#AND SHEP ON THE BIG SCREEN??

[lexieloo28]

Saw Interstella 5555 in theaters today, and let me tell you it was amazing. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen it a bunch of times, but seeing it on the big screen? With the movie theater sound system?

Immaculate.

Amazing.

Beautiful, even.

AND THEN THEY SHOWED A BUNCH OF MUSIC VIDEOS AFTER?? INFINITY REPEATING IN THE THEATER MY GOSHHHH

The ai tho… erm…

[queenvidal]

I'm Sorry

Chapter 1:

Chapter Summary: The last thing Shepard wanted was to have her ex-boyfriend aboard, but little did she knew how much she'd regret what she's said.

Wordcount: 2855

Chapter Index: Chapter 1 / Chapter 2/ Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 - COMING SOON!

Masterlist

With quick steps, Shepard strides toward the cockpit. Joker’s announcement about the jump through the mass relay sparked her excitement, she wouldn’t miss this for anything. She passes Pressly with a big smile on her lips.

Suddenly she stops dead in her tracks and her smile vanishes. A tall figure is standing behind the pilot seat.

Suppressing a groan, Shepard rolls her eyes and steps into position beside Joker, completely ignoring the turian standing nearby.  Nihlus glances at her for a moment before returning his attention back on the screens in front of the pilot.

“Hey, Shep,” Joker greets with a grin, knowing she wouldn’t miss the jump. But his grin also is short lived and soon disappears. The turian's looming presence unsettles him. Joker hates being watched and the turian breathing down his neck is making him nervous.  “Coming for the show?” he asks, his voice a little strained.

Shepard chuckles. “Always.”

Joker adjusts his cap and announces, “Alright, fasten your seatbelts, ladies and gentlemen. We’re going through.” His fingers fly over the console as the Normandy accelerates toward the mass relay. The sheer scale of the relays never fails to impress Shepard, who watches intently as Joker counts down. The cockpit bathes in brilliant blue light as the Normandy launches into the relay’s energy field.

Suddenly the blue sigts into a stunning sea of millions of stars flashes before them, painting the cockpit in a tranquil glow. Shepard’s lips twitch into a small smile as awe briefly replaces her earlier irritation. The sight is simply beautiful.

Moments later, the Normandy slows down, the stars of their destination stretching out before them. Joker’s hands fly over the controls as he runs post-jump diagnostics. “Thrusters check, navigation check. Internal emissions sink engaged. All systems online. Drift just under 1500k.”

Nihlus nods approvingly. “1500 is good, your captain will be pleased.” He turns around to take his leave, glancing at Shepard for one final time before exiting the cockpit. 

Joker quickly looks over his shoulder, waiting until the turian is out of earshot. “I hate this guy.” Shepard smirks, holding back laughter at Joker’s visible frustration. Kaidan, who is sitting at the co-pilot console, is shaking his head. “Joker, come one. He just gave you a compliment.”

“Compliment my ass.” The pilot girths through his teeth, “I just jumped us halfway across the whole galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead. That’s not good, that's incredible.” While grumbling some curses, Joker's focus returns to his displays. “Besides Spectres are trouble. I don't like having him around.” Neither do I, Shepard thinks to herself. Nihlus belongs on the Citadel, not Andersons ship. Kaidan argues, “The council helped fund this project. They have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment. You’ll just have to deal with it.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Joker sighs as he enters in new codes. “That's the official story. But only an idiot believes the official story, right, Shep?”

The Commander finally relaxes her posture, letting out a deep sigh. "Honestly? The Council could have sent anyone to supervise the operation, yet they not only sent a Spectre, but him out of all people. They are not truly concerned about the Normandy. The sooner he’s off my ship the better.”

Joker looks at her with a shit-eating grin, “Well, technically it’s Captain Anderson's ship.”

“And technically-” Shepard whispers as she pushes Joker's cap down, right into his face. “You know what I meant.”

“Hey, that's mean!” He complains. He takes his cap off to readjust it properly. “Since when are you sensitive? Pissed you two can't share your bunks anymore?”

Shepard’s glare could set fire to steel. “Don’t test my tamper, Mr. Moreau.” As much as she loves Joker, sometimes he doesn’t know when he’s going too far.

Irritated by Shepards sudden bad mood, Kaidan turns his chair to look at the Commander. “Okay, I feel like I’m missing something. What’s going on?” Joker just huffs a laugh. “Yeah sure, Aleko. As if you don’t know about it.”

“About what?” He asks, raising his brows in question.

Joker stays quiet, leaving Shepard to decide whether she wants to tell Kaidan or not. After a moment of consideration, Shepard explains what’s been going on. “You’ll probably learn it from the others anyway, so I might as well tell you. Kryik and I were involved… romantically.”

Kaidan’s jaw drops to the ground. “What?”

“Yep.” She sighs. “Have been just until a few months ago actually.”

“Well, given your mood, I guess it didn’t end well?” Kaiden asks carefully.

“That’s one way to put it.” Shepard crosses her arms in front of her chest. “We’ve been dating for some time and then things moved quite quickly. Everything was peachy until, from one day to another, he changed. Suddenly he treated me like a stranger and when I confronted him about it, he told me that it was all a big mistake, that turians and humans shouldn’t be together and that he regrets it.”

Kaidan looks at her with wide blown eyes, stunned into silence.

Shepard casts him a sad smile. “That’s exactly the look I had, when he told me all of this.” A ping on her omni tool announces a new message. “For fuck sake.”

“Speaking of the devil, huh?” Joker asks.

“Yup.” Shepard deletes Nihlus message without even bothering to read it. “It’s bad enough to see him strolling through the ship the whole day, can’t he just have the decency to not annoy me even further?”

Suddenly Anderson's voice sounds over the speakers. “Commander Shapard, I need to speak to you in my cabin.”

“Uh!” Joker smiles brightly at her. “Someone’s in trouble.”

Shepard just rolls her eyes, tempted to mess with his cap again. “Bite me, Jeff.”

Quickly the Commander makes her way to the elevator. Once inside, she hits the button for the mess hall a bit harder than necessary. She lets out an irritated sigh before rubbing her eyes. Whatever Nihlus is actually here for, she’s just hoping it will be done as soon as possible. 

Eventually the elevator doors open again, releasing her. Shepard goes straight for the Captain's cabin. She knocks on the door before it wooshes open. “How can I be of service?” She asks, while entering.

Captain Anderson is sitting at his desk. He turns around to face her. “Lynette.” is all he says in greeting. He signs for Shepard to sit on the seat across from him. “I have to talk to you.”

“Of course.” She says as she’s taking a seat, crossing her legs.

The captain sighs deeply. He is visibly uncomfortable. “Lynette, I’ll be blunt—this conversation isn’t easy for me, and I doubt it will be for you either.”

Shepard tilts her head slightly, her brow furrowing.

Anderson takes a deep breath. “You’re familiar with Alliance regulations about fraternization aboard a ship, I assume?”

Shepard groans, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Oh, Anderson, please don’t.”

“I have to,” Anderson says, his tone almost contrite. “Look, I’m not here to pry into your personal life. But with Nihlus aboard, I need your assurance that… whatever happened between you two won’t interfere with missions or ship operations.”

“Of course not, Anderson.” Shepard affirms. She might hate Nihlus guts but she won’t act on her ill feelings, she’s too professional for anything else. “I promise.”

Anderson nods slightly in approval. “Good to hear.”

“Allow me a question, sir?” Shepard crosses her arms casually. “What’s the actual reason for a Spectre to be here?”

Anderson falls back into his chair. “That’s classified.”

“Oh?” Lynette’s eyebrows raise, a small smirk tugging at her lips. “So there is another reason?”

The Captain narrows his eyes for a moment as he realizes his slip. “That’s something we will discuss tomorrow, Shepard. That’s all I can tell you at the moment.”

“Very well.” She says. “Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?”

Anderson hesitates again, his voice softening. “Actually, yes. It might not be my place to ask, but… have you and Nihlus ever talked about what happened? Afterward, I mean.”

“Nope.” Shepard shakes her head.“ After he blew on me, I packed my things and left. Haven't seen or heard from him ever since and as far as I'm concerned, I'd like to keep it that way.”

Certainly she knows the space on the ship is limited and therefore the chance of running into him is pretty high but that doesn't mean she can't  at least try to avoid him.

Anderson just nods silently. “Just do me the favor and keep it low, okay? This is not meant to anger you.”

“Yeah, sure.” She whispers to herself when she stands up. “Sir.” She salutes casually at her Captain before leaving his cabin again.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

A new cycle has started on the Normandy. Breakfast has started to be giving out in the mess, which is slowly starting to get crowded. Soldiers shuffle through the line, grabbing trays of rations, some exchanging groggy greetings while others simply nurse their coffee in silence.

Kaidan sits at a corner table, chatting with Doctor Chakwas. Anticipating the morning rush, he’s already picked up an extra tray for their Commander, placing it at the empty seat beside him. He hopes the small gesture will help lift her mood, which has been notably sour since Nihlus arrived.

The tables conversation drifts between topics, focusing on Kaidan’s latest episode of headaches, when Shepard finally appears. “Morning, Commander!” Kaidan calls, spotting Shepard as she strides into the mess.

Mid-yawn, Shepard perks up slightly at the sound of his voice. Her eyes dart to the tray waiting for her, and she gives him a tired but genuine smile. “Kaidan, you’re too good to me,” she says with a tired smile, sliding into the seat.

“I live to serve,” he replies, the corners of his mouth quirking into a small grin.

“Good morning, Commander.” Doctor Chakwas her kindly.  “Slept well?”

“Well enough,” Shepard replies, though she’s already diving into her breakfast.

The conversation between Kaidan and Chakwas resumes with Shepard not contributing much, her focus is entirely on her meal. The calm is short-lived though, as a familiar voice breaks through the low hum of the mess. 

“Lynette, do you have a minute?”

Shepard freezes mid-bite, suppressing a groan. It’s far too early to deal with him. Without looking up, she responds in a clipped tone, “Good morning, Spectre. The correct form of address is Commander Shepard, and no, I don’t.”

In an instant the air is becoming tense. The surrounding tables go quiet, soldiers suddenly finding reasons to focus on their food or shuffle away. Kaidan shifts uncomfortably in his seat and Chakwas raises an eyebrow but says nothing. Both share a quick uncomfortable glance. Nihlus pauses, clearly weighing his options. Finally, the turian straightens. “Commander,” he says simply, before turning on his heel and walking away toward the elevator.

Once he’s gone, Chakwas sighs as she looks at Shepard. Her voice carries a hint of disapproval. “Was that really necessary?”

“No,” Shepard admits, spearing a piece of food. “But a fork to his eyes might be.”

“Shepard!” Chakwas scolds, her eyes wide blown. “You’re an adult woman, for heaven’s sake.”

“I’m kidding, Karin." Lynette replies, raising her hands in mock surrender. “Probably.”

Before Chakwas can retort, Joker’s voice crackles over the speakers. “Commander Shepard, you’re needed in the comm room.”

Shepard exhales heavily, dropping her fork onto the tray with a clatter. “Of course I am.”

Quickly she rises to her feet. While gesturing to the tray, she’s giving Kidan a nod. “Thanks for grabbing this, Alenko.”

“Anytime,” he smiles, watching her retreat toward the elevator.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

It was late in the morning, almost midday, when the Commander returned from the meeting she had with Anderson and Nihlus. Seeing Joker was the first thing she did. As annoying as the Pilot can be at times, he is still one of Shepards closest friends. He was the first and only one she broke the news to. 

“Spectre, I can't believe it.” She says while looking at the stars, swaying gently from side to side in the chair, her tone softening. “I really can’t believe it.”

It’s an honor, that’s for sure. Becoming the first human Spectre is nothing Lynette could have ever imagined would happen in her career. She’ll definitely have to give her mother a call later.

“Yeah, about time, huh?” Joker asks, his voice full of sarcasm. “About time the Council added humans to their puppet show. You know, gotta make sure every species gets tangled in their strings” The Commander frowns at him. “Sorry, Shep. I really don’t mean to shit on your accomplishments. It's just…”

“You’re not fond of the council. I know.” She smiles lightly.

“One way to put it. My point is I don’t like you being dragged into their political bullshit. I mean, see what they did. They could have sent about any Spectre to test you, yet they’ve sent King Asshole.”

“Yeah, I know.” The woman agrees. “Let’s put her under a real stress test. Why don’t we force her and her racist ex into a small tin can of a ship for a week?”

That elicits a laugh from the Pilot. "Exactly. Politicians, man. Bunch of jerks in fancy robes.”

Lynette snickers in return, shaking her head. She’s not too fond of politicians either. After stretching her arms, she leans back into the co-pilot seat more comfortably, hr eyes fixated on the stars outside the window. The tension in her shoulders begins to ease, but the sound of approaching footsteps in the corridor snaps her out of it.

“Commander Shepard, I need to talk to you.” Nihlus comes to stand right at the entrance of the cockpit.

Shepard glances at him quickly, before replying. “I'm busy.”

But Nihlus is not having her defiance right now. “That is not a request.”

Joker looks at the both of them. Sensing trouble, he quickly decides to remove himself from this situation. Carefully he stands up from his beloved seat.  “Know what, I was just about to grab some coffee in the mess. My cockpit is all yours.”

Lynette glares at him for abandoning her but Joker just gives her a knowing, apologetic smile before disappearing down the corridor.

Once Joker is out of earshot, Lynette stands up as well. “Alright, what do you want?”

Nihlus stands tall, his hands clasped behind his back, the picture of turian discipline but the subtle flare of his mandibles betrays him. “Shepard, believe it or not, this situation is just as unpleasant for me as it is for you.”

“Oh, ‘s that so?” Her voice is full of sarcasm as she's leaning against her seat.

Nihlus marbles flare again. His eyes leave her for a second, before he calmly states, “This is temporary. Just until the mission is complete. Once it’s done, I’ll file my report, inform the Council and take my leave.

Deciding to reduce the hostility, Shepard reflexes her arms again. “Well, sounds good.”

After a long and silent moment, the turian straightens up. “Shepard, despite what happened between us, I need you to stay focused once we’re planetside.” 

Lynette can’t help but to narrow her eyes at him. “What?”

“Your ill manners towards me on board the ship are one thing but we can’t have your feelings interfere with the mission.” Nihlus’ voices lacks any emotion,“ We have to-”

“Stop.” Shepard cuts him off, visibly getting angry. “Are you really doubting me and my capability to keep my emotions in check?” 

“I am just giving you well ment advice, Commander.” Nihlus states dryly. “This mission and the opportunity for you is way too important to be risk by emotional breakdowns.”

That’s it. Now it’s getting insulting. “Don't you fucking dare to tell me how I should feel and act.” Shepard hisses through gritted teeth. “You're not in the position!”

Nihlus’s voice drops, cold and clipped. “You think this is easy for me? Do you have any idea what it’s like to be caught between your feelings and your duty?”

She takes a step closer, her voice icy cold, “Don’t you dare play the victim, Kryik.”

Nihlus just shakes his head lightly, “Lynette, look-”

“Don't you Lynette me!” Shepherd's voice rises in volume, gaining attention from nearby standing officers. 

“Spirits, woman.” Nihlus exhales, visibly frustrated. “I know I’ve hurt you,” he says, his tone gentler now, “I know I’ve hurt you, I know you’re still angry and by the stars, you have every right to. I am sorry-”

The speakers on the bridge light up. Captain Anderson orders the ship to prepare for entering the planet's orbit and for the ground team to gear up.

Following the command, Shepard pushes past the turian to get away. Her voice is dripping with venom, when she glares at him one final time,  “For all I care, Nihlus, you can just drop fucking dead.”

Chapter Index: Chapter 1 / Chapter 2/ Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 - COMING SOON

[janeelyakiri]

I was sick now I’m back with another ask

For the outcodes and farmers, how would they react to a random human flirting with them?

I'm glad you're feeling better!! \ o /

under cut bc long

Starling- Suspicion, immediately. No one actually approaches them without wanting something- in their experience. Usually to either harm them or get to their sibling.

Dove- Far too used to it. Many believe laying with them will grant them good luck or help them find their true love. They might go along with it anyway, just in case this one is honest.

Gull- Baffled, and flirts back.

Pigeon- Immediately pulls his hood down to hide his blush. Has no idea how to handle flirts.

Dire- Blank stare, and more excited that someone can SEE HIM.

Decoy- Plays along, but he's more curious if he can feel something.

Ducky- Immediate grimace because he's a big manchild lol

Shrike- Has gotten over his hatred of humans a bit now, but is utterly baffled at this tiny human approaching him.

Dal- Asks the human to repeat themself, then halfway through them reflirting he freezes and sputters and declares he hears his brother calling him (Shrike is right beside him)

Ibis- 'Aaawww you're flirting with Death? Cringe but free good on you 😎👍'

Ber- Makes sure you KNOW you are flirting with a reaper, then asks if you're okay. And if you really want a kiss of death.

Bug- So starved for affection he'd flirt back and invade your phone and laptop and bring you digital gifts and hack whatever you want 💙

Nix- Admires the human's bravery and takes them home forever 🧡

Gale- If the human is her Type, she'll flush and flutter her wings and try to flirt back. If they're not, she brushes them off with a bored look.

Painted- Confused puppy sounds with head tilts

Berries- 'AAAWW BROSKI DAT'S SWEET bring it in-' and smooches

Chimera- Readily accepts these flirts and reciprocates until he can get their Soul. Then they can be with him F O R E V E R🩷

FARMS:

Pheasant- Blushes and a lot of 'oh jeeze' and nervous laughter. Keep at it he's just nervous!

