#also I do not know how to play ukelele

[doyoueverjustwomen]

How horrible would I be if I bought this hello kitty ukulele and played the Colleen ballinger apology song on it

[loveharlow]

SEVEN [SEASON 2] - 004

PAIRING ‧₊˚ JJ Maybank x Fem!Reader

SYNOPSIS‧₊˚[8.1k] A certain pogue is out of jail which means a certain handful of Kooks should be going in, unless they found some way out of it...

WARNING(S)‧₊˚ death, strained friendship, tw! topper, mentions of drowning

NOW PLAYING‧₊˚

A/N‧₊˚ A lil TR x Sarah bonding until it all goes to shit of course, BUT A LOT OF GOOD THINGS HAPPEN NEXT CHAPTER! Sorry for the angst streak :/ also, the scene between TR and JJ is loosely based on this scene between Brooke and Lucas from One Tree Hill.

˗ˏˋ series masterlist ˎˊ˗

THE SOUND OF CHICKENS CLUCKING AND KIARA PLUCKING THE STRINGS ON HER UKELELE SOUNDED IN THE QUIET OF THE YARD. The four of you — you, JJ, Kiara, and Pope, were in the surf shack at The Chateau. It was early in the morning.

JJ was waxing his board as Kiara played her instrument, you and Pope standing idly by. You were starting to get worried. It’d been almost twelve hours since your confrontation with Shoupe and nothing seems to have changed. You hoped it wasn’t all for nothing. 

But another question was on your tongue…

“...Has anyone seen Sarah?” You asked, eyes squinting from the sunlight. Everyone looked at each other for a brief moment until Kiara broke the silence.

“Last thing she said was that she was going to meet Wheezie.” You hummed at her words.

You and Kie hadn’t spoken nor looked one another in the eye since last night, so it was safe to assume you weren’t the best of friends right now. To be honest, you haven’t been for a while. It was just so weird. There was a time you considered her one of your best friends. But now you couldn’t even face each other without some kind of cat fight ensuing. And you feared these disputes might go from verbal to physical if the pressure reached that point…

“That’s a lot of wax on your board.” Pope spoke, interrupting JJ as he waxed his surfboard. The blonde paused in his movements, side eyeing his friend. “If you put too much, it’s gonna be slippery.”

“...Are you tellin’ me how to wax my board, Pope?” JJ asked, standing up straight.

“I’m just saying, that’s a lot of wax-”

“No no no, you’re tellin’ me how to wax my board. Are you kidding me?”

“I’m just saying that’s a colossal waste of wax.” Pope shrugged sassily, turning away from the blonde.

“Guys,” Kiara butted in, looking between the two. “Really? Can you go two minutes without-” A car horn cut off the tail end of her sentence. The sound making all of you freeze. That was a very distinct horn. A horn that only belonged to a certain vehicle. A certain vehicle that belonged to a certain boy.

None of you said anything else, almost all completely still and waiting to hear it again. When the sound came again, you were the first to turn and run towards it. You rounded the corner of the surf shack just in time to see the Twinkie kicking up dust in front of The Chateau, a dearly missed brunette behind the wheel.

“No fucking way!” You exclaimed breathlessly as you ran towards the vehicle, almost tripping over your own feet. “Jombee!”

“Guess who’s out of the clink?!” He smiled, hopping out of the passenger seat. You knocked the wind out of the boy when you threw yourself into him, squeezing him as tightly as you could. He returned the gesture in full, the both of you laughing into each other’s shoulders as the others approached.

“Are you kidding me?!”

“Am I dreaming?”

“My boy’s out of the can!” They all joined in on the hug when they got close enough, the five of you piled in on each other. You weren’t sure if what you said worked or it was by the grace of some other miracle that John B was here right now but you didn’t care.

“How’d you do it?” JJ asked as you all pulled back from the hug, forming a circle. “You bust out?”

“No, actually,” John B said matter of factly. “They dropped the charges.” Just then, three of them turned to you with knowing smiles on their faces, John B following their gazes like a lost child. “What?”

“It worked.” Pope told him simply.

“What? What worked?”

“Our little pogue princess here used her magic to get your ass out of jail, Bree.” JJ celebrated, nudging your shoulder playfully as a small smile grew on your face.

“How the hell did you manage that?” John B asked, scoffing gratefully.

“It was nothing…” You waved off. “I just put some pieces together, that’s all.”

“Uh, it was not nothing.” JJ assured. “She went straight up Criminal Minds on Shoupe and his league of badge-wielding sissies. Had a folder and everything-”

“...Wait,” John B cut in, the smile gone from his face. “Where’s Sarah?” The four of you looked to each other, shoulder's square and tense.

“...She went to go meet Wheezie last night.” Kiara told the boy, shoving her hands in her back pockets. “She didn’t come back.”

“SO, SARAH JUST DIPS AND DOESN’T CALL?” John B theoreticized, the only one standing on the boat. The five of you were lounging in the HMS Pogue that’d been stationery in the water behind The Chateau. John B was kind of dampening the mood with a Sarah question every five minutes but you all gave him the benefit of the doubt. 

“I don’t think we should jump to conclusions. I mean, I don’t think she would just leave. No offense but, where would she even go?” Kiara threw out, leaning against the inside of the boat next to John B’s legs.

“But, I mean also, she left her bag.” Pope added, you weren’t sure how that helped the conversation.

John B just sighed, planting his hands atop his head. “I really think Ward got to her.” He offered a possible theory. “I mean, he tried to have me killed in jail.”

You turned around so fast, you feared you almost gave yourself whiplash. “He what?”

“Yeah. He sent somebody to the prison who...yoked me up and almost killed me.” 

“Do we know who this dude was?” JJ asked. Judging by his tone, he had an idea in mind and he most likely could go through with it if he truly wanted. Between the inmates who didn’t approve of crimes against children and JJ’s connections in the jail from his dad, he could honestly probably set something up with just a name and a dirty cop.

“No, I have no idea.” John B shook his head. “Dude, I swear to God, one day I’m gonna kill that son of bitch.” He threatened mindlessly, finally taking a seat inside the boat.

“It’s okay.” Kiara tried to comfort.

“No, Kie, it’s not okay.” He snapped. “We gotta find Sarah.”

“No, literally, it’s okay.” Kiara said once more, pointing behind the distressed brunette. “She’s right there.”

The four of you turned to see Sarah…sitting in Topper’s boat. 

As Topper drove.

At the sight of John B, the blonde girl stood up. “...John B?” Her small voice traveled across the water, Topper’s boat getting closer and closer. She shouted John B’s name happily, the boy simply looking away from her. Seeing your girlfriend on her ex’s boat the morning you get out of jail can’t be the best ‘Welcome Home’ surprise.

The four of you cringed, Sarah clearly not registering the picture that was being painted.

“Oh, poor Sarah.” You muttered under your breath, mainly to yourself. “Sometimes, I forget that you are indeed a blonde, teenage girl.”

“What the hell is she doing with Topper?” Kiara asked, loud enough for the four of you only to hear. Everyone shot small smiles at the blonde girl, confused about who she’d arrived with but glad that she was safe nonetheless. Topper slowed his boat next to The Pogue, allowing Sarah to cross over as he and John B exchanged awkward glances.

“My God, this is weird…” You mumbled, clearly not quietly enough considering Pope nudged your shoulder in warning. “Wh-Am I wrong?”

Sarah threw herself into John B, the boy returning the gesture wholeheartedly but you could tell he was still a little thrown off. “I though I’d never see you again.” Sarah told him, voice muffled into his shoulder before she pulled back to look him in his eyes. “What happened?”

“They dropped all the charges.” John B smiled at his girlfriend.

“What?” Sarah breathed out, a bright smile on her face.

“Yeah, I’m a free man.” John B said smugly, leaning one arm on the boat’s windshield. 

“That’s amazing!” Sarah exclaimed, pulling the boy into her one more time. The look of heartbreak on Topper’s face was clear as day. Anyone could tell that he was still in love with her. You might’ve even felt bad if he wasn’t such an asshole.

“I know, it’s great, but listen, Sarah,” John B calmed her down, pushing her back by her arms to look at her. “They’re coming after Rafe.”

“...Good,” She said, surprising you all. Her eyes fleeted to you for a brief moment. “He’s completely unhinged. He jumped me last night.”

“What?” You all said simultaneously, eyes going wide as your attention went to Sarah.

“That’s why I didn’t come back.” 

“Yeah, man. Rafe has lost his mind.” Topper butted in, leaning against the structure of his own boat. “Literally almost drowned his own sister.” You rolled your eyes. Topper has known how unhinged Rafe was all along. He and Kelce always stood by like bodyguards when Rafe would treat you like shit towards the end of your “relationship” with him — he’d grab you by your neck in front of them, pull your hair, call you a bitch, tell you to shut up. But they didn’t care. Or at least they didn’t care enough to say anything about the way Rafe manhandled you or the people around him. But now that Topper had a chance to be Sarah’s knight in shining armor, there was no way he was going to pass it up. “Thankfully I got there just in time.” He said, and you swore you saw the hint of a sly smile on his face.

John B turned away from the blonde on the other boat, tongue prodding against his cheek. “Well, I guess I owe you one, Topper, don’t I?” He asked, voice short.

He simply scoffed in response, shrugging nonchalantly. “...’s all good. I mean, somebody had to rescue your girlfriend, right?”

“Oookay,” You jumped in. “I think it’s time for you to go, Topper, don’t you agree?-” You tried before John B jumped in.

“That’s funny because she’s not actually my girlfriend, right?” He directed the question more at Sarah than Topper, the girl tucking her hair behind her ear and laughing nervously.

“What is she, then?” Topper asked, chuckling. 

John B threw a hand out in Sarah’s direction. “Tell him.” He had a sure smile on his face, like he knew Sarah would say what he wanted her to. But it quickly dropped following her words.

“I…I’m with him.” She looked almost unsure of what she was saying. Like she didn't want to say it.

The four of you not involved in this love triangle cringed silently, all looking in different directions as your faces twisted while Topper basically wheezed. “Gotcha. You’re with him. Yeah, okay.” He taunted, looking to the four of you. “You guys clear on that?”

“I think it’s clear you gotta go now.” JJ warned, looking up at the preppy blonde.

“Yeah, I think it’s about that time.” He agreed simply as Sarah called out to him.

“Topper.” She said, leaving John B’s side to get closer to Topper’s boat. “Thank you.” She said gratefully, pulling the boy into a gentle hug.

Topper returned the gesture. “Yeah, of course.” He said softly, hand rubbing up and down her back gently. “I’m just glad you’re okay.” He assured, and none of you missed the glare he shot John B behind Sarah’s back before she pulled away, letting Topper speed off.

YOU WERE STRETCHED OUT ON THE COUCH IN THE CHATEAU, TOSSING A BALL UP INTO THE AIR. John B and Sarah were outside on the hammock, the conversation they were having didn't look too pleasant. Kiara and Pope were talking in the Surf Shack, no telling whether they were cuddling or Kie was pushing him away. You were deep into thought when the door swung open, a chipper blonde waltzing in, humming some random tune under his breath as he went over into the kitchen and opened the fridge.

You looked at his frame in your peripheral before rolling your eyes and sighing, resuming your train of thought. 

“...Y’know, you are really just take the passive part out of being passive-aggressive, y’know that, right?” He spoke across the room, closing the fridge and leaning against it, a beer can in his hand.

“Sorry. I guess liars just bring out the worst in me.” You muttered, voice full of attitude.

“How can I lie about something I have no idea about? Kind of hard to understand why you're so mad at me if you don't say anything.” JJ scoffed, taking small steps towards you. 

At this you scoffed and rolled your eyes once more, sitting up on the couch and leaning your weight one arm, the ball clutched in your other hand. “Are you really just never going to say anything about it?”

“Say anything about what?"

"I mean, at first, I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Like maybe it wasn't what it seemed but it's been days-"

You’ve been talking in riddles for days-”

“You kissed Kie.”

“...What?” He recoiled at the statement, standing up straighter. “No, I didn’t-”

“Yes, you did.” You interrupted, swinging your legs off of the couch and leaning your arms on your thighs. “In Charleston. At the gas station.” 

