#CUZ HIS PARENTS BOTH CAN SHIFT TO OTHER REALITIES

[hecksupremechips]

Sigma and Diana’s kids are an old man who started a big evil cult AND caused the apocalypse and the other kid is just some lesbian

[ins0mnia-an0nym0us-au]

so i watched encanto [spoilers]

animation? stunning

music? bops

women? gorgeous

men? non-toxic

children? adorable

no but in reality this is a really important film with a really important message & we can all learn from it. no matter what your culture is - though i understand why the message is hitting some people harder than others

here are my less serious thoughts & headcanons

as soon as i heard Luisa's song it made me think of Alex Danvers & i hate that Supergirl has that much of a hold over my brain still

Isabela & Luisa both like women. i was gonna say Isabela is a lesbian but tbh i feel like she likes men just not the kind of men that Abuela would approve of

i don't know how Dolores keeps her sanity with her hearing. she hears everything. her parents fucking. her brother jerking off. everything the villagers are doing. like that's some great power for gossip but imagine EVERYTHING ELSE - how does this woman sleep??? is the implication she doesnt???

also Camilo can shape-shift & this naturally made me curious about... private parts. when only his head changed into a baby was it just cause the magic was going on whack or can he just change certain parts of his body??? cuz IMAGINE??? shape-shifting penises...

but also why did I feel attacked by Felix as a character? he saw one of the scariest women ever & was like "i'm gonna marry her" - why did they call out my type??? you cannot tell me you wouldn't be intimidated by Pepa because if you piss her off you could get struck by fucking lightning???

whereas the opposite happened with Agustin who was just a chaotic mess & saw free healing for the rest of his life & went "yep. her."

[cirilee]

Ok so. I have a bunch of posts still in my drafts and I really shouldn't start anything new but like...

The prime family. OP, Ratch and Bee. Dealing with Bee getting wounded by Megs and losing his voice. Hcs and things to consider/explore:

- Pretty sure ripping one's vocal chords out is rather deadly. Hc Megs was just idk, choking him or sth. Or forced some serious irritant down his throat like idk poison or sth. And maybe leaving the damaged chords would be super dangerous so either KO or later Ratch have to surgically remove them. Both versions interesting to explore ('cons didn't help? they're ALL as cruel and heartless as Megs! 'cons helped? no, they just made things worse, it was a malpractice for sure!)

- OP and Ratch dealing differently with the situation. Both are shaken that Megs did that. Both incredibly worried over their son. Ratch is furious, can't sit in one place and has violent outbursts, ready to rip Megs to shreds and not even trying to hide how furious he is. OP is just... miserable. Trying to figure out what to do. Trying to still be a good leader while bearing the burden of being a father who's son got attacked like this by a person that was once upon a time dear to him. Was it possible to play it out differently? Was it possible somehow end the war? Was he too soft, was he to strict? Is it all his fault?

- Either of the dads falling asleep by Bee's side because of course they do.

- OP and Ratch arguing. Ratch doesn't say it outright and wouldn't even think such things but it kinda sounds like he blames OP for being too soft and for letting that happen. He sure hopes OP doesn't have any bits of hope left regarding Megs. I mean how would anyone dare to have any hope left for that demon? OP just wants to know why. Why did Megs do it, what made him do it. But to Ratch he's not angry enough about it. Why isn't he furious as well, doesn't he care?! Both feel alone in this.

- Omg imagine OP feeling like shit and just flopping to bed after a rough day. And Ratch feeling so bad about this 'cuz this is the guy he loves, he shouldn't let him feel so miserable! And he feels so bad for calling him too soft. Maybe OP is too soft but hey, that's one of the reasons he married him in the first place. Realizing that because of arguing he only hurt him more instead of supporting him as he should and swore to do. So when he lays down next to him he just hugs him from behind in a silent apology. He feels better when he feels how OP holds onto his hand and shifts the position a bit to make it all more comfy for them both. Handholding in bed is so underrated and we need more of it.

- And yes, OP is the little spoon. Let the big guy be the little spoon. And when he's the big spoon Ratch is his teddy bear for hugging.

- Bee slowly waking up confused and with weird feeling in his throat. Takes him a moment to realize why his dads are so worried. The reality sinking in. Both dads doing the best they can to help him through

- How did Bee end up getting captured anyway? Does he blame himself?

- How does the sign language learning go for him and others? Does he prefer to just text others at first?

- Does Bee have a scar on his throat? If so, is he self conscious about it? Maybe his parents and Smokes are the only ones he feels comfortable around with it uncovered?

- Oh right, how did Bee and Smokey first meet anyway? How did relationship develop till they realized "omg he's so cute and he's my favouritest person to hang out with, I think I'm in love"?

I GAVE YOU SO MUCH TO UNPACK HERE I'M SO SORRY SKDLJFHDKJS

AAAAHHHH oh WOW ok i will try to unpack all of that!!!

@the-shy-lonely-weirdo correct me if it went differently, but we talked about Bee getting captured because he got lured in by someone like prowl. someone who would want for something bad to happen to the prime's son, something that would finally escalate that "cold war" they were having into an actual war, because "damnit, let's eliminate those cons already, prime was being too soft, organising all those unnecessary peace talks, sitting at the same table as those monsters!"

and then megatron truly shows them what a monster he's become and its awful and op just shuts down, because he cannot lose face even when a tragedy like that strikes them. and ratchet knows it, knows why op can't afford to lock himself in a room with their son and just cry his heart out, but it still hurts ratchet to see op rallying their troops as if nothing happened, while bee is still hooked up to several life saving appliances and can't even leave his bed >m<

> there is a scar on bee, but he's not self conscious about it. it doesn't take long for wheeljack and ratchet to invent several gadgets that help him hook into their communication devices - and autobot training includes learning a rudimentary sign language for silent missions, so its not like he's completely cut off from everyone. its just .. different, especially for a former loudmouth like him :c

> Smokey and Bee meet as soon as they find Smoke's pod where he was stored by alpha trion with one of the relics inside him (ugh, gotta find a better way to phrase that haahahah) - at first they butt heads a lot. Smoke wants to kick some decepticon ass and hates how "soft" everyone's being (that argument again, hA! X'D). Bee thinks smoke is a pompous brat without any tact X'D

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket,Se03, Ep 8 (part 1)

“ I hate myself, so much, so intensely, so completely, I wish I just go away, disappear for good, & yet in the end, I always protect myself, instead of taking responsibility, I run away every damn time, like now, I’m too scared to even look at your face”. The real kyo under the layers of trauma.

This quotation is why this ep is not abt romance. Instead it is abt: Extreme self-loath, faulty coping mechanism, self-awareness & inability to make correct decisions due to suicidal thoughts & non-existent self-worth.  

This is a guy who’s literally seen death TWICE at the age of 4 & 15 (his mom & kyoko), is trying to avoid the THIRD (tohru’s) & is questioning why the FOURTH isnt happening (his own death).

-The layers of a broken self: Excellent writing:

I applaud the writer for choosing fitting methods to portray her characters’ own trauma. Yuki “ prince” mask & tohru’s “i’m okay” mask were fitting to hide their trauma & uncover the real personalities. However, since kyo would be the character to hide secrets & carry guilt, the viewers need to feel he’s hiding sth w/o knowing what it is. It was done cleverly to (a) tie the plot together, (b) build kyo’s character, (c) fit the climax, (d) suit his trauma of severe guilt & self-loath. Some of the things he does can fit two genuine layers: Both layers are true:

His initial refusal to open up to tohru in early se01. (Surface layer): he doesn't know how to interact with ppl who accept him as he confessed to shigure, (Deeper layer): he avoided tohru cuz he knew her!

He initially refused to join leisure activities & trips: hot spring & kyoto trip (Surface layer): he didn’t want to go with yuki (Deeper layer) he didnt want to spend time with tohru as he was unconsciously feeling that he’s stealing from her.

It killed him to see her true lonely self behind her fake mask & approached her with advice. se1, ep5 (grandpa house), se1, ep23 (sick tohru), se2, ep 8 (hiro’s remarks) & other instances.  (Surface layer): he was noticing her issues, & genuinely wanted to help her cuz he’s kind (Deeper layer) he was falling in love w/her & unconsciously wanted her to be happy with HIM.

There were times when there was ONE layer, such as: kyoko’s 1st grave visit. He was so off, rigid, unresponsive, & completely shut down. Everybody read him. Yuki, tohru, Arisa & hana. they just don’t know why he behaving like that. his trauma manifested itself deeply that he apologized to tohru in her sleep cuz he was “ too scared to even look at your face”.

- Kyo’s trauma takes physical shape: (Clutching his heart: PAIN, clutching his stomach : DISGUST) :

While confessing to tohru, kyo’s features spoke volumes. You can see disrepair, guilt, broken soul, sadness & surrender. His body reflected his emotions:

wide eyes (disbelief), Cat eyes (utter fear)

trembling body (overwhelmed with toxic emotions)

clutching his fists (anger at self) , opening fists (surrender to darkness)

hand covering face (shame), Hand around neck as he finished confessing abt kyoko & yuki (desire for death: the final judgement)

The most focused physical appearance was his fist clutching his heart: he was in so much pain as he narrated how he loved kyoko & found a friend in her, desired to make her happy, to find tohru for her, how his his mom withered away out of fear of him & how pitiful & sad he felt towards tohru for loving someone like him. It broke his heart to see them all suffer after knowing him. All the love he felt for them squeezed his heart tight, he wanted to pull it & rip it away. Above all, he was sad to loose them all. Sad he can’t be wit them.

Then he clutched his stomach: representing the pure disgust he felt at himself. As he realized that there is no escape from being responsible for their death, as he admitted he illogically blamed yuki, his disgust with himself boiled in his stomach. What kind of disgusting horrible person does that? blame someone illogically? I’m horrible, hateful & utterly undeserving to be forgiven. Being disgusted with one’s own self! oof! it was so well-done with animation!

-Tying Mature Themes with Child Trauma:

Through kyo’s story, there were different mature themes that excellently dictate his behavior, mentality & emotional well-being: Excellent writing!

(1) The desperate need for self-worth: To be good for once!

by constantly destroying his self-worth thro contempt (the sohmas), rejection (his mom), hate (his father), pity (kazuma/ kagura, initially), kyo searched for an outlet to be a worthy human. Someone who deserves to be loved for who he is. He found that in kyoko. It is brilliant that kyo didn’t look for a mom in kyoko. He called her “ old hag”, she told him unflattering facts abt herself “ neglecting her daughter”. she was his first real friend. He found comfort being with her. He wanted to return the intimate feeling he felt deep down, kyo is so hung up on giving as much as taking as it contradicts the notion of pity. The opportunity came! Helping her find her daughter! being someone who does good! Return the daughter & feel worthy of being a true friend, a man (aka a person). “ i’ll help her, I’ll protect her for sure! it’s a man’s promise” The promise in its core is abt kyo wanting to be a person. Not a monster, or a cat. A true real boy. Away from all the toxic past emotions. Being a man: means being a big boy (person) with good achievements! All this shattered when a better boy beats him to it. The boy who was always praised, loved & respected! kyo’s self-worth diminished greatly & all the toxic emotions came back!

(2) The downfall of faulty coping mechanism: Creating a Bad Guy:

I stated before that one of my fave scenes of kyo was in se02, ep23 when kyo lashed out at yuki on the stairs upon seeing the hat & how yuki felt nothing but pity towards kyo as he was stuck in the past while yuki moved on. Brilliant scene that explains why one moved on & the other didn;t. Yuki’s faulty coping mechanism was being withdrawn & shutting himself. This coping mechanism didnt make him feel better at all!!! Also, he doesn’t have regrets nor sins, he dealt with his faulty coping mechanism with tohru’s help & the school council & healed gradually. Forever loving the writer for writing the distinction between kyo & yuki logically without painting any as monster in reality. Kyo couldn’t do as yuki for the following reasons: ( remember the old theme of everybody heals on their own pace? love it )

(a) He was addicted to shifting the blame as it made him feel better abt himself!! he shifted his thoughts from “ I wanna go away for good” “ mom, why didn’t you kill me instead” to “ it’s not my fault at all, it’s yuki” No match between the two feelings! one leads to suicide, the other leads to feeling like a mere victim. The two feelings are wrong tho & He knows that! he isn’t ready to stop the drug. He can’t face himself. “ the bad guy, if he isn’t as awful as you think, who you’re left to blame”.

(b) nothing around him can make him feel better. Tohru? but she’s kyoko’s daughter! she’s a lonely orphan, carrying her mommy’s pic taking to it! why? cuz you didn't save her! Loving tohru? is good & I wish we can run away far & be together always! wake up! why would she wanna be with a disgusting monster like you?!! You dont deserve her! you who caused his mom to die, caused her mom to die, blamed an innocent guy! Yuki? yeah, look at yuki, you can never be like him, watch as his true kindness gets noticed by tohru, the school & everybody!! he’s everything you cant be!! he should be with tohru! not you!! Master kazuma? poor guy! you brought him nothing but misery! you see his sad smile, don’t you? he’s disappoint in you. Kagura? she pities you!

(b) Kyo can’t fix his mistakes. kyo watched as yuki got back with his brother, befriended haru again, goes back to the sohma estate for the holidays. he feels he cant have similar reweds as he cant bring the things he needed. his mom, kyoko, his bio dad’s affection, kazuma’s pride in him, tohru’s love & his own satisfaction at himself. kyo just hates kyo “so much, so intensely, so completely”

(c) his fault coping mechanism mirrors his dad’s. Kids pick up toxic habits from parents all the time. Even his suicidal thoughts mirrors his mom’s! brilliant writing!

3- running away from responsibilities: perfectly constructed theme!

Who didn’t? I’m guilty! ugh! one of the best themes in furuba hands down! Any other writer would have made kyo do it once, or twice & have him face it in climax & then deal with it. but NOT takaya-san! She excellently took her time with kyo repeating this exact mistakes over & over to better portray the theme & take it out from the boundaries of story-telling to realistic depiction & logical gradual progression:

kyo ran away from being accused of killing his mom (he’s completely innocent & isn’t responsible for his birth’s deformity/curse nor his mom’s suicide)

kyo ran away from accepting kyoko’s words that yuki isnt bad & most importantly that kyo is good. He had found relief in blaming yuki, now you wanna tell me I should look into myself? I’m bad! i dont wanna look. your words are weird “ no bad or good”  Everybody says otherwise, the sohmas, dad & mom! kyo angrily ran away (completely guilty but excused as child would be).

kyo ran away from facing kyoko’s body & wanted to punish himself with death. Depression took over him as “ master tried to get me to keep living”. (completely guilty in his own eyes, if only he tried to safe her, even if he transformed, Even if she still died regardless!!! he hates himself for choosing the disgusting kyo over the kind kyoko)

kyo ran away from telling tohru the truth upon seeing her, pretended not to know her, slowly dying each time she smiles, slowly falling in love & wishing for a chance with her, a chance he believes doesn't deserve.

Kyo ran away in se01, ep14 when remembering the accident as shigure  triggered him. Tohru consoled him & he lost the chance to come clean.

kyo is running away now. Unable to face her “ too scared to even look at your face”. “ I cant forgive me! I dont want you to fogive me either”

So, after running away the first time, kyo should’ve learned better, right? now in the climax, he shouldn’t  have run away? Yes, he should. cuz simply, he isnt ready. We dont learn from our mistakes cuz someone told us. we learn when we fix the core issue. A guy who thinks he deserves a chance in life would stand tall, confess his sins, argues, talks, tells the story unbiased,  then waits for verdict. kyo thinks he doesn’t deserve to be alive, thus, tells the story with server bias towards judging himself as unworthy. HE decided the verdict & didnt wait for tohru: “ I cant forgive ME! I dont want you to forgive me either” That’s why toru’s words fall flat. “ why cant you see the truth: I love you” he can’t tohru!! cuz right now it is NOT abt love. It is abt trauma!

4- Sever guilt & desire for disappearance (death):

As adults our mistakes loom over us & we’re constantly reminded of the “ what if I had acted differently”. This ties with kyo witnessing his mom’s horrible death at 4 years old. Death in itself is scary. A loved ones death is devastating. Watching it unfold in shocking unprepared way is destructive. kyo was destroyed. Not enough: he gotta carry the guilt as his dad & the sohma hammer the accusations. He gets another chance & loves another person. Only to watch the blood splash reach his shoes. “Guilty” whispers the past. “Guilty” confirms the present. He stands in front of the most precious person to him. Now what? If tohru forgives you, the pain goes away???? You wouldn’t repeat the ultimate mistake of killing her, would you? you ominous creature. Her mom warned you. The nightmare stands hovering over kyo’s head, waiting to come true. IT WILL COME TRUE!!! OMG!!!

if Akito does it. It wouldn’t be kyo’s fault, right?  If the car hit kyoko, it’s not my fault, right? if my mom did it herself, it wouldn’t be my fault, right?

But if only kyo didnt ran away, tohru would be alive. If only I pulled kyoko, she wouldn’t have died. If only I wasn’t born, mom wouldn't have killed herself.

The “ if only “ that killed kyo’s mom as she lamented “ if only I gave birth to the rat” will eventually destroy kyo! ugh!!! AMAZING WRITING!!!

5- The Right Time to Heal (self-desire or outside help?):

When yuki was trapped in Akito’s room, haru visited to help. did yuki accept it? NO. yuki didnt even remember much of it. Why? cuz it wasn’t the right time & yuki was too deep into darkness to notice, to accept & to change. It wasnt until he was out, in co-ed school, rebelling against akito, when tohru came, he accepted her, then it lead him to accept School Council & haru. Tohru had Arisa & hana, but never went to them in her darkest moment, hiding she was living in a tent, they were hurt & confronted her, still she kept hiding her fears, sadness & darkest thoughts, interfering in Arisa’s life to provide help, but never allowing them to interfere, until kyo came & broke her mask, she started to complain, talk, show true emotions & want things! She opened up to Isuzu, too. Arisa & hana weren’t the right ppl at the right time for tohru to heal. Kyo had kazuma to teach him better, kyoko to make him notice his mistakes, tohru to love him unconditionally, the right ppl, but all that was in the wrong time cuz he’s in his darkest moment now like yuki was, unable to see or accept. Healing requires self-desire & outside help, but it gotta be in the right moment, when you can see beyond the abyss & into the faint light of dawn. That’s when words will reach the heart. Kyo need to fall so hard, in order to stand up again. Today, he unloaded his burden, threw up the disgust he felt towards himself, spewed all the hate against the real bad guy: himself! Kyo is kyo’s bad guy, has always been. He needs to let go of hating himself & accept the kind gentle kyo that kyoko & tohru saw ~

Side Notes:

This ep is why furuba wins & deserves 20 years of recognition among manga-readers! this story is real! it is NO sweet fairy tale of two lovers. It is abt one’s self & desire to live. All of them struggle with  this particular desire: kyo, tohru, yuki & the rest.

kid kyo was looking for young tohru all night! T_T

this ep of kyo confessing/ narrating his past , reminded me of yuki’s 3 eps of him confessing/ narrating his past!!! ugh! I wish tohru had that! ahhhh.

The 4 months in the mountains weren’t training!!!!! they were depression & suicidal thoughts! ouch!!

Perspectives are what dictate our feelings: Through yuki’s eyes, kyo was so happy with a loving father, friends around him & a house outside the sohmas. Thus, yuki envied him & wished to die not knowing kyo was living in trauma & feeling utter contempt & self-loath. Through kyo’s eyes, yuki was so happy with a living loving family, friends around him & a house with respect. Thus, kyo envied him & wished to die Not knowing that yuki was suffering abuse & neglect!

I love the pacing of this ep!!! It gives room to feel pain & understand the situation!!! I didn’t feel the headache of the bullet train!! THANK GOD!!! SO SATISFIED!!! I was invested all the time!

kyoko’s “ I’ll never forgive you” really destroyed kyo & went beyond it to destroy her own daughter! AAAAAAHHHH ~ T_T

I have some issues with the “ I forgot” part. It makes no sense that they make him forget the accident only to do the cheap cliff hanger in ep 6, then lazily weave it into his confession to tohru in ep. 8. He always remembered the accident. Apologized to tohru in her sleep in se01. ep14 for that exact accident, Then in se02, ep 9. It was ALWAYS in his mind! ALWAYS. Sorry Mr. Director. very lame try. lol.

The only thing I didn’t like is the music! very weird choices throughout the ep! especially at the end. Why a happy music over kyo’s “ I’m disappointed in you? lol!! its sad & tragic?! weird!!!!

I will talk abt Tohru will be in part 2. (her choice, kyo’s answer to her & the need to let go of her mom, the sohmas & of... kyo.

[parachutingkitten]

I want to see next generation angst.

Y’all get no context cuz I don’t have it, but have an amber next gen and a lightning next gen talking about the prospect of becoming immortal. Also, if you don’t care about my next gens, it’s an interesting ninjago lore thought experiment.

Daniel sat at the kitchen table, tapping the edge of his water glass as his eyes gazed vacantly at the wall. Jenna couldn’t tell what he was thinking about, but it was either nothing or everything. She slowly approached the table, sitting down across from her cousin as he remained trapped in his daze. 

“You okay?” She asked, his eyes finally shifting back to reality.

He stared at her a moment and sighed. “You ever get one of those ideas that your mind just… can’t let go of.” Jenna leaned forward, intrigued. “And you know it’s crazy, but you also know it won’t leave you until you try it.”

“...What is it you want to try now, fire boy?”

Daniel ran his hands over his face, focusing himself. “Okay, so the reversal blade has been used to rapidly de-age someone before, right?”

“Yeah,” Jenna nodded. 

“Well, if you were able to slow the process down…” Daniel let his point sit for a moment, his fingers fidgeting as he built up to the reveal. “If you could slow it to de-age you at the same rate that you were naturally aging… would you be… immortal?”

Jenna sat back, thinking for a moment.

“You couldn’t do it with a blade,” He clarified. “but if you had an elemental master of time who could manipulate their element to that degree, they could be immortal, right?”

“I’m trying to find something that’s wrong with your logic but… I can’t think of anything.” Jenna sighed, mildly impressed.

“Wait, really?” Daniel seemed surprised at her answer. “Like you really think someone could actually pull it off?”

“I mean yeah, if there were still time masters around, but the power is trapped in the blades now, there’s no person, present or future, that could actually utilize it.”

“Unless…” Daniel widened his eyes, pursing his lips together.

Jenna sat back, a bit shocked at the idea as the pieces came together in her head. “No, you couldn’t… I mean you could. You could absorb the power, but there’s no way you’d be able to get to the reversal blade in the first place, right? I mean, our parents have had that thing locked up at the bottom of the boiling sea for years! And you’d never get their permission to go down there.”

“What if I didn’t ask for permission?” He whispered, their conversation now gradually quieting as they entertained the thought.

“You need both fire and water elementals to get through the defenses, and you’d never get my brother to go with you.”

“I don’t need your brother, I just need his powers.”

“And what about the dragon blade?”

“It’s hanging on the wall upstairs.”

They both sat for a moment looking at each other, the reality of the situation sinking in.

“I could go snag the blade, and head for the boiling sea, right now. I could do it right now, and I’d probably be back by morning.”

“No,” Jenna shook her head. “No, Daniel, you can’t. You can’t do this.”

“I can though!” He chuckled. “I can do it at any moment, and just the idea of it is driving me crazy! How could I not try it? It’s staring me in the face, and I have everything I’d need!”

Jenna looked at him, a deep sense of dread washing over her as she tried to put together what was driving him to think like this. “...Is this about Circuit?”

Daniel stopped, all of his thoughts halting in an instant. “What? No. This isn’t… I mean, I’ve been thinking about her, but she had nothing to do with this idea.”

“Yeah, because she wouldn’t want you to do it, Daniel. Not for yourself, and certainly not for her.”

“Just think about it. I fall in love with the one girl who can’t age, and it just so happens that my power is the one thing that might be able to pull off immortality. That’s not an accident! That’s fate!”

Jenna bit the inside of her lip struggling to find words as he slowly cracked in front of her.

“Isn’t it…?” He sighed, burying his head in his hands. “It has to be. Right?”

[pokeprism]

Altered End: Chapter 5 (Rest And Release)

This is the fifth chapter to my Undertale AU! The raw text is below the cut!

FIRST: Prologue --- PREVIOUS: The Perfect Plan --- NEXT: Just Passing Through

The day in Snowdin Town dawns, and like he always has, Papyrus is up at the crack of dawn. Papyrus opens his room’s door and starts into the main part of the house, ready for his meeting with Undyne today, but then suddenly stops halfway down the stairs when he sees someone new.

“Nyeh?!” Papyrus exclaims.

Chara, who has been resting on the floor for the past several hours, stirs at Papyrus’s remark and looks in the direction of the noise. After recognizing Papyrus, Chara lifts off the floor and begins to do their morning stretches. Papyrus, unaware who this person is, silently keeps his eye sockets locked on Chara as he tries to identify this other. After getting done stretching, Chara looks back at Papyrus and notices that he’s looking them in the eyes.

“Um…. You can see me…?” Chara asks with a concerned expression.

“Of course smaller human!” Papyrus exclaims. “But how did you get in my house...?”

Chara stumbles for a moment, but then regains their bearing and says “I’m Frisk’s travel buddy. Sorry for coming in unannounced!”

“Oh. That’s so cool! I have so many questions already!!!”

Frisk stirs awake at Papyrus’s remark, and gets up with morning haze affecting their mind. Papyrus begins asking questions so fast that Chara can barely keep up. Frisk then notices Papyrus looking squarely at Chara, and gets up as the haze begins to ebb from their mind. Papyrus sees Frisk move, then stops his barrage of questions as his attention shifts to the other human in his house.

“Greetings, Frisk! You didn’t tell me you had a travel buddy!” Papyrus says.

Frisk tiredly nods to Papyrus before turning to Chara with a raised eyebrow. Chara sees Frisk’s expression and shrugs with an expression that conveys their mixed feelings. This is about when Sans begins to stir, and upon hearing the racket outside his room, he gets up and walks out his door. Papyrus hears his brother’s door creak, and turns in its direction.

“Sans?! You’re awake when you’re supposed to be?!” Papyrus exclaims.

Sans answers with “Welp, I was just hearing’ some commotion, and-”

Sans sees Chara, and notices that their outline is much more defined than before. Sans looks to Frisk, and Frisk notices his gaze and shrugs, not knowing what to say.

Sans turns back to Chara. “So kiddo, any thoughts about being more visible?”

Chara verbally stumbles. “Uh… My thoughts are a little jumbled right now…”

Frisk blurts out “Well that means anyone can see you now.”

Chara freezes in place. Their thoughts begin to race, with most of them geared toward what Asgore and… Asriel… Will think. Chara snaps back to reality as they realize Frisk’s hand on their shoulder.

“Chara, it’ll be fine. I’m sure Asgore will understand.” Frisk says.

Chara, not wanting to appear even vulnerable, says “Okay then… Got it frisk.”

Papyrus can’t believe this. “Nyeh?! You both have met KING ASGORE?!”

“Eh… Sort of…” Frisk says, verbally attempting to cover their tracks.

“Wowie! I never got to meet him until I started my royal guard training!” The whole room goes quiet. Papyrus, noticing the silence and where he has to be, adds “Speaking of that, I have to go meet up with the captain! See you all later!” then zips out the front door.

A moment after Papyrus’s sudden exit, those remaining in the house all look to each other.

“Frisk, ya know that you’ll have to venture through Waterfall at some point, right?” Sans asks with a curious gaze.

“My plan is to head out soon.” Frisk answers.

Chara drifts over to Frisk and sets a hand on their shoulder. “I’m scared I’ll be recognized, but I know Frisk will help me if I am.” Chara cracks a smile as they add “We’ll do our best!”

“Got it kiddos, I hope ya both make it past Waterfall in one piece. I’ll see ya when I see ya.” Sans answers.

Frisk grabs their bag, then walks over to the skelebros’ front door as Chara drifts over to it. Frisk goes straight out the door, whereas Chara cracks a smile and waves to Sans just before doing the same. Sans, believing he could do some good, decides to go off to Grillby’s to see this week’s talk of the town, warping there in an instant.

Sans finds himself next to the east wall of Grillby’s, and after regaining his sense of direction, he shuffles off to Grillby’s front door. He enters, and notices the barren nature of the place right now, then sees Grillby, who’s cleaning the floor.

Grillby notices Sans. “Welcome, Sans. You are up early. Were you woken up by the disturbance last night?”

“Disturbance? What do ya mean?” Sans says.

“It seemed like a battle of some sort, but it was happening close to Waterfall.”

Sans, confused, asks “Did anyone else hear it?”

Grillby is about to answer when someone comes through the door.

Doggo enters, nearly bumping into Sans. “Grillbs! Ya heard that battle last night?!”

“Indeed I have, Doggo. Did anything come of it?”

“Well, ya see, us guards were about to engage, but no one sounded the alarm! Someone oughta’ have seen that, so why didn’t nobody sound the alarm?! I got barely any sleep ‘cuz of that!”

Sans quickly realizes what battle Doggo is referring to, but isn’t quite sure if he should bring it up.

Doggo sniffs the air. “Hmm? Oh, hello Sans! Didja see any of what happened there?”

Sans nervously shrugs. “Not that I know of.”

“I reckon that the brawl took place near your house based on the volume. I guess you’re just a heavy sleeper…”

“Heh heh, of course…” Sans says as he eyes the door. “Anyways, Gotta go! I got posts to man.”

Grillby waves at Sans as he starts to leave. “Okay Sans. Have a great day!”

Sans fully walks out of Grillby’s, then warps to his first post in Waterfall.

Frisk and Chara have just made it into Waterfall, and they both don’t quite notice Sans appearing in his post as Monster Kid comes from the same direction that they just did.

“Yo yo! You two are kids, right?”

Frisk and Chara look at Monster Kid, Frisk with a raised eyebrow, and Chara with a more neutral expression.

Chara pipes up with “Yeah, how could you tell?”

“Well, you both have striped shirts! All us kids have them!”

Frisk, surprised Monster Kid hasn’t commented on their stature, which Frisk deemed as important to the conversation, just stays quiet as the talk continues.

“Indeed. Are you going to see Undyne?” Chara asks.

Monster Kid’s eyes shine as their mind realizes what this ghost kid has said. “Oh my gosh, are you going off to see her too?! That’s so cool!”

Frisk, annoyed by what they perceive as wasted time, starts to walk off. Chara takes notice, but decides to keep talking with Monster Kid.

“Yeah! I’m…” Chara’s thinking stumbles for a moment. They don’t know what to say now that they will most likely be recognized.

“You’re going to see her wreck some bad guys?” Monster Kid replies.

“I mean… Probably!” Chara replies, relieved Monster Kid hasn’t recognized them.

Frisk then stops just before the start of the boulder waterfall, and looks back at Chara, attempting to urge them onward. Sans, who has been quietly sitting in his post, notices Chara’s gaze drifting to him.

“Huh? What’s up kiddo?” Sans says as he notices Chara’s conflicted expression.

Monster Kid notices Sans’s remark and turns in the skeleton’s direction as Chara answers “Frisk wants me to go on, but Monster Kid wants to keep talking…”

“Huh?” Monster Kid utters, clearly confused. “If you want to keep talking, I can come with ya, can’t I?”

