#(it was april 1st that we put her down)

[eenochian]

i found a song that i listened to the night before my family had to put one of my cats to sleep and now i am just. sitting here crying. fuckin hate it here man.

[project-sekai-facts]

Only one date is ever mentioned in-game, that being 2021. Considering that the Virtual Singer Fan Festa seems to be a stand-in for Magical Mirai 2021, we can assume that the Scramble Fan FESTA! event takes place in September 2021 (the real-life MM2021 was delayed to November due to covid-19, but the pandemic doesn't exist in-universe and MM Tokyo usually takes place at the beginning of September). There are Leo/need Daily Life social media posts that show them attending Magical Mirai, and do state the year of the event, but these can be considered promotional material for the event itself rather than canon material, especially since the characters address in-game that only one year has passed since the start of the story (despite the fact they have celebrated new year's day 4 times now. Timeloop things).

Based on this date, we can actually place exactly when every main character was born. The cutoff date for Japanese schools is April 1st, making Ena the oldest main character, being a 3rd year with a birthday of April 30th, followed by Tsukasa on May 17th, so on so forth all the way down to Kohane, a 2nd year with a birthday of March 2nd.

Considering when Scramble Fan FESTA is set, Ena, who was a 2nd year at the time, would be 17 years old. That would place her date of birth as April 30th, 2004. Additionally, while Kohane, a first year at the time, should be 15 during the event, the game considers her to be 16 due to using a set age for every grade bracket. Regardless, the event setting places her date of birth as March 2nd, 2006.

Based on this, we can conclude that:

Ena, Tsukasa, Rui, and Shizuku were born in 2004

Mafuyu, Kanade, Airi, Minori, Saki, Toya, Nene, An, Ichika, Mizuki, Emu, Haruka, Honami, and Akito were born in 2005

Shiho and Kohane were born in 2006

This also means that Ena, Tsukasa and Rui are all older than the MEIKO software (released November 5th 2004), and everyone except Kohane is older than the KAITO software (released February 17th 2006). Every main character is older than Miku, the Kagamines, and Luka based on this information.

Using the information around set ages*, we can also work out rough estimates for when the side characters were born. For example, Arata, who was 19 during the first 3 years of the game, is 3 years older than the members of VBS who were all considered to be 16. Since the members of VBS were born in the April 2005 - April 2006 school year range, Arata was likely born in the 2002-2003 school year range.

* based on how characters like Youta and Miu, who are said to be the same age as Leo/need, were both confirmed to be 16 years old before the 3rd anniversary age-up. Also Haruka's age is confirmed as 16 at a point in time when she shouldn't be 16. Timeloop things.

Based on this, the oldest living side character, Kounosuke, who was 55 pre-3rd anniversary and 39 years older than Emu, was probably born between April 1966 and April 1st 1967. On the younger side of things, Hanano, who was 14 pre-3rd anni, was likely born between April of 2007 and 2008. I've put the rest of the estimated side character DOBs under the cut.

assumed age as of 3rd anniversary in brackets (literally just pre-age-up age + 1)

Rakunosuke Otori - April 2nd 1922 ~ April 1st 1923 (98 (at time of death. would be 100 if still alive))

Kounosuke Otori - April 2nd 1966 ~ April 1st 1967 (56)

Jean Riley - 1967~1968 (55)

Harumichi Aoyagi - 1968~1969 (54)

Shin'ei Shinonome - 1973~1974 (49)

Mr Yoisaki - 1975~1976 (47)

Ken Shiraishi - 1978~1979 (44)

Taiga Kotaki - 1978~1979 (44)

Mrs Asahina - 1980~1981 (42)

Yoshiki Shindou - 1982~1983 (40)

Yuuka Kazamatsuri - 1990~1991 (32)

Keisuke Otori - 1991~1992 (31)

Shousuke Otori - 1994~1995 (28)

Daigo Kijima - 1994~1995 (28)

Tatsuya Okazaki - 1999~2000 (23)

Yuuki Akiyama - 1999~2000 (23)

Ayaka Saito - 2001~2002 (21)

Hinata Otori - 2001~2002 (21)

Iori - 2002~2003 (20)

Mio - 2002~2003 (20)

Arata Tono - 2002~2003 (20)

Souma Miyata - 2002~2003 (20)

Asahi Genbu - 2003~2004 (19)

Kotaro Mita - 2004~2005 (18)

Sakurako Seiryuin - 2004~2005 (18)

Nanami "Nanamin" Hayakawa - 2004~2005 (18)

Futaba Natsuno - 2004~2005 (18)

Arisa Higure - 2004~2005 (18)

Ayumi Tabata - 2004~2005 (18)

Hibiki Miyake - 2004~2005 (18)

Shuuta Hayashi - 2004~2005 (18)

Ibuki Taniyama - 2004~2005 (18)

Yuina Uchiyama - 2005~2006 (17)

Shouta Hayashi - 2005~2006 (17)

Miu Takagi - 2005~2006 (17)

Youta Yoshizaki - 2005~2006 (17)

Riho Hasegawa - 2005~2006 (17)

Saku Kousaka - 2005~2006 (17)

Mai - 2006~2007 (16)

Hanano Yoshizaki - 2007~2008 (15)

Additional notes (mod is rambling atp):

Rakunosuke died when he was 98 years old. In the WxS main story, Emu says that he died a year ago. Assuming Emu was 15 at the time, they have an age gap of around 83 years. The year of birth listed here was based on that assumption.

We know that Kanade's mother died aged 30, but we do not know when she died. She is still alive in flashbacks set roughly 10 years prior to the events of game.

In the third fanbook, ages were given for Mrs Asahina, Shindou, Yuuki, Asahi, and Arisa as one year less than they are given in this post. The reason for me adding a year on is because of the confirmation in a livestream of Daigo's age being 27. Daigo is meant to be the same age as Shousuke, whose age was given as 27 prior to the 3rd anniversary. When his age was provided on stream, he was grouped with the 5 I mentioned earlier. Based on this we can assume that all their ages are taken from the same time frame, i.e, pre-3rd anni (and this also confirms that NPCs inexplicably don't age but we'll ignore that for continuity reasons).

We do not have confirmed ages for Nagi, Reki, Sakaki, Ohara, MMJ's landlady, Mafuyu's father, Hiiragi, or the members of ReLight yet

Rui suggests that Reki is the same age as him in A Story Where You Are The Star while talking about both him and Asahi in the same sentence. Asahi was since confirmed as 18/19, so it is likely that Reki is also around that age.

Nagi's age is left blank in the fanbook due to it not being revealed that she was dead at the time of publication. She is younger than Taiga, but we don't know by how much, but nonetheless she was likely born in the early 1980s. It is unlikely we will ever know her exact age.

Ohara is stated to be in his mid-30s, placing his birth year as somewhere in the 1980s, likely around 1986-1989. Sakaki is an old college friend of Ohara's, so he is likely a similar age.

No NPCs are given exact birthdays

[pedrithink]

my home ✩ jude bellingham

summary: jude and his low profile girlfriend.

faceclaim: paola locatelli

ynusername

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ynusername lovely days

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ynusername @judebellingham so do youuuu

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gioareyna ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

karim_adeyemi have a nice trip, miss u!

judebellingham @karim_adeyemi miss u too baby

ynusername @karim_adeyemi @judebellingham ?

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december 15th, 2022

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ynusername nights in london hit different :)

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ynusername @jobebellingham seeeeee you!! missing u 24/7, bestie.

denbello 😍😘

gioareyna the most beautiful person in this world and y/n

judebellingham @gioareyna nah, baby. you are the most beautiful person in the world. 😓

ynusername @gioreyna @judebellingham hate u both btw

trentarnold66 ❤️

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ynusername my new baby!!!!!!!!!

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judebellingham two pretty kitties

ynusername @judebellingham 🥺🥺

jobebellingham i want to meet her 😭

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gioareyna so cute 💗

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april 1st, 2023

ynusername has added to their story

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judebellingham

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judebellingham I've taken some time to reflect on the events of the final day and the entire season. I still can't believe it went the way it did and we couldn't get ourselves over the line. The boys that played gave everything and their efforts cannot be questioned, unfortunately we weren't decisive enough in the fine margin moments that occur in high pressure games.

Personally, it was devastating to have to watch my teammates suffer while I couldn't impact the outcome. I have never experienced an atmosphere like the one on Saturday created by you fans, I had goosebumps for the whole 90 minutes whilst only watching from the bench. Many times this season you have been the difference maker for us and in the end we've let you down by not being able to deliver the championship whilst it was in our hands.

Hopefully this adversity will trigger a new era for the club where it can compete closely for trophies every year. This is what the city and its fans deserve.

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ynusername so proud of you 🤍🫶🏻 thank you for everything, the best is yet to come!!

judebellingham @ynusername ❤️

user1 sad that you’re leaving us, but it was a pleasure to have you man - just the best! ❤️‍🔥

user2 never give up!!

user3 see you in madrid

user4 keep your head up, life goes on!!

user5 well spoken jude

user6 the best youngster itw rn

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ynusername you did your best, everyone is proud of you. ❤️‍🩹

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judebellingham i love you

judebellingham ❤️❤️❤️❤️

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masonmount ⭐️🔥

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judebellingham ain’t no place like home. my club. 💙

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user7 ur so fine

user8 ain’t no place like home and then he puts a picture of y/n

user9 u both are so fine

user10 cuties

[themultifandomgal]

From 2010- The First Half Of Tour

2013

Part 30

1st March- Cardiff

“Ow ow ow" I cry as Harry, Louis and Zayn are pouring their cool water bottles on my legs after I spilt my hot water, lemmon and honey on them. I sit in Harry’s baggy gym shorts so that 1 I’m in loose clothing and 2 I’m not sat in my underwear

"Bloody hell YN how did you manage that?" My dad says on the phone

"My throat feels funny and it's good for your voice. Stupidly I tried doing my makeup at the same time and knocked it over” I sniffle

“Oh YN. How bad is it?”

“Well her thighs are bright red. Almost look sunburnt” Zayn tells my dad

“It doesn’t help she spilt the drink on her jeans which made the hot water stay on her skin longer” Niall says

"Paramedics are here" Paul says walking in

"Hi YN, I'm Nelly and this is Amari. Let's take a look shall we?" Kneeling down Nelly takes a look “ok luckily it seems to just be a first degree burn. Let's apply some aloe Vera on the burn and then we can wrap it up in sterile dressing. No need to take you to hospital"

"Oh thank goodness" I hear dad on the phone

"Can I still go on stage?" I ask

"Really? You've burnt yourself YN you can't" Zayn says to me shocked

"But..?"

"If you sit down and take it easy then I don't see a problem" Amari tells me

"Are you sure you're up for it tonight?"

"Yes. I missed to many shows last tour" I reply to Paul

"Just go steady tonight YN"

"I will dad. Speak to you later" I end the phone call. We let the paramedics finish up before I have to get ready.

During the show I end up mostly sitting on a stool unless I need to move to a different part of the stage in that case I just go steady with one of the boys by my side.

22nd March- Birmingham

"I wish I could take you on tour with me” I say snuggling cookie who’s licking my face while I sit cross legged on the floor “I missed you so much”

“YN you need to put the dog down at some point, I need to get your hair done” Erin says laughing at me

“Can’t you do my hair from down here?” I joke

“If I could I would, now on to the chair” Erin pats the chair that’s in my dressing room. Groaning I get up and put Cookie down on the floor who then runs over to Emma who’s sat on my sofa

“Do you think she thinks your her owner not me?” I ask Emma sadly

“No chance dogs have a sense for this kinda thing. She knows you’re her mum and I’m the cool aunt” Emma replies

“I wish I could bring her with me”

“I know, but I’ll bring her to all of the shows I come to, promise” I give Emma a smile to say thank you while I let Erin get on with my hair.

Hello Birmingham!' I say waving to the arena "I still can't believe that this is where Liam and I would come to see concerts and here we are on our second tour!”

"What was your first concert YN?”

"I think it was the sugar babes" I reply to Liam “I remember my mum and dad taking me to an 80s concert when I was younger so maybe it was that” I shrug

“You do love your 80s songs” Zayn says smiling

“I do I do”

"Now the next song we're going to sing is one of our current favourites to perform. This is One Way Or Another" Louis shouts into his Microphone and the music starts

"One way or another I'm gonna find ya. I'm gonna get ya, get ya, get ya, get ya. One way, or another, I'm gonna win ya I'm gonna get ya, get ya, get ya, get ya" Harry sings putting his arm around my shoulders

"One way, or another, I'm gonna see ya. I'm gonna meet ya, meet ya, meet ya, meet ya. One day, maybe next week. I'm gonna meet ya, I'm gonna meet ya, I'll meet ya" I sing.

13th April- Sheffield

“Hello Sheffield!” Harry shouts into his microphone. The crowd all scream in reply “now today it’s someone’s birthday” the boys all then turn to look at me “and we want you to help us sing happy birthday”

“No!” I try to protest but it’s no use. The fans and boys all sing happy birthday as I see Emma bringing out a cake on stage

“Ok make a wish” Emma says, but I truly don’t know what to wish for other than Alex being here. I blow out the candles and everyone cheers. I give Emma a quick hug before she walks off stage.

14th June- Miami

“I’ve just found out that Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Sam Claflin and Elizabeth Banks are here tonight” Erin says doing my hair

“How did you find that out?” I frown looking at Erin through the mirror. She digs through her back pocket then unlocks her phone. She does some scrolling then hands me her phone. On the screen is a photo of then stood in the pit chatting. The photo is captioned “guess J Law has forced the cast to see One Direction” 

“Isn’t Liam Hemsworth one of your celebrity crushes? Maybe you’ll be able to go on a date” Erin teases wiggling her eyebrows at me as she takes her phone back. I know she’s joking but part of feels like I can’t date. Sighing I close my eyes thinking of Alex

“I can’t… Alex….”

“Would want you to be happy. He’d want you to move on, maybe Liam isn’t the ‘one’ but maybe he can help you feel like you can date again”

“Your talking as if I know him and have met him Erin anyway he’s dating Miley Cyrus”

“Split up”

“I can’t keep up” I groan making Erin laugh.

By the end on the show I’m in my dressing room dripping with sweat when there’s a knock on the door. Thinking it’s just one of the boys I shout

“Come in!” not looking up I hear the door open

“Hi” that’s not one of the boys. I quickly turn around and see Jennifer Lawrence stood at my door smiling with Liam, Sam and Elizabeth behind her “I was told it was ok to come and see you. I’m sorry if we’ve disturbed you”

“No it’s ok hi” I walk over to them and hold my hand out “sorry I look a mess right now”

“Don’t be silly you look beautiful” Liam says making me blush a little. He’s a little older than I am, 23 I think he is while I’m 19

“We just wanted to come and say how good the show was. Your really talented” Elizabeth says smiling at me

“Thank you I’m glad you enjoyed the show. Have you met the others?”

“No”

“Then follow me” I say leading them towards Harry and Louis dressing room where I know all of the boys will be.

10th August- LA

“See you after the show” Liam says smiling at me before he pecks my cheek. I wasn’t planning on dating right now, but after Liam and I met we exchanged numbers then ended up going on a date. Things are just casual at the moment and we don’t plan on announcing anything anytime soon

“YN let’s go!” Harry shouts to me

“Yeah I’m coming” I shout back. I give Liam one more smile before walking towards Harry and Louis

“I can’t believe your not coming back home with us”

“Liam ask me on another date” I shrug

“Can’t say I like you both together” Harry mumbles but I clearly hear him

“Well it’s not your life H” I snap

“Don’t I know”

“What’s your problem Harry?” I step in front of him with my hands on my hips

“He’s goin to break y’heart”

“And how do you know that?” I frown

“I can jus’ tell alright” Harry then tries to brush past me

“No you don’t get to do that. Say shit like that then try and walk off”

“Woah what’s gotten into you two” Zayn says looking confused

“Liam”

“What did I do?” Liam asks just as confused

“Not you. Hemsworth. Come on we’re gonna be late” Harry walks off leaving me with the others

“He just wants what’s best for you” Zayn tries

“Harrys right we’re going to be late” I sigh.

[sarahowritesostucky]

Rating: Mature

Pairing: Steve x ofc x Bucky; Steve x Bucky

Word Count: 1422

Tags: Dom/sub, bdsm au, dom Bucky, sub reader, hurt/comfort, enemies to lovers, gay sex'n'stuff, straight sex'n'stuff, Steve being a literal Golden Retriever, mental health issues, dub-con, forced submission, referenced childhood abuse and resultant mental health issues, bakery au, m/f/m, gentle domination, total power exchange

Summary: The stigma and shame of being a submissive has kept Mary unfulfilled and in the closet her whole life, until an inciting incident leads to Bucky and Steve taking her in and giving her everything she was always too afraid to ask for.

Now that the 1st is over for anybody unlucky enough to stumble across this: it's an April Fool's chapter- not real.

11. Cheesecake

Two days later, Steve decides to take a late afternoon nap. He wakes from a very deep sleep to the sunlight gone from beyond the widows, and before he can even groan over however the hell long he’s slept, the sound of Bucky and Mary arguing—loudly��reaches his ears.

“Well I don’t care what she said! This is insane! You’re not going!”

“You can’t stop me!”

“You bet your ass I can!”

Steve groans and turns over in the bed. He’s so sick and tired of this. Having Mary stay at their place was a good idea, in theory, but it hasn’t worked out at all the way either he or Bucky were hoping. All it’s done is make all three of them miserable, and put a strain on his and Bucky’s marriage. Getting up, he decides to put his foot down. They can’t keep doing this.

Steve goes out to the living room, where Mary is dressed in a shocking amount of nothing, and what she is wearing all seems to be red latex. “Mare?��� he says groggily. 

Bucky whirls around. “Did you know about this?”

“I told you he doesn’t.”

“Know about what?” Steve asks grumpily. 

“Well it wouldn’t be the first secret you’ve kept for her behind my back.”

Steve lowers the hand that’s been rubbing his eyes. Uh oh. Bucky is half naked, he notices, with his joggers and sneakers on and nothing else. Steve figures he must’ve been heading for the shower, as the arm is off, too. 

Over by the door, Mary is shrugging on her coat. “I’ll see you guys later. Have a nice life."

“Hey! Don’t you open that door.”

When she opens it, Steve is surprised to see none other than Thor standing in the hallway. 

“Is that … the Pro?” he asks, confusedly. Behind Thor’s mass are two other people, a girl and a man, also decked out in bold and scant sub wear. Oh, Steve thinks. That’s the girl who Mary made friends with at the CDP the other week. What was her name again? Daryl, Deena, Diane ...

“Darcy!” Bucky growls, pointing at her. “What the fuck did you talk her into?!”

“She doesn’t need you,” Darcy says bravely (or as bravely as she can from behind Thor’s massive body). “She’s gonna come live with us and be our sister-wife.”

“Your what?!”

“Don’t worry, fellows!” Thor booms with a smile. “My harem is a lovely place to live. I promise I’ll take excellent care of her!”  He ignores Bucky’s furious expression and shoots Steve a thumbs up gesture. “Perhaps we’ll see you at the social!”

“Mary,” Bucky warns, but Mary’s already grabbed her purse and gone out the door. She waggles her fingers at them and says she'll send 'someone neutral' by for her stuff. “Don't worry about me,” she says. "I finally figured out what I really need."

The door shuts behind her, and Bucky and Steve just stand there for a while, processing what just happened.

“... what just happened?” Steve asks.

Bucky goes and throws himself onto the couch, looking totally stunned. “Mary decided that she’s going to get her custody transferred to Thor so she can live with Darcy and her boyfriend whatshisface at their house."

Steve’s heartrate picks up. “But … the custody order,” he says.

“Yeah.” Bucky glares across the room at Steve. “Apparently she went to Linda and told her we refused sex, so Linda signed off on it. A judge gave her a new ruling yesterday.”

“What?!”

“Yeah. That’s where she was all day, not at work.”

Steve gasps, in disbelief. “Well … there’s gotta be something we can do?!” He flings his arm at the door where Mary just left. “Where the hell was he taking her, anyway?”

“A social.” Bucky’s expression loses some of its bite, and he shakes his head. “Maybe this is for the best,” he mumbles. “She wasn’t getting what she needs here. We can’t force her to want us. And she obviously doesn’t.” He shakes his head, sighing. “It would’ve ended like this, anyway. So maybe she just saved us a lot of awkward conversations.”

Steve huffs, frustrated by that. “How could she not want us?” he complains, gesturing down his own body where he stands and then Bucky’s. “We’re way out of her league! She should’ve been jumping for joy that we wanted to be with—”

“Yeah well obviously there were mitigating factors,” Bucky snaps, looking bitterly down at the left side of his body where the arm isn’t. “So she finally went and did something right for herself. Good on her.”

Steve can’t believe what he’s hearing. He puts his hands on his hips, pissed at Bucky’s defeatist attitude. “So you’re not even gonna go after her?”

Bucky shakes his head. “What’s the point? We didn’t have a future with her. At least this way she’ll get what she needs … with someone she wants it from.”

Steve scoffs, angry, but then he deflates some. “Well fuck.”

Bucky nods. “Fuck indeed.” 

Steve’s shoulders slump, and his focus shifts to making sure that Bucky’s okay. “Hey,” he nudges gently, going over to the couch. “What do you need, babe?”

Bucky gives him a sad but fond smile and holds his arm out along the back of the couch in indication. “Just you, Sweetheart. C’mere.”

Steve sinks down to snuggle up beside him, and the two of them talk quietly for a while about what the hell they’re going to do now. Now that the heat of the moment's worn off, they both can concede that there's no better person to take care of Mary than Thor. And this way, she'll have a best friend in Darcy as well. Not all relationships are meant to last, but that doesn't make them not meaningful.

And as for the two of them? Well ...

“You know you’re all I need,” Bucky says quietly to him later, once they’re in bed, in the dark, hands clasped between them and cum drying on their bellies. “Always were.”

Steve rolls over and gives him a tender kiss. “Me too, Buck. Me too.”

They don’t discover the farewell cheesecake in the fridge until the next morning, when both of them have already made love again and showered and resolved to look on the bright side about how they at least accomplished one thing: and that’s that they definitely saved Mary’s life and helped her go from a very bad place, to where she needs to be.

“Oh man,” Steve groans when he opens the fridge and sees them sitting there. “I’m gonna miss this, though.” He pulls out the two plates of cheesecake to show Bucky. “She really got to know our tastes, huh?” One of the slices is blueberry, the other is Dulce. Bucky smiles fondly and nods. “Yeah,” he says quietly. “Yeah she did.” 

They sit together and eat their respective slices at the breakfast bar, feeling much better about the outcome of things than they did yesterday. “I’m happy for her,” Bucky finally decides, because he is. “And we’ll always be able to keep in touch. So that’s good.”

“Yeah,” Steve agrees. “It’s good.” They share a warm smile of affection and briefly clasp hands. Steve raises his eyebrows at Bucky’s metal arm. “Do you really need that if we're just goin' to the farmer’s market?” 

Bucky chuckles and shakes his head. “Naw. You're right.” He comes around the breakfast bar and offers his left side to Steve with a loving smile. “Why don’t you help me take it off?” 

Steve does, and he knows that they’re going to be alright.

Epilogue: 

Mary forms a relationship with Thor and falls in love with him. Darcy and Ian are just her friends, and they all wind up living together in one house, in a polyamorous relationship.

Mary texts Steve and Bucky starting a few days after her departure, apologizing for how she left, but that she knows it was for the best. All three of them maintain contact through texting and the occasional event at the CDP, and they all forgive each other and form an incredible friendship (so much so that sometimes even Thor gets jealous!)

Bucky and Steve entertain the idea of dating around for a potential third, but they eventually decide that they’re it for each other, and Bucky just uses the Pro subs at the CDP from time to time. 

