#Anyways... Jackie and Bombshell!!!

[barra-400]

June pt. 2

[highwaytothedangerzone502]

Foxtrot Alpha Alpha - Chapter 19

Pairing: Hangman x Female OC

Word Count: 1697

Warnings: Swearing

Summary: Hangman learned his lesson a long time ago to never show his true feelings when someone's words or actions hurt him. To do so showed weakness that could be exploited, and Seresin men couldn't show weakness. Of course, there was an exception to every rule, and Jake's always came in the form of women, three in particular: his mom, Juliette Kazansky, and the girl whose name he could no longer bring himself to speak. She was the girl that got away; she was his biggest 'what if' and his biggest regret; she would forever be the ghost that haunted his dreams. Jake believed that's where she'd stay, for he would surely never see her again after what he did.

Or so he thought.

Notes: This is the sequel to India Lima Yankee; I'm using the same callsign for the Female OC as in Ghost Story because I just really like it, but they are different characters; chapters in italics are flashbacks.

Chapter Songs: Blindsided Hoax

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Ghost

Why did hangovers from crying your heart out always seem more painful than alcohol-induced ones? Maybe because the former came from the heart rather than a bottle, and while one's metabolism could eventually process the alcohol, it took much longer for the body to move past emotional damage. 

Regardless, Ghost wanted to do nothing more than stay in bed and ignore the world. She peeked at the time on her phone and sighed dramatically. She had an hour to get ready before meeting Jackie at the coffee house. With a Herculean effort, Ghost rolled out of bed and shuffled to her bathroom, going through the motions of curling her hair and doing her makeup. She moved sluggishly due to her headache, causing her to fall behind, so when Ghost saw Jackie's name flashing on her phone's screen, she picked up and immediately answered, "Hey, I'm running late, but I'm almost done and shouldn't be more than-"

"I don't care," Jackie interrupted shortly, her voice oddly devoid of her usual enthusiasm. "Change of plans anyway. Can you open your door? I brought breakfast."

"What?" Frowning, Ghost hurried to her front door and swung it open. Sure enough, it revealed a morose Jackie standing with a massive bag of to-go containers. Hanging up her phone and looking her sister up and down, she asked, "You look like shit. What the hell happened to you?"

Stepping inside and without missing a beat, Jackie replied, "My husband told me he wants a divorce. What's your excuse?"

Had her sister not dropped the bombshell, Ghost would've been offended at the comeback, even if it was true. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what?"

Jackie pulled container after container out of the to-go bag. "Ryan called me at eleven p.m. last night to tell me he wanted a divorce. I didn't know what to do, so I cried all night until the tears ran dry, went and bought breakfast, and decided to come here instead of eating out."

"Look, I'm all for eating my feelings right now, but why didn't you call me when it happened?" Ghost placed her hands on Jackie's shoulders. "You know I'm always here for you no matter what."

"I didn't want to interrupt your girls' night with Juliette. You seemed like you needed it."

"She would've understood, and I'd much rather help you through your problems than deal with my own. We could've commiserated together."

Jackie raised an eyebrow at her sister. "Wait, were you crying last night, too?"

"Yeah. Between Ghoul's birthday, some stuff from the performance earlier, and being around Hangman again and realizing I'm stupidly still head over heels for him, my emotions had enough of me bottling it all in. Hence-" Ghost motioned at herself- "why I look like shit. But seriously, that's nothing compared to what you're going through. Did he give you a reason?"

Jackie slumped into a chair and began opening the containers. Ghost did the same, listening to her sister lament. "Said that we had 'irreconcilable differences' and that I didn't 'communicate.' What he means is that I don't tell him where I'm at every second of the fucking day and that he doesn't want children, and I do! I told him this when we first started dating, and he said he was open to the idea of it, but now, all of a sudden, Ryan's totally against it and says he doesn't want a family. I don't know if he always was and thought he could change my mind or if he thought I would choose him over my dream of having kids if he gave me the ultimatum. I just don't know..."

The elder Blackwood shoveled a heap of hashbrowns into her mouth while Ghost smiled sympathetically at her sister. "Have you told Mom and Dad?"

Jackie scoffed. "No. They never really liked him from the beginning, and I hate that they ended up being right. They'd never say it outright, but they wouldn't have to. I'd still hear the silent 'I told you so.' Why was I so stupid? I should've listened to them!"

Ghost watched her sister drop her fork and crumple into herself. She rushed over, enveloping Jackie in a comforting embrace and saying, "You loved him, and that's nothing to be ashamed of. We can't help who we love sometimes."

"Eight years. Eight years down the gutter. I'm almost in my mid-thirties. I wanted kids by now! Who's going to want to marry me after this? Who's going to want kids with an old maid?!"

"First off, with the amount of guys watching you last night, including some of the Daggers, you will have no problem snagging a new guy. Second, you are far from an old maid. Don't let the media get to you with their unreasonable beauty and life standards. Third, it's Ryan's loss. He's the idiot, and anyone with a brain would tell you the same." 

"Yeah, but I wanted him. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him," Jackie said sadly, wiping away her tears. "I guess I need to start thinking about what I'm taking. I don't care about most of our furniture. He can take everything, for all I care, but I want the cats. If that's all I get out of this divorce, then I consider that a win."

"The cats love you more anyway," Ghost joked gently. It did earn a slight chuckle from her sister. "Whatever happens, you have me to help get you through it."

"Thanks, Annalise." Jackie braced her head in her hand. "I love that you joined the military and are a kickass fighter pilot protecting our country and all, but I miss having you around and being able to visit you whenever I want."

"It's definitely a downside to being a pilot. For the record, I miss you too." Ghost reached for the avocado and salmon toast. "If you want moral support while you call Mom and Dad, I'm here."

"No, I, uh, I should do that by myself. Thanks, though." Jackie reached for the salt and sprinkled some on her eggs. "Now, tell me what Hangman did that made you, of all people, emotional. And don't say it's nothing. Please, let me hear your problems so I don't have to think of mine right now because it'll be all I think about once I leave."

Ghost reluctantly obliged, shrugging. "It's not even anything he did. Not really. We had a brief moment yesterday when we reverted to our old ways, where there wasn't any tension, but then the Daggers arrived, and it disappeared. It hurts to be around him, and it hurts to be away from him. Part of me wants to tell him I'm sorry for cutting him out the way I did and apologize until he takes me back, but then I remember how I felt in that hospital room and remind myself that I never want to feel that way again. If I let him back into my life, I risk that. I'd rather feel nothing than feel that again..." Having finished her toast, Ghost moved on to the decadent strawberry banana French toast, munching slowly on it while she mulled over what she wanted to say next. Jackie patiently waited. "I didn't want to say anything to anyone about it because they'd just tell me to talk to him about it, but how would I even bring it up after all this time?"

"The time will come, as cliché as that sounds. You two aren't done with each other. Of that, I am certain," Jackie declared, finishing off her eggs and hashbrowns. "Besides, he couldn't take his eyes off you last night. Should've seen the look in his eyes when that guy wouldn't leave you alone at the bar."

"What was the look?"

"Murder." The simple remark made Ghost laugh in disbelief. With that said, the two sisters continued talking, avoiding the sensitive subjects for each of them until two hours had passed. Jackie groaned when she glanced at her watch. "Ugh, I have to face reality again."

Ghost scooted closer to her sister. "You want to stay another day?"

"Yes, but I have to face this. If you can face terrorists, I can face this. Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I have to be."

"Door's open any time." The girls stood and hugged each other tightly, neither quite ready to let each other go. 

After a few sniffles, Jackie forced herself away. She took a deep breath and said, "We've got this. We're Blackwoods."

"Damn straight. Call me when you land?"

"You got it." Giving Ghost a two-finger salute, Jackie strode out of the apartment with her head held high. Ghost watched her leave until the car drove out of sight. Then she shut the door and shuffled back to the table, assessing the damage done to the food. They'd killed four entrées with no leftovers. An impressive feat considering Ghost could barely eat a full meal in one sitting most times. 

Sleepiness suddenly overcame Ghost, and with the food coma rapidly hitting, she swiftly cleaned up the mess and then collapsed onto her bed. Ghost had just shut her eyes when her phone rang. Seeing Juliette's name on the screen, she answered with as much cheerfulness as she could muster, "Hey!"

"Go back to bed," Juliette immediately said, laughter in tone. 

Ghost groaned. "How'd you know?"

"Because I know you. I was going to see if you wanted to come help Rooster with the nursery, but it sounds like you need more sleep."

"Give me an hour, and I'll be there."

"Ghost, your hour naps are like mine: they end up being three instead. Enjoy sleeping. One of us should, at least. Call me when you wake up if you still want to come over."

"I do. It's been a morning, and I promise I'll tell you when I get there later. Thank you for understanding."

"Of course. I'll see you later."

Bidding her friend goodbye, Ghost set her alarm and once more closed her eyes. This time, nothing interrupted it, and she slipped into a deep sleep.

****

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[prettyflyshyguy]

It's actually WIP wednesday today. Have some short snippets from some things I'm writing. Some inFAMOUS things.

Festival of Blood extrapolation cause I can't fucking help myself. This is C-Virus 2.0. Help.

“Alright, now hold still. This might sting a little.”

Cole grunted in response to the pain as he felt the alcohol bite into the puncture marks. 

“Zeke that really, really stings.”

“I did warn you.”

Zeke’s technique was rough, but thorough, ensuring the wound and surrounding skin was clean before a second round of pain hit as the antiseptic gel he began applying spared no mercy. He paused in his application, a chill swept through his body as he watched Cole grimace from the burning wound. Zeke turned his attention back to the immediate issue, refocusing on the job he had dutifully assigned himself. The surrounding skin had bruised deep violet and grey, broken up by lines of scattering dark veins spreading outwards, creeping and crawling under the surface, like vines reaching out for purchase.  

“Where’d you pick up all this stuff anyway, Grey’s Anatomy? Nurse Jackie?” 

Cole’s voice cut the stillness of the rooftop. The man had a knack for lightening the mood, but Zeke knew him too well. Cole was unsettled. This was his usual method for deflecting. 

“I got it from Trish.” 

Zeke held his breath, glancing up at Cole as he pulled open a packet of medical adhesives. Cole was silent and still, staring out across the city skyline, though he wasn’t looking at the fireworks and balloons that dotted the hazy gloom of the clear twilight sky. Zeke continued, “Back in Empire City, while you were in hospital. Had a lot of downtime, yknow? While the world was going to shit outside. It was getting scary, man. Figured I’d ask her to show me how to do stuff right in case anything ever happened.”

He lined up the patch, confirming it was the correct size before peeling the plastic protective film off and gently pressing it onto Cole’s neck.

“Didn’t think I’d ever need to.”

Before the thought could linger, the snapping sound of Zeke pulling off his gloves pulled Cole back into the moment. 

“Okie-dokie Gary Oldman, consider yourself discharged. Be sure to give the Dunbar clinic a five star review.”

----

Forced Conduit Zeke (name pending)

Ok this is more a handful of notes but I NEED to get it out of my system or I'll explode. Ever since I hit the bombshell that Bertrand can create forced conduits by effectively mutating people I really, really, really wanted to see him do it to a member of the main cast. Now I understand why the game did not. But I'm the dickhead that wrote 23k words of Leon Kennedy being mutated by the C-Virus for the same reason so you can bet your sweet ass I'd do it again. Initially you'd think, sure, I'd hit Cole with that, and I sort of want to as more of a what if/one shot exploration. Less likely a full scale fic more just some fun noodling.

However. Hear me out. Ok hear me out. I love Zeke but he's a perfect candidate - he wanted powers, he's working undercover in the militia as a double agent, Cole's way too powerful to risk attempted containment and then mutating (the risk of him being too powerful a creature to control? What happens if they can't knock him out long enough for Bertrand to work his magic?) - what happens if Zeke is found out. Not only is he a double agent, he's The Demon's best friend.