He seemed to ponder on it for a moment before he found it — his eyes going wide and his jaw going slack before he stuttered to find words. “Th- that is not what happened. Is that what she told you?”

“She didn’t tell me anything. Neither of you did because you’re both liars and shitty friends.” You spat, standing from your seat and walking out of the door, hearing his heavy boots follow behind you as the screen door hit the wall. “Maybe this is a sign. Because clearly, you’re both made for each other. Do all liars and backstabbers have a moral code? Birds of a feather, y'know-”

“Can you let me explain?” He breathed out, his footsteps barrelling down the wooden steps and you walked through the dirt and gravel. You didn’t know where you were going or if you were going anywhere at all. It just felt right to walk away.

“You could’ve explained days ago.”

“Look,” He tried, gently grasping your arm to stop you in your tracks and turn you around. “Just listen to me, please. I understand what it may have looked like and I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you but I meant everything I said to you. That kiss you saw? Didn’t mean anything.” 

“A kiss always means something.” You rasped, snatching your arm away and looking him in his eyes. Really in his eyes, for probably the first time in days. 

“Okay, maybe you’re right but it didn’t mean anything to me. I didn't initiate it or like it or anything. I can’t speak for Kie but I can speak for me and the kiss. meant. nothing. And you would know that if you had-”

“If I had what?” You cut him off. “If I had said something? As you so sweetly pointed out, I didn't say anything, did I? I’m so sorry if the sight of you and Kie playing tongue hockey while Pope and I are less than ten feet away caught me off guard so badly that I couldn't say anything when it happened.”

“And I get that, I do. But you aren’t listening-” He tried to calm you, planting both of his hands on your shoulders before being harshly shrugged off.

“Stop that.”

“...Look, Kie kissed me. We were talking and then she kissed me and I pushed her away. The kiss didn’t last more than five seconds and I didn’t kiss her back. I told her I didn’t like her that way, I don't like her that way, and that I wouldn’t do that to Pope or you, ever. I even told her about what me and you have going on. I promise you.” He reassured. “And to be completely honest with you, would it even matter if I did? I mean, we aren’t together. You said you needed time to figure out your feelings. You said that you didn’t want me to wait on you to figure out your feelings. You said that.”

At his comment, you stood in shock. A silent ‘wow’ leaving your lips as you looked around at nothing. “And you know what, JJ? I loved you for that. You were so patient and understand in that moment that I fell in love with you in a such a way that I couldn't just call you my friend anymore. And I can’t believe that you use what I said now and twist it into something else. You know that’s not what happened. I told you I didn’t want you to wait on me to figure out my feelings if that’s not what you want, that part is true. But what about when you told me that you would and that it was your choice? That you’d be there when I was ready?” You reprimanded, scolded. “And when I told you that if you did kiss someone else or hook up with someone else, I just wanted you to tell me and not let me find out from someone else. And you told me that there would be nothing to tell and nothing to find out because you were “all mine”. Or did all of that just coincidentally slip your mind?”

“It didn’t. I just…” JJ sighed, running a hand down his face. “I need you to trust me and believe me when I tell you that my heart is with you. It always has been and it always will be.” He told, eyes boring into yours, pleading. “...But a part of me feels like when all of your grief is gone and you feel better about everything. About your mom, your dad, everything. You won’t...need me anymore and you’ll try to push me away because maybe then you’ll realize that you don’t really feel that way about me. You just thought you did because…because I was there for you when you needed me to be.”

“Oh.” You scoffed, eyebrows raising. “You kiss someone else, one of our friends, and I’m the one who’s feelings are being doubted?”

JJ just sighed, stepping impossibly closer to you. One of his hands reached out to caress your face, this time you let him. “...I love you.” He said softly. “I don’t know how else to say it.”

“How about how you show it?” You whined, eyes getting teary and voice wavering. You gently grasped his hand, dragging it away from where it was cradling your face. “I am not using you to make myself feel better, JJ. What I feel for you is not a product of my grief or fucked up life or because you were there for me at just the right time. And maybe I needed the time to realize that before but I know it, now. I am sure that I love you but now I need you to be sure that you love me back. Okay, so why wouldn’t you just tell me about the kiss? If it didn’t mean anything, why didn’t you say anything?” You explained, two single tears running down your face.

Suddenly, JJ’s phone started to go off, notification after notification. You let go of his hand, using your own to wipe your tears, as he fished for his phone in his pocket.

“Shit.” He cursed under his breath, walking in the direction of the Surf Shack.

“What?” You asked, voice still off from crying and you followed behind him.

He rounded the corner to find Kie and Pope pulling apart from a hug, you could only wonder what they were talking about. You didn’t miss the way both of their eyes went between you and JJ. Between JJ’s red face and your tear stains, they probably had questions. You wouldn’t be surprised if they heard the heated conversation.

“Pope.” JJ started. “Just got a call from Guffy. Somethin’ happened to your pops.”

“LET ME KNOW IF I’M HURTING YOU, OKAY?” Sarah cooed, planting a bandage on Heyward’s hairline. By the time the six of you arrived, the older man was hunched over, beaten and bloodied. Not too badly but bad enough for someone like Heyward. 

“You’re doin’ just fine.” Heyward told Sarah, wincing as she fully secured the bandage and walked away. “Thank you, darlin’.”

“Pop,” Pope started, walking closer to his father. “What happened?”

“Oh, I should’ve known better.” Heyward started, lightly touching the bandage on his head. “He came in just as I was about to lock up. Caught me by surprise. Once he had me down, he put his knee in my chest,” You cringed at the thought. “...and he asked me about that…about that key. From that drawing you showed me. And in case you’re wondering,” The older man gaining his sass back as he spoke. “I ain’t tell him nothin’.” He told the group of you, a hand on his hip with his lips pursed before his eyes went back to his son. “Now did you track it down?”

Pope fished around in his back pocket, pulling out a slim, gold key with a red string attached. The five you surrounding the father and son had sly smirks on your faces.

“I found it in Mee-maw’s old apartment above the pharmacy, just like you said.”

“...Shit, boy, you should’ve gave this to me. I wouldn’t have had to take a beatin’.” He spoke, shocked by the sight of the key as he twirled it between his fingers. “What’s the big deal? It ain’t worth anythin'. Why they want it so bad?”

“I don’t know.” Pope shrugged along with the rest of you. “First, I get this letter telling me that I need to go to Charleston. And then I meet this rich lady who wants me to give her a key that I didn’t even know was in my family.” Pope explained enthusiastically. 

“Well, don’t y’all just sit here whinin’ about it.” Heyward scolded the group of you sporting long faces. “Figure it out.”

Pope’s face twisted at his father’s words as he shook his head. “No.” He said firmly. “I’m just gonna give the key to that lady. It’s not worth-”

“No, no, no, no, no, no…” Heyward interrupted. “Did I raise you to back down from a fight?” 

Pope shook his head. “...No, sir.”

“Well, all right.” Heyward nodded, admiration is his eyes. “Now, I didn’t think ‘bout it before. I admit that. But now…” He trailed off, eyes on the key in his hand before pointing to the injury on his head. “Now? I’m interested.” He smiled smugly. “Did they say why they wanted it?”

Pope drew his lips into a thin line. “Somethin’ about an old cross. I think it might be some kind of lost treasure.”

“You know who you should talk to?” Heyward suggested, leaning forward. “Your great-grandmother.”

JOHN B STOPPED THE VAN IN FRONT OF SHADY ACRES NURSING HOME. It was the next day, the group of you agreeing to put it off until then considering it was a little drive away. Pope was the first out of the van, Kiara following as JJ got out of the passenger seat.

“Hey, um…” Pope started, looking up at the building. “I think I’m actually gonna do this one by myself.” It seemed like a general statement but his eyes kept zoning in on key. 

“...You sure?” Kie asked, half-way out of the van doors.

“Yeah.” Pope shrugged. “I can handle it, I don’t really need you, so…” The clear attitude in his voice had you and Sarah, who were still seated, cringing in the van, looking anywhere but at the two. You figured whatever they talked about in the shed wasn't as good as it seemed. Maybe that wasn't a happy hug...

“Oh, we’re just all one big happy family today, aren’t we?” JJ joked, trying to lighten the mood. Now that he mentioned it, it did seem like all the “couples” in the group were off. Even John B and Sarah hadn’t talked since yesterday afternoon or all this morning.

Pope simply looked at the blonde before walking off, a gloomy expression on his face. John B restarted the van, ready to drive off while Pope did his task.

“OF COURSE I THANKED TOPPER.” Sarah whispered as you, her, and Kie walked back towards the van slowly. John B had made a pit-stop at a burger place where you, Sarah, and Kie went to get milkshakes. John B and JJ were inside the vehicle, it looked like they were having a hushed conversation of their own. “He saved my life, and I’d put him through so much already.” She added, sipping on her milkshake as you did the same, Kie nodding. “And you’d think that that is the crime of the century.”

“Tell me about it.” Kiara said. “All of this crazy shit’s happening, and Pope is giving me the silent treatment for not being in love with him.”

You gulped down the rest of you shake at her words. “I think it’s more so due to the fact that you led him on as if you were in love with him, but hey,” You butted in bluntly, sending a tight-lipped smile Kiara’s way. “What do I know?”

“People can’t control their feelings. You can’t force yourself to…love someone who you just don’t.”

“No,” You dragged out. “But people can control how they interact with those people. Kissing someone, sleeping with someone? That doesn’t exactly scream ‘I’m not in love with you’.”

“What the hell is your problem?” Kie stopped walking, turning to you. “You don’t speak to me for days and then when you do it’s the same passive-aggressive bullshit? I mean, seriously, what’s your deal?”

You stopped in your own tracks from where you had taken a few steps forward, turning to face the girl while still sipping your milkshake. “Does Pope know?”

Kie rolled her eyes and threw her hands out, Sarah watching intently. “Does Pope know what?”

“That you kissed JJ.” You said bluntly, eyes staring into hers.

"Wh-*cough*-What?!" Sarah's eyes went wide as she choked on her milkshake.

“‘Cause if he doesn’t and he’s already pushing you away like this? I can’t imagine how much he’ll hate you when he finds out.” You shrugged.

“...If.” Kiara corrected, shifting her. “If he finds out.”

You pursed your lips, looking up at the sky as you pretended to think while you shook your head. “When.” You corrected her correction before turning on your heel and walking towards the van. 

“I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE THAT YOU’RE RELATED TO DENMARK TANNY.” John B exclaimed. You’d all returned to The Marina just as it had started to drizzle where Pope explained how his grandmother told him all about how Denmark Tanny and his wife, Cecilia, were Pope’s ancestors. “Are we in the presence of a royal?” John B teased, the six of you camped up under a roof of one of the shops.

“A king? We shall crown him.” JJ joked alongside JB, planting an imaginary crown on Pope’s head. “All hail the Lord of Tannyhill. We are not worthy!” He continued, the rest of you joining in on the chant before Pope stopped you all with a chuckle.

“Everybody relax. Can we relax, please?” He requested, the laughter fading lightly before his face faded into something more serious. “...I just keep thinking about the letter. The one Limbrey sent? It had the wheat symbol on it.” He pointed out. “That must mean it had something to do with the Royal Merchant.”

“Yeah. Somethin’ seems fishy…” JJ threw in.

“But if we find that cross, we can split it like we were gonna split the gold.” Pope continued, gleefully.

“And live happily ever after?” An uninvited voice rang out, the group of you turning to find none other than Carla Limbrey and her live-in bodyguard approaching. You all straightened, the expression on your faces going hard.

“You assaulted my father.” Pope was the first to speak, his lips curled in anger as he took steps towards the woman only to be pushed back by her accomplice. 

“Oh, I didn’t assault anybody.”

“He can identify the psycho from a mile away.” Kie assured, Carla turning to her.

“Why would my employee…” She trailed off, turning back to Pope. “Assault your father? That's absurd.” She laughed, like the whole ordeal was humorous. “Listen,” She started, limping towards Pope. “We can keep on negotiating but the fact is, I want the key.” She explained, her employee pushing Pope up against a support beam causing you all to jump up.

“Hey!” JJ shouted, being the closest to Pope.

“And I won’t stop until I have it. I don’t have a choice, which means you don’t either.” She spoke solely to Pope. She stared at him intensely, her gaze never wavering.

