Eddie has a standing appointment where he goes to bridge club with his ‘ladies’. The 75+ year olds from Hawkins. He learned how to play from his granny and Wayne and he misses it. He didn’t have hellfire when he first moved to hawkins so Wayne encouraged him to join, actually went with him in the beginning but eventually work just couldn’t give him the time off.

So this is how Eddie Munson is adopted by a group of old ladies who knit and crotchet him black gloves, hats and scarves. They send him home with enough food to feed an army. He’s tried to stop them but they wouldn’t have it. Says that he pays them back by ‘keeping them young’. It’s actually because every one of them, including Eddie, is a gossip and Eddie keeps them up to date on all the drama he can get his hands on.

The ladies prod at him when he turns up one day with a dopey smile and gooey eyes. They’ve not seen this look in a long time so they know something is up. And that something is a Big. Fat. Crush. After a series of careful questions, one of the ladies, ‘big Sue’ just outright asks ‘alright honey enough pussyfooting, WHO has our boy goofier than a Disney cartoon?’ She’s met with a short burst of protests from the rest of the group before they all just stare at Eddie with expectation.

Eddie blushes hard enough to boil an egg. They’ve been through his crushes before, they know what he likes, who he likes. Actually talked him through it. One of them, Emmie, told him ‘boy you didn’t invent being gay! Give me some credit here!’ So he sighs and he mumbles ‘..ve..ington’

‘Honey we are OLD you got to speak UP’

‘I hate you guys. Fine! Steve harrington! Okay? Steve harrington and his stupid hair and his stupid smile and his stupid face!’

The room erupts with shouts, all making fun ‘ooooh Eddie harrington has a ring to it!’

‘Ali he doesn’t have to take the boys name! Munson sounds better anyway’

‘girls who is giving Eddie away at the altar? I can’t walk that far with my hip’

Eddie sits there, pulling his hair in front of his face but laughing so hard he can’t breathe. Bridge club was only ever an excuse, these are friends for life.

The Great War (4/10)

Summary: After landing in a place he has no idea about, Tom comes across someone who can finally help him get back to Manchester

Pairing: Tom Bennett x fem! reader

Leaning against the wall outside the hospital, Tom waited patiently as Y/N made her way down the steps. She was swift in tugging on his hand, tucking herself into his side. 

“Wasted no time there.” he pointed out with a proud smirk. 

Y/N looked straight, ignoring the flush of her cheeks "Well, we have to be convincing, right?"

“If there’s anything else you need to do to convince people I’m your husband, just say.” he posed, tilting his head toward her. 

“Should’ve considered how much of a flirt you are before I agreed to be your wife.”

“You’re the one who suggested it.” he reminded her with a coy smile.

“I know.” she retorted, “Weren’t exactly many others who were willing.” 

“If memory my serves, there aren’t any others.” 

“Oh, so he does pay attention.” she teased, catching his agape mouth before she dismissed it, spotting something in her periphery, “Quiet now.”

A gasp left his mouth as she ducked her head and led them across the street.  A curse almost fell from her mouth as she spotted a pair of uniforms glancing at them in the darkness. She flickered to see Tom glancing at their group.

“Don’t look there. Look at me.” she repeated, bringing their attention to each other and away from the patrol.

“This way.” Y/N guided him down an alley, the man matching her pace as she could certainly feel the eyes following them. 

“What now?”

Her eyes darted around, searching for an out as they crossed to an intersection. All of the boarded doors greeted them as they glanced around. 

“Here.” she tugged him toward her, hiding in the alleyway to conceal them. Her heart pounded in her chest. Breathing became difficult as she listened with bated breaths for the sound of footsteps approaching their spot. Tom’s body pressed close to her’s as she felt the warmth of his breath on her cheeks. His arms found their way around her waist, holding her to his chest. In the darkness, the only visible outlines were his face and blue eyes that locked onto her’s. She pressed her face into his neck, a shaky exhale escaping as the sound of retreating footsteps left. 

“I think we’re clear.” she whispered, leaning back only to feel resistance as he stopped to look at her. Tom didn’t respond as he halted her movements. Y/N faltered in their breaths mixing, lips inches apart. Those silvery grey eyes were enchanting, almost causing her breath to falter as she found herself lost in the moment. She imagined what it would be to press her lips to his, invoking the warmth from his embrace, the caress of a hand on her cheek. Her eyes fell shut as Tom leaned closer. Only the sounds of their breathing could be heard before she shook herself from the daze. It was a romantic gesture not meant for now.

“We should leave now. Before we’re caught.”

Tom resigned back, nodding his head in understanding, forcing his face into a neutral expression. Although she could certainly tell the shift in the air. Nonetheless, she tugged his hand and wandered to the main street toward the hotel.

***

Sliding the door open to the room, she sighed at the sight of the singular bed. Of course, upon the ruse of marriage it made sense there would only be one bed. She glanced over at Tom, spotting the amused look on his face that said he was about to say something flirtatious or of the sort. 

“Don’t.” she dropped her bag onto the bed. 

“I had nothing to do with this, love. Can’t argue with me on that.” he smirked, “If it makes you feel better, I promise to stay on my side.”

“It’s about the least of my problems.” she closed her eyes, waving a hand “Don’t worry about it. It’s fine.”

Y/N brushed her hair, sitting on the bed as she prepared for bed. They arrived at the hotel, just as planned, waiting for notice the next day with their correspondent. The sound of running water dropped off as Tom exited the bathroom, running a towel through his wet hair. She lowered her gaze as he ran a hand through his hair. Tom watched as she braided her hair, her hands moving swiftly through the sections.

“Don’t mind if I ask, where are you headed?” receiving a puzzled look as she tied off the braid. “I mean when we arrive in Spain. Where will you go?” 

A sadness passed over Tom at the thought of her being all alone there, recognising that lost look crossing her face as she averted from looking into his eyes. 

“I have a distant Aunt who lives in Madrid. Though, I’m not entirely sure what my plans are.” she forced a smile, “Back to Manchester for you.”

“Yeah.” he shook from his daze, “Dad and Lois, they’ll be wondering about me.”

She nodded, sensing the worries creasing his face “Tell me about them.”

His eyebrows rose, unexpecting of the request, the intrigue in him, “Why?”

Y/N offered him a smile, “It’ll take my mind off of tomorrow.”

“Well, then. Who am I to reject the request of my wife?” he agreed, crossing the room. Her face flushed at the word, relaxing against the pillows as Tom finally sat next to her, leaning against the headboard. She laid on her side, leaning against a hand. The close proximity allowed her to study his face up close in the dim but warm light of the lamp. His skin was smooth and clear, save for a few scratches remaining from his injuries. The bruises were healing nicely, a few of them already having turned a faint yellow as they faded.

“Dad’s more reserved. He’s a pacifist so he doesn’t believe in the war. Wouldn’t be well enough to go anyway with his condition. He’s alright. Always cared about us-me and Lois.” he continued.

“Ever since my mum passed, she’s been the one to take care of us. She’s always been there for both of us, and...” a serious look passed his face. “I do appreciate it. I just have a hard time telling people...Was that too much?”

“No.” she smiled warmly, “They sound lovely.”

He tilted his head toward her, “Well, that is my family for you. The Bennett lot.”

“What was she like? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Tom’s gaze softened, a glisten shining in his eyes as he glanced at her eyes, reflecting back to the ceiling. “She was bright. Kind. She always knew what to say to make things better.”

“Very much like my mother then.” bringing his attention to the reminiscent smile on her lips, “Everything was okay when I was in her arms. I could be having the worst day, and she’d make it all the better. My father changed a lot after she died.” Tom’s hand drifted closer on the bed, their hands laying between them.

“She died in childbirth along with my brother.”

He offered her a sombre look of understanding, knowing all too well of the loss, “I’m sorry.” 

She nodded her head gratefully, “It was ten years ago, but I still remember the day as if it were yesterday.”

“Some days I’d been afraid to forget what she looks like, but then Lois is there to remind me. She doesn’t reckon she looks much like mum, but she’s always been an image of her. At least that’s what I think.”

“And you?”

“Well, I guess I take after both of my parents. Dad says he’s not sure where the attitude came from, but-” the pair laughed. They settled to a comfortable silence with each other.

Soon enough, Y/N found herself drifting off, a wave of exhaustion passing over her, but she heard Tom’s voice before she slipped under. 

“Night, love.”

TAGS

@pearlstiare @dothrckis @aemonds-sapphire @xcharlottemikaelsonx @amnesiiiac @khaleesihavilliard @filipinamultifandom @padfooteyes ​ @aemondsvhagar @batsyforyou @yentroucnagol @darkarya964 @cl-0-vr @viviartsy

For Talk Shop Tuesday - specifically for my fav For The Record - how did you decide on the trio of Amos, Fran and Animale? Why a trio and not just a best friend? I think it works perfectly and they play off each other giving depth to their shared history together but just curious if there was any deeper reason for that particular choice. I have minimal people to keep track of in my fic and I find writing in their distinctive voices challenging! You have many more characters, and do it so well, so I'm curious if the choice for a trio was just to simplify your life or maybe the characters are based off real people? Are the dynamics of a group of three easier to write than a group of four? Anyways love your work, this was kinda long and rambling, sorry!

Eee hi friend! Thank you for the question. I love your work, too, and I'm so glad we crossed paths. I'm gonna answer this in chunks!

> how did you decide on the trio of Amos, Fran and Animale? Why a trio and not just a best friend? I think it works perfectly and they play off each other giving depth to their shared history together but just curious if there was any deeper reason for that particular choice.

When I was kicking the idea around, I originally only planned for Fran to be Animal's best friend. But as I continued to outline the plot and characters, I realized that if they were going to be in a band, the duo needed to grow into a trio at least. I didn’t want to pretend as though the rest of the band didn’t exist or their lives didn’t intersect with Animal’s and Fran’s. I also wanted to provide balance to the dynamic. Animal is all over the place and messy. She's the kind of person whose mouth writes checks it can’t cash. Fran is glamorous, confident, and charismatic, but messy in a different way. I wanted to bring in a calmer personality, not a doormat, and Amos came out of the ether. 

> I have minimal people to keep track of in my fic and I find writing in their distinctive voices challenging! You have many more characters, and do it so well, so I'm curious if the choice for a trio was just to simplify your life or maybe the characters are based off real people? 

💙 Thank you! Fran and Amos are amalgamations of real friends, past and present. I spent a lot of time outlining them before I wrote the first chapter to get a feel for their personalities, speech patterns, and behavior. The goal was to have them feel as ‘real’ as the 141 - supporting characters that you might meet in real life. For what it’s worth, I don’t think I simplified my life 😅 CF is a close-knit group and I had to think of how they’d realistically react to more…recent events. 👀

> Are the dynamics of a group of three easier to write than a group of four? 

Yes, at least in this story. I think because CF is my own creation, they live in my head and I know what they’d do or say in a given situation. I know their relationships best. I think I’m still finding my rhythm with writing all four of TF 141. They’re fun to play with and a good challenge, but I’m more confident in writing for the band.

Talk Shop Tuesday

oh wait, I do have a real question about yellowjackets! can you imagine the show without the adult timeline, focusing only on the wilderness stuff? do you think that would work? would it be worse/better? some of the S2 finale reactions make me feel like they are making it up as they go with the adult timeline?

Ok I may have been overdramatic about my criticisms of the season 2 finale because I was upset 😂 I won’t truly know if the decisions by the writers made sense until I see season 3.

However - thank you for asking this question! I’m taking this as the excuse to spill all my thoughts & feelings lol!

Here’s my issue - no, I can’t imagine the show without the adult timeline. It would be a different story. The emphasis on the impact left from their time in the wilderness & the way that the storylines intersect & we understand some things more & more with more context is like….. the entire point.

****MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW***

Also - I’m about to be heavily critical of Yellowjackets. If you don’t want to read that, don’t. I don’t really want to argue with anyone or be told that I have to like writing decisions that I just didn’t like. This is how I feel, personally.

I feel that it didn’t make sense to kill adult Natalie just as her arc was getting started. And ESPECIALLY just as her arc in the wilderness as the new leader is getting started. For me the entire point of the show is seeing how the characters’ past effects their present & how things unfold in both timelines. We will no longer get to see how teen Natalie & adult Natalie’s stories work In juxtaposition & that has been a main appeal of the show with these women’s stories for me.

Like….. idk I’ve seen some people say they dislike the adult timeline. But if you don’t like the entire format & storytelling method do you even like Yellowjackets?

Also the mixed timeline thing ties in with the theme of the show. It’s not a generic survival show. I’ll just watch one of the hundreds of movies & shows about wilderness survival if that’s what I want. Yellowjackets has so far been so compelling to me personally because it deals with trauma.

It’s not about whether you live or die it’s about what you do to survive & living with that.

I wouldn’t have accepted any of the adult women dying because the main character group & their post wilderness trauma & relationships are what make the show interesting for me. Killing any of them at this point just feels like…. Why? What a fucking waste of a character arc, ya know?

I also feel Misty killing Nat by accident was just.:.. I don’t know, contrived? Like are you fucking serious? After all this? Nahhhh I don’t accept it.

And yeah, I’m biased I guess anyone who follows me may have noticed MistyNat was a huge appeal of the show for me & now that’s over at least in the adult timeline just as it was getting really interesting how it intersected with the past.

And like…. Like why the fuck would you kill Juliet Lewis KNOWING that watching her & Christina Ricc onscreen together was a huge selling point of the show? Insane decision from any perspective I’m sorry I said what I said.

Finally, it’s not just the adult timeline arc in the finale that makes me feel they have no plan.

This was already really early to kill off Javi & they seem to be killing characters-left & right almost now? I have complicated feelings about Javi’s death but I will say in many ways it made narrative sense even though it hurt. (Wish we could’ve at least seen his death dream 😭) It should’ve been the finale big thing if it was gonna happen though. Killing Javi was enough they didn’t have to also destroy the cabin…

I’m sorry but there’s only so many survivors as it is - how can this possibly last 5 seasons? The cabin burning down felt….. insane, to me.

Now they will obviously kill Ben for doing that. So, that’s another interesting character gone.

And like…. Ugh I feel like I’m not expressing myself well because it IS horror & people DO have to die.

But I just feel like killing MAJOR characters needs to be something you’re careful about!!!

Jackie, Laura Lee, Javi - their deaths hurt but I can see how they serve the narrative.

Crystal’s death this season? Kinda seems like they already forgot. There was no point to that.

I’m not against character death but I need to understand how they’ll serve the narrative moving forward.

To me this finale felt chaotic & designed to be intense but not necessarily like it was well thought out in terms of how the fuck this will be 5 seasons.

Like I just don’t see how they’re gonna manage 5 seasons of this, I just don’t.

And I will watch season 3. Up until now I’ve certainly had criticisms but I’ve been really enjoying this show. I have to be honest though, we’ll see if I even still enjoy it without adult Nat & if they kill Ben this early too…. Yeah I don’t really find anything enjoyable about shows where main characters die at every turn. Sorry, that’s just how I feel.

Trapped in the Backrooms: Ch 5 - Raising the Stakes

(Ragaeli x lee!Y/N

Tickling, group tickling) You and Ragaeli aren’t making enough headway in your quest, so the Nightmare proposes a different way of exploring. In your attempts at playing Backroom Roulette, you eventually come across a group of survivors, trying to brainstorm a game plan.

(Chapter Themes: “Worlds In-Between” - Rufus Rex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3NcdWyGUgQ “Centuries” - Fall Out Boy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPA0z4W-kcU )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        You began to lose track of how long you'd been travelling this bizarre world. You'd adventured through four different Levels for what felt like hours. But at the very least, you didn't feel that tired. The abundance of haunting liminal spaces, and the constant threat of being pounced at any moment by the Nightmare or other entities, kept making your adrenaline go haywire. Which is exactly what Ragman needed. You knew that you more or less had to be a constant source of fear-fuel for him; a constant source of laughter and excitement. He'd told you in the past that a single mortal was enough to power him up for hours - and compounding that with him also getting his greedy hands on the other creatures here undoubtedly boosted his strength even more.        Still, it concerned you a bit that he was noticeably getting pissy. He couldn't read anyone else's mind, couldn't detect dangers in some Levels, couldn't find rifts, couldn't stop entities from turning on you at any given moment. You were both still making the best of it, though; He was having fun making it the best adventure you'd ever been on.          But he was starting to get impatient. He knew you both had a time limit. So, he proposed a different way of doing things.

