#also the watch on the wall is simultaneously hilarious and awesome

[satellite-runner]

I haven't made a fall out boy post in SO LONG but I'm talking about this. Tell me if I'm just insane but this is like. Important to him. The confidence it would take for him to dress like this and POST it. The cut of the pants, tucking them into the PLATEFORM LATEX BOOTS. The gold jewlery. The cut and collar of the mesh shirt. THE KNITTED/CROCHETED (?) ROSES??? the way he didn't even pull his shirt from under his collar before taking photos. The proud little smile. The confidence of dressing different. Idk everything about this fit feels deliberate and im. I pray it's a stage outfit for fob8

[saynotoshityouhate]

Chaos

Summary: Everyone was convinced you’d never meet your match. That was, until you got the literal kick to the head of a lifetime. 

Word Count: 1726

Tags/Warnings: alcohol, possible concussion, slight illegal behavior, just a little smutty

I’m feeling chaotic, let’s go dancing. Who’s in?

Your friends were used to you starting craziness as soon as you clocked out on Friday afternoon. You were sure they all got your text and rolled their eyes, but they were stuck with you at this point. 

You got all ready - glam but also comfortable - you never knew where the night was going to go. Last time you went out, you ended up dancing until 2am, and then watching the sunrise from the rooftop of an abandoned warehouse. You weren’t sure how many of these weekends you had left - your friends had started settling down and were less enthusiastic about joining you in your shenanigans. They all had tried (and failed) to set you up with their boyfriend’s friends - unable to find someone who could match your energy. But at the same time, you loved your life. You could do anything you wanted, whenever you wanted. You were financially stable, had a good job, a nice apartment...you weren’t really looking for anyone or anything to come in and change things. 

You met the girls at the club, wearing the dress that made you feel most confident, paired with your worn in Converse high tops. “HEY BITCHES!” You gave each friend big sloppy kisses on both cheeks. They handed you a drink - you were last to arrive, as usual. “Y/N, I was just telling the girls about the engagement party my future mother-in-law is planning. You wouldn’t believe how tacky it is going to be! The invitations alone…” You cut her off after pounding your drink, and pointed to the dance floor. “I’m gonna go there now. Bye!” Setting your empty glass on the nearest table, you ran over to the middle of the dance floor. 

You loved the feeling of the stereo bass pumping in your chest. The ringing in your ears blocking out your inhibitions as you moved your body without care, your skin lit up in colors and sparkles. Here, in this moment, you were truly happy. Not a care in the world. No thoughts in your head saying you were unworthy of the love your friends had found. Complete and full contentment at the life you had chosen for yourself. And it was then that you received a swift kick to the side of your head. 

A few seconds later, you opened your eyes to see the hazel eyes of a wild haired, sweaty man. “Fuuucking hell, kid! I thought for sure you were dead. Are you alright?” You blinked up at him and nodded, unsure how you got to be flat on your back in the first place. “I’m so sorry, I was carrying my best lesbian friend on my shoulders, and when we spun around, her fucking foot hit you in the head.” He wipes his hand down his shirt before handing it to you, helping you up off the floor. The man was tall, dressed in a hilarious mismatch of clothes, with a mop of brown hair that stuck to his sweaty forehead, partially covering his eyes. He sported a patchy moustache/goatee combo which brought your attention to his plush, pink lips. 

He leaned down to look you directly in your eyes, examining them closely. “I don’t think you have a concussion...are you sure you’re alright?” You took a deep breath. “Yes. Totally. Super duper alright. All good.” He chuckled a deep laugh, showing off his imperfectly perfect teeth. “Awesome. I’m Adam - we’re going to go find shit to throw off the overpass. Wanna come?” You nodded enthusiastically, never having been this lost for words in your life. He grabbed your hand and dragged you out of the bar, barely giving you the chance to smile or wave at your friends as you exited. 

Adam and his friends brought you all across the city. Finding items to keep or to toss, literally, off of the highway overpass. Your group steadily dwindled as you explored the city’s hidden pockets, eventually leaving you, Adam, and a reusable grocery bag full of spare car parts and rotten vegetables alone on the pedestrian bridge that crossed the city’s busiest highway. Standing together, you looked upon the city skyline, standing proudly against a dark sky that was littered with stars. It was your favorite view. Feeling Adam’s gaze on you, you turned to look up at him. “Everything okay?” you asked, unsure why he was making such a face. “Yeah, kid, just making sure you’re not gonna have a seizure or somethin’ dumb.” He chewed the inside of his cheek as he resumed looking at the city. 

With the early morning hour, there wasn’t a ton of good targets to toss your garbage at. “Wanna split a pizza?” You asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Adam smiled and nodded, giving you the chance get him back for earlier, to grab his hand and run. You took the long way, zig zagging through dark alleys, running up and down stairs, eventually landing at your favorite, hole in the wall 24-hour pizza parlor. “Jimmy!!!!” You squealed are the shop owner, waving at him and jumping up and down. The proprietor groaned, pushing himself out of his chair and walked up to the window. “What can I getcha, y/n...and friend?” Adam smiled at Jimmy, and then you, and then Jimmy again. Nervously laughing and still trying to catch his breath, he shoved his hands into his pockets. “Anything but fucking green peppers,” you both said, almost simultaneously. Jimmy rolled his eyes and headed back to the kitchen. 

“Jimmy’s the best. He almost single handedly fed me all through my senior year of college. I was building this Trojan Horse out of Amazon boxes inside my apartment and I couldn’t access my kitchen because it was full of boxes so…” Adam grabbed your face, pulling you in for a rough kiss, his pillowy lips absorbing the blow. Your eyes were wide open, arms limp at your side. Sensing you weren’t reciprocating, Adam pulled back, hands still on your face. “I’m building a boat in my apartment right now, gonna sail down the Hudson. I’ve never met anyone like you before, like me - someone who could keep up with me and not be some fucking loser.” Adam looked deep into your eyes. “We were meant to meet tonight, Y/N. I was supposed to hit you in the head with my best lesbian friend.” Adam squeezed his large hands together, smooshing your face. “Fuck the pizza, come see my boat.” 

Jimmy walked up at that moment, pizza box in tow. “No, no fucking my pizza. Here - on the house - now get out of here. And y/n, I don’t want to find this pizza on some roof or in a tree or whatever the fuck you’re planning on doing tonight.” You turned your head towards Jimmy, with Adam’s help, and said through your smooshed face “Fanks Jummy.” Grabbing the pizza, you looked back up at Adam. Adam moved your head up and down, speaking in a high pitched voice “Yes, Adam, I’d love to see your boat!” Looking down at you with a cheesy grin, you started to laugh. “Fwine, but wet go uf my fwace.” Adam flailed his arms into the air. “Well let’s fucking go, kid!” 

Adam wasn’t kidding, he really was building a boat in his living room. It was the coolest thing you’ve ever seen. “Are these old pallets? Is that a fisherman’s knot? Did you repurpose 2x4s from…” “Whoa whoa y/n don’t get a lady boner over my awesome ass boat!” Your eyes were sparkling, climbing over piles of wood and fabric and an overused power strip. “When is she going to be ready to sail?” you asked, your voice giving away your excitement. “Why,” Adam stalked towards you, backing you up against the mast, “wanna be my sexy first mate?” Your heart was beating through your chest. This wasn’t your average one night stand, this was different - you could tell. This wasn’t the plan. But you couldn’t deny that he was your match. He was right, you were meant to meet tonight. You took a deep, shaky breath, looking into Adam’s eyes. “Aye, aye, captain.” 

Adam growled, wrapping his arms underneath your bottom and lifting you up. You wrapped your arms around his neck and legs around his waist, squealing in surprise. He slammed your body harder against the boat’s mast, shoving his tongue into your mouth and squeezing your ass as he ground his rock hard erection into your pelvis. You lifted one hand from his neck, reaching down to unbutton his jeans, the slightest graze of your fingers causing Adam’s hips to thrust. The energy of that motion cracked the fragile integrity of the mast, causing Adam to fall forwards, landing on top of you, the broken splinters of wood scratched along your back. 

You both groaned. “Fuck, kid, you ok? How’s your head?” Opening up to the same concerned, hazel gaze from earlier in the evening, you replied “Yep. Super duper.” That was good enough for Adam, who stood up quickly, ripping his jeans and underwear down, kicking his legs for assistance. You lifted your hips to shimmy your own panties down to your ankles. Adam returned to his place between your legs. Looking up at him with a grin, you laughed “ahoy, matey. shiver me timbers.” Adam grunted - “you’re so fucking weird, and so fucking wet,” he ran two fingers through your slick, “and just for me.” You whined, moving your hips to meet his hand.  “Gotta make sure you’re ready for me. Gunna drop anchor in this hot cunt.”

Adam spent the rest of the night straddled over your back, where you laid on your stomach on his bed. Using a tweezer, he removed the hundreds of tiny splinters that had embedded themselves into your skin. You sighed contentedly, taking a large sip of milk, unsure what the future held. But for the first time, in a long time, the thought of sharing that future with someone didn’t make you sick to your stomach. You turned your head to take a look at him, wearing lab safety goggles “in case one flew out at him.” Smiling, you rested your head on his pillow, before falling asleep and dreaming of sailing down the Hudson together. 

[elstreem]

Camelot movie part 2 is available on Bilibili. Of course I had to watch it - and I am rewarded with Bedivere's non-stop pain train. My heart hurts for him :')

All that said, part 2 is definitely much better than part 1. The fight visuals are stunning, and I appreciate the voice actors much better in part 2. Not that their work in part 1 was bad, but part 1 does feel a little stilted when it came to the dialogue...not sure how to explain it, it just feels like characters didn't express themselves as much as they should have? Which is definitely not the issue in part 2.

Spoiler talk below:

We all know Camelot is just Bedivere getting put through the wringer and wow does part 2 not shy away from it. Poor guy gets emotionally wrecked in the first few minutes, suffers a panic attack a little later on, is absolutely bodied by Gawain in their fight, gets skewered on a lance and disintegrated.

As glorious as the fights scenes are in the second half of the film, I do appreciate that they still have quiet moments, and kept the dialogue between Mash and Bedivere, only they shifted the conversation so it's Ritsuka who reassures Bedi his journey won't be meaningless. I love how the colors shifted in that scene, from cold early morning blue to the warm sunlight. It's very beautiful.

Other non-fight scenes worthy of noting is the fact that they showed Tristan did something to his eyes prior to the knights deciding to ally with the Lion King. It suddenly makes sense as to why Bedivere remarks on it in the first movie, though the game already hinted at it before. It was a little confusing that they showed he has regular eyes again later on, though.

The stylized art for the sequence when Mash tells Ritsuka about Bedivere's legend is also really pretty.

Moving onto the fight scenes, well, it simply has to be seen! Very fluid and dynamic, and it's really cool what they did with the simultaneous scenes as Camelot is thrown into chaos, with flashes of Lancelot and Agravain's fight as the pyramid crashes into the tower. Speaking of Agravain, I wasn't quite expecting him to be all lanky-armed lol. I honestly thought one of the scenes in the trailer was Hassan of the Cursed Arm, not him. Still cool to see them show the fight though.

Now, for Bedivere and Gawain's fight - it was awesome and all, but man it is hilarious that the opening is Gawain running through several walls like a wrecking ball to tackle Bedivere. How the heck did Gawain know Bedivere was there exactly?? Even Bedivere looked surprised at that, this huge dude just barreling through the walls like the Kool-Aid man. All that aside, the rest of the fight is really brutal, and if you didn't feel bad for Bedivere then you really would in that scene. Thank goodness for the handy rock to brain Gawain in (which is also a little funny in hindsight, but still, really hammers in how brutal and desperate they were.)

I had a different visual in mind for when Mash deploys Lord Camelot, but it was nice to see what they did in the film and that Ritsuka is standing by her side when it happens. I have no more words for how they handled Bedivere fighting the Lion King - it's pretty short compared to the Gawain fight, but it's beautiful all the same. And their final conversation breaks my heart :''')

I only wished they included a short scene of Ritsuka summoning Bedivere in Chaldea but I guess it goes against what the movie was building up to, and the anime adaptations haven't show any scenes of the other Servants in Chaldea anyway.

Well, that's enough blathering. I'm gonna be rewatching this a looooooot, and maybe draw more Bedivere because I am hopeless.

[monicawoe]

Series review of Lucifer (seasons one through five)

Mystical whooshing intensifies

So I initially watched the pilot of this show when it first aired and had a knee jerk comic snob reaction of: Ugh, everything is wrong! This isn’t like the comics at all, harrumph. But then recently two friends whose opinions I value greatly said it was good fun, so I gave it another chance. And wow am I glad I did!

The first three seasons at Fox were very much case based police procedurals format with the bonus of one partner being the Devil himself and the added bonus of the Devil going to therapy at some point during each episode (and also piano!!). It was to me a popcorn show, highly entertaining but not something I initially thought I’d get emotionally sucked into. But then I did. Pretty quickly too.

Lots more thoughts below (spoilery for seasons 3-5)

The main cast is largely responsible for why I fell so hard for this show (I love Maze and Amenadiel so much), but so are the side characters that come and go, like Tricia Helfer who has been near the top of my can make me cry in two seconds flat list since Battlestar Galactica.

Of the Fox seasons there’s a lot of great one offs, but the end of the season three finale 3x24, specifically the shot of Lucifer wrapping Chloe in his wings and him crashing through the window blood spattered and using the wings as weapons was my absolute fave, plus the gif sets of those scenes is another part of why I decided to give the show another chance.

Once Netflix takes over in season four there’s a tonal shift that I was at first worried was going to be dark and gritty™️ but instead it’s more like dark and gritty as defined by myself back when I was a fifteen year old goth. Meaning it’s everything I wanted then and still really enjoy now but not grim dark. It’s like season four doubled down on all the stuff that makes the premise so intriguing and had Chloe and Lucifer confront the sheer insanity of their respective situations while simultaneously leaning into the surreal ridiculousness of it all. Also Lucifer's continudity, which speaks for itself.

The season four penultimate episode - specifically the whole masquerade ball sequence and aftermath was so well done, and I really loved in particular the bit in the elevator where Lucifer's power is in overdrive and all Chloe has to do is ask the woman she pulled in with them to get an answer. And obviously the whole fully transformed Lucifer accepting himself scene was great. The Devil effects were so well done this season! Somebody who knows this stuff better than I do can probably confirm- but I feel like Netflix used far more practical effects and digital more as enhancement whereas Fox particularly early on relied solely on digital Devil face, is that right?

The season four finale opening to Kenny Loggins was hilarious, particularly Dan’s jump / Lucifer lifting him and Lucifer’s slide onto Chloe’s desk leading directly into the first “real” scene of the episode, just amazing. Though, side-note: given the musical in season five, was this sequence maybe real after all? Or just some sort of meta-level foreshadowing on the similarities between Lucifer and his Dad?

And the ending of this episode oh my goodness. Listen, I’ve got such a thing for Lucifer and the Devil on screen anyway and I have since I first saw Tim Curry’s the Darkness in Legend as a kid, but the whole way that scene was staged, with the demons grabbing Chloe, and Lucifer’s “You will bow down,” and then sending them all home with a word was just :chef's kiss:.

And the ending scenes from the balcony to Hell was so sad and so fucking great. The throne was awesome  (on that note I really dig this show’s depiction of Hell, both the landscape and the mechanics of it).

The season five opener was also really well done. There was something so lovely about Lucifer working the same case as Chloe from below and with Lee too! I absolutely loved the LA skyline and Lucifer peeling back the illusion to show Hell, and everything he did with Lee. And then of course we get the introduction of Michael which was such a fascinating way to start off the season.

Another big highlight for me in season five was the musical episode which I wrote about HERE.

And then of course the season five finale, which was absolutely everything fifteen year old me wanted finally realized. I’ll mention here briefly that I was a huge fan of the Prophecy movies back in those days and in general any property brave enough to try full wing effects (practical or otherwise) on angels. Netflix pulled it off beautifully.

Fave moments: Lucifer’s gut-wrenching agony when Chloe is killed and his litany of “No.” Michael looked dumbfounded by his brother’s pain. And then of course Lucifer flying to Heaven to get Chloe back, regardless of whether it would destroy him or not. That’s the level of obsessive self-sacrificial love I eat up with a spoon. Chloe wall slamming (and floor slamming) Michael was so satisfying, as was Lucifer returning just in time to keep her from delivering the final blow.

I knew immediately Lucifer was going to cut off Michael’s wings instead of killing him, but that didn’t make the moment any less powerful. And the stairs worked beautifully for the final scene.  Lucifer’s shock when everyone (except Chloe) took a knee and the closing line were both pitch perfect and such an awesome set up for the next and final season.

I haven’t been this excited by a season finale in a long time and immediately wrote a fic which I’ve posted HERE. It’s very possible there’s more coming, but I wanted to at least get this first part posted before any season six spoilers come out.

If anyone else has thoughts on the show overall, or season five, or any season really, feel free to comment on this post, would love to read other people’s reactions too. Also is there a Lucifer discord anywhere?

[angelsandacceptance]

Genie of the Lamp

Chase and Harley’s plane touches down on the tarmac in Oahu, Hawaii. After everyone leaves the plane the girls head to their hotel with an ocean view. On the plane Harley had started rereading the Harry Potter series for the thousandth time. Chase, rather, had binge watched horror movies while cross-stitching (and has now made up her mind to never admit how many times she stabs herself).

 “This is the nicest place we’ve stayed in a while,” Harley comments when the two enter the hotel room. The room is quaint, but lavish compared to the motels they were used to staying in. This room had high, white walls, a large bathroom, with a jacuzzi tub and shower. Ornate mirrors hang on the walls opposite each bed, with a large flat screen tv in the center.

Chase sighs, running and landing on her back as she jumps onto one of the beds with a laugh. “This place is awesome! Ugh, just what we’ve needed. When’s the last time either of us had an actual vacation?”

“There was that week I decided to visit my family.”

“Yeah, but that was still a while ago. This is also like, real vacation. I mean, look at that view!” Chase points out the large window, spanning most of the far wall, curtains pulled back to display the gorgeous view; they can both see the beach, with the waves lapping at the shore, few people dotting the shoreline as they relax in the sun. Green, lush wildlife grows abundantly all around them. “We don’t see that everyday. Can’t tell you when the last time I was at the beach was.”

“Me either. I can’t wait to be in the ocean again.”

“Same! Let’s change real quick, then we can head down to the water.”

The girls change in their swimsuits, before grabbing towels and running down to the beach. Harley has to chastise Chase, who forgets to put sunscreen on and begins to turn pink within minutes.

After Harley is satisfied with Chase’s cover of sunscreen, which only helps to make her look somehow paler than normal, they race to the water. Chase grabs Harley in a bridal style hold, only to quickly drop her in the surprisingly warm waves. Chase, however, is not thinking clearly when she does this, because Harley’s arms are laced around her neck, dragging her into the water as well. They both surface, spluttering, wiping the water from their eyes. They both shriek and laugh at each other’s reactions as they dive further into the waves, splashing each other. 

***

The girls head to a food shack on the beach soaking wet, towels loosely tied around their hips, though not bothering to catch the water dripping from their hair. Chase brushes hers back with her fingers, pushing the accidental pink strands from her face (accidental because the die was purple but didn’t stick). Harley simply ignores her own Auburn-red hair, which drips slightly from her bangs. 

A waiter comes by, asking if they are ready to order. Having known what their first meal in Hawaii would be, they both nod excitedly. They each order fish and chips and Chase gets a fruity cocktail. 

“God, I love fish.” Harley says, eating a piece.

Chase, taking a bite of her cod, nods enthusiastically. “This is so amazing. Ugh, the boys are missing out.”

“Yeah, too bad Dean’s afraid of flying. If he wasn’t they might’ve come.”

“I don’t know. Sam did say that he didn’t want to go so far. But yeah, Dean probably could have changed his mind. I mean, c’mon dude I’m scared of heights and everything, but you don’t see that stopping me.”

“True, guess he’s just a scaredy cat.”

Chase laughs. “Don’t let him catch you saying that. It might hurt his feelings.”

“Then he’s a sensitive scaredy cat.”

“Another thing to not let him catch you saying.”

“Let him hear it. I’ve caught him saying worse about me.”

“Yeah, he probably wouldn’t say anything he’d just go in the corner and pout.”

“That would be hilarious.”

Chase nods agreeing, taking another bite of her food.

***

The girls got back to their hotel room to find a collective amount of 30 missed calls from Dean and texts from Sam saying he tried to stop him. Harley immediately calls him back and he picks up before the first ring. 

“Where the hell were you? I thought the plane went down!” Dean shouts.

“We just went swimming. Chill,” Harley says, trying to calm him down.

“Would it’ve killed you to call... Wait, you went swimming? What are you wearing?”

“Gross!” Chase yells into the phone.

Dean hesitates before defending himself, “Hey, I didn’t mean it like that!”

“You’re Dean, of course you did,” Chase says. 

“Maybe I’ll tell you later,” Harley teases.

Chase turns to Harley with wide eyes, mouthing, ‘Oh, we are so talking about that later.’ before turning back to the phone. “Don’t get any funny ideas there, Deano. I can and will kick your ass.”

Dean and Sam both laugh over the phone, Dean having obviously put the girls on speaker. 

“Ten bucks on Chase,” Sam comments. 

“Hey!” Dean exclaims.

“I’m so not getting involved in this one,” Harley says.

“So no one’s betting on me?”

“Course not, Dean. Why would they?” Chase laughs. The girls can both just imagine the pout on his face. “Look, now you know we aren’t dead, so can we go to enjoy our vacation please?”

“What if I want to talk to you?” Dean asks. 

“You literally could have come with us, but noooo. You’re too much of a scaredy cat to.”

“Hey, you’re afraid of heights, Chase,” Dean says in defense. 

“Yeah, but you don’t see that stopping me. I promise, we will talk to you later, okay?”

“I want nightly and morning updates!”

“Nightly,” Harley says, trying to compromise.

“And pictures,” Sam says. 

“Okay, okay, we promise.” “Good,” Dean says. “I will talk to you two later.”

The girls bid their goodbyes, then hang up, sighing in relief before looking at each other in disbelief. They both burst out laughing, thinking of how Dean is paranoid, but how it is also endearing. 

“Morning and night. I mean really? Once a day is more than enough,” Harley mutters.

“Really though. What does he think’s gonna happen?”

“Who knows what goes on in that brain of his.”

“Well obviously what goes on in that brain of his is ideas of you in a swimsuit.”

“Any girl in a swimsuit more like.”

“I dunno about that. He seems very keen on just you. However, I have to ask. ‘Maybe I’ll tell you later’ probably did not help him think about anything else. What was with that comment?” Chase fake shudders. “It was in front of me and everything.”

“I was just teasing him. It’s not like it meant anything,” Harley says plopping down on her bed.

“Right. It meant nothing. Nothing at all. I bet that is definitely the truth,” Chase says, sarcasm dripping heavily from each word. “Because thinking that you would say that and not mean it in any way would be preposterous. Of course I know you were teasing him! My point is you wouldn’t be teasing him without due cause.”

“I really would be though.”

Chase raises an eyebrow. “Mmmhmmm. Sure. Let me just call bullshit real quick.”

“Okay maybe I wanted him to think of me a little, but that’s it.” Harley says defending herself.

“Yeah,” Chase scoffs. “Just ‘A little’.”

***

The girls woke up the next morning, well, Chase woke up. Mainly because Harley didn’t know how to be quiet while she’s getting ready.

Sitting up onto her elbows, Chase checks her phone, groaning at the sight of a steady 7:21 staring back at her. She turns to Harley with a frown and creased brows. “You seriously couldn’t have waited nine more minutes for my alarm to go off?”