All in all, they’re happy, and it’s very gratifying to know that they helped Mary get her life turned around. She even winds up opening her own little micro bakery not too far from their place, so Steve and Bucky can continue enjoying the delicious desserts she makes. 

Mary, Darcy, and Thor have an informal poly wedding ceremony (which Bucky and Steve happily attend), opting against a traditional marriage that would only recognize one of them, and within two years, both Mary and Darcy are expecting!

Bucky and Steve enthusiastically agree to be the baby’s godparents. The experience convinces them to pursue adoption themselves.

And after the Christening, everyone gathers at the CDP for a wonderful celebration … with loads of cheesecake.

Please don't hate me for this ending! I really think it's in the characters best interests and a more realistic ending for all three of them.

... And it's April 1st though, so ...

This wasn't a real chapter. And it's basically the only harmless prank I can play on anyone today, so. There you have it. Happy April Fool's day! (and 🤞🏻please don't unsubscribe in anger 😅)

And in case you're not a fan of pranks: well I'm writing the next (real) chapter today and (should be) able to post either tonight or tomorrow night, so don't fume too much! 🥰

[womanexile]

My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys

Oh, here we go again

The voices in his head

Hunger (Harry unreleased)-“I guess I’m prone to overthinking”

Called the rain to end our days of wild

Clean-“the rain came pouring down when I was drowning, that’s when I could finally breathe”

The sickest army doll

Purchased at the mall

Rivulets descend my plastic smile

Pleasing announced their new line of perfumes on November 1st, 2023 (Rivulets, Bright, Hot & Closeness) Now this could be just another Haylor cosmic coincidence.

But you should've seen him when he first got me

A close friend, authorized by Taylor told Vanity Fair in 2013 about Taylor and Harry’s April 2012 fling- “a weekend where they got really close and he was all, like, ‘You’re amazing - I want to be with you. I want to do this."

My boy only breaks his favorite toys, toys, oh

I'm queen of sand castles he destroys, oh, oh

'Cause it fit too right, puzzle pieces in the dead of night

AYHTDWS-“I’ve been picking up the pieces of the mess you made”

So It Goes…-“cut me into pieces, gold cage, hostage to my feelings”

So It Goes…-“and all the pieces fall right into place”

Imgonnagetyouback-“we broke all the pieces, but still want to play the game”

I should've known it was a matter of time, oh, oh

My boy only breaks his favorite toys, oh, oh

Cruel Summer-“bad, bad boy, shiny toy with a price, You know that I bought it”

Cardigan-“you put me on and said I was your favorite”

There was a litany of reasons why

We could've played for keeps this time

This indicates this is an off and on relationship or a person Taylor has previously dated.

I know I'm just repeating myself

Put me back on my shelf

But first, pull the string

And I'll tell you that he runs

Because he loves me (He loves me)

Harry being such an Aquarius.

'Cause you should've seen him when he first saw me

Perfect-“when I first saw you, from across the room, I could tell that you were curious”

One Direction’s Liam Payne joked about Harry meeting Taylor: “I thought Harry might have went to the bathroom just a little bit when we met her.”

My boy (My boy), only breaks his favorite toys, toys, oh

I'm queen (I'm queen), of sand castles he destroys, oh, oh

'Cause I knew too much, there was danger in the heat of my touch

OOTW-“remember when we couldn’t take the heat, I walked out said I’m setting you free”

He saw forever, so he smashed it up, oh, oh

My boy (My boy), only breaks his favorite toys, oh, oh

Once I fix me

He's gonna miss me

Once I fix me

He's gonna miss me

Just say when, I'd play again

Hear Taylor is saying she would give this person another chance. She would give this relationship another go. In The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived Taylor clearly indicates that she does not want to get back with that person (MH) “I don’t even want you back, I just want to know”

He was my best friend down at the sandlot

You Are in Love-“You’re my best friend”

Maroon-“like you were my closets friend”

I felt more when we played pretend

Than with all the Kens

Hits Different-“I used to switch out these Kens, I’d just ghost”

'Cause he took me out of my box

Stole my tortured heart

Left all these broken parts

Told me I'm better off

But I'm not

I'm not, I'm not

[imvietnamesenotchinese]

A gift for a dear friend of mine. I hope you're doing okay <3

The apartment that the young women are currently in could be accurately described as a pink wonderland. Light sifts through the blinds of the windows, dappling the space in golden warmth. ‘’Listen.’’ Nyx slams both of her hands down on the living room table. ‘’This is some serious shit, okay? This will require meticulousness, precision, focus, and ambition.’’ 

She scans the people in front of her with an intense glare. ‘’We can’t fuck this up.’’ The others gulp, they’d been planning this for months. One wrong move, and it would all be for nothing. Nyx breathes out, closes her eyes, opens them again. ‘’Any questions?’’

Miyuna’s perfectly manicured hand shoots up in the air. ‘’How do we make sure she doesn’t find out, though?’’

‘’Okay, as much as I love her, I wouldn’t call her the brightest bulb in the room. I don’t think this will be an issue.’’ Nyx waves her hand dismissively at Miyuna.

Luna doesn’t seem to be as convinced, though. ‘’It’s just that, uhm, this whole thing is so aggressive… Can’t we just do a normal–’’

Nyx bristles, as if she’d been offended by Luna’s remark. ‘’No! I’ve been planning this for months. My plans never go wrong!’’ She dramatically falls back onto her couch with a thump.

Yuna and Luna share a look. They seem concerned. 

‘’Well,’’ Yuna starts, ‘’I think Luna has a point. This doesn’t feel very ethical.’’

‘’But it’s safe,’’ Nyx retorts. ‘’It’s foolproof. You distract her, I snatch her, Luna’s backup.’’

The two women, who are sitting on the opposite side of Nyx, shrug. ‘’Alright.’’ Yuna rummages through her clutch. ‘’I’ll put my trust in you.’’ She brings out her lip gloss and swipes it over her sheer pink lips. The black and pink haired woman smacks her lips together. Her legs are crossed, and her back is straight. The look on her face is quite serious. ‘’But if anything goes wrong…’’

A scoff escapes Nyx’s lips. ‘’Like I’ve said before, nothing ever goes wrong under my watch.’’ Yuna lets out a small laugh. Nyx furrows her brows. ‘’What, did I say something funny?’’

The other woman simply looks amused. ‘’Don’t you remember what happened on the 1st of April–’’

‘’Nothing happened on the 1st of April,’’ Nyx growls. Yuna laughs again. Probably because she sounds as intimidating as a chihuahua. This causes Nyx to groan and bury her face in her hands. ‘’I mean– it was one time!’’

‘’Alright, sorry,’’ Yuna clears her throat. She is, in fact, not apologetic at all. She turns her face away to hide a lingering smile. 

‘’Anyway,’’ Nyx says, ‘’let’s just get this over with. Yuna, did you buy the supplies?’’

The taller woman nods.

Nyx shoots a look at Luna. ‘’You know what to do, right?’’

"Uh… Yeah?’’

‘’I’m gonna need something more reassuring than that.’’

Luna clears her throat. ‘’Ahem— yes, of course.’’

‘’Great,’’ Nyx beams. ‘’We’ll relocate to the planned spot after school, secure the target, and proceed with the plan.’’

‘’I think you’re trying too hard to make this sound cooler than it actually is,’’ Yuna hums.

She hates to admit it, but Luna and Yuna have a point. It felt kind of creepy to sneak around and spy on their mutual friend. On the plus side, it’s quite easy to keep track of her. All Nyx has to look for is a giant hamster backpack. Nyx’s friend seems to be accompanied by someone. Nyx thinks she spoke of him before. Sol, was it?

The brunette woman and the black and green haired man walk down the hallway of the university as they chat. As far as Nyx knows, her friend has already attended her last lecture. If the schedule she’d gotten her hands on was accurate, little miss hamster backpack is on her way home. 

The only thing that’s bothering her, though, is that guy, who looks like he’s a regular at Hot Topic. Nyx needs her friend to be alone, so she’ll have to come up with a way to get rid of that human version of a Monster Energy drink. She looks down at her phone and sends a text to her group chat. Being nimble as a cat, she blends in seamlessly with the crowd of students as everyone’s on their way to classes. 

Sol and Nyx’s friend make their way out of the school building. As if on cue, her phone vibrates. The woman, clad in cream and pink, reads the message she received from Miyuna. She shoots an apologetic look at Sol, excuses herself, and disappears to the back of the building, where the parking lots are.

Nyx lets out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, everything’s going according to plan. She stays a little longer to observe Sol. To her surprise, she notices him trying to sneak after her friend. And she thought that she was being creepy, what the hell was that dude doing?  ‘’Oh no you don’t,’’ she murmurs as she rummages through her pink, bedazzled school bag. Luckily, Nyx is the kind of girl who has a plan for every thinkable scenario. 

In her empty hand is now a water balloon. She takes a deep breath, aims it at Sol, and misses spectacularly. The balloon crashes into the concrete with a wet splat. Sol, startled by the sound, narrows his eyes and looks around the area. Nyx ducks into a nearby bush. After a few seconds, he leaves in the opposite direction, figuring out that someone’s probably watching him. Her aim might be absolutely atrocious, but at least she got the job done. She runs to the parking lot.

There, behind the school building, stood Yuna and their friend. Yuna has successfully stalled for time. They’re still talking when Nyx gets there. A smirk grows on her face. So far, so good. Nyx holds her breath, afraid that any small sound or movement will catch her friend’s attention. Her steps are slow as she draws closer and closer to her target. She rummages through her bag again. This time, pulling out a burlap sack (and yes, it’s pink, duh), and swiftly puts it over the brunette’s head. 

Immediately, the poor woman starts kicking and screaming. Her shouts are muffled by the bag over her head. ‘’Oh my God, help me Yuna! I’m being human trafficked!’’ she cries out. Nyx makes eye contact with Miyuna, who looks very guilty. Nyx, however, is too focused on restraining her victim to properly process how she feels about the situation. 

It was indeed a struggle, like trying to wrangle a bag full of cats. The target elbows Nyx in the face. ‘’Yuna, are you there? Did they get you too!? Gosh, run, run!’’

Nyx clenches her teeth, trying to suppress the pain that’s blooming throughout her face. If this messes up her makeup, then she’ll be really mad. She focuses her eyes on Miyuna again. Nyx blinks three times, signaling her to send a text to Luna. 

The aforementioned woman appears behind the cars and takes the hostage from Nyx’s hands. She throws their mutual friend over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Luna looks very, very unsure. Like she shouldn’t be doing this, but it’s too late. Also, Nyx looks scary glaring at her like that. She knows what that look means. Don’t mess this up. She’s seen that raging gaze many times when they play Mario Party together. Nyx signals Yuna and Luna to follow her.

Luna takes the kicking and squirming woman to a nearby car. Nyx opens the trunk and waves at Luna. They stare at each other for a while. Luna mouths, ‘’Do I really have to stuff her in there?’’ She looks uncomfortable, like she’s being held at gunpoint.

‘’Yes!’’ Nyx mouths back. So Luna does as she says, because what the hell is even going on at this point.

The three friends enter the glittering pink car. Nyx sits down at the wheel. Yuna takes her place in the passenger seat. Meanwhile, Luna sits at the back. The latter clutches her head in her hands. ‘’Oh my God, did I really just kidnap my friend?’’

‘’It’s for the greater good,’’ Nyx reassures her.

‘’I probably traumatized her for life!’’

‘’She’s been through worse.’’

‘’What’s worse than getting human trafficked!?’’

The shorter woman pulls out Google Maps on her phone. ‘’7 AM classes on a Monday?’’

Yuna quirks an eyebrow as she looks around in the car. ‘’Since when did you have a car?’’

‘’Since I rented it,’’ Nyx dryly replies.

‘’... I honestly didn’t know you could drive,’’ Luna quietly says as she sinks into her seat. 

The woman at the wheel whips her head back. ‘’What? Of course I know how to drive!’’

‘’I think this might be the most dangerous part of the plan.’’ Yuna clicks her tongue as Nyx shoots her a questioning look. ‘’Who did you bribe to get a driver's license?’’

Nyx lifts her hands up. ‘’No one, I swear I got it fair and square. Come on, Luna, you trust me right? I know how to drive!’’

Silence.

‘’... Luna?’’

The black and purple haired woman flashes an uncertain smile. She seems to be trying to come up with something nice to say. ‘’Uhm, you know…?’’ Unfortunately for Nyx, Luna can’t really come up with something to say.

Nyx pouts. ‘’You really need to learn how to lie.’’ She starts the engine and drives out of the parking lot.

After finally arriving at their destination, the young group of women get out of the car. Taking a closer look at it, Luna and Miyuna notice that it’s actually a very nice car. ‘’I know that you rented it, but how are you affording that while paying rent?’’ Yuna questions.

Nyx sighs. ‘’A few sacrifices were made…’’ Her stomach grumbles in response. She turns her head around to face Luna. ‘’Do you have the supplies ready?’’ The other woman nods, holding a big basket in her arms. Nyx smiles. ‘’Good, set everything up. Then we’ll let her out.’’

The worst part of it all was the noises coming from the trunk. Nyx almost felt a twinge of guilt, which she pushed down to the very depths of her hellishly black soul. Her friends, on the other hand, seem to fare much worse. Miyuna taps Nyx on the shoulder. The shorter woman turns around and cranes her neck up to look her in the face. ‘’This better be worth it,’’ Yuna purses her lips. 

‘’Okay, it’s all done now!’’ Luna shouts from the field. Nyx goes to the trunk of the car and opens it. She drags the hostage out of the cramped space and leads her to the spot Luna set up. The brunette whimpers.

‘’Please,’’ she pleads, ‘’I don’t have anything of value, except my Angelic Pretty collection from 2010, I can give–’’

Nyx snatches the burlap sack off her head. 

The brunette blinks in confusion, her eyes are as wide as saucers. As if in a daze, she looks around her surroundings. She seems to be in a flower field. Specks of colorful chrysanthemums cover the ground she stands on. The autumn breeze is refreshing, carrying a hint of floral sweetness. In front of her is a picnic blanket, covered in all kinds of delectables. From teacakes, to chocolate-covered fruits and berries, and homemade cookies. In the center of it all stands a birthday cake, covered in pink frosting, with the words Happy Birthday! written on top.

‘’What’s going on…?’’

‘’Happy birthday!’’ Yuna, Luna and Nyx shout gleefully. The brunette spins around. Her friends run up to her. Nyx is the most eager of them all. ‘’What do you think, do you like it?’’ she grabs her friend by the shoulders, shaking the confusion out of her skull. She puffs her chest out proudly. ‘’All of it was my idea!’’

‘’Yeah, just so you know, it was Nyx’s idea to kidnap you,’’ Yuna explains. 

Luna shoots her friend an apologetic look. ‘’I’m sorry if I was too harsh…’’ She puts her arms behind her back and looks away. ‘’I didn’t mean to hurt you–’’

‘’Oh no, you didn’t hurt me. I’m fine,’’ the formerly kidnapped woman reassures. ‘’I had no idea you guys were planning all of this…’’

‘’I mean, that’s the whole point of a surprise party,’’ Nyx raises an eyebrow. ‘’You didn’t think we like, forgot your birthday or something, right?’’ 

The brunette is still taken aback. ‘’Well, you didn’t really have to do all of this for me.’’

‘’Are you kidding me?’’ Yuna cuts in. ‘’Of course we’d celebrate you, you’re our friend!’’ She grabs the hand of her friend and holds it close. A soft smile appears on Miyuna’s face. ‘’But I’m sorry if all of this was too startling. I tried to convince Nyx that it was too much.’’

Nyx scoffs. ‘’Look, it’d be too obvious if any of us had invited her home.’’

‘’I still don’t think the kidnapping part was necessary,’’ Luna mumbles quietly.

‘’Yeah sure, let’s invite her into my suspiciously blinged out car that she’s never seen me drive before. That won’t raise any red flags at all,’’ Nyx rolls her eyes.

Her friend looks surprised. ‘’Oh, you were the one who was driving?’’

Nyx puffs out her chest in pride again. She puts her hands on her hips. ‘’Yep!’’

‘’Oh. That explains… a lot.’’

‘’... What do you mean by that?’’

‘’It was a very bumpy ride.’’

Miyuna and Luna laugh. Nyx doesn’t look amused at all. ‘’Hmph, whatever, let’s just get this celebration going.’’

The four of them walk towards the picnic blanket, where they sit down and indulge themselves in cake and tea. The girls talk with each other and laugh as they discuss Nyx’s incredibly risky plan. They came to the conclusion that even though it was successful, they probably wouldn’t repeat it a second time. 

‘’I felt so bad back then,’’ Luna sighs. ‘’Again, I’m so sorry.’’

‘’It’s fine,’’ their brunette friend reassures as she takes a sip from her teacup. ‘’I’ve been through worse.’’

Luna tilts her head. ‘’Like 7 AM classes on a Monday?’’

‘’Oh no, someone actually tried to kidnap me once.’’

‘’What!?’’

‘’But that’s a story for another time,’’ she waves her hand dismissively, as if getting kidnapped was just another Tuesday afternoon for her. She smiles down at her teacup. ‘’Thank you girls, really. I usually don’t celebrate my birthday at all.’’

‘’Then we’ll have to keep planning surprise parties for you,’’ Yuna smiles. ‘’Minus the kidnapping.’’

‘’Come on guys,’’ Nyx snorts. ‘’It worked out in the end!’’

Luna and Yuna shake her. ‘’Still a bad idea!’’

[hanamukes]

[Translation] Kanon Takao and Rico Sasaki's Animate Times interview (April 2024)

Animate Times put out a series of three interviews, conducted with Kanon Takao (actress of Sakiko/Oblivionis) and Rico Sasaki (actress of Uika/Doloris). In them, they talk in great depth about their characters, their love for the band members, Ave Mujica's concerts, aspirations they have for the band, the upcoming anime, and more!

For ease of reading, I have compiled all three interviews into one post, as they were only published days apart from each other.

If you're interested in Ave Mujica, be sure to check out the directory I compiled of all of their content, including more interviews like this!

Total word count: 6600

Ave Mujica is noble, beautiful and bewitching. They put on shows that resemble musicals, both mysterious and gothic. On January 27th, 2024, they held their 1st LIVE Perdere Omnia, which was a roaring success.

Ave Mujica is a new band under the BanG Dream! project, debuting on April 10th, 2023.  Through a series of images and social media posts, they had their users solve riddles, and drew attention with the way they bend one’s sense of reality and delusion. They debuted as a band in the finale of the anime BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!!. Next January, they’ll be getting a sequel anime focused on them in the spotlight, BanG Dream! Ave Mujica.

We interviewed Rico Sasaki (guitar/vocals, as Doloris/Uika Misumi) and Kanon Takao (keyboard, as Oblivionis/Sakiko Togawa). Over the span of three parts, we had them discuss their path with the band.

…Welcome to the world of Ave Mujica.

Translated by Seine (@hanamukes)

To think she’d call him a trash father

――Takao-san, your character Oblivionis/Sakiko Togawa is a key character in Ave Mujica, as well as in the anime BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!!.

 Takao:  Sakiko is the girl who put all the stories into motion. Even CRYCHIC was a band Sakiko started, but something happened and she dropped it. Then she brought about the formation of Ave Mujica. She’s always the one who gets all the gears turning, so she truly is the type of character who puts the story into action.

――She both puts things into motion as well as drives all those around her mad, wouldn’t you say?

 Takao:  Bring about the destruction of the beginning, bring about the destruction of the beginning… Her heart is under a lot of distress, and the sequel anime will shed light on this. It goes over how she felt during various moments, so I hope everyone’s looking forward to it. I really want everyone to see it!

 Sasaki:  Same here. I want to talk about it so badly!

――I’m dying to know myself, but I’ll just look forward to the day it gets revealed (laughs). Do you mind if I inquire about how you two approach tackling your characters?

 Takao:  For me, I’d never voiced a character like this before in an anime. At the start, Sakiko is a pure, kind, warm, proper girl, but midway through something happens and a shadow is cast over her. She starts saying harsh things to those around her and even I was taken back by it.

I did my acting as the “light” Sakiko pretty straightforwardly, but “dark” Sakiko is strong-forced, fragile, angry and sorrowful. I tried to capture her with the nuance of her wearing a mask, which conceals the truth of her heart, and all the little nuances that come with the gap between her outward appearance and how she feels deep down.

――Did you know about Sakiko’s change when you auditioned for her?

 Takao:  No. Rather, I didn’t know she was supposed to be a bright girl at the start. What I saw when I was first shown her character was the Sakiko we know today. When I started recording, I thought, “She really used to be so pure, huh?”

――You didn’t know about the “I’m home… you trash father.” scene either?

Takao:  Sure didn’t (laughs). I really knew nothing at the start. I was as shocked as everyone else about that line. When I first received the script, I looked at that line and wondered “Whose line is this?” and when I saw “Sakiko” written beside it, I went “She says this?!”

――Sasaki-san, could you talk a bit about Uika Misumi?

 Sasaki:  Uika Misumi is a girl still shrouded in mystery. I find her complex, but I also share a lot in common with her, such as my love of the stars and music. In BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!!, she tells Tomori “You can convey a lot in singing. You can even convey the things you can’t put into words,” and it resonated with me a lot too. She holds memories of her friend Saki-chan close to her heart, and being able to interact with her saves her in a way. She’s also busy with her idol work and being a student, so she’s a hard worker. However, she has a lot of dark sides to her too, and I just want the sequel anime to air already.

I think Uika and Tomori can connect their hearts a lot as two vocalists. Though Tomori-chan approaches it with the idea that “I can’t become human unless I sing”. With Uika, she portrays this sense of “when she sings, the monster known as Doloris emerges”. There’s still a lot we don’t know about her, so I hope everyone will wrap their heads around the mystery that is Uika until the anime airs. When rewatching the anime, you can look at her expressions and make your own assumptions about her and such. The sequel hasn’t aired yet, but their story is being told in our concerts, so make sure to watch those and let your imagination go wild.

――So you’ve been coming up with your own theories about her too?

 Sasaki:  Correct. I wonder just when we’ll get more about her backstory…

 All:  (laughs)

 Sasaki:  You just can’t help but want to know more about things you’re kept in the dark about. Whenever I go in to record, I’d ask the director about that regarding her, and every time I’d get told “I can’t tell you yet, sorry!” (laughs)

 Takao:  Right! They won’t tell me anything either!

 Sasaki:  We’re always shocked whenever we read the new scripts.

 Takao:  They just don’t know how to tell us.

 Sasaki:  I’ve never seen an anime quite play out like this before. Please look forward to it.

Sasaki-san’s notebook, which she updates daily

――You held your 0th Live, Primo die in scaena on June 4th, 2023. You performed on stage with masks and robes on, shrouded in mystery. How did you feel during that time?

 Sasaki:  We couldn’t talk about anything so it was a weird feeling. But we could feel the enthusiasm from the audience, so I was happy about that. Our “voltage” gradually rose, and we talked amongst ourselves about what we wanted to convey on stage, and what kind of band we wanted to make this. We talked about all sorts of things about our future, and that got our spirits up a lot.

 Takao:  Ave Mujica started out hidden behind masks and riddled with mystery, which was unseen before in the Bandori project. I was worried about whether the fans would accept us. But Ave Mujica is a band where we put trust in each other’s skills and efforts, and from the get-go we’ve felt confident that with the five of us together, everything would turn out alright.

 Sasaki:  Our bond has grown so strong, it’s out the roof! (laughs)

 Takao:  I’m almost scared to know the full depths of how much we could love each other!

 Sasaki:  We have so much trust in each other, this band fills me with the feelings of “I love having people who uplift me around,” and “being in a band is so much fun!”