        The next Level you reached was a quiet apartment with long hallways. Instead of spending a little while exploring the Level ahead of time, and instead of using the first opportunity to chase you or send an entity after you, Rags appeared to walk alongside you, back to wearing his Hot Topic outfit. He put a hand on his hip and pulled up a magic 'window,' scrolling through it like he was swiping through photos on a tablet.

        You peered over at him. "Whatcha doing?"         "Trying to find shortcuts. Getting a sneak-peek at other Levels, maybe find signs of Facelings, humans, psychics, Fae, aliens, demons... anything that could give us answers. Or more beasties that I can force answers out of, heheh."         "You sure that'll work? You said the Backrooms seem like they're trying to keep you from finding clues."         He shrugged. "I can still see most entities. Seems like anywhere that has 'em, also has some kinda higher intelligence just around the corner. Like a hidden Boss battle. And I could just start teleporting us around the world, instead of sticking to one path."         "...Are you sure we should do that? It seems like there's certain paths that we're supposed to follow."

        He shrugged. "There's not much I remember about this world, but I do know that it ain't linear, not by a long shot." He gave a wave of his hand to create an image of what looked like many, many rivers diverging into different paths. Some of them intersected and led to various different seas. Others were a dead-end. "It's more like a choose-your-own-adventure with multiple endings. And fuck knows how many levels and boring-ass oceans we'd hafta keep going through to finally reach some kind of ending that isn't, y'know, death." He summoned up a smoky-looking skull and hurled it at his map of rivers, making it burst into flame and disappear.

        "We could keep playing this damn game forever at this rate, and clearly we don't have that kinda time. We've gotta find more answers. And you, mi amigo, seem to have a knack for runnin' into people that have those answers," he gave you a pat on the back... Followed by a quick tickle to the back of your ribs.         "EEE-HEHE!" You jumped forward. “Thanks, jerk,” you shoved him playfully.        You thought over what he said, an idea coming to mind. Back at Level Zero, there was writing on the walls. 'Seek the Key', and 'Level 3999'. What if-

        "Already tried that," He answered your thoughts before you could ask. "Really only works if I actually have a visual in mind for where I'm trynna go, for one thing." He flicked his window forward, stretching into a portal. "Level 3999," he commanded. But the portal barely reacted with more than a shudder, displaying a faded, hazy image of static and computer coding. Rags put his hand up against it, only to be repelled back like someone had smacked his hand away. "See? No-go," he shrugged.         "Damn. Guess that would be too easy, huh?"

        "Yeeeup. Which is why we're gonna do things my way now~" he clapped his hands together. "SO, here's the game plan. We jump into a Level, look around a bit for someone. I'd give it ten, fifteen minutes tops. If there's zilch in that time, we poof outta here into the next Level I can find. If there happen to be some beasties along the way that I can toy with, then I will~ Hell, if there's other humans like Calamari said, I might even be able to read their minds."         He swiped backwards on his 'screen', to a place that looked like a homey little tavern with a bar. "Let's get ya some grub first. You're probably starving after all that swimming, huh?"         Your stomach answered for you, growling loudly. You clasped a hand around it. "Yeahh, sounds good to me, heh."

        The tavern was, to no surprise, very quiet, save for one Faceling bartender, and presumably also the waitress. She was very tall, and had a good amount of muscle. She could easily tussle with any miscreants or entities trying to stir trouble. Rags hopped up onto one of the barstools, planting his feet on the rungs, his gangly legs jutting out. "Just a couple passersby, my Earthling here needs some good eats." You joined him on the next barstool, and she came up to you first, firmly placing her hand on the counter.         "What're we in the mood for?"         "Uh... anything that a Wanderer could eat?” You assumed there was food here that could replicate Earth food, given what you saw in the warehouse.

           She nodded, reaching in the refrigerator next to the bar cabinets, pulling out a plate of food. A freshly-cooked plate, still piping hot. Must’ve been a hot-fridge. Either way, it looked delicious. Kind of strange, like a mish-mash of different types of food you've had on Earth. But the moment you took a bite, your mouth was very happy. "Mmmm..." You savored the first bite, but quickly dug into the rest, occasionally burning your mouth. It was probably because you were starving, but it tasted straight out of a five-star restaurant.           "Glad you like it." She turned to Rags. "And for you?"           He shrugged. "I could go for strawberry daiquiri if ya got any."

          She tapped her chin, thinking for a moment before nodding and preparing a drink.          As you ate, you noticed a few paintings decorating the walls. They depicted different figures and entities: A man in a red suit of armor, a black demonic figure with an onyx crown and bright white eyes, a court jester adorned in red and gold, a nymph woman sprouting vines on her head and body. And lastly, a figure of a tall man in a high-collared tailcoat. For some reason, this painting was totally out-of-focus; backlit and obscured so heavily that he was little more than a silhouette. He held something that looked like a large key ring.

        "Who are they?"         "Keepers of the Order," the bartender answered casually. "Deities, lesser gods, or just powerful warriors acting on their own whims. You'd be lucky to even encounter them. Some people don't even believe they exist." Her attention turned to Rags. "You, on the other hand... They might not like you being here."         Rags gulped down his daiquiri, raising an eyebrow at her comment. "Oh?" He smirked slyly.         She nodded. "The ones who fall into this world are typically always mortal. Easy prey. But I can tell just looking at you that you're a Hellraiser. You teleported in here like it was nothing."         You smiled. "Yeah, he's a Hellraiser alright. Should've seen him rallying an army in a warehouse and taking on a 1000-mile sea serpent."

        The Nightmare's smug grin slowly stretched further across his face, his eyelids drooping a little, some shorter stray strands of hair standing on end. You could tell that look meant he was getting some shitty ideas. "Sooo, there's a chance to stir the pot with some Big Boys... That oughta get us some intel for sure." He hopped off the barstool, walking over to the most roomy section of the tavern. "You wanna see me really raise Hell? Then watch this!"          He focused his energy, holding his hands out, glowing vivid red. In an intense burst of magic, his portal windows started to fill the room. Not just one, but many of them. They cycled through Level after Level at random. As they shifted, Rags gave a flick of his wrist and summoned a megaphone, pointing it in the direction of the portals and taking a huge breath...

           "HEEEYY BACKROOM BITCHES!!" His voice boomed through the megaphone, causing the portal windows to flicker and shudder. The bartender jolted, nearly dropping the glass she was cleaning, forced to cover her ears. You quickly covered yours too.

        "YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN KEEP US HERE?? LOCKED UP AND FORCED TO PERFORM YOUR USELESS STUNTS LIKE SOME CIRCUS TIGER??" He paced around, his hair acting up even more, writhing like Medusa's snakes. "WELL THIS RABID CAT HAS A HELL OF A BITE, BABY!! I'M CLAWIN' MY WAY TO THE TOP, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!!" He cackled. "I'M COMING FOR YOU!! I'M GONNA MAKE A LAUGHING FOOL OUTTA EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!! HAHAHAAAHAHAHA-" He trailed off into wild, maniacal laughter even after he made the portals and megaphone disappear, his body crackling with arcs of magic.        You swallowed. That was... Kind of hot. But it also made you tense. Just what kind of Eldrich horror would he end up summoning from a calling card like that?       "Got that out of your system?" The bartender asked dryly.         Rags took a heavy breath and nodded, his hair and aura settling back down.         "Good. Now get out. You're disturbing the peace."          "Heheh; Yeahh yeah, we're leaving!" He patted you on the back and led you to a new portal. "Thanks for the grub! Put it on my tab~!"

        Afterwards, he started opening portals left and right. He often came across Levels that would've been impossible for you to navigate even with his help: Below-freezing tundras with harsh blizzards. Landscapes that were literally glitching in and out of existence and making your eyes ache. A dark, rainy marsh that tricked the Nightmare and suddenly cleared up to searing bright sunlit fields as if someone had flipped a light switch, scalding him and forcing him to poof you both away while he shrieked in pain. An extremely unsettling, unending 'tunnel' of Japanese spirit gates that emanated malevolent energy and nearly sent you into a panic attack just looking at it. He had to take a few minutes to calm you down from that one.          Finally, the Russian Roulette style of searching led to something helpful: A human outpost.        You stepped into a massive underground bunker, spotting tunnels, encampments, furniture, weapon supplies and crates all over the place. It looked like a shelter one would see in a zombie apocalypse. Even moreso when you saw some people in the far distance of the building walking around in Hazmat suits. But you felt a spark of hope to see that the rest of them had faces. Other humans!!          "Hey, we got another one!!" A man's voice shouted nearby, jogging up to you. He was middle-aged, Hispanic with light facial hair, looking a little rough around the edges. But he still offered you a slight smile. "Welcome to Paradise," he said sarcastically, giving you a handshake. "Glad you're in one piece. Name’s Ramon.”

        A group of five people soon followed. One had pointed ears; an elf or demon, maybe? And a lady with patches of scales lining her neck. You said your hellos and gave them your name, being guided over to some outdoor seating by a campfire, underneath a large half-pitched outdoor canopy. You went around the circle, learning their names and positions: A tough-looking, part-reptilian mercenary with a red ponytail and a pistol on her belt named Jay, Ramon the group leader with walkie-talkies and a machete on his utility belt, Cian their nonbinary African-American tech guru, Laurence with a visible trans pin on her Hazmat suit, Venali the turquoise-haired elf geared up like he was in Jumanji, and Fern, their blonde journalist and Venali’s boyfriend. They started to show you the various notes and journals they were writing about the Backrooms, and began explaining where all the supplies and housing were.           Though, before you all could get too comfortable, Ragaeli appeared in a flash of smoke right in front of everyone.          The group gasped and jumped back to their feet. Laurence yanked you back away from the monster. Fern stood in front of Venali protectively. Ramon readied his machete, and the elf started shuffling in his bag for weapons of his own.        "¡Cristo arriba, ¿qué es eso?!"         "That's not like any entity I’ve seen."

        "Whoa whoa whoa!!" You jumped in front of them and waved your arms. "Wait!! He's with me! He's not dangerous."

        They shifted from friendly to apprehensive. Ramon squinted suspiciously at you. "You sure about that? It could be mind-controlling you for all we know."         "Or you're in cahoots with the monsters out there trying to kill us."         "Or one of them in disguise."

        Ragdoll just smirked and giggled in smug amusement, hands on his hips; a contrast to your growing worry. But Jay quickly stood by your side and spoke up, raising her voice. "Guys, calm down. Remember the pact we made? We never would've made it as far as we have if we became this paranoid about every person we came across." She patted you on the shoulder. "We stick up for each other, got it? If there's signs that they're untrustworthy, we know how to defend ourselves." She gave you a smile.

        Rags poofed out of sight and re-appeared on one of the nearby benches, causing some of the group to jump in surprise. "Well in that case, I accept your warm welcome~" He snapped his fingers and summoned up a deck of cards out of one of their supply bags.         Cian hesitantly approached, putting their hands on their hips. “Okay, so... What are you?”

        “The best Nightmare you’ll ever have,” he winked, starting to play a game of Blackjack with himself, the cards floating in the air in front of him. "You've all been through the ringer, haven't ya? Nearly melting alive in a tunnel of pipes, spelunking in spider-filled caves, trudging through swamps fulla Death Rats..." He went around the circle pointing fingers at each person as he recited their memories back to them. "Damn, and a city of zombies too? Woof. Well, good on ya for sticking it out!"           All of them stared at him, dumbfounded. "...How do you know all of this?"           He tapped a finger to his temple. "Your thoughts aren't safe from me~ It's about fuckin' time, too. I can't read any minds that are native to this batshit universe."

          Fern was hurriedly scribbling down notes in his journal.           "And you guys-" Rags pointed to Laurence’s Hazmat suit. "You know an entry point to the Backrooms, it's the entire reason you're here. But it's one-way only, huh? Just like sending a Rover to another planet... One-way communication network so they can get the info they need outta you.”

          She sighed, brow furrowing, looking like Rags’ words stung to her core. She was the first of them to sit back down. "Yeah... Word of advice, don't get roped into top-secret Government research." She chuckled bitterly. "We're all told the same thing: That we're blessed to be part of a revolutionary breakthrough in interdimensional travel. That we'll be able to take care of our families for the rest of our lives with how filthy rich we'd be. That they’ll perfect their groundbreaking wormhole transportation to ensure that everyone can come and go here as they please. That they... They’ll give us easy access to hormone therapy and surgery.” Her brow furrowed. “But they don't give a rat's ass about us. They know damn well we can't go back once we cross the rift. We aren’t meant to be breaching into this dimension. It takes who it wants to take."            The others looked at her sympathetically, following suit in sitting down around their campfire. Venali scooted close to Fern, Cian and Jay sat on the floor close to the fire. Ramon patted Laurence’s shoulder.

           She cast her gaze down. "...I'm one of the lucky ones. I didn't have much going for me back at home. Wasn't remembered by a lot of folks. Figured that if I don't get rich enough to lead a campaign for equal medical treatment all over the country, then... hey, at least my last adventure would be a hell of an interesting one." She looked back up to her companions. "Then I had to go and find these guys, and they had to go and start caring about me. Guess I'm stuck with them now," she gave Ramon a playful nudge, and they laughed together.

          “Damn... Well, I’m glad you’re all okay,” you tried to offer a reassuring smile. “Though if you don’t mind me asking, why keep the Hazmat suit?”            She shrugged. “They make good protection when we go off to find resources. Cian hot-wired our radios to only be able to communicate with each other. We don’t need any no-good government lackeys spying on us anymore.”

         “Hm...” You nodded. “Well... I really think there is a way out of here. Ragman and I are doing our best to find it."           "Level 3999?" Jay responded.           Your eyes lit up in surprise. "Yeah!"            She nodded. "The 'True Ending'. It's a Level that's damn near impossible to get to, though. We don’t even know how to start looking for it.”

           “Seek the Key...” Fern scanned through his journal, with Venali resting his head on his shoulder to peek at his notes. “A Faceling told us that’s the answer. What key, though? A physical key? Metaphorical? It’s like no-one in this world can give us direct answers. Like they’re not allowed to.”          The Nightmare squinted, staring hard at the group, 'scanning' between them. "Hrrmm... So you know about that Level... That could mean we can hop around to other outposts and interrogate any humans we see 'til we get more answers," he chuckled. "But there's still something... Off." He got up to start pacing, rubbing his chin. "I can see all these different places you've been. I can see all the baddies you thwarted and skewered. I can memorize every piece of writing you’ve got about this world,” He held out a hand, summoning Fern’s journal to him, skimming through the pages in less than two seconds before snapping it shut. “But there's gaps. Blank spots, or like, skipping in a DVD." He sneered in annoyance, tossing Fern’s journal back at him. "That settles it then, this world has it out for me!!" He threw his arms up dramatically.

              Ramon snorted. "It's not just you. The Backrooms fuck with people's minds all the time."                You thought for a moment. “Maybe I could take a look?” When Fern agreed and gave you his journal, you saw just what Rags was talking about: There were odd blank spots in the middle of notes or sketches. Not like erased text, or unfinished sentences...But more like looking at something through your eyes’ blind-spots. A blur, or a blockage that made you not want to look at it for too long. “That’s so weird...”            Venali scratched behind his head as he also thought things over. "Well, maybe we could just tell you what those gaps are?"

           Rags stopped his pacing, a sly grin crossing his face. "Yeahhh, maybe you could..." He cracked his knuckles. "A good dose of adrenaline might jog your memories~"          You felt yourself starting to smile just as mischievously. Before a couple of them could ask what he meant, he snapped his fingers to lift everyone’s arms above their heads with magic bindings, lifting up their ankles arranging them in a circle, suspended above the floor. They all exclaimed.

