

Velma is the second best casting of the movie. Played by Linda Cardenelli, who i’ve harbored a crush on for a good few decades now and admire mostly for her talent and charm, Linda kills the roll and easily slips into it as easily as Matt did, and while not picking it up full time like he did, still did it a few times afterword and played hot dog water in mystery incorperated, so she did finally get to play a Lesbian Velma it just took a while. And while Velma being gay is kind of sterotyping, it would’ve been nice to have been kept in instead of edited out for bullshit reasons. But overal her character is decent: While she ALSO bullies and belittles daphne like fred, unlike fred it comes less from just being a douche and more from insecurity. As her scene at the bar makes clear she feels undervalued like the other, like the nerd who the cool kids LET hang out with them instead of part of the team. While it dosen’t make her treatment of Daphne OKAY, it makes Velma understandable. We also get Velma Clevage which.. okay not sure if the world needed that but whatever. Point is it’s throughly likeable portryal that I wish got some character growth.  Finally out of the main 5 there’s Daphne, whose alright. Not as good as the other two, as it feels they lean a bit too heavily on her having taken self defense and wanting ot be tougher, but Sarah Michelle Gellar gives her a ton of charm and likeablity that her husband’s character sadly lacks. There’s just a fun, adorable energy to daph that ends up coupling with her buffy style badassery at the end and Sarah plays both beautifully. The script didn’t give her a ton to work with, though that’s the same for all four of htem, but Sarah really made the character work and made her somewhat memorable despite not being as good as Linda or Matthew. Basically not the best, but still a comfortable third ahead of scooby doo and jackass jones. 

As for the rest of the cast, Rowan Attkinson i’ve covered and is utterly fantastic as is the Voodoo Maestro, and both should get hteir own hbo max spinoff together. The minons.. stupid name and luchadoor are decent enough, nothign special but they have presence and do the job of goon well. And Mary Jane is alright.. the joke is WAY too on the nose to be funny and she’s mostly just there to be sweet, but she’s harmless. Not good but not bad.  So finally we have our big bad, Scrappy. And i’m.. mixed about this. On one hand, Scott Innes, who it turns out is also from Missouri good on you dude!, does a terrific job and I couldn’t tell it wasn’t don messick as Scrappy and he plays him as evil great. On the other.. it’s just kinda goofy. Out of all the tips of hte hat to scooby stuff this feels the most over the top. Scrappy was hated, including by james gunn.. so he’s the bad guy. It’s just a bit on the nose, and the twist is pretty easily teligraphed since Scrappy suspciously is mentioned in one scene so him showing up at all is pretty easy to see coming. It’s not terible but it’s not great. His demon minons also just suck.. the designs are wonky and their cgi, unlike scooby and scrappy’s, is just REALLY bad and dated, and even as a kid I never liked them. 

FINAL THOUGHTS:  Scooby Doo is a decent but messy movie. The clashing tones, dated humor and godawful version of fred drag it down at times, and it’s very clear this had a lot of hands in the pot. But.. I still enjoy it. It’s not the best scooby ever, tha’ts mystery incorpeated, but it has great atmosphere, some good ideas, an utterly spectacular with one exception cast, and some really funny jokes. I genuinely feel the film is overhated when it’s a unique, weird and wonderful slice of Scooby. For better or worse there’s no other Scooby doo property quite like it, and that’s what makes it so fun. And it has enough good performances and jokes to smooth out the edges. It’s not the best, it’s a mess.. but sometimes a mess is fun and I like this flim for being a fun mess I can enjoy with my nieces and talk about to all of you. And sometimes that’s all you need.  Thank you for reading this. If you like this you can comission your own review: 5 bucks for a tv episode, 15 for a movie, 10 for an hour long special, and 5 dollars off when you order more than one episode of a show at a time. Just send me a direct message or ask on here and we’ll get started. Until then you can check out my backlog of reviews, check this space every monday for ducktales reviews, and VOTE DAMMIT VOTE. Until we meet again it’s been a pleasure. Play us out Atomic Fireballs, it’s been a wonderful halloween. 

Author Interview Part III

Let us welcome @stebeee​ for another round of Author Interview with the talented Trapped fic writers! 🎉🎉

Story written for the Collection:

I like the way you look at me

Interview:

How did you come into the Trapped fandom?

Hahaha I was watching Right or Wrong and happened to tell my best friend about it and I didn’t know that she was following the series? And she explained the whole concept to me and was like “DID YOU KNOW THERE’S AN UPCOMING ONE IT LOOKS LIKE A COP X GANGSTER ONE” or something like that, and “FOLLOW THIS ACCOUNT THAT’S DOING UDPATES ON IT” (@florbexter it turned out to be) and yeah the moment the 6 minute trailer was out in like Feb? Mar? I was hooked. Then I did my very first translating thingy on Tumblr with the Trapped character profiles and never looked back XD

Who’s your favourite character?

Hmm that’s a tough one but it’s gotta be Shao Fei for sure? I mean Tang Yi comes really close but gosh I love everything about him — how dumb he is, FiFi, his jawline, the way he huffs and puffs when he gets angry and annoyed, the way he rolls his eyes, the way he dozes off while shopping with Hong Ye, the way he’s so competent at work even if he’s the one creating the most trouble. I LOVE EVERYTHING.

What’s your favourite trope?

Hmm definitely enemies-to-lovers + bed sharing! And any sort of hurt/comfort OOOOH angst with a happy ending? Not really unrequited love?! Erm FOUND FAMILY?!

What do you like about writing for Trapped?

I think it’s definitely that I can imagine the characters better? It’s my first real fandom ever! My favourite one too, and it’s honestly the first show I’ve watched literally from start to end including all the interviews, variety shows, BTS, and then actually seeing the boys in real life — I think writing all the summaries every week helped too, because it’s frickin hard for me to write them in character I think? Even now I wonder if I’m doing it right, but I’ve definitely got a better grasp on the characters in Trapped than anywhere else so it makes writing flow a little smoother. Besides, so many characters with so much potential, like Dao Yi, Hong Ye and ah, my fave two boys Jin Tang and Andy.