“It’s Limbrey, right?” You piped up, her eyes turning to you as you leaned against the wooden railing of the dock, swinging the gold key around your finger. “Is this what you’re looking for?”

“...Yes, it is.” She said, her voice straining as she walked towards you slowly. 

“Looking at the tide right, I’d say it’s about…” You taunted, dangling the object dangerously over the water as you peaked at the waves then back at her. “Twenty feet deep out there? So, if I just threw it in the channel, the probability of you finding it again is slim to none.” You explained, sitting up straighter and extending your arm completely over the rail. “Wanna give it a shot?” You taunted, letting the key slip from your fingers.

“No! Hey!” Limbrey lunged forward, nearly tripping over her feet. She let out a sigh of relief when you swiftly caught key in your hand again before it even had the chance to really fall. “...Please don’t do that.” She pleaded. 

You could feel your eyes narrow as you relaxed against the rail again, the key fisted in your palm as you threw one arm out in the direction of her employee. “Get him to back the hell up.”

“...Back up.” She ordered, turning towards the man as he walked away from Pope, looking you up and down. Carla was quick to stand back in front of Pope once more, talking to him. “As I have told you from the beginning, I am willing to be reasonable.”

Pope eyes drifted towards you, probably catching on to the fact that the key you were torturing Limbrey with was fake, considering you were sure he had the real one on him. You nodded towards the boy, winking at him.

“...Okay.” He said, eyes back on Carla.

“Okay?” She seemed surprised at his cooperation.

“I’ll give you the key.” He told her, standing up straighter. “But I want the tape.”

“Of course-” Limbrey was quick to agree, but you felt like her employee was getting suspicious with the way he was eyeing you.

“Hey, Pope,” You stepped in, walking towards your friend. “You don’t have to do this, okay?” You told him, but your head was nodding slightly so he would catch your drift. Giving the key up to easily would only seem suspicious now. There had to be some kind of resistance on his end.

“No, it’s okay.”

“No, Pope, this is your family.”

“It’s fine. It’s okay…” Pope assured, putting his hand out for you to give him the key. “This is about your dads.” He added, eyes fleeting between you and John B. “That’s way more important.”

“Oh, you’re a good friend.” Limbrey sighed as you planted the key in Pope’s palm. 

“The tape?” Pope turned back to her, eyes never leaving hers. 

“Yes, give him the tape.” She ordered the man she brought with her, watching as he pulled a red tape recorder from inside of his jacket, handing it slowly to Pope. He didn’t hand Limbrey the key until the player was in his hand. “You know…” She started again, leaning into him. “I wish that you’d come to this decision earlier. We could’ve avoided all this unpleasantness.” She said before turning and walking off, her employee following behind but not before turning around with a smug smile on his face.

“It was nice seein’ ya, Pope.”

“Walk away before I beat your ass with her cane.” You told him bluntly, him offering the six of you one last grin before strutting off. You watched the pair leave, standing next to John B as a smile grew on your face. “How long do you think we have until she realizes she has your father’s old key?”

“Ten minutes.” He replied. 

Just then, Pope turned around with both of his arms out, a small relieved smile on his face. “Whose idea was the fake key?”

You and John B turned your attention to JJ who was trying to conceal the smile on his face. “Hmm, I don’t know. Should we tell him?” John B teased, throwing an arm around JJ’s shoulders.

“Did hell freeze over?” Pope asked, astounded.

“I’m impressed.” Kiara said. “Maybe you are good for something.”

“Even a blind pig can find an acorn at times.” JJ joked as Pope and JB tickled him, poking his ribs and ruffling his hair. 

“We gotta take this tape to Shoupe.” John B smiled, juggling the object in his hand as the released the blonde.

“Yes sir.” JJ jumped up. “Ward Cameron we’re comin’ for you, big boy!”

You didn’t miss the look of despondence on Sarah’s face. It was the visual epitome of being stuck between a rock and hard place. You knew what it was like to know someone’s a bad person but still feel obligated to love them. You seemed so easily detached from your mother that you never stopped to consider that maybe Sarah was having a hard time doing the same with her father.

“WHEN I GOT DOWN TO THE TARMAC, I SAW THE SHERIFF LYING DEAD ON THE GROUND.” Gavin’s voice came from the tape recorder planted on Shoupe’s desk. John B had requested that you go in with him to give the evidence to Shoupe while the others waited, considering you had cleared his name in the first place, he figured your help could do no harm. “And then Ward asked me to fly the gold to Nassau and dispose of the gun. He’s protecting his son.” The former pilot explained, Shoupe’s eyes drifting upwards to stare at you and John B. “It was Rafe Cameron who killed Sheriff Peterkin. I gotta be honest with you…I’m terrified. If anything happens to me, I’m telling you, it was Ward Cameron.”

John B looked up at Shoupe and the FBI Agent standing behind him, a deadpan look on his face. “I told you Shoupe…” He started, shaking his head slightly. “Ward killed both of our fathers and Gavin, and now you know Rafe killed Peterkin.”

Shoupe just licked his lips and nodded, taking a quick glance at the agent behind him. “...I know, kid. I know.”

Your brows furrowed at this. During your last conversation with Shoupe, right after you’d told him to drop the charges and right before you left his office, he left you with a few last words...

“I don’t know if I believe all of this, kid. And I can’t promise that this enough to get your friend out and put Ward behind bars. Maybe one or the other…but not both.”

Leaning forward in your seat, you gained Shoupe’s attention as his eyes turned to you. “What does that mean? ‘Cause last time I was here you said that the outcome we have right now was nearly impossible.”

The man just sighed, slowly rising from his chair as it rolled against the floor. He put both of his hands on his belt and cleared his throat. “We’ve issued arrest warrants for both Ward and Rafe…as well as your mother and any department employees involved. Rafe is currently in custody, the other warrants are being carried out as we speak. I can’t give ya anymore than that.”

“LLLLADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WARD CAMERON, KING OF THE KOOKS, IS GOING TO JAIL!” JJ’s voice boomed from the inside of The Chateau. The guys were inside celebrating Ward’s takedown as you rounded the corner of the porch, finding a solemn Sarah sitting criss-cross on the patio furniture with Kiara right across from her, giggling at the guys antics.

You sat the opposite side of the blonde girl just Kiara looked to her, the brown-haired girl’s face falling at Sarah’s expression.

“...Do you regret it?”

Sarah was quick to reply, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “No.” She stated firmly, biting the inside of her cheek. “He deserves all of it, and I know that. It’s just…” She cut herself off with a teary sigh, her voice returning with a quiver to it as her eyes filled with tears. “He’s still my dad. I can’t just pretend like he’s not.”

“No, I get it.” Kiara tried to comfort, scooting closer and planting a hand on Sarah’s shoulder. “I understand-”

“But you don’t, Kie.” Sarah blurted, a tear falling from her eye as her nose and cheeks took on a shade of red. “I know you’re trying to help but you just don’t get it...” She said, rising from her seat and swiftly walking off into the direction of the backyard and out into the rain. 

You didn’t know if it was weird of you to go after her, considering Sarah and Kie were closer but you figured after Kiara sat there with no intention of getting up that it was okay to do so. Getting up from your seat and walking off to follow Sarah, you stepped out into the drizzling rain, going towards her figure that was stood at the edge of the tall grass on the shore of The Marsh, her arms hugging herself as she looked out at the water.

As you got closer and stood next to her, you could hear small sniffles leaving her nose. Maybe she didn’t regret helping turn her dad in but it was clear as day to anyone that she was upset.

“I know I’m probably not the person you want to talk to…” You spoke up after a few moments of silence, Sarah looking at you briefly. “But I think I’m the only person who can relate to how you’re feeling, right now.”

“You don’t have to come out here in the rain to make me feel better.” She sighed, fully turning to you now, damp strands of hair sticking to her cheeks. “Especially after everything I’ve put you through.”

“Sarah, I already told you that I forgive you-”

“But why?” She cried, swinging her arms out to her sides. “It would be one thing if I didn’t believe you but I made your life a living hell and I didn’t even like my brother then. How can you just forgive me so…so easily?”

“Because it wasn’t your fault.” You told her, moving your own pieces of damp hair out of your vision. “I know that right now you probably think you’re no better than them, your dad and brother. But you are not responsible for the bad things that they did to other people. Yes, you made my life hell and maybe I’ll always hold that small grudge against you. But you didn’t kill Peterkin, and you didn’t kill my dad, or Big John, or Gavin.” You explained. “And unlike them, Sarah, you owned up to your mistakes. You apologized to me and Kiara and you’ve become a better person for it.”

“..But why do I feel bad for still loving him?” She whined, tears falling faster now. “I tore myself away from Rafe after he tried to drown me but my dad…he’s still my dad. And I know he’s done bad things, really bad things, and I will never forgive him but for some reason, going against him puts this pit in my stomach that I can’t get rid of because ...he’s my dad.”

“But that’s the thing, Sarah,” You began, stepping closer to her. “He’s not your dad anymore.” You told her, putting a hand on her upper arm gently. “The way I think of it? He’s just a shell of the man you used to know. Like with my mom — I know it seems like I’m okay and that I hate her and that’s that, right? But that’s not true. I miss my mom. So much. But not the mom that being hunted down by the police right now.” You explained, your own voice wavering. “I miss the mom that would listen to my shitty guitar playing after my dad taught me chords and convinced me I was the greatest in the world. I miss the mom that would make cookies with me in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep. The mom I miss would never do the things that the woman I know now has done. Any of it. And I know it’s a hard thing, to separate who you grew up with and who you’ve come to know but Ward isn’t the father you knew, Sarah. He’s the monster you know now.”

Sarah just sniffled and nodded, processing your words as she wiped the tears and rainwater from her face.

“...And as for that grudge?” You started, a small smile on your face. “Maybe I’d be more inclined to let it go if you helped me out with something. Just a small little side quest…” You shrugged cutely as her brows pinched together. “Got any clue where Rafe would hide a stolen dog at Tannyhill?”

You managed to get a small chuckle out of the girl before her phone started to ring, Sarah fishing the device out of her back pocket — Topper’s contact card bright on display as her eyes darted to yours.

“We might have to postpone that heist…” She said, answering the call. “Hello?”

“Hey,” Topper’s voice came through, his voice faint and distorted through the phone. “Sorry to be the, uh, bearer of bad news here but…they’re coming for your dad.” He told her, Sarah letting out a deep breath. “My grandpa just signed the warrant.” He explained. You forgot his grandfather was a judge. “So, if you have anything you want to say to him, I would do it now. Just wanted you know.”

“Thanks.” Sarah replied, voice small and weak as she stared at her sneakers. She removed the phone from her ear and ended the call, sighing deeply.

You shot her a tight-lipped smile, a look of pity. “I’ll get everyone and we’ll go with you.”

THE TWINKIE WAS GOING AS FAST IT COULD DOWN THE NARROW STREET WHEN THREE COP CARS SPED BY,  headed in the direction of Tannyhill.

“Shit…” Kie breathed, eyes trailing the speeding vehicle as she looked out of the window.

“Oh my God,” Sarh sighed, eyes wide as the severity of the situation set in. “Can we please hurry? I need to be there for Wheezie.”

“You think I wanna miss this?” John B said bluntly. Ouch. The statement and the way he said it even hurt you, so you weren’t surprised by the mean side-eye that Sarah gave him from the passenger seat. 

The four of you in the back exchanged glances. There was a lot going on and it was difficult to know what each of your worried looks were for — Sarah, John B, or Sarah and John B’s relationship.

It wasn’t long before the van pulled up right behind one of the parked cop cars outside of Tannyhill, right outside the concrete wall. You all nearly tripped over one another scrambling to exit the van before it even came to a full stop — the sound of police chatter, footsteps, and sirens in the distance. 

You all stood on your tiptoes, peering over the wall.

“Holy shit.”

“I can’t see, bro.”

None of you had a good view but you could see a small swarm of officers running towards the dock where Ward kept his boats while Rose stood helplessly by the door. 

“Screw it.” John B said out of nowhere. “I’m going over.” He warned before hurling himself over the wall, the five of you watching as he landed on the other side. You looked at each other before following his lead, landing in the grass.

You all jogged through the freshly cut grass, approaching the doors where Rose stood just in time to see Wheezie rushing out as Rose tried to stop her.

