#-of previous actions everyone just kind of looks her way and goes 'yeah i'm not kicking that wasps nest' and she is happy to

[celestialtrolls]

i am thinking about creator ceremiré today

[naughtygirl286]

So yeah this week we went to see the new Planet of the Apes movie Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Now there might be some spoilers below to you have been warned.

First off I was kind of surprised that there wasn't any cups or buckets or anything for this I thought there would be but I was wrong.

anyway as for the movie itself I was excited to go see this being I have seen all the "Apes" movies and we recently gotten the original 1974 TV series and animated series so I'm looking forward to watching them being I never seen them before, but like I said I enjoy the movies especially the recent Prequel Trilogy that started with Rise of the Planet of the Apes I thought those movies were excellent but anyway about this one like I said I was excited to go see it although it wasn't what I thought it was going to be about.

This one starts with some opening text that kinda quickly describes the previous movies and sets this one up and it opens pretty much where War for the Planet of the Apes ended and you witness the funeral for Cesar but after that scene you get a time jump where it says something like "Many generations later" and I did have to look up kinda the time frame of this movie and on many sites it ways close to Three hundred years have past from the death of Cesar! I original thought this movie was going to be about Cesar's Son but its not it is actually about a young ape name Noa and his group who are falconers and they call themselves the "Eagle Clan" and the journey that he goes on to rescue his people from an megalomaniac Ape named Proximus Caesar and how finds out the world and its history is much bigger and more then he would every imagine

Now there is nothing wrong with that new characters means all new stories and we are introduced to plenty of new characters like Raka (played by Peter Macon) who is like this disciple of Caesar who is spreading the gospel/word of Caesar. Thats right Caesar has become like this almost mythic religious figure that right he is "Monkey Jesus!" lol but seriously though he one who knows alot about the "time of Caesar" and the one who first starts teaching Noa of the world beyond his village and I really liked the character of Raka I thought he was a little weird, interesting and funny and I was kinda sad when he dies because he felt like an important character and important to the story but I also feel that his death wasn't in vain because it motivates Noa.

Another interesting new character is Nova aka Mae (played by Freya Allan) who is the main Human character and she is special being she is highly intelligent and can talk!! unlike the other humans in the series I was surprised just as much as Noa and Raka where in the movie but I believe this is because she is completely immune to the Simian Flu which is interesting on its own and she has a very important mission throughout the movie in which Noa helps her with and in turn she helps free his people. I did find her an interesting character also while watching this I was watching her and I was thinking maybe she could play the new Live Action Lara Croft? That is what was running through my mind maybe it was partly because of how the character was dressed? What she wears in the movie makes her look very similar to the 2013 Lara and I was thinking that when she was up on the screen.

also you are introduced to a megalomaniac Ape named Proximus Caesar who is the villain of this movie and who I thought was a very flamboyant character who has taken the teachings of Caesar and twisted them to his own selfish needs and wants to take all the human knowledge and use it to make himself the king of the world. like I said I feel that he was a very flamboyant and bombastic character and you kinda can't help but like him even though he is the villain of the movie

other then that all the other characters and performances were awesome and I thought everyone did a amazing job.

Now much like the previous movies this one is built on an impressive visual scale the visuals do what to wow you especially with the scenery of the abandoned cities and "human world" which I did think was impressive in its scope and production design. Visually the actual Planet of the Apes is really well done and shows how time as passed in the surrounding as well as the technology that is used to create the Apes through the motion capture it is amazing the animations is perfectly done especially for a wild character like Proximus Caesar. I personally would think this would be nominated for best visual effects next year and maybe even some of those other technical awards you don't see on the Oscars.

but yeah in the end it is an awesomely amazing movie and if you loved the previous one you'll probably love this one too. and if you didn't see any of the previous ones this is a whole new story and can be a jumping off point for anyone who wants to try it it has plenty of action and excitement and I would totally recommend it.

[nochi-quinn]

candela obscura chapter 3 episode 1: oh god everybody's fucked up

I'm here, I fell asleep and missed the start but I'm here

lmao the immediate note-taking

ur really committing to that voice huh liam

marisha made an older character and liam said hold my dentures

STEAMPUNK JAZZY

heyyyy someone else makes the joke I picked up from a stargate episode 20 years ago

liam what was that look

absolutely love ashly's wig

sam looking like he got hit with a cattle prod

what's a sam reigel

why are we getting oscar's CV

"are they hot"

listen I saw the trailer he 100% uses that chain to beat people with

"no one calls you carey, oscar"

oh no he's hot

oh he's kotallo, that's why

the flat cap does look good on sam, I can't lie

y'all that's gay

I like cordelia's little halo

eloise best character

(maybe that's the look liam was giving ashly, eloise vs elsie)

elsie's a werewolf calling it

yesss the old people guilt trip

liam

oscar: I'm gonna punch a ghost

"you're wearing a ball gown. it's the morning."

the maw??

haha it took me until literally this moment to remember ashly is aloy, my ship is reunited

"I'm using my bullshit detector" did you get that cleared with the gm

I like the term "blood and guts doctor"

I've been watching S1G play Slay the Princess and the more they describe her the more she sounds like a Princess variant

oh no lights

liam you did that on purpose

oh Aadtika (?) is a very pretty name

"lung, heart" liver, nerves

"you have an extra house?" "you don't?"

rajan

"you slick son of a bitch"

he IS a slick son of a bitch

oh sam's being THAT character

prepared to spend three episodes threatening to punch oscar in the head and throw him in the pool

("nochi nobody read your free! livetweets" well maybe they should have)

sam doesn't watch the product

liam always wants to roleplay fish and chips

[picks elsie and raj up and shakes them until backstory falls out]

"I'll be as subtle as I can be" smash cut to him beating someone to death with a chain

the docks seems like a terrible place to play baseball

sam

did they do a dndbeyond for candela?

they did!

sam forgot he was short

"high stakes not for harm" but bc it's funny

rajan: oh I am NOT involved, you made that VERY clear

"don't waste that on me" "I agree"

I'm being gaslit bc I've always pronounced "copse" like "cope" with an "s" in it

shades of the old man at my previous psych office yelling about obama's secret weather machine

"I help by SCREAMING"

grandpa's making a wheel for it

[mabel pines voice] grappling hook!

the way sam rolls dice STILL kills me

oh good, everyone else also thinks they should fuck

"why can't we just be friends? oh right, because I don't like you."

what the fuck's a flashlight

"yeah! temperature play! :D" aabria

"do you go down my little hole" "of course!" aren't y'all divorced

oh no an ot3

don't say degloved that means something else

oh I dig that

werewolf!

lights!

were….thing!

oh no aabria's doing the voice

everything goes black, and you die

l…lights?

breathing?

how could crcw not have prepared me for this

immortal asshole oscar grimm

EXCUSE

oh he's an asshole because he gave up the non-asshole bits to bargain with death

hey sam what the fuck

oh hey ashly. ow.

thump thumps? why?

loud??

imagine if oscar coming back just freaked elsie right back into beast mode

there's another hour left of this wtf happens

yessssss "I'd take a bullet for him but I wouldn't go drinking with him" my beloved

local woman realizing that everyone around her is an absolute freak

liam's startled old man noise

"ohhh I'm not good at that"

ACTION GLASSES

wait I don't understand what he just did

oh he did a drug

little bird ;-;

his WHAT

chairsword!

it glows blue when there are nuns nearby

where's that one digital devil saga monster

I desperately need an artist's rendition of this orca-mantis-thing

excuse me

I keep missing the spelling of his sister's name

"oh god everybody's fucked up"

A WHAT built in his WHAT

augh eye stuff no quiero

is noshir lefthanded?

I kind of half-called that

"that felt like twenty. that was a season."

BEEKEEPER

"do you know you're covered in bees?"

I like my women like I like my coffee

"because yours is super chill"

liam you can uncommit to the voice

(he will not)

"drop the skincare routine"

[shummashum]

Zeus Brundle Ch3 [7~12]

What I'm curious about is: Does he genuinely look that cute, or does he look like a real pig but looks chibby form only to my eyes? It's the former… right?

Now the flow of the situation has changed. Well, Cae was the one who laughed first, so he had to take it. What goes around comes around

And hello Liz. This is my first time seeing you beyond Season 6. I personally preferred the previous pink eyes.

I heard that the ability to speak with animals is not common in WH sekai. I smell money

But I also heard the circus is on the decline these days. It would be much more profitable to upload animal vlogs on YouTube with that ability

Anyway, Klaus said the keyword Cae's curse. He asked Liz, who had a question mark above her head, if she knew the story mentioned at the beginning of Ch1.

I feel like I've seen this before somewhere. This feels the same as Tower of Sorrow is real thing blahblah

But the king didn't really "break" his promise, did he? He said he would allow the prince to marry her once he navigated through the Labyrinth, but didn't that also condition include returning? The prince didn't meet the conditions for his return, it cannot be said that the king broke his promise.

Erm… I thought it was the king's intention for the prince to be trapped in the labyrinth, but wasn't that the case? It's a bit weird that the curse applies to the proxy rather than the intended subject of the order.

Then is this an arbitrary action by the House of Baroque? That's weird as well

but bro what the fuck is this what kind of curse is this is this the best you can come up with? seriously? And why is there gender options. If you're going to curse someone like that anyway, just do it regardless of gender. Why should the distinction be made

But then again, that fucking lip-sealing spell exists in this WH sekai. What's wrong with that kiss blahblah curse

You know, that kind of personality is the life of the party in a state where everyone is now really close and hitting each other is tolerated. Well this kind of guy will become a race starter aka all-around troublemaker if they're in fanfic or something.

Someday I'll treat him like that too... But not now.

Anyway, the party ended, and everyone started leaving and going their separate ways. As she was about to leave, Zeus stopped her.

This guy likes dragons so much. Aren't dinosaurs the 5-year-old's favorite thing. His mental age is the same as theirs. shush

I don't know, Solmare didn't teach me But if I say "I don’t know" then I'll hear "Don't you know that, you idiot" from the mighty idiot.

You may know but I don't know dammit But fortunately, Liz answered everything. This girl is awesome

Anyway, Zeus cast the spell. If a magic circle is drawn just by chanting, is there a quick slot or something? Perhaps he memorizes the composition of the magic circle itself

He succeeded in summoning this time, above the magic circle was a fairy-like dragon.

She consumed so much mental power that her sanity score ended up going into negative territory. Let's all mourn her.

And here comes Alfonse. Surprisingly, Zeus didn't recognize him while he was close to Cae. huh, aren’t they both Day Class Prefects?

Anyway, they were having an in-depth conversation about the magic circle created by Zeus, while Liz was just watching them.

I still don't have a clue about him he's an idiot but! he's a genius however! he's an idiot nevertheless! he's talented notwithstanding! he's an idiot

And this bastard thinks the academy is his front yard Do it in front of your house

Oh, I know. I found a way to shut him up. If you ask him who would win, the black dragon or the Tyrannosaurus, he will spend the whole day thinking about it and not even open his mouth.

Anyway, Liz didn't know about black dragons, so Al taught her some: black dragons feed off darkness, but not evil as one would expect.

Yeah, I wanted this Darkness is not necessarily a bad thing. Darkness that exists above rules and order is just an element that harmonizes with other elements! Well... if it were outside of it, things would be different though

[lovelystarg1rll]

Juvia Lockser In My Headcanons

In my au, Gruvia, is not, and will never be canon, but they will be friends, not bestfriends.

Juvia does continue to speak in third person, but the whole "Stalker, who respects no boundaries," just goes away.

Juvia is Aro/Ace, like water. Juvia has never really craved romance she just needed love, not romantic but platonic it only really came to her about that when she joined the guild.

You know, Juvia being neglected and alone since childhood and then she sees romantic love in action, it in her point of view is being loved but when it came to that she never had any actual romantic attraction towards her exes, she just felt "loved" but they'd all leave her because of her rain, she only liked looks, the men she's been with were decent looking except Bora, I have no idea how they even met.

Joining Phantom Lord felt no different, she was in a guild but the only people who she really talked to were Sol, or whatever that weird looking man was and 𝐆𝐚𝐣𝐞𝐞𝐥, other than that she kept to herself.

Then in Fairy Tail, she was content with everyone, they still viewed her as a enemy y'know because of her FORMER affiliation with Phantom Lord but she really proves that she'd do anything for the guild, and so y'know Cana spreads the word, people get a bit more comfortable with Juvia and she is happy with that.

Gray was someone that saved her life, and she was thankful because his kindness felt so rare to her, foreign, unlike everyone else who neglected her and would let her drop, he saved her, so she views him as a great person someone she can look up to, Juvia take my advice, don't, you'd be calling out Iced Shell almost every time a week.

Juvia is like the mother of the guild, not really but sort of, she has the motherly energy, the guys keep her away from Loke not because they fear he'd tried to flirt with Juvia, no that's actually why, Juvia is someone who needs to be protected.

I'm not really a fan of Mashima's Juvia and how he views romance, I don't stand for it in any shape or form, and the way he fucks up her character is just bad.

Juvia is apart of Team Shadow Gear

Levy, Jet, Gajeel and Droy are her partners and they get along, she and Droy have nature connected powers and so they like to interact, ofc she and Gajeel are close but she teases him about his crush on Levy, which he'll deny but stop later on, Levy and Juvia talk, a lot, like Juvia and Levy would be in the background questioning Lucy about her and Natsu while Lucy is blushing but telling how she feels about him. Juvia will team up with Lucy or Wendy, sometimes Erza and Gray but with Natsu that is rare, their styles and powers are different, but they work with it but it just doesn't work all the time.

Juvia: I catch them, you hit them.

Natsu: Alright.

Juvia does not get weaker, her love for her guild and previous power make her stronger, and she has a good amount of methods to deal with her enemies, water lock them, use her water body to confused weak minded men, and use water sources to her advantage, she's strong against fire users, not Natsu all that much, but fire users.

Juvia speaks in french when she gets angry.

You know Sol, weird eye glass man? Yeah they still talk. Sol is out and about, traveling and what not, but he teaches her a bit of french and it stays in her memories.

She calls people imbeciles instead of anything else, refuses to, unless she uses some other fancy word.

[bippot]

Part of The Crew - Chapter 14: Pigeons of Peace

Story Summary -> Kevin's niece shakes up Jake's little peanut head, in the best way possible. For the first time in his life, he's nervous to even flirt with a girl cause, like, what if he fucks up? That would suck.

Despite how hard he tries, it takes Jake a while to get out of the dreaded friendzone because of overbearing Uncles, pigeons, drunken nights out and the famous Jake Martin reputation.

Chapter 1: Dancing Queen Summary -> Jake’s grand plan to welcome the newbie back with a flock of doves goes hilariously wrong when he accidentally releases painted pigeons into their van. Chaos ensues as the crew panics, but her lighthearted approach brings him calm.

Tags -> Idiots in Love, Eventual Smut, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Himbo, Slow Burn, Co-workers, Friends to Lovers

Would you prefer to read this on AO3? Click here!

Previous Chapter -> For Her

A real, live pack of doves had been let loose in the van the crew had to use to get from track to track. They flew everywhere, from the ceiling vents in the front seat, right under the seats, into all kinds of nooks, crannies, holes and corners of the van that could possibly have held them. Some even ventured out onto the roof, where they hovered for a while before flying back down again as quickly as possible.

Do doves eat chips? That's the first idea that popped into Y/N's head. Well, not the first. The first actually was 'Why the fuck is there a bunch of birds in a place where I'm going to have to sleep at somepoint.' and just 'Why?' in general kept floating around her brain. Because why? Why were there doves everywhere? No one really knew, least of all Y/N who had literally just gotten back.

Actually, Jake knew. Jake knew because he bought the birds. Because he thought it would be cool if the first thing Y/N saw was a beautiful flock of pale white stunning doves holding a banner that said 'Welcome Back, Y/N!" Yet, it didn't go to plan. Obviously.

Most of the doves were actually painted pigeons since the 'totally reputable' guy that Jake had been conversing with over the Internet, well, he wasn't as truthful as he seemed. Or maybe it was a complete coincidence that there were so many pigeons in the lot. Maybe they joined in for the fun of it. Secondly, the banner was misspelt. 'Welcum Bac," and then what people assumed was Y/N's name. Sure, he wasn't good with spelling and words, but this fuck up was mostly due to the fact that, not only was he tired from racing, but he was buzzing to see Y/N again.

Yeah, the grand gesture that he'd intended to do wasn't planned very well. He'd only thought about doing it the day before. But when he woke up the next morning with his heart beating wildly in anticipation and a big grin plastered across his face, he couldn't stop thinking about it anymore. To be honest, after the past week, he just wanted to cheer her up. To get her mind off things. And the most logical course of action was to surprise her. And nobody can deny that an overpriced flock of pigeons is a surprise.

And now they were loose. Hell, he saw Chuck fully grab one, just using his hand, and threw it out of the bus like it wasn't the coolest and weirdest thing Jake had ever seen. Amir was having a meltdown. Beth and Catherine were hiding under a table. Jessie was just sitting there with her headphones on, laughing at everyone's panicked expressions. And Kevin had locked himself in the bathroom.

