#I guess some people did not care for his turnaround I don’t mind it either way

[deliveryboysomewhatequaltoheaven]

I'm glad Li Jing said he was proud of Nezha and sorry for not saying so but did he really say there were things he hadnt have time to say in the Chinese dub SIR YOURE IMMORTAL. THE TWO OF YOU ARE LIKE 1000 YEARS OLD. The English dub line saying he ‘left so much unsaid’ is much less egregious.

[evakuality]

Mia, episode five

1.  One thing Druck is super good at is these aesthetic shots.  This whole opening bit reminds me of the scene with Amira when she’s praying in her room.  Lots of beautiful shots of the room, curtains and stuff, which are just super pretty with a few hints of colour.  I dunno, this is just an aesthetic I like and I appreciate that Druck caters to me.  Mia is so cute, too!  Like both the way she looks and also how kind she is.  She still doesn’t really like Alex a lot (though you could see in that montage from the previous night that she’s warming up to him) but she still feels like she should leave things looking nice.  These little post-it notes are sort of cute too, and you can see that she thinks they’re sweet.  I don’t like this Bjorn though.

2.  Interesting that we get a clip specifically one week later.  I have no idea how that must have felt while this was live, and I’m really glad that I didn’t have to live through these long gaps in any of the things I did watch in real time.  This one was reasonably low key though, so maybe the wait wasn’t as agonising.  If you didn’t know who Bjorn is (I’m assuming the Niko character) then nothing in the last couple of clips would have felt all that alarming.  But Mia’s so flirty here - that one conversation at his house must have really charmed her.  Pity we didn’t really get to hear a lot of it because he still hasn’t charmed me!!  And actually that ‘show a montage of how things are going while a song and/or other conversation plays overtop’ is a huge thing Druck does, I think.  I feel like in some cases (Matteo and David after their first pool kiss moment, for example, or Hanna and Jonas breaking up) work quite well.  But here, I think we needed to hear more of Alex to actually believe that Mia would be this flirty with him.  For me, this is too big a turnaround from her very cold manner with him at the piano and an actual proper look at that conversation might have helped.  But also, I am super biased because William and so maybe a more reasonable person might like it okay.  This bit with Linn is weird.  Genuinely creepy, and I’m not sure why they’re setting her up to feel like this.  Maybe some sort of hint of the creepiness to come with Bjorn (I’m assuming it’s coming, anyway).

3.  I don’t get this bit with all the pictures at the school.  I assume it will become obvious later but I’m not sure what exactly they were trying to do with this.  You’d think they run the risk of having the whole Abi chaker clan thing shut down - if this happened in my school there’d be so much trouble.  A groups of kids once put post-its all over one teacher’s room and they got in SO much trouble for it, and that wasn’t obscene like this is.  This thing here seems so targeted at the Abi thing, using their plan specifically, that it feels like someone outside the group wants them not to be allowed to run their theme.  Or someone in the group who wants a different motto maybe.  I don’t know, but it feels very mean and very specifically directed at this group of people.

4.  Hmmm, I’m with Leonie on this one.  I’d be giving Carlos the super evil stare too.  It may be ‘funny’ to some of these people, but given that there are younger kids at this school (I assume, right?  They still have classes running for the smaller ones at the end of Matteo’s season, allowing their prank to go ahead) this is sure to go down really badly with the school itself.  I’m rolling my eyes at the ones who are outraged that the school is considering reporting it - what did they expect?  Also, surely they can figure out who was doing it - people were literally throwing handfuls of the pictures over the stairs.  Surely they could work out who it is.  It’s pretty clear that Alex still thinks this is funny and I’m losing patience with him.  Every time it seems like maybe he’s getting less gross he goes and acts like this again.  Bleh.  I’m not often rooting for Leonie and feeling for her, but wow today I really am.  This is shitty and she has a right to be angry.

5.  Ew, Alex, why are you stalking Mia again?  She’s made it pretty clear she’s not happy with you.  Turning up out of the blue like a creep isn’t a good way to go about winning her over again.  His ‘we were drunk, what can you do?’ is so... stupid???  They’ve lost money from this, the school is really angry, they could easily have some pretty bad consequences and he’s all ‘meh, it was a drunken prank’?  I know money isn’t an issue for him, but there are issues here beyond the money.  I’m also kind of annoyed that everyone keeps suggesting she’s upset because she’s jealous.  I’ll be really annoyed if the show carries on this way - this isn’t just a silly little prank, and people have every right to be angry and annoyed.  Diminishing it to jealousy isn’t cool.  Is Leonie also jealous?  The people who are angry and upset they’re being blamed and their money has been taken?

6.  I do love scenes where the whole girl squad is together.  They make me happy and I miss seeing them together so much.  But OMG, Alex is blackmailing Mia again????  I mean I guess it worked the first time so why wouldn’t he?  But this is seriously shitty behaviour.  Honestly, in clip one I was mildly starting to warm to him with the post-its and all, but he’s managed to speed run right back into ‘asshole’ category.  This was the problem in the og as well - William was such an asshole, that in order to make him likeable, we had to see a much more genuinely villainous character.  Alex is still super dislikeable and so we need someone ‘worse’ to make him look palatable, which I assume is coming.  We’re halfway through - we should like him by now.  I dunno.  Maybe some people do?  But he still has done nothing to make me think he’s nice or someone who Mia might be attracted to.

7.  Oh a long Friday clip?  Almost half the episode?  I guess it’s going to be a rough one for Mia then.  More reflections again - her whole face in the mirror now, but it’s surrounded by graffiti.  I’m always fascinated by the way mirrors and reflections work, and it’s fun to see Mia slightly obscured in her mirrors even now.  It’s not as disjointed as it was at the start but it’s not a fully clear reflection either.  I may not like the way Noora/Mia’s story goes but I do like some of these things which show the progress.

8.  I feel kind of sorry for Jonas, because that break up wasn’t his choice.  But seriously, he seems to be blaming this on Hanna a bit and like ????? He chose to make her feel small and unworthy through her whole season.  She’s allowed to try to figure herself out outside of him and his wants and needs.  Eh, I know he’s hurting and all, but that’s actually his issue and he shouldn’t be pushing it on her.

9.  This scene with Mia and Alex bothers me.  He still seems to have no idea why she might find his actions (selfish and self-serving and filled with blackmail) offputting.  ‘I fixed it, so we should totally be together now’ is such an immature and childish take on this.  These types of guys need to grow up and learn that they can’t just buy and/or coerce their way into whatever they want.  I like the way they decide to have Kiki walk past just as Mia has to choose whether to say she doesn’t want Alex or not.  It adds a poignancy to it and Mia obviously chooses to stick by her friends.  I do wish it felt more conflicting, like if Alex genuinely had changed or had shown he has depth or something it would be a bigger ‘wow she’s rejecting him for her friend’ but instead he’s still such an unpleasant character that I don’t care.

10.  I’m not sure why Mia does the brushing off of the makeup - I feel like it made more sense when Noora did it (I mean I watched it once a very long time ago so who knows, but my memory is that it was her way of trying to reject being ‘pretty’ and having guys liking her because it was messing her up).  With Mia, I don’t understand.  Someone help me out?

11.  I still don’t get what Mia sees in Alex.  Again, I know I have a really big bias against him because of William and I know it was always going to be tough for him to be someone I care about.  But even so, this feels like a huge whiplash when she says of course she likes him.  I’d get it if we’d seen any of his development, but every time he took a mini step forward he shoved himself right back into dislikeable territory.  Once again, I mourn the actual conversation between Mia and Alex.  This all feels far too fast, and the fact that this is suggesting his blackmail is all good is very worrying.  All the post-it notes in the world can’t make me think he’s nice enough to want to kiss.

Overall, I didn’t really like this one.  I feel like the pacing is still off; I don’t believe the speed at which Mia has fallen for him and honestly it hasn’t been very long since Kiki was with Alex and had her heart broken.  The fact that Mia even saw her and told him she doesn’t like him only to turn around immediately and change her mind is strange to me.  Mia has always come across as a caring person who tries to do the right thing and help out her friends.  That she has apparently no qualms at this point is difficult for me.  They’re acting the hell out of this, but I can’t buy it.  Unfortunately.  Sadly, because this is based on a very flawed original, I don’t think it’s going to make me enjoy these two.  There are things that I’m interested in seeing as we go forward but most of those have zero to do with Alex.

[sepublic]

Chat Chalet and Color Clock!

           So, uh.

           Remember when I said about Tuba… and the uh… the um, ah.

           …

           So about the Chat Chalet Car!

           NOT comfortable with The Cat having that calendar, and her bear roommate tying up his bathrobe, that… WHOOF. I mean I get Simon was uncomfortable and I appreciate the depiction of what was clearly a panic attack, but uh. I was also uncomfortable… but for a DIFFERENT reason.

           Also, I’m pretty sure by this point that One-One, The Cat, and Randall are the only constants in this show! The cars may change as do the seasons, passengers and protagonists come and pass… But those three remain the same, huh? What’s really interesting is that The Cat actually seems to show remorse for screwing over Simon (who may have gotten his number-detector from her)…

We don’t know the circumstances, but The Cat alludes to an ‘army’ that likely ties back into the toy army Simon made; Perhaps a puzzle that went wrong involving him commanding soldiers, only to lose them and almost get killed by the opposing side? We know that Simon got left by her to die by a Ghom, and we still have a shot of her for Book 3 that wasn’t seen yet; So more backstory will come about! Perhaps The Cat left him in the wasteland… Anyhow, it seems that after Amelia destroyed her car in Book 1, she’s gotten a new one, and more Randalls no less from the Beach Car! Always glad to see that guy!

           But also; Simon was TEN when he was on the train! We don’t know long he’s been here NOW, but if I had to guess; Probably almost as long as ten years! He’s almost spent as much time on the Infinity Train as he did back in the human world… And when you take into account him being even younger than Tulip or Jesse, YIKES; No wonder he’s so screwed up! His sense of reality must be completely skewed as the Infinity Train is the only home he knows! This does bring up the question of how old Grace was… I think she mentioned saving him? Either way, I think she was also pretty young…

           I guess I can see better why Amelia saved Grace; She was just a child, and presumably Amelia’s number wasn’t so high at the time, so she was still a more empathetic person! Plus, Grace wasn’t actively interfering with her plans like Tulip was, so Amelia probably wouldn’t resort to either child murder or neglect, and felt compelled to act! Either way, it makes Grace and Simon’s situation a LOT more disturbing in this context…

           Grace also alludes to potentially having NOT known a denizen personally, which implies that her low opinion comes solely from the experiences of others like Simon, as well as Amelia’s own misinformation! With that in mind, I can see it being easier for her to empathize with Tuba, given how she doesn’t have any actual bad memories herself; And we see her number lower, too! And when Tuba… uhh… umm…

           …

           …Okay, so Tuba died!

           We are only HALF-WAY through Book 3, and we’ve already lost Tuba! I know the writers mentioned having to juggle four characters, but that was basically for like… three episodes?

           And, Tuba was murdered! By Simon… You know for a second there, I thought Simon might have a change of heart briefly, and TRY to save Tuba only for things to go wrong. And then I jokingly thought, “Oh dang what if this was like Mufasa’s death scene lol?”

           It was.

           …WELL. At least they didn’t show Tuba’s death in full, graphic detail like they did Mace! And considering how they got away with Mace’s death because he technically wasn’t human despite looking like one (whereas Tuba is a straight-up gorilla), I’m surprised! But also grateful, because Mace freaking deserved it, and Tuba…

           …Screw you Simon. How do you go from feeling more friendly to KILLING someone?! I get The Cat screwed you over, and I know this may not be appropriate given how young you were when it all happened… BUT GROW UP.

           …You know, Owen Dennis released a few drawings of our main cast, and while Grace and Hazel seemed to be getting along, Simon had a look of concern like something was troubling him. Given what he just did… I’m worried that maybe he won’t have a redemption of any sorts, that he might go off the deep end and descend into pure villainy or whatever? That him and Grace will become enemies, and Simon… WON’T leave Book 3, any better than he started off as.

           That- Or he DOES learn to become better, but he stays behind on the Infinity Train because he still has a LOT of work to do, and the Apex (which will apparently undergo a change) still needs guidance. Coupled with him having spent far too much of his life on the Infinity Train, and maybe he’ll spend the rest of his life helping others; After all, the show is not narratively against the idea of rejecting one’s exit after achieving it, if it means helping other people (hence the Book 1 Finale)! It WOULD be a clever turnaround for his position at the beginning of Book 3…

           And of course, Grace- Given the apparent confirmation about SOMETHING regarding Hazel… I can also see her staying on the Infinity Train, to take care of Hazel (given how she still really cares about her), and also because she doesn’t really have anything left at home? Nothing positive, at least; Given how many years it’s been, her family may have moved on. IS there anything to go back to? It’d be a morbid prospect to consider…

           Also, Hazel! Hazel, in sheer grief, begins to transform into a Turtle; So either that’s her true form, or she’s a shape-shifter and her being ‘human’ is just another form she can take! Hazel doesn’t have any memories, is this a quirk of her programming by One-One? Is her human form based off of ANOTHER passenger that existed beforehand? It’s worth noting that she can transform drastically like Alan Dracula, who was specifically-crafted by One-One. Given my speculation that Alan Dracula was made to help Jesse and Lake, I wonder if this confirms that One-One personally made Hazel to force Simon and Grace to reevaluate their stance on things?

           …Either way, I am NOT looking forward to being Simon if Hazel decides to direct her grief at him, especially since he straight-up owned to killing Tuba, instead of trying to make it look like a plausible accident!

           …Though let’s be real, I wouldn’t look forward to being Simon, period.

           …Also Roy! Yeah not gonna lie, if I had to deal with THAT and a bunch of other puzzles for who knows how many years, I’d probably ALSO lose it and want to kill every denizen I meet!

           BUT I WOULDN’T ACTUALLY GO THROUGH WITH IT AND CERTAINLY NOT KILL ANY DENIZENS WHO WERE FRIENDS-

           Like, what’s so AWFUL about that moment was how unnecessary, how pointless and needlessly cruel it was! Simon didn’t need to do anything; It seems like Tuba would’ve fallen on her own anyway and died. And even if she didn’t… Who knows HOW far away the Color Clock Car would’ve taken her away?!

           At worst, Simon could’ve pretended to try to use his Harpoon Pack, and then feigned some lie about it ‘not working’, malfunctioning at a key moment! Hazel wouldn’t know, she wouldn’t suspect, she’s a child! He could’ve just LET it happen… But no, he has to go the extra mile and specifically get Tuba’s hopes up, just to step on them for no other reason than what? To spite her? To ‘claim’ his kill over her, as if it would’ve made a difference since she was already going to fall to her death anyway? And all because Grace reasonably doubted the need to fight Tuba single-handedly when the Apex was just a few cars away!?

           I dunno… And it’s just interesting, because when Simon was around The Cat, whose mere presence gave him a panic attack and PTSD… He didn’t do anything! She literally left him to die, she was THE example for denizens that led towards his hatred of them; And she’s powerless, there’s nothing she can do to defend herself against Simon! I mean there IS Frank, and maybe he didn’t want to start anything in front of Tuba… I have to wonder if he still cares in his own incredibly twisted way because of their past together- Or if his PTSD-induced fear of The Cat overwhelms any spite towards Tuba?

           Regardless, that was messed up. It was the most needlessly cruel, pointlessly spiteful thing we’ve seen in the show by far; Even characters like Mace and Sieve, not even AMELIA ever went so far as to bring up an ally’s hopes up like that, just to kill them off anyway!

[gothic-safari-clown]

The Mind’s Power Over the Body

Part 27: With Friends Like These

Story summary: They only ever had each other. It had been that way since high school, ever since Elianna transferred to dreary Arlen and took Jonathan under her wing. They go separate ways for college, and when they're reunited at Arkham Asylum professionally, Elianna comes to find that they've both changed during their time separated. Can she look past the promise of danger and stay by Jonathan's side as they slide further and further into the darkness while she grapples to come to terms with the truth about herself? Can she accept what needs to be done in order to hold onto the only person who holds any meaning in her life? This is a very self-indulgent AU that draws from several different canons of the DCU and ignoring others, starting in the Batman Begins Nolanverse. This will follow the plot of the movie, although the timeline has been very slightly tweaked.

Word count: 1556

Sorry it’s been so long! I’m a full time employee again, so it’s been hard to find the time to actually sit down and work on anything. Plus, we’re getting to the end of TMPOtB! Make sure to keep an eye out for the sequel Why I Do What I Do, and I hope you enjoy!

It had been four weeks. Two since ex-warden Sharpe had disappointed them. Regular police had begun to avoid them, and they had amassed a new following of goons. Even found a semi-permanent hideout.

Though, for all of their success, Jonathan had begun to sink lower and lower into himself. In fact, more and more often, he preferred to let Scarecrow be in charge. The only sure-fire way to keep him around for more than two hours together was when more toxin needed to be made.

At first, Scarecrow had been thrilled to be in charge. He had gotten quite a kick from going on sprees, terrorizing the public, especially if it might help them find Elianna. Jonathan wanted to find her for sentimental reasons, but Scarecrow?

Scarecrow wanted her back for possessive reasons. But, if he thought about it, he supposed the history behind their motivations was the same—companionship, kindness, loyalty. Jonathan seemed to crave it, but only from her.

But the straw man felt that it was something they were entitled to after all those years of consistency from her. Oh, he cared for her wellbeing, sure, but only because no one else would give them anything. As such, no one would ever be allowed to lay a hand on her again. But, more than anything, he craved attention, and despite Jonathan's endless warnings not to give it to him, El had always satisfied that need with a strange sense of fulfillment. The world owed them something, and she was the only person who would give them anything.

She was theirs.

So, when after weeks of rampage and fearmongering had yielded no results, Scarecrow found himself in a similar stupor to Jonathan, although it affected him differently. He seemed forever bored, irritated, and volatile.

It wasn't just Jonathan and Scarecrow who were affected by Elianna's absence either. The goons that had flocked to them (some out of fear, some out of necessity, some out of ambition) had very quickly come to regret the decision. Violent outbursts were often expected, and the men had had to take measures in order to keep themselves out of the line of fire.

Regardless, it was becoming more clear day by day that the longer El remained unaccounted for, nobody would last very long.

So when one day a young blonde tentatively approached the base of operations, folder in hand, asking for "doctah Crane," claiming to have an idea for where to find the elusive woman, Axel was more than happy to tell his men to stand down and let her through.

"He's upstairs, but it ain't the doctor, so don't call him that," he advised. "I'll take you up and stay in the room with you, but you gotta just give him the file and get out." The blonde nodded, a sad look on her face. "Did you know him before?"

"Yeah. We worked together at the Asylum. We weren't friendly or nothin', but he was always polite. I was—am, friends with El. I want her back too, so I started askin' my friends from med school to keep an eye out. So when I got this, I thought the best way to get her back was to bring it here." Axel nodded.

"Alright, well let me take a look. If it doesn't look good to him, he's gonna get angry and that won't be good for any of us." The blonde nodded and handed over the folder with the file inside.

Some of the information had been redacted (for legal reasons, no doubt) but as Axel scanned the paper, he felt a weight being slowly lifted.

Patient name [REDACTED]. Female, 30 years old, red hair, green eyes. Transferred to [REDACTED] from Gotham County General. Admitted with an unknown substance present which affected brain function. Severe injuries to full body. The patient was detoxed and consented to a medically-induced coma in order to treat mild trauma to the brain.

Notes: Patient has made a swift recovery, but will likely be admitted to psych. Demonstates an unhealthy obsession with "scarecrow," which has caused multiple outbursts against personnel.

The name of whoever had provided this information had been blacked out, but it seemed likely that this information was what they had been looking for. Looking up from the file, Axel was met with big blue eyes staring up at him hopefully.

"Alright, this looks good," he sighed, and the blonde was visibly relieved. "Come on, you should be the one to give this to him," he handed back the folder and jerked his head for her to follow. "You know where she's at, right? That information was taken out." She bobbed her head, anxiously rubbing her thumb over the spine of her folder.

"Yeah, the girl that sent this to me had her place of work listed on her Facebook."

"Good."

The pair walked together through the previously abandoned building, up two flights of stairs and down a series of halls.

"Do you all live here?" The young doctor asked, gazing around the environment as they walked.

"Sort of. All of us take shifts staying in groups here to keep trespassers out. The big man," here, Axel pointed to the door at the end of the hallway as they approached, "has a place in the Narrows so that he doesn't have to stay if he doesn't want. Between the two of us, it's a much better gig when he's not around." She nodded in agreement. Based on the news reports, that was to be expected.

Reaching the door, Axel held up a finger for the woman to wait as he knocked. "Boss? There's a woman here with some information. I looked it over, I think it's her." It was silent on the other side of the door for a moment before a muffled voice told them to come in.

Axel opened the door with a pointed look at the woman, letting her enter first.

The man sitting at the desk inside certainly looked like Jonathan, but it didn't take Harley long to notice the changes in him. Jonathan always kept himself clean-shaven and carried himself with an air of uprightness. Scarecrow didn't seem to share those concerns. Stubble had been allowed to grow along his jaw, and he was slouched into his chair like he was bored.

When he caught sight of her, there was a glimmer of recognition in his eyes before a lackluster grin broke over his face. "Doctor Quinzel, I don't think we've been formally introduced." The sentence was accompanied by what was surely meant to be an intimidating chuckle. He just didn't have the energy.

"Scarecrow," she greeted, unable to help the pity that crept into her heart. "I...I guess I'll just get right down to business. I know you're looking for El, and you haven't been able to find her in the city, so I reached out to some people that I know who work in neighboring cities, and I think I found her." She stepped forward, folder outstretched for him to take.

He frowned, skeptical of the information, but took the folio anyway with a telling look at Axel: if this isn't her, you're the one to face the consequences.

But scanning the memo through narrowed eyes, his attitude slowly changed. Suddenly, there was no way that it wasn't her, and a sudden urgency took over everything as he stood.

"Where." Not a question, a demand. Harley quickly gave him the city and hospital, startled by the abrupt turnaround. "Good," seeming to briefly forget that she was even there, he turned to Axel with a sense of urgency. "Get our best boys ready, we're going now." The thug nodded and began to pull Harley out of the room before the voice stopped them again. "Harley," it barked, and the blonde's head swiveled to look at him again. "You know what's going to happen to that hospital. To your friend that works there."

"Yes, I do." She had known from the beginning. It had been so many years since she had even thought about the other woman, and they hadn't been close to begin with. To be perfectly honest, Harley wasn't even sure if she had ever liked her to begin with.

It made it easier to make this decision, although realizing that she even could make that decision had been surprising.

Scarecrow seemed to understand and went back to studying the file further, leaving the pair to leave the room, closing the door behind them.

"You did good, doc," Axel assured the blonde as they retreated down the hall. "But if it isn't her somehow..."

"I know," Harley gulped. She had seen plenty on the news of what happened to people who let Scarecrow down in this particular search.

Sensing the woman's apprehension, Axel spoke again. "I don't think you have anything to worry about. Who else could that be, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right." She nodded. "I'm gonna get outta your hair now. Good luck, all of you. bring her home, yeah?"

"You got it, doc."

With that, Harley left and Axel went about rounding up the troops. He wasn't exactly looking forward to the havoc they were about to wreck upon the unsuspecting hospital, but ultimately having El back would be best for everyone involved.

For everyone's sake, it'd better be our girl.

[jamielea81]

Just a Simple Lie

Chapter 6

Description: Having worked on small independent films for the better part of a decade, your friend tells you about an opening for a script supervisor with a large studio. Wanting to advance your career, you apply and get an interview. The only downside, they prefer to hire crew who are married. It’s just a simple lie, right?

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Warnings: Cursing and some fluff

A/N: This fic is simply for fun. I know nothing about the personal lives of the two actors in this series and mean no harm. I am also totally guessing regarding the studio talk. Comments, reblogs, and likes are always welcome.

Word Count: 4,625

Catch up with Chapter 5

**

Laying in the guestroom of Chris Evans’ rental is one of the few places you’d never pictured yourself being. The décor was very hotel chic which made sense since it was rented out by a private owner with lots of turnaround. Best to keep things neutral rather than themed. The bed was soft and the linens were plush so you could not complain.