Care to elaborate on your writing process?

Okay so far… definitely I come up with prompts first? I’ve got a list of… ooh 16 prompts in my list right now, and then I try to go through them when I feel like it? I have to say that a lovely anon I call headcanon anon has been integral in kickstarting my fic writing because I think the very first fic I published last Sept/Oct was a prompt from them!! I digress, but in any case, yeah there’s no… exact process really? But definitely need to have prompts. And then I pray that I'm struck with some burst of motivation to finish writing a one shot in a day.

Your favourite Trapped fic by another author?

Ooooh there are plenty, I made a list of Trapped fic recs a while back with my faves on it.

What do you want to write but never had the nerve to?

AND AN ACTUAL MULTI-CHAPTERED FIC AMEN.

If you want, please share a snippet of your current Trapped WIPs.

Okay so there are like so many open items on the list but here's a few!

The ‘5 times TY wants to say I love you but didn’t and 1 time he finally does’ inspired from headcanon anon’s ask

And... and and... an AU where we get babysitter SF for single dad TY's ridiculous twins

And this sort of dumb idea for an AU where SF is a Taekwondo instructor and TY happens to have some new brothers who keeps losing at fights and so he hires SF to come whip the new recruits into shape and they fall in love

A sequel to just waiting, waiting (on you) where Shao Fei takes care of his friends, just as they took care of him and haha a sneak peek (or the summary):

Shao Fei isn’t used to having so many people to take care of, but he tries his best. That’s what Tang Yi would want, he tells himself.

As a bullet flies over, striking the table he’s hiding behind, Shao Fei wonders if it’s too late to change his mind.

“Who did you offend this time?!” he yells over the noise.

Hong Ye, who was just minutes ago trying on her fifth wedding dress and is now crouched behind a pillar with Dao Yi covering her with his body, scowls at him.

“Why do you always assume that it’s my fault?!”

Or, Shao Fei finds ways to solve the problems of his new family, one at a time.

Three Graves

Peter gets cleaned up and settles his resolution to reach out to MJ before visiting Gwen. After all, you want to look your best for important people.

"'Cause you're worth it, Gwendy," he says, setting down a takeout cup of coffee the way she liked it against the base of her headstone and sinking to sit criss-crossed in front of it cradling his own. A weak shield against the New Year's cold.

It's been just warm enough just long enough to sweep the earth in the cemetery clean of the usual frozen-puddles-and-slush cocktail and uncover the winter-dormant grass. Just a reminder of the promise of the end of winter. But it's still not exactly picnic weather, so Peter's alone with the Stacy family.

"So I've been on kind of a jaunt," he says. "Helped me get my head in order. I know, I know, it's about time." He bows his head and shuts his eyes, and for a second he's one stone-still silhouette on the slight slope of hill with all the others.

Then he throws his head back and huffs, blinking up at the clear blue sky. "So I came to fill you in. I know you'd want to know."

He drags the heel of one hand across the corner of his eye. "After all, it's about you."

He puts his untouched coffee down too fast, then catches it with one spindly finger when it starts to overbalance and rights it. "I met these people, Gwen, and one of them... Let me start over. I've always been in this alone. Sorry, I shouldn't say things like that when I know you can't hit me. I know I had you. And the others. But this was -- this is different."

He takes a deep draft of the coffee. "Weirder, mostly."

_∩∩∩_

Gwen sits down in front of Peter's grave, folding into a tailor's seat in a graceful ballet movement.

"Hey," she says, and reaches out and knocks her knuckles against the headstone. A one-sided fist bump.

She folds the arm back against herself, tugging her hoodie sleeves over her hands, and sits there silently for a while, curled up in a hunch. The world is statue-hard and all-over glittery with frost, and steam curls up when she exhales. She's wearing most of her suit underneath exercise clothes, and the cold seems to bite harder where its insulation doesn't cover her at her face and hands.

She's out of practice talking to people, and Peter was always the one who would say something to get the conversation going anyway.

"I have had a week," she says at last. "You'd have liked it." She thinks of the older Peter, scowling and looking exasperated. "Okay, maybe you'd have hated it."

She sighs and touches the stone again, pressing her hand flat against it. It hurts, the rock hungrily leeching the warmth out of her body.

"I'm trying the whole friend thing again," she says. "I don't know what you would have -- I know neither of us ever really liked people, so maybe you wouldn't think I should. But you also seemed better at knowing what was best for me than what you needed for yourself, so maybe you would have thought it was a good idea. Because I'm pretty sure this is -- best. For me. That is." She snorts. "I was better at you than me, too."

She pulls her hand back and rubs it against her knee, trying to force warmth back into it. With her augmented metabolism, her whitened fingers flush hot again faster than they should. "I definitely still prefer problems you can solve with hitting something. Or by breaking and entering. ...That doesn't mean it's obvious I was going to have to let people in eventually, though! I was completely planning to never address my own feelings again. So take that." She points at Peter's name, taps it lightly between the R and the second P with her fingertip, then pulls her arm close again, hugging it to herself. She sighs. "Maybe you'd think I was dumb for taking this long. I dunno. But Peter, the friend I made? I know you would have liked him. Whether you wanted to or not."

_∩∩∩_

Footsteps appear in the deep slush in front of Peter Parker's headstone. After a moment, an eye-baffling haze above them shivers and resolves into a boy in a hoodie.

Miles hunches into his civvies against the cold and looks around, head sweeping back and forth. Once he's sure he's alone, he tips his face down to face the grave. He stands there a moment, neck bent, hands in his jacket pockets.

The tokens people left that he recognizes from the last time he was here are starting to look kind of battered and sad, but most of them have been cleared out and replaced by a crop of new ones. It's a mosaic of red and blue and webs, because even if it didn't occur to most of them until it was too late to say it, New York loved Spider-Man.