Jake stood there, watching it all unfold with a guilty look on his face. It soon turned into one of despair as a hefty looking pigeon thought his head was a perch and dug its claws into his hair. Jake groaned and rubbed his scalp gently, trying to calm the animal down as best he could, which wasn't easy considering how loud it was making all those annoying noises.

All of a sudden, a crinkle was heard from outside and all of the birds flew towards the sound, allowing the members of the crew to rush into the great outdoors and catch their breath. They came across what Jessie ended up calling 'Badass Bird Bitch', which was Y/N completely unfazed as a bunch of weird flying rats swarmed her because she'd opened a bag of doritos and was feeding the birds like the homeless woman from Home Alone 2.

"Hey everyone! What the fuck is going on?" Y/N's exuberant voice cut through everything and everyone's thoughts at once. They looked at each other, speechless. They had no idea either, and that was clear as all of them - but one - shrugged. "Where's Uncle Kevin?"

From deep within the bus, everyone heard a shrill, "Can I come out now? Are they gone?" followed by a muffled thud followed by another muffled thud. A bird had flown in through the roof window and Kevin was thoroughly freaking out.

Everyone started talking at the same time and rushed to try to snap a picture of his misfortune. Everyone but Jake and Y/N. "Hey princess," she cooed, reaching out her arms and hugging him tightly. When her lips were by his ear, she whispered, "I'm guessing the doves were your doing? It's okay I won't tattle."

"How'd you figure it out, you weird bird girl?" Jake asked, still clinging to her like a koala. She laughed and released him so they both could look at each other properly.

With a sly smile, she explained, "Cause I know you, sweetheart," and, honestly, that was all she needed to say. There was a moment of silence, as they just stared into each other's eyes. Then Y/N cleared her throat and leaned forward, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "So, I can't figure out why the hell you released a bunch of birds into the bus you have to sleep in."

Pigeon releasing wasn't on his agenda. Never had been. It was an accident. He'd met with the bird dealer- which should've twigged something in his brain that this transaction may not be as professional as he first thought as the way it went down was more like a drug deal - and placed the bird box (yes, a big cardboard box filled with pigeons and not that awful Sandra Bullock movie) down for a minute or two to use the bathroom. He couldn't use the one on the bus because Kevin was hogging it at that moment.

Chaos erupted as multiple birds pecked their way through their prison and burst out into the open. Jake returned to the sound of screaming (Amir) and noticed that a couple of birds had pecked through the bouquet of roses he'd bought for Y/N. And well, now his plan was fucked.

Still, he had the banner. With a disappointed huff, he stomped back into the van to retrieve the banner and the single rose that was still intact, grumpily holding them out for Y/N to take. He watched as she examined the rose and the paper, her lips curling into a smile. "I know it sucks and I fucked up, but I wanted to get you something," he mumbled, not able to make eye contact again. "If you don't -"

His words were cut off as she went back in for a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him close. His own arms went around her waist immediately and he buried his face in her hair, taking a few deep breaths. Her warmth surrounded him, bringing him back to the present. He felt the heat spreading throughout his entire body, causing goosebumps to break out across his skin. She broke the embrace a little later, looking up at him with a huge grin on her face, claiming that "Hearing my uncle shriek that loud was one of the best gifts ever. Thank you."

He nodded shyly. He hadn't expected to hear her thank him for fucking up his plan, but hearing her give a sincere thank you made him feel incredibly happy, and embarrassed, but also relieved. She pulled away and placed the flower behind her ear. Playfully, she asked, "Is this a good look?"

The flower made her look beautiful, but of course, she already always looked pretty to him. "Very good, birdy," he replied with a small blush spreading over his cheeks.

Birdy. She liked that.

"Y/N, I've been meaning -"

Kevin bolted out of the bathroom. It was the fastest he'd ever run, they were sure of it. As soon as he'd bus out of the restroom with a red face, exclaiming, "Which one of you did it?!" which caused Jake to lower his head to the crook of Y/N's neck so Kev wouldn't be able to see the truth on his face. She let out a silent chuckle and placed her hand on the back of his head, ruffling his hair gently.

While this was common sight - Jake and Y/N embracing and not Kevin with a face full of claw marks - Kev knew who the culprit was immediately and he shouted, "Jacob! Who else is stupid enough to pull a stint like that," pointing finger at Jake.

Good point. Jessie would do it as a prank and would've made sure she had a camera set up. Chuck would've done it a shooting practice. Amir would've accidentally attracted a flock and hid out in the bus, causing all of the birds to swarm the van. No, it was definitely Jake.

Before this moment, Kevin had refrained from telling his niece about the 'moment' because Jake acted so pitiful that night, so unlike himself that it wasn't really representative of what he's like. But, at this moment, Kevin wanted revenge. "Hey Y/N," he called, walking up to his niece and patting her on the shoulder. Jake removed himself from her touch and had to watch - he knew what was about to happen, knew what Kevin was going to say.

Teasingly, she greeted, "Oh, boy. Do you look stressed, Uncle Kev."

Kev ignored that and continued with a smirk, "You missed a good night out after Daytona. Wild. Totally wild, wasn't it Jakey?" Jake's eyes were pleading with Kevin to shut up. It was moments like this he wished he could project his thoughts and mentally tell Kev, 'I'll do anything. Please, but he couldn't.

Y/N glanced between them, not quite sure where all of this was headed, while keeping an amused expression on her face, not saying anything. She watched as a flicker of something passed over Jake's features. Was it surprise? Regret? Whatever it was, it was gone before she got a chance to properly study it

"Do you remember that girl's name? You know, the one that you kissed? Or was it just another fling like usual?" Kevin teased, raising a brow in Jake's direction. Y/N could feel the tension coming from the pair.

Frankly, it was fine that Jake had smooched someone. Completely fine. Absolutely, absolutely fine. One hundred percent. They weren't together.

Yet, she couldn't help it if her eyes got a little dimmer. She tried her hardest to shake it off and replied, "Ooh, was she a good kisser?"

What? Both Kevin and Jake were surprised by her reaction. Y/N seemed so calm that they thought she was joking, but apparently it wasn't the case.

"I don't remember. I was very drunk," Jake mumbled, fiddling with his fingers in an effort to avoid Kevin's gaze. His ears burned red and he hoped the blood rushing through his veins would keep him warm. At this rate, he might start spontaneously combusting. "I should, uh, get...get ready for the race." He gave a last longing glance towards Y/N and awkwardly waved at them as he left.

Once he was alone, Kevin turned to his niece. "You should've seen it. It was really tongue down -"

"I know what you're trying to do." She shot him an unamused glare and rolled her eyes, following after Jake as she finished her sentence to check if he was okay. The look on his face as he hurried away said differently.

It took no time for Y/N to catch up with Jake, who kept walking further away from her as fast as possible. She grabbed him by the wrist to prevent him from leaving and he instantly spun around to face her. He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out, only a slight pout. She smiled at him sympathetically and said, "Jakey, come here," pulling him against her in a tight hug, resting her chin on top of his head while her free hand wrapped tightly around his bicep, caressing it lightly. She felt his grip tighten slightly around hers but didn't move away.

Instead, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, calming herself. He was just about to go out on the track; he didn't need any worries. Not today.

Clearing his throat, he declared, "Hey, I uh, here's your ring back," as he took his chain off and pressed it into her hand. Her heart leapt into her throat and her eyes widened. Her gaze travelled from the necklace back to Jake's flushed face and she gave him a soft smile.

She placed a hand on his shoulder and softly inquired, "Are you okay, Jake?"

"I'm fine," he grumbled, it wasn't convincing in the slightest. He tried to shrug her hand off and continue walking, but she held him back a bit. "I'm fine. Seriously."

"Say it again and I might believe you." She moved his chin so that he'd face her and ordered, "Look at me."

With a huff, he reluctantly lifted his eyes to hers to find her face filled with concern. She gave him a slow nod, trying to discern what was going on in his head and softly reassured him, "It's okay. How can I help?"

His entire face immediately collapsed in on itself. He could cry, but he didn't. Instead, he glared. "I'm just nervous, okay?" He lied.

Not believing him, she raised her eyebrow but didn't call him on it. "Okay. Hey, you've got no need to be nervous," she soothed, reaching out and placing the necklace back around his neck. "You've got everything you need."

Looking down at her hand as she fiddled with the clasp, he asked, "What are you doing?"

"Just making you feel better, that's all. It's my job."

"Yeah, but--"

"No buts. I don't want buts." Y/N interrupted, putting on her most sincere voice. He could barely make out what she was saying through the tightening of his chest. "Now stop worrying. Don't let anyone ruin it for you." And she squeezed his arm firmly and added, "How long till you have to go on?"

"A while."

Reaching into her bag, she retrieved a book and waved it, offering to "Why don't we find somewhere quiet and I can read you the next chapter of the Prisoner of Azkaban? To calm you down a bit more?"

Why did she know just what he needed? She knew him better than he did.

Taking his hand, they found a quiet patch of grass in front of a tree - Y/N sitting cross legged while Jake placed his head in her lap and looked up at her. She began to softly read aloud to him while running her fingers through his soft curls. She could almost hear his breathing becoming steady as the sound of the pages flipping echoed through the air between them.

After she was sure that he was completely relaxed, she stopped reading, closing the book and gently placing it onto the ground. She then proceeded to comb her fingers through the locks of hair once more, massaging his scalp. He sighed contentedly and closed his eyes. With a sad smile plastered to her lips, she whispered, "I'm sorry I missed your last race."

Opening his eyes, Jake gazed straight into hers. His gaze was gentle and affectionate as he responded, "It wasn't your fault. I get it." He paused. "You know, I don't know if your ring is lucky."

True. It wasn't. It was just a regular ring. No monks or monkeys. No spells. Just plain silver. Still, she tilted her head in confusion and replied, "What makes you think that? You came third!"

With a casual shrug, he said, "Well, O'Reilly sucked for me and I made sure I was wearing it."

"25th doesn't suck," she comforted. Sure, it wasn't a great placement but it wasn't the worst either.

When he finished telling her what he thought went wrong, she rubbed her hand up and down his bicep and asked, "Okay, Princess. What was it that you did differently? Daytona wasn't a fluke so there must've been something that changed."

That was easy. "I had you with me in Daytona." His eyes lit up as he said that and she smiled brightly. That was right. She was with him and he was winning the race. He won because she believed in him and was there for him. All she did was support him the whole way, and he was happy. He really was.

As their gazes continued to linger on each other, Y/N couldn't help but think how beautiful and perfect he looked. There was a certain innocence about him that only appeared when they were alone. He never wanted to hurt her. He never intended to hurt anyone, yet somehow, he managed to do so without even meaning to. He'd always had an amazing heart, but she was determined not to let herself be swayed by his charms.

Because he was so effortlessly charming. So, she shook those thoughts out of her mind and decided to focus back on the matter at hand. "I wasn't there physically for O'Reilly but you bet your ass I was sneaking a look at the results every five minutes as my aunt was reading the eulogy," she explained. Jokingly, she added, "Seriously, it was really long."

He couldn't resist the playful teasing tone as he commented, "I bet your mom loved that."

"She kept telling me 'you're just like that uncle of yours. Kevin is always checking the god damned racing results'," she replied, doing an exaggerated impression of her mother, which made both of them chuckle.

For a moment, they just sat there together, enjoying each other's company and letting themselves relax. They talked about everything and anything and nothing at the same time as they usually did. Their laughter rang throughout the park and the birds chirped happily as they flew above them. "Hey! Is that one of the doves."

"Jake, that is a pigeon that's been dipped in white paint."

Time was ticking and eventually a very stressed out Amir plodded up to them. "Hey, Amir" she greeted, leaning back against the tree. Amir seemed to be on edge about something. But, then again, that was Amir's natural state. "What's up?"

Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and, as usual, he didn't respond for a moment like he was trying to pick his words carefully. Eventually, he decided on "Time to suit up, Jake."

"Oh. Right," Jake said with a nervous laugh and got up hurriedly, giving her one last look as he left to get prepped. "See you before I go on?"

"Of course."

Next Chapter -> Bottle of White

*Click here for my Adrian Chase masterlist (including Jake Martin and Jeffrey Steinberg), or here for the entire masterlist*

Wanna be added to a taglist? Either comment on this post or send me a message!

[allnewalldifferentwildspider]

Zuko & Katara's Relationship Dynamic

This is like the third or fourth time I've tried to write up this post so please bare with me.

Oh wow. That video. Hopefully everyone has seen it now. Not only did it articulate arguments I've been making for years, but it also brought up ideas I had never thought of or noticed before. Watching that and watching the second half of Book 3 again (because it's my favorite) made me want to redo my zutara dynamic post.

I'm going to be using the tiny bits and pieces the show gave us to see how Zuko and Katara's relationship looks and how it would look if they gave us more because...Bryke really fucking hated zutara. I mean, I guess they did.

Katara is compassionate; Zuko is empathetic

A lot of anti-zutara arguments have said that Zuko and Katara could never be together because they would constantly fight and hate each other and it end sooner than later. Not only does this actually describe maiko, but that argument would need to ignore the characters' actual character.

One of Katara's biggest character traits is how compassionate she is. She has a drive to help others and ease their pain. Whether it's getting Aang out of the iceberg or healing a Fire Nation fishing village, Katara will go out of her way to help someone in need.

Katara: No. I will never ever turn my back on people who need me.

Zuko is very emotional and passionate person. As much as he tried to hide it to appease his father, Zuko does want to open up and connect with people. Unfortunately, aside from his uncle, most of the other people he knows are like Zhao and Azula. Not the most understanding of crowds. But because of this he can pick up what people are really thinking and feeling. Think of it as a defense mechanism he developed growing up around people like Azula.

Get these two kinds of people together and you get the crystal catacombs scene. Katara lashes out at Zuko until she breaks down. When she does Zuko opens up with empathy since they have something in common. This creates the beginning of an understanding between the two. Zuko uses that to finally open up to someone who isn't his uncle and Katara listens and reaches out to help. Contrast to the first episode of Book 3 when Zuko tries to voice his thoughts and concerns to Mai and she...doesn't really care.

Something similar happens during The Southern Raiders. Zuko figures out that Katara is taking out her anger of being separated from her father by The Fire Nation onto him and even connecting her mother's death to him.

It's not the first time Zuko has done this either. He easily figured out that Sokka was planning on going to The Boiling Rock. He does it again during Sozin's Comet when he tells Katara that Aang needs to figure out what to do about Ozai by himself.

There's a noticeable pattern of behavior by the time Sozin's Comet arrives. Zuko voices his concerns about meeting his uncle again and Katara is right there to help him through it.

Zuko's empathy combined with Katara's compassion creates almost a cycle of understanding and emotional vulnerability that the two can't really get with anyone else. One notices the other having concerns or problems and goes to give comfort by words or by actions.

Zuko still has a temper but so does Katara

Even after Zuko's fever dream character change thing, even after The Day of Black Sun, he still has it in him to yell at anyone who commits even the slightest transgressions against him:

Aang: That one felt kinda hot. Zuko: Don't patronize me. You know what it's supposed to look like. Aang: Sorry, sifu hotman. Zuko: And stop calling me that!

Sokka: So all we have to do is make Zuko angry. Easy enough. *pokes him with his sword* *annoying laugh* Zuko: All right! Cut it out!

Maybe it's the firebender in him or maybe he really is just like that. Basically if you annoy him, he'll let you know. What people sometimes overlook is that while it takes Katara a bit longer, she also gets worked up when people upset her.

Toph: What's the matter? Can't handle some dirt, Madame Fussy Britches? Katara: Oh, sorry, did I splash you, mud slug?

And remember, it was Katara getting angry at Sokka that even broke the iceberg that revealed Aang.

Katara: Ugh, I'm embarrassed to be related to you! Ever since Mom died I've been doing all the work around camp while you've been off playing soldier! Sokka: Uh... Katara? Katara: I even wash all the clothes! Have you ever smelled your dirty socks? Let me tell you, NOT PLEASANT! Sokka: Katara! Settle down! Katara: No, that's it. I'm done helping you. From now on, you're on your own!

The point is that it is both Zuko and Katara that are very passionate and emotional people. One of them isn't emotionally dominating the other because they both wear their emotions on their sleeves.

This also comes in to play when they set goals for themselves. When Zuko sets a goal, he puts everything into it. Katara is the same way. The difference is that Zuko's drive sometimes gives him a one-track mind while Katara is more flexible. Like for example Zuko being so focused on finding Aang before Sozin's Comet that he ignores Toph's story about her childhood versus Katara wanting to go to the North Pole but taking time to stop and help whoever they come across.

This passion also fuels their values and how strongly they stand by their beliefs. I already put The Painted Lady quote up above but Zuko's morality is what is making him so angry at himself during The Beach. He knows what he did was wrong, but he couldn't face it yet.

Sometimes their emotions get the better of them, but it's only because they are passionate about what they're doing.

Their natural teamwork is amazing

I can't provide a lot of clues in this bit because it's more of a visual thing. Just consider how flawlessly their plans worked during their attack on The Southern Raiders. Especially when you consider that it was a stealth mission so they barely even said anything to each other during and it still went incredibly well.

You could see it again during their mock battle with The Melon Lord. Sokka must have noticed because he paired them together to deliver some "liquidy-hot offence." And they pulled it off, again, without having to say anything.