It was such a weird feeling to be in his space but not be with him. He was essentially somewhere in the condo and you were here. In a room. Doing your own thing. Or resting, or whatever. He had insisted. Who were you to complain about more sleep? Wasn’t like you could work. Chris confiscated your well used script and laptop once he gave you a brief tour of the place.

“If you’re in such a hurry to get back to work, you have to get better. No sense in tiring yourself out and being sick longer. That’s just more missed days.”

Damn him and his common sense.

You put your phone on the dresser that was located across the room from you before snuggling back on the bed. Out of sight out of mind.

Apparently, you did manage to sleep as your eyes slowly opened to a dark room. It felt colder although you aren’t sure if the temperature in the condo has dropped due to the setting sun or this mystery virus sending a chill to your bones. Either way you’re cold and you realized your error of not packing a sweatshirt. The sweater you had on was warm, but it was thin and not as cozy as you would have liked.

Getting out of bed, you ran your hands through your hair to tame it as best as you could. You shrugged on your coat that you left on the bench in front of the bed and made your way out of the room.

The TV was on ESPN or the like in the distance as you heard a list of scores for some sport or another. If you were being honest, your brain wasn’t all the way there, so you really didn’t care.

“Oh, hey,” Chris said, sitting up from is half laid down position on the couch. His eyebrows and forehead scrunched low in confusion. “You going somewhere?”

“I’m just kind of cold. Should have packed a sweatshirt or two,” you said, taking a seat at the end of the couch, your hands going into your pockets.

Chris gets up from his spot on the couch, walking to the hallway to check the temperature. “It’s seventy-two in here. Want me to bump it up?” he calls out.

“Seventy-two? Would have guessed it’s sixty.” You shake your head even though he can’t actually see you. “No. No, it’s fine.”

He comes back in the room stopping in front of you. Chris’ hand reaches down, hesitant at first, until his palm touches your cheek. Damnit if your breath doesn’t catch in your throat. He removes it quickly, touching your forehead with the back side of the same hand.

“You’re a…,” he licked his lips, taking a deep breath in. “You’re a little warm,” he said withdrawing his hand. “You need a sweatshirt! I’ll grab you one,” he shouted, practically running away.

Chris Evans was going to be the death of you. The two of you are friends but you can’t help but let your mind wander to that space that says maybe there’s something more. But this is your whole life. This is your career. You’re finally making enough money that you can actually put some away. You no longer have to sling beers to make ends meet. It’s a real adult job and now that you’re in your early thirties, it feels like what you need to do. So, what you need to do is stay focused. Besides, this whole feeling could be the fever talking.

Chris is suddenly in front of you again, apparently you had zoned out and didn’t hear him come back in the room.

“Red or blue?” he asked, holding a sweatshirt of each color in his hands.

“Can I see something in green. Perhaps a hooded number.”

“I see you haven’t lost your sense of humor,” he chuckled, throwing the blue one at you.

Tugging off your coat, you slip the sweatshirt over your head while you assume Chris is returning the red one to his room. It’s warm and cozy and smells a little like him. Not that you’ve smelt him. You’ve just picked up on his cologne when he’s near you. Yeah, not weird at all.

Tucking your hands inside the sleeves to keep warm, you lift your feet onto the couch in a half laying half sitting position. Chris stops in front of you and gives you a small smile.

“What?” you asked.

“Looks nice on you,” he replied innocently enough.

Think about your fake fiancé, Y/N.

“Well then, I may just keep it,” you shrugged.

He plopped himself down one cushion away from you on the couch, his body bouncing a bit when he landed. “Well, duh. You got your germs all over it.”

**

Clanging noises from the kitchen woke you. Apparently, you had fallen asleep again, you just weren’t sure how long you were asleep. You eased your body off the couch and padded your way into the kitchen.

“Hello sleepy head,” Chris greeted you before turning back to the stove. “I made you some soup. Had to call my ma to get the recipe.”

How is this guy single?

“You called your mother for a soup recipe?” you asked, reaching into the refrigerator for a bottle of water.

“Course! You’re sick. Soup always makes me feel bettah.”

“What did you tell your ma?” you asked in the best accent you could muster.

“I told my ma that my friend was sick and I wanted to make her soup,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Do you tell your mother everything?”

“I do. So, watch yourself Y/L/N,” he replied with eyebrows raised, giving the pot another stir. “Go relax. I’ll bring you a bowl in a few minutes.”  

“Thanks,” you mumbled, walking back into the living room and taking a seat on the couch.

**

Dinner actually ended up being quite good. Chris knew what he was doing in the kitchen, much to your surprise. You ended up eating two bowls of soup. Skipping lunch and sleeping all day apparently amped up your appetite. The warm broth helped warm your body, even if it was only temporary.

You tried your best to stay awake to visit with Chris. He was telling you stories about his family and from what you could remember, they sounded like a close-knit group. But this darn virus was keeping your energy level at zero. When you had dozed off on him twice, Chris ordered you to bed and you willingly went without complaint. You kept the sweatshirt on. Strictly for the warmth of course.

**

Knocking on the bedroom door woke you the next morning.

“Come in,” your groggy voice called. You were honestly too tired to get out of bed despite all the sleep you managed to get yesterday and overnight.

Chris walked in, sticking close to the door. “How are you feelin’?”

“I’ll live.”

He chuckled at your response.

“What?” you asked, voice coming out a little whiny.

“Just sound so cute,” he shrugged his shoulders. Your mouth dropped open. In shock? In protest? You weren’t sure. “You’re so stuffed up.”

He wasn’t wrong, but still. Cute? Pfft.

“Well, yeah. I’m sick.”

Damn. I really am stuffed up.

“Which is why I called you out for the day,” he said, walking over to the window and opening the blinds.

“Chris…”

“Y/N…”

“I can’t miss again. They’re going to fire me.” You were full on whining now.

“They’re not gonna fire you,” he said crossing his arms over his chest. “They don’t want sick people there especially since you interact with a lot of key people. I already called Monica and she’s fine. Just rest today. I’m sure you’ll feel better tomorrow if you do.”

“Fine,” you conceded. “But I want my script back. At least let me take pictures of my notes to send to Monica. You need all the help you can get,” you sassed.

“Smaht-ass. I do just fine on my own.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” you sighed. “Will you please get me my script? I promise to stay in bed while you’re gone.”

“Tuck that bottom lip away missy. I’ll get your damn script. You want breakfast too?”

You gave him a small smile. “I could eat.”

**

Chris came home in a grumpy mood and you had no idea how to cheer him up. If he was one of your friends back home, you’d be out for drinks, but you were sick. Not to mention, with the amount of cold medicine you were taking, mixing alcohol probably wasn’t a good idea.

After the initial door slam, you came out of your temporary room to see Chris sprawled out on the couch, leaving zero room for you. It was his house, what were you going to say? You took a seat on an upholstered chair across from him, crisscrossing your legs.

When he didn’t say anything after a few minutes, you started. “Bad day of filming?”

He let out a loud breath and ran his open palm down his face. “You could say that.”

“What happened?” you couldn’t help but ask. “Unless you don’t want to talk about it.”

“Can we just watch some TV for a bit?”

“Of course,” you replied. You got up from the chair, grabbing a throw pillow from the couch and dropping it on the ground. You eased yourself on it, grinding your butt into it to get comfortable.

“What are you doing?” Chris sighed out.

“We’re watching TV. I’m just getting comfy.”

“Get up here!” he said, sitting up straighter with one bent leg still on the cushion.

You pulled yourself up and settled into the couch, your legs curling up sideways. Your foot touched his and he pulled back.

“Sorry!” you squeaked.

Chris muted the TV and faced you. “No, I’m sorry. Keanu said something to me today and it’s botherin’ me.”

“What did he say?” you asked softly.

“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Chris licked his lips. “He thinks we’re too close. Said I’m too close to you and it’s not right.”

“What does that even mean?” you asked.

You honestly were dumb founded. What a weird thing to say to someone. What did too close mean anyway? You and Chris were friends and co-workers. You were the script supervisor so you worked closely with him daily.

Chris groaned. “I don’t know.” He shook his head. “It’s cause you’re engaged.”

“That’s ridiculous.” The fingers of your right hand automatically finding the engagement ring. “I’m allowed to have friends. You’re allowed to be friends with non-single women.”

“Damn right I am,” he said more confidently.

“We’re adults. We’d know if we were crossing lines. Clearly we aren’t.” Chris nodded in agreement. “What brought that on?”

“Monica asked where you were staying. I told her my place and since Keanu was right there, he heard and brought it up to me as we were wrapping for the day.”

“I’m sorry,” you sighed out. “If I thought this would have caused problems, I would have made Monica deal with my sick ass.”

“Are you kidding? I’m not worried about his opinion. It just bothers me that he thinks he has a right to interject.”

“Still…I don’t want to cause problems. Maybe I should just head back to the hotel.” You stood up and started to walk to your room. Chris jumped to his feet and was quickly right behind you.

“No. No. No. We aren’t doing that. There’s nothing wrong with you staying here,” he said to the back of your head.

You picked up your bag and put it on the bed. “Chris, it’s probably for the best. I was going back to my room tomorrow anyway.”

You grabbed the change of clothes you stored in the dresser bringing them over to the bed. Chris placed his hand over yours, stopping you from folding up the shirt.

“Just stay. Going is only going to prove his point.”

He was right. Leaving is pretty much admitting you staying there is wrong.

You grabbed on to his hand that was pressing down on yours and turned to face him. “Okay.”

He gave you a gentle smile. “Let’s go watch a movie.”

You nodded your head and followed him back out into the living room.

**

Back on set the next few days, Monica avoided you as much as she could. She’d text you from ten feet away to ask a question, despite sharing a room with her at night. It was insane, but if it made her feel better, you’d put up with it. You were feeling 80% better. It was just that stuffy nose that didn’t want to leave your body.

Being around Keanu felt odd all of a sudden. You tried to act as you normally would, sharing a small joke or an anecdote about something you read, but it was hard to feel at ease. Now that you knew he was watching you, you didn’t know how to act around Chris. So, you did what you probably shouldn’t do. You avoided him. Of course, you couldn’t avoid him completely since you were working with him, but when he would find you on set, you brushed him off.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, catching you while on break.

“Better,” you answered simply enough.

“Good,” he nodded. “Good. I’m glad.”

“Yep.”

This wasn’t going to work. The last thing you needed was the studio catching wind that something funny was going on. But Chris was your friend. Becoming one of your good friends over the last month. There needed to be a middle ground.

A week later you were feeling pretty damn guilty for keeping any conversations with Chris on the professional side. If he found you to chat, you made sure someone else was with you. Often pulling Monica or David into the conversation whether they liked it or not.

Y/N: Can we talk?

Chris: Now you want to talk? Should we text Monica to see if she wants to join us?

Yeah, you deserved that.

Y/N: I’ll bring cookies.

Chris: Where? And only because you’re bringing cookies. None of that sugar cookie crap either.

You decided on the coffee shop you been frequenting since coming to town, making a quick stop at a bakery along the way to pick up a couple of chocolate chip cookies for Chris. You picked out a two-seater table away from a group of college students that seemed to be studying.

Winter made it easier for Chris to blend in, but it was never hard for you to spot him. Not with that smile that always seemed to be on display when he saw you. Dark gray wool coat with the collar popped up, red scarf wrapped around his neck twice, and black shades on his face, he thought he was in disguise. You waved him over as soon as he walked through the door. He quirked his mouth at you, knowing he was easily spied. He held up his finger indicating he was going to grab a drink. You placed the package of cookies in front of the open seat so that they were the first thing he would see.

Chris walked over a few minutes later, removing the coat but keeping the scarf in place.

“Your cookies, sir.”

“I accept your bribery. For now.”

“Thank you. It’s my, “I’m sorry I’ve been an ass” apology,” you replied.

Chris gave you a frown, bringing his to go cup to his lips and taking a hesitant sip.

“I wouldn’t say ass, but…” You took a sip of your own beverage, waiting for him to continue. “Why have you been avoiding me? Did I do something wrong because if I’m being honest, I miss my friend.”

Now you really did feel like an ass. The last thing you wanted to do was make him feel like he did anything wrong.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just…Keanu’s comment really got to me. This is my first film with Stone Lite and if this goes well, my contract gets extended. If Keanu thinks we’re being unprofessional, who knows who else thinks that,” you replied, running your hand through your hair.

Chris nodded his head, a sullen look on his face. “I honestly don’t think they’re going to drop your contract because you and I are close friends.”

You debated about telling him your secret. He probably didn’t know about the studio’s unofficial hiring practices. But would he keep it to himself or would you find yourself without a job? You weren’t sure if this lie was something that was easily forgivable. It was starting to feel like not just a simple lie anymore. You shook your head out of your thoughts and attempted a smile.

“You probably right. I’m just being paranoid,” you said, deciding to keep your secret to yourself. “But maybe we keep our hangouts a little more private?”

Chris chuckled. “That sounds worse!”

You gasped but then chuckled, nodding your head in agreement. “Okay. Okay,” you said between laughs. “Not private, but maybe we dial down our friendship when we’re working. I mean obviously Keanu has a problem with it.”

“I don’t think we are doing anything wrong, but for your sake, I’ll keep our hangouts to myself. Does that work?” he asked, picking up his cup and taking a sip.

You gave him a genuine smile and nodded your head. “Thanks, Chris.

**

Chris and you did dial back a bit on the joking and hanging out on set. Most of your interactions were with other people around. It seemed to do the trick as Keanu and Chris seemed to ease back into their friendly banter and not another word was spoken over the next two weeks.

The small touches that the two of you generally exchanged were now absent and a part of you was missing it. Chris would laugh at something you would say and rest his hand on your forearm or shoulder. Now he’d shove his hand in his pocket or behind his back. When you’d discuss the script with him between takes, his hand rested on the small of your back. Now he’d cross his arms over his chest and leaned in. It was different, but respectful.

Chris no longer came to your cubical unless it were to discuss a scene that would be shot the next day. You missed your impromptu lunches spent at your desk. When the two of you did hangout, it was spent at coffee shops further away from the studio and your hotel. Uber and Lyft became your go to mode of transportation. Since Keanu and Chris lived in the same building for this film, you didn’t go back to Chris’ place much to your disappointment. Sometimes just watching a movie on a comfy couch was a lot better than doing so on your cheap hotel bed alone.

**

Filming was breaking for three nights and most of the crew were going home for the weekend. You were a tad bit excited to have the room all to yourself. You planned to do some sight seeing with your free time. Gastown, Chinatown, and Capilano Suspension Bridge Park despite it being winter were on your list.

Filming wrapped early in the afternoon and those not leaving until the next morning decided going out for dinner was something that should be done as a large group. You reluctantly let Monica drag you with her and two others in a Lyft headed across town to a restaurant that also served as a video game arcade. Your mind instantly went to an arcade with kids running around the space with sticky fingers, but you were pleasantly surprised to see it was an adult’s only atmosphere. Rather than ticket dispensing nonsense games, there were classic arcade machines such as Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Mortal Combat, and Super Mario Bros.

You weren’t drinking and no amount of peer pressure was going to make you budge. David bought you a drink and you quickly offered it to Lydia, one of the stylists. You grabbed a non-alcoholic drink called raspberry fizz from the bar. It looked like a fancy drink without the regret. The last thing you needed to do was drunkenly talk about your sex life again.

Chris mentioned he was coming tonight as his flight wasn’t until seven the next morning, but you hadn’t spotted him yet. Keanu was staying in town over the short break; his girlfriend Alexandra had already arrived in town for a visit. He had mentioned they wouldn’t be joining the group for dinner, but they would be by for a drink later.

Everyone sat down to order, deciding that game playing could wait until after dinner. Twenty minutes in to appetizers and conversation, Chris walked in with Maggie. They sat together at the far end of the table from you, where the only available seats were located. They looked cozy sitting close together, sharing whispers, and laughs. A small pang of jealous hit your heart. It was unexpected and for a moment you regretted not having an actual drink. He hadn’t mentioned anything between the two of them to you, but you knew of her crush on him. Besides, the two of you never really discussed your love lives besides the initial questions about Travis when you and Chris first started to get to know each other. Chris saw you starring in his direction and gave you a wave. You gave him a small smile and nodded your head before turning away. Next to you, Lydia’s in a conversation with Tim, one of the other actors, and you do your best to join in.

Your co-workers are drunk and with Chris wrapped up conversation with others, not to mention Maggie by his side most of the night, you’re ready to go back to the hotel. You bring up the Uber app on your phone and request a car. You look for David and find him in an intense game of air hockey. After he scores a point, you pull him into a side hug to say goodnight.

“You taking off already? I owe you another drink.”

“Give it to Monica. I’m good for the night. Say hi to the wife for me,” you replied as you backed away.

“Will do! See you next week,” David called a little too loudly. You were sure it was because the large number of beers he had already consumed.  

You found your coat still hanging from the back of your chair at the table. You slipped it on and waved goodbye to Monica who only lifted her glass to you. You’re half way through the door when someone grasped your mitten covered wrist. Turning around, you were met with the blue eyes of Chris.

“Where are you goin’? Don’t talk to me all night and now you’re sneaking off?”

You allow him to pull you back into the warmth of the restaurant, checking your phone for the car with your free hand. Surprisingly Maggie isn’t next to him. You’re pretty sure it’s the first time she hasn’t been all night.

“I’m not sneakin’ off. You were busy,” you shrug a shoulder.

Chris stops pulling you once you reach your groups table, sitting down and starring up at you as you stand.

“Take a seat. Please.” You sigh but do as he asked. “I wasn’t busy. Always have time for you. Besides, I wanted to say goodbye since I won’t see you for a few days.”

“You looked pretty busy with Maggie tonight. Didn’t realize you guys were so close.” You couldn’t help yourself. You sounded pretty damn jealous and you would be over analyzing your words all night.

Chris scrunches up his whole face and blinks slowly once and then again. “With Maggie? She’s just a friend. Barely a friend. She needed a ride.”

“Well, Maggie thinks you’re hot. So…” You weren’t even drinking tonight so you had no excuse for your loose lips.

“That’s nice. But she’s a kid,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Not interested.”

“Okay then!” you replied a little too loudly. You take a peek at your phone and see that your car is here. You stand up quickly and hug him while he’s still seated. “My car is here. Gotta go!” Before he can even hug you back, your feet are moving. “Have a good few days back home!”

Chris texted as soon as you got into the car.

Chris: Well, goodbye to you too.

Chris: 😢😡

Y/N: I’m sorry! My Uber was here.

Chris: Trust me, there’s nothing going on with Maggie.

Y/N: It’s not my business. I’m sorry I brought it up.

Y/N: Safe travels!

Chris: Quit being a weirdo

Y/N: It’s all I know

Chris: That’s true. I don’t know what I was thinking.

Chris: Text me when you get back to your room.

Y/N: I will

**

The three days you had off were over far too quickly, although you did manage to hit the three tourist spots on your list. You also found a great Chinese restaurant that you wanted to eat at again a couple of more times before you wrapped in three weeks.

This week you were on night shoots again. The studio had rented out a book store and restaurant in a smaller town outside of Vancouver. Even though these were mainly interior scenes, both businesses needed to be closed in order to film.

Chris had wanted to grab coffee earlier in the day, but you and Monica had to be at the studio to meet with Hugh and his assistant to go over the two scenes filming tonight. Chris had been pretty quiet during his time off; you were pretty sure he was feeling guilty for his lack contact.

Monica and you had arrived early at the location to get situated and to match up the script with the interior of the restaurant. You were helping with wrangling the ten or so extras when Chris arrived already dressed for his scene.

“Welcome back to Canada,” you said walking up to him, Chris giving you a big grin. “Did you have a nice trip back home?”

“Always a good time when I’m home sweetheart. How about you?”

“Yep. Checked out Gastown and a couple of other places. It was nice to explore.”

“How’d Travis like it? First time here for him, right?” Chris asked.

You gave him a questioning look. “Travis wasn’t here.”

His eyebrows raised high on his head. “He wasn’t here? I thought that’s why you weren’t going home because he was comin’ here.”

“No, ah, he was working,” you quickly said.

Fuck! Why hadn’t I thought of that. Oh yeah, because you don’t actually have a freaking fiancé!

“He never visited you on set in LA, hasn’t visited here, you didn’t go home. Don’t you miss him?”

“Of course, I do, Chris,” you sighed. “It’s just hard when we’re both working. But, uh, he’s coming to visit for a couple of days next week.”

Why did I say that?!

Chris slapped a hand down on your shoulder. “That’s great! Look forward to meeting him.”

You gave him a smile and pointed back to the group of extras with your thumb before turning away from him. Grabbing your phone out of your back pocket, you quickly typed out a text to Travis as you walked away.

Y/N: I need a favor.

Chapter 7

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Chapter 14

Pidge POV

Shiro takes a deep breath in and says, “When I first saw you, you looked familiar like I saw you before. But, hey, I see a lot of people in my line of work so I didn’t really think anything of it. Not going to lie, with the people you were hanging around with I just figured I’d seen you on some database of criminals. Plus the first time I saw you I was more concerned about Keith’s reaction to you than your per se. So I was pretty slow on the uptake. But between things Keith told me and what I put together on my own, well, seeing you in person in regular light…I think you need to meet our own personal tech genius, or the man in the chair.”

He opens the door and an actual guy in a wheelchair rolls in. I look into eyes that are startling like mine. I can’t think any more, rational thought is beyond me at this point, and I think I’m just staring. This…guy. He. Me. Shit. I think I must make some kind of sound, maybe even words, but I don’t even know what. It’s like I’m in a tunnel. All I can see is this guy and blackness surrounding me. I think I’m losing it but that when that I feel Keith holding tight and grabbing my hand. He pulls me close and whisper, “Katie, babe, stay with me.”

I instinctively hold on. What the hell?! He looks, a lot, like me. Scarily so.

It’s only as I register Keith’s hand that I notice the guys eyes are filled with tears as well. He’s staring at me and the room is deathly quiet. Finally, he whispers, “My God, Pidgey is that really you?”

I don’t answer. I can’t. That name, that voice, make me choke up. He looks like a younger cooler version of what I think is my… dad? Or a older, male, version of … myself. That makes. No sense. Because I’m alone, an orphan. They said I had no relatives. I blink but he’s still there. I must squeeze Keith’s hand even tighter-that he must take that as an indication that I want him to answer for me.

“Yes?” Keith queries for me.

God he’s a man of few words. I let out a huff of breath I didn’t even realize I was holding. Eyes closing I focus on his hand on mine. He’s not going to give any more information that he has to. He really does have my back. I can feel his muscles tense, ready to react to anything. And I know he’d protect me. Without a second thought. I also can see his mom at the ready too. Silent and deadly.

Unfortunately, Keith’s friends are NOT like him.

Lance yelps. “Aye Dios mio!!!! Why do you look like her??? Doesn’t he look like her?! You look like Keith’s girlfriend!! Were you adopted too? What the hell Shiro? EXPLAIN!!!”

Hunk moans, “Lance! Shut up! Um, Shiro, I hope you know what you are doing. Cuz, um Pidge here is an orphan. And um, who is this? What is going on??! I’m starting to get worried. And I’m feeling the need to make a cake. I’m feeling very stressed.”

The man in the chair gasps, “Shit, Shiro. I’m going to kill that mother fucking asshole. You can arrest me when I’m done. I don’t care!” He moves his chair forward, closer to me. OMG. What should I do. I freeze and lean away.

Shiro closes his eyes, “Well before you commit any crimes, ANY of you, how about you explain what you think you know. I think we all need to compare stories first. Okay, everyone, this is MATT, or the Rebel, the police force’s secret weapon. He can hack into anything and is a genius at engineering just about anything folks in the field could need. I met him when we were in high school. He helped me graduate and we both joined up with the police force after a stint in the Garrison. We stayed close and well, um, Matt? Can you continue?”

“Oh, um, yeah, sure. So I was in a really bad accident when I was a kid. So bad that I was told my entire family died…I was the only, sole, survivor. After I got out of the hospital, I went to a home for boys, and eventually they registered me at the local high school. I was a natural at science and computers, and it was there I met Shiro. The Garrison is basically a military type of organization that is let’s say off the books. But I made some great connections and got some needed experience. And eventually when we wanted out it wasn’t a problem. I, I never thought anyone lied to me. Because why? Why hide my family? Why say I was an orphan? I don’t understand how you are here but God dammit, you have got to be my baby sister-Pidge-Katie Holt!”