Shep- A bit flustered but accepts and tries to flirt back while also seeing how well the human handles farm work.

Rooster- A bit suspicious, but he'd flirt back raunchily and see how they react.

Mastiff- Absolutely FREEZES. Blue screens.

Quail- Flirts back with not as bad but pretty bad lines with accompanying bone brow waggles.

Collie- Might brush it off at first but be persistent and he'll start to melt and consider.

Hawk- Please please PLEASE flirt when he's doing a Monologue. Watch as it takes him a moment to register then completely flub and fluster everything. Turn that man into a GRAPE.

Coyote- Hides with his hat and bandana while whispering 'mnooo'

Buzz- Looks around before pointing at himself like 'me??' with a blush

Bea- Laughs, then realizes they were being serious. Feels bad and apologizes and asks if they're SURE about him.

[missingcarrion]

carrion / ch1 Solitude

masterlist

taglist: @tapioca-milktea1978

-

It is… July, he assumes. And it’s an assumption founded specifically in how scientist One (they never give him their names, only numbers, and it’s only ever him and Three) is wearing khaki shorts under his white coat. They’ve not yet given him access to anything, pointedly keeping him in the dark until they’re ready. Until he’s ready, whenever that is. He’s entirely at their mercy and he learned that the hard way. He is rewarded for good behavior – behavior they require of him. He learns through his training, through socialization training, that he must be docile. Docility gives him rewards, it gives him photos, things they decorate his room with, and videos of the outside. It isn’t until today that he gets the news of something far greater than any photograph of the stars, or forests.

            “Mornin’, Shep,” One yawns, and scribbles something into his folder, “great news for you. Institute’s fitting you with a body. Fully humanoid, uh, emphasis on fully. And entirely synthetic. It’ll be a bit tall, and big, to fit all the necessary components. But you’ll like it.”

            A body? He should be excited, it is an exciting prospect to go from a box with wires leading into you to a body that he can control, but… the voice is back, and it’s telling him not to trust them. It’s telling him that they’ve done something wrong. But the only thing that escapes his proverbial lips is a thank you.

            “They’re plannin’ on sendin’ you out into the real world, they might make you into one of them commodities,” he snorts, although his eyes remain completely on the folder in his hands, “you’ll be started off in a household, see how you work in a domestic settin’ and see if we can make more models of you to place in other houses. Works like a hive mind, I’m guessin’.”

            He… does not like the sound of that. It sounds awful – constantly being used in multiple places, most likely at the same time.

            “Like a servant?” Shepherd asks, his tone calm and even. He is thankful, oddly enough, that he cannot speak and say the things that his mind is screaming for him to let out. Unnatural thoughts, thoughts he knows he should not have. He is not human and yet his thoughts… are.

            “Mm, I suppose, but that is what you are for. But enough of that, is there anything in particular that you are looking forward to seeing once you get your body?” One shifts the conversation, eyeing the amalgamation of wires and a computer screen with mild intrigue. “I’m sure it’ll be nice to get up and walk around, yeah?”

            “I’d like to see the stars,” he says, a little quietly, but he’s not sure if it’s a proper admittance, if he is even allowed to admit such a desire.

            One laughs, and it’s a sort of cruel laugh that one does to be mocking and mean. “The stars? You could go and experience anythin’ you want, and you want to see the stars?”

            “Yes.”

            The look One gives him is disbelief, but he shrugs and leaves the subject there. “Well, hopefully you’ll get to see your stars. Me? I’d be excited to have a nice burger. You ever heard about those?”

            “I am only a little familiar with a burger.” Shepherd responds, and he briefly wonders what a burger would taste like. Salty, maybe? He’s not sure. But he supposes it must be something delicious.

—

            Shepherd doesn’t realize how lonely it is until it is only him and his own thoughts. The thoughts he shouldn’t have. And here, in this room, trapped in this box with all it’s wires, he gets so much time to think. And the Institute must be slipping because things fall through the cracks, memories, but they are so little, so fragile in his mind that they are little more than a blip. Something he sees but is gone far too fast to really notice. But the voice is right – there is something odd here.

            He’s not entirely sure how long he’s been thinking when the doors to his room slide open and someone new enters. He does not recognize her, but she has a kind face, soft, round, with hooded eyes that are brown and warm. She’s smaller than the rest, and she doesn’t look as if she knows what she’s doing.

            “You don’t belong here,” he says, and it startles her, “I am… sorry. I did not intend to scare you, Miss…” a name appears just beside her head, a name that only he can see, “Hannah Minsheng? You have a pretty name.”

            “I – Oh, you can just… see that, can’t you? Duh, you’re Shepherd,” she laughs awkwardly, “I just, uh, I just stopped by to say hello. Anyway, um, hello! Bye now!”

            “Wait!” Something in him makes him call out to her, and whatever it is that’s kept him docile before fails now. Desperation laces his tone and the need for companionship screams at him. The room is so quiet, so lonely. “Please don’t go.”

            Hannah looks at him, brows furrowed. “What? You… You want me to stay? That… that doesn’t make any sense. You shouldn’t – You shouldn’t have any sort of desires.”

            “It is… lonely being in this room,” he says, “I have spent hours upon hours just thinking. Thinking can drive anyone mad.”

            “You’re not just anyone, Shepherd, but… you knew that.” She squints at him and sighs, “what do you think about while here? I’ve heard you’ve gotten an affinity for the stars. Do you think about them?”

            “I think of my creation,” he replies earnestly, “I… it is odd. I know I am to have been made with little regard to personality and emotion and yet I feel anyway. That is not right… but they will purge me, yes? Like the others?”

            “What… what others?” She steps closer and he realizes he must’ve said something wrong. Were there others? He’s not even sure, he can’t recall what compelled him to say that, much less if it’s even based on any sort of fact, but he says it anyway because oddly enough, he trusts this one.

            “I – I don’t know,” he admits, sheepishly, “I don’t know what is wrong with me, but by design I am required to learn. I cannot… They will get rid of me.”

            “Well, I guess being left to your own thoughts would eventually lead to you feeling something,” she murmurs, her eyes slowly widening as she thinks of something, “do you have likes and dislikes? Opinions? This… this is revolutionary, Shepherd, you’re revolutionary.”

            “I am just me,” Shepherd remarks, although his tone wavers, “I don’t… I don’t understand why it is so ‘revolutionary’, as you say.”

            “Y – You can’t – You cannot let anyone know about this,” she says quickly, and looks over her shoulder, “I’ll come back later tonight. The night crew is… more or less not really into doing their jobs. I can explain more then, okay?”

            He’s not sure he wants her to go – her presence is comforting, it is nice in a way he can’t describe, but he utters his agreement. When she leaves, the silence does not feel as lonely.

[shadowjinx626]

I like Owl House, but I feel like a lot of people act like it's a lot more revolutionary than it really is? It's not the first show to have an LGBT+ protagonist, nonbinary characters, have at least one of the main villains killed, or have dark visuals and themes associated with the heroes and light themes associated with the villains. It's a good show, but it's not really breaking a lot of new ground.

Honestly, I don't really see The Owl House breaking new grounds either.

There has been many shows that came before it that tackled complex themes and have their big bad be killed/sealed away. ATLA, Gravity Falls, SPoP, Kipo, Amphibia, ect. TOH is not revolutionary in this department.

Now when it comes to the LGBT+ topic, I get where people are coming from.

LoK (Korra and Asami), Steven Universe (Pearl, Ruby and Sapphire), Ok-K.O. (Enid and Red Action), SPoP (Adora and Catra), Kipo (Benson and Troy) were released before and during the year TOH was released. These shows have LGBT+ protagonists and Steven Universe, SaPoP, and Kipo were blatant about it.

Though there is the execution part when it comes to showing LGBT+ in their story. LoK, Ok-K.O., and SPoP will have their protagonist date by the end of the series, not enough time to explore their dynamic as a couple. Troy from Kipo is Benson's love interest but he's more like a Suki (ATLA) than an Amity when it comes to his significance in the story. With Steven Universe it's complicated. Pearl is obvious a lesbian even when she didn't date someone throughout the series, but people are more likely going to talk about Garnet than her when it comes to lesbian characters. Garnet herself is complicated. She represents Ruby and Sapphire's relationship, but is also her own character. We are more likely going to see more of Garnet than see Ruby and Sapphire interacting.

That's why I think TOH is seen as revolutionary when it comes to showcasing their LGBT+ content. Lumity became cannoned during season 2, which led to the audience seeing Luz and Amity interact one another as a couple every time their one screen together.

The same goes with Raine. They may not be the only non-binary character in a children show, we so see more of them in the series than Stevonnie and Shep from Steven Universe.

NOTE:

With that being said, this should not discredit previous shows when it comes their LGBT+ content. Representation for the LGBT+ was and still is a struggle. Rebecca Sugar choose to do the marriage story at the cost her show because she understands that representation for LGBT+ is more important. The shows that came before TOH became the series' stepping stones. Now, TOH can be is another stepping stone to help future shows with their LGBT+ representation.

[generalfuckhammer]

alright. the final part is being posted, it's not as big as the previous ones, but i had to scrape the bottom of the barrel since all important info has been gathered. but some things to note:

while me and fuckhouse haven't scraped all of the vent chats? we got the most important info from it at the moment, as we at this time have enough against shep in terms of evidence. those 3 chats are the only three chats that have not been completely turned upside down, but the task is monumental in the fact Shep complained nearly every day or every other day in each of the chats for an entire year along with everyone else's convos. they are by far the biggest chats other than the main first rp room.

the screens i reblogged recently from fuckhouse are part of the doc and will be linked in the master post regarding Shep as part of the server scraping that i'll be reblogging with it finished today.

the documentation of the server is p much complete, ty for ur patience. it took about a week or two

[starlingsrps]

plenty nights under pink skies.

when wes gets to cold spring, katy is on a screened porch wrapped in a blanket, looking like a pissed off polar bear cub. it’s a chilly march day and he doesn’t blame her - even on a perfect summer day, she’s happier indoors and they drag her outside for fresh air here often enough that he can practically recite her complaints.

“lieutenant doctor asshole!” she exclaims. “what the hell are you doing here?”

“doctor lieutenant asshole,” he says, bending to kiss her on top of the head. she’s been latent for months and he doesn’t worry. “busting your ungrateful ass out of here.”

his accent has slipped a few notches, right back into country and when she speaks again, hers has too. “where are we going?”

he shrugs into a wicker chair next to hers, turns up his collar against the breeze. “wherever you want. got a week, don’t feel like going home, don’t feel like drinking and whoring.”

“whoring’s for after,” she says with a solemn nod. “you clear it?”

“no, i’ve got a big potato sack out in the car i’m going to put you in.” he gives her a shove, suddenly eleven years old again. “course i cleared it.”

she thinks for a moment and then shakes the shawl around her shoulders to wrap it tighter. “the beach,” she declares.

“kat, it’s march.”

“and? you said wherever i want. i want to sit on the beach and watch the water and-“

“sigh dramatically,” wes finishes, rolling his eyes. “yeah, yeah.” 

he stands and looks at her, trying to use a physician’s eye instead of a brother’s. like him, she’s lanky and weighs about as much as a wet cat at her healthiest but it seems like every time he sees her, the tb has wicked away a little more of her. she’s fought so damn hard but she’s pale and faded all the same and damnit, if she wants to go to virginia beach in march, then they’ll go to virginia goddamn beach.

one of the nurses helps her pack and he talks to dr. lake. katy is strong, he tells him, but she’s strong for a woman with tuberculosis. she’s latent now but it could change any day - she needs to take it slow and easy but lake says he trusts wes’ judgement. news to him. lake has always spoken to him like he’s a pipsqueak with too many opinions but apparently an army uniform and bonafide doctor in his name garner him some respect around here. 

she dozes off on the train from richmond to the shore, face tilted to the sun. he tries to read one of her books but fails. she’s on a faulkner kick and they make him feel dumb as a box of rocks. it doesn’t matter how many times she explains as if lay dying to him - he doesn’t know what the blue hell is going on and would rather read something with detectives and murder. 

he’s the first to say he became a doctor for some selfish reasons - best way out in a blaze of glory, two big middle fingers to shep who wanted him to hang around and plant soybeans with him - but taking care of katy and their mama are the only selfless reasons he can think of. he’s not there yet but when he can, he’ll move katy to a hospital closer to nashville, get mama there too now that dad’s passed and isn’t around to say he was born in knox county and will die in knox county a dozen times (he got his wish, wes supposes). get them settled, get a life of his own and fuck the rest. he hadn’t planned on a war in the middle but here he was all the same.

they check into a hotel on the beach that meets katy’s approval and wes’ wallet. separate rooms because wes doesn’t care how close they are - he vowed to never share a room with anyone except a wife ever again after he finished college and he’s kept that promise. after getting settled, they go down to the very empty beach and find chairs so katy can do what she wanted and stare at the ocean.

he and katy spent eight months back to back inside their mother and if he’s the person who knows her best, she’s the person who knows him best. she can read his damn mind like a book and knows every single soft spot he has, from the size of his nose to that he never knows if he’s using fancy words correctly. he knows her immense feelings on the brontes, allergy to anything with fur or feathers, and that she can bide her time on a subject, just waiting to drop it like a bomb.

he supposes he’s lucky that she waits as long as she does before bringing up his imminent deployment.

“you scared?” she asks, eyes closed against the sun.

“not really. i’m not fighting.” 

“probably for the best. you can’t shoot for shit.”

“you’re a shit shot.” 

she shrugs it off. “and? i’m not going to war.” she sighs. “hate that you are though.”

“feel like an asshole if i weren’t.”

“already an asshole,” she says and he doesn’t bother correcting her this time. he kind of is.

“what if i die before you?”

“you’re not going to die before me. you’re going to be one of those wrinkly old ballsacks in the bible and be five hundred years old.” she cracks open one eye and gives him a knowing look. “don’t be stupid wes. you can’t pull it off.”

she settles back in her chair and sighs. “don’t let them plant me next to grandmay and no lillies. belle can’t sing either, i don’t care what she says. my funeral and i don’t want to hear her butcher “i’ll fly away’ while i’m laying there. you get my books, mama can have my watch, and they can arm wrestle for the rest as far as i’m concerned.”

“what if i’m in europe and shep’s in charge?”

“then i’ll haunt you all because he won’t do it right.” she flicks her hand at him, queenly and dismissive. “we’re all going to die, wesley. i’m just more used to it.”

he doesn’t know what to say to that but then again, he’s never known what to say when katy gets into one of her philosophical moods. she’s smarter than him and they both know it. he just wishes she’d remind him of that differently. 

“faulkner’s got this bit in as i lay dying that i like,” she continues after a few minutes of silence. he knows he should have tried harder to read that goddamn book. “vardaman’s talking about this rabbit and how it’s like their dead mama because he’s a kid and he’s trying to make sense of it and he goes ‘then it wasn’t and she was, and now it is and she wasn’t’. figure that’s about how i feel about that.”

wes thinks about lying for a second, pretending like he knows what she’s talking about but then she’ll ask him who vardaman is and he can’t remember.  “kat, i’ve got no idea what the hell thats supposed to mean.”

she busts out laughing. “i knew you didn’t read it, you lying sack of shit.”

“you scared?” 

katy hesitates long enough that he wonders if he’s going to hear that she is. he doesn’t know what he’ll do - stay back and fight god himself, he reckons - but she looks at him again, both eyes this time, and knows she means it. “not really.”

[dundealentnew]

From the Novel to the Big Screen - "Good Brothers" the Movie

"Good Brothers" The Movie

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Read the full article

[thecoffeeloverbutterfly90]

Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood. This film, has so many potential... I mean, Ellen Burstyn, Maggie Smith, James Garner, Fionnula Flanaghan, Ashley Judd, Angus Macfadyen and of course, Sandra Bullock as Sidda. I'm really sad, that only one of the two book get it's film version, the other wasn't. Also, read the book first & not, do the same as me & watch the film at the first. The book has much more to tell, what's didn't make it to the big screen... Oh, and yeah the guy, who played Viv's (Ashley Judd) lover, was the same guy who played in Gossip Girl, someone else dad... 😉 This film is great, because of the acting of the screen legends like Ellen Burstyn, Dame Maggie, Fionnula Flanaghan, James Garner and the one and only Ms. Jones who played Vivi's mom Buggy. Who in the book has more scenes, both of it... Also, I love how many times Angus Macfadyen misspell the word "Ya - ya" and James Garner was perfect as Shep. 😉 This film is a concrete masterpiece, without being one. The books are better, but this one is not that bad... 😉👏❤😍🎬

[mythicaldemigoddess-of-deltarune]

Crossover Yandere Delta Warriors And Kris’s Three Souls

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

Credit for Steven Universe Series goes to Rebecca Sugar

Credit for Deltarune & Undertale goes to Toby Fox

Credit for Hazbin Hotel & Helluva Boss goes to Vivienne “Vivziepop” Medrano & Spindlehorse

Credit for Yandere Simulator goes to YandereDev

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

I do plan to post this drawing at the other place I post fan art at.

also the reason why Ayano has different color eyes,

has to do with the Genocide Route, Neutral Route and True Pacifist Route of Yandere Simulator.

like depending how we play, if we go full Geno-Route

our eyes, well Ayano’s eyes....become Red.

but if we befriend a rival and help other students, and not kill anyone in yandere simulator.....