           “Mierda, I fuckin’ KNEW it!!” Ramon shouted at you, having seen your cheeky smile appear when Rags grabbed him. “You set us up!!”            “H-Hey, come on, let’s talk about this!!” Cian looked at him nervously.

             “Relaaaax already,” the Nightmare gave deliberate pokes to Cian and Ramon’s sides, instantly getting exclaimed yelps. His smile grew wider. “I ain’t in the business of skewering folks that don’t deserve it. But I’ll show you exactly how I’ve been dealing with all the bloodthirsty critters since getting here~” He put his large hands on both of their sides...and gave off a ticklish magic burst that shot through the two of them, and clear across everyone else’s torsos like an EMP blast. The group shrieked and bucked in place, bursting into laughter, some of them nearly stumbling.              Rags visibly shivered at the sound of their laughter. “Oooohh that was nice~”            “SHIHIHIT THAT TIHIHICKLES!!” Laurence barked. Fern blushed brightly and tried to hide his face against his arm. Ramon and Jay both tried yanking away.            “Th-that’s your power?!” Jay hissed.            “Yeeees indeedy~” the Nightmare winked.            “That’s ridiculous!” Ramon scoffed. “No way in hell a little tickling is gonna keep a bunch of bloodthirsty abominations at baaAAAYY-HEHEHE!!” He was cut off by another ticklish burst. The others yelped and exclaimed with more laughter, some of their faces becoming more flushed.            “Ohh, it’s not just a little,” Rags grinned deviously. “You’ll find that I’m a very greedy bastard~ I could do this aaalll day, but I don’t have that kind of time. So lemme just interrogate you all for a little bit...” He then grasped his hand around your invisible magic tether, yanking you over to join the circle, trapping you in place as well.            "Wha- HEY!" You glared at him.            He just giggled. "Let's get started, shall we~?"

           He ignored everyone's flustered protests. His hair tendrils extended into the air and weaved their way between the group; and then, he attacked.            He knew exactly where everyone's weak spots were. Jay's scaly back, Venali's pointy ears, Cian's underarms, Fern's palms and neck, Ramon’s armpits and pudgy belly, Laurence’s neck and feet. And of course, he showed no mercy on your weaknesses. All of you answered with loud shrieks, belly laughter, whines and curses. Ramon cussed him out in Spanish, Venali devolved into his unknown native language. Some of their laughter was so goofy and contagious it made you laugh even more.

              Rags shuddered hard at the cacophony of laughter, and licked his lips. His eyes lit up with excitement, his slitted pupils dilating a little, his hair frizzing and shuddering and his aura glowing a little brighter. "Oohhh now that’s tasty~" You knew from what he'd told you that getting a group of people laughing was the equivalent of getting a whiff of cocaine. Heaven forbid he ever got a whole room of people laughing.

             He’d almost forgotten the reason he started the group attack in the first place. “SO, those memories, cough ‘em up!!” he summoned Fern’s journal over to himself. When he found a subject of interest, he flipped open the page, and used his magic to project the image in the air, large enough for everyone to see. “What about this critter?” He projected a sketch of what looked like regular Death-head moths from Earth, but with notes about how they could paralyze humans with neurotoxins.

             “I-I dohohohon’t knohohow!!” Fern whined. “I-I’ve just heheheard talk of thehehem from other people in our outpohohost!!”                “Liar,” Rags stuck out his tongue. “Arright, how about this one?” he pointed out a silhouetted figure of a man with inhumanly long limbs, a top hat, and nothing on his face but a wide, pure white smile with sharp teeth, not unlike the Nightmare’s.              “I-Ive seeheeheen him in a reflehehection befohohore!!” Laurence barely managed to speak up over her laughter. “I-I don’t remember whehehere!!”              “Hmmm, alright, that’s acceptable enough,” he giggled. “OH, what’s this place??” His interest was piqued by a large empty library, with a huge sign overhead reading ‘The End.’               “WeeEEE-HEHEHEH f-found a computer screen wihihith that imahahage!!” Jay replied, growling between her laughter, face flushed almost as bright red as her hair.          

               He continued this ‘strategy’ for a good ten minutes. Sitting cross-legged in the air, flipping through the journal, projecting Fern’s sketches of everything from strange objects, dangerous-looking entities, and bizarre Levels. Every time, it seemed as if they just couldn’t remember full details. A couple times, they even said they didn’t remember taking the notes at all.              He also knew exactly how much to dial it back with them, taking breaks when they were out of breath, never tickling in a spot for too long that would cause them panic or discomfort. They pleaded, protested, cussed him out. But never made more of an effort to break free.                Before long, you decided to be a brat. “I-I dohohohon’t knohohow, Rahahags, I th-thihihink they’re holdihihing out on us!!”                 “Y-YOU SON OF A-!!” Jay glared.                 “W-We’re nahahahat lyiiihihing!” Venali protested. “W-Wehehehe’re telling you everythiihihing we remehehember!!”

            Eventually, the Nightmare was swaying in the air and giggling, lips stretched in a dopey grin, eyelids drooping. He was literally getting laughter-drunk. Sparks leaked out from his writhing hair, his red aura glowed brighter than ever. When he finally decided everyone had enough, he lowered all of you to the floor and seats around the campfire, releasing your bonds. Everyone collapsed back onto the seats and against their bags and crates.

              Rags staggered to his feet, stomping over to the group, slouched over and walking in his janky tweeker fashion that earned him the name Ragdoll. "Mmmhehehehh, shiiiit I want mooore..." He growled and licked his lips. Everyone shivering and tensing up in a small bout of anxiousness just made him bend over more, like he was about to pounce. But then he quickly shook his head like a dog shaking off water, smacking the sides of his face. "Nooonono, time to focus!!"            "O-Okay, okay, I see now why you've been able to survive," Ramon spoke up. "Cause you're fuckin insane," he flipped the Nightmare off.            Rags giggled wildly and threw his arms up in an exaggerated shrug. "Sure I am, what's your point?"            Cian and Venali snickered to themselves. "A total horror movie monster. But, y'know, a fun one.”            Jay huffed, sitting upright. "Yeah, and you’re not much better," she glared over at you. "Egging him on like that..."            "Well, that was... Uh.. Kinda fun, in any case.." Fern cleared his throat, face still red as a beet, not making eye contact with Rags.            Laurence nodded quickly. "Quite the group therapy session, don't you think?"              Venali smiled cheekily at Fern. “Someone liiiiked it~” he playfully tickled the blonde’s sides, resulting in a squeak and batting his hands away.

             The monster giggled again. “Well, glad you enjoyed yourselves, even if I didn’t get any real answers,” he stuck his tongue out. “All that laughter just stirred up a bunch of your sappy memories, laughing it up together.” He made a mock-gagging motion.                After you caught your breath, you looked over to the powered-up nightmare, then the group, then back again... You smiled mischievously. "Hey, guys.. How d'you feel about a little revenge?"

           But Rags slowly turned his head to you. "You reeeally think ganging up on me when I have this much laughter-fuel in the tanks is a good idea~?" He held out a hand, giving off sparks so intense it was like his arm was a Tesla coil. The magic let off a cacophony of echoing high-pitched laughter. It made everyone gasp and jump back.            You swallowed. "M-maybe not, but I know you're gonna hang onto most of that energy. You need it."            He giggled and rolled his eyes. "Fiiine, you got me there." The crackling stopped and he re-absorbed the magic into his body. He stood back upright, throwing his arms open and puffing his chest out in a ‘come at me bro’ stance. “Go ahead then, if you all think you can take me on~”

             Jay and Laurence were the first ones to jump to their feet and charge him, and you followed closely behind. Jay used her strong arms to grasp one of his arms and hold it in place while she buried her other hand into one of his pits. Laurence went for the opposite side, dancing her fingers up and down his sides and ribs like a piano. And you made a beeline for his exposed midriff.              The cocky Nightmare shrieked with excited laughter, flailing in place like a wiggling fish, tail thrashing behind him. “YEEE-HEEHEHEHEHE!!”

             Once they saw how ticklish the laughter-hungry maniac was, and that he wasn’t retaliating, the others’ uncertainty made way for sly smirks. They stood to their feet and hurried over to join their friends. They held the tall Nightmare in place, attacking every inch of them they could cover. His laughter just grew louder and more wild, his huge smile showing off his bear-trap teeth and striped tongue. “GYAAA-HAHAHAHEEEHEHEHEHE!! IS TH-THAHAHAT THE BEHEHEHEST YOU ALL GOT?!” He taunted.            “We gotta go for the feet!” You hinted to the others. They nodded, and made swift work of pulling Rags down to the floor, pinning his arms and legs in place. Venali and Fern took the lead, each targeting his massive stompers. The elf scribbled skillfully under and along his toes, and Fern experimentally scritched at his soles and balls of his foot. “Tickletickletickle,” the elf cooed, giving a shy, but cheeky grin. “Man, for someone so strong, you sure can’t handle a taste of your own medicine, can ya?”

           “I mean, he’s taking it like a champ,” Jay snickered, joining you in burying her pointed nails against his trembling belly.              “if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re really enjoying this,” Laurence smiled, swirling her knuckles against his hips.            “WHAHAHAHAT WAS YOUR FIHIHIHIRST CLUHUHUHUE?!” Rags retorted, shrieking and bucking all the more, his tail smacking the ground behind him.               The tail caught Cian’s interest. Out of curiosity, they grabbed it and started tickling along its length, succeeding in letting loose another cacophony of excited laughter from their target. Ramon followed suit in the experimenting, tickling the peach-fuzz stripes on his shins, making him almost yank his legs right out of Fern and Venali’s grip.

             Once again, you found yourself staring and eyeing over your monster friend’s thrashing body and handsome smiling, laughing face. Each of his hysterical belly-laughs made your stomach do somersaults of joy. Although you enjoyed succumbing to his ruthless tactics, it was cathartic seeing him get a taste of his own medicine - and reassuring to know he loved receiving the tickles just as much as inflicting them. The group looked happy, too, with genuine playful smiles on their faces; even Ramon, their grouchy jaded leader.

               After a few more minutes, he started slamming the floor with his hand, like a wrestler tapping out. Ramon recognized the gesture and waved a hand in the air. “Alright alright, let’s back off,” the others nodded and brought their tickle-attack to a stop.               “WHOO, talk about a team effort, hehehe~” Rags gave a dopey giggle. “I can take wayyy more than that, but I’m kinda on the clock,” he staggered to his feet.                Ramon rolled his eyes. “Uh-huh, sure you can.”              “No, it’s true,” you spoke up, also standing up. “He has almost limitless stamina.”              “Well, either way, that was fun~” Laurence giggled. “But I guess you two are planning on moving on ahead, huh?”              “Sure, if ya know where we should go next,” Rags ruffled her hair.             “I... think I know where you might be able to find clues,” Cian spoke up.             Jay’s brow furrowed and she quickly shook her head. “Don’t. That place is a death trap. A deliberate dead end. Ramon barely escaped in time, remember??”            “I know, but what if it’s possible?” Cian went up to both of you to explain. “If anyone has a chance of getting past the science labs, it’s you. Both of you. His powers, and your wits and bravery... You may be able to get past the gauntlet.”           "Gauntlet?" You questioned.           "Yeah. Like I said, a death trap,” Jay repeated in irritation. “A stampede of just about any entity you'd imagine."

          This piqued the nightmare's interest. "Ya don't say...?"           There he goes again, getting some sneaky ideas. "Sooo, what happens when we reach the end?"           "If you get to the end," Fern corrected. "We dunno. Probably just another Level to another hellscape."            You shrugged. "I mean, hey, I've seen my fair share of those. I can handle this too.” Your eyes lit up, and you were struck with motivation. “Hey! If we all go together, I'm sure we could get past it! You guys seem like you really know what you're doing.”

          Ramon shook his head. "Look, amigo... There isn't really any use in exploring a place that dangerous. We've got a good thing going right where we're at. Food, supplies, defenses, and each other.”           "You could do the same," Fern commented. "You and your crazy bodyguard can live here with us."           "No can do," Rags threw an arm around your shoulder. "I'm gettin' this one home one way or another."            "Why don't you come with us?" You tried to press them again. "Like I said, we're finding ways out of each Level. Rags can help out! He can neutralize threats and even persuade them to our side!"

           But all of them looked very hesitant.

          "Not sure that's a good idea." The Nightmare spoke up.           "What??" You spun to look at him. It wasn't like him to deny the chance to help people out. But you felt your stomach sink at how serious his expression had become.

           He gave a big shrug. "Look, I dunno where we're gonna end up. We're barely making it out of each Level as it is!! Sure I can keep the baddies at bay, but I'm still playing a careful balancing act of upkeeping my magic." He turned his attention back to the group. "Even if I could bring you all with me, and get a boosted energy fix from ya, there's a good chance that this world is gonna fling you every which way at any given moment. And an even bigger chance that not all of you are gonna make it out of here alive." He huffed and folded his arms, tapping a finger on his bicep. "I'm not about to risk splittin' you up or watching your buddies get killed in front of you. That'd be even more fucked up than letting you stay here."              The group nodded and sighed amongst themselves, mumbling in agreement.

          "Well, there you have it. Your magic friend says it's not safe." Ramon patted you on the shoulder. “I appreciate you wanting to help. I really do. Maybe someday we’ll get more intel, find safer Levels. But when we started settling in here, we all barely made it by the skin of our teeth. These guys... they’ve seen some shit that no-one ought to see. I can’t ask them to go back into the fray if they’re not ready for it.”                Fern nodded. “I... I can’t go back out there.” Venali took his hand and hugged him close, giving him a gentle kiss on his cheek.                You frowned, feeling a little guilty. You knew they were right... You couldn’t in good conscience push them to venture to places that triggered traumatic memories.                Cian folded their arms behind their head. “I wouldn’t mind taking up that offer, if I was on my own. But these guys need me. I’m their only means of communicating to home base when they go out to find resources.”        

                 Rags scratched under his chin. “Y’knoww...it might be possible to get you outta here if I could relay some answers to ya. At least, if the Big Bosses come running to my call. And if snitching on ‘em isn’t going to make them go after you guys. I know how it goes with most gods. Snuffing out lives like birthday candles just cause they can’t fathom a mortal outsmarting them,” he scoffed.

            “Big Bosses?” Jay raised an eyebrow.              Fern’s eyes widened. “You don’t mean...?”             “Are you... talking about the Grand Order?” Cian looked at the Nightmare in disbelief. “You called to them?? What do you mean?!”               “Well, I gotta find our way out of here somehow. If you don’t get answers after standin at your boss’s door for an hour, just throw a rock in their window, right??” Rags snickered.            “How, though?” Fern quickly started thumbing through his journal. “How did you contact them?? There’s a next to zero possibility of a Wanderer encountering one, but maybe with the help of an entity like you, it’s possible...?”

              “Weelll I didn’t directly contact them.” Rags stood out away from the encampment, holding his arms out and giving his hands a dramatic wave. A good dozen magic windows opened up in the air, shifting through imagery, just as they had done at the tavern. “I can open up a spyglass on the world and set sail towards any Level I decide on,” he summoned up a fancy brimmed hat and a spyglass, doing mock-charades of a pirate standing at the edge of a ship. “I can take a peek at just about any Level here and take a gamble on whether I wanna jump the plank or not. Could be some plain ol fish, could strike some buried gold! Or, we be swimmin’ right into the jaws of death. And that’s why I ain’t be gamblin with any of yer lives!!” He jammed a finger against your chest. “I’m already regrettin’ having to gamble with yers.” Despite his hammy pirate act, for a brief moment, you glimpsed a crease in his brow; a shift in expression from playful to apologetic.