"Hey," Miles says. "I'm back."

He shifts his feet a little to try to get cold water to stop seeping into his shoes. This agitates some stealthy puddle and soaks them worse.

"Man," he says to the headstone. "I cannot stop myself from looking around when I try using my spidey sense to check for people on purpose. I mean, with my eyes." He tugs his hands out of his pockets to raise them up to his face and demonstrates with wiggly finger motions, one hand in front of his eyeballs and one beside his head. "Did you get that? I know I don't need to, but I just can't shake it. I mean -- yet. I can't shake it yet. This whole Spider-Man thing is kind of a process."

There were a few inches of white fluffy snow the other day, so within hours it was like a massive slushee had been upended in every shallow dip or half-protected corner in the city. With all the foot traffic this place gets, the ground here is like half-frozen mud soup.

"But you know that."

He holds out one hand, staring at the palm of his glove for inspiration. "So hey, uh. I know I was kind of weird when I was here last time?" He puts the hand on the back of his neck, eyes peeling upward sheepishly. "I recognize now that coming here in a party store version of your costume was a little weird. Nobody ever saw my face, though! So I guess it worked out like I wanted it to?"

A big shrug, hands windmilling. "You know, except the other Spiders. I figure that's okay, though. Man, I wish you could have met them."

His shoulders slump, and he feels his eyes prickling. He huffs a fortifying breath, fast in and out. "But anyway. You know how I said I didn't think I could do this last time? It totally worked out. I'm Spider-Man now. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't mind. ...It turns out there are a lot of us.

“And Peter -- the other one, I mean. I mean, one of the other ones. He taught me some things, and-- I wish I'd gotten to learn more from you, but he was okay." He shifts his weight. Even more ice water floods into his shoes. "He was great actually. I don't need to pretend not to like him as much as I do when he's not even here. I...really hope I get to see him again someday. ...I don't know if you would have turned out like him, but -- it would have been okay if you did. You would have been okay, I mean."

The grave is silent. Somewhere nearby there’s the sound of snowmelt dripping.

"We took care of the collider!" says Miles. "Brooklyn did not get eaten by a black hole. ...Mm, mostly. Some of it still looks kinda weird. Though, now I know you're from Queens, so technically we're feuding a little and you should watch yourself." He goes for a chuckle, but it comes out kind of wet.

"And the--" He pauses, and when he speaks again his voice is less froggy. "And Kingpin is in FBI custody. And everybody else who helped him is too, or. Gone." Uncle Aaron. "...Dead." He hasn't visited Uncle Aaron's grave alone yet, but he's okay working on the mural for now.

He raises his head, blinking hard. "I wish--" His voice cuts off and he looks down, and when he looks up again his eyes aren't as tear-bright.

"Thank you, Peter."

_∩∩∩_

Peter hears her heels before anything else, click click, and then MJ is a warm weight settling against him.

"I thought you'd be here," she says.

"Am I that obvious?"

She elbows him without looking over. "No, I just know you." She reaches out and traces a finger over Gwen's name. "Hiya, Gwendy. Did Petey-o tell you his crazy story yet? Make sure he doesn't leave out the part where his alternate self was a successful blond. I guess you really do have more fun."

"Hey," says Peter, with automatic faux offense. Mary Jane's bundled up in a big ochre parka over a bunch of sweaters. He thinks about how his Mary Jane owns the same smart, lush ensemble the other MJ gave her press conference in, folded up in different parts of her closet.

"He wasn't successful," Peter says. "I'm just old."

"Are you calling me old?" MJ says.

"If the shoe fits," says Peter.

MJ whaps him on the arm.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," says Peter, laughing. "No, no, you're a whole year younger than me. Clearly you walk in eternal youth."

MJ settles against him again. "Nah, it's okay," she says. "We're both old. Geriatric."

"What does that make Jonah?" asks Peter. "Commander of the skeleton war?"

"Mister Parker, was that a meme?" asks MJ, faux-scandalized. "Don't make me kids-these-days at you."

"What does that even mean?"

"I'd shake my cane and accuse you of eating too many avocados."

"Ugh, I feel like that's a meme," says Peter. "But I don't understand it."

"Do you not read the news?"

"The news only ever wants to yell about how terrible I am at me."

"When you extricated yourself from all our shared newspaper subscriptions -- you didn't replace them with any new ones, did you. You've basically been living in a box."

"Uh."

"I shouldn't have asked you to do that," she says. "I'm buying you an online Times account if you won't log back into mine." She turns to the grave. "We're a mess without you, as you can see," she tells it.

"Always," says Peter. "But we're doing alright."

They sit there silently for a minute, leaning on each other.

MJ reaches out and lifts up Gwen's cup. "I'm stealing some of your coffee, doll. Not like you don't still owe me a thousand sips of mine." She takes a draft, the liquid cooled from being on the ground, then makes a face. "I forgot she liked mint."

"I think she might have started liking it as a preemptive defense against you paying her back for always stealing from yours."

"Get her caramel next time. We both like caramel."

_∩∩∩_

Gwen hears footsteps crunching the grass behind her and twists around, rising into a crouch in a fluid spin.

It's Mary Jane, huddled in a huge yellow coat. She's wearing her chunky-knit fingerless gloves, the oatmeal ones, and boots over leggings, like she's daring the cold to even try it.

"Thought you'd be here," she says, closing the rest of the distance so she's beside Gwen as Gwen straightens the rest of the way. At Gwen's surprised incredulous look, the other girl snorts. "What, you think I don't know you that well yet? We're friends, aren't we?"

"...Yeah," says Gwen, fighting not to look like that's as much of a revelation as it is.

MJ hooks an arm with Gwen's, beaming showily, pleased with this victory. "Well, your little friend here is more observant than you give her credit for." She reaches out and boops Gwen on the nose. Gwen jumps, even though her spider sense warned her. It tickles.