“Sorry, Scooby wasn’t cutting it for me anymore,” Harley says as South Nashville Blues plays at full volume in the bathroom and she does her makeup.

Chase, meanwhile, flops backwards onto her bed, simultaneously grabbing a pillow and covering her face. “Wake me up in nine minutes.”

“Six minutes now.”

“Wake me up in six minutes then!” Chase exclaims, her voice muffled by the pillow. 

“Fine,” Harley sighs, dragging the word out before asking herself, “Should I even bother doing my hair? It’s just going to get wet. We’ll probably get some photos on land though. Right?”

“I’m curling mine, then I’m not gonna care until after we get back out of the water. After that, I’ll probably just braid it.”

“I can’t stand when my hair’s curly. I think I’m gonna straighten it. Just in case. Hey, did you bring any hairspray? I didn’t pack any.”

“Oh yeah, I did. I wanted to make sure my curls stayed even if it got windy. Why? You don’t need it to straighten your hair.”

“Yeah, but you can use it to waterproof your makeup.”

Chase shoots up in bed. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah. I’ve done it before.”

“Okay, I’ve got to try this! I was just planning on skipping eyeliner, but now I don’t have to.” Chase gets out of bed, silencing her alarm before it could go off, joining Harley in the bathroom. 

***

Harley fiddles with the radio before giving up and playing something on her phone.

Chase groans, letting up on the gas. “Why is this car so touchy?”  She turns to Harley, gesturing slightly to the speedometer. “This car is so annoying! Jack would never do this to me.”

“It’s because it’s a newer car. That’s why it’s so touchy.”

Chase scoffs. “That doesn’t give it the right.”

“It’s just for a couple of days.”

“The audacity!” Chase exclaims dramatically.

“Calm down, it’s just for a little while.”

Chase sighs, continuing as though Harley hadn’t spoken. “Just like the audacity you have, claiming you don’t like my brother.”

“Hey, we're not in Jack. No talk about me liking Dean.”

Chase rolls her eyes. “Whatever you say.”

“Thank you.”

Sudden realization dawns on Chase. “Wait, you just admitted you liked him!” Chase refrains from screeching-but just barely. 

“I didn’t mean I liked him. I just meant you think I like him.”

“Ugh. Okay, okay, fine whatever. Be in denial. What’s our first scene gonna look like for pictures?”

“We could do a shot like the main poster for H2O.”

“Ooo, yes.”

“And then I brought my waterproof camera.”

“Wait, you did bring it? I forgot my polaroid sadly.”

“Yeah, I remembered thankfully.”

“Okay, cool. Now here we are! Surf  ‘N’ Shack. Think they sell food? I didn’t eat breakfast.”

“I’m sure they sell food.”

“Good.”

***

The girls smile, looking out at the wake crashing onto the shore. Plenty of beach is in front of them, but there is also rocky cliffs situated to their right. The perfect place to take photos. The girls had their rented silicone mermaid tails and struggled to put them on for longer than they would like to admit.

“That was exhausting.” Harley admits as she finally gets her tail on.

“That was… unpleasant. But the pictures will be well worth it.”

“They better be,” Harley says, flipping herself over so she’s not sitting on her dorsal fin.

Chase struggles to her feet, using the surrounding rocks to help her hop closer to the water. “This is gonna take a while,” she laughs after three hops. 

Harley starts crawling across the sand towards the water dragging her tail behind her. Chase laughs at her, before losing balance and falling over.

“It’s easier this way,” Harley chuckles.

“Well, it looks weird. Oh my God! I just realized. It is going to be so much harder to get this off when it’s wet!”

“I don’t know about that.”

“Well, it’ll definitely be more uncomfortable.”

“It’ll be weird for sure. Like shedding your skin.”

“I never asked, wanted, or imagined that mental image until now. So thank you for that.” 

“You’re welcome. Wait, we should take the H2O photo before we reach the water.”

Chase gasps. “That’s brilliant!”

“I have my moments.”

“You mean moment, because you’re never not brilliant.”

“Aww! Thanks!”

“Well duh.” Chase scoots closer to the water. “Now, let’s get this done with so we can go swimming!”

Harley takes the photo as her arms are longer. Then they continued to crawl till they reach deep enough water to swim.

***

“I’m beached! I’m a beached whale!” Harley yells as she reaches the shore.

“I’ll save you,” Chase shouts, swimming and then scooting up the shore to Harley. Then, she lays there, tired out. “Shit, now I’m beached.”

The two girls started laughing uncontrollably at their beached state.

“Best vacation ever,” Harley says between laughs.

“I’m just glad that we get to relax and nothing is going wrong.”

“Oh god, did you just jinx it?”

Chase shrugs, peeling her tail back a little at a time. “I doubt it,” she huffs. “Seriously. We are in Hawaii on vacation for Thanksgiving. We deserve a break. I’m sure God, wherever the hell he is, recognizes our efforts, and will grant us some peace.”

“Sure, like he’s been much help before.”

“Well, he will give us peace this week, or he will be punched very, very hard when I meet him.” Chase looks to the sky. “And that’s a promise!”

Harley begins trying to kick out of her monofin before pulling the tail skin down.

Chase shimmies out of hers, kicking her legs slightly, her hands brace on the ground behind her for support. “This is one of the most annoying things I’ve ever had to deal with.” Blowing the hair out of her eyes, she continues, “What’s on the agenda for tomorrow?”

“The spa and that hike to the Kaniakapupu ruins.”

“Oh, yes, a spa. That sounds like heaven.”

“It does, doesn’t it. I wanna get some gel nails so I don’t constantly have to redo them.”

“I want a fucking massage.”

“Honestly. I probably need one. Either that or a chiropractor.”

“Same. Or death.”

“You are not allowed to die on me.”

“No promises,” Chase laughs.

“Fine, but you have to come back.”

“That, I will figure out how to do. There’s no way I’m going to die and miss out on the rest of our adventures together. That, and Dean owes me twenty bucks and pie that he still hasn’t paid up for.”

“What bet was it this time?”

“Like, I don’t remember, a month ago or so, Dean told me I couldn’t eat a whole pie in ten minutes. I bet him twenty bucks and another pie. Guess who won?”

“You.”

“Oh hell yes. Anyway, you wanna get food? I could go for some good Hawaiian bbq right now.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a fun new experience.”

***

Chase puts the phone on speaker as the dial rings exactly one and a half times before Dean picks up the phone. “Chase! Thank God you called. I was about to get upset that you’d break your promise.”

The girls hear Sam sigh over the phone. “We saw those pictures you sent. You two look like you’re having fun.”

“You look hot.” Dean pauses. “Obviously I’m talking to Harley.”

“Wow, Dean. I feel so much better now,” Chase says sarcastically.

“You look nice too, Chase,” Sam amends. 

“Thanks, boys. We miss you too,” Harley laughs.

“Of course you do,” Dean says, “No one to cuddle with at night.”

Chase rolls her eyes. 

“You flatter yourself,” Harley retorts.

“I do,” Dean responds cheekily. “All the time. But guess what?”

“So do I?” Harley guesses.

“You flatter me too, wait- How’d you know I’d say that?”

“Because you’re predictable?” Chase guesses. 

“I’m not predictable,” Dean says feigning hurt.

“I thought you were gonna say I flatter myself actually,” Harley counters.

“Well, see, I’m not predictable.”

“You kinda are, Dean,” Sam says.

“My own brother, betraying me like this.”

“What am I?” Chase asks. “I’m your sister and you’re not as offended? Rude.”

“You’re rude saying I’m predictable.”

“Well, you’re rude because-”

“Guys, really?” Sam asks, sounding tired.

“What?” Chase demands. “He started it.”

“Well, you guys are weird. I’m gonna go wash the sand out of my hair. So, bye, love you guys,” Harley says before getting up and heading to the bathroom.

“Was that an invitation?” Dean asks, thinking Harley is still near the phone. 

“Ew, gross, goodbye,” Chase says, hanging up the phone, despite her brother’s protests.

Shaking her head, Chase lays down onto the bed, waiting for her turn in the shower.

***

Today the girls head out to a group tour of the Kaniakapupu Ruins. “When was the last time we went sightseeing?” Harley asks.

“Other than everytime you stare at Dean? Don’t know.”

“I don’t stare at him.”

“Yeah, okay, and I don’t- uh. I don’t. Shit, I totally forgot what I was going to say,” Chase says, turning a light shade of pink. “Anyway, these ruins sure are pretty!”

“Yeah, and so is the land around it. Absolutely stunning.”

“You’re stunning. Quick, go over there and I’ll take your picture!”

Harley goes to stand in front of a fallen archway and Chase takes her picture. “Your turn!” Harley says, stealing the camera.

Chase laughs, shaking her head, but strikes a ridiculous pose nonetheless, a hand on her hip, the other on the back of her head, sticking her tongue out at the camera. “Okay, now we should probably catch up,” Chase says, gesturing to the group a few paces ahead of them. 

The rest of the tour went as normal as possible with Chase and Harley around. At least that’s what the girls thought until they overheard their tour guide talking to someone else about how a girl, Megan Brown, didn’t come back from the tour.

“Excuse me, ma’am, are you saying one of the girls disappeared?” Chase asks, interrupting the tour guide, who seemed to be talking to a head officer of some sort. “Is the tour route going to be closed down then?”

The tour guide shakes his head. “No need. It seems every couple months when we do this tour, a couple people wander off and get lost. There haven’t been any signs of animal attacks or kidnappings.”

“And you haven’t thought to handle the situation more thoroughly?”

“Have you even looked into the disappearances?” Harley asks. 

“Of course,” the officer says. “But it isn’t anything you two need to be concerned about.”

“It seems that it is,” Chase continues. “If this happens so often, you’d think you would have a better handle on things.”

“As long as you two don’t wander off, you will be fine. You two girls run along and don’t get into any trouble.”

Harley and Chase huff, but listen to the instructions. 

***

As Chase and Harley enter the spa, they’re surrounded by three people each. Harley has one man along with one woman, while Chase is surrounded by two women, each of them in their early thirties at the latest. 

Chase and Harley give each other a thumbs up as they are led to their own spa stations, close enough to hear, talk to, and make weird faces to each other, in hopes of getting one to laugh. 

“I’m Kai,” the man introduces. “And this is Kayla. The two lovely women attending you are Sarah and Halola.” 

“Nice to meet you.”

“So where did you two come from?” Kayla asks. “And what are you here on? Honeymoon perhaps?”

Harley shakes her head with a laugh. “No, actually. Just vacation.”

“We just came for the early holidays. We were just at the Kaniakapupu ruins.”

“Oh! That tour. It’s always so...interesting to hear the stories once visitors come back.”

“How so?” Chase asks.

“Well, you see-”

Kayla is cut off by Halola, who says something rushed in what the girls assume is Hawaiian. Turning back to the girls, Halola smiles. “It is nothing. Just petty gossip surrounding people who aren’t smart. We really shouldn’t talk about it or bother you.”

“You mean the disappearances. Well, a girl went missing on the tour before ours.  Does that really happen often?”

“Sadly, yes,” Kai says, ignoring the rolled eyes of Halola and Sarah. “But really, what happens to them is just a legend told to tourists by us locals to scare you. Really, I wouldn’t think much about it, at least for the time being. Now is your time to relax.”

“What’s the legend say?” Harley asks.

Kai smiles. “Well, legend is, King Kaniakapupu had an affair with another woman who wasn’t his queen. Driven mad with jealousy and rage, Queen Kanua’pele killed both him and his lover. Distraught over how the queen let the kingdom go after his death, he haunts the ruins, seeking revenge on any person who dares intrude in his home.”

Chase and Harley stare at him, slightly unimpressed. 

“Huh. That’s a good story,” Chase says. 

“Yes, yes, a story and nothing more. Not even a good story at that.”

Kai shoots Halola a look. “Ah yes, because I’m sure you prefer the older beliefs.” Halola stiffens slightly. She relaxes within a second, however. 

“I simply don’t believe in ghost stories and you shouldn’t be telling them to visitors that already are aware of the very real disappearances that occur.”

“It’s alright,” Harley says. 

“Yeah, trust me. Not much scares us away,” Chase laughs. 

“Even so,” Halola continues. “At least relax and we can finish this process. Next, you’ll be having your massage and then manicures.”

Chase and Harley grin at each other, pushing the story Kai told them aside for the time being. Next, they were getting massages. 

***

“So, that was the best thing ever!” Chase exclaims, flopping backwards onto the bed. 

“Agreed! Today was awesome! Except for the whole we might have a hunt thing.”

“Uh, no. No, no, and no. I might have allowed myself to be curious, but this is my vacation, and I will not be working on it!”

“Fine, I’ll just go it alone on this one.”

“Yeah, also not happening. I know you can hold your own and everything, but I would rather not have Dean trying to kill me.”

“He won’t try to kill you.”

Chase raises an eyebrow. “Right. I guess he didn’t give you the same pep talk.”

“Seriously, Dean?”

“Yes, seriously! You leave her alone for a moment, I’ll kill you. And you better not be running off on your own either. You are to go, have fun or whatever, and then come back. NO hunts, NO jobs, NO nothing. Capisce?”

Chase rolls her eyes. “Why would either of us need to go off on our own?”

“Because it’s you and her. Somehow, you guys are gonna do something or you’ll say something and boom. You’re separated and she’s in trouble or you are, and then you’ll fix it.”

“So you think we would fix it though?”

“That won’t keep me from killing you if something goes wrong.”

“Of course, blame me!”

“That’s what I plan on.”

“Fine, fine, okay! I’ll be careful. We won’t go off on our own. We’ll keep you posted.”

“Good. Now go have fun. And call me when you land.”

Chase makes a face at him. “Yes, dad.”

“Wait, he said all that?” Harley asks.

“Yep! So now we know who his favorite is. And it isn’t me, his own flesh and blood,” Chase sighs dramatically. 

“Wow,” Harley says, so low it barely registers.

“I know, right? It’s like he doesn’t trust us!”

“He really said all that?”

“Yeah. He sure is a buzzkill.”

“So we don’t listen to him. I mean we rarely do anyway.” Chase pauses, thinking for a moment. “You’re right about that. But I still say we don’t get involved unless we have to, okay?”

“Just one last look around the ruins?” Chase glares at Harley before sighing loudly. “Fine, I guess. But we go with a guide and group again. If something happens on that trip, then we can investigate.”

“Deal!”

***

“I told you there wasn’t any reason to be here again,” Chase complains, staring down at the EMF reader. 

“Wait, do you smell something?”

“Does bullshit count?”

“No, it smells like metallic-y.”

“Thought you were gonna say sulfur there for a moment. But yeah. Smells like blood,” Chase says, glancing back at the group. She takes a head count, then frowns. “See anyone missing from the group?”

“The chick with the giant sun hat?”

“Yeah, and the tour guide.”

“He didn’t want us looking into the disappearances,” Harley points out.

“Yeah, and now he and another woman are gone. What should we do?”

“We should split up and look for clues.”

“You watch too much Scooby Doo. Honestly, best plan right now is to probably stay with the group and see if the tour guide comes back. What’s his name?”

“Paulo, I think. And yeah you’re right, about both.”

“Of course I am.”

Ten or fifteen minutes later, the girls can’t be sure, Paulo seems to have reappeared from nowhere. He stands with a few others, pointing out carvings in the pillars against the far entrance. However, upon further inspection, the woman who had disappeared along with him is still gone.

“Okay, maybe it’s a good thing we came back,” Chase relents. 

“Told you.”

“Oh, don’t pull that card.”

“I’m pulling that card.”

“Rude,” Chase pouts. 

“Well, I’m not the nicest person in the world.”

“Fair. To be honest, if you were, we probably wouldn’t get along nearly as much as we do. Speaking of doing, what do we do about Pablo over there.”

“Paulo.”

“Same difference.”

“Find out what he is and gank him,” Harley shrugs.

“Guess that ghost story is just that. A story. Of course, a ghost would have been too easy.”

“I don’t know some are pretty nasty.”

“Yeah, that’s fair. Still, we at least would have known what to do. Now, we don’t have many leads, other than that,” Chase emphasizes ‘that’, nodding her head at Paulo. “We should go back to the hotel and come back here tonight.”

“Agreed.” 

***

Harley takes up dialling Dean for the night. “Hey, we’re still alive,” she says as soon as he picks up.

“Good,” Dean says dead serious.

“Let a little laughter in your life. Jeez.”

“I’m good thanks.”

“Buzzkill.”

“I am a joy to be around.”

“Ladies, ladies, you’re both very pretty. Moving along?” Chase says breaking the two up.

“Duh, have you seen me?” Harley jokes.

“I have and I can’t help but like what I see,” Dean flirts.

“Oh shush, I’m not gonna be one of your one night stands.”

“I never said that.”

“It’s what you were thinking.”

“Sweetheart, you have no idea what I think of you.”

“Good things I hope.”

“More than good.”

“Ackomygodthatissoackkkeee,” Chase squeals in a high pitched tone, almost incoherently. 

“What was that?” Dean asks. 

“That was me puking because you’re disgusting, duh.”

“Yeah, right, okay.”

“I mean it was disgustingly sweet,” Harley says laughing, “I thought you didn’t like chick flick moments.”

“I don’t.”

“Suuuure you don’t. How’s Sam doing? I haven’t heard from him.”

“I’m good, just tired,” The girls could hear Sam say in the background. 

Harley rolls her eyes before saying, “We miss you tons.”

“I miss you guys too,” Sam laughs.

“I miss you moreeee,” Chase over exaggerates. 

“Yeah, probably,” Sam quips. 

“Ouch,” Chase mutters.

“Well I’m gonna let you guys go so Sammy can get some beauty sleep before he kills me,” Dean says.

“He’ll kill you anyway. You’re just that annoying,” Chase says.

“Says you!” Dean fires back. 

“Yeah, says me, the least annoying sibling.”

“You are so not the least annoying,” Dean says.

“You’re both annoying. Shut up!” Sam shouts from wherever he is in the room (his voice sounds muffled, as though buried in a pillow).

“Bye Dean, bye Sam!” Harley calls out.

“Can you believe the gall of that man?” Chase exclaims after the phone call ends. “The nerve?”

“I thought it was hilarious,” Harley says.

“Of course you did. You were still distracted about Dean’s previous comment!”

“Which one?”

“You’re actually asking me that? As if you haven’t been replaying that sentence in your head for the past ten minutes? Please. I’m not that dumb.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, sure you don’t.”

“I don’t!”

“Okay, okay, whatever you say.”

***

The two hunters stand in front of the ruins, flashlights illuminating the dirt path in front of them as they stare up at the crumbling walls of the old palace. 

“I guess we should sp-”

I swear to God, if you say the words “split up”, I’m going to super glue you to my side.”

“You got a better idea?”

“No,” Chase mutters dejectedly. 

“Then yes, we should split up.”

“Fine, but the moment something happens, call me, okay?”

“Duh. I’m not an idiot.”

“Jury’s out on that one. Let’s go.”

“Oh my god, you’re so rude.”

“You’re the one suggesting we split up so, am I wrong?”

“Yes, you are, because we’ll probably be fine.”

“We’ll see.”

***

Chase wanders down yet another corridor, softly humming AC/DC under her breath, a habit she has for when she’s nervous. Flashing her light against the walls turns up nothing, though the sight is pretty. 

Suddenly, after about half an hour, something flickers in her peripheral vision. She whirls around quickly, all sound being cut off. Cautiously, she walks over to the doorway she’d seen the movement coming from. 

She pokes the flashlight through the doorway first, before following with her head. She looks left. Nothing. She looks right. Also nothing. 

Chase sighs, placing a hand to her head, squinting her eyes tightly, as though that could make her headache disappear. Turning on her heel, she walks back into the corridor, only to collide into something hard. She stumbles back, before noticing she’d walked into a wall. 

She really shouldn’t walk with her eyes closed. 

She growls under her breath, walking through a high arch, leading into a large open space, equally as dusty as the past few rooms. She checks behind the large pillars, hoping to see some evidence of...anything, really. Just as she’s about to leave into another hallway, she spots a flicker of movement again. Turning her light to the center far wall of the room, she sees a large stage-like stone, atop it what looked like human remains of some kind. 

“Perfect,” Chase mutters, wandering over. “Just perfect.”

Chase grabs her phone, bringing up the name “Harley Quinn”, pressing the number. 

“Yeah? Find something?”

“Yeah. Human remains. You know, body parts, some bones. The usual.”

“Lovely,” Harley mutters. 

“Yeah, anyway, I think there’s something still here because I keep seeing movement. I don’t know, I may just be paranoid. But- oh for fuck’s sake.”

“What’s up?”

Chase whips out her gun, firing a couple shots at the figure looming over her, of course, making little headway in keeping it at bay. 

“You stupid Aladdin character looking ass,” Chase mutters, dropping her phone after the figure makes a swipe at her. The woman, djinn, grins at her, reaching out a hand.

“Chase? Chase!” She hears Harley’s voice shouting from the other side of the phone call, before her vision turns white.

***

Harley searched the ruins high and low for any sign of Chase before finding her phone on the ground. She pocketed it before surveying the area. She noted the body drained of blood. That and Chase calling the creature an ‘Aladdin character looking ass’ clued her into it being a djinn they were hunting. She headed to the hotel room pocketing a silver knife.

Harley drove to the nearest sheep farm. She picked the locks and found a lamb before calling Sam.

“Hello?” He asked, yawning.

“Hey. Do not put it on speakerphone. Don’t tell Dean it’s me.”

“Dean’s asleep. Why are you calling?”

“Swear none of this leaves this phone call first.”

“I swear. Now, what’s going on?”

“Chase and I were hunting a djinn, but we didn’t know it was a djinn yet so we didn’t have the proper weapons. Basically she got kidnapped by the djinn and now I have to murder a lamb and I’m freakin’ out man.”

“Okay, slow down. Chase got kidnapped?”

“Yeah, please don’t be mad.” “I’m not mad, just worried. Do you need backup?”

“No, I just need to kill this lamb, but like it’s so precious and sweet.”

“Who do you care about more? Chase or the lamb?”

“Chase, but the lamb is really up there.”

“Look, just stab it. You just need the blood. You don’t have to kill it.”

“Right, yeah, I can’t do that.”

“Yes, you can.”

“I still blame myself for all my fish dying after I cleaned their tank when I was in grade school. I still feel guilty about that shit.”

“That’s...okay, um just pretend it’s a werewolf.”

“I have aphantasia, Sam! I literally can’t do that!”

“Okay, then you’re just going to have to do it. Don’t think, just do.”

“Okay?” Harley squeezes her eyes shut blindly bringing the knife down until she hears the bleat of the lamb. She opened her eyes and saw the white of the lambs fluff turn red. The knife was coated in the lamb’s blood. “I did it, oh god, I did it. Fuck, I’m a monster. I mean I’m always a monster, but now I’m even more of a monster.”

“Harley, calm down. You’re not a monster.”

“Yes, I am,” She says, tears building up in her eyes.

Sam sighs, “Just do me a favor and go rescue Chase.”

“Right, yeah, bye. I’ll call you after I rescue her.”

“Alright, bye, Harley.”

***

Chase laughs, pointing mockingly at one of her best friends. Harley sits close by her side, twirling a knife. Setting the camera up to take another picture, Nathaniel flips off the moon. 

“Shit, this is not going to come out right. We should’ve picked a different night.”

“Hey, you invited me out, not the other way around,” Chase says. 

The horizon is surprisingly easy to make out, considering it’s eleven at night. The full moon illuminates the scenery, a small town in the distance, it’s lights twinkling lazily.