              “Point is!!” He spun around, making the props disappear and pointing at the portals. “I kiiiinda maybe dared ‘em to come running to me,” he flashed a smug grin. “The safest way for us to have a chance of jailbreaking you all is for me to get the answers from the Top Dogs. They tell me the answer, I open up a window to as many Wanderer outposts as my magic will allow, bada-bam, now we ALL know how to bust out.” He narrowed his gaze. “...IF that works.” He pointed to Fern. “Not a damn page I skimmed in there mentioned a thing about these Upper-Fuckers. Not a thought in his mind is tellin’ me anything.”               “Wha... Really??” He skimmed his journal quickly, looking dumbfounded. “There’s... it’s not here!” He looked over to Cian. “But you know about them, don’t you??”             Cian shrugged. “I mean, kinda? I don’t remember where I heard about them, though. I think it was a tavern or something?”

                Rags rolled his eyes. “Case in point. If they’re tryin’ this hard to keep the answer from some troublemaking interloper, I’d imagine they’ll try just as hard to cover it up from their main prey. When - not if, WHEN -” he snarled for emphasis - “I get one of them to cough up what we need, they might try to go for your throats as damage control. I send that message out to many outposts and they could lead a mass slaughter. If there’s even a sliver of a chance of that happening, then forget it.”                “Hmm...” Jay folded her arms. “Well... Thanks for wanting to help, in any case. Don’t worry too much about us. You sound like you both have enough on your plate as it is.”

               Laurence could tell you were feeling crestfallen, coming up to you to take your hand. “You’ve got a real good friend at your side, you know that? Don’t ever give that up. And don’t think that moving on is giving up on us, either.” She smiled. “Just keep us in your thoughts, that’s all I can ask. And if you find another one of us guinea pigs with a working radio, give those fuckers back home Hell for me.”              You chuckled, nodding. “Damn right I will.”               Ragdoll gave a clap of his hands. “Well in that case, I’ve got one request for you lot. Don’t any of you fuckin’ dare give up. And don’t ever stop laughing~”

              After you said your goodbyes, Venali led you into one of the alleyways outside of the building, opening an industrial metal door in the adjacent wall. “The portal to the laboratory is at the end of this hallway.” He frowned. “You’re certain you’re ready to go through with this?”             You nodded. “We have to try.”            "We'll take our chances," Rags plopped an elbow down on your shoulder again. "A science lab sounds pretty interesting... And if it's true that there's that many entities, my announcement might've reached them too,” he grinned at you knowingly. “We could even rally a little army~"

               Rags walked next to you down the hall. You glanced up at him with a knowing grin. “You let everyone go after you you to show them they could trust you, didn’t you?” you gave him a nudge. “I know how you work.”                He glared and let out a huff, grabbing at your stomach to squeeze repeatedly. “Shaddup, I just wanted ‘em to have fun too,” he stuck out his tongue.              “AAH-HAHAHA!!” You jumped. “Yeah right!!” you grabbed at his side in response, releasing a hyena yelp from him. “You’re totally not a secret softie.”

         You half expected Ragman to race you or chase you down the hallway in retaliation for calling him out. But he still walked alongside you, arms folded behind his head, acting strangely calm. It became apparent after a couple minutes of walking that it was because he could sense your stewing thoughts. You felt sorry for all those people... How many other people from Earth - or even other worlds - were trapped here? Forced to live in shelters straight out of Fallout? You were lucky you had a god on your side. At least there was some chance of indirectly helping them, if the Nightmare’s idea worked. Even if he couldn't save all of them, maybe both of you could help make a difference to at least one of them...

             Ragdoll patted you on the head. "Believe me... If I could, I would. I'd lead a mass exodus outta here." For once, he became very contemplative. "But you can't save everyone. Not on Earth, not in Limbo, not on other planets or dimensions. Sure, you gotta stick up for your buddies, and most people don't wanna look at some sad sack on the side of the road and just leave them there. But other times, you just need to focus on you, y'know?"             "Yeah..." You sighed. You knew he had a point; that it would probably be a pretty big gamble to take them along. But still... You wish they would've taken up your offer to help. It was times like this that you were reminded the Nightmare wasn't just a laughter-hungry nutcase.

           Though it wouldn’t be long before the madness continued.            Opening the door at the end of the hall, you saw that there was indeed a huge laboratory on the inside.                "Alley-oop!" Rags gave you a shove into the doorway before poofing out of view.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five (current) Chapter Six

Footnotes:

Bunker floor BG: 

So, this is the first chapter that isn’t directly based off of specific Backrooms levels or entities. It kind of just vaguely mentions the aesthetic of some of the Levels I came across while reading the Wiki.

This chapter also wasn’t even one that I’d originally planned. It was going to go from Rags and Y/N doing random level-hopping directly into the Research lab where the next chapter takes place, but in the process, the realization hit me “What if they come across other humans? There’s human outposts everywhere in the backrooms”. So it only made sense to have them encounter a group of survivors. I had fun coming up with some other human(oid) characters and fleshing them out. I will say right now that I do not plan on having a complete character/story arc for them. There won’t be any tragic deaths, there won’t be any tie-ins to the final conflict. However, this may not be the last we see of them!

[week #7: long summer nights]

this is the last of a three part beach holiday fic (tfw + wayward sisters) part one (#5 "holidays" 3k) part two (#6 "water guns" 2.8k) part three (3k)

It was four a.m. and Dean was awake. He let out a frustrated sigh and rolled on his back.

It was Cas’ fault. He wouldn’t be in this situation if the afternoon before he hadn’t come standing by Dean’s chair and asked for their hotel key card, saying he needed to get back to watch a show he always watched at six on Saturdays.

“Are you being serious right now?” Dean had asked, his sunglasses sliding down his nose.

Cas had shrugged and held out his hand.

And to be fair, Dean didn’t have to go with him, but it was hot, and he still felt a little tired from the early morning and the water fight, so he thought it could be nice to get cleaned up and take a walk in the little town before dinner.

And it was a good plan, only he’d made the mistake of laying down on the bed, start the A/C and turn on the news, while Cas took his time in the shower.

He was not sure what did it, if the monotone cadence of the anchor, the white noise coming from the bathroom, the faint buzzing of the A/C system, the otherwise stillness around him, but he’d stood no chance.

He’d fallen asleep and woken up four hours later with his face plastered to the mattress, his mouth open and a wet stain on his bedsheet.

So, of course now it was four a.m and he was awake.

He glanced at the other bed and found it empty and pristine as usual, so he grabbed his phone and sent, where are u?

That’s how he found himself walking towards the beach, passing small groups of people that were just turning in from the night out and shivering against the night breeze.

There was a little red boat upside down near the spot where they had planted their beach umbrellas in the past few days. It was easy to spot and even easier to spot Cas, standing next to it, looking out at the sea.

He turned to look over his shoulder before Dean even stepped onto the sand.

“What is it?”

“Can’t sleep,” said Dean, huffing. The sky was pitch black, no moon in sight, and too many town lights to allow the stars to show themselves and yet, with the smell of the sea and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore, Dean started to feel better about being out at this hour.

He kicked off his flip flops and laid down the towel he'd brought. Cas watched him do it, watched him sit down, leaving enough space for someone else to sit. Dean looked up at him, "You need an invitation?"

Cas shifted on the spot.

“I can’t stay,” he said mysteriously, “I have business to attend to.”

“What - What business?”

Cas didn’t answer, in his infuriatingly fashion. He thought about something for a long moment and then seemed to come to a decision. “You can come if you want.”

So Dean got up again, puzzled, and trailed after him down empty and quiet little streets. He adjusted his folded towel under his arm.

“Care to fill me in before we reach whatever destination you have in mind?”

Cas stopped short at an intersection and paid him no mind. He seemed to study the face of the buildings around them and then started walking again. “Cas, seriously?”

His eyes still resolutely ahead of him, Cas sighed, “Don’t overreact,” he said, which of course made ten thousand alarms go off in Dean’s mind, but before he could say anything, he added, “I’m here to see a witch.”

Dean almost tripped over himself. “Y- what? Wait, what?” he grabbed Cas’ arm to finally stop him and face him. This wasn’t funny anymore.

Cas seemed annoyed but resigned. He clearly wished Dean wasn’t there and regretted telling him that he could join him.

“I asked you not to overreact,” he said, “During my nights out, I noticed some carvings and symbols around the town. They’re benign,” he highlighted, “protective symbols, but they can only be the work of a witch. More than one, in my opinion.”

Dean was stunned, “And you didn’t think of sharing that information? You know, with your hunter friends?”

“There was no need to get you involved.”

Dean opened his mouth to object, but Cas was quicker to add, “I know these carvings. I’ve encountered them before. Trust me, they’re not dangerous.”

That wasn’t helping. Of course he trusted him, only Dean would feel better if between the two of them they had a blade, a gun, a sharp stick at least, anything more than just a beach towel and a hotel key card, “So, what’s your plan?”

A little wrinkle appeared in between Cas’ eyebrows. "There’s no plan. I only mean to talk to them. These spells need to be renewed every couple of days. Last night I kept watch, but no one came; I only assume they will show themselves now.”

"And you assumed right,” came a voice from behind them.

Dean’s blood froze in his veins. They had no idea about what they were dealing with, no way to contact the others, and what was worse, he was in his damn flip flops. He could die in his damn flip flops.

When he turned around, there was a young woman standing a few feet from them. She held herself tall and her expression was guarded, but she was wearing a summer flowy dress and beside her stood a little girl with big curious eyes. Together they didn't exactly seem threatening, wearing what looked like handmade bead jewellery, but Dean knew better than to judge a witch by her age and appearance.

“Hello,” said Cas, calmly. He tried to take a step towards them but the woman instinctively raised an arm as if to shield the little girl, so Cas stopped walking and held his hands up, “We were just admiring your work.”

“Thank you,” she said, but did not sound reassured, “We know you’re hunters. We’ve been watching you since you arrived, in your cars full of weapons.”

“We are what you say, but we are not here on business,” said Cas, and Dean noticed that he also moved slightly to partially cover him from view, to protect him like the woman had done with the girl. He told himself it was just accidental mirroring, “I’m Castiel. This is Dean.”

“There’s nothing here for you,” the woman said, “We haven’t had any trouble in a hundred and twenty years.”

“You and your family keep this town safe." The woman nodded. “We are not looking for trouble. As you can see, we are here on vacation.”

He gave her a little smile, gesturing towards their swim trunks and bare legs.

"We know. We've observed this as well and we judged you not a threat. Then why did you seek us?"

"I only wanted to offer my knowledge to you. I am an angel. I can teach you carvings and sigils that will make your shields stronger, permanent."

The woman's eyes widened in surprise and her lips twiched in disbelief and Dean was pretty sure the same feelings could be read on his face. After a moment she said, “I don’t know you. Why would I trust you?” which was exactly what Dean would have asked.

“You don’t have to. I have written them down. I will give them to you, and you can do with them as you please,” he said, fishing out of his pocket a folded piece of paper and holding it up. "Your magic is strong, but it needs constant tending: your family can't leave this place or the magic will die. I only want to provide an alternative. You may not feel constrained by it, but maybe -" he paused and Dean could not see his face from where he was, but the witch's eyes flickered towards the little girl by her side, " - someone else one day may."

She studied him for a long moment. When she let out a breath, her shoulders came down and Dean realized that up until that moment she'd been tense like a string. She'd been scared of them. Dean let himself finally relax.

“And you would offer your knowledge and expect nothing in return?” she asked.

Cas only shrugged.

“He likes to help,” interjected Dean in a fake annoyed tone. “It’s his thing,” he added, and when Cas threw him a look from over his shoulder, just to make sure he knew he was still pissed at him, Dean added, “It's a pain in the ass sometimes, actually.”

At his words, the little girl let out a giggle that broke the silence that followed and dissolved the last of the tension that was still in the air.

The witch’s features softened. She walked towards them and took the piece of paper Cas was offering her, keeping an eye on them as she unfolded it and briefly studied it.

From where he was, Dean saw drawings of intricate patterns and what he could only assume were Enochian spells.

“Thank you,” the witch said, folding it once more. Then she gestured for the little girl to step forward. “I’m Alinor,” she said, “And this is my daughter, Camille.”

The little girl hurried to take her mother’s hand.

“Hello,” said Cas and Dean gave a little wave.

She smiled shyly at Cas, “Are you really an angel?”

He nodded and she smiled brighter, “I have a book about you.”

-

Dean waited until they were on their way back to the hotel, with Alinor and Camille far behind them, to finally snap. He had really behaved himself, waited patiently through the cute meet and greet Cas had with his little fan and even struck a conversation with Alinor about holidays and the local delicacies. It hadn’t even been that bad, but still, in the back of his head he kept making a list with all the things he needed to bark at Cas.

Now, as he stomped next to him under a sky that was already clearing up, Dean didn’t even know where to start.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me,” he settled with in the end.

Cas took a deep breath, as if he'd known it was only a matter of time before Dean spoke, “Dean, there was no need -”

“What if they were dangerous, what if they put a spell on you? Kidnapped you, bloody killed you!” he whispered furiously, trying to contain the hot anger that wanted him to shout - not ideal at dawn, in the streets of a little town.

Cas kept his tone calm, and that only exasperated Dean further, “I knew that you would tell Sam, and Sam would tell Eileen and it would eventually have spread. I didn’t want to ruin the holiday or cause unnecessary alarm. Perhaps even scare the witches in doing something to protect their town.”

“Alright, I get it,” Dean said, grabbing his arm to make him stop and face him. “I get it,” he hissed, forcing him to look at him in the eyes, “But I'm not talking about the others, am I? You don’t wanna tell them? Fine, I can do that. But you should have told me. This is about me and you, do you understand?” he exhaled, almost expecting to see smoke coming out of his nostrils. “I need to know what’s going on, even when you think it’s nothing,” he said gesturing between the two of them, “Cause me and you, that's different, yeah?”

Cas didn't reply for a long moment. So long actually that Dean started feeling uncomfortable under his gaze and tried to replay what he’d said in his head. Did he say something weird?

“It is,” Cas said in the end, the barest note of wonder in his voice, like he never expected to hear Dean say it.

“Cool,” Dean cleared his throat, wondering where the hell his anger had gone all of the sudden, “Glad that’s settled,” he said dumbly, thankful for the moment to be finally broken and still not sure about what had just happened. He knew there were other things he wanted to yell at him about, and wanted Cas to promise him or something, but they’d just flown right out of his head and he couldn’t for the life of him remember even just one, so he started walking again.

“It was nice anyway. What you did,” he conceded after a few steps, not without a hint of annoyance for admitting it, “Family business can be a bitch. I should know.”

Cas didn’t say anything, but when Dean stole a glance his way, he had his lips stretched in a little smile.

"Next time though, I'll let you help only one drunk get home safe or whatever, you choose, but then we spend the rest of the time just stargazing or something. I work enough during the day, you know?"

"Sounds good," said Cas, and Dean didn't have to look this time to know the little smile was still there.

They walked in silence the rest of the way.

When they arrived back to the hotel, it was just past seven, and that meant they had started serving breakfast, which was perfect for Dean.

His phone buzzed as he took a seat on the empty terrace. It was a text from Sam.

hey, you up?

yeah, im down at breakfast

“I thought you were joking. Is this your second plate?” was the first thing Sam said when he saw him, “It’s not even seven thirty.”

“Haven’t slept. Don’t ask.”

“Alright,” he said, taking the seat across from him with an amused smile.

“So, what’s up?”

Sam’s face changed at once. He looked troubled, the familiar spiral of worry making its appearance on his forehead as he took a sip from his coffee mug.

“Dean, are you – Look, I wanted to talk to you. I- I’m sorry about what I told you before leaving. I shouldn’t have put that on you. I thought it was good news, I thought it would make you happy, but – I should have known better. Eileen made me think that -”

Dean raised a hand and interrupted him, “Whoa, Sam. You got nothing to be sorry for.”

“I didn’t want to upset you.”

“I’m not upset.”

“Yeah, well, apparently, you’ve been! And I didn’t even -”

“Sam,” he interrupted again, “I’m okay. Really.”

Sam studied his face for a moment. He took another sip of his coffee.