He's feeding information to Bertrand's biggest threat and that just won't do. So naturally, what's a good punishment. What's a good way to send a message? What's a good way to drive home the point that Conduit's are monsters?

-

“You know the last time someone kidnapped and threatened my best friend, thing’s didn’t end so well for him.”

Bertrand has Zeke hostage, Cole shows up for a rescue, mirroring the mission from inF1. Zeke's in his militia uniform (conveniently) but this also reflects that he got caught. Bertrand talks about how he was good, but not quite good enough. He caught wind that there was a mole and the guy has resources, and this is the age of smartphones. Someone caught a photo of them together maybe, or a guard spotted something that lead to suspicion. Zeke never let it slip firsthand though.

Cole show's up, Bertrand threatens to shoot Zeke if he tries anything though. Cole's basically stuck watching. Bertrand has a monologue on the resources, time, energy it cost to rat out the mole. He's pissed off. Really pissed off. This would occur sometime after they found out he was making monsters, but before proof and confirmation was gained, so they were going by Nix's word and Cole's firsthand witnessing to Bertrand's personal transformation.

Bertrand continues to yap, but he keeps it vague. He talks about how he thought about doing what he’s about to do to Cole, but realised when he figured out Zeke’s connection and relevancy, he felt this would be more interesting. 

Cole is helpless watching as Bertrand begins to corrupt Zeke.

“... promise me you’ll get that... sonova...bitch....”

After they’re done, Bertrand leaves a distraught Cole to handle a large, monstrous corrupted Zeke.

Cole has to fight him, mostly avoiding attacks, trying not to cause harm and damage, now grapping with the horror that every other monster he's killed was distinctly a person - seeing Zeke infront of him looking similar, acting similar, but knowing who he is/was. Cole manages to restrain him, hauls him via a boat out into the swamp where Nix first showed him where Bertrand's blast went off, figures he'll be safe here if he just chains him to a tree while he figures out: what the hell is he gonna do about it.

Kuo calls and Cole brushes her off the first time (maybe right after or as he’s fighting Zeke) doesn't tell her what happened.

They meet up later and he does tell her. She doesn't respond well. She comes from the angle of “put him out of his misery” - make the hard, but right call. 

“I know this is a lot to ask of you, and we’ve already asked so much, but you need to be prepared to make the right call–”

“Why is it always up to me? I’m just some guy, I was nobody special!"

“Why does everything come down to me to make the tough decision? Why couldn't it’ve been someone else’s best friend? Someone else’s girlfriend? Someone else’s life?”

Cole spends a lot of time with Zeke, looking for a sign he's still in there. He plays his favourite song on an MP3 player wrapped in insulation tape.

“C’mon man, give me a sign, give me something I can work with here.”

“Just show me that you’re still in there. Please.”

Nix comes at it from the “you can keep him, like I did with my babies/pets” - he also flips out at this like “My best friend is not a fucking animal!” Kuo and Nix both have points, to be considered, he doesn't tell Kuo where he left Zeke cause he’s worried she’ll seek him out. This angers her. Nix figures it out, comes and checks in on how they're both doing. They have a heart to heart about things. Nix is more understanding, she knows what it feels to lose people close to you.

After a while of barely any progress, bouts of aggression, and growing concern, Cole starts to cave. He asks Nix again about how she bonded with the other swamp monsters.

"Show me."

[docheros]

Love on Egos day 2, list A: messy love confessions

Pairing: Jackie/Henrik (dochero)

“[So...] Jameson shook his glass, the sound of ice hitting the glass mixing with the noise of the movie on television, [how was it? I mean, who asked who, how did you guys start dating?]”

WC: 708

A/N: i wanted to put “how i met your doctor” as a joke but that wouldn’t make sense gfjdkfkj

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[So...] Jameson shook his glass, the sound of ice hitting the glass mixing with the noise of the movie on television, [how was it? I mean, who asked who, how did you guys start dating?]

Jackie went forward and back in his seat, clamping his mouth shut tighter so the juice wouldn't escape. JJ frowned seeing such behavior and Henrik rolling his eyes.

— Sorry, JJ — the hero wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, leaving the glass on the coffee table — the story is… German, basically.

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It all started on a beautiful November afternoon… (Jackie, stop), ok, it was just another normal November afternoon, I was bored and decided to visit Hen. He decided to make us coffee and we were sitting at the counter talking. And, you know, Hen was always very affectionate.

[Only with you.] (Yeah Jackie, only with you.)

Okay guys, I know that everyone in the entire world knew that Henrik Von Schneeplestein liked me, except myself. I know.

Anyways…

Both of us. Sitting at the counter. One facing the other. Henrik stroking his thumb near my ear and me talking nonstop about my week. Smell of coffee in the environment.

[Romantic.]

Then he stops, looks at my mouth for a second and stares at me for what feels like 10 minutes. At this point I'm all lost and confused and ask if everything was okay. Then, Jameson Jackson, then he declares himself. All at once.

[Okay, normal.]

But Jameson. He declared himself all at once. In German. Henrik, could you repeat what you said that day, please?

— Ich wollte dich schon lange küssen. Du bist der hellste Teil meines Tages und ich kann nicht glauben, dass ich mich so sehr in dich verliebt habe. Ich will dich nicht verlieren. Ich möchte dich küssen, deine Hand halten und mit meinen Kollegen über dich reden. Ich möchte mit dummen Spitznamen bezeichnet werden und mit dir an meiner Seite aufwachen. Ich möchte, wirklich, dich meinen Freund nennen.

[Sweet Mother of God.]

Exactly.

[And what does it mean?]

Hen, please. (Really.)

— I've been wanting to kiss you for a long time. You’re the brightest part of my day and I can't believe I fell in love with you so hard. I don't want to lose you. I want to kiss you, hold your hand and talk about you to my coworkers. I want to be called stupid nicknames and wake up with you by my side. I want, really want, to call you my boyfriend.

[My God Henrik, I didn't think you were a disaster.] (Jameson, more respect with my person, yes?)

So yeah, JJ. He dropped this whole bombshell in German and stared at me as if I understood everything that had come out of that pretty little mouth. Look at me, Jameson. Look, look at me, stop laughing. Do I look like someone who understands German?

(JJ you don't understand me, he stared at me for two seconds that felt like hours, my heart racing, tumtum tumtum, then he held my hand and, with the softest voice in the world, said “Henrik…” and I was like "Oh my God. It's now. I did it. I really did it", and he. He says "...I didn't understand a single word you said.")

AND HE GETS ANGRY! He looked DEEP into my eyes and yelled “LEARN GERMAN!”

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— …then after that he yelled “KISS ME YOU IDIOT” and I was even more paralyzed, my face felt all hot, I yelled a “WHAT?” back and he pulled me by the cheeks and kissed me. In this mess we hit our foreheads and I had a callus for a few days.

Jameson hugged his belly, aching with laughter. Henrik slowly gained more color in his cheeks and tapped his heels on the floor over and over again.

— I don't know what got into me that day.

— It was love — his boyfriend wrapped an arm around his shoulder — and nervousness. And German.

— Shut up, Jackie. I'm done being humiliated for today — He put his hand on his face, turning it away.

— Don't be like that, HenHen — he laughed, taking his hand away from his face — be a good boyfriend and make me.

[My God, you two are such idiots.]

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idiots, i call them

tagging @the-pastel-kitsune @dapperstein @glass-trash-bab and @unpredictably-ghostly :] let me know if you want to be tagged!

[ethanramseyyy]

OPEN HEART: THIRD YEAR CHAPTER 1 thoughts and opinions

Wow. Wow. Wow. What a start to the new book. I am so excited with the start of the third book. One because I missed my husband and two because Open Heart is just my favourite thing ever. One thing though @playchoices where’s our baby Naveen?

Obviously the chapter opened up with explaining the changes to the hospital which by the way are INSANE. As much as I love the new and mordenised look, a part of me does miss the classic Edenbrook Hospital we have seen in the past 2 books. I really hope we get a fourth book and I know that the third book has only just started but when Elijah was talking about what was going to happen after their last year of residency, it really made me want to experience the rest of MCs career and obviously the more time we have with Ethan (Or whoever you are romancing) the better. I also like how ALL of the LIs were incorporated into this chapter and it wasn’t entirely Ethan based, because I know that annoyed a lot of people during book 2. RAF. I am so unbelievably happy that they kept Raf in the book, I mean they kind of had to but that’s besides the point. I am so happy for the Raf stans. YOU GOT YOUR MANS BACK.

I picked Ethan to tell me more info because I need to spend as much time with him as possible since I have to wait an entire week to see him again. BITCH when he took our hand I nearly choked. It is so so so strange to see him actually make a public display of affection considering what we went through in the past 2 books to even get him to admit he was in love with us. And our friends reactions. I adore the fact that they are so happy for MC and Ethan. I don’t think I will be the only person to say this butttt.... Leland DEFINITELY has a hidden meaning for taking on Edenbrook. There is something dodgy about him and I am glad that Ethan has also noticed it. I have a feeling Leland Blooms storyline about the takeover of Edenbrook is far from being over.

When I saw the nurses desk it was so bitter sweet. For a second I expected Danny to pop up from behind his desk and say Hey. He did not deserve to die and I will NEVER be over it. But anyway I obviously had to play every single diamond scene given to us for the opening chapter and so I accepted the chance to spend some time with our friends and take a tour of the new and improved facilities. I have to admit the new hospital sounds amazing. Almost too good to be true if I am being honest. I LOVED the little playful scene between MC and Elijah. We can all appreciate the fact that Elijah needs to be protected at all costs. And then it got a bit awkward for me because we had to choose who to have a massage with and obviously I am romancing Ethan and he wasn’t an option so I picked Bryce because why the hell not. I obviously didn’t pick any romantic options with him but I do love Bryce just not like my main man Ethan. I appreciate that the other LIs aren’t being as sidelined as they were in the previous book. Even though I am romancing the main LI of the book, it still angered me that so many people missed out on any interaction with their chosen LI in book 2.

My poor baby Baz. When it showed how sad he was, I was ready to fight anyone who had made him feel that way. And then he dropped the bombshell at the end of the chapter that he was leaving PERMANENTLY. I WILL NEED 2-3 WORKING DAYS TO PROCESS THIS INFORMATION. If he actually leaves I will be heartbroken. I love his character but I am very interested to find out why he is leaving which I presume we will find out in the next chapter. DR HARPER EMERY IS DEAD MEAT IF SHE THINKS SHES GETTING ETHAN. Is it just me or was she flirting with our man the ENTIRE time. Little does she know we spent some quality time together in a certain on call room 😏. I swear if she try’s anything with him, I will not hold back. It’s such a strange route for PB to go down with trying to make MC jealous over Ethan and Harper. To be honest I’ve always loved Harper but she WILL NOT have Ethan. Leland taking away Ethan’s leadership privileges was not okay. I enjoy dating my boss husband thank you very much. I think it makes MC and Ethan’s relationship that much more scandalous if you ask me. I did enjoy the bit were everyone agreed with Ethan despite Leland clearly trying to undermine his power. Never going to happen Leland. Get over it.

Then came the diamond scene where MC, Jackie and Sienna went shopping for the cocktail mixer. I did like the fact that we got a small scene of us actually going shopping for the outfit rather than having to pay diamonds just for the outfits. As I said before I did every diamond option possible considering the fact it is the opening chapter and to be honest I would have done it regardless because MC looked BOMB in that dress.