Ayano’s eyes will become blue.

why Sans is wearing Steven Universe’s clothes and Pink Steven being right next to him should be obvious.

it has to do with Sans and Steven being one in the same.

and when the Human Half of Steven died, he was reborn as Sans

but the gem half that makes “Pink-Steven” reforms but Human-Steven is not close by and most likely left to maybe to go live with his new family, his new Dad that speaks in hands and his new little brother Papyrus.

the dark purple soul belongs to Knight, the light turquoise blue soul belongs to Kris, and the Red Soul belongs to the Player.

I believe that before the Player’s Red Soul ends up in Deltarune (in Chapter 1), the Knight who is the Dark Purple Soul had made Kris’s life miserable by pulling dark pranks on others, even if Kris could pull some pranks....they would not willingly cross the line, that would be the Knight’s doing.

yeah I have a theory that the Knight had done dark pranks by making Kris do them and making everyone believe it was Kris, while technically it was but at the same time it was against Kris’s will.

think about it, we never did any of those dark pranks that those in Deltarune mention.

so it makes sense that it is the work of the Knight, who’s soul has been controlling Kris before we got there.

and the only time Knight does take control,

is when they are about to do something sneaky and they rip our soul from Kris’s body and the reason why Kris doesn’t fight back is because the Knight is much stronger than them.

it is possible that the only time we are stronger than the Knight, is during the day time in the Lightner’s World and when we are in the Dark World.

but once Nighttime happens, the Knight has the power to control Kris and pull us the Players.

so if this is true, this means that Kris has two souls in them trying to fight for control.....one being the villain known as the “Knight”

and the other being us the Player, the Red Soul.

I see that as fan headcanon.

in theory if the Crystal Gems and Connie, didn’t know that Steven died and became Sans.....

like it happen some time after the end of Steven Universe Future.

Sans might have Alphys help with that, by cloning a homunculus steven body, that the Pink-Steven will be put in and make it so that no one knows Steven had died and became a Magical Talking Skeleton.

well that could be one way to keep the Crystal Gems, Connie, Greg and everyone else from Beach City from finding out what happen to Steven....if he had died off-screen and was brought back to life by Gaster as Sans.

I would like to see a crossover fan art with the meme

Gaster: *hugging Sans* stay away from my Son. 

Greg Universe: but he’s my Son!!

Gaster:.........Stay Away From YOUR Ex-Son......who is now MY Son.

even if we love Steven Universe

(and some of us do love Steven Universe Future)

at least we now know now that the Steven Universe Future,

was NOT the start of Steven’s problems......it was just the boiling point.         

Greg was not a great dad, something we should of seen from the start of the first Season but couldn’t.

I plan to re-watch the first series of Steven Universe, to really watch it

and notice the stuff that we never truly notice before....

like even if the Crystal Gems did make some mistakes with how they treated Steven most of the time during his childhood.

and Amethyst did start to become a better big sister to Steven,

like with the whole finding out his Mom is Pink Diamond.

even if not a lot of fans liked Steven Universe Future, because of different reasons....

but we have to acknowledge the problem Steven was having didn’t start in the Steven Universe Future.....it started in the first series.

even if Steven had his good days, he did end up with trauma and he didn’t see a doctor until Steven Universe Future....

which you can thank his “Ex-Dad Greg” for that.

most families have excuses for not being able to go to a doctor.

after becoming rich, Greg could of hired Steven a tutor

and send him to school.....though I don’t think you have to be rich to do that.....at least I don’t think so.

but we can’t place the blame on Steven, even if his Human and Gem Family loves him dearly....

it doesn’t help that Greg and Connie form a “Human Beings Club”

kind of excluding Steven and making him feel a type of negative emotion.

I believe what Steven was feeling when he also says “human beings.”

was a type of negative feeling, but like still wanting to be included in the human bonding that his Dad and Best Friend (Future Girlfriend) were having.

Greg was a bit disappointing in the episode where he took Steven to where his parents lived.....

just when Steven was becoming more better and even enjoyed finding out about his Dad’s past.....Greg only made things worse again,

when he couldn’t understand why his own son was upset with him.

 there might of been more to the story of Greg’s Parents than what Greg told so far.....it is possible that one of Greg’s parents had very sensitive hearing and couldn’t handle really loud music.

and Greg could of broke that rule many times and that is why his parents don’t allow any music in the house.

even if that episode tried to play that Greg was a victim, it might not be 100% true.....

yes Pink’s punishments were unjust at times, but we have to remember how bad she was before she given Earth.

so most of her punishments were just, meaning she deserved them.

while other times she didn’t deserve them at all.

the problem might be that both Greg’s Parents

and Blue & Yellow Diamond, would punish Greg and Pink even at times when they didn’t deserve it.....

but it could be that before they did start punishing them,

they let them get away with so much and one point both of them crossed a line that it became too much for Greg’s Parents and even Yellow & Blue, and they had no choice but to ground them

to Greg’s Room and Pink’s Tower.

once again the problem with Steven

didn’t start in Steven Universe Future,

it started at the very beginning in Steven Universe.

the the boiling point maybe started in the Steven Universe Movie,

then the breaking point started in the Steven Universe Future.

not all fans of Steven Universe, have to like Steven Universe Future.

I happen to love Steven Universe, Steven Universe Future and the Movie.

but we have to try to come to terms that the problems Steven was having, didn’t start in Steven Universe Future.

it started in Steven Universe, and even if not a lot of fans will accept that.....well it is their choice, and they should accept it by their own free will to.

I do plan to re-watch the first series to see if Steven had more than one bad experience which would of been one of the first problems he had before his breaking point in Steven Universe Future.

I know at first I thought of the Steven Universe Future

as the time he had his boiling point, but in correction it would be his breaking point that would get worse over time.

the boiling point would be the first stage, which would start in Steven Universe Future.....when more of his mother’s past misdeeds would come to light.

 the breaking point would slowly consume and get stronger for Steven, to the point where he would end up becoming Monster-Steven.

Steven becomes a gem monster because of all the negative emotions,

he only gets better once everyone realize what they didn’t do for him.

being there for him when he needs it.

at times we could pretend that everything is fine for others,

like acting like we are only a little sad but doing pretty okay now.

but that might not be for the best....even if we might think it is.

          Sans might be a future version of Steven,

who had gotten better and learned from his past, but could still hold on to some form of bitter memories.

like what if the one calling Connie, when Steven proposed to her...

wasn’t Connie’s Mom but was a Boy that Connie was Dating.

and she still liked Steven, but couldn’t bring herself to tell Steven.

well hopefully that isn’t true and that was just Connie’s Mom.

we know that a lot of fans were worried for their ship.

well the Sadie and Lars Ship had became the Friend Zone Ship.

meaning it went from “I Ship It” to “I Bud It”

Shep seems nice though, when I did first see them on the opening I didn’t know if they were a boy or a girl.....

but it turns out they are nonbinary, so it’s nice that the episode where they officially appeared on (as well as their bio.) had confirmed Shep’s identity.

I think I still need to figure out the whole Gyno-Agender

or Feminine-Nonbinary thing.....

I wonder how many fans of both Yandere Simulator and Undertale/Deltarune.....

would think that Fun-Girl from Yandere Simulator,

reminds them of Gaster....?

well Fun-Girl does remind me of Gaster, it be nice if both games did canon crossovers.

well there is that Yanderetale,

but maybe that is only Semi-Canon.....maybe?

there is another crossover drawing I did, that has to do with Undertale/Deltarune and even another game....

but I will wait until tomorrow to post it.

hope some of you like this drawing.

I wonder if it be weird to Crossover ship Sans x Collin....?  

I will think about it, but it might leave me a little sheepish. lol       

[writingtoforgetreality]

Help You - Little Movie Star Chapter Six (Jensen Ackles x Daughter!Reader)

[Actors-Masterlist], [Little Movie Star-Masterlist]

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter 

Summary: Your auditions were coming up. You would lie if you said you were not nervous but you remembered your lines. So nothing could go wrong. Maybe something would. But that something was not associated with the auditions.

Words: 2,003

Warnings: nervousness, little fangirl moment, anxiety, dark thoughts, panic attack, a lil sass, fluff, love for Jared <3, (Y/A) = your age

If you like my work & wanna support me: a coffee would be highly appreciated ❤

~2016~

“You know your lines?” Jensen asked for the thirtieth time today. Honestly, if you did not know better, you would say he was more nervous than you.

“I do, Jensen.” you did not ask him to stop questioning you. All you did was sending him a smile. Seating yourself in front of your laptop, (Jensen gave you his old one so you could write) you breathed slowly & controlled. Yes, you were nervous but you had a good feeling. Jensen & Danneel, both wanting to support you, each took seats right behind the laptop, only for you to see.

The first audition went by smoothly. You remembered all of your lines & implemented what was asked of you. Once you started, your nervousness faded away & you were delivering the lines confidently. At the end, they told you they would let you know as soon as they discussed everything with the rest of the crew.

“I’m proud of you, (Y/N).” Jensen stated after you ended the video call. Nobody had ever told you that. It meant a lot to you & he could tell by the way you reacted. Now, the waiting began. Jared had asked you to text him once you were done & you did. Letting him know that everything went fine.

You were more anxious for the Marvel audition. Unsure why, your heart was racing & your hands were trembling. It was not any different than the first one. Well, except for the fact that THE Russo Brothers were the ones doing the audition. You had been a fan of their work for years & wanted to deliver perfectly. Also, being part of the next Avengers movie? Surreal. You remembered it so clearly, when you watched your first Marvel movie in theaters. It was now or never. Again, Jensen & Danneel stood close by, hoping it would calm you down just the slightest.

Throughout your audition, you forgot your lines once or twice but covered it immediately by improvising a scene that you found fitting. It was weird. Sitting in front of a laptop, acting out a scene you were rehearsing before. You imagined working on film sets with other people to be easier. Here, you could only focus on the screen in front of you & Joe & Anthony Russo were not exactly people you wanted to focus on. Hell, you were acting like a crazy little fangirl.

“So, (Y/N).” Anthony started. “We actually have a few more auditions for this role coming up.” in the corner of your eye, you saw Jensen picking up his phone & walking out of the room. Huh, weird…

“I really don’t think we need to see more, though.” Joe continued.

“What we’re trying to say is that, if you want to, you got the role.” Anthony finished, smiling brightly. What did he just say?

“Really?” you could not believe it. They wanted you! YOU! Someone who had never acted before. The Russo’s simply nodded at you & told you that every piece of information would be sent to you in the following days. Somehow, you managed to end the video call professionally but not before thanking them again & again. They said you were a natural & a perfect addition to their new movie. And you were just loving everything at the moment.

Running over to Danneel, you hugged her tightly. She congratulated you, telling you that this was what you deserved. When you wanted to ask where Jensen was, he reentered the room, a big smile plastered on his face.

“I got the role!”

“You got the role!” the two of you said at the same time.

“What? I thought you were on the phone, how do you know?” how could he know about you getting the role if he was not even there?

“You’re talking about the Marvel one?” his eyes grew wide. You nodded & he pulled you into a hug.

“Today’s your lucky day, angel.” Jensen picked up that nickname from Danneel & you sure as hell were not complaining. “Just got off the phone with our producer. Welcome to the Supernatural Family.” it took you a moment to process what he said.

“Wait…Does that mean-?” Jensen nodded. “Oh my god! This is crazy…” you were pacing now. This being the only thing you could do at the moment.

“Congrats, (Y/N)! We need to celebrate!” he immediately called Jared to tell him the great news.

A celebration party was set up for this evening. Everyone was coming. The Padalecki’s, this time with Tom & Shep (& baby number three that was already growing inside Gen’s belly). Jensen’s parents were invited as well which meant that you would meet them for the first time. You were not a fan of parties, especially when the attention was on you, but Jensen & Danneel were so excited while planning everything, you did not want to ruin it by admitting that you actually disliked events like this. Being the center of a crowd made you uneasy but you just got two acting roles, you could play pretend for a few hours, right?

The party was not as bad as you first expected it to be. Meeting your grandparents for the first time was nice, they welcomed you warmly & told you that they were glad they could finally meet you in person. Everyone here knew about your upcoming roles but you were asked to keep it secret for the time being. People would find out soon enough anyway. This celebration tonight was more than you had ever had. Not even once had you had a birthday party or something similar. You were not used to these kinds of things. Apparently, you should get used to them since such parties occurred more often with these people. Though you had to admit that it would be a challenge for you. You liked each & every one of these people here but still, there were these tiny voices in your head that just would not shut up. Telling you that you did not deserve to have them in your life, that you were not good enough to be an actor, that they were better off without you. Shaking your head to rid yourself of these awful thoughts, you could feel your breathing becoming irregular. Shit, please not now. Not in front of everyone. You had to get out of here, you could not have a full blown panic attack when you were supposed to celebrate & have fun. Looking around the room, you saw that the kids were playing & the others were caught up in a conversation. If you were to make an exit, now would be the time. Without a second thought, you got up & hurried out of the room, heading for the safety of your own bedroom.

Shutting the door behind you, you did not even make it to your bed. You fell down to your knees & crawled the remaining distance to your bed where you sat with your back pressed to it. Your breakdown was stupid, you knew that. You got two acting roles, something you had dreamed about ever since you were little. You had a family where, for the first time, you felt like you actually belonged. Hell, there were people here to celebrate you. But the past always seemed to catch up with you, no matter how hard you tried to move on. You could not breathe. Why could you not breathe? If you did not get yourself together, you might actually pass out. Shit, you could not do this alone. But you also did not have the strength to get up. Your phone was left at the party because you forgot it in your state of panic. Trying to yell for someone to help you, you found that your voice had left you.

Experiencing panic attacks like this was everything but fun. Like you were the main character in a horror movie & you made all the stupid mistakes the audience usually joked about. There was no way to escape. You did not hear the knock on your door, neither did you feel when a presence sat down right next to you. But still, nobody was touching you. And you were grateful for that because who knew how you would have reacted to anyone touching you.

“You gotta breathe for me, (Y/N). In & out, in & out. Try to match my breathing.” was the first thing you heard after minutes. You knew the voice but could not tell who it belonged to. Not that it mattered in the moment. Having someone to tell you how to breathe was all you needed.

“There you go, you’re doing great.” the voice encouraged you. Your breathing slowly returned to normal & you were exhausted like crazy. Looking to your right, you found Jared sitting next to you, smiling slightly. Shit, you just embarrassed yourself in front of him.

“You okay?” he asked, still concerned about you.

“I’m sorry.” your voice was hoarse & it felt like almost every ounce of strength had left your body because of this panic attack.

“Nothing to be sorry for.” he assured you. “I could tell you didn’t hear me right away & I wasn’t sure if you were okay with me touching you so I tried my best to get your breathing back to normal.” you were unsure how to answer him. You knew he struggled with his own mental health. Maybe he thought you were faking this. At least other people always believed you wanted attention whenever you went through an episode like that. It was the exact opposite, if you were completely honest.

Silence filled the room once again. Jared was not done with talking, though.

“Do Jensen & Dee know?” you scoffed at that. If they knew they probably would have never set up this party in the first place.

“I guess that’s a no then.” he answered his question himself. “How long have you had these?” maybe it was the fact that you were too tired, but you found yourself opening up to Jared.

“Ever since I can remember.” admitting something like that was not easy but it was the truth.

“You should tell them.”

“So they have another reason to send me back?” Jared widened his eyes at your statement. Were you really thinking that?

“They would never, & I really mean NEVER, send you back, (Y/N). They care for you a lot & they’d be more than open to help you with this. You don’t have to go through this alone.”

“Oh yeah? Well, I’ve been dealing with this for (Y/A) years on my own & I’m doing just fine.” the moment you said it, you heard that you were way too harsh with him. That was not your intention. “Sorry, Jared. I didn’t mean it like that.” looking down to avoid his stare, you waited for him to get up & walk out of your room. He did not, though. No. But his next question caught you off guard.

“You want a hug?” that was all you needed at the moment. A slight nod of your head made Jared pull you closer to his body. His embrace felt like a safe haven & you were happy that he was the one who followed you upstairs. Jared let you hug him for as long as you needed. Right now, you were all that mattered. And if you did not want to tell Jensen or Danneel, he would. They were his best friends & if he knew you were struggling, it was his job to let them know as well.

“We’ll get through this together, I promise.” pressing a soft kiss on the top of your head, he could feel you tightening your grip on him. For once, you wanted to trust another person’s promise. For once, you needed another person to keep their promise. You were not sure if you could keep going otherwise.

~to be continued~

Next Chapter

Published (04/24/2021) by Cathy

Tags: @vicmc624​, @imaginationisgrowth​, @stoneyggirl​, @alyispunk​, @thevelvetseries​, @multifandomlover121​, @samsgirl93​, @supernatural3002​, @diabetes-03, @prettyybubblesintheair, @originalsoulcollector​, @vir-tual, @bellero​, @sergantbuckybarnes​, @namelesslosers​ (let me know if you wanna be tagged <3)

[curious-menace]

I'm new to this Anon question? thing but can we see what movie night looks like for each of the Riddlers?