It takes a moment, but Chara’s mind clicks with the idea. “I mean, sure! Come along!”

Monster Kid beams at the invitation. They add an amused vocalization just before saying “Don’t tell my parents!” as they dash past Chara in Frisk’s direction.

Sans watches the start of Monster Kid’s dash before looking back to Chara and saying “Have fun kiddos, I’ll be hangin’ out back.”

Chara smiles, then waves goodbye to Sans as they drift off toward Frisk and Monster Kid. Frisk, having barely heard the conversation, watches Monster Kid’s approach with a raised eyebrow.

Monster Kid excitedly hops in place in front of Frisk as they say “I’m coming with you to see Undyne!” Monster Kid stops as they add “You cool with that?”

Frisk, in their rapidly deteriorating patience, sighs as Chara arrives next to Monster Kid. “Sure. Just don’t cause trouble.”

Chara raises an eyebrow as Frisk turns and begins to wade through the barrage of boulders coming from the constant stream of water. Monster Kid, for their part, smiles and starts doing the same. Chara, ever wary, cautiously follows the two other kids in front of them.

Papyrus wasn’t expecting to show up this quickly to the meeting place. He’s been sitting around for several minutes now, and Undyne isn’t usually late. She must be doing something right now, he thinks, she’ll be here in a moment. From out of the blue, Papyrus hears footsteps, and turns in the direction of the noise. Papyrus sees Frisk, Monster Kid, and Chara approaching from the west and starts to wave to them before coming to a realization. Papyrus quickly comes to a point of What will Undyne think if she sees them?, and then her most likely response clicks in his mind. They’ll be taken away to never be seen again, he concludes. Suddenly, he snaps to attention as Undyne bounds up to the ledge he’s on.

Undyne safely lands, and takes her helmet off. “Hey, skelebro, you all right?” she says in her usual gruff tone.

“Oh!” Papyrus says, surprised. “I-I was waiting for your arrival, Captain.”

“Yeah, I could see that. Sorry about the wait, but I have some info I need to get to you.”

“Oh? What might that be about?” Papyrus warily asks.

“Papyrus, Doctor Alphys’s cameras stopped working for some reason, so as your duty as a sentry dictates, have you seen a human?”

Papyrus’s mind begins to race. As the pause outstays its welcome, everything seems to move in slow motion. Until, after what felt like an eternity, some grass rustles, alerting both Undyne and Papyrus to something else on their periphery.

[rui31]

Alpha Stiles Part 3

An update because @superfamilylove reminded me I was writing this before my masters killed my writing inspo.

I’ll try to finish this as I actually really enjoy it. Just a note; I never watched Teen Wolf passed Allison dying because FUCK THAT NOISE. So I cannot reference any of what happened afterward cuz I have no idea and I don’t know any of the character, ie Ethan and Theo?, so don’t expect them in here.

ONWARDS INTO MY BOYLOVE MADNESS

Derek spends the rest of the day in relative peace, he wanders the town until he finds the local garage. He gets hired on the spot by some harried looking kid, rambling that the regular mechanic was on mat leave and the cars we’re starting to pile up and he didn’t know shit about engines and brake mechanics and....

“What the hell even is this thing?” he asks, flailing a piece of machinery between the two of them

“The transmission,” Derek answers hesitantly, not sure if this kid is seriously like this or pulling his leg.

“Not to mention Jackson had to bring in his car for an oil change and OFCOURSE it’s the newest Ferrari, because his father bought it for him as a graduation gift. Not saying I’m jealous, but dude...” the guy ends with some gurgling noises and flops back on the desk chair, banging his head on the table softly. “Ryma will serve me my ass if I lose him as a client.”

“I can work today if you need,” Derek offers, slightly off kilter by how the guy is acting.

“You serious?” he demands. “oh my god that’s great, super great.  Dan should be coming in any time now, but Dan is old and he forgets things. He’s reliable and knows a shit ton of stuff, but I would not have him near my car.”

“So.... should I get started?” Derek asks instead of trying to discern what this kid, who’s obviously on some sort of drug, is saying.

“Yeah, sure. Let me show you around. Names Louis by the way,” and the guy, Louis, is grabbing some keys off the wall and opening the back door.

           He works on that kids, Jackson?, car first. He’s half impressed with the car also but still feels like it could never match up to his Camaro. Dan comes in around the same time he’s done, giving him a nod and walking over to another car.  They don’t really speak as they work, Dan turns on the little radio and plays some old blues music, the melodies smoothing over the jarring sounds of the electric drills and sander.

Derek turns to work on a hunkered old jeep that’s painted an obnoxious lime green next. He’s changing out the old brakes when Louis drops off some Chinese for him and Dan. The guy chats him up a bit, gushing about his girlfriend and complaining about the office work still left for him to do.

           He cleans up after the three of them, picking up the white delivery boxes and chopsticks. Derek is grateful for the food and the companionship, though he probably didn’t show it what with his face in a half frown as he fought with the jeeps old screws.

           Derek is shooed out of the garage at 8, Louis fixing up his shaggy brown hair behind his ears and his cheeks a dusty pink from excitement is rambling with nerves about his hot date. Dan pats the both of them firmly on the shoulder after lighting up a cigarette. He sets off on a slow pace into the dark and Derek doesn’t comment on the fact he hadn’t heard the man speak all day. He goes back to his own car after seeing Louis slide into a car with a curly haired girl with glasses.

           He’s back at the motel room, exhausted and fully dressed, staring at his bed and, instead of falling into it and sleeping like a normal person, he’s fighting with the anxiety that’s kicking in. Panic seeps into him and he sits on the chair in the corner of the room, cradling his forehead in his hands as he takes deep and even breaths. Meeting the alpha and getting the job still hadn’t erased the feeling of dread and engulfing loneliness. His instincts are screaming at him to stay awake, stay on guard, knowing hunters are nearby and being without his pack.

           He falls into some sort of meditation, keeping his eyes closed, he lets everything fall back to hear and smell, letting the rest of his mind rest. He comes to when there’s a knock at his door, he’s half jolting in panic when he realizes its Stiles and, by the time he opens the door, he’s back in control.

“Yooo, so I came to see you. Heard you got a job at Ryma’s place,” he grins at Derek. “You look like shit man. Did you sleep?”

“No,” Derek answers, his voice hoarse and dry.  He swallows thickly and turns back into the room, keeping the door open so Stiles can follow him in.

“You staying here?” he asks incredulously, sitting up on the coffee table.    

           Derek grunts his response as he wanders over to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He walks back into the room, wiping his mouth with the small hand towel and Stiles is squinting around the room and back at Derek. He feels his heart race for a second but chalks it off to the lack of sleep before walking over to his luggage and pulling out a spare shirt.

           There’s a shift in the room and Derek looks over his bare shoulder at Stiles, who’s twitching on the table and coughing.

“Nice tattoo,” he says to fill the silence. “What is it?”

“A triskelion,” Derek answers.

“Cool, how did you keep it there? I mean, Scott wanted to get one a couple of years ago but it faded/healed in like a day,” Stiles rambles and Derek cocks his head at him.

“You need to use fire.”

“Fire great so?”

“A blowtorch in my case and very steady hands,” Derek smirks and Stiles sighs.

“Ofcourse,” there’s silence as Derek throws his dirty laundry in the growing pile.

“Sooo....” Stiles fills in, jumping off all fluid and he’s suddenly in Derek’s space. “I know I said you’d have to speak to Scott and all, but he’s not going to be back for another couple of months. And you can’t keep living here. I’m pretty sure we exorcised a ghost at this place in highschool.”

“I’m going to find a place,” Derek tells him, his eyebrows scrunching down in confusion.

“And also are you sure you’re related to Peter because that guy was crazy and you’re...”

“Not?” Derek offers.

“Broody and you have that whole tall, dark and mysterious thing going for you,” Stiles says instead.

“I can rip your throat out with my teeth,” Derek replies, looking at Stiles sideways and the alpha breaks out into chuckles.

“Come on, you’ve met the ladies. I have some of the guys meeting us for breakfast. You don’t have work yet right?” he asks and Derek shrugs, grabbing his jacket and his wallet as they leave the room.

“Cool because Isaac has been hounding me with questions and Boyd has just been staring at me all amused and I just can’t handle them anymore.”

“It’s been a day since I got here,” Derek says and Stiles groans.

“I know right? But Scott knows how to deal with Isaac and I’m just floundering around with him,” he sighs and Derek stops his hand as it wanders over to pat him on the shoulder.

           They walk into the same diner and the waitress, Tara he remembered, is walking towards him with a warm hello honey and a smile that Derek matches without even thinking about it. She guides them over to a booth when he says others will be joining them and looks over at Stiles when the guy doesn’t say anything.

“You smiled,” he says at last and Derek barely looks up from where he’s flipping through the menu.

“I do that sometimes yes,” and he’s trying not to think about how tired he feels right now, how warm and safe in the presence of this kid, that the words on the menu are blurring together.

           He sighs heavily and looks up at Stiles when the guy remains quiet.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asks and Derek smiles weakly, or tries anyways, he doesn’t know if his lips quirk up or not.

“Just tired, I haven’t been sleeping well,’ he responds.

“Why?” Stiles inquires. “I mean, I know what happened with the fire. Peter told us everything and it was basically why most of us got turned but...he killed Kate right and...”

“I’m an omega,” Derek explains, sipping his coffee when Tara brings their drinks without even asking. “Which means I don’t have the comfort of a pack as you do. You feel their presence so you know you’re safe because they’re close enough to be there if you’re in trouble. The last time I was here, my house had just burned down killing my parents and a couple of my cousins. My uncle ordered my sisters and I to leave, basically kicking us out of the pack. The place was swarming with hunters and wannabe hunters itching to put a bullet in our skulls at any sign of aggression. We barely made it out here in one piece and being back here after all this time,” Derek sighs again, grasping the cup tighter so the heat of the coffee could burn into his palms, the pain helping him focus as his eyes glow in the already bright room. “Everything has changed and yet, some things are the same. This place, the vet, it’s like there are two realities fighting in my head right now. The one I’m in and the one I left behind. The lack of sleep isn’t really helping either.”

“I can tell, those were a lot of words for guy who barely spoke the day before and dashed out of my presence,” Stiles says and Derek grins up tiredly.

“Yo Stiles,” a guy says, standing at the table. “Did you order yet?”

“Nah, Isaac this is Derek. Derek Isaac.” Stiles introduces and then there’s another guy slipping into the booth next to Derek. “That’s Boyd.”

           He nods to both and he’s suddenly more awake than before, Isaac and Stiles are arguing about breakfast foods and Boyd is silently texting on his phone, sometimes eyeing Derek sideways.

“Erica says hi,” he says suddenly and Derek fumbles out a greeting when Tara is back, taking their orders in stride and waltzing away.

“So Kira was right, he’s not like Peter at all,” Isaac says when she’s out of earshot. “I mean he doesn’t even have the crazy eyes, he just looks sad.”

“Isaac,” Stiles groans.

“No but seriously, I mean Chris said not to judge but Peter was a psychopath,” he continues undeterred. “Just wondering if it was hereditary.”

“Chris?” Derek asks and Stiles reaches over to grab Isaac, but the guy either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care.

“Yeah, Argent?” he replies, shrugging off Stiles’ hand. “Allison’s father.”

“His girlfriend,” Boyd supplies helpfully, barely looking up from his phone.

“I’m going to kill you all,” Stiles growls, turning to look at Derek worryingly as his face shuts down.

“I knew they were still here,” Derek says and Stiles smiles tightly.

“They’re not Kate,” he supplies but Derek wants out, wants to leave because everything in him is screaming and he’s barely keeping it together.

           Boyd’s hand on his shoulder is a shock, Stiles, reaching over the table, holding unto his wrists right above where he’s clenching his hands, they’re both solid presences that give him something to center himself but he’s still shaken.

“We won’t let anything happen to you,” Stiles says and Boyd grunts in agreement.

“Why are we promising this?” Isaac asks, leaning back on the booth with his arms crossed. “Peter turned most of us, he tried to kill ALL of us, we don’t owe his nephew anything.”

“We owe him common decency,” Stiles snaps back and his eyes flash a quick red. “No one should be judged by what their families have done, you should know that best of all Isaac.”

           There’s silence and the curly haired boy frowns; the food comes at that point, breaking the silence temporarily. Tara frowns at Derek and asks if he’s alright, she doesn’t seem pleased with his quick shrug and walks away, glaring back over her shoulder at the other boys.

“Stiles mentioned you’re staying at that dingy motel,” Boyd says around a mouthful of waffles.

           Derek, focusing on his plate of eggs, grunts in response.

“I know a place, it’s not too expensive and it’s got some personality if you’re into that kind of thing,” Boyd continues and Derek stares at him sideways, still poking at the eggs.

“Eat Derek,” Stiles commands and he barely has it in him to snap back, so instead he shoves a forkful of runny eggs unto a piece of toast and then his mouth.

“Oh you mean the place Danny had that rave once?” Isaac comments, pouring a hefty amount of syrup on his pancakes.

           Stiles sighs again and turns a pleading look to Boyd.

“Yeah, it was nice,” he says instead.

“Well it held our whole grade plus most of our upper class men,” Isaac adds.

“Look can we not have the selling point of that place being that we went there for a rave like 8 years ago?” Stiles pleads.

“We can bring you there when we’re done,” Boyd supplies and Derek nods in agreement, mostly because if that place could hold a rave then it could definitely hold himself & his sisters comfortably.

           Turns out the place, when it’s not packing, is a pretty low-key apartment with an almost industrial style with its spirally metal staircase and brick walls. Derek likes it, likes the tall windows and the high ceilings, and when it turns out to cost less that his dingy apartment in New York, he doesn’t stop himself from signing the lease. His landlord is almost crying in gratitude when Derek hands him the cheque.

           The guys help him pack up his meager possessions and drop them off, but Derek has work and he’s almost grateful to leave the presence of the three guys. Not because any of them are being particularly strenuous in their interactions with him, but because he can’t handle being around people anymore.

           When he gets back home that night, he phones his sisters to tell them he got a place and tries his best to describe it as best as possible when he can’t send over some pictures. Laura sounds concerned and Cora wants him out when she finds out the Argents are still there. The three stay on the phone for a while and Derek tries his best to console the two through the distance.

           The place is barren and he’s left to curl up against a wall, facing the doorway, and his phone cradled in his hands. The place smells of the guys, of Stiles and Derek doesn’t know if it’s because of that, but he nods off.

[arohasfiction]

I will Never Leave you~

So this the first scenario i write about Rocky and i hope you enjoy it~����💜

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Pairing: Rocky x Reader

Gener: Fluff / Kind of Agnst

Word Count: 3334

Note: The characters phrases are coloured:

(You,Pink) ( Rocky,Light Blue) (Moonbin, Red)

(Jinjin, Green) (Eunwoo,Purple) ( Your Parents,Orange) ( Stalker, Bold Black)

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Summary: You are Rocky's Childhood friend and you spended your childhood days together playing and doing everything with each other, you even attended Elementary, Secondary and High school together you stayed by each other side in the Sad and happy moments you, Years later He become a trainee then an idol in ASTRO ,But you two never forget each other, you met in weekends and he invited you many times in hangouts with other members. Aslo you go to the same University as Eunwoo and you two share some classes together.

In one day out of all the days, you were supposed to meet Rocky and Astro members to go to the cinema. You finally reached the place but you only saw Rocky alone approaching you, He waved to you and you did the same, " Hey (Y/N)-ah" he said cheerfully, you greeted him as well with a wide smile, but then you asked him " But Minhyuk-ah, where are the others? Aren't they coming?" , " Mmmm no its just me and you today" he said while giggling to himself.

You both entered and watched the movie and suddenly you decided to go to the Karaoke, you ordered some smoothies and some snacks and started singing all of your favourite songs along with rocky who started dacing while you were singing.

Finally after you both got tired of all of this singing and dancing , a moment of silence appeared, when Rocky suddenly stood up from his place and came towards you and locked you between himself and the chair and pressed his warm lips on yours, you were caught off guard and you really didn't know what to do but since you already had a crush on him you wished that time could stop and you last like this for a more long time. He parted away but your faces were still close and with his wearwolf eyes he looked stright in your eyes and said " (Y/N)-ah, I love you~will you be my girlfriend? I know its weird and i shouldn't get my hopes up like that but-", you didn't give him a chance to complete what he was saying and immediately connected your lips together. You two kept kissing like that until you finally realized that its getting late and you both should head back to home. During the whole way back to your house you two kept smiling like dorks as you remembered what happened at the karaoke. " So we are dating right?" He asked you tho he already knows the answer , " of course we are.. hehe do you think what we did earlier was a dream?" , You kept laughing until you both went back to your home.

It has been already 4 months since you and Rocky started dating and only Astro members knew about your relationship, and your life was normal as always, waking up helping in house work( since you are in a summer holiday* you are a college student*) then going to your shift in your part time job at the convince store which happens to be near Fantagio entertainment and Astro's dorm which made you meet the boys almost everyday . That day Suddenly someone entered the store and it was your boyfriend Rocky, he took a banana milk from the fridge shelf and placed it on the counter, he kept looking at you while smiling as you were scanning the banana milk, " Here you go" you said with a smile on your face " Hehe thanks, btw when does your shift end? And do you have plans after it?" He asked you , " Mmm it will end in 2 hours, and no i don't have plans I'll head Immediately to home after this... But why you're asking?" , " Well nothing i will pick you up and walk you home today" you jumped excitedly saying " Really?!! For real?!! Heheh can't wait till the shift ends". He waved at you and then went back to the agency.

After two hours your co-worker came and then you took your bag and went out to find Rocky standing and waiting for you. You both secretly held hands( since nobody really knows about you two dating cuz you know it might cuz a scandal) and walked all the way to your home, you reached you home door and then he whined " Why does your home way has to be so short like that, i want to be with you more" you grinned at his words and you asked him " Minhyuk-ah~did you have dinner or not yet?". " No still " he replied , " Then let's go inside and eat i think my mom already made the dinner hehehe".

You both went inside you both greeted your parents and then all of you sat on the table to have dinner, you laughed and chatted together, you thought in yourself that it's good that your family are already familiar with Rocky since you both were together since you were kids, but what kept running in your mind is ,that how to tell your parents that you two were dating. You didn't tell your parents that you two were dating you didn't get the right time to tell them tbh. Later after dinner Rocky thanked your mother for the dinner and then you walked him to the door, " (Y/N)-ah, thanks for the dinner today, i had alot of fun, hehe its been a while since i came here" he scratched the back of his neck while giggling, " then i gotta go ... See you tomorrow (Y/N)-ah ", he said as he was heading out "be careful on your way back" you shouted at him with a smile , " Hahaha okay okay got it ,, just go inside already!" He said while signing to you to go inside. You went inside when you heard your mother calling for you, you went to her and she told you to sit next to her, you tried to read whats on her mind but you couldn't so you asked her , " Mommy is something wrong?" , " Well dear, i was thinking about this thing since the time Minhyuk entered" your mother said, you got a strange vibe from her words and she continued " Don't fall in love with him okay? You two just have to stay best friends as you are, you two aren't dating right?" You shrugged at what she said so you acted stupid " why mommy? is there something wrong if i fell for him, he is a kind and a warm boy and we've known each other like forever now " she cutted you " He's an idol did you forget that! I don't want my daughter to date and spend her life with an idol , i will never let that happen", you still didn't get why your mom is acting that way, your emotions took on you so you said " What's wrong with dating an idol, he's my childhood friend before becoming an idol you know that!", " You don't know ? Idol boys, they throw their emotions away and just use you, you are still young and won't understand what i mean!" She said while sounding a bit angry. " But mom you know that Minhyuk is different you saw him growing how could you think of him like that?, you even trust me on him whenever we hangout!" You said, you kept feeling your throat is hurting you when she suddenly said " Why you keep defending him like that?" , " Because he is my bestfriend he always protected me and I've trusted him since along time i can't just compare him to other idols that you saw, he is a different person" you got annoyed and got up of your place and went straight to your bedroom, you locked the door and slid over it, your tears fell silently on your cheeks, you couldn't just believe what you just heard, you thought about how finally you decided to tell them about you two dating, your memorise to the lovely moments you spended together rushed into your head, you got up and fell on your bed crying silently, he never hurted you and he was always warm and you felt safe around him, he even didn't look at other girls like the way he looks at you, just you. You kept crying till you fell asleep.

In the next morning you woke up and felt your head is heavy, you remembered that you cried alot last night , but you managed to pull yourself to the bathroom and took a shower, tho your mood didn't get any better , you just finshed the works you had to do in the house and went to your part-time job. As you were standing at the counter in the calm store spacing out thinking about what your mom said , you really wanted to show her that she's wrong and Rocky is not that type of people that she think he is. Suddenly you felt a hand waving infront of your face calling out your name " From Earth to (Y/N)-ah , Hey are you okay??!!" Said Moonbin to you. You finally got back to reality and saw him. You can say you were close to Moonbin since you know him from the time that Rocky became a trainee at Fantagio cuz he just introduced to him that time. " Oh I'm sorry i didn't see you entering let me scan it" you said. " Hey.. You look pale and tired are you sure you're okay?" You just nodded in reply cuz you didn't feel like talking today. Before he heads out he said " (Y/N)-ah if you're not feeling well you know your room is there in our dorm you can go and take a rest" ( you did have a room just for you in their dorm because sometimes time gets late and you end up sleeping there so they gave you this extra room so you can sleep there whenever you're late or tired). You forced a smile at him and then he went.

After your shift for today ended you headed back home walking but suddenly you felt someone running behind you calling out your name, you turned around to find your Bf running after you. " Hah-ha!! Wait hah-ha (Y/N)-ah, come a bit with me" he was out of breath but he held your hands and took you to thier dorm and you two immediately went to your room there. He closed the door and sat right next to you, you were looking down at the floor without saying anything , he placed his hands and raised your face from your chin " look in to my eyes (Y/N)-ah, Something happened right? Bin-Hyung just told me that you looked gloomy and pale", your tears started rushing out of your eyes so you immediately layed on his chest and hold his shirt from the back tightly . " Babe...." He said while pating your head gently. You started speaking " after you went yesterday my mom called me and talked to me about something", he listened to you carefully as you told him what happened yesterday with you then you looked at him almost sobbing " what if she knew about us and told us to breakup... I-i don't want that to happen i really-" he cutted you placed his lips on yours then parted " shhh.. don't worry babe, we won't break up I will figure out how to fix this misunderstanding don't worry i won't leave you ever , i will be right here like I've always been" then he kissed your cheeks. After a while you fell asleep on him so he just carried you and put you in the bed, he went outside to find the boys are still sitting waiting for him , Moonbin was worried on you so he asked Rocky , " Rocky-ah she was crying so loudly, is she okay? Is it something serious?" Appearntly everyone wanted to ask the same thing so they waited for rocky to answer. Rocky sighed as he sat between his hyungs and started telling them willing for a good advice from them. " Omg that's really serious" said jinjin, " we need to find a helpful way to help rocky and (Y/N) to tell her parents about them" continued Eunwoo, While they were talking your phone on the table rang so Rocky picked it up after seeing that your mom was the caller, " Hello Eomonie" said Rocky , " Oh-hhaha hello minhyuk, (Y/N)-ah haven't returned yet, is she with you? If she is please tell her to come back", " I'm sorry Eomonie but she already slept don't worry about her i will tell her as soon as she wakes up", " well okay then, i trust her on you" and then she ended the call . Later rocky went back to your room and slept right beside you holding your hands.

The next morning you woke up to see Rocky beside you sleeping peacefully you got up slowly kissed his forehead and then tried to get off the bed but , you felt his hand grabbing your wrist , " Where are you going?", " I gotta go back home, tons of work is waiting for me there and i didn't go back yesterday mom & dad must be worried", you said, " Oh its okay your mom already knows that you are here , she called yesterday after you slept and i told her". Later on you ate breakfast with them, went to home and then to your shift. It was a busy day at the store today . it was almost the last half hour of your shift and you were supposed to meet the boys at your college's basketball hall Cuz you forgot something at your art club. A young man entered the store, he acted weird, kept walking in there without buying anything for about 10min, you tried not look at him but whenever you gazed fell on him, you found him staring and giving you a smirk but you ignored him, 5 min later he left the store without buying anything, and your shift was over. You reached the college's basketball hall and met the boys, they were playing basketball so you just told them that you will get your stuffs from the Art club and then join them in playing. You didn't realize that the man from the store was stalking you out, as you walk to your club he was following you. You entered the room and started looking for your stuff when you heard the door behind you getting closed, you turned around and saw the man, you were shocked, " Who are you?!" You said furiously, he didn't reply and kept moving towards you, you stepped back as he moved until it was a dead end, you were locked between him and the wall, " Did you know how beautiful and hot you are?" He whispered in your ears. You pushed him immediately and told him to back off but no use , he was forcing himself on you and trying hardly to kiss you. Your mood went off and you pushed him strongly with both of your hands and then give him a kick in the stomach to move him off you, you also cursed him ( you don't do it usually but you reached your limits and really got annoyed and uncomfortable) . Rocky noticed that you're late and he texted you but he got no reply from you so he came to the art club along with the boys to look for you. At the same time the man got angry at your action" You little --!!!!" He shouted and Rocky opened the door at the same time to find that man pushing you hardly which made you fall and hit your head in the corner of the table and you lost conscious immediately, your head started bleeding alot, Rocky stepped infront of the man and hit him right in the face with his full power of anger and made the man fall down on the ground, Jinjin & Mj tried their best to stop Rocky from hitting the man anymore cuz they might get in more problems while Moonbin was struggling so hard to stop your bleeding head and waking you up at the same time, Eunwoo called the emergency to get an ambulance while sanha was sitting on the Stalker to keep him down from moving.

After getting you to the hospital, you got your treatment but still unconscious, Rocky was too scared that something bad might happen to you, because your injury was serious. He was sitting by your side holding your hands and drying the sweat of your face gently, Your Parents Rushed to you after jinjin called them, they stayed with you until late night along with rocky who was standing next to the window, " Eomonie, Abeonim, you should go and eat and get some rest, i will stay here don't worry" said rocky warmly to your parents , they nooded and walked outside the room but before going out, your mother turned to you and saw rocky talking to you , " (Y/N)-ah please wakeup fast, Your Parents are too worried about you, you shouldn't worry your parents, i Know you are a strong girl, please wakeup for your parents and for my sake please" He said in a cracked tone almost about to cry. Seeing you like that broke him, everything happened Infront of him and he couldn't do anything. The next day after your parents went yesterday, rocky stayed with you all night. Your parents came again early in the morning to find Rocky standing outside the room, they ran towards him worried, " Minhyuk, why are standing here?" Said your father, " Ohh the doctor is inside checking on (Y/N)-ah " said rocky, " What!! Minhyuk!! Did Something happened to her?!!" Said your mother in a frightened tone, " No no nothing happened she opened her eyes so i callled the doctor to check on her condition don't worry", and suddenly the doctor came out to tell your parents that your are fine and all you need is to rest, Rocky couldn't hold his smile after seeing you awake... After the boys came visited you and made sure to call them whenever you needed something, you stayed alone with rocky and your parents in the Room, " Eomonie,Abeonim, i have something to tell you..." Rocky said seriously, you felt that you know what he was about to say ,and you felt your heart beating so fast , " I like (Y/N)-ah since a long time ago, and we are currently dating, can both of you please give us your blessings ?!" . After your mother saw how gentle and caring rocky was to you she knew that she thought wrongly about him and she should give him a chance. You closed your teary eyes to hear your mother's 'No' but instead of that you saw her smiling and nodding at rocky's request. You couldn't believe your ears and eyes , your tears Started falling like a waterfall. " Well then dear , let's give them some space together" said your father to your mother while taking her out with him. Now you and rocky are alone, he came closer and whipped your tears and pressed his lips on yours , " See? I told you i will fix this misunderstanding and we will never be apart" you were speechless and hugged him tightly " Don't you ever leave me...I Love you so much Minhyukiii" you said while still being in his arms. 2 weeks later you came out and then spended most of your times now cuddling with Your boyfriend Rocky , you were happy that your mother changed her idea about rocky....

At the dorm's kitchen

" Chef Minhyuk! Can you make me something to eat please" you said with an Agyeo , he leaned and gave you a peek on your lips " Okay miss piggy" he teased you, " Heyy!! I'm not a piggy!! I Don't like that nick name!!" You pouted, " hahaha okay cutie pie " and you both started laughing~

The End.

[hi-i-love-u-bitch]

Turns Out Being a Super Hero Is Actually Really Gay! - Chapter 2

Yo, yo, yo! Y’all ready for the second chapter of this bullshit? Cuz I sure as hell ain’t because that means I have to now start writing chapter three and I have no idea where this story is going! Aaaaaahhhhhhh! But I’m excited though! Again, thank you to @sugarglider9603 and @ask-spiderverse-virgil for their lovely AU! Without further ado please ENJOY!!!!

Master Post

Beginning

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

Swirls of colors and sounds filled their head like passing movie commentary you skip over. Small glimpses in and out of consciousness that made no sense by themselves but when put together you get some sort of visual on the puzzle you’re trying to put together.

“…food poising…?”

“…stress maybe…”

“…flu…should rest…”

“…24 hour bug…”

They all made sense when you thought about it but the reality of it was that they weren’t just “sick” they had been poisoned. Not on purpose, though who could say for sure. Who knows what kind of DNA splicing was done on that spider?

Wait, when did they get poisoned?

What spider?

The spider we let out the window?

No, it’s in our room!

We don’t like spiders! They’re icky!

They aren’t so bad.

A soft chuckle. Of course, we’d think that. You’d think that? I’d think that?

Wait, what?

---

Logan woke up with a start, heart pounding and lungs burning. He clutched onto something solid next to him so as to steady himself. He blinked rapidly, eyes adjusting to the dim light of the room in was in, his room? When did he get here? Logan carefully turned to take in his surroundings; he was in bed, dressed in pajamas, right hand having latched itself onto his head board. He glanced at the alarm clock near his desk it read 5am which would explain why everything was so dark.

Logan’s throat felt dry, like every time he swallowed it was like a cheese grater scraping against his vocal cords. He also fest extremely hungry despite the events that had happened previously. Logan carefully got up to go get some water and maybe an early breakfast only to be pulled back into bed.

“What the…?” Logan looked around to see what had happened and found that his had was still on his head board. His brow frowned as he tried to pull it off but it continued to stick as if it had been glued on. He pulled again, a bit harder, but only managed bend over a section of the metal bed frame. Logan’s eyes widen in shock and awe as he pushed back against the bended area and effortlessly straightened it. Now Logan wasn’t weak by any means necessary but he never considered himself athletic material either, let alone able to bend thick metal bed frames!

A soft tap on the door, “Logan, love, are you awake?”

“Uh, yes Ummi,” He replied hoarsely before clearing his throat “what did you need?”

“What are you doing up so early?” She questioned “The doctor said you should be resting?”

When did he go to the doctor?

“When did I go to the doctor?” Logan asked lamely, seriously all these blanks in his memories were going to drive him insane.

“We didn’t, we had called Dr. Smith next door,” Mrs. Quinn explained “unfortunately the Storms had called him as well. It seems Virgil had gotten sick too, very similar to how you did last night.”