MJ turns to face Peter's grave, and the grin slides off her face. The look it leaves behind is -- oddly muted. MJ is a very loud person, in Gwen's experience of her. About everything, all the time. Her outfit choices are loud. Her silent facial expressions are loud. Her singing is really loud, like she's got some stuff to work out. Sometimes their practices feel like MJ and Gwen are just fighting to drown each other out. They feel dangerous, like if one of them ever can't keep escalating, the other's sound will sweep her away. And then the other girls have to roar along to keep up.

Their recordings end up pretty noisy.

"I think I'd have liked to have met him," MJ says, very softly. There's nothing particular in the statement, and Gwen is suddenly aware she has no idea how to read MJ when she's not telegraphing her emotions at top volume and full saturation for the benefit all of New York.

Gwen thinks about four Peters, two married to Mary Janes. "Yeah, probably," she allows.

MJ sighs and reaches out the arm not linked with Gwen's. She rests her hand on the top of Peter's headstone, making a chain of three links. Gwen, MJ, grave.

"Hi, Peter," says MJ, her always bell-like voice chiming more mellifluously than ever. Like she's trying to charm someone new. "Thanks for taking care of this girl when I couldn't, yeah?"

Then she takes her hand away, breaking the spell, and starts to tug Gwen away by their linked arms. Gwen lets the taller girl pull her away. It would be pretty suspicious for her to stay as still as she could, even if part of her just wants to anchor herself here like a statue until sunset. Be still with him for a while.

"Come on, hun," says MJ. "That's enough gabbing with the dead. Let's gather the other girls: We can have breakfast before practice."

Gwen stumbles as they hit the path. "Wait, there's practice today? It's Thursday?"

MJ stares at her as she pauses to give Gwen a chance to get upright. "It's Tuesday practice, Gwen. Man, you're bad with dates, aren't you?"

"Hey, I've been --" Stuck in another dimension, time traveling. "Busy with stuff."

MJ quirks one eyebrow at her, the twinkle in her eyes and the press of her half-smile telegraphing 'are you serious?' at Gwen so clearly that for a split second Gwen is sure MJ knows.

But Mary Jane just rolls her eyes and tugs Gwen along more insistently.

"Breakfast sounds nice," Gwen allows.

"Are you plotting to steal from my coffee again?"

Gwen hums noncommittally.

"Gw-e-n!" MJ protests. "I will buy you your own coffee! I do not understand why you're always on the hunt for sips of mine!"

"Stolen food just tastes better," says Gwen. "It's science."

"You're a menace, Gwen-do-lyn," says MJ. "I know your secret identity--"

Gwen jumps.

"--as a filthy coffee thief."

"C-caught me," stutters Gwen.

"Yeah I did," says MJ quietly.

"What?"

"Hm, nothing."

And Gwen lets Mary Jane pull her out of the graveyard and out toward their friends.

_∩∩∩_

Miles' spidey sense tells him someone's behind him before he hears them, and he spins around, part of him half expecting a repeat of last time he got crept up on here.

Close, but wrong Parker. It's May, picking her way carefully through the frozen slush. She looks up only after he's flinched his hands up defensively and then dropped them again.

"Oh, Miles!" she says. "I wasn't expecting you here."

She stops once she's beside him, and sighs. "I just thought, now that the crowds have mostly thinned out, it would be a good time to talk to him. Guess we both had the same idea, huh?" She looks around like she doesn't quite want to look at her nephew's grave, the twists of her head stopping when she's facing the church. "This place is so famous. It's so strange that Peter is buried here."

She finally looks down at the bedecked headstone. "I always thought me and him and Ben would all end up in the same place. But, well, Jonah was crying and -- I think it makes people feel better."

Miles remembers something Peter -- janky, old Peter -- said. "Are you guys Jewish too?"

May looks at him strangely, but must not need to ask who 'too' refers to, because she just flickers a quick shrug. "Ben was. I thought about converting when we got married, but his family was never that traditional, so I never got around to it. But that doesn't mean it wasn't important to them."

Miles reaches out and raps his fingers extra lightly on a Roman cross cropping up from the top of a headstone. He then immediately feels bad, and pats it gingerly as he says, "Then this must be extra weird."

May smiles.

She puts a hand on his shoulder, thin but strong. "He'd be proud, you know."

"Yeah." Miles gives the marker one last nod as he turns to go. "I know."

*

[AO3]

c.z.k. - high school (Part 2)

PART 1 / PART 3

Note: I was asked to turn this into a longer story, so here’s part 2! I don’t know in what direction to necessary go with this and how to end/wrap it up, so if you have any ideas message me pls! I’ll try to make this a 5-part-imagine.

Also: Edwin crackhead hours have arrived. Again

“So, you’re cool with that?!” Edwin shouted in disbelief.

Nearly four months had passed since my little moment with Zion and a lot had happened during this time. After the party, everything seemed to go smoothly between us. Probably way too smoothly. We spent most of our free-time together, doing god knows what. However, at the end we decided we would be better off as just friends. He reasoned that it was unfair to the boys and only made the whole group dynamic odd. I was okay with that. Okay, scratch that, I wasn’t okay with that. But I wasn’t going to throw a fit or anything and honestly it ended up working out better than I would have thought.

“Sure, why shouldn’t I?” I asked. This only made me earn a scoff from him. “Are you okay? Do you have a fever or something? Did you catch a cold?” Edwin pressed the back of his hand against my forehead, trying to see if I was indeed getting sick. “Stop that” Nick mumbled, swatting his hand away from me. “Bro, she’s okay with that, though!”. The neighboring table turned around giving us glares for being so loud. “Excuse my little idiotic friend over there” Austin apologized in behalf of Ed. He was just about to protest when he got interrupted by Brandon. “She’s okay with what …?”.