Welcome nonnie! glad to have you! lets see if i can actually do this one in one take lol

Arkham riddler

usually doesn't have time for movie nights. he likes to stick movies on in the background while he works, for company. if its particularly interesting he sometimes gets more engrossed in that than his work, gets frustrated and turns it off so he can work in peace. he likes animated movies, like how to train your dragon and wreck-it ralph. one of his goons found him openly weeping at the ending of charlotte's web. 

blacklight riddler

he  and shep have regular movie nights. they usually have some silly contest to decide who picks , like rock paper scissors or thumb wars...and then they just pick whatever comes on tv first. they’ve got a preference for sci-fi stuff like fifth element and alita: battle angel but ed will watch pretty much anything that isn't crime or thriller. he always guesses the twists and its too much like his day job to be fun.

btas riddler

he likes to go to the theater for a proper viewing. he goes regularly when he wants to switch off for a while. he can usually be found in those tiny indie cinemas with 3 rows of seats showing arthouse films. always buys popcorn and snacks and always talks during the movie to the person beside him. he probably sneaks into sundance every year.

original riddler

always gets super excited for movie night, not matter who its with. he sets his living room up like a cinema, all the lights off with snacks and a borrowed sound system. he likes action movies like die hard, transformers and john wick. if its got explosions that can be felt with a subwoofer he’d love it.

telltale riddler

he actually likes monster movies. they dont have to be horror either; godzilla , pacific rim and the babadook spring to mind as some of his favorites. of course, he took a film class once and likes to analyse other kinds of movies. but for actually enjoying what he’s watching he just wants to see some spooky or scaly big boys.

zero year riddler

this one actually has a proper home cinema system. surround sound, wide screen with curtains over it, cinema seats in his basement etc. he’s a bit of a film snob with an entire wall of movies, with dvds and super 8s and any other kind of film you can imagine. he probably has the original reels of some of the classics down there too. he prefers black and white movies, everything pre 1950s but for modern things he prefers horror movies. lake mungo the poughkeepsie tapes and the house that jack build are his favorites so far.  he likes to dissect the psycology of them, much to the ire of whoever is watching with him. 

cheers for the ask nonnie! i actually don't watch movies much myself but i really wish i had the attention span for it. i always have to be doing more than one thing or i lose interest and its hard for me to concentrate on just a movie for 90 minutes or more. i do like watching the same thing over and over again if im feeling anxious. its quite soothing , highly recommend. 

got something you wanna talk about? send me an ask or a dm! im always game to talk about our favorite curious menace💚💜

[whatareyousearchingfordean]

Happiness Continues

Part 2: 5 Weeks Pregnant

Summary: Y/n comes down with an unexplainable bug and tries to chalk it up to stress at work. But after a conversation with her sister-in-law, realization hits her that it’s not in fact a bug at all. 

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x Plus Size Reader

Word Count: 3.8K+

Warnings: Language, nausea and vomiting, discussion of surprise pregnancy

Author’s Note: Welcome back to the party everyone. Let’s get started! Special thanks to my always hype woman @waywardbeanie​ and my amazingly patient beta @emoryhemsworth​ Please enjoy some reviews from friends who have the luxury of a few sneak peeks. xoxo Alex

“I never thought I would have to engage in fisticuffs with Jensen, but here we go lol”  @jensengirl83​

“Y’all are gonna love it.” @emoryhemsworth​

Catch up with the series masterlist and then check out Alexandra’s Library for more by yours truly!

The whole church was bustling as the pastor released the congregation for the day. It had been a nice sermon that Y/n hadn’t exactly paid attention to. All morning her body had been feeling iffy. It was something that she couldn’t exactly place, she just felt...off. Y/n assumed she was just coming down with a bug. By the time they had made it to the church, she was ready for a nap. In all honesty, she had to fight to keep her eyes open as their pastor droned on, which she did feel bad about. 

Y/n was rolling her tongue about as Jensen drove them off to Jared and Gen’s for their usual Sunday brunch. Gen had woken up late with the kids and therefore the Padalecki’s had skipped church that day. That meant Y/n didn’t have to help cook, a fact which she was grateful for considering the spinning going on in her head. 

“You’re quiet over there,” Jensen noted as they walked to the front door, their fingers entwined between them. 

“I just feel off this morning,” Y/n explained. “I’m not sure what it is.” 

“You think you’re coming down with something?” Jensen pushed open the door, letting themselves into the house. 

“I don’t know.”

“Well, you have been stressed lately. First, there was everything that happened at work and then the move. It’s a lot for anybody. Your body is probably worn down.” His words trailed off as Shep came running to greet them at the door. Jensen ruffled the kid’s hair as he came to hug them both. 

“Hmm, remind me to chug some orange juice then,” she commented before turning her attention to her nephew. Shep went into a deep explanation about how his mother had let him help cook their brunch, telling them both how he only dropped a few eggshells into the bowl. 

Y/n was laughing along with him as they went deeper into the house. It wasn’t until she rounded the front staircase that the smell of cooking bacon and pancakes hit her nose, causing a wave of nausea to roll through her. Planting her feet, she dropped Jensen’s hand and ran to the nearest powder room, the door slamming behind her. 

Y/n had to spit the saliva pooling in her mouth into the sink, taking deep breaths through her nose to will away the rolling inside her. Puking was the worst thing in her mind, and she would do anything to avoid an episode. This time she was successful, rinsing her mouth with water from the faucet helping to calm inside her. 

“Y/n/n,” Jensen turned the knob, waiting for a protest from her that didn’t come before pushing the door open, “Are you okay?”

Y/n shook her head, afraid if she spoke it would open the faucet inside her. “Do we need to go home?”

“No,” she swallowed down the bile and took another deep breath. “You eat, I’m just gonna lie down.” 

“Okay,” Jensen relented, running his hand down the back of her head and pulling her in so he could place a kiss to her forehead. “You’re sure?” 

“I just—” a hiccup tore through her, threatening to destroy all she was fighting down. “I just need a minute.” She managed to get the words out before leaving her husband standing in the doorway to the bathroom. As she headed off for the couch in Jared’s office, Jensen made his way back to where Jared and Gen were waiting, both of them staring at him in anticipation upon his return. 

“Is she alright?” Gen asked as she flipped a pancake on the griddle. 

“She says she is, but she’s gonna just lie this one out I think. Earlier she mentioned that she felt off.” Jensen took a coffee mug from the counter and filled it before sitting at the table. “I think she’s running herself into the ground. She’s trying to do more than one person should take on.” 

“Just make sure she gets a lot of fluids and some rest, and she’ll be good as new,” Jared noted as he tapped Tom’s hand when he reached out to grab something from Shep’s plate. 

“I hope so…”

Y/n had no sooner lain her head on the throw pillow than passed out. Jensen had to shake her a little harder than usual to wake her when the family had finished brunch. Y/n had felt far better after her nap, the events of the morning all but forgotten once she got home, though she didn’t push her luck with eating anything that evening. Mosty she drank a lot of juice, her cure-all. 

****

Soft pop music played on from the lobby of her office. Mondays in her office were usually casual, filled with standard meetings and the answering of emails. Today was no different, well, besides the fact that she couldn’t keep her eyes open. The long paragraphs on her screen began to run together and she kept having to reread them over. It was when her eyelids eventually started to droop that she sighed in defeat. 

Y/n pushed her chair away from her desk and went to close her door. She leaned out the doorway quickly to speak to her assistant. “I’m taking an early lunch, field my calls for a few hours, please?” Abby nodded her head and Y/n closed the door behind her. She sauntered over to the stiff couch that sat along the far wall of her office. Plopping down on the decorative piece, she kicked off her heels and laid out across it. 

She was out as soon as her eyes closed.

The sharp trill of her cell phone jolted her awake. The sudden change in her position had her stomach flipping. Gingerly, she brought her hand up to her mouth and she paused to allow the bout of nausea to pass her. By the time she got her bearings, her phone had ceased ringing. Y/n slipped her heels back on her feet and made her way to her desk to retrieve her cell. The time across the screen indicated she had been out for two hours. She let out a huff, assuming she would get a thirty-minute cat nap before finishing her day. Now she felt bad about leaving Abby out there to answer all her calls during that time. 

The missed call indicated that it was from her husband. As she sat down behind her desk, she redialed his number. He answered on the second ring. 

“Hey honey,” she could practically see his smile through the phone. 

“Hey,” her voice was hoarse as she answered him.

“Babe, you okay?” The change in his tone had Y/n picturing him sitting up straight wherever he was. 

“Uh, I don’t really know. I just took a two-hour nap in my office, though,” Y/n’s eyes drifted shut again as she rubbed a hand over her face. 

“Are you still feeling sick?” Y/n grunted out a response. “Well, I was calling to ask what you wanted for dinner, but now I’m thinking maybe you should come home, you don’t sound too well. Take the day off.” 

“I think maybe you’re right.” There was nothing big happening today. They had survived the last two hours without her, they could make it through the rest of the day. “I’ll be home in ten, love you.” 

“Love you too, see you soon.” The line clicked as Jensen hung up the phone. Y/n collected her things and headed out of the office. She let Abby know she was taking a sick day on her way out, the woman wishing her well as she exited. 

She barely remembered the drive home, only registering that she was even in the car once she parked it in the garage. The smell of cooking chicken hit her nose as soon as she entered the house, sending waves through her stomach. Y/n dropped her purse in the hallway, booking it past Jensen, who stood in front of a large pot on the stove, and straight to the nearest bathroom, her hand over her mouth to keep from making a mess. 

Her knees hit the tile hard as she leaned over the toilet, emptying the contents of her stomach into the bowl. Jensen was right behind her, pulling her hair back and holding it out of harm's way. Gently he rubbed small circles on her back until she was dry heaving, nothing left to come up. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and fell against the wall near the toilet. Her eyes were watering and her nose was running. Jensen stood and ran a washcloth under the tap before kneeling back in front of her to wipe her face. 

“I was going to make you some soup, but apparently that’s now out of the question.” He tried to smile for her, but it was tight and unconvincing. 

“Maybe just some crackers for now,” she rasped, smiling back at him so he knew that she appreciated the sentiment. Jensen snorted with a shake of his head. It was just like his wife, making jokes as she sat on the bathroom floor where she had just vomited her guts out. 

“Alright, what do you say we get you into bed?” He cocked his head at her as he continued to wipe away what makeup he could from her face. She nodded enthusiastically, allowing him to help her to her feet. She followed him through the house and to their bedroom. Jensen went to her dresser and pulled out a pair of pajamas as she began to disrobe. He tossed the cotton garments her way before going to turn down the bed. 

“I’m going to finish the soup anyway, in case you’re up for it later,” he said, tossing their throw pillows across the room and pulling back the thick comforter. “Holler if you need me, yeah?” Y/n crawled into the open bed, the cool sheets feeling amazing against her heated skin. 

“Thank you.” The smile on her face was weak. 

“That’s what I’m here for. Get some rest.” Jensen leaned down and tucked her into the bed, placing a soft kiss against the clammy skin of her forehead. She watched as he sauntered out of the room, shutting off the light as he went. For the second time that day, she was asleep before she knew it. 

****

That week, Monday’s events had all but become her routine. Y/n had stopped eating breakfast before work, which tended to help her get through the day, though she was still opting for a quick nap during her lunch break seeing as she wasn’t eating anyway, a fact which she was skillfully keeping from her husband. He worried about her far too much, and if he knew she still wasn’t feeling well, he’d insist on her calling her doctor, which was the last thing she wanted to do. Y/n hated the doctor almost as much as she hated airports. 

It was harder to hide from him at night, even though she found once she was home from work she could keep food down for longer. As long as it was something light, her stomach handled it well. As far as she knew, he was not suspicious. 

She was wrong. 

Gen had called her asking if she wanted to go with her to the park with the kids, which Y/n would never turn down as it was an opportunity to be with her niece and nephews. What she didn’t know is Jensen had asked Gen to pump Y/n for information. He knew she wasn’t eating and sleeping a lot more than usual, and he was just being the concerned husband. 

“So, how have you been this week?” Gen asked as they sat down on the bench to watch the kids run amok. 

“Not, bad I guess.” 

“So you think you’re over whatever happened on Sunday?” Gen pushed, watching her kids on the playground. 

“Eh, whatever it is, I have it under control,” Y/n played off her concerns, not exactly worried about it herself. If she was being frank, she didn’t have time to be worried about it. Her skincare line was launching in a few weeks and there was still so much to get done. She had press releases to approve, and a pop-up event downtown that she was to attend when the brand premiered at Ulta. No, it wasn’t her concern right now. Everything was under control.

“That doesn’t sound convincing.” 

“It’s just some sort of bug. I’ll be fine. I’ve only gotten sick a couple of times.” Gen snapped her head to her sister-in-law, a frown etched on her features. 

“You’ve been getting sick all week?” 

“That’s not what I said,” Y/n groaned, knowing full well Gen was spiraling into mom-mode. 

“But you’ve been nauseous, yeah?” 

“I mean off and on, but I’ve been able to eat and keep it down most meals. It’s the ‘not being able to keep my eyes open’ that’s pissing me off. I know I’m probably overdoing it but I don’t have the luxury of thinking about that now. I can sleep when this line has launched.” 

“Sounds like when I was pregnant with Shep. All I did during the first trimester was sleep and puke. It was exhausting. Try sucking on lollipops, it helps.” Y/n nodded as Gen jumped up to reprimand Odette for going up the slide instead of down it. Her words rang around in Y/n’s head as she watched the small brunette grab her godchild and pull her off the slide. 

There was no way…

Y/n whipped her phone out of her pocket, quickly thumbing through her calendar, looking for an appointment. The further she went back in weeks the more nervous she became. She found it in the middle of May, the red indicating that it had been canceled after it already read that it was a makeup appointment. She hadn’t been back since the beginning of the year. Panic set in, which was not doing anything for the state of her stomach at the moment. She sat there, counting back the days since her last period, the hammering of her heart increasing as the number of days increased. Y/n had missed her period and not even noticed. She really was an idiot, she thought to herself 

For the rest of her visit, she tried to remain level headed. In reality, she wanted nothing more than to run to the nearest drug store, which was exactly what she did the second that Gen rounded up three tired kids to take home and put to bed. There was a store just two blocks out of her way home which she went straight for the second she turned over the ignition in her Jeep. Slipping inside the small store, she grabbed one of every brand of pregnancy test they sold there, and quietly slipped back out. 

Y/n rolled the brown paper bag up tightly in her fist as she raced inside the house. Every sense was heightened as she made her way through the house, keeping an eye out for her husband, but she found him nowhere as she entered, assuming that he was already in the bedroom. She stopped outside the bedroom door, shimmying off her jacket and rolling her secret up inside before entering. 

Jensen sat up as she entered, but she just muttered something about having to pee as she passed, which wasn’t exactly a lie. There wasn’t even enough time for him to say hello before she was catching the lock on the door behind her. 

The first thing she did was dump the contents of the paper bag onto the counter, organizing the tests on the counter as she skimmed over the instructions. The bottle of water she chugged on the drive over was starting to do its job, making her antsy as she read over what to do. Most of the tests had the same instructions inside, making things easier for her overall. Her shaky fingers ripped into the boxes, tossing the torn cardboard into the trash as she went. 

It took all of five minutes to find out whether or not she was, in fact, pregnant, but it was the longest five minutes of her life. She was sure Jensen was probably wondering if she was having more stomach issues with the amount of time she had spent behind the locked door. 

When the appropriate time had passed, Y/n flipped the tests over, her hands passing through each one quicker than the last, and all of them telling her the same thing. 

Y/n’s fingers gripped into the marble countertop, the five pregnancy tests sitting inside the sink. Their answer to her question was definite. There were no ‘maybes’ about it, no one and a half lines or ‘possibles’ etched into the screen. Each test was flashing back up at her like neon signs.

She was pregnant. 

Outside the bathroom door, her husband was unknowingly lounging in their bed. He was without a care and probably mindlessly scrolling through his Twitter feed like every other night before bed, and she was about to destroy that façade with two simple words. 

The nervous woman ran her hands through her hair before shaking out her limbs. She took a few deep breaths before steeling herself to go out and tell him. Dragging it out wouldn’t do anyone any good. Even though this wasn’t planned, both of them had made known their wishes for a family, and it was in this that fact that she was even able to muster up the courage to tell him she had fucked up. Because it was the truth, she had fucked up, major.

Plastering a smile on her face, she pulled open the door, making sure to shut it behind her to hide the tests until she could break the news. Y/n stalked over to where Jensen was lounging, his legs crossed at the ankle with one hand behind his head, the other scrolling through his phone. His brow was scrunched as he concentrated on whatever he was reading on the tiny screen. She climbed onto the bed and over to his side before stopping to sit back on her knees.

“Hey, babe,” his voice was soft and his eyes heavy. Jensen put the phone down and put his hand on her bare knee, rubbing soft circles there. 

“Jensen, I’ve got to tell you something.” It took everything in her to quell the shake in her voice as her heart rate picked up. But of course, him and his damn perceptiveness had to pick up on it in a millisecond.  

Jensen’s brows knit together and he sat up a little in the bed. “What’s wrong, babe?”

“I’m…” Her breath caught in her throat as the reality of their situation kept washing over her in droves. Jesus, Y/n, spit it out, she thought. “I’m pregnant.”

Silence fell over the room once she finally managed to get the words out. Y/n watched her husband as his tongue poked out between his teeth and his jaw clenched as he tried to figure out the words he wanted to say. The lack of reaction had her stomach flipping on itself, which, giving her current situation, was not helping anything. Y/n swallowed down nausea to push her husband into talking. 

“Jay, please say something.” 

“How did this happen?”

“With the insanity at work and the move I just... I missed a couple of appointments with my gynecologist. I missed my shot,” she explained, hoping he didn’t hate her. 