They've only been a team for a few weeks(?), days(?) but they act as if they've been doing it for years.

They trust each other's judgment

Piggybacking of the previous point, Zuko and Katara have only been a team for a while but there seems to be a level of understanding in terms of judgement. They both know that whatever the other chooses is going to be a well-thought out decision. Maybe it's because they see each other as the mature members of the group even though Sokka is the same age as Zuko? I don't know.

Aang disappears right before they embark on their fight against the Fire Lord, and out of nowhere, Katara puts Zuko in charge.

Zuko: Get out of the bison's mouth, Sokka. We have a real problem here. Aang is nowhere to be found and the comet is only two days away. Katara: What should we do Zuko? Zuko: I don't know. Why are you all looking at me? Katara: Well, you are kind of the expert on tracking Aang.

and that wasn't the first time in that episode that she went along with one of Zuko's decisions

Katara: Aang, don't walk away from this. *She begins to walk towards him as a hand touches her shoulder to stop her from doing so.* Zuko: Let him go. He needs time to sort it out by himself.

As a lot of people have pointed out during the entirety of The Southern Raiders, Zuko never gives a suggestion on what he thinks Katara should do. Aside from making it a stealth mission, he follows her lead the entire way.

Katara teases Zuko (and he lets her)

The fun one. This one has two parts: pre and post The Southern Raiders.

Before The Southern Raiders, Katara was tolerating Zuko. She was still angry with him about the betrayal at Ba Sing Se. Getting little jabs at him was the only thing that was really helping her from loosing her cool around him.

Katara: I'm sorry. I'm just laughing at the irony. You know... how it would have been nice for us if you lost your firebending a long time ago? Zuko: Well it's not lost. It's just weaker for some reason. Katara: Maybe you're just not as good as you think you are. Toph: Ouch.

He just finished yelling at Aang and Sokka but all he does is glare at Katara. She does it again, but to be fair, he kind of set himself up for it.

Zuko: It's a sacred form that happens to be thousands of years old! Katara: Oh yeah? What's your little form called? Zuko: ...The Dancing Dragon.

Then comes post The Southern Raiders and...yeah, she's still picking on him and he still lets her. Granted it's a lot more playful this time around.

Zuko: They make me totally stiff and humorless. Katara: Actually, I think that actor's pretty spot on. Zuko: How could you say that? Actor Uncle: Let's forget about the Avatar and get massages. Actor Zuko: How could you say that?! (Cut back to Katara wearing a satisfied grin on her face and she looks to an expressionless Zuko as he slouches in his seat.)

I love pointing it out every time. She teases him and he does nothing about it.

Katara: Er, no. I was looking for cooking pots in the attic and I found this. Look at baby Zuko! Isn't he cute? Oh lighten up, I was just teasing.

And she admits it!

-

So what can we take away from this? From what little time they were given together (thanks, Bryke) it seems that Zuko and Katara really understand each other on an intimate emotional level. They can sense when the other is distressed and offer comfort. They're both passionate in and out of combat, for better or for worse. They're comfortable with each other as if they've known each other for years even though it's such a short time. Katara also likes to add a little bit of playfulness in there with Zuko letting her have her fun, again, showing how comfortable they are with each other.

I do think their relationship could have gone to romantic sooner than later if you would have given it a bit more time. Like first half of a hypothetical Book 4.

To me, at least.

[toujoursmiraculous]

Thoughts and Reaction to ROCKETEAR!

It's a long post, but when are these ever really short? xD Seeing Carapace first made me so excited. I've been sad we haven't had much of him in the show. And then I saw that it seemed like Ladynoir was doing pretty good as they only had Carapace helping them this time. More S2 & S3 like. So I was like cool, cool, this is great. But what the heck scientist WHY ARE YOU BRINGING TYRANNOSAURUS REX'S BACK! Obviously she's going to be something big later on, she's too nicely animated not to be back. Not to mention Bob Roth's plans. Anyone else both intrigued but also scared at what that could do later? Big upcoming plot point, I think.

I screamed awwww because this is everything. I've wanted a LB/Carapace and Marinette/Nino friendship bond in this show since season 1. This scene made me incredibly happy! I'm a huge Nino fan, for those that don't know, so you can imagine how much I love this episode. Even though sad Nino.

"Alya, everyone has to believe that you will never use the Miraculous again!" End of episode: So anyway... So what I'm seeing here is, Alya's not fond of the idea of being just a spy, not being in on the action. Even though it's Ladybug's plan. Chat Noir isn't fond of what's going on right now either, where he thinks what's going on is all Ladybug's plans. Alya makes the decision to not do what Ladybug wants and tells Nino she's still Rena Rouge. So what's Chat Noir going to do to go against her? Because that's coming up on the horizon. Despite everything being easier for Marinette since everything's not just on her shoulders now, she's still been unable to play video games with her dad, and we know how much she loves doing that. :c That's really sad she doesn't even have time for her family anymore. DJWifi over here being all adorable. "You don't love me anymore!" Me: *Chat Blanc flashbacks* Alya suggests her new content could be Chat Noir edits and Marinette's like YES DO THOSE. Then those edits helped push Nino into thinking she was into Chat. Big oops. Not gonna lie, the rewind freaked me out for a moment. Last time I saw that was Chat Blanc so I thought something big was up. But nope, it's just like that scene in Puppeteer 2. Ugh poor Nino! He knows something's bothering Alya, but she won't say what it is and her behavior's too off from how she normally is. Poor guy. x.x Grumpy Nino that Carapace doesn't get attention and then they wrote his girlfriend with Chat Noir. I remember when Alya was grumpy for a bit about Rena Rouge not getting a party to celebrate her. Movie Ladybug telling Movie Chat Noir that he's better with Movie Rena Rouge. Is this a reference to the episode in Avatar, The Ember Island Players? Getting strong vibes when Play Aang and Play Katara were like, we're just friends nothing more and it's great! Play Katara was extremely into Play Zuko. I can see why Ladybug dismissed the movie (or was it the previous one since it's been awhile? Maybe?) because Rena Rouge and Chat Noir???? The writers (of the movie) just wanted to be different because everyone can see Ladynoir, unless they're blind. Alya and Nino are Andre's favorite couple. YES THANK YOU. I mean they're not my favorite because Love Square. BUT they're my second favorite next to them. Those kids are super adorable but definitely that kid playing Chat wasn't doing Nino any favors. First picture Alya shows. Chat with a heart tail. Yeah that's not doing her any favors lol. Nino: UGH CHAT NOIR'S COMING IN BETWEEN ME AND MY GIRLFRIEND. I KNOW, I'LL CALL MY BEST FRIEND TO VENT TO ABOUT IT. Best Friend Chat Noir: Best Friend Chat Noir: Welp maybe I should see what's up. Maybe I went a little to hard on the cat charm and she's fallen in love with me. Me: Oh oof here we go. Also can I ask, if anyone knows, who animated this episode? The fluidity is great and it looks really pretty. But it doesn't quite look like SAMG's work either. Whoever did it, I love it. S2 Chat Noir: You're not replacing me with a turtle, are you? :c S4 Nino: Who would want a reckless turtle as a partner? BOYS STOP. But yeah this whole scene had me laughing so hard XD Very dramatic and I love it. Nino's hilarious even when he's worried and sad! I would've absolutely loved to have heard this in English with the old English voice of Nino, but the new one worries me on whether or not he'll do a good job sounding like Nino and less high-pitched and whiny. :/ New York Nino was great but S4 Nino....x.x THE TRANSITION BETWEEN HIS INNER MONOLOGUE AND SPEAKING REGULARLY AGAIN 😂😂😂😂 Brilliant! It doesn't really feel like Miraculous Ladybug this episode, and I love it. Not that I don't love the show as usual but wow this is great. Okay, I want to point out that Chat Noir

probably was more worried about it than he would've been otherwise because of what happened with Marinette in Weredad. It probably made him more cautious about this sort of thing.

LOL Chat's sulking because Alya's laughing at the idea of being interested in him. 😂😂 I know that's a blow to one's ego and all, and he's dealt with this kind of thing a lot so I do feel bad for him, but that is his best friend's girlfriend and he definitely doesn't want her to like him. Alya: With him it's not just ❤️it's *makes massive hand gesture indicating she loves him deeply* SO SO SO CUTE OKAY ALL THIS DJWIFI 😭 Alya: And I don't even know your secret identity! I would never fall in love with someone I don't know. Chat Noir, literally fell in love with Ladybug, whose identity he doesn't know. Well Alya, I wonder if you saying that matters for later somehow.... o.O Nino running away crying is honestly one of the things that hurts me most in the entire show. Ugh. Adrien over here being all, I'm having a good day. I'm happy and smiling and it's great. And then it wasn't. Adrien, if Nino let him and didn't interrupt, would've told him about how Alya really doesn't love Chat Noir, and that would've seriously led up to his identity being exposed since Nino was watching and filmed them. o.o Did you notice how he was going to tell him about it? S4, the basement is where it's at. Adrien: Uhh, when did you arrange all this? Nino: *pounds fist on desk* I ASK THE QUESTIONS! 😂 So like. Why is Nino interrogating Adrien when he's after Chat Noir? He doesn't know they're the same person. XD He's looking at him like Adrien has info he's keeping or something omg.

Also again this animation is so nice. Adrien, feeling uncomfortable and so turns the music off. Nino, wanting his dramatic music on while he interrogates Adrien, turns it back on. Adrien, feeling even more irritated and uncomfortable, wants the music OFF and turns it off. Nino, turns the music back on. This may be a reference to something, I don't know, but lolol it's so funny. This episode is both super hilarious and super angsty! Honestly they've done such a good job in my opinion. Nino: I'm talking about something that I shouldn't tell you! ...but I'm going to tell you anyway! Alya's Rena Rouge and I'm Carapace! Okay but the way Adrien went from shock to utter anger, knocked his chair back and grabbed Nino's shoulders like "Tell me the truth. You two know about each other?" Aw man, my poor sunshine boy. A lot of the stuff bothering Adrien is all circumstantial, none of it is to purposefully keep him in the dark. And yet from his perspective, that's how it looks. "I thought secret identities must be protected at all times! If that was the truth, you would never tell me this!" Alright so three things. If he's referring to him saying that Nino and Alya know about each other, that was situational and important info for him to know now that this is out. It wasn't important to know before this. The time it happened was dire and was really no time to get around it. If he's talking about Nino telling him the secrets, well yeah that's not supposed to happen and Nino broke that trust. But also, I get the feeling pretty strongly at this point Adrien's going to be breaking some rules too and one of which is he's going to tell Nino who he is. Adrien's being too emotional in this scene to not be involved in it all, I'm wondering if that's going to be questioned later by Nino. He's acting like he knows too much to be a random viewer of the heroes like the rest of Paris. Also Adrien's best friend just totally dissed Chat Noir and went off about how he throws himself at Ladybug whenever he sees her with roses and love confessions. 😂😂😂 This is just too funny! "But he's always rejected because Ladybug finds him annoying! And she's completely right!" Omg Nino, that's not the reason anymore, shush! "And then Rena Rouge appears and he goes *tickles under Adrien's chin* hey pretty lady! You look elegant and you have great perfume." OMG does Chat Noir actually say and do stuff like that to Rena Rouge or is he just exaggerating here XD "If I could I would shut his mouth forever!" Yeah Nino, say what you really think about your best friend in the entire world. Yikes poor Adrien though. I never imagined he'd hear all these bad things about himself from his best friend directly like that. :/ That's a major misunderstanding of him. Which kind of pushes me more towards the "he's going to tell Nino" theory. Sad Adrien transformation DDDX Alya: *explained everything about why Chat Noir went over to her house in the middle of the night* Marinette *facepalm* Ugh that Chat Noir... Well at least there will be no misunderstandings there! xD "Chat Noir, you stole Alya from me! I will steal your life from you." Good lord man calm down. You can't just kill a man! Fanon: Chat Noir gets attacked by a guy over Marinette. Canon: Chat Noir gets attacked by a guy over Alya. Time to go back to the basement! lol Nino's music's still playing xD And the video is left with it paused on Chat Noir hugging Alya. Marinette looked a bit sad, but it was probably more about the situation being a mess rather than being sad he'd hug her. Meanwhile, Chat Noir's fighting Nino and would rather get beaten up by him than fight. x.x "I can't believe that I doubted you." "I can't believe I chose to do anything but be with you!" She wiped away akumatized Nino's tear just like how Ladybug wiped away akumatized Chat Noir's. ALL THE PARALLELS 😭😭😭 But that hug is so sweet!! Nino broke off the akumatization just like Alya did :o Dang, I wonder if that means something later too. "Love and secrets do not go well together, Ladybug. And I'm sure you have a lot of

them!" Secrets = from Chat Noir. Love = for Chat Noir. Yeah even Shadow Moth knows at this point. xP Thanks for that foreshadowing. Nino's charm is my favorite charm so far! It's my favorite shade of blue. Chat Noir: Everybody has doubts sometimes...even me." Ladybug: Is everything okay, Chat Noir? Chat: Oh yes...pound it!

So um. The placemet of Adrien's poster in between Chat Noir, Ladybug, and just with this entire situation feels very strange. Very intentional. But no clue exactly what that could mean..... Nino and Alya are happy over there watching those two, like they're waiting for them to figure things out or something. But really, Adrien should've talked to Ladybug when he could still do so calmly and be reasonable. I doubt that's going to be the case later on. And honestly Ladybug doesn't even know what's going on. Every episode we've seen really either has them working together or she's unable to be Ladybug when he's unable to be Chat Noir most of the time. I've said it before but these two really need to communicate. Nino and Alya are like a less adorably romantic version of what they'd be. "But they're a couple and they know their secret identities, so why does that rule exist for us but they can know?" Very simple. Because they were temporary holders and the Miraculous they had, Hawk Moth hasn't made it his life's mission to obtain, unlike them, who are permanent holders and Hawk Moth's been after them fiercely to make a Wish that could destroy everything. But. The fact he's asking this, and Marinette's Chat Blanc nightmare, really points in the direction that he's going to eventually find out that while she's thought about telling him all along, Chat Blanc's kept her from doing so.

Okay, so while it looks like he's staring up at the moon, if you notice, it really is just one of the pink bubbles.

Now, they could be making it seem like it's the moon though to give it a double meaning. But poor Kitty, he's feeling so awful right now over in that dark corner Dx Nino felt bad for only two episodes? and it got resolved, so hopefully this all won't last too much longer for him! Marinette had a few shaky episodes so hopefully he'll have a few before it gets resolved. But somehow I think that may be wishful thinking. This episode was so amazing, honestly. Wonderful writing, made me laugh a lot, aw a lot, and hurt a lot. It focused on the core 4 characters which I've wanted more of for a long time. The animation was beautiful. And it just felt so different in such a good way. Chat Noir's having a hard time right now, and I know there's a lot of anger and hate about it going around. But please, think of this as him hitting a rough spot in the road to a much better and brighter future. He's going to end up okay, he'll understand it all someday. And that day's honestly not that far for him if you think about it.

[imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl]

Love On-Set (Pt. 04 of 10)

Pairing: Dacre Montgomery X Reader

Summary: You knew acting on Stranger Things season 3 would be a challenge, and you also knew, from the start, you'd have to work closely with Dacre Montgomery. But is wasn't a big deal for you, since this is your job and you're determined to act professionally. You had it all figured out, or so you thought, until the moment you were out face to face with Dacre. Then, this job became a lot harder than it was supposed to be, since you can't seem to focus whenever you're around Dacre. And you'll have to be around him a lot until the end of production.

Word count: 3K

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{Dacre Montgomery Masterlist}

{Stranger Things Masterlist}

×

Breaking Character

You meet Dacre at the entrance of the hotel's gym, which is a little crowded already. He guides you in and you decide to start with the bike. Dacre goes straight for the weights, obviously. But you manage to get a bike that gives you a perfect sight of where he is, and as you work out, you watch him. He gives you a few glances, but you manage to look away just in time. At least you hope you do. After a while, you decide to move to the treadmill to run for a few minutes. Thanks to the weekly visits to the local gym near your house, you're able to keep up the pace for a good amount of time before getting tired and deciding to stop. Dacre is still doing his stuff, so after refilling your bottle with cold water, you walk over where he is, sitting on a bench right before him. He's currently lifting a barbell that looks unbelievably heavy.

“Are you done already?” He asks in a sassy tone.

“I'll get a few more followers at your expanse just because I didn't like your tone, Mr. Montgomery.” Taking your phone, you open your Instagram and start making a video of Dacre. He looks incredible, so handsome right now, and the fact that he's shirtless only makes it better. You have to control yourself not to check him out more than you should. “Straight to my Instagram story.” You tell him as you put some emojis on the video and tags Dacre before sharing it with the whole world.

“Come here for a second.” He says, laying the barbell down.

“What for? If you think I can lift any of those things you must be going completely insane.” Despite being suspicious you stand up, leaving your phone on the bench.

As you walk over him, Dacre hands over his phone to a dark-haired man who was switching weights. “Can you record this for me?” You hear him asking. “Just a few seconds.” He kindly smiles and thanks to the man when he nods.