He had spent half of the lunch-time in the art room, trying to compose a beat he couldn’t get out of his head and for which he might have earned himself detention from our English teacher for “making too much noise during class”.

“She’s okay with Z and Asya hanging out” “Hanging out? Since when is that a problem? They are friends I thought?”. Edwin slapped him across the back of his head. “Are y’all dumb or are y’all stupid?! They are dating or something, Ion even know. But I for sure saw ‘em swap spit earlier this morning and thinking about it now: B, you can have my lunch. I lost my appetite.” He shoved his tray in Brandon’s direction, who didn’t even notice judging from his perplex expression towards me. “So, you’re trying to tell me that Z is with Asya – the girl who he said was like a cousin –“ “Correction, he said little sister” Nick chimed in. The boy with glasses shook his head. “Alright, who he said was like a little sister. And you’re cool with that? Even though that’s low key incest-y If I might add. Besides, do I have to remind you that not even a month ago he broke things off out of nowhere with the shittiest of the shittiest excuses? You cried for the whole weekend!”.

He was right. I had cried about it for three days straight. I really didn’t mean to, but somehow, I guess I liked him more than I wanted to admit. The first night the boys had made it their mission to cheer me up, but once they realized it wasn’t working, they just joined me and my pity party with some Ben & Jerry’s. At some point, Edwin even shed a tear or two. “I just don’t know if I should be sad that my favorite ship just sank or if I should beat his lanky ass for breaking my twin’s heart!” he exclaimed.

“I know, but I’m over it now” I poked in my salad. “And frankly, he is too by the looks of it”. I really didn’t mean to look over to her table. It just happened for a split second. Of course, it was right in the moment he was leaning in, giving her a kiss on the lips. She was blushing like mad. “This is so disgusting. Here, you can have my lunch” Brandon slid the tray - that originally was Edwin’s - into Austin’s direction. “I just don’t get it, man. Zion really liked you. Why did he pull that move on you?” Nick asked. No one could answer him. All of our gazes were pointed in their direction. After what felt like years, I decided that enough was enough and got up. “Yo, where you goin’? We still need to talk about this” Edwin stopped me to pull me down again. Though, I ended up sitting on his lap instead of my original spot, he seemed to not care. He was determined to get the truth out of me. If there was one thing you needed to know about Edwin, it was that he cared about his family dearly. Whenever one of his siblings was sad, he automatically was sad, too. Ever since I moved in, that same rule applied to me.

“You want the truth?” I said annoyed. All I wanted was to get out of here, in all honesty. The feeling of humiliation was getting stronger by the second. He just nodded cautiously, as if he didn’t know whether or not to answer me. “I feel like shit” I said, feeling a little bit relieved to finally speak my mind. “He’s annoying me. Just last month he was all into me and suddenly he’s with her?! Plus, what type of shitty excuse is that?” my voice was starting to tremble at this point.“It’s unfair to the boys and makes the whole group dynamic odd” I mocked him. “I am really starting to think that I was just pass-time to him and that makes me mad. It’s really unfair, okay?! If you like someone else, why in the flying fuck would you even get involved with me? Ugh, fuck this shit. I don’t even wanna be his friend anymore. Seeing his face makes me wanna beat his ass and I ain’t about that life. My momma raised me better than beating the ass of a bean stick!”.

Once I was finished with my rant, I finally dared to look at the boys. All of them had shock written all over their faces. “Aye, Ma” Nick spoke first. “You should’ve told us earlier. We would’ve checked him and at least made sure he wouldn’t be all lovey-dovey with her in your presence”. All I did was sigh.

“I don’t know what to say. Or feel” Austin looked so helpless. He was struggling to find the right comforting words and suddenly I felt horrible for dragging them into my stupid problems. “It’s alright. You don’t have to say anything. I will get over it at some point. It’s not like he’s the only cute boy in New York”. “That’s right, I’m cuter” Edwin tried to lighten the mood and it actually worked. We were all laughing before the bell rang, signaling that class was starting soon.

After school, Edwin immediately drove us both home, so I could take a nap before the boys came over. As soon as I was in my bed, I of course was struggling to fall asleep. “Can you come over? I can’t sleep” I spoke into the phone. Not even ten seconds later, Edwin barged into my room, getting under the covers with me. The fact we got so close over the last few months was making me happy, to say the least. It wasn’t weird to share a bed with each other, we were siblings after all. “We shared a womb, we might as well be able to share a bed” he had said jokingly one day. The silence was comforting me in a way I couldn’t explain in words.

“Fuck Z”. Him suddenly speaking shook me out of my thoughts. “I mean, don’t fuck him. But fuck him. You know?”. Sometimes, it was hard for Edwin to find the right words. It wasn’t because he didn’t know what to say, but rather the fact he had so many things to say that it just ended up blocking his mind ultimately. “I know”.

“This is some sweet home alabama shit” “Shut up, Austin. They just fell asleep together, no big deal” “Okay guys, but I’m getting hungry. Should we wake ‘em up now?”. His body started to shift beneath me, both of us fully waking up by the noise the others were making. “Good morning, honey bubbas!” all three of them were towering over us. The sight was rather scary, with their creepy grins plastered on their faces. “What time is it?” Edwin asked sleepily. He seemed a bit disoriented. “Time for you to get up and make us some food! Mama Honoret went out with the niñitos, so we’re all by ourselves”.

Slowly, we got out of bed to go find something to eat in the kitchen. Ding Dong. The doorbell rang. “Do you guys expect someone?” I asked confused. None of them were able to meet my eyes, looking slightly uncomfortable and at a loss for words. Instead of waiting for a reply, I went straight to the door to open it. “Wait!” “Hold up!” “Don’t” “No!”. Too late. There he stood, three boxes of pizza in his hands. “Uhm, hey”. My first instinct was to slam the door shut in his face and cuss the others out for not telling me sooner. However, on second thought, I decided against it. “Hi. Come in, I guess”. Awkwardly, he greeted his friends and made his way towards the kitchen to put the food on the counter. “So, uhm how about we watch some Netflix while we eat? On My Block sounds good?” Edwin tried to distract from the obvious thick tension in the air. I wasn’t going to ruin what should’ve been a chill night with my favorite people (minus Caleb) and just said “Sure, sounds good”.