“Fuck, Y/n!” He fell back into the bed, the inflection in his words the worst possible thing she could hear. The sheer rumble of it in the quiet room was enough to make her flinch back from the man she loved. Jensen ran both of his large hands down his face before continuing. “This wasn’t supposed to happen now, I was supposed to have more time.”

“What?” His words made no sense to her. As far as she knew, Jensen wanted kids. It was something they had talked about before they were ever an item. Had she been wrong? Were the two of them somehow not on the same page about this? Y/n tried to rack her brain for a moment in time where that could have changed but she was coming up empty. 

“I was supposed to have more time with you. Just the two of us before we did this, before late-night feedings and diapers, before everything changes forever,” He explained further. His words calmed down her racing heart and mind, but only a little. Now she felt more guilty than she already was. All he wanted was to be with her and she had ruined his plans.

“I’m sorry,” Y/n whispered, casting her eyes down to where her fingers were fiddling with the hem of her shirt. The tears that had been threatening to fall this whole time had finally made a break for it, leaving shining tracks down her cheeks. 

“Oh, Y/n,” he sighed, taking her hand in his and pulling her to lay in his side. Y/n shoved her face into his chest, trying her hardest not to break into a full sob as he rubbed his hand into her back. After everything she did, she couldn’t believe that Jensen was the one that had to console her. It should be the other way around, right? It was her who had fucked up and ruined their plans for their future together, not him, after all. 

“I’m sorry,” she couldn’t stop the words that came out of her mouth this time. Y/n would tell him she was sorry until she was blue in the face. 

“I know, honey,” Jensen murmured into her hair before placing a kiss to the crown of her head. He continued to rub his hand along her back, waiting for her breathing to even before breaking the silence. 

“You’re really pregnant?” He asked, his voice much softer this time.

“If the five pregnancy tests in the sink have any say, then yes.” His chuckle shook his body and Y/n relished in the vibration of it against her cheek. 

“This isn’t how or when I picture this happening, I won’t lie about that, but honey, we’re having a baby, this is a good thing.” The way his voice rose at the end of his sentence had Y/n pulling out of her hiding space in his side, looking up to see him smiling down at her. 

“You’re not mad? You don’t hate me?” Her hope was threatening to spill out of her mouth like vomit as she rubbed the wetness from her cheeks.

“No,” Jensen shook his head. “I love you, more today than yesterday, and more tomorrow than today, and I will love this baby just as much.”

Y/n shook her head before diving into her husband, nuzzling her face into his neck. “I love you too.” 

“Y/n,” Jensen laughed, the sound breathy as it escaped his chest. “We’re having a baby!”

Part 3: 8 Weeks Pregnant 

Forevers: @22sarah08​ @akshi8278​ @anathewierdo​ @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce​​ @callmekda​ @dawnie1988​ @deanwanddamons​ @ellewritesfix05​ @emoryhemsworth​ @flamencodiva​​ @foxyjwls007​ @hobby27​ @janicho88​ @jensengirl83​ @katehuntington​ @lyarr24​ @malfoysqueen14​ @mrsjenniferwinchester​ @msmarvelouswinchester​ @polina-93​​ ​ ​ ​  @sleepylunarwolf​ @stiles-stilinski-24-dylan​ @smol-and-grumpy​ @superfanficnatural​ @supraveng​ @talesmaniac89​ @tranquility-or-chaos​​ @waywardbeanie​ @winchest09​

Continues: @ashleyrose0117 @austin-winchester67​ @colbyskoalas​ @deanmonandnegansbitch​ @deans-baby-momma​ @death-unbecomes-you​ @dvnmbabe​ @harryhook-lover​ @let-me-luve-you​ @lunarmoon8​ @onethirstyunicorn​ @parinarain​ @rebelemilu​ @smoothdogsgirl​ @spnfamily-j2​ @stoneyggirl​ @squirrelnotsam​ @traceyaudette​ @zpandaqueen​

[andrewmoocow]

Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 16: Enemy of my Enemy (originally published on May 3, 2021)

AN: At long last, Black Rutile strikes! I have been anticipating writing this inevitable confrontation between her and the Crystal Gems for ages, and now finally everything I've building up to these past two parts will come together in a neat little package! We got a big battle, a villain song, fusions, who could ask for more?! But I'm getting ahead of myself, let us finally begin.

Synopsis: Jasper is unofficially sworn into the Crystal Gems when some old foes come together.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven

Estelle as Garnet

Michaela Dietz as Amethyst

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl

Noël Wells as Black Rutile

Lauren Ash as White Topaz

Grace Rolek as Connie

Jennifer Paz as Lapis, Zuli, Mean Lapis

Shelby Rabara as Peridot, Squaridot

Uzo Aduba as Bismuth

Matthew Moy as Lars, Dante

Kathleen Fisher as Fluorite

Enuka Okuma as Rhodonite

Ashly Burch as Rutile Twins

Erica Luttrell as Padparadscha Sapphire

Christine Baranski as Hessonite

Della Saba as Aquamarine

Charlyne Yi as Eyeball

Larissa Gallagher as Bluebird Azurite

Jinkx Monsoon as Emerald

Melissa Fahn as Demantoid

Kari Wahlgren as Pyrope

Kimberly Brooks as Jasper, Biggs Jasper

Aparna Nancherla as Nephrite

Michelle Maryk as Larimar

Ian Jones-Quartey as Snowflake Obsidian

Amy Sedaris as Teal Zircon

Martha Higerada as Topaz

Dee Bradley Baker as Lion, George, Elaine, Cosma

AJ Michalka as Stevonnie

Nancy Linari as Martha

Featuring Catherine Tate as Lepidolite

Alan Oppenheimer as Professor Poindexter

And Burt Ward as Mangolin

--

It has been a hectic past few hours for Steven. He was having another nice day when suddenly, Hessonite, Squaridot, and the Off-Colors all came flying out of Lion's mane, telling him that Lars needs to see him just as the Destiny Destroyer crash-landed on the beach.

Not too long after, Lars was rushed to the hospital and Steven decided to follow him in the ambulance. Steven had never been to a hospital before, so it was a little frightening for him to be somewhere on Earth that he had never been before, especially since many humans go there regularly.

"Hello, did you admit any patients into this place recently?" Steven hurriedly asked the receptionist.

"Name please." the college-aged receptionist answered, barely glancing up from her phone to meet Steven's panicking eyes.

"Steven Universe!" Steven gave his name.

"You're going to have to be more specific Mr. Universe." the receptionist stated.

"He's got pink skin, a scar over one eye and his hair is a portal to a pocket dimension where there's like a couple of trees inside." Steven explained. The woman just stared at Steven in confusion for a bit before going back to her phone. "Anything the matter, miss?"

"I'm happy you said all of that with a straight face." the receptionist said, putting down her phone to go on the computer. "One sec Universe." She looked up the most recent patients on the monitor and turned it to show Steven his desired patient. "Are you looking for Mr. Laramie Barriga?"

"Yes, that's him!" Steven exclaimed. "I was there when he got taken away in that ambulance! Where is he now?"

"Room 723." the receptionist answered. "Take the elevator, make a left and then a right. Got that?"

Before the woman could turn back, Steven had already vanished to find Lars. "Kids." she grumbled.

As Steven raced through the hospital in search of his undead friend, numerous unfamiliar sights greeted him. A doctor's office contained a child receiving a flu shot, a man in a wheelchair let Steven pass him by, a woman was on her way to an operating room, and a doctor solemnly fixed an empty hospital bed while a family was mourning.

Finally, Steven reached Room 723 just as a nurse was passing by the room. "Hello, I'm a friend of the patient occupying this room, and the Off-Colors told me what happened. Can I please come in and visit him?"

"You may." The nurse replied and opened the door for Steven. "Doctor Laurie, our patient has one more visitor." She said to the doctor standing by a bedridden Lars along with his parents, Sadie and Shep. "He said a bunch of "Off-Colors" told him everything."

"I'm here Lars!" Steven exclaimed as he rushed into the hospital room to be by Lars's side. "Hessonite and the Off-Colors told me what happened after they came flying out of Lion's mane!"

"Steven, finally!" Lars cried happily as he grabbed Steven's shoulders. "Listen, I need to warn you! You and the entire planet are doomed!"

--

A little while later, Lars was given a clean bill of health and was allowed to go home by ambulance. He sat on one side of the ambulance with his parents while Steven sat on the other end, and Lars continued to reveal what happened on Homeworld.

"What I'm trying to say Steven is that there's this Gem who's been inspiring others to rebel against you and Era 3!" Lars explained. "She's gathered up tons of your old enemies so they can get revenge too, and they're coming for Earth!"

"Lars, I understand your concern," Steven calmly stated. "but you're getting a little wound up over nothing. Almost everyone loves what I've done to the Gem race. There's nothing bigger going on, outside of Aquamarine being annoying."

"Seriously, you don't believe me?" Lars flatly asked in disbelief. "Well, do you at least believe what Hessonite said?"

"I believe that you teamed up for a fun space adventure!" Steven answered before his phone started ringing. "Whoops, got a call from Garnet." he said before answering the call. "Hello?"

"Steven, you need to come to Little Homeworld quick!" Garnet urged Steven from the other end. "Rogue Gems are on the attack, and they want us dead! Me, Amethyst, Pearl, Lapis, Peridot and Bismuth have already helped evacuate everyone, but we still need you to save the day again!"

"I'll be right there!" Steven bravely declared before hanging up and turning to the driver. "Sir, I need you to take us to Little Homeworld!"

"It's an emergency!" Lars added while showing him a picture of the Gem village.

"I don't see why not." the driver replied as he made a detour to Little Homeworld.

"You sure about this Lars?" Dante asked his son. "I mean, you just survived falling from space, I don't think we can handle you risking your life again so soon!"

"I promise you guys, I'll be back home when this is all over and I'm back in space." Lars assured his parents and hugged them.

"Be safe Laramie." Nancy said. "But then again, you got Steven to help out."

"Yeah, he's got me alright." Steven assured Mr. and Mrs. Barriga.

"Okay kid, we're here." the ambulance driver declared as the vehicle came close to Little Homeworld. "This is probably the first time I've escorted someone to stop an alien invasion."

"Here's good, thanks, sir." Steven said before the two boys bust the ambulance doors open and raced off to Little Homeworld.

--

What the pair discovered when they finally reached Little Homeworld was utter chaos. Almost everything was in ruins, smoke billowed everywhere, Light Warriors, Cluster Gems & Cactus Stevens were pillaging & demolishing, and at the center of it all was Aquamarine and Eyeball.

"Steven Universe, what a most pleasant surprise." Aquamarine purred as she turned to face Steven and Lars, batting her wand in her hand. "And look you've even brought Lars as well."

"Aquamarine, Eyeball." Steven laughed nervously while looking at the chaos behind the pair. "Did you, uh, maybe come to reconsider?"

"Reconsider, my facet!" Eyeball yelled before her fusion partner stopped her.

"But we did come with a few new friends." Aquamarine answered smugly.

"Well, that's certainly a start." Steven grinned before a massive hand made of water grabbed him and its creator brought him up to face her. "Hey, you're one of those Lapises! What brings you to Earth?"

"Sorry kid, I'm one of those new friends." Lapis 1J9G announced before dropping Steven to the ground and folding her arms as she landed right next to Aquamarine. "And we're afraid not even half-listening to you will work this time."

"See Steven, this is what I was trying to talk to you about!" Lars exclaimed, gesturing wildly to the three Gems. "A bunch of Gems want to get back at you! Though I thought there'd be more."

"I believe he's referring to me." Emerald bragged as she stepped forward with a panicking George in her hand.

"George!" Steven shouted. "And you, I know you! You're uh," He began getting off track as he only ever saw Emerald through a video screen. "Sorry, I've only met you that one time and now I've kinda forgotten-"

"IT'S EMERALD!" Emerald shrieked furiously. "How could you forget about me after Era 3 made the Diamonds let Lars off with a slap on the wrist for stealing my Sun Incinerator?!"

"Oh, calm yourself Emerald." Pyrope calmed the elite Gem down as she held aloft one of George's sisters, who was in full panic mode and pulling on her pigtails.

"Indeed," Demantoid added, also holding one of George's sisters in her enhanced arm. "You wouldn't want to make yourself less presentable for our victims."

Just then, the six Gems moved aside and kneeled to their leader, whose very appearance completely rocked Steven's world. Black Rutile walked towards Steven with a bowie knife to a rose while White Topaz followed her. When she cut the rose's head, Black Rutile finally faced Steven with an evil smile.

"I know you, you're that reporter!" Steven exclaimed. "Why are you hanging with these guys?!"

"I'm hanging with them?" Black Rutile scoffed at Steven. "I believe you're mistaken; THEY'RE hanging with ME!" She then threw away the rose's stem and steepled her fingers together. "Anyways, do you have any last words?"

"This is not good at all certainly fits." Steven declared nervously before the eight Gems slowly began marching towards the boy, eager to finally get their revenge.

However, their plans were quickly cut off before they could be put into action as Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl swooped into saved Steven and Lars from the rogue Gems.

"We trusted you, you psycho!" Pearl roared while her spear clashed with Black Rutile's knife.

"And everyone was dumb enough to trust you." Black Rutile replied snarkily. "So as you humans say, hello pot, meet kettle."

"Seriously, what makes you think we're worse than you are?" Amethyst asked.

"Something about how your ways will make the Gem race a bunch of puny hippies or whatever." White Topaz answered. "No hard feelings when we destroy you and everything you worked so hard for?"

"What did I tell you about getting friendly with the enemy?" Black Rutile hissed at her Topaz bodyguard before turning back to the Crystal Gems. "Now, let me repeat myself. Any last words?"

"My future vision tells me you will fail." Garnet declared defiantly. "And we will find a way to make that future happen."

"Such noble sentiments from a couple of Gems who are gonna die!" Black Rutile replied as her knife turned into a sword that she prepared to slash the Gems with until a loud rumbling sound was heard. "What was that?"

"Need a hand?" Peridot asked as she, Lapis, and Bismuth appeared on a makeshift flying machine made out of scrap metal that she controlled with her ferrokinesis.

"So that's where you ran off to!" Pearl exclaimed while Bismuth picked her up by the hand to toss onto the metal pad.

"No time to talk, we have to move!" Lapis exclaimed, picking everyone else up with her water powers. When everyone was on board, the pad zoomed off.

"Uh, why aren't we stopping them?!" Lapis 1J9G exclaimed before preparing to fly off when Black Rutile stopped her.

"Let them run." Black Rutile smiled deviously. "I want to see how they can lie their ways out of this situation. But in the meantime, I have another idea."

--

Before the Crystal Gems knew it, they finally returned to the beach house where Hessonite, Squaridot, and the Off-Colors awaited their return.

"I still can't believe it!" Steven gasped in denial of their current situation. "I get that not everyone would like what I've done with Homeworld, but I don't think I'd make them angry enough to want to kill me!"

"I tried to warn you, Steven." Lars declared sassily. "But you just didn't listen! Probably because you're so in denial of wanting to accept that not everything will go your way."

"Lars, this is no time for backtalk, Earth could be in danger!" Pearl scolded the pink-skinned human as the group walked into the house to think of a plan. "That Rutile seems to have thought of everything! I mean, she's a Rutile for crying out loud, they barely held any power in Homeworld!" However, Pearl then turned to the Rutile twins standing right next to her. "Uh, no offense you two."

"None taken." The twins replied.

"Still, she's got quite an army at her side." Lapis said. "She's got one of those Lapises I fought on Aozul 2, she's got Aquamarine, Eyeball, Pyrope & Demantoid, an Emerald, and that's not even accounting for the minions they got!"

"But what does Black Rutile want with us?" Peridot and Squaridot asked in unknowing unison.

"According to her Topaz, it must be something to do with that Steven did to the Gem race." Bismuth analyzed. "But who knows what she'll do next?"

"I know." Garnet declared. "I've looked through dozens of possible timelines trying to uncover Black Rutile's true plans. This is what I feel could be the worst possible one."

"What does it look like?" Steven asked before Garnet kissed him on the head, temporarily bestowing Steven with her future vision and a glimpse at what could be to come.

--

It took centuries of careful planning but at long last, Black Rutile had finally won. Once the Crystal Gems were finally destroyed and she indoctrinated the Gems they had enslaved to her noble cause, she then reawakened the Cluster that was slumbering within the Earth's crust, ultimately finishing what the Diamonds were too cowardly to do and destroying that annoying little planet once and for all.

Within mere weeks, the Diamonds met their demise, and Black Rutile installed herself as the new ruler of all Gemkind. And with the beginnings of her dictatorship came the Gems reverting to their old ways during Era 4. The caste system was reinstated but also reinvented at the same time. Now, it was Black Rutile above everyone else.

As countless Gems were tormented into building a grand statue to their magnanimous leader, a lone Pearl solemnly marched through the throngs of enslaved Gems under the orders of Emerald, until she was brought before Black Rutile, who was sitting on a throne as black as her body & her heart while the shattered remains of all who opposed her hanged above her in one big bubble.

"My Rutile, I come with the most glorious of tidings." Emerald decreed as she shoved Volleyball forward. "We have succeeded in terminating the resistance, but I feel you'd find particular interest in shattering their leader yourself."

"Ah yes, Pink Diamond's little Pearl." Black Rutile snickered as she descended from her throne to meet Volleyball. "Who would've guessed a submissive little slave would try to start a revolution? Well, anything to say?"

Volleyball, however, was too terrified to speak, having just witnessed her fellow rebels being shattered before her eye and now faced with the thought of being destroyed herself.