What made purchasing the dress even better was the fact that all eyes were on MC when she walked into the party. I chose to talk to Elijah because I just love him and I couldn’t say no to him. This meant that I got to see Zaid. Now I am not sure if everyone got to see Zaid or it was different depending on who you chose to speak to but I loved seeing him. I feel like we saw Zaid all the time in the first book and then he kinda just disappeared during the course of the second book so I am glad he made an appearance.

ETHAN GOD DAMN RAMSEY. Did you guys see that suit?!?! I almost choked to death he looked that good. And then that little cut scene!!! I think my family thought I was being murdered I screamed that loud.

OBSESSED.

And then we got the option for a ‘private, passionate end to the evening’ and lord knows I said yes. I know I keep saying this but I love that all 4 LIs were an option. The fact that scene was ONLY 18 diamonds. Bargain if you ask me. If any of you have watched Greys Anatomy it really reminded me of when Meredith and Derek had THAT scene at the prom. If you have watched it you know what I am talking about. Anyway, every single bit of that scene was perfect. When it gave us the option of him taking charge or MC, I was like BITCH we are in for a real fucking treat today.

After the absolute dream end to the evening spent with out man, we found out what was wrong with our patient because hello MC is the best damn doctor at Edenbrook. And you all know I picked the option that said ‘I am surprised that Emery didn’t figure it out’. Yes I know I am petty but Ethan and her are getting on TOO well considering they are exes so I have to claim what’s mine. Then Dr. Baz Mirani thought it was okay to announce that he was leaving the diagnostics team permanently. That better not mean he is leaving Edenbrook because I will put a stop to that straight away. Also, I need to know why because Baz is genuinely one of my faves and I really don’t want him to go.

I would LOVE to hear what everyone’s thoughts were on this chapter. Did you like it? Why do you think Baz is leaving? Do you think Leland has good intentions?

[obsidiancreates]

When Schneep Met JJ (My AU)

Alright, take two. First one got deleted by an error about a fourth of the way in. I felt part of my soul leave when that happened. 

Anyway, this is a few days after Schneep got home from the “vacation”. Schneep meets JJ for the first time and notices something unusual about him right away.

 Story is...I believe the term is under the cut?

Schneep sighed and sank further into his mattress, relishing in the soft comfort. His favorite comforter was wrapped around him burrito-style as he half-sat, half-laid in his bed. He nursed a cup of tea that Chase had brought him moments ago and closed his eyes. He was home. He was safe.

He could barely remember what had happened those nine months. All he remembered was the static, the laughter, the pain. He was grateful not to remember any more. He was sure he didn’t want to. Besides, that was over. His injuries were healing well and his brothers were taking great care of him. He felt safe.

He jumped a little at the sound of the door creaking open unexpectedly but relaxed when Jackieboy peered around the edge of the door at him. “Hey. How’re you doing?”

“I’m doing well, Jackie. Thank you,” Schneep said with a small smile. Focus on the positives, he thought to himself. As long as he did that he would be fine. Jackie smiled back and stepped all the way into the room. He looked nervous, which concerned Schneep. “Jackie? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine! Just uh...remember how we said we had a lot to tell you, and how some of it might be a little...shocking?”

“Yes...”

Jackie looked at the doorway and said, “Come on in.” Schneep froze mid-sip when the person entered.

It was another ego, but one he didn’t know. This ego had a large, curly mustache, similar to the one that Markiplier ego had. This fellow’s was brown, however. Or, Schneep assumed it would be. The ego seemed to be washed in a black and white, or maybe sepia filter. He had on formal clothes, a button up vest and a dress shirt and nice pants. But none of that mattered to the good doctor.

As soon as the ego had entered the room a chill had gone up Schneep’s spine. He didn’t know how nor why, but somehow he could tell that the dapperly dressed ego had been possessed by Anti. He stared at the other man until Jackie broke the silence, clearing his throat uncomfortably. “So, Schneep, this is Jameson Jackson. We call him JJ.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Doctor! I’ve heard marvelous things about you from the others!” read a speech slide that appeared in front of Schneep’s eyes. He screamed and jumped, spilling his tea on his bed. JJ rushed over and Schneep flinched away from him. JJ looked at him apologetically before burying his face in his hands. He paused, looked up, and signed something to Schneep timidly.

“Yes, I do understand sign language,” Schneep ventured to say after a moment. He had learned it after having a few deaf patients. JJ’s face brightened and he smiled. 

‘I’m terribly sorry for startling you. I assumed someone had told you about my speech slides,’ he signed. Now that he was closer Schneep was able to get a better look at him.

As far as Schneep could tell he was rather normal, well, minus the strange ever-present old-timey movie filter on him and the fact he communicated with magic speech slides. But Schneep couldn’t shake his uneasy feeling. He could sense that Anti had possessed this man! Why, and how, was that possible? Maybe I’m imagining it, he thought. Perhaps I am just paranoid. “It-it is okay. I just wasn’t expecting it, but now I know. You...You are new?”

“Yes indeed! I came to be just this past All Hallows Eve!” JJ said, switching back to his slides. Schneep still flinched a little, but at least he had known it was coming. He tried to keep his voice steady when he spoke.

“Halloween?” he said. JJ nodded. Schneep rubbed his forehead and turned to Jackie. “May I have glass of water?” he asked. Jackie gave a thumbs up and left the room. Schneep turned back to JJ and took a deep breath. “I must ask. I can feel something from you. Did Anti get you?”

JJ’s smile dropped off his face. “H-how...”

“I do not know,” Schneep admitted. He paused. He felt uneasy but...maybe he didn’t have to. The young ego seemed to be almost an opposite to Anti. “Why did I not know you were here?”

“The others decided you needed some recovery time. Chase described telling you about me as ‘dropping a bombshell’. He is full of phrases and terms I have never heard of before!”

Schneep chuckled slightly. “ I understand. It is hard to keep up with him some of the times.”

JJ nodded so vigorously that his hat fell off and he had to fumble to catch it. “It sends my mind spinning most days!I have tried to update my own phrasing and speech habits, though I have been informed I’m not quite modern yet.”

“Do not bother. Modern English is very hard. It took me very long time to get as good as I am and I still have the slip-ups,” Schneep advised. He relaxed again and continued talking with JJ. See? You just needed to give him a chance Henrick. 

@septic-dr-schneep

[ghostsinthewoods]

Chapter Six: Pizza Party

The entrance to the club was like some sort of horrible monster's mouth. The monster roared, but instead of just noise, it was lights and club music. People came and went, entering and exiting the mouth. They all looked like dorks.

Mae almost wasn't sure why she was there. She'd been feeling awful lately. Bad dreams. Headachey. Whatever.

She had a mission, didn't she? Mae had to, one, apologize to the guy she thought was the guy she put in the hospital; and two, try and get Bombshell's info. Like, at least her Chattrbox account. Mae was going to keep coming until this was a thing.

On top of all of that, a night out with Bea was always fun. Bea had been reluctant to bring Mae along at first, but Borowski was nothing if not persistent. The two friends stood on the precipice of clubbing. They were, like, dungeon explorers. Or something.

"Mae, are you sure you're up for this?" Bea asked. There was real concern in her voice. Once again: Mom Friend.

"I'm good," Mae said. She'd meant to sound confident. She wound up sounding like she wasn't certain herself. She looked at Bea out of the corner of her eye. "Hey… if I see Andy in there, can you, like… back me up?"

"You don't even know if he's really Andy Cullen," Bea pointed out. "That being said, I will absolutely be in your corner, Maeday."

That brought a smile to Mae's face. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing for Bea to be a Mom Friend.

Jackie was waiting for them inside of the club. Well, she was waiting for Bea. Mae just happened to be there. While Bea and Jackie exchanged pleasantries, Mae scanned the crowd.

Yup. He was there. Andy, or Drew, or whoever he was, was out on the dancefloor. He was just sort of standing around. Not really moving to the beat. He had a shy, uncertain smile on his face as he sipped from his red plastic cup.

Alright. Deep breaths. Deep, deep breaths. There was no need to panic about this. Mae had been able to apologize to Levy, right? Levy had been cool. He'd even shared his drugs with her. That was, like, the opposite of someone being angry.

"Hey, Bea…" Mae started to say, but she stopped. Bea and Jackie were talking about something going on at Jackie's school. Some protest, or something. It was intense, Jackie-as-hell talk.

Mae didn't want to interrupt. I mean, obviously this was important, but Mae couldn't just butt in on their conversation. Even if what Mae was doing was super important and interesting.

Besides, she had a clear path to him. If Mae waited too long, the dancefloor would be cluttered with dancing hipsters and gyrating dorks. Mae wasn't gonna try and make her way through a crowd like that. It was now or never.

Mae made her way across the dancefloor to where Drew was standing. Bea could keep talking about protests or whatever. Mae wasn't nervous or upset or anything. She was good. She was confident, and no one could prove otherwise.

"Hey," she croaked out when she was close enough. Drew blinked a few times. He seemed surprised that Mae had just walked up to him and started talking. That was kind of understandable. As far as he seemed to know, he'd only met her once.

"Oh, hey… uh… you," Drew said. He gave another one of his nervous smiles. It just drew attention to his weird, bent nose. Mae winced when she saw it. She hadn't done that, had she? She hadn't been paying attention when the… incident had happened.

All she remembered were the shapes. Red shapes.

"You okay?" Drew asked, and Mae snapped back. She'd started drifting off for a bit. She tried to regain her composure. Tried to.

"Hey, so, I wanted to ask you something. Sorry if this is a weird question." She laughed. It was not a natural laugh at all. If Mae heard someone laugh like that, she'd think they were a serial killer.

"Is your last name Cullen?"

The club seemed to disappear for a moment. The music, the lights, the other people, they were all gone. Everything was frozen in time while Mae waited for an answer to the question. She hoped he'd say 'no'. She wanted to apologize, and she wanted closure, but most of all she wanted this to be a mistake.

Please, she thought, let it be a mistake. Please, please, God, don't let his name be Cullen.

The amazed look on his face, however, wasn't a good sign. Slowly, the club returned to normal time as Andy gave his answer.

"How did you know?" He asked. "Wait, did we go to school together?"

Oh, eff you, God. Thanks for nothing.

Mae felt the world start to spin. She wasn't sure what to do. She wasn't sure what to say. What could she say? She'd been planning for this, and now she was completely helpless.

"Start a fire. Start a fire and escape in the confusion."

Mae tried to ignore the Dream Casey's bad advice. She generally tried to do that. It hadn't been too easy lately, though.

"No, I… I just remembered you from softball," Mae said. "In, uh… in middle school."

The look of pleasant surprise on Andy's face changed to one that wasn't as easy to read. What was it? Fear? Sadness? Anger? Whatever it was, it seemed like softball was a sore subject for him. This was a bad idea. But Mae was already in this deep, and she didn't know what else to do except keep on going.

"Yeah, I guess that would be kind of memorable, huh?" Andy said. He took another sip of his beer, chuckling a bit. "God, that's not something I wanted to think about tonight. Were you… at the game where it happened?"

Shit. Shit, shit, shit. An entire explosion of shit.

He really didn't recognize her. That was good, Mae guessed. Sort of. But how would he react to finding out? She somehow doubted he'd take it as well as Levy had. He didn't look anywhere near high enough.

Then again, maybe this was all just a coincidence. Maybe he was a different Andy Cullen who'd had an unfortunate experience at a softball game. Yeah, sure! There were probably hundreds of Andy Cullens who'd been hospitalized during a softball game.

No, wait. That was dumb.

There wasn't anything else Mae could do, it seemed. Nothing but talk. And Mae was awful at talking.

"Yeah," Mae said. "Yeah, I mean, I was sort of there. At the game. I… uh… I…" Mae's eyes went wide as she began to trail off. Her focus shifted away from Andy, zeroing in on something in the distance.

Andy frowned. A look of genuine concern appeared on his face. "Oh, jeez. Are you okay?" He asked. He sounded seriously scared for this girl he barely knew.