He rolled his chair even closer, looking deep into her eyes and she could see the unmistakable truth. But it was heart breaking. All she could think of was years, YEARS she missed out. On his life and visa versa. But to what end? She bit her lip and tried to control the tears that were threatening her. Family? Brother? Is it true?

Hesitatingly he reached out for her arm and she just sobbed. “Mattie, really?!?”

He reached out and pulled her into his arms, practically picking her up and onto his lap. And as he held her she felt a little part of her soul regain its hope, love, and trust. This couldn’t be bad, she just got her big brother back! Mattie?>! No this was good, she found her other half, her love and it just hit her, it had to be fate. It was meant to be.

And inadvertently, it was all due to Keith…

Keith’s POV

Keith’s mind is racing. Fuck if this is her brother, then there was a whole conspiracy to have people believe Katie was dead AND for her to think she was the sole survivor! And why?! To what end? That means that asshole being her friend, or whatever he made himself as-savior, boyfriend, fiancé, was not a coincidence nor an accident. They used her. From..the… fucking… beginning. Who does that? To a fucking kid?!

Who kills someone’s parents, their brother… and then replaces them with themselves. A child. They manipulated her and hurt her. That… no… good… dirty… bastard. He feels his hands clench and he wants to find Lotor and his father and teach them a lesson. Slowly. It’s then that his head is smacked and he looks up into his mother’s eyes.

With one head shake, she reorients him back to the present. Shit there will be time for that later. Right now he needs to support Katie. This isn’t about him. It’s about Katie and what she must be feeling. Crap he can’t even imagine.

Refocused on his girl, he waits for her to indicate she needs him or what she needs of him. He doesn’t want to pull her from her brother but at the same time wants to be ready just in case she needs him. And after a few minutes she leans back from Matt and frantically turns, breathing fast and uneven. He makes sure to move into her line of vision. Trying to reassure her, he initiates contact by grabbing her shoulder but she launches herself at him. He quickly adjusts her weight in his arms and pulls her closer. Keeping her close. His girl. His. Everything.

“You’re okay, you’re okay. I got you.” He holds her close and even with all his friends and her brother around, he kisses her. Softly, trying to get her to focus just on him. Once he feels her muscles relax, he adjusts her even closer.

Finally, she slumps against him and he finally looks up straight over to Matt. “Can you fill in some of the details. Because I know Shiro and you didn’t just guess. You both did some intensive research in a very quick turnaround of time. Dude, I know you.”

Shiro nods, “Yeah, we did. Or well Matt did. He was in the hospital when the funerals happened and he just took what they said as truth. His family was gone. But not just in death, Katie was just gone but strangely no body.”

Matt interjects, “After a while, I felt a need to know everything about everything. And the information wasn’t easily accessible which was not a big problem for me. But, oddly, nothing really made sense. So I dug. And I dug. This has been a project since, well, high school.”

Katie finally interjects, “ I didn’t go to the funerals either but I have visited your.. grave. Graves. Shit, have I ever really been where they were buried? Oh my, what the hell? What about-!”

“No! Sorry mom and dad, they are gone. But dad was working on a case, a big one. I remember him being even more absentminded and more distracted. But we were just kids and well back then I didn’t realize.”

Keith figures this was expected but not welcomed. He murmurs, “Hey it’s okay, you got brother, just focus on that! Plus you got me and mine. Your ours now, no question.”

It was then Lance, in all his exuberance, interjects, “Yes, you are ours, nuestra familia!”

Keith looks down at Katie, “You compressed? You are mine. So, what do you need?”

She stares, at him, then looks to Matt, “I…dunno. This is a lot to take in. Keith?”

He holds her, “I know, but we have TWO geniuses here, we can figure something out. Right?”

With a watery smile, she nods. “Ok, yeah, let’s come up with a plan.”

Keith smiles, “A kick ass plan.”

Matt watery grins, “A grand, kick ass, Holt plan. Honestly nothing stands a chance.”

[panharmonium]

well, we started season 5 the other night.

[disclaimer again for anyone who doesn’t know me: i’m rewatching because I NEVER FINISHED SEASON 5.  i have never seen the last four episodes.  i don’t know how it ends.  please help me enjoy (or, you know, maybe not enjoy, given how things are going in the first two episodes, but...experience, at least) season 5 without spoilers.  thank you!]

i’m going to try to keep up with posting some things during season 5, but despite the fact that i don’t actually know how it ends, this season still kind of makes me feel like i’m being marched to my own execution, and sometimes i feel TOO emotionally invested in what’s going on to even want to write about it, but we’ll see how much i get done.  

anyway - the most important takeaway i want to put down about the opener is that merlin is a mess.

the writers/directors do a really great job of flipping the script between seasons 4 and 5.  in season 4, arthur was the disaster, and merlin was the one who had to take charge of everything.  but in season 5, arthur's gotten his life together, and merlin’s the one having a crisis.

the turnaround that arthur makes between S4 and S5 is amazing.  it’s like he’s a completely different person.  a better person.  i love seeing him like this - after spending all of season 4 so fed up with him, suddenly i get into season 5 and finally see the king i was looking for.  there’s no more agonizing over what people will think of his decisions or what his father would do - he just looks inside himself and does the right thing.  he’s confident.  comfortable in his leadership role.  and you can see that it’s changed his entire demeanor.  despite everything that’s happening, he never seems excessively worried about their situation.  he never seems overly stressed (in contrast to merlin, who is losing his mind) - he stays positive and just does what has to be done.  he seems happy.

it’s the kind of peace of mind that comes from being certain that you’re doing the right thing.  he almost never experiences that in season 4, but in season 5, he’s finally comfortable with who he is and what he’s doing.  even the tone of his confrontation with morgana is different than it was in S4 - he’s not second-guessing everything he did that could have made her hate him anymore.  he regrets the situation they’re in, but he’s not tearing himself up over it.  he’s not afraid of her.  

merlin, on the other hand - 

merlin is afraid of everything.

merlin in season 5 is a grade A disaster.  the - you remember how in this old piece i kept saying ‘merlin’s life does not revolve around arthur pendragon?’  

well, it didn’t, then.  but it sure as hell does now.

and not in a nice ‘you’re my best friend’ kind of way, either.  the fear of what’s coming - the idea that Something Bad is coming for arthur and that only merlin can stop it from happening, the fear that everything he’s worked for will come to nothing - it swallows merlin whole.  it changes him.  from the very first episode, his fear twists him into something unrecognizable.  like - even before mordred comes on the scene, after annis says that it’s likely gwaine and percival are still alive and being held captive - merlin tries to convince arthur not to rescue them.  he says “i’m not sure we should go to ismere.”

like - excuse me?  merlin’s advocating for NOT rescuing someone?  for just leaving his friends to die?  for abandoning GWAINE, of all people?

something’s wrong.  something’s big-time wrong.  

and it’s not like we’ve never seen hints of this...ruthlessness in him before.  merlin's worst moments have always tried to poke through when he gets too caught up in what kilgharrah tells him is “supposed” to happen, when he lets his fear of failing at his destiny override his natural compassionate instincts.  he almost leaves mordred to be captured in 1.08.  he almost allows uther to be assassinated in 1.11.  he does poison morgana in 2.11, though i’ll grant that that was in dire circumstances and under extreme duress.  for the most part, though, in moments like these, merlin’s better nature wins out, and he ends up defying the “demands of destiny” to do what he thinks is the right thing, the better thing, the kinder thing.  even when confronting morgana in the crypts in the S3 opener, he tells her “it doesn’t have to be like this.  we can find another way.”

but this season, merlin’s better nature is losing.  he’s losing himself.  and it’s noticeable, even to other characters.  arthur tells him “i’ve not seen you smile these past three days,” and gaius notices he’s not himself:

what happened to the young boy who came into my chambers just a few years ago?

he grew up.

which is, of course, exactly what morgana says to arthur in 5.2.  

watching this happen is the most devastating thing.  it’s TRAGIC.  for a character whose base personality has always been so sunny - how absolutely inconceivable is it to hear arthur advocating mercy in a situation where there was no need for further violence, and then to have merlin be the one shouting “you should have killed him!”

the juxtaposition of ‘he showed us kindness’ with ‘YOU SHOULD HAVE KILLED HIM!’ is horrifying.  like.  good god.  even arthur thinks it’s bizarre.  he literally turns to look at merlin and goes “what is WRONG with you?”

and then when they’re contemplating getting inside the fortress, merlin says again “i told you.  you should have killed him when you had the chance.”

and arthur gives him this look and the tiniest little shake of the head.

what is wrong with you.

last season, it was merlin telling arthur “this isn’t like you.”  this season, somebody desperately needs to tell merlin the same thing.  

it’s bad.  it’s bad, bad, bad.  that’s all i can say about it.  we’re only at the opener of the season and merlin’s entire life has already been consumed by this fear.  everything else falls by the wayside.  he does things that go completely against his nature.  it’s a far cry from the merlin of yesteryear, who fought the dragon every step of the way when kilgharrah tried to make him abandon morgana or let the druid boy die or even allow uther to be killed.  it’s a far cry from the merlin of 2.11, who shouted “where does it say my destiny includes murder?!”  it’s a far cry from the merlin of previous seasons, who said things like this:

you're telling me that little boy is going to kill arthur?

it seems that is up to you.

no.  you can't know that for certain.

you have it in your power to prevent a great evil.

there must be another way.  the future isn't set in stone.

does season 5 merlin not remember what happened the last time he acquired a little bit of foreknowledge and tried to actively stop the future from happening?  he ended up causing the exact events he was trying to prevent.  

i repeat - HE ENDED UP CAUSING THE EXACT EVENTS HE WAS TRYING TO PREVENT!

and obviously i haven’t finished this season, so i don’t know, but i just don’t think anything good can come of this constant ‘trying to get mordred killed’ thing merlin has going on.  so far, mordred hasn’t even done anything to hurt any of them.  i actually like mordred, in fact, from what we’ve seen of him.  and yeah, okay, probably i’m going to get burned for that later, but the merlin we knew before would always rather get burned for trusting someone and seeing the best in people instead of just advocating for cold-blooded murder.  

like - maybe mordred IS secretly evil!  maybe he is!  but merlin in previous seasons would never have just taken kilgharrah’s word for it.  he always used to say ‘we can find another way.  there must be another way.’

nowadays, it’s like he’s given up.  he is single-mindedly focused on the only purpose he can see for his life anymore, and that purpose is simple, stark, and cold: ‘make sure arthur doesn’t die.’  there is literally no room in his life for anything else.  

and you know - some people would see that as like...i don’t know.  romantic, or something.  beautiful.  but i don’t. 

arthur and merlin actually love each other in this season, and i think that’s beautiful.  arthur’s finally gotten out of ‘be a dick’ mode, and even in just the opener he displays genuine care and concern about merlin, and that’s beautiful.  the two of them are on more equal footing than they ever have been in the past - for the first time, it feels to me like they’re actually friends - and that’s beautiful, too.

but the utter collapse of merlin’s entire sense of self and the dissolution of any bit of his life and worth that doesn’t have to do with ‘make sure arthur doesn’t die?’  that’s not beautiful at all.  merlin is miserable in season 5.  he’s lost so much of what made him who he was.  he’s hidden himself away for so long that the lie has stuck; he hardly remembers who he used to be, and he’s stopped hoping for better, because people kept telling him ‘your time will come’ but it NEVER DID, and arthur is king now but NOTHING HAS CHANGED, and i don’t think merlin’s ever felt more alone than he is when we see him in S5.  

i don’t think he remembers what it was like to think things could be different.  it’s been three years since he had a friend to love him for who he was.  lancelot is dead.  ealdor feels like a dream.  he has gaius, and that’s all - the rest of his life is a lie.  and it’s like he’s resigned himself to it now.  he doesn’t talk about telling the truth anymore.  he doesn’t chafe at not being able to reveal himself.  this is the season where he literally hears arthur say ‘maybe my father was wrong, maybe not all sorcery is evil’ and then merlin declines an opportunity to free himself, just to make sure mordred will die.  

it visibly kills him to do it.  you can see the agony of that decision on his face.  the pain that he is in during this season is slowly destroying him.  but it’s like he doesn’t think he has other options.  he’s given up on his own life, he’s given up on his own liberation, he’s given up on anything that isn’t ‘make sure arthur doesn’t die.’  

i hate that this is all he thinks his life can be.  i hate that he thinks this is all he was fashioned for.  merlin at his core has always been such a happy, hopeful, sunny person.  he’s always looked at things and seen the good.  he’s always been so curious, and gregarious, and loving.  he’s always had a smile for everybody.  but so much of that has just been crushed, now, under fear and stress and isolation.  

i don’t know.  this is only the first two episodes and it puts such a feeling of grief - and dread - into my heart.  i worry for the future.

[cutegirlmayra]

Feelin the Shadamy feels lately, so would you care to write a story where Shadow survives the end of SA2 and goes back to Amy on the ark? Thanks for what you do!

Ugh, me too. Me too.

And thank you ;u;

Gentle reminder that Prompts are on Shutdown! Don’t send me a prompt request till they reopen! :Db

Prompt:

Tails approaches Sonic, wearily watching him gaze out the window. “Sonic?”

Sonic shakes his head down, “It was a close call.” He turns and smiles as Shadow approaches the two from behind.

“Ah! Shadow!” Tails exclaims, spinning around and not sure if he should attack him or not.

“Easy, buddy. He’s cool.” Sonic explains, somewhat, and walks over to Shadow. He playfully whacks his shoulder, “Tough job, you may have the workings of a hero in you yet, Shadow!”

“Hmph, I wasn’t created for sporting a hero’s smile.” He steps away from Sonic, dusting off the place where he touched. “All this has done for me is left me with more unresolved questions. I don’t need your gratitude, just your compliance.” he folded his arms.

“Oh? Is that so? I see.” Sonic, without skipping a beat, cheerily leaned his body a bit and folded his own arms, as though to mirror Shadow but in a more relaxed way. “Well, you’re still getting one. Thanks, Shadow!” He charmingly gave him a thumbs-up, and Tails jumped with his fist held high.

“Yeah!”

“What’s the compliance?” Knuckles and Rouge entered then, angling their bodies towards each other, but looking squarely at Shadow.

“You aren’t sayin’ you’re gonna ask for our quiet demise some other time are ya?!” Knuckles swung an arm out, but Rouge placed a hand on her hip and sharply turned her head to him.

“Enough. He’s clearly not being hostile. You are!”

“What!? You-!” Knuckles stepped toward her but she broke eye-contact and turned her cheek to him, addressing Shadow again and ignoring Knuckles’s outburst toward her.

“You were saying?”

“Wha?! Hmph!” Knuckles saw the blatant turnaround and kicked the ground as he turned away from her, walking off by Sonic.

“Only to stay out of my way…” Shadow unfolded his arms, then looked to Tails and Sonic.

Sonic nodded, closing his eyes and opening them in the process.

Shadow lowered his head, acknowledging that Sonic had heard his request and accepted it.

“I simply want answers. Nothing more.” Shadow began to walk off, moving passed Rouge as she followed him with her eyes.

“Kinda moody for an ultimate lifeform, don’t you think?” she teased, tilting her head as Tails rushed over to the center of the bunch.

“B-but! What if he tries to hurt people again! We’re just gonna forgive him like that? Q-quick! Someone put a tracker on him!” he pointed to Shadow’s direction, but Knuckles and Sonic looked to each other, then away as Sonic gave a smirk to Tails.

“Come on, Tails. He kinda did help me save the planet.” He stood beside him, comforting his worried friend.

“Y… yeah, I guess that’s true.” Tails looked to where Shadow had left, then Sonic, and then to the ground, letting the topic go.

“Besides, he’ll have to face me again if that happens! And everyone knows I’m the fastest hedgehog alive!” Sonic struck a pose, and Tails happily laughed with him.

As Shadow continued down the hallway, he looked at the battered metal with old bullet holes in it… contemplating exactly what had happened, to the best of his memory.

“If this is what you wanted, Maria,… then I’ll stop this path, and find another way to achieve the purposes you asked for.” He continued to study the area, but nothing was triggering his mind. “Whatever those may be… and however much I may not agree with it.” he shook his head, not sure if saving the earth was right, but knowing that if Maria wanted it, then he had no choice but to follow it.

“Soooniiicc!!!!” 

“Huh?” He stopped to turn around but was ambushed by the girl’s doting arms in yet another accident. “You never cease to forget to look first before jumping.”

Amy continued to smother him before realizing this texture felt a little off. “O-oh..?” Her arm felt fluff… that wasn’t right.

She also squinted her eyes to the black and red contrast on Sonic’s features… wait…

“Oh no!” she pulled away, “It’s Shadow!” she reached her arms back and quickly pattered her feet away from him. “Wait, if you survived, then Sonic must have come back too, right!?” she put her hands gratefully to her chest. “Oh, thank goodness. I was really worried about you two!”

“…You were… worried… about me?” Shadow looked a bit in shock, unable to understand that.

“Huh? Silly, of course I was! You both had me scared! When you dashed off to help Sonic save the world, I just knew you weren’t a bad guy!” she swayed a bit in her words, then pointed very sternly to Shadow. “Bad guy’s don’t say they’ll keep their promises! What was that promise you were referring to, anyway? I don’t remember asking you for anything.”

As she continued to speak, Shadow grew more… was it embarrassed?

He looked to the ground, his eyes darting around before turning away from her, gesturing to the world. “I remembered making a promise long ago to someone… your words… they brought those memories back to me.” he tightened his fist, bringing it in before his shoulders fell a bit from their rising tension, and then he nodded to Amy. “Before, I asked for no thanks… simply because I realized this was what I should have done all along. You… The thanks I received should be given back to you.”

He walked towards Amy, making her a little nervous as she looked up into his serious eyes, “Shadow…”

He placed a Chaos Emerald in her hand. Its glow and radiance looked much like the earth’s surface in hue and light…

The two stared at the emerald… before back up at each other.

“Thank you…”

“For what? Reminding you of a long lost promise? You really are kinda weird, but for that person’s sake, I’ll gladly accept your thanks.” Amy nodded, but something tugged at her heartstrings then. It didn’t really feel appropriate to have him thanking her, she didn’t feel like what she did was really the cause of his sudden change of heart.

“You’ve had that promise buried in you all this time. If anyone should give thanks, you should give it to that person you made a promise with, right?” she tilted her head cutely, and he seemed to be processing her words.

“Perhaps you’re right.” He started to think about it, before turning around and walking off.

“Oh, that reminds me.” He turned his head to look over his shoulder somewhat back at Amy, “I never did fully learn your name…”

“It’s Amy! Amy Rose!” She let out her signature vocal pattern and then waved to him. “I’ll always remember your name, Shadow! Shadow the Hero!”

“Amy…Rose… And a Hero..? You sound just like him.” He walked forward, repeating her name as he departed. “Farewell, Amy Rose. Sonic The Hedgehog… and Space Coloney Ark…” He then closed his eyes.

“Forever.”

“Huh?” Amy watched him round the corner, not sure what he meant by that…

She placed her hands over the Chaos Emerald and close to her chest as Sonic and the others came by.

“Hey, Amy. Long time no see!”

“Oh, Sonic!” She spun around, rushing into his arms. “How could you! I thought you were-! Ohhh, Sonic!” she dug herself into him, remembering that for a moment, he had almost died from a trap that exploded in space!

“W-woah! Hang on, Amy! It’s all good! Yikes! Don’t pull me so hard! Amy..!” she kept on laughing as Sonic protested little by little, but something still plagued her thoughts.

“Hey…” She pulled away, revealing the Chaos Emerald as she brought her hands forward from her chest. “Shadow gave this to me… And for saving my life back there… I’ll give it to you.”

Sonic looked down at the Chaos Emerald. He took it a moment and nodded to her. “Thank you.” then stuck it away.

“Hehe! That’s the second time someone’s thanked me today!” she chimed, as Tails walked over to her.

“What do you mean, Amy?”

“Well… Ah! That’s right! Shadow! I forgot!” She suddenly grew panicked and took off. Waving behind her, she encouraged them to not follow, “I’ve gotta make sure he gets back to earth, alright! What if he tries to use that fake Chaos Emerald!”

Knuckles suddenly jolted back in spot, “Oh no! That’s too far a distance! He’ll not make it!”

“You mean… if that’s what he was planning.” Rouge argued, “I don’t think the bloke’s stupid enough to consider that…”

“We needed the Chaos Emeralds… but maybe he thinks he can get by with Sonic’s fake Emerald?” Tails looked to Sonic.

“Either way, I’m not leaving a new friend behind!” Sonic struck a cool pose, showing his resolve as he took off. “Come on! We’ll find him! Leave no asteroid unturned!”

“Got it!” the others agreed, taking off.

As Amy searched, she gasped.

Seeing Shadow prepare an old containment pod to put him back into sleep, possibly killing him this time since he probably didn’t know exactly how to do it…

And there was a location… he was going to blast himself into space…

“No!” Amy shook her head, her face full of horror as she read the screens he had momentarily programmed to start up on its own. “Shadow, stop!”

She dashed to the pod as he approached it, grabbing his arm.

“L-…Let me go.” Shadow struggled a bit.

“Don’t do this! You belong on earth! Like the rest of us!” she wouldn’t cease, and he was somewhat confused by her odd strength.

“This must be… I’m not like anything on earth. I don’t belong there. I don’t belong here, either… You don’t understand what I am.” He tried to fight against her, but it was clear he was lenient in actually repelling her away. He didn’t want to hurt her.

“I don’t care what you are!” she shouted out, stopping him a moment from tolerating her moxie against him.

Her words shook him to his core.

“You… What?” his eyes quaked, widened by her sudden outburst.

“If what you are scares you from living a full life… then reinvent yourself!” she ducked her head down, making sure her arms were like iron bars he couldn’t escape from.

It was an awkward hold, her still gripping him from behind and him trying not to hurt her while attempting to move away and get in the pod that would make him sleep while he drifted aimlessly into space for eons and endless years.

“You… You don’t know what you’re saying. Let me go!” he tried to be a bit more forceful in his voice now, but she continued to struggle against him.

“No! This isn’t right, Shadow! What about your promise to me? Do you remember!? I have a new promise, promise you’ll stay! Promise me you’ll try and understand what you just saved! See the world for what it really is, a beautiful new home for yourself! You can be whoever you want to be on earth! No one will despise you!”

He couldn’t believe her words this time.

“That’s enough. Release me!” he was threw listening to the ramblings of a child.

“No!” She felt him using more of his strength now, his large hands finally placing themselves on her head and shoulder.

“Amy… You don’t realize what you’re saying.” She knew nothing of him. Nothing of his origin. He was a monster, that’s all he needed to know. Earth didn’t hold the answers he so desperately desired. Nothing did. It was all dead and gone… like he should be.

“I do! I know far more than you because I’ve seen earth! I know the precious lives that you’ve saved and you don’t, Shadow! You don’t know!”

“I’ve never saved any lives!” growing more frustrated, he bent his knees and began to push back against her, realizing he doubted her initial strength. His memories swarmed with Maria, the ones he could recall, anyway. “All I do is end lives… even if I don’t want too, and even if it costs me a promise!”

“Make a new one! I dare ya!” she pushed back against him, and for a moment, his feet scooted back and almost gave way at the sudden velocity of her shove.

“Ah…” He was actually kinda impressed, but quickly withdrew the thought. “I’m growing tired of this..!” he threw an arm up, whacking her back as she fell and landed on her back. “You may have swayed me before, Amy. But this isn’t something you can interfere with again!” he spoke with much more firmness in his voice now, a dark essence dripping from his tone. “If you only knew… the destruction I could cause to your precious earth… you’d let me turn into a forgotten curse.” He held his hand up, picturing the earth before lowering his hand into a shaking fist. “Leave me…” he swiped his hand back and began to load himself into the pod.

He put his arms in a similar position as when he had awoken from Eggman triggering his activation. He intertwined his fingers and let his head rest back, breathing in the fumes that would place him back into a warm, comatose state.

“Maria… Forgive me.” He closed his eyes, “I should have never been created… or you’d still be with us.”

“Preparing launch sequence.”

“Grr… ughh… GRAAAHH!!” Amy swung her Piko Piko Hammer into the pod.

It cracked the pod.

“What?” He opened his eyes and looked around, seeing the electricity spark and red lights flash on with yellow sirens spinning around.

“Containment breach. Launch in jeopardy.”