“What’s going on?” The young girl asked, eyes on the huddle of officers by the water. “Why are the police here?”

“Wheezie…” Sarah called her sister’s name in relief, walking faster in order to reach the girl and pull her into a hug.

“Why are the police here again?” Wheezie asked, her voice soft and curious. 

“Go inside,” Sarah told her, caressing the back of her head before pulling back to look her in the eyes. “Don’t come out.” Wheezie looked at her older sister with confusion and concern before nodding and turning to go back inside, a teary-eyed Rose guiding the girl back inside.

You couldn’t help but subconsciously notice that there was no sign of Marley — no paw prints, no food bowls, no leash, nothing. Not that he’d take that much care of her anyway. But it didn't look like a dog was being kept here. You felt bad for thinking about that at a time like this but if Rafe wasn’t holding her at Tannyhill, you could only think of one other place he’d take her, and if you were right then getting her back just became a whole lot more dangerous…

“Sarah,” Rose called before shutting the patio door, her voice scratchy. “Your father, he…he’s out on The Druther’s.” She told her, Sarah wasting no time in jogging in that direction before Rose could finish. “But I don’t think you should- Sarah!”

She tried to call her back but it was no use and the rest of you could do nothing more but follow Sarah out to the docks. Through the grass and over the wood, about six or so officers formed a line, effectively blocking the entrance as the group of you approached the scene.

“Dad!” Sarah cried, seeing her father’s figure on the third story of The Druther’s.

The officer’s attention turned to you all, holding their hands out to stop you all from going any further when Shoupe’s voice rang.

“That’s Sarah Cameron! Let her through!” He ordered, motioning you all through with one hand as the officers stepped to the side.

“What are you doing here, Sarah?!” Ward called tearfully from the top of his boat. He looked genuinely terrified. 

“Dad, what’re you doing?!” She called from the docks as you all walked behind her, forming a sort of line on the wooden surface, officers on each side.

“Vic, you gotta get her out of here!” Ward’s attention went to Shoupe, pleading with the man. “She can’t be here right now!” He was straining his voice so much, you would think he was about to die, not be arrested.

“Just come on in, and you can talk to her!” Shoupe tried to reason, throwing his arms out in Sarah’s direction, trying to find anyway for Ward to turn himself in.

“Sarah, I’m so sorry, baby,” He continued to cry, going inside of the cockpit for a moment. It looked like he was flipping switches which made the officers weary. “I can’t!” Suddenly, the anchor started to reel itself out of the water.

If they didn’t get any units in the water by now or anytime soon, you feared Ward would get away. Once again.

“What’re you doing?!” Sarah called, stepping closer to the edge of the dock. “Dad, no, no, no!”

“Ward!” Shoupe stepped in, applying more pressure. “This ain’t gonna end the way you want it to!” Your prayers were answered and Shoupe’s warning was proven when four police water units came cruising towards The Druther’s, lights and sirens on display. “You don’t need her seeing this!”

Sarah’s jaw couldn’t close as she eyed each of the approaching boats, one after the other. Anyone within five feet of the girl could hear her labored, stuttering breaths. Just then, Ward started to climb down to the second level of the boat, causing Sarah to cry out once more.

“Dad, don’t leave!” Her voice cracked, at a pitch so high you’d question if it was even her voice. “Where are you going?!”

“I love you!” Ward assured, landing on his feet on the second level deck.

“Hey! Damn it, Ward!” Shoupe cursed. “Turn it around and get back in here!”

“Dad! No!” Sarah cried hysterically, watching as Ward closed himself off in the boat where no one could see him. The four units in the water were closing in on him —where did he plan to go? “Please don’t leave!” Sarah croaked one last time when suddenly the bottom of The Druther’s blew, sending a wave of silence over everyone.

Even the boats in the water slowed, not wanting to get to close to the wreckage as it blew again, each blast getting higher and higher, hitting each story of The Druther’s. Each boom sent each of you back a step, hearing Sarah’s breath hitch was what broke your heart.

You all threw your arms up, shielding yourselves from the debris and shrapnel that was now flying in the air as easily as dust. A thick cloud of dark grey filled the air, metal and other materials floating down into the water as everyone just stared.

It was silent until Sarah started to hyperventilate, a hand on her chest as you watched as her knees began to give out. “No, no.” She struggled to get out, a hand hovering over her throat as she cried. “Dad…dad!” You know someone should’ve helped her or comforted her but it was like none of you could. You were frozen in place, watching the boat go up in flames.

You couldn’t believe this. No, really. You couldn’t. Despite the fire and the smoke and the boat now in pieces, you couldn’t believe the sight in front of you.

Ward was dead?

You were supposed to believe that Ward was dead? 

How could any kind of universe allow him the easy way out? How was that fair?

You didn’t even really notice Topper, who’d appeared out of nowhere but seemingly just on time, catch Sarah just as she fell. You saw it out of you peripheral, but your sights never left that burning boat.

Ward…was dead.

Ward Cameron was dead.

feedback is appreciated! thanks for reading.

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©loveharlow.

[harleehazbinfics]

My Sweet Boy

Lucifer Morningstar x reader (fluff)

Synopsis: Lucifer has a bad day and feels insecure about himself, luckily you were there to comfort him Note: reader plays the ukelele, has 4 arms and taller than Luci. Enjoyyy~ inspired by a song by chevy - sweet boi

You quietly sat on your shared bed strumming lightly your ukelele as Lucifer paced back and forth in front of you, ranting to the little rubber duck in his hands. His rants ranged from how his daughter was doing to whatever plans his ex had while she was gone or how his duck inventions were going and what he wanted to do next.

You plucked the strings in between his rants finding a mellow tune as he confesses.

"I don't think I'm even good enough for you, (name)."

You plucked a string a little bit harsher when you heard what he said. So, he was finally acknowledging the fact that you were also in the room with him. But what the hell did that meant.

"Why do you think so?" you asked starting from the beginning of your melody.

"I don't know?? I just feel worthless all the time. Me and my ex split, my daughter barely calls me, while I'm just in my castle just making toys all the time. I always even wonder how I met someone like you that could like someone like me!" he professes in frustration, plopping on the bed right next to me, rubbing his face and hair in annoyance.

You giggled and reached your hand to fix his hair and caress his face which he immediately enjoyed and latched onto your touch.

"You laughing isn't assuring," he pouted crossing his arms despite his flushed cheeks.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," you apologized still having a smile on your face, "Come here."

You picked him up with your other set of hands and sitting him down on your lap and placing a kiss on his lips.

"I think you're wrong though, there are so many things to love about you," you replied holding his waist. "You're handsome, an incredibly hot blonde."

"So, you're only attracted to my appearance," he gave you a judging raise of an eyebrow. He flips on his head almost immediately and boasted, "Honestly though, all your assumptions are correct. I've extremely good looking."

You laugh at prideful joke earning a smile on his face again, far from the sad and depressed one he had earlier and that was progress, and all you could ever ask for.

"Oh, definitely, love," you agreed with him and continued, "But that's not all that I love about you though. You're sweet, funny, gentle. You have a dangerous habit of taking care of other before yourself, but I think that's what I'm here for. And most of all, you have a heart of gold, Luci. Never forget that."

Lucifer felt his eyes well up with tears as some already fell off his chin, with your gentle hands wiping them away for him giving him a kiss on each eye.

"Thank you, darling. I love you so much and I'll love you until the very end of hell itself," he proclaims pulling you in for a hug and kissing temple.

"So do I, my love," you replied happily in his grasp, basking in each other's warmth. Reminding yourselves that you will never be alone as you both have each other by your side.

[a-headcanon-a-day]

Okay, normal highschool AU pjo, heres who would be who.

Nico would be asleep after first period

Will is the one guy whose really good in music class

Thalia is also really good in music class but not like Will. Will is good with ukeleles and the acoustic guitar and shes the one that can play any and all greenday songs on the drums.

Chiron is the principal and Mr. D is the teacher that genuinely just really hates kids and does NOT want to be there

Annabeth is like the only one taking notes. If not that shes reading, even if the teacher is talking. Nobody tells her to stop reading either.

Percy is the one always asking to copy off peoples notes or homework. Also he was the only one that successfully memorized the water cycle.

Leo is the really loud class-clown except hes different because hes actually funny. Hes also always in the tech lab. And in the ww1-ww2 sections and history he was always trying to figure out how all the bombs and military machines worked. Also he somehow always got hid work done and turned in even though he never paid attention

Hazel is always braiding SOMEONES hair in the back of the class

Piper has all the cool highlighters and spends the majority of class listening to music. She also uses hearts for periods and for like the dots on her i's

Jason is just there. Nobody really knows what hes doing but hes there. That or he was the history nerd.

Grover is the one that always chews on his pencils (ifykyk)

Clarisse is the one getting in another fight every lunch period

Silena is the one who doesnt bring a pencil case school. Only a makeup bag. And everyone loves her for it because she shares and helps people with their makeup.

Rachel is the artist that everyone wants to partner with to do like art projects if that makes sense. Also people are ALWAYS asking her "omg can you drew me!!1!!!1!!1!!!1" (average artist experience)

Reyna is the mom of the group that brings snacks and pencils for everyone.

Frank is the one that knows every fact about every animal.

Lester is the guy that looked like he was too old to be there. He didnt have any friends but sometimes people would talk to him out of pity.

Luke is the one who pretended to like everyone but never did and everyone else pretended to like him but never did

Naomi is the mom that shows up for everything. Assemblys, plays, anything. Shes there

Stoll brothers are he ones that graffiti the bathroom stalls

[box-of-chaooos]

Haven’t seen anyone mention this yet but roger gives so much autistic adhd vibes off.

Think about it, chews metal? Stimming, the little fanny pack he always wears with his camera could be a comfort thing. The constant photos of really random things could be him wanting to remember them and collect them because their interests of his.

If you listen closely he makes little noises in the background little hmms, ohs and eee noises.

The ukelele playing could be stimming or a way to communicate better by making up a song of how he feels or a way to focus better by creating songs on the task he’s doing.

The raptor tentacles? Hello?!! He constantly walks with 2 of his tentacles in a raptor position.

He shakes the maraca when he gets excited about the hardware store and than goes to say he has ANOTHER interest in retail? And he’s interested in the way that the scream pump thingy sunny uses works, knows the whole layout of monsters Inc. hyperfixation?

He doodles on his clipboard with crayons when doing his checklist on ‘leaky leaks’

You can see when he gets paint on him he really frantically tries to get it off this could also be not only him wanting it off because it makes him look guilty but the feeling of sticky dry spray paint on his tentacles makes him uncomfortable hence why he ends up crying in the end he’s overstimulated by the paint and the vandalism and the fact he’s scared of being guilty.

This one’s a stretch but he makes ALOT of facial expressions and seems to move his tentacles when he talks, many autistic and adhd people move their hands and make a lot of facial expressions as means o better communication I know I do

Another stretch take this with a grain of salt here but when he’s eating a donut he chooses the plain one out of all of them, green icing, chocolate icing etc etc he goes for the plain one could be that he prefers plain foods rather than strongly sweet things and him taking really small bites to minimalise how sweet it tastes in his mouth

His optimism and childlike behaviour could be hyperactivity or a trauma coping from his dad or both! I don’t think he doesn’t have trauma not at all poor boy has ptsd for sure the way he shakes when sunny entered says SOMETHING and how quickly he gets up after being knocked out like it was nothing? Sir… what happened to you??

Anyways!! That’s just a speculation and a few little things I noticed that I find similar to me and autistic adhd people in general. Don’t have to agree with me but In my eyes he’s 100% audhd

[foxglovepng]

Random Headcannons 1🌼🥀

Requested: No

CW: Slight mention of drugs & Alcohol in Deuce's, mentions of panic attacks, TW mention of Donut Daddy, Gets a little deep in some of these.

Characters: Heartslabyul

I made some random headcannons to try and get myself back in the writing mood so I hope you like them. If you don't agree that's fine you can scroll and these are just my opinions. <3

I have a fun time writing these and I'm considering posting more headcannons until I finally get the motivation to write more.