“Can you fix this for me?” Harley asks.

“Sure,” Chase responds, starting to braid Harley’s hair.

“Ah! Got one I actually like,” Nathaniel shouts in victory. 

“Hey, we wanna see!” Harley says.

Nathaniel bends down, showing the two girls a photo of them, sitting next to each other, looking out in the distance. You can’t see much detail, but the two are relaxed and enjoying themselves.

---

Chase runs through the house, getting chased by an overly loud man. 

“Dean, Dean, stop! It wasn’t me!”

Getting scooped up by her older brother, she dissolves into a fit of laughter, getting tickled in all of the worst places. “Then who was it?” Dean demands playfully.

“Sam, okay, it was Sam!” 

Dean lets go of Chase and turns to slowly look at their youngest brother. “It was you!”

Sam looks at Chase. “Snitch.” He takes off down the stairs and all three can distantly hear Bobby yell, “No running in the house, ya idjits!”

Chase watches on, taking deep breaths, laughing slightly still.

---

“I did it, I did it!”

“Um, hello?” Harley asks.

“Okay, fine, we did it.”

“Was that so hard?”

Bobby comes up behind the two girls, hugging them both. “I’m so proud of you two.”

“Stop, Bobby, you’re gonna wrinkle the gown.”

“You’ve already graduated, what does it matter now?” Dean asks, taking yet another picture.

“It’s about the pride,” Sam says. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t understand. I may not have graduated from a fancy college like you three, but I am still the coolest one here.”

“Keep telling yourself that, Dean,” Chase says.

“Yeah, obviously, I’m the coolest one,” Harley adds.

“Okay, okay, I relent. Obviously, I am the coolest one here, other than my smartass fiancee.”

Dean wraps Harley up in a hug, while Sam and Chase roll their eyes, mouthing ‘I told you so’ to themselves.

“Okay, okay, I want one last picture of all of us,” Sam says.

Sam asks a random family to take a picture and they oblige. Sam stands at the very back, his arms around Dean and Bobby’s shoulders, while Harley and Chase stand side by side in the very front. Their smiles are wide, and their hearts content. They wouldn’t trade this life for anything.

   ***

Harley arrives at the ruins, african dream root in her messenger bag and silver knife in hand. She began searching in the djinn-eral area that Chase disappeared from. She found Chase’s phone before she found her in a cavern by the ruins.

“Chase!” Harley yells as soon as she sees her. She runs up to her friend's limp hanging body, and gently slaps her cheek trying to wake her up. It doesn’t work so instead she gently cuts her friend free and lays her on the cavern floor and takes out her IV. Harley then frees who she assumes is Sunhat Lady. She assumes as she has since lost her hat.

The djinn enters the cave and it takes a moment for Harley to place her heavily tattooed face. “Halola, right?” Harley asks.

“You remembered, I’m surprised.”

“I never forget a pretty face. Too bad I’ll have to kill you.” Harley frowns before lunging at Halola. She dodges and tries to grab Harley’s neck. Harley ducks and drives the silver blade through the djinn’s heart. Halola screams then goes limp.

***

“Chase! Thank god you’re alive!” Harley yells hugging her for dear life.

Chase moves away slightly, very confused.“Look, I know I said I was stressed about the job interview, but it’s nice to know you have so much faith in me. Could you possibly extract your limbs from me now?”

“No you don’t get it. This isn’t your life. We’re hunters. We were in Hawaii hunting a djinn when you got attacked,” Harley says extracting her limbs from Chase, “All this is fake.”

Chase looks at Harley with an increasing degree of bewilderment on her face as Harley continues to talk. “Uh huh, sure. And you and I haven’t been roommates since college, you’re not engaged to my brother, I’m not about to work for the high end firm I’ve been trying for years to get, and Sam isn’t a bad singer.”

“I’m sorry what?! Me and I’m assuming, Dean are engaged? Wow this is a weird world you’ve created.”

“Dean and I.” Chase gives Harley a blank look. “And no. Sam.”

“Me and Sam?! What the actual fuck!”

“Sam and I. And that was sarcasm, dumbass. How much sleep did you get last night?”

“None. Vampire remember.”

“Okay, so no more mixing alcohol and horror movies for you. Got it.” Chase stands up from her seat. “You should probably get some rest. You’re not acting like yourself.”

“I don’t drink. The whole murderous bloodlust thing doesn’t mix well with alcohol. And I am acting like myself, because I african dream rooted into your brain.”

“Okay, so do I have to go along with what I’m assuming is another improv thing or can I ask- what the hell is african dream root and what is going on?”

“Improv? Okay. Well african dream root lets you go into other people’s dream so you can talk to them-”

“Uh huh, sounds fake but continue,” Chase says, waving a hand.

“And you got touched by a djinn while we were on vacation in Hawaii.” Harley says increasingly impatiently.

“Wait, we went to hawaii?” Chase thinks for a moment. “Djinn. Djinn, djinn, why does that ring a bell? Isn’t that like a genie. Like Aladdin?”

**“You stupid Aladdin character looking ass,” Chase mutters, dropping her phone after the figure makes a swipe at her. The woman, djinn, grins at her, reaching out a hand.

“Chase? Chase!” **

Chase lurches forward, a hand on her head, as though suddenly dizzy.

“Yes! Thank god! Yes!”

“What was that?”

“My best bet? You remembered something from your real life.”

“This is my real life,” Chase says forcefully. “My name is Chase Winchester. I am a graduate from Harvard, I volunteer at the library, and you’re my best friend. I’m twenty-eight. I’m going to be your maid of honor. Bobby and Ellen are practically my parents and my two brothers are Sam and Dean. This is real,” Chase says, as though trying to convince herself more than Harley.

“No, it’s not. Travelling across the country in Jack is real. You relentlessly teasing me about the fact that I might like Dean. You totally crushing on Cas, and us saving the world. That’s real.”

“Who’s Cas?”

“An angel and a friend. He gave us pie.”

**“Harley? Chase? Are you two okay?” Cas asks. 

Chase nods, whilst Harley can barely breathe enough to answer, just putting a thumbs up. “Yeah, we’re fine. Why do you ask?” Chase asks nonchalantly. 

“You were running, screaming, and you’ve got burns on your arm.”

Chase looks down to see that the bleach that had spilled on her earlier had indeed burned her slightly. “Oh this is nothing. Harley got some in her eyes, so I mean. It’s whatever.”

Cas frowns at Chase. He moves one of his hands, both of which were still holding onto Chase’s biceps, and places it over the burns. A second later, they’re gone. 

“Oh, thanks. Anyway, you can let go of me now. I’m sure I’m less inclined to fall at the given moment.”

“Oh, right, yes. Of course, I’m sorry,” Cas stutters, stepping back. **

Chase clutches her head with both hands, her vision blurring and refocusing suddenly, leaving a nauseous feeling in her stomach.

“What the hell is going on?!”

“I think you wanted this life so bad you repressed your actual memories and now they’re coming back. But that's just a theory.”

“What?” Chase asks incredulously. “Tell me, if this isn’t real. What is? You?”

“Well, yeah, like I said I african dream rooted myself. Now I’m in your dream world.”

“Convince me then. Go on. Tell me what you know about me.”

“We met when I was twenty and you were twenty-one. We were chasing an orange eyed demon who went by Hank. We started helping each other on hunts. You won Jack, that’s our car, in a poker game a year later and we finally hit the road together and we haven’t looked back since. I also happen to know you have a folder on your computer that’s just pictures of me and Dean sleeping.”

“Wait, you know about that folder?”

“Yes, I know about that folder and it’s all perfectly innocent.”

“How? I hid it behind a folder of lore on poltergeists, which you never read about-” Chase cuts herself off, frowning. “I don’t know where that came from. I don’t have any folders on my computer like that.”

“You do on your real computer.”

“But-but- Keep telling me stuff.”

“We went to visit Sam at Stanford then went to go fight a sphinx. We hunted the demon that  killed your mum and dad. You found out I’m half vamp when I got kidnapped by some friendly vampires who were trying to prove a point. We have fought so many monsters together and this one is no different. You gotta believe me.”

Chase, confused and slightly dazed by the rush of images flooding her brain, notices Harley beginning to freak out. “Okay, say I believe you. Then what do I do?”

“Well, um, you have to kill yourself,” Harley says looking away, her voice strained.

Chase blinks. She blinks twice. “Come again?”

“You have to kill yourself.”

“Yeah, let me go take a long walk off a short pier. How am I supposed to kill myself? I haven’t shot a gun since I was twelve! I haven’t held a knife outside the kitchen ever. And I see no rope or high ledges because I'm not crazy!”

“Well, that’s how Dean got out.”

“You got something to help me then?” Chase asks jokingly, only for her eyes to widen as she sees Harley pull a silver knife covered in blood out of her jacket. “Okay, what the fuck?”

“I killed a djinn with it, and stabbed a lamb. So it’s not the cleanest blade ever, but it’ll get the job done.”

“You killed- you stabbed a- of course you did. Hand it over.”

Harley hands the knife over.

“Okay, Harley. I’m going to go through this logically. If you’re messing with me, you wouldn’t give me an actual knife. This is fake or you’ll somehow stop me and it’ll be fine. Or, if I’m dreaming, I’ll wake up because your brain can’t process dying so you wake up when you die in dreams.

“Or, or somehow. In some fucked up way, you’re telling the truth. Tell me. What is it worth to go back?”

“For starters you’ll die if you stay in here. And also none of the people here are real. None of this is real. Cas isn’t here. Trust me you wanna wake up.”

Chase pauses for a moment, fear reflecting in her eyes. Screwing her eyes shut, her face scrunched in concentration, she pulls the knife towards her, a stinging sensation rushing through her abdomen before she feels nothing.

***

Chase opens her eyes to see Harley hovering over her, worry etched onto her features. 

“Man, no need to look so worried. When have I ever turned down the offer to kill myself?” Chase jokes. Harley cracks a smile, shaking her head. “I know, I know, that was awful. Can we get going though? If we don’t call Dean in the next half hour, he’ll freak.”

“It’s kinda almost morning.”

“Wait, already? Shit. I’m still so tired,” Chase says, sitting up. She winces. “And sore.”

“It’s fine we’ll just say we had an early night. Let's get to the hotel and you can rest up.” Harley says as she shoots Sam a text.

“Wait, did you really kill a lamb successfully without freaking out?”

“No. Let’s just leave it at that.”

Chase sighs. “Figures. Let’s head back.”

***

Harley dialled Dean as Chase slept recuperating from her djinn ordeal. He picked up on the first ring.

“Before you say anything, sorry, we fell asleep early.”

“Bullshit! Y’all never fall asleep early!” Dean yells. Harley has to hold the phone away from her ear.

“Yeah, well we spent all day hiking, walking, and swimming, so we got a bit exhausted. Sorry. Look I just woke up, Chase is still out. What more do you want from me?”

“I want a lot from you, but right now I want an explanation.”

“You want a lot from me? Like what?”

“I want you screaming my name as I fuck you against the motel table.”

“Dean!” Harley yells. “I told you I don’t mess around like that.”

“I know,” Dean sighs defeated.

***

Chase and Harley sigh heavily, their bags falling off their shoulders as they slump against the wall. 

“Remind me again to choose a later time to fly out from wherever we are. I never want to get to an airport that early again,” Chase complains. 

Harley nods, grabbing her water bottle. “Where are the boys anyway? Weren’t they supposed to be here?”

“Who knows?” Chase rolls her eyes. “Dean probably got distracted by something. Or maybe they got lost. That’s something they would do.”

“The only place Dean gets lost is in New York,” Harley counters.

“Yeah, but Sam?”

“Yeah, but Dean’s probably driving.”

“Oh, I meant in the airport. God knows, they probably didn’t bother looking at the signs.”

“Probably not,” Harley sighs.

Chase sighs, sliding her back down the wall, settling into a comfortable position. “Tell me when they get here.”

“When,” Harley says as the boys round the corner. 

“What?” Chase opens her eyes to see Sam, an annoyed expression gracing his features, and Dean, an uncomfortable one on his. “Of fucking course.”

“Sorry it took so long; we thought we could beeline here, but it’s been a while since we’ve been in an airport,” Sam says, side eyeing Dean. 

Dean immediately just hugs Harley, who had opened her arms slightly, indicating she wanted attention. Sam helps Chase off the floor, before grabbing her bags. 

Harley and Chase share a knowing look, stifling a laugh that screams, ‘knew it’. 

Rolling his eyes, Dean kisses Harley’s forehead, before reaching down and grabbing her luggage.

Walking out of the airport, Dean and Sam pester them with questions about their trip. They, in turn, pester the boys about what they’d been doing in their absence. 

“I’m just happy we’re back,” Harley says, getting into the backseat of the Impala.

Chase nods, “Me too.”

[skeletonscribbles]

Everything Stays

as promised, an Adventure Time AU! I’ve loved doing this so much.

Pairing: Reddie (as Bubbline/GumLee, for AT folk)

Rating: T

Warnings: breakup discussion, Stan as the Lumpy Space Prince

Other: this is, again, an Adventure Time AU, so if something doesn’t make sense, it’s probably on purpose.

Songs Included: I’m Just Your Problem Slow Dance With You Everything Stays (referenced, but not sung)

Read on Ao3

Tag List: @imrichie​ @mirandonsky​ @lilgeorgie​ @aizeninlefox​ @astronauticallygay​ @callme-eds​ @reddie-boi​  (image from AT comics - Spooktacular 2017)

Being undead was boring as shit.

Richie Tozier had been a vampire for a solid millenium - and heir to the vampire throne, at that; a king of the domain, and as such, he thought it was pretty safe to say that he’d done just about everything there was to do at this point.

In fact, most of the stuff that was happening around him he’d already seen happen, once upon a time. Kingdoms fell what felt like every damn day, adventures came and went. Human travelers passed through the land of Ooo thinking they’d be heroes, and some of them were. Bowers stayed up to his Ice King tricks, and his penguin Patrick, nee Orgalorg, pretended to give a shit. The Candy Kingdom continued to grow, and Lumpy Space continued to be the most bizarre realm in a world full of bizarre realms, and Richie’s father came and went from the Nightosphere intermittently, and for the most part, Richie was left alone to play music in his little cottage and reflect on the fact that his day-to-day felt like a series of re-runs rather than new episodes.

It was...lonely as shit, if Richie was being really honest with himself (not that he was in the business of doing that, but still) and he really had no fucking idea how to make do - especially given that he was overly aware of the fact that everyone he talked to was going to die before he was.

(Well. There were exceptions to that, but…that didn’t bear thinking about.)

(Most of the exceptions left after a while, too - just...differently, in a way that hurt more because it was a choice.)

(But again - that didn’t bear thinking about.)

In spite of all that, he’d managed to connect pretty well with the human hero of the moment. The kid’s name was Bill, and Richie liked his hair, and his tenacity, and how scared of Richie he was sometimes. It was good when the heroes were a little scared of him. The ones that weren’t were usually stupid.

He’d blown down around to Bill’s treehouse on this particular day because he didn’t have anywhere else to be, like most days, and because he was kind of trying to avoid thinking about his dad, like most days...but mostly because he had somewhere else to potentially be that night that was making him a little nervous. (That part wasn’t like most days, but it wasn’t anything he hadn’t done before so he could pretend to pass it off as mundane.) He’d quietly been hoping that Bill would be planning some great adventure that Richie could hitch on to, because that was what Bill was usually doing, but today, Bill was inside on the couch playing video games with his magical dog, Ben. Ben’s Rainicorn girlfriend, Beverly, was coiled at the foot of the couch, and their game system MiKE (Richie assumed that was an acronym of some kind, but he really didn’t care enough to find out what the letters stood for) was patiently leaning up against the television with two controllers plugged in where his arms usually were.

It would be easy for Richie to leave; to fuck off and jam with some of the nastier creatures out on the outskirts of Ooo, or cause trouble for some Princess or Kingdom or something. It would be easy to leave these mortal kids alone - to not get attached to them and instead laugh from a distance as they tripped their way through video game levels and quests and idiot romances until they died.

Unfortunately, he’d outgrown easy centuries ago.

“Hey dudes,” he greeted, floating in through a window that Bill had carelessly left half-open. “Suh Bevvie.”

Bill and Ben jumped, obviously caught off guard by Richie’s sudden entrance. It was a miracle that no monster had crept up on them and killed them yet - they had little by way of sensory instincts. Bev, on the other hand, knew that Richie was coming - she lifted her head slightly and made unimpressed eye contact with him, which meant that she was the first one he approached.

“Missed you, baby,” he said, and found that he meant it. Bev was a pretty unique little Rainicorn, and she and Richie had known each other for long enough that they’d seen each other through some pretty tough shit. The two of them had a similar way of going about things, which was cool - except that now she’d gone and done the whole relationship thing and he was...not about that life, anymore.

She responded with a cheeky joke about his mother in her native Rainicorn language, and he chuckled, settling down on the couch next to Ben.

“Tell me what it m-means,” he could hear Bill hissing - the idiot kid still hadn’t picked up any Rainicorn, in spite of the fact that Bev was always around.

“I will not,” Ben whispered back gleefully.

“So is this what we’re doing today?” Richie interrupted, gesturing to MiKE, who was wiggling the controller wires around. They were getting crazy tangled, which was kind of awesome.

“I mean,” Bill shrugged, scooting forward on the couch so he could look at Richie properly. His hat had slid down and was almost covering his eyes - Richie could see a little bit of his red hair falling out of the back of it, near the nape of his neck. “No one’s c-called for help, and all the Princes and P-p-princesses seem fine, so. I think the Ice K-king isn’t due to strike until like, tuh-two days from now. Usually takes him about that l-l-long to put together a stupid p-plan.”

“Yeah, that does seem about right.” Richie stretched himself out on the couch so that his legs were over Ben’s lap. Ben shoved at him uselessly, and Richie thought about moving, but the only other option for his legs was to stick them on top of Beverly or levitate them, and he wasn’t keen on either of those options so...Ben was going to have to deal. “Still pretty lame, though.”

Richie had expected Bill to react to that - to jump up and declare that he wasn’t lame, and instigate some quest or whatever, but instead, Bill slumped further down into the couch. “L-lame, huh?”

“Yeah. Lame.” Richie crossed his arms over his chest incredulously. “What the fuck is going on with you, man?”

Robotically, Bill slid off of the couch and stood up, abandoning his controller on the floor. MiKE immediately started banging it against the wall. “Do any of you wuh-want ice c-cream? Rich, I don’t think we have stuh-strawberry, but I can ch-ch-check.”

Richie rolled his eyes. No way a little pint of strawberry ice cream could quell even a little bit of his hunger - he’d have to suck the red out of something way bigger than that for it to be noticeable to his body. Luckily, he’d eaten before he came.

“I’m good, don’t worry.”

Bill gave a semi-satisfied little nod and headed towards the kitchen.

Ben turned himself on the couch to face Richie. His expression was skeptical. “Are you good, though? You’re weird today, dude.”

Richie made a show of rolling his eyes. “I’m always weird. It runs in my family.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Ben swatted at Richie’s leg. At Richie’s feet, Bev had turned herself around, and was watching the two of them with interest. “Blah blah blah Nightosphere, blah blah Wentworth Tozier. Is he why you’re trying to get us to do something crazy?”

“Nah. Went’s not gonna be around for a while. Nightosphere’s a pretty crazy place to be in charge of. Got his hands way full.”

In fact, Richie had been approached by his father rather recently to potentially take over the Nightosphere biz, but Richie’d shut that down pretty immediately. Ooo was his home - it always had been, and it always would be. The Nightosphere sucked. Demons were dumb and super shitty.

“Did Ashlee come back?” Bev asked in Rainicorn, eyes wide with concern.

“NO. Glob, no. Ashlee knows better than to show her dumb face around here,” Richie scoffed, shuddering a little bit at the mention of his ex-girlfriend. He’d made a metric fuckton of mistakes over the course of his life - he was 1000 years old, after all - and Ashlee still qualified as one of the worst. Fucking bitch.

“Did you not get invited to the ball at the Candy Kingdom tonight?” Ben asked quietly.

If any of them noticed the way that Richie tensed at that, none of them said anything.

“Yeah, no, I got invited,” Richie finally said, tugging at the hem of his plaid flannel. “I’m fine. What’s up with Bill, though? He’s all up in his ice cream sads, huh?”

Bev and Ben let out simultaneous loud groans, and Mike giggled chirpily, wiggling his wire arms as best he could given how tangled they now were.

“You know Audra Phillips?” Bev asked, the natural cheeriness of the Rainicorn language undercut with annoyance. “Flame Princess?”

“Yeah, and you also know how Bill’s a sucker for royalty? Like, major heart-eyes?” Ben added, voice flat. “Well. Fill in the blanks.”

Richie was very capable of connecting the dots with this one, namely that Bill had probably asked Audra to the Candy Kingdom Ball and been rejected (and even if she did like him, he shouldn’t have expected her to go to that, given the relatively low melting points for most types of candy), but that wasn’t the part of Ben’s series of questions that stuck with him.

“Bill’s never had heart-eyes for me,” Richie pointed out sourly. “I’m the Vampire King, remember? Fuck all those useless Princesses.”

“And Princes,” Bev reminded him pointedly.

Richie sighed, squeezing his eyes shut. “And...Princes. Whatever. What gives, Ben?”

Ben’s horrified expression was nothing short of hilarious. “Do you….do you like Bill?”

Richie’s howling laugh at that could probably be heard from kingdoms away. Surprisingly (or really...not, knowing Bill), Bill didn’t so much as pop his head back in from the kitchen.

“Oh my fucking glob. NO, Ben, that’s the craziest idea you’ve ever had.” Richie shook his head vigorously, entirely bemused. His curls were in his eyes, now, but he didn’t really care. “Nah, I’m not about that...I just felt left out of Bill’s whole schtick, ya know? You know me - dramatic as shit, as per usual.”

Ben stared at him for another long moment, and after a while, Richie felt rather than saw Bev’s head turn towards him too. He swallowed hard and looked at MiKE...and was not heartened to see that Mike was facing his general direction. Not that there was any way to tell if MiKE was really actually looking at you, but facing front was bad enough.

“Listen--” Richie began, but Ben cut him off.

“Have you ever been in love, Richie?” Ben asked, eyes searching Richie’s face in a way that felt borderline invasive.

The question was enough to get Richie up and out of his seat. He levitated away from the couch a little bit, reeling - where did that come from?

“Why?” Richie asked, defensive.

“Just thinking about it,” Ben said, shrugging. “You talk a big game, but I’ve never seen you with anyone. Meanwhile, Bill’s got like...his royal family member significant other of the week.”

Richie flipped himself a little bit in the air, shielding his face so he wouldn’t give himself away as he thought about whether or not to actually tell Ben the truth.

On the one hand, what of the truth could Ben possibly understand? Ben was a savvy creature, but mortals didn’t know dip about what it meant to see important people rise and fall and die and die and die, and even the savviest creatures were, ultimately, mortal. Ben also wasn’t half demon, hadn’t been bitten by a Vampire King, hadn’t survived nuclear craziness, didn’t have the people around him leaving or losing their goddamn minds all the frigging time. No part of Richie’s story was relatable to Ben at all.

Well. Well, actually.

If Richie went with the simplest possible answer...that would probably be relatable to Ben.

“Once,” Richie said slowly, turning lazily over so that he was completely upside-down. “I was in love once.”

The answer seemed to surprise Ben. It didn’t surprise Bev at all - and Richie had a feeling it wouldn’t, given all of the things that Bev knew about him. MiKE remained neutral, as far as Richie could tell.