“Are you going to prank me or something?” You stop before him, arms crossed. Without saying anything, Dacre pulls you with him, placing you between him and the barbell. “Dacre, what–” You're cut short when he suddenly bends down and picks the bar up again, quickly standing up straight, trapping you in between his body and the bar. “What the hell, Dacre?”

“Hold it, c'mon.”

“I won't hold this thing. I can't lift it.” Keeping your voice low, you give the man with Dacre's phone a glance. He's actually doing what Dacre asked, filming you two doing whatever this is.

“Trust me.” It's his lower voice, right in your ear that makes you surrender and do it, holding the bar a few inches away from where his hand is holding it. Slowly, he starts moving. Everything you can do is mimic his movement, your eyes wandering from the bar to his right arm, noticing how his muscles are tense. “It's not that hard is it?”

“Not when I'm lifting exactly zero pounds.” You snap back, being forced to give a step back when Dacre brings the bell bar way too close to your body, and your back collides against his chest.

“That's enough, thanks, buddy.” It takes a while for you to understand he's talking to the guy with his phone. The man nods and puts the phone down before moving away, back into doing anything he was doing before. And probably wondering what the hell is going on with you two.

“Are you going to post that video?”

“Yup.”

“Really?” Doesn't he know that it will get people talking?

“Why not?” Dacre drops the bar suddenly, and it makes a loud thud when it hits the floor, making you give a little jump.

“Damn it, Dacre!” You exclaim, a hand on your heart. “What about not killing your co-star before she finishes shooting the show?” Still a little startled, heart racing, and not only for the bar falling, you go back to the bench to get your phone.

“Now I'm exhausted already. How am I supposed to go to work?” Checking your feed, you see there are already a lot of people answering to your video, mostly your friends asking about Dacre... And some of your co-stars, but no reason to answer since you'll have to face them eventually.

“Done.” He says, and at the same time, you see the notification. Clicking on it, you're redirected to Dacre's story, where you see the short video of him standing behind you, ‘helping’ you lift the bar. In bright red letters, he wrote ‘the best personal trainer (Y/N) could ever get’.

He really did it. And he doesn't seem to care. “So you just made me look like an idiot. I'll get back at you for that.”

“Idiot? You look so hot in this video, I almost reconsidered posting it.”

“Me?” It comes out abruptly because you just can't believe it. Any of it. You can't believe he posted the video, you can't believe he just said you looked hot. You're confused and you need time to clear your mind. “I really think we should go now. Shower, have lunch, and get ready to work.” It will sound like you're running away, but you need some time away from Dacre. Your heart needs a break from beating so fast.

“Yeah, we probably should.” He puts his phone in his pocket before making his way out of the gym with you. “Why don't you come over to my room? I can get some room service and then we head off to set. It's just us so we can go in my car.”

“Sure.” You're quick to answer, immediately changing your mind. “I can be there in thirty minutes.”

“Room 1404.”

“Alright.”

Thankfully, there are no incidents during lunch. You two just chat and joke around, and almost get on set late. The first scene is much more simple. It's just Amy and Billy bumping into each other, a small chat before they part ways, both annoyed at each other. Once that's done, you change into the second outfit, and the make-up and hairstyle it slightly changed. Night has already fallen when you get into position, waiting for the signal.

In this scene, Billy finds Amy walking home alone, at night. He's pissed that she's so reckless after they just learned about the Mind Flayer, in a scene that will still be shot. So when she refused to go with him, they have an argument. It's a turning point, with the tension between then being explored further, leading into a partial confession and an almost kiss. That's how James calls this scene.

And, as if the scene itself wasn't enough, you're mind is still at what happened at the gym. This will be hard. Maybe as hard as the actual kissing scene.

“Alright. Ready, everyone... And action!”

You start walking fast, the camera before you easily following your pace.

“Amy, get inside that damn car right now,” Billy says, seconds before reaching you and grabbing your arm, forcing you to stop. “You're not walking home this late with that damn Mind Flayer out there.”

“Stop–” Giving your arm a push, he lets go. “–trying to act as if you care. I know you don't.”

“If I didn't care do you really think I'd be here?” He steps closer, towering over you, and you have no choice but to step back. “Running after you like an idiot?” Your back hits a car parked on the sidewalk, just at the right place. “Do you really think I'd put any effort into trying to drag your ass out of the street?” Dacre slams both his hand on the car, and you make sure to make Amy give a little jump, followed by an annoyed expression.

“I know about the little games you play, Hargrove. I won't fall for them.” Raising your voice on the last sentence, you try to push him away, uselessly.

“It's funny how everyone in this town thinks they know me.”

“Oh, I don't. I don't think about you, Hargrove. At all.” With a sassy smile, you wait for his reply.

But it doesn't come. He just stands there, as his eyes change. From irritation to... Kindness. And you recognize Dacre as he breaks through Billy. “But I think about you. I think about you all the time.” Your heart starts racing again, more than before because this is not Billy. And you know the difference very well.

Frozen, not sure if you should take this as improvisation and follow his lead, you rest your back against the car, as Dacre follows your movement, his face now only two inches away.

“Cut!” The shout brings you back to reality, and Dacre immediately steps away. “I like what you're doing, but I don't think the line fits well on the scene.”

“My bad.” Dacre apologizes.

“Again. From the moment you slam your hands on the car.” James commands and you go back into position. “Action!”

“I know about the little games you play, Hargrove. I won't fall for them.”

“It's funny how everyone in this town thinks they know me.”

“I don't. I don't think about you, Hargrove. At all.” It's hard to keep Amy's mean smile on, not to break character and... You don't even know. But this is getting a little too hard to handle.

“Why do I have the feeling you're lying to me, princess?” He leans closer, so close Amy has no choice but to turn her head away, and when you move, you feel his breath in your neck.

“If you don't get the hell away from me right now, I swear–”

“I can't wait to see what you'll do.”

Then Amy snaps, pushing Billy away, hands on his chest, using all the strength she can manage. She's beyond pissed now, she's upset. Frustrated with her dangerous feelings towards the bad boy. “You're such a jerk!” You exclaim as Dacre gives a few steps back. “You know exactly what you're doing and you keep doing it!” The pushing turns into slaps, as Amy tries to get rid of Billy's arms, holding her. “I don't wanna be one of your flings so stay the hell away from me.”

“What do you wanna be then?” He asks, arms keeping you still, dangerously close to his body.

“I–” You're cut short when Dacre's hand comes to your cheek. For a moment you think he'll kiss you, your skin burning under his touch. The lines are forgotten, and it doesn't matter how hard you try, you can't remember it.

Then a loud noise startles you, bringing Amy back and Dacre falls back into character, looking at something over your shoulder. “We gotta get out of here.” He follows the script and you do the same, setting free from his grip.

“I'm not going with you!” Then it happens, Billy bends over and grabs Amy's legs, throwing her over his shoulder. The sudden change makes you gasp for air, quickly following to the next line. “What the hell? Put me down right now!” You yell, noticing how some of the extras start acting, moving from inside the houses to the porch to see what's the commotion about. “I'm not kidding, Billy. Put me the hell down!”

He only laughs as you push his back, swinging your legs. Dacre tightens the grip on your thighs, forcing you to stop moving. “You're very stubborn.” He mutters under his breath, finally putting you down and opening the passenger door. “Get. In. I won't let you walk–”

“Cut! Cut!” James says, quite impatient. “I want you to do something else there. From the moment you put her down, I want another confrontation. Do you guys think you can improvise it?”

“Yeah.” You mutter as Dacre nods.

“Good. Get in position then.” He orders and Dacre picks you up again, slower this time since there's no need for Billy's rush. “Alright. Action.”

“You're very stubborn.” He repeats as you're put back down, and you wonder what to do next. But when Dacre pushes you against the car, in a similar position from some minutes earlier, your mind threatens to go blank again. “Let's settle this, princess.” The different weight on the last word almost makes you break character, but to laugh this time. “If you don't get inside this damn car immediately and stop complaining, I will kiss you. Right here, right now. And I know you won't resist me.”

You're sure both Amy and you are paralyzed now, unable to move, or think, and you have to struggle to get your brain to work again. Dacre's eyes are so soft, you can't find Billy in them. You wonder if the cameras can get it... You wish there weren't so many cameras and lights on both of you now. “You wouldn't do that.” The words find a way out, thankfully.

“Really?” Dacre's arm encircles your waist suddenly, pulling you close, pressing you against his chest. “Try me.”

If you don't move, Amy or not, you'll kiss him. You won't even wait for Billy to fulfill his threat. So your hands nervously search for the door handle, breathing out in relief when you find it. As you turn around to open the door, his grip still holds you, and you're only free when you step inside the car, closing the door shut a little too violently. With your eyes focused on the car parked a few feets ahead, you only listen when Dacre gets in the driver's seat.

“Alright, cut!” Relieved this is over, you hope not to do it again. It'll be the death of you. “It was amazing. Whatever the two of you have going on, it's great. If you keep this level, the kissing scene will be one of this season's best moments.”

Glad that the day is over, you wave at Dacre before getting out of the car and heading to your dressing room. Your head won't stop spinning, thinking, replaying what just happened. It was only Billy... Right? All those times you thought it was Dacre, it wasn't. You can't allow yourself to believe that. Part of you wish you didn't come here with Dacre, but you did, so you have to meet him again when you're ready to go. The ride back to the hotel is filled with light conversations, nothing about the scenes you just did. But there's an elephant in the room, you can feel it, and you think Dacre feels it too, by the glances he gives you every now and then. Sometimes it looks like he'll say something, then he just gives up. You wonder if you should say it, end the tension. Ask him if you did something wrong. But every time you feel the words are just about to flow out, you blush and look away.

How are you supposed to get the kissing done when you're so... Lost.

But when you reach the elevators, you decide to ask him. You decide to be brave for once and follow Dacre's advice of not holding everything back. He did say he'd listen, that he wouldn't be scared. “You broke character, didn't you?” It comes out suddenly, and he immediately looks at you as you lean against the elevator mirror.

“Half a dozen times.” He answers after taking a deep breath. “And so did you... Right?”

“Quite a few times, yes.” Looking down, you swallow hard. “It was a disaster. Well, almost.”

“Why?”

“Because I–” You're damn phone ringing cuts you off, and, rolling your eyes, you pick it up. “It's Natalia.”

“Answer her. It's my floor anyway.” Dacre gestures at door, and right above it, you see the number. “We'll talk later, alright?”

“Yes.” You mutter, a little sad that the doors just opened.

“Bye.” Dacre leans closer for a quick hug and to place a kiss on your cheek, as he's been usually doing.

As you watch him leave, the doors closing again and separating the two of you, you finally answer Natalia. “Hey. What's up?”

“(Y/N). Are you in your room?” As she speaks, you hear Millie saying something in the background.

“I'll be getting there in a minute.”

“Alright.” Then she hangs up.

You have sixty seconds to recover from the day before meeting Natalia and Millie at your door. Smiling in a very weird way. As you approach, taking the card from your pocket, you raise an eyebrow. “Something wrong?” You ask as you open the door, gesturing for them to get inside.

“No... Of course not.” Millie mutters, searching for something on her phone. “Just this.” When she shows you the screen, you sigh. It's the video Dacre posted on his Instagram story.

“That was just... We were at the gym. Working out.” It's stupid to do this. They won't let it go. Throwing yourself on the couch, you cover your head with a pillow.

“What you call ‘working out’ I call flirting.” Natalia states, and when Millie pulls the pillow away, you see Natalia bending over the back of the couch as Millie sits down next to your legs.

“But nobody was flirting. We were just making fun of each other.” You wait for them to say something. Anything. But they don't. The two girls just keep staring at you, smirking. If they only knew what happened today... “What?”

“You like Dacre, don't you?” Millie inquires, folding a leg under her.

The first instinct is to say no, and the word is at the tip of your tongue. But it doesn't come out because you suddenly realize it would be a lie. It gets stuck, as it washes over you. Nobody has asked this before, and you've been avoiding to think about it. But now that the right words were said, you know it. “Damn it.” Muttering under your breath, you cover both your eyes.

“We got our answer.” Natalia sing-songs.

“He likes you too. You know that, right?”

“Of course he doesn't, Millie. Just because he's nice to me it doesn't mean–”

“There's a huge difference between being nice and doing what he's doing, believe me.” Millie stands up, pacing around with both hands on her hips. “Now, tell us everything.”

×

@baker151910 @shinydixon @dreamin-of-dacre @hanoi15 @lickmymelanin @skykittystuff @foccus @multific @uncookspaget @kellysimagines

[echo-three-one]

Whatever It Takes

While Soap, France and the two hostages try to recover, Gary stands by for action. It's a waiting game before they make their next move. Can Gary's lungs handle the training?

Previous Chapter : Reunited

Chapter 6 to another story made by Ray (echo-three-one) Comments and Reviews appreciated! I hope you enjoy! Love you all ❤️

A Walk to Remember

Gary "Roach" Sanderson

Task Force 141

Task Force 141 - Briefing Room

Gary was able to share his raccoon story, but he wasn't contented. He actually wanted a certain someone to listen to it. He wanted to see her smile. He knew their time together was short but he grew curious about the blonde girl. He felt concern, almost guilty that he triggered her massive headache. He wanted to apologize, but since then she's still unconscious. Guess he'll have to wait.

"The concern is that Augustus' squad had been forcibly and convincingly recruiting troops from a local border militia and informants reported that they have siezed their small village camp." The caterpillar-moustached general briefed, gaining murmurs from the rest of the squad.

"We'll be sending Alex tomorrow to negotiate with the squad and if he's successful. We could formally assist them and take back their base, crippling Augustus forces. Gathering intel on the village is a bonus." he added, making everyone else nod. Gary looked determined to help out, and for now all he could to is to train more and have faith in Alex's skills.

"That's odd." Ghost nudged from beside him.

"Yeah?" he replied quickly.

"I know that face… Something's bothering the bug. Come on. Spill." he whispered. Ghost may look cold and distant at one glance but he tries hard to show concern, especially for Roach, who has been there to absorb his problems ever since they met.

"It's the mission." Gary lied and he was not convincing at that.

"Sod off mate. I can tell you're lying. Is it the girl? It's always about the girl." he teased. Gary found himself speechless as he puffed his cheeks.

"Yeah. We'll you're bothered about France too. And threatened about how close they are with Soap." he whispered, Ghost fell silent and stopped bugging him. Gary wanted to quickly apologize for hitting a nerve, but he turned his focus to Shepherd.

"That's about all of it for today. I want all available squad members at the training areas now. We're not going to let that same blunder happen again." he scolded as everyone silently left. Ghost walked behind Gary, his quiet demeanor was normal but somewhat odd.

"You think she's interested in him? They used to fight a lot." he muttered and Gary turned to him.

"Look mate, I have no idea what's going on around them. They just met, and I'm no love doctor but if you're really into her then take small steps. Get to know her, talk to her, those kind of things. Then you'll finally get the answer you're looking for." Roach advised and Ghost actually showed agreement by nodding as they continue to the training room.

Task Force 141 - Jogging Oval

THE NEXT DAY

It's the fourth time that Roach lost to Ghost on a one lap sprint. A sign that he still has a lot of lung endurance exercises to do and he's still a long way to go to master holding a sniper rifle. He looked down, hands on his knees and sweat dropped from his forehead as he panted heavily.

"Roach! You okay?" a familiar scottish voice called from nearby. He looked and saw Samantha, Maxine, France and Soap together early in the morning. Samantha was pushing Maxine's wheelchair while France pushed Soap's. It looked like he still can't get up properly yet and might not make it on the next mission. His eyes now turned to Maxine who was looking at Samantha, laughing at something. Her smile brought happiness to Roach's face and he felt like he could run another lap.

"I'm fine." Gary replied with a thumbs up, jogging toward them, taking France's spot.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Oh. Nowhere. The nurse said we could use a little sunshine." Soap replied and the rest of them nodded. Maxine turned to Gary and smiled.

"You. You helped me back there. Eased the pain from the sprain. What's your name?" she asked. Gary took the time to let her voice fill his mind.

"Gary." he replied.

"Thank you Gary." she smiled and turned back to Samantha, resuming their conversation. France quickly nudged him to which he winced in pain.

"Whatever you're thinking, it goes through me first. I'm her sister after all." she warned, Gary pretended to look confused but there was no use hiding to a woman. They could sense intentions a mile away. 

"Does she um… remember you?" Gary asked. France's face shifted from threatening to sad.

"Not really." She sighed. "But she will recover and recognize me someday." 

"What happened to his leg? Hey hey Is that Alex?! Samantha it's Alex! Heyyy Pretty boy! Over here!" Maxine excitedly called him. He was walking to the hangar with his backpack and gym bag, looking focused. Everyone else were confused as to how Maxine knew Alex and Gary started to feel odd about it.

"Hey… um… you." Alex greeted awkwardly, smiling at the group.

"Alex. This is Samantha over here. I remember you looking for him at the bar. You know, a childhood friend you want to reconnect with?" She excitedly winked as he looked at Samantha. Gary could sense a little something going on between the two.

"Max, I don't know no Alex from my childhood…" Samantha muttered and Maxine frowned. This wasn't the kind of reunion she expected. It was a shame that that was the last thing she could remember.