Not proofread

🌼

Heartslabyul

Riddle

When it comes to Riddle I have a hard time with him because he is one of my least favorite characters, but in a way I feel for him because the way I describe him is Mommy Issues with a side of anger issues. (Also here his dad at?)

Behind Riddle's back everyone shits on his mom and tries to help Riddle with acknowledging his mom is a bad person and tries to help him see that.

When Riddle get's older I can see him being able to stand up to his mom and will slap back at her (Not physically) he also gets therapy to be able to cope with what she put him through.

A bit more positive, but post NRC Riddle gets a hedgehog and names it Rose or Heart.

Trey

He has personal deep beef with Donut Daddy on tik tok (Don't look him up PLEASE) he literally is that one Euphoria verse when he sees this man. When he got introduced to this man he was like "What the fuck is he doing to those PASTERIES." and now he holds a deep grudge and actively shits on him.

Weird head cannon but Trey is buff because I said so I MEAN LOOK AT HIM at his family's bakery he must be lifting some really heavy stuff right so he has to be buff in some way or another.

Cater

Cater moves around a lot from his father's job and currently resides in the Land of Pyroxene (If I am correct) I feel like it's possible Cater could have met Jack, Vil, and possibly Epel at sometime in his life he either doesn't remember or he does and doesn't mention it.

Cater goes skateboarding and he also knows how to roller skate and has ones with the light up wheels.

He's also very musical and can play the guitar so by this knowledge I am saying he can play Electric, bass, Acoustic, and the ukelele.

"Is that a baton in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" He sung to Trey (It's cannon because I said so)

Deuce

In his delinquent stage he definitely dabbled in drugs & alcohol with his gang (Via Cigarettes and weed). He turned down anything that was super hard although he probably got laced sometime and swore off weed but continued Cigarettes.

Whenever he gets urges to smoke he uses a nicotine patch but that's on rare occasions he chose to be an honor student and he gets panic attacks on occasion from his past as he wants to become better for his mom.

Some more positive headcannons him and Ace play video games a lot together and even though he tries to be an honor student he's still a teenage boy who wants to have fun so sometimes these video game sessions can go very late into the night and they fall asleep during class and start beefing on who's fault it was.

Ace

According to his Phantom Bride Vignette he loves roller coasters and horror movies meaning he probably loves Junji Ito and I will die on that hill. Another thing I want to add is he loves Jojo and different anime's that have a lot of fighting (Jjk, black clover, soul eater, seven deadly sins, demon slayer, castlevania) although I heavily believe his favorite is Jojo. He's an avid TPN and My hero hater.

Another thing someone on tik tok made casual wear sprites and said Ace was a closeted emo he listens to Pierce the Veil because I said so. I also feel like he occasionally goes skateboarding with Cater just to hang out with him.

(Updated on 5/12/24 to change Banner and title)

[catbountry]

Does anybody else remember Pandora? Not the box, or the fictional planet where James Cameron's blue alien cat people live where there's a literal mineral called "unobtanium" that can only be harvested from that particular planet. My man literally called that shit "unobtanium," fucking portmanteau of "unobtainable" and the "-ium" suffix for newer elements. No. That has absolutely nothing to do with anything else I'm writing beyond this point. This is a post about music.

This is a post about the customizable internet radio station Pandora. And also it's going to briefly cover ClickRadio, it's going to talk about my experiences with YouTube Music, Spotify, my own iPod and how I find and listen to music, and how it's a core part of my creative process and I put a bunch of music references in pretty much all of my creative work. None of it being musical, by the way. I can barely carry a tune and I can't play any instruments more complicated than a kazoo.

It also got really long and rambly, look, I'm high, I'm sorry. You've been warned.

It's 2001. I'm in high school. My life looks like this drawing I made a few weeks ago.

Music is a big part of my life. The internet was a lot slower. It would take several minutes to download an .mp3 file of a song that was only about three and a half minutes long, so I would listen to the radio a lot. But the thing about listening tuning into radio is that it's not the internet. You can't pick which song to listen to whenever you want. If you want that, your best bet is to own the songs you want on their physical CD releases, or risk exposing your mom's computer to a million viruses. But in order to skip a song, you have to press a physical button to skip a song. And of course, if you're listening to the radio where you can discover new songs, you can't skip the latest Limp Bizkit or Disturbed track with the vain hope that maybe they'll play "One-Armed Scissor" by At The Drive-In or "Go With the Flow" by Queens of the Stone Age, or any single off of Kid A. Everything you hated the most, hated more than Britney Spears or the Backstreet Boys, was all lumped together under the formless "alternative rock" label, which weirdly included hip-hop artists like Eminem, House of Pain, Beastie Boys, Cypress Hill, Gorillaz and Outkast; all stuff that I guess radio stations looked at and thought "yeah, this can appeal to white people."

You know I heard Dynamite Hack's version of "Boyz N The Hood" before I ever heard Eazy-E's? That should be a crime. That should be considered a human right's violation. Fuck you, Dynamite Hack for introducing the entire world to the concept of ironic hipster covers hip-hop songs which led to the fucking white people with ukeleles versions of Tupac songs. I am so glad that we, as a society, have all come together against these dynamite hacks and decided this was cringe and something that belongs in the past.

But this isn't an essay on awful YouTube music trends of the early 2010's, this is listening to music in the internet age in the early 2000's.

In 2001, ClickRadio launched. It was a desktop application that allowed you to listen to radio stations via the internet, but it had something real radio stations did not; if a song like, say, Dynamite Hack's cover of "Boys N The Hood" came on, you could click a thumbs down button and it would let out this cartoonishly loud "thud" and then that station would never play that song for you again. And if they played a song you really liked? You could click a thumb's up button and it would play that song more often.

I cannot understate how fucking mindblowing an idea this was in the early 2000's. Yes, ClickRadio would slow down your computer as the Neopets Flash games you would play gringing for Neopoints to get a Halloween brush for your Lupe that you named after a member of your favorite band. Anybody else do that?

No? Just me? Okay then.

ClickRadio would quickly get enshittificated, within only about a year or two being filled with more and more unskippable ads. I went back to just loading up MP3s in Winamp and playing music that way by the time I was in college, but it was a pain having to listen to whatever song I had physically on my hard drive, or a few years later, going to YouTube to see if somebody uploaded a crusty version of a NoMeansNo song with a Spanish-speaking DJ speaking in the opening bits of the video. Not ideal.

But then Pandora showed up.

I don't remember where I first heard about Pandora, but after Napster, there were a bunch of music start-ups hoping to be legitimate in the eyes of artists and record labels. Clickradio was just a radio station. But Pandora... was an experiment of The Algorithm.

You see, Pandora started what is known as the Music Genome Project, a way of organizing music into hundreds of different subgenres across five large umbrella genres; Pop/Rock, Hip Hop/Electronica, Jazz, World Music and Classical. What Pandora did was use this as a way to allow users to craft their own custom radio stations. And not only would it play the stuff you liked, but it would be tailored to a seed artist or song; you put in Nirvana, you get a lot of 90's alt rock radio faire, but then maybe it plays Mudhoney. Maybe it plays Sonic Youth. Maybe it plays Melvins, and you like it. And when you give a thumbs up, you hear more and more artists in similar subgenres. And let's say you've been looking into obscure or underground music for years before you start using Pandora, and suddenly you're introduced to artists you never would have come across more organically. And buddy, you'd bet my Pandora station was a fucking hodgepodge of hundreds of seeds, which allowed me to discover highly influential /mu/ core bands like Swans, Animal Collective and Neutral Milk Hotel, but also bands that are so obscure that their Spotify listens are in the lower four digits at maximum and maybe a couple tens of thousands of views on YouTube. So many songs I found through Pandora are from bands that I very rarely hear a lot of people talk about, but they've made songs that have just lived in my brain for decades.

And for a couple years, I'd be listening to Pandora radio while writing up new TF2 fanfiction to terrorize TF2chan with. Certain songs would come up so often because I specifically bookmarked them. I didn't really know a lot about shoegaze before Pandora, but now I own a physical copy of all three of Slowdive's albums, and you fucking bet "When the Sun Hits" was in heavy rotation while I was writing Respawn of the Dead.

Yes, this was playing while I was writing out Respawn of the Dead, chapter by chapter. And so was "Beautiful Plateau" by Sonic Youth, "The Sound" by Swans, "Dead Flag Blues" by Godspeed You! Black Emperor and "End of the Line" by Murder By Death. And also this song by a band called The Clock Work Army, which split up and reformed into another band called Calico Horses, and I know this because I found this out while trying to track down a song that would play constantly on my Pandora station and it has, as of writing this sentence, 2,588 listens. And it might have more by the time you read this because I might just put it on loop because oh my god, I love this song so much, it hits so perfect for me, why don't more people know about this song?

It's not on YouTube, where I usually tend to listen to music, since I'll go through a rotation of songs that I call "work songs." I put on music while I write, and some songs are just so perfect that I can listen to them on loop with a very select number of songs that just never, ever get old for me. My neurons in my brain light up as though I was hearing it again for the first time.

Swans, Sigur Ros and The Dillinger Escape Plan are all artists who I found through Pandora that I've had the privilege to see live. By the time I was just discovering bands because I had a bunch of friends and mutuals with similar taste in music to mine, Pandora was slowly getting more and more ads. It was getting to the point where the free service would, if you were lucky, play only three or four songs before playing an ad. And when the length of those songs can span anywhere from less than three minutes for much of my beloved 80's and early 90's punk, to up to a half an hour for post-rock, noise, or ambient music. And the number of ads that played between songs had increased. What was just one every half an hour or so was now two to three for what could potentially be only after seven minutes of music. Pandora really doesn't like it if the music you like includes a lot of songs that are longer than an episode of The Simpsons.

I never hear anybody talk about Pandora anymore. Spotify is THE name in internet music streaming, and it favors listens of entire albums and other people's playlists. I don't like Spotify; sometimes I just want a specific song from a specific album. I could make a playlist of these "work songs," but I like when YouTube notices that I'm listening to music, and in the recommendeds, there's another song that I've listened to on repeat. Why yes, I would like you to play "Classical Homicide" by Dälek for me again. What's that? An hour loop of Deadmau5's "Professional Griefers" featuring Gerard Way? Yes please. I apologize for nothing. That dude's way better than Skrillex.

God, do you guys remember the Deadmau5/Skrillex shipping that was all over Tumblr in the early 2010's. I remember it. I remember it so hard. Everybody shipping them and the members of Daft Punk, posting Steam Powered Giraffe (blech) and Die Antwoord (lol) on my dashboard. In Die Antwoord's defense, they had some pretty funny music videos.

I got AdBlocker for YouTube, so the ads aren't a problem there. I mean, I could make a playlist for Spotify of my go-to songs, but I'd have to deal with ads. And there's something nice about YouTube's robots that sell my precious data to faceless corporations at least having the courtesy to be like "You look like you could use another stream of 'Anything (Viva!)' by Foetus. Or Scraping Foetus off the Wheel. Or... whatever, fuck it, it's J.G. Thirwell's band, okay? It's the guy that does the music for Venture Brothers."

Foetus was introduced to me through a friend but it was Pandora serving me up more of their music that made their albums "nail" and "Flow" ones that got the honor of Being Downloaded onto my iPod so I can Listen to This in my Car. I still use my iPod and even if there's albums that I haven't gone back to in years on there, I like having them there. I haven't listened to the soundtrack for Panty and Stocking in ages but having access to it so that I can FLY AWAY NOW, FLY AWAY NOW, FLY AWAAAYYYY on a long drive? I like having that option.

I still buy CDs so I can burn albums onto my iPod. My iPod doesn't have ads and switching between artists doesn't mean I have to flip through a CD binder. I also try to buy albums off of Bandcamp. Especially for smaller artists, or artists whose work I love enough to want to give them my money. I don't want to listen to ads. It throws off my workflow, shakes me out of the trance-like state that is pure, focused creativity. Whether it's working on comics or thinking about things I want to do in those comics, I'm usually listening to music. Sometimes the same album, hundreds of times over. I admit I haven't listened to that much King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, but I've listened to Nonagon Infinity front to back more times than I can count.