Her voice sounded distant, like the memory of it brought her immense pain and that hurt Logan more then he thought it would. Also, Virgil had gotten sick as well, has he also been bitten? He asked, “Is he okay? What happened?”

“He’s fine but I’m not quite sure what was going on with you two,” She sighed “you seemed to be in a lot of pain, both mentally and physically. It was…very unpleasant to say the least.”

That was an understatement.

“Dr. Smith said it was probably a seasonal bug going around as well as stress,” There was a beat of silence “Logan, have you been doing alright in your studies?”

“Yes Ummi,” Logan reassured “everything is fine.”

“And you haven’t been harassed by other students like that boy from yesterday?” She asked anxiously.

“No Ummi, I haven’t,” Logan said seriously “I’m alright, I promise.”

More silence filled the room, unsureness thick in the air because honestly Logan had no idea if he was really fine or not. There was definitely something different about him that’s for sure and it had to do with that spider. He saw it on his desk, siting in the jar he placed it in earlier as if it hadn’t caused all this trouble.

“Can I come in?” Mrs. Quinn’s voice snapped Logan out of his train of thought and in a brilliant moment of word association he said “N-no, I’m…no dressed.”

It was cleat that this wasn’t something Mrs. Quinn expected, “Why are you undressed?”

“I’m getting ready for school,” He replied quickly “this is my normal routine, is it not?”

“Yes, but I would hope you would stay home today,” She said “especially after yesterday’s events.”

“I feel better now,” Logan assured, which was true, he actually felt great just really, really hungry and thirsty.

“Well, you don’t have to be in school until 8am so maybe you should rest a little bit more,” She suggested “and if you’re still feeling up to it then maybe you can go to school.”

“Of course, Ummi.” He nodded, even though no one was there to see it.

“But if I find out that you’re even slightly ill, you’re staying home,” Mrs. Quinn said firmly “understood?”

“Understood.” Logan agreed, best not to argue least she come in her and find Logan in his sticky situation.

“Good,” She sighed “go back to sleep love, I’ll be by to check on you soon. Babá and me have to leave to work a little early today so I want you to make sure you’re completely fine to go to school, okay?”

“Yes Ummi,” Logan sighed and with one last get well his mother departed down the hall. Finally. Logan’s muscles relaxed, not realizing how tense he had been, and he felt his hand slip from the metal bars it was attached to.

Logan blinked in confusion, standing up carefully and walking to a nearby wall. He decided to experiment a little, placing his hand on the wall and tensing the muscles in his fingers, just a bit. Like he predicted it stuck solidly onto the wall, he relaxed and his hand slipped free. He did this a few times more, first with one hand, then with two then with his feet before deciding to see what would happen if he pulled himself up. Logan was able to lift himself a few inches off the floor with nothing but his hands and feet holding him in place somehow.

“Holy shit.” He whispered to himself.

Logan looked to the little spider scuttling around in it’s jar as it effortlessly crawled up and down the sides. He wondered…he detached one hand and lifted it further up, same with the other hand, right foot, left foot, and soon enough he was hanging upside down from his ceiling.

“Something is definitely not right.” Logan breathed out anxiously, wondering how the hell the others were taking to this.

---

Something was definitely not right with Patton. First of all, he woke up tangled in his bed sheets which wasn’t unusual for the most part but it was much more difficult to get out of this morning since everything kept sticking to him. By the time he was able to detach himself from everything he was standing (hanging???) sideways on the besides his bed. Needless to say, he freaked out and spent half an hour trying to get unstuck only to drop back down on his bed and get tangled in his sheets again.

Defeated, Patton settled starfish style on his carpet floor, half the sheet clinging onto his leg as well as other thing such as papers and markers and socks sticking to other parts of his body. Patton really wanted to cry, he had no idea what was going on or what to do about it. But he knew crying wouldn’t do him any good so he took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

In for four…hold for seven…out for eight…

“I wonder why no one has come into my room yet?” Patton wondered aloud, especially with all the ruckus he was causing.

He lifted himself off the floor, not noticing the things he had stuck too start to slowly slip off, reaching over on his night stand for his phone. He clicked it on and found a few messages from his brother Georgie but aside from that he looked to the date and found that it was Wednesday. It explained a lot, Wednesdays were the busiest for his family with his parents’ bakery always filling up, Alex is having the morning shift at his part time job before heading to university, and Georgie opening up at the dinner he worked at. He quickly opened up his text messages.

Georgeous: ma said shed get off work early if ur still sick

Georgeous: theres soup & crackers at your desk if ur hungry

Georgeous: also water

Georgeous: ma also said u dont have to go to school today if u dont wanna

Georgeous: doc said u should take it easy

Ever the doting older brother Georgie was, always looking out for Alex and Patton even if they could get on his nerves sometimes. He should bake him a cake as a “thank you for dealing with all my oopsies”. Patton sent him a reply along with a few questions.

Baby Shark: thanks but i feel better now

Baby Shark: when did i go to the doctor?

Georgeous: dr. ortega from down the street was alredy coming by to check on romen

Georgeous: turns out he was sick as well

Georgeous: ma asked her to come over when she was done checking him out

Baby Shark: is Ro ok?

Georgeous: yeah doc said it was probably the flu going around an it just got to u 2 realy hard

Georgeous: why didnt u tell us u were feeling sick?

Patton thought for a moment, how could he explain that he hadn’t been feeling sick at all up until yesterday afternoon after…after he got that bug bite. Then that weird dream he had just before he woke up stuck to the wall and tangled in his sheets. How was he supposed to explain that things kept sticking to him and that the world seemed much more sharp now?

Baby Shark: i didnt notice it much

Baby Shark: and when i did i just thought it would pass with a good nights sleep

Baby Shark: i didnt want to bother anyone if it was nothing

Patton didn’t like lying to people but he just had no idea what was going on and he doubt anyone else did either. This would just cause them to freak out and then what? More doctors? Would the government get involve? Were they gunna make him a science experiment now that he’s a freak?

Georgeous: still next time tell us even if its just a stomach ache

Baby Shark: ok

Baby Shark: i g2g and get ready for school

Georgeous: r u sure?

Baby Shark: yeah i feel a lot better now promise <3

Georgeous: ok but if u feel sick just call me an i’ll pick u up ok?

Baby Shark: ok bye love u <3

Georgeous: love u too

Patton sighed, flopping back on the floor. He felt sick again but not like before, this was a different kind of sick. A guilty pit in his stomach kind of sick that probably won’t go away any time soon. Oh well, he couldn’t change anything now, might as well move on with his day. First things first, he had some thank you cookies to make.

He lifted his phone to check the time, 7am, plenty of time to do a quick batch of peanut butter cookies and scones. He should hurry so he could go check on Roman afterwards, he did look a little down when they were walking home yesterday.

“I wonder…” Patton said aloud again as he stood up to get dress. He placed his phone back down on his night stand and noticed his glasses sitting beside his lamp. Patton blinked as he felt his face and found he indeed was not wearing his glasses and yet the world looked crystal clear as if he was.

“Oh geez…”

---

Virgil was very thankful that it was Wednesday, everyone always goes to work early on Wednesday since it was the middle of the week and for some reason Manhattan decided to be a world of chaos. He was also thankful that he grandmother was a heavy sleeper because he had no idea how he was going to explain this!

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” Virgil cursed as he desperately tried to unstick his feet and left hand from the ceiling. He had no idea how this happened or why it was happening he just knew that he wanted to get unstuck now!

Knock! Knock!

“Piglet, are you awake?” His grandmother called from behind the door.

“Uh, yeah,” Virgil squeaked “b-but, um, don’t come in I-I don’t have a shirt on!”

It was true, during his earlier struggle to get unstuck from his bed, which he at first thought was sleep paralysis, his hands got stuck to his shirt and tore it open when he was trying to unstick them.

“Well, I was just wondering if you wanted breakfast,” She said “I could make you a warm broth so as not to upset your stomach.”

“N-no thanks Mama,” Virgil said quickly, finally able to get his hand free “I’ll just have something at Logan’s house before I go to school.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” His grandmother questioned sternly “You were very sick yesterday and the doctor said to take it easy.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure,” He fibbed as he wondered when he had gone to the doctor.

“If you’re sure,” She said skeptically “just make sure you two don’t eat anything too heavy. I heard Logan got sick last night as well, the doctor said it was a passing seasonal bug.”

“Okay, sure thing,” Virgil gulped “I’m gunna get ready now, don’t worry about me.”

“We will always worry about you, Piglet,” His grandmother said gently “it’s what families do.”

And with that she was gone and Virgil was beyond relieved. Then he fell off the ceiling. He was thankful for the dirty clothes pile in the middle of his room that softened his fall but he also cursed it because that means more stuff got stuck to him.

He groaned, “Come on, come on! Unstick, unstick!”

He hopped around the room like a lunatic and was only able to shake off a few articles of clothes before he tripped. The fall wasn’t as soft this time but at least the floor was carpeted at least so he didn’t knock his head that badly. He had landed near his dresser drawer where JD’s tank rested on, the tarantula in question was practically pressed up against the glass and hissing worriedly at his owner’s misfortune.

“Hey buddy,” Virgil groaned as he pulled himself up to be eye level with the tank and all who inhabit it “I’m okay, don’t worry. Though I’ll be honest, I have no idea what’s going on.”

“Hurt! Master hurt!” JD chittered as he paced anxiously in his tank.

“I’m good really, you hungry?” Virgil asked before he paused to process what just happened. Did…did his tarantula just talk to him? No, no, it couldn’t be, he just hit his head too hard. Right?

“Food!” JD cheered excitingly as he scurried around his food bowl patiently waiting for something to drop.

Virgil’s eyes widen in shock, completely frozen in place as he stared at his pet tarantula who was excitingly chanting “Food, food, food!”. He noticed that there were little waves of colors radiated off JD like a sort of technicolor halo. It was all getting to be a bit too much.

JD scuttled back to the front of the tank, a confused look in his eyes, “No food?”

Virgil yelped, accidently launching himself backwards towards his desk where he got stuck again. God damn it! Papers flew around were everywhere and Virgil couldn’t see, he stubbled around not knowing where he was going as he tried to desperately to get things to stop sticking to him.

“Stop sticking god damn it!” He growled as he finally got the last piece of paper off of his face. His relief was short lived because to his horror he was not in his bedroom anymore but on the standing perpendicular to the side of his building. “Keep sticking! Keep sticking!”

He was about a foot away from the fire escape near Logan’s window and Virgil contemplated weather or not he had enough courage to jump over or if his stupid sticky body would even allow that to happen. Still, he tried, carefully shifting one foot in front of the other until he had inched his way over the fire escape. Thankfully, it was only then that his stickiness decided to abandon him as he fell onto hard metal. Virgil groaned, it surprisingly didn’t hurt as bad as he thought it would but it still hurt pretty fucking bad.

He heard the window above him open up and his head tingled when he saw Logan poke his head out, looking around before finally spotting him below. The waves of color were back but this time they were brighter and loud like some sort of signal. Logan was a mesh of blue and cool grey and by the look he was giving him Virgil was just as colorful.

Logan seemed to think deeply for a moment, his mouth a straight line of concentration, “I can assume my theory was correct.”

“What theory?” Virgil groaned as he slowly sat up, rubbing his sore head. He’d be lucky if he didn’t get a concussion after all of this.

Ignoring his question, Logan grabbed Virgil’s arm before he could warn him and pulled, “Come inside.”

“Wait!” Virgil was pulled into the room quite effortlessly as if he weighed nothing to Logan. Which wasn’t all that hard to believe, Virgil had always been a thin guy plus he was a dancer so that wasn’t helping with anything. But not to say Logan was weak but seeing as the most physical activity this guy does is walk to and from school, he should have had at least a little trouble getting Virgil inside.

“You’re not gunna believe this but JD talked to me and I fell from side of the building because I got stuck!” Virgil blurted out in one breath.

“Yes, I know,” Logan said coolly “I need you to relax.”

“How the hell do you want me to relax?!” Virgil screeched “I just fell from the wall and I’m sticking to everything!” To emphasize his point, he shook his hand which was now stuck on too Logan’s arm.

“I know,” Logan repeated “it’s been happening to me too but you need to calm down if you want to get unstuck.”

“How do you know?” Virgil cried, thoroughly done with this whole day and it hadn’t even started.

“Because I’ve been testing myself since 5am ever since I woke up stuck to the head board of my bed frame then proceeded to fold it and unfold it like it was paper!” Logan shot back, seemingly frustrated as well “Now breath!”

Virgil finally shut up and listened, breathing in for four…hold for seven…out for eight…then again, a few more times until he was able to unstick himself from Logan’s arm. He leaned back against Logan’s desk, wrapping his arms around himself as he anxiously looked towards Logan for answers. “What’s going on?”

Logan looked tired, his hair was messy and he had bags under his eyes but he looked determined, “I have few theories, mainly surrounding the spider that bit us.”

“Spider?” Virgil said, it couldn’t possibly be the same one from yesterday could it?

“Yes,” Logan said, grabbing a jar from behind Virgil and thrusting it in his face. Inside was the same spider from yesterday scurrying around the now web filled jar. “It’s from the same spiders we saw at the lab at Oscorp. Most likely the one that escaped.”

Virgil tilted his head curiously, “I thought the tour guide said it was back in the lab?”

“Obviously not,” Logan said deadpan.

“Trapped! Free!” The spider hissed causing Vigil to jerk back, kicking his leg up at the jar as Logan fumbled to grab it again.

“It fucking talked!” Virgil shrieked.

“Yeah, no shit!” Logan snapped, placing the jar near one of the shelves furthest from the panicking teen “I thought we established that with your spider!”

“Why is it talking?” Virgil snapped back.

“It’s not,” Logan sighed, straightening himself out as he reached to adjust his glasses only to realize he wasn’t wearing them “our sense have been enhanced to see and hear things better which in turn means we can hear certain frequencies better. It has been theorized that insects have their own language but the frequency at which it’s at it too high for normal human ears to pick up. What we’re hearing is a weak and choppy frequency so we’re only able to make out a few words.”

“Ah-huh,” Virgil nodded, still slightly freaking out “so what does this have to do with, mmh, everything else!”

“Don’t you see?” Logan said “We’ve been enhanced with artificial spider DNA! The venom injected into us was supposed to kill us but it instead latched on to our genetic coding and mutated us!”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Virgil rubbed his face anxiously “so, what your saying is we have spider-based superpowers like…like Rainbow Weaver?”

“Basically,” Logan shrugged “though all I’ve been able to find now is our abnormal adhesiveness, above average strength, slight sensitivity to radio waves, slightly larger range in frequency, faster reflexes, acute awareness and, as you’ve noticed, perfect eye vision.” He gestures towards his glassless face as evidence.

Virgil ran a trembling hand over the left side of his head, “This is crazy, this is impossible, this…this…” He tugged at his hair and realized “my hand is stuck.”

“Relax,” Logan soothed “you were able to get it unstuck before, you can do it again.”

“And if I can’t?” Virgil squeaked, panic beginning to rise once more.

Logan bit his lip nervously, “We’ll think of something.”

---

There was a note on Roman’s dresser from his mother when he woke, he tried to read it but he was stuck to his sheets and as well as a few other things when he came tumbling out of bed. Notebooks, scrap papers filled with important theater notes, dirty clothes, make up, and any other thing his body made contact with. At first, he thought it was a prank done by the twins but it seemed a bit excessive and a little to advanced. Plus, how would they even do that? Getting Roman to stick to everything without using some sort of glue?

Roman was able to rip most of the things off of him and finally walk over to the dresser. He didn’t risk touching it though, much too scared he’ll get stuck again, so he merely peered down at the note filled with his mother’s careful handwriting.

Descansa un poco, mi amor, el doctor dijo que tenías una enfermedad que había estado dando vueltas. Patton también lo tiene, pero he oído que ahora está bien, solo necesita descansar. No vayas a la escuela si no te apetece. Hay un caldo en el refrigerador para calentar si tienes hambre.

-Mamá

Roman squinted at the not confused, when had he gone to the doctor? When did Patton get sick? What the hell was going on? Billions of questions swirled in his head causing Roman a painful headache or maybe it was because he was super hungry? Either way he needed to get out of his room. Roman marched to the door and yanked it open but found that he was now stuck to the door knob.

“Pinche manos pegajosas!” Roman cursed as he tried to yank he’s hand off the door knob only to pull it off with him. He sucked a painful breath through his teeth though it wasn’t because he was hurt, more it had to do with the landlord finding out and charging them for the damage later. Roman fixed it the best he could for now before carefully side stepping around the door into the hall. He breathed a sigh of relief as he leaned back against a wall contemplating what was going on with him and how he was going to pay back the broken door knob.

How had he even done that? Sure, Roman liked to brag that he was athletic and junk, which he was, but even he wasn’t that strong to tear a door knob off it’s wooden frame. Also, he was really jittery, like there was a constant buzz at the back of his head that made him super aware of everything around him. Was this how his mother felt with four kids running around the house?

His stomach rumbled, train of thought gone and replaced with the want of food. So, Roman moved to stand from the wall, well, he tried, he was stuck again. A loud groan left his lips as he made the mistake to use his hands to push himself off. No surprise they stuck to so he used his feet…you see where this is going? Long story short he did end up making it to the kitchen but for some reason he ended up stuck to the ceiling, dangling by only his left foot. Which is how Patton found him.

“Roman?” Patton entered into the apartment dressed and ready for school with two bags of cookies neatly wrapped in clear plastic. There were swirls of baby pinks and blues radiating around him like a sort of weird halo of light. It buzzed and sang with in a weird yet familiar tune that was just…all Patton. Patton must have been able to see it too because he had this sort of curious looked as he continued to stare at Roman for a long time. Then Roman remembered the situation he was in, “Help!”

“Oh dear.” Patton sighed, snapping out of his trance and placing his cookies on the coffee table near the living room before heading over to inspect the situation. He grabbed onto his friends dangling arms and looked him straight in the eyes, “Roman, I need you to calm down.”

“How do you expect me to be calm right now?” Roman shrieked “I’m hanging upside down by my foot! From the ceiling! What even is going on?!”

“I’m not sure,” Patton replied calmly “but all I know is as soon as I started to calm down things started unsticking. So, I assume it’s going to be the same for you.”

“W-what? You too?” Roman asked a bit less panicked, it was good to know he wasn’t alone in this strange situation.

“Yes,” Patton soothed “then when I started stress baking everything stopped sticking. I’m guessing if you’re too anxious or tense it just gets out of control. So, I need you to try and calm yourself, deep breaths, you can sing a little bit if it helps.”

Roman took a few deep breath, trying to qualm his shaking nerves before starting to hum a little tune, “Isn't it lovely, all alone?/ Heart made of glass, my mind of stone/ Tear me to pieces, skin and bone/ Hello, welcome home.”

Finally, he unstuck and flopped right into Patton’s arms who, surprisingly, was able to carry him without any trouble. After being carefully set back on his feet once more Roman began to freak out again, “What the fuck is happening?!”

“I’m not sure,” Patton said, anxiously rubbing his hands “I just woke up sticking to everything and the world seems like it’s moving in slow motion and I can see without my glasses and none of my cute clothes fit me anymore!” He pouted, gesturing down towards his favorite jeans that had flowers embroidered at the cuffs and up the sides which used to fit Patton perfectly but now land few inches above his ankles.

Roman gazed sympathetically at his friend, had been ready to assure him that he still looked very cute only to be cut off by his rumbling stomach. “Dear God I’m starving.”

“I know what you mean,” Patton replied as his own stomach rumbled “I ate the soup my mom made me plus all the left overs plus the first batch of cookies I made and I’m still hungry!”

“I’ll be willing to share my soup and left over with you if you make me cookies later,” Roman bargained “I’d ask for those you brought over but I know those are special.”

Paton flushed red, quickly changing the conversation, “D-deal, we’ll eat then head off to school and…maybe find someone who can help us afterwards.”

“Like who?” Roman questioned “What other person has been going through the same shit we’ve been going through this morning?”

---

Virgil’s stomach rumbled as he and Logan made their way down the school halls, “For the love of god! We practically cleaned out all the left overs and snacks from both of our apartments and I’m still starving!”

“I’m guessing high metabolism should be added to the list,” Logan said, stopping by a nearby vending machine “Or maybe it’s the fact that our bodies are still going through puberty and the spider DNA has enhanced that as well, or maybe it’s a mixture of both.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet,” Virgil grumbled, carefully pulling down the sides of his beanie “by the way, you couldn’t of thought of anything better to get me unstuck then mutilating my hair?”

Logan rolled his eyes, bending down to retrieve the various treats he had purchased “We tried to get you to calm down for thirty minutes but you still remained tense. What were you gunna do? Stay stuck and let someone find out?”

“You could have at least done a better job!” Virgil snarked, taking the chips and candy bars handed to him.

“I’m not hairdresser,” Logan stated plainly, stuffing half a chocolate bar in his mouth “I did the best I could.”

“Well if this is your best, I don’t want to see your worst,” Virgil grumbled, stuffing a hand full of chips in his mouth “what are we even gunna do after this? Can we do anything? Who can we even tell?”

“Calm,” Logan soothed, a careful hand placed on his friend shoulder “we’ll figure something out. Right now we need to focus on finding Patton and Roman, they must be having just as difficult a time adjusting to their new found abilities.”

“Are you sure they were bitten?” Virgil asked skeptically “What are the odds of the same spider biting all four of us?”

“Patton’s bug bite from yesterday looked similar to ours and I can only assume since Roman was in close proximity to us, he was bitten as well,” Logan explain, readjusting his glasses which now had no lenses “my theory is that he got bitten during detention yesterday, then Patton outside, then you when you arrived home and found the spider, and finally me after I finished talking to my parents. Tell me, when did you start feeling the effects of the venom after you were bitten?”

Virgil thought a moment, “I took a nap and scrolled through Tumblr, my mom called me out for dinner and I was talking to my grandma and then…nothing. It’s all fuzzy after that.”

“Interesting,” Logan hummed “I remember being called out too after I caught the spider, then I sat down and…it’s all a blur from there. From what my parents told me I assume I was somewhat coherent enough to eat and talk, although it was somewhat slurred, then I began to malfunction.”

Virgil snorted, “You’re talking as if you were a computer.”

“It seems the spider is learning with each victim and increasing it’s dosage,” Logan continued, ignoring Virgil’s comment “which would explain why the effects happened faster for me then for you. And I can only assume the same can be said with Roman and Patton seeing as when they were bitten earlier on. But like I said, it is only a theory.”

“A game theory!” Virgil quoted with a laugh causing Logan to quirk and eyebrow “This isn’t a game Virgil.”

“Yeah, I know but I cope with sarcasm and memes,” Virgil grumbled, stuffing more chips in his mouth “sue me…”

Logan sighed, unwrapping another candy bar, “This is going to be a long day.”

---

Down the hall on the opposite side of the school Patton and Roman were having their own conflict. Still hungry after downing all the left overs and munchies they bought at the corner store before coming to school they were currently emptying out the vending machine. They were discussing their current predicament while spitting their purchase.

“How we were able to get here in time I will never know,” Roman grumbled, struggling to stuff his food in his backpack “are you still sticking to thing?”

“Not as much as this morning,” Patton said, finally able to zip his bag before sling it over his shoulder “you?”

“A little, I guess, I don’t know,” Roman sighed, opening a bag of Skittles “it’s just I feel like everybody is staring at us.”

“But there barely anybody in the halls,” Patton said “but I know what you mean. It’s like you can feel them from the inside of the class.”

“Yes!” Roman exclaimed softly “It’s fucking weird!”

The first period warning bell rings and the two friends make the journey down the hall to their class as did the rest of the remaining students in the hall. This whole situation was like some weird fever dream they couldn’t wake from. Their skin buzzed, their ears rang, their senses were just all over the place, it was all very overwhelming. Roman usually reveled in being under the spotlight but at the moment it seemed like there were too many eyes watching him and all he really wanted was to curl up into the nearest dark corner and sleep. He hadn’t had the time or ability to get dressed properly or do his make up and he was still in shock from everything that happened this morning. Patton, the usually cheery social butterfly, didn’t feel so cheery or social at all today. None of his clothes fit him right, everything was either too slow or too fast, and he had to take out the lenses of his glasses which really upset him because they were cute round rose gold glasses with rose tinted lenses and now, they’re ruined!

So busy moping were the two friends that if it weren’t for the tingly sensation at the back of their head, they would have missed Virgil and Logan passing them by. Granted they were distracted by their own conversation as well and were basically snapped into attention by the weird and colorful tingly sensation pulling them towards Patton and Roman. They were all a melting pot of technicolor waves, blending and buzzing with each other in some weird kind of dance. Virgil was a foggy storm of blacks and purples and white lighting which in theory should be dark and hard to see but was for some reason bright and beautiful. Roman was a swirl of bright white with streaks of red and gold dramatically singing a beautiful melody. Logan was a cool blend of dark blues and greys, a normally dull combination but it structured itself with such formality and care it was an exquisite display of stars. Patton was a pop of cotton candy pinks and soft blues bursting with life and richness, they bloomed like flowers in the spring time.

“You’re like me!” They said in unison.

It was then that they noticed they were still in the hall and even though there weren’t that many people around there were still people. Logan, with his quick thinking, ushered them all into the nearby boy’s bathroom and corralled them into the large stall near the back. Everyone was freaking out.

“You’re all colorful!” Patton said in awe.

“What’s going on?” Roman hissed.

“Why the fuck would I know?!” Virgil snapped.

“Shut up!” Logan demanded and the room was silent “I have a few theories, first off-”

The sound of a toilet flushing caught their attention, finally realizing they weren’t as alone as they thought. They tensely waited for whoever was out there to finish washing up and exit. The sound of boots echoed throughout the bathroom as the faucet opened and close multiple times. The hand drier blazed to life and for a moment the four teens thought they’d finally be safe until a familiar slimy voice said: “I know you nerds are in here!”

“God fucking damn it!” Virgil mouthed furiously, Dolion messing with them again is the last thing they need right now.

“Don’t think I couldn’t here your whispering,” Dolion hissed “what, are you here to fuck me over again? I already have another detention because of you assholes!”

The bang of a nearby stall door was heard then another and another each getting closer and closer towards them. Dolion growled, “Come out, come out, where every you are! Fucking cowards!”

The group didn’t know what they were so nervous for, what would Dolion do? Take them all on? And even if he did, they would just tell Mr. Larry and he would get in trouble again. Maybe it was the fact that they were all kind of lowkey scarred of Dolion, dude was a big guy, or maybe, just maybe, it was because they had weird mutant spider powers that they didn’t know what to do with and wouldn’t know the outcome of what would happen if Dolion tried to fight them now. But just as Dolion was nearing the last stall door the tingly sensation in the back of their heads told them to jump and so they did without hesitation.

The last stall door was kicked open, Dolion entered with a sneer and saw that it was completely empty. He did a double take, looking around confused, so certain he had heard people come in, that he had heard them come in. Shaking his head in irritation Dolion left the stall and marched out of the bathroom with a huff.

Meanwhile, clustered up on the ceiling, right above where Dolion had stood, were Patton, Roman, Virgil, and Logan who all let out a sigh of relief. “That was close.”

Then there was a loud creek and Virgil gulped, “Oh no.”

They all came crashing down along with the flimsy white ceiling tile that held them up their in the first place. They landed on the filthy bathroom floor with a thwap while the ceiling tile crumbled in half.

Roman groaned, “This is the fucking worst.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” Logan grumbled as he lifted himself from the floor “we shall further discuss the matter after school.”

“What do you mean after school?” Roman balked “I want to know what’s going on now!”

“Hey, genius, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I don’t think a public restroom in a high school is the best place to discuss our…condition.” Virgil snapped.

“They’re right Roman,” Patton butted in before his friend could reply “who knows what will happen if someone were to find out. Especially, Dolion.”

“Ugh, fine,” Roman sighed, he couldn’t say no to Patton’s puppy dog eyes “where shall we meet then?”

“On the roof.” Logan said.

“Why the roof?” Virgil and Roman asked simultaneously.

“It’ll be empty and secluded once clubs are over everyone has gone home,” Logan replied coolly “which I’m assuming all of you have, right? A club to attend, I mean.”

“Yes, I have culinary club,” Patton said “we’re working on the bake sale for Friday night’s game.”

“Shit, yeah, I have dance,” Virgil said then groaned “Ms. Green is gunna make me work double time for missing yesterday.”

“You dance?” Roman asked surprised.

“Uh…yeah,” Virgil rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment before snapping to the defensive “Is there a problem with that?”

Roman raised his hands up in surrender, “You think I, the theater geek, would be one to judge?”

“Well, you have with a lot of other things so excuse us if we’re a little surprised.” Logan chimed in.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Roman snapped.

“Exactly what I just said,” Logan said nonchalantly “anyways, I myself have debate club so we all should finish up at around the same time.”

“Hey, don’t just brush me off!” Roman said, frustration evident on his face.

“What use is there to continue on that topic?” Logan asked “It’s not important to our current situation.”

Ignoring Logan’s statement Roman continued his rant, “Are you saying that I judge people based on how they look and what they like to do?”

“Yes,” Logan said bluntly “now can we please move on?”

“It’s not true!” Roman cried.

“Speaking from past experiences talking to you that’s highly unlikely,” Logan huffed “especially with Virgil.”

Roman glared at the bespectacled teen, “I don’t-”

“Hey, now,” Patton stepped in once more “I know Roman can be a bit eccentric and talk a big game at times but that doesn’t mean he out right judges’ people without getting to know their character a little bit. You assuming that he does is a bit judgy of you now, isn’t it?”

Logan gulped nervously at the glare? Pout? Patton was giving him and he immediately felt guilty, “I…guess so.”

“And Roman,” Patton turned to his best friend with the exact same look “maybe sometimes you’re a bit too quick to assume certain things about people. Speaking your mind is one thing but sometimes you can be kind of rude.”

“You’re right, Pat,” Roman sighed, rubbing his tired eyes “I don’t mean to pick fights it’s just…I’ve had a long morning.”

“I know,” Patton said, eyes softening once more “so have the rest of us but that doesn’t mean we should start turning against each other. We need to stick together, we’re probably the only people on earth that know what each of us is going through right now. So, weather we like it or not we’re a team and we have to have each other’s backs.”

“Falsehood.” Logan said suddenly.

Virgil sighed, irritably, “Lo, don’t start up again…”

“No, I mean that we aren’t the only ones alone in this.” Logan corrected, all eyes were on him again, curious and anticipating.

The last warning bell rung and the four teens were uncertain if they should stay hidden and listen to what Logan had to say or start booking it to class. Thankfully, Logan decided for them, “After school, on the roof, don’t be late. Come on Virgil.”

And with that they all scurried out of the bathroom and raced to their first period.

---

It was almost comedic how none of them ever noticed how many classes they had together. Like aside from their electives they all basically had the same classes together. Roman and Patton usually sit in the back of the class near the window, easier to get away with napping and passing notes, while Logan and Virgil sat near the center where they could easily blend into the crowed and not be called on as often by the teacher. Though that still wouldn’t stop Logan from raising his hand and blurting out answers and corrections. Point being they’ve never noticed each other before, they were in their own world doing their own thing with other students filling in for background noise. But now with their new freakish mutant powers they couldn’t not notice each other, especially with their weird colored auras buzzing and lighting them up like a fucking beckon.