The whole night was spent with Zion staring me down from his seat and Edwin exaggeratedly laughing at the funny moments to avoid the awkward atmosphere. Brandon was busy shoving his face with pizza – probably so that he didn’t have to speak. Nick and Austin were arguing about the gang situation in Freeridge. “If he wants his little brother to live a better life, then why is he dragging him into it? Isn’t he the gang leader or something? Just let your brother go to school and boom, problem solved” “It’s not that easy, bro! You want Oscar to lose his street credibility? Might as well put his clown suit on already”.

When I shifted to find a better position, his eyes were still on me. So, I decided to send him a quick text in hopes of making him stop.

< Dude, stop staring. Ur making me mad >

< I’m not staring, u must be trippin shawty >

< first of all, you’ve been staring since season 1 chapter 2. We’re on season 2 now. Second of all, if you call me shawty one more time imma rip ur ass open >

He visibly gulped at my last sentence, contemplating what to reply but ultimately deciding against it and sliding his phone back into his back pocket. Quietly, he stood up exclaiming to the group that he had to leave. A loud sigh of relief left Brandon’s lips, as if he had been waiting for this moment the whole night. “Thank god” he mumbled lowly, yet everyone could hear him clearly but decided to ignore it. “I’ll see you guys on Monday”. With that, he immediately left.

“I think I’ll call it a night. Haven’t really slept well recently”. It was true, I could barely fall asleep nowadays. Tired or not, the night wasn’t my best friend anymore. Everything was keeping me up. The drama with Caleb, the new life I yet had to adjust to – the boys made it easier, though -, and the passing of my parents. It was all too much at once. How was I supposed to comprehend all of this in just a matter of three months? Exactly, there was no waysomeone could deal with that in such a short period of time. The first couple of weeks I was as good as could be expected under the circumstances, but now it all seemed to slowly catch up on me.

“What! No! This was supposed to be a chill night, followed by the best sleepover of all time!”Edwin stood up, trying to make me stay by hugging my body tightly. “Yeah, you can’t leave! Not when Edwin is acting like a crackhead again” Brandon said, his arms securely wrapped around my shoulders. “Aight, I guess it’s group hug hours”. Soon, I found myself squished between not only Ed and B, but also Nick and later even Austin. “Okay, you guys won. I’ll stay”. They cheered at their victory, all pulling away at once. “But” This made everyone look at me suspiciously. “We’re gonna do a beauty-night!” I exclaimed happily with the biggest smile on my face. “Oh hell nah, I’m out!” Edwin crossed his arms, slightly turning away with his nose all scrunched up and brows furrowed. To be honest, he looked like a baby right now. “… unless this means I’m allowed to use that weird blue face mask from Lush?” he asked full of hope. “Yeah, why not”.

In a matter of minutes, we were all piled up on my bed, discussing what face mask would be the best for whom. “Your skin’s whack! Go put that charcoal one on, do something nice for your pores for once” Ed threw the bottle with the black liquid at Nick who grumpily obliged and started to apply it all over his face. “This feels nice. What exactly is that?” Brandon was looking curiously at the big tube in his hands, examining it in hopes of understanding what he just put on his skin. “It’s clay” I told him. “Clay” he repeated quietly and slowly, to no one in particular. Shaking my head with a content smile on my lips, I turned to Austin to see how he was holding up. We decided to let him try a bubble mask but looking at it now we might have made the wrong decision. Every inch of his face was covered in bubbles, and when I say every inch, I mean Every. Inch. Of. His. Precious. Face. “My eyes are burning, is this normal?”. “… Yes” I lied. Grabbing a wet cloth, I softly started rubbing the mask off of him before he ended up blind.

“Okay, what’s next? Do we paint each other’s nails? Do we play pillow fight? Do we talk about our menstrual cycle?”.

“What the fuck, Edwin?!”.

“Hey! Nothing wrong with talking about periods. It’s a natural thing and frankly, it’s actually good to talk about it with your friends to see, if – “

“Of course it’s a normal thing to talk about, but I think you might’ve forgotten something”.

Edwin looked at Brandon quizzingly. “We don’t have a uterus”.

“… Oh”.

Sometimes, he was just too much, but that’s why we loved him. “I think it’s time for bed, boys”. Reluctantly, they got up and lied on their designated air mattresses. “But Edwin can sleep in your bed? That’s so rude, Ma”. “Shut up, shark boy. I’m her twin, that’s just how we roll” he laughed evilly before turning the lights off and saying our good nights to each other.

“If it bothers you so much, why don’t you just tell him?” B looked at the direction my eyes were trained on. Zion would whisper something into Asya’s ear, making her giggle, then he would whisper something else, making her giggle again and so on. I was getting aggravated. “Can’t. That’s super awkward. I wish he’d just use one of his last functioning three brain cells to consider my feelings and not do all that while we share the same class”. Cleaning his glasses with his cotton shirt, he took his time to say something. “Tell him just that”. Turning around, I rolled my eyes at him. “Caleb, stooop!” she giggled for what felt like the millionth time. Before I knew what was happening, I was right in front of Zion dragging him out of the class and into the empty hallway. “What’s your problem?!” I shouted into his face. “My problem? No, what’s your problem?!”. I was this close to just going back in and ignoring him for the rest of my life, but something inside of me told me to keep going. It was now or never. “My problem is” I began. “You’re so fucking annoying and mean and selfish as fuck, only caring about yourself and never considering other people’s feelings! As if it wasn’t shitty enough how you broke things off, no you also have to flaunt your fling-”I knew it wasn’t just a fling, but honestly? I didn’t give a damn. He was rude, so I was being rude. “- into my face! Be secretive! Or at least just stop when I’m around. That’s all I’m asking from you”.