Nowadays it feels like I don't have a lot of friends who share my taste in music. I've so fully entrenched myself in fandom circles that I've been exposed to the average person's taste in music and I'm like "oh yeah, most people aren't as big of a fucking nerd about this as you are." You know how hard it is to get people who aren't music nerds to get into The Residents? Everybody I know that likes them already knew about them before we met, and people who had never heard of them before they met me usually find them deeply weird and never get fucking obsessed with them like I have. I own a physical copy of, not their original version of their album The King and Eye, which is an entire album of them covering Elvis that sounds like this, but the fucking remix of that album that does shit like this to their covers of Elvis songs. And you know what? I love both versions, but that remix of their cover of "Surrender" is a work song.

Listening to music is the only way I can guarantee that I'm actually working on something and not playing with my phone. I guess what I'm saying is... it sure would be nice if Pandora existed like it did back then right now.

Especially because I stopped cleaning up a page of my horrible Deltarune fan comic (MASSIVE Dead Dove warning, not even kidding, the entire story hinges on some very upsetting topics) just to write all this down and make sure there were links to every song in this essay. And like... I've even used the comic as a not-so-clandestine way into tricking them into listening to my music before. Whether it be directly namedropping bands and songs, writing about a specific character's taste in music and using that in the story somehow, or literally just making the title of one of my comic installments... this.

It is really good. 686 listens on YouTube. Absolutely criminal. And the example above? That's me not putting in hundreds of references into the comic and wondering if anybody else has noticed them.

I guess what I'm saying is that I am a huge music nerd, even though I always feel like I'm getting into artists super late (unless they're like Death Grips, but that was only after The Money Store had come out), but I fucking hate Spotify. I want more physical releases that can be preserved digitally, and I don't have the money to get into collecting vinyls as a hobby. All the vinyl I own is toys, and uh... I own a lot of those.

Thank you for reading through pure, uncut music autism mixed in with nostalgia and griping about capitalism because that's apparently where my head is at all the time when I'm not daydreaming my little stories or making up video essays in my head that will never be made. That's why I do stream of consciousness Tumblr essays full of minute details that absolutely are not necessary, but this is how my goddamn ADHD brain works. Now you know what it's like to be in my Discord server.

That post is, of course, pinned in the music channel.

As it should be.

... Fuck Pandora, I don't even fuck with it no more, I miss Grooveshark, weh, my playlist on that site was eight hours long before they shut it down in 2014. Devastated. I was in the middle of using it when it went offline.

Okay now I'm done for real, sorry.

[reynayahhoo]

Gimvvvv e me somme caaindle cove headcaonins 🙏🏾

i don't have much headcanons since i only started making them when i saw this ask but here! (also assigning almost everyone an instrument bcs instruments are cool)

Earl Of Wax :

-Can probably play a round of chess for hours and not be bored (Proceeds to say “The best of British to you" in the beginning which means goodluck and then proceed to be silently angry when he loses)

-Aggressively british/hj

-Big classical music lover (Kind of canon?)

-BALD UNDER THAT FEDORA/j/j/j

-When saying certain things he either sounds confusing or threatening to others bcs of how fancy he talks when in reality he's just requesting a simple harmless thing (And because hes an actual scary man)

-idk dudes an evil british earl and I don't know what evil british earls do

-Would've been absolutely cracked at Shotgun king : the final checkmate if the game existed back then😔

-Can play the cello but he rarely does

Janice :

-Drew on walls when she was much younger maybe she still does

-Likes honey because honey is awesome

-Plays the recorder

-idk I don't got anymore but I'll think about it later😞🙏

Sunny :

-Loves plants probably had a garden at some point

-Had a pet cactus she named Spikes (Spikes fell into the water at some point and that made her really sad) also never told anyone in her crew that the cactus ment alot to her so when spikes went missing she tried to toughen up but once the crew leaves she goes back to being sad

-Really good at aiming🔥🔥🙏

-She likes braiding and stylizing wigs in her free time and then tries them on

-Acts tough around her own crew and other pirates but probably really sweet towards other people (when none of her crew is watching that is)

-Plays the ukelele ^u^

-idk she's very awesome cool and awesome😙

Milo :

-idk I don't like you milo😡

-Flipped the table when he lost a game of chess to Poppy

-HE DOESN'T GET AN INSTRUMENT.

Dr. Heartfelt :

-Love this dude anyways he can crochet and probably has crocheted something for Janice at one point!

-don't have more atm :(

-Can play the violin :D (Violinist)

That's it for now!! sorry if i mischaracterized anyone if i did please tell me where i did wrong cuz im still kinda new to making headcanons especially for Candle Cove character's :'D

[holiday-7]

POV: Meteora confronts Solaria (this isn't apart of the AU, I just did this for fun)

Meteora: Solaria. I have a question for you. Solaria: (rolls her eyes) What is it? Meteora: Why did you not help Mina when she was literally getting trampled by a dark magic warnicorn? Solaria: Because I realized that what I spent my life doing was wrong. And I want Mina to realize that, too. She spent pretty much her whole life acting like a racist piece of shit. Meteora: But, didn't you make her that way? Solaria: Look, she didn't have to become a Solarian Warrior if she didn't want to. If anything, I feel like she could've just left when she had the chance to. Nobody said that she had to pledge her allegiance to me. Jushtin: You know what? I've had enough of this shit. The fact that you wanna sit here and act like you're so goddamn self-righteous is actually fucking beyond me. And the fact that you say that your family mattered more to you than Mina is also beyond me. Because it seemed like you barely even cared about Eclipsa when she was a kid. And you would've especially not have approved of Meteora a couple hundred years ago. But now, you wanna switch up? Shut the actual fuck up, bitch. In my personal opinion, you just didn't wanna hold yourself accountable for your actions. So, you just put all the blame on Mina and the other Solarian Warriors. and on top of that, you actually fucking thought that me getting married was gonna help you get more people on your side? Bitch, please tell me you're fucking joking. Because no one in Spiderbite Kingdom likes you. And I especially want you to understand that you're gonna have to live with the shitty things you did for the rest of your fucking life. You wanna know what your fucking problem is? You want you and everyone else to think of yourself as the good guy. Well, I know you better than anyone, and I can tell you that you're not. In fact, I feel like you'd probably sleep a lot better at night if you just admitted to yourself that you're a selfish goddamn coward who just takes whatever she wants and doesn't give a shit about who she hurts in the process. That's you. That's Solaria Butterfly. You wanna act like you're so self-righteous for not helping Mina. But you did her wrong. And no one in this family is ever going to forgive you for the shit you've done to us. Now, leave right the fuck now. Go even learn how to play the ukelele while you're at it. I mean, you're gonna have to apologize somehow.

[deepdeanvsweston]

Hi 1,8,9,16,21 and 28 for the mmu ask game please! (I couldn't decide which ones to pick 😭 sorry there's so many I don't mind if you don't do all of them). I love your blog so much !

DON'T APOLOGISE I adore doing them! And thankyou that's very kind!!! I loved your clothes headcannons

1. Favourite character

BERTIE WELLS. I love the fact he's like the most misery filled man in the entire book series, and yet. he plays a little ukelele. Goes through some heart wrenching stuff and then immediately strums away the pain on the tiniest little instrument known to humanity. Silly king

8. Favourite sibling

You might think I would say Bertie Wells, but specifically from a sibling point of view, Harold is my favourite. I've definitely built him up out of hcs, but out of these I think he's the most wonderful brother. Robin Stevens please more Harold and George please

9. Detective Society or Junior Pinkertons

This is so tough,,, how could I put this in and do this to myself. On one hand we've got the unhinged, sapphic, parental issues to the max Hazel and Daisy and then on the other hand we have logical thinking in every aspect except love George and Alex. Right at this moment I choose Detective Society, but 100% liable to change at any given second

16. Favourite noncanon ship

DO NOT GET ME STARTED!!! I have so many. My favourite favourite favourite is probably George x Alexander, though when writing this I actually briefly forgot they weren't canon.

I would also like to give a shoutout to Lavinia x Daisy,,, they live in my head rent free

21. Set of characters who you'd love to see interact

Beanie and George 🥹 I actually have a hc where they begin to live together after her mother gets ill. They do know each other, because George mentions her a lot in The Body In The Blitz and calls her Beans, but they never meet on page!!!

28. Favourite George moment

Please may I pick 2,,, when he says 'dear Alexander' and when he calls Beanie 'Beans' <3 <3 <3

[daeyeol4you]

The Chay Rewatch Ep 9

Ep 1 & 2, Ep 3, Ep 4, Ep 5, Ep 6, Ep 7, Ep 8

Ep 9 - Kim is so whipped while somehow still being emotionally constipated

Time: 10:22 – 12:11 – songwriting boy

Kim’s Outfit: An olive-green jacket, a white shirt, and the return of the white pants

Why does no guitar in this show have a guitar strap?

Chay’s song breaks Kim’s writing block, Kim’s written tons of music before, but now Chay is becoming his muse, taking over the one outlet Kim allows himself

The emotional shutdown Kim forces himself through once he realizes how happy even the memory of Chay is making him. He can’t allow himself to be weak because any attachment to Chay is a weakness, but even that fails because immediately he’s back to smiling while he plays

Kim is so inspired to write even while he’s very clearing trying to cut Chay out of his brain, he’s trying to write his feelings out so he can go back to being cold, untouchable Kim

Korn really did screw up all of his sons emotionally – commitment issues to spare

Time: 29:46 – Macau Spotting

Macau scaring the absolute shit out of Pete, what a little shit

Macau’s Outfit: Another sweater vest with orange and blue stripes with tan pants and white shoes

Macau and Vegas definitely planned this, and Macau is so happy to be causing mischief

Wingman Macau you will always be famous

Macau going on and on about the sermon to tease Pete only to fall asleep immediately, what a mood

Time: 39:24 – 40:03 – the guitar pick!

Not me immediately trying to analyze all of the details of Chay’s room

There’s a bottle of milk on his desk – again I’m sorry I laughed this is a funny bit

The towers of CDs behind Chay speak to how Chay isn’t just into music because its fun, he’s put a lot of effort into appreciating music

The ukelele is cute

He has a jar of I think paper stars on his back shelf – I only mention this because there are a number of different meanings to lucky paper stars but the one I know best is that if you fold either 1,000 or 2,000 (depending on the tale) you can get a wish (you also can give the stars to someone you love) I also know some do it for luck – which Chay has interesting thoughts about luck as we know

Chay creating the guitar pick with his own two hands – my art kid Chay agenda is so real

Chay’s outfit: I’m 99% sure that Chay is wearing a Geto (from Jujutsu Kaisen) shirt. Chay anime fan confirmed

Geto is an antagonist from Jujutsu Kaisen, and I view him as a tragic figure who was once good but due to the evils of his job and the abuse he saw, turned evil. Later on, his body becomes a vessel for further evil

Chay’s friend is named Ohm! I so forgot about this bit I won’t lie

Chay really had been hoping it was Kim. He may have left the next step up to Kim, but he’s still so hopeful that Kim doesn’t leave him behind. He’s for sure getting impatient about it and is planning his next move on his target – sorry crush!

Chay ignoring Ohm draws up a lot of my ideas about how private Chay is about everything. He allows others to see just the surface of everything going on with him, but he tends to be very private about his thoughts and interests. Its not a lack of confidence. I just think he learned early on that sometimes speaking up about everything can be a burden (particularly in his relationship with Porsche) you have to work to get his more internal thoughts

And Chay chooses this! At any point he could put down the guitar pick and answer his friend’s invite, who probably knows something is up with Chay just not what. He’s very tunnel-visioned when he chooses a path, but he doesn’t feel the need to tell anyone else that

Chay doesn’t hide or lie about his emotions and thoughts usually. He just doesn’t always say them out loud. There’s a difference trust me

Time: 49:48 – 53:04 – Chay’s version of gift giving

Chay’s Outfit: a grey crewneck with white and blue paint splatters over a black shirt with the same pendant from the song scene

Kim’s outfit: a studded black leather jacket paired with a white shirt and blue jeans. His necklace this time is a blend of two different chain types (partly made of safety pins I think?) with his regular silver earrings and rings

Chay breaking into the rehearsal space – child I was just praising you for leaving the ball in Kim’s court, please stop waving red flags! You are such a concerning young man

Chay is so cute no wonder Kim is okay with the stalking, also who is this friend Chay keeps getting this info from (please just be stan twitter please that’d be so funny)

I love how this scene gets presented from behind the glass of the recording booth, the slow zoom-in on the two as the scene progresses

Kim’s calm responses to this are so dynamic when placed next to Chay’s which are full of excitement and nerves

Gosh the zoom-in when Chay presents the box – beautiful

“This is limited edition. You’ve got the only one piece in the world.” – how long do you think its been since Kim received a genuine, heartfelt gift like this?