――When did you start feeling such a closeness?

 Takao:  (looks at Sasaki) When did we?

 Sasaki:  I almost want to say from the very start (laughs).

 Takao:  It really did just happen without us realizing it. Though Ricochi joined us a little later.

 Sasaki:  I was nervous at first if I’d be welcomed in, since the four of them were already really close by then. It was the first time I’d ever properly been in a band, so I did some looking into everyone before I joined.

 Takao:  She has all of our profiles jotted down in a notebook.

――That’s amazing!

 Sasaki:  I do. I was just so excited to meet everyone.

 Takao:  It didn’t take long for us to think “Ricochi fits in absolutely perfectly!” Whenever she sings Kamisama, Baka (T/N: God’s a Fool), I just think “Oh God is anything BUT a fool for the blessing that is Ricochi being our vocalist!”

 Sasaki:  I’m so glad to hear that!

――What kinds of things do you have written down about everyone?

 Sasaki:  Let me start with Kanon Takao (laughs).

 Takao:  That’s embarrassing! (laughs)

 Sasaki:  I have her likes, dislikes, personal history…

――You’ve got a whole analysis on her!

 Sasaki:  All five of us are good friends even in private and we hang out together a lot. I always write down the new things I learn about them from those interactions.

――So you update it in real time?

 Sasaki:  I do. For instance, Akanen (Akane Yonezawa, who voices Amoris/Nyamu Yuutenji) told us she grew a little bit, so I jotted that down. I’ve already filled half the pages in the book. Whenever we do stuff as Ave Mujica, whether for recordings or concerts, I have the book glued to my person.

 Takao:  Whenever we go out to eat together, we’ll talk about things we want to do together and songs we want to sing, and she’ll always immediately jot it down in her book.

 Sasaki:  I even have our song lyrics all written down in it. I use it for everything.

――You’re like Ave Mujica’s secretary.

 Sasaki:  While staring at our song lyrics in it, I’ll jot down notes of how I want to move around during the instrumental breaks, and we’ll try them out in our rehearsals.

 Takao:  We all gather around her notebook.

――Your notebook is like a compass for the band. Is that correct?

 Takao:  It really is. We all hold a lot of love.

 Sasaki:  Nontan bought all five of us matching sweaters, and I bought us all matching rings.

――Is it the ring you’re wearing today?

 Sasaki:  Yes! It’s in the shape of a treble clef, and I thought they felt very Ave Mujica-like.

 Takao:  I should have worn mine, too!

 Sasaki:  I’m just happy knowing everyone else owns one too.

 Takao:  She gave us the matching rings when she joined the band. That got me thinking “it’s fun to have us all wear the same things!” so I’m always looking for things with moons on them to buy for us all.

 Sasaki:  I get you (laughs). I made my phone case Ave Mujica-like too. I just end up gravitating towards these things. Actually, with the rings I wasn’t sure if I should actually hand them out to everyone, but my manager talked me into it.

 Takao:  Is that so? (laughs)

 Sasaki:  I thought “but isn’t that kinda pushy of me?” (laughs) But everyone seemed to love them and they all put them on, so that made me happy.

 Takao:  When I got it, I thought “she’s such a nice person,” and it made me fall in love with you on the spot.

 Sasaki:  I’m so glad you all liked them!

The band itself is dark, but the members themselves are bright as can be

――You all hold a lot of love for each other, don’t you?

 Sasaki:  We really do. Nontan’s always making videos of us together.

 Takao:  I pull up pictures we all took together and compile them and make edits. Then I send them to everyone on our birthdays, or before our concerts in order to cheer them on.

 Sasaki:  The quality is so high, I almost wish she’d share them in public. They’re our Mujica Movies, full of love for everyone.

 Takao:  Also, the other day I visited a Shinto shrine and wrote a prayer on one of the wooden tablets. I wrote, “I hope that Ave Mujica will forever be friendly, full of life, and maturity.”

 Sasaki:  The worldview we portray is dark, but us cast members are very warm.

 Takao:  Everyone is so very kind.

――You seem blessed with such kind members.

 Takao:  It really feels like a miracle!

 Sasaki:  I couldn’t imagine us with even one of us not here. I’m so proud of us.

The movements are as important as the music itself

――In what ways did you prepare for your 0th live, Primo die in Scaena?

 Takao:  I remember us gathering around Ricochi’s notebook together.

――The same notebook you discussed in the previous part, yes?

 Sasaki:  We put a lot of thought into the concert while we all went out to lunch together. Though at the time, we were still wearing robes, and we really needed to convey the worldview of the band in quite an intense way. We took our rehearsals as seriously as the actual concert, and I remember us borrowing all sorts of advice from the staff.

I’m still quite nervous and anxious even now, but during 0th, it took everything for me to be able to act. When I looked back at our footage, I thought “I wish I’d done more to engage with the other bandmates, and been a bit more confusing”. When we performed as the opening act for Roselia’s concert and of course during our 1st live, I put in a lot more movements to convey the world we’re creating better.

 Takao:  It’s true that during 0th, we were all quite focused on our own instruments. I think that also portrays our worldview in its own way, but still, we talked after about how we wanted to focus less on just the music and more on the movements as well. Whenever our concerts end, we think “let’s become even better performers”. We’re always growing more after each concert.

 Sasaki:  We really want to make Ave Mujica an even bigger band.

【公式ライブ映像】Ave Mujica「Mas?uerade Rhapsody Re?uest」（Ave Mujica 0th LIVE「Primo die in scaena」より）

――So you band members enjoy Ave Mujica as much as the fans do.

 Takao:  I think even in a world where I wasn’t in Ave Mujica, I would still become a massive fan. I like to enjoy Ave Mujica both in the perspective as a band member as well as a fan myself.

――It’s hard to picture Ave Mujica without you.

 Sasaki:  Exactly! I’d want you here no matter what.

 Takao:  I’m not going anywhere now that I’m here! I promise! (laughs)

――I see though. That really goes to show how appealing Ave Mujica and its world are.

 Takao:  Yes. I love it so much!

A world that is one of a kind. A band with no limitations to it

――In regards to Ave Mujica’s world, it really is quite unique within the setting of Bandori.

 Sasaki:  It truly is unique. It’s one of a kind, really. It’s almost like rather than showing everyone how it develops, it’s showing an already completed world to the audience.

 Takao:  There’s always this pressure of “we need to keep the audience’s expectations high”.

 Sasaki:  That’s true. Whenever we perform live, it’s like the world is being completed.

――In the previous part of the interview, you claimed you weren’t sure if Bandori’s fans would accept Ave Mujica because of how different it is. We interviewed MyGO!!!!!’s Rin Tateishi and Coco Hayashi and they expressed the same sentiments of feeling nervous.

 Sasaki:  We really all were worried sick about this.

 Takao:  MyGO!!!!! also started holding concerts without showing their faces on stage, as we did.

――In a sense, MyGO!!!!! and Ave Mujica really do contrast each other. What are your thoughts regarding this?

 Sasaki:  While watching the anime, you can really see how MyGO!!!!! also goes through a lot of struggles of their own. But even within that, you can see some sort of sparkling image from them. It’s almost like how after it rains, puddles on the asphalt will sparkle and shine.

To contrast that, Ave Mujica is like a black hole. It’s as if there’s some sort of shining light within a black void. Musically, we have the impact of being uniquely theatrical and suspenseful.

――You’re very gothic and metallic.

 Sasaki:  This band was the first time I tried playing heavy metal. I never realized how much fun it was! You pour your soul into it, and there’s a lot of specific technique involved but it’s not necessarily “uniform”. It’s quite unconventional, and there’s some pretty absurd techniques involved in each and every person’s part. We’re all trying our absolute hardest with it, and now that we’ve actually made this world, we want to continue to polish and refine it.

 Takao:  MyGO!!!!!’s story is one of youthful experiences. When you think about everyone’s skill levels in it, in a good way I think it accurately represents humans and their weaknesses. Sakiko has bonds with CRYCHIC of course, with Tomori’s songs as well as her bonds with Taki and Soyo, and she looks at MyGO!!!!! fervently.

On the other hand, Ave Mujica is unrealistic, and it tells the story of an experience that you’re not intended to have ever experienced before. It’s like looking at a work of art, and also in a good way I think it’s a band that does not accurately represent humans and their weaknesses. The overwhelming world Ave Mujica presents is its strength. Ave Mujica doesn’t hold your typical concerts, they incorporate stage plays into it. The setting is reliant on it being like a drama, and I think it’s a band you can enjoy both visually and audibly.

 Sasaki:  The setlist for our 1st live was based around the story parts, so during rehearsals we would all discuss in depth where to put what songs in the order and tried all sorts of ideas out. Ave Mujica’s songs all have their unique quirks to them, so it makes it hard to come up with the perfect setlist. We talked with the producer and came up with ideas on how to play the songs while coming up with the right facial expressions and movements to match.

For instance, even if I smiled during a specific song in previous performances, if the setlist for this concert had me follow that song up with a darker one, I tried to be more on the cooler side in anticipation of that. While it’s not easy by any means, I love how much depth there is to the musical expression for this band.

 Takao:  The sky is really the limit for us.

 Sasaki:  It’s really fun making our own world completely unrestricted. There’s times where we come up with crazy requests for the staff and it causes all sorts of mayhem and trialing, but I find even that to be such a joy.

 Takao:  I love how it feels like we’re coming up with this ourselves. Afterwards, I’ll see all sorts of theories in our Twitter tags being made about us, like “Oh, so did this mean that I wonder?” and I’ll always go “Yes!” (laughs)

Like with the drama parts for our 1st live, our lines were pre-recorded and we just moved our bodies without opening our mouths to lip sync or anything. That was something we came up with while discussing with our producer; that because we’re supposed to be dolls, we wouldn’t move our mouths to express ourselves. There were fans who caught onto that, and I was so excited I sent stuff about it in Ave Mujica’s LINE group chat (laughs).

 Sasaki:  She’s always sharing stuff she finds like that.

 Takao:  I send things like, “Look! Everyone caught on to how we meant to portray this!”

 Sasaki:  When people first experience our concerts, they wonder “what is this band trying to portray?” but then they pick up on what’s going on and they enjoy both the play parts and the song parts. In a way, it feels like our audience is helping make the world with us.

――It’s like the audience is another part of Ave Mujica.

 Sasaki:  Yes. They’re our witnesses and accomplices after all.

From the 0th live to the 1st one

――What kinds of things do you consider when performing as Ave Mujica?

 Takao:  With Sakiko, I think hard about what motions she would make and such. She grew up as a proper lady, so I try to make her still feel elegant when performing. I also try to really portray that she is the founder of Ave Mujica in my performances of her, so I’ve been rehearsing that plenty.

 Sasaki:  When I perform, I try to convey that I’m Doloris, and no longer “Uika Misumi”. I try to keep in mind that Uika is being possessed.

 Takao:  In the anime Sakiko makes a lot of fierce expressions, but when she’s on stage, she smiles a lot. I was surprised at first when I realized that. So I try to have Oblivionis have a bewitching aura to her. I really try to make it seem like she’s enjoying herself on stage, and I keep that in mind with my movements and gestures for her.

――Is it like you’re also being possessed by your role, Takao-san?

 Takao:  I like to look back on the anime before performing, because if I can’t get into portraying Sakiko or Oblivionis properly, I won’t enjoy it myself. So I guess I would say I’m possessed by my role. Ricochi, what about you?

 Sasaki:  (Doing an Oblivionis impression) Down to my fingertips.

 All:  (laughs)

 Takao:  She’s always doing impressions of her (laughs).

 Sasaki:  I think Nontan’s really impressive for how much subtle nuance she puts into portraying her character. During 0th live, all I had in mind was “I just need to move”.  When looking back at the footage, I thought “I really didn’t represent our world well enough,” and seeing how Nontan acted, it was like she’s elevated out of the concert hall to her own world. I swear I saw a halo above her head (laughs).

 Takao:  (laughs).  Take Choir ‘S’ Choir for instance. I play it as if I’m in a grassy field. In my head, I imagine myself in different places as I play, and it’s almost weird to put into words.

 Sasaki:  I can always tell!

 Takao:  I’m so glad!

 Sasaki:  I can also tell “ah, that note she played felt so solemn,” and “she sounds like she’s having fun over there”.

 Takao:  I always try to convey my feelings into my sound and movements, so I’m glad it gets across. Though whenever I see Doloris, it really makes me feel like I’ve entered Ave Mujica’s world for real.

 Sasaki:  Aw, I’m so glad!

 Takao:  It’s neither Ricochi nor Uika Misumi. It’s Doloris. When I see you turn into her, I also feel something click within me.

 Sasaki:  It’s like we flick on a switch in each other.

 Takao:  I feel that when I look at the other members as well. I think something else fun about the band is by watching our movements and interactions, it makes you ask all sorts of questions about the characters and their relationships with each other.

 Sasaki:  We touch hands with each other and look at each other while singing and stuff. We come up with those things after a lot of discussion amongst ourselves. I think 1st live really opened the breadth of Ave Mujica’s musical expression.

“We always sing by going with the flow”

――What kinds of discussions did you band members have in preparation for your first live, Perdere Omnia?

 Sasaki:  Around New Years as the concert drew closer, we started doing video calls with each other to share our ideas for how we wanted to move during it.

 Takao:  The camera of course reverses the shot, so it was quite difficult to explain things to each other using it (laughs).

 Sasaki:  We were fine-tuning things right until the last minute. For our 0th live we wore robes and I used a standing microphone, but for this one I switched to using a headset mic. That really changed a lot. I was able to get closer to the other members while singing, and in general I was able to move around much more.

There’s hand mics too, so there’s all sorts of ideas to try out. I think singing while holding a mic in my hands would be fitting for the stage play aspect, while there’s other songs that work well with a standing mic. With a headset mic I get to go closer to everyone else, or who knows where else… (laughs).

 All:  (laughs)

 Takao:  The headset setup is really good, because whenever I see her having fun singing with it on, it makes my tricky parts in songs turn into really fun ones. Her enjoyment is contagious. I always think “Ricochi is so powerful!”

 Sasaki:  I could say the same about you! Hearing you all playing alongside me makes me able to put more power into my voice. There’s moments where I’m so absorbed in our world that my head starts to go fuzzy. When that happens, I’ll listen carefully to Nontan’s piano and Doloris comes back in full swing. I’ll also purposely turn up Yuzumoon’s guitar playing so it’s louder in my better ear monitor, and I’ll listen closely to when we match up perfectly. I do this with the bass and drums as well; I use all five of my senses to feel everyone else’s playing as I sing.

――What’s a song you feel that most strongly with?

 Takao:  It’s Angles for me. Not to go back to this, but during our 0th live, expectations were high for us, and then the anime aired and we performed as an opening act for Roselia, so the fans were going wild.

That pressure was definitely felt during our 1st live. I thought “we really need to put on a show that proves we’ve leveled up,” and I felt much more nervous than usual. Ricochi and Yuzumoon’s guitar teacher would always watch in on our rehearsals, and they pointed out “whenever you get nervous, you tend to not look at the other member’s eyes. If you get nervous during the concert, why don’t you look the other’s in the eyes as a sort of amulet for yourself?”

――That’s some good advice! Those words alone can be an amulet of its own, too.

 Takao:  I remembered it right before the concert started. Personally speaking, among the setlist I was most anxious about Angles, which starts with singing and my piano. I asked Ricochi “during Angles, please look me in the eyes”. During the concert she really did make eye contact with me, and I was able to enter Ave Mujica’s world safely. 1st live made me realize that making eye contact really is an amulet for me.

 Sasaki:  Actually during rehearsals, I was looking at her a little too much. I was scared I was overdoing it, so I tried looking for a good balance of how much to stare at her. If I was in her shoes, I feel like I’d be unable to focus on my playing, being stared at so much. But when the day of the concert came around, she told me “please look at me,” and that made me happy. I looked at her very comfortably during it.

 Takao:  Comfortably? (laughs)

 Sasaki:  Seeing Nontan play her instrument so full of passion made me able to match up my singing to that same extent. With passion in my singing and the two of our hearts matched up… that’s how Angles is born.

Ave Mujica - Angles (Official Music Video)

――You could really feel the tension at the start of Angles.

 Takao:  All I could think is “I’ve never had the spotlight on me this much before”. When I saw the footage of the livestream after, the camerawork on the two of us was incredible.

――Sasaki-san, how did you feel during that part?

 Sasaki:  The biggest thing was acknowledging the song takes place in Doloris and Oblivionis’ world, just the two of them. Of course I thought about how we were in concert, but all I thought of as I was singing was “this world only has the two of them”. I don’t recall being very nervous during it. Oblivionis’ playing was so reassuring and bright, so I really felt confident, and that everything would be okay.

 Takao:  Amazing!

The insane riff master, and the stressful arpeggio

――Sasaki-san, so there’s songs that you find hard, but having the other members by your side makes you feel confident?

 Sasaki:  I have to sing while also playing the leading guitar part, so there’s times where I feel like I’m going to snap. Though Yuzumoon also plays along with me. She’s an “insane riff master”.

 Takao:  (laughs)

 Sasaki:  Rhythm guitar is not easy. I’m sure Yuzumoon was so nervous during her ending arpeggio during Angles.

 Takao:  She really did it perfectly during the concert!

 Sasaki:  Yuzumoon would never admit in conversation how much she’s grown. She just demonstrates it in her playing. I always feel that potently whenever we do rehearsals or concerts together. During 1st live, while hearing her arpeggio that’s filled with blood, sweat and tears, I came in and did my own solo at the end. Our producer who came up with this was a genius.

We both had hard parts, but we can both feel that if we play together, no matter how hard it is, we’ll do our best. Without needing to actually say anything to each other, we speak through our playing.

It’s a magnificent world, however, it’s nowhere to be found

――You also performed Subarashiki Sekai, Demo, Dokonimo Nai Basho for the first time.

 Sasaki:  Our 1st live had the story of “the discarded dolls destroyed the world and created a new one,” and Subarashiki Sekai, Demo, Dokonimo Nai Basho was the first step in that plan. The D-melo was like a wielded guitar, in a way.

 Takao:  Like a sword.

 Sasaki:  Exactly. I sang and played the song with the image of destroying the world.

 Takao:  For me, I played thinking of Oblivionis as “the world’s envoy,” so I tried not to move too much during the song. In my head Oblivionis plays the song while standing frigidly, playing with both hands, staring forward without looking at her keyboard.

 Sasaki:  You say it like it’s nothing, but that really is crazy. It’s like she’s no longer human (laughs).

――(laughs) Could you talk a little about the song itself?

 Sasaki:  1st live really came together beautifully. “Perdere Omnia” actually means “destroy everything”. Subarashiki Sekai, Demo, Dokonimo Nai Basho has the lines “destroy it, destroy it” within it, so the song is about creating a new world from its ruins.

It’s really the essence of Perdere Omnia. The song is about destroying everything and starting from scratch, and I sang and played my guitar while keeping Doloris’ determination and preparation in mind. Listening to it really gets me in the mindset, and I hope the audience feels the same way. As our accomplices, they destroyed the world together with us and we brought them to a new one. I kept that in mind during my recording for it.

――It’s an easy song to listen to.

 Takao:  Even though it’s about destroying the world, Ricochi’s voice is so smooth during the chorus. I love that part…!

 Sasaki:  Thanks!

Saved by BanG Dream! Ave Mujica

――Could you tell us as much as you can about some highlights regarding the upcoming anime, BanG Dream! Ave Mujica?

 Takao:  I put everything into Sakiko’s acting right from episode 1. After I finished recording episode 1, the director, Koudai Kakimoto told me “your acting made me cry”.

 Sasaki:  I want to watch it already!

 Takao:  That’s how passionately I recorded it, and the staff all had a high level of empathy while working on the sequel. I think it’ll really live up to expectations. Even episode 1 alone will make you cry (laughs).

 Sasaki:  It showcases each and every character, and we’ll see new sides to girls that we haven’t yet. I’ve finished my recording for it by now, and all I can say is it’s saved me, in a way.

 Takao:  Same here! I feel saved by it.

 Sasaki:  Everyone will have their own views on it, so I can’t wait to see everyone’s reactions. I can’t say much about it, but it has the same kinds of twists and turns that the MyGO!!!!! girls went through. I think the warped emotions, and the relationships being twisted are all beautiful. I don’t think that beauty only exists in “pretty” things, and that there’s a shine and beauty in the ugly.

 Takao:  After I finished recording the last episode, I thought “Ave Mujica really is a ray of light”.

 Sasaki:  It’s hard to talk about it without spoiling stuff, but we got to record together and it was a lot of fun.

 Takao:  In BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!!, it revealed that Uika and Sakiko were childhood friends, but the sequel shows us even more of their relationship.

 Sasaki:  We threw in a lot of ad libs in our acting.

 Takao:  We really did!

 Sasaki:  There’s fun scenes as well as tense ones.

 Takao:  I hope everyone will watch it to the end.

――Now that you’ve finished recording for the sequel, is there anything you’d like to reflect on regarding the finale of BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!!?

 Takao:  My feelings have changed in all sorts of ways. After watching the finale for the sequel, rewatching BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! again has me feeling like “oh, so that’s what was happening here”.

 Sasaki:  BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! was full of mystery still, so it definitely deserves a revisit, and make sure you pay close attention to everything in it, because there’s a lot of moments where you’ll start to connect the dots.

TVアニメ「BanG Dream! Ave Mujica」解禁PV

(Subbed version)

Looking towards a magnificent future

――You’re currently putting out one song per month for five months.

 Sasaki:  The anime hasn’t even aired yet, so it’s such an honor.

 Takao:  We don’t actually know what the songs will be like yet.

 Sasaki:  Yes. I’m so excited to have and be able to sing five new songs that showcase Ave Mujica’s world in their own ways!

 Takao:  It’s like, “Ave Mujica, you made too much of your world!” (laughs). I wonder in what ways they’ll form the world? The possibilities are endless.

 Sasaki:  I’m sure they’ll each have their own story to them. We’ve been dolls up until now, but I hope in the future we get to try other ideas.

――I can’t help but wonder how high the bar for your new songs might end up being…

 Sasaki:  I’m ready to take on anything! I’ll be playing with everyone else after all, and I’ll be sure to absolutely cherish each and every line in the songs.

――Your Blu-ray feature for your 1st single contains footage of your 1st live. I hope people will watch it and go to your concerts. I look forward to what your concerts will be like after the sequel anime airs.

 Takao:  Me too!

 Sasaki:  What will they even be like?! (laughs)

 Takao:  I imagine there will be some sort of change by then. I’m sure the direction for them will shift.

 Sasaki:  The staff has so much fun coming up with ideas, it makes me happy.

 Takao:  I trust them all wholeheartedly!

 Sasaki:  The members and staff are both just wonderful.

――Your 2nd live will take place in June and July. Is there anything you can say about it yet?

 Takao:  We don’t know what the setlist or direction, or what new songs will be performed at it are yet. I just know the concert will show everyone a new world to Ave Mujica, so I hope everyone comes to watch us in all of our newness.

 Sasaki:  The possibilities for what we’ll come up with are endless, and we’ll do our best to discuss among us five members on how to create that new world together. To our audience, Ave Mujica is still wrapped in mystery and not a lot is known about us, but I hope they’ll gladly let Ave Mujica engulf them in its darkness. We’re all villains of the same stripe, after all. I hope you’ll enjoy the world of Ave Mujica alongside us.

[calmlyerratic]

Encounters of the Future Sort

Chapter 3: The Calm Before the Storm

by @calmlyerratic

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Ch Summary: AU time travel. The Marauders run into Harry.

James' eyes began darting back and forth between Remus, Sirius, and Peter, his mouth slightly ajar.