But Andy didn't need to be concerned. He hadn't seen what Mae had seen, so he didn't know what had caused her to trail off. But behind Andy, at the back of the club, was the bar.

And at the bar, sitting on a stool with a drink in her hand, was the Bombshell.

She hadn't noticed Mae yet. The dancefloor wasn't too crowded, but there was still enough activity that Mae would be difficult to spot. But that was good. If she'd seen Mae first, Mae might have had a panic attack.

"Hey, hey!" Andy said. "Are you alright?" He reached out to try and shake Mae back to reality, but she brushed him aside.

"Yeah, nice seeing you too," she said, practically sleepwalking past him and towards the bar.

Part of Mae was actually more scared of Bombshell than she was of Andy. After all, Andy was just a dude she'd hospitalized. Bombshell was a cute girl. Cute girls mattered a whole heck of a lot more than hospitals.

Their eyes met by the time Mae was at the edge of the dancefloor. Mae watched helplessly as her crush smiled and waved at her. Okay, good. She recognized her. That was good. And terrifying. That put a lot more pressure on her.

"Hi, it's me," Mae said when she made it to the bar. Talking to her had been so much easier last time. "You know. Mae. Borowski."

"Hey, you," Bombshell said with a small smirk. "Haven't seen you around here in a while. How'd your ghost situation work out, Borowski?"

Oh, great. She even remembered Mae's little confession. Good. This was good. This was not a problem at all.

"Oh, you know, fine," Mae said. "Turns out it wasn't a ghost. Just a cult. But now a ghost is, like, in my head, or something, and I don't know what to do about that."

That got a laugh out of Bombshell. Mae wasn't sure if that was a good sign or a bad sign. She was gonna say it was mixed for now.

"You're an interesting person, Borowski. Did you know that?"

Mae chuckled. "Yeah, well, being interesting is all you can ever hope to be."

That brought a round of polite laughter out of both of them. This was going pretty okay. So far, Mae hadn't puked on herself or bumped into a doorframe or anything. And, despite talking about the ghost in her head, Bombshell didn't seem to think she was crazy.

Actually, that was a little weird. Even Mae thought she was crazy, so why didn't this girl? Whatever. Mae could come back to that later.

"You know," Bombshell said, setting her drink on the bar top. "You and I didn't really get a chance to talk last time. Not for long, anyway."

"Yeah," Mae chuckled. "I mean, I didn't even get your name or phone number or anything."

Bombshell snickered. "Is that your way of asking for my phone number?" She asked.

Mae immediately backpedaled. "What? No. I'm… don't. No reception. Phones. Phones!"

That made Bombshell laugh again. Why did this girl keep laughing at her? Mae was funny, but she wasn't that funny. She hadn't, like, busted out any really good jokes or anything.

"So," Bombshell said, "you wanna get outta here?"

Mae's face immediately felt hot. Oh, jeez. Was she asking what Mae thought she was asking? This was going pretty quickly. Holy crap. Mae didn't think she was ready for that sort of thing. "Well," she said, "I mean, my friend was my ride, so I don't think I could, like, go to your place."

Bombshell raised her eyebrow, a smirk on her face. "Not what I was asking, Borowski. I was talking about pizza. Do you like pizza?"

Well, that was a dumb question. "Everyone likes pizza. You show me someone who says they don't like pizza, I will show you a liar."

Once again, Bombshell was laughing. Mae was trying to be funny that time, though, so it worked out. She was starting to feel less and less awkward. Of course, Mae always felt awkward, but she was at least reaching normal levels of awkwardness.

"Alright, well," Bombshell said, straightening herself up. "You wanna hit up the pizza place across the street?"

"I mean, I don't have any money, so I'll eat pretty much anywhere," Mae said.

Bombshell didn't laugh this time. She just smiled. It was this weird, knowing smile. Was this the face people made when they flirted? Mae didn't have a super whole lot of experience with flirting. She'd kissed maybe two people in her life. And the last time she'd tried to talk to someone cute, she'd wound up with a mouthful of trash spaghetti.

"Alright, then. I'll pay, but you owe me," Bombshell said. "I'll meet you at the pizza place. You're probably gonna wanna tell your friend, right?"

"Yeah. Tell her about pizza," Mae said. "I'll meet you at pizza."

Mae watched as Bombshell walked off into the crowd of dancing dorks. She couldn't believe she'd done it. She'd set out to talk to the Bombshell, and she did the talking part. She talked real good.

She had a feeling she was forgetting something, but Mae dismissed it. For now, she had to find Bea.

"You know, Borowski, when I said you should tell your friend, I meant, like, tell her where you would be," Bombshell said. "I didn't think you'd invite her along."

Mae, Bea, and the Bombshell all sat in a booth table at the pizza place near the club. Bombshell had ordered a medium pizza, half pepperoni, half cheese. A safe bet. She'd already helped herself to a slice of the cheese.

"Yeah, see, I figured," Bea said.

Mae gave them both an embarrassed look. Jackie and Bea had been talking with some third girl about, like, corporations or net neutralities or something. Mae couldn't help but feel like she'd interrupted something.

This was important, though. The imporantest. It had been a long, long time since Mae had been on anything that could be considered a date, and her last date had ended with the guy covered in puke and Mae on the back of a tractor. Mae needed a friend with her. Just to be safe.

"Well, you're here now!" Mae said, laughing a bit too loudly.

Bombshell had an amused little smile on her face. Why was she always smiling? What did she know? What secrets lurked behind those purple bangs? Mae grabbed a slice of pepperoni and stuffed it into her mouth so as to not make a fool of herself.

Bea and Bombshell shared a look. It was a look that said, 'Can you believe this?' 'No, dude, I can't.'

"So, uh," Bea said. "It looks like you've got everything under control. I'm going to get back to the party. I'll be near the entrance if you need me."

"It was nice meeting you, Bea," Bombshell said as Bea slid out of her seat. Mae frantically grabbed at her friend's sleeve, pulling her close to whisper.

"Don't leave, Bea," Mae said. "I have no clue what I'm doing."

"You'll be fine. Let go," Bea muttered, pulling to get her sleeve free. All the while, Bombshell was just watching.

Eventually, Bea managed to tug herself out of Mae's grip. Her sleeve was a little torn, Mae noticed. Ugh. Mae had used her claws without even realizing it. Great. Bea was gonna be pissed about this.

Beatrice walked away, and soon Mae and Bea were alone in the pizza place. Well, there was Casey, but he might not be real. Still, it was rude of him to sit in on this lovely pizza date without being invited. That was such a Casey move.

"Your friend seems nice," Bombshell said.

Oh, God, she was trying to start a conversation. Act natural, Mae. Act. Natural.

"Oh, yeah, she's pretty cool," Mae said. "She knows a lot about… hammers. And, uh… taxes?"

"Those are important things to know about," Bombshell said, helping herself to another slice of cheese. "God, the pizza here's horrible. Don't hold it against me."

Mae's eyes lit up. Finally, something she could talk about.

"Well, I mean," Mae said. "You obviously haven't heard of the pizza scale."

Bombshell laughed. Again. Always laughing. "The what?" She asked.

Mae took another slice of pepperoni and took a bite, trying to focus. Focus on pizza.

"Well," Mae said. "There's this… scale. And on one end, there's the worst pizza. The uneatable stuff. But, like, everything above that is good as hell. You know? And it keeps going into, like, infinity."

"Profound," Bombshell mused. "Now that I think about it, that makes a lot of sense."

"Thanks," Mae said. "It's an original idea I came up with myself."

Silence. No sound except the ambient music the pizza place played and the noise of people munching on pizza. Despite what she'd said about the scale, Mae had to agree that this pizza was kind of awful. That wasn't gonna stop her from eating it, though.

God, though. What else was there to talk about? Mae didn't know much about this girl, except she had cool hair and was hot as heck. Mae was rusty at the whole dating thing.

Casey had always been good at dating. In the last years of high school, he'd kind of built up a reputation as a playboy. He hadn't been too proud of that reputation, though. Still, Casey had a way with people he was into. What would Casey say in a situation like this?

"You should definitely tell her that you seriously injured the last dude you kissed."

Ugh. No. Wrong. What would the real Casey say? Not dream Casey.

Well, he'd probably be honest. He'd joke around. He'd do what Mae was trying to do, but with more confidence.

Okay. Confidence. Mae could at least pretend to have that.

"So, uh," Mae said as she finished off her third slice of pepperoni. "This might sound a little nuts, but… I came to a party here last month, and I was kind of bummed out that I didn't see you."

Bombshell's smile went from quietly amused to… well, it was just a genuine, flattered smile. "That doesn't sound nuts, honestly," she said. "Okay, maybe it's a little nuts, but no more nuts than some other stuff I've heard."

Mae winced. "Uh, yeah. I guess some stuff I say doesn't make sense to people who aren't me."

Bombshell shook her head. "No, not from you. Although… yeah, you are a little hard to decipher, Borowski. But no, I'm talking about my ex."

"Bad experience?" Mae asked. She knew a little something about relationships not working out. Although she doubted Bombshell's story could top Mae's prom story.

"God, she's this whole thing that that neither of us have time for," Bombshell said.

And this time, they both laughed.

It was only when Mae reached for a fourth slice of pizza that she realized they'd eaten it all. Had they just eaten really, really fast? Or had more time passed? Mae looked up at a clock hanging over the exit and was surprised by what time it was.

"Wow," Mae said. "Didn't realize we'd been here for this long."

"Time is mysterious," Bombshell said. She placed a few bills on the check that had come with the pizza. Slowly, she stretches as she stood up out of her seat. Mae tried her best not to stare.

"This was fun," she said, smiling at Mae. "But I've gotta get going. I have classes tomorrow, and I can't miss them."

"Oh, yeah, me either," Mae said, and immediately regretted it. The two shared some laughter again. It took Mae a few seconds to realize that Bombshell wanted her to walk with her.

The two exited the pizza place and made their way to a small, grey car parked along the sidewalk. Mae noticed a good number of bumper stickers on the rear of the car. Apparently, Bombshell was pretty involved in wildlife groups.

That was cool. Mae wasn't that involved in, like, anything.

"Well, uh," Mae said as she watched Bombshell open up the driver's side door. "I guess I'll see you around, then."

Bombshell smirked. "Not if I see you first," she said. She paused just before she stepped into the car. "Borrrrrowski."

Oh. Jeez. She was doing that again. Mae smiled, waving dumbly as Bombshell drove away from the pizza place and into the night. The last thing Mae saw of Bombshell that night was a hundred bumper stickers telling her to donate to various wildlife funds.

"So, it seemed like things went pretty good for you," Bea said as the two drove back to Possum Springs.

Mae had been drifting off when Bea spoke. Something about the long dark of a highway at night made her sleepy. "Whazzat?" She mumbled, her eyes half-open.

"Uh. Your Bombshell?" Beatrice said. "You talked to her? You ate pizza? You also tore up my sleeve, but we can talk about that later."

"Yeah, pizza's good," Mae mumbled. "I dunno. She kept, like, laughing and smiling, and it was weird. I think she was making fun of me."

"If she was making fun of you, I don't think she would have bought pizza," Bea commented. "I'm pretty sure she was just flirting with you, Mae. People tend to laugh and smile when they're flirting."

"Do they?" Mae asked. "I mostly just, like, freeze up. Or ruin my chances with them."

"That's a winning strategy right there," Bea snarked.

"You know," Mae said, adjusting herself in her seat to wake herself up, "all this stuff lately, with the making amends, and the ghost in my head, it's gotten my all edgy and sad and weird."

"Wait, what was that about a ghost—"

"But, like, I dunno. Doing normal person stuff made me feel almost normal. Like, eating pizza with a cute girl, or hanging out with you at a club, makes me feel like I'm not a complete nutjob."