It was like that all day, in every class, they tried to play it off like it was nothing, like nothing has changed and they’re in their own world but it didn’t work. They just kept fucking staring at each other and it didn’t matter if they were subtle about it or not because that stupid zing at the back of their heads would go off every time, they would feel eyes on them, and they knew! They all knew but they kept doing it anyway! Why? Because what else could they do?

Lunch came and went, an internal struggle within each of them debating weather on not they should sit with each other. They had no reason to do so other wise unless they used the excuse of that school field trip project but even then, that was flimsy and suspicious. They did not need anyone else suspecting them of hiding something when Dolion was already on their case.

Speaking of which, Dolion had been keeping an especially close eye on all of them all day. He wasn’t in all of their classes but he was in most and aside from each other they could practically feel his eyes burrowing in to the back of their heads. It did not help that this mutant power made them feel ten times more aware of themselves and the things around them. Their skin crawled when someone would accidently brush against them, they’d flinch when the bell rang, they’d race to their next class to get out of the crowed halls because it was so jam packed with people and noise and smells and they just couldn’t breathe.

Virgil was having the worst time out of all of them. His anxiety got bad sometimes and even on good days it could sneak up on him and leave him with a shitty day but this…this was the fucking worst! He kept accidently sticking to things and Logan had to say behind and help him out and that just made him feel even worse and caused them to be even more late for class.

Roman and Patton watched them from the sidelines, out of sight but never out of range. They weren’t too sure if they should intervene or mind their own business so they just lurked around like creeps. They figured if Logan or Virgil needed help, they would ask them and in turn they would do the same. Still, the day passed and none of them said a word to each other. Not even Logan and Patton who were stuck as lab partners. What would they even say?

“Yeah, nice weather we’re having, also do you think we’ll grow extra limbs now that we have mutant bug powers?”

Electives were the only classes they had by themselves and some how that was an even worse distraction. At least with four other people flashing like beckons you knew someone was right there when you needed them because they would understand your situation. But being alone, surrounded by other students, trying to act normal when you know that is far from the truth, is just horrible. How the hell were they going to get through their club meetings?

---

Patton never thought he would dread going to culinary club but here he was hiding behind the nearby lockers debating weather or not he should just bail and wait on the roof by himself. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending how you look at it, he didn’t have to decided because one of the girls from his club spotted him.

“Hey Patton, it’s good to see you,” Her name was Valerie and she was the sweetest person Patton has ever met “we missed you yesterday, where’d you go?”

“Oh, uh, hi Valerie,” Patton fiddled bashfully with the end of his shirt “I-I got detention.”

“What? Why?” Valerie asked, quite shocked “Out of everyone in this school you’d be the last I’d ever expect to get detention.”

Patton became red with embarrassment, “Well…Dolion played a prank on me and I kind of freaked out. A friend of mine named Logan stood up for me and kind of scolded him but then Dolion got mad and wanted to fight him. Then me and my other two friends, Roman and Virgil, were trying to break them up but then Mr. Larry came in and saw. So, he gave us all detention but it didn’t go on our records and Dolion got extra detention this weekend.”

“Gosh, that must have really sucked,” Valerie said sympathetically.

Patton shrugged, “I just feel bad that I got all my friends in trouble because of something so dumb.”

“Hey now,” Valerie said sternly “it’s not your fault that Dolion was being a jerk and picking on you. Plus, your friends really care about you Patton, they don’t want to see you in distress.”

“Yeah, but I wish I could have done something more then just stand there,” Patton said glumly “if it hadn’t been for them I probably would of ran off crying.”

“Aw Patton,” Valarie sighed “sometimes you’re much too sweet for your own good. And sometimes that sweetness can cause you trouble but you have to remember, you’re worth standing up for.” she reached over and gently grasped his hand, “It’s okay not to feel happy all the time too.”

“Yeah I know,” Patton sighed “it’s just…”

“I know, I know, you don’t want to worry anyone,” She smiled sadly “you must have had a really bad morning to be able to rant to me.”

“I’m sorry.” He apologized.

“No, don’t be,” She assured “it’s good to talk about your problems, it’s a good way to help air out your feelings.”

“Well, thanks for letting me rant.” Patton chuckled.

“Any time,” Valarie replied “now we should get going, the meeting is going to start soon. Also, you never got around to teaching me that lemon square recipe.”

“Oh gosh, that’s right,” Patton said “I am so sorry, I was going to teach you yesterday but then detention and-”

“It’s fine, Patton,” Valarie soothed before he could continue “you have plenty of time to teach me to day if the meeting doesn’t run too long.”

“Absolutely.” Patton beamed, though it wasn’t totally genuine. He was still very stressed and anxious to be in a room full of people alone. Though out in the empty halls talking with Valarie had been nice so it gave Patton a little bit of hope he could do this. But that had just been them alone, what would he do when he was in room full of students and loud baking utensils? Patton gulped as he followed Valarie into the culinary class room and for once hoped for a short meeting.

---

“One, two, three! One, two, three! Virgil, you’re off again!” Ms. Green sighed as she turned off the stereo. The entire class groaned, this was the third time they had to start the routine over because Virgil kept missing a step or getting off beat or something. It was seriously starting to stress him out more then he already was. Usually doing ballet helped calm his anxiety but right now with all the weird shit happening to his body it’s doing the exact opposite.

“Take five!” Ms. Green announced and the class disbursed into mindless chatter.

Virgil sighed tiredly as he began to trudge back to his bag near the back of the dance studio only to be stopped by Ms. Green. “Mr. Storm, please come here a moment.”

Virgil whined pathetically as he slowly made his way over to his dance instructor who looked very frustrated, “Yes, Ms. Green?”

“What’s going on with you today?” Her frustrated frown morphed into one of concern once she saw Virgil’s distressed face.

“Uh,” Virgil tugged at once side of his beanie nervously “I’m just not…feeling too great. I-I mean, I didn’t feel great last night so it’s kind of…lingering?”

“Is it because of your detention yesterday?” Ms. Green asked, she didn’t look mad or disappointed as Virgil previously thought, just curious.

“Kind of,” Virgil fibbed “there was a bug, I mean, there is a bug going around the school. Not a real bug, of course, like a cold and flu bug. Yeah, like that. Uh, I was sick and the doctor said it was a bug.”

Nailed it.

Ms. Green corked an eye brow suspiciously, “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Virgil said a little too quickly before sighing “I’m fine, just…gotta find my rhythm again. It’s still getting out of my system…the bug.”

“Ah-huh,” Ms. Green nodded slowly “you’re lucky you don’t compete in anything. Although you really should.”

Virgil gave her a weary smile, having had this conversation too many times before and not wanting it to have it today of all days. Ms. Green kept on insisting that Vigil enter in dance competitions or audition for the production of Swan Lake they’d be doing in the spring. But Virgil kept rebutting that if he could barely get through a simple dance recital without vomiting on stage there was no why he’d be able to last through a four-act performance.

“Still not my thing Ms. Green.” He replied with a tight smile.

Ms. Green sighed, quickly dropping the subject, “Alright, go take five. Stretch out and be ready to go again. Start getting focused.”

“You got it.” Virgil gave her a thumbs up as he began to walk backwards towards his bag. He heard his stomach rumble for the fifth time and groaned as he searched through his backpack for any more chips.

“Skip out on lunch?” A voice asked from behind.

Virgil turned to find Terrance smiling at him with an extra water bottle shoved near his face. He quickly took it before addressing his question, “No, why do you ask?”

“That is a lot of wrappers,” Terrance pointed towards Virgil’s bag which was overflowing with candy and chip wrappers like some sort of volcano “I’m guessing you’re the one that emptied out the vending machine near hall B?

Virgil flushed, embarrassed as he stuffed the wrappers back in his backpack, “N-no, this was breakfast.”

Terrence frowned disapprovingly, “That’s pretty unhealthy.”

“Don’t worry, that’s not the worst thing that’s happened today.” Virgil assured as he finally found one last candy bar and stuffed it in his mouth. Before Terrence could ask what Virgil meant by that Ms. Green was already calling everyone back.

---

Roman loved play rehearsal, seeing things get slowly piece together as the day of the play got closer and closer. And when you finally go on stage its even more amazing then you could ever imagen because you’ve spent months building this from the ground up, costumes, props, lighting, hours and hours of practice. It was all just great and amazing and Roman loved every minute of it!

“Is this a dagger which I see before me,/ The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.” Roman recited.

“Cut!” His director, Mr. Bell, called out “Roman, your blockings off again.”

Just not today…

Roman groaned, “Sorry, sorry, sorry, let’s- can we do it again?”

“It’s okay,” Mr. Bell sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose “let’s all just…take five.”

And with that the house lights went on and the students disbursed to go do their own thing. Actors huddled together to recite lines, techs came down for their box for fresh air and socializing, crew fiddled around with stage and props, and Roman exited stage left towards the dressing rooms.

Roman hated this, his new abilities were throwing him why off balance in both the physical and mental sense. The stage lights burned his eyes, he could here the whispering backstage, the creaking from the catwalk, and all eyes on him. For once in his life Roman did NOT want to be the center of attention.

“Hey girl!” Roman paused to see Remy waving at him as he came down the latter one of the catwalks.

“Hey Remy.” Roman smiled tiredly, he was in no mood to put up a charming persona and thankfully Remy was the type of person that could care less about keeping up appearances. He liked to “keep it real” like that.

“Oh god, you look like shit,” Remy replied once he was on the ground, sipping on a Starbucks cup that he always seems to have with him “what happened?”

Roman inhaled deeply, “So many things that I can even begin to comprehend myself. But I’m fine, really.”

“Woof,” Remy said “must have been some bad shit that went down because you’re usually a one hit wonder out there. But five takes? You sure you okay, boo? I heard what happened yesterday with that dick Dolion.”

“Yeah, it’s all fine now,” Roman sighed as he stretched his arms “just got to shake it off and get centered again.”

“Mmh, okay,” Remy shrugged nonchalantly “but if you ever need me to beat a hoe just ask. I don’t mind dirtying up my new Doc Martens.”

Roman chuckled, “Thanks but no thanks, I’ll keep that in mind though.”

“No prob babe,” Then Remy smirked “also, I saw you and Virgil Storm getting along quite nicely yesterday. Anything going on there?”

Remy laughed as Roman groaned again, flushing a deep scarlet before scurrying away “I’m gunna go practice my lines elsewhere.”

---

“Ethan Zuckerman, Associate Professor and Director of the Center of Civic Media, stated that ‘Social media is critically important in giving voice to communities who’ve been systemically excluded from media – people of color, woman, LGBTQIA people, poor people. By giving people a chance to share their under-covered perspectives with broadcast media, social media has a possible role in making the media ecosystem more inclusive and fair’,” Emile Picani stated proudly “we are in an era where word gets around faster and problems can be caught early on to help fix them. We can share information and opinion that everybody can see and sort out issues much faster because of it.”

“Falsehood,” Logan said as soon as Emile finished “what about the manipulation of public opinion over social media platforms which can eventually lead to a critical threat to public life? Samantha Bradshaw, Researcher on the Computational Propaganda project at Oxford University, wrote a paper about how government agencies and political parties are exploiting the use of social media platforms to spread misinformation, exercise censorship and undermine trust in media, public institution, and science. Science Picani!”

“Yes, but where would we have learned any of this without social media,” Emile rebutted “not a lot of people are too keen on the idea of going to the library and reading research papers. Sometimes, small articles online talking about the issue can help spread awareness to others.”

“Yes, but can’t those same articles spread lies and slander at the same time?” Logan countered “Misleading people once more when they could have easily gotten the information from the source.”

“Who says there aren’t articles and groups dedicated to these ideas?” Emile said “In a hilarious state of irony, these groups came together because of social media, they made connections and helped raise awareness towards a common goal. Now, I’m not saying that social media is perfect but it is an important part of our culture. We should be working forward to improve it instead of tearing it down.”

Silence.

Logan chewed at the end of his thumb nail, absolutely stumped on what he should say. He hasn’t been able to think clearly all day. Everything was too loud and too quiet, to fast and too slow, it was driving him crazy.

The buzzer went off and the sound of Mr. Shelton’s voice boomed throughout the room, “Time. Picani wins. Brake time everybody, then we’ll choose teams for the next topic.”

Logan groaned, letting his head drop against the desk with a loud thud. A shadow loomed over him and he turned his head to the side and came face to stomach with Emile Picani’s yellow sweater. He lazily looked up to see the nervous yet concerned smile on Emile’s face.

“May I help you?” Logan mumbled.

Emile shook his head, “No, I was just wondering…are you feeling okay Logan? You were kind of…struggling to keep up back there.”

“No, I wasn’t,” Logan quickly defended, sitting up straight “I just…have a bit of a cold.”

“Oh, yes, of course,” Emile quickly backtrack nervously “but, um, are you sure there’s not something else wrong?”

Curse Emile and his advanced human psychology classes. The kid was already super empathetic as it was as well as the second smartest student at the school. Logan being the first of course.

“What ever do you mean?” Logan said blankly, though inside he was panicking.

“You just seem kind of distracted by…” Emile made a vague gesture with his hands “Everything. Like, you’ve just suddenly realized the world is moving around you. Does that make sense?”

Yes, it did but Logan was not about to admit it because if he did Emile would be able to use that little amount of information to pull everything out of him. Emile wasn’t malicious by any means, next to Patton he was the kindest person you’d ever meet. He just had a way of making people feel comfortable enough to open up about their stress and (ugh) feelings.

So, he lied. “No, it does not make sense.”

Emile stared at him for a minute and Logan tried his best not to squirm under his intense gaze. It felt as if he was trying to search through the inner mechanisms of Logan’s brain just by scanning over his physical form. Finally, he blinked, sighing as he gave Logan a half-hearted smile. “You can be a tough cookie to read sometimes. Then there are other times where you’re an open book. It’s all very confusing.”

Logan didn’t know if he liked that metaphor or not so he just said what he thought was appropriate. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, no, no, you have nothing to be sorry about Logan,” Emile assured anxiously “I’m just being nosy and weird.”

“I don’t think you’re weird.” Logan said honestly. Yes, Emile was childish and liked cartoon but he was also extremally smart and one of the few people Logan can properly debate with without having to dumb down his vocabulary.

Emile blushed but gave a wide genuine smile, “Thanks for thinking so. Um, I’ll get out of your hair now.”

Logan nodded as he watched Emile walk away to socialize with the other members. His head returned to the desk, cheek pressed against the cool plastic wood, as he stared at the clock counting down the minutes left until he could meet the others.

---

They all bumped into each other on the third floor, literally, they were so jittery with nerves and excitement they were practically sprinting towards the roof. They were quick to collect themselves before silently making their way up the fourth floor towards the stairs leading to the roof. They didn’t have to stay silent but just as it’s been all day, they had no idea what to say to each other, plus the paranoia that someone could be listening in like in the bathroom this morning.

They quickly filed out onto the wide-open space of the roof top, each standing about five feet apart from each other, not moving just, not talking, just listening. They hear the construction happening down the street but not just the noise of the machine scraping against the pavement but the conversations between coworkers about getting a beer after work. They could sense the movement of scurrying students beneath them as they all hurried to catch up with friends and walk home. They looked into the distant skyline where the city clustered together and they could make out every detail of every building, tree, person, and sidewalk. They could smell the warm pretzels being sold down town, cigarette smoke in cafes, and cheap perfume from the boys locker room. They could taste the bile building in their throats, the world around them becoming too much, it frightened them.

“What’s happening to us.” Virgil whimpered, pulling his jacket tighter around himself.

“I-I have a theory,” Logan stuttered out, taking a deep breath to calm himself “we were all bitten by the same enhanced super spider which had previously gone missing during our field trip to Oscorp yesterday.”

“I thought the guide said it was back in the lab.” Patton squeaked out, frantically looking around for more spiders.

“Yeah, how can you be so sure it’s the same spider?” Roman said skeptically.

Logan slid off his back pack and began rummaging through it until he pulled out a jar full of webbing and a familiar little spider inside. Virgil gawked at his best friend, “You brought it to school?”

“I didn’t trust leaving it at home alone,” Logan stated simply “I feared it would escape.”

“Escape…” the spider hissed “Freedom…”

“It talked!” Roman and Patton shrieked, scrambling backwards a few steps.

“Technically, it didn’t,” Logan said coolly, readjusting his glasses “it’s just that we can now hear at a higher frequency and can now get bits and pieces of conversations from-”

“That’s great Einstein but what does that…thing have to do with how we are now!” Roman cut in, getting more and more frustrated as time went on.

Logan glared at him but decided he was ultimately right and should get to the point, not that he would ever tell Roman that. “If we compare our bug bites, I can assure you that they will all look similar. Assuming that we all suffered the same symptoms afterward, nausea, dizziness, vomiting, memory laps, and/or fainting, then woke up like…this, my hypothesis is that the spider’s venom caused a mutated our DNA.”

“How can you be so sure?” Roman asked, taking a step forward with Patton clinging to the back of his shirt like a koala. Roman was ninety percent sure Patton had gotten himself stuck but that was something to worry about later.

“I mean, the evidence is irrefutable,” Logan said “but to be truly sure I’d have to do a blood test but I currently do not have the equipment for that and neither does the school.”

“Of course, you checked for that,” Virgil sighed, wanting to rub his face but worried his hand would get stuck again “So, what now? Are we gunna take it back to Oscorp or something? Because I’m pretty sure it’ll be mighty suspicious when four teenagers walk up to the front desk carrying a multimillion-dollar spider inside a Crofters jam jar.”

“Cookies!” Patton announced loudly, startling everyone, especially Roman since it was right next to his ear. Patton whispered an apology to his friend before detaching, with a bit of difficulty, from his back and searching through his back pack. He pulled out two clear colorful baggies, one filled with scones and another filled with peanut butter cookies.

Patton stepped forward to gift his friends the cookies only to suddenly stop short, “Um, can you…” he gestured towards the jar in Logan’s hands “p-put it away?”

Logan blinked owlishly before suddenly realizing what he meant and quickly tucked away the creature in his back pack, “Oh, yes, right, your, um, arachnophobia. I apologize for my ignorance.”

“Wow, Logan apologizing,” Virgil gasped in fake awe “that’s a first.”

Logan glared at his best friend but was soon faced to face with a smiling Patton, “I hope you like them. I was going to make them last night but then…ya know, that happened and I was a bit…frazzled this morning. So, tell me if they turn out okay, okay?”

“I’m sure they’ll be quite…adequate.” Logan gulped nervously, Patton was way too close but this wasn’t anything new. Patton seemed to have very little personal space with people he deemed his friends but right now with their newfound abilities he was just a burst of color and energy.

“Let’s hope your right.” Patton giggled before moving towards Virgil who took about two large steps back.

“J-just…put ‘em- on the…the…I’ll get them on the ground.” Virgil stuttered out, his hands moving along with his words as if it would help convey his feelings in the situation at hand.

Thankfully Patton got the hint and smiled warmly as he carefully placed the cookies on the ground before stepping back towards Roman. With a relieved sigh Virgil returned to his spot and picked up the bag, wordlessly nodding his thanks towards Patton.

“So, what are we gunna do?” Roman said, suddenly bursting the friendly atmosphere. He was really on edge right now and it was an overwhelming crushing feeling that just kept growing with every passing minute. “You said earlier this morning that there was someone similar to our situation, who?”

Logan cleared his throat, pulling out his phone and tapping a few things, “Right, well, who is someone that is well known to the public who climbs walls, has super strength, and has sort of spider like tendencies.”

It was silent, the three other teens looked clueless and Logan was just a bit disappointed. He turned to Virgil with a look and said, “Seriously, Virgil?”

“Dude, I can’t remember half the things I’ve done today, okay, everything is just like…” Virgil groaned, waving his arms around “and if I’m honest I’m still kind of freaking out, like, internally and maybe a little bit externally too. I don’t know, give it time.”

“Rainbow Weaver,” Logan said blankly “Rainbow Weaver has these same abilities.”

“Rainbow Weaver?” The trio replied, the wheels finally turning in their head.

“Yes.” Logan nodded.

“Okay, wait,” Roman said “two questions: 1) What makes you think Rainbow Weaver will even consider helping us? And 2) Even if he did, where would we find him?”

Logan continued to tap on his phone before flipping it over to show the other, “According to his fan page on Twitter: on 5th street near main.”

“That’s ten blocks away,” Patton said glumly “we’ll never make it on time.”

“Even if we run that’s at least thirty minutes tops.” Virgil added.

“Anymore bright ideas, pocket protector?” Roman snarked.

“Just about,” Logan said coolly, as he began to collect his things before slinging his backpack securely on himself. He turned a whole 360 degrees before stopping in place and making his way towards the left side of the building. The other’s followed, curious as to what he was looking for, they peered over at a few smaller buildings next door clustered together with signs obscuring the view of the roof tops as they reached higher and higher the deeper you went into the city.

“This’ll do.” Logan said as he began to walk back.

“This’ll do for what?” Virgil asked but he wasn’t answered because Logan was now sprinting back towards them and he wasn’t slowing down.

The others, panicked, blocked his path screaming and begging for him to stop and explain what the hell was going on. But even that did nothing to deter the bespectacled teen because he simply jumped, high. It surprised everyone, including Logan himself, when he was able to leap clear over not only all of them but all the way to the next building. He stumbled on his landing, legs tripping his forward before he was able to finally find his footing. Stunted silence and open mouths were left in his wake before Logan snapped out of his stupor and laughed with all the giddy glee of a child who just met his favorite super hero.

“Oh my god, that was exhilarating!” Logan cheered, waving his arms over at his friends “Come on! Come on! You gotta – you gotta do this!”

“You’re fucking crazy!” Virgil wheezed out, gripping onto the side of the building for dear life.

Roman chewed at his bottom lip before finally sighing and running back, “Fuck it.”

“W-wait, Roman, kiddo!” Patton squeaked “Shouldn’t we think this over first?”

“I did think it over,” Roman said, setting himself up for a running start “and I’m not gunna let iDork get ahead of me.”

“You’re both crazy!” Vigil shrieked.

Roman didn’t answer, instead he charged forward, wind whipping his hair and adrenaline pumping throughout his body. He got to the ledge and quickly used it as leverage to leap up, floating in mid air for just a moment before he came rocketing down towards the roof. He didn’t land as far as Logan but he had a much better landing, legs bent as he shakily straightened himself out. Roman looked towards Logan who was smiling like a mad man and Roman couldn’t help but join in his excitement.

“Holy shit you guys!” Roman exclaimed, jumping up and down “You have to try it! It’s amazing!”

Patton gulped nervously before looking towards Virgil, who was just about ready to have an aneurysm. He extended a nervous hand towards the emo boy and asked begged, “Jump with me.”

“What?” Virgil’s voice cracked as he took a step back “Are you serious?”

“Yes, no, kind of…” Patton whimpered “I don’t wanna do this alone! I’m scared a-and you’re scared too. B-but Logan and Roman were able to do it and more then likely we’ll be able to do it too, s-so with both of us pushing us off we’ll have a better chance of landing safer. Right?”

Virgil looked at Patton like he was insane (which he was!) staring between his face and the hand extended towards him. Finally, after a long silence, Virgil sighed, “Screw it.” And firmly took Patton’s hand as they made there way back towards the center of the building.

“If we fall I’m using you as a cushion,” Virgil threatened, hand squeezing Patton’s tightly “I’m just joking, I’m just…really fucking scared right now.”

“It’s okay,” Patton said warmly, squeezing back just as tight “I am too but you don’t need to jump with me if you don’t want to. I’m sure we can figure another thing out.”

“N-no, no, it’s fine,” Virgil assured quickly “it’s just we gotta do it now before I psych myself out.”

Patton nodded firmly, looking ahead as he and Virgil prepared to sprint forward. They heard shouts of encouragement from Logan and Roman, who were still riding on their adrenaline high, as they began their charge. Blood pumped loudly in their ears, legs picking up traction much faster then they were expecting, and just when Virgil thought he was going to freeze up at the last-minute Patton boosted forward giving him a strong tug before they were finally soaring through the sky. They looked to the sky line, at the busy city and its scurrying people and for a moment it was as if they were flying.

They collapsed into a heaping pile on the roof next door, groaning as Logan and Roman rushed over to help them. Virgil was quick to dust himself off, laughing like a lunatic as he did. “That was awesome!”

“Yeah!” Patton chimed in, jumping to engulf Roman in an excited hug.

“We should be able to reach him if we head this way!” Logan cut in through the excitement, pointing towards the building roof tops heading towards the heart of Manhattan.

The boys looked at each other, momentarily questioning weather this was a good idea, before a sly determined grin spread across their faces and they began to sprint, throwing caution to the wind.

---

“Whooohooo!” Patton screamed joyously as he and his friends ran and jumped across the roof tops at a speed, they did not think was possible for a normal human.

They forgotten the map on Logan’s phone long ago and had no idea where they were going but somehow, they just knew they were going the right way. The tingling sensation at the back of their heads tugged them towards their destination as they enjoyed the rush of wind in their ears and adrenaline in their veins.

They reached their destination in no time but since they did not see their intended target anywhere, they decided to circle around a little to see if they could catch him. Though mainly the boys just wanted to see what they could do with their new-found powers. Climbing up the side of buildings, walking across utility wires, and using abandon construction sights as their own personal jungle gym. Somehow, they ended up on the roof of a pretty tall office building and decided to take a rest.

“Jesus Christ!” Virgil laughed hysterically “We’re so high up!”

“Are you okay?” Logan asked, he was concerned, really, he was, but Virgil’s laughter was contagious and the adrenaline was still buzzing in his system.

“No,” Virgil giggled as he laid down on his back “but give me a minute.”

“Deep breaths, kiddo,” Patton said as he flopped down next Virgil “this is a lot of excitement for one day, even for me.”

“I’ll second that.” Roman agreed as he too joined them on the ground.

Logan shrugged and settled himself between Virgil and Roman, all of them star-fished out in a circle watching the clouds roll by. Silence fell upon them once more as they began to soak in all that had happened to them that day. They weren’t as overwhelmed as they had been that morning, maybe running and jumping across buildings let them take out some of that jittery energy they had stored inside. Don’t get them wrong, they were still kind of freaking out but they were a little more calm about it. Especially since they knew that they weren’t alone in their endeavor. Sure, they might not be able to get Rainbow Weaver to help them but at least they had each other and that was a comfort that they were all truly grateful for.

“Do you think we can shoot spider webs like Rainbow Weaver can?” Roman asked, braking the peaceful silence.

“I’m not quite sure,” Logan said honestly “I tried at home but I just can’t seem to produce anything. Then again, not all spiders can make webs.”

“Hmm, true.” Virgil murmured, eyes closed as he practiced some deep breathing exercises.

Roman sat up, a determined look on his face, “I’m gunna try it.”

“How you gunna do that?” Patton asked, sitting up to face his friend with a slightly worried look in his eyes. Roman had that look again, he always got that look when he had a dangerous idea that would either get him in trouble or injured. It was the same look he had before he jumped off the school roof to chase after Logan.

“Well,” Roman began, hopping up to his feet “first I need to do a test shot. Uh, how does Rainbow Weaver do his…thing?” He began to flex his hand into various positions and poses.

Virgil, who was still on the ground, raised his arm up and did a sort of punk rock gesture, “Like this.”

Thwhip!

Virgil’s eyes snapped open when he heard the sound and felt a sliver of something eject itself from his wrist. He was surrounded by three pairs of shocked eyes as he slowly stood up, looking down at his hand with awe and slight concern.

“Do it again!” Logan said excitedly.

Virgil aimed towards a small utility shed near the other side of the roof and thwiped! A long string of…something shot out from Virgil’s wrist and stuck to one end of the utility shed while Virgil held the other end. “Holy shit!”

“Fascinating,” Logan gasped in awe as he tugged on the silk string “you’re able to create your own webbing and by the feel of it it’s exactly as the guide described it, like steel cables.”

“It feels weird.” Virgil murmured as he detached the end of the string near his wrist.

“I’ll bet.” Roman said, looking over Virgil’s shoulder to get a better look at the webbing.

Patton, meanwhile, was trying to test out if he could do it too, he couldn’t. “Aw, I don’t think it works on me. What about you Roman?”

“Uh, let’s see.” He replied, taking a stance next to Virgil and aiming his arm towards the same shed. He pressed down on his palm with his two middle fingers and…thwip! “Holy shit…that felt weird!”

“I know right!” Virgil chimed in as they all now began to look over Roman’s web string.

“It would seem that me and Patton are incapable of producing web,” Logan deduced “but I’m fairly certain we may be able to produce some sort of silk, as all spiders do. It’s just the means of figuring it out…”

“I’m gunna swing across the other building!” Roman announced suddenly, causing everyone to jump and stare as he raced towards the edge of the building.

They were quickly snapped out of their surprise as they realized what Roman had said and went to chase him down before he did something stupid. Unfortunately, they were not quick enough because Roman had already launched another string of web and was getting ready to jump.

“Roman, wait!” Patton cried.

“It might not be safe!” Logan warned.

“Get down from there you idiot!” Virgil shouted.

“Tally ho!” Roman hollered as he pushed himself off the building and swung through the air.

Roman seemed fine at first, swinging through the air above the busy streets like some sort of extreme swing set. But then he realized, as the building he attached himself to got closer and closer, he had no idea what he was doing or how to stop. The only thing he could do at the moment was shut his eyes, curl up into a ball, and wait for impact. He vaguely recalled hearing the others scream before he was suddenly wooshed up into the air again.

When Roman opened his eyes to see what he had collided with on his way to his impending doom all he could see was rainbow. A rainbow arm holding him tight against a rainbow clad body and when he looked up to see a rainbow masked, white eyed figure a familiar buzzing was felt at the back of his head and he then noticed that the masked figure’s aura was a multi colored light show.

“You’re just like me!” Was all Roman could think to blurt out.

The figure looked down at him, slightly confused, until his eyes widen in sudden realization and he said, “Holy shit, you’re right.”

Once safely back on top of the building Roman was promptly tackled down by a sobbing Patton, “Don’t ever, ever do that again!”

“Yeah, not my brightest moment.” Roman admitted sheepishly.

The reunion was cut short due to a very furious looking Virgil who came stomping over, separated the two friends, then proceeded to punch Roman’s shoulder, hard. The theater geek cried out in protest, taking a few steps back before Virgil could get another swing in, “Ow, what the fuck!”

“You could have gotten yourself fucking killed you moron!” Virgil growled.

“That was very reckless of you, Roman,” Logan added crossly “even for your standards.”

“Oh, sez the one that convinced us to jump off a building,” Roman snapped back “excuse me for trying to follow the ‘smart ones’ lead and thinking this was a good idea.”

“The buildings were closer together and I calculated the right momentum needed to get across!” Logan countered, taking a step towards Roman “Given our new-found abilities it was obvious to be an easy jump!”

“Yeah, for you! How could you have been so certain for the rest of us, smartass?” Roman rebutted, getting up in Logan’s face as well.

“Simple physics really, something that a half wit like you could never understand!” Logan growled.

“Was it really physics or one of your scientific guesses?” Roman sneered.

“It’s called a theory you brainless Neanderthal!” Logan replied.

“Erlenmeyer trash!”

“Drama turd!”

“Cotton headed ninny muggings!”

“What the hell does that even mean?”