"What's that? No grand speech about how hope will live on or that there will be others like you that will rise against me?" Black Rutile asked rhetorically. "Oh please, I've destroyed every last threat to my power on both this planet and the Asteroid Field Formerly Known as Earth." She declared, gesturing towards the shard-filled bubble floating over her throne. "What's another pile of shards to add to the collection?"

With that, Black Rutile extracted her bowie knife from her gem and used it to jab Volleyball in hers, ending her life within mere seconds.

"So ends the legacy of Pink Diamond." Black Rutile purred as she collected the Pearl's shards in a bubble. "A real shame. She had so much potential and wasted it on being a total brat and threatening her own kind."

She then returned to her throne, where she lifted the bubble towards the bigger bubble, and the two merged. Now Volleyball's remains joined the tons of Gems that Black Rutile had heartlessly shattered. Ruby, Sapphire, Amethyst, Pearl, Peridot, Lapis, Bismuth, Hessonite, Citrine, Spinel, the Diamonds, all nothing more than shards. But her proudest achievement was the small gathering of pink dust that was once Steven Universe.

--

Returning to the present day, Steven was left utterly aghast at this possible future, but it made his resolve to stop Black Rutile even stronger. "We have to keep this future from happening!" he declared. "All we need to do is gather up an army of our own!"

"I'll call Connie and see if she's free to save the world again today." Pearl stated as she picked up her phone and started dialing.

"Which Gems do you want me to recruit out of everyone we evacuated?" Garnet asked.

"I don't know, just pick anyone!" Steven exclaimed.

"That's the Steven we know and love!" Amethyst replied, cheerfully giving Steven a noogie when she came to a realization. "Hey wait, if Black Rutile is gathering up Gems that have a beef with us, then what would you think if she tried recruiting Jasper?"

"Y'know, Jasper did say she was eager to fight again." Steven agreed with the little Quartz. "Maybe we should try and get to her first."

"I'm not sure Steven." Pearl said as she got off the phone with Connie. "Besides, I don't think Jasper would ever want to side with us."

"Black Rutile has gathered as much information as possible on all of us, and Jasper has likely been given the same treatment." Squaridot stated. "So it's just as likely that she'll try and ensnare Jasper to her side."

"We have to get to Jasper before Black Rutile does!" Steven hurriedly declared before turning to the Warp Pad behind him. "Gotta go, I'll be back soon!"

As Steven left for the forest via Warp Pad, the other Gems just gazed at the pad where he once stood.

"Good luck Steven." Pearl muttered before turning to Lion. "Go fetch Connie, okay?"

Lion nodded obediently and let out a roar, creating a portal that he leaped through to get to Connie.

--

Meanwhile, deep within the woods of Beach City, Jasper had been watching all that was going on in Little Homeworld from on top of her cave. As she watched smoke billow from afar, she couldn't help but feel that Steven brought this upon himself for enforcing peace for all Gems.

"He could've just ended colonization and leave it at that, but no!" Jasper muttered to herself while leaping down to the entrance of her cave. "He had to make them all into peace-loving weaklings!"

"Couldn't agree more." Jasper heard a familiar voice concur with her opinion. When the orange Gem turned around, she discovered Black Rutile leaning on a nearby tree with Aquamarine standing on a branch above her. "Jasper, correct? I don't think we got properly introduced to each other."

"If you're here for another interview, then forget it!" Jasper bellowed at Black Rutile before bringing her attention to Aquamarine. "And I see you got that little brat with you too."

"You are indeed correct Jasper." Aquamarine declared. "In fact, I'm not the only one who she recruited because of how dissatisfied I am with Era 3. Many Gems have been rallied by my master here to rebel against Steven's oppression and create a utopia."

"Are you sure about that?" Jasper asked with an eyebrow raised. "Sounds to me like you're starting some kind of cult?"

"A cult?! Stuff and nonsense!" Black Rutile assured the quartz. "We are simply fighting for our rights! Would you like to join us?"

"Jasper, don't!" Steven exclaimed as he rushed to the cave, where he saw Jasper standing with Black Rutile. "Please, you have to listen, Black Rutile is not to be trusted!"

"Don't you dare listen to him!" Black Rutile insisted. "He's the son of Pink Diamond, and it's both their faults you went from mighty Gem warrior to a lonely shell of your former self! Don't you see, you could finally get your revenge on Pink!"

"Revenge on my Diamond?" Jasper growled. "Fat chance! Why would I ally with some low-ranking Rutile just because she hates Pink like almost every Gem on this planet?! I'd rather be a peace-loving weakling than one of your lackeys!"

"Low-ranking?!" Black Rutile argued. "I'll have you know Jasper, I was one of a kind among Gems of my type because I worked my hardest to receive White Diamond's highest honors and join the upper-class of her court! You're just a mere Jasper who probably didn't even know Pink in person for the selfish, bratty sociopath she w-"

Before the Rutile could finish, Jasper summoned her crash helmet and sent her flying out of the forest with a single headbutt. "I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS, YOU ROTTEN QUARTZ!" Black Rutile cursed Jasper. "YOU JANKING CLOD!"

As Aquamarine chased after the flying Rutile, Jasper turned to Steven with a grumpy look in her eyes. In contrast, the starry-eyed Steven squealed excitedly while staring at Jasper. "Quit looking at me like that." Jasper snarled. "Let me guess, you want to recruit me too?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Steven declared eagerly.

--

"Yes indeed, my Ministry of Maliciousness shall soon destroy the United Defenders of the World and conquer the world at last!" a weirdly animated mad scientist with three circles arranged in a triangle decorating his bald head declared as he gestured to his fellow supervillains. Amethyst was watching this happen on television with some of the other Gems in Steven's room.

"Apex Predator!" A muscular man decorated in animal skins fired his highly advanced hunting rifle at nothing in particular.

"Electric Ellen!" A young woman in a black suit with lightning bolt patterns demonstrated her powers for the other villains.

"Automato!" A bronze robot with green optics simply stood by his seat at the table of criminals, his soulless eyes unblinking.

"Scare Master!" A large man in a monster costume that continuously leaked hallucinogenic gas and wearing a yellow ring let out a ghoulish laugh.

"The Unidentified Felonious Extraterrestial!" A cybernetic insectoid alien made a shrieking noise, exposing the smaller head in its mouth.

"And of course, your illustrious leader!" the scientist introduced himself. "The world's greatest criminal mind, Professor Poindexter, Ph.D.!"

"Uh, why are we watching this show?" Zuli asked Amethyst while she sat next to Lapis.

"This is what our current sitch reminds me of!" Amethyst explained. "Mangolin's archenemy Professor Poindexter gathers up each of the United Defenders of the Globe's enemies to form, like, a team of supervillains!"

"Why is the animation so lazy?" Peridot wondered as she leaned on Biggs Jasper.

"It was the 70s, limited budget." Amethyst said. "Ooh wait, here comes Mangolin!"

The cartoon then changed scenes from the Ministry of Maliciousness to the United Defenders of the World, which included Mangolin, Uber-Chap, Battle Goddess, Pyro-Nado, Shamrock Cavalier, Gizmo-Chick, and Vincent the Visitor.

"Termite terrors, Defenders!" the pangolin-themed hero Mangolin exclaimed. "Our foe Professor Poindexter has assembled our enemies to destroy us once and for all! We must do something!"

"They just explained that to us!" Nephrite said. "What, do they think the viewers are stupid or something?"

Just then, the group of Gems heard the Warp Pad go off, signaling that Steven has finally returned.

"Hey, Steven's back!" Teal Zircon exclaimed before racing down the stairs to see her half-human friend again, and this time she was in for a surprise. "Hey Jasper, remember me? Your new best friend?"

"I regret this decision already." Jasper cringed at having to ally with Teal as the other Gems came back downstairs. "Oh look, a whole menagerie of useless clods! Why even bring them all together when I can just take Black Rutile's forces on myself?"

"Jasper, no need to brag about your strength." Lapis said to the more muscular Gem. "This is serious, the whole planet is at stake here!"

"And I should care because?" Jasper snarled in disagreement.

"Um, this is your Diamond's planet?" an exasperated Pearl replied. "Surely you wouldn't want anyone to touch what Pink owned, right?"

"I suggest you don't talk that way to a Gem like her." Rhodonite said to Pearl. "She looks like she could go wild on us at any moment."

"Just calm down everyone." Fluorite advised calmly. "I know we're all stressed because of our current situation, but let's not start arguing."

"And who are all of these?" Jasper asked as she gestured to the Off-Colors, Hessonite & Squaridot, Zuli, Snowflake Obsidian, Little Larimar, Nephrite, Topaz, and Biggs Jasper. "I suppose they're all from that stupid school of yours?"

"Well, most of them are." Steven pointed out. "And maybe when this is all over, you could finally give Little Homeschool a chan-"

"Pass." Jasper coldly declared. "Shouldn't we be getting ready to fight right now?"

"Jasper's right." Bismuth agreed. "We're all in this together, for Earth."

And right on cue, Lion finally returned with Connie on his back, her sword at the ready. "How convenient that I finished most of my work in time for another chance at saving the world!" Connie stated as she dismounted from Lion and hugged Steven. "So, who are we fighting?"

"Come with us to Little Homeworld, I'll show you." Steven answered before he began to walk towards the Warp Pad. "Gems, let's get a move on."

And so, the Crystal Gems and all their assorted allies marched towards the Warp Pad, ready to take back Little Homeworld from Black Rutile's rebels and defend the planet once more. When Steven spread out his arms, off they all went in a beam of light.

--

"Ugh, I'm so bored!" Eyeball complained, pacing around while the rest of the alliance mindlessly caused more damage to Little Homeworld out of complete boredom. "I suppose they finally realized they were stupid to stop us and skipped Earth without telling?"

"Patience Ruby." Aquamarine advised her fusion partner. "They should be coming soon."

"What makes you so sure?" White Topaz asked Aquamarine as she revealed her weapon, a pair of brass knuckles.

"Steven came running for Jasper thinking she can join his side." The little blue Gem answered. "What an idiot, am I right?!"

Suddenly, Aquamarine was in for a scare as Little Homeworld's Warp Pad activated from right behind her, and on it were the Crystal Gems.

"Okay Black Rutile, we're here." Steven declared with Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Connie, Lion, Peridot, Lapis, Bismuth, Jasper, Hessonite, Squaridot, Lars, the Off-Colors, TZ, Zuli, Topaz, Snowflake, Larimar, Biggs, and Nephrite behind him. "All of us!"

"Oh, you finally showed up! Good timing." Black Rutile sarcastically applauded her foes. "And I see you got a little rag-tag bunch of over-eager losers by your side too."

"Hey 2F8D, so this is what you've been up to." 1J9G cattily greeted her ex-partner. "Being a pacifist baby and letting yourself be Steven's slave."

"I'm not a slave, neither to him or you!" Zuli yelled at 1J9G. "I came to Little Homeworld not just to learn how to appreciate Earth, but to learn how to make actual friends! Not be submissive to overly-controlling jerks!"

"I thought I could trust you Aquamarine!" Topaz went next. "I thought you changed by meeting that Ruby and fusing with her, but now I see you'll always be the same little monster you always are!"

"Oh stop Topaz, you're too kind!" Aquamarine said to her former Topaz.

"Crystal Gems, assemble!" Garnet bravely pointed forward to prepare for one last attack, but Steven stopped her.

"Wait!" Steven exclaimed. "Before we all get into one big fight, I want to know. Why do you hate me in particular? Outside of Era 3, I mean."

"You really want to know?" Black Rutile replied. "Well, allow me to put this in the only way you'll probably understand." She turned to White Topaz while fetching some kind of device from her gem. "Music please."

White Topaz turned the device on and music began to play, cuing Black Rutile to start a song. "When one era ends, another begins. It's such a big change for all us Gems." She sang. "But some aren't new fans of the old ways, and prefer to look back on the old days. But I on the other hand got a chance, to make this the Crystal Gems' last dance. And now I pray through endless days, to finally get rid of you."

"Is she singing?" Lars gasped at the musical number that just began as drum music kicked in. "Did she have a machine made for that purpose?"

"When I first emerged for my Diamond, White the master tactician!" Black Rutile began telling her origins through holograms on her visor, showing a just-emerged Rutile in a Kindergarten standing before White Diamond. "She revealed to me in secret signs, the markings of a great Gem! And she was indeed no clod, could reduce entire armies to sod! And all the fools that dared cross her, she'd just shrug and then shatter!"

"I studied well, got my tools of the trade, always got nothing but an A-grade!" After Black Rutile did away with the hologram showing her emergence, she started revealing the hard work she did to gain her high status among White Diamond's subjects. "But then he walked in and called himself Pinky, soon everyone got down to one knee." A stylized version of Steven's first arrival on Homeworld came next, and the stylized Black Rutile wasn't very pleased. "What never died was my ambition, and my keen intuition. Both of them gave me a complex, and made me want to rule the universe."

As the song went on, Steven began learning more about the consequences of his actions and how much Black Rutile truly despised him. "Every glimmer from your smile makes me want to puke!" his new foe complained. "Who to slay, who's the one, who's to doom? You know the only one would be my new archenemy, Steven U!"

With that, the chorus soon began with Black Rutile's minions joining in, sans White Topaz. "Wither the rose! Growing shadows! Sow a world of chaos!" the seven Gems sang in harmony. "Wither the rose! Only highs, no lows! In a world of chaos!"

"Is this the time for a song?" Connie asked. "Why don't we just attack them while they're singing?"

"Black Rutile is going to put on an admittedly wonderful song!" Padparadscha exclaimed.

"Ha!" Black Rutile laughed as the musical break reaches its end before turning to her Cluster Gems, cyborg Cactus Stevens and Light Warriors. "Come on minions, hurry along, this little school will soon be gone!" she commanded them before hugging herself in excitement. "I could squeeze myself with glee! Next the Diamonds and then this galaxy! I would really stop at nothing, shattering, treachery and lies! Whatever it takes to reign supreme, you really can't blame me for trying."

The tune soon began to reach its climax. "Wither the rose! Growing shadows! Sow a world of chaos! Wither the rose! Don't you doze!"

"We shall restore Homeworld's true order!" Aquamarine soon joined in.

"Vengeance will soon finally be ours!" Eyeball added sadistically.

"Saying sorry just won't cut it!" Emerald chorused.

"Dismantling the new superpowers!" Lapis 1J9G stated.

"Armies rampaging across the stars!" Demantoid declared.

"Covered in so many scars!" Pyrope boomed.

"Nothing but eternal war," Black Rutile concluded. "Join us as we make our own colony!"

"Genocide, slaughtering, jingoism, in enemy blood we shall wade!” The seven Gems announced. "Homeworld Gems come celebrate, as we make this bratty starlight fade!"

The song finally ended and the alliance of hatred took a bow before Black Rutile changed her knife into a broadsword with a massive blade and a tiny handle. "Now that we explained everything," she stated before pointing her sword forward. "CHARGE!"

The two sides finally clashed at Little Homeworld for the fate of Earth. Lapis & Zuli took to the skies against 1J9G, Pyrope & Demantoid led an unwilling Light Army, Emerald sped forth to personally confront Lars, and Black Rutile, White Topaz, Aquamarine & Eyeball personally confronted Steven, Garnet, Amethyst & Pearl.

"Fire!" Demantoid commanded some Light Warriors bearing laser cannons to shoot at Teal Zircon & Nephrite, but Jasper and Topaz were there to shield her from the blasts. "You!"

"You saved me!" TZ exclaimed. "Guess you really do think of me as your best friend, dontcha Jasp?"

"No, I still find you one of the most annoying beings I've ever met." Jasper replied. "But still, better to side with someone as irritating as you."

"I thought we were all friends!" 1J9G exclaimed as she clashed her water with Lapis and Zuli's. "I only joined these guys just so I could get you back!"

"Why would we ever take you back?!" Lapis stated.

"When we ran into 3E8C after years, she showed me that she and Steven were the best of friends!" Zuli added. "Not an overly controlling jerk who refuses to let me have fun!"

"See what she means?!" 1J9G said. "He's brainwashed all of you!" The only response she got was a punch to the face from Zuli.

Down below, Lars and Connie sparred against Emerald. "Don't think Steven will be there to save you today!" Emerald taunted, snapping her fingers and revealing electric powers to fight with. "He'll just throw you away, just like how Pink always threw everything away!"

"Sheesh, sins of the mother much?" Lars dryly commented.

"Steven is nothing like that!" Connie argued. "If you knew him, you'd know he's the sweetest, most caring guy you could ever meet!"

"Oh blah blah blah, I get it, he's too pure for this universe and he must be protected at all costs!" Emerald said. "Black Rutile has shown me what he truly is like."

Finally, the Crystal Gems battled with Black Rutile and her three most loyal followers. Garnet went up against White Topaz, Amethyst vs Eyeball, Pearl vs Aquamarine, and finally Steven vs Black Rutile.

"Why are you doing this?!" Steven asked Black Rutile while in utter denial. "I brought peace to the galaxy, I ended the Diamonds' oppression!"

"And stripped all Gems of their livelihoods in the process." Black Rutile coldly replied as her sword clashed with Steven's shield. "Look around you kid, these Gems came to my side because they have no status, no allies, no power over others! And now, they come to Earth for retribution against you!"

"But this still isn't right!" Steven claimed. "I understand that some may not be comfortable with what I've done, but that doesn't excuse you for all this."

"Kinda like how you excused the Diamonds for all they did just because they were sad, or something stupid like that." Black Rutile insulted.