“HAAA!” Amy continued to swing into the pod.

Shadow’s eyes studied the girl, the powerful swings, the tears in her eyes..?

“Why… tears?” Then something happened, he felt an emotion pour from a heart he didn’t know he had.

With each swing, Amy’s arms would lift and he would see her. When it crashed down, he would see Maria, crying and desperately placing her hand on the containment pod.

His heart melted again, and he tightened his jaw, leaning back and kicking the pod to escape.

“Launch still imminent. No emergency code registered. 10…9…8-”

“SHADOW!” Amy cried out.

He strained against the militarized, seemingly glass surface.

“7…6….5…4…3…2-”

“You promised!” Amy cried out, her eyes like shattered pieces of a prism, shining with an endearing love for the stranger she had only just met. “Promise you will stay!”

“1.”

“…GrraAAAHHH!!! I PROMISE!” Shadow shouted out, the two’s force finally breaking the pod as it blasted out into space.

“Shadow!” Sonic and the others finally arrived, as Sonic threw the Fake Chaos Emerald, having found it slammed dunked like he remembered.

Shadow, being tossed around by the speed of which the pod was launched, finally was able to maneuver himself to grabbing the Fake Emerald.

He looked to Amy, “I’ll keep my promises… I’ll see you on earth… I’m not a bad guy, then… right, Amy?” he looked at the Fake Emerald in his hand, her image on the other side of it.

“Hmph, very well. I’m no hero, but I’ll keep my new promise to you.” He held up the Fake Emerald, “Chaos..! Control!”

It shook him to his core, but because he had far more chaos power than Sonic, the Fake Emerald was enough to send him to earth’s surface.

He fell unconscious, landing after the shining light had brought him to a beautiful forest.

The Fake Emerald rolled out of his hands, shattering from its final use, and Shadow blinked his eyes open.

The first thing he noticed was the rays from above, the sun hitting his fingers and causing light to part into shadows on the ground around him.

He tried to focus his exhausted eyes, then looked to see trees… felt grass… heard nature for the first time.

“Ma… Maria…” He barely could mouth it out, feeling his consciousness slipping away again, his eyes getting blurry as they faded in and out… he spoke one other sound…

“I see it… A-… Amy… I see what we’ve saved…”

And then, darkness… as was his fate.

[minijenn]

Universe Falls Chapter 76

AN: Heyoooo kudos to me for writing a chapter with a hella short turnaround time of only 3 days. That’s pretty solid on my part if you ask me, as is this chapter as a whole. Anyway, here it is, enjoy!

Previous: https://minijenn.tumblr.com/post/190860819859/universe-falls-chapter-75

***

Chapter 76: The New Stan

IPNW H PTIBRX IIL WV ICXBR ZIW OUVHWTZF ZTIA WV HPZM BBQZ BQL CG IPR UFPRU?

“For your consideration…” Steven began, his tone authoritative as he paced before the trio sitting in front of him in the shack’s den. “The koala, a marsupial from the forests of Australia. And the sloth, hailing from the forest of South America. Who should be crowned king of the ‘Hanging Around and Doing Nothing’ mammals?”

At the proposal of such a seemingly trivial question, a beat of silence passed between Dipper, Mabel, and Connie, at least until the lattermost of the three spoke up to it. “I read once that sloths eat their own droppings.”

“Aw, gross!” Mabel exclaimed as Dipper likewise cringed. 

“...Well, that’s definitely going to affect the rankings,” Steven noted thoughtfully. 

“Um… why are we talking about this again?” Dipper asked, raising a confused eyebrow. 

“Uh, because it's only the most important question ever,” Mabel said with an eager grin. “Koalas vs. sloths; the battle of the century. One of them has to come out on top as to who's the laziest. And who gives the best sleepy hugs! The fate of the world depends on this decision!”

“See? Mabel gets it,” Steven nodded in agreement. 

“Um, guys, no offense, but... do you think that this ‘important’ conversation might be stemming from the fact that we’re all kind of… bored?” Connie asked, finally pointing out the obvious. 

“What? No,” Steven scoffed. “We’re not-”

“We’re totally bored,” Dipper interjected flatly. “Guess it was inevitable seeing as how we’ve sorted out most of our major problems this summer. Defeating Gideon, finding out who the author is, stopping the Cluster and Malachite. Everything’s pretty much over, except-”

“Oh, honestly, Stanley! Would you just act your age for a change?!”

“Yeah, sure I will, Ford, just as soon as you get over yourself and that planet-sized ego of yours!”

“...Except that…” Dipper finished, frowning. 

The kids all turned towards the room’s entrance just as Stan and Ford entered, their bitter argument continuing all the while. “Look, Stan, it's not like I’m even asking that much of you,” the author said, trying his best to remain calm, even if his expression alone told that he was clearly frustrated. “All I want is for you to keep all of your clearly illegal activity as far away from my house as humanly possible.”

“Illegal activity?” Stan scoffed. “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, sixer, but I’ve never done anything illegal. Well, at least not around here.”

“Oh really?” Ford raised a dubious eyebrow. “Then why did I find this bag under the kitchen sink earlier today that’s clearly labeled ‘illegally imported cat fur’?”

“Uh, ‘cause somebody’s framing me, duh,” the conman rebuffed, crossing his arms. “Also if anyone asks, that fur was obtained in a perfectly humane manner. That may or may not have involved shaving.”

“For crying out loud, Stanley...” Ford pinched the bridge of his nose, exasperated. 

“Hey, don’t act all high and mighty,” Stan countered, pointing an accusatory finger at his brother. “It’s not like you’ve never acted under the law either, Mr. ‘I’m Gonna Build A Secret Space Portal Fueled By Toxic Chemical Waste In My Basement’.”

“That’s completely different,” Ford glowered. “First of all, my portal was--at least on my end of things--for science.”

“Oh yeah? And how did that whole ‘science’ thing go for ya, huh, Ford?”

“Stanley!”

“Whoa, hey!” Steven exclaimed, the first and only one of the kids to interject as he hurried to stand between the quarrelling brothers. “Why are you guys spending time fighting when you could be spending time hugging?”

“Yeah, like koalas and sloths!” Mabel chimed in from her spot on the couch. 

“Tch, kid, would you butt outta this?” Stan scowled down at the young Gem. “We’re sort of in the middle of something here.”

“Correction, Stanley, you’re in the middle of getting this unlawful cat fur out of my house!” Ford huffed, shoving the bag of contraband into the conman’s hands. 

“Geez, fine,” Stan groaned, heading to the door to do just that. “Remind me to never let you find my illegal stashes of albino goat fur and bearded dragon scales. Those are the big money makers right there. And the ones most likely to warrant a full-on police raid if anybody ever found out about ‘em.”

“Your what?” Ford asked, baffled as he hurried after his brother, aptly alarmed by this information. “Stanley, wait!”

“Y-yeah, wait!” Steven called after the pair as they headed out of the shack. “Don’t you guys wanna stay and hang out, maybe catch up, talk through your problems with each other-”

“No!” both Stan and Ford adamantly shouted just shy of the shack’s door slamming shut.

“Wow, why isn’t that surprising?” Dipper remarked with an exasperated huff in light of the pair’s hostile exit. 

“Well, at least they can agree on one thing,” Connie said. “The fact that they can’t get along at all…”

“Which is so sad, you guys!” Steven exclaimed, genuinely upset. “That trip to Emerald City was supposed to help Mr. Pines and Mr. Ford get along and be a family again-”

“And it didn’t work…” Mabel said with a glum sigh. 

“But that doesn’t mean we should give up,” the young Gem urged intently. “There’s gotta be something we can do to-”

“Steven…” Dipper interjected with a fretful sigh. “I know you mean well, but what can we really do at this point? Stan and Ford have already made up their minds. It’s just like Connie said; the only thing those two have in common is that they can’t stand each other.”

“But that’s just how they act,” Steven pointed out. “Deep down, I bet they really do care about each other and love each other, just like family should! Right, Mabel?” 

While normally, Mabel would have eagerly agreed with such warm and hopeful sentiments, this time she said nothing, her brows furrowed anxiously as she borrowed her face into the collar of her sweater, forlorn. Yet even despite this relative lack of support, Steven wasn’t about to give up so easily. “C’mon, you guys,” he encouraged with a bright smile. “Like you said, Dipper, we’ve solved every problem that’s come our way this summer except for this one. So between the four of us, I’m sure we can come up with something and-”

“And then it’ll turn into a big deal and things will inevitably go awry, and we’ll all learn some deep lesson while things between Stan and Ford remain exactly the same,” Dipper finished knowingly. “Been there, done that, several times over now. Don’t you think that story’s starting to get just a little bit stale?”

“I can’t help but agree,” Connie nodded, frowning. “We’ve tried taking a more active approach here, and it… hasn’t gotten us very far. Maybe we should just let Mr. Pines and Mr. Ford patch things up on their own.”

Steven was more than prepared to protest this, knowing that waiting for something to happen hadn’t done much for any of them--particularly for Stan and Ford--either. And yet, as he took in the mix of doubtful, dejected, and dismal faces before him, he realized that, despite his best efforts, he was ultimately alone in altruistic intentions to help the bitter brothers. “Yeah…” the young Gem finally sighed, disappointed. Yet even so, some small, yet substantial part of him wasn’t so willing to let the matter go. Even if his friends had made it quite clear that they already had. “I guess you’re right…”

“Great! So let’s get back to something way more fun and less depressing!” Mabel chimed in, quickly perking back up. “Like the age-old question… koalas or sloths? Someone’s gotta win here, people!”

As Dipper and Connie merely laughed the downright trivial question off, Steven hardly paid it much mind. Instead, his focus was still on the door Stan and Ford had just walked out of, his thoughts on them and largely nothing else. He knew that something had to be done to right the decades-old wrongs between the pair, to bring them back to being the close-knit brothers they apparently used to be. But as for exactly what could be done, the young Gem admittedly, regretfully had no ideas. And maybe, he wondered and slightly even feared, such an idea might not ever even come at all. But even if it that brilliant, much-needed idea didn’t come and even if his friends wouldn’t stand by his side on this, Steven was still resolved to do something to bridge the far-too long-standing gap between the brothers. To fix that final problem, once and for all. 

In fact, the young Gem was so caught up in his thoughts about the brothers that carried them home with him later that evening, incomplete plans and unformed ideas swirling around in his mind, all of them centered on what could possibly work to finally repair Stan and Ford’s broken bond. And yet, even as Steven went to bed that night, he still didn’t have much to show for his efforts, much to his frustration. Which was why the young Gem’s sleep was restless as he tossed and turned in bed, fitfully muttering softly all the while. 

His dreams didn’t seem to offer him much peace either, for Steven barely even noticed as they landed him in a strange, dark sort of void. In fact, as he floated aimlessly through that void, his thoughts were still focused on Stan and Ford, to the point that he wasn’t even surprised when he spotted the pair of brothers also floating afar in the darkness much like he was. 

“Mr. Pines! Mr. Ford!” the young Gem exclaimed, reaching out to the brothers even though their backs were turned away from him as they floated apart from each other. “Why can’t you guys just see things eye-to-eye and get along like brothers should? I wish I could show youuuuu-AH!” 

Steven broke into an alarmed cry as he suddenly started speeding across the void completely against his own volition. Panicked as he was, he tried taking some control and direction of his rapid motion, especially as he haphazardly flew towards the twins. And as he did, his frightened cry finally seemed to reach at least one of them as Stan briefly began to turn just as Steven was involuntarily pushed toward him in particular as a result of his rapidly flailing arms and legs. Until, in a moment far too stark and sudden for the young Gem to even process, he collided right into the conman right as everything suddenly slammed to black. 

“Ah!” Steven shouted, abruptly darting up in bed, though not without an odd ache coursing through his lower back as he did. In fact, nearly everything about his body seemed strangely… stiffer, not that he really had an immediate change to figure out why as he realized something was covering his face--a magazine filled with, of all things, pictures of older ladies dressed in expensive coats. Peculiar as that was, the young Gem quickly tossed it away, only to find that the space he found himself in now was a far cry from the one he’d fallen asleep in last night. 

“Huh…?” Steven muttered, frowning as he got a better look around. The room was musty and messy, with only sparse morning light filtering in from the dawn shutters to reveal clothes and other various objects strewn across the floor. Even so, there was something of an air of familiarity about it all the same, one that the young Gem couldn’t quite place as he shook his head in confusion. “This isn’t the temple-” He gasped, his eyes wide as he realized just how deep and gruffly the statement had come out, paired with an even more alarming revelation that his hand was larger and calloused than he was used to it being. “T-this isn’t my voice or my hand or-WHAAAAAT?!” 

 Steven’s bewilderment reached its peak as he caught a glimpse at the mirror propped up against the wall alongside the bed he was sitting in. A mirror that didn’t show his own reflection at all, but rather the reflection of a certain conman instead. “No way…” he muttered, leaning into the mirror to make sure that, sure enough, his current face wasn’t really his. “I’m… Mr. Pines?!”

As shocking as this realization was, the young Gem was shaken up even more as he happened to lean just a bit too far, only to end up falling off the bed entirely. He landed onto the floor with a loud crash, disoriented for a moment only to realize that the body he was currently somehow inhabiting was only barely dressed. “Gah! A-and I’m in boxes!” he cried, flustered as he shielded his eyes while awkwardly stumbling to stand. “I-I must have jumped into Mr. Pines’ mind, l-like I did with that Watermelon Steven!” The young Gem tried his best to rationalize, knowing that his odd powers and his relative lack of control over them were really the only explanation he had for something so unprecedented. Still, even if he had no idea exactly how or why his powers had inexplicably landed him in control of Stan’s body, he properly stood, glancing around for anything he could use to cover the conman’s sparsely-clothed body. 

“I-I guess while I’m in here,” the young Gem began, thankfully finding Stan’s usual suit coat and tie. “I’d better do my best to respect Mr. Pines’ body…” Steven frowned as he held up a pair of pants he found on the floor. “And his privacy. Oh, wait!” he exclaimed brightly, stars in his eyes as he looked to the mirror once again. “Dipper and Mabel have got to see this. They’ll love this!”

With an excited grin, Steven rushed to dress up in Stan’s usual attire, fez and all, before bursting out of his room and into the rest of the shack with verve and gusto. As he sauntered down the hall, he was more than happy to declare the strange, yet interesting state of affairs to himself as he got used to his new voice and new body all the while. 

“I’m Mr. Pines!” he chuckled, playfully flicking the tassel of the conman’s fez around. “I’m Mr. Pines, I’m Mr.--ohoho! I guess I could also say… I’m Stan! Right, Waddles?” He asked the pig, who was blankly sitting in the hall as he passed him by. Waddles simply tilted his head, slightly confused by ‘Stan’s’ chipper attitude, but Steven simply took it in stride all the same as he began walking backwards and continuing excitable declaration of his current identity. 

“I’m Stan for the day, I’m Mr. Pines, I’m-oh!” Steven stopped short as he happened to accidentally bump into something from behind. Or rather someone. 

“Ugh, Stanley…” Ford grumbled, turning to his ‘brother’ with a dry, annoyed expression. “What in the multiverse are you doing? Aside from not watching where you’re going, that is.”

“Oh! I’m so sorry, Mr. Fooooo--or I-I mean, just Ford,” Steven attempted to play himself off with a small laugh, not quite prepared to reveal the truth to the author just yet. “How’s your morning going?”

“Um… fine?” Ford raised a confused eyebrow, especially as he took note of the ‘conman’s’ wide, warm smile. “Are you… feeling alright, Stanley?”

“Yeah, never better!” the young Gem grinned, quite amused by the fact that he had even the author himself so very fooled. “Why do you ask?”

“...No reason,” Ford said stiffly, still somewhat suspicious as he continued on his way past the ‘conman’. 

“Ok, bye, ‘bro’!” Steven called after him with a cheerful wave. The young Gem couldn’t help but let out another small, somewhat devious giggle in spite of himself, impressed by just how well his own mind-changing power seemed to work. Which was why he couldn’t wait to see how Dipper and Mabel would react as he hurried up the stairs toward the attic as fast as he could. 

In fact, he barely managed to suppress an excited grin as he briefly peeked into the attic to find the pair of younger twins getting dressed and ready for the day. Wanting to put on something of a playful act, Steven put on the usual stern and grumpy demeanor he knew Stan to usually have as he knocked on the door, not even waiting for either of the twins to invite him in. 

The instant he burst the door open, that gruff act quickly fell the moment he caught sight of his pair of friends, both of whom were quite surprised by the sudden intrusion. “Uh, Grunkle Stan?” Dipper began, quite confused as the ‘conman’ broke into an uncharacteristically elated smile. 

“Yep! It’s me! Your Grunkle Stan!” Steven exclaimed, barely managing to hold back another amused snicker. “How’s my favorite niece and nephew on this beautiful morning?”

“Aw, we’re doing great, Grunkle Stan!” Mabel chimed, clearly charmed by the ‘conman’s’ high spirits. 

“What’s got you in such a good mood?” Dipper asked, crossing his arms. “What, did you finally win one of those ‘win a thousand bucks every week’ sweepstakes you’re always entering?”

“Nope, even better,” Steven shook his head. “I’ve got a secret.”

“Ooo, a secret?” Mabel asked, instantly intrigued. “Oh! Wait! I think I know! Grunkle Stan…” Her smile widened into a coy, knowing smirk. “Do you have a girlfriend?!”

“Um… no,” Steven said plainly. “The secret I have is even better than that!”

“Might it have anything to do with why you’re acting so… weird?” Dipper ventured, raising a perplexed eyebrow at the ‘conman’. “Because no offense, Grunkle Stan, but you don’t really seem like… well, you.”

“That’s because… I’m not!” Steven winked, catching both of the twins off guard. 

“Uh… what do you mean?” Mabel frowned, not following. 

“I mean… I’m not actually Mr. Pines!” Steven finally revealed. “I’m--oh, wait! This’ll be more fun if you guess who I really am!”

“Easy,” Mabel snapped her fingers. “You’re Amethyst! ‘Cause she can and has shapeshifted into Stan a bunch of times before. Mostly to play pranks on people, but joke’s on you Amethyst, cause we’re too smart to fall for it this time!”

“Uh, one problem with that theory of yours, Mabel,” Dipper pointed out. “Amethyst is usually, you know, purple when she shapeshifts into people? And I doubt even her Stan impression is that good.”

“Dipper’s right, I’m not Amethyst,” Steven grinned proudly as he crossed his arms. “I’m actually… drumroll, please!” Mabel readily offered that drumroll with a pair of pencil’s against the nightstand, even though Dipper didn’t join in on the excitement as he simply kept a cautious eye on ‘Stan’. At least until he finally revealed who he really was. “Steven! Ta da!”

“Whaaaat?!” both twins exclaimed in equally dumbfounded surprise.

“No way,” Dipper shook his head, immediately doubtful. 

“Whoa, Steven!” Mabel, on the other hand, readily believed it. “Did you shapeshift into Grunkle Stan?”

“Not exactly,” Steven chuckled. “You guys know how I was able to go into the minds of one of those Watermelon Stevens a while back? I think I can do that with people now too! That’s how I woke up this morning with my mind in Mr. Pines’ body! Pretty cool, huh?”

“Oh my gosh! Heck yeah it is!” Mabel exclaimed, absolutely amazed. “What’s being a super old man like? Are you all stiff and crinkly because of the arthritis setting in?”

“A little, yeah, but I’m getting used to it,” Steven said, stretching out the best he could. “What do you think, Dipper?”

“Isn’t Steven-Stan the coolest?” Mabel added, sharing the young Gem’s eager smile. 

Dipper, however, refused to adopt that smile himself, the shared levity completely lost on him as he instead looked to Steven, stern disapproval clear on his face. Especially as he thought of exactly what this bizarre turn of events, of what someone completely taking over the body of someone else, reminded him so very much of. “...I don’t like this,” he said plainly, deciding not to go any further into why. At least not right now. 

“Aw, why not?” Steven frowned, confused. 

“C’mon, don’t be such a stick-in-the-mud, bro-bro,” Mabel huffed petulantly. “Even you’ve gotta admit this is the most amazing thing to ever happen. Or… at least to happen this week; a lot of really crazy things happen to us after all.”

Dipper said nothing, instead crossing his arms as he glared away from the pair almost bitterly. While his discomfort was somewhat lost on Mabel, Steven did take note of it. And even if he didn’t quite understand exactly why Dipper seemed to be so upset, that didn’t mean the young Gem wasn’t still quite concerned all the same. “Dipper?” he ventured, starting to reach a hand out toward him. “Are you-”

“Oh my gosh, Steven!” Mabel suddenly interjected, breaking through with an excited gasp. “You know we have to tell Grunkle Ford about this. He’ll totally flip when he gets a load of the ‘new Stan’, if ya know what I mean.”

“Oh, well, actually I already ran into Mr. Ford on the way up here,” Steven said, picking up a small smile once more. “And he was completely fooled! He really thought I was Mr. Pines! Isn’t that crazy?”

“The craziest!” Mabel readily agreed. 

“In fact, I even--wait,” the young Gem stopped short, his eyes widening as a sudden idea came to him. One that could very well accomplish what nothing else so far really had. “You guys… what if… we use this as a way to help Mr. Pines and Mr. Ford finally make up?”

“Oh?” Mabel asked, curious. “Whatcha got in mind, ‘Mr. Pines’?”

“I can go talk to Mr. Ford,” Steven began. “And he’ll think I’m Mr. Pines. That way I can finally get him to open up and talk about he really feels about his brother-”

“Oh! And then you can go into Grunkle Ford’s body and do the same thing with Stan!” Mabel finished. “And then they’ll finally make up and be best friends again without even realizing it! Steven, that’s a brilliant idea!”

“No, that’s a horrible idea,” Dipper interjected, looking between the pair in absolute disbelief that they’d both be so on board with such an underhanded scheme. “Steven, even if this plan of yours does somehow work, then it won’t be Stan and Ford making up; it’ll be you doing it for them. Isn’t that just a little bit--or should I say really--manipulative?”

“...Yeah, maybe it is...” Steven frowned, rubbing his, or rather the conman’s, arm apprehensively. 

“But nothing else has worked so far!” Mabel countered. “The camping trip, Emerald City, they’ve all been big huge busts! We need to face it, Dipper; if nothing is going to get those two talking on their own, then maybe it’s time for somebody else, somebody in disguise like Steven here, to step in to help give them a tiny little… nudge in the right direction.”

“That’s true too,” Steven noted thoughtfully. “Sure, it may not be the best way of doing things, but it is a way, one that might actually work too. And as long as it ends up with Mr. Pines and Mr. Ford getting along again, then that’s all that really matters, right?”

“Right!” Mabel nodded, assured that this idea could succeed. Dipper, on the other hand, was still absolutely, adamantly against it. 

“I can’t believe you guys,” he said, shaking his head disdainfully. “Steven, you should just… get out Stan’s body and back into your own and forget this whole ridiculous plan before it can all come crashing down. Because trust me, it’s not going to work.”

“Aw, says you,” Mabel rebuffed with a wave of her hand. “You never think our ideas are any good, Dipper, just admit it.”

“Well even if I don’t, at least I usually try to help you guys make them work,” Dipper countered crossly. “But this one? I’m sorry, but I refuse to have any parts of this. You guys are on your own.”

“Dipper…” Steven said softly, faltering with an uneasy, fretful frown. And yet, Mabel was much more openly frustrated and annoyed by her brother’s seemingly stubborn refusal to lend them a helping hand. 

“Fine! We’ll just get someone else to help us,” she huffed petulantly turning on her heel to leave. “Then we’ll see just how ‘horrible’ this plan is after Stan and Ford have finally hugged everything out like they should have done a long time ago! C’mon, Steven, let’s get started.”

As Mabel coldly headed out, Steven turned to join her, though not before looking back toward Dipper one last time. By now, he’d completely turned away from the pair, his arms tightly crossed as he refused to so much as even acknowledge their exit. Briefly, the young Gem considered making things right with him first, but at the same time, he knew he was quite ill-suited to, especially since he’d already largely made up his mind about the course of action they were going to go through with. And besides, Steven figured, there would always be time to smooth things over with Dipper later; now was the time to finally, finally sort things out between Stan and Ford instead. 