Compare this gift to Kim and the guitar. Kim bought an incredibly expensive guitar for Chay, but it was to buy his way into the house. There was more manipulation than thought put into that gift

Whereas Chay made that pick himself adding even greater meaning to the gift. Chay isn’t trying to manipulate Kim, he’s genuinely just staying true to himself by confessing and giving Kim the pick as thanks. Chay’s always been upfront about his emotions and intentions with Kim which is very refreshing

of course Chay passed - he's very talented

“From now on I won’t have any excuse to see your face.” “Can I bother you one last time?” – that’s such a cute statement, plus it also goes to show that Chay gets that Kim is trying to cut him off and will accept it after he says his piece (Chay respects boundaries! I am ignoring his stalking for right now!)

I love Chay’s fidgeting here, very genuine and doesn’t feel forced

KIM’S FACE WHEN CHAY SAYS HE LIKES HIM! He knew but was not prepared for Chay to actually say it

Chay’s rambling about making an oath with himself – he is so good! He is so emotionally healthy & confident! (I am ignoring the red flags about his stalking right now!)

I know some people were disappointed about never getting a ‘real’ kiss, but I like this cheek kiss. Chay’s still young compared to Kim, and Kim holds a lot of power as his tutor as well as how many secrets he’s keeping from Chay. A kiss on the lips would have been marred by that and would have been uncomfortable when looked back on. This kiss works for them, it's sweet and it’s a foundation for the two of them to build on

During this scene, there’s this large empty space between Kim and Chay. Chay stays respectfully away until Kim breaks the divide and kisses him. It was always going to be up to Kim to choose what to do next

THE MUSIC!! THE HUGS!! – Kim is so not a hugger, but for Chay he lets it happen, twice! This is the same man we see bullying bodyguards and murdering people! The duality of man indeed

Shoutout to Tankhun for his open and honest defense of Porsche – truly a man who knows that open communication is necessary (unlike his brothers)

Overall Chay Rating (Chrating) – A

This ep definitely goes everywhere, but we get a good amount of KimChay development as well as a Macau appearance. I’m glad we got solo scenes from Kim & Chay before they saw each other as it laid the groundwork for the confession scene, very well plotted. Chay being so truthful to himself as well as Kim’s emotional breakthrough was very refreshing

[libbys-braincell-loss]

I said i would do it before, but since tonights opening night, heres a list of funny things my cast and crew do for the show Puffs that i find really endearing and awesome :))

!!spoilers ahead!!

Act 1

Most if the time, when the Narrator (me) is not onstage, i sit in a little nook on either side of the stage, where i read books, play with a badger plush or my pet pygmy puff (also a plush), write things down, etc. I like to hc that the nook is in the Room of Requirement :) also dw i do get moments where i go backstage and take a break

Wayne wears a jersey with a W on it at the start of the play, it becomes important later

Leanne wears a colorful tutu!

Oliver has a pair of gold glasses

Oliver is from Baltimore, much to his discontent

Snape is played by the same guy who does Ernie Mac, J finch is played by the same guy who does Uncle Dave, and Hannah is played by the same person who does Voldy. Its real funny watching them switch characters

The sorting hat is big fortune teller. I think that was used for a version of the show somewhere else but its so goddamn funny

The training wand Professor McG gives to Oliver is one of those colorful toy wands with glitter and fluid inside that makes it all sparkly

For Professor Turban, he has those red finger lights as Voldy on the back of his turban. One rehearsal they fell on the floor and broke it was really funny

The sorcerers stone that Megan throws to the narrator is just a rock the director found outside. Its really heavy, our stage manager is supposed to paint it red (idk we found the rock yesterday. The rock we usually use fell on the stage and shattered so yeah cant use that anymore rip)

Wayne does a silly robot dance when he mentions Robocop right before meeting Ginny

Ginny is played by our student assistant director, who is a redhead. It couldnt be any other way man she had to be Ginny

Wayne is really tall. Oliver and Megan are around the same size but Wayne towers over them threateningly

When Harry and Ron Mop have a fight and Oliver tries to calm Ron Mop down, at the end Oliver yells at him "How come you get to kiss Emma Watson?!"

Real Mr. Moody has a flask for his potion, like in the series

Cedric wears heart pattern boxers during the bathroom scene. He used to be shirtless but we decided to give him a tanktop cuz it was very weird

The bathroom has a sweet lil ballet segment and we get huge bubble wands!

During the lake watching scene, J Finch falls asleep and starts snoring

Also during that same scene, Leanne panics about the lake and hides her head, then peeks her head out and says "is it gone?"

Viktor is capable of breakdancing!! They do an epic breakdance after the second task!

Each character in the three wizard tournament has a theme song - Frenchy has a french accordian song, Viktor has epic breakdancing music, Cedric has an epic rock and roll guitar riff, and Harry has a silly ukelele song that sounds like a Kevin Macleod song

Cedric and Waynes interaction right before the third task is so wholesome yet heartbreaking

Right before the intermission, i cast a spell to close the curtain

Act 2

Wayne finding out Cedric is dead is the most heartbreaking thing ive ever witnessed. The actor playing him is real silly dude but he got the emotions spot on and i applaud him for it

Ernie and Hannahs sign for "no being too sad" is not all that heavy, but the two actors play it like its the heaviest thing in the planet

J Finch's fav jellybean flavor changes every night. Some of my personal favs of things he has said: "Thermal paste", "plastic", "jellybean flavor", "oh man i forgot what it was, it was really good tho"

When Ernie Mac is fake bullying Hannah so she knows the difference, Ernie says "your face looks like he-whose-name-we-cannot-legally-say" which is funny for 2 reasons: 1, Hannah and Voldy share an actor, and 2, we cant say Voldemort cuz copyright

When J Finch starts "going to the petrified place" after Wayne yells at him, Ernie Mac punches J Finch and yells at him that he cant be too sad

Every single time during the Oliver and Megan kiss scene, Oliver gets Megan's dark lipstick on his face. It is hilarious

When I throw the year 5 book (which is really heavy) to the stage manager, she has decided she would make a new reaction every night. Examples: "hey! Big books hurt!" "You throw like a Puff, AND I MEAN THAT NEGATIVELY!" "The actors are attacking!! Run, stage crew! Run! *slams the door behind them*"

Voldy has a green swim cap and tape on his nose.

When Voldy is giving one of his death buddies a show of affection, midway through he says "i hope you're loving this as much as i am", to which the poor death buddy responds "i hate it 😥"

Oliver and Megan are holding hands while Wayne is asking about grades. Wayne gets sick of it and forces himself between them, breaking their holding hands

Zac Smith is hilarious. Hes played by the same guy who did Cedric before he died in act 1. Zac Smith has so many stupid stories, like one about how he ate a magic muffin, turned into a muffin, and watched his friend who also got turned into a muffin get eaten. Another one is how he watched a magic VHS of the movie Shrek, and the donkey appeared in his home, and he was so annoying that Zac cooked him, and every day he waits for the dragon to come kill him. Most recent one was when he watched a magic VHS of a Midsummer Nights Dream, and had his head turned into a donkey, and was jealous that the donkey man is getting more bitches than him, so Zac decides he'll make his own movie - Zac Smith: the Hot Donkey. I always break character during that scene istg

The actor for Xavia is fantastic. She got that evil dumb mom vibe we needed

Right when Wayne sees Sally Perks leaning in for the kiss, Wayne quickly puts on chapstick and pops his lips. Why, i have no idea but its funny

Megan being torn about whether she should kill her friends or miss this opportunity to be with her mom is absolutely heartbreaking it is so sad :(

During the flashback to when Xavia got recruited, Voldy does the worm and Xavia aggressively flips her hair all over the place.

Voldy canonically does a Jack Sparrow run

Apparently Wayne dances during the flashback scene?? I had never noticed that i need to see that tonight lmao

Xavia struggling to open the doors is so fun. When she gives up she runs into the house, still yelling that she'll be back. Its so golden

The Headmaster falls into the pit for his death. The actor just lays in the pit for the rest of the show until the final important headmaster moment

I have never cried inside harder to a story of how Oliver turned his parents heads into oranges. The scene is so good and emotional :((

Bippy is peak comedy. Bippy is love. Bippy is life. Bippy sprints to the back of the auditorium and its the funniest shit ever

Voldy does amazing crowdwork ngl. He be asking what the difference between witches and wizards are, what the deal with British food is, and what is the purpose of boy bands (they make him want to run the other direction), it gets to the point where the Assistant Director has to take his megaphone away

All the deaths are so sad. I dont really see them all cuz im offstage during the war but when i do catch them its so sad

When Oliver returns hes wearing his scarf like a bandana. You go Karate Kid

Sally drops her glasses before her death. She funbles on the ground trying to find them

When J Finch dies, Ernie cradles him in his arms and its really sad

Bippys death goes on for like years. She just refuses to die until the songs done. Its very funny dear god

Waynes death hurts man

When Wayne arrives at the very white room two guys are holding up a white blanket and they have angel costumes on.

When the Headmaster says "see for yourself" Cedric appears and hands him a Puff scarf. I cant 😭😭😭

Voldy also falls into the pit for his death.

When i show up again as Megan and Olivers child, Wayna, i wear Waynes W jersey he had at the start of the play 😭

"Whether you're a Brave, a Smart, or a... child who vapes in the school bathrooms..."

When Oliver asks Wayna what 3 × 4 is, i act like i know how to solve it. "Oh i got this, 3 times 4, 3 groups of 4, 3 + 3 + 3 +3 is.... i dont know :)"

When i sit in the stool, Waynes arm hands me the Puff scarf. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

During Curtain Call, we all be doing a silly dance. Im dancing with Megan and Oliver, and Wayne runs on to crash the party like he does in play lmao

ALRIGHT THATS ALL

I HOPE YOU LIKED IT THANKS FOR READING MY 12 PARAGRAPH ESSAY

[thereareeyesinsidethetrees]

are you still taking asks? If so what’s your favorite (can be many if you want) Ford headcanon? No pressure to answer! hope you’re doing well :)

hi hello :) thank you for the ask! (im still working on the other one you sent- sorry its taking so long!)

(let me know if i need to tag any other warnings for this!)

my absolute favorite ford headcanon would probably be that he's got a ton of scars! it's something thats gotten me really confident with my own scars so i really like when people draw a bunch of scars on him

some other favorites are that he knows how to play piano (he makes up his own songs for it) and violin, and that hell play music for/with stan every now and again (stan plays ukelele). also that he helps stan get better at art and that they just draw together sometimes

theres some darker (? not entirely sure the right term here) headcanons that i really like, such as him struggling with eating and mental health. one of my favorite fics is about him starting to recover from his eating problem and i just like whenever other fics make note of it

my favorite headcanons that werent just stolen from other people are also pretty dark- and also directly tied to a headcanon that was stolen so idk

anyway, im a fan of the idea that ford died (probably more than once) during weirdmaggedon and was brought back each time by bill.

my personal headcanons are that he left behind a separate ghost for every death and that they stick around after weirdmaggedon, and that hes still technically dead by weird universe terms. so hes really cold all the time and vultures will follow him around sometimes.

recently ive added that ravens, crows, blackbirds, jackdaws, rooks, loons, and seagulls will also follow him around and even perch on him sometimes. birds a lot of people usually associate with horror, except theyre just hanging out around ford and keeping him company instead of doing anything evil. hes got bird friends :)

the seagulls are because i think itd be funny if stan was constantly having to shoo them off ford while they were sailing around the world

[sketchingnerdart]

MUSIC?!?!

What kind of music do you make what do you play fjdjdfkskf

AHHH YOU CAUGHT THAT IN MY RAMBLINGS LMAO

Yeah, I sing a lot and know how to play a little bit of piano and the ukelele. I make small covers and do little gigs from time to time! I used to have a YouTube channel, but I rarely post on it. But I’ve been thinking of posting covers or potential new songs again! We’ll see though since I don’t have the equipment to record songs that well.