"Prongs? You all right?" Sirius raised an eyebrow.

He felt Remus' gentle hand on his shoulder. "Er—Sirius, I don't think that's James…"

ch wc: 2.7k — rating: T — cw: none

Read Chapter 1 | full Summary & Chapter Index

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Remus' POV

Gryffindor Tower

with Sirius and Peter

April 1st, 1996

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"I think I have banana in my ear," Sirius complained, trying to dig it out with his finger. "A lot of help Prongs was, slippery git."

Sirius, Remus, and Peter had emerged from the battle against Peeves quite scathed, each supporting the stench of dung and the remains of rotted fruit on their clothing. And lodged in their extremities.

"Probably got caught up begging to sign another autograph," Peter huffed, putting a finger to his nose and blowing a chunk of rotted pear out one nostril.

Remus chuckled somewhat manically. "Good one, Wormtail."

The three boys had reached Gryffindor tower and the portrait of the fat lady gazed down upon them.

"Fortis leo," Sirius sighed, wiping his pulpy wand off on his robes. He ran a hand through his hair that usually fell around his face like elegant, dark curtains, but was currently coated in sticky, slimy muck. "Ucckk—I really need a shower."

"You aren't the first to try those words today," the fat lady replied stoically.

Remus groaned. "It isn't fortis leo? Bollocks, I missed last week's Prefect meeting—what is it then?"

The fat lady looked affronted. "You think I'm going to tell you?"

Remus tapped his shiny badge in obvious authority. "I'm a Prefect."

Although, it was his first year with the title and the ins and outs of it were quite grey. He really just wanted a nice hot bath and a nap.

"Are you?" she raised an eyebrow. "I was under the impression that Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger were the new Gryffindor House Prefects."

Sirius and Remus exchanged a glance.

"Weasley?" Remus racked his brain. "Like…Arthur Weasley?"

"Yes, I believe that is his father," the fat lady answered.

Sirius shook his head, amused. "Arthur Weasley left Hogwarts a few years ago, he can't have a son that's a fifth year. Are you feeling all right, sweet lady?"

When Sirius really wanted something, he put on his devilish charms. How someone could be so positively persuasive covered head to toe in dung and rotten fruit, Remus wasn't sure.

The fat lady analyzed them for a moment. "You know, you three look familiar…"

Sirius smiled a dashing smile. "Of course we do—we live beyond your great protection, fair lady."

Remus glanced sideways at him and ever so slightly cocked an eyebrow that said, you're laying it on a little thick.

However, the fat lady blushed, quite flattered, adjusted her pink silk dress and cleared her throat. "Hmm, yes…you do remind me of someone—"

Before she could finish her thought, the portrait hole creaked open and a group of Gryffindors spilled into the corridor.

"Merlin bless," Remus mumbled as the three boys clambered inside.

Peter scanned the cozy common room. "Hmm, no sign of Prongs…"

"Probably already showered and is off chatting up Evans…" Sirius grumbled, disappearing up the spiral stairs to the boys' dormitories.

Remus shrugged at Peter, really not prioritizing this at the moment, and followed Sirius upstairs.

"Whoa, since when have you been so keen on the Chudley Cannons, Wormy?" Sirius laughed, examining Peter's bedpost.

Remus was tired. And quite hungry. Flaming orange quidditch teams meant nothing to him—he was more of a reader. So, when he approached his bed and all of his current reading material wasn't where he left it on the bedside table, his gut wrenched.

"Where are my books?"

"What's that?" Sirius asked, removing his black wizard robes and leaving them in a dark heap on the floor.

"My books…they're not here."

"I dunno, Moony." Sirius shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe the elves have been in to tidy?"

"No," Remus shook his head. "They never move my books."

"I'm really more concerned about the taste of dung in my mouth," Sirius wrinkled his nose unpleasantly. "I heavily advise you not to kiss me right now."

"Duly noted," Remus rubbed the back of his neck.

"Hey, what the hell is this?" Sirius opened his bedside drawer where he kept his toothbrush and it overflowed with chocolate frog cards. "Are these yours, Wormtail?"

"No, I gave all mine to my cousin last year." Peter frowned.

Sirius held a card up and it shimmered in the light spilling in from the window. "Huh."

"Er…I don't remember hanging these." Peter gazed around at his vibrant bedpost flair.

"Moony," Sirius drew his handsome eyebrows together, "something isn't right…"

Remus was exhausted, covered in pulpy fruit, he had missed lunch, the full moon was three days away, and his books were missing. It was a recipe for disaster. Not to mention the lingering uneasiness from the exploding cauldron that morning…

"Moony?" Sirius pried softly, sensing the calm before the storm. "What do you reckon?"

Remus ran a finger up and down the long scar trailing across his nose. "I reckon I need a shower and a snack, before I can reckon."

"Okay, Moony." Sirius nodded calmly, (almost irritatingly so, in Remus' opinion)."You go ahead, Wormy and I will wait."

Remus opened the trunk at the foot of his bed, hoping to find a change of clothes, but quickly realized that it was not actually his trunk at all. He closed it again with a great *SNAP* that made Peter jump and resolved to scorgify his disgusting clothes clean.

However, there was a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach that even a hot shower couldn't wash away.

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Hermione

Hogwarts Corridors

with Ginny and James

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"Isn't she loveee-ly,"

Hermione glanced sideways at Harry, who was moving his head to an imaginary tune. A tune confusingly indicating his romantic interest towards Lily Evans, no less. She hadn't quite made sense of it all yet, but if it was dark magic it probably wasn't logical anyway. The key with dark magic was to catch it quickly, so the sooner they got to Madam Pomfrey, the better.

"Where is Evans again?" Harry asked, tousling his messy raven hair very uncharacteristically.

"Erm, s-she's in the hospital wing."

Hermione glanced nervously around. The last thing they needed today was to run into a member of the inquisitorial squad, or worse...

"Wait—the hospital wing?" Harry stopped short. "Is she all right?"

"She's fine," Ginny reassured, pulling him firmly along the corridor stairs. "I think she, er, needed a calming draught. Pre-exam stress, you know?

Harry nodded, knitting his brow. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense..."

Hermione had been wondering if it would happen—if Harry would give way under the enormous pressure he'd been under. So much had happened in the last few weeks, and she knew he felt responsible for a lot of it. The DA had been caught, Dumbledore had been sacked, and Umbridge was now Headmistress. Not to mention their rapidly approaching O.W.L's. This overwhelming sequence of events had Hermione just as on edge as everyone else, hanging on to a thread of what little peace of mind she had left.

"Isn't she woonderfuul—"

Hermione needed a calming draught too. Or a perhaps a large butterbeer.

──────⋆──────────────

Remus

Boys Dormitories

with Sirius and Peter

──────⋆──────────────

"Moony…you have to see this."

Remus emerged from the loo to Sirius and Peter sitting on what should be James' bed—but was discerningly not—hovering over a leather-bound picture album.

"Do I?" Remus muttered.

A blast of hot air shot out of his wand, which he pointed at his hair like a blow drier. He shuddered from the sudden warmth, feeling quite sleepy.

"Still grumpy, but at least you smell nice," Sirius winked.

"Pushing your luck, Padfoot."

"Look," Peter was wide-eyed. He held up the album and pointed to a photo. "It's us."

Remus crossed the dorm and narrowed his eyes. It was a photo of the four Marauders: they had their arms around each other's shoulders and were laughing.

But, there was something strange...they looked more mature. Sirius was taller than James, wherein now they were the same height. And was that—

"Lily?" Remus knit his brow. "Is she—"

"Snogging Prongs," Sirius shook his head solemnly. "Never thought I'd see the day. Wait 'til you see the one of their wedding…"

Peter flipped through the album. Sure enough, Sirius was right. James was wearing black dress robes and Lily was all in white.

Remus met Sirius' lovely silver eyes in accusation. "You aren't pulling my leg?"

Sirius shook his head sincerely.

"I wish I was. I think we may have unwittingly entered apocalyptic times, Moony." He got to his feet. "Don't spontaneously combust while I'm gone—if the sun goes black, take shelter!"

Remus ignored him as he disappeared into the loo. "Pete, where did you find this?"

"It was here," Peter pointed to James' bed. "Just laying here!"

Peter looked up and around the ceiling like it had fallen from the heavens.

"Do you…d'you think it's really us? It looks just like us."

"I dunno, Pete." Remus breathed out, massaging his eyes. He should be angry, but he was too tired. "Let me think for a moment…"

Remus laid down on his bed. Or was it even his bed? He didn't know anymore. The facts were outweighing the speculation at this point. He really had been looking forward to a quiet Saturday afternoon of reading—not cleaning up after another one of James and Sirius' barmy excursions.

That bloody cauldron…

"So, darling Moony," Sirius flopped onto the bed beside him, jolting him from a nap he must've slipped into. "I know you have some sort of, ah—reasonable revelation? Let's hear it."

Remus rolled onto his back and stared at the celling. He took a deep breath.

Factual, Remus, he told himself. Be factual. Maybe it's not as bad as it seems…

"Well, for one, that kid who called James 'Harry'." Remus held up a finger. "For another, I could have sworn I knew the password—I thought we used it just this morning after breakfast?"

"Yeah we did," Peter nodded anxiously, pulling at a loose thread on the sleeve of his robes.

"The fat lady didn't recognize us…" Remus continued, decidedly not vocalizing that she thought Arthur Weasley's son was the fifth year Prefect and she didn't seem to know who any of them were.

"And the weather also, not to mention I don't like the Cannons—and the photo album?"

"He's getting there, Wormy." Sirius was watching Remus like he was a tornado forming and there was a wind advisory.

Peter held up a photo of himself in a bowler hat with a feather sticking out of it. "I don't wear bloody bowler hats."

Yup, Remus breathed out. This was bad.

Peter looked back and forth between Sirius and Remus. "Is no one else concerned about this? This isn't even our dorm!"

"We're all very concerned, Wormtail." Sirius rolled his eyes, quite downplaying the whole situation in obvious guilt. He was a master blame shifter.

"I think…" Remus chewed on his lip. His stomach grumbled loudly. "I think I need food before I implode on myself like a dying star."

"As you know," Sirius smiled dashingly, like the wind of storm Moony had begun and he was encouraging them all to take shelter. "I'm quite versed in the language of the stars. I concur—to the kitchens! But first, Wormtail, you bloody reek."

Peter put a hand to his mousy hair, caked with rotten fruit pulp, and grimaced. "Right…"

──────⋆──────────────

James

Hospital Wing

with Hermione and Ginny

──────⋆──────────────

Hermione, Ginny, and James approached a large stone unicorn fountain that marked the entrance to the hospital wing.

"Wait here Har—I mean James," Ginny winked, red pony-tail blazing behind her as the two girls left him just inside the Infirmary entrance.

James was nervous. He hoped Lily was here because of exam nerves and not relating to the exploding cauldron from this morning...

"I trust there is a good reason for this intrusion?" he overheard Madam Pomfrey say. She was spooning some disgusting looking green liquid into a glass which she handed to her patient.

"Yes...er, well, it's Harry…" Hermione motioned over to James, who pretended to busy himself tying his shoe. "He's not, erm, feeling himself."

"That's no surprise, poor soul, having to deal with so much..." Madam Pomfrey sighed. "A calming draught should set him straight."

"Well, you see," Ginny began awkwardly. She glanced around and lowered her voice. "He, er, thinks he's his father..."

My father? James thought. What are they on about?

"Hey, I don't see Evans here," James called. This prank was getting a bit odd. "Tell her I'll catch up with her later, yeah? I still need to find Sirius, Remus, and Peter."

Madam Pomfrey clutched her heart. She bustled over, grabbed James's arm and led him to a vacant bed. "Sit, dear boy."

"Oh-okay?" James sat and Hermione and Ginny peered at him anxiously.

Madam Pomfrey waved her wand silently over his face and chest.

"What are you doing?" James knit his brow.

She finished her incantations and lit the tip of her wand, shining it into his eyes.

"Pupils are dilating..." she murmured. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Is this part of the prank too?" He asked Hermione and Ginny. "Persistent, I'll give you that. Bringing Madam Pomfrey in on it, really next level—"

"Answer the question please, dear." Madam Pomfrey prompted firmly.

"Yeah, okay." James shook his head, a bit annoyed at being cornered by the strict matron. "My name—it's James Potter."

Madam Pomfrey stifled a gasp but gathered herself quickly. "A-and what year is it?"

"It's April 1st, 1976."

"Harry..." Hermione sat at the foot of his bed with imploring eyes. "It's April 1st, 1996."

"Ohh, so not a parallel dimension? Time travel, is it?" James cocked an eyebrow, leaning backwards onto the bed and running a hand through his already tousled hair.

Madam Pomfrey clasped a hand over her mouth as she watched him, like he had suddenly gone spectral. She turned very seriously to Hermione and Ginny.

"There's no sign of injury or traces of dark magic," Madam Pomfrey assured, like James wasn't sitting right there. "There is some quantity of magical residue...but that's not an entirely uncommon substance, especially when emotions are high."

"Magical residue?" James puzzled. She must be referring to what Remus had sensed in the Room of Requirement. "I'm confused—"

Madam Pomfrey gently set her hand on his forearm.

"We know, dear. Let me fix you a calming draught and you'll feel right as rain." She squeezed his arm and disappeared into her office.

James waited until she was out of earshot, then turned to Hermione and Ginny.

"Look, I respect your dedication but this is kind of becoming a drag."

He jumped to his feet and waved a hand in farewell, with a disarming smile.

"Peeves is at large and I'm a deserter, so...nice to meet you both, I appreciate your time, and see you around!"

Hermione and Ginny stared blankly after him, mouths slightly agape, as he jogged through the large wooden infirmary doors and out of their sights.

──────⋆──────────────

Sirius

Corridors

with Remus and Peter

──────⋆──────────────

"D'you think Hermione'll let me copy off the essay Snape set us?"

"Probably not. Worth a go though…"

Remus, Sirius and Peter were in a dim corridor in the dungeons, just outside the kitchens, as they overheard these two unfamiliar voices.

"Hmm wonder who that is? I hardly ever see anyone down here," Sirius mused. Tickling the pear in the painting outside the kitchens was a bit of a coveted secret.

Two boys about the Marauder's age turned the corner. One had red hair and was quite tall and lanky; the other had spectacles and jet-black hair that stuck up in the back—

"Oi! Prongs!" Sirirus shouted.

The two new boys came to a sudden halt and laid very wide eyes upon the three Marauders. The red head, who had a mouthful of sweets, was gaping so widely that crumbs fell to the floor.

"Where the hell did you go off to, then?" Sirius rounded on James. "We had to fend Peeves off by ourselves! Luckily he found some first years to go after…"

James appeared frozen to the spot. He was looking at Sirius like he didn't believe he was real.

"Prongs?" Sirius took a step towards him.

The red haired boy had turned chalk-white. He took a step backwards as Sirius encroached, tugged at James' robes, and swallowed hard.

"Harry…have I gone mad or a-are y-you seeing this too—?"

James' eyes began darting back and forth between Remus, Sirius, and Peter, his mouth slightly ajar.

"Prongs? You all right?" Sirius raised an eyebrow.

He felt Remus' gentle hand on his shoulder. "Er—Sirius, I don't think that's James…"

────────────────⋆────

Read chapter 4 here.

──────⋆──────────────

Notes: So sorry to leave you all here! Next chapter starts off quite a bit more seriously with an interesting point of view…then gets lighter with some more banter and shenanigans, don't worry :)

────────────────⋆────

[xxsycamore]

𝐈𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐃𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐢⁉️

↬ 💢 The residents get back at Dazai for the prank he pulled on them last April Fools' Day... or at least they try?

Dazai Osamu x MC ; featuring also Theo, Vincent, Isaac, Comte, Leonardo, Sebastian, Napoleon, Jean, Shakespeare, Mozart, Arthur • rating: G • tags: Pranks; Humor; Crack; Cursed ending • wordcount: 1, 498 • masterlist

a/n: It's Dazai's and Clavis' favorite day of the year! Special thanks to @aquagirl1978 and to everyone else who shared their prank ideas! Enjoy!

read last year's fic here! - DOOR BROKEN - USE OTHER DOOR

"Can't we just go have dinner like normal people already?!"

A cacophony of ten people shushing Isaac fills the mansion's foyer. As if gathered to watch a play at the theater, all residents concentrate their gazes on the…big doors of the entrance. Which is not the most interesting thing to watch, next to maybe watching paint dry, but Isaac keeps those thoughts to himself, not wanting to be scolded again.

Theo is seated down at the second step of the stairs, hammer in hand. He was the most enthusiastic one about putting their plan into action, having worked the hardest to made it true. Meaning, he nailed up half of the mansion's windows, leaving the other half to the others. Which included having to prevent some from moving Mozart's piano to block the piano room's floor-length windows, just because it's easier that way.

The plan? It's simple. After last year's broken door fiasco, it's time to get back at Dazai.

Last April 1st, a certain mischievous purple haired writer (and his partner in crime, MC, that noone is mad at, because, well, she is MC. They suspect she was bribed somehow) decided it would be fun if he put a sign DOOR BROKEN - USE OTHER DOOR on each and every entrance of the mansion, thus making ten men resort to climbing up through the window in order to get inside - and in the process, having them commit the most infamous Dazai crime there is, becoming no different than him.

This time, the tables have turned.

"The tables… oh, messieurs, how about I bring the dining table here, in the foyer? I'd hate to make you wait for your meals."

Unlike Isaac, Sebastian is not aggressively shushed by the rest of the people in the room. But much like them, his desire to watch the historical event of master Dazai entering through the door (diary at the ready - what diary? Noone sees a diary. There's no diary) wins the battle against his reasonable thinking process. They have to put a hand on his shoulder and comfort him that it's ok, and the table can remain where it, is in the dining room.

Theo fidgets with the hammer, as if preparing to swing it with full strength at the door, the moment it opens.

At some point, MC rushes in from the kitchen along with Vincent, holding out large bowls of popcorn to the others.

"What if he got kidnapped?" MC munches worriedly on her popcorn, staring at the door.

"Nah, what is he, an otome game protagonist? He's fine."

Theo nods, agreeing with Arthur. It's truly heartwarming to see them bonding in their shared hate for Dazai. In moments like those, it seems like Theo hates Dazai even more than he hates Shakespeare - who is by the way also invited to witness the spectacle, and Theo is not at his throat, which is quite something.

MC shakes her head, their questionable dynamics are not what's important right now.

"You're all too cruel… what if he never returns home again?"

…

"What if he never returns home again?" she repeats.

…

"You hate him THAT much?!"

MC sighs, shoving more popcorn in her mouth. She thinks of the good times spend with Dazai… well, they're not many, but…

***

Another hour passes by, seeing the residents playing card games sprawled at the top of the stairs. Leonardo is napping nearby in Comte's lap, the latter reading a book. He even bought his coquettish little binoculars he uses when at the opera, just to witness better the moment when his naughty child enters the mansion. Sebastian is wiping the stairs' railing, the squeaking sound of the rag being the only background noise in the foyer.

Isaac hugs his legs, leaning against the nearby wall, a small smile appearing on his face.

"Do you remember when Dazai brought a living chicken into the mansion?"

"Man, that was some good soup."

"Monsieur Napoleon, I'm sorry to inform you but that chicken never got cooked."

"What, you lied?"

"I had to teach him a lesson. Who knows what animal he would've returned with, next time."

"You have a point. But hey, what about that one time when he swapped everyone's pets from their rooms? I think he was just trying to cheer us up."

"Theo ended up traumatized by finding a cat on his bed." Arthur reminds sharply.

Theo grips the hammer in one hand, continuing to hold his cards in the other.

"Well, yes… but it's the thought that matters, no?"

"Once he sneaked up in the university and gave all my students apples, so I ended up having my whole desk buried in apples…"

Isaac scratches the back of his neck, hiding the hint of nostalgia that came with the memory. The gesture was a little sweet despite everything, but still, he won't forgive the writer for doing that!

"He stole my eyepatch once."

Everyone goes quiet. The unspeakable.

"Seems like he's done something bad to all of us, huh…"

"That's why he deserves to be publicly embarrassed by entering through the door. Get your minds right."

"But Theo! We're too cruel to him! He might truly never return home, and then all those memories…"

A couple of heavy sighs resonate through the spacious room. If there is something holding the ability to soothe Theo's temper, it has to be Vincent - and those words are a little too hard to gulp down.

Theo turns the hammer in his grip, its claws facing forward. He gets up on his feet.

"Okay, okay, fine. Let's get those windows open and go have dinner or something. I have better things to do anyway."

Then, suddenly, the entrance door opens.

Everyone turns their attention to the place, Comte grabs his fancy little binoculars, Theo turns the hammer the other way around (with no real intentions of throwing it, hopefully).

A man clad in a tuxedo suit walks in, his polished shoes producing few thuds against the glossy flooring as he casually enters and then turns to close the door behind him, as if it's the most natural thing in the world. Wait, it IS the most natural thing in the world.

"D-Dazai? Is that you?"

Dazai turns in the direction of the voice, hand moving to slip inside his hakama out of habit, and when not finding it there, he opts for crossing his arms in front of his chest instead.

"MC? Oh, everyone else is here too? Is something the matter?"

"Why the hell are you dressed like that, you clown?! And why are you walking through the door as if it's nothing? Where's the look of defeat on your face?!"

"My, my, Theodorus! Why, where should I enter the mansion from, if not the door? Where do you enter from, Theodorus?"

"Did he just say his full name?!"

"Do you find something strange about me calling him by his full name, Isaac?"

"ISAAC? WASN'T I APPLE-KUN TO YOU? WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT?"

"Apple-kun? Do you prefer I call you that, instead? Because you love apples that much?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

"He clearly hit his head somewhere. Maybe if we hit him again he'll go back to normal."

"No, no, gentlemen! I haven't hit my head anywhere! I'm simply a changed man since today. I wanted to surprise you all by entering through the door tonight, thinking that sadly noone would be around to witness… but look at you all lined up to see me! What an honor!"

"He even combed back his bangs… is this really our Dazai?"

Arthur blinks, then points a finger at Dazai. "Chap, you're telling us that we didn't have to spend all day nailing up the windows?!"

"You've done…that? What other mischief have you been up to, since I was gone? Tsk, tsk."

Arthur is about to have an aneurysm. And he's not alone.

"Let's just go eat."

"Yeah."

The foyer that was full of people just a second ago is now all empty save for Dazai and MC, the former still not quite getting what is happening - or rather, pretending to be confused, while secretly feeling so satisfied with himself he could rip his suit apart and start running around. He hasn't had that much fun in awhile. But he won't break character so soon.

And the latter, standing there out of genuine confusion with whatever just happened; but also…

"I'm glad you're okay, Dazai-kun."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

MC hugs Dazai, not really feeling it necessary to answer his question.

"This suit looks good on you too…"

Alternative cursed ending:

"My! I should wear it more often, then."

***

"You've done…that? What other mischief have you been up to since I was gone? Tsk, tsk."

Dazai shakes his head in pretended disappointment, but then suddenly gasps.

"So, all windows are unable to be opened right now?"

"That's right."

…

"It would be VERY bad if someone were to fart right now."

"NO"

"NO"

"NO"

"NO"

"NO"

"NO"

"NO"

"NO"

"NO"

"NO"

Taglist: @arsnovacadenza @ale-teodora @kimi00twin @otomelady @privilegedpancake @g-kleran    @pumpumnnnp @thesirenwashere @ravenarld @kimmy-banana @devonares @animeworldsposts @randomanimatedhusbandoseeker @galaxyprison @sadshaxk @starshards26 @pro-cat-stination @acethephoenix256 @ikevamp-shrine-2 @nad-zeta @crystal13unny @keen19thcenturygoatsstudent @lordsister @ikemen-banshou   @themysticalbeing @canaria-blackwell @otome-scribbles @rhodolitesrose @coornn @kpop-and-otome @queen-dahlia @kisara-16 @chaosangel767 @ikemenlibrary @queengiuliettafirstlady @aurora-morning @aquagirl1978 ​ @ikemenlover24 @violettduchess @mcofthemansion @joy-the-reader @katriniac @ikemen-writer @tele86 Let me know if you want to be tagged/untagged!