Bea gave Mae a worried, disapproving look. "Mae, you're not a nutjob. You've got issues, but they're issues that lots of people go through."

"Bea, I get what you're saying, and I'm sure you're right, but I put a kid in the hospital," Mae said. "There's this big, black thing in my head, and sometimes I feel like it's going to swallow everything."

Bea was quiet. She reached out to turn off the radio. That was a shame. Mae liked the noise. She liked having stuff in the background.

"Are you talking to Dr. Feldman about this?" Bea asked.

Mae groaned. "No. I mean, I'm not… telling him a whole lot. I told him I smoked weed, but—"

"Okay, Mae, you can't just keep saying stuff like that and expect me not to question it," Bea said. "You smoked weed? Why? When?"

"Last Sunday," Mae said. "And, uh… I dunno why. Just felt like a thing to do."

And, there it was; Bea was making the Mom Friend face. Ugh. Mae appreciated her worrying, but she so didn't want to talk about this now. She wanted to sleep. Her stomach was upset from the pizza.

Pizza and talking to a cute girl really took it out of you.

"Mae, I didn't help your parents find this guy so you could not talk to him," Bea said. She had this whole stern but concerned tone to her voice. Cranky Mom Friend. "You tell him all of this shit, okay? Otherwise he won't be able to help you."

"Okay, okay," Mae said. She sighed. The next appointment wasn't for a few weeks. Mae had a feeling she'd have a lot to talk about when the time came. Her headaches and dreams were getting worse. And, to top it all off, the big day was coming up for Gregg and Angus.

No. Now wasn't the time to think about all of this. Mae had had a good night. She'd eaten pizza, talked to a hot girl, and didn't make an ass of herself at that club for once.

This was good. Mae was good.

…

"Aw, frick!"

Mae's outburst nearly caused Bea to swerve off the road. Probably a bad idea to scream in a quiet car like that. Yeah. Bea looked at Mae, a bit of panic in her expression.

"Whoa, what?" She asked. "Are you okay?"

"I forgot to get her details again!" Mae said. She slapped her hands to her face, covering her eyes in shame. "I didn't even get her name! Frigging crap!"

"Wow. This time, you don't even have running after me as an excuse," Bea said. Mae noticed the slightest hint of a smirk on her face. Of course she was smirking. Of course she was. Sarcastic Mom Friend.

"Don't rub it in, Beatrice," Mae grumbled. "I'm already sick from the pizza. I don't need you making me feel worse."

"Hey, I'm just saying, you've gotta step up your game, Maeday," Bea teased. "Keep this up, and you'll grow up into some old, crazy cat lady."

Despite how she was feeling, that made Mae smile a bit. "Eh," she said. "I'm getting there."

The two friends shared a laugh as Bea's car drove down the seemingly endless expanse of highway before them. The night sky met the dark of the road, and in that moment, everything seemed to be connected. Mae stared out into the dark until she finally fell asleep.

[jenniferdiazisatransgirl]

Face the Music/Starcrushed - Thoughts (Spoilers)

So I have had a bit of time to digest now and so these are my thoughts so far.

So I’m imagining that in the next season either the Royal Family of Mewni is gonna be brought into question or Star is going to learn how to present an image the people of Mewni will respond to. I think I’d prefer it if Star stays true to herself and right now it seems like the type of character she is, but at the same time Star did kinda give in today to what was the responsible decision at the end of “Starcrushed” so I wonder if that represents something. Like Star becoming more mature in her decision making, like as much as she’d like to stay on Earth she is willing to acknowledge the danger that Toffee poses. I mean last season she seemed willing to take on a villain like Toffee on her own, meanwhile this season she instead listens to her parents on the matter.

It kinda feels like Star is really spiralling to a low point though and maybe she is just giving up a bit. She’s lost Glossaryck and although her friendship with Marco remains intact, she wants something more and Marco is with Jackie and Toffee being back it must be like the icing on of the very horrible cake.

In terms of Star leaving Earth, I think it came at sort of the perfect time. I think if she staid now that she has herself acknowledged her feelings for Marco, it would have made their relationship worse and I think the space will probably help, especially for Star.

Marco on the other hand though, I think this could probably hurt them a lot. I mean they just had this massive bombshell dropped on them that Star does in fact have a crush on them and then she leaves before Marco gets any chance of getting an explanation. I mean even if Star hadn’t have dropped that bombshell on Marco, it is still them losing their best friend and all Marco wanted in “Starcrushed” was for their relationship to go back to normal (and okay, I must admit writing this I am now crying). I mean I know Marco was feeling awkward at the party cos of the whole Star situation but to me they also struck me as being really anxious, we never really knew what Marco was like before the show and Star entered their life but something makes me feel like Star has been kinda someone who brought Marco out of their shell a little, made them more confident in themselves.

I don’t know but if you look back at it all, Marco had this reputation as the safe kid at the beginning and had never given Jackie more than a nod. With Star in their life they have gone on these bad ass adventures, become a Princess leading a revolution, not only spoken to but gotten together with Jackie Lynn Thomas and built a friendship I think they’d feel lost without. I think Star brought out Marco’s best qualities.

Anyway, that ending was quite open ended so these won’t be like the most solid theories but I have some theories;

I personally feel the crush Star has on Marco remains one sided and Marco chased after her for more of an explanation as to why Star is leaving. I think Jarco is gonna keep going for the time being and the two of them are going to grow closer. Despite being a Tomco shipper I have to admit right now Jarco is growing on me.

Something makes me feel Star and Marco aren’t going to see each other for a while. As well as the events of “Starcrushed” there is something else that makes me think this. The two main villains;

Ms Heinous and team seem to now be exclusively focused on catching Marco unlike before where they wanted to catch both Star and Marco. That means Star is no longer really a component of this story arc even if she might appear in it. We also got this hint at Marco’s secret life as Princess Marco and maybe in Season 3 with Star away to keep safe from Toffee we will see more of this secret life of Marco’s. I imagine Marco is going to want to distract themselves from their grief of losing Star and therefore rely more on Jackie and their friends from their secret life as Princess Marco for support.

Toffee is exclusively interested in Star so he can get his finger back and sure he may eventually try and use Marco as leverage but I feel like this will be quite a ways down the line.

I kinda wonder if these two separate story arcs will play out for a while and eventually in a mid-Season or end of Season Finale overlap reuniting Star and Marco.

And getting onto a bit of trans Marco theory, I wonder if now with Star gone Marco will begin to question who they are without Star by their side. I mean I know Marco has managed to have this secret life without Star knowing, but then when they aren’t living that secret life they do seem to spend a considerable chunk of that time with Star. And yes, Marco does have Jackie now too but Star and Marco also lived together, something Marco and Jackie don’t so there is certainly gonna be times when Marco is just left with their own thoughts and just maybe those thoughts will lead to a point where Marco finally comes out.

Anyway, I cried while writing most of that but I hope you enjoy, although that feels like the wrong word right at this moment.

[alex51324]

Trump’s Russia Problem, Part Trois

A while ago, I posted a primer on Trump’s Russia Problem.  Then, at the beginning of March, I posted an update.  Now it’s March 23 (just past Day 60 of the Trump Administration) and a lot has happened this week, so it’s time for another update!

What happened when FBI Director Comey testified before the House Intelligence Committee?

The biggest thing is that he confirmed that the FBI is investigating not just Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, but the possibility that the Trump campaign colluded with that interference.  (Link is to NPR video and commentary.)  Here’s the money quote:

“I've been authorized by the Department of Justice to confirm that the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. That includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts. As with any counterintelligence investigation, this will also include an assessment of whether any crimes were committed. Because it is an open, ongoing investigation, and is classified, I cannot say more about what we are doing and whose conduct we are examining.”

This is an extremely cautious and qualified statement, and in one sense it doesn’t tell us anything new:  it’s been widely reported that this investigation exists, and it stands to reason that Team Trump’s links to Russia would be part of it.  However, it is extremely unusual for the FBI to publicly confirm the existence of an open investigation of this nature--and one reason it’s so unusual is that the average person in the street is likely to interpret such confirmation as indicative of wrongdoing on the part of the subject of the investigation.  (For instance, during the campaign, Kellyanne Conway commented that she didn’t know many honest people who were under FBI investigation.  She was speaking of Hillary Clinton.)  

Director Comey and the Justice Department certainly know that confirming the investigation, and confirming that the possibility of collusion is part of it, looks bad for Trump, and yet they did so anyway. (You may recall that Comey made a similar choice during the campaign, regarding the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails, and it looked bad for her, too.)  We all have to make up our own minds why we think that choice was made--every pundit in America has offered their own reading of the tea leaves, but there are only a handful of people in the country in a position to actually know, and they aren’t talking.  

Other things that happened in the course of Comey’s testimony include:

He indicated that there is no evidence supporting Trump’s claim that Obama wiretapped him.

Republicans members used their questions to attempt to shift the emphasis to who had leaked information about this investigation, rather than engaging meaningfully with either Russia’s activities or the possibility of collusion by Team Trump.  Some liberal pundits suggested that this was a good sign, as they at least were not openly defending or shielding Trump.

During the hearings, Trump (using the @POTUS account) tweeted that Comey had just confirmed that Russia did not influence the election, along with a related video clip from the hearing.  That tweet was then read into the hearing, and Comey was asked if he had intended to say what @POTUS was saying he said.  Comey responded that he had not.

OK, I’ve been hearing the name “Manafort” a lot--who’s he, and what did he do?

The big news about Paul Manafort is that the AP broke a story that he had a $10 million a year contract with a Russian businessman to “Influence politics, business dealings and news coverage inside the United States, Europe and former Soviet republics to benefit President Vladimir Putin's government.”

Manafort was Trump’s campaign chairman from April to August of 2016.  Lately--as in the last few days--Team Trump has been attempting to minimize Manafort’s involvement with the campaign, saying he played a “very limited role.”   Manafort resigned from the campaign in August when it was revealed that he had secretly lobbied in DC on behalf of a pro-Russia, pro-Putin political party in Ukraine.  

There are a few reasons this job Manafort had with the Russian businessman is important (all details/quotes from the AP story, linked above):

The businessman, whose name is Deripaska, is known to the State Department as  "among the 2-3 oligarchs Putin turns to on a regular basis."  Even though Manafort’s contract is with Deripaska (he’s in aluminum), and not the Russian government, when Manafort offered his services to Deripaska, he said that this arrangement would “greatly benefit the Putin Government”--the quote is from a document where Manafort was pitching this deal to Deripaska.  

The contract began in 2006.  We don’t know when it ended--an associate confirmed Manafort was still working for Deripaska (and thus, indirectly, for Putin) in 2009.  He could have still been working for him in 2016.  He could still be working for him now.  

Manafort said during the transition that he’s still in contact with Trump (though he had and has no official role in the transition or the administration).  

As one Congressperson, Jackie Speier of California, points out, this information "undermines the groundless assertions that the administration has been making that there are no ties between President Trump and Russia.”  A charming understatement, n’est-ce pas?

The reason we don’t know when (or if) Manafort stopped working for Deripaska is because he never registered with the Department of Justice as a foreign agent.  Failing to register such a relationship is a felony, punishable with a prison sentence of up to five years.  

This final point has caused a great deal of excitement, as progressive and even moderate commentators weigh the likelihood that Manafort would vastly prefer to spill everything he knows over spending five years in federal prison.  

Okay, and Nunes, didn’t he do something this week, too?

He sure did!  Representative Devin Nunes is chair of the House Intelligence Committee, which is handling one of the three major, known investigations into the Russia Problem.  He was also involved in the Trump campaign and transition.  