He didn’t say a single word. Not one. Instead he was searching my eyes, trying to see if I really meant what I just said. Seconds passed, turning into minutes. “Aren’t you going to say something? Defend yourself or whatever?”. Him staying silent made my blood boil because I felt ignored and just really stupid for straight up having an outburst without it affecting him. “There’s nothing to defend because you’re right. About everything. And I’m sorry for not realizing sooner how shitty I was behaving”. To say I was taken aback was an understatement. “That’s all?”. The silence was killing me and all I wanted was to go back to class. “No”. Grabbing my hand, he pulled me towards his chest. “What are you do-“ “Shut up”.

Next thing I knew, (I was pregnant) I felt his lips grazing mine and before I could stop him, he had already fully kissed me. I wanted to feel repulsed, I wanted to feel disgusted, I wanted to feel mad. But I couldn’t. I had missed him and I couldn’t deny it. When I pulled away, he tried to make me stay in place. That’s when my senses came back to me and reality hit me. “Dude, what’s wrong with you?! You have a new girl, remember?”. I pushed his chest, freeing myself. Once I was about to open the door again, I noticed that Zion still hadn’t moved an inch. Turning around, I wanted to tell him to move his ass back to class before both of us would get in trouble. But he never gave me a chance at that.

“I know, but I can’t get my real girl outta my head”.

Also2: I don’t know if I like this part, it’s more of a filler. I tried to put the focus on the relationship between her and Edwin, but also tried to give glimpses of the friendship between her and the rest of the boys. Zion isn’t included much because he’s always hanging out with that other chick. This part is set during the time where both of them try to avoid each other, so I wanted to make it as realistic as possible.

Let me know what your favorite part or line was! Hope you liked it xx

- Cami

Responding to @talsi74656 in regards to that starting line(s) of your last 10 published fics meme.  I thought I’d propose a mirror image one:

List the first lines of your oldest 10 published stories. See if there are any patterns yourself, or have other people say what they notice. Tag up to 10 friends!

I once again excluded anything under 2000 words to get to actual fics (which eliminated a lot of my Harry Potter stuff) and posted the whole first paragraph.  Additionally I limited this to works I’d actually pulled over to AO3 (I didn’t try to go back to my original pseud I had back in high school).

One interesting thing is that these ten fics happen to align with college and the year afterward pretty exactly, cutting off right before I met my now husband.

But, @talsi74656 it’s pretty clear my way of starting stories has changed.

1. The Different Pieces (Harry Potter, June 2005)

Neville thought it was late when he got back to the boys dormitory after spending the evening wandering the grounds with Luna, but when he arrived everyone else, except Harry, was still out. Harry was perched by the window, cheek pressed up against the glass. He looked up when he heard Neville enter, which was easily noticed because Neville had managed to bump into the corner of Dean's bed and cursed in response. Harry's eyes looked glassy and Neville wondered what Harry was doing sitting up here all by himself.

2. Tryst (Veronica Mars, December 2005)

Weevil thought he probably should have been suspicious when Logan suggested the meeting place. He probably should have suspected a trap... after all he had burned down the boy's house and scared him pretty damn bad. He wasn't though, for some unknown reason, and that was what frightened him most of all. Any sane person would have told a friend where he was going, just in case. That was the kind of shit they taught you as a kid wasn't it? Problem was, Weevil didn't have any friends... and even if he did, he wouldn't have been able to tell them he was going to meet up with Logan Echolls. Of course, if he'd had friends he could tell about his rendezvous with Logan, he wouldn't need to be meeting him in the first place.

3. Eli, (Veronica Mars, February 2006)

When Eli comes home, limping and on foot, it's clear that he's lost a lot more than the bike. His grandmother must be able to see it too; because, she doesn't comment about his failure to pick up his little cousin Maria. He thinks that maybe this kindness only makes it worse. If she was lecturing he'd have something to fight against, not that he ever talked back to his grandmother verbally but at least there would be a defense in his head. Instead there is only a plate of homemade cooking, set in front of him silently. He wants to tell her what happened, but there are already too many things he has to hide from her to ever come clean; the less she knows about that part of his life the better, he's always said. It stings to think that "that part of his life" has been forever destroyed. He'd thought it was something he'd have forever... well not forever but, fuck, he certainly hadn't thought it would end like this. It makes him wonder if maybe he should have listened more to his grandmother when she brought home those brochures about colleges and trade schools. "You were always such a bright boy Eli" she used to say. Eli remembers when he was 9. His teacher, Mrs. Lockwood, had recommended him for the special advanced math group; by the time he was in 9th Grade, he had been in special math again, but on the other end of the spectrum this time. Eli brushes the thought aside. It's a useless, traitorous, thought, and he's had more than enough treachery today.

4. An Offer You Can’t Refuse (Veronica Mars, March 2006)

Veronica is surprised when Clarence Weidman shows up in her living room one afternoon, a few months after they tracked down Amelia DeLongprey's murderous ex-boyfriend and she expected she'd seen the last of him. There he is though, fingers elegantly laced together across his lap, looking like they could not be used to strangle and break, looking like he wasn't uninvited. She tells herself the sudden tightness in her chest is surprise. What was Kane software's head of security doing sitting on her couch? Duncan. It had to be about Duncan. Veronica thinks, not for the first time, that Clarence Weidman is more of the Kane Family Head of Security than that Kane Software one.

5. Unlike Minds (Veronica Mars, May 2006)

Group projects were the devil. Everyone knew that. Teachers always paired you up with whoever's work habits were least like your own and linked your grades together to provide the most awkward and uncomfortable experience possible. Today was no exception, Mac thought as she trudged across the classroom.

"Ummm… hi." Mac said, walking awkwardly up to Lizzie Manning. Her fraying t-shirt felt glaringly discordant beside Lizzie's $300 top, which could easily have been intended to be lingerie.