At the same time, Dipper remained still, refusing to budge on his stance against assisting in such an asinine plan. All the while, however, he was still trying to shake the sinking dread, the perpetual reminder of an all-too-painful point in the past that he couldn’t help but recall every time he so much as thought about the fact that Steven could so easily enter and take over the body of someone else without even really trying at all. The Watermelon Steven had been one thing, but with Stan, it was as though everything had changed. And as he stood there, he hoped with practically everything he had that in light of such a change, his instant misgivings over the the young Gem’s peculiar new power wouldn’t be proven right after all.

“Wait, I’m… confused,” Connie shook her head, trying to process everything Mabel and ‘Stan’ had just relayed to her. “So… you’re not Mr. Pines… you’re… Steven?”

“Well… yeah!” Steven grinned. “But I am in Mr. Pines’ body, so… I technically I am Mr. Pines while being Steven. Oof, I can’t say I blame you for being confused, Connie. This is tricky for even me to wrap my head around…”

“...Steven, this is really weird,” Connie said, point blank, looking to the ‘conman’ incredulously. 

“Weird and cool!” Mabel interjected brightly. “And it’s about to be exactly what we need to finally help Stan and Ford be the ‘Best Bros Forever” that they’re supposed to be! Mostly ‘cause Steven is way better at getting people to like him than Stan is, no offense to him.”

“What are you talking about, Mabel?” Steven frowned. “Tons of people like Mr. Pines! Like us, and Soos, and Amethyst, and… uh… um… hm…”

“Um… guys?” Connie spoke up apprehensively. “Don’t you think this whole plan of yours to help Mr. Pines and Mr. Ford out, while good-intentioned, might just be a little… morally ambiguous? And shady?”

“Aw, now you’re sounding like Dipper,” Mabel huffed, exasperated. “Just think of it like one of those means to an end sort of dealies, where it doesn’t super matter how we get there, just as long as we get there. It’s like Grunkle Stan himself always says: ‘sometimes ya gotta break a few bones to make an omelet’.”

“I think you mean eggs, not bones,” Connie said, deadpan.

“Nah, pretty sure Stan said ‘bones’...” Mabel mused before letting out a sharp gasp upon spotting Ford emerge from the shack, not too far away from their current meeting space outside it. “There’s Grunkle Ford! Go on, Steven, put your relationship-repairing skills into action! And don’t forget, you’ve really gotta sell the whole ‘you’re Stan’ thing, ok?”

“Already way ahead of you on that,” Steven winked, raising himself to a confident posture to match his brazen grin. “‘Stan’s the name, and relationship-repairing is my game!’ How’s that?”

“Uh… maybe a bit too on the nose,” Connie frowned. 

“Eh, you’ll figure something out,” Mabel said, unconcerned as she began pushing the young Gem forward. “Now go on out there and glue those two broken teacups back together again!”

Steven nodded, ready to do just that as he left the girls behind to watch whatever happened next from a safe distance away. “So… what should we do when this eventually ends up going wrong?” Connie asked, worried. 

“Nothing, cause it’s totally not gonna go wrong,” Mabel grinned calmly. “Just watch and see.”

“H-heya, Mr.--I-I mean--Hi, Ford!” Steven greeted with a cheery smile as he walked up to the author, who was in the midst of checking over some sort of odd handheld beeping device. “Whatcha up to?”

“Oh, simply checking the house’s perimeter for an infestation of termants,” Ford explained dully. “A highly destructive ant-termite hybrid indigenous to Gravity Falls. Not that it’s any of your concern, Stanley, seeing as how you probably never even bothered to think about checking for them over the past 30 years.”

“Huh,” Steven frowned, unsure of what to really say. “Well… I-I’m sure if I had known about them, then I would have. But if you say they’re dangerous, then I’ll keep a close eye out for them. Thanks for the heads up!”

“...You’re welcome?” Ford raised a confused eyebrow as he looked over at his ‘brother’. “Still acting as strange as you were earlier, I see. Is there any… particular reason for your bizarrely… upbeat attitude today?”

“W-well, I just thought I’d have a much better day if I got through it with a smile instead of a grumpy old frown all the time,” Steven shrugged, hoping Ford would buy this. Though of course, he didn’t. 

“Pfft, please,” the author scoffed with something that almost sounded like a laugh. “Who are you and what have you done with my brother?”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!” the young Gem exclaimed, panicking that Ford might have already seen through his ruse. “I am your brother! T-totally not somebody else going around pretending to be him; that’d be just silly.”

“...Stanley, I was being sarcastic,” Ford remarked flatly. “Though… now that you mention it, you are acting noticeably… un-Stan-like…. Could it be that you’re not really who you claim to be after all…?”

“N-no!” Steven took in a sharp, anxious breath. “I-I really am Stan, I promise! I-I can prove it too! I like money, and uh… joy rides...” he listed, getting most of his ammo from Mabel as he glanced back at his shoulder at her, following the prompts she was signing to him. “And… watching TV and… prison?” he finished, offering the author a hopeful smile, one that Ford hardly returned. 

Instead, the author kept up his skeptical scowl as he looked past the ‘conman’ over to Mabel standing in the distance behind him. “Mabel, what exactly are you doing back there?” he asked, interrupting her continued attempts at pantomiming for Steven’s sake. 

“Oh!” Mabel gasped, caught off guard. “Uh… n-nothing suspicious! I-I… I’m just playing a friendly round of charades with my good friend Connie here!”

“Please don’t drag me into this,” Connie said stiffly, knowing that the situation had already far passed the line past ridiculous by this point. 

“Mm hmm…” Ford nodded dubiously as he turned back to his ‘brother’. “Stanley, I don’t know what kind of game you and the children are playing here, but I’d much prefer if you left me out of it. Thank you very much.”

And with that, the author turned to leave to continue his termant inspection, leaving Steven behind to realize that his plan was very quickly starting to fall apart. “W-wait! I-” the young Gem stopped short, letting out a disappointed sigh as the author walked out of earshot without even so much as thinking about looking back whatsoever. “...You’re welcome…”

“So, again I ask, since that the plan more or less has failed,” Connie began as Steven paced around the gift shop before her and Mabel. “What do we do now?”

“That’s a… good question,” Steven admitted with a small sigh. 

“I wouldn’t say the plan ‘failed’,” Mabel corrected as she leaned against the counter. “It’s just… hit a teeny tiny roadbump. But that doesn’t mean we should give up so easily! What we really need to do is find a way to get you and Ford to talk things out without any distractions getting in the way. And being a little more convincing with your whole Stan impression might not hurt either.”

“Yeah, I know…” Steven scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “I guess it doesn’t matter that I’m using his body; I’m still more Steven than I’ll ever be Stan…”

“Yeah, that’s… kind of obvious,” Connie noted, frowning. “But look at the bright side; your Stan act is pretty convincing in every way outside of, you know, the whole ‘acting’ part.”

The young Gem sighed tiredly as he lay his head down on the counter, clearly at a complete loss as to what to do from here. “This is a mess…”

“Uh, it better not be a mess. Especially not after we spent the entire shop from top to bottom like you told us to last night,” Wendy remarked as she and Soos stepped into the gift shop, returning from their break. 

“Oh, hey, you guys!” Steven greeted the pair with a friendly wave despite Mabel and Connie’s shared alarm over their arrival and just how candid Steven seemed to be over it, given the circumstances. “Sorry, I… wasn’t really talking about the shop. But just for the record, it looks great! You two really did an awesome job cleaning it!”

Clearly, both Soos and Wendy were caught off guard by such a kind remark, especially since such sentiments were usually so hard to come by when it came to ‘Stan’. “G-gee, thanks, Mr. Pines!” the handyman smiled warmly. “By the way, are you ok? Somethin’ seems a little… different about you…”

“Oh!” Steven gasped, remembering the ruse he was supposed to be keeping up. “Uh, n-no, everything’s fine. Stan--w-who is me--is A-ok! T-thanks for asking.”

“Mm… no, something totally up with you…” Wendy noted, narrowing her eyes at the ‘conman’ before turning to Mabel and Connie. “You guys got any idea as to what?”

“N-nope, not us!” Mabel said with a forced grin, one that Connie shared as she shrugged innocently. “Everything’s totally normal around here! A-and especially with Grunkle Stan here who’s just started out on his new Foolproof Path To Becoming a Nicer Person, a plan created by yours truly. Right, ‘Grunkle Stan’?”

For a moment, Steven simply looked down at Mabel, absolutely confused until she gave him a knowing wink that silently instructed him to agree. “Oh, uh, y-yeah, that’s absolutely right! N-no more, uh, ‘Sour Stan’ for me! F-from now on, you can just call me… ‘Sweet Stan’! Yeah…”

“Oh, ok!” Soos grinned, readily believing this. “Whatever you say, ‘Sweet Stan’! Huh, really has a nice ring to it.”

“Hm…” Wendy frowned, not buying this herself as she looked to the ‘conman’ doubtfully. “Alright, then let’s put this whole, ugh, ‘Sweet Stan’ thing to the test. Mr. Pines, can I have a raise?”

“Are you kidding? Of course you can!” Steven instantly exclaimed with an eager smile. “Hanging out with you is one of my favorite things about being at the Mystery Shack, Wendy! Same to you, Soos! In fact, you can both have raises! My treat.”

“Whoa, really?” Soos asked, amazed. 

“...Eh, you know what? As weird as this whole thing is, I think I’ll take it,” Wendy shrugged, aptly satisfied by her raise as she ventured pushing the limit just a bit further. “Do you think maybe we could have the rest of the day off too? Just for the heck of it?”

“I don’t see why not,” the young Gem grinned, hands on his hips. “It’s such a nice day outside, so why stay cooped up in here for it? Go on out and have some fun!”

“Wow! Thanks a ton, Mr. Pines!” Soos exclaimed, waving to ‘Stan’ and the girls as he began to head off, completely oblivious. 

“I still don’t know what’s going on around here but… eh, what do I care?” Wendy grinned, following the handyman out. “Free day off, here I come!”

The moment both Soos and Wendy left, Steven, Mabel, and Connie alike all let out a collective sigh of relief, glad that their cover hadn’t been entirely blown even if it had been seen through. “That was way too close…” the young Gem muttered, allayed, though only for a moment as an all new-problem made herself apparent. 

“What was too close?”

“Ah!” Steven gasped, stumbling backward as a certain purple Gem dropped down from her spot in the rafters. “A-Amethyst! What are you doing here?”

“Oh, ya know,” the purple Gem casually plopped down to take a seat on the counter. “Just hanging around.”

“Oh, would you say you hang out more like koalas or sloths?” Steven asked before quickly catching himself. “Uh… I-I’m asking for Steven.”

“...What?” Amethyst asked, confused. 

“Aha! D-don’t mind Mr. Pines, Amethyst,” Connie interjected with an awkward chuckle. “He’s not exactly… feeling himself today.”

“Boy, tell me about it,” Amethyst remarked, eyeing the ‘conman’ warily. “What’s all this I hear about you going all ‘soft’ and ‘sweet’, Stan? That’s not how you roll, never has been, never will be. And don’t you two go acting all innocent either,” she said to Mabel and Connie. “I know you’re both in on whatever dirty little secret Stan’s got up his sleeve here, so… spill it.”

“Uh… it’s… actually not that dirty,” Steven said, not seeing much harm in letting the purple Gem know. “Would you believe me if I told you I actually wasn’t Stan but I was really Steven and that I used my powers to accidentally send my mind into his body?”

For a moment or two, Amethyst stared at the young Gem blankly, as if baffled by this information before she simply shrugged in calm acceptance of it. “Eh yeah, I guess I would,” she said plainly. “I mean, it’s not like none of us have noticed that your powers can do some… pretty wacky stuff, Steven. Er, uh… Stan? Stanven?” 

“Ooo, if you and Grunkle Stan ever fused, Steven, Stanven would be a perfect fusion name for you guys!” Mabel pointed out, making sure to write the name down for future reference. 

“Sooo even if this whole thing was an ‘accident’,” Amethyst began, leaning toward the ‘conman’ curiously. “What exactly is your whole endgame here, Stevo?”

“Endgame?”

“Yeah, what’s the point of hijacking Stan’s body if you’re not gonna use it to have some fun?” the purple Gem grinned deviously. “You could drive his car around, crash it into a tree, use his credit card to buy a whole bunch of dumb stuff, the sky’s the limit! And the best part is, whenever you guys switch back or however that happens, then we’ll all get to see the look on his face when he realizes what happened, it’ll be hilarious!”

“Um, actually, Amethyst,” Steven interjected. “We were actually hoping to use this as an opportunity to patch things up between Mr. Pines and Mr. Ford…”

“Ew, seriously?” Amethyst groaned. “That’s so boring! And pointless. Those two old dorks hate each other. What makes you think you running around pretending to be Stan is gonna change that?”

“Well… we’ll never know until we try,” Steven shrugged, hopeful. “And maybe you might be able to help us, Amethyst! You’ve known both Mr. Pines and Mr. Ford for a long time, so maybe you could give us some advice? Especially when it comes to Mr. Pines. Let’s just say my impression of him… isn’t the best…”

“Yeah, no duh, you’re way too nice to make a good Stan,” Amethyst chuckled, somewhat amused. “And that’s ok. But while nice may be Steven’s thing, it sure as heck isn’t Stan’s.”

“Oh! I have an idea!” Mabel raised her hand enthusiastically. “Amethyst, you could Steven a lesson on how to be Stan so that he’ll be more convincing the next time he talks to Grunkle Ford. After all, I can’t really think of anybody who would know him better than you!”

“Tch, for better or worse,” Amethyst remarked sardonically, though ultimately she folded upon meeting the pleading expressions the kids were offering her. “But… fine. I guess I can hook you guys up. But only if we get to pull off a whole bunch of pranks using Stan’s body after this whole thing with Ford is over.”

“Um, Amethyst, I don’t know if that’s such a good-”

“Deal!” Mabel interrupted Connie, readily agreeing to such worrisome terms. 

“Thanks so much, Amethyst!” Steven cheered, not hesitating to show his gratefulness by embracing the purple Gem.

“Ah ah ah! Stan lesson numero uno,” Amethyst pushed away from him. “Stan is absolutely not a hugger.”

“Ah, right…” Steven frowned, backing off apprehensively. “...This is gonna be harder than I thought…”

The young Gem took in an anxious breath as him, Mabel, Connie, and Amethyst all rode the elevator down to Ford’s private study, hoping that their scheme would end in success this time. For the past hour or so, the purple Gem had drilled him in every tic and trait she knew Stan to have, essentially teaching him how to talk, walk, and overall act exactly as the conman would. And yet, even with those lessons in grumpy gruffness in mind, Steven was still resolved to be a bit softer in his approach than Stan likely would have been, all in the hopes of finally reaching Ford so they could begin finally bridging the broken gap between the brothers once and for all. 

Or at least, get halfway there for now. 

As soon as the elevator reached the basement’s second floor, the group split up, Amethyst, Mabel, and Connie taking to concealing themselves along the sides of the study so they could watch the encounter that was about to unfold. Steven, however, continued forward, steadying his resolve as he quietly approached Ford, who was so engrossed in writing in his journal that he didn’t even notice the young Gem’s arrival. At least until he spoke up to greet him. 

“Uh, hey, Mr. Fo--oh, right! I mean, heya, ‘sixer’,” Steven began, remembering Amethyst’s pointers on how Stan would address Ford in particular. “How’s it, um… hanging?”

Ford stood upright with a start at this, spinning around to face his ‘brother’ in appalled shock. “Wha--Stanley?!” he exclaimed in disbelief. “W-where--how did you--what are you doing down here?! How did you even find out about this room? It’s a secret study for a reason, you know.”

“Oh, um… Amethyst told me about it?” Steven ventured, getting the excuse from the purple Gem herself as he looked over his shoulder at her as she remained in hiding alongside the girls. 

“Ugh, of course she did…” Ford groaned, exasperated. “Well, since you’re down here, what is that you want? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m very busy.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Steven readily apologized, only for Amethyst to clear her throat to catch his attention. The purple Gem shook her head disapprovingly, reminding him once again that ‘Stan’ needed to drop the manners than Steven always made sure to mind so carefully. “Uh, I-I mean… What, you’re busy working on your, uh, ‘nerd books’ again?” he asked, trying his hardest to carry an air of dry sarcasm in his tone. 

“Stanley, how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling my important research ‘nerd books’!” Ford snapped, not even noticing as the ‘conman’ flinched back, startled by his harsh tone. “Now, if you’ll please state your business down here then be on your way, that would be-”

“I-I wanted to hang out with you!” Steven exclaimed, completely forgetting what Amethyst had told him in an attempt at salvaging this before it was too late. 

“You what?” Ford asked, baffled. 

“You know… hang out?” the young Gem tried again with a small smile, ignoring the disgruntled look the purple Gem was sending his way all the while. “Like I guess we probably always used to do when we were kids? I just, I mnea… w-wouldn’t it be nice if you guys--er, if we finally started getting along again? Just like old times…?”

For a moment, Ford’s expression almost seemed to soften at this, though it quickly grew harsh once more as he drew in a sharp, almost offended breath as he shoved away the hand Steven was offering to him. “What kind of fool do you take me for?” he asked, his voice low and undoubtedly angry. 

“W-what do you mean?”

“It’s it obvious?!” the author exclaimed harshly. “You keep pretending like we can move on and act like nothing ever happened, but we can’t Stanley! I missed out on my dream school, I spent 30 years straggling between countless dimensions, barely surviving, all because of you! And yet you want to just forget about all of that without even admitting that you were wrong? Without even saying that you’re sorry?!” 

“W-well, then I am sorry!” Steven said frantically, hoping to give the author what he wanted to hear in the hopes that it would work. But of course, it didn’t. 

“But I don’t believe you!” Ford exclaimed incredulously, both fury and the first inklings of what almost sounded like grief starting to leak into his tone. “You never act like you’re sorry! You just want to act like it’s all over and done but it’s not! You’re always off living in your own little fantasy world, just like you used to do when we were kids! It’s like… it’s like you don’t even care…”

The young Gem froze, genuinely shocked as he noticed tears starting to well up in the author’s eyes. Tears that he rushed to wipe away but tears all the same. “H-hey…” he reached a shaking hand out in an attempt to comfort him. “Don’t be sad… I-”

“Don’t patronize me, Stanley,” Ford huffed bitterly, pushing his hand away once more. “After all, we both know you’re only doing this for your own gain, just like everything else you’ve ever done!”

“That’s not true!” Steven tried once more but it was very clear by now that Ford was having none of it as he outright pushed his ‘brother’ away. 

“I’ve had enough, Stanley,” Ford sighed tiredly. “Every time I so much as think about making amends with you, you always manage to remind me just how much of a mistake that would really be and I’m done. Now get out.”

“B-but wait!” Steven protested as the author continued pushing him back toward the elevator. “I-I just wanted to fix everything!”

“You only ever try to fix anything when it’s convenient for you!” Ford shot back fiercely. 

“Y-you don’t understand-” the young Gem tried to counter, but once again the author sharply cut him off. 

“No, Stanley, I understand perfectly,” Ford finally stopped just shy of the elevator. “You want me to thank you, to need you; you always have, but I don’t. I never have! I’ve been just fine without you for well over 30 years now and I’ll be even better after we finally part ways. And I, for one, can’t wait until we finally do. Now GOODBYE, Stan!” 

With that, the author shoved his ‘brother’ into the elevator, pressing the button that would send him back up to the shack’s upper levels. However, right before he could, Steven took in a sudden breath, his regret and and guilt having built up to unbearable levels as he finally decided to reveal the truth before it was too late. “I’m NOT Stan!” he shouted just as the elevator doors closed on him. 

Taken aback, Ford was quick to call the elevator back down to the study, curiosity getting the better of him. When the elevator doors opened again, they revealed ‘Stan’ still standing there, tears streaming down his cheeks and his expression awash in genuine remorse. A sight that was more than enough to surprise the author even more. “What…?” he asked, looking over the ‘conman’ cautiously. 

“I’m actually… Steven,” the young Gem confessed with a sad sigh. “I accidentally used my powers to send my mind into Mr. Pines’ body a-and then we thought we use this to help you guys make up but… it didn’t work, obviously…”

“...We?” Ford raised an eyebrow, still unsure of what to really think about such a strange story as a whole. 

“Yeah… we…” Mabel spoke up, stepping out into the open alongside Connie and Amethyst. 

“Mabel? Connie? Amethyst?” Ford turned to the trio, even more confused than before. “What are you three doing down here? Actually, you know what? Forget that. Let’s focus back on the part about Steven’s mind supposedly being in Stan’s body…”

“I just wanted to help you guys,” Steven frowned earnestly, wiping some of his tears away. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings like this, Mr. Ford! I’m so sorry!”

“...Alright, so maybe you actually are Steven…” Ford noted, his doubt starting to dissipate somewhat. “Stanley would never apologize to me, after all.”

“That’s what I tried telling him,” Amethyst remarked, crossing her arms. “But did he listen to me or any of my ‘What Would Stan Do’ lessons? Nooooo, ‘course not. He had to get all soft and sweet. Tch, if the real Stan was here, he’d totally be gagging all over the place right now.”

“Speaking of Stanley…” Ford began thoughtfully. “I’m assuming you somehow entered his mindscape, Steven. But that begs the question… is Stan inside of yours?”

“Wait, do you mean Mr. Pines’ mind could be inside of Steven’s body?” Connie asked, bewildered. 

“I’m… not sure,” the author frowned, turning back to Steven in the hopes that he’d know more about his mysterious powers than anyone else would. “Would he?”

“...I don’t know,” Steven said starkly, having not even considered the possibility until now. 

“You don’t know?!” Ford exclaimed, aptly alarmed. 

“Maybe we should check?” Mabel ventured, feeling the rising panic in the room. 

“Uh, ya think?!” Amethyst exclaimed, rushing to the elevator first. The others all quickly piled onto it, frantically pressing the button until it took them to the shack’s main floor. From there, they all rushed out of the building altogether, knowing that the temple would be the best place to check for the young Gem’s body. If it wasn’t there, then there would be no telling where it might be. 

However just as the group burst out of the shack, Soos’ truck just so happened to be pulling up with both of the shack’s employees in tow. “Thanks again for the ride, Soos,” Wendy said, stepping out of the vehicle.

“No problem, dude,” Soos said, grinning as he tipped his hat to her.

 “Can’t believe I forgot my jacket here again,” the cashier rolled her eyes. “Better hurry in and go get it before Stan changes his mind about our day off.”

“Oh hey, speaking of Stan, there he is!” Soos pointed out the group ran past them toward the temple. 

“Huh, wonder where they’re going in such a hurry,” Wendy said with a curious frown. 

“Wanna find out?”

“Not really-”

“Too late! We’re emotionally invested now!” the handyman exclaimed, running to catch up with the others. Even if she wasn’t too keen on going herself, Wendy ultimately let out a sigh of defeat as she joined in the chase too, albeit at a much slower, more lax pace. 

At the same time, Steven, Ford, Connie, Mabel, and Amethyst all reached the temple, dashing up the porch stairs only for the young Gem to find another obstacle barring their path. “I-It’s locked!” he cried, trying his hardest to push against the screen door to get it open. As he tried rushing for it, he ultimately bounced right off and rolled back, leaving them with no way in. At least, not until Ford easily managed to kick the door down without much effort at all. 

“Whoa, breaking and entering into Steven’s house?” Wendy asked as she and Soos watched this as they continued their way up toward the temple. “This suddenly got a lot more interesting.”

“I’ll say!” Soos eagerly agreed. “But um… doesn’t Amethyst already live there?”

“Hey, man, nobody ever said you can’t sneak into your own place,” Wendy shrugged with a grin. “I do it all the time.”

As the larger group rushed into the house, they wasted no time looking around for the young Gem’s body, Connie spotting it first as it lay listlessly on the bed upon on the loft. “Steven! There you are!” she called, pointing the young Gem’s way back to his own body. The others all ran after him, taking just the briefest of moments to take in the sight of Steven’s real body, still sleeping soundly before them, with no signs of Stan inhabiting it really apparently. 

“H-how do you switch back?” Mabel looked to Steven, or ‘Stan’ as it were, anxiously. 

“I-I don’t know!” Steven shook his head, gripping his slumbering body by the shirt and shaking him roughly. “Come on! Wake up!”

“Whoa, what’s going on?” Soos asked as he and Wendy stepped through the house’s broken-down door. 

“I have no idea but I gotta say,” the cashier placed her hands on her hips. “This was not what I was expecting to see on my day off.”