“Jesus Christ there are four of you!” The masked figure said as he got in between the two fighting teens.

Silence overtook the group as they stared up and finally realized who was talking to them. Clad in a rainbow spider themed suit with a sort of glider/cape mesh between his arms, his aura a burst of bright colors, it was the one, the only…

“R-R-Rainbow Weaver!” Virgil squeaked out, completely star structed.

“Yeah, and who might you guys be? Also, what’s going on with…” Rainbow Weaver gestured towards the group as if pointing out the colorful aura he could also see around them “…everything?”

“R-Rainbow Weaver…” Was apparently all Virgil could say now.

“Is everything okay?” Rainbow Weaver said worriedly as he scanned over the group of teens frozen in awe. Not that he wasn’t use to this but he just kind of figured out that these boys might have super powers like him so he really needed answers like now.

“Um, m-mister Rainbow Weaver, sir, uh…” Logan stuttered out, uncharacteristically shy at the moment, “w-we were actually looking for you but we couldn’t – uh, we were searching the city and someone on Twitter said they saw you here – around here and, uh, we kind of, um, wanted to talk…to you…”

“Take your time kid.” Rainbow Weaver soothed gently, the teen looked like he was getting ready to have a stroke.

“We got bit by a spider!” Patton blurted out before covering his mouth shut.

“Okay, go on.” Rainbow Weaver said with an encouraging nod.

Patton bashfully removed his hands from his mouth, fidgeting in place as all eyes were on him now, “Uh, well, we went on a field trip to a science lab thing in Oscorp where they had these creepy, crawly mutant spiders and one of them had escaped but the tour guide said not to worry because it was probably back in the lab, but it wasn’t, so it escaped and some how bit all of us and then we woke up with weird powers like: we can stick to the wall and jump really high and everything is really loud and bright and we have these weird color auras and I couldn’t fit into any of my cute clothes and we didn’t know what to do so Logan said we should find you and ask cause you have similar powers to us so we jumped off the school building and ran around the city to find you but we couldn’t, then Virgil found out he can shoot web but me and Logan can’t so Roman tried to swing to the next building over and almost died and then you came and I’m really scared right now so can you please tell us what’s going on!”

Patton finally stopped to suck in a big gulp of air having been so nervous he said everything in one breath. Roman went over to rub soothing circles on his distressed friend’s back as Patton regained the ability to breath. Rainbow Weaver, meanwhile, was trying to process all that had been said but also make sure that Patton was doing okay.

“Okay, first, I need you to calm down for me,” Rainbow Weaver cooed, a firm hand on Patton’s shoulder “breath in for four…hold for seven…out for eight…good.”

Once Patton was calmed down some Rainbow Weaver continued, “Second order of business, how old are you guys and what are your names?”

“I’m Roman Marigold and I’ll be seventeen in a month,” Roman answered as he hugged Patton close “this is my best friend Patton Foster and he’s seventeen.”

“I’m Logan Quinn,” Logan pipped up, finally pulling himself together “I’m seventeen as well as my friend Virgil Storm here.”

Virgil gave a shy wave, somewhat hiding behind his taller friend, Rainbow Weaver waved back, a kind smile visible through his mask. It seemed odd how quick the boys were to trust him, even if he was a famous super hero, he was still a stranger. But be it because of their weird aura or the kindness in Rainbow Weaver’s voice the boys knew he could be trusted.

“Okay, third order of business, is the spider that bit you guys dead or still crawling around the city?” Rainbow Weaver asked.

“Oh no, I have it in my backpack!” Logan said, quickly removing his backpack and rummaging around for the jar he had it in earlier.

“Excuse me?” Rainbow Weaver said confused before a jar with a colorful, weird looking spider was shoved in his direction. He took a step back to get a better look at it and vaguely heard Patton whimpering fearfully in the background. He sighed, scratching the back of his head, “Well, that’s just great, Oscorp didn’t learn after the first time it happen.”

“First time?” Logan asked curiously, pulling the jar back towards his chest, the spider skittering nervously.

“How do you think I got like this?” Rainbow Weaver chuckled, hollow and devoid of enthusiasm “But, yeah, this has happened before. A few years back, when I was in high school actually, god only knows what they’ve been able to do now with all the technological advances throughout the years.”

“What do you mean?” Virgil asked, curiosity finally letting him find his voice.

“Well, I-” Rainbow Weaver began but was cut off by four loud rumbling stomachs. His eyes widen with surprise at the blushing teens before bursting out into laughter. “God, you kids must be hungry. Having mutant powers will take a lot out of you, I’ll tell you that, especially if you’re still a growing teenager. How ‘bout we go out and get something to eat and I’ll try to explain everything as best as I can?”

“But don’t you have to watch the city?” Roman asked.

Rainbow Weaver shrugged, “It ain’t going nowhere, besides I have my ways of figuring out if I’m needed or not.”

“Um, are you sure?” Virgil asked timidly “We don’t want to keep you from, you know, important things.”

“Kid, right now this is the most important thing on my list,” Rainbow Weaver assured “I know for sure I would have liked someone to talk to when I was going through all this mess.”

“Um, mister Rainbow Weaver,” Patton chirped “not that we aren’t thankful that you’ll help but wouldn’t we look suspicious walking together on the street or jumping across buildings with you?”

“Not if I’m in civilian clothes, which by the way, I should have a pack here somewhere.” Rainbow Weaver wandered off towards the utility shed across the building and opened it to reveal a plain black backpack squished under an electrical control panel.

“Civilian?” Roman said aloud before realizing what was happening “Wait, isn’t revealing your true identity against some sort of hero’s code or something? I mean, unless you’re the Avengers but-”

“It’s fine,” Rainbow Weaver cut in having already finished changed, they hadn’t even turned away for a full minute! He was wearing some worn, baggy clothes that had probably come from a thrift store and was now stuffing his Rainbow Weaver costume into his bag, all was left was the mask he still had on. “I mean you can’t expect us to have an open honest conversation with each other if I’m hiding behind a mask, right?”

Casually, as if he wasn’t just entrusting four teenagers with his biggest secrete, Rainbow Weaver removed his mask to reveal a familiar face that had Roman and Patton silently squealing, Virgil to be even more star struck, and caused Logan’s jaw to hit the floor. The man before them ruffled his peppered brown hair nervously as he gave a lopsided smile, “Uh, hi, my name is Thomas Sanders…we have a lot to talk about.”

Spanish Spoken:

“Rest a little, my love, the doctor said you had a sickness that had been going around. Patton has it too, but I've heard that he's fine now, he just needs to rest. Do not go to school if you do not feel like it. There is a broth in the refrigerator to heat up if you are hungry.”

“Stupid sticky hands!”

 Song mentioned:

Lovely by Billie Eillish

Tag:

@immortaldystopia @metaphoricalpluto2 @ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2 @misunderstood-shadow @fairytailtwists @0callmevirge0

[pandawritesmanythings]

Old v. New (Killer Circus//Original Story)

Summary: How the Killer Circus story came to be and turned into what I'm trying to write now.

Word Count: 1188

A/N: I know this is not a fic, but until I can get my writing juices flowing, this is what I can do. I'm sorry 😭😥

My original idea, or concept was quite different from the story it now is. Both deal with escaping a situation that has you trapped or hasn't allowed you to do the things you wish for, and also readjusting to life to pursue your dreams once you leave that situation. 

However, the initial concept was; if you compare it to what the Killer Circus story is today, way more bloody, gritty and violent.

Here's how I would briefly summarize the initial concept:

A group of children is chosen. The reason for their choosing seems honorable. Afterall, they have had to train since the moment they could walk for this. Now, every year, a seven year old is chosen to join the KC. A colorful group of people who walk the streets in parades through cities, bringing joy to the inhabitants of the place.

However, a dark truth is hidden from the parents. A truth that the children are led to believe that it is okay for them to do. Afterall, they've trained since they can walk for this. They are assasins.

The story was supposed to showcase the dangers of leading a child to believe that killing people at such an early age is brutal for their mental state. However, I initially wrote the concept in a dark time of my life, so after finding help with my own issues I decided I didn't like the concept anymore.

I loved the characters though. And that was because I designed Princeps, the main character, based on me and Paraclitus, her right hand gal, on my sister. It was basically us in colorful costumes. Nothing too spectacular. 

The name Princeps is just a translation of the word Leader to Latin. It seemed fitting since in the original concept, she was supposed to be the oldest and the one who led the other assassin kids.

However, as I kept looking for a more fitting concept, I came to the realization of, "Hey! They look like they belong in a circus!" 

So there's where the concept began to shift.

Then I asked myself. "Why would they put kids in a circus?"

And I answered that question. Of course, I'm not going to reveal why because that's an important plot point.

Then, "Which specific kids get to be in there?" Or "Why those kids?" And I answered that question.

"Who leads the place?" "How do they get fed?" "It's a circus so do they have animals?" "Who watches over them? Wouldn't they need someone to supervise them?" "How do they convince them not to leave?" "Do they get educated, if so, how? And what do they learn? Is there anything they can't read or learn?" "Could they breakout if they wanted? How?" "What psychological repercussions would this have on them?"

And then it hit me.

This book could be about anything I wanted. And psychology, and mental health was do important to me at the moment that I decided:

I wanna make a book that accurately portrays anxiety, depression and othe mental illnesses. I wanna have introverts and extroverts interacting. What it's like to deal with something like bulimia or anorexia. What happens when you suffer traumatic events, and how to recover from them. I wanted to give a voice to those who had suffered through any of those things. Even if I never had been through any of those myself.

But I had one problem. I needed a catalyst.

A person sometimes won't be able to escape a bad situation unless someone wakes them up to their reality. 

Once I came to that conclusion I stumbled upon some drawings and a piece of writing that I did just after arriving to The States. It dealt with human experimentation, mixing animal DNA with a human.

And then I knew that this could perfectly fit with my idea.

There already is a huge facility, dressed up as a circus, doing something to a bunch of kids and young adults. Why would there be another one that experimented on another way with them.

This is not a big spoiler, so I can safely say it.

The Orphanage, the experimentation facility, is experimenting with kids to make more efficient soldiers. Imagine a Captain America situation, but darker. They are trying to enhance soldiers. But of course, they can't just use their loyal soldiers, in case something goes wrong. So what do they use? 

The term, orphanage, may hint you on who they use.

Most of them don't surpass the age of 18. And the thing is that, after they turn 18, they are sent away. They are adults, so the doctor and scientists can't risk a rebellion of capable and enhanced adults.

Their mistake? Kids are actually pretty darn smart. So through lots of planning one of them escapes The Orphanage and after walking for a couple of days, with a team hot on his heels, he finds a weird oak that is growing twisted in a fence. It looks really weird, but somehow it still is alive. He climbs it to hide from the team, and accidentally falls on the other side of the fence. 

He is surprised that even though it seemed like outside the fence was bordering nothing, he now sees a bunch of buildings. He heads for the bigger structure and some of the kids in The Facility find him. They lock him in a room and bring Princeps to him. 

The rest of the story? 

He tells them that there is more world out there, that he is seeking it, and they should too. He stays for a bit and helps them uncover some of the reasons as to why The Facility exists and why should they get out, and once he leaves Princeps finds the strength to say, let's get outta here.

Once they are out, however, life smacks them in the face. And all by herself, she finds herself in The Orphanage, her cell right in front where the boy who had escaped is. He got captured and he seemed to have been severely beaten.

After discovering more about the place where they were, she and her new friends find a way to bust out and this time, make it to society, with the help of a doctor who knew that what she was doing was wrong, but had no way out.

Once out, the seek asylum in a hospital until they can figure out how to deal with the world, and how to adjust to a society that hates them for very complicated reasons.

Oof, I just told the whole story. It sounds interesting in paper, but I really wanna dive into the nuances as to why all of this happened. Something that, I can't really tell you guys 'cuz it would fall into spoiler territory.

This is the spine of the story, but everything else are things that I can only show y'all when I finish my story.

What are your thoughts on this original story? Please let me know! Do you think the original idea was better? Or do you like more where this one is going?

[voidscattered]

BLOG REVAMP IS UP AND RUNNING

Since the only major difference is the backstory, I’m gonna put it up here for you all. I would’ve made it shorter but I honestly couldn’t find a way to without cutting out important stuff. Feel free to ask Gaster any questions you have, and if he doesn’t know the answer I’ll answer them for him!

I know it’s long, but please read this!

Background:

In the early 1600s, Gaster was created in a Muscogee Creek village by a man named Chelokeeilitchee (Chekilli). Due to the nature of creating a monster, Gaster had a soul bond with Chekilli. This gave them a constant feeling of how the other was doing and a general idea of where they were. They lived peacefully for the first 24 years of his life. Grillby was created a year after Gaster by Chekilli’s sister and helped her with her work while Gaster helped Chekilli with his, sometimes experimenting with magic or trading with the Europeans. He started learning English through this, but didn’t become fluent in it until the Underground.

The War Between Monsters and Humans started in the European colonies and spread into the Native American civilizations. Most natives fought alongside the monsters, though some fought against. With antimagic on the human’s side, though, monsters were eradicated quickly. The survivors were captured, bound with diluted antimagic so they couldn’t cast magic yet still survived, and thrown behind the barrier. Gaster and Grillby were captured by a faction of humans called the Monster Hunters, known for torturing their captors. They both still have scars from it, though they hide them well. The only ones Gaster hasn’t been able to hide are the cracks on his face. It also brought him to the point of such extreme distress and agitation that it broke the soul bond with Chekilli, which was very much the worst pain he'd ever experienced and probably ever will. He wears his scarf to hide the scars from the injury that triggered it.

Most of the trapped monsters died beneath the mountain from lack of magical energy from the sun. The ones that survived never strayed far from the few holes that allowed light in. As the population started to grow and there became less and less space for the amount of light, Gaster came up with the idea to make the Core as a way to provide magical energy to everyone in the Underground so they wouldn’t have to worry about staying near the sun. While the project was a success overall, future experiments to try and reach other universes accidentally created an opening to the void beneath the Core. It spread quickly, but he and his assistants managed to contain it before it spread too far. This destabilized the Core, resulting in a much lower output of magical energy and unpredictable fluctuations.

Gaster had previously experimented with determination, going so far as to inject some into himself to see what would happen. This widened the cracks on his face even more and he immediately stopped. His mental health after the War was never good, but he’d been in a particularly low point when, through experiments (a couple of which involved cutting out the holes in his hands), he discovered that a combination of determination and magic might stabilize the Core. It wasn’t perfect, but he figured that maybe if a consciousness was there to strengthen the determination, it would work. Convincing himself it was solely to save the residents of the Underground, he dropped Sans and Papyrus (who he’d adopted after their parents were dusted by a fallen human) off with Grillby, and he dropped himself into the Core and the void. The reaction dragged in the assistants that were there at the time, though they had a much closer hold on reality than he did. The only reason Gaster had any connection to his world in the first place was because, in a panic, he cast a spell that connected his life force to Sans’. His right eye was blinded and he would die if Sans did, but he could lend Sans his power, communicate with him through feelings, and Sans wouldn’t die if he did.

Now:

Despite being able to see all possible time paths in the universe, including a few ways that he might be able to get out of the void (not that he could do much to influence people's actions to go in that direction), his escape caught him entirely off guard, because it had nothing to do with his universe at all. In another universe, something went wrong to a certain Tardis mid-flight and she slipped into the void. Gaster and the (Tenth) Doctor immediately hit it off, and upon discovering his situation, the Doctor managed to get the Tardis out and into the skeleton’s universe. Along the way to figure out how to get Gaster out of the void as well as make sure the Core will stay stabilized, he met and made friends with Sans, Papyrus, and Alphys. He met Flowey and convinced him he’d find a way to get him a soul, thereby forming a truce.

After getting Gaster out of the void, the Doctor tried his hand at breaking the barrier and the resets. Gaster, Sans, and Papyrus, with Flowey inside but not joining them, helped the Doctor drive the Tardis into the fourth dimension. There the Doctor managed to succeed in breaking the barrier and resets, but when trying to get back to the third dimension, they went into a completely different universe instead.

In the three weeks of dimension hopping before managing to find their way back home, they visited many different universes, including Underswap, Handplates, another universe similar to Gaster’s, a universe similar to the Doctor’s, the Marvel universe (Tony Stark and Gaster do not get along), Detective Conan, and Fullmetal Alchemist. They became good friends with the Pines in the Gravity Falls universe and Hiccup and some dragons in the How to Train Your Dragon universe due to being stuck in each of those worlds for extended periods of time. Along the way, the Doctor actually managed to accidentally reform Flowey’s soul, and he shifted between his flower form and goat form a couple times depending on his mood before his soul fully formed and settled on the goat form. He can now change between forms at will.

After getting the skeletons back home and hanging out for a little, the Doctor got back to his universe with Asriel joining him. While traveling they picked up Jack Harkness and discovered Jenny and they became a little family unit (and the Doctor, as well as Jack, finally got some freaking therapy cuz they honestly really need it). Everyone kept in contact via interdimensional phones made in the Gravity Falls universe. The Doctor regenerated during this time.

A year after being dropped off, with the Doctor and Ford's help on design, Gaster finished creating a portal, allowing them all to visit each other again. However, along the way there was a mishap with a regulating panel on the portal and voidal radiation flooded the room. Gaster managed to stop it, but in the process some of the radiation got into his body and bonded with it. As such, he now glitches out if he gets startled or agitated. If not careful, he could glitch straight back into the void. If careful, he can intentionally glitch himself out to avoid an attack.

Given that monsters were freed a year before Frisk would've fallen into the Underground, Chara was never awoken. However, the first time the Tardis family came back to the Undertale universe, they all went on a tour on the main path in the Underground. The Doctor entered the room Chara was buried in before Frisk (who was also on the tour) did, and his levels of determination were high enough for him to be the one to accidentally pick up Chara instead, though that wouldn't be discovered for six more months. Around this time, Gaster reunited with Chekilli and he and the skelebros moved in with him. They also ran into some alternate versions of themselves and helped them get back home to their universe via the portal.

. . . Many other things happened after that but there are no clean ways to group them. Gaster and Sans started up therapy and both ended up getting service animals (Sans' as emotional support, Gaster's as emotional support and to wake him up if he starts glitching in the middle of the night due to nightmares). Gaster got ambushed by the same people who had kidnapped and tortured him before (life extension spells) and gave him cracks to almost mirror his other ones before the Doctor rescued him. A lot of relationship building between everyone, but especially Gaster, the Doctor, Jack, and River Song. The Doctor and Jack officially being in a relationship and the Doctor actually proposing to him. Plans to get Chara an actual body. Bill freaking stealing the body they were going to get because he tricked them into a deal (he was previously trapped in a laptop in the Tardis). Due to the fact that the body was intended to be possessed by and bonded to a spirit anyway, though, Bill wasn't able to leave and lost his powers, essentially becoming human. He now sulks in the Tardis and is carefully kept away from anyone he could easily manipulate or hurt.

There was also one point when, due to how close and touchy feely Gaster and the Doctor were with each other, multiple people, including friends and family, confused them for being in love with each other, which confused them themselves for a bit about how they were feeling and they actually went on a date to test it out and it all felt wrong so they vehemently decide they were not even close to being in love. A surefire way to fluster Gaster from embarrassment is to mention the fact that a kiss did happen during this time (in fact, it was the defining factor that made them realize no they do not want this).

At one point when they discovered that the alternate version of the Doctor had started using "they" pronouns instead of "he" (the alt Tardis fam discovered that timelords don't really have a concept of gender due to being able to switch sexes and gender not really being a thing among them, so the Doctor honestly doesn't really care what pronouns people use, and the family wanted to use neutral pronouns for them to respect their culture the best they could and the Doctor ended up actually liking and somewhat preferring the pronoun change for that reason), they decided to do the same thing.

With how close Gaster and the Doctor had gotten and with magic infiltrating the Doctor's soul, they eventually formed a rare natural soul bond. So rare that there are only really a hundred of them on the Earth at any given moment. Natural ones (ie not resulting from creating a monster) only form between the closest of people. Due to it bringing up some trauma in both of them (Gaster being terrified that the bond will break again and the Doctor having to deal with how similar it is to a timelord mental bond, which they can never have anymore), they're currently still figuring out how to navigate it.

More will be added as important events come up.

[chroniccombustion]

Caught in the Grey (ch 5)

Genre: Trans!AU, hurt/comfort, romance, angst with a happy ending Rated: T Characters: Souji Seta (Yu Narukami), Yosuke Hanamura, Naoto Shirogane, Kanji Tatsumi, Investigation Team, Izanagi/Shadow!Souji Warnings: depression, dysphoria, disassociation, self-hatred, implied suicide attempt, suicidal thoughts, mentions of homophobia, implied past child abuse and transphobia, canon-typical violence, mild sexual content Status: multi-chapter, incomplete

Playlist: Spotify | Youtube <- previous chapter | next chapter ->

He turns the music up higher, crossing his arms tightly over his chest and hunching inward as if he can somehow make himself small enough to hide from his own mind.

‘You’re just going to ruin everything like you always do. You push and you whine until nobody can stand you anymore. That’s why Souji isn’t speaking to you.’

Shaky, anxious energy tingles its way down Yosuke’s legs, settles in his bones like a live current through a power line.

‘Maybe it’ll be a good thing if he doesn’t show up to school – you really want him to see your shitty self-absorption? Cuz he will. You know he will; it’s Souji, nothing gets past him. He’ll take one look at you and he’ll know.’

Chapter 5: We’re Not Lovers

“Said that we’re not lovers,  cuz we’re just strangers  with the same damn hunger  to be touched, to be loved, to feel anything at all…”

- (“Strangers – feat Lauren Jauregui”, Halsey)

November

Yosuke sits under the frigid cascade of water until the entire bathroom becomes an icebox, forcing him to finally push to his feet and shut the shower off just to stop the way his body has begun to violently shiver. He barely feels it, only notices because of how his skin prickles with goose bumps and his hands fumble with the knobs. Climbing out of the shower, he grabs a towel and halfheartedly dries himself off, scrubs it through his hair a couple of times to get the excess water out. He doesn’t need to do much to it, though, since the way he’d been sitting, the spray had mostly hit his folded legs and arms, missing the majority of his hair and leaving it to dry slightly on its own. He doesn’t know what that says about his sense of time. Probably something bleak.

He slips into his questionably clean change of underwear and pulls his sleep clothes back on with all the sluggishness of a blistering hangover. Bleary-eyed, he scoops up the discarded pair of boxers without really seeing them and makes sure not think too hard about the shame-riddled piece of fabric in his hand.

Yosuke is thankful the mirror is still streaky with moisture and the last dregs of remaining steam still clinging to the glass; it distorts the view of his reflection as he passes. He doesn’t want to see himself, doesn’t want to look himself in the eyes and see the weight of what he’s done etched into the rings of his irises, doesn’t want to acknowledge his own presence in this liminal space of a bathroom. All he wants is to forget any of this ever took place, to trudge back to bed and try to get what precious little sleep he still can before the light of reality reaches in through the windows and he’s forced to join the waking world. He keeps his eyes half focused as he shuffles over to the door and reaches the hand not full of wadded-up boxers out to twist the lock until it clicks open. The movement of his reflection catches at the side of his vision and for a moment he’s tempted to glance over.

He stops himself before he can.

With the door now unlocked, Yosuke lets go of the knob and reaches across himself towards the light switch with his free hand – the other hanging heavy as lead with his dirty boxers at his side. It’s an old habit by now, turning off the light before he opens the door. He’s learned the hard way over years of late night tip-toeing around his parents’ work schedules that flooding the darkened hallway with a sudden burst of brightness is a sure-fire way to let someone know he’s awake. Even now with his brain in a fog, muscle memory kicks in and Yosuke’s fingers instinctively seek out the little piece of plastic on the wall beside the door. He flicks it down and the room is plunged into claustrophobic dark.

He blinks against the sudden blindness as he waits for the nightlight to cut itself back on in the absence of light. He uses the faint orange glow to help him find the doorknob again, carefully turning it and pulling the door open as soundlessly as he can, peeking around the thin opening to scan the hall and listen for movement beyond his pocket of space. Nothing. Only the low hum of the refrigerator down in the kitchen below.

With a deep breath that his lungs don’t seem to register, Yosuke pulls the door open all the way – as if it had never been shut to begin with. The air in the hallway is actually warmer than it is in the bathroom; the cold of the water that had chilled the tile like an open window in winter hasn’t yet seeped out into the hall. It feels strange against Yosuke’s skin, his body still hypersensitive but numbed at the same time because of the freezing shower spray. Even through his sweatpants he can feel the difference in temperature.

(Maybe if he’s lucky he’ll catch a cold and get to call in sick to life.)

Yosuke lets a shiver or two pass through him before he starts the short trek back towards his room, making sure he’s steady enough to sneak the way he needs to. As he takes his first few steps out into the dark, just before the glow of the nightlight passes between him and the rest of the silent, sleeping house, Yosuke catches the flicker of movement from his reflection in the mirror. He keeps his eyes trained forward so he doesn’t have to watch his own walk of shame.

If there is a flash of distorted gold within the mirror’s depths or if his reflection’s movement seems out of sync with his own, like something just past the glass has turned to watch him as they both walk, then Yosuke staunchly ignores it. His mind has already betrayed him too many times tonight to bother looking for more.

            He climbs back into bed and eventually manages to fall into a thankfully dreamless sleep. It only lasts for two and a half hours.

  The morning comes in like a blow to the head.

It starts with Yosuke’s alarm blaring in his ear and startling him awake. He flails, forgetting where he is in his adrenaline-fueled stupor, and gets himself wrapped in the sheets for a minute until he can wrest an arm out and slap his hand down on top of the clock.

The peace and quiet lasts just long enough for Yosuke’s heart rhythm to start resembling something normal. Then, with all the untamed force of a comet, Teddie decides that he, too, would like to ruin everything and dive-bombs onto Yosuke’s bed with a long, drawn-out, “Good moooooooooorning, Yosuke!”

And thus the day begins.

Yosuke spends the next few minutes disentangling himself from the sentient plushie toy trying to hug him to death. It takes longer than it should. Teddie whines, of course, as he usually does when Yosuke baps him in the face with a pillow, but at least he has the decency this time to release his captive long enough for Yosuke to get out of the bed.

The next half hour or so is an exercise in patience as Yosuke maneuvers around in the pre-dawn dark in an attempt to get ready for school – digging out a clean shirt, searching for his uniform jacket with increasing frustration until finally remembering he’d left it downstairs – all while continuously tripping over the lanky, blond barnacle that has attached itself to his side. But, as exhausted as he is physically, and as much as Teddie grates on his nerves, Yosuke knows the reason it’s been ramped up to eleven this morning is because Teddie still feels pouty and dejected after Yosuke (in Teddie’s words) “a-bear-ndoned” him the day before. Not that he would ever say it out loud to him, but Yosuke does have to admit the guy has a pretty valid reason this time, even if the resulting “bear hugs” cause Yosuke to nearly fall on his face more than once. Eventually (though with much begrudged sighing), Yosuke gives up and lets his new brother-not-brother hang off him like some kind of deranged belt while he gathers up the textbooks he didn’t even open last night.

Next comes the process of actually leaving the room. Teddie makes it difficult to listen out the door for sounds of life downstairs, but after a few minutes of shushing, Yosuke is able to determine there is either no one else in the house (most likely), or one or both of his parents are still dead asleep (less likely). Yosuke takes the gamble and slides out into the hallway, silently praying he and Teddie are alone right now.

The hallway is where Yosuke’s anxiety decides it wants to come out and play.

For a second he’s fine; the bear acts as a decent distraction, what with his insistence on not being left alone for more than a moment, and Yosuke can focus his brain on trying to walk without falling over. It’s when he looks up and the door to the bathroom comes into view that the horrible, knotted dread in the pit of his stomach rears back up and makes itself known. Yosuke stumbles to a halt just before crossing through the doorway, leaving Teddie to nearly plow into him at the abrupt stop.

They’re gonna know, his treacherous mind sniggers at him. Your parents already know – there’s gonna be a note waiting for you on the kitchen counter when you go downstairs, or a text from your mom saying she wants to talk to you when you get home from school. There’s no way someone didn’t hear you last night…

Yosuke clamps his teeth down on his tongue so hard that he feels his molars slice through the side of it. There is a faint tang of metal in his mouth.

It’s fine, he tries to tell himself.

Is it? Is it really?

“Yosuke?” Teddie asks from behind him, voice muffled where he’d run face-first into Yosuke’s back. He shifts away but keeps his hands clutched in Yosuke’s uniform shirt and when he speaks again his voice is clearer. “Why’d you stop walking?”

Teddie’s gonna ask questions. He’s too naive to know right now but he’ll hear it from your parents and then he’ll ask about ‘scoring’ and won’t shut up until he knows.

“Yosuke, helloooooooo!”

And then he’ll tell everybody else.

“Yoooooosukeeeee!”

He’ll tell Souji.

Terror washes through him, cold and deep-seated like ice crystallizing in the marrow of his bones. There is a moment where he feels weightless, displaced, his stomach dropping out as he stares down from the edge of a towering precipice with no ground below him in sight. His breath catches in his mouth and hangs there in a frozen, aborted inhalation that never makes it down into his lungs.

Souji would hate him. From anyone else, Yosuke might be able to handle the looks of disgust and loathing; he’s grown pretty used to it already since moving to Inaba. Housewives and retired old men with nothing to do but scowl, classmates whose families blamed Junes for their own failing businesses and subsequently viewed him as its embodiment. He’s used to it. Members of the Investigation Team, too, sometimes, when he’s being particularly annoying – he’s caught a few of his friends share looks of aggravation before, after he’s said something he knows is stupid even as he says it. Especially in the beginning. They might not hate him the way that so many others in the town do, but he knows he pisses them off sometimes and it wouldn’t come as much of a shock were any one of them to suddenly decide he wasn’t worth it. A tiny, pessimistic part of him keeps expecting it, even. One day, it whispers. One day…

But Souji.

If Souji ever turned that kind of frigid, hateful gaze in his direction, if Souji ever spat words of vehemence to his face, behind his back, cursed his name as if he had the plague – or worse. If Souji ever looked at him with vacant eyes, with icy, empty apathy, glanced at him and saw only a waste of time and energy where friendship used to be, like Yosuke meant nothing to him…

You would break.

“YOSUKE!”

Yosuke yanks himself out of his thoughts with a physical jerk, nearly knocking back into Teddie right as the bear leans up to shout in his ear.

“Ted, hey!” he says, voice cracking and nearly loud enough to classify as a shout. He’s vaguely aware of the faint hysteria, the desperate edge of fear that colors his words, and he takes a step backwards, angling to the side a bit so that a perplexed Teddie is somewhat between him and the bathroom door. “Look, how about you go first and I’ll just go use the one downstairs, okay?” It’s okay, he tells himself; if the shower is still wet then he probably won’t even notice. The bathroom doesn’t smell like anything except soap. It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay…

He breathes in as deeply as he can without making it obvious. Holds it. Lets it out. All the while he focuses on keeping himself there in the hallway, present in his current reality at ass-o-clock in the morning with a clingy, long-limbed not-human suction cupped to his arm.

It’s okay, he repeats, and gradually his heart rate begins to slow.