"Hi…" Lizzie replied distractedly, absorbed with her image as displayed by her compact mirror.

Mac couldn't really blame her; if she had Barbie doll looks like Lizzie, she'd probably spend all her time glued to the mirror too.

6. Unfinished (Angel the Series, June 2006)

It is to be expected that, after returning from a hell dimension like Pylea, the world as Wesley Wyndam-Price knew it looked better, that he appreciated it more. However, it was not the case. The world as he knew it was filled with just as much catastrophe as it always had been. In fact, things might have been worse. The moment they had walked back into the hotel and seen Willow, the brilliance of the initial return was lost and things only got worse from there.

7. Longing (Veronica Mars, July 2006)

Veronica awoke with a start, covered in sweat, to find herself in Logan's suite at the Neptune Grand. It was the third time this week that Veronica had woken from dreams about Clarence Wiedman… hot, steamy, sex dreams about Clarence Wiedman. Clarence Wiedman was a cold blooded killer, and Veronica didn't even want to know what else, and in her waking life it wasn't like Veronica found that at all sexy. Sure she might have to admit that, after they worked together to solve Amelia Delongpre's murder, she admired his cool collected calm, but that didn't mean anything other than professional respect. So these dreams, the ones where his hands had skills other than breaking and maiming, skills that had Veronica shuddering in ecstasy, they didn't have anything to do with reality of course. Still Veronica flushed just remembering the sensations she'd experienced in her latest dream, when the Head of Security for Kane Software had taken her, up on a ledge while they were hiding from mobsters. Veronica reminded herself that it was a dream, and had nothing to do with the reality of the man she was with in it, that she had no way of knowing that he actually tasted of cloves and mouthwash; for all she knew, Clarence Wiedman was gay.

8. Failed Crusades (Angel the Series / Firefly, July 2006)

Lindsey knew he shouldn’t be surprised that he wasn’t able to escape Wolfram & Hart’s grasp, that they’d found a way to make his blackmail useless. In retrospect, he supposed, he should be glad that they didn’t toss him in a hell dimension for a couple millennia to wash the traitorous urges right out of him. Of course, this ‘verse, as the people around him referred to it, might as well have been a hell dimension Lindsey suspected. He sort of wondered whether the reason that Earth wasn’t around anymore was the firm’s beloved apocalypse and whether Angel had gone evil after all. It didn’t really matter though, because much had remained the same in the world and Lindsey still had clients to deal with, just now he was on a space station instead of located in LA. The government… Alliance as it was called, had some part to play in the senior partner’s newest death and brimstone party plan, and Lindsey has been instructed to give them whatever they needed. Apparently, what they needed at the moment was some waifish girl. The girl was supposedly some sort of man-made telepath. Wolfram & Hart still specialized in the paranormal in this distant future.

9. Gravel (Harry Potter, August 2006)

He'd known she would come, his ever watchful sister-in-law with eyes that burned like embers. She was feverish to know everything that concerned their Lord; so, when Lucius noticed her watching Him pass the diary to him, he'd known she'd come looking for it. So he laid in wait. He was not disappointed either: as the sun set blood red she came creeping into his study, not the main study, but the one concealed behind the bookcases. He said nothing as he watched her steal in, crimson robes trailing on rich eastern carpets. He said nothing as she lifted the diary from its place on the desk and sat down on the floor, laying it open in her lap to examine. Her hands stroked its surfaces almost lovingly, searching for its secret. Unable to discover one, Bellatrix retrieved a knife from his desk drawer; Lucius did not wonder how she'd known exactly were he kept the little scythe-shaped ceremonial one. Laying her arm onto the diary , Bellatrix split her wrist open with a whispered incantation and the blood swirled through its pages. Bellatrix's eyes lit up and Lucius knew that the blood sacrifice had worked, despite being overkill. As her eyes glazed over, he couldn't help creeping out from his hiding place to see what the diary was showing her.

10. 5 Reasons Weevil is Unhappy Veronica is Dating Logan Again (Veronica Mars, November 2006)

It doesn't take any sort of personal grudge or long drawn out history to get that dating Logan Fucking Echolls is a dumb idea. It's pretty much a fact, not an opinion, as far as Weevil's concerned. He cheats, he lies, he's more than a little arrogant and self satisfied. He's a waste of the fucking riches bestowed upon him for no good reason and the opportunity he's not taking any fucking advantage of. Weevil totally buys that Logan's a fucking train wreck: his girlfriend murdered by his now assassinated father, mother jumped off a goddamned bridge. Boy definitely has issues. Weevil's got grounds for issues too: father who disappeared, mother who overdosed, feelings that never should have formed for a spoiled little rich girl who never knew when to call it quits and ended up dead, gang turned traitorous, and a felony conviction on his record. Yeah, Weevil gets the fodder for bitching and moaning, and maybe if he had millions and nothing but time on his hands he'd be crying about the injustice. He doesn't, though, and if he did he certainly wouldn't think himself worth any chick, let alone someone like Veronica. Not that the girl doesn't have scars of her own, but she doesn't deserve any more. He thinks she should get that but she doesn't, keeps dating assholes like Logan. He has to assume that if she were healthy enough to deal with it she wouldn't be. V's got her whole life ahead of her, open and waiting, and dating Logan is like giving all of that up and going to her worst and most pathetic self. It's a fucking shame. Seems to be the motherfucking way of the world. Anita's new boyfriend isn't any better than her last. He guesses that's what their father taught them to expect. He doesn't think he treats women like shit, though, and he doesn't know where Veronica leaned that kind of crap; because, the sheriff really seems like he's there for her one hundred percent. It seems fucked up and unfair and it makes Weevil want to hit things.

Tagging: @talsi74656, @pixiedane, @sophia-helix, @austennerdita2533, @liminal-zone, @electricbluebutterflies, @emmikamikatze, and anyone else who wants to do this.