“And what do you -? I mean, have you thought about it?”

Dean let go of his fork, wiped his mouth and then said, “Yeah, I did. And I think I need to stay where I am right now.”

It felt so much easier this time around that he almost couldn’t believe how much time he spent freaking out over such a simple answer. Sam’s face crumpled up.

“Don’t – don’t make that face. It’s just that now I don’t want things to change. I’m good where I am. You – you are in a different place. And it’s fine. I just need to change at my own pace.”

“That’s not how I wanted this to go.”

“I know. And it’s gonna be weird, I know,” he sighed. Sam was still his little brother, and Dean was still the one who had to squash all his fears, even if he had those very same fears knocking on his brain. “But – this is how I need it to go.”

“I get it," he said and he tried a smile. He had his Sad Puppy Eyes down to a manageable three out of ten, “It could take a while anyway. Things could change.”

Dean huffed a laugh. It felt nice to know that Sam had his very same thoughts. He just nodded and resumed his eating.

“I’m very happy for you man,” he said, feeling much lighter. He didn’t even know that whole story had still been weighing on him, “I truly am.”

“I know.”

They smiled at each other for a moment. Then Sam asked, "You'll be okay?"

"Yeah," Dean said almost on reflex and then his eyes caught Cas coming in the breakfast hall and walking to the buffet table. He watched him as he grabbed a plate from one pile, "Yeah, I'll be okay, Sammy."

Sam followed his gaze and then brought it back on Dean, "So - why haven't you slept?”

Dean groaned, “I was around with Cas. Jesus, you don't wanna know. He's - unbelievable. Like, I'm pretty sure that at night he’s got this whole other life we don’t know about,” he said, making Sam snort.

Cas approached their table with his plate holding a single toast with peanut butter and jelly on top. He sat down, with a smile on his face that was like a deceitful image of innocence, “Morning, Sam.”

Dean moved his dirty stuff to make space for him, “Where did you go? I turned one second and you disappeared.”

“I was saying goodbye to Lindsay.”

“Who the hell is Lindsay?”

“The woman who works the night shift at the reception,” he said, like it was obvious.

Dean glanced at Sam who was looking between them trying to hold in a laugh, “See what I mean?”

“Yeah, I see,” Sam said, but his tone was thoughtful rather than playful. He pressed his lips together, and patted Dean's shoulder as he stood up with his mug, “I see," he repeated somewhat solemnly.

Dean was confused. He followed Sam's back as he went to get his coffee refill and not for the first time in the past three hours he asked himself if he’d said something weird.

“Everything's alright?” Cas’ voice called him back to the table.

Dean met his eyes, then returned his gaze on Sam, who was watching them from the distance, and then back on Cas’ expectant face.

He decided to stop asking himself questions.

“Yeah. Everything is alright.”

this was written for last year's event #deancassummerprompts21 organized by the lovely now deactivated bend-me-shape-me

there is a sequel! it takes place in the same universe many years after this (no real references to the holiday except for a little mention) but if you'd like to know what happens to dean and cas in the future there's your answer. <3 thank you for making it this far!

Spider-Man: Home Rebuilt, Chapter 12: Let Me In

When we left the shop, we chose a direction and just walked. It wasn’t exactly the most exciting start to our hang out, but she didn’t seem to mind.

“So, how was your day?” I asked.

“It was okay, I guess,” MJ replied plainly. She took a moment to grab a strand of hair from the front of her face and tuck it behind her ear. “I just had class and work. I hung out with Ned and Betty during lunch. And… I had to curb Brad… again.”

“I’m guessing he’s a guy at school?” I looked at her with a look of curiosity, trying to act like I didn’t know who he was.

“Yeah, he is.” She grimaced. “A lot of people say that he’s a nice guy… and he does seem like it. But I can’t help but get the feeling that there’s something underneath all of that, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, you know?”

“I see.” I myself frowned, remembering the trip to Europe and how Brad tried to sabotage my chances with MJ. He was quite the tool, maybe even more of a tool than Flash, if only because Flash was at least open with his jerkiness.

“So, prior to you becoming an American Idiot, what does a normal day in the life of Peter Parker look like?” MJ asked, looking at me.

“Well… I get up, eat breakfast sometimes,” I began as I looked up towards the sky. “I clean up around the apartment. Then I head out to GED class, go through that. I stop by the coffee shop to meet the number one barista in the world.” I glanced as her just in time to see her roll her eyes. “I go home, study and do homework, maybe watch something on YouTube, then go to bed to do it all over again.”

“Real exciting stuff there,” MJ deadpanned. “Why do I feel like Ned and I saved you from a life of boredom?”

“Because you did.” I said this in an ambiguous tone.

“I don’t even know if you’re being sarcastic or sincere.”

“The sad thing is neither do I.”

We went quiet again for a bit. We then stopped at an intersection and looked both ways.

“So, what made you choose Peter Pan for your caffeine and sweets addiction?” MJ inquired.

“Well, when I moved to Manhattan, I asked a couple of people where there was a good spot for coffee, and Peter Pan came up,” I lied. “It was a bit out of the way, to say the least. But I figured I'd give the place a shot. Ever since the first cup, I figured it was as good as any place to make it my go-to. I’m happy I did.” I decided to change the subject. I knew I could only lie to MJ for so long before she asked the one question that could make me lose my composure. “So, want to like, head to Central Park or something?”

“I’d rather not,” MJ said. “There’s a whole sad story behind that place. You know, there was a neighborhood called Seneca Village that was…” She trailed off. “Sorry, I’m not trying to sour the mood.”

“No, please, keeping going,” I said in earnest. “I like hearing bits of dark trivia from you…” I trailed off for a moment as I looked down at the ground in thought.

Sour, I mused internally. Sour… wait…

“But, tell me on the subway,” I said suddenly as I looked up at her. “I got an idea.”

MJ narrowed her eyes. “Where are we going?”

“Red Hook.”

“…Okay, I know we didn’t make any set plans, but… why?”

“Remember that video Ned sent to the group chat the other day?”

“The one with that wrestler Big E? Yes, I….” Her eyes went wide. She then laughed as she shook her head. “No. No! Absolutely not!”

“Come on,” I pleaded. “It’ll be fun!”

MJ held up her index fingers at me as she stepped back, shaking her head. “Peter, I know certain things about me are morbid, but my set of taste buds isn’t one of them! And that thing in that video… that is just weird!”

I tilted my head and pouted, trying to give her a puppy-eyed look. “Then let’s be weird together.”

MJ looked back at me, clearly unimpressed. “You’re not cute.”

“You’re right. I’m adorable.”

MJ drew her lips into her mouth and closed her eyes. She was trying not to laugh, and she succeeded for the most part, even though her shoulders were quivering. After she took a breath, she opened her eyes and sighed.

“Fine,” she said in a defeated tone. She then made a tsk sound. “But you’re paying.”

“Sounds good to me.”

We made our way to the nearest subway station and took the train to Brooklyn Heights. During the ride, I listened to MJ as she told me the story behind Central Park. It was dreary. It showed a very disgusting side of humanity and the history of New York City.

“You know, sometimes we forget how blessed we are,” MJ said at the end of it. I looked at her curiously.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Like nowadays, we have heroes that are willing to stay local instead of just going off to be a part of The Avengers or some other super team to fight abroad or take on a threat that threatens the world or universe.” She looked at me. “People like Spider-Man, Shadowcat, and Frictor… Luke Cage, Daredevil, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones… even The Punisher, to an extent. We have heroes that are willing to help out the little guy. Back then, Seneca Village didn’t have that. Imagine if they did. Maybe we’d be looking at a different kind of New York.”

I remained quiet. Little did she know that I was an Avenger for all of a few days (not counting Blip Years). I couldn’t leave the city behind if I wanted to. So many times I wanted to quit, and yet whenever I came close to doing so, something would happen that made me think about what could have happened if I wasn’t there.

“You’re right,” I finally said.

Once we got off at Brooklyn Heights, we ascended to ground level and took the bus to Red Hook. Once there, we made a walk through the streets until we arrived at a certain bodega.

“Red Hook Food Corp,” I said as I read the sign. I nodded. “This is the place.” I looked over at MJ. “You ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” MJ replied in a very not excited tone. “If I get the bubble guts, you’re paying for Pepto Bismol, too.”

“Fair enough.”

I stepped up to the door and opened it, allowing MJ to enter first. I walked in after her, we both walked up to the counter, which was being manned by none other than Rahim Mohamed – more famously known as General Ock.

“Hey guys,” he greeted happily. I walked up to the counter.

“Hello,” I greeted. I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry if this is a weird question but… do you happen to have Booty O’s in stock?”

“Sure do, boss. I tend to keep a box at the deli.” He then looked back and forth between me and MJ. “Can’t say I’ve seen you guys around. You’re new to the neighborhood?”

“Visiting actually,” MJ said. “We're from Queens.”

“And you two came all the way here for some Booty O’s?”

“No… well… technically yes… but we were hoping that we could get two Big E style Chopped Cheeses – The Ocky Way, of course,” I explained.

At that, Ock smiled. “Suuuuuuure, suuuuuure!”

About twenty minutes later, we left the shop. After that, I called up an Uber had the driver drop us off at Brooklyn Bridge Park. From there, we walked over to the Granite Prospect and took a seat.

“Well, now that we’re actually seated, we can finally try these,” I said happily as I pulled one of the chopped cheeses out of the bag and handed it to MJ.

“YAAAAY!” MJ deadpanned as she took the sandwich. I took my own out of the bag before I slowly unwrapped the foil from around it. “Seriously, Peter, look at the size of these things!” She wasn’t lying. Each of our sandwiches had four pieces of buttered and grilled bread with multiple layers of chopped up and seasoned burger patties, mozzarella sticks, bacon, and, of course, cheese. But, it had spinach and radicchio lettuce, so it balanced out, right?

“Yeah, this is going to be the biggest thing I ever put in my mouth.” I paused for a moment, realizing how that sounded. I then gave MJ a sideways look. She had a mischievous smirk on her face.

“Ditto,” she replied. I snorted out a laugh. I watched as she unwrapped her sandwich. She shook her head. “I’m really about to eat this monstrosity and I can’t help but feel for the toilet I’m likely going to wreak havoc on in the morning.” She looked at me. “This better be the best thing ever.”

“Only one way to find out,” I chuckled out. I held my sandwich out towards her. “Cheers.”

She lightly tapped her sandwich against mines. “Cheers.”

After that, we both bit into our sandwiches. I chewed for a while. After swallowing, I had a smile on my face as I nodded in approval. I looked over at MJ, who didn’t look disgusted.

“Okay, I’ll admit it, this was the move,” MJ conceded.

We ate in silence for a while. Once we were done eating, I pulled out two cans of Arizona Iced Tea from the bag and handed one to her. We then got up and took a stroll through the park for a bit, drinking our teas silently as we just took in the ambience. After some time, we found a bench to sit on.

“Thank you for asking me to hang out tonight,” MJ murmured. “I had a great time.”

“Thanks for obliging me,” I responded quietly. “I had a great time, too.”

“I was surprised you asked me out, to be honest.” She looked out towards East River. “It seems like the only time I ever see you is either at the coffee shop or during the get together with the rest of The American Idiots.”

“Well, to be honest, I wanted to hang out with you for a while.” I looked down towards my lap. “I just… never got the nerves to do it until yesterday.

At that, MJ scoffed. “Peter Parker – brave enough to risk getting shot to save someone, yet nervous about asking me to hang out. I guess fear doesn’t follow a logical progression.”

At that, I smirked. I looked up at her. “I guess not.”

MJ nodded. She then chuckled as she shook her head. “You know, us sitting on a bench and looking out towards the river… this is a scene straight out of a romance novel or movie, don’t you think?”

I felt my face heat up. “I-I…” I cleared my throat. “I suppose it is.” I smiled slightly. “This would be the part where the guy’s love interest lays her head on his shoulder, no?”

MJ rolled her eyes. “Is that what you’re expecting from me?” She glared at me. “Is that what you want me to do?” I opened my mouth to say something. “Maybe I want YOUR head on MY shoulder.” I closed my mouth and looked at her in confusion. She then briefly raised her left shoulder as if she was offering it up. It took me a moment to realize what she wanted. So, slowly, I scooted closer to her until our legs were touching. I then lay my head on her shoulder. She brought her left arm around my shoulders and pulled me in a bit closer.

It took me some seconds to relax. That was because I was loathing how unfair this was. It was unfair to Michelle because she doesn’t know that she held me like this plenty of times before, not wanting me to hog all of the big spoon privileges to myself. It was unfair that her holding me like this brought back a flood of memories we shared, to her following Ned and I around until she naturally became a part of our circle, to the time we finally kissed in London. It was unfair how much I wanted to kiss her but I couldn’t because of The Spell, something I’ve been regretting a little more day by day.

Fuck you, Past Peter.

However, my frustration was eventually overshadowed by my joy of being in MJ’s arms again – or, I guess, arm, in this case. So, with a contented sigh, I relaxed into her. I then closed my eyes when I felt her fingers moving through my hair.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“It’s no big deal,” she muttered. “I just figured you could use a shoulder to lay your head on.”

“Is that right?”

“Mhm. I’m very observant, you know? Especially when someone intrigues me.”

“Have you been observing me?”

At that, she chuckled. “Maybe.”

I smiled slightly. “So, what conclusions have you made about me based on your observations?”

I felt her body expand a bit as she took in a breath. “Well… from what I can tell… you’re a walking paradox. You want close relationships and genuine bonds with people. I’d go as far as to say you crave them because you’re starved of them – you’re lonely. And yet, you have a tendency to keep people at a distance. Maybe it’s because you think you’ll get people hurt. Maybe you’re afraid you’ll ruin things. Maybe you think you’re bad luck. And I think certain things happened in your life to make you believe that, if your near-breakdown during American Idiot was anything to go by.” It was at this point when I clenched my eyes shut and deepened my breathing, trying my best to keep it together as pre-Spell memories bubbled up. “And now you’re here, at a crossroads, deciding on whether or not you want to fully open up to us.” She paused for a moment. “…Am I right?”

I wanted to lie. But I couldn’t. MJ had me figured out. “You are,” I choked out. A few moments later, I felt her body shift right before I felt a hand on my cheek.

“Peter, look at me,” she whispered. Without hesitation, I slowly raised my head from her shoulder and opened my eyes. She had a look on her face that was unreadable to me. Still, I kept my eyes on her, staring into her eyes. “Do you want to know what else I think? …I think I can take care of you so fucking good. All you have to do is let me in.”

After that, she pulled me into a hug. This gesture I immediately accepted as I brought my arms around her. We held each tight for several moments. I remembered how I missed all of this – her touch, her scent… Hell, her very presence.

“MJ, I – ”

It was because of that that I almost slipped up and told her that I love her. I stopped myself – we weren’t there yet. Or, rather, she wasn’t there yet.

“What’s up, Peter?” she whispered in my ear.

“…I was about to say… that… I’m going to need some time,” I lied. Well, it wasn’t really a lie, per se – I really did feel that way. “I’m still getting used to trusting people again and not keeping them at arm’s length. Will you be patient with me?”

“Would I be your favorite barista if I wasn’t?”

I chuckled. “No… well, maybe?” MJ laughed as she squeezed me tighter.

We spent about a half hour more on the bench before we made our way home.

When I got home, I walked over to my bed and sat on it. I reflected on the night I had with MJ. All the while, I reflected on how I felt. For the first time in a long while, I felt happy, joyous, elated, hopeful, optimistic and… I wanted nothing more than to call up the others and tell them all about it. But it was late. Craig and Kitty were on patrol, and the latter told me to keep Spider-Man off the streets tonight. Ned and Betty were likely sleeping, as well as Scott. Speaking of Scott, well, I was sure I could talk to him about it in the morning.

Instead, I decided to do the next best thing.

I stood up walked over to my desk. I looked down at the list that still remained there. I contemplated it for a moment before I grabbed the pen and took the cap off. I looked down at third item on the list.