Teddie, on the other hand, watches Yosuke silently, blond brows furrowed and lips pursed as if he’s trying to decipher Yosuke’s sudden shift in demeanor. He stays that way for a good minute or so as Yosuke gets a handle on his breathing, appraising Yosuke intensely with an expression that looks far too serious on such a young face.

Then, suddenly, as though someone has flipped a switch, his expression goes from fervent, focused confusion to a childish, almost comically melodramatic pout.

“But whyyyyyyyy?” he whines, long and loud, seemingly no longer concerned about Yosuke’s odd behavior. There is a hint of sulk in the bear’s voice, exactly like a kid that’s been denied something he wants and gets huffy when Mom tells him no. He frowns up at Yosuke with eyes that are clearly too wide and watery to be anything other than a ploy. “Teddie wants to go in together!”

Yosuke just blinks.

“…What.”

He opens his mouth to say something else, something that might better convey just how blindsided that comment has left him, but his entire body is running on next to no sleep and has had far too many bouts of anxiety to function properly at such an ungodly hour of the morning. All he can do for what seems like an embarrassingly long few seconds is work his jaw open and closed while his brain tries to come up with something coherent to say.

All that eventually comes out is a flat, “…I’m sorry, you want to do what?”

Teddie’s pout deepens. “Yosuke was going to go brush his teeth, right? This bear needs to brush his teeth, too, so I thought we could do it at the same time.” He tugs on Yosuke’s arm, leaning his weight back on his heels and holding on so that he can sway side-to-side, jostling a still-blank-screened Yosuke in the process. “Pleeeeeeease, Yosuke?” he begs, “Nana-chan said her friends Yoko and Tsukino are sisters and they do everything together, even brush their teeth, and Teddie wants to do that with his brother, too!”

That is… very much not what Yosuke was expecting.

“Brother?!” he sputters, brain finally kick-starting back to life a split-second too late behind his mouth. “Since when am I your brother?”

The abrupt shift from his earlier tide of panic to this leaves the space behind his eyes feeling pinched and tight; the culmination of too much weirdness and too little sleep. It isn’t that he hates the idea of being called “brother”, not really, and he’s pretty sure the both of them have been steadily heading towards this point for a while now – or, at least, the ever-increasing familiarity of having the bear around has grown into something he’d be hard pressed to feel normal without. But this is the first time it’s ever been acknowledged out loud, that Teddie himself has ever said anything of the sort, and to hear that he does, in fact, see Yosuke as family is… Well, not unwelcome, just thoroughly unexpected.

But Yosuke’s stumbling reaction must have come off as harsh and angry, rather than the shock that it actually is, because Teddie’s expression morphs from mopey and affronted to downright heartbroken right before Yosuke’s eyes. “Sensei and Nana-chan call each other ‘brother’ and ‘sister’…” he mumbles, voice timid and uncharacteristically sad. The faint sparkle of tears starts to gather in the corners of his eyes and suddenly Yosuke feels like a complete and total ass.

“Aw, Ted, no,” he says, and it sounds just a little nervous, just a little lost. He’s not used to comforting people – he’s not the person anyone usually seeks out for this kind of thing. More often than not, he’s the reason someone is upset in the first place.

He pats at Teddie’s head awkwardly. “C’mon, don’t do that.”

Not for the first time, Yosuke is reminded that Teddie really doesn’t have anybody outside of the Investigation Team and Nanako. Sure, Yosuke’s parents are letting the bear stay in their house, and his mom seems to have taken a bit of a shine to him and his eagerness to learn and help. But that’s not really the same as having friends or family. Teddie might have boundary issues (and even though it sucks, Yosuke can kind of forgive him for it because of how new Teddie is to the human world), but being constantly lonely and bored with nothing to do but study other people and wish you could have that level of connection is… Honestly, it sounds pretty awful.

Besides, Teddie idolizes Souji, looks up to him like a little kid would their childhood hero, and also utterly adores Nanako. It really shouldn’t have come as a surprise then, that the guy would eventually try and emulate their familial bond with the closest person to him, the one member of the group he actually lives with.

Yosuke stares down at Teddie’s watery little face and something in him shifts. Pity, he thinks at first, but that doesn’t seem right at all. It’s warmer than that, closer to the chest, and try as he might he can’t name it properly. Whatever it is, though, it fills the space from which Yosuke’s initial shock at being called “brother” out of nowhere is slowly starting to drain. The more he lets it sit, the easier it feels, the more natural – like putting a name to something that already existed, or like a stone in a foundation that was always there, just not quite in place until someone pressed in exactly the right spot.

He can’t even summon up the will to stay annoyed.

With a long, drawn out sigh, Yosuke puts a bit more pressure on Teddie’s hair and ruffles it beneath his palm. “You just surprised me, okay? You can…” He pauses, his mouth feeling funny, and glances away from the teary gaze angled up at him for a second before turning back, resigned – though not unhappy about it. “…You can call me that if you want, I guess.”

The rapid, complete reversal in Teddie’s mood is staggering, his dejected expression swiftly transforming into something blindingly bright and exuberant. “Just!” Yosuke starts, frantically cutting off whatever the bear is about to say. “Not where anyone else can hear you, alright?” Because really, it’s already hard enough trying to explain where Teddie came from to anyone that doesn’t know about the Midnight Channel; Yosuke doesn’t think he’d be able to come up with a new cover story if people start thinking he’s been hiding a secret younger sibling for the past year his family has been here. (And that’s not even counting the back bending he’d have to do if his parents overheard.)

Luckily Teddie doesn’t seem to mind this addendum at all, because suddenly there’s a scrawny pair of arms squeezing Yosuke’s middle like a ripe orange and Teddie is bawling into his shoulder for an entirely different reason. “OKAY!” he crows, thankfully muffled by Yosuke’s shirt.

Yosuke wheezes, teetering slightly as the hug knocks him off-balance. “Oh my god, Ted!” he croaks. It goes unheard.

The mascot-turned-humanoid peels his face up out of Yosuke’s side and grins at him with the brilliance of a flickering star, eyes still shining with happy tears. “I promise, Yosuke-nii! Teddie will be the best little bear-ther ever!”

Yosuke winces at the volume so close to his ears. “Okay,” he huffs, “alright, cool, awesome, just get off!” He paws at Teddie’s arms to try and dislodge them and alleviate the pressure from around his ribs. For someone made up of air and cotton roughly seventy-five percent of the time, Teddie has a surprisingly strong grip. “Seriously, Ted, that hurts.”

Teddie gives him one last tight squeeze before letting him go, and Yosuke damn near topples over at the sudden loss of bear propping him up. He shoots the little blond anomaly an unamused look that Teddie seems far too gleeful to notice. Or if he does, he pays it no attention whatsoever.

Teddie twirls past Yosuke and into the bathroom, snagging Yosuke’s sleeve as he goes and tugging on it with a grin that could cause tooth decay. “Come on, come on! You’re gonna be late again!” he calls, sing-songing like it’s the most typical morning in all the waking world.

Yosuke stands there in the doorway for a moment longer, watching as Teddie grabs a nearby washcloth and douses it under the sink faucet before slapping it over his face with a resounding, soggy ‘smack!” Yosuke stifles a laugh.

Maybe he should be more put out, Yosuke thinks with just a hint of fondness, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t even a teensy bit glad to have the damn bear around sometimes, despite how rambunctious he can be. He finds it especially true in the moments of deafening quiet, when the household’s collective schedules refuse to line up and Yosuke is left on his own with a mind that likes to eat itself. He understands “lonely”, he understands “sad”, and if his first-ever encounter with Jirya is anything to go by, he more than understands that bored, restless feeling that comes with being alone.

“Yosuke-nii?” Teddie calls again, testing out the new moniker with obvious glee.

Shaking his head, Yosuke lets out a long, overdramatic noise from the back of his throat and rolls his eyes to hide the tiny, warm smile that threatens to lift at the corner of his mouth. “Alright, fine!” he grouses, though there’s no real heat behind it. “Just don’t hog the sink.”

He moves to follow after his unofficial sibling, hesitating for only a moment just inside the bathroom door before sucking in a steadying breath through his nose and stepping the rest of the way inside. Teddie once again doesn’t notice – nor does he even so much as glance at the shower, much to Yosuke’s relief. Instead, the bear gets to work making a mess of the counter as he squirts far too much toothpaste over the bristles of his cartoon-bear-covered yellow and blue toothbrush. Yosuke, for his part, simply lets out a quiet, “ug, gross,” and pretends to shove Teddie out of the way as he reaches for his own toothbrush. He has to keep up appearances, after all.

And hey, he’s always secretly kind of wanted a little brother.

As they both settle in to what remains of their morning prep, (with Teddie absolutely hogging the sink) Yosuke finds he feels a weird sense of calm. It sinks into his skin like an ointment, smoothing over the last jagged dregs of his anxiety from before and effectively shielding his mind from thoughts of shame and vivid dreams.

The wariness still lingers slightly; he can feel it humming like a distant storm if he thinks about it too hard for just a second too long. It’s seeped around the edges like a stain and colors the new, easier atmosphere with the faintest hint of dingy yellow. To make sure it doesn’t spread, Yosuke unconsciously keeps himself close to the doorway with Teddie between him and the shower. He doesn’t look over at it, only lets it glint in the corner of his eye whenever he turns to jostle Teddie with his elbow or give him a look for trying to speak with a mouth full of toothpaste. Every time he catches sight of the white tile just beyond his boisterous little brother’s head, Yosuke instinctively keeps his vision blurry and turns back towards the sink.

 ---

 The stain begins to bleed further in the longer the morning goes on.

It starts out okay. Teddie talks Yosuke’s ear off like the endless vat of energy that he is, reveling in his newfound status as an unofficially-official member of the family and effectively keeping Yosuke’s nerves at bay as they finish up in the bathroom. Nothing else of note takes place.

There is a fleeting moment as they make their way downstairs where Yosuke remembers his earlier fear of finding an irate parent waiting to confront him, but the moment he touches down on the final stair and finds the rest of the house dark and empty, the vice around his lungs eases away. There is no surprise altercation; no one jumps out from around a corner to call Yosuke out for his late-night bathing habits. There isn’t even so much as a post-it from his mother stuck to the fridge like he’d been so convinced there would be not twenty minutes before. No one knows, he tells his anxious mind, breathing out the last of the stiffness in his limbs.

Yosuke switches on the lights and helps Teddie rifle around in the kitchen for something that can function as breakfast. Their search is decently fruitful, if a bit lackluster, but given that neither of them are much good at anything requiring more commitment than a microwave, it’s really not too bad. By the time Teddie shoves him out the door with one last bone-breaking hug and a joyous, “Bye, Yosuke-niiiiiiiiiiii!!” they are both at least fed.

The first part of the walk goes pretty smoothly as well. Yosuke plugs in his headphones and fires up the new album he’d downloaded over the weekend but never got a chance to listen to. He walks in time to the beat, still feeling the warmth in his chest from earlier, and makes the mistake of letting himself believe that maybe today won’t be so bad after all.

Then he gets to the spot where he and Souji usually wait for one another.

He’s already slowing to a stop as he approaches, hands reaching up out of habit to tug the headphones away from his ears and eyes automatically scanning the area for a head of familiar silver hair. It doesn’t register at first what he’s doing – every action born from muscle memory after weeks and months of the same damn thing; it’s only as he’s pulling his phone out of his pocket to check the time that he remembers.

He remembers that Souji still hasn’t texted him back after vanishing and scaring Yosuke half to death. He remembers that Souji wasn’t in school yesterday, that Naoto had acted as his mouthpiece and spouted some story about Souji being sick that just didn’t add up no matter how much Yosuke tried to work it out. He remembers the worry, the fear, the helplessness of not being able to do anything to help or even locate his best friend, followed by the hurt and frustration and the bitter, niggling anxiety in the back of his skull over the course of the past couple of days.

He remembers that he’d been upset with Souji for not trusting him enough to tell him what was wrong. He’d felt a little betrayed, angry even, though he hadn’t exactly wanted to acknowledge either emotion because he didn’t want to think about what it said about him. He remembers feeling guilty because of it, anxious and paranoid that he was overreacting but also too sure that Souji had been acting out of character to take any kind of self-depreciating comfort in the thought. He feels his gut turn.

What if Souji wasn’t in school again today? What if Naoto had been wrong or only placating them when they’d said Souji would probably be back? What if something really was super wrong, and his partner had just decided to shut him out without giving Yosuke a chance to help? Or what if Souji had just decided he didn’t want to deal with anyone anymore – didn’t want to deal with him.

Yosuke shakes his head, careful not to accidentally throw himself off-balance and step into the street. He can’t let himself think like that; it’s unfair to Souji and to Naoto and, well, probably just about everybody on the team to think that Souji suddenly just hates someone (him) or is leaving them all in the dark on purpose, picking out favorites because he doesn’t trust. That’s not who Souji is, it never has been in all the time that Yosuke has known him. Even with the anxiety, Yosuke at least is confident that his partner isn’t secretly a horrible, manipulative person at heart. After all, Souji has seen the worst parts of all of them and never so much as flinched.

So no, if Souji isn’t at school again today then that means something really is wrong, and shame on Yosuke for making it all about himself and his insecurities.

Mood soured and self-dislike rearing its ugly head once more, Yosuke stuffs his phone back into his pocket and tugs the headphones up to try and drown out the darkening thoughts. But it doesn’t work. He cranks the volume up, almost loud enough to hurt his ears, but no matter how loud he makes it there is still the tiny, mocking voice at the base of his skull that whispers just above the music and gnaws incessantly at his nerves.

You’re a terrible partner, it whispers. Look at you, always trying to play the victim. You can’t even be worried about your best friend without turning it into a pity party, can you?

He turns the music up higher, crossing his arms tightly over his chest and hunching inward as if he can somehow make himself small enough to hide from his own mind.

You’re just going to ruin everything like you always do. You push and you whine until nobody can stand you anymore. That’s why Souji isn’t speaking to you.

Shaky, anxious energy tingles its way down Yosuke’s legs, settles in his bones like a live current through a power line.

Maybe it’ll be a good thing if he doesn’t show up to school – you really want him to see your shitty self-absorption? Cuz he will. You know he will; it’s Souji, nothing gets past him. He’ll take one look at you and he’ll know.

Yosuke lurches forward like he’s been shoved, cramming his hands into his pockets and hurrying away from the meet-up spot without even a final glance around to see if his partner is nearby. A part of him hopes that Souji isn’t, that he’s already gone on ahead without waiting for Yosuke, or that he’s still somewhere far off behind, not yet close to where the pair of them usually meet.

He strides off in the direction of the high school as quickly as he can without actually breaking into a sprint and keeps his head bowed as if he can out-pace the anxiety and leave the voice behind.

  It’s almost a relief when Yosuke walks into the classroom and sees the desk in front of his own still as empty as his inbox.

He slides in through the door much earlier than he’d expected – a testament to just how fast he’d been power-walking the entire second half of his trek. It isn’t too early, a good two thirds of his classmates seem to be already in the room, but it’s early enough that he’s almost thrown off by how much he doesn’t have to scramble to his seat to beat the bell.

Chie and Yukiko greet him as he sits, Yukiko with a polite nod and quiet, “Good morning, Yosuke-kun,” and Chie with a quip about him not being late for once. He pretends to feel more indignant than he really is and shoots her a half-hearted retort. To Yukiko, he raises a hand in a lackluster wave and mumbles out something that hopefully passes as cheery. If the girls glance at one another after he turns to sling his bag off his shoulder then he pays it no mind. He can play it off as being tired if either of them ask.

They don’t. The odd looks last for a few moments more before the girls return to their previous discussion, seemingly from where they left off. Yosuke busies himself with unpacking his school bag and largely tunes them out.

More students file in. The clock above the door continues to tick, minute hand sluggishly moving ever closer to the start of class. Souji doesn’t show. The door opens and closes several more times and a handful of people enter while a few more leave – likely visiting their friends from another classroom. Souji still doesn’t show. Eventually, the students milling around the edges of the room start to find their seats and the noise in the hallway begins to die down a little as surrounding classes do the same. Souji still doesn’t show. Chie says more words to Yosuke and he responds when prompted, but he’s too busy pretending not to watch the door to ever fully join in on the conversation. And Souji. Doesn’t. Show.

A strange mix of relief and dread starts to form in Yosuke’s gut. There isn’t much time left before the teacher is due to arrive, and while the sarcastic, scornful voice that followed him from the meet-up point has thankfully quieted down now that Yosuke has the classroom as a distraction, the tempest of negativity still remains. Guilty as he feels for admitting it, he’s glad that Souji isn’t currently here; Yosuke is still a mess of conflicting emotions from the past couple of days – let alone this morning – and he has no idea how he’d handle actually seeing his partner in person. On the other hand, as the minutes eek by and it looks increasingly likely that no other students will be coming in, Yosuke’s concern for his best friend’s wellbeing swells like a rising tide, threatening to spill over and send him sinking once again. Guilt for his relief wars with the apprehension in his heart, leaving him balanced on he edge of something he cannot see the bottom of.

It’s like being lost without even a single star to guide him home.

He’s so busy focusing on his own inner turmoil that Yosuke almost misses the sound of the door opening, almost misses the quiet, moon-colored figure that slips into the room like a spectre until they’re silently easing into the chair directly in front of him. Yosuke startles as the figure turns in their seat to offer a nod to Chie and Yukiko, then back around to give him one as well.

Souji.

Souji is back in school today.

And he looks like absolute hell.

It’s the little things about him, the chips and cracks that Yosuke can see all over his partner’s finely-crafted mask of normalcy. There is a careful tension in the way he holds himself, a tightness to the line of his shoulders that speaks of carefully controlled anxiety, of exhaustion hidden down deep below the surface. Yosuke knows, he can see this and recognize it because now he knows what to look for. Up close he can see the remnants of dark circles below Souji’s eyes, faint and faded, just a hint of purple below tissue paper skin. It’s the same thing Yosuke sees on himself in the mirror after a too-long shift at work for the second day in a row.

He scans Souji’s features as the other boy smiles at the three of them. The tit of Souji’s lips is all wrong; the smile is pulled too far out along the corners and not upward like it should be if it were really real. It doesn’t reach his eyes, either, and seems to tremble the longer it stays on. His skin also looks ashen around the corners – a subtle sign of sleep deprivation that Yosuke knows all too well.

(He can’t remember ever noticing his partner looking this way before. He’s ashamed to admit that he doesn’t know if that’s because Souji’s just never looked this bad or if Yosuke’s just never looked.)

Yosuke thinks of all the times he’s been running on empty and feeling like he wants to drop, but can’t because there’s still several hours left of his shift and he has to pretend he’s perfectly fine. It’s always then that the stern, gossipy, angry old women decide to come up to him, to crowd him into a corner and make demands he cannot fulfill or intimidate him just because they think they can. Yosuke knows what it feels like to have to hold his Customer Service smile in place and keep a tight reign on his positive façade – just so they don’t pick up on his exhaustion and desperation to just go home and exploit the weakness as if it were blood in the water.

That’s what Souji looks like to him.

As horrible as it is, Yosuke has the pageant to thank for being able to notice the way his best friend is miles away from okay. Granted, he looks a fuck ton better than he did the day he went sprinting past Yosuke in the hallway, eyes wild and panicked. But that’s exactly why Yosuke can see what he sees now; because now that he’s caught of glimpse of what Souji looks like when his usual stoicism and quiet solidity are fractured, Yosuke doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to not notice it again.

Souji turns slightly at the waist to aim his surface-level smile in Yosuke’s direction, having just finished showing it to Yukiko and Chie. Yosuke catches the way Souji’s eyes seem to linger on him – just for a second – and Yosuke tries to meet them, hold them, in the hopes of finding some kind of genuine emotion hidden inside, but Souji flicks his gaze down just slightly, before turning away and facing the front of the room.

The teacher walks in a moment later and any chance of getting Souji’s attention again is lost for the rest of the morning.

 ---

           The rest of the day is a complete and total disaster.

Yosuke barely gets a chance to talk to Souji during lunch, and for the little bit he does, Souji essentially says the exact same thing that Naoto had said the day before. Under normal circumstances this might not have raised any flags in Yosuke’s head, but the way that Souji “explains” the events of the last couple of days seems more like he’s building off of something rather than recounting it. Once again there’s an odd disconnect with the timeline.

But Yosuke doesn’t know how to call him on it. He keeps his eyes trained on his best friend’s face, scrutinizing Souji’s expression as if he can pick out the missing information from the way Souji doesn’t quite meet anyone’s eyes. There is a strange fluttering in his stomach as he watches – one that gets stronger every time he notices yet another minute detail that speaks of just how not-right his partner is below the surface.

It isn’t even that Souji looks like he’s been horribly sick, which, again, Yosuke doesn’t wish for but would at least lend credit to the story that both Naoto and Souji have given. He does look very much like he hasn’t slept properly, so that part at least is obviously true, but to say that physical illness is the reason for everything is just… it doesn’t fit. No, instead there is a sort of quiet jitteriness to Souji’s entire being; one that screams of trepidation, like Souji is afraid of something as he speaks. He’s also keeping things purposefully vague– not so much that it’s obvious, but Yosuke has acted as Souji’s second for far too long now not to be able to spot the discrepancies in his partner’s patterns. He’s spent months being hyper-tuned to Souji as their commander; he’s a little miffed at himself for never thinking to use that same skill outside the TV until now.

Yukiko is the one that brings up how sudden Souji’s disappearance had been. Souji’s poker face twitches just barely, but it’s enough that Yosuke, close as he is, can spot the split-second ripple on the mirror-smooth expression Souji’s holding in place. Chie picks up the thread that Yukiko began and carries it with a nod of agreement, throwing in a statement of her own.

Yosuke grabs at the end of the conversation thread, seizing his chance and hastening to remind the other boy of how he’d witnessed him tearing down the hallway before Souji can even so much as open his mouth to respond. He purses his lips and stares at Souji as if he can make his friend meet his eyes by sheer force of will. “Seriously, bro,” he adds, silently praying he can call his partner out and have it work. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you move that fast.”

Souji flicks his focus over, more like an unconscious tic than anything deliberate, and for the tiniest of moments his gaze connects with Yosuke’s before Souji’s cloud-grey eyes flick away again and back to the space just behind Yosuke’s right shoulder. It’s faster than a well-aimed Zio, but not quite fast enough for Yosuke to completely miss the flash of rabbit-like fear that’s hiding just behind Souji’s manufactured expression. The sight of it twists in Yosuke’s chest like a sewing bobbin wound nearly tight enough to snap.

Look at me, he thinks, desperate with rekindled anger and hurt. Talk to me, damnit, I was worried about you!

But he doesn’t say it out loud. He can’t, because he doesn’t know how – doesn’t know how to call his friend out for giving half-truths at best, doesn’t know how to ask Souji outright what’s going on. He’s terrified, both of making a nuisance of himself like he did with Saki-senpai and also of Souji pulling away from him and never telling him why. If Souji needs him, then Yosuke wants to help. But that means, too, that Souji needs to need him.

Because which is worse: being an annoyance or simply not being needed?

He quickly stomps that question down and grits his teeth against it.

Something desperate and frustrated claws its way up Yosuke’s throat in retaliation, and before Yosuke can stop himself he’s biting back an accusation, masking it at the last moment by making a joke at Kanji’s expense. It scalds him as he says it, like a swallow of too-hot water, but say it he does. He doesn’t even know why, it just… comes out; like a knee-jerk reaction to the feeling of being attacked, even if it’s by his own mind and not by any external force.

Souji’s expression turns to stone.

From that point on the discussion steadily decays. Chie smacks at Yosuke and Souji takes the chance to quickly throw up a wall. He deflects, changing his expression as if he’s swapping a Persona in battle, apologizing and smiling his fake, shaky smile and decidedly not giving any straight answers. The conversation winds around like a river until the details of the beauty pageant make their way to the front, where Yosuke, in his embarrassment and blind mess of confusing emotions, manages to trip headlong into his own stupidity.

Chie smacks at him again while Yukiko hisses something low and threatening that he probably deserves, and by the time Yosuke is able to fend them off, Souji has already made his escape. Yosuke slumps back into his seat, defeated and upset. There’s no point in going after his partner, he knows, because Souji has already proven his ability to vanish without a trace.

With his scalp still stinging from Chie’s knuckles, Yosuke sinks lower in his chair and folds his arms tightly over his chest as he sulks, teeth grinding as he attempts to tune out the girls’ indignation. He allows the acrid disappointment and dejection to fester – he’s sick of trying to reel it back in at this point, considering he’s still running on only a couple of hours of sleep. Chie and Yukiko finally turn away from him and Yosuke stares at the blackboard without seeing it until his vision starts to blur.

  Souji does eventually come back, of course, once lunch ends, but by then Yosuke is too embittered to care. He sits behind his partner (though he’s questioning if it can really be called an equal partnership right about now) and stares at the back of Souji’s head like it’s personally done him wrong. It’s how he feels at the moment, anyway.

Under usual circumstances, Yosuke would be a ball of erratic energy – finding ways to poke and prod at Souji to get his attention. Because Yosuke is needy, he knows he’s needy, and Souji is the best friend he’s ever had, so it just makes sense that Yosuke would want his attention all the time. He doesn’t like how needy he is (it’s cost him friendships before), but he’s stopped trying to deny or fight it. He’s seen first hand what the outcome of that can be.

But today he doesn’t do any of that. He can’t even bring himself to slip his friend a note, just to pass the time; he’s still too upset. It’s probably just paranoia, the product of anxiety and too many bad experiences with people throwing him away, and he’s aware that his reaction is most likely childish. Pettiness runs in his nature, though, when he’s hurt, and it’s just one more thing that Yosuke has come to terms with but cannot disengage from entirely. Something else he doesn’t like about himself – surprise, surprise.

Classes start and classes end and Yosuke’s mind wanders into dark places. He would try and nap, maybe, since he’s more worn out than he thinks he’s ever been outside from fighting in the TV world. However, though his body protests the lack of sleep, his mind keeps circling. So Yosuke sits and thinks, switching between being irritated with Souji for shutting him out – even if his partner really is just recovering from a messed-up stomach – to being hurt all over again to blaming himself. What did he do so wrong that Souji ignored him for two days straight? Does Souji just not trust him anymore? Did he ever?

And oh, that last one stings.

Yosuke’s emotions swing back around to frustration then; if Yosuke really did screw up somewhere, then how the hell is he supposed to know what not to do if Souji won’t talk to him? If Souji doesn’t trust him, if Souji never did, then what the actual fuck? Just… what the fuck?! No matter what way Yosuke turns this situation over in his mind he can’t seem to untangle any of it. He doesn’t know if he should apologize for something or if he should be expecting another apology from Souji. By the time there’s only half an hour left of school Yosuke is damn near ready to grab his partner by the shoulders and shake him, or corner Souji so that he can’t run away again, pin him to a wall and press in close until Souji’s has nowhere to focus his eyes except for him.

He lets himself picture it, plays the imaginary confrontation out like a movie in his head. He could grab Souji as he’s getting ready to leave and drag his partner back into the classroom after all the other students file out. Or better yet, he could trap Souji in an empty bathroom stall, maybe, could catch him as he’s passing by and push the other boy backwards so that Souji can’t duck around him to escape. Yosuke could slam his hands against the wall on either side of Souji’s waist, keep him there between his arms, press a knee between his partner’s legs, lean in to drag his teeth along the sensitive skin of Souji’s throat—

FUCK.

Yosuke startles so badly that he nearly jerks back in his seat. He just barely avoids bashing his ankle into the leg of Souji’s chair on accident, yanking his foot to the side last second and smacking his shin on his own desk instead as images from last night come roaring back into his head like a tsunami. Souji pinned beneath him. Souji with his breath gasping and his cheeks flushed red. Souji staring up at Yosuke with foggy, half-lidded eyes.

Yosuke feels the awful telltale rush of warmth as the blood in his body tries to migrate down.

You jerked off to the thought of your best friend last night in the shower, sing-songs the gnashing, sarcastic voice from the depths of his mind, mocking him as he tries to subtly squeeze his thighs together to discourage his traitorous dick. He grits his teeth in desperation, guilt and fear and self-disgust roiling low in his stomach, and silently prays for class to somehow end early.

Souji twitches in front of him, no doubt having heard the muffled ‘thud’ from where Yosuke had bashed his leg, and shifts like he’s going to turn over his shoulder to glance back Yosuke’s way.

A bubbling wave of panic rises up inside Yosuke’s chest, sending his already-fluttering heart into overdrive. The voice inside his head hisses, whispering anxious, frantic things like, he knows what you did, he knows what you just thought, he knows! all layered over top of one another like ripples in the rain. Yosuke feels his blood freeze, all the heat in his body not currently in his lap now rushing to his face in sheer mortification and dread.

Don’t look at me, please don’t look at me!

He isn’t sure if he’s more afraid of the other boy seeing right through him or of his own reaction at the sight of Souji’s face; he doesn’t trust his mind right now not to overlay the Souji from last night’s dream across the one in front of him. In the back of his head he shamefully wonders if it’s possible to be terrified and turned on at the same time. He squeezes his thighs tighter together and tries to circumvent his body’s attempts to find out.

As if some divine entity has heard him, the teacher turns around from writing on the chalkboard right as Souji is twisting his spine to look back in Yosuke’s direction, effectively halting Souji’s movement and leaving him to hurriedly realign himself facing forward. Yosuke lets out a quiet sigh of relief and slumps down in his chair once more. He ignores the sidelong glance that Chie sends his way and concentrates on slowing his heartbeat to a more reasonable level, hoping the flow of blood redirects itself as the steady pounding of his pulse sluggishly decelerates.

That was fucking close.

Yosuke’s jaw hurts from how he’s been clenching it by the time the warmth finally returns to his fingers. They shake with unspent adrenaline as he waits for the teacher to turn back around, discreetly grabbing his things and shoving them into his bag the moment her gaze is turned. As soon as the final bell sounds, right as Souji is twisting around again and offering him that bright, tired smile, Yosuke is on his feet and swinging his bag over his shoulder. He blurts out a quick goodbye and an “I’m glad you’re better, dude!” before dashing out the door like he’s running several years behind schedule, pants still feeling just barely too tight for the speed with which he walks.

He tells himself he’s just imagining the way the faint light in Souji’s face seems to dim as Yosuke all but jogs out into the safety of the hall.

 ---

 Yosuke’s shift that night at Junes is only made survivable because of Teddie.

The living mascot is still riding the emotional high from that morning and takes happy advantage of every moment that their paths seem to cross while Yosuke works the grocery department and Teddie the one just beyond. Every free moment he has, he’s gluing himself to Yosuke’s side, which Yosuke would be lying if he said he wasn’t secretly happy about. As annoying as his new little brother can be, it’s nice to feel needed, wanted, especially now, and Yosuke is thankful for the (very successful) distraction Teddie’s ravenous desire for his attention provides. They wind up getting a few odd looks here and there but his dad never comes by to see what the ruckus is about, so for once, Yosuke is able to force himself not to notice the hardened gazes thrown his way.            

The problem is, Teddie can’t be around him the entire time he’s there – even with the bear sneaking over to the canned goods aisle every chance he gets. After all, Teddie doesn’t go to school and thus has been on shift for a lot longer than Yosuke has. Stall as he might, eventually the kid is required (and deserves) to go on his dinner break, leaving Yosuke all alone with his thoughts. Even worse, it’s the part of the night that has a short lull in activity – the hour or so in between when people get off work and when they actually go out to start shopping for ingredients for dinner – so there aren’t even really any customers to deal with to keep Yosuke’s mind from edging off into dangerously dark territory. It makes him anxious all over again; even a testy old housewife or disgruntled off-duty cop would be preferable to being left alone.            