[she-karev]

The Lucas greys shot was so cute,just curious can you do a part 2 possibly. I love the Lucas Amelia link bond and Lucas and scout cousin cuteness please. Also makes me wonder if he ever told any of his add learning of it. ?

ADHD Reveal (Lucas Adams and Amelia Shepherd ADHD Imagine)

Age Rating: 12+

Chapters: One of One

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy

Canon Episode: Between Season 19 Episode 17 and 18

AN: Hey guys I know I’m late responding to this request but I’ve been busy with school and other one shots. I learned that October is ADHD awareness month so I thought it would be a perfect time to write this considering the theme. Like and reblog below and let me know what you think.

Summary: Amelia finds out her nephew Lucas has ADHD after accidentally ingesting his medication mistaking it for Aspirin. When she confronts him, he unloads his frustrations on her and their family for missing this.

Words: 5066

April 1st, 2023

“Adams!” Lucas Adams turns to find his chief resident, Amber DeLuca, inside the locker room holding a tablet ready to start the day, “You’re with me and Hunt today in the ER lets go.”

Lucas nods and quickly grabs his aspirin bottle to put inside his lab coat pocket. It’s not for a headache, it’s secretly storing his ADHD medication that he was recently prescribed two weeks ago with Nick Marsh’s help.

Ever since he found out he was neurodivergent Lucas felt everything come into clear focus on why no matter how hard he tries his mind wonders elsewhere. But with it comes a frustration not towards himself but towards his family. In a massive family of doctors how can a kid with clear signs of ADHD be dismissed as a problem child?

“Question Adams is today gonna be a busy or slow day in the ER?”

Lucas snaps out of his dark question to focus on his job that he hopes he can improve on now that he’s taking proper treatment and his focus is becoming more acute.

“Um doesn’t it usually vary?”

“It does.” Amber confirms, “But on April fool’s day the stupidity of the human race reaches heights even TikTok can’t record. Today people pull dangerous and straight up deadly pranks on others and guess who takes care of the damage.”

“First responders?”

“Who take them to us so we can make sure they live to see April 2nd. Now this is a popular prank, The Surfing Challenge, what are the common injuries from a teen riding a car like a surfboard?”

“Fractured pelvis, broken bones, road rash and brain injuries.”

“Correct, you’re with me all day. Any major traumas I have you will be by my side. Now normally I would request either Griffith or Kwan on my service but I personally requested you.”

Lucas looks genuinely shocked at that but knowing his boss thinks it’s a joke, “Is this an April fools prank to psych me for today?”

“Surprisingly no. I’ve noticed your improving work performance the past week, your able to multitask without royally screwing up and making mistakes that only a 1st year med student could make.”

Lucas furrows his eyebrows at that, “That was kind of a back handed compliment but thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet.” Amber states bluntly, “I’m taking you with me to really test you in a high stress environment. And the ER is the busiest room in this whole building. When patients come in, I am gonna point and yell, it’s how I operate so don’t take it personally.”

“I’ve learned not to at this point.” Lucas says as they head down the hall.

“See that is what I am talking about your finally learning, better late than never. I’m either gonna make or break you today so get your head in the game.”

“Yes Dr. DeLuca.” They enter the ER that is mostly empty this morning. Lucas spots an unopened water bottle at the station. He uncaps his aspirin bottle, pops the pill in his mouth before washing it down with the water.

“Incoming trauma two minutes out, gown and glove now!” Amber yells out to Adams who puts his aspirin bottle behind the station by a desktop before joining in on what will surely be a productive day.

Half an Hour Later

“Now you can see why you shouldn’t eat a spoonful of cinnamon.” Amber tells her teen patient who is breathing through an oxygen mask. He has brown smudges on his shirt and mouth that are from taking the cinnamon challenge. Once they opened his airway and cleared his lungs Amber set him up for oxygen therapy.

Adams looks over the chart for the lung function results, “His lungs are inflamed, should we put him on corticosteroids?”

“Let’s ask him.” Amber turns to the patient, “Simon, are you able to breathe without pain? Can you inhale without the mask? Let’s try.”

Simon takes the mask off and inhales causing him to couch violently, and Amber quickly puts the mask back on calming him down.

“Yep, give him 20 mg’s and call his parents they need to know their kid skipped school to eat cinnamon.”

Adams inserts the drug into the IV before going to the station to call Simon’s parents from the phone when he stops. The station is filled with files, tablets and pens but it’s not what’s on it that stops Lucas dead. His aspirin bottle filled with his Adderall prescription is missing.

Lucas quickly gets behind the desk and looks around the clutter for his bottle. He moves papers, puts tablets on top of the desk, and moves desktops to look in the back. His heart races as the gravity of this hits him, his Adderall is missing possibly in the hands of a doctor or nurse who is unknowingly taking speed.

Amber hears the clutter and looks to find her intern behind the desk moving objects around frantically. She sighs at the sight not expecting Lucas Adams to make a mess so soon after their shifts start. Amber turns to the nurse who looks puzzled by the scene as well.

“Monitor him please, I will be right back.” Amber snaps her gloves off and approaches her intern with a stern face. He doesn’t see her coming as he is on the floor of the station looking around the dirty floor.

“Adams I am almost afraid of what the answer might be but I am going to ask, what are you doing?”

Lucas’s head pops up from under, “Somebody took my aspirin, I need to find it.”

“I had high hopes for you today, Adams, it was a first and now it’s the last.” Amber pinches the bridge of her nose, “Aspirin is a dime a dozen ask a nurse to get you another-”

“No I need that bottle!” Lucas exclaims standing up and seeing his boss narrowing her eyes at him.

“Two things, 1. You do not interrupt me again, 2. You will tell me what is so important about that specific aspirin that warrants you to yell at the woman who can fire you with one call. Go.”

Lucas inhales and exhales to keep his anxiety under control before explaining in a hushed voice, “I was diagnosed with ADHD two weeks ago and the neurologist prescribed Adderall to take. I carry it with me inside a bottle of aspirin that I left at this station, and it’s gone which means someone took it with them by mistake.”

Amber stands there frozen for a moment to process before she laughs scaring Lucas who looks at her in shock. She laughs like it’s the funniest thing for a few moments before forming coherent words.

“Y-You’re pranking me, right?” Amber asks with a wide smile, “This is an April fools’ prank, oh Adams you almost gave me a heart attack, good on you.”

Lucas stands there frozen in place with a remorseful face that Amber sees causing her to gulp as her smile begins to die.

“Why aren’t you laughing? Laugh Adams so I know your messing with me, please!” Lucas looks down at his feet in fear causing Amber to frown as she realizes he’s telling her the truth. The chief resident inhales deeply to keep calm so that they don’t raise suspicion before moving closer to the intern asking in a low voice that sends shivers down Adams spine.

“Are you telling me that a doctor or nurse might be taking your ADHD medication by mistake causing them to be impaired and a danger to patients?”

Lucas stands there scared to give an answer that might have him punched. However, he knows silence will ensure his death so he gives a quick nod causing Amber to groan and turn to Owen Hunt who just entered the pit.

“Hunt!” Owen freezes at that shout that he registers as panic, “I need to attend to an emergency outside the pit and I need Adams with me.”

“DeLuca, we got patients, and they need-”

“Hunt I would never ask this of you unless it was life or death you know that and if you look at my face you will see the sheer panic and anxiety that will grow unless you let me go, now!”

Hunt looks shocked by that but complies knowing the resident well enough to see her fear, “I’ll page Parker and Kwan to cover you for the next hour.”

“Thank you.” Amber turns to her intern who looks panicked as well, “You’re with me so you can watch me clean up your mess. Again.”

Later

“It must be a hell of an aspirin to go through this much trouble.”

Amber rubs her eyes at that statement, “Carl you have no idea, just run the footage at 7:13 AM that’s when we got the paramedics with the patient and when my intern put his bottle at the station. And let’s keep this between the three of us unless something horrific happens and I need to get a lawyer, so I don’t lose income for my family.”

Lucas looks down in shame at that comment knowing it would be his fault if Amber got fired for his mistake. Despite how blunt she is and how much she reprimands him, he knows it’s because it’s her job to make sure he does better next time. But even when his focus becomes clear he still screws up. It makes him more frustrated at himself and everyone else around him.

The security guard goes over the security footage of the pit at Amber’s command. Meanwhile, Amber and Lucas are speaking privately a few feet away from the desk. She speaks to Lucas in a low voice so no one can hear them.

“Why do you keep your Adderall in a bottle of aspirin?” Amber asks sternly, “They already have them in orange pill bottles telling people who they’re for and what they are.”

“I-I didn’t want people to find out. I just got diagnosed I’m trying to find my footing and I’m getting used to my meds.” Lucas replies truthfully, “Everybody already thinks I’m a screwup especially my family I didn’t want to give them an excuse to hammer on me more or reasons that explain why I screwed up so much. But I can see that I didn’t think it through.”

“Gee you think?” Amber asks sarcastically causing Lucas to look up in shame. Remorse falls on the resident who tries to mend her words, “Look I am not shaming you for being neurodivergent. Half of my classmates in med school had ADHD, as long as you are finally working on getting treatment you have my support. But you have to understand that accidentally drugging medical professionals is severely frowned upon and could lead to both of us getting fired. Do you understand now why we keep pills in orange bottles?”

Lucas nods, “Yes I understand now it won’t happen again.”

“See to it that it doesn’t.” Amber sighs looking at the tape, “We just have to hope whoever took your aspirin didn’t take any. There! I see someone reaching over the station! Run it again.”

Amber and Lucas lean forward to get a closer look at the footage. They see a woman in a lab coat rubbing her temple and leaning against the station before grabbing the bottle and taking it with her. The footage stops as her face comes to full view revealing it to be Amelia Shepherd.

Lucas sees this and sighs at this unfortunate turn of events, “And it keeps getting better.”

Later

Amber bursts through the surgical doors searching for the chief of neuro. She darts her eyes around the area hoping that Amelia is prepping and not in an OR high on speed. Amber spots Amelia speed walking to the gowning station looking jittery as she takes a pair of booties before sitting down where her leg is shaking against the floor. The chief resident knows what this means causing her to gingerly approach Shepherd.

“Dr. Shepherd.”

Amelia smiles up at the chief resident before responding at hyper pace, “Hey Amber, let me ask you do you ever have one of those days where you have all this energy in your body and you just want to work out until you get it all out? I hate running so my outlet is surgery which is where I’m headed right now. Aneurism clip it’s nothing to it, just go in and out, it’s like when my college roommate had a guy over oof let me tell you she knew the definition of in and out.”

“Okay I need you to be honest with me right now, did you take aspirin this morning?”

“Yeah it didn’t work I still got the headache and I was excited to crush a stuffed crust pizza for lunch but I wasn’t in the mood.”

Amber nods bitterly, “Yep that tracks. Okay my friend you and I are gonna take a nice walk to the attendings lounge, let’s go.” She links her arm to Amelia’s who follows confused.

“But I have a surgery.”

“No you do not, your nephew will explain in a bit just keep walking and maybe don’t talk so much for all of our sakes.” Amelia keeps quiet allowing Amber to guide her to the attendings lounge where Adams is waiting anxiously.

“I-Is she…?” Lucas asks.

“Oh yeah.” Lucas groans at that confirmation. Amber grabs a water bottle from the fridge and hands it to Amelia who paces back and forth high on speed, “Hydrate now.”

“So bossy.” Amelia sips her water and ends up chugging it empty, “Oh wow I needed that, thanks.”

“Yeah, I don’t think your gonna feel thankful with what we’re about to tell you.” Amber turns to Adams who has his hands behind his head leaning against the fridge with a worried face, “Tell her. Your aunt, your mess. I’ll be in the pit when you’re done, I’ll call Link and tell him the situation.” Amber leaves the room with Amelia looking at Lucas confused.

Lucas sighs before getting off the fridge and approaching his aunt with guilt etched on his face. Amelia is still pacing in the room, “Um aunt Amelia…that aspirin you took it wasn’t aspirin it was my Adderall for my ADHD.”

Amelia stops pacing and faces Lucas with a wide-eyed expression, “…What?”

“That was my aspirin bottle you took only I don’t keep aspirin in it I keep my Adderall in it. I was diagnosed with ADHD two weeks ago and I’ve been taking it ever since, I am so sorry.”

Amelia’s bliss extinguishes at this and is replaced with shock, “Lucas! Oh my god! I am high right now! I’m six years sober I am a mom I cannot slip especially not now!”

“I-I-I didn’t think anybody was gonna take it.” Lucas explains clumsily.

“Then why did you keep speed in an aspirin bottle to begin with?!” Amelia asks frustrated, “I almost went into surgery strung out of my mind! I am in people’s brains for a living do you know how much focus and steadiness that requires?”

“I didn’t mean to get you high. And it’s not like you knew I mean doesn’t AA make exceptions for this?”

Amelia scoffs, “Recovery means being sober at all times it’s not like cheating on a diet or skimping on chores, it could mean ruined lives! God how is it you got me involved in your mess again?”

“My mess?” Lucas asks clearly triggered, “You think this is all my fault? I tell you I’m taking meds for my neuro disorder, and you somehow turn it around and make me the Black Shepherd again? Are you freaking kidding me?!”

Amelia is startled by his yelling and he continues, “Did you ever stop to wonder why I’m like this? Hyperactivity, lack of attention, inability to focus, irritated easily, I read all of those symptoms online and it all made sense to me so why didn’t it make sense to all of you?! Everybody called me lazy and stupid even my own family and your freaking doctors, neurosurgeons how could you have missed this?!”

Amelia frowns at this as her frustration passes and guilt settles in as her nephew continues ranting, “You know I get mom and dad and even Uncle Derek but you…you know what it’s like to be different to be seen as messed up and yet you took one look at me and thought the same things they did why?! It’s not like ADHD is rare and you go into people’s brains for a living, neurological issues are yours and Uncle Derek’s main language! Maybe if any of you had seen it and caught it early, I could have gotten treatment, I could have gotten this under control, I could have been something. I could have gotten better grades, got into the best colleges like you and Derek. I could have been a better doctor but instead you like everyone else in my life thought I was stupid, why?!”

Amelia is stunned silent by this struggling to respond causing Lucas to scoff, “You know what forget it, I’m going back to the pit. At least there are people there that don’t think I’m just another lazy idiot.” With that Lucas storms out slamming the door behind him leaving Amelia to stew in her guilt.

That Night

“Okay Scout is down.” Link proclaims as he enters his ex-girlfriends living room where she is sitting on the couch looking at the coffee table in torment, “I’m gonna stay here until you feel better and make sure you call your sponsor. How are you feeling? Are the symptoms subsiding?”

“Mostly.” Amelia answers in a numb tone, “I still feel thirsty, and I still got the headache that’s grown with the knowledge that I just broke my sobriety after six agonizing years.”

Link looks at Amelia in sympathy and sits down on the couch next to her, “You thought it was aspirin, something over the counter. You didn’t intend to get high; you didn’t intend to endanger yourself, your patients or our son. It was an accident, and you won’t do it again.”

Amelia darkly chuckles, “Yeah that’s what I said over ten years ago when I accidentally drank champagne at a friend’s wedding thinking it was ginger ale. (Private Practice Season 4 Episode 20) I played it off as an accident, a mistake and I ended up prescribing myself oxy and waking up to my fiancé who OD’d beside me. I fell until I hit rock bottom and it almost killed me.”

“So, you know not to do that again.” Link encourages, “Because you know if you do your son might have to grow up without a mom around. A good mom who is trying her best even when life throws hurdles at her. You stayed sober after Ryan, you stayed sober after Christopher, you stayed sober during a pandemic. You earned those 6 years, don’t let one accident mess up your progress. You know what happens if you do so I know you won’t do that again, you just have to know that too.”

Amelia looks at Link flattered knowing no matter what they will still love each other even if they are not together anymore. She also knows he will be her cheerleader when she feels the weight of the world on her shoulders, and she will forever appreciate it.

“Thank you.” Amelia sips her water bottle.

“How are you feeling otherwise? Are you okay?”

Amelia purses her lips, “Well I feel good about keeping my sobriety, I didn’t intend to get high and I don’t intend to ever. Although I feel guilt and depressed over being the worst aunt in the entire world so that’s not great.”

“You’re not the worst aunt in the entire world.”

“My nephew says otherwise.” Amelia retorts bitterly, “And why shouldn’t he? I like everybody else in my family thought he was a mess. He never followed instructions, he had to do everything his own way, his grades were barely passable, all that time I never thought there was something to explain why he was like that. I never thought he could have a learning disorder, and I am not only a terrible aunt but a horrible doctor as well. I remove inoperable tumors; I paved the way to cure Parkinson’s and yet I couldn’t see that my nephew was suffering from ADHD.”

“You weren’t the only one who didn’t see it.” Link reminds her, “His mom didn’t see it but then again I met her so I’m guessing she had expectations for her kid bordering on perfection.”

“You have no idea.” Amelia confirms with an exasperated tone, “But I know what it’s like to be considered the Black Shepherd so I could have understood his struggles better. I could have helped him; I could have been his safe haven, but I wasn’t because his mother drove me crazy, and I avoided her except on Christmas and birthdays and Lucas was a casualty. I wasn’t around as much as I should have been, and he suffered because of it.”

“Did you get a degree in diagnosing neuro divergent disorders at the drop of a hat?” Link asks causing Amelia to glare at him, “I’m not trying to be a jerk I am just saying this disorder can be missed even by doctors like you. Maybe you could have caught this if you were around more or maybe you couldn’t, we’ll never know. What happened in the past happened and you can’t change that, that’s what they teach you in AA right?”

“Yeah.”

“How does that saying go? Accept the things you can’t change…”

Amelia inhales and exhales before finishing, “Gain the courage to change the things you can and the wisdom to know the difference.”

“Yeah that’s right, you can’t change Lucas getting diagnosed sooner you and I both know that.” Amelia nods solemnly, “But you can change what happens from now on now that he’s been diagnosed. You can give him the help you wanted to give him when he was younger. Maybe when he sees how hard you’re working to make up for your lack of attention he’ll realize he has a pretty cool aunt on his side. And if he doesn’t then it’s his loss, what do you say?”

Amelia looks at Link in thought before her brain comes up with ideas to help her nephew and make up for her mistakes.

Three Days Later

Lucas is in the living room of what used to be his Aunt Meredith’s house and is how his, Griffith’s and Yasuda’s. He is reading from his flashcards that Nick Marsh gave him to help him study for the ABSITE’s.

Marsh told him it helped him pass with flying colors and thought Lucas could benefit from it as well. Lucas finds this to be true as the medical notes are easy to read with examples to help. He knows even if he caught this too late at least someone like Nick can guide him through it unlike his own family.

He hears the door opening and closing but is deep in his notes to look up, “Did you get any Chinese? I’m starving.”

“No but I brought sushi.” The familiar voice makes Lucas look up to find it’s his aunt Amelia holding up a takeout bag with a guilty face, “I thought it would be the first step in the Aunt Amelia apology train.”

Lucas is stumped by this gesture and almost wants to welcome it. However, he is still angry towards Amelia and feels his outburst was warranted. Their relationship has been fraught since he joined the program, but he feels he can’t forgive and forget knowing she like so many others let him down when he needed help the most.

He looks back down on his notes and replies icily, “I’m not hungry.”

Amelia is not mad, she knows it’s gonna take more than Japanese takeout to make up for her short sightedness, “I get it, I would give the cold shoulder too after what I said the other day. I wouldn’t be so cold and silent though I would be belligerent and give a verbal lashing that could rival yours three days ago.”

“What do you want?” Lucas asks impatiently, “Are you here to try to get me to tell your sponsor that I accidentally got you high so there’s only one screw up in the family?”

“Lucas I could be 20 years sober, and I would still be the screw up in the family.” Amelia retorts half amused, “And my sponsor believed me and didn’t change my sobriety date, so I am good on that front. Now I am moving on to making things right with my nephew who gave me an Oscar worthy speech the other day so to start I am sorry. I will elaborate further.”

Lucas holds his hand up to stop her, “Look let’s not do this. No amount of sorry is gonna change what happened and it’s not gonna make 12-year-old me get diagnosed and treated. Now I am sorry for accidentally getting you high, I can see now orange pill bottles exist for a reason and I will use them from now on. I’m working out to combat the symptoms and I’m improving on my work so much that even Amber DeLuca is impressed. We can work together without any more incidents and outbursts. Let’s just…keep things professional from now on okay? I think it’s best for all of us.”

Amelia looks hurt by this for a moment before gaining the courage to work harder on her apology, “You didn’t mean to get me high; I know that and I also know that me saying your ADHD ruined my life was a low blow. I should have handled it better, I should have taken into account why it took so long for you to get treatment. And your right things could have been different if you had gotten this diagnosed as a kid. Maybe I could have seen it if I was around more when your were a kid. College, med school, residency are all time consuming, and sacrifices were made. Also, your mom has made it her life’s mission to remind me of my mistakes every time I come and visit so that kept me away as well. I think you know as well as I do that your mother, while I love her is not the most likable person to be around for long periods of time. She can be snarky, brash, judgmental, hold on to grudges and just an outright bitch on occasion.”  

“Hey!” Lucas snaps looking up with a glare, “Just because I’m mad at her doesn’t mean I’ll stay quiet while you insult her, that’s my mother you’re talking about.”

“And she’s my sister so I get to talk bad behind her back all I want.” Lucas rolls his eyes, “My point is that I can’t change the past short of getting a time machine we can’t diagnose you earlier and support you when you needed it most. The past is in the past and there’s no way to go back and correct all the mistakes we’ve done.”

“You’re really lifting my spirits here.” Lucas remarks sarcastically still reading his notes.

“I can’t change what happened, but I can change what happens moving forward.” Lucas looks up for the first time without venom instead he has curiosity in his eyes, “You say that you could have accomplished more if we caught this earlier, you say that like it’s too late but it’s not. You’re still young, you’re an intern, you’re at the prime of your career where you have so many opportunities to live up to the family name. It’s what you want to do, and I am gonna help you do that because it’s what I would have wanted when I lived in our pedestal family’s shadow.”

Lucas looks at Amelia with tenderness at this offer as she continues, “Now I am working to develop my Parkinsons research and while it’s not nominated maybe it will win me the Catherine Fox award next year. Assisting me on that could pave the path you want and finally show our family screwed up doesn’t mean stupid. What do you say?”

Lucas sighs as his anger begins to subside with this offer. For so long he wanted to be seen as good enough in his family and now his world-class surgeon aunt is offering to help him with that. It makes him want to take her offer, but his loyalty matters more to him.

“I wish I could but I’m already helping Dr. Marsh with his genetically modified pig livers. He’s already nominated, and I hope he wins, it can give people like him and me a role model to look up to.”

Amelia is taken back by this rejection but is oddly pleased with this loyalty from her nephew, “That is very admirable of you. Nick Marsh is a good man, and he helped you when all of us failed you so he more than earned your assistance. He can help you be the surgeon he and I know you can be.”

Lucas nods at this before speaking in comfort, “Well you’re the first person besides Uncle Derek and Nick who said that about me, if that counts for something.”

Amelia grins at this start to a more stable relationship between them before the food calls to her, “Well the offer still stands but until then are you hungry for sushi now? I know it’s not Chinese but I promise I got goodies in here for us both.”