“Oh,” Ben finally said. “Dude. What happened? Did she die?”

“Nah.” Richie slid his hands into his pockets and concentrated on keeping a straight face.”I just wasn’t good enough for ‘em, I think, when all was said and done.”

Ben’s expression darkened. “Richie, no--”

“That sounds like how Bill used to feel sometimes,” Bev chimed in. There was a dark, knowing look in her eyes, and Richie narrowed his eyes in immediate distrust. “About the Candy Prince.”

The last two words of Bev’s sentence echoed around in Richie’s brain like bells, and he ran his tongue over his fangs in an attempt to stave off the ugly feeling curling up in his chest. Candy Prince, Candy Prince, Candy Prince….

“Bill and the Candy Prince, huh?” he choked out, forcing a smile on to his face. “Eds did always have terrible taste in men.”

Richie regretted his giant mouth immediately after finishing his sentence. He knew what word Ben would zero in on. That one syllable had some eight hundred years of history jam packed into it, there was no way that no one was going to say anything--

“Eds?” Ben asked, realization lighting up his face, and it was all Richie could do not to groan.

“I’m not going to the Ball tonight,” Richie said loudly, glaring pointedly between Bev and Ben. “He invites me every time, but I never go. I can’t go.”

“Richie,” Ben began sadly, at the same time that Bev sighed out a “Honey, it’s been three hundred years, for Glob’s sake.” Both of them were cut off, however, by Bill’s abrupt return to the room. He was holding two ice cream bowls in front of him and looking more than a little lost.

“Oh. Uh. Wh-what’s up, f-f-folks?” he asked warily, looking between all of them. Only MiKE smiled back up at him.

To Richie’s relief, Ben didn’t seem to be in the business of tattling or telling stories. “Is that for me?” Ben asked without missing a beat, pointing to the second bowl of ice cream in Bill’s hand.

“Oh. Yeah.” Bill offered him the ice cream absently. “And for Bev too, if she wants.”

“Thanks, bud.” Ben grabbed his bowl appreciatively and slid down to sit next to Bev. Bill had forgotten to give them two spoons, but that didn’t seem to be a problem - Bev immediately began licking at the bowl.

They sat in silence for a moment. MiKE began trying to disentangle his controller wire arms, but he was clearly only making the problem worse.

“So Flame Kingdom,” Richie tried, but fortunately, he didn’t have to continue down that weak conversational path. He was interrupted by a loud knock at the door.

“Who is it?” Bill called loudly, setting his ice cream down on an end table and picking up his sword from where it lay sheathed by the door.

“It’s me,” a voice outside snapped, and there was no mistaking that cadence. Richie brightened and floated towards the door. “Open the flip up, I need to ask you something.”

Bill sighed and reached for the doorknob, but Richie beat him to it. He flung open the door, and was delighted to find that he’d smacked poor Prince Stanley right in the face with it.

“If it isn’t the Prince of Lumpy Space,” Richie greeted, cackling quietly as Stan muttered curses whilst dusting himself off. “What’s good, Stanny?”

“Nothing,” Stan spat. “I came here to show you all my outfit and now it’s DIRTY.”

“You came all the way from Lumpy Space to show us the same outfit that you always wear to parties?” Richie asked, feeling light for the first time since he’d gotten the invitation to that stupid ball in the mail. “Nerd.”

Stan yelled something incomprehensible back at him - Richie was pretty sure he heard the words “glob” and “flip” at least five times each and the phrase “your mom” at least once - and Richie gave one final shrieking laugh before folding himself up into his bat form and taking off into the trees.

It didn’t matter that he hadn’t said goodbye. He wasn’t good at that...and they were just mortals, anyway, it was no big thing whether they were mad at him or not.

Besides, he’d been left by choice before. He’d bled all of the hurt out of that particular Bad Thing, hadn’t he?

...hadn’t he?

---

Richie hadn’t had a heartbeat in centuries, but he could have sworn that he felt phantom pressure in his ears and chest and arms when he got home. His whole house felt too big, somehow, like it was gonna swallow him whole.

He knew why. He knew why and he was pissed.

Why had he said all that shit to Ben and Bev?

He let out a frustrated groan and kicked open the door to his little cottage, floating straight across the front room to where he’d tossed his bass the night before after a long and ultimately fruitless jam session with himself. It was always fruitless when he was by himself. He just got stuck on the same words and chords over and over...and wasn’t that just his life?

Frowning, he strummed loosely at the strings. His E string was a little bit out of tune, but he wasn’t in the mood to fuss around and fix it. It seemed fitting that everything would be a little bit off today, anyway.

His hands began to move of their own accord - muscle memory was strong, and Richie’s hands had wanted to play the same damn love song for the past three hundred years or so. It wasn’t the song that Richie’s brain wanted to play, but that had never stopped his traitor hands - no, they slipped back into the same stupid sappy chord progression every time.

Cursing under his breath, Richie adjusted and tried to put the muscle memory song out of mind. He chose harsher, angrier chords, and began to play.

“Well I shouldn’t have to justify things I do,” he sang loudly, spiteful as he flipped over and around erratically, “and I shouldn’t have to prove anything to you…”

If he showed up to the ball tonight, the whole Candy Kingdom would probably have a fucking heart attack. The goddamn Banana Guards would be on his ass in seconds, kicking him right the fuck out, even though he was technically invited because royalty or politeness or whatever lame-ass excuse Eds was using this time.

Well...no. Not Eds, but rather - His Majesty Prince Edward K. Bubblegum. Eds was someone else’s name - the name of someone Richie had loved a long time ago.

Edward K. Bubblegum was a stranger.

Heck, Bubblegum would probably be leading the mob against him if he showed at the party, all things considered. The Candy Prince hated when things got out of control, and Richie was the epitome of wild and free. Never mind that there was no precedent - never mind that Richie hadn’t wrecked a Candy Kingdom ball before because he knew how important they were to the Prince, never mind any of that. Bubblegum would be on the warpath the minute Richie materialized, no matter what.

“I’m sorry that I exist, I forget what landed me on your blacklist…” Richie continued, scowling as he spiraled further and further into his thoughts. It was true - he didn’t know what he had done to make Bubblegum so hostile. He didn’t remember doing anything at all.

Most of what he remembered from the drawn out period in which it all fell apart was the feeling of it - the despair, the return to crushing loneliness. He’d been left before at that point, but everyone else that had ditched him had reasons that Richie could understand: Bowers had lost his mind, his dad had always been more attached to the Nightosphere than to anything in Ooo, Richie included, and all his mortal friends were, well...mortal.

Eds was different. He never gave a reason for drifting away, and there was no obvious answer to why things were changing so rapidly. It felt like one day, Richie had gone to bed with his Eds - his brave, smart, funny, caring Eds, and the next, he awoke to find Bubblegum, who he didn’t know and didn’t care for. It was Bubblegum that bid Richie adieu, finally, with a brisk sweep of his arm and an excuse or twelve about the kingdom; it was Bubblegum that now sent Richie invitations to events because the two of them were supposedly “amicable” and then balked when Richie actually showed up.

Richie had his suspicions about what had happened to transform Eddie. Virtually all of said suspicions involved Richie being at fault or lacking in some way. Needless to say, the whole thing - the whole relationship process, the whole breakup -  hadn’t been awesome for his ego.

“And I shouldn’t have to be the one that makes up with you,” Richie sang angrily, closing his eyes and sinking to the ground. The breakup hadn’t been awesome for his ego, it hadn’t been awesome for any part of him at all, it had sucked, sucked, sucked - and it STILL sucked, right up to this very minute. Just because his heart didn’t beat didn’t mean that it didn’t work, on some fucked up level.

And yet…

“So why do I want to?” Richie’s hands were back to those soft, shitty muscle memory chords, and his voice was almost a whisper.

Glob, he hated feelings.

“Why do I want to…”

The pathetic post-breakup song his hands had been itching to play was bursting out of him, now. He gave up on his anger and let the sadness pour out. It was a day for moping. Bill was moping - Richie could mope, too.

“Slow dance with you, I just wanna--”

He was interrupted by a brisk knock on his door. Frowning, he set his bass down and floated over to a window, trying to parse out who it was. Had Bill and Ben come after him? Had Stan followed him to yell some more? Or maybe it was some groupie that had hunted down his house after last night’s show. He hoped it was the last option. He wasn’t above draining red from groupies, and he could use a snack - it had been a couple of hours since his last meal.

He couldn’t tell who it was from the window. They were too small, or possibly standing too close to the door, or both. Sighing, he reluctantly made his way over to open the door.

“What the fuck do you want?” he asked glumly, swinging the door open and fully expecting to be greeted with Ben, Bill, and Bev’s exasperated faces.

Instead, he found himself staring blankly out at the Candy Prince himself.

“Oh,” Richie said, “it’s you.”

Bubblegum was looking very...Bubblegum on this particular outing. He was decked head to toe in royal formal wear (all pink, of course, save for his small golden crown) and his mouth was drawn into a tight little line. His soft hair was slicked fiercely back into a little pompadour, and the overall effect was very princely - not very Eds.

The stranger with Eddie’s eyes held out a pint of strawberry ice cream towards Richie.

“Bill and Ben asked me to deliver this to you,” he said flatly, looking at the item without any interest. “They said you’d forgotten it at their treehouse, and that it was urgent.”

Richie couldn’t help but roll his eyes. This was absolutely Ben’s idea. Ben loved to meddle.

“And you agreed to do it?” Richie couldn’t help but bait the Prince a little bit. He was so easy to piss off - and that had been true even before he was Bubblegum, back when he had been Eds and able to laugh at himself a little. “What are you, their messenger boy? Don’t you have a ball to prepare for?”

Bubblegum flushed pink. “I always have time to do a favor for a friend.”

“Oh, and you and Bill are really good friends now, huh?” Richie knew he was toeing the line with his next set of comments, but it was all just kind of falling out of his mouth - Glob only knew where his filter had gone, or if he’d ever really had a filter at all. “You’d have to be, in order for him to convince you to come find me. You wouldn’t be caught dead here otherwise.”

“That’s not true,” Bubblegum lied, eyes narrowing. “Don’t assume things about me, Richie. There’s a lot you don’t know now.”

“And whose fault is that?” Richie asked cooly, crossing his arms over his chest and hovering a little bit so that Bubblegum would have to crane his neck to look up at him. He had quite a bit of height on the Prince as it was, so the extra few inches he gave himself by floating meant that he pretty literally had the upper hand on the situation, so to speak.

Bubblegum didn’t seem to have an answer to that question. In fact, his shoulders deflated a little bit, and he looked down at his shiny pink boots instead of up at Richie’s face.

“Ben said that you’d asked for me, that you had something to tell me,” Bubblegum said, and even his voice was lacking in Bubblegum quality now. It was quiet, and had fallen out of its usual princely cadence. “That’s why I’m here. You’re right. I probably wouldn’t have gone if it was just to give you this stupid ice cream that I know you don’t even want.”

Richie slowly sank back down to the ground - not because he was ceding anything to the Prince, but rather to make sure that he was firmly attached to something, because if he wasn’t, even he wasn’t sure what he might do or say.

“I like strawberry,” he offered carefully.

“Yeah, I know. It’s your favorite. ‘Just enough red’, you used to say.”

When the Prince finally lifted his eyes to meet Richie’s, there was so little of Bubblegum in them that Richie almost felt nauseous. It had been so many years since he’d seen Eddie’s face for real that he’d almost forgotten what it looked like.

“Yeah, you never forget anything, do you,” Richie said, twisting his mouth halfway up into a smile he wasn’t sure he wanted to give. “Eds.”

Eddie flinched, but to his credit, maintained eye contact.

“That was never my name, Richie, and you know it.”

They stood in abject silence for a solid minute and a half, just looking at each other. Richie wasn’t big on silence, usually, but he had nothing with which to break this one. He did and didn’t want Eddie to leave in equal parts, which meant that no matter what he said or what option Eddie chose to take, Richie was going to lose.

Finally, Eddie spoke back up - or Bubblegum, maybe, Richie couldn’t tell exactly which personality the Prince was choosing to adopt in that moment.

“Well, if you don’t actually have anything to tell me, I’ll just put this in the freezer and go. Can I come in for a second? You didn’t move the fridge, right?” Eddie peered around Richie and wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Glob, you haven’t moved anything since the last time I was here, have you? Not even your old clothes! It’s been….how long has it been?”

“Three hundred and twenty three years, four-ish hours and some-odd minutes,” Richie responded neatly. “Also, you’re supposed to wait until I invite you in, your Majesty.”

“Majesty is for Kings, Highness is for Princes, Richie, you are the only one in all of Ooo that forgets that, I swear to Glob. And I’m not a vampire, not all of us are vampires, so…” Eddie (he was pretty sure it was still Eddie) pushed past Richie and into his front room, hunting for the fridge. “It is disgusting as fuck in here, Richie, seriously.”

Richie rolled his eyes and situated himself on the couch to watch Eddie’s frantic search. “Language, Bubblegum Boy. You talk to your subjects with that mouth?”

“Where the fuck is your fridge, Richie?” Eddie snapped, glaring at him with all the venom he could muster (which had never been much).

“It’s not here,” Richie admitted, “you’re wasting your time. I donated it to Bill and Ben’s treehouse. Didn’t really need it for myself, so.”

Eddie responded by throwing the pint of ice cream directly at him. It was melted enough that the lid came off midway through its airborne arc, and as such, most of the ice cream ended up spilling down Richie’s front.

Richie knew that he should be mad about that, but instead, he just felt...tired.

Eddie, for his part, looked like he’d frozen solid. His eyes were glued to the ice cream dripping down Richie’s red flannel, and his horrified expression seemed to be etched in stone across his face.

“I’m so sorry,” Eddie said, and his voice was small and Bubblegum-less again.

It’s whatever, Richie wanted to say, it’s fine, it’s not like we haven’t made a mess before, it’s not like we aren’t a mess now, no matter how much you’ve been trying to pretend that you have no messes there’s always gonna be me--

“What did you think I was gonna tell you?” he heard himself ask instead. “When Ben said I wanted to say something to you...what did you think I had in mind? Obviously you were hoping for something in coming over here. You’d have skipped out if you thought I was gonna be a dick.”

“You’re always a dick,” Eddie countered, and the banter was so familiar it just about stung, but then Eddie’s shoulders were slumping again, and he was crossing over to sit next to Richie on the couch. “But. I….dunno. Something about the Ball, maybe.”

Richie made a face at Eddie and reached for a nearby article of clothing to begin wiping the ice cream off of himself. It was a little bit embarrassing that it so happened that he’d picked up his black bat boxers, but that was the way this day was gonna go, it seemed.

“You don’t want me at your stupid Ball.”

Eddie turned quickly towards Richie, and Richie almost laughed at the genuine surprise on Eddie’s face. It was equal parts hilarious and adorable, and -

No, no. Adorable was a dangerous path. Best not to start with that.

“Why would I invite you if I didn’t want you to come?”

“Politeness,” Richie guessed, counting off different excuses on his fingers. “Propriety, or whatever the fuck. Some misplaced sense of duty, maybe.”

Eddie shook his head in amazement. “No. I invite you to things because I want to see you. That’s all.”

Richie knew that Eddie was trying to make him feel better, but the whole thing felt forced, and Richie wasn’t falling for it. “You don’t want to see me, Kid Kaspbrak. If you wanted to see me, you wouldn’t have left.”

Eddie groaned softly and curled up on himself on the couch. “The citizens of the Candy Kingdom still don’t know what the K. in Edward K. Bubblegum stands for. They’d be so disappointed to find out that it’s just a bizarro jumble of letters. Most of them think it stands for ‘king’ or ‘cupcake’ or something.”

“Cupcake starts with a ‘c’,” Richie pointed out.

Eddie smiled thinly. “The Candy citizens aren’t always the brightest bunch. I can’t complain, though. I made ‘em.”

“Your mom made them,” Richie corrected, re-examining his shirt for remaining ice cream globs. “Miss her, by the way. She’ll always be my number one gal.”

The mention of his mom had shaken Eddie a little bit. When Richie looked back over, he was sitting ramrod straight on the couch - more Bubblegum than Eddie once again.

“I don’t rule the way my mom did,” Eddie said stiffly.

“I know,” Richie assured him. “You’re a great ruler, idiot. It’s the only thing you love, so I guess you have to be.”

The word ‘love’ brought Eddie back down into himself.

“What?”

Richie shrugged, trying to feign disinterest. He’d been waiting so fucking long to have this conversation - he didn’t want to blow it by losing his temper, even though he was so sorely tempted to yell that he could...well, yell. Instead, he focused his energy on getting up from the couch and trying to locate a shirt to change into. The flannel was going to stink of sour dairy sooner rather than later.

“I said that ruling’s what you love, sweetheart. It’s what you do best - it’s literally what you were formed to do, what your mom made you for. It’s a good fucking thing she made you to be better than her, too - best thing she ever did, in my humble opinion-”

“My mom made me to rule, yeah,” Eddie said, and he was doing a way worse job of keeping his cool than Richie was; his face was hot pink and his fists were clenched. Richie kind of wanted to gloat about that, but the moment wasn’t right, so he kept his mouth shut. “But I’m not just the thing she created, Richie, you know that. Or...I thought you knew that. That’s why I…”

He ducked his head back down into his chest, unable to finish the sentence. For an awful moment, Richie was absolutely sure that he was going to go full Bubblegum, march out, and not speak to Richie again for another three hundred years, but he didn’t move. He just stayed that way - folded over on the couch.

“That’s why you snuck me into your room when your mom wasn’t looking, yeah?” Richie asked, taking pains to keep malice out of his voice for once in his damn life. He located a clean-ish t-shirt and slowly lifted it up into his hands. “That’s why you used me to rebel against her, because you knew I saw you differently, right? And then you left once you got what you needed.”

“I didn’t want you because I was rebelling,” Eddie said into his hands. “I was rebelling because I wanted you.”

For once, Richie found himself without a snappy retort. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, but nothing would come out - he had honestly not ever expected to hear Eddie say those words.

“I left you,” Eddie continued, stretching out his words like they were immensely difficult to say, “because my mom was dying, and I needed to be a better ruler than she was, and I couldn’t do that when the whole kingdom was sore over my mom’s dealings with the Nightosphere and I was in love with the son of the guy that ran the damn place.”

Richie found himself grateful that his heart didn’t beat any more, because if it were still ticking, he was sure it would have stopped and killed him outright upon hearing the word ‘love’ pass through Eddie Kaspbrak Bubblegum’s lips.

“You loved that dumbass, huh?” he asked, floating over to where Eddie was sitting on the couch. Eddie didn’t look at Richie’s face right away, but instead settled his eyes on the t-shirt in his hands.

Richie was surprised to see a little smile make its way into the corners of Eddie’s mouth.

“I love that dumbass,” Eddie corrected softly, reaching out to touch the t-shirt. “I’ve tried to stop loving that dumbass, but I can’t, because he does stuff like...he sings love songs at his concerts and takes good care of Bill and keeps the shirts I got him and….” Eddie finally met Richie’s gaze, and his eyes were softer than they’d been in centuries. “You see what I’m saying.”

Richie looked down at the shirt and noticed for the first time that it was a concert tee from one of his early dates with Eddie. He’d snuck Eddie away from his mother and out to the forest, where they’d danced and shouted and swayed to the music of some knockoff demon band with the rest of the woodland spirits.

That Eddie was back in front of him now, but it didn’t seem right to ignore what had happened in between.

“Why haven’t we talked about this before now?” Richie asked slowly, sliding a hand up to cover Eddie’s on top of the shirt. “Why didn’t you explain this shit to me instead of just peacing out? It’s been a garbage couple of centuries trying to deal with the aftermath of all our stuff, and now I’m finding out that you could have just explained the situation right away? I mean, fuck, Eds, I thought there was a problem with me.”

“Yeah I, um,” Eddie laughed nervously, twisting the shirt a little in his hand. “I don’t have a good excuse for that. I really don’t. I thought...I don’t know what I thought you’d do. Undermine me or something, maybe. My mom was still so in my head, then...and I was hurting, too, and maybe I thought it would be easier to just...go? I don’t know. I made up a lot of stuff in that time. I still don’t know how much of it is real.”

“The Prince Bubblegum thing,” Richie told him, “that’s not real at all.”

Eddie nodded. “I know.”

“So why have you been pulling that fake shit with me?” Richie was full of questions, apparently - and Eddie was not being good about providing answers. Glob, he could have had things so nice and neat and tidy - Eddie had literally told him that he still loved him, for fuck’s sake -  and here he was, fucking around and ruining the whole thing. This was the kind of behavior that had kept his dad away all of those years, he was sure of it--

“You mean being mean to you when we’re with Bill and Ben?” Eddie was asking, and Richie was only half cognizant of his own responding nod. “I don’t really know about that either, Rich. It’s been my method of self-defense for a really long time. I just...I don’t...I’m really surprised you haven’t kicked me out yet. I’m so stupid. I should go.”

And just like that, Eddie was up off of the couch, brushing past Richie and rolling his shoulders back into their Bubblegum position.

“Probably don’t come tonight,” Eddie said, audibly burying the hurt in his own voice. “Sorry again about the ice cream.”

“Please don’t go again,” Richie cut in. He hadn’t meant to sound desperate, but he supposed that it wasn’t the most embarrassing thing that had happened to him that day. “Eddie, I...I don’t forgive you, not yet, anyway, and I know that’s probably a dick thing to say, but I mean it, so there it is. But. I also still love you, so.” Richie turned his eyes up towards the ceiling, mortified at his own bluntness and general stupidity. “Can I at least maybe go to your party tonight.”

Eddie stared back at him. “I won’t be allowed to dance with you in front of people.”

“It’s allowed if you say it’s allowed,” Richie said, silently begging Eddie to really, really hear him. “You know that, right?”

He could see that Eddie was fighting back the impulse to close off again, and he floated over to him, gripping him by the shoulders.

“Eds.”

“It starts at eight,” Eddie whispered, and then he was backing through the door and disappearing into the forest until he was just a dot of pink against blacks and blues.

Richie took a deep breath and looked again at the shirt in his hands.

He hoped he still owned formal wear.

----

It was a little weird for Richie to be feeling like he was doing something for the first time, but as he approached the ball, he found that he had no memory of ever doing something quite like this. In his whole thousand year existence, he’d never accepted an invitation from a Prince to a ball...let alone accepted an invitation from a Prince with whom he had romantic history.

It was kind of cool, all things considered. Sneaking into Stan’s parties in Lumpy Space had nothing on this. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so...not bored.

Maybe he still had some shit to experience, after all. Even if it was kind of also the same shit for a second time.

“Some things never change,” Bev had sighed when Richie had met her at the palace gates and filled her in on the day’s excitement.

“They change,” Richie had countered, fidgeting with the collar of the stuffy shirt he’d managed to dig out of his floor pile. “But they also stay the same, you know? Like when you leave something somewhere and it’s still there when you go back, but like - it’s melted or faded or something. Things can be both.”

They’d walked inside at that moment, and their presence was informally announced by the slam of the gigantic wooden palace doors behind them.

When the inhabitants of the Candy Kingdom got their first good look at Richie, they didn’t panic, much to Richie’s surprise. They just stood there, limp and wary, waiting for some crazy catastrophe to befall them. They were used to it, probably - Ooo had a new catastrophe every fucking day.

Eddie must have had his hands super full, Richie thought. Would there have been a place for me with him while he dealt with all that shit? Or would I have just gotten bored?

He could so easily imagine himself drifting away from the early Candy Kingdom - there had been so many problems and so much paperwork back then.