3. Decide on whether or not to tell them the truth.

I drew a line through that sentence. I took in a deep breath before I set the pen down.

“Don’t flake Peter,” I said to myself. “Don’t flake.”

The majority of Americans wanted abortion to remain legal. Some only wanted it to remain legal in cases of: r*pe, incest, and life of the parent. Which to me is still bullshit because its taking away a person’s right to choose. Especially enforcing the idea that your body is yours to decide only after its been taken from you or its about to be taken from you by death.

I talk a lot about people are going to die because of these bans. My expressed stance is groundwork in the same way “abortion is murder” is the groundwork of many anti-abortion groups. Find a common ground or a place of reasoning. Some original common ground was about later pregnancies in the 3rd trimester unless the parent’s life was at risk or the fetus. However, as time marched on that ground merely crumbled. And plus no one wants to be on the side of children are going to die.

So, then I initiate my lack of humor reasoning strategy. If this is about life then why are you eating a salad? Plants are living things too. Someone killed a plant for you to eat that. Or Why are you buying live mice for your snake? You know that’s murder, right? You’re killing a living thing.  

When it switches to “plants are not the same as farm animals” or “its a natural thing for snakes” then you have eliminated the life stance. You have found a separation in statements that have many pro-choice activists screaming “What about the persons life too? Their life matters!” It has already been established the fake pro-life movement that it doesn’t.

Which I understand isn’t idea for choice activists to discuss. Don’t get me wrong pro-life and pro-choice intersect. You can be both pro-choice and pro-life. Simple reason: if you can be pro-life and kill bacteria or pro-life and masturbate into a sock then you can also be pro-choice. Many pro-life stances I actually agree on and support. I don’t believe people should only have an abortion choice after their body is taken from them or when it is about to be by death. That’s also quite the life part too. 

However, the stance of “women can have everything, women can have it all” in terms of abortion doesn’t uphold when society tells them how much of a shitty mother they are for having to work 3 jobs and relying on a babysitter to ensure their children can be watched. Many people have told their stories about how they knew having a baby wouldn’t have allowed them the ability to finish their schooling or their career. That being pregnant would have been a huge obstacle especially in pay and lifestyle. Its an optimistic view to think that “women” can have it all but also not expect men to have the same standard. except a lot of people with children or a lot of people in poverty will tell you how hard it has been for them to have it all. I mean sure I can have everything on the buffet but should I?

Pregnancy is a terrifying, life altering, physically and mentally affecting medical event. Even if your pregnancy is completely smooth sailing and safe. Not everyone wants to be pregnant or have children. The same way not everyone wants to go bungee jumping. Just because its safe doesn’t mean I want to do it. Although, I know some people who would like those things but they can’t. And I’m quite aware of the statements “well if you don’t want children then just give it up” Personally, I have three stances on that. 

I’m not going to go into debt just to give up a child. I’d rather resent myself for 18 years and cry then cry about debt I could’ve spent on a kid

There are thousands of children in the system. Why is everyone suddenly willing to adopt infants that will come from forced pregnancy and forced birth but aren’t running to adopt the children already in the system? Adding more children to the system as plan a doesn’t do anything but make it worse.  

Sometimes, its not about not wanting children. Sometimes, its about knowing who you are or your mental state or your body. I mean I would love those things but I know that mentally and physically I couldn’t handle either one. And that’s a scary thing because what if I allowed myself that happiness other people have but what happens if I get worse. Then I fuck over multiple people. I mean I still have years or until Earth combusts.  

.Finally, when I talk about people dying the most its mainly in response to a lot of posts I’ve seen. It’s a very ignorant stance to believe that making abortion obsolete won’t kill people. Either from medical complications or from suicide. Abortion is a human right. It is a right to parents who cannot afford another child or medical bills. It is a right to the high school student who knows they wouldn’t be able to complete their education. It is the right to r*pe victims and DV victims to take control of themselves.

Winning London

Pairing: Hoya x Reader (G) Prompt: Secret Agent Word Count: 1.2K

~Admin V

          You sat with your team in the model U.N. assembly. The moderator was going over today’s plans when suddenly the doors swung open from the back. Two men wearing clown masks holding big water guns marched in the room. They were “kidnapping” delegates from several teams. To get them back safely, each nation had to agree to the terms of the kidnapper’s negotiations, like being rid of nuclear weapons and reducing waste contributing to global warming.

             Your group represented England, and your smartest member was taken. So far it had been about 15 minutes, and there was a lot of arguing. The countries who had nuclear weapons didn’t want to give them up and the main contributors of pollution either denied it or claimed the companies which created it were beneficial to the world. Hoya, stood up and asked, “Is there any country willing to give up their weapons?” Another uproar of arguing commenced. Hoya sat back down.

             “We’re never gonna get anyone back,” Sungjong grumbled.

             “No kidding,” you mumbled.

             “It’s ridiculous. It’s no wonder the world is burning.”

             “Guys, calm down. I have an idea. What is England famous for?” Dongwoo asked.

             Everyone on your team went silent.

             Dongwoo smiled. “Spies.”

             You and Hoya looked at each other and said in unison, “Bond. James Bond.”

             “Exactly,” Dongwoo continued. “So, I think two of us should go on a covert ops mission to rescue the delegates while the rest of us attempt to make negotiations.”

             “Sunggyu is gonna be pissed if we don’t sit here and brainstorm with the other teams.” You tapped your pencil on the pad of paper in front of you.

             “Well his dumbass got captured, so sucks to suck.” Woohyun tossed a ball of paper at you.

             Hoya looked over at you and wiggled his brows at you. “Want to be my partner in crime?”

             The other members agreed and spread themselves out to make it look like no one else was missing. You went out into the hall first.

Two minutes later, Hoya joined you. “Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to change out of the formal attire first and into something more spy-esque.”

             “Seriously? Bond always wore suits.”

             He pointed at your clothes. “Are you comfortable to move around right now?”

             “No.”

             “As I was saying . . .”

             “Fine.”

             You both went to your rooms as planned and agreed to just meet in the hall. You opted for jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers. Not Hoya. He was in a full black ensemble, black beanie included.

             “I don’t recall Bond wearing hats.”

             “I was going for more Ethan Hunt.”

             You rolled your eyes at him. “I think we should go to the kitchen first.”

             “Good thinking! I’m starving.”

             “No, idiot. We can see if there have been any big orders of food service. They’re keeping the delegates somewhere else in the hotel.”

             “Ah, right.”

             The kitchen chef spoke to you with no problem, though he eyed Hoya who was staring longingly at a plate of french fries. The chef read off his list of room service orders. The biggest one was 3 pizzas and bottles of cola. That had to be where the delegates were!

             You practically pulled Hoya out by his tongue, but then made your way to the correct floor. He insisted on rolling on the floor and edging across the walls while getting closer. He made you lean against the wall at an intersection and then he peaked over quickly. “Damn.”

             You peered over. One of the clown-masked “guards” were sitting outside the room with his water gun and a newspaper. “Huh, wasn’t expecting that.”

             “Yeah.” Hoya started looking around the hall. You chuckled to yourself about how seriously he was taking his spy-role. He grabbed your hand and ran to the other side to a supply closet then closed the door behind you. He scanned the small space then picked up two spray bottles. “Okay! I’ll attack the guard and you go in to get everyone out!”

             You stared at him. “You want to attack the guard with cleaning supplies? We’re not actually spies, Jason Bourne.”

             He pouted as he put the bottles back. “I know, but I’m so into this!”

             You chuckled and shook your head again. That’s when you had an idea of your own. “Hoya,” you nodded toward the wall. His eyes followed to where you pointed out. Air duct.

             He reached up and after a few tugs pulled the grate off the wall. “You want help up?”

             He boosted you so you could reach the vent and pull yourself in. Hoya was soon in with you. It then became apparent the neither of you actually knew where to go to get to the room with the other delegates.

             “I’ll lead the way,” he announced. He moved to squeeze past you, and his sudden closeness and warmth gave you unexpected butterflies. Instead of continuing to go in front of you he just stopped and looked at you. “You okay?”

             Your cheeks felt hot. You just nodded.

             A smirk appeared on his face. “You like me.”

             “What?”

             “You’re blushing. You’re so into me.”

             “No, I’m not!” You smacked his shoulder. “We’re in a small space and it’s warm.”

             He looked at you in the eyes seriously, smirk still present. He moved his face closer to yours and your eyes widened. “I’m going to kiss you. If you really don’t like me, tell me not to.”

             You stared at his lips. You didn’t say anything.

             He was smiling now and closed the distance, pressing his lips over yours.

             It ended all too quickly. He sat back, smirking even more now. “Knew you liked me.” He started crawling past you, but you reached for the front of his shirt and pulled him back to you. Your lips were parted this time as they pressed into Hoya’s. You sucked his lower lip into your mouth and he whimpered. His fingers weaved into your hair and he breathed you in. You led the kiss and allowed your tongue to slide into his mouth. He moaned again.

             It still wasn’t long enough, but if you sat here kissing Hoya, the delegates would never get out. You ended the kiss and smirked this time as you saw a blush on Hoya’s cheeks.

             “So, you’re into me, huh?”

             He didn’t answer you, but you saw his smile before he crawled in front of you. The two of you crawled for 5 minutes. You came to a grate opening. It was an empty room so you kept moving. Luckily you abruptly heard Sunggyu. Hoya followed his voice and it led you to the correct grate.

             “I see them,” Hoya looked back at you. He pushed on the grate until it gave way. “Grab my legs.”

             You did as he asked as he lowered the grate to the floor. He whispered loudly to Sunggyu and motioned for him to come to the grate. Sunggyu and the other delegates in the room quickly stopped their eating and game-playing and ran to the grate.

             “What are you doing?”

             “Rescuing you. Wanna get out of here or what?”

             To your surprise, Gyu didn’t even complain that this wasn’t how U.N. worked. He and the others agreed to go back with you.

             After getting out of the vents and back into the hall, you all made your way back to the doors of the assembly.

             You held your hand out for Hoya’s. “Ready to finish the mission?”

             He grinned and took your hand. You both pushed on the doors and marched in proudly with the taken delegates following behind.

1473

1]; What is the nearest traffic sign to your house? There are a lot of Stop signs nearby since we do have several intersections in the village.

2]; What year did you move into your current home? That was in 2008.

3]; What year was it built? Construction started in 2005 and the house was finished maybe a year or so later. It just took a while to move in because my parents had also been saving up to get furniture and appliances and things like that, so it took three years for us to move in for good.

4]; What year was your vehicle manufactured? It’s either a 2014 or 2015 model, I’m not super sure.

5]; What are your pets doing right now? I have no idea as I’m currently at the rooftop and they’re all in the living room. I’m guessing they’re all napping, though.

6]; What is plugged into the nearest outlet? My phone and laptop chargers.

7]; How many rolls of toilet paper, paper towel, and boxes of Kleenex do you have right now? I don’t know. Enough.

8]; When did you last see your mother? Around 15 minutes ago when she came up here briefly to tidy up some things.

9]; And your father? Two weeks ago. He’s already left for Denmark, where he will be working for the next four or so months.

10]; What are your 5 “oldest” recent emojis? The praying emoji; the dizzy emoji; the rolling-eyes emoji; the original laughing emoji; and the burning red heart one.

11]; What song plays in your head the most? It depends on the day and my mood. Different songs play in my head all the time.

12]; Are your pets’ names actual classic pet names, human names, places, things, verbs, or what? Cooper and Kimi were inspired by personalities - Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory; and Kimi Raikkonen, as in the racing driver. Aki was inspired by the Korean ‘agi’ which essentially means ‘baby.’

13]; Have you ever received a card signed individually by a large group of people? I don’t think I have.

14]; Who do you know that’s pregnant right now? Someone I work with. She’s from a different agency/company, but we’re both contracted by that client to execute campaigns so we cross paths frequently.

15]; What did you do last weekend? It’s currently the weekend so can I share what I did in the last two days instead? Hahaha. Anyway, yesterday was allotted for recovering from my hangover because did I feel like shit upon waking up; I napped the whole afternoon away. Today, I just went to church, took Aki to the vet (only took 10 minutes this time!); and spent the afternoon with extended family for lunch and catch-up. We just got home and since I’m expecting this work week to suck, I’m currently having two boxes of sushi delivered to help deal with the anxiety lol.

16]; Last night? I watched several mini-documentaries from Asian Boss, freaked out about the new wave of concept photos for Proof, drank coffee.

17]; What did you last use scissors for? I opened a 3-in-1 coffee sachet.

18]; Who have you helped move? The only time I remember ever helping out during a move was when my own family was moving from one part of our duplex to the other part – this was back in like 2000 or 2001 when I was 2-3 years old, haha.

19]; At what age did you get your first period? (Sorry if this one question doesn’t apply to you) I had just turned 10.

20]; And what age was your first kiss? I was 16.

21]; With whom are you planning trips currently? My cousins and I want to have an out-of-town trip this Christmas, and I’m really hoping that pushes through. For context, we plan to escape from the traditional Christmas party one of our aunts usually holds because she’s a notorious Marcos supporter and quite frankly we’ve had enough of that crap, so we’re planning to have our own getaway lmao. Then there’s that Korea trip that I wish pushes through for me, Anj, Reena, and Hans.

22]; When is the last time you got laid? Over a year ago.

23]; What all is in your pockets? There’s nothing in them.

24]; What is the last strain of weed you smoked/consumed however? I don’t even know what it was.

25]; What size is your bed? I have a twin.

26]; What size are the spare beds? We don’t have spare beds lol?

27]; What is the last load of laundry you did? Colours, darks, towels..? I believe my mom did the whole shebang, as she usually does.

28]; What is the last YouTube channel you watched? One of my favorite BTS compilation creators.

29]; What is the last thing you used water for? I was cleaning the mop I used to clean dog piss.

30]; How old are you turning next year? I’ll be at the quarter-century mark!

31]; What is the last thing you wrote down? My name and number when I filled out the guest sheet at the vet clinic earlier.

32]; Who is the last friend you spent time with? My co-workers. There were 10 of us and I don’t feel like writing everyone’s names down, but yeah we were quite the party haha.

33]; What calendar year did you last turn a multiple of 11? 2020. 34]; What is the range of year answers in this survey (#2, 3, 4, 33)? Nothing too big haha, 2000s up to the 2020s.

35]; How many people have texted/messaged you today? Off the top of my head around 10, but I could be wrong.

36]; Last person to comment on your anything? My cousin Niña messaged me “Cute” as a response to a photo of Cooper I posted yesterday.

37]; What are you doing after this survey? Clean my keyboard because the dirt is starting to irritate me lol; then maybe find another survey to fill up. 38]; How many steps did you walk yesterday? 942.

39]; How many hours of sleep did you get last night? 5. I turned in by 3 AM and woke up by 8.