"Yeah. I think you may have mistaken me or something. But I did look for her, returned a pendant she dropped back then." Alex replied and ran back to the airstrip.

"I swear I remember him correctly. I know full well which memories hurt me." Maxine whispered to herself as Samantha rubbed her back.

"He does look familiar. But then again I saw him back then and mistook him as a stalker. I mean, look at those tattooes. Turns out he's just there to return my pendant. It's a huge coincidence he works here though. Like one in a million." she mused as they quietly watched him walk away.

Gary started pushing Soap and the rest followed. He was happy Maxine's all peppy and well, but he can't help but feel jealous about the way she reacted upon seeing Alex. He wished she'd do the same for him. But who was he for her? Nothing but a random stranger.

"Huh?" Maxine asked and Samantha just nodded, making her quiet and realize things. Soap looked at Roach and they just exchanged weird glances and shrugged. Mentally noting that they'll have to talk to Alex about this after the mission.

~

"So, any new news?" Ghost stood by Gary as he gulped down a bottle of water.

"Not really. Except from the fact that Maxine claims to know Alex and Samantha knows Alex. And also Maxine is Francine's sister?!" Gary exhaled leaving Ghost in a momentary confusion.

"Wai.wai wait.. For real?!" he asked. Gary downed another bottle and nodded.

"Yeah. When briefing told us Alex was somehow connected, he was actually all over the place. I want answers from him." 

"Yeah. So where is he?" 

"He's already on his way back to Germany. Let's hope he convinces a whole army to help us out." Gary wondered as Ghost nudged him back to the gym. 

"Let's train that lungs of yours again."

All Gary could do was groan in  frustration as he followed Ghost to the gym.

"Man, Nero's a mysterious guy huh. Did you know Alex helped catch the CIA Mole he's working with. The one that supplied him the serum that's behind all of this." Gary overheard two random soldiers at the gym discuss. He couldn't help but stop whatever he was doing and asked them for more details.

"They already publicized the report on the website. They're actually desperate for any Nero-like activity to report to them immediately." one of them informed, Gary turned to Ghost and they both nodded, quickly running to the Base's library.

"Here it is. Alex's report." Gary muttered as Ghost peeked beside him, they slowly scrolled across pages of information written by Alex himself. He didn't hide anything from them, except from thr fact that they're after her because she had memories of an IP Address. Then further through the report they concluded that they weren't successful in extracting it. Then at the end of the file was a footnote, regarding Samantha's state. It read:

Due to a special favor promised by Samantha's father, he has authorize to apply an MK Ultra procedure to her, whose main intention is to Alter her memories of the IP Address along with the events that happened prior to kidnapping.

"So that's why she didn't know Alex." Gary realized.

"Hence the responses earlier." Ghost added.

"Maxine wasn't mentioned in this footnote this means her memories weren't rewritten." Gary spleculated. Ghost scratched his head in confusion.

"This whole thing is nuts." Was all Ghost could say.

Task Force 141 - Quarters

2000H

"Same routine tommorow, okay?" Ghost grinned and it made Gary groan.

"Fine. My lungs are going to hate you for eternity, Simon." he complained and the trainer just chuckled.

"We didn't have the chance to talk to Soap today. He surely has a lot of new information about the two." 

"Nah. More like more information on France." Ghost retorted fake chuckling.

"If he's ever in the competition, I can judge that he's one step ahead." Gary remarked, attempting to tease Ghost who was already leaning away from him.

"Rest up, Bug. Another big day tomorrow." he muttered, almost angry.

"Yeah. Big day."

Next Chapter : Just Like Old Times

tagging the notification squad

@enderio

@samatedeansbroccoli

@whimsywispsblog

@smokeywhalee

@beemybee

@ricinbach

[hanawrites404]

Twice My Age

Show : Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Jojo No Kimou Na Bouken

Pairing : Noriko (female Noriaki)/Jotaro Kujo

Warnings : Age-gap romance and sex along with swearing.

Characters : Jotaro Kujo, Noriko (female Noriaki), Jolyne Cujoh

Timeline : Pre-Stone Ocean

This story is based on this song :

This story is also based on the author's headcanon when she had finished reading Stone Ocean and was recovering her brain cells.

Third Person POV

It was a normal afternoon at Florida. Today was Friday, which meant the last day of the working week. Students at the school were frustratingly tapping the heels of their feet on the floor waiting for the school bell to ring and mark the end of the tiring session.

The teacher obviously minded his own business and lectured the pupils without averting his gaze from the blackboard. He kept ignoring the sounds of whispers and paper-tearing and snickers of the children, until for once he recognised one of the students who was continuously talking in his class, and decided to take some action.

"Ms. Cujoh" the teacher called out harshly as he teared his gaze from the blackboard and stared at the student.

The talkative student looked at the teacher and went silent. She had a piece of folded paper in her hand, her arm stretched out to the student for whom it was meant for. She retrieved her hand back and answered the teacher who was glaring lasers at her through his glasses.

"Yes Mr. Anderson??". "First, please stand up while you speak to a teacher" Mr. Anderson pushed his glasses up. The student sighed and stood up, putting away the paper she had in her pocket.

"Would you please answer the question which is on the board??". Ms. Cujoh read the question. She then rolled her eyes and read the question the teacher had written in white.

Prove that Cos2x = Cos^2x - Sin^2x

"What the??" The teenager reacted.

Mr. Anderson's gaze never left Ms. Cujoh. He was observing every move of her of how she was looking around the classroom, silently asking for help and her friends were giving her a shrug or a thumbs-down.

"Ms. Cujoh. We don't have all day"

After that, she knew that she would have to answer the question by herself.

"I-It's simple Mr. Anderson. Multiply both the sides by zero, and there you go. LHS = RHS".

The students roared with laughter at the teenager's statement. Mr. Anderson was actually expecting such kind of an answer from the rowdy teenager.

"Silence everyone" the teacher stomped his ruler on the table and the room became quiet. But it didn't last for long as the bell finally rung, meaning that it was time for dispersal.

The students quickly packed their bags by shoving their books and stationery inside and exited the classroom, scrambling on their feet. The whole classroom became empty, leaving the astute teenager and the stoic teacher alone.

The silence in the room grew kind of tense. So the girl started to pack her bag and leave the class. Until.......

"Jolyne". The teenager looked at the teacher. She really wanted to leave the vacated classroom and go home. Also she had successfully survived today's class. Now what was the problem??

"Your behaviour is getting worse day by day. And I'm afraid that you might need some extra tutelage for your discipline and your academics yet again".

The teenager rolled her eyes once again. She then placed one of her hands on her hip and looked at the teacher with disinterest.

"Give me a break Mr. Anderson. My answer was correct". "You can argue with the ones who will correct your answer sheet Ms. Cujoh. I'm definitely not the right person to go against with your illogical statement".

Jolyne held her fist tightly. She really wants to punch her teacher square in the face and make sure to get the glass shards of his glasses cut his eyes. But she decided to bottle her anger for now.

"Your discipline is very concerning. Also you are not taking your studies seriously. Even the previous teachers whom I had appointed to improve your etiquettes returned home with a broken nose and teeth" he said to himself.

Jolyne smirked to herself with pride.

"So I have decided to change my plans" he spoke.

"Ha!! So you finally understand, Mr. Anderson" she then crosses her arms and sits on the table while putting her leg on the other. "You will never be able to transform me into nerds like you want to. I'm what I want to be and I don't give a fuck to anyone who wants me to change".

"We will see about that" he then pushes his glasses. "Huh??" Jolyne raises her eyebrow at him. What was this thick-skulled teacher really planning to do to her??

"If it's another teacher, then do keep some extra bandages for the injuries, because I'll not go easy on them" she then cracks her knuckles.

"Now that's where I stop you Ms. Cujoh".

Jolyne then glared at the teacher.

"I'm not going to appoint a teacher to straighten you up. This time, it's a student of your age. Your own classmate".

Jolyne was slightly taken aback. A student?? Of her age?? And the student of her own classroom?? But she barely knew anyone who was good at both discipline and studies. The only persons she was aware of were mostly the divas, the jocks and the bullies.

"W-Who is this student you are talking about??" Jolyne asked. "You will meet her outside the school premises. She is actually one of my best students and has been topping her class for the past 3 years" Jolyne witnessed a sense of pride in Mr. Anderson's tone.

Jolyne became a bit nervous. Who was this nerd whom she hadn't even notice that she was in her school and her class?? And also, a girl??!!

"You might be wondering--'why a girl??' It's because I really want you to get along with her and learn whatever she teaches, and her being the same gender as you would be a good boost".

Jolyne then sniggered and got up from the table. "Just because she is a girl and is of my age, doesn't mean that I can't afford a bruise or two on her".

"I had already warned her about your..........tendency and she is perfectly fine with it. So do whatever you want to do to her, she will be alright with it as she was the one who chose to take the risk and tutor you".

What a daring one for a nerd......Jolyne thought.

Mr. Anderson then looked at his wrist watch. He then spoke "It's getting late. You may leave now".

"Oh thank you, Mr. Anderson" she said in a very sarcastic manner and she even bowed to add to her mockery as she left the class.

"And another thing Ms. Cujoh". Jolyne then looked behind at her teacher lethargically. Can the teacher just leave her already before she actually punches him??

"If you hadn't been the daughter of Dr. Kujo, I would have already expelled you. But I'm still giving you a chance because I'm sure that you too can be as disciplinary as your father".

"Alright first of all, Dad was a delinquent when he was my age. And second of all, he would have already punched your face and shove your stupid glasses into your mouth just to make you shut up if he was at my place" and she then goes away without saying anything else or looking back.

Mr. Anderson sighed as he stacked the sheets and registers he had to take home and correct. After he was done, he looked at the empty classroom once more, especially at the seat where the spiteful teenager sat.

"Hopefully you know what you are doing, Noriko.........."

*One minute time skip, brought to you by Binod*

"Stupid Anderson, he just doesn't know how to mind his own fucking business!!!!" Jolyne angrily stomped out of the premises. She then turned around to look at the clock which was installed on the school building.

It's 5 already. I need to return home fast. Dad is coming home earlier than his usual time so I better reach home before him..........

"Umm....Jolyne Cujoh??".

"What?!!" She turned to the voice. Jolyne relaxed her eyes a bit when she saw who was the owner of the voice.

It was a girl wearing the same uniform as her. The only difference was that she was comparatively shorter than Jolyne and was fairer than her.

She had her red hair down which was a bit longer than shoulder length and purple eyes, one red wavy bang was framing her pretty face and her lips were a glossy, cherry red.

"Do I know you??" Jolyne raised her eyebrow at the unknown girl.

"Not yet, but you will. My name is Noriko. I'm the one who is supposed to mentor you" she then goes closer to her and offers her hand to shake. "It would be a pleasure to get to know you better".

Jolyne observed the girl's hand. She had her nails perfectly trimmed but there was no polish on them. Jolyne then looked at her face and asked.

"Japanese??" She asked. "Yeah" Noriko replied. Jolyne then smirks and shakes her hand firmly.

"Then we will get along pretty well" she said. Noriko then smiles and brushes her bang behind her ear with the other hand. "I'm glad you think so" she replied.

Both of the girls let go of their hands and then they walk home beside each other.

"By the way, why did you say that we will get along well, judging by my nationality??" Noriko asked the taller girl.

"You see, I'm a Japanese myself".

"You are??" Noriko asked, a bit surprised.

"Yeah. I know. I may not look like that but yes, Japanese is one of my nationality" Jolyne replied.

Noriko then snickered and asked "Just how many nationalities do you have??". "Well, my mother is from Florida and my father is Japanese, Italian and British" Jolyne calculated.

"Wow, so many citizenships" she commented. "Haha, it's not that cool as it sounds like. Trust me" Jolyne joked. Noriko chuckled and slapped the taller girl's shoulder lightly which made Jolyne chuckle.

"So Noriko??". "Yes??". "Why did you choose to mentor me?? You do know that I have a certain.........reputation at school".

"I am aware of everything you do in school. Mr. Anderson has updated me everything on you".

"*Ugh* That fucker. What is he, a spy?? Did he only find me to spy on?? And not the ones who actually harass girls or bully lowerclassmen behind the school??"

"Actually, I should be the one at whom you should be angry at". "Huh??" Jolyne looked at her.

"Wait, don't tell me--". "Yes. I was the one who told him to note everything you do".

"*Ugh* Noriko~!! I didn't expect this from you~" Jolyne whined. "Sorry, but this was the only way to plan on how to get you into discipline just like how Mr. Anderson want it". "Fuck that teacher!!!" She then kicks a stray rock on the road which goes very far.

"You seem to be very strong". "Heh, thanks. It's not much, but I can surely lift a heavy table pretty easily". "I'll take a note of that. It might come handy to me when I need to move a table" she chuckled. Jolyne then laughs and Noriko too joins her.

After their laughter died, Noriko spoke.

"You are really fun to be with". "Thanks. I had assumed that you were going to be just like Anderson but you are one lively person" Jolyne said.

"Oh really?? Thank you. Actually, no one has said that to me before" she then brushed another strand of her hair behind her ear.

"What do you mean??" Jolyne asked. "I don't really have friends. Only a few classmates talk to me but only when they need my assistance".

"Huh?? How is that even possible?? You are such an amazing person. Also, you are very pretty. You should have at least a boyfriend with you".

"I don't have a boyfriend". "Oh......a girlfriend perhaps??". "No.....". "Oh, you love a trans??". "What?? No. I'm not interested in anyone for now". "Ahhh....I see".

"Say, do you have a boyfriend??". "My status is also as same as you. Even I'm not really interested in getting into relationships. It will just..........get in my way, that's why". "I understand. Love is.......a very new subject for me" Noriko said.

"Yeah.....me too.....Hell, I don't even know why Dad fell for Mom in the first place just to leave her after that" Jolyne stated. "Huh?? What do you mean??" Noriko looked at Jolyne.

"My parents got a divorce after I was born. And according to the laws, both of my parents have the rights on me. So I visit one of them after every alternate month. This month I'm staying with my father" Jolyne explained.

"I see. Your father is Dr. Jotaro Kujo right??". "Yes, the famous marine biologist. The one who wrote thesis on starfish and other marine creatures. How interesting" Jolyne said, adding a dramatic sarcasm to it.

"Honestly, I'm a big fan of him" Noriko added, a light blush on her cheeks. "What?? Seriously??" Jolyne gaped.

"Yes. I have read every report and thesis he has ever written. The way how he observes and analyses the creatures is just wonderful. I bet that he is going to be the one who will discover a new species of marine life which humanity has never seen before" she spoke with amazement.

"Ha!!! You are flattering him now. My Dad is nothing like how you think of him" Jolyne argued. "Oh really??" Noriko raised her eyebrow.

"Yes. I know he is smart and all but he is not Einstein-level" Jolyne answered. "I never compared him with Einstein, Jolyne. It's just that I really think of him very fondly, and I admire him a lot" Noriko said.

"Yeah yeah, but don't fall in love with him. He might break your heart" she joked. Noriko blushed pink. It's good that Jolyne didn't notice it, otherwise it would have been very awkward.

"Well, here we are. My Dad's house" Jolyne stopped and showed Noriko her house.

"Wow, it looks very big" Noriko looked all over the lavish bungalow.

"Heh, these are the perks of being a Joestar" she said. "Joestar?? What do you mean??" Noriko asked. "You first come inside and then I'll tell you" and so Jolyne and Noriko entered the luxurious house. Both of them removed their shoes and Noriko looked around the house with an agape mouth and wide eyes.

"Wow......this looks so much better from the inside. Just how rich are you people??" Noriko commented and asked Jolyne.

"Well, there was a guy named Robert Speedwagon who was friends with my great-great-grandfather. He then became rich after finding many oil ores out of nowhere. After he died, all of his luxuries went to my great-grandfather and that's how all of our expenses are taken care of" Jolyne explained.

"That's amazing. You guys are literally royals" Noriko commented. "Yeah. And also my great-great-grandfather was a noble in England, so he was rich even before the Speedwagon guy came" she added.

"I see" Noriko then sat on one of the loveseats. "Being a Joestar must be very lucky right??" Noriko asked. "If you think like that, you are gravely mistaken" Jolyne told her.

"What?? Really?? I can't believe this. But you guys have everything!!!.............I guess everything has it's pros and cons" Noriko told herself.

Jolyne was about to speak more, but then the bell of the house rang.

"That must be Dad. You stay here Noriko. I'll be right back" and then she goes to check the door. Since Noriko had nothing to do for now, she looks at her skirt and straightens it up a bit.

Jolyne on the other hand opens the door and sees her father standing outside, just as she expected.

"Hello Dad" Jolyne greeted. "Hello Jolyne, how was school??" Dr. Kujo entered the house and Jolyne stepped away to give him some space.

"Meh, it was fine. Mr. Anderson barked at me as usual" Jolyne told him. Mr. Kujo sniggered a bit.

"He doesn't seem to stop critisizing you, does he??". "Of course not. I bet he won't even shut up even after he is an old man and cannot even lift his hand to push his oversized glasses up" she mocked.