He found himself a little less angry about Eddie’s decision upon realizing that.

“It’s chill,” Richie called out to the Candy citizens, raising his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “I don’t talk to my dad and I don’t vibe with demons. I just play music and crush on your Prince, that’s all. Carry on.”

Surprisingly, they did. As soon as Richie had finished his announcement, the Candy citizens were shrugging and mumbling and laughing to each other, and then the music was back on, and then it was like he wasn’t there at all - like he was just a normal dude that came to these parties all the time.

“So they’re okay with me having a crush on their Prince?” Richie asked Bev incredulously.

Bev laughed. “Yeah, because they all have a crush on him, too.”

“And they don’t care about the--” Richie began, and bared his fangs to indicate that he was referring to his father.

Bev clicked her tongue thoughtfully. “I think most of them have forgotten about how shitty things used to be with Sonia, honestly. Eddie’s paranoid about it still, but these guys aren’t exactly known for their terrific memories or brains in general. No one’s afraid of the Nightosphere anymore.”

Richie let out a long, obnoxious groan.

“Eddie,” he called, kicking himself off the ground and floating as fast as he could through the mazelike palace. “Eds, are you serious? We could have been - fuck, Eds, you have to be here, right, where--”

“I don’t know if he’ll come,” Richie heard Eddie’s voice - not Bubblegum’s voice, much to his delight, but Eddie’s -  say from around a corner, and he abruptly stopped in his tracks, wanting to hear out the rest of whatever this conversation was.

“Why w-wouldn’t he c-c-come?” The next voice that spoke was unmistakably Bill’s. There was no stutter quite like his anywhere else in Ooo.

Somebody sighed - Eddie, probably, or Ben if he was there, and then Eddie was mumbling. Richie thought he caught the words “complicated” and “history”, but he couldn’t be sure…

“They were in love, Bill,” Ben said loudly, and Eddie let out a loud shriek. Richie cackled quietly to himself, and decided to get a closer look at the situation. He screwed his eyes shut and concentrated, and was soon rewarded with a familiar cold water-esque sensation - he was turning invisible.

He floated out into the hallway and perched himself a little ways behind Eddie, who was clustered up against the wall with Ben, Bill, and MiKE (who looked very cute in a small, ill-fitting tuxedo), and clearly trying to keep things low profile.

“How did thuh-that happen?” Bill asked, bewildered. Eddie blushed a deep pink and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Richie’s dad and my mom used to do business, back in the day. Whenever Went Tozier was around, Richie would always be hovering somewhere, hoping that Went would come talk to him. Went never did...but I wanted to, I really wanted to, so one day…”

“One day I decided to pity the kid with the puppy dog eyes that was following me around and say hey to him. The rest of it, as they say, is ancient Ooo history.” Richie swooped in behind Eddie and materialized to tell his part of the story. Ben and Bill both almost fell backwards at his sudden appearance. Eddie didn’t flinch, but his shoulders were drawn tight.

“Ancient indeed,” he agreed, not turning to look at Richie at all. “I was what, four hundred? And you were five hundred?”

“Six hundred,” Richie corrected. “Had that radical age advantage.”

“Anyways,” Eddie continued, “I seem to remember you being really excited to meet me because, and I quote, ‘there aren’t that many people that don’t die around here, let alone cute people that don’t die’.”

“Like I said, ancient Ooo history,” Richie told Ben and Bill, who were listening with wide eyes. “But tonight is a new era, isn’t it, Eds?”

Eddie turned his head slowly up to look at Richie’s face, as if he needed to determine whether Richie was speaking in earnest. “You’ve seen the Candy People? They’re not afraid of you?”

“They don’t give a single shit,” Richie confirmed. “They trust that you’re gonna keep them safe, and, well, you invited me. So.”

“So,” Eddie repeated, jerking his head back down and twisting his lurid pink cape in his fingers.

“So we dance!” MiKE suggested, and Richie could have sworn that little guy hadn’t been paying attention at all, but he was all there now, and all smiles.

Who were they to begrudge him?

“So we dance,” Richie agreed, shooting Eddie a soft little smile. Eddie returned it gratefully, and Richie felt his chest twist a little at how new it was and also how familiar it was. Things had changed, but they were also the same.

“Dance with me?” Eddie asked, holding out his hand to Richie.

There was still a lot the two of them needed to talk about, but…

“Let’s tear it up, sweet thing,” Richie replied, feeling less dead than he had in a long, long time.

[dreamca7cher]

Dreamcatcher Dream of US in LA Fanmeet write-up

Hello friends! I have enjoyed reading fanmeet write-ups from others in the past, so I figured that those who weren’t able to go might like to give this a read. *Disclaimer* this is ridiculously long, It was actually about twice as long before I condensed and edited. I’ve had a week now to supplement my memory with the fancams and photos that have been trickling out, but I do apologize if I’ve misremembered or left anything out.

I basically jumped at the chance to attend kcon as soon as I read that Dreamcatcher would be there. I was lucky to get some good P1 seats with 2 other kpop-loving friends. At first I was a little bummed that DC was billed as a special guest, which meant they would not be doing any official kcon “artist engagement” activities like hi-touch. But then news of their solo LA fan meeting was announced and I was absolutely ecstatic. It just so happened that my flight was scheduled to arrive early enough Friday to make it to the fanmeet venue just in time.  On the day tickets were to go on sale, I barely got anything done at work and watched my computer clock like a hawk, refreshing the site every millisecond, ten seconds before ticket sales opened. Fortunately, I was lucky to secure one of the 125 seated spots. This would be my first in-person experience of any kind concerning kpop, so I was insanely excited and simultaneously nervous af.

I arrived at the venue about 15 minutes before it was scheduled to start and saw a decent line around this real hole-in-the-wall looking place. The people in line said it was for the seated spots, which surprised me. I thought there would be more standing than seated positions, but it turns out there were only maybe 10-15 people standing. It was hot as balls out there, and we were standing directly in the sun so we were all quickly drenched in sweat. I learned later that the girls had actually arrived earlier in a black van in front of the venue. I was probably still in transit at that time, but it must have been nice for the fans already standing in line to get that first glimpse of them! When we finally made it inside, the staff checked our names off a list and we were able to sign a giant American flag that the girls would hold later for a group picture. The fans who did not bring their own album to be signed were given a small poster. It was basically free for all seating, I was on the far right side on the last row but no matter – the venue was small enough to see everything clearly. As soon as I sat down I realized either the A/C wasn’t on.. or there was none at all. There were a few floor fans pointed at the stage, but I felt bad for the girls once they entered and I saw they were wearing sorta heavy looking tops L There was a slightly raised wooden stage in the front and a long table for them to sit at. Two tall speakers flanked the stage, but the music later wasn’t too loud. The crowd was ethnically diverse and probably around a 50%-50% gender split, proving Dreamcatcher’s wide appeal to all sorts of fans. It was however a much older crowd than the average makeup of the kcon attendees, as this was not a boy group.

The girls soon entered, which was such a surreal moment. It was almost like I couldn’t believe they were real people ya know? Having only watched them on video, it’s more like you’re watching a fictional movie sometimes. I know it’s cliché, but they really are sooo much prettier in person. I think they did look a little tired and/or nervous, but their smiles were illuminating and they did little fan service gestures whenever possible. They did their standard introduction with JiU speaking the most as leader, with small remarks like how hot it was and that it was nice to meet all of us. I thought Yoohyeon would speak the most, but she was probably nervous to use her English with us. The event went straight into the fan-signing with rows lining up one by one while the crowd was free to take pictures/videos. There are much better quality videos out there from the front, but I’ll post my crappy phone videos in case anyone wants to see from the right-hand perspective. I apologize for any shaking, as tripods were not allowed. The signing was fairly quick, everyone had just about enough time for each of the girls to sign their album or poster and maybe exchange a sentence or two.

I was one of like the last 4 people to go since I was at the back, and by this point my adrenaline was going crazy. I’ve never fainted before, but if there would be a time to, then that would be it. I didn’t know if this was strictly allowed, but I did see a few fans high five the members. I refrained however because then that would mean I could never wash that hand (j/k I didn’t want any chance of getting kicked out). So I decided to stick to a compliment or two which I had gone over in my head again and again for a few days prior. I wrote down a longer version of what I was going to say on some notes, since that’s all we were allowed to gift the girls. I had also decided to write my notes on origami paper of their favorite colors and fold my notes into paper cranes to stand out, because I am a crazy person. The research (I got their favorite colors from an interview which I’ll post later), the writing, and the folding all took much long than I anticipated which resulted in me only getting 1 hour of sleep Thursday night before my early flight. So this all culminated in a peak state of nervousness. All too soon it was my turn! I won’t go into what exactly I said or what was in my notes, it was just basically a compliment or encouragement. SuA was first, she waved and said hi as I approached. She was consistently the most hyper and playful that day, possibly because it was her birthday. She seemed really genuine too, and seemed the most relaxed I think. Handong was second, she was predictably shy, but was very appreciative of the crane and said it was cute. Her signature is the most unique too. I wrote some really crappy Chinese in my note that I hope she could read haha.. Next was Siyeon, she looked a bit tired, but she was hella pulling off the dark concept look with her black hair and colored contacts. She also spoke a lot of English that day, even if it wasn’t complete sentences like Yoohyeon. I think previous reports are accurate too, she was very quirky with her mannerisms. JiU was in the middle, and was positively glowing  :O she was smiling pretty much the whole time and I think even picked up the crane and flapped it around a little adorably. It was hard not to grin widely as well the whole time. Idk JiU just has this like unlimited energy that shines no matter how hot or tired she was. I pictured her as like a Super Saiyan or something with her positive aura. Yoohyeon was next and also looked a little tired. But she said a few things in English to me, and had an absolutely gorgeous smile. I haven’t 100% settled on a bias yet, but girl makes it hard to not choose her. Gahyeon was 6th and actually was saying a lot of things in English. She also seemed to like the crane a lot and has a really cute smile. Dami was last, and was so cool and reserved. She’s really good at the appreciative head nod, no wonder she seemed to be the most popular that day. I forgot to tell all of them that the cranes were actually notes they could unfold and read, I may have told 2-3 of them but I’m not sure if they understood. Ah well. The whole signing probably only lasted a couple minutes, but seeing them up close and actually chatting with them is something I will never forget. After the staff also got their signatures, they moved the big table so the girls could perform.

First up was You and I, and boy was it a sight to behold in person. Their movements were so sharp and energetic, and it’s probably my favorite choreography of any kpop song. They just lip-synced which is ok, since it let me focus on the dance. Dami’s baton reveal probably got the loudest cheer, it was really awesome to see up close, and she does it so nonchalantly. Siyeon’s scarf throw also got a loud cheer. SuA definitely had the most powerful dancing, as expected.  I didn’t know all the fanchants, but the other InSomnias obliged well. The girls sprinkled in little hearts and waves to the audience throughout the performance. Right after, they performed Full Moon, which was a very nice gift to the American InSomnias  :] The chest pumping part probably had the loudest cheers, as it was the fiercest part of the choreo. During Dami’s solo rap part, she came up real close and waved to everyone, which also brought lots of cheers. The part where SuA and Handong get dragged across the floor was also popular for some reason. I haven’t watched as many fancams of Full Moon, but I really like the choreo, especially Siyeon’s parts. She rules that performance with her movements and expressions.

After the performance, the girls played a question and answer game from a board made up of stick notes that the crowd had written earlier (via translator). The first question I think was for SuA to do a solo funny dance. She asked “no music?” and Siyeon tried to do beatboxing and failed hard hahaha. So Yoohyeon sang to and SuA did a short hilarious dance to Dame Tu Cosita before collapsing in embarrassment. It was so adorable XD the 2nd question was what was the girls favorite Dreamcatcher song. SuA said Mayday, and sang her part a bit. The next question was “what’s it like performing for fans who don’t speak Korean and understand the lyrics?” Handong said that there was nonetheless a connection and that she was surprised and thankful that fans still sing along to the songs. SuA also said we felt like family, sister, brother, mother, father.. lol. The next question was what is your favorite choreography/point move? JiU said she likes the “baby you and I” part of You and I, and Yoohyeon likes the Chase Me part where they grab their hair lol. SuA likes the kiss blowing parts, and Siyeon likes when the members are dragged in Full Moon (probably because it’s not her being dragged haha). Then there was a question about superpowers, and Gahyeon said teleportation and JiU said she never wanted to get tired so she could always meet her fans, like the perfect leader she is. Siyeon said “you already do that” lol. Then Dami was asked how the baton worked, which I’m sure we all have always wondered. It’s basically like a spring-loaded telescoping thing held by a cap. Super cool, and got a resounding applause. Next was one of the more anticipated questions “which member would you marry?” and SuA immediately stood up lol. Siyeon took the mic and said JiU, because she makes really cute noises when she sleeps, revealing her creeper status lolol. Siyeon asked “will you marry me” and JiU said “oooh, yes” lmao. The next question was who has the best legs, to which Yoohyeon crossed her legs expectantly. But then she said she thought Handong has the best legs and asked her to stand up, which she did! Doing some model poses for us, very uncharacteristically ^^ JiU also said Handong has the straightest legs. Then Dami was asked to do some aegyo! Haha poor Dami, she chose to say “hi, nice to meet you, thank you” very adorably. The girls were then asked what songs they listen to in their personal time. SuA is currently obsessed with This is America and did the iconic gun pose lol. Siyeon likes Ariana Grande, and sang some No Tears Left to Cry. They were then asked what artists they want to collaborate with, and Yoohyeon said Day6 which got a big cheer. I also love Day6, and that would be such a match made in heaven! She also beautifully sang a little bit of Letting Go. Siyeon said she wanted to cover Sean Mendes Treat You Better and SuA wanted to do a Taylor Swift song. They were asked about actors they want to meet in LA, and they said the Avengers lol. I think they visited Hollywood Boulevard and said they kinda felt like they met them because there were people dressed up in costumes. Gahyeon also wanted to meet Daniel Henney because he lives in LA. Then JiU said I want to meet my fans with this huge dorky smile lol. The next question was about any future America tour plans, and JiU said of course, and asked us to visit them again next time. They were then asked who their other favorite kpop group was, and JiU said Red Velvet. Yoohyeon asked if she could dance a little bit, so JiU cutely danced to Bad Boy briefly. Siyeon also said KARD. They were asked what their favorite part of LA was, and SuA said she really liked In-N-Out burger and that it was yummy, specifically combo #3 lol. She also wanted to ride rides at Santa Monica and swim, to which Siyeon reminded her that she can’t swim lmao. The last question was about their favorite quotes. Dami’s motto is “in life there are no answers, so do what makes you happy”. JiU said “let’s live happy”, which she definitely exudes all the time ^^. Also that we were all beautiful and smart enough, so to live a happy life. Yoohyeon said that her mom always said to her “if you have a dream, imagine it will happen, and it will be”. Lastly, the girls took a group photo with all three of the sections, holding the American flag we signed earlier. JiU closed out with thanks and a promise they would see us again. SuA said thank you for celebrating my birthday, and Handong said thank you for your passion. Then the staff brought out a birthday cake and we surprised SuA by singing happy birthday. She looked so happy the entire time, and  even did a little moonwalk haha. Dami did one last tour around the crowd waving to everyone, and that was it.

And the rest of the weekend was downhill! J/k the kcon stages were amazing, and I saw them again multiple times at the convention, but the fanmeet was of course the highlight of the trip. As my first in-person kpop experience, this will definitely be hard to top. I vaguely wondered before the fanmeet if finally meeting them in person would diminish my perfect image of them in my head, but actually the opposite is true. Now they feel like real people I know, which just makes me like them even more. I was also very proud of the American InSomnias, everyone was respectful, there were no crazy incidents, no one had to be thrown out by security, it just went as smooth as can be. I also want to thank 7-dreamers for organizing this whole thing, and for the smooth operation. I could talk forever about my experiences, but I will end it here. Maybe I’ll do a write-up of the convention and concert if anyone’s interested? Thanks for reading!

[punapurreciator]

My Favorite Ladybug Writers

So I pretty recently joined the Miraculous Ladybug fandom (about 4 months?) and I went on an absolute reading spree but Noticed a lot of the fic rec lists out there are pretty sparse or there's a lot of repetition. And I figured, ya know I just read nearly 300 fics over the last few months I might as well make some recommendations XD 

So this is the first of possibly many rec lists Im going to put together for the Ladybug fandom. enjoy!

Quicksilversquared 

This writer has 89(!!!) Fanfics out there for Miraculous Ladybug and they are pretty much ALL wonderful. The writing is excellent, characterization on point and there's never a boring moment. And the great thing is that most of these stories (even the serious/heavy ones) have some degree of playfulness to them. This writer never seems to let you walk away without a smile, and that's amazing.

Here are a few of my favorites:

 The Cooking Contest - An out-of-class assignment leads to the entirety of the class participating in a cooking competition. …some people do better than others.

the Anniversary - The anniversary of Adrien's mother's disappearance was always difficult. He's sure nothing can make his day any less miserable… ...until a certain spotted superhero shows up.

the Crocodile Glasses - When knock-off copies of Jagged Stone's super-awesome Eiffel Tower start popping up, Jagged is not pleased. Still, it doesn't take long to come up with a solution- he just needs to release his own official line of sunglasses! And naturally, he needs one Marinette Dupain-Cheng to design them for him. Now, if only Marinette could figure out how to execute some of Jagged's more out-there ideas... 

Hacking the Ladyblog - Chat Noir likes taking goofy pictures on patrol. That was normal. What was not normal was those photos showing up without any explanation on the Ladyblog.

Princess to the Rescue - Chat Noir gets into a bit of trouble when the akumatized magician Exodus the Spectacular overpowers him in a fight and Ladybug is nowhere to be seen. Thankfully, a baker’s daughter joins the fight. aka Marinette totally has Bo staff fight training and kicks some villain butt.

Cuddles in a Coat - In a lot of ways, Adrien Agreste isn't a normal teenage boy. He's a model, he has a bodyguard, he's secretly a superhero.... But just like any other teenager, he'll stubbornly refuse to admit when an adult was right. Even if he ends up freezing because of it.

Otoshigo Another talented writer is Otoshigo who seems to straddle the border of utterly adorable (see: For the Love of Shoujo ) and Slightly twisted (See: Benefactor ) or even dark. This writer can play the characters as the awkward blushing teens they are, and they can just as easily (and convincingly!!!) twist their perceptions ever so slightly toward something deeper (and slightly terrifying) 

Some of the stories CAN be really weird and out there, but hey, read the tags so you know what you’re getting into and you won't have any trouble. (shrugs) 

Some more of my favorites include:

27 Secrets - “Secrets,” Chat purred, waving the photo out like a little flag. “I want secrets. Twenty-seven pictures worth of secrets. And you’ll give them to me. One picture at a time.” [Shameless Marichat]

Caught and Captured - Adrien gets caught in a little lie, that somehow only spirals more and more out of control. Is there any way to pull himself out of it? Does he even want to? [Adrienette] 

(Adrien acts like cat noir around Marinette and she thinks they've body-swapped. X3 This story Is simultaneously hilarious and heart-wrenching)  

Marinette Saves the World - Through a series of unfortunate events, average and clumsy Marinette meets a boy from the future! Who says that he needs to have sex with her to save the world? Except no. Just... no. 

(OMG this one!!! Drop what you’re doing and read it NOW!!! It's so freaking sweet and seriously romantic!!!)

Guilty Pleasures - An anonymous writer is a little too good at writing fanfiction and Marinette somehow gets roped into reading it. Problem is, now she can’t put it down. [LadyNoir] 

Chat Noir: Calendar Edition - Marinette’s class has to come up with an idea to make some cash for their upcoming class trip. However, things go awry with their plan and somehow Chat Noir gets involved. All Marinette wants is to go to Nice with Adrien. Can she make it through this without losing her mind?

Clairelutra Next up is Clairelutra who seems to make it a goal to melt her readers to piles of goo with sexual tension so thick you COULDN'T cut it with a knife. (Almost all her stories are rated as at least T) but, (as much as I love sexual tension and smut in a fic) That’s far from all this writer brings to the table. Clairelutra is a master at grabbing a readers heart and "puppeteering" (puppeteer, haha) it any way she so chooses.   

Whether she deigns to make you tear up and/or cry : ( see: river flows in you) Or gets your heart racing in her action scenes ( see: welcome to the show) or makes your toes curl during a kiss ( ALSO see: welcome to the show, and Bang Bang, and... ahem. well there are a lot.) And there's that (WONDERFUL AMAZING PRECIOUS) element of tenderness and longing in just about EVERY romantic scene that just KILLS me every time. 

Anyway, some of my favorites of hers include:

gonna miss this someday - “I mean, am I just too clingy?” Chat asked her ceiling, reclining on her lounge and tossing a spare ball of yarn up and down as Marinette beaded with a vengeance. “I know it’s just one day, but I miss her.”(When Ladybug misses their nightly friend-date, Chat asks Marinette for girl advice.)

i think it’s time i told you (i’m a fan of your universe) - “...Something up, minou?” He didn’t answer her at first, staying silent as he opened his palm and stared at it. Or rather, stared at the ring in it.

Ladybug stared, almost unseeing, at the blood-red stone nestled in its bed of diamonds, and wondered why it suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe.

(It wasn’t necessarily an engagement ring, right? She... she would’ve known if he had a lover, wouldn’t she? Chat was too much of a hopeless romantic to not gush about a significant other to anyone who would listen if he had one... right? 

It could be a memento or a gift or... something. Something that didn’t imply Chat was about to get married.)

“...Have you ever thought about getting married?” ...Or not.

you're really my dearest friend - Sometimes, the process of getting out is much more difficult than it really should be — but sometimes friends can help, if you let them.

we're the kids your mama warned you about - (A collection of PWP oneshots, mostly focusing on Ladynoir/the love square, as I try to teach myself how to sin.)

hot mess - (the sequel to Bang Bang ) ...What did one say to one's vigilante partner when said partner was in costume and he was in a bathrobe? What did one say to the lady who had pinned him to a wall and kissed him senseless, not knowing he was her partner? What did one say to the girl he had been in love with for years when he was alone with her in his room at night? "Come here often, beautiful?" Not that. Imthepunchlord Oh wow, here's a writer who knows how to balance playful with exciting really well. A lot of their fics are action/adventure driven plots and they know how to build up to that big fight at the end without making you spend half the fic dreading it. There's always too much happening for you to feel much besides excitement. Which, honestly, I LOVED about these stories.  They keep the ball rolling at a great pace and never seems to rely on exposition when they can just show you something. And that lends itself to the feeling of being right there in the story with the character. (A MUST for any good action/adventure) This writer also knows how to stretch the rules with magic and the kwami juuust right to make everything fit and still be believable (a gift if ever I saw one)

Some of my favorites from Iamthepunchlord are:

Marinette and the Seven Little Gods - Marinette been down on her luck, waiting for the day karma would give her something good, something that would make her life better! She wasn't expecting karma to give her a box, a box with seven little gods in it. 

Over the Wall - The accident, while unintentional, was costly. For her wrong doings against Chloe, Marinette is sent over the wall to die. But instead of death, she winds up in a strange, unnerving world. Good thing she'll have a cat to watch her back in this bizarre place. (inspired by a mix of movies and shows: Stardust, Beauty and the Beast, Alice in Wonderland, Secret of Moonacre, and Over the Garden Wall.)

Trouble in White - Finding your soulmate is supposed to be uplifting, and amazing, and just... miraculous. But for Marinette, it wasn't any of that. Her soulmate, he... he was... What does one do when your soulmate is an akuma?