Lucas is enticed by the smell of food as his hunger grows, “What did you get?”

“Yellowtail jalapeno for me, spicy tuna on crispy rice for you and wonton tacos for both of us.”

Lucas salivates at that before putting his notes away, “Okay but I get most of the tacos.”

Amelie chuckles, “You do not want to challenge me on that trust me.” She sits down next to him on the couch taking the food out so they can eat together as a family for what will hopefully be the start of a new and better beginning between them.

[prettyinlimegreenboots]

Taking Comfort (In Your Arms) - Chapter 17

April 28, 1945, 1000 Hours

“Captain Baker, please join us.” Jeffrey called from his office as Addie’s eyes drifted from the report she was typing up. Sighing, she pushed away from her desk, giving Josie a nervous look before walking into the CO’s office.

Stepping into the office, Jeffrey motioned to her to shut the door, pointing to a seat in front of his desk. She looked between Buck, Rosie, and Charlie, all who had big grins on their faces before looking at Jeffrey taking a seat. “Whatever they said I did, I most definitely did not do.” 

Buck, Rosie, and Charlie had to hide their chuckles, while Jeffrey merely raised an eyebrow. “Guilty are we, Captain Baker?” 

“With those three grinning at you, yes. I have been keeping my nose clean for the last few weeks.” She looked over her shoulder at the three, giving them a menacing look. “Whatever this is about, I assure you I’m innocent. It must’ve been the ground crew.” 

Jeffrey chuckled, shaking his head. “You’re not in trouble, Addie. Though I assume there’s something that I’m not aware of yet.” 

“So, what did you want to see me about, sir?” She asked, trying to stop herself from digging a hole. She heard the three men behind her chuckle. Since Buck’s return to base, the jokes had returned and picked up. Though Addie had steered clear of getting herself into any prank wars, she might have been the brains behind some of them. 

Jeffrey looked between the four pilots, wishing he was away from the antics, clearing his throat, wanting to get down to business. “The Allied forces have put out two calls for different missions - one will be a humanitarian food drop for the Dutch while the other is ferrying POW men and women to different bases. Now I’m nominating you four for the missions, but I thought I would see if any of you have a preference on which mission I sign you up for.” 

“When are these missions slated to take place?” Rosie asked, looking between Addie and Jeffrey. Addie bit her lip, attempting to figure out what questions she needed answered before she decided which mission she wanted on.

“May 1 will be the first one for both. The RAF starts their drops tomorrow and we’ll drop on May 1 - we’ll be hitting different areas than the RAF groups. The POW camps have started to be liberated so we’ll have a list of where to go, most likely Germany to start.” Jeffrey explained. 

Addie shifted in her chair. “What will we be flying into Germany?” 

“Lemmons and his crew are currently stripping down a B-17, big enough to fit 25-30 POWs. You might be running two to three missions before you land back here. I’ll get more details in the coming days, but I’ve gotten word there could be more than 4500 people in just one stalag. Allies aren’t sure what you’re going to be walking into.” Jeffrey gave the four of them looks. “Now, are there any other questions?” 

Addie shook her head. She didn’t dare get up hope that John and Elizabeth could be at one that they were planning on landing at. She bit her lip as she looked at the men behind her. “Sir, I’d like to be on the rescue mission.” 

Jeffrey nodded. He knew she would want on that mission. “Charlie, are you okay going with her?” 

“Yes, sir.” Charlie parroted back, while Addie grinned at her big brother. “Is there anything else we need to know before we take off?”

“We’ll do a debriefing in two days, by then I should have more information.” Jeffrey looked between the siblings. “One other thing, you’ll have to fly below 10,000 feet due to not fitting the plane with oxygen tanks. We don’t have the room for them.” 

Charlie and Addie both nodded. “Yes, sir.” 

“One more thing, the rescue mission is highly confidential - no one on this base outside of us five know this is happening. Of course, our infirmary will be ready for any wounded, but not a word of this until that plane touches down on May 1st.” Jeffrey eyed them, seriousness in his eyes as they came to attention and saluted him. “Alright, dismissed.” 

Leaving the office, Addie’s eyes went wide as she took a seat at her desk. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled slowly. 

She couldn’t believe what she had been waiting for could finally become a reality. John and Elizabeth could finally be coming home.

May 1, 1945, 0500 Hours

Throwing her bag into the stripped-out B-17, she made her way up into the belly of the plane, taking a moment to see just how empty the back of the bird was. There were stacks of extra blankets in the middle of the plane but other than that, the space was empty. Knocking her knuckles along the tin side, she made her way to the yolk. Grinning, she hopped up, seeing Charlie in the co-pilot seat. 

“Morning!” She smirked, watching him jump as she collapsed into the pilot’s seat. “You saved my seat!” 

Charlie grinned at her. “Didn’t feel like fighting you this morning. That 0330 wakeup call came earlier than anticipated.” 

“Get fired up, Charlie. We’re going to rescue some people today.” 

Charlie grumbled to himself, something about there’s not enough coffee, making Addie giggle. 

Fighting off a yawn, she started her pre-flight checklist. Soon the engines were turned on and they were taxiing down the tarmac. “You know we are getting the raw end of the first part of the deal?” 

“How so?” She asked, ferrying down before they were airborne, pushing the bird through the low-hanging clouds. The still dark sky made her smile. 

Charlie brought the landing gear up, before looking over at her. “Buck and Rosie didn’t have a 0330 wakeup call like we did. Their wake-up call was happening at 0800 hours.” 

“Awww, does Charlie need his beauty sleep?” She teased, adjusting their airspeed. “Besides, they’re going to be making more runs than we will - they’ve got two runs today. I’ll take the longer run and the earlier start time.” 

Charlie shook his head. “You’re just happy you got to be in the yolk today.” 

“Damn right, Charlie.” She adjusted in the seat, knowing they had another 3 hours of flight before they would land in Munich Germany. 

They were told that these POWs were transported from Poland to Munich days before. Allied Forces had gotten them out of the Stalag, brought to a processing center, where they were triaged and grouped, depending on the base they needed to get back to. Those that were more seriously injured were already sent to English hospitals. Those that remained just had to wait for planes to come pick them up. Addie couldn’t imagine the anticipation they had - they had survived the most awful thing, and all those men and women were told just to wait a bit longer.

She didn’t know if it was anticipation or wishing time would go by faster that made the three hours pass by more quickly than she realized. But soon, Charlie was radioing the base’s tower for landing instructions. 

She groaned hearing the distance of the tarmac and how tight of a landing it was going to be. She had done worse but not since her ATA days. Charlie followed her instructions and soon enough they were on the ground, pulling onto the designated hardstand. 

Shutting the engines off, Charlie made the first move to exit the plane, with her right behind him. Swinging out of the plane, landing softly, he looked up at her still in the plane. “Do you remember the name Jeffrey gave us to give?” 

Slipping out of the plane, she reached for her little notebook. Flipping it open, Addie shielded her eyes from the sunshine. “Colonel Owens?” 

Nodding, Charlie looked around the little airfield, with people seemingly taking up every square inch. “I’m going to see if I can track him down.”

Following behind him, she heard various accents as they passed groups of men. There had to be hundreds, if not thousands of men across the vast space. She kept her head swiveling as she attempted to keep up with Charlie for anyone that she may know. 

Charlie came to a stop, standing at attention before introducing herself and him to the Major. “Major Charlie Baker, and Captain Adelaide Baker, sir. We’re with the 8th Bomb Group - Colonel Jeffrey sent us.” 

“Ahh, yes, Jeffrey.” Colonel Owen gave them both looks, shaking Charlie’s outstretched hand. “8th Bomb Group you say?” 

Addie tuned them out as she looked around the space. Worn out faces stared back at her. She tried to keep a smile on her face but found it hard at what she was witnessing. “Addie?” 

Charlie softly called her name as she whirled around to face him. “Sorry, caught up in my thoughts.” 

“No problem, ma’am.” Colonel Owens gave her a curious look, holding out his hand for her to shake. “Just asked what’s a woman like you doing out here?” 

A bright smile crossed her face, eagerly shaking his hand. “Want to do my part to bring our boys home, sir.” 

“I see.” He looked at her suspiciously. “Well, let me get your flight manifest, then you can get on your way.”

Charlie motioned that he would follow the Colonel, leaving her alone. She pushed herself to move forward. She had to at least look, though it would take her hours to look at every man and woman within the space. 

Seeing men on stretchers, she headed that way. Carefully making her way up and down the makeshift aisle, she was glad when she didn’t recognize anyone. Turning, she started to make her way back towards where she left Charlie. But before she could make her way back there, something barreled into her. She fought to get her balance, wrapping an arm around whatever it was that barreled into her.

Addie couldn’t see anything. A body clung to her, tears streaming down their face as Addie looked. Once the face pulled back, Addie instantly recognized the eyes, causing tears to well up in her own eyes as she hugged the person. “Oh, tell me you’re not a mirage.” 

“Elizabeth!” Addie tightened her hold on her sister, as Elizabeth’s arms tightened slightly. “Oh, you’re okay!”

The two sisters stood, hugging one another, not saying a word, relishing in the fact they both made it. Elizabeth was alive and okay. She was safe and sound, and Addie wasn’t letting her go anytime soon. “Oh, it’s so good to see you, Elizabeth. How are you?”

“Much better than most of the men here! Who came with you?” Elizabeth asked, pulling back to stand beside Addie. 

Addie grinned, reaching down to link her hand with Elizabeth’s, giving it a squeeze. “He’s with Colonel Owens, getting our flight manifest for the trip back.” 

“Addie, I have to tell you something.” Elizabeth’s eyes scanned the area, before landing on her sister’s. “Buck . . . Buck escaped back when we were still doing night marches. Him and two others made it out but I don’t know where he ended up.” 

Hugging her sister to her tightly, Addie carted a hand through her hair. “Buck’s okay. He’s doing a humanitarian run today. He made it back to Thorpe April 2nd. He’s okay, I promise.” 

Elizabeth’s shoulders sagged in relief at the news. “That’s good to hear. There’s something else you should know. I don’t know where John is. I haven’t seen him since we left the stalag. As a nurse, I left earlier than he did once the Americans came to liberate us. I haven’t seen any of the boys in the five days I’ve been here.” 

Addie could see the anguish on her sister’s face as the prospect of not keeping her promise of watching out for John, making sure he got home safe and sound. Tears streamed down Elizabeth’s face as she looked up at her sister. “I’m so sorry, Addie.”

“Hey, hey, you have nothing to be sorry for.” Addie cooed, pulling her sister into her arms. “God, Elizabeth, John and I will be reunited at some point but right now, you’re here with me, safe and sound. I can’t ask for anything more - you’re here, back by my side, safe.” 

Pulling back, Elizabeth wiped the tears from her face as Addie scanned the area. She knew Charlie would be coming back any time and she wanted to make sure she saw him in the mayhem of the place. “You said you’ve been here for 5 days. How many planes have been coming and going?” 

“I think the first land at 1000 hours and the last at 1800 hours. It’s nonstop - they’re trying to get everyone out of here and back at a base before sending them home.” Elizabeth sighed. “The guys I flew out with have already been sent back to England - they wouldn’t send me back as I’m an American and had to wait for my own forces to bring me home.” 

Addie smiled. “Well, I think I can make room on my plane for you. I think I can get my co-pilot to agree.” 

“Speaking of who is this grand co-pilot of yours?” Elizabeth asked as a man caught Addie’s attention. 

Turning her sister towards the hut Charlie was coming out of, she pointed. “Recognize him?” 

Before Addie could say another word, Elizabeth had gasped, and the tears started flowing all over again. “He’s back?” 

“Yeah, he got transferred back to Thorpe just before you were captured. He’s teaching at Thorpe and the only missions he’s gone up have been with me - two now.” She grinned, watching Charlie make his way towards them, reading the papers in his hand. As he looked up, he scanned the area looking for her. Addie pushed Elizabeth forward, motioning her to go surprise their brother. 

Addie stood there as Elizabeth walked up to Charlie and watched her two siblings reunited with hugs, laughter, and tears. She let them have their moment, crossing her arms, biting her lip to ward off another round of tears. 

Sniffling, she reached up and wiped away a few stray tears. Hearing a plane fly overhead, she looked up, shielding her eyes from the sunshine as she watched the P-51 fly effortlessly across the sky. A grin crossed her face as she felt herself relax a bit. Despite the emotions, she was happy to have her brother and sister both by her side.

“ADDIE!” 

She whipped her head from left to right trying to figure out who called her. She didn’t recognize the voice until she saw the man a few feet away from her. A smirk crossed her face as she crossed the distance between them. “DeMarco!” 

Throwing herself into his arms, she squealed when he picked her up and swung her around. As her feet touched the ground, he pulled her into a tight hug. “Addie Baker, as I live and breathe. It’s so good to see you.” 

“You as well, Benny! How are you doing?” She looked him over, head to toe. Besides being a bit skinnier and a new cut on his face, he looked well. 

Laughing, Benny shook his head. “Cannot complain. Heard from a little birdy you’re flying us home.” 

“Charlie is holding the manifest list hostage so I don’t know exactly who I’m flying home but I’m sure I can make space for you, if you’re not on the list.” She grinned. 

Benny threw his head back and laughed. “Appreciate that, Addie. How’s your dog doing?” 

“Meatball? Last I checked, he’s your dog. I was just keeping an eye on him.” She deadpanned, giving him a look. 

Shaking his head, Benny smiled. “Nope, he’s yours. He won’t even recognize me at this point - you take him home. He’s your dog, Addie.” 

“Agree to disagree; at least for a little bit longer.” She said, holding out his hand for her to shake. “We’ll see how he reacts when you come back.” 

Benny gave her a look. “I already discussed it with Egan. You two are taking him home with you when you go back to the states.” 

“You discussed this with John?” She asked, eyes wide with amusement. “Wasn’t there anything else better to discuss?” 

Benny chuckled. “There were days all we did was talk. You’d be surprised by what was discussed.” 

“Benny, don’t you remember the rules? What was discussed in the Stalag, stayed in the Stalag.” A teasing voice called as Addie squinted to see who was teasing her friend. 

Gasping, Addie squealed a bit, spotting Murphy, Crank, Brady and two other men she didn’t recognize coming closer to where her and Benny stood.  She eagerly gave them all hugs, letting them know it was good to see them. 

“Since these dodos don’t know how to introduce us, I’m Captain Adelaide Baker, formerly of the ATAs. You can call me Addie.” Addie held out her hand, introducing herself. 

“Second Lieutenant Alexander Jefferson, you can call me Alex.” He held his hand out for Addie to shake. 

She accepted it with a big grin. “It’s very nice to meet you, Alex.” 

Looking over his shoulder, she grinned at the other man standing there. “Second Lieutenant Richard Macon.” 

Addie shook his hand as the two men looked between Addie and the others around them. “Wait, is this Bucky’s Addie?” 

“In the flesh. I’m guessing that bigger dodo didn’t stop talking about me, did he? Or did you learn a lot about me from Elizabeth?” Addie looked at the two men curious. 

Richard laughed. “Between the two of them along with the rest of the men in the barracks, we heard plenty about you.” 

“Bunch of little hens - don’t know when you keep your mouths shut.” Addie mocking glared at all the men around her. “I’m guessing they told you all the secrets. For that, I apologize.” 

“Hey, we kept you in good light, Addie.” DeMarco huffed, giving her a look. 

Raising an eyebrow, Addie returned his look. DeMarco soon deflated, sighing. “Damnit Addie, there were a lot of downtimes in the barracks so storytelling was the only way to kill time.” 

Groaning softly, Addie shook her head. Turning to Alex and Richard, she grinned. “Do I want to know which of the stories they told you made you all laugh the hardest?” 

“The box you gave Douglass of course.” Alex chuckled, scratching his chin. “Bucky’s retelling might have made the entire barrack laugh pretty loudly that the Germans came and shut off the lights.” 

Addie smiled. Despite the storytelling, she was happy they were able to have some levity within the barracks. Laughter was a powerful tool and she was happy everyone seemed to hold onto it. 

She relaxed as she eyed at each of the men in their little circle. Despite the hell they had been through, they were smiling and relaxed in the moment. Raising an eyebrow, she looked at Brady, who seemed to shrink under her gaze. “Guilty about something, Brady?” 

“No, no Addie.” He stammered as he avoided her gaze, by looking behind her where Charlie and Elizabeth were standing, talking. “Glad to see your sister, Addie?” 

“I am. It’s good to see you all made it.” She crossed her arms, looking at Brady carefully. “Brady, a little birdy told me that there may be something going on between you and my sister - care to clue me in?” 

Brady sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Did this information come from a letter or a big bird named Buck?” 

“Possibly both of those sources.” She replied gently, giving him a smile. 

“Buck made it?” DeMarco exclaimed, giving Addie a look, reaching out to slug her arm. “Why didn’t you lead with that?”

She looked at them with a guilty look on her face. “Sorry, forgot you all don’t know that. Yes, Buck made it out alive. He arrived in Paris on April 1st, and I went to pick him up to bring him back to Thorpe on April 2nd.”

“You picked him up?” Elizabeth cried as she and Charlie joined the group. 

Nodding, Addie smirked. “It was my second mission since you went down. The Air Force reluctantly let me fly a couple of times.” 

“I expect a full rundown of everything that you did while we were in the Stalag.” Elizabeth gave her a knowing look, which Addie winked at. 

“I’ll tell you all about it.” She promised, turning to her big brother. “Were we given a wheel up time?” 

Charlie flipped through the papers, nodding. “They want us up within the hour. We have our manifest and they were going to start guiding people towards our bird. We should probably start to head over there.” 

Charlie started to lead the group back to their plane. Addie sighed, following them. She knew it was a long shot to find John amongst the hundreds of men. She shouldn’t have gotten her hopes up. And now, she was potentially going to leave him behind. But she had friends and family surrounding her as she started to make her way back to the plane. 

Taking a deep breath, she pushed the tears away, willing herself to be brave until she was on the plane. She would let Charlie be the pilot on the way back. Only when they were airborne, she promised herself that she would let herself feel the anger and let down of not finding the one person she was so desperate to see. 

One foot in front of the other was her mantra as she made her way closer to the plane. She listened to her boots hit the ground, one after another. The rhythm pattern grounded herself as the voices of men around her pushed her forward. 

“Addie Baker.” 

Looking over her shoulder, she could have sworn she heard her name being called but not seeing anyone there. She shook her head, she was hearing things. She just needed to close the distance between her and the plane. The early morning and the adrenaline easing were catching up to her. 

“Adelaide Baker.” 

Again, she thought she heard someone calling her name. Looking in front of her, she watched DeMarco, Murphy, Alex, Richard, Brady, Crank, and Elizabeth follow Charlie up into the plane. There was a line at the plane of other men that were being helped up inside. She watched the line, scanning the faces of the men to see if she recognized any. 

Shaking off the delusion of hearing her name, she took a step forward, only for something to make her pause. “ADELAIDE BAKER.” 

This time she wasn’t going crazy. Her name was clearly being called from behind her. Whirling around, her eyes shifted from the left to the right until they landed on a man. A grin burst across her face as she took him in. Eighteen months it had been. Eighteen months of no hugs, kisses, affection from the man, only his letters letting her know he was okay. And there, standing right there in front of her, was Major John Egan. A wide grin on his face as he took two steps forward, just as she ran directly into his arms. Throwing her arms around his broad shoulders, she felt him tug her up. She felt her feet leave the ground as he twirled them around. “Addie, baby.” 

“John.” She choked past a sob. “You’re here!” 

Leaning back, she put her hands on either side of his face, eyes scanning his face. Leaning down, she pressed a soft kiss to his lips. Putting her back down on the ground, she threw her arms back around his waist, pulling him closer to her. “You’re here.” 

“I’m here, Addie. I’m not leaving you again, sweetheart.” He murmured, tilting her head up so he could look at her. “You’re absolutely beautiful, Addie. I can’t believe I'm here.” 

Pushing to her tiptoes, she pressed another kiss to his lips, as his hand came up to her neck, deepening it. Hoots and hollers rang out around them as they pulled back, dazed looks in their eyes. Reaching up, she cupped his cheek, running her thumb over the stubble that was on his cheek. “I love you, John Egan.” 

“I love you too, Addie Baker.” 

With those words, tears ran down her face. Eighteen months it’s been since she heard his voice, those words, directed at her. John’s thumb ran its way across her jaw, a smile tugged on his lips before reaching up and wiping the tears away. “God, you’re a sore sight to see, Addie. Don’t think I’m ever going to stop looking at you.” 

Reaching up, she squeezed his hand. “I’m here, John and I'm never going anywhere.” 

His eyes trailed over her face, as if to memorize it as he smiled happily. The biggest grin she had ever seen was on his face, as if to remember that he had made it and came home to her. “One thing I have to tell you, Buck made it home. I picked him up in Paris a few weeks ago.” 

“You flew to Paris?” John’s eyes went wide, before laughing loudly. “Whatever happened to Buck swearing he would never fly with you again?” 

She giggled. “He didn’t have much choice. Charlie and I picked him up and brought him back to Thorpe. He’s alright - he’s actually on his own mission today, delivering food with Rosie to the Dutch.” 

“Him and Rosie? Delivering food to the Dutch?” He shook his head, reaching down to lace his fingers with hers. “I feel like there’s so much you need to catch me up on.” 

Nodding, she grinned. “We have all the time in the world. C’mon, I fear my co-pilot is getting antsy.” 

“Co-pilot?” John echoed, looking at her with wide eyes. “You’re flying us home?” 

Squeezing his hand, she nodded, eyes lit up with excitement. “Of course, handsome. I’m not leaving you here. Come on, let’s go before the Colonel gets word that we’re not wheels up yet.” 

Tugging him along, she felt him untangle their hands before throwing his arm around her. Stepping right up to the plane, her eyes lit up seeing Elizabeth and Charlie standing in the door of the plane watching the two of them. “Welcome back, John!” 

Charlie hopped down from the plane, holding his hand out for John to shake. Addie felt Elizabeth wrap her arms around her tugging her close, giving her a side a squeeze. “Happy?” 

“Feeling all the emotions currently. I shed tears when I saw him. I don’t know how I feel right now.”  She rested her head on Elizabeth’s shoulder. “I can’t believe he was standing right in front of me. Eighteen months.” 

Elizabeth smiled, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. “Believe it - your family is back together and we’re all safe and sound. Shall we head back to merry old England?” 

“As soon as you all get your butts on the plane.” She smirked, detangling herself from Elizabeth’s hold, starting her pre-flight checks. 

Running a hand on the belly of the plane, she watched Charlie and Elizabeth hop up into the plane while John waited for her. “Go on, get up in the plane. I’m right behind you - just have to finish the last checks.” 

Continuing on with her checks, she paused, watching him jump up in the plane. Finishing everything up, she pulled herself up into the plane, slamming the door behind her. Walking through the plane, she saw several men that she didn’t recognize but gave them big smiles, welcoming them aboard. 

Making her way through the plane, she pulled herself up into the yolk, collapsing on the chair adjacent to Charlie. “Are we heading straight home, or do we have to make a stop along the way?” 

“We have to stop at Radcliff before we touchdown at Thorpe.” Charlie grinned, watching Addie’s eyes rise. 

“Do they know we’re coming?” 

Charlie shook his head. “Nope, just that we’re going to be dropping off a few POWs there before heading back to our base.”

“Add that to our to-do list. Have a long discussion on where we’re going after the war is over - not sure if you want to go back to Michigan or somewhere else.” Addie looked over at her brother before starting the first engine. The other three were quickly started and before long, Addie was radioing the tower requesting take off instructions. Soon she was calling for tail wheel up and reaching cruising altitude just before 10,000 feet. 