Dr. Kujo smiled a fraction as he removed his shoes and his coat. While he was putting his shoes on the rack, he noticed another pair of school shoes which were similar to that of Jolyne's.

"Jolyne, have you brought a classmate here?" Dr. Kujo asked.

"Uhh yeah. She is actually my mentor who is supposed to tutor me, starting from today. I hope you don't mind if she stays here".

"No, not at all" The professor replied. He then hung his coat up and headed to the living room, her daughter following her.

As soon as Mr. Kujo entered the room, he spotted the red-haired girl. She looked awfully familiar to him which made the professor stop on his tracks.

"Dad, what's wrong??" Jolyne spoke from behind her father.

"Noriaki........" He whispered.

"Noriaki?? No Dad, her name is Noriko"

Jolyne corrected.

Even her name is similar to his...........

Mr. Kujo continued to stare at the red head who was scribbling something in the notepad on her lap with a pencil.

That red hair, those amethyst eyes, and how she was concentrating on her work, everything Mr. Kujo had seen already a long time before. It all felt like Deja Vu to him. And he clearly remembers the person whom this girl reminds him of. He was his highschool lover after all.

"Noriko-chan" Jolyne calls her. Noriko looks up from her notepad to her friend.

"Here is my father, who is also your 'sole idol'. And Dad, this is Noriko, my friend" Jolyne introduced them to one another.

(Part 2)

[embrassemoi]

(1/5) Ugh walburga and orion... can someone send them to azkaban or maybe hex them? Or, i don't know, punch them in the face muggle way? Admittedly, I always imagined that they would be softer towards regulus, bc of the way sirius talk about them in the ootp but I actually liked this interpretation, where things became diffrent for regulus after he became the heir of the family. I like reading about him, we already know he will become a deatheater but I can't wait to see how and why he will go

Whenever I think about Regulus' home life, I 100% believe that Regulus is the golden child. Orion and Walburga love him, but they won't hesitate to do things to keep him 'in line' whenever they feel like he's not listening or 'losing' focus. He's held to an incredibly high standard now that Sirius is gone, I think that perpetuates a lot of wrath from his parents If he ever disagreed with them. But yeah, I think they're soft for him too.

(2/5) down that path? Is it because he belives in blood purity (he is friends with mc but snape was friends with lily and we all know what happend), is it because his family forces him to? His friendship with mc is an interesting one as well and now that mc knows about his family's stance on blood purity, I'm wondering what this will mean for them. I kinda agree with james on his warning. Also james asking regulus to move in with them and refusing to reveal sirius' secrets even though they are

(3/5) no longer friends was great. I think prankster james is great but seeing his more serious side during time of hardships adds a whole new layer to him and you can see how he will go from idiot teenager to great man everybody talks about in the books. Okay moving on, Sirius' situation broke my heart again. I know they have every right to be mad at him but... ugh I can't help it. Part of me wants them to make up immediately since they will die/go to prison/live as a rat/live in isolation in a

James' arch is happening! Ngl, it's been tricky planning and writing how he's going to change but I think so far it’s working out so I’m not worried.

LMFAO I FEEL SO BAD FOR SIRIUS. I'm torturing that poor man.

(4/5) couple of years. I just want them to be happy while they can. Speaking of fighting, lily!!! I know she feels heartbroken but also I feel so sorry for mc, she thinks she lost a friend and even compared their situation to her mother isolating her (in the previous chapter). I know it's hard for her now but I'm pretty sure she will be happy when she is in a loving relationship with james while mc, sirius and remus suffer in an angsty love triangle (evil laughter). Also what's going on with

I've stated this before so don't consider it a spoiler, but yeah. James and Lily will end up together no matter what. I know a lot of my readers are kind of iffy about her feelings towards the MC (because they want Jily) but since I wrote her as a bisexual/unlabelled women, I want to explore that a bit before she's with James. She's just a young teenager with feelings for someone else that isn't returned. Everyone goes through it and in Lily's case, it's hitting harder because the MC is not only one of her best friends, they share the same dorm, always around each other, but she's also a girl! It would be scary as fuck! she may not even feel valid in her sexuality!

And I was trying to write in mind that Lily and MC are still clearly friends but the MC is kinda just done at the moment. She's just confused, angry because well, didn't they just go through something similar a couple months ago? But this time, there's ‘seemingly’ no reason as to why Lily’s acting the way she it.

And omg... you don't understand how exciting I am to write the angst between Remus and Sirius over the MC. PLEASE, I WANT THE ROMANCE TO HAPPEN NOW! ANGST NOW PLEASE!

(5/5) Marlene? Why did she sounded jealous when she was talking about how lily and mc are inseparable. Did she have a crush on lily before? In an earlier chapter she looked hurt after lily moved towards mc when marlene tried to wake her up. Or maybe she feels like mc stole her friend? I don't think she had feelings for mc bc she encouraged her to go after sirius (but lily did a similar thing too). But still, I love her and dorcas together and also how marlene is a sister for younger students -🌸

also, not a spoiler: Marlene does not have feelings for the MC or Lily. her actions will be explained at a later time. Probably sometime soon.

And ugh her and dorcas :D and Marlene having a soft spot for children! like I also imagined Marlene to be like a mixture of James, Sirius and can be 'mean' sometimes but she's a softie around kids.

[ghostmeep]

are you going to make a post on why you think sonic isn't to blame for letting metal go? i'm curious on your thoughts on it

Ah, I’m guessing you are referring to my little side note I made in my Sonic feels guilt post 

Well, tbh that sentence was less of a ‘I’ve got a lot of important things to say about this matter’ and more of a ‘I’m trying to not get off topic’ - but I’m up for expanding my thoughts on it. Don’t expect ground breaking points tho haha

Disclaimer, this is way less fact driven than my other post about Sonic feeling guilty in the Zombot arc. It’s more speculation with not as much direct support from canon. But if you are cool with that, read on

Anyways, so to first clarify what I want to try and express in this post:

I do think that the current arc is a direct result of Sonic’s actions and I’m not trying to disprove that Sonic is to blame here. He is to blame when all is said and done, but it isn’t like he single-handedly caused the Zombots to spread? I just think people are shitting on Sonic just a bitttt too much 

But, I do think that Sonic’s actions were in character enough to forgive. A bit of a stretch here and there, but enough to let it pass imo

———–

I’m going to first talk about Sonic letting Eggman free even though you only asked about Metal because the two kind of goes hand in hand.

And here I ask everyone to let go of their beyond the fourth wall knowledge. Forget about how you know the franchise as Eggman and Metal Sonic are antagonist and there is no way Sega would change them.

Try thinking about it from Sonic’s perspective and think of Eggman as a real person - meaning someone who can change and grow, because all people can - I���m not saying all people do, but it is possible

.

So we look at Eggman’s situation. At first Sonic was super suspicious and wasn’t willing to trust Eggman and thought it was an act.

But the more time he was with Mr. Tinker the more he had to accept that Eggman really did have memory loss - and guess what? He was right about that part at least. 

In that moment of time, Eggman was truly different and didn’t remember any of his past doings.

In that situation, wouldn’t it have been a little harsh to imprison him? Or kill him? I dunno, if Eggman never remembered and could live the rest of his life peacefully as Mr. Tinker, wouldn’t it be okay to let him? – Forget about what we know happened later on and just think about it from that situation in time. 

If Sonic just threw Eggman to prison at this point, I feel like that would have been more out of character for him. More harsh than I would have expected him to be. Because, for all his cool guy attitude, Sonic is a nice, caring guy. 

And it wasn’t like Sonic was the only one who wanted to give this chance to Mr. Tinker. Shadow was the only one he had to really convince.

Everyone else was on-board more or less?

They all deferred to Sonic’s decision, but if they had a problem with it they would have spoken up. Or tried to persuade Sonic against letting Mr. Tinker free. It’s because they agreed, at least on some level, that they just went with what Sonic decided to do. Espio took some convincing, but again, not all that much. Barley any at all. 

And then the town mayor put in his two cents - so everyone pretty much came to a mutual agreement, no? it’s a bit much to say it’s all on Sonic for letting Eggman stay as Mr. Tinker

( That is to say, I’m not saying that it was wrong of the characters to blame Sonic. The characters did trust Sonic to make the right decision, so when it proved to be the wrong one, and with all that is going on and everyone running on emotion, it makes sense they would turn on Sonic. Because Sonic did have the final say, and as the ‘hero’ who everyone looked to for guidance he did let everyone down in that sense. It was his responsibility to bear. Fair or not. ) Us as readers shitting on Sonic though is a bit different. We can absolutely say it was a stupid decision and I’m sure all of us called it that Eggman would return, but in universe, there is enough to support Sonic’s decision. So I wouldn’t call this Sonic grabbing the idiot ball, since it does adhere to parts of Sonic’s personality as we know it. 

Anyways, back to the Mayor being up for letting Eggman stay. We can see that Sonic still has some doubts and is unsure what to do at this point. 

He’s still thinking about it, and while it’s likely he would have reached the conclusion of letting Eggman stay anyways, there is something that pushes him to make that decision. That cements in his mind that Eggman is gone for good.

Because when the Badniks invade the town and Sonic rushes to confront Eggman he sees –

Eggman trying to protect the children

This is the moment that convinces Sonic the most, I think. Because when the going gets tough is when people’s true colours start to emerge. And Mr. Tinker did what he can to protect the children, despite being scared. There is no way Sonic can throw him to rot in a cell after that

I also want to point out that even Rouge, who doesn’t have the hero persona like Sonic does, even she thought it would be for the best to let Eggman free as Mr. Tinker? Why else would she even bother giving a tip to the Chaotix knowing that Sonic would likely come to this decision?

And it isn’t like Sonic just made the decision to let Eggman roam free and washed his hands of the matter. We see his doubts when Eggman Land is mentioned and he says himself how he’ll definitely be stopping by

So Sonic is aware of the dangers, and he is also planning to stop by and check up on Eggman himself. Sounds kinda fair to me. 

So hopefully it’s clearer from this that letting Eggman free isn’t really the most unbelievable thing to do, it made enough sense for people other than Sonic to be on board of it at least.

And Sonic even managed to convince Shadow. Yeah, Sonic is dumb stubborn so trying to change his mind would have been difficult, but the same goes for Shadow, right? But Sonic managed because what he said made sense at the time. There is logical thought to letting Eggman free and that is why he was able to convince everyone.

Of course, now everyone regrets it because it led to this disaster, but point still stands that at the time it didn’t seem like a bad idea. 

I’ve got no good counter for why Sonic and co. didn’t leave someone to look after Eggman just in case tho. 

The best I can think of is because to them, Eggman was the ‘big bad’. After all, how many disasters didn’t start because of Eggman in some way? Not really any. 

So since they deemed Eggman was a non-threat maybe they just assumed it would be safe to leave him here? Because without Eggman, who would they have to worry about? Any new villain that would pop up would be a threat to the world sure, but no threat in having Eggman restore his memories. It’s hard to imagine a situation where a new villain takes the time to help Eggman regain his old self in-between destroying the world…

Because, let’s be honest, I don’t think anyone would have ever thought that there was an Eggman fanboy on the loose. 

So they likely deemed that there was no need for a bodyguard when they thought there was nothing to guard from. 

.

Now for Metal Sonic.

Okay, so this is a little harder to defend because, well, oof Sonic you really dropped the ball here. But I can still say it’s kinda in-character?? It’s pushing it, but I don’t think it’s so out of nowhere to the point where I think Sonic’s characterization was ruined from this moment.

After all, we’ve seen Sonic show compassion to previous enemies, right? He’s pretty much known for making friends out of enemies, honestly.

So Sonic’s forgiveness definitely doesn’t come from nowhere, at least. We’ve seen Sonic’s willingness to give people multiple chances before

Seriously, which of Sonics friends didn’t start out as the antagonist? 

We have Knuckles, Shadow, Silver, Blaze, all who I won’t talk about much since I’m assuming everyone knows their stories.

But we also have other games showing Sonic’s forgiving side. 

In Sonic and the Black Knight, we saw Merlina pulling Sonic from his own world, just to trick him, and then attempt to make her world never changing (thus killing innocent souls). And at the end, all Sonic did was give her a flower and tell her to live life to the fullest in the time we have. 

And yes, you can make the argument that the people who Sonic forgave weren’t inherently bad people, just people led astray, but that’s also the point? Sonic believes that everyone has good in them – that no one is inherently all bad – even Eggman and Metal Sonic. 

You can make the argument that Metal is programmed to be evil by Eggman, but hey, weren’t Gamma and Emerl too? And yet they turned out good. 

So we do have proof that Eggman’s sentient robots are capable of changing sides. And with Eggman out of the picture and not able to influence Metal negatively, Sonic probably saw this as the perfect chance to let Metal find the good in himself. 

And yes, Metal is at a bit of a disadvantage because he is programmed to be forever loyal to Eggman, but 1) Eggman is no more as far as Sonic is concerned. So that ‘loyalty’ is a moot point. Because Metal is basically loyal to a person who doesn’t exist anymore. 2) just because you are loyal to someone doesn’t mean you can’t come to disagree with their actions. 

Metal can still learn about what is good or not even if he is programmed to be loyal to Eggman. And I think that is what Sonic was going for.

Look at Metal Sonic’s situation

They let him go, but it’s clear that he wouldn’t have been any danger to anyone. It doesn’t seem like he was fixed enough to even get close to Sonic’s speed like he normally could, and he had all his weapons removed by Tails. 

So the only one who could have made him dangerous again would be Tails (which wasn’t going to happen) and Eggman (who, as far as Sonic knows, is still Mr. Tinker)

Metal Sonic really wasn’t a danger to anyone.

Yeah, Sonic could have at the very least done a quick check on Eggman to make sure that everything was fine and he was still Mr. Tinker, but Sonic just left Eggman - what, a day or so ago? What are the odds that something happened in just that amount of time? And what are the odds that the village looked for Sonic for help at the moment he was at Angel Island?

And again, to Sonic, Eggman was the ‘big bad.’ With him gone, Sonic probably got lulled to a false sense of security. 

So it makes sense to me that Sonic is willing to give these risky second chances because he is pretty confident that Eggman, and thus evil geniuses that could rebuild Metal, are not a problem anymore.

So, Metal is not dangerous, and as far as Sonic knows, won’t be able to become dangerous. The world is rebuilding itself and it seems like they’ve finally come at peace. 

It’s the ideal situation for Metal to change. Because remember, it is possible for Eggman’s robots to be good. 

So from that line of thinking, letting Metal go isn’t all thattttt bad? Hindsight is 20/20 so it’s easy to say Sonic was wrong to letting Metal go, but at the time Sonic had at least some reason to risk it.

Sure, Sonic could have taken a bit more precaution, like maybe follow Metal to keep an eye on him, but being Mr. Free-As-The-Wind, he probably thought letting Metal go to do his own searching would eventually lead to triggering a good change – and it would all end well. After all, it is unlikely that Metal would change in the presence of people he deems as ‘enemies’ – so Sonic was likely hoping Metal would run into a more neutral party who would nudge him in the right direction. 

Also, with Sonic running around as much as he does, he probably figured that he would run into Metal sooner or later and be able to check on his progress. 

Too bad Metal tracked down Eggman instead. 

So yeah, still rather stupid – and careless, but I can see some reasoning behind it. 

It’s not too hard to imagine Sonic being over-eager to have all the danger behind him, and he wanted to wrap things up in a nice neat bow asap, so he rushed things too much. 

He seemed really ready to get to the whole ‘relax with no worries’ stage at least. 

So Sonic jumped the gun. Not exactly hard to accept for the fastest thing alive. 

I’m going to add this point in too — but let’s not forget that this takes place after Sonic Forces. Even without the English version’s unnecessary add-in of saying Sonic was tortured for six months, Sonic was still at the very least held in captivity for six months. And then immediately had to go and take up the mantle of being people’s hope ( in Tails’s words ) and win a war for everyone that has been going on for far too long. I don’t think you can really blame a guy for wanting peace so badly after all that. 

.

And just going to insert one more point about whether Zombot arc is all Sonic’s fault or not that people are going to hate me making, but Imma do it anyways. This isn’t my main argument, at all, but I just want to include it anyways. 

Because if you want to be super super technical. If you will allow me to be nit picky here…

It’s not really his fault. 

Yeah, he let Eggman free, and thus he was easy to kidnap. Yes he let Metal free, and thus was able to help Eggman recover his memory. Yes and yes.

But, my girl Tangle made valid points too. 

And I get it. This is kinda a dumb argument, because the point is is that Sonic should have taken measures to prevent Starline from being able to restore Eggman and Sonic should have prevented Metal from even being able to reach Eggman to get re-weaponized. Yes. But still. 

Are we really going to hate the fact that our Hero character tried to make the best out of a situation? Sonic wanted the best possible outcome to come true (For Eggman and Metal to find purpose in life that was good) and when he saw an opportunity for it to happen, just within his reach, he took it.

Yes it was reckless. Yes it was stupid and idealistic. Yes, it was naive, but Sonic, with all his good heart, just wanted a happy ending for everyone. 

It just sucks that there are people like Starline and Eggman who chooses to be bad, even when given the opportunity to be otherwise. But bad people existing, who choose to bring chaos and destruction, isn’t Sonic’s fault. 