The Ladybug and The Mer - When Captain Ladybug is lost at sea, she finds herself saved by one of the most dangerous sea beings in the world: a mer. (Merman Adrien AU)

Always a Hero, No Matter the Miraculous - (a LARGE series) it covers a big variety of  Miraculous/kwami swaps. Including such favorites as: 

Rise of Mariposa - Where Marinette is chosen by the butterfly to help Cat Noir in his fight against Harlequin who has taken possession of the ladybug miraculous for her own selfish gain.

& the short: Delicate Wings - Where Adrien is the butterfly helping ladybug fight the evil black cat from afar. 

Kindness from a Stray - where Adrien and Marinette have kwami swapped (There are several shorts like this, all equally funny/cute)

A Declaration of Love - Adrien is the fox and Marinette is the peacock <3 

(oh GOD I love this one. it's an all-time favorite. It’s very sweet and playful and its done so well that it just WORKS. I love the conflict of his feather allergy keeping Adrien (AKA Malin) from his beloved Belle Bleue XD)

Freedom_Shamrock If fluff is your thing PLEASE check this writer out!!! Freedom_Shamrock is a master of cuddles, snuggles, and hugs. Their stories just exude a soft comforting vibe that sinks into your bones and stays there for the rest of the day. But they are also INTERESTING. The conversations are memorable, The plots are intriguing and the characterization is lovely. If you want something sweetly romantic to read look no further.

Some of my personal favorites include:

Something Familiar - Marinette is a teenage witch, and it's time for her to find a familiar. (Witch AU, no kwamis, Adrien never got to go to school) ( HIGHLY RECOMENDED!!! Cutest cat!Adrien fic EVER )

A Little Light - (series)  its basically an adorable series where Adrien notices Marinette on his own and asks her out. It follows up with their first date, some problems with dating while being a superhero,  and then an accidental reveal. (every bit of this one is SO SO CUTE.)

Hugdrien (AKA: Adrien Needs Hugs) - (series) With this one the name pretty much says it all. It’s a series of stories where Adrien is having a tough time at home and Marinette and their friends/her family are there for him. 

Miraculous Acts of Kindness - (series) this series is basically a slowburn MariChat fic XD It’s super cute and fluffy but also leads into Mature waters so be aware of that! BullySquadess   @bullysquadess

Here's another writer who's clearly out to melt her readers with sexual tension But BullySquadess is out to do it with a goddamn VENGEANCE. (and she WILL make you laugh yourself to death getting there) Her stories are drop dead sexy and SUPER funny. It's the kind of well-built humor that has you cackling so loud people can hear you across the house and forces you to take breaks from reading just to BREATHE. I think the best part of this writers style for me is the hopeful longing she just pulls out of Chat like its the most natural thing in the world. It’s so so so so so sweet and it plays to his character perfectly. and she gets it just right every time.   word of caution: the writer multi-ships so if you don't dig it then check the tags before getting invested. XD

My favorites of hers include:

The Ladybugs and The Bees - Ladybug and Chat Noir tackle teenhood! Watch our heroes face the realities of growing up- surviving puberty and akuma alike as together they navigate the unknown pitfalls of love and first-time intimacy. Also dick jokes. There's like... alot of dick jokes.

Oh man who hasn't read this one? It's been on like every fic rec list i could find when i first joined the fandom. But oh WOW does it deserve it.  This sucker is 38 (!!!) chapters long so far (!!??) and I've read it THREE TIMES. I joined the fandom like FOUR months ago! And yet I keep coming back to this one becouse it's just SO GOOD. 

Seven Minutes - Post-Reveal, Adrien and Marinette continue to play chicken with their feeling. Alya, however, has other games in mind... 

Live by the Ladybutt - Chat likes Ladybug's Ladybutt. Ladybug likes that Chat likes her Ladybutt. Crack ensues.

Casual - Ladybug has grown exceptionally comfortable with her partner... which means Chat Noir is #suffering. 

The Pitfalls Of Being a Wingman - We all know the classic Marichat tale, but what's happening behind the scenes of our favorite duo's love-making?   (AKA Plagg regrets everything and it’s HILARIOUS) XDD

Cohabitation (And Other Disastrous Ideas) - These two best friends decide to move in together, what happens next will shock you! (Or not, considering all roommate fics end up the same anyhow.) thelastpilot

Oh man, all of this writer's stories have this element of almost poetic beauty to them that it's really hard to describe the style. There's never a word or a scene wasted with this writer. It's all about slowly building up that relationship brick by brick, SEEING the characters getting closer and closer with every new meeting and then finishing it off in a MASSIVELY fulfilling way. The humor is top notch too but it seems to take a backseat to the plot and considering how well done the plot typically is I have no problem with that.

word of caution- This writer multi-ships so If you're like me and looking for a specific pairing remember to check the tags! XD 

My personal favorites of this writer include:

Won't Tell a Soul - Nino accidentally runs head long into the biggest most stressful secret he can imagine, but now that he knows the truth about Marinette he is determined to help her in any way he can. (Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng)

& Its sequel: The Weight of Jade - which shockingly (for this list) centers around Nino/Alya. This writer really knows how to get their characters across in all the best ways. This is one of the few times in fanfiction I really found myself really enjoying a side character's story and that's something HUGE.

Rainy Days - A storm rolls through Paris and refuses to let up, so when a water fearing cat is rescued by the kind efforts of his designing classmate he starts to pay a little closer attention to someone he should have always known better.  

Quiet Ice, Silent Nights - Cat Noir is on a late night patrol when he catches sight of an elegant lone figure skater, and is surprised to discover it is his classmate Marinette. 

Okay, this one is simply put, a work of ART. It is beautiful. The way the writer lovingly describes the ice skating and (spoilers: the piano scenes) makes you really FEEL the beauty of the moment. It’s so lovely.~ Seriously, drop what you're doing and read this if you haven't already

Paw Problems - (An alternate version of the Animan Episode) The class has taken a field trip to the zoo, but when Kim starts being a jerk and creates a major situation, are Ladybug and Cat Noir going to be enough to get everyone out on two feet? Or are the classmates going to need to get used to paws, hooves, and talons? Sadly, this one's unfinished. But let me say I LOVED the little snippets of humor in this, especially Chloe's animal form and Nino's reaction to it. XD KryallaOrchid The style KryallaOrchid uses is pretty similar to Quicksilversquared in that the stories all have some degree of playfulness and humor to them ( I love that in fics) but they also aim for something a little deeper too. this writer likes to play on the idea of rightness between the characters and builds off it as they go. (I'm all for the 'soulmate' vibe Adrien and Marinette have going on) 

Some favorites are:

Tendencies - (series) Miraculous have side effects. From pats becoming a necessity to eating flowers, follow Adrien and Marinette as they come to terms with their new tendencies, and each other. Hawk Moth is coming.

This is a LOOOOOONG series and makes for a very entertaining read. 

Sting - When Chat Noir inexplicably disappears, leaving Ladybug bee-hind to face Papillon on her own, a new wielder is chosen to keep the akuma from swarming. Ladybug is adamant she doesn’t want another partner buzzing around and why is this new-bee flirting with her? Meanwhile, Adrien just wishes Ladybug would stop bugging out and listen to him because his bee puns are fuzz-tastic.

I seriously went into this one thinking I wasn't going to like it and I ended up falling head over heels for it. Sting is SO worth the read. Watching poor Ladybug freak out over her missing partner (sending him voicemails wondering where he is and trying to reassure him she's not 'replacing' him with this new bee hero and that she's going to get him back ) Is so SO SOO heart wrenching and sweet. 

(and thankfully Adrien DOES manage to get through to her that  Chat IS 'Bumblebee’ fairly early on so we aren't left stewing in angst FOREVER) 

Reflections - The mirror shows you how you truly are, but for a Miraculous holder, it shows what was. All Marinette can see is ghosts and she doesn’t want to become one. (A heart-wrencher for SURE but the ending was SO worth it.) ---

[fourteenacross]

ghost quartet - nytw next door - october 8, 2017

H'okay, so, this may all be a little blurry around the edges because the circumstances in which I traveled to and from New York on Sunday were not ideal and the anxiety around them muted parts of my brain more than I would have liked. BUT. Here we are.

First of all, it was humid as dicks and the house manager was very kind and let us inside the air conditioned lobby like, twenty minutes early, bless him.

Obviously "sixty-five seat black box theatre" implies that the space is small, but...man, the space is small. That was excellent, really--it added to the intimacy of the show--but it was still weird to walk into a space the size of my living room and dining room combined and have that be all. We sat in the section next to the door and, as I implied yesterday, I was directly behind Brent. If I could do it again, I probably would have sat in either of the other sections, just because that meant I really only saw Brent during "Fathers and Sons," but the place is so tiny it really hardly mattered. And, speaking of tininess/hardly mattering, the reserved seats were just the first row of each section and definitely not worth the additional thirty bucks, imo. This run is over, but if you're going to another Next Door performance that does a similar seating style, just...fyi.

The set dressing is great. It would have been cool if the seating was a little more informal, but it still felt like you were hanging out in your friends' basement, listening to them tell you an elaborate story. There were neat little touches around all of their stations--there was a little bear and a little pot of honey on the table next to Brent, as well as a mason jar, which I initially took to be a reference to his verse in "Four Friends," but it turns out Brent just takes water in his whiskey. (I mean, it might have ALSO been a nod to that, but it also served a practical purpose.)

I had listened to the music a few times last spring and a few times in August and a few times this month, in preparation, so I was familiar with the story and the songs, but seeing it live definitely adds another dimension. There were certain bits of staging that were surprises to me, and certain bits of staging that made things that pop up on the McKittrick recording make a lot more sense, heh.

Anyway, I'm gonna do this old school.

I Don’t Know - This song felt almost like a frame story, setting the stage for what's to come, except that the structure of the show is such that, with all the narratives twisting together, it was like framing a frame framing a frame. It was like an MC Escher frame, all twisted around and then turning into birds. I have theories about how this and "Four Friends" and "Any Kind of Dead Person" fit into the timeline(s) of the show, but I'm still trying to twist them into words.

Anyway, I was sitting right behind Brent and he's really good at the cello, in case you were unaware.

The Camera Shop - This opening is so interesting because of where it takes place in the larger narrative(s). Brittain/Rose comes in very, very nervous and unsettled, but as Gelsey starts behaving strangely, she starts to get more comfortable in the way you get comfortable when you assess that someone is kind of off-the-wall and you are a Rational Being and thus above them. There's still some of that nervousness as Gelsey starts to go into the story, but it comes off more as nerves from being around someone eerie than the nerves that we know Rose has around what she just did (or didn't do, as the case may be.).

Brittain and Gelsey work so incredibly well together, and this was the first time that the complexity of this piece, on an acting level, really set in. Everyone's playing at least four characters, sometimes several at once, and this is a good example. Brittain goes from Camera!Rose to Rose Red to Starchild within minutes, sliding seamlessly between them as the narrative dictates. It was pretty awesome.

Starchild - confession: I love Brittain's voice, I love her solo music, but this song didn't click with me on the cast recordings? Which is crazy, because it's super my jam, both musically and narratively. Seeing it live definitely changed that and I'm low-key obsessed with it now. She really acts with her whole body, as anyone who's seen Great Comet knows, and seeing all of that poured into "Starchild" just squeezed my heart.

Subway - This is one that I assumed worked better live than it does on the recording and I was right. The rhythm is a little clunky as a purely aural experience, but seeing the four of them perform it adds this incredible mounting tension. You can feel it in the room, the way that Gelsey bangs that drum and everyone sings over each other, the lighting flickering. (And, this is a whole other post, but I feel like that's maybe at the core of why some of Dave's stuff just doesn't click with people who are just listening to it. Fans obvs embrace his aversion to rhyme and the way he plays with rhythm in sort of non-traditional-musical-theatre ways, but when you're more a traditional-musical-theatre person and you're just listening to it instead of watching it, it's harder to grasp? idk, it's something that I've been thinking about, vis-a-vis friends saying, "I listened to the GC cast recording and it was fine and then I SAW IT and everything clicked and weird choices on the recording made sense!" and even my own feelings about listening to GQ vs. seeing it. Obviously, cast recordings are never going to substitute for actually seeing a thing in person and aren't 100% meant to, but I think that it's a particularly strong divide in GC and GQ. Anyway, I just said this needed to be a whole post in and of itself, so I'll stop now.)

Usher, Part 1 - I have not read this story since college, which was *mumblemumble* years ago, and I meant to re-read it before coming to the show, but I...didn't. Which is maybe better! Who knows! Anyway, this starts with just a light on Gelsey as she recites the opening monologue and plays the harp. It's simultaneously creepy and a little funny? She definitely plays up both sides of it, the funny and the creepy, which makes it get more creepy and less funny as time goes on, so by the time Dave comes in for the song, you're getting full-on chills.

Soldier and Rose - Gelsey is full-on Gelsey in this one. Which I say as the highest compliment, obvs. The juxtaposition of Brittain/Rose being awkwardly, desperately flirtatious and Gelsey/Soldier's utter Doneness is hilarious. Rose lays it on thick to a very impassive soldier who responds to all her entreaties by shaking a thunder tube at her.

Any Kind of Dead Person - This is just a fun number. Brittain hams it up and Gelsey gives out a succession of percussion instruments over the course of it, to people sitting all over the room, which just intensifies the feeling of this being your four weird friends telling stories in their basement and trying to get you to join in.

The Astronomer - Dave came out from behind the piano to sing this in front of Gelsey and Brittain's station and took some time to praise the other three as he got into position. He also tripped over the rug and then could not get it to lie flat. Otherwise, the patter is almost identical to the live show.

ANYWAY, I fucking love this song a lot, okay? It was my favorite song before seeing the show and remains my favorite after having seen it. I don't have much to say about it, performance/staging-wise, just lots of gushing about how much I fucking love it. The universality (is that a word) of the lyrics is just so sadly haunting, especially when you think of it as coming from the Astronomer, who's kind of a dick, but now also has this depth that I appreciate.

Family Meeting - Just as hilarious as you're picturing it in your mind, for sure. Brent and Brittain as kids are excellent, and Brittain's monologue is stellar. The transition between that little-kid-ness and flat out anger and frustration at the end is fabulous. (And the "and no Brent, it's not so perfect it's boring!" made me snort-laugh.) The "you're gonna be dead in like, thirty years" got a BIG laugh.

Four Friends - So, during this song, Dave pulled out three bottles of Evan Williams and plastic cups and passed them around, which was amazing, I would like all of my shows to come with a shot or so of liquor with the price of admission. I would prefer if it wasn't whiskey, which I don't particularly care for, but as I said yesterday, when Dave Malloy hands you whiskey, you suck it up and drink it, even if it's physically impossible for you to get over to the ice so you have to just drink it straight. Anyway, the sort of informal whiskey drinking again compounded that feeling of just hanging out with your buddies, so it was almost hard not to sing along. I was def bobbing a little. At the start of each verse, they poured a shot of the whiskey they were singing about that they handed out to the audience, which I probably wouldn't have noticed except when Dave went to hand out the Lagavulin, the girl who jumped up to get it was hilariously into it. I actually ended up standing near her when she talked to Dave after and she was like, "Uh, sorry if I was disruptive when I asked for the Lagavulin, I just love it and never get to drink it because it's so expensive?" which he commiserated with her about.

Fathers and Sons - They moved the drums to the center of the room, facing each other, and Brent and Dave moved to stand in font of them and play. Brittain and Gelsey held the mics out for them and I know I keep talking about how low-tech and "hanging with your buddies" this show is, but...I really love that aspect of it and I think it super adds to the narrative(s).

Usher, Part 2 - This was very eerie, overall, but "I'm right here" got a big laugh anyway. It's interesting, as Roxie's dying, the way that the walls of the narrative for this story, tenuous as the walls between the narratives in all these stories are, start to slip down. With Scheherazade being an "ancient" and all, it makes sense that the lines between narratives are more blurry there, and in the "Camera Shop" plot line, Pearl is already aware of what's going on, so despite a few references, "Usher" feels the most cut off from the other stories, but here that begins to fall apart.

The Telescope - This song is such an interesting counterpoint to "The Astronomer;" the dude seems like such a sleaze in this song, whereas we get him at this sort of open bareness earlier, where he's relatable and joyful. As Rose points out new stars, there's a spotlight on one of the lighting fixtures (the show is largely lit by lamps and a variety of thrift story chandeliers). Rose's intensity is breathtaking, but the music gives a very eerie quality to the shared refrain, even moreso when you take into account the upcoming split between Rose and the Astronomer.

Tango Dancer - This plotline was the one that it was most difficult for me to wrap my brain around from listening to the cast recordings, and seeing it def helped iron out some of that. I love the interactions between Brittain and Gelsey here--again, I love both of their ability to shift between these characters so fluidly and shift their chemistry just as fluidly as they change characters. The stiffness between them here is really the beginning of the end for me--Rose's awkwardness and the audience's knowledge of how these timelines are starting to come together. It's played really well.

Anyway, Gelsey really nails this, as if I even have to say that? And Brittain's awkwardness as she watches and tries to interpret all of it is excellent. "Myself didn't have time for me / didn't have time for anyone so used up" is too fucking true and haunting.

Monk - When sitting and seeing this bit live, for the first time it occurred to me that Rose's "Were they outside, in a park or something?" and Scheherazade's confirmation are Rose's past lives starting to leak through, giving her that knowledge. (Also "doesn't Lady Usher have a security system?" got a big laugh) Anyway, this is a nice little interlude before shit gets real. I was so into it that I almost forgot that shit was about to get real.

Light’s Out - It was fucking DARK. Which I did not realize was going to happen. I loooooved it. My eyes were def playing some tricks on me, the longer we stayed in the dark. Also, there was some light of something somewhere behind me (maybe the exit sign?) that kept reflecting off the inside of my glasses that was distracting me. Def a problem with my glasses rather than the show.

Anyway, this bit always makes me think of Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear?, so much so that I might ask Malloy about it on Twitter.

The Photograph - Goddamn this is creepy in the dark. And Gelsey going full Gelsey made it ninety times creepier. I want to hire her for my Halloween parties. I love the balance of the creepiness and rationality when the things that Rose believes in are rattled off. It's the sort of thing that makes me think of a horror novel, in the tense moments where the protagonist has to confront the impossible and spends a moment clinging all the more harder to their beliefs as if those beliefs will fight off something supernatural.

Bad Men - Super tense and frenetic. Rose losing it is so foreboding and perfect and intense. The confrontation with the bear as she reaches the pinnacle of losing herself to revenge and accepting that she wants this enough to do it herself. Yikes.

Usher, Part 3 - I love all the stories merging in this song, as we're all sitting in the dark with flashes of light and all of these threads are twisting together. It really ups the sense of danger and tension. Pearl's monologue at the end is so eerie. Those last few lines, shit. They are that much more intense when they're happening right in front of you.

Prayer - I think this was when the lights started to come back up? This always kind of blurs into other songs for me and I forget it's there a little?

Hero - Jesus, what a song, what a performance. I know Brittain talks all the time about how she's not an ~*~actor~*~ just a musician that got roped into acting in her friend's shows, but jesus christ, she's fantastic. This song just scrapes out whatever's left of your insides and leaves you feeling entirely hollow and shaky.

Midnight - This is such a neat way to tie up the end of the show. Again, you've got that "friends hanging out" vibe as things become clearer for everyone. Brittain and Dave dance, as Brittain's characters settle and sort of come to terms with all that's happened in all of the timelines. Malloy has excellent comic timing--his ramble about why Thelonius Monk's ghost is still kicking around and the way it breaks into Rose and Pearl's reconciliation. I snort-laughed at "Or maybe there just isn't Heaven. That's actually pretty likely." And then again with "I guess in the abstract, yeah...I don't really make a lot down at the MTA?"

Anyway, Dave and Brittain dancing was very sweet, and "You're a really good cello player, Brent!" got a big laugh.

Wind and Rain - I love this song a lot and the performance of it was lovely. As the song went on, they started handing out instruments again, but not just little percussion things--they kept going, moving up to their own instruments, until they'd given everything to the audience, at which point they walked off stage and left the audience to play out the song. I think they kept going for maybe a minute or two after everyone left before it fell apart, mostly, I think, because a couple of people were so wildly off-beat it was hard to keep on beat.

Afterwards, they came back to applause and gave a kind of informal, "thanks for coming, tell your friends, buy our merch or stick around and talk!"

We stayed to talk, though I didn't buy anything because I don't wear t-shirts and we have zero room for more glasses at this point. But I still took a moment to tell everyone they were great and the show was great and all that. I was wearing one of my ghost dresses and everyone commented on it.

ANYWAY, that's basically it, unless I remember anything else important! Maybe I will write some more of my thoughts about the narratives and storytelling and setting and all that shit a little more formally, but... probably not. Gotta finish the next ghosthunters story some time this year.

[seven-oomen]

First, I swear I’ll explain about the picture in a minute.

Next, it’s totally okay, I understand completely.  I, too, am prone to being a total space cadet sometimes.  My top skills are remembering/thinking of things when I’m in no position to act on them (composing review questions while at work, thinking of phone call I forgot to make while driving, realizing I didn’t show my mom the sonogram my friend sent me right as I fall asleep, etc.)  Really, I’m just happy finding others to talk about this stuff with who seem to appreciate and enjoy it as much as I do. :D

Omg, I’m SO EXCITED to see the necklace turn up, however that happens!  And as someone who 90% of the time also uses drinkware featuring superheroes and other nerdery for their alcohol, I very much approve Derek’s choices, whether it makes it into the story or not.  I also enjoyed both versions of the chapter flashback, but the first was definitely more “Oh My…”, and the redo more straight up fluffy and adorable. 

And I love all that stuff in the ideas tag!  With Corey there’s so much potential stuff that can be done with someone with those types of powers.  I admit I don’t know too much about exactly how his are supposed to work. his powers are due to genetics and not outside forces in this, could it perhaps be connected to how Gerard has been able to do some of the things he’s done?   (Could the wolves track him while invisible in the show?)  And oh, my God, that is a total Moon Moon moment (resisting the urge to make a comment about why Ian was trying to fit a ball in his mouth).  I choose to believe that Noah and Chris coordinated to trick Peter into doing that and managing to get it on camera.  They threaten to make it part of the family Christmas card.  Peter only agrees if they make it so that all the pictures used embarrass everyone equally.  Which is where some of the BTS type stuff could come in.  (My lord, they are all such dorks.  I mean, I follow Ian, Linden, JR, and Hoechlin on Insta and or Twitter, so we been knew, really, but still. XD )  And I’m all for any plot points or incidents that allow Lydia to showcase just how awesome she truly is.  Also, I will never turn down an idea that involves puppy piles and cuddle puddles.  I’ve been in this fandom too damn long not to have developed a deep-seated love for damaged characters getting the affection and comfort they deserve.

I’m so glad you’re enjoying the examples of my often questionable musical tastes. ;D  I think I first heard that song on an anime music video (for LOVELESS I think, of all things), and I was just like “well this is catchy as hell”.  As someone whose musical tastes are all over the gd place, I like to imagine they all have some genre that they’re secretly a fan of but don’t want to admit to because it might clash with their grunge-y punk image (the other two totally know anyway.)  Speculatively I’d say boy bands for Peter, bubblegum pop/pop-punk for Chris, and classic (read: dad) rock for Noah, but I welcome other opinions. 