By now, Steven had gotten desperate, and aside from shaking his sleeping self up, he’d also taken to lightly tapping him on the face in a hectic attempt at rousing himself, one that didn’t seem to be working. “Augh! Wake UP!” Frustrated, the young Gem finally lashed out, finally slapping himself hard enough to finally, and miraculously do the trick. 

In an instant, Steven found himself back in his own body, his own eyes flying open as he bolted upright in bed. However, he barely even had time to settle back into his own skin before he noticed the body he’d just been in starting to sway. Stan seemed to be only barely conscious, his eyes rolling back into his head as he began to fall towards the edge of the loft, nearly falling off of it entirely until Ford happened to catch him by his suit coat. As the author pulled him back it, the conman’s rather rough fall to the floor was finally enough to snap him fully back into his own mind, even if he still did so rather sluggishly. 

“Ugh… I feel like I just got hit by a truck… and I should know because I have been hit by a truck…” Stan muttered, shaking his aching head to clear it before he properly took stock of his surroundings. “Uh… how the heck did I get here? And what’s everybody doing here? Is there a party or somethin’?”

“Uh… not exactly…” Connie said with a worried frown. 

“Grunkle Stan, don’t get mad…” Mabel began just as apprehensively. 

“Mad about what?” the conman raised an eyebrow as he picked himself up to stand. 

“Steven really didn’t mean to-” Mabel continued, though once again, Stan cut her off. 

“Mean to what?” he asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously as he turned to the young Gem.  

For his part, Steven let out a tight, anxious laugh to try and ease the growing tension. Even so, he ultimately did admit the truth, knowing there was no use in trying to hide it. “I… might have… spent the day… with my mind… in your body…”

Stan’s initial reaction to this news was quite apt, shock overtaking his expression, though strangely he was quick to replace it with a look of stoic acceptance. “Yeah, that sounds about right,” he said stiffly, not really giving too much of a reaction at all outside of that. 

“Y-you’re not… upset?” Steven ventured, gripping his bed’s blanket tightly. 

“Oh, no, I’m furious,” Stan said with a surprisingly steady smile. “In fact, it’s taking just about every inch of self control I have to stay calm right now and believe me, it’s not easy.”

“Stanley, please don’t make a scene,” Ford huffed, already anticipating his brother’s known temper’s tipping point. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Stan assured. “At least not in here.” With that, the conman turned on his heel, heading down the loft and passing by Soos and Wendy on the way out. “What are you two doing here?!” he asked them with a harsh scowl. “Get back to work!”

“B-but what about our day off?” Soos asked, frowning. 

“Day off?” Stan scoffed incredulously. “Give me a break! You heard what I said: back to work, now!”

“Ugh, I knew it was too good to be true,” Wendy sighed as the conman left. 

At the same time, Amethyst eagerly hopped down from the loft, hoping to catch up with the conman as she let out an amused laugh. “Aw man, here comes the freakout I’ve been waiting for,” she grinned, rushing to join Stan right outside. “This is something I don’t wanna miss.”

And sure enough, she didn’t for as soon as Stan stepped outside onto the porch, he finally let his anger out in the form of a single large, loud scream. A scream that Steven simply flinched at the sound of, knowing that once again, another plan to bring the bickering brothers together again had fallen through completely. And this time he only really had himself to blame. 

Steven stopped just shy of the gift shop’s entrance, letting out a fretful sigh before finally deciding to enter, hoping that he’d be able to make amends for what happened the previous day. Fortunately, it seemed as though he’d get that chance for sure enough Stan was sitting at the counter, boredly tallying up his profits for the day. He didn’t so much as even look up as the young Gem entered or even as he approached the counter, but all the same, Steven offered him a friendly, if not somewhat awkward greeting all the same. 

“Uh… h-hey, Mr. Pines,” he said with a small smile, though Stan said nothing in response, his expression remaining cold as he kept his eyes on his cash. Even so, Steven continued. “Um… I’m really sorry about yesterday. I know it’s not much, but… I got you a card.” His smile picked up a bit as he slid said card, one that read ‘hang in there!’, onto the counter. “It’s got a koala and a sloth.”

Stan finally glanced up at this, first at the card before looking to Steven himself. And try as he might to remain silent and stoic, he couldn’t help but crack a small smile upon noticing just how genuine the young Gem’s apology really was. “Ugh, kid, put that pout of yours away,” the conman sighed tiredly. “I’m not mad, at least not anymore. By now, I’ve come to expect weird stuff like this happening around here, especially whenever you and the Gems are involved. But what I can’t figure out is why you did it in the first place…”

“Well, it was an accident at first…” Steven admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “But then I kept it going because I thought… I thought maybe while I was in your body, I could finally help you and Mr. Ford get along again.”

Stan let out something of a sharp, almost bitter snicker at this, shaking his head incredulously. “That’s what you were trying to do, kid? If you ask me, then you tried way too hard to fix something that’s been way too broken to even try to fix for years now.”

“W-what do you mean?” Steven asked with a worried frown. 

The conman’s sardonic grin faded at this, his expression turning more serious as he looked away. “Er… f-forget it,” he said dismissively, not wanting to think on the matter any more than that right now. “Still, your heart was in the right place, so I guess I can’t fault you too much for basically hijacking my body for a day. Just as long as you promise to never do that to me again.”

“I think I can do that,” Steven chuckled, allayed that there were no hard feelings. 

Stan smiled once more at this, fondly ruffling the young Gem’s hair and eliciting another warm laugh from him in the process. “Ya know, Steven,” he began thoughtfully, kindly even. “You’re a good kid. But… you might wanna ease up a bit on your approach to helping people. You tend to come on… just a little too strong sometimes, if you know what I mean.”

“Ease up…” the young Gem repeated, not entirely sure what this advice meant, though he still valued it all the same. “I’ll make sure to remember that. Thanks, Mr. Pines.”

“No, thank you, kid,” Stan remarked with something of a wry smirk. “Knowing Amethyst, she probably tried to rope you into using my body for some of her nutso pranks, so thanks for not following through on any of that.”

“No problem,” Steven laughed brightly, a bout of levity that Stan soon joined in on. And yet, as that laughter eventually died down, the young Gem couldn’t help but steal a glance between the conman and the vending machine on the far side of the shack, behind which lay the elevator that led to the study that Ford was certainly working within, alone as he usually was. And as he did, Steven finally started to understand exactly what Stan’s advice truly meant. For maybe his approach, his plan had been wrong all along. Maybe, instead of trying to find ways to push and prod the brothers along to reach common ground, that ground was a place they’d have to find on their own. Maybe, just maybe, the only ones who really could repair what had been broken between Stan and Ford for so long now… were none other than Stan and Ford themselves. 

And yet, as Steven took solace in the hope that they someday would, he didn’t happen to see who was discreetly peeking in from the den to watch the whole exchange. Dipper let out a small sigh as he pressed back against the wall, closing his eyes as he absently rubbed his left shoulder, a shoulder that had once been heavily injured, nearly gravely so, all while somebody else had been in control of his body. All while he’d lost control of everything that was rightfully his own, all because someone else had decided to take it for a cruel and callous joy ride instead. 

And as much as Dipper didn’t want to suspect Steven, of all people, of such a thing, he couldn’t help but wonder, perhaps even fear, just how far that power, so very similar to a power someone else possessed, could really go.

Next: 

[oops-prow-did-it-again]

Pokémon Black: The Novel (Chapter 2 - Nicknames)

Find the prologue and more info about this series here

Find chapter 1 here

Find this series on AO3 and FFN for a better reading experience

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“Are you sure you’re okay with us leaving it like that, Mrs. Whitacre?” Cheren asked in concern. He had his hands pressed together and he looked up at Hil’s mother with soft, deep blue eyes. “Really, Bianca and I don’t mind staying to help Hil clean.”

Hil was leaning against the front door with his arms crossed. He didn’t care that it made it rather obvious he was ready to leave. Snivy was still curled around his neck and again, it was staring at his mother intently.

“It’s fine, Cheren, really,” his mother answered briskly. “Please, y’all just go thank Aurea—I mean, Professor Juniper. She’ll be thrilled to see you.”

“Okay… Well, thanks for having us over,” Cheren told her in a soft tone. Hil felt Snivy nuzzle against his chin and he pressed back a little bit in acknowledgment. Cheren turned to look at Bianca standing behind him in the living room, and then cast a look at Hil. “Ready?”

“Of course! I’m excited to get to talk to Professor Juniper again!” Bianca exclaimed. She danced over to Hil and narrowly scooted past him as he opened the door for her. “I’ve been able to visit her a few times before, but this time—I just still can’t believe she actually gave us some pokémon!”

Cheren muttered something after her and Hil thought he heard his mother call his name above their ruckus, but he ducked out the door and swiftly pulled it shut behind him. A perfect display of having not heard her at all.

Nuvema Town was a quaint, respectable place; a small neighborhood, yellow-green with soft, short grass, its pride hinged on the modest research lab at the far end of the main road. Most of the surrounding area of the town was thick forestry, though a path of dense grass marked the continuation of the road beyond Nuvema. Hil knew that if one were to follow it, they’d come to Accumula Town, and beyond even that, Striaton City. That was as far as he’d ever traveled, anyway. Cheren and Bianca had already started down the road, headed toward the research lab at the end of the row of homes. Hil fell into place behind them as they talked. This was their usual dynamic. Cheren and Bianca always had something to talk or bicker about while Hil interjected with the occasional comment from the peanut gallery. Not that it bothered him at all. He liked the snickers and jokes that came from his unexpected remarks.

“You know, once Oshawott learns Water Gun, your Tepig will be nothing for me, Cheren!” Bianca beamed.

“Until I get a Grass-type of my own,” Cheren taunted in response, adjusting his glasses. “Catch a few Vine Whips with that Oshawott and tell me how that goes.”

“Kinky,” Hil chimed in with a knowing grin, like it was his cue.

“Gross!” Bianca laughed as she regarded him with bright eyes.

“What, I just didn’t know Cheren was into that,” Hil shrugged facetiously.

It was Cheren’s turn to shoot him a look now. “I am not!”

“Hey, hey, no judgments here, man,” Hil snickered. Cheren was so easy. Snivy huffed from Hil’s shoulders and he would have bet money it was its way of laughing. “Noodle doesn’t mind either.”

Cheren groaned and his shoulders sagged. Satisfactorily broken, he trudged on and decided discretion was the better part of valor when dealing with Hil. He didn’t get any peace from Bianca, however, who had nervously decided to try her hand at some risqué jokes in the same vein as Hil’s. He tuned her out. Her lack of experience showed painfully in her awkward taunts.

Cheren cut her off once they finally reached the deep green, concrete porch of the Pokémon Lab by loudly banging his fist on the door. “Professor Juniper?” he called.

Bianca fell in place next to Hil. She still had that Oshawott in her arms, clutched against her chest in a smothering hug. Oshawott still just looked happy to be there, a broad, unknowing smile scrawled across its round face. It was only Cheren that had put his new friend back in the Poké Ball for the walk, citing that he didn’t trust it not to run off just yet. Hil had to agree that Tepig had seemed rather… temperamental. When the doorknob clicked, Hil felt Snivy give a start on his shoulder. He reached a hand up and rubbed its head gently to relax it.

The door swung open and there stood a younger lady dressed in a pale green, open labcoat. A white tank top and green skirt covered her underneath that. She pressed her left hand against her forehead to shade her eyes from the sun and she squinted at them. “Oh, Cheren, Hilbert, Bianca!” she exclaimed and jumped back, spreading her arms wide in a cheerful welcome. She stepped to the side and gestured for them to come inside. “Please, please! We’ve been waiting for you three!”

Cheren glanced at Hil as he listened to Professor Juniper and entered the building. He had a dastardly smirk plastered on his face. Hil knew it was because his shoulders had noticeably arched at being called by his full name and his right eye maybe twitched a little. He hated that name. Hil liked to think he generally didn’t anger easily but being referred to as ‘Hilbert’ a few times in the same day was a surefire way to rev him up. His father had always asked him why he hated it so much and every time the response was the same. “It’s the name of an old man,” he would whine. “Like, Hilda in school says her great, great uncle is named Hilbert. Then they all jokingly call me ‘Bert.’ It’s awful!” Then his father would laugh and tell him not to mind what other people thought. Ironic, Hil thought bitterly, but he took a deep breath and banished those thoughts, relaxed his shoulders. No need to get angry at her, she probably doesn’t know. Seems Mom didn’t tell her, Hil talked himself down.

“We’re always happy to expand the number of trainers out in Unova!” Professor Juniper was bubbling as she led them through the lab. Hil noted the sterile white walls and pale blue tiling that made up the floor. Translucent glass walls divided up the laboratory and computers lined the walls. Various people in buttoned-up labcoats brushed past and wandered about the lab floor. A few stopped to notice the young trainers and waved encouragingly at them but couldn’t stop to talk due to their work. “I was ecstatic when your mothers said you were all ready to head out,” the professor continued.

“I’ve been ready!” Bianca proudly boasted, puffing out her chest a little despite the Oshawott still clinging to her. “No matter what they say!”

“I’d been asking for years,” Cheren added. “Though, the extra years of school didn’t hurt.”

Hil had also eagerly asked for years, ever since he was ten, to head out on a journey around Unova. At the time, he had just been excited like any other kid to see the big world outside the three towns he had been to thus far. His parents had both adamantly refused. His father insisted he needed the extra schooling to better understand the world. His mother fretted about the idea of letting her son wander the region alone at such a young age, especially with news coverage of a group known as ‘Team Plasma’ picking up over the years. Hil hadn’t paid much mind to her panicking over them. All he knew was that they had gone around to most of the major cities in Unova and pled for people to consider their ideology of ‘liberating’ pokémon. Whatever lunacy drew them to the conclusion pokémon needed liberating… he had no idea.

He kind of wished that was still the reason he wanted to go out. It had been a painful conversation to have with his mother when she had insisted he go traveling Unova when just a few months earlier, when he first turned fourteen, she had still been against it. The complete turnaround on her position was yet another strange attempt at hers of trying to ‘reach him.’ Maybe his contempt for her attempts was a little undeserved and she was just genuinely trying, but he just wished she’d stop. Her efforts made it feel like they’d never get past it. “I’m really excited to get out there, too,” he said a little louder than he intended to, in a bid to shut the thoughts up. He knew better than to linger on those thoughts, he chided himself silently.

“Well, I’m glad! My only condition of course is that you take a pokédex and let it scan as many pokémon as possible!” Professor Juniper continued to explain. She paused in front of a desk stuffed in the far corner of the lab that had a laptop with enough cords running out of its rear to make it a fire hazard, Hil was pretty sure. He raised a brow at it as she flipped open the lid and the laptop’s fans gave a beleaguered hiss as they whirred to life. She typed something rapidly as she spoke to them again. “All you have to do is hold it up at a pokémon, whether they’re wild or not, and it’ll take in as much as it can. Of course, if you catch them, it can scan the Poké Ball and tell you—and us—way more! But even just scanning and meeting pokémon is fine.” She smiled up at them warmly.

“I want to meet as many pokémon as I can, fill out as much as I can!” Bianca nodded vigorously.

“I have to admit, I’ll probably only catch pokémon I think I will actually train,” Cheren said slowly, “I just… don’t like the idea of having a bunch in Poké Balls all the time, and I’d rather focus on just a few at a time.”

Hil just shrugged. He had no idea what he was going to do yet.

“Of course!” she said. She then abruptly stood upright and clapped her hands together. “Dear me, I almost forgot, how could I! How are you all getting along with your new partners, anyway?” she asked sweetly. Her eyes locked onto Hil’s Snivy and she chuckled. “I’m going to guess well.”

Hil rubbed Snivy’s head and it trilled in agreement. “The noodle’s cute,” Hil answered dryly. And I already consider it a best friend, Hil almost added.

“Oh! Did you nickname it already?” Professor Juniper asked excitedly. “That’s great! Nicknames really bring people closer to their pokémon, you know!”

“Oh, I…” Hil blinked. He hadn’t quite deliberately decided on a nickname, he had just been jokingly calling Snivy ‘noodle’ because of its serpentine body. He decided explaining that wasn’t worth it due to how excited Professor Juniper seemed to be. He just swallowed and then nodded. “Yeah, Noodle. I think it’s funny.”

“That’s adorable!” Professor Juniper beamed. “He sure seems to enjoy it!”

Hil noted that his Snivy was male. He had thought it was but hadn’t had any desire to check and make sure. He decided he’d just take the professor’s word for it. He tilted his head some to look at Noodle, who was looking up at Professor Juniper lazily. “You cool with that, Noodle?” Hil asked teasingly. Noodle yawned and he snorted. “Guess that’s a yes.”

Cheren’s sigh caught Professor Juniper’s attention and she looked at him quizzically. “I assume you have Tepig, if they have Snivy and Oshawott. Is everything okay with it?” she asked, genuine concern in her voice. Cheren blinked at her and then nervously shook his head.

“Oh, no, Tepig’s great,” he nodded, “he’s just… very… hard-headed. I didn’t trust him not to wander off if I kept him out the Poké Ball.”

“Oh, whew! I was worried you got saddled with one you weren’t a fan of,” she breathed. She looked to Bianca then. “Oshawott seems to have really taken a shine to you! So cute! Have you thought of a nickname at all?”

Bianca stuttered like she had been put on the spot. “O-oh! No, not… really… I was thinking to wait until I got to know him better before I gave him a name,” she explained. Professor Juniper nodded approvingly.

“Okay, well, that’s enough of me rambling at you, I’m sure you’re raring to get out there!”

Hil honestly would have just loved to take a nap. Going to Striaton City and back really had drained him and he balked at the idea of traveling some more that day. Though, he supposed he could always stay at the Pokémon Center hostel in Accumula Town. It wasn’t like he had to go all the way back to Striaton City. Just far enough to not have to stay at home.

Professor Juniper whisked open a drawer from that desk and grabbed three red and black, rectangular devices. She handed one to them each and proudly crossed her arms after. Hil inspected his pokédex by flipping it around some, and then tapped on the screen. It lit up and a sleek menu appeared. He tapped on a button that read ‘Pokémon’ and it took him to a blank map of Unova. Alright, fair enough, he thought with a flicker of amusement. Haven’t exactly scanned anything yet.

“Thank you very much, Professor,” Cheren said as he slipped the pokédex away into a pocket of his bag. He then dipped his head at her respectfully.

“Me too! I mean, thank you too!” Bianca puffed in a harried voice.

Hil stuffed the pokédex into his jacket pocket. The idea of scrutinizing every one of Unova’s wildlife was a daunting thought but he supposed he could at least scan pokémon he happened to come across. “Yeah, that seems like it’ll be really helpful,” Hil tried to sound as genuine as he could.

She looked at them thoughtfully for a moment and then waved her hands at them. “Okay, okay, enough of me yammering at you. I’m sure you want to go. Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to go talk to your parents again real quick if you’re heading out right away, let them know!”

Cheren, Hil, and Bianca all nodded at her. “Of course,” they said in poor unison. Cheren thanked Professor Juniper again and then took the lead, strutting back toward the entrance of the lab. Bianca’s feet skidded from under her as she tried to catch some purchase on the smooth tiles and catch up to him. Hil rolled his eyes at her spastic display and followed, shooting Professor Juniper behind them one last glance. She waved at him and Hil awkwardly waved back. As he exited the lab with his friends, it finally dawned on him.

He was actually going to be leaving home, and he would be gone for a long time. No longer would he come home to the suffocating silence, prying questions, and depressing tales of his mother and father back on their own journey through Unova. Sure, he still had his Xtransceiver and his mother had his number, but… he could surely spin up some excuses to not answer… As the thoughts ran through his mind, he heard Cheren say they should go tell their parents some final goodbyes before heading off for Accumula.

“You guys go ahead, I already told Mom bye when we were there,” Hil said quickly. He gave an almost crazed grin at Cheren and Bianca. Noodle shifted from his position around Hil’s neck and reclaimed its throne atop his head. Hil, distracted momentarily, looked up at him and laughed. “I’m trying to be serious here,” Hil told him.

“You? Serious?” Cheren snorted and crossed his arms. “If you ever start acting serious, I’ll believe aliens exist, since they’ll have had to have abducted you and swapped your brain to make that happen.”

“Very elaborate insult and very weird flex, but okay,” Hil teased and stuck out his tongue.

Cheren just waved him away. “Okay, okay, go on ahead. Bianca and I will just say our goodbyes then.”

Hil winked after him. “You got it, Daddy, thanks.”

Cheren threw his head back. “Why, Hil?” Cheren groaned. “Just why?”

Bianca just laughed raucously as they started back down the road through Nuvema. “He called you ‘daddy!’” she practically squealed between gasps for breath. “He’s right, you do act like a dad!”

“I really don’t think that’s the joke he was making, Bianca,” Cheren muttered defeatedly.

[klaussstilinski]

Chapter 1

AN: Okay I'm so sorry for the long wait I've been dealing with some shit, but I'm here to deliver. Also sorry for the long chapter I got a bit carried away. Please comment, love, reblog the whole shebang and don’t forget to give me some feedback. I really hope you enjoy. With all the love and kisses here is chapter one! Didn’t proofread either it’s getting late and i still have to pack for a trip tomorrow, so forgive my errors!

Disclaimer: I DON’T OWN ANYTHING ABOUT THE SHOW, JUST MY CHARACTERS DAISY, JACKIE, AND MADELINE. Also, I did use some dialogue form the show and also switched some up!

Words: 2,700+ (Sorry once again)

Icing. Icing. Icing. I need more icing. Damn it. Glancing up at the clock it read 4:37. I was supposed to be gone by 4, Monse was finally back from writing camp and we were supposed to go shopping tonight. But instead I'm here crumb coating a wedding cake.  

“Jackie can you bring me the other tub?” Throwing the spatula down and wiping my hands on my yellow floral apron.

“Tub of?”

“TuB oF...” Rolling my eyes. “Tub of ICING Jackie, tub of icing. Preferably the royal please.” Huffing Jackie drops down into a squat on the other side of the kitchen and grabs a tub.

“Thank you!” Continuing the crumb coating I happen to doze off again and of course a special person comes to mind. Oscar. He’s back. They released him 4 months early, and of course the first thing he does is drag Cesar into the Santos. Which I guess is a good thing since that’ll keep him protected from the prophet$, and from me. Ever since I found out that he told everyone about him and Monse I've been out for his head. He knows to stay away from me and apparently Jamal and Ruby feel the same way. I’m worried about how Monse is going to handle everything when she finds out he blabbering.

“Okay, off you go to chill my little child.” I whisper carefully putting the cake into the fridge to set overnight. Glancing up at the clock it now reads 5:15. Walking over to the wall, closest to the entry way to the front of the bakery, I hang up my apron then start to clean up my mess.

Walking into the kitchen Jackie comes to help me with the dirty appliances and utensils. “So, I locked the front door, moped, counted the register, and took up what was left of the éclairs and macarons and put them into the purple box.”

“You are a life saver. Also, I'm sorry for being such a bitch earlier I'm...” Clenching my jaw and scrubbing a little harder at the poor bowl. “Just a little stressed right now.”

“I know...does it have anything to do with some of the Santos coming in and asking for you earlier?”

“Wait what?” Stopping and looking at her with wide eyes. “When did this happen?”

“Daisy...” Jackie said very slowly, as if she was talking to a child. “Wednesday they came in here and asked for you, I told you this remember?” Shaking my head, she continued. “Well they claimed they just wanted to check on you and when I asked for what they told me it was none of my business and then proceeded to sample, then buy might I add, some of my delicious Mississippi mud cupcakes!”  

“Huh it must’ve slipped my mind.” As I finished drying out the rest of the bowls, I remembered what she said. “They bought some of your cupcakes? What the hell this is big news, most people try to avoid your cupcakes-ow that hurt!” I exclaimed rubbing my arm.  

“People don’t avoid them they’re just cautious because they’ve never seen some that looked so exciting and enticing.” Hanging up her apron she grabbed our bags and my car keys. Grabbing them from her I lead us to the side door where I set the alarm and quickly rushed her out the door.

“You know many people think you spent your inheritance money to get this beauty.” Smiling I look at my new red 2018 Chevy cruze. Of course, I knew that people thought that, but only people that I wanted to know, knew the truth. I give Jackie rides to work every day since she lives on the route, I take every day. On the way home I decide to stop by Monse’s to see if she's home.