Because Sonic is responsible for his actions, yes. But Starline, Eggman, and Metal are responsible for their own actions too. 

.

Well, I guess I already made my points that I wanted, but because this post is obviously not long enough, I’m going to keep going. (I just can’t stop once I’ve started, so bear with me as I go on semi-tangents from the original question) 

I’ve seen some people say how if Sonic didn’t let Metal Sonic go Eggman wouldn’t have remembered his old self — but we don’t know that???????

Sure, Metal Sonic was the last straw that allowed Eggman to remember – but it’s not guaranteed that Eggman wouldn’t have remembered without Metal.

It’s obvious that Starline wouldn’t have given up on Eggman, at least. Who knows what measures Starline would have taken to get Eggman back to all his glory. And well, he was making progress in restoring Eggman. Super slow progress, but progress nevertheless.

And this point I’m about to make is a bit of a stretch, but I want to make it anyways because I think it’s interesting to think about 

But look at what the badnik makes with the bush? It’s pretty much Sonic’s head. And, while sure it doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but it could also mean that Eggman’s subconscious is at least starting to get hung up on Sonic again? Because out of all the things the badnik could have made, it’s Sonic’s head.

And we saw when the town’s doctor tried to see if Eggman really lost his memory, we see him using a blob that looks awfully familiar

Again, it doesn’t really prove my point in any way, but I just found it a kinda cool connection. Because we’re shown that a hint that Eggman is returning evil again is showing signs about his obsession with Sonic, and that obsession is peaking in here, if ever so slightly. 

So we could say that it was only a matter of time for Eggman to return to his old self, and the trigger could have been anything if not Metal. It probably wouldn’t have happened as quick, but it likely would have happened eventually.

One more thing I want to about Sonic’s decision to let Metal go. – I don’t think Sonic made that decision behind anyone’s back. 

I’m not going to go into the whole ‘no one disagreed with Sonic’s decision so it’s not like Sonic is the only one at fault’ point I made with Eggman here, because it doesn’t hold the same truth to it for this. Because I do think in this instance letting Metal go was 100% Sonic’s decision, and 100% Sonic’s responsibility to shoulder, but saying Sonic did this behind everyone’s back is a bit much.

When he meets with Knuckles again, Knuckles says how Metal is trashed

At this point I think I’m the only one who thought this, but I took Kunckles’s words as ‘Metal is in trash condition and not a threat’ not a ‘Metal is in the trash and offline’ 

Because otherwise it seems a bit weird for that line to be included but have no reaction from Sonic? Not even a side eyed glance of guilt or a sweatdrop or a small ellipsis bubble from Sonic indicating his silence on the topic under Knuckles’s first speech bubble. Absolutely nothing is given. 

And I guess I wouldn’t put it past Sonic to omit details from his friends if he thinks it’s for the best, but it is just strange how we didn’t get any indication of Sonic choosing to omit details here when it very easily could have been shown.

Then when Silver and Sonic faced Metal, there is no surprise from Silver. No indication that Silver wasn’t already aware that Metal was out there somewhere.

And I doubt that absolutely no one thought ‘huh where did Metal’s body end up’ If everyone wasn’t aware about Sonic’s plans. It seems like it would have been an odd thing to overlook, since Metal is known to be resilient. You would think someone would have wondered what happened to it if they were being kept in the dark. 

.

And my very last point in all this huge mass of words – the biggest reason I am okay with Sonic letting Eggman roam free without supervision and Sonic letting Metal Sonic go, is because Sonic is showing signs of learning from his mistakes

(yes, I’m reusing the same screencap in the same post shh) 

Sonic says how believing that everyone has good in them came to bite him in the end and he regrets it

It’s why I can’t really get mad at Sonic chasing that idealistic happy ending for everyone. Because in order for someone to be less naive, they need to face reality first. And oh boy, has Sonic been facing really harsh reality one after another since this arc began. 

Now, it’s too early to tell if IDW will let this lesson stick, but here’s hoping. The fact that Sonic has been so hung up about his mistakes makes it seem like he’ll learn from this whole thing.

And isn’t that nice to have? A character making mistakes and then learning from it. I feel like it’s so rare to have that I’m willing to forgive idiotic decisions if it leads to character growth and the promise of this similar situation not happening again. All IDW needs to do is not brush everything that has happened and Sonic’s guilt under a rug to be forgotten and things will be fine. 

I’m not saying I want Sonic to never give second chances ever again, but showing a bit of hesitance next time would be cool. And definitely never showing Eggman and Metal such leniency after all this. 

.

And with this being my second post supporting Sonic’s actions now, I just want to clarify that it’s not like I think this arc is without flaws. I’m not trying to hype up this comic to be this amazing and perfect thing. There are a lot of issues I have with this arc, and the fact that at least half of my points I made in this post was from speculation means that there were too many holes in the storytelling. 

But, while I do see plenty of flaws with the comic, I just don’t think it fun to constantly negatively criticize something I’m reading. If I’m reading something it’s because I’m enjoying doing so, so I don’t want to be bogged down by focusing on all the holes in it. I’ll just recognize the flaws for what it is, maybe come up with a theory or two to make things easier to swallow, and move on. It’s how I enjoy reading, but I know it’s not how everyone likes to go about things and that’s fine too. 

[sometimesrosy]

Usually after episode 11 in previous seasons, we have kind of an idea on how the season finale is gonna be like and also how the next season will begin, but I'm kind of stumped with this season. Do you have an any idea on it? this is regarding everything. Bellarke. Sanctum. The anomaly. Madi.

Yeah. I think it might be like last season where the final battle is finished half way through the final episode and we get the last half of the episode to deal with the NEW situation. And bellarke. 

The battle moved up faster than I expected. We’re already in it and haven’t gotten to the finale yet. 

So they’ll solve the sanctum prime problem, probably with a little revolution because frankly the nulls deserve to kick their asses. And right now, the Primes are in an extinction event. Five of them are dead-dead. (we also have five empty mind drives.) Which leaves three of them alive and active. And four of them on ice. Five. Ryker’s on ice now too. We only have Russell, Gabriel and Priya. AND we only have three non prime nightbloods. Clarke. Madi and now Echo. wow.

I don’t know how they’re going to solve it but they will. To me, the more pressing concern is Madi and sheidheda. We’ve seen Madi hooked up in the operating room, but I don’t believe we’ve seen her in that shot from the trailer, where it looks like she’s getting woken up like when the primes wake up. or getting the serum? 

BUT we have a problem. Getting sheidheda out of her head. SEPARATING sheidheda from the other hedas. I think an emp would kill all the hedas and maybe the AI also. So, I speculate that Raven and Abby will try to use the sanctum technology to draw sheidheda out into a minddrive. Put madi to sleep using the serum? “kill” madi to suck sheidheda into the mindrive. remove the minddrive and erase sheidheda??? I still think they might put him into someone else because I wonder if the sheidheda story is done? (maybe they won’t do it until next season. idk. he’s a good villain but he’s not the villain for this season, he’s a subplot.) We’ve never had a villain that unexplored before. So I figure they’ll explore it next season. Kind of like how ALIE was built up in season 2 but not a real threat to everyone until s3. If you follow me you know I think he’s Cadogan. I still can’t shake it. 

And THEN of course, there’s the anomaly. We STILL don’t know what it is. We STILL don’t know what’s in side of it. The spirals are STILL a mystery, although now we can understand the toxins, the visions, they psychosis, and even Murphy’s vision of hell. We also have a disappeared Diyoza who was chasing her daughter. We know the anomaly works with time, i think that vision also worked with time. it wasn’t a projection from Diyoza, it was a vision of Hope as she was in the future. There’s no way DIyoza is dead, leaving us with that story hanging loose. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop and it’s unconnected to the current plot, therefore I think it’s connected to NEXT season’s plot.

The reveal of the anomaly and Diyoza’s survival and Hope, and.... listen. There are too many people around who were around when the earth was first destroyed and who took an active part in it. THEY ARE THE PEOPLE WHO DESTROYED THE EARTH and WE (our heroes) are responsible for their monster when they let it out. 

Every time I try to see myself out of a story taking our heroes back to the original apocalypse, I get turned right around back to it, because too many narrative threads head right back to the original trauma. 

Yes humanity is a mess. But it’s OUR mess. And no one gets to erase that. Not ALIE by wiping everyone out. Not MW by hiding in the basement. Not Sanctum by running away and saying it’s not their problem. Not Cadogan by forcing the issue of doomsday so he can take over.

What if the anomaly kept Diyoza because Diyoza was the only one back then who was trying to FIGHT the destruction of the earth. She lost, and was imprisoned and now she’s here, but her battle is not over. She lived to fight another day, and now she’s got, like this Alien God on her side (the anomaly,) a weapon designed to fight ALIE (the flame,) a tech genius (raven,) a medical genius (abby,) a handful of demi gods (wanheda, blodreina, the heda, and bellamy i don’t care that he doesn’t have a name yet he is the opener of doors, the key.) the thief, the assassin, the trickster. 

I think the reveal at the end of season 6 will be a mission to fix the original apocalypse. I think the apocalypse maybe sent Diyoza back to earth, to her time. And she can’t do it alone. She needs. SHE NEEDS THE DELINQUENTS because they are the best, most badass team of heroes she’s ever met. She needs Clarke and her curb stomping boots and she need Bellamy and his inspirational speeches and she needs Blodreina and her fierceness and Raven and her genius and Abby and her mad doctor skills and Murphy and his rock throwing and that psycho little Madi. 

Diyoza is a The COLONEL. She’s gone into the alien. What does she care about most? Hope?? Yes her baby. But also she tried to stop the evil hundreds of years ago. And had no hope. Now she has hope. How does she have hope? 

OUR HEROES.

listen. if y’all can try to get my head out of this place, this expectation??? give me something that disproves this theory. NOT “i don’t like it” or “if it goes to timetravel I’m out” or “but i like something else,” but something that disproves this. I thought about alternate realities, but that seems to me along the lines of just ESCAPING the damage that humanity has done and not being responsible for it. Like Luna. She tried to create an alternate reality separate from the real world and it came back. Or Sanctum, trying to create an alternate reality which turned out to REPLICATE or even intensify the sins of the past world. Lincoln said they were responsible. Diyoza said as long as we’re still alive we can keep trying to turn things around. The whole redemption story as being about ACTION and fixing your mistakes. The whole being the good guys. Monty’s disgust about the eligius 3 which was for COLONIZATION and to use up the resources of new planets since they’d taken everything from the earth already. The second dawn doomsday cult. The two suns immortality cult. The grounders warrior cult. 

listen. i have ideas. i’m far too attached to my ideas and i just need this season to be over so I can see what happens.

[airanke]

I can't remember, but i think it was you who said you were changing Wows storyline (not that I blame you lol) but I'm curious what it is? I'm mostly writing excerpts for my characters during Legion and I've been thinking a bit on what they'll be up to during Bfa. I'm debating changing some things to fit my version of bfa lol

Yes, it WAS PROBABLY ME.

I’m changing it specifically for Amita’s “canon” story (Lascivious Ophidian, as I’ve named it). She follows WoW storyline pretty closely up until the beginning of Legion.

Umm because I’m long winded, I’ll put it all under the cut!

[Pre-post Edit]: Also I’m really sorry, I JUST finished typing it all and uh. It’s long. Ahahahah;;;;

Some of my points below are subject to change but I’ll give you the gist of the differing things that happen in Lascivious Ophidian vs. Canon WoW.

Vol’jin and Varian not dying (now, I know Varian dying is important to Anduin’s development, but you don’t need to kill a parental figure to push forward a child. BNHA is a very good example of not needing to KILL the mentor to push forward the student, same can be applicable to Anduin and Varian). Sylvanas actually uses her quick reflexes and her experience as the previous ranger general of Quel’thalas to fire an arrow at the fel guard before it can stab Vol’jin (also I won’t go into how BS it was that he died of Fel Poisoning, but I won’t do that here LOL). If Blizzard wants to write “strong women”, they can start with actually having them use their skills to help their allies (cuz don’t get me started on how Jaina just disappears from the Alliance cinematic along with Mekkatorque so that Blizz can milk the whole Genn / Varian scene).

Quickly following this, Varian and Vol’jin fight the Fel Reaver together while Sylv / Jaina more or less team up to evacuate all Horde / Alliance fighters. Some ofc refuse to leave their High King / Warchief, and both women also provide long range support. Baine has to carry Thrall off battle because Thrall is completely spent. Eventually Vol’jin and Varian take down the Fel Reaver, but not before both of Vol’jin’s tusks break (he loses one to some trash mob that he needs to dodge with little time to think about it - the other he loses because Varian notices that Vol’jin is now off-balance with one tusk missing and listen, Vol’jin has big tusks, bigger than how I draw them, so he’s off-center because of that. This leads to Varian running toward Vol’jin with a hand out, Vol’jin nicks his tusk and in a moment of absolute trust, Vol’jin lowers his head enough to let Varian grab, and snap his tusk. And then kill something with it. Because that’s badass).

Varian unfortunately gets either his spine broken or knocked out (haven’t decided yet) and Vol’jin has to carry him to safety because he’s down for the count, and right before Gul’dan can Do Some Bad Shit the Aspects show up with a large force of dragons. Gul’dan nopes the fuck out. Khadgar manages to make it over to and teleport the remaining people to safety (not sure what entirely happens to Amita during this yet, I originally had her scripted to throw her all into making a wall of roots and get left behind, but I already have a plot similar to that with her disappearing for three years and Vol’jin Will Not Lose Her Again so… that’s still up in the air. She’s present during Broken Shore, though).

Then, instead of leaving cuz she’s Angery at the Horde, Jaina instead recognizes that she still has trauma / pain from what the Horde did to Theramore, and then Dalaran (kinda sorta) during Garrosh’s reign. So she leaves Dalaran to Khadgar because she’s like “y’know what, I can’t bring myself to trust the entire Horde again yet, if you want them in Dalaran, then I can’t be here, in Dalaran. I still need time to heal” something like that. Everyone is understanding of this and doesn’t try to make her stay, and Amita does what she can to help her BFF find some solitude. Something along those lines. Cuz y’know Jaina’s anger and distrust toward the Horde is still valid and understandable, but Blizz REALLY needs to do better with nuance instead of having characters Rage Quit every ten seconds.

Most of Legion stuff otherwise is normal, with the whole class hall thing (the Dreamgrove, in Amita’s case), Genn still pursues Sylvanas into Stormheim but instead of destroying her chance to enslave Eyir, Vol’jin pulls a hard stop on that plan. She rage-vents at Vol’jin about it and he claps back that she never actually asked him if she could go off on this little personal mission of hers, and so robs Genn of the closure he needs in regards to Liam’s death (this is important for another plot point I have further down). Vol’jin promises that he’ll help her find a way to sustain her people through more natural means (l i t e r a l l y). So Vol’jin and Sylv have a pretty strong bond, and also because Sylv actually follows the development Blizz was giving her up until Teldrassil happened, which was her developing past her obsession with keeping ONLY the Forsaken alive (re: “we are the Forsaken, we will slaughter anyone who stands in our way”), and starts to care about the Horde and wanting to keep the Horde alive (which was still hinted at until, y’know, recent shit which I don’t understand).

Argus related stuff is pretty much the same.

Sargeras still stabs Azeroth, and so there’s Azerite everywhere, and Vol’jin is entirely unamused by Gallywix because the Azerite shows Vol’jin a vision that Bwonsamdi has shown him before, so he just shrugs it off, because Vol’jin doesn’t care about becoming the ultimate legendary saviour all-powerful all-mighty whatever the fuck. Silithus is pretty similar but after some ACTUAL TALKING, Vol’jin and Anduin agree to split who harvests Azerite from where so that Horde miners aren’t being killed and Alliance troops aren’t being killed in retaliation (Vol’jin sends Sylv to “deal with” the problem at first, and then has a chat with Anduin to p much show Anduin that “every action has a reaction, did you really expect me to loaf around while you killed my miners?”) Yeah. Learning moment yay.

As for BfA, instead of Teldrassil being burned down by Sylvanas (because she obvs CAN’T do that since Vol’jin is warchief and he would fucking never), Genn is the one behind it. So Sylv WANTS to march on Teldrassil because she doesn’t believe the peace between the Alliance and Horde will last. Vol’jin, while agreeing that it would, in fact, be smart to attack Teldrassil, tells Sylv “no, we can make this work. Sure, peace might not last forever, but so long as I’m in charge, I can make it work. We’ll start with Ashenvale. We’ll start with having our druids restore what we’ve taken”. Sylv eventually agrees that this is a good idea, so then stuff between the Horde and the Nelves is a bit better.

Now, I haven’t ironed out EXACTLY how I get to Genn making the decision to burn down Teldrassil, but he’s very consumed by his anger toward Sylvanas (re: him not getting his chance to ruin HER chance at getting a future for her people because Vol’jin both ruins that chance and proposes an alternative - more or less leading into Forsaken learning druidic magic so that they can use plantlife to sustain and heal their bodies, and we get the orcs of Draenor, so there are other rituals that can be put in place of… FUCKING VALKYR. Please note this is also something else that I’m still working on, but I find it frustrating that we just always forget that the Horde has druids and shamans and there are other ways to preserve the Forsaken than the Blight. Because perhaps Sylv is just going to have to make due with what she has, and IDK ACTUALLY TALK TO HER PEOPLE AND GIVE THEM A CHOICE AND SHIT. Sylv is p much driven by fear of death when you think about it LMAO).