Today he gave a bizarre and rambling press conference  (actually two of them) in which he announced that he now knew that  “the intelligence community incidentally collected information about U.S. citizens involved in the Trump transition.”  “Incidentally,” in this context, means that the communications were intercepted as part of surveillance of foreign officials--in other words, these conversations were monitored and recorded because of who the other person on the phone was, not because of the Trump officials.  

It is not at all clear why Nunes decided to hold a press conference about this, or why he thinks its important.  Trump has stated that Nunes’s comments “partially vindicate” his claim about wiretapping.  They actually do not, because if the collection was “incidental”--and Nunes says it was--that means it wasn’t Trump, or anyone on Team Trump, who was tapped:  it was whoever they were on the phone with.  Calling (or being called by) someone whose phone is tapped does not transfer the tap to your phone.  

The Slate article (linked above) points out that there is a shady investigative  practice called “reverse targeting,” where an investigator who wants to know what a US person is saying to a foreign person, but can’t get a warrant to tap the US person’s phone, will get one for the foreign person instead, because that type of warrant is easier to get. Nunes did not say that he thought Trump or Trump’s associates had been reverse-targeted, but that may be what he was trying to imply.  

Nunes did say, however, that he believed whatever surveillance occurred was conducted legally--which, again, makes it difficult to tell why he thinks it’s important.  He did not give details on who was involved in these intercepted communications (either the Trump people or the foreign officials), what they talked about, what agency was monitoring them, why they were being monitored, or how he found out about it.   

What’s even more important than what Nunes found out--or what he said about what he found out--is what he did with this information.  He did not share it with the rest of the intelligence committee--Nunes’s Democratic counterpart on the committee said he has no idea what Nunes is talking about.  Instead, he gave a press conference, briefed Trump, and then gave another press conference.  

Let me put that another way:  Nunes, after getting new information about an ongoing investigation being conducted by the committee he chairs, information which he believes is game-changing, chose to brief the subject of that investigation on what he had found.  He also teased this information and its purportedly game-changing nature to the press.  

Numerous Democrats--plus Republican Senator John McCain--have pointed out that Nunes’s actions, particularly his briefing of Trump, cast serious doubt on the integrity of the investigation, and strengthens the calls for a Select Committee or Independent Commission to conduct this inquiry, in place of the Intelligence Committee. 

CNN reports that other Democrats suggest that Nunes’s antics were a sideshow orchestrated by the White House as a distraction from the Comey hearing and Manafort revelations. Further complicating the picture...

Adam Schiff also dropped a bombshell:

Schiff is the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee--Nunes’s Democratic counterpart.  He said today that there is “more than circumstantial” evidence of collusion between Team Trump and the Russian interference with our election.  

Schiff, along with Nunes and six others, are in a unique position to know.  They make up the “Gang of Eight,” a group of lawmakers who get special briefings on classified matters, above what other Senators and Representatives get.  The Gang is always, by design, equally split between the parties and the chambers:  it includes the majority and minority leaders from the House and the Senate, and the chair and ranking member of both intelligence committees.  (Committee chairs always come from the majority party; the ranking member is the other party’s leader in the committee.)

And the reason I told you that is, the fact that Schiff didn’t know what Nunes was talking about in his press conferences indicates that whatever he found out wasn’t part of a Gang of Eight briefing--he must have gotten it through some less-official channel, in other words, a leak.  However, if the evidence to which Schiff is alluding was Gang of Eight stuff, that means Nunes saw it too and might reasonably have predicted that one of the four Gang Democrats would say something about it.  

Backing up a bit, Schiff had said on Sunday that there was circumstantial evidence of collusion--this was in response to a question about an Obama-era intelligence official who stated that he hadn’t seen evidence of collusion.  On Monday (3/20), Schiff appeared on the Rachel Maddow show; when asked to elaborate on what he meant by circumstantial evidence, he talked about how, if one looks out the window in the evening and does not see snow, and then look again the next morning and does see some, that constitutes circumstantial evidence that snow fell during the night.  Rachel glossed this comparison as meaning that circumstantial evidence could be a strong indicator that a certain thing had happened, and Schiff concurred that that had been what he was trying to get across.  Direct evidence, he explained, would be if one actually witnessed the snow falling.  

Today, (3/22), during a Meet the Press Daily appearance, Schiff described the evidence as “more than circumstantial.”  When asked if he meant direct evidence, he said “there is evidence that is not circumstantial.”  He did not offer a snow-based metaphor (or any other metaphor) to elucidate what kind of evidence he meant.  

Schiff also emphasized that Nunes’s press conferences and his briefing to the President, “throw great doubt in the ability of the both the chairman and the committee to conduct the investigation the way it ought to be conducted,” and called for an independent commission.    

[olliefilm]

My Oscar Predictions 2017

Another year, a different political landscape and an exceptional set of films. At the end of the night, I believe La La Land’s technical wonder will bring in a hefty haul to rival Titanic and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. That aside, I have to admit there are some categories I cannot summarize due to the usual hindrance of having films released yonks after the award season. Specifically, the Foreign Language category: I confess to only having seen two out of five (Toni Erdmann and Tanna), and Animation, three. Having said that, the former is likely to be a battle between the miraculous Toni Erdmann and Asghar Farhadi’s The Saleman – which has had a political boost, due to Farhadi being refused entry in the US.  

 BEST PICTURE

 Out of the nine nominees this year, seven of them are stellar enough to make the shortlist. The other two? Fences and Hacksaw Ridge were not bad, but they had glaring weaknesses. Fences stubbornly refuses to allow much cinematic licence and Hacksaw Ridge has a soapy first half against a balls-to-the-wall second half. If I had my way, I would have happily replaced them with Whit Stillman’s droll adaptation of Lady Susan, Love and Friendship, and Andrea Arnold’s breath-taking epic, American Honey.

 There is little doubt that La La Land will win the day. In a sense, it already has, ever since it premiered at Venice last year. It is a film which hooks you with a seductive and all-too crafted postcard of Hollywood. If anyone is to give La La Land a self-congratulatory hug, it will be the Academy. My personal thoughts on the film do not reflect the ravers or the detractors. It is a film which is beyond flaw in the first half, slags a bit in the second, and comes around in the final act. Yes, La La Land is a hip little busker with shiny shoes, but it is hard to not appreciate some of its spectacular moments, before we have that lecture on how jazz is being killed by blah-de-blah. In other words, I cannot bring myself to be that smug and say, “It’s overrated”.

 If I have a flag to fly, I fly it wholeheartedly for Moonlight, which I’ve been banging on about since I saw it in New York. It is a remarkable film combining the gritty social realism of suburban Miami with strong trance-like tones which transcends Moonlight into a fleeting piece of work. My second place prize would go to another film dealing with a masculine crisis, and that is Kenneth Lonergan’s carefully written and expertly performed Manchester-by-the Sea. Having said that, I doubt you’ll see a more sensitive and touching film than Moonlight this year. It’s a shame it will be trumped by La La Land, but then again Boyhood was trumped by Birdman a couple of years back.

 Should win: Moonlight

Will win: La La Land

  BEST DIRECTOR

 Barry Jenkins should win for Moonlight, but this is pretty much in the bag for La La Land’s boy wonder: Damien Chazelle. This is classic case of tactfulness verses craftsmanship and La La Land screams ‘craft’ whereas Moonlight has careful brush strokes. Elsewhere, Mel Gibson has got his pat on the back, Denis Villeneuve will win another day, and Kenneth Lonergan is more likely to have a better chance in the writing category. Gibson aside, it is a solid group directors on top of their game. Pity we couldn’t get Andrea Arnold for American Honey.

 Should win: Barry Jenkins for Moonlight

Will win: Damien Chazelle for La La Land

   BEST ACTOR

 Casey Affleck should have an undisturbed path to Best Actor, and so he should. In playing a man who stonewalls everyone he comes across, he is quietly captivating to watch. There is no doubt he deserves all the plaudits. Also competing is Ryan Gosling doing what Ryan Gosling does reliably well – dancing and swooning amicably. Denzel Washington’s performance is barnstorming, but it’s a swaggering performance which is better suited on stage. Andrew Garfield is as close as Hacksaw Ridge comes to having a genuine heart, and Viggo Mortensen is well grounded in Captain Fantastic. This is Casey’s to lose.

 Should win: Casey Affleck for Manchester-by-the-Sea

Will win: Casey Affleck for Manchester-by-the-Sea

  BEST ACTRESS

 The scale has teetered between Emma Stone and Natalie Portman. At the moment, Emma Stone tips it for her cordial performance in La La Land as an aspiring actress. Plus, she sends in the clowns with ‘That Spotlight Number’, namely The Audition Song. Mind you, Natalie Portman’s Jackie Onassis is so eerily detailed to be counted out. Personally, I’m hoping for a bombshell similar to the Golden Globes in the form of Isabelle Huppert. Her character in Elle would just not have the time to deal with deceased presidential husbands, or worrying whether the one-woman show was a hit. Huppert is a force of nature I’ll take any day against the other nominees. I would also like to note a flagrant absence throughout this award season for Rebecca Hall. Her trembling performance in Christine was one of the finest of last year.

 Should win: Isabelle Huppert for Elle

Will win: Emma Stone for La La Land

  BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

 Let’s get my bone to pick out of the way: Dev Petel is not a supporting actor in Lion, and even if he was rightly placed as a leading actor, I think his young counterpart – Sunny Pawar - is a better submission. Anyway, Petel is up against Mahershala Ali for his brilliantly measured performance as a father figure in Moonlight, and Lucas Hedges as a teenager wracking his brain over being placed under the guardianship of Casey Affleck in Manchester. Both of those actors deserve the award over Jeff Bridges and Michael Shannon, both playing gruff sheriffs. What a stretch.

 Should win: Mahershala Ali for Moonlight

Will win: Mahershala Ali for Moonlight

  BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

 There is no single fault with the selections for Best Supporting Actress, and funnily enough, almost all of the performances are of mothers. Nicole Kidman’s performance in Lion is her best since Birth, Naomie Harris is formidable as a drug addicted mother, Octavia Spencer is a pleasure as the senior figure of an ensemble of bright women in Hidden Figures, and Michelle Williams is brilliant in a role which made me yearn for more of her character in Manchester-by-the-Sea. However, Viola Davis looks to win the accolade for her portrayal of a long-suffering housewife in Fences. It cries and screams for awards.

 Should win: Michelle Williams for Manchester-by-the Sea

Will win: Viola Davis for Moonlight

[go-redgirl]

Mueller and His Team Are Discrediting Themselves Rush Limbaugh.com ^ | December 18, 2017 | Rush Limbaugh 

RUSH: I want to take an opportunity today to delve into the positive and the affirmative. There’s way too much negativity out there, folks. It’s way too easy to get caught up in it. It is intended for you to get caught up in it. The negativity in the Drive-By Media and the people, as I say it, write the daily script for the soap opera that is what we think of as news coming out of Washington primarily, but nationwide, is designed to depress you. It’s designed to dispirit you. It’s designed to make you despondent.

What it really is designed to do is to make you put your hands up and say “I quit,” and you are to eventually get so fed up that you just tune out, you give up your passion for politics and national affairs, particularly if you’re a Trump supporter. That’s the long-term objective of the work of the Drive-By Media on you. On Trump, of course, the objective is to get rid of Trump.

But while all this is happening, there is amazingly positive and uplifting and encouraging news. And, by definition, the Drive-By Media, they’re reporting it. It is not being heralded. It’s not being trumpeted. It’s not being focused on. There are no cable TV news network panels assembled to analyze it or discuss it. No, instead, the news is so good that the Drive-Bys had to create a new meme and narrative over the weekend to distract everybody from it, and that narrative is that Trump is going to fire Mueller before Christmas.