“If you’re looking for Monse you just missed her. She decided to walk to the orientation with the boys.” Dad said answering the door.  

“Maybe I came to see you.” Judgmental eyes followed me as I walked into the house I grew up in. “Fine I came to see Monse...how are you? When did you get back?”

“I’m doing, I got back Monday. Figured I could be home for Monse on her first day of high school.” He responded walking past me into the kitchen, “Want something to drink?”

“No, I'm fine, I actually have to get going. I’m taking Monse out to dinner tonight.”  

“Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“You know I love you, right?” Shocked I sharply turned my head towards him.

“I...I um should really get going.” I need to leave before he notices my bottom lip trembling.

“Okay I’ll call you before I leave again Daisy.”

Walking out the door I rush to the car and rush home to take a shower. He hasn’t told me that in years. Of course I love him, he’s my father but he hasn’t exactly been present in my life. The last time I saw him was for my 13th birthday right before I left to go live with mama. But I also don’t hold any kind of resentment towards him. Fresh out the shower I wrap a towel around my hair and body, and go on the hunt for my phone to call Monse.

“Finally, you decide to pick up. This is my second time calling you!”  

“Sorry I’m kind of in a situation with the crew. Can we, I don’t know, rain check for dinner tonight?”

“No!” I say stomping my foot. “I’ve had this planned ever since you first left. I want to spend time with my little sister. Leave the boys to figure whatever was going on out by themselves.”  

“Okay, okay fine. I’ll head home and get ready.” Sighing I reach for my tribal print top and black jeans.  

“Be ready in 30 minutes, love you.”

“Love you too.”  

Taking the towel off my head I turn to the mirror and gasp.

“Damn Daisy you need a trim.” Running my fingers through my hair I detangle it, then grab a little hair from the front, braid it and pin it around the side of my head, and proceeded to do the same to the other side. Next, I lather myself with lotion while my hair air dries, and then get ready. Twirling around in the mirror I admire myself, what a sight to behold.  

“Keys, wallet, phone, coat.” I check as I walk out the door. “Lock the door you fool!” Laughing I turnaround and run back to the door.  

“So how was camp?”  I ask Monse handing my menu back to the waiter.

“It was mildly life changing.” Smiling she reaches for her water.  

“I can see that.” Laughing as she blushes and looks away. “Monse you hit puberty there is nothing wrong with that. You’re just growing up...too fast.”  

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Monse questioned me.  

Turning my head and squinting my eyes I studied her. Her hair has grown just from the little bit of time she's been gone. Her braces are finally off, she’s more confident, outspoken.  

“It means you’re unapologetically you, Monse. You’ve experienced things no 14 year old should. You’re brutally honest, have no filter, headstrong, determined, and much, much more. You only had dad growing up and I know how hard that was and is for you.” Reaching across the table she grabs my hand. “I wish I would’ve been there more for you. But I promise to you Monse, I will be here from now on. Anytime you need to call me or just need me, I'll be here.”

“I know.” Smiling she looked me in my eyes, “I love you too!” Dinner went on to be high-spirited and energetic. On the way back home, she decides to call Ruby and Jamal and from there all hell breaks loose.

“So, what exactly was the context when Cesar said Monse let him “hit it”?”  

“He didn’t say he “hit it” he said he “smashed, really hard”.” Ruby replied. “But who cares about context.

“I care!” Glancing over at Monse I notice a vein about to pop on her forehead.

“Dude you can't keep one secret.”

“Dude she was blackmailing me, so I had to give!” Jamal whimpered.

“Why is he whispering?” A confused stare was thrown my way. “Ruby!” I clarified.

“Ruby, where are you?”

“Hell. Look I'm dealing with some b.s. of my own right now, so we will deal with this another time.”  

“He hung up on me.” Monse gasped. “Well I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow then.” Getting out of the car she practically ran into the house. Last thing I noticed as I pulled off was dad’s truck was gone. So much for staying until her first day of high school, huh? As I pull into my driveway, I finally let my body relax and realized just how tired I truly was! My bed and a glass or 2 of wine was calling my name.

“You’re late!” Madeline yells as I come running through the door the next morning. I overslept by 30 minutes.

“I know I'm sorry, I forgot to set my alarm. I don’t usually work on Saturdays so it just caught me off guard.” Putting my things in the cubbies I put my hair up, wash my hands, and put on my apron. Walking over to the fridge I take the cake out and get back to work. Putting on the last layer of icing and putting it away to set in the fridge again.

“What do you want me to fix now?”  

“Um at this point you can fix anything you want to fix Daisy. It’s Saturday, plus everyone loves your treats.” Side eyeing Jackie she giggles.

“I heard that!” Jackie laughs. “Just fix your famous, to-die-for crepe cake!” Nodding I walk away head for the pantry. I haven't fixed that in a few months. Butter, flour, milk, eggs, sugar, and food coloring. As I set the ingredients down, I notice a purple box sitting to the side. I forgot the sweets last night. Those were for the crew, groaning I snatch the box up and walk over to the cubbies and set it on top of my sweater. Okay now focus Daisy it’s time to get your crepe cake assembled. Ha assembled...avengers assemble.  

3 O’clock. I dance around the kitchen putting things away and singing knowing that I was off the next few days.

“Before you go literally bouncing your butt out the door, I wanna ask you something?” Turning around still dancing I wave my hand in a way to tell her to ask away.

“Have you been dealing with the Santos again?” Freezing I look at Madeline to see that she's gone all serious on me.

“Do you honestly thing I'm that dumb?” She goes to answer. “Never mind don’t answer that, no I haven't. If you’re wondering about earlier this week, I don’t know why they came by here. My only guess is that Spooky sent them out to check up on me.” I answer honestly.

“I thought you haven't talked to him.”

“I haven't, I've been avoiding him like the plague. He’s always been like that. Years ago, when I was still here, he would send a few homies over to check on me, but that was when we were...you know.” Waving my hands around. “Trust me I plan to steer clear of him as long as I can!”

“I believe you, just wanted to know if you knew about them coming up in here.” Sighing she continues. “Alright get your stuff and go my angel, you’ve done enough today. Stay safe love you.” She kisses my cheek and quickly shoos me out the door. Walking to my car my phone bings with a message alert. Unlocking the car I put my belongings in the back seat and peel out of Southern Belle’s Bakery parking lot.

‘Meet us at Cesar's someone’s gonna die!!! -Jamal’

Racing to Cesar’s I manage to dodge a police officer, dog and a few pedestrians. The only thing I can think of is if the kids are safe. Coming to a skidding stop I jump out and run towards the commotion that’s going on in the front yard.

“I had your back, and for what? For you to impress your puto friends and humiliate me?” I hear and see Monse throwing punches, to who I can safely assume Is Cesar, as I push my way through the crowd.  

“Hermanito you better back up before you get smacked up.” Oscar calmly says.

“Monse!” I shout causing most of the people around me stop and all look at me. “Stop!” As I'm pulling Monse off Cesar I see Ruby and Jamal making their way through and back up to let them get her.

“It’s not worth it Monse.” Ruby utters pulling her away as the Santos start to bark.

“Shut the hell up.” I say as I turn around to face Oscar. He slowly puts the cigarette out and walks up to me. Staring him in the eyes he takes one good look at me and smirks. HE. FUCKING. SMIRKS.

“Long time no see Daisy.”  

“I tried to keep it that way, if only it would’ve been forever.” The homies laugh and now it’s my turn to smirk. He looks over his shoulder and gets quite once again.

“Don’t try that, you know how that end.” He whispers.

“Tell your boys to stay away from me and my friends and this will quickly end.” Shaking his head, he looks down. “Stay away from me Oscar, I want nothing to do with you!”

“You weren’t always saying that.” Laughs could be heard again. Stepping from in front of Spooky, I popped out my hip and crossed my arms. Ah quite. “I see you can still control my boys.”

Whipping around I turn to Spooky again. “That was then this is now! I mean it stay away.” Walking towards Monse I come to the realization that she’s been talking shit to Ruby and Jamal.

“Get in the car Monse, now!” Butting in her rant as I walk past her. As I’m about to step off the sidewalk I hear his voice.

“Still looking good as ever Sinclaire!” Giving him the finger, I get in the car and drive Monse home with the music turned all the way down. Looking over I see her playing with my tassel hanging from the rear view mirror.

“You know you’re going to regret telling them whatever you said back there, right?”

“I already do, I was just heated and they kept pissing me off. Do you think they’ll forgive me?” Monse sighed throwing herself pack into the seat.  

“Of course they will. Y’all have been together since elementary school, you can get through anything. Just apologize and boom, magic, best friends all over again.” I tsked, “But Cesar, I really think you should take some time to contemplate about that one. That’s some serious shit he’s been talking about.”

“I know, thank you for not saying anything to dad.”

“Hey I told you, your secret is safe with me,” Unbuckling herself she reaches for the door handle. “Make sure to lock the doors and windows, I don’t want any creeps getting in!”

“Okay dad!” Laughing as she steps out of the car. “And um good luck with the whole Oscar situation.”

“What?” Looking at her with wide eyes as I hold my neck. Damn whiplash.

“I heard what he said and how he looked at you, just promise me you'll be safe.”  

“Scouts honor!” I saluted, she saluted back then closed my door. I pull off once she's inside the house and slowly think about how my life had changed over the last 24 hours. I go from celebrating Monse’s welcome home, to messing up on the first crepe cake, but then having it be a success, getting off early, getting the news that I get a few days off for myself, getting a weird message which was a bit much, leave it to Jamal, to running into Oscar. Honestly can my day get any worse? I definitely need a hot bubble bath tonight. As I'm pulling to the driveway, too much deja vu lately, I can't help but to feel like I'm forgetting something. Pulling open the back door I almost slam it back shut out of pure anger.

“I forgot about the damn éclairs and macarons again!”

Tag: @izraahh1 @shesbriaanayy @aka-eb @mbaku-babygirl @yxseminx

[hoidthevoid]

i grew up in an insanely homophobic place and i read cosmere recently but heard about mistborn years ago the reason i stayed away was the statements brandon made but recently i read that he later changed what he said(?) so i read mistborn i love it and im def gonna read the rest but im old and jaded and cant shake the feeling that he might have done this just because of the backlash??? it doesnt really matter either way but idk it bothers me i guess???(feel free to ignore this)

i totally get where you’re coming from. it seemed like a pretty swift turnaround, and thinking or knowing somebody’s adding queer rep out begrudgingly or for sales or whatever doesn’t inspire great feelings. i think that would be my main issue, in this situation–if he was adding queer characters because he felt like he had to. I don’t think he is, and I’ll explain why, but I absolutely understand if it feels that way. (minor spoilers for Mistborn Era 2 and Oathbringer below.)

the statement that you’re referring to was and is steeped in a bunch of Mormon context. as I understand it, Brandon responded to a question a few years ago on Twitter that he believed that marriage should be between a man and a woman; however, his responses and attitude as of late seem to indicate a more accepting and open mindset. his current position appears to be that queer people deserve rights and aren’t inherently sinful, but he acknowledges that the LDS faith currently doesn’t allow anybody besides straight cis people marrying someone of the opposite binary gender to get married in the temple. I haven’t seen a direct quote where he says as much. I don’t know if he believes that that should change, or if he’s totally cool with whatever the Church says about it, or how much of that has changed from the original statement. the first and second are opinions he hasn’t expressed a viewpoint on, and the last is basically a semantics argument without direct and personal context and confirmation, and i don’t know the guy personally. all we have to go on here is actions and more recent question responses, so keep that in mind.

based solely on that, then, my personal take on the matter is that he probably did change his stance on queer rep because of the backlash–but not necessarily just to save face. backlash is, at its core, feedback, and I think he took the opportunity to learn from it and evaluate his own stance and belief. he doesn’t really seem like the wishy-washy type, as far as backlash is concerned, and goodness knows that he probably got backlash for the inclusion of queer characters as well. sure, none of his main characters are explicitly LGBT+ (I’m not counting Shallan from the Stormlight Archive only because she was peripherally confirmed bi, as sort of an afterthought, and never acknowledges her attraction to women as attraction), but I’d hope that that’s mainly because he’s trying to take it slow and be respectful and learn about how to portray a viewpoint LGBT+ character well. I think he approached portraying autistic characters in a similar fashion–he started with Adien (Elantris, background character), learned from that, wrote Steris (Mistborn Era 2, main cast, but doesn’t have a viewpoint chapter) and Renarin (Stormlight Archive, also main cast, didn’t have a viewpoint chapter), and has just recently written and released a viewpoint chapter from Renarin’s perspective in Oathbringer. on top of that, his current LGBT+ characters have been treated well (Wayne respects Ranette’s relationship with Misra in Mistborn Era 2, Drehy and Dru’s relationship in Oathbringer is legal and only ever questioned because of the extreme gender role disparity in Alethi society, and we haven’t seen homophobia for homophobia’s sake) and are relatively center stage, even if not viewpoint characters. Brandon’s proved himself quite thoughtful in his portrayal of people he might not directly relate to, especially in terms of neurodivergency and gender, and it seems like he’s been taking the same care with his LGBT+ characters so far, which I think is a good sign that he isn’t doing this just because. I’ve also heard that he’s expressed interest in including a trans character, and that there’s a character who is asexual. even though he hasn’t said who, and he hasn’t (yet) included more than one person from each letter of the acronym, I like to think that the inclusion of an asexual character indicates commitment to representation, since asexuality isn’t often included at all, much less as trite appeasement. 

it’s still completely reasonable to be wary of the situation. i really, really hope he’s a better person than that, and the evidence i’m picking up on seems to indicate genuine thought being put into these characters beyond just shoving in some minor characters to appease the masses. I’d obviously love to have more rep in general, as well as more of each existing represented group, but I’m hopeful that it’s a good start.

[mothisms]

Moth’s crash course for excellent character reference pictures

Or: how to get the artist you commission to absolutely LOVE you

morning/afternoon/evening, friends! Moth here with my baby boy Q’rinha (or Rin, as i like to call him) here with some tips and tricks on how to get some baller reference shots of your character that will make your, and the artists’ you’re commissioning, lives A LOT easier.

one thing i noticed from all the times i’ve been commissioned, as well as some instances of buddies of mine being commissioned, is that the occasional person commissioning us tends to be a bit... lacking when it comes to reference shots. they’re either too low-res or they just show multiple shots of the same angle. the latter isn’t bad, per se, but there tends to be instances where, while there ARE awesome shots of one angle, there are other angles that are unfortunately not as great. asking for more references is normally not an issue, but there are some people (like yours truly ahaha ;;) who are a bit apprehensive of asking for more because we don’t like confrontation and have had experiences where folks were a bit... abrasive.

so that’s why i’m here! i’ve provided many a reference for my girlfriend, who says i’m an artist’s dream come true when it comes to references (idk if she’s actually just gushing with rose colored glasses or if she’s being legitimate). i have no idea how this applies to other artists, as i’ve.. never really commissioned them, but as an artist myself, i know i absolutely need as many references as possible to get every single nitty-gritty detail on these disasters SE likes to call “fashion”. so here we go: Moth’s tips and tricks on how to get amazing reference shots using our good friend: Group Pose!

DISCLAIMER: this is not a proper “how-to”, but more a collection of tips and tricks that i have found helped me as well as other artists get the most out of the fine details in SE’s outfits. feel free to utilize as many or little of these tips as possible.

also, there are A LOT of pictures. folks with slower internet connections, you’ve been warned.

The Basics

if i had to work with an absolute minimum for reference pictures, i would probably work best with eight screenshots minimum.

wait... only eight?!

yes, eight, but bear with me! Group Pose/GPose (or Final Instagram, as i like to affectionately call it) comes with an amazing variety of tools that can help get just the right angles needed at the best resolution possible!

consider the fact that the average monitor resolution these days is 1920x1080, and depending on whether you play the game in Windowed (like me), Borderless Windowed, or Fullscreen, the resolution of your screenshots could end up a little less than that. now granted, when you first boot up GPose and try to get as close to your character as possible, you end up with something along the lines of this (with a bonus photobomb by MAPEL the mammet):

that’s... okay, but it doesn’t help me as an artist see all of the tiny details that’s on the outfit. The seams are hard to see, and the details on the buttons and clasps are pretty much nothing but little blurs. it makes the artist play a guessing game we really don’t want to play. this is when you start utilizing our good friend, the Camera Position section.

the camera position has two meters: Zoom (top) and Rotation (bottom). i personally adore the Rotation meter and abuse it to bits when it comes to coming up with dynamic screenshots, but it’s also a good friend when it comes to references! see, if you set the rotation to either 50 or 150, the character becomes virtually horizontal. and then if you put the zoom at max and make a few careful adjustments...

that looks much better!! all the seams are visible to the naked eye, and the details on the clasps and buttons are more visible. if you go into your FFXIV screenshots folder and rotate the picture left (if you did 50) or right (if you did 150), you basically now have a reference picture that’s almost 2000 pixels high! WILD!!

so back to why i could work with eight screenshots minimum: following this technique, if you take screenshots in both the cardinal and intermediate directions, you end up with eight screenshots of a complete turnaround of your character in hi-res! it lets the artist see the finite details of an outfit in multiple angles without sacrificing a different angle that’s hard to see.

so now that we have that out the way, let’s move onto...

The Background

“wait... why would the background matter in reference pictures?”

oh, it matters. when it comes to reference pictures, the focus must be on the character. having a background that’s too busy could cause eye strain, and it could also cause confusion when the artist is trying to make out finer details.

here’s an example of a busy background. hurts to look at, right? with all of the trees and the colors in the background, it makes it hard to focus on the character when trying to make out details -- imagine trying to stare at this for several hours on end. it’d make me want to close SAI almost immediately.

as a suggestion for a background, i would suggest areas with a lot of neutral, duller colors. try to choose an area that has colors that are not prevalent on your character’s attire, as well. this will make your character the primary focus of the picture while also keeping eye strain to a minimum, which is good for the artist as they’re already working on something that causes a lot of eye strain.

some open-world areas i’ve found are ideal for getting reference pictures are:

The Goblet

Coerthas (Central and Western Highlands)

Ishgard

The Churning Mists

the rocky areas of The Fringes

The Lochs (anywhere outside of the Ala Mhigan Quarter)

The Ruby Sea

Azim Steppe

granted, this is not a complete list, nor is it an absolute must to follow. there are loads of places in the other maps that are full of areas ideal for reference screenshots, and a bit of finagling can make even the most detailed backgrounds easier to look at. consider this as a starter kit for when you do decide to take pictures, but don’t know where.

bonus: if you have a room in a FC house that’s not as busy, those work as well. in fact, a completely empty room is the absolute best and can work to your advantage!

The Lighting

A GPoser’s worst nightmare is working with lighting, and that’s also an issue with artists as well. thankfully, SE recently released an option that will let you freeze the time and weather, but that only goes so far. oftentimes, there will be a shadow that will obscure a detail an artist needs, and we’re found to be putting in extra work just to make sure we get it right.

hence i would suggest working with lighting that’s as neutral as possible. ironically, cloudy or foggy days are what i find works best, as the lighting is neither warm nor cool, and you don’t have to worry about the glare of the sun causing unnecessary shadows.

“okay, i think i’m set and ready to... wait. it’s night time! SHIT!!”

never fear! that’s why we have the Lighting Settings in GPose!

not a lot of people have completely mastered how this section works-- hell, i’m one of those people. however, utilizing all three of these lights can work in our favor! see, if you have your camera set at a specific angle and turn on a light, the light will be pinpointed at the area the camera was in. with this knowledge in mind, we can set the lights at three key locations that will get the maximum amount of lighting with the minimum amount of shadows.

these are about accurate for the angles/distances i put the lights on and the settings i have ‘em on. the default settings are usually too yellow for my tastes, i find, so i usually bump the blue up a notch so that it cancels out the yellow and looks more neutral. with everything like this, it gives me a clear view of everything on an outfit without any intense glare or dark shadows.

this can also work during the day since lighting is usually strong on one side; just turn a light on the shadowed side and boom!

Go the Extra Malm

say you want to go from being an artist’s friend to an artist’s BEST friend. while the eight angles are a good starting point, and even with all the tips utilized here, there will still be details that are obscured by clothes or limbs. while the above tips are good for a basic commission, these will be ESPECIALLY useful if you’re looking for more dynamic artwork.

Getting the Nitty-Gritties.

say your outfit has a lot of pouches or details on their waist, like what you see above. and you can’t see those details because of the limbs being in the way. if that’s the case, you should consider having your character do a pose that has their arms in the air, and freezing the position in GPose. for example, here i have my miqo’te boy doing the /cheer emote. emotes that work for this on most races are:

/cheer

/rally

/hug (or /embrace)

/deny

/stretch

/facepalm

/huh

/congratulate

these are emotes that have most, if not all, races and genders with their hands in the air. this gives you opportunity to take some excellent screenshots with the limbs not in the way.

The Proper State of Undress

say you want a commission of your character partially undressed, or you’re so into providing the most detail possible that you want to get shots of your characters clothes underneath that dope AF coat. in that case, don’t skimp out! try to take reference pictures of the clothes underneath as well. for example, say i have references of my other baby boy Yoseff wearing the Red Mage AF gear; but i know that outfit is chock full of detail, even in the trousers. in that case, i either remove the top completely or have him wear a top that’s as inconspicuous as possible in order for me to get the most detail possible when taking screenshots.

What About Weapons?

say you want a picture of your character doing an AWESOME picture of them in combat with their favorite weapon. usually for flat weapons like swords and axes, one or two screenshots of a full view of a weapon is usually enough. finagle with the angling enough so that every last bit of the weapon takes up the screenshot, and you’re golden. however, if the weapon comes with additions (such as the guard on the Murgleis), then additional screenshots will be needed in order to get clear views of those details as well. just like above, don’t skimp out! also, try to take pictures of the weapon unsheathed!

for swords and axes, the following will work:

a full view of the weapon

the blade of the weapon

the grip/shaft of the weapon

the pommel (if it’s not immediately view-able on the shaft)

for bows, the following works:

a full view of the bow

the top half of the bow

the bottom half of the bow (if the top half is not symmetrical)

the quiver on the back

for staffs and anything else, take pictures of the following:

a full view of the weapon

four screenshots (front, back, both flanks) of the top/area with the most details

the shaft (if applicable)

full view of any additional details the weapons come with (MCH’s aetherotransformer or the RDM’s floating focus, for example)

a full view is ALWAYS recommended as it gives artists an idea of how the weapon’s size compares to the model.

Don’t Forget That Well-Trimmed Hair

one thing that i also like to do but is wholly optional is provide an additional eight screenshots of the head. there are usually smaller details that are missed from the full-view that can only be seen more up close, such as freckles and jewelry. i like to do a complete 360 of the head for a good view of how the hair falls, but for the absolute minimum, about four or five shots of a turnaround of the head will do.

if your character wears hats, take pictures of the hat on and off! not only do hats mess with the hair, but the additional screenshots will give the artist a clear view of the character’s face. this is especially useful if the hat your character is wearing obscures any part of the face, which could result in potentially missed details.

of course, this is only necessary if your character doesn’t intentionally hide their face. additional screenshots of your character’s bare face isn’t needed if they intentionally obscure their face with a mask or helmet.

...And that’s about it!

i hope this guide helped you all out with figuring out what is needed for some amazing references! as i stated in the disclaimer, none of this is intended to be an iron-clad rule. rather, these are meant to be suggestions to help make your life and your artist’s life a lot easier. these have helped me, they’ve helped my artist friends, and i am sure they will help you.

if you have any questions, or if there’s anything you think i missed, don’t be afraid to shoot me an ask! my ask box is always open.

happy snapping!

~Moth

[cococrazies]

Lovestruck Series Review: Starship Promise (Season 1)

Personal playing order: Orion - Jaxon - Antares - Nova - Atlas

Warning! Minor spoilers ahead for Antares’s/Nova’s/Atlas’s routes, as well as CGs under the cut.

Orion: I’m torn on this one. I really enjoyed the story -- a lot more than I thought I would, given my lack of enthusiasm for the series concept -- and Orion himself. (If anyone ever wanted Shang from Mulan but in outer space, this is it.) The writing also had a very natural cadence and flow; it pulled me in easily, never getting too heavy-handed with sudden plot twists and cliffhangers... except for one instance, but more on that below.