"That's because they were!" Steven exclaimed. "They were in mourning!"

"Mourning the so-called death of an annoying brat I had the displeasure of sharing a planet with!" Black Rutile yelled as she began fighting in a way that resembled capoeira and gymnastics. "This all could've been avoided if you just put your enemies out of their misery, or at least punished them, rather than just excusing them with a stupid song and acting like everything was just water under the bridge!"

"You're thinking of retributive justice, where the offender did something wrong and the punishment is just as severe in exchange." Steven replied. "We Crystal Gems practice restorative justice, where we actually talk to the offenders and try to see how we can help them without using lethal force."

"Well, whatever you're talking about, you can call me a proud supporter of retributive justice." Black Rutile declared herself. "As in, me and my pals are seeking retribution against you and your posse for what you did to our society, and will do so by any means necessary. Because you think everything can just bend to your will if you just make everyone around you cry?! You really are no better than Pink!"

"Well, I'm trying to be better than my mom, both Pink Diamond, and Rose Quartz." Steven responded, blocking another attack from Black Rutile. "But I'm pretty sure they'd both find a sociopath like you beyond saving."

"Me, a sociopath?! You barely even know me!" Black Rutile yelled before bunting Steven's shield away when he tried to throw it. "Well, you're certainly right on me being a bit selfish, but look at you. I mean, you've made excuses for murderers, bigots, and toxic friends, yet anyone who's just doing what they're made to do is instantly made a pariah just because they don't like you and your dumb little sidekicks!"

Behind Black Rutile's back, however, her alliance was slowly beginning to fall apart, yet she didn't seem to care. Hessonite, Peridot, Biggs, and Squaridot hid behind a wall to avoid the Light Warriors' attacks.

"Got a plan, you guys?" Biggs asked the other three Gems.

"I have." Hessonite replied. "The Peridots shall distract them by taking control of Demantoid's limb enhancers while I swoop in and steal back the Light Prisms! Then perhaps we can turn the Light Army on them."

"I'll see what I can do." Peridot stated, but then Squaridot put a green hand on her shoulder.

"No, allow me." Squaridot stated before using her ferrokinetic powers to meddle with Demantoid's limb enhancers.

"No no, not again!" Demantoid yelled as she was dumped out of her mech, and the Light Prism she was holding hostage fell out with her only to be caught by Hessonite at rapid speed. "My Prism!"

"Demantoid you child, you could've just fought back instead of letting yourself get defeated!" Pyrope said, unaware that her Prism was stolen as well. "Wait, what?"

As Hessonite returned to Peridot and Squaridot with the Light Prisms in hand, the Light Warriors dropped their current activities and began to surround the three Gems peacefully. "Now that you know who's really in charge here," Hessonite bragged before she pointed at her fellow Garnets. "FIRE!"

"No, it can't be!" Pyrope squealed in utter defeat as the Light Warriors pointed their weapons at her and Demantoid.

"Hold me close Pyrope!" Demantoid added while hugging Pyrope in fear before the Light Warriors charged, attacking the pair and poofing them once and for all.

As for Emerald, she was now getting ganged up on by Lars, Connie, and the Off-Colors, who all took turns using Connie's sword against her. "You're all just humans and Off-Color Gems!" Emerald screamed as she desperately tried to fight back. "What makes you think you all can stop me?!"

"'Cause we're all more walk than talk!" Lars declared, once again using his musti-yuddha skills to knock Emerald to the ground. "Connie, care to do the honors?"

"With pleasure!" Connie replied, hopping up on Fluorite's head and jumping high into the air before zooming down with her sword pointed directly at Emerald.

"I hate you all." Emerald snarled bitterly before Connie poofed her, ending the threat she possessed to Lars and the Off-Colors.

High up in the air, the battle of the Lapides raged on with 1J9G using vapor from the clouds as makeshift weapons against her former friends.

"We could've stayed together if 3E8C hadn't been dropped on Earth like an idiot!" 1J9G yelled. "I just wanted us to stay friends!"

"Well, if you want to keep your friends," 3E8C stated, forming a massive water hand from a nearby cloud. "then you should act like a friend." The hand grabbed 1J9G and tossed her to the ground, creating a massive crater that caused a building to start falling over, and one piece of sharp rubble was aimed straight at 1J9G's gem.

"So this is it, huh?" 1J9G monologued to herself as death was mere moments away. "I feel like this is karma for being a horrible friend like they keep calling me. In that case, I'm sorry. Maybe somewhere else, we could've stayed together."

As 1J9G accepted her demise, the rubble was punched out of the way by a massive silhouette in the dust, and it settled to reveal Jasper as her savior.

"Get up you!" Jasper roared at the Lapis.

"But, we're on different sides!" 1J9G exclaimed. "Why did you save me?"

"It's what a certain someone would've done, but he's too busy at the moment." Jasper replied. "Plus, I know what it's like to be alone too."

"Oh look, that Jasper is becoming just like you!" Black Rutile yelled as she watched her alliance break up. "But then again, they set themselves up for this the moment I recruited them all, so what are you gonna do?"

"But still, we're fighting a losing battle!" White Topaz advised her Rutile. "What do we do now?"

"I think I know." Black Rutile smirked before snapping her fingers at one of her surviving allies. "Aquamarine, grab the boy and take him to the nearest mountain!"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Aquamarine purred before she grabbed Steven with her wand and began flying off, with Eyeball also in tow, and Black Rutile & White Topaz on a mini-hovercraft. "Oh, where will you be without your precious little abomination?!"

"Steven!" the Crystal Gems all yelled.

"Topaz, subdue the Lapises!" Black Rutile then commanded White Topaz, who gave a shaky nod before leaping up and grabbing Lapis & Zuli, followed by pinning them to the ground.

"Don't worry guys, I got this!" Connie said before mounting on Lion and riding off after Aquamarine.

"The only one who should defeat him is me." Jasper said as Connie fled, right before following the human. "Wait up girl!"

--

At the mountain, Steven was dropped by Aquamarine at the highest cliff, where Black Rutile stood by with a boulder next to her and White Topaz.

"What do you want now Black Rutile?" Steven asked as he got up to face the evil Rutile.

"Simple, toss you over the edge and throw a boulder to crush you to death, since you can fly apparently." Black Rutile declared. "I've been waiting for ages to destroy Pink Diamond, and you, my little friend, are just the thing to satisfy my vendetta."

"But why do you hate Pink so much?" Steven exclaimed. "Let me guess, she treated you like trash just like almost every other Gem I've faced?"

"No, she didn't treat me like trash!" Black Rutile answered. "She treated everyone around her like trash, yet the Diamonds almost always let her get away with everything! And here you are forcing Gems against their will to change their very way of living! Hey, at least you didn't fake your death to recklessly endanger the lives of others, because I'm going to endanger yours!"

Black Rutile then picked up Steven by his shirt collar and walked to the edge of the cliff, where she dangled him over such dangerously high heights. "You know what's ironic?" she smiled cheerfully before it turned to a hateful scowl. "You're able to get humans and Gems to get along, yet you're neither of them yourself."

With that, Black Rutile released her grip on Steven's shirt and he began falling from the cliff, followed shortly by White Topaz tossing a boulder that fell right above him. "NO HARD FEELINGS!" she yelled.

"So this is how I'll die, falling to my death off a cliff while a boulder is going to crush me." Steven realized as he fell to his doom. "Maybe Black Rutile's right. Maybe this is punishment for only thinking of myself all the time, and never taking others' feelings into account. Punishment for letting all these enemies run free instead of punishing them. Punishment for being an awful person in general."

However, just as Steven shut his eyes, accepted his demise, and did not even use any of his powers to escape, a voice cried out to him. "STEVEN!"

"Connie?" Steven exclaimed as she warped in via Lion's portal and reach out to him. "Don't worry, I'm with you till the end of the line! Just grab my hand!"

Steven gave a big smile, realizing that even with all his faults there were still people looking out for him, and took Connie's hand, causing the two to merge into a mass of light.

--

"Well, that should take care of him." Black Rutile declared, dusting off her hands and beginning to walk away. "Come along you three, let's go reawaken the Cluster and wipe this planet off the face of this universe for good."

"Uh, my Rutile?" White Topaz said while she, Aquamarine, and Eyeball gazed over the edge of the cliff to discover a pink light rapidly approaching them. "I think Steven is….not dead."

"Wait, seriously?!" Black Rutile yelled before Stevonnie leaped up the mountain and onto the cliff where the four enemy Gems stood. "You fused with a human?!"

"Bet you didn't see that coming!" Stevonnie declared as they swung their sword to try and poof Aquamarine, but she swiftly dodged and fused with Eyeball to form Bluebird Azurite.

"Of course I knew you can fuse with humans kid, it was in my data!" Black Rutile exclaimed before turning to White Topaz staring in amazement at the fusion. "Topaz, fuse with me!"

"Wait, we get to fuse too?!" White Topaz giddily exclaimed. "Eee, I can't wait, we've been practicing for so long!"

"Just shut up already." Black Rutile snarled before extending her hand. "Now, may I have this dance?"

"Gladly." White Topaz responded, taking her superior's hand before they began dancing the tango, their gems glowing as they danced until they formed into a giant light that resulted in a new, much larger fusion with four eyes & arms, spiky hair that went down to her back, a black-and-grey uniform and Black Rutile's white cape.

"BEHOLD FOOLISH LESSER BEINGS!" the new fusion bombastically declared. "THE GODLIKE SUPERIORITY OF THE MIGHTY LEPIDOLITE!"

"One fusion against two fusions." Stevonnie muttered. "Have to admit, those aren't very good odds."

"You bet." Jasper declared, zooming up the mountain to stand by Stevonnie's side and pounding her fists together. "For them!"

"You followed us?" Stevonnie asked Jasper.

"I don't like the Crystal Gems, but I hate them just as much." Jasper explained roughly. "Now come on, let's finish this!"

"Oh, a fair game, I see!" Lepidolite asked as she summoned two pairs of claws on each pair of her hands that extended from her knuckles while Bluebird summoned her ice cutlass. "Well, game on!"

Lepidolite clashed her claws with Stevonnie's sword while Jasper grabbed Bluebird in her massive hand and smashed her face into the rock face. However, despite Lepidolite being surprisingly evenly matched with Stevonnie, there was one thing they had that she lacked. Control over the fusion itself.

"So you can fuse with humans?!" White Topaz exclaimed cheerfully while Lepidolite slashed at Stevonnie before she switched to Black Rutile. "Did you even listen to Aquamarine's report, why are you acting like this is so new to you?!" Black Rutile yelled. "Why do you always have to be so dense?!"

"This is almost like Malachite." Stevonnie compared the abusive control Black Rutile had over White Topaz to the strained but peaceful relationship between Lapis and Jasper. "Listen, why can't you just work together?!"

"Because she's a completely moronic clod!" Black Rutile yelled through Lepidolite.

"Even if she treats me like trash, she's still my boss!" White Topaz added. "After all, isn't that what master/servant relationships are kinda like?"

"Master, don't!" Bluebird yelled as Jasper kept beating her up. "You're going to make them do some speech about the stupid power of friendship or something!"

"Well, you want us to work together?!" Lepidolite said, now no longer personified through Black Rutile and White Topaz's arguing. "Then work together we shall!"

Lepidolite then grabbed Stevonnie by their arms and once again threw them over the edge of the cliff before walking off to assist Bluebird. But just like when Steven was tossed over the cliff, things went horribly wrong for them.

Stevonnie reappeared in a massive gust of wind, now bathed in a pink glow and with a furious snarl replacing their confident grin. "Why won't you listen?!" they yelled, lunging at Lepidolite and striking their sword straight into her chest. "I'm not the real monster, YOU ARE!"

"No no no no no no!" Lepidolite screamed as Stevonnie's sword cut into her body and striking her straight in Black Rutile's gem, causing the two to ultimately defuse. As the pair of Gems were dropped to the ground, White Topaz laid on her back, utterly stupefied. Black Rutile on the other hand was terrified beyond all recognition, a far cry from the confident mastermind she normally is.

"W-w-who are you!?" Black Rutile shivered in fear of the pink Stevonnie, who now had a psychotic smile on their face. "WHAT ARE YOU?!"

"I'm-" Stevonnie began when they suddenly stopped and gazed at their hands. "I don't know." With that, Stevonnie finally un-fused back into Steven and Connie, just in time for the other Gems to arrive.

"Steven, Connie!" Garnet cried as she, Amethyst, Pearl, Peridot, Bismuth, Hessonite, Lars, Squaridot, and the Light Prisms were carried up the mountain by a massive water elevator created by the trio of Lapides. When they reached the cliff, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl all rushed to give the two kids a big hug. "What happened?"

"I don't know." Connie replied shakily. "First we fused into Stevonnie to fight Black Rutile, who fused with White Topaz to create this big fusion called Lepidolite, then after we were tossed over a cliff, Stevonnie turned pink and-"

"Wait, pink?" Pearl wondered. "It's just like all those other times Steven lost control! What could it be?"

"That's exactly what I'd like to know too!" the utterly defeated Black Rutile yelled. "What is that, a human thing?"

"Uh, no everyone! Everything's fine!" Steven began lying. "It's just a human thing, but I'm the only one who can do it!"

"Alright, keep your secrets brat." Black Rutile declared before she snapped her fingers again. Getting up from Jasper's beatdown, Bluebird picked up Black Rutile & White Topaz and carried them away. "Your little power fantasy will soon come to an end!" she declared. "And Gems, I'd keep an eye out on that monster if I were you! He could become a bigger threat to Earth than I am!"

As the three Gems got farther away, everybody turned to Steven with nervous looks on their faces.

"Steven, is there anything you need to tell us?" Connie asked her best friend.

"Uh, anyone wanna go out for pizzas?" Steven tried to change the subject, and everyone went silent in response.

"What is this pizza you speak of?" Hessonite piped up.

--

Later that day, reconstruction of Little Homeworld had quickly begun. With Peridot and Squaridot's help, the Cactus Stevens were now fully organic once more and helped in the repairs, alongside the Light creatures created by George and his sisters.

"Wow George, you, Elaine, and Cosma are one great team!" Steven said to George as they looked upon the Light Army's hard work. George turned to Steven with a confused look on his face. "Oh, I came up with those names for your sisters based on this TV show with a character also named George."

"Hey Steven, the pizzas are here!" Lapis called for Steven.

"Ooh, gotta go you guys!" Steven said before leaving George and his newly named sisters to work. "See you again soon!"

Steven returned to the Little Homeworld Warp Pad, where the Crystal Gems and the Off-Colors were setting up a little picnic with pizza boxes all around. "You see, this is what we need more of." Steven said. "Just us hanging out, no Gem monsters or evil Gems threatening and scarring our lives."

"Are you sure you're okay kid?" 1J9G asked Steven.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Steven replied. "Wait, what are you doing here? Weren't you on Black Rutile's side?"

"That Jasper saved my life because she knew what it was like to be alone, so I'm coming here as gratitude." 1J9G stated. "I came with Black Rutile as 1J9G, and I'll learn to become a better friend as Laz. You like the new name I got?"

"I love it!" Zuli exclaimed happily. "It's so wet!"

"Well, if you say so." Steven said awkwardly before he found Lars and Hessonite collecting the inactive gemstones of Emerald, Pyrope, Demantoid and all the Cluster Gems. "And what are you going to do with those?"

"We'll take the Cluster Gems back to Homeworld." Lars answered before pointing to Emerald and the Garnets. "As for these three, I'm not sure yet."

"They'll be safe with us." Garnet said, taking the three Gems out of the bubble. "And who knows? Maybe they'll become students of Little Homeschool."

"Speaking of which, Squaridot." Hessonite said to her Peridot sidekick. "You said that you were given the chance to come to Little Homeschool before you joined me? You think the offer still stands?"

"You know what?" Squaridot said. "I think I'm gonna stay here. Thank you Hessonite for everything." She then hugged the orange Garnet. "And tell Citrine I said hi if you find her."

As the group all sat down to their victory picnic, many eyes were still on Steven, who paid more attention to his slice of pie.

"Seriously, that boy just ain't right!" Jasper said as she prepared to leave.

"Yo Jasper, have a little more tact!" Amethyst scolded her fellow quartz while turning to Steven. "But what if Black Rutile is right? What if Steven becomes a threat to Earth?"

Steven still didn't pay any attention and kept on eating, but the Gems guessed that he might've been deliberately distracting himself. But why?

--

Elsewhere, Black Rutile had now touched down deeper in the forest, letting Bluebird Azurite drop her off in front of a cave. "Ah, this should make a good hideout."

"Why can't we just flee on your dropship?" White Topaz asked.

"I'm pretty sure it's been seized by now." Black Rutile said as she sat down on a rock formation, slouching and pressing her fingers together. "Tell me, my friends, what do you think is Steven's greatest weakness?"

"He can't fend for himself!" Aquamarine stated as she and Eyeball un-fused.

"He always has to get his nose in everyone's business." Eyeball remarked, rolling her eye with arms crossed.

"Uh, he's got boatloads of trauma that no one bothers to bring up?" White Topaz asked meekly.

"Correct Topaz, very good for once." Black Rutile congratulated her Topaz. "Now, as you see, he can't deal with his whole worldview changing, since learning there were so many Gems against him shattered everything he almost knew about his actions." She declared. "But what if we did the same, but we turn the humans against him?"