40]; How many tattoos do you have? I don’t have any.

i saw your name, for the first time in four years today. it wasn’t even really your name, but your social media handle. i woke up to it in my inbox; you reblogged one of my posts.

i have to admit something. i had forgotten we were mutals, and i had, quite frankly, never expected to see you again, in any capacity.

actually, i have to admit to something else - i didn’t attend new york pride for awhile because i was terrified i would run into you, and frankly, i don’t know how i would have handled it. i went once, with a group of your friends, and the following year, your girlfriend texted me to ask where i was, and the truth of the matter is that we had never talked about it. we never talked about it, and i wasn’t going to travel two hours to a place i wasn’t sure i was wanted, so i didn’t go. i attended pride events closer to home, and remembered you once a year when i thought about new york, and chose philadelphia instead, except this year, where a bunch of fellow researchers and i descended upon dc, and for one, glorious pride, i didn’t think about my first.

you became a ghost in my world, a string of text messages about cats where we last spoke, a string about student loans where we didn’t, and several months later, finally. a single message from the start of the pandemic, asking you to stay healthy. we hadn’t spoken in five months, but i still wanted you to be okay.

i don’t know if you’ll ever see this post. i don’t know if you’ll read it, if you’ll recognize yourself or me in my words. i don’t know that i care. because here’s the thing.

we were friends. and then we weren’t. you were the driving force behind my single most popular fanfiction on ao3, it still gets hits, and comments, and kudos. it shows up in rec lists, which always astounds me, because it was originally just a line of crack texts we sent each other. a joke that i put out into the world. you took me to my first pride event, my first con. we met in philadelphia, once. we were going to go to the art museum, and instead i spent half the night driving around the city.

we were friends, and then we weren’t, and i, with the exception of my refusal to go to new york, moved on. i wrote other things, i still do (little drabbles of things, but there’s a document saved that’s professional. i started it last year, and it’s nonfiction, but it’s my baby). i got a girlfriend, and lost her because we fell out of love (we still talk, still laugh. we fell out of love, not out of like, and i’m delighted she found someone new, and equally delighted that i’m friends with both of them). my roving band of researchers have also gone to comicon (we haven’t cosplayed yet, but there’s talk in the groupchat, and either way, i’ve got fabric and a plan). i go to museums on the regular, i take a different friend every time, and we always have a blast.

somewhere in between you vanishing and today, i fell back in love with life. i got passionate about things, i started exploring again. i remembered the things that i loved before i got depressed, and i got better. life got better, even as the world goes to shit.

and i want you to know, if you see this, that you don’t have to reach back out. this isn’t meant to be a guilt trip, but rather, a treatise on how sometimes people touch our lives in interesting ways, and how sometimes, they intersect again for brief moments that make us think about the person we used to be and the person we are now. so yeah, you’re welcome to pop back in. i won’t turn you away if you do. but if you don’t, that’s alright. we’ve drifted apart, and that’s something that happens. regardless of what you do, i just want you to know that i hope you’re having a great life. i hope you’re doing what you love, i hope that you’re in love, i hope that you’re happy. because i don’t think we’re friends now. but we were, once.

Inclusive Programming in Nature

What role does “privilege” play in nature interpretation? Please include your working definition of privilege.

I would say that privilege affects most aspects of nature interpretation. My working definition of privilege is having increased opportunities or advantages built into life that do not come from merit. For example, like our instructor, I have worked as a lifeguard since I was 16, which gave me a decent amount of time to save for university. I live right by the rec center and therefore I was available for shifts. This has allowed me to pay for my expenses and gives me some freedom in my summers. This past summer when I was a staff member on the travelling summer camp I mentioned a few blogs ago, I was making much less than I would be if I worked a regular 9-5 job, because the expenses of my travels were covered by the company. I could afford to go on a life changing experience and not make as much money, because my parents decided to keep the door open for me and make sure I got my lifeguarding qualifications almost 6 years ago. It was a privilege to be able to take a summer pretty much off from worrying about making as much money as possible, so that I could try something I’ve never done before.

Privilege is imbedded in everything, from the quality of outdoor gear people have the means to purchase, to the quality of the outdoor spaces they live near. People’s experiences and identities are intersectional and constantly evolving and we need to be able to keep up and offer them something personalized that makes them feel seen. The worst feeling is being really excited for an experience only to realize it clearly wasn’t planned with you in mind, even though it easily could have been.

Many outdoor education programs cater mostly to able-bodied people who can maneuver unstable landscape or questionable weather conditions. It might be discouraging to get involved for folks who have limited mobility but are super interested in interpretive programs, because they don’t see themselves represented as often. I think as students who are starting to learn how to be interpretive leaders, we need to prioritize building inclusive programs that don’t gatekeep the outdoors for only a specific group of people. I don’t know if anyone has been to a Zumba class like those they have in the campus athletic center or something of that nature lately, but the instructors will give a couple variations of movements for each exercise. This allows the class to choose which movement they are most comfortable with, and they are then able to participate in the class at their own personal level. I think this is the same idea that I envision for nature interpretation. Maybe the group starts as one and gets to learn together, then one leader takes the people who want to hike up the hill, and a second leader takes those who want to stay on the level ground. The hill group can learn about how the hill ecosystem looks and in what ways might the height gradient affect species composition, and the level ground group can walk alongside a stream and learn about the edge effects of being a plant by the shore. Then, they can meet back up into one group, and the participants can pair up with someone who went the other way as them and offer one another a sense of place with the option they did not choose. I think everybody would feel included and feel like they have something important to add.

This is just an idea, and everybody of all different abilities and lived experiences should be part of the conversation regarding these programs, because who best to hear from than those wanting to engage? Feel free to add any ideas you have about inclusive programming!

How to Prepare for an SEO Conference, Including MozCon

Conferences are a whirlwind experience. Regardless of your industry, conferences give you the chance to step out of your home office and into a dynamic environment filled with non-stop sessions, vendor booths, networking galore, and unforgettable after-parties.

It can be overwhelming, but SEO conferences like MozCon can bring incredible rewards with the right preparation. This guide will equip you with essential tips to make the most of SEO conferences, in-person or virtual. Discover how to strengthen your team, boost your energy, and enhance your enthusiasm for work during and after the event. Get ready to dive into the world of SEO conferences and virtual experiences.

Before you touchdown at MozCon

With MozCon just a few weeks away, it's time to gear up and make the most of this SEO conference, whether you're attending in person or via the remote-friendly livestream option. Don't worry, there's still plenty of time to prepare. Follow these essential steps to maximize your MozCon experience and ensure you're fully equipped for the event. Get ready to dive into the world of SEO and make valuable connections.

Familiarize yourself with the agenda

You might have already glanced at the speaker lineup. Take a closer look at the minute-by-minute agenda to identify the topics that align with your learning goals. Even if a particular topic seems unrelated to your work, it can still provide valuable insights. At MozCon, the conference follows a single-track format, allowing you to attend every session. Don't miss out on the opportunity to explore diverse topics and expand your knowledge base.

Clear your calendar

That meeting can wait! MozCon is only two days a year! If your weekly team sync can wait, and we know it can, then block out of your calendar in advance.

Define your goals and objectives

Knowing what you want to achieve will help you make the most of your time and focus on the sessions and activities that align with your interests. Think about what you want to have achieved once MozCon wraps. What do you want to feel? Aside from more than a little bit spent. Do you want to feel more connected? Do you want to have an answer to a burning question? Do you want to meet someone IRL? Do you want to have a cache of valuable notes to take away and share with your team? Sing Karaoke for the first time?

MozCon gives you the ability to achieve all these things. Find like-minded people through our Linkedin group and arrange a meetup. Connect with people on Twitter. Attend a Birds of a Feather table during breaks. Drop by the vendor booths to explore a new solution to a problem. Pack your comfy shoes for the conference, as well as your party shoes and your best Karaoke jam, for the Tuesday night after-party at MoPOP.

“If you want to meet someone specific, talk to a speaker, or organize dinner with friends, plan in advance. Conferences move quickly, and nothing is more disappointing than trying to connect with someone on the last day only to realize they had to catch an early flight. Most speakers are happy to meet new people and talk about our topics and interests.” - Dr Pete Meyers

Plan to mingle between sessions, don't forget to drop by the vendor booths!

Gather your note-taking tool of choice

MozCon is a conference where you'll likely take a lot of notes. Make sure you have all the necessary tools at hand. Charge your laptop or tablet or choose any other preferred method for note-taking. If you plan on sharing takeaways with your team, well, unfortunately, telepathy won't work, but you can still find ways to communicate effectively.

“At the end of each day, take five minutes, go through your notes, and turn them into a few bullet points and ONE action item. If you have one action item per day at the end of an event, that's great. Otherwise, if you're like me, you'll come home to a page of notes like "SEO! AI!! INTERSECTION OF FUTURE!" and have no idea what you were talking about.” Dr Pete Meyers

Connect with the speakers before the event

Check out our impressive lineup of speakers, perhaps there is someone speaking you’ve not yet connected with? Take some time to understand their specialty. Even if you’re not currently working within that field, it may be a new learning opportunity for you, or it may help you gain a better understanding of the challenges your colleagues are facing. Ultimately, conferences are a great opportunity to develop a more well-rounded understanding of the entire search industry, what’s on the horizon, and what to pay attention to in search.

Ramp up your SEO learning

Define what you want to achieve at MozCon and create a plan to maximize your experience. Having clear goals will help you stay focused and make the most of the event. Subscribe to the Moz blog or sign up for a Moz Academy course. These will give you access to a wealth of content to boost your knowledge in advance of the big event. From basic SEO to local search and technical details, there's something for everyone. Additionally, the blog will provide conference recaps after each day, so you won't miss out on any important updates.

Prepare to network and engage

MozCon, and many other SEO conferences, offer you ample opportunities to meet new people and expand your professional network. Maximize your networking opportunities before you get there. Before you arrive in Seattle, get familiar with the digital landscape by following the #mozcon hashtag on Twitter. Join the LinkedIn group, and while you're there, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Threads, because why not?

If you are in the Women in Tech SEO group, you can join the MozCon channel. This will keep you updated on MozCon fellow attendees’ plans and movements and allow you to engage with speakers and ask questions.

“MozCon doesn't do Q&A after talks - it's difficult to manage for an event of this size, with a packed schedule and a single stage. But, if you have a question that is actually about a speaker's talk, they'd almost certainly love to hear it. It's implicitly great feedback to know that someone was engaged and interested in what I was saying, even (especially!) if they don't entirely agree.” - Tom Capper

During the conference

MozCon takes place over two jam-packed days. To maximize your SEO conference experience, here are our tips to keep you energized and focused and avoid running yourself into the ground and potentially missing a big career opportunity. Whether you’re attending online or in person, we’ve got some tips from seasoned MozCon speakers and attendees to keep you engaged during the event.

Register early

When attending any conference, it’s helpful to get the lay of the land prior to the event so you can float on through to the action uninterrupted. At MozCon, we offer early registration on Sunday, August 6. If you are arriving early and want to get a jump on badge collection and a sneak peek at the new venue, drop by registration to check in and pick up your badge. Unable to make it to registration early? No problem. Set your alarm and arrive at the conference bright and early Monday morning so you're not rushing your morning cuppa and missing the opening remarks!

Attend every session

Remember when we advised clearing out your calendar? This is so you can make the most of this once-a-year-SEO conference experience by attending every single session. Even if it’s outside your area of focus. It also means you have the chance to network with every speaker if you bump into them in the conference hall or after-party. Luckily MozCon is a single-track event, so you don’t need to make any difficult decisions. You can find your spot in the auditorium, set up camp, and let the inspiration absorption begin!

“Because I work in local SEO, I attend MozCon's livestream with my ears tuned to pick up any great tips that can be applied to local business marketing. Even if the main topic of a talk isn't local search, I can come away with half a dozen tips that are relevant to my own area of marketing because organic and local SEO have so much overlap.” - Miriam Ellis

Hydrate

Even if you’re solely powered by caffeine and SEO insights no one can deny the boost a bit of H2O provides (especially if you’re jet-lagged.) Folks travel to MozCon from near and far, as the below attendee pin-map attests. Make sure you're able to be your best self despite the impact of travel on your energy levels.

“Make sure you have a water bottle and snacks in your bag - nothing hinders memory and productivity like hunger and dehydration!” - Meghan Pahinui

No matter where you have travelled from remember to stay hydrated - and caffeinated!

Jot down hot tips immediately

You've been following these steps diligently, haven’t you? If so, you have already prepared your note-taking tool of choice. Whether it’s a giant Gdoc filled with links and screenshots, the notes app on your tablet, the twitter app loaded up filtered by the #mozcon hashtag and a finger poised and ready to hit fav, or a trusty notepad and pen. Even if you’re not a massive note-taker there is nothing more valuable than jotting down a few lines as your grey-matter is percolating. Light bulb moments happen in a flash. If your boss or colleague asks you what you learned, you’ll be pleased you thought of your future self and kept a few bullet points for yourself and anyone else who asks.

“Write down ideas as soon as you have them. As you’re listening to talks and interacting with conference-goers, you’re bound to get ideas for your own strategy. Be sure to write them down ASAP - with so much information flying around, you’re bound to forget them if you don’t. It can be as simple as using the notes app on your phone or slacking yourself a quick reminder note. That way, when you get home from the conference, you’ll already have a list of ideas to springboard off of.” - Meghan Pahinui

“I make a live list of everything I hear that could be of value to local brands. Then, if I want to revisit a particular tip later, I re-watch the presentation via the video bundle. It's helped me write some really good blog posts!” - Miriam Ellis

Bring your note-taking tools of choice!

Let yourself think

Thinking and doing are two very different things. If you are, like many of us, busy executing projects five days a week/52 weeks a year, this may be the time you need to let thoughts enter your brain and connect with other thoughts in order to, in some abstract way, find a solution.

“Let your mind wander. It's ok. I don't know why, but when I'm planted in a seat at a conference, and my mind is fully on SEO, I get more quality thinking done than just about anywhere else. If you solve a few difficult work problems by ignoring three minutes of my presentation, I'll get over it. You can watch the video later.” Dr Pete Meyers

Mingle in-between sessions

“Talk to Strangers - The most rewarding part of MozCon, IMO, is meeting new people that you may know for years after. Sit down at an unfamiliar lunch table, strike up a conversation over breaks, visit the sponsor booths, and work up your courage at events. You don't need any special networking skills - simply asking people where they are from is often enough to get started.” - Cyrus Shepard

Network network network!

There is one experience that isn’t replicable outside of a conference event, and that’s the opportunity to connect with people in real life. Maybe you know them through LinkedIn, maybe you follow each other on Twitter. Nothing cements a professional connection more than chatting over breakfast, grabbing a much-needed coffee.

“Don't be afraid to walk up to a table at lunch and ask if you can sit with them! MozCon is a really welcoming place, and making new friends and connections can be as easy as having the confidence to say hello!” - Hannah Waye

MozCon 2018 attendees sharing stories at a 'birds of a feather' table.

Grab a selfie with Roger

Roger is Moz's SEO robot who recently underwent an AI transformation and is somewhat partial to taking selfies with MozCon attendees.

Grab a snap with Roger, Moz's lovable robot mascot.

Tips for attending virtual events

Many of our tips are translatable to attending virtual events, like the MozCon livestream option. You just need to get creative about how you network and stay engaged. To get the most out of any virtual event you will still want to arrange how you will take notes, connect with speakers on social media, and set your team up to get the most out of the talks.

Treat it like an IRL event

We still recommend booking out your calendar when attending virtual events. It’s so easy to get distracted, and as much as we tell ourselves we are capable of multitasking, how much are we really absorbing? Clear your calendar and your headspace, take as many notes as you feel would be helpful to you, and filter your Twitter feed by #mozcon to stay in the fold and be part of the fun.

Set up a watch party

Book out your office conference space and order some snacks so you can watch MozCon live from whichever city you are located in. If your team is distributed, set up a lunchtime sync to check in and chat about what you’ve learned so far. If you are all in different time zones, create a new Slack channel to share insights with your teammates.

Why are conferences more important than ever?

With so many teams moving towards partial or fully distributed setups, finding time to get together is more valuable than ever. Conference attendees have the unique opportunity to connect with industry contacts, ask questions, and establish genuine professional relationships with experts in search marketing and SEO. And remember:

“No one is truly a stranger at MozCon. You may never attend another event where so many people have so much in common with you.” - Cyrus Shepard

We hope you're as excited as we are for August 7th and 8th to hurry up and get here. And again, if you haven't grabbed your ticket yet and need help making a case we have a handy template to convince your boss!