And jsyk, it really makes me happy to know that my reviews are helpful for more than just story ideas.  Which partially brings me to the picture I’ve attached.  I work in a pet supply store, and the item on the right is a dog toy we carry and every time I look at it, all I can think of is how much it reminds me of Deucalion.  Like, I can’t not see it at this point.  And nobody I work with would have the slightest idea what I’m talking about, so I finally made this so that I could share it those that might get why it’s so funny to me.  So here it is.  And if you are still in need of things for distractions, here is a list of some random incidents that have (mostly) occurred at my work in the last few days:

1) Someone left a 4 Iron in one of our shopping carts along the far wall of the store.  We have no clue where it came from, we aren’t anywhere near any kind of golf or sporting goods store.  (I checked and there was no sign of blood on it, so no one was ditching a weapon on us or something.)

2) I walked into our warehouse and asked “why does it smell like sparklers in here?”, saw a coworker standing looking out the back door, and walked over to see that there was a car on fire about a block away in another parking lot.  (The fire department was already on scene putting it out, it looked like it started near the front driver’s side tire?)

3) A child ate one of the fancy dog treats we have on display (luckily that one is mainly yoghurt and peppermint extract), and then try to drink from the fountain we have set up for any dogs that come in.  I don’t think mom ever noticed.

4) We now carry a special, highly filtered, and ph-balanced (and overpriced) bottled cat water (no really), that seems simultaneously like a brilliant idea (because UTIs), but also somehow one of the whitest things I’ve ever seen (and I say this as a white person who grew up basically middle-class).

5) One of the smoke alarms in my apartment started doing the dead battery warning beep at around midnight Sunday night.  I unfortunately was out of the size I needed to replace it, so I just popped out the one that was in it.  Turns out it’s also hardwired, so that did nothing.  It beeped the entire night.  I would have gotten worried about my neighbors, but they had one that they let beep for like a week back in Feb, so I decided I didn’t care.  When I stopped to buy a replacement I also ended up buying two bags of candy with the justification that they were on sale and I might need them for the next chapter.

6) Our pet bathing area re-opened, which meant we finally got a visit from one of my fave canine customers.  His name is Jax, he’s an American Akita, and he is a gigantic, sweet, bear of a dog.  Seriously, he comes to about my hip (I’m right around 5'4), weighs around 190lbs, and is a beautiful dark brown/black brindle all over.  He is also one of the most calm, chill dogs I have ever met (he’s been coming in for years), and I love to watch other people react to seeing him for the first time.

7) While searching around my music files and Spotify for suggestions, I got distracted and ended up treating my neighbors to an impromptu concert that consisted mostly of 00s divas and 60s bubblegum pop (oddly, a lot of Herman’s Hermits and Ohio Express has a very similar vibe to Bowling for Soup, to me at least), because I had headphones in, and didn’t realize I’d started singing along for…a while.  I did consider apologizing for that, at least, but ultimately decided to just ignore that it happened.

Anyway, I hope you are feeling a bit better now, and that some of the weirdness that is my life at least provides some entertainment.  And that the therapy session at least feels like something you think will help in the long run, even if it sucks massively right now.  I’m so proud of you for going, and sticking with it (I know so many who need to who don’t, for whatever reason).  It is hard, and exhausting, and I am always awed by those that are determined to see it through.  (Sorry if any of that comes across weird.  My automatic supportive defaults tend to be humor and awkward sincerity, and I always worry that one will come across as the other and vice versa.  Social anxiety is a hell of a drug.)  So, I’m gonna go ahead and wrap up the verbal flailing for now, please enjoy whenever you see this tomorrow (I think?  I’m terrible about keeping track of that sort of thing.  Also, how is most of Europe just one time zone?!  …anyway…)

Ok, I need to find out where I can get that crocodile/Alligator. for uh, for Mo...

Yeah for Mo.

(It’s for me, I would totally buy a dog toy if I thought it looked adorable.)

I definitely toned that scene down, though I kept some necessary exposition where Chris thinks on what happened between them. Might include some teenage raunchiness later, as someone pointed out to me, Peter would definitely be like that, as would Noah (probably). Chris would definitely be more reserved, he barely got a sex education aside from abstinence. ( Because I don’t see Gerard as the type of person who’d give his son the talk, honestly.)  

And as someone who also drinks alcohol in superhero or Halloween glasses and mugs, I had to throw Derek’s very mature choice in there. Batman mug stays XD

I’ll admit, that was exactly what I was thinking with Corey’s power and how I could use it in the story. So I’m curious to see where I’ll go with it eventually, but yeah, that’s on my idea list.

.. must resist Ian & JR ballsy jokes.. you are not twelve Ben.

I am.

I really am. A twelve-year-old in a twenty-nine-year-old body.

I bet Ian wanted to prove what he could fit in there. He wanted to show some ballsy moves. It’s practice for-

Okay, I’ll stop.

And they are the biggest dorks, I follow Ian, JR, Colton, and Holland on and my lord, they’re such dorks. Definitely following Linden now too though. hehe.

I can see them trying that trick with Jackson, Malia, Ben, and Scott as well. Scott just falls face first and tries to fit a tennis ball into his mouth. Ben just looks at the tennis ball, figures that ain’t gonna fit and balances it on his face instead. Malia opens her mouth, notices the camera coming out, and just poses while smiling at the camera. Jackson though pretends to not understand what he has to do until Chris shows him how it’s done and then Jackson quickly points to Chris and while Noah films it laughing his ass off.

They make an awesome Christmas card with all of them doing something with that tennis ball.

Speculatively I’d say boy bands for Peter, bubblegum pop/pop-punk for Chris, and classic (read: dad) rock for Noah, but I welcome other opinions.

SO MUCH YES.

Also, Nickelback for Chris & Never gonna give you up. They're guilty pleasures. I would also like to suggest for Peter, either the Spice girls or like the Vengaboys. Gets him going but only when he’s alone at home and he’s wearing headphones. Because God forbids someone else hears it too. And I kinda wanna say Baby Metal for Noah. Idk seems like that might fit him and it’s hilarious to think about. Some headcanons don’t need to make sense.

Also, just for shits and giggles.

Caramelldansen in English and Swedish. 

Makes these dads (and Melissa and Derek) move and dance around the new house like crazy, Ben joins in, because of the funny voices. 

The teenagers are mortified.

MORTIFIED.

This made me so happy, 

3) A child ate one of the fancy dog treats we have on display (luckily that one is mainly yoghurt and peppermint extract), and then try to drink from the fountain we have set up for any dogs that come in.  I don’t think mom ever noticed.

I feel like that’s basically toddler behavior. Also, Ben did this at some point. One hundred percent. He walked into the pet section at a store and started eating the dog treats. Chris didn’t notice, Peter did, asked him about it and went; well, it’s probably not toxic for him, so whatever. He did film it. Noah and Chris yelled at him.

4) We now carry a special, highly filtered, and ph-balanced (and overpriced) bottled cat water (no really), that seems simultaneously like a brilliant idea (because UTIs), but also somehow one of the whitest things I’ve ever seen (and I say this as a white person who grew up basically middle-class).

That is the whitest shit I’ve ever heard. And yes I’m white too from lower middle class. But still...

But maybe that’s because I live in a country where I can drink tap water so that’s what Mo gets in his fountain.

And your stories made me smile my friend, every single one. <3 thank you for sharing these.

I wish I had funny ones really. Only one I can think of is some of my customers I run into as a tech support guy.

Customer calls me to tell me they don’t have internet. I ask, “Where’s your modem and how is it plugged into the network?”

Customer: It’s still in the box I received it in.. it’s wireless..”

Me: 

Cue ten-minute argument on how it’s not wireless like that and how he needs to install his modem... yeah. People and technology...

But anyway, I’ll stop rambling now because it’s 1 am here and I need to go to sleep again.

1 am is in the Amsterdam/Berlin timezone where I live in.

That is 6 pm in NYC

And 4 pm in California.

So I am 7-9 hours ahead of the US, to give you an idea about timezones.

[suprsingr]

WoY Trending 27th ay

And the subject this month seems to be... your favorite vehicle from the show. Oh boy.

Okay, I really... I can’t pick. I have three. I’m not sorry. I’m going to ramble about all of them and you’re going to have to sit through it. Or scroll past. Either way I get to ramble, so I win. I’ve also been in a brain-dead funk all day so you get to deal with that as well. Should really enhance the experience for everyone. It’s gonna be great.

I hope you’re listening @disneyxd​

Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/walt-disney-encourage-disney-to-make-wander-over-yonder-season-3

Rambles under the cut because long

Alll riiighhttt. The first “ vehicle “ -- hyuck -- that came to mind when I read this question was the orbble:

Which is basically just this... bubble that allows you to breathe and walk around in space. It’s apparently a very common method of travel, because there are orbble stations set up around that look exactly like gas stations only...

A lot more advanced.

Really, I love the orbble because it’s a cute idea, first and foremost. A cute, terrifying idea. It’s very whimsical. The idea of people just traveling from planet to planet via these giant, shiny, colorful, glowing bubbles is awesome. Reminds me of Meet the Robinsons, only a lot more intense because... space.

They are truly terrifying, though. Orbbles can pop, man. And they’re not that big, so there can’t be that much air inside the things. Unless the inside works like a plant somehow and is able to take in carbon dioxide and convert it back into oxygen, which I figure... there’s gotta be some kind of system like that. Because you’re walking in space, from planet to planet. At the very least, even by cartoon logic, that’s gotta take hours. You will run out of air, okay. And what happens if you come across any space debris??? Sometimes the characters reach their arms through the walls, or run straight out of them which creates a second bubble while decreasing the size of the first, and then sometimes the things just POP out of nowhere and it’s like--what determines whether the thing pops?? Does the atmosphere of planets automatically pop them???? Does it get weaker like an actual bubble the more strain is put on it??? Is there a conscious factor to it at all, like if you want it to pop, it will, or--UGH IT’S JUST UPSETTING TO THINK ABOUT IF YOU ANALYZE IT TOO HARD

IT’S INTERESTING BUT TERRIFYING

THAT’S WHY I LOVE IT, I ENJOY THE FEELING OF BEING DISTURBED. ALSO BUBBLES.

I’M GONNA MOVE ON NOW

The second vehicle to come to mind was Hater’s Van, because...

It’s goddamn beautiful, that’s why.

Look at this thing.

Look at this masterpiece just casually sitting there like it freaking belongs when it does not.

Incredible.

Craig made a post about the making of it and I just love it so much. I love vans in general, the whole idea of driving what is essentially a mini living-space around, and the fact Hater has one that he tricked out is so perfect. It’s hilarious to see in the episode. And beautiful. God, just. So beautiful.

It’s deliberately cheesy, too. They made it look just slightly out of place on purpose for the aert feels and the lulz. That’s what I love about this show, man. They're always going the extra mile. There’s so much love and creativity that goes into it, into the comedy and the animation and the characters, and the van is such an outstanding reminder of that. It’s amazing. Makes me a little teary-eyed the longer I stare at it.

All right, and last but not least, I’ve gotta say it:

DOMINATOR’S. SHIP.

WHY DO I LOVE IT?

BECAUSE IT’S SIMULTANEOUSLY HORRIFYING

GORGEOUS

AND MASSIVE

LITERALLY WE GET A LOT OF SHOTS OF THIS THING WHERE IT’S BIGGER THAN PLANETS SOMETIMES

It’s easily the best ship in the show. Now, I didn’t say it was my favorite--just that it’s the best. I don’t think anyone can argue with that, lol. It’s specifically designed to destroy worlds. To suck the lava-like substance from their cores until they’re nothing but dry, lifeless husks. That’s badass.

I also love just... the feel of it, like:

It has a zen quality to it. Like it’s a tool of destruction, but also just a happenin’ place to be. I wanna play glow in the dark mini golf in it. And watch movies and play board games. And just... chill. I want to befriend Dominator just so I can get at her ship, basically. Or at least so I can get the number to her interior designer. The feng shui is spot on.

Plus the colors are beautiful. They’re beautiful in the whole show, but the creators really outdid themselves with Dom’s ship. I mean, look at this.

Wow.

And those are my favorites. You can’t make me choose between them. You don’t understand our love. Or maybe you do, I don’t know. 

WoY Season 3, everyone! We need more vehicles! In a few years, I want to be asked this question again and for the answer to be three times as long. That’s my dream. You can help make it happen by signing the petition, writing to Disney, and/or joining in the trending efforts. Don’t let WoY fade into obscurity. It doesn’t deserve it.

Thanks for reading. <3 :)

[superpotatesme00]

(Pidgance Fanfic) by AIR

Notes:

Sorry for the wait :(

Read: [Previous] || [Next] || [AO3 Link]

SO HERE IT IT^^

Becoming Aware

Chapter 4/5: 

A Shocking Realization.

Can you pinpoint the exact moment you fell in love? What is it that makes you fall for someone? Is it their grandiose gestures, like showering you in flowers, money or beautiful words? Or is it the little things? The random yet sincere smiles, the immediate understanding through just one glance, the encouraging shoulder bumps, the stupid inside jokes that only you two understand, or is it their eager ears intently listening to whatever nonsense you have to tell? Such a seemingly insignificant gesture causes you chest to tighten.

Pidge continued to shriek with laughter. So much so, that her cheeks felt sore from their overworked smiling. She suddenly hesitated as a pain in her chest ached slightly.

Heart burn?

She looked at the over enthusiastic boy next to her. He laughed loud enough to shake the walls as he violently pressed the buttons to the controller. Her eyes scanned his features and she instantly formed a smile. Lance’s blue eyes fell to meet her’s and she felt an uncontrollable squeeze in her chest once more.

What?

You can’t always control who you fall in love with. It happens when you least expect it-.

No! no… I don’t- for Lance?!…Nope!

Not that any of this mattered to Pidge. Since Pidge wasn’t “in love”, and Pidge just had “heart burn.”

His cheeks were beginning to stiffen and make it difficult to do anything but smile. His eyes were watery and hot from his uncontrollable laughter on top of his stomach feeling sore from it all. Not that that was a bad thing, since Lance firmly believed laughing would eventually earn him a six pack.

“No no you gotta go left Lance! Watch the flank, watch the flank!” Pidge’s eyebrows were knit together and her glances held the reflection of their intense gaming.

“HOLD ON! WAI-NO! SHIT! I’m down…” Lance slumped over his knees in defeat.

“GYAHHAHAHAHHA SERVES YOU RIGHT?! IT’S ALL ABOUT STRATEGY MY MAN~”  Pidge’s hands continued to press the buttons at amazing speeds. Her eyes glimmered as she bit her bottom lip with determination.

Lance felt an unexpected thump in his chest at the sound of her words, “my man.”

She said “MY man.” What does that mean??? I like how that sounds~

Lance lifted his gaze to catch a glimpse of the concentrated paladin. He couldn’t help but stare. She had very long eyelashes… and seeing her smile so widely while around him made him feel ridiculously giddy.

“What? Upset that your various so-called “skills” don’t include gaming?” She met his eyes with a smug lift of a brow.

The unexpected eye contact caught Lance off guard as he felt his face flush slightly.

No…Pidge gets along with everyone…this doesn't mean anything…I’m just over thinking it… …Why do I care anyway?

“RUDE! You know I’m amazing at pretty much anything! It-it was just an OFF day! Yeah!” Pidge almost spilled her soda in attempt to contain her laughter.

“HA HA HA~ I ain’t just good at console gaming, but I’m basically unbeatable on PC too~” Pidge straightened her back and rubbed her knuckles on her collar mimicking a polish.

“Yeah. I bet…” Lance frowned and threw his body back to sprawl over the couch.

The whole day had felt like a montage of cliche moments from a slice of life film. Everything was overwhelmingly fun and she would have never expected that she and Lance would click so well. Even back when Lance had so willingly dug around in the fountain to help her buy this console, she felt an unexpected connection…or potential connection between the two of them. Lance and Hunk ALWAYS had a blast with each other…But, she was different…She’s antisocial, almost standoffish…never wanting or needing anyone’s help or company. But most of all, she had never dreamed that should could actually get along with such an outgoing and extroverted guy.

Speaking of Hunk…

Coming back from the mall Hunk had seen how depressed the blue and green paladins were for not being able to play the new game, so he took up the task of figuring out how to make an adapter. He never told them, but Keith had seen him occasionally working on it. Staying up later than he usually would, tinkering around with some of the screens he had found in the storage units of the castle ship, then finally, just the day prior he had finally figured it out! He had told Lance first and even offered it as a persuasion for Lance to get Pidge to spend more time together. It was pretty much the cherry on top to the whole “Operation: Pidge x Lance Bonding.” Yet even prior to Hunks secret reveal, the two paladins had been spending the day as inseparable pees in a pod. It was awkward at first, mostly because of Pidge’s inability to be to physically close to Lance, but as they went on from talking, to running around singing makeshift concerts to each other, Pidge had found herself sitting butt-to-butt and shoulder-to-shoulder ( or in Pidge’s case: Head-to-shoulder) with Lance. Now, it was hard to go a second without any physical contact. Nothing weird though! Just nudges with the shoulders, pats on the back, and the occasional hair ruffling that was mostly done by Lance to tease Pidge. She didn’t mind though…It reminded her of her brother…yet…made her chest flutter.

Pidge reminisced as Lance updated the console. Little did she know that Lance was also swirling with thoughts of her.

Woah! I NEVER would’ve guessed that Pidge was so cool to hang out with! “He” was such a buzzkill back in the Garrison…but I guess she just needed a little warming up to! Makes me a little sad though, it would’ve been awesome to have been able to hang out sooner. Even if she was a “he.” …Who cares any way? “She” or “He?” No matter which: Pidge is smart, unexpectedly hilarious when she let’s loose and…well…pretty…

Both subconsciously raised their eyes to meet each other’s. Pidge flinched a bit, hoping to look away quickly but her eyes felt glued to his, unable escape. Lance felt the same but rather than internally panic, he enjoyed their moment. He could see every detail of her face down to her flawless complexion and basically nonexistent pores. She wasn’t kidding when she said her skin was pale, it seemed almost translucent and delicate to touch. There was a soft pink glow that could be seen underneath in her cheeks and ears. Part of him wanted to take her glasses off, but the other part wanted to keep them on since he was afraid he’d get too lost without the barrier dividing his eyes from her’s. Pidge was no different. She couldn’t help but notice just how nice his complexion was. It was no surprise though, since she was fully aware of his “spa days” and just how well he took care of himself. She wouldn’t mind if he had some blemishes though…Occasionally she would get them but luckily that dip in the castle baths had done some magical treatment to her occasionally puberty stricken face. A 15 year-old girl facing raging hormones causes her more breakouts than attempt to salvage this nonexistent figure of her’s. She couldn’t help but want to reach out and poke his soft cheeks, and she really envied how his blue eyes stood out from his sun kissed skin.

Without noticing both had been slowly inching closer to one another, almost close enough for their finger tips to touch, but safe enough to keep a reasonable distance. Lance smelled of peppermint and a hint of tropical shampoo. Pidge gave off the slightest sent of lavender from her fluffy hair, but most of all had the pleasant smell of bubblegum on her breath from her incessant gum chewing.

Pidge parted her lips to speak and Lance couldn’t help but be drawn in by the sweet scent and sight of her small pink lips.

“Lance…Um-So-!” Without notice the door behind them slid open, sending them both into a frenzied panic. The perpetrator was non-other than Hunk.

“hh-Hey…Guys!” He was panting, barley lifting his head to speak. Both blue and green shared equally confused expressions.

“i-I..Came…to get…You…”

“What’s with that buddy? You’re actin’ like ya ran a marathon!” Lance sat up taller and hopped over the back of the couch closer to Hunk. Pidge had sat up as well but stayed and watched.

“You okay Hunk???” She was worried something had happened.

“Oh…Yeah! Sorry! I just ran over to ask you guys if you heard Allura’s-”

“Attention Paladins! Could I have you ALL come to the common room please? I have quite a fun surprise!”

Yellow, blue and green all looked up simultaneously in the direction of the voice. Meanwhile, down a couple corridors the rushing of a shower head was shut off abruptly. Having heard the request the paladin quickly ruffled his hair with his towel and retreated to his room (wearing only a thin towel) to get dressed.

In the opposite wing of the castle could be heard the huffing and strenuous grunts of a young paladin striking down a single gladiator right on time to hear the intercom. The gladiator hit the floor with a loud thud and instantly pixelated away. The young paladin had kept his hair tied up a bit, since it would itch the nape of his neck. He wiped the sweat off his forehead, grabbed his jacket, and nonchalantly headed for the door.

“Oh! There you all are! That was quick!” Coran smiled widely, flaring his elegant mustache.

“Of course! The paladins must ALWAYS be ready! No matter the reason- Wait, there is only two of you…” Allura had turned to face the approaching subjects to realize that not only were both Lance and Pidge missing, but so was Hunk.

“Sorry Princess. We were all off on our own, so they are probably just out in the Lion’s landing decks.” Shiro brushed his hair out of the way as it began to drip onto his scarred nose bridge.

Allura couldn’t help but keep her eyes fixated on Shiro, even as he spoke with Keith. All of the paladins were adolescents but Shiro, was a full fledged, unbearably attractive adult…at least that explained Allura's clearly uncontrollable infatuation.

Hunk had managed to retrieve his two friends from the landing deck. They all realized they were running a bit late but had decided they would just take their time since the common room was quite far and this wasn’t an emergency.

Pidge was the smallest and out of habit the two boys walked on either side of her. Almost like an escort. Pidge never said anything but she always thought it was bit funny. Back at the Garrison she felt that maybe it was their subconscious brotherly instinct since they were tall and she was a bit…vertically challenged. She and Lance were excitedly telling Hunk about all the random shit they had been doing and Hunk was having a blast hearing his two best friends talk non-stop. Pidge began to imitate Lance and the way he had sung, resulting in Hunk ripping a massive fart from his uncontrollable laughter. It was sudden and Hunk couldn’t help but blush, only for the two to burst out in laughter and almost hit the floor from their now weak knees.

“So, how do you think it’s going buddy?” Hunk had taken the opportunity to ask Lance as both their paces fell a bit behind Pidge’s.

���Huh? Oh! Hmmmm…It’s gonna sound crazy but like way better than expec-!”

“Move along slow pokes, we have a mission!” Pidge had suddenly backtracked and playfully nudged Lance in the side.

“Roger that commander!” Without second thought, Lance saluted in sync with the small paladin as they marched ahead.

Hunk, a bit dumbfounded, observed the two of them for a split second, before smiling as he noticed how his two buddies were desperately containing their giggles.

It seemed that “Operation: Pidge x Lance Bonding” was nothing but smooth sailing.

“-yes, well. Now, that ALL of you are accounted for-” Allura shot a piercing glare at Lance specifically.

“Hey! Why ya giving me the stink eye!? Shorty and Hunk are culprits too!” Hunk gave Allura an apologetic smile, but Pidge pinched Lance’s arm.

“The reason I had you all gather here was because Coran, Hunk and I all thought it would a brilliant idea to have another go at our team bonding exercises!”

“The rules are simple my colorful warriors! This game is called Filhae S’qire. It consists of 5-10 players and in essence it similar to your human game of hide-and-seek.”

Keith shifted his weight as his thick eyebrows knit together in confusion: “We aren’t seriously going to play a kid’s game are we?”

Lance scoffed and his shoulders trembled causing Kieth’s eye to twitch in annoyance.

“WHAT?” It didn’t sound like a question.

“(*attempting to calm down*) What’s wrong Keith, you scared you and that mullet of your’s are gonna loose to this gorgeous specimen? I mean- Cuz’ if you are I don’t blame ya~”

“I’m not scared!” Keith took a step towards Lance.

“Yeah? Prove it~” Lance leaned his weight nonchalantly onto his left leg, giving Keith a sideways smirk.

Shiro could feel the heat radiating off the already hotheaded Keith and decided to step in.