Because it’s when Yosuke is alone that the voice returns to his mind and whispers seeds of doubt and condescension into his ears.

Dirty, it sneers while he’s rearranging a stack of cans from this week’s “featured brand.”

Disgusting, it hisses and nearly makes him drop an entire armload onto his own foot.

Pervert, it mocks as he gives up and shoves everything he’d been holding onto the first shelf he can find.

Every time it speaks it gets harsher, more insistent, angrier, until it becomes nigh on impossible to focus on anything else. It’s everything he’s ever been afraid of himself becoming – other than the needy, clingy mess he already acknowledges he is – and it rattles around in his skull, getting louder and louder as the minutes tick by with nothing to occupy his thoughts beyond his own quagmire of self depreciation. He can feel it weighing heavily across his shoulders like a blanket made of stones, settling into his stomach and solidifying as if he’d swallowed cement.

It starts off quietly, too, almost so much that he doesn’t spot it at first, not until it’s too late to head it off. The guilt trickles in like an infection, like a seeping sickness, and by the time Yosuke has noticed its presence it’s brought along the doubt, the fear, the feeling of something grimy stuck to Yosuke’s skin like a thick layer of mud. It colors his vision, tugs at his Customer Service smile until it’s only held in place by sheer muscle memory, even as Yosuke’s insides start to burn and it nearly topples him over with the force of its reveal. He tries to push it aside, tries to ignore it or make it go away; it hangs on with poisoned claws and digs them deeper every time he thinks he’s managed to start to pull them out.

Remember what you did? the voice cackles over and over again. Remember how you enjoyed it?

And in the moments of silence when no one is nearby to keep him out of his own head, Yosuke does.

He thinks about all the sensations the dream had brought along with it, the ones that had stayed with him in the shower long after he’d woken up. He thinks about how good they had been, how he’d come to with the feel of Souji’s hair between his fingers, Souji’s lips against his own – not just the sex but the little things surrounding it as well. He thinks and thinks and thinks and then thinks again about how he’d been in class earlier that very day and wanted nothing more than to lean forward and press his face against the back of his partner’s shoulder.

He’d wanted to kiss Souji.

Yosuke ducks around the side of an aisle and leans against it for support as he lets the careening train of through go crashing through his head. The track behind it blazes bright and turns to ash.

GOD.

Yosuke runs his hands down his face.

He’d had a sex dream about his best friend. He’d orgasmed to the thought of his best friend. And not only that, but he’d actively been unable to think about anything else – even thinking of nothing hadn’t helped.

He feels his breathing start to quicken, catching in his chest at the end of each jerky inhale. Is he broken? Is there something horribly wrong with him that he can’t even get off to the thought of girls anymore? Is he just so irreparably desperate for Souji’s attention that he’d somehow cracked himself the moment his partner had stopped talking to him for a few days?

And even besides the fact that it was Souji that Yosuke had been picturing, that it was his closest companion and a guy, there is still another, almost more pressing concern that Yosuke finds himself circling around to now that the initial disgust and self-loathing has made itself apparent.

What does any of that say about him personally? What if it was just some weird fixation with the one person he’s ever felt this close to? Some need to be relevant? Is it even actually Souji that Yosuke’s brain has apparently latched onto now, or is it simply the ever-present yearning for someone, anyone to want him around that had placed his partner’s face, his voice, his body over top Yosuke’s pathetic need for validation? Saki-senpai’s echoing, shadowy voice had described Yosuke as a stray puppy once, months ago in the dark and twisted nether-world version of the Konishi family liquor store. He doesn’t want to admit it, but he knows she was probably right.

He does, after all, have a bit of an unfortunate track record with letting people use him.

Souji is kind to him. Souji is always there for him, always makes time for him; is it too far a stretch to think that maybe Yosuke is addicted to being treated like an actual person? That everything that’s happened in the last 24 hours is the product of Yosuke simply enjoying the attention and getting freaked when it’s suddenly taken away for even a moment? Maybe Yosuke really is like a whining dog, attaching himself to the first person to give him any sort of positive attention and getting under their feet, regardless of who the person is.

Maybe it’s Yosuke that now thinks of Souji as something to use, like everyone in the city used to do to him.

(And oh god, does he have to lean the rest of his weights against the endcap to keep himself standing when that particular thought crops up and knocks the wind clean out of his lungs. He thinks for a moment that he might even be physically sick.)

From that point forward, the rest of the night is left in shambles. Teddie’s break stretches on impractically long and Yosuke’s mind chews away at itself, sending him into an abyss of negativity while he turns everything over in his head until his head feels dizzy and his stomach feels nauseous.

Pathetic.

You’re so pathetic.

You can’t even pick apart what you’re repressing so that you can stop repressing it. What the fuck is wrong with you?

(He doesn’t have an answer. He doesn’t have any answers.)

You’re gonna wind up friendless again. You’re gonna scare him away and he’s going to hate you forever. After everything you’ve said about Kanji, now you’ve gone and done the same fucking thing you’re so goddamn worried some other guy is gonna try and do to you.

You hypocrite.

You sicko.

You dirty fucking homo.

Yosuke has to run to take a ten-minute break of his own, locking himself in the storeroom with wet-hot blurring vision until the bile in his throat stops burning at the backs of his teeth.

  He doesn’t sleep much again that night either. He’s too afraid of the dreams returning to properly rest, but too emotionally wrung out and exhausted to do anything other than lay there and stare up at the ceiling until his alarm goes off for school.

  Yosuke avoids Souji completely after that.

Wednesday is almost worse than Tuesday had been, because now that Yosuke knows Souji is back at school he has to actively take measures to evade him. He makes it a point not to go anywhere near the spot along the road where he and Souji would normally catch up to one another and walk the rest of the way. He can’t risk it, can’t give the voice in his head a new chance to spew its venom into his brain cells. So instead, he cranks up his music until his ears are ringing and wills his legs to move faster, ducking into a side street and taking an alternate path to school. Just in case the focus of his mental torment is anywhere nearby.

Because even as bad as the voice is, Yosuke just… He can’t face Souji.

It isn’t that he doesn’t want to see him (he really does, he’d missed his partner while Souji had been absent and unresponsive), but every time he thinks of his friend the images in his mind come filtering back in, tinting his thoughts with increasingly vivid scenarios. It’s almost like a floodgate has been opened, one that Yosuke not only doesn’t know how to close but also didn’t even know was there until it had all come crashing down. It’s almost unbearable.

So no. He can’t face Souji. Not yet. Not right now.

Not until he’s pieced himself back together and there’s nothing left for Souji to know and hate him for.

Yosuke hangs back at the school gates when he reaches them, picking his way carefully around the side of the front walkway to minimize his visibility just in case Souji is still inside by the shoe lockers. Only once he’s certain enough time has passed does Yosuke actually enter the building. He switches out his shoes as fast as he can and darts to the very end of the hall to the far staircase – the one he knows Souji is less likely to use while heading up for class – where he then loiters in the darkened corner of the stairwell, peeking around the side of the hall like he’s back on the stakeout with Chie all those months ago. He stays there, hiding, not even bothering to acknowledge the people around him as they pass him by, until he finally catches sight of that signature ethereal silver disappearing into the classroom. The crowd surges, then thins, then becomes a trickle, and all the while Yosuke remains in the safety of the hallway, only leaving his place in the stairwell when the final bell is about to sound and he has absolutely no other choice.

He slips into the classroom from the door in the back and tries to move as stealthily as he can to avoid alerting the boy in the desk in front of his own to his presence. He sits, shoots Yukiko and Chie a robotic nod in greeting, and for the rest of the time before the lunch break, he stares longingly at the back of Souji’s head and avidly pretends he doesn’t see the other boy glancing at him whenever the teacher isn’t looking directly their way.

He bolts for the bathroom the moment the lunch bell rings.

He doesn’t have a shift that night but he says he does anyway. He lies straight to Souji’s face (well, not straight to his face, Yosuke babbles it out as he’s shoving his notebook into his bag and blatantly avoiding looking at his best friend’s crumbling expression,) before heading out the door so fast he nearly stumbles. He can hear a couple of short, indignant noises from behind him – likely Chie – but he doesn’t so much as look.

He goes home and locks himself in his room, piling up under every cover he owns and cranking the volume on his headphones up as high as it will go.

He falls asleep anyway.

He dreams again – though nowhere as graphically as before. It’s muted somehow, less like he’s dreaming and more like his brain is simply cycling through all the thoughts Yosuke has been unable to drive away for the past couple of days. He still wakes up hard, gasping, frantic in his embarrassment and his confusion, kicking off the sheets and leaning back against the headboard until his heart stops trying to burst out through his chest. He’s still shaky, still guilty, still fucked up over how much he wishes it actually had been more graphic.

He doesn’t dare go down the mental rabbit hole of trying to suss out what all of that actually says about him.

There is a faint buzz from the nightstand beside him and he forces himself to move, to tug the headphones from his ears – the player long since drained of battery after running for several continuous hours – and shove them out of his way along the mattress. He rolls over to make a grab for where his phone sits blinking at him, his eyes still adjusting to the dim light in the room around him. (It takes him a good minute to realize that the sun has gone down outside his window, leaving the room only just barely lit with the fading blue-and-golden glow on the horizon.)

Yosuke nearly drops the phone twice before he finally manages to get a decent grip on it, his fingers still trembling from the adrenaline rush he’d suffered upon waking. With his body not obeying him and his mind still halfway lost in fleeting visions of his best friend’s skin, Yosuke has to stare at the device in his hand for several long seconds before he can make out the words scrolling across the screen.

8 missed messages.

All from Chie.

 Meat-Fu: Hey you jerk u didn’t even say goodbye! Rude!

Meat-Fu: What gives anyway? Thought u’d b all over Souji-kun by now.

Meat-Fu: Is something going on? Did u 2 fight?

Meat-Fu: Just went by Junes & guess what? Teddie said u don’t work 2night.

Meat-Fu: U wanna explain that 1? Y’d u lie?

Meat-Fu: Yosuke? U better read these or I’ll kick ur ass.

Meat-Fu: U’ve been acting rlly weird. R u ok?

 Yosuke groans and covers his eyes with his forearm. He doesn’t have the mental capacity to deal with this just yet. Quickly tapping at the keyboard, he types out a short, noncommittal deflection in the hopes of heading off any more incoming headache she might send his way. Chie is persistent, he knows, and if he doesn’t give her at least some kind of response then she might just come and kick down his front door. He has no desire to explain that to his parents.

 Yosuke: lol geez chie take it ez

Yosuke: I goofed n got the days wrong thats all

 He doesn’t get an immediate reply (for which he is very grateful), but the anxiety starts to creep in low in his lungs anyway. There is still adrenaline in his blood from the… everything, so the jittery, unsteady buzzing under his skin is still somewhat present even now. It adds on to the newer trickle of dread and brings it out just a little stronger.

He doesn’t really like that he’s just lied to Chie again, especially when she’d seemed at least somewhat genuinely worried (with Chie it’s hard to tell), but he doesn’t know what to say. Should he tell her he’d made up the work excuse so that he could bail as quick as possible and avoid being around his partner, whom he’s been having gay dreams about?

Hell. Fucking. No.

So a lie it is. A lie on top of a lie on top of everything else. Because why not. Yosuke makes a helpless noise in the back of his throat and flips his phone shut so he doesn’t have to look at his own texts anymore.

He’s just about to stuff his phone under the pillow and go back to hating his life in the dark when he spots the little red envelope still starting at him from the phone screen.

1 missed message.

Confused, he goes back to Chie’s string of texts. No, he’s pretty sure he read all these, and it doesn’t look like Chie has responded yet. But then he counts them and realizes that out of the eight messages the notification said before, Chie’s only sent him seven. His anxiety pulses again.

Throat suddenly tight, Yosuke hits the button and goes back to the inbox.

Prtnr – 1

Shit.

It’s like the universe is just straight up out to get him, because Yosuke can’t stop the way his stomach flips (not even remotely unpleasantly) upon seeing his best friend’s name in the inbox for the first time in days. His hands start to shake all over again and now he can’t even tell if it’s from an unfamiliar form of fear or if it’s the last piece of his mind still wrapped up in the string of images that had plagued him while he stress-napped.

Get a damn grip, he scolds himself, though even in his head the words do nothing to help. It’s just a text from Souji. Isn’t that what you’ve been wanting?

Yes. But also no. Not right now. Not when Yosuke is in no fit state to handle interaction – even through something as impersonal as texting.

(And there are also tinier, thinner voices in his ears that murmur tinier, thinner vices just behind his own thoughts and war with each other around and around. Things like how he’d been so hurt and worried, shouldn’t he just go ahead and check it and be glad Souji’s talking to him again? But also things like how he should just leave it unread like Souji had done to him for several days.)

In the end, Yosuke gives in and opens the message, instantly drowning in the mix of glee and guilt and longing that comes flooding in as he reads the single, sweet message.

 Prtnr: I didn’t get to say it after class but I hope your shift goes well. :)

 Heat rises to Yosuke’s face, bright and sharp. He’s blushing, he can’t even deny that he is, because it’s so innocuous but also just so Souji, and while it’s no different than ninety percent of the texts his partner has sent over the course of their friendship, it’s still so… so…

Yosuke feels the flush trailing down his neck to seep under his shirt and dust across his collarbones. He has to take a second to close his eyes and rest his phone against his forehead like a kid with a crush, the corners of his mouth pulling upwards in an involuntary smile. This is dumb; this is so, so dumb, why can’t he just keep his own emotions in check for five minutes? But even as mad as he’s been at Souji, even as hurt and upset as his friend has made him feel over the last couple of days – intentional or not – Yosuke can’t suppress the little spark of happiness that Souji’s well-wish brings.

So, so dumb.

But, because the world outside the TV is the one that isn’t shaped by thought alone, the pleasant, carbonated tingle of happiness soon runs out of fizz and Yosuke is left with the chilly spread of his earlier apprehension. He almost forgot that he’s still a mess.

With a sigh and a silent plea for his own adrenaline not to fuck him over, Yosuke rereads the message and wracks his brain for a response. Should he even respond at this point? What if Chie’s already told Souji that Yosuke wasn’t at Junes? What if Souji knew when he sent the text, and sent it because he knew and why trying to catch Yosuke in a lie?

He discards that thought immediately; as crap as Yosuke has been feeling over his partner going MIA for a while, he refuses to believe that Souji is capable of passive aggression. He’s too much of a leader, too blunt of a person; Souji might be the very definition of tactful most of the time, but he’s still someone that says what he means rather than twisting things. Passive aggression is something Yosuke has noticed Souji can’t seem to stand – regardless of his endless patience – so personal bias aside, Yosuke can’t bring himself to think that Souji would ever apply a tactic he’s so uncomfortable with from other people.

(Then again, that tinier, thinner voice murmurs, he’s been so out-of-character lately that for all you know… )

Yosuke grits his teeth so hard his gums start to sting, using the dull pain to ground himself outside his head before that particular train of thought can gain any sort of traction. He doesn’t have the strength to deal with the mental whiplash anymore.

Before he can go back to over thinking, Yosuke stabs his thumb at the keyboard on his phone and types the quickest, most generically vague response he can possibly think of that has even a semblance of safety – just in case he’s wrong.

 Yosuke: k

 He hates it the moment he sends it but it’s already done and he has no idea of what he can add to it to keep from digging deeper into the trench he thinks he might have already started for himself. There is a very noticeable part of him that is still fluttery, still warm and a little happy from earlier, but he doesn’t know what to make of it. He would tie it to relief at Souji finally texting him, but that doesn’t seem right. He could also attribute it to the aftermath of dreaming, but it’s a different feeling. He’s happy Souji is thinking of him again (not going down that possible hole of doubt and negativity,) but also terrified of what his reaction might mean. Because on its own if would be a perfectly normal thing – his friend is talking to him after scaring him shitless by ghosting him for a few days – but combined with all the more questionable things his brain has been doing, Yosuke doesn’t think he can brush any part of this off as “normal” anymore.

He can’t separate his usual feelings from the ones he’s been experiencing the past few days; how can he when he can’t even untangle them to begin with? And the scariest part? If they’re really, actually new, then what brought them on? And if they aren’t new at all, well…

How the fuck is he supposed to react to that implication?

Stomach turning, Yosuke pulls Chie’s string of texts back up so he can stop staring at Souji’s polarizing message. (How can something so fucking simple be so goddamn complicated?!)

He’s just my friend, he tells himself as he taps the button to light up the keyboard once again.

Nothing else. I was worried and my head played a shitty prank on me.

He types up a dirty, awful joke – something reminiscent of the stuff he used to pull back when he and Chie had first started actually talking, something about thick thighs and short skirts, something he might send while trying to flirt while concussed – and hits send before his conscience can convince him that what he’s doing is wrong.

I’m not gay.

  ---

 When Chie responds a little while later, offended and rightfully pissed, Yosuke lets himself go on autopilot so that he doesn’t have to think about what he’s saying. His fingers type out something hollow and placating without any sort of real apology and Chie sends him back a promise of physical harm. He doesn’t try and argue.

He’s just in the process of beginning to drag himself up out of bed afterwards when his phone buzzes again. He picks it up and flips it open without thinking, stupidly assuming it’s Chie sending him another not-so-subtle threat. It isn’t. Instead there is another message from Souji, asking Yosuke how he was doing and if his shift had gone okay.

Yosuke stares down at his phone until the screen goes dark again, tendrils of anxiety creeping back in to wrap around the base of his lungs. He feels so stupid right now; his lie sits heavy on his chest and he’s acutely aware that he has to decide what story he wants to stick to. On the one hand, he could tell Souji what he’d told Chie, that he’d messed up the dates and forgot he didn’t have a shift after all. On the other hand, he wonders if he hasn’t already shot himself in that particular foot with his god-awful, lackluster response from before. It wasn’t as if he’d really said much of anything with his single-lettered reply.

He doesn’t know what to do. Somehow, what with his brain’s self-cannibalizing, it hadn’t really crossed Yosuke’s mind that Souji might actually respond now that he was apparently texting people again. Granted, the radio silence from the beginning of the week hadn’t built any sort of confidence – just the opposite – but Yosuke still can’t help but feel stupid for not even considering that his friend would ask him about work. Souji always asks him about work.

Tired and fuzzy-headed, he decides to take the coward’s way out and sends yet another ambiguous, monosyllabic reply.

 Yosuke: yea

 He snaps the phone shut and closes his eyes, unable to watch the text bubble show up in the thread like a glowing, pointed finger. He feels like a scolded child.

Still in the dark, sitting on the side of his bed, Yosuke leans forward and props his forehead against the heel of his hand. He doesn’t know what to do. Here he is, falling apart because his head is somehow hyperfixating on things he has no desire whatsoever to keep thinking about. He should be disgusted, right? All of this – the dreams, the shower, the weird half-fantasy… thing that happened to him in the classroom that afternoon – it should be making him uncomfortable, afraid. And he is, but it’s not… it’s not for the reasons he knows (or thinks) he should be. He doesn’t understand anything right now. And on top of all everything that’s been happening he desperately wishes he could just talk to his partner again. Souji is his commander, yes, but Souji is a solid fixture in Yosuke’s life in other, more personal ways, too. Souji is his friend, the best one he’s ever known, and regardless of how absolutely fucked the past week has been, Yosuke misses him. If he were losing his mind over anyone else he might even be able to ask Souji about it (maybe, possibly, hopefully). If it were anybody but Souji himself, maybe Yosuke could try and glean some insight from his friend’s unprecedented therapist skills, because Souji always knows exactly what to say.

But no.

The only person Yosuke might have a chance at asking for advice is exactly the person that Yosuke is messed up about, and to try and broach the subject would only spell out certain doom. So he’s stuck. He’s stuck and he’s exhausted and he feels like he might be close to the point of breaking but he has no magic in his arsenal to make it all okay again. He can try to squash it down, to try and get his own shit together so that he can act normally around Souji again and pretend there was never a problem to begin with, but he knows, he knows that Shadows have been born from less and even if he managed to pull it off the knowledge would still be there. He could hide it from Souji (or try to) but he’d never be able to hide it from himself. Catch-22.

So yeah. He’s stuck. He can’t fix himself without Souji’s help, he can’t fix his friendship with Souji until he fixes himself, and all the while he’s left with nothing to grab onto for support to even keep his head above the water. He can’t even get a grip long enough to not act completely sketchy around Souji and keep his partner from suspecting something’s up. Because eventually Souji will. And then he’ll ask. And Yosuke will either have to keep lying – which Souji is bound to pick up on – or he’ll have to tell Souji the truth.

Yosuke thinks he’d rather face down his shadow again without any backup. At least his death would be quick.

And that’s something else to think about: Souji has seen Jirya, has seen him and accepted him just as easily as he’d accepted Kanji and Naoto and everybody else’s shadows later on. Souji is far from a shallow person, so, theoretically, Souji would probably be alright with Yosuke suddenly having thoughts about another dude – that little bit of info alone wouldn’t be enough to break their friendship. It’s the rest of it that might; Yosuke has no idea how Souji might take to hearing that Yosuke has pictured him naked, as unintentionally as it may have been. It’s not like he can just ask.

For a second, Yosuke tries to imagine how the scenario would transpire, putting himself in Souji’s shoes to see how he himself might react. But it doesn’t work. He and Souji are too different, with Souji being quieter and more serene while Yosuke tends to be louder, more passionate, the less likely of the two of them to keep his own reactions in check. He doesn’t think he could ever even get close to thinking like Souji does, not even if he genuinely tried. So he tries again, but switches instead to picturing Souji being the one confessing to having dreams about Yosuke and… oh.

Yosuke has to take a deep, sharp breath in to combat the way that thought knocks the air from his lungs. His heart rattles at the bars of his ribcage, pounding like he’s somehow run a marathon while sitting completely still. He digs his fingernails into the back of his own wrist to keep himself from slipping back in and following the daydream all the way to the end.

It scares him how badly he wants to.

I’m not gay.

Yosuke’s hands are shaking slightly around his phone as he opens it back up and goes back into his list of contacts, scrolling until he lands on Yukiko’s number.

 Yosuke: hey do u have ne pics from the pageant?

 This is normal, right? This is what normal guys do. Straight, heterosexual, perfectly normal guys.            

(He absolutely isn’t hoping that Yukiko has photos of Souji.)

His phone buzzes a few moments later, much sooner than he’d been expecting – though truth be told he’d almost been hoping she wouldn’t respond at all. She must not be helping at the inn tonight.

 Yukiko-san: I’m afraid I don’t. I’m sorry.

 Oh thank fuck.

He sends back a quick “np” and lets out a long, heavy exhalation. He’d asked – that was what mattered. He’d asked one of the hottest girls in town for pictures of more girls in swimsuits. That’s all. That was enough. The fact that part of him is unfathomably relieved she’d said no is just because they’re all his friends and it’d be awkward. …Right?

But then, it had never seemed awkward to him before; not until after he’d started having whatever mental breakdown he’s currently still trying to work his way through. Not until after he’d started having weird, inexplicable dreams about his male best friend.

(He absolutely hadn’t been hoping that Yukiko had photos of Souji.)

His phone buzzes yet again and another message from Yukiko flashes up across the screen.

 Yukiko-san: Did you ask Rise-chan? She took lots of photos of everyone backstage.

           Oh.

That’s right; Rise took pictures of everybody – Naoto, the girls, and the boys. Rise has selfies, has shots of Chie and Yukiko in their various outfits on her phone, has shots of Naoto before they were able to hide themself behind the stage curtain. Rise snapped photos of Yosuke, too, as well as Teddie and Kanji.

Rise has pictures of Souji.

(How easy would it be to ask her for them? How easy would it be to just text her right now and say “send me pageant pics” and not even necessarily specify. He could always just make the excuse of needing photos of the drag pageant because Teddie wanted them. Rise would do it, too. She’d do it and she probably wouldn’t even hesitate…)

Yosuke takes a harsh breath through his nose and grinds his teeth harder into his lip until he can taste the faintest hint of blood against the backs of his teeth.

I’m not gay. I’m not.

He brings his other hand up to clutch at his phone and types with both thumbs, jamming them into the keys so hard that it almost feels like bruises being left behind. He watches his hands instead of the screen, already too disgusted with himself for what he knows he’s writing to watch as the words begin to appear.

 Yosuke: nah thats ok

Yosuke: y dont u send me a new 1 nsted? ;)

           Yosuke snaps the phone shut so hard that he nearly smashes him own thumbnail between the screen and keyboard, still on the “send” button like lingering proof of his sins. He flings the accusing hunk of circuits and plastic away from himself across the comforter and brings his hands up to drag his fingers across his eyes. He wants to be okay with what he sent. He feels only rolling nausea instead – sea sick on dry land, with thick, guilty salt water pouring into his lungs with every choking breath.

He lays back down and curls up against the mattress like he’s just been kicked in the stomach, arms wrapped tightly around his waist. He stays like that, with his face pressed into the sheets until his head feels fuzzy from the lack of oxygen, and eventually reaches up to grab a pillow and press it over the side of his head. He breathes as best he can around the obstruction, willing the spots behind his vision to go away and for the dull and steady creep of bile to slide back down his throat. Please, he silently begs, though to whom he has no clue. Just let this all be over already.

Somewhere, deep in the furthest part of his mind, there is a subtle shift – like the quiet stirring of something long dormant now coming fully back to life – and the low, echoing sound of a multi-layered voice chucking from just beyond the dark.

[aion-rsa]

Marvel’s WandaVision Episode 5: MCU Easter Eggs and Reference Guide

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This article contains WandaVision spoilers through episode 5, possibly beyond, and for the wider MCU.

WandaVision episode 5, “On a Very Special Episode…” took everything we liked about the first two episodes and shook them up. For the first time, we have a fully blended approach to the storytelling, with the episode alternating between the altered “sitcom” reality of Westview, NJ and the actual, current MCU events. And then there’s that multiverse-shattering ending to contend with.

There’s a lot to break down with this week’s WandaVision, so we’d better get to it…

Sitcom Influences

WandaVision took us to the ‘80s this week, with a little Growing Pains, some Family Ties, and maybe a hint of Full House thrown in for good measure. The living room set itself looks very much like the standard seen on shows of the era, specifically Family Ties and Growing Pains.

Family Ties

The aging up of Billy and Tommy is much like Andy Keaton from Family Ties. In season 4, Andy was born and spent the whole season as a baby. As of the beginning of season 5, Andy was suddenly about 5 years old with zero explanation.

Also from Family Ties is the beginning of the opening credits, where it would show someone painting a colorless sketch of the family.

Bettany’s Michael Gross impression was extremely disturbing in how good it was a couple of times.

Growing Pains

Wanda and Vision getting vaguely horny for each other while doing regular domestic stuff is reminiscent of the way the parents would occasionally get it on on Growing Pains and Family Ties.

The sitcom theme lyrics and feel are extremely Growing Pains. And yes, as you might expect, they are very appropriate for these characters.

Here are the full lyrics for you (courtesy of the Disney+ closed caption feature):

“You wander the world with a vision…Of what life could be But then the years come and teach you…To just wait and see Forces may try to pull us apart…But nothing can phase me If you’re in my heart Crossing our fingers Singing a song We’re making it up as we go along Through the highs and lows We’ll be right, we’ll be wrong We’re making it up as we go along And there will be days…We won’t know which way to go But we’ll take it higher…You’re all I desire When the going gets tough…When push comes to shove We’re making it up Cuz we got love we got love we got love We got WandaVision”

Darcy also refers to Vision “playing Father Knows Best,” a callback to the sitcom style of the first episode.

We wrote in more detail about the sitcom influences of WandaVision episode 5 here.

Scarlet Witch

For the first time, we get the names of Wanda’s parents: Irina and Oleg Maximoff, but in the comics they were known as Django and Marya.

Wanda was born in 1989, the same year as Elizabeth Olsen.

We learn here that the “Scarlet Witch” codename has never been used in the MCU

Darcy refers to the anomaly as “the hex” after the hexagonal patterns that were noted in the previous episode. In the comics, Wanda’s powers are often referred to as “hex bolts.” She could also produce “hex spheres” and the town seems to be enveloped in a large one here.

Wanda’s accent, missing since Avengers: Age of Ultron, makes its triumphant return here.

Wanda talking to the kids about how “my brother is far away from here” is technically true: his corpse is…nowhere nearby. Although given how the episode ends, she could very well have been referring to another corner of the multiverse. We’ll get to that soon enough.

SWORD seems to refer to what’s going on as “The Maximoff Anomaly.”

Vision

We now know that Vision’s corpse is physically present in Westview and he isn’t just a manifestation of Wanda’s powers, nor was the horrific image of him glimpsed at the end of episode 3 a hallucination: it was Wanda seeing him as he really is.

Vision is working on a Commodore 64 at Computational Services. This early personal computer was a terrific gaming machine, with graphics and sound that were far better than early home gaming consoles of the era.

Vision apparently had a “living will” about what he didn’t want done with his body in the event of his untimely demise. Think of it like the MCU equivalent of a DNR. No, not a “do not reveal.” The other thing.

House of M

Before Agnes shows up the second time around, Vision is reading a newspaper with the headline, “LOCAL HOMEMAKERS INNOVATING RECIPES.” Moments later, he folds the newspaper in a way so that it only says “HOM.” HOM is short for the big Scarlet Witch comic event House of M.

The Twins

While it’s used as a setup for the twins inexplicably growing up, Wanda and Vision are horrified to find that the babies have simply vanished. In the comics, the first time we really get an idea that something is wrong with the children (as well as Wanda’s mental wellbeing) is when they show us that Billy and Tommy would cease to exist when Wanda wasn’t around.

This episode is the first to really feel like it’s borrowing a lot from Wanda’s most important story: the Dark Scarlet Witch story from Avengers West Coast. In that book, the first clue that something was wrong with Wanda was how the twins would disappear when she wasn’t looking a them. This would often happen when Agatha Harkness (presumably Agnes here) was babysitting for them. And later, Wanda’s personality started to shift towards full villainy and she was very cavalier about the use of her powers, something we start to see in this episode. 

For most of the episode, the twins are dressed in red and green. This more than a nod to their parents’ favored color schemes, but it appears to mirror the colors they adopt when they grow up to be superheroes themselves. William becomes the hex-wielding Wiccan, who favors red, while Tommy favors green (like his Uncle Pietro) as Speed.

Sparky

Poor Sparky. Good boy.

The name “Sparky” is a reference to Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta’s brilliant Vision story, in which Vision and his “family” (not the Maximoffs) move to the suburbs and try to live a “normal” life. Part of that includes a synthezoid canine named “Sparky.” He didn’t meet a good end there, either. Stop letting dogs die in our stories, you monsters! It’s too sad.

Lagos

This week’s commercial is for Lagos Brand Paper Towels, with the catchy slogan of:  “For when you make a mess you didn’t mean to.”

This references the opening scenes of Captain America: Civil War, when Wanda used her powers to stop Crossbones from detonating a bomb in a crowded marketplace. While she reduced the number of casualties overall, a number of innocent civilians still died when he exploded. It’s the first indication that Wanda’s grief and trauma in Westview are driven by far more than just the loss of her lover.