Anyway, Genn burns down Teldrassil but also does it in such a way that the Nelves still blame the Horde. Malfurion has an inkling that Vol’jin wasn’t behind it because he / Sylv / Saurfang show up when they get wind that this is happening and apparently it was Horde troops and the LOOK VOL’JIN WOULD GIVE SYLVANAS AND THE PANIC IN HER FACE LMAO anyway, Genn had made the mistake of capturing a druid, who quickly escaped Worgen eyes and went right to the Dreamgrove, and then immediately went to Amita to tell her what was happening, so Amita immediately goes to Darnassus and starts evacuating people and basically she barely manages to escape in her dragon form and Sylv and her Forsaken pull Amita and a lot of the civillians out of the water yaddyadda fun stuff.

Sylv immediately knows that Genn did this because he wanted an excuse for the Alliance to march on the Undercity, and yeah, kinda goes from there with Undercity plot, and Vol’jin allows Sylv to use the last of the Blight to Blight the Undercity, because there’s no way Sylv will let the Alliance take away her people’s home from them, esp not since they WERE the humans who had lived and died there.

Anyway, my BfA stuff is still kind of a mess becuase while I absolutely loathe Genn’s guts, I don’t want his decision to burn Teldrassil to be on a whim, or to seem non-tactical (personally I thought it would be interesting if Teldrassil was an inside job because then it would be taking away the Horde’s chance to turn it into a Horde stronghold, kind of like how I interpreted Sylv’s choice to Blight the Undercity as her taking away the Alliance’s chance to turn UC into an Alliance stronghold, y’know?)

ALTERNATIVELY I CAN ALWAYS THROW THE TWILIGHT’S HAMMER IN THERE BECAUSE I WANT TO GIVE THEM MORE PROMINENCE ANYWAY BECAUSE BLIZZ ALWAYS FORGETS ABOUT THEIR OTHER VILLAIN FACTIONS IN FAVOR OF RED VS BLUE FOR SOME REASON THAT I DON’T UNDERSTAND and I already have an incredibly high ranking Twilight’s Hammer lady in the works, she’s v horny and frisky all the time but she will destroy you make no mistake.

Cuz then Genn could just try to pin it on the Horde anyway, and like… what you gonna’ do bout that, it’s a fire, it will burn all the evidence anyway. Genn’s word against Vol’jin’s. Depending on who you talk to, will depend on who they’re more inclined to believe, no?

I’d go into more but it’s SO MUCH, so I’ll just list a few other things (this is only Horde side related because I STILL haven’t finished Alliance side, my apologies):

Shadra does not die.

Rezan does not die, but is out of commission for a while, therefore still allowing Zul to take over the city.

Mythrax is killed before he can destroy the third seal.

Rastakhan does not die in the Raid on Dazar’alor, for multiple reasons I won’t go into.

He does however step down as king so that he can mentor his daughter, and because he’s ready to let himself die if that ends up being the case.

Katherine and Rastakhan may or may not have a few years together before Rasta finally dies peacefully.

Probably some other things that I forgot, but before anyone comes after me about “reversing” these deaths, listen. From a story only standpoint, they are pointless. In regards to Shadra in particular, the ONLY REASON she even dies is because we, as the player character, cannot attack Yazma. You can bet your entire ass that Amita would go charging down there and bite off Yazma’s head (which is foreshadowed earlier in Amita’s story after Vol’dun stuff but I don’t want to spoil EVERYTHING haha!).

However, these deaths make some sense in regards to the way that Blizzard has plotted their dungeons / raids. They need Yazma to be empowered for a dungeon, just like they need Rezan to die for that same dungeon. Mythrax needs to break the third seal and live for the Uldir raid. Rastakhan needs to take on a deal with Bwonsamdi because there’s a whole death plot aspect thing in BfA and so Bwonsamdi needs to be in that position of power.

For Amita’s story, however, these deaths hold no merit, they DON’T need to happen. Technically you don’t need them to happen in game either, but I digress, I understand the decision that Blizzard made in regards to them even though I obviously strongly disagree with these decisions. 

That’s kind of all I’ve got for now. I need to finish Alliance stuff because Amita DOES spend a lot of time on Kul Tiras as Jaina’s support, because Jaina just needs her BFF there to lean on, since going back to a family that thinks you were the cause behind your father’s death is not easy my dude.

[punkscowardschampions]

Ali & Ro

NYD Catch-up

Ali: *Daintliy throws the tiniest of pebbles at our window 'cos I'm in trouble enough if this goes tits up without also breaking a window* Ropunzel, Ropunzel, let down your hair! Ro: allow me to busily make tea while I loudly quiz Tess and whoever else may be in earshot about their resolutions Ro: I can't believe you're only just getting home! I was going to ask how you're evening was but I think I can guess Ali: You're a 🌟 Ali: We need to fully mind-map and dream-board ours later, I've got so many ideas already but I at least need in on that tea action first, builder's brew please and thank you 😘 Ali: Shh 😉 I've been in bed since 1 💤 like an 😇 Ali: Hehe social media never lies, not mine at least Ali: I'll tell you all about it, whilst Ma tries to tell you she quit the fags years ago, like 🙄 Ali: 💃 Ro: Of course. Well, there has been a kitty there so the universe should stay on our side with that one, hopefully. Ro: Hm yes, if anyone asks you got back before I did, there's not much I can do if social media decides to answer instead though alas Ro: Oh Tess, no offense intended, but truly I'd much rather hear what you have to say Ali: Oh, Bluebs, hope she was alright with the fireworks, I paid Rocky with a selection box to keep her company but bet he was too busy being a hooligan come 12, nutter...but I'm sure she hid herself nicely warming the blankets for us anyway, like 😽 Ali: Did you and Meena have a good time? With all dem 💶💶💶 you can both more than make up for missing the hottest part night of the year, ay Ali: Bless her heart, though perhaps take her pack away from her still, you'll be helping her and, you might need one after I fill you in, like 😉 Ro: I can't tell a lie there was some bribery involved for us too with the older kids. They had me baking and the text advice I received from Tommy wasn't as helpful or coherent as usual Ro: We definitely earned our crusts it has to be said Ro: I think Meena would've liked to join you so you might want to play down the finer details when you fill her in but no complaints here, fussy children aside Ro: I draw the line at that level of trickery, we'd both be caught if I even tried I think Ali: I think its to be expected, babysitter rules are there are no rules, or very few, ESPECIALLY when it comes to sugar 😋 Lucky kiddos, I would kill for a sweet treat rn Ali: Maybe I can push it and see if the old man is any fit state to do a fry-up too, mmm Ali: We should deffo ring Tommo then and be annoyingly loud and cheerful 'cos he always gets hangovers un🍀 🦆y Ali: Payback Ali: Well her brother was there so she wouldn't have been able to have all that much fun, like, I'll be sure to downplay it though, tact is so my strong suit 😏😂 Ro: Oh? You'll be glad to hear then that I had the foresight to make enough cookies to bring a batch home. There's still a few that could be claimed by you if you're quick enough. Ro: I can make no such promises about a proper breakfast but time will tell I suppose, I'd consider it favorable if you work a little of your own magic Ro: You have plenty left don't you? Ro: We'll likely need an actual spell to wake Tommy after all Ali: Faster than a speeding bullet, me Ali: I can climb these drainpipes like nobody else 🐈💪 Ali: I'm sure we could concoct a pepperup potion, getting him to drink it is another kind of magic altogether Ali: even if we settle for calling it an energizer smoothie or something muggle Ro: Perhaps we could say it has lots of biotin that'd make him more inclined for sure Ali: When quiff is life Ali: He truly is sweet 16 Ali: And 15 is looking up for me too, fingers crossed and knock on wood rn, this is gonna be our year, Posy, and that ain't the after-affects still talkin' Ali: Wished on every 🎆 in the sky Ro: Wishing is very powerful so I'm not surprised, I am very intrigued though Ro: Go ahead Ali: I'm in 💚 Ali: 🙃 and now hiding under the covers eeeeeeeeeeeppppp bye Ro: Did Marlene get off work early last night and surprise you? That's so lovely Ali: No, no, no Ali: It's all but ended and it will be if my feeling is correct and reciprocated Ali: We'll be better off as friends, honestly, I can't give her what she wants but I can be there for as a mate so that's what's best, she'll see that given a bit of time, I'm sure of it Ali: That said...do you think I'm a total slag for who did surprise me last night now? 😳🙈 Ro: Oh okay. That makes sense Ro: No Ali, I'd never Ro: Is it someone I know? You've mentioned Meena's brother already... Ali: Oh lordy no 😂 Drew is an alright lad really but no, he's not the sort, definitely would not be reciprocated, he's got half the girls at School after him and he loves that Ali: More power to him but you're getting warmer Ali: you know the lad him and Meena live with, don't you? Caleb Cavante, in my year too Ali: 😍 Ro: I think so? He's always in the music block isn't he? Ro: He smiles a lot. Not in a weird sense though I don't mean that Ali: Oh Ro 😂 you make ME smile Ali: sounds like him, cool hair Ali: obviously, I knew of him before last night but it was just like...right time, right place, you know? Ali: Sounded triter than all the 'new year, new me' posts aren't I? Ro: Not at all Ro: It sounds like a fairy tale and we're treating it as such! Ro: Did you kiss him at the end of the countdown? Ali: Oh no, I forgot to lose a shoe...Typical, on the one night to make throwing dancing shoes aside count! But I suppose he won't have to search the kingdom high and low Ali: Back at School Tuesday Ali: At least this promises to make my weekdays more entertaining at any rate Ali: Mhmm 😊 *Gameshow host voice* BUT THAT'S NOT ALL Ro: What else is there? Did he lose a shoe instead? I dread to think what I'm missing here... Ali: [Improptu selfie with the tattooed finger over her lips like a moustache] Ali: Not saying that trumps 'Facebook Official' but 😎 Ro: !!!! Ro: did Caleb get a tattoo too? Ali: Oh silly me, yeah Ali: [Photo they took together post-tattoo] Ali: Big n Lil dipper, its cute, right? Ro: Oh my god! You better not post these, Tess will kill you, but Ro: I think that's adorable Ro: Did it hurt so much?? Ali: She'll love it Ali: we did it ourselves, on each other Ali: thank god he wasn't really crap, unfair, I'd have to go over it myself 😂 Ali: Not really, doing lil dots like that by hand is probably the most chill way to do it, it really wasn't anything to think about even Ali: I could do one for you, really get the mumbot shorting a circuit 😈 Ro: Really?! Weren't you scared?! I would be. Ro: Ali that's so brave. He must have trusted you and vice versa to such a degree Ro: Only you'd get all of this out of the way before a first date has even happened Ro: No wonder you're so giddy Ali: Nah it's not scary, you can watch next time I do one on me, if you like, see for yourself Ali: Promise it isn't dead gory or anything Ali: I'm thinking of doing a Clitocybe rivulosa, our 👑 achievement in witchery to date, you want in? Ali: Won't show Mum that one forreal, she'd lock us in separate dungeons again 👎💔 Ali: Yeah...it felt good to get that shit out of the way, this way, if he wants to look down at his hand ever again and not be reminded of a bad memory, we'll have to make it good Ali: Clever, non? Everyone will think its ridiculous, I know, but I trust his intentions now, which is more than I can say for any of my previous Ali: Bar Marlene, of course, although technically she didn't set her intentions but not in a malicious way so we're letting it slide Ro: Do you sincerely promise? I'd like to see the whole thing for myself before I make any of my own but Ro: It does sound lovely. I'd be jealous if I wasn't so pleased Ro: No offense to Marlene, oops, I'm getting carried away here Ro: It is happy news though Ro: I mean, a love letter on skin, that's just Ro: It makes me speechless Ali: 🤞 Ali: ❌💚🙏☠💉👁 Ali: Me too, it's catching Ali: It'll be better in the long run, she can find her a wifey Ali: I know, I just- ahh Ali: He just text, asking if I got Home alright Ro: Sorry but this boy is a keeper Ro: that's so gentlemanly it's like we've stepped into Austen Ro: Are you nervous about school? It just sounds so magical and classrooms are so...well, not, aren't they? Ali: Better! He wasn't stand-offish and rude to me at the party, only to be won 'round by my wit, humor and independent spirit Ali: Clearly, he's more clued in and go-with-the-flow than Darcy, a win in anyone's books, even Jane's Ali: Hmm, not particularly, nah Ali: I'm not overly concerned with what other people think, so that won't spoil it, fat chance Ali: and we've always had a certain talent for making the mundane magical, haven't we? Ro: Jane would be spinning! Lydia with all her apparent lack of concerns for 'social conventions' has nothing on you and I have little doubt you'd be overjoyed by whatever 'disgraces' Caleb had in mind Ro: A much better match that anything she'd have conceived no doubt Ro: School seems so far off still but now I really am envious that you've made certain you'll have reason to look forward to it. Very unfair! Ro: The only fly in the ointment, potentially is what Marlene might say, how much are you going to tell her? Ali: 🙊 Ali: I'd be happy to regale you with the night's disgraces but I have even less doubt that you'd rather not hear about those details Ali: You're not trying to tell me you've previously nearly eloped with Caleb yourself though, are you? 🤔 Georgiana Darcy is a pretty good fit for you Ali: Now that would be a scandal worth the gossip 😏 Ali: Perhaps you can join me and make the music block your new haunt for a bit, give the library chance to REALLY miss you, like Ali: Hmm, no doubt she'll say things she'll regret when her pride is less hurt Ali: but they aren't prejudices against my 'fake' sexuality I haven't heard before, from her as well, so 🤷 Ali: I understand why, not that I agree with her. For one, I can attest to the reality, and also, I've not got any issue with experimentation, whatever the outcome but I see her frustration Ali: Serious as she is, about, everything Ali: It'll be okay, if she doesn't want to be my friend then alright, her loss frankly, but I'll always be there for her if she chooses Ro: To be honest, no I would not. It's much too early in the year, and day, for all that Ro: Oh goodness! Flattered as I would be to considered an accomplished woman, I fall short in all necessary regards, least of all the elopement alas Ro: Hm, as much as I both enjoy, and clearly need the practice for that comparison to hold true in any sense, I think I'll leave you to the necessary haunting yourself Ro: True. She's always been very vocal, hasn't she? I can understand if you slightly relish the opportunity to leave her speechless just this once too Ro: And it really would be her loss if she chooses that path to go down anyway Ali: What can I say? I'm an overachiever Ali: Couldn't even help myself, like 😎😂 Ali: No you don't, and you're a year younger, you're well ahead of the curve set and it ain't even necessary for a lady to have pleasant hobbies and talents in our day and age so Ali: You're an overachiever too, that's why I loooooove you 💚 Ali: S'cool though, suppose we don't wanna turn up en masse, put him off his A game, bit rude Ali: It is one of the things I admire about her but less so her dogmatism Ali: No one is always right about everything, even me 😜 Ro: Thanks I suppose Ro: Though I probably shouldn't pass on that wisdom about not always being right to everyone else at the kitchen table Ro: Not if I would like to live to be a year older at any rate Ali: Honestly 🙄 Ali: No wonder they love Marlene so much Ali: Ma is gonna be gutted, no doubt it'll be all my fault Ali: like lowkey but damn, woman, show a little loyalty when your daughter can't 😂 Ro: She'll calm down as long as you keep your gentleman caller away from the door for a while I'm sure Ro: When is the first date set for actually? Oh so exciting! Ali: Yeah, we've both agreed as much Ali: For Lene's sake as much as mother's Ali: Gotta get my house in order Ali: I don't know, ooh, what should we do?! Ro: There's always the open mic if he'd adore being serenaded Ro: Sounds like you'd have time to work on a dedication if not a song Ali: THAT IS A FANTASTIC IDEA Ali: I'll bring out an old classic, best to stick with what I know and am best at for max best impressions Ali: Can always go new and exciting with the outfit 🤩 Ro: Exacty Ro: Your full of good ideas when it comes to that Ro: Oh! We should go donation diving. New year, new clothes to peruse through Ali: Yes! We must we must! Ali: Best time of year for it, ungrateful fuckers binning their unwanted presents Ali: Regift 'em our way 🙏 Ali: Marlene wants to meet up later Ali: Looks like we're doing this today then, ugh, we can hit the charity shops tomorrow maybe? The sales rush shoulda died down a bit at least Ro: That works for me, I'd rather not fight for my faux furs, somewhat defeats the desired purpose Ro: I'll be around if things with Marlene go according to plan, or otherwise and you need to talk it out Ali: Agreed, though I'm down for granny bashing our way to the bargains if needs must Ali: I'll be getting some practice in today, like 🙃 Ali: Thank you though, Posy Ali: Sure it'll be fine Ro: I know it will. You can do this Ro: I can condone that much at least, your shopping behavior less so Ali: 😽 Ali: With you on my side, how could I fail? Ali: She is getting narky though so watch me waltz down the stairs and out again like missed me missed me