Jackie Speier, Democrat congresswoman, California, wherever she’s from, actually said that she has heard from high sources that Trump is gonna fire Mueller by Friday. That’s all it took, the Drive-By Media picked up with it and ran with it and it became the narrative for the weekend, and it remained the narrative of the morning as the news continued to break. That was the bombshell intended to distract you from the real news. All the ginned up hysteria about Trump gonna fire Mueller before Christmas.

The media and the Democrats are trying to portray this as a coup. They’re trying to portray this as Trump acknowledging his guilt and is taking a preemptive strike against the special counsel to derail the investigation, plus he’s gonna pardon Flynn. And this was out there for a day and a half or two days, and it survived into the morning. And then Trump finally came out, “I’m not firing Mueller.” By the way, with half the country thinking Mueller’s investigation’s a sack of garbage, why would he fire Mueller?

There isn’t any evidence that Mueller has anything on Trump anyway. Mueller’s so off the rails, she’s having to go back and look at emails that he supposedly acquired legitimately from the Trump transition team. What does any of this have to do with collusion between Trump and the Russians, which was the predicate for starting all of this.

[pastelpinkpeony]

My 19th Birthday!

This weekend I celebrated my birthday with my friends! Leading up to it was kind of stressful due to the planning, cleaning, studying for two tests, and writing a research paper. However, I got it done! Anyways, everyone started showing up around 4:30 pm. The first to show up was Gunnar! I was kind of surprised because I thought Anna and James would be first. I went outside to water my tomato plant and Gunnar was yelling at me to not look because he was putting my gift in a bag lol. After some time,everyone else began to show up. We sat in my foyer and caught up on why Gunnar decided to skip his prom date. After a while we decided to scare Anna and the plan was successful. We played NintendoLand Ghost for a while and I acted like my character was Trump and we were trying to keep the ghost out of our borders. Once everyone had shown up we were eating pizza and sitting around the table. After eating, we opened gifts and played Project Runway with wrapping paper and chose three categories: Prom, Anime Schoolgirl, and Mermaid. It was Team James vs. Team Luke. Our team, Team Luke, consisted of Anna, Jocie, Edward, Gunnar, Luke, and myself. The other group, Team James, had Taylor, Juliet, Becca, Daniel, James, and Jackie. The first round we out Luke in a pink dress with a slit down the side and gave him a bust, unfortunately, Team James won by a longshot. In the second round, I knew we were going to win. We gave Luke long blonde pigtails like Sailor moon with bows. He also has a handmade pleated skirt made by Anna - it looked so realistic. I created the blue sailor collar and we added a red tie to complete the shirt. Oh - not to mention we gave Luke my cosplay bombshell bra which was digging into his flesh. He also had knee high socks with red bows. It was so damn good. When he came down the steps we played the sailor moon theme and he posed and announced himself as "Kawaii-chan". Team James was CRUSHED. The final round, was mermaid. We figured that the safest bet would to make Ariel - and we were right. We made Luke just like Ariel and gave him a shell bra as well as tattoos and gills. We dressed up as the ocean and had Edward, who was dressed like Prince Eric, announce his fish bride. I gave each person in our team a prop - for example, Gunnar got a penguin, which he fell deeply in love with and later named Dabby. We won round two against Princess Areola, Ariels long lost sister, who had a huge butt. Afterwards, we ate cake and ice cream. Then we headed upstairs to play my Kahoot! Gunnar got fist place (because Anna helped him win lol), Second was Luke, and third was Becca. Everyone had a lot of fun with that and I was really happy. Throughout the rest of the night we sucked in helium, played Happy Feet 2 in honor of Luke (and Dabby lol), and then played a very intense game of Uno. We finished the night with cards against humanity, tying Dabby onto my fan, and singing our God is an Awesome God. Oh yeah! At the end of the night when Gunnar was leaving, he kidnapped Dabby, and was trying to hide it by pushing me away from his car, haha! The next day he sent me a snap that showed that his dog was terrified of Dabby. It was a really special and interesting night. I look forward to next year!

[sureuncertainty]

1-10 for the OC one!

Alright, for Angel, because she is my child and I’ve been developing her a lot recently. 

1. Since black doesn’t really count, probably blue 

2. I mean, you could say she collects jewelry or jewelry pieces and that kind of thing. She doesn’t really have any specific collections other than that. 

3. She’s mildly allergic to cats (and doesn’t really like them much anyway, although it depends on the cat) but that’s it. 

4. In high school, just kind of typical goth stuff, lots of jewelry,I always draw her wearing a choker necklace, ripped jeans, boots, tank tops and black jackets and stuff. When she gets older she still wears a lot of black, but a bit more casual. Black skinny jeans and plain tops typically. But she still wears a lot of necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. 

5. Her first memory is of her mom back when Angel was very young and her mom was alive. I don’t know specifically, just something sweet and normal before everything fell apart. 

6. She’s not really an animal person but she thinks lizards are the coolest. Least favorite animal would probably be those little dogs that bark a lot.

7. What element would she be? Like as in air, fire, earth, or water? Fire? Maybe? I’m not really sure. 

8. Bombshell Blonde by Owl City 

9. No, not really, although I imagine her voice sounds similar to Jackie Buscarino (who voices Vidalia in Steven Universe and Pacifica in Gravity Falls) but a bit lower. 

10. Pride, for sure 

Thanks, these were a lot of fun! I might answer the rest of them too because why not?! These are fun questions!

[ethanramseyyy]

OPEN HEART SECOND YEAR : CHAPTER 4

This chapter was so much more equal than the previous ones. Thank god. Still not any scenes with Bryce though and I feel like in the first book him and Ethan were the main LIs. Also is it just me who finds it really strange that they’ve let a cancer patient work in the hospital. Like excuse me. What?! Literally makes no sense. But also I’ve got a feeling that @playchoices have developed a storyline where she works in the hospital so that we see her more and then they are going to break our hearts and kill her. But I also think Rafael might die because they have basically made him disappear anyway. I really can’t figure out who’s going to die and it’s stressful.

Can we talk about the fact that they didn’t give us a raise. We got shouted at everyday, nearly lost our medical licence to be paid the same amount as the interns. No thank you. But I can’t be angry with Naveen because he is the cutest person ever. I thought seeing a more vulnerable side to Jackie was really nice as she’s usually quite guarded with her emotions. And even though I’m not romancing her it’s really cool that we still get the chance to develop a better friendship. I loved the diamond scene where we got to help her out with babysitting I thought it was such a good idea.

We all know Ive been obsessing over the cute romantic lines Ethan’s been saying so when I read this I cried. Just a little. I mean I’m not saying that he wants us but like I’m saying that he WANTS us. But he needs to understand that this whole ‘never going to happen again’ thing is false, we are just waiting for him to get over it and take us to bed. Not to be dramatic. When am I ever. He wants to be with us more than anything but he feels like it’s forbidden and you can tell it’s hurting him and I just can’t deal. @playchoices I’m not emotionally ready for this. Also how come they dropped the bombshell about Ethan’s mum and dad on us but we didn’t even talk about it, it was like it never happened. However this will probably be developed in later chapters so I’m not complaining.

So Aurora is transferring. I’m so angry. I mean I love that she’s getting away from being in her aunts shadow but like why does she have to transfer to the same place as Landry. I’m glad she’s happy but I just feel like now we aren’t going to get many scenes with her but hopefully I’m proven wrong. I just like the fact that all our roommates are working through residency together at the same hospital. I’m just hoping that she isn’t going to start romancing Landry because he is never stepping foot into our lives again. I’m so glad he’s gone. Honestly.

I feel like this chapter was abit shorter than the others but then again the last chapter was quite long and filled with new information. I did really enjoy it and I’m so glad that there were more diamond scenes with other people rather than just Ethan. But I’m not complaining about the amount of diamond scenes with Ethan because he is the love of my life. I feel like now we are finally settling into the new storylines and I’m so excited. But I’m not ready to get my heart broken AGAIN ✌🏾.

[ghostsinthewoods]

Chapter Three: Born to Lose

“You really think it was him?”

The old Birthday Zone of the Party Barn was the same as it always was: dusty, quiet, and littered with birthday streamers. Mae and Gregg had been the first to arrive, like usual, and the two best friends sat alone on their makeshift stage.

“I mean, I didn’t really get a good look at him the last time I saw him, but he looks like what I remembered,” Mae sighed. “Only, you know, not bleeding and crying.”

Gregg was acting like Beatrice had when Mae told her about this; surprised, but not entirely disbelieving.  Mae kind of liked having her friends believe her. Then again, running into someone from an old softball game was a lot more likely than ‘Oh, hey, ghosts.’

Not that ghosts were impossible. In fact, in Mae’s opinion, they were very possible. The possiblest.

“That sounds like a pretty garbage night,” Gregg said consolingly.

“And the worst part is I didn’t even see Bombshell!” Mae blurted.

“Oh!” Gregg said. “Uh, yeah, I guess that’s… worse?” He blinked in confusion. Mae realized almost immediately that Gregg wouldn’t really be able to get this. He’d been dating Angus for years, after all. He probably didn’t know remember anxious seeking out someone you were into was.

“I mean, on the plus side, Jackie didn’t, like, blow up at me or anything,” Mae began.

“Jackie’s cool,” Gregg interrupted. “She’s really intense.”

Wait. Gregg knew Jackie? Well, Mae thought, everyone in Possum Springs probably knew at least a little bit about Jackie. It was a small town, and she’d been big news.

“I guess,” Mae sighed. “Whatever. Yeah, it was a garbage night.”

“Throw that night in the garbage can, where it lives,” Gregg said.

“I saw a raccoon living in a garbage can once,” a voice said.

Mae nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard it. She knew who it was, of course, but she hadn’t seen him where he was standing. He was partially obscured by one of the Party Barn’s support beams. It didn’t look like he was trying to hide; it was just where he’d chosen to stand.

“Oh, hey, Germ,” Gregg said to their visitor. He didn’t seem as freaked out as Mae.

“Hey,” Germ said, stepping out from behind the pillar. He walked up to the stage, hands in his jacket’s pockets.

Mae frowned. Honestly, if Germ hadn’t saved their lives and given them sodas, she’d have been a little mad at the little weirdo. As it was, she was merely perturbed. Not that Mae new what ‘perturbed’ meant.

The scraping sound of the rear door opening filled the room, and was followed by a pair of voices talking to each other.

“Yeah, he’s coming home in a few weeks, so I’ve gotta visit her.”

“You really should talk to him about that, Angus. You’d think he’d understand.”

Beatrice and Angus stepped into the Birthday Zone. Neither of them was smiling. None of them were smiling. Well, Germ never emoted much, but for the rest of them, it was clear they were all kinda moody.

Gregg, at least, perked up when he saw Angus. “Hey, Cap,” he said. “How was work?”

“Someone came in trying to sell ‘cursed video tapes’,” Angus said.

“Holy shit,” Mae said, amazed. “Where’d they get them? A warlock flea market?”

“Those aren’t a thing, so no.” Angus responded. “And they were just old jazzercise tapes from the 90’s.”

“Jazzercise is a type of curse,” Bea said.

Mae found herself laughing at that, despite feeling down. When she heard her laugh, Bea looked over at her, concerned. It made Mae feel weird. Why the heck did Beatrice have to be such a Mom Friend? Jeez, Bea.

“You feeling any better?” Beatrice asked. “After last night, I mean.”

“Ugh. I guess,” Mae sighed. “I dunno. Like, how am I even supposed to feel? He clearly didn’t recognize me. Which is weird. I mean, you’d think what happened would be pretty memorable. Should I feel good that he didn’t know who I am? Because I don’t.”

“Wait,” Angus said. “Who are we talking about?”

Mae filled Angus in. All about how, the night before, she’d gone to a party, had the world’s worst conversation, didn’t see the world’s hottest Bombshell, and also ran into the kid who she’d put in the hospital.