The Lagos ad is also another reference to the Infinity Stones. Previously, we’ve had the toaster (Power), the watch (Time) and the Tesseract-shaped bath powder (Space). Here, we have a red liquid spill in a sly nod to the Aether (Reality). Only the Mind and Soul stones to go – which means two more commercials.

X-Men

These are definitely not the only X-Men references in the episode (of course), but we’ll get to that big one down below…

The scene of Wanda confronting SWORD agents looks to be directly inspired by the scene in the first X-Men movie where the police try to take down Magneto. Much like Wanda, he uses his powers on their guns, causing them to be aimed at the cops themselves before escaping. Considering the payoff to this episode and Magneto’s role as Wanda and Pietro’s sometimes-father in the comics (not to mention Pietro’s definite father in the X-Men movies), this was more than likely set up. 

Vision says he was reading Charles Darwin’s “The Descent of Man” to one of the twins, a book that deals with evolution. (David Bowie voice) “Gotta make way for the homo superior!”

The Twilight Zone

Serious Twilight Zone “It’s a Good Life” vibes in the episode throughout, particularly when Agnes is visibly weirded out by Wanda with her “take it from the top” moment (unless she’s deliberately screwing with everyone), and the mailman telling the twins “your mom won’t let [Sparky] get far.”

Also, while we’re on the subject of The Twilight Zone, Agnes appears to live at the corner of Maple St. and Sherwood Drive. “The Monsters are due on Maple Street” is a notoriously paranoid unpacking of suburban paranoia.

Westview

The opening credits feature a “Greetings From Westview, NJ” postcard in a pretty common format, but one made most famous on the cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Greetings From Asbury Park” album.

We wrote more about Westview in general here.

“For the Children

Vision points out that there are “no other children in Westview,” which calls to mind the creepy “for the children” chant from back in episode 2. 

Captain Marvel

Darcy draws the connection between how both Wanda and Carol Danvers got their powers via an Infinity Stone. Similarly, they acknowledge Wanda almost took out Thanos in Avengers: Endgame but that this feels outside the scope of her powers. Still, the fact that both Wanda and Carol stood up to Thanos isn’t something that’s being glossed over in the MCU.

Note Monica’s reaction when the name “Captain Marvel” is said isn’t exactly what you’d call enthusiastic.

Monica Rambeau

Monica’s test results coming back blank seem pretty significant. Is this a signifier that her molecular structure has changed, whether from the blip or passing through the hex barrier? Are we witnessing Monica’s superheroic origin story in slow motion?

Who is the Villain of WandaVision, anyway?

Despite the implications from the end of episode 4, Wanda isn’t completely in control of what’s going on. At various points in the episode she seems to be manipulating everything, but at others seems to be completely immersed in this reality. 

But if she doesn’t remember how this all started, that sets up a potential villain reveal (or more than one) down the road.

What’s up with Agnes?

Agnes is complicit but was disturbed by Wanda’s ability to “resurrect” so how much can she really know? Unless, of course, she’s just “acting” this way to continue with her cover.

On the other hand, Agnes “helping out with the kids” is kind of in line with our Agatha Harkness theory for the character.

Reed Richards?

Monica mentions that she has a particular “aerospace engineer” in mind to call for help. Based on all the other subtle Fantastic Four clues that were in the fourth episode, could this individual be Reed Richards?

If they aren’t taking that big a swing, it could be Adam Bernard Brashear, known as “The Blue Marvel,” another prominent Marvel scientist, and one who has led the 616 version of the Ultimates with Monica on the team.

Evan Peters is Pietro

“She recast Pietro?”

Yes, you are indeed seeing Evan Peters returning as Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver here. This is (at least until it’s revealed that the MCU Wanda and Pietro were indeed mutants whose powers were merely “activated” by Strucker’s experiments) now officially the first appearance of a mutant/member of the X-Men in the MCU. Peters, of course, played Pietro in three films,X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, and Dark Phoenix. While Aaron Taylor-Johnson played Pietro in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Peters played him in Days of Future Past, and he was generally more warmly-received by fans.

And does this indeed mean that Pietro is alive again, albeit in “recast” form? Or is Wanda so powerful that she ripped open a hole in the multiverse itself in order for her brother to “make a guest appearance” in Westview? This could very well be the first indication of what’s to come in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and the possibly Spiderverse-y Spider-Man 3.

Unless…what if this isn’t Pietro at all? What if it’s someone manipulative merely taking the form of Pietro to mess with Wanda even further?

Also, Pietro’s “bad boy” appearance very much feels like it fits with the Family Ties aesthetic. His “New York tough guy” look and persona is much like Nick, Mallory’s idiot boyfriend.  Coincidentally, Nick also starred in an episode of the show where he got a dog and it died soon after from an accident.

We wrote much more about the shocking WandaVision episode 5 ending here.

We Are Kind of OK With the ’80s

Jazzercise was indeed a real thing, god help us.

For those of you thinking the internet was a whatever a reverse anachronism is, we made the same mistake too. But it turns out it has been around in some form since the 1960s, when the Advance Research Projects Agency (precursor to today’s US government mad science agency, DARPA) networked a few computers and sent messages back and forth. 

Unanswered Questions

Dennis the Mailman is back from episode 1. His little aside to the kids is an indicator that he is vaguely aware of what’s really going on. Not necessarily in a sinister way, but a reminder that the people of Westview aren’t really enjoying this.

One of the camera feeds we see is from Satellite 348. Avengers #348 had a Vision-centric cover and story.

Is there a significance to the stuffed animal on the chair at the beginning? I thought maybe it was a stuffed Bova or something, but I think it’s just a bunny.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Spot anything we missed? Let us know in the comments!

The post Marvel’s WandaVision Episode 5: MCU Easter Eggs and Reference Guide appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[mischievouscourtfae]

((all the questions /twirls mustache))

{{ curse you for making me talk about my creations! }}

1. How did you first come up with your muse’s backstory, if you did at all?

So Rosaline was inspired by this picture from LazyTown:

Next to nothing was said about her in the episode except a passing reference to Mama and the initials R.R. I (as in the first) but my brain set off on a tangent.

Since Robbie Rotten would be her son and was also R.R. I liked the idea that it was family tradition to have R.R. names and started with Rossie Rotten and worked backward to Rosaline. The portrait was based on Robbie’s actor Stefan Karl, so I liked the idea of her being trans. It was a lot of bullshitting and what ifs while Celesialess and I were watching LazyTown that lead to her being the Autumn Court Queen (mostly cuz of the crown). Rottenbeard (her father) was from an earlier episode of the show involving LazyTown’s history, told in a book dating from 1703-1903. It involved a story of a hero defeating Rottenbeard… but legend and story always get twisted in the retelling and changed by the victors… That combined with the fact that the LazyTown is always nearly totally empty (no background characters) and filled with ruined walls and desolate in places lead to the great idea.

War.

That in 1903 LazyTown was attacked and all the inhabitants murdered or chased away because it was a town run by a Fae Pirate. That the elves slaughtered all of the children because they were changelings. All to “free” the town from fae influence. Which lead to the idea that that would spark a Civil War between the Courts of Faerie. Thus leading to the Great Civil War that is the main shaping factor for all of my fae OCs backstories. 

For Rosaline herself, at that point it was stringing together everything into a narrative of how she went from the child of a Pirate Captain and sailing the ocean with him, to him settling down and running a changeling town, her transitioning into a well read and thoughtful Lady, the coming of War and her being a major player in it, to mother, grandmother, and Queen. She’s lived a long life with many changes and events along the way. (and I skimmed a lot here)

2. If your muse is from a particular show/movie/comic/etc. , how did you first react when you first found out about your muse’s backstory?

LazyTown and her true backstory was never given. Well, okay I lie. From an abandoned early script Robbie’s parents were Mother: gambling addiction, Father: corrupt politician (i think?). So I did add those into my backstory for Rossie. She didn’t consider Robbie’s father a Lover, just a love. 

3. Is your muse’s backstory relatable to you?

The part where she shifts gender throughout her life, how she can mentally juggle many different feeling for friends, lovers, and family. Also the part of having very conflicting (oh paper) backgrounds that in reality mesh perfectly. People are complex and multifaceted. Based on my own life experiences growing up, going from pirate to high-class sophisticated lady with a gambling addiction is seamless, but I so rarely see fictional examples of characters with backgrounds as complicated as life is. 

4. Would you rewrite your muse’s backstory? If so, how?

OMG never, I love Rossie’s backstory and want to write a book set in the War.

5. What song reminds you of your muse’s backstory?

Pirate Rossie: Wanderlust - Abney ParkDeath of her Father: Hoist The Colours  War Rossie: Joan - Heather Dale Rossie the Gambler: Cool Cat In TownQueen Rosaline: my priority - rachel kann

6. Does anything fit your muse’s backstory aesthetically?

I’m not sure how to answer this… I mean I have tagged a bunch of stuff for her youth?

7. What part of your muse’s backstory makes you smile?

Happy pirate Rossie fighting Kraken. Mother Rossie holding her children. Queen Rossie in her pearls and painted lips with a dangerous smile. I just love her.

8. What part of your muse’s backstory makes you cry?

During the War, because it was a Civil War and Rossie had to fight both Summer and Winter… she was born of Summer. Her father was Summer… she was fighting and killing those who she once called friends and lovers and family. In the end, she had to do the greatest act of rebellion, she had to help kill Dey, the Summer Queen who had fallen under a dark corruption that had poisoned her mind. She loved Dey, all of Summer had. Rossie will bare the heartbreak and pain for her entire life. The two Queens had to die to end the War, but the pain of their loss still haunts Rossie and the whole of the Never-Never.

9. What part of your muse’s backstory makes you aggravated?

That Rottenbeard is dead? I love him but his death was mandatory. But that part of why the youth verse is now a go. 

10. In what ways has your muse’s backstory shaped them as a person?

This is broken into the 3 major life changes.

Pirate: this shaped her attitudes towards adventure and fighting

Lady: When Rottenbeard retired Rossie ventured inland and met a Dryad  Bláth Óg who taught her patience and how to slow down. She learned other uses for her Siren voice and how to cultivate life. Her first child was born there with the Dryads, grown from a seed. 

War: Determination and Perseverance and Sacrifice. Rossie fought for the greater good of all the Courts and to achieve that she had to make hard sacrifices. She frets that the War caused her children to grow up too quickly. She mourns the loss of all those she loved. Her crown still feels heavy for she not only must stand for herself but for the Queen that was before, who gave their life during the war.

[astralvulpine]

icantlose:

Wolf was on the wrong side of the board in a losing game of chess. He always was–it was as though every time the fallen lupine would pick himself back up, he would change alliances and find himself playing for the losing team once again. Perpetual, it was an endless streak of failure for the captain of Star Wolf and he can’t help the grumble he gives while he sits on a cold, metal stool in that filthy, half-empty dive bar, hovered over an untouched pint of whisky as he gathers his thoughts. These were the closing days of a long, bloody war that he had given up everything for.

And of course, the lupine was condemned to it: taking aim and making bad shots for a cause that was damned from the start. Just like always. Doomed to scratch the losing markers off of every lottery ticket. Just like always. Fated to buying the one drink that would get stuck in a vending machine. Just like always. The gray wolf’s ears bend flat as he depresses himself by thinking of all of life’s unpleasant experiences that he could compare his existence to.

A clawed hand finally reaches for the drink he had long since been served and he takes a sizable gulp. The burn of his spirits seemed to crawl slowly down his throat before nestling warmly in the pit of his stomach. He can’t help the hiss that whistles through his yellowing teeth as he breathes through it, eye shut tightly as he tortures himself with another sizable drink.

It would be during this time that a familiar vulpine enters the room. Of course, he’d initially go unseen by Wolf, whose only sense of vision was taken from him for the moment. He would only alert Wolf to his presence by choosing to actually sit next to the lupine. It’s a quick glance to the fox that brings him to make a quick decision: a third swallow, albeit one that was much easier would be what would help Wolf with what was surely to come.

Fox was going to gloat, right?

He had it–he had won. Every last line of Andross’s defenses were down, the mad scientist’s fleet was almost completely wiped out. And where did one of the few remaining people on the supporting side of Venom find himself at this moment in time? Sitting next to the very man he was losing the battle to in some dinky little bar floating mindlessly through space. Every day, Wolf would see fewer and fewer familiar faces; less and less men he had fought alongside to defend a heartless maniac from the long arm of the law–from justice.

And it churned his stomach to be physically right next to the man who had single-handedly done it. The grip on his whisky glass was tightened, his sharp and unruly claws giving a tap against the glass as his fingers wrap around it.

“Figured you’d be halfway to Venom right now…” Wolf begins in the lowest voice he could possibly muster. Those who knew the wolf well enough could recognize the slight slur in his voice. The lupine had been self-medicating for a while, it was shocking he wasn’t more drunk than he already was. Both ears pull back in anger, the moving muscle in his ear causes the strap of his eyepatch to shift – something that always frustrated Wolf more, just like always.

“Why the hell are you here?” He barks sharply, fully turning his body to face Lylat’s hero. “–No, course you’d be here. Of course you’d take a fuckin’ drink while standing in the face of the last fuckin’ hurrah. It’s all so easy fer you, why would I expect otherwise? This whole thing has all been one fuckin’ game to you – you couldn’t take none’a this seriously, even if you fuckin’ tried. I mean, every fuckin’ victory was practically handed to yer spoiled ass. Everybody’s been pamperin’ yer ass because you lost yer dad n’all this – shouldn’t expect Junior to not reward himself fer all his hard work during such a hard fuckin’ time – that would be selfish of me! N’who am I to take away James Junior’s happiness!? After everything the poor kid’s gone through! S’not like he hasn’t had his his hand held through all’a this ‘er nothin’ while the rest of us ‘er left alone to grin and fuckin’ bear it. Oh. wait.”

The glass is raised to his lips and two large swallows of its contained spirits are taken. Sharp breaths shoot through his nostrils as the anesthetizing alcohol burns through his insides. “How come when I’m forced to face somethin’ ugly, I gotta do it alone? But when Corneria’s fuckin’ Golden Boy stubs his goddamn toe, everybody’s gotta stop what they’re fuckin’ doin’ and kiss it better? S’it cuz your daddy was killed? Cuz mine fuckin’ walked out b’fore I was even born, and I ain’t got a consolation prize ‘er nothin’.” His hand rises and he rubs at his good eye, his palm sweeping against his socket and he gives a long, outward sigh.

“V’always wanted to be you, Fox. V’always wanted to have yer life, be yer father’s son, meet the people you get to meet n’see the places you get to see; you get to have the freedom of doing whatever you want, like fly to dive bars outside Venom airspace just so you can harass the person whose soul you’ve crushed into the ground time after time again… But the worst fuckin’ thing about it, Fox, is you can’t do nothin’ but complain about all of it.”

“I’ve always coveted the name Fox McCloud. But now–now when I hear yer name, it makes me sick, makes me wanna drive my fuckin’ claws into yer throat and tear out yer goddamn esophagus. Yer absolutely fuckin’ terrible, McCloud, yer sarcastic, and pessimistic, entitled and fuckin’ annoying as shit…and I still want to be you! I want what you have and I hate it! I hate it – I hate you! I fuckin’ hate you, Fox!”

Elbows to the bar counter, each hand grips as his skull tightly as he buries his face in his arms. Why the fuck was Fox here? What did he want from Wolf, so close to his victory? The drunk lupine’s world was spinning, the alcoholic burn in his stomach was replaced by the fire of anxiety. He needs to get out of there.

❝ ... ❞

The vulpine can’t muster anything at first, can’t even imagine up some superficial heroic spiel to spurt off to motivate or give insight to the lupine that sat before him quite literally pouring out his soul to him. Emerald orbs look the other mercenary over and can feel some sick form of guilt pitting itself in his stomach, because WOLF WAS RIGHT. Fox did complain, he made snide snappy remarks and rolled his eyes more times than he could count, it was something he used to hide from the reality of the situation, and he always felt selfish for feeling so empty even after he achieved his main goal in life. But to have it he ripped up and shoved back into him from an outer source, to have it be spat back at him with vile intent and venom soaking every word, it stung more than he’d like to admit, and more than he’d ever let on. Ears twitch and swivel lightly and he can feel his stomach churning, that familiar uncomfortable feeling wraps itself around him tightly and encases him, what exactly could he say to all of THAT? He was the hero Corneria needed and he stepped up because he felt obligated, he couldn’t watch his home be destroyed but he wasn’t any HERO for doing that, he wasn’t a hero for doing the right thing. Exhaling slowly he cautiously steps forward and raises his hands from his sides, one rests on his hip while the other combs through his messy, fur.

❝ Well, I came here to check on you, but I guess that wasn’t the best idea so soon after what happened. ❞ 

There’s bitterness there, you can see it in his eyes, he’s injured but he won’t say it outwardly. What the fuck did he expect anyways, Wolf was his rival, he wasn’t supposed to be occasionally speaking to him outside of work. This was all a big mess McCloud had made and there was no one he could blame but himself, there’s a bout of silence that clutches him as he takes another nervous step towards Wolf and sits down a chair or two down from his own, he can hear his sniffling and see that from the corner of his vision, Wolf was breaking more by the second. Something kicked up in him, the guilt sunk its claws in deeper and he felt as though the feeling squeezed the airy words from the vulpine’s maw.

❝ I’m sorry... ❞ 

Junior knows he shouldn’t be surprised, his mind tells him that over and over but despite it all the words cut deep. What else could he say, he wants to get up and leave, to just throw his hands up and claim he tried because he was tired, the revenge he’d been yearning for his whole life had been completed but he didn’t feel any different. In the end his parents were still dead, he was still alone, the Lylat system was safe but he didn’t feel any better, if anything he felt worse. Before he worked himself to death, ran himself ragged to be the best so he could follow through with his plans, but now with nothing to work towards and nothing but money and tons upon tons of bodies to show for his efforts he felt lost. That feeling, that made him angry, it made him sick because despite having everything and being the hero that Corneria praised he still felt like he was lost and pathetically hurt. It was all such a confounding and irritating scenario and what could he tell his friends, or Wolf, he should have no reason to complain but he did. Junior had to do awful things to become a hero and still he didn’t feel whole, drumming his fingers on the bar he avoids making any sort of eye contact with the lupine, he can’t even look at him. 

❝ -- I still had to work just like you did O’Donnell, I had great opportunities but how can you fault me for that. Of course Pepper gave me those chances, he felt guilty and who could blame him. He sent my father to an early grave and I think he was fighting with him during or before he went on the Venom mission too. That’s something he has to live with and he wanted to try and make it up to me, one of his best friends son, because he saw how set I was on killing Andross. How can you fault me for taking the opportunity and working my tail off to be who I am today, how can you HATE ME for doing the right thing? I’m sorry about your dad, I’m sure it’s - it’s hard to cope with just like it’s hard for me to cope with my dad being gone. But you don’t get to lecture me on being bitter and sarcastic and entitled, I did what I had to do and I protected my home, along the way I was lucky enough to have people recognize my efforts. That’s it, I didn’t think anything of it when I accepted the mission, I just wanted to get even. So what if I’m fucking sarcastic, so what if I complain, you complain too, everyone does. Fuck me for trying to deal with all of this at once, fuck me for giving a shit about you, fuck me for thinking I’d feel better after the mission was over. You want to hate me, go ahead, be my guest. But you can’t tell me what I did was wrong, you can’t tell me I’m wrong for being tired after fighting all this time. Everyone’s tired, I’m not special because of it and neither are you! ❞

It seemed as though the cruel tone and words shocked even him, because he gasped under his breath right after. The vulpine sinks his teeth into his tongue and chews it lightly as he realizes the brutality of his words, he never meant to be so harsh, he didn’t mean to raise his voice and for his hackles to raise and stand on end. Looking rather frustrated and worn out, the fox sets his elbows on the bar and presses his eyes gently into his open palms, then comes his voice but it’s much more gentle and sincere, apologetic even.

❝ I'm -- I didn’t .... I didn’t mean it like that I - I’m sorry, I’m just so fuckin’ frustrated. I’m angry because I don’t feel different, and I’m angry at the fact that I’m angry about it. I mean I - I won, Corneria won, it’s all over. I shouldn’t have taken that out on you, I - I’m sorry things turned out the way they did for you, Wolf, really I am. What happened wasn’t right, it wasn’t how it should have gone, and I realize you didn’t have much of a choice and your situation is a special case... I shouldn’t -- shouldn’t have come here. ❞ 

He trails off as his sentence comes to a close, muttering the last phrase under his breath, mostly to himself as he shook his head. Darkened bags under his eyes seem more apparent in this lighting, his fur is greasy and unkempt, and his usually glowing emerald eyes stare straight ahead and seem dull and listless, somewhat like a dolls eyes, empty and fake. it was times like this that Fox wondered what he was doing, as well as how painfully similar the two pilots were. But those contrasts always glared in comparison, he wasn’t sure what to say or if he should leave, if he should at least try to comfort Wolf or if he should keep his distance. All he knows is the pit of guilt in his gut was growing by the second and he felt morally obligated to stay until he was either kicked out, or sure that it was time for him to go.

[cloakedsparrow]

Saving one world from destruction or the schemes of would be world conquerors is a herculean task, but rescuing the countless worlds of Marvel Comics’ multiverse from is an even bigger challenge. The super strong, dimension hopping America Chavez knows this to be true. Inspired by her parents heroic sacrifice, Chavez spent her formative years traversing the multiverse using her super abilities to help people and worlds in need.

Service like that is incredibly inspiring, but taking so much time to help others often means not taking care of yourself. This March, America Chavez tackles that problem by going on a journey of self-discovery across time and multiple realities.

RELATED: Ms. America: 15 Awesome Facts About America Chavez

Writer Gabby Rivera and artist Joe Quinones will begin documenting Chavez’s personal and academic journey this March in their new ongoing series, “America.” CBR spoke with both creators about their take on their title character, what college will mean to her, and which Marvel characters she’ll encounter as she navigates her heroic and collegiate responsibilities.

CBR: Gabby, travel broadens the mind, and in America Chavez you have a protagonist who’s a veteran traveler of a variety of other dimensions and realities thanks to one of her super abilities. What’s your sense of how that’s affected her perspective?

Gabby Rivera: I mean, that’s a deep question, right? Cuz you’re talking about a character that left paradise to dive into worlds riddled with humanity, chaos, and the need for super heroes. So, right out the gate, America has always been someone thirsting for a challenge and looking for ways to serve the people.

America doesn’t seem to have time or energy for the things that regular folks get wrapped up in, like petty interpersonal dramas or agonizing over the smallest details or logistics. For her, whatever current reality or place/time that she’s in exists in the middle of every other world too. It’s dangerous sometimes because it lends itself to that “punch first, ask questions later” type of vibe that she has but also, it helps when situations need to be de-escalated.

I think all the worlds both blend for her and remain distinct. And that’s why America’s real loyalties are to herself, why she holds her feelings so close to her chest. Why let out things when people can hurt you like they do in every other world at any given place and time?

This series will show her finally releasing some of that apprehension and really investigating her own motives and abilities. And maybe even finding a home of sorts.

Joe, as an artist, what do you find most interesting about America Chavez? Which of her qualities do you really want to make sure you capture and bring forth in your depictions of her?

Joe Quinones: I think America hides a big heart behind a veneer of scowls and clenched fists. She’s guarded, as Gabby alluded to, and quick to throw the first punch, but clearly wants to share her love. Illustrating the nuances of that internal conflict (while she still throws some hard punches) is very interesting to me. That, and she just looks so damn cool. It’s been great fun designing new looks for her along the way.

Comic fans probably know America best through her interactions with super teams like the Ultimates and the Young Avengers, but we’ve not see a lot of her on her own.

Rivera: Listen, sometimes it’s like we’re all pressured to go from high school to college and be straight and get married and make some babies and put our pics on Facebook and buy a house and go on vacation and pay taxes and die. It’s all mapped out. There’s a system of support for people who follow that road, which can include easier relationships with relatives, tax breaks etc. Give or take a few random acts of the universe, you’ll be fine.

That’s not the life America has ever known. She grew up with two moms and then, boom — they were snatched because of ultimate sacrifices and whatnot. Then she spent a long time saving other people… and now she’s feeling like something is missing. Missing in the realest way, you know? Who are her people? What is she really capable of as a superhero?

Higher education can also be a radical act of self care. America is choosing to dive deeper into herself, to step away from the life that she knows, the life she already kicks ass at to start anew. America is taking inventory of her super hero abilities and wants to upgrade all around. What else is possible? If she can punch into other dimensions and fly and have super strength, then what is America capable of when she intentionally taps into her core? Could she stop the world?

What are some of the things we’ll see in the early issues of “America?” It sounds like this is a series that lends itself to a variety of stories.

Rivera: We’re definitely bringing in some heavy hitters from the Marvel Universe to offer support and guidance to America. Much of what this series is about is personal growth, building one’s power, and just listening to what your heart and mind want you to do. But also, it’s about playing with someone who’s full of fire and wants to just punch her way through life. We’re going to see where America’s impetuousness lands her and how she gets herself out of the chaos.

Also, be ready for lots of radical women fighting for their people and their right to own what’s theirs. Be ready for characters who love themselves, land the best one-liners, and show up bringing the magic. You’re probably going to fall in love with all of them.

I’ve had to remember along the way that America isn’t me. Like whenever things get too sappy or too serious, I gotta hit that delete button and write the brash things I’d never say and let America climb the walls and be free. So it’s going to be a little goofy, and fun-sexy, and everyone is still going to learn life lessons.

Joe, you’re coming off a run on “Howard the Duck” where you drew a variety of fun and strange stories and characters. So what’s it like moving from “Howard” to “America?”

Quinones: No differences, whatsoever. Next question.

Just kidding. Beyond the obvious “Chavez don’t got a duck bill” distinction, the books certainly have their similarities and differences. The focus has shifted, of course – “America” won’t center on jokes as “Howard” did, but the two both have their fair share of melodrama mixed with bombastic action. Chip and I tackled some moments of sincere emotion in “Howard,” and I think Gabby and I are set up to do the same with “America.” No comment on how sexy or not sexy Howard is. You do you.

[Laughs] What else can you tell us about the initial supporting cast of “America?” Will her girlfriend Lisa Halloran, play a role in the book?Rivera: We’ve got some fun folks lined up for this series, but everyone’s asking about Lisa Halloran and Kate Bishop. So, let’s be real — I can’t give away too many of the goods. But I will say this: you will catch Lisa and Kate in some intense moments throughout this series. Might not be how folks want or expect, I mean are relationships ever how we expect them to be? But they’ll be there.

And we have a wild crew of new faces ready to roll out and join the Marvel Universe. I mean, we’ve got some robotic sorority girls, some unexpected family members, and an entire college bursting with surprises. Be on the lookout for tough, ready to rumble women of color, and some of our favorite high profile superheroes that you know and love from Marvel. Maybe even some X-Men if you’re lucky…

Also, at some point, Joe’s dog is going to make a cameo in America. First one to find it gets an autographed picture of Joe’s dog signed by Joe. He might not know this but it’s happening.

Quinones: It’s my sister’s dog, actually. But he’s great, I tell you. Great. My cat Biggs showed up in “Howard the Duck,” becoming Howard’s cyborg cat. I love the idea of making this a tradition where I bring my favorite animals into the books I draw. It makes me happy.

What hints or teases can you offer up about the enemies America will be up against in your initial stories?

Rivera: We’re going to have fun with villains. Some will be plucked from Marvel’s history of creating some of the greatest villains ever. Others, we’re making up. We’re definitely going to play with the idea of jealousy and how that can turn someone with huge powers into an intergalactic threat. America’s building up her strength and some folks won’t like that. Some folks will feel like the power they’ve built up along the way is being threatened by this Latina lesbian so and so and they’re not gonna like that one bit.

But when does institutionalized power ever appreciate strength from beyond their ranks? This series will also be about resistance and rallying behind your people, things America already does so well. Watch what happens when something big really comes for her…

Joe what can you tell us about the overall look you want “America” to have? How does it compare to some of your most recent work?

Quinones: I didn’t have a label for it until Gabby mentioned it to me recently, but America’s overall look represents a “hard femme” aesthetic. Hard, tough and feminine. She won’t have just one look in our book, but several, ranging from super casual dorm-wear to rough and tumble, superhero duds. I’m trying to carry on the aesthetic tradition established by Jamie McKelvie on “Young Avengers,” but with some new twists. America is very much tuned into fashion, with a unique personal style that permeates her wardrobe. Doing my best to tap into that with Gabby’s help.

Gabby, what’s it like working with Joe on “America?” Which elements of his style do you enjoy the most? And Joe, what’s it like working with Gabby? Which elements of her scripts have really excited you so far?

Rivera: Joe’s artwork is astonishing. He brings America to life in this way where I feel like I could reach out and high five her or hug her. And…it’s fun! Joe’s got this goofy side that I really like and that works well with me. I can send Joe some pics of Selena or some donuts for inspiration and then bam, he kicks back some work that capture the essence of each of those things and applies them perfectly to the characters. Also, Joe’s an expert and he treats me, someone so new, with much respect and is down for all my ideas. I’m thankful to be working with him on this project.

Quinones: Oh, you. Gabby has just been great to work with thus far. She’s got a amazing sense of the character, her personality oozing off the page. And she’s already deftly given me both thrilling action to draw and quiet, nuanced, personal scenes. It’s been really fun to tackle on either end.

Finally, Gabby, “America” is your first comic and likely to be some readers first exposure to your work. What’s it like moving from prose to comic scripts? And readers who are interested in what you’re doing in “America” might be curious about your novel “Juliet Takes a Breath.” What would you like them to know about the book?

Rivera: Seriously, this is the coolest writing gig ever! I’m someone who’s just like a goofy nerdburger, daydreaming all the time. And now I’ve got this opportunity to create stories with folks who are daydreamers too. I can explore real life problems in fantasy worlds where all the things are possible. Damn, do you know what that’s like for a queer brown weirdo? It’s something that humbles and excites me to my core. When there aren’t any barriers in your way like racism or poverty, when you can afford to live and be free, damn, that world world gets to be all yours. That world can be anything and writing that story is a gift.

Also, the actual process is helping me hone my writing skills in a major way. This type of on-the-job education is invaluable. With comic writing, I get to practice being concise, (although you might not be able to tell) and still impactful with my storytelling. I work with skilled editors who also have grand imaginations and use them to guide me in the best ways. It’s really a gift to be here.

As for my first novel, “Juliet Takes a Breath,” that’s my baby. It’s just this sweet little goofy novel that I got to share with the world. It actually made it out of my laptop and into the hands of people. And yeah, it’s about a young lesbian Latina from the Bronx trying to figure out feminism while navigating LGBTQ things and her relationship with her mom. Those are all important elements about Juliet, especially when it comes to the importance of diversity in literature.

It’s also the story of some kid trying to be 19, make out with cute people, and question authority. Those are some of the most quintessential elements in American storytelling. Juliet is one of those hometown kids looking to see the world and grow up. And she also tells a mean one-liner while rocking the latest Jordans, so give her a chance, y’all.

“America” #1, by Gabby Rivera and Joe Quinones, arrives in stores March 1.