Charlie shook his head. “Haven’t even thought that far ahead. Depending on where Anna wants to go - we still have a wedding to plan.” 

“I’m right there with you - depending on where John wants to go. I’m sure we’ll be back in Wisconsin before too long.” She chuckled. “And a wedding to plan - a crazy thought for sure.” 

Charlie nodded. “Ever think what mom would think?” 

“All the time. She would be so ecstatic to meet John and Anna. And Brady from what I heard.” She smirked, watching her brother’s eyes narrow. “She would be just excited that we were all coming home.” 

She bit her lip, attempting to ward off another round of tears. Throwing her head back, she looked up at the ceiling of the plane before laughing loudly. “I’m going to get sick of all these tears really quickly. The last thing John is going to want to deal with is a weepy gal.” 

“Don’t be too quick to think that, Bluebird.” His smooth voice broke through her laughter as she looked over her shoulder at him. 

“What are you doing up here, John? Don’t you know that you’re not supposed to be walking around in a plane while it’s in flight?” She teased, raising an eyebrow at him. 

Leaning a hip against her chair, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Had to see my girl in action, flying the plane.” 

Charlie looked between the two. “I can let you have the yolk, and I’ll go in the back by the men.” 

Addie glared at her brother as John cracked up laughing at the two. John put his hands up, turning to head back down to the navigator’s area. “No need, I’ll go back. Just had to watch Addie work as I will probably never see her in the pilot seat of a big bird any time soon.” 

“All your barrack dreams just came true, huh Egan?” Charlie called as John poked his head back in with the biggest grin.

“You know it, Charlie.” 

Addie rolled her eyes at the two. She did hope the two of them would become really good friends, and at that moment, she was regretting her wishes. “I have nothing - always thought you’d hate whomever I brought home.” 

“John Egan is a pretty great guy, and he treats you really well.” Charlie gave her a look. “You should be ecstatic that we get along so well.” 

Addie nodded, slowly. “I do but not when you two gang up against me. But rather you two get along than fight with each other.” 

“It’s the start of a beautiful life as one big happy family.” Charlie quipped, just as Addie reached over and slugged his arm. 

The rest of the flight was smooth and when Charlie radioed into the tower for landing instructions, she knew she was going to cry some more tears as soon as they landed. Landing softly, she navigated the plane onto the hardstand, killing the engines. Walking to the back of the plane, she looked at all the people in the belly. “We made a stop at Radcliff - if this is your base, you’re more than welcome to head out now. Elizabeth, wait here for a moment. Dad’s on his way out - we’re not staying long as we have a timetable to stick to but figured he’d want to set eyes on you.” 

Following those that were staying at Radcliff out, Addie joined Charlie as they watched the approaching jeep make its way onto the tarmac. Once the jeep was parked, Addie grinned seeing Anna and her father make their way to where they stood. Anna all but collapsed into Charlie’s arms as her dad pulled her into a big hug. “Good flight?” 

“Yeah, can’t complain. It was mayhem at the processing center in Munich. Brought you back 10 pilots.” She said, hugging her dad back. “We have one last surprise for you though.” 

Whistling, Addie turned towards the plane, watching the hatch open as Elizabeth tumbled out with a flourish, attempting to land gracefully. “I don’t know how you all do that so gracefully.” 

“When you’ve done it hundreds of times in your career, you just get good at it.” Addie called back, as she watched her dad’s eyes sweep over his daughter. 

“You’re home.” Her father said quietly, before pulling Elizabeth into a tight hug. 

Tears flowed down Addie’s face as she watched her dad and sister reunite after being apart for so long. Arms wrapped around her, tucking her close. Leaning down, John pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “Good tears?” 

“The best kind of tears. Hello tears, instead of goodbye tears.” She whispered, reaching up to wipe the stray tears away.  Lacing their fingers together, she gave his hand a squeeze, pressing a kiss to the back of his hand. 

Watching her family reunite with one another, she cleared her throat, a frown at her face. “While I hate to do this, we do need to get back to Thorpe. Dad, Anna, want to come over later this week? I think we need to have a big family meeting, now that we’re all back.” 

Hugs were exchanged, welcome back greetings for John and Elizabeth before promises to see everyone later that week. Soon, Charlie, Elizabeth, Addie, and John were back in the plane, and they were taxiing down the runway, heading back to Thorpe. “What’s with the sudden urge to get back to Thorpe?” 

“Well, Charlie. It’s currently 1300 hours and Buck and Rosie are supposed to be back around 1500 hours. I want to make sure we’re back first so that another reunion can happen, and I want a front row seat to that one.” She said, giving him a look, watching as his eyes went wide and he chuckled. 

“Ahh Buck and Bucky’s reunion?” He asked as she silently agreed. “That’s going to be a great reunion

Nodding, she got them airborne, pushing the throttle a bit to ease into their ascent. “I know just the way John can welcome Buck back.”

“Not sure I like that evil grin you have on your face.” Charlie quipped, giving his sister a look. 

Waving him off, she smiled. “It’s going to be a great reunion, and I’ll probably shed tears again.” 

Before long, the descent to Thorpe’s started. Addie confirmed with Charlie that the landing gears were coming down and they radioed to the tower for landing instructions. Soon enough, they were back on the ground, with a gentle bump, Addie easing the plane to a stop on a hardstand. She could hear everyone rustling around in the back and she couldn’t wipe the grin off her face. 

Her found family had made their way back home to her. Through unexpected odds, they survived, and they were all home. 

Gathering up her items, she made her way through the plane, smiling when she saw John standing there waiting for her. “Back to where it all began.” 

“The plane or the base?” She grinned up at him, standing by his side.

“Both, I guess. But I was thinking about the belly of the plane, when you were having one of your sad nights.” He said, sighing. “How far away that feels but that night solidified it for me - you’re it for me Addie. I’m the luckiest man in the world because I have you by my side. I love you.” 

Reaching out, she punched him as the tears crowded her eyes. Sighing, she looked up at the man that made her fall hopelessly in love. Sniffling, she shook her head. “I love you too, John. I’m going to have to put a limit on how many times you make me cry.” 

“I’ll be there to wipe your tears away every single time. I promise.” He leaned down, capturing her lips in a kiss as a throat cleared behind them. 

“How about you let the rest of us leave the plane, then you two can do whatever you want in an empty plane?” Charlie smirked, as John tugged Addie out of his way. As he passed them, Addie slugged him. 

“Should’ve left you at Radcliff for Anna and dad to deal with you.” Addie gave him a look. “Also, leave me alone - I’ve got 18 months of lost kisses, hugs, and sweet sentiments to make up for, pain in my butt.” 

Charlie held up his hands in surrender. “Alright, I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone. Just remember, you have just over an hour before you need to be up in the tower.” 

Saluting him, Addie smiled at him, watching him duck out of the plane, leaving her and John alone. “An hour? What’s going on up in the tower?” 

“You’ll see. Not going to give that surprise away.” She smirked, lacing their hands together. “What do you want to do? Like Charlie said, you’ve got about an hour.” 

Scratching the back of his head, he grimaced looking at her. “I could really go for a shower.” 

“Ok! Shower for you it is.” She said before stepping on her tiptoes, throwing her arm around his shoulder, pulling him in for a steamy kiss, one that left so much to promise. “We have to make a pit stop at my hut first.” 

Dazed from that kiss, John didn’t even question her as he followed behind her. Hopping out of the plane, Addie watched as he spoke quickly to the ground crew before hopping into the jeep left for them. He tugged her right hand off the steering wheel, lacing their fingers together. Looking at her, he noticed something. “Is that the fake engagement ring I gave you before London?”

“It is. I started wearing it after you went down. More as a physical reminder of your promise. Haven’t taken it off.” She whispered the last part, focused on the road in front of them, and avoiding his gaze. 

He let her avoid him as they pulled up to her hut. Getting out of the jeep, she motioned for him to wait as she checked the hut before motioning him to follow her inside. Walking down the aisle, she paused in front of her bed. “Two things were given to me when we got word that you went down - one was your jacket, which for the record, I have worn almost every day since Kidd gave it to me. Two, they gave me your footlocker, and I’ve kept it safe for you.” 

“They gave you my stuff?” John said, crouching down, opening his locker. “Did you look through this?” 

Sitting down on her bed, she placed a hand on his shoulder. “I did. We found out you were in the POW camp on December 5th, and I went through it Christmas morning as I was missing you badly that morning. I may have found a letter that you wrote but I’ll be completely surprised when you give it to me officially.” 

He chuckled. “I wrote that letter after finding you in the big bird that night. There was something about you that drew me in and I wanted to know more.” 

“Well, whatever it was, I felt it too. I wanted to know more about you.” She whispered, squeezing his shoulder. “Come on, you need a shower, and we have places to go and people to see.” 

She watched him pick up his footlocker and haul it out of her hut, placing it in the back of the jeep. Driving him towards his old hut, she watched him take in the surrounding area. “Things haven’t changed much, have they?” 

“Not really - new faces are about the only thing that has changed. Everything else has pretty much stayed the same.” She pulled to a stop outside of his hut. “Go get a shower, freshen up, then meet me at my desk when you’re done. I’ll clue you in about your surprise.” 

Getting out of the jeep, he leaned across the seats, placing a gentle kiss on her lips before pulling back winking. “I’ll see you soon, Bluebird.” 

He grabbed his footlocker from the back. She watched him walk away, the smile tugging at her lips as he paused, winked at her again, before disappearing into his hut. She shook her head, happiness flowing through her as she drove to the tower. She should have made sure Elizabeth had everything she needed before she left the plane but her sister knew the base like the back of her hand, so Addie wasn’t too concerned. 

Walking up the stairs, she threw open the door, not sure what she was expecting, but a quiet office wasn’t it. Walking into the main part, she saw Elizabeth sitting behind her desk with a smirk. “Oh, you finally realized that I was here, huh?” 

“Well . . .” Addie hesitated, grinning at her older sister. “I’m sorry. You probably need clothes and somewhere to bunk, huh?” 

Elizabeth giggled at her sister. “I wasn’t going to interrupt whatever you and Bucky got up to. Luckily for you, I had a shower this morning, but I won’t say no to clothes or a bed.” 

“You can bunk with me. As for clothes, I’m sure we can scrounge up something - if nothing else, there’s a few extra nurse outfits that’ll work.” Addie added as she avoided Elizabeth’s swat to her arm. 

“Where did you leave John?” Her sister pushed away from her desk, coming to stand next to Addie at the windows. 

She watched old friends catch up with one another. Josie and DeMarco were walking hand in hand down the tarmac. Looking around for the canine of the base, she failed to see him. “He’s getting a shower. Did you happen to see Meatball around anywhere?” 

“He is in Jeffrey’s office. Never heard a CO baby talk to a dog before but that’s what I heard when I walked in a few minutes ago.” She smirked, nodding to the closed door. 

Addie rolled her eyes, successfully swatting her sister. “Lovely. What are your plans for the day?” 

“Avoiding you and Bucky as long as humanly possible. You two are going to be lovesick idiots now. I managed to avoid it the first time but I don’t think I’m going to be so lucky this time.” She gagged, exaggerating a shutter. 

Crossing her arms, Addie gave her a long look. “And you and Brady? What’s the story there?” 

“That, my dear sister, is a story for another time.” She grinned. “Let’s just say he’s very talented with his hands.” 

Addie put her hand on her mouth as she pretended to gag at the news. “Things I didn’t need to know about my friend. Thank you, Elizabeth.” 

“I was only saying he’s talented with his hands because he’s a musician, Addie.” Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Goodness, Egan has corrupted you, Ads.”

Quickly shaking her head, Addie pursed her lips. “He did not, the look on your face is what horrified me. Do I need to give Brady a talk about if he hurts my sister?”

“John may have already done that - double check with him. But if he did not, then feel free to do so.” Elizabeth smiled, pushing off the wall. “I’m going to head back to your hut, maybe take a nap. Will you come grab me when you head to dinner?” 

Nodding, Addie tugged her sister into a hug before kissing her cheek. “If I haven’t said it, it’s really good to have you home. Sister catch up soon?” 

“Absolutely. Need to know what badass stuff you got up to in the 18 months we were gone.” Elizabeth smirked, returning her hug before heading out of the tower. 

Pushing herself off the wall, she walked over to Jeffrey’s office, knocking quickly. “Enter.” 

Pushing open the door, Addie smiled seeing Meatball jump up from the floor to circle her. Reaching down, she gave him a few pats and scratched before looking up at her CO. “Thank you for watching him today.”

“Not a problem. You were right, he is a pretty chill dog.” Jeffrey smiled, seeing the dog sit at Addie’s feet. “Everything go alright with the mission?” 

Nodding, she felt Meatball lick her hand. “We brought home 30 men, 10 of which we dropped off at Radcliff before bringing the other 20 men here. I’ll make sure you meet them properly soon.” 

“Was your Major Egan one of them to return?” Jeffrey asked, watching a light blush cover his secretary’s cheeks. 

“He was.” She smiled. “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to bring him and the men home. It was a great honor to fly them back.” 

Jeffrey stood, making his way over to her. “I am glad you got the opportunity. You do so much for the base, it was the least I could do to have you fly that mission. Now, take the rest of the afternoon off - I’m sure there will be some celebrations to welcome the men back.” 

Nodding, her and Meatball left his office, she stopped at her desk. She needed to send a telegram to Harding but finding the words was difficult. She figured simply saying that Buck and Bucky had made it back. She finished it with her signature before promising herself she’d send it later that afternoon. 

She was caught in her thoughts that she failed to hear the door open, until she saw a bouquet of wildflowers in front of her. Looking up, she grinned seeing Bucky standing there with the flowers, just as he had done countless times. “John, they’re gorgeous.” 

“Luckily, they didn’t mow down my field.” He handed them to her, Addie inhaling them before putting them in her makeshift vase, adding a bit of water from the cooled tea kettle. 

Addie turned, shaking her head at him, watching him greet Meatball. “They tried but I wouldn’t let them. Even got Jeffrey to write up an executive order that put the kibosh on that.” 

John chuckled, a grin on his face as he continued to pet the dog. “Oh, I missed you too, Meatball.” Looking up at Addie, he chuckled. “Of course you would. Now what’s my surprise?” 

“Come along, then.” She laced their hands together, leading him up the stairs in the tower, Meatball trailing behind them. Opening the door, she motioned John to go in ahead of her. “Maddie moo!” Addie cried just as the door shut behind her. 

“Hey, you! Good flight today?” Maddie asked, twirling around in her chair, only to stop when she saw John standing next to her friend. “Bucky! Welcome back!”

“I had to pick up a few men who had lost their way, including this one.” She smiled, taking a seat next to Maddie. “We’re here to surprise the crew coming back in a bit.” 

“Hi Maddie. Did my girl get my missives?” John asked, sitting in a chair beside Addie. 

“She did - left them on her desk after we got word. And you’re right on time, they should be calling into the tower any second.” Maddie said, giving the two of them a look. “He does know about that, doesn’t he?” 

Addie looked over at John, who was confused at the two. “Buck and Rosie are coming back from their mission. Thought you’d like to be the one to give them landing instructions.” 

John laughed. “Are you trying to give my best friend a heart attack?” 

“Something like that. Just think, it’ll be payback from something.” She teased, hearing the radio static come through. 

“Clearup Tower, this is Chowhound One requesting landing instructions, over.” Gale’s strong voice came through the radio as Addie watched the grin cross Bucky’s face. 

“Chowhound One, you are clear for overhead approach. Runway 281 at 1,200 indicated. Winds are 300 at 12. Altimeter, 29.96. Over.” John reported back, a smirk on his face at hearing Buck’s voice for the first time in weeks.

Addie shook her head at John. This was the perfect way to let Buck know he had returned to base, safe. John reached over, grabbing her hand, and squeezing it. 

“Clearup Tower, please repeat. Over.” Buck’s confused voice radioed back as they all bit back a laugh.

The smile was clear in his voice as he radioed back. “Oh, you heard me the first goddamn time, Gale”

“Well, I’ll be damned.”

Throwing down the earpiece, John pushed back from the desk, giving Addie a look. “Want to go meet him at the hardstand with me?” 

Nodding, Addie turned to Maddie. “Thank you for letting us crash the Tower for a bit.” 

“Anytime. Always happy to have you here with me.” Maddie grinned, watching the two of them head out of the tower, with Meatball hot on their heels.  

John tugged her down the stairs, making sure she didn’t trip. He hopped into the driver’s side of the jeep, waiting for her to get in. Meatball hopped in beside Addie before John tore off down the runway. She pointed to Buck’s plane as it landed softly on the tarmac. 

John waited for the plane to turn to the hardstand, before pulling up alongside the plane. Honking the horn, he smirked as Buck caught sight of him in the jeep.  Buck’s face was worth all the agony and pain they had been through. Addie watched Buck’s grin widened as he saw his best friend. 

“Look who it is. Stone in my shoe!” Buck called out, shaking his head at his best friend.

“Oh, I’m back!” All Bucky could do was laugh as he continued to follow the B-17 to the hard stand.

Putting the jeep into park, John jumped out, antsy to be face to face with Buck in a handful of weeks. Addie stood back, Meatball by her side, as she waited for the reunion. 

Soon enough, the hatch was opened and Buck dropped out, a big grin on his face. Immediately John tugged him into a hug, a few back slaps exchanged before they pulled back. Buck looked over his shoulder grinning at Addie. “Had a hand in bringing him back?” 

“Sure did. Didn’t think he was even there until literally the last 5 minutes we were on the ground.” She smirked looking between the two friends. “He found me though.”

“Had to yell her name three times before she saw me.” John teased. 

Addie smiled. “Well, it was an emotional morning. Elizabeth, DeMarco, Brady, Murphy, Crank, Alex, and Richard all came home with us too.” 

Buck grinned. “You brought them all home. I’m sure they were glad to see you.” 

“Too true, Buck.” John smiled, seeing more people come up to them. Lemmons, Rosie and Crosby joined them with handshakes and welcome backs. 

Addie reached down, petting Meatball, attempting to remind herself that they had made it, all safe and standing her on the hard stand like it was any other day. But it wasn’t and that day was one for celebrations. 

“What’s the plan for the rest of the day?” Rosie asked, looking between the group. 

Addie shrugged. “I have the rest of the day off. Jeffrey mentioned something about a celebration, so I’m guessing the club will be loud tonight.” 

The men hopped into the jeep, leaving Addie and Meatball to walk back. Addie needed some time to wrap her head around the day. Caught up in her thoughts, she didn’t realize Meatball had torn off down the way until she heard laughter. Looking up, she saw Meatball had noticed DeMarco and was excitedly jumping up and down, lapping up the attention from the man. 

Walking towards Josie, Addie grinned at her friend. “Good day?” 

“The best. You brought him home.” Josie looked over at her. “Thank you.” 

Addie chuckled. “No thanks needed. John and Elizabeth are both home too. Did he find you in the tower?” 

Nodding, Josie smiled. “I’m glad they’re back. As for Benny, he walked in, door slamming behind him and rushed up to my desk, pulling me to a stand before kissing me. Jeffrey kicked us out and we’ve been catching up since. He mentioned Meatball is yours and John’s now.” 

“Yet to be determined. I told him Meatball remembers him but Benny said he’s mine now. So, we agreed to disagree for the time being.” Addie grinned, watching DeMarco scratch Meatball’s belly. “Told you he didn’t forget you.” 

“Yeah, yeah but he’s still your dog.” DeMarco called back, vigorously scratching the dog. 

Giving them a few more minutes, she slapped her thigh, watching the dog come to her side. “I don’t know what the plans are, but there is a celebration in the club tonight.” 

Leaving them, her and Meatball continued their walk towards her hut. She didn’t know where John had gotten to but figured she would see him at the mess hall for dinner. 

Walking into her hut, she smiled seeing Elizabeth in the bed next to her, sound asleep. Collapsing on her own bed, she settled in, Meatball curled up at her feet. Sighing, she let the emotions of the day hit her. Her makeshift family was all back on base. Everyone was in high spirits and excitement was palpable. 

“What did I miss?” Elizabeth’s sleepy voice called to her. 

Addie smiled at her sister’s messy hair. “Good morning, sleeping beauty. Buck and Rosie came back. John was on the radio to welcome them back. A celebration later in the club is all I know. Everything else is yet to be determined.”

A yawn escaped Elizabeth’s mouth. “Sounds like a typical Tuesday.” 

Addie laughed. “The first one that’s felt normal in over a year.”

“You doing okay, Addie?” Elizabeth pushed herself up before coming to sit beside her, wrapping an arm around her. Meatball nudged his way between the two, both girls giving him pets. 

Sighing, Addie shrugged. “I should be asking you that question.” 

“You’re avoiding it.” Elizabeth softly sang, giving her sister a knowing look. 

“Maybe I am.” She sighed softly. “I don’t know what I feel, Lizzie. I’m over the moon excited that you all are back but how do I explain to you and John what happened over the 18 months? I mean, how do I tell you that I helped plan out the missions this base did with the D-Day after Crosby collapsed from exhaustion. I saw Ryan and called him an asshole to his face. I took Rosie for a ride in Daffodil. Rosie went down then came back then I went to pick Buck up. And somehow, I made it through, one foot in front of the other for 570 days. Thank goodness for Rosie and Crosby - they made sure I ate and took care of myself while you all were away.” 

Tears fell as she whispered the last part. Elizabeth wrapped her arms around her sister, much to the dismay of Meatball. Elizabeth cooed as she ran a hand through Addie’s hair. “Let it out, Ads. Just let everything that you’ve been holding in out. Shh, I got you now.” 

She cried, cried until she couldn’t cry any longer. Slumped against her sister, she snubbed, hastily reaching up to wipe away her tears. “You’re so strong, Addie. So strong but you don’t have to be strong for anyone any longer. Your family is back, and we’re not going anywhere.” 

Sniffling, Addie hugged her sister tight. “Love you, Lizzie.” 

“Love you too, Ads.” 

2200 Hours

Stumbling out of the officer’s club, John by her side, she was wound up from a night of drinking and dancing. Tugging on John’s hand, she led him to a fort, standing in front of it with a grin. “We always end up here, don’t we?” 

“You led us here. I just followed.” He joked, an easy on his face. “I’m surprised you’re not more tired, you’ve been up since 0330.” 

At his words, a yawn escaped her mouth. She gave him a look. “Didn’t want to go to bed early on your first night back. Quite honestly, I don't want you out of my sight but what can we do?” 

John looked at the fort before looking at her. “C’mon, let’s go up.” 

Opening the hatch, he got up as she followed behind him. Grabbing a blanket, she threw it over her shoulder, hoping to ward off the chill, as he pulled her into his arms. “This, this right here, is what I’ve been looking forward to most. Being alone with you, without anyone around.”

“Me too.” She gave him a shy look, taking a deep breath. “You still smell like you did before you went down.” 

“You’ve smelt me before?” He teased, causing her to knock her shoulder into his. 

“Your jacket - I wore it before it smelt like you. Tobacco, sandalwood, and mint.” She gave him another shy look, eyes looking at their connecting hands instead of him. He reached over and rubbed his thumb on her jaw before tilting her head up. 

John locked eyes with her. “Where has my Addie gone? Why are you so shy?” 

“It’s been 18 months, John. We’re both different people.” She smiled softly. “What if what we had before you went down is now completely different?” 

John nodded, leaning over and gently kissing her. “The thought crossed my mind but Addie, what we have is real. I get it, you’re nervous, hell I’m nervous. Eighteen months is a long time to be a part, but you’re it for me baby. Yes, I asked you to marry me but when we get married is up to you.” 