I’m also just not good at staying active so that’s another thing lol

[archduchessofnowhere]

Do you have anymore info on Elisabeth's hofdame Helene of Thurn and Taxis? If I google her, I only get Helene in Bavaria, Sisi's sister, but she married into the Thurn and Taxis family in 1858 when the other Helene supposedly began to serve (*cough* what a conincidence). But I also can't find that Helene among the sisters-in-law, so I am curious who she is.

Very little, but yes. The problem with this lady, as you noticed, is that she often gets mixed up with Elisabeth's sister, but they were two completely different people (even the Austrian National Library has a picture of this Princess Helene identified as Helene in Bavaria).

Princess Helene of Thurn und Taxis, by Ludwig Angerer, circa 1865 (Wien Museum).

Marie Helene Sophie was born in 1836 as the third child and second daughter of Prince Friedrich Hannibal of Thurn und Taxis and his wife Countess Maria Antonia Aurora Batthyány. The Thurn und Taxis family was huge, Helene belonged to the Bohemian branch funded in the late 18th century, so she was only distantly related to Nené's husband (they were like third cousins). We know little to nothing about her life, only that she served Elisabeth as a hofdame since 1858 until her marriage to Count Wolgang Kinsky in 1871. She probably got her position because her father, who died in 1857, had been the empress' Oberhofmeister (nepo baby). She was part of the retinue that accompanied the Empress to Madeira and Corfu in 1860-1861, and was one of the ladies in this "scandalous" photo taken in Madeira:

Helene is the lady sitting in the left corner, standing behind her is Lily Hunyady, sitting next is Elisabeth, and besides her is Mathilde Windisch-Graetz (via ÖNB).

Now you may be wondering, what's so scandalous about this picture? Well, that people at this time thought that Elisabeth was literally dying. When she left Vienna her illness was considered so grave that it was believed she wouldn't survive. And then this photo pops out: the dying empress happily playing an ukelele, enjoying the fresh air with her ladies. Wasn't she sick? Why does she look like she's just having some nice vacations? Suddenly the trip to Madeira looked less like a journey for health issues and more like a flight from Vienna.

Historian Egon Corti quoted in his biography of the empress some of the letters Helene wrote when they finally returned to Vienna, and they paint an interesting portrait of the state of the imperial couple when they reunited (Corti doesn't date this letter):

Now we have her back in this country, just as we had two years ago; yet how many things lie between — Madeira, Corfu, and a world of troubles. . . . She [Empress Elisabeth] was received with an enthusiasm such as I had never heard before in Vienna. On Sunday there is to be a choir festival [Liedertafel] and a torchlight procession at which fourteen thousand people have expressed their intention of being present. His [Emperor Franz Josef] expression as he helped her out of the carriage I shall never forget. I find her looking blooming, but her expression is not natural, it is as forced and nervous as it can be, her color so high that she looks overheated, and though her face is no longer swollen, it is much thickened and changed. The fact that Prince Karl Theodor [Elisabeth's brother] accompanied her proves how much she dreads being alone with him and all of us...

Another letter Helene wrote from the Schönbrunn on September 15, 1862:

She does not seem at all anxious to let us attend her now (...) She walks and drives out a great deal with His Majesty, but when he is not here she stays alone here in the part of the garden at Reichenau which is closed to the public. However, God be praised, she is at any rate at home, and inclined to remain here ; that is the main thing. She is very nice to him — before us, at least — talkative and natural, though alla camera there may be many differences of opinion — that is often plainly to be seen. She looks splendidly, quite a different woman, with a good color, strong and brown; she eats properly, sleeps well, does not tight-lace any more, and can walk for hours, but when she stands there is a vein in her left foot which throbs. The Queen of Naples [Elisabeth's sister] does not look well — that household seems to be going badly.

A bit of a side note, but allegedly Queen Marie of Naples was pregnant with an illegitimate child at this time, and gave birth only a month later. Now I wonder, wouldn't they have noticed if she was eight months pregnant? Like is it even physically possible to cover up that with a corset?

Continuing with her letters, the last one Corti quotes is this one she wrote to Countess Caroline Wimpffen, née Countess Lamberg, who married in 1860 and therefore left service before the trip to Madeira:

I can only congratulate you upon not having had to go through these two years of martyrdom with us. Now we are settled in Schönbrunn, and the thought that we are ‘settled for good somewhere’ [in English in the original] seems quite strange. It was hard for her to give up her recent traveling about, and I quite understand this. When one has no inward peace, one imagines that it makes life easier to move about, and she has now grown too much accustomed to this. For the rest, Helene [Elisabeth’s sister] is coming here for a fortnight while the Emperor is away hunting, for he will not give that up... She still exerts a calming influence, for she is so sensible and orderly herself and tells her the truth. She [Elisabeth] went out riding at Reichenau, and has done so here once at seven in the morning, alone with Holmes. The walk has naturally become a gallop, but she does not want to trot yet. She simply refuses to let herself be accompanied by Grünne [former First General Adjuntant, now Master of the Horses] and Königsegg [Elisabeth's Oberhofmeister]. The former has been entirely ignored and avoided so far. Otherwise, thank God, things are going on well... I believe, indeed, that she has moments of despair, but nobody can laugh like her, or has such childlike whims. She says herself that it is not unpleasant to her to see us occasionally, but it is odious to her to have us in waiting...

We have, however, one last letter, this one quoted by author Joan Haslip in her biography The Lonely Empress. Helene wrote it to archduchess Valerie's former British governess Mary Throckmorton, whom she had befriended during her time at the Viennese court:

This year brings good news. Our beloved Empress has graciously condescended to appear once more at a great rout at the Burg. Although in deep mourning, everybody tells me that she looked as grand and gracious as ever, and had a kind word for everyone of the numerous people who were presented to her. Her face, though still handsome, tells of the pain and sorrow she has gone through, and the sadness in her eyes brought tears into those of all who were present. One is so thankful for the great effort she imposed on herself.

As always Haslip doesn't cite her source however in the foreword she thanks Sir Robert Throckmorton for giving her access to Mary's unpublished letters and journals, so I assume that is where she got this letter from. She doesn't date it but it's from the 1890s.

Helene died in 1901, aged 65-years-old, of what I couldn't find. She had outlived her husband by almost sixteen years.

Sources:

Corti, Egon Conte (1936). Elizabeth, empress of Austria

Haslip, Joan (1965). The Lonely Empress: a biography of Elizabeth of Austria

Helene Prinzessin von Thurn und Taxis, on Geni

[tinytinybumblebee]

oooh! so strange how they just ended off ofmd at ep 6... i wonder why??? so strange, but i have random hcs on what the kiddos on the revenge would fixate on!! (+ ages too!! :>)

Eddie (ages 1 - 4): squids, dolls and beaches

- squids: oooh, eddie just loves squids!! mostly because mama stede calls him 'little squid', and that he finds them so silly! they just swim in such a strange way? eddie wants to try!! so now he swims like a squiddy XD and he reads lots of books about fishies and squids ;u; (and him and fang and izzy are all just sitting around each other and info dumping about each others favorite sea creatures ;u;)

- dolls: it was one day when he saw a vintage doll sitting on a shelf while the crew was out getting supplies at land. and he got super duper small, like he wanted the dolly. and mama stede ofc saw this and brought it for eddie, and then as a little surprise before bed, boom!! that same doll eddie stared at all that time ago!! now he carries it everywhere whenever he's tiny, and he dresses her into different outfits (that mama stede sewed up for him, because he wanted the same outfits mama stede had for his doll ;u;)

- beaches: oooh! i know he loves those beaches!! just sitting on the soft sand on a hot summers day really gets eddie all fuzzy and small :> (and as a kiwi living in nz, i feel as to say he would love the beaches here :>)

Izzy (ages 0 - 3): dress up, singing and whales

- dress up: oooh, he definitely got this from mama stede. but especially after ep 6, singinf with wee john all dressed up and had all that pretty makeup on, ooh!! now its a normal thing to dress up and wear such sparkly makeup!!

- singing: this is also from ep 6. :> izzy just love love loveeees singing now. with fang's ukelele playing, tiny izzy is just babbling up a storm!!! oooh!! he just loves to sing now and wants everyone to listen ;u;

- whales: i feel from when he carved out that wooden whale and gave it to lucius, he just adores whales (as a past whale fixator, he suits it to me so shhh) and hes always just sitting and reading a book about whales, or staring out at sea, hoping to see one :0

Fang (ages 1 - 5): fishes (mostly starfish and octopus), ukelele and swiming (+ just anything ocean related tbh)

- fishies: oooh!! from ep 5, he just love love loveees fishies and sea creatures!! especially the starfish and octopus. his whole little room is fishy themed!! just spoilt with so many little trinkets and baby stuff that stede gets him ;u;

- ukelele: ooh ooh ooooh!! he has this ukelele that hes had since he was little, its just a wooden uke with little painted fishies and tropical things on it to remind him of the beach ;u;

- swiming: oooh!! swiming so so much fun for fang!! he just adores everything related tk the sea, sitting out on the ship to see the pretty sea, or just splashing in water, but swimming is just his favorite!! and on the beach too!! and then he finds that eddie likes the beach too??? yay!! they can swim together!! :0

Jim (ages 4 - 7): storytime, painting, halloween

- storytime: oooh- jimmy just loves to make up tales, or share their own stories of their past, but with less scary parts of course. but it makes jimmy look like a hero!! and all the other littles seem to enjoy their stories! so much fun!! even if it has a few tiny lies to make it less scary :)

- painting: jim is such a big big creative kiddo!! painting on anything and everything they can get their hands onto!! and archie and olu are so proud of them!! just being so cool and creative??? like woahhhh :0

- halloween: idk why, but kiddo jimmy just gives me massive spooky month vibes (and hey!! perfect timing since its halloween soon!! :0) and they're the ones who tell the crew allll about halloween, info dumping all the fun things they did every single year for the spooky month :) and they always pull out with a party!! always doing cool decorations and paint on everything!!! :0

Lucius (ages 6 - 12): writing (ofc), drama/plays, sewing

- writing: writing is already such a big thing in lucius' life when he's big, so of course it goes down to when he's a kiddo! he writes so many silly stories all the time, also helping when jimmy or izzy come up to him with cool ideas (jimmy with the funky stories, and izzy with random songs he made in his head, which are just babbles XD)

- drama/plays: this goes hand in hand with his writing, but i think he just loves to read about shakespeare and just act out on plays!! and he always makes up plays for the little ones all the time!! (and stede is there to help with the drama part ;u;)

- sewing: he found out about sewing from stede. just watching him sew cool clothes, and make the perfect costume for his plays, ooh! so he learned slowly by himself, remembering steps from watching stede. and then he shows off his cool, frilly shirt he made!! even if it looks a bit wonky, it looks just how stede does it!!! (and him and stede bond over that ;u;)

Zheng (2 - 4): makeup, shiny things, paper dolls

- makeup: oooh, zheng just loves makeup! and she definitely keeps a whole bunch from china like certain blush and lipstick that makes her look perfect. and she ONLY shares her makeup to certain people, like Auntie, eddie and (maybe) izzy. but only if they do her hair in return XD

- shiny things: oooh!! she loves all things shiny :0 jewels, silver, even stone!! shes always out and about, trying to look for things to add to hed collection. and if someone (eddie) grabs the shiny thing before her, shes always like 'hey! thats my shiny thing! i found that first!! gimme! >:(' while she has like 7 other shiny things in her hands XDD (she just gives me big ADHD vibes XD)

- paper dolls: maybe it was because when she was a girl, she always had dolls and paper dolls, she always seems to go into a fuzzy state when having a doll in her hand or sight. she always gives them a personal makeover, makeup and all. and they always look so perfect and pretty :> and when someone (eddie) grabs at the dolls, shes just like 'no!! don touch them, meanie! get away from em!! not yours! >:[' and just fighting back and forth until she just gives up and throws a tantrum XDD

and yeah yeah!! just some silly things :) okay!! bye bye!! :000

WaA A A A A A A these are all positively adorable and SWEET aaaaaaaaaa you are spoiling us with such gifts nonny🥺🥺💖💖💖💖💖💖💖