“Wow,” Angus said. “That sounds like a garbage night, Mae.”

“Hey, that’s what I said!” Gregg exclaimed. His expression got all mushy. “Awww, Cap’n.”

Angus chuckled, but it seemed like he had a lot on his mind, as well. Whatever. Mae could ask when they were done playing. If they actually got around to playing, that is. Lately, band practice had become a support group for death cult survivors.

Only, like, occasionally the support group played a song.

“Alright, chief,” Mae said, turning her attention back to Gregg. “What are we playing?”

Gregg seemed to snap back to reality. The boring version of reality that didn’t involve gushing over his boyfriend. He fidgeted, and soon pulled out an old, worn spiral notebook that he’d been sitting on. Written on the cover, in black magic marker, was ‘CAMG’.

“Holy shit, dude,” Mae said. “Where’d you find that?”

“It was under one of our couch cushions,” Angus explained. “No clue how it got there.”

“I think I stashed it under there once during one of our post-band jam pizza parties,” Gregg said. He passed the old notebook to Mae, who began leafing through its pages.

“What is that thing, anyway?” Bea asked. “What’s it say on the front?”

“Casey, Angus, Mae, Gregg. This is our old songbook,” Gregg said. He was positively beaming, and he probably would have been flailing his arms if he wasn’t sitting down. “From back when we started the band in, like, 11th grade. It’s got all of our old songs in it.”

Mae flipped through the pages, feeling the worn paper between her fingers. Different pages were marked with post-it notes. Originally, they each had tried to use a different colored note for their individual songs, but after the great Post-It Note War, they’d just all started using Angus’s blue ones.

Mae could still remember them trading this book around every few days. It tended to spend most of its time with Gregg or Casey, but Mae had written a few songs herself. She flipped to one of the red post-it notes, and found herself looking at one of her old songs.

She then promptly flipped the page, because it was the song that should not be named. Ever.

The song after hers, however, was one she didn’t recognize. Mae didn’t think they’d ever played this one. It was written in Casey’s scratchy handwriting, lyrics accompanied by simple notes. The song’s title was written up in the header:

‘BORN TO LOSE.’

I don’t know where I’ve come from

Don’t know where I’ll be

I see these folks living their lives

Every night on the TV

Me, I’ve got no life to live

So tell me what you’d see

If I gave it all I’ve got to give

And you said goodbye to me

It took Mae a bit to really wrap her head around this. Casey had never been poetic, but he’d been pretty good at writing lyrics. And these were definitely lyrics from a Casey song. All of Casey’s songs were like this, unless they were about skatboards or monster trucks. But even those songs were kind of downers.

“This is really sad,” Mae mused.

“Yeah, it’s pretty beat up,” Gregg said. “I must’ve sat on it, like, a million times.”

“No, I mean this song,” Mae grumbled. “You sitting on something isn’t sad, Gregg. Your butt isn’t sad.”

Gregg only gave Mae a blank look, but the bassist returned her attention to the song. The more lyrics she read, the more she started to realize something.

“Guys, we have to play this,” she said. “This thing is like a memento from Casey.”

That got Gregg’s attention. “It’s definitely a Casey song,” He said, reading over Mae’s shoulder. “Scratch that. It’s a high school Casey song. He wasn’t that great at music back then.”

Gregg pointed at something written in the margin of the notes. “See? Right here, it says ‘the big solo.’ What’s that even mean? Whose solo?”

“Probably a drum solo,” Angus said. “Casey liked to show off.”

Hearing Casey being talked about in the past tense like that made Mae feel awful. Lately, her dreams had been especially bad. The fire, the stars, the Casey; they were all getting more and more vivid. Almost like it was real.

“Hey, for all you know, I am real.”

“Oh, shut up,” Mae grumbled. She tried to ignore the strange looks her friends gave her.

The band jam had gone pretty smoothly once they’d deciphered Casey’s handwriting. The melody had been simple, but then again, it had been written back when they were just starting out and only knew, like, four notes. On the plus side, it had been pretty hard to screw up.

After they had practiced, everyone was more or less free. They’d all decided to head on out to Taco Buck for dinner afterwards. That was fine with Mae; Taco Buck was delicious, and it was cheap enough that she didn’t feel bad about her friends paying for it.

Germ had tagged along. He hadn’t asked or anything; he’d just sort of followed them. Mae was kind of used to that by now.

“My jacket still smells like barf,” Gregg said as he chowed down on the limited edition pierogi taco.

“It’s hard to clean barf out of a leather jacket,” Angus commented.

“I have no idea what you guys are talking about, but can you not talk about it when I am literally eating?” Bea asked.

“They’re not talking about anything,” Mae said. “They’re crazy liars.” She hurriedly took a bite out of her pizza taco.

“I can’t believe you’d attack our character like this,” Gregg said, raising his hand to his mouth in fake shock.

Angus defensively put his arm around Gregg, as if to protect him from Mae’s words. “This slander shall not stand,” he said, his tone as deadpan as always.

That brought a small round of chuckles out of the assorted friends.

A moment of silence passed before someone finally spoke. When they did, Mae almost wished they hadn’t.

“So, it turns out that moving is kind of really hard,” Gregg said, his mouth full of onions and taco meats.

Mae felt a weight in her stomach. That might have been the pizza taco, though.

“Do you guys, like, have an apartment picked out?” Bea asked. She seemed fine with this sort of talk. Well, Mae thought, Bea was kind of tough. Even if she was sad they were moving, she probably wouldn’t show it.

Mae looked over at Germ to see if he was okay with this talk of moving and Bright Harbor. Germ, as always, seemed unperturbed (Again, a word Mae barely knew). He was busy just shoveling corn chips down his throat. Just, really going at them. Wow.

“We’re heading down there in a couple of weeks to check places out,” Angus said. “Should be fun.”

“I’m totally gonna learn to surf!” Gregg yelled excitedly. “It’s gonna be so cool, guys. God, I can’t believe we’re already so close.”

“Yeah, me either,” Mae muttered. She solemnly took another bite of her pizza taco.

It tasted like sadness and crispy cheese.

After dinner, the gang said their goodbyes, and it was time to head home. As always, the walk home from Taco Buck was a journey of self-discovery and upset stomachs. Mae really needed to stop eating enough food for, like, four people.

Eh. Maybe later.

“It really sucks that I died before I got a chance to eat at the taco place.”

“Oh, god, just shut up,” Mae whispered under her breath. This late, the streets were fairly empty. Even so, Mae didn’t want to risk being heard.

She wasn’t even sure when she’d started hearing Casey when she was awake. It had just happened. He hadn’t even started out as a voice, so much as an idea. And even now, he was just the idea of a voice.

It occurred to Mae that hearing the voice of your dead friend inside of your head probably wasn’t a good sign. Oh, well. She had an appointment with Dr. Feldman in a few days; she’d talk about it then.

“You’re not gonna talk about it. You’re not gonna talk about anything. You’ll clam up.”

“God, you’re not even real,” Mae grumbled. “You’re just, like, stress, or guilt, or whatever. Or maybe I’m going nuts. I was already heading down that road. You know, with all of my brain problems.”

“You should, like, not ever go outside again. You might see Andy again, and then it’d be weird.”

“I am going to drive a drill through my skull and into your imaginary face,” Mae snarled. “I don’t care if you’re real or not. You, face, drill.”

“What?”

Mae froze when she heard the voice. She hadn’t been paying attention, and hadn’t seen Selmers sitting out on her front porch. The older woman was staring at Mae, who did her best to hide her embarrassment.

“You okay, Mae?” Selmers asked. “You were, like, mumbling to yourself.”

Mae sighed. “Yeah. Just… tired. Really, really tired.”

“You say that you’re tired a lot,” Selmers pointed out. “How much sleep are you getting?”

“I dunno. Ten, eleven hours?”

“Oh,” Selmers said. “So, sleep isn’t the main problem, I guess.”

Mae wandered over to Selmers’ front steps and took a seat beside her. Selmers didn’t seem bothered by this. She’d always been laid back and cool, even when Mae was a kid. Almost a big sister, kinda.

“Lately, I can’t stop thinking about all of my screw ups,” Mae said. “Something big happened to me last year, and I kinda thought that it would, like, change the way I look at things. But I guess even if it did, the stuff that’s happened still happened.”

“I’m not sure I follow,” Selmers said. “What kinds of screw ups are you thinking about? I think we all, like, think about our mistakes sometimes.”

“I’m talking about the big screw up,” Mae explained.

“Oh,” Selmers said. She evidently didn’t need to ask any more questions. Even if she hadn’t been there during the softball incident, it was a small town, and news traveled fast.

“You know,” Selmers said, “and I don’t know if this will help, but a buddy of mine from the program said that, in AA, they’ve got a thing called making amends.”

“I don’t think I should join AA. I don’t really drink,” Mae said. “My dad used to go to meetings, and he got, like, a bunch of medals or something. For not doing beer.”

“That’s cool,” Selmers said. “Medals are cool.

“But, anyway, if you feel like you’ve made some serious screw ups, you could try that whole making amends thing. Like, try and make it right with the people you’ve hurt. Or something. I dunno. I’m sleepy.”

The idea was scary. Apologize to people she’d hurt? Aside from Andy, there were lots of people that Mae would need to make amends with.

At the same time, though, the idea sounded really good. Mae had no clue how well it could possibly work out, but at the very least, it would provide some closure. Right?

“Selmers,” Mae said, “you give really good advice.”

“Thanks,” Selmers said. “I’m wise beyond my years.”

That night, in her dreams, Mae visited the fire again.

She had been thinking about the party again, so it made sense. Mae usually tried to not think about the Possum Leap party, but her idea of making amends had gotten her thinking about it.

She couldn’t just start off with apologizing to Andy. The next party wasn’t for, like, a month. Or so Mae assumed.

So, it would make sense to start making amends around town. There were probably a lot of people in Possum Springs that Mae needed to apologize to.

“Like who?” Casey asked. “The pierogi guy? Mr. Penderson?”

Mae scoffed. “No, those guys are jerks. All I did was, like, steal or vandalize those guys. I’m talking about people I actually hurt.”

“Like me, when you threw a softball at my head?”

“No,” Mae said. “You agreed to that. Besides, the Frisbee you threw hurt a lot more than some dumb baseball.”

“Do you think my parents still put up posters?” The Dream Casey asked. “A lot of posters been going up lately.  Those folks in the mine had friends and family.”

“Shut up,” Mae grumbled. She didn’t want to think about this. Not that the Dream Casey was giving her much of an option. “It’s not my fault. Those guys were assholes. I’m not upset that they’re probably dead.”

“People still miss them, though. People don’t know what they did, who they were. We all die cold, alone, and in a hole.” The Dream Casey popped what looked like a marshmallow into his mouth. Mae couldn’t really tell what it had been; everything was blurry today.

“That’s inspiring,” Mae muttered. “You got a lot more cryptic when you became a ghost, you know that?”

“Yeah, I’m, like, spooky, and shit,” Casey said. “Assuming I even am a ghost, that is. You might just be going nuts with your guilt.”

Mae said nothing. Why bother arguing in a dream? What would that possibly accomplish? In every dream Mae had ever happened, everything felt like it wouldn’t change. Events just happened. It was scary.

“You should go steal my boat,” Casey said, “and, you know, live in it. Like a boat hobo.”

Mae frowned. “Casey, I don���t even know what you did with your boat. And I’m not going to live in it; it probably can’t fit a mattress.”

“You’re sleeping on your arm,” Casey argued. “You ate too many tacos and your stomach is upset.”

That was all true, but Mae didn’t think it would make her more likely to live in a boat. “I like it better when you’re being spooky and guilt-trippy.”

“Lumpy pillow!” Casey screamed.

And he was right. The pillow was lumpy.