“I want to marry you, John. There’s no question there. Just - I want to tell you everything that happened in the last 18 months. And I’m sure there’s things that you’ll need to tell me.” She paused, sighing. “I just don’t know where to start. I hated that you felt like you needed to go back up - and it took me a long time to realize that you needed not to feel so hopeless. Like I said in a letter, I forgave you for that a long time ago. I faced my ex-fiancé and called him an asshole. I helped plan around 200 D-Day missions for our boys to make, I did a few things that may make you roll your eyes, and I did a lot of other things that probably made a difference in the war. I took Rosie up in Daffodil on Thanksgiving. Rosie and Crosby watched over me to make sure I was eating and taking care of myself. And somehow, I managed to put one foot in front of the other and we made it, John. And now we’re free to start our lives together.” 

John nodded, leaning over and kissing her. His voice dropped to a whisper. “Addie, what can I say? You did it, baby. We made it through. I’m in awe of you and everything you had to endure while I was gone. But I’m home now, and you don’t have to endure that any longer. You can lean on me, through the tough days.” 

“But you’re working through your own stuff.” She said, picking up his hand, lacing their fingers together. 

John placed a finger under her chin, tilting it up so she locked eyes with him. “We’ll work on our own stuff, together, side by side, Addie. This will be the last time you're on your own. I’m not leaving you.” 

Squeezing his hand, a few stray tears fell down her cheeks. John reached over and whipped them away, rubbing his thumb along her chin, soothingly. “I love you, John.” 

“I love you too, Adelaide.” 

Nestled against John’s chest, she listened to his heartbeat. He was here, sitting beside her. The only thing she wanted the last 570 days. She just wanted him by her side, and finally, her wish came true. 

“John?” She asked, lifting her head to look over at him, a grin crossing her face. 

“Hmm?” He hummed, continuing to play with the ring on her finger before looking up at him. 

“I don’t want to wait . . . I want to marry you as soon as possible.” Her eyes lit up at the prospect. “Will you marry me, just as soon as we can pull things together?” 

John’s jaw dropped at her words. “But you just said . . .”

“Forget what I said. I don’t want to wait.” She squeezed his hand. “I want to be Mrs. John Egan, just as soon as we can make it happen. And if we need to wait until we get back to Wisconsin, so your mom and sisters are there, then so be it but I want to be your wife.” 

Grinning, he leaned in and kissed her soundly. Throwing her arms around his shoulders, she deepened the kiss. Tugging her, he helped her settle on his lap as they continued to kiss. “Addie, baby, yes, I will marry you. Wanna marry you just as soon as we can.” 

She didn’t say anything, just leaned forward to kiss him. He groaned at the heat behind the kiss. “Been dreaming of this, Bluebird.” 

“Make love to me, John.” She whispered, against his lips. Looking at him, she watched him bite his lip as she nodded. “I want you John. So unfair that I only had you for a night before you went down.” 

Leaning closer to his ear, her hot breath sent shivers down his spine. “Love you, John.” 

“Love you too, Adelaide.” Pushing her gently off him, he guided her back on the blanket, kneeling over her. Leaning over her, his kiss, sealed a promise between them. This, this was just the beginning for them. 

Thank you for reading!!! 10,379 words to round out chapter 17. They've reunited and Addie's found family are all back at base. There's one more chapter, a wrap-up and a look into the future. I have (currently) 4 scenes that were nixed when I originally updated chapters that I'll be posting once they're all cleaned up. But if there's anything else you'd like to see, feel free to send me a message or comment below. As always, feedback is welcomed and appreciated.

Chapter 18

[neragufetta]

Link click S1

This is an incomplete list (apparently I love lists) of details scattered throughout the 1st season (still working on the 2nd, my head needs some rest) which seems to be either: hints to a deeper truth; red herrings; mistakes; meaningless details not to be taken seriously (except, in time traveling story, messing with dates and times would be silly, it shouldn’t happen, right? RIGHT??)

Unfortunately, at the moment I am unable to collect screenshot of the episodes as reference, but if you request them I can produce the timestamp.

Episode 1

Emma’s mother sends her a message at 02:47 of the 15th April 2021. The phone states “Wednesday”. Too bad April 15th 2021 was a Thursday. Why, Why Wednesday. Is that a mistake? Was it meant to say that they live in a different timeline? Is it a hint that shows that Time is already broken?

I had my timeline all done and to simplify it, I was sure that: - 14th at 22:00 – 16apr!CXS dives in Emma - 15th at 10:00 – 17apr!CXS dives back in the present - 16th, before evening – QL states the mission - 16th at 22:00 – CXS dive in 14apr!Emma - 17th at 10:00 – CXS dives back and LG pass the info on the fraud to the client. - 17th, Later that day, the fraud makes into the daily news - 17th evening – Emma goes home, finds spring rolls and blankets, calls her mother, meet Liu Min - 18th at dawn, Emma dies. - 18th evening, LG see the news about her death until I realized that the consensus is that the news about the fraud came out on the 15th already, which would make sense with her not seeing CXS message before coming back home and her parent arriving straight away. But then, How could the news about the fraud reach the public before Shiguang were involved? Another time traveler? A mistake? Which timeline makes more sense? I’m not sure anymore. Is it important? Most probably.

Emma's wristwatch consistently marks times inconsistent with the timeline, which I will just tag as “random watch pics, do not read too much into it” and move on, but I feel I still need to acknowledge them.

Episode 2

Now, I have nothing much to say about this episode, except that it seems to be completely separated from the main plot, every episode is strongly affecting the whole story, why this one does not? They could delete it without affecting the overall plot and it weirds me out, probably because I’m a little bit too paranoid at this point.

Episode 3-4-5

Three major problems with these episodes:

Obviously, the glasses issue: at first I indeed thought it was weird, but then we saw Liu Min walking easily while possessed, so I thought that, somehow, the possessor retains its physical characteristics while diving. But then, episode 12 kindly reminded us of this glasses detail. So what’s going on here? Are physical abilities passed down while diving or not? And in that case, what’s happening, someone put lenses on Chen Xiao? The glasses were not his? Is there someone else possessing him?

Why is Chen Xiao the only one actively asking to change the past? Any other case has always been just about retrieving information.

And why does LG accept? Because I’m definitely not buying that the only crucial node is the actual earthquake. After the dive, Chen Xiao should feel less guilty about that day, and therefore he has no reason to look for the “Fairy” in the first place. Isn’t there a time paradox through and through?

Episode 6-7

Why the date on the Security Camera is 20XX/XX/XX 14:48:12 instead of an actual date? What’s the secret here? Was it meant to hint that time is already broken (again) or was this an easy way to stalling because the authors had yet decided the days of the trip?

IF we agreed that, while diving, past and present time flows at the same speed, the two dives in these episodes overlap in present time:

first dive starts on October 13th at 14:30 in the present and presumably on 20XX/XX/XX at 14:30 in the past, the kidnapping seems to have occurred at 14:55, both in the past and in the past. We can presume that this dive ends way before the 12 hours limit was reached.

second dive begins right before the kidnapping, which again I presume happened on 20XX/XX/XX at about 14:55, then CXS awakes and LG states that the 12 hours period is almost done; the dive ends on October 14th at 02:55, which seems to suggest that the second dive started on October 13th at 14:55 BUT at that time CXS was still inside the first dive.

What’s happening here?? Am I wrong? Is time wrong? My goodness

Episode 8

This one drives me nuts for really no reason, I’m not even sure if I’m correct, BUT on the dial of Dong Yi’s wristwatch watch you can read what appears to be a 15 inside the box where, as far as I know, the day of the month is usually shown. IF this assumption is correct, Dong Yi’s watch marks that it is the 15th, while XSS’s phone marks that is October 21st.

Again, Why? Just why are they messing with our head?

Episode 9

Nothing new on this episode but, if only, this episode proofs that diving doesn’t need to start at the exact time the picture or video was taken, because CXS’s dive occurs somewhere between the 10:00 and the 14:45 of October 21st, while the dive’s time seems to be late evening (from more that 2 hours prior 22.34). Does this solve the issue with episodes 6 and 7? Not sure.

Episode 10

I’ll use this episode to address the elephant in the room: the 10:10 ghost clock!

The photo studio seems to have at least 2 clocks, one on the hall, with a red frame, plus another one in the darkroom.

However, a third ghost clock with a white or blueish frame switches place with the other 2 every now and then. The red clock seems to be working fine, the darkroom clock seems that either it stopped or it is 10 minutes off, the ghost clock always marks 10:10.

WHAT is this clock?! Is this a random clock picture just to fill the scene? Is it a hint that something happened at 10:10?

I, I… I’m lost.

Episode 11

I won't address Lu Guang's thought at the end of this episode but I'll leave them for my season 2 analyses, because they fit there better.

Therefore, nothing much is left to say about this episode, except that the darkroom wall with the clock keeps changing aspect (and even the clock disappears at some point).

But, just for the sake of my mind I will tag this as “do not read too much into this one” and, again, move on with my life.

And this was just season 1, I have no idea how mad it’s going to be during season 2.

[busaikuknee]

a quick look back at may 2024

i got started on this early for once. character development, i suppose.

general overview and numbers

i watched 90 matches in may, 65 of which took place this month. this is…a lot more than i expected to, frankly! my sleep schedule has been kind of grim, so i ended up watching more shows live than usual. i might be sleepy, but at least i've been sports entertained.

nothing super notable to report on, though i have been backwatching quite a bit of dragongate this month. dead or alive got me bad. there's something about those cage matches, man.

most appearances throughout the month

hayata's in first place for both "matches that took place this month" and "matches i watched this month," so, fuck, i guess hayata's the Spreadsheet Champ of the Month. i wouldn't have guessed it; i feel like i've barely seen him this may, what with my Bad At Watching Tournaments disease striking halfway through best of the super juniors. i'll...catch up eventually, probably.

mumbling about matches

great sakuya and nagisa nozaki vs miyuki takase and nanashi (noah, april 1st)

starting off with one not from this month! i made a mental note to include it in last month's writeup, but realized that i left it off of the post proper right after i sent it out. unfortunate, but it's my self-indulgent summary post and i can break my "only talk about matches that happened this month" rule whenever i want, so it's making it onto this one.

anyway! short but very fun match. a blend of goofy hijinks and doing-moves wrestling that appealed to me greatly. the normal wrestler-spooky wrestler tag dynamics? the slasher movie sequence? excellent, wonderful, loved it. i've come to really enjoy nagisa nozaki, i should seek out more of her matches when i have the time.

kzy vs jason lee vs hyo vs shun skywalker vs jacky "funky" kamei (dragongate, may 5th)

i can count the number of times i've cried at something fictional on one hand. this isn't a good or bad thing, i just don't think i engage with media in a way that provokes that kind of response.

that being said, this match got me really, really close to crying. the power of love and friendship is real, maybe.

takashi sugiura vs masa kitamiya (noah, may 4th)

i'm reluctant to use this wording as i feel it sets expectations too high, but sugiura and masa had kind of a perfect ten-minute match? solid pacing, did everything it needed to, made both performers look stellar. masa rules and i just want him to have nice things. unfortunately, i also don't want him to experience head trauma, and that was not a wish granted here. my love for the single-trickle-of-blood-running-down-forehead visual is constantly at war with my feelings about shoot headbutts.

shoko nakajima vs miu watanabe (tjpw, may 5th)

i’ve been putting together a playlist of some personal highlights of 2024 wrestling to show some friends, and i am going to shuffle shit around as much as possible to make sure that this gets in there. “technical freak vs person who’s strong enough to just pick them up if they go for a hold” is a combo that always appeals to me, and since nakajima and watanabe are both excellent wrestlers, i was constantly delighted throughout the runtime. good, good stuff. while i might not cry often, i’m very soft-hearted, so the hug at the end made me Feel.

i find that it often takes a couple of matches for me to fully click with a wrestler, and i think this was the match that made me click with shoko nakajima. shokopilled bigkaijumaxxing.

kosei fujita vs el desperado (njpw, may 13th)

imagine a flame text gif reading “FUJITA ROCKS.” now imagine another, slightly different flame text gif reading “DESPERADO ALSO ROCKS BUT I THINK WE ALL KNOW THAT BY NOW.” thank you for your time.

jun akiyama vs atsushi kotoge (noah, may 29th)

my exact spreadsheet notes were "still thinking about this. what a fucking match. why were they in love here."

onward to june! while there isn't a lot that i'm super invested in storyline-wise at the moment (barring minoura and yamato's whole deal), i am looking forward to a couple of the events scheduled for this upcoming month. despe invitacional save me. save me despe invitacional.

if there was something you particularly enjoyed this may, do feel free to share! see you next month!

[sharkneto]

was backreading old asks and im curious if theres any early thoughts regarding SM v. number, knowing what we know now with chapter 9 now being out: is there anything in the update thats causing you to have to rework things? you mentioned number still fails to stop the apocalypse incident in his timeline - do you think his reset would go smoother than in SM? feels like theres more to account for now, with henderson being completely gone but the commission being invoked in SM for the first time

Number vs his apocalypse week! I'm happy to talk about that one, generically :)

The thing with Number is he's completely independent from the events of SM at that point. He's on a whole different path than that Five, thanks to JT but mostly because of the events of HIT. The new SM chapter has given me ideas to play with more than things I need to rework. Almost all the reworking I've had to do on the bit I've worked with that fic, to be honest, was 1) the realization that no one in HIT fucking told Number that Reggie kills himself and 2) how close he's kept the apocalypse to his chest. So he's pretty sure he's already taken care of the apocalypse with having helped Viktor figure out his powers in a safe, supported environment, but then Reggie still fucking dies at the same time. And, maybe that's just Reggie's time, but Reggie has also still set up the little mystery to get the Umbrellas to work together to stop the apocalypse (...that Number already stopped. Probably. Totally.). So he's got to chase that down to make sure, but he also still hasn't told his siblings about the apocalypse (why worry the siblings over something he's stopped, why put that in Viktor's head), so he's also dealing with it in true Five fashion - inefficiently and suspiciously secretive. So some similar vibes to SM apocalypse weeks, there. I'll put a WIP snip at the bottom for this vibe because I think it's fun.

I've got general beats in mind, have a plotpoint I adore that causes Number so many goddam problems that I don't remember if I've talked about on here or not so I'll keep it vague in case I haven't. I haven't settled on if Number stops his apocalypse or not on the first try, but it for sure is not the easy skate he was expecting it to be (and it really should have been). The world wants to end on April 1st, and life (death?), uh, finds a way. Fives must always have a terrible time during the week leading up to April 1, 2019.

If Number has to do a reset, it will come with its own problems, but it will absolutely be smoother than SM Five's. Number just has so much more information to work with the first time around, and he has a real handle on time travel. There is also no Commission to interrupt him in any way, thanks to their deal with Five at the end of HIT. That said, having fewer unknowns doesn't mean he's going to juggle the pieces correctly. He's still a Five and they are still the Umbrellas.

Anyway, WIP Snip -

Allison pauses in the doorway on her way through to the entry, not expecting Viktor to be in the living room. He's standing by the bookcases and hasn't noticed her yet, his attention on a book in his hands. She’s just about to announce herself when Five appears by the bar with a whumpf.

His gaze passes over her, and he just barely nods an acknowledgement to her before his focus lands on their brother. Viktor turned at his entrance, his back now to Allison. “Hey, Five,” he says.

“Viktor.” A beat passes as Five’s gaze flicks to the book in his hands. It jumps back to Viktor’s face, and then his expression does… something. Softens, maybe. Allison can feel her eyebrows rising as she thinks she categorizes it – is Five trying to show sympathy? Empathy? What is that? It really makes him look a little constipated. Still ignoring her, he asks Viktor, “Are you doing alright?”

Viktor shifts a little. “Yeah, Five. I’m still good. Just like when you asked me before. And the time before that. And the one before that.”

It’s another excruciating pause as Five considers that answer. Then he jerks a nod and the weird expression slips away and he’s back to haughty and judgmental. “Good.” He turns to the bar and reaches over to snag a small bottle of something clear.

Viktor takes a half step forward. “Five—” He’s cut off as Five disappears in flash. He sighs. “He’s so weird,” he says, loud enough for Allison to clearly hear it. Then he glances over his shoulder at her, mouth quirked up in a conspiratorial little grin.

Allison blinks at being acknowledged and pulls a smile on as fast as she can. She hasn’t talked to Viktor one-on-one in over decade, since he was still Vanya. She’s got a general idea of the things she needs to talk to him about, but hadn’t been expecting this to be the moment she ran into him. “Yeah, I don’t know why I thought he’d get more normal with age.”

Viktor snorts a little laugh and turns to fully face her. “No, that ship really sailed once he figured out the time traveling.” He softens a little and adds, “He means well, though. Usually.”

“Yeah,” she agrees, although she’s not sure if she does or not. She commits and steps into the room. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you, I didn’t think anyone was down here.”

“You didn’t. I heard you coming down the hall. I wasn’t sure if you were going to stop in, though.”

Right. Viktor has crazy sound and hearing powers. Not the useless little Seven they grew up with.

Allison immediately chastises herself for the thought. Viktor was never useless; he was just different (she kicks herself again – that’s not really any better).

The silence has stretched just long enough to be awkward. Viktor shifts his weight again, adjusting his grip on the book in his hand. Allison can just see the cover enough to recognize it – Extra Ordinary. She swallows her spike of venom back down.

Casting about for something – anything – to talk about, to push them past whatever this is, her mind replays the weird little interaction she just witnessed. “I thought he quit drinking?”

Viktor shrugs. “He did. For a while.”

Allison nods.

It hangs between them.

“I don’t think it’s as bad as it was back…” he trails off, fingers tightening again over Extra Ordinary.

“Sure,” she rushes to add. She doesn’t actually want to talk about their brother’s drinking problem. “And, I mean, it’s a funeral, so… people drink.” She’s already had a couple, more than she probably should have had; she’s actively trying to better herself for the courts and Claire. There’s no one here, but it’s still not a good look to get drunk at her father’s funeral. “How are you doing with it all?”

His mouth lifts up again in a small smile. “Like I just told Five, I’m fine.”

She forces a quick, humorless laugh. It sounds as stilted as it felt. “Yeah, good point.” She thinks again to the brief, odd interaction. “How many times has he asked you?”

“That was like the fourth in the past two hours.”

“What is that about?” It’s distinctly anti-Five, and him being actively involved and worried about other’s emotions was not the development she expected to come out of the past decade. Even being aware of other’s emotions would be a big step.

“No idea.” His expression falls as he gives it a second of thought. “I don’t know. Maybe he thinks it’s harder on me because Dad drugged me.”

Allison blinks at the blunt referral to the power-suppressing drugs she only learned about a couple hours ago. Something odd flashes over Viktor’s face, too, as he says it, and his gaze gets sharper on her, almost searching. Unsure what that means, she hesitantly asks, “Is it?”

The look passes. She almost wonders if she imagined it. Viktor shakes his head. “No. I don’t think so, anyway. He sucked but it’s weird that he’s… gone. It felt like he’d be around forever. But… I gave up on any answers or closure with him a long time ago.” He punctuates the point with an exaggerated shrug.

Allison nods. Her own feelings on Dad’s death are complicated. Probably yet another thing she’ll have to untangle with her therapist. For now, she’s happy to leave them knotted and neutral. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

Silence lapses between them again, almost comfortable. Her mind flits over categorizing who has it hardest over Dad’s death. She immediately discards herself – she’d had a strained but surface-level positive relationship with their father, if the training and abuse were excluded from consideration. Viktor took himself out of the running. Diego is actively throwing as much of a party as he can get away with. Klaus… is Klaus.

She pauses to consider Ben. Dad broke Ben. There are less blunt, probably more correct ways to think about that, but it is the truth. She wouldn’t blame him if he joined in Diego’s celebration attempts, but he’s been nothing but his usual quiet voice of reason as his fiancé flitted around behind his chair. So not Ben.

It's Luther, probably. He lived with Dad the longest, had still been working for him up until his death, had talked to him only last week. He’s trying to turn Dad’s very normal heart attack into a conspiracy, give it more meaning than it has. And it’s certainly not Five—

Five who hadn’t disagreed with Luther’s insistence that Dad’s death wasn’t natural. Five, who argued with Dad every single chance he got, pushed as many boundaries as he could, who pushed himself to the brink in training sessions and – it seems – even now in his career in academia.

Who has asked Viktor four times if he’s doing alright.

She furrows her brow as that conclusion settles. That feels much more like Five than an angle of empathy and altruism. Glancing up, she meets Viktor’s eyes. His brow is similarly furrowed. He just barely tilts his head, confirming that they’ve been thinking on the same trajectory.

“Do you think Five…?” Viktor starts.

“…is projecting?” she finishes.

That sits between them.

Viktor forces a scoff. “No. No way.” As Allison raises an eyebrow, he insists, “He hated Dad.”

“Yeah. They had a weird relationship.”

“All they did was fight. When we got the news he died, he called me to ask if I wanted to grab a celebratory drink when he got into town for the funeral.”

But he still came to the funeral. “Exactly.”

They process it all for another long second. Viktor slumps slightly. “Ugh, there’s no way I could get him to talk about this.”

Allison shakes her head in agreement. There’s not a therapist alive that could get Five to process his probably very messy, very complicated, very fucked up feelings about their dead father. In some small part for how similar he ended up to him.

That’s another uncharitable thought she forces to the back of her mind, into the dark recesses with her ones about Viktor.

That’s not what she’s here to talk about, to dwell on.

[christinescupofcoffee]

one of my 9 wips — Throughout the Dark Months of April and May

the other 8:

Quarter After Twelve | As the Seasons Grey | Love is Not Enough | Blood & Chocolate | The Confectioner’s Tale | The Skeleton Key | Midnight Oil | Time is Coming | (i also have a few works that are anonymous)

started — April 2024 | genre — black comedy, murder mystery posing as fanfiction | pov — 1st person perspective | status — first draft | currently — writing! | themes — illness, death, mental trauma, body horror, poverty, loss, adult fears, tragic romance, a painfully unreliable narrator

blurb | Following his mother’s illness, Richard finds himself all alone. But after taking a ride with the friendly woman back to his house, maybe he’s not as alone as originally thought. And more so when he uncovers her secrets.

excerpt | “The passenger window rolled down, and I spotted a woman behind the wheel. She clicked on the overhead light so I could see her smooth black hair and her olive skin.

“You look like you’re headed somewhere,” she called out to me, and I inched closer to the window to better speak to her.

“I’m waiting for my friend,” I confessed to her over the roar of the motorway off in the distance. “But I don’t know where he is, though.”

“Doesn’t seem like much of a friend,” she so bluntly put it. I swallowed at that. “I could give you a lift. I came to talk to the hospital administrator about something really quick, but I think they went to dinner.”

“Yeah, it’s… getting a bit late,” I remarked.

“Hop in, and I’ll go and do that really quick. It’ll only take about five minutes, if that. If you don’t mind waiting.”

“Well… as long as I’m in a really beautiful car, I don’t mind at all.”

note: originally started anonymously back in April of this year, immediately following my mom’s blood clots, plus our nearly losing our house and her falling out with my brother and his showing us that he’s kind of a verbal abuser. We have been struggling for money pretty much all year and aside from the $155 we made on a gofundme that I started for us (and we spent it on a week’s worth of dinner, we were that desperate), it feels like no one wants to help or support us.

Richard has always struck me as tragic, being from the gutters of Birmingham and, knowing how many head injuries he’s suffered makes him into a prime unreliable narrator (for one thing, is Gabby’s Porsche red or blue?) This fic has been somewhat of a flagship for my mood this year given the Antarctic references—“Throughout the Dark Months of April and May” is a Cocteau Twins song, which they borrowed from David Attenborough and his book on Antarctica; my kinktober this year has been tagged “antarkinktober”; for mermay, my lead mermaid was named Vostok, and she hailed from the Southern Ocean. I’ve just felt… cold, for lack of a better word.