And the MC! She was a pleasant surprise. I hadn’t been too impressed by her in the first-ep sneak peeks we get in each route, but she’s really cute -- she can be a bit of a space cadet at times (sorry, bad pun intended), but she isn’t dumb. Furthermore, she really develops over the course of the route, which is impressive given everything else stuffed into these mere 12 episodes.

So now to the things I didn’t like about this route: for one, the romantic development. It seemed really sudden and almost shoehorned-in as a result of the route length, which was jarring given how well-paced everything else had been up to that point. 

Also, the Antares plot twist; it felt cliché and gimmicky, especially since I could see it coming from a mile away. I think I would’ve preferred for it to be a Season 2 reveal, or at least presented to us right from the start -- as it was, it just seemed like it was there for the “shock factor” + to forcibly give us a reason to care about the antagonist if we didn’t already. But since this was a pilot season, I guess I can understand how they wanted to tease at an intriguing backstory as early as possible to get players invested.

Overall, they still did succeed with the latter, because now I’m pretty curious about where they’re going with this. And also because I need more Orion/MC in my life; rushed or not, those two are simply way too cute.

Jaxon: Whoa, this story was jam-packed with action scenes and chemistry between the OTP. The pace is hella fast, but you never get the sense that we’re skipping past important details; the writing makes the most of every episode it has got. Not a single scene is wasted or filler-like.

Jaxon himself is a bit of a harder sell. His gargantuan ego, jokester personality, and YOLO take on everything make him one of those characters that you either love or hate -- although for me, he fell somewhere near the middle of the spectrum. I like his concept and find him a refreshing addition to Lovestruck’s character lineup, but he’s not really my type as far as romance goes; and sometimes he toes the line for being near annoying.

(The fact that I constantly seemed to make the wrong choices -- at least judging by the sheer amount of weird looks or lukewarm responses he gave me after 90% of my choices -- didn’t help. Heads-up: don’t try to play it cool. This MC really, really can’t do cool. I had several near-death experiences from sheer secondhand embarrassment while playing this route.)

That aside, he makes a surprisingly good team with MC. Except from some cringey non-heart options (which were brutal this route, by the way), they naturally eased into working as a combo. I like how they both are able to pull each other out of their respective emotional ruts, as well as complement the other’s shortcomings. Jaxon’s character turnaround near the end felt a little sudden, but I like the teased insight on his past, and am looking forward to learn more about it.

Antares: Oh, MC. Trust me, I of all people totally understand crushing on the hot, mysterious, and possibly noble anti-hero holding you captive for unknown reasons, but even so. Being constantly unable to focus on anything but your attration to him -- and using it as a basis for your foundation to trust him almost straight away despite how he works for the Big Bad, and is literally using you as a tool(-fixer) for whatever evil purposes the Empire has in mind for the galaxy -- is like a whole new level of uncool.

(Also, how is a sheltered colony girl’s reaction to seeing a military leader telling his troops not to leave a single ship standing “swoon, he’s so charismatic” instead of “holy shit, he kills people”? Priorities, MC.)

Beyond that, Antares’s route was very intriguing to me. Out of Lovestruck’s villain routes so far this is the one that has done the least to paint the love interest as less of an antagonist, or the side he sympathizes with as more morally grey. I also appreciated seeing another side of Antares himself that actually knows the definition of the word chill  isn’t perpetually dressed in bunny-ear mecha armor  that’s not completely absorbed by his thirst for vengeance against his brother.

Similar to Orion’s route, the romantic development also dropped on us out of the blue here... but strangely, I didn’t mind. In a way, it seemed to make sense for Antares’s emotionally dysfunctional personality (to the point that it gave me Chance S1 in GiL flashbacks). I think I almost preferred this to him doing a sudden 180 and going all mushy on MC when any potential romantic build-up outside of premium choices has been minimal. I’m holding my thumbs now for a gradual turnaround -- much like Chance got -- in his future seasons.

Nova: I keep going back and forth re: how I feel about this route. To again start with the positive -- I’d been worried that Nova would be a Space Medusa 2.0, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that she wasn’t. For all the kuu in her kuudere demeanor, Nova still spends a fair amount of the route bonding with MC through actual conversation, and unlike Orion’s/Antares’s routes this season the romance didn’t even seem that rushed. Furthermore, I was intrigued by Nova’s backstory (not to mention that she’s hot as hell).

But to be entirely honest, this story is also the most formulaic, “typical otome”-esque route I’ve read so far in Lovestruck -- not so much in concept as in execution. It reminds me of one of those Voltage JP fantasy routes where we spend the first 1/3 of the route with semi-slice-of-life scenes interspersed with action, the middle 1/3 of this route discovering the LI’s angsty past and them distancing themselves to protect MC, and the final 1/3 with MC dissolving into hysterics/apocalyptic depression, stupidly running after LI alone, and declaring their undying love for them after having known them for a couple of days in the middle of a life-or-death situation.

Since I do play Voltage JP games I’m not saying it’s necessarily a terrible thing, just... jarring. I might seem like I’m awfully hard on Lovestruck’s writing a lot of the time, but that’s because I have high expectations of it. In a sea of near-identical mobile otome clones Lovestruck stands out with a more Westernized and creative take on standard otome tropes, hence often avoiding common pitfalls associated with the genre. The writing in general is a cut above what I expect from mobile games as well, hence all my criticisms; I don’t balk (as much) at LIs doing sudden 180s or MCs being stupid in a Solmare game, but I do with Lovestruck because I know -- and have seen firsthand -- that they can do better.

So this route was confusing to me. Because, if I were to go for my usual standard from what I would expect run-of-the-mill Voltage JP route, for example, or a Shall We Date? one -- then I’d think it’s fine. Or even good. But for Lovestruck? I don’t know. I wouldn’t say it’s bad, just not... good. (The GiL-esque Pokémon-battle narration for action scenes -- yes, this is my official pet peeve now -- didn’t help.)

With all that said though, I didn’t dislike Nova’s route. (Hence the confusion.) And definitely not Nova herself. I just don’t really know how I feel about its writing direction, and how it measures against my expectations of a Lovestruck route.

Atlas: I fell head over heels for this route. Seriously, this was Astraeus-in-season-3-of-AFK level instant love, except without the devastating angst and with a decent helping of fluffy feels on top. Not that it was all fluff -- we had our share of prospective angst here too, if less literally earth-shattering. And hell of a lot of action, character development, and tons of other goodies tightly stuffed in a 12-episode-package of awesome.

Similar to my review for Astraeus, I don’t even know where to begin talking about this route’s good points. The prose, for one -- there were just so many beautifully worded narrative transitions, and the dialogue didn’t lose out in that aspect, either. The sass, sarcasm, and the humor were well-timed, but didn’t go overboard/seem out of character for MC or the rest of the cast.

Then there’s Atlas himself. Breaking down tsunderes is one of my favorite otome pastimes, and doing exactly that to our resident grouchy pilot was no different. First of all, I love that he maintains a healthy balance between insults that are obviously all bark and no bite, and genuinely worded criticism that should logically be voiced. In fact, there’s so little unnecessary tsun here that he could almost pass for a kuudere. 

Regardless of whatever mold he’d better fit into, finally crumbling down that cranky demeanor of his and seeing him dere was a sweet, sweet reward. (I actually caved and went premium twice despite my agonizing wallet because I couldn’t resist seeing more of it.)

Or heck, even the platonic moments building up to that were great. Because the romance with Atlas was really well-paced; I love how we went from almost-hate (my favorite trope!) to begrudging respect, then to friendly equals/teammates, and finally something more -- all the while there was obvious chemistry between him and MC interlacing every interaction. I was kind of worried whether we’d get some last-minute romantic confession slapped on near the end, but thankfully we got a development that, for all its unrealistic corniness, still had me squealing. Especially with that cliffhanger; dammit, how am I even supposed to emotionally last until I get to his second season?

The main plot was really interesting, too -- probably my favorite premise out of the ones we’ve been offered so far. Even though it starts out similarly with MC on the run, I like how 1) we see the Union as evil right from the bat, avoiding having another MC-gets-out-of-her-naïve-colony-girl-mindset mini-arc; 2) rather than being perpetrated for some valuable information/artifact that the Starship crew might benefit from, MC is in a situation where they actually have no reason to keep her around, adding more tension to the intro; and 3) how all of this tied into Atlas’s own personal character arc. (Not that I minded how the other premises played out, it just made for a fresh change of pace.)

To wrap this gigantic word-vomit ramble up, I’d just like to conclude by gushing one last time how fantastic this route is -- I’d warmly recommend it to anyone interested in giving Starship a chance, because after this, the series personally had me hook, line, and sinker.

Final character ranking: Atlas > Orion > Jaxon > Antares > Nova

....This got a little longer than I intended it to be, oops. Kudos to anyone who has made it to the end of this season review. (I’ll try to be a little more concise in my next one, i.e. GiL S7.)  You can follow my tag #coco reviews lovestruck for more reviews of Lovestruck games, or check out the ones I’ve done so far on this list.

[ophiniaonistecua]

((wowa))

Liz shook her head. The sight of them just reminded her of the less flattering things that used to be said in her older company. The blend of tight bodysuits and supplement tabbards, tunics and kimonos felt hilariously out of date and just inspired a sense of disconnect. It worked with T-Rex, since he had enough bulk to make it talk, but on a set of smaller dinosaurs it just looked like a punchline.

Made it seem like someone took the name too seriously.

Something she, for a fact, wasn’t true. Only after a few good laughs did she remember this team was mostly fresh blood, in a low problem area. The kind that apparently could afford this. 

One could’ve easily assumed she misjudged a set of costumed visitors for the permanent residents, were it not that she had a sharp wit and still remembered the terribly overdone photos hanging from the fridge a floor below her.

“Cut my tail off, T-Rex, it’s like you’re running a daycare.” She snickered, elbow on the railing as she peered down at them. Memories of watching up at people on catwalks dawned to her mind, and it was indeed nicer on the other end of it.

“At least I didn’t need a daycare to bail me out of jail!” The furious, bright orange one cried out. The name might’ve been an indication, as such a slick and swift turnaround confused Liz to no end. 

“Y’ouch.” Liz smirked and shook her head. ‘Credit where credit is due’ her thoughts echoed.

“I’d be interested in meeting the man who has to run a daycare and attends parole hearings.” T-Rex waved his hand, urging the smirking lady to descend from her elevated position. The small smile on his cheek approved that she’d stopped wearing her previous, somewhat less intelligent, attire.

“So, Terry and Lilly?” The yellow scaled lady asked, sliding down the spiral staircase in a posh display of balance.

“Lucy.” The firm, dark orange figure corrected. Well, dark orange doesn’t quite tell the story. It was brown, reddish. A strong, firm color not expected on someone who carried themselves with such lithe elegance.

“You wanna know ironic.” The bright one said, a finger raised. “Apparently, despite everyone telling me ‘your parents must’ve thought real hard on that’... I am, within quite the bit of certainty, the only pterodactyl named that way.” 

Liz grimaced. Either his tongue crossed the barrier of time to sow sharp remarks, or Ockham’s razor just flew across the room. “Well I know a Terry. Terry the Terror. Throws anything smaller than a van out the window.”

“Miss Liz.” A heavy hand paralyzed her. T-Rex didn’t skimp out on any muscle, even his fingers. “I’ll be checking out your little sheet, provided it’s all done? I assume that, since this isn’t a daycare, you three can say hello without needing me to do the introductions?” 

He didn’t wait for an answer. Soon, his heavy footfalls went up the stairs.

“So, Liz? Wasn’t it Elizabeth?”

“Just Liz.” Her sharp eyes replied.

"Gotcha.” He moved his lips around as they pressed together. “So what did you do before this?”

“Sit in a cell, attend seminars on how great it is not to be a criminal and see a psychiatrist who demeans me by claiming I’m not in control of myself. What about you?”

“Hm.” The male remained silent and rubbed his neck. “I guess I got bored of, you know. Some people just feel like getting out there.”

“As for me...” The sturdy female continued right after the pterodactyl finished. “I just thought I’d try and give back!” 

Liz waited for Lilly to provide a more extensive motivation. After some time, it became clear that was all she wrote. As someone with field experience, Liz was annoyed at the innocence and ignorance of these greenfooted chumps.

She adjusted slightly against the stairway railing, watching the other two as they unpacked the final few groceries and shared a candy bar. Right down the middle, with no space to spare. 

“I know you’re not interested in sharing with me, but doesn’t old T-Rex deserve a bite?” Her eyebrow scooted up as she posed her problem.

“Him? Nah, he’s alright. Besides that, I figured you were too cool for candy.” Terry replied, looking almost embarrassed he hadn’t considered it himself.

“There’s a reason stealing candy from a baby is the phrase.”

“Really?” The bulky stegosaurus bite off another chunk, and spoke with her mouth full. “I thought it was because.” She swallowed quickly, with expedience usually reserved for nutrient bars. “Babies didn’t have anything else to steal.”

“A wise observation, Lucy.” T-Rex walked back down. It was hard to hear him move around. Despite his size, he was silent as a mouse with every step. Just not as invisible as a mouse, being both large, green and not exactly dressed like a ninja. 

He eyed a clipboard he held, containing the sheets Liz had filled in prior, and took care not to flash the information around the room. “Admittedly, most babies don’t eat gourmet candy either. I always felt like the saying fit better as an indictment of someone’s evil pursuits than an acknowledgement of the ease of a heist. What criminal steals something they don’t even want?” 

“Oh wow.” Liz delivered a most acidic sarcasm. 

“Wow indeed, miss Liz. Now, while I wave this through. I think the three of you would do well to go around, see some shops, buy some wallpaper or what have you. It’d be good for you to see the neighbour hood and spend some of your decorating funds.”

“So about that.” The lady interrupted. “Why exactly am I given an advance? Don’t most people here have parents, or family fortunes?”

“Part of the funding to take you on. Don’t think you’re only here out of the kindness of your heart. Humans pay fat stacks to see rehab going gold nowadays.” 

Liz was quiet and frowned. His statements were off the mark. Unusual. The kind of political kung fu she heard from propaganda mouthpieces and sympathizers. And, most fittingly, Gen 0 folk that lived through the first rebellion. He sounded quite old for his looks. But Liz knew that politics and back-watching makes people old faster than usual. 

After all, her old lieutenant was 60 by the time he got to enjoy his lunch, or so the joke went.

“Just have some fun. What about you guys? On board with a quiet patrol n’ shop?” 

T-Rex smiled quite wide, and Lilly and Terry were on board. Terry not as visibly, trying to appear stoic, reflecting off the mood Liz projected into the room. Liz, of course, was already busy taking inventory on the fridge. To her, having the right foods in was important, and she knew that she’d be outside soon anything. 

If only to get that nasty smell of stale psychiatry air out of her nostrils. 

[diabolikpersonals]

Like, what do you think of them generally?

alright alright alright alright alright thank u for the opportunity to talk about diaboys!!! I appreciate it ! under a read more bc I ranted forever

LAITO:

My first exposure to dialovers was the anime so my first impression towards Laito was like “oh, he’s the flirty one - oh shit he’s banging her in a church, you cant do that, thats nuts lol” but as I got more into the games, Laito became SO IMPORTANT TO ME??? especially like his relationships, w/ ALL the characters like his brothers and yui and the other families and everything! I especially love learning more about his relationship with Ayato and Kanato because it’s so dang complex. His feelings towards his triplet bros is really complicated because he loves them and you know he loves them but his trauma w/ his mom sort of fucks it all up so he’s got like this genuinely nice and kind and loving personality fighting against this trauma and warped view of the concepts of love and family that Cordelia gave him, and what you get is, “I love my family and I hope they die” and throughout the games u learn more about the reasons why he has those world views and it’s SO GOOD Laito is such a well thought-out character!?! As a writer Laito delights me but as a fan, his whole deal makes me so dang sad djhfghjdkdfd

That’s why I was so fucking satisfied w/ Laito in the Laito vs Shin cd because you got a bunch of the darker stuff surrounding him (his tendency to push people off of buildings, that FUCKING VOICE DROP he does when he’s genuinely mad) and Laito was like...he was SCARY. And he was scaring YUI and he was scaring HIMSELF, too, which made me so sad!! Laito was like crying and punching walls and being like “why am I acting like this??” and it fuckin broke my heart dude. He’s a genuinely good person, he’s so wonderful, but he’s recovering from some really really nasty stuff. So that cd really gave me a sense of like, “Man, Laito hates this just as much as I do.” It makes me want to...idk...it makes me want to give him more opportunities to be good. He really is good!!!

KANATO:

As for my first impression, I think Kanato turned me off right away because I could instantly recognize all the tropes they were gonna use when they were designing him. You can look at him and tell that he’s gonna be the ~yandere~ character (I hate using that word but u know what tropes I’m talking about). As soon as they showed him eating a bunch of sweets I was like “yep.” When they showed us his room full of wax dolls, I was like “uh huh, that seems about right.” And then he yelled a lot and tried to stab Yui for making him french toast or whatever and I was like “ok.........I’ll go start ayato’s route” u know??? just super not my type, and the Kanato vs Azusa cd was torture because Azusa’s so soft-spoken but Kanato’s always yelling at the top of his lungs. I had to keep messing with the volume and it bugged me.

I think I would like Kanato a lot more if he...had a...friend. I think rejet kinda realized that he needed one and they had that in mind when they were introducing Azusa, but that ended up being a pretty bad failure I think. Kanato doesn’t really get along with anyone and he’s pretty open about admitting that he doesn’t like anyone particularly well. I’m glad to see him starting to love Yui genuinely but...idk I feel like every other diaboy has another diaboy(s) that he gets along with really well and it’s always nice to see them acting friendly and even encouraging each other sometimes! Kanato doesn’t really have that kind of relationship with anyone. When Ayato tried to reach out and apologize in LE, Kanato was like “lol kill yourself” and I was actually so fuckin mad at him, I was like “boy if you don’t fix that attitude of yours-”..........I guess I just wish that he had more character development by this point. That scene really hurt.

RUKI:

Basically the WORST first impression ever...my first Ruki scene that I ever saw was when he broke the cat’s neck and I was so pissed. I was like “immediately fuck this guy” and he became my least favorite character right away. And on top of that he was really elitist and one of those jerk intellectuals “ohhh solve this puzzle or STAY OUT THERE IN THE COLD you big dumb idiot. im smart and you’re not” and I was like FUCK this guy, how does yuma put up with him with HIS backstory?

But I hella warmed up to him during MB, like especially during Reiji’s route where Ruki was like “...uh...okay” the whole time jhdghdj that shit was hilarious. Ruki started feeling really real. And I think that like...hm...like if Laito is a genuinely good person surrounded by bad influence, Ruki is the opposite - he’s a bad personality surrounded by good influence. Ruki’s a jerk and he’s been a jerk his whole life but he has these wonderful brothers who love him so much and this lovely angel Yui and he’s just got all these good people who look up to him and he has to be good. This little asshole kid who treated all his servants like shit is now cooking dinner for his three adoptive brothers every day and they love him so much and they love him so much. It’s so fucking satisfying. I love seeing him supporting his brothers even though it conflicts with his personality and his main drive, like letting Kou run away with Yui even though Kou couldn’t become Adam. Ruki’s most important thing in MB was making one of the Mukamis become Adam but he gave that up to let Kou be happy. That shit is so important. Ruki was such a fuckin turnaround for me, I hated him at first but now I love the hell out of him and what he represents for the Mukamis.

KOU:

Kou is great!! I think he’s affected lots of characters in really positive ways, and he’s been affected in positive ways by different characters and it’s really nice to see. For sure he’s still got that trauma from his past but I really appreciate that Kou is in an environment that doesn’t have a lot of reminders of the bad stuff from his childhood. Like, how Kou was sought after for being such a beautiful child, and how he was trapped in a dark place for such a long time. There’s none of that shit when he lives with the Mukamis. Rejet could’ve easily put in tons of haunting reminders about Kou’s whole “too beautiful for his own good” thing but whenever he gets complimented, it’s usually for something different. Azusa will talk about how talented and amazing he is, and Kino’ll be like “idol clothes are pretty nuts huh? lol” and Ruki will be like “you’re working properly after all” and I fuckin love that shit...They could’ve made it so dang hard for Kou, but no, he’s in a much happier place now. He’s nice and comfortable being with these people. That makes me feel relieved lol

I already talked about how he helped Ruki but I think the most important relationship with a diaboy that he has is SUBARUUUUU cuz like, when you look at Subaru’s route you’re like “oh he definitely needs a friend, I’m glad he has a gf but he was so dang lonely and self-deprecating that he DEFINITELY just needs a genuine good friend” and then Kou showed up and he was like “guess what subaru? we’re gonna be friends, I’ve decided” and subaru was like “???” and MB happened and by the end of it Subaru was like “I took everything you said really seriously and I do want to be friends with you..............im not gonna say it out loud tho. let’s just shake hands ok” and I was like AW HECK YEAH!!!!! And then you keep seeing nice little reminders that they’re friends in other games, like in either LP or VC (Im sorry I literally cannot tell these two games apart) they were picking out hair accessories together for Yui, and in the Subaru vs Kou cd, Kou asks Subaru at the end if he had fun, and in LE Kou gave Subaru that pep talk and made Subaru laugh, and Subaru was like “Kou if I’m gonna die then I want you to kill me” and Kou was like “But I don’t want you to die!” and Subaru was like “you dont??? you actually care? about ME???” ITS SO FUCKING GOOD DUDE Subaru needed Kou so badly. Thank god for Kou honestly

KINO:

It was weird like...I was so mad at him during certain routes but I could never actually dislike him. It’s because he’s so dang funny tbh. He literally killed some of my favorite characters but then he would say a funny line and I’d be like “haha, I’m glad kino is here!” like it’s almost scary how charismatic he is towards both the other characters and to me, the player. He asked nicely if he could kill Shu and Shu was like “ok, sure.” Kino is hands down my fav villain because of this. Especially because you can really tell that deep down he wants to be a real member of the Sakamaki family and like he genuinely wants to be friends with people like Yuma and Kou, and he’s got the whole villain-turned-awkward-family-member trope which I LOVE. Like especially in that drama cd where he was like “I never get to go to school so I want to do home ec with you guys! Let’s make donuts!” and Kou was like “ok!!!” and kou tries to be super positive and encouraging the whole time even though Kino was actually secretly plotting to blow the place up. Kino looks like an idiot but he’s a genius tbh

and and and and and and I want him to kiss yuri. I think yuri is super in love w/ kino too, despite the fact that he’s. annoying. thats all I got dhgfdjskj...I love the childhood-friends-to-lovers trope so fuckin much

CARLA:

hey carla fuck you

I was really mad at him for his actions in DF mostly ^^; And tbh it’s really hypocritical because it was a group effort between both of the Tsukinamis, but I ended up loving Shin and hating Carla. Kino also did similar bad stuff to Carla, but I ended up loving him while hating Carla. So, why?

Well here’s fuckin why. Shin and Kino are cute & funny. They have their nice little payoff moments - maybe Shin hurt one of my favorite characters, but then you get to see how bubbly and energetic he gets around his big brother. He was walking one of his wolves around christmas time while wearing a red jacket and a random kid approached him thinking he was santa claus. That’s adorable! For a long time, Carla didn’t have anything like that. And he was a jerk to absolutely everyone, including Shin, who was so dang devoted to him!! Like remember in the DF cds where he was like “hey shin, the plan is we suck her blood until she’s purified from the vampires” and shins like “ok nii-san got it” and he started sucking her blood, exactly like he was ordered to, and then carla came in and STABBED HIM and was like “hey dont touch my property” like SERIOUSLY WHAT THE FUCK CARLA U TOLD HIM TO DO IT IN THE FIRST PLACE!!! IT WAS THE PLAN

And he fucked Ayato up real bad in DF so I was so mad...;; I only recently started forgiving him once diatwitter and LE started up. Diatwitter let us see his cute old grandpa side where he fuckin wanders around amusement parks by himself like some kind of cryptid and kou keeps being like “wait was that carla? what the heck??” and LE gave us some pretty nice stuff like carla being like “ur definitely my brother, shin” so...carla is ok I guess...but then again LE also gave us some bad carla moments like “if ur not actually a founder then u lied to me and im gonna kill u” so basically uh?? carla’s just a jerk I think. I’m warming up to him at a snail’s pace but he’s still a jerk. sucks about the endzeit tho, I hope he’s like permanently ok now