Register for MozCon

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Post #31: Marvel Graphic Novel issue 5

I know I've said a lot of times "This is one of the best X-Men stories!" but this time I've reached the single best one of all time. If you read one issue of Marvel Comics in your life, it should be Marvel Graphic Novel Issue 5, God Loves, Man Kills. This is the thesis statement on what the X-Men mean and stand for. Aside from one bafflingly tone-deaf moment on Claremont's part, this is as close as I can imagine to a perfect comic book. The artist is the great Brent Anderson, who never had a full run on the book but did a few guest spots, most importantly this one. It opens with two mutant children being hunted through a playground by a group called the Purifiers. They are caught, murdered, and strung up on the swing set with a sign labeling them "mutie," left as a message to the children who come in the morning to play. We've seen mutant persecution in the series before, but never this grounded and brutal. This isn't a superhero battle, it's people with guns killing children on a playground. Soon after they leave, Magneto catches up and swears to avenge them and prevent any more death. We then cut to New York, to the headquarters of Reverend William Stryker, a televangelist and the head of the Purifiers. He's writing a sermon about God's orders to stone transgressors and watching a briefing on the X-Men, his next targets. In Salem Center, at Stevie's dance studio, Kitty is in a fistfight with a boy who supports Stryker and calls her a mutie-lover. Peter and Stevie pull them apart, and Stevie tells her to calm down. Now for the infamous moment: Kitty equates "mutie" with the n-word and storms off. I'm not gonna gloss over this cause it's a very historically significant part of the issue, but there is absolutely no defense for this being in the book. The worst mistake X-Men writers make is having their characters compare their persecution with human racism. Maybe in-universe it's comparable, but that doesn't matter because mutants aren't real and racism is. These books are being read by people who have experienced actual persecution, and while seeing characters go through allegorically similar persecution can be cathartic, they should not be preached to about how bad fictional issues are compared to real ones. Also, putting that aside- just because someone calls you a slur does not mean you can tell a different slur at somebody else. I feel like I shouldn't have to explain this, and I don't understand why neither Claremont nor anyone working on the book thought this scene might need a rewrite. Claremont normally does a good job with the intersection of mutants and other minorities by focusing on the sympathy and community between groups, but this moment is painfully tone-deaf and clearly written by a straight white man. Anyway, that's out of the way, and I want to get back to the story. Xavier is having a televised debate with Stryker on mutant rights. Xavier is calm and reasonable, but Stryker is a charismatic fear monger, which plays on TV much better. He argued that as homo superior, mutants are not humans, an idea that, as Logan points out, is the first step to taking away their right to live. While the X-Men work off the anger in the Danger Room, Xavier, along with Ororo and Scott, who went with him, are attacked and captured by Purifiers. They cause a car crash and plant fake bodies, but Logan can tell the scents are wrong. He, Kurt, and Peter are investigating when they're attacked by Purifiers in battle suits, but the battle is quickly ended when Magneto arrives and proposes an alliance with his old enemies. Back at the mansion, Kitty and Illyana discover they're being watched, but are kidnapped by Purifiers are brought back to their home base. Magneto tortures their new prisoners and finds out their plans just as the readers do over the next few pages. Stryker has Xavier hooked up to a hallucination machine where he believes he's been crucified and tortured by his students. The goal is the turn him against mutants and into the arms of Stryker. Stryker remembers thirty years ago, when his wife gave birth to a mutant and he killed them both. He tried to kill himself too, but he survived his attempt and turned to alcohol. A few years later, when Xavier began championing mutant rights, he found his new purpose- saving humanity from the anti-Christ that he saw in Xavier and in all mutants. Eventually, Stryker manages to break Xavier, and uses his power to kill Scott and Ororo. Meanwhile, Kitty phases out of the car that she and Illyana are being transported in. She inhaled a little knockout gas, and she stumbles across the city, barely able to phase, until she finds a police officer. When the Purifiers show up, they shoot him, but before they can finish the job Magneto and the X-Men arrive and save her. Magneto removes the bullet and flies the cop to the hospital. Kitty kidnaps Stryker's head scientist by phasing him, which she's never done to another person, and Kurt intimidates him with his demonic appearance until he talks. They find Stryker's location, and free Illyana, who was being examined for her unique reading that we're neither mutant nor human, and Scott and Ororo's bodies. Logan discovers that Xavier subconsciously put the two in stasis rather than kill them. Magneto revives them with electricity, and tells them he's never wanted to be their enemy. He wants to create a utopia for all, with himself in charge as benevolent dictator. Scott says it's a short term goal that'll end when he dies, and Magneto says he wants Scott and the X-Men as his successors. It's a new part of Magneto's plan that we haven't yet heard, and it has great implications for his dynamic with Scott and the whole team. Meanwhile, Stryker goes on TV for his biggest sermon yet, and he plans to activate his twisted Cerebro at the same time to make it seem like he's summoning God's wrath on mutants. The X-Men have the mental defenses to resist for a time, but they're trapped. They need to stop Stryker, but if they attack him publicly they'll make his crusade even stronger. Magneto appears in the stadium, demanding Stryker stop and debate with him, and he responds by focusing the psy-bolt on him. Magneto is greatly weakened and threatens to be overwhelmed by the mob that Striker demands blood from, but he's saved by two human cops working security. The X-Men try to go for Xavier, but this close to the machine, they're dying at the feet of Purifiers. In the stadium, one of the Senators in attendance starts to bleed, unaware he's a mutant, and so does Stryker's second in command, Anne. She begs him to save her, and he throws her off the stage, breaking her neck. Scott plays his last card; he shoots a ricocheting blast while Kurt teleports Logan to Xavier. Xavier can't deal with both threats at the same time, so he mindblasts Logan, leaving him open to Scott's blast, which knocks him out. Scott walks out on the stage and before the whole world starts talking to Stryker. He demands to know why Stryker has the right to decide the will of God, and argues that maybe mutants are the real humans. Stryker points at Kurt and screams "You dare call that thing human?" Kitty interjects, saying Kurt is the kindest person she's ever met, and the person she aspires to be. Stryker responds by raising a gun at her. The X-Men stand unresponsive, but before he can shoot, the cop shoots him. Later, Magneto arrives at the mansion and asks the X-Men to join him. For the first time, Xavier agrees, saying that if this is the only way to prevent mutant deaths, he'll take it. Scott interjects once again, saying that he's not ready to give up on the dream. He convinces Xavier not to give up either. Magneto hopes they succeed but believes they won't, so he leaves. Ororo tells Scott that today he was Xavier's teacher, but Scott says he was just helping a person he loves. Ororo says she wishes love were enough to fix the world's problems. It's not, but today it helped.

Usually human villains are motivated by fear of extinction, or by revenge. Stryker is one of the rare ones who believes he's doing the morally good thing by exterminating mutants. The story is called God Loves, Man Kills, but God was nowhere to be found in this story. Instead, it was about human interpretation of God, with Stryker believing he was God's servant and the cop at the end saying this couldn't be God's will. Although there are some fight scenes, the story is really about the danger of words and the power of emotions. Stryker built his empire on sermons which spoke to people's deepest fears. He almost won not through physical power but through manipulation, both of his listeners and of Xavier. The ending was probably the biggest victory yet for Xavier's dream, when Scott used words to convince a human cop to defend them against Stryker. Going back to Xavier's manipulation, I think it's very interesting that the imagery Stryker used in the hallucinations was of Xavier being crucified by his students. Although obviously neither of them are evil like Stryker, Xavier and Magneto both share his ambition and goal to be the savior of the world. That arrogance brings the downfall of all three. Stryker is so high on his own charisma that he doesn't see the possibility of another human disagreeing with him. Xavier's belief in his own virtue give Stryker the opportunity to use that against him, making him believe that the X-Men are the enemy and he the martyred savior. Magneto flies majestically over Stryker's mob, declaring himself Stryker's great enemy, which prompts the entire stadium to turn against him. The three heroes are Scott, Kitty, and the unnamed cop. Scott's entire arc up to this point has been learning how to bend instead of breaking. He was once rigidly loyal to Xavier, only able to see one point of view. But his new teammates helped him open his eyes. He still believes in the dream of a peaceful and better world, like Xavier does, but he's also taken parts of Magneto's philosophy. Xavier couldn't see other points of view, so Stryker was able to move his vision, and when Xavier saw what happened, he broke and gave up on his dream. But since Scott can bend, that couldn't happen to him. Xavier believed in complete pacifism, and he was manipulated into killing everyone. Magneto is quick to kill, so he can never find public support. Scott is in the middle; he believes in peace, but he's willing to sacrifice for it- in this case, he was willing to kill Xavier to stop him. Xavier would only debate Stryker on a peaceful TV set under the guise of a human geneticist, which garnered the respect of viewers, but didn't appeal to their emotions the way Stryker's sermons did. Magneto addressed the world from above their heads, demanding their attention, which certainly appealed to their emotions. But he could never get their respect. Scott talked to the world as a mutant in costume, but he also did it on their level, on the ground with no violence. Xavier wants peace between mutants and humans, but he still sees that distinction. Scott argues that labels are arbitrary, and even though mutants are different, they're no more so than any two humans. He rejects Ororo labeling him as a teacher, and it's this humility that will eventually shape him into the true leader of mutantkind that both Xavier and Magneto wish they were. Our second hero is Kitty, who represents the best possible future of the world. When she joined the X-Men she was scared of Kurt, but now she defends him as her role model and is willing to sacrifice herself for their friendship. It's a testament to how far she's come as a person; like Scott, her arc has been opening up her perspective. She went from having a normal human perspective to becoming an amalgam of all of the older X-Men's points of view, making her the real synthesis of mutant and human culture. The pinnacle of that is her acceptance of Kurt. Kurt doesn't get much to do in this story, but he's a very important symbol of the dream. He looks like a monstrous other, but if you give him a chance he's the kindest person in the world. The dream will have succeeded if the world is a place where Kurt can walk down the street. Stryker is the opposite; he calls himself a saint, but on the inside he's a monster. This brings us to the final hero, the unnamed cop who shoots Stryker. Stryker has declared himself God's chosen champion and Xavier and Magneto as the anti-Christ. If the X-Men tried to stop him, it would just feed into that message. But when it's an anonymous bystander who shoots the shot to end the conflict, Stryker isn't a martyr, he's brought down to the level of the people. That doesn't end the conflict, because his followers are still out there spreading his messages. But it does show that the X-Men aren't the only thing standing in the way of the Stryker Crusade. There's also normal, everyday people defending them. If there's one central theme of this story, I think it's that if there is a God, He doesn't act through figureheads, whether they're good or evil. He acts through the humbler acts of love and compassion that we saw in the three heroes of the ending.

BOB-OMB

It’s Halloween at UA High.

“And that is how to fill out a police report when the citizen you saved is unconscious… are there any final questions?” Ushiwaka-sensei asked. Oboro raised his hand gingerly. “Yes, Shirakumo?” the teacher acknowledged him. “Halloween is next Monday… so is it cool if we come to school in costumes?” he asked, innocently. Ushiwaka-sensei rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Sure, why not… any other questions?” he asked, causing Hizashi to raise his hand. “Any other questions in regard to today’s lecture?” Ushiwaka-sensei clarified, causing the blonde boy to lower his hand. “Ok, have a good weekend,” the teacher dismissed the class as he began gathering his papers.

As the students followed suit, Oboro hopped up from his seat and visited his best friend Mei’s desk. “Yesss, we finally have an occasion to wear our costumes!” he said to Mei excitedly. “Yooo, you already have your costumes planned out?? What are you guys dressing up as??” Hizashi asked. “Obo and I do costumes together every year… this year we are going to be Mario and Luigi,” Mei replied. “Ahhh group costumes?? I’m SO in!!” Hizashi said. “Shota bud, what about you? You want to join our little Super Mario group costume?” Obo suggested to their quiet friend sitting in the middle of them. “That’ll be a hard pass,” Shota replied, standing up from his desk with Mei following suit, as she planned to walk home with him as usual.

As the two walked toward the exit of the classroom, Mei looked back at her friends. “CONVINCE HIM!” Obo mouthed to her, giving her two thumbs up and a bright smile. *I don’t know what makes him think I could…* she thought to herself as they walked to their lockers to get their stuff. Shota and Mei packed up their backpacks in silence and then continued through the exit of UA and down the street they always walked… Mei’s mind was racing as they walked.

*There’s nothing wrong with Sho NOT dressing up with us… Obo is just being friendly and extra as always. I can’t imagine Sho even dressing up for any occasion… especially something as silly as Halloween. Though… Obo is relentless… paired with Hizashi, I’m afraid the two would show up on Monday with a full-on Toad costume and force Sho to wear it. He’d probably never speak to us again if that happens… unless I…* Mei continued to think to herself as they walked, until she had hatched a plan that might appease both parties. She decided to break their comfortable silence.

“You know, since you’re not wearing a costume on Monday, you should just wear your normal clothes… unless you want to stick out like a sore thumb. No one else will be wearing their school uniforms,” Mei commented. “Hm. Good point,” Shota said, thoughtfully, as they approached the intersection. “Well, I’ll see you at school on Monday, then! I’ll have to get my costume together, so I’ll just meet you there,” she said, smiling at him. He nodded at her before she turned to walk in the opposite direction, watching her for a slight moment before turning down his own street.

Monday morning, Shota decided to listen to the suggestion of his friend and dressed in his normal attire of a long-sleeved black shirt and black pants. As he approached the spot where Mei normally met him, he remembered that she would be heading straight to school, so he trudged onward by himself, trying to ignore the fact that the weekend was already over. He dropped his stuff off in his locker, taking only what he needed for the first few periods with him as he approached his homeroom.

Several of his classmates were already there, talking to each other about their costumes. Without paying much attention to any of them, Shota snuck past them and made his way to the back of the classroom where his desk was. In Mei’s seat sat… apparently Mei, wearing a green shirt and overalls, with her long purple hair tucked into a matching green hat with the Luigi “L” on the front. Though he wasn’t into costumes by any means, Shota couldn’t help but admit to himself that Mei’s costume was very well put together. She was busy working on something but looked over at him as he sat down in his seat and smiled.

“What do you think?” she asked. As he looked over at her, he noticed she was also wearing a fake moustache. “You look ridiculous,” he said, then looking down at one of his books. “Not as ridiculous as them,” she whispered with a laugh, causing him to look back up. Oboro, dressed as Mario, just came into the classroom… and in his arms, bridal style, was Hizashi dressed as Princess Peach, his golden hair combed down and topped with a crown. “It’sa me!!! Mario!!” Obo called out as he entered. “Ahhh, my hero!!!” Hizashi said in his best Peach voice.

Shota grimaced as he watched them, until he noticed Mei sticking two felt ovals on his chest with tape. “What the…” he began as he looked down and reached to take them off. She leaned over and stopped his hand from doing so. “Trust me,” she said, sitting back up in her seat and acting naturally. He hesitantly left the small circles on his shirt, and side-eyed her, wondering what she was up to exactly. “It’sa my brother, Luigi!!” Obo said, still talking in his Mario voice, putting Hizashi down as they approached the back of the room.

“Hmmm,” Obo said, placing his hand on his chin as he looked at Shota. “Ah!! You’re a Bob-omb!! You know, when Mei insisted that you would dress up with us, I almost didn’t believe her… so it’s a good thing I didn’t take the extra time to make you a Toad costume! Even though it would’ve been better than this,” he said. “I told you to trust me,” Mei said to Obo, making him stick his tongue out at her playfully. “I knowww, I should already know that Mei knows best,” he teased before heading over to his desk and sitting down.

Once they were all settled in their desks for class, Shota looked over at Mei again, as if looking for an explanation. “Whether you liked it or not, they would’ve forced you to match with us. I figured I could at least make it as painless as possible,” she said to him quietly, reading his look. He thought back to their conversation on Friday. “You know, since you’re not wearing a costume on Monday, you should just wear your normal clothes…” he recalled her saying. *Tch… she knew I would wear black like a Bob-omb… clever* he thought to himself.

“If I knew what you were up to, I would’ve skipped today,” he said, coldly. “Then you would’ve missed the pop quiz,” she whispered back, just as Ushiwaka-sensei entered the room. “Good morning! Alright, everyone… take out a blank sheet of paper, we’re having a pop quiz,” he said, causing the whole class to groan in unison. Shota subtly (and incredulously) looked over at Mei and she smirked. “I told you to trust me,” she answered his look with a shrug. Shota hid his smirk behind his desk by fishing for a blank sheet of paper. He wasn’t about to admit how impressed he was.