“All right you too.” He placed a reaffirming hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Actually Princess, I’m a bit lost…why is it you think that playing a game will get us to work better as a team?”

“a-uh…Well, I never said it was a teamwork exercise, but a team bonding exercise. You will need to understand each other to find where each is hiding…” Allura trailed off, unable to look Shiro in the eyes. They felt like they could see right through her ruse and the fact this was just a poor excuse to play a game. She didn’t want him to think she was childish.

“I see, well I’m not against it. It’s good to have fun once in a while too.” Shiro smiled causing everyone else’s faces to light up.

The dynamic of the game was simple. Much like the Earthling game, the players would each take turns being the finder (or the person who’s “It”) while the remaining players had about 100 tics to hide. The game lasted as many rounds as there were players, in this case 7. But…There was a twist to it. The first round gave the person who was “it” about 10 minutes to find all the players…round by round the time limit would reduce progressively giving the person who was “it” less and less time to find ALL the players. All participants had to wear sensors and in the last 30 seconds of each round the finder’s sensor would start giving a warning signal, and once time was up he or her would be…electrocuted. Just how the rounds each more more intense…so would their electrocutions. And…if that wasn’t the worst part…the people doing the hiding would also get an increasingly more painful zap each time they were found.

Obviously, by this point no one wanted to play anymore. Especially not Hunk, who had so eagerly agreed to this “fun” game. But that didn't matter anymore, since Allura had already stuck the sensors onto each of their foreheads before Coran could finish explaining the rules…

“Heh…heh…No biggie…” Lance had been the master at hiding from his little nieces and nephews back home but currently his confidence was withering away.

“Guys…I’m going to die.” Hunk trembled as all the paladins kept their eyes on the ground. Even Shiro, who was at this moment regretting all his life decisions.

“…the sensors don’t come off until the game ends…and I’m sure they shock you if you try to tamper with them.” Pidge didn’t expect a response but Allura nodded anyway.

Allura’s ears were slightly drooped. She kept her eyes on the sad circle of paladins as she leaned in closer to Coran: “Coran…Did I say something wrong?”

“No Princess, just that…we Alteans have always been infamous for our extreme forms of…entertainment.”

The situation was awkward…to say the least. But, unfortunately the events prior had forced this predicament.

The game, as you may have thought was not going well, more so for the unlucky few. Of those few was Hunk, who had been the first and and only person found in the first round. Coran had been “it” and was able to catch a glimpse of what looked like someone’s ass sticking up from under the dinner table. Hunk felt the shock in between his eyes before being able see Coran’s always majestic mustache. Next from Hunk was the unfortunate Lance. It’s not that Lance was miserable at hiding. Allura was just ridiculously good at the game…he never stood a chance. He had managed to climb into a vent that was up so high he had to climb Shiro’s lion to reach it. And, just before he could celebrate the last 30 seconds of the 3rd round, Allura's sudden appearance had scared Lance shitless while simultaneously being electrocuted in the head.  The high pitched scream could be heard by all the terrified and sweating paladins. No one was safe that round…And if you are wondering about the second round just prior…Let’s just say that Lance was unsuccessful in finding ANYONE. The next three rounds continued the intense game of what seemed like life or death. Round 4 ended in the zapping of both the poorly hidden Coran (who was posing as a plant), and the slow finder, Hunk. Shiro was “it” for the following round (5) and by this point he was sure no one could take much more. He especially did’t want Katie nor Allura being shocked. So, he chivalrously gave up the round to be solely electrocuted. Round 6 was Pidge’s turn and a genius like her actually put Allura’s words into practice, “You will need to understand each other to find where each is hiding.” Pidge knew her teammates all too well, and although she regarded them as family, she preferred to save herself from the suffering. So, she paced herself to one-by-one pick off the the Alteans and paladins before her 30 second warning signal even went off.

Round 7 left everyone’s fates in Keith’s hands, and currently he was stalking his prey. Everyone, especially Hunk and Lance, were panicking by this point. Lance couldn’t help feel that Keith had it out for him. Amidst the panic, Lance had squished himself into an uncomfortable situation. Yet, not entirely undesirable for both parties.

It was completely coincidence and having realized his time to hide was up, took to the closest door he could find. But, someone had already chosen that spot, and that spot fit them well. It was a tiny squished storage unit and ironically held the cleaning utensils of the ship. It was pitch black in the closet and Lance never expected to feel his body slam into something other than a wall. That “something” being the small, fluffy Pidgeon.

They couldn’t see a thing and were chest-and-chest to each other. Well…more like head-and-chest. They were both quiet and Lance debated saying some sort of apology to Pidge. But, decided otherwise when he figured it would give them away to Keith; the last person he wanted to be seen by in such a questionable situation, or shocked by. His mind was a clusterfuck of panicked thoughts and attempted to calm himself down by focusing on one thing. Originally, he attempted to focus on Hunk’s previous farting but was completely overshadowed by the warm pressure of Pidge’s head on his chest. He looked down, to no avail, and was begging to become overwhelmed by the smell of her sweet shampoo. He closed his eyes and took in her scent.

HOLY CROW! FOCUS LANCE. Now you’re just acting like a fucking pervert.

He shook his head violently which made Pidge stir a bit. She was silent and he could barley hear her breathing.

Pidge couldn’t begin to fathom the situation. It happened so quick and she was completed flabbergasted when she saw the Cuban boy shove himself into the already tight closet. It was so small that their legs were shoved in between each other’s and something hanging on the wall forced her head onto his chest. He smelled as good as he did earlier, like peppermint and tropical shampoo. She could feel his breath on her hair and was too nervous to move. It wasn’t until he shook his head that she squirmed a bit. She figured that he was uncomfortable and maybe a bit disturbed to squished with the far-from-feminine Pidge.

That couldn’t have been farther from the truth though. Both their chest’s felt like they were going to explode, and their hearts beat so hard in their heads that they were afraid the other would hear. They both had tried to scoot away, only barley adding a couple inches of space between them. Lance’s head was leaned back and he stared into the darkness, feeling a tight knot in his throat and fluttering in his stomach.

Pidge was tired of this feeling that inevitably Lance had been causing her for a while. She wanted to solve it all in her head like an equation, she wanted to make sense of Lance and her. But, the talk she had had with Allura in the baths had made her realize something she had been denying herself. Lance meant a lot to her. He was always there for her. He was always there for everyone. He was amazing at all the things she felt she lacked, like empathy, charisma, outgoing, a big heart and a good listener. He always put people before himself, even if it wasn’t obvious: at the Garrison when he took the blame for her snide remark and the failed simulation or the time he risked his injured self to save her form Sendek. She never forgot those things…or the many other things he had done for her and the others. Sure he was a flirt, and a big idiot…But being this close to him, now, made her realize she never wanted him to be out of reach again.

Lance couldn’t read Pidge’s mind and he wasn't exactly as calculating as she was.

My chest is beating so loud she’ll probably hear it…Aw quizznack…I feel like I’m gonna fart under all this pressure!

Lance scrunched his face in resistance and once it was safe, felt his mind wandering back to Pidge, whose small legs were currently and inevitably intertwined with his own. His face was still burning and he couldn’t help but imagine her legs from that time he had seen her. They were so small and dainty, much like the rest of her. And, they held a pink undertone at the knees and ankles. Or her flushed cheeks and piercingly golden eyes…He wanted to feel just how soft she was…

NO NO NO LANCE! This is getting weird…I mean…I just…She’s just so goddamn cute. Like SHIT! I wanna squish her!

Lance hated that his own mind kept wandering to Pidge. She wasn't like other girls to him. She wasn't just a pretty think to look at. She was one of his best friends and he wanted to protect her. She was just a genius girl looking for her family and he wanted to help her accomplish that. He couldn't quite form what it was that he felt for her but it was almost as though she was too good for him to tarnish or touch. His dangerously low self-esteem was already covered by the idiotic mask he wore, he didn't want Pidge to deal with any of him. She needed someone reliable…someone better than him…

“Shit! I only got 2 minutes left!”

The sudden voice startled both the blue and green paladins, causing Lance to abruptly grab hold of Pidge’s shoulders. They held their breath as a black mullet passed by in front of the closed closet. Lance let out a small sigh and Pidge didn’t want the warmth of his hands to leave her. It was comforting even though he himself caused the painful squeezing in her chest.

The words almost formed in her head. It was on the tip of her tongue.

Lance was still lost in thought and little did he know that Pidge felt the bold desire to move closer to him, even if he was just some kid from Cuba. Something clicked in her head and she reached up on her toes closer and closer to Lance. She could feel his peppermint breath mix with her own. She knew she was close, she knew that even by accident she could reach his lips.

Her lips trembled as she opened her mouth to speak.

“…-!”

She was stopped short by excruciatingly loud zapping of the red paladin. Her face cringed in sympathy to his pain. The noise had startled Lance as well.

“Hey Pidge-!” Since Pidge had still been up on her toes Lance’s head met hers with full force. He lost his footing, resulting in the two of them toppling out of the sliding closet door.

“Urgh…” Lance groaned in pain as Pidge lifted herself up and dusted off her shorts.

She watched his slightly flushed face as she offered a helping hand. His hands were big and his fingers slender. She wanted to know what it would feel like to intertwine her small hands with his.

Allura quickly announced the end of the game and offered they all eat a well prepared meal. Pidge and Lance were just down the hall of the dinning hall and as Lance excitedly ran over to eat, Katie couldn’t help but smile…

Love huh? I could get used to that.

As promised, the three cadets (Lance, Hunk and Pidge) attempted to pull an all-nighter. Unfortunately, Allura’s ploy had left them all exhausted and unable to even finish the first half of Jaws. The rest had long gone to bed but “Space Dad” advised the 3 teenagers to not force themselves to stay awake.

At around 1AM Hunk’s stomach pleaded for a late night snack. Hunk was usually a heavy sleeper, but when it came to food he was quick to rise. He sat up and scratched his belly before slowly opening his heavy eyes to see where he was. Just as he was yawning he turned to see the unexpected: Lance and Pidge were snuggled up on the couch with their head rested on each other’s. Pidge’s glasses were folded next to her and only her toes poked out slightly from under the blanket that shielded them. Hunk was speechless and could barely believe his eyes. Then, his stomach’s beckoning directed him to the door. Once it slid open he couldn't help but look back. He noticed that Lance’s face was deeply rested into Pidge’s fluffy hair, almost lost. Hunk couldn’t help but giggle and it caught the attention of a passerby.

“Hunk?” Keith said quieter than usual.

Hunk motioned him to keep silent and smiled towards the couch. Keith observed the seen as well…only to look back and meet the goofy grin of the yellow paladin. Keith sighed and gave a relieved smile.

They both left without saying a word, heading towards the kitchen for a little late night snack.

****

THANKS FOR READING! Stay tuned for Chapter 5/6! :D

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[randrvstheworld]

It’s adventure tiiiiiime: lagoon hikes, ice-swimming, rock-climbing & near-death experiences

Huaraz: city of snow-capped mountains, fuzzy alpaca sweaters & adventure!

Our time here began with a hike to Laguna 69, a gloriously turqouise lake hidden in a crater amongst beautiful snowy mountains. The trek began at the brutally early time of 5am, when we boarded a minibus to Huascaran National Park. Stopping on the way for coffees & chocolate (Sublime bars: get to know) against a backdrop of fir trees & rocky cliffsides, we then bounced through the entrance to the national park (making sure not to look out the windows as there was literally a sheer drop just off the side of a windy mountain path that looked pretty sketchy, even more so when you have even a modicum of experience of South American driving). We alighted the bus at the start of the hiking trail & wound our way past fluffy cows, waterfalls & over rocky paths climbing steadily up to 4600ft. It was a beautifully clear, crisp day: deep blue sky & wintry sunshine. The altitude made it very hard for me to catch my breath so I took a very steady pace & made sure to stop a lot for water & snacks. The path got steeper & steeper, windier & windier as we approached the lagoon; the scenery was truly breathtaking, super tall, snow-capped peaks all around. Eventually, out of breath & with burning thighs, we peeped the brilliant turquoise of the lagoon at the end of a narrow, pebbly path. Oh my. What a sight. Truly the most spectacular view of my life. A large, smooth pool, bright, dazzling turquoise, set in a crater surrounded by super tall mountains, a waterfall cascading down into the other side of the lake. A perfect postcard image. Lucy & I, feeling brave, decided to take a dip: definitely the most beautiful place I have ever had a swim, although swim might be a bit of an exaggeration as it was so cold I felt my whole body prickle as f it was on fire & thus only managed a quick splash before having to climb out. Totally worth it though!

The descent, naturally, came easier than the ascent; I get very light-headed at high altitudes & was grateful for being able to breathe more easily on the way back. The whole trek took us about 4 and a half hours, my perfect hiking time. Ad a novice hiker, that’s about all I can manage before it stops being enjoyable so for me it was perfect. Just as we re-boarded the bus back to Huaraz it began to rain hard, so it was timed to absolute perfection. I spent the journey back chatting & giggling with a sweet & very funny French bio-engineer called Lenny. On arrival back at the hostel we fell gratefully into bed (feather-filled duvets & pillows for the win) & slept deeply.

Yesterday, Lucy & I decided to ramp up the adventure factor with some rock-climbing. Roxy, currently suffering a possible broken toe, gave it a miss, so at 2pm Lulu & I were collected by our guide, taken to borrow shoes & trundled in a taxi to the edge of the city, where we tottered down & up a small valley to a pock-marked cliff-face, perfect for climbing with lots of little nooks & ledges for gripping onto. Our guides, Ron & Max, were hilarious & it was a test of our Spanish abilities to get through the afternoon (turns out I know more than I though, & learnt some new words: escalar = rock-climbing). They first rigged up two lines so we could climb simultaneously; one slightly more difficult than the other, so we took it in turns doing both. Sweet Jesus, rock climbing is hard. It requires a lot of fore-arm strength of which, it transpires, I have none. The hardest part for me however, was getting my head around the fact that I could let go of the rocks with all of my limbs & not fall down because Max was holding all of my ropes from the bottom. It was tough but I made it to the top of both lines, feeling very proud of myself considering I have only ever climbed on indoor walls previously & not since I was a teenager. It was also a feat of tackling my vertigo so double pride for me.

Our next line was in a trickier spot slightly further along the rock-face, a large overhang was a big obstacle which Lucy didn’t manage but despite fearing the worst I made it all the way to the top. As we were setting up this line, we were joined by an awesome couple, Nick & Mercedes, who had been looking for a spot to go bouldering & then just ended up joining our climb. Two of the loveliest folks I have met so far; super friendly, fun & interesting, they yelled words of encouragement & helpful tips for where to cling to which really helped me make it to the top. Just as I had descended & removed my harness, the heavens opened; and I mean OPENED. A savage storm ensued, massive hailstones raining down so we took shelter in a cave like fugitives for about an hour until it passed, smoking an nursing all the tiny scratches & cuts on our hands from climbing. Our guides had brought a speaker so we had music to listen to, we shared chocolate & jokes & travel stories & actually had a pretty fun time camped out there. The view of the city & its surrounding mountains was pretty spectacular from up in our cave also.

The tricky part came as we tried to get down: although the rain had ceased, the ground, being comprised totally of mud & grass was now very wet & slippery. We couldn;t take the same route down as we had up, as it would mean crossing a river that now, as a result of the downpour, was raging mercilessly. So we had to tiptoe across a very narrow path at the top of the cliffside until we reached the point where it turned back into road with the river passing underneath. We trod carefully, sliding on hailstones & wet grass, when suddenly, alerted by locals whistling, we realised Lucy had fallen, down a four-metre sheer drop to the next path below. Our guides quickly went to rescue her as Nick, Mercedes & I watched, panic-stricken from above. Thankfully she was/is fine, though she fell on her back, scratched herself to death on cacti on the way down & was evidently very shook by the experience. Ragged & emotional, we helped her hobble back to solid road where the shock of what happened finally hit & we shared somewhat teary hugs all round & inspected her bloody legs. Our guides took us back into town & got her some stuff for the shock (& some pain meds) & then we all agreed we needed a stiff drink so they rustled up some sort of hot rum-like jungle potion, which lovely Nick & Merc insisted on paying for & we huddled round a tiny table in a crowded bar chuckling about the unexpectedly death-defying nature of the days events & bombarding everyone with our music. Nothing like a near-death experience to help you bond with people; after a couple of rounds of the weird drink we decided that we were now firm friends & after well-earned hot showers we ventured back out to meet Nick & Merc for dinner at a Peruvian curry house. Just when I thought I couldn’t love them any more they announced their love for shithead so we played round after round while enjoying one of the best curries I have ever eaten. Full & jovial, we parted ways with big hugs; they both live in London so we exchanged numbers & made plans to meet again, either on the road or when we’re back home.

Today is being spent in relaxing fashion: we went out to some markets this morning & stocked up on fluffy alpaca sweaters & are now sheltering from the rain in our cosy dorm room. We leave Huaraz tomorrow for the desert (more long buses, hooray!) for dune-buggying & more adventure. Hopefully no more close-calls though. One is enough for the year!

PS I am having some difficulty posting photos on here now, not sure why. Gonna give it a crack from iCloud (my last vestige of hope!) but for now you can peep my snaps over at @ruthdrawsthings on Instagram :)

[vileart]

Sara Juli’s Tense Dramaturgy: an actual diagnosis @ Edfringe 2017

Sara Juli’s Tense Vagina: an actual diagnosis

Underbelly Cowgate (Iron Belly), 66 Cowgate, Edinburgh, EH1 1JX Thursday 3rd – Sunday 27th August 2017 (not 9th, 14th, 21st), 16:10

Sara Juli’s Tense Vagina: an actual diagnosis is about motherhood - its beauty, challenges, isolation, comedy and influence on the human experience.

Using humour, movement, sounds, songs, text and the audience, this show seeks to reveal ‘all that is awesome and all that sucks’ when it comes to being a mother.

Tense Vagina focuses on the seldom-discussed and taboo aspects of motherhood, such as loss of bladder control, libido, tears, monotony, loneliness and dildos.

The narrative is anchored in sharing the physical therapy Sara received at The Pelvic Floor Rehab Center of New England for her treatment of post-childbirth urinary incontinence.

What was the inspiration for this performance?

My work has always been about sharing personal stories with the public. These stories run concurrently with my life.  They are my outlet for how I deal with problems that keep me up at night, but that simultaneously connect me to the rest of the planet.  

Anything that is plaguing me is bothering millions of others at any given time.  For example, in my twenties, I created and performed a solo called, How to Forgive Yourself in Bed about reconciling my promiscuous behaviour. Years later I made a piece titled, The Money Conversation about my fears around money as I began to combine my finances with my new husband. These topics, promiscuity and money issues, to name two, are universal.  Tense Vagina: an actual diagnosis simply addresses the next chapter in my life: being a mother to two young kids: the sacrifice, the adoration, and the fact that your body and mind take a real toll. The piece pretty much wrote itself, in my small NY City apartment, when I was attached to a hospital-grade breast pump and couldn’t move.

Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas? 

Absolutely. I’m a firm believer in the power of live performance, mainly because I have been so fortunate to experience its power to transform lives.  I use humour in all of my works, and while I love making people laugh, it’s about something more. It’s about using humour as a portal to discuss taboo topics.  

It’s about peeling back a layer and exposing what’s underneath. It’s about having an audience member sit with you, in a sacred space for a period of time, and experience something, outside of themselves that allows them the opportunity to leave their day to day brains and think about something personal - something they are struggling with, perhaps related to the performance topic, or not. 

Either way, the opportunity for personal reflection is there (which to me, IS a form of public discussion since everyone is accessing those thoughts at the same time, in the same space). Ultimately, it’s absolute magic, a scenario that rarely presents itself outside the realm of bringing people together publicly to share art in a meaningful way.

How did you become interested in making performance?

I have always loved having eyes on me. When I was little, I used to knock on the door of every house in my neighbourhood, with my boom box in-hand, and ask each person if I could dance for them in their front yard. 

My parents signed me up for a creative movement dance class and I’ve never looked back.  I like to tell people that I have danced every day since I was three years old. Fast forward to my senior year of college when I took an intensive performance workshop with the Judson-era choreographer and performer, Deborah Hay. She taught me about the magic of performance and, in doing so, opened-up my use of voice, text, sound, and song in a way that totally expanded my dancing. It was explosive.

Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?

I usually wait until a topic finds me.  Since my performances run concurrently with my life, there are always present struggles, which become the material from which to source ideas. However, I usually wait until a particular topic has become so distracting or overwhelming that the only way to move past it is to create a piece around it. I can often track how hot the topic is based on how I often I’m speaking about it to my therapist. I suppose if I ever felt like I didn’t need to see my therapist anymore - what would my works be about? 

Once I nail down the topic, I then journal about it until I can’t see straight. After that, I’m ready to go to the studio and create.

For Tense Vagina: an actual diagnosis, I pretty much made the entire piece in my head, while being attached to a breast pump or sitting on my toilet in my small NYC bathroom. I couldn’t find any time or space to go to the rehearsal studio since I was working and raising two kids, so I would periodically write down hilarious phrases my kids said, experiences that happened, feelings that surfaced. And then there were the tears - so many tears (on my part) so I wrote that down too. 

When I finally moved out of NYC (after 15 years) and found a place (and actual time) to rehearse, the piece poured out of me in several hours. And then while making the piece, I found the courage (and time) to seek treatment for the post-childbirth urinary incontinence I was quietly experiencing.  At my first appointment at the Pelvic Floor Rehab Center of New England, my new physical therapist put her hand in my vagina and diagnosed me with a “tense vagina”. That was it. Piece done! 

Does the show fit with your usual productions?

Yes, it does, however this is the first time I’m using so many damn props! I used to pride myself on being a “low-maintenance” performer in that I could just show up and do my thing. That’s certainly not the case with this show - although I do believe that all of the components of this piece act to deepen the audience experience.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

I want the audience to reflect upon at least one of several topics: 1) their own vagina, 2) someone else’s vagina (although I’m noting that thinking about your mom’s vagina is way too weird, I’m more referring to your partner’s vagina, if appropriate) 3) post-partum depression 4) depression that is not post-partum, but that can just happen 5) laughter - I want them to laugh so hard they pee in their pants 6) after they pee in their pants, I want them to know they have options to seek treatment for having just peed in their pants 7) bravery - you can be brave when it comes to getting the help you need for your own body 8) access - I would like them to use the time and the laughter during and/or after the performance to reflect upon any of these personal ideas, and relate it to themselves.

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?

Strategies? Hmm. I do always want the audience to have a great time at my shows while highlighting something deeper underneath. I always have some sort of audience interaction, as I want the audience to be involved. I don’t like the idea of people sitting and solely watching, but rather watching and engaging somehow. I leave the lights on during the show so that I can see everyone - I like holding us all accountable for being in a shared space. 

No fourth wall. One time, there was a person eating a sandwich while I was performing. I do some stand-up monologues in the show, so of course I did a riff on this person eating this huge sandwich. Oh - speaking of which - I also give the audiences snacks during the show.  Snacks are a must, but a sandwich - now that’s hilarious.

 Sara Juli comments: I have discovered that Tense Vagina: an actual diagnosis resonates with universal audiences, both men and women alike. Older women love to share their personal vagina stories with me after the show. Men think about their mother's differently. Others have thanked me for providing them with the courage and the humour to pursue their own care. Younger woman have commented that my show was the best birth control ever!

This is a poignant and hilarious feminist work, empowering women to think about their lady parts while highlighting the underbelly of motherhood. This show is perfect for anyone who has a mother. Arrive prepared to pee in your pants from laughter.

from the vileblog http://ift.tt/2rhynEQ