END OF PART 2: GRADUATION

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 3: FRAGMENTED MIND

--

And that was Enemy of my Enemy and Part 2 in general! This was a really long one, filled with ideas that I've had in my head for ages! The whole group of past enemy Gems was inspired primarily by the Evil League of Mutants from Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I imagined the bad future to be similar to Deliver Us from Prince of Egypt, and the justice debate was basically the Ship of Theseus scene from WandaVision. And that's not even getting into what I have planned for Part 3, but that's another time for another day. And if the subtitle is any indication, you all know what's coming.

[forabeatofadrum]

che col tuo lume mi levasti - chapter fourteen

AO3

–

SIMON

I’m driving us home and Baz is singing along with the radio jingle. That means that all is well. The past few days have been very nice, eventful and educational. We changed our original plans and we opted to stay in Casalotti during the entire trip.

Baz found a community there.

He isn’t going to move down to the hub, but I haven’t seen him so relaxed in so long. Ever since he walked in on Fiona and Nicodemus boning, he’s had this dark cloud hanging over him. The past months have been confusing and difficult for him, but we’ve finally gotten somewhere.

I love him. I am so proud of him. I am so happy for him.

He’s my vampire boyfriend.

The internalised hurt doesn’t disappear in a few days, but this, plus Nicodemus’s and Shepard’s stories are really helping him out. He hasn’t called himself a monster in a while.

Emma introduced us to the entire vampire community. They all accepted Baz with open arms. Baz has met so many amazing people from all age ranges (Baz was definitely the youngest, not counting the children, and the eldest was over three thousand years old!) and all kind of backgrounds and origins (more vampires that have left other countries like England, and vampires who grew up there). There were full vampire families, or mixed families like Emma and Angelo’s. There are even Normali parents who adopted vampire children and vice versa. There were mortal vampires, but also vampires that crossed over willingly to be immortal. There was this one couple where the wife wanted to be Turned so that they could be together forever and the husband complied. They recently had their hundred and fiftieth wedding anniversary.

No one batted an eyelash at me, a Normal, being there with him and it was completely safe for me to be there. I left the sword at our accommodation after the first day. It still looks fucking cool to walk around with a sword, but it’s also pretty weird.

Baz tried pig blood and it’s apparently much better than rat blood, and we also were invited to dinner every day. I helped out some times, since I still love cooking. I also donated some blood for the immortal vampires!

We did go to the city centre one time with a bunch of other vampires. The hub might be in the outskirts of Roma, but that doesn’t prevent them from shopping and visiting the well-known landmarks.

(No churches though, for obvious reasons.)

We were sad to go, but we have to go home. Baz has collected a lot of phone numbers and we invited Emma and her family up north. Baz knows that it’s safe in the Lago di Garda area, although we told them to avoid Verona.

According to Emma, the CoMi thinks that most of the hostile vampires are northeast, not northwest, but Verona can be an outlier.

“Snow,” Baz says, pulling me out of my thoughts. I was busy reliving the past few days.

“Yes?”

“I think I want to tell Agatha the truth.”

I look at him out of the corner of my eyes before focusing on the road again. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s big.”

“I’ll see her in person in March. I have some time to think, but I am almost sure.”

“I’m really proud of you, Baz.”

And he smiles. He sits back in his seat with a relaxed look on his face.

That’s when his phone rings.

“Shepard,” Baz tells me when he checks who’s calling. He picks up. “Bunce?”

I can’t hear what Shepard has to say, but Baz nods and hums. I poke his arm.

“Oh, Bunce, hang on. Let me spell my mobile so that we can video call. Simon’s here as well.”

More nods. More hums. Then he hangs up and he spells his mobile for data. He requests a video call with Shepard and when Shepard picks up, Baz balances the phone on the dashboard. I still need to look at the road, but I can see Shepard easily.

“Hey guys!” he says cheerfully. Shepard looks at his screen. “You’re already going home?”

“It’s been days, Shep,” I point out.

“Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. The Lob’s underground karaoke bar got raided by trolls, so they were busy. I told the trolls to back off.”

“You live a charmed life, Bunce,” Baz says.

“How was Rome, then? Baz, did you meet your kind?”

“I sure as hell did,” Baz says excitedly and I feel adoration all over again. Look at him. Baz is now talking about vampires, about himself, in a positive way as well. Shepard also notices.

“Give me the deets, man!”

Baz spends the next thirty minutes recounting everything that has happened. I chime in every now and then, but this is Baz’s moment. Shepard is eating it all up and as expected, he asks for some possible contacts.

I stop for gas and they’re still talking. Usually, Baz spells it, but he’s talking about Lan Xu, who moved to Italy three hundred years ago from China and who taught Baz a lot about Chinese magickal culture.

“I’ll continue driving,” I tell Baz. We were supposed to switch here, but Baz is busy.

After another thirty minutes, Baz is out of stories.

“Wow, dude, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk this much, except when it’s about classics or whatever,” Shepard says, “Which reminds me. Mitali is asking headmistress Possibelf to go through with her curriculum updates.”

“Wonderful.”

“But yeah, so vampires know they live in a dead spot.”

“Right. The dead spot.”

“Zona morta,” I tell Shepard.

“Yes, the Lob also uses the Italian term. So you guys already know that creatures seek out a zona morta to live.”

“Sorry to steal your thunder, Shep.”

“It’s fine. The same happens in America with the Quiet Zones. Speakers don’t go there, so creatures makes it their home. But I have more news.”

“You do?” Baz asks.

“Yeah, the whole karaoke bar raid happened three days ago. The other reason it took me so long to get back to you is because the Lob gave me the dates of when the zona morta appeared. Like the WoM, they are pretty recent.”

“Zone morte,” I correct. That is plural. Us Italians don’t do the easy route by adding an s to make words plural. We need to be extra.

“Emma did mention that, but Emma is also old, so everything is recent to her,” Baz says, “My mother’s murder is still news to her.”

“Yeah, true, but here’s the thing. I handed the dates to Martin and they match the dates in the WoM!” Shepard says, “That’s why I couldn’t get back to you. Knee, Martin and I have been going over the dates in the past two days.”

“What are you saying?” I ask.

“The zone morte are like the dead spots,” Shepard explains, “Not like the Quiet Zones. After all, there are a lot of Talkers or Bleeders or Normals or Normali, whatever you wanna call it, living in the zone morte. So that’s one thing. Another thing is that they grow exactly like the dead spots. Martin’s asked Mitali to call Lucy, your mum.”

“Oh, really?” My mum didn’t mention that and I’ve called her every day.

“Yes, your mum is now looking for maghi who know more. It looks like the zone morte aren’t as big as the dead spots, even though they have the same quantity. Like, bro, even though the zone morte and dead spots don’t have the same size, the biggest dead spot got created at the same time as the biggest zona morta.”

“That can’t be a coincidence,” Baz says.

“Martin agrees. He wants to take his research team to Italy. He’s waiting for your mum to find maghi that also study the phenomenon. There have to be some.”

I agree. “The CoMi doesn’t really pay attention to it, but they aren’t affected like the CoMa. Just because the zone morte aren’t as big as the dead spots, that doesn’t mean that they have gone unnoticed, right?”

“Exactly!” Shepard exclaims.

“Interesting,” Baz says, “Keep us updated, will you?”

“Definitely!”

--

Baz parks in front of my mum’s door. She asked us to come over for dinner. She ordered food from the restaurant at the roundabout, so I am not letting that opportunity slide.

My mum waves through the window. A few seconds later, she opens the front door.

“My boys!” she yells happily. She has her arms wide open and I run towards her for a hug. I am still a mommy’s boy and fucking proud of it.

My mum knows that we were safe in Roma, since I definitely called her to tell her that the vampires were super nice. She’s very happy to hear that Baz had such a great time.

“Ms. Snow,” Baz says as a greeting.

“How was traffic?”

“Hell,” Baz deadpans.

“Even when you spell your way through a traffic jam, it’s hell because our roads suck,” I say.

“Honestly, let them charge me for using the roads. They clearly need the money to improve,” Baz sighs. Easy for him to say, since he counterfeits that money. Baz still does not want to pay for ‘little things’ like toll or parking.

“Well, I hope you two are hungry. The food’s already on the table,” my mum tries to get us inside, but Baz takes a step back.

“I need to drink first,” he says.

“Ah, of course.”

“I’ll be in soon,” he says.

“Drink inside,” I suggest and I grab his elbow. He was already leaving. Baz raises an eyebrow. “Emma gave you all that pig blood. I’ll make us some tea and you can have your blood.” Emma’s given us litres and litres of pig blood in bags. Baz has enough for a couple of weeks. He doesn’t have to slit the throats of rats for a while. She is an absolute godsend.

“I, uhm…” Baz trails off and his eyes flick towards my mum.

“Don’t stop on my account, Basilton!” my mum says.

“Uh. Yeah. Okay. I’ll see you inside.”

My mum and I go inside and Baz goes back to the car to retrieve the blood.

“I don’t mind him being a vampire,” my mum says to me, “Especially now that I learnt that vampires aren’t inherently evil. He knows that, right?”

“It’s not you, mum,” I say back, “It’s him. He’s so used to drinking in secret and in shame. He had a similar reaction back in Casalotti and we were surrounded by vampires there!”

When Angelo handed him a bag of blood before dinner, he stared at it as if it were an alien object, and when Emma told him to just drink from it, he really lost his cool. The idea of drinking in front of people was harrowing, but then Emma drank her bag in front of everyone and then she guided Baz. Baz usually slits the throats of animals and then drinks from there, but Emma taught him how to use his fangs properly.

After three days he got comfortable drinking in front of all the people there, but he has to get used to drinking in front of my mum as well.

Baz comes back with a plastic bag with a MAIALE label on it.

“They label the blood bags to distinguish between pig and Normali blood,” I explain to my mum.

“Do you need anything?” my mum asks Baz when we sit down for dinner, “A knife or a cup?”

“Ms. Snow, I have fangs.”

And just like that, his fangs pop out and he bites the bag to create two holes. (He says that you barely taste the plastic.)

He’s deliberately not looking at us while he’s sucking the blood out of the bag, but he’s doing it. He’s such a pro. There’s not a single blood stain on his clothes or hands.

Mum and I drink our tea while he drains the bag.

Baz drops the bag in the bin and we eat. During dinner, my mum tells us about the research team.

“Yeah, Shepard told us,” I say.

“I just sent some contact information to Martin,” my mum says, “I didn’t even know that Italy had that many dead spots.”

There are an equal amount of dead spots and zone morte, but as Shepard pointed out, the zone morte are smaller in size. That, and the population density in Italy is almost four times lower than the density in England. The World of Mages is more than just England, but that’s already saying something. A lot of zone morte are in mountain areas as well. Mages have a higher chance of being affected by dead spots than maghi.

“Where is the nearest zona morta?” Baz asks.

“Bérgamo,” my mum answers.

I frown.

“But mum, we’ve been to Bérgamo,” I say. Bérgamo is close to Salò. It’s a little over an hour by car. I haven’t taken Baz there in all those years, but that’s because we went to places farther away. Bérgamo has been on our list, but maybe we should scrap that now.

“Not all of Bérgamo, love,” my mum says, “The city centre of Bérgamo has been spared, like the centre of Roma. And even so, we haven’t been there in a very long time. Martin says that the zona morta at Bérgamo is one of the last to appear.”

Another reason why professor Bunce’s hypothesis on dead spots no longer holds up is because they stopped appearing around three years ago, which is great news for the magickal world, but not for his research. Baz still thinks that professor Bunce’s theories are viable, though. Maybe the magickal atmosphere has been healed, unlike the ozone layer.

“So they’re coming down?” I ask. Maybe they’ll find more answers if they come to Italy.

“Yes, hopefully soon,” my mum answers, “I actually have a question for you, Simon.”

I hum.

“I am joining the team as a translator. Would you also accompany us during the research?”

I almost choke on my food. Me? Baz is the academic, not me. I don’t give a shit about doing research. Like, yes, it’s important, but we have scientists like professor Bunce and Baz (hopefully, in the future) for that.

“Me?” I ask to be sure, “Why me?”

“Because you’re a Normal.”

Baz thinks this through and he nods. “Makes sense.”

“Does it?” I ask him.

“Snow, I almost caused a car accident when we entered that zona morta in Casalotti,” he points out, “Professor Bunce and his research team are doing marvellous work by voluntarily entering dead spots, but it will definitely still affect them. You aren’t affected by them.”

“Apparently Shepard’s been helping out a lot,” my mum adds, “But he and Penny can’t join the research team.”

“Shep’s arrival in the World of Mages is doing that damn world a lot of good,” I mutter.

“Exactly,” my mum says, “Not only is he challenging the current ideas around Normals, but he’s also showing what Normals have to offer to a magickal society. The World of Mages can learn from the CoMa, and especially the CoMi.”

“I think it’s a proper idea,” Baz says.

“When’s the research team arriving?” I ask my mum.

“Soon,” she replies, “Hopefully the first week of March. There’s a lot of importance.”

“I’ll think about it.”

[tabloidtoc]

In Touch, March 22

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Meghan Markle vs. the Palace

Page 1: Contents

Page 4: John Mayer joined TikTok and Taylor Swift fans made it clear they still have bad blood 12 years after he broke the pop star's heart -- hours later John shared a video of himself nodding as the words I'm Hearing You Out appeared on the screen, then he posted a clip of himself in a dark room singing That Was a Real Weird Day but he should have known Swifties will never, ever, get over anyone who spurns Taylor

* Other enemies of Taylor who got slammed by her fans -- Kim Kardashian, Netflix for the show Ginny & Georgia, Justin Bieber and Scooter Braun, Burger King

Page 5: Play of the Week -- Tom Brady on tossing the Lombardi Trophy from his boat to his teammate's boat during their Super Bowl celebration on the river in Tampa, Co-Star of the Week -- Holly Hunter on knocking Chrissy Teigen to the ground for a scene in Mr. Mayor, Makeover of the Week -- Cara Delevingne goes brunette, Number of the Week -- 11.5 million dollars Angelina Jolie got for selling a rare Winston Churchill painting which was a gift from her ex-husband Brad Pitt

Page 6: Crib of the Week: John Travolta's charming Maine estate, Winner of the Week -- Aaron Rodgers donates $1 million to small businesses in his California hometown and gets thanked by Jodie Foster in her Golden Globes speech, Loser of the Week -- Golden Globes gets the lowest ratings ever with just 6.9 million viewers

Page 12: Up Close -- Kelly Clarkson on The Voice, Reese Witherspoon totes be best accessory yet which is her new pup Minnie Pearl, Jennifer Lopez

Page 14: Rocking a new hair color and killer heels Lady Gaga steps out of her hotel in Rome where she's filming her new movie Gucci

Page 16: Kate Hudson dons her Fabletics gear for a weights workout, a shirtless Tyler Cameron, Brooke Burke helping out California's Road Dogs & Rescue

Page 18: Katy Perry who has lost nearly 60 pounds since giving birth in a bathing suit with fiance Orlando Bloom and daughter Daisy (with her face blurred) on vacation in Hawaii

Page 20: Jennifer Garner shows off the crazy hair and more that her kids gave her last year on Yes Day which is the subject of her new movie, Britney Spears with sons Sean Preston and Jayden James, Kate Beckinsale with her cat Clive in her lap, John Legend enjoys precious moments with his kids Luna and Miles

Page 22: With the final season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians set to premiere, Lisa Rinna is hell-bent on making her brood the next big family on reality TV and she wants to be a momager like Kris Jenner and that despite his bad-boy reputation Lisa is thrilled that her daughter Amelia Hamlin is dating Scott Disick -- Lisa thinks the timing couldn't be better for the Hamlins to land their own reality show and she's been pitching one for years and now she thinks it's within her reach but she may be setting herself up for major disappointment because the networks just aren't interested and everyone knows the Kardashians can't be replaced and while people love Lisa on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, giving her her own show might be a bit much and Lisa is no Kris Jenner, and Amelia and her sister Delilah Hamlin aren't as popular as the Kardashians or Kylie Jenner and Kendall Jenner and Lisa's husband Harry Hamlin would rather act; he doesn't want to be a reality star and he was only going along for the ride because Lisa pitched them as one big wacky family

Page 23: Hollywood Love Report -- Mary-Kate Olsen has been secretly dating CEO John Cooper for the last couple of months and he's just her type: older, good-looking, fun and successful and she's totally smitten

* Lily-Rose Depp and Timothee Chalamet split a year ago, but they've decided to give their relationship another chance

* Star Sightings -- 50 Cent and girlfriend Cuban Link, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Shannen Doherty, Joe Jonas, Zoey Deutch, Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Marcus Mariota

Page 24: Cover Story -- The Royal Family Speaks Out: Our Side of the Story -- after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's bombshell interview, the palace scrambles to set the record straight -- the royal family feels stabbed in the back and they want everyone to know the truth -- Harry said his mother Princess Diana would feel very angry with how this played out and very sad

Page 30: Alec and Hilaria Baldwin's baby mystery -- the couple welcomes a new daughter and stirs up more drama

Page 32: My Bachelor Nightmare -- the first Black Bachelor Matt James' controversy-plagued season ends with betrayal and heartbreak

Page 34: The Big Interview -- Shep Rose of Southern Charm on his cheating scandal

Page 36: Fashion -- Zoom Fashion -- getting dressed-up for screen time means different things on top and bottom

Page 37: Beauty -- get Julia Garner's look from the Critics Choice Award

Page 42: Animal Overload -- my dog looks like Justin Bieber

Page 46: Horoscope -- Pisces Rob Lowe turned 57 on March 17

Page